The Letters of Queen Victoria Volume Iii Part 7

Lord Aberdeen had an Audience to-day before the Council, and represented that what was intended was merely a division of the office of Secretary of State, and not the creation of any new power, and must be considered rather as a means of avoiding further changes.[37] Lord Grey, in hearing of this intention, called it in a letter "the worst arrangement of all," as unfavourable to his further views; the Duke of Newcastle would fill the office, and would have to prepare the changes, inherent in the arrangement, and was determined not to break down the present arrangements; Lord John Russell was agreed herewith, and Sir George Grey would take office knowing this to be Lord Aberdeen's firm decision. But there was in fact no choice. Mr Rich would this afternoon bring forward a Motion in the House of Commons for the consolidation of all military offices under one Department and a Civil Head, and Lord John Russell, to whom Lord Aberdeen had said that the Queen still hesitated about admitting the separation of the duties of Secretary of State, declared to him angrily, if that was so, he would go down to the House and vote for Mr Rich's Motion!! The Motion would be carried without fail in the House.

So this important measure had been carried by storm (as the Queen could only give way under these circ.u.mstances), and carried without a definite plan, leaving everything to the future!!

Lord John is to be Lord President, and he insisted upon Sir George Grey taking the Colonies. Lord Aberdeen fears much dissatisfaction from Lord Canning, Mr Cardwell, and Mr Peel, and just dissatisfaction; the Cabinet are very angry at the whole proceeding. Lord Granville behaved exceedingly well, putting himself and his office entirely at Lord Aberdeen's disposal.[38]

It is supposed that in the House expressions will be dropped in favour of Lord Palmerston's taking the conduct of the War in his hands. The Duke of Newcastle, whom we saw, also states the extreme difficulty of _defining_ the duties of the Secretary of State, but promises to do so, as far as possible, for the Queen's convenience.

ALBERT.

[Footnote 37: Lord John Russell had some time before proposed the separation of the War and Colonial Departments, with a view of filling the Colonial Office himself, "which, in every point of view." wrote Lord Aberdeen to the Queen, "would have been a most satisfactory arrangement."]

[Footnote 38: Lord Fitzmaurice, in his _Life of Lord Granville_, points out that Mr Strutt was really the person who had a right to complain. He was abruptly removed from the Chancellors.h.i.+p of the Duchy, and replaced by Lord Granville to suit Lord John's convenience.]

_Queen Victoria to the Earl of Aberdeen._

BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _26th June 1851._

The Queen has not yet acknowledged Lord Aberdeen's letter of the 24th.

She is very glad to hear that he will take an opportunity to-day of dispelling misapprehensions which have arisen in the public mind in consequence of his last speech in the House of Lords, and the effect of which has given the Queen very great uneasiness.[39] She knows Lord Aberdeen so well that she can fully enter into his feelings and understand what he means, but the public, particularly under strong excitement of patriotic feeling, is impatient and annoyed to hear at this moment the first Minister of the Crown enter into an _impartial_ examination of the Emperor of Russia's character and conduct. The qualities in Lord Aberdeen's character which the Queen values most highly, his candour and his courage in expressing opinions even if opposed to general feelings of the moment, are in this instance dangerous to him, and the Queen hopes that in the vindication of his own conduct to-day, which ought to be triumphant, as it wants in fact _no_ vindication, he will not undertake the ungrateful and injurious task of vindicating the Emperor of Russia from any of the exaggerated charges brought against him and his policy at a time when there is enough in it to make us fight with all might against it.

[Footnote 39: The speech of Lord Aberdeen, to which the Queen here refers, had created a very unsatisfactory impression. On the 19th of June the venerable Lord Lyndhurst had denounced the aggressive policy and the perfidy of Russia; in the debate which followed, Lord Aberdeen spoke coldly, in a strain of semi-apology for Russia, and with an unlucky reference to the Treaty of Adrianople. Popular feeling against Russia being then at a white heat, the speech was considered indicative of apathy on behalf of the Government in the prosecution of the war. Accordingly, by moving on a later day for a copy of his own despatch of 1829, relative to the Treaty, the Premier obtained an opportunity of dispelling some of the apprehensions which his speech had excited.]

[Pageheading: THE RUSSIAN LOAN]

_Queen Victoria to the Earl of Clarendon._

BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _27th June 1854._

The Queen observes in Lord Cowley's letter a suggestion of M. Drouyn de Lhuys to stop, if possible, the Russian Loan. She thinks this of the highest importance as _cutting_ the _sinews_ of war of the enemy.

The Queen does not know whether we have by law the power to forbid the quotation of this stock in our market, but a short Act of Parliament might be obtained for the purpose. The London and Paris markets rejecting such paper would have the greatest influence upon its issue.[40]

[Footnote 40: Lord Clarendon replied:--"... With reference to your Majesty's note of this morning, Lord Clarendon begs to say that having laid a case fully before the Law Officers, and having ascertained from them that it would be high treason for any subject of your Majesty's to be concerned in the Russian Loan, he will give all possible circulation to the opinion, and he has this evening sent it to Vienna, Berlin, and The Hague...."]

