Princess Alice, the second daughter of Queen Victoria, didn’t lead the charmed life of many 19th-century princesses.
After she died, the Times of London wrote:
The humblest of people felt that they had the kinship of nature with a Princess who was the model of family virtue as a daughter, a sister, a wife and a mother.
This is the tragic story of the princess who died from a kiss.
Happy beginnings
Our story begins in England in 1840, when the young Queen Victoria meets the love of her life—a German prince named Albert.
Queen Victorian and Prince Albert, 1840
That they were happy was never in doubt, as Victoria’s own letters and diary entries attest:
Albert is extremely handsome; his hair is about the same colour as mine; his eyes are large and blue, and he has a beautiful nose and a very sweet mouth with fine teeth; but the charm of his countenance is his expression, which is most delightful.Victoria
On the evening of their wedding day, 10 February 1840, Victoria wrote:
I NEVER, NEVER spent such an evening!!! MY DEAREST DEAREST DEAR Albert … his excessive love & affection gave me feelings of heavenly love & happiness I never could have hoped to have felt before! He clasped me in his arms, & we kissed each other again & again! His beauty, his sweetness & gentleness – really how can I ever be thankful enough to have such a Husband! … to be called by names of tenderness, I have never yet heard used to me before – was bliss beyond belief! Oh! This was the happiest day of my life!
With such a match made in heaven, one would imagine all of Victoria’s children living charmed, blissful lives.
But fate had other plans.
Favorite name
The first of nine children—also named Victoria—arrived on 21 November, 1840.
But it was the arrival of their third child and second daughter, Alice on 25 April 1843, where our story starts to unfold.
Alice was named in honour of Victoria’s first Prime Minister and mentor, Lord Melbourne, who had said the name “Alice” was his favorite for a girl
Princess Alice of Great Britain in 18th-Century Costume by Franz Xavier Winterhalter, 1845
Princess Alice by Franz Xavier Winterhalter, 1859
A happy day tinged with sadness
At the suggestion of her older sister, Victoria, she became engaged to a handsome German Prince, Louis of Hesse, in April of 1861.
Princess Alice and Louis of Hesse, 1860
They planned to marry on 1 July the following year.
But six months before the wedding, tragedy struck.
Princess Alice in 1861
On 14 December 1861, her father, Prince Albert, died.
Despite her mother’s grief and the royal family still being in deep mourning, the wedding went ahead as planned.
But although Alice wore a white dress for the ceremony, she had to wear black mourning clothes before and after.
Unlike her sister Victoria, who would become Queen of Prussia through her marriage to German Emperor Frederick III, Alice’s home in the little city of Darmstadt, Hesse, in what is now Germany, was far more modest.
The Prince and Princess Louis of Hesse by John Jabez Edwin Mayall, 1863
Although Queen Victoria expected a new palace would be built for the newlyweds, the people of Darmstadt had different ideas.
So Louis and Alice settled on a house in Darmstadt’s “Old Quarter”, overlooking the street.
Rumbling carts and street noise could be heard through the thin walls, but Alice liked her surroundings and started taking painting lessons from a local artist.
The Hessian family in May 1875 (clockwise from far left)—Ella, Grand Duke Ludwig holding Marie, Alice, Victoria, Irene, Ernie and Alix in the center
Alice’s compassion for the suffering of others was well-known within the royal family.
When her grandmother fell ill from a severe infection, Alice nursed and comforted her in her final hours—just as she had done for her father.
Albert, Prince Consort, on his deathbed at Windsor Castle, with members of the royal family and the royal household in attendance, 14 December 1861. Credit Wellcome Images
And Alice was there to comfort her distraught mother, becoming her unofficial secretary for the next six months.
When war broke out between Austria and Prussia and her husband had to join the conflict on the side of Austria, she dutifully went to work making bandages for troops and preparing hospitals, despite being pregnant with her third child.
A fateful fall
It wasn’t long before more painful tragedy would befall Alice.
