Lord Palmerston

by Anthony Trollope

The question has often been mooted whether he was or was not an orator. Before that question be answered, the man who asks it must decide what it is to be an orator. An orator such as Bright and Gladstone, or even as were Disraeli and Lord Derby, as were in former days Mr. Fox, Mr. Burke, or Mr. Pitt, he certainly was not. He would not, like some of these men, have arranged his words with studious care, and have committed the chosen gems of them to his memory; nor, as others have done, could he have burst out under the inspiration of genius into a sudden flow of words to which no study and no memory could have lent anything. To him it seems that oratory was an evil only to be encountered for the sake of certain purposes which could not be otherwise attained. How shall men know a fact unless they be told? Or how shall a man tell a fact so as to induce belief unless he be instructed in the way of doing so? Such was Lord Palmerston’s oratory. In the longest, and most telling speeches which he made, he seems never to have thought of the reflex effect upon himself. In his great effort on the Don Pacifico impeachment, or in his reply to Mr. Disraeli in the attack made on Lord Russell in regard to Denmark, his object was to leave such an impression on men’s minds that they should ultimately be brought to show their agreement with his side of the question by the votes which they were to give. It was for this reason that he did his best, and not that he might achieve for himself any palm of oratory. Gladstone bursts into speech that the brightness and splendour and marvel of the moment may be his own. Bright is enabled by his intellect and study, and industry, to carry his admiring hearers along with him. In both cases there seems to be left on the hearer’s mind a feeling that the orator has without doubt established his right to the name. In the latter there is the sense, perhaps, of too great an expenditure of oil in avoiding a superfluous word. With the other, words run riot with such glorious fecundity as to leave an impression that some oil might have been expended in pruning their abundance. In Palmerston there was neither the one nor the other; but in producing the effect which he generally did achieve, there was always an idea present to the hearer, first, that he did not know exactly the words which would best suit his purpose, and then a feeling that he had fallen into their use by some celestial and godlike aid. It was not Palmerston who had made the speech, but some goddess Fortune who had put the words on to his lips.

By Lord Palmerston his capacity for speaking was only a means used for an end. The same may be said of all orators. To persuade others is the art to be achieved. But this is done in most cases by teaching an audience, or teaching the country to believe that the speaker should be credited with the power he seeks to gain because he is great as an orator. It was not simply because Fox was wise that men ranged themselves on his side; but because from his tongue words flowed sweeter than honey. But with Palmerston there was no thought of words flowing sweet. He had come to a special crisis of some difficulty, and men had to be made to vote as he wished them. When that was done, the speech and all belonging to it was, for his purposes, a thing of the past. He thought not at all that men should be rapt in wonder at his words. But the thing that he was doing, the attempt that he was making, the lesson that he was teaching,—the lesson, for instance, that Palmerston was in truth the man in Europe who best understood how Europe might be governed,—that was his object in view, with as little of speech as might be possible, but still with a sufficiency, as such is the mode of governing in England.

But other means were wanting before any credence could be given to the immense claim he made on the confidence of those of his own country and of others. He had to show that he had learned the lesson he attempted to teach, and could do this only by daily industry and indomitable perseverance. And it must be understood that the industry and the perseverance had come before his ambition had formed itself in reference to the management of Europe. We must go back to his early days, when, after spending two years at the Admiralty, he had been, still a lad, transferred to the War Office, to perceive how resolutely he had begun the work of his life. England was at war, and he determined at once to learn all the ways and all the needs of a warfaring nation. But our wars brought us among foreign people;—to Spain, to Portugal, to France, and to the Low Countries. And in this way Palmerston achieved his knowledge of what they wanted and of what we wanted. He had begun to see the claims of other diplomats, and to contest them before he had won his place at our own Foreign Office. He had been a young man of fashion; but that had been added on, out of the superabundance of his nature. Hard work was to him the first necessity of his existence. He loved to be brilliant at Almack’s, but he did not care to carry his brilliance into the House of Commons. It followed him there in his latter years; but that too came from the superabundance of his nature. Some one has said that Palmerston, when at his greatest, was powerful and imperious only with a pen in his hand. We feel that this was so. But it is thus that the official work of a man in office should be done. And as he wrote the scathing letters to his own ambassadors which were intended to be read for the keeping in order of Foreign Ministers, we feel that he was very great. In the course of time they became too bitter. The arbiter of the politics of Europe became like other arbiters, its bully. They who shall hereafter be desirous of saying severe words against him, must if they desire their words to be effectual, confine themselves to this charge. Against his honesty, his industry and his courage we feel that no true word can be said.

INDEX.

