A little later the genial letter writer who gave so frank a description of the greatest lady in the land, added to an epistle, “Alas! tho’ last not least, in truth little Vic. and her mother are not one, tho’ Melbourne knows of no other cause of this disunion than Conroy, whom the Duchess of Kent sees still almost daily, and for a long time together.”
There was one matter which troubled the Queen from the day she began to reign, and that was the need of money, for the Civil List could not be arranged until Parliament met in November. Messrs. Coutts, however, came to the rescue, with a desire that she would draw upon them for all that she needed. Yet at that time neither she nor anyone else knew what would be the amount of her income. It was felt generally by the Ministers that it would be better to show confidence in their Sovereign than to be niggardly in the allowance made, as the provision of a good income would take away all excuse in future for the contracting of Royal debt. So the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt. Hon. Spring-Rice, who when he first came to Court was said to see everything en couleur de rose, had to bear the burden of this. Melbourne begged him to “come prepared to act boldly and liberally, and by no means to fiddle upon small points and about petty salaries.”
Spring-Rice loyally did as he was advised, and made himself still more unpopular than he had hitherto been. The Economists, the Radicals, and the Opposition—a coalition which was much more successful three or four years later when asked to grant an income to Prince Albert—railed alike at the extravagance; for trade and agriculture were in a state of depression, and an expensive scheme of Poor Law was being considered with the hope that it might do something to relieve the worst poverty. The newspapers taunted and upbraided Spring-Rice to their mischievous content, and made little verses upon him.
“Your name, Spring-Rice, is not the thing,
To call you so is flummery,
For how can that belong to Spring
Whose treatment should be summery?”
was one comment. A second which I have come across is more spiteful: “Mr. Spring-Rice is a smart, little, flat-catching thimble-rigger, full of small tricks and deceptions. Yet whenever he attempts to practise on a large scale he invariably throws crabs.” I wonder whether Spring-Rice’s optimism survived all the attacks made upon him during his political career.
In spite of the grumbling the Civil List was quickly pushed through, and the Royal maiden found herself the possessor of—in addition to the Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall—a total annuity of £385,000 a year, being £10,000 more than the net income granted to William IV. This large sum was divided in the following way. Privy Purse, £60,000; Household salaries, £131,260; Household expenses, £172,500; Royal Bounty, £13,200; and unappropriated, £8,040. With this the Queen was very content, and returned thanks to Parliament in person for what it had done. Then she did a wonderful thing, for by the autumn of the following year she had transferred to her father’s creditors out of her privy purse nearly £50,000. This was a noble thing to do, indeed, seemingly almost impossible, when one remembers the family from which she had sprung—one King after another, to say nothing of the Princes, dying deeply in debt, and considering it but a normal condition—and also remembering the fascination which the spending of money on personal matters must have had for a girl hitherto almost deprived of money.
This income, however, gave new soreness to those who were smarting already, and the better sort, being debarred from criticising their Queen too openly, turned upon Lord Melbourne, who never troubled to read strictures upon himself, and who took such criticism, when he did hear it, with a smile. From the day of Victoria’s accession until the day that he went out of office, Melbourne was the favourite object of vilification. The Court was said to be, under his influence, such a hot-bed of Whiggism “that a Conservative cat was not so much as permitted to mew in the precincts of the Palace,” and it began to be hinted that the Queen might remember that she was Queen over England and not over a party. The first form of attack was directed against Melbourne’s constant association with her; he was accused of pleasure-seeking, of idleness, and of irresponsibility. Queen Victoria, who was most conscientious about business matters, seems to have shortened her stay at Brighton on his account, for the Court Journal announced: “Her Majesty arrived at Buckingham Palace from Brighton, the distance from the latter place being too far for Lord Melbourne,” which meant, of course, for her to see him each day. Upon this another journal asked: