ABSTRACT
In the middle of the nineteenth century Britons felt more distinct from foreigners than at any time in their history. Its twin signs, in the Victorians’ eyes, were the bounding prosperity of their economy, and an enormous accession of a quality they called ‘freedom’. The horse had been tamed – now the reins could be loosened. Most Englishmen were struck by it, at one level or another. The Foreign Office and the diplomatic service were both predominantly aristocratic throughout the nineteenth century – intentionally so. The foreign policy-makers defended their privileges and their immunities tenaciously. So the foreign service preserved its distinctive quality and character; and preserved also its values, which were distinctive too – distinct, that is, from the values of the dominant middle classes. Mid-Victorian foreign policy is sometimes presented as an uneasy amalgam of idealism, or pretended idealism, and sheer cynical selfinterest.
