CHAPTER I.

THE REIGN OF VICTORIA (_continued_). PAGE

The Papal Aggressions--The Ecclesiastical Titles Bill--Mr. Locke King's Motion on County Franchise--Resignation of the Government--The Great Exhibition--The President of the French Republic and the Assembly--Preparations for the _Coup d'État_--The Barricades--The _Plébiscite_--Weakness of the Russell Administration--Independence of Lord Palmerston--The Queen's Memorandum--Dismissal of Palmerston--The Militia Bill--Russell is turned out--The Derby Ministry--The General Election--Defeat of the Conservatives--Death and Funeral of the Duke of Wellington--The Aberdeen Administration--Mr. Gladstone's Budget--The Eastern Question again--The Diplomatic Wrangle--The Sultan's Firman--Afif Bey's Mission--Difficulties in Montenegro--England and France--The Menschikoff Mission--Lord Stratford de Redcliffe's Instructions--The Czar and Sir Hamilton Seymour--Menschikoff at Constantinople--The English and French Fleets--Arrival of Lord Stratford de Redcliffe--Menschikoff's ulterior Demands--Action of the Powers 1