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Reid</title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + h1 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 3em; + letter-spacing: 0.1em; + font-weight: lighter; +} + + h1.pg { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + margin-top: 0em; + margin-bottom: 0em; + letter-spacing: 0em; + font-weight: bold; +} + + h2 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 1.5em; + letter-spacing: 0.1em; + font-weight: lighter; +} + + h3 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 1.5em; + letter-spacing: 0.1em; + font-weight: bold; +} + + h3.pg { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + margin-top: 0em; + margin-bottom: 0em; + letter-spacing: 0em; + font-weight: bold; +} + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: 0em; + text-indent: 1em; +} +p.nomt { + margin-top: 0em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: 0em; + text-indent: 1em; +} + +p.noi { + text-indent: 0em; +} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} + +.tdr {text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;} /* right align cell */ +.tdind {text-align: justify; vertical-align: bottom; padding-left: 2em; padding-right: 1em; text-indent: -2em;} +.tdc {text-align: center; padding-top: 1.5em; padding-bottom: 1em; font-size: 120%;} +.tdcb {text-align: center; padding-bottom: 0.75em;} + +.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; +} /* page numbers */ + + +.blockquot { + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 10%; + font-size: 90%; +} + +.desc {text-indent: -2em; padding-left: 2em; + font-size: 90%; margin-bottom: 1em; +} + +.sidenote { + width: 20%; + padding-bottom: .5em; + padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; + padding-right: .5em; + margin-left: 1em; + float: right; + clear: right; + margin-top: 1em; + font-size: smaller; + color: black; + background: #eeeeee; + border: dashed 1px; +} + +.center {text-align: center; + text-indent: 0em;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +.caption {font-style: italic; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: center; + margin-left: 25%; + margin-right: 25%;} + +.title { text-align: center; + margin-top:3em;} + +.figcenter {text-align: center; + margin-top:2em;} + +/* Footnotes */ +.footnotes {border: dashed 1px; margin-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em;} + +.footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + +.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + +.fnanchor { + vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: + none; +} + +.series {border: solid black 1px;} + +p.ads { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: 0em; + text-indent: 1em; + margin-right: 15%; + margin-left: 15%;} + +.adsans {letter-spacing: 0.05em; + font-family: sans-serif; + font-weight: bold; + font-size: 95%; + text-align: center; + margin-top: 0.50em;} + +.adstit { text-align: center; + margin-top:1em; + font-size: 130%; + letter-spacing: 0.1em; + font-weight: bolder;} + +p.sig { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: right; + margin-bottom: 0.75em; + margin-right: 5%;} + + +/* Poetry */ +.poem { + margin-left:10%; + margin-right:10%; + text-align: left; + font-size: 95%; +} + +.poem br {display: none;} + +.poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + +.poem span.i0 { + display: block; + margin-left: 0em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + +.poem span.i2 { + display: block; + margin-left: 2em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + + +div.index { text-align: left; /* styles that apply to all text in an index */ + font-size: 90%; /*small type for compactness */ + } + ul.IX { + list-style-type: none; + font-size:inherit; /* i.e. from the div class="index" container */ + } + .IX li { /* list items in an index: compressed vertically */ + margin-top: 0; + } + +ins.correction { + text-decoration:none; /* replace default underline.. */ + border-bottom: thin dotted gray; /* ..with delicate gray line */ + } + +.tnote {border: dashed 1px; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em;} + + hr.full { width: 100%; + margin-top: 3em; + margin-bottom: 0em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + height: 4px; + border-width: 4px 0 0 0; /* remove all borders except the top one */ + border-style: solid; + border-color: #000000; + clear: both; } + pre {font-size: 85%;} +// --> +/* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> +</head> +<body> +<h1 class="pg">The Project Gutenberg eBook, Lord John Russell, by Stuart J. Reid</h1> +<pre> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Lord John Russell</p> +<p>Author: Stuart J. Reid</p> +<p>Release Date: December 17, 2008 [eBook #27553]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LORD JOHN RUSSELL***</p> +<p> </p> +<h3 class="pg">E-text prepared by Susan Skinner, Emanuela Piasentini,<br /> + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (http://www.pgdp.net)</h3> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a id="johnrussell" name="johnrussell"></a> +<img src="images/johnrussell.jpg" height="500" width="344" +alt="Lord John Russell" title="Lord John Russell" /> + +<p class="caption">Reproduced by permission from an unpublished picture by G. F. Watts, R. A. in the +possession of the Dowager Countess Russell at Pembroke Lodge, Richmond<br /> + +Photogravure by Annan & Swan.</p></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i">[i]</a></span></p> + + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a id="series" name="series"></a> +<img src="images/series.jpg" height="148" width="500" +alt="The Prime Ministers of Queen Victoria" title="The Prime Ministers of Queen Victoria" /></div> + +<p class="title"><small>EDITED BY</small><br /><br /> +STUART J. REID</p> + +<p class="title" style="letter-spacing: 0.1em;"><big><i>LORD JOHN RUSSELL</i></big><br /><br /></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii">[ii]</a></span> +</p> + +<div class="series"> +<p class="center" style="font-size: 150%; font-family: sans-serif;">THE QUEEN’S PRIME MINISTERS</p> + +<p class="center">A SERIES OF POLITICAL BIOGRAPHIES.</p> + +<p class="center"><small>EDITED BY</small></p> +<p class="center" style="letter-spacing: 0.1em; font-size: larger;">STUART J. REID</p> + +<p class="center"><small>AUTHOR OF ‘THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SYDNEY SMITH.’</small></p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p class="center"><i>The volumes contain Photogravure Portraits,<br /> +also copies of Autographs.</i></p> + +<p class="center">I.<br /> + +<b>THE EARL OF BEACONSFIELD, K.G.</b> By <span class="smcap">J. A. Froude</span>, D.C.L. +(Seventh Edition.)</p> + +<p class="center">II.<br /> + +<b>VISCOUNT MELBOURNE.</b> By <span class="smcap">Henry Dunckley</span>, LL.D. (‘Verax.’)</p> + +<p class="center">III.<br /> + +<b>SIR ROBERT PEEL.</b> By <span class="smcap">Justin McCarthy</span>, M.P.</p> + +<p class="center">IV.<br /> + +<b>THE RIGHT HON. W. E. GLADSTONE, M.P.</b> By <span class="smcap">G. W. E. +Russell</span>. (Twelfth Thousand.)</p> + +<p class="center">V.<br /> + +<b>THE MARQUIS OF SALISBURY.</b> By <span class="smcap">H. D. Traill</span>, D.C.L. (Second +Edition.)</p> + +<p class="center">VI.<br /> + +<b>VISCOUNT PALMERSTON.</b> By the <span class="smcap">Marquis of Lorne</span>. (Second +Edition.)</p> + +<p class="center">VII.<br /> + +<b>THE EARL OF DERBY.</b> By <span class="smcap">George Saintsbury</span>.</p> + +<p class="center">VIII.<br /> + +<b>THE EARL OF ABERDEEN.</b> By <span class="smcap">Lord Stanmore</span>.</p> + +<p class="center">IX.<br /> + +<b>LORD JOHN RUSSELL.</b> By <span class="smcap">Stuart J. Reid</span>.</p> + +<p class="ads"><sup>*</sup><sub>*</sub><sup>*</sup> A Limited Library Edition of TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY +COPIES, each numbered, printed on hand-made paper, parchment binding, +gilt top, with facsimile reproductions, in some cases of characteristic notes +of Speeches and Letters, which are not included in the ordinary edition, +and some additional Portraits. Price for the Complete Set of Nine Volumes, +<b>Four Guineas net.</b> No Volumes of this Edition sold separately.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">London</span>:<br /> + +SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON & COMPANY, <span class="smcap">Limited</span>,<br /> +<b>St. Dunstan’s House</b>, <span class="smcap">Fetter Lane, Fleet Street</span>, E.C.</p> +</div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[iii]</a></span></p> + + +<h1>LORD JOHN RUSSELL</h1> + +<p class="title">BY</p> + +<p class="title">STUART J. REID<br /><br /></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>I have looked to the happiness of my countrymen as the object +to which my efforts ought to be directed</p> + +<p class="sig"><i>Recollections and Suggestions</i></p> +</div> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<p class="title">LONDON</p> + +<p class="title">SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON & COMPANY<br /> +<small><i>LIMITED</i></small><br /> +<b>St. Dunstan’s House</b><br /><br /> +FETTER LANE, FLEET STREET, E.C.<br /><br /> + +1895<br /><br /></p> + +<p class="title">[<i>All rights reserved</i>] +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[iv]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[v]</a></span></p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<p class="title">TO THE<br /><br /> + +<span style="font-size: larger;">LADY MARY AGATHA RUSSELL</span><br /><br /> + +<span style="font-size: smaller;">THIS RECORD<br /><br /> + +OF</span><br /><br /> + +HER FATHER’S CAREER<br /><br /> + +<span style="font-size: smaller;">IS<br /><br /> + +WITH TRUE REGARD</span><br /><br /> + +DEDICATED</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[vi]</a></span> +<br /></p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[vii]</a></span></p> + + +<h2>PREFACE</h2> +<hr style="width: 3em; height: 1px; color: black; background-color: black; border: none;" /> + +<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">This</span> monograph could not have been written—in the intimate +sense—if the Dowager Countess Russell had not +extended a confidence which, I trust, has in no direction +been abused. Lady Russell has not only granted me access +to her journal and papers as well as the early note-books of +her husband, but in many conversations has added the +advantage of her own reminiscences.</p> + +<p>I am also indebted in greater or less degree to Mrs. +Warburton, Lady Georgiana Peel, Lady Agatha Russell, the +Hon. Rollo Russell, Mr. G. W. E. Russell, and the Hon. +George Elliot. Mr. Elliot’s knowledge, as brother-in-law, +and for many years as private secretary, touches both the personal +and official aspects of Lord John’s career, and it has +been freely placed at my disposal. Outside the circle of +Lord John’s relatives I have received hints from the Hon. +Charles Gore and Sir Villiers Lister, both of whom, at one +period or another in his public life, also served him in the +capacity of secretary.</p> + +<p>I have received some details of Lord John’s official life +from one who served under him in a more public capacity—not, +however, I hasten to add, as Chancellor of the Exchequer—but +I am scarcely at liberty in this instance to +mention my authority.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[viii]</a></span></p> + +<p>My thanks are due, in an emphatic sense, to my friend +Mr. Spencer Walpole, who, with a generosity rare at all times, +has not only allowed me to avail myself of facts contained +in his authoritative biography of Lord John Russell, but has +also glanced at the proof sheets of these pages, and has +given me, in frank comment, the benefit of his own singularly +wide and accurate knowledge of the historical and political +annals of the reign. It is only right to add that Mr. Walpole +is not in any sense responsible for the opinions expressed +in a book which is only partially based on his own, is not +always in agreement with his conclusions, and which follows +independent lines.</p> + +<p>The letter which the Queen wrote to the Countess Russell +immediately after the death of one of her ‘first and most +distinguished Ministers’ is now printed with her Majesty’s +permission.</p> + +<p>The late Earl of Selborne and Mr. Lecky were sufficiently +interested in my task to place on record for the volume some +personal and political reminiscences which speak for themselves, +and do so with authority.</p> + +<p>I am also under obligations of various kinds to the Marquis +of Dufferin and Ava, the Earl of Durham, Lord +Stanmore, Dr. Anderson of Richmond, and the Rev. James +Andrews of Woburn. I desire also to acknowledge the +courtesy of Mr. Gladstone, Mr. Andrew Lang, Mr. James +Knowles, Mr. Percy Bunting, Mr. Edwin Hodder, Messrs. +Longmans, and the proprietors of ‘Punch,’ for liberty to +quote from published books and journals.</p> + +<p>In Montaigne’s words, ‘The tales I borrow, I charge upon +the consciences of those from whom I have them.’ I have +gathered cues from all quarters, but in almost every case my +indebtedness stands recorded on the passing page.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[ix]</a></span></p> + +<p>The portrait which forms the frontispiece is for the first +time reproduced, with the sanction of the Countess Russell +and Mr. G. F. Watts, from an original crayon drawing which +hangs on the walls at Pembroke Lodge.</p> + +<p>It may be as well to anticipate an obvious criticism by +stating that the earlier title of the subject of this memoir is +retained, not only in deference to the strongly expressed wish +of the family at Pembroke Lodge, but also because it suggests +nearly half a century spent in the House of Commons +in pursuit of liberty. In the closing days of Earl Russell’s +life his eye was accustomed to brighten, and his manner +to relax, when some new acquaintance, in the eagerness of +conversation, took the liberty of familiar friendship by +addressing the old statesman as ‘Lord John.’</p> + +<p class="sig"> +STUART J. REID.<br /> +<br /></p> +<p><span class="smcap">Chislehurst</span>: <i>June 4, 1895</i>.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[x]</a></span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[xi]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS</h2> + + +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="60%" summary="Table of Contents"> +<tr> +<td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER I</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdcb" colspan="2">EARLY YEARS, EDUCATION, AND TRAVEL<br /><br /> + +1792-1813</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdind"> +Rise of the Russells under the Tudors—Childhood and early surroundings +of Lord John—Schooldays at Westminster—First +journey abroad with Lord Holland—Wellington and the Peninsular +campaign—Student days in Edinburgh and speeches at +the Speculative Society—Early leanings in politics and literature—Enters +the House of Commons as member for Tavistock</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> + + +<tr> +<td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER II</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdcb" colspan="2"> +IN PARLIAMENT AND FOR THE PEOPLE<br /><br /> +1813-1826</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdind"> +The political outlook when Lord John entered the House of +Commons—The ‘Condition of England’ question—The +struggle for Parliamentary Reform—Side-lights on Napoleon +Bonaparte—The Liverpool Administration in a panic—Lord +John comes to the aid of Sir Francis Burdett—Foreign travel—First +motion in favour of Reform—Making headway</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_21">21</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER III</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdcb" colspan="2"> +WINNING HIS SPURS<br /><br /> +1826-1830</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdind"> +Defeated and out of harness—Journey to Italy—Back in Parliament—Canning’s +accession to power—Bribery and corruption<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[xii]</a></span>—The +repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts—The struggle +between the Court and the Cabinet over Catholic Emancipation—Defeat +of Wellington at the polls—Lord John appointed +Paymaster-General</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_47">47</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER IV</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdcb" colspan="2"> +A FIGHT FOR LIBERTY<br /><br /> +1830-1832</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdind"> +Lord Grey and the cause of Reform—Lord Durham’s share in +the Reform Bill—The voice of the people—Lord John introduces +the bill and explains its provisions—The surprise of the +Tories—Reform, ‘Aye’ or ‘No’—Lord John in the Cabinet—The +bill thrown out—The indignation of the country—Proposed +creation of Peers—Wellington and Sidmouth in despair—The +bill carried—Lord John’s tribute to Althorp</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_63">63</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER V</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdcb" colspan="2"> +THE DAWN OF A NEW ERA<br /><br /> +1833-1838</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdind"> +The turn of the tide with the Whigs—The two voices in the +Cabinet—Lord John and Ireland—Althorp and the Poor Law—The +Melbourne Administration on the rocks—Peel in power—The +question of Irish tithes—Marriage of Lord John—Grievances +of Nonconformists—Lord Melbourne’s influence +over the Queen—Lord Durham’s mission to Canada—Personal +sorrow</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_88">88</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER VI</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdcb" colspan="2"> +THE TWO FRONT BENCHES<br /><br /> +1840-1845</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdind"> +Lord John’s position in the Cabinet and in the Commons—His +services to Education—Joseph Lancaster—Lord John’s +Colonial Policy—Mr. Gladstone’s opinion—Lord Stanmore’s +recollections—The mistakes of the Melbourne Cabinet—The +Duke of Wellington’s opinion of Lord John—The agitation +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xiii" id="Page_xiii">[xiii]</a></span> +against the Corn Laws—Lord John’s view of Sir Robert Peel—The +Edinburgh letter—Peel’s dilemma—Lord John’s comment +on the situation</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_113">113</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER VII</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdcb" colspan="2"> +FACTION AND FAMINE<br /><br /> +1846-1847</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdind"> +Peel and Free Trade—Disraeli and Lord George Bentinck +lead the attack—Russell to the rescue—Fall of Peel—Lord +John summoned to power—Lord John’s position in the +Commons and in the country—The Condition of Ireland +question—Famine and its deadly work—The Russell Government +and measures of relief—Crime and coercion—The Whigs +and Education—Factory Bill—The case of Dr. Hampden</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_136">136</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER VIII</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdcb" colspan="2"> +IN ROUGH WATERS<br /><br /> +1848-1852</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdind"> +The People’s Charter—Feargus O’Connor and the crowd—Lord +Palmerston strikes from his own bat—Lord John’s view of the +political situation—Death of Peel—Palmerston and the Court—‘No +Popery’—The Durham Letter—The invasion scare—Lord +John’s remark about Palmerston—Fall of the Russell +Administration</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_163">163</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER IX</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdcb" colspan="2"> +COALITION BUT NOT UNION<br /><br /> +1852-1853</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdind"> +The Aberdeen Ministry—Warring elements—Mr. Gladstone’s +position—Lord John at the Foreign Office and Leader of the +House—Lady Russell’s criticisms of Lord Macaulay’s statement—A +small cloud in the East—Lord Shaftesbury has his +doubts</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_199">199</a> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xiv" id="Page_xiv">[xiv]</a></span></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER X</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdcb" colspan="2"> +DOWNING STREET AND CONSTANTINOPLE<br /><br /> +1853</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdind"> +Causes of the Crimean War—Nicholas seizes his opportunity—The +Secret Memorandum—Napoleon and the susceptibilities +of the Vatican—Lord Stratford de Redcliffe and the Porte—Prince +Menschikoff shows his hand—Lord Aberdeen hopes +against hope—Lord Palmerston’s opinion of the crisis—The +Vienna Note—Lord John grows restive—Sinope arouses +England—The deadlock in the Cabinet</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_213">213</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER XI</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdcb" colspan="2"> +WAR HINDERS REFORM<br /><br /> +1854-1855</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdind"> +A Scheme of Reform—Palmerston’s attitude—Lord John sore let +and hindered—Lord Stratford’s diplomatic triumph—The +Duke of Newcastle and the War Office—The dash for Sebastopol—Procrastination +and its deadly work—The Alma—Inkerman—The +Duke’s blunder—Famine and frost in the +trenches</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_236">236</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER XII</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdcb" colspan="2"> +THE VIENNA DIFFICULTY<br /><br /> +1855</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdind"> +Blunders at home and abroad—Roebuck’s motion—‘General +Février’ turns traitor—France and the Crimea—Lord John at +Vienna—The pride of the nation is touched—Napoleon’s visit +to Windsor—Lord John’s retirement—The fall of Sebastopol—The +treaty of Paris</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_254">254</a> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xv" id="Page_xv">[xv]</a></span></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER XIII</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdcb" colspan="2"> +LITERATURE AND EDUCATION</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdind"> +Lord John’s position in 1855—His constituency in the City—Survey +of his work in literature—As man of letters—His +historical writings—Hero-worship of Fox—Friendship with +Moore—Writes the biography of the poet—‘Don Carlos’—A +book wrongly attributed to him—Publishes his ‘Recollections +and Suggestions’—An opinion of Kinglake’s—Lord John on +his own career—Lord John and National Schools—Joseph +Lancaster’s tentative efforts—The formation of the Council of +Education—Prejudice blocks the way—Mr. Forster’s tribute</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_270">270</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER XIV</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdcb" colspan="2"> +COMING BACK TO POWER<br /><br /> +1857-1861</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdind"> +Lord John as an Independent Member—His chance in the City—The +Indian Mutiny—Orsini’s attempt on the life of +Napoleon—The Conspiracy Bill—Lord John and the Jewish +Relief Act—Palmerston in power—Lord John at the Foreign +Office—Cobden and Bright—Quits the Commons with a +Peerage</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_286">286</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER XV</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdcb" colspan="2"> +UNITED ITALY AND THE DIS-UNITED STATES<br /><br /> +1861-1865</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdind"> +Lord John at the Foreign Office—Austria and Italy—Victor +Emmanuel and Mazzini—Cavour and Napoleon III.