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PRINCE ALBERT'S POSITION IN THE STATE.

and the ex-foreign secretary ever since the queen's remonstrances on the subject of the despatches, which led to Palmerston's dismissal from the Russell administration, but there was a tendency to make Palmerston responsible for more than really belonged to him, and it was one of his characteristics to let things alone when they only involved his personal claims. He would not take the trouble to defend himself apart from his official position, and, strange as it may seem, he claimed the right to abstain from personally defending himself, against the complaints of the queen, on the ground that it would ill become him to have any altercation with the sovereign. The same feeling might have prevented what could only have been an indignant denial of having been responsible for the imputations made against the prince consort, and though there can be little doubt that he had given rather too free expression to the suspicion that the dislike of the court had influenced the attitude of the cabinet towards his policy, it appears to have been admitted by Prince Albert himself that the slanders which were levelled at the throne during the Aberdeen ministry were not wholly attributable to this source.

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"One main element," he wrote to Stockmar, "is the hostility and settled bitterness of the old high Tory or Protectionist party against me on account of my friendship with the late Sir Robert Peel, and of my success with the Exhibition. . . . Their fury knew no bounds, when by Palmerston's return to the ministry that party (which is now at variance with Disraeli) lost the chance of securing a leader in the Lower House, who would have overthrown the ministry with the cry for English honour and independence, and against pariia mentary reform, which is by no means popolar. Hatred of the Peelites is stronger in the old party than ever, and Aberdeen is regardei as his representative. To discredit him would have this further advantage, that, if he coci be upset, the keystone of the arch of coalition would be smashed, and it must fall to pisces: then Palmerston and John Russell would have to separate, and the former would take the place he has long coveted of leader to the Conservatives and Radicals. For the same

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reason, however, it must be our interest to support Aberdeen, in order to keep the structure standing. Fresh reason for the animosity towards us. So the old game was renewed which was played against Melbourne after the queen's accession, of attacking the ovart, so as to make it clear, buth to it and to the public, that a continuance of Aberdeen in office must endanger the popularity of the crown."

Another element of opposition, the prize declared, was the appointment of Lore Hardinge as commander-in-chief instal of Fitzroy Somerset (Lord Ragan, who hai for thirty years been military secretary under the Duke of Wellington. It was awitei that the appointment of Lori Haringe due to the prince, who hai sine the deat of the Duke of Wellington been in constant confidential communistie with in de ins tary matters relating cdy to arms 201 equipments But the matter roy at inve was the actual positiva with the price was entitled to assume as one of the count and as the husband and therefore the worE TË the queen, and on the sale public opinion is provas calumnie with, it could be without the slightest fublatio, ano é me representaties wild soul they were plainly men. He he believed, time the tatt klar, de må bug outgrown la ira setor, periodo qui that, after costant milf 01 attention to pubis mastere, le sud so qui should we remain teamed va par La faire or relle vil um vinir á sua a will as the saturi wo ihre private servary of the gel be legittas is very 17 vaat and experience.

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tions which he sustained to the country to which he was never weary of giving his best and worthiest efforts. But there was no real need of vindication even at the time. Singularly enough, directly it was known that Lord Palmerston had withdrawn his resignation, many of those papers which had been foremost in their imputations withdrew them with the utmost facility. Whether Palmerston had or had not anything to do with the storm of invective that had been raised, it abated directly it was discovered that he had no need of that mode of accounting for his supposed retirement from the councils of the state. But the accusations had the effect of raising a violent uproar in the country. As the Spectator said, a whisper which was first insinuated for party purposes had grown into a roar, and a constructive hint had swelled into a positive and monstrous fiction. The story, not only told in all parts of England, but by some believed, was, that Prince Albert was a traitor to his queen, that he had been impeached for high treason, and finally that on a charge of high treason he had been arrested and committed to the Tower. Nay, the public appetite having grown by what it fed on went beyond this, and there was a report that the queen herself had been arrested.

