aw twenty-six of the wounded Coldstream Guards, and
on Friday thirty-four of the Scotch Fusileers. A most interesting and
touching sight--_such_ fine men, and so brave and patient! _so ready_
to go back and "_be at them again_." A great many of them, I am glad
to say, will be able to remain in the Service. Those who have lost
their limbs cannot, of course. There were two poor boys of nineteen
and twenty--the one had lost his leg, quite high up, by the bursting
of a shell in the trenches, and the other his poor arm so shot that it
is perfectly useless. Both had smooth girls' faces; these were in the
Coldstream, who certainly look the worst. In the Scotch Fusileers,
there were also two very young men--the one shot through the
cheek, the other through the _skull_--but both recovered! Among the
Grenadiers there is one very sad object, shot _dreadfully_, a ball
having gone in through the cheek and behind the nose and eye and out
through the other side! He is shockingly disfigured, but is recovered.
I feel so much for them, and am _so fond_ of my dear soldiers--so
_proud_ of them! We could not have avoided sending the Guards; it
would have been their ruin if they had not gone....

I must now conclude. Ever your devoted Niece,

VICTORIA R.

[Footnote 40: For twenty years Lord John Russell had been
Leader of the Whig Party in the House, and Lord Palmerston
subordinate to him.]

[Footnote 41: The Emperor had announced his intention of
going to the Crimea, and assuming the conduct of the war. The
project was most unfavourably regarded by the Queen and the
Prince, by Lord Palmerston, and by the Emperor's own advisers.
But the intention, which had been carefully matured, was
arrived at in full loyalty to the Alliance with this country,
and had to be tactfully met. Accordingly, it was arranged
that when Napoleon was at the Camp in Boulogne in March, Lord
Clarendon should visit him there, and discuss the question
with him. Eventually, the Foreign Secretary persuaded the
Emperor to relinquish, or at any rate defer, his expedition; a
memorandum of what passed on the occasion was drawn up by the
Prince from the narration of Lord Clarendon, and printed by
Sir Theodore Martin. (_Life of the Prince Consort_, vol. iii.
p. 231.)]

_Queen Victoria to the Earl of Clarendon._

BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _1st March 1855_.

The Queen thanks Lord Clarendon for his lett