hope we shall admit they were very wrong.
It is all terrible and awful, and I hope and pray war
may be averted—and whatever may have
been the first natural burst of indignation in
this country, I believe it would be ready to execrate
the Ministry if all right and honourable means were
not taken to prevent so fearful a calamity.
[56] Her husband, Mr. Ralph Abercromby, was now Lord Dunfermline.
December 19, 1861
John to town to see Mr. Adams [57].... John’s interview with Mr. Adams encouraging. Mr. Adams showed him a dispatch from Mr. Seward declaring Government to be quite uncommitted as to opinion on seizure of Commissioners.
[57] American Minister in London.
In December the Prince Consort died. Almost his last public act was to modify the dispatch sent in reply to the vote in Congress, so that it offered the North an opportunity of relaxing with dignity their uncompromising attitude.
Lady Russell to Lady Charlotte Portal
PEMBROKE LODGE, December 24, 1861
I know you, like everybody, must have been thinking much of our poor desolate Queen. Her anguish, her loneliness of heart on that pinnacle of human greatness, must weigh on all who have known how happy she was; but to us who have often seen that lost happiness, it is almost like a grief of our own. I don’t believe I have ever seen her take his arm without the thought crossing my mind: “There is the real blessing of your life—that which alone makes you as happy a woman as others in spite of your crown.” Everybody must have been full of dread of the effect upon her, but she has borne up nobly—or rather, she has bowed humbly to God’s will, and takes comfort in her children. It must be soothing to her that his rare worth is now fully acknowledged and gratefully felt by the whole nation.
January 7, 1862
John to town at twelve, back at half-past six; dispatches and letters from Lord Lyons of December 26th discouraging, cabinet still considering our demands. Surrender possible, but in Lord Lyons’s opinion very unlikely.
January 8, 1862
Telegram to John at 6 p.m.
Commissioners surrendered! Thank God.
General rejoicing in the House.
Lady Russell to Lady Dunfermline
PEMBROKE LODGE, January 13, 1862
Well, what do you say to our American triumph? It ought to go far to cure you all. It is long since any political event has given me, my particular self, such unmixed pleasure. For my country, for my husband, and for the other country too, with all its sins, I rejoice with all my heart and soul. John is delighted. He was very anxious up to the last moment.
...We “Plodgians” were all so delighted that it has been a surprise to us to hear of the very tempered joy, or rather the ill-concealed disappointment, of London society; but John says London society is always wrong, and I believe the country to be all right.
Lady Russell to Lady Dunfermline