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y 


Dewey Donnell Booh Fund 


^ 


• gin ID the 
STANFOtD UNIVEISin UIIXtlES 


^r*he Victorian 
Half Century 


3 3Kjf)ilcc TBooli 


CHARLOTTE M. YONGE 

WgW OP ' TUK IIBIB Of UEdCLVFP 


WITH A PORTRAIT OF HHft MAJESTY THE OUEEN 


bonbon 

MACMILLAN AND CO. 
AND NEW VORK 
I8S7 


THE VICTORIAN HALF CENTURY 


^.^y-i^A^JL/!Li 


^^ 


THE 


VICTORIAN HALF CENTURY 


Jl IntiUt f ook 


rv 


- CHARLOTTE M. YONGE 

AUTHOR OF *THR HEIR OF REDCI-YFFE,' 'UNKNOWN TO HISTORY,' 

KTC. 


WITH 

A PORTRAIT OF JIER MAJESTY THE QUEEN 


2-onlron 

MACMILLAN AND CO. 

AND NEW YORK 
1887 


^»'/ r:j^/its i\'ser7vJ. 


^Lk^5^5 


Printed by R. & R. Clark, December fSStt, 
Reprint eii February and July i8^* 


TO 

THEIR ROYAL HIGHNESSES 

THE FOUR SURVIVING DAUGHTERS 
OF HER MAJESTY 

1st Hetitcateti (bg Ij^txmimon) 

THIS ENDEAVOUR TO SKETCH THE CAREER OF 
THEIR ROYAL MOTHER 

AND 

THE BELOVED MOTHER OF HER COUNTRY 

ON 

^]}Z gear of JIubtlee 


PREFACE 


The following brief outline of the events, 
domestic and public, of the last Fifty Years, 
may at least claim the credit of perfect 
accuracy, having been revised by the best 
authority. 

C M. YONGE. 

Dec, II, 1886. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER I 

PAGE 

Accession ....... i 


CHAPTER II 
The Coronation 


• • 


CHAPTER III 
Marriage ....... 14 

CHAPTER IV 

Married Life . . .18 

CHAPTER V 
Changes ....... 22 

CHAPTER VI 
The First Afghan War .31 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER VII 

PACK 

The Irish Famine ...... 35 


CHAPTER VIII 
The Years of Revolution • • • • 39 

CHAPTER IX 

The Highland Home ..... 44 

CHAPTER X 

The Great Exhibition . . . . .50 

CHAPTER XI 
The Crimean War ...... 56 

CHAPTER XII 
The Indian Mutiny ... . . 66 

CHAPTER XIII 

The First Wedding ..... 74 

CHAPTER XIV 
Sorrows ....... 79 

CHAPTER XV 
Uneventful Years ...... 84 


CONTENTS xi 


CHAPTER XVI 

PAGE 

The Abyssinian War ..... 89 


CHAPTER XVn 
The Franco-German War ..... 93 

CHAPTER XVni 
The Empress ....... 99 

CHAPTER XIX 
Death of Princess Alice ..... 103 

CHAPTER XX 
Conclusion . . . . .no 


CHAPTER I 

ACCESSION 

A FEW years ago there was a picture in the Royal Academy 
which was looked at with much attention and delight. It 
represented a young girl, small, slight, and slender, but full 
of dignity, blue-eyed, and with clear-cut features, standing 
with loose hair and slippered feet, to receive the homage of 
three elderly men, regarding her with a mixture of reverence 
and tenderness. It was well known to represent Queen 
Victoria when called up at five o'clock on the morning of 
the 20 th of June 1837 to hear that she was Sovereign of 
the British dominions, when only five weeks past her 
eighteenth birthday. 

The little May-flower, as her German relations were fond 
of calling her, had been born on the 24th of May 181 9. 
Her father was Edward, Duke of Kent, fourth son of 
George III. 

With the very best intentions, good King George had 
been far from successful in the education of his sons. 
There had been over-severity at first, and afterwards a 
lack of occupation. The state of the Continent likewise 
prevented foreign princesses from being available matches 
for them till they were advancing in life ; and the want 
of home and family had been very injurious to these young 
men. The second pair of brothers, William and Edward, 
as sailor and soldier, had more wholesome occupation 
than their elders, and never threw themselves into oppo- 

& B 


» THE VICTORIAN HALF CEKTIJRV 

sition to their father. The miserable mainage of t 
eldest brother had produced only one daughter, Pmicess 
Charlotte ; the second brother had no children, and on 
the untimely death of Princess Charlotte, maniage was 
urged on the two younger princes, and their weddings 
took place on the same day. The Duke of Kent married 
Victoria, the sister of the Duke of Saxe-Cobuig, and widow 
of the Prince of Leiningen. One Uttle girl, the Princess 
Feodora of Leiningen, was here already, and was a belovedj 
half-sister to the " htile May-flower," 

The names borne by the young Princess of Kent wet 
Alexandrina Victoria, the first being given in gratitude foc| 
sotne act of kindness to the Duke of Kent from the C 
Alexander of Russia. The child was only eight roondi 
old when she was left fatherless, but she was bred i 
with the utmost care by her mother, under the advice < 
Prince Leopold, brother to the Duchess, and the widowi 
hushand of Princess Charlotte. 

An establishment was formed for the Duchess at Kei 
sington Palace, with Claremout for a country house. Hei 
we occasionally hear notices of the little Princess. 
years old she was seen on the floor by her mother's side byl 
the great and good William Wilberforce, who played with 
her, and mentioned her as " a fine animated child ;" and a 
little later she was running about in the gardens, with her 
little watering-pot, administering the water as much to her 
own feet as to the flowers. 

Her mother devoted herself to the training of the child 
destined to so important a station. Hers was a very different 
education Irom that of the former heiress, who had been & 
ball of contention between her father, mother, and grand- 
father, and had in the meantime been allowed to run wild 
by her good-natured governess till her own noble nature 
asserted itself in the hands of her husband. The young 
Victoria, on the contrary, was anxiously guarded. Her 
State-governess was the Duchess of Northumberland, but 
she was constantly with either her mother or her actualj 


! ACCESSION 3 

governess, Baroness Lehzen, and in her fifth year the 
Reverend George Davys (afterwards Dean of Chester and 
Bishop of Peterborough) became her instructor, actually 
teaching her letters. For an hour in the morning and an 
hour in the afternoon from that time forward he was 
with her. He gave her instruction in her religious faith, 
in history, Latin, and, as time went on, in whatever he 
thought might be needful to her ; and he was often 
astonished at her great intelligence, and the strong 
memory which enabled her to imbibe so much, as well 
as to reflect upon what she learnt. 

Her great characteristics in her childhood, as through 
life, were her conscientious truthfulness, warmth of heart, 
and sense of duty. And these were cherished by her 
mother, who watched over her unweariedly, and was 
especially desirous that no gossip should prematurely re- 
veal to her the position in which she stood. 

It was when she was about twelve years old, after 
George IV. was dead and William IV. was on the throne, 
that arrangements were being publicly made for a Regency 
in the event of the King's dying while she was in her 
minority. It was then agreed between mother, tutor, and 
governess that it was time that she should be aware of 
what awaited her ; and Dr Davys therefore set her to draw 
out the genealogical tree of English royalty. Presently she 
said earnestly, "Mamma, I cannot see who is to come 
after uncle William, unless it is myself." 

She was told that so it was. "It is a very solemn 
thing," she said. " Many a child would boast, but they 
don't know the difficulty. There is splendour, but there 
is responsibility." Then lifting up her forefinger, and 
giving her hand to her governess, she earnestly said, " I 
will be good." 

" And she has kept her promise 
Through all her length of life ; 
And all her subjects bless her — 
Good mother, Queen, and wife." 


4 TilE VICTORIAN HALF CENTURY 

She added that she now saw why she had been made ti 
learn Latin, when it had not been required of her cousil^ 
Augusta. 

It is plain that from that time she must have thought j 
much and independently of the future, and there ^ 
great deal to bring it before her. Her mother used yearljij 
to take her on journeys, so as to visit remarkable plac 
England, and the people thronged to behold the maiden^ 
who was to be their future Sovereign. On the other handj J 
this attention excited the jealousy of the King. William | 
IV. had entered the Navy at a lime when coarseness 
manners prevailed, and he was rude both in speech 3 
behaviour. Both he and his wife were very fond of their I 
young niece, but while good Queen Adelaide was on affeo- I 
tionate terms with the Duchess of Kent, King William I 
made no secret of his dislike to his heiress's mother, aiulj 
his desire that she should never become Regent 

When all the royal party were dining together, he ex-' 
pressed this hope in such unmeasured and insulting lan- 
guage as reduced the two elder ladies to dismayed silence, 
and the younger one to tears. Eighteen is the age fixed 
for the majority of sovereigns. The Princess's birthday had 
come, and she had been presented, but she still wished to 
continue her studies with the Dean of Chester, and her"j 
mark still stands in the memoirs of Mrs Hutchinson, which ■ | 
she was reading with him. 

William IV. died in the night, and at five in the morning 
the Archbishop of Canterbury (Dr Howley), the Marquess 
of Conyngham (Lord Chamberlain), and Sir Henry Halford, 
the royal physician, drove up to Kensington Palace, and 
had some difficulty in making themselves heard by the 
sleeping household. In a few minutes the young Queen 
came in her dressing-gown, with a while shawl thrown 
round her, her hair hanging down, and slippers c 
bare feet. At the words "Your Majesty" she held out 1 
her hand to be kissed. Tears stood in her eyes, but she'l 
was perfectly dignified and composed. By nine o'clock.j 


I ACCESSION 5 

she was ready for her first Privy Council, where she sat 
at the head of the table to receive the homage of the 
Ministers, of whom Viscount Melbourne was Premier, of 
the Duke of Wellington, then Commander-in-Chief, and 
of the royal Dukes of Cambridge and Sussex. She 
was collected throughout, only when these two old uncles 
bent the knee before her a deep blush tinged her face and 
neck. 

Afterwards she went to St. James's Palace to show her- 
self at the window while proclamation of her accession was 
made by the heralds ; but there were no great acclama- 
tions, and she was observed to look pale. Loyalty had 
been a good deal trifled away by the two latter kings, and 
she had to win it back again. 

Her good sense and judgment were very striking. In 
all the questions that arose respecting her attendants and 
expenses, she took a line of her own, which had evidently 
been thought out carefully. Hitherto a most submissive 
daughter, she saw that, as Queen, she must permit no in- 
fluence to lead her. This was at first a great disappoint- 
ment to the Duchess of Kent, but the daughter's tenderness, 
affection, and filial deference never failed, and gradually 
the terms on which they stood were perfectly satisfactory, 
the Duchess living in her own apartments, except in the 
evening, at meals, and when they drove out together, and 
never meddling in matters of State. 

The great object of the young Queen was that the debts 
that her father had left should be paid, and for this she 
avoided all unnecessary expense or display. She also did 
all in her power for the friends of her childhood, making 
her tutor, as soon as was possible, a Bishop, taking his 
eldest daughter into her household, and giving the Baroness 
Lehzen an appointment about her person. 

The next great ceremony at which she appeared was the 
opening of her first Parliament, going in the old-fashioned 
State-coach, drawn by the equally old-fashioned cream- 
coloured horses, bred in Hanover* 


6 THE VICTORIAN HALF CENTURY chap, i 

Many years after, Napoleon III, who was then passing 
through London as an unknown personage, said that no 
sight had ever more impressed him than that of the youth- 
ful maiden on the throne, reading her speech in the sweet, 
silvery, clear voice, so simple, yet so majestic. 


CHAPTER II 

THE CORONATION 

The young Queen found in power a Whig Ministry headed 
by Viscount Melbourne, a man of great courtesy and 
gentleness, whom she always regarded with gratitude for 
the kind and clear manner in which he initiated her into 
the routine of business. 

She took up her abode for the chief part of the year in 
Buckingham Palace, using beautiful Windsor Castle for her 
country home, and with her mother always by her side. 
Every one was eager to see their young Sovereign, and very 
kindly did she gratify them, always bearing in mind the 
saying of old Louis XVIIL, that the politeness of royalty 
is punctuality. The custom was that the royal family 
should parade on Sunday afternoons on the broad terrace 
at Windsor, and the public be admitted to see them, and 
eagerly did they avail themselves of the opportunity ; but 
this is one of the many things that have been put an end 
to by the greater facility and cheapness of travelling, since 
such crowds would have thronged by train to enjoy the 
spectacle as to destroy all comfort even for themselves, and 
cause confusion. 

The same cause has prevented the great triennial festival 
of Eton — Montem, when all the boys paraded at Salt Hill, 
some in costume, some in red coats, some in blue, to 
collect contributions for the University expenses of the 
captain of the college boys. Hither came Queen Victoria, 


1i^v:eb cfceciiieL iiia: 3iis2£aLi c ie^ uanrnErx T^ssunnsEt' 
Hall. iwiiicL -ironic ymiw cmr i. ^cr . lacrr Tgnmir i*r . 
grgnti procfissiai: n. hrart -^nmaas^ m^snnm: -al H:-. 
fcmigE ambassadarL. tr x loiii- tw r^ -rm*^ -m^**- mr .; 
from IBuckirigiiaiL Irinnr^ ic THesmnnsr* Abi^e; . 3': uxzisz 
mam- persDns 3^ T>Qssilnt:^ Tnirr : taenoi.: inr. c* xt^ issscai:. 
Of ihfr procffisiar. tat urea: -rnrrKTr?, vazuDuss:' l^rszn' i*a^r- 
deisDtiii TPiitfis. ''' A: -L anaiHrr-isE tw*:i¥^ ^m^. Tjnrx-^^vj- 
began td annt a: IV-sstmnisir' Abt^; .an: tr i: iiur- 
later iht ^moifr iiac dcei mjsuTttzi r if*-: l-aiii*r!2iL. 
need no: desmDt tor prtxjesacr x inL he -»ri -ztrr- 
liaii a iew dsraiii bt icr msianci, j -wa iiB^. i »?*r- 
tiie ^od feeim^ of -i -wTno±t i:aiio: urtau ur* r 'jj^trrr 
when Maisija. horn'. zxnxzicLi - *noii;iu; ujtTf- Diikiar 
CDiQd i*e seer. tnar. ni. lat iisamiiu uort*: tbth' u^r;' 
lici iamess, tut carnage Jam: rroam: cuv^^^s^i -rrn i^yii 
embrDioeries. and tiit si>iniiuQr artrmt^L i^troi/f. TMbiui, 
AD thk mi; "fra^ ^cncircita: u; n*t- -p*n«3aun ^nr uuiiuiiis 
and lite ciDwdir of ccmnuor. t^cui/k tmiir* lij^. iill jw.; 
widci 'wss, om}' now and tner. ^»^*xl jt isuny^san- :zr 
fiist indeed it xanied. iar -wi**j tut zsjiius issrr.^Jjj^, 

momned by tne .gKa: rrrowri, of liac^igiii. urnivt i;r aiit tw± 
grace&l grd i«:25> i»eei- uowjn»: Txpr- ant icr — irjiii zr 
that fngtarrr the masr o' -i^fr^it 1K21' tronrwirier mnusi ir 
their -iraring bandK^n^iiifd: ariL -raiisrt 11221 truJi* aa* tiuht 
of cbeerrng aimus: dru»nii:L tiJi: i/ssditij.' xr l7i± i«:lfi. tie 
Uare erf the tnimpetL. and ^muuf^mxr uf tie onns^ imt 
had to panci cmeseif id n^t: sin*: JC ^i^m nm al li nr^an 
out of ^Jt Arabiaii Kigiiii- Tnet ieL a ^uicitig?r. -sitCTir^ 
tlie sdezice caf a dmxcii, after ^e Qfiissii iiad entered iht 
I mixed among lite cjvmd. -waSted up to the 
of the Abber, and j^eered into int soknnn c^jsctnity ; 
way invokmtajj emaban "*as di*q'«fTtfid bj* a sense of the 
IS I kx^^ed closely at tbeir dressed>Bp modem 

^4 beea i^ ct of tbe Fnench in ^pain «g:^tnst tHe 


» THE VICTORIAN HALF CENTURY 

and it was then that in the confusion of boys and carriage* 
one little fellow was being pushed down ia the throng, and-l 
would have been under the wheel if she had not stretchedJ 
out a hand, which he grasped so as to be atjle to recover J 
his feet She said something about being glad, but he w 
too much bewildered to utter anything before she had'1 
passed on. He was Coleridge Patteson, the future Mis*! 
sionary-bishop of the Melanesian Isles, 

Here is a description of a ball at Buckingham Palace inl 
the May of the same year, from Mr. Charles Greville'Bl 


" The Queen's manner and bearing perfect. She danced J 
first with Prince George', then young Esterhazy, thenl 
Lord Fitzalan, Before supper, and after dancing, she 
on a sofa, somewhat elevated, in the drawing-room, lookingf.J 
at the waltzing; she did not waltz herself. Her mother satA 
on one side of her, and the Princess Augusta on the other,fl 
then the Duchesses of Gloucester and Cambridge and the« 
Princess of Cambridge, her household with their wands-B 
standing all round, her manners exceedingly graceful, andM 
blended with dignity and cordiality, a simplicity and goodj 
humour when she talks to people which are mightily capti<1 
vating. When supper was announced she moved from her 7 
seat, all her officers going before her, she first alone, and 
the royal family following, her exceeding youth strikingly J 
contrasting with their mature age, but she did it well." 

Later he says, "It is the remarkable union of naivete,.! 
kindness, nature — good nature, with propriety and dignity,T 
which make her so admirable and so endearing to those' ^ 
about her, as she certainly is. I have been repeatedly 
told that they are all warmly attached to her, but albeit all 
feel the impossibiUty of for a moment losing sight of the 
respect which they owe her. She never ceases to 
queen, and is always the most charming, cheerful, and^ 
obliging, unaflected queen in the world." 

The Coronation was fixed for the aSth of June i838,J 

' The Duke of Cambridge. 


II THE CORONATION 9 

It was decided that instead of the banquet in Westminster 
Hall, which would gratify only a few, there should be a 
grand procession in State equipages, including all the 
foreign ambassadors, by a route two or three miles long, 
from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey, so that as 
many persons as possible might behold part of the pageant. 
Of the procession the great musical composer Felix Men- 
delssohn writes, "At a quarter-past twelve the procession 
began to arrive at Westminster Abbey, and by an hour 
later the whole had been absorbed in the Cathedral. I 
need not describe the procession in full, but will men- 
tion a few details. So, for instance, it was fine to see 
the good feeling of a whole nation break out in cheers 
when Marshal Soult appeared.^ Nothing more brilliant 
could be seen than all the beautiful horses with their 
rich harness, the carriages and grooms covered with gold 
embroideries, and the splendidly dressed people inside. 
All this too was encircled by the venerable gray buildings 
and the crowds of common people under the dull sky, 
which was only now and then pierced by sunbeams; at 
first indeed it rained. But when the golden fairy -like 
carriage, supported by Tritons with their tridents, and sur- 
mounted by the great crown of England, drove up, and the 
graceful girl was seen bowing right and left — when at 
that instant the mass of people was completely hidden by 
their waving handkerchiefs and raised hats, while one roar 
of cheering almost drowned the pealing of the bells, the 
blare of the trumpets, and thundering of the guns, one 
had to pinch oneself to make sure it was not all a dream 
out of the Arabian Nights. Then fell a sudden silence, 
the silence of a church, after the Queen had entered the 
Cathedral. I mixed among the crowd, walked up to the 
door of the Abbey, and peered into the solemn obscurity ; 
but my involuntary emotion was dispelled by a sense of the 
ludicrous, as I looked closely at their dressed-up modern 

^ He had been the Commander of the French in Spain against the 
Duke of Wellington. 


lo THE VICTORIAN HALF CENTURV chaj*. 

cinque-centi halberdiers (the beef-eaters), whose cheeks sug- 
gest beef, and whose noses tell tales of whisky and clareL" 

It is said that half a million of persons came up 
from the country for a chance of the sight of the 
procession, though, of course, only a limited number 
could be accommodated in Westminster Abbey. Even 
those whose office or rank gave them a place had tOi 
be admitted at 7 a.m., after waiting an hour in the 
cloisters in wet and wind ; but the sun came out, making 
it " Queen's weather," and flashing on the diamonds of the 
tiers of peeresses, so that their rainbow-sparkling reflections 
played wonderfully on the arches of that most beautiful 
of all clerestories. 

At ten o'clock the sound of cannon announced that 
the Queen had entered her carriage, and by and by she 
appeared in a royal robe of crimson velvet, furred with 
ermine and bordered with gold, the collar of the Order 
of the Garter round her neck, and a small circlet of gold 
round her head. Three swords were borne before her, the 
emblems of justice, of defence, and the blunted Curtana — ■ 
the sword of mercy, betokening that the Sovereign alone 
can pardon a convicted criminal. Her train was borne by 
the eight fairest girls to be found among the daughtera 
of the dukes and marquesses, all in cloth of silver, with 
roses in their hair. An eye-witness says, " The Queen came 
in as gay as a lark, and looking like a girl on her birthday. 
However, this only lasted till she reached the middle of 
the cross of the Abbey, at the foot of the throne. On her 
rising from her knees before the faldstool after her private 
devotions, the Archbishop of Canterbury turned her round, 
to each of the four corners of the Abbey, saying, in a voica 
so dear that it was heard in the inmost recesses, ' Sirs, I 
here present unto you the undoubted Queen of this realm. 
Will ye all swear to do her homage?' Each time he said 
it there were shouts of 'Long live Queen Victoria!' and 
the sounding of trumpets and the waving of banners, which 
made the poor little Queen turn first very red and then 


t 


II THE CORONATION ii 

very pale. Most of the ladies cried, and I felt I should not 
forget it as long as I lived. The Queen recovered herself 
after this, and went through all the rest as if she had often 
been crowned before, but seemed much impressed by the 
service, and a most beautiful one it is." 

The service was drawn up by St. Dunstan about the 
year 979, and, with a very few modifications, has been used 
ever since. The Communion Service is its foundation. 
An ingot of gold was offered by Her Majesty, and, after a 
brief sermon by the Bishop of London, the Archbishop 
administered the solemn oath to guard and do justice to 
her people, to observe the laws, and defend the Church. 

