ere was a recrudescence of the friction between this
country and France, due partly to questions as to the right of search
of foreign ships, partly to a _brochure_ issued by the Prince de
Joinville, a son of Louis Philippe, partly to the assumption of French
sovereignty over Tahiti and the seizure of the English consul there
by the French authorities. Reparation however was made, and the
ill-feeling subsided sufficiently to enable the King of the French to
visit Queen Victoria,--the first friendly visit ever paid by a
French king to the Sovereign of England. Louis Philippe was cordially
received in this country.

Another historic royal visit also took place in 1844, that of the
Emperor Nicholas, who no doubt was so much impressed with his friendly
reception, both by the Court and by Aberdeen, the Foreign Secretary,
that nine years later he thought he could calculate on the support of
England under Aberdeen (then Premier) in a scheme for the partition
of Turkey. Lord Malmesbury, who a few years later became Foreign
Secretary, states in his memoirs that during this visit, the Czar, Sir
Robert Peel, the Duke of Wellington, and Lord Aberdeen "drew up and
signed a Memorandum, the spirit and scope of which was to support
Russia in her legitimate protectorship of the Greek religion and
the Holy Shrines, and to do so without consulting France," but
the Memorandum was in reality only one made by Nicholas of his
recollection of the interview, and communicated subsequently to Lord
Aberdeen.

No events of special interest took place in other parts of Europe;
the condition of affairs in the Peninsula improved, though the
announcement of the unfortunate marriage of the Queen Mother with
the Duke of Rianzares was not of hopeful augury for the young Queen
Isabella's future; as a matter of fact, the marriage had taken place
some time previously.

CHAPTER XIII

1844

_Queen Victoria to the King of the Belgians._

WINDSOR CASTLE, _9th January 1844._

MY DEAREST UNCLE,--I had the pleasure of receiving your kind letter of
the 4th, which is written from Ardenne, where I grieve to see you are
again gone without my beloved Louise.

Charlotte is the admiration of every one, and I wish much I could have
seen the three dear children _en representation_.

Our fat Vic or Pussette learns a verse of _Lamartine_ by heart, which
ends with "le tableau se deroule a mes pieds"; to show how well she
had understood this difficult line w