In 1873, her youngest and favourite son Friedrich, called “Frittie”, died after falling from a window.
Little Frittie’s hemophilia meant that bleeding from his internal wounds could not be stopped.
Alice never recovered from his death.
Beside herself with grief, she wrote to her mother, Queen Victoria, for some solace.
I feel lower and sadder than ever and miss him so much, so continually.
But it was a time of anxiety for the Queen. She was not to be disturbed.
Victoria was trying to pair her son Prince Alfred with the Russian Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna, but the Russians had refused to send her to England for “pre-marriage inspection”.
Instead, they invited Queen Victoria to meet the family in Germany, which Alice thought was a wonderful idea.
Lesson #1: timing was everything when dealing with Queen Victoria, no matter who you were.
Her mother sent a scathing letter:
You have entirely taken the Russian side, and I do not think, dear child, that you should tell me … what I ought to do.
So much for seeking comfort.
The Kiss of Death
Alice dedicated herself to Ernest, her only surviving son, and her newborn daughter Marie.
But she suffered ill health from the stresses of her duties and retreated to Balmoral Castle hoping the fresh air of Scotland would help her recover.
Balmoral Castle, Scotland. Late 19th century
Shortly after her return in November of 1878, a diphtheria epidemic swept through Darmstadt and hit the royal household hard.
All of her children except Elisabeth, who was staying with her paternal grandmother, became infected, as did her husband.
So swift was the disease once it had taken hold, that when Alice was called to the bedside of her daughter Marie, by the time she arrived, Marie had already choked to death.
Highly contagious, the family had to be contained in separate bedrooms, and Alice kept the news of Marie’s death from her children for several weeks.
Until one day in December, when she knew she had to break the awful news to her son, Ernest.
Devastated, Ernest refused to believe it and sobbed uncontrollably.
At that moment, the hand of fate dealt Alice a life-threatening blow.
Out of concern for Ernest’s grief, she comforted him with a kiss.
At first, nothing happened.
She met her sister as she was passing through Darmstadt on her way to England, and even wrote a more cheerful letter to her mother.
Then on 14 December—the exact date of her father Albert’s death—the symptoms of diphtheria took hold and extinguished her life.
Her last words were “Dear Papa”.
Why is fate so cruel? And why do the nicest, warmest, and kindest people suffer?
It is one of life’s great mysteries.
What history teaches us is that we are never alone in our grief—many others have come before us.
We are all connected through time.
Alice memorial at St-Ludwig church, Darmstadt, Germany
In 1851, Great Britain stood at the very pinnacle of industrial and cultural leadership of the world.
But running in parallel was an undercurrent of class inequality, a fear of foreigners, and a contempt for internationalism.
Against this backdrop, Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert organized the first world’s fair as a means to unite nations and encourage economic growth through international trade.
The first of many to come, the Great Exhibition was the symbol of Victorian progress and modernization.
Here are 10 fascinating facts about the Great Exhibition of 1851.
1. The Great Exhibition was a showcase for British pride
Although the Great Exhibition was a platform for countries from around the world to display their own achievements, Britain’s primary concern was to promote its own superiority.
British exhibits held the lead in almost every field where strength, durability, utility and quality were concerned, whether in iron and steel, machinery, or textiles.
It was thought foreign visitors would look positively upon British accomplishments, customs, and institutions—learning more in the six months during the exhibition than the prior thirty-six years since the fall of Napoleon.
The Opening of the Great Exhibition by Queen Victoria on 1 May 1851 by Henry Courtney Selous, 1852
Great Britain also wanted to instill optimism and the hope for a better future.
Following two difficult decades of political and social upheaval in Europe, Great Britain hoped to convey that technology—particularly its own—was the key to a better future.
Despite being an advocate for internationalism, Prince Albert’s main objective was predominantly a national one—for Great Britain to make clear to the world its role as industrial leader.
Even so, some saw the rise of a new industrial power—one that would threaten Britain’s dominance in years to come.
