The Letters of Queen Victoria Volume Ii Part 17

On the continent of Europe the most important events took place in the Peninsula. The selection of husbands for the Queen of Spain and her sister, which had so long been considered an international question, came at last to a crisis; the policy of Great Britain had been to leave the matter to the Spanish people, except in so far as might be necessary to check the undue ambition of Louis Philippe; and neither the Queen, Prince Albert, Peel, nor Aberdeen had in any way supported the candidature of Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg.

It was common ground that no son of Louis Philippe should marry the Queen, but both that monarch and Guizot had further solemnly engaged at the Chateau d'Eu that no son should marry even the Infanta until the Queen was married and had children. The return of Palmerston to the Foreign Office, and his mention of Prince Leopold in a Foreign Office despatch as one of the candidates, gave the King and his Minister the pretext they required for repudiating their solemn undertaking. In defiance of good faith the engagements were simultaneously announced of the Queen to her cousin, Don Francisco de Asis, and of the Infanta to the Duc de Montpensier, Don Francis...o...b..ing a man of unattractive, even disagreeable qualities, and feeble in _physique_. By this unscrupulous proceeding Queen Victoria and the English nation were profoundly shocked.

At the same time Queen Maria found some difficulty in maintaining her position in Portugal. She dismissed in a somewhat high-handed manner her Minister the Duc de Palmella, and had to bear the brunt of an insurrection for several months: at the close of the year her arms were victorious at the lines of Torres Vedras, but the Civil War was not entirely brought to an end.

In February a Polish insurrection broke out in Silesia, and the Austrian troops were driven from Cracow; the rising was suppressed by Austria, Russia, and Prussia, who had been const.i.tuted the "Protecting Powers" of Cracow by the Treaty of Vienna. This unsuccessful attempt was seized upon as a pretext for destroying the separate nationality of Cracow, which was forthwith annexed to Austria. This unjustifiable act only became possible in consequence of the _entente_ between England and France (equally parties to the Treaty of Vienna) having been terminated by the affair of the Spanish marriages; their formal but separate protests were disregarded.

There remains to be mentioned the dispute between Great Britain and the United States as to the Oregon boundary, which had a.s.sumed so ominous a phase in 1845. Lord Aberdeen's last official act was to announce in the Lords that a Convention, proposed by himself for adjusting the question, had been accepted by the American President.

CHAPTER XV

1846

_Queen Victoria to Sir Robert Peel._

BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _23rd January 1846._

The Queen must compliment Sir Robert Peel on his beautiful and indeed _unanswerable_ speech of last night, which we have been reading with the greatest attention.[1] The concluding part we also greatly admire.

Sir R. Peel has made a very strong case. Surely the impression which it has made must have been a good one. Lord John's explanation is a fair one;[2] the Queen has _not_ a doubt that he will support Sir Robert Peel.

He has indeed pledged himself to it. He does not give a very satisfactory explanation of the causes of his failure, but perhaps he could not do so without exposing Lord Palmerston.

What does Sir Robert think of the temper of the House of Commons, and of the debate in the House of Lords? The debates not being adjourned is a good thing. The crowd was immense out-of-doors yesterday, and we were never better received.

[Footnote 1: The Queen had opened Parliament in person; the Prime Minister took the unusual course of speaking immediately after the seconder of the Address, and in his peroration, after laying stress on the responsibilities he was incurring, proceeded: "I do not desire to be Minister of England; but while I am Minister of England I will hold office by no servile tenure; I will hold office unshackled by any other obligation than that of consulting the public interests and providing for the public safety."]

[Footnote 2: He explained that the att.i.tude of Lord Grey made the difficulties attending the formation of a Whig Ministry insuperable.]

[Pageheading: EXTENSION OF INDIAN FRONTIER]

_Sir Henry Hardinge to Queen Victoria._[3]

CAMP, LULLIANEE, 24 miles from LAh.o.r.e, _18th February 1846._

The territory which it is proposed should be ceded in perpetuity to your Majesty is a fine district between the Rivers Sutlej and Beas, throwing our frontier forward, within 30 miles of Amritsar, so as to have 50 miles of British territory in front of Loodiana, which, relatively with Ferozepore, is so weak, that it appeared desirable to the Governor-General to improve our frontier on its weakest side, to curb the Sikhs by an easy approach towards Amritsar across the Beas River instead of the Sutlej--to round off our hill possessions near Simla--to weaken the Sikh State which has proved itself to be too strong--and to show to all Asia that although the British Government has not deemed it expedient to annex this immense country of the Punjab, making the Indus the British boundary, it has punished the treachery and violence of the Sikh nation, and exhibited its powers in a manner which cannot be misunderstood. For the same political and military reason, the Governor-General hopes to be able before the negotiations are closed to make arrangements by which Cashmere may be added to the possessions of Gholab Singh, declaring the Rajpoot Hill States with Cashmere independent of the Sikhs of the Plains. The Sikhs declare their inability to pay the indemnity of one million and a half, and will probably offer Cashmere as an equivalent. In this case, if Gholab Singh pays the money demanded for the expenses of the war, the district of Cashmere will be ceded by the British to him, and the Rajah become one of the Princes of Hindostan.

