man. "Never was anything like the first impression she produced, or the
chorus of praise and admiration which is raised about her manner and
behaviour, and certainly not without justice. It was something very
extraordinary, and something far beyond what was looked for." He quoted Sir
Robert Peel's and the Duke of Wellington's opinions in accordance with his
own. "He (Sir Robert) likewise said how amazed he was at the manner and
behaviour, at her apparent deep sense of her situation, her modesty, and at
the same time her firmness. She appeared, in fact, to be awed, but not
daunted; and afterwards, the Duke of Wellington told me the same thing, and
added, that if she had been his own daughter he could not have desired to
see her perform her part better."

We can understand the fatherly reference of the Duke, and the sort of
personal pride he took in his young Queen. He had been present at her birth
in this very Palace of Kensington; he had known her at every stage of her
life hitherto. She was doing credit not only to herself and her mother, but
to every friend she had, by her perfect fulfilment of what was required of
her. Lord Campbell was equally eulogistic. "As soon as I heard that King
William had expired I hurried to Kensington, to be present at the first
Council of the new Sovereign. This, I think, was the most interesting scene
I have ever witnessed.... I am quite in raptures with the deportment of the
young Queen. Nothing could be more exquisitely proper. She looked modest,
sorrowful, dejected, diffident, but at the same time she was quite cool and
collected, and composed and firm. Her childish appearance was gone. She
was an intelligent and graceful young woman, capable of acting and thinking
for herself. Considering that she was the only female in the room, and that
she had no one about her with whom she was familiar, no human being was
ever placed in a more trying situation."

What was most conspicuous in the Queen had been already remarked upon and