[567] The equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington stood on the arch at Hyde Park Corner from 1846 to 1883. It excited much ridicule at the time of its erection. There was a question of its removal, but the Duke of Wellington strongly opposed the suggestion. He said that he never wished his statue to be put upon the Arch, but once there, there it should remain. It was removed nearly forty years later to Aldershot. Recently some prancing horses and a chariot have taken the place of old Copenhagen and the Duke.
[568] As an illustration of the vagaries of “taste” in Art, it may be mentioned that this statue is now considered one of the most successful in London.
[569] This refers to the reading by the Queen of her “Speech.”
[570] All this paragraph refers to the disputes between Belgium and Holland over their respective financial responsibilities.
[571] Afterwards Sir John MacNeill. He had been sent as Envoy to Teheran to try to prevent the Shah attacking the Afghans.
[572] Lord Melbourne was a “low Churchman and an Erastian,” like so many of the Whigs of that day.
[573] This love of straight dealing and dislike of flattery were lifelong characteristics of the Queen.
[574] In 1815 Belgium and Holland were, by the action of the European Powers at the Congress of Vienna, united into one Kingdom. This led to constant friction and even to open hostilities between the two nations, and in 1831 a Conference of the Powers decreed a dissolution of the Union, and drew up a Treaty, but the division of territory again led to a war which is chiefly notable for the siege of Antwerp in 1832. In 1838 Holland announced for the first time her readiness to accede to the provisions of the Treaty of 1832. The Belgians claimed that this acquiescence came too late, but under pressure of the Powers she had in the end to give her assent. During this excitement the failure of the Bank of Brussels produced a financial crisis which caused great distress among the people.
[575] Count von Senfft Pilsach was Austrian Minister at The Hague, and came to England in 1838 as Austrian Plenipotentiary at the Conference which took place in London to settle the Separation of Holland and Belgium. He signed the Treaty of 1839 on behalf of Austria.
[576] Member for Oxford University. He had displaced Sir Robert Peel at the time of the Tory split on Catholic Emancipation.