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

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[Pageheading: CRIMINAL INSANITY]

_Queen Victoria to Sir Robert Peel._

BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _12th March 1843._

The Queen returns the paper of the Lord Chancellor's to Sir Robert
Peel with her best thanks.

The law may be perfect, but how is it that whenever a case for its
application arises, it proves to be of no avail? We have seen the
trials of Oxford and MacNaghten conducted by the ablest lawyers of the
day--Lord Denman, Chief Justice Tindal, and Sir Wm. Follett,[25]--and
_they allow_ and _advise_ the Jury to pronounce the verdict of _Not
Guilty_ on account of _Insanity_,--whilst _everybody_ is morally
_convinced_ that both malefactors were perfectly conscious and aware
of what they did! It appears from this, that the force of the law is
entirely put into the Judge's hands, and that it depends merely upon
his charge whether the law is to be applied or not. Could not the
Legislature lay down that rule which the Lord Chancellor does in
his paper, and which Chief Justice Mansfield did in the case of
Bellingham; and why could not the Judges be _bound_ to interpret the
law in _this_ and _no other_ sense in their charges to the Juries?[26]

[Footnote 25: Solicitor-General. His health gave way in middle
life, and he died in 1845.]

[Footnote 26: In consequence of the manner in which the trial
terminated, and the feeling excited in the country, the House
of Lords put certain questions on the subject of criminal
insanity to the Judges, whose answers have been since
considered as establishing the law.]

[Pageheading: PRINCESS MARY OF BADEN]

_The Earl of Aberdeen to Queen Victoria._

FOREIGN OFFICE, _13th March 1843._

Lord Aberdeen presents his humble duty to your Majesty. In obedience
to your Majesty's commands he has endeavoured to consider the letter
of the Grand Duke of Baden with reference to the position of the
Princess Mary[27] in this country. Lord Aberdeen does not find in the
proceedings of the Conference of Great Powers at Vienna, at Aix
la Chapelle, or at Paris, anything which can materially affect the
question. The great difficulty with respect to the Princess appears
to arise from the fact that in this country the rank and precedence
of every person are regulated and fixed by law. Should your Majesty be
disposed to deviate from the strict observance of this, although
Lord Aberdeen cannot doubt that it would receive a very general
acquiescence, it is still possible that the Princess might be exposed
to occasional disappointment and mortification....

There is a consideration, to which Lord Aberdeen would humbly advert,
which may not altogether be unworthy of your Majesty's notice. Your
Majesty does not wish to encourage alliances of this description;
and although there may be no danger of their frequent occurrence,
it cannot be denied that an additional inducement would exist if
Princesses always retained their own rank in this country.

On the whole, Lord Aberdeen would humbly submit to your Majesty that
the Princess might be received by your Majesty, in the first instance,
with such distinction as was due to her birth--either by a Royal
carriage being sent to bring her to your Majesty's presence, or in any
manner which your Majesty might command--with the understanding that
she should permanently adopt the title and station of her husband.
Your Majesty's favour and protection, afforded to her in this
character will probably realise all the expectations of the Grand
Duke; and, without acknowledging any positive claim or right, your
Majesty would secure the gratitude of the Princess.

[Footnote 27: The Princess Mary of Baden had recently married
the Marquis of Douglas, eldest son of the Duke of Hamilton.
_See_ p. 439. (Ch. XI, 1st November, 1842)]

[Pageheading: THE PRINCE TO HOLD LEVEES]

_Queen Victoria to Sir Robert Peel._

BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _17th March 1843._

The Queen has spoken again to the Prince about the Levees, who has
kindly consented to do what can be of use and convenience to the
Queen. There is one circumstance which must be considered and settled,
and which the Queen omitted to mention to Sir Robert Peel when she saw
him. The chief, indeed the _only_, object of having these Levees, is
to save the Queen the _extreme fatigue_ of the _Presentations_
which would come in such a _mass_ together when the Queen _held them
herself_; the Prince naturally holds the _Levees for_ the Queen, and
_represents her_; could not therefore everybody who was presented
to him be made to understand that this would be tantamount to a
presentation to the Queen herself? There might perhaps be an objection
on the part of people presented to kneel and kiss the Prince's hand.
But this could be obviated by merely having the people named to the
Prince. The inconvenience would be _so great_ if nobody at all could
be presented till late in the season, that something must be devised
to get over this difficulty.