"You will scarcely credit," wrote the prince to Stockmar, "that my being committed to the Tower was believed all over the country | -nay, even that the queen had been arrested! People surrounded the Tower in thousands to see us brought to it! On the other hand, I hear from Manchester, where Bright, Cobden, Gibson, Wilson, &c., held their annual meeting, that they made very light of it, and laughed at all the accusations."

They were just the men who were likely to treat such rumours with a kind of humorous contempt, for they knew well enough what were the means likely to be taken by a certain class of political opponents to foment popular prejudice. It is only fair to admit, however, that the same sort of disdain may have prevented Palmerston from contradicting the declaration that he was responsible for the growth of the scandals with which Prince Albert was assailed. That he had on

the former occasion originated expressions of antagonism to the court there was no denying, and it, therefore, did not seem improbable that such expressions had been repeated, or that he had imputed to the prince influences which were opposed to him and to his policy, and were therefore, in his opinion, antagonistic to English interests, for Palmerston had a very sincere belief that the two things were inseparable if not identical.

one.

Once during the contention Palmerston did give a denial, but it was not a very conclusive A long time previously a pamphlet had, it appears, been prepared, setting forth the inimical and adverse position of the prince in relation to the state, and this was now referred to by the newspapers, with an insinuation, not only that Lord Palmerston had handed to the writer of the pamphlet, proofs of the prince's misdoings and copies of his alleged secret correspondence, but that the prince had bought up the copies of the work, suppressed its publication, and made friends with Palmerston in order to screen himself. At the same time it was intimated that there were still some copies in existence, and republication was threatened. Palmerston thereupon wrote to the Morning Post, declaring that he neither got the pamphlet written nor gave up any documents whatever, but that he had, on the contrary, entreated that the pamphlet might not appear. This was evidently saying too much or not enough, and it was followed by the publication of the pamphlet in the columns of another paper; not, probably, by any connivance of Palmerston, for, as Prince Albert afterwards remarked, it was a miserable performance, which could really hurt no one but Lord Palmerston himself, as it accused the court and Lord John Russell of having intrigued to subject Lord Palmerston falsely to the stigma of having cried up the coup d'état, with the conviction that a false belief on this head was calculated to do him serious injury! As, however, it had already been proved in parliament that Palmerston had supported the coup d'état, it seemed scarcely likely that he would have wished this representation to be revived or to be made public. There had been a very decided antagonism between the prince

PRINCE ALBERT'S POSITION IN THE STATE.

and the ex-foreign secretary ever since the queen's remonstrances on the subject of the despatches, which led to Palmerston's dismissal from the Russell administration, but there was a tendency to make Palmerston responsible for more than really belonged to him, and it was one of his characteristics to let things alone when they only involved his personal claims. He would not take the trouble to defend himself apart from his official position, and, strange as it may seem, he claimed the right to abstain from personally defending himself against the complaints of the queen, on the ground that it would ill become him to have any altercation with the sovereign. The same feeling might have prevented what could only have been an indignant denial of having been responsible for the imputations made against the prince consort, and though there can be little doubt that he had given rather too free expression to the suspicion that the dislike of the court had influenced the attitude of the cabinet towards his policy, it appears to have been admitted by Prince Albert himself that the slanders which were levelled at the throne during the Aberdeen ministry were not wholly attributable to this source.

"One main element," he wrote to Stockmar, "is the hostility and settled bitterness of the old high Tory or Protectionist party against me on account of my friendship with the late Sir Robert Peel, and of my success with the Exhibition. . . . Their fury knew no bounds, when by Palmerston's return to the ministry that party (which is now at variance with Disraeli) lost the chance of securing a leader in the Lower House, who would have overthrown the ministry with the cry for English honour and independence, and against parliamentary reform, which is by no means popular. Hatred of the Peelites is stronger in the old party than ever, and Aberdeen is regarded as his representative. To discredit him would have this further advantage, that, if he could be upset, the keystone of the arch of coalition would be smashed, and it must fall to pieces; then Palmerston and John Russell would have to separate, and the former would take the place he has long coveted of leader to the Conservatives and Radicals. For the same

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reason, however, it must be our interest to support Aberdeen, in order to keep the structure standing. Fresh reason for the animosity towards us. So the old game was renewed which was played against Melbourne after the queen's accession, of attacking the court, so as to make it clear, both to it and to the public, that a continuance of Aberdeen in office must endanger the popularity of the crown."

