ABSTRACT
[Lord Malmesbury, the new Foreign Secretary, had already served in that capacity during 1852-3 (v. supra, pp. 187-9). He emphasized the difference between his own and the Palmerston Government by filling vacant diplomatic posts with men of his own party; * but otherwise his policy did not differ much. “I assume”, he said three years later, “that the general principles are the same, by which I mean that we wish always to support constitutional governments, and to support them and encourage them as much as possible; and the principle of non-interference is generally recognized now.” † He was soon to illustrate the difficulty of reconciling “non-interference” with “the support” and “encouragement” of “constitutional Governments”.