[Pageheading: LEVEES]

_Sir Robert Peel to Queen Victoria._

DOWNING STREET, _18th March 1843._

Sir Robert Peel presents his humble duty to your Majesty, and begs
leave to submit to your Majesty that should your Majesty determine
that the Prince should hold Levees on behalf of your Majesty, the best
course will be to announce the intention from the Lord Chamberlain's
Office in terms to the following purport:

"His Royal Highness Prince Albert will, by Her Majesty's
command, hold a Levee on behalf of Her Majesty on ----

"It is Her Majesty's pleasure that presentations to the Prince
at this Levee shall be considered equivalent to presentations
to the Queen.

"Addresses to Her Majesty may be presented to Her Majesty
through the Secretary of State, or may be reserved until Her
Majesty can hold a Levee in person."

Sir Robert Peel humbly submits to your Majesty that it would not
be advisable to _prohibit_ by notice in the _Gazette_ subsequent
presentations to your Majesty. It will probably answer every purpose
to state that they shall be considered _equivalent_, and when your
Majesty shall hold a Levee it may be then notified at the time that
second presentations are not necessary.

When the Prince shall hold the Levee, it may be made known at the
time, without any formal public notification, that kneeling and the
kissing of hands will not be required.

Sir Robert Peel hopes that the effect of holding these Levees may be
materially to relieve your Majesty, but it is of course difficult to
speak with certainty. He was under the impression that in the reign of
Queen Anne, Prince George had occasionally held Levees on the part
of the Queen during the Queen's indisposition, but on searching the
_Gazette_ of the time he cannot find any record of this.

_Queen Victoria to Sir Robert Peel._

CLAREMONT, _19th March 1843._

The Queen has received Sir Robert's letter, and quite approves of his
suggestions concerning the Levees. The Prince is quite ready to do
whatever may be thought right, and the Queen wishes Sir Robert to
act upon the plan he has laid before her in his letter of yesterday.
Perhaps it would be right before making anything public to consider
the question of Drawing-Rooms likewise, which are of such importance
to the trades-people of London. It would be painful for the Queen to
think that she should be the cause of disappointment and loss to
this class of her subjects, particularly at this moment of commercial
stagnation. The Queen conceives that it would be the right thing that
the same principle laid down for the Levees should be followed with
regard to Drawing-Rooms, the Prince holding them for her. The Queen is
anxious to have soon Sir Robert's opinion upon this subject. The Queen
on looking at the almanac finds that _only_ the _two_ next weeks are
available for these purposes _before_ Easter.

_Sir Robert Peel to Queen Victoria._

WHITEHALL, _27th March 1843._

Sir Robert Peel presents his humble duty to your Majesty, and hastens
to reply to your Majesty's note of this date.

Sir Robert Peel assures your Majesty that he does not think that there
is the slightest ground for apprehension on the occasion of the Levee,
but Sir Robert Peel will, without the slightest allusion to your
Majesty's communication to him, make personal enquiries into the
police arrangements, and see that every precaution possible shall be
taken.

He begs, however, humbly to assure your Majesty that there never has
reached him any indication of a hostile feeling towards the Prince.
It could only proceed from some person of deranged intellect, and he
thinks it would be almost impossible for such a person to act upon it
on the occasion of a Levee.

It may tend to remove or diminish your Majesty's anxiety to know
that Sir Robert Peel has _walked_ home every night from the House
of Commons, and, notwithstanding frequent menaces and intimations of
danger, he has not met with any obstruction.

He earnestly hopes that your Majesty will dismiss from your mind any
apprehension, and sincerely believes that your Majesty may do so with
entire confidence. But nothing shall be neglected.

[Pageheading: THE COMET]

_Queen Victoria to the King of the Belgians._

BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _28th March 1843._

MY DEAREST UNCLE,--I had the pleasure of receiving your kind letter of
the 24th, on Sunday. How lucky you are to have seen the comet![28] It
is distinctly _to be seen_ here, and _has been seen_ by many people,
but we have till now looked out in vain for it. We shall, however,
persevere.

We left dear Claremont with great regret, and since our return have
been regaled with regular March winds, which, however, have not kept
me from my daily walks. To-day it is finer again.

It is most kind and good of dearest Albert to hold these Levees for
me, which will be a great relief for hereafter for me. Besides _cela
le met dans sa position_; _he_ and _I_ must be _one_, so that I can
_only be represented_ by _him_. I think this, therefore, a good thing
for that reason also; and God knows, he, dear angel, _deserves_ to be
the _highest_ in _everything_.

Our Consecration went off extremely well, and the Chapel is
delightful, and so convenient. I am sure you will like it.