Another element of opposition, the prince declared, was the appointment of Lord Hardinge as commander-in-chief instead of Fitzroy Somerset (Lord Raglan), who had for thirty years been military secretary under the Duke of Wellington. It was assumed that the appointment of Lord Hardinge was due to the prince, who had since the death of the Duke of Wellington been in constant confidential communication with him on military matters relating chiefly to arms and equipments. But the matter really at issue was the actual position which the prince was entitled to assume as one of the council, and as the husband and therefore the adviser of the queen, and on this subject he knew well public opinion must pronounce in spite of calumnies which, it could be shown, were without the slightest foundation, and of misrepresentations which could be refuted directly they were plainly met. He knew, and it was, he believed, time the nation knew, he had long outgrown his first neutral position, and that, after constant study and unremitting attention to public matters, he could not, and should not, remain unconcerned with political affairs-or rather with those affairs of state in which, as the natural counsellor as well as the private secretary of the queen, he had a legitimate interest deepened by observation and experience.

"A very considerable section of the nation," he wrote to his old friend and counsellor, “had never given itself the trouble to consider what really is the position of the husband of a queen regnant. When I first came over here I was met by this want of knowledge and unwillingness to give a thought to the position of this luckless personage. Peel cut down my income, Wellington refused me my rank, the royal

family cried out against the foreign interloper, | the Whigs in office were only inclined to concede to me just as much space as I could stand upon. The constitution is silent as to the consort of the queen; even Blackstone ignores him, and yet there he was, and not to be done without. As I have kept quiet and caused no scandal, and all went well, no one has troubled himself about me and my doings; and any one who wished to pay me a compliment at a public dinner or meeting, extolled my 'wise abstinence from interfering in political matters. Now, when the present journalistic controversies have brought to light the fact, that I have for years taken an active interest in all political matters, the public, instead of feeling surprise at my reserve, and the tact with which I have avoided thrusting myself forward, fancied itself betrayed, because it felt it had been self-deceived. rushed all at once into a belief in secret correspondence with foreign courts, intrigues, &c.; for all this is much more probable than that thirty millions of men in the course of fourteen years should not have discovered, that an important personage had during all that time taken a part in their government. If that could be concealed, then all kinds of secret conspiracy are possible, and the Coburg conspiracy is proved to demonstration.

It has also

"Beyond this stage of knowledge, which was certain sooner or later to be reached, we shall, however, soon have passed; and even now there is a swarm of letters, articles, and pamphlets to prove that the husband of the queen, as such, and as privy-councillor, not only may, but in the general interest must be, an active and responsible adviser of the crown; and I hope the debate in parliament will confirm this view, and settle it at once and for ever.

"The recognition of this fact will be of importance, and is alone worth all the hubbub and abuse. I think I may venture to assume that the nation is ashamed of its past thoughtlessness, and has already arrived at a just understanding of my position..

"As for the calumnies themselves, I look upon them as a fiery ordeal that will serve to purge away impurities. All the gossip and

idle talk of the last fourteen years have been swept away by what has occurred. Every one who has been able to say or surmise any ill of me has conscientiously contributed his faggot to the burning of the heretic, and I may say with pride, that not the veriest tittle of a reproach can be brought against me with truth. I have myself sometimes felt uneasy, under attacks prompted by fiendish wickedness, that I might here or there have unconsciously made mistakes. But nothing has been brought against me which is not absolutely untrue. This may have been mere good luck, for I can scarcely suppose that I have not in some things laid myself open to censure."

