Chapter XXVI (1)

1857

_Queen Victoria to Mr Labouchere._

WINDSOR CASTLE, _8th January 1857_.

The despatches from Sir George Grey[1] which the Queen returns are most interesting. The two chief objects to accomplish appear to be the bringing the Kaffirs in British Kaffraria within the pale of the law, so that they may know the blessings of it--and the re-absorption, if possible, of the Orange River Free State. To both these objects the efforts of the Government should be steadily directed.

[Footnote 1: See _ante_, 26th July, 1856. The task of dealing with
the Hottentots and Kaffirs, and coming to an understanding
with the recalcitrant Boers, was a difficult one.]

[Pageheading: HOME AND FOREIGN POLICY]

_Viscount Palmerston to Queen Victoria._

BROADLANDS, _13th January 1857_.

Viscount Palmerston presents his humble duty to your Majesty, and he and Lady Palmerston will have the honour of waiting upon your Majesty as soon as he is able to move. He is, however, at present on crutches, and can hardly expect to be in marching order for some few days to come. With regard to the matters that are likely to be discussed when Parliament meets, Viscount Palmerston would beg to submit that the one which has for some months past occupied the attention of all Europe, namely, the execution of the Treaty of Paris, has been settled in a manner satisfactory to all parties; and this is not only a great relief to the Government, but is also a security for the continuance of the Anglo-French Alliance, which would have been greatly endangered by the discussions and explanations that might otherwise have been forced on.

The various questions of difference between your Majesty's Government, and that of the United States, have also been settled, and the diplomatic relations between the two countries are about to be replaced upon their usual footing. This result will have given great satisfaction to the commercial and manufacturing interests.

Some discussion will take place as to the Expedition to the coast of Persia, and some persons will, of course, find fault with the whole policy pursued on that matter; but people in general will understand that Herat is an advanced post of attack against British India, and that whatever belongs nominally to Persia must be considered as belonging practically to Russia, whenever Russia may want to use it for her own purposes.

The outbreak of hostilities at Canton[2] was the result of the decision of your Majesty's officers on the spot, and not the consequence of orders from home. The first responsibility must therefore rest with the local authorities, but Viscount Palmerston cannot doubt that the Government will be deemed to have acted right in advising your Majesty to approve the proceedings, and to direct measures for obtaining from the Chinese Government concessions which are indispensable for the maintenance of friendly relations between China and the Governments of Europe.

Of domestic questions, that which will probably be the most agitated will be a large and immediate diminution of the Income Tax; but any such diminution would disturb the financial arrangements of the country, and it is to be hoped that Parliament will adopt the scheme which will be proposed by Sir G. C. Lewis, by which the Income Tax would be made equal in each of the next three years, the amount now fixed by Law for 1857 being diminished, but the amount now fixed by Law for 1858 and 1859 being increased....

Viscount Palmerston hears from persons likely to know, that the Conservative Party are not more united than they were last Session. That Mr Disraeli and the great bulk of his nominal followers are far from being on good terms together, and that there is no immediate junction to be expected between Mr Disraeli and Mr Gladstone.[3]

Mr Cobden has given it to be understood that he wishes at the next General Election to retire from the West Riding of Yorkshire. The real fact being that the line he took about the late war has made him so unpopular with his constituents that he would probably not be returned again.[4]

Viscount Palmerston has heard privately and confidentially that Lord John Russell wrote some little time ago to the Duke of Bedford to say that it had been intimated to him that an offer would be made to him if he were disposed to accept it, to go to the House of Lords and to become there the Leader of the Government. In case your Majesty may have heard this report, Viscount Palmerston thinks it right to say that no such communication to Lord John Russell was ever authorised by him, nor has been, so far as he is aware, ever made, and in truth Viscount Palmerston must candidly say that in the present state of public opinion about the course which Lord John has on several occasions pursued, he is not inclined to think that his accession to the Government would give the Government any additional strength.

[Footnote 2: See _ante_, Introductory Note, to Chapter XXVI.
The difficulty with China had arisen out of her refusal to
throw open the city of Canton to European trade in conformity
with the Treaty of Nankin, _ante_, vol. i. 23rd November,
1842. Sir John Bowring, Chief Superintendent of Trade (and,
in effect, British Plenipotentiary) at Hong-Kong, had
resented this, and the feeling thus engendered had come to
a crisis on the occasion of the seizure of the crew of the
_Arrow_.]

[Footnote 3: The probability of this combination was now
being perpetually mooted, and, in fact, the two ex-Chancellors
combined in attacking the Budget.]

[Footnote 4: He stood instead for Huddersfleld, and was
defeated by an untried politician; one Liberal (the present
Lord Ripon) and one Conservative were returned unopposed in
the West Riding.]

[Pageheading: CHURCH APPOINTMENTS]

_Queen Victoria to Viscount Palmerston._

BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _25th February 1857_.

The Queen would wish to know before she approves of the appointment of Mr Alford, of Quebec Chapel, to the head Deanery of Canterbury, whether he is a very Low Churchman, as Lord Palmerston will remember that he agreed in her observation after the appointment of several of the Bishops, that it would be advisable to choose those who were of moderate opinions--not leaning too much to either side. Extreme opinions lead to mischief in the end, and produce much discord in the Church, which it would be advisable to avoid.[5]

With respect to the Garter, which the Duke of Norfolk has declined, she approves of its being offered to the Duke of Portland.[6] She thinks that the one now vacant by the death of poor Lord Ellesmere[7] might most properly be bestowed on Lord Granville--he is Lord President and Leader of the House of Lords, and acquitted himself admirably in his difficult mission as Ambassador to the Emperor of Russia's Coronation.

