Page:The Letters Of Queen Victoria, vol. 3 (1908).djvu/146

130 GENERAL SIMPSON TAKES COMMAND [chap. xxiv We must bow to the will of God; but to be taken away thus, on the eve of the successful result of so much labour, so much suffering, and so much anxiety, is cruel indeed!

We feel much, too, for the brave Army, whom he was so proud of, who will be sadly cast down at losing their gallant Commander, who had led them so often to victory and glory.

If sympathy can be any consolation, you have it, for we all have alike to mourn, and no one more than I, who have lost a faithful and devoted Servant, in whom I had the greatest confidence.

We both most anxiously hope that your health, and that of your daughters, may not materially suffer from this dreadful shock. Believe me always, my dear Lady Raglan, yours very sincerely, Victoria R.

Queen Victoria to General Simpson. BUCKINGHAM PALACE, 7th July 1855. When the Queen last wrote to General Simpson to express to him, and through him to her Army in the Crimea, her deep grief at the loss of their noble, gallant, and excellent Commander, it was not yet known that Sir George Brown would return home, and that the command of the Army would devolve upon General Simpson. She writes to him, therefore, to-day, for the first time as the Commander-in-Chief of her heroic Army in the East, to assure him of her confidence and support. It is as proud a command as any soldier could desire, but its difficulties and responsibilities are also very great.

General Simpson knows well how admirably his lamented predecessor conducted all the communications with our Allies the French, and he cannot do better than follow in the same course. While showing the greatest readiness to act with perfect cordiality towards them, he will, the Queen trusts, never allow her Army to be unduly pressed upon, which would only injure both Armies.

The Queen feels very anxious lest the fearful heat which the Army is exposed to should increase cholera and fever. Both the Prince and herself, the Queen can only repeat, have their minds constantly occupied with the Army, and count the days and hours between the mails, and it would be a relief to the Queen to hear herself directly from General Simpson from time to time when he has leisure to write.