The queen had suffered no less than the prince from a sense of the wrong which had been inflicted on them by their detractors, and as they feared by the nation, which, under the fickle excitement of a great slander, had been willing to cancel those sentiments of simple loyalty and affection without which the throne itself would have been worthless. But they yet trusted to the honest instincts of the people, and looked forward to the meeting of parliament for a refutation of calumnies which might, after all, as the prince had said, have the effect of bringing before the country his just claims, a recognition of which would at once give him his true position, and would leave no room for further misrepresentation of his relations to the throne and to the government. On the 31st of January her majesty went to open parliament, and she was accompanied by the prince. Lord Aberdeen and the other ministers had seriously advised that the subject of the attacks on the prince and his true claims should be brought before the house, and had assured her that the slanders would then be effectually demolished, and that general satisfaction and enthusiasm would be the result; that the reaction would be greater than any attack could be, and that the country was as loyal as ever, only a little mad.

"The prince has now been so long before the eyes of the whole country," wrote the premier, "his conduct is so invariably devoted to the public good, and his life so perfectly

PALMERSTON'S RESIGNATION AND RETURN.

unattackable, that Lord Aberdeen has not the slightest apprehension of any serious consequences arising from these contemptible exhibitions of malevolence and faction."

And he was right. It was expected that some adverse demonstrations might be made against the prince, and the precaution was taken of calling out the whole of the Horse Guards instead of a small escort only, while the route of the procession was lined with policemen. These arrangements might have been necessary if the Russian ambassador, who had not then left London, had chosen to attend, but he prudently absented himself. At a few points, hisses were heard when Prince Albert passed, but they were drowned in a tempest of cheering; and it was soon evident that the people had not been very ready to accept in earnest the scandalous rumours that had been so widely circulated. The Turkish ambassador was, of course, received with uproarious acclamations when he was seen in the procession, and there was no lack of the usual loyal demonstrations. So far as the queen and her consort were concerned, there was no need for further anxiety..

The distinct and warmly emphatic denial which was given by Lord John Russell to the charges of improper interference by the prince in the Eastern question was endorsed by Lord Aberdeen. Lord Derby in the House of Lords and Mr. Walpole in the Lower House spoke with equal decision and earnestness in contradiction of the imputations which had been made, and in vindication of the constitutional right of the prince to support the sovereign by his advice in matters of state.

Lord Campbell, also, representing the highest legal authority, gave unhesitating testimony to this view, and indeed the leaders of all political parties concurred in a declaration which many of them had already endorsed, by an expression of personal regard and esteem for the prince. "The impression has been excellent," he wrote to his former correspondent, "and my political status and activity, which up to this time have been silently assumed, have now been asserted in parliament without a dissentient voice."

VOL III.

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Lord Palmerston had resumed office before the meeting of parliament. His resignation had not been accepted, and though he waited for some time he consented to withdraw it. What would have been the consequence to the government if he had persisted in retiring need not be discussed. People were asking another question-Had he resigned because he could not agree with the other members of the cabinet on the Eastern question and the steps to be taken with regard to the approaching war? The opposition declared that he had, the government affirmed that he had not. No explanation was given. had reconsidered the matter, and there he was. He was himself more than usually reticent, but he had written to his brother-in-law-the Right Hon. Laurence Sulivan-that the cause of his resignation was his inability to agree with a scheme of parliamentary reform which was to be introduced by Lord John Russell.

He

He had been placed on the committee of the cabinet to prepare the plan, but he had insurmountable objections to the scheme, and stated them both to Lord John and to Lord Aberdeen, who said he would communicate with the queen and his colleagues; but instead of this consulted Russell and Graham, who said that Palmerston's objections were inadmissible, with which he (Aberdeen) agreed. There was nothing left for Palmerston but to resign. "I could not," he says, "take up a bill which contained material things of which I disapproved, and assist to fight it through the House of Commons, to force it on the Lords, and to stand upon it at the hustings." The letter had the following postscript:-"The Times says there has been no difference in the cabinet about Eastern affairs. This is an untruth, but I felt it would have been silly to have gone out because I could not have my own way about Turkish affairs, seeing that my presence in the cabinet did good by modifying the views of those whose policy I thought bad."

These reasons for not retiring were potent— for in less than a week he wrote again to his brother-in-law, to say that he should remain in the government. "I was much and strongly pressed to do so for several days by many of

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