England and the Orléans Monarchy

by John Hall

The triumph of the constitutionalists and the termination of the civil war necessarily invested Isabella with an importance which she had not possessed, whilst the issue of the struggle was uncertain. Once the stability of her throne seemed assured, she appeared to Louis Philippe in the light of a most eligible daughter-in-law. In the month of November, 1839, Christina’s former minister, Count Toreno, was understood to be engaged in negotiating a marriage between a son of the King of the French and the young Queen of Spain. The scheme, reported the British chargé d’affaires, had numerous supporters. But the Queen Regent had informed him privately that “she was hostile to the match and had other views for her daughter.”[722] It is probable that Christina was perfectly sincere in thus declaring her intentions to Mr. Southern. Nor is there any reason to suppose that, after her abdication, her objections to the French marriage diminished. But, inasmuch as she was residing in Paris and hoped to obtain the assistance of Louis Philippe to her schemes for overturning Espartero, she was necessarily compelled to conceal her real sentiments. The re-establishment of French ascendancy at the Court of Madrid occupied a foremost place in the policy both of the King and of M. Guizot. So long, however, as Espartero and the Progressistas were in power there was little prospect that they would be enabled to bring their plans to a successful conclusion. Under the circumstances, therefore, they were disposed to regard with a friendly eye the proceedings of the military and Moderado malcontents in Paris. Bulwer strongly suspected that some kind of a compact existed, whereby Louis Philippe promised indirectly to assist the conspirators, and Christina, in return, undertook to employ her parental influence over Isabella in favour of her marriage with the Prince de Joinville or the Duc d’Aumale.[723]

The insurrection against Espartero broke out early in October, 1841. The standard of rebellion was raised by O’Donnell at Pampeluna and by the generals commanding the garrisons of Vittoria and Saragossa. But their plans, which had been so carefully matured in Paris, miscarried, and the loyal troops experienced little difficulty in dispersing their followers and in restoring tranquillity. Madrid, in the meanwhile, had been the scene of one of the most dramatic episodes in recent history. On the night of October 7, Generals Concha and Diego Leon, at the head of a band of military conspirators, penetrated into the palace with the object of carrying off the young Queen. But when they attempted to ascend the grand staircase they encountered a determined party of halberdiers. A furious struggle then ensued. The crash of musketry reverberated through the palace, and bullets struck the walls of the room in which the terrified Isabella had sought refuge with her attendants. But help was soon forthcoming. The resistance of the halberdiers had enabled the national militia, which was animated by strong Liberal and Progressista sentiments, to assemble. At the appearance of the citizen soldiers the conspirators either fled or laid down their arms. Some of their leaders escaped to France, but Leon was captured and, a few days later, paid the penalty of his treason, his youth, his good looks and his former distinguished services earning for him a sympathy which the circumstances of his case in no way justified.

“With respect to the share of the French government in organizing and promoting this enterprise,”wrote Lord Aberdeen, “I do not think it necessary to enter into an enquiry at present. We have received the most positive assurances that they have been entirely strangers to the undertaking. Whatever may be the value of these assurances, the attempt having happily failed, there appears to be no advantage in testifying suspicion and distrust.”[724] He, accordingly, directed Bulwer to do all in his power to persuade Olozaga, the Spanish minister, to adopt as moderate a tone as possible in his communications with M. Guizot. The Spanish government was naturally deeply incensed at the encouragement which the conspirators had received in Paris, and their representations on the subject included a demand for the expulsion of Christina from France. This was peremptorily refused and the relations of the two countries began to assume a very disquieting appearance. In Bulwer’s opinion, were Louis Philippe to receive any encouragement from Austria or Prussia, he might not improbably embark upon a war with Spain. “Should hostilities break out,” he warned Lord Aberdeen, “Barcelona would be the French objective, on account of the effect which its capture would have on those Courts which are fearful of the democratic opinions prevailing there.”[725]

