chiefly on the ground of personal and political attachment to the Earl
of Aberdeen, against whom, as well as against the Duke of Newcastle,
they say they consider the vote of the House of Commons of last week
as having been levelled. Viscount Palmerston has not yet been able to
ascertain the decision of Sir James Graham, but it will probably be
the same as that of his three colleagues.
Viscount Palmerston hopes, nevertheless, to be able to submit for your
Majesty's consideration such a list as may meet with your Majesty's
approval, and he will have the honour of reporting further to your
Majesty to-morrow.
[Pageheading: THE PEELITES]
_Memorandum by Queen Victoria._
BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _6th February 1855._
We came to Town to hear the result of negotiations, and saw Lord
Palmerston at one o'clock. He said there were circumstances which
prevented him from submitting a List of the Cabinet, but would at all
events be able to do so in the afternoon.
Lords Lansdowne, Clarendon, Granville, Sir G. Grey, Sir C. Wood,
Sir William Molesworth, and the Chancellor had consented to
serve--unconditionally--having withdrawn their former conditions in
consequence of the very general opinion expressed out of doors that
the country could not much longer be left without a Government. He
heard this had also made an impression upon the Peelites, who had
refused to join. He submitted their letters (declining) to the
Queen, of which copies are here annexed. They had been written after
consultation with Sir J. Graham, but Lord Aberdeen and the Duke of
Newcastle having heard of it, have since exerted themselves strongly
to prevail upon them to change their opinion, and it was still
possible that they would do so. Lord Clarendon had suggested that if
Lord Aberdeen himself was invited to join the Government, and could
be induced to do so, this would obviate all difficulty. He had in
consequence asked Lord Lansdowne to see Lord Aberdeen on the subject,
as his joining could only be agreeable to him. Many of the Peelites
not in the late Cabinet had strongly disapproved of the decision
taken by Mr Gladstone and friends, and offered their services, amongst
others Lord Canning, Lord Elcho,[30] and Mr Cardwell.
[Footnote 30: Now Earl of Wemyss.]
Lord Palmerston had been with Lord John Russell yesterday, and had had
a very long conversation with him in a most friendly tone; he asked
Lord John whether he would follow out the proposal which he had lately
made himself, and take the lead in the House of Lords as President of
the Council. He declined, however, saying he preferred to stay out of
office and to remain in the House of Commons, which Lord Palmerston
obviously much regretted. They went, however, together all over the
offices and their best distribution. He would recommend Lord Panmure
for the War Department and Mr Layard as Under Secretary.... Lord
Palmerston was appointed to report further progress at five o'clock.
VICTORIA R.
_The Prince Albert to the Earl of Aberdeen._
BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _6th February 1855_.
MY DEAR LORD ABERDEEN,--It would be a great relief to the Queen if you
were to agree to a proposal which we understand is being made to
you to join the new Government, and by so doing to induce also Mr
Gladstone, Mr S. Herbert, and Sir James Graham to do the same.
Ever yours truly, ALBERT.
[Pageheading: LORD ABERDEEN INTERVENES]
_The Earl of Aberdeen to the Prince Albert._
LONDON, _6th February 1855_.
SIR,--I am sanguine in believing that the great object of the union of
my friends with the new Government may be attained without the painful
sacrifice to which your Royal Highness refers. Contrary to my advice,
they yesterday declined to remain in the Cabinet, but I have renewed
the subject to-day, and they have finally decided to place themselves
in my hands. This rendered other explanations necessary, before I
could undertake so great a responsibility. When I shall have the
honour of seeing your Royal Highness, I will, with your Royal
Highness's permission, communicate what has passed, so far as I am
concerned.
I venture to enclose the copy of a letter which I addressed to Mr
Herbert this morning, in answer to one received from him late last
night, in which he expressed his doubts of the propriety of the first
decision at which they had arrived. I have the honour to be, Sir, your
Royal Highness's most humble and devoted Servant,
ABERDEEN.
[Pageheading: MR SIDNEY HERBERT]
[_Enclosure--Copy._]
_The Earl of Aberdeen to Mr S. Herbert._
ARGYLL HOUSE, _6th February 1855_.
MY DEAR HERBERT,--I received your letter too late to answer it last
night. In fact, I had gone to bed.
You say that you are in a great difficulty as to the course you ought
to take. I am in none whatever.
I gave you my decided opinion yesterday that you ought to continue in
Palmerston's Administration; and I endeavoured to support this opinion
by the very arguments which you repeat in your letter to me. Surely
this letter ought to have been addressed to Gladstone and Graham,
and not to me. I fully concur in thinking that you came to a wrong
conclusion yesterday, and I would fain hope that it would still be
reversed.
When you sent to me yesterday to attend your meeting, I certainly
hoped it was with the intention of following my advice.
Your reluctance to continue in Palmerston's Cabinet is chiefly founded
on the apprehension that he will pursue a warlike policy beyond
reasonable bounds. I have already told you that I have had some
explanations with him on the terms of peace, with which I am
satisfied. But whatever may be his inclinations, you ought to rely
on the weight of your own character and opinions in the Cabinet. I am
persuaded that the sentiments of the great majority of the Members of
the Cabinet are similar to your own, and that you may fairly expect
reason and sound policy to prevail in the question of peace and war.
But above all I have recently had some very full conversations
with Clarendon on the subject, and I am entirely satisfied with his
disposition and intentions. I am sanguine in the belief that he will
give effect to his present views.
A perseverance in the refusal to join Palmerston will produce very
serious effects, and will never be attributed to its true cause. The
public feeling will be strongly pronounced against you, and you will
greatly suffer in reputation, if you persevere at such a moment as
this in refusing to continue in the Cabinet.
In addition to the public necessity, I think you owe much to our late
Whig colleagues, who behaved so nobly and generously towards us
after Lord John's resignation. They have some right to expect this
sacrifice.
Although your arguments do not apply to me, for I yesterday adopted
them all, you conclude your letter by pressing me to enter the
Cabinet. Now there is really no sense in this, and I cannot imagine
how you can seriously propose it. You would expose me to a gratuitous
indignity, to which no one ought to expect me to submit. I say
_gratuitous_, because I could not be of the slightest use in such a
situation for the purpose you require.
I can retire with perfect equanimity from the Government in
consequence of the vote of the House of Commons; but to be stigmatised
as the Head and tolerated as the subordinate member I cannot endure.
If at any future time my presence should be required in a Cabinet, I
should feel no objection to accept any office, or to enter it without
office. But to be the Head of a Cabinet to-day, and to become a
subordinate member of the very same Cabinet to-morrow, would be a
degradation to which I could never submit, that I would rather die
than do so--and indeed the sense of it would go far to kill me.
If you tell me that your retaining your present offices, without the
slightest sacrifice, but on the contrary with the approbation of all,
is in any degree to depend on my taking such a course, I can only
say that, as friends, I cannot believe it possible that you should be
guilty of such wanton cruelty without any national object.
I must, then, again earnestly exhort you to reconsider the decision of
yesterday, and to continue to form part of the Government. I will do
anything in my power to facilitate this. If you like, I will go to
Palmerston and promote any explanation between him and Gladstone on
the subject of peace and war. Or I will tell him that you have yielded
to my strong recommendation. In short, I am ready to do anything in my
power.
I wish you to show this letter to Gladstone and to Graham, to whom, as
you will see, it is addressed as much as to yourself.
I hope to meet you this morning, and Gladstone will also come to the
Admiralty. Yours, etc.
ABERDEEN.
[Pageheading: ADHESION OF THE PEELITES]
_The Prince Albert to the Earl of Aberdeen._
BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _6th February 1855_.
MY DEAR LORD ABERDEEN,--We are just returning to Windsor. Lord
Palmerston kissed hands after having announced that his Peelite
colleagues also have agreed to keep their offices. The Queen is thus
relieved from great anxiety and difficulty, and feels that she owes
much to your kind and disinterested assistance. I can quite understand
what you say in the letter which I return. You must make allowances
also, however, for the wishes of your friends not to be separated from
you. You will not be annoyed by further proposals from here.
To-morrow we shall have an opportunity of further conversation with
you upon the state of affairs. Believe me always, yours, etc.,
ALBERT
_Queen Victoria to the King of the Belgians._
BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _6th February 1855_.
MY DEAREST UNCLE,--We are here again for a few hours in order to try
and facilitate the formation of a Government, which seemed almost
hopeless.
Van de Weyer will have informed you of the successive failures of Lord
Derby and _Lord John_ ... and of Lord Palmerston being now charged
with the formation of a Government! I had _no_ other alternative. The
Whigs _will_ join with him, and I have got hopes, _also_ the Peelites,
which would be very important, and would tend to allay the _alarm_
which his name will, I fear, produce abroad.
I will leave this letter open to the last moment in the hope of giving
you some decisive news before we return to Windsor....
I am a good deal worried and knocked up by all that has passed; my
nerves, which have suffered very severely this last year, have not
been improved by what has passed during this trying fortnight--for it
_will_ be a _fortnight_ to-morrow that the beginning of the mischief
began....