You will be glad to hear that dear old Eos (who is still at Claremont)
is going on most favourably; they attribute this sudden attack to her
over-eating (she steals whenever she can get anything), living in too
warm rooms, and getting too little exercise since she was in London.
Certainly her wind was _not_ in the _slightest_ degree affected by
her accident, for in the autumn she coursed better than all the other
young dogs, and ran and fetched pheasants, etc., from any distance,
and ran about the very evening she was taken so ill, as if nothing was
the matter. Evidently part of her lungs must be _very_ sound still;
and they say _no one's_ lungs are _quite sound_. She must be well
starved, poor thing, and not allowed to sleep in beds, as she
generally does.

[Footnote 28: Its appearance gave rise to much discussion
among astronomers. On the 17th Sir John Herschel saw its
nucleus from Collingwood in Kent, and on the following night
a dim nebula only; so it was probably receding with great
velocity.]

[Pageheading: MELBOURNE ON DIET]

_Viscount Melbourne to Queen Victoria._

BROCKET HALL, _2nd April 1843._

Lord Melbourne presents his humble duty to your Majesty. He received
yesterday morning your Majesty's letter of the 30th ult., for which
he sincerely thanks your Majesty. Lord Melbourne is delighted to
find that your Majesty was pleased with the bouquet. The daphnes are
neither so numerous nor so fine as they were, but there are still
enough left to make another bouquet, which Lord Melbourne will take
care is sent up by his cart to-morrow, and left at Buckingham Palace.
Lord Melbourne is very much touched and obliged by your Majesty's very
kind advice, which he will try his utmost to follow, as he himself
believes that his health entirely depends upon his keeping up his
stomach in good order and free from derangement. He owns that he is
very incredulous about the unwholesomeness of dry champagne, and
he does not think that the united opinion of the whole College of
Physicians and of Surgeons would persuade him upon these points--he
cannot think that a "Hohenlohe" glass of dry champagne, _i.e._ half a
_schoppen_,[29] can be prejudicial. Lord and Lady Erroll[30] and Lord
Auckland and Miss Eden are coming in the course of the week, and they
would be much surprised not to get a glass of champagne with their
dinner. Lord Melbourne is very glad to learn that the Prince's Levee
did well, and feels that His Royal Highness undertaking this duty must
be a great relief and assistance to your Majesty. Lord Melbourne hopes
to see the Baron here when he comes. The spring still delays and hangs
back, but it rains to-day, which Lord Melbourne hopes will bring it
on.

[Footnote 29: A _schoppen_ is about a pint; it is the same
word etymologically as "scoop."]

[Footnote 30: William George, seventeenth Earl of Erroll,
married a sister of the first Earl of Munster.]

[Pageheading: THE ROYAL CHILDREN]

_Queen Victoria to the King of the Belgians._

BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _4th April 1843._

DEAREST UNCLE,--Many thanks for your very kind letter of the 31st,
which I received on Sunday, just as our excellent friend Stockmar made
his appearance. He made us very happy by his excellent accounts of
you _all_, including dearest Louise, and the children he says are _so_
grown; Leo being nearly as tall as Louise! _En revanche_ he will, I
hope, tell you how prosperous he found us all; and how surprised
and pleased he was with the children; he also is struck with Albert
junior's likeness to his dearest papa, which everybody is struck with.
Indeed, dearest Uncle, I will venture to say that not only _no Royal
Menage_ is to be found equal to _ours_, but _no other menage_ is to
be compared to ours, nor is _any one_ to be compared, take him
altogether, to _my dearest_ Angel!...

_Sir Robert Peel to Queen Victoria._

WHITEHALL, _6th April 1843._

Sir Robert Peel presents his humble duty to your Majesty, and has this
moment received your Majesty's note.

Sir Robert Peel will immediately make enquiry in the first instance in
respect to the correctness of the report of the dinner. The omission
of the health of the Prince is certainly very strange--it would be
very unusual at any public dinner--but seems quite unaccountable at
a dinner given in connection with the interests of one of the Royal
Theatres.

The toasts are generally prepared not by the chairman of the meeting,
but by a committee; but still the omission of the name of the Prince
ought to have occurred at once to the Duke of Cambridge, and there
cannot be a doubt that he might have rectified, and ought to have
rectified, the omission.

Sir Robert Peel is sure your Majesty will approve of his ascertaining
in the first instance the real facts of the case--whether the report
be a correct one, and if a correct one, who are the parties by whom
the arrangements in respect to the toasts were made.

