The Letters of Queen Victoria Volume Ii Part 99

The death of the Duke of Wellington[40] has deprived the Country of her greatest man, the Crown of its most valuable servant and adviser, the Army of its main strength and support. We received the sad news on an expedition from Allt-na-Giuthasach to the Dhu Loch (one of the wildest and loneliest spots of the Highlands) at four o'clock yesterday afternoon. We hurried home to Allt-na-Giuthasach, and to-day here, where it became important to settle with Lord Derby the mode of providing for the command of the Army, and the filling up of the many posts and places which the Duke had held.

[Footnote 40: The Duke pa.s.sed away at Walmer on the 14th of September, in his eighty-fourth year.]

I had privately prepared a list of the mode in which this should be done, and discussed it with Victoria, and found, to both Lord Derby's and our astonishment, that it tallied in _every_ point with the recommendations which he had thought of making.

I explained to Lord Derby the grounds upon which I thought it better not to a.s.sume the Command myself, and told him of the old Duke's proposal, two years ago, to prepare the way to my a.s.suming the Command by the appointment of a Chief of the Staff, on Sir Willoughby Gordon's death, and the reasons on which I then declined the offer. Lord Derby entirely concurred in my views, and seemed relieved by my explanation; we then agreed that for the loss of _authority_ which we had lost with the Duke, we could only make up by increase in _efficiency_ in the appointments to the different offices. That Lord Hardinge was the only man fit to command the Army.

He should then receive the Command-in-Chief. The Ordnance which he would vacate should be given to Lord Fitzroy Somerset, hitherto Military Secretary (with the offer of a peerage).[41] The Constables.h.i.+p of the Tower to Lord Combermere; the Garter to Lord Londonderry; the Grenadier Guards and the Rifle Brigade to me; the Fusiliers vacated by me to the Duke of Cambridge (or the Coldstream, Lord Strafford exchanging to the Fusiliers); the 60th Rifles vacated by me to Lord Beresford; the Rangers.h.i.+p of the Parks in London to George (Duke of Cambridge); the Wardens.h.i.+p of the Cinque Ports to Lord Dalhousie; the Lieutenancy of Hamps.h.i.+re to Lord Winchester. I reserved to me the right of considering whether I should not a.s.sume the command of the Brigade of Guards which the Duke of York held in George IV.'s time, to which William IV. appointed himself, and which has been vacant ever since Victoria's accession, although inherent to the Const.i.tution of the Guards.

[Footnote 41: He became Lord Raglan.]

Lord Derby had thought of George for the Command-in-Chief, as an alternative for Lord Hardinge, but perceived that his rank as a Major-General and youth would hardly ent.i.tle him to such an advancement. He would have carried no weight with the public, and we must not conceal from ourselves that many attacks on the Army which have been sleeping on account of the Duke will now be forthcoming.

Victoria wishes the Army to mourn for the Duke as long as for a member of the Royal Family.

Lord Derby proposes a public funeral, which cannot take place, however, before the meeting of Parliament in November. He is to find out how this is to be accomplished on account of the long interval.

The correspondence here following[42] shows what doubts exist as to the person in whom the Command of the Army is vested in case of a vacancy. I consider Lord Palmerston's letter as a mere attempt to arrogate supreme power for his Office,[43] which rests on no foundation. The Secretary at War has no authority whatever except over money, whilst the Commander-in-Chief has no authority to spend a penny without the Secretary at War.

ALBERT.

[Footnote 42: These letters, which are of no special importance, contained a statement from Lord Palmerston to the effect that the appointment to the Commanders.h.i.+p-in-Chief was vested in the Secretary at War.]

[Footnote 43: Lord Palmerston had held the office of Secretary at War from 1809 to 1828.]

[Pageheading: THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON]

_Queen Victoria to the King of the Belgians._

BALMORAL, _17th September 1852._

MY DEAREST UNCLE,--I am sure you will mourn _with us_ over the loss we and this whole nation have experienced in the death of the _dear_ and great old Duke of Wellington. The sad news will have reached you, I doubt not, on Wednesday or yesterday. We had gone on Wednesday, as I had mentioned, to our little s.h.i.+el of Allt-na-Giuthasach to spend two days there, and were enjoying ourselves very much on a beautiful expedition yesterday, and were sitting by the side of the Dhu Loch, one of the severest, wildest spots imaginable, when one of our Highlanders arrived bringing a letter from Lord Derby (who is here), confirming the report which we had already heard of--but entirely disbelieved--and sending me a letter from Lord Charles Wellesley, saying that his dear father had only been ill a few hours, and had hardly suffered at all. It was a stroke, which was succeeded rapidly by others, and carried him off without any return of consciousness.

