The Letters of Queen Victoria Volume Ii Part 88

[Pageheading: THE QUEEN ON FOREIGN POLICY]

_Queen Victoria to Lord John Russell._

WINDSOR CASTLE, _28th December 1851._

The Queen thinks the moment of the change in the person of Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to afford a fit opportunity to have the principles upon which our Foreign Affairs have been conducted since the beginning of 1848 reconsidered by Lord John Russell and his Cabinet.

The Queen was fully aware that the storm raging at the time on the Continent rendered it impossible for any statesman to foresee with clearness and precision what development and direction its elements would take, and she consequently quite agreed that the line of policy to be followed, as the most conducive to the interests of England, could then only be generally conceived and vaguely expressed.

But although the Queen is still convinced that the general principles laid down by Lord John at that time for the conduct of our Foreign Policy were in themselves right, she has in the progress of the last three years become painfully convinced that the manner in which they have been _practically applied_ has worked out very different results from those which the correctness of the principles themselves had led her to expect. For when the revolutionary movements on the Continent had laid prostrate almost all its Governments, and England alone displayed that order, vigour, and prosperity which it owes to a stable, free, and good Government, the Queen, instead of earning the natural good results of such a glorious position, viz. consideration, goodwill, confidence, and influence abroad, obtained the very reverse, and had the grief to see her Government and herself treated on many occasions with neglect, aversion, distrust, and even contumely.

Frequently, when our Foreign Policy was called in question, it has been said by Lord John and his colleagues that the principles on which it was conducted were the right ones, and having been approved of by them, received their support, and that it was only the _personal manner_ of Lord Palmerston in conducting the affairs which could be blamed in tracing the causes which led to the disastrous results the Queen complains of.

The Queen is certainly not disposed to defend the personal manner in which Lord Palmerston has conducted Foreign Affairs, but she cannot admit that the errors he committed were merely _faults in form and method_, that they were no more than acts of "inconsideration, indiscretion, or bad taste." The Queen considers that she has also to complain of what appeared to her deviations from the principles laid down by the Cabinet for his conduct, nay, she sees distinctly in their practical application a _personal and arbitrary perversion_ of the very nature and essence of those principles. She has only to refer here to Italy, Spain, Greece, Holstein, France, etc., etc., which afford ample ill.u.s.trations of this charge.

It was one thing for Lord Palmerston to have attempted such substantial deviations; it will be another for the Cabinet to consider whether they had not the power to check him in these attempts.

The Queen, however, considering times to have now changed, thinks that there is no reason why we should any longer confine ourselves to the mere a.s.sertion of abstract principles, such as "non-intervention in the internal affairs of other countries," "moral support to liberal inst.i.tutions," "protection to British subjects," etc., etc. The moving powers which were put in operation by the French Revolution of 1848, and the events consequent on it, are no longer so obscure; they have a.s.sumed distinct and tangible forms in almost all the countries affected by them (in France, in Italy, Germany, etc.), and upon the state of things now existing, and the experience gained, the Queen would hope that our Foreign Policy may be _more specifically defined_, and that it may be considered how the general principles are to be practically adapted to our peculiar relations with each Continental State.

The Queen wishes therefore that a regular programme embracing these different relations should be submitted to her, and would suggest whether it would not be the best mode if Lord John were to ask Lord Granville to prepare such a paper and to lay it before her after having revised it.

This would then serve as a safe guide for Lord Granville, and enable the Queen as well as the Cabinet to see that the Policy, as in future to be conducted, will be in conformity with the principles laid down and approved.

_Lord John Russell to Queen Victoria._

PEMBROKE LODGE, _29th December 1851._

Lord John Russell presents his humble duty to your Majesty; he has received your Majesty's communication of yesterday, and will transmit it to Lord Granville.

It is to be observed, however, that the traditionary policy of this country is not to bind the Crown and country by engagements, unless upon special cause shown, arising out of the circ.u.mstances of the day.

For instance, the Treaty of Quadruple Alliance between England, France, Spain, and Portugal was contrary to the general principle of non-intervention; so was the interference in Portugal in 1847, but were both justified by circ.u.mstances.

