Other forms of writing Royal letters are:--
1st. Commencing "Sir my Brother" (or "Sir my Cousin," etc., as the case may be), and ending thus:
"Sir my _Brother_, Your _Majesty's_ Good _Sister_."
This is the form used between Sovereign and Sovereign.
2nd. Commencing with the Queen's titles. In these letters the plural "we" and "our" are employed instead of "I" and "my," and the letters terminate thus:--
This form is now used almost exclusively for Royal letters to Republics.
In the State Paper Office there is, with only one exception, no record of any letter from a Sovereign of England to the Pope from the time of Henry VIII., when the State Paper Office records commence. The single exception is an original letter from Queen Mary in 1555 to Pope Paul IV. It seems that when the time of her expected confinement drew nigh, she caused letters to be prepared announcing the birth of a son, and signed them in anticipation of the event. When no birth took place, the letters were of course not sent off; but they have been preserved to the present day, and among them is the letter to the Pope. The accompanying paper contains a copy of the beginning and conclusion of it.
There is no trace in the State Paper Office of any letter of credence having been given by James II. to Lord Castlemaine in 1685. The correspondence of the reign of James II. is, however, very defective, and much of it must either have been suppressed or have got into private hands.
_Draft_] _Queen Victoria to Pope Pius IX._[1]
MOST EMINENT SIR,--I have received the letter which your Holiness addressed to me from Gaëta on the 4th of December last, and in which you acquaint me that in consequence of the violent proceedings of certain of your subjects, you had felt yourself obliged to depart from Rome, and for a time to quit your dominions. I assure your Holiness that I have been deeply pained at the intelligence of the events to which your letter refers, and that I do the fullest justice to the motives which induced your Holiness to withdraw for a time from your capital. Your Holiness has given so many proofs of being animated by a sincere desire to improve the condition of the people whom, under Divine Providence, you have been chosen to govern, and the clemency of your heart and the rectitude of your intentions are so well known and so truly appreciated, that I cannot but hope that the trials which you have experienced in consequence of popular commotion will speedily come to an end, and will be succeeded by a cordial, good understanding between your Holiness and the Roman people. I request your Holiness to believe that it would afford me real pleasure to be able in any degree to contribute to a result so much to be desired; and I am happy in having this opportunity of assuring you of my sincere friendship, and of the unfeigned respect and esteem which I entertain for your person and character.