[A], [B], [C], [D], [E], [F], [G], [H], [I], [J], [L], [M], [N], [O], [P], [Q], [R], [S], [T], [U], [V], [W].

Aberdeen, Lord, succeeds Palmerston as Foreign Secretary, [81];
Palmerston refers to him as an example of antiquated imbecility, [109];
his attempt to avenge the insult, [113];
becomes Prime Minister on Lord Derby’s resignation, [147];
his timid policy on the eve of the Crimean war, [147], [153];
is defeated on Mr. Roebuck’s motion for inquiry, and resigns, [162];
helps Palmerston in Court difficulties, [165].
Alma, the battle of, false expectations as to the effects of, [161].
Althorp’s, Lord, elevation to the peerage, some political consequences of, [61].
Ashburton’s, Lord, unsatisfactory treaty with America on the right of search for slavers, [85].
Austria, abdication of the Emperor of, [105];
war of Italian Independence, [97], [105-107], [188], [190];
Hungarian struggle for independence, [109];
abandons Lombardy, [99], [108];
Palmerston’s hatred of its political system, [107], [110], [189];
Palmerston’s advice to, [105].
Balance of power in Europe, the, [47], [69].
Bedchamber, Ladies of the, Government complications through, [74].
Belgium and Holland, [47];
our treaty obligations to, [104].
Bentinck, Lord George, as leader of the House of Commons, [145].
Bright, Mr., preaches peace at the Reform Club, and finds fault with Lord Palmerston, [160];
as an orator, [210].
British Legion in Spain, the, [63].
Brocket Hall, [12], [75].
Brougham, Lord, Lamartine’s refusal to naturalize, [104].
Bulwer, Mr., ambassador at Paris, [76].
Cabinet, the English, its exceptional nature, [28].
Canning, Mr., [11], [12], [16];
his eloquence, [25];
Prime Minister on Lord Liverpool’s death, [31];
his influence on Palmerston’s character, [41], [55];
his death, [36].
Canning, Sir Stratford, “friend of the Porte,” [110].
Canning’s, Visct, severe speech in the Lords re Don Pacifico, [121];
his heroism as Viceroy during the Indian Mutiny, [179].
Catholic Emancipation, [36], [43];
circumstances leading to, [38].
Cavour’s surrender of Savoy and Nice, [188].
Chartist riots, [104].
Clarence, the Duke of, Whig sympathies of, [40].
Clarendon, Lord, [8];
Foreign Secretary, [155];
declares that we drifted into the Crimean war, [170].
Cobden, Mr., attacks Lord Palmerston on his China policy, [176];
and loses his seat at the ensuing election, [177].
Cockburn’s, Mr., effective speech on Mr. Roebuck’s motion, [124].
Colonels, the French, [184].
Court interference in foreign politics, Palmerston’s jealousy of, [4], [106].
Crimean War, cause of, [151];
“red tape,” [161], [165];
cost of, [169];
right and wrong of, [170].
Cumberland, the Duke of, a violent Tory, [41];
contingent heir to the throne, [74].
Dalling’s, Lord, fragmentary Memoirs of Palmerston, [34], [45].
Danish Expedition, the, the occasion of Palmerston’s maiden speech, [15].
Danubian Principalities, Russian occupation of, [151].
Davis, Lieut., shoots at Palmerston, [22].
Derby, Lord, [6];
weakness of his Ministry, [145];
resigns on Disraeli’s budget being thrown out, [147];
succeeds Lord Palmerston in office, [184];
goes out on the question of Reform, [185].
Disraeli, Mr., motion “On the State of the Nation,” [107];
member of Lord Derby’s Ministry, [145];
his budget is thrown out, [147];
strong attack on Russell’s Denmark policy, [197].
Don Pacifico’s claims for compensation, debate on, [7], [14], [83], [122];
absurdity of, [114].
Doubleday’s, Mr., Newcastle speech on Palmerston, [72].
Eldon, Lord, exclusion from Wellington’s Cabinet, [37];
one of the last of the “Protestants,” [38].
Fitzgerald, Mr. Vesey, County Clare refuses to re-elect, [39].
Free-Trade, the only political question in 1852, [145];
Lord Derby’s Government accepts resolution in favour of, [147].
French, the, national love of aggrandisement a misfortune to Europe, [78];
schemes for increase of territory, [188], [196].
George III., [18];
and the American taxation scheme, [32].
George IV., Prince Regent, [18];
personally hates Palmerston, [32];
intrigues about Crown lands, [35].
Gladstone, Mr., quits Palmerston’s Cabinet on the Maynooth Grant, [86];
on the Tory benches, [123];
speaks on the Don Pacifico claims, [123];
effect of his Neapolitan letters, [132];
