c was apt to be unbridled. At the height of his
annoyance over his resignation, he roundly declared that he had been
made a victim to foreign intrigue. He afterwards toned down this
accusation; but the mere fact that such a suggestion from such a quarter
was possible at all showed to what unfortunate consequences Albert's
foreign birth and foreign upbringing might lead.

But this was not all. A constitutional question of the most profound
importance was raised by the position of the Prince in England. His
presence gave a new prominence to an old problem--the precise definition
of the functions and the powers of the Crown. Those functions and powers
had become, in effect, his; and what sort of use was he making of them?
His views as to the place of the Crown in the Constitution are easily
ascertainable; for they were Stockmar's; and it happens that we possess
a detailed account of Stockmar's opinions upon the subject in a long
letter addressed by him to the Prince at the time of this very crisis,
just before the outbreak of the Crimean War. Constitutional Monarchy,
according to the Baron, had suffered an eclipse since the passing of
the Reform Bill. It was now "constantly in danger of becoming a pure
Ministerial Government." The old race of Tories, who "had a direct
interest in upholding the prerogatives of the Crown," had died out;
and the Whigs were "nothing but partly conscious, partly unconscious
Republicans, who stand in the same relation to the Throne as the wolf
does to the lamb." There was a rule that it was unconstitutional to
introduce "the name and person of the irresponsible Sovereign"
into parliamentary debates on constitutional matters; this was "a
constitutional fiction, which, although undoubtedly of old standing,
was fraught with danger"; and the Baron warned the Prince that "if the
English Crown permit a Whig Ministry to follow this rule in practice,
without exception, you must not wonder if in a little time you find the
majority of the people impressed with the belief that the King, in the
view of the law, is nothing but a mandarin figure, which has to nod
its head in assent, or shake it in denial, as his Minister pleases."
To prevent this from happening, it was of extreme importance, said
the Baron, "that no opportunity should be let slip of vindicating the
legitimate position of the Crown." "And this is not hard to do," he
added, "and can never embarrass a Minister where such straightforward
loyal pe