Chapter X (6)

I think I have now reported to you correctly the two occurrences which of late have added so much to my antecedent suspicions and fears. Permit me to join to this a few general considerations which, from the nature of the recited incidents alone, and without the slightest intervention of any other cause, must have presented themselves to my mind. The first is, that I derive from the events related quite ground enough for concluding that the danger I dread is great and imminent, and that, if ill luck is to have its will, no human power can prevent an explosion for a day, or even for an hour. The second is the contemplation--what state will the Queen be placed in by such a catastrophe? That in my position, portraying to myself all the consequences of such a possibility, I look chiefly to the Queen, needs hardly, I trust, an excuse.... Can you hope that the Queen's character will ever recover from a shock received by a collision with Peel, upon such a cause? Pray illustrate to yourself this particular question by taking a purely political and general survey of the time and period we live in at this moment. In doing so must you not admit that all England is agreed that the Tories must have another trial, and that there is a decided desire in the nation that it should be a fair one? Would you have it said that Sir Robert Peel failed in his trial, merely because the Queen alone was not fair to him, and that principally you had aided her in the game of dishonesty? And can you hope that this game can be played with security, even for a short time only, when a person has means of looking into your cards whom you yourself have described to me some years ago as a most passionate, giddy, imprudent and dangerous woman? I am sure beforehand that your loyalty and devotion has nothing to oppose to the force of my exposition. There are, however, some other and minor reasons which ought likewise to be considered before you come to the determination of trusting entirely to possibilities and chance. For the results of your deliberation you will have to come to will in their working and effects go beyond yourself, and must affect two other persons. These will have a right to expect that your decision will not be taken regardless of that position, which accidental circumstances have assigned to them, in an affair the fate of which is placed entirely within your discretion. This is an additional argument why you should deliberate very conscientiously. A mistake of yours in this respect might by itself produce fresh difficulties and have a complicating and perplexing retro effect upon the existing ones; because both, seeing that they must be sufferers in the end, may begin to look only to their own safety, and become inclined to refuse that passive obedience which till now constitutes the vehicle of your hazardous enterprize.

Approaching the conclusion of this letter, I beg to remind you of a conversation I had with you on the same subject in South Street, the 25th of last month.[157] Though you did not avow it then in direct words, I could read from your countenance and manner that you assented in your head and heart to all I had said, and in particular to the advice I volunteered at the end of my speech. At that time I pointed out to you a period when I thought a decisive step ought to be taken on your part. This period seems to me to have arrived. Placing unreserved confidence into your candour and manliness, I remain, for ever, very faithfully yours,

STOCKMAR.

[Footnote 156: Librarian and German Secretary to Prince
Albert.]

[Footnote 157: _Ante_, pp. 352-3. (Ch. X, 'Stockmar and Melbourne')]

[Pageheading: MELBOURNE'S REPLY]

_Viscount Melbourne to Baron Stockmar._

_24th November 1841._

(_Half-past 10_ P.M.)

MY DEAR BARON,--I have just received your letter; I think it unnecessary to detain your messenger. I will write to you upon the subject and send it through Anson. Yours faithfully,

MELBOURNE.

[Pageheading: THE HEIR APPARENT]

_Queen Victoria to the King of the Belgians._

BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _29th November 1841._

MY DEAREST UNCLE,--I have to thank you for four most kind letters, of the 4th, 6th, 19th and 26th; the last I received yesterday. I would have written sooner, had I not been a little bilious, which made me very low, and not in spirits to write. The weather has been so exceedingly relaxing, that it made me at the end of the fortnight quite bilious, and this, you know, affects the spirits. I am much better, but they think that I shall not get my appetite and spirits back till I can get out of town; we are therefore going in a week at latest. I am going for a drive this morning, and am certain it will do me good. In all _essentials_, I am better, if possible, than last year. Our little boy[158] is a wonderfully strong and large child, with very large dark blue eyes, a finely formed but somewhat large nose, and a pretty little mouth; I _hope_ and _pray_ he may be like his dearest Papa. He is to be called _Albert_, and Edward is to be his second name. Pussy, dear child, is still _the_ great pet amongst us all, and is getting so fat and strong again.

I beg my most affectionate love to dearest Louise and the dear children. The Queen-Dowager is recovering wonderfully.

I beg you to forgive this letter being so badly written, but my feet are being rubbed, and as I have got the box on which I am writing on my knee, it is not easy to write quite straight--but you must _not_ think my hand trembles. Ever your devoted Niece,

VICTORIA R.

Pussy is _not_ at all pleased with her brother.

