ABSTRACT
Legend said that Lord Palmerston was descended from Leofric, the eleventh-century Earl of Mercia, and his wife, Lady Godiva. It seems an appropriate pedigree for one of the most colourful characters of the nineteenth century. Palmerston unsuccessfully contested the Cambridge University seat in 1806, but entered the Commons the following year for the rotten borough of Newport in the Isle of Wight. Grey appointed Palmerston Foreign Secretary only when more obvious candidates, like Lord Holland, had declined it but, in any case, Grey meant to keep a firm hold on foreign policy himself. Slave ships of nations with whom Britain had ‘right of search’ treaties sometimes made good their escape by flying the flag of the United States with whom Britain had no treaty. Conservative Europe, like British public opinion, was deceived but Palmerston overstepped the mark by alarming not only the court but also his political colleagues.