_Six o'clock p.m._--One word to say that _Lord Palmerston_ has just
_kissed_ hands as _Prime_ Minister. ALL the _Peelites_ except poor
dear Aberdeen (whom I am deeply grieved to lose) and the Duke of
Newcastle, remain. It is _entirely_ Aberdeen's _doing_, and very
patriotic and handsome of him. In haste, ever your devoted Niece,
VICTORIA R.
[Pageheading: A FAREWELL LETTER]
_Queen Victoria to the Earl of Aberdeen._
WINDSOR CASTLE, _7th February 1855_.
Though the Queen hopes to see Lord Aberdeen at six, she seizes the
opportunity of approving the appointment of the Hon. and Rev. A.
Douglas[31] to the living of St Olave's, Southwark, to say what
she hardly dares to do verbally without fearing to give way to her
feelings; she wishes to say what a pang it is for her to separate from
so kind and dear and valued a friend as Lord Aberdeen has ever been
to her since she has known him. The day he became Prime Minister was
a very happy one for her; and throughout his Ministry he has ever been
the kindest and wisest adviser--one to whom she could apply on all and
trifling occasions even. This she is sure he will still ever be. But
the thought of losing him as her First Adviser in her Government
is very painful. The pain is to a certain extent lessened by the
knowledge of all he has done to further the formation of this
Government, in so noble, loyal, and disinterested a manner, and by
his friends retaining their posts, which is a great security against
possible dangers. The Queen is sure that the Prince and herself
may ever rely on his valuable support and advice in all times of
difficulty, and she now concludes with the expression of her
warmest thanks for all his kindness and devotion, as well as of her
unalterable friendship and esteem for him, and with every wish for his
health and happiness.
[Footnote 31: The Hon. Arthur Gascoigne Douglas (1827-1905),
son of the nineteenth Earl of Morton; Bishop of Aberdeen and
Orkney, 1883-1905.]
[Pageheading: LEADERSHIP OF THE LORDS]
[Pageheading: THE NEW CABINET]
_Viscount Palmerston to Queen Victoria._
PICCADILLY, _7th February 1855_.
Viscount Palmerston presents his humble duty to your Majesty, and begs
to state that a difficulty has arisen in regard to the reconstruction
of the Administration, which your Majesty might perhaps be able to
assist in removing. It is considered by the Members of the proposed
Cabinet to be a matter of great importance that Lord Lansdowne should
not only be a Member of the Cabinet, but that he should also be the
Organ of the Government in the House of Lords.
Viscount Palmerston pressed this upon Lord Lansdowne yesterday
afternoon, and was under the impression that Lord Lansdowne had
consented to be so acknowledged, with the understanding that Lord
Granville, as President of the Council, should relieve him from the
pressure of the daily business of the House, while Lord Clarendon
would take the burthen of Foreign Office discussions, and that thus
the ordinary duties of Leader of the House of Lords would be performed
by others, while Lord Lansdowne would still be the directing chief,
who would give a character and tone to the body. But Viscount
Palmerston learns this morning from Lord Granville and Lord
Bessborough that Lord Lansdowne does not so understand the matter,
and is unwilling to assume the ostensible Leadership, even upon the
above-mentioned arrangement, and that he wishes Lord Granville to be
the Leader in the House of Lords.
Lord Granville, however, with reason urges that there are many members
of the House of Lords who would show to Lord Lansdowne, from his long
standing and high political position, a deference which they would not
show towards Lord Granville, so much younger a man. If Lord Lansdowne
were in Town, Viscount Palmerston would have gone to him strongly to
entreat him to be the person to announce in the House of Lords the
formation of a Ministry, and to continue to be the organ of the
Government in that House, at least till Easter, and upon such matters
and occasions as might require the weight of his authority; but if
your Majesty were to view the matter in the same light in which it has
presented itself to Viscount Palmerston, to the Chancellor, to Lord
Clarendon, to Lord Granville and others, and if your Majesty should
think fit to express an opinion upon it to Lord Lansdowne, such an
opinion would no doubt have great weight with Lord Lansdowne.
Viscount Palmerston submits a list of the proposed Cabinet. Until Sir
George Grey returns to Town this afternoon from Portsmouth, whither he
went yesterday evening to take leave of his son, who has a commission
in the Rifles,[32] and was to embark this morning for the Crimea,
Viscount Palmerston will not know whether he prefers the Colonial
Office or the Home Office. Whichever of the two he chooses, Mr Herbert
will take the other. Viscount Palmerston does not submit to your
Majesty the name of any person for the office of Secretary at War, as
he proposes that that office shall merge in the office of Secretary of
State for the War Department, and Viscount Palmerston suspends for
the present any recommendation to your Majesty for the office of
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, as that office may be made
available for giving strength either in the House of Lords or in the
House of Commons according to circumstances.
PROPOSED CABINET.
_First Lord of Treasury_ Viscount PALMERSTON.
_Organ of the Government or_ } Marquis of LANSDOWNE.
_Leader of the House of Lords_}
_Lord Chancellor_ Lord CRANWORTH.
_President of the Council_ Earl GRANVILLE.
_Privy Seal_ Duke of ARGYLL.
_Foreign Affairs_ Earl of CLARENDON.
_War Department_ Lord PANMURE.
_Home Office_ {Mr SIDNEY HERBERT
{ or Sir GEORGE GREY.
_Colonial Department_ {Sir GEORGE GREY or
{ Mr SIDNEY HERBERT.
_Admiralty_ Sir JAMES GRAHAM.
_Chancellor of Exchequer_ Mr GLADSTONE.
_India Board_ Sir CHARLES WOOD.
_Board of Works_ Sir WILLIAM MOLESWORTH.
_Post Office_ VISCOUNT CANNING.
[Footnote 32: George Henry Grey, afterwards Lieut.-Colonel
of the Northumberland Militia, and Captain in the Grenadier
Guards; father of the present Sir Edward Grey, M.P. He
predeceased his father in 1874.]
_Queen Victoria to Viscount Palmerston._
WINDSOR CASTLE, _7th February 1855_.
The Queen has just received Lord Palmerston's letter with the List of
the Government, which she approves. She entirely agrees with him in
the view he takes with respect to Lord Lansdowne's position in the
House of Lords, and will write to him on the subject. From what he
said, however, the Queen would hope that he would not be disinclined
to make the announcement of the Government as well as to take the lead
on all occasions of great importance.[33]
The Queen approves that the office of Secretary at War should remain
open at present; but as regards the question itself of these two
offices, she reserves her judgment till the subject is submitted to
her in a definite form.
[Footnote 33: Lord Lansdowne consented, on particular
occasions only, to represent the Government, but claimed to be
himself the judge of the expediency or necessity of his doing
so. The ministerial life of this _doyen_ of the Whig Party
spanned half a century, for he had, as Lord Henry Petty,
been Chancellor of the Exchequer in the ministry of "All the
Talents" in 1806-1807. Lord Granville now assumed the Liberal
leadership in the Lords, which, as Lord Fitzmaurice points
out, he held, with a brief exception of three years, till his
death in 1891].
[Pageheading: THE VIENNA CONFERENCE]
_The Earl of Clarendon to Queen Victoria._
_10th February 1855._
Lord Clarendon presents his humble duty to your Majesty, and humbly
begs to say that, with the permission of Lord Palmerston, and at the
urgent recommendation of Lord Aberdeen and Lord Lansdowne, he has made
to Lord John Russell the proposal to act as our negotiator at Vienna,
which your Majesty was pleased to sanction on Wednesday night.[34]
Lord Clarendon thinks, that whether the negotiations end in peace or
are suddenly to be broken off, no man is so likely as Lord John to
be approved by the Country for whichever course of proceeding he may
adopt, and it will be a great advantage that the negotiator himself
should be able to vindicate his own conduct in Parliament.
Lord Clarendon has this evening received a very kind and friendly
answer from Lord John, who is disposed to accept, but desires another
day to consider the proposal.
As our relations with the United States are of the utmost importance
at this moment, and as they have rather improved of late, Lord
Clarendon humbly hopes he may be excused if he ventures to suggest to
your Majesty the expediency of inviting Mr Buchanan[35] to Windsor.
[Footnote 34: In pursuance of the negotiations referred
to (_ante_, p. 65), a conference of the Powers was held at
Vienna. Lord John's view of the attitude which he hoped Great
Britain would take up is clearly stated in his letter of the
11th to Lord Clarendon, printed in Walpole's _Life of Lord
John Russell_, vol. ii. p. 242. He favoured the admission of
Prussia to the Conference.]
[Footnote 35: American Minister to Great Britain, afterwards
President of the United States.]
_Viscount Palmerston to Queen Victoria._
PICCADILLY, _10th February 1855_.
