ference, to point out Don Enrique as the prince who appeared to us the most eligible, because the most likely to prove acceptable to the people of Spain."

Greville's conclusion was that the mischief had arisen from Palmerston being careless and thoughtless, Guizot suspicious and alarmed. The Foreign Secretary was certainly rather careless, and perhaps not sufficiently awake to the importance of the Spanish marriage question, but he was also overwhelmed with business on entering into office. But the month's delay which occurred between the general demand on the part of Guizot for an exposition of the English policy and Palmerston's reply was undoubtedly most unfortunate, and tended to give further colour to his suspicions. There can be no doubt that they were quite baseless as far as the Coburg marriage was concerned. Palmerston's only reason for advocating that alliance was, as he characteristically wrote to Bulwer, that "the English Government would see with pleasure a good cross introduced into the family of Spain;" on the whole he thought, considering the average of intellect in his father, brother, and sister, that the chances were against Leopold being anything remarkable. The prince whom he really wished to see on the throne of Spain was Enrique, of whose abilities he seems to have formed a very exaggerated opinion, and who was very acceptable on account of his Progressist leanings.

Upon the best of consideration we can give to the matter [he wrote to Bulwer] and according to the information which we hitherto possess, we think it best for all parties concerned that Enrique should marry the Queen, and that Coburg should marry the Infanta; and that is the arrangement we wish you to try for.

Upon the question of the Montpensier marriage, however, even when safeguarded by the conditions

into which Guizot had voluntarily entered at Eu, it appeared that Palmerston, instead of being neutral like Aberdeen, was most emphatically hostile.

The language I hold to Jarnac [he tells Bulwer] is purposely general and applicable to Montpensier's marriage with the Infanta as well as with the Queen. I tell him that it is a great and paramount object with us that Spain should be independent, and that her policy should be founded upon Spanish and not upon French considerations; so that if ever we should have the misfortune of finding ourselves engaged in war with France, we should not merely on that account, and without any separate quarrel with Spain, find ourselves involved in war with Spain also. That this independence of Spain would be endangered, if not destroyed, by the marriage of a French prince into the royal family of Spain; and that as, on the one hand, France would be entitled to object to such a marriage being contracted by an English prince, so England is entitled to object to such a marriage being contracted by a French one. That such an objection on our part may seem uncourteous, and may be displeasing; but that the friendships of States and Governments must be founded upon natural interest, and not upon personal likings.

After this decided harangue, it was absurd for Guizot to complain, as he subsequently did, that he had been kept in ignorance of the strong objections of the English Government to the Montpensier marriage. His game, as time went on, evidently was to use the Coburg scare as an excuse for hastening on the simultaneous marriages of Cadiz to the Queen, and Montpensier to the Infanta coûte que coûte. Indeed, his own panic does not seem to have lasted more than three or four days; for as early as July 31st he had come to the conclusion that neither the English Cabinet nor Palmerston himself had any serious projects for a Coburg, and in the following month the unconditional refusal of the Coburg family to accept Christina's proposal was actually sent to Madrid. While Palmerston was playing for the Enrique and Coburg combination with his cards

on the table, Guizot, while artfully pretending to follow his lead, as far as Enrique was concerned, a choice which he mendaciously declared "would be perfectly satisfactory to France," was urging Bresson at Madrid to bring matters to an issue. Christina's remaining scruples were removed by her fears of "the English and the Revolution," and on the 2nd of September, Jarnac announced to Palmerston that the two marriages of the Queen to Cadiz and her sister to Montpensier, had been arranged on the 28th of August.

The indignation entertained by the English Court and the English Ministry against the pair of tricksters who had deliberately broken their word, and that to further projects which, under the most favourable construction, were those of sordid fortune-hunters, was expressed without much circumlocution: "Je ne vous parlerai plus d'entente cordiale," wrote Palmerston to Jarnac, "parce-que ce qu'on nous annonce par rapport aux affaires d'Espagne ne nous prouve que trop clairement qu'on ne veut plus à Paris ni de cordialité ni d'entente." "If this marriage takes place," he wrote later on, "it will be the first time that the promises and declarations of a French king are not realised." His royal mistress was, as we have seen, quite as outspoken, and vigorously denied Louis Philippe's insinuation that she looked at these affairs only through the medium of Lord Palmerston. Even Metternich was disgusted.

Tell M. Guizot from me [he said] that one does not with impunity play little tricks with great countries. He knows I do not think much of public opinion, it is not one of my instruments, but it has its effect. The English Government have done their best to establish Louis Philippe in public opinion. They can withdraw what they gave, and I have always said the moment he loses that he is on the verge of a war, and his is not a dynasty that can stand a war.

This stern warning had no effect; indeed, Guizot had gone too far for retreat to be possible. Still less efficacious were the makeshifts devised by Palmerston's nimble mind to secure the defeat, or, at least, the postponement of the scheme. In a vigorous protest against the marriage he appealed to the treaty of Utrecht, but arguments based on what had occurred in the reign of Queen Anne naturally appeared to Guizot to be "old and strange," and the Duke of Wellington pronounced them to be "damned stuff." Equally futile was his plan for re-establishing the Salic law against the children of the Montpensier marriage. Considering that Isabella reigned solely through the abrogation of that ordinance, there would have been, as Greville says, much levity in re-establishing it against her sister. His machinations for a divorce were equally futile. Possibly his designs for stirring up an agitation in Spain through Bulwer," of course avoiding schemes for insurrection," might have had more effect if time had been allowed for their development. Events, however, moved too quickly for him; the marriages were celebrated on the 10th of October, and the French claimed the game. It remained for Palmerston to show them that it was not worth the candle.

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CHAPTER VII.

YEARS OF REVOLUTION.

1846-1849.

Results of the Spanish marriages-The annexation of Cracow Civil war in Portugal-Lord Palmerston's policy-Termination of the struggle-The Swiss Sonderbund-Lord Palmerston's despatch -Settlement of the dispute-Constitutionalism in Italy - The Minto Mission-The fall of Louis Philippe - The Spanish despatch-Lord Palmerston and the Provisional Government at Paris-Change in his Italian policy-His attitude towards the Sardinian Government-Suppression of the Revolution-Palmerston and Naples-His advice to Austria -The Hungarian refugees.

THOUGH the conclusion of the Spanish marriages was followed by no actual rupture between England and France, the relations between the two countries were cold to the last degree. It was particularly unfortunate that at this crisis England should have been represented at Paris by Lord Normanby, a very green ambassador, as Madame de Lieven said, who made matters worse by his social gaucheries, and who entered into unwise relations with Thiers, and other leaders of the Opposition. Nor did his chief receive with particularly good grace the advances of the French ambassador, St. Aulaire. "The