that state of mind which was beyond his control afterwards. If I
have been rightly informed, Oxford was himself of this opinion ;
as he said, when another attempt had been made to take away the
life of the Queen, ' that if he himself had been hanged, this would
not have happened.' " *
Parliament was prorogued by the Queen on the nth of August.
The Royal Speech touched upon some important points in the
foreign relations of the country. Her Majesty congratulated the
Parliament upon the termination of the civil war in Spain, the
objects for which the Quadruple engagements of 1834 had been
contracted having been accomplished. Differences with the gov-
ernment of Naples had been put into a train of adjustment by
the mediation of France. Her Majesty was " engaged, in concert
with the Emperor of Austria, the King of Prussia, the Emperor
of Russia, and the Sultan, in measures intended to effect the
permanent pacification of the Levant, to maintain the integrity and
independance of the Ottoman empire, and thereby to afford addi-
tional security for the peace of Europe."
The events which had rendered the intervention of the European
powers necessary for the pacification of the Levant were these :
Mehemet Ali, the pasha of Egypt, had in 1831 invaded Syria, in
a war which he waged against the pasha of Damascus. Egypt and
Syria were both integral parts of the Ottoman dominions, and
Mehemet Ali was bound to yield obedience to the command of the
sultan. He refused to withdraw his troops from Syria ; and in 1832
the sultan Mahmoud and his powerful viceroy were at open war.
The Turkish government was saved from utter ruin by the aid of
its most formidable enemy, Russia. But the victories of Mehemet
Ali had secured for him the possession of Syria, yet only as a
vassal of the Porte. A war between the sultan and his viceroy
was prevented for six years by the meditation of England, France,
and Russia. But in 1839 the sultan could no longer endure the
ambition of his great vassal, who evidently designed to subject all
Arabia to his sway; and Mahmoud sent an army across the
* Brodie's " Psychological Inquiries," 3rd edition, p. 98.
262 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
Euphrates to recover Syria. A signal victory of Mehemet All
preceded the death of Mahmoud on the ist of July, 1839. His
successor, Abd-ul-Mejid, was only in his sixteenth year. The
pasha of Egypt was encouraged in his resistance by the youth and
apparent weakness of the new sultan, who was surrounded by
treacherous officers. The influence of Mehemet Ali was so power-
ful at Constantinople that the Capitan Pasha (High Admiral) took
the Turkish fleet through the Dardanelles to Alexandria and deliv-
ered it over to the sultan's rebellious viceroy. The strong will and
propitious fortune of Mehemet Ali seemed to threaten the disso-
lution of the Turkish empire. The European powers tendered their
mediation, which the sultan accepted. He offered Mehemet Ali
the hereditary sovereignty of Egypt instead of remaining a vassal,
but the ambitious pasha required to have Syria as well. France,
although formally bound by a treaty of 1839 * act in co-operation
with England, Russia, Austria, and Prussia, had her own policy
as to a settlement of the Syrian question, and declined entering
into the views of the other four powers. Lord Palmerston resolved
to conclude a treaty for the maintenance of the Ottoman empire
without the co-operation of France. The treaty of Alliance to
which allusion was made in the Queen's speech was signed at
London on the I5th of July, 1840.
The exclusion of France from the European alliance was very
nearly precipitating us into a war with the government of Louis
Philippe. M. Thiers, then president of the Counsel, evinced no
desire to calm that passionate agitation which burst out in France
in the belief that the nation had been insulted. The duke of
Wellington, with his usual strong sense, rightly interpreted the
disposition of the people and of the government of this kingdom.
In a private letter of the 5th of October, he thus expressed him-
self : " God send that we may preserve peace between these two
great countries, and for the world ! I am certain that there is no
desire in this country on the part of any party, I may almost say
of any influential individual, to quarrel with, much less to do any-
thing offensive towards France. But, if we should be under the
necessity of going to war, you will witness the most extraordinary
exertions ever made by this or any country, in order to carry
the same on with vigour, however undesirable we may think it to
enter into it." * Upon the conduct of lord Palmerston, then Sec-
retary of State for Foreign Affairs, there wa:; some diversity of
opinion at home. Even members of the cabinet were not wholly
in accord with his policy, and many of the public held that he was
* Raikes's " Private Correspondence with the Duke of Wellington," &c., p. 156.
