he latter presented addresses to his majesty, from various corps,
denouncing England as the asylum of conspirators, and a den of
assassins; and denominating the English people as the confederates and
encouragers of conspirators and assassins. Offers were made by some
of the corps of the French army to invade England, and drag from "the
assassins' den" the conspirators. These inflammatory addresses were well
received at the Tuileries, and answers given which were not respectful
to England. These proceedings in France were followed up by addresses
from the senate, in which foreign governments were called upon, in a
dictatorial and insolent tone, to make their laws against refugees more
stringent. These addresses, and the way in which the French emperor
received them, produced a great ferment in all the free countries of the
world, and the people of England were stung to the quick. The English
government, however, bore tamely these insults. An affrontful despatch,
through the French ambassador, made a climax to the haughty proceedings
of France, and the mode in which the government received it was so
timeserving and timid in the eyes of the English people, that the
popularity of the Palmerston administration was destroyed. That
administration had been restored to power with increased popularity, as
well as a large majority, upon the dissolution caused by the defeat of
the previous year on the Chinese question, but the timidity shown in
dealing with the insolence of the French ambassador, army, emperor,
press, and people, deprived it of all weight in the country. The defeat
and resignation of the English ministry resulted from this feeling. The
general tone of the French government, however, became modified by the
strength of will shown on the part of the English people, united
with their unmistakable abhorrence of the crime which led to the bad
feeling--at all events the immediate bad feeling--between the two
countries. The emperor made such acknowledgments to the British
government as amounted to an apology, and the mind of the people
became quieted on the subject, especially as the ministry was, for
its pusillanimity, hurled from power. Still, during the whole of 1858,
although the ostensible alliance was never broken, there existed no good
will towards England on the part of France, and no confidence in the
peaceful disposition of France and its emperor either to England or any
other power pervaded the public opinion of B