And it ought to be so; we ought to pay for Isabella's
jewels.
The names of nations are feminine--Religion, Virtue and Victory are
feminine. To those who have a superstition, as to outward reigns, it
is not without significance that the name of the queen of our
motherland should at this crisis be Victoria,--Victoria the First.
Perhaps to us it may be given to disclose the era thus outwardly
presaged.
Another Isabella too at this time ascends the throne. Might she open a
new world to her sex! But, probably, these poor little women are,
least of any, educated to serve as examples or inspirers for the rest.
The Spanish queen is younger; we know of her that she sprained her
foot the other day, dancing in her private apartments; of Victoria,
that she reads aloud, in a distinct voice and agreeable manner, her
addresses to Parliament on certain solemn days, and, yearly, that she
presents to the nation some new prop of royalty. These ladies have,
very likely, been trained more completely to the puppet life than any
other. The queens, who have been queens indeed, were trained by
adverse circumstances to know the world around them and their own
powers.
It is moving, while amusing, to read of the Scottish peasant measuring
the print left by the queen's foot as she walks, and priding himself
on its beauty.
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