Page:Karl Marx - The Story of the Life of Lord Palmerston - ed. Eleanor Marx Aveling (1899).pdf/71

 Rh siderable trade, then there might have been ground to call upon Parliament"

In lieu of such an occurrence,

Russia obstructs the Danube navigation, because the trade of the Principalities is growing important, says Mr. Stewart. But she did not do so when the trade was next to nothing, retorts Lord Palmerston. You neglect to oppose the recent encroachments of Russia on the Danube, says Mr. Stewart. We did not do so at the epoch these encroachments were not yet ventured upon, replies the noble lord. What "circumstances" have therefore "occurred against which the Government are not likely to guard unless driven thereto by the direct interference of this House"? He prevented the Commons from passing a resolution by assuring them that "there is no disposition of His Majesty's Government to submit to aggression on the part of any Power, be that Power what it may, and be it more or less strong," and by warning them that "we should also cautiously abstain from anything which might be construed by other Powers, and reasonably so, as being a provocation on our part." A week after these debates had taken place in the House of Commons, a British merchant addressed a letter to the Foreign Office with regard to the Russian ukase. "I am directed by Viscount Palmerston," answered the Under Secretary at the Foreign Office, to

The merchant acted according to this letter. He is abandoned to Russia by the noble lord; a Russian toll is, as Mr. Urquhart states, now exacted in London and Liverpool