The influence of the Revolution of July had, as has been mentioned, spread far and wide over Europe, but had made itself most prominently felt in Belgium, which had broken loose from its enforced connection with Holland, and in Poland, which rose in insurrection to free itself from the rule of Russia. With Poland England had little to do. In the existing state of circumstances, though the sympathy of all classes was strongly with the Poles, armed interference was not to be thought of, and it was impossible to prevent the total subjugation of that gallant nation, after a very brave but ineffectual attempt to withstand the might of Russia. The fall of Warsaw sealed its fate; it was incorporated, contrary to all the stipulations of the Treaty of Vienna, with the Russian empire.
Formation of Belgium.
But Belgium was nearer home. Its creation into a strong kingdom had been the pet scheme of English diplomatists; it was impossible to leave it to be overwhelmed by Holland, in conjunction with the Eastern powers, or to be absorbed by France. The difficult duty of the English minister was so to undo the work of his predecessors as if possible to prevent a war which would inevitably have arisen in either of the above cases, and so to preserve the independence of the Belgians that they might yet serve in some degree to fulfil the object of the negotiators of Vienna, as a check upon the power of France. To gain these ends he induced the five great powers to send representatives to a Congress in London. The first difficulty was to restrain the ambitious desires of France, where the propagandist and conquering spirit seemed for the moment to have been reawakened by the late revolution. The original plan of mediation was rejected by the King of the Netherlands, who, trusting to the assistance of Russia, invaded Belgium, and was only dislodged by the appearance of a French army. After a period of some anxiety, the firmness of Palmerston was successful in causing the withdrawal of the French troops, and the rejection of the crown by the King's son the Duc de Nemours. The immediate danger of war being thus averted, the London Conference drew up twenty-four articles (Nov 15, 1831), on which, though they were not thoroughly acceptable to either party, it was determined to insist. They specified the limits of the new kingdom more favourably for Holland than had been the case in the preceding and rejected scheme, and settled the division of the public debt. Upon the understanding that these arrangements were final, Prince Leopold, the husband of the late Princess Charlotte, accepted the throne, not however, as Palmerston was careful to explain, as the English candidate, but as a man generally acceptable to the powers. He shortly rendered his position more secure by marrying a daughter of the French King. But the difficulties did not end with his acceptance of the throne; the King of the Netherlands continued to refuse the proferred terms, till at length the two Western powers lost patience, and unable to procure the assistance of the other members of the Conference, took the matter into their own hands, laid an embargo on the Dutch ships, blockaded the mouth of the Scheldt, and laid siege to Antwerp with a French army. After a very gallant defence, Antwerp yielded, and though the final settlement between the countries was postponed till 1839, a provisional armistice was entered into which practically put an end to the difficulties.
Affairs of Portugal.
As important as Belgium were the affairs of Portugal and Spain. Don Miguel had pursued his career of cruelty and folly. Acts of unjustifiable violence committed on the subjects of France had compelled the French Government, in July 1831, to send a squadron to the Tagus to obtain satisfaction, a measure which threatened for an instant serious consequences, as the English Government still felt itself pledged to uphold Portugal, its old ally. Fortunately Miguel was too foolish to see his opportunity. Still worse behaviour towards some English subjects brought a British fleet to Portugal in the following spring also to demand satisfaction. It became certain that the two Western powers would act in union there as they had already done in Belgium. While continuing nominally a strict neutrality, all sorts of volunteer assistance was allowed to join Don Pedro, when in July 1832 he landed at Oporto, again to assert the claims of his young daughter. An Englishman commanded his fleet, a Frenchman his army, and his troops were largely composed of volunteers from both nations. On the other hand, the French Legitimists, with Marshal Bourmont at their head, crowded to assist Don Miguel. For a while Don Pedro's expedition met with poor success; he could barely make good his position in Oporto, but in the middle of the next year, Admiral Sartorius having given place to Napier, the tide of victory changed, Miguel's fleet was destroyed off St. Vincent, and before the end of June Lisbon was in the hands of the Queen's adherents. For some while longer the strife was continued; but the Whigs could boast that the question was practically settled, and constitutional government established, although the assertion they made that they had held a strict neutrality, and without helping either side had allowed them to fight the matter out, was scarcely consistent with truth.