For _him_ it is a blessing that he should have been taken away in the possession of his great and powerful mind and without a lingering illness. But for this country, and for us, his loss--though it could not have been long delayed--is irreparable! He was the pride and the _bon genie_, as it were, of this country! He was the GREATEST man this country ever produced, and the most _devoted_ and _loyal_ subject, and the staunchest supporter the Crown ever had. He was to us a true, kind friend and most valuable adviser. To think that all this is gone; that this great and immortal man belongs now to History and no longer to the present, is a truth which we cannot realise. We shall soon stand sadly alone; Aberdeen is almost the only personal friend of that kind we have left. Melbourne, Peel, Liverpool--and now the Duke--_all_ gone!

You will kindly feel for and with us, dearest Uncle.

Lord Hardinge is to be Commander-in-Chief, and he is quite the _only_ man _fit_ for it.

Albert is much grieved. The dear Duke showed him great confidence and kindness. He was so fond of his little G.o.dson Arthur--who will now be a remaining link of the dear old Duke's, and a pleasant recollection of him. Ever your devoted Niece,

VICTORIA R.

_The King of the Belgians to Queen Victoria._

LAEKEN, _17th September 1852._

MY DEAREST VICTORIA,--You will be much grieved at the loss of the Duke. It must give you satisfaction to think that you were always kind to him, and that he was very sincerely devoted to you and appreciated Albert. Since 1814 I had known much of the Duke; his _kindness_ to me had been very _marked_, and I early discovered that he was very favourable to my marriage with Charlotte, then already in agitation.

Since, he was _always kind_ and _confidential_, even in those days of persecution against me, the result of the jealousy of George IV.; he never was influenced by it, or had the meanness of many who, in the days of misfortune, quickly leave one. The only case in which we were at variance was about the boundaries of Greece. He had some of the old absolute notions, which in that case were not in conformity with the real interests of England and of Europe. Even last year he spoke so very kindly to me on the subject of our Continental affairs. Rarely fickle Fortune permits a poor mortal to reach the conclusion of a long career, however glorious, with such complete success, so undisturbed by physical or moral causes. The Duke is the n.o.blest example of what an Englishman may be, and to what greatness he may rise in following that honourable and straight line.

When one looks at the Manchester school, compared to the greatness to which men like the Duke raised their country, one cannot help to be alarmed for the future. You are enjoying the Highlands, but the weather seems also not very favourable; here it is uncertain, and at times very cold.... Your truly devoted Uncle,

LEOPOLD R.

[Pageheading: FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS]

_The Prince Albert to the Earl of Derby._

BALMORAL, _22nd September 1852._

MY DEAR LORD DERBY,--The Queen wishes me to answer your kind letter of yesterday.

Her letter to you and to Mr Walpole of this morning will have apprised you that she sanctions the Guard of Honour having been placed at Walmer, and the Duke's body having been taken possession of formally on the part of the Crown.

It would be a great pity if Lord Fitzroy were to be obliged to decline the Peerage on account of poverty; at the same time it may be difficult to relieve him from the payment of fees by a public grant.

Under these circ.u.mstances, rather than leave Lord Fitzroy unrewarded, and a chance of his feeling mortified at a moment when his cheerful co-operation with Lord Hardinge is so important to the public service--the Queen would _herself_ bear the expense of the fees. If this were to hurt Lord Fitzroy's feelings, you could easily manage it so that he need never know from what source the 500 came. The Queen leaves this matter in your hands. Ever yours truly,

ALBERT.

_Queen Victoria to Mr Walpole._

BALMORAL CASTLE, _22nd September 1852._

The Queen has just received Mr Walpole's letter of the 20th, informing her of the difficulty of having the Funeral Service, _according_ to the _Liturgy_, performed _twice_; she trusts, however, that means may be found to enable the Queen's intentions to be carried out, as communicated to Mr Walpole in Lord Derby's official letter. Whether this is to be done by leaving the body for two months without the Funeral Service being read over it, or by reading the Funeral Service now in the presence of the family, and treating the _Public Funeral_ more as a translation of the remains to their final place of rest, the Queen must leave to be decided by those who have the means of personally sounding the feelings of the Duke's family, the dignitaries of the Church, and the public generally.

An impressive religious ceremony might certainly be made of it at St.

Paul's, even if the actual Funeral Service should not be read on the occasion....

_Queen Victoria to the Earl of Derby._

WINDSOR CASTLE, _23rd October 1852._

Shortly after the formation of Lord Derby's Government, the Queen communicated to him a Memorandum respecting the necessity of attending to our national defences on a systematic plan. The Queen would now wish to hear how far we have advanced in this important object since that time. Lord Derby would perhaps call on the General Commanding-in-Chief, the Master-General of the Ordnance, and the First Lord of the Admiralty, as well as the Home Secretary, to make a report upon this. It will soon be necessary to consider what will have to be done for the future to complete the various plans. The Queen is no alarmist, but thinks that the necessity of our attending to our defences once having been proved and admitted by Parliament and two successive Governments, we should not relax in our efforts until the plans then devised are thoroughly carried out.