Queen Victoria, while spending some time on one of her vast domains (which was a favorite with her), she was in the habit of visiting a number of old servants to whom she had given little homes on her estate. She was particularly attached to one of them, an old lady, who had given her long and faithful service in former years. She would go and sit with her and while knitting, they would converse together.
On one occasion, a niece of the old servant stepped in to see her aunt. At the sight of the queen, the young girl felt a little shy, but the former soon made her forget her shyness by her kindly greetings so that she could talk to her without embarrassment. When the time came for the queen to take her departure, she said to the old lady,
“I desire to read with you part of the 14th chapter of John’s gospel.” She herself doing the reading. Then closing the Bible, she looked at the young girl, and said in a soft voice:
“My child, are you a Christian?”
“I certainly am, your Majesty,” was the answer.
“How do you know you are?” continued the queen.
“Well, I was baptized, then confirmed.” “Good, now let us pray together.” So she kneeled and after addressing a fervent petition for the old friend she loved, she said,
“Please, Lord, open the eyes of this young girl so that she may learn that she cannot be a child of Thine until her heart is changed. Help her to see her state of sinfulness before Thee. Direct her gaze toward the cross of Christ, so that she may believe that He gave Himself for her, and may she learn that no external religious practice can save her soul.”
The girl was saved, and the great joy of her life was to tell others of her own salvation. She would say,
“I have often sung, ‘God save the queen’ but I never thought that the queen herself would ask God to save me, and the prayer of that Sovereign was answered.”
ML 01/04/1942