The Letters of Queen Victoria Volume I Part 24

STANHOPE STREET, _25th February 1838._

Viscount Palmerston presents his humble duty to your Majesty, and with reference to your Majesty's question upon the subjects to which Lord William Russell's recent despatch relates, he has the honour to state: that in the Governments of the Continent, and more especially in those which have no representative a.s.semblies, the second cla.s.s of persons in the public offices possess and exercise much more power and influence than the corresponding cla.s.s of persons do in this country. In England the Ministers who are at the head of the several departments of the State, are liable any day and every day to defend themselves in Parliament; in order to do this, they must be minutely acquainted with all the details of the business of their offices, and the only way of being constantly armed with such information is to conduct and direct those details themselves.

On the Continent, where Ministers of State are not liable so to be called to account for their conduct, the Ministers are tempted to leave the details of their business much more to their Under-Secretaries and to their chief clerks. Thus it happens that all the routine of business is generally managed by these subordinate agents; and to such an extent is this carried, that Viscount Palmerston believes that the Ministers for Foreign Affairs, in France, Austria, Prussia, and Russia, seldom take the trouble of writing their own despatches, except, perhaps, upon some very particular and important occasion.

Your Majesty will easily see how greatly such a system must place in the hands of the subordinate members of the public departments the power of directing the policy and the measures of the Government; because the value and tendency, and the consequences of a measure, frequently depend as much upon the manner in which that measure is worked out, as upon the intention and spirit with which it was planned.

Another circ.u.mstance tends also to give great power to these second-cla.s.s men, and that is their permanence in office.

In England when, in consequence of some great political change, the Heads of Departments go out, the greater part of the Under-Secretaries go out also; thus the Under-Secretary (with two or three exceptions) having come in with his Chief, has probably no more experience than his Chief, and can seldom set up his own knowledge to overrule the opinion, or to guide the judgment, of his superior.

But on the Continent, changes of Ministers are oftener changes of individual men from personal causes, than changes of parties from political convulsions; and therefore when the Chief retires, the Under-Secretary remains. There are consequently in all the public offices abroad a number of men who have spent the greater part of their lives in their respective departments, and who by their long experience are full of knowledge of what has been done in former times, and of the most convenient and easy manner of doing what may be required in the time present. This affords to the Chiefs an additional motive for leaning upon their subordinates, and gives to those subordinates still more real influence.

This cla.s.s of subordinate men has, from the fact of its being possessed of so much power, been invested by the jargon of the day with the t.i.tle of "Bureaucratic"--a name fabricated in imitation of the words "aristocratic" and "democratic," each being compounded of the word "cratic," which is a corruption from the Greek word "kratos,"

which means power; and the prefix, denoting the particular cla.s.s of society whose power is meant to be expressed. Thus "_aristo_-cratic"

is the power of the upper, or, as in Greek it is called, the "aristos"

cla.s.s of society; "_demo_-cratic" is the power of the people, which in Greek is called the "demos"; and "_bureau_-cratic" is the power of the public offices or "bureaus," for which latter the French name has been taken instead of a Greek word.

It appears, then, to be the opinion of Lord William Russell, that this second cla.s.s of public men in Prussia are animated by a desire to see the general policy of their country rendered more national and independent than it has. .h.i.therto been; that for this purpose they were desirous of urging on the Government to take its stand against foreign influence upon some point or other, not much caring what that point might be; that they thought it would be difficult to choose a political question, because on such a question the King of Prussia might be against them, and that consequently they chose a religious question, on which they knew they should have the King with them; and that accordingly they led the Government on to a quarrel with the Court of Rome, and with the Catholic or Austrian party in Germany, more with a view to place Prussia in an independent national position than from any particular importance which they attached to the question itself upon which the rupture was to be effected.

_Viscount Melbourne to Queen Victoria._

_21st March 1838._

Lord Melbourne presents his humble duty to your Majesty. The House sate until half-past eleven last night. Lord Stanhope[6] made a long declamatory speech, very violent, but having in it nothing defined or specific, and was answered by Lord Brougham in a most able and triumphant defence and maintenance of the late Act for Amending the Laws for the Relief of the Poor.[7]

Lord Melbourne was very sorry to be prevented from waiting upon your Majesty. He is very grateful for your Majesty's enquiries, and feels very well this morning....

Lord Minto[8] told Lord Melbourne last night to acquaint your Majesty that Lord Amelius Beauclerck,[9] your Majesty's first Naval Aide-de-Camp, intended to ask an Audience to-day of your Majesty, and that the object of it was to request that he and the other Aides-de-Camp might wear sashes. This was always refused by the late King as being absurd and ridiculous--as it is, particularly considering Lord Amelius's figure--and your Majesty had perhaps better say that you can make no change.