Should Lord Palmerston agree in this view he might at once mention it to Lord Granville.

[Footnote 5: The Deanery was offered to and accepted by Mr
Alford.]

[Footnote 6: William John Cavendish Bentinck-Scott, fifth Duke
(1800-1879). He did not accept the honour, which was conferred
on the Marquis of Westminster.]

[Footnote 7: Lord Francis Egerton had inherited a vast
property from the third and last Duke of Bridgewater (the
projector of English inland navigation), and was created
Earl of Ellesmere in 1846. The Garter was accepted by Lord
Granville.]

[Pageheading: DEBATE ON CHINESE AFFAIRS]

_Viscount Palmerston to Queen Victoria._

PICCADILLY, _28th February 1857_.

Viscount Palmerston presents his humble duty to your Majesty, and has seen Mr Hayter[8] this morning, and finds from him that the disposition of the House of Commons is improving, and that many of the supporters of the Government who had at first thought of voting with Mr Cobden[9] are changing their minds. It has been suggested to Viscount Palmerston that it would be useful to have a meeting of the Party in Downing Street on Monday, and that many wavering members only want to have something said to them which they could quote as a reason for changing their intended course; and Viscount Palmerston has given directions for summoning such a meeting.

Lord Derby has had meetings of his followers, and has told them that unless they will support him in a body he will cease to be their leader, as he will not be the head of a divided Party. Viscount Palmerston can scarcely bring himself to believe that the House of Commons will be so fickle as suddenly and without reason to turn round upon the Government, and after having given them last Session and this Session large majorities on important questions, put them in a minority on what Mr Disraeli last night in a few words said on the motion for adjournment described as a Vote of Censure. With regard, however, to the question put by your Majesty as to what would be the course pursued by the Government in the event of a defeat, Viscount Palmerston could hardly answer it without deliberation with his colleagues. His own firm belief is that the present Government has the confidence of the country in a greater degree than any other Government that could now be formed would have, and that consequently upon a Dissolution of Parliament, a House of Commons would be returned more favourable to the Government than the present. Whether the state of business as connected with votes of supply and the Mutiny Act would admit of a Dissolution, supposing such a measure to be sanctioned by your Majesty, would remain to be enquired into; but Viscount Palmerston believes that there would be no insurmountable difficulty on that score. He will have the honour of waiting upon your Majesty at a little before three to-morrow.

[Footnote 8: Mr (afterwards Sir) William Hayter, Liberal Whip,
the father of Lord Haversham.]

[Footnote 9: See _ante_, Introductory Note, to Chapter XXVI. Mr
Cobden's motion of censure affirmed that the papers laid on the
table of the House did not justify the violent measures resorted
to by the Government at Canton in the affair of the _Arrow_. He
was supported by Lord John Russell, Mr Roebuck, Mr Gladstone,
and Mr Disraeli, the latter emphatically challenging the Premier
to appeal to the country.]

_The Prince Albert to Viscount Palmerston._

BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _3rd March 1857_.

MY DEAR LORD PALMERSTON,--The Queen has this moment received your letter giving so unfavourable an account of the prospects of to-night's division. She is sorry that her health imperatively requires her going into the country for a few days, and having put off her going to Windsor on account of the Debate which was expected to close yesterday, she cannot now do so again to-day. She feels, however, the inconvenience of her absence should the division turn out as ill as is now anticipated. The Queen could not possibly come to a decision on so important a point as a Dissolution without a personal discussion and conference with you, and therefore hopes that you might be able to go down to-morrow perhaps for dinner and to stay over the night.

The Queen feels herself physically quite unable to go through the anxiety of a Ministerial Crisis and the fruitless attempt to form a new Government out of the heterogeneous elements out of which the present Opposition is composed, should the Government feel it necessary to offer their resignation, and would on that account _prefer any other alternative_.... Ever, etc.,

ALBERT.

[Pageheading: DEFEAT OF THE GOVERNMENT]

_Viscount Palmerston to Queen Victoria._[10]

HOUSE OF COMMONS, _5th March 1857._

(_Quarter to Eight._)

Viscount Palmerston presents his humble duty to your Majesty, and begs to state that his communication to the House of an intention to give the constituencies of the country an opportunity of judging between the present Government and any other administration which might be formed, has been on the whole well received, and, with the exception of Mr Gladstone, most of the persons who spoke intimated a willingness to allow without interruption the completion of such business as may be necessary before the Dissolution. Mr Disraeli said that he and those who act with him would give all fair assistance consistent with their opinions, but hoped nothing would be proposed to which they could reasonably object. Mr Gladstone, with great vehemence, repelled the charge of combination, evidently meaning to answer attacks made out of the House....

The result of what passed seems to be that no serious difficulty will be thrown in the way of an early Dissolution.

[Footnote 10: Mr Cobden's motion was carried by 263 to 247,
and Lord Palmerston promptly accepted Mr Disraeli's challenge
to dissolve Parliament.]

_Earl Granville to Queen Victoria._

[_Undated._ ? _16th March 1857._]

Lord Granville presents his humble duty to your Majesty, and begs to submit that Lord Derby made a speech of two hours, in which he glanced at the present state of affairs.[11] He made a personal attack on Lord Palmerston, and described his colleagues as cyphers and appendages. The rest of his speech was of a singularly apologetic and defensive character. He was quite successful in clearing himself from an understanding--not from political conversations with Mr Gladstone.

Lord Granville, in his reply, was thought very discourteous by Lord Malmesbury and Lord Hardwicke, who closed the conversation.

