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"SPrfiWrtfttViV 3LiIFrmHlv»
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"Sprfiwrtfttviv 3liifrmhlv»
Xmtam .
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FOREIGN POLICY . 7 % rty Years of Foreign Policy : a History of the Secretaryships of the Earl of Aberdeen < and Viscount Palmerston . By the Author of " The Right Hon . B . Disraeli , M . P . ; a Literary and Political Biography . " Longman and Co . This is an interesting and , in some respects , a powerful book . By reason of the anonymous author ' s single known * ' antecedent' *—his " Biography , * ' or father abuse , of Mr . Disraeli , which excited so much , . attention some time ago , the book has been expected with some degree of curiosity . It is different from what * ., we had been led to anticipate from the advertisements . It is not an attack upon anybod y or any system ; on the contrary , it is an elaborate justification of the policy of both our celebrated Foreign Secretaries . Yes of both—for it is the author ' s paradox that the popular notion is wholly wrong which regards Lord Aberdeen and Lord Palinerston as
incarnations of opposite systems , and is consequently always putting the man against the other man for the championship of England . The main doctrine of his book is that since the Treaty of Vienna in 1815 , or at all events since the death of CastLereagb , one spirit in the main has directed the Foreign Policy of Great Britain—that spirit being in the main a good one , and consistin g in a sincere desire to promote tlie cause of constitutional liberty abroad , and consequently in a sincere desire to remedy the grievous faults committed by Great Britain in the Vienna settlement . C * ? 1511 ?? Wellington , Aberdeen , and Palmerston , have all been true to this spirit according to their different characters and their different opportunities ; and , in particular , Lord Aberdeen and Lord Palmerston have on most
occasions acted each precisely as the other would have done , had he been , in office . ^ This ; paradox— which we must say tbe author by no means succeeds in carrying completely home to our convictions-i-pervades the "book- The volume , however , has many merits independent of the worth d £ this daring attempt to set the public right respecting the mutual relations of thetwo great ministers . It is an able volume in a department in which it is a novelty to have a volume at all . It is written evidently out of full knowledge , the author appearing perfectly at home in the history of our Foreign Office and of European diplomacy for the last forty years ; and the styl e is emphatic , earnest , and characterised by a sort of stern glow and warmth . The first p art . of the work seems to us the best ; but the interest never flags , and that is much to say for a work of this nature .
The work is nota History of the Foreign Policy of the last thirty yearsthere are few or no quotations of documents or detailed references ; it is an essay on , or a summary sketch of , that history . The author ' purpose would be better known if his name ancT circumstances were known ; we rnight then judge better , than we can from internal evidence how far he is an independent man uttering his free sentiments , or how far an interested pleader serving others with ulterior motives . We do not mean , to insinuate . the second , for the author ' s manner of thought is firm and hearty ; but we , do recognise a twang of officialism in | the book—as if the author had personal prospects before him which aided his views of things . Indeed , he professes . that-he looks at matters not from the popular , but from the PoTrning-street , point of view . " Events as they arise , " he says , " are considered as they . would appear to the English Secretary of State in Downing-street , and not as tnev might appear to a member of the Opposition , or to any extreme thinker . ] ' Having thus indicated the character of the book , ye shaLl best give an idea of its contents by making a series of extracts of its best bits , giving to each a title in our own words : —
COUNT PXCQUEI . MONT AND HIS DIATIUBES XGAIN 8 T KNGLA . NP . The Crystal Palace occupies no inconsiderable portion of Count Ficquelmont ' a first volume . A careful reader must see that the fairy structure was the cause of much of Chi 9 author's indignant eloquence . He did us the honour of visiting England a , t that exciting season . His august form mingled with tho crowds of sight-seers , who sated their delighted eyes with the wonders of industry and art . As he mused , on the objects lefore him , two dark spectres crossed bis patlv and disturbed his pleasant dreams . These -were Mazzini and Ledru Rollin , walking arm in arm . about the galleries as comfortably as though there were no monarchical scaffolds in the world .
Was it in human nature that thia should be endured ? Count Ficqjuelmont'a heart almost burst with indignation ; his fingers itched to inflict summary chastisement on the two revolutionists and rebels . But he was- obliged to restrain his emotions ; and from that moment lost all pleasure in visiting tlie Crystal Palace which Lord Palmoreton had just christened the Temple of Peace . Count Ficq \ ielmont never set has foot 3 a it again . •? A nice Temple of Peace , indeed , " lie said , sardonically , " in which such . men are the worshippers ! " He resolved to make a literary crusade against England 5 ¦ and it must be acknowledged tlmt he has faithfully kept his vow . He has powerfully -contributed to produce that violent antipathy to everything English , and that absolute idolatry of everything Russian , -which is so prevalent among tlie Austrian aristocracy .
