Volume Ii Part 63 (1/2)
_Queen Victoria to the King of Prussia._
BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _6th July 1850._
SIRE, MY MOST HONOURED BROTHER,--I have to express to you my thanks for the pleasure which the visit of your dear brother has given us, who, as I hope, will remit these lines to you in perfect health. That things go so well with you, and that the healing of your wound has made undisturbed progress, has been to us a true removal of anxiety.
You will no doubt have learnt that I too have been again the object of an attempt, if possible still more cowardly. The criminal is, _as usual_, this time too, insane, or will pretend to be so; still the deed remains.
All our feelings are, in the meanwhile, preoccupied by the sorrow, in which your Majesty and all Europe will share, at the death of Sir Robert Peel. That is one of the hardest blows of Fate which could have fallen on us and on the country. You knew the great man, and understood how to appreciate his merit. His value is now becoming clear even to his opponents; all Parties are united in mourning.
The only satisfactory event of recent times is the news of your conclusion of peace with Denmark. Accept my most cordial congratulations on that account.
Requesting you to remember me cordially to the dear Queen, and referring you for detailed news to the dear Prince, also recommending to your gracious remembrance Albert, who does not wish to trouble you, on his part, with a letter, I remain, in unchangeable friends.h.i.+p, dear Brother, your Majesty's faithful Sister,
VICTORIA R.
[Pageheading: DEATH OF THE DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE]
_Queen Victoria to the King of the Belgians._
BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _9th July 1850._
MY DEAREST UNCLE,--We live in the midst of sorrow and death! My poor good Uncle Cambridge breathed his last, without a struggle, at a few minutes before ten last night. I still saw him yesterday morning at one, but he _did not see me_, and to-day I saw him lifeless and cold.
The poor d.u.c.h.ess and the poor children are very touching in their grief, and poor Augusta,[29] who arrived just _five hours too late_, is quite heartbroken. The end was most peaceful; there was no disease; only a gastric fever, which came on four weeks ago, from over-exertion, and cold, and which he neglected for the first week, carried him off.
The good Prince of Prussia you will have been pleased to talk to and see. Having lived with him for a fortnight on a very intimate footing, we have been able to appreciate his _real_ worth fully; he is so honest and frank, and so steady of purpose and courageous.
Poor dear Peel is to be buried to-day. The sorrow and grief at his death are most touching, and the country mourns over him as over a father. Every one seems to have lost a personal friend.
As I have much to write, you will forgive me ending here. You will be glad to hear that poor Aunt Gloucester is wonderfully calm and resigned. My poor dear Albert, who had been so fresh and well when we came back, looks so pale and f.a.gged again. He has felt, and feels, Sir Robert's loss _dreadfully_. He feels he has lost a second father.
May G.o.d bless and protect you all, you dear ones! Ever your devoted Niece,
VICTORIA R.
[Footnote 29: See _ante_, vol. i. p. 437.]
_Queen Victoria to Viscount Palmerston._
OSBORNE, _19th July 1850._