1853 FRESH TROUBLE ABOUT REFUGEES. 399 For some time it was very obstinate, and no one could tell whether it would spread or not. Thank God, no lives were lost!' How serious the consequences to the Castle itself might have been may be seen by the following letter of the Prince to the Dowager Duchess of Coburg two days afterwards : 'I believe I still owe you an answer to your dear letter of the 25th ult. The object of these lines is to transfer this debt to you, and to set your mind at rest as to the probably much exaggerated reports of the fire here. Victoria is quite well, and has suffered absolutely nothing from the agitation, into which we were naturally all thrown by the danger. We had to battle with the flames from ten at night till four in the morning before we got them completely under; nevertheless the injury was confined to one tower of the Castle, which has been gutted by the flames through four stories. Had the fire got beyond the tower, it would have been impossible to save the Castle. As it is, the beautiful dining-room is the principal loss. The ladies remained in the drawing-room hard by the whole night, and were very calm and self-possessed.' Mazzini and Kossuth were at this time in England, and making no secret of their designs upon Austria. Many leading revolutionists of France and other countries were also lightening the bitterness of exile among us by the strong speeches which men in such circumstances may be expected to make. Milan had lately been in insurrection, and an attempt to stab the Emperor of Austria on the ramparts of Vienna (18th of February) had all but succeeded. Fresh plots were known to be on foot, and Austria, backed by Russia and by France, had again pressed upon the English Government the question of the expulsion of the revolutionary Refugees. The Prussian Government also seem at this time to have been disposed to join in these reclamations, and to this the Prince alludes in the remaining portion of the letter: 'You too seem to be smitten by the Refugee fever. The difficulty here arises solely from the fact, that the English subject is a free man, on whom the Government can impose no penalty and no restraint of any kind, so long as he does not violate the law, and his guilt has not been judicially A few weeks afterwards (13th April) the Government showed that they' would allow Austria no real ground of complaint on the score of connivance at plans injurious to its Government, by seizing the contents of a Rocket Factory at Rotherhithe, where an extensive manufacture of rockets was being carried on by a Mr. Hales for delivery to M. Kossuth and his friends 400 BIRTH OF PRINCE LEOPOLD. 1853 proved, and that strangers when they set foot upon English ground enjoy all the rights of English subjects. This is not so bad a state of things, after all, and might be imitated even upon the Continent with advantage. Now the question, not so easy to answer, is asked, have the Refugees here caused the Milan Revolution, and the Vienna attack upon the Emperor's life? This must be proved, before we can punish; and, if it be proved, we shall punish them according to the laws of this country, and, luckily for us, we live under laws, and not under despotism. . . In his next letter to his stepmother, the Prince was able to convey the more pleasant tidings of the birth of a fourth son on the 7th of April at Buckingham Palace. The Queen made a rapid recovery, and was able within a few days to report her convalescence to her uncle at Brussels in the following letter: 'Buckingham Palace, 18th April, 1853. 'My first letter is this time as last time addressed to you. Last time it was because dearest Louise, to whom the first announcement had heretofore always been addressed, was with me. Alas! now-! 'I can report most favourably of myself, for I have never been better or stronger. Stockmar will have told you, that Leopold is to be the name of our fourth young gentleman. It is a mark of love and affection, which I hope you will not disapprove. It is a name which is the dearest to me after Albert's, and one which recalls the almost only happy days of my sad childhood. To hear "Prince Leopold" again will make me think of all those days! His other names will be George, Duncan, Albert; and the sponsors the King of Hanover, Ernest Hohenlohe, the Princess of Prussia, and Mary Cambridge. George is after the King of Hanover, and Duncan is a compliment to dear Scotland." 7 By the 23rd of April the Queen had recovered sufficiently to be able to go to Osborne, and the Prince writes: "To-day we hope to be able to go for a week to Osborne, where Victoria may get rest and good air, before the season with its turmoil begins. I am myself by no means displeased that we are going.' 7 The young Prince was not baptized till the 28th of June, when the ceremony was performed at the Chapel in Buckingham Palace, and the sponsors named by the Queen were present in person. CHAPTER XLVIII. Prince presides at Trinity House Dinner-The Camp at Chobham-Great Naval Review at Spithead Second Royal Visit to Ireland-The Eastern Question-Its Origin and Progress-Assumes a Menacing Aspect. THE Queen and Prince were enabled by the rising of Parliament for the Easter recess to prolong their enjoyment of the 'rest and pure air' of Osborne until the 27th of May, when the Court returned to London. During this period the Eastern question, which was so soon to become the all-absorbing topic of the time, had assumed a very serious aspect, all the more serious in the eyes of the Queen and Prince, that the views of some leading members of the Cabinet as to the proper mode of dealing with it had begun to show signs of divergence, which unless