TUB lAB-TITION OF POLAND THE SOURCE Off ENM . E 88 MIBOHIKF . _ "When George the Third came to the throne ho resolved to bo peaceful and conciliating . The old system of foreign policy was abandoned , and the consequences » oon began to develop themselves . The greatest crime in modern history was perpetrated , and from the effect of that crime wo and all Europe are still suffering . It would not he difficult to show that most of tiie wretchedness and tuTbulcnco of thia generation , tho Formidable aggrandisement of Russia , and all the evils wo are now ^ called upon to resist , sprang from tho first partition of Poland In 1772 . Our ministers ought never to bo forgiven for their culpable blindness and apathy while that iniquity -was in progress . Tho sins of the fathers have , indeed , been visited upon the children . "We should not now with Franco ho at war in defence of Turkey , had wo wisely intervened with France in defence of Poland seventy-eight years ago .
CA 8 TI . ERISAOH AX TUB OO > HGIUI 6 fl OJ ? TIENNA . ' The individual who conducted our negotiations at Vienna is now no more 5 tlio ( great warrior to whom the triumph of tho European despots -was principally owing has also departed } the arrangement contemplated by the Congress hua been almost in « very respect unsettled : it can now aorvo no purpose either of ministers or of lenders of opposition to conceal tho truth . It is then tho painful but imperative dvty of the historian « nd the philosopher to deolaro lovdly that tho treaties to which tho broad MOl of England was affixed at tho Congress of Vienna yrero most dLsUonourablo to tho
nation , and to the statesman who represented the English Government . These treaties are , indeed , indefensible : the object which they professed to accomplish was not attained ; Europe was not tranquUlised ; the progress of revolution was not checked ; it was even provoked and encouraged by such wicked compacts . How , indeed could it he otherwise ? This agreement was in the strictest sense revolutionary ; established rights were even more unscrupulously violated than by the Jacobins of 1793 ; every sentiment of patriotism and nationality was outraged ; nothing but the selfish interests of three great monarchies was respected . Even the healing influence of Time , that sooner or later alleviates the injustice inflicted by man , has not rendered the stipulations of the peace less revolting . Turn where we may , the wounds then given are still green ; prescription has not sanctified those incongruous unions ; the progress of forty years has not made them venerable . The treaties made " In the name of the most holy and undivided Trinity" at Vienna , remain accursed both , by God and man . England has won great battles , founded mighty empires , established a constitutional government such as has never yet been equalled , produced the greatest of dramatists and the greatest political philosophers ; but she has never been able to
negotiate successfully a great , advantageous , and glorious peace . Again and again have the acquisitions of her arms been , sacrificed through the incompetence of her diplomatists . At the peace of Utrecht , the triumphs of Marlborough were rendered fruitless through tie dishonesty of Bolingbroke . At the peace of Paris , the trophies of Chatham were surrendered by the Earl of Bute . And now , at the congress of Vienna , tie political and commercial advantages of England , dearly purchased as they had been by six hundred millions of debt , were abandoned through the weakness and ignorance of Castlereagh . He doubtless meant -well ; he did not act vfrong through any sinister motives ; but he was , from the beginning to the end of those important conferences , overreached by the European sovereigns , and their able but unscrupulous ministers . He believed that they were sincere in their professions . He supposed that they would fulfil the promises they had made to their subjects . His vanity was flattered by thus meeting on equal terms the great potentates of the -world . Their insidious compliments almost turned his head ; and during his residence at Vienna , he evidently forgot that he was the minister of a constitutional monarchy . CANNING ' S I-OBEIGJT POLICY .
