The Melbourne Government resumed office on the 11th of May, and lost no time in adopting a minute in the following terms:--“Her Majesty’s confidential servants, having taken into consideration the letter addressed by her Majesty to Sir Robert Peel on the 10th of May, and the reply of Sir Robert Peel of the same day, are of opinion that, for the purpose of giving to the Administration that character of efficiency and stability, and those marks of the constitutional support of the Crown, which are required to enable it to act usefully to the public service, it is reasonable that the great officers of the Court, and situations in the Household held by Members of Parliament, should be included in the political arrangements made in a change in the Administration; but they are not of opinion that a similar principle should be applied or extended to the offices held by ladies in her Majesty’s Household.” Two years later (at the suggestion of Prince Albert), the question was settled by a compromise which substantially conceded what Sir Robert Peel had required. The restored Whigs introduced another Jamaica Bill, of a less stringent character, which they carried with the assistance, and under the correction, of the Tories; and the session closed in the midst of general distraction, and the errors of a feeble rule. [Illustration: COBURG. (_After a Sketch by Prince Albert._)] CHAPTER IV. COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE. English Chartism in the Summer of 1839--Riots in Birmingham--Principal Leaders of the Chartist Party--Excesses of the Artisans in Various Parts of Great Britain and Ireland--Chartist Rising at Newport, Monmouthshire--Conviction of Frost, Williams, and Jones--The Queen and Prince Albert--Early Life of the Prince--His Engaging Qualities--Desire of King Leopold to Effect a Matrimonial Engagement between Prince Albert and the Princess Victoria--First Visit of the Former to England--His Studies in Germany--Informal Understanding between Prince Albert and Queen Victoria--Difficulties of the Case--The Prince’s View of the Matter in the Autumn of 1839--Second Visit to England, and Formal Betrothal--Letter of Baron Stockmar on the Subject--Announcement of the Royal Marriage to the Privy Council and to Parliament--The Appointment of the Prince’s Household--Subjects of Difficulty and Dissension--Question of the Prince’s Religion--Reduction of his Annuity by a Vote of the House of Commons--Progress from Gotha to England, and Reception at Buckingham Palace--Marriage of Prince Albert to the Queen at the Chapel Royal, St. James’s.