Volume Iii Part 109 (2/2)
_The King of the Belgians to Queen Victoria._
LAEKEN, _17th October 1861_.
MY BELOVED VICTORIA,--Receive my sincerest thanks for your dear letter of the 14th, which arrived very exactly. I am so happy to see all the good which your stay in the Highlands has done you, and I am sure it will be _lasting_, though Windsor must have the effect of reviving strongly some feelings.... When one looks back on those times, one must say that they were full of difficulties, and one ought to feel very grateful that such a happy present has grown out of them. I regret much Paris and Robert[34] having joined the Federal Army, mixing in a civil war!! The object is to show courage, to be able to say: ”_Ils se sont beaucoup distingues_.” They have a chance of being shot for Abraham Lincoln and the most rank Radicalism. I don't think that step will please in France, where Radicalism is at discount fortunately. The poor Queen is very unhappy about it, but now nothing can be done, only one may wish to see them well out of it. Poor Queen!
constantly new events painful to her a.s.sail her. I had rather a kind letter from the Emperor Napoleon about the state of Mexico. I fear he will find his wishes to see there a stable Government not much liked in England, though his plans are _not_ for any advantage France is to derive from it. To-morrow we go to Liege to be in readiness for the following day. The King William III.[35] will arrive for dinner, stay the night, and go very early on Sunday. He will be extremely well received here, his _procede_ being duly appreciated. To be very civilly received in a country which one was heir to, is rather _un peu penible_, and one feels a little awkward.... Your devoted and only Uncle,
LEOPOLD R.
[Footnote 34: The Comte de Paris and the Duc de Chartres, sons of the Duc d'Orleans, eldest son of King Louis Philippe.]
[Footnote 35: The King of Holland.]
[Pageheading: THE COURT OF HANOVER]
_The d.u.c.h.ess of Manchester[36] to Queen Victoria._
HANOVER [_Undated. October 1861_].
MADAM,--Though your Majesty has only very lately seen the Princess Royal, I cannot refrain from addressing your Majesty, as I am sure your Majesty will be pleased to hear how well Her Royal Highness was looking during the Man[oe]uvres on the Rhine, and how much she seems to be beloved, not only by all those who know her, but also by those who have only seen and heard of her. The English could not help feeling proud of the way the Princess Royal was spoken of, and the high esteem she is held in. For one so young it is a most flattering position, and certainly as the Princess's charm of manner and her kind unaffected words had in that short time won her the hearts of all the officers and strangers present, one was not astonished at the praise the Prussians themselves bestow on Her Royal Highness. The Royal Family is so large, and their opinions politically and socially sometimes so different, that it must have been very difficult indeed at first for the Princess Royal, and people therefore cannot praise enough the high principles, great discretion, sound judgment, and cleverness Her Royal Highness has invariably displayed.
Your Majesty would have been amused to hear General Wrangel[37] tell at the top of his voice how delighted the soldiers were to see the Princess on horseback, and the interest she showed for them. What pleased them specially was to see Her Royal Highness ride without a veil--such an odd thing in soldiers to remark. The King of Prussia is looking very well, but the Queen I thought very much altered. Her Majesty looks very pale and tired, and has such a painful drawn look about the mouth. How the Queen will be able to go through all the fatigues of the Coronation I do not know, as Her Majesty already complained of being tired, and knocked up by the man[oe]vres and dinners, and had to go to Mentz for a few days to rest herself.
Their Majesties' kindness was very great, and the Duke told me of the extreme hospitality with which they were entertained. Every one, high and low, were rivalling each other in civility and friendliness towards the strangers, especially the English, and one really felt quite ashamed of those wanton attacks the _Times_ always makes on Prussia, and which are read and copied into all the Prussian papers.
The last night all the officers dined together. General Forey put himself into the President's place and insisted, to the exclusion of Lord Clyde, who was by far the senior officer, and who was expected to do it, on proposing the health of the King, the Royal Family, the Army, and Nation. Not content with doing it in French, he drew out of his pocket a doc.u.ment written for him in German, for he did not know the language, and read it with the most extraordinary p.r.o.nunciation.
The English officers all admired the way the Germans kept their countenance notwithstanding the absurdity of the exhibition.
On the 21st they have had great doings here at Hanover. I hear that to the astonishment of everybody the Queen appeared at the _Enthullung_, where all other people were _en grande tenue_, in a little small round hat with a lilac feather. Her Maids of Honour--she has only one now besides that English Miss Stewart--were ordered to wear hats to keep Her Majesty in countenance. I wonder if your Majesty has read the speech the King has addressed to his people on the occasion of the _Enthullung_ and the Crown Prince's birthday. It cannot fail to excite the greatest pity that such things, however well meant, should be written. Has your Majesty also heard of the pamphlet that has been published here called _Das Welfe_--that name Welfe is quite an _idee fixe_ of the King now, and he brings it in on every occasion, and this pamphlet is written throwing the whole idea into ridicule, and beginning with the last years of the late King's reign. The Crown Prince[38] is very much liked, but, unfortunately, his new tutor will probably also leave very shortly--he has no authority over him, the Prince still regretting M. de Issendorf. Besides, he is not allowed to exercise his judgment in the smallest way--the King going on the principle that a King only can educate a King. The reason the other tutor left, or was dismissed, was partly on account of his remonstrating against the religious instructions, which were carried so far that the Prince had hardly any time left to learn other things. Besides the Prince, who dislikes the clergyman, had drawn a caricature, to which the man very much gives himself, and the King thought M. de Issendorf had known of it, which turned out not to be the case.... I have the honour to remain, your Majesty's most obedient and devoted Servant and Subject,
LOUISE MANCHESTER.
[Footnote 36: Louise Frederica Augusta, wife of the seventh Duke of Manchester, and Mistress of the Robes. She was daughter of the Count von Alten of Hanover, and is now Dowager d.u.c.h.ess of Devons.h.i.+re.]
[Footnote 37: The Queen had met General von Wrangel at Babelsberg in August 1858. ”He is seventy-six,” she wrote, ”and a great character.” He had commanded a division in the Danish war of 1848, and it had fallen to him in the same year, as Commandant of the troops, to dissolve the Berlin a.s.sembly by force.]
[Footnote 38: Prince Ernest Augustus, born 1845; the present Duke of c.u.mberland.]
[Pageheading: CORONATION OF KING OF PRUSSIA]
<script>