to the Princess Victoria._

LAEKEN, _17th June 1837._

MY BELOVED CHILD,--... I shall to-day enter on the subject of what is
to be done when the King ceases to live. The moment you get official
communication of it, you will entrust Lord Melbourne with the office
of retaining the present Administration as your Ministers. You will do
this in that honest and kind way which is quite your own, and say some
kind things on the subject. The fact is that the present Ministers are
those who will serve you personally with the greatest _sincerity_ and,
I trust, attachment. For them, as well as for the Liberals at large,
you are the _only_ Sovereign that offers them _des chances d'existence
et de duree_. With the exception of the Duke of Sussex, there is
no _one_ in the family that offers them anything like what they can
reasonably hope from you, and your immediate successor, with the
mustaches,[49] is enough to frighten them into the most violent
attachment for you.

... The irksome position in which you have lived will have the merit
to have given you the habit of _discretion_ and _prudence_, as in your
position you never can have _too much_ of either. Great measures of
State I hope you will be able to avoid at first. I have already--if
you would read it over, and perhaps let Stockmar see it--written to
you some months ago on the subject of the necessity of maintaining the
influence of conservative principles, and of protecting the Church.
You will do well to keep both objects in view. You will do wisely
by showing yourself attached to the English Protestant Church as it
exists in the State; you are particularly where you are, because you
are a Protestant. I know you are averse to persecution, and you are
right; miss, however, _no opportunity_ to show your sincere feeling
for the existing Church; it is _right_ and _meet_ that you should do
so. I must repeat that you will do well as long as it will be possible
to hurt no one's hopes or prospects. That this will not always, or
very long, be possible is the consequence of the state of parties;
still, one may be frank and honest, and still kind to all. Concerning
foreign policy I shall write on some future occasion. In the meantime
I trust you will protect the two Queens in the Peninsula, who are
miserably ill off. I am sure, with your good sense you will not find
it difficult to judge questions yourself. I cannot too much recommend
this, as it will then become a habit, and even an