MESSAGE FROM HER MAJESTY. (Hansard, 22 June 1837)

§ Viscount Melbourne
proceeded to say: I have, my Lords, no doubt that you will agree with me, that an immediate answer ought to be sent by your Lordships to the gracious message which you have just heard. Although, my Lords, I am of opinion, that there can be no doubt entertained of the prudence, the wisdom, and the propriety, under present circumstances, of following the course pointed out to your Lordships, yet, as it is possible that a difference of opinion may arise upon that subject, and as it is my most anxious wish, upon an occasion like the present, to avoid anything which may interfere with that unanimity that I desire to see prevailing, to avoid every difference of opinion; it is my intention to postpone to a future day that part of the address upon which all may not agree, and to confine myself to that upon which no difference of opinion can arise. It refers to that loss which this country has sustained—which we, in common with all others, have experienced, and respecting which it is our duty to carry the expressions of our grief and condolence to the foot of the Throne. I feel certain, with respect to the first part of the Address, which I have now to move for your Lordships' adoption, that your Lordships will not only assent to it, but also that you deeply lament with me that the nation has been deprived of the gracious Sovereign who was ever anxious for the welfare of his subjects, while I have to deplore, my Lords, that I and my colleagues have been deprived of a most gracious Master, and that the world has been deprived of a man, I will say it of 1548 the best intentions—of a being of the most uncompromising and firmest honour, and of the most strict integrity that ever it pleased Divine Providence to place upon the Throne. It is impossible for me, my Lords, to express the grief experienced in the loss of such a Sovereign. It is unnecessary for me to expatiate at any great length upon his Majesty's character, or to go into the details of his Majesty's life, with which many of you are better, and most of your Lordships as well, acquainted as I can be. His late Majesty, it is well known, was educated in that which is the favorite service of the country; and while he served in the navy he greatly distinguished himself, especially during the American war. I have not, my Lords, sufficient knowledge of the naval service to speak upon this subject; but I have heard from those who have a complete knowledge of it, that his late Majesty was deservedly admired for his intelligence and activity as an officer, and for his zeal and attention in the duties of his profession. When his Majesty returned from the active duties of his profession, when he came back to the civil service of his country, he took an active, a useful, and often no undistinguished nor unimportant share in the debates of your Lordships' House. When his Majesty ascended the Throne, the knowledge which he had acquired from his professional education of the whole of the colonial system of this country, and in his service abroad the knowledge he had of all that could be effectually beneficial to this country, was undoubtedly of very great importance; and I will appeal to any one who ever approached his Majesty upon those subjects, whether his practical acquaintance with the principles and details of public business were not very extensive and very accurate, and whether his Majesty did not employ the greatest zeal, and the most unremitting assiduity, and the most anxious desire to do in everything that was submitted to him the most strict justice. Upon another matter let me say—perhaps, my Lords, I express myself in too humble a manner for the occasion—but I must state (as it was necessary in the situation that I held to be in frequent communication with his Majesty) that I think that so fair a man, or so just a man, I have not ever yet known in the course of my experience—most fair, most candid, most impartial, most willing to hear, to weigh 1549 and to consider what was urged even in opposition to his most favourite opinions. Qualities that are great and sterling—truly so in any man, but more particularly great and sterling in a Sovereign. His Majesty's reign has not been a protracted one; it was not to be expected that it could be. Ascending the Throne at an advanced period of life, it was not to be expected that his reign could be a long one; but it has been cut short by a disease beyond the reach of art, and at an earlier period than those who had observed his Majesty's apparent strength and the activity of his habits could have anticipated. But though his Majesty's reign has not been long, its duration has been marked by great and important events. It has, my Lords, been marked with important measures and by important events, upon which, of course, a difference of opinion exists amongst your Lordships, and which difference it is not my intention to revive upon the present occasion; but this much I will say, that through the whole course of these events—through the whole course of everything that has happened—in the whole course of them, I feel certain that his Majesty was only actuated by the desire to promote the good of his people, to secure the tranquillity of the country, and to uphold the real interests of all. I feel, my Lords, that I have very inadequately discharged my duty upon the present occasion; but the hurry of the last few days I have passed through has afforded no time for the construction of carefully turned sentences. Though, my Lords, I have not spoken with eloquence, I have spoken with truth. I have spoken no more than I think, and no more than I feel—no more than what I know to be true with respect to his late most gracious Majesty. In descanting upon the virtues of a deceased sovereign I cannot be suspected of adulation or of flattery. It is usual upon occasions like this to advert to the character of the reigning Sovereign. Her Majesty's declaration is before the public—she has declared that she relies upon the affections of her people, and upon the loyalty and attachment of Parliament; her Majesty's declaration I have no doubt will be cordially responded to. Can anything be added with respect to her Majesty herself than what she has already declared? I appeal to your Lordships whether you could have a fairer promise of all that is 1550 dignified, becoming, ay, and firm too, than that which has already been given by her Majesty. The noble Viscount concluded by proposing an address of condolence to her Majesty upon the death of the late King, and of congratulation upon her accession to the Throne.

