The shrewdest comment made on this brilliant diplomatic triumph of France was Metternich’s. “Tell Guizot from me,” he said, “that one does not with impunity play little tricks with, great countries”--and Metternich was right. The loss of the English alliance ruined Louis Philippe in the eye of public opinion in Europe, and gave courage and hope to the Liberals in France, who were bent on dethroning him. Austria took advantage of the estrangement between England and France to absorb the Republic of Cracow,[56] in defiance of the Treaty of Vienna, so that, much to the indignation of the French people, they saw, as the firstfruits of M. Guizot’s diplomacy, the last free banner and city in Poland vanish from the face of Europe. In England the feeling against Louis Philippe was one of mingled regret and disgust. The incident, writes Mr. Greville, “has been a great damper to the Queen’s _engouement_ for the House of Orleans.”[57] “Nothing more painful,” wrote the Queen to the Queen of the Belgians, “could possibly have befallen me than this unhappy difference, both because it has a character so personal, and because it imposes upon me the duty of opposing the marriage of a Prince for whom, as well as for all his family, I entertain so warm a friendship.”[58] “Everybody,” said Lord Lansdowne writing to Lord Palmerston, “would have to turn over a new leaf with Louis Philippe.” As for Prince Albert, he felt the blow as a national insult and a personal wrong, though, according to Baron Stockmar, both he and the Queen exercised the greatest self-command in concealing their resentment.[59] CHAPTER XV. HOME LIFE AND SOCIAL EVENTS IN 1846. Prince Albert and the Home Farm--Royalty and the Windsor Vestry--The New Home at Osborne--The Birth of the Princess Helena--The Visit of Ibrahim Pasha--A Royal Christening--The Queen’s Loneliness--Visitors at Osborne--A Cruise in Summer Seas--The “Lop” of the Channel--In the Channel Islands--The Duke of Cornwall in his Duchy--Exploring the South Coast--The Queen Acts as the Family Tutor--Her Majesty among the Iron-miners--The House-warming at Osborne--Baron Stockmar’s Impressions of the Queen--Some German Visitors--A Dinner-Party at Windsor--The Baroness Bunsen’s Picture of the Scene--The Royal Visits to Hatfield and Arundel--Social Movements in 1846--Dr. Hook’s Pamphlet on Education--Origin of Secularism--The Triumphs of Science--Faraday’s Researches--Laying of the First Submarine Cable at Portsmouth--The Use of Ether in Surgery--Evil Tidings from Starving Ireland.