THREE:While thus tottering on the verge of revolution the Orleanist monarchy had the misfortune to affront the British Court. The reason of the rupture is known to history as the affair of the Spanish marriages, of which it is enough to say here that Louis Philippe succeeded in marrying the young Queen of Spain to her cousin, the Duke of Cadiz, who was imbecile, while at the same time he secured the hand of her sister for his youngest son, the Duc de Montpensier. Thus he apparently acquired the reversion of the throne for his family, but the coup was effected in defiance of pledges made repeatedly to Lord Aberdeen and continued to his successor at the Foreign Office, Lord Palmerston. It was undoubtedly the advent of the latter to power which hurried on the conclusion of the intrigue. Louis Philippe and Guizot suspected him of trying to secure the hand of the Queen of Spain for a prince of the House of Coburg, and was justified to a certain extent by an imprudent despatch sent by the English Foreign Secretary to our Minister at Madrid. Thereupon the King of the French frightened the Queen-Mother of Spain into giving her consent to the marriages, which were celebrated simultaneously on the 10th of October, 1846. The calculating cunning displayed by Louis Philippe and the deliberate sacrifice of a young girl to sordid requirements of State aroused a feeling of universal disgust. From Queen Victoria the proceedings provoked a letter to Louis Philippe's queen, which[549] concluded with the scathing remark��"I am glad that I can say for myself that I have always been sincere with you." It was in fact, as her Foreign Minister wrote to his brother, "a twister."
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THREE:Lord John Russell was immediately summoned from Scotland, and on the 11th arrived at Osborne, where he received her Majesty's commands to form a Government. On the ground that his party were in a minority in the House of Commons, Lord John Russell at first declined the honour presented to him; but on a paper being placed in his hands by the Queen, in which Sir Robert Peel promised, in his private capacity, to aid and give every support to the new Ministry in settling the question of the Corn Laws, he undertook the task. There was no amicable feeling between the new and the retiring Minister. Lord John Russell's letter, published a few days before, had excited as much attention for its bitter sarcasm against Sir Robert Peel as for the important change in the Whig policy which it announced. Lord John Russell held communication with the late Government, but through Sir James Graham. It was of importance to him to know more clearly the nature of that support which Sir Robert Peel's memorandum seemed to promise; and he was, therefore, anxious to know what the latter would consider a satisfactory settlement. This proposal, however, to the late Minister to become responsible for the measures of his successors was declined. Sir James Graham communicated to Lord John Russell the information as to the state of the country on which they acted; but Sir Robert Peel, through his colleague, declined to state the details of the measures which had lately been contemplated. Lord John Russell then gave, in writing, an outline of the measures which the new Cabinet would propose, and invited the opinion of the late Minister. Sir Robert Peel, however, still declined to take part in the plans of his opponents; and in a letter to the Queen, on the 17th of December, he stated the constitutional grounds on which he considered it improper that any one, not an adviser of the Crown, should take a part in the preparation of Ministerial measures. Lord John Russell thereupon immediately proceeded with his negotiations with his own party. It soon, however, appeared that the task he had proposed to himself was beyond his power. Earl Grey, who had agreed to take the Secretaryship of the Colonies in the new Ministry, suddenly declared that he would not join any Administration in which Lord Palmerston should hold the office of Secretary for Foreign Affairs. This unexpected accident was regarded by Lord John Russell as decisive. On the 20th of December he communicated the facts to the Queen, and begged to be relieved from the task he had undertaken. Peel's Second Cabinet��Prorogation of Parliament��Growing Demand for Free Trade��Mr. Villiers��His First Motion for the Repeal of the Corn Laws��The Manchester Association��Bright and Cobden��Opposition of the Chartists��Growth of the Association��The Movement spreads to London��Renewal of Mr. Villiers' Motion��Formation of the Anti-Corn Law League��Its Pamphlets and Lectures��Ebenezer Elliott��The Pavilion at Manchester��Mr. Villiers' Third Motion��Want in Ireland��The Walsall Election��Depression of Trade��Peel determines on a Sliding Scale��His Corn Law��Its Cold Reception��Progress of the Measure��The Budget��The Income Tax��Reduction of Custom Duties��Peel's Speech on the New Tariff��Discussions on the Bill��Employment of Children in the Coal Mines��Evidence of the Commission��Lord Ashley's Bill��Further Attempts on the Life of the Queen��Sir Robert Peel's Bill on the subject��Differences with the United States��The Right of Search��The Canadian Boundary��The Macleod Affair��Lord Ashburton's Mission��The First Afghan War: Sketch of its Course��Russian Intrigue in the East��Auckland determines to restore Shah Sujah��Triumphant Advance of the Army of the Indus��Surrender of Dost Mohammed��Sale and the Ghilzais��The Rising in Cabul��Murder of Burnes��Treaty of 11th of December��Murder of Macnaghten��Treaty of January 1st��Annihilation of the Retreating Force��Irresolution of Auckland��His Recall��Disasters in the Khyber Pass��Pollock at Peshawur��Position of Affairs at Jelalabad��Resistance determined upon��Approach of Akbar Khan��The Earthquake��Pollock in the Khyber��Sale's Victory��Ellenborough's Proclamation��Votes of Thanks��Ellenborough orders Retirement��The Prisoners��They are saved��Reoccupation of Cabul��Ellenborough's Proclamation��The Gate of Somnauth.
THREE:CHAPTER XV. REIGN OF GEORGE III. (continued).
THREE:Bute made overtures to France through the neutral Court of Sardinia. Louis XV. and his Ministers caught at the very first whisper of such a thing with the eagerness of drowning men; a sufficient intimation to an able and cautious minister, that he might safely name his own terms. The ambassadors, however, soon found that the real business of the treaty was transacted between Bute, on the part of Britain, and the Duke de Choiseul, on that of France; and that not through ambassadors, but through Sardinian envoys.