[Pageheading: INSTRUCTIONS TO LORD RAGLAN]

_The Earl of Aberdeen to Queen Victoria._

LONDON, _29th June 1854._

Lord Aberdeen presents his humble duty to your Majesty. The Cabinet a.s.sembled yesterday evening at Lord John Russell's, at Richmond, and continued to a very late hour.[41]

A Draft of Instructions to Lord Raglan had been prepared by the Duke of Newcastle, in which the necessity of a prompt attack upon Sebastopol and the Russian Fleet was strongly urged. The amount of force now a.s.sembled at Varna, and in the neighbourhood, appeared to be amply sufficient to justify such an enterprise, with the a.s.sistance of the English and French Fleets. But although the expedition to the Crimea was pressed very warmly, and recommended to be undertaken with the least possible delay, the final decision was left to the judgment and discretion of Lord Raglan and Marshal St Arnaud, after they should have communicated with Omar Pasha.

It was also decided to send the reserve force, now in England, of 5,000 men, to join Lord Raglan without delay. This will exhaust the whole disposable force of the country at this time, and renders it impossible to supply British troops for any undertaking in the Baltic.

A communication was therefore made yesterday to the French Government to know whether they would be disposed to send 6,000 French troops, to be conveyed in English transports, to the Baltic, in order to join in an attack upon the Aland Islands,[42] which appeared to be attended with no great difficulty; although any attempt upon Helsingfors, or Cronstadt, was p.r.o.nounced by Sir Charles Napier to be hopeless.

[Footnote 41: The war now entered upon a new phase. Though the land forces of the Allies had hitherto not come into conflict with the enemy, the Turks under Omar Pasha had been unexpectedly successful in their resistance to the Russians, whom a little later they decisively defeated at Giurgevo.

Silistria had been determinedly besieged by the Russians, and its fall was daily expected. Yet, under the leaders.h.i.+p of three young Englishmen, Captain Butler and Lieutenants Nasmyth and Ballard, the Russians were beaten off and the siege raised. The schemes of the Czar against Turkey in Europe had miscarried.

Mr Kinglake describes, in an interesting pa.s.sage, the growth in the public mind of a determination that the Crimea should be invaded, and Sebastopol destroyed. The Emperor Napoleon had suggested the plan at an earlier stage, and the _Times_ newspaper fanned popular enthusiasm in favour of it. The improved outlook in the East warranted the attempt being made, but the plan was not regarded with unqualified approval by the commanders of the allied forces in the East. In the speech, already referred to, of Lord Lyndhurst, the project had been urged upon the Government, and Lord Raglan considered that the despatch now sanctioned by the Cabinet, which is printed in the _Invasion of the Crimea_, left him no discretion in the matter.

The scheme had previously been considered in all its aspects by the Cabinet, and Mr Kinglake gives an exaggerated importance to the fact that some of the members of the Cabinet gave way to sleep while the long draft of instructions was being read to them at the after-dinner Council at Pembroke Lodge.]

[Footnote 42: Bomarsund, a fortress on one of these islands, was taken by Sir Charles Napier, aided by a French contingent under General Baraguay d'Hilliers, on the 16th of August; but the high expectations raised as to the success of the operations in the Baltic were not realised.]

_The Earl of Aberdeen to Queen Victoria._

LONDON, _30th June 1854._

Lord Aberdeen presents his humble duty to your Majesty. He begs to call your Majesty's attention to the circ.u.mstance that, in 1842, your Majesty was graciously pleased to authorise Sir Robert Peel to declare that your Majesty had determined that the Income Tax should be charged upon the sum payable to your Majesty under the Civil List Act, and that this declaration was received with marked satisfaction. Lord Aberdeen humbly presumes that your Majesty will be disposed to follow the same course with reference to the augmentation of the Tax; and should this be the case, Lord Aberdeen begs to intimate that the time for making it known has now fully arrived....

[Pageheading: HOME DEFENCES]

_Queen Victoria to the Duke, of Newcastle._

BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _3rd July 1854._

In consequence of the departure of these additional 5,000 men for the East, the Queen feels very uneasy at the very defenceless state in which the country will be left, not from any want of confidence arising from the present conjuncture of affairs, but from a strong sense of the impolicy and danger of leaving this great country in such a helpless state under any circ.u.mstances, for we never can foresee what events may not suddenly spring up at any moment (like Greece, for instance[43]) which may require a force to be in readiness for any particular purpose.

The Queen therefore wishes the Duke of Newcastle to give her detailed answers upon the various points stated in the accompanying paper; but the Queen wishes to have the "_effective_ state" and not "the state upon paper only." The Duke will be able to obtain these reports from the different departments.

What store of muskets are there _here?_

When will the new ones be ready?

What is the force of Artillery left in the country in men and horses?

What amount of troops are there in the country of Infantry (deducting the 5,000 men under orders for the East), and of Cavalry, and where are they stationed?

How much Militia has been and will be embodied?