retires from Lord Palmerston’s Cabinet at the time of the Crimean war, [166];
his versatility, [204];
eloquence, [210].
Goderich’s, Lord, brief administration on Canning’s death, [35].
Goulburn, Mr., Chancellor of the Exchequer, [37].
Graham, Sir James, speaks on the Don Pacifico claims, [122];
prepares resolution in favour of Free-Trade, [145].
Grant, Charles, [38], [41].
Granville, Lord, as Foreign Secretary and Ambassador at Paris, [33], [48];
his difficulties in attempting to form a Government, [186].
Grey, Lord, Prime Minister, [44];
resigns, [60].
Guizot, M., in London, [68];
disagrees with Palmerston, [76], [77], [81], [84];
his share in effecting the Spanish marriages, [93];
his fall, [98].
Haynau’s, General, visit to England, [130].
Herries, Mr., [32];
Palmerston’s charges against, [35].
Holland, Lord, offends Palmerston, [77].
Hungary: see Austria.
Huskisson, Mr., [37], [41];
member of Wellington’s Cabinet, [38].
India, abolition of the East India Company and formation of Indian Civil Service, [181].
Italy, Unification of, [188], [190].
Jamaica Constitution the question of the, [74].
Lamartine, Provisional President of French Republic, [102];
receives deputations of Irish agitators, [103].
Lamb, William, [41], [80];
is created Lord Melbourne, [60].
Lansdowne, Lord, persuades Palmerston to accept Lord Aberdeen’s offer of the Home Office, [147].
Leopold, King of the Belgians, [51].
Liverpool, Lord, as Prime Minister, [19];
Palmerston’s relations with, [21], [24], [30];
his death, [25], [31].
Lombardy: see Austria.
Lorcha Arrow, the, [175].
Lords, the House of, meddles with taxation, [191].
Louis Philippe’s designs in Egypt, [67], [78];
Palmerston’s opinion of, [67], [68], [98];
refuses the popular demand for reforms in Paris, [100];
takes refuge in England, [101];
his death, [129].
Lyndhurst, Lord, [20];
as Lord Chancellor, [37].
Malmesbury, Lord, Lord Palmerston’s guardian, [11].
Maynooth Grant, the, [86].
Mehemet Ali’s Eastern schemes, [66];
submits to European pressure, [78].
Melbourne, Lord, succeeds Lord Grey as Premier, [60];
his close connection with Palmerston, [12], [80];
death, [80].
Mentschikoff crosses the Pruth, [151].
Metternich, Palmerston’s dislike of, [99], [110], [117].
Minto’s, Lord, services at Rome, [95];
during Sicilian Revolution, [99].
Montpensier, Duke de, marries the sister of the Queen of Spain, [92].
Mutiny, the Indian, [177-179].
Napier, Sir Charles, “Don Carlos de Ponza,” [66];
at Sidon and Acre, [73];
Palmerston’s premature praise of, [160].
Napoleon’s, Louis, Coup d’Etat, [132];
English opinion on, [133];
allied with England in the Crimea, [152], [160];
his conduct in the matter of Savoy and Nice, [188];
the Danish war, [196].
Newcastle, the Duke of, at the War Office during the Crimean war, [162].
Nicholas, the Czar, claims the protectorate of the Greek Church in Turkey, [151];
his mistaken idea of England, [155], [156];
dispatches his fleet from Sevastopol, [157];
his death, [166].
Nimmo, the Irish engineer, [24], [42].
Normanby, Lord, [94];
our Ambassador at Paris, [100], [101];
differs from Palmerston on the Greek Compensation question, [116];
and as to the Coup d’Etat, [134].
O’Connell, Mr., is elected for Clare, [39];
on Irish coercion, [60];
is convicted for conspiracy, but released by the Lords, [85].
Orsini, [182].
Osborne, Bernal, [123].
Palmerston, Lord, materials for life of, [1];
his tendency to lessen the power of the Crown, [3], [107];
two charges against, [4];
his success as a Foreign Minister, [8], [27], [46];
fifty years in office, [8];
his character, [9], [16], [17];
constitution, [10];
“Cupid,” [10], [20], [25];
early life and education, [10], [11];
stands unsuccessfully for the University of Cambridge, [11];
unseated for Horsham, [11];
member for Newtown, [11];
Junior Lord, [11];
member for Tiverton, [12], [62], [77];
his means, [12];
as an Irish landlord, [12], [23], [42];
his advantages of person, [12];
his mode of life, [12], [26];
advocates a military college, [15];
as an orator, [15], [24], [211];
his first speech in Parliament, [16];
Secretary at War, [17], [33];
magnifies the office, [20];
political apprenticeship, [17];
theory of official life, [17], [18], [20], [26], [42], [53];
Tory traditions and Liberal leanings, [10], [18], [30];
