Lord Palmerston

The Holy Alliance was broken up for a time when the Czar Nickolas of Russia joined the western powers with the object of liberating Greece in 1827. But the revolution in Paris (1830) and a rising in Poland frightened him back into the arms of his older allies, Austria and Prussia. The three powers formally renewed their league in 1832.

On the other hand, the turn of affairs in Paris led to a good understanding between France and Great Britain. The new French king, Louis Philippe, who had been raised to the throne by a revolu­tion, was very coldly looked on by the eastern rulers. Isolated in Europe, he was compelled to be pleased with the friendship of Great Britain. The alliance which resulted from these conditions lasted till near the end of Louis Philippe's reign (1838).

During most of this time, Lord Palmerston, who was a follower of Canning, continued his policy as Foreign Secretary. Palmerston, Henry John Temple (1784-1865) was born at Broadlands, near Romsey, Hants. There was the Irish branch in his family, the Irish Temples. Lord Palmerston descended from Sir John Temple (1632-1704), who was speaker of the Irish House of Commons. Henry John had scarcely left Harrow, at the age of eighteen, when his father died (1802), and this raised him to the Irish peerage. It was no doubt owing to his birth and connexions, but still more to his own talents and character, that Lord Palmerston was thrown at a very early age into the full stream of political and official life. In 1807 he delivered his maiden speech in the House of Commons, and this speech was so successful that in 1809 he was proposed to join some official duty at the government. He became the secretary-at-war, and in this position he remained, without any signs of an ambitious temperament or of the great political abilities, for twenty years (1809-1828). He had no influence at the cabinet he served. He was entirely devoted, like his friend Peel, to the Tory party of that day. Lord Palmerston never was a Whig, still less a radical; he was a statesman of the old English aristocratic type, liberal in his sentiments, favourable to the march of progress, but entirely opposed to the claims of the democratic government.

Lord Palmerston was a man of great decision and audacity, even to rashness, and was intent of marching the influence which Great Britain had gained by leading Europe against Napoleon. He general­ly sought to connect England with liberal movements on the Conti­nent, and opposed the despotic tendencies of the Holy Alliance.

One of the first results of revolution in France was to cause an outbreak in Holland and Belgium — combined by one ruler by the Congress of Vienna — differed in race, language, religion, and pursuits. Such a union could hardly last for a long time, and in 1830 the Belgian declared themselves independent. The Dutch marched an army against Brussels, and fighting began. The powers there upon interfered. A conference was held in London, which resulted in Belgium being recognized as independent. Holland at first re­fused to give way, but at length gave way to the joint pressure of a French army and the British fleet (1833).

Meanwhile, in Portugal, Don Miguel, the uncle of the young queen, Maria the Second and the head of the clerical party, had become regent (1828). He made use of his position to seize the throne, after which he abolished the constitution, and ruled in a tyrannical manner, which led to civil war. A somewhat similar conflict was raging in Spain. The king Ferdinand died in 1832, leaving his crown to his daughter Isabella, aged three years. His widow, queen Christina, became a regent. But his brother, Don Carlos, the head of the priestly faction in Spain, claimed the crown. The Liber­als resisted his claim, and civil war was the result.

In order to save the Liberal cause in the Spanish peninsula, Lord Palmerston now made a compact with France and with the governments of Spain and Portugal, which was known as a Quadraple Alliance (1834). The result of that was that Don Miguel was expelled from Portugal, and that the Liberals in Spain were enabled to hold their own forces against the Carlists, as the supporters of Don Carlos were called. The Carlist War continued, however, for several years. A British legion, composed of volunteers, fought on the side of the government; and Don Carlos was at last expelled (1840). Three years later Queen Isabella was declared to be of age.

Meanwhile the Eastern question had again come to the front, Ibragim Pasha, at the head of an Egyptian army, made war against the Sultan (1832). The latter appealed to Russia for help and Ibragim failed in his attempts; but the Sultan was forced to place himself under Russian protection. Palmerston was anxious to prevent the Russian power, which had begun to alarm both France and Great Britain. His opportunity came in 1839.

In that year the war between Turkey and Egypt was renewed, and, as before, Turkey was badly beaten. In order to prevent Russia to interfere alone to save Constantinople — which would have strengthened her hold upon Turkey — Palmerston succeeded in persuading the other great powers, including France, to intervene along with Great Britain. But a question arose as to what should be done with Egypt.

The French, eager to strengthen their influence in Cairo, wished to make Egypt a practically independent state. The British govern­ment, on the other hand, was anxious to maintain the integrity of the Turkish Empire. Unable to bring France to the same views, Palmerston made a convention with Austria, Prussia and Russia, to act together in the East, leaving France isolated (1840). The French were very indignant, and threatened war.

But Palmerston took no notice of French threats. The British fleet was sent to the East, and several rapid blows — the most remarkable of which was the capture of Acre — forced Ibragim to submit. The French cooled down, and the treaty was finally con­cluded between the five great powers in July 1841, by which Tur­key was put under the joint protection of Europe. Thus Palmerston was completely successful both against Russia and against France.

During Peel's ministry (1841-1846) Palmerston was out of office. His place was taken by Lord Aberdeen. The rivalry of the two powers in Spain became still worse, and it was worse again when Louis Philippe married one of his sons to the heiress of the Spanish throne (1846).

