Note 70 — PART II. THE EASTERN QUESTION.

The strength of Lord Palmerston’s character and his determination in matters of ready action is well illustrated through an incident recorded by Baron Bunsen (“Memoirs of Bunsen”): “Bunsen and Palmerston had elected to be rowed over to Portsmouth from Osborne, when guests of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, and, the weather being rough, the Foreign Minister took the helm, demonstrating the connection between steering the vessel of State, as Bunsen phrased it, and steering a boat at sea—‘Oh, one learns boating at Cambridge, even though one may have learnt nothing better,’ remarked Lord Palmerston; and guide the craft safely to shore he certainly did. But when they landed, alas! the train was gone.”