The Letters of Queen Victoria Volume Iii Part 4

DEAR SIR AND BROTHER,--General Count von der Groben has brought me the official letter of your Majesty, as well as the confidential one,[21]

and I send your kind messenger back, with these two answers to you. He will be able to tell you, orally, what I can express only imperfectly in writing, how deep my pain is, after our going so far, faithfully, hand in hand, to see you, at this weighty moment, separating yourself from us. My pain is still further increased by the fact that I cannot even conceive the grounds which move your Majesty to take this step.

[Footnote 21: The Prussian Court considered itself under no obligation to engage in the impending struggle, till its own interests became directly involved; it would not (said Baron Manteuffel, President of the Ministry, on the 18th of March) take part, for the protection of the integrity of the Ottoman Empire, "in a conflict, the full scope of which cannot yet be apprehended, and the original subject matter of which does not affect the interests of our fatherland."]

The most recent Russian proposals came as an answer to the _last_ attempt for an understanding which the Powers believed could be arrived at honourably, and they have been rejected by the Vienna Conference, not because they were not in accordance with the literal wording of the programme, but because they were contrary to the intention of it. Your Majesty's Amba.s.sador has taken part in this Conference and its decision, and when your Majesty now says: "The task of Diplomacy ceases at the exact point where that of the Sovereigns emphatically begins"; I am unable to a.s.sent to such a definition. For what my Amba.s.sador does, he does in my name, and I feel myself not only bound in honour thereby, but also placed under an obligation to take upon myself the _consequences_ which the step which he is directed to take may lead to.

The dreadful and incalculable consequences of a War weigh upon my heart not less than on your Majesty's. I also know that the Emperor of Russia does not wish for it. He, none the less, demands from the Porte things which all the Powers of Europe--among them, yourself--have solemnly declared to be incompatible with the independence of the Porte, and the European balance of power. In view of this declaration and of the presence of the Russian Army of invasion in the Princ.i.p.alities, the Powers could not but be ready to confirm their word by action. If "the Turk" now goes into the background, and if the approaching War appears to you as a "War of tendency" this is the case only because the very motives which may induce the Emperor to insist on his demands--in defiance of the opposition of the whole of Europe, and with the danger of a War that may devastate the world, do betray a _distinct tendency_, and because the grave consequences of the War must appear much more momentous than the original ostensible cause of it, which at first appeared only as the request for a key to the back door of a mosque.

Your Majesty asks me "to examine the question in a spirit of love for peace, and even now to build a bridge for the Imperial honour." Ah, my dear Sir and Brother, all the inventive gifts, all the architecture of diplomacy and of goodwill, have been uselessly wasted during these last nine months in this bridge-building! The _Projets de Notes, de Conventions, de Protocoles_, etc., etc., have proceeded, by the dozen, from the Chancelleries of the different Powers, and one might call the ink wasted on them another Black Sea. But everything has been s.h.i.+pwrecked against the self-will of your honourable brother-in-law.

If now your Majesty informs me "_that now you mean to persist in complete neutrality_," and if, on this occasion, you refer us to your Nation, who are said to exclaim with sound common sense: "Acts of violence have been done by the Turks, the Turk has good friends in large numbers, and the Emperor has done us no harm"--I do not understand you. Certainly I should understand this language if I heard it from the Kings of Hanover or of Saxony. But I have, hitherto, looked upon Prussia as one of the Great Powers which, since the peace of 1815, have been guarantors of treaties, guardians of civilisation, defenders of the right, the real arbiters of the Nations; and for my part I have felt the divine responsibility of this sacred office, without undervaluing at the same time the heavy obligation, not unconnected with danger, which it imposes on me. If you, dear Sir and Brother, abdicate these obligations, you have also abdicated that position for Prussia. And should such an example find imitators, then the civilisation of Europe would be delivered up to the play of winds; right will then no longer find a champion, the oppressed will find no longer an umpire.