There are difficulties in the way of this arrangement, but considering the military power which the Sikh nation has exhibited of bringing into the field 80,000 men and 300 pieces of field artillery, it appears to the Governor-General most politic to diminish the means of this warlike people to repeat a similar aggression. The nation is in fact a dangerous military Republic on our weakest frontier. If the British Army had been defeated, the Sikhs, through the Protected States, which would have risen in their favour in case of a reverse, would have captured Delhi, and a people having 50,000 regular troops and 300 pieces of field artillery in a standing permanent camp within 50 miles of Ferozepore, is a state of things that cannot be tolerated for the future....

The energy and intrepidity displayed by your Majesty's Commander-in-Chief, Sir Hugh Gough, his readiness to carry on the service in cordial co-operation with the Governor-General, and the marked bravery and invincibility of your Majesty's English troops, have overcome many serious obstacles, and the precautions taken have been such that no disaster or failure, however trifling, has attended the arduous efforts of your Majesty's Arms.

[Footnote 3: The Sikhs were defeated at Sobraon on 10th February by the British troops under Sir Hugh Gough, reinforced by Sir Harry Smith, fresh from his victory at Aliwal. _See_ p. 71.]

[Pageheading: PEEL'S ANXIETIES]

_Queen Victoria to the King of the Belgians._

OSBORNE, _3rd March 1846._

MY DEAREST UNCLE,--I hasten to thank you for a most dear and kind letter of the 28th, which I received this morning. You know how I love and esteem my dearest Louise; she is the dearest friend, after my beloved Albert, I have.

I wish you could be here, and hope you will come here for a few days during your stay, to see the innumerable alterations and improvements which have taken place. My dearest Albert is so happy here, out all day planting, directing, etc., and it is so good for him. It is a relief to be away from all the bitterness which people create for themselves in London. Peel has a very anxious and a very peculiar position, and it is the force of circ.u.mstances and the great energy he _alone possesses_ which will carry him through the Session. He certainly acts a most disinterested part, for did he not feel (as _every one_ who is fully acquainted with the _real state_ of the country must feel) that the line he pursues is the _only right_ and sound one for the welfare of this country, he never would have exposed himself to all the annoyance and pain of being attacked by his friends. He was, however, determined to have done this before the next general election, but the alarming state of distress in Ireland forced him to do it now. I must, however, leave him to explain to you fully himself the peculiar circ.u.mstances of the present very irregular state of affairs. His majority was _not_ a _certain_ one _last year_, for on Maynooth, upwards of a _hundred_ of his followers voted against him.

The state of affairs in India is very serious. I am glad you do justice to the bravery of our good people.

[Pageheading: DEATH OF SIR ROBERT SALE]

_Queen Victoria to Sir Henry Hardinge._

OSBORNE, _4th March 1846._

The Queen is anxious to seize the first opportunity of expressing to Sir Henry Hardinge, her admiration of his conduct on the last most trying occasion, and of the courage and gallantry of the officers and men who had so severe a contest to endure.[4] Their conduct has been in every way worthy of the British name, and both the Prince and Queen are deeply impressed with it. The severe loss we have sustained in so many brave officers and men is very painful, and must alloy the satisfaction every one feels at the brilliant successes of our Arms.

Most deeply do we lament the death of Sir Robert Sale, Sir John M'Caskill,[5] and Major Broadfoot,[6] and most deeply do we sympathise with that high-minded woman, Lady Sale, who has had the misfortune to lose her husband less than three years after she was released from captivity and restored to him.

We are truly rejoiced to hear that Sir H. Hardinge's health has not suffered, and that he and his brave son have been so mercifully preserved. The Queen will look forward with great anxiety to the next news from India.

[Footnote 4: At Moodkee on 18th December, and Ferozeshah on 21st and 22nd December.]

[Footnote 5: Who had commanded a brigade under Pollock in the second Afghan campaign.]

[Footnote 6: Major George Broadfoot, C.B., Political Agent on the north-western frontier.]

[Pageheading: THE PRINCE'S MEMORANDUM]

_Memorandum by the Prince Albert._

BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _1st April 1846._

I saw this day Sir R. Peel, and showed him a memorandum, which I had drawn up respecting our conversation of the 30th.