The Greville Memoirs, Part 3 (of 3), Volume 2 (of 2): A Journal of the Reign of Queen Victoria from 1852 to 1860 — John Shaqi
The Greville Memoirs, Part 3 (of 3), Volume 2 (of 2): A Journal of the Reign of Queen Victoria from 1852 to 1860Greville, Charles
History
The Greville Memoirs, Part 3 (of 3), Volume 2 (of 2): A Journal of the Reign of Queen Victoria from 1852 to 1860
Greville, Charles
Great Britain -- History -- Victoria, 1837-1901
_London, January 22nd._--I went to Trentham on Friday, and returned
yesterday. Granville is very confident of peace, fancying that Russia
will make no difficulties, and will agree to our additional demands,
which may be so, but seems to me far from certain. The intelligence of
peace being at hand, or probable, gives no satisfaction here, and the
whole press is violent against it, and thunders away against Russia
and Austria, warns the people not to expect peace, and incites them
to go on with the war. There seems little occasion for this, for the
press has succeeded in inoculating the public with such an eager desire
for war that there appears a general regret at the notion of making
peace. When I was at Trentham, I asked Mr. Fleming, the gardener, a
very intelligent man, what the general feeling was in that part of
the world, and he said the general inclination was to go on with the
war till we had made Russia, besides other concessions, pay all its
expenses. It appears to me impossible the _entente cordiale_ with
France can go on long if the war goes on, when the people here are
passionate for war, and in France they are equally passionate for
peace. If the Emperor goes on with the war he will be very popular
here, which does not signify much to him, but give deep offence to
his own countrymen, which will be of vital importance to him, and no
wonder, for their disgust will be intense at being compelled to carry
on a war at a ruinous expense, merely because it is the pleasure of
the English to do so. This seems so obvious that I do not believe,
after having gone so far, and excited such strong hopes of peace,
that he will dare to disappoint the expectations of the country. What
the people of England would really like would be to engage France to
continue, and to issue a joint declaration of war against Austria and
Prussia.
_January 23rd._--Telegraphic news yesterday that Austria positively
refuses to send our supplementary conditions to St. Petersburg.
France backed us up, or at least pretended to do so, for it is quite
impossible to know what she really does. Baudin is come over here,
supposed to be for the purpose of explaining and apologising for
Walewski's not having sent the conditions originally. I do not know
what excuse he makes. Lewis thinks as I do, that the real reason was
his fear lest they should endanger the acceptance by Russia of the
conditions. Our Government believe, or at least pretend to do so, that
the Emperor was innocent of this _ruse_ and that Walewski is alone
guilty; but I doubt it, for I cannot believe Walewski would dare to do
such a thing without his master's knowledge and consent, and should not
be surprised if the whole thing was the Emperor's doing.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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