er hinted that
as his proposed visit was more out of a spirit of contradiction and
impatience of obstacles being thrown in the way of it, than from any
strong wish on his part to come here, he might probably change his
intention and defer his visit, particularly if he should find that
there was no particular impediment in the way of it.

_Sir Robert Peel to Queen Victoria._

WHITEHALL, _13th April 1843._

Sir Robert Peel presents his humble duty to your Majesty, and begs
leave to acquaint your Majesty that the Duke of Cambridge having
called on Sir Robert Peel this morning, he took an opportunity of
asking His Royal Highness whether he thought the King of Hanover had
made up his mind to visit England this year.

The Duke's reply was, as nearly as possible, as follows:--

"Oh yes, the King will certainly come, but I can tell you privately he
means to have nothing to do with the House of Lords. He will not
make his appearance there. The King has taken his servants for six
weeks--that is, engaged their attendance upon him for that time.
I know the porter is engaged and the stable servants. The King has
written to Her Majesty. His real object in coming is to arrange his
private papers, which were left in confusion, and to consult Sir Henry
Halford."[31]

This was all that was material that His Royal Highness said.

[Footnote 31: The eminent physician.]

[Pageheading: THE GATES OF SOMNAUTH]

_Lord Ellenborough to Queen Victoria._

CAMP, DELHI, _19th February 1843._

... The gates of the Temple of Somnauth, which have been escorted to
Delhi by five hundred cavalry of the protected Sikh States, will be
escorted from Delhi to Muttra, and thence to Agra by the same force of
cavalry, furnished by the Rajahs of Bhurtpore and Alwar.[32]

While there has been universally evinced a feeling of gratitude to
the British Government for the consideration shown to the people of
Hindustan in the restoration of these trophies, there has not occurred
a single instance of apparent mortification amongst the Mussulmans.
All consider the restoration of the gates to be a national, not a
religious, triumph. At no place has more satisfaction been expressed
than at Paniput, a town almost exclusively Mussulman, where there
exist the remains of the first mosque built by Sultan Mahmood after he
had destroyed the city and temples of the Hindoos....

[Footnote 32: See _ante_, p. 445. (Ch. XI, 'The Gates of Somnauth')]