94 ENGLAND, FRANCE, AND EGYPT. 



and, incensed by this coup de grace, he resolved, if possible, to rouse 

 the temper of the French people into a war against United Europe, 

 and especially against England, and with this object in view, he 

 entered upon extensive military preparations, and hoped thereby to 

 intimidate Lord Palmerston in the carrying out of the policy, which 

 in concert with Europe, he had determined upon. 



Lord Palmerston, however, was not to be intimidated by the 

 threatening attitude of M. Thiers, nor by the clamour for war of the 

 French people, from the execution of the statesmanlike policy which 

 he had already indicated. 



The voice of diplomacy was unfortunately now drowned in the boom 

 of the cannon, for in consequence of the refusal by Mehemet Ali of the 

 favourable terms offered to him by the Five Great Powers, and also 

 by the dogged resistance of France to co-operate with Europe, the 

 Admiral of the British Fleet, in conjunction with Austrian and 

 Turkish men-of-war, approached Beyrout, and at the close of four 

 days' bombardment, Suliman Pasha, the Egyptian Commander, 

 surrendered. This was followed up by the storming of Sidon by 

 Napier, who advanced from there into the Lebanon, and defeated 

 Ibrahim Pasha ; but the most brilliant feat of arms, was the assault 

 and capture, by Napier, of the almost impregnable fortress of St. 

 Jean D'Acre, which after a bombardment of three hours, sur- 

 rendered to the British Commander ; the same fortress which Sir 

 Sidney Smith, in 1799, had successfully defended against the assaults 

 of Napoleon I. 



■ These important military events roused M. Thiers into action, and 

 he demanded from Louis Philippe authority to call out the military 

 forces of France, and to despatch the French Fleet to Alexandria in 

 support of the pretensions of Mehemet Ali ; but the King, as anxious 

 for peace with England, as his Minister was for war, firmly refused 

 his demands, and thereupon M. Thiers, happily for the general 

 European peace, ceased to be Prime Minister of France, and his 

 successor, M. Guizot, who had always been favourable to the 

 entente cordiak with England, reversed the belligerent policy of his 

 predecessor, and in effect declared, in the words of King Louis 

 Philippe, " As long as I live, there shall be peace between France 

 and England." 



Thus, by a succession of rapid and victorious military operations, 



,,no less than by the vigour of the foreign policy of Lord Palmerston, 



the opposition and menaces of France were effectually silenced 



.the ambitious designs of Mehemet Ali were overthrown, the 