[Footnote 11: Lord Derby's resolutions in the Lords, which
were to the same effect as Mr Cobden's motion, were rejected
by 146 to 110. On the 16th of March Lord Derby took the
opportunity of announcing the views of his chief supporters in
reference to the General Election.]

[Pageheading: RETIREMENT OF THE SPEAKER]

_Viscount Palmerston to Queen Victoria._[12]

PICCADILLY, _18th March 1857_.

... Viscount Palmerston begs to state that the Speaker has chosen the title of Eversley, the name of a small place near his residence[13] in Hampshire, all the large towns in the county having already been adopted as titles for Peers. The ordinary course would be that your Majesty should make him a Baron, and that is the course which was followed in the cases of Mr Abbot made Lord Colchester, and Mr Abercromby made Lord Dunfermline; but in the case of Mr Manners Sutton a different course was pursued, and he was made Viscount Canterbury. The present Speaker is very anxious that his services, which, in fact, have been more meritorious and useful than those of Mr Manners Sutton, should not appear to be considered by your Majesty as less deserving of your Majesty's Royal favour, and as the present Speaker may justly be said to have been the best who ever filled the chair, Viscount Palmerston would beg to submit for your Majesty's gracious approval that he may be created Viscount Eversley. It will be well at the same time if your Majesty should sanction this arrangement that a Record should be entered at the Home Office stating that this act of grace and favour of your Majesty being founded on the peculiar circumstances of the case, is not to [be] deemed a precedent for the cases of future Speakers.

Lord Canterbury was also made a Grand Cross of the Civil Order of the Bath; it will be for your Majesty to consider whether it might not be gracious to follow in all respects on the present occasion the course which was pursued in the case of Mr Manners Sutton.

[Footnote 12: On the 9th, Mr Speaker Shaw-Lefevre had
announced in the House of Commons his intended retirement from
the Chair, which he had occupied since 1839, when his election
had been made a trial of strength between parties. He was
voted an annuity of L4,000 a year, and created Viscount
Eversley, receiving also the G.C.B.]

[Footnote 13: Heckfield Place, near Winchfield.]

[Pageheading: THE GENERAL ELECTION]

_Queen Victoria to the King of the Belgians._

BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _24th March 1857_.

MY DEAREST UNCLE,--... The Opposition have played their game most foolishly, and the result is that _all_ the old Tories say they will certainly _not_ support them; they very truly say Lord Derby's party--that is those who want to get into office _coute que coute_--whether the country suffers for it or not, wanted to get in under _false colours_, and that they won't support or abide--which they are _quite_ right in. There is reason to hope that a better class of men will be returned, and returned to support the Government, not a particular cry of this or that.... Ever your devoted Niece,

VICTORIA R.[14]

[Footnote 14: In his address to the electors of Tiverton,
the Premier declared that "an insolent barbarian, wielding
authority at Canton, had violated the British flag, broken
the engagements of treaties, offered rewards for the heads
of British subjects in that part of China, and planned their
destruction by murder, assassination, and poison." The courage
and good temper displayed by Lord Palmerston, and the energy
with which he had carried the country through the Crimean
struggle, had won him widespread popularity, and the Peace
party were generally routed, the prominent members all losing
their seats. The Peelite ranks were also thinned, but Lord
John Russell, contrary to general expectation, held his
seat in the City. There were one hundred and eighty-nine new
members returned, and the Ministry found themselves in command
of a handsome majority.]

_Earl Granville to Queen Victoria._

[_Undated._ ? _19th May 1857._]

Lord Granville presents his humble duty to your Majesty, and begs to submit that the Lord Chancellor made the best statement he has yet done, introducing his Divorce Bill.[15]... Lord Lyndhurst made a most able speech in favour of the Bill, but wished it to go further, and give permission to a woman to sue for a divorce if she was "maliciously deserted" by her husband.... The Bishop of Oxford pretended that he was not going to speak at all, in order to secure his following instead of preceding the Bishop of London; but upon a division being called he was obliged to speak, and did so with considerable force and eloquence, but betraying the greatest possible preparation. The Bishop of London, after showing that the Bishop of Oxford's speech was a repetition of Mr Keble's speech, made an excellent answer. The Debate was finished by the Duke of Argyll.

For the Bill, 47. Against it, 18.

[Footnote 15: Before this date a divorce could only be
obtained in England by Act of Parliament, after sentence in
the ecclesiastical Court, and (in the case of a husband's
application) a verdict in _crim. con._ against the adulterer.
The present English law was established by the Bill of 1857,
the chief amendment made in Committee being the provision
exempting the clergy from the obligation to marry divorced
persons. Bishop Wilberforce opposed the Bill strenuously,
while Archbishop Sumner and Bishop Tait of London supported
it. Sir Richard Bethell, the Attorney-General, piloted the
measure most skilfully through the Commons, in the teeth of
the eloquent and persistent opposition of Mr Gladstone, who,
to quote a letter from Lord Palmerston to the Queen, opposed
the second reading "in a speech of two hours and a half,
fluent, eloquent, brilliant, full of theological learning
and scriptural research, but fallacious in argument, and with
parts inconsistent with each other."]