The anointing followed, no empty ceremony, but the 
outward sign of the Holy Spirit of rule and authority. 
Four Knights of the Garter, in their blue velvet mantles, 
held a canopy of cloth of gold over the Sovereign's head, 
while the Dean of Westminster, taking the golden ampulla 
from the altar, poured into the spoon some of the oil, with 
which the Archbishop traced the cross on her head and hands, 
pronouncing the words, " Be thou anointed with holy oil, 
as kings, priests, and prophets were anointed," while the 
choir chanted the anthem of the anointing of Solomon. 
Then he gave her his solemn benediction. She looked 
like a child receiving a father's blessing as she knelt, and 
all the bishops around joined their voices in one solemn 
Amen. The Primate then placed her on the throne, or 
rather St. Edward's chair, so named from Edward the Con- 
fessor. Beneath the seat lies a rough stone, called in Erse 
the Lia Fail^ or Stone of Destiny. Tradition declares that 
it once was Jacob's pillow at Bethel, whence it was brought 
to Cashel, where the kings of Munster sat on it to be 
crowned. In 5 1 3 King Fergus, having conquered part of 
Scotland, carried it thither, and Scottish kings took their 
seat on it till 1296, when Edward I., thinking he had 
annexed Scotland, brought it to Westminster, and placed 
it where it has ever since remained. Here the Queen 
received the ring betrothing her to her people, the orb of 


13 THE VICTORIAN HALF CENTURY 

enipire, — a small globe sunnounted by a cross, and t 
sceptre of rule. There, as the Queen sat, the Archbishop 
placed the crown of England on her head, and at the same 
moment the peers and peeresses simultaneously put on 
their coronets, the bishops their mitres, the heralds their 
caps, the trumpets sounded, the drums beat, the cannon 
outside fired, the Tower guns answered, and mighty cheers 
within and without rent the air. The Archbishop then 
presented the Bible to Her Majesty, and again led her to 
the throne, after which he was the first to do homage, 
followed by all the lords spiritual (the other bishops) and 
the lords temporal, in regular order, according to their rank. 
Each removed his coronet, touched the crown on the 
Queen's head, and spoke thus : " I do become your liege- 
man of life and limb, and of earthly worship ; and faith 
and love 1 will bear unto you, to live and die against all 
manner of folks. So help me God." 

Among the barons came Lord Rolle, who many years 
before had received the Queen's grandfather, George III., 
in his house in Devonshire, and whose pride and display 
on the occasion had been ridiculed in a witty poem called 
"The Rolliad." He was now past eighty, though still full 
of energy ; and as he tried to climb the steps of the throne 
his foot caught in his robes and he fell, the young Queen 
above moving forward to try to help him. This natural 
warm impulse drew forth ecstatic shouts ; and when the 
brave old man was raised and insisted on still paying his 
homage, he was led forward, and she rose so as to save him 
effort, while there were renewed cheers. Foreigners were 
said to fancy his prostration was the tenure by which he 
held his barony. 

The last created baron having sworn allegiance, the 
Queen showed where her own homage was due by remov- 
ing her crown while she received the Holy Communion, 
Then, the last blessing having been uttered, with the crown 
on her head, the sceptre in one hand and the orb in the 
other, the crowned Majesty of England left the Abbey,J 


II THE CORONATION ij 

bowing once to the old Lord Rolle in congratulation, as 
she saw him safe in his place. I'he whole gorgeous array 
swept after her. 

A little bit behind the scenes must also be given from 
Mr. Greville. " Lord John Thynne, who officiated for the 
Dean of Westminster, told me that nobody knew what was 
to be done except the Archbishop and himself (who had 
rehearsed), Lord Willoughby (who is experienced in these 
matters), and the Duke of Wellington, and consequently 
there was a continual difficulty and embarrassment, and 
the Queen never knew what she was to do next. They 
made her leave her chair and enter into St. Edward's 
Chapel before the prayers were concluded, much to the 
discomfiture of the Archbishop. She said to John Thynne, 
*Pray tell me what I am to do, for they don't know.' 
And at the end, when the orb was put into her hand, she 
said, *What am I to do with it?' *Your Majesty is to 
carry it, if you please, in your hand.' * Am I ? ' she said ; 
* it is very heavy.* The ruby ring was made for her little 
finger instead of the fourth, on which the Rubric prescribes 
that it should be put. When the Archbishop was to put it 
on she extended the former, but he said it must be put on 
the latter. She said it was too small, and she could not 
get it on. He said it was right to put it there, and as he 
insisted she yielded, but had first to take off her other 
rings, and then this was forced on ; but it hurt her very 
much, and as soon as the ceremony was over she was 
obliged to bathe her finger in iced water in order to get 
it off." 


The painful pressure of the coronation ring was perhaps 
a token that cares and troubles were ready for the young 
head that wore the crown. At home there were the men 
who called themselves Chartists, because they called for a 
charter of equality ; and as usual there were difficulties 
about Ireland, its champion being Daniel O'ConnelL In 
all this hitherto Lord Melbourne had been the Queen's 
great counsellor. Her life at Windsor was thus ; — She 
rose at a little after eight, breakfasted in her private rooms, 
then admitted her ministers, and spent every morning on 
business, reading all the despatches, and entering into 
every matter laid before her, ending with an hour or two 
with Lord Melbourne. After luncheon she rode out with 
her suite, Lord Melbourne on one side, an equerry on 
the other, generally very fast. On coming in she amused 
herself with music and singing or other pursuits until din- 
ner, which was called at half-past seven, but she seldom 
appeared till after eight, when she came down with the 
Duchess of Kent. When the ladies came to the drawing- 
room she stood, moving about from one to the other, talk- 
ing a little to each, and also speaking to the gentlemen 
when they came in from the dining-room, and a whist 
table was made up for the Duchess of Kent ; and Her 
Majesty and all the rest sat about a great round table and 
made what conversation was possible, and, as Mr. Grevillft, 


CHAP. Ill MARRIAGE IS 

said, it was uphill work. Hovercx, the first great dan^ 
that impended was by oo means vdcomed. Tbe ministnr 
were so nearly ootroted diat tliej rescued, and a new 
question arose. Sir Robert Ped, the ConservatiTe leader, 
could not but recoDect the last female re^;ii, when the 
influence of the Duchess of Martboioagh, and afterwards 
of Lady Masham, had been paramoimt, and it was yet to 
be proved of what different mould Queen Victoria was from 
Queen Anne. He insisted that, on the chai^ of ministry, 
the ladies of the household should also be dianged, and to 
this the Queen would not submiL She was much attached 
to her ladies. She wrote, "They wanted to deprive me 
of my ladies, and, I suppose, they would deprive me next 
of my dressers and my housemaids, but I will show them 
that I am Queen of England." 

It was altogether a misunderstanding, for Sir Robert 
Peel really wished for only a very few changes, and chiefly 
desired to establish the principle, while the Queen resisted 
with the vehemence of her warm heart and her twenty 
years. The matter ended by Lord Melbourne's return to 
office, and for a time in a dislike on the Queen's part to 
Peel, and a resentment against her among the Conservative 
party — ^both of which sentiments happily soon gave way. 

If the discontent and displeasure thus excited made the 
youthful Queen doubt the wisdom of her resistance, she 
must have looked forward all the more to having a manly 
judgment to assist her in her perplexities. 

The youth whom the fwnily had already selected for her 
husband was just reaching man's estate. He was the 
second son of her mother's eldest brother, the Duke of 
Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. The next brother to the Duke, and, 
in right of ability and force of character, the head of the 
family, was Leopold, the widowed husband of our lamented 
Princess Charlotte, and by election the King of the Bel- 
gians, for whom his prudence secured much peace and 
prosperity. 

The young Albert had been bom at Rosenau on the 26th 


[6 THE VICTORIAN HALF CENTURY chap. 

of August 1819, so that he was three months junior to the 
Queen. He had been wisely and catefully educated, with 
a strong sense of rehgious duty and of responsibility. In 
1836 his father had brought him and his elder brother to 
England in order that tlie Duchess of Kent might judge 
of him, and that, if possible, the two young people might 
form an attachment to one another. 

The experiment was successful, but no more then passed, 
and the Prince was sent to study at the University of Bonn, 
and to travel in Italy. He became both well Informed 
and accomplished to no ordinary degree, with considerable 
knowledge both of art and music; and his character was 
perfectly blameless, through all the surroundings of German 
student life, and in spite of high spirits which found vent in 
some of the practical jokes to which Germans are addicted. 
He was somewhat shy and retiring, and there were always 
few with whom he could unbend, but those who were 
admitted to know him familiarly loved and admired him 
e."(tremely. His personal beauty, too, was great. His 
figure was tall and manly, and the classic regularity of his 
features was like an ancient gem, his complexion cleat and 
pale, lighted up by bright blue eyes, and a very sweet 
though rare smile. As Disraeli long after said, " he had 
been most carefully trained, and not over-educated for his 
intelUct." 

Such was the young man who, at twenty, was invited 
with his brother in the October of 1839 to make a visit at 
Windsor, every one but himself thoroughly knowing why. 
However, in the case of a sovereign, the gentleman cannot 
take the initiative, and it may well be believed that the 
Queen said the most nervous thing she had ever had to do was 
the making ber proposal It was done I and King Leopold 
wrote that he could say, " Lord, now lettest Thou Thy 
servant depart in jjcace," while the Queen made her forma! 
announcement to the Privy CounciL 

The country watched a little anxiously. The ante- 
cedents of consorts to British Queens regnant had : 


Ill MARRIAGE 17 

been encouraging. Philip of Spain had been a hateful 
tyrant, Henry of Damley mischievous and wretched in life 
and death, George of Denmark a mere nonentity, only 
remembered for his habit of saying JEst il possible; and this 
German prince was young and untried, so that his possible 
influence was regarded with a certain jealousy. In fact 
justice was never completely done to him by the country 
in his lifetime. It was only after his death that England 
acknowledged what manner of man he had been. 

Still an enthusiastic welcome was not lacking when he 
arrived as a bridegroom on the 6th of February 1840. 
The marriage took place on the loth in the Chapel Royal 
at St James's, and sounds of cannon announced to London 
when the ring was placed on the Queen's finger. 

The pair proceeded to Windsor, where they were re- 
ceived by an ecstatic throng of Eton boys in white gloves 
and white favours. They only remained there three days, 
and then returned to Buckingham Palace. Lady Lyttelton 
thus describes the royal bride : " Her look of confidence 
and comfort at the Prince as they walked away as man 
and wife was very pleasing to see. I understand she is in 
extremely high spirits since. Such a new thing for her to 
dare to be unguarded in conversing with anybody, and with 
her frank and fearless nature the restraints she has hitherto 
been under, from one reason or another, must have been 
most painful" 


CHAPTER IV 

MARRIED LIFE 

Among the special trials of royalty may be reckoned that 
of being the observed of all observers, and therefore a mark 
for gossip and misrepresentation not always intentionally 
malevolent, but arising from the peculiar satisfaction people 
feel in spreading unpleasant reports about those in high 
station. 

All through the girlhood of the Princess Victoria it was 
said that her ankles were weak, and it was only when she 
was seen freely standing and walking that this foolish idea 
was dissipated. Her husband could not escape the mur- 
murs of evil tongues, and for a long time all that was 
thought to proceed from him — even an alteration in soldiers* 
caps — was looked on with suspicion and dislike. The 
course of conduct he proposed to himself and consistently 
maintained, was liable to be misunderstood. With talents, 
abilities, and force of character, such as might have made 
him visibly a leader of men, he deliberately effaced himself 
and abstained from courting popularity. He did the work, 
made the suggestions, moved the wheels, but in the back- 
ground, leaving the Queen always the prominent part, and 
the full honour of whatever was done. And at the same 
time, in the full prime of youth and flush of spirits, scarcely 
yet twenty-one years old, he gave up time and amusement 
to devote himself to his wife, and to toil in services for the 
State for which he expected to reap no credit That in 


CHAP. IV MARRIED LIFE 19 

personal intercourse he was r^aided as sdfi^ cold, and 
proud arose (as was found in sifta: years) from his deter- 
minadon to form no associations which might by any possi- 
bility be turned to purposes of intrigue or party spirit, or 
unfJaJrly bias his own judgment. Such a life <^ resolute, 
high-principled unselfishness in the fiiU glare of a court is 
almost unexampled ; and it had the reward of the Queen's 
perfect affection and confidence, the true relations of hus- 
band and wife being preserved in fiill perfection — ^without 
ever disturbing those of sovereign and consort. 

Another trial of royalty is that conspicuous personages 
attract the notice of the insane or semi-insane, and, in the 
June following the marriage, the first of these crazed attacks 
on the Queen's life was made. As she was driving with the 
Prince in a pony carriage up Constitution Hill some one in the 
crowd fired a pistol at her. The Queen started up, but was 
pulled back by Prince Albert, and a second pistol was fired, 
happily without effect, before the wretch was secured. As 
a newspaper poet wrote at the time — 

'* She turned not Mnth a woman's fear 
To sheltering palace wall ; 
Her guards were in her subjects* hearts — 
The hope, the star of all. 

Was this a soul unfit to reign ? 

Was this, the bright young bride, 
A girl, irresolute and weak — 

A mock to England's pride ? 

No, if to that high soul be joined 

Fair face and feeble arm. 
It doth but add, to thinking minds, 

A glory and a charm." 

The unhappy man proved to be a youth named Edward 
Oxford, who had been a pot-boy. The only reason he had 
to give was, " I thought I might as well shoot at her as at 
any one else." There was sufficient ground for deciding 
that he was insane, and he was placed in a lunatic asylum 
for life. When he heard of later attempts on the Queen, 


■D THE VICTORLVN HALF CENTURY _ chap. 

he obaerved that if be himself had been hanged others 
would have abstained 

Till her marriage the Queen had never been happy ex- 
cept in London, and had found the country dull Prince 
Albert's varied tastes for landscape-gaidening, far ming , im- 
provements of the breeds of horses and canle, made the 
sojourn at Windsor delightful to her, and drawing and 
music were further pursued together. The Prince gave 
several hours each day to studying with Mr. Selwyn, a dis- 
tinguished banister, on the constitution and laws of England, 
and read Hallam's Coiutitutional History of England with 
the Queen. 

On the 2 ist of November was bom at Buckingham Palace 
the Queen's first child, Victoria, Princess- Roy aL It was only 
a few days later that a boy named Jones was found bidden 
under a sofa in the outer room. He was discovered by 
the nurse, who called Prince Albert without alarming the 
Queen. He proved to be an underwitted lad named Jones 
who had wandered aimlessly into the Palace, and the wits 
of the time called him In-i-go Jones. The day before 
the christening, on the loth of February, the Queen's 
hand, ever so ready to help, had been the one to help 
: Albert to climb the bank of the sheet of water in 
s of BucUnghaoi Pakce when the tee had given 


e PUDce of Wides was bom on the 9th of Koveinber 

of die CTWwing ^ear, 1841. aod was dt o st epe^ with the 

Ei&g of Prassia far Ibs jod&thec, on Ibe a5th of Janaaiy 

IB Sl Getxge^ Chapd. As a ^edmen of ^ dviag te- 

, it was ^d diat die QtKvn looked odes, and she 

i TOT Koao-as about their Kctte da^^Kr, wbo was 

g fam ieetUn& Cboogb. raUfit far ^a^ iC appears 

I private letttis and yy*"*!' tbat mJmAs roidd Ime 

■Wtt aoR ji^ous or bencr iiiimatiil dan ife ^^WS 

Vmne DKKhei; The senke cttded Mdk Ike * IfaMwjdb 

KChoraa*'* bf Pknce Albert^ sfccnl 4esin. B* awl an 

natihcB wwlil send ercirboily away cnlKiaa^ dke mmo^ 


IV MARRIED LIFE 21 

whereas, with the " Hallelujah Chorus " they would go with 
hearts full of praise. 

Afterwards there was a grand installation of the King 
of Prussia as Knight of the Garter, and a splendid banquet 
in St. George's Hall. 

The court had become much brighter and more lively, 
and the Prince had persuaded his royal wife to give up 
her late hours, and indeed she soon found that only by 
early rising could she make time to see much of her 
children. 

Shortly after Samuel Wilberforce, Archdeacon of Surrey, 

son of the great anti-slavery champion, speaks of having 
been taken by the Prince to see " the young Duke of Corn- 
wall, and a very fine boy he is " (the eldest sons of our 
monarchs are bom Dukes of Cornwall and created Princes 
of Wales). 

Archdeacon Wilberforce was at that time one of the 
Prince's chaplains. The great beauty of his sermons and 
the remarkable fascination of his manners rendered him at 
that time always welcome at Windsor. He was wont in 
after life to say that the Prince was the ablest man with 
whom he ever conversed. 

Two years later, in 1845, he was made Bishop of Ox- 
ford, which involves being Chaplain to the Order of the 
Garter, and later he became Almoner, so as to have the 
distribution on Maundy-Thursday of royal gifts and silver 
pennies to persons equalling in number the Sovereign's age. 


CHAPTER V 


Victorian reign has been an era of great change, 
often brought about by inventions, whose importance was 
scarcely understood at the moment of their discovery. It 
is impossible here to dwell on thera in detail, but they had, 
for the most pari, dated from an earlier period. The power 
of steam in working machinery had been discovered in the 
last century, and its application to the loom and the forge 
had already enabled the coal districts of England to become 
the great workshop of the world. 

The work of women and children was needed in the 
factories, and multitudes flocked to Manchester, Bradford, 
and the cotton- weaving districts. Factory labour unre- 
stricted was fast becoming a cruel system of oppression, 
and it was the life-long toil of the generous-hearted Earl of 
Shaftesbury to obtain protection by the laws for those who 
could not protect themselves from the exactions of trade. 
Steam had also been appUed to locomotion, first by water, 
then by land, and during the earlier years of Queen Vic- 
toria a mighty system of railways was fast branching forth 
over Great Britain and the Continent, making an infinite 
difference in the facility of communication and transport 

This rendered possible the great invention of Rowland 
Hill, a commercial schoolmaster, who was the first to devise 
the pre-payment of every letter by a penny stamp, bringing 
down the cost of correspondence so that the number < ~ 


CHAP. V CHANGES 23 

letters might more than supply the difference of payment 
upon each. The amount was first reduced to fourpence, 
then emblematic envelopes were supplied which turned 
out more grotesque than useful ; but in 1840 the "Queen's 
head " stamp was introduced, and the postal system began 
which has gradually extended throughout the whole civil- 
ised world. 

Sir Robert Peel, the Prime Minister who succeeded 
Lord Melbourne when in 1841 the Whigs went out of 
office and the Conservatives came in, belonged to a family 
whose wealth and eminence had been gained in the early 
days of manufactories. His grandfather had been known 
as Parsley Peel, from a favourite pattern for calico prints 
suggested to his daughter Nancy by a parsley leaf. 

On the change of ministry the question of the ladies of 
the bedchamber was solved by the voluntary resignation of 
those more closely connected with politics. Mr. C. Greville 
(clerk of the council) speaks in the highest terms of the 
grace and dignity with which the Queen went through a 
change so painful to her as parting with Lord Melbourne, to 
whom she had trusted entirely for four years, together with 
his colleagues. Her whole conduct showed her morally, as 
well as by station, the greatest lady in the land, and Sir 
Robert Peel only wished to show her all consideration. 
The parting advice that Lord Melbourne left for him was 
no small testimony to her good sense. " Whenever he 
does anything," said the retiring minister, " or has anything 
to propose, let him explain to her clearly his reasons. The 
Queen is not conceited; she is aware there are many things 
she cannot understand, and she likes to have them ex- 
plained to her elementarily, not at length and in detail, 
but shortly and clearly." 

And now another calico printer, Richard Cobden, was 
working in the direction of fresh changes. The most 
urgent question of tiie day was on the Corn Law. Was a 
duty on imported corn to be maintained for the sake of 
giving what was termed "protection" to the agriculturists? 


24 THE VICTORIAN HALF CENTURY < 

Was it to the true advantage of the country that I 
should be as cheap as possible, or that the price should be 
kept up by the duty on foreign importations, so that the 
home farmer should be able to grow corn and pay his 
taxes without too much loss ? There were the further 
questions whether Great Britain were able to feed her 
whole population ; and again, if her farmers could not 
hold out against foreign competition, and the nation be- 
came dependent on supplies from without, what might be the 
result in case of a war or other disaster cutting these off? 

Meantime the price of bread depended on the harvest, 
and sometimes rose so high that there was considerable 
distress, which was most felt by the manufacturing popula- 
tion. Each party viewed the other as short-sighted and 
likely to ruin the country, and long ago the poet* Moore 
had written a humorous dialogue between Com and Cot ton J 
ending with ■ 

" Squire Corn would be down before long."' ^U 

Several attempts had been made to adjust the difference 
by a sliding scale of duty, by which the impost on foreign 
corn was lowered in proportion as a failure in the crops 
might enhance the price of wheat at home ; but there was 
a strong desire to do away with all such duties among 
persons unconnected with land, and this was brought to a 
head by Cobden's organisation of an anti-corn law league. 

No one had benefited more by the works of the giant 
steam than royalty itself. Formerly most sovereigns re- 
volved in as narrow a circle as chess kings, since the 
expense of moving with a large suite was excessive, accom- 
modation was hard to find, and hospitality was a heavy 
tax even on grandees. Queen Elizabeth had indeed made 
progresses— but, as it was said, partly for the sake of destroy- 
ing superfluous wealth in her nobles ; and in France a visit 
of Louis XIV. had caused the suicide of the chief cook of 
the Prince of Cond^ in despair at the delay of the i 
for the banquet. George III. had never gone farthi 


I 


V CHANGES IS 

Devonshire, and a visit from one monarch to another was 
regarded as an extraordinary event. Queen Victoria, how- 
ever, was able to favour her principal subjects with visits, 
without inconveniencing them more than was amply com- 
pensated by the honour and gratification, and great was the 
enjoyment of both Queen and Prince of the historical in- 
terest of Woburn Abbey and Hatfield House, and of Sir 
Robert Peel's noted collection of pictures at Drayton 
Manor. The country people thronged to see the Sover- 
eign, and throngs of farmers on horseback escorted them, 
sometimes almost smothering them with dust. In 1842 
the first visit was made to Scotland, and intensely enjoyed. 
King Leopold had always been a frequent visitor. His 
second wife was very much beloved by the Queen for 
her noble truthful nature. "Louise is perfect," she wrote, 
" so excellent, so full of every kind and high feeling, 
Albert is the only equal to hei in unselfishness." 

