Sixty Years a Queen Part 11

[Sidenote: The Pacifico Imbroglio.]

The Parliamentary session of 1850 must ever be memorable for two events--the sudden rise of Lord Palmerston into fame and popularity, and the equally sudden removal of the most ill.u.s.trious figure in the House of Commons. The debate, which was the occasion of the first, and immediately preceded the second of these events, arose out of one of the most trivial and least creditable matters that ever agitated the Councils and menaced the peace of a great nation. Certain British subjects had suffered loss in the destruction of their property during the disturbances at Athens in 1847, and had lodged claims for compensation against the Greek Government. The princ.i.p.al sufferer was a Portuguese Jew, named Pacifico, a British subject in virtue of having been born in Gibraltar. The Greeks were needy and delayed a settlement.

Then there was Mr. Finlay, too, the historian of Greece, long resident at Athens, who had a grievance of a different sort, arising out of a demand made by the Greek Government that he should surrender a piece of land at less than he considered its value. The strange thing was that Palmerston took up these private claims as an international question, although neither of the claimants had tried the experiment of litigation in the Greek courts. A British squadron was ordered to the Piraeus, all the Greek vessels in that harbour were seized, and Athens was blockaded.

The Greeks appealed to the governments of France and Russia, who remonstrated with Great Britain touching this high-handed dealing with a weak State. Russia was rudely outspoken and menacing: she was told bluntly by Lord Palmerston that it was none of her business. France was more conciliatory, and by her aid a convention in regard to the disputed claims was arranged in London. But there was so much delay in communicating the result to the British Amba.s.sador in Athens, Mr. Wyse, that he was left in ignorance that a modified payment had been agreed on, and continued to press for payment of the full claims. Thereupon arose serious misunderstanding between the British and French Governments, England being accused of breach of faith. Appearances were certainly against her; the French Amba.s.sador was recalled from London, and two great nations seemed on the brink of war.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _J. Leech._} {_From "Punch."_

THE GRECIAN DIFFICULTY.

Mr. Punch: "Why don't you hit one of your own size?"]

[Ill.u.s.tration: MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF YE ENGLYSHE IN 1849. No. 8.

YE COMMONS RESSOLVED INTO A COMMYTTEE OF YE WHOLE HOUSE.

_Richard Doyle._} {_From "Punch."_]

[Sidenote: Rupture with France Imminent.]

[Sidenote: Civis Roma.n.u.s Sum.]

The Government had a wretchedly bad case to defend in Parliament; a case, too, which had been damaged by the introduction of that element which had told with such fatal effect against the Chartists and Smith O'Brien's Confederates--the element of ridicule. For the grasping Jew Pacifico had specified in his bill against the Greek Government various possessions strangely out of keeping with what had always been his modest household. Among the articles alleged to have been destroyed by fire were a bedstead, valued at 150, sheets for the same at 30, and a pillow-case at 10. Ministers already beaten in the Upper House stood in a critical position in the Lower. But Lord Palmerston rose to the occasion, and exhibited eloquence which hitherto he had not been suspected of possessing. He spoke with great vigour for nearly five hours, and wound up with a peroration which, spoken by a man of other mould than "Old Pam," might have savoured of claptrap, and read in cold blood at this day, seems to rise no higher than what Americans call "spread-eagleism." "If," he asked, "a subject of ancient Rome could hold himself free from indignity by saying _Civis Roma.n.u.s sum_, shall not a British subject also, in whatever land he may be, feel confident that the watchful eye and strong arm of England will protect him against injustice and wrong?" _Civis Roma.n.u.s_ carried the House and the country with the speaker: Palmerston's appeal saved the Government.

[Sidenote: Lord Palmerston's Rise.]

[Sidenote: Sir Robert Peel's Death.]

