noble human grace about her acts of beneficence. For instance, in erecting
an almshouse for poor old women in the Isle of Wight, she retained one
tiny room, exactly like the rest, for her own use. It is, we believe,
untrue that she ever read in cottages. Her diary is full of references to
those who served her, even in the humblest capacities. She attended the
funeral service for the father of her faithful servant, John Brown; and
when the latter died, she wrote that her loss was irreparable, as he
deservedly possessed her entire confidence. Interested in the country
people around Balmoral, Her Majesty paid visits to old women, and gave
them petticoats. On August 26, 1869, she called on old Mrs Grant, gave her
a shawl and pair of socks, 'and found the poor old soul in bed, looking
very weak and very ill, but bowing her head and thanking me in her usual
way. I took her hand and held it.' She abounded in practical sympathy with
all their joys and sorrows. One of the lodge-keepers in Windsor Forest
remarked that 'a wonderful good woman to her servants is the Queen.' Her
Majesty had come several times to see her husband when down with rheumatic
fever, and the princesses often brought her oranges and jellies with their
own hands. She trained her children to live in the same spirit: nearly all
of the Princess Alice's letters home contained references to domestic
friends and messages to be conveyed to them. She wrote in 1865 to the
Queen: 'From you I have inherited an ardent and sympathising spirit, and
feel the pain of those I love, as though it were my own.'

She was always full of kindly consideration for others. Many stories are
told of the gracious methods taken by her to efface the pain caused by
blunders or awkwardness at review, levee, or drawing-room. Mr Jeaffreson
has written: 'Living in history as the most sagacious and enlightened
sovereign of her epoch, Her Majesty will also stand before posterity as
the finest type of feminine excellence given to human nature in the
nineteenth century; even as her husband will stand before posterity as the