een had written that she did not admire that style of
beauty.]

[Pageheading: KING LEOPOLD AND PEEL]

_The King of the Belgians to Queen Victoria._

LAEKEN, _10th February 1843._

MY DEAREST VICTORIA,--... I am very much gratified by your having
shown my hasty scrawl to Sir Robert Peel, and that the sincere
expression of a conscientious opinion should have given him pleasure.

It was natural at first that you should _not_ have liked to take him
as your Premier; many circumstances united against him. But I must
say for you and your family, as well as for England, it was a great
blessing that so firm and honourable a man as Peel should have become
the head of your Administration. The State machine breaks often down
in consequence of mistakes made forty and fifty years ago; so it was
in France where even Louis XIV. had already laid the first foundation
for what happened nearly a hundred years afterwards.

I believe, besides, Sir Robert sincerely and warmly attached to you,
and as you say with great truth, _quite above_ mere party feeling.
Poor Lady Peel must be much affected by what has happened.... Your
truly devoted Uncle,

LEOPOLD R.

_Viscount Melbourne to Queen Victoria._

BROCKET HALL, _12th February 1843._

Lord Melbourne presents his humble duty to your Majesty. He received
here on Friday last, the 10th, your Majesty's letter of the 8th,
which gave him great pleasure, and for which he gratefully thanks your
Majesty. Lord Melbourne is getting better, and hopes soon to be nearly
as well as he was before this last attack, but he still finds his
left hand and arm and his left leg very much affected, and he does not
recover his appetite, and worse still, he is very sleepless at night,
an evil which he is very little used to, and of which he is very
impatient....

Lord Melbourne adheres to all he said about Lord Ashburton and the
Treaty, but he thinks more fire than otherwise would have taken place
was drawn upon Lord Ashburton by the confident declaration of Stanley
that his appointment was generally approved. The contrary is certainly
the case. There is much of popular objection to him from his American
connection and his supposed strong American interests. Lady Ashburton,
with whom he received a large fortune, is a born American. But he is
supposed to possess much funded property in that country, and to
have almost as strong an interest in its welfare as in that of Great
Britain. With