1855.] CHARACTER OF LORD RAGLAN. 643 equally certain to attribute his defeat to the timidity of the English, unless they co-operated with him. It is, however, the business of an English general to win battles for his country-not to lose them in deference to the childish petulance of a foreign colleague. At the same time, it must be admitted that Raglan was greatly embarrassed from the first by his French coadjutors, and it is because some of his errors sprang from enforced concessions to their views, that these have been omitted from the present catalogue of his blunders. The truth is, that Lord Raglan was really a diplomatist, and his diplomatic ability was essential to the consolidation of our military alliance with France in the field. That was the sole justification for his appointment as Commander-inChief. His personal courage-rivalling that of antiquity, said St. Arnaud-was the only soldierly quality he possessed. "He was a very perfect gentle knight," too sweetly graceful for the rude ravishment of war, or the weary travail of a siege. His generosity of heart, his charm of manner, his exquisite tact, his serene temper, his chivalrous sense of honour, his high and courtly bearing, rendered him worthy of "The goodliest fellowship of famous knights, though not worthy to hold the post to which he was appointed in the Crimea. But if he was not a great general, he was a great gentleman; and so, when he passed away, the hand of censure fell very lightly on his career. CHAPTER XXXII. ROYALTY AND THE WAR. Financing the War-The Queen's Opinion of War Loans-A Dreadful Winter-Distress in the Country-The "Devil" in Devonshire-Bread Riots-War Loans and a War Budget-The Queen and the Wounded Soldiers -Her Condemnation of "the Hulks"-Presentation of War Medals in Hyde Park-Visit of the Emperor and Empress of the French-A Plot to Capture the Queen-Councils of War at Windsor-The Grand Chapter of the Order of the Garter-Imperial Compliments-Napoleon III. in the City-At the OperaThe Queen's Birthday Gift to the Emperor-Scarlet Fever at Osborne-Prorogation of Parliament-A Court Intrigue with Dom Pedro of Portugal-The Queen Visits Paris-Her Reception at St. Cloud-The Ball at the Hôtel de Ville-Staring at the "Koh-i-noor"--At the Tomb of the Great Emperor-Prince Bismarck's Introduction to the Queen-Home again-Lord Clarendon on the Queen's Visit to Paris How the Prince of Wales Enioyed himself-At Balmoral-The Bonfire on Craig Gowan-Sebastopol Rejoicings-"A Witches' Dance supported by Whisky"-Courtship of the Princess Royal-Prince Frederick William of PrussiaHis Proposal of Marriage-Attacks of the Times-Visit of Victor Emmanuel-His Reputation in ParisMemorial of the Grenadier Guards-Fresh Charges against Prince Albert-His Vindication of the Crimean Officers. EARLY in 1855 her Majesty became anxious, not to say nervous, as to the plans that were to be adopted for financing the war. Her personal prepossessions were all in favour of Mr. Gladstone's policy-which was that of meeting expenditure out of current revenue. But then the cost of the campaign was now so enormous that it was impossible to increase taxation so as to cover it. The winter had been severe. Though the end of December and the first thirteen days of January had been like summer, during the night of the 13th, says Sir F. Hastings Doyle, "the wind shifted suddenly to the N.N.E., and a savage frost came on which lasted at least two months without intermission or abatement."* Outdoor workers found themselves without employment. Gangs of hungry-eyed labouring men began to parade the streets of London, levying black-mail on well-to-do householders. Ultimately mobs of roughs attacked and plundered the bakers' and chandlers' shops in the East End on the 21st and 22nd of February, and in Liverpool, where some 15,000 riverside labourers were out of work, terrible scenes of riot and outrage were enacted. It was a time when the abstraction of capital from the country by raising a war loan would be a slight evil, compared with that which might follow from the imposition of heavy war taxes on a discontented and suffering industrial population. It was therefore decided that the cost of the war should be met by a loan. Sir George Cornewall Lewis brought forward his Budget on the 30th of April. He could estimate for a prospective revenue of £63,000,000. This, however, still left him with a deficit of £23,000,000, which he raised (1), by a Three per Cent. Loan of £16,000,000; (2), by an addition to taxation which brought in £4,000,000; (3), by raising £3,000,000 on Exchequer Bills. "The additional taxes," Sir George Lewis wrote to his friend Sir E. Head, "were, however, assented to without resistance by the House, who feared a larger addition to the Income Tax, and thought that if they objected to my proposition, taxes which they disliked still more would be substituted." As for the loan, the Money Market, he says, "was in a state favourable for such an operation; for at present there is an abundance of money, but a want of profitable investment for the purpose of trade." The loan of £2,000,000 to Sardinia was sanctioned without much demur, but the loan of £5,000,000 to Turkey was violently objected toespecially by the Tories and Cobdenites. It was raised under the joint guarantee of France and England-an arrangement which many