The Letters of Queen Victoria Volume Iii Part 112

WINDSOR CASTLE, _12th November 1861_.

MY BELOVED UNCLE,--I hardly know _how_ to _write_, for my head reels and swims, and my heart is very sore![51] _What_ an awful misfortune this is! How the hand of death seems bent on pursuing that poor, dear family! once so prosperous. Poor Ferdinand so proud of his children--of his five sons--now the eldest and _most_ distinguished, the head of the family, _gone_, and also another of fifteen, and the youngest _still_ ill! The two others at sea, and will land to-morrow in utter ignorance of everything, and poor, dear, good Louis (whom I thought dreadfully low when we saw him and Jean for an hour on Friday) King! It is an almost incredible event! a terrible calamity for Portugal, and a _real_ European loss! Dear Pedro was so good, so clever, so distinguished! He was so attached to my beloved Albert, and the characters and tastes suited so well, and he had such confidence in Albert! _All, all gone!_ _He_ is happy now, united again to dear Stephanie,[52] whose loss he never recovered.... Ever your devoted Niece,

VICTORIA R.

[Footnote 51: King Pedro of Portugal died of typhoid fever on the 11th of November; his brother Ferdinand had died on the 6th; and Prince John, Duke of Beja, succ.u.mbed in the following December.]

[Footnote 52: The young Queen Stephanie of Portugal had died in 1859.]

[Pageheading: THE AFFAIR OF THE _TRENT_]

_Viscount Palmerston to Queen Victoria._

DOWNING STREET, _13th November 1861_.

... Viscount Palmerston met yesterday at dinner at Baron Brunnow's the Grand Duke Constantine and the Grand d.u.c.h.ess, and they were overflowing with thankfulness for the kind and gracious reception they had met with at Windsor Castle.

There was reason to suspect that an American federal steamer of war of eight guns, which had lately arrived at Falmouth, and from thence at Southampton, was intended to intercept the Mail Packet coming home with the West Indian Mail, in order to take out of her Messrs Mason and Slidell, the two Envoys from the Southern Confederacy, supposed to be coming in her.[53]

Viscount Palmerston had on Monday a meeting at the Treasury of the Chancellor, Doctor Lus.h.i.+ngton, the three Law Officers,[54] the Duke of Somerset, Sir George Grey, and Mr Hammond.[55] The result of their deliberation was that, according to the Law of Nations, as laid down by Lord Stowell, and practised and enforced by England in the war with France, the Northern Union being a belligerent is ent.i.tled by its s.h.i.+ps of war to stop and search any neutral Merchantmen, and the West India Packet is such; to search her if there is reasonable suspicion that she is carrying enemy's despatches, and if such are found on board to take her to a port of the belligerent, and there to proceed against her for condemnation. Such being ruled to be the law, the only thing that could be done was to order the _Phaeton_ frigate to drop down to Yarmouth Roads from Portsmouth, and to watch the American steamer, and to see that she did not exercise this belligerent right within the three-mile limit of British jurisdiction, and this was done. But Viscount Palmerston sent yesterday for Mr Adams to ask him about this matter, and to represent to him how unwise it would be to create irritation in this country merely for the sake of preventing the landing of Mr Slidell, whose presence here would have no more effect on the policy of your Majesty with regard to America than the presence of the three other Southern Deputies who have been here for many months. Mr Adams a.s.sured Viscount Palmerston that the American steamer had orders not to meddle with any vessel under any foreign flag; that it came to intercept the _Nashville_, the Confederate s.h.i.+p in which it was thought the Southern Envoys might be coming; and not having met with her was going back to the American coast to watch some Merchantmen supposed to be taking arms to the Southern ports.

Viscount Palmerston heard from a source likely to be well informed that at the interview between the Emperor and the King of Prussia at Compiegne, the Emperor, among other things, said to the King that there were three systems of alliance between which France and Prussia might choose: an alliance of France with England, an alliance of Prussia with England, an alliance of France with Prussia. The first the Emperor said now to a certain degree exists, but is precarious and not likely to last long, because England is too exacting; the second would not be useful to Prussia, but might be dangerous, inasmuch as it would look like hostility to France, and England would not be likely to back Prussia effectually if a rupture took place between Prussia and France. The last was the system best for Prussia, and was calculated to promote her interests; at all events, the Emperor hoped that if at any time there should be a rupture between France and England, Prussia would remain neutral. The King of Prussia said he was not come to discuss matters of that kind with the Emperor, but only to pay him a visit of compliment. Your Majesty will be able to compare this statement with the accounts your Majesty may have received of what pa.s.sed at that visit....

The Chancellor[56] told the Cabinet as he was going away that he would soon have to shut up the Court of Chancery in consequence of having disposed of all the suits before it; and that in future the progress of a Chancery suit will be the emblem of rapidity, and not as formerly synonymous with endless delay.

[Footnote 53: See _ante_, Introductory Note to Chapter x.x.x.]