Aberdeen’s instructions to Mr. Aston, the British minister at Madrid, were of the same nature as those transmitted to Bulwer in Paris. He was to warn the Spanish ministers of the folly of provoking a rupture with France. But, at the same time, he was to assure Espartero that “the policy of Great Britain would continue to be directed towards the maintenance of the real independence of Spain and to her protection from whatever quarter she might be threatened.”[726] Meanwhile, the British government would make every effort to induce the Northern Courts formally to acknowledge the sovereignty of Isabella.[727] Whether designedly or not, however, the endeavours of Lord Aberdeen in this direction were frustrated by France. Owing in a great measure to his good offices, the Spanish government withdrew its demand for Christina’s expulsion.[728] Louis Philippe, thereupon, directed M. de Salvandy, who some weeks earlier had been appointed ambassador at Madrid, to proceed to his post. But this measure, which seemed to foreshadow the establishment of more harmonious relations between the two countries, led to a most unfortunate complication. Salvandy, upon his arrival at Madrid, insisted upon being allowed to place his credentials in the hands of Isabella herself and absolutely declined to present them to Espartero, the Regent. Both sides invoked precedents in support of their attitude and pressed their arguments with the greatest warmth. Finally, Salvandy withdrew from Madrid taking with him all the members of his embassy, with the exception of his second secretary, the Duc de Glücksberg, a son of Louis XVIII.’s favourite minister, the Duc Décazes.

It is unnecessary to discuss the various questions of diplomatic etiquette raised in this controversy. Whilst, upon the whole, inclining to the French point of view, Lord Aberdeen was of opinion that the dispute could have been amicably adjusted without great difficulty. The attitude of Mr. Aston, he considered, had not been altogether satisfactory, and he was disposed to impute blame to him for not having discovered some basis for a compromise. Not content with censuring him, he allowed M. Guizot to be furnished with a copy of the letter in which his disapproval was expressed.[729] When Salvandy was appointed to the Court of Madrid Bulwer had described him as “a man of letters, but pompous and ridiculous in manner and unlikely to acquire an influence over the young Queen of Spain.”[730] But, if it was the secret desire of Louis Philippe to provoke a quarrel with Espartero, he was perhaps the most suitable person he could have selected for the purpose. The dispute involving, as it was supposed to have done, the monarchical principle had effectually dispelled all hope that the absolute Powers would agree to renew diplomatic relations with the Court of Madrid—a circumstance which Louis Philippe, in conversation with the British ambassador, affected “to deplore most deeply.”[731] So far as France was concerned, however, the Duc de Glücksberg was left at Madrid without official title, in order merely to carry on the ordinary business between the two countries.

But in all matters relating to Spanish affairs the question of Isabella’s marriage occupied the foremost place. Louis Philippe now protested that he had never for a moment entertained the idea of putting forward one of his sons as a candidate for her hand. But, after making this assertion, he invariably added that he should object to her marrying any prince who did not belong to either the Spanish or Neapolitan branch of the House of Bourbon.[732] Accordingly, in February, 1842, he sent M. Pageot, who had been for several years first secretary of the French embassy at Madrid, to London, for the purpose of obtaining the accession of the British government to the principle that the husband of the Queen of Spain must be a descendant of Philip V. After leaving London Pageot was to proceed to Vienna, where he was to hold the same language to Prince Metternich.

Neither in London nor at Vienna, however, was M. Pageot able to bring his mission to a successful conclusion. Lord Aberdeen declared emphatically that England could not recognize the right of France to dispose of the hand of Isabella. The British government looked upon the matter “as an exclusively Spanish affair, which ought to be regulated solely by considerations affecting the happiness of the Queen and the welfare of her people.” At these words M. Pageot, at once, interposed with the remark that he presumed that he was now at liberty to inform his government that England would not object to her marriage with a French prince. But Aberdeen, with equal promptitude, added an important amendment to his first statement. The marriage of the Queen of Spain with a son of Louis Philippe would, he asserted, upset the balance of power, and England would always oppose any combination calculated to produce political consequences of that nature.[733] Metternich was no less emphatic in protesting against the pretensions of the King of the French to dictate on such a subject to an independent State. Nor was he less decided in declaring that the general interests of Europe would be endangered by Isabella’s marriage with a son of Louis Philippe. In his opinion the whole Spanish question might be amicably settled by the betrothal of the Queen to a son of Don Carlos, without any sacrifice of their respective rights, as in the case of Ferdinand and Isabella in the fifteenth century. This was a view of the case, however, with which the British government was unable to concur. “Prince Metternich,” wrote Aberdeen,[734] “has been misled by a fancied historical analogy. The solution, he suggests, might have been productive of good whilst the civil war was in progress and whilst Don Carlos was in possession of the northern provinces. But, now that he and his adherents have been driven from Spain as fugitives, it would be regarded with the utmost repugnance by the majority of Spaniards. A marriage of the Queen with a son of Don Carlos, although it might reconcile the personal claims of each, would inevitably bring into fierce and hostile contact the passions and opinions of their adherents.”