With the industrial revolution well underway in the United States, the Great Exhibition was an opportunity for the former British colony to show its machines, products, and agricultural wealth on the world stage.
Unavoidably compared to Great Britain, many looked favorably on the United States’ offerings.
2. The Great Exhibition was a symbol of the Victorian Age
From the 1850’s onward, the term “Victorianism” became popular for describing the strength, bullish superiority, and pride of an ever-improving Britain.
Technology and moving machinery proved popular, as did working exhibits like the entire process of cotton production from spinning to finished cloth.
Drawing attention from the curious-minded were scientific instruments, the like of which most people had never seen before, including electric telegraphs, microscopes, air pumps and barometers, as well as musical, horological, and surgical instruments.
Queen Victoria previewed the exhibition the day before the official opening and wrote in her journal “We saw beautiful china from Minton’s factory and beautiful designs”.
The combination of glazed and decorated bone china with unglazed Parian figures was praised by the Great Exhibition jury for its ‘original design, high degree of beauty and harmony of effect’.
Queen Victoria purchased a 116 piece ‘Victoria pierced’ dessert service in bleu celeste at the Great Exhibition.
She was overwhelmed by the spectacular service with allegorical figure supports modelled by Pierre-Emile Jeannest.
3. The Crystal Palace was purpose-built to house the Great Exhibition
Drawing on his experience building greenhouses for the Duke of Devonshire, architect Joseph Paxton designed the largest greenhouse in the world—so spacious was its interior that it fully enclosed some of Hyde Park’s own trees.
The Crystal Palace was an enormous success, considered an architectural marvel, but also an engineering triumph that reflected the importance of the Exhibition itself.
The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park for Grand International Exhibition of 1851
William Makepeace Thackeray (1811 – 1863)
In the lead-up to the momentous Great Exhibition of 1851, William Makepeace Thackeray’s “May-Day Ode” appeared in The Times, its verses echoing through London’s streets like a triumphant fanfare. Published just one day prior to the opening ceremony, the poem served as more than just an ode to architectural innovation and colonial might.
As though ’twere by a wizard’s rod As blazing arch of lucid glass Leaps like a fountain from the grass To meet the sun.
Thackeray’s lyrical brushstrokes painted the Crystal Palace not just as a testament to human ingenuity, but as a sacred space touched by the divine, bathed in the ethereal light of God’s grace. This literary offering stood as a potent symbol of Britain’s ambition, showcasing not only its industrial prowess and imperial reach, but also its enduring cultural and artistic influence. Open entire poem in a popup window:
May-Day Ode
Lasting six months, the average daily attendance at the exhibition was 42,831, with a peak attendance of 109,915 on 7 October.
One third of the entire population of Britain visited the Great Exhibition.
Whilst the western half of the building was occupied with exhibits by Great Britain and her colonies and dependencies, the eastern half was filled with foreign exhibits, with their names inscribed on banners suspended over the various divisions.
Victorian A-list celebrities: Charles Darwin, George Eliot, Charlotte Bronte, Lewis Carroll, Charles Dickens, Alfred Lord Tennyson
Charlotte Brontë described her visit:
Yesterday I went for the second time to the Crystal Palace. We remained in it about three hours, and I must say I was more struck with it on this occasion than at my first visit. It is a wonderful place …
Read more …
… vast, strange, new and impossible to describe. Its grandeur does not consist in one thing, but in the unique assemblage of all things. Whatever human industry has created you find there, from the great compartments filled with railway engines and boilers, with mill machinery in full work, with splendid carriages of all kinds, with harness of every description, to the glass-covered and velvet-spread stands loaded with the most gorgeous work of the goldsmith and silversmith, and the carefully guarded caskets full of real diamonds and pearls worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. It may be called a bazaar or a fair, but it is such a bazaar or fair as Eastern genii might have created. It seems as if only magic could have gathered this mass of wealth from all the ends of the earth – as if none but supernatural hands could have arranged it this, with such a blaze and contrast of colours and marvellous power of effect. The multitude filling the great aisles seems ruled and subdued by some invisible influence. Amongst the thirty thousand souls that peopled it the day I was there not one loud noise was to be heard, not one irregular movement seen; the living tide rolls on quietly, with a deep hum like the sea heard from the distance.
