Waterloo, the Czar of Russia conceived a thought which seemed to
him to be an inspiration. In the ecstasy of the hour of
deliverance from the sword which had been the nightmare of the
continent for a generation Alexander proposed to his fellow
potentates a covenant binding them to be governed by the
principles of Christian justice and charity in their dealings
with their own subjects and in their mutual relations. Sincere
and pious as the Czar undoubtedly was, this agreement, which was
accepted by the other monarchs, excepting George IV. of England,
did not produce the results which one might suppose from its
name, the Holy Alliance. It was used not only to stifle the
spirit of liberty in western Europe, but its baleful influence
was felt in Italy, Spain, and Greece. In effect it was a trades-
union in which the allied crowned-heads undertook to stifle
popular liberty wherever it showed signs of life. When Alexander
explained his proposal to the English commissioners at Paris they
could scarcely keep a straight face at its absurdity. Yet though
England refused to become a member of the Holy Alliance, she did
allow herself for a period of several years to be ruled by its
decisions, or at least to allow them to be enforced without a
protest.

Such in brief was the chain of events which associated the
foreign policy of England with that of the Holy Alliance. The
brilliant statesman who broke away from this foreign policy and
led England out upon a line of independent action was George
Canning.

The future Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister was born in
London, April II, 1770. His father was an Englishman from the