Viscount Palmerston presents his humble duty to your Majesty, and begs
to state that having been very kindly received at Paris by the Emperor
of the French, he thought it would be useful to write to the Emperor
on the formation of the present Government, and he submits a copy of
the letter[36] which he addressed to the Emperor.
The Emperor, when Viscount Palmerston took leave of him, signified his
intention of writing occasionally to Viscount Palmerston, and that is
the reason why Viscount Palmerston adverts to such communications in
his letter.
Viscount Palmerston has just had the honour to receive your Majesty's
communication of this day, and will not fail to bear in mind the
suggestions which it contains.
[Footnote 36: _Viscount Palmerston to the Emperor of the
French._
LONDRES, _8 Fevrier 1855_.
SIRE,--Appele par la Reine ma Souveraine au poste que
maintenant j'occupe, je m'empresse de satisfaire au besoin que
je sens d'exprimer a votre Majeste la grande satisfaction
que j'eprouve a me trouver en rapport plus direct avec le
Gouvernement de votre Majeste.
L'Alliance qui unit si heureusement la France et l'Angleterre
et qui promet des resultats si avantageux pour toute l'Europe,
prend son origine dans la loyaute, la franchise, et la
sagacite de votre Majeste; et votre Majeste pourra toujours
compter sur la loyaute et la franchise du Gouvernement
Anglais. Et si votre Majeste avait jamais une communication a
nous faire sur des idees non encore assez muries pour etre le
sujet de Depeches Officielles, je m'estimerais tres honore en
recevant une telle communication de la part de votre Majeste.
Nous allons mettre un peu d'ordre a notre Camp devant
Sevastopol, et en cela nous tacherons d'imiter le bel exemple
qui nous est montre par le Camp Francais. A quelque chose
cependant malheur est bon, et le mauvais etat de l'Armee
Anglaise a donne aux braves et genereux Francais l'occasion de
prodiguer a leurs freres d'armes des soins, qui ont excite la
plus vive reconnaissance tant en Angleterre qu'a Balaclava.
J'ai l'honneur d'etre, Sire, etc. etc.,
PALMERSTON.]
[Pageheading: PALMERSTON AND THE EMPEROR]
_Memorandum by the Prince Albert._
WINDSOR CASTLE, _11th February 1855_.
This letter gave us great uneasiness.... The sort of private
correspondence which Lord Palmerston means to establish with the
Emperor Napoleon is a novel and unconstitutional practice. If carried
on behind the back of the Sovereign, it makes her Minister the Privy
Councillor of a foreign Sovereign at the head of her affairs. How can
the Foreign Secretary and Ambassador at Paris, the legitimate organs
of communication, carry on their business, if everything has been
privately preconcerted between the Emperor and the English Prime
Minister? What control can the Cabinet hope to exercise on the Foreign
Affairs under these circumstances?...
_Queen Victoria to Viscount Palmerston._
WINDSOR CASTLE, _11th February 1855_.
The Queen thanks Lord Palmerston for his letter of the 10th, and for
communicating to her the letter which he had addressed upon the 8th to
the Emperor of the French on the formation of the present Government,
the copy of which the Queen herewith returns.
[Pageheading: THE ROEBUCK COMMITTEE]
_Viscount Palmerston to Queen Victoria._
PICCADILLY, _16th February 1855_. (_Friday night._)
Viscount Palmerston presents his humble duty to your Majesty, and
begs to state that after he had made his statement this afternoon,
a conversation of some length took place, in which Mr Disraeli, Mr
Roebuck, Mr Thomas Duncombe, and several other Members took part, the
subject of discussion being whether Mr Roebuck's Committee should or
should not be appointed.
Viscount Palmerston is concerned to say that it was not only his own
impression but the opinion of a great number of persons with whom he
communicated in the course of the evening, including the Speaker,
that the appointment of the Committee will be carried by a very great
majority, perhaps scarcely less great than that by which the original
Motion was affirmed; and it was also the opinion of good judges that
a refusal to grant an enquiry would not be a good ground on which to
dissolve Parliament and appeal to the Country. The general opinion was
that the best way of meeting the Motion for naming the Committee
which Mr Roebuck has fixed for next Thursday, would be to move some
instruction to the Committee directing or limiting the range of its
enquiry. This is a matter, however, which will be well considered at
the meeting of the Cabinet to-morrow....
The reason alleged for the determination of Members to vote for Mr
Roebuck's Committee is the general desire throughout the Country
that an enquiry should be instituted to ascertain the causes of the
sufferings of your Majesty's troops in the Crimea.
_Queen Victoria to the King of Prussia._ [_Translation._]
BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _20th February 1855_.
DEAREST BROTHER,--I must not let Lord John Russell visit Berlin
without personally recommending him to your Majesty--an honour
which he deserves in a high degree, as a statesman of wide outlook,
well-informed, and moderate. At the same time I may be allowed to
repeat my conviction, which I have expressed several times already,
that it appears to me impossible to obtain peace so long as Prussia
continues indisposed to maintain, in case of necessity by force
of arms, the principles publicly expressed in concert with the
belligerent Powers and Austria.
Much blood, very much blood, has already been shed. Honour and justice
force the belligerent Powers to make every sacrifice in continually
defending those principles to the utmost. Whether diplomacy will
succeed in saving Prussia from taking an active share in this
defence--that remains the secret of the future, which the King of
kings alone possesses!
Albert presents his homage to your Majesty, and I beg to be most
cordially remembered, and remain as ever, my dear Brother, your
Majesty's faithful Servant and Friend,
VICTORIA R.
[Pageheading: MR GLADSTONE]
_Memorandum by the Prince Albert._
BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _21st February 1855_.
I have just seen Mr Gladstone, who received my box so late that I did
not wish to detain him more than a few minutes, as the Cabinet
was waiting for him. I told him, however, the substance of Lord
Palmerston's letter, and of the Queen's answer, the wisdom of which,
he said, nobody could doubt for a moment, and added that the choice
lying only between many evils, I hoped he and his friends would not
strive to obtain an absolute good, and thereby lose the Queen the
services of an efficient Government. He begged that I should rest
assured that the first and primary consideration which would guide
their determination would be the position of the Crown in these
critical circumstances. He had had no opportunity of consulting these
last days either Mr S. Herbert or Sir James Graham. But for himself he
felt the greatest difficulty in letting the House of Commons succeed
in what he must consider a most unconstitutional, most presumptuous,
and most dangerous course, after which it would be impossible for
the Executive ever to oppose again the most absurd and preposterous
demands for enquiry.[37]
[Footnote 37: See _post_, 21st February, 1855, note 38.]
I asked, "But can you stop it?"
He answered: I believe Lord Palmerston made a mistake in not grappling
with it from the first, and using all the power the Crown had
entrusted to him, even ostentatiously, for the purpose. Now it might
be most difficult--but it ought not to pass without a solemn protest
on the part of the men who were not connected with the Government,
and should not be supposed to have any other than the interests of
the Country at heart. A Government was powerless in resisting such an
encroachment of the House, where the whole Opposition, from personal
motives, and the supporters of Government from fear of their
constituents, were bent upon carrying it. Such a protest, however,
might form a rallying-point upon which future resistance might be
based, and the Country, now intoxicated by agitation, might come to
its senses.
As to the strength of the Government, he believed it had very little
at this moment in the House, and that such would be the case with any
Government Lord Palmerston could form, he had foretold him, when Lord
Derby had made him the offer to join an Administration of his forming.
At this moment the secession of the Peelites would rather strengthen
the Government than otherwise, as, from their connection with Lord
Aberdeen, they had been decried in the Country with him, and the Whigs
looked upon them with all the personal feelings of men deprived of
their offices by them.
He agreed with me that in the present disruption of Parties, the
difficulty of obtaining any strong Government consists, not in the
paucity of men, but in the over-supply of Right Honourable gentlemen
produced by the many attempts to form a Government on a more extended
base. There were now at least three Ministers for each office, from
which the two excluded were always cried up as superior to the one
in power. He said this could not be amended until we got back to two
Parties--each of them capable of presenting to the Queen an efficient
Administration. Now the one Party did not support its Chief from
personal rivalry--and the other, from the very feeling of its own
incapacity, became reckless as to the course of its political actions.
He concluded by saying he felt it right to reserve his final
determination till the last moment at which it would become necessary.
ALBERT.
[Pageheading: RESIGNATION OF THE PEELITES]
_Viscount Palmerston to Queen Victoria._
DOWNING STREET, _21st February 1855_.
Viscount Palmerston presents his humble duty to your Majesty, and
feels extreme regret in having to state to your Majesty that Sir James
Graham, Mr Gladstone, and Mr Sidney Herbert announced at the Cabinet
Meeting to-day their determination to retire from the Government in
consequence of their inability to consent to the nomination of Mr
Roebuck's Committee.[38] _No other_ Member of the Government has
as yet intimated any intention to retire. Viscount Palmerston will
assemble the remaining Members of the Government to-morrow at twelve
to take into consideration the steps to be taken for supplying the
places of the retiring Members.[39]
An endeavour has been made to induce Mr Roebuck to postpone the
appointment of the Committee till Monday, but he will not consent to
delay it beyond to-morrow, and he will insert in the votes to-night,
to be printed to-morrow morning (in accordance with the rules of the
House), the proposed list of names which have been settled between the
Government and Mr Roebuck, and which seem to be unobjectionable, all
things considered....
