登陆注册
15452500000061

第61章 II(4)

Palmerston received the attack with complete nonchalance, and then, at the last possible moment, he struck. In a speech of over four hours, in which exposition, invective, argument, declamation, plain talk and resounding eloquence were mingled together with consummate art and extraordinary felicity, he annihilated his enemies. The hostile motion was defeated, and Palmerston was once more the hero of the hour. Simultaneously, Atropos herself conspired to favour him. Sir Robert Peel was thrown from his horse and killed.

By this tragic chance, Palmerston saw the one rival great enough to cope with him removed from his path. He judged--and judged rightly--that he was the most popular man in England; and when Lord John revived the project of his exchanging the Foreign Office for some other position in the Cabinet, he absolutely refused to stir.

Great was the disappointment of Albert; great was the indignation of Victoria.

"The House of Commons," she wrote, "is becoming very unmanageable and troublesome." The Prince, perceiving that Palmerston was more firmly fixed in the saddle than ever, decided that something drastic must be done. Five months before, the prescient Baron had drawn up, in case of emergency, a memorandum, which had been carefully docketed, and placed in a pigeon-hole ready to hand.

The emergency had now arisen, and the memorandum must be used. The Queen copied out the words of Stockmar, and sent them to the Prime Minister, requesting him to show her letter to Palmerston. "She thinks it right," she wrote, "in order TO PREVENT ANY MISTAKE for the FUTURE, shortly to explain WHAT IT IS SHE EXPECTS FROM HER FOREIGN SECRETARY. She requires: (1) That he will distinctly state what he proposes in a given case, in order that the Queen may know as distinctly to WHAT she has given her Royal sanction; (2)

Having ONCE GIVEN her sanction to a measure, that it be not arbitrarily altered or modified by the Minister; such an act she must consider as failing in sincerity towards the Crown, and justly to be visited by the exercise of her Constitutional right of dismissing that Minister." Lord John Russell did as he was bid, and forwarded the Queen's letter to Lord Palmerston. This transaction, which was of grave constitutional significance, was entirely unknown to the outside world.

If Palmerston had been a sensitive man, he would probably have resigned on the receipt of the Queen's missive. But he was far from sensitive; he loved power, and his power was greater than ever; an unerring instinct told him that this was not the time to go. Nevertheless, he was seriously perturbed. He understood at last that he was struggling with a formidable adversary, whose skill and strength, unless they were mollified, might do irreparable injury to his career. He therefore wrote to Lord John, briefly acquiescing in the Queen's requirements--"I have taken a copy of this memorandum of the Queen and will not fail to attend to the directions which it contains"--and at the same time, he asked for an interview with the Prince. Albert at once summoned him to the Palace, and was astonished to observe, as he noted in a memorandum, that when Palmerston entered the room "he was very much agitated, shook, and had tears in his eyes, so as quite to move me, who never under any circumstances had known him otherwise than with a bland smile on his face."

The old statesman was profuse in protestations and excuses; the young one was coldly polite. At last, after a long and inconclusive conversation, the Prince, drawing himself up, said that, in order to give Lord Palmerston "an example of what the Queen wanted," he would "ask him a question point-blank."

Lord Palmerston waited in respectful silence, while the Prince proceeded as follows: "You are aware that the Queen has objected to the Protocol about Schleswig, and of the grounds on which she has done so. Her opinion has been overruled, the Protocol stating the desire of the Great Powers to see the integrity of the Danish monarchy preserved has been signed, and upon this the King of Denmark has invaded Schleswig, where the war is raging. If Holstein is attacked also, which is likely, the Germans will not be restrained from flying to her assistance; Russia has menaced to interfere with arms, if the Schleswigers are successful. What will you do, if this emergency arises (provoking most likely an European war), and which will arise very probably when we shall be at Balmoral and Lord John in another part of Scotland? The Queen expects from your foresight that you have contemplated this possibility, and requires a categorical answer as to what you would do in the event supposed." Strangely enough, to this pointblank question, the Foreign Secretary appeared to be unable to reply. The whole matter, he said, was extremely complicated, and the contingencies mentioned by His Royal Highness were very unlikely to arise. The Prince persisted; but it was useless; for a full hour he struggled to extract a categorical answer, until at length Palmerston bowed himself out of the room. Albert threw up his hands in shocked amazement: what could one do with such a man?