—Lord +John’s energetic protest—His sympathy with Garibaldi and +the struggle for freedom—The gratitude of the Italians—Death +of the Prince Consort—The ‘Trent’ affair—Lord +John’s remonstrance—The ‘Alabama’ difficulty—Lord Selborne’s +statement—The Cotton Famine</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_299">299</a> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xvi" id="Page_xvi">[xvi]</a></span></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER XVI</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdcb" colspan="2"> +SECOND PREMIERSHIP<br /><br /> +1865-1866</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdind"> +The Polish Revolt—Bismarck’s bid for power—The Schleswig-Holstein +difficulty—Death of Lord Palmerston—The Queen +summons Lord John—The second Russell Administration—Lord +John’s tribute to Palmerston—Mr. Gladstone introduces +Reform—The ‘Cave of Adullam’—Defeat of the Russell +Government—The people accept Lowe’s challenge—The +feeling in the country</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_320">320</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER XVII</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdcb" colspan="2"> +OUT OF HARNESS<br /><br /> +1867-1874</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdind"> +Speeches in the House of Lords—Leisured years—Mr. Lecky’s +reminiscences—The question of the Irish Church—The +Independence of Belgium—Lord John on the claims of the +Vatican—Letters to Mr. Chichester Fortescue—His scheme +for the better government of Ireland—Lord Selborne’s estimate +of Lord John’s public career—Frank admissions—As his +private secretaries saw him</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_334">334</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER XVIII</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdcb" colspan="2"> +PEMBROKE LODGE<br /><br /> +1847-1878</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdind"> +Looking back—Society at Pembroke Lodge—Home life—The +house and its memories—Charles Dickens’s speech at Liverpool—Literary +friendships—Lady Russell’s description of her +husband—A packet of letters—His children’s recollections—A +glimpse of Carlyle—A witty impromptu—Closing days—Mr. +and Mrs. Gladstone—The jubilee of the Repeal of the +Test and Corporation Acts—‘Punch’ on the ‘Golden Wedding’—Death—The +Queen’s letter—Lord Shaftesbury’s +estimate of Lord John’s career—His great qualities</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_349">349</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdind"><br />INDEX</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_371">371</a></td></tr> +</table> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h1><a name="LORD_JOHN_RUSSELL" id="LORD_JOHN_RUSSELL"></a>LORD JOHN RUSSELL</h1> +<hr style="width: 3em; height: 1px; color: black; background-color: black; border: none;" /> + + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<p class="title">EARLY YEARS, EDUCATION, AND TRAVEL<br /><br /> + +1792-1813</p> + +<p class="desc">Rise of the Russells under the Tudors—Childhood and early surroundings +of Lord John—Schooldays at Westminster—First journey +abroad with Lord Holland—Wellington and the Peninsular campaign—Student +days in Edinburgh and speeches at the Speculative +Society—Early leanings in Politics and Literature—Enters the +House of Commons as member for Tavistock.</p> + + +<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Government</span> by great families was once a reality in +England, and when Lord John Russell’s long career began +the old tradition had not yet lost its ascendency. The +ranks of privilege can at least claim to have given at more +than one great crisis in the national annals leaders to the +cause of progress. It is not necessary in this connection +to seek examples outside the House of Bedford, since the +name of Lord William Russell in the seventeenth century +and that of Lord John in the nineteenth stand foremost +amongst the champions of civil and religious liberty. +Hugh du Rozel, according to the Battle Roll, crossed from +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span> +Normandy in the train of the Conqueror. In the reign +of Henry III. the first John Russell of note was a small +landed proprietor in Dorset, and held the post of Constable +of Corfe Castle. William Russell, in the year of Edward II.’s +accession, was returned to Parliament, and his lineal descendant, +Sir John Russell, was Speaker of the House of Commons +in the days of Henry VI. The real founder, however, +of the fortunes of the family was the third John Russell +who is known to history. He was the son of the Speaker, +and came to honour and affluence by a happy chance. +Stress of weather drove Philip, Archduke of Austria +and, in right of his wife, King of Castile, during a +voyage from Flanders to Spain in the year 1506, to take +refuge at Weymouth. Sir Thomas Trenchard, Sheriff of +Dorset, entertained the unexpected guest, but he knew +no Spanish, and Philip of Castile knew no English. In +this emergency Sir Thomas sent in hot haste for his +cousin, Squire Russell, of Barwick, who had travelled +abroad and was able to talk Spanish fluently. The Archduke, +greatly pleased with the sense and sensibility of his +interpreter, insisted that John Russell must accompany +him to the English Court, and Henry VII., no mean judge +of men, was in turn impressed with his ability. The result +was that, after many important services to the Crown, John +Russell became first Earl of Bedford, and, under grants from +Henry VIII. and Edward VI., the rich monastic lands of +Tavistock and Woburn passed into his possession. The +part which the Russells as a family have played in history +of course lies outside the province of this volume, which is +exclusively concerned with the character and career in +recent times of one of the most distinguished statesmen of +the present century. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span></p> + +<p>Lord John Russell was born on August 18, 1792, at +Hertford Street, Mayfair. His father, who was second son of +Lord Tavistock, and grandson of the fourth Duke of Bedford, +succeeded his brother Francis, as sixth Duke, in 1802, at +the age of thirty-six, when his youngest and most famous +son was ten years old. Long before his accession to the +title, which was, indeed, quite unexpected, the sixth Duke +had married the Hon. Georgiana Byng, daughter of Viscount +Torrington, and the statesman with whose career these pages +are concerned was the third son of this union. He spent +his early childhood at Stratton Park, Hampshire. When +he was a child of eight, Stratton Park was sold by the Duke +of Bedford, and Oakley House, which he never liked so +well, became the residence of his father. Although a shy, +delicate child, he was sent in the spring of 1800, when only +eight, to a private school at Sunbury—only a mile or two +away from Richmond, where nearly eighty years later he +died. In the autumn of 1801 he lost his mother, to whom +he was deeply attached, and almost before the bewildered +child had time to realise his loss, his uncle Francis also died, +and his father, in consequence, became Duke of Bedford.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">SCHOOLDAYS AT WESTMINSTER</div> + +<p>From Sunbury the motherless boy was sent with his +elder brother to Westminster, in 1803, and the same year +the Duke married Lady Georgiana Gordon, a daughter +of the fourth Duke of Gordon, and her kindness to her stepchildren +was marked and constant. Westminster School at +the beginning of the century was an ill-disciplined place, in +which fighting and fagging prevailed, and its rough and +boisterous life taxed to the utmost the mettle of the plucky +little fellow. He seems to have made no complaint, but to +have taken his full share in the rough-and-tumble sports of +his comrades in a school which has given many distinguished +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span> +men to the literature and public life of England: as, for +instance, the younger Vane—whom Milton extolled—Ben +Jonson and Dryden, Prior and Locke, Cowper and Southey, +Gibbon and Warren Hastings.</p> + +<p>He learnt Latin at Westminster, and was kept to the +work of translation, but he used to declare somewhat ruefully +in after-days that he had as a schoolboy to devote +the half-holidays to learning arithmetic and writing, and +these homely arts were taught him by a pedagogue who +seems to have kept a private school in Great Dean’s Yard. +Many years later Earl Russell dictated to the Countess some +reminiscences of his early days, and since Lady Russell has +granted access to them, the following passages transcribed +from her own manuscript will be read with interest:—‘My +education, for various reasons, was not a very regular +one. It began, indeed, in the usual English way by my +going to a very bad private school at Sunbury, and my being +transferred to a public school at Westminster at ten or eleven. +But I never entered the upper school. The hard life of a +fag—for in those days it was a hard life—and the unwholesome +food disagreed with me so much that my stepmother, +the Duchess of Bedford, insisted that I should be taken +away and sent to a private tutor.’ At Westminster School +physical hardihood was always encouraged. ‘If two boys +were engaged to fight during the time of school, those boys +who wanted to see the fight had to leave school for the +purpose.’ At this early period a passion for the theatre +possessed him, drawing him to Drury Lane or Covent Garden +whenever an opportunity occurred; and this kind of relaxation +retained a considerable hold upon him throughout the +greater portion of his life. Even as a child he was a bit of +a philosopher. In the journal which he began to keep in +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span> +the year he went to Westminster School is the following +entry:—‘October 28, 1803.—Very great mist in the morning, +but afternoon very fine. There was a grand review to-day +by the King in Hyde Park of the Volunteers. I did not go, +as there was such a quantity of people that I should have +seen nothing, and should have been knocked down.’ Most +of the entries in the boy’s journal are pithy statements of +matter of fact, as, for instance:—‘Westminster, Monday, +October 10.—I was flogged to-day for the first time.’ A few +days later the young diarist places on record what he calls +some of the rules of the school. He states that lessons +began every morning at eight, and that usually work was +continued till noon, with an interval at nine for breakfast. +Lessons were resumed at two on ordinary days, and finished +for the day at five. ‘All the fellows have verses on Thursdays +and Saturdays. We go on Sundays to church in the +morning in Henry VII.’s Chapel, and in the evening have +prayers in the school.’</p> + +<div class="sidenote">DR. CARTWRIGHT AND WOBURN</div> + +<p>His ‘broken and disturbed’ education was next resumed +at Woburn Abbey under Dr. Cartwright; the Duke’s domestic +chaplain, and brother to Major Cartwright, the well-known +political reformer. The chaplain at Woburn was a many-sided +man. He was not only a scholar and a poet, but +also possessed distinct mechanical skill, and afterwards won +fame as the inventor of the power-loom. He was quick-witted +and accomplished, and it was a happy circumstance +that the high-spirited, impressionable lad, who by this +time was full of dreams of literary distinction, came under +his influence. ‘I acquired from Dr. Cartwright,’ declared +Lord John, ‘a taste for Latin poetry which has never left +me.’ Not merely at work but at play, his new friend came +to his rescue. ‘He invented the model of a boat which was +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span> +moved by clockwork and acted upon the water by a paddle +underneath. He gave me the model, and I used to make +it go across the ponds in the park.’ Meanwhile literature +was not forgotten, and before long the boy’s juvenile effusions +filled a manuscript book, which with an amusing +flourish of trumpets was dedicated to ‘the Right Hon. +William Pitt, Chancellor of the Exchequer.’ A couple of +sentences will reveal its character, and the dawning humour +of the youthful scribe:—‘This little volume, being graced +with your name, will prosper; without it my labour would +be all in vain. May you remain at the Helm of State long +enough to bestow a pension on your very humble and +obedient servant, John Russell.’</p> + +<p>Between the years 1805 and 1808 Lord John pursued +his education under a country parson in Kent. He was +placed under the care of Mr. Smith, Vicar of Woodnesborough, +near Sandwich, an ardent Whig, who taught a select +number of pupils, amongst whom were several cadets of the +aristocracy; and to this seminary Lord John now followed +his brothers, Lord Tavistock and Lord William Russell. +Amongst his schoolfellows at Woodnesborough was the +Lord Hartington of that generation, Lord Clare, Lord +William Fitzgerald, and a future Duke of Leinster. The +vicar in question, worthy Mr. Smith, was nicknamed ‘Dean +Smigo’ by his pupils, but Lord John, looking back in +after-years, declared that he was an excellent man, well +acquainted with classical authors, both Greek and Latin, +though ‘without any remarkable qualities either of character +or understanding.’ He evidently won popularity amongst +the boys by joining in their indoor amusements and granting +frequent holidays, particularly on occasions when the Whig +cause was triumphant in the locality or in Parliament. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span></p> + +<div class="sidenote">SMALL GAME</div> + +<p>Rambles inland and on the seashore, pony riding, +shooting small birds, cricket, and other sports, as well as +winter evening games, filled up the ample leisure from the +duties of the schoolroom. One or two extracts from his +journal are sufficient to show that, although still weakly, he +was not lacking in boyish vivacity and in a healthy desire +to emulate his elders. When Grenville and Fox joined +their forces and so brought about the Ministry of ‘All the +Talents’ the lads obtained a holiday—a fact which is thus +recorded in sprawling schoolboy hand by Lord John in his +diary. ‘Saturday, February 8, 1806.—... We did no +business on Mr. Fox’s coming into the Ministry. I shot a +couple of larks beyond Southerden.... I went out +shooting for the first time with Mr. Smith’s gun. I got +eight shots at little birds and killed four of them.’ On +November 5 in the same year we find him writing:—‘Eliza’s +[Miss Smith’s] birthday. No business. I went out shooting, +but only killed some little birds. I used to shoot much +better than I do at present. Always miss now; have not +killed a partridge yet.’ Poor boy! But he lived to kill +two deer and a wild boar. ‘Similarity of age led me,’ states +Lord John, in one of his unpublished notes, ‘to form a more +intimate friendship with Clare than with any of the others, +and our mutual liking grew into a strong attachment on +both sides. I only remark this fact as Lord Byron, who had +been a friend of Clare’s at Harrow, appears to have shown +some boyish jealousy when the latter expressed his sorrow +at my departure for Spain.’</p> + +<p>Now and then he turned his gift for composing verses +in the direction of a satire on some political celebrity. He +also wrote and spoke the prologue at private dramatic performances +at Woburn during the holiday season, and took +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> +the part of ‘Lucy’ in ‘The Rivals.’ A little later, in the +brief period of his father’s viceroyalty, he wrote another +prologue, and on this occasion amused an Irish audience by +his assumption of the part of an old woman.</p> + +<p>The political atmosphere of Woburn and <ins class="correction" title="Transcriber's note: original reads 'Woodnesborourgh'">Woodnesborough</ins> +as well as his father’s official position, led the boy of +fourteen to take a keen interest in public affairs. His satirical +verses on Melville, Pitt, Hawkesbury, and others, together +with many passages in his journal, showed that his attention +was frequently diverted from grammar and lexicon, field +sports and footlights, to politics and Parliament, and the +struggle amongst statesmen for place and power. Although +little is known of the actual incidents of Lord John’s boyhood, +such straws at least show the direction in which the +current of his life was setting.</p> + +<p>Whilst Lord John was the guest of Mr. Fox at Stable +Yard, the subject of Lord Melville’s acquittal by the Peers +came up for discussion. Next day the shrewd young critic +wrote the following characteristic remark in his journal: +‘What a pity that he who steals a penny loaf should be +hung, whilst he who steals thousands of the public money +should be acquitted!’ The brilliant qualities of Fox made +a great impression on the lad, and there can be little doubt +that his intercourse with the great statesman, slight and +passing though it was, did much to awaken political +ambition. He also crossed the path of other men of light +and leading in the political world, and in this way, boy +though he was, he grew familiar with the strife of parties and +the great questions of the hour. Holland House opened +its hospitable gates to him, and there he met a young clergyman +of an unconventional type—the Rev. Sydney Smith—with +whom he struck up a friendship that was destined to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span> +endure. The young schoolboy has left it on record in that +inevitable ‘journal’ that he found his odd clerical acquaintance +‘very amusing.’</p> + +<div class="sidenote">WITH LORD HOLLAND IN SPAIN</div> + +<p>In the summer of 1807 we learn from his journal that +he passed three months with his father and stepmother at the +English lakes and in the West of Scotland. With boyish +glee he recounts the incidents of the journey, and his +delight in visiting Inverary, Edinburgh, and Melrose. Yet +it was his rambles and talks with Sir Walter Scott, whom he +afterwards described as one of the wonders of the age, that +left the most abiding impression upon him. On his +way back to Woodnesborough he paid his first visit to +the House of Lords, and heard a debate on the Copenhagen +expedition, an affair in which, he considered, +‘Ministers cut a most despicable figure.’ On quitting +school life at Woodnesborough, an experience was in store +for him which enlarged his mental horizon, and drew out his +sympathies for the weak and oppressed. Lord and Lady +Holland had taken a fancy to the lad, and the Duke of +Bedford consented to their proposal that he should accompany +them on their visit to the Peninsula, then the scene +of hostilities between the French and the allied armies +of England and Spain. The account of this journey is best +told in Lord John’s own words:—</p> + +<p>‘In the autumn of 1808, when only sixteen years of age, +I accompanied Lord and Lady Holland to Corunna, and +afterwards to Lisbon, Seville, and Cadiz, returning by Lisbon +to England in the summer of 1809. They were eager for +the success of the Spanish cause, and I joined to sympathy +for Spain a boyish hatred of Napoleon, who had treacherously +obtained possession of an independent country by force +and fraud—force of immense armies, fraud of the lowest +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> +kind.’ There is in existence at Pembroke Lodge a small +parchment-bound volume marked ‘Diary, 1808,’ which +records in his own handwriting Lord John’s first impressions +of foreign travel. The notes are brief, but they show that +the writer even then was keenly alive to the picturesque. +The journal ends somewhat abruptly, and Lord John confesses +in so many words that he gave up this journal in +despair, a statement which is followed by the assertion that +the record at least possesses the ‘merit of brevity.’</p> + +<p>Spain was in such a disturbed condition that the tour +was full of excitement. War and rumours of war filled the +air, and sudden changes of route were often necessary in +order to avoid perilous encounters with the French. The +travellers were sometimes accompanied by a military escort, +but were more frequently left to their devices, and evil tidings +of disaster to the Allies—often groundless, but not less +alarming—kept the whole party on the alert, and proved, +naturally, very exciting to the lad, who under such strange +and dramatic circumstances gained his first experience of +life abroad. Lord John had, however, taken with him his +Virgil, Tacitus, and Cicero, and now and then, forgetful of +the turmoil around him, he improved his acquaintance with +the classics. He also studied the Spanish language, with +the result that he acquired an excellent conversational knowledge +of it. The lad had opinions and the courage of +them, and when he saw the cause of the Spanish beginning +to fail he was exasperated by the apathy of the Whigs at +home, and accordingly, with the audacity of youth, wrote +to his father:—</p> + +<p>‘I take the liberty of informing you and your Opposition +friends that the French have not conquered the whole of +Spain.... Lord Grey’s speech appears to me either a mere +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span> +attempt to plague Ministers for a few hours or a declaration +against the principle of the people’s right to depose an infamous +despot.... It seems to be the object of the Opposition +to prove that Spain is conquered, and that the +Spaniards like being robbed and murdered.’ It seems, +therefore, that Lord John, even in his teens, was inclined +to be dogmatic and oracular, but the soundness of his +judgment, in this particular instance at least, is not less +remarkable than his sturdy mental independence. Like his +friend Sydney Smith, he was already becoming a lover of +justice and of sympathy towards the oppressed.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">THE QUESTION OF A UNIVERSITY</div> + +<p>In the summer of 1809, after a short journey to Cadiz, +Lord Holland and his party crossed the plains of Estremadura +on mules to Lisbon and embarked for England, +though not without an unexpected delay caused by a slight +attack of fever on the part of Lord John. On the voyage +back Lord Holland and his secretary, Mr. Allen, pointed +out to him the advantages of going to Edinburgh for the +next winter, and in a letter to his father, dated Spithead, +August 10, 1809, he adds: ‘They say that I am yet too +young to go to an English university; that I should learn +more there [Edinburgh] in the meantime than I should anywhere +else.’</p> + +<p>He goes on to state that he is convinced by their arguments, +in spite of the fact that he had previously expressed +‘so much dislike to an academical career in Edinburgh.’ +The truth is, Lord John wished to follow his elder brother, +Lord Tavistock, to Cambridge; but the Duke would not hear +of the idea, and bluntly declared that nothing at that time +was to be learnt at the English universities.</p> + +<p>On his return to England it was decided to send Lord +John to continue his studies at Edinburgh University. The +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> +Northern Athens at that time was full of keen and varied +intellectual life, and the young student could scarcely have +set foot in it at a more auspicious moment. Other cadets +of the English aristocracy, such as Lord Webb Seymour +and Lord Henry Petty, were attracted at this period to the +Northern university, partly by the restrictive statutes of +Oxford and Cambridge, but still more by the genius and +learning of men like Dugald Stewart and John Playfair.</p> + +<p>The Duke of Bedford placed his son under the roof of +the latter, who at that time held the chair of mathematics +in the university, with the request that he would take a +general oversight of his studies. Professor Playfair was a +teacher who quickened to a remarkable extent the powers of +his pupils, and at the same time by his own estimable qualities +won their affection. Looking back in after-years, Lord +John declared that ‘Professor Playfair was one of the most +delightful of men and very zealous lover of liberty.’ He +adds that the simplicity of the distinguished mathematician, +as well as the elevation of his sentiments, was remarkable.</p> + +<p>It is interesting to learn from Professor Playfair’s own +statement that he was quickly impressed with the ability +of Lord John. Ambition was stirring in the breast of +the young Whig, and though he could be idle enough +at times, he seems on the whole to have lent his mind with +increasing earnestness to the tasks of the hour. He also +attended the classes of Professor Dugald Stewart during the +three years he spent in the grey metropolis of the North, and +the influence of that remarkable man was not merely stimulating +at the time, but materially helped to shape his whole +philosophy of life. After he had left Edinburgh, Lord John +wrote some glowing lines about Dugald Stewart, which +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> +follow—afar off, it must be admitted—the style of Pope. We +have only space to quote a snatch:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">’Twas he gave laws to fancy, grace to thought,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Taught virtue’s laws, and practised what he taught.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="sidenote">LIFE IN EDINBURGH</div> + +<p>Intellectual stimulus came to him through another +channel. He was elected in the spring of 1810 a member of +the Edinburgh Speculative Society, and during that and the +two following years he was zealous in his attendance at its +weekly meetings. The Speculative Society was founded +early in the reign of George III., and no less distinguished +a man than Sir Walter Scott acted for a term of years as +its secretary. It sought to unite men of different classes +and pursuits, and to bring young students and more experienced +thinkers and men of affairs together in friendly +but keen debate on historical, philosophical, literary, and +political questions.</p> + +<p>It is certain that Lord John first discovered his powers +of debate in the years when he took a prominent part in the +Tuesday night discussions in the hall which had been +erected for the Speculative Society in 1769 in the grounds +of the university. The subjects about which he spoke are +at least of passing interest even now as a revelation of character, +for they show the drift of his thoughts. He was not +content with merely academic themes, such as Queen +Elizabeth’s treatment of Mary Queen of Scots, or the policy +of Alcibiades. Topics of more urgent moment, like the war +of 1793, the proceedings of the Spanish Cortes in 1810, the +education of the poor, the value of Canada to Great Britain, +and one at least of the burning subjects of the day—the +imprisonment of Gale Jones in Newgate by order of the +House of Commons—claimed his attention and drew forth +his powers of argument and oratory. His mind was already +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> +turning in the direction of the subject of Parliamentary +Reform, and from Edinburgh he forwarded to his father +an essay on that subject, which still exists among the family +papers. It shows that he was preparing to vindicate even +then on a new field the liberal and progressive traditions +of the Russells.</p> + +<p>The Duke of Bedford was never too busy or preoccupied +to enter into his son’s political speculations. He encouraged +him to continue the habit of reasoning and writing on the +great questions of the day, and Lord John, who in spite of +uncertain health had no lack of energy, cheered by such +kindly recognition, was not slow to respond to his father’s +sensible advice.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">WELLINGTON AND THE WAR</div> + +<p>Meanwhile the war in the Peninsula was progressing, and +it appealed to the Edinburgh undergraduate now with new +and even painful interest. His brother, Lord William Russell, +had accompanied his regiment to Spain in the summer of +1809, and had been wounded at the battle of Talavera. In +the course of the following summer, Lord John states, in a +manuscript which is in Lady Russell’s possession: ‘I went +to Cadiz to see my brother William, who was then serving on +the staff of Sir Thomas Graham. The head-quarters was in a +small town on the Isle of Leon, and the General, who was +one of the kindest of men, gave me a bed in his house during +the time that I remained there.’ Cadiz was at the moment +besieged by the French, and Lord John proceeds to describe +the strategical points in its defence. Afterwards he +accompanied Colonel Stanhope, a member of General +Graham’s staff, to the head-quarters of Lord Wellington, +who had just occupied with his army the lines of Torres +Vedras. He thus records his impressions of the great +soldier, and of the spectacle which lay before him: +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span>—‘Standing +on the highest point, and looking around him +on every side, was the English General, his eyes bright and +searching as those of an eagle, his countenance full of hope, +beaming with intelligence as he marked with quick perception +every movement of troops and every change of circumstance +within the sweep of the horizon. On each side of +the fort of Sobral rose the entrenchments of the Allies, +bristling with guns and alive with the troops who formed +the garrison of this fortified position. Far off, on the left, +the cliffs rose to a moderate elevation, and the lines of +Torres Vedras were prominent in the distance.... There +stood the advanced guard of the conquering legions of +France; here was the living barrier of England, Spain, and +Portugal, prepared to stay the destructive flood, and to +preserve from the deluge the liberty and independence of +three armed nations. The sight filled me with admiration, +with confidence, and with hope.’</p> + +<p>Wellington told Colonel Stanhope that there was nothing +he should like better than to attack the enemy, but since +the force which he commanded was England’s only army, +he did not care to risk a battle. ‘In fact, a defeat would +have been most disastrous, for the English would have been +obliged to retreat upon Lisbon and embark for England, +probably after suffering great losses.’ Within a fortnight +Lord John was back again in London, and over the dinner +table at Holland House the enterprising lad of eighteen was +able to give Lord Grey an animated account of the prospects +of the campaign, and of the appearance of Wellington’s +soldiers. The desire for Cambridge revived in Lord John +with the conclusion of his Edinburgh course. His wishes +were, however, overruled by his father, who, as already hinted, +held extremely unfavourable views in regard to the +charac<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span>teristics +at that period of undergraduate life in the English +universities. The ‘sciences of horse-racing, fox-hunting, +and giving extravagant entertainments’ the Duke regarded +as the ‘chief studies of our youths at Cambridge,’ and he +made no secret of his opinion that his promising son was +better without them. Lord John’s father is described by +those who knew him as a plain, unpretending man, who +talked well in private life, but was reserved in society. He +was a great patron of the fine arts, and one of the best +farmers in England, and was, moreover, able to hold his +own in the debates of the House of Lords.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">THE FIELD OF SALAMANCA</div> + +<p>Meanwhile, at Woburn, Lord John’s military ardour, which +at this time was great, found an outlet in the command of a +company of the Bedfordshire Militia. But the life of a +country gentleman, even when it was varied by military drill, +was not to the taste of this roving young Englishman. The +passion for foreign travel, which he never afterwards wholly +lost, asserted itself, and led him to cast about for congenial +companions to accompany him abroad. Mr. George Bridgeman, +afterwards Earl of Bradford, and Mr. Robert Clive, the +second son of Earl Powis, agreed to accompany him, and +with light hearts the three friends started in August 1812, +with the intention of travelling through Sicily, Greece, Egypt, +and Syria. They had not proceeded far, however, on their +way to Southern Italy when tidings reached them that the +battle of Salamanca had been fought and that Wellington +had entered Madrid. The plans for exploring Sicily, Egypt, +and Syria were instantly thrown to the winds, and the young +enthusiasts at once bent their steps to the Spanish capital, +in order to take part in the rejoicings of the populace at the +victory of the Allies. They made the best of their way to +Oporto, but were chagrined to find on arriving there that +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> +although Salamanca had been added to the list of Wellington’s +triumphs, the victor had not pushed on to the capital. +Under these circumstances, Lord John and his companions +determined to make a short tour in the northern part of +Portugal before proceeding to Wellington’s head-quarters at +Burgos. They met with a few mild adventures on the road, +and afterwards crossed the frontier and reached the field +of Salamanca. The dead still lay unburied, and flocks of +vultures rose sullenly as the travellers threaded their way +across that terrible scene of carnage. However, neither +Lord John’s phlegm nor his philosophy deserted him, though +the awfulness of the spectacle was not lost upon him. ‘The +blood spilt on that day will become a real saving of life if it +become the means of delivering Spain from French dominion,’ +was his remark.</p> + +<p>At Burgos the young civilian renewed his acquaintance +with the Commander-in-Chief, and added to his experience +of war by being for a short time under fire from the French, +who held the neighbouring fortress. Wellington, however, +like other good soldiers, did not care for non-combatants at +the front, and accordingly the youths started for Madrid. +Finding that the French were in possession, they pushed +southwards, and spent Christmas at Cadiz. The prolonged +campaign decided them to carry out their original scheme. +Leaving Cadiz at the end of January they set off, <i>via</i> Gibraltar, +Cordova, and Cartagena, for Alicante, where they proposed +to embark for Sicily. But on the way reports reached them of +French reverses, and they were emboldened once more to +move towards Madrid. They had hardly started when other +and less reassuring rumours reached them, and Lord John’s +two companions resolved to return to Alicante; but he himself +determined to ride across the country to the head- +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span>quarters +of the army, at Frenida, a distance of 150 miles. +We are indebted to Mr. Bridgeman’s published letters +for the following account of Lord John’s plucky ride:—‘Finding +the French did not continue the retreat, John +Russell, my strange cousin and your ladyship’s mad nephew, +determined to execute a plan which he had often threatened, +but it appeared to Clive and me so very injudicious a one +that we never had an idea of his putting it into execution. +However, the evening previous to our leaving Almaden, he +said, “Well, I shall go to the army and see William, and I +will meet you either at Madrid or Alicante.” We found he +was quite serious, and he then informed us of his intentions.... +He would not take his servant, but ordered him to leave +out half-a-dozen changes of linen, and his gun loaded. He +was dressed in a blue greatcoat, overalls, and sword, and +literally took nothing else except his dressing-case, a pair of +pantaloons and shoes, a journal and an account book, pens +and ink, and a bag of money. He <ins class="correction" title="Transcriber's note: original reads 'woul'">would</ins> not carry anything +to reload his gun, which he said his principal reason for +taking was to sell, should he be short of money, for we had +too little to spare him any. The next morning he sold his +pony, bought a young horse, and rode the first league with +us. Here we parted with each other with much regret, and +poor John seemed rather forlorn. God grant he may have +reached head-quarters in safety and health, for he had been +far from well the last few days he was with us.... Clive +and I feel fully persuaded that we shall see him no more till +we return to England.’</p> + +<div class="sidenote">A SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY</div> + +<p>The fears entertained for Lord John’s safety were well +founded. Difficulties of many kinds had to be encountered +on the journey, and there was always the risk of being +arrested and detained by French piquets. But the 150 +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> +miles were traversed without mishap, and in twelve days +the ‘mad nephew’ entered the English quarters. He +stayed at Frenida more than a month, probably waiting for +an opportunity to see a great battle. But the wish was not +gratified. Dictating to Lady Russell in his later life the +narrative of his journey in Spain, he said: ‘When Lord +Wellington left his head-quarters on the frontier of Spain and +Portugal for his memorable campaign of Vittoria, I thought +that as I was not a soldier I might as well leave Lord Wellington +and proceed on a journey of amusement to Madrid.’</p> + +<p>General Alava gave him introductions, and in the course +of his journey he was entertained at dinner by a merry +canon at Plasencia, who pressed upon him a liberal supply +of wine. When Lord John declined taking any more, his +host exclaimed: ‘Do you not know the syllogism, “Qui bene +bibit, bene dormit; qui bene dormit, non peccat; qui non +peccat, salvatus erit”?’ At this stage Lord John found +it necessary to hire a servant who was capable of acting as +guide. He used to say that his whole appearance on +these journeys was somewhat grotesque, and in proof of +this assertion he was accustomed in relating his adventures +to add the following description:—‘I wore a blue military +cloak and a military cocked hat; I had a sword by my +side; my whole luggage was carried in two bags, one on +each side of the horse. In one of these I usually carried a +leg of mutton, from which I cut two or three slices when I +wished to prepare my dinner. My servant had a suit of +clothes which had never been of the best, and was then +mostly in rags. He, too, wore a cocked hat, and, being tall +and thin, stalked before me with great dignity.’ Such a +description reads almost like a page from Cervantes.</p> + +<p>Thus attended, Lord John visited the scene of the battle +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> +of Talavera, in which his brother had been wounded, and +on June 5, two days after the departure of the French, entered +Madrid. Before the end of the month news arrived +of the battle of Vittoria; and the young Englishman shared +in the public rejoicings which greeted the announcement. +‘From Talavera,’ adds Lord John, ‘I proceeded to Madrid, +where I met my friends George Bridgeman and Robert +Clive. With them I travelled to Valencia, and with them in +a ship laden with salt fish to Majorca.’</p> + +<p>At Palma the travellers found hospitable quarters at +the Bishop’s palace, and after a brief stay crossed in an +open boat to Port Mahon in Minorca—a rather risky trip, +as the youths, with their love of adventure, made it by night, +and were overtaken on the way by an alarming thunderstorm. +Whilst in Minorca Lord John received a letter from his +father, informing him of the death of his old friend General +Fitzpatrick, and also stating that the Duke meant to use +his influence at Tavistock to obtain for his son a seat in +the House of Commons. ‘He immediately flew home,’ remarks +his friend Mr. Bridgeman, ‘on what wings I know +not, but I suppose on those of political ambition.’</p> + +<p>The Duke’s nomination rendered his election in those +days of pocket-boroughs a foregone conclusion. As soon as +Lord John set foot in England he was greeted with the +tidings that he had already been elected member for Tavistock, +and so began, at the age of one-and-twenty, a career +in the House of Commons which was destined to last for +nearly fifty years. