The Letters of Queen Victoria, Volume 1 (of 3), 1837 to 1843)

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The Ernestine princes had, by this constant division and sub-division,
deprived themselves of the opportunity of exercising any predominant
influence, or pursuing any independent policy in German affairs; and
though they had the good fortune to emerge from the revolution with
their possessions unimpaired, their real power was not increased. Like
all the other princes, they had, however, at the Congress of Vienna,
received the recognition of their full status as sovereign princes of
the Germanic Confederation. Together they sent a single representative
to the Diet of Frankfort, the total population of the five
principalities being only about 300,000 inhabitants.

It was owing to this territorial sub-division and lack of cohesion
that these princes could not attach to their independence the
same political importance that fell to the share of the larger
principalities, such as Hanover and Bavaria, and they were
consequently more ready than the other German princes to welcome
proposals which would lead to a unification of Germany.

It is notable that the line has produced many of the most enlightened
of the German princes; and nowhere in the whole of Germany were the
advantages of the division into numerous small States so clearly seen,
and the disadvantages so little felt, as at Weimar, Meiningen, Gotha,
and Coburg.

[Pageheading: THE HOUSE OF COBURG]

The House of Coburg had gained a highly conspicuous and influential
position, owing, partly, to the high reputation for sagacity and
character which the princes of that House had won, and partly to
the marriage connections which were entered into about this time by
members of the Coburg House with the leading Royal families of Europe.
Within ten years, Princes of Coburg were established, one upon the
throne of Belgium, and two others next to the throne in Portugal and
England, as Consorts of their respective Queens.

By the first marriage of the Duchess of Kent, the Queen was also
connected with a third class of German princes--the Mediatised, as
those were called who during the revolution had lost their sovereign
power. Many of these were of as ancient lineage and had possessed as
large estates as some of the regnant princes, who, though not always
more deserving, had been fortunate enough to retain their privileges,
and had emerged from the revolution ranking among the ruling Houses of
Europe. The mediatised princes, though they had ceased to rule, still
held important privileges, which were guaranteed at the Congress
of Vienna. First, and most important, they were reckoned as
"_ebenburtig_," which means that they could contract equal marriages
with the Royal Houses, and these marriages were recognised as valid
for the transmission of rights of inheritance. Many of them had vast
private estates, and though they were subjected to the sovereignty of
the princes in whose dominions these lay, they enjoyed very important
privileges, such as exemption from military service, and from
many forms of taxation; they also could exercise minor forms of
jurisdiction. They formed, therefore, an intermediate class. Since
Germany, as a whole, afforded them no proper sphere of political
activity, the more ambitious did not disdain to take service with
Austria or Prussia, and, to a less extent, even with the smaller
States. It was possible, therefore, for the Queen's mother, a Princess
of Saxe-Coburg, to marry the Prince of Leiningen without losing caste.
Her daughter, the Princess Feodore, the Queen's half-sister, married
Ernest, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, and thus established an
interesting connection with perhaps the most widely-spread and most
distinguished of all these families. The House of Hohenlohe would
probably still have been a reigning family, had not the Prince of
Hohenlohe preferred to fight in the Prussian army against Napoleon,
rather than receive gifts from him. His lands were consequently
confiscated and passed to other princes who were less scrupulous.
The family has given two Ministers President to Prussia, a General in
chief command of the Prussian army, a Chancellor to the German Empire,
and one of the most distinguished of modern military writers. They
held, besides their extensive possessions in Wuertemberg and Bavaria,
the County of Gleichen in Saxe-Coburg.

[Pageheading: FAMILY CONNECTIONS]

It will be seen therefore that the Queen was intimately connected with
all classes that are to be found among the ruling families of Germany,
though naturally with the Catholic families, which looked to Austria
and Bavaria for guidance, she had no close ties. But it must be borne
in mind that her connection with Germany always remained a personal
and family matter, and not a political one; this was the fortunate
result of the predominance of the Coburg influence. Had that of the
House of Hanover been supreme, it could hardly have been possible
for the Queen not to have been drawn into the opposition to the
unification of Germany by Prussia, in which the House of Hanover was
bound to take a leading part, in virtue of its position, wealth, and
dignity.

It will be as well here to mention the principal reigning families of
Europe to which Queen Victoria was closely allied through her mother.

