quiet,
domestic life, which _alone_ enabled me to bear my _much_ disliked
position, CUT OFF at forty-two--when I _had_ hoped with such
instinctive certainty that God never _would_ part us, and would let
us grow old together (though _he_ always talked of the shortness of
life)--is _too awful_, too cruel! And yet it _must_ be for _his_ good,
his happiness! His purity was too great, his aspiration _too high_ for
this poor, _miserable_ world! His great soul is _now only_ enjoying
_that_ for which it _was_ worthy! And I will _not_ envy him--only pray
that _mine_ may be perfected by it and fit to be with him eternally,
for which blessed moment I earnestly long. Dearest, dearest Uncle,
_how_ kind of you to come! It will be an unspeakable _comfort_, and
you _can do_ much to tell people to do what they ought to do. As for
my _own good, personal_ servants--poor Phipps in particular--nothing
can be more devoted, heartbroken as they are, and anxious only to live
as _he_ wished!

Good Alice has been and is wonderful.[64]

The 26th will suit me perfectly. Ever your devoted, wretched Child,

VICTORIA R.

[Footnote 64: By a singular coincidence, the Princess was to
pass away on the anniversary of the Prince's death. She died
on the 14th of December 1878.]

[Pageheading: DEATH OF LADY CANNING]

_Sir Charles Wood to Queen Victoria._

_22nd December 1861._

Sir Charles Wood, with his humble duty, begs to enclose to your
Majesty two letters from India, one giving an account of Lord
Canning's investing the Indian Chiefs with the Star of India; and the
other an account of poor Lady Canning's illness and death, which, even
at this sad moment, may not be without interest for your Majesty.

Sir Charles Wood hopes that he may be forgiven if, when having to
address your Majesty, he ventures to lay before your Majesty the
expression of his heartfelt sympathy in the sorrow under which your
Majesty is now suffering, and his deep sense of the irreparable
calamity which has befallen your Majesty and the country.

Though it cannot be any consolation, it must be gratifying to your
Majesty to learn the deep and universal feeling of regret and sorrow
which prevails amongst all classes of your Majesty's subjects, and
in none so strongly as in those who have had the most opportunity of
appreciating the inestimable value of those services, of which by this
awful dispensation of Providence the country has been deprived.