Page:Life of Her Majesty Queen Victoria (IA lifeofhermajesty01fawc).pdf/44

34 galaxy of fair women dressed with all the art that Paris or London could command, and yet she has looked every inch the Queen, and they have looked milliner's advertisements. She has over and over again proved that the saying, "Fine feathers make fine birds," is not universally true.

In those portions of the Queen's Journals which have been published, evidence is not wanting of that pride of race which, if we have interpreted it aright, is the true source of Her Majesty's dignity of bearing. On one of her journeys through the Highlands, General Ponsonby reminded her that the great-great-grandfathers of the men who were showing her every possible mark of loyalty and affection, had lost their heads for trying to dethrone the Queen's great-great-grandfather. "Yes," adds the Queen, "and I feel a sort of reverence in going over these scenes in this most beautiful country which I am proud to call my own, where there was such devoted loyalty to the family of my ancestors; for Stuart blood is in my veins, and I am now their representative, and the people are as devoted and loyal to me as they were to that unhappy race."

Returning to the subject of the influence of the Queen's early education and character, the remarkable degree to which her natural conscientiousness was developed is noticeable in a great variety of directions. Her extreme punctuality is an instance in point. She never wastes the time of others by keeping them waiting for her. Punctuality has been described as "the courtesy of kings," and it is a courtesy in which the Queen is unfailing. Her care for her servants and household is another manifestation of her conscientiousness. Her "Leaves from the Journal of our Life in the Highlands," and the subsequent book, "More Leaves," are full of little touches