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

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I saw to-day the Duke of Cambridge, who has shown me your letter, with
which he is quite delighted--and, indeed, it is a very nice one. The
Duke told Lord Melbourne he had always greatly desired our marriage,
and never thought of George; but that _I_ do not believe.

I must conclude, my dearest, beloved Albert. Be careful as to your
valuable health, and be assured that no one loves you as much as your
faithful VICTORIA.

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

TO CHAPTER IX

The marriage of the Queen and Prince Albert took place amid great
splendour and general rejoicings on the 10th of February; the general
satisfaction being unaffected by the tactless conduct of Ministers
who, by not acting in conjunction with the Opposition, had been
defeated on the question of the amount of the Prince's annuity, the
House of Commons reducing it from L50,000 to L30,000.

At home, the Privilege Question aroused great interest, a point which
for months convulsed the Courts and Parliament being whether a report,
ordered by the House to be printed, of a Committee appointed by the
House, was protected by privilege against being the subject of an
action for libel. The Courts having decided that it was not, an
Act was passed to alter the rule for the future, but meanwhile the
sheriffs had been imprisoned by the House for executing the judgment
in the usual course.

The Ministry tottered on, getting a majority of nine only on their
China policy, and twenty-one on a direct vote of confidence. The
Bill for the union of the two Canadas was, however, passed without
difficulty.

An attempt by a barman named Oxford to assassinate the Queen on
Constitution Hill fortunately failed, and Oxford was committed, after
trial, to a lunatic asylum. In July, the prospect of an heir being
born to the throne led to the passing of a Regency Bill, naming Prince
Albert Regent, should the Queen die leaving issue; the Duke of Sussex
alone entered a formal protest against it.

Afghanistan continued unsettled, and Lord Auckland's policy seemed
hardly justified by the unpopularity at Cabul of Shah Sooja; Dost
Mahommed still made efforts to regain his position, but he ultimately
surrendered to Sir William Macnaghten, the British Envoy at Cabul.
The disputes with China continued, and hostilities broke out; British
ships proceeded to China, and Chusan was captured.

In France an attempt against the Government was made by Louis
Napoleon, who landed at Boulogne in a British steamer, was captured,
and sentenced to life imprisonment. More serious difficulties between
this country and France arose out of Eastern affairs. The Four Powers,
England, Russia, Austria, and Prussia, had addressed an ultimatum to
Mehemet, requiring him to evacuate North Syria, France declining to
take part in the conference on the subject. An Anglo-Austrian army
undertook to eject him, St Jean d'Acre was stormed, and France thrust
into a position of unwilling isolation. Thiers, who had been made
Minister, expected that Mehemet would be able to retain his conquests,
and for a time it looked as though France would interfere to protect
him. Ultimately, in spite of some ostentatious preparations in France,
peaceful counsels prevailed, and Thiers found it advisable to retire
in favour of Guizot.

In Holland, William I. (then sixty-seven) abdicated in favour of his
son, the Prince of Orange (William II.). The need of a younger
and firmer ruler was the reason officially stated in the Royal
Proclamation. The real reasons were probably the King's attachment
to the Roman Catholic Countess d'Oultremont, whom he now privately
married, and the humiliation he felt at the unfavourable termination
of the Belgian dispute.

CHAPTER IX

1840

_Queen Victoria to the Prince Albert._

BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _11th January 1840._

STOCKMAR is here; I saw him yesterday and to-day, and have begged him
to explain to you _all the Court affairs, and the affairs concerning
the Treaty_, in my name. He will explain to you the Treasury affair,
and will do it much better than I should. I am very happy to see him
again, and to have him here; he can give such good advice to both of
us, and he understands England so fully.... Stocky (as I always
used to call him) is so sensible about everything, and is _so much_
attached to you.

I shall have no great dinners, because the large rooms in the upper
story here are not yet ready. My good old Primus[1] usually dines
with me three or four times a week, almost always on Sundays, _when I
cannot invite other people to dinner, as it is not reckoned right here
for me to give dinners on Sunday, or to invite many people_. Your song
(the bust has been mentioned before) is very fine; there is something
touching in it which I like so much....

[Footnote 1: _I.e._ Premier.]

