shows a thorough appreciation of the position which it would become him to occupy in this country after his marriage. It will be seen how steadily and consistently he adhered, under many difficulties, both public and domestic, to the principles of action which he now laid down for himself.

He thus writes to the Queen on the 10th December 1839:

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"... Now I come to a second point which you touch upon in your letter, and which "I have also much at heart; I mean the choice " of the persons who are to belong to my house"hold. The maxim, Tell me whom he asso"ciates with, and I will tell you who he is,' "must here especially not be lost sight of. I "should wish particularly that the selection "should be made without regard to politics; for if "I am really to keep myself free from all parties,

my people must not belong exclusively to one "side. Above all, these appointments should "not be mere 'party rewards,' but they should possess other recommendations besides those

of party. Let them be either of very high rank, or very rich, or very clever, or persons "who have performed important services for "England. It is very necessary that they should

"be chosen from both sides-the same number of Whigs as of Tories; and above all do I wish "that they should be well-educated men and "of high character, who, as I have already said, "shall have already distinguished themselves in "their several positions, whether it be in the army, or navy, or in the scientific world. I "know will agree you in my views. . . ."

The Queen mentions that the applications for situations in the Prince's household were very numerous; nor, she adds, were the arrangements which were made altogether such as they should have been, and the Prince was a good deal annoyed on the subject. 7

7 Memorandum by the Queen.

CHAPTER XII.

1840.

PROCEEDINGS IN PARLIAMENT.

ON the 16th January 1840, the Queen opened Parliament in person, and it being generally known that the proposed marriage would now be formally announced from the Throne, the crowds that assembled outside the Houses of Parliament, and that lined the route through which the Royal procession passed from the Palace, were great beyond all example. The reception of the Queen both going and returning was enthusiastic in the extreme, and the Queen herself records in her Journal that she was more loudly cheered than she had been for 'some time."

In the interior of the House every seat was,

as usual, filled with the noblest and fairest of the land; and a feeling of more than ordinary interest and sympathy must have thrilled the hearts of all present, when their youthful sovereign, only now in her twenty-first year, in her clear voice and distinct articulation, thus announced to the representatives of her people in Parliament assembled, her own intended marriage.

"Since you were last assembled, I have "declared my intention of allying myself in 'marriage with the Prince Albert of Saxe Coburg and Gotha. I humbly I humbly implore that "the divine blessing may prosper this union, "and render it conducive to the interests of "my people, as well as to my own domestic "happiness; and it will be to me a source of "the most lively satisfaction to find the resolu"tion I have taken approved by my Parliament.

"The constant proofs which I have received of your attachment to my person and family persuade me that you will enable me to provide for such an establishment as may appear suitable to the rank of the Prince and "the dignity of the Crown."

66

The Address in answer to the Speech was moved in the House of Lords by the Duke of

Somerset, and seconded by Lord Seaford. There was, on all sides, but one language of congratulation and of warm and cordial sympathy in the prospect of domestic happiness and public advantage which the intended marriage held out to the Queen and to the country; and in the House of Commons, where the feeling was equally unanimous, Sir Robert Peel, as leader of the Opposition, claimed for himself and for those with whom he acted, credit for joining cordially in the congratulations offered by the Address. "I do entirely enter," he proceeded, “into the

aspirations for the happiness of Her Majesty "in her approaching nuptials. Her Majesty "has been enabled to contract those nuptials "under circumstances peculiarly auspicious. "It frequently happens that political consider

ations interfere with such transactions, and "that persons in exalted stations are obliged to "sacrifice their private feelings to the sense of

public duty. Her Majesty, however, has the "singular good fortune to be able to gratify her "private feelings while she performs her public

duty, and to obtain the best guarantee for happiness by contracting an alliance founded "on affection. I cordially hope that the union.