d avoid seeing that what was aimed at was the
re-establishment of the Empire in his own person. And so arbitrary a
deed, as was inevitable, produced great excitement in England and
anxious deliberations in the cabinet. Their decision, in strict
uniformity with the principle that rules our conduct toward foreign
nations, was to instruct our ambassador in Paris, Lord Normanby, to
avoid any act or word which could wear the appearance of an act of
interference of any kind in the internal affairs of France. But, on Lord
Normanby reporting these instructions to the French Foreign Secretary,
M. Guizot, he learned, to his surprise and perplexity, that Lord
Palmerston had interfered already by expressing to the French ambassador
in London, M. de Walewski, his warm approval of the President's
conduct;[276] and Lord Normanby, greatly annoyed at being directed to
hold one language in Paris, while the head of his department was taking
a widely different tone in Downing Street--a complication which
inevitably "subjected him to misrepresentation and suspicion"--naturally
complained to the Prime-minister of being placed in so embarrassing a
situation.

Both the Queen and the Prime-minister had for some time been
discontented at the independent manner in which Lord Palmerston
apparently considered himself entitled to transact the business of his
department, carrying it so far as even to claim a right to send out
despatches without giving them any intimation of either their contents
or their objects. And the Queen, in consequence, above a year
before,[277] had drawn up a memorandum, in which she expressed with
great distinctness her desire to have every step which the Foreign
Secretary might recommend to be taken laid clearly before her, with
sufficient time for consideration, "that she might know distinctly to
what she had given her royal sanction;" and "to be kept informed of what
passed between him and the Foreign Ministers before important decisions
are taken," etc., etc. And, after such an intimation of her wish, she
not unnaturally felt great annoyance at learning that in a transaction
so important as this coup d'etat (to give it the name by which from the
first it was described in every country) Lord Palmerston had taken upon
himself to hold language to the French Ambassador "in complete
contradiction to the line of strict neutrality and passiveness which she
had expressed her desire to see followed with regard to the late
convul