6. The Great Exhibition broke through class barriers
Ever present in Victorian society was the nagging guilt that this age of individualism, capitalism, and overwhelming self-confidence could not be embraced by all.
Crushing poverty ran concurrent with enormous wealth.
But Prince Albert was not oblivious to the plight of the poor and was determined to make the Great Exhibition accessible to all.
Ticket prices came down dramatically as the exhibition progressed—in today’s equivalent, prices varied from £311 for a season ticket to about £5 for one day.
Thus even the working classes could afford to attend —four and half million of the cheapest day tickets were sold.
A rank in which no aristocratic distinctions were observed from the doors of the Crystal Palace to the very centre of the Metropolis. The proudest equipage of the peer was obliged to fall in behind the humblest fly or the ugliest Henson; there being no privileged order but the order of arrival.Punch, vol.1, 1851, 190.
7. The world’s largest diamond had its own exhibit
The Koh-i-Noor, meaning the “Mountain of Light,” was the world’s largest known diamond in 1851.
One of the most popular attractions of the India exhibit, it was acquired in 1850 as part of the Lahore Treaty.
Dazzling and bewildering, the prismatically separated light of the Koh-i-Noor diamond was a metaphor for the Crystal Palace as a whole.
The eye is completely dazzled by the rich variety of hues which burst upon it on every side.Art Journal Illustrated Catalogue, 1851.
Originally thought to weigh as much as 793 carats, the earliest recorded weight was 186 carats, from which Prince Albert ordered it cut down to 105.6 carats so as to give the much brighter, oval-cut appearance preferred by Victorians—and fit for his Queen.
Today, the Koh-i-Noor diamond is set into The Queen Mother’s Crown and housed in the Tower of London.
The Koh-i-Noor Diamond ‘mountain of light’. Credit Ji Ruan, flickr
8. The Great Exhibition was a great success, but was not without controversy
Just as today, there were naysayers who thought the Great Exhibition would be a flop.
Some people feared that in the face of grinding poverty, the building would be gutted by a revolutionary mob.
The folly and absurdity of the Queen in allowing this trumpery must strike every sensible and well-thinking mind, and I am astonished the ministers themselves do not insist on her at least going to Osborne during the Exhibition, as no human being can possibly answer for what may occur on the occasion. The idea … must shock every honest and well-meaning Englishman. But it seems everything is conspiring to lower us in the eyes of Europe.King Ernest Augustus I of Hanover
But the Great Exhibition of 1851 demonstrated the wisdom of internationalism at a time of widespread isolationism in Europe.
Its success inspired Napoleon III to open the second World’s Fair in Paris in 1855 and to hold some of the world’s grandest, including the Exposition Universelle 1889, for which the Eiffel Tower was built as a grand entrance.
By the time of the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, attitudes had progressed even further by focusing not on nationalistic prowess, but on the history of the world and its peoples.
9. The profits funded three of London’s most loved museums
Built in the area to the south of the exhibition and nicknamed ‘Albertopolis’, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Science Museum and the Natural History Museum were all founded using the surplus profit from the Great Exhibition which amounted to a sum equal to £18 million in today’s money.
Even with the cost of these beautiful buildings, there was enough money left over to set up a trust for grants and scholarships for industrial research that continues to this day.
Victoria and Albert Museum. Credit Nick Garrod, flickr
Inside The Natural History Museum, London. Credit Gene Krasko
The Modern World gallery in the science museum, london. Credit Geni
10. The Crystal Palace was destroyed by fire in 1936
After the Great Exhibition had come to a close, plans were drawn up to move the entire Crystal Palace structure to a new location in the suburbs of south-east London.
In 1852, the building went into private ownership and was moved to Sydenham, Kent.