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<p class="title">IN PARLIAMENT AND FOR THE PEOPLE<br /><br /> + +1813-1826</p> + +<p class="desc">The political outlook when Lord John entered the House of Commons—The +‘Condition of England’ question—The struggle for Parliamentary +Reform—Side-lights on Napoleon Bonaparte—The +Liverpool Administration in a panic—Lord John comes to the aid +of Sir Francis Burdett—Foreign travel—First motion in favour of +Reform—Making headway</p> + + +<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Lord Liverpool</span> was at the head of affairs when Lord John +Russell entered Parliament. His long tenure of power had +commenced in the previous summer, and it lasted until the +Premier was struck down by serious illness in the opening +weeks of 1827. In Lord John’s opinion, Lord Liverpool +was a ‘man of honest but narrow views,’ and he probably +would have endorsed the cynical description of him as the +‘keystone rather than the capital’ of his own Cabinet. +Lord Castlereagh was at the Foreign Office, Lord Sidmouth +was Home Secretary, Mr. Vansittart Chancellor of +the Exchequer, Lord Palmerston Secretary at War, and +Mr. Peel Secretary for Ireland. The political outlook +on all sides was gloomy and menacing. The absorbing +subject in Parliament was war and the sinews of war; +whilst outside its walls hard-pressed taxpayers were moodily +speculating on the probable figures in the nation’s ‘glory +bill.’ The two years’ war with America was in progress. +The battle between the <i>Shannon</i> and the <i>Chesapeake</i> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span> +was still the talk of the hour; but there seemed just then +no prospect of peace. Napoleon still struggled for the +dictatorship of Europe, and Englishmen were wondering +to what extent they would have to share in the attempt +to foil his ambition. The Peninsular campaign was costly +enough to the British taxpayer; but his chagrin vanished—for +the moment, at least—when Wellington’s victories +appealed to his pride. Since the beginning of the century +the attention of Parliament and people had been directed +mainly to foreign affairs. Domestic legislation was at a +standstill. With one important exception—an Act for the +Abolition of the Slave Trade—scarcely any measure of note, +apart from military matters and international questions, had +passed the House of Commons.</p> + +<p>Parliamentary government, so far as it was supposed to +be representative of the people, was a delusion. The +number of members returned by private patronage for +England and Wales amounted to more than three hundred. +It was publicly asserted, and not without an appeal to statistics, +that one hundred and fifty-four persons, great and +small, actually returned no less than three hundred and +seven members to the House of Commons. Representation +in the boroughs was on a less worthy scale in the reign +of George III. than it had been in the days of the Plantagenets, +and whatever changes had been made in the franchise +since the Tudors had been to the advantage of the +privileged rather than to that of the people.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">FALLEN BOROUGHS AND FANCY PRICES</div> + +<p>Parliament was little more than an assembly of delegates +sent by large landowners. Ninety members were +returned by forty-six places in which there were less than +fifty electors; and seventy members were returned by +thirty-five places containing scarcely any electors at all. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> +Places such as Old Sarum—consisting of a mound and +a few ruins—returned two members; whilst Manchester, +Leeds, and Birmingham, in spite of their great populations, +and in spite, too, of keen political intelligence and far-reaching +commercial activity, were not yet judged worthy +of the least voice in affairs. At Gatton the right of election +lay in the hands of freeholders and householders paying +scot and lot; but the only elector was Lord Monson, who +returned two members. Many of the boroughs were bought +at a fancy price by men ambitious to enter Parliament—a +method which seems, however, to have had the advantage +of economy when the cost of some of the elections is taken +into account. An election for Northampton cost the two +candidates 30,000<i>l.</i> each, whilst Lord Milton and Mr. +Lascelles, in 1807, spent between them 200,000<i>l.</i> at a +contested election for the county of York.</p> + +<p>Bribery and corruption were of course practised +wholesale, and publicans fleeced politicians and made +fortunes out of the pockets of aspirants for Westminster. +In the ‘People’s Book’ an instance is cited of the way +some borough elections were ‘managed.’ ‘The patron of a +large town in Ireland, finding, on the approach of an +election, that opposition was to be made to his interest, +marched a regiment of soldiers into the place from Loughrea, +where they were quartered, and caused them to be +elected freemen. These military freemen then voted for +his friend, who was, of course, returned!’ Inequality, +inadequacy, unreality, corruption—these were the leading +traits of the House of Commons. The House of Commons +no more represented the people of the United Kingdom +than the parish council of Little Peddleton mirrors the +mind of Europe. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span></p> + +<p>The statute-book was disfigured by excessive penalities. +Men were put in the pillory for perjury, libel, and the like. +Forgers, robbers, incendiaries, poachers, and mutilators of +cattle were sent to the gallows. Ignorance and brutality +prevailed amongst large sections of the people both in +town and country, and the privileged classes, in spite of +vulgar ostentation and the parade of fine manners, set +them an evil example in both directions. Yet, though +the Church of England had no vision of the needs of +the people and no voice for their wrongs, the great wave +of religious life which had followed the preaching of Whitfield +and Wesley had not spent its force, nor was it destined +to do so before it had awakened in the multitude a spirit +of quickened intelligence and self-respect which made them +restive under political servitude and in the presence of +acknowledged but unredressed grievances. Education, +through the disinterested efforts of a group of philanthropists, +was, moreover, beginning—in some slight degree, at least—to +leaven the mass of ignorance in the country, the power +of the press was making itself felt, and other agencies were +also beginning to dispel the old apathy born of despair.</p> + +<p>The French Revolution, with its dramatic overthrow of +tyranny and its splendid watchword, ‘Liberty, Equality, +Fraternity,’ made its own appeal to the hope as well as the +imagination of the English people, although the sanguinary +incidents which marked it retarded the movement for Reform +in England, and as a matter of fact sent the Reformers into +the wilderness for the space of forty years.</p> + +<p>More than a quarter of a century before the birth of +Lord John Russell, who was destined to carry the first +Reform Bill through the House of Commons, Lord +Chatham had not hesitated to denounce the borough +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> +representation of the country as the ‘rotten part of our +constitution,’ which, he said, resembled a mortified limb; +and he had added the significant words, ‘If it does not drop, +it must be amputated.’ He held that it was useless to look +for the strength and vigour of the constitution in little pocket-boroughs, +and that the nation ought rather to rely on the +‘great cities and counties.’ Fox, in a debate in 1796, +declared that peace could never be secured until the Constitution +was amended. He added: ‘The voice of the +representatives of the people must prevail over the executive +ministers of the Crown; the people must be restored to +their just rights.’ These warnings fell unheeded, until the +strain of long-continued war, bad harvests, harsh poor laws, +and exorbitant taxes on the necessities of life conspired to +goad the people to the verge of open rebellion.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">‘FRIENDS OF THE PEOPLE’</div> + +<p>Wilkes, Pitt, Burdett, Cartwright, and Grey, again and +again returned to the charge, only to find, however, that the +strongholds of privilege were not easily overthrown. The year +1792, in which, by a noteworthy coincidence, Lord John +Russell was born, was rendered memorable in the history of +a movement with which his name will always be associated +by the formation of the society of the ‘Friends of the People,’ +an influential association which had its place of meeting at +the Freemasons’ Tavern. Amongst its first members were +Mr. Lambton (father of the first Earl of Durham), Mr. +(afterwards Sir James) Mackintosh, Mr. Sheridan, Mr. +(afterwards Lord) Erskine, Mr. Charles (afterwards Earl) +Grey, and more than twenty other members of Parliament. +In the following year Mr. Grey brought forward the celebrated +petition of the Friends of the People in the House +of Commons. It exposed the abuses of the existing electoral +system and presented a powerful argument for +Par<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span>liamentary +Reform. He moved that the petition should +be referred to the consideration ‘of a committee’; but +Pitt, in spite of his own measure on the subject in 1785, +was now lukewarm about Reform, and accordingly opposed +as ‘inopportune’ such an inquiry. ‘This is not a time,’ +were his words, ‘to make hazardous experiments.’ The +spirit of anarchy, in his view, was abroad, and Burke’s +‘Reflections,’ had of course increased the panic of the +moment. Although Grey pressed the motion, only 141 +members supported it, and though four years later he +moved for leave to bring in a bill on the subject, justice +and common sense were again over-ridden, and, so far as +Parliament was concerned, the question slept until 1809, +when Sir Francis Burdett revived the agitation.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, men of the stamp of Horne Tooke, William +Cobbett, Hone, ‘Orator’ Hunt, and Major Cartwright—brother +of Lord John Russell’s tutor at Woburn, and the +originator of the popular cry, ‘One man, one vote’—were in +various ways keeping the question steadily before the minds +of the people. Hampden Clubs and other democratic associations +were also springing up in various parts of the +country, sometimes to the advantage of demagogues of +damaged reputation rather than to the advancement of the +popular cause. Sir Francis Burdett may be said to have +represented the Reformers in Parliament during the remainder +of the reign of George III., though, just as the old +order was changing, Earl Grey, in 1819, publicly renewed his +connection with the question, and pledged himself to support +any sound and judicious measure which promised to deal +effectively with known abuses. In spite of the apathy of +Parliament and the sullen opposition of the privileged classes +to all projects of the kind, whether great or small, sweeping +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> +or partial, the question was slowly ripening in the public +mind. Sydney Smith in 1819 declared, ‘I think all wise +men should begin to turn their minds Reformwards. We +shall do it better than Mr. Hunt or Mr. Cobbett. Done it +<i>must</i> and <i>will</i> be.’ In the following year Lord John Russell, +at the age of twenty-eight, became identified with the question +of Parliamentary Reform by bringing before the House of +Commons a measure for the redress of certain scandalous +grievances, chiefly at Grampound. When Lord John’s Parliamentary +career began, George III. was hopelessly mad +and blind, and, as if to heighten the depressing aspect of +public affairs, the scandalous conduct of his sons was straining +to the breaking-point the loyalty of men of intelligence +to the Throne.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">LORD JOHN’S MAIDEN SPEECH</div> + +<p>Lord John’s maiden speech in Parliament was directed +against the proposal of the Liverpool Administration to +enforce its views in regard to the union of Norway and +Sweden. It escaped the attention of Parliamentary reporters +and has passed into oblivion. The pages of ‘Hansard,’ however, +give a brief summary of his next speech, which, like its +predecessor, was on the side of liberty. It was delivered on +July 14, 1814, in opposition to the second reading of the +Alien Acts, which in spite of such a protest quickly became +law. His comments were concise and characteristic. ‘He +considered the Act to be one which was very liable to abuse. +The present time was that which least called for it; and +Ministers, in bringing forward the measure now because it +had been necessary before, reminded him of the unfortunate +wag mentioned in ‘Joe Miller,’ who was so fond of rehearsing +a joke that he always repeated it at the wrong time.’ During +the first months of his Parliamentary experience Lord +John was elected a member of Grillion’s Club, which had +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> +been established in Bond Street about twelve months previously, +and which became in after-years a favourite haunt +of many men of light and leading. It was founded on a +somewhat novel basis. Leading members of the Whig and +Tory parties met for social purposes. Political discussion +was strictly tabooed, and nothing but the amenities of life +were cultivated. In after-years the club became to Lord +John Russell, as it has also been to many distinguished +politicians, a welcome haven from the turmoil of Westminster.</p> + +<p>Delicate health in the autumn quickened Lord John’s +desire to renew the pleasures of foreign travel. He accordingly +went by sea to Italy, and arrived at Leghorn in the +opening days of December. He was still wandering in +Southern Europe when Parliament reassembled, and the +Christmas Eve of that year was rendered memorable to +him by an interview with Napoleon in exile at Elba.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">A GLIMPSE OF NAPOLEON</div> + +<p>Through the kindness of Lady Russell it is possible +here to quote from an old-fashioned leather-bound volume +in her husband’s handwriting, which gives a detailed account +of the incidents of his Italian tour in 1814-15, and of his +conversation on this occasion with the banished despot of +Europe. Part of what follows has already been published +by Mr. Walpole, but much of it has remained for eighty years +in the privacy of Lord John’s own notebook, from the faded +pages of which it is now transcribed:—‘Napoleon was +dressed in a green coat, with a hat in his hand, very much +as he is painted; but, excepting the resemblance of dress, +I had a very mistaken idea of him from his portrait. He +appears very short, which is partly owing to his being very +fat, his hands and legs being quite swollen and unwieldy. +That makes him appear awkward, and not unlike the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> +whole-length figure of Gibbon the historian. Besides this, +instead of the bold-marked countenance that I expected, +he has fat cheeks and rather a turn-up nose, which, to +bring in another historian, makes the shape of his face +resemble the portraits of Hume. He has a dusky grey eye, +which would be called vicious in a horse, and the shape of +his mouth expresses contempt and decision. His manner +is very good-natured, and seems studied to put one at one’s +ease by its familiarity; his smile and laugh are very agreeable; +he asks a number of questions without object, and +often repeats them, a habit which he has, no doubt, acquired +during fifteen years of supreme command. He began asking +me about my family, the allowance my father gave me, if I +ran into debt, drank, played, &c. He asked me if I had +been in Spain, and if I was not imprisoned by the Inquisition. +I told him that I had seen the abolition of the +Inquisition voted, and of the injudicious manner in which it +was done.’</p> + +<p>Napoleon told Lord John that Ferdinand was in the hands +of the priests. Spain, like Italy, he added, was a fine country, +especially Andalusia and Seville. Lord John admitted this, +but spoke of the uncultivated nature of the land. ‘Agriculture,’ +replied Napoleon, ‘is neglected because the land is in +the hands of the Church.’ ‘And of the grandees,’ suggested +his visitor. ‘Yes,’ was the answer, ‘who have privileges +contrary to the public prosperity.’ Napoleon added that +he thought the evil might be remedied by divided property +and abolishing hurtful privileges, as was done in +France. Afterwards Napoleon asked many questions +about the Cortes, and when Lord John told him that +many of the members made good speeches on abstract +questions, but they failed when any practical debate on +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> +finance or war took place, Napoleon drily remarked: +‘Oui, faute de l’habitude de gouverner.’ Presently the talk +drifted to Wellington, or rather Napoleon adroitly led it +thither. He described the man who had driven the French +out of Spain as a ‘grand chasseur,’ and asked if Wellington +liked Paris. Lord John replied that he thought not, and +added that Wellington had said that he should find himself +much at a loss as to what to do in time of peace, as he +seemed scarcely to like anything but war. Whereupon +Napoleon exclaimed, ‘La guerre est un grand jeu, une belle +occupation.’ He expressed his surprise that England should +have sent the Duke to Paris, and he added, evidently with +a touch of bitterness, ‘On n’aime pas l’homme par qui on a +été battu.’</p> + +<p>The Emperor’s great anxiety seemed to be to get reliable +tidings of the condition of France. Lord John’s own words +are: ‘He inquired if I had seen at Florence many Englishmen +who came from there, and when I mentioned Lord +Holland, he asked if he thought things went well with the +Bourbons. When I answered in the negative he seemed +delighted, and asked if Lord Holland thought they would +be able to stay there.’ On this point Lord John was not +able to satisfy him, and Napoleon said that he understood +that the Bourbons had neglected the Englishmen who had +treated them well in England, and particularly the Duke of +Buckingham, and he condemned their lack of gratitude. +Lord John suggested that the Bourbons were afraid to be +thought to be dependent on the English, but Napoleon +brushed this aside by asserting that the English in general +were very well received. In a mocking tone he expressed +his wish to know whether the army was much attached to +the Bourbons. The Vienna Congress was, of course, just +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> +then in progress, and Napoleon showed himself nothing +loth to talk about it. He said: ‘The Powers will disagree, +but they will not go to war.’ He spoke of the Regent’s +conduct to the Princess as very impolitic, and he added that +it shocked the <i>bienséances</i> by the observance of which his +father George III. had become so popular. He declared +that our struggle with America was ‘une guerre de vengeance,’ +as the frontier question could not possibly be of +any importance. According to Napoleon, the great superiority +of England to France lay in her aristocracy.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">NAPOLEON’S PREDICTION ABOUT INDIA</div> + +<p>Napoleon stated that he had intended to create a new +aristocracy in France by marrying his officers to the daughters +of the old nobility, and he added that he had reserved a fund +from the contributions which he levied when he made +treaties with Austria, Prussia, &c., in order to found these +new families. Speaking of some of the naval engagements, +‘he found great fault with the French admiral who fought +the battle of the Nile, and pointed out what he ought to +have done; but he found most fault with the admiral who +fought Sir R. Calder for not disabling his fleet, and said +that if he could have got the Channel clear then, or at any +other time, he would have invaded England.’ Talleyrand, +he declared, had advised the war with Spain, and Napoleon +also made out that he had prevented him from saving the +Duc d’Enghien. Spain ought to have been conquered, and +Napoleon declared that he would have gone there himself +if the war with Russia had not occurred. England would +repent of bringing the Russians so far, and he added in this +connection the remarkable words, ‘They will deprive her +of India.’</p> + +<p>After lingering for a while in Vienna, Florence, Rome, +Naples, and other cities, Lord John returned home by way +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> +of Germany, and on June 5 he spoke in Parliament against +the renewal of hostilities. He was one of the small minority +in Parliament who refused to regard Napoleon’s flight from +Elba as a sufficient <i>casus belli</i>. Counsels of peace, however, +were naturally just then not likely to prevail, and Wellington’s +victory a fortnight later falsified Lord John’s fears. +He did not speak again until February 1816, when, in +seconding an amendment to the Address, he protested +against the continuance of the income-tax as a calamity to +the country. He pointed out that, although there had been +repeated victories abroad, prosperity at home had vanished; +that farmers could not pay their rents nor landlords their +taxes; and that everybody who was not paid out of the +public purse felt that prosperity was gone. A few weeks +later he opposed the Army Estimates, contending that a standing +army of 150,000 men ‘must alarm every friend of his +country and its constitution.’</p> + +<p>It was probably owing in a measure to the hopelessness +of the situation, but also partly to ill-health, that Lord John +absented himself to a great extent from Parliament. He +was, in truth, chagrined at the course of affairs and discouraged +with his own prospects, and in consequence he lapsed +for a time into the position of a silent member of the House +of Commons. Meanwhile, the summer of 1816 was wet +and cold and the harvest was in consequence a disastrous +failure. Wheat rose to 103<i>s.</i> a quarter, and bread riots +broke out in the Eastern Counties. The Luddites, who +commenced breaking up machinery in manufacturing towns +in 1811, again committed great excesses. Tumults occurred +in London, and the Prince Regent was insulted in the +streets on his return from opening Parliament.