This charming lady was tlie daughter of the King of the 
French, Louis Philippe, who, during his exile in the days of 
the great French Revolution, had been an intimate friend 
of the Duke of Kent Moreover his daughter-in-law, the 
recently-widowed Duchess of Orleans, was a cousin on tlie 
mother's side of Prince Albert. In the August of 1843, 
the first trip of the royal steam yacht, Victoria and Albert, 
carried the personages whose name she bore to visit Louis 
Philippe and his family at the Chateau d'Eu, near Tr^porL 
In spite of the recent sorrow that had fallen on them by the 
fatal accident to the Duke of OHeans, it was a very happy 
time. The other sons and daughters of the French King 
were young and bright, and Queen Amelie was a tender 
motherly person, and there was all the ease and enjoyment 
of a large and lively family, a great novelty to one who had 
grown up in comparative solitude. The French soldiery 
and peasants at hand showed an enthusiasm for their young 
guest, and both sovereigns augured the extinction of the 
long instinctive hatred of English and French. Here is a 
pretty and touching scene recorded in the royal journal, 


26 THE VICTORIAN HALF CENTURY chap. 

when the young mother showed the elder, so recently 
bereaved of her eldest bom, the portrait of her little ones, 
" Puss and the boy.'' She said to us so dearly, so kindly, 
"God bless them, and may they never grieve you." I 
then expressed a wish that they might become like her 
children, and she said in one thing she hoped they might, 
viz. " in their attachment to their parents 1 But they bring 
grief too !" In saying this she looked down, her eyes filled 
with tears, and she added, " After all, as God wills." 

Immediately after there was a voyage to Belgium, where 
the great old historical towns were visited. One sentence 
of Prince Albert's letter about his uncle's children has a 
melancholy interest, " Little Charlotte is the prettiest child 
you ever saw." 

This summer of 1842 had seen another strange attempt 
on the Queen's life, one by a youth named Francis. 
Miss Liddell, one of her maids of honour, writes : " On 
the 29th May I was in-waiting at Buckingham Palace, and 
had attended divine service on Sunday at the Chapel Royal 
with the Queen and Prince Albert As we were driving 
back from church there was a momentary delay in the 
Birdcage Walk, but the ladies-in-waiting who were in the 
second carriage knew not the cause of the stoppage. 
However we noticed that the Prince looked annoyed, and 
went away with the equerries. The Queen, who was quite 
calm and collected, walked up the grand staircase to her 
apartments, talking to her ladies, and spoke of the sermon." 
The following day Miss Liddell and Miss Paget waited in 
vain for a summons to drive with the Queen, and they saw 
her drive off in an open carriage with Prince Albert. By 
and by they heard of the attempt of Francis, and in the 
evening, while the Queen was talking over the matter with 
Sir Robert Peel, she turned to Miss Liddell and said, " I 
dare say, Georgy, you were surprised at not driving with 
me this afternoon, but the fact was that as we returned 
from church yesterday, a man presented a pistol at the 
carriage window, which flashed in the pan. We were so 


taken by soipiise that he had time to escape; so I knew 
what was hanging over me, and was determined to cipose 

no life but my own." 

Well may she be called ** our lion heart." 

Sir Robert Fed, a man of h^^ily s e n siti ve frriin^ 
much overcome by the dai^er she inconed. 

Before Francis had been tiied, another attempt 
made by a hunchback named Bean. The tenible sentence 
of deadi seemed rather to £siscinate than deter these 
maniacs, so a bill was passed making flo^;ii^ and im- 
prisonment the penalty, and this had the desired effect 

One great undertaking whidi the Frince was carrying 
out was the arrangement of the domestic afiairs of the 
palace. Each change of ministiy changed the great officers 
of the crown, and as they were charged with the ordinary 
household duties, and did not live in the palace, there 
was nobody to take care that anything was done: The 
lord steward found the fuel, the lord chamberlain had the 
fires lighted ; the lord chamberlain provided lamps, the 
lord steward the oil ; and as the outside of the palace was 
the charge of the Woods and Forest, and the inside that of 
the lord chamberlain, the cleaning or mending of a window 
was a delicate matter, taking months to accomplish, and 
most of the servants were practically under no control at alL 
The waste of course was excessive, and Prince Albert did his 
best for reforms, but could not succeed till 1843, when the 
whole economy of the palaces was made over to a single 
head, the master of the household ; and from that time it 
became possible to exercise that noble form of frugality 
which, cutting off foolish waste and needless personal in- 
dulgence, leaves full room for needful splendour and royal 
munificence and charity. 

It may be worth noticing here that all the special 
fashions connected with Her Majesty are of the quiet, 
simple, and sensible order, and that while she was still a 
young woman, whose dress gave the general style, there 
were far fewer absurdities of taste than at almost any other 


THE VICTORIAN HALF CENTURY 


and expression, 
many complim 
thanked her a ( 
if only I had m 
a long breath." 
best conscience i 


I thought to myself, one must not paj 
s on such an occasion, so I merely I 
it many times, on which she said, " Oh 1 I 
leen so frightened, generally I have such ' 
I'hen I praised her heartily and with the 
1 the world, for just that part, with the 
long C at the close, she had done so we!!, and taking the 
three notes next to it all in the same breath, as one seldom 
hears it done, and therefore it amused me doubly that she 
herself should have begun about it. Afterwards the Prince 
sang " Es ist ein Schnitter," and Mendelssohn improvised 
till it was time for Her Majesty to start for Claremont 

Lady Lyttelton speaks of the remarkable beauty of the 
Prince's performance on the organ, and the manner in 
which he poured out with it his inmost souL " Nobody 
but the organ knows what is in him, except indeed by the J 
look of his eyes sometimes." 

A third child was added to the royal nursery on 
z5th of April 1843, Alice Maud Mary, destined to be the 1 
great darling of the family, and the first to be taken from 
them. 


CHAPTER VI 

THE FIRST AFGHAN WAR 

The leader of the House of Lords and the chief military 
authority in England was the great Duke of Wellington, 
the Duke, as he was universally called. He had lived 
down the unpopularity he had incurred during the Reform 
agitation, and was regarded by the Queen with almost a 
daughter's affection and respect, and by the nation with 
pride and reverence, as not only the greatest living general 
but as the very soul of honour and uprightness. As Scott 
had written : — 

'* Not a peoples* just acclaim, 
Not the full hail of £urope*s fame, 
Thy prince's smiles, thy state's decree, 
The ducal rank, the gartered knee ; 
Not these such pure delight afiford 
As that, when hanging up thy sword. 
Well may'st thou think, "This honest steel 
Was ever drawn for public weal, 
And, such was rightful heaven's decree, 
Ne'er sheathed unless with victory." 

Since the American war had ended in 1782 no disaster had 
befallen the British arms ; and thus it was all the greater 
shock when, early in 1842, the overland mail from India 
brought the tidings of the utter destruction of an English 
force in the Khyber Pass, in the mountains of Afghanistan, 
only one man, Dr. Brydon, an army surgeon, having 


3* THE VICTOIIIAN HALF CENTURY chap. 

escaped, half dead, drooping over the necit of a worn-out 
pony, to tell the tale in the frontier town of Jellalabad. 

Afghanistan, a country of mountains and fierce hill 
tribes, lying between the Russian and the British dominions, 
had been taken into alliance by England. The cause of 
one of the pretenders to the chieftainship had been 
espoused, and an English and Sepoy force of about 5000 
had been placed in the city of Cabul, ostensibly for his 
protection, but also as a check upon possible advances on 
the part of Russia. 

Discontents arose, and in the November of 1841 Sir 
Alexander Bumes, with his brother and another officer, 
was murdered in his own house at Cabul, and a fortnight 
later the envoy. Sir William Macnaghten, was also treacher- 
ously slain during a conference with Akbar Khan, the 
chief of the insurgents. The country was rising, the season 
prevented any aid being sent from India, and the general 
in command was feeble and aged. Retreat was decided 
upon, and it was hoped was secured by treaty ; but Akbar 
neither could nor would restrain the ferocious hill tribes. 
The mere journey in the month of January through the 
passes of nigged mountains covered with snow would have 
been bad enough for an army encumbered with numerous 
women, children, and camp followers. Snow and frost had 
caused the death of many even before, ten miles from 
Cabul, the troops reached the terrible Khybar Pass, between 
walls of rock and precipice, five miles long, and all the heigjits 
above alive with merciless enemies. An officer returned to 
remonstrate with Akbar, who undertook to put an end to 
these attacks if some of the principal officers were surrendered 
to him as hostages. This was done, but without any effect 
except depriving the mass of unfortunate beings of their 
leaders. They struggled on, utterly disorganised, shot down 
at every step. Lady Sale, whose Imsband was commandant 
at Jellalabad, and the widowed Lady Macnaghten were 
surrendered to Akbar ; and afterwards General Elphinstone 
and Colonel Shelton, whose regiment, the 44th, was utterly 


VI THE FIRST AFGHAN WAR 33 

destroyed. The savages placed barriers across the narrower 
parts of the pass, and cut down or made prisoners all who 
were thus penned in, till only about forty succeeded in 
escaping from this valley of the shadow of death ; and cold, 
privation, and exhaustion, as well as the pursuers, made an 
end of all these, so that Dr. Brydon alone reached Jellala- 
bad on the 13th of January. 

The enemy surrounded that city, and it was in the 
utmost danger till, on the 7 th of April, Sir Robert Sale 
made a gallant sally, set the besiegers' camp on fire, and 
forced them to retreat. In the summer Generals Nott and 
Pollock brought a force of English and Sepoys, and after a 
course of successes liberated the captives, all but General 
Elphinstone, who had died. Lady Macnaghten had actu- 
ally been forced to grind corn between two stones, and the 
English troops were only just in time to save her from 
being carried off to the Usbeck Tartars. The victory was 
complete, but it was decided to give up the country, being 
a very difficult one to guard, and the fortresses, including 
Jellalabad, were dismantled, and the troops returned to 
India, saddened by the sight of the bones which strewed 
the fatal pass. It was supposed to be gratifying to the 
national feelings of the Sepoys that the sandal wood gates 
of the Temple of Somnauth, carried off 800 years before, 
were brought back in order to be restored. 

The Queen had deeply grieved over these disasters, but 
only two years had passed before a fresh war broke out 
with the Sikhs, a gallant warrior tribe, with whom Sir 
Harry Smith and Sir Hugh Gough fought three battles 
at Moodkee, Ferozeshah, and Aliwal, very hardly con- 
tested, and therefore the more glorious; but in the first 
the brave Sir Robert Sale ended his noble career. By the 
treaty that followed the Sikh country south of the Indus, 
called the Punjaub, or land of five rivers, was placed under 
British protection, though governed by native princes. 

In the meantime the Duke was induced by Prince Albert 
to use his influence in putting down the barbarous and un- 

D 


34 


THE VICTORIAN HALF CENTURY 


christian code of honour which made it even in a civilian 
an exertion of great moral courage to decline a challenge 
to a duel, and such a refusal by a soldier caused such 
a stigma as was equivalent to the loss of his commis- 
sion. It used to be a wonder in popular hterature to find 
a lale without a duel, and Christian heroes were made to 
decline them at a terrible cost In point of fact, sensible 
men could almost always avoid the necessity, but the heat 
of politics, the rivalries of love, and the quarrels of dissipa- 
tion still led to them, and even the Duke himself had foughL 
The law was powerless, but an amendment in tbe Ardcles 
of War declared it suitable to the character of honourable 
men to apologise or to accept an apology in case of offence 
given or received, and thus England set an example, unfor- 
tunately not yet followed elsewhere, of preventing this 
savage practice. Both Queen and Prince were deeply 
religious, with a dread of exclusiveness, and with an earnest 
desire to promote rehgion and morality in the nation. 

The Queen had grieved over the death of her first Premier, 
Lord Melbourne. " A most kind and disinterested friend, 
and most deeply attached to me," were her own words. 
He had died in 1842, after a long decay, often cheered by 
kind letters and messages from his royal mistress. 


CHAPTER VII 

THE IRISH FAMINE 

Briefly must be recorded the birth of a second prince, 
Alfred, now Duke of Edinburgh, at Windsor, on the 6th of 
August 1844, and likewise a visit from that splendid poten- 
tate, the Czar Nicolas I., one of those men whose stern 
resolution and activity make them great forces in the world. 
He so lived in his uniform that he said that out of it he 
felt as if he had lost his skin, and he always slept on a 
leathern sack stuffed with hay I A return visit was also 
paid by Louis Philippe, and the Queen much enjoyed a 
tour in the Prince's native country, visiting all his haunts. 
She was enthusiastically welcomed everywhere, and at 
Cologne, outside Farina's factory, the ground was sprinkled 
with the famous scent named from that city. 

Alas ! that same summer of 1845 a different scent began 
to be known, which has since become only too familiar — 
namely, the peculiar smell which announces the potato 
blight, beginning in the haulm. Potatoes had within the last 
half century become to a great degree the sheet-anchor of 
the English peasantry. In every cottage that had a garden 
the daily dinner was on potatoes, the bit of bacon being 
the Sunday treat ; and in Ireland these were almost the 
exclusive food. The light peaty soil suited them, and the 
slight intermittent labour they required agreed with the habits 
of the people. The Englishman ate a good deal of bread, 
the Irishman scarcely anything but " praties " and oatmeal. 


36 THE VICTORIAN HALF CENTURY 

The surnmer of 1845 was wet, close, and thundery, causing 
the wheat harvest to be unusually bad ; while the blight 
spread among the potatoes with the virulence of a new 
disease, and made such devastation that it even seemed as 
if the species might be extinct. 

A famine was imminent in both countries. The only 
thing to be done was to admit corn free of the duty, but 
the question was whether this should be only during the 
actual scarcity, or whether the com laws should be entirely 
repealed. Sir Robert Peel, feeling that he was held to be ■ 
bound to support protection, resigned office; but the Whigs 
failing to form a Cabinet, he resumed his post as Premier, 
and carried through the total repeal of the corn laws, 
though at the expense of being regarded by the Protec- 
tionists as a traitor to their cause. They combined with 
the Whigs to defeat him at the next session of Parliament, 
and in June 1846 Lord John Russell came into office. 

It had been impossible to avert severe distress even in 
England. Every potato not infected was saved for seed, 
and the poor suffered severely, but were spared from actual 
starvation, and gradually learnt to depend on a greater 
variety of food. Their condition, however, was wealth 
compared to that of the Irish, who lost all they had to 
depend upon. 

Vigorous efforts were made for their relief. The hearts 
of the English bled for them, and, unprosperous as the 
harvest had been, all classes vied with one another in sub- 
scribing to a fund for their relief. The Queen headed 
the list with thousands; all according to their degree gave, 
often with self-denials, trifling but real Young men at the 
University stinted themselves of desserts, little children gave 
up their pudding. A Government grant of a million was 
made for reclaiming waste lands, so as to give employment 
and payment, and half that sum for buying seed. The 
Queen herself had only secondary flour used in her kitchen. 
Every day nearly two millions of rations were distributed to 
the starving people, chiefly of rice and Indian-cor 


VII THE IRISH FAMINE 37 

by the Government, besides great exertions made by private 
charity. As many as possible were persuaded to emigrate 
and supplied with all necessaries for the voyage ; but in 
spite of all that could be done the misery was appalling. 

The country is such as to be thinly inhabited, and the 
people at all times were content to live in the merest 
hovels, with no comforts, no resources, on wild moorland 
tracts, where, when their crop failed and their pig and cow 
were gone, there was nothing to fall back on. The fever 
that goes with hunger set in, and hundreds died either 
from that or sheer starvation. Lonely cabins on the 
mountain side were found with the last survivor lying dead, 
and whole families were utterly swept away. The relief 
was difficult to organise. Some resented having to work, 
many were discontented with the meal and rice, and 
though there were many most noble and touching cases 
of patience and self-devotion among the sufferers, it was 
no wonder that more than one good clergyman, landlord, 
and lady absolutely died of the sorrow, exertion, and 
self-denial they underwent in the endeavour to relieve the 
misery around. To individuals there was warm gratitude, 
to England as a nation none, but rather a strange idea 
that all was her fault. The distress of the two years from 
'45 to '47 was no doubt frightful Whole districts in the 
south were depopulated by hunger, disease, or emigration, 
and it is said that the Irish character has never entirely 
recovered the old rollicking fun and gaiety that used to 
mark it. 

Princess Helena had been bom in 1846, and the quiet 
days of autumn set in. The careful economy exercised 
by Prince Albert had enabled the Queen to purchase the 
estate of Osborne in the Isle of Wight, the great and espe- 
cial delight of both. " The fine air," the Prince writes, 
"will be of service to Victoria and the children, and I, 
partly builder, partly farmer, partly gardener, expect to be 
a good deal upon my legs and in the open air." " It is a 
relief," wrote the Queen, " to be away from all the bitter- 


38 THE VICTORIAN HALF CENTURY chap, vii 

ness people create for themselves in London." The new 
buildings were first occupied on the 15 th of September 
1846. After dinner the Queen's health was drunk as a 
house-warming, and in the course of the day Prince Albert 
repeated in German some lines from a h)niin of Luther's. — 


(( 


God bless our going out, 
Our coming in, bless too ; 

Our daily bread, and all 
We do or do not do. 

Bless when we peaceful die, 

As heirs beyond the sky.*' 


CHAPTER VIII 

THE YEARS OF REVOLUTION 

The Queen was greatly pained by an action on the part 
of France which she could not approve, and which 
threatened to overthrow the friendship between her and 
Louis Philippe, namely, the marriage of his son, the Duke 
of Montpensier, to the Infanta Louisa, sister to the Queen 
regnant of Spain, at the same time as Queen Isabella 
herself wedded her cousin, a Spanish prince. 

It had been distinctly understood that the Infanta 
should not marry a French prince while she remained 
heiress -presumptive to the crown, since any close union 
between the thrones of France and Spain had always been 
viewed with dread and jealousy by the European powers. 
Queen Victoria felt the matter so strongly that she wrote 
with great force to the Queen of the Belgians, explaining 
her feelings not only as a sovereign but as a woman who 
felt for the young Queen of Spain in having a dull, inferior, 
^.nd uncongenial husband forced upon her. The Belgian 
Queen was addressed because her father had already made 
her the medium of his very lame defence. It had been 
a case of vaulting ambition overreaching itself. The 
manifestation of desire for family aggrandisement rendered 
the French nation distrustful of "the citizen king," at a 
time when agitation seemed in the air. "Europe," as 
Prince Albert had written, " seemed in a ticklish condition." 
The election of Pio IX., a Pope who began with liberal 


J 


40 THE VICTORIAN HALF CENTURY 

tendencies, had excited the patriots of Italy into a 1 
ferment, France was in a slate of suppressed agitatiol^ 
and on ihe joih of February 1848 the attempt of Govern- 
ment to prevent a dangerous political banquet led to an 
insurrection in Paris. Louis Philippe quailed in the 
moment of peril, resigned his crown to his young grand- 
son, the Count of Paris, and fled The Duchess of 
Orleans bravely tried to present her son to the people in 
the Chamber of Deputies, but she was howled down and 
safely conveyed away and out of Paris. Queen Victoria 
forgot all the offences of Louis Philippe, and felt only 
anxiety and sorrow. "We have had," she wrote, "since 
the 25lh enough for a whole lifetime — anxiety, sorrow, 
excitement- — in short, I feel as if we had jumped over 
thirty years' experience at once. The whole face of 
Europe is changed, and I feel as if in a dream I " 

In small detachments, travelling in disguise, the members 
of the Orleans family arrived in England, and were wel- 
comed with the warmest kindness and pity. Many were 
quite young children. The king and queen came as Mr. 
and Mrs. William Smith in a steamer from Havre lo New- 
haven on the 2d of March, and were offered a home in the 
old palace of Claremont, belonging to King Leopold, for 
life, and there the scattered party began to reunite, " You 
know," wrote our Queen to Baron Stockmar, "my love 
for the family. Vou know how I longed to get on better 
terms with them again, . . . Little did 1 dream that this 
would be the way we should meet again, and see each 
other in the most friendly way. That the Duchess o( 
Montpensier, about whom we have been quarrelling for 
the last year and a half, should be here as a fugitive, and 
dressed in the clothes I sent her, and should come to 
thank me for my kindness, is a reverse of fortune which 
no novelist could devise." 

Germany was likewise in an uproar, and the Queen 
felt much anxiety for her friends there. In London there 
was a feeble attempt at a riot, only serving lo show the 1 


VIII THE YEARS OF REVOLUTION 41 

loyalty of the great mass of the citizens. Scotland had 
some more serious risings, but these were put down. 
However, the Chartists were stimulated to draw up a 
monster petition, with which they announced their inten- 
tion of marching from Kennington Common to the House 
of Parliament, evidently designing to begin a revolution 
such as had overthrown Government and brought in 
anarchy and bloodshed in many a city of the Continent. 
The day was to be the loth of April. The Queen's courage 
and confidence in her people never failed ; but it was 
thought wiser that she should leave London, and she went 
down to Osborne, when the Princess Louise was three 
weeks old, whilst the Duke of Wellington undertook to 
protect the country, keeping troops in reserve, ready to be 
brought forward on any need arising, but not showing a 
man of them except the ordinary sentries on guard in 
public places. The preservation of order was entrusted to 
the voluntary services of 170,000 men of all ranks, from 
duke to artizan, who presented themselves to be sworn in 
as special constables, among them Prince Louis Napoleon, 
afterwards Napoleon HI. They cheered the great captain 
heartily as he quietly went to his accustomed place at the 
Horse Guards. The huge procession, which was announced 
as likely to be half a million, proved to be of scarcely 8000. 
Not a blow was struck, not a shot was fired, not a window 
broken, the procession broke up when the police refused to 
let them pass the bridges, and the petition was conveyed in 
three cabs to the Houses of Parliament. The signatures 
were only a fifth part of the number expected, and of these 
many names were merely copied out of directories, with the 
addition of those of the Queen and Duke of Wellington, 
and such fabrications as No Cheese, Pugnose, Flatnose, etc. 

Never was there a greater failure or a fuller demonstra- 
tion of loyalty, and the royal pair at Osborne had thank- 
ful, grateful hearts. 

Irish troubles were, however, mending. The strange 
contradictory character of the Celtic natives, tender yet 


4a TIIE \^CTORIAS HALF CENTURY chap. 

cruel, faithful yet treacherous, pious yet false, eager yet 
indolent, patient yet passionate, utterly disr^arding all life 
except their own, has rendered them almost impossible to be 
governed either by themselves or any one else, ever since 
the first English settlement and the grant by the Pope to 
Henry 11. in 1170. The difficulty had only been increased 
by the importation of Norman, English, and Scottish settlers 
at different periods, for the lapse of centuries has not pre- 
vented them from being viewed by the populace as usurpers 
and aliens ; and savage ferocity on the Irish side awoke 
fierce hatred and retribution on theirs, all being compli- 
cated by the neglect of the Church at the Reformation to 
provide instruction for the natives, which gave the Roman 
Catholic Church the opportunity of winning them to a 
vehement devotion to her cause, so that religious opposition 
embittered all the rest 

Ever since the beginning of the century, when the Union 
took place, there had been a course of concession and an 
endeavour to conciliate, but whatever was granted only 
emboldened the Irish to demand more, especially the re- 
peal of the Union. Fanatic gentlemen, among whom was 
specially notable Mr Smith O'Brien, took up the cause, and 
furious denunciations were made in Irish papers, together 
with suggestions how to overpower the soldiery in a popular 
rising. At Limerick a meeting was to be held at the Garr- 
field Club, but the party of the late Daniel O'Connell were 
at enmity with that of Smith O'Brien, and set upon them. 
Smith O'Brien was too severely handled to attend the 
meeting, and the others were attacked at the banquet. As 
Thackeray's ballad declared^ ^ 

" They smashed the lovely windies, ^^| 

Hung with muslin Trom the Indies, ^H 

Tucsuing of theit shindys ^H 
Upon Shannon shore," 

The police — objects of hatred and contumely to those 
would-be patriots— were called upon for their defence and 
dispersed the mob, and the meeting took place with'j 


VIII THE YEARS OF REVOLUTION 43 

windows boarded up ; but a fortnight later Smith O'Brien 
and his chief confederates were arrested for seditious 
language, but only one, Mitchel, was convicted, as the 
Irish Juries would not agree on their verdict in the other 
cases. He was transported to the Bermuda Islands. 

