1. That Lord Palmerston referred Mr. Bulwer to the last instructions which he had received from Lord Aberdeen, in which, in terms the most explicit and the most positive, he asserts the incontrovertible right of the Queen of Spain to marry what prince she pleases, even although he should not be a descendant of Philip V., adding, at the same time, what I give in his own words: "That we ventured, although without any English candidate or English preference, 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."

2. That Lord Palmerston mentions Leopold among the candidates merely as a fact publicly known to all Europe.

6 3. That Lord Palmerston concluded his note with an expression on the part of the English Government of the earnest hope, that the choice of Queen Isabella may fall upon whatever prince will be most likely to ensure the domestic happiness of the Queen, and the prosperity of the Spanish nation.

Now, my dear Louise, to turn these simple facts into proofs that Lord Palmerston had departed from the understanding established between the French Government and Lord Aberdeen, it is necessary to do violence to the facts themselves in a way which my sense of justice will never

countenance.

"I have, then, thoroughly considered the whole matter by myself, and looking at it with no eyes but my own, and I cannot possibly admit that the King is released from his pledge.

'Nothing more painful could possibly have befallen me than this unhappy difference, both because it has a character so personal, and because it imposes upon me the duty of opposing the marriage of a prince, for whom, as well as for all his family, I entertain so warm a friendship.

1846

THE SPANISH MARRIAGES.

373

My only consolation is, that as what is proposed cannot be carried out without producing grave complications, and without even exposing to many dangers a family whom I hold in high regard, they may even yet retrace their steps, before it is too late.

'Ever

"Your most devoted

'Windsor Castle, September 27th, 1846.'

'V. R.'

374

CHAPTER XVIII.

Ir was at first thought that, when the King of the French became aware of the effect produced in England by the announcement of the approaching marriage of his son with the Infanta, he might even yet agree to its postponement. To this conclusion Her Majesty points at the close of the letter just quoted; and the considerations which might fairly be presumed to weigh with the King were so obvious and cogent, that it was natural the hope should be entertained. But it was soon dispelled. The King looked upon the marriage as adding a special jewel to his crown; and the Minister, on whom he had come implicitly to rely, was in no mood to forego what he had vaunted as a great diplomatic triumph, to which he could point in proof of the emancipation of his Government from subserviency to British counsels, with which it had long been persistently taunted by the Opposition. As a matter of precaution, an official protest against the marriage was made by the English Government; but this, as might have been expected, was disregarded, and on the 10th October the simultaneous marriages of Queen Isabella and of the Infanta were solemnised at Madrid.

Louis Philippe was under the delusion that the English

The affair of the Spanish marriages is the first grand thing that we have effected completely single-handed in Europe since 1830.'-Speech of M. Guizot in the Chambers, 5th February, 1847.-Ann. Reg. 1847, p. 296.

1846

EFFECT OF SPANISH MARRIAGES.

375

were wholly indifferent upon the subject; and everywhere said, it was a private affair between Lord Palmerston and himself, and as such would entail no political consequences. He was soon undeceived. The affair had a moral as well as

a political aspect. The English public might give themselves little concern about the one, but they could all appreciate and were little likely to be indifferent to the other. A transaction in which the feelings, affections, and happiness of two young Princesses had notoriously been treated with contempt, was an outrage to the public feeling of Europe, which was sure to be denounced in every home, unless indeed,' as Sir Robert Peel said, in writing (17th September) to the Prince, Queens and Princesses are disentitled to the sympathy and consideration which the meanest of their subjects have the right to claim.'

Nor were the probably fatal consequences of Louis Philippe's share in the transaction slow to be foreshadowed in the commentaries of the leading politicians of Europe. Lord Aberdeen, though he thought the marriage of the Infanta of very little importance to England and likely to prove in the end injurious to French interests in Spain, considered the way in which it was effected to have been unjustifiable. I lament,' he says, in writing (9th October) to the Prince, the coolness and estrangement which the circumstances attending it cannot but produce in our relations with France. I care very little for the marriage, but I feel deeply the breach of the engagement; and I am still unwilling to believe that Guizot, whether right or wrong, should not stand acquitted, at least to his own conscience, in the course which he has pursued.' Lord Lansdowne, writing to Lord Palmerston, expressed himself more strongly. 'Everybody,' he says, 'must now see the necessity of turning over a new leaf with Louis Philippe, whose conduct will not increase his real power, which after all must be chiefly made

up of opinion, though it may impede the relations hitherto subsisting between States.'

Prince Metternich, to whom the whole details of the transaction were well known, at once came to the same conclusion, and made no secret that he had done so. '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 very verge of a war, and his is not a dynasty that can stand a war.'2. Baron Stockmar, writing to the Queen (15th September, 1846), said, with prophetic truth, that the transaction would appear in the eyes of Europe a piece of selfish and wicked policy, from the scandal of which the King's fame will never recover. Nor will this be the only disastrous effect of his conduct, but your Majesty will see that, from the day of the marriage with the Infanta, the minds of all the leading Governments in Europe will again be filled with apprehensions, distrust, and jealousy against France, and that a new era will commence in their general policy with regard to that country.'

6

The English journals gave loud expression to the indignation which was felt throughout the country so soon as the facts became known. Their invectives were eagerly turned against Louis Philippe's Government by the Liberal party in France. The foreign Power, they urged, on whose friendship he had hitherto mainly rested, openly charged him with duplicity and breach of faith. This charge, too, had been incurred, not to strengthen France by alliance with a great

2 This message is reported in a despatch from Lord Normanby to Lord Palmerston, 5th October, 1846, which also gives M. Guizot's reply to the bearer of it: But he don't mean to interfere at once, does he?'