The Duchess of Kent's eldest brother, Ernest, Duke of Saxe-Coburg,
was the father of Albert, Prince Consort. Her sister was the wife of
Alexander, Duke of Wuertemberg. The Duchess of Kent's nephew, Ferdinand
(son of Ferdinand, the Duchess's brother), married Maria da Gloria,
Queen of Portugal, and was father of Pedro V. and Luis, both
subsequently Kings of Portugal.

The Duchess's third brother, Leopold (afterwards King of the
Belgians), married first the Princess Charlotte, daughter of George
IV., and afterwards the Princess Louise Marie, eldest daughter of
King Louis Philippe. Prince Augustus (son of Ferdinand, the Duchess
of Kent's brother) married another daughter of Louis Philippe, the
Princess Clementine, while Prince Augustus's sister, Victoria, married
the Duc de Nemours, a son of Louis Philippe. Another nephew, Duke
Friedrich Wilhelm Alexander, son of the Duchess of Wuertemberg, married
the Princess Marie, another daughter of Louis Philippe.

Thus Queen Victoria was closely allied with the royal families of
France, Portugal, Belgium, Saxe-Coburg, and Wuertemberg.

On turning to the immediate Royal Family of England, it will be seen
that the male line at the time of the Queen's accession was limited to
the sons, both named George, of two of the younger brothers of George
IV., the Dukes of Cumberland and Cambridge. The sons of George III.
played their part in the national life, shared the strong interest in
military matters, and showed the great personal courage which was a
tradition of the family.

[Pageheading: THE ENGLISH ROYAL FAMILY]

It must be borne in mind that abstention from active political life
had been in no sense required, or even thought desirable, in members
of the Royal House. George III. himself had waged a life-long struggle
with the Whig party, that powerful oligarchy that since the accession
of the House of Hanover had virtually ruled the country; but he did
not carry on the conflict so much by encouraging the opponents of the
Whigs, as by placing himself at the head of a monarchical faction. He
was in fact the leader of a third party in the State. George IV. was
at first a strong Whig, and lived on terms of the greatest intimacy
with Charles James Fox; but by the time that he was thirty, he had
severed the connection with his former political friends, which had
indeed originally arisen more out of his personal opposition to his
father than from any political convictions. After this date he became,
with intervals of vacillation, an advanced Tory of an illiberal
type. William IV. had lived so much aloof from politics before his
accession, that he had had then no very pronounced opinions, though he
was believed to be in favour of the Reform Bill; during his reign his
Tory sympathies became more pronounced, and the position of the Whig
Ministry was almost an intolerable one. His other brothers were men
of decided views, and for the most part of high social gifts. They not
only attended debates in the House of Peers, but spoke with emotion
and vigour; they held political interviews with leading statesmen, and
considered themselves entitled, not to over-rule political movements,
but to take the part in them to which their strong convictions
prompted them. They were particularly prominent in the debates on the
Catholic question, and did not hesitate to express their views with an
energy that was often embarrassing. The Duke of York and the Duke of
Cumberland had used all their influence to encourage the King in his
opposition to Catholic Emancipation, while the Duke of Cambridge had
supported that policy, and the Duke of Sussex had spoken in the House
of Lords in favour of it. The Duke of York, a kindly, generous man,
had held important commands in the earlier part of the Revolutionary
war; he had not shown tactical nor strategical ability, but he was for
many years Commander-in-Chief of the Army, and did good administrative
work in initiating and carrying out much-needed military reforms. He
had married a Prussian princess, but left no issue, and his death,
in 1827, left the succession open to his younger brother, the Duke of
Clarence, afterwards King William IV., and after him to the Princess
Victoria.

[Pageheading: THE ROYAL DUKES]

The Duke of Kent was, as we shall have occasion to show, a strong Whig
with philanthropic views. But the ablest of the princes, though also
the most unpopular, was the Duke of Cumberland, who, until the birth
of the Queen's first child, was heir presumptive to the Throne. He had
been one of the most active members of the ultra-Tory party, who had
opposed to the last the Emancipation of the Catholics and the Reform
Bill. He had married a sister-in-law of the King of Prussia, and lived
much in Berlin, where he was intimate with the leaders of the military
party, who were the centre of reactionary influences in that
country, chief among them being his brother-in-law, Prince Charles of
Mecklenburg.