§ The Duke of Wellington
I concur, my Lords, entirely in every expression of the noble Viscount's speech upon this occasion, and also in the address. I have served his late Majesty in the highest situation; I have been in his Council as well as the noble Viscount. I indeed, did not serve him so long as the noble Viscount, or even in any such prosperous circumstances as the noble Viscount, but I have had opportunities of witnessing in all these circumstances the personal advantages of character so ably described by the noble Viscount. It has fallen to my lot to serve his Majesty at different periods, and in different situations and while I had the happiness of doing so, upon all those occasions I have witnessed not only all the virtues ascribed to him by the noble Viscount, but likewise a firmness, a discretion, a candour, a justice, a spirit of conciliation towards others, and a respect for all. Probably there never was a sovereign who in such circumstances, and encompassed by so many difficulties, more successfully met them than he did upon every occasion that he had to engage them. I was induced to serve his Majesty not only from my sense of duty, not alone from the feeling that the Sovereign of this country has the right to command my services in any situation in which I consider I could be of use, but from a feeling of gratitude to his Majesty for favours conferred on me, for personal distinctions conferred on me, notwithstanding that I had been unfortunately in the situation of being under the necessity of opposing myself to his Majesty's views and intentions when he was employed in a high situation under Government, and in consequence of which he had to resign a great office, which he must beyond all others have been most anxious to retain. Notwithstanding that, my Lords, His Majesty employed me in his service, and he as a Sovereign manifested towards me a kindness, condescension, and favour which, long as I live, I never can forget. I considered then not only bound by duly, and the sense I feel of gratitude to all the Sovereigns of this country, but 1551 more especially towards his late Majesty, to have relieved him from every difficulty I could under any circumstances. I second the Motion for the Address.

§ Earl Grey
could not reconcile it to his feelings—he could not think that he had properly discharged the duty which he owed to the memory of his late Majesty, or the duty which he owed to himself, if he passed over in silence the motion which had been made by his noble Friend. The manner in which the Address was proposed to their Lordships was characterised by the utmost propriety, and in every word of that address he entirely concurred. He rejoiced that his noble Friend had abstained from connecting the vote which they would have to give this evening with any topic that could possibly disturb that unanimity which, valuable at all times, must be particularly valuable on an occasion like the present—that unanimity, which would manifest the feelings which he was convinced existed in the hearts of all. He, like the two preceding Speakers, had also had the honour of serving his late Majesty, and he could bear honest and fervent testimony to his possession of all those excellent qualities which had been so ably described by his noble Friend, and to which the noble Duke had also most feelingly referred. Of his late Majesty he would say, that a man more sincerely devoted to the interests of his country—that a man who had a better understanding of what was necessary to the furtherance of those interests—that a man who was more patient in considering all the circumstances connected with those interests—that a man who was more attentive to his duty on every occasion, never did exist. If ever a sovereign deserved the character, it might truly be affirmed of William 4th, that he was "A Patriot King!" In addition to the qualities of diligence, assiduity, and attention, by which he was so eminently distinguished, his patience in investigating every subject, the knowledge he had acquired of the principles of the constitution and of the interests of the country—these qualities were aided by the kind condescension with which, as his noble Friend stated, he listened to objections to the opinions which he himself had previously conceived, and his anxious desire to decide what was best for the country over which he ruled. The noble 1552 Duke had justly alluded to the absence of all personal resentment by which the conduct of his late Majesty had been uniformly characterised, and, in confirmation of that statement, he could himself state, that he had observed, upon all occasions, the deep anxiety which had been described by the noble Duke to avoid anything like a difference between the Sovereign and those who surrounded him. He had been to-day called upon, in the discharge of his duty to the memory of his Sovereign, who had ever been to him a gracious master, to say thus much; and he had the satisfaction of stating, whatever might have been the imperfections which had attended his endeavours to serve his late Majesty, that, immediately before the commencement of his Majesty's fatal illness, he had received from his Majesty the most unequivocal testimony of his confidence and good opinion. Having already stated that he could not deny to his own feelings their expression upon the present occasion, he would conclude by declaring his concurrence in the other portion of the Address, which related to the congratulation of her present Majesty; and although, being called to the Throne at so early a period, the difficulties which beset her were necessarily great, yet he concurred in the hope that, under the blessing of Providence, they would be diminished by the development of that character which had been so auspiciously exhibited in those acts of government with which she had commenced her reign.

Lord Brougham
said, that the situation which he had had the honour of holding in the councils of his late Majesty, during a considerable part of his reign, forbade him to be silent on the present occasion. In all that had been said by his noble Friend the noble Viscount, and by the noble Duke, as to the personal qualities of the late Sovereign, he entirely agreed, more especially in what had been said of his Majesty's amiable disposition, his inflexible love of justice, and the rare candour by which his character was distinguished. On these points it was natural that the noble Viscount and the noble Duke, standing in the official relation to his Majesty which they had done, should dwell; but it was still more natural, because it was more useful, and more honourable to the memory of the late Sovereign, and in no wise less appropriate to the present occasion, to reflect not only on 1553 the virtues of the man, but also on the glorious, the beneficent, and the auspicious attributes of his reign—glorious because it was distinguished by the maintenance of peace abroad, and tranquillity at home—beneficent, because it was signalised by bestowing the most important boon which a sovereign could give to or withhold from his people—a wise amelioration of the laws, and a well-considered improvement in the institutions of the country—and auspicious, in the earnest it gave of still further improvements; greater they could not be, but they might be increased so as to diffuse more widely the blessings of those laws and institutions amongst the people. These were pledges which had descended with the crown to her Majesty the Queen Victoria, and he sincerely joined with their Lordships in hoping that her Majesty's reign might be long and prosperous, and that in it, by the blessing of God and the wisdom of Parliament, those pledges might be redeemed.