The allied fleets rendered great services in protecting Eupatoria, which had been garrisoned mainly by Turkish troops, and which the Russians vigilantly watched and incessantly harassed.

Various bombardments and incessant watching occupied the fleets until, in the following year, the grand catastrophe occurred, and southern Sebastopol fell under what the Russian commander called "the fire infernal" of the allies.

On the 14th of November, a terrible storm smote the Black Sea and the Crimea. The tents of the camps were blown away, many ships were wrecked, and many lives were lost. The want of prevision, management, and organization, on the part of the chief authorities of the British, led to costly sacrifices of human life, materiel of war, and supplies.

The operations in the Baltic were not so important as those in the Black Sea. The fine British fleet, commanded by Sir Charles Napier, was aided by a powerful French fleet, under the command of Vice-admiral Parseval-Deschenes. The achievements of those fleets did not answer the expectations formed. The French arrived late in the season, and acted so dependency upon the British, that they did not even attempt anything. The English admiral showed neither spirit nor activity. Partly through his want of enterprise, and still more from the neglect of the Admiralty at home to provide vessels of draught suitable to the shallow waters of the Baltic, no attempt was made to conquer any of the Russian strongholds. The island and forts of Bomarsund were captured and destroyed, the British and French engineers and artillery having the chief glory of the conquest. The British engineer officer, General Jones, greatly distinguished himself.

Operations were also conducted in the White Sea by the allied squadrons, but the assistance rendered by the French was trivial. The allies, particularly the French, arrived too late in the season to effect much.

In the Pacific Ocean the blunders and tardiness which characterized the allies were extraordinary: incompetency was impressed on all their undertakings. The Russians were attacked in their far-eastern settlements, especially Petropaulovski; but the allies suffered signal and sanguinary defeat, arising from the incompetency of the naval officers in command.

Such were the fortunes of the great war with Russia during 1854.



PARLIAMENT.

The session of 1854 was not barren. The war occupied men's thoughts, and engaged the time of the legislature; the reform bill of Lord John Russell was put off sine die; yet many useful bills were carried through the legislature, and much valuable business transacted in both houses, of importance to the country. The war debates, however, occupied most of the attention of the houses. In the beginning of the year their subjects were:—the want of spirit, preparation, and intelligence on the part of the ministry; the deference, and even amity, shown to Russia by Lord Aberdeen and his chief supporters, while the czar was deceiving them, and prosecuting his ambitious designs with energy. The financial schemes of the chancellor of the exchequer caused much debate. He propounded the doctrine that increased taxes on income, and other sources of taxation, must cover the expenses of the increased military preparations—that the income of the year should pay the cost of the year. Nothing could more clearly show that he had no conception of the magnitude of the conflict upon which his country was about to enter. Whatever might be Mr. Gladstone's abilities as an economist, or a financier, he proved himself incapable as a statesman. On the 12th of August, her majesty prorogued the parliament in person.

During the session several changes in the ministry had occurred. Lord John Russell, who at the beginning of the session held a place in the cabinet without any office, was appointed to the presidency of the council, Lord Granville giving way in his favour; as did Mr. Strutt, chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, for Lord Granville. The Duke of Newcastle held the secretaryships, both of war and the colonies, at the beginning of the session. He was clearly incapable of filling both, and was ultimately proved unequal to either. He, however, resigned the colonies, a fourth secretaryship—that for war—being created for the occasion. The duke persisted in selecting that office, and Lord Aberdeen and the Peelite section of the cabinet insisted on conferring it upon him, in spite of the desire of Lord John Russell, the whig section of the cabinet, and the general voice of the country, that Lord Palmerston should, at such a juncture, assume that most important official position. The result was a terrible breakdown in the administration of the war department, disastrous to the ministry, the army, and the country. The vacant secretaryship of the colonies was given to Sir George Grey, who was certainly unequal to its requirements. On the whole, the changes gave dissatisfaction to the country, and prepared the way for the destruction of the cabinet. In the midst of such great dangers to the country, it was found that the patronage bestowed by the ministry, especially in connection with the army, navy, and colonies, was partial, unjust, and even, in some cases, disgraceful. A widespread feeling of indignation arose among the people, and a desire for the speedy fall of the Aberdeen cabinet. After the breaking up of parliament the ministry dispersed, and appeared to concern themselves very little about the fate of the country. Two men among them were exceptions to this—the Duke of Newcastle and Lord Palmerston. They worked in their respective offices with untiring assiduity; unfortunately, what the duke did had been, in the main, better left undone, but he industriously performed his duty to the best of his power. When the tidings of Balaklava, Inkerman, the bombardment of Sebastopol, the false news of its fall, the storm which nearly wrecked the transport fleet and destroyed vast supplies, were flying through Europe and stirring the heart of England to its depth, the ministers were amusing themselves, and showed no signs that they comprehended their glorious position as the leaders of a mighty empire at war with another. It appeared afterwards that Lord John Russell was watching anxiously the progress of affairs, although his particular office did not give prominence to his activity.

On the 12th of December parliament was re-opened by her majesty in person. The ministry was denounced in both houses for its incompetent conduct of the war, and made a feeble defence. Thanks were voted by both houses to the generals, officers, and soldiers, who had participated in the battles and hardships of the various naval and military campaigns. The foreigners' enlistment bill caused much discussion, in which very little wisdom was shown by either house. The militia bill passed rapidly through the legislature. This closed the brief period during which parliament sat in December, 1854.



DEATHS OF EMINENT PERSONS.

In consequence of the war many men of whom England and any nation might be proud fell bravely in battle, or as bravely died at their posts wasted by disease. So great was their number, and so much did the loss of such men extend the lists of this year's obituary, that the task of even glancing at it becomes impossible within the space allotted to this work. One noble soldier died peacefully, full of years and honours—the Marquis of Anglesey, the companion of Wellington in his campaigns—the chivalrous Earl of Oxbridge, the most dashing sabreur of the British army, the heroic soldier whose surpassing courage at the head of the British cavalry at Waterloo shone conspicuous. Death, during the year, reaped his full harvest from men of literature, science, and art, and from among the greatly good: he was not satisfied with the dark wreaths he gathered over so many battle-fields, he spared not for this the homes of England, but threw his cold shadow over the sanctuary of piety and the abode of genius.



CHAPTER LXVII.

{VICTORIA. 1855}

Home Affairs..... State of Public Opinion..... Death of the Czar..... Severity of the Weather..... Visits of the French Emperor, the King of the Belgians, and the King of Sardinia to her Majesty..... Visit of her Majesty to the Emperor of the French..... Distribution of Crimean Medals by the Queen..... Ireland..... Parliamentary, Diplomatic, and Ministerial Conflicts and Changes..... The Progress of the Russian War..... Events in the Crimea, Asia Minor, the Baltic, the White Sea, and the Pacific Ocean..... General Prosperity and loyalty of the Colonies..... State of India..... Annexation of Oude.



HOME AFFAIRS—PUBLIC OPINION, AGITATION OF PEOPLE AND PARLIAMENT.

{A.D. 1855}

The state of the country at the opening of the year was very peculiar. The whole population of the British Isles was deeply moved by the tidings which had arrived of the sufferings of their brethren and fellow countrymen in the Crimea. It was humiliating to the country to learn that an army within seven miles of the sea, with the most splendid fleets and transports at its service, was perishing from want of food and fuel because the abounding stores, wasting and rotting on the sea-shore, could not be conveyed to the camp. All political considerations were lost sight of in the universal desire to get rid of a cabinet so utterly incompetent to direct the affairs of the country. With some of the members of the cabinet there was general satisfaction; Lords Palmerston and Clarendon were popular, and Lord John Russell at that time shared the public favour which he was so soon destined to lose. It was against the Peelite section of the ministry, and more especially its chief, that the universal indignation arose. This led to the defeat and resignation of the Aberdeen cabinet; the circumstances which attended that result will be related when noticing the parliamentary vicissitudes of the year.

A fast was ordered in England and Ireland for the 21st of March, which was extensively and solemnly observed; and a day of thanksgiving was kept with as unanimous a spirit, when, in September, Sebastopol fell.



DEATH OF THE CZAR.

On the 2nd of March the people of London were astonished by a telegram that the Emperor of Russia had died that morning. Seldom was so profound and general a sensation created. It was believed by nearly all persons that the war would be speedily brought to a close, as he who had created it had passed away. It was not then generally understood that the Emperor Nicholas was the representative of the feeling and opinion of the whole Russian nation. His ambition, love of conquest, aggrandizement of territory, did not pass beyond the degree in which these qualities were cherished by his people. The desire to propagate the Greek church by the sword alike possessed emperor and subjects. The war, therefore, continued, although the successor of Nicholas—Alexander II.—was, as alleged, a mild prince, more desirous to draw out the resources of his empire by peace than to extend it by war. At all events the conflict continued to rage, to the disappointment of all who hated bloodshed, and felt for the miseries of their fellow creatures.