[Footnote 158: His Majesty King Edward VII., born 9th
November.]

[Pageheading: THE INFANT PRINCE]

_Viscount Melbourne to Queen Victoria._

TRENTHAM, _1st December 1841._

Lord Melbourne presents his humble duty to your Majesty, and has had the honour of receiving here your Majesty's letters of yesterday, by which he learns with sincere pleasure and satisfaction that your Majesty is so much recovered as to go to Windsor on so early a day as your Majesty names. Lord Melbourne hears with great concern that your Majesty has been suffering under depression and lowness of spirits.... Lord Melbourne well knows how to feel for those who suffer under it, especially as he has lately had much of it himself.

Lord Melbourne is much rejoiced to hear so good an account of the Heir Apparent and of the Princess Royal, and feels himself greatly obliged by the information respecting the intended names and the sponsors. Lord Melbourne supposes that your Majesty has determined yourself upon the relative position of the two names, but _Edward_ is a good English appellation, and has a certain degree of popularity attached to it from ancient recollections. Albert is also an old Anglo-Saxon name--the same, Lord Melbourne believes, as Ethelred--but it has not been so common nor so much in use since the Conquest. However, your Majesty's feelings, which Lord Melbourne perfectly understands, must determine this point. The notion of the King of Prussia[159] gives great satisfaction here, and will do so with all but Puseyites and Newmanites and those who lean to the Roman Catholic faith. His strong Protestant feelings, and his acting with us in the matter of the Syrian Bishop, have made the King of Prussia highly popular in this country, and particularly with the more religious part of the community.

Your Majesty cannot offer up for the young Prince a more safe and judicious prayer than that he may resemble his father. The character, in Lord Melbourne's opinion, depends much upon the race, and on both sides he has a good chance. Be not over solicitous about education. It may be able to do much, but it does not do so much as is expected from it. It may mould and direct the character, but it rarely alters it. George IV. and the Duke of York were educated quite like English boys, by English schoolmasters, and in the manner and upon the system of English schools. The consequence was that, whatever were their faults, they were quite Englishmen. The others, who were sent earlier abroad, and more to foreign universities, were not quite so much so. The late king was educated as a sailor, and was a complete sailor....

Lord Melbourne will tell your Majesty exactly what he thinks of John Russell's reply to the Plymouth address. It is very angry and very bitter, and anger and bitterness are never very dignified. Lord Melbourne certainly would not have put in those sarcasms upon the Duke of Wellington and Sir Robert Peel, for their change of opinion and conduct upon the Roman Catholic question. But the tone of the rest of the answer is, in Lord Melbourne's opinion, just and right. We certainly delivered the affairs of the country into their hands in a good state, both at home and abroad, and we should be acting unfairly by ourselves if we did not maintain and assert this upon every occasion. Lord Melbourne's notion of the conduct which he has to pursue is, that it should not be aggressive, but that it must be defensive. He would oppose no right measures, but he cannot suffer the course of policy which has been condemned in him to be adopted by others without observation upon the inconsistency and injustice....

Lord Melbourne concludes with again wishing your Majesty health and happiness, and much enjoyment of the country.

[Footnote 159: King Frederick William IV., who was to be a
sponsor.]

[Pageheading: PRINCE OF WALES]

_Sir James Graham to Queen Victoria._

WHITEHALL, _6th December 1841._

Sir James Graham, with humble duty, begs to enclose for the Signature of your Majesty the Letters Patent creating His Royal Highness, the Prince of the United Kingdom, Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester.[160]

Understanding that it is your Majesty's pleasure to have this Creation inserted in the _Gazette_ of to-morrow night, Sir James Graham has given directions, which will ensure the publication, though the Letters Patent themselves may not be completed. The Warrant already signed by your Majesty is a sufficient authority.

The above is humbly submitted by your Majesty's dutiful Subject and Servant,

J. R. G. GRAHAM.

[Footnote 160: His present Majesty had been referred to in
letters of the previous month as the Duke of Cornwall. "Know
ye," ran the present Letters Patent, "that we have made ...
our most dear son, the Prince of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland (Duke of Saxony, Duke of Cornwall ...)
Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester ... and him our said most
dear son, ... as has been accustomed, we do ennoble and invest
with the said Principality and Earldom, by girding him with
a sword, by putting a coronet on his head, and a gold ring on
his finger, and also by delivering a gold rod into his hand,
that he may preside there, and may direct and defend those
parts...."]

