n of Lord Normanby. It is not very
delicate in Lord Normanby to convey such a message, nor in Lord
Palmerston to urge it so eagerly. M. de Beaumont's departure from this
country without taking leave of the Queen was neither very becoming.

The Queen has already, on Lord Palmerston's account, received two
public affronts: the one by her Minister in Spain having been sent out
of that country,[53] the other now, by the new Emperor of Austria
not announcing to her by special mission his accession to the Throne,
which he did to all other Sovereigns, avowedly, as it appears, to mark
the indignation of Austria at the inimical proceedings of the British
Foreign Secretary. The Queen does not think that, in the face of such
slurs, the dignity of England will be vindicated by a race between her
representative and that of Spain, who is to present his credentials
first to the new President of the French Republic, which Lord
Palmerston considers of such importance as to render an _immediate_
decision indispensable.

Should Lord John think that we cannot do less now for Louis Napoleon
than has been done in the case of General Cavaignac, the Queen
will not object to renewing Lord Normanby's credentials as
Ambassador-Extraordinary on a special mission.

[Footnote 52: Lord Palmerston had written to say that
Lord Normanby's credentials were provisional, and regular
credentials would become necessary. The new French Government
were sending Ambassadors to Vienna, Rome, and other capitals,
which in return would send Ambassadors to Paris, so that it
would be injurious for this country's representative to be of
inferior diplomatic rank. "It would," he wrote subsequently,
"be derogatory to the dignity of your Majesty, and to the
character of your Majesty's Government if, in the present
state of things between the British and Spanish Governments
the Spanish Ambassador should, by a dilatoriness on the part
of your Majesty's Government, be allowed to raise a question
about precedence with your Majesty's representative at Paris;
it would be very inconvenient if that question were decided
unfavourably to your Majesty's representative, and very
undesirable that he should appear to be under obligation to
the French Government for a decision in his favour."]

[Footnote 53: See _ante_, p. 175.]

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

TO CHAPTER XVIII

The opening of Parliament (1849)