Mr . Canning s return to the Foreign-office ushered in a new state of things . It was the commencement of the political era which extends to tae present day . The diplomatists of the Holy Alliance soon had reason to recognise the new spirit which ruled over the foreign policy . The minister could neither be duped nor despised . The necessities of the time were urgent ; on the day when he accepted the seals the proceedings of the Alliance demanded his undivided attention . . . . . He died prematurely , and had a mighty nation for his mourners . But he had accomplished that which he had been sent to do . He had bequeathed his example to his followers , and even to his enemies . The race of political vampires , who fatten on corruption , and exult over the graves of brave nations , had shrunk away at the approach of his meridian glory . The iniquities of the Congress of Vienna began to be confessed . As the eyes of the people opened , they asked themselves ¦ what they had really gained by their glorious victories , and what sort of men were those , -who in their name professed to make and unmake kingdoms , to barter away the rights of millions , and to subsidise the armies of sovereigns , who mystically proclaimed a crusade against those eternal principles which had made England great and Englishmen free . .
ixmD Aberdeen ' s foreign policy . It was not until Lord Aberdeen assisted Sir Robert Peel in repealing the corn-laws , and lost the support of the Protectionists , that they ever raised their voices against his manner of conducting the business of the Foreign-office . It was not until they quarrelled with him on a domestic question that they ever blamed him for his foreign policy , and began to admire that of Lord Palmerston . During the administration of the Duke of Wellington , froni 1828 to the November of 1830 , and during the administration of Sir Robert Peel , from 1841 to 1846—that is , during all tke time when Lord Aberdeen -was Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs—the vehement partisans on the benches of the Opposition were the most determined supporters and the moat enthusiastic admirers of the very minister whom they now reprobate . The extreme Liberals , -who always thought Lord Aberdeen too indulgent towards the despotic sovereigns of the Continent , may , consistently , still continue to oppose him ; but it is not for those who supported Sir Robert Peel and the Duke of "Wellington now to
turn round and denounce Lord Aberdeen for betraying the freedom of nations . Some of these reproaches are aa ignorant and as unscrupulous as they are unjust . It can easily be proved that Lord Aberdeen never had that violent attachment to Russia which has been attributed to him , and that his leaning object while Foreign Minister was to encourage Austria in maintaining her independence of her northern neighbour . Events , indeed , have been more powerful than the efforts of the English statesman ; but it is duo to him to own that while Austria maintained a free course of action , the ambitious schemes of Russia were in some measure frustrated , and the Turkish empire preserved from direct attack . He has , indeed , ever been friendly to an Austrian alliance . It was in Austria that he won a great diplomatic victory , when he induced that country to join the confederacy against Napoleon . All who could judge of the difficulties ho overcame at that time , have borno testimony to the able manner in which , he conducted that important negotiation . This is not the place to dwell on hia career as a diplomatist , or it might easily bo shown what good service he did to Austria ,
and how natural it was that he should have friendly sympathies with tho ablest statesman of that empire . It might even bo shown that some of the arbitrary proceedings of the Court of Vienna , which wore at once so impolitic and unjust , and winch have produced so much misery to Austria and the world , were deeply regretted by Lorcl Aberdeen , and that J » e did all ho could to prevent them from being adopted . Ho never was a Tory of tho school of Sidmouth and Perceval . A nobleman of a highly cultivated intellect , distinguished in Jus yonth by a love of literature , his mind enlarged by foreign travel , it is not going too far to flay that ho heartily despised the cant and bigotry so prevalent in tho first quarter of this century , and that there wore some very respectable politicians who considered him rather a dangerous Liberal . Ho never approved of the Holy Alliance . In his place in Parliament he declared , while Lord Castloreagh was still Foreign Minister , that such confederacies of monarchs wore to bo watched with tho greater jealousy , because the flystom was liable to so much abuse tlmt it could not bo too strongly condemned .
SWMrATIIY WITH TIJKKETf A KECBNT GROWTH . Tho first act of Lord Aberdeen as Foroign Secretary wo » to aid the Porto , and ho was aa much Attacked by tho Opposition of tliat day for naying that it was our duty to support the independence of Turkey , as he has lately been accused of being ready to consent to the partition of tl » e Sultan'a dominions . It Is forgotten that this violent sympathy for tho Turkish cause Is of a very recent date . Among Liberal politicians especially , it is only within the lost few yenra that the existence of Turkey haa ever been admitted to bo a political necessity . Tho statesmen of tho last generation , with perhaps tho exception of WillUm Pitt , utterly detested tho Turkish Government . Even Burke , with all hia eloquent wittdom , hi » sagacious jealousy of Russia , and hi * abhorrence of tho partition of Poland , hated tho Turks as much a » he hated "Warren Hastings and the Ja-oobina . Ho called them a race of savagea and worse than savage * , and Baid that any minister who allowed them to bo of any weight in tho European
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Jritics are n . ot the legislators , but the judges and police of literature . They do not make lawa—they interpret and try to enforce them . —Edinburgh Review .
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HQ 2 THE LEADER . [ Saturday ,
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Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 16, 1854, page 1192, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2069/page/16/
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