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one voice and say..."
What the voice should say would never be known. The strong hands of two burly
soldiers plucked the man down from his box and, under a sergeant's
supervision, carried him away. The crowd cheered good-naturedly and went about
their business.Gladstone turned down a side street and away from the crowd,
disturbed by what he had seen.
Was there really an antiwar movement? Certainly there were grumbles over the
increasing taxes. But the mob did love a circus and read with pleasure about
the glowing and exaggerated prowess of British arms. Many still remembered the
defeats inAmerica and longed for victories by strength of arms to remove the
sour smell of that defeat. At times it was hard to assess the public mood. As
he turned intoDowning Street he joined Lord John Russell, also going in the
same direction.
"Ready for the lion's cage, hey?"Gladstone said.
"Some say thatPalmerston's bark is worse than his bite," the Foreign
Secretary answered with a worldly flip of his hand.
"I say that bark and bite are both rather mordant. By the way, on the way
here I heard a street speaker sounding off at the evils of our war policy. Do
you think he was alone or is the spirit abroad that we should be seeking
peace?"
"I doubt that very much. Parliament still sides with the war party and the
papers scream and froth for victories. Individuals may think differently, but,
by George, the country is on our side."
"I wish that I had your assurance, Lord John. Still, I find it disturbing,
disturbing indeed."
"Voxpopuliis not alwaysvoxdei, no matter what you hear to the contrary. The
voice that matters is that ofPalmerston , and as long as this party is in
power that is the only voice that you will hear."
It was indeed a voice that demanded respect. As the Cabinet assembled around
the long table LordPalmerston frowned heavily down at them and rubbed his
hands together. He was used to bullying his Cabinet. After all he was the
Prime Minister, and he had appointed every one of them. So their loyalty must
be to him and him alone. Parliament could be difficult at times, but the war
spirit was running high there, so that they could usually be cajoled into
backing his proposals. And then, of course, there was always the Queen.
WhenPrince Albert had been alive there had been scenes and difficulties
whenPalmerston had made unilateral decisions without consulting the Royal
Couple. As he had done in the DonPacifico affair. DavidPacifico was a
Portuguese Jew born inGibraltar . He became a merchant inAthens . His house
there was burned down during an anti-Semitic riot. On very questionable
grounds, he sued the Greek government with little result. Without consulting
the Queen, or her consort,Palmerston had organized an attack onGreece on
DonPacifico's behalf. To say that the Queen was disturbed by this was an
understatement. But that was happily a thing of the past. After Albert's death
she had retired more and more inside herself. Yet sometimes she had to be
consulted, lest she lost her temper over some implied insult, or more
realistically, a major decision taken without her knowledge. This was now such
a time. She must be consulted before the planned expansion was undertaken.
This meeting was like most Cabinet meetings these days. LordPalmerston told
them what he would like to have done. After that the discussion was about how
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it should be done and never any discussion whether it should be done at all.
This day was no exception.
"Then I gather that we are all in agreement?"Palmerston said testily to his
Cabinet, as though any slightest sign of disagreement would be a personal
insult. At the age of seventy-nine his voice had lost none of its
abrasiveness; his eyes still had the cold, inflexible stare of a serpent.
"It will need a great deal of financing," the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
said, rather petulantly.Palmerston waved away even this slightest of
differences.
"Of course it will."Palmerston dismissed this argument peremptorily. "You are
the chap who can always raise the money. That is exactly why I need you today
at this particular tête-à-tête," he added, completely misusing the term.
Which, of course, meant just two people, head-to-head.Gladstone chose not to
correct him, knowing the Prime Minister's pride in his ignorance of any
language other than English. But the thought of visiting the Queen took the
sunlight out of his day.
"You know my feelings,"Gladstone said. "I believe that Her Majesty is one of
the greatest Jingoes alive. If we but mention Albert and the Americans in the
same breath we can keep the war going for a century. But, really, her [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]