The mode in this affair ought to have been, as soon as the Four Powers had agreed on a proposition, to communicate it officially to France, to join it. France had but two ways, either to join or to refuse its adhesion. If it had chosen the last, it would have been a free decision on her part, and a secession which had nothing offensive in the eyes of the nation.
But there is a material difference between leaving a company from motives of one's own, or being kicked out of it. I must beg you to speak seriously to Lord Melbourne, who is the head of your Government, on these important affairs; they may upset everything in Europe if the mistake is not corrected and moderated.
I shall write again to you next Friday from hence, and on Saturday, 1st August, we set off. Ever, my dearest Victoria, your devoted Uncle,
Leopold R.
Footnote 26: On the 15th of July a convention was signed in London by representatives of England, Russia, Austria, and Prussia, offering an ultimatum to the Viceroy of Egypt. The exclusion of France was hotly resented in Paris. Guizot, then Ambassador in London, had been kept in ignorance of the project, but the Foreign Secretary, Lord Palmerston, denied that there had been any discourtesy intended, or want of consideration shown.
Footnote 27: Louis Adolphe Thiers (1797-1877), who through the Press had contributed to the downfall of the Bourbons, had held various Cabinet offices under Louis Philippe, and, from March to October 1840, was for the second time Premier.
Viscount Melbourne to Queen Victoria.
PRINCE LOUIS NAPOLEON
7th August 1840. (10 p.m.)
Lord Melbourne presents his humble duty to your Majesty. The House of Lords lasted until eight, and Lord Melbourne might by an exertion have got to the Palace to dinner, but as he had the Speech, by no means an easy one, to prepare for the consideration of the Cabinet to-morrow, he thought it better to take this evening for that purpose, and he hopes therefore that your Majesty will excuse his not coming, which is to him a great sacrifice to have made.