It was alleged that the death of the Emperor Nicholas was caused by the defeat of his arms at the battle of Eupatoria. On the 17th of February, forty thousand Russians attacked the Turkish army under Omar Pasha, then quartered there. The occupation of that place by the allies was a great hindrance to the operations of the Russian armies, and was dangerous to the Crimea and its communications with the southern provinces of the Russian empire. The emperor had, therefore, ordered it to be carried at any cost. He, no doubt, felt humiliated that the Turks, whom he had so recently attacked in their own territory, should now, in their turn, be invaders, and he burned with indignation at this affront to his power. By this battle his soldiers were defeated, his ambition and his hopes blasted. He began at last to see the magnitude of the war he had provoked, and the perils with which his empire were environed. He drooped from that hour. A severe cold, taken in the persevering discharge of his high functions, hastened his dissolution.



DEPARTURE OF THE BALTIC FLEET.

On the 4th of April the first squadron of the Baltic fleet for the naval campaign in that sea set sail from Spithead. This fleet was probably the most powerful that had ever appeared upon the seas.



FINANCIAL OPERATIONS FOR THE YEAR.

In the middle of April the government effected, with great ease, a loan of sixteen millions sterling to carry on the war. This was followed by similar transactions.



SEVERITY OF THE WEATHER.

The first days of the new year were unusually warm, the temperature ranging 11 deg. above the average. On the 9th the thermometer marked 50 deg.; but on the following day fell to 26 deg., being the commencement of the longest and most severe winter experienced for many years. On the 14th a period of very cold weather set in, and continued without intermission to the 24th February; some of the days in the middle of February being from 15 deg. to 18 deg. below the average. From the 24th February to the 6th March the weather was more moderate; but on that day the cold again set in, and the weather continued to the 26th June to be cold, nipping, and miserable beyond record. In January, on several days, the mercury was as low as 13 deg.. In February it was, on many days, as low as from 3 deg. to 10 deg.. The coldest day in London was the 18th, when the thermometer marked 7 deg.; the lowest temperature recorded by authority was 0 deg. 8 (or not quite 1 deg.), at Berkhampstead; at Belvoir Castle it was 2 deg. 5. During this long period, the wind was almost uniformly north-east. Rain was very deficient; but snow fell on the 9th January, and on every day, at one station or other corresponding with the Meteorological Society, from January 13th to February 28th, from March 8th to the end of month, and frequently to the middle of May. It was replete with snow crystals, and unusually dense, eight inches of snow producing one inch of water. Hail and fogs were frequent all over the kingdom; and aurora were numerous. The effects of so ungenial a season upon the mortality and health of the population were as evil as could be anticipated. The deaths greatly exceeded the average. In the winter quarter 134,605 deaths were registered, or 20,000 in excess of the average; and this excess was distributed over the whole kingdom. To the immediate effects of the cold must be added the great dearness of all the necessaries of life. Wheat, which in March, 1853, was 45s. 7d. a quarter, had risen in March, 1854, to 79s. 6d-, and in 1855, to 69s. 11d.; and the sale had fallen from 1,236,493 quarters to 780,232 and 1,143,999 quarters. Potatoes ranged from 105s. to 110s. per ton, at wholesale prices.

The cold weather covered the ornamental waters with ice, and gave opportunity for the healthy and exhilarating exercises proper to the season. Those who ventured before the ice was well formed ran considerable risks, and many persons were immersed; but the only disastrous accident occurred on the 20th of January, when four lads were drowned in St. James's Park. The ice everywhere was crowded with performers on the slide and the skate, both male and female, and with innumerable spectators; the long-continued frost also brought forward many splendidly-equipped sledges. The Thames was encumbered with large masses of frozen snow or ice, which had formed on lakes and ponds communicating with it. These masses, in their passage up and down, were ground together by the tide, and made a loud murmuring noise, which could be heard at a great distance. At low water these masses became jammed together, so as to form a rough and dangerous passage from shore to shore; while the stranded pieces formed miniature icebergs. Within the limits of the tide the whole mass was in motion; but above Teddington the river was frozen over, wherever any obstruction occurred above locks and weirs, and afforded a secure passage. At Richmond there was nearly three miles of continuous ice transit, and for some distance above Teddington Lock and Kingston Bridge. All navigation was necessarily suspended. In the Pool numerous accidents occurred from ships being swept from their moorings and crushed by the ice, or driven on shore.

On the night of the 22nd of February a very singular spectacle was got up on the Serpentine. Late in the evening a fine "brass band," attended by near a thousand torchbearers, suddenly marched on to the ice on the ornamental water in Kensington Gardens, and struck up popular airs; as by a signal, large fires were lighted on the ice, tents were erected, and barrels of beer were broached. Suddenly, several hundred skaters, each bearing a lighted lamp at his waist-belt, emerged from the crowd, and shot under the bridge on to the Serpentine, and commenced quadrilles, polkas, and divers figures; in a few minutes their erratic motions were illuminated by red, blue, crimson, and green fires, lighted on the banks, and by rockets and other lights. This fantastic and beautiful exhibition was repeated on another evening.

The canals were of course frozen, and all traffic, except of skaters, was at an end.

In the country the effect of the cold upon the rivers and canals was the same—they were hard frozen. The roads were covered with snow, which made traffic impossible; and when the snow had been cleared away, they were equally dangerous from the frozen surfaces. As usual, in certain localities the cold was more intense than in the registered spots; country newspapers recorded thermometers which marked 4 deg., 6 deg., and more, below zero. Derwentwater was entirely frozen over; fires were lighted and feasts given to mark the occasion; and carts and waggons passed over to the island. Windermere was also frozen over, and parties skated not only across, but from end to end: a traffic was established between the villages by wheelbarrows. All round the coast the very unusual spectacle was witnessed of ice formed in the bays of the sea, and left aground among the rocks at low-water. A traffic was established over the ice, chiefly by amateurs, from Boston to Lincoln—thirty-five miles.*

* "Annual Register."

The closing months of the year were also severe. In October there was a great fall of rain. Fogs unusually dense and hard frosts occurred in November. December was a very cold month, and through the last quarter of the year there were many storms. During the year 1,141 ships were lost.



VISIT OF THE EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH.

One of the most interesting home events of the year occurred in the middle of April—a visit of the Emperor and Empress of the French to the queen. They left Paris on the 15th April, and on the 16th sailed for England. Their arrival at Dover and their journey to London was a triumph; and on their arrival, their progress through the great capital was marked by a popular demonstration, which, from its enthusiasm and vastness, may be called sublime. The line of carriages passed through crowded streets—crowded from the kerbstones to the housetops—? until they reached Hyde Park Corner. It is said that the emperor pointed out to the empress the street, leading into St. James's Street, where he had humble lodgings, when, seven years before, he was an exile residing in London. On the 10th of April, 1848, he turned out, baton in hand, to serve as a special constable, when the Chartists, under the guidance of the unfortunate Fergus O'Connor, threatened an invasion of London. Seven years and one week, save a day, had elapsed since Napoleon was thus obscure; and it was reserved for him to pass through the streets of the great city, guarded by the household troops of her majesty, her guest, and the companion of her consort, while her whole people turned out to confirm her invitation, and add to the honours she had reserved for him. O tempora mutantur, et mutamur cum illos! When the illustrious visitors entered Hyde Park, an entirely new scene awaited them.

Comparatively few of the lower classes were there; but nowhere else in Europe could such an array of carriages and horsemen be presented. The writer of this History took up his position near the Magazine, where a tolerable opportunity of seeing the procession was offered; but so dense were the carriages and the equestrians, that persons on foot were much impeded. The imperial pair, with Prince Albert, were seated in an open barouche. Six of the royal carriages, each drawn by four horses, and attended by outriders, conveyed the visitors and suite to the Great Western Station. The pace was too rapid for the gratification of the people, and the respect due to their efforts to make them welcome. Immediately on the arrival of the royal and imperial party at the Paddington Station they proceeded to Windsor.*

* "Nolan's History of the War against Russia." J. S. Virtue, City Road and Ivy Lane, London.

During the week the imperial pair were received in the City by the corporation, and many demonstrations of respect and popular enthusiasm greeted them. On Saturday they returned to France; where the emperor, soon after, while riding in the streets of Paris, narrowly escaped death by the hand of an Italian assassin.



DISTRIBUTION OF MEDALS BY THE QUEEN.