Pageot’s mission, therefore, had done little to advance the question of Isabella’s marriage. Meanwhile, Count Toreno, Christina’s confidential adviser in Paris, had, on several occasions, sought out Lord Cowley, the British ambassador, for the express purpose of informing him that the Queen-Mother would prefer to see her daughter married to a Coburg rather than to a Bourbon prince.[735] At the same time Espartero was known to be engaged in attempting to negotiate her marriage with the third son of the King of Bavaria. Louis Philippe, for his part, was more than ever determined to restrict her choice of a husband to the Bourbon candidates, and, in Lord Cowley’s opinion, had serious thoughts “of supporting his pretensions by an armament.”[736] It was, however, by more indirect methods that he proposed to attain his ends. All through the spring and summer of 1842 the Spanish malcontents, both in Paris and upon the frontiers, displayed renewed activity. The Carlists and the Christinos, having concluded an alliance based upon the marriage of Isabella with a son of the Pretender, openly prepared for united action against their common enemy, the Regent Espartero.[737] This compact was, doubtless, the reason of the seeming approval, given by Louis Philippe, to Metternich’s utterly impracticable plan for settling the Spanish difficulty.[738] Neither the representations of the Spanish government nor a strong protest from Lord Aberdeen[739] had any effect in inducing the French authorities to place any check upon the proceedings of the conspirators.

In November, 1842, a formidable insurrection broke out at Barcelona. The rising assumed from the outset a republican character, and, in their first conflicts with the troops, the insurgents were uniformly successful. The arrival of reinforcements, however, soon altered the aspect of affairs and enabled General Van Halen to re-establish the authority of the Regent. Once more Louis Philippe and Christina were loudly accused of having promoted the outbreak. The Queen-Mother, reported Lord Cowley, undoubtedly supplied the revolutionists with money, and General Atthalin, a close personal friend of the King and an officer of his household, had been in secret communication with the organizers of the movement. “The Spanish government,” wrote Mr. Aston, “considers that the insurrection at Barcelona has been promoted by France with the twofold object of preventing the conclusion of a commercial treaty with Great Britain and of causing the downfall of the Regent.[740] The complaints, which the Spanish chargé d’affaires was instructed to make in Paris, bore especially upon the proceedings of M. Ferdinand de Lesseps,[741] the French consul at Barcelona, who was accused of having actively assisted the insurgents. M. Guizot, however, who, according to Lord Cowley, had taken no part in these intrigues, defended the conduct of Lesseps and directed the Duc de Glücksberg to obtain a retractation of the charges brought against him from the Cabinet of Madrid.[742] The situation thus assumed a very dangerous appearance, and Lord Aberdeen intervened once more in the interests of peace. Let the Spanish government, he urged, institute a calm and dispassionate inquiry into all the facts alleged against the French consul and let no reparation be demanded of the French government, unless there be evidence of his culpability sufficient to satisfy all impartial persons.[743] This advice was accepted, and, after a thorough examination of all the circumstances of the case, a disavowal of certain of the more serious charges was inserted in the Gazette at Madrid. Nevertheless, as Lord Aberdeen pointed out, “few people could read with impartial attention the various documents without coming to the conclusion that M. de Lesseps did very considerably exceed the limits of his consular duties,” and he, therefore, ventured to express the hope that the French government “would no longer retain him in the place where his undue activity had been displayed.[744]