The Irish raged, and the Chartists uttered threats ; the 
Government was said to be murdering the Irish, where- 
upon Punch put forth a cartoon showing the manner of it, 
i.e, the viceroy. Lord Clarendon, being aimed at by a horde of 
ruffians. In July Smith O'Brien actually tried to organise 
an insurrection, and got together about a thousand men. 
These were encountered by about a hundred and fifty armed 
police at Widow M*Cormick's house, at the Bog of Bou- 
lagh, Ballingarry. There was a little firing, and the rebels 
broke up and dispersed, Mr O'Brien creeping away on all 
fours through the cabbage garden. After wandering about 
the country for some days he was arrested, and brought to 
trial for high treason with his chief confederates. Sentence 
of death was pronounced on them, but was commuted to 
transportation for life, and the absurdity of the cabbage- 
garden adventure had a very wholesome effect upon the 
country. 

While other governments were falling, and war and 
terror raged all over Europe, the machinations of the dis- 
affected in Britain were overthrown with scarce the shedding 
of a drop of blood. 


CHAPTER IX 


THE HIGHLAND HOME 

Through these troubles and perplexities the Quee 
two great refreshments, intercourse with her children at all 
times, and her holidays spent in the Isle of Wight, in yacht- 
ing, or in Scotland. Madame de Bunsen, the English 
wife of the Prussian Ambassador, thus describes her : 
"She is the only piece of female royalty I ever saw who 
was also a creature such as God Almighty has created. 
Her smile is a teal smile, her grace is natural ; although it 
has received a high polish from cultivation, there is nothing 
artificial about her." 

In spite of all her many occupations she was the most 
careful of mothers. Not only were the little sayings and 
doings of " Vicky and Bertie " chronicled with the delight 
all parents feel, but her watchfulness continued as nursery 
days passed away and schoolroom days began. The gover- 
nesses were carefully chosen, but in addition to this the 
Queen watched over the religious instruction of the chil- 
dren ; and either she or Prince Albert knew what each 
child was learning, what books they read, and what was 
the progress. There was no indolence nor helplessness 
allowed. And above all, they were bred up to be kind 
and helpful. 

As they grew old enough one after another became 
companions in the holiday expeditions, when Scotland 
became more and more the attraction both on account of 


CHAP. IX THE HIGHLA3a> H03f£ 45 

the Highland sceneiy and <^ the shooting, which was one 
of the indulgences that Prince Albert allowed himself. 
The fine mountain air was so beneficial to all the family 
that their physician, & James Qaik, strong advised 
them to purchase a house in Aberdeenshire, and Prince 
Albert was able to accomplish the acquisitioQ of Bal- 
moral Castle at his own expense, without asking anything 
firom the nation. It was in the midst of beaotifiil wooded 
hills, quite solitary, and afiording opportnnhies for deer- 
stalking and for shooting ; while die Qneen was delighted 
with the Highland cotters in the nei^bouihood, and 
made fiiends with them like any homely ^ leddy " of the 
country. 

Her year was generally arranged so as to keep Christmas 
in her stately ancestral iKnne at \llndsor, while the Prince 
lived, spend the time cfaiefiy devoted to public business 
and receptions at Buckingham Palace, with snatches of 
refi'eshment at Osborne House, where the earlier sum- 
mer with interludes of yachting was passed, and the later 
months of warmth and beauty were given to the Highland 
home. 

It consisted, when first inhabited, of a litde hall, with 
a billiard - room ; next to it the dining-room; upstairs a 
large sitting-room, bedroom, and dressing-room, and oppo- 
site rooms for the chDdren and their governess. Miss HM- 
yard, rooms for the ladies below, and the gentlemen above. 
The Queen says, ^ It was so calm and so solitary, it did 
one good as one gazed around, and the pure mountain air 
was most refi'eshing. All seemed to breathe fi-eedom and 
peace, and to make one forget the world and its sad tur- 
moils.'' *^ The Queen, running in and out of the house all 
day," says Mr. Greville, " goes into the cottages and chats 
with the old women." 

When the Prince went out shooting the Queen occasion- 
ally rode with him on a pony, litde heeding wind or weather, 
and they even spent a day or two at a couple of huts on the 
mountain side. Their delight in scenery mas great, and both 


4S THE VICTORIAN HALF CENTURY chap. 

were fond of sketching. The children enjoyed themselves 
greatly, and the rest was great after the constraints and 
anxieties of the court Among these must not be entirely 
passed over a misunderstanding with Lord Palmerston, 
then Foreign Secretary. A veteran in ofEce, he was accus- 
tomed to manage its affairs in his own way with scarcely 
any reference to the Queen's wishes or views. She had now 
reigned twelve years, and had considerable experience and 
strong opinions, and she saw several acts carried out con- 
trary to her own desires. Remonstrances were made, but 
Lord Palmerston was a man of imperturbable good humour 
and courtesy, and the strongest language had often been 
found to make no impression on him. When argued with 
by the Prince, and told that the Queen thought herself 
treated with disrespect, he had tears in his eyes and showed 
unusual tokens of depression, but no promises for the 
future could be extracted from him. The Queen was seri- 
ously mortified at being practically treated as if her Minister 
were accountable only to the nation and not to her, but 
the spirited manner in which she had behaved caused more 
deference to be shown to her. 

Another Indian war had broken out The Ptinjaub 
was under British protection, but the native governor of 
Mooltan was murdered by his son, Moulraj Singh, whose 
misrule was such that the chief of the country gave authority 
to Lieutenant Anderson and Mr. Vans Agnew to depose 
him. But Mooltan was bent on revolt against the stranger, 
and those two gendemen were murdered on the i8th of 
April 1848, and the Punjaub was in a state of rebellion, 
lieutenant Herbert Edwardes, however, was equal to the 
occasion. He had with him one Sepoy regiment, 850 
horse, and a few swivel guns. He hurried to Mooltan, 
raising levies among the loyal Sikhs on the way, and suc- 
ceeding by his friendly manners with tliem in making thera 
as faithful as they were brave. With their help he kept 
Moulraj Singh penned fast in Mooltan, an achievement 
the more remarkable that, on almost the first day of the 


IX THE HIGHLAXD HOME 47 

siege, his hand was shattefed br an accident with bk own 
pistol, and all his oideis were grren as be iaj on bis 
bed in his tent with his hand on a pillow. Mooitan was 
the town where Alexander the Great bad once ciimbed 
over the earthen rampart, and barelj escaped with bis 
life. The place, with earthen lampart and trees growing 
within, was little changed since his time, and the brareiy 
of the besi^ers was equal to that of the great con- 
queror of (^d. Major Wbish finaHj anrred and rtduced 
the place. 

Meantime the insurgents ibogbt a desperate battle with 
Sir Hugh Goug^ at ChUliairwallab — so imd&dsre that Sir 
Charles Na{Her was sent out in all baste to take the com- 
mand. He was an old Peninsular hero, wont to declaim 
against the quantity of baggage which exicumbered Engiish 
armies, and to declare that a dean shirt iuad jAtoe of v>ap 
were enough luggage for anj soldier. He mstot all hi^ttd^ 
but before he reached the scei>e of action. Sir Hugh (mai^ 
had retrieved his lame bf a grand rkxorj at G<x/>erat, and 
thenceforth the Punjaub was added to the British ^Amnkjnt 
in India, and the Sikhs became fiaxrhfuJ adhertms to om 
cause, as they learnt to tmcersuux! the difererx^e between 
Elnglish justice and the xmcax^m rule of these nauve 
chie^ 

Sir Chaiies N^^ner returned home in the k/lk/win^ year, 
1850, after having spoken reiy highly of the ga^Iar^try and 
obedience of the Sepoys — our natire uMkry of India-— and 
censured the extravagance of the English <^ja%, TT«uf 
the second Victorian war had ended in so^xewL 

But a great disaster was the death of Sir Robert Peel, 
who was actually riding to the palace when his hone t^irew 
him on Constitntion HiH His collar bone and one of his 
ribs were broken. He had the nerroos and ikensitive con- 
stitution that often belongs to orators, and with him f/ain 
was specially acute The broken rib pressed on the lung, 
and after four days of terrible sufierin^ he died on the 2d 
of July r85a " Death has snatched ix<An us" wrote th»e 


48 THE VICTORIAN HALF CENTURY chap. 

Prince, " the best of men, our truest friend, the strongest 
bulwark of the throne, the greatest statesman of our time." 
The Queen mourned as for one of her own family. She 
would fain have conferred a peerage on his widow in recog- 
nition of his services, but Lady Peel replied that her wish 
was to bear no other title than that by which her husband 
had been known — and that, indeed, it had been his special 
desire that none of his family should accept such distinc- 
tions, as if his public services had been done with a view to 
any reward. 

Two other losses had in these years touched the Queen 
nearly — that, on the 2d of December 1849, of good Queen 
Adelaide, who had been always most kind to her in her 
girlhood; and of her uncle, the Duke of Cambridge, a 
good-natured old gentleman, of whom she was very fond, 
who died on the 8th of July 1850. 

The few survivors among the advisers of her earlier 
days were the more valued, — above all the great Duke of 
Wellington, who was in his eightieth year, and, though 
full of vigour, had greatly desired to resign to Prince 
Albert his post as Commander-in-Chief. It is no small 
testimony to the merits of the Prince that one so wholly 
free from any shade of adulation, and so well able to judge, 
should have deliberately thought the army and country 
safest in his hands. The Prince, however, thought it wiser 
not to accept such an office, partly from want of military 
experience, also because his work as the Queen's chief 
private secretary occupied him fully, and above all, because 
he thought his intimate union with the Crown would be 
a disadvantage to the office. 

This transaction had taken place before the loss of Peel 
in the spring of 1850, and when, on the Duke's 8ist birth- 
day, the I St of May, another Prince was bom, he was made 
godson to the old hero, and received his name of Arthur. 
Such a compliment to a subject was almost unexampled 
except in the case of Duguesclin, the defender of France, 
and then, though he was sponsor, his name was not given. 


IX THE HIGHLAND HOME 49 

The little brother, Prince Albert wrote, was " received by 
his sisters with jubilates,^* " Now we are just as many as 
the days of the week ! " was the cry, and then a bit of a 
struggle arose as to who was to be the Sunday. Out of 
well-bred courtesy the honour was assigned to the new- 
comer. 


E 


During the last two years the mind of the Prince had 
been full of a grand scheme for a universal exhibition of 
the produce of the art and industry of the whole world. 
So familiar has the idea become of an Internationa] 
Exhibition that it is difficult to realise how much opposi- 
tion, difficulty, and even derision, Prince Albert had to 
undergo before the scheme could be carried out. Single 
countries had held exhibitions of their own productions, 
but no one had ever devised uniting those of every land 
Indeed, till the nineteenth century, it was held to be one 
of the first principles of political economy to encourage 
home manufacture by keeping out as much as possible 
every foreign importation, and to do everything to hinder 
money from being carried out of the country. No^ J 
indeed, till the days of steam locomotion by sea and laiM 
would the mere transport have been manageable. 

The idea was first started by the Prince in July 1849,"! 
but it could not be rapidly matured, and much preparation 
was required. Indeed, the revolutions of the Continent 
had scarcely subsided, and it remained to be proved 
whether the English would willingly put themselves in com- 
petition with all the world. Large minded men embraced 
the scheme. Sir Robert Peel, at the time of his death, 
was warmly interested in it, but the necessary 1 
was such an addition to the Prince's other toils that 1 


I 


CHAP. X THE GREAT EXHIBITION 51 

health threatened to break down under the strain. " No 
one believes he is ever nervous, which he is," said the 
Queen. 

However difficulties gradually smoothed down. The 
world was for a short time at peace. France was subsiding 
under the strong grasp of Louis Napoleon. The peaceful 
challenge had been universally accepted, and the difficulty 
of finding an erection fit to contain all that was promised 
was met by Mr. Paxton, the head of the grand garden 
establishment of the Duke of Devonshire at Chatsworth, 
where the conservatories had made him aware of the 
capacities of glass and iron work. 

A Crystal Palace was devised high enough to contain, 
without injury, more than one of the elm trees growing in 
Hyde Park, under the domed roof of its central nave. 
Other and much larger edifices of the same kind have 
succeeded it, but none fit to be compared with it in beauty 
and grace, their very size rendering the unity then accom- 
plished a problem hitherto unsolved. It was to them as 
Mount Bianc to Chimborazo or Everest, No one who 
can remember that first building can forget the strange 
thrill of wonder and delight at the entrance ; the combina- 
tion of space, light, and colour, the fountains, statues, and 
details, and the wonders of each court, with the works 
hitherto unseen and in minute perfection, ranging from 
Saxony linen like spun-silver to bouquets of diamonds and 
emeralds, while the exquisite Greek slave might contrast 
with the relentless-looking machinery grinding on its course. 
There was much less of the sense of a huge advertisement 
ot shop than in its successors, far more of the feeling 
expressed by the inscripUon round the arch of the principal 
aisle, " The Earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof," — 
words which, by the bye, a French visitor thought showed 
the adulation of the English towards the nobility. 

The Queen's description of the opening day, the ist of 
May 1S51, is written in the fulness of her heart: "The 
glimpse of the transept through the iron gates, the waving 


5i THE VICTOR!AN HALF CENTURY cH 

palms, flowers, statues, myriads of people filling 
galleries and seats around, with the flourish of trumpets 
as we entered, gave us a sensation I can never forget, and 
I felt much moved. We went for a moment to a litfle 
side room, where we left our shawls, and where we found 
mamma and Mary,' and outside which were standing the 
other princes. In a few seconds we proceeded, Albert 
leading me, having Vicky at his hand and Bertie holding 
mine. The sight, as we came to the middle, where the 
steps and chair (which I did not sit on) were placed, with 
the beautiful crystal fountain just in front of it — was 
magical — so vast, so glorious, so touching. One felt, as 
so many did whom I have since spoken to, filled with 
devotion, more so than by any service I have ever heard. 
The tremendous cheers, the joy expressed in every face, 
the immensity of the building, the mixture of palms, 
flowers, trees, statues, fountains, the organ (with aoo 
instruments and 600 voices, which sounded like nothing), 
and my beloved husband, the author of this Peace 
Festival, which united the industry of all nations of the 
earth. All this was moving indeed, and it was and is a 
day to live for ever. God bless my dearest Albert I God 
bless my dearest country, which has shown itself so great 
to-day. One felt so grateful to the great God, who seemed 
to pervade all and to bless all I The only event it in the 
slightest degree reminded me of was the coronation, but 
this day's festival was a thousand times superior. In fact 
it is unique, and can bear no comparison from its peculiar 
beauty and combination of such striking and different 
objects. I mean the slight resemblance only as to its 
solemnity, the enthusiasm and cheering too were much 
more touching, for in a church naturally all is silent. , . . 
That we felt happy, thankful, I need not say; proud of all 
that had passed, of my darling husband's success, and of | 
the behaviour of my good people." 

Well she might be, for though 25,000 people were| 

' Princess Maiy of Cambridge, now DuchcsB of Teck. 


I 


X THE GREAT EXHIBITION 53 

within the building, and 700,000 outside to watch the 
procession, there was not one accident, not one police case ! 

It was the Sad birthday of the old Duke, the first 
of his little godson. The elder Arthur came to visit the 
younger later in the afternoon, bringing a gold cup and 
some toys, chosen by himself, and the little fellow gave 
him a bunch of lilies of the valley, an incident very prettily 
represented in a picture by Winterhalter, where the Queen 
appears to have snatched the child from his bed. 

The Exhibition was closed on the nth of October, 
when the list of prize-holders was read, to the number of 
2918 for skill and beauty of workmanship, and 279 for 
inventions. The whole was wound up by a prayer of 
thanksgiving, read by the Bishop of London, followed by 
■ ! Hallelujah Chorus. 

This had been an unusually happy and peaceful year. 
The next began with a change of Ministry, bringing in the 
Conservatives, with the Earl of Derby as Premier, a chival- 
rous high-spirited gentleman, a type of the finest race of 
nobles, religious and scholarly, as well as statesman-like, 
and a leader in manly sports. 

September i4lh, however, took away the great Dtike of 
Wellington. He died in his 84th year, after only one 
day's illness, apparently painless, fading into unconscious- 
from mere old age, his last word " Thank you " to a 
servant who offered him nourishment. The Queen was 
at Balmoral, and heard the news at the Dhuloch, where 
she was spending the night at the little shieling of Ak-na- 
Guithasach. Her feeling was deep. She writes, " What 
a loss 1 One cannot think of this country without the 
Duke, our immortal hero. In him centered almost every 
earthly honour a subject could possess. His position was 
the highest a subject ever had. Above party, looked up 
to by all, revered by the whole nation, the friend of the 
Sovereign. And how simply he carried these honours 1 
With what singleness of purpose, what straightforwardness, 
■what courage were all his actions guided. The Crown 


54 


THE VICTORIAN HALF CENTURY 


□ever possessed, and I fear never will, so devoted, loyal 
and faithful a subject, so staunch a supporter." 

The Duke had died at Walmer Castle, which he held a 
Warden of the Cinque Ports. He lay in state at Chelsea H<M 
pital, in a hall lighted with candles, and his banners around ; 
fiuardedby apartyof hisown regiment, the Grenadier Guards, 
afterwards at the Horse Guards. The Queen herself brought 
her elder children to do honour to her hero, and on some of 
the days a hundred thousand persons passed solemnly and 
silently through the hall where the coffin stood. The funeral 
took place on the iSth of November in St. Paul's. The 
beautiful words of Sir Francis Doyle must here be borrowed; 

" .'^ee how the people gather ic^elher, 
All thouglil! of self disda.ming ; 
How feeble women, in the stormy weather, 
Stand worn but uncomplainiiii;. 

It is because they here await 
The coming of the good and great ; 
The man who down to death from youth 
Steered by the living Star of Truth, 
Made his lov'd country's cause his own, 
And served her for herself alone ; 
Therefore the Queen upon her throne 

Weeps bitter tears to-<iay. 
Therefore the humhiest workman here 
Bares a rough head before the bier. 
When that which was the Dulce draws near. 
Therefore the soldiers, sadly, proudly, 

Move on their mournful way. 
Therefore the cannon boomelh loudly 

Alhwart the fog-smoke gray. 
Therefore the leaders of the Slate 
Around the gorgeous pageant wait ; 
And chiefs from many a land afar, 

From proud and distant kings, 
Each wise in peace, or brave in war. 

His sigh of reverence brings. 

This is why the land wept o'er him ; 


X THE GREAT EXHIBITION 55 

Foreign officers of distinction carried the Duke's bitons. 
That of English Field-Marshal was borne by the Marquess 
of Anglesey ; Prince Albert was there, and the pall was 
held by the old generals who had fought under him, and 
some of whom could not restrain their grief. Some were 
there who, forty-three years before, had buried his prede- 
cessor. Sir John Moore, "by the struggling moonbeam's 
misty light, and the lantern dimly burning." How strange 
the contrast ! And it is hard to say which scene was the 
most impressive and touching. For to each alike, duty was 
the watchword 


CHAPTER XI 


England had scarcely lost her hero before there were 
threateniiigs of a Eurojieati war. First, however, there had 
been a change of Ministry, a coalition under the Earl of 
Aberdeen coniing into office in December 1852. In April 
ensuing Prince Leopold was born, and in June the whole 
royal family, except the baby and Prince Arthur, suffered 
from a severe attack of measles. 

The time was inopportune, for the experiment was being 
tried of putting the army under canvas — setdng up a camp 
at Chobham under the command of the old Waterloo 
General, Lord Seaton. So new was it to the cavalry to be 
in the open field, that some of the troopers of the Scots 
Greys were actually weeping over their horses the first night 
they had to sleep out of their stables. No one enjoyed the 
scene the camp presented more than did the Queen when 
she was able to visit it, riding by her husband's side in a 
military habit, the four eldest children near — -"Our dear 
camp" she calls it. The fleet also was in splendid con- 
dition, and well it was, for Russia was fast assuming a 
threatening attitude towards Turkey. 

For generations past the Russian Empire had viewed 
the Ottoman power half with j. crusading spirit, haJf wifll 
an ambitious desire to obtain Constantinople and open t' 
way to the Mediterranean. Nicolas L felt both these lot^ 
ings, and he had already declared to the English AmbassadopJ 


CHAP. XI THE CRIMEAN WAR 57 

Sir Hamilton Seymour, that Turkey was a very sick man, 
near death, and intimated a willingness to come to terms 
with England in dividing the spoil England, however, 
was not only closely bound by treaty to Turkey, but was 
determined to prevent the already, formidable Russian 
power from gaining Constantinople. The Czar claimed to be 
considered the protector of all the Greek Christians scattered 
throughout the Ottoman Empire, and a quarrel had been 
on the point of breaking out with France respecting the 
guardianship of the holy places in Palestine. The Sultan, 
Abdul Medjid, under the advice of the English Ambassador, 
Sir Stratford Canning, firmly refused to accept this pro- 
tectorate, and on this, Nicolas declared war in a remarkable 
manifesto, appealing to the religious sentiment of his sub- 
jects. In less than a month the Russian and Turkish fleets 
in the Black Sea met off Sinope, and the Turkish was 
utterly destroyed, only one vessel escaping to bring the 
tidings to Constantinople. Four thousand Turks were 
killed and the town set on fire. This was on the last day 
of November 1853, and it made war inevitable. 

Louis Napoleon, who had in December 1852 obtained 
his election as Emperor of the French, allied himself with 
England for the protection of Turkey, and the winter was 
spent in warlike preparations. 

