beauty, or even sumptuous appointments. The palaces of some of our
Railway Kings more than rival them in some respects, while those of many
of the English nobility are richer in art-treasures and grander in
appearance. Kensington Palace was not beautiful, but it was picturesque
and historic, which was more than could be said of any of the Georgian
structures; there was about it an odor of old royalty, of poetry and
romance. The literature and the beauty of Queen Anne's reign were
especially associated with it. Queen Victoria was, when she left it, at
an age when memories count for little, and doubtless the flitting "_out
of the old house into the new_" was effected merrily enough; but long
afterwards her orphaned and widowed heart must often have gone back
tenderly and yearningly to the scene of many tranquilly happy years with
her mother, and of that first little season of companionship with her
cousin Albert.

Hardly had she got unpacked and settled in her new home when she had to
go through a great parade and ceremony. She went in state to dissolve
Parliament. The weather was fine and the whole route from Buckingham
Palace to the Parliament House was lined with people, shouting and
cheering as the magnificent procession and that brilliant young figure
passed slowly along. A London journal of the time gave the following
glowing account of her as she appeared in the House of Lords: "At 20
minutes to 3 precisely, Her Majesty, preceded by the heralds and attended
by the great officers of state, entered the House--all the Peers and
Peeresses, who had risen at the flourish of the trumpets, remaining
standing. Her Majesty was attired in a splendid white satin robe, with
the ribbon of the Garter crossing her shoulder and a magnificent tiara of
diamonds on her head, and wore a necklace and a stomacher of large and
costly brilliants. Having ascended the throne, the royal mantle of
crimson velvet was placed on Her Majesty's shoulders by the Lords in