every thing should be settled before the meeting of Parliament; and he drew up a sketch, founded principally on the precedent of that of George IV. when Prince of Wales, of what he thought it should consist of, making, at the same time, several suggestions as to the persons to be appointed to it.*

The King of the Belgians wrote that he thought the best way would be "to name the most needful, ‘d'un commun accord,' now, and to wait till you can arrange these matters, till you meet." "By letter," he adds, " and at such a distance, it was very difficult to come to an understanding, while a few moments' conversation may settle every thing."

A letter from the Prince himself, on the manner in which his household should be formed, affords a rare proof of sound judgment at a very early age—for he had only completed his twentieth year a few months beforeand 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 of December, 1839:

"... 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 household. The maxim, 'Tell me whom he associates with, and I will tell you who he is,' must here es*The Queen's Journal, written at the time.

pecially 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 you will agree 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.*

* Memorandum by the Queen.

K

CHAPTER XII.

1840.

Proceedings in Parliament.

ON the 16th of 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 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 resolution 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."

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 considerations 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 now contemplated will contribute to her Majesty's happiness, and enable her to furnish to her people an exalted example of connubial felicity."*

But the omission to declare that Prince Albert was a Protestant was found fault with in both houses, and the Duke of Wellington, in the House of Lords, "Though entertaining," he said, "no doubt that the Prince was a Protestant," though "he was sure he was a Protestant, and "knew he was of a Protestant family," attributed the omission to the fear on the part of the government to irritate or indispose their Irish supporters. There was much anxiety, he said, on the subject, and he thought that if the House of Lords was "called upon to do any act, or make any declaration on the subject of the marriage, beyond the mere congratulation of the Queen, they should take that course which should give her Majesty's subjects the satisfaction of knowing that Prince Albert was a Protestant, thus showing the public," he added, "that this was still a Protestant state."

The duke consequently moved to insert the word "Protestant" in the address before the word "Prince."

In answer, Lord Melbourne said truly, "The noble duke knows he is a Protestant; all England knows he is a Protestant; the whole world knows he is a Protestant." And Lord Brougham, after expressing his astonishment that the House should have been occupied with the subject for half an hour, pointed out that the world was superfluous, as from the state of the law it could not, in fact, * Hansard, vol. li., p. 115.