THE THRONE ROOM, ST. JAMES’S PALACE. (From a Photograph by H. N. King.)
Franco-Austrian conditions were accepted by the British Government, transmitted by Austria to Russia, and accepted by her on the 16th of January, 1856. “Think,” said Sir George Lewis to Mr. Greville, “that this is a war carried on for the independence of Turkey, and we, the allies, are bound to Turkey by mutual obligations not to make peace but by common consent and concurrence. Well, we have sent an offer of peace to Russia, of which the following are among the terms: We propose that Turkey, who possesses one-half of the Black Sea Coast, shall have no ships, no ports, no arsenals in that sea; and then there are conditions about the Christians who are the subjects of Turkey, and others about the mouths of the Danube, to which part of the Turkish dominions are contiguous. Now in all these stipulations so intimately concerning Turkey, for whose independence we are fighting, Turkey is not allowed to have any voice whatever, nor has she ever been allowed to be made acquainted with what is going on except through the newspapers, where the Turkish Ministers may have read what is passing, like other people. When the French and Austrian terms were discussed in the Cabinet, at the end of the discussion some one modestly asked whether it would not be proper to communicate to Musurus (the Turkish Ambassador in London) what was in agitation, and what had been agreed upon, to which Clarendon said he saw no necessity for it whatever.”[263] But Palmerston by this time had abandoned the Turks—indeed, he now became quite moderate, not to say humble in his tone—permitting Clarendon to adopt or reject his suggestions as he chose. This sudden docility naturally improved his position at Court. “Palmerston,” writes Mr. Greville, “is now on very good terms with the Queen, which is, though he does not know it, greatly attributable to Clarendon’s constant endeavours to reconcile her to him, always telling her everything likely to ingratiate Palmerston with her, and showing her any notes or letters of his calculated to please her.”[264]
The Prime Minister and his colleagues it seems were surprised that Russia assented so readily to the terms of peace, and were for a time nervous as to the verdict of the English people. “All peaces are unpopular,” wrote Sir George Lewis to Sir Edmund Head, “and all peaces, it seems to me, are beneficial, even to the country which is supposed to be the loser. How greatly England prospered after the peace of 1782, and France after the peace of 1815! I suppose that this peace, if it takes place, will be no exception to the general rule.”[265] Fortunately, the Court supported the Ministry in acting with the other Powers, and Mr. Disraeli and Lord Stanley privately informed the Cabinet, that they would accept any peace which was sanctioned by the Crown. Thus the Queen and her Ministers were enabled to meet the Parliament of 1856 with some measure of confidence.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
PEACE AND PARLIAMENT.
Opening of Parliament—A Cold Speech from the Throne—Moderation of Militant Toryism—Mr. Disraeli’s Cynical Strategy—The Betrayal of Kars—The Life Peerage Controversy—Baron Parke’s Nickname—More Attacks on Prince Albert—Court Favouritism among Men of Science—The Congress of Paris—How France Betrayed England—Walewski’s Intrigues with Orloff—Mr. Greville’s Pictures of French Official Life—Snubbing Bonapartist Statesmen—Peace Proclaimed—Popular Rejoicings—A Memento of the Congress—The Terms of Peace—The Tripartite Treaty—The Queen’s Opinion of the Settlement—Parliamentary Criticism on the Treaty of Paris—Stagnation of Public Life in England—The Queen’s “Happy Family” Dinner Party—A little “Tiff” with America—The Restoration of H.M.S. Resolute—The Budget—Palmerston’s Tortuous Italian Policy—The Failure of his Domestic Policy—The Confirmation of the Princess Royal—Robbery of the Royal Nursery Plate—Prince Alfred’s Tutor—Reviews of Crimean Troops—Debates on the Purchase System—Lord Hardinge’s Tragic Death—The Duke of Cambridge as Commander-in-Chief—Miss Nightingale’s Visit to Balmoral—Coronation of the Czar—Russian Chicanery at Paris—A Bad Map and a False Frontier—Quarrel between Prussia and Switzerland—Quarrel between England and the Sicilies—Death of the Queen’s Half-Brother—Settlement of the Dispute with Russia—“The Dodge that Saved us.”
Parliament was opened by the Queen in person on the 31st of January, 1856, vast crowds flocking to Westminster for the purpose of testifying their interest in the negotiations for peace. The Royal speech was a brief and business-like summary of the events that had led up to these negotiations, and it announced measures for assimilating the mercantile law of England and Scotland, simplifying the law of partnership, and reforming the system of levying dues on merchant shipping. Complaint was made that the references to the achievements of the army were cold and unsympathetic, as if the speech were that, not of a Sovereign, but of a Minister, and Lord Derby was perhaps right in saying that had her Majesty been left to the promptings of her heart, her Address would not have been open to this objection. Those who had observed the warm womanly sympathy she had shown to the wounded soldiers, or who had witnessed her agitation when she decorated the maimed Crimean heroes, knew well that had she been free to speak as she felt, she would have uttered eloquent words of thanks and praise to cheer the troops still keeping watch and ward in the Crimea.
The general feeling expressed in both Houses of Parliament was that, if we had determined to prosecute the war till Russia sued for peace, we should certainly have obtained more honourable terms than those which had been now accepted by us. But Mr. Disraeli wisely curbed the bellicose spirit of his party, and declared that to continue the war merely for the sake of adding lustre to our arms, would bring us no honour. From being vindicators of public law we should in that case sink to the level of “the gladiators of history.” Policy as well as prudence forced moderation on militant Toryism. Mr. Disraeli in a letter to Lord Malmesbury, written on the 30th of November, 1855, says,
