VICTORIA. 



Gladstone's Homeric scholarship, and this was, in 

 the opinion of some politicians, an outrage upon 

 all the principles and proprieties of routine. This, 

 it was muttered, is what comes of literary men in 

 oih'ce. A writer of novels [Mr. Disraeli] is leader 

 of the House of Commons, and he has another 

 writer of novels at his side as Colonial Secretary, 

 and between them they can think of nothing 

 better than to send a man out to the Ionian Islands 

 to listen to the trash of Greek demagogues merely 

 because lie happens to be fond of reading Homer." 

 The mission was unsuccessful, not from want of 

 effort on the part of the commissioner, but because 

 the islanders had set their hearts on union with 

 Greece and did not care for any adjustment of 

 their grievances against England. He drew up for 

 them an elaborate system of constitutional govern- 

 ment, but all they wanted of him was to send 

 to the Queen their petition for release. 



On account of the pledges made by the protect- 

 ing powers and on the advice of England, the sec- 

 ond son of the King of Denmark was elected in 

 lsti:(. and has since reigned as George I. Then 

 Kngland gave over the islands, and they became 

 part of the kingdom. 



The Great Exhibition. The idea of the great 

 exhibition of 1851, if it did originate with the 

 Prince Consort. was taken up by him and owed 

 to him its realization. It was carried out in the 

 face of much opposition. The popular notion ap- 

 pears to have been that England would be overrun 

 with foreign thieves, revolutionists, and all sorts 

 of rogues, and a prophecy to that effect was made 

 in the House of Commons, while in the House of 

 Lords Ix)rd Brougham supported a petition against 

 allowing the use of Hyde Park for such a purpose. 

 Prince Albert was accused of a design to bring in 

 foreigners to the subversion of English manners 

 and morals. The prince persevered notwithstand- 

 ing, and carried the project to complete success. 

 The idea of the glass building was suggested by 

 Mr. (aflerward Sir) Joseph Paxton, head gardener 

 on the Chatsworth estate of the Duke of Devon- 

 shire. The exhibition was open one hundred and 

 thirty-eight days, and was visited by 6,007,944 

 persons. The profits amounted to 150,000; they 

 were devoted to the establishment and endowment 

 of the South Kensington Museum. The buildings 

 of glass and iron were removed to form the Crystal 

 Palace at Sydenham, which was opened in 1854. 

 None of the doleful prophecies were fulfilled. The 

 crowds were orderly and gave no trouble. Un- 

 doubtedly the exhibitions of foreign manufactures 

 \\ ere of value as enlarging the ideas of British 

 manufacturers, and it is probable that something 

 of the insular terror of foreigners was driven from 

 the minds of the common people. But the ex- 

 pectation that seems to have been entertained that 

 the great exhibition was to usher in an era of 

 brotherhood among the nations of Europe and a 

 ieigi of universal peace has been cruelly disap- 

 pointed. The history of the last half of the cen- 

 tury is tilled witli one long series of wars in Eu- 

 rope. A-ia. Africa, and America. 



The Crimean War. The first great war of the 

 reign was that in the Crimea, between Russia on 

 the one side and Kngland. I'Yancc. Turkey, and 

 Sardinia on the other; Sardinia joined the allies 

 in January, 1855. It began in 1854 and ended 

 practically with the fall of Sebastopol in Septem- 

 ber, 1855, though the treaty of Paris was not 

 made till March .SO. 1850. The ostensible subject 

 of quarrel between Russia and Turkey was 'the 

 de-ire rf Russia to protect the subjects of the 

 Turkish Empire belonging to the Greek Church. 

 Hut the real object of the Cx.ar was supposed to 

 be the extending of his dominions to Constanti- 



nople. Indeed, the Emperor Nicholas had very 

 frankly laid before the English Government a plan 

 for dividing between them the territories of " the 

 Sick Man " when the end should come. Napoleon 

 III was anxious for a foreign war, to turn the 

 attention of his people from affairs at home. July 

 3, 1853, two divisions of the Russian troops crossed 

 the river Pruth to take possession of the Danubian 

 principalities; war was declared Nov. 1, and No\. 

 30 the Turkish fleet was destroyed in the harbor 

 of Sinope, on the southern shore of the Black Sea. 

 This event produced a great feeling in England 

 against Russia, and the popular sentiment was for 

 war. There was a large peace party, however, and 

 the Prime Minister, Lord Aberdeen, did his utmost 

 to avoid war. Lord Palmerston, Foreign Secre- 

 tary, resigned because the Cabinet would not con- 

 sent to a strong course against Russia; but they 

 yielded, and he resumed his place. France and 

 England demanded that the Emperor of Russia 

 should withdraw from the territory of the Porte, 

 and declared their intention to use force if neces- 

 sary to compel him; they sent fleets to the Black 

 Sea, and war was declared in February, 1854. 

 Lord Raglan was placed in command of the Eng- 

 lish forces, and the invasion of the Crimea \\a> 

 decided upon. The allied English and French 

 forces landed at Kalamita Bay in September, and 

 gained a victory in the first battle, Sept. 20, at the 

 passage of the Alma river. The victory was not 

 followed up, and the exultation over it in Eng- 

 land was very soon followed by indignation against 

 the authorities when it became known that the 

 army Avas wretchedly provided for. The hospitals 

 were not properly organized, stores of food and 

 medicine were spoiling in places where they could 

 not be procured for use, and cholera was carrying 

 off the men. The Russians used the interval after 

 the battle of the Alma' to protect the entrance to 

 the harbor of Sebastopol by sinking 7 ships there, 

 thus making speedy capture of the stronghold im- 

 possible. The allies went on to Balaklava, where- 

 the Russians attacked them, Oct. 25, and were 

 repelled. In this battle occurred the famous charge 

 of the Light Brigade, celebrated by Tennyson. Of 

 the 607 men who made the charge in obedience to 

 the strangely mistaken order, only 198 returned 

 alive. Another attack the following day was like- 

 wise repelled. The battle of Inkerman, the hard- 

 est of the campaign, was fought Nov. 5. and was 

 another victory for the allies; the Russian loss was 

 estimated at 12,000. 



When news of the wretched management of 

 army supplies reached Kngland a motion for a 

 committee of inquiry resulted in a defeat of the 

 Government, and Lord Aberdeen was succeeded by 

 Lord Palmerston. The popular indignation, for 

 some inscrutable reason, was at tirsl turned against 

 Prince Albert, and the most absurd charges of 

 being in collusion with the enemies of England to 

 humble and subdue her were brought against him. 

 The parliamentary inquiry showed the suspicions 

 to be baseless, and the agitation ceased. Some of 

 the instances of mismanagement that came to the 

 knowledge of the people at home during the winter 

 sound strangely familiar. "Shameful frauds.'" 

 says Mr. McCarthy. " were perpetrated in the in- 

 stance of somo of the contracts for preserved meat. 

 Great consignments of hoots arrived, and were 

 found to be all for the left foot, Mules for the 

 conveyance of stores were contracted for and de- 

 livered, but delivered so that they came into the 

 hands of the Russians. Medical 'stores were left 

 to decay at Varna, or were found lying useless 

 in the holds of vessels in Balaklava P.ay. which 

 were needed for the wounded at Scutari." 



The accounts of these things were sent to Eng- 



