the

cepted his honourable task, that his work was destined to assume so much of an historical character as it does. This result, however, was unavoidable, seeing that the Prince Consort took so large an interest in all that was going on around him, and exercised upon it an influence so considerable. Such being the case, it is most fortunate that the biographer possesses so singularly calm and equable a mind in dealing with political subjects; and, if we may presume to say so, it shows great discretion upon part of the Queen to have entrusted the writing of this work to one who was not known as a politician. One thing alone is manifest that Mr. Martin always endeavours to remove any misapprehension respecting the conduct of past or living statesmen, and to make a just and reasonable defence, wherever it can be made, upon those points respecting which they were considered by their contemporaries to have erred.

It is impossible to read his work without being impressed with one very noticeable fact, and that is the number of disastrous circumstances and events through which the British nation has victoriously passed during the few brief years in which the Prince Consort had scarcely assumed the position of political importance which he was afterwards destined to fill,we mean the years of his life which are commemorated in the present volume. It needs only to refer to the headings of Mr. Theodore Martin's chapters to ascertain how frequent were these difficulties. In 1842, the uneasy state of public affairs, and the disturbed state of the country are mentioned. In 1844, there is the alarming state of Ireland, the arrest and the trial of O'Connell. In 1845-6, there is the troubled state of affairs in England. In 1846-7, there are the consequences of the Spanish marriages and alarming political symptoms in Europe. In 1847 there are Revolutionary symptoms throughout Europe, commercial distress in England, great distress in Ireland. In 1847-8 there is great commercial and financial distress in England and in Scotland, alarming increase of crime in Ireland, measures of repression, disturbed state of affairs in Switzerland, Italy, and France.

Somehow or other we have contrived to survive all these difficulties and dangers. A recent work by a writer of considerable eminence, has shown to us, Cassandra-like, the rocks which are now ahead of us. His warnings are not to be despised; but at the same time we may derive considerable comfort by contemplating the difficulties and the dangers which we have, in this short period of time, passed through unscathed. It may also be remembered that the Prince Consort was never daunted by these disastrous events; and, on all these occasions, proved himself to

be

be a most valuable adviser to the Sovereign and to the Government of the day.

There is a disposition in the present time to look upon constitutional monarchy as if it were little more than a mere pageant. But no one can read attentively the pages of the work now before us without perceiving that not only are the public duties of the Sovereign, of which the world takes no account, of a very arduous kind, but that the Sovereign exercises a very material and important influence upon public affairs. Even these visits of courtesy from one Sovereign to another, which were a novel feature of the present reign, are not without their effect, and upon the whole a very good effect. It is clear, from what is revealed to us in this memoir, that, upon more than one occasion, the personal influence of the English Court had a direct effect in maintaining the peace of Europe. And, doubtless, the visits of the Kings and Emperors who came to the English Court did not fail to impress upon those monarchs a just idea of the latent power of the British nation.

There is one memorable letter written by the Queen on the subject of the Spanish marriages, which we think affords a noticeable instance of the service that a monarch may perform to his or her country, even when writing in a somewhat private capacity. The part which England took in that painful question, the exact limits which she placed to her interference, the reciprocity which she demanded from the other parties concerned, have never been better expressed than in the letter to the Queen of the Belgians, a part of which we here subjoin :

'MY DEAR LOUISE,

'I have read and re-read with the greatest attention the King's explanation of the recent events, and his statement of the motives which have governed the course of the French Government in regard to this unhappy Spanish affair, and I am deeply pained to have to declare that the perusal of his letter has in no way altered the opinion which I had previously formed, nor the pain I feel that these events should have occurred to trouble our cordial understanding*-an understanding which was so useful and so precious.

'The King accuses me of looking at these affairs only through the medium of Lord Palmerston. This accusation has caused me profound regret, because I had every right to hope that His Majesty knew

Lord Aberdeen,' says the Comte de Jarnac,' was the first to make use of the phrase, "a cordial, good understanding," in the course of a conversation with me at Haddo, his Scotch country seat. It expressed faithfully the nature of the relations which a sincere mutual attachment between two eminent statesmen had created for the two countries. . . . Even now, after more than thirty years, the two nations may congratulate themselves upon the practice, adopted then for the first time in their history, of living in relations of mutual confidence and goodwill.'-Revue des Deux Mondes, July 15, 1874, p. 294.

enough

enough of my sincere friendship for him to be convinced that this friendship would inspire within me the most lively desire-I might. even say, anxiety, to see things simply as they are, and to put upon them the most favourable construction. It is not the least of my vexations, to have to acknowledge towards all the world, that the conduct of France is wholly contrary to the spirit of our "entente cordiale," and to the agreement formerly come to between us. I know that Lord Aberdeen takes precisely the same view as ourselves, and 1 believe that he has expressed as much to M. Guizot.*

The one simple fact, which governs this whole affair, is, that the King declared that he would not give one of his sons to the Queen of Spain, and that on this declaration he based the right to limit. the Queen's choice to the family of the Bourbons descendants of Philip V. We disputed and denied this right; still we consented to the choice being so restricted, and even promised to recommend it to Spain; and to this we have most scrupulously and religiously adhered, without swerving one hair's-breadth. What the King desired has taken place; the Queen married a descendant of Philip V., and of his descendants just that one whom he knew we regarded as the least eligible. The same day the King gives his son to the heiress presumptive to the Crown, not only without previous concert with us, but contrary to the pledge which he gave me at Eu last autumn, when with the question of the marriage of the Queen he for the first time mixed up that of the marriage of the Infanta. This pledge was, "that he would not think of this marriage, so long as it was a political question, and not until the Queen was married and had children."

