The Letters of Queen Victoria Volume I Part 10

[Pageheading: DEATH OF CHARLES X]

_The King of the Belgians to the Princess Victoria._

LAEKEN, _18th November 1836._

... Poor Charles X. is dead, it is said of the cholera. I regret him; few people were ever kinder to me than the good old man. He was blinded by certain absolute ideas, but a good man, and deserving to be loved. History will state that Louis XVIII. was a most liberal monarch, reigning with great mildness and justice to his end, but that his brother, from his despotic and harsh disposition, upset all the other had done, and lost the throne. Louis XVIII. was a clever, hard-hearted man, shackled by no principle, very proud and false.

Charles X. an honest man, a kind friend, an honourable master, sincere in his opinions, and inclined to do everything that is right. That teaches us what we ought to believe in history as it is compiled according to ostensible events and results known to the generality of people. Memoirs are much more instructive, if written honestly and not purposely fabricated, as it happens too often nowadays, particularly at Paris.... I shall not fail to read the books you so kindly recommend. I join you a small copy of our very liberal Const.i.tution, hitherto conscientiously executed--no easy matter. You may communicate it to your Mother; it is the best answer to an infamous Radical or Tory-Radical paper, the _Const.i.tutional_, which seems determined to run down the Coburg family. I don't understand the meaning of it; the only happiness poor Charlotte knew was during her short wedded existence, and there was but one voice on that subject, that we offered a bright prospect to the nation. Since that period I have (though been abused, and vilified merely for drawing an income which was the consequence of a Treaty ratified by both Houses of Parliament, and that without one dissenting voice, a thing not very likely to happen again) done everything to see England prosperous and powerful.

I have spared her, in 1831, much trouble and expense, as _without my coming here very serious complications, war and all the expensive operations connected with it_, must have taken place. I give the whole of my income, without the reservation of a farthing, to the country; I preserve unity on the Continent, have frequently prevented mischief at Paris, and to thank me for all that, I get the most scurrilous abuse, in which the good people from _constant practice so much excel_....

The conclusion of all this--and that by people whose very existence in political life may be but of a few years' standing--is scurrilous abuse of the Coburg family. I should like to know what harm the Coburg family has done to England? But enough of this. Your principle is very good; one must not mind what newspapers say. Their power is a fiction of the worst description, and their efforts marked by the worst faith and the greatest untruths. If all the Editors of the papers in the countries where the liberty of the press exists were to be a.s.sembled, we should have a _crew_ to which you would _not_ confide a dog that you would value, still less your honour and reputation....

[Pageheading: REVOLUTION AT LISBON]

[Pageheading: THE PRINCESS'S NAME]

_The Princess Victoria to the King of the Belgians._

_21st November 1836._

MY MOST DEARLY BELOVED UNCLE,--You cannot imagine how happy you have made me by your very dear, kind, long, and interesting letter of the 18th, which I received yesterday morning, and for which I beg you to accept my _very warmest_ and best thanks. You know, I think, my dearest Uncle, that _no_ creature on earth _loves_ you _more_ dearly, or has a higher sense of admiration for you, than I have. Independent of all that you have done--which I never, never can be grateful enough for--my love for you exceeds all that words can express; it is innate in me, for from my earliest years the name of _Uncle_ was the dearest I knew, the word _Uncle_, _alone_, meant no other but you!

Your letter is so interesting and instructive that I could read it over and over again. I hope, dear Uncle, you will in process of time give me the _apercu_ you mention, which would be so very interesting for me.