TREATY OF ALLIANCE. EXCLUSION OF FRANCE. 263
rash and obstinate. His policy was signally triumphant. Although
the cry of the Parisians for a few months was, " Guerre aux Ang-
lais," the French Government found that their country was not in a
condition to go to war, and that the popular cry for hostilities had
some association with revolutionary tendencies. After the lapse
of twenty-one years, M. Guizot has published his Memoirs of that
stirring time, when he was ambassador in England. His intelligent
and candid revelations may present to those who are curious to
trace the movements and counter-movements of two such adroit
players in the great game of politics as M. Thiers and lord Palmer-
ston, a juster view of the causes of this temporary interruption
of the friendly feelings between the two governments and of the
policy of the British Minister for Foreign Affairs, than they could
otherwise derive from the contemporary expressions of opinion
either in England or in France.
The Resolutions of the four powers upon which the treaty of
the 1 5th of July was founded had become known in London on the
23rd. At the anniversary of the 28th of July, when sixty thousand
men were under arms in Paris, the popular desire for war was
shown in the most marked manner. M. Guizot was perplexed by
the contrast of the uneasiness of Lord Melbourne and lord John
Russell with the decided language of lord Palmerston. In answer
to the ambassador's despatches, M. Thiers had only one word to
reply " tenez ferme" * but the warlike minister invited him to a
meeting with the king and himself at the Chateau d'Eu on the yth
of August. Guizot left London for this interview on the 6th.
Whilst he was crossing the Channel to Calais another person was
crossing the channel to Boulogne, to be the hero of what was then
described as " a wild attempt to excite civil war made by a maniac
of the Bonaparte family." \ The maniac of 1840 became the
emperor of 1852.
On the 7th of July the French frigate La Belle Poule, com-
manded by the prince de Joinville, had sailed for the purpose of
receiving at St. Helena, and transporting to France, the remains
of the Emperor Napoleon. To this somewhat strange request of
the government of Louis Philippe made by M. Guizot, the English
Cabinet accorded its consent, lord Palmerston giving a courteous
'reply to the demand, whilst he was unable to conceal a passing
smile. At this time prince Louis Napoleon was residing at Carlton
Gardens, in London, and M. Guizot had been required to keep an
eye on his movements. The ambassador described the refugee as
being constantly in the park ; as frequently also at the opera, where
* Guizot '* Memoires," tome v. p. 255. t " Spectator," August 8.
264 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
aides-de-camp stood behind him in his box. In public they were
bragging and ostentatious. Their private life was idle and obscure.
In spite of their tall talk M. Guizot thought there was little of
reality in their boastful projects. The French Foreign Office, how-
ever, believed that some attempt would be made by this party of
Bonapartists, although their action would be confined to a very
narrow circle.
On the 4th of August a steam packet, the City of Edinburgh,
which had been hired as for a party of pleasure, left the port of
London, bearing prince Louis Napoleon, count Montholon, and
about forty officers and attendants. Arms and ammunition, mili-
tary uniforms, horses and carriages and a large quantity of specie,
had been previously taken on board ; with a tame eagle that the
prince had taught to feed out of his hand. The steam-packet
dropped down the river ; took a French pilot on board at Graves-
end ; and made for the French coast, where it arrived on the even-
ing of the 5th. Between two and three miles to the north of
Boulogne is the miserable village of Wimereux, around which, in
1803, a camp was formed of a portion of the Grand Army for the
invasion of England. The country here is barren, and a few hovels
lie between the sand hills on the shore. Here, at the mouth of a
petty stream, Napoleon caused a port to be formed, which at the
end of six months was capable of containing a hundred and seventy
vessels. It is now choked up and altogether decayed. Here, then,
surrounded by associations with the memory of the great emperor
in the harbour which his army had dug out of the sands, and in
view of the column which they had raised to his glory the nephew
landed with his followers at four o'clock on the morning of the 6th.
Those of military rank had exchanged their ordinary dress for the
uniform then worn by French officers. The invading band, who
had been joined from Boulogne by a young lieutenant of the 42nd,
named Aladenise, and three soldiers, marched towards the town,
bearing a tri-coloured flag surmounted by an eagle. There were
few persons about at that hour except two or three officers of the
customs, who were compelled to march with them. Upon arriving
at the guard-house in the Place d'Anton, an attempt to seduce the
soldiers failed, and the party marched to the Quai de la Caserne.