Completely dismantled and re-built in the new Beaux-arts style, the greatly enlarged Crystal Palace was opened by Queen Victoria in 1854.
Costing six times as much to move as the original palace had cost to build, it became an extravagant money pit and the owners quickly fell into debt.
Unlike the unmitigated success of the Great Exhibition, the new Crystal Palace was plagued with financial woes.
Although Sunday was the only free day for the working classes, religious observance prevented the palace from opening.
Even when the palace did start to open on Sundays, people had largely lost interest and attendance was low.
Crystal Palace Fire of 1936
Falling into a state of disrepair, and despite a restoration project by Sir Henry Buckland in the 1920s, tragedy struck on 30 November, 1936.
In a few hours we have seen the end of the Crystal Palace. Yet it will live in the memories not only of Englishmen, but the whole world.Sir Henry Buckland.
100,000 people came to watch the blaze, as 89 fire engines and over 400 firemen fought valiantly through the night.
One of the onlookers was Winston Churchill, who said, “this is the end of an age”.
Growing up in the popular Victorian family seaside resort of Great Yarmouth, England, it might have been happy childhood memories that helped Charles Burton Barber become such a successful Victorian artist of children and pets.
Such was the high regard for his skill, that in 1883 Barber was elected a member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters—the only art society dedicated to the Victorian artist specializing in oils.
Victorian-era Great Yarmouth, England
His particular talent was for sentimental portraits of dogs, which helped win royal commissions from animal-lover Queen Victoria.
Barber succeeded Sir Edwin Landseer as the Queen’s court painter. One of his most renowned works is of Marco—a beautiful Pomeranian she bought on a trip to Florence, Italy, in 1888.
Marco on the Queen’s Breakfast Table by Charles Burton Barber, 1893
The next two paintings, “In Disgrace” and “A Special Pleader”, are two of Victorian artist Barber’s most famous works.
You may notice something similar—it’s the same little girl wiping her tears, having been sent to stand in the corner for naughty behavior.
In each painting, Barber captures the special relationship between dogs and humans. The little puppy is sharing her punishment, while the border collie appears to be pleading with her parents to forgive her.
In Disgrace by Charles Burton Barber
Demand for Barber’s work is reflected in auction prices. In Disgrace fetched $639,964 at Christie’s in 2007, with A Special Pleader having been sold for $442,500 ten years earlier.
A Special Pleader by Charles Burton Barber, 1893A Little Girl And Her Sheltie by Charles Burton Barber
Painting animals with human-like expressions was a popular style for the Victorian artist.
Barber knew how to not only convey expressions like excitement, longing, sadness, and protection, but also to render them in a more natural, animal-like way.
The New Whip by Charles Burton Barber
A Monster by Charles Burton Barber, 1866The Rivals by Charles Burton BarberNot Much Wrong by Charles Burton BarberThe Little Baker With Her Two Assistants by Charles Burton BarberA Mischievous Puppy by Charles Burton Barber, 1886
The Hiding Place by Charles Burton Barber, 1891Off to School by Charles Burton Barber, 1883
The painting “Suspense” shown below was owned by rival soap manufacturers Pears and Lever Brothers. It depicts a beautiful young girl saying grace over breakfast with her pet cat and Jack Russell gazing longingly at the feast before her.
Suspense by Charles Burton BarberBlond and Brunette by Charles Burton Barber, 1879
Coaxing Is Better by Charles Burton BarberTrust by Charles Burton Barber, 1888No ride today by Charles Burton BarberGirl with Dogs by Charles Burton Barber, 1893The Two Invalids by Charles Burton Barber
The Broken String by Charles Burton BarberI am higher! by Charles Burton BarberThe New Keeper by Charles Burton Barber, 1888A Scratch Pack by Charles Burton BarberTime to Wake Up by Charles Burton Barber, 1883Lost Chance by Charles Burton BarberSweethearts by Charles Burton Barber, 1890
Queen Victoria’s grandfather, George III, was the first of the Hanoverian line to be born in England.