Among the home incidents which attracted the attention of the people of England was the distribution of medals to the officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates who had returned from the Crimea invalided or wounded. Her majesty had resolved to distribute the medals in person, and this greatly increased the interest of the occasion. It was deemed by the public a most graceful and befitting act on the part of her majesty, to give, with her own hands, the decorations won by those whose valour so nobly shielded lier throne. The feelings of the brave men who were to receive these decorations were raised to enthusiasm, when they learned that they were to receive such a reward of their courage and constancy from their beloved queen herself. The place appointed for this grand ceremony was most appropriate—the square of the Horse-Guards, in St. James's Park. The writer of this History, as he looked upon the extensive and magnificent preparations for this event, felt strongly the sequel it presented to the scene which he witnessed little more than a year before, near the same spot, when the people's representatives passed along to Buckingham Palace to assure her majesty of their support in the war she had declared. Galleries were erected for the accommodation of the lords and commons, for the members of the government, and for the families of those who were to be publicly honoured—a most graceful tribute on the part of the country to the feelings of these gallant men. How proud that day must many a wife's, and parent's, and brother's, and sister's heart have been, as the objects of their affectionate solicitude bowed before his sovereign to receive upon his breast the glorious badge his noble conduct won! The royal family occupied a capacious balcony projecting from the lower central windows of the Horse-Guards, which was festooned with scarlet cloth, and otherwise decorated.

At ten o'clock on the morning of the 18th of May, the scene presented from the windows of the Horse-Guards, and the windows and roofs of the neighbouring houses,' was most striking and effective: a vast mass of people filled the whole area within view, yet all preserving the greatest order. Her majesty dispensed the medals with her own hand to men of all ranks, and of all branches of the service.



VISIT OF THE KING OF THE BELGIANS.

In the month of July her majesty's uncle, the King of the Belgians, paid her a visit, which excited many political rumours, and attracted much notice throughout Europe.



HER MAJESTY VISITS THE FRENCH EMPEROR.

On the 18th of August her majesty, accompanied by Prince Albert and the Prince of Wales, visited the French emperor.

His imperial majesty, and the people of France, displayed a cordiality of welcome and a tasteful hospitality which rivalled those exhibited in England on the occasion of the emperor's visit.



VISIT OF THE KING OF SARDINIA TO THE ENGLISH COURT.

On November the 30th the King of Sardinia visited her majesty, and was received with much enthusiasm by the people. The prompt and gallant way in which his majesty and his people had joined Western Europe in the war against Russia made him popular.



IRELAND.

There were few events connected with Ireland which possessed any peculiar general interest. The alacrity with which recruits entered service for the war, and the terrible proceedings of the disloyal Ribbon Societies, were remarkable. Thus Ireland at once exhibited a generous loyalty and a sanguinary sedition. The newspapers were literally filled, during the closing winter months, with recitals of murders or attempts at murder. The character of the assassinations was even more than usually brutal and vindictive; and although some of the criminals were arrested and punished, government was even more than usually remiss in applying remedies to a condition of society so deplorable. Among the events in Ireland which excited most horror and astonishment in Great Britain, were those connected with burning the Bible. There was much excitement among the Roman Catholic religious orders, and efforts were made by them to create a species of revival in various parts of the country. On some of these occasions the Bible was burned during the fervour of fanaticism excited.



PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS, MINISTERIAL CHANGES, AND DIPLOMATIC STRUGGLES.

A notice of the parliamentary conflicts of the session, of the ministerial vicissitudes resulting from them, and of the diplomacy which was acted upon by each, and which itself influenced both, will here find its proper place in this chapter.

On the 22nd January, when the parliament assembled after the Christmas recess, Mr. Roebuck gave notice of a motion for inquiry into the number and condition of the army before Sebastopol, and into the conduct of those departments of government which were responsible for the efficiency of that army. This notice produced the gravest consequences: the house was thrown, into a high state of excitement, and the treasury benches especially partook of it. It is marvellous that the government did not prepare itself for some such occurrence; but, as in the management of the war, so in the management of the house, they were always "too late"—so that the nickname of "the late ministry" was bestowed upon them while yet they held, with whatever firmness they at any time possessed, the reins of power.

Rumours on Thursday evening, the 21st of January, prevailed extensively that Lord John Russell had resigned his connection with the ministry, and on grounds of the most startling and alarming nature. The evening papers came out earlier than usual, acknowledging the fact, and commenting upon it according to the spirit of their respective party bias. On Monday evening, the 25th, it was announced in both houses that Lord J. Russell had resigned his connection with the ministry. Both houses adjourned to the next evening, in order to learn the grounds upon which Lord John had come to that determination. Having the entree of the houses, the author of this History hurried to the palace at Westminster. Vast crowds surrounded it, and public excitement and expectation were at a very high pitch. In the lords, the chancellor took his seat, and the house of lords, with a dull gravity, began its business. The proceedings were important, from the announcement made and the explanation given by the Duke of Newcastle, the minister of war. His bearing was gentlemanly, and there was an air of conciliation about it which bespoke the thoroughbred gentleman. His voice was low, and his manner in speaking ungainly; an awkward and finicking gesture with the right hand below the table, to which he advanced when speaking, gave an idea of pettiness of thought, which his manner in other respects aided. The Earls of Winchelsea and Fitzwilliam seemed very desirous to have something to say; no one seemed willing to listen, and at last, by Lord Derby's interposition, they were "quieted down." Lord Ellenborough manifested most activity on the opposition side of the house, and what he said was spoken with energy, self-confidence, and commanding manner. Lord Lansdowne was the most active person on the ministerial benches, he moved about with a grace and affability which account for his great popularity in the house. His mode of putting down the pertinacity of Lord Fitzwilliam and Lord Winchelsea was authoritative, yet courteous, and in a few epigrammatic sentences he disposed of them. The most interesting sight was, however, old Lord Lyndhurst, who rose to give notice of his already famous motion concerning the conduct of the war. The house was very full of spectators. When his lordship rose, the silence was profound, and his venerable years, the magnitude of the question which his notice involved, his vast reputation, and his dignified and judicial manner, inspired a respect which manifestly pervaded every part of the house. The crowd around the throne seemed especially solicitous to observe his lordship when he rose. We could not avoid contrasting the intellectual features of the old ex-chancellor with the contracted expression of the occupant of the woolsack, and wondering what the latter would be like at the age of eighty-four, to which Lord Lyndhurst had arrived. The important event of Lord John Russell's resignation, announced by the Duke of Newcastle, prevented the discussion of Lord Lyndhurst's motion, and caused the house to break up early.

On the next evening, Lord Aberdeen's statement in the peers was almost as eagerly looked for as Lord John Russell's statement in the commons. The earl declared that he hardly knew why the noble president of the council retired from his colleagues, on the eve of a discussion concerning events in connection with which he fully shared their responsibility. The premier admitted that he had been aware that the noble president of the council had been dissatisfied with the general management of the war; that he had expressed that dissatisfaction, and had made certain proposals concerning the occupation of the war office, with which he (Lord Aberdeen) did not think it his duty to comply; that he, and the government of which he was the head, would resist Mr. Roebuck's motion, which he considered a vote of censure upon the ministry. The premier's address was cold, stiff, haughty, and quietly defiant, but did not appear to make the least impression upon the peers, who were, like the rest of the public, burning with impatience to know the terms and result of Lord John's explanation in the commons. We did not remain in the house of peers, being more anxious, like their lordships, about what was announced to occur in the other house. Lord John Russell made his famous statement. Perhaps no statement was ever made in parliament which excited so profound an interest. Every nook in the house was full, except a small portion of the ministerial gallery. The most conspicuous persons were two Parsee merchants, dressed in a showy oriental costume, who occupied the first bench in the Speaker's gallery, and who, the previous evening, were admitted behind the throne in the lords. Lord John was nearly inaudible at first, his elocution throughout the speech was inferior, and utterly unworthy of his great name as a speaker. He was listened to with evident partiality, and every period which told at all against the conduct of the war elicited cheers from the opposition, and the ministerial benches were far from silent on these occasions. After his lordship sat down, Lord Palmerston arose on behalf of the government, amidst breathless expectations. His adroitness was extraordinary, and his intellectual superiority to his notable compeer obvious; but it was equally obvious that Lord John's moral influence was in the ascendant, and the latter part of Lord Palmerston's statement was heard with impatience, which extended to the galleries, although the order of the house was more than once invaded by expressions of approbation to the anti-ministerial remarks of Lord John. It became evident from Lord Palmerston's address, that his lordship would be installed in the war-office, if the motion of Mr. Roebuck failed. Mr. Roebuck did not speak with his usual energy, but although illness incapacitated him, his voice rang out as clear as a bell, and every tone told upon the whole house. His speech was devoid of that acrimony which pervades so generally the matter and the manner of the honourable member for Sheffield. The government seemed indisposed to reply; but loud calls from all sides for Sidney Herbert, provoked the right hon. secretary to one of his best elocutionary efforts. We were certainly most unfavourably impressed with his deportment all through the evening. There was a bitterness of expression in his countenance while Lord John was speaking, and a sneer and a whisper to his colleagues whenever Lord John made a good hit, which argued a consciousness of error, and a bad spirit with it. But Mr. Layard utterly demolished the case of Mr. Herbert, and with a gravity of purpose, fulness of information, discreet distribution of subject, and logical cogency, which mark that gentleman as one of the most rising men in the commons, and in the country. The government were literally overwhelmed with his speech. The impressions of the oldest observers of parliamentary proceedings whom we met, declared they had never witnessed such a moral defeat.

