f addressing the Pope
in Answer to his Letter to Her Majesty of 4th December 1848._

FOREIGN OFFICE, _5th January 1849._

The accompanying draft of answer to the letter which the Pope
addressed to Her Majesty from Gaeta on the 4th of December is in the
same form as letters which were written to Pope Pius VII. by George
the Fourth while Prince Regent, and after he came to the Throne. They
address the Pope as "Most Eminent Sir," style him "Your Holiness," and
finish with the mere signature after the date of the conclusion of the
letter. Copies of those letters are annexed.

Other forms of writing Royal letters are:--

1st. Commencing "Sir my Brother" (or "Sir my Cousin," etc., as the
case may be), and ending thus:

"Sir my _Brother_,
Your _Majesty's_
Good _Sister_."

This is the form used between Sovereign and Sovereign.

2nd. Commencing with the Queen's titles. In these letters the plural
"we" and "our" are employed instead of "I" and "my," and the letters
terminate thus:--

"Your Good Friend,
...."

This form is now used almost exclusively for Royal letters to
Republics.

In the State Paper Office there is, with only one exception, no record
of any letter from a Sovereign of England to the Pope from the time of
Henry VIII., when the State Paper Office records commence. The single
exception is an original letter from Queen Mary in 1555 to Pope Paul
IV. It seems that when the time of her expected confinement drew nigh,
she caused letters to be prepared announcing the birth of a son, and
signed them in anticipation of the event. When no birth took place,
the letters were of course not sent off; but they have been preserved
to the present day, and among them is the letter to the Pope. The
accompanying paper contains a copy of the beginning and conclusion of
it.

There is no trace in the State Paper Office of any letter of credence
having been given by James II. to Lord Castlemaine in 1685. The
correspondence of the reign of James II. is, however, very defective,
and much of it must either have been suppressed or have got into
private hands.

[Pageheading: REPLY TO THE POPE]

_Draft_] _Queen Victoria to Pope Pius IX._[1]

MOST EMINENT SIR,--I have received the letter which your Holiness
addressed to me from Gaeta on the 4th of December last, and in which
you acquaint me that in consequence of the violent proceedings of
certain of your subjects, you had felt yourself obliged to depart f