The Hague. 2nd March 1855.
(Received 3.45 p.m.)
The Emperor Nicholas died this morning at 1 A.M. of Pulmonic Apoplexy, after an attack of Influenza.43
Footnote 42: Who had married the sister of Lady John Russell.
Footnote 43: Nothing had been known publicly of the Czar's illness, and the startling news of his death caused a sensation in England of tragedy rather than of joy. Mr Kinglake has vividly depicted the feelings of agony and mortification with which the news of the earlier Russian reverses had been received by Nicholas. On the 1st of March, he received the full account of the disaster at Eupatoria, after which he became delirious, and died on the following day. He had stated, in referring to the horrors of that Crimean winter, that Russia had still two Generals on whom she could rely: Generals Janvier and Février; and Leech, with matchless art, now made his famous cartoon—"General Février turned traitor," depicting Death, in the uniform of a Russian officer, laying his bony hand on the Emperor's heart.
Viscount Palmerston to Queen Victoria.
THE COMMITTEE OF ENQUIRY
House of Commons, 2nd March 1855.
Viscount Palmerston presents his humble duty to your Majesty....
The death of the Emperor of Russia may or may not produce important changes in the state of affairs. It is probable that the Grand Duke Hereditary will succeed quietly, notwithstanding the notion that a doubt would be started whether he, as son of the Grand Duke Nicholas, would not be superseded by his younger brother born son of the Czar.44 It is possible that the new Emperor may revert to that peaceful policy which he was understood to advocate in the beginning of these transactions, but it is possible, on the other hand, that he may feel bound to follow out the policy of his father, and may be impelled by the headstrong ambition of his brother Constantine. At all events, this change at Petersburg should not for the present slacken the proceedings and the arrangements of the Allies.