reconciled might lead to the breaking up of the Ministry. On the 4th of June the Prince presided for the first time at the annual dinner of the Trinity House, and in proposing the toast of Prosperity to the Corporation, referred to various important changes in its constitution, which had been some time before discussed and settled by himself with Sir James Graham as representing the Government. A few days afterwards (14th June) the first instalment of troops marched into the camping ground at Chobham, and took up their quarters there. The land had been previously levelled and prepared for them by the Sappers and Miners, who had dug wells, and put up the more substantial structures for their use. The punctuality, the precision and celerity with which the various brigades, coming from different points, arrived upon the ground, and established themselves in a line of tents extending over upwards of two miles, were the subject of general admiration. Next day the Prince went down in plain clothes with the Duke of Cambridge, and inspected the arrangements in detail. This was preliminary to a first trial of field operations to take place in the presence of the Queen on the 21st. 402 THE CAMP AT CHOBHAM. 1853 Early on the morning of that day the Queen and Prince, together with the King of Hanover and the Duke of Coburg, were upon the ground. The Queen on horseback, in a military riding habit, rode with the Prince and her royal guests down the lines, and afterwards witnessed the manoeuvres from a neighbouring height. Upwards of a hundred thousand people shared in Her Majesty's enjoyment of what was in truth a singularly beautiful spectacle-a well-contested, though bloodless battle, over ground broken by hollows, streams, marshes and woods, which showed to the greatest advantage the shifting currents of a heady fight.' 6 On this occasion the Prince took no part in the operations. But his heart was too thoroughly in the work which the camp was meant to effect, for him to abstain from taking an active share in its military duties. Accordingly, on the 24th, he returned to Chobham for this purpose, and, as the following letter to the Queen shows, saw camp life under one of its rougher aspects: 'I have this moment received your dear lines. Yesterday evening was very fine and warm, but in the course of the night there was a dreadful storm, which made the tents seem almost like cabins at sea. It has been raining since five, and it looks very doubtful whether it will cease. Still, at this moment, there is a lark singing, which is a good sign. About nine we shall have to turn out; I will join my brigade (Guards). The Staff dined with me yesterday, and I walked with George [Duke of Cambridge] till half-past ten. 'The tents are convenient, but both damp and hot during the night. I am delighted that you got through your day so well. To-day will also run away. Now I say, "Du, Du liegst mir im Herzen, Du, Du liegst mir im Sinn, 'Your devoted, 'A. 'Camp at Chobham, 25th June, 1853. 'Seven A.M.' The sign of improving weather in the lark's song, which was not likely to escape so accurate an observer as the Prince, proved so far true, that the troops were able to manœuvre 1853 ILLNESS OF THE PRINCE. 403 for four or five hours, the Prince taking the command of the Brigade of Guards. He returned the same evening to town, bringing back with him a cold, to complicate a very severe attack of measles, which developed itself a few days afterwards. The Prince of Wales had sickened with this malady a few days before, and one by one it attacked all the other Royal children, with the exception of the two youngest, and finally the Queen herself. The Prince suffered most severely, and at the climax of the illness showed great nervous excitement. The subtle infection spread to Her Majesty's guests, the young Crown Prince of Hanover and the Duke and Duchess of Coburg; the latter of whom were the unconscious means of transmitting it to the Duke of Brabant and the Count of Flanders, whom they met when on their way back to Coburg, and before they were themselves aware that they had taken the seeds of the illness from England with them. This illness prevented the Prince from again taking an active part in the military duties of the camp, and the Queen and Prince were unable to repeat their visit to it until the 4th of August, by which time a fresh body of troops had taken the place of its original occupants. A brilliant series of manoeuvres was performed on that day under Her Majesty's eye, and, as the best of treats which could be devised for Prince Alfred on his birthday, the Queen and Prince returned to the camp on the 6th, taking with them the four eldest Royal children. On the 20th it broke up, having proved a complete success and a valuable preparation for the active operations to which the troops, that had taken part in it, were soon to be called. What special reasons the Queen had for the deep interest which she had shown in this novel experiment may be gathered from the following passage in a letter to King Leopold, written at Osborne on the 10th of August: 'We went twice more to our dear (as I call it) camp, and had two interesting days there. It has been most successful, and the troops have been particularly well all the time. When I think that this camp, and all our large fleet, are without doubt the result of Albert's assiduous and unceasing representations to the late and present Government, without which I fully believe very little would have been done, one may be proud and thankful; but, as usual, he is so modest, that he allows no praise. He works for the general good, and is sufficiently rewarded when he sees this carried out.' |