But we must not pass one pretty home episode at 
Windsor, when Madame Bunsen saw some tableaux acted 
by the royal children. First came the Seasons, Princess 
Alice as Spring, reciting appropriate verses from Thomson's 
Seasons ; the Princess-Royal as Summer, while Prince Arthur 
lay resting on some sheaves, as if in harvest. Next Prince 
Alfred came by himself as Autumn, crowned with vine 
leaves and in a leopard's skin ; and lastly Winter, repre- 
sented by the Prince of Wales, with snow and icicles on 
his clothes and little Princess Louise wrapped in warm 
garments. This over. Princess Helena stood as a tableau 
of her namesake saint, in a long veil, tall cross in hand, and 
recited verses blessing the rulers of her country. Then 


58 THE VICTORIAN HALF CENTURY chap. 

the little actors were helped to jump down from their plat- 
form, and the baby brother was brought in "and looked 
at us all with big eyes." 

Meantime preparations for war were actively carried on ; 
and on the sad of February a body of British troops started 
for Turkey under the command of Lord Raglan, who, as Lord 
Fitzroy Somerset, had lost an arm while acting as the Duke's 
aide-de-camp at Waterloo. The Queen and her family, 
with swelling hearts, cheered the Scots Fusilier Guards as 
they marched beneath the balcony at Buckingham Palace 
on their way ; and not many days later she inspected the 
magnificent fleet at Spithead, each ship passing her yacht 
in turn with a salute, the Admiral last of all in the Duke of 
Wellington. She waved her handkerchief with strong feel- 
ings, and wrote next day : " 1 am very enthusiastic about 
my dear army and navy, and wish I had two sons in both 
now. I know I shall suffer much when I hear of tosses 
among them." 

A day of prayer was set apart for the success of our 
arms. The Queen made it a point that there should be 
no "imprecations against our enemies, but an earnest 
expression of thankfulness for the blessings we have enjoyed, 
as well as of entreaty for protection of our forces by sea and 
land, and to ourselves in the coming struggle ;" and she 
suggested the prayer "to be used before a fight at sea," as 
highly applicable. 

The Emperor of the French had a magnificent camp at 
St. Omer, which he invited Prince Albert to inspect The 
Queen was left at Osborne for what to her was a long 
absence, from Monday the 4th of September to Saturday 
the gth. When the Prince returned in early morning the 
Queen came out to meet him, and as she saw him again 
the quiet thankful uplifting of her eyes and hands in 
thankfulness greatly struck one of those present 

At this very time hostilities were beginning. The English 
troops had hitherto been encamped at Varna, a beautiful 
but unhealthy place; the French, under Marshal St 


XI THE CRIMEAN WAR 59 

Arnaud, not far off. It was decided to make a sudden 
descent on the Crimean Peninsula and endeavour to seize 
the great fortified city of Sebastopol, from which the Russians 
hoped to command the Black Sea. Six days after the land- 
ing was won the great battle of the Alma, on the 20th of 
September. Lord Raglan would at once have marched on 
and assaulted Sebastopol, and indeed a report prevailed 
in England that it was taken, and the bells were rung in 
consequence, but the French commander was not willing 
to make the attack ; and the army was obliged to encamp 
at Balaclava and begin a regular siege, interspersed with 
much fighting over the redoubts, as the armies pushed 
forward their advances. 

Then on the 26th of October an order misunderstood 
caused the brigade of light cavalry to charge a Russian 
battery, though it was almost certain death. 

" Some one had blunder'd : 

• • • • • 

Into the valley of Death 
Rode the Six Hundred." 

Out of 673 only 195 remained; but 

" We will not call their lives ill spent, 
If in all time they show 
That where the Light Brigade is sent 
The Light Brigade will go ! " 

Captain Nolan, the actual bearer of the order, was 
among the slain ; and what caused the error is therefore 
uncertain, but it is believed that Lord Cardigan mistook 
the point he was intended to attack, and thus bravely 
hurled his men to destruction. " Magnificent, but not 
war ! " said the French. However, the heavy cavalry had 
already gained a grand success, and they protected the 
return of the few survivors with " Swords red to the wrist- 
band, hearts steel to the core." 

" Fatal mistake 1 " wrote Lord Raglan ; "my only con- 
solation is the admirable conduct of the troops, which is 
beyond all praise." 


6o THE VICTORIAN HALF CENTURV cmr. 

On the ensuing 5lh of November the Russians, who 
had just received great reinforcements, made a night attack, 
hoping to surprise the English in their camp at Inlterman. 
From five o'clock on the winter morning till after dark 
in the evening the battle raged, until, after severe loss, the 
English had won what was perhaps the most brilliant and 
hardly-contested victory that has ever been gained. The 
spirit of the army may be shown by one instance : Sir 
Thomas Troubridge, with both feet shot off, still sat on a 
gun giving his orders, because there was no other artillery 
officer near to take his place, and the private soldiers 
emulated the daring of the officer. 

The Queen was deeply moved — above all being indig- 
nant that the Russians actually butchered wounded men 
lying on the ground ; and remonstrances on this head were 
sent to the Russian commander. Prince Menschikoff. 

Into woman's work in time of war the Queen threw 
herself heart and soul, fully sympathising, when Florence 
Nightingale obtained permission to take out a band of 
nurses for the wounded; subscribing largely to the Patriotic 
Fund for the widows and orphans of the slain ; and working 
with her daughters and ladies at warm coverings for the 
men, for whose sufferings in the bitter cold of the winter 
she grieved most deeply. 

The country grew impatient : there were murmurs that 
the war was not properly conducted, and very just ones 
that the army was not sufficiently supplied. In conse- 
quence of a cumbrous system, ill-managed, the destitution 
was great, and the newspapers made this known. The 
next meeting of Parliament resulted in a vote for an 
inquiry into the conduct of the war. Lord Aberdeen 
resigned ; Lord Derby could not secure support enough 
to undertake the Premiership ; and the Queen finally 
placed the Government in the hands of Lord Palmerston. 

In March came the unexpected tidings of the death of 
Nicolas I., after a very short illness, aggravated probably 
by the discovery Ihnt his troops, so carefully trained, were 


XI THE CRIMEAN WAR 6l 

unable to stand before English, French, or even Turks. 
His son, Alexander II., inherited his policy, and the weary 
siege dragged on. The wounded, who had been sent home 
to recover at Chatham hospital, were visited by the Queen, 
and her dismay at the insufficient accommodation there 
led to arrangements which resulted finally in the beautiful 
military hospital at NetJey. Her kind words and deep en- 
thusiasm filled the sufferers with delight 

In April the Emperor and Empress of the French 
visited their royal ally. " How strange," says the Queen's 
journal, "that I, the granddaughter of George HI., should 
dance with Emperor Napoleon, nephew of England's greatest 
enemy, now my most intimate and nearest ally, in the 
Waterloo room, and this ally, only six years ago, living in 
this country an exile, poor and unthought of ! " 

There was a certain anxiety all the time lest some of 
the many bitter enemies of Napoleon III. might take this 
opportunity of assassinating him. " I felt," says the Queen, 
"as I walked on the Emperor's arm that I was possibly a 
protection to him. All thoughts of nervousness for my- 
self were past. I thought only of him." The visit alto- 
gether gave great pleasure to both parties, though the 
former Sovereigns of France were by no means forgotten ; 
and the Queen had grieved at the contrast of Marie Amelie 
driving away to Claremont with a shabby carriage and 
hired horses just before the State reception of the Emperor. 

Many of the invalids had been sent home, and the 
Queen proposed that she should give the medals for the 
battles of the Alma, Balaclava, and Inkerman with her own 
hands. This was done on the i8th of May in the Parade 
Ground of the Horse Guards. The men were drawn up 
so as to form three sides of a square, the fourth being 
formed by a dais for the royal party, their attendants, and 
officials. They then marched past in ranks four deep, each 
handing to an officer a card bearing his name, his corps, 
his services, and wounds. The card was handed to Her 
^Majesty, who immediately presented the medal with heart- 


62 THE VICTORIAN HALF CENTURY chap. 

felt kindness. When a one-armed man was embarrassed 
with the clasp, she fastened it herself, and watched with 
deep feeling those who could scarcely limp along. When 
the gallant Sir Thomas Troubridge came in a Bath chair, 
she told him she should make him one of her aides-de-camp. 
" I am amply repaid for everything," he answered. 

Her own feeHngs are shown in a letter to her uncle : — - 
"Noble Fellows ! I own I feel as if they were ray own 
children. My heart beats for them as for my nearest and 
dearest ! They were so touched, so pleased — many, I hear, 
cried; and they won't hear of giving up their medals to 
have their names engraved on them for fear that they 
should not receive the identical ones that were put into 
their hands by me." 

All was not yet over. Summer had come in, and Lord 
Raglan succeeded in stirring op the French army to action. 
It had suffered as much or more than the English ; but the 
country had not been allowed to know of its condition. 
St. Arnaud had died of cholera; Canrobert, who had suc- 
ceeded hira, was hard to move ; but Pellissier was now in 
command. Under him the Mamelon tower was taken, and 
two assaults were made simultaneously on the i8th of June 
by the English on the Redan, by the French on the Malakoff. 
There was desperate courage and fearful loss in each case, 
but neither was successful ; and Lord Raglan, bitterly 
grieved at failing on Waterloo day, and already terribly 
harassed by newspaper criticisms — and, what was worse, 
publication of all his designs, so that the enemy could profit 
by them — sank under a short and sudden illness, and died 
on the z8th. 

Napoleon lil. began to get dispirited, and to manifest 
signs of that want of perseverance which was one of his 
characteristics, though it began to be known that the 
Russian force had suffered the most of all ; and, large as 
was the empire, it was becoming exhausted However, on 
the 1 6th of August, another attack was made by the Russians, 
which led to the battle of the rivet Tcliernaja. The French 


THE CRIMEAN WAR 


6.1 


bore the brunt of this attack, and the enemy retreated with 
terrible toss. The aspect of the dead — men who had been 
freshly marched up from the interior — showed that the Czar's 
best troops must have been already spent. The Italians had 
also sent a fine contingent to join the English and French. 
All were in good spirits when the Queen, with her 
husband and two elder children, paid a return visit to the 
Emperor. They were lodged at St. Cloud, where, to the sur- 
prise of the French, they insisted on a quiet Sunday with the 
English Church service. In Paris the welcome was enthusi- 
astic, and the sights at the Tuileries, the Louvre with all its 
treasures of art, delighted them, and, above all, the historical 
places. They did honour to the Grande Exposition^ the 
first to follow in the track of the English Exhibition, and 
returned home after a brilliant ten days. The younger 
children, who had been secluded for some time previously 
by an attack of scarlatina, met them at Osborne, Princess 
Alice quite overcome at the meeting after the long separa- 
tion ; and the whole family then proceeded to the new 
buildings in progress at BalmoraL 

There, on the iSth of September, was received a tele- 
gram from General Simpson, who had succeeded Lord 
Raglan in the command, announcing that on the 8th the 
Malakoff and Redan had again been assaulted. The 
French had made good their hold on the former; the 
English took the latter, but could not maintain their footing 
there, and were preparing to renew the assault in the 
morning when they found the Redan deserted. Sounds 
of explosions in the arsenals, outbursts of flame in the 
streets, an immense conflagration in the harbour, announced 
that the enemy were abandoning the town, and there was 
no more to be done but to enter and take possession after 
the twelve months' siege. 

As soon as the good news had been confirmed, Prince 
I Albert and his boys, with all the gentlemen, started forth, 
I followed by the whole of the villagers and servants in the 
f house, to light the big pile on the top of Craig Gowan 


64 THE VICTORIAN HALF CENTURY chap. 

which had been prepared on the false intelligence the year 
before. Round it there was ecstatic playing of pipes, firing 
of guns, drinking of healths, and dancing of reds, ending 
by all coming down and cheering under the windows of the 
happy Queen. 

Rejoicings took place all over the country, and some 
slight successes were gained by the allied armies, but there 
was no further advance made, and neither of the belligerent 
powers was unwilling to accept the offer of Austria to 
mediate between them. This resulted in the Treaty of 
Paris, by which Sebastopol was to remain unfortified, and 
no ships of war allowed in the Black Sea except by mutual 
consent of Russia and Turkey. The other details need 
not be mentioned here ; but the gladness and relief were 
great when it was signed on the 3olh of March 1856. 

The armies were welcomed home ecstatically, but none 
had a kinder welcome than the sick and wounded whom 
ihe Queen visited at Chatham, Her thanks to Miss 
Nightingale for what had been done for the wounded 
were most earnest. A jewel designed by Prince Albert as 
a testimonial was presented to that noble-hearted lady, 
whose example has since led to the establishment of the 
ambulance corps that have done so much to mitigate the 


horrors of w 


■, while her counsel and influence have estab- 
re revolution in the nursing system of hospitals. 

"On England's annals, through the long 
Hereafter of her speech and song, 
That light its rays shall cast 
On portals o( the past, 
A lady with a lamp shall slanil 
In the great history of the land, 
A noble type of good 
Heroic womanhood." 


The Queen welcomed her Crimean heroes in person, 
and also had a grand inspection of het fleet at Spithead, 
which presented one of the most magnificent spectacles to 
be seen in the world. 


I 


XI THE CRIMEAN WAR 65 

And out of all the miseries of the war came first, per- 
haps, the work of Florence Nightingale and its results ; 
next the establishment of the camp at Aldershot for the 
training of our armies ; and, lastly, the great hospital at 
Netley, where not only are sick soldiers nursed, but those 
returning with their discharge are saved from the direful 
snares that lie in wait at seaport towns, and safely sent 
home with their pay untouched, and where army surgeons 
have their final training. 


CHAPTER XU 

THE INDIAN MUTINY 

It was during t!ie iriumpliant autumn of 1855 at Balmoral, 
only three days after the beacon blaze of Craig Gowan, thai 
Frederick William, eldest nephew to the childless King of 
Prussia, came, with the full consent of his whole family, to 
sue for the hand of the Princess- Royal, who was not yet 
fifteen years old. 

Knowing and loving him well, her parents were de- 
lighted, but they left all dependent on her own heart, 
and further stipulated that nothing should be said to her 
till after her Confirmation; but love was too strong, and 
during a mountain ride on Craig-na-ban the youth found a 
piece of white heather, an emblem of good luck, and, as he 
presented it, found words to speak his hopes. There was 
no doubt of the affection on each side, but no more was 
permitted to pass at that time. In the ensuing March 
came the Confirmation, Dr. Wellesley, Dean of Windsor, 
having first examined the Princess, whose replies showed 
her thoroughly instructed and earnest. 

The two elder Princes had the Rev, H. M. Birch 
tutor till 1854, when Mr. Gibbs succeeded him, specially ft _ 
the heir to the crown, and in 1856 Lieutenant Cowell of the 
Royal Engineers, who had served in the late war, became 
Prince Alfred's tutor. Still the home circle was complete ; 
and at Osborne the great delight of the children was a Swiss 
cottage entirely their own, where they grew vegetables and 


THE INDIAN MUTINY 


67 


I 
I 


flowers, and sometimes had tea with their parents. In the 
Highlands they tan freely on the mountain-side, and wan- 
dered through the glens with the keepers and gillies and 
dogs, and frequently visited the cotters and tenants in the 
neighbourhood. Nor among the pleasures of the country life 
must the animals be omitted, the dogs, — beautiful hounds 
and collies, which became companions and friends, and tbe 
horses of all degree. Animals have always been loved by 
the Queen, and her feeling of pity and indignation is always 
strong at any ill treatment of them. That blessing of life, a 
bright yet orderly childhood, was theirs to the full. The 
two eldest Princesses were both remarkable for ability, the 
Princess-Royal being considered by Baron Stockmar to be 
" exceptionally gifted in many things, even to the point of 
genius ;" while Princess Alice was full of grace, very 
attractive, but with a certain sharpness of criticism which 
many a little conflict in the schoolroom." She 
threw herself into all she did, and drew sketches to illustrate 
any history she was reading. One of these (of Marie 
Antoinette and the Dauphin endeavouring to escape from 
the Tuileries) was preserved by Mr. Leitch, who gave 
lessons in drawing to the royal schoolroom in such a satis- 
fectory manner that the Queen herself became his pupil, and 
found that after his instruction she could far better produce 
the effects that she desired in sketching, where she was 
as thorough as in everything else. In June there was an 
accident in the schoolroom which shall be told in Prince 
Albert's words: "Vicky was sealing a letter at her table, 
and was all at once in flames, her sleeve having caught fire 
at the candle. Miss Hildyard was luckily seated at the 
same table, and Mrs. Anderson was in the room giving 
Alice her music lesson. They sprang at once to her assist- 
ance, and extinguished the flames with the hearthrug. 
Nevertheless her right arm is severely burnt from below 
the elbow to the shoulder. . . . The poor child showed 
great self-possession and presence of mind at the time, and 
much courage under the pain." 


THE VICTORIAN HALF CENTURY 

On ihe 14th of April 1857 the number of royal children 
was completed by the birth of Princess Beatrice, the baby 
of the family, and the godchild of her eldest sister. Two 
days later died the Duchess of Gloucester, the last survivor 
of the numerous family of George HI. "We all looked 
on her as a sort of grandmother." 

It was just after this that a visit was paid, which has 
a melancholy interest, from the Queen's newly- married 
cousin, Charlotte of Belgium, and her husband, the Arch- 
duke Maximilian of Austria. In a few short years that 
unfortunate attempt on Mexico was made which resulted 
in death for the husband and insanity for the loving wife. 

This spring it was decided that the Queen's husband 
should always be mentioned as Prince Consort, chiefly to 
avoid clashing with the names of his sons, as well as to 
give him a fixed status as an English prince. 

Prince Albert devised, and the Queen gladly adopted, 
the idea of the Victoria Cross as a badge of honour for 
deeds of valour atid self-sacrifice in face of the enemy. 
The first distribution was made by the Queen's own hands 
In Hyde Park o<^\ht 26th of June 1857. She rode on her 
roan charger, wearing a scarlet jacket and dark blue skirt, 
to the space where the sixty-two heroes designated were 
drawn up, and, still sitting on horseback, she fastened on 
the much prized decoration with her own hands. 

Alas 1 fresh occasions for winning that Cross were spring- 
ing up. Only the very next day came frightful tidings from 
India, telling of treachery, mutiny, and slaughter. A few words 
must be spent in explanation. The great power which had 
grown up in India had all arisen in less than two hundred 
years from the establishment of a company of merchants for 
the purposes of trade. They had enlisted native soldiers, 
called Sipahis or Sepoys, to protect their factories ; and, to 
guard themselves from the encroachments of tlie French, 
had borrowed regular troops from the Crown. Through 
the latter half of the eighteenth century French and English 
had, by alliances with native princes, tried to oust one 


xii THE INDIAN MUTINY 69 

another, till English victories, followed by the home 
disasters of the Revolution, had put an end to the French 
attempt Many of the small Hindoo provinces had in the 
course of the struggle been conquered or ceded to the 
English, and others, while nominally under native rulers, 
were under British protection, and English residents pre- 
vented any very flagrant misrule. The Crown appointed a 
Governor-General and a Governor for each of the Presi- 
dencies of Bengal, Madras, and Bombay, and kept English 
troops there ; but the territory was the private property of 
the East India Company, the administration and finance 
were in their hands, the magistracy were their servants, the 
Sepoys their soldiers, and they supplemented the pay of the 
English troops. 

The great peninsulas south of the Indus and Himalayas 
are inhabited by many different races, of many different 
faiths ; but in the western one the staple had been Hindoos, 
with their complicated system of myths, and their immu- 
table laws of caste, which can be broken by a profane 
touch or by partaking of forbidden food. Buddhism had 
built a fresh system on this, but it principally prevailed in 
the Island of Ceylon and the eastern peninsula. All had 
once been conquered by a mighty Mahometan power, and 
a great Mongol or Mogul Tartar Empire had been estab- 
lished, which had in the course of four hundred years 
entirely melted away, though leaving a considerable num- 
ber of Moslem inhabitants scattered about The last rem- 
nant of the old Imperial " Great Mogul " was the King 
of Delhi, who had a palace at that city and a large pen- 
sion, but was deprived of all power. At Lucknow still 
reigned the King of Oude, under British toleration, till 
1856, when his unbearable injustice and cruelty at length 
decided the Governor-General, Lord Dalhousie, on depos- 
ing him, and pensioning off himself and his grandsons, with 
a palace and grounds for the usual amusements esteemed 
by the effeminate though often ferocious Eastern princes. 

The Company had always bound itself to leave un- 


70 THE VICTORIAN HALF CENTURY 

touched the religion of its subjects ; indeed, it had 
tained heathen temples and syslematicaliy discouraged 
endeavours of missionaries. The Sepoys were all either 
Hindoo or Mahometan, though all their superior officers were 
English, and every care was taken to avoid interfering with 
their superstitious practices. At the same time, young men 
were only too apt to treat native servants with a rudeness 
that roused a vindictive spirit, and the mere fact of obedience 
to a lady was wormwood to a Hindoo, who utterly despised 
women. The commencement of railroads and other im- 
provements began to alarm the natives. Moreover, a new 
kind of cartridge was introduced, which report declared to 
be greased with beef fat. Not only is the cow sacred, but 
many castes of the Hindoos never touch animal food, and 
as the end of the cartridge bad to be bitten off before it 
could be used, it was imagined that the change was made 
in order to make the Sepoys sin against the laws of caste, 
and thus become easy converts to Christianity. The 
Mahometans, moreover, were alienated by the annexation 
of Oude. The whole native army was in an unsatisfactory 
state, but no representations had availed to bring about a 
reform, and it seems that a belief prevailed among the 
populace, especially the soldiery, that the time for the over- 
throw of English rule had come. Mysterious tokens were 
handed about, and on the loth of May 1857 the mutiny 
began at Meerut, the Sepoys rising against their English 
officers, and murdering them and their wives and chil<' 
with horrible cruelties. 

Through the dreadful details there is no need 
is enough to state that at each station the English officers 
were confident of the fidelity and attachment of their own 
native regiments till they found the weapons at their throats, 
and themselves only saved by death from witnessing the 
frightful atrocities suffered by their wives and little ones. 
The English troops were too few to do more than protect 
themselves. _ They had to abandon Delhi, Lieutenant 
Willoughby gallantly blowing up the magazine to prevei 


utmy 
iglisl^^^ 


THE INDIAN MUTINY 71 

tores from being used against the English. The horrors 
I endured by those who could not escape were only known 
1 from the condition of their corpses. Happily the mutiny 
I was confined to Bengal, and the city of Calcutta, the seat of 
I Government, remained secure. 

