The Letters of Queen Victoria Volume Iii Part 49

We went to Saltram, Lord Morley's, this afternoon.

[Pageheading: LORD GRANVILLE'S MISSION]

[Pageheading: THE CZAR ALEXANDER]

[Pageheading: CORONATION OF THE CZAR]

_Earl Granville to Queen Victoria._[40]

MOSCOW, _30th August 1856_.

Lord Granville presents his humble duty to your Majesty, and begs, according to your Majesty's desire, to submit to your Majesty the impressions which he has received during the short time of his stay in this country.

Lord Granville's conversation with the Emperor of Russia, and what he has heard from various reliable sources, have led him to the following conclusions respecting His Imperial Majesty.

He is handsome, but thinner and graver than when he was in England.

When speaking with energy to Lord Granville his manner seemed to be rather an imitation of some one else than his own, and he did not look Lord Granville in the face. His usual manner is singularly gentle and pleasing. He does not give the idea of having much strength either of intellect or of character, but looks intelligent and amiable.

Although the education of a Caesarwitch must be subject to pernicious influences, the present Emperor has had advantages which those in his position have not usually had. The Emperor Nicholas came to the throne without having had the confidences of his predecessor. He initiated his son into everything that was going on, while others who knew the good-nature of the Grand Duke Alexander's character, told him that which they did not tell his father. He was supposed to have different tastes from the late Emperor, but, since the death of the latter, he has liked the late Emperor's favourite residence which he himself had formerly disliked, he has taken to all the military pursuits of his father, and is said to have shown undignified haste in issuing regulations about, and in appearing in, new uniforms. He is liked by those who surround him, but is blamed for not having those habits of punctuality and of quick decision in business which characterised the late Emperor.

There is still much talk of stimulants to be applied by His Imperial Majesty to commerce and to the development of the resources of the country.... There are persons, however, here well qualified to judge, who doubt whether much more will be performed than has formerly been done, after brilliant promises at the beginning of a reign. His Imperial Majesty is not supposed to have that power of will which will enable him to deal with the ma.s.s of corruption which pervades every cla.s.s in this country. The Empress,[41] a woman of sense and ability, is believed to have great influence with her husband when he is with her, but he is generally guided by the person who speaks last to him before he acts--and His Imperial Majesty has not the talent of surrounding himself with able men. His Ministers certainly do not appear to be men of that remarkable intellect as have been usually supposed to be employed by the Court of St Petersburg. Count Orloff is stated to have but little influence, and to have lost his former activity. Prince Gortschakoff is clever in society, of easy conversation and some smartness in repartee. He is vain, a great talker, and indiscreet. It is difficult to keep him to the point. He flies about from one thing to another, and he is so loose in his talk, that the repet.i.tion of isolated phrases might lead to impressions of his meaning, which would not be correct....

The Serf Question is admitted by all to be of a very difficult character, and will become more so as the wealth of the country increases. Indeed when that state of things occurs, it is more than likely that popular movements will take place, and it is frightful to consider the immediate results of a revolution in a country organised as this is at present. No country in Europe will furnish so fair a chance of success to Socialism. The reins of Government were held so tight during the last reign, that even the relaxation which now exists is not altogether without danger.

The preparations for the Coronation are on an immense scale. The present estimate of the expenses is 1,000,000; the last Coronation cost half that sum; the Coronation of Alexander, 150,000; while that of the Emperor Paul did not exceed 50,000. The military household of the present Emperor consists of one hundred and twenty generals--that of Nicholas, at the beginning of his reign, consisted of twenty.

Your Majesty is spoken of by the Emperor and by the Society here with the greatest respect. Lord and Lady Granville have met with nothing but remarkable civility from all cla.s.ses.

Lord Granville has had great pleasure in seeing His Royal Highness Prince Frederick William of Prussia in such good health and spirits.

His only anxiety was an interval of fourteen days during which His Royal Highness did not hear from England. That anxiety has been relieved by a letter received to-day. Lord Granville ventures to request your Majesty to present his respectful remembrances to the Princess Royal with his congratulations at Her Royal Highness's complete recovery. Lord Granville begs to advise Her Royal Highness, when residing abroad, not to engage a Russian maid. Lady Wodehouse found hers eating the contents of a pot on her dressing-table--it happened to be castor oil pomatum for the hair.

Lord Granville has been requested to convey to your Majesty and to His Royal Highness Prince Albert the Prince of Na.s.sau's expressions of devotion and respect. The atmosphere in which His Highness at present resides does not appear to have had much influence on His Highness's opinions.

[Footnote 40: Lord Granville was appointed head of a special mission, with the temporary rank of Amba.s.sador, to attend the Coronation of the Czar Alexander.]