In private life the Duke was bluff and soldier-like, of rather a
bullying turn, and extraordinarily indifferent to the feelings of
others. "Ernest is not a bad fellow," his brother William IV. said of
him, "but if anyone has a corn, he will be sure to tread on it." He
was very unpopular in England.

On the death of William IV. he succeeded to the throne of Hanover, and
from that time seldom visited England. His first act on reaching his
kingdom was to declare invalid the Constitution which had been
granted in 1833 by William IV. His justification for this was that his
consent, as heir presumptive, which was necessary for its validity,
had not at the time been asked. The act caused great odium to be
attached to his name by all Liberals, both English and Continental,
and it was disapproved of even by his old Tory associates. None the
less he soon won great popularity in his own dominions by his zeal,
good-humour, and energy, and in 1840 he came to terms with the
Estates. A new Constitution was drawn up which preserved more of the
Royal prerogatives than the instrument of 1833. Few German princes
suffered so little in the revolution of 1848. The King died in 1851,
at the age of eighty, and left one son, George, who had been blind
from his boyhood. He was the last King of Hanover, being expelled by
the Prussians in 1866. On the failure of the Ducal line of Brunswick,
the grandson of Ernest Augustus became heir to their dominions, he and
his sons being now the sole male representatives of all the branches
of the House of Brunswick, which a few generations ago was one of the
most numerous and widely-spread ruling Houses in Germany.[1]

[Footnote 1: Of the daughters of George III., Princess Amelia
had died in 1810, and the Queen of Wuertemberg in 1828; two
married daughters survived--Elizabeth, wife of the Landgrave
of Hesse-Homburg, and Mary, who had married her cousin, the
Duke of Gloucester, and lived in England. There were also two
unmarried daughters, the Princesses Augusta and Sophia, living
in England.]

The Duke of Sussex was in sympathy with many Liberal movements, and
supported the removal of religious disabilities, the abolition of the
Corn Laws, and Parliamentary Reform.

The Duke of Cambridge was a moderate Tory, and the most conciliatory
of all the princes. But for more than twenty years he took little part
in English politics, as he was occupied with his duties as Regent of
Hanover, where he did much by prudent reforms to retain the allegiance
of the Hanoverians. On his return to England he resumed the position
of a peacemaker, supporting philanthropic movements, and being a
generous patron of art and letters. He was recognised as "emphatically
the connecting link between the Crown and the people." Another member
of the Royal Family was the Duke of Gloucester, nephew and son-in-law
of George III.; he was more interested in philanthropic movements than
in politics, but was a moderate Conservative, who favoured Catholic
Emancipation but was opposed to Parliamentary Reform.

Thus we have the spectacle of seven Royal princes, of whom two
succeeded to the Throne, all or nearly all avowed politicians of
decided convictions, throwing the weight of their influence and
social position for the most part on the side of the Tory party,
and believing it to be rather their duty to hold and express strong
political opinions than to adopt the moderating and conciliatory
attitude in matters of government that is now understood to be the
true function of the Royal House.

[Pageheading: INDEPENDENCE OF THE QUEEN]

The Queen, after her accession, always showed great respect and
affection for her uncles, but they were not able to exercise any
influence over her character or opinions.

This was partly due to the fact that from an early age she had imbibed
a respect for liberal views from her uncle Leopold, King of the
Belgians, to whom she was devoted from her earliest childhood, and for
whom she entertained feelings of the deepest admiration, affection,
and confidence; but still more was it due to the fact that, from the
very first, the Queen instinctively formed an independent judgment
on any question that concerned her; and though she was undoubtedly
influenced in her decisions by her affectionate reliance on her chosen
advisers, yet those advisers were always deliberately and shrewdly
selected, and their opinions were in no case allowed to do more than
modify her own penetrating and clear-sighted judgment.

CHAPTER II

MEMOIR OF QUEEN VICTORIA'S EARLY YEARS

ALEXANDRINA VICTORIA, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland and Empress
of India, was born on Monday, 24th May 1819, at Kensington Palace.

