they created.... Your devoted Uncle,

LEOPOLD R.

[Footnote 38: Victor Hugo (1802-1885) had founded the journal,
_L'Evenement_, in 1848: he was exiled in 1851, and published
_Napoleon le Petit_ in Belgium. After the fall of the Empire
he returned to France, and in 1877 published his _Histoire
d'un Crime_.]

_Queen Victoria to the Earl of Derby._

OSBORNE, _26th August 1852._

The Queen has been considering the subject of the vacant Garter, and
the names which Lord Derby proposed to her. She is of opinion that
it would not be advisable on the whole to give the Garter to Lord
Londonderry; that the Duke of Northumberland has by far the strongest
claim to this distinction. At the same time, the Queen would have
no objection to bestow it on Lord Lonsdale, if this is desirable, in
order to facilitate any Ministerial arrangements which Lord Derby may
have in contemplation.

[Pageheading: THE QUEEN INHERITS A FORTUNE]

_The King of the Belgians to Queen Victoria._

LAEKEN, _10th September 1852._

MY DEAREST VICTORIA,--... That Mr Neild[39] should have left that
great fortune to you delighted me; it gives the possibility of forming
a private fortune for the Royal Family, the necessity of which nobody
can deny. Such things only still happen in England, where there exists
loyalty and strong affection for Royalty, a feeling unfortunately
much diminished on the Continent of Europe, though it did exist there
also....

[Footnote 39: John Camden Neild, an eccentric and miserly
bachelor, nominally a barrister, died on the 30th of August,
bequeathing substantially the whole of his fortune (amounting
to half a million) to the Queen. As there were no known
relatives, the Queen felt able to accept this legacy; but she
first increased the legacies to the executors from L100 to
L1000 each, made provision for Mr Neild's servants and others
who had claims on him, restored the chancel of North Marston
Church, Bucks, where he was buried, and inserted a window
there to his memory.]

[Pageheading: DEATH OF DUKE OF WELLINGTON]

_Memorandum by the Prince Albert._

BALMORAL, _17th September 1852._

The death of the Duke of Wellington[40] has deprived the Country of
her greatest man, the Crown of its most valuable servant and adviser,
the Army of its main strength and support. We received the sad news
on an expedition from Allt-na-Giuthasach to the Dh