Sir Robert Peel made his last speech in opposition to the vote of confidence: though, in referring to Palmerston's defence of the Government, he declared that "his speech made us all proud of the man who made it." He delivered his last vote on the fourth day of the debate, about four o'clock in the morning of June 29. Next day at noon he attended a meeting of the Royal Commissioners of the Great Exhibition which was to be held the following year. After the meeting he mounted his horse, went to write his name in the Queen's book at Buckingham Palace, and then rode up Const.i.tution Hill. He stopped to talk to the Hon. Miss Ellis, whom he met riding down from Hyde Park: something frightened his horse, which, by a sudden bound, unseated him. Peel in falling kept hold of the reins and pulled the horse on the top of him.

He was internally and fatally injured, one of his ribs having been broken and forced into the lung. He died on July 2, after terrible suffering. The doctors were unable to deal with the injuries owing to the intense agony caused by the slightest movement. It brings to one's apprehension what an incalculable boon to suffering humanity has since that time been discovered in the use of anaesthetics. Chloroform had already been invented, it is true, in 1850; but its employment was little understood. Three years earlier Charles Greville had witnessed one of the first operations under chloroform in St. George's Hospital.

How many suffering ones and friends of suffering ones have had cause to echo the feeling expressed in his journal: "I have no words to express my admiration for this invention, which is the greatest blessing ever bestowed on mankind, and the inventor of it the greatest of benefactors, whose memory ought to be venerated by countless millions for ages yet to come." In spite of this, it is greatly to be feared that the names of Guthrie the American and Soubeiran the Frenchman, who simultaneously discovered chloroform in 1831, and Lawrence of London and Simpson of Edinburgh, who first employed it in our hospitals, have been almost forgotten by the many.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _C. J. Staniland, R.I._}

THE LIFEBOAT OF 1837.

The form of Lifeboat introduced by Henry Greathead in 1789, having a curved keel, and rendered additionally buoyant by means of cork, was still the recognised form in 1837, and boats built by him have been in use until quite recently. The Lifeboat crews on the north and east coasts still prefer, and use, a boat of very similar shape.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: _From a Photo by_} {_Bennetto, Newquay._

THE LIFEBOAT OF 1897.

This is the standard self-righting boat of the Royal National Lifeboat Inst.i.tution, and is the outcome of innumerable experiments. The Inst.i.tution has a fleet of 298 Lifeboats, and has been the means of saving, since 1824, no fewer than 39,815 lives. The Ill.u.s.tration shews the Newquay boat entering the water by means of the slip way.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE GREAT EXHIBITION OF 1851, IN HYDE PARK.]

CHAPTER VI.

1849-1851.

Prince Albert's Industry--His proposal for a Great Exhibition--Adoption of the Scheme--Competing Designs--Mr.

Paxton's selected--Erection of the Crystal Palace--Colonel Sibthorp denounces the Scheme--Papal t.i.tles in Great Britain--Popular Indignation--The Ecclesiastical t.i.tles Bill--Defeat of Ministers on the Question of the Franchise--Difficulty in finding a Successor to Russell--He resumes Office--Opening of the Great Exhibition--Its success and close.

[Sidenote: Prince Albert's Industry.]

Reference has been made already to the wise restraint which Prince Albert imposed upon himself in respect to politics and legislation; but those would greatly misinterpret the motives and impulses of that active intellect who should attribute this reserve either to apathy or const.i.tutional indolence. Prince Albert did not admit that, because he was withheld by recent developments of representative government from personal interference in legislation and diplomacy, it was the less inc.u.mbent upon him, as Consort of the Head of the State, to make himself thoroughly informed on all the leading political questions of the day, as well as on the special work of the public departments. Added to this was the active part he took in schemes of social and commercial improvement, and in scientific and artistic progress. An early riser at all times, it was his custom, summer and winter, to dispose of a couple of hours' work before breakfast, and it is no figure of speech to say that few of the Queen's subjects can have been more constantly or more laboriously employed than her husband. The Prince had lived down any popular prejudice which he had to encounter in the early years of his married life; people had come to understand and appreciate his abilities and disposition, and the time had come when his genius and industry were to bear remarkable fruit.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _R. T. Pritchett, F.S.A._} {_By permission of J. F.

Green, Esq._

THE FIRST STEAM LIFEBOAT, "DUKE OF NORTHUMBERLAND."

