The Letters of Queen Victoria, Volume 1: 1837-1843 | Page 5

dominions. The obvious faults of his character
made it impossible for the other German princes to insist on his being
restored, and he had been succeeded by his younger brother William,
who ruled till his death in 1884. Both died unmarried, and with them
the Ducal family came to an end. One Princess of Brunswick had been
the wife of George IV., and another, Augusta, was the first wife of
Frederick I., King of Würtemberg, who, after her death, married a
daughter of George III. The King of Würtemberg was also, by his
descent from Frederick Prince of Wales, first cousin once removed of
the Queen. We need only notice, in passing, the distant connection with
the royal families of Prussia, the Netherlands, and Denmark. The Prince
of Orange, who was one of the possible suitors for the young Queen's
hand, was her third cousin once removed.
[Pageheading: THE HOUSE OF SAXE-COBURG-GOTHA]
The House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, to which the Queen belonged on her
mother's side, and with which she was to be even more intimately
connected by her marriage, was one of the numerous branches into
which the ancient and celebrated House of Wettin had broken up. Since
the 11th century they had ruled over Meissen and the adjoining districts.
To these had been added Upper Saxony and Thuringia. In the 15th

century the whole possessions of the House had been divided between
the two great branches which still exist. The Albertine branch retained
Meissen and the Saxon possessions. They held the title of Elector,
which in 1806 was exchanged for the title of King. Though the Saxon
House had been the chief protectors of the Reformation, Frederick
Augustus I. had, on being elected to the throne of Poland, become a
Roman Catholic; and thereby the connection between the two branches
of the House had to a great extent ceased. The second line, that of the
Ernestines, ruled over Thuringia, but, according to the common
German custom, had again broken up into numerous branches, among
which the Duchies of Thuringia were parcelled out. At the time of the
Queen's birth there were five of these, viz., Gotha-Altenburg,
Coburg-Saalfeld, Weimar-Eisenach, Meiningen, and Hildburghausen.
On the extinction of the Gotha line, in 1825, there was a rearrangement
of the family property, by which the Duke of Hildburghausen received
Altenburg, Gotha was given to the Duke of Coburg, and Saalfeld with
Hildburghausen added to Meiningen. These four lines still exist.
The Ernestine princes had, by this constant division and sub-division,
deprived themselves of the opportunity of exercising any predominant
influence, or pursuing any independent policy in German affairs; and
though they had the good fortune to emerge from the revolution with
their possessions unimpaired, their real power was not increased. Like
all the other princes, they had, however, at the Congress of Vienna,
received the recognition of their full status as sovereign princes of the
Germanic Confederation. Together they sent a single representative to
the Diet of Frankfort, the total population of the five principalities
being only about 300,000 inhabitants.
It was owing to this territorial sub-division and lack of cohesion that
these princes could not attach to their independence the same political
importance that fell to the share of the larger principalities, such as
Hanover and Bavaria, and they were consequently more ready than the
other German princes to welcome proposals which would lead to a
unification of Germany.
It is notable that the line has produced many of the most enlightened of

the German princes; and nowhere in the whole of Germany were the
advantages of the division into numerous small States so clearly seen,
and the disadvantages so little felt, as at Weimar, Meiningen, Gotha,
and Coburg.
[Pageheading: THE HOUSE OF COBURG]
The House of Coburg had gained a highly conspicuous and influential
position, owing, partly, to the high reputation for sagacity and character
which the princes of that House had won, and partly to the marriage
connections which were entered into about this time by members of the
Coburg House with the leading Royal families of Europe. Within ten
years, Princes of Coburg were established, one upon the throne of
Belgium, and two others next to the throne in Portugal and England, as
Consorts of their respective Queens.
By the first marriage of the Duchess of Kent, the Queen was also
connected with a third class of German princes--the Mediatised, as
those were called who during the revolution had lost their sovereign
power. Many of these were of as ancient lineage and had possessed as
large estates as some of the regnant princes, who, though not always
more deserving, had been fortunate enough to retain their privileges,
and had emerged from the revolution ranking among the ruling Houses
of Europe. The mediatised princes, though they had ceased to rule, still
held