The Greville Memoirs, Part 2 (of 3), Volume 3 (of 3): A Journal of the Reign of Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1852Greville, Charles
History
The Greville Memoirs, Part 2 (of 3), Volume 3 (of 3): A Journal of the Reign of Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1852
Greville, Charles
Great Britain -- History -- Victoria, 1837-1901
Affairs in Spain and Portugal are in a very strange state. The young
Queen of Spain exhibits some character and some talent, but she is
unsteady and uneducated. The turn matters have taken at Madrid is,
however, enough to provoke and annoy the French, while every day
exhibits more and more the infamy and disgrace of the marriage which the
French Government forced upon the Queen. Her husband is a wretched
imbecile sulky fanatic, who passes his life in trying to make
embarrassments for the Queen, and in praying to the shade of his mother
to forgive him for having married the usurper of his cousin's throne.
They have been endeavouring to effect the semblance of a reconciliation
between them, but he is incurably sulky, and will not make it up. Not
long ago he sent for Pacheco, and told him it was his desire that a
Council should be convened forthwith. Pacheco said very well, but begged
His Majesty would be so good as to tell him for what purpose he wished
for it. The King replied that his object was to lay before the Council
proofs of the Queen's infidelity to him. Pacheco said if that was his
object he must beg to decline to summon the Council. On this he
announced that he had prepared a manifesto to the nation setting forth
his wrongs, and that it should be immediately published. They persuaded
him to desist from this scandalous intention, and as a sort of
compromise they got Serrano to quit Madrid. It appears that the
Queen-mother, seeing how matters were going on, intended to return; but
her daughter had no mind she should, and told her Ministers they had
better look to it. It was their affair, but that if Mama came back
matters would go ill. On this they sent Concha to Paris to stop her.
Christina wrote Isabella a lecture on her proceedings, and told her that
she was too little educated to know how to conduct herself properly, to
which she replied, 'Mama knows that I did not educate myself.' However,
everything is in a state of the greatest doubt and uncertainty there,
and the French are sure to begin their intrigues again and to create as
much confusion as they can.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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