le vocabulary of
exciting words of that kind will be put forward to inflame the popular
mind; and of all the Sovereigns, the Sovereign "People" is certainly
one of the most fanciful and fickle. Our neighbour in France shows
this more than any other on the whole globe; the Nation there is
_still_ the _Sovereign_, and this renders the President absolute,
because he is the representative of the supreme will of the _supreme
Nation_, sending us constantly some new exiles here, which is very
unpleasant. We are going on very gently, merely putting those means of
defence a little in order, which ought by rights always to be so, if
it was not for the ultra-unwise economy of Parliaments and Chambers.
Without, at least, comparative security by means of well-regulated
measures of defence, no country, be it great or small, can be
considered as possessing National Independence. I must say that in
Austria, at least Schwartzenberg, they are very much intoxicated. I
hope they will grow sober again soon. It was very kind of you to
have visited the poor Orleans Family. Rarely one has seen a family so
struck in their affections, fortunes, happiness; and it is a sad case.
Those unfortunate Spanish marriages have much contributed to it;
even angelic Louise had been caught by _l'honneur de la maison de
Bourbon_.... Your devoted Uncle,

LEOPOLD R.

[Pageheading: THE NEW MILITIA BILL]

_Queen Victoria to the Earl of Derby._

OSBORNE, _12th March 1852._

The Queen must now answer Lord Derby on the questions which form the
subjects of his three last communications.

With regard to the Militia Bill, she must admit that her suggestions
are liable to the objections pointed out by Lord Derby, although they
would offer advantages in other respects. The Queen will therefore
sanction the measure as proposed, and now further explained by Lord
Derby.

The despatches transmitted from the Foreign Office referring to
the Swiss question[23] could not fail to give the Queen as much
satisfaction as they did to Lord Derby, as they show indications of
a more conciliatory intention, _for the present_ at least. As
Switzerland has yielded, France and Austria ought to be satisfied, and
the Queen only hopes we may not see them pushing their demands further
after a short interval!

The probability of a war with the Burmese is a sad prospect. The
Queen thinks, however, that the view taken by Lord Dalhousie of the
proceedings at Rangoon, and of the st