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">PANIC-STRICKEN AUTHORITY</div> + +<p>The Liverpool Cabinet gave way to panic, and quickly +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> +resorted to extreme measures. A secret committee was +appointed in each House to investigate the causes of the +disaffection of a portion of his Majesty’s subjects. Four +bills were, as the result of their deliberations, swiftly introduced +and passed through Parliament. The first enacted +penalties for decoying sailors and soldiers; the second was a +pitiful exhibition of lack of confidence, for it aimed at +special measures for the protection of the Prince Regent; the +third furnished magistrates with unusual powers for the prevention +of seditious meetings; and the fourth suspended the +Habeas Corpus Act till July 1, giving the Executive authority +‘to secure and detain such persons as his Majesty shall +suspect are conspiring against his person and Government.’</p> + +<p>The measures of the Government filled Lord John +with indignation, and he assailed the proposal to suspend +the Habeas Corpus Act in a vigorous speech, which showed +conclusively that his sympathies were on the side of the +weak and distressed classes of the community. ‘I had +not intended,’ he said, ‘to trouble the House with +any observations of mine during the present session of +Parliament. Indeed, the state of my health induced me to +resolve upon quitting the fatiguing business of this House +altogether. But he must have no ordinary mind whose attention +is not roused in a singular manner when it is proposed +to suspend the rights and liberties of Englishmen, +though even for a short period. I am determined, for my +own part, that no weakness of frame, no indisposition of +body, shall prevent my protesting against the most dangerous +precedent which this House ever made. We talk much—I +think, a great deal too much—of the wisdom of our +ancestors. I wish we could imitate the courage of our +ancestors. They were not ready to lay their liberties at the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> +foot of the Crown upon every vain or imaginary alarm.’ +He begged the majority not to give, by the adoption of +a policy of coercion, the opponents of law and order the +opportunity of saying, ‘When we ask for redress you refuse +all innovation; when the Crown asks for protection you +sanction a new code.’</p> + +<p>All protests, as usual, were thrown away, and the bill was +passed. Lord John resumed his literary tasks, and as a +matter of fact only once addressed the House in the course +of the next two years. He repeatedly declared his intention +of entirely giving up politics and devoting his time to literature +and travel. Many friends urged him to relinquish such +an idea. Moore’s poetical ‘Remonstrance,’ which gladdened +Lord John not a little at the moment, is so well known that +we need scarcely quote more than the closing lines:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Thus gifted, thou never canst sleep in the shade;<br /></span> +<span class="i2">If the stirring of genius, the music of fame,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And the charm of thy cause have not power to persuade,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Yet think how to freedom thou’rt pledged by thy name.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Like the boughs of that laurel, by Delphi’s decree<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Set apart for the fane and its service divine,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">All the branches that spring from the old Russell tree<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Are by Liberty claimed for the use of her shrine.’<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Lord John’s literary labours began at this time to be +considerable. He also enlarged his knowledge of the world +by giving free play to his love of foreign travel.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">FEELING HIS WAY</div> + +<p>A general election occurred in the summer of 1818, and +it proved that though the Tories were weakened they still +had a majority. Lord John, with his uncle Lord William +Russell, were, however, returned for Tavistock. Public affairs +in 1819 were of a kind to draw him from his retirement, and +as a matter of fact it was in that year that his speeches began +to attract more than passing notice. He spoke briefly in +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> +favour of reducing the number of the Lords of the Admiralty, +advocated an inquiry into domestic and foreign policy, protested +against the surrender of the town of Parga, on the +coast of Epirus, to the Turks, and made an energetic speech +against the prevailing bribery and corruption which disgraced +contested elections. The summer of that year was also +rendered memorable in Lord John’s career by his first speech +on Parliamentary Reform. In July, Sir Francis Burdett, +undeterred by previous overwhelming defeats, brought forward +his usual sweeping motion demanding universal suffrage, +equal electoral districts, vote by ballot, and annual Parliaments. +Lord John’s criticism was level-headed, and therefore +characteristic. He had little sympathy with extreme +measures, and he knew, moreover, that it was not merely +useless but injurious to the cause of Reform to urge them +at such a moment. The opposition was too powerful and +too impervious to anything in the nature of an idea to +give such proposals just then the least chance of success. +Property meant to fight hard for its privileges, and the +great landowners looked upon their pocket-boroughs as a +goodly heritage as well as a rightful appanage of rank and +wealth. As for the great unrepresented towns, they were +regarded as hot-beds of sedition, and therefore the people +were to be kept in their place, and that meant without a +voice in the affairs of the nation. The close corporations +and the corrupt boroughs were meanwhile dismissed with a +shrug of the shoulders or a laugh of scorn.</p> + +<p>Lord John was as yet by no means a full-fledged Reformer, +but it was something in those days for a duke’s +son to take sides, even in a modified way, with the party +of progress. His speech represented the views not so +much of the multitude as of the middle classes. They +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> +were alarmed at the truculent violence of mob orators up and +down the country; their fund of inherited reverence for the +aristocracy was as yet scarcely diminished. They had their +own dread of spoliation, and they had not quite recovered +from their fright over the French Revolution. They were +law abiding, moreover, and the blood and treasure which it +had cost the nation to crush Napoleon had allayed in +thousands of them the thirst for glory, and turned them into +possibly humdrum but very sincere lovers of peace. Lord +John’s speech was an appeal to the average man in his +strength and in his limitations, and men of cautious common-sense +everywhere rejoiced that the young Whig—who was +liked none the less by farmer and shopkeeper because +he was a lord—had struck the nail exactly on the head. +The growth of Lord John’s influence in Parliament was +watched at Woburn with keen interest. ‘I have had a good +deal of conversation,’ wrote the Duke, ‘with old Tierney +at Cassiobury about you.... I find with pleasure that he +has a very high opinion of your debating powers; and says, +if you will stick to one branch of politics and not range +over too desultory a field, you may become eminently useful +and conspicuous in the House of Commons.... The line +I should recommend for your selection would be that of +foreign politics, and all home politics bearing on civil and +religious liberty—a pretty wide range....’</p> + +<p>As soon as the end of the session brought a respite +from his Parliamentary duties Lord John started for the +Continent with Moore the poet. The author of ‘Lalla +Rookh’ was at that moment struggling, after the manner of +the majority of poets at any moment, with the three-headed +monster pounds, shillings, and pence, through the failure of +his deputy in an official appointment at Bermuda. The +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> +poet’s journal contains many allusions to Lord John, and +the following passage from it, dated September 4, 1819, +speaks for itself:—‘Set off with Lord John in his carriage +at seven; breakfasted and arrived at Dover to dinner at +seven o’clock; the journey very agreeable. Lord John mild +and sensible; took off Talma very well. Mentioned +Buonaparte having instructed Talma in the part of Nero; +correcting him for being in such a bustle in giving his +orders, and telling him they ought to be given calmly, +as coming from a person used to sovereignty.’<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> After a +fortnight in Paris the travellers went on to Milan, where +they parted company, Moore going to Venice to visit +Byron, and Lord John to Genoa, to renew a pleasant +acquaintance with Madame Durazzo, an Italian lady of +rank who was at one time well known in English society.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">MADAME DURAZZO</div> + +<p>Madame Durazzo was a quick-witted and accomplished +woman, and her vivacious and sympathetic nature was +hardly less remarkable than her personal charm. There is +evidence enough that she made a considerable impression +upon the young English statesman, who, indeed, wrote a +sonnet about her. Lord John’s verdict on Italy and the +Italians is pithily expressed in a hitherto unpublished +extract from his journal:—‘Italy is a delightful country for +a traveller—every town full of the finest specimens of art, +even now, and many marked by remains of antiquity near +one another—all different. Easy travelling, books in +plenty, living cheap and tolerably good—what can a man +wish for but a little grace and good taste in dress amongst +women? Men of science abound in Italy—the Papal +Government discouraged them at Rome; but the country +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> +cannot be said to be behind the world in knowledge. +Poets, too, are plenty; I never read their verses.’</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, the condition of England was becoming +critical. Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, and other great +towns were filled with angry discontent, and turbulent mass +meetings of the people were held to protest against any +further neglect of their just demands for political representation. +Major Cartwright advised these great unrepresented +communities to ‘send a petition in the form of a living man +instead of one on parchment or paper,’ so that he might +state in unmistakable terms their demands to the Speaker. +Sir Charles Wolseley, a Staffordshire baronet and a friend +of Burdett, was elected with a great flourish of trumpets at +Birmingham to act in this capacity, and Manchester determined +also to send a representative, and on August 16, 1819, +a great open-air meeting was called to give effect to this +resolution. The multitude were dispersed by the military, +and readers of Bamford’s ‘Passages in the Life of a Radical’ +will remember his graphic and detailed description of the +scene of tumult and bloodshed which followed, and which +is known as the Peterloo Massacre. The carnage inspired +Shelley’s magnificent ‘Mask of Anarchy’:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">... One fled past, a maniac maid,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And her name was Hope, she said:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But she looked more like Despair,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And she cried out in the air:<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘My father Time is weak and grey<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With waiting for a better day.’<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="sidenote">OIL AND VINEGAR</div> + +<p>In those days Parliament did not sit in August, and the +members of the Cabinet were not at hand when the crisis +arose. The Prince Regent expressed his approbation of the +conduct of the magistrates of Manchester as well as of that +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> +of the officers and troops of the cavalry, whose firmness and +effectual support of the civil power preserved the peace of +the town. The Cabinet also lost no time in giving its emphatic +support to the high-handed action of the Lancashire +magistrates, and Major Cartwright and other leaders of +the popular movement became the heroes of the hour +because the Liverpool Administration was foolish enough +to turn them into political martyrs by prosecuting them +on the charge of sedition. Lord John at this crisis +received several letters urging his return home immediately. +That his influence was already regarded as of some importance +is evident from the terms in which Sir James +Mackintosh addressed him. ‘You are more wanted than anybody, +not only for general service, but because your Reform +must be immediately brought forward—if possible, as the +act of the party, but at all events as the creed of all Whig +Reformers.’ Writing to Moore from Genoa on November 9, +Lord John says: ‘I am just setting off for London. +Mackintosh has written me an oily letter, to which I have +answered by a vinegar one; but I want you to keep me up +in acerbity.’</p> + +<p>Soon after Parliament met, the famous Six Acts—usually +termed the ‘Gagging Acts’—were passed, though not without +strenuous opposition. These measures were intended +to hinder delay in the administration of justice in the case +of misdemeanour, to prevent the training of persons to the +use of arms, to enable magistrates to seize and detain arms, +to prevent seditious meetings, and to bring to punishment +the authors of blasphemous and seditious libels. No meeting +of more than fifty people was to be held without six days’ +notice to a magistrate; only freeholders or inhabitants were +to be allowed even to attend; and adjournments were for +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span>bidden. +The time and place of meeting were, if deemed +advisable, to be changed by the local authorities, and no +banners or flags were to be displayed. The wisdom of +Lord Eldon, the patriotism of Lord Castlereagh, and the +panic of Lord Sidmouth were responsible for these tyrannical +enactments. On December 14 Lord John brought +forward his first resolutions in favour of Reform. He proposed +(1) that all boroughs in which gross and notorious +bribery and corruption should be proved to prevail should +cease to return members to Parliament; (2) that the right so +taken away should be given to some great town or to the +largest counties; (3) that it is the duty of the House to consider +of further means to detect and to prevent corruption +in Parliamentary elections; (4) that it is expedient that +the borough of Grampound should be disfranchised. Even +Castlereagh complimented him on the manner in which he +had introduced the question, and undertook that, if Lord +John would withdraw the resolutions and bring in a bill to +disfranchise Grampound, he would not oppose the proposition, +and to this arrangement Lord John consented. +Shortly before the dissolution of Parliament, consequent +upon the death of the King, in January 1820, Lord John +obtained leave to bring in a bill for suspending the issue of +writs to the corrupt boroughs of Penryn, Camelford, Grampound, +and Barnstaple. But the alarm occasioned by the +Cato Street Conspiracy threw back the movement and +awakened all the old prejudices against even the slightest +concession.</p> + +<p>At the general election of 1820 Lord John was returned +for the county of Huntingdon. As soon as possible Lord +John returned to the charge, and brought forward his +measure for dealing with Grampound and to transfer the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> +right of voting to Leeds, the franchise to be given to +occupiers of houses rated at 5<i>l.</i> and upwards. In +his ‘Recollections and Suggestions’ Lord John says: +‘With a view to work my way to a change, not by +eloquence—for I had none—but by patient toil and a +plain statement of facts, I brought before the House of +Commons the case of Grampound. I obtained an inquiry, +and, with the assistance of Mr. Charles Wynn, I forced the +solicitors employed in bribery to reveal the secrets of their +employers: the case was clear; the borough was convicted.’ +Whilst the debate was proceeding Queen Caroline +arrived in England from the Continent, and was received +with much popular enthusiasm. Hostile measures were at +once taken in the House of Commons against her, and +though the despicable proceedings eventually came to +nought, they effectually stopped all further discussion of the +question of Reform for the time being.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">THE ‘FIRST GENTLEMAN OF EUROPE’</div> + +<p>Like Canning and Brougham, Lord John took the side of +the injured Queen, and he drew up a petition to George IV. +begging him to end the further consideration of the Bill of +Pains and Penalties against Caroline by proroguing Parliament. +Such a request was entirely thrown away on a man of +the character of George IV., for the King was bent on a policy +of mean revenge; and as only the honour of a woman was +concerned, the ‘first gentleman of Europe’ found the Liverpool +Administration obsequious enough to do his bidding. +When at length public opinion prevailed and the proceedings +against the Queen were withdrawn in November, and whilst +rejoicings and illuminations were going on in London at the +Queen’s deliverance, Lord John went to Paris, remaining +there till January. Moore was in Paris, and he was much +in his company, and divided the rest of his time between +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> +literature and society. He wrote his now forgotten novel, +‘The Nun of Arrouca,’ during the six weeks which he spent +in Paris. A Frenchman, visiting the poet, ‘lamented that +his friend Lord John showed to so little advantage in +society from his extreme taciturnity, and still more from +his apparent coldness and indifference to what is said by +others. Several here to whom he was introduced had been +much disappointed in consequence of this manner.’</p> + +<p>Lady Blessington, who was at that time living abroad, +states that Lord John came and dined with herself and the +Earl, and the comments of so beautiful and accomplished a +woman of fashion are at least worthy of passing record. +‘Lord John was in better health and spirits than when I +remember him in England. He is exceedingly well read, and +has a quiet dash of humour, that renders his observations +very amusing. When the reserve peculiar to him is thawed, +he can be very agreeable. Good sense, a considerable power +of discrimination, a highly cultivated mind, a great equality +of temper, are the characteristics of Lord John Russell, and +these peculiarly fit him for taking a distinguished part in +public life.’ Lady Blessington adds that the only obstacle, +in her opinion, to Lord John’s success lays in the natural +reserve of his manners, which might lead people ‘to think +him cold and proud.’ This is exactly what happened, and +only those who knew Lord John intimately were aware of +the delicate consideration for others which lurked beneath +his somewhat frigid demeanour.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">HALF A LOAF OR NO BREAD</div> + +<p>Early in the year 1821 Lord John reintroduced his bill +for the disfranchisement of Grampound. Several amendments +were proposed, and one, brought forward by Mr. +Stuart Wortley, limiting the right to vote to 20<i>l.</i> householders, +was carried. Thereupon Lord John declined to take further +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span> +charge of the measure. After being altered and pruned by +both Houses the bill was passed, in spite of Lord Eldon, +‘with tears and doleful predictions,’ urging the peers ‘to resist +this first turn of the helm towards the whirlpool of democracy.’ +Grampound ceased to exist as a Parliamentary +borough, and the county of York gained two members. +Although Lord John supported the amended bill—on the +principle that half a loaf is better than no bread—he at +the same time announced that ‘in a future session he proposed +to call attention to the claims of large towns to send +members to this House.’ He was determined to do all +in his power to deprive what he termed the ‘dead bones +of a former state of England’ of political influence, and to +give representation to what he termed the ‘living energy and +industry of the England of the nineteenth century, with its +steam-engines and its factories, its cotton and woollen cloths, +its cutlery and its coal-mines, its wealth and its intelligence.’ +Whilst the bill about Grampound was being discussed +by the Lords he took further action in this direction, and +presented four resolutions for the discovery and punishment +of bribery, the disfranchisement of corrupt boroughs, and the +enfranchisement of wealthy and populous towns. On a +division his proposals were defeated by thirty-one votes +in a House of 279 members, and this, under all the circumstances, +was a better result than he expected.</p> + +<p>On April 25, 1822, Lord John again tested the feeling of +Parliament with his motion ‘that the present state of the +representation requires serious consideration.’ In the course +of a speech of three hours he startled the House by proposing +that 100 new members should be added, and, in order +that the Commons should not be overcrowded, he added +another resolution, to the effect that a similar number of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> +the small boroughs should be represented by one member +instead of two. Mr. Canning opposed such a scheme, but +complimented Lord John on the ability he had displayed in +its advocacy, and then added: ‘That the noble lord will +carry his motion this evening I have no fear; but with the +talents which he has shown himself to possess, and with +(I sincerely hope) a long and brilliant career of Parliamentary +distinction before him, he will, no doubt, renew +his efforts hereafter. If, however, he shall persevere, and if +his perseverance shall be successful, and if the results of +that success shall be such as I cannot help apprehending, +his be the triumph to have precipitated those results, be +mine the consolation that, to the utmost and to the latest +of my power, I have opposed them.’<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> + +<p>Little persuasion was necessary to win a hostile vote, and +in a House of 433 members Lord John found himself in a +minority of 164. Next year he renewed his attempt, but +with the same result, and in 1826 he once more brought +forward his proposals for Reform, to be defeated. Two +months afterwards, however—May 26, 1826—undaunted +by his repeated failures, he brought in a bill for the discovery +and suppression of bribery at elections. The forces arrayed +against him again proved too formidable, and Lord John, +deeming it useless to proceed, abandoned the bill. He +made one more attempt in the expiring Parliament, in a +series of resolutions, to arrest political corruption, and when +the division was taken the numbers were equal, whereupon +the Speaker recorded his vote on Lord John’s side. In +June the House was dissolved.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">A WHIG OF THE NEW GENERATION</div> + +<p>The Whigs of the new generation were meanwhile +dreaming of projects which had never entered into the +cal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span>culations +of their predecessors. Lord John long afterwards +gave expression to the views which were beginning to prevail, +such as non-interference in the internal government of +other nations, the necessity of peace with America and +the acknowledgment of her Independence, the satisfaction +of the people of Ireland by the concession of political +equality, the advancement of religious liberty, parliamentary +reform, and the unrestricted liberty of the press. ‘Had +these principles,’ he declares, ‘prevailed from 1770 to 1820, +the country would have avoided the American War and the +first French Revolutionary War, the rebellion in Ireland in +1798, and the creation of three or four millions of national +debt.’<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> Whenever opportunity allowed, Lord John sought in +Parliament during the period under review to give practical +effect to such convictions. He spoke in favour of the +repeal of the Foreign Enlistment Bill, on the question of the +evacuation of Spain by the French army, on the Alien Bill, +on an inquiry into labourers’ wages, on the Irish Insurrection +Bill, on Roman Catholic claims and Roman Catholic +endowment, and on agricultural distress.</p> + +<p>During the closing years of George III.’s reign and the +inglorious days of his successor, Lord John Russell rose +slowly but steadily towards political influence and power. +His speeches attracted growing attention, and his courage +and common sense were rewarded with the deepening confidence +of the nation. Although he was still regarded with +some little dread by his ‘betters and his elders,’ to borrow +his own phrase, the people hailed with satisfaction the rise +of so honest, clear-headed, and dogged a champion of peace, +retrenchment, and Reform. Court and Cabinet might look +askance at the young statesman, but the great towns were +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> +at his back, and he knew—in spite of all appearances to the +contrary—that they, though yet unrepresented, were in reality +stronger than all the forces of selfish privilege and senseless +prejudice. Lord John had proved himself to be a man of +action. The nation was beginning to dream that he would +yet prove himself to be a man of mark.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> <i>Memoirs, Journal, and Correspondence of Thomas Moore.</i> Edited +by the Right Hon. Lord John Russell, M.P.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Canning’s Speeches.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> <i>Recollections and Suggestions</i>, p. 43.</p></div> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<p class="title">WINNING HIS SPURS<br /><br /> + +1826-1830</p> + +<p class="desc">Defeated and out of harness—Journey to Italy—Back in Parliament—Canning’s +accession to power—Bribery and corruption—The repeal +of the Test and Corporation Acts—The struggle between the +Court and the Cabinet over Catholic Emancipation—Defeat of +Wellington at the polls—Lord John appointed Paymaster-General.</p> + + +<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Whig</span> optimists in the newspapers at the General Election of +1826 declared that the future welfare of the country would +depend much on the intelligence and independence of the +new Parliament. Ordinary men accustomed to look facts +in the face were not, however, so sanguine, and Albany +Fonblanque expressed the more common view amongst +Radicals when he asserted that if the national welfare turned +on the exhibition in an unreformed House of Commons of +such unparliamentary qualities as intelligence and independence, +there would be ground not for hope but for despair. +He added that he saw no shadow of a reason for supposing +that one Parliament under the existing system would differ +in any essential degree from another. He maintained that, +while the sources of corruption continued to flow, legislation +would roll on in the same course.</p> + +<p>Self-improvement was, in truth, the last thing to be expected +from a House of Commons which represented vested +rights, and the interests and even the caprices of a few +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> +individuals, rather than the convictions or needs of the +nation. The Tory party was stubborn and defiant even when +the end of the Liverpool Administration was in sight. The +Test Acts were unrepealed, prejudice and suspicion shut +out the Catholics from the Legislature, and the sacred +rights of property triumphed over the terrible wrongs of the +slave. The barbarous enactments of the Criminal Code +had not yet been entirely swept away, and the municipal +corporations, even to contemporary eyes, appeared as +nothing less than sinks of corruption.</p> + +<p>Lord John was defeated in Huntingdonshire, and, to his +disappointment, found himself out of harness. He had hoped +to bring in his Bribery Bill early in the session, and under +the altered circumstances he persuaded Lord Althorp to press +the measure forward. In a letter to that statesman which +was afterwards printed, he states clearly the evils which +he wished to remedy. A sentence or two will show +the need of redress: ‘A gentleman from London goes +down to a borough of which he scarcely before knew the +existence. The electors do not ask his political opinions; +they do not inquire into his private character; they only +require to be satisfied of the impurity of his intentions. If +he is elected, no one, in all probability, contests the validity +of his return. His opponents are as guilty as he is, and no +other person will incur the expense of a petition for the +sake of a public benefit. Fifteen days after the meeting of +Parliament (this being the limit for the presentation of a +petition), a handsome reward is distributed to each of the +worthy and independent electors.’</p> + +<div class="sidenote">A SARCASTIC APPEAL</div> + +<p>In the early autumn Lord John quitted England, with +the intention of passing the winter in Italy. The Duke of +Bedford felt that his son had struck the nail on the head +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> +with his pithy and outspoken letter to Lord Althorp on +political bribery, and he was not alone in thinking that Lord +John ought not to throw away such an advantage by a prolonged +absence on the Continent. Lord William accordingly +wrote to his brother to urge a speedy return, and the letter +is worth quoting, since incidentally it throws light on another +aspect of Lord John’s character: ‘If you feel any ambition—which +you have not; if you give up the charms of Genoa—which +you cannot; if you could renounce the dinners and +tea-tables and gossips of Rome—which you cannot; if you +would cease to care about attending balls and assemblies, and +dangling after ladies—which you cannot, there is a noble +field of ambition and utility opened to a statesman. It is Ireland, +suffering, ill-used Ireland! The gratitude of millions, +the applause of the world, would attend the man who would +rescue the poor country. The place is open, and must soon +be filled up. Ireland cannot remain as she is. The Ministers +feel it, and would gladly listen to any man who would point +out the way to relieve her. Undertake the task; it is one +of great difficulty, but let that be your encouragement. See +the Pope’s minister; have his opinion on the Catholic +question; go to Ireland; find out the causes of her +suffering; make yourself master of the subject. Set to work, +as you did about Reform, by curing small evils at first.... +I am pointing to the way for you to make your name immortal, +by doing good to millions and to your country. +But you will yawn over this, and go to some good dinner +to be agreeable, the height of ambition with the present +generation.’</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, through the influence of the Duke of Devonshire, +Lord John was elected in November for the Irish +borough of Bandon Bridge, and in February, fresh from +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span> +prologue-writing for the private theatricals which Lord +Normanby was giving that winter in Florence, he took his +seat in the House of Commons. Lord Liverpool was struck +down with paralysis on February 18, and it quickly became +apparent that his case was hopeless. After a few weeks of +suspense, which were filled with Cabinet intrigues, Mr. +Canning received the King’s commands to reconstruct the +Ministry; but this was more easily said than done. ‘Lord +Liverpool’s disappearance from the political scene,’ says +Lord Russell, ‘gave rise to a great <i>débâcle</i>. The fragments +of the old system rushed against each other, and for a time +all was confusion.’ Six of Canning’s colleagues flatly refused +to serve under him in the new Cabinet—Peel, Wellington, +Eldon, Westmoreland, Bathurst, and Bexley—though +the latter afterwards took advantage of his second thoughts +and returned to the fold. Although an opponent of Parliamentary +reform and of the removal of Nonconformist +disabilities, Canning gave his support to Catholic emancipation, +to the demand for free trade, and the abolition of +slavery. Canning’s accession to power threw the Tory +ranks into confusion. ‘The Tory party,’ states Lord Russell, +‘which had survived the follies and disasters of the +American war, which had borne the defeats and achieved +the final glories of the French war, was broken by its +separation from Mr. Canning into fragments, which could +not easily be reunited.’</p> + +<div class="sidenote">CANNING IN POWER</div> + +<p>Sydney Smith—who, by the way, had no love for Canning, +and failed to a quite noteworthy extent to understand him—like +the rest, took a gloomy view of the situation, which +he summed up in his own inimitable fashion. ‘Politics, +domestic and foreign, are very discouraging; Jesuits abroad, +Turks in Greece, “No Poperists” in England! A panting to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> +burn B; B fuming to roast C; C miserable that he can’t +reduce D to ashes; and D consigning to eternal perdition +the first three letters of the alphabet.’ Canning’s tenure +of power was brief and uneasy. His opponents were many, +his difficulties were great, and, to add to all, his health was +failing. ‘My position,’ was his own confession, ‘is not that +of gratified ambition.’ His Administration only lasted five +months, for at the end of that period death cut short the +brilliant though erratic and disappointed career of a statesman +of courage and capacity, who entered public life as a +follower of Pitt, and refused in after years to pin his faith +blindly to either political party, and so incurred the suspicions +alike of uncompromising Whigs and unbending Tories.</p> + +<p>During the Canning Administration, Lord John’s influence +in the House made itself felt, and always along progressive +lines. When the annual Indemnity Bill for Dissenters +came up for discussion, he, in answer to a taunt that +the Whigs were making political capital out of the Catholic +question, and at the same time neglecting the claims of the +Nonconformists, declared that he was ready to move the +repeal of restrictions upon the Dissenters as soon as they +themselves were of opinion that the moment was ripe for +action. This virtual challenge, as will be presently seen, +was recognised by the Nonconformists as a call to arms. +Meanwhile cases of flagrant bribery at East Retford and +Penryn—two notoriously corrupt boroughs—came before the +House, and it was proposed to disenfranchise the former +and to give in its place two members to Birmingham. The +bill, however, did not get beyond its second reading. Lord +John, nothing daunted, proposed in the session of 1828 +that Penryn should suffer disenfranchisement, and that Manchester +should take its place. This was ultimately carried +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span> +in the House of Commons; but the Peers fought shy of +Manchester, and preferred to ‘amend’ the bill by widening +the right of voting at Penryn to the adjacent Hundred. +This refusal to take occasion by the hand and to gratify the +political aspirations of the most important unrepresented +town in the kingdom, did much to hasten the introduction +of a wider scheme of reform.</p> + +<p>Power slipped for the moment on the death of Canning +into the weak hands of Lord Goderich, who tried ineffectually +to keep together a Coalition Ministry. Lord John’s +best friends appear to have been apprehensive at this +juncture lest the young statesman, in the general confusion +of parties, should lapse into somewhat of a political Laodicean. +‘I feel a little anxious,’ wrote Moore, ‘to know exactly the +colour of your politics just now, as from the rumours I hear +of some of your brother “watchmen,” Althorp, Milton, and +the like, I begin sometimes to apprehend that you too may +be among the fallers off. Lord Lansdowne tells me, however, +you continue quite staunch, and for his sake I hope +so.’ But Lord John was not a ‘faller off.’ His eyes were +fully open to the anomalous position in which he in common +with other members of the party of reform had been placed +under Canning and Goderich. Relief, however, came +swiftly. Lord Goderich, after four months of feeble semblance +of authority, resigned, finding it impossible to adjust +differences. As a subaltern, declared one who had narrowly +watched his career, Lord Goderich was respectable, but as +a chief he proved himself to be despicable. The Duke of +Wellington became Prime Minister, with a Tory Cabinet at +his back, and with Peel as leader in the House of Commons. +Thus the ‘great <i>débâcle</i>,’ which commenced with Canning’s +accession to power—in spite of the presence in the Cabinet +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> +of Palmerston and Huskisson—drew to an end, and a line +of cleavage was once more apparent between the Whigs and +the Tories. With Wellington, Lord John had of course +neither part nor lot, and when the Duke accepted office he +promptly ranged himself in the opposite camp.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">RELIGIOUS EQUALITY</div> + +<p>Ireland was on the verge of rebellion when Wellington +and Peel took office, and in the person of O’Connell it possessed +a leader of splendid eloquence and courage, who +pressed the claims of the Roman Catholics for immediate +relief from religious disabilities. Whilst the Government +was deliberating upon the policy which they ought to pursue +in presence of the stormy and menacing agitation which +had arisen in Ireland, the Protestant Dissenters saw their +opportunity, and rallied their forces into a powerful organisation +for the total repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts. +Their cause had been quietly making way, through the +Press and the platform, during the dark years for political +and religious liberty which divide 1820 from 1828, and the +Protestant Society had kept the question steadily before the +public mind. Meanwhile that organisation had itself become +a distinct force in the State. ‘The leaders of the Whig +party now formally identified themselves with it. In one +year the Duke of Sussex took the chair; in another Lord +Holland occupied the same position; Sir James Mackintosh +delivered from its platform a defence of religious liberty, +such as had scarcely been given to the English people since +the time of Locke; and Lord John Russell, boldly identifying +himself and his party with the political interests of +Dissenters, came forward as chairman in another year, +to advocate the full civil and religious rights of the three +millions who were now openly connected with one or other +of the Free Churches. The period of the Revolution, when +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> +Somers, Halifax, Burnet, and their associates laid the foundations +of constitutional government, seemed to have +returned.’<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> Immediately Parliament assembled, Lord John +Russell—backed by many petitions from the Nonconformists—gave +notice that on February 26 it was his intention to +move the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts.</p> + +<p>The Test Act compelled all persons holding any office +of profit and trust under the Crown to take the oath of +allegiance, to partake of the Sacrament according to the +rites of the Church of England, and to subscribe the declaration +against Transubstantiation. It was an evil legacy +from the reign of Charles II., and became law in 1673. +The Corporation Act was also placed on the statute-book in +the same reign, and in point of time twelve years earlier—namely, +in 1661. It was a well-directed blow against the +political ascendency of Nonconformists in the cities and +towns. It required all public officials to take the Sacrament +according to the rites of the Church of England, within +twelve months of their appointment, and, whilst it excluded +conscientious men, it proved no barrier to unprincipled hypocrites. +The repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts had been +mooted from time to time, but the forces of prejudice and +apathy had hitherto proved invincible. Fox espoused the +cause of the Dissenters in 1790, and moved for a committee +of the whole House to deal with the question. He urged +that men were to be judged not by their opinions, but by +their actions, and he asserted that no one could charge the +Dissenters with ideas or conduct dangerous to the State. +Parliament, he further contended, had practically admitted +the injustice of such disqualifications by passing annual Acts +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span> +of Indemnity. He laid stress on the loyalty which the Dissenters +had shown during the Jacobite risings of 1715 and 1745, +when the High Church party, which now resisted their just +demands, had been ‘hostile to the reigning family, and active +in exciting tumults, insurrections, and rebellions.’ The +authority of Pitt and the eloquence of Burke were put forth +in opposition to the repeal of the Test Acts, and the panic +awakened by the French Revolution threw Parliament into +a reactionary mood, which rendered reform in any direction +impossible. The result was that the question, so far as the +House of Commons was concerned, was shirked from 1790 +until 1828, when Lord John Russell took up the advocacy +of a cause in which, nearly forty years earlier, the genius of +Charles James Fox had been unavailingly enlisted.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">THE RIGHTS OF CONSCIENCE</div> + +<p>In moving the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts, +Lord John recapitulated their history and advanced cogent +arguments on behalf of the rights of conscience. It could +not, he contended, be urged that these laws were necessary +for the security of the Church, for they were not in force +either in Scotland or in Ireland. The number and variety +of offices embraced by the Test Act reduced the measure, +so far as its practical working was concerned, to a palpable +absurdity, as non-commissioned officers, as well as commissioned +excisemen, tide-waiters, and even pedlars, were embraced +in its provisions. In theory, at least, the penalties +incurred by these different classes of men were neither few +nor slight—forfeiture of the office, disqualification for any +other under Government, incapacity to maintain a suit at +law, to act as guardian or executor, or to inherit a legacy, +and even liability to a pecuniary penalty of 500<i>l.