260 THE PRINCE'S VIEWS 1850 sovereign. But this requires that the husband should entirely sink his own individual existence in that of his wife-that he should aim at no power by himself or for himself-should shun all contention-assume no separate responsibility before the public, but make his position entirely a part of hers-fill up every gap which, as a woman, she would naturally leave in the exercise of her regal functions --continually and anxiously watch every part of the public business, in order to be able to advise and assist her at any moment in any of the multifarious and difficult questions or duties brought before her, sometimes international, sometimes political, or social, or personal. As the natural head of her family, superintendent of her household, manager of her private affairs, sole confidential adviser in politics, and only assistant in her communications with the officers of the Government, he is, besides, the husband of the Queen, the tutor of the royal children, the private secretary of the sovereign, and her permanent minister. How far would it be consistent with this position to undertake the management and administration of a most important branch of the public service, and the individual responsibility attaching to it-becoming an executive officer of the Crown, receiving the Queen's commands through her Secretaries of State, &c. &c.? I feel sure that, having undertaken the responsibility, I should not be satisfied to leave the business and real work in the hands of another (the Chief of the Staff), but should feel it my duty to look to them myself. But whilst I should in this manner perform duties which, I am sure, every able General Officer, who has gained experience in the field, would be able to perform better than myself, who have not had the advantage of such experience, most important duties connected with the welfare of the Sovereign would be left unperformed, which nobody could perform but myself. I am afraid, therefore, that I 1850 AS TO HIS POSITION AND DUTIES. 261 must discard the tempting idea of being placed in command of the British army. 'On the other hand, nobody can feel more strongly than I do, that the theory of the British Constitution being, that the Sovereign commands the army, and this having been hitherto the practice also, it is a source of great weakness to the Crown,.... that the Sovereign, being a lady, cannot exercise that command as she ought, and give the Commanderin-Chief that support which he requires under ordinary circumstances, and that consequently it becomes my additional and special duty to supply the wants in this respect, and to bestow particular care and attention on the affairs of the army. 'As long, however, as your Grace holds the Commandin-Chief, this support is in no way required. On the contrary, the Crown may be said to receive support from the unexampled strength of your position in public opinion; and for me to attempt any personal control on your direction of the affairs of the army would be ridiculously presumptuous. I have in consequence carefully abstained from assisting the Queen in this respect; but as you were so good as to say that it would give you pleasure to establish more direct and intimate communication with me, and that you thought this communication had better be established now with you as Commander-in-Chief, than attempted at a future time (which I hope may be long distant) by an order given by the Queen to your successor, I most gratefully accept this offer, and wish most especially to express to you my sense of the advantage which will result to me, and through me to the Queen, by my thus receiving instruction and tuition in military affairs from the greatest master of them. I have only one scruple, viz. that I might add to your trouble, and already sufficiently onerous labours, and would therefore repeat my request that you would merely put into a box and 262 PRINCE'S DECISION APPROVED 1850 send me such papers as you thought it might be advantageous for me to peruse: I promise not to detain them long. 'Ever yours truly, 'ALBERT. 'Windsor Castle, 6th April, 1850.' The Duke had obviously weighed well before receiving this letter the objections to his proposal which had been urged in person by the Prince, for on the evening it reached him he replied, expressing his complete concurrence in the Prince's views, and adding that he had already ventured to express how sensible he was of the nature of the Prince's position, and of the judicious manner in which he had overcome its difficulties. It has been already mentioned that Lord John Russell, before whom the Prince lost no time in laying the documents above quoted, also agreed in the conclusions come to. 'He thought,' says a Memorandum by the Prince (14th April), 'the strain on attention and time, which the duties of the Command-in-Chief would impose upon me, would be even greater than the Duke had anticipated. To-day,' the Memorandum continues, I have also shown my letter to Sir Robert Peel, who was kind enough to call it "an admirable letter," to which he could not have added a word. He then entered, as he always does on being consulted on an important question, into the full merits of it, looking at it from all points of view. He said, the Duke's opinion, although of the highest value, was not unbiassed upon this particular question. Accustomed to command, he saw no difficulties, and had in 1828 been very much annoyed with him (Sir Robert), when he objected on Constitutional grounds to the Duke's keeping the Command-in-Chief, when he became Prime Minister, which the country would not have tolerated, although the Duke could not be made to see it. 1850 BY LORD J. RUSSELL AND SIR R. PEEL. 263 'He said, all the Duke had urged upon the score of democracy, and the importance of keeping the army in the hands of the Sovereign, was quite true; but I had been right in not neglecting more important duties for this one consideration, and that very likely my control as husband of the Queen would be more effective, than it would be as Head of the Department. He did not wish to say, that I should bind myself never to take the command, for he could conceive complications and chances, in which it would become my duty to assume it, and in which the country would call for it; but my letter had not debarred me from such action. On the contrary, it had been put upon record, that it would be done contrary to personal inclination, and solely on public grounds.' Baron Stockmar's reply to the Prince has apparently not been preserved; but that the conclusion arrived at had his thorough approval cannot be doubted. So far back as in 1842 (see ante, vol. i. p. 150), the same proposal had been discussed between Lord Aberdeen and himself. He had then discouraged it in the strongest terms and for substantially the same reasons that governed the decision of the Prince. Time had since made these reasons more cogent than they were in those comparatively early days, and no one knew this better than the Baron. But, having never hinted to the person chiefly concerned what had been contemplated in 1842, he might well be pleased-knowing what he knew of the Prince, he could not be surprised-to find his own views expressed with a fulness and a force, which showed the sincerity of the conviction out of which they sprung. When the Prince next wrote to Baron Stockmar, it was to communicate the birth of another son. You will have been growing as impatient as ourselves,' he writes on the 1st of May, 'that our protracted expectations should eventuate in a result; and now you will rejoice 264 BIRTH OF PRINCE ARTHUR. 1850 with us over the result-a little son, and mother and child well and healthy. God be thanked and praised for this happy issue, for there is always some anxiety about matters of this sort!' To the Dowager Duchess of Coburg he announces the event in more playful terms on the same day :— 'I congratulate you to-day on the birth of a seventh grandchild, and expect in return good wishes from you on the birth of a third son. This morning about a quarter-past eight, after a rather restless night (being Walpurgis night, that was quite appropriate), while the witches were careering on the Blocksberg (under Ernst Augustus's mild sceptre), a little boy glided into the light of day, and has been received by the sisters with jubilates. "Now we are just as many as the days in the week!" was the cry, and then a bit of a struggle arose as to who was to be Sunday. Out of well-bred courtesy the honour was conceded to the new comer. Victoria is well, so is the child, and I am driven distracted with letters, inquiries, answers, &c. This compels me to break off my chat with you before it is well begun. 'I take up my hat and am making for the door, when you call to me- But you have not said Adieu!' to Mama. Fa, so!" Now I must really be off. 66 'Buckingham Palace, 1st May, 1850.' The coincidence of the birthday of the young Prince with that of the Duke of Wellington gave the Queen and Prince the opportunity of marking their friendship and esteem for one, of whose devotion to them they had had so many proofs, by naming the child after him. So strong, so immediate, was their feeling on this point, that they did allow the day to pass without intimating their intention Duke. It is a singular thing,' the Queen wrote to |