Her father, Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (1767-1820), the
fourth son of George III., was a man of decided character, kindly,
pious, punctual, with a strict sense of duty and enlightened ideas. He
was a devoted soldier, and, as Queen Victoria once said, "was proud of
his profession, and I was always taught to consider myself a soldier's
child." He had a wide military experience, having served at
Gibraltar, in Canada, and in the West Indies. He had been mentioned in
despatches, but was said to be over-strict in matters of unimportant
detail. His active career was brought to an end in 1802, when he had
been sent to Gibraltar to restore order in a mutinous garrison. Order
had been restored, but the Duke was recalled under allegations of
having exercised undue severity, and the investigation which
he demanded was refused him, though he was afterwards made a
Field-Marshal.

He was a man of advanced Liberal ideas. He had spoken in the House
of Lords in favour of Catholic Emancipation, and had shown himself
interested in the abolition of slavery and in popular education. His
tastes were literary, and towards the end of his life he had even
manifested a strong sympathy for socialistic theories.

At the time of the death of the Princess Charlotte, 6th November 1817,
the married sons of King George III. were without legitimate children,
and the surviving daughters were either unmarried or childless.
Alliances were accordingly arranged for the three unmarried Royal
Dukes, and in the course of the year 1818 the Dukes of Cambridge,
Kent, and Clarence led their brides to the altar.

[Pageheading: THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF KENT]

The Duchess of Kent (1786-1861), Victoria Mary Louisa, was a daughter
of Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. She was the widow of Emich
Charles, Prince of Leiningen,[1] whom she had married in 1803, and who
had died in 1814, leaving a son and a daughter by her.

[Footnote 1: _Leiningen_, a mediatised princely House of
Germany, dating back to 1096. In 1779 the head of one of
the branches into which it had become divided, the Count of
Leiningen-Dachsburg-Hardenburg, was raised to the rank of
a prince of the Empire, but the Peace of Luneville (1801)
deprived him of his ancient possessions, extending about
232 miles on the left bank of the Rhine. Though no longer an
independent Prince, the head of the House retains his rank and
wealth, and owns extensive estates in Bavaria and Hesse.]

The Duke of Kent died prematurely--though he had always been a
conspicuously healthy man--at Sidmouth, on the 23rd of January 1820,
only a week before his father.

A paper preserved in the Windsor archives gives a touching account of
the Duke's last hours. The Regent, on the 22nd of January, sent to him
a message of solicitude and affection, expressing an anxious wish for
his recovery. The Duke roused himself to enquire how the Prince was in
health, and said, "If I could now shake hands with him, I should die
in peace." A few hours before the end, one who stood by the curtain
of his bed heard the Duke say with deep emotion, "May the Almighty
protect my wife and child, and forgive all the sins I have committed."
His last words--addressed to his wife--were, "Do not forget me."

The Duchess of Kent was an affectionate, impulsive woman, with more
emotional sympathy than practical wisdom in worldly matters. But her
claim on the gratitude of the British nation is that she brought up
her illustrious daughter in habits of simplicity, self-sacrifice, and
obedience.

As a testimony to the sincere appreciation entertained by the
politicians of the time for the way in which the Duchess of Kent had
appreciated her responsibilities with regard to the education of a
probable heir to the Crown of England, we may quote a few sentences
from two speeches made in the House of Commons, in the debate
which took place (27th May 1825) on the question of increasing the
Parliamentary annuity paid to the Duchess, in order to provide duly
for the education of the young Princess.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr Robinson, afterwards Lord Ripon,
said:

"The position in which this Princess stood with respect to the
throne of the country could not fail to make her an object of
general interest to the nation. He had not himself the honour
of being acquainted with the Duchess of Kent, but he believed
that she had taken the greatest pains with her daughter's
education. She had been brought up in principles of piety and
morality, and to feel a _proper_ sense, he meant by that an
humble sense, of her own dignity, and the rank which probably
awaited her. Perhaps it might have been fit to have brought
this matter before Parliament at an earlier period."

Mr Canning said:

"All parties agreed in the propriety of the Grant, and if
Government had anything to answer for on this point, it was
for having so long delayed bringing it before the House. There
could not be a greater compliment to Her Royal Highness than
to state the quiet unobtrusive tenor of her life, and that
she had never made herself the object of public gaze, but had
devoted herself to the education of her child, whom the House
was now called upon to adopt."

[Pageheading: EARLY REMINISCENCES]

In the year 1872 Queen Victoria wrote down with her own hand some
reminiscences of her early childhood, the manuscript of which is
preserved at Windsor, and which may be quoted here.

