Her daily
intercourse with the leading English statesmen of the time gave her
an unrivalled knowledge of home and foreign politics. In short, her
natural ability and good sense, strengthened by experience, made her
what she was, a perfect model of a constitutional monarch.
During her reign the Crown once again took its proper place: no longer
was there a gulf between the Ruler and the People, and Patriotism,
the love of Queen and Country, became a real and living thing. Pope's
adage, "A patriot is a fool in every age," could no longer be quoted
with any truth.
Queen Victoria was, above all, a great lover of peace, and did all
in her power for its promotion. Her personal influence was often the
means of smoothing over difficulties both at home and abroad when
her Ministers had aggravated instead of lessening them. She formed
her own opinions and held to them, though she was always willing to
listen to reason.
The Memorandum which she drew up in the year 1850 shows how firm a
stand she could take when her country's peace seemed to be
threatened.
Lord Palmerston, though an able Minister in many respects, was a
wilful, hot-headed man, who was over-fond of acting on the spur of
the moment without consulting his Sovereign. His dispatches, written
as they so often were in a moment of feverish enthusiasm, frequently
gave offence to foreign monarchs and statesmen, and were more than
once nearly the cause of war.
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