e, as we came out and returned, has a
splendid effect.

The Queen was also much pleased at seeing four of the crew of the
_Emerald_ again whom she knew so well _nine years_ ago! The Prince was
delighted with all he saw, as were also our Uncle and Cousins; these
last, we are sorry to say, leave us on Monday,--and we go up to Town
on Tuesday, where the Queen hopes to see Lord Melbourne soon.

The Queen sends Lord Melbourne a letter from the Queen of Portugal,
all which tends to show how _wrong_ it is to _think_ that they connive
at the restoration of the Charter....

Lady Dunmore is in waiting, and makes an excellent Lady-in-Waiting.
Lord Hardwicke the Queen likes very much, he seems so straightforward.
He took the greatest care of the Queen when on board ship.

Was not his father drowned at Spithead or Portsmouth?[17]

The Queen hopes to hear that Lord Melbourne is very well.

[Footnote 17: "His father, Sir Joseph Yorke," Lord Melbourne
replied, "was drowned in the Southampton River, off Netley
Abbey, when sailing for pleasure. The boat was supposed to
have been struck by lightning. His cousin, Lord Royston,
was drowned in the year 1807 in the Baltic, at Cronstadt"
[according to Burke in 1808, off Lubeck, _aet._ twenty-three],
"which event, together with the death of two younger sons of
Lord Hardwicke, gave the earldom ultimately to the present
Lord."]

_Queen Victoria to the King of the Belgians._

PAVILION, _7th March 1842._

MY DEAR UNCLE,--As I wrote you so long a letter yesterday, I shall
only write you a few lines to-day, to thank you for your kind letter
of the 4th, received yesterday. Our dear Uncle and dear Cousins have
just left us, and we are very sorry to see them go; for the longer one
is together the more intimate one gets, and they were quite become as
belonging to us, and were so quiet and unassuming, that we shall
miss them much, particularly dear Leopold, whom poor Uncle Ferdinand
recommended to my especial care, and therefore am really very anxious
that we should settle something for his _future_. Uncle Ferdinand
likes the idea of his passing some time at Brussels, and some time
here, very much, and I hope we may be able to settle that. Uncle and
Cousins were sorry to go.

You will have heard how well our Portsmouth expedition went off; the
sea was quite smooth on Tuesday, and we had a delightful visit to
the _Queen_, which is a splendid ship. I th