Lord Melbourne presents his humble duty to your Majesty. He received safely your Majesty's letter of the 18th inst. Lord Melbourne entreats your Majesty that you never will think for a moment that you can tire him by questions, or that it can be to him anything but a great pleasure to answer them. He will be only too happy if any information that he possesses or can procure can be of the least use or pleasure to your Majesty. Lord Melbourne conceives that your Majesty must be surprised at his complaining of sleeplessness. He is much obliged by the suggestion of the camphor. He mentioned it to the gentleman who attends him, and he said that it was a very good thing, and certainly has a soothing and quieting effect, and that in fact there was some in the draught which Lord Melbourne now takes at night. But Lord Melbourne has taken to going down to dinner with those who are in the house, and sitting up afterwards until near twelve o'clock, and since he has done this he has slept better. We expect the Duke and Duchess of Bedford for two nights on Wednesday next. Lord and Lady Uxbridge and Ella and Constance often come over in the morning and eat their luncheon here, which Lord Melbourne takes very kindly of them. George Byng17 came the other morning in a waistcoat of Peel's velveteen. Lord Strafford brought the whole piece off the manufacturer, and let George Byng have enough for a waistcoat. It is a dull blue stuff, and the device and inscription not very clear nor easy to make out.18
Adolphus is, as Aberdeen says, too rigidly Tory, but there are plenty of narratives of the same period, such as Belsham19 and others, of whom it may be said with equal truth that they are too Whig....
Lord Melbourne read the Edinburgh on Madame d'Arblay, which is certainly Macaulay's, but thought it unnecessarily severe upon Queen Charlotte, and that it did not do her justice, and also that it rather countenanced too much Miss Burney's dislike to her situation. It appears to Lord Melbourne that Miss Burney was well enough contented to live in the Palace and receive her salary, but that she was surprised and disgusted as soon as she found that she was expected to give up some part of her time to conform to some rules, and to perform some duty. Lord Melbourne is sorry to say that he missed the article on Children's Books,20 a subject of much importance, and in which he is much interested.
Lord Melbourne has received the engraving of the Princess, and is much pleased by it, and returns many thanks. It is very pretty, very spirited, and as far as Lord Melbourne's recollection, serves him, very like. Lord Melbourne remains, ever, your Majesty's faithful, devoted, and attached Servant.
Footnote 17: Brother-in-law of Lord Uxbridge, and afterwards Earl of Stratford.
Footnote 18: The allusion is to a hoax played on the Premier, by a presentation made to him of a piece of the then novel fabric, velveteen, stamped with a free-trade design. Peel afterwards wrote that he was unaware that the specimen bore "any allusion to any matters which are the subject of public controversy."
Footnote 19: William Belsham (1752-1827) wrote, in twelve volumes, A History of Great Britain to the Conclusion of the Peace of Amiens in 1802.
Footnote 20: In the Quarterly Review, by Lady Eastlake.
Sir Robert Peel to Queen Victoria.
Whitehall (4th March 1843).
(Sunday morning.)