Thomas Carlyle Quotes
Poor little queen. She is at an age at which a girl can hardly be entrusted to choose a bonnet for herself, yet a task is laid upon her from which an archangel might shrink.
Thomas Carlyle, 1795-1881, Scottish essayist and historian, Member of Parliament, Written as the Young Queen Victoria ascended to the throne, Quoted on PBS Victoria, June 19, 2012
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She was 18 years old at the time. She was England’s longest reigning monarch and a model studied by other monarchs, the world over.
The Princess was Victoria who was to become the Sovereign of England but at the time was only 11 years old. The Duchess was her mother and guardian and responsible for her upbringing and education. However, note that because a future sovereign was involved, the official Church of England was required by the existing law to provide oversight to her upbringing, and this memo was one of the Duchess’s periodic report to the Church. Also it is interesting that this young princess, destined to be the most powerful person in the world at the time, was brought up to “live for others” and not to be pompous or dazzled with power. The Duchess did a terrific job because not only was Victoria to reign over the British Empire for 62 years, but Queen Victoria is regarded by many historians as one of the best, if not the best, monarch who ever reigned anywhere.
Thomas Carlyle was a Scottish historian, satirical writer, essayist, translator, philosopher, mathematician, and teacher. In his book On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and The Heroic in History (1841), he argued that the actions of the "Great Man" play a key role in history, claiming that "the history of the world is but the biography of great men". Other major works include The French Revolution: A History, 3 vols (1837) and The History of Friedrich II of Prussia, Called Frederick the Great, 6 vols (1858–65).
