E L Y F . B A I THE PERFECT AGE MA D NA LD Pub ishers LTD . C O 00 . ( l ) 1 L . 4 9 UDGATE HILL LONDON, E C. d T hi s b ook is produce mit m co mplete c onfor y ment with the W ar E c o nomy A gree MA D E IN G R E A T BRIT A I N FOREWORD T H E Wise Men from the East followed a star . It seemed to me that in these days of stress and peril the most constant and - stout hearted among us may well need a star to follow, prefer ably the example of some great man or woman who has trodden - already a path such as each of us must tread to day . Then , seeing that sons and daughters are being torn from their parents , sisters from their brothers , and husbands from u if their wives , I thought it would be helpf l I could find in our a own history the perfect mother , f ther, husband , wife , sister, and brother, whose behaviour might be an example to the parents , husbands , wives , sisters , and brothers of our own times . The characters I have chosen are not remote from us . All in 1 8 8 of them except two (Lord Melbourne , who died 4 , and Charles Lamb , who died in survived into the lifetime of l my mother, who is still a ive . With the exception of Queen ri Victo a and Gladstone , they lived through the Napoleonic wars , when the menace of Napoleon foreshadowed the menace of Hitler, and the period of distress which followed . Thus their ni lives have an affi ty with ours . Queen Victoria ’ s reign was not a period of unbroken peace an d plenty, as some of the modern generation suppose . Its early years coincided with acute and widespread misery among a the people, and the list of her wars is formid ble . She was left - a widow at forty two , with nine fatherless children , and the enormous task of governing the British Empire . Gladstone throughout much of his life was engaged in bitter political u controversy, through his endeavour to give Home R le to Ireland . The men and women whose biographies make up this book did m st not live easy lives , though p of them were great and ‘ e r . e powe ful Since they had b n given much , much was required l of them , and , as Disrae i wrote of Queen Victoria , they never quailed . Hence we find Palmerston , when turned eighty, climb ing the tall railings at Brocket to test his strength for the session a u u of P rliament he wo ld never live to see , and Q een Victoria , ’ in u her heart her husband s grave , grappling faithf lly with her colossal destiny . F O R E W O R D The theme of these six lives is summed up in the last verse of the las t chapter of the Book of Daniel : : But go thou thy way till the end be for thou shalt rest, ” and stand in thy lot at the end of the days . F IL . E . BA Y . BIBLIOGRAPHY H merston and er T mes . s . R I E L L OUNT ESS O F . Lad Pal i 2 ol A I L E , MA B C y ( v ) H e r m e V sc t Pa merston. Y E VE L Y . L e o n ohn Te l i oun l ols A SHLE , N if f y J p , (2 v ) mes Y d B acons eld H er T . B I L F . E . La e and i A , y fi Y F E Love Stor o Lad Pa mer ton. BAIL , . The y f y l s ’ E n L a u Chambers s Cyclopaedia of glish iter t re. Maxw l . ls . 1 Cre ve Pa ers . Edi ted b Sir H e b e t e 2 o 0 . C R EE VE Y. The e y p y r r l ( v ) 9 4 r iona Bio ra h Dictionay of Nat l g p y . D RE M RY Catherine G adstone. W , A . l r Years . G L D ST ONE H E RBE RT OHN V ISC OU T . A ter Thi A , ( J ) N f ty M t O RY D RE W D i r rs . di d b L c e G L DST E M MR S. a ies and Lette E te u as A N , A ( ) y y r man . G RE E O R CH RD A Short H is the E i h Peo e. N, J HN I A , tory of ngl s pl RE V I LLE C H RLE S C V E ND ISH FUL KE . D iar s o the Rei Ge e I G , A A ie f gns of org V, W m IV and ueen V ctor a . 8 o s . illia , Q i i ( v l ) P mer G UE D A L LA, PH IL IP . al ston. r E m r H Y R A B R H M . Bio a h al and Criti al sa s e in ted fr i W D ic c s o e ews . A A , A A g p y (r pr v ) Sketches E m nent Statesme and r ters e int fr m (5 vols . ) of i n W i (r pr ed o th e Quarterly Rev iew. ) (2 vols . ) H "L The i Lives their ri d thei s d A IT T , W . C . Lambs : the r , F en s, and r Corre pon ence. r mb ic M H RLE S. The Letters o Cha les La to wh h are added e is LA B , C A f , thos of h M m . b E L i r i d . S ster a La b Ed te V . ucas . ols . , y y (3 v ) ’ ’ L MB H RLE S. On Chri s H os ital a t C r r Bo C st nd he ha acter Ch i H ita s . A , A p of st s osp l y m te L MB C H RLE S. The Co le Works in Prose and V o e La A , A p , erse, f Charl s mb . an r fa . E dited d p e c ed b y R H Shepherd . E H me M LE E L I"BE T . Wives the Pri i i , A of n s ters . SE T MAUG HAM, W. SOME R . The Gentleman in the Parlour. M IS . D . AURO , AND RE israeli ONYP E NNY and BUCKLE L e o D M . if f is raeli . (2 vols . ) "F ORD A ND A S U T H T H E R F i Y . O I E L OF . ear r nt . Q , A fty s of Pa liame (2 vols ) PO SO BY A RT H UR L ORD PONSONBY OF SH ULBR E DE . H nr Po N N , ( ) e y nsonby . E L QU EN V ICT ORIA . etters . uee i i F L o V ctor a urther etters Edited b H tor it . Q n , f . y eE Bol ho UE E V OR Leaves rom the ourna o Our L e the H h an s. Q N ICT IA. f j l f if in ig l d SO ME r R VE LL , D . G . D is aeli and Gladstone. S m . ls . l h The. Pub lished an on ousl 2 o y p , ( y y ) ( v ) T A LF The Works o C tch o OUR D SIR T H OM S NOO . , A N f harles Lamb, with a Ske f (2 vols . ) CONTENTS C H A PT E R V I RI P R R I . QUEEN CTO A, THE E FECT MOTHE F . L D S P R R . W . G II E A TONE, THE E FECT ATHE RD LB R P RF H USB D III . LO ME OU NE, THE E ECT AN L Y L M R R W IV . D P S P I A A E TON, THE E FECT FE R ISR LI P R SIS R . V . S H A A D AE , THE E FECT TE RL B R BR R V I. S M P CHA E LA , THE E FECT OTHE ILLUSTRATIONS QUEEN V ICTORIA A ND PRINCE AL BERT W ITH FI VE O F THEIR CHI LD RE N MR E L D I L D W . G S W T MR S S . G A TONE H . A TONE WIL L I M MB RD LBO UR A LA , LO ME NE E MI LY L D Y P L M RS , A A E TON BENJAMIN DISRAELI CHAR LES A ND MARY LAMB T H E PER FE CT A G E R QUEEN VICTO IA, THE PERFECT MOTHER T H E is r story of Queen Victoria the sto y of Cinderella , with this important difference : we know nothing of Cinderella after i o hi Prince Charm ng prop sed to her , but the romantic story of t Queen Victoria the wife and mother, af er she had proposed to her Prince Charming , as etiquette compelled her to do , is extremely well documented . n She was an unwanted child since , except for dy astic reasons , her father , the Duke of Kent , would never have married .