Page:Life of Her Majesty Queen Victoria (IA lifeofhermajesty01fawc).pdf/194

 tionalism; but it really was an appeal to the good sense and patriotism of the nation, on which, at bottom, Parliamentary Government must rest.

The Tory and the Radical Press must share the blame of the disgraceful attacks made upon the Prince. The Queen was bitterly wounded by them. Greville, no courtier, as many former extracts prove, said he never remembered anything more atrocious and unjust than these savage libels. That they had been fostered by the hostility between Palmerston and the Prince there can be no doubt. One of the lies in circulation was that there was a pamphlet giving authentic proofs of the Prince's treachery to England, that the Prince had bought up all the copies but six, which were in Palmerston's possession; whereupon the Prince had made his peace with Palmerston, in order to secure the continued suppression of the pamphlet. This called forth an authoritative denial in the columns of The Morning Post from Lord Palmerston. It is probable that one motive of the Queen in bestowing the title of Prince Consort upon her husband in 1857, was to give a practical reply to these slanders. It would have been well if this had been preceded by an action for libel against the most conspicuous of the Prince's traducers; this would have given a chance of the real author of the libels being run to earth.

The alliance with France during the Crimean War led to the exchange of visits between the two Courts. The Queen and her husband were quite captivated by the loveliness and charm of the Empress Eugénie, and at first thought far better of the Emperor than he deserved. He laid himself out with considerable adroitness to please the Queen, and succeeded. The Emperor and Empress visited the Queen at Windsor in April, 1855. During their visit to England a grand fête was given in their honor at the Crystal Palace.