[Pageheading: OPENING OF PARLIAMENT]

_Queen Victoria to the Prince Albert._

BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _12th January 1840._

This letter will be handed you by Torrington personally. I recommend
you not to leave late, so as to make the journey without hurry. I did
not go to church to-day; the weather is very cold, and I have to be
careful not to catch cold before the 16th, because I open Parliament
in person. _This is always a nervous proceeding, and the announcement
of my marriage at the beginning of my speech is really a very nervous
and awful affair for me. I have never failed yet, and this is the
sixth time that I have done it, and yet I am just as frightened as if
I had never done it before. They say that feeling of nervousness
is never got over, and that Wm. Pitt himself never got up to make
a speech without thinking he should fail. But then I only read my
speech._

I had to-day a visit from George[2] whom I received _alone_, and he
was very courteous. His Papa I have also seen.

[Footnote 2: Prince George of Cambridge.]

_Queen Victoria to the Prince Albert._

BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _17th January 1840._

... Yesterday just as I came home from the House of Lords,[3] I
received your dear letter of the 10th. I cannot understand at all why
you have received no letters from me, seeing that I always wrote twice
a week, regularly....

I observe with horror that I have not formally invited your father;
though that is a matter of course. My last letter will have set that
right. I ought not to have written to you on picture notepaper, seeing
that we are in deep mourning for my poor Aunt, the Landgravine,[4] but
it was quite impossible for me to write to you on mourning paper....

_But this will not interfere with our marriage in the least; the
mourning will be taken off for that day, and for two or three days
after, and then put on again._

Everything went off exceedingly well yesterday. There was an immense
multitude of people, and perhaps never, certainly not for a long
time, have I been received so well; and what is remarkable, I _was
not nervous_, and read the speech really well. The Tories began
immediately afterwards to conduct themselves very _badly_ and to
plague us. But everyone praised you very much. Melbourne made a very
fine speech about you and your ancestors. To-day I receive the
Address of the House of Lords, and, perhaps, also that of the House of
Commons.

[Footnote 3: The Queen had opened Parliament in person, and
announced her intended marriage.]

[Footnote 4: The Princess Elizabeth (born 1770), third
daughter of George III. and widow of the Landgrave Frederick
Joseph Louis of Hesse-Homburg. _See_ p. 195. (Ch. VIII, Footnote 65)]

[Pageheading: TORIES, WHIGS, AND RADICALS]

_Queen Victoria to the Prince Albert._

BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _21st January 1840._

I am awaiting with immense impatience a letter from you. Here hardly
anything to relate to-day, because we are living in great retirement,
until informed that my poor Aunt has been buried. With the exception
of Melbourne and my own people, no one has dined for the last week.

We are all of us very much preoccupied with politics. The Tories
really are very astonishing; _as they cannot and dare not attack us in
Parliament, they do everything that they can to be personally rude to
me.... The Whigs are the only safe and loyal people, and the Radicals
will also rally round their Queen to protect her from the Tories;
but it is a curious sight to see those, who as Tories, used to pique
themselves upon their excessive loyalty, doing everything to degrade
their young Sovereign in the eyes of the people. Of course there are
exceptions._

_Queen Victoria to the Prince Albert._

BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _31st January 1840._

... You have written to me in one of your letters about our stay at
Windsor, but, dear Albert, you have not at all understood the matter.
_You forget, my dearest Love, that I am the Sovereign, and that
business can stop and wait for nothing. Parliament is sitting, and
something occurs almost every day, for which I may be required, and it
is quite impossible for me to be absent from London; therefore two
or three days is already a long time to be absent. I am never easy a
moment, if I am not on the spot, and see and hear what is going on,
and everybody, including all my Aunts (who are very knowing in all
these things), says I must come out after the second day, for, as I
must be surrounded by my Court, I cannot keep alone. This is also my
own wish in every way._

Now as to the Arms: _as an English Prince you have no right, and Uncle
Leopold had no right to quarter the English Arms, but the Sovereign
has the power to allow it by Royal Command: this was done for Uncle
Leopold by the Prince Regent, and I will do it again for you. But it
can only be done by Royal Command._

I will, therefore, without delay, have a seal engraved for you.

You will certainly feel very happy too, at the news of the coming
union of my much-beloved Vecto[5] with Nemours. It gives me quite
infinite pleasure, because then I can see the dear child more
frequently.

I read in the newspaper that you, dear Albert, have received many
Orders; also that the Queen of Spain will send you the Golden
Fleece....

Farewell, dearest Albert, and think often of thy faithful

VICTORIA R.

[Footnote 5: The Princess Victoire of Saxe-Coburg, cousin of
Queen Victoria.]