[Footnote 38: The retirement of the Peelites in a body from
Lord Palmerston's Ministry is a curious instance of the
tenacity of Party ties, since the prosecution of the enquiry
into the conduct of the war affected the Whig as much as the
Peelite section of the Aberdeen Cabinet. In reference to their
reason for resignation (_viz._ that the investigation was a
dangerous breach of a great constitutional principle, and that
similar enquiries could never thenceforward be refused), see
Parker's _Sir James Graham_, vol. ii. pp. 268-272.
The secession of the Peelites, however, did not make the
Ministry a Whig Government. The last Whig Administration was
that which left office early in 1852. Had Lord John Russell
succeeded in his attempt on the present occasion, the Whig
party might have endured _co nomine_; but Palmerston had,
notwithstanding Cobden's distrust, been popular with the
Radicals, and henceforward his supporters must be known as the
Liberal Party.]
[Footnote 39: Sir Charles Wood became First Lord of the
Admiralty (Mr. Vernon Smith succeeding him at the Board of
Control), Sir George Lewis succeeded Mr Gladstone at the
Exchequer, and the Colonial Office was offered to and accepted
by Lord John Russell, who was at the moment in Paris on his
way to attend the Vienna Conference.]
[Pageheading: CRIMEAN HEROES]
_Queen Victoria to the King of the Belgians._
BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _27th February 1855_.
MY DEAREST UNCLE,--Since I last wrote to you, we have again had much
trouble, as Van de Weyer will have informed you. We have lost our
_three_ best men--certainly from the purest and best of motives--but
the result is _unfortunate_. Altogether, affairs are very unsettled
and very unsatisfactory. The good people here are really a little
_mad_, but I am certain it _will_ right itself; one must only _not_
give way to the nonsense and absurdity one hears.
Lord John's return to office _under_ Lord Palmerston is very
extraordinary![40] I hope he may do good in his mission; he is most
anxious for it.
Many thanks for your kind letter of the 23rd. The frost has left us,
which personally I regret, as it agrees so well with me; but I believe
it was very necessary on account of the great distress which was
prevalent, so many people being thrown out of employment.
The Emperor's meditated voyage[41]--though natural in him to wish--I
think most alarming; in fact, I don't know how things are to go on
without him, independent of the great danger he exposes himself
to besides. I own it makes one tremble, for _his life_ is of such
_immense importance_. I still hope that he may be deterred from it,
but Walewski was in a great state about it.
On Thursday we saw twenty-six of the wounded Coldstream Guards, and
on Friday thirty-four of the Scotch Fusileers. A most interesting and
touching sight--_such_ fine men, and so brave and patient! _so ready_
to go back and "_be at them again_." A great many of them, I am glad
to say, will be able to remain in the Service. Those who have lost
their limbs cannot, of course. There were two poor boys of nineteen
and twenty--the one had lost his leg, quite high up, by the bursting
of a shell in the trenches, and the other his poor arm so shot that it
is perfectly useless. Both had smooth girls' faces; these were in the
Coldstream, who certainly look the worst. In the Scotch Fusileers,
there were also two very young men--the one shot through the
cheek, the other through the _skull_--but both recovered! Among the
Grenadiers there is one very sad object, shot _dreadfully_, a ball
having gone in through the cheek and behind the nose and eye and out
through the other side! He is shockingly disfigured, but is recovered.
I feel so much for them, and am _so fond_ of my dear soldiers--so
_proud_ of them! We could not have avoided sending the Guards; it
would have been their ruin if they had not gone....
I must now conclude. Ever your devoted Niece,
VICTORIA R.
[Footnote 40: For twenty years Lord John Russell had been
Leader of the Whig Party in the House, and Lord Palmerston
subordinate to him.]
[Footnote 41: The Emperor had announced his intention of
going to the Crimea, and assuming the conduct of the war. The
project was most unfavourably regarded by the Queen and the
Prince, by Lord Palmerston, and by the Emperor's own advisers.
But the intention, which had been carefully matured, was
arrived at in full loyalty to the Alliance with this country,
and had to be tactfully met. Accordingly, it was arranged
that when Napoleon was at the Camp in Boulogne in March, Lord
Clarendon should visit him there, and discuss the question
with him. Eventually, the Foreign Secretary persuaded the
Emperor to relinquish, or at any rate defer, his expedition; a
memorandum of what passed on the occasion was drawn up by the
Prince from the narration of Lord Clarendon, and printed by
Sir Theodore Martin. (_Life of the Prince Consort_, vol. iii.
p. 231.)]
_Queen Victoria to the Earl of Clarendon._
BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _1st March 1855_.
The Queen thanks Lord Clarendon for his letter received this evening,
and will return the enclosures to-morrow.
The Queen gathers from what she has read that the Emperor is bent upon
going, and that nothing in the shape of remonstrance or argument will
turn him from his purpose.
Should the Emperor's journey take place, Lord Cowley's accompanying
him appears to the Queen in all respects a most useful step, and the
Queen gives accordingly her permission for him to go.
The Emperor's taking the management of the whole Campaign, as well as
the command of our Forces, entirely into his own hands, involves so
many considerations that it may be worth considering whether we
ought not previously to come to a more direct and comprehensive
understanding with him, such as full and verbal discussion would alone
afford--to which, in some shape or other, his present stay at Boulogne
might afford some facilities.
[Pageheading: DEATH OF THE CZAR]
_From Sir Ralph Abercromby._[42]
THE HAGUE. _2nd March 1855_. (Received 3.45 P.M.)
The Emperor Nicholas died this morning at 1 A.M. of Pulmonic Apoplexy,
after an attack of Influenza.[43]
[Footnote 42: Who had married the sister of Lady John
Russell.]
[Footnote 43: Nothing had been known publicly of the Czar's
illness, and the startling news of his death caused a
sensation in England of tragedy rather than of joy. Mr
Kinglake has vividly depicted the feelings of agony and
mortification with which the news of the earlier Russian
reverses had been received by Nicholas. On the 1st of March,
he received the full account of the disaster at Eupatoria,
after which he became delirious, and died on the following
day. He had stated, in referring to the horrors of that
Crimean winter, that Russia had still two Generals on whom
she could rely: Generals Janvier and Fevrier; and Leech, with
matchless art, now made his famous cartoon--"General Fevrier
turned traitor," depicting Death, in the uniform of a Russian
officer, laying his bony hand on the Emperor's heart.]
[Pageheading: THE COMMITTEE OF ENQUIRY]
_Viscount Palmerston to Queen Victoria._
HOUSE OF COMMONS, _2nd March 1855_.
Viscount Palmerston presents his humble duty to your Majesty....
The death of the Emperor of Russia may or may not produce important
changes in the state of affairs. It is probable that the Grand Duke
Hereditary will succeed quietly, notwithstanding the notion that a
doubt would be started whether he, as son of the Grand Duke Nicholas,
would not be superseded by his younger brother born son of the
Czar.[44] It is possible that the new Emperor may revert to that
peaceful policy which he was understood to advocate in the beginning
of these transactions, but it is possible, on the other hand, that
he may feel bound to follow out the policy of his father, and may be
impelled by the headstrong ambition of his brother Constantine. At all
events, this change at Petersburg should not for the present slacken
the proceedings and the arrangements of the Allies.
The House of Commons has been engaged in discussing Mr Roebuck's
proposal that the Committee of Enquiry should be a secret one. This
proposal was made by the majority of the Committee on the ground that
they anticipated a difficulty in conducting their enquiries without
trenching on the delicate and dangerous ground of questioning the
proceedings of the French. The proposal was objected to by Lord
Seymour[45] and Mr Ellice, members of the Committee, by Sir James
Graham as unjust towards the Duke of Newcastle, and others whose
conduct ought to be enquired into with all the safeguards which
publicity secures for justice, and not before a Secret Tribunal in the
nature of an Inquisition. The general sense of the House was against
secrecy, and Viscount Palmerston expressed an opinion adverse to it,
on the ground that it could not be enforced because the Committee
could not gag the witnesses, and that the character of secrecy
would excite suspicion and disappoint public expectation. Sir John
Pakington, a member of the Committee, was for secrecy, Mr Disraeli
spoke against it, and the Motion has been withdrawn.
[Footnote 44: The eldest son, the Grand Duke Alexander
(1818-1881), succeeded as Czar Alexander II.]
[Footnote 45: Lord Seymour (afterwards Duke of Somerset)
drafted the Report of the Committee.]
_Queen Victoria to the Princess of Prussia._ [_Translation._]
BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _4th March 1855_.
DEAR AUGUSTA,--The astounding news of the death of your poor uncle the
Emperor Nicholas reached us the day before yesterday at four o'clock.
