On the 17th, the Marchioness of Wellesley, an American lady of Irish parentage. Her life was an eventful one. She was much esteemed as the lady of the Lord-lieutenant of Ireland, when the noble marquis held that post. She had been for many years a favourite of Queen Adelaide, and died in the Palace of Hampton-court.
The Rev. W. Jay, the eminent Congregational minister of Bath, died on the 27th, in his eighty-fifth year. He began to preach before he had attained his sixteenth year. Before he was of age, he had delivered about one thousand sermons. He had been sixty-two years minister of Argyle Chapel, Bath. His writings were varied, beautiful in style, and rich in thought and illustration. They were productive of a vast amount of good, as all denominations of Christians and all ranks of men perused them. The author of this History was on terms of intimacy with this remarkable man, and can testify that his powers of conversation were as varied and rare as his talents in the pulpit, and as a writer on religious subjects.
CHAPTER LXVI.
VICTORIA. 1854
Home Affairs: General excitement at the beginning of the year..... Declaration of War against Russia..... The Court..... Tidings of the loss of Captain Franklin..... Cholera..... Ireland: Party animosities and murders...... Colonies: Their General peace and prosperity..... Foreign Relations: The French Alliance..... War with Russia..... Battles by sea and land..... Dreadful sufferings of the British Army..... Parliament: Contests concerning the conduct of the war..... Break-up of the Aberdeen government..... lord Palmerston premier..... Deaths of Eminent Persons.
HOME AFFAIRS.—GENERAL PROSPECTS.
A.D. 1854
The year 1854 opened gloomily upon the United Kingdom. Sickness prevailed; bad harvests in western and southern Europe caused a dearth of food; and there was reason to fear that the fleets and armies of England and France would encounter those of Russia in open war. There was much dissatisfaction with the government. The Earl of Aberdeen and the whole Peelite section of the cabinet were believed to be too friendly to the czar, and adopting a policy unworthy of English greatness and of English honour. The court was supposed to be influenced by the German powers in favour of Russia, and to be secretly hostile to the French emperor. An active and almost authoritative interference in the administrative affairs of the government, home and foreign, was attributed to Prince Albert; and that interference was believed to be unfavourable to free opinions at home, and a dignified attitude on the part of England to foreign powers. A passion for Germanizing the army and the home-office, for centralization—so contrary to English opinions and traditions—and for subjecting the policy of England to German interests, necessities, or views, was believed to possess the prince, and to spread its influence in the court. The prince, who had won so wide a popularity, became, in fact, unpopular. No open demonstrations were made of this feeling, but his royal highness was received coolly when he appeared in public, and the newspapers of the whole of the united kingdom gave him the discredit of such rumours. Happily, when parliament met, the statements of the ministers lessened these unpopular impressions, but did not efface them. It was thought that the public men who were favourable to England’s taking a spirited part in defence of Turkey, in conjunction with France, and against the wishes of the German courts, were thwarted by the prince.