When Sir Robert Peel resigned in 1846, Lord John Russell, a veteran in the cause of reform, took his place. The Liberals in the new Parliament, which met in 1847, almost exactly balanced the Conservatives; but the latter were disunited, because there was the division between the "Peelites", or free traders, and the Protection­ists. Such a state of things made it impossible that any important activity should take place. The most influenced man in the ministry was Lord Palmerston, who had been Foreign Secretary in all the Liberal governments since 1830, and who now again held this office.

Lord John Russell retained office till 1852. His fall in this year was due to Lord Palmerston, whose haughty and independent tem­per had already got him into trouble two years before. The Foreign Secretary has always stood in a closer relation with the crown than the other ministers, except the Premier; but Lord Palmerston had formed the habit of acting without consulting the queen, and had often changed the resolutions which were decided by him together with Victoria.

In 1842 the queen and prince Albert had a splendid festival in honour of the King of Prussia. In the spring there was a fancy-dress ball at Buckingham Palace, which remained memorable, owing to the offence which it gave in France. Prince Albert had a costume of Edward III, the Queen was dressed as Queen Philippa, and all the gentlemen of the court as knights of Poitiers. The French took it as an unfriendly demonstration, and there was some talk of getting up a similar ball in Paris, the duke of Orlean was to figure as William the Conqueror.

In June 1842 the Queen took her first railway journey, travel­ling from Windsor to Paddington on the great Western Line. The master of the horse, whose business was to provide for the queen's ordinary journeys by road, was much struck by this innovation. He marched into the station several hours before the start to inspect the engine, as he would have examined the horse; but there was much greater laughing when the queen's coachman appeared, who insisted, that, asa matter of form, he ought to inspect the engine. After some dispute, he was told to climb on to the pilot engine which was to go before the royal train; but his scarlet livery, white gloves and wig suffered so much from soot and sparks that he did not try to insist on his rights in after trips. The queen found the motion of the train so pleasant that she readily trusted herself to the railway for a longer journey a few weeks later, when she paid her first visit to Scotland.

In August 1843 the queen and Prince Albert paid a visit to the French king Louis Philippe at the chateau d'Eau. They sailed from Soothampton in a yacht. It happened to be raining hard, and when they embarked the loyal members of the Southampton Corporation remembered Raleigh, and spread their robes on the ground for the queen to walk over. In 1844 Louis Philippe returned the visit by coming to Windsor. It was the first visit ever paid by a king of France to a sovereign of England, and Louis Philippe was much pleased to receive the Order of the Garter.

In August 1849 the queen and Prince Albert, accompanied by the little princess royal and the prince of Wales, paid a visit to Ireland. They landed at the Cove of Cork, which from that day was renamed Queenstown.

At the end of 1851 an important event took place. Lord Palmerston wad dismissed from the office of foreign secretary by the reason that he expressed approval of Louis Napoleon's taking power in Paris. Lord Palmerston had never been persona grata at court. His opinion of ministerial independence was not at all according with the view of the queen and Prince Albert. The queen had more than once to remind her foreign secretary that all his papers must be seen by her before they were sent out, and though Palmerston agreed, the queen's complaint had to be continually repeated. Lord John Russell, who did not want to offend his popular colleague, did his best to smooth the things over; but the queen continued to be displeased, and tried hard to get Palmerston removed, without success. On the 12-th of August 1850 the queen wrote to Lord John Russell:

"With reference to the conversation about Lord Palmerston which the queen had with Lord John Russell the other day, and Lord Palmerston's words that he never intended any disrespect to her by the various neglects of which she had so long and so often to complain, she thinks it right, in order to avoid any mistakes for the future, to explain what she expects from the foreign secretary."

She requires —

"That he will distinctly state what he proposes, in order that the queen may know as distinctly to what she has given her royal sanction.

She expects to know what passed between him and the foreign ministers, before the important decisions are taken",... etc.

The end of the memorandum was:

"The queen thinks it best that Lord John Russell should show this letter to Lord Palmerston."

Lord Palmerston took a copy of this letter, and promised to follow its direction. But the queen thoroughly distructed him. Then she discovered that he still went on to follow his own will. This was too much even for Lord Russell, and after a short and decisive correspondence Lord Palmerston resigned the seals of office.

NAMES AND EXPRESSIONS

... frightened him back into the arms of his older allies — так

его напугало, что он снова бросился в объятия своих старых союзников

secretary-at-war — министр по делам войн (внешней политики)

Miguel [mi'ge:l]— Мигель

he made use of his position — он воспользовался своим по­ложением

Ferdinand ['f3:dinənd]

Christina [kris'tinə]

Garlos ['ka:ləs]

Quadraple [kwod'rəipl]— четверной союз (лат.)

Queen Isabella was declared to be of age — было объявлено, что королева Изабелла достигла того возраста, когда можно занять престол

to the front — на первом плане

Constantinople [,konstæ nti'nəup(ə)l]

which would have strengthened her hold upon Turkey — что усилило бы ее (России) позицию в Турции

Egypt ['id3ipt]

Cairo ['kai(ə)rəu]

unable to bring France to the same views — не в состоянии

убедить Францию в правоте своих взглядов

Acre ['eikə] — Аккра

Aberdeen [,æbə'di:n] —Эбердин (Абердин)

held this office — занимал этот пост

had already got him into trouble — прежде уже привело его к

неприятностям (осложнениям)

which remained memorable — который остался памятным

as a matter of form — в качестве формальности

chateau d'Eu ['∫æ təudə'o]— Шато д'О

Raleigh ['ro:li]

the Order of the Garter — орден Подвязки, высшая награда в Великобритании

to smooth the things over — смягчать (сглаживать) положение

to follow his own will следован, своей собственной воле

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