In the second place, they show with what interest and eagerness the Princess was following the course of foreign politics. Her view was naturally a personal one, but it may be said that there can have been very few, if any, girls in England, of the Princess's age, who were taking any interest at all in Continental affairs. It is true that King Leopold had early impressed upon the Princess that it was a duty to become acquainted with the course of current events; but the letters show that the interest she felt was congenial and innate, and did not spring from a sense of duty. The allusions to home politics are not so frequent, but still show that here also her attention was alert.
Thirdly, they reveal her abounding vitality, her love of life and amusement, her devotion to music, and the simple unspoilt zest with which she threw herself into all that surrounded her.
There is a special interest which attaches to the correspondence between Queen Victoria and King Leopold after the Accession. The letters reveal, as no other documents could do, the monarchical point of view. However intimate may be the relations between a Sovereign and a subject, there is bound to appear a certain discretion, and even condescension, on the one hand, and on the other a due degree of deference. But here we have the remarkable spectacle of two monarchs, both of eminent sagacity, and both, so to speak, frankly interested in the task of constitutional government, corresponding freely on all the difficulties and problems inseparable from their momentous task, and with an immense sense of their weighty responsibilities. It is impossible to exaggerate the deep and abiding interest of such a correspondence; and the seriousness, the devotion, the public spirit that are displayed, without affectation or calculated impressiveness, make the whole series of letters singularly memorable.
The King of the Belgians had married Princess Louise of Orleans, daughter of Louis Philippe, in 1832. She was only seven years older than the Princess Victoria, who grew to regard her with the tenderest affection.
The letters from Queen Louise are very numerous. A few are in French, but they are mostly written in brisk, lively English, not always very correct, either in construction or in spelling. They are full of small family details—the movements of various relations, the improvement in her brothers' looks, Court festivities, the childish ailments of her little boys, the journeys and expeditions, recollections of Windsor, their visitors, elaborate descriptions of dresses—interesting to read, but difficult to select from. They are full of heart-felt expressions of the sincerest affection for "your dear Majesty," a quaint phrase that often occurs.
PRINCE ALBERT
After their marriage in 1840, Prince Albert naturally became the Queen's confidential Secretary.
A close study of the Queen's correspondence reveals the character of the Prince in a way which nothing else could effect. Traces of his untiring labour, his conscientious vigilance, his singular devotedness, appear on every page. There are innumerable memoranda in his own hand; the papers are throughout arranged and annotated by him; nothing seems to have escaped him, nothing to have dismayed him. As an instance of the minute laboriousness which characterised the Royal household, it may be mentioned that there are many copies of important letters, forwarded to the Prince for his perusal, the originals of which had to be returned, written not only by the Prince himself, but by the Queen under his direction. But besides keeping a vigilant eye upon politics, the Prince took the lead in all social and educational movements of the time, as well as devoting a close and continuous attention to the affairs of Europe in general, and Germany in particular. It is obvious from the papers that the Prince can hardly ever have taken a holiday; many hours of every day must have been devoted by him to work; yet he was at the same time a tender husband and father, always ready with advice and sympathy, and devoted to quiet domestic life.
After the Queen's marriage the correspondence becomes far more voluminous. It is difficult to exaggerate the amount of conscientious labour bestowed by the Queen and the Prince Consort on all matters which concerned the welfare of the nation. The number of documents which passed through their hands, and which were carefully studied by them, was prodigious.
The drafts of the Queen's replies to letters are in many cases in the handwriting of the Prince Consort, but dated by herself, and often containing interlinear corrections and additions of her own. Whether the Queen indicated the lines of the replies, whether she dictated the substance of them, or whether they contain the result of a discussion on the particular matter, cannot be precisely ascertained. But they contain so many phrases and turns of expression which are characteristic of her outspoken temperament, that it is clear that she not only followed every detail, but that the substance of the communication bore in most cases the impress of her mind. A considerable number of the drafts again are in her own hand, with interlinear corrections and additions by the Prince; and these so strongly resemble in style the drafts in the handwriting of the Prince, that it is clear that the Queen did not merely accept suggestions, but that she had a strong opinion of her own on important matters, and that this opinion was duly expressed.