ville that "Lord Durham is on his way home, and his return is
regarded with no little curiosity, because he may endeavor to play a
great political part, and materially to influence the opinions, or at
least the councils, of the Queen." Lord Durham, up to this time, was
regarded by most people merely as a Radical of a very advanced order,
burning with strong political ambitions, fitfully impelled with
passionate likings and dislikings, and capable of proving a serious
trouble to the quiet of the new reign. We know now that Durham was soon
drawn away almost altogether from home politics, disappointing thereby
many of his Radical admirers, and that he found a new field of success,
and established for himself an abiding-place in history as the statesman
to whose courage, energy, and genius is owing the foundation of the
self-governing, prosperous, peaceful, and loyal Dominion of Canada, which
has again and again proved itself in recent times an important part of
the empire's strength.

[Sidenote: 1837--The Princess Victoria]

Writing of the Princess Victoria, Greville goes on to say: "What renders
speculation so easy, and events uncertain, is the absolute ignorance of
everybody, without exception, of the character, disposition, and capacity
of the Princess. She has been kept in such jealous seclusion by her
mother (never having slept out of her bedroom, nor been alone with
anybody but herself and the Baroness Lehzen), that not one of her
acquaintance, none of the attendants at Kensington, not even the Duchess
of Northumberland, her governess, have any idea what she is or what she
promises to be." Greville tells us that "the Tories are in great
consternation at the King's approaching death," because they fear that
the new sovereign is not likely to make any advances to them, while "the
Whigs, to do them justice, behave with great decency; whatever they may
really feel, they express a very proper concern, and I have no doubt
Melbourne really feels the concern he expresses." Then Greville
dismisses, for the moment, the whole subject with the words: "The public
in general don't seem to care much, and only wonder what will happen."
The chronicler no doubt expressed very correctly the {292} public
feeling. Of course, there is nothing surprising in the fact that while
the poor King lay dying those who had any official relations with the
Court or with Parliament were occupying themselves, during the greater
part of the time,