</i>! Of +course, such ridiculous penalties were in most cases suspended, +but the law which imposed them still disgraced +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span> +the statute-book, and was acknowledged by all unprejudiced +persons to be indefensible. Besides, the most Holy Sacrament +of the Christian Church was habitually reduced to a +mere civil form imposed by Act of Parliament upon persons +who either derided its solemn meaning or might be spiritually +unfit to receive it. Was it decent, asked Cowper in his +famous ‘Expostulation,’ thus—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">To make the symbols of atoning grace<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An office-key, a pick-lock to a place?<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>To such a question, put in such a form, only one answer +was possible. Under circumstances men took the Communion, +declared Lord John, for the purpose of qualifying +for office, and with no other intent, and the least +worthy were the most unscrupulous. ‘Such are the consequences +of mixing politics with religion. You embitter and +aggravate political dissensions by the venom of theological +disputes, and you profane religion with the vices of political +ambition, making it both hateful to man and offensive to +God.’</p> + +<div class="sidenote">THE RARITY OF CHRISTIAN CHARITY</div> + +<p>Peel opposed the motion, and professed to regard the +grievances of the Dissenters as more sentimental than real. +Huskisson and Palmerston followed on the same side, +whilst Althorp and Brougham lent their aid to the demand +for religious liberty. The result of the division showed a +majority of forty-four in favour of the motion, and the bill +was accordingly brought in and read a second time without +discussion. During the progress of the measure through +the House of Lords, the two Archbishops—less fearful for +the safety of the Established Church than some of their +followers—met Lord John’s motion for the repeal of the +Acts in a liberal and enlightened manner. ‘Religious +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> +tests,’ said Archbishop Harcourt of York, ‘imposed for political +purposes, must in themselves be always liable more or +less to endanger religious sincerity.’ Such an admission, of +course, materially strengthened Lord John Russell’s hands, +and prepared the way for a speedy revision of the law. +Many who had hitherto supported the Test Act began to +see that such measures were, after all, a failure and a sham. +If their terms were so lax that any man could subscribe to +them with undisturbed conscience, then they ceased to be +any test at all. On the contrary, if they were hard and rigid, +then they forced men to the most odious form of dissimulation. +A declaration, if required by the Crown, was therefore +substituted for the sacramental test, by which a person +entering office pledged himself not to use its influence as a +means for subverting the Established Church. On the +motion of the Bishop of Llandaff, the words ‘on the true +faith of a Christian’ were inserted in the declaration—a +clause which, by the way, had the effect, as Lord Holland +perceived at the time, of excluding Jews from Parliament +until the year 1858.</p> + +<p>Lord Winchilsea endeavoured by an amendment to shut +out Unitarians from the relief thus afforded to conscience, +but, happily, such an intolerant proceeding, even in an unreformed +Parliament, met with no success. Lord Eldon +fiercely attacked the measure—‘like a lion,’ as he said, ‘but +with his talons cut off’—but met with little support. It +was felt that the great weight of authority as well as argument +was in favour of the liberal policy which Lord John +Russell advocated, and hence, after a protracted debate, +the cause of religious freedom triumphed, and on May 9, +1828, the Test and Corporation Acts were finally repealed. +A great and forward impulse was thus given to the cause of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span> +religious equality, and under the same energetic leadership +the party of progress set themselves with fresh hope to +invade other citadels of privilege.</p> + +<p>The victory came as a surprise not merely to Lord John +but also to the Nonconformists. The fact that a Tory +Government was in power was responsible for the widespread +anticipation of a bitter and protracted struggle. Amongst +the congratulations which Lord John received, none perhaps +was more significant than Lord Grey’s generous +admission that ‘he had done more than any man now +living’ on behalf of liberty. ‘I am a little anxious,’ wrote +Moore, ‘to know that your glory has done you no harm +in the way of health, as I see you are a pretty constant +attendant on the House. There is nothing, I fear, worse for +a man’s constitution than to trouble himself too much +about the constitution of Church and State. So pray +let me have one line to say how you are.’ ‘My constitution,’ +wrote back Lord John, ‘is not quite so much improved +as the Constitution of the country by late events, but the +joy of it will soon revive me. It is really a gratifying thing to +force the enemy to give up his first line—that none but +Churchmen are worthy to serve the State; I trust we shall +soon make him give up the second, that none but Protestants +are.’</p> + +<div class="sidenote">CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION</div> + +<p>Lord Eldon had predicted that Catholic Emancipation +would follow on the heels of the repeal of the Test and +Corporation Acts, and the event proved that he was right. +The election of Daniel O’Connell for Clare had suddenly +raised the question in an acute form. Although the followers +of Canning had already left the Ministry, the Duke of +Wellington and Peel found themselves powerless to quell +the agitation which O’Connell and the Catholic +Associa<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span>tion +had raised in Ireland by any means short of civil war. +‘What our Ministry will do,’ wrote Lord John, ‘Heaven +only knows, but I cannot blame O’Connell for being a +little impatient, after twenty-seven years of just expectation +disappointed.’ The allusion was, of course, to Pitt’s +scheme at the beginning of the century to enable Catholics +to sit in Parliament and so to reconcile the Irish people to +the Union—a generous project which was brought to nought +by the obstinate attitude of George III. Lord John was +meditating introducing a measure for Catholic Emancipation, +when Peel took the wind from his sails. George IV., however, +supported by a majority of the Lords Spiritual and +Temporal, was as stoutly opposed to concession as George III. +Lord John Russell’s words on this point are significant +‘George III.’s religious scruples, and even his personal +prejudices, were respected by the nation, and formed real +barriers so long as he did not himself waive them; the +religious scruples of George IV. did not meet with ready +belief, nor did his personal dislikes inspire national respect +nor obtain national acquiescence.’ The struggle between +the Court and the Cabinet was, however, of brief duration, +and Wellington bore down the opposition of the Lords, and +on April 13, 1829, the Roman Catholic Emancipation Bill +became law.</p> + +<p>In June the question of Parliamentary reform was +brought before Parliament by Lord Blandford, but his resolutions—which +were the outcome of Tory panic concerning +the probable result of Roman Catholic Emancipation—met +with little favour, either then or when they were renewed at +the commencement of the session of 1830. Lord Blandford +had in truth made himself conspicuous by his opposition to +the Catholic claims, and the nation distrusted the sudden +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> +zeal of the heir to Blenheim in such a cause. On February +23, 1830, Lord John Russell sought leave to bring in a bill +for conferring the franchise upon Manchester, Birmingham, +and Leeds, on the plea that they were the three largest +unrepresented towns in the country. The moderate proposal +was, however, rejected in a House of three hundred +and twenty-eight members by a majority of forty-eight. +Three months later Mr. O’Connell brought forward a +motion for Triennial Parliaments, Universal Suffrage, and +the adoption of the Ballot; but this was rejected. But +in a House of three hundred and thirty-two members, +only thirteen were in favour of it, whilst an amendment by +Lord John stating that it was ‘expedient to extend the basis +of the representation of the people’ was also rejected by a +majority of ninety-six. On June 26 George IV. died, and +a few weeks later Parliament was dissolved. At the +General Election, Lord John stood for Bedford, and, +much to his chagrin, was defeated by a single vote. After +the declaration of the poll in August, he crossed over to +Paris, where he prolonged his stay till November. The +unconstitutional ordinances of July 25, 1830, had brought +about a revolution, and Lord John Russell, who was +intimate with the chief statesman concerned, was wishful +to study the crisis on the spot, and in the recital of its +dramatic incidents to find relief from his own political disappointment.</p> + +<p>During this visit he used his influence with General +Lafayette for the life of Prince de Polignac, who was connected +by marriage with a noble English family, and was +about to be put on his trial. Lord John was intimately acquainted, +not only with Lafayette, but with other leaders in +the French political world, and his intercession, on which +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span> +his friends in England placed much reliance, seems to have +carried effectual weight, for the Prince’s life was spared.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">WELLINGTON’S PROTEST AGAINST REFORM</div> + +<p>With distress at home and revolution abroad, signs of +the coming change made themselves felt at the General +Election. Outside the pocket boroughs, the Ministerialists +went almost everywhere to the wall, and ‘not a single +member of the Duke of Wellington’s Cabinet obtained a +seat in the new Parliament by anything approaching to free +and open election.’<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> The first Parliament of William IV. +met on October 26, and two or three days later, in the +debate on the King’s Speech, Wellington made his now +historic statement in answer to Earl Grey, who resented +the lack of reference to Reform: ‘I am not prepared to +bring forward any measure of the description alluded to +by the noble lord. I am not only not prepared to bring +forward any measure of this nature, but I will at once +declare that, as far as I am concerned, as long as I hold any +station in the government of the country, I shall always +feel it my duty to resist such measures when proposed by +others.’</p> + +<p>This statement produced a feeling of dismay even +in the calm atmosphere of the House of Lords, and the +Duke, noticing the scarcely suppressed excitement, turned to +one of his colleagues and whispered: ‘What can I have +said which seems to have made so great a disturbance?’ +Quick came the dry retort of the candid friend: ‘You have +announced the fall of your Government, that is all.’ The +consternation was almost comic. ‘Never was there an act +of more egregious folly, or one so universally condemned,’ +says Charles Greville. ‘I came to town last night (five days +after the Duke’s speech), and found the town ringing with +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> +his imprudence and everybody expecting that a few days +would produce his resignation.’ Within a fortnight the +general expectation was fulfilled, for on November 16 +the Duke, making a pretext of an unexpected defeat over +Sir H. Parnell’s motion regarding the Civil List, threw up +the sponge, and Lord Grey was sent for by the King and +entrusted with the new Administration. The irony of the +situation became complete when Lord Grey made it a +stipulation to his acceptance of office that Parliamentary +Reform should be a Cabinet measure.</p> + +<p>Lord John, meanwhile, was a candidate for Tavistock, +and when the election was still in progress the new Premier +offered him the comparatively unimportant post of Paymaster-General, +and, though he might reasonably have expected +higher rank in the Government, he accepted the +appointment. He was accustomed to assert that the actual +duties of the Paymaster were performed by cashiers; and +he has left it on record that the only official act of any importance +that he performed was the pleasant task of allotting +garden-plots at Chelsea to seventy old soldiers, a boon +which the pensioners highly appreciated.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> <i>History of the Free Churches of England</i>, pp. 457-458, by H. S. +Skeats and C. S. Miall.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> <i>The Three Reforms of Parliament</i>, by William Heaton, chap. ii. p. 38.</p></div> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<p class="title">A FIGHT FOR LIBERTY<br /><br /> + +1830-1832</p> + +<p class="desc">Lord Grey and the cause of Reform—Lord Durham’s share in the +Reform Bill—The voice of the people—Lord John introduces the +Bill and explains its provisions—The surprise of the Tories—‘Reform, +Aye or No’—Lord John in the Cabinet—The Bill thrown +out—The indignation of the country—Proposed creation of Peers—Wellington +and Sidmouth in despair—The Bill carried—Lord +John’s tribute to Althorp.</p> + + +<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Earl Grey</span> was a man of sixty-six when he was called to +power, and during the whole of his public career he had +been identified with the cause of Reform. He, more than +any other man, was the founder, in 1792—the year in which +Lord John Russell was born—of ‘The Friends of the People,’ +a political association which united the forces of the patriotic +societies which just then were struggling into existence in +various parts of the land. He was the foe of Pitt and the +friend of Fox, and his official career began during the +short-lived but glorious Administration of All the Talents. +During the dreary quarter of a century which succeeded, +when the destinies of England were committed to men of +despotic calibre and narrow capacity like Sidmouth, Liverpool, +Eldon, and Castlereagh, he remained, through good +and evil report, in deed as well as in name, a Friend of the +People. As far back as 1793, he declared: ‘I am more +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> +convinced than ever that a reform in Parliament might now +be peaceably effected. I am afraid that we are not wise +enough to profit by experience, and what has occasioned +the ruin of other Governments will overthrow this—a perseverance +in abuse until the people, maddened by excessive +injury and roused to a feeling of their own strength, will +not stop within the limits of moderate reformation.’ The +conduct of Ministers during the dark period which followed +the fall of the Ministry of All the Talents in 1807, was, in +Grey’s deliberate opinion, calculated to excite insurrection, +since it was a policy of relentless coercion and repression.</p> + +<p>He made no secret of his conviction that the Government, +by issuing proclamations in which whole classes of the community +were denounced as seditious, as well as by fulminating +against insurrections that only existed in their own guilty +imaginations, filled the minds of the people with false +alarms, and taught every man to distrust if not to hate his +neighbour. There was no more chance of Reform under the +existing <i>régime</i> than of ‘a thaw in Zembla,’ to borrow a famous +simile. Cobbett was right in his assertion that the measures +and manners of George IV.’s reign did more to shake the +long-settled ideas of the people in favour of monarchical +government than anything which had happened since the +days of Cromwell. The day of the King’s funeral—it was +early in July and beautifully fine—was marked, of course, by +official signs of mourning, but the rank and file of the people +rejoiced, and, according to a contemporary record, the +merry-making and junketing in the villages round London +recalled the scenes of an ordinary Whit Monday.</p> + +<p>On the whole, the nation accepted the accession of the +Sailor King with equanimity, though scarcely with enthusiasm, +and for the moment it was not thought that the new +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span> +reign would bring an immediate change of Ministry. The +dull, uncompromising nonsense, however, which Wellington +put into the King’s lips in the Speech from the Throne at +the beginning of November, threatening with punishment +the seditious and disaffected, followed as it quickly was by +the Duke’s own statement in answer to Lord Grey, that no +measure of Parliamentary reform should be proposed by +the Government as long as he was responsible for its policy, +awoke the storm which drove the Tories from power and +compelled the King to send for Grey. The distress in the +country was universal—riots prevailed, rick-burning was +common. Lord Grey’s prediction of 1793 seemed about +to be fulfilled, for the people, ‘maddened by excessive +injury and roused to a feeling of their own strength,’ seemed +about to break the traces and to take the bit between their +teeth. The deep and widespread confidence alike in the +character and capacity of Lord Grey did more than anything +else at that moment to calm the public mind and to +turn wild clamour into quiet and resistless enthusiasm.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">LORD GREY AS LEADER</div> + +<p>Yet in certain respects Lord Grey was out of touch with +the new spirit of the nation. If his own political ardour +had not cooled, the lapse of years had not widened to any +perceptible degree his vision of the issues at stake. He +was a man of stately manners and fastidious tastes, and, +though admirably qualified to hold the position of leader +of the aristocratic Whigs, he had little in common with the +toiling masses of the people. He was a conscientious and +even chivalrous statesman, but he held himself too much +aloof from the rank and file of his party, and thin-skinned +Radicals were inclined to think him somewhat cold and even +condescending. Lord Grey lacked the warm heart of Fox, +and his speeches, in consequence, able and philosophic +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> +though they were, were destitute of that unpremeditated +and magical eloquence which led Grattan to describe Fox’s +oratory as ‘rolling in, resistless as the waves of the +Atlantic.’ On one memorable occasion—the second reading +of the Reform Bill in the House of Lords—Lord Grey entirely +escaped from such oratorical restraints, and even the +Peers were moved to unwonted enthusiasm by the strong +emotion which pervaded that singularly outspoken appeal.</p> + +<p>His son-in-law, Lord Durham, on the other hand, had +the making of a great popular leader, in spite of his imperious +manners and somewhat dictatorial bearing. The head +of one of the oldest families in the North of England, +Lord Durham entered the House of Commons in the year +1813, at the age of twenty-one, as Mr. John George Lambton, +and quickly distinguished himself by his advanced views on +questions of foreign policy as well as Parliamentary reform. +He married the daughter of Lord Grey in 1816, and gave +his support in Parliament to Canning. On the formation of +his father-in-law’s Cabinet in 1830, he was appointed Lord +Privy Seal. His popular sobriquet, ‘Radical Jack,’ itself +attests the admiration of the populace, and when Lambton +was raised to the peerage in 1828 he carried to the House +of Lords the enthusiastic homage as well as the great expectations +of the crowd. Lord Durham was the idol of the +Radicals, and his presence in the Grey Administration was +justly regarded as a pledge of energetic action.</p> + +<p>He would unquestionably have had the honour of introducing +the Reform Bill in the House of Commons if he had +still been a member of that assembly, for he had made the +question peculiarly his own, and behind him lay the enthusiasm +of the entire party of Reform. Althorp, though +leader of the House, and in spite of the confidence which +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span> +his character inspired, lacked the power of initiative and +the Parliamentary courage necessary to steer the Ship of +State through such rough waters. When Lord Grey proposed +to entrust the measure to Lord John, Brougham +pushed the claims of Althorp, and raised objections to Lord +John on the ground that the young Paymaster-General was +not in the Cabinet; but Durham stoutly opposed him, and +urged that Lord John had the first claim, since he had last +been in possession of the question.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">THE COMMITTEE OF FOUR</div> + +<p>An unpublished paper of Lord Durham’s, in the possession +of the present Earl, throws passing light on the +action, at this juncture, of the Ministry, and therefore +it may be well to quote it. ‘Shortly after the formation +of the Government, Lord Grey asked me in the +House of Lords if I would assist him in preparing the +Reform Bill. I answered that I would do so with the +greatest pleasure. He then said, “You can have no objection +to consult Lord John Russell?” I replied, “Certainly +not, but the reverse.”’ In consequence of this conversation, +Lord Durham goes on to state, he placed himself in +communication with Lord John, and they together agreed +to summon to their councils Sir James Graham and Lord +Duncannon. Thus the famous Committee of Four came +into existence. Durham acted as chairman, and in that +capacity signed the daily minutes of the proceedings. The +meetings were held at his house in Cleveland Row, and he +there received, on behalf of Lord Grey, the various deputations +from different parts of the kingdom which were flocking +up to impress their views of the situation on the new +Premier. Since the measure had of necessity to originate +in the House of Commons, and Lord John, it was already +settled, was to be its first spokesman, Lord Durham +sug<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span>gested +that Russell should draw up a plan. This was done, +and it was carefully discussed and amended in various directions, +and eventually the measure as finally agreed upon was +submitted to Lord Grey, with a report which Lord Durham, +as chairman, drew up, and which was signed not only by +him but by his three colleagues. Lord Durham states, in +speaking of the part he took as chairman of the Committee +on Reform, that Lord Grey intrusted him with the preparation +in the first instance of the measure, and that he called +to his aid the three other statesmen. He adds: ‘This was +no Cabinet secret, for it was necessarily known to hundreds, +Lord Grey having referred to me all the memorials from +different towns and bodies.’ Lord Durham was in advance +of his colleagues on this as upon most questions, for he took +his stand on household suffrage, vote by ballot and triennial +Parliaments, and if he could have carried his original draft +of the Reform Bill that measure would have been far more +revolutionary than that which became law. His proposals +in the House of Commons in 1821 went, in fact, much +further than the measure which became law under Lord +Grey.</p> + +<p>Lord Grey announced in the Lords on February 3 that +a Reform measure had been framed and would be introduced +in the House of Commons on March 1 by Lord John +Russell, who, ‘having advocated the cause of Parliamentary +Reform, with ability and perseverance, in days when it was +not popular, ought, in the opinion of the Administration, to +be selected, now that the cause was prosperous, to bring +forward a measure of full and efficient Reform, instead of +the partial measures he had hitherto proposed.’</p> + +<div class="sidenote">LEADING THE ATTACK</div> + +<p>Petitions in favour of Reform from all parts of the +kingdom poured into both Houses. The excitement in the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> +country rose steadily week by week, mingled with expressions +of satisfaction that the Bill was to be committed to +the charge of such able hands. In Parliament speculations +were rife as to the scope of the measure, whilst rumours of +dissension in the Cabinet flew around the clubs. Even as +late as the middle of February, the Duke of Wellington +went about predicting that the Reform question could not +be carried, and that the Grey Administration could not +stand. Ministers contrived to keep their secret uncommonly +well, and when at length the eventful day, March 1, arrived, +the House of Commons was packed by a crowd such as had +scarcely been seen there in its history. Troops of eager +politicians came up from the country and waited at all the +inlets of the House, whilst the leading supporters of the +Whigs in London society gathered at dinner-parties, and +anxiously awaited intelligence from Westminster.</p> + +<p>Lord John’s speech began at six o’clock, and lasted for +two hours and a quarter. Beginning in a low voice, he proceeded +gradually to unfold his measure, greeted in turns by +cheers of approval and shouts of derision. Greville says +it was ludicrous to see the faces of the members for those +places doomed to disfranchisement, as they were severally +announced. Wetherell, a typical Tory of the no-surrender +school, began to take notes as the plan was unfolded, but +after various contortions and grimaces he threw down his +paper, with a look of mingled despair, ridicule, and horror. +Lord Durham, seated under the gallery, doubted the reality +of the scene passing before his eyes. ‘They are mad, they +are mad!’ was one of the running comments to Lord John’s +statement. The Opposition, on the whole, seemed inclined +to laugh out of court such extravagant proposals, but Peel, +on the contrary, looked both grave and angry, for he saw +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span> +further than most, and knew very well that boldness was the +best chance. ‘Burdett and I walked home together,’ states +Hobhouse, ‘and agreed that there was very little chance of +the measure being carried. We thought our friends in +Westminster would oppose the ten-pound franchise.’</p> + +<p>‘I rise, sir,’ Lord John commenced, ‘with feelings of +the deepest anxiety to bring forward a question which, unparalleled +as it is in importance, is as unparalleled in points +of difficulty. Nor is my anxiety, in approaching this +question, lessened by reflecting that on former occasions I +have brought this subject before the consideration of the +House. For if, on other occasions, I have invited the +attention of the House of Commons to this most important +subject, it has been upon my own responsibility—unaided +by anyone—and involving no one in the consequences of +defeat.... But the measure which I have now to bring +forward, is a measure, not of mine but of the Government.... +It is, therefore, with the greatest anxiety that I venture +to explain their intentions to this House on a subject, the +interest of which is shown by the crowded audience who +have assembled here, but still more by the deep interest +which is felt by millions out of this House, who look with +anxiety, with hope, and with expectation, to the result of +this day’s debate.’</p> + +<div class="sidenote">OLD SARUM VERSUS MANCHESTER</div> + +<p>In the course of his argument, setting forth the need of +Reform, he alluded to the feelings of a foreigner, having +heard of British wealth, civilisation, and renown, coming to +England to examine our institutions. ‘Would not such a +foreigner be much astonished if he were taken to a green +mound, and informed that it sent two members to the +British Parliament; if he were shown a stone wall, and told +that it also sent two members to the British Parliament; or, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> +if he walked into a park, without the vestige of a dwelling, +and was told that it, too, sent two members to the British +Parliament? But if he were surprised at this, how much +more would he be astonished if he were carried into the +North of England, where he would see large flourishing +towns, full of trade, activity, and intelligence, vast magazines +of wealth and manufactures, and were told that these places +sent no representatives to Parliament. But his wonder +would not end here; he would be astonished if he were +carried to such a place as Liverpool, and were there told +that he might see a specimen of a popular election, what +would be the result? He would see bribery employed in +the most unblushing manner, he would see every voter +receiving a number of guineas in a box as the price of his +corruption; and after such a spectacle would he not be +indeed surprised that representatives so chosen could +possibly perform the functions of legislators, or enjoy +respect in any degree?’ In speaking of the reasons for +giving representatives to Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, +and other large towns, Lord John argued: ‘Because Old +Sarum sent members to Parliament in the reign of Edward +III., when it had a population to be benefited by it, the +Government on the same principle deprived that forsaken +place of the franchise in order to bestow the privilege +where the population was now found.’</p> + +<p>Lord John explained that by the provisions of the bill +sixty boroughs with less than 2,000 inhabitants were to lose +the franchise; forty-seven boroughs, returning ninety-four +members, were to lose one member each. Of the seats thus +placed at the disposal of the Government eight were to be +given to London, thirty-four to large towns, fifty-five to +English counties, five to Scotland, three to Ireland, and one +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> +to Wales. The franchise was to be extended to inhabitants +of houses rated at ten pounds a year, and to leaseholders +and copyholders of counties. It was reckoned that about +half a million persons would be enfranchised by the bill; +but the number of members in the House would be reduced +by sixty-two. Lord John laid significant stress on the +fact that they had come to the deliberate opinion that ‘no +half-measures would be sufficient, that no trifling, no +paltry reform could give stability to the Crown, strength +to the Parliament, or satisfaction to the country.’ Long +afterwards Lord John Russell declared that the measure +when thus first placed before the House of Commons +awoke feelings of astonishment mingled with joy or with +consternation according to the temper of the hearers. +‘Some, perhaps many, thought that the measure was a prelude +to civil war, which, in point of fact, it averted. But +incredulity was the prevailing feeling, both among the +moderate Whigs and the great mass of the Tories. The +Radicals alone were delighted and triumphant. Joseph +Hume, whom I met in the streets a day or two afterwards, assured +me of his hearty support of the Government.’ There +were many Radicals, however, who thought that the measure +scarcely went far enough, and one of them happily summed +up the situation by saying that, although the Reform Bill +did not give the people all they wanted, it broke up the old +system and took the weapons from the hands of the enemies +of progress.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">CAPITULATION OR BOMBARDMENT</div> + +<p>Night after night the debate proceeded, and it became +plain that the Tories had been completely taken by surprise. +Meanwhile outside the House of Commons the people followed +the debate with feverish interest. ‘Nothing talked +of, thought of, dreamt of but Reform,’ wrote Greville. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span> +‘Every creature one meets asks, “What is said now? How +will it go? What is the last news? What do you think?” +And so it is from morning till night, in the streets, in the +clubs, and in private houses.’ After a week of controversy, +leave was given to bring in the bill. On March 21, +Lord John moved the second reading, but was met by +an amendment, that the Reform Bill be read a second +time that day six months. The House divided at three +o’clock on the morning of the 23rd, and the second reading +was carried by a majority of one—333-332—in the fullest +House on record. ‘It is better to capitulate than to be +taken by storm,’ was the comment of one of the cynics of +the hour. Illuminations took place all over the country. +The people were good-humoured but determined, and the +Opposition began to recover from its fright and to declare +that the Government could not proceed with the measure +and were certain to resign. Peel’s action—and sometimes +his lack of it—was severely criticised by many of his own +followers, and not a few of the Tories, unable to forgive the +surrender to the claims of the Catholics, met the new crisis +in the time-honoured spirit of Gallio. They seemed to +have thought not only that the country was fast going to +the dogs, but that under all the circumstances, it did not +much matter.</p> + +<p>Parliament met after the usual Easter recess, and on +April 18 General Gascoigne moved as an instruction to the +committee that the number of members of Parliament ought +not to be diminished, and after a debate which lasted till +four o’clock in the morning the resolution was carried in a +House of 490 members by a majority of eight. The Government +thus suddenly placed in a minority saw their opportunity +and took it. Lord Grey and his colleagues had begun +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span> +to realise that it was impossible for them to carry the Reform +Bill in the existing House of Commons without modifications +which would have robbed the boon of half its worth. +The Tories had made a blunder in tactics over Gascoigne’s +motion, and their opponents took occasion by the forelock, +with the result that, after an extraordinary scene in the Lords, +Parliament was suddenly dissolved by the King in person. +Brougham had given the people their cry, and ‘the bill, +the whole bill, and nothing but the bill,’ was the popular +watchword during the tumult of the General Election. On +the dissolution of Parliament the Lord Mayor sanctioned +the illumination of London, and an angry mob, forgetful of +the soldier in the statesman, broke the windows of Apsley +House.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">THE FLOWING TIDE</div> + +<p>Speaking at a political meeting two days after the dissolution, +Lord John Russell said that the electors in the <ins class="correction" title="Transcriber's note: original reads 'approachhing'">approaching</ins> +struggle were called on not merely to select the best +men to defend their rights and interests, but also to give a +plain answer to the question, put to the constituencies by the +King in dissolving Parliament, Do you approve, aye or no, of +the principle of Reform in the representation? Right through +the length and breadth of the kingdom his words were caught +up, and from hundreds of platforms came the question, ‘Reform: +Aye or No?’ and the response in favour of the measure +was emphatic and overwhelming. The country was split into +the opposing camps of the Reformers and anti-Reformers, +and every other question was thrust aside in the struggle. +The political unions proved themselves to be a power in +the land, and the operatives and artisans of the great manufacturing +centres, though still excluded from citizenship, left +no stone unturned to ensure the popular triumph. Lord +John was pressed to stand both for Lancashire and +Devon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span>shire; +he chose the latter county, with which he was closely +associated by family traditions as well as by personal friendships, +and was triumphantly returned, with Lord Ebrington as +colleague. Even in the agricultural districts the ascendency +of the old landed families was powerless to arrest the movement, +and as the results of the elections became known it was +seen that Lord Sefton had caught the situation in his dry +remark: ‘The county members are tumbling about like +ninepins.’ Parliament assembled in June, and it became plain +at a glance that democratic ideas were working like leaven +upon public opinion in England. In spite of rotten boroughs, +close corporations, the opposition of the majority of the +territorial aristocracy, and the panic of thousands of timid +people, who imagined that the British Constitution was imperilled, +the Reformers came back in strength, and at least +a hundred who had fought the Bill in the late Parliament +were shut out from a renewal of the struggle, whilst out of +eighty-two county members that were returned, only six +were hostile to Reform.</p> + +<p>On June 24, Lord John Russell, now raised to Cabinet +rank, introduced the Second Reform Bill, which was substantially +the same as the first, and the measure was carried +rapidly through its preliminary stage, and on July 8 it passed +the second reading by a majority of 136. The Government, +however, in Committee was met night after night by an irritating +cross-fire of criticism; repeated motions for adjournment +were made; there was a systematic division of labour in +the task of obstruction. In order to promote delay, the +leaders of the Opposition stood up again and again and +repeated the same statements and arguments, and often in +almost the same words. ‘If Mr. Speaker,’ wrote Jekyll, +‘outlives the Reform debate, he may defy <i>la grippe</i> and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span> +the cholera. I can recommend no books, for the booksellers +declare nobody reads or buys in the present fever. +The newspapers are furious, the Sunday papers are talking +treason by wholesale.... Peel does all he can to make his +friends behave like gentlemen. But the nightly vulgarities of +the House of Commons furnish new reasons for Reform, and +not a ray of talent glimmers among them all. Double-distilled +stupidity!’<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> In the midst of it all Russell fell ill, +worn out with fatigue and excitement, and as the summer +slipped past the people became alarmed and indignant at +the dead-lock, and in various parts of the kingdom the +attitude of the masses grew not merely restless but menacing. +At length the tactics of the Opposition were exhausted, and +it was possible to report progress. ‘On September 7,’ is +Lord John’s statement, ‘the debate was closed, and after +much labour, and considerable sacrifice of health, I was +able on that night to propose, amid much cheering, that +the bill should be reported to the House.’ The third +reading was carried on September 19 by a majority of +fifty-five. Three days later, at five in the morning on +September 22, the question was at length put, and in a +House of five hundred and eighty-one members the majority +for Ministers was one hundred and nine.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">LORD GREY ARISES TO THE OCCASION</div> + +<p>The bill was promptly sent up to the Peers, and Lord Grey +proposed the second reading on October 3 in a speech of +sustained eloquence. Lord Grey spoke as if he felt the +occasion to be the most critical event in a political career +which had extended to nearly half a century. He struck +at once the right key-note, the gravity of the situation, the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span> +magnitude of the issues involved, the welfare of the nation. +He made a modest but dignified allusion to his own life-long +association with the question. ‘In 1786 I voted for Reform. +I supported Mr. Pitt in his motion for shortening the duration +of Parliaments. I gave my best assistance to the measure of +Reform introduced by Mr. Flood before the French Revolution.<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> +On one or two occasions I originated motions on +the subject.’ Then he turned abruptly from his own personal +association with the subject to what he finely termed +the ‘mighty interests of the State,’ and the course which +Ministers felt they must take if they were to meet the demands +of justice, and not to imperil the safety of the nation. +He laid stress on the general discontent which prevailed, on +the political agitation of the last twelve months, on the distress +that reigned in the manufacturing districts, on the +influence of the numerous political associations which had +grown powerful because of that distress, on the suffering of the +agricultural population, on the ‘nightly alarms, burnings, and +popular disturbances,’ as well as on the ‘general feeling of +doubt and apprehension observable in every countenance.’ +He endeavoured to show that the measure was not revolutionary +in spirit or subversive of the British Constitution, +as many people proclaimed.</p> + +<p>Lord Grey contended that there was nothing in the +measure that was not founded on the principles of English +government, nothing that was not perfectly consistent with the +ancient practices of the Constitution, and nothing that might +not be adopted with absolute safety to the rights and privileges +of all orders of the State. He made a scathing allusion +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> +to the ‘gross and scandalous corruption practised without +disguise’ at elections, and he declared that the sale of seats +in the House of Commons was a matter of equal notoriety +with the return of nominees of noble and wealthy persons to +that House. He laid stress on the fact that a few individuals +under the existing system were able to turn into a means +of personal profit privileges which had been conferred in +past centuries for the benefit of the nation. ‘It is with +these views that the Government has considered that the +boroughs which are called nomination boroughs ought to be +abolished. In looking at these boroughs, we found that +some of them were incapable of correction, for it is impossible +to extend their constituency. Some of them consisted +only of the sites of ancient boroughs, which, however, +might perhaps in former times have been very fit places to +return members to Parliament; in others, the constituency +was insignificantly small, and from their local situation +incapable of receiving any increase; so that, upon the +whole, this gangrene of our representative system bade +defiance to all remedies but that of excision.’</p> + +<p>After several nights’ debate, in which Brougham, according +to Lord John, delivered one of the greatest speeches ever +heard in the House of Lords, the bill was at length rejected, +after an all-night sitting, at twenty minutes past six o’clock +on Saturday morning, October 8, by a majority of forty-one +(199 to 158), in which majority were twenty-one bishops. +Had these prelates voted the other way, the bill would have +passed the second reading. As the carriages of the nobility +rattled through the streets at daybreak, artisans and labourers +trudging to their work learnt with indignation that the +demands of the people had been treated with characteristic +contempt by the Peers. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span></p> + +<div class="sidenote">THE NATION GROWS INDIGNANT</div> + +<p>The next few days were full of wild excitement. The +people were exasperated, and their attitude grew suddenly +menacing. Even those who had hitherto remained calm +and almost apathetic