ult is that the collected papers form what is probably the most
extraordinary series of State documents in the world. The papers which
deal with the Queen's life up to the year 1861 have been bound
in chronological order, and comprise between five and six hundred
volumes. They consist, in great part, of letters from Ministers
detailing the proceedings of Parliament, and of various political
memoranda dealing with home, foreign, and colonial policy; among these
are a few drafts of Her Majesty's replies. There are volumes concerned
with the affairs of almost every European country; with the history
of India, the British Army, the Civil List, the Royal Estates, and all
the complicated machinery of the Monarchy and the Constitution. There
are letters from monarchs and royal personages, and there is further
a whole series of volumes dealing with matters in which the
Prince Consort took a special interest. Some of them are arranged
chronologically, some by subjects. Among the most interesting volumes
are those containing the letters written by Her Majesty to her uncle
Leopold, King of the Belgians, and his replies.[1] The collection
of letters from and to Lord Melbourne forms another hardly less
interesting series. In many places Queen Victoria caused extracts,
copied from her own private Diaries, dealing with important political
events or describing momentous interviews, to be inserted in the
volumes, with the evident intention of illustrating and completing the
record.

[Footnote 1: A set of volumes containing the Queen's letters
to Lord John Russell came into our hands too late to be made
use of for the present publication.]

It became obvious at once that it was impossible to deal with these
papers exhaustively. They would provide material for a historical
series extending to several hundred volumes. Moreover, on the other
hand, there are many gaps, as a great deal of the business of State
was transacted by interviews of which no official record is preserved.

His Majesty the King having decided that no attempt should be made to
publish these papers _in extenso_, it was necessary to determine upon
some definite principle of selection. It became clear that the only
satisfactory plan was to publish specimens of such documents as
would serve to bring out the development of the Queen's character and
disposition, and to give typical instances of her methods in dealing
with political and social matters--to produc