[Pageheading: THE FRENCH _ENTENTE_]

[Pageheading: THE EMPEROR'S VISIT]

_The Earl of Clarendon to the Prince Albert._

_20th May 1857._

SIR,--I have the honour to inform your Royal Highness that I have had a very long and interesting conversation with M. de Persigny to-day. He told me of the different _Utopias_ which the Emperor had in his head, of His Majesty's conviction that England, France, and Russia ought between them to _regler les affaires de l'Europe_, of the _peu de cas_ which he made of Austria or any other Power, and of the various little complaints which His Majesty thought he had against Her Majesty's Government, and which had been magnified into importance by the malevolence or the stupidity of the persons who had more or less the ear of the Emperor.[16]

M. de Persigny told me also that in a conversation with the Emperor at which he had taken care that Count Walewski should be present, he had solemnly warned the Emperor of the danger he would incur if he swerved the least from the path of his true interest which was the English Alliance, that all the Sovereigns who were flattering and cajoling him for their own purposes looked down upon him as an adventurer, and no more believed in the stability of his throne, or the duration of his dynasty, than they did in any other events of which extreme improbability was the character; whereas the English, who never condescended to flatter or cajole anybody, but who looked to the interests of England, were attached to the French Alliance and to the Sovereign of France because peaceful relations with that country were of the utmost importance to England. France was the only country in Europe that could do England harm, and on the other hand England was the only country that could injure France--the late war with Russia had not the slightest effect upon France except costing her money, but a war with England would set every party in France into activity each with its own peculiar objects, but all of them against the existing order of things--_l'ordre social serait bouleverse_ and the Empire might perish in the convulsion.

The result of this and other conversations appears to be an earnest desire of the Emperor to come to England on a private visit to the Queen, if possible at Osborne, and at any time that might be convenient to Her Majesty. M. de Persigny describes him as being intent upon this project, and as attaching the utmost importance to it in order to _eclairer_ his own ideas, to guide his policy, and to prevent by personal communication with the Queen, your Royal Highness, and Her Majesty's Government the dissidences and _mesintelligences_ which the Emperor thinks will arise from the want of such communications.

I fear that such a visit would not be very agreeable to Her Majesty, but in the Emperor's present frame of mind, and his evident alarm lest it should be thought that the Alliance has been in any way _ebranlee_, I cannot entertain a doubt that much good might be done, or, at all events, that much mischief might be averted by the Emperor being allowed to pay his respects to Her Majesty in the manner he proposes.

I have discussed the matter after the Cabinet this evening with Lord Palmerston, who takes entirely the same view of the matter as I have taken the liberty of expressing to your Royal Highness. I have the honour to be, with the greatest respect, Sir, your Royal Highness's most faithful and devoted Servant,

CLARENDON.

[Footnote 16: A difference had arisen as to the future of the
Principalities--France, Sardinia, and Russia favouring their
union, while England, Austria, and Turkey held that a single
state, so formed, might become too Russian in its sympathies.]

_The Prince Albert to the Earl of Clarendon._

OSBORNE, _21st May 1857_.

MY DEAR LORD CLARENDON,--I have shown your letter to the Queen, who wishes me to say in answer to it that she will, of course, be ready to do what may appear best for the public interest. We shall, therefore, be ready to receive the Emperor, with or without the Empress, here at Osborne in the quiet way which he proposes. The present moment would, however, hardly do, Drawing-rooms and parties being announced in London, Parliament sitting, and the Season going on and the Queen having only a few days from the Grand Duke's visit to her return to Town. The latter half of July, the time at which the Queen would naturally be here and the best yachting season, might appear to the Emperor the most eligible, as being the least _force_.

Till then a cottage which is rebuilding will, we hope, be ready to accommodate some of the suite, whom we could otherwise not properly house.

I have no doubt that good will arise from a renewed intercourse with the Emperor; the only thing one may perhaps be afraid of is the possibility of his wishing to gain us over to his views with regard to a redistribution of Europe, and may be disappointed at our not being able to assent to his plans and aspirations.

ALBERT.[17]

[Footnote 17: See _post_, 4th August, 1857, note 30.]

_Queen Victoria to the King of the Belgians._

BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _16th June 1857_.

MY DEAREST UNCLE,--The christening of little Beatrice[18] is just over--and was very brilliant and nice. We had the luncheon in the fine ball-room, which looked very handsome. The Archduke Maximilian (who is here since Sunday evening) led me to the chapel, and at the luncheon I sat between him and Fritz. I cannot say how much we like the Archduke; he is charming, so clever, natural, kind and amiable, so _English_ in his feelings and likings, and so anxious for the best understanding between Austria and England. With the exception of his mouth and chin, he is good-looking; and I think one does not the least care for that, as he is so very kind and clever and pleasant. I wish you really joy, dearest Uncle, at having got _such_ a husband for dear Charlotte, as I am sure he will make her happy, and is quite worthy of her. He may, and will do a great deal for Italy.[19]...

I must conclude for to-day, hoping soon to hear from you again. Ever your devoted Niece,

VICTORIA R.

[Footnote 18: Princess Beatrice (now Princess Henry of
Battenberg) was born on the 14th of April.]

[Footnote 19: The tragic end of a union which promised so
brightly came in 1867, when the Archduke Maximilian, having
accepted the Imperial crown of Mexico, offered to him by the
Provisional Government, was shot by order of President Juarez.
The Empress Charlotte had come to Europe a year earlier
to seek help for her husband from the French Emperor. In
consequence of the shock caused by the failure of her mission,
her health entirely gave way.]

[Pageheading: THE INDIAN MUTINY]

_Viscount Palmerston to Queen Victoria._

PICCADILLY, _26th June 1857_.

... Viscount Palmerston is sorry to have received the accompanying account of the extension of the Mutiny among the native troops in India, but he has no fear of its results.[20] The bulk of the European force is stationed on the North-West Frontier, and is, therefore, within comparatively easy reach of Delhi, and about six thousand European troops will have returned to Bombay from Persia. It will, however, seem to be advisable to send off at once the force amounting to nearly eight thousand men, now under orders for embarkation for India; and when the despatches arrive, which will be about the middle of next week, it will be seen whether any further reinforcements will be required.