It may be readily believed that Lord John Russell's speech prepared the way for Mr. Roebuck's motion. The "honourable and learned member" was in bad health, but although unable to express all he had intended to lay before the commons, he produced a decided impression upon the house. The fact of being unable to continue his speech from weakness rather added to the effect; so that Mr. Disraeli truly said that, were not the house aware of the learned member's illness, the abrupt termination of his address on such a plea, and at such a moment, might appear an ingenious and rhetorical artifice. In his argument, Mr. Roebuck charged the government, the officials at home, and those in command abroad, with incapacity, conceit, and indifference to the welfare of the soldiery. When at last the house divided, the motion was supported by 305 members, and opposed by only 148, leaving a majority of 157—one of the largest, on a great public question involving the fate of a government, ever known in the house of commons. The announcement was received with exultant cheers from both sides of the house. The extinction of the ministry was decided; the house and the country accepted the vote, not merely as an expression of want of confidence politically, but as a vote of censure morally and politically. Yet in this grave emergency the house adjourned, in order to observe the anniversary of "King Charles the Martyr!" Incredible as this may appear, while the country was in the most imminent peril, such was the fact.

A cabinet council was called, and the ministry, of course, resolved to resign. The queen and court were in great suspense and excitement, being very unwilling to accept the resignation of the cabinet. They were the prince's friends and favourites, and her majesty therefore was disinclined to their forfeiture of office, and was prepared for any constitutional measure which would give back to them the possession of place and power. When the noble earl at the head of the government resigned the seals of office, he recommended her majesty to seek advice from the Earl of Derby. This noble earl had made some of the best speeches he had ever delivered during the war debates, and his views on the subject showed superior information and superior judgment to what the ministry, in their aggregate capacity, possessed in connection with foreign politics and war. It was, however, eventually, Lord Palmerston, to whom, after many intrigues and much public agitation, the task was confided.

Lord Palmerston, after some difficulty, succeeded in forming a government, which was in fact but a reconstruction of the old one. Lord Aberdeen, the Duke of Newcastle, and Lord John Russell, were left out; and the only accession was Lord Panmure, who was nominated secretary of war. This nobleman was better known to the country, and perhaps to other countries, as the Honourable Fox Maule. He had considerable experience in ministerial matters, and was regarded both by statesmen and by the public as an upright and amiable man. From 1846 to 1852 he served in the Bussell administration as secretary at war: he afterwards served as president of the board of control, until the breaking up of the ministry. On Tuesday, the 8th of February, the new ministry was completed, and was thus arranged:—

First Lord of the Treasury........ Viscount Palmerston.

Lord Chancellor .................. Lord Cranworth.

President of the Council.......... Earl Granville.

Privy Seal........................ Duke of Argyle.

Foreign Secretary ............... Earl of Clarendon.

Home Secretary .................. Right Hon. S. Herbert.

Colonial Secretary .............. Sir George Grey.

Minister of War ................. Lord Panmure.

Chancellor or the Exchequer....... Right Hon.W.E. Gladstone.

First Lord of the Admiralty....... Sir James Graham.

Public Works ..................... Sir W. Molesworth.

In the Cabinet, but without office The Marquis of Lansdowne.

President of the Board of Control Sir Charles Wood.

On the 16th of February the house met for the transaction of business, and very eager was the public ear for the words that should fall from the lips of the new premier. He informed the house, with brevity and clearness, of the circumstances which placed him in the situation he then held; and bespoke in energetic, self-reliant, and courteous terms, the confidence of the commons of England.

It was generally known that negotiations were about to be opened in Vienna, with a view to a treaty of peace. Lord Palmerston took the country, if not the house, by surprise in announcing that he had chosen Lord John Russell as the representative of England at the conference about to ensue. This gave public satisfaction, as Lord John Russell's recent conduct, and the general disclosure upon the breaking up of the cabinet, showed that his lordship had been a very warlike member of it.*

* Nolan's "History of the War against Russia." London: J. S. Virtue

The cabinet of Lord Palmerston was not destined to remain long unbroken. When the period arrived for appointing a committee of inquiry, in virtue of Mr. Roebuck's motion, it became evident that the ministry was divided. The Peelites were in favour of an attempt to defeat the appointment of a committee. Lord Palmerston was opposed to its appointment also, but would not risk the overthrow of his power by any attempt to thwart the wishes of the house. The Peelites resigned, and the cabinet had to be reconstructed. On the 22nd of February the secession was publicly announced.

Lord Palmerston obtained Sir Charles Wood—a man of inferior talents, but superior moral weight—in place of Sir G. Graham. Sir G. Cornewall Lewis became chancellor of the exchequer, who was much inferior to Mr. Gladstone in that post, but a man of more direct and reliable opinions. Mr. Vernon Smith was made president of the board of control. Lord John Russell, who was (as before noticed) nominated to the Vienna conference, accepted the colonial-office, which Sir George Grey occupied ad interim, as well as the home-office, which he accepted en permanence. The secession of those men from the cabinet, to whom our military disasters were mainly attributable, was a gain to its moral influence, and saved the premiership of Lord Palmerston from an extinction, probably, as signal as that of his predecessor. In the month of March the ministry was modified in its inferior offices in a way calculated to improve its strength. Generally, throughout the united kingdom, it inspired confidence and received support.

One of the last acts of the Aberdeen ministry was to establish an order of military merit for bravery—the Victoria Cross.

Upon the resignation of the Aberdeen ministry, the court paid signal attention to its members; and the fallen premier received the highest badge of honour the queen could bestow—the Order of the Garter. This excited loud murmurs throughout the country, and impaired public confidence in the vigour of will possessed by the premier, when the will of the court was expressed apart from the great and leading principles of his policy.

The estimates for the service of 1855 were much discussed in the house, and were generally considered far below the exigencies of the country. The estimates for the army were L13,721,158; for the navy, L10,716,388; for the transport service, L5,181,465; for the ordnance, L7,808,042. The whole nearly equalling thirty-seven millions and a half sterling.

With the discussions of March, and the consolidations of the cabinet, ended the parliamentary events, of the year most worthy of note; although various discussions, full of interest and importance, arose from time to time throughout the whole of the session. Those which were most vital to the government arose out of the negotiations of Vienna, where Lord John Russell appeared as the chief representative of England. The sittings of this conference were held in March and April. Both Lord John Russell and the French plenipotentiary agreed to terms which, as they were ultimately rejected by the allied governments, need not be referred to here.

The unsuccessful termination of the Vienna conferences produced a great sensation in England and France, murmurs were heard in both countries that their negotiators had laboured without results; and both the English and French plenipotentiaries were compelled by public opinion to retire from their offices in the cabinets of their respective countries. Count Nesselrode addressed an artful note to the ministers and agents of Russia in various states, the object of which was to represent the allies as resisting all conciliatory offers on the part of Russia. The tone and representations of the note were identical with the arguments of Gortschakoff and Titoff at the conference. The French plenipotentiary and foreign minister resigned his place in the imperial cabinet; the English plenipotentiary and colonial minister retained office until the cause of the French minister's retirement became known; and his conduct contrasted very favourably in English opinion to that of the English minister. Earl Clarendon and Lord Palmerston held back from the British parliament and public a correct knowledge of the facts, until it transpired, through Parisian gossip, that the French, English, and Austrian ministers were willing to accept peace on the condition of Russia and the allies keeping an equal naval armament in the Black Sea. The way in which Austria had hoodwinked the Western negotiators, and played into the hands of Russia, became at last evident; and Lord John Russell was forced to leave the English ministry. There were other results of the conference, and these rapidly developed themselves. It was no doubt a conviction on the part of the Russian government that its duplicity throughout these negotiations, and its falsehood in accepting as a basis the four points, had deprived it of all moral influence in Europe, that led to the crafty and deceptive circular of Count Nesselrode, already referred to, in which he sought to persuade the world that Russia was—as some of the English peace lecturers frequently represented—a most ill-used nation. If no other result than that of unmasking Russia—even to the Peelites and their supporters—were attendant upon those conferences, it was so much gained for the prospect of a more united public opinion in England. But these negotiations tore the mask from Austria; she was evidently not an ally of the Western powers, but an accomplice of the foe; she dreaded Russia, but she was still more afraid of France.

When the people of the united kingdom and their representatives in the commons had time to review all these things, the outcry against Lord John Russell was as great as it had been before against Lord Aberdeen. The popular voice stopped the pens and silenced the tongues of the diplomatists, and negotiations gave place to fierce and sanguinary war.

England, however, became disgusted with professional and ministerial diplomatists, and denounced all negotiations with Russia until, by sword and lance, rifle and cannon, the foe was humiliated.

