Life of Henry Reeve, vol 2 | Page 6

I have no faith in
it. It is merely a device to make people think he is acting in agreement
with the English Cabinet, and so conceal a scheme to which the English
Cabinet is totally opposed. Opinion here is unanimous against French
intervention in Italy. Unfortunately, we are in a very bad position at
home. The Cabinet is deplorably weak, and it has just lost two of its
principal members. The Reform Bill, brought in yesterday, raises more

questions than it answers; but it will probably serve to give prominence
to the dissensions in the Liberal party. 'Tis a real misfortune; for a
disunited party cannot assert any influence in Europe.
Lord Brougham is returning to Cannes, though with little inclination to
stay among such grave causes of anxiety. So long as France is free to
act by sea, the road to Italy does not lie through Var, but in the ports of
Toulon and Marseilles. Shall you soon be hearing the guns of the
second Marengo?
The action of England at this important crisis was curious, but
characteristic. The destinies of Europe were shaking in the balance; the
fortunes of France, of Italy, of Austria, probably also of Prussia, and
very possibly of Russia, were at stake; so the English Government
thought it a suitable opportunity to tinker the constitution and introduce
a Reform Bill--which nobody seems to have wanted--mainly, it would
seem, to 'dish' the Whigs. It was, however, they themselves who were
dished. Mr. Henley, the President of the Board of Trade, resigned on
January 27th. So also did Mr. S. H. Walpole, [Footnote: Mr. Walpole
died, at the age of 92, on May 22nd, 1898.] the Home Secretary, who
wrote to Lord Derby: 'I cannot help saying that the measure which the
Cabinet are prepared to recommend is one which we should all of us
have stoutly opposed if either Lord Palmerston or Lord John Russell
had ventured to bring it forward.' None the less, the Bill was introduced
on February 28th. On the second reading it was negatived; a dissolution
and a general election followed; and on the meeting of Parliament, in
June the Ministry were defeated on an amendment to the Address, and
resigned.
But though the want of confidence appeared to be based on the
question of the Reform Bill, there is no doubt that there was a
widespread mistrust of the foreign policy of the Government. For some
years past, perhaps ever since Mr. Gladstone's celebrated Neapolitan
letters in 1851, successive waves of sentiment in favour of Italian
independence and unity had passed over the country; and Lord Derby,
or Lord Malmesbury, had perhaps fancied that this sentiment might be
invoked in their defence. They had not, indeed, taken any overt action,

but there was a general idea that they were inclined to favour the
designs of Italy and of France. Now, to favour the cause of Italian
independence was one thing; to favour the ambitious and grasping
schemes of France was another; and the leaders of the Liberal party
were not slow to denounce the Government, which--as they
alleged--was ready to plunge the country into war for the sake of
currying favour with the master of the insolent colonels of 1858.
Reeve's own view of the questions at issue may be gathered from the
letters which he wrote to the 'Times,' [Footnote: January 19th, _The
Policy of France in Italy_; April 28th, The Policy of France, both under
the signature of 'Senex.'] and more fully, more carefully expressed in
the article 'Austria, France, and Italy' in the 'Edinburgh Review' of
April. In this he distinctly combats 'what is termed the principle of
"nationalities"' as unhistorical. The theory is, he says, 'of modern
growth and uncertain application;' and he goes on to show in detail that
it is not applicable to any one of the Great Powers of Europe.
'Of all the sovereigns now filling a throne, Queen Victoria is
undoubtedly the ruler of the largest number of subject races, alien
populations, and discordant tongues. In the vast circumference of her
dominions every form of religion is professed, every code of law is
administered, and her empire is tesselated with every variety of the
human species.... But above and around them all stands that majestic
edifice, raised by the valour and authority of England, which connects
these scattered dependencies with one great Whole infinitely more
powerful, more civilised, and more free than any separate fragment
could be; and it is to the subordination of national or provincial
independence that the true citizenship of these realms owes its
existence.... It is the glory of England to have constituted such an
empire, and to govern it, in the main, on just and tolerant principles, as
long as her imperial rights are not assailed; when they