The success of constitutional principles in Portugal was speedily followed by events which produced the same results in Spain. The law of succession in that country had been again and again changed; the liberal constitution of 1812 had excluded females; Ferdinand in 1830 had again admitted them to the succession, but, frightened by a dangerous illness, and under pressure from the priests, he subsequently withdrew this decree, thus leaving his brother Don Carlos, an extreme absolutist, heir to the throne. The return of health brought him under other influences. He had married a young Neapolitan Princess, Christina, by whom he had two daughters, and through her influence he was induced, in 1832, to re-establish the old law, settling the crown on his daughter Isabella. In September 1832 he died, and when Isabella was proclaimed Queen and Christina Regent, Carlos met with considerable sympathy, especially among the clergy, the peasantry and the old nobility, as they considered him tricked out of his inheritance by Christina's influence. But Christina had sense enough to throw herself heartily upon the side of the Liberal government, and rallied round her all the friends of constitutionalism in Spain and elsewhere. Thus there were in each of the neighbouring countries of the Peninsula a young Queen representing constitutional principles, opposed to an uncle with absolutist views claiming the throne. The Queen was successful in Spain; the Cortes was summoned under a Liberal minister, and Don Carlos was driven from the country. The similarity of their positions made the cause of the two Princes one, and Carlos betook himself to Don Miguel, who was still after his expulsion from Lisbon lying at Santarem. Lord Palmerston saw in this position of affairs an opportunity for carrying out his great object, of supporting constitutionalism and aiming a blow against the absolute powers of the East. He arranged, early in the year 1834, a Quadruple Alliance, primarily between Spain and Portugal, for the purpose of expelling the claimants to both countries from the Peninsula, a movement which was to be supported in case of necessity by a French army and an English fleet.
Thus, as in the affairs of Belgium, France and England had been successful in thwarting the Eastern powers and establishing a constitutional power, so now again they had induced Spain and Portugal to add their weight to the constitutional cause. "I reckon this to be a great stroke," said Palmerston; "in the first place it will settle Portugal, and go some way to settle Spain also, but what is of more permanent and essential importance, it establishes a quadruple alliance between the States of the West, which will serve as a powerful counterpoise to the Holy Alliance of the East." The treaty did in fact at once put an end to the opposition of Don Miguel. A Spanish army marched to attack him on the rear, and he surrendered, and promised to leave the Peninsula. In the affairs of Spain the treaty was not so effectual. Don Carlos escaped in an English ship, to return subsequently and carry on a civil war, which lasted till 1840. During that period the English, though still preserving external neutrality, allowed an English legion, under the command of Sir De Lacy Evans, to go to the assistance of the Queen, whose final triumph he materially assisted in gaining. The whole fruit of the Whig foreign policy, and of the friendship with France, which the similarity of feeling in the two countries had engendered, was to consolidate for the time the West of Europe upon constitutional principles, in well-defined opposition to the East. But this had not been done without the exertion of an amount of influence, and an indirect employment of physical force, which could scarcely be honestly veiled under the name of neutrality; nor had the joint influence of the two countries been sufficient to check the Unavailing against Russian advance. growth of Russia in the East. Mahomet Ali, the Pasha of Egypt, had formed the idea of creating an Arabian monarchy from portions of the Turkish Empire. His adopted son and heir, Ibrahim Pasha, overran the whole of Syria, and, in 1832, seemed on the highroad to Constantinople. In its extremity the Porte applied to Russia for assistance, and although the French Ambassador contrived a temporary arrangement with the Pasha which postponed for a time the interference of the Russians, the further advance of Ibrahim compelled a renewed demand for help, and finally, on July 8, 1833, most of the demands of Mahomet Treaty of Unkiar Skelesi. Ali were granted, and the Treaty of Unkiar Skelesi was signed with Russia, which opened the Bosphorus to the Russians, and closed the Dardanelles to the ships of war of other nations; the protests of England and France remained entirely unheeded.