There can be no question that the energy and force of the popular sentiment—often right, though sometimes erroneous, and sometimes obstinately and wilfully wrong—have occasionally interfered with the success of negotiations. But this is one of the evils inseparable from a free government. The French court, from the death of Louis XIV., was anxious to pursue a pacific policy, to improve their marine, and to pursue Colbert's maxim, that a long war was not for the benefit of France. But the democratic party, which had been formed before the death of Louis XV., employed diplomatic agents at every court to upset and overturn the pacific policy of that king's ambassadors.*

* Vide "la Politique de tous les Cabinets de L'Europe."

This is one of the few disadvantages attendant upon constitutional states in negotiation; but, per contra., such states also enjoy some pre-eminent advantages. In such states foreign powers do not co-operate with domestic factions, as they sometimes do in more absolute monarchies.

Presence of mind, coolness, and firmness, tell oftener in negotiations than mere talent and learning. The presence of mind of Augustus, who was of doubtful valour, obtained an ascendancy over Marc Antony, a brave soldier, but wanting in proper firmness.

Richelieu preferred firmness and patience in a negotiator to any other qualities. Suppleness, no doubt, often supplies the place of patience, and the man who can tack and veer was formerly not without his value; but the time for using these small wares has now passed for ever. They have been worn threadbare by a politician of our day, and are foul in the nostrils of every civilized nation. In the middle ages, and in Italian courts, such tricks may have been necessary, but they are unsuitable to constitutional states. A pope of Rome is recorded to have said of the Abbe Polignac:—"This young man always appears to be of my opinion at first, but at the end of the conversation, I find I am of his." Such an "artful dodge" and dissembler would be disrelished now by all pure and honest men. An attempt has been made by some French writers to attribute the science of negotiation to Mazarin. But the science existed before the time of the wily cardinal, or even of that good King Dagobert who, according to the old rhyme, "Mit sa culotte a l'envers;" and France, and other modern countries, as well as Egypt, Greece, and Rome, had produced great negotiators.

On the 14th of August parliament was prorogued, and soon after the ministry showed renewed activity in the work of diplomacy, without any advantage to the nation. The policy of the prorogation was much arraigned by the public; but the evening on which it took place tidings arrived of the bombardment of Sweaborg, which drew away the public attention to a real and brilliant, although partial, triumph.



THE CONDUCT OF THE WAR—OPERATIONS IN THE CRIMEA AND BLACK SEA.

January opened upon the starving British army still more terribly than the December of 1854 closed. The French also suffered, but their superior military organization, commissariat, and care of the sick, spared them many miseries which afflicted the whole of the British lines. It was remarkable in the British army that very few officers perished of cold, none of hunger, while their men fell in such numbers. Very few officers died from sickness, unless such as fell victims to cholera, which smote with impartial hand the poor private and his titled chief. Various sick and wounded officers died in consequence of not having been removed in sufficient time to the Bosphorus, or to such other quarters as were not only possible, but convenient, had it not been for the heartless and stupid routine by which the heads of departments, at home and abroad, civil and military, were guided. It was the more remarkable that so few officers died in the camp in proportion to the men who perished, as the proportions were reversed in combat. The facts were, that the officers in battle exposed themselves more gallantly than the men, nobly, although, the latter fought and fell; but in the lines, and at Balaklava, out upon the plain below the plateau, and in the trenches, the officers had such comforts as were procurable for money, and which were unattainable to the men. Stores sent to the soldiers were plundered at Balaklava, and sold in the trenches by Turks, Greeks, Tartars, and rogues of all nations who had followed the army. Those who had money purchased, and fared comparatively well; the poorer soldiers hungered and died. The medical regimental officers behaved nobly; but, generally, they were unwilling to complain of any want of stores and medicines, as they, by doing so, incurred the resentment of the medical chiefs, and their promotion was suspended, or prevented altogether. It became necessary at last to introduce the civil element into the medical care of the army. Among the efforts put forth to this end was the establishment of a civil hospital at Smyrna. The government encouraged various medical men of eminence to abandon their professional prospects in London and go to the East. These men were regarded with jealousy by their brethren in the military service, and with indifference and want of courtesy very frequently by military men in high official positions, The government which, like preceding ministers, had in its contracts for the public service obtained such unenviable notoriety for breach of faith, signalized itself in an especial manner in violating honour and duty with the medical civil officers. This was especially seen in the requital of the officers attached to the hospital at Smyrna. In "Nolan's History of the War against Russia" there is incorporated an account of the Smyrna hospital, by a very gifted and learned man,* which is too long for quotation here, but which will exemplify all that is here stated of an evil so great, and injustice so flagitious.

* Dr. Arthur Leared, Finsbury Place, South, and 12, Old Burlington Street, London. Chap, xlviii., pp. 810, 811.

According to the imperial commissioner with the French army, the month of January "was fertile in partial combats, and sudden but sanguinary and obstinate struggles." Mr. Woods, the correspondent of the London Morning Herald, affirmed that the combats were useless skirmishes.

February in the Crimea was chiefly signalized by the battle of Eupatoria, which, as shown in a previous section of this chapter, issued in the signal defeat of the Russian army by Omar' Pasha, and was probably the cause of the czar's death. The accession of Alexander II. to the throne of the Russian empire, while it encouraged diplomatic efforts for peace, led to renewed efforts for war, the young emperor being anxious to show his people zeal for "the orthodox church," and reverence for the policy of his predecessor, whom Russia regarded as a saint and a martyr. The Emperor Alexander resolved upon a desperate effort to bring the war to an issue favourable to his empire by force of arms, unless, through the instrumentality of Austria at the Vienna conference, he could more cheaply conquer peace.

During the month of March, the allies became more active in the siege of Sebastopol. Efforts were put forth of a sanitary nature, which improved the health of the troops, and means of storage and transport were greatly facilitated and enlarged. The soldiers rallied with better food and more favourable weather.

The English generals displayed more activity, but did not inspire more confidence in the troops. Sorties and combats continued. The Russian forces in the Crimea were also refreshed and recruited, although the efforts to accomplish these things drained the resources of the empire.

On the 20th of the month it was known that Prince Gortschakoff succeeded Prince Menschikoff in command of the Russian Crimean forces. The latter prince—the cause of so many troubles, a blind zealot, whose influence over the Emperor Nicholas was most unhappy—was wounded and disabled. The Russian admiral, Istomine, a very brave man, was killed in the Mamelon Fort. Burial truces, combats, and sorties closed the month. In one of these the pious and heroic Captain Vicars fell.

During April the allies made powerful efforts again to bombard the place, The troops continued to suffer through March and the first week of April, although their situation was meliorated from day to day; the spirits of the men were recruited, and an ambition to signalize themselves by some decisive feat of arms was evident among them.

During this period, the Black Sea fleet operated in watching the enemy's coasts in that sea, and in harassing him in his harbours in the Sea of Azoff.

On the 8th of April Sebastopol was once more bombarded. The English shells were, in a vast proportion, harmless from their bad manufacture. The bombardment eventually failed; the industry, energy, and perseverance of the Russians enabling them to repair the earthworks and batteries as fast as their demolition by the allies seemed to advance. April was signalized by such marked differences of opinion between the French and English generals, that co-operation before Sebastopol was difficult, and impossible elsewhere, although plans for operations at other places were discussed.

May opened brightly and beautifully, as it generally does in the Crimea, and all around the trampled plateau was decked with flowers, which sprung up with wonderful rapidity in the most unlikely places, displaying their grace even among the tents of the warriors. May was attended by as unhappy differences of opinion between the allied generals as was April, although the presence of General Pelissier in the French army tended to promote good feeling and generous forbearance.

Much sickness was experienced in May by the troops of the English army, and the extravagance, dirt, and confusion of the transport service caused a heavier sick list than would otherwise have been reported.

The King of Sardinia having joined the alliance against Russia, several thousand fine troops from that nation landed at Balaklava. They were eventually quartered upon the Tchernaya, and, with some Turkish detachments, and French divisions, held at bay the Russian army in the field, and rendered all further operations of the enemy against Balaklava impossible.

An expedition was sent against Kertch.

When May closed, the allies and the Russians confronted one another, in formidable force, upon the opposite heights of the Tchernaya.

June was an eventful month before Sebastopol. It began with a third bombardment of the gallant city, which, like previous ones, was a failure—the means of the allies, vast as they were, being inadequate to the undertaking. The French made a successful attack upon the White Works and the Mamelon; and the British were equally successful in attacks upon the Quarries, by which the part of the Russian lines which they opposed were protected. The Russians made desperate, but eventually abortive, attempts to retake all these positions.

