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
Lyons gave us an interesting account of Raglan's last illness. He
seemed to have no idea that he was in serious danger, nor had the
people about him. At last, when he was so rapidly sinking that the
doctors saw his end was approaching, and it was deemed necessary to
apprise him thereof, he would not believe it, and he insisted to his
aide-de-camp who told him of his state that he was better, and he fell
into a state of insensibility without ever having been conscious of
his dying condition. One of the best authenticated charges against
Raglan was that of his not showing himself to his soldiers, and it was
said many believed that he had quitted the camp; at last this idea
became so prevalent that his own staff felt the necessity of something
being said to him about it, but none dared, for it seems they were all
exceedingly afraid of him. At last they asked Lyons if he would speak
to him and tell him what was said. Lyons said he had no scruple or
difficulty in so doing, and told him plainly the truth. Raglan not only
took it in good part, but thanked him very much, and said his reason
for not riding round all the divisions was that he could not prevent
the soldiers turning out to salute him, and he could not bear to see
this ceremony done by the men who had been all night in the trenches or
otherwise exposed to fatigue, and that this was the sole reason why he
had abstained, but henceforward he would make a point of riding round
every day, and so he ever after did; so that the main fact as reported
by 'correspondents' was not devoid of truth. I wish I could recollect
all the various anecdotes Lyons told us, but I neglected to put them
down at the time, and now they have faded from my memory. He discussed
the qualities of the English generals with reference to the command
of the army after Raglan's death. He never had well understood why it
was that Colin Campbell was always considered out of the question, and
his own opinion seemed to be that he was the fittest man. The French
thought so, and one of the alleged reasons against him, viz., that
he could not speak French, was certainly not true. Simpson was very
reluctant to take the command at first, and wrote home to say so, but
after he had received certain flattering encouragements his opposition
waxed fainter, and by the time it was taken from him he became anxious
to retain it. Raglan was not at all annoyed at Simpson's being sent
there, and did what he pleased with him. Simpson never attempted to
interfere with him or to control him in any way, but on the contrary
was entirely subservient to Raglan.
_April 1st._--News of peace reached London on Sunday evening, and was
received joyfully by the populace, not from any desire to see an end of
the war, but merely because it is a great event to make a noise about.
The newspapers have been reasonable enough, except the 'Sun,' which
appeared in deep mourning and with a violent tirade against peace.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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