.

OLD AGE.
I Meanwhile in Victoria's private life many changes and developments had taken place.

With the marriages of her elder children her family circle widened; grandchildren appeared; and a multitude of new domestic interests sprang up.

The death of King Leopold in 1865 had removed the predominant figure of the older generation, and the functions he had performed as the centre and adviser of a large group of relatives in Germany and in England devolved upon Victoria.

These functions she discharged with unremitting industry, carrying on an enormous correspondence, and following with absorbed interest every detail in the lives of the ever-ramifying cousinhood.