Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 9.djvu/322

292 THE DEATH OF LORD RAGLAN. en p. ' tained, and I and the country have in your noble.. XHL < gallant, and excellent husband, who.se loyally ' and devotion to his sovereign and country were ' unbounded. We both feel most deeply for you ' and your daughters, to whom this blow must be ' most severe and sudden ! He was so strong, ' and his health had borne the bad climate, great ' fatigues, and anxieties so well ever since he left ' England, that though we were much alarmed at ' hearing of his illness, we were full of hope of his ' speedy recovery. ' 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 1 often to victory and glory ! If sympathy can be ' any consolation to you, you have it, for we all ' have alike to mourn, and no one more than 1 1, 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 the dreadful shock. — Believe me always, ' my dear Lady Raglan, yours very sincerely, (Signed) ' Victoria R.' If her Majesty by the terms of her letter may seem to blend with her own, some other opinion, and one by her deeply valued, it will be borne in