This being done, Sir Robert Peel will then apply himself to the
execution of your Majesty's wishes, in the manner pointed out by your
Majesty.

He begs humbly to assure your Majesty that he enters most fully into
your Majesty's very natural feelings, and that he shall always have
the greatest pleasure in giving effect to your Majesty's wishes
in matters of this nature, and in proving himself worthy of the
confidence your Majesty is kindly pleased to repose in him.

[Pageheading: THE TOAST OF THE PRINCE]

_Sir Robert Peel to Queen Victoria._

WHITEHALL, _6th April 1843._

Sir Robert Peel, with his humble duty to your Majesty, hastens to
make a communication to your Majesty, on the subject of your Majesty's
letter of this morning, which he hopes will remove from your Majesty's
mind any unfavourable impression with regard to the _toasts_ at the
theatrical dinner, or to the conduct of the Duke of Cambridge in
reference to them.

Sir Robert Peel, since he addressed your Majesty, has made enquiry
from Colonel Wood, the member for Brecon, who was present at the
meeting.

In order to have the real statement of the case, Sir Robert Peel
did not mention the object of the enquiry. The following were the
questions and the answers:--

_Q._ What were the toasts at the theatrical dinner last night?

COLONEL WOOD. The first was _The Queen and the Prince_. The Duke said
he thought he could not give the health of the Queen in a manner more
satisfactory than by coupling with the name of Her Majesty that of her
illustrious Consort.

Colonel Wood said that his impression was that the Duke meant to do
that which would be most respectful to the Prince, and that he had
in his mind when he united the name of the Prince with that of your
Majesty, the circumstances of the Prince having recently held the
Levee on behalf of your Majesty.

It might perhaps have been better had His Royal Highness adhered to
the usual custom, and proposed the health of the Prince distinctly and
separately, but he humbly submits to your Majesty that the _intention_
of His Royal Highness must have been to show respect to the Prince.

The reports of public dinners are frequently incorrect, the reporters
being sometimes placed at a great distance from the chairman.

[Pageheading: THE KING OF HANOVER]

_Sir Robert Peel to Queen Victoria._

WHITEHALL, _12th April 1843._

Sir Robert Peel presents his humble duty to your Majesty, and will
not fail to forward by the first opportunity the letter to Lord
Ellenborough which accompanied your Majesty's note.

In consequence of his conversation yesterday morning with Baron
Stockmar, Sir Robert Peel begs to mention to your Majesty that he saw
to-day a private letter from Berlin, which mentioned that the King
of Hanover had apparently abandoned the intention of visiting England
this year, but that on the receipt of some letters from England, which
he suspected to be written for the purpose of discouraging his visit,
the King suddenly changed his intention and wrote a letter to your
Majesty, stating that he had thoughts of such a visit.

It was not stated from whence the letters advising the King to remain
on the Continent had proceeded.

This letter also stated that the King of Hanover proposed to waive
his rank of Sovereign as far as he possibly could on his arrival in
England, and to take his seat in the House of Lords without taking any
part in the proceedings.

It added that the King could not, in any event, be in England before
the latter end of May or beginning of June, and rather hinted that
as his proposed visit was more out of a spirit of contradiction and
impatience of obstacles being thrown in the way of it, than from any
strong wish on his part to come here, he might probably change his
intention and defer his visit, particularly if he should find that
there was no particular impediment in the way of it.

_Sir Robert Peel to Queen Victoria._

WHITEHALL, _13th April 1843._

Sir Robert Peel presents his humble duty to your Majesty, and begs
leave to acquaint your Majesty that the Duke of Cambridge having
called on Sir Robert Peel this morning, he took an opportunity of
asking His Royal Highness whether he thought the King of Hanover had
made up his mind to visit England this year.

The Duke's reply was, as nearly as possible, as follows:--

"Oh yes, the King will certainly come, but I can tell you privately he
means to have nothing to do with the House of Lords. He will not
make his appearance there. The King has taken his servants for six
weeks--that is, engaged their attendance upon him for that time.
I know the porter is engaged and the stable servants. The King has
written to Her Majesty. His real object in coming is to arrange his
private papers, which were left in confusion, and to consult Sir Henry
Halford."[31]

This was all that was material that His Royal Highness said.

[Footnote 31: The eminent physician.]