Built in 1890; is propelled by a turbine, driven by powerful steam engines, and is capable of being steered by means of the jets of water from the turbine, even if the rudder is disabled. She is 50 feet long, 14 feet 4 inches extreme breadth, 3 feet 6 inches deep, and is built of steel in fifteen watertight compartments. She is stationed at New Brighton, Ches.h.i.+re; a similar boat is at Harwich; and a third is now being built.]

[Sidenote: His Proposal for a Great Exhibition.]

[Sidenote: Adoption of the Scheme.]

Prince Albert was President of the Society of Arts, a body which, dating from the middle of the eighteenth century, had, from time to time, offered prizes for specimens of British textile, ceramic, and other manufactures; but the project of holding a compet.i.tive Exhibition on an international scale originated with the Prince himself. In the course of July 1849 he had laid his proposals before some of the members of the Society, and means were at once adopted to arouse the interest of manufacturers at home, abroad, and in the colonies, and to open negotiations with foreign governments. The idea caught on at once; the States of Europe were at peace, and nothing could more surely tend to obliterate the recollection of recent disturbances than to join in friendly rivalry in the arts of peace. A Royal Commission was appointed to carry out the preparations, and the scheme was formally inaugurated on March 21, 1850, at a banquet given by the Lord Mayor to the Chief Magistrates of all the towns in the United Kingdom, to which Prince Albert and the foreign Amba.s.sadors were also invited.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _C. J. Staniland, R.I._} {_From Contemporary Prints._

A. Master. B. Purser. C. Clerk. D. Mids.h.i.+pman. E. Rear-Admiral.

F. Petty Officer. G. Boatswain. H. Carpenter. J. Seaman.

UNIFORMS OF THE BRITISH NAVY, 1837.

In the early part of the reign there was no regulation dress for seamen, and even in the case of officers the regulations were not enforced as they are now.]

[Sidenote: Competing Designs.]

[Sidenote: Mr. Paxton's selected.]

[Sidenote: Erection of the Crystal Palace.]

Somerset House had been placed at the disposal of the Commissioners for the purposes of the Exhibition, but the fervour with which all nations embraced the idea soon made it manifest that no permanent edifice could contain more than a small fraction of the exhibits. There was no time to be lost--the 1st of May 1851 had been fixed for the opening ceremony.

The difficulty was not the cost, for a guarantee fund of 200,000 had been speedily subscribed; but the designs and specifications had to be submitted, the materials prepared, and the erection completed, all within the s.p.a.ce of nine months. A site in Hyde Park was chosen, and the Commissioners set to work to examine no fewer than 245 designs and specifications sent in by architects all over the world. They had almost decided in favour of a design by a French architect, when a certain Mr.

Joseph Paxton--not a professional architect, but superintendent of the Duke of Devons.h.i.+re's gardens at Chatsworth--produced a scheme so original and simple that it was adopted at once in preference to all others. It was an enormous conservatory of gla.s.s and iron--1,848 feet long, 408 feet broad, and 66 feet high--with transepts constructed so as to contain some of the elms still growing in Hyde Park. The decision of the Commissioners was not arrived at till July 26: not a single casting or piece of material had been prepared yet; but the contractors, Messrs.

Fox, Henderson & Co., undertook to deliver the building ready for painting and fitting on December 31. The ground lying between Albert Gate and Knightsbridge Barracks on the east and west, between Rotten Row and St. George's Place on the north and south, was handed over to them on July 30; the first column was raised on September 26, and on the stipulated day Messrs. Fox and Henderson handed over the structure of the Crystal Palace, as it was called, to the Commissioners. Though the great fabric vanished with the leaves of a single summer, yet this achievement of the contractors deserves record among the most famous exploits of industrial enterprise, affording, as it did, a practical ill.u.s.tration of the dominant object of the Great Exhibition, as Prince Albert had defined it in his speech at the Mansion House; namely, "To give us a true test and living picture of the point of development at which the whole of mankind has arrived ... a new starting point from which all nations will be able to direct their further exertions."

[Ill.u.s.tration: _R. Simkin._}