The barrack there, now given up to peaceful purposes as a vast
storehouse, was occupied by the 42nd regiment. The officers slept
out of the barrack, and had not arrived at five o'clock, when lieu-
tenant Aladenise called up the soldiers, ordering them to take their
arms, and march with the nephew of the emperor to Paris ; Louis
Philippe, he told them, had ceased to reign. The proposed march
.NAPOLEON'S ATTEMPT TO PRODUCE AN INSURRECTION. 265
was, however, interrupted by the arrival of captain Puygelier and
two other officers. To the splendid offers that were made to the
captain and his companions they turned a deaf ear. The captain
was as unmoved by the threats of some of his men as by the prom-
ises of the adventurers. To the shouts of Vive le Prince Louis
he replied Vive le Roi. A scuffle ensued, when a shot was fired
from a pistol which Louis Napoleon had in his hand, by which a
grenadier was wounded. The prince was not absolutely charged
with a murderous intention in thus discharging his pistol, but it was
implied that this part of the affair was an accident, or at least un-
premeditated. Immediately after this the barrack-yard was cleared
of the intruders, and they marched to the Haute Ville, distributing
proclamations and throwing about money. They fancied they could
seize arms in the old chateau for the purpose of arming the popu-
lation, but their course was stopped by the sub-prefect of Boulogne,
who, in the name of the king, commanded them to disperse. He
was answered by a blow on the head with the eagle which one of
the officers carried. They tried to force the door of the chateau.
During this time the rappel had called out the National Guard, who
marched out towards Wimereux, to do battle with a large force
which they were told had landed there. It was now six o'clock.
Failing in the attempt to force the chateau, unsupported by any
portion of the population, there was nothing left to the adventurers
but flight to the place of their debarkation. With a mad movement
of defiance they marched on the Calais road, and then stopped at
the Napoleon column, instead of proceeding over the hill to Wime-
reux. The first stone of the column had been laid by Marshal
Soult in 1804. Left unfinished under the Empire, it had been pro-
ceeded with under Louis XVIII., " as a monument of peace."
Louis Philippe, whose doubtful policy was to revive the national
appetite for glory which belonged to the memory of Napoleon, was
in 1840 finishing this column. But the statue of the great Em-
peror by which it is crowned was not placed there till 1841. The
prince and his party surrounded the monument, whilst the eagle-
bearer entered the column to plant the standard on its summit.
He was left to mount the dark stairs whilst his leader and his com-
panions made a hasty retreat before the large force that was now
coming against them. The soldiery, commanded by captain Puy-
gelier, with the National Guards and gendarmerie under the orders
of the sub-prefect and the mayor, rendered resistance vain. Some
fled into the fields. Louis Napoleon and five or six others got
down to the sands to the north of the harbour. The prince threw
himself into the sea and swam to a little boat. The National
266 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
Guard fired upon the fugitives, of whom one man was killed and
another dangerously wounded. An inhabitant of Coulogne, who
had been one of the National Guard in 1840, expressed to us the
indignation which he felt at beholding men who were swimming for
their lives being fired upon when their power of doing mischief was
at an end. Louis Napoleon swam back and surrendered himself.
He was taken to the dungeon of the chateau, where he remained
two days before being conveyed to Paris.
The trial of the prince and of nineteen other conspirators took
place on the 6th of October before the Chamber of Peers. Louis
Napoleon maintained a bold front upon his trial. In the speech
which he addressed to his judges he said, " I represent before you
a principle, a cause, a defeat : the principle, it is the sovereignty of
the people ; the cause, that of the empire ; the defeat, Waterloo.
The principle, you have recognized ; the cause, you have served ;
the defeat, you desire to avenge." He was sentenced to imprison-
ment for life ; his companions to various terms of confinement.
The prison of Louis Napoleon was the fortress of Ham in the
department of Aisne. The six years of solitude which he there
passed were not unprofitably employed in study. In 1846 he
escaped in the dress of a workman, and again found a refuge in
England. The Paris press of 1840 teemed with denunciations
against the ministers of Queen Victoria, maintaining that they had
encouraged the prince in his project, being angry with the govern-
ment of Louis Philippe. It was asserted that lord Palmerston had
made a visit to Louis Napoleon, or had been visited by him, pre-
vious to his departure. Lord Palmerston found it necessary to
assure, upon his honour, le baron de Bourqueney, who represented
the French embassy in the absence of M. Guizot, that neither he
nor lord Melbourne had seen Louis Napoleon for two years, nor
any one of the adventurers who had accompanied him.*
The conferences at the Chateau d'Eu were soon terminated.