The extent of the Mutiny appears to indicate some deeper cause than that which was ascribed to the first insubordination. That cause may be, as some allege, the apprehension of the Hindoo priests that their religion is in danger by the progress of civilisation in India, or it may be some hostile foreign agency.

[Footnote 20: Alarming accounts of disturbances in India had
been received for some weeks past, but Lord Palmerston
failed to grasp the gravity of the situation. Even after
the intelligence reached England of the mutiny of the native
regiments at Meerut, on the 10th of May, and of the horrible
massacres of women and children, the Ministry did not fully
realise the peril threatening our Indian possessions.]

[Pageheading: THE VICTORIA CROSS]

_Queen Victoria to Lord Panmure._

[_Undated,_ ? _June 1857._]

The Queen thinks that the persons decorated with the Victoria Cross might very properly be allowed to bear some distinctive mark after their name.[21] The warrant instituting the decoration does not style it "an Order," but merely "a Naval and Military Decoration" and a distinction; nor is it properly speaking an order, being not _constituted_. V.C. would not do. K.G. means a _Knight_ of the Garter, C.B. a _Companion_ of the Bath, M.P. a _Member_ of Parliament, M.D. a _Doctor_ of Medicine, etc., etc., in all cases designating a person. No one could be called a Victoria Cross. V.C. moreover means Vice-Chancellor at present. D.V.C. (decorated with the Victoria Cross) or B.V.C. (Bearer of the Victoria Cross) might do. The Queen thinks the last the best.

[Footnote 21: The Victoria Cross had just been instituted by
Royal Warrant, and the Queen had, with her own hand, decorated
those who had won the distinction, in Hyde Park, on the 26th
of June.]

[Pageheading: REINFORCEMENTS FOR INDIA]

_Queen Victoria to Lord Panmure._

BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _29th June 1857_.

The Queen has to acknowledge the receipt of Lord Panmure's letter of yesterday. She had long been of opinion that reinforcements waiting to go to India ought not to be delayed. The moment is certainly a very critical one, and the additional reinforcements now proposed will be much wanted. The Queen entirely agrees with Lord Panmure that it will be good policy to oblige the East India Company to keep permanently a larger portion of the Royal Army in India than heretofore. The Empire has nearly doubled itself within the last twenty years, and the Queen's troops have been kept at the old establishment. They are the body on whom the maintenance of that Empire depends, and the Company ought not to sacrifice the highest interests to love of patronage. The Queen hopes that the new reinforcements will be sent out in their Brigade organisation, and not as detached regiments; good Commanding Officers knowing their troops will be of the highest importance next to the troops themselves.

The Queen must ask that the troops by whom we shall be diminished at home by the transfer of so many regiments to the Company should be forthwith replaced by an increase of the establishment up to the number voted by Parliament, and for which the estimates have been taken, else we denude ourselves altogether to a degree dangerous to our own safety at home, and incapable of meeting a sudden emergency, which, as the present example shows, may come upon us at any moment. If we had not reduced in such a hurry this spring, we should now have all the men wanted!

The Queen wishes Lord Panmure to communicate this letter to Lord Palmerston. The accounts in to-day's papers from India are most distressing.

_Queen Victoria to Lord Panmure._

BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _3rd July 1857_.

The Queen has received Lord Panmure's letter of yesterday. She has sanctioned the going of four Regiments to the East Indies. With regard to the reduction of the garrison of Malta to four Regiments, she hopes the Government will well consider whether this will not reduce this valuable and exposed spot to a state of insecurity.

The Queen is sorry to find Lord Panmure still objecting to a proper Brigade system, without which no army in the world can be efficient. We want General Officers, and cannot train them unless we employ them on military duty, not on clerks' duty in district or colony, but in the command of troops. The detachment of Regiments is no reason for having no system, and the country will not pay for General Officers whose employment is not part of a system; our Army is then deprived of its efficiency by the refusal to adopt a system on the part of the Government.

[Pageheading: DELHI]

[Pageheading: GRAVE ANXIETY]

_Viscount Canning to Queen Victoria._

CALCUTTA, _4th July 1857_.

Lord Canning presents his humble duty to your Majesty, and although unable to give to your Majesty the complete details of the capture of Delhi, and of the defeat of the rebels in that city,[22] as he has long desired to do, he can at least announce to your Majesty that the city is in the possession of the British troops, under Major-General Sir Henry Barnard; and that nothing remains in the hands of the insurgents except the Palace or Fort, in which they have all taken refuge. This was the state of things on the 13th and 14th of June, the latest day of which any certain accounts have been received from Delhi; but nothing was likely to interfere with the completion of the capture within forty-eight hours.

This event has been long and anxiously awaited, and the time which has elapsed has cost England and India very dear. Many precious lives have been lost, and much heartrending suffering has been endured, for which there can be no compensation. The reputation of England's power, too, has had a rude shake; and nothing but a long-continued manifestation of her might before the eyes of the whole Indian Empire, evinced by the presence of such an English force as shall make the thought of oppositon hopeless, will re-establish confidence in her strength.

Lord Canning much fears that there are parts of India where, until this is done, a complete return to peace and order will not be effected. Wherever the little band of English soldiers--little when compared with the stretch of country over which they have to operate--which Lord Canning has at his disposal has shown itself, the effect has been instantaneous.