So enamored was George with England that he never once stepped foot out of it.
But spending so much time building a family may have had something to do with that.
George III, Queen Charlotte and their Six Eldest Children by Johan Zoffany, 1770
Fifteen children—nine sons and six daughters—were the result of George’s union with the German Princess, Charlotte Sophia.
With such a large family, George and Charlotte were confident of securing a line of succession.
But fate had other plans.
The Succession Crisis
George, Prince Regent and Prince of Wales; later George IV by Thomas Lawrence, 1816
Following recurrent mental illness in 1810, King George III was deemed unfit to rule.
In a period called the British Regency (1810 – 1820), the King’s son George, the Prince of Wales, ruled in his proxy.
And in 1817, Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales, the only child of the Prince Regent died giving birth to a stillborn son, creating a succession crisis.
Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales, heiress presumptive of the British crown, 1817
The Marriage Mission
The situation in 1817 was quite unusual.
At the time, George III’s reign was the longest in English history.
Of his seven sons who survived into adulthood, three were middle-aged bachelors, and the four who were married were childless.
Three of his five daughters were married with no children and two were elderly spinsters.
And so the succession spotlight fell on the three unmarried sons.
The third son, William, Duke of Clarence, was 52 years old; the fourth son Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, was 50; and Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge was 43.
Their mission, which they accepted, was to marry without delay.
Wedding followed wedding in rapid succession.
First up the aisle was Adolphus, the Duke of Cambridge on May 7, 1818. Next was Edward, Duke of Kent, on May 29.
By June 11, all three had dutifully wed German princesses as their custom dictated.
Meet the Parents
Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn bu William Beechey, 1818
At the time of his marriage, Edward’s career had been far from glittering.
His military service ended when, as Governor of Gibraltar, he roused a mutiny among the troops.
At age 36 and without employment, he retired for a time to the leafy London suburb of Ealing.
As a boy, his German tutor kept him so short of pocket-money that he developed a lifelong habit of accumulating debt.
For a time, he even had to seek asylum in Belgium from an army of creditors.
But all that changed with the succession crisis.
His bride was the 32-year-old widow Mary Louisa Victoria, commonly known as Victoria.
She was the youngest of eight children of Francis Frederick Antony, the reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Saalfeld.
Portrait of Victoria, Duchess of Kent by Richard Rothwell, 1832
Mary Louisa Victoria’s life was clouded by superstitions from the moment she was born.
Her birth coincided with the death of Frederick the Great, the King of Prussia.
So enamored were the Prussian people with their king that they nicknamed him “Old Fritz”.
This completely overshadowed Mary Louisa Victoria’s birth, which from that day forward would be a day of mourning for Fritz instead of a celebration of her arrival.
Last of the Hanoverians
Whether or not the alliance of the Duke of Kent and his spouse Princess Victoria would have taken place under less urgent circumstances, it created the longest-reigning monarch in British history—Queen Victoria—surpassed only by the present Queen Elizabeth II.
Victoria was born on May 24, 1819, and christened Alexandrina after Alexander I of Russia, and Victoria after her mother.
The duchess of Kent with her daughter, the future queen Victoria by Henry Bone, 1825
Known as the Victorian Era, Queen Victoria’s reign of 63 years and seven months was a period of industrial, cultural, political, scientific, and military growth in the United Kingdom and the British Empire.
Victoria was the last of the Hanoverian line in Britain. Her son and successor, Edward VII, belonged to the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the line of his father.
Portrait of Queen Victoria by Franz Xaver Winterhalter, 1859
A Fun Quiz
Know your Queen Victoria history? Have a go at our quiz …
Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield (1804 – 1881), was twice the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during Queen Victoria’s reign.
He is remembered for his influential voice in world affairs, associating the Conservative party with the glory and power of the British Empire.
And he was the favorite Prime Minister of Queen Victoria, who told her oldest daughter,
“The present man will do well. He is very peculiar … but very clever and sensible … He is full of poetry, romance and chivalry. When he knelt down to kiss my hand, he said ‘In loving loyalty and faith.'”
