ABSTRACT

Czar Nicholas had been delighted to unite with England against Mehemet Ali. For a triumph over Mehemet Ali was a triumph over France. She represented all that Nicholas hated. She had expelled Henry V, the rightful King of France, she had elevated Louis Philippe, an upstart usurper. Late in December 1840 the Czar asked Lord Clanricarde ‘if Her Majesty’s government would object to record and establish by some act the alliance, which happily existed between the Four Powers, to serve as a security against any efforts France might make to awaken revolutionary feeling in Europe, or against perhaps a revolutionary war. So far Palmerston had stated the policy of England as revealed to the world. Palmerston knew that Nicholas was a genuine conservative who wished to preserve the Treaty of Vienna. That was something in a world of revolution. So he remained conciliatory. The Danubian Principalities had been greatly disturbed by the revolutionary movements everywhere.