Except at Delhi, there has scarcely been an attempt at resistance to an European soldier, and the march of the smallest detachments has preserved order right and left of the roads. The same has been the case in large cities, such as Benares, Patna, and others; all going to prove that little more than the presence of English troops is needed to ensure peace. On the other hand, where such troops are known not to be within reach, anarchy and violence, when once let loose, continue unrestrained; and, until further additions are made to the English regiments in the disturbed districts, this state of things will not only continue, but extend itself. The fall of Delhi will act to some degree as a check; but where rapine and outrage have raged uncontrolled, even for a few hours, it is to be feared that nothing but the actual presence of force will bring the country into order.

Lord Canning rejoices to say that to-day the first Regiment of your Majesty's Forces destined for China has entered the Hooghly. Lord Canning did not scruple, knowing how much was at stake, earnestly to press Lord Elgin to allow those forces to be turned aside to India before proceeding to the support of your Majesty's Plenipotentiary in China;[23] and to this, so far as regards the first two Regiments, Lord Elgin readily assented. From what Lord Canning has ventured to state above, your Majesty will easily understand the satisfaction with which each new arrival of an English transport in Calcutta is regarded by him.

As yet no military operations south of Delhi have been undertaken. Next week, however, a column composed of your Majesty's 64th and 78th (Highland) Regiments will reach Cawnpore[24] and Lucknow, in the neighbourhood of which it is probable that an opportunity will offer of striking a decisive blow at the band of rebels which, after that in Delhi, is the strongest and most compact. But Lord Canning greatly doubts whether they will await the onset. Unfortunately, they may run away from the English troops, and yet prove very formidable to any who are weaker than themselves--whether Indians or unarmed Europeans.

Your Majesty is aware that in the critical condition of affairs which now exists, Lord Canning has felt himself compelled to adopt the measure of placing the King of Oudh in confinement in Fort William, in consequence of the use made of his name by those who have been busy tampering with the Sepoys; and of the intrigues which there is good reason to believe that the Minister of the King, who is also in the Fort, has carried on in his master's name.[25] The King has been, and will continue to be, treated with every mark of respect and indulgence which is compatible with his position, so long as it may be necessary that he should be retained in the Fort.

Lord Canning earnestly hopes that your Majesty and the Prince are in the enjoyment of good health, and prays your Majesty to be graciously pleased to accept the expression of his sincere devotion and dutiful attachment.

[Footnote 22: After the outbreak at Meerut in May, the
fugitive Sepoys fled to Delhi, and endeavoured to capture the
magazine, which, however, was exploded by British soldiers.
Delhi was not captured until September (see _post_, 25th
September, 1857). On the 11th of July, the Government received
intelligence of the spread of the Mutiny throughout Bengal,
and the resulting diminution of the Indian Army.]

[Footnote 23: For Sir George Grey's action at Cape Town, in
reference to the troops destined for China, see his Memoir, in
the _Dictionary of National Biography_.]

[Footnote 24: On the 4th of June, two native regiments had
mutinied at Cawnpore, and the English residents, under General
Sir Hugh Wheeler, were besieged. After many deaths and much
privation, the garrison were induced by the perfidy of Nana
Sahib, who had caused the Cawnpore rising, to surrender, on
condition of their lives being spared. On the 27th of June,
not suspecting their impending fate, the enfeebled garrison,
or what was left of it, gave themselves up. The men were
killed, the women and children being first enslaved and
afterwards massacred. On the 16th of July, General Havelock
defeated Nana Sahib at Cawnpore, the city was occupied by
the English, and a sanguinary, but well-merited, retribution
exacted.]

[Footnote 25: The ex-King had been living under the protection
of the Indian Government. The arrest took place early in June
at his residence at Garden Beach.]

[Pageheading: DEBATE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS]

_Viscount Palmerston to Queen Victoria._

PICCADILLY, _27th July 1857_.

Viscount Palmerston presents his humble duty to your Majesty, and begs to state that Mr Disraeli this afternoon, in a speech of three hours, made his Motion on the state of India. His Motion was ostensibly for two papers, one of which does not exist, at least in the possession of the Government, and the other of which ought not to be made public, as it relates to the arrangements for defending India against external attack. He represented the disturbances in India as a national revolt, and not as a mere military mutiny; and he enumerated various causes which in his opinion accounted, for and justified this general revolt. Some of these causes were various measures of improved civilisation which from time to time during the last ten years the Indian Government had been urged by Parliament to take. Mr Vernon Smith followed, and in a very able speech answered in great detail Mr Disraeli's allegations. Sir Erskine Perry,[26] who evidently had furnished Mr Disraeli with much of his mistaken assertions, supported his views. Mr Campbell, Member for Weymouth, who had been many years in India, showed the fallacy of Mr Disraeli's arguments, and the groundlessness of many of his assertions. Mr Whiteside supported the Motion. Lord John Russell, who had after Mr Disraeli's speech communicated with the Government, expressed his disapprobation of Mr Disraeli's speech, and moved as an Amendment an Address to your Majesty expressing the assurance of the support of the House for measures to suppress the present disturbances, and their co-operation with your Majesty in measures for the permanent establishment of tranquillity and contentment in India.[27] Mr Mangles, the Chairman of the Directors, replied at much length, and very conclusively to Mr Disraeli's speech. Mr Liddell, with much simplicity, asked the Speaker to tell him how he should vote, but approved entirely of Lord John Russell's address. Mr Ayrton moved an adjournment of the Debate, which was negatived by 203 to 79. Mr Hadfield then shortly stated in his provincial dialect that "we can never keep our 'old upon Hindia by the Force of Harms." Mr Disraeli then made an animated reply to the speeches against him, but in a manner almost too animated for the occasion. Mr Thomas Baring set Mr Disraeli right, but in rather strong terms, about some proceedings of the Committee on Indian Affairs in 1853, with regard to which Mr Disraeli's memory had proved untrustworthy. Viscount Palmerston shortly made some observations on the Motion and the speech which had introduced it; and the Motion was then negatived without a division, and the Address was unanimously carried.