[Footnote 54: Sir William Atherton, Attorney-General, Sir Roundell Palmer, Solicitor-General, and Dr Phillimore, Counsel to the Admiralty.]

[Footnote 55: Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, afterwards Lord Hammond.]

[Footnote 56: Lord Westbury.]

_Queen Victoria to the King of the Belgians._

WINDSOR CASTLE, _26th November 1861_.

MY BELOVED UNCLE,--... Albert is a little rheumatic, which is a plague--but it is very difficult not to have something or other of this kind in this season, with these rapid changes of temperature; _unberufen, unberufen_, he is much better this winter than he was the preceding years.[57] ...

[Footnote 57: The Prince had been unwell, even before the receipt of the distressing news from Portugal, and began to suffer from a somewhat continuous insomnia. On the 22nd of November, he drove to Sandhurst to inspect the new buildings in progress there. The day was very wet, and, though he returned in the middle of the day to Windsor, the exertion proved too severe for him; on the 24th he complained of rheumatic pains, and of prolonged sleeplessness.]

[Pageheading: REDRESS DEMANDED]

_Viscount Palmerston to Queen Victoria._

DOWNING STREET, _29th November 1861_.

Viscount Palmerston presents his humble duty to your Majesty, and begs to state that the Cabinet at its meeting this afternoon resumed the consideration of the forcible capture of the Southern Envoys from on board the _Trent_ steamer upon which the law officers had yesterday given the opinion contained in the accompanying report. The law officers and Doctor Phillimore, Counsel to the Admiralty, were in attendance. The result was that it appeared to the Cabinet that a gross outrage and violation of international law has been committed, and that your Majesty should be advised to demand reparation and redress. The Cabinet is to meet again to-morrow at two, by which time Lord Russell will have prepared an instruction to Lord Lyons for the consideration of the Cabinet, and for submission afterwards to your Majesty. The general outline and tenor which appeared to meet the opinions of the Cabinet would be, that the Was.h.i.+ngton Government should be told that what has been done is a violation of international law, and of the rights of Great Britain, and that your Majesty's Government trust that the act will be disavowed and the prisoners set free and restored to British Protection; and that Lord Lyons should be instructed that if this demand is refused he should retire from the United States.

It is stated by Mrs and Miss Slidell, who are now in London, that the Northern officer who came on board the _Trent_ said that they were acting on their own responsibility without instructions from Was.h.i.+ngton; that very possibly their act might be disavowed and the prisoners set free on their arrival at Was.h.i.+ngton. But it was known that the _San Jacinto_, though come from the African station, had arrived from thence several weeks before, and had been at St Thomas, and had there received communications from New York; and it is also said that General Scott, who has recently arrived in France, has said to Americans in Paris that he has come not on an excursion of pleasure, but on diplomatic business; that the seizure of these envoys was discussed in Cabinet at Was.h.i.+ngton, he being present, and was deliberately determined upon and ordered; that the Was.h.i.+ngton Cabinet fully foresaw it might lead to war with England; and that he was commissioned to propose to France in that case to join the Northern States in war against England, and to offer France in that case the restoration of the French Province of Canada.

General Scott will probably find himself much mistaken as to the success of his overtures; for the French Government is more disposed towards the South than the North, and is probably thinking more about Cotton than about Canada....

[Pageheading: AN ULTIMATUM]

_Earl Russell to Queen Victoria._

FOREIGN OFFICE, _29th November 1861_.

Lord Russell presents his humble duty to your Majesty; Mr Gladstone has undertaken to explain to your Majesty what has taken place at the Cabinet to-day.

Lord Russell proposes to frame a draft for to-morrow's Cabinet of a despatch to Lord Lyons, directing him to ask for the release of Messrs Mason and Slidell and their two companions, and an apology. In case these requirements should be refused, Lord Lyons should ask for his pa.s.sports.

The Lord Chancellor and the law officers of the Crown are clear upon the law of the case.

Lord Russell will be glad to have your Majesty's opinion on the draft which will go to your Majesty about four o'clock to-morrow, without loss of time, as the packet goes to-morrow evening.[58]

[Footnote 58: The draft of the despatch to Lord Lyons reached Windsor on the evening of the 30th, and, in spite of his weak and suffering state, the Prince prepared the draft of the Queen's letter early the following morning. The letter has been printed in _facsimile_ by Sir Theodore Martin, who adds that it has a special value as "representing the last political Memorandum written by the Prince, while it was at the same time inferior to none of them, as will presently be seen, in the importance of its results. It shows, like most of his Memorandums, by the corrections in the Queen's hand, how the minds of both were continually brought to bear upon the subjects with which they dealt."]

[Pageheading: THE PRINCE'S LAST LETTER]

_Queen Victoria to Earl Russell._

WINDSOR CASTLE, _1st December 1861_.

_Note in the Queen's handwriting._

[This draft was the last the beloved Prince ever wrote; he was very unwell at the time, and when he brought it in to the Queen, he said: "I could hardly hold my pen."