The first tidings reached England on the 27th of June, 
J just as the royal party were starting to open a Loan Exhibi- 
\ tion of works of art at Manchester, but it was not at first 
I understood how serious the matter was. On the nth of 
I July Sir Colin Campbell was sent out to take the command 
' 1 India. He was asked how soon' he could be ready to 
■.start. " To-morrow," he said, but the troops could not 
1 follow him with equal rapidity, and before they could arrive 
I Ihe horrors had reached their height. 

Close to Cawnpore, a considerable military station where 
Iraany English families resided, was Bithtoor, the abode of a 
VMahratta chief, commonly called Nana Sahib. He had a 
ttinge of English education, and had been on friendly terms 
1 with the officers and their families, but he had a grievance. 
The policy of the Company had been that when a native 
princely family under subjection to them died out, its 
domains should lapse to them, and the Hindoo custom of 
adopting an heir should not be permitted. Nana Sahib had 
been thus adopted, but his adoption had not been recog- 
nised, and though possessed of considerable wealth he 
^was denied any power. To the very last, however, he was 
thought friendly, and when the mutineers threatened an 
advance, it was proposed to put the women and children 
under his care in his palace at Bithtoor. 

There was general astonishment when he was found to 
be heartily on the side of the mutineers. The cantonments 
were besieged by the Sepoy force, the Nana at their head. 
The walls were incomplete, and for the most part only a few 
yards high. The number of helpless beings within was 
very numerous, many of the wives and children of the 32d 
English regiment having been left there. The miseries and 
tagonies they suffered were unspeakable, and their patience 


71 THE VICTORIAN HALF CENTURY 

and courage can only be remembered with shudderJt 
reverence. Meantime an English force under the gallant 
General Havelock was struggling forward, as best it might, 
through the heat of a Bengalese summer to their rescue. 
The Nana, resolved not to be baulked of his prey, sent to 
offer to escort the survivors in boats on the river to Alla- 
habad. As soon as they were beyond the poor shelter of 
their cantonments they were fired upon with grapeshot 
and rifles. Almost every man and many women there 
were slain. Two officers, Thomson and Delafosse, and 
two privates, gained the bank, and were received at last 
by a friendly Rajah. 

The other boatloads, almost entirely women, were driven 
back to a small house in the town. There were only five 
men, the other two hundred were women and children. 
Here they were penned in for six dreadful days. Then 
learning that Havelock was upon him. Nana attempted a 
combat, but was routed. He retreated ; the way into 
Cawnpore was open, but when Havelock entered, the house 
was swimming with blood, and a well near at hand was 
choked with corpses 1 

The English soldiers, sickened with horror, sobbed aloud 
over the fearful sighL For a time their hearts were steeled 
against mercy. The troops were ready to hunt down the 
Sepoys like mere wild beasts, but there was nobler work 
for them. Lucknow was holding out bravely but desperately, 
and had lost the noble governor. Sir Henry Lawrence, but 
Havelock could not advance to its relief till fresh troops 
came up, and cholera was a more fearful foe than even the 
Sepoys. On the 20th of September Delhi was retaken, and 
Colonel Hodgson, commanding a troop of native cavalry, 
shot the two princes on his own responsibility. 

After eighty-seven days' siege Havelock, on the zsth of 
September, succeeded in reaching Lucknow, but not in 
time to save the life of the noble Lawrence, and he could 
not carry away the besieged nor drive off the enemy till 
Sir Colin Campbell came up on the 17th of November a 


XII THE INDIAN MUTINY 73 

totally defeated the enemy. Henceforth all was victory, 
and, alas ! vengeance, for the English had beeti maddened 
by the cruelties of the Sepoys, and ferocity grew by its 
exercise. Havelock, a good and pious man, whose one 
ambition had been to win a battle, died from the effects of 
his exertions only twelve days after the arrival of Campbell 
at Lucknow, without knowing of the honours that rewarded 
him. 

It was not, however, till the next summer that peace 
was entirely restored in India. One consequence of this 
fearful rebellion was the resignation of the East India Com- 
pany. There are no longer two separate jurisdictions, or 
two separate armies in India, but all alike is under the 
Crown, and the Sepoy system is entirely abolished. The 
natives imagined that the Company was an individual, and 
that the Queen had hanged him for his offences, and 
assumed the government in person. 


CHAPTER XIII 


3 FIRST WEDDING 


The Queen had been deeply moved by the sufTeringi 
heroism of her subjects in India, and took the opportunity 
of enforcing her recommendation that the army should be 
kept in a strong state of efficiency. 

At home there had been a short visit to Osborne from 
the French Emperor and Empress, and then followed the 
autumn at Balmoral, the last for the Princess -Royal, over 
whose departure the warm-hearted Highlanders mourned. 

And the preparations for her marriage were further 
saddened by the sudden death of the Duchess of Nemours 
at Claremont, a cousin and namesake, " We were like 
sisters," writes the Queen, "bore the same name, married 
the same year, our children are the same age. There was, 
in short, a similarity between us which, since 1839, united 
us closely and tenderly. Now one of us is gone — passed 
as a rose full-blown and faded — from this earth to eternity, 
there to rest in peace and joy ! " 

Early in January the wedding was to take place. 
The Queen's diary has this motherly entry at Windsor. 
" Went to look at the rooms prepared for Vicky's honey- 
moon. Very pretty I It qu te a^ tated n e to look at them. 
Poor, poor child. We took 1 short valk with Vicky, who 
was dreadfully upset at this real break n her life, the real 
separation from her childhood She slei t for the last time 


fi the r 


«ith Alic 


I 


75 

The relations flocked to this first wedding- — the King of 
the Belgians and his sons, the Prince and Princess of 
Prussia, the Duke and Duchess of Coburg, the Princes 
Albert of Prussia, father and son, Duke Frederick Charles 
of Prussia — all with their suites, so that the daily dinner 
party at Buckingham Palace numbered eighty or ninety. 
On the Sunday the young bride gave her mother a brooch 
with her own hair, and throwing her arms round her said, 
" I hope to be worthy to be your daughter." 

The bride and bridegroom and their parents were 
photographed together on the morning of the wedding day, 
but the Queen trembled so much as to render her likeness 
indistinct. 

The first wedding in a family has always a certain charm 
and a certain pain of its own, especially when there has 
before been neither death nor separation to break the happy 
ircle. This wedding took place in the Chapel-Royal at 
It James's on the 25lh of January. The Queen entered 
procession, her two elder sons in front, the two little 
les on either side of her, the three Princesses behind, in 
ink satin, covered with Isle of Wight lace, and their hair 
lomed with daisies and cornflowers. These last were 
to the Prussian royal family for the sake of QueeiL 
«, the King's mother, who was memorable for having 
:n the mark for the first Napoleon's insolence, and having 
lied with her heart broken by the miseries of her country. 
Afterwards the bridegroom arrived, and then the bride, 
itween her father and great uncle. King Leopold, as the 
lueen writes, " My uncle, mamma's brother, and one of 
le wisest kings in Europe. My last fear of being over- 
vanished on seeing Vicky's quiet, calm, and composed 
lanner. It was beautiful to see her kneeling with Fritz, their 
id the train borne by the eight young ladies, 
'ho looked like a cloud of maidens hovering round her." 
The young couple drove to Windsor, and their carriage 
5 dragged to the Castle by the Eton boys. The parting 
ne on the 2d of February, and the inevitable grief was 


76 THE VICTORIAN HALF CENTURY chap. 

soon cheered by the news of the enthusiastic welcome of the 
bride in Germany, and of her happy and useful life there. 

Events are strangely linked together. On the 14th of 
the previous January an attempt had been made to assassin- 
ate the Emperor and Empress of the French by throwing 
at their carriage shells filled with detonating powder. They 
both escaped unhurt, but about twenty persons were in- 
jured. The murderers were seized at once, most of them 
being Italian revolutionists — the principal one Felice Orsini. 
For many years past, political outlaws had taken refuge in 
England, though not regarded there with much favour ; hut 
in the alarm e!(ciled by this savage outrage, the French 
Government peremptorily demanded the expulsion of 
" assassin refugees," and the newspapers and army uttered 
threats that could only be interpreted as intended to pro- 
voke a quarrel. On this Lord Palmerston brought in a bill 
making conspiracy to murder a felony for which a foreigner 
could be punished in England, though the crime was to be 
committed abroad. There was, however, a feeling that the 
mode of proposing this reasonable measure showed a sub- 
mission Co French dictation and fear of French blustering, 
and Mr. Milner Gibson moved that an answer should have 
been sent to the French before the bill was brought into 
Parliament The majority were on his side ; and as this 
amounted to a vote of censure, the Palmerston Ministry re- 
signed, and Lord Derby came into office. 

There was so much anger, and such hot language was 
used by the French, that there was strong expectation of 
war and of an invasion ; and this led to the great volunteer 
movement, by which a large proportion of men of all ranks 
and professions have given up a part of their time to military 
training and rifle practice. This, however, did not fully 
take shape till the ensuing year, 1859, when instructions 
were issued to the Lords Lieutenant of each county, and 
the enrolment was enthusiastic. It was said that the first 
grand review in Hyde Park, which was witnessed by many 
foreigners, had an immense moral effect, and entirely took 


xni THE FIRST WEDDING 77 

away the inclination for an invasion. The Governments 
had long ago come to an agreement, since the Emperor was 
far from desiring a war with England, though he might have 
been driven to it in order to preserve his popularity. 
Though the invasion alarm has long been over, the volun- 
teer system has never fallen to the ground, and still keeps 
our young men healthfully exercised, and "ready, aye 
ready, for the field." 

Meantime the Queen and Prince had been at Cher- 
bourg, and afterwards at Potsdam, where they paid a pleasant 
visit to their daughter. They were received on their return by 
Prince Alfred in his midshipman's uniform, " half blushing, 
but looking very happy." He had just passed an examination 
so severe that Lord Derby, on looking at the papers, said 
he was thankful that nothing of the kind was required of Her 
Majesty's ministers on coming into office. The first grand- 
child was born on the 27th of January 1859, and the Queen 
was much disappointed that she could not be present at his 
christening, and unable to satisfy herself that her daughter 
did not look, as the Prince Consort said, "weak and 
watery, by being baked, like a bit of pastry, in hot rooms." 
However, there was the great delight of a birthday visit 
from her at Osborne in the spring, joy only damped by a 
sharp attack of illness of the Duchess of Kent There was 
also the harass of a fresh change of Ministry when the 
Derby Ministry were defeated on the Address and Lord 
Palmerston returned to office; and there were anxieties 
during the French war with Austria in Italy, suddenly 
ended by the treaty of Villa Franca, without doing more 
than placing Northern Italy under the constitutional mon- 
archy of Victor Emmanuel of Sardinia. 

There were the usual relaxations of sojourns in the 
Isle of Wight and the Highlands, especially one delightful 
expedition in a semi-incognito, as Lord and Lady Churchill, 
when they slept at a little inn, and their maid was told by 
the hostess, " Your lady gives no trouble." 

Princess Alice had left the schoolroom, and become, in 


78 THE VICTORIAN HALF CENTURY chap, xiu 

the Queen's own words, "a real comfort." The royal 
mother hoped not to "let her marry as long as the parting 
tould reasonably be delayed;" but even Sovereigns cannot 
dispose of the affections, and a visit from the two young 
princes, nephews of the Grand-Duke of Hesse, made it 
evident what was to be " the maiden's fate," though she was 
still so young that her betrothal did not take place at once. 

There was another pressing anxiety, caused by the War 
of Secession in America. The Northern States were 
adverse to negro slavery ; the Southern States had hitherto 
considered slave labour absolutely necessary to the cultiva- 
tion of cotton, rice, and sugar, — their main dependence. 
The presidents had almost uniformly been men from the 
South ; and when a Northerner, Abraham Lincoln, was 
elected, the Southern States considered that a blow was 
struck at the institution, and, without waiting to seetheir ex- 
pectations verified, began a war which lasted five years before 
the seceding states were reduced to submission, and therewith 
slavery abolished. There was a time of fear that England 
might have been drawn into it, because stearaers used by 
the South had been built privately in her harbours, and had 
taken refuge there. Also two envoys from the Southern 
States were seized by a Northern armed vessel on board 
a British steamer, and the insult seemed about to lead to 
war. But this was averted, and the chief influence of the 
struggle upon England was that the cotton cultivation being 
wholly prevented, the manufactories were unsupplied, and 
thousands of workpeople were left unemployed and starving. 

Their conduct was exemplary in their sufferings. No 
riots, no disturbances took place, and all the rest of the 
nation rose to the relief of their sufferings. Contributions 
of all kinds, from persons of every degree, were poured in ; 
and many noble-hearted men and women devoted them- 
selves to contriving occupations which might be a means for 
the sufferers to earn what, if bestowed as a gift, might have 
destroyed their self-respecL Never was the brotherhood of_ 
the country more strongly shown. 


CHAPTER XIV 

SORROWS 

The Queen and Prince Consort had reached early middle 
age, that period at which the younger generation begins to 
come into full grown life ; and the elder, whose presence 
has been felt like that of sheltering trees, is passing away. 

The first to go was the Princess stepmother, the Dowager 
Duchess of Coburg. The Queen, with the Prince and 
Princess Alice, had just arrived in Germany at the time of 
her death, the Crown Prince and Princess of Prussia met 
them, and they all went to Coburg together for the funeral. 
The little grandson was with them, much to their delight. 

It was a peaceful and pleasant time, part of it spent at the 
Prince's old home at Coburg ; but the journey ended in a 
severe cold and sore throat of the Queen, which obliged 
her to keep to her own room while she was at Brussels. 

The next to pass away was the Queen's beloved mother, 
the Duchess of Kent, whose health had been gradually 
failing for some years. On the 15th of March 1861 
a summons came from Frogmore at six in the evening, 
and when the Queen arrived she found the patient uncon- 
scious. All night this continued, nothing to be heard but 
the heavy breathing, and the striking of the quarters by a 
large old repeater in a tortoise-shell case, which had 
belonged to the Duke of Kent. Morning came without a 
change, except that the breathing grew fainter and fainter, 
and at half-past nine it ceased. Then the Queen was 


So THE VICTORIAN HALF CENTURY chap. 

gently lifted up by her husband and led into another 
room, where she had the relief of being able to weep 
freely for one whose whole thought she had been, and from 
whom she had never been separated for more than a few 
months at a time for the forty-one years of her life. Her 
eldest daughter instantly hurried to her side, and all her 
children were round her, except Prince Alfred, who was at 
sea. Her grief was intense, and she could hardly bear to 
have any one with her during several weeks. 

Sunshine was passing away, and though the loss of 
those who are taken when full of years does not usually 
cast a permanent shade over the life of the survivors, a 
greater and heavier cloud was on the way. 

The Prince Consort had begun to show tokens of being 
overworked, though he was as active in the service of the 
country as ever. There was a visit to Dublin, as much 
enjoyed as the two previous ones in 1849 and 1853, and 
this was followed by an expedition to Killarney with the 
four eldest children, when the wonderful beauty of the lake 
was seen from an eight-oared barge. Then came a stay at 
Balmoral, but the Queen was still depressed ; there were 
anxieties as to the little Leopold, who had had the measles 
very severely in the spring, and had to be sent abroad for 
the winter. 

The first return to Windsor Castle without the Duchess 
at Frogmore was very trying, and there were further 
sorrows in the illness of Sir Edward Bowater, the gentle- 
man who had gone to Cannes with Prince Leopold, and 
who eventually died at Cannes on the 14th of December. 
In November, too, the Prince had a great shock in the 
death of his much-loved kinsman, the young King of 
Portugal, from fever. Moreover, it was the crisis of the 
difficulties before referred to with the United States, and 
almost the last paper written by the Prince was with a 
view to accommodating the difference without compromis- 
ing English honour. He had sleepless nights, with 
rheumatic pains, and felt each chance exposure to the 


SORROWS 81 

rain and cold of late November. The last time lie 
appeared In public was on the 28th of November, when he 
came out on the terrace to see the Eton College volunteers 
exercised, and then have luncheon in the conservatory. 
It was a great effort, and he was chilly and weary all the 
time. On the Sunday he went to church and knelt as 
usual, though looking very ill, and afterwards able to eat 
nothing. 

He did not join the family afier that evening, though 
he still rose at his usual hour, day after day, and lay on 
the sofa in his sitting-room, with the Queen or Princess 
Alice reading Scott's Peveril of the Peak to amuse him, 
when he could bear to listen. By the 7th of December it 
was evident that the illness was gastric fever. He was daily 
moved from the bed to the sofa, and wheeled into another 
room, and though occasionally wandering a little, he still 
took interest in events around and listened to reading or 
to music ; and his tender sayings to the Queen are of 
that sweetness that makes ail the world kin, " Lkbes 
Fraiichen " (dear little wife), as he stroked her cheek ; 
" Gutis IVeibchen " (good little wife), and, with his weary 
head on her shoulder, "it is very comfortable so, dear 
child." 

It was impossible for those about him not to remember 
that he had said, "If I had an illness I am sure I should 
not struggle for life. I have no tenacity of life." 
I By the i zth the physicians felt actual alarm, and though 
L on the night before the 13th there was a slight rally, it was 
thought expedient to telegraph to Cambridge for the Prince 
of Wales, That day, at noon, the Queen perceived a 
dusky hue about the face and hands, and the breathing 
was very rapid and labouring — with much wandering and 
dozing, scarcely perceiving when one after another his 
children came and took his hand. This was at about 
half-past five, and when the Queen bent over him with the 
words, " £s ist kieities Fraiichen" he kissed her. 

As evening advanced a rapid change set in, the hands 


I 


Ea THE VICTORIAN HALT CENTURY 

became cold, and just before eleven o'clock the spirit h 
returned to God who gave it, and the loving wife ^ 
broken-hearted widow. 

It was her daughter Alice on whom above all she lea 
in those terrible days, when, if anything could have giveam 
her comfort, it would have been the universal sympathy of 
the nation, grieving not only for and with her, but gradually 
coming more and more to an appreciation of what the loss 
was to themselves — in that wise head and clear judgment, 
scarcely appreciated while they were still available, because 
of the resolute reticence and sense of duty that kept the 
Prince in tiie background 

He was buried as quietly as his rank permitted at 
Windsor, and the Queen, on the 17th of March i86s, laid 
the first stone of a mausoleum, where, by the end of the 
year, the remains were transferred, in which she and her 
family always keep the anniversary of his death. 

King Leopold persuaded her to leave the scene of her be- 
reavement for Osborne, where she remained in the deepest 
seclusion, all the more needful from the heavy pressure of 
the necessary business of a Sovereign. For twenty years the 
Prince had preijared and explained all this as no one else 
could do for her, bringing his great powers of intellect and 
judgment to bear upon these subjects; and the loss of such 
assistance could not but make the work to be done with a 
saddened heart and crushed spirits exceedingly laborious. 
Such help as Princess Alice could give was earnestly afforded, 
but of course this was very slight in comparison with what 
she was accustomed to, though very precious to her feel- 
ings, and the effect on the Princess was that she " suddenly 
developed into a wise and far-seeing woman, living only for 
others, and beloved and respected by the highest as well 
as the lowest," Among the many undertakings left in 
hand was the second International Exhibition, the opening 
of which was likely to be a sad contrast to that brilliant 
day of perfect enjoyment which the Queen had recorded 
as her husband's greatest triumph. 


XIV SORROWS 83 

The Prince of Wales went on the 6th of February 1862 
to make a tour in the East, all the details of which had 
been arranged by his father, and the rest of the family were 
of course still in the deepest mourning, so that it was the 
Duke of Cambridge who had to open the Exhibition as 
usual on the ist of May. It was much larger than the first, 
and was therefore placed at South Kensington instead of 
Hyde Park, and, perhaps on account of its great size, was 
far less beautiful in proportion and grouping than its pre- 
decessor. In spite of the condition of the United States, 
which excluded almost all American contributions, the 
number of exhibitors from foreign countries was 16,456, 
whereas in the first there were only 6566. 

After a short stay at Balmoral, the Princess Alice's wed- 
ding took place at Osborne as quietly as possible on the ist 
of July. After seeing this beloved child depart to visit her 
husband's home, the Queen returned to Balmoral, where, as 
her journal shows, the sight of the beauty made her only 
feel that there was "no pleasure, no joy — all dead." She 
caused a cairn, 40 feet wide at the base and 35 feet high, 
to be erected on Craig Lorigan. She herself and the six 
children with her each placed a stone. The inscription is — 

tS^o tide IBeToteti (pemorp 

OF 

ALBERT, THE GREAT AND GOOD 

PRINCE CONSORT 

Raised by his Brokbn-Hbartbd Widow 

VICTORIA R. 

August 21, 1862 

" He being made perfect in a short time fulfilled a long time. For 
his soul pleased the Lord. Therefore hasted He to take him away from 
among the wicked.'* — Wisdom iv. 13, i^. 


Before the end of that year of sorrow Queen Victoria 
knew that fresh ties were forming around her. She had 
always set her face against the cruel old system which 
made royal marriages hnks between different countries, 
irrespective of any feeUngs of the parties concerned. She 
was gladdened by finding that the Prince of Wales had 
become attached to one of the most lovely and gentle 
ladies in Europe, the Princess Alexandra of Denmark. 

The wedding took place in England, the bride having 
previously been met at Gravesend by her future husband, 
when they proceeded slowly through the principal streets of 
London, amid the ecstatic welcomes of the people, waving 
flags from every window and balcony, and cheering with 
the utmost enthusiasm. Two days later, on the loth of 
March 1S63, the marriage ceremony was performed at St 
George's Chapel, Windsor, the Queen, in her widow's 
mourning, watching from the royal closet, while all the 
brothers and sisters stood round, the Princess -Royal with 
her little son by her side, in Highland dress, like his 
young uncles. That evening might have made Lord 
Macaulay retract his line— ^ 

" Such night in England ne'er halh been and ne'er again Eha.il be," 
for not a hill or cape throughout the island was with- 
out its bonfire, and " the twinkling points of fire " could™ 


I 


UNEVENTFUL YEARS 85 

'ibe counted in numbers from every elevation, though, 
happily, not for a nation's alarm, but a nation's rejoicing. 

On the ensuing Easter Sunday Princess Alice's first 
daughter was born at Windsor, and christened Victoria. 
During the visit to Osborne that followed, the Queen and 
Princess inspected Netley Hospital The galleries are 
altogether a quarter of a mile in length, and when the 
Queen had seen one, and kindly greeted the men in their 
beds, it was suggested to her that she would spare herself 
fatigue by not going through the second, which was exactly 
like the first, "The poor men would be disappointed if 
I did not go to them," she said. 

Later in the year there was a family gathering in 
Scotland — the Prince and Princess of Wales at Aber- 
geldie, and the Crown Prince and Princess of Prussia, 
with their children as their guests ; while Princess Alice, 
with her husband and baby, were with the Queen at Bal- 
loral. 