A few hours previously we had learnt that his condition was hopeless.
The news is sudden and most unexpected, and we are naturally very
anxious to learn details. His departure from life at the present
moment cannot but make a particularly strong impression, and what
the consequences of it may be the All-knowing One alone can foresee.
Although the poor Emperor has died as our enemy, I have not forgotten
former and more happy times, and no one has more than I regretted that
he himself evoked this sad war.[46] To you I must address my request
to express to the poor Empress, as well as to the family, my heartfelt
condolence. I cannot do it officially, but you, my beloved friend, you
will surely be able to convey it to your sister-in-law as well as to
the present young Emperor in a manner which shall not compromise me. I
have a deep, heartfelt desire to express this. To your dear, honoured
mother convey, pray, my condolence on the death of her brother....
[Footnote 46: The Queen records, in the _Life of the Prince
Consort_, that she entertained a sincere respect for the
Emperor personally, and received the news of his death with
regret (vol. iii. p. 225, note).]
[Pageheading: THE HOSPITAL QUESTION]
_Queen Victoria to Lord Panmure._
BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _5th March 1855_.
The Queen is very anxious to bring before Lord Panmure the subject
which she mentioned to him the other night, viz. that of Hospitals for
our sick and wounded soldiers. This is absolutely necessary, and
_now_ is the moment to have them built, for no doubt there would be no
difficulty in obtaining the money requisite for this purpose, from the
strong feeling now existing in the public mind for improvements of all
kinds connected with the Army and the well-being and comfort of the
soldier.
Nothing can exceed the attention paid to these poor men in the
Barracks at Chatham (or rather more Fort Pitt and Brompton), and they
are in that respect very comfortable; but the buildings are bad--the
wards more like prisons than hospitals, with the windows so high that
no one can look out of them; and the generality of the wards are small
rooms, with hardly space for you to walk between the beds. There is no
dining-room or hall, so that the poor men must have their dinners in
the same room in which they sleep, and in which some may be dying,
and at any rate many suffering, while others are at their meals. The
proposition of having hulks prepared for their reception will do very
well at first, but it would not, the Queen thinks, do for any length
of time. A hulk is a very gloomy place, and these poor men require
their spirits to be cheered as much as their physical sufferings to be
attended to. The Queen is particularly anxious on this subject, which
is, he may truly say, constantly in her thoughts, as is everything
connected with her beloved troops, who have fought so bravely and
borne so heroically all their sufferings and privations.
The Queen hopes before long to visit all the Hospitals at Portsmouth,
and to see in what state they are.
_When_ will the medals be ready for distribution?
[Pageheader: LORD DALHOUSIE RESIGNS]
_The Marquis of Dalhousie to Queen Victoria._
OOTACAMUND, _14th March 1855_.
The Governor-General presents his most humble duty to your Majesty;
and in obedience to the command, which your Majesty was pleased to lay
upon him, that he should keep your Majesty acquainted with the course
of public events in India, he has the honour to inform your Majesty
that he has now felt it to be his duty to request the President of
the Board of Control to solicit for him your Majesty's permission to
retire from the office of Governor-General of India about the close of
the present year.
The Governor-General begs permission respectfully to represent, that
in January next, he will have held his present office for eight years;
that his health during the last few months has seriously failed him;
and that although he believes that the invigorating air of these hills
will enable him to discharge all his duties efficiently during this
season, yet he is conscious that the effects of an Indian climate have
laid such a hold upon him that by the close of the present year he
will be wholly unfit any longer to serve your Majesty.
Lord Dalhousie, therefore, humbly trusts that your Majesty will
graciously permit him to resign the great office which he holds before
he ceases to command the strength which is needed to sustain it. He
has the honour to subscribe himself, your Majesty's most obedient,
most humble and devoted Subject and Servant,
DALHOUSIE.
_Queen Victoria to the Earl of Clarendon._
BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _14th March 1855_.
The Queen returns the letter and Despatches from Vienna. They don't
alter her opinion as to our demands. Every concession in form and
wording ought to be made which could save Russian _amour-propre_; but
this ought in no way to trench upon the _substance_ of our demands, to
which Austria must feel herself bound.[47]
[Footnote 47: As has already been stated, the "Four Points"
were the basis of the negotiations at Vienna; the third
alone, which the Allies and Austria had defined as intended
to terminate Russian preponderance in the Black Sea, caused
difficulty.]
[Pageheading: THE VIENNA CONFERENCE]
_Queen Victoria to the Earl of Clarendon._
OSBORNE, _19th March 1855_.
The Queen has read with the greatest interest Lord Cowley's three
reports. The changeableness of the French views are most perplexing,
although they have hitherto not prevented a steady course from being
followed in the end. Lord Cowley seems to have been a little off his
guard when he took the proposal of our taking Sinope as a second Malta
or Gibraltar, for a mere act of generosity and confidence towards
us. We must be careful not to break down ourselves the barrier of the
"abnegation clause" of our original treaty.[48] The Austrian proposal
can hardly be serious, for to require 1,200,000 men before going to
war is almost ridiculous.
The Queen read with much concern the two simultaneous proposals
from the King of Prussia's simultaneous Plenipotentiaries--both
inadmissible, in her opinion. A very civil answer would appear to the
Queen as the best, to the effect that, as Prussia was evidently not
now in a mood to resume her position amongst the great Powers with the
responsibilities attaching to it, we could not hope to arrive at any
satisfactory result by the present negotiations, but shall be ready
to treat Prussia with the same regard with which we have always done,
when she shall have something tangible to propose.
[Footnote 48: _I.e._ the formal renunciation by the Allies of
any scheme of territorial acquisition.]
[Pageheading: THE BALTIC EXPEDITION]
_Queen Victoria to Viscount Palmerston._
OSBORNE, _19th March 1855_.
With regard to the Expedition to the Baltic[49] the Queen concurs in
believing it probable that we shall have to confine ourselves to a
blockade, but this should be with the _certainty_ of its being done
effectually and free from any danger to the squadron, from a sudden
start of the Russian fleet. Twenty sail of the Line (to which add
five French) would be a sufficient force if supported by the necessary
complement of frigates, corvettes, and gunboats, etc., etc.; alone,
they would be useless from their draught of water, and if twenty ships
only are meant (not sail of the Line), the force would seem wholly
inadequate. The Queen would therefore wish, before giving her sanction
to the proposed plan of campaign, to have a complete list submitted
to her of what it is intended to constitute the Baltic Fleet.[50]
We ought likewise not to leave ourselves destitute of any Reserve at
home, which the uncertain contingencies of another year's war may call
upon at any moment.
The Queen regrets Lord Shaftesbury's declining office, and approves of
Lord Elgin's selection in his place.[51]
She thanks Lord Palmerston for the clear and comprehensive explanation
of Sir George Lewis's Stamp Duties Bill,[52] and approves of Lord
Palmerston's proposal for the adjournment of Parliament for the Easter
holidays.
[Footnote 49: The expedition was commanded by Rear-Admiral
Richard Dundas. About the same time Vice-Admiral Sir James
Dundas retired from the Mediterranean Command, in favour of
Sir Edmund Lyons.]
[Footnote 50: The allied fleet comprised 23 line-of-battle
ships, 31 frigates and corvettes, 29 smaller steamers and
gunboats, and 18 other craft.]
[Footnote 51: As Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster; Mr
Matthew Talbot Baines was ultimately appointed.]
[Footnote 52: Imposing a penny stamp upon bankers' cheques,
if drawn within fifteen miles of the place where they were
payable.]
_Queen Victoria to Lord Panmure._
OSBORNE, _22nd March 1855_.
The other day, when the Queen spoke to Lord Panmure on the subject of
the distribution of the _Medal_ for the _Crimean_ Campaign amongst the
Officers, and those who _are_ in _this_ country, no decision was come
to as to how this should be done. The Queen has since thought that
the value of this Medal would be greatly enhanced if _she_, were
_personally_ to deliver it to the officers and a certain number of men
(selected for that purpose). The valour displayed by our troops,
as well as the sufferings they have endured, have never been
surpassed--perhaps hardly equalled; and as the Queen has been a
witness of _what_ they have gone through, having visited them in their
hospitals, she would _like_ to be able _personally_ to give them
the reward they have earned so well, and will value so much. It will
likewise have a very beneficial effect, the Queen doubts not, on the
recruiting. The manner in which it should be done, and the details
connected with the execution of this intention of hers, the Queen will
settle with Lord Panmure, when she sees him in Town.
Will the Medals now be soon ready?
[Pageheading: THE IMPERIAL VISIT]
_Queen Victoria to the King of the Belgians._
WINDSOR CASTLE, _17th April 1855_.
