Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Review.
for speculation whether , if Lord Raglan had been in command of the army at home , and Lord Hardinge in command of the army abroad , things might not have turned out somewhat better than they did . In the great war between Prussia and Austria in 1866 if Field-Marshal von
, Benedek had been in Italy and the Archduke Albert and Field-Marshal Johns in Bohemia , the struggle would have been more equal , though we do not think that anything could have compensated for the overpowering superiority of
the needle guns . The great secret of public life , and we may say private , is to get " the ri ght man into the right place , " and none can doubt who read these lifelike pages how gracefully Prince Albert always sought to make public appointments on public grounds alone .
We well remember Sir Robert Peel ' s death , and we find this tribute to him in a letter to the Duchess-Dowager of Saxe Oobourg from Prince Albert : — " Sir Robert Peel is to be buried to-day . The feeling in the country is absolutely not to be described . We have lost our
truest friend and trustiest counsellor , the Throne its most valiant defender , the country its most open-minded and greatest statesman . " It is well known that the Queen had to complain of Lord Palmerston ' s way of doing business , and the following note of
Prince Albert relates to one of those incidents which , to say the least , did not display Lord Palmerston ' s character in the most favourable light , as his conduct is alike petty and unworthy of a great statesmanand unwarrantable towards a lad
, y and a Queen : — " My dear Lord John , —Both the Queen and myself are exceedingly sorry at the news your letter contained . We are not surprised , however , that Lord Palmerston ' s mode of doing business should not be
borne by the susceptible French Government with the same good humour and forbearance as by his colleagues . —Ever yours truly , ALBEET . " We are happy , however , to state that in the latter years of his great political career , Lord Palmerston changed materiall y his estimate of the Prince Consort , as the following narrative attests . Mr . Martin
quotes from a letter addressed to him by Colonel Kemeys Tynte , an intimate per . sonal friend of Lord Palmerston : — "Shortly after the return of Her Majesty and his Royal Highness from their visit to the Emperor and Empress of
the French , I called one morning upon Lord Palmerston at Cambridge House . I congratulated him upon the , in every rerespect , very successful visit of Her Majesty and the Prince to France , remarking , 'What an extraordinary man
the Emperor was . ' ' Yes , ' replied Lord Palmerston , 'he is ; but we have a far greater and more extraordinary man nearer home . ' Lord Palmerston paused ; and I said , ' the Prince Consort ? ' ' Certainly , ' he replied ; ' the Prince would not
have considered it ri ght to have obtained a throne as the Emperor has done ; but , in regard to the possession of the soundest judgment , the highest intellect , and the most exalted qualities of mind , he is far superior to the Emperor . Till my present
position "—he was then Premier—" gave me so many opportunities of seeing his Royal Highness , I had no idea of his possessing such eminent qualities as he has ; and how fortunate it has been for the country that the Queen married such a Prince . "
The latter part of the volume deals with the period just preceding the Crimean War , and gives a glimpse of the course of diplomacy prior to the actual declaration of war . A comparison of the position of affairs then and now is full of suggestion , Writing in September , 1853 , the Prince
says : — "The Divan has become fanaticall y warlike and headstrong . The worst symptom of all is the danger to which Turkish fanaticism has already given rise in Constantinople . Our fleet is under orders to run in there should the lives of the
Christian population or of the Sultan himself be in danger . The greater the tumult the better are the Russians pleased . " It was at this period , while war with Russia was pending , that the Prince became the object of persistent attack
through the columns of certain journals that accused him of unconstitutional intermeddling in foreign affairs . It was said that " our foreign policy was mainly directed b y the Prince Consort , " and that
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Review.
for speculation whether , if Lord Raglan had been in command of the army at home , and Lord Hardinge in command of the army abroad , things might not have turned out somewhat better than they did . In the great war between Prussia and Austria in 1866 if Field-Marshal von
, Benedek had been in Italy and the Archduke Albert and Field-Marshal Johns in Bohemia , the struggle would have been more equal , though we do not think that anything could have compensated for the overpowering superiority of
the needle guns . The great secret of public life , and we may say private , is to get " the ri ght man into the right place , " and none can doubt who read these lifelike pages how gracefully Prince Albert always sought to make public appointments on public grounds alone .
We well remember Sir Robert Peel ' s death , and we find this tribute to him in a letter to the Duchess-Dowager of Saxe Oobourg from Prince Albert : — " Sir Robert Peel is to be buried to-day . The feeling in the country is absolutely not to be described . We have lost our
truest friend and trustiest counsellor , the Throne its most valiant defender , the country its most open-minded and greatest statesman . " It is well known that the Queen had to complain of Lord Palmerston ' s way of doing business , and the following note of
Prince Albert relates to one of those incidents which , to say the least , did not display Lord Palmerston ' s character in the most favourable light , as his conduct is alike petty and unworthy of a great statesmanand unwarrantable towards a lad
, y and a Queen : — " My dear Lord John , —Both the Queen and myself are exceedingly sorry at the news your letter contained . We are not surprised , however , that Lord Palmerston ' s mode of doing business should not be
borne by the susceptible French Government with the same good humour and forbearance as by his colleagues . —Ever yours truly , ALBEET . " We are happy , however , to state that in the latter years of his great political career , Lord Palmerston changed materiall y his estimate of the Prince Consort , as the following narrative attests . Mr . Martin
quotes from a letter addressed to him by Colonel Kemeys Tynte , an intimate per . sonal friend of Lord Palmerston : — "Shortly after the return of Her Majesty and his Royal Highness from their visit to the Emperor and Empress of
the French , I called one morning upon Lord Palmerston at Cambridge House . I congratulated him upon the , in every rerespect , very successful visit of Her Majesty and the Prince to France , remarking , 'What an extraordinary man
the Emperor was . ' ' Yes , ' replied Lord Palmerston , 'he is ; but we have a far greater and more extraordinary man nearer home . ' Lord Palmerston paused ; and I said , ' the Prince Consort ? ' ' Certainly , ' he replied ; ' the Prince would not
have considered it ri ght to have obtained a throne as the Emperor has done ; but , in regard to the possession of the soundest judgment , the highest intellect , and the most exalted qualities of mind , he is far superior to the Emperor . Till my present
position "—he was then Premier—" gave me so many opportunities of seeing his Royal Highness , I had no idea of his possessing such eminent qualities as he has ; and how fortunate it has been for the country that the Queen married such a Prince . "
The latter part of the volume deals with the period just preceding the Crimean War , and gives a glimpse of the course of diplomacy prior to the actual declaration of war . A comparison of the position of affairs then and now is full of suggestion , Writing in September , 1853 , the Prince
says : — "The Divan has become fanaticall y warlike and headstrong . The worst symptom of all is the danger to which Turkish fanaticism has already given rise in Constantinople . Our fleet is under orders to run in there should the lives of the
Christian population or of the Sultan himself be in danger . The greater the tumult the better are the Russians pleased . " It was at this period , while war with Russia was pending , that the Prince became the object of persistent attack
through the columns of certain journals that accused him of unconstitutional intermeddling in foreign affairs . It was said that " our foreign policy was mainly directed b y the Prince Consort , " and that