[Pageheading: THE PRINCE'S GRANT]

_The King of the Belgians to Queen Victoria._

BRUSSELS, _31st January 1840._

MY DEAREST VICTORIA,--I am most grateful for your long letter of the
27th and 28th inst. I send a messenger to be able to answer quite
confidentially. I must confess that I never saw anything _so
disgraceful_ than the discussion and vote in the Commons.[6] The whole
mode and way in which those who opposed the grant treated the
question was so extremely _vulgar_ and _disrespectful_, that I cannot
comprehend the Tories. The men who uphold the dignity of the Crown to
treat their Sovereign in such a manner, on such an occasion! Even in
private life the most sour and saturnine people relax and grow gay
and mildly disposed on occasions like this. Clearly, as you are Queen
Regnant, Albert's position is to all intents and purposes that of a
male Queen Consort, and the same privileges and charges ought to be
attached to it which were attached to Queen Adelaide's position. The
giving up the income which the Queen-Dowager came into, and which I
hope and trust Albert would never have, or have had, any chance of
having had himself, was in reality giving up a thing which _custom_
had sanctioned. That Prince George of Denmark[7] was considered to
be in the same position as a Queen Consort there can be, I think,
no doubt about, and when one considers the immense difference in the
value of money then and now, it renders matters still more striking.
I must say such conduct in Parliament I did _not expect_, and the
less when I consider that your Civil List was rather curtailed than
otherwise, perhaps not quite fairly. I rejoice to think that I induced
Lord Melbourne to propose to you not to accede to the giving up of
the Duchy of Lancaster. Parliament did not deserve it, and by good
management I think something may be made of it.

Another thing which made me think that Parliament would have acted
with more decency, is that I return to the country now near L40,000
a year, _not because_ I thought my income _too large_, as worthy Sir
Robert Peel said, but from motives of political delicacy, which at
least might be acknowledged on such occasions. I was placed by my
marriage treaty in the position of a Princess of Wales, which in
reality it was, though not yet by law, there existing a possibility of
a Prince of Wales as long as George IV. lived. I can only conclude by
crying _shame, shame_!...

I hope and trust you will not be too much worried with all these
unpleasant things, and that Albert will prove a comforter and support
to you. And so good-bye for to-day. Ever, my dearest Victoria, your
devoted Uncle,

LEOPOLD R.

[Footnote 6: The Ministers proposed an income of L50,000 a
year for the Prince--the Conservatives and Radicals united on
an amendment reducing it to L30,000, which was carried by a
majority of 104.]

[Footnote 7: The Consort of Queen Anne.]

[Pageheading: THE PRINCE AT BRUSSELS]

_The King of the Belgians to Queen Victoria._

BRUSSELS, _1st February 1840._

MY DEAREST VICTORIA,--I hope you will be pleased with me, as I send a
messenger on purpose to inform you of Albert's arrival. He will write
himself this night, though rather inclined to surrender himself to
Morpheus.

He looks well and handsome, but a little interesting, being very much
irritated by what happened in the House of Commons. He does not
care about the money, but he is much shocked and exasperated by the
disrespect of the thing, as he well may.

I do not yet know the exact day of their departure, but I suppose it
will be on the 5th, to be able to cross on the 6th. I have already
had some conversation with him, and mean to talk _a fond_ to him
to-morrow. My wish is to see you both happy and thoroughly united
and of one mind, and I trust that both of you will ever find in me a
faithful, honest, and attached friend.

As it is eleven o'clock at night, I offer you my respects, and remain,
ever, my dearest Victoria, your devoted Uncle,

LEOPOLD R.

Your poor Aunt fainted this morning; she is much given to this, but it
was rather too long to-day.

[Pageheading: AMIABILITY OF THE PRINCE]

_The King of the Belgians to Queen Victoria._

BRUSSELS, _4th February 1840._

MY DEAREST VICTORIA,--I have now treated all the questions you wished
me to touch upon with Albert, and I was much pleased with his amiable
disposition. At a certain distance explanations by letter are next to
impossible, and each party in the end thinks the other unreasonable.
When he arrived he was rather exasperated about various things, and
pretty full of grievances. But our conversations have dissipated these
clouds, and now there will only remain the new parliamentary
events and consequences, which change a good deal of what one could
reasonably have foreseen or arranged. You will best treat these
questions now verbally. Albert is quick, not obstinate, in
conversation, and open to conviction if good arguments are brought
forward. When he thinks himself right he only wishes to have it
_proved_ that he _misunderstands_ the case, to give it up without
ill-humour. He is not inclined to be sulky, but I think that he may be
rendered a little melancholy if he thinks himself unfairly or unjustly
treated, but being together and remaining together, there _never_
can arise, I hope, any occasion for any disagreement even on trifling
subjects.... Ever, my dearest Victoria, your devoted Uncle,

LEOPOLD R.