I cannot tell you how distressed I was by the late unfortunate _contre-revolution manquee_ at Lisbon,[15] and how sorry I was to see by the letter you wrote me, that you were still unaware of it on the 18th. Mamma received a letter from Lord Palmerston yesterday morning, which she has sent you, and which is consolatory, I think. He speaks in the highest terms of our beloved Ferdinand, which proves that he becomes daily more and more worthy of his arduous situation, and says that the Queen's situation "is better than it was," less bad than it might have been "after such an affair," and not so good as it would have been had poor Donna Maria waited patiently till all was ripe for action. Dietz[16] wrote Mamma a most desponding letter, so much so, that had we not got Lord Palmerston's letter we must have thought all, all was over.[17] I hope, dear Uncle, you will tell _me_ _your_ feeling about the whole, which will only satisfy me; no one else could, for I take an interest in Ferdinand's welfare as though he were my brother.

Allow me, dearest Uncle, to say a few words respecting my _name_, to which you allude. You are aware, I believe, that about a year after the accession of the _present_ King there was a desire to change my favourite and dear name _Victoria_ to that of _Charlotte_, also _most dear_, to which the King willingly consented. On its being told me, I said nothing, though I felt grieved beyond measure at the thought of any change. Not long after this, Lord Grey, and also the Archbishop of Canterbury, acquainted Mamma that the country, having been accustomed to hear me called Victoria, had become used to it, _enfin_, _liked it_, and therefore, to my great delight, the idea of a change was given up.[18]

I was sure the death of old Charles X. would strike you....

I thank you much for the _Const.i.tution de la Belgique_. Those attacks on you are infamous, but must not be minded; they are the language of a _few jealous_, _envious_ people. _En revanche_, I enclose a paragraph from a speech of O'Connell's[19] I think worth your reading.

Pray, dearest Uncle, say everything most kind to my beloved and dearest Aunt, and thank her in my name for her kind letter, which I shall answer on Friday. I am happy she and the dear little man are well.

Believe me, always, your most devoted and affectionately attached Niece,

VICTORIA.

[Footnote 15: Prince Ferdinand was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Portuguese army on the advice of the Duc de Terceira, then Prime Minister. The appointment was highly unpopular; riots broke out, the army mutinied, and rose against the authorities, with the result that the Queen of Portugal was compelled to accept the Radical Const.i.tution of 1820, in the place of Dom Pedro's const.i.tutional Charter of 1826. Later in the year the Queen, a.s.sisted by Palmella, Terceira, and Saldanha, made a counter-move, believing that the people of Lisbon would support her, and proposed to dismiss her Ministers; she had, however, been misled as to the popular aid forthcoming, and had to give up the struggle, Sa da Bandeira becoming Prime Minister. The Queen, virtually a captive, had to accede to the revolutionary requirements.]

[Footnote 16: Dietz was a former Governor of Prince Ferdinand, who accompanied him to Portugal on his marriage with Donna Maria, and took a considerable part in political affairs.]

[Footnote 17: A former Minister of the Interior was killed by the National Guards, who threatened to march on Belem, where the Queen was; she had to apply to the British Marines for protection.]

[Footnote 18: In the course of the debate (3rd August 1831) on Lord Althorp's proposition to add 10,000 a year to the d.u.c.h.ess of Kent's income, Sir M. W. Ridley suggested changing the Princess's name to Elizabeth, as being "more accordant to the feelings of the people," saying that he had heard the subject "frequently and seriously argued." Hunt, the Radical, who opposed the grant, saw no objection to the change, and Lord Althorp thought the matter of no particular consequence.

The Princess's own feelings, and those of her mother, do not seem to have been considered. See _Hansard_, 3rd series, vol.

v. 591, 654 _et seq._]

[Footnote 19: Probably that on the Irish Church Question at the General (formerly "Catholic") a.s.sociation, Dublin.]

_The Princess Victoria to the King of the Belgians._

CLAREMONT, _5th December 1836._

MY DEAREST UNCLE,--... I have begun since a few days Lord Clive's Life, by Sir John Malcolm,[20] which is very interesting, as it gives much insight into the affairs of India, over parts of which, I fear, it would be well to throw a _veil_. I am reading it by myself, _et je vous le recommande_....