Let not your Majesty believe that what has been said in this letter is aimed at persuading you to change your resolves; it flows from the affectionate heart of a sister, who could not pardon herself, were she not, at so weighty a moment, to let you see into her inmost soul. So little is it my intention to desire to win you over to our view, that nothing has grieved me more than the suspicion, expressed in your name by General von der Groben, that England had desired to seduce you from your purpose by opening a prospect of advantages to be gained. The baselessness of such a supposition is evident from the Treaty itself which had been offered to you, and whose most important clause consisted in the promise of the contracting parties, _not to desire in any case to derive from the War any advantage for themselves_.

Your Majesty could not have given a more powerful proof of your unselfishness than by the very fact of attaching your signature to this Treaty.

To come to a close. You suppose that War may already have been declared; you express, however, at the same time, the hope that it may not already have actually broken out. I cannot unfortunately hold out any hope that the sentence will be followed by any stay of execution.

Shakespeare's words:

"Beware Of entrance to a quarrel; but, being in, Bear it that the opposer may beware of thee,"

are deeply engraved on the hearts of all Englishmen. Sad that they are to find an application at this crisis, in a nation with whom previously nothing prevailed but friends.h.i.+p and affection! And how much more melancholy must be the present emotions of your Majesty's heart and mind to see such words applied to a beloved brother-in-law, whom yet--however much you love him--your conscience cannot absolve from the crime of having brought upon the world wilfully and frivolously such awful misery!

May the Almighty take you under His protection!

With Albert's most cordial compliments, and our united greetings to the dear Queen, I remain, my much honoured Sir and Brother, your Majesty's faithful Sister and Friend,

VICTORIA R.[22]

[Footnote 22: The King afterwards agreed to the proposed protocol for the preservation of the integrity of Turkey, which was signed at Vienna on the 7th of April.]

_Queen Victoria to the Earl of Aberdeen._

_1st April 1854._

The Queen rejoices to see the Debate was favourable in the House of Lords, and that it was concluded in the House of Commons.[23]

She is rather startled at seeing Lord Aberdeen's answer to Lord Roden upon the subject of a day of humiliation, as he has never mentioned the subject to her, and it is one upon which she feels strongly.

The only thing the Queen ever heard about it was from the Duke of Newcastle, who suggested the _possibility_ of an _appropriate_ prayer being introduced into the Liturgy, in which the Queen quite agreed; but he was strongly against a day of humiliation, in which the Queen also entirely agreed, as she thinks we have recourse to them far too often, and they thereby lose their effect. The Queen therefore hopes that this will be reconsidered carefully, and a _prayer_ subst.i.tuted for the _day of humiliation_. Were the services selected for these days of a different kind to what they are--the Queen would feel less strongly about it; but they always select chapters from the Old Testament and Psalms which are so totally inapplicable that it does away with all the effect it ought to have. Moreover, really to say (as we probably should) that the _great sinfulness of the nation_ has brought about this War, when it is the selfishness and ambition of _one_ man and his servants who have brought this about, while our conduct has been throughout actuated by unselfishness and honesty, would be too manifestly repulsive to the feelings of every one, and would be a mere act of hypocrisy. Let there be a prayer expressive of our great thankfulness for the benefits we have enjoyed, and for the immense prosperity of this country, and entreating G.o.d's help and protection in the coming struggle. In this the Queen would join heart and soul. If there is to be a day set apart, let it be for prayer in this sense.

[Footnote 23: On the 27th of March the Queen announced to Parliament that the negotiations with the Czar had terminated, and that she felt bound "to afford active a.s.sistance to her ally, the Sultan." Next day the Declaration of War was issued, containing a narrative of the events which finally led to the rupture. The debates on the Address in answer to the message took place on the 31st of March, Mr Bright, in the Commons, censuring the declaration, and being replied to by Lord Palmerston. The addresses were presented to the Queen on the 3rd of April.]

