The Letters of Queen Victoria Volume Ii Part 11

_Queen Victoria to Lord Stanley._

WINDSOR CASTLE, _2nd November 1845._

The Queen has read with great concern Lord Stanley's letter of the 1st November. From private information she had been led to expect that Lord Metcalfe would not be able to continue at his irksome post.[26]

He will be an immense loss, and the selection of a successor will be most difficult. The Queen hopes that there will not be too great a delay in making the new appointment, as experience has shown that nothing was more detrimental to the good government of Canada than the last interregnum after Sir Charles Bagot's death; it would certainly likewise be desirable that Lord Metcalfe should be able personally to make over his Government to his successor, whom he could verbally better put in possession of the peculiarities of his position than any instructions could do. It strikes the Queen to be of the _greatest importance_, that the judicious system pursued by Lord Metcalfe (and which, after a long continuation of toil and adversities, only now just begins to show its effect) should be followed up by his successor.

The Queen knows n.o.body who would be as fit for the appointment as Lord Elgin, who seems to have given great satisfaction in Jamaica, where he has already succeeded Lord Metcalfe, whose original appointment there had _likewise_ taken place under circ.u.mstances of great difficulty, which his prudence and firmness finally overcame.[27]

[Footnote 26: He retired from the Governor-Generals.h.i.+p of Canada through ill-health.]

[Footnote 27: Lord Stanley, in reply, submitted a private letter from Lord Elgin, expressing a wish to return home; Earl Cathcart was provisionally appointed Governor-General.]

_Queen Victoria to Sir Robert Peel._

OSBORNE, _28th November 1845._

The Queen is very sorry to hear that Sir Robert Peel apprehends further differences of opinion in the Cabinet, at a moment of impending calamity; it is more than ever necessary that the Government should be strong and united.

The Queen thinks the time is come when a removal of the restrictions upon the importation of food cannot be successfully resisted. Should this be Sir Robert's own opinion, the Queen very much hopes that none of his colleagues will prevent him from doing what it is _right_ to do.

[Pageheading: THE CORN LAWS]

_Sir Robert Peel to Queen Victoria._

WHITEHALL, _4th December 1845._

Sir Robert Peel, with his humble duty to your Majesty, begs leave to acquaint your Majesty that a leading paragraph in the _Times_ of to-day, a.s.serting that your Majesty's servants had unanimously agreed to an immediate and total repeal of the Corn Laws, is quite without foundation.[28]

[Footnote 28: See _Memoirs of the Life of Henry Reeve_, vol.

i. p. 175, for Lord Dufferin's refutation of the story that Sidney Herbert confided the secret to Mrs Norton, and that she sold it to the _Times_. The story has obtained a wide currency through Mr Meredith's _Diana of the Crossways_. Lord Stanmore, in his _Life of Sidney Herbert_, substantially attributes the communication to Lord Aberdeen, but does not give the details.]

_Sir Robert Peel to Queen Victoria._[29]

WHITEHALL, _5th December 1845._

(_Friday evening._)

Sir Robert Peel presents his humble duty to your Majesty, and will wait upon your Majesty to-morrow evening, leaving London by the half-past twelve train.

Sir Robert Peel will avail himself of your Majesty's kind proposal to remain at Osborne until Monday morning.

He will come to Osborne with a heart full of grat.i.tude and devotion to your Majesty, but with a strong conviction (all the grounds for which he will, with your Majesty's permission, explain to your Majesty) that in the present state of affairs, he can render more service to your Majesty and to the country in a private than in a public station.

[Footnote 29: Peel reported to the Queen the Cabinet discussions on the Corn Law question. The Queen wrote that the news caused her much uneasiness, and that she felt certain that her Minister would not leave her at a moment of such difficulty, and when a crisis was impending.]

[Pageheading: CABINET DISSENSIONS]

[Pageheading: INTERVIEW WITH PEEL]

_Memorandum by the Prince Albert._

OSBORNE, _7th December 1845._

On receiving the preceding letter[30] ... we were, of course, in great consternation. Yesterday Sir Robert Peel arrived here and explained the condition of affairs.