_The King of the Belgians to Queen Victoria._

BRUSSELS, _8th February 1840._

MY DEAREST VICTORIA,--This letter will arrive when I trust you will
be most happily occupied; I don't mean therefore to trespass on your
time.

May Heaven render you as happy as I always wished you to be, and as I
always tried hard to see you. There is every prospect of it, and I
am sure you will be mistress in that respect of your own _avenir_.
_Perfect confidence_ will best ensure and consolidate this happiness.
Our rule in poor Charlotte's time was never to permit _one single day_
to pass over _ein Missverstaendniss_, however trifling it might be.[8]
I must do Charlotte the justice to say that she kept this compact most
religiously, and at times even more so than myself, as in my younger
days I was sometimes inclined to be sulky and silently displeased.
With this rule no misunderstandings can take root and be increased or
complicated by new ones being added to the old. Albert is gentle and
open to reason; all will therefore always be easily explained, and he
is determined never to be occupied but by what is important or useful
to you....

Now I conclude, with my renewed warmest and sincerest good wishes for
you, ever, my dearest Victoria, your devoted Uncle,

LEOPOLD.

[Footnote 8: _(From an unpublished Contemporary Memoir by
Admiral Sir William Hotham, G.C.B.)_

"Her Royal Highness was now and then apt to give way to a high
flow of animal spirits, natural at her time of life, and from
carelessness more than unkindness to ridicule others. In one
of these sallies of inconsiderate mirth, she perceived the
Prince, sombre and cold, taking no apparent notice of what was
going on, or if he did, evidently displeased. She at length
spoke to him about it, and he at once manifested reluctance
to join in the conversation, saying that though he had been a
tolerably apt scholar in many things, he had yet to learn in
England what pleasure was derived from the exercise of that
faculty he understood to be called "quizzing"; that he could
by no means reconcile it to himself according to any rule
either of good breeding or benevolence. The tears instantly
started in her eye, and feeling at once the severity and
justice of the reproof, assured him most affectionately
that, as it was the first time she had ever merited His Royal
Highness's reproof on this subject, she assured him most
solemnly it should be the last."]

[Pageheading: THE WEDDING-DAY]

_Queen Victoria to the Prince Albert._[9]

_10th February 1840._

DEAREST,--... How are you to-day, and have you slept well? I have
rested very well, and feel very comfortable to-day. What weather! I
believe, however, the rain will cease.

Send one word when you, my most dearly loved bridegroom, will be
ready. Thy ever-faithful,

VICTORIA R.

[Footnote 9: A note folded in _billet_ form, to be taken by
hand. Addressed:

"HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE.
"THE QUEEN."

This was the day of their marriage at the Chapel Royal. After
the wedding breakfast at Buckingham Palace they drove to
Windsor, and on the 14th they returned to London.]

_Queen Victoria to the King of the Belgians._

WINDSOR CASTLE, _11th February 1840._

MY DEAREST UNCLE,--I write to you from here, the happiest, happiest
Being that ever existed. Really, I do not think it _possible_ for any
one in the world to be _happier_, or AS happy as I am. He is an Angel,
and his kindness and affection for me is really touching. To look in
those dear eyes, and that dear sunny face, is enough to make me adore
him. What I can do to make him happy will be my greatest delight.
Independent of my great personal happiness, the reception we both
met with yesterday was the most gratifying and enthusiastic I ever
experienced; there was no end of the crowds in London, and all along
the road. I was a good deal tired last night, but am quite well again
to-day, and happy....

My love to dear Louise. Ever your affectionate,

VICTORIA R.

_The King of the Belgians to Queen Victoria._

BRUSSELS, _21st February 1840._

MY DEAREST VICTORIA,--I am more grateful than I can express that,
notwithstanding your many _empechements_ and occupations, you still
found a little moment to write to me. News from you are always
most precious to me, and now almost more than ever. This is such
an important moment in your life, it will so much decide how the
remainder is to be, that I am deeply interested in all I can hear on
the subject. Hitherto, with the exception of your own dear and
Royal self, I have not been spoiled, _et j'ai puise beaucoup de mes
nouvelles_ in the _Times_ and such like sources.