"My earliest recollections are connected with Kensington Palace,
where I can remember crawling on a yellow carpet spread out for that
purpose--and being told that if I cried and was naughty my 'Uncle
Sussex' would hear me and punish me, for which reason I always
screamed when I saw him! I had a great horror of _Bishops_ on account
of their wigs and _aprons_, but recollect this being partially
got over in the case of the then Bishop of Salisbury (Dr Fisher,
great-uncle to Mr Fisher, Private Secretary to the Prince of Wales),
by his kneeling down and letting me play with his badge of Chancellor
of the Order of the Garter. With another Bishop, however, the
persuasion of showing him my 'pretty shoes' was of no use. Claremont
remains as the brightest epoch of my otherwise rather melancholy
childhood--where to be under the roof of that beloved Uncle--to listen
to some music in the Hall when there were dinner-parties--and to go
and see dear old Louis!--the former faithful and devoted Dresser and
friend of Princess Charlotte--beloved and respected by all who knew
her--and who doted on the little Princess who was too much an idol in
the House. This dear old lady was visited by every one--and was the
only really devoted Attendant of the poor Princess, whose governesses
paid little real attention to her--and who never left her, and was
with her when she died. I used to ride a donkey given me by my Uncle,
the Duke of York, who was very kind to me. I remember him well--tall,
rather large, very kind but extremely shy. He always gave me beautiful
presents. The last time I saw him was at Mr Greenwood's house, where
D. Carlos lived at one time,--when he was already very ill,--and he
had Punch and Judy in the garden for me.

[Pageheading: EARLY REMINISCENCES]

"To Ramsgate we used to go frequently in the summer, and I remember
living at Townley House (near the town), and going there by steamer.
Mamma was very unwell. Dear Uncle Leopold went with us.

"To Tunbridge Wells we also went, living at a house called Mt.
Pleasant, now an Hotel. Many pleasant days were spent here, and the
return to Kensington in October or November was generally a day of
tears.

"I was brought up very simply--never had a room to myself till I was
nearly grown up--always slept in my Mother's room till I came to the
Throne. At Claremont, and in the small houses at the bathing-places,
I sat and took my lessons in my Governess's bedroom. I was not fond of
learning as a little child--and baffled every attempt to teach me my
letters up to 5 years old--when I consented to learn them by their
being written down before me.

[Pageheading: GEORGE IV.]

"I remember going to Carlton House, when George IV. lived there, as
quite a little child before a dinner the King gave. The Duchess of
Cambridge and my 2 cousins, George and Augusta, were there. My Aunt,
the Queen of Wuertemberg (Princess Royal), came over, in the year '26,
I think, and I recollect perfectly well seeing her drive through the
Park in the King's carriage with red liveries and 4 horses, in a _Cap_
and evening dress,--my Aunt, her sister Princess Augusta, sitting
_opposite_ to her, also in evening attire, having dined early with the
Duke of Sussex at Kensington. She had adopted all the German fashions
and spoke broken English--and had not been in England for many
many years. She was very kind and good-humoured but very large and
unwieldy. She lived at St James's and had a number of Germans with
her. In the year '26 (I think) George IV. asked my Mother, my Sister
and me down to Windsor for the first time; he had been on bad terms
with my poor father when he died,--and took hardly any notice of the
poor widow and little fatherless girl, who were so poor at the time
of his (the Duke of Kent's) death, that they could not have travelled
back to Kensington Palace had it not been for the kind assistance of
my dear Uncle, Prince Leopold. We went to Cumberland Lodge, the King
living at the Royal Lodge. Aunt Gloucester was there at the same
time. When we arrived at the Royal Lodge the King took me by the hand,
saying: 'Give me your little paw.' He was large and gouty but with a
wonderful dignity and charm of manner. He wore the wig which was so
much worn in those days. Then he said he would give me something for
me to wear, and that was his picture set in diamonds, which was worn
by the Princesses as an order to a blue ribbon on the left shoulder. I
was very proud of this,--and Lady Conyngham pinned it on my shoulder.
Her husband, the late Marquis of Conyngham, was the Lord
Chamberlain and constantly there, as well as Lord Mt. Charles (as
Vice-Chamberlain), the _present_ Lord Conyngham.