The Letters of Queen Victoria Volume Iii Part 58

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

[Footnote 27: "One of those dry const.i.tutional plat.i.tudes,"

said Mr Disraeli in reply, "which in a moment of difficulty the n.o.ble 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 Archd.u.c.h.ess'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 Wurtemberg.]

[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. .h.i.therto 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 pa.s.sed 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 sh.o.r.es, 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 sh.o.r.e. 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 cla.s.ses 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. .h.i.therto 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 sh.e.l.l.]

[Pageheading: RECRUITING]

_Viscount Palmerston to Queen Victoria._

DOWNING STREET, _22nd August 1857_.