The third bombardment having failed, the allies lost no time in bringing fresh resources of attack and storm against the defences. A fourth bombardment produced signal havoc and extensive dilapidation. On the 18th of the month, the allies attempted to take the place. A combined assault of a most sanguinary nature was made and defeated. This defeat was accompanied and followed by the loss of many distinguished officers in the British army. On the 28th the English commander-in-chief died. Illness and anxiety, with chagrin at his failure in conducting the siege to the satisfaction of his country, brought on his death. Cholera was the immediate agent in his removal. General Simpson succeeded to the command of the British army, through the instrumentality of his patron and countryman, Lord Panmure. He was still less competent than Lord Raglan for so great a responsibility, and the people of the United Kingdom were indignant at the jobbing and patronage to which the interests of the country were sacrificed. General Simpson while he remained in command was in every respect feeble, and a mere cipher in the hands of the French general. Lord Raglan, by his reserve, dignity of manner, and high rank, preserved influence and respect notwithstanding his inactivity and dulness; but General Simpson possessed no qualities that could set off or redeem his utter incompetency, unless, perhaps, his modesty, and the absence of all self-seeking about him. He urged upon his government that he was unequal to so great an appointment, but Lord Panmure insisted in thrusting the honour upon him.

General Simpson, on his assumption of command, ordered the siege to be prosecuted without intermission, in the hope of giving a fresh and successful assault. The month of July and part of August witnessed the progress of events for the grand and final struggle, but before it could take place, incidents apart from the siege excited general attention in Europe. Lord Raglan had been very anxious for operations against Kertch, and ordered a second expedition against it, which was successful, and was a means of greatly annoying, distracting, and injuring the Russians.

After the failure of the assault on the 18th of June, the opposing hosts on the Tchernaya assumed gradually a more menacing attitude, so that from the middle of July a battle was daily and even hourly expected. It was the interest of the Russians to strike the first blow, and the allies prepared to ward it off, and, if possible, deal in return a more deadly stroke. The great trial of strength on the banks and steep acclivities of "the Black River" was destined to occur in August. On the 16th, the Russians attacked the whole line of the French and Sardinian posts, and, after a long and sanguinary battle, were defeated. This decisive repulse of the Russian army in the field, left the allies more at liberty to prosecute to perfection the works necessary to secure a successful assault. Before that event occurred the British experienced many serious losses; a surprising number of regimental officers fell in conflict or died. The disgraceful state of the English transports caused many deaths. The same inaptness and incompetency for general management characterized the English chiefs as at the very beginning of the siege. The British army experienced a serious injury in the retirement of Lieutenant-general Sir Richard England. He had probably endured more fatigue, and worked on with more patience, perseverance, and continuity of action than any officer in the British army. One by one the English chiefs had fallen away by death, or wounds, or sickness, General England, with frame of iron and indomitable will, still bearing up, although sharing cold, watchings, labours, and privations with his soldiers in a way characteristic of his generous nature and military temper. He was perhaps the least ostentatious soldier in either army. He never put himself forward prominently, but was always ready to perform the most arduous task committed to him with scrupulous precision, and quiet and indomitable resolution. Had he not offended the agents of the press by his resolution of not allowing any reporters within his division—under the conviction, probably erroneous, that the reports which found their way into the English papers, gave information to the enemy injurious to the service—he would have had many a gallant deed, and his stern uncompromising sense of duty, emblazoned to the world. His health at last suffered so severely, that he was obliged to return home, shortly before the grand conquest was achieved.

September opened with the immediate preliminaries of the grand struggle. The final bombardment of the strong city began. The number of guns with which the allies opened the bombardment was 803. On the old French attack there were 332 pieces; on the French Inkerman attack, 267 pieces: making a total in the two separate French attacks of 599 pieces of ordnance.

The English had 204 pieces, consisting of 91 mortars, and 113 guns.

The bombardment began upon the 5th,—the heaviest ever known in the history of sieges. Terrible mischief was effected by the constant discharge of so many engines of destruction; and the alarm and distress of the inhabitants and garrison could be witnessed from the lines of the besiegers. The following extract from the author's "History of the War against Russia," describes with brevity and accuracy the final bombardment.

When the sun set, the shells, rockets, and other fiery missives from the besieging lines, sped like flights of meteors over the enemy's works, and searched the recesses of the city. Throughout the night of the 5th a fire of musketry had been directed against the faces of the works to be assailed; but on that of the 6th, this was more sustained and heavy. During the 6th, the enemy made a comparatively feeble resistance. On the early morning of the 7th, the bombardment gave place to a cannonade, which was as terrible as if opening for the first time., The enemy opened a galling fire from their Inkerman batteries across the harbour upon the French right, sweeping the batteries of the latter, slaying many, and damaging the works. A strong wind blew the smoke from the town, accompanied by clouds of dust, into the faces of the besiegers, impeding their aim, and rendering it difficult for them to observe the effect of their shot.

At half-past three a fine two-decker in the harbour was set on fire, and continued to burn through the remainder of the day and all night, with a flame exceeding in intensity and volume that of previous ships. A fire also broke suddenly forth in the rear of the Great Redan. Late in the evening another broke out in the town over the Woronzoff Road, and another at the head of the dockyard. The combined effect of all these conflagrations was terrible beyond description, associated as they were with the deafening roar of at least 1000 pieces of cannon, for as many were constantly engaged, notwithstanding that the number of the enemy's guns silenced was very great. When daylight died the cannonade was, as before, succeeded by a bombardment, with all its fierce concomitants. The Russians showed throughout the night a constant apprehension of assault, for they threw showers of vertical grape-shot; and notwithstanding the glare of the flames from the burning ships, and the fires in the city, they lighted up their works with fire-ball and carcasses. They repeatedly threw bouquets into the trenches of the French. Thus, until the morning of the 8th, shells and rockets fell in fiery deluge upon Sebastopol, and the roll of the musketry against the faces of the chief defences never ceased. On the morning of the 8th the cannonade began with the day, and was delivered more rapidly and fiercely than before. Meanwhile preparations were made for the assault.

The assault on the English side was unsuccessful; the same bad generalship which marred the actions of the English so frequently throughout the war, threw its fatal influence over their efforts on the terrible day of the 8th of September. The French would also have failed, in all probability, had they not effected a surprise, by suddenly seizing the Malakoff, the key of the defence, at a moment when the Russians felt secure that no attack would be made. The French with great courage and adroitness secured the advantage gained, and that advantage was decisive of the contest. The Russians, after a vain struggle, retreated from Southern Sebastopol, having lost a multitude of slain, and leaving vast spoil in the hands of the captors.

The tidings of this result was spread by the electric wire and by the press until all Europe caught the exultation and rejoiced everywhere—except in the courts of Naples and Athens, and among the members of the Greek church, who, wherever they were scattered, showed the utmost sympathy for Russian tyranny and bigotry.

During September, the allies gathered the spoils of war from the conquered city. October and November afforded fine weather for military operations, but nothing of importance was done by the allied commanders from the basis of operations before Sebastopol; while the Russians still lay in strength beyond the Tchernaya, and held Northern Sebastopol in greater strength than ever.

General Simpson resigned his command, in obedience to the popular opinion at home; and General Codrington, a general of less than two years standing, assumed the important post. Discord among the allied commanders, and intrigues in the French foreign-office and the imperial court of France, paralyzed the vigorous purposes of the English cabinet. The French emperor wished to conciliate his brother autocrat of Russia, and was unwilling to strike a blow which in proportion as it humbled Russia exalted England. A fear lest any glory or influence in the East should accrue to England swayed the French ministry. Napoleon had other designs which England was less likely to favour than was Alexander II., and the policy adopted was to gain an ally in the enemy which England aided him to subdue.

A second winter encampment before Sebastopol was necessary. The dreary plateau was once more the abode of the weary and suffering soldiers during the inclement period which terminated the year in the Crimea. The British soldiers were, however, cheered by increased numbers and efficiency, and by the care and comfort which the indignant patriotism of the British people compelled the government to bestow upon its noble army.

During the inactive of the allied armies before Sebastopol, and in the neighbourhood of the Tchernaya, certain expeditions were undertaken, which were important. An expedition was ordered against certain strong places on the European shores of the Black Sea. The reduction of Kinburn, a strong naval arsenal and place for ship-building, was effected; and Ockzakoff, an important place from which the approaches to Kinburn could be well defended, was totally destroyed.

At Eupatoria the Russians, notwithstanding the continual drain upon their resources at Sebastopol, harassed the garrison. Cavalry skirmishes were frequent, and rather sanguinary. The allies maintained their position, and constantly threatened the enemy's communications.



OPERATIONS IN THE SEA OF AZOFF.

During the autumn and winter the allies conducted extensive and effective operations in the Sea of Azoff. All around its coasts strong places were bombarded and stormed. The granaries from which the Russian armies were fed were consumed. The fishing establishments which were on a great scale, and by which also the Russian armies received support, were wasted; and the craft which traversed that sea, as well as the armed vessels by which they had been protected, were all captured or swept away.



OPERATIONS IN ASIA MINOR.