DEAREST UNCLE,--Your kindness will, I know, excuse any description of
all that has passed, and _is_ passing, and I leave it to Charles. The
impression is very favourable.[53] There is great fascination in the
quiet, frank manner of the Emperor, and _she_ is very pleasing, very
graceful, and very unaffected, but very delicate. She _is_ certainly
very pretty and very uncommon-looking. The Emperor spoke very amiably
of you. The reception by the public was _immensely_ enthusiastic. I
must end here. Ever your devoted Niece,
VICTORIA R.
[Footnote 53: The Emperor and Empress of the French arrived
on the 16th of April, on a visit to England. They were
enthusiastically received both at Dover (notwithstanding a
dense fog, which endangered the safety of the Imperial yacht)
and on their progress from the South-Eastern terminus to
Paddington. In passing King Street, the Emperor was observed
to indicate his former residence to the Empress.]
_Queen Victoria to the King of the Belgians._
BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _19th April 1855_.
DEAREST UNCLE,... I have not a moment to myself, being of course
entirely occupied with our Imperial guests, with whom I am much
pleased, and who behave really with the greatest tact.[54] The
Investiture went off very well, and to-day (we came from Windsor) the
enthusiasm of the thousands who received him in the City was immense.
He is much pleased. Since the time of my Coronation, with the
exception of the opening of the great Exhibition, I don't remember
anything like it. To-night we go in state to the Opera. In haste, ever
your devoted Niece,
VICTORIA R.
[Footnote 54: A review of the Household troops in Windsor Park
was held on the 17th, and a ball was given at the Castle in
the evening. A Council of War on the 18th was attended by
the Prince, the Emperor, and some of their Ministers; in the
afternoon the Queen invested the Emperor with the Garter. On
the following day the Emperor received an address at Windsor
from the Corporation of London, and lunched at the Guildhall;
the Queen and Prince and their guests paid a State visit to
Her Majesty's Theatre in the evening to hear _Fidelio_. On the
20th the party, with brilliant ceremonial, visited the Crystal
Palace at Sydenham, and were enthusiastically received by an
immense multitude; another important Council, relative to the
future conduct of the war, was held in the evening.]
_Queen Victoria to the King of the Belgians._
BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _24th April 1855_.
MY DEAREST UNCLE,--Many thanks for your kind letter of the 19th and
20th, by which I am glad to see that you were well. Our great visit
is past, like a brilliant and most successful dream, but I think the
effect on the visitors will be a good and lasting one; they saw in our
reception, and in that of the whole Nation, nothing _put on_, but a
warm, hearty welcome to a faithful and steady Ally. I think also that
for Belgium this visit will be very useful, for it will increase the
friendly feelings of the Emperor towards my dear Uncle, and towards a
country in which England takes so deep an interest.
The negotiations are broken off, and Austria has been called upon
to act according to the Treaty of the 2nd December. She intends, I
believe, to make some proposal, but we know nothing positive as yet.
In the meantime I fear the Emperor (I mean Napoleon) _will_ go to the
Crimea, which makes one anxious.... Ever your devoted Niece,
VICTORIA R.
_Queen Victoria to Viscount Palmerston._
BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _25th April 1855_.
The Queen has read the letter of Lady ---- to Lady Palmerston, and now
returns it to Lord Palmerston.
She has to observe that it has been with her an invariable rule
never to take upon herself the office of sitting in judgment upon
accusations or reports against private character. No person therefore
can have any reason to suppose that she will by marked neglect or
manner appear to pronounce a verdict upon matters in which she is not
the proper Court of Appeal.
[Pageheading: THE EMPEROR'S LETTER]
_The Emperor of the French to Queen Victoria._
PALAIS DES TUILERIES, _le 25 Avril 1855_.
MADAME ET BONNE S[OE]UR,--A Paris depuis trois jours, je suis encore
aupres de votre Majeste par la pensee, et mon premier besoin est
de Lui redire combien est profonde l'impression que m'a laissee son
accueil si plein de grace et d'affectueuse bonte. La politique nous a
rapproches d'abord, mais aujourd'hui qu'il m'a ete permis de connaitre
personnellement votre Majeste c'est une vive et respectueuse sympathie
qui forme desormais le veritable lien qui m'attache a elle. Il est
impossible en effet de vivre quelques jours dans votre intimite sans
subir le charme qui s'attache a l'image de la grandeur et du bonheur
de la famille la plus unie. Votre Majeste m'a aussi bien touche par
ses prevenances delicates envers l'Imperatrice; car rien ne fait plus
de plaisir que de voir la personne qu'on aime devenir l'objet d'aussi
flatteuses attentions.
Je prie votre Majeste d'exprimer au Prince Albert les sentiments
sinceres que m'inspirent sa franche amitie, son esprit eleve et la
droiture de son jugement.
J'ai rencontre a mon retour a Paris bien des difficultes diplomatiques
et bien d'autres intervenants au sujet de mon voyage en Crimee. Je
dirai en confidence a votre Majeste que ma resolution de voyage s'en
trouve presque ebranlee. En France tous ceux qui possedent sont bien
peu courageux!
Votre Majeste voudra bien me rappeler au souvenir de sa charmante
famille et me permettre de Lui renouveler l'assurance de ma
respectueuse amitie et de mon tendre attachement. De votre Majeste, le
bon Frere,
NAPOLEON.
[Pageheading: THE QUEEN'S REPLY]
_Queen Victoria to the Emperor of the French._
BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _le 27 Avril 1855_.
SIRE ET MON CHER FRERE,--Votre Majeste vient de m'ecrire une bien
bonne et affectueuse lettre que j'ai recue hier et qui m'a vivement
touchee. Vous dites, Sire, que vos pensees sont encore aupres de nous;
je puis Vous assurer que c'est bien reciproque de notre part et que
nous ne cessons de repasser en revue et de parler de ces beaux jours
que nous avons eu le bonheur de passer avec Vous et l'Imperatrice et
qui se sont malheureusement ecoules si vite. Nous sommes profondement
touches de la maniere dont votre Majeste parle de nous et de notre
famille, et je me plais a voir dans les sentiments que vous nous
temoignez un gage precieux de plus pour la continuation de ces
relations si heureusement et si fermement etablies entre nos deux
pays.
Permettez que j'ajoute encore, Sire, combien de prix j'attache a
l'entiere franchise avec laquelle Vous ne manquez d'agir envers nous
en toute occasion et a laquelle Vous nous trouverez toujours prets a
repondre, bien convaincus que c'est le moyen le plus sur pour
eloigner tout sujet de complication et de mesentendu entre nos deux
Gouvernements vis-a-vis des graves difficultes que nous avons a
surmonter ensemble.
Depuis le depart de votre Majeste les complications diplomatiques ont
augmente bien peniblement et la position est assurement devenue bien
difficile mais le Ciel n'abandonnera pas ceux qui n'ont d'autre but
que le bien du genre humain.
J'avoue que la nouvelle de la possibilite de l'abandon de votre voyage
en Crimee m'a bien tranquillisee parce qu'il y avait bien des causes
d'alarmes en vous voyant partir si loin et expose a tant de dangers.
Mais bien que l'absence de votre Majeste en Crimee soit toujours
une grande perte pour les operations vigoureuses dont nous sommes
convenus, j'espere que leur execution n'en sera pas moins vivement
poussee par nos deux Gouvernements.
Le Prince me charge de vous offrir ses plus affectueux hommages et
nos enfants qui sont bien flattes de votre gracieux souvenir, et qui
parlent beaucoup de votre visite, se mettent a vos pieds.
Avec tous les sentiments de sincere amitie et de haute estime, je me
dis, Sire et cher Frere, de V.M.I. la bien bonne S[oe]ur,
VICTORIA R.
[Pageheading: RUSSIA AND THE BLACK SEA]
[Pageheading: AUSTRIAN PROPOSALS]
_Viscount Palmerston to Queen Victoria._[55]
PICCADILLY, _26th April 1855_.
Viscount Palmerston presents his humble duty to your Majesty, and begs
to state that the Members of the Cabinet who met yesterday evening at
the Chancellor's were of opinion that the Austrian proposal adopted by
M. Drouyn de Lhuys, even with his pretended modification, could not
be described more accurately than in the concise terms of H.R.H.
the Prince Albert, namely, that instead of making to cease the
preponderance of Russia in the Black Sea, it would perpetuate and
legalise that preponderance, and that instead of establishing a secure
and permanent Peace, it would only establish a prospective case for
war. Such a proposal therefore your Majesty's Advisers could not
recommend your Majesty to adopt; but as the step to be taken seems
rather to be to make such a proposal to Austria than to answer such
a proposal which Austria has not formally made, and as M. Drouyn's
telegraphic despatch stated that he thought that Lord John Russell
would recommend such an arrangement to his colleagues, the Cabinet
were of opinion that the best course would be simply to take no
step at all until Lord John Russell's return, which may be expected
to-morrow or next day, especially as Lord Clarendon had already, by
telegraphic message of yesterday, intimated to the French Government
that such an arrangement as that proposed by M. Drouyn, and which
would sanction a Russian Fleet in the Black Sea to any amount short by
one ship of the number existing in 1853, could not be agreed to by
the British Government. Such an arrangement would, in the opinion of
Viscount Palmerston, be alike dangerous and dishonourable; and as
to the accompanying alliance with Austria for the future defence of
Turkey and for making war with Russia, if she were to raise her Black
Sea Fleet up to the amount of 1853, what reason is there to believe
that Austria, who shrinks from war with Russia now that the Army
of Russia has been much reduced by the losses of the last twelve
months--now that her Forces are divided and occupied elsewhere than on
the Austrian frontier, and now that England and France are actually in
the field with great Armies, supported by great Fleets, what reason
is there to believe that this same Austria would be more ready to
make war four or five years hence, when the Army of Russia shall have
repaired its losses and shall be more concentrated to attack
Austria, when the Austrian Army shall have been reduced to its Peace
Establishment, and when the Peace Establishments of England and
France, withdrawn within their home stations, shall be less ready to
co-operate with Austria in war? What reason, moreover, is there for
supposing that Austria, who has recently declared that though prepared
for war she will not make war for ten sail of the Line more or less
in the Russian Black Sea Fleet, will some few years hence, when
unprepared for war, draw the sword on account of the addition of one
ship of war to the Russian Fleet in the Black Sea?
