ship, were divided, the Duke of Newcastle assuming the former
office, while Sir George Grey became Colonial Secretary; Lord John
Russell also resumed office as President of the Council. The Russians
were unsuccessful in their operations against the Turks, notably at
Silistria and Giurgevo, while, as the summer advanced, public opinion
in support of an invasion of the Crimea rose steadily, the _Times_
indicated the taking of Sebastopol as indispensable, and Lord
Aberdeen's hand was forced. On the 28th of June, the Cabinet
sanctioned a despatch to Lord Raglan, urging (almost to the point of
directing) an immediate attack upon Sebastopol; the French Emperor
was in favour of the plan, though both Commanders-in-Chief entertained
doubt as to whether it was immediately feasible. On the 7th of
September, the allied forces (58,000 strong) sailed from Varna, a
landing being effected a few days later at Old Fort, near Eupatoria;
at about the same time an important interview took place at Boulogne
between Prince Albert and the Emperor Napoleon. The signal victory at
the Alma, on the 20th of September, was followed by the death of St
Arnaud, and the appointment of Canrobert as his successor. Decisive
successes were next obtained at Balaklava on the 25th of October, and
at Inkerman on the 5th of November; but on the 14th a fierce gale did
immense damage to life and property, both at Balaklava and on the
sea. Meanwhile, indignation at home was aroused by the tidings of
the breakdown of the commissariat and transport departments, and the
deplorable state of the hospitals; Miss Florence Nightingale, who had
sailed from England with a number of nurses, arrived at Scutari early
in November, and proceeded to remedy deficiencies as far as possible;
while Lord John Russell vainly urged on the Premier the substitution
of Lord Palmerston for the Duke of Newcastle as Secretary for War.
Sir Charles Napier, who, previously to his departure with the Baltic
Fleet, had been feted at the Reform Club, and extravagantly lauded
by Cabinet Ministers, was by the month of October engaged in a
recriminatory correspondence with the First Lord of the Admiralty.
At about the same time the Patriotic Fund was established under the
presidency of Prince Albert.

In Parliament, the last vestige of the old Navigation System, limiting
the coasting trade to British ships, was repealed, and a Bill also
passed for preventing corrupt practices at elections. Owing to the