On a previous page the arrival of Colonel Williams as her majesty's commissioner, and his efforts to restore order in the Turkish armies, and to correct the rapacity and disorder of its chiefs, were noticed. That skilful and gallant officer, now so well known as Major-general Sir Fenwick Williams, Bart, of Kars, late M.P. for Calne, and Governor of Woolwich, and while these pages are going to press, commander-in-chief of the forces in Canada, put forth almost superhuman efforts to save Asia Minor from the Russians during the summer and autumn of 1855. In consequence of the wretched conduct of the Turkish pashas, and the quarrels of the European officers in the Turkish service, especially the Poles, Germans, and Hungarians, Colonel, or as we shall now call him General, Williams shut himself up in Kars. The Turkish pashas immediately conspired together to neglect him, to refuse succours military or material, and by leaving Kars to fall into the hands of the Russians, bring discredit upon the foreign general, and deter the sultan from committing commands or positions of authority over the faithful to infidel generals. The limits of this history do not allow of the detail of the defence of Kars. It is one of the most remarkable and romantic in history. So extraordinary was the capacity of General Williams that he inspired confidence in the minds of the abject Turks, and ensured order among the wild and predatory auxiliaries who came to the assistance of his garrison. His exceeding sweetness of temper, urbanity of manner, and ease and persuasiveness of address, enabled General Williams to secure the support of the people of Kars, the wild Lazi, and his own little band of noble British officers. He defended Kars without any European troops whatever against the best general in the Russian service, and one of the most noble and generous as well as her officers, Mouravieff. The Russians were repulsed again and again by the townspeople and their rude and undisciplined assistants from the country. The army of Mouravieff was punished with appalling slaughter, and had food been sent to the garrison, which the Turkish pashas could have effected, General Williams would not only have saved Kars, but have driven the Russians back upon the line of the Caucasus. Famine, however, conquered the heroic chief and his devoted followers. The surrender of Kars became necessary, and the famished garrison and its adored chief went forth prisoners to the Russian camp. Severely as the besiegers had suffered, they used language of unbounded admiration for the skill and gallantly of General Williams and his officers, and for the devotion, endurance, and courage of their followers.

While yet the struggle was going on in Kars, Omar Pasha, at the head of a Turkish army, was dispatched to the northern shores of the Asiatic coast of the Black Sea to create a diversion, and cause the siege of Kars to be raised. In this undertaking Omar was not sincere. He, like the other pashas, was jealous of Williams, and wished Kars to fall. Omar landed, lost time wherever he could on any pretence make a stay, beat his enemy to prove his own generalship, and took care to reap none of the fruits of victory lest Kars should be saved. The skilful renegade shared with the old Turkish muchirs, feriks, and pashas, all the corruption of those classes, and all their hatred to foreigners, even although indispensable allies. Omar had been offended by the insulting contempt of Lord Raglan, and the stupid apathy of General Simpson; the French commanders had, from motives of separate policy, alienated him, so that he led an army into Asia rather to accomplish purposes of his own than to relieve Kars. The conquests of Omar in the direction of the Ingour were rapid, signal, and brilliant. He, however, was obliged to retreat, from the severity of the season exposing his army to the bitterest sufferings and great loss of life.

The foregoing pages give as complete a view of the actions of the allies in the waters and on the shores of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azoff, as the space allotted to the account in this History can possibly allow.



OPERATIONS OF THE ALLIES IN THE BALTIC.

While war was raging on the eastern side of the Russian and Turkish empires, the western waters and shores of Russia were also the scenes of sanguinary contests. The vast fleet which, under the command of Admiral Dundas, proceeded rather too late in the spring to the Baltic, accomplished some important enterprises. The troops and stations of the Russians on the shores of Finland were shelled. Landing-parties ascended the creeks and rivers, and burned great quantities of naval stores, and destroyed or captured numerous small vessels, military or commercial. Sweaborg was bombarded, and a large portion of the fortifications destroyed, and many of their defenders slain. Cronstadt was approached as in the previous year; but was pronounced to be impregnable to the means at the disposal of the allies, vast as they were. The want of gun-boats and vessels of light draught was the chief ingredient in the elements of discomfiture which affected the allies. Throughout the year the allies hemmed in the Russian ships in their unassailable harbours of refuge, or as at Sweaborg, destroyed them by the fire of their gun-boats.



OPERATIONS IN THE WHITE SEA.

These were similar to what took place in the Baltic. Inaccessible harbours defied the allied fleets. Want of vessels of small draught rendered pursuit impossible when Russian ships made the sinuosities of the coast, and shallow rivers, available for retreat. Still great havoc was effected, and the loss of property sustained by the Russians was very severe. Both in the Baltic and White Seas the allies arrived too late in the season, and left too early.



OPERATIONS IN THE PACIFIC, AND AGAINST THE RUSSIAN SETTLEMENTS IN KAMTSCHATKA.

As in the previous year, the Russians showed superior foresight, activity, and intelligence to the allied naval forces in the Pacific. In vain the powerful squadrons of France and England pursued their enemy hither and thither; little was accomplished—incapacity and tardiness marred all enterprise. The allies, however, inflicted a heavy chastisement upon the settlement of Petropaulovski, but more by causing the Russians themselves to accomplish the work of destruction than by inflicting it through the agency of the allied arms. The Russians, unable to cope with the allies, sought safety in flight, both by land and sea; but always effected their retreat with so much courage, deliberation, and yet promptitude, as to leave no great renown to their foes. Everywhere, on every sea and shore, England and France, on the whole, triumphed; and the close of 1855 saw Russia beaten and humiliated, but still great in strength and wanton in defiance.



COLONIAL AFFAIRS.

Little occurred in the colonial history of 1855 suitable to a general work such as the present. There was, however, one sphere of English influence where opinions and feelings were working, and events were preparing the way for great results—that sphere was India.



INDIA.

During the whole of the year 1855, General Outram, as the British political agent at Lucknow, was engaged in disputes with the King of Oude. According to instructions from Lord Dalhousie, the governor-general, demands were made which the king and his people resisted. General Outram acted with all the humanity and courtesy which his stern instructions allowed. Lord Dalhousie was determined to annex the rich and fertile kingdom. The British cabinet, acting through the board of control, encouraged him. The author of these pages knows that the directors of the East India Company generally disapproved of the annexation, and some of them foresaw the consequences. The act of parliament of 1853, which came into operation in 1854, left the company so little power, that there was no use in its intelligent members opposing the caprice and aggrandizement of the board of control. At all events, the directors offered no open opposition, and Lord Dalhousie was left to his own unfettered judgment to carry out his scheme. At the close of 1855, General Outram was ordered to assemble a large military force at Cawnpore, and to enter into negotiations with the Oude government, "for the purposes mentioned in the despatch of the honourable court." On the 30th of January, 1856, General Outram summoned the prime-minister of Oude to the residency at Lucknow, to inform him of the decision of the governorgeneral. On the 1st of February the king addressed "the Resident," protesting in mild but dignified language against the subversion of his rightful authority. The resident declined all discussion, informing his majesty that the determination of his government was inflexible. He gave the king three days to decide. The army and people of Oude were as one man in the desire to raise the standard of resistance; and the sepoys of the Bengal army, being soon made acquainted with the danger to the independence of Oude, their native territory, heartily, but secretly, sympathized with its king and people. His majesty did not dare, however, to encounter the superior power of the British; he disarmed his troops, and dismounted his guns. On the 4th of February, General Outram demanded that the king should sign a declaration that his "infraction of the essential engagements of the previous treaties had been continued and notorious." His majesty, giving way to vehement grief and indignation, refused to sign this condemnation of himself, and expressed his determination to lay a memorial of his wrongs at the feet of the Queen of Great Britain. In 1858, he, by his agents, endeavoured to obtain from her majesty redress of the grievances of which he complained. The king also refused to sign a new treaty, abrogating that of 1801, submitted to him by General Outram. On the 7th of February, the general issued a proclamation, declaring that "the British government had assumed to itself the exclusive and permanent administration of the territories of Oude." From that moment the soldiery and people of the kingdom were resolved to take the first opportunity of reasserting the independence of their country, and taking vengeance upon those whom they considered its oppressors. General Outram compelled many nobles to give bail for their good behaviour, and many were placed under surveillance. General Outram has been much blamed for the part he took, but he merely performed his duty as the governor-general's agent. He was taken into his excellency's counsels no farther than to evoke his opinion on the modus operandi by which the orders of Government-house might best be carried out. General Outram had no responsibility as to the policy of the transaction.

In the above relation of the transactions in India, events are anticipated for unity of subject, as in 1855 the orders went forth which annexed Oude, and nearly lost India in 1857.



CHAPTER LXVIII.

{VICTORIA. 1856}

Conclusion of the Russian War..... General Foreign Relations..... Correspondence of the English Foreign Minister with the Sardinian Plenipotentiaries to the Paris Conference..... Relations with Naples..... British Policy in the East..... Treaty of Commerce and Friendship with Siam..... War with Persia..... War with China..... Disputes with the United States of America..... India..... Ireland..... Financial and Commercial Condition of the Country..... Parliamentary Proceedings.



CONCLUSION OF THE RUSSIAN WAR.