member for Cambridge, 1812-25, [19];
enters Lord Liverpool’s Cabinet, [3], [19], [27];
impression made on contemporaries by, [16], [25], [26];
his parliamentary reticence, [19], [24], [62], [63];
sides with the Whigs on the Catholic claims, [21], [24], [38];
at Paris—reference to Napoleon’s pictures, [21];
shot at by Lieut. Davis, [22];
visits the scene of Waterloo—low opinion of the Belgians, [22];
his estimate of Hume, [23];
his style of letter-writing, [23], [64];
his pluck and good-humour, [15], [26], [148];
business capacities and energy, [25], [212];
his political self-reliance, [29],
self-diffidence, [30],
and stubbornness, [31];
Palmerston and Herries, [35];
refuses the Gov.-Generalship of India, [32];
favours the Catholics, [38];
quits the Duke of Wellington’s Cabinet, [38];
anxious for Greek independence, [39];
out of office, [40];
fallen among the Whigs, [41], [58];
his exertions for Catholic Emancipation, [43];
“hammering away” at the Slave Trade, [43], [56], [58], [81], [84];
Palmerston and Parliamentary Reform, [44], [53], [150];
becomes Whig Foreign Secretary under Lord Grey, [44], [47], [48];
his autobiography, [33], [47];
takes up the Belgian question, [48];
opposes the policy of Louis Philippe, [53], [68];
member for S. Hants, [54], [62];
the Quadruple Alliance, [55], [59];
a disciple of Canning, [55], [59];
incessant work, [58], [103];
out of office, [60];
his cordiality with William IV., [61];
back at the Foreign Office under Lord Melbourne, [62];
speaks on the British Legion in Spain, [64];
policy on the Eastern question—inaugurates the English protectorate of the Sultan, [71];
Mr. Urquhart’s charges—“Russian Gold,” [72];
on British interests, [73], [85];
takes part in the discussion of the Bedchamber question, [74];
marries Lord Melbourne’s sister, [75];
success of his Eastern policy, [78];
resigns with the Melbourne Government, [81];
in opposition,—attacks Lord Stanley, [82];
his doings on the Turf, [74], [84];
on the right of search for slaves, [85];
returns to the Foreign Office under Lord Russell, [88];
his attitude towards the Spanish marriages, [90];
as a politician compared with Guizot, [95], [201];
on the partition of Poland, [94], [104];
his advances to Rome in view of Irish disaffection, [97];
his attitude towards the French Revolution, [100], [101];
protests against Lamartine’s speeches on Irish disorder, [103];
advice to Austria on Northern Italy, [105];
on the French occupation of Rome, [108];
befriends the Hungarian refugees, [110];
his political arrogance, [96], [112], [118], [130], [139];
causes ill-feeling among European diplomats, [115], [117], [203];
presses Don Pacifico’s claims, [120], [129];
his great speech on Mr. Roebuck’s motion, [124];
at the culminating point of his career, [127];
his interest in the Volunteer movement and Fortification schemes, and in the Great Exhibition, [131];
believes in Louis Napoleon, [134];
his indiscreet utterances on the Coup d’Etat bring about his dismissal, [135];
Palmerston “is smashed,” [141];
turns out Lord Russell on the Militia Bill, [143];
refuses to serve under Lord Derby, [145];
proposes a resolution on Free-Trade, [146];
at the Home Office under Lord Aberdeen, [148];
deputations, [149];
presses for more active measures against Russia in the East, [150], [153], [155], [159];
Palmerston’s luck, [151];
controversy with Mr. Bright, [160];
an anomalous Home Secretary, [161];
resigns with the Aberdeen Ministry on the eve of the Crimean war, [162];
refuses to serve under Lord Derby, and is called upon to form a Ministry himself, [163];
circumstances of his advent to power, and his qualifications to meet them, [166];
as a politician compared with Lord Russell, [167];
his instructions for the Crimean army, [168];
must be held mainly responsible for the war, [173], [178];
created K.G., [174];
is defeated on the China question, and appeals successfully to the country, [176];
his popularity, [177], [178];
his splendid success in dealing with the Indian Mutiny, [178];
speech at the Mansion House on the Indian Mutiny, [180];
abolishes the East India Company, [182];
brings in the Conspiracy Bill, [182];
is defeated on the Tory amendment and resigns, [184];
becomes a second time Prime Minister, [187];