[Pageheading: THE GATES OF SOMNAUTH]

_Lord Ellenborough to Queen Victoria._

CAMP, DELHI, _19th February 1843._

... The gates of the Temple of Somnauth, which have been escorted to
Delhi by five hundred cavalry of the protected Sikh States, will be
escorted from Delhi to Muttra, and thence to Agra by the same force of
cavalry, furnished by the Rajahs of Bhurtpore and Alwar.[32]

While there has been universally evinced a feeling of gratitude to
the British Government for the consideration shown to the people of
Hindustan in the restoration of these trophies, there has not occurred
a single instance of apparent mortification amongst the Mussulmans.
All consider the restoration of the gates to be a national, not a
religious, triumph. At no place has more satisfaction been expressed
than at Paniput, a town almost exclusively Mussulman, where there
exist the remains of the first mosque built by Sultan Mahmood after he
had destroyed the city and temples of the Hindoos....

[Footnote 32: See _ante_, p. 445. (Ch. XI, 'The Gates of Somnauth')]

[Pageheading: DEATH OF THE DUKE OF SUSSEX]

_Extract from the Will of his late Royal Highness the Duke of
Sussex, dated the 11th August 1840[33] (sent at the Queen's
request by Sir Robert Peel to the Duke of Wellington for his
advice.)_

"I desire that on my death my body may be opened, and should the
examination present anything useful or interesting to science, I
empower my executors to make it public. And I desire to be buried in
the public cemetery at Kensal Green in the Parish of Harrow, in the
County of Middlesex, and not at Windsor."

[Footnote 33: The Duke of Sussex died on 21st April of
erysipelas. His first marriage in 1793 to Lady Augusta Murray,
daughter of the fourth Earl of Dunmore, was declared void
under the Royal Marriage Act. Lady Augusta died in 1830; her
daughter married Sir Thomas Wilde, afterwards Lord Truro. The
Duke contracted a second marriage with Lady Cecilia Underwood,
daughter of the Earl of Arran and widow of Sir George Buggin:
she was created Duchess of Inverness in 1840, with remainder
to her heirs-male.]

_The Duke of Wellington to Sir Robert Peel._

STRATHFIELDSAYE, _21st April 1843._

MY DEAR PEEL,--I have just now received your letter of this day, and I
return the enclosure in the box. It appears to me that the whole case
must be considered as hanging together; that is, the desire to be
buried at Kensal Green, that of Freemasons to pay Masonic Honours,[34]
that the body of the Duchess of Inverness should be interred near to
his when she dies.

Parties still alive have an interest in the attainment of the two last
objects, which are quite incompatible with the interment of a Prince
of the Blood, a Knight of the Garter, in St George's Chapel at
Windsor.

The Queen's Royal Command might overrule the Duke's desire to be
buried at Kensal Green.[35] Nobody would complain of or contend
against it.

But there will be no end of the complaints of interference by
authority on the part of Freemasons, and of those who will take part
with the Duchess of Inverness: and it is a curious fact that there
are persons in Society who are interested in making out that she was
really married to the Duke.[36] Against this we must observe that it
will be urged that the omission to insist that the interment should
take place in the Collegiate Chapel of St George's, Windsor, and thus
to set aside the will, lowers the Royal Family in the opinion of the
public, and is a concession to Radicalism. But it is my opinion that
the reasons will justify that which will be done in conformity with
the will.

I confess that I don't like to decide upon cases in such haste; and
I cannot consider it necessary that a decision should be made on the
course to be taken in respect to the Duke's funeral, on the morrow of
the day on which he died.

It would be desirable to know the opinion of the Lord Chancellor, the
Archbishop, and others.

I can't think of anything likely to occur, which might alter me: and
I'll abide by that which I have above given.

It will be absolutely necessary to take effective measures for the
preservation of the peace at this funeral at Kensal Green: and
even that the magistrates should superintend the procession of the
Freemasons. Believe me, ever yours most sincerely,

WELLINGTON.

[Footnote 34: The Duke of Sussex being Grand Master of
England, and Master of the Lodge of Antiquity.]

[Footnote 35: The body lay in state at Kensington, and was
eventually buried, as the Duke had desired, in the Kensal
Green Cemetery.]

[Footnote 36: See _ante_, p. 478, note 33 (this Ch., above). The
marriage took place, by special licence, at Lady Cecilia's house
in Great Cumberland Place.]

_Queen Adelaide to Queen Victoria._

_22nd April 1843._

MY DEAREST NIECE,--I am just come back and feel very anxious to
know how you are, and beg at the same time to offer to you my most
affectionate condolence on the melancholy event which has taken again
another member of our family from us. Pray do not trouble _yourself_
with answering this note, but let me hear how you feel, and whether
you will like to see me to-morrow or at any time most convenient to
you.