[112] [There was a correspondence between them with Peel's consent. Vide Memoir, p. 227.]
[113] [It is very remarkable that in the course of this narrative, derived from the most authentic sources, Lord Stanley's name is never mentioned; yet it is now well known that Lord Stanley was the most energetic opponent of the measures contemplated by Sir R. Peel on the Corn Question, whatever they might be. It is stated in the Edinburgh Review (vol. clviii. p. 556), on the authority of the Aberdeen Correspondence, that Sir Robert Peel did not propose to his Cabinet the repeal or abandonment of the Corn Laws, but the suspension of them in consequence of the Irish famine. The real question was whether the suspension should be temporary or otherwise. Sir James Graham says in a letter in that Correspondence, that 'after Lord John's failure to form a Government when they returned to office, Stanley would have consented to a suspension of the Corn Laws if Peel would have pledged himself to reimpose them when the suspension ceased. The question was not brought to an issue till then, and Stanley seceded, not because Peel proposed repeal, but because Stanley insisted on a pledge to reimpose them after a fixed period, in circumstances which could not be foreseen.']
[114] [Charles, second Earl Grey, the head of the Government of 1830, died on July 17th, 1845, and was succeeded by Henry George Grey, his son, the third Earl. This statesman, therefore, was about to take his seat in the House of Lords for the first time as Earl Grey. But he was so much better known by his former courtesy title of Lord Howick, and the title to which he had just succeeded was still so unfamiliar, that throughout the narrative of these transactions he is styled Lord Howick by Mr. Greville, though Earl Grey is meant.]
[115] [These details will be found in the first part of these Journals, vol. ii. pp. 211-220.]
[116] [On the death of Lord Wharncliffe the Duke of Buccleuch took the office of Lord President of the Council. Lord Stanley resigned office, and Mr. Gladstone became Colonial Secretary.]
[117] [I was myself in Paris during this crisis in the British Government, and I received from Mr. Greville day by day the narrative of the singular vicissitudes occurring in London, related by him in almost the same words in which he recorded them in his journal. This information was of great value at the time, because the future relations of France and England were supposed to be affected (and were in fact affected) by the possible transfer of the Foreign Office from the hands of Lord Aberdeen to those of Lord Palmerston. This event, therefore, excited the liveliest interest in Paris, and was even of a nature to shake the stability of M. Guizot's administration and to encourage the opposition, of M. Thiers. I therefore communicated the information I received to M. Guizot and Lord Cowley (the first Lord Cowley, who was afterwards succeeded in the Embassy by his son). Some of the letters were also shown to the King, who was pleased to say that they were 'du Saint-Simon tout pur.' To complete the picture of the effect produced abroad by the anticipated return of Lord Palmerston to the Foreign Office, I shall here venture to insert a few extracts from the letters addressed by me to Mr. Greville in answer to his communications.
24 Rue de la Paix, Paris: December 20th, 1845.
I think the apprehension with which the possibility of Lord Palmerston's return to office was at first viewed here is somewhat allayed among the leading politicians, but it prevails in its fullest extent at the Bourse and in the country. Rothschild says: 'Lord Palmerston est un ami de la maison. Il dîne chez nous à Francfort. Mais il a l'inconvénient de faire baisser les fonds de toute l'Europe sans nous en avertir.'
The King's repugnance to Lord Palmerston is however insurmountable. He has spoken of him within the last few days as 'l'ennemi de ma maison,' upon which I took the liberty of replying to the person who told it me, that such a speech indicated a gross forgetfulness of the services rendered by Lord Palmerston in the time of Lord Grey to his house. But the Spanish affair still rankles, and for this reason Lord Clarendon would perhaps be less fit for this Embassy than Lord Beauvale or one or two other persons. Lord Clarendon, on the contrary, would be the best possible ambassador if Thiers returned to office. That event, however, is by no means probable. The Opposition is powerless and divided; the Conservative body rather alarmed, and therefore compact. The Ministers are in good spirits.
When Lord Palmerston meant to come here, he employed the Cowleys through Madame de Lieven to enquire of the King how he would be received at the Tuileries. The King coldly replied that he would give him a dinner.