h, unless they were
mollified, might do irreparable injury to his career. He therefore wrote
to Lord John, briefly acquiescing in the Queen's requirements--"I have
taken a copy of this memorandum of the Queen and will not fail to attend
to the directions which it contains"--and at the same time, he asked for
an interview with the Prince. Albert at once summoned him to the Palace,
and was astonished to observe, as he noted in a memorandum, that when
Palmerston entered the room "he was very much agitated, shook, and
had tears in his eyes, so as quite to move me, who never under any
circumstances had known him otherwise than with a bland smile on his
face." The old statesman was profuse in protestations and excuses; the
young one was coldly polite. At last, after a long and inconclusive
conversation, the Prince, drawing himself up, said that, in order to
give Lord Palmerston "an example of what the Queen wanted," he would
"ask him a question point-blank." Lord Palmerston waited in respectful
silence, while the Prince proceeded as follows: "You are aware that the
Queen has objected to the Protocol about Schleswig, and of the grounds
on which she has done so. Her opinion has been overruled, the Protocol
stating the desire of the Great Powers to see the integrity of the
Danish monarchy preserved has been signed, and upon this the King of
Denmark has invaded Schleswig, where the war is raging. If Holstein is
attacked also, which is likely, the Germans will not be restrained from
flying to her assistance; Russia has menaced to interfere with arms,
if the Schleswigers are successful. What will you do, if this emergency
arises (provoking most likely an European war), and which will arise
very probably when we shall be at Balmoral and Lord John in another
part of Scotland? The Queen expects from your foresight that you have
contemplated this possibility, and requires a categorical answer as
to what you would do in the event supposed." Strangely enough, to this
pointblank question, the Foreign Secretary appeared to be unable to
reply. The whole matter, he said, was extremely complicated, and the
contingencies mentioned by His Royal Highness were very unlikely to
arise. The Prince persisted; but it was useless; for a full hour he
struggled to extract a categorical answer, until at length Palmerston
bowed himself out of the room. Albert threw up his hands in shocked
amazement: what could one do with such a man?

What indeed? For, in