We certainly delivered the affairs of the country into their hands in a good state, both at home and abroad, and we should be acting unfairly by ourselves if we did not maintain and assert this upon every occasion.

Lord Melbourne's notion of the conduct which he has to pursue is, that it should not be aggressive, but that it must be defensive.

He would oppose no right measures, but he cannot suffer the course of policy which has been condemned in him to be adopted by others without observation upon the inconsistency and injustice....
Lord Melbourne concludes with again wishing your Majesty health and happiness, and much enjoyment of the country.
[Footnote 159: King Frederick William IV., who was to be a sponsor.] [Pageheading: PRINCE OF WALES] _Sir James Graham to Queen Victoria._ WHITEHALL, _6th December 1841._ Sir James Graham, with humble duty, begs to enclose for the Signature of your Majesty the Letters Patent creating His Royal Highness, the Prince of the United Kingdom, Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester.[160] Understanding that it is your Majesty's pleasure to have this Creation inserted in the _Gazette_ of to-morrow night, Sir James Graham has given directions, which will ensure the publication, though the Letters Patent themselves may not be completed.

The Warrant already signed by your Majesty is a sufficient authority.
The above is humbly submitted by your Majesty's dutiful Subject and Servant, J.R.

G.GRAHAM.
[Footnote 160: His present Majesty had been referred to in letters of the previous month as the Duke of Cornwall.