Volume I Part 107 (1/2)
[Footnote 84: Frederic William (1819-1904), afterwards Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. See _post_, p 434. (Ch. XI, Footnote 93)]
[Footnote 85: Son of the Archduke Charles.]
[Footnote 86: (1771-1847), third son of the Emperor Leopold II. Distinguished in the Napoleonic wars.]
[Footnote 87: (1782-1859), younger son of the Emperor Leopold II. Commanded on the Rhine, 1815. Administrator of the Empire, 1848.]
[Footnote 88: Prince Augustus of Saxe-Coburg and Princess Clementine of Orleans were married in the following April.
Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria is their son.]
[Pageheading: THE QUEEN'S STEAM YACHT]
_Sir Robert Peel to Queen Victoria._
WHITEHALL, _22nd September 1842._
Sir Robert Peel presents his humble duty to your Majesty, and begs leave, with reference to your Majesty's note of yesterday, to state to your Majesty that the _first_ act of Sir Robert Peel on his return from Scotland was to write to Lord Haddington[89] and strongly urge upon the Admiralty the necessity of providing a steam yacht for your Majesty's accommodation.
Sir Robert Peel trusts that your Majesty may entirely depend upon being enabled to make any excursions your Majesty may resolve upon in the early part of next summer, in a steam vessel belonging to your Majesty, and suitable in every respect for your Majesty's accommodation.
Sir Robert Peel has had a personal communication with Sir John Barrow,[90] one of the Secretaries to the Admiralty, this morning, upon the subject, and Sir Robert Peel has written by this post to Sir George c.o.c.kburn,[91] who is out of town.
He finds that the Admiralty is now building a large vessel to be worked by steam power, applied by means of a revolving screw instead of paddles. It may be doubtful whether the same degree of velocity can be attained by means of the screw, particularly in a very large vessel. Of this a full trial will be made.
Sir John Barrow a.s.sures Sir Robert Peel that he has been on board a steam-boat moved by the screw, and that the working of the engine is scarcely perceptible; that there is none of the tremulous motion which accompanies the beats of the paddles, and that it will be possible to apply an apparatus by means of which the smoke can be consumed, and the disagreeable smell in great measure prevented.
Sir Robert Peel will leave nothing undone to ensure your Majesty's comfort and safety in any future naval excursions that your Majesty may be pleased to make.
[Footnote 89: First Lord of the Admiralty.]
[Footnote 90: Barrow had been made second Secretary in 1804 by Dundas; he was a self-made man, and a most indefatigable traveller, writer, and promoter of Arctic exploration.]
[Footnote 91: Admiral of the Fleet Sir George c.o.c.kburn (1772-1853), First Naval Lord.]
[Pageheading: QUEEN ISABELLA]
_The Earl of Aberdeen to Queen Victoria._
_27th September 1842._
Lord Aberdeen, with his most humble duty, lays before your Majesty a letter which he has received from Mr Aston, respecting the marriage of the Queen of Spain, and which, after what has already pa.s.sed, may perhaps cause your Majesty some surprise.
Lord Aberdeen is humbly of opinion that the language hitherto employed by your Majesty's Government upon this subject ought not to undergo any change, and that it ought to be treated entirely as a Spanish question.