_Queen Victoria to the King of the Belgians._

WINDSOR CASTLE, _7th December 1841._

MY DEAREST UNCLE,--We arrived here _sains et saufs_ with our awfully large Nursery Establishment yesterday morning. It was a nasty warm and very rainy day, but to-day is very bright, clear and dry, and we walked out early and felt like prisoners freed from some dungeon. Many thanks for your kind letter of the 2nd, by which I grieve to see that you are not quite well. But let me repeat again, you _must_ not despond so; you must not be so out of spirits. I have likewise been suffering so from _lowness_ that it made me quite miserable, and I know how difficult it is to fight against it. I am delighted to hear that all the children are so well. I wonder very much who our little boy will be like. You will understand _how_ fervent my prayers and I am [sure] _everybody's_ must be, to see him resemble his angelic dearest Father in _every, every_ respect, both in body and mind. Oh! my dearest Uncle, I am sure if you knew _how_ happy, how blessed I feel, and how _proud_ I feel in possessing _such_ a perfect being as my husband, as he is, and if you think that you have been instrumental in bringing about this union, it must gladden your heart! How happy should I be to see our child grow up _just_ like him! Dear Pussy travelled with us and behaved like a grown-up person, so quiet and looking about and coquetting with the Hussars on either side of the carriage. Now adieu! Ever your devoted Niece,

VICTORIA R.

[Pageheading: THE APPROACHING CHRISTENING]

_Viscount Melbourne to Queen Victoria._

CASTLE HOWARD, _22nd December 1841._

... Lord Melbourne will consider himself most highly honoured by being invited to the christening, and will hold himself in readiness to attend, whenever it may take place. He has written to Mr Anson in answer to the letter which he received from him this morning. Lord Melbourne has been obliged to consent to receive an address from Derby, and has fixed Monday the 27th inst. for that purpose. He could have wished to have avoided this, but it was impossible, and he must make the best of it that he can, which he conceives will be effected by conceiving his reply in very guarded terms, and in a tone defensive of his own administration, but not offensive to those who have succeeded him....

Lord Melbourne is very glad to hear of the feelings of the King of Prussia. For religious matters he is at present very popular with many in this country, and popularity, though transient and uncertain, is a good thing while it lasts. The King of the Belgians should not be surprised or mortified at the conduct of the King of Holland. We must expect that people will act according to their nature and feelings. The Union of Belgium and Holland has been for a long time the first wish and the daily dream of the House of Orange. It has been the great object of their lives, and by the separation, which took place in 1830, they saw their fondest hopes disappointed and destroyed at once. It must be expected that under such a state of things, they will be unquiet, and will try to obtain what they so eagerly desire and have once possessed.

Lord Melbourne is much rejoiced to hear that your Majesty is in the enjoyment of such good health. Your Majesty's observations upon your own situation are in the highest degree just and prudent, and it is a sign of a right mind and of good feelings to prize the blessings we enjoy, and not to suffer them to be too much altered by circumstances, which may not turn out exactly according to our wishes.

[Pageheading: THE UNITED STATES]

_The Earl of Aberdeen to Queen Victoria._

FOREIGN OFFICE, _24th December 1841._

Lord Aberdeen presents his most humble duty to your Majesty. He ventures to request your Majesty's attention for a moment to the character of your Majesty's present relations with the Government of the United States. Your Majesty is aware that several questions of great difficulty and importance have been long pending between the two Governments.[161] Some of these have become more complicated than they were ten years ago; and any of them might, at any moment, lead to consequences of the most disastrous nature.

Instead of continuing negotiations, necessarily tedious and which promise to be interminable, your Majesty's servants are humbly of opinion that an effort ought to be made, by a Special Mission at Washington, to bring all these differences promptly to an adjustment. The public feeling in the United States at this time does not appear to be unfavourable for such an attempt. Should it be undertaken by a person whose rank, character, and abilities would ensure respect, and whose knowledge of the subjects under discussion, and of the people of the country, together with his conciliatory manners, would render him generally acceptable, your Majesty might perhaps indulge the hope of a successful result.

Lord Aberdeen humbly ventures to think that such a person may be found in Lord Ashburton,[162] whom he submits for your Majesty's gracious approbation.

[Footnote 161: The question of the North-West Boundary had
long been one source of dispute; another was the right the
British Government claimed of searching vessels suspected of
being engaged in the slave trade.]

