1909] on The Letters of Queen Victoria. 509 



The Queen's Coueage and Confidence. 



The point which I wish particularly to bring out is that the Crown 

 exercised in this case real power by direct action, although in later 

 years the Queen reaHsed, with profounder wisdom and after a long 

 experience, that the real power of the Crown lies along the path of 

 influence and not of direct action. But perhaps the most striking 

 and abiding interest is the light which is thrown upon the Queen 

 herself. Already she had learnt the use of the words " power " and 

 " prerogative." She shows courage and confidence, courage to " act 

 quite alone " and " confidence in my country." These two qualities 

 of courage and confidence never deserted her through the long years 

 that followed. 



In the dismal Crimean winter of 1854, in the terrible summer of 

 1857, amid the horrors of the Mutiny, in the dark days of 1900, 

 amid the losses of brave troops, her high spirit was unshaken and 

 her confidence undimmed. Others quailed, but the Queen never. 

 She scouted the idea of failure. " All will come right ! " was her 

 constant cry. There was nothing fatalistic about her optimism. It 

 was based on profound faith in the reasonableness and endurance of 

 the English people — characteristics which she shared with those 

 Puritan classes whom she so thoroughly understood, and who never 

 once misunderstood her. 



The Influence of the Crown. 



Let us return for a moment to the influence of the Crown upon 

 Enghsh politics. The character of the Queen is a factor of the 

 greatest importance if the contention is sound that it was her influ- 

 ence, rather than her direct action, as Sovereign which revived the 

 interest of the British people in monarchical institutions and in a 

 certain degree remoulded the Constitution. " In England the Con- 

 stitution changes incessantly ; or, rather, it does not exist." That 

 was the view of an eminent French writer, often quoted ; and in the 

 hundred years which elapsed between the accession of the Queen's 

 grandfather, George III., and the death of the Prince Consort, a 

 student of constitutional history can trace at least three different 

 systems of government. George III. during his healthy and vigorous 

 manhood reigned and governed. After the death of Mr. Pitt the 

 government passed under the control of an oligarchy, and neither 

 George IV. nor William lY. exercised much direct or indirect power. 



But I think the correspondence shows that from the moment 

 Queen Victoria ascended the Throne a change began, and the indirect 

 power of the Crown, with the assistance of King Leopold and Stock- 

 mar, and finally of the Prince Consort, was strengthened year by 