[Footnote 20: The book reviewed by Macaulay, who spoke of Sir John Malcolm as one whose "love pa.s.ses the love of biographers, and who can see nothing but wisdom and justice in the actions of his idol."]

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

TO CHAPTER VI

The closing months of the reign of William IV. were not marked by any stirring events at home. The Conservative opposition to the Melbourne Ministry was strengthened before the meeting of Parliament by a great speech by Sir Robert Peel at Glasgow, and Lord Brougham later on emerged from his retirement to become the able and venomous critic of his former friends. The Government failed to carry important measures on Church Rates and Irish Munic.i.p.al Corporations, while the Radical group pressed persistently their favourite motions in support of the Ballot, and against the Property qualification of members, Primogeniture, the Septennial Act, the Bishops' seats and Proxy Voting in the House of Lords. The Ministry was saved from shipwreck by the demise of the Crown and by the accession of the Princess Victoria, who, on attaining her legal majority a month earlier, had received marked signs of enthusiastic popular favour.

The General Election in the Autumn did not materially affect the position of parties, the Radicals losing and O'Connell gaining seats; but the prestige of Lord Melbourne was increased by the unique position he now held in reference to the Sovereign. Parliament was opened in person by the Queen on 20th November, and the Civil List dealt with, the amount allocated being 385,000 as against 510,000 in the late reign (of which 75,000, formerly paid in pensions, was now struck off, and other arrangements made).

For some time past the state of Canada had caused grave anxiety. By an Act of 1791, it had been divided into Upper and Lower Canada, each with a Governor, Council, and House of Representatives, Lower Canada being in the main French, while Upper Canada was occupied by British settlers. Friction first arose in the former, between the nominee Council and the popular a.s.sembly, the a.s.sembly declining to pay the salaries of officials whom they had censured, but whom the Executive had retained in their posts. Mr Papineau, who had been Speaker of the a.s.sembly, was leader in the popular movement. Lord Gosford, the Governor of Lower Canada, dismissed some Militia officers who had taken part in political demonstrations, and warrants were issued for the apprehension of certain members of the a.s.sembly, on the charge of high treason: within a short time the discontented party broke out into rebellion. The course which events would take in Upper Canada was for a time doubtful. Sir Francis Head, the Governor, placed his regular troops at the service of Lord Gosford, preferring to rely on the militia. This unusual action was successful, but was not approved by the Colonial Office. The state of affairs became very alarming at the close of the year, when it was announced in Parliament that Lord Gosford had resigned and that Sir John Colborne (afterwards Lord Seaton) had been appointed to succeed him.

In France the confederates of Louis Napoleon in the Strasburg outbreak were tried and acquitted; a treaty was concluded at Tafna with Abd-el-Kader, but negotiations for a similar agreement with Achmet Bey were less successful, and operations were continued against Constantin with successful results, the town being carried by an a.s.sault on 13th October, with some loss of officers and men on the French side.

Affairs continued unsettled in the Peninsula. In Spain General Evans was defeated near San Sebastian, but afterwards, in conjunction with Lord John Hay, captured Irun, the frontier town. Don Carlos meanwhile marched on Madrid, but was encountered by Espartero, Commander-in-Chief of the Christinos, who was Prime Minister for a brief period during the year. The British legion was dissolved, and Evans returned to England.

In Portugal the English were becoming unpopular for their supposed intervention: Ferdinand, the Queen's consort, who was naturally believed to be in harmony with the British Cabinet, acted tactlessly in accepting the Commandership-in-Chief, and internal hostilities continued throughout the year.

In Hanover a reactionary step was taken by King Ernest, who had succeeded his brother, William IV. of England, on the throne of Hanover; by letters patent he abrogated the Const.i.tution of 1833, an action which, imperfect and open to criticism though the Const.i.tution was, naturally aroused anxiety among the supporters of representative inst.i.tutions throughout Europe.

CHAPTER VI

1837