Such proposals are really a mockery.
[Footnote 55: It had long become evident that Russia
would refuse assent to the Third Point, terminating her
preponderance in the Black Sea, but Austria now came forward
with a proposal to limit the Russian force there to the number
of ships authorised before the war. This was rejected by
Russia, whereupon the representatives of England and France
withdrew from the negotiations. Count Buol, representing
Austria, then came forward again with a scheme the salient
features of which were that, if Russia increased her Black Sea
fleet beyond its existing strength, Turkey might maintain a
force equal to it, and England and France might each have a
naval force in the Black Sea equal to half the Russian force,
while the increase of the Russian fleet beyond its strength
in 1853 would be regarded by Austria as a _casus belli_. These
terms were satisfactory neither to the British Government
nor to the French Emperor, so that it was learned with some
surprise that Lord John Russell and M. Drouyn de Lhuys (the
French Plenipotentiary) had approved of them. Upon the
Emperor definitely rejecting the proposals, M. Drouyn de
Lhuys resigned; he was succeeded as Foreign Minister by Count
Walewski, M. de Persigny becoming Ambassador in London.
Lord John Russell tendered his resignation, but, at Lord
Palmerston's solicitation, and most unfortunately for himself,
he withdrew it.]
_Queen Victoria to the Earl of Clarendon._
BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _28th April 1855_.
The Queen returns these very important letters. She thinks that it
will be of great use to ask the Emperor to send M. Drouyn de Lhuys
over here after having discussed the plans of peace with him, in order
that he should hear our arguments also, and give us his reasons
for thinking the terms acceptable. The influence of distance and
difference of locality upon the resolves of men has often appeared to
the Queen quite marvellous.
[Pageheading: THE IMPERIAL VISIT]
_Queen Victoria to the King of the Belgians._
BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _1st May 1855_.
MY DEAREST UNCLE,--On this day, the fifth birthday of our darling
little Arthur--the anniversary of the opening of the Great
Exhibition--the _once_ great day at Paris, viz. the poor King's
name-day--and also the birthday of the dear old Duke--I write to
thank you for your kind and affectionate letter of the 27th. The
_attentat_[56] on the Emperor will have shocked you, as it did us; it
shocked me _the more_ as we had _watched over_ him with such anxiety
while he was with us.
It has produced an immense sensation in France, we hear, and many of
_his_ political _enemies_, he says, cheered him loudly as he returned
to the Tuileries. As you say, he is _very personal_, and _therefore_
kindness _shown_ him _personally_ will make a _lasting_ effect on his
mind, peculiarly susceptible to _kindness_. Another feature in his
character is that _il ne fait pas de phrases_--and _what_ is said
is the result of deep reflection. I therefore send you (in _strict
confidence_) a copy of the really very kind letter he wrote me,
and which I am sure is _quite sincere_. He felt the simple and kind
treatment of him and her _more_ than _all_ the outward homage and
display.
Please kindly to return it when you have done with it.
I am sure you would be charmed with the Empress; it is not such great
beauty, but such grace, elegance, sweetness, and _nature_. Her manners
are charming; the _profile_ and figure beautiful and particularly
_distingues_.
You will be pleased (as I was) at the abandonment of the journey to
the Crimea, though I think, as regarded the Campaign, it would have
been a good thing....
Lord John is returned. I can't say more to-day, but remain, ever your
devoted Niece,
VICTORIA R.
We have a Childs' _Ball_ to-night.
[Footnote 56: An Italian, Giacomo Pianori, fired twice at the
Emperor, while he was riding in the Champs Elysees, on the
29th of April; the Emperor was uninjured.]
[Pageheading: THE QUEEN'S IMPRESSIONS]
[Pageheading: LOUIS PHILIPPE AND NAPOLEON III]
[Pageheading: ISOLATION OF THE EMPEROR]
[Pageheading: THE FRENCH ALLIANCE]
_Memorandum by Queen Victoria._
BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _2nd May 1855_.
The recent visit of the Emperor Napoleon III. to this country is a
most curious page of history, and gives rise to many reflections. A
remarkable combination of circumstances has brought about the very
intimate alliance which now unites England and France, for so many
centuries the bitterest enemies and rivals, and this, under the reign
of the present Emperor, the nephew of our greatest foe, and bearing
his name, and brought about by the policy of the late Emperor of
Russia, who considered himself as the head of the European Alliance
against France!
In reflecting on the character of the present Emperor Napoleon, and
the impression I have conceived of it, the following thoughts present
themselves to my mind:
That he _is_ a very _extraordinary_ man, with great qualities
there can be _no_ doubt--I might almost say a mysterious man. He is
evidently possessed of _indomitable courage_, _unflinching firmness
of purpose_, _self-reliance_, _perseverance_, and _great secrecy_; to
this should be added, a great reliance on what he calls his _Star_,
and a belief in omens and incidents as connected with his future
destiny, which is almost romantic--and at the same time he is endowed
with wonderful _self-control_, great _calmness_, even _gentleness_,
and with a _power_ of _fascination_, the effect of which upon
all those who become more intimately acquainted with him is _most
sensibly_ felt.
How far he is actuated by a strong _moral_ sense of _right_ and
_wrong_ is difficult to say. On the one hand, his attempts at
Strasbourg and Boulogne, and this last after having given a solemn
promise never to return or make a similar attempt--in which he openly
called on the subjects of the then King of the French to follow him
as the successor of Napoleon, the _Coup d'Etat_ of December 1851,
followed by great ... severity and the confiscation of the property of
the unfortunate Orleans family, would lead one to believe that he is
not. On the other hand, his kindness and gratitude towards all those,
whether high or low, who have befriended him or stood by him through
life, and his straightforward and steady conduct towards us throughout
the very difficult and anxious contest in which we have been engaged
for a year and a half, show that he is possessed of noble and right
feelings.
My impression is, that in all these apparently inexcusable acts, he
has invariably been guided by the belief that he is _fulfilling a
destiny_ which God has _imposed_ upon him, and that, though cruel or
harsh in themselves, they were _necessary_ to obtain the result which
he considered _himself_ as _chosen_ to carry out, and _not_ acts of
_wanton_ cruelty or injustice; for it is impossible to know him and
not to see that there is much that is truly amiable, kind, and honest
in his character. Another remarkable and important feature in his
composition is, that everything he says or expresses is the _result_
of deep reflection and of settled purpose, and not merely _des phrases
de politesse_, consequently when we read words used in his speech
made in the City, we may feel sure that he _means_ what he says; and
therefore I would rely with confidence on his behaving honestly and
faithfully towards us. I am not able to say whether he is deeply
versed in History--I should rather think not, as regards it
_generally_, though he may be, and probably is, well informed in
the history of his own country, certainly fully so in that of the
_Empire_, he having made it his special study to contemplate and
reflect upon all the acts and designs of his great uncle. He is very
well read in German literature, to which he seems to be very partial.
It is said, and I am inclined to think with truth, that he reads but
little, even as regards despatches from his own foreign Ministers, he
having expressed his surprise at my reading them daily. He seems to
be singularly ignorant in matters not connected with the branch of
his _special_ studies, and to be ill informed upon them by those who
surround him.
If we compare him with poor King Louis Philippe, I should say that the
latter (Louis Philippe) was possessed of vast knowledge upon all and
every subject, of immense experience in public affairs, and of great
activity of mind; whereas the Emperor possesses greater judgment and
much greater firmness of purpose, but no experience of public affairs,
nor mental application; he is endowed, as was the late King, with much
fertility of imagination.
Another great difference between King Louis Philippe and the
Emperor is, that the poor King was _thoroughly French_ in character,
possessing all the liveliness and talkativeness of that people,
whereas the Emperor is as _unlike_ a _Frenchman_ as possible, being
much more _German_ than French in character.... How could it be
expected that the Emperor _should_ have any _experience_ in _public
affairs_, considering that till six years ago he lived as a poor
exile, for some years even in prison, and never having taken the
slightest part in the _public_ affairs of _any_ country?