6

The King endeavours to justify this departure from the course agreed upon between us, by assuming that we have pressed the candidature of our cousin Leopold, contrary to the engagement we had come under to His Majesty.

'I deny, in the most unqualified terms, that Leopold has ever been put forward as our candidate, either by the English Government, or by any member of the Coburg family. The fact is, that, if Leopold became a candidate, this was due to Spain alone; and to Queen Christina herself, who, whether acting spontaneously and in good faith, or as a trap for the English Minister at Madrid, took numerous steps to effect this combination, which she only abandoned at the last moment. Then, as throughout, our conduct has been invariably the same; we lent no countenance to this scheme, and we advised the Queen to seek among the descendants of Philip V. a candidate to her mind.

'Such, then, I assert, has been the line of conduct pursued by us; its straightforwardness and probity cannot be impugned.

'Nothing more painful could possibly have befallen me than this

* Lord Aberdeen had by this time written to M. Guizot in answer to his explanation of the affair: I do not comprehend why it has been thought right or necessary to abandon the engagement voluntarily entered into with me last year, and since frequently repeated, respecting the marriage of Montpensier.'

unhappy

unhappy difference, both because it has a character so personal, and because it imposes upon me the duty of opposing the marriage of a prince, for whom, as well as for all his family, I entertain so warm a friendship.

'My only consolation is, that as what is proposed cannot be carried out without producing grave complications, and without even exposing to many dangers a family whom I hold in high regard, they may even yet retrace their steps, before it is too late.

Windsor Castle, September 27th, 1846.'

'Ever, your most devoted,

'V. R.

This was not a letter in the preparation of which Her Majesty's Cabinet had any share. That it was written in concert with the Prince (ever Her Majesty's most faithful adviser and truest friend) there can be no doubt. But although emanating purely from the Sovereign, we know from another source, that it had the entire approval of Her Majesty's Constitutional advisers. In a letter of Lord Palmerston to Lord Normanby, which is to be found in the third volume of Lord Palmerston's 'Life,' he says, with an obvious reference to the letter in question :'MY DEAR NORMANBY,

*

'Broadlands, September 27, 1846.

'Do not mention it to any one; but the Queen has written the King of the French a tickler in answer to a letter he sent her. Both have passed through the Queen of the Belgians. Her letter was quite her own, in concert, I presume, with Prince Albert; and I did not see it till after it was written, but I concurred in every word. She claims the performance of his promise to her to delay till after children are born to the Queen. In his letter to her he had dropped all mention of that, and alluded only to Guizot's promise to Aberdeen. She takes no notice of what passed between the ministers, and dwells only on what was said between the Sovereigns.

6

Yours sincerely,
(Signed)

'PALMERSTON.

We have said that the letter to Queen Louise was assuredly the result of the joint counsels of our Queen and the Prince. In every detail of the great business of Her Majesty's life, a husband so loved and so worthy of all trust could not fail to be appealed to for counsel and guidance. The world knows already from other sources something of the Prince's relation to the Queen, of which a more complete picture is presented in Mr. Martin's volume. It was perfect in its kind. . The writer of the 'Introduction to the Speeches of the Prince Consort' thus de-scribes it :

'The tastes, the aims, the hopes, the aspirations of the Royal pair were the same. Their mutual respect and confidence went on in

creasing..

creasing. Their affection grew, if possible, even warmer and more intense as the years of their married life advanced. Companions in their domestic employment, in their daily labours for the State, and, indeed, in almost every occupation, the burthens and the difficulties of life were thus lessened more than by half for each one of the persons thus happily united in this true marriage of the soul. When the fatal blow was struck, and the Prince was removed from this world, it is difficult to conceive a position of greater sorrow, and one, indeed, more utterly forlorn, than that which became the lot of the Survivor-deprived of him whom She herself has described as being the "Life of Her Life."—Introduction to the Speeches and Addresses of the Prince Consort, p. 55.

If, however, the writer of this Introduction had possessed the advantage of reading what Mr. Martin's readers now know, before he had written this paragraph, he might have added to it. The devotion of the Prince Consort to the interests of the Queen, and of the country which she governs, was complete. It was also very peculiar in its nature. The Prince did not aim at fulfilling, in any respect, the part of Her Majesty's Prime Minister, nor did he confine himself to the much humbler part of a mere private secretary to the Queen; but he did fulfil the part of her most intimate friend and counsellor, accomplishing himself for this office by making himself thoroughly master of the whole field of home as well as foreign politics, and, at the same time, never flagged in the endeavour (which we have every reason to believe was fully responded to) to make the Queen thoroughly understand and appreciate the knowledge afforded and the counsel given, so that those two great ones might think and act in complete harmony and unison. Their marriage thus formed such a union as is rarely met with, and can only be rarely met with the pursuits and avocations of most men being such as their wives can seldom enter into, or deeply sympathise with.

A most interesting subject, and one which is sure to attract the notice of all classes of readers, is the relation between the Prince Consort and the Queen's Ministers, as it appears in the pages of this work. The shrewd political observers of that time must, no doubt, have perceived and commented upon the difficulty of the position. The Prince Consort was a great personage -naturally a very potent personage-but yet having no distinctly recognised place in the constitution. The Prince thoroughly understood this anomaly, and, by his great tact, turned an anomalous position into a highly honourable and most useful

one.

Doubtless with regard to the Queen's Ministers, this relation

between