the honour of expelling the Egyptians from the Morea, and ridiculed the absurdity of creating ‘a Greece which should contain neither Athens, nor Thebes, nor Marathon, nor Salamis, nor Platæa, nor Thermopylæ, nor Missolonghi.’ In home affairs he interfered but little. Since 1812 he had consistently advocated and voted for catholic emancipation; he had voted against the dissenters' disabilities bill in 1828 because no provision had been made on behalf of the Roman catholics; and in the great debate of 1829 he spoke (18 March) with much spirit on behalf of emancipation, which he predicted, in his sanguine way, would ‘give peace to Ireland.’ His influence and reputation had by this time grown so considerable that the Duke of Wellington twice sought his co-operation in 1830 as a member of his cabinet; but, apart from other differences, Palmerston's advocacy of parliamentary reform made any such alliance impossible.
When Lord Grey formed his administration in 1830 Palmerston became (22 Nov.) secretary of state for foreign affairs, and he held the office for the next eleven years contiuously, except for the four months (December 1834 to April 1835) during which Sir Robert Peel was premier. His first negotiation was one of the most difficult and perhaps the most successful of all. The Belgians, smarting under the tyranny of the Dutch and inspirited by the Paris revolution of July, had risen on 28 Aug. 1830, and severed the factitious union of the Netherlands which the Vienna congress had set up as a barrier against French expansion. The immediate danger was that Belgium, if defeated by Holland, would appeal to the known sympathy of France, and French assistance might develop into French annexation, or at least involve the destruction of the barrier fortresses. The Belgians were fully aware of England's anxiety on this point, and played their cards with skill. Lord Aberdeen, who was at the foreign office when the revolution took place, wisely summoned a conference of the representatives of the five powers, when it became evident that the autocratic states, Russia, Austria, and Prussia, were all for maintaining the provisions of the treaty of 1815, and Russia even advocated a forcible restoration of the union. They agreed, however, in arranging an armistice between the belligerents pending negotiations. Palmerston, coming into office in November, saw that the Belgians could not go longer in double harness, and, supported by France, he succeeded within a month in inducing the conference to consent (20 Dec.) to the independence of Belgium as a neutral state guaranteed by the powers, who all pledged themselves to seek no increase of territory in connection with the new arrangement. If it was difficult to get the autocratic powers to agree to the separation, it was even harder to persuade France to sign the self-denying clause, and the attainment of both objects is a striking testimony to Palmerston's diplomatic skill. The articles of peace were signed by the five powers on 27 Jan. 1831. The Dutch accepted but the Belgians refused them, and, in accordance with their policy of playing off France against England, they proceeded to elect as their king Louis-Philippe's son, the Duc de Nemours. Palmerston immediately informed the French government that the acceptance of the Belgian crown by a French prince meant war with England, and he prevailed upon the conference still sitting in London to agree to reject any candidate who belonged to the reigning families of the five powers. France alone stood out, and some irritation was displayed at Paris, in so much that Palmerston had to instruct our ambassador (15 Feb. 1831) to inform Sebastiani that ‘our desire for peace will never lead us to submit to affront either in language or in act.’ So early had the ‘Palmerstonian style’ been adopted. Louis-Philippe had the sense to decline the offer for his son, and, after further opposition, the Belgians elected Prince Leopold as their king, and accepted the London articles (slightly modified in their favour) on Palmerston's ultimatum of 29 May. It was now the turn of the Dutch to refuse; they renewed the war and defeated the Belgian army. France went to the rescue, and the dangers of French occupation again confronted the cabinet. It demanded the finest combination of tact and firmness on the part of Palmerston to secure on 15 Sept. 1832 the definite promise of the unconditional withdrawal of the French army. On 15 Nov. a final act of separation was signed by the conference, and, after some demur, accepted by Belgium. Holland still held out, and Antwerp was bombarded by the French, while an English squadron blocked the Scheldt. The city surrendered on 23 Dec. 1832; the French army withdrew according to engagement; five of the frontier fortresses were dismantled without consultation with France; and Belgium was thenceforward free. The independence of Belgium has been cited as the most enduring monument of Palmerston's diplomacy. It was the first stone dislodged from the portentous fabric erected by the congress of Vienna, and the change has stood the test of time. Belgium