[Footnote 41: Marie Alexandrovna, formerly the Princess Marie of Hesse, daughter of the Grand Duke Louis II.]

[Pageheading: CHURCH APPOINTMENTS]

_Viscount Palmerston to Queen Victoria._

ST LEONARDS, _6th September 1856_.

Viscount Palmerston presents his humble duty to your Majesty, and begs to submit for your Majesty's gracious approval that Dr Tait, Dean of Carlisle, should be appointed Bishop of London with a clear explanation to him that the Diocese will probably be divided into two--one of London and one of Westminster.

That the Bishop of Ripon[42] should be appointed Bishop of Durham, with a like explanation that the Diocese of Durham may possibly be divided into two--one for Durham and one for Northumberland.

That the Dean of Hereford[43] should be appointed Bishop of Ripon; and that Dr Trench[44] be appointed Dean of Westminster with the condition that he is not to receive any fees or emoluments arising out of appointments of Knights of the Bath.

Dr Trench is a man of the world and of literature, and would in those respects be well suited to be Dean of Westminster, and if his tendencies are, as some persons suppose, rather towards High Church opinions, his position as Dean would not afford him any particular means of making those opinions prevail; while his appointment would show that the patronage of the Crown was not flowing exclusively in one direction.

Viscount Palmerston will, on another occasion, submit to your Majesty the names of persons for the Deaneries of Hereford and Carlisle.[45]

[Footnote 42: Charles Thomas Longley (1774-1868) became Bishop of Durham 1856, Archbishop of York 1860, and Archbishop of Canterbury 1862.]

[Footnote 43: Richard Dawes, who became Dean in 1850, and restored the Cathedral. He did not become Bishop of Ripon; Robert Bickersteth, a Canon of Salisbury, being eventually appointed. See _post_, 24th November, 1856, note 60.]

[Footnote 44: Richard Chenevix Trench (1807-1886), Archbishop of Dublin from 1864-1884.]

[Footnote 45: Francis Close (1797-1882), Rector of Cheltenham, succeeded Dr Tait as Dean of Carlisle.]

_The Duke of Cambridge to Queen Victoria._

ST JAMES'S PALACE, _17th September 1856._

MY DEAR COUSIN,--This morning the reply from Baden reached me, and I hasten to inform you at once of the purport of it, embodied in a very excellent letter written by my sister Mary, who _declines_ the proposal made to her on the part of the King of Sardinia, for some very excellent and weighty reasons.[46]

I must confess that I fully agree with her in the view she has taken, and, I can say with truth, that I think her decision is a very judicious and very correct one, and I am not at all sorry she has come to it. As I know that Clarendon was very anxious to have an early reply, I have in the first instance sent Mary's letter on to him, and have requested him, after perusing it, to send it on to you, and I hope you will not think that I have been wanting in respect to you in so doing. With many thanks to you for your great kindness in having left the decision of this weighty matter entirely in our hands, I beg to remain, my dear Cousin, your most dutiful Cousin,

GEORGE.

[Footnote 46: The King had, in January 1855, lost his consort, Queen Marie Adelade, daughter of the Archduke Renier of Austria. Lord Clarendon wrote to Baron Marochetti:--...

"The Queen's first care was for the happiness of Princess Mary, and it was the wish of Her Majesty and of Her Majesty's Government that the decision should be left to the unbia.s.sed judgment of Her Royal Highness.

"Princess Mary, having maturely weighed the matter in all its different bearings, has come to the conclusion that it is her duty as regards both the King of Sardinia and herself to decline the offer, which you were empowered to make on the part of His Majesty.

"Princess Mary fully appreciates the many excellent and n.o.ble qualities of the King. She does not doubt that in him individually she would be happy, and she thinks that the alliance would be popular in England; but Her Royal Highness feels that as the Protestant Queen of Sardinia she must be in a false position, and that a wife can never find herself thus placed without injury to her husband.

"Princess Mary is deeply attached to her religion, which is the first consideration in this world, and in the free and undisturbed exercise of that religion, however much it might be sanctioned by the King, and supported by His Majesty's Government, she feels that she would be the object of constant suspicion, that her motives would be liable to misconstruction, and that the King would be exposed to grave embarra.s.sments, which time would only serve to increase.

"I am not surprised at this decision, which, from my knowledge of Princess Mary's profound religious feeling, I rather led you to antic.i.p.ate; but I am bound to say that with reference to her religion, and with reference to that alone, Her Royal Highness has, in my opinion, decided with wisdom and foresight.

"I am convinced, however, that in renouncing upon conscientious grounds the brilliant position which has been offered to her, of which she fully appreciated the advantages, Princess Mary can only have added to the respect which the King already feels for the n.o.ble and elevated character of Her Royal Highness."]