{A.D. 1856}

It will aid the consecutive narrative of events to relate the conclusion of the Russian war, and the home events connected with it, in the opening sections of this chapter.

The early winter months of 1856 were spent inactively by the opposing armies, and negotiations for peace were opened, chiefly through the instrumentality of Austria, backed by Prussia. France, however, it was suspected in England, had made overtures to Russia privately, the French emperor having maintained all through the struggle a separate and selfish policy while uniting with England to destroy the power of Russia in the Black Sea. It was to the interest of France to destroy Muscovite influence in the neighbourhood of the Mediterranean, and to limit the preponderating influence of the Russo-Greek church in Turkey. It was the especial interest of the emperor to compel the czar to recognise him as a great European sovereign, the de facto and de jure sovereign of the French, although not of the line of its legitimate kings. These objects were partly attained, and were obviously attainable as far as France or the emperor had any interest in prosecuting them. Once assured of this, his imperial majesty and his political coadjutors changed their tone (they could scarcely be said to change their policy) towards England. It was declared in France that England had sinister designs in keeping up hostilities; that she was desirous to use the power of France to lessen Russian power in Asia in the interest of the Anglo-Indian dominions. The question, too, was raised in France, how far it was for the advantage of that country to extirpate the naval power of Russia, which might be employed, possibly, in resisting the dominant navy of England. During the war, the French navy performed an inglorious part. It fought well when brought into action, but its operations were entirely subsidiary to those of England. France was jealous of this evident superiority, and from the fall of Sebastopol toiled incessantly to counteract and rival the naval power of England. Everything Russian was popular in France after the capture of southern Sebastopol—everything English was decried. The most mendacious statements, under official authority, were put forth, exaggerating the losses of the English navy and army, and lessening the computation of the losses of Russia and France. The French official journals described the loss of the Russian army at a quarter of a million of men. Lord Panmure, in his place in the British parliament, estimated it at half a million. His lordship, as war minister, was acquainted with the facts as regarded all the armies in the field, and no one ever impeached his truthfulness and moderation. During the two years and a quarter that the Crimean campaign lasted, out of an army, of which the average strength was 34,500, 20,800 died from all causes; but of these deaths only 5,000 occurred in action, or from wounds inflicted by the enemy. Two-thirds of the whole mortality arose from other causes more destructive than shot, bullet, or bayonet. An equal number of men of the same ages would, according to the average death-rate of the more healthy districts of England, have suffered a loss of only 610, in lieu of 20,000. While every credit is given to the war secretary for moderation and truth, his statistics are open to some strictures. They were thus commented upon by the author of this History, in his "History of the War against Russia."*

* Vol. ii. p. 745.

"Lord Panmure's statement referred to the army, but it did not include soldiers on board ship, nor the naval brigade, nor the marines. His lordship's account does not agree with a corrected calculation from the various reports made from time to time. These bring up the computation to a figure higher by several thousands. This may be accounted for by several circumstances. His lordship's lists excluded the commissary and hospital departments, also the army works and land-transport corps. Besides, his computations only begin with the encounter of the Bulganak, previous to which the sufferings of the soldiers in landing at Old Fort were so great, that on the short march to the bivouac of the Bulganak many men dropped out from cholera, dysentery, thirst, or weakness, who never rejoined their corps; and some of whom, it is to be feared, from the want of transport and ambulances, perished unaided where they fell. Forty thousand would be nearer the total loss than 23,000."

Small as was the part taken by the navy of France in the war, her losses were great. The Moniteur de la Flotte published the returns of the casualties experienced by the French imperial navy during the expeditions to the Crimea, the Baltic, and Petropaulovski, in 1854, 1855, and 1856. The ships' crews lost 11 officers and 144 seamen killed by the enemy's fire, and 39 officers and 3,237 men who died of their wounds or from sickness—in all 50 officers and 3,381 men; the naval artillery corps had 2 officers and 31 non-commissioned officers and soldiers killed, and 3 officers and 231 non-commissioned officers who died of their wounds or from sickness—in all 5 officers and 262 men, and the marine infantry, 9 officers and 73 non-commissioned officers and men killed, and 12 officers and 1,057 non-commissioned officers and men who died of their wounds or from sickness—in all 21 officers and 1,130 men. Total—270 killed and 4,579 dead; in all 4,819. According to Marshal Vaillant, the French minister of war, France sent to the east 309,628 men, 41,974 horses, and 597,686 tons of stores; and brought back 227,125 men, 9.000 horses, and 126,880 tons of stores.

The result of the negotiations brought about by the chief German powers, and ardently desired by France, was a treaty of peace on the 30th of March, 1856. It was ratified on the 27th of April. Six months was fixed for the evacuation of Russian territories by the allies. The French army commenced its embarkation more than a fortnight before the ratification, as a sort of overt proof of the good will of the French emperor to his new ally and recent enemy. In less than three months, on the 5th of July, the whole of the French army had abandoned the soil of Russia, On the 8th of August the last French soldier left Constantinople on the homeward voyage. The British army was more easily removed from its smaller number and its greater transport power.

On the 23rd of April one of the grandest sights ever witnessed from the shores of England was presented at Portsmouth. Never were the waters of the Solent so crowded with "craft of all dimensions" as on that day. Notwithstanding the shameful failures of the English navy in the Pacific, and the dilatory proceedings of the Admiralty, which rendered the blockades in the White Sea so much less effective than they ought to have been—although the massacre of Sinope did take place, and "Old Charley" nursed his gout or drank his grog, when he ought to have been reconnoitering Sweaborg—still the Russian navy of the Euxine had perished rather than meet Dundas; the stores, granaries, and fisheries, were swept from the coasts of the Sea of Azoff; and not a ship of the enemy dare put to sea for two years in the Baltic. After all, Britannia did "rule the waves," and was more able to rule them than ever. The fleet was assembled for her majesty's personal review, and consisted of 240 steam vessels, including gun-boats, mortar-boats, and floating batteries. There were three vessels of 100 guns each, six of 91, an equal number of 80 guns, and vessels of every order; frigates, brigs, sloops, &c, had their proportionate numbers. The steam-power equalled that of 31,000 horses, and 3,000 guns were carried. The fleet, covering a space of twelve miles, was manned by 30,000 sailors and marines. On the 29th of April peace was proclaimed. The author of this work witnessed the proclamation in several parts of the metropolis, but the crowds were not such as the great city usually sent forth on occasions of magnitude. The fact was, England did not consider that the war had been prosecuted to its legitimate consequences, and felt that the French emperor had not pursued a direct and fair policy.

The return of the British troops was hailed with enthusiasm, and a review of a portion of them—especially the guards—by her majesty in Hyde Park, elicited unbounded enthusiasm from all classes of the people. Among the most exciting home incidents connected with the war was the distribution by her majesty, in Hyde Park, of the Victoria Cross—the badge of a new order of merit, bestowed for valour upon a number of gallant recipients.

Peace had scarcely been proclaimed when the country was irritated by tidings that Russia was endeavouring to evade its stipulations, and that France and Austria were playing into her hands. One of the terms of the treaty was that the Russian frontier should recede from the Danube. That crafty power had taken advantage of an erroneous French map, introduced by the French diplomatists at the conference, to deceive the allies as to the boundary agreed upon. After much negotiation and dispute, conducted as to England and Turkey on the one side and Russia on the other with intense acrimony, Russia was obliged to conform to the demands of the allies. Another stipulation of the treaty was the free navigation of the Danube. Russia endeavoured to seize upon the Isle of Serpents, off the Sulina mouth of the delta of that river. The island was a portion of the dominions of the sultan; an English naval officer secured the possession of it to the Turkish sovereign. France rendered little assistance to England in these disputes, and displayed sympathy with Russia and jealousy of British influence. The neutrality of the Black Sea, and the destruction of all naval arsenals on its Russian shores, or rivers communicating with its shores, was also a stipulation of the treaty which Russia evaded. Here also England by her firm diplomacy, almost unaided by France, constrained Russia to conform to the terms of the peace. Another article of the treaty referred to the emancipation of the sultan's Christian subjects from all disabilities on account of their religion. This the sultan and the orthodox Turks evaded, and have continued to evade to the present time, although ostentatious proclamations in the spirit of the treaty were put forth by the sultan's government, and engagements the most determinate were subscribed. The general conduct of the Christians of the empire was disloyal and dishonest; they sought, like the Russians and Turks, to obtain all the advantages of the treaty, and fulfil none of its obligations. The remaining among the articles of the treaty of chief importance regulated the liberties, and relations to the sultan, of the provinces of Moldavia and Wallachia. Here also difficulties arose, fomented by the united policy of the French and Russian governments, who intrigued—with the Wallachs especially—to insist on acting in a manner hostile to the constitution assigned by the treaty for their government. These disputes continued for years after the termination of the war. England resisted the intrigues which France and Russia set on foot inimical to the interests of the sultan, but her diplomacy and influence were not so successful as in reference to the other terms of the treaty. The great powers played a part that was not great, after the peace.