ery good choices,
else perhaps you would derive more trouble than comfort from the
arrangement; _cela va sans dire_, that the choice could only be
made by yourself, and that nobody should be given you _against_ your
wishes. Should the King speak to you on the subject, I would at once
express this my wish if you should approve some such arrangement,
and beg him to let _you choose_. Resist mildly but _positively_ any
nomination of a Gentleman other than the Dean; it is highly probable
that any other would be put about you as a spy, and turn out at all
events a great bore, which is better avoided....

I received a messenger from Coburg. I enclose the letters and also
a packet with fans. Ever, my beloved child, your faithfully attached
Uncle and Friend,

LEOPOLD R.

[Footnote 29: The Princess was to attain her legal majority on
24th May.]

[Footnote 30: George Davys, the Princess Victoria's
instructor, Dean of Chester, and afterwards Bishop of
Peterborough.]

[Footnote 31: Thomas Vowler Short, Rector of St George's,
Bloomsbury, appointed in 1841 Bishop of Sodor and Man.]

[Footnote 32: Lady Catherine Jenkinson, daughter of the Earl
of Liverpool, soon after the Queen's accession married Colonel
Francis Vernon Harcourt.]

_The Princess Victoria to the King of the Belgians._

_12th April 1837._

... What you say about the newspapers is very true and very
flattering. They are indeed a curious compound of truth and untruth. I
am so used to newspaper nonsense and attacks that I do not mind it in
the least....

How happy I am that that beloved Aunt is going on so well and does not
suffer from the cold, as also the _jeune Philippe_. Leopold must
be great fun with his Aunt Marie;[33] does he still say "_pas beau
frere!_" or is he more reconciled to his brother? It is very noble in
the Duc de Nemours to have thus given up his _apanage_;[34] I am sorry
there were such difficulties about it. There is no Ministry formed
yet, I see by the papers.

[Footnote 33: Princess Marie of Orleans, born 1813, daughter
of King Louis Philippe, and thus sister to the Queen of the
Belgians.]

[Footnote 34: This grant was surrendered in order that due
provision might be made by the Legislature for the elder
brother, the Duke of Orleans, on the occasion of his marriage
with the Princess Helene of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.]

[Pageheading: THE IRISH MUNICIPAL BI