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 汽车检测技术

    汽车检测技术

    随着我国汽车保有量的不断上升,以及现代技术在汽车上的应用,社会对汽车检测及维修人员的需求不断增加。根据教育部有关文件精神,江苏科技出版社召开有关会议,讨论教材的编写工作,《汽车检测技术》是在汽车不解体的情况下,阐述如何运用各种检测设备检测汽车技术状况的一门专业课程。
  • 莫再轮回

    莫再轮回

    借君烦恼丝三千,助己脱俗心一颗,欲除因果业障屏,成就宇宙第一人。凡夫俗子都跳不出业障因果缠绕,普通人根本离不开阴阳五行的主导的规则。只有强者才可以不受法则影响,能够左右亿万人的生死。出生于一个普通农民家庭杨阳,自小受父母影响,心性善良,性格坚毅。克死父母之后,杨阳没多久也走上了轮回路。与之别人的无奈,杨阳的轮回路无疑是惊世骇俗了很多。漆黑玉石藏乾坤,无奈轮回爆惊艳,不屈信念显奇迹,九重天上任我行!
  • 两情若是腹黑时

    两情若是腹黑时

    蒋小猫又被男人甩了!不但惨遭劈腿,还被渣男友一把推给了满肚肥油的地中海老男人!艹!是不是长得漂亮的女人都应该活该“被三陪”?她才不会那么简单就认命!可惜她的奋力抗争,虽然逃过了被地中海老男人糟蹋的命运,却没有保住清白。更重要的是,现如今一贫如洗的她,竟然还欠下了十万块的嫖债!完了完了,看眼前男人咬定牙关不松口的模样,蒋小猫脑子里只剩下一个字,那就是逃!
  • 九龙仙说0

    九龙仙说0

    龙生九子的传说,龙子宪章的推理判案,悬而未决的身世之谜,龙子嘲风的王霸之业。。。
  • 圣尊

    圣尊

    情场的失意,使他放弃了学业,在地下拳坛寻求解脱!一次决斗,却意外的得到了天外来物——一顶破毡帽。仙凤冠的遗失,引起了四界惊动,纷纷寻找争夺。一个平凡的少年却踏入了修行者之列,凭借独一无二的修炼之法和自己的意志最终走向了修炼的巅峰!
  • 挚爱玺

    挚爱玺

    在这个世界上,明星是不可与普通人亲密,可如果两人都是明星呢?他们会擦出爱的火花吗?又是谁提出在一起的呢?在这,有人为了自己闺蜜而放弃了喜欢的人;有人为了爱不择手段;有人安安稳稳当上了王家媳妇。这一个个就像梦一样,在柒雪的心里留下了美好的回忆。【绝无抄袭】
  • 爱的秘密之钻石人生

    爱的秘密之钻石人生

    14个人,阴差阳错,他们该何去何从。安羽惜:“段明晨,你果然不记得我了,你知道我这几年是怎么……”他们之间的爱到底是否是个秘密,一次次的出乎意料,谁能想到一个和自己长得一样的女孩,夺走了她全部的幸福,谁又能想到,一个和自己相爱了十年的人,竟然是骗局;路云:“你,你怎么可能会,你,我不相信,你会这样,我,对你……”更想不到的是,为何有人痴爱这他们,一次一次的秘密,一次又一次的揭晓他们的人生就像钻石一样,神秘;14个人,他们的人生该怎样谱写,那漫天繁星的百合花园,会有怎样的故事呢?
  • 暖暖邂逅

    暖暖邂逅

    最近在玩奇迹暖暖,玩疯了,灵感来了,就写了这篇文~
  • 养尸为祸

    养尸为祸

    刚出生就被丢弃在‘尸城’之称的乱坟岗,也许是我命不该绝,恰恰一位归来的老人路经此地,就把我捡了回去。离开村子的我,因为一个梦境和牵挂,再次返回,噩运开始降临,因果开始循环,本该非命的我,却被西域神婆在体内下了蛇蛊……神秘的乱坟岗、齐云山下消失的庙宇、厉鬼孤魂的哭嚎、千百年不朽的死尸,以及置我于死地身怀异术的神秘高人……一场死亡便是一个新的开端,歃血的征途,停不下的脚步;且看,巫族传人和西域神婆为我开辟的另类人生!
  • 浮生常寒

    浮生常寒

    “何忘言?不像女孩子的名字。”那个在我二十岁的时候突然闯入的男人——常寒,毁了我的爱情,我的声誉,把我的生活搅得鸡犬不宁,天翻地覆,却偏偏还要我喜欢他。我咬牙切齿地骂,“常寒,我恨你!”常寒不怒反笑,“那你来恨我好了。”可爱恨交织纠结的最后,我凄然发现,我忘了说出口的话是,“常寒,我爱你。”