Thus it is very difficult to lay down any principles from which deviations may not frequently be made.

The grand rule of doing to others as we wish that they should do unto us is more applicable than any system of political science. The honour of England does not consist in defending every English officer or English subject, right or wrong, but in taking care that she does not infringe the rules of justice, and that they are not infringed against her.[42]

[Footnote 42: A summary of Lord Granville's Memorandum in reply (which was couched in very general terms) will be found in Lord Fitzmaurice's _Life of Earl Granville_, vol. ii. p.

49.]

[Pageheading: AFFAIRS IN FRANCE]

_Queen Victoria to the King of the Belgians._

WINDSOR CASTLE, _30th December 1851._

MY DEAREST UNCLE,--Most warmly do I thank you for your kind and affectionate and interesting letter of the 26th, which I received on Sunday. All that you say about Lord Palmerston is but too true.... He _brouilled_ us and the country with every one; and his very first act precipitated the unfortunate Spanish marriages which was _le commencement de la fin_. It is too grievous to think how much misery and mischief might have been avoided. However, now he has done with the Foreign Office for ever, and "the veteran statesman," as the newspapers, to our great amus.e.m.e.nt and I am sure to _his_ infinite annoyance, call him, must rest upon his laurels.... I fear much lest they should be imprudent at Claremont; the poor Queen hinted to Mamma that she hoped you would not become a friend to the President; no doubt you can have no sympathies for him, but _just because_ you are related to the poor Orleanses, you feel that you must be doubly cautious to do nothing which could provoke the enmity of Louis Napoleon. I fear that poor Joinville _had_ some _mad_ idea of going to France, which, fortunately, his illness prevented. It would have been the height of folly. Their only safe policy is to remain entirely pa.s.sive _et de se faire oublier_, which was Nemours' expression to me two years ago; nothing could be wiser or more prudent than he was then--but I don't think they were wise since. _La Candidature_ of Joinville was in every way unwise, and led Louis Napoleon to take so desperate a course. Nemours told me also _last_ year that they were not at all against a _fusion_, but that they could not _disposer de la France_, unless called upon to do so by the nation. I wish you would caution them to be very circ.u.mspect and silent--for all the mistakes made by others is in _their_ favour; in fact, no good for them could come till Paris is old enough to be his own master--unless indeed they all returned under Henri V., but a Regency for Paris would be an impossibility....

We spent a very happy Christmas, and now wish you a very happy New Year--for many succeeding years. Also to the children, who I hope were pleased with the prints, etc.

We have got young Prince Nicholas of Na.s.sau here, a pretty, clever boy of nineteen, with a good deal of knowledge, and a great wish to learn and hear, which is a rare thing for the young Princes, of our day in particular. I must stop now, as I fear I have already let my pen run on for too long, and must beg to be excused for this voluminous letter.

With Albert's love ever your devoted Niece,

VICTORIA R.

[Pageheading: THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE]

_Queen Victoria to Lord John Russell._

WINDSOR CASTLE, _30th December 1851._

The Queen has received Lord John Russell's letters of yesterday. She quite agrees with him and his colleagues in thinking it of importance to strengthen the Government, and she is pleased with his proposal to communicate with the Duke of Newcastle as to what a.s.sistance he and his friends can give to the Government.

The Queen expects better results from such a negotiation, with an ostensible head of a Party, than from attempts to detach single individuals from it, which from a sense of honour they always felt scruples in agreeing to.

[Pageheading: THE _TE DEUM_ IN PARIS]

_Queen Victoria to Lord John Russell._

WINDSOR CASTLE, _31st December 1851._

The Queen sees in the papers that there is to be a _Te Deum_ at Paris on the 2nd for the success of the _coup d'etat_, and that the Corps Diplomatique is to be present. She hopes that Lord Normanby will be told not to attend. Besides the impropriety of his taking part in such a ceremony, his doing so would entirely destroy the position of Lord John Russell opposite Lord Palmerston, who might with justice say that he merely expressed his personal approval of the _coup d'etat_ before, but since, the Queen's Amba.s.sador had been ordered publicly to thank G.o.d for its success.

INTRODUCTORY NOTE