The king of the French went to Boulogne to express his thanks to
the inhabitants for their loyalty on the 6th of August. To a depu-
tation of the English he said that affairs between France and Eng-
land were taking a favourable turn. M. Guizot returned to Eng-
land, and was satisfied by the cordiality of his reception by the
authorities and populace of Ramsgate that the English people bore
no ill-will towards France. Arrived in London he found an invi-
tation from the queen to visit her at Windsor, where he met the
* The details of this extraordinary attempt are to be collected from the proceedings on
the trial of the conspirators, given in " Annuaire Historique," 1840, p. 268 to p. 291. See
also Guizot's " M&noires," tome v. p. 258 to p. 264.
WAR THREATENED. 267
king and queen of the Belgians, lord Melbourne, and lord Palmer-
ston. With Leopold he had many confidential discussions, the
sagacious king manifesting the strongest desire that the amicable
relations between England and France should be preserved. M.
Guizot says that not a word of politics passed between him and
lord Palmerston or lord Melbourne. He was satisfied that Leo-
pold's attempts to shake the resolution of the Foreign Secretary
had produced no effect, that the situation was in no degree changed,
and that events would follow the obscure course indicated by the
treaty of the I5th of July. In a few days he had a private after-
dinner talk with lord Palmerston. One part of that conversation
still preserves its interest. " Is it true, my lord," said Guizot,
" that you are increasing your fleet by several vessels ? " This
question had reference to the Mediterranean fleet. " Yes," replied
lord Palmerston, " we will raise it to sixteen vessels, you, at this
moment, have raised yours to eighteen. Moreover, you have five
new ships building, which will give you a preponderance which we
cannot accept." * Mr. Cobden shows that in 1840-41 the accus-
tomed proportion of the French navy to ours underwent a great
and sudden derangement, and that instead of being content with
two-thirds of our force, the French navy approached almost to an
equality with our own. f M. Thiers, a few weeks later, contem-
plated an increase of 150,000 men to the French army, making a
total of 639,000. J It was not raised to this height, but it was
greatly increased. The duke of Wellington, at the beginning of
1841, wrote: " I very much fear the consequences of these large
armaments. It would almost appear that it was the interest of
France to recommence the war in Europe." One consequence
of the feeling in France that produced these armaments was the
interruption to two important treaties with England. M. Guizot
on the 2nd of September wrote to M. Thiers : " If you conclude
at the same time with England a treaty on material interests the
treaty of commerce, and a treaty on a great moral interest the
abolition of the slave-trade, that will produce a great effect and a
good effect upon the English public." || At this period Mr. Porter,
of the Board of Trade, had been sent to Paris to negotiate a com-
mercial treaty. " I will receive Mr. Porter well," replied M. Thiers,
" but it is a serious thing to consent to a treaty of commerce in our
present situation. Nevertheless I comprehend the inconveniences
of a refusal .... I must hold counsel as to the treaty about the
* Guizot" Mdmoires," tomev. p. 282. t " The Three Panics," p. 5.
t Guizot, tome v. p. 342. Raikes's " Private Correspondence," p. 248.
y Guizot, tome v. pp. 299, 399,
268 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
negroes. I dread to make treaty upon treaty with folks who have
done so ill by us." * We have heard Mr. Porter say that one
morning Thiers dipped his pen in the ink to sign the treaty, but
suddenly said that he would wait another day. When that day
came Mr. Porter had been ordered to proceed no further in the
business. He believed that Thiers was sincere. He further be-
lieved, most unjustly, that lord Palmerston was the instrument of
Russia. Mr. Porter one of the most honest and confiding of
men was in some degree under the same influence as many other
persons ordinarily of calm judgment. He surrendered his judg-
ment to a monomania which acquired a plausible shape in the hands
of a man of great talent and powers of persuasion, who talked of
" treason " and " Russian gold " in a way that attracted many
followers. These, by their frantic denunciations of lord Palmer-
ston at " Urquhartite meetings," constrained even his political
enemies to vindicate his personal honour.f The Foreign Sec-
retary remained unmoved either by the extravagancies of a feeble
minority in England, or the threatenings of a war-majority in
France. He vindicated his policy by the promptitude of his acts.