Here are 10 timeless nuggets of wisdom from Benjamin Disraeli—as relevant today as they were during Queen Victoria’s reign and long before.
The first is my favorite Disraeli quote that finds a happy balance between optimism and pessimism. We know things can go wrong, but if we prepare for that, we can maintain an optimistic view of life.
Hope
Benjamin Disraeli by H Lenthall, c. 1870
Change
There is nothing more certain than change. Technological change is particularly apparent in our modern age. Disraeli witnessed huge advances in technology and industrialization during the Victorian Era. Just as we accept a change in the weather and prepare accordingly, if we accept change in our lives and prepare as Disraeli suggests, we can manage and deal with change more effectively (Amazon affiliate link).
Travel helps open our minds to diversity. The world is full of different lands, different architecture, different foods, different people. Travel helps us realize that although we are all different, we are all uniquely important.
The Travelling Companions by Augustus Leopold Egg – 1862
Heroes
Disraeli’s advice on how to be a hero—believe you can do it. Belief in ourselves and our ability to do great things is a prerequisite to being one of life’s heroes.
It pays to dream big—many of the world’s most successful people started with a big dream.
Florence Nightingale, Wellcome Trust
Knowledge
“The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.”
—Socrates
When we realize we don’t have all the facts, we’re prompted to discover them. With today’s web and search technologies, it’s much easier and faster to find information that helps us arrive at the facts and increase our knowledge.
Still life with books by L. Block (1848-1901)
Audacity
One of the greatest examples of audacity was Washington’s crossing of the Delaware River during the American Revolutionary War in 1776.
Despite bad weather and icy, treacherous water, Washington led a column of Continental Army troops to a surprise victory against the Hessian forces at the Battle of Trenton.
Washington’s audacity turned the tide for the Continental Army that only a week earlier was on the verge of collapse. It inspired soldiers to serve longer and attracted new recruits.
Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emanuel Leutze, MMA-NYC, 1851
Criticism
It’s human nature to be critical. Churchill thought that although criticism is unpleasant, it is necessary.
American writer Elbert Hubbard found a solution for avoiding criticism: “do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing”.
But not all criticism is fair, warranted, or justified. Disraeli’s words strike at the heart of the extra care needed for constructive criticism—to improve an outcome by offering valid and well-reasoned options in a friendly manner.
Escaping Criticism by Pere Borrell del Caso, 1874
Courage
Where courage is the strength to face our fears, bullying is a smokescreen to hide them.
Disraeli advocated courage, not bullying. As a child, he struggled against antisemitism, but his courage and pride in his Jewish heritage saved him from humiliation.
Courage is Half the Battle by John Henry Dolph (American, 1835 – 1903)
Conduct
Disraeli suffered defeat and loss in his life through circumstance, but he never felt bitter or unfriendly to those who rejected him. He swallowed his pride and kept the characteristically British “stiff upper lip”.
Exemplary behavior by Horatio Henry Couldery (United Kingdom, 1832 – 1893)
Love
Disraeli reminds us that the most powerful force on earth is love. It is what gives life its purpose and its continuity.
Mother and Child in an Interior by Peter Ilsted – 1898
Recommended books on Disraeli’s nuggets of wisdom:
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But yesterday a naked sod The dandies sneered from Rotten Row, And cantered o’er it to and fro: And see ’tis done! As though ’twere by a wizard’s rod A blazing arch of lucid glass Leaps like a fountain from the grass To meet the sun!
A quiet green but few days since, With cattle browsing in the shade: And here are lines of bright arcade In order raised! A palace as for fairy Prince, A rare pavilion, such as man Saw never since mankind began, And built and glazed!
A peaceful place it was but now, And lo! within its shining streets A multitude of nations meets; A countless throng I see beneath the crystal bow, And Gaul and German, Russ and Turk, Each with his native handiwork And busy tongue.