[Footnote 26: Chief Justice of Bombay 1847-1852, and M.P. for
Devonport 1854-1859.]

[Footnote 27: "One of those dry constitutional platitudes,"
said Mr Disraeli in reply, "which in a moment of difficulty
the noble lord pulls out of the dusty pigeon-holes of his
mind, and shakes in the perplexed face of the baffled House
of Commons." Mr Disraeli was admittedly much annoyed by the
statesmanlike intervention of Lord John.]

[Pageheading: MARRIAGE OF PRINCESS CHARLOTTE]

_Queen Victoria to the King of the Belgians._

OSBORNE, _27th July 1857_.

MY DEAREST UNCLE,--At _this_ very _moment_ the marriage[28] is going on--the _Knot_ is being tied which binds your lovely sweet child to a thoroughly worthy husband--and I am sure you will be much moved. May every blessing attend her! I wish _I_ could be present--but my dearest _Half_ being there makes me feel as I were there myself. I try to picture to myself how _all_ will be. I could not give you a greater proof of my love for you all, and my anxiety to give you and dearest Charlotte pleasure, than in urging my dearest Albert to go over--for I encouraged and _urged_ him to go though you cannot think _combien cela me coute_ or how completely _deroutee_ I am and _feel_ when he is away, or how I count the hours till he returns. _All_ the numerous children are as _nothing_ to me when _he is away_; it seems as if the whole life of the house and home were gone, when he is away!

We do all we can to _feter_ in our very _quiet_ way this dear day. We are all out of mourning; the younger children are to have a half-holiday, Alice is to _dine_ for the first time in the evening with us; we shall drink _the Archduke and Archduchess's_ healths; and I have ordered _wine_ for our servants, and _grog_ for our sailors to do the same.

Vicky (who is painting in the Alcove near me) wishes me to say everything to you and the _dear young couple_, and pray tell dear Charlotte _all_ that we have been doing....

Here we are in anxious (and I fear many people in very _cruel_) suspense, for news from India. They _ought_ to have arrived the day before yesterday.

On Thursday, then, we are to have Prince Napoleon, and on the following Thursday the Emperor and Empress; and after them for _one_ night, the Queen of Holland,[29] whose activity is astounding--and she sees everything and everybody and goes everywhere; she is certainly clever and amiable....

Now, with our children's affectionate love, ever your devoted Niece,

VICTORIA R.

Pray offer my kind regards to _all_ your visitors, even to those whom I do _not_ know. I only hope my dearest husband will tell me _all_ about everything. Vicky is constantly talking and thinking of Charlotte.

[Footnote 28: Of the Princess Charlotte to the Archduke
Ferdinand Maximilian at Brussels.]

[Footnote 29: Sophia Frederica, born 1818, daughter of King
William I. of Wuertemberg.]

[Pageheading: THE MILITIA]

_Queen Victoria to Viscount Palmerston._

OSBORNE, _2nd August 1857_.

The Queen has to thank Lord Palmerston for his letter of the 27th July.

The embodying of the Militia will be a most necessary measure, as well for the defence of our own country, and for keeping up on the Continent of Europe the knowledge that we are not in a defenceless state, as for the purpose of obtaining a sufficient number of volunteers for the Army.

The Queen hopes, therefore, that the Militia to be embodied will be on a proper and sufficient scale. She must say, that the last accounts from India show so formidable a state of things that the military measures hitherto taken by the Home Government, on whom the salvation of India must mainly depend, appear to the Queen as by no means adequate to the emergency. We have nearly gone to the full extent of our available means, just as we did in the Crimean War, and may be able to obtain successes; but we have not laid in a store of troops, nor formed Reserves which could carry us over a long struggle, or meet unforeseen new calls. Herein we are always most shortsighted, and have finally to suffer either in power and reputation, or to pay enormous sums for small advantages in the end--generally both.

The Queen hopes that the Cabinet will look the question boldly in the face; nothing could be better than the Resolutions passed in the House of Commons, insuring to the Government every possible support in the adoption of vigorous measures. It is generally the Government, and not the House of Commons, who hang back. The Queen wishes Lord Palmerston to communicate this letter to his Colleagues.

[Pageheading: THE NAVY]

_Queen Victoria to Viscount Palmerston._

OSBORNE, _4th August 1857_.

The defenceless state of our shores, now that the Army has been reduced to eighteen effective Battalions, and the evident inclinations of the Continental Powers, chiefly France and Russia, to dictate to us with regard to the Oriental Question, makes the Queen naturally turn her attention to the state of our naval preparations and force.

To render it possible to salute the Emperor[30] when he comes here, the old _St Vincent_ has been brought out of the harbour, but has been manned chiefly by the men of the _Excellent_ gunnery ship; and we have been warned by the Admiralty not to visit the _Excellent_ in consequence. This does not show a very brilliant condition! But what is still more worthy of consideration is, that our new fleet, which had been completed at the end of the Russian War, was _a steam_ fleet; when it was broken up at the Peace the dockyard expenses were also cut down, and men discharged at the very moment when totally new and extensive arrangements became necessary to repair and keep in a state of efficiency the valuable steam machinery, and to house our gunboat flotilla on shore. To render any of these steamships fit for sea, now that they are dismantled, with our _small_ means as to basins and docks, must necessarily cost much time.