Here, coming home in the dark on the 7th of October, 
from an expedition to Clova, the Queen and the Princesses 
Alice and Helena met with an accident. They had become 
conscious that the carriage was off the track, and John 
" the Queen's faithful attendant, was sitting on the 

box holding the lantern. The Queen's journal continues : 
" About twenty minutes after we had started the carriage 
began to turn up on one side. We called out, 'What's 
the matter?' There was an awful pause, during which 
Alice said, 'We are upsetting.' In another moment, 
during which I had time to reflect whether we should be 
killed or not, and thought there were still things which I 
had not settled and wanted to do, the carriage turned over 
on its side, and we were all precipitated to the ground I 
I came down very hard with my face on the ground, near 
the carriage, the horses both on the ground, and Brown 
calling out in despair, ' The Lord Almighty have mercy on 
us ! Who did ever see the like of this before ? I thought 
you were all killed I " Alice was helped up by means of 


86 THE VICTORIAN HALF CENTURY char 

tearing fill her clothes to disentangle her ; but Lenchen 
(Princess Helena), who had also got caught in her dress, 
called out very piteously, which frightened tne a good deal, 
but she was also got out with Brown's assistance, and neither 
she nor Alice was at all hurt, I wondered then that I was 
not hurt, and urged that we should make the best of it, as 
it was an inevitable misfortune. Smith {the coachman), 
utterly confused and bewildered, at length came up to ask 
if I was hurt Meantime the horses were lying on the 
ground as if dead, and it was absolutely necessary to get 
them up again. Alice, whose calmness and coolness were 
admirable, held one of the lamps, while Brown cut the 
traces, to the horror of Smith, and the horses were speedily 
released and got up unhurt There was no means of getting 
home except by sending back Smith with the two horses to 
get another carriage. All this took some time, about half 
an hour, before we got off. By this time I felt that my 
face was a good deal bruised and swollen, and, above all, 
my right thumb was exceedingly painful and swollen — 
indeed, I thought at first it was broken till we began to 
move it Alice advised then that we should sit down in 
the carriage, that is, with the bottom of the carriage as a 
back, which we did, covered with plaids, little WilJem (a 
black servant of Princess Alice's) sitting in front with the 
hood of his bournouse over his head holding a lantern. 
Brown holding another, and being indefatigable in his 
attention and care. He had hurt his knee a good deal in 
jumping off the carriage. A little claret was all we could 
get to drink, or to wash my face and hands. Almost 
directly after the accident happened, I said to Alice it was 
terrible not to be able to tell it to my dearest Albert, to 
which she answered, ' But he knows it all, and I am sure 
he watched over us.'" 

After about half an hour the groom in charge of the 
ponies on which they had ridden up the mountain came 
back with them, having taken alarm at the long delay, and 
fearing an accident The royal ladies gladly mounted a 


XV UNEVENTFUL YEARS 87 

rode home, meeting the carriage by the way, and reaching 
Balmoral at twenty minutes to ten. 

These were not very eventful years in England, except 
for the birth of the first son of the Prince of Wales on the 
8th of January 1864, and the rejoicings in consequence. 
The Queen continued to lead a very quiet and secluded 
life, feeling every public appearance an effort, soothed and 
refreshed by her sojourns in Scotland, but ever retracing 
the scenes of past happiness. 

Again, in October 1865, on the way to visit the Duchess 
of Athole at Dunkeld, the Queen and Princess Helena 
had another adventure. The Duchess had met them at a 
farmhouse, whence they rode over the hills on ponies, 
a thick mist coming on and turning to rain before they 
reached a lodge, where two carriages met them. The 
Queen's journal continues : " It was pitch dark, and 
we had to go through a wood, and I must own that I 
was somewhat nervous. We had not gone very far when 
we perceived that we were on a very rough road, and 
I became much alarmed, though I would say nothing. 
A branch took off Grant's cap, and we had to stop 
for Brown to go back and look for it with one of the 
carriage lamps. This stoppage was most fortunate, 
for he then discovered we were on a completely wrong 
road. Grant and Brown had both been saying, *This 
is no carriage road, it is full of holes and stones.' 
Miss MacGregor (from the front carriage) came to us in 
great distress, saying she did not know what to do, for the 
coachman, blinded by the driving rain, had mistaken the 
road, and that we were in a track for carting wood. What 
was to be done ? No one at this moment seemed to know 
whether to try and turn the carriage, or to take a horse out 
and send the postilion back to Loch Ordie to get assist- 
ance. At length we heard from General Grey that we 
could go on, though where we should get out no one could 
exactly tell. Grant took a lamp out of the carriage, and 
walked before the horses, while Brown led them, and this 


88 THE VICTORIAN HALF CENTURY chap, xv 

reassured me. But the road was very rough, and we had 
to go through some deep holes full of water. At length, 
in about twenty minutes, we saw a light and passed a lodge, 
where we stopped and inquired where we were, for we had 
already come on a good road. Our relief was great when 
we were told we were all right 

This year brought the Queen another great sorrow in 
the death of Leopold, King of the Belgians, the uncle who 
had above all taken the place of a father to her, and whom 
she had always loved so deeply. 


I 

I 

I 


CHAPTER XVI 

THE ABYSSINIAN WAR 

On the i8th of October 1865 Viscount Palmerston died, 
after a very brief illness. He was within two days of his 8 1 st 
birthday, had been in office almost all his life, and was 
Premier lo the day of his death. His career was well 
summed up by Harriet Martineau : " By his levity he made 
many things easy, by his industry he accomplished a vast 
amounE of business, by his gay spirits he made a sort of 
holiday of the grave course of the nation. But he has 
done nothing to fit his country, or his party, or even his 
nearest associates, for a wise conduct of national affairs in 
the time to come. One reason of the general sorrow for 
his death is the general misgiving as to what is to come 
next" 

Lord John Russell (advanced to an earldom) became 
Premier, but on bringing in a bill for the extension of the 
franchise the Ministry were defeated, and went out of 
office in June r867. The Conservatives came in with the 
Earl of Derby and Mr. Benjamin Disraeli, a remarkable 
person, son of a noted literary man of Jewish extraction, 
and himself hitherto known as a writer of brilliant political 
novels, and a maker of powerful speeches in Parliament. 
Under their auspices, a bill was passed giving household 
Suifrage in borough towns, and soon after, on the resignation 
of Lord Derby, Disraeli became Prime Minister. 

r was in hand with Abyssinia, a strange country, 


90 


THE VICTORIAN HALF CENTURY 


which, though Christian by profession, had, from isolatidl 
relapsed into barbarism and savagery. The king, Theodore, 
had for a time shown himself willing to receive European 
emissaries and to have endeavours made for the advance- 
ment of his people, but he suddenly took offence and threw 
the English Consul, Mr. Cameron, with his suite, some 
missionaries, and various other Europeans, into prison, about 
thirty-five in all. An expedition was fitted out for their 
deliverance, and placed under General Sir Robert Napier. 
Gaining access by the Red Sea, he advanced on Magdala, 
the capital, and defeated the Abyssinians on the adjacent 
heights. On this Theodore released the captives, but 
refused submission, on which the city was attacked, and in 
the midst of the assault the king was slain, perishing, it is 
believed, by his own hands. As on inquiry he was found 
to be a usurper, the right heir was set up in his place, and 
his young son was brought to England and presented to the 
Queen in the Isle of Wight. He was sent to India for 
education, the climate of England being too cold for him, 
but he died after a few years. 

Prince Alfred, who had been created Duke of Edin- 
burgh, had from the first done his full duty as a naval 
officer. In the early part of the year 1868 his ship, the 
Galatea, was in the harbour at Sydney. He had gone 
ashore for a picnic, when he was suddenly shot in the 
back by a miscreant named O'FerraL The present writer 
was at a large public assembly at Oxford when the intelli- 
gence was telegraphed to the Earl of Carnarvon {Colonial 
Secretary), and the thrill of horror and indignation that 
passed at once through all that great body was a sensa- 
tion never to be forgotterL Mercifully the bullet proved 
to have missed any vital part, and the prince's recovery was 
rapid. He interceded for the assassin, but in vain ; the 
man was at once tried and executed. He declared that 
he had acted on a sudden impulse and had no accom- 
plices, but there was every reason to believe that he was 
connected with the Fenians. This was the title assumedj 


THE ABYSSINIAN WAR 


9» 


by the disaffected in Ireland in commemoration of the 
legendary heroes of whom Fingal was supposed to have 
been the chief, and who were the subject of Ossian's poems. 
To repress Irish demands and turbulence was the policy 
of one party, to endeavour to content them that of the other, 
and in the end of 1868 the Conservative Ministry was over- 
thrown, and the Liberals brought in, when their first 
measure was to disestablish the Irish Church, on the plea 

I that a large proportion of the nation were Romanists, and 
that a source of irritation and jealousy would be removed ; 
but the expectation of peace, content, and tranquillity was 
not fulfilled. 
Princess Alice was going through a time of much trial, 
war having broken out between Austria and Prussia, It 
was as painful as a civil war, and Prince Louis himself was 
forced to take the field, and when she could ill spare him ; 
but she was vigorously making every preparation for the 
wounded, begging for old linen. She writes to her mother : 
" 1 come to ask if you could send me some old linen for 
rags. In your numerous households it is collected twice a 
year and sent to hospitals. Could I beg for some this time ? 
It would be such a blessing for the poor Germans, and here 
they are not so rich." 

The two little girls, Princesses Victoria and Elizabeth, 

or Ella as she was called, were with the Queen in England, 

^^ and a third was added to their number on the i ith of July 

^^LiS66, happily during an interval while the father was able 

^Bto be at Darmstadt, though he had to leave it three days 

^Flater to take part in the battle of Koniggratz. "You 

can't think what war in one's own country — in a little one 

like this — is," the princess writes ; " the want is fearful I " 

- Before the little one was a month old, on August 4th, the 

brave and tender-hearted princess was driving to the 

hospitals to inquire after the wounded who were brought 

from the fields of battle. " As soon as I am better I will 

to them myself, but the close and crowded wards turn 

ne easily faint." On the 17th she actually went, and let 


92 THE VICTORIAN HALF CENTURY chap, kvi 

a poor man who had undergone an operation hold her 
hand, while he cried like a child, saying " It burns so 1 " 

By this lime her husband had rejoined her, and peace 
being soon after concluded the babe received the Greek 
word for peace, Irene, as her baptismal name. 

What the Princess Alice had seen during this war led 
her to form a " Ladies' Union " for training women of all 
ranks in nursing, and especially in giving assistance to the 
comforts of the troops in time of war. Nursing was an 
especial talent of the princess herself She had that great 
perfection of joining to the stateliness of her rank the sweet, 
tender homeliness of a cottage mother She nursed her 
own children, made their dresses, and when her favourite 
English nurse was ill she washed and dressed the baby 
herself; nor did she fail to carry the like tender ministra- 
tions into the houses of the poor at Darmstadt What 
she did was at the expense of her own time and exertion, 
for her means were not large, considering her rank. She 
had to practice careful economy, not being able to afford 
a country house for her children in the summer, and not 
being able often to enjoy her greatest pleasure, a visit to 
England, on account of the heavy expense. 

In March 1867 there was much anxiety for the Princess 
of Wales, who suffered from a severe rheumatic fever, and 
was long in shaking off the effects, finally going to the baths 
at Weimar. 

The Princess Helena had been married on the sth of 
July i866 to Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, the 
Queen being this time able to retain her daughter in her 
own country. The Princesses Louise and Beatrice were 
now the companions in the Highland expeditions. In one 
the Queen notes : "A Utile boy tried to give me a nosegay 
which was fixed on a pole, and in trying to catch it Colonel 
Ponsonby let it falL The little boy screamed ' Slop I Stop 1' 
and ran in such an agony of disappointment that I stopped 
the carriage and took it from him, to his mother's great 
delighL" 


CHAPTER XVII 

THE FRANCO-GERMAN WAR 

The year 1870 brought another shock to Europe in the 
Franco -German War. The unfortunate Spanish queen, 
Isabella, whose marriage twenty-five years previously had 
led to the ruin of Louis Philippe, abdicated her throne. 
The Spaniards looked about for a sovereign, but theirs was 
a kingdom by no means tempting to any person with a 
cool temper. 

One candidate for it, however, was found in the person 
of Prince Leopold of HohenzoUern, a relation of the 
Prussian royal family. Upon this the Emperor of the 
French protested that if a German ruling house placed one 
of its princes on the throne of Spain, balance of power would 
be overthrown. Leopold at once retired, but Napoleon 
insisted that the King of Prussia, as head of the family, 
should give a pledge that he should not come forward 
again. This was so unreasonable that it was plain that the 
French were only seeking a pretext for war, and, in fact, 
the Emperor felt his position so insecure, at the head of that 
fickle nation, that he allowed himself to be pushed on into 
taking up arms for the invasion of Germany on the Rhine 
frontier, carrying his young son with him, and publishing 
despatches whose magniloquence was intended to conceal 
the strange deterioration of the army since the days of the 
Crimea. 

The Germans, on the other hand, rose as one man for 


94 THE VICTORIAN HALF CENTURY chap. 

the defence of their frontier, and their national hymn, " Die 
Wacht am Rhein," was heard from end to end of the 
country. Both the English-born Princesses had to see 
their husbands depart for the seat of war, and to throw 
themselves into the preparations for alleviating the suffer- 
ings of the wounded. Victory at once declared itself on 
the German side. The first shot was fired on the ad of 
August at Saarbriick. Frightful battles followed in quick 
succession. The Emperor soon felt obliged to send his 
high-spirited son to England for safety, and on the ist of 
September, after a great defeat at Sedan, he surrendered 
himself to King William of Prussia as a prisoner. 

No sooner did the tidings reach Paris than the people 
were filled with fury against the Bonaparte family. The 
Empress Eugenie Red in disguise from the Tuileries, and 
made her way to England, where, on his release by the 
Germans, she was joined by the Emperor, so that for 
the second time the Queen had to welcome and cheer 
fallen monarchs of France whom she had received in 
prosperity. 

France meantime proclaimed a republic, and with re- 
sounding boasts of patriotism closed the gates of Paris, 
while the German armies besieged Metz and Strasburg, and 
marched on the capital. Through all the early winter the 
siege lasted, while bodies of troops coming to its relief were 
successively defeated by the Prussian princes ; and on the 
1 8th of January 187 1 King William of Prussia was declared 
German Emperor by the whole Germanic confederation. 
Ten days later he received the surrender of Paris, where 
hunger had reduced the inhabitants to a fearful state of 
misery. They had eaten their horses, dogs, and cats, and 
their bread was chiefly sawdust. 

The victorious Germans had suffered likewise, for the 
earlier battles had been hotly contested, and the value of 
the " Hulfsverein" or help mission, which Princess Alice 
had established, was indeed tested. The best nurses were 
sent to the neighbourhood of the camp, and such of the 


THE FRANCO -GERMAN WAR 


9S 


wounded as could bear it were carried to hospitals in the 
interior. There were four of these at Mayence under 
Princess Alice. "I hope," she writes, "that I shall not 
live to see another war. It is too dreadful. We have 
over 500 wounded ; as soon as they are better they are 
sent north, and worse ones fill the beds, French and 
Germans intermixed. I neither see nor smell anything but 
wounds, and the first sight, which sometimes one does not 
escape meeting, is very shocking. . . . Now, to-day, all the 
poor wives, mothers, sisters come to roe for news of their 
relations ; it is heartrending. . , . Yesterday a poor woman 
came to me to ask me to help her to get to the battlefield 
to have the body of her only son looked for and brought 
home, and she was so resigned and patient. . , . Daily I 
hear the muffled drums of the funeral of some soldier or 
officer being taken past my windows to its last resting- 
place. How deeply do I feel for the poor widows and 
orphans. My children are very well, but have absolutely 
no place where they can walk with safety from infection. 
The barrack at the foot of our garden contains 1500 French 
prisoners, and many of them ill I send the children out 
driving of an afternoon when I can, but having only one 
coachman, as ours are with Louis, at present I cannot 
manage it often." 

No wonder the brave princess suffered from violent 
inflammation of eyes and throat, with fever and neuralgia! 
The Queen sent her Dr. Hofmeister to attend her, as her 
regular physician was occupied with the wounded, and in 
October was born her second son and fifth child, Frederick 
William. On her recovery she was sent from these sad 
scenes to her elder sister at Berlin. They spent the even- 
ings alone together, and were much comforted and refreshed ; 
but in December the Princess Alice was back among her 
wounded, and was carrying Christmas gifts from herself, 
her sisters, and her mother to delight them. 

A cape worked by the Queen was given to a lad who 


s dying, " The poor boy 


96 THE VICTORIAN HALF CENTURY chap. 

won't part from it for an instant, but holds it fast round 
himself" 

It was not till the zist of March that the Princess met 
her husband at the Darmstadt station, and on the 26ih of 
June the two sisters were rejoicing together in the triumphal 
return of the army to Berlin. 

In peaceful England all had been quiet during these 
fearful tempests abroad. In October the Princess Louise 
became engaged to the Marquis of Lome, eldest son to the 
Duke of Argyll, and grandson to the Queen's first Mistress 
of the robes, the Duchess of Sutherland, It was the first 
publicly sanctioned alliance of the English blood-royal with 
a subject since the prohibitory Act of George III.; but 
this had left the sovereign at liberty to dispense with the 
barrier, and no difficulties were made, so that the marriage 
took place in the ensuing spring, on the very day on which 
Princess Alice was made happy by her husband's return to 
Darmstadt The wedding tour was so contrived as to give 
the sisters a few days together in June. 

As a rest after their most trying and distressing year, the 
Prince and Princess Louis of Hesse came with all their 
children to Balmoral in September, but they found the 
Queen very unwell with rheumatic gout However, she 
happily gradually recovered her usual excellent health, and 
was able to enjoy her grandchildren's company till they 
caught the whooping-cough and were sent to London, while 
their parents proceeded to Sandringham to visit the Prince 
of Wales, " the iirst time fgr eleven years that I have spent 
Bertie's birthday with liim," Princess Alice wrote. 

A terrible anxiety was, however, imminent The Prince 
of Wales had just returned from a visit to the Earl of 
Londesborough at Scarborough, and before long symptoms 
of typhoid fever showed themselves simultaneously in him- 
self, in one of his grooms, and in the Earl of Chesterfield. 
Anxiety became intense as time went on, and ou the ist of 
December Lord Chesterfield died. The two Princesses, 
wife and sister, were indefatigable nurses, and the Queen 


xvii THE FRANCO -GERMAN WAR 97 

came to her son's bedside. Fervent prayers throughout 
the entire nation were offered up. On Sunday the loth 
the Princess of Wales wrote a touching" little note to 
the Vicar of Sandringham : " My husband being, thank 
God, somewhat better, I am coming to church. I must 
leave, I fear, before the service is concluded, that I 
may watch by his bedside. Can you not say a few 
words in the early part of the service, that I may join 
with you in prayer for my husband before I return to 
him." 

At night the patient was worse, hardly recognising 
any one, and as the anniversary of his father's death, the 
14th of December, approached, the anxious watchers 
became almost hopeless; but even on that day the 
first turn for the better began, and the Prince was out 
of danger, almost on the day the young groom died, in 
spite of all the skill and care lavished on him. 

There was intense feeling throughout the country, and 
it found full expression when, on the 27 th of February 
1872, the Prince went in state to St. Paul's to return 
thanks for his recovery, accompanied by his royal mother, 
his wife, brothers and sisters, and his two elder children. 
The streets were lined with rejoicing crowds, and the 
Cathedral contained 1500 persons. 

The Queen, in black velvet trimmed with ermine, came 
in with the Prince on one side and the little Prince Albert 
Victor on the other. The Princess of Wales, in blue, led 
the younger Prince George. There was a grand Te Deum 
at the opening of the service, and the Archbishop of 
Canterbury's sermon was on the text, "Ye are members 
one of another." There was a grand illumination in the 
evening, and it was one of the occasions when the whole 
country seemed truly of one heart ! 

Yet only a week later another pistol was pointed at the 
Queen by a half-witted Irish lad, with a Fenian petition in 
his pocket. It proved that the pistol was not loaded, and 
was of so peculiar a construction that if it had been, it 

u 


98 THE VICTORIAN HALF CENTURY chap, xvii 

would not have gone off, so that the only effect was to con- 
sign the youth to a lunatic asylum. 

After the midway of life a biography often becomes a 
record of sorrows, and the loss of the admirable Scotch 
minister, Dr. Norman Macleod, deeply affected the Queen, 
who had always specially delighted in seeing him at 
Balmoral The last time he was there, she observed the 
first sign of illness when, contrary to his habit, he accepted 
her invitation to him to sit down in her presence, and when 
she wished him good-bye and shook hands with him, he 
said, "God bless your Majesty" with tears in his eyes. 
Then the thought came to her that she might never see him 
again. This was on the 27th of May, and on the i6th oi 
June she heard of his death. 


CHAPTER XVIII 

THE EMPRESS 

" Members one of another." If this truth was evinced 
on the one hand by the public feeling for the illness of the 
heir to the throne, it was proved on the other hand by the 
Queen's strong feeling at a sad accident to the children of a 
poor man named Rattray. The mother had gone to see 
her own dying mother, and had kept her boy of ten years 
old from school to take care of his brother of three. While 
the elder one was fishing in a burn running into the Dee, 
then much swelled by rains, the little one fell in. His 
brother jumped in to try to save him, and both were swept 
away by the current. The younger one's body was found 
at once, and the Queen watched long and with earnest 
sympathy the search for the elder. She went afterwards to 
see the poor mother : " We went in, and on a table in the 
kitchen, covered with a sheet which they lifted up, lay the 
poor sweet innocent bairnie, only three years old, a fine 
plump child, and looking just as though it slept, with quite 
a pink colour, and very little scratched, in its last clothes, 
with its little hands joined, a most touching sight I let 
Beatrice see it, and was glad she should see death for the 
first time in so touching and pleasing a form. Then the 
poor mother came in, calm and quiet, though she cried a 
little at first when I took her hand and said how much I 
felt for her, and how dreadful it was." 

All day long there was search for the other body, and it 


loo THE VICTORIAN HALF CENTURY chap. 

was found at last on a small island, in time for the two 
brothers to be buried together. — the Queen and her two 
youngest children watching the sad procession. Both in 
Scotland and the Isle of Wight the Queen is always the 
friend of the tenants and cotiagers, visiting them when 
sick, providing comforts and pleasures, and doing all to 
promote their good and friendly feeling. 

This spring was carried the Act for vote by ballot, in the 
hope thai the secrecy of the name of the voter might secure 
greater purity of election. 

