ent and care of his life,
which is only valuable to him while he can exert it in active
pursuits. I doubt if he could live in retirement and inactivity--
the life of a valetudinarian.

Besides the Precedence question, another is now raised about the
Liturgy. The Queen wants to insert the Prince's name in it; they
sent to me to know if Prince George's (of Denmark) had been
inserted, and I found it had not. There was a division of
opinion, but the majority of the Cabinet were disposed to put in
Prince Albert's. Before deciding anything they consulted the
Archbishop of Canterbury. Yesterday, however, on looking into the
Act of Uniformity, I satisfied myself that the Queen has not the
power to insert his name; and I believe that the insertion, on
former occasions, of Princesses of Wales was illegal, and could
not have been sustained if it ever had been questioned. This I
imparted to Lords Lansdowne and Clarendon, to deal with the fact
as they pleased; and I asked the opinions of Parke, Bosanquet,
and Lushington, who were sitting at the Judicial Committee, and
they all agreed that she had not the power, under the 25th sec.
of the Act of Uniformity.

March 5th, 1840 {p.272}

The Duke of Wellington returned to town; went up with the Oxford
address, and dines at the Palace on Monday. So he is again in
harness; but he is a broken man, and I fear we shall see him show
himself in eclipse, which will be a sorry sight. He has consented
to waive his objections to the settlement by Bill of the
Privilege question, so it probably will be settled; and high time
it is that it should be. It is curious to see how little interest
the public takes in it, not caring a straw for the House of
Commons, or the sheriffs, and regarding the squabble with extreme
apathy. There has been a great delay in getting ready the patent
of precedence for Prince Albert, because the law officers can't
make up their minds as to the terms of it, and whether
exceptional words should be introduced or not. My pamphlet has
succeeded far beyond my hopes or expectations, and got me many
compliments, which I never looked for from such a trifle. Peel
said civil things to FitzGerald about it; only the Royal Family
and the Cambridges don't like it, on account of my having
explained the status of Prince George (of Cambridge); and they
fancy, in the event of his going to Germany, it might be
injurious to him, which seems very fanciful; but their pride is
hurt.

Ma