ted, and make itself
responsible for a crisis, which it has in no way either brought on or
been able to avert.[16]

As to Mr Cobden's appointment to the Poor Law Board, the Queen thinks
that he will be well qualified for the place in many respects, and
that it will be advantageous to the Government and the Country that
his talents should be secured to the service of the State, but the
elevation to the Cabinet directly from Covent Garden[17] strikes her
as a very sudden step, calculated to cause much dissatisfaction in
many quarters, and setting a dangerous example to agitators in general
(for his main reputation Mr Cobden gained as a successful agitator).
The Queen therefore thinks it best that Mr Cobden should first enter
the service of the Crown, serve as a public functionary in Parliament,
and be promoted subsequently to the Cabinet, which step will then
become a very natural one.

The Duke of Bedford's entrance into the Cabinet the Queen would see
with great pleasure.

The Queen returns the Prince's Memorandum to Lord John, whilst she has
retained Lord Clarendon's letter upon it, which the Prince is anxious
to keep if Lord John will allow him. The Queen must agree with Lord
John and Lord Clarendon that the present moment is not a favourable
one for the experiment of abolishing the Lord-Lieutenancy.

Mr Stephen's elevation to the Privy Council will be a very proper
reward for his long and faithful services. Would he not be a proper
person for one of the new Civil degrees of the Bath?[18]

[Footnote 16: Matters, however, became worse, and Lord John
Russell and Sir Charles Wood wrote recommending that the Bank
should enlarge their discounts and advances, for which they
would propose a bill of indemnity. By degrees the panic
subsided.]

[Footnote 17: Free Trade meetings had taken place in Covent
Garden Theatre.]

[Footnote 18: He was made a K.C.B.]

[Pageheading: ENGLAND'S FOREIGN POLICY]

_Queen Victoria to Lord John Russell._

WINDSOR CASTLE, _18th October 1847._

The Queen cannot resist drawing Lord John Russell's attention to the
enclosed paragraph taken from the _Revue des Deux Mondes_, which gives
an account of the late events in Spain. How little honourable our line
of policy appears according to this version, which the Queen is afraid
is so very plausible that it will be received as the truth by the
whole French public and a great part of the European public