(From a Photograph by H. N. King.)
but this, unfortunately, is impossible while nations are so apt to set up a false standard of honour in the place of justice.
One of the pacific successes of the Peel Administration was the conclusion of the Ashburton Treaty with the Government of the United States. A good deal of mutual irritation had existed for several years, owing to the absence of a distinct and undisputed boundary between Canada and the State of Maine. The matter had at one time been referred to the arbitration of the King of the Netherlands; but neither party would accept his award. Sir Robert Peel, therefore, sent out a special negotiator in the person of Lord Ashburton, a member of the great commercial family of the Barings. The American representative was the Secretary of State, Mr. Webster—a man of the highest ability, both as an orator and a statesman; and, after much discussion, a treaty was signed at Washington on the 9th of August, 1842. The boundary thus established was said to give England a better military frontier than she had
THE QUEEN AND THE REAPERS AT BLAIR CASTLE. ([See p. 171.])
possessed before, and it certainly included some heights commanding the St. Lawrence which had not been assigned to us by the King of the Netherlands. The conclusion of this treaty was announced to Parliament at the opening of the session of 1843, and Sir Robert Peel claimed credit for having brought about so favourable an adjustment. This, however, was not the view entertained by the Opposition; and Lord Palmerston, in calling the attention of the House of Commons to the treaty, on the 21st of March, 1843, described it as “the Ashburton capitulation.” Undoubtedly, the larger part of the disputed territory was handed over to the United States, and it has since been generally considered by Englishmen that Mr. Webster demanded and obtained more than his country was entitled to. Some other clauses of the treaty were excellent. Provision was made for the better suppression of the slave traffic, and it was agreed that each country should render up to the other certain classes of criminals against whom a sufficient case should be established by due legal process. Lord Palmerston could never tolerate the Ashburton Treaty so far as the territorial rearrangement was concerned. He thought it would be productive of many evil consequences; but it was high time that a vexatious question, creating a certain amount of ill-will, should be brought to a final settlement. The Ashburton Treaty was perhaps the best that could be effected, and Englishmen have long ceased to consider its details.
CHAPTER X.
DAYS OF PEACEFUL DEVELOPMENT AND PROGRESS.
Visit of the Prince of Prussia to England—Christening of Prince Alfred at Windsor Castle—Second Visit to the Highlands in the Autumn of 1844—Louis Philippe in England—His Reception at Windsor—Interchange of Courtesies between English and French Officers—Opening of the New Royal Exchange by the Queen—Letters of her Majesty and Prince Albert on the Occasion—Scientific Progress: the Electric Telegraph, Photography, Lord Rosse’s Telescope, the Thames Tunnel, and Arctic Exploration—Tractarian Difficulties in the Church—Purchase of Osborne by the Queen—Visits of her Majesty and the Prince to Stowe and Strathfieldsaye—Opening of Parliament by the Queen (Feb. 4th, 1845)—Financial Statement of Sir Robert Peel—Reduction and Abolition of Duties—Acrimonious Debates on the Proposed Queen’s Colleges in Ireland, and the Increase of the Maynooth Grant—Retirement of Mr. Gladstone from the Ministry—Admission of Jews to Municipal Offices—Results of Sir Robert Peel’s Financial Policy—Economy in the Royal Household—Project for making Prince Albert King Consort—The Chief Command of the Army.
While the Queen and Prince Albert were contemplating, in the late summer of 1844, a second tour in Scotland, they received a visit at Windsor from one who afterwards became illustrious on the stage of European history, as the German Emperor. The Prince of Prussia, brother of the reigning King, arrived at the Castle on the 31st of August, and was described by the Queen as amiable, sensible, amusing, and frank. Her Majesty thought he would make a steadier and safer King than his brother, and it cannot be doubted but that his reign was actually more successful and more distinguished. The Prince was at that time forty-seven years of age. As a youth, he had taken part in the campaigns against France in 1813, 1814, and 1815, and was then holding the post of Governor of Pomerania. He was therefore, even in 1844, a man of some experience in affairs, and he showed no little penetration in discriminating between the adaptability of the British Constitution to the needs of the British people as those needs were then, and its fitness for Continental nations, where the surroundings are wholly different. His visit to England was short, but, before he left, he attended, in the Private Chapel at Windsor Castle, on the 6th of September, the christening of the infant Prince, to whom were given the names of Alfred Ernest Albert. The sponsors on this occasion were Prince George of Cambridge, represented by his father, the Duke of Cambridge; the Prince of Leiningen, represented by the Duke of Wellington; and H.R.H. the Duchess of Saxe Coburg and Gotha, represented by H.R.H. the Duchess of Kent. The scene in the chapel was very solemn, and the Queen records its effect on her in a few heartfelt words preserved in her Journal.