[Footnote 30: From Sir Robert Peel, 5th December, _ante._]

On 1st November he had called his Cabinet, and placed before its members the reports of the Irish Commissioners, Dr Buckland, Dr Playfair and Dr Lindley, on the condition of the potato crop, which was to the effect that the half of the potatoes were ruined by the rot, and that no one could guarantee the remainder. Belgium, Holland, Sweden, and Denmark, in which states the potato disease had likewise deprived the poorer cla.s.s of its usual food, have immediately taken energetic means, and have opened the harbours, bought corn, and provided for the case of a rise of prices. Sir Robert proposed the same thing for England, and, by opening the ports, a preparation for the abolition of the Corn Laws. His colleagues refused, and of the whole Cabinet only Lord Aberdeen, Sir James Graham, and Mr Sidney Herbert voted with him. Sir Robert hoped that in time the opinions of the others would change, and therefore postponed a final decision.

In the meanwhile the agitation of the Anti-Corn Law League began; in every town addresses were voted, meetings were held, the _Times_--barometer of public feeling--became suddenly _violently_ Anti-Corn Law, the meetings of the Cabinet roused attention, a general panic seized on the ma.s.s of the public. Sir Robert called anew his Cabinet. In the midst of their deliberation Lord John Russell issues from Edinburgh an address to the City of London.[31]

[Footnote 31: Declaring for the Repeal of the Corn Laws.]

The whole country cries out: the Corn Laws are doomed.

Thereon Sir Robert declared to his Cabinet that nothing but unanimity could save the cause, and pressed for a decision.

The Duke of Buccleuch and Lord Stanley declared they could not take a part in a measure abolis.h.i.+ng the Corn Laws, and would therefore have to resign. The other members, including the Duke of Wellington, showed themselves ready to support Sir Robert, yet, as the latter says, "apparently not willingly and against their feelings." Thereupon Sir Robert resolved to lay down his office as Minister.

When he arrived here he was visibly much moved, and said to me, that it was one of the most painful moments of his life to separate himself from us, "but it is necessary, and if I have erred it was from loyalty and too great an anxiety not to leave Her Majesty in a moment of such great difficulty. I ought to have gone when I was first left by my colleagues in a minority in my own Cabinet. I was anxious, however, to try my utmost, but it is impossible to retrieve lost time. As soon as I saw Lord John's letter I felt that the ground was slipping away from under me, and that whatever I might now propose would appear as dictated by the Opposition, as taking Lord John's measure. On the 1st of November the whole country was prepared for the thing; there had been no agitation, everybody looking to the Government, as soon as they saw this wavering and hesitating, the country decided for itself, and Lord John has the merit, owing to his most dexterous move and our want of unanimity."

On my observing that Sir Robert has a majority of one hundred in the House of Commons, and asking whether it was not possible for him to continue the Government, he said:--

"The Duke of Buccleuch will carry half Scotland with him, and Lord Stanley, leading the Protectionists in the House of Lords, would lead to great and immediate defections even in Her Majesty's household. The d.u.c.h.ess of Buccleuch, Lord Hardwicke, Lord Exeter, Lord Rivers, Lord Beverley, etc., would resign, and we should not be able to find successors; in the House of Commons I am sure I should be beat, the Tories, agriculturists, etc., in rage would turn round upon me and be joined by the Whigs and Radicals, who would say, 'This is _our_ measure and we will not allow you to carry it.' It is better that I should go now, when _n.o.body has committed himself_ in the heat of party contest, when no factions have been formed, no imprudent declarations been made; it is better for Her Majesty and for the country that it should be so."

After we had examined what possibilities were open for the Crown, the conclusion was come to that Lord John was the only man who could be charged with forming a Cabinet. Lord Stanley, with the aristocracy as his base, would bring about an insurrection [or riots], and the ground on which one would have to fight would be this: to want to force the ma.s.s of the people, amidst their great poverty, to pay for their bread a high price, in favour of the landlords.

It is a matter of the utmost importance not to place the House of Lords into direct antagonism with the Commons and with the ma.s.ses of the people. Sir Robert says very correctly:--

"I am afraid of other interests getting damaged in the struggle about the Corn Laws; already the system of promotion in the Army, the Game Laws, the Church, are getting attacked with the aid of the league."

After Victoria had in consequence [of the foregoing] decided in favour of Lord John, and asked Sir Robert: "But how is it possible for him to govern with so exceedingly small a minority?" Sir Robert said: "He will have difficulties and perhaps did not consider what he was doing when he wrote that letter; but _I will support him_. I feel it my duty to your Majesty not to leave you without a Government. Even if Lord John goes to the full extent of his declaration in that letter (which I think goes too far), I will support him in Parliament and use all my influence with the House of Lords to prevent their impeding his progress. I will do more, if he likes it. I will say that the increase of the estimates which will become necessary are my work, and I alone am responsible for it."

Sir Robert intends to give me a memorandum in which he is to make this promise in writing.