1873 began with the death of the Emperor Napoleon, 
ending one of the strangest careers that ever fell to the lot 
of man. The Empress Eugenie continued to live at 
Chislehurst, receiving much friendly kindness from the 
royal family, and the young Prince Imperial was a pro- 
mising student at the military college at Woolwich. 

A death took place this year that touched the royal 
family more nearly. Each of the Queen's elder children 
knew the sorrow of the loss of an infant. The Prince of 
Wales had mourned his third son, the Princess of 
Prussia's little Sigismund had been taken from her, and 
now Princess Alice's " Frittie," as she was wont to call 
the babe born in the midst of the war, was snatched away 
suddenly. Her little ones were playing about her, while she 
was dressing, — the baby on the bed, the two boys runnir^ 
about, when the elder one went out through the open door 
of the next room, and his brother followed. The next 
moment there was a fall The younger child had fallen 
headlong through the window into the street, and died in 
his mother's arms a few hours later,^ — May the 29th, 1873. 

He was a delicate child, hut a very bright one, and the 
heartache for him never ceased, especially as the remaining 
brother pined for him. Nearly a year later this little fellow 
said, " When I die, you must die too, and all the others. 
Why can't we alh die together. I don't like to die alone, 
like Fritde." 

Another change of Ministry took place in 1874, bringing 


XVIII THE EMPRESS loi 

in the Conservatives with Mr. Disraeli, who, a couple of 
years later, accepted the title of Beacons field. 

His Ministry began with much prosperity. In January, 
the Duke of Edinburgh was married at St. Petersburg 
to the daughter of the Czar Alexander II. of Russia, first 
according to the Greek ritual, then according to the English. 
The Queen welcomed them home at Windsor with great 
splendour. 

British power was extending on all sides. The natives 
of the cluster of islands called Fiji, once a proverb for 
cannabalism, had been greatly tamed by missionary teach- 
ing, and there were also many European settlers. By their 
own request they were placed under the protection of 
English law, and received a governor. 

On the West Coast of Africa, the outrages of the savage 
king of Ashantee made a war necessary, but it was con- 
ducted with so much ability by Sir Garnet Wolseley that 
complete success was gained with hardly any loss of life. 

The Prince of Wales had been making a tour in India, 
and by his gracious manners and ready courtesy much 
gratifying the native princes, and it was held advisable that 
the Queen should assume the title of Empress of India, 
she being really the successor of the old Mogul Emperors 
whose power the whole peninsula acknowledged ; and on 
the I St of January 1876 she was proclaimed Empress at 
Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, and Delhi, and at the last men- 
tioned place, the capital of the old empire, the Viceroy, 
Lord Lytton, held a magnificent court, attended by sixty- 
three native princes glittering with jewels. 

Almost at the same time the Transvaal, a large territory 
adjoining our South African possessions, was annexed. It 
was partly inhabited by Dutch Boers (farmers) who had 
overflowed from the Cape, partly by British settlers, and 
partly by Zulus, and all at first seemed willingly to acquiesce 
in submitting to English rule, so as to receive British pro- 
tection. 

British intervention was likewise needed in the East 


loa THE VICTORIAN HALF CENTURY chap, xviii 

Russia had never ceased to covet Constantinople, and to 
claim the right to protect the Christian inhabitants of the 
Turkish empire. In the Herzegovina and other provinces, 
where the population was in great part Christian, there 
were revolts, occasioned, as some said, by the rapacity and 
insolence of Turkish officials ; as others declared, stirred 
up by secret emissaries of Russia. At any rate, there was 
much horrid ferocity shown on each side, and the Turkish 
soldiery committed barbarities which shocked all Europe. 
This gave an excuse to the Russian Czar for invading 
Turkey, and there was much severe fighting, in which, to 
the general surprise, the Turks showed themselves able to 
hold the Balkan against the enemy. 

Before, however, the mighty forces of Russia could over- 
whelm them, Lord Beaconsfield, in conjunction with other 
European powers, insisted on the observance of the Treaty 
of Paris made at the end of the Crimean war. And on the 
pledge of the Sultan to carry out reforms that would greatly 
ameliorate the condition of the Christians and secure them 
full protection, it was made known that England would 
assist Turkey. The fleet was sent into Besika Bay, and 
troops brought from India to Malta, and on these tokens 
of such support being in earnest, the Czar consented to 
make peace at the Treaty of Berlin, May the 30th, 1878. 
The island of Cyprus was placed by the Turks in the hands 
of the English. 


CHAPTER XIX 

DEATH OF PRINCESS ALICE 

Few mothers had been happier than Queen Victoria in 
seeing all her fine family grow up around her affectionate 
and dutiful, and, with the exception of the delicacy of 
Prince Leopold, causing unusually little anxiety on the 
score of health. 

But to Princess Alice the year 1877 ^^.d been one of 
great trial. First her father-in-law, Prince Charles of 
Hesse, died, and scarcely a month after his elder brother, 
the Grand Duke, to whom her husband was heir. 

The family were very affectionate, and the grief was 
much felt, and with it came all the business and anxiety 
connected with the succession. The Princess was far less 
strong than formerly, but she spared herself nothing, though 
the strain was severe, and she lost sleep and appetite, but 
she still attended to her charitable institutions, and exerted 
herself to the utmost. She was thus in a low condition of 
health when her eldest daughter. Princess Victoria, sickened 
with diphtheria on the 8th of November 1878. She was 
separated from the others and nursed by her mother and 
the Lady Superintendent of the hospital. She had the 
disease slightly, but was hardly on the mend before all 
the rest of the family were attacked, except the mother, 
and the second princess, Ella, who was sent out of the 
house. The little Mary, — May, as the household loved 
to call her, — a bright little creature of four years old, sank 


T04 


THE VICTORrAN HALF CENTURY 


under it during the very height of anxiety for the oiiljw 
boy. He, however, recovered, and by the 6th of T 
cember was able to drive out with his father in i 
carriage. On the 7th Princess Alice went up to the stationjj 
to spend a few minutes with her sister-in-law, the Duchess J 
of Edinburgh, who was on her way to England, after all 
the anxiety lest a war should break out between their two 
native homes. On that evening the princess felt unwell, 
and the symptoms of the terrible illness declared itself, 
caught, it wa5 supposed, when in the agony of their sorrow 
for their Uttle daughter she had laid her head upon her 
sick husband's pillow. The illness lasted a week, 
efforts to save her life were vain, and on the 14th of De* 
cember, the seventeenth anniversary of her father's deatl^ 
the day four weeks of that of her child, she fell asleep t 
wake no more here, with the words on her lips, "From" 
Friday to Saturday — four weeks — May — dear papa." 

It was a fearful blow to the whole family. Her eldest 
and youngest brothers hastened to the funeral, ; 
as possible, the Queen had the poor bereaved childre 
with her. 

It was an anxious and sorrowful year on many accounMJ 
The winter was unusually severe, and there was much de- 
pression and distress. In Afghanistan the British resident 
at Cabiil was set upon and murdered with aJI his guard and 
attendants, and Sir Frederick Roberts had to reduce th^ 
country to some degree of submission. 

At the same time in Natal a great quarrel arose w^ 
Cetewayo, the Zulu chief, who was required to lay asid^ 
his ferocious habits of killing people untried, and keeping 
up a great army of fighting men, as well as to receive a 
British resident. As he made no reply, the British forces 
crossed the boundary river, Tugela. At Isandlana a de- 
tached force under Colonel Durnford were surrounded by 
overwhelming hordes of Zulus, and almost entirely perished. 
The two officers, Melville and Coghill, who had charge of 
the colours, were resolved that these should not fall inta4 


All 
atlJH 

dest 

mt^H 
de-^" 
ient 
and 


XIX DEATH OF PRINCESS ALICE 105 

the enemy's hands. They struggled to the river, crossed 
it, and were found dead on the other side, having saved 
their country's colours ! 

Eighty men of the 24th, under Lieutenant Bromhead 
and the second officer, Lieutenant Chard, R.E., were at 
a little missionary station called Rorke's Drift, consisting 
of very little more than a hut and a hospital building. The 
place was immediately surrounded by a furious band of 
Zulus, flushed with conquest. An outer line was constructed 
of nothing but biscuit tins, which the missionary, Mr. Smith, 
helped to place. The few Englishmen most gallantly held out 
the whole night, though under the repeated charges and con- 
tinual fire of the Zulus, who were many times their number. 
Nothing could the desperate enemy gain, and they at 
length retreated, as a British force was found advancing. 
Another officer, Colonel Pearson, was besieged at Ekowe, 
and waited anxiously for relief. 

With the English army had gone the young Prince Im- 
perial, son of Napoleon TIL He had distinguished him- 
self at Woolwich, but it was not thought advisable for him 
to hold a commission in the English army. However, his 
high spirit and great desire to gain experience in the art 
of war caused him to be permitted to go out with Lord 
Chelmsford's army, with orders that he was not to be ex- 
posed to danger. His fiery spirit, however, made it very 
difficult to keep him back, though no one apprehended 
any special peril when, on the first of June, he went out 
with a small party of troopers to make reconnaissances. 
They had been sketching, when a party of Zulus suddenly 
started out of the reeds and fell upon them. A panic un- 
happily caused a general flight among the British, even 
their officer never pausing to see that all were together. 
Thus the Prince Imperial, finding some difficulty in mount- 
ing his horse, was left behind, and, setting his back against 
a rock, died bravely under fifteen assegai wounds, with 
his face to the foe. It afterwards proved that the number 
of Zulus was so scanty that a little steadiness and resolution 


106 TirE VICTORIAN HALF CENTURY 

such as in most cases Englishmen show would have < 
persed them, so that this tilot on the scutcheon might have 
been saved. 

The Queen felt it most deeply. Her journal says : 
" Poor, poor dear Empress, her only, only child, her all 
gone, and such a real misfortune ! 1 was quite beside 
myself, and both of us (herself and Princess Beatrice) have 
hardly had another thought since. And he was so good 1 
Oh 1 it is too, too awful ! The more one thinks of it, the 

"June aoth. Had a bad restless night, haunted by 
this awful event, seeing those horrid Zulus constantly before 
me, and thinking of the poor Empress, who did not yet 
know it. . . . My accession day, forty-two years ago, but 
no thought of it in presence of this frightful news. . . . 
Monstrous ! To think of that dear young man, the apple of 
his mother's eye, bom and nurtured in the purple, dying Jhus, 
is too fearful, too awful ; and inexplicable and dreadful that the 
others should not have turned round and fought for him." 

All that sympathy could do for the bereaved mother, all 
the honour that could be shown when the corpse of the brave 
youth was brought home, was freely lavished, but with the 
sense that it could do but little towards healing such a 
wound I There was an enquiry into the conduct of the officer 
in command, Lieutenant Carey; but the offence was hardly 
technical one, and the Empress EugiJnie generously inter- 
ceded for him. 

The victory at Ulundi, gained by Lord Chelmsft 
broke up the power of Cetewayo, who was pursued, made^ 
prisoner, and carried to Cape Town, but these repeated 
disasters, together with a succession of unfavourable 
seasons, had raised much discontent in England, which, 
somewhat unreasonably, was visited on the Ministry, 
There also had been loud outcries that the Bulgarian 
atrocities should have been sooner prevented, forgetting 
that a Government cannot take steps upon mere newspaper 
reports, and that authentication requires time. ~ 


Qter- ^_ 
^ord^l 


IX DEATH OF PRINCESS ALICE 107 

Thus when Parliament, which had sat almost to the 
last year of its existence, was dissolved early in 1880, the 
result of the elections was so adverse to Lord Beaconsficld's 
government that they retired, and a Liberal Ministry came 
in with Mr. Gladstone, professing that they preferred peace 
and economy to the maintenance of British supremacy. 

It fell to them to arrange for the pacification of Zulu- 
land. The territory once held by Cetewayo was divided 
among thirteen petty chiefs, but no sooner was this done 
than the Boers of the Transvaal, finding that their annexa- 
tion meant paying taxes, broke out in revolt. Dutchmen 
; formidable antagonists even to Englishmen, and they 
1 were victorious at ling's Neck, and succeeded in surround- 
md destroying General Sir George Colley and his force 
I upon Majuba Hill, chiefly in consequence of unfortunate 
I blunders. On this self-government was granted to them 
n an acknowledgment of British suzerainty. 
The Afghan war likewise broke out again, and there was 
I a treacherous surprise of an English officer. Lieutenant 
J Maclaine, with some of his men, and a British force was 
L defeated at Maiwand. Sir Frederick Roberts made an extra- 
I ordinary march, and gained a complete victory, but too 
to save the lives of the prisoners. It was decided to 
I leave Afghanistan independent, so long as it remains neutral 
' between England and the Russian Empire, 

Egypt properly belongs to the Turkish Empire, but 
since the beginning of the century the rulers had become 
in fact independent. The Suez Canal, opening a way for 
vessels between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, had 
. been the invention of M, Lesseps, a French engineer, and 
1 had been carried out by a company of shareholders. Con- 
' sidering the great importance to England, as shortening the 
route to India, Lord Beaconsfield had bought a large num- 
ber of shares for Government, with the consent of France. 
The Khedive, as the Egyptian Viceroy is termed, admitted 
French and English residents at his court, and under their 
Lguidance many of the abuses to which Eastern rule is liable 


TOS 


THE VICTORIAN HALF CENTURV 


were removed, and the condition of the people much 
proved. The officials, who had been used to prey upon the' 
peasantry, naturally resented the change, and one of them, 
Arab] Pasha, aroused a rebellion, assisted by some of the 
robber tribes of Arabs. Alexandria, which had become 
almost a European town, was set on fire, and there was 
attempt at massacring the European inhabitants, but thesfti 
had for the most part escaped to the ships in the harboi 
where the Khedive and his family likewise took refuge. 

Troops were at once sent out under Sir Garni 
Wolseley, and the fleet under Sir Beauchamp Seymour. 
Prince Arthur, who had been created Duke of Connaught, 
and married to the Princess Marguerite of Prussia, daughter 
of the distinguished general, Prince Frederick Charles of 
Prussia, called the Red Prince, went out with his regiment 
and took his full share of the hardships of the campaign 
in such a climate. Alexandria was bombarded and captured, 
there was a grand victory at Tel-el-Kebir, and the troops 
entered Cairo in triumph, soon after making Arabi prisoner. 
The Queen, who had learnt by telegram that the battle was 
about to take place, had been in the greatest anxiety. She 
had the young wife with her, and together they read the tele- 
gram which told of the victory, adding " Duke of Connaught 
is well, and behaved admirably, leading his brigade to the 
attack." Mother and wife embraced one another warmly, 
full of joy, pride, and thankfulness. 

The tidings came just as the Queen was welcoming her 
youngest son, Leopold, Duke of Albany, with his bride. 
Princess Helen of Waldeck, at Balmoral. There was 
great rejoicing, all the Highland attendants and tenants 
assembling beside the arch of welcome, and after the health 
of the bride and bridegroom had been drunk, followed that 
of the victorious army with the Duke of Connaught, then 
that of the Duchess, and of her baby daughter, who was 
present in the nurse's arms. In the evening a bonfire was 
lit on Craig Gowan, just where there had been one in 1856 
on the fall of Sebastopol, and again the Queen had a bright 


the 
me 

ese^H 

lur. ^^H 
rhL^B 


XIX DEATH OF PiONCESS ALICE 109 

and exulting day. Yet it was only too plainly marked 
what change and sorrow had done, for of all her children. 
Princess Beatrice alone ascended to where the Prince Con- 
sort and his two elder sons had so merrily climbed before. 
The nine were scattered, one of the flowers of the flock 
was in her grave, and the Duke of Albany was not strong 
enough for such a night ex]>edition. 


Deliberations on the future of Egypt were still in hand, 
and there was great unwillingness to assume responsibilities, 
or to give offence to other nations, when new troubles 
arose. 

There had already been rumours that one of those 
fanatical outbursts which from time to time take place 
among the fanatics of the East was working up. The 
Soudan, or land of the blacks, south of Egypt, a vast country 
stretching to Lake Nyanza, had been nominally annexed by 
Egypt in 1819, It was full of wild Arab tribes and of 
slave dealers, and here a man named Mohammed Achmet, 
a boatbuilder originally, assumed the title of Mahdi, or 
Prophet, and claimed to be a prophet who was to succeed 
the original Mahommed 1200 years after his coming. 
Many of the Soudanese followed him, and his Arabs and 
negroes were more than a match for the Egyptian troops 
sent against him, even when officered by Englishmen. In 
1883 an army under Colonel Hicks, a retired English officer, 
was utterly annihilated, scarcely a man escaping, and it was 
felt that the Mahdi's rising was no trifle. 

The Liberal Government, anxious to avoid expensive 
wars, and to get rid of Egyptian complications as soon as 
possible, recommended the Khedive to surrender the 
Soudan to the Mahdi and his wild Arabs ; but the difficulty 
was that Khartoum, a city at the continence of the Iwo — 


I 


CONCLUSION III 

' branches of the Nile, was filled with Europeans of all nations 
and Egyptian troops, and there were Egyptian garrisons 
and officials with their families in several other towns in the 
Soudan, who must be brouglit safely off before the country 
could be given up. The Egyptians could not fight the 
Arabs. Another of their armies, also under an English- 
man, Baker Pasha, had been cut to pieces, and though on 
the tardy consent of the British Government General Graham 
was allowed to act, and his English troops gained a victory 
at Teb, he was not allowed to follow it up nor to receive 
fresh troops. 

A different expedient had been found. There was in 
England a man of the most chivalrous nature, deeply 
religious, brave, as one who loved rather than feared death, 
tenderly beneficent, marvellously humble-minded, and with 
a wonderful capacity for dealing with barbarians. He had 
already so distinguished himself by putting down a great 
rebellion in China that he was commonly called Chinese 
Gordon ; and he had since acted for the Khedive in the 
Soudan, successfully putting down the slave trade, and had 
received the rank of Pasha. 

There was a certain idea that he could do everything, as 
indeed he had never failed, and public opinion seems to 
have led the Cabinet to propose his going out to Khartoum 
to negotiate with the Mahdl, and bring off the garrisons. 
Almost alone he crossed the deserts and reached Khartoum 
shortly before General Graham's victories. This was known 
in England, and also that the Mahdi's forces were advancing 
and hemming him in, that garrison after garrison had to 
surrender, and were ruthlessly massacred, yet the Govern- 
ment declared that Gordon was in no danger I At last 
public feeling grew so strong that the Cabinet fitted out an 
expedition under Lord VVolseley, who sent a force in advance 
across the desert. Two fierce battles were fought at Abu 
Klea and Gubat, on the banks of the Nile, both success- 
ful; but the gallant general. Sir Herbert Stewart, was 
mortally wounded, and some delay was thus occasioned. 


iti THE VICTORIAN HALF CENTURY chap. 

Alas! when, a few days later, Khartoum was reached it 
proved to have been betrayed to the Mahdi, and that 
Gordon had been slain. We had lost one of our noblest 
countrymen ! Well might he ask in the journal he kept 
almost to the last, "There is one thing which is quite 
incomprehensible. If it is right to send up an expedition 
now, why was it not right to send it before ? " He might 
have escaped, but he stood to his post, resolved not to 
desert those whom he had undertaken to protect, and so he 
endured 311 days of siege in "one continuous misery and 
ansdety." " I have done my best for the honour of our 
country. Good-bye." 

There was an agony of indignation and grief throughout 
the country among those — frora the highest to the lowest — 
who had had their hands tied by the necessity of acting 
through a Ministry who were carrying the peace policy thus 
far. All that the Queen could do in messages to the 
brother and sisters, full of sympathy, was done, and the 
general feeling expressed itself in a foundation, known by 
Gordon's name, for training orphan boys for the army. 

As the Soudan was to be yielded, and the unfortunate 
garrisons had all been massacred, the English troops were 
withdrawn from that terrible climate. Auguries that this 
would only lead to further encroachments of the Arabs 
were disconcerted by the death of the Mahdi, when his 
army seems to have resolved itself once more into the usual 
state of wandering tribes. 

This year brought another trial to the Queen's heart In 
the unexpected death of her youngest son, the Duke of 
Albany. He was a highly accomplished person, with much 
of the talent, taste, and ability of his father, and had quiet, 
scholarly habits. His health had always been delicate, but 
there was no special cause for anxiety when he went to pass 
the spring abroad, and there was a general shock when the 
tidings of his death at Cannes arrived. He left an infant 
daughter, and a few months later his little son was born. 

The later events of the royal family have been the 


CONCLUSION 


"3 


' marriage of Princess Beatrice with Prince Henry of Batten- 
berg, happily not separating her from her royal mother ; 
also of the eldest daughter of Princess Alice to Prince Louis 
of Eattenberg, who also resides in England. They are 
brothers to the brave Prince Alexander, whose career in 
Bulgaria has been watched with so much sympathy. 
I The extension of the household suffrage to the counties 
' was carried in the summer of 1885, but the changes of 
Ministry and the Irish difficulties connected therewith are 
in so undeveloped a state that they can hardly be entered 
on in this brief summary of the leading events of fifty 
years. 

The Victorian era will be remembered as a period of 
great progress in all respects. Perhaps no fifty years in 
the whole history of the world has produced such changes, 
affecting all classes in their domestic life and prosperity, as 
have been produced by railways, by telegrams, by postal 
arrangements, and the rapid communication of intelli- 
gence of every sort of event throughout the civilised world, 
although to every success there is a dark shade, and the 
I view is chequered. Religion has awakened to great exer- 
■ tions. The Church has worked wonders in her missions, 
both at home and abroad. From a state of lethargy and 
unpopularity she has awakened to great vigour and energy. 
The bishoprics in England have been increased in number 
in a manner unexampled since primitive times. Her 
services, her buildings, her clergy, her ministrations have 
multiplied more than sevenfold, and the attachment of her 
members is intensified, yet the irrellgion and scepticism of 
large masses of people still resist and defy her. Education 
has done much, and is doing much, but there are great 
endeavours to render it a godless education. Victory has 
attended our standards, but there have been terrible reverses. 
. And with much to be thankful for, there is also much to 
L humble us ; while for the future there is much to hope, 
I but also much to fear, though still we may trust that as long 
e cUng to Him, God will be on our side, and well 


114 THE VICTORIAN HALF CENTURY chap, xx 

may we be thankful that through this critical period, wher 
every throne around us has been shaken, and many over- 
thrown, that we should have been blessed with a Sovereign 
whose personal character commands not only loyalty, but 
love and reverence, whose heart beats for ^11 that is high 
and noble, who sympathises with all suffering, guides all 
wholesome effort, and discourages all that is foul or cruel. 
Well may we pray 

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God save the Queen 1" 


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STANFORD, CALIFORNIA 94305-6004 

(415) 723-1493 

All bddks may be recalled oFter 7 days 

DATE DUE 


■/S JUN 3^1998