I felt a thrill of love and awe To mark the different garb of each, The changing tongue, the various speech Together blent: A thrill, methinks, like His who saw ‘All people dwelling upon earth Praising our God with solemn mirth And one consent.’
High Sovereign, in your Royal state, Captains, and chiefs, and councillors, Before the lofty palace doors Are open set,— Hush ere you pass the shining gate: Hush! ere the heaving curtain draws, And let the Royal pageant pause A moment yet.
People and prince a silence keep! Bow coronet and kingly crown. Helmet and plume, bow lowly down, The while the priest, Before the splendid portal step, (While still the wondrous banquet stays,) From Heaven supreme a blessing prays Upon the feast.
Then onwards let the triumph march; Then let the loud artillery roll, And trumpets ring, and joy-bells toll, And pass the gate. Pass underneath the shining arch, ‘Neath which the leafy elms are green; Ascend unto your throne, O Queen! And take your state.
Behold her in her Royal place; A gentle lady; and the hand That sways the sceptre of this land, How frail and weak! Soft is the voice, and fair the face: She breathes amen to prayer and hymn; No wonder that her eyes are dim, And pale her cheek.
This moment round her empire’s shores The winds of Austral winter sweep, And thousands lie in midnight sleep At rest to-day. Oh! awful is that crown of yours, Queen of innumerable realms Sitting beneath the budding elms Of English May!
A wondrous scepter ’tis to bear: Strange mystery of God which set Upon her brow yon coronet,— The foremost crown Of all the world, on one so fair! That chose her to it from her birth, And bade the sons of all the earth To her bow down.
The representatives of man Here from the far Antipodes, And from the subject Indian seas, In Congress meet; From Afric and from Hindustan, From Western continent and isle, The envoys of her empire pile Gifts at her feet;
Our brethren cross the Atlantic tides, Loading the gallant decks which once Roared a defiance to our guns, With peaceful store; Symbol of peace, their vessel rides!* O’er English waves float Star and Stripe, And firm their friendly anchors gripe The father shore!
From Rhine and Danube, Rhone and Seine, As rivers from their sources gush, The swelling floods of nations rush, And seaward pour: From coast to coast in friendly chain, With countless ships we bridge the straits, And angry ocean separates Europe no more.
From Mississippi and from Nile— From Baltic, Ganges, Bosphorous, In England’s ark assembled thus Are friend and guest. Look down the mighty sunlit aisle, And see the sumptuous banquet set, The brotherhood of nations met. Around the feast!
Along the dazzling colonnade, Far as the straining eye can gaze, Gleam cross and fountain, bell and vase, In vistas bright; And statues fair of nymph and maid, And steeds and pards and Amazons, Writhing and grappling in the bronze, In endless fight.
To deck the glorious roof and dome, To make the Queen a canopy, The peaceful hosts of industry Their standards bear. Yon are the works of Brahmin loom; On such a web of Persian thread The desert Arab bows his head And cries his prayer.
Look yonder where the engines toil: These England’s arms of conquest are, The trophies of her bloodless war: Brave weapons these. Victorians over wave and soil, With these she sails, she weaves, she tills, Pierces the everlasting hills And spans the seas.
The engine roars upon its race, The shuttle whirs the woof, The people hum from floor to roof, With Babel tongue. The fountain in the basin plays, The chanting organ echoes clear, An awful chorus ’tis to hear, A wondrous song!
Swell, organ, swell your trumpet blast, March, Queen and Royal pageant, march By splendid aisle and springing arch Of this fair Hall: And see! above the fabric vast, God’s boundless Heaven is bending blue, God’s peaceful sunlight’s beaming through, And shines o’er all.
Travel
Florence Nightingale, Wellcome Trust
Still life with books by L. Block (1848-1901)
Escaping Criticism by Pere Borrell del Caso, 1874
Courage is Half the Battle by John Henry Dolph (American, 1835 – 1903)
Exemplary behavior by Horatio Henry Couldery (United Kingdom, 1832 – 1893)
Mother and Child in an Interior by Peter Ilsted – 1898
