After the Prince returned to Germany, the Queen corresponded constantly with him, and says, in the memorandum already so largely quoted, "that the letters she then received from the Prince are the greatest treasures now in her possession. During this time," she adds, "precedents were searched for to see what the Prince's household should consist of; and, unfortunately, the one commonly referred to was that of Prince George of Denmark, the very stupid and insignificant husband of Queen Anne. He was a peer, and also for some time Lord High Admiral of England, but seems never to have played any thing but a very subordinate part."*

What a noble contrast to the acceptance of these offices by Prince George of Denmark is afforded by the refusal of our Prince to accept the command of the army when pressed upon him many years afterward by no less a man than the great Duke of Wellington! It has already been mentioned that he had determined, even before his marriage, to accept no English title that should be offered to him. He was known only as Prince Albert till very many years later, when, a more correct estimate being formed of his position, and it becoming more generally understood how completely he was identified with every act of the Queen's, it was thought advisable that he should assume the title of Prince Consort.

But while in England the news of the Queen's intended marriage was received with universal satisfaction, and her choice of a husband met with very general approval, far different was the feeling in the Prince's own country. In Coburg and in Gotha, in both of which duchies he

* Memorandum by the Queen.

was equally beloved, but one voice of lamentation was raised for his loss!

Yet what was the sorrow of the people of the duchies, deep and general as it might be, to that of the grandmother left behind at Gotha?

She could be under no delusion on the subject; she felt that the coming separation from her beloved grandson, if not absolutely final, must be complete and lasting. And what consideration of earthly grandeur or high position could reconcile her to the thought? In a letter to the Duke of Coburg, written on the 12th of December, 1839, the duchess gives the following affecting expression to her feelings:

"Gotha, December 12, 1839.

"MY DEAR DUKE, -I received your letter of the 8th the day before yesterday, and thank you much for it. I was also pleased to hear from Wangenheim, who brought me, in your name, the programme of last Sunday's festivities, and also from Von Stein, that you are very well and happy.

"I am very much upset. The brilliant destiny awaiting our Albert can not reconcile me to the thought that his country will lose him forever; and, for myself, I lose my greatest happiness. But I think not of myself. The few years I may yet have to live will soon have passed away. May God protect dear Albert, and keep him in the same heavenly frame of mind! I hope the Queen will appreciate him. I have been much pleased that she has shown herself so kind toward me, especially as I am sure I owe it all to the affection of my Albert. And yet I can not rejoice. May God spare our Ernest, at least,

who will now be our only joy, and the only hope of the country!

"To celebrate the betrothal of dear Albert, I held a reception last Sunday afternoon, in the course of which I showed the lovely portrait of the Queen to the whole assembly. Every body was much moved, for Albert is certainly much beloved both here and in Coburg. I was sorry to hear that he was unwell on Monday, but he was very considerate in making Florschütz write to me the next day to say that he was nearly well again. Thank God for it."

On the 8th of December the official declaration of the intended marriage between the Queen of England and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg was made in the most sol emn and formal manner at Coburg.* *

Writing to the Queen two days after the ceremony, the Prince thus alludes to what then took place: "The day before yesterday the great ceremony of the Declaration took place, which was really very splendid, and went off well. The day affected me much, as so many emotions filled my heart! Your health was drunk at dinner, where three hundred persons were present, with a universal cheer.

"The joy of the people was so great that they went on firing in the streets with guns and pistols during the whole night, so that one might have imagined that a battle was taking place.

* A copy of the official notice of the ceremonial to be observed in making the Declaration, and of the Declaration itself, will be found in Appendix E.

The more than common affection that united the two brothers, who, till within one short year, had scarcely known what it was to be separated even for a day, has been more than once noticed. We have already seen with what exquisite feeling Prince Albert, in writing to his grandmother, alludes to their first permanent separation on the departure of his brother to enter the Saxon service. The following letter from Prince Ernest, written after the public announcement of the marriage, will be read with no less interest, as giving proof not only of an affection in the writer, rare from its entire and sincere. unselfishness, but also of the marked development, even at this early age, of that high moral purpose, and that almost intuitive soundness of judgment, which were to be displayed in the after life of the Prince in so pre-eminent a degree:

PRINCE ERNEST TO THE QUEEN.

"Dresden, Dec. 19, 1839. "MY DEAR COUSIN,-Let me thank you very sincerely for your kind answer to my letter. You are always so good and so kind to me that I really fear I have not thanked you sufficiently.

"Oh! if you could only know the place you and Albert occupy in my heart! Albert is my second self, and my heart is one with his. Independently of his being my brother, I love and esteem him more than any one on earth. You will smile, perhaps, at my speaking of him to you in such glowing terms; but I do so that you may feel still more how much you have gained in him.

"As yet you are chiefly taken with his manner, so

youthfully innocent-his tranquillity-his clear and open mind. It is thus that he appears on first acquaintance. One reads less in his face of knowledge of men and experience, and why? It is because he is pure before the world and before his own conscience. Not as though he did not know what sin was-the earthly temptationsthe weakness of man. No; but because he knew, and still knows, how to struggle against them, supported by the incomparable superiority and firmness of his char

acter.

"From our earliest years we have been surrounded by difficult circumstances, of which we were perfectly conscious, and, perhaps more than most people, we have been accustomed to see men in the most opposite positions that human life can offer. Albert never knew what it was to hesitate. Guided by his own clear sense, he always walked calmly and steadily in the right path. In the greatest difficulties that may meet you in your eventful life, you may repose the most entire confidence in him, and then only will you feel how great a treasure you possess in him.

"He has, besides, all other qualities necessary to make a good husband. Your life can not fail to be a happy one. "I shall be very glad when the excitement of the first days is over and all is again quiet, and when papa shall have left England, to be a distant and unintruding spectator of your new life. But how shall I then feel how much I have lost! Time will, I trust, help me also. Now I feel very lonely. ERNEST."

In the mean time many preliminary arrangements had