I hear this moment with an extreme relief that my parents were to arrive yesterday at London, and thank God from the bottom of my heart for their safety! In my agony I did not wish for anything else.

The King of Prussia to Queen Victoria.
[Translation.]

THE KING OF PRUSSIA

27th February 1848.

Most gracious Queen and Sister,—Even at this midnight hour of the day, on the evening of which the awful news from Paris has arrived, I venture to address these lines to your Majesty. God has permitted events which decisively threaten the peace of Europe.

It is an attempt to "spread the principles of the Revolution by every means throughout the whole of Europe." This programme binds together both these individuals and their parties. The consequences for the peace of the world are clear and certain. If the revolutionary party carries out its programme, "The sovereignty of the people," my minor crown will be broken, no less certainly than the mighty crowns of your Majesty, and a fearful scourge will be laid upon the nations; a century [will follow] of rebellion, of lawlessness, and of godlessness. The late King did not dare to write "by the Grace of God." We, however, call ourselves King "by the Grace of God," because it is true. Well, then, most gracious Queen, let us now show to men, to the peoples threatened with disruption and nameless misery, both that we understand our sacred office and how we understand it. God has placed in your Majesty's hands, in the hands of the two Emperors, in those of the German Federation, and in mine, a power, which, if it now acts in union and harmony, with reliance on Heaven, is able humanly speaking, to enforce, with certainty, the maintenance of the peace of the world. This power is not that of arms, for these, more than ever, must only afford the ultima ratio.

The power I mean is "the power of united speech." In the year 1830 the use of this immeasurable power was criminally neglected. But now I think the danger is much more pressing than it was then. This power is divided among us in equal portions. I possess the smallest portion of it, and your Majesty has by far the greatest share. That share is so great that your Majesty, by your powerful word, might alone carry out the task. But the certainty of victory lies, subject to the Divine blessing, solely in our utterance being united. This must be our message to France; "that all of us are cordial well-wishers to France; we do not grudge her all possible welfare and glory; we mean never to encroach on it, and we will stand by the new Government as by the old, foi de gentils-hommes. But the first breach of the peace, be it with reference to Italy, Belgium, or Germany would be, undoubtedly and at the same time, a breach with 'all of us,' and we should, with all the power that God has given us, let France feel by sea and by land, as in the years '13, '14, and '15, what our union may mean."

Now I bless Providence for having placed Lord Palmerston at the head of your Foreign Office, and keeping him there at this very moment. During the last quarter of the past year I could not always cordially agree with him. His genuine British disposition will honour this open confession. All the more frankly may I now express the hopes which rise in me, from the very fact of his holding that office at the present moment; for a more active, more vivid, more energetic Minister of foreign affairs, a man that would more indefatigably pursue great aims, your Majesty could probably never have. If at this grave hour he sets himself to proclaim that our forces are united; if he himself utters his message as befits St George, he will earn the blessing of millions, and the blessing of God and of the world will rest on your Majesty's sacred head. That I am your Majesty's and Old England's most faithful and most devoted brother and companion, you are aware, and I mean to prove it. On both, knees I adjure you, use, for the welfare of Europe, "Engellands England."

With these words I fall at your Majesty's feet, most gracious Queen, and remain your Majesty's most faithfully devoted, most attached Servant and good Brother,