It is therefore the more astounding, indeed almost incomprehensible,
that he should show all those powers of Government, and all that
wonderful tact in his conduct and manners which he evinces, and which
many a King's son, nurtured in palaces and educated in the midst of
affairs, never succeeds in attaining. I likewise believe that he would
be incapable of such tricks and over-reachings as practised by poor
King Louis Philippe (for whose memory, as the old and kind friend of
my father, and of whose kindness and amiable qualities I shall ever
retain a lively sense), who in great as well as in small things took
a pleasure in being cleverer and more cunning than others, often
when there was no advantage to be gained by it, and which was,
unfortunately, strikingly displayed in the transactions connected with
the Spanish marriages, which led to the King's downfall and ruined
him in the eyes of all Europe. On the other hand, I believe that the
Emperor Napoleon would not hesitate to do a thing by main force,
even if in itself unjust and tyrannical, should he consider that the
_accomplishment of his destiny_ demanded it.
The _great advantage_ to be derived for the permanent alliance
of England and France, which is of such vital importance to both
countries, by the Emperor's recent visit, I take to be this: that,
with his peculiar character and views, which are very personal, a
kind, unaffected, and hearty reception by us _personally_ in our own
family will make a lasting impression upon his mind; he will see
that he can rely upon our friendship and honesty towards him and his
country so long as he remains faithful towards us; naturally frank,
he will see the advantage to be derived from continuing so; and if he
reflects on the downfall of the former dynasty, he will see that it
arose _chiefly_ from a _breach_ of pledges,... and will be sure, if I
be not very much mistaken in his character, to _avoid_ such a course.
It must likewise not be overlooked that this kindly feeling towards
us, and consequently towards England (the interests of which are
_inseparable_ from us), must be increased when it is remembered that
_we_ are almost the only people in _his_ own position with whom he has
been able to be on any terms of intimacy, consequently almost the only
ones to whom he could talk easily and unreservedly, which he cannot
do naturally with his inferiors. He and the Empress are in a most
isolated position, unable to trust the only relations who are near
them in France, and surrounded by courtiers and servants, who from
fear or interest do not tell them the truth. It is, therefore, natural
to believe that he will not willingly separate from those who, like
us, do not scruple to put him in possession of the real facts, and
whose conduct is guided by justice and honesty, and this the more
readily as he is supposed to have always been a searcher after truth.
I would go still further, and think that it is in our power to _keep_
him in the right course, and to protect him against the extreme
flightiness, changeableness, and to a certain extent want of honesty
of his own servants and nation. We should never lose the opportunity
of checking in the bud any attempt on the part of his agents or
ministers to play us false, frankly informing him of the facts, and
encouraging him to bring forward in an equally frank manner whatever
he has to complain of. This is the course which we have hitherto
pursued, and as he is France in his own sole person, it becomes of the
utmost importance to encourage by every means in our power that very
open intercourse which I must say has existed between him and Lord
Cowley for the last year and a half, and now, since our personal
acquaintance, between ourselves.
As I said before, the words which fall from his lips are the result of
deep reflection, and part of the deep plan which he has staked out
for himself, and which he intends to carry out. I would therefore lay
stress on the following words which he pronounced to me immediately
after the investiture of the Order of the Garter: "_C'est un lien de
plus entre nous, j'ai prete serment de fidelite a votre Majeste et
je le garderai soigneusement. C'est un grand evenement pour moi, et
j'espere pouvoir prouver ma reconnaissance envers votre Majeste et son
Pays._" In a letter said to be written by him to Mr F. Campbell, the
translator of M. Thiers's _History of the Consulate and Empire_, when
returning the proof-sheets in 1847, he says "Let us hope the day may
yet come when I shall carry out the intentions of my Uncle by uniting
the policy and interests of England and France in an indissoluble
alliance. That hope cheers and encourages me. It forbids my repining
at the altered fortunes of my family."
If these be truly his words, he certainly has acted up to them, since
he has swayed with an iron hand the destinies of that most versatile
nation, the French. That he should have written this at a moment when
Louis Philippe had succeeded in all his wishes, and seemed securer
than ever in the possession of his Throne, shows a calm reliance in
his destiny and in the realisation of hopes entertained from his very
childhood which borders on the supernatural.
These are a few of the many reflections caused by the observation and
acquaintance with the character of this most extraordinary man, in
whose fate not only the interests of this country, but the whole of
Europe are intimately bound up. I shall be curious to see if, after
the lapse of time, my opinion and estimate of it has been the right
one.
VICTORIA R.
_Queen Victoria to the Earl of Clarendon._
BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _10th May 1855_.
The Queen returns these interesting letters to Lord Clarendon. When
the Emperor expresses a wish that positive instructions should be sent
to Lord Raglan to join in a general forward movement about to take
place, he should be made aware that Lord Raglan has been ready and
most anxious for the assault taking place on the 26th, and that he
only consented to postpone it for a few days at General Canrobert's
earnest desire, who wished to wait for the army of Reserve. It should
be kept in mind, however, that the English cannot proceed farther as
long as the Mamelon has not been taken, and that as long as the
French refuse to do this they must not complain of Lord Raglan's not
advancing. The refusal to undertake this has, the Queen is sorry to
say, produced a bad feeling amongst many of our officers and men,
which she owns alarms her.[57]
[Footnote 57: General Canrobert was deficient in dash and
initiative; he knew his defects, and was relieved of his
command at his own request, being succeeded by General
Pelissier.
On the 24th of May (the Queen's Birthday) a successful
expedition was made against Kertsch, the granary of
Sebastopol, and vast quantities of coal, corn, and flour were
either seized by the Allies, or destroyed in anticipation of
their seizure by the Russians.
On the 7th of June, the Mamelon (a knoll crowned by a redoubt
and protected by the Rifle Pits) was taken by the French,
and the Gravel Pits, an outwork in front of the Redan, by the
English.]
[Pageheading: THE CRIMEAN MEDAL]
_Queen Victoria to the King of the Belgians._
BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _22nd May 1855_.
MY DEAREST, KINDEST UNCLE,--... The state of affairs is uncomfortable
and complicated just now, but our course is _straight_; we _cannot_
come to any peace unless we have such guarantees by _decided_
limitation of the Fleet, which would secure us against Russian
preponderance for the future.[58]
Ernest will have told you what a _beautiful_ and _touching_ sight
and ceremony (the first of the kind ever witnessed in England) the
distribution of the Medals was. From the highest Prince of the Blood
to the lowest Private, all received the same distinction for the
bravest conduct in the severest actions, and the rough hand of the
brave and honest private soldier came for the first time in contact
with that of their Sovereign and their Queen! Noble fellows! I own I
feel as if they were _my own children_; my heart beats for _them_ as
for my _nearest and dearest_. They were so touched, so pleased; many,
I hear, cried--and they won't hear of giving up their Medals, to have
their names engraved upon them, for fear they should _not_ receive the
_identical one_ put into _their hands by me_, which is quite touching.
Several came by in a sadly mutilated state. None created more interest
or is more gallant than young Sir Thomas Troubridge, who had, at
Inkerman, _one leg_ and the _other foot_ carried away by a round shot,
and continued commanding his battery till the battle was won, refusing
to be carried away, only desiring his shattered limbs to be raised in
order to prevent too great a hemorrhage! He was dragged by in a bath
chair, and when I gave him his medal I told him I should make him one
of my Aides-de-camp for his very gallant conduct, to which he replied:
"I am amply repaid for everything!"[59]
_One must_ revere and love such soldiers as those! The account in the
_Times_ of Saturday is very correct and good.
I must, however, conclude now, hoping soon to hear from you again.
Could you kindly tell me if you could in a few days forward some
letters and papers with _safety_ to good Stockmar. Ever your devoted
Niece,
VICTORIA R.
[Footnote 58: Prince Albert, in a Memorandum dated the 25th of
May, emphasised the difficulties in the way of peace caused
by the attitude of Austria, and the possibility of her passing
from the one alliance to the other.]
[Footnote 59: He was made a C.B. and a Brevet-Colonel; and
also received the Legion of Honour.]
[Pageheading: SUCCESSOR TO LORD DALHOUSIE]
_Queen Victoria to Mr Vernon Smith._
BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _19th June 1855_.
The Queen has received Mr Vernon Smith's letter on the subject of Lord
Dalhousie's resignation and the appointment of a successor. She
was somewhat astonished that the name of a successor to that most
important appointment should for the first time be brought before her
after all official steps for carrying it out had been completed.
If the selection should now not receive the Queen's approval, it is
evident that great awkwardness must arise.[60]
[Footnote 60: Mr Vernon Smith, in reply, referred to the
statutory power then existing of the Directors of the East
India Company to nominate a Governor-General, subject to the
approbation of the Crown.]