The Queen wishes accordingly to have a report sent to her as to the force of screw-ships of the Line and of other classes which can be got ready at the different dockyards, and the time required to get them to sea for actual service; and also the time required to launch and get ready the gunboats. She does not wish for a mere general answer from the Lords of the Admiralty, but for detailed reports from the Admirals commanding at the different ports, and particularly the Captains in command of the Steam Reserve. She would only add that she wishes no unnecessary time to be lost in the preparation of these reports. She requests Lord Palmerston to have these, her wishes, carried out.

[Footnote 30: The Emperor and Empress of the French arrived
at Osborne on the 6th of August on a visit to the Queen
and Prince, lasting for four days, during which time much
discussion took place between the Prince and Emperor on
affairs in Eastern Europe.]

[Pageheading: DEATH OF SIR HENRY LAWRENCE]

_Queen Victoria to Viscount Palmerston._

OSBORNE, _22nd August 1857_.

The Queen is afraid from the telegram of this morning that affairs in India have not yet taken a favourable turn. Delhi seems still to hold out, and the death of Sir H. Lawrence[31] is a great loss. The Queen must repeat to Lord Palmerston that the measures hitherto taken by the Government are not commensurate with the magnitude of the crisis.

We have given nearly all we have in reinforcements, and if new efforts should become necessary, by the joining of the Madras and Bombay Armies in the Revolt, for instance, it will take months to prepare Reserves which ought now to be ready. Ten Battalions of Militia to be called out is quite inadequate; forty, at least, ought to be the number, for these also exist only on paper. The augmentation of the Cavalry and the Guards has not yet been ordered.

Financial difficulties don't exist; the 14,000 men sent to India are taken over by the Indian Government, and their expense saved to us; and this appears hardly the moment to make savings on the Army estimates.

[Footnote 31: On the previous day, the Queen and Prince had
returned from a visit to Cherbourg, and found very disquieting
news from India. Sir Henry Lawrence was the Military
Administrator and Chief Commissioner of Oudh; on the 30th of
May, the 71st N.I. mutinied at Lucknow, but Sir Henry drove
them from their position and fortified the Residency. Some
weeks later, on sallying out to reconnoitre, the English were
driven back and besieged in the Residency; Sir Henry dying
from the effects of a wound caused by a shell.]

[Pageheading: RECRUITING]

_Viscount Palmerston to Queen Victoria._

DOWNING STREET, _22nd August 1857_.

Viscount Palmerston presents his humble duty to your Majesty.... Viscount Palmerston has had the honour of receiving your Majesty's communication of this morning. It is, no doubt, true that the telegraphic account received yesterday evening does not show, that at the dates mentioned from India, any improvement had taken place in the state of affairs, and the loss of Sir Henry Lawrence and of General Barnard,[32] but especially of the former, is deeply to be lamented.

With regard, however, to the measures now taking to raise a force to supply the place of the troops sent to India, and to enlist recruits to fill up vacancies in the Regiments in India, Viscount Palmerston would beg to submit that the steps now taking seem to be well calculated for their purpose. The recruiting for the Army has gone on more rapidly than could have been expected at this particular time of year, and in a fortnight or three weeks from this time will proceed still more rapidly; the ten thousand Militia to be immediately embodied will be as much as could probably be got together at the present moment without much local inconvenience; but if that number should be found insufficient, it would be easy afterwards to embody more. But, if the recruiting should go on successfully, that number of Militiamen in addition to the Regulars may be found sufficient. Viscount Palmerston begs to assure your Majesty that there is no wish to make savings on the amount voted for Army Services, but, on the other hand, it would be very inconvenient and embarrassing to exceed that amount without some urgent and adequate necessity....

[Footnote 32: He died of cholera at Delhi, on the 5th of
July.]

_Queen Victoria to Viscount Palmerston._

OSBORNE, _22nd August 1857_.

In answer to Lord Palmerston's observations on our Military preparations, the Queen must reply that, although Lord Palmerston disclaims, on the part of the Government, the intention of making a saving on the Army estimates out of the fearful exigencies caused by the Indian Revolt, the facts still remain. The Government have sent fourteen Battalions out of the country and transferred them to the East India Company, and they mean to replace them only by ten new ones, whose organisation has been ordered; but even in these, they mean for the present to save four Companies out of every twelve. The Queen, the House of Lords, the House of Commons, and the Press, all call out for vigorous exertion, and the Government alone take an apologetic line, anxious to do as little as possible, to wait for further news, to reduce as low as possible even what they do grant, and reason as if we had at most _only_ to replace what was sent out; whilst if new demands should come upon us, the Reserves which ought now to be decided upon and organised, are only then to be discussed. The Queen can the less reconcile herself to the system, of "letting out a little sail at a time," as Lord Palmerston called it the other day, as she feels convinced that, if vigour and determination to get what will be eventually wanted is shown by the Cabinet, it will pervade the whole Government machinery and attain its object; but that if, on the other hand, people don't see what the Government really require, and find them satisfied with a little at a time, even that little will not be got, as the subordinates naturally take the tone from their superiors. Ten Militia Regiments would not even represent the 10,000 men whom Parliament has voted the supplies for. A Battalion will probably not reach 600 for a time, and from these we hope to draw volunteers again!

The Queen hopes the Cabinet will yet look the whole question in the face, and decide while there is time what they must know will become necessary, and what must in the hurry at the end be done less well and at, probably, double the cost. The Queen can speak by very recent experience, having seen exactly the same course followed in the late War.

_Queen Victoria to Viscount Palmerston._

OSBORNE, _23rd August 1857_.

The Queen approves of Lord Fife[33] and Lord R. Grosvenor being made Peers, and of an offer being made to Mr Macaulay, although she believes he will decline the honour....