promotes the unification of Italy, [188];
distrusts Napoleon, [189], [196];
organizing the Volunteers, [190];
Warden of the Cinque Ports, [191];
abolishes the paper duties, [191];
maintains England’s neutrality during the American war of Secession, [193];
sends the Guards to Canada, [195];
his European policy during the Danish war, [197];
his last speech in the House of Commons, [198];
is buried in Westminster Abbey, [199];
“Civis Romanus,” [201];
general view of his career as Minister, [200];
compared as a statesman with Gladstone and Canning, [204];
his manliness, [209].
Panmure, Lord, Minister of War, [167].
Peel, Sir Robert, Palmerston’s opinion of, [24];
Home Secretary, [37];
vainly attempts to form a Government, [74];
repeals the Corn Laws, [87];
resigns, [88];
last speech in the House, [123].
Percival, Mr., Prime Minister, [16], [18];
assassinated, [19].
Petty, Lord Henry, defeats Palmerston at Cambridge, [11].
Pitt, the death of, [11], [14].
Ponsonby, Lord, our Ambassador at Vienna, [102];
opposes Palmerston’s Eastern policy, [111].
Portland, the Duke of, [12].
Pope Pio Nono, Palmerston’s great expectations for Italy from his supposed liberalism, [96];
his letter to McHale on Irish grievances, [97];
escapes from Rome, [108].
Prince Consort, misjudges Palmerston, [2], [4], [6];
opinions on the Crimean war, [156];
his death, [192].
Quadruple Alliance, the, [54].
Queen’s, The, displeasure with Palmerston, [4], [141];
coronation, [65];
refuses Peel’s demand for the dismissal of her Ladies of the Bedchamber, [74];
at the Great Exhibition, [131];
her favour shown to Palmerston, [7], [165].
Raglan, Lord, in command at the Crimea, [161], [167].
Redcliffe, Sir Stratford de, encourages the Porte in resisting Russian demands, [152].
Reform Bill, Lord Grey’s, [31].
Rémusat discloses the French policy in Egypt, [78].
Roebuck, Mr., chosen to raise the question of Pacifico’s claims in the House of Commons, [122];
moves inquiry into the state of the army, [162], [165].
Rome, French occupation of, [108].
Russell, Lord John, as a leader of the House of Commons, [81];
succeeds Sir R. Peel as Prime Minister, [88];
his powerful speech on Palmerston’s dismissal, [141];
is turned out by Palmerston on the Militia Bill, [143];
Foreign Secretary under Lord Aberdeen, [147];
deserts the Government, [162];
loses caste thereby, [164];
joins Palmerston’s Government, [163];
diplomatic failure at the Vienna Conference, [166];
moves amendment to the Tory Reform Bill, [185];
created a peer, [193].
Search for slavers, the right of, [85].
Sebastiani, Count, [49].
Secession, the American war of, causes of, [192];
tension of international feeling during, [194].
Sick Man, chattels of the, [152], [171].
Sinope, sea-fight at, [158].
Slavery, the Abolition of, [55].
Smith O’Brien heads the Irish deputation to Paris, [103].
Spanish marriages, the, [90];
their disastrous consequences, [93], [94].
Spencer, Lord, [61].
Stockmar’s, Baron, influence with the Prince Consort, [3];
his opinion of Palmerston, [10].
Stanley, Lord, attacked by Palmerston, [83];
opposes Repeal of the Corn Laws, [88];
his speech against Palmerston’s position towards the Don Pacifico claims, [83], [112], [113].
Talleyrand in London, [49];
hates Palmerston, [202].
Temple, Sir Wm., Palmerston’s brother, our Ambassador at Naples, [175].
Thiers, M., as French Minister, [68], [76];
break-up of his policy, [78].
Tory Government, the last rally, [32].
Trent, the British steamer, Captain Wilkes boards, [195].
Turk, the doom of the, [172].
Urquhart, Mr., attacks Palmerston in his pamphlets, [72].
Vienna, the Treaty of, [47], [94];
question of remodelling, [196].
Vienna, abortive Conference at, [152];
second Conference at, [166], [167].
Walewski and the Coup d’Etat, [135].
Wellington, the Duke of, [21];
resigns Command-in-Chief, [33];
a soldier-statesman, [36];
succeeds Lord Goderich as Prime Minister, [37];
weakness of his Government, [43];
Prime Minister again, [60].
William IV., a true Liberal, [61].

FOOTNOTES:

[A] When quotations from letters or speeches are made in the following pages they are taken from his work, unless it is otherwise stated.

[B] “Life of the Prince Consort,” vol. ii. p. 419.

[C] “Life of the Prince Consort,” vol. iii. p. 206.