people thought might create disputes between the guarantors. Lord Palmerston, in fact, only carried the loan through by a vote of 135 to 132. Lord Aberdeen's followers opposed the transaction, and their opposition was resented by the Queen, who had already concluded and ratified the arrangement with the French Emperor for guaranteeing the loan. Reminiscences and opinions of Sir F. H. Doyle (Longmans, 1886), p. 414. There was a terrible snow storm in Devonshire this year. It was made memorable by the footmarks of some creature which nobody could identify. These created a sort of panic in the West of England, for the people thought that the devil was abroad among them. + Letters of Sir George Cornewall Lewis, p. 295. His additional taxes were, (1), 3s. per cwt. on sugar; (2), 1d. per pound on coffee, raising the duty from 3d. to 4d.; (3), 3d. per pound on tea, raising the duty from 1s. 6d. to 1s 9d.; (4), equalisation of duty on Scotch and English spirits, bringing the former from 6s. to 7s. 10d. per gallon; (5), increase of duty on Irish spirits from 48. to 68; (6), increase of 2d. on Income Tax, raising it from 1s. 2d. to 1s. 4d. in the £. 1855.] SUFFERINGS OF THE ARMY. 645 In other respects, however, the relations of the Court to the war were less open to criticism. It has already been stated how her Majesty toiled with her own hands to aid those who were striving to mitigate the sufferings of the army during the Crimean winter. She wrote a letter to the Commander-in-Chief on the subject that touched the heart of every soldier in camp or hospital. Mr. Augustus Stafford, in the debate on Mr. Roebuck's motion in the House of Commons (26th of January), thrilled his audience by telling them how he saw a wounded man, after hearing the letter read, propose the Queen's health in a draught of bark and quinine. Mr. Stafford said to him it was a bitter cup for a loyal toast; to which the man replied, with a smile, "Yes, and but for these words of the Queen I could not have got it down." Nor was her Majesty less assiduous in her attention to the wounded, when their haggard and mournful contingents began to return. On the 3rd of March she went down to Chatham with her husband and her two eldest sons to inspect the Military Hospital at Fort Pitt and Brompton. The wounded men who could crawl from their beds were drawn up on the lawn, each bearing a card with a description of his name, services, and wounds. Along this gaunt array the Queen passed, sadeyed and thoughtful, speaking a few kind and cheering words to the sufferers whose wounds or services especially attracted her notice. Contemporary reports of course stated that the Sovereign was well pleased with the manner in which those poor men were treated. But two days afterwards she sent a sharp letter to Lord Panmure, which showed that she had been using her eyes to good purpose during her inspection. He must, she says, have some really serviceable military hospitals built for the sick without delay. The poor men at Fort Pitt were well treated; but, she complains, "the buildings are bad-the wards more like prisons than hospitals, with the windows so high that no one can look out of them—and the most of the wards are small, with hardly space to walk between the beds." Her criticisms on the dining arrangements are trenchant; and then she goes on to argue that though Lord Panmure's plan of building hulks may do very well at first, it will not do for any length of time. "A hulk," she contends, "is a very gloomy place, and these poor men require their spirits to be cheered, as much as to have their physical sufferings attended to. The Queen is particularly anxious on this subject, which is, she may truly say, constantly in her thoughts, as, indeed, is everything connected with her beloved troops, who have fought so bravely and borne so heroically all their sufferings and privations."* "I myself," said Queen Elizabeth to her troops at Tilbury, "will be your general and your judge, and the rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field." If Queen Victoria has never either in statecraft or power attained the position held by that leonine woman, she did not fail to emulate her in her devotion to the gallant men who bled and died for England in the desolate Chersonese. The Queen's visit to the hospital at Chatham, and her reception there by the soldiers, prompted her to take the unusual course of suggesting to Lord Clarendon, on the 22nd of March, that she should with her own hands present war medals to the officers and men who were at home disabled or on leave. On the 18th of May a Royal daïs was accordingly put up in the centre of the Horse Guards parade ground, with barriers enclosing from the crowd of spectators, a space for the heroes of the ceremony. At eleven o'clock the Queen, Prince Albert, and their family appeared, and at a signal the soldiers who were to be decorated stood before her. They passed along in single file, each handing a card recording his name and services to an officer, who delivered it to the Queen. She then presented each hero with his medal, saying a kindly word to every man as he went by. It was a strange and impressive spectacle. Gaunt, pallid forms, maimed and * Martin's Life of the Prince Consort, Chap. LXI. It was this letter that ultimately led to the founding of Netley Hospital, |