[Footnote 162: Alexander, first Lord Ashburton, who had held
office in Peel's short Ministry, and married Miss Bingham of
Philadelphia. See _post_, p. 461. (Ch. XII, Footnote 10)]

[Pageheading: CHRISTMAS]

_Memorandum by Mr Anson._

WINDSOR CASTLE, _26th December 1841._

Christmas has brought its usual routine of festivity and its agreeable accompaniment of Christmas presents. The Queen was not at all well again yesterday, being again troubled with lowness. The Melbourne correspondence still is carried on, but I think not in its pristine vigour by any means. He has taken no notice of the Baron's remonstrance to him, and we are in the dark in what manner, if at all, he means to deal with it.

I have sat by Her Majesty at dinner several times lately. I should say that Her Majesty interests herself less and less about politics, and that her dislike is less than it was to her present Ministers, though she would not be prepared to acknowledge it. Her Majesty is a good deal occupied with the little Princess Royal, who begins to assume companionable qualities. In the evening, instead of her usual conversation with her old Prime Minister, some round game at cards is substituted, which always terminates at eleven. The Prince, to amuse the Queen at this, has nearly left off his chess; his amusements--shooting or hunting--always commence and terminate between eleven and two, not to interfere with Her Majesty's arrangements, in which he is included as her companion.

_Viscount Melbourne to Queen Victoria._

MELBOURNE, _29th December 1841._

Lord Melbourne presents his humble duty to your Majesty. He received here yesterday your Majesty's letter of the 25th inst., upon a paper adorned with many quaint and humorous Christmas devices, and Lord Melbourne begs to offer to your Majesty, most sincerely and most fervently, the good wishes of the Season. Lord Melbourne will be in town on Friday evening next, and after that day will wait upon your Majesty, whenever your Majesty is pleased to command....

Lord Melbourne is very glad to hear that the King of the Belgians is reassured by his journey to Mons and his reception upon it. He need not mind the King of Holland, if he can keep all right at Paris.

The railway smash[163] is awful and tremendous, as all railway mishaps are, and Lord Melbourne fears must always be. These slips and falls of earth from the banks are the greatest danger that now impends over them, and if they take place suddenly and in the dark, Lord Melbourne does not see how the fatal consequences of them are to be effectually guarded against. They are peculiarly likely to happen now, as the cuttings have been recently and hastily made, the banks are very steep, and the season has been peculiarly wet, interrupted by severe frosts.

Lord Melbourne received the deputation from Derby, a large and respectable one, here on Monday last. The address was very guarded, temperate, and judicious, and Lord Melbourne strove to construct his answer in the same manner.

[Footnote 163: This accident took place on 24th December in
the Sonning Hill cutting, two and a half miles from Reading.
Eight persons were killed on the spot.]

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

TO CHAPTER XI

THE session was mainly occupied by the great Ministerial measure of finance, direct taxation by means of income tax being imposed, and the import duties on a large number of articles being removed or relaxed, Mr Gladstone, now at the Board of Trade, taking charge of the bills. Two more attempts on the Queen's life were made, the former again on Constitution Hill by one Francis, whose capital sentence was commuted; the latter by a hunchback, Bean, who was sentenced to eighteen months' imprisonment. An Act was promptly passed to deal with such outrages in future as misdemeanours, without giving them the importance of high treason. Lord Ashley's Bill was passed, prohibiting woman and child labour in mines and collieries. But the Anti-Corn Law League of Manchester was not satisfied with the policy of the Government and objected to the income tax; while riots broke out in the manufacturing districts of the North.

In Afghanistan, the disasters of the previous year were retrieved; Sir Robert Sale, who was gallantly defending Jellalabad, made a _sortie_ and defeated Akbar Khan; General Nott arrived at Ghuznee, but found it evacuated; he destroyed the citadel and removed the Gates of Somnauth. General Pollock swept the Khyber Pass and entered Cabul. The captives taken on the retreat from Cabul were recovered--Lady Macnaghten and Lady Sale among them. In retribution for the murder of Macnaghten, the great bazaar of Cabul, where his remains had been dishonoured, was destroyed by Pollock; the British force was then withdrawn. Dost Mahommed made himself again ruler of Cabul, and a proclamation of Lord Ellenborough announced that the British Government accepted any Sovereign and Constitution approved by the Afghans themselves.

In China, also, operations were successfully terminated, Chapoo being taken in May, and an attack by Admiral Parker upon Nanking being only averted by the conclusion of a favourable treaty, involving an indemnity, the cession by China of Hong Kong, and the opening of important ports to commerce.

A dispute had arisen between this country and the United States as to the boundary line between the latter country and the British Possessions in North America. Lord Ashburton was accordingly sent out on a special mission to effect the adjustment of this and other disputes, and a treaty was concluded for the purpose of defining each country's territorial rights, and imposing mutual obligations for the suppression of the Slave Trade.