[[A.D. 1853.]] The queen was quite satisfied with her new cabinet, and wrote King Leopold: "The success of our excellent Aberdeen's arduous task, and the formation of so brilliant and strong a cabinet, would, I was sure, please you. It is the realization of the country's and our own most ardent wishes, and it deserves success, and will, I think, command great support." The court prolonged their stay at Osborne until late in the spring of this year, and during that time the Eastern question began to attract attention. On that subject we shall presently have more to say. Another royal visit to Dublin must first be mentioned. It was made on the occasion of the opening of a great Art and Industrial Exhibition, similar to the one of 1851 in London. The exhibition opened in July; but measles, which attacked the Queen, Prince Albert, and all but the two younger royal children, delayed them for a month. It was on the twenty-ninth of August before the royal party reached Dublin, where they were welcomed with the same enthusiasm that had marked their visit four years before. The morning of each day was devoted to the exhibition, and the Irish poplins, laces, and pottery were special objects of admiration. After passing a pleasant week at Dublin the royal guests drove to Kingstown, on the evening of September 3, where {408}an immense crowd assembled to bid them adieu. "The evening was very beautiful," says her majesty's diary, "and the sight a fine one,--all the ships and yachts decked out and firing salutes, and thousands on the quay cheering." As night closed in, a magnificent aurora borealis lighted up the northern sky, and fire-works were let off until late into the night. [Illustration: 0414] On the sixth of September, the court reached Balmoral; but they could not enjoy this retreat so much as usual, because the prospect of war with Russia was daily becoming more imminent. England had been at peace with all the world for forty years, and she was very reluctant to be {409}drawn into any complication now; but a few words of explanation will show how she was forced to fight.