r of persons with whom he
communicated in the course of the evening, including the Speaker,
that the appointment of the Committee will be carried by a very great
majority, perhaps scarcely less great than that by which the original
Motion was affirmed; and it was also the opinion of good judges that
a refusal to grant an enquiry would not be a good ground on which to
dissolve Parliament and appeal to the Country. The general opinion was
that the best way of meeting the Motion for naming the Committee
which Mr Roebuck has fixed for next Thursday, would be to move some
instruction to the Committee directing or limiting the range of its
enquiry. This is a matter, however, which will be well considered at
the meeting of the Cabinet to-morrow....

The reason alleged for the determination of Members to vote for Mr
Roebuck's Committee is the general desire throughout the Country
that an enquiry should be instituted to ascertain the causes of the
sufferings of your Majesty's troops in the Crimea.

_Queen Victoria to the King of Prussia._ [_Translation._]

BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _20th February 1855_.

DEAREST BROTHER,--I must not let Lord John Russell visit Berlin
without personally recommending him to your Majesty--an honour
which he deserves in a high degree, as a statesman of wide outlook,
well-informed, and moderate. At the same time I may be allowed to
repeat my conviction, which I have expressed several times already,
that it appears to me impossible to obtain peace so long as Prussia
continues indisposed to maintain, in case of necessity by force
of arms, the principles publicly expressed in concert with the
belligerent Powers and Austria.

Much blood, very much blood, has already been shed. Honour and justice
force the belligerent Powers to make every sacrifice in continually
defending those principles to the utmost. Whether diplomacy will
succeed in saving Prussia from taking an active share in this
defence--that remains the secret of the future, which the King of
kings alone possesses!

Albert presents his homage to your Majesty, and I beg to be most
cordially remembered, and remain as ever, my dear Brother, your
Majesty's faithful Servant and Friend,

VICTORIA R.

[Pageheading: MR GLADSTONE]

_Memorandum by the Prince Albert._

BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _21st February 1855_.

I have just seen Mr Gladstone, who received my box so late that I did
not wish to detain him more than a few minutes, as the C