[Pageheading: THE REFORM QUESTION]

_Queen Victoria to Lord John Russell._

BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _9th April 1854._

The Queen is anxious to express to Lord John Russell the extreme satisfaction she experiences at the communication Lord Aberdeen yesterday evening made her of the settlement of the Reform Question, viz., of its postponement for the present Session, with the understanding that it is to be brought forward again whenever the state of affairs will admit of its being fairly and calmly considered by Parliament.[24] The sacrifice of personal feeling which no doubt this may cost Lord John will, she is certain, be amply compensated by the conviction that he has done so for the interest and tranquillity of his Sovereign and Country, to whom a dissolution of the present Government would have been a source of immense danger and evil.

[Footnote 24: From a memorandum, made by Prince Albert, of interviews with Lord Aberdeen, it appears that before the Cabinet of the 8th of April Lord Palmerston declared that under neither present nor any future conditions could he vote for the second reading of the Reform Bill. Lord John thereupon tendered his resignation; this Lord Aberdeen asked him to suspend until after the meeting of the Cabinet.]

[Pageheading: DISSENSION IN THE CABINET]

[Pageheading: LORD JOHN RUSSELL]

_Lord John Russell to Queen Victoria._

PEMBROKE LODGE, _9th April 1854._

Lord John Russell presents his humble duty to your Majesty; he cannot think it consistent with fairness to conceal from your Majesty the deep feelings of mortification which affect him on reviewing the proceedings of the Cabinet yesterday.[25]

Lord Aberdeen was the only person who behaved with due regard to the honour of the Administration. The rest appeared ready to sacrifice everything in order to keep the Ministry together; and Lord John Russell feels bound to warn your Majesty that, although he was quite willing to waive the consideration of the Reform Bill for the present Session, he is not ready to consent that it shall be entirely set aside in order to keep together a Ministry whose continuance would be dearly bought at the price of the welfare of the Country, and the consistency of public men. Lord John Russell must reflect further on this subject before he comes to a final determination.

[Footnote 25: Lord John Russell's actions at this period of his career seem often incomprehensible; but his private domestic anxieties seem to have weighed him down. Having made the great sacrifice, for an ex-Premier, of taking office under an old opponent, he was now engaged in trying to regain the first place for himself. Lord Aberdeen had always contemplated retiring in his favour, but would not give up the Premiers.h.i.+p in the face of the dangers threatening the country. Moreover, he had believed his continuance in office to be a guarantee for peace. Lord John Russell, after accepting the Foreign Office, had then insisted on being a Minister without office; later still, by displacing Mr Strutt and transferring Lord Granville to the Duchy, he himself became Lord President of the Council, an office which no commoner had held since the reign of Henry VIII. By such action, coupled with perpetual threats of resignation, he marred his prospects of succeeding Lord Aberdeen, and, as will be seen, failed in his attempt to construct an Administration when the opportunity was offered him.]

_Queen Victoria to Lord John Russell._

BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _10th April 1854._

The Queen received Lord John Russell's letter last night. She is much grieved that he should be "affected by deep feelings of mortification on reviewing the proceedings of the Cabinet." From all the Queen had heard of the views of the different members of the Cabinet, she believes them to have been fully convinced that the present moment would be inopportune to press the Reform Bill, but _quite_ prepared to take it up again on the first fitting opportunity; she, of course, does _not_ speak of Lord Palmerston.

The Queen would, no more than Lord John, wish to see "the Reform Bill set aside in order to keep together a Ministry," but does not consider the decision of the Cabinet at all to imply this, whatever Lord Palmerston's personal wishes may be, and trusts that the Country will fully understand and appreciate the motives which have guided the Government. Lord Aberdeen and Lord John will always receive every support from the Queen when they shall think it right to propose the re-introduction of the measure.

[Pageheading: LORD JOHN RUSSELL]

_Memorandum by the Prince Albert._

BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _10th April 1854._