Lord Melbourne will be at St James's twenty minutes before ten.

[Footnote 6: Philip Henry, fourth Earl.]

[Footnote 7: Before 1834 a great source of public abuse was the out-door relief given to able-bodied paupers, either in kind or money. The Act of that year was based on the principle that no one must perish through the want of the bare necessities of life. Poor Law Commissioners were established, England was divided into Districts, and the Districts into Unions. Out-door relief was to be given, on the order of two justices, to poor persons wholly unable, from age or infirmity, to work. But there was much opposition to the new law; it was considered a grievance that old couples were refused relief at home, and that the s.e.xes must be separated at the workhouse, to which the name of "Bastille" began to be attached. In Devonshire it was even believed that the bread distributed by the relieving officers was mixed with poisonous ingredients.]

[Footnote 8: The First Lord of the Admiralty.]

[Footnote 9: A son of the eighth Duke of St Albans.]

[Pageheading: PRESSURE OF BUSINESS]

_Queen Victoria to the King of the Belgians._

BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _4th April 1838._

MY DEAREST UNCLE,--_Vous ne m'en voudrez pas_, I sincerely hope, for not having written to you sooner to thank you for your kind letter, which I received last week, but I really could not do so. As _honesty is the best policy_, I will tell you the simple fact. I have been out riding every day for about three hours, which quite renovates me, and when I come home I have consequently a good deal to do, what with seeing people, reading despatches, writing, etc. You will, I trust, now quite forgive your poor niece, whom you so often call "the little Queen," which is, I fear, true; but her _feelings_ of affection are not so small as her _body_ is, I can a.s.sure you.

The Prince de Ligne[10] will be received with every possible attention, I can promise; it would have been so _without_ his being recommended; his rank, and, above all, his being one of your subjects, would of course ent.i.tle him to a good reception from me....

There is another _sujet_ which I wish to mention to you, _et que j'ai bien a c[oe]ur_, which is, if you would consult Stockmar with respect to the finishing of Albert's education; he knows best my feelings and wishes on that subject....

[Footnote 10: He was appointed to attend the Coronation as Minister Extraordinary from King Leopold.]

_Viscount Melbourne to Queen Victoria._

_5th April 1838._

Lord Melbourne presents his humble duty to your Majesty, and is much distressed that, being in the House of Lords, he was unable to answer your Majesty's letter as soon as he received it. Lord Melbourne went to the Palace about half-past four, but learning from the porter at the gate that your Majesty was not returned, went away thinking that there was not left time to see your Majesty before the House of Lords.

Lord Melbourne is very much concerned that your Majesty should have hastened at all, and most earnestly requests your Majesty never will do so upon his account. Lord Melbourne hears with great pleasure that your Majesty has had a pleasant ride, and likes your horse.

Lord Melbourne is very well himself, and will wait upon your Majesty to-morrow morning about ten minutes before ten.

[Pageheading: FAVOURITE HORSES]

_Queen Victoria to the King of the Belgians._

BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _10th April 1838._

MY DEAREST UNCLE,--I received your kind letter of the 5th on Sunday, and return you my best thanks for it. I shall, before I say another word, answer your question about the horses which I ride, which I do the more willingly as I have got two _darlings_, if I may use that word. They are, both of them, _quite perfect_ in every sense of the word; _very handsome_, full of _spirit_, delightful easy-goers, very quiet, and _never_ shying at anything. Is not this perfection? The one called _Tartar_ (which belonged to Lord Conyngham), an Irish horse, is a very dark brown, a beautiful creature; the other, which Lord Uxbridge[11] got for me, is called _Uxbridge_; he is smaller than Tartar, and is a dark chestnut, with a beautiful little Arabian head. I am afraid I shall have bored you with this long account of my horses.

I am going to Windsor to-morrow afternoon, and have got a great deal to do in consequence....

Poor dear Louie[12] _lingers_ on, but, alas! I can only say _lingers_; she does not gain strength. I cannot say how it grieves me, I am so sincerely attached to the good old soul, who has known me ever since my birth. But I still entertain a hope that she may get over it.

We shall have a fortnight's respite from our Political Campaign. I trust we shall do as well as we have done when Parliament meets again.

Believe me always, your devoted Niece,

VICTORIA R.

[Footnote 11: Henry, Earl of Uxbridge, afterwards second Marquis of Anglesey (1797-1869).]

[Footnote 12: Louisa Louis was born at Erbach in 1771.

The Queen erected a tablet to her memory in St Martin's-in-the-Fields, where she is described as "the faithful and devoted friend of Princess Charlotte of Wales, and from earliest infancy honoured by the affectionate attachment of Her Majesty Queen Victoria." See Reminiscences, _ante_, p. 10. (Ch. I, 'Early Reminiscences')]