The four powtrs had determined that the ports of Syria and
Egypt should be declared to be in a state of blockade. Our
Mediterranean fleet was under the command of sir Robert Stop-
ford, and his second in command was Charles John Napier. Whilst
in August admiral Stopford was blockading the port of Alexander,
captain Napier was blockading Beyrout. On the gih of September
admiral Stopford was before Beyrout with the English fleet and a
few Turkish and Austrian vessels. On the loth the bombardment
of the town and fortress commenced ; which continued till the i6th,
when the Egyptian troops abandoned the place. Meanwhile Napier,
who had landed with 5000 men, had routed the army of Ibrahim
Pasha, and had taken Saida by storm. On the 3rd of November
the allied squadron commenced hostilities against the famous for-
tress of St. Jean d'Acre, which was considered to be almost impreg-
nable. It was bombarded through that day. In the night the
Egyptian troops quitted the town, and it was taken possession of
by a party of Turks and Austrians. The bombardment of St. Jean
d'Acre was remarkable as being the first occasion on which war-
steamers had been employed in battle. To the rapidity of move-
ment of four English steamers, which enabled them to take the
most advantageous positions, it was in some degree owing that so
Strong a fortress was reduced by the cannon of ships of war in so
* Guizot, tome v. pp. 299, 300.
t See "Quarterly Review," vol. Ixvi. art. viii.
NAVAL SUCCESSES AGAINST MEHEMET ALL 269
short a time, and with scarcely any loss to the assailants. When
the thanks of the House of Lords were voted to admiral sir Rob-
ert Stopford and to commodore sir Charles Napier, the duke of
Wellington stated that he considered the achievement of St. Jean
d'Acre one of the greatest deeds of modern times. He thought it
his duty on this occasion to warn their, lordships that they must
not always expect that ships, however well commanded, or however
gallant their seamen might be, were capable of commonly engaging
successfully with stone-walls.* The decided naval successes led
to the final submission of Mehemet Ali. The British government,
with the other powers, had recommended ^that if he yielded in a
reasonable time ; gave up possession of the Turkish fleet ; and
evacuated Syria, Adana, Candia, and the Holy Cities, he should be
reinstated as Pasha of Egypt, and have an hereditary tenure of his
pashalic. On the 2nd of December he accepted the terms pro-
posed. The contest was at an end.
Looking at the execution of the treaty of the I5th of July, M.
Guizot frankly acknowledges the errors of the policy of the French
government. " We had attached to this question an exaggerated
importance ; we had regarded the interests of France in the Medi-
terranean as more associated than they really were with the fortunes
of Mehemet Ali." France had, he says, believed that Mehemet
Ali would have been able to resist all the efforts of the four powers
united, when it was finally shown that an English squadron would
be sufficient to subdue him. These errors, he continues, were
public, national, everywhere spread, and maintained in the Cham,
bers as well as in the country, in the opposition as well as in the
government. " The hour of disappointment was come, and it was the
cabinet over which M. Thiers presided which had to bear the bur
then." f Louis Philippe refused his assent to the warlike speech
which M. Thiers proposed for the opening of the Chambers. The
ministry resigned, and Soult and Guizot were their successors.
The belligerent spirit which had been called forth in France by
these differences between the English and French governments
were not likely to subside into cordial friendship under the influ-
ence of a pageant which recalled the glories and the humiliations
of the Empire. The population of Paris had the gratification of a
magnificent spectacle on the isth of December, when the remains
of Napoleon were interred in the church of the Invalides. The
procession has been described as wearing more of a triumphant
than a funeral air. Long cavalcades of troops were succeeded by
a few mourning coaches ; Grenadiers of the Old Guard and Mame-
* Hansard, vol. Ivi. col. 254. t " M^moires," tome v. p. 644.
270 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
lukes followed the splendid car on which was placed the body. Im-
perial eagles veiled with crape were carried by eighty-six non-com-
missioned officers. Even to the sword and the hat of the Emperor,
which were laid upon the coffin, the whole solemnity was calculated
to call up remembrances of the past which were not favourable to the