ore which it conveyed of what had passed
raised a general and strong feeling of indignation.

In the afternoon I saw Guizot, whom I found very reasonable, full
of regret for the violence at Paris, and admitting that it was
not only mad but ridiculous; said he had urged as forcibly as he
could that they should do nothing for several days, and pay no
attention to any events that might occur on the Syrian coast;
that he had written to the Duc de Broglie and entreated him to
exert all his influence to keep matters quiet; and then he said
that he still did not despair of peace if we would only do
_something_ to pacify and conciliate France; that _some_
concession in return for hers she must have, and without which
her Government had not the power to maintain peace; that his
conviction was, that if we would give Mehemet Ali Candia, or a
little more of Syria--two out of the four Pashaliks--that this
would be accepted, and that surely the alliance and concurrence
of France were worth as much as this. I went from him to John
Russell, and told him what he had said.

October 10th, 1840 {p.335}

[Page Head: RECEPTION OF THE FRENCH NOTE.]

The Cabinet met this afternoon. Lord John Russell was to have
taken the lead and developed his conciliatory notions, but a new
turn was given to affairs by a note which Guizot placed in
Palmerston's hands just before the Cabinet, which he only
received from Paris this morning.[7] He called on Palmerston and
gave it him; but without any observations. Palmerston brought it
to the Cabinet, where it was read, and, to the extreme surprise
of everybody, it was to the last degree moderate, and evincing a
disposition to be very easily satisfied. This note is ill
written, ill put together, and very tame. What a difficult task a
French Minister must have, to defend at once such a note and such
an expense as had been incurred! Probably Guizot did not much
admire the production. The consequence was that the discussion
turned on this document, and Palmerston immediately showed a
disposition to haggle and bargain, and make it a pretext for
extorting from France the best terms she could be got to yield,
and all this in the spirit of a pedlar rather than of a
statesman. This was, however, overruled. A better and more
liberal disposition pervaded the majority, and it was settled
that Palmerston should see Guizot and speak to him in a
conciliatory tone, and that a note, in a corresponding spirit,
should b