God be praised that the dear _menage_ is so happy! I can only say may
it be so for ever and ever. I always thought that with your warm and
feeling heart and susceptibility for strong and lasting affection, you
would prefer this _genre_ of happiness, if you once possessed it, to
every other. It must be confessed that it is less frequent than could
be wished for the good of mankind, but when it does exist, there is
something delightful to a generous heart like yours in this sacred
tie, in this attachment for better for worse, and I think the English
Church service expresses it in a simple and touching manner.

I was happy to see that the Addresses of both Houses of Parliament
were voted in a decent and becoming way. How mean people are! If
they had not seen the public at large take a great interest in your
marriage and show you great affection, perhaps some would again have
tried to bring on unpleasant subjects....

My letter is grown long; I will therefore conclude it with the
expression of my great affection for your dear self. Ever, my most
beloved Victoria, your devoted Uncle,

LEOPOLD R.

[Pageheading: POPULAR ENTHUSIASM]

_Viscount Melbourne to Queen Victoria._

_6th March 1840._

... As your Majesty has by your Lord Chamberlain permitted plays to
be acted on Wednesdays and Fridays in Lent, it would be condemning
yourself if you did not go to see them if you like to do so....

... Lord Melbourne is much pleased to hear that your Majesty and
the Prince liked _The School for Scandal_. It is upon the whole the
cleverest comedy in the English language, the fullest of wit and at
the same time the most free from grossness.

[Pageheading: THE CORN LAWS]

_Lord John Russell to Queen Victoria._

_4th April 1840._

Lord John Russell presents his humble duty to your Majesty, and has
the honour to state that the House of Commons having resumed the
consideration of the Corn Laws, the debate was closed by Sir Robert
Peel, in a speech much inferior to those which he usually makes. Mr
Warburton moved an adjournment, which caused many members to leave the
House. The motion being opposed, there were on a division 240 against
adjournment, and only 125 in favour of it.

Mr Warburton then by some blunder moved that the House adjourn, which
puts an end to the debate. This was eagerly caught at by the opposite
party, and agreed to. So that the question is lost by this ridiculous
termination, and it is to be feared that it will produce much
discontent in the manufacturing class.[10]

[Footnote 10: The opposition to the Corn Laws was now
increasing in the North.]

_Viscount Melbourne to Queen Victoria._

_5th April 1840._

Lord Melbourne presents his humble duty to your Majesty. He is quite
well but much tired. He has so much to do this morning that he will
not be able to speak to Albemarle,[11] but if Albemarle dines at the
Palace, he certainly will then.

Lord Melbourne always feared anything like a mixture of the Stable
establishments. It would have been much better that what horses the
Prince had should have been kept quite separate, and that the horses
of your Majesty's which he should have to use should have been
settled, and some plan arranged by which they could have been obtained
when wanted. Horses to be used by one set of people and kept and fed
by another will never do. Servants and subordinate agents in England
are quite unmanageable in these respects. If they get [matters] into
their hands neither the Deity nor the Devil, nor both together, can
make them agree. Lord Melbourne writes this in ignorance of the actual
facts of the case, and therefore it may be inapplicable.

[Footnote 11: Master of the Horse.]

_Lord John Russell to Queen Victoria._

_8th April 1840._

Lord John Russell presents his humble duty to your Majesty, and has
the honour to state that Sir James Graham yesterday brought forward
his motion on China in a speech of nearly three hours.[12] He was
answered by Mr Macaulay in a manner most satisfactory to his audience,
and with great eloquence. Sir William Follett spoke with much
ingenuity, but in the confined spirit of a lawyer.

[Footnote 12: The motion was to censure Ministers for their
want of foresight in their dealings with China in connection
with the extension of commerce, and with the opium trade. The
motion was rejected by 271 to 262.]

[Pageheading: ENGLAND AND CHINA]

_Lord John Russell to Queen Victoria._

_9th April 1840._

Lord John Russell presents his humble duty to your Majesty, and has
the honour to report that the debate went on yesterday, when Mr Hawes
spoke against the motion. In the course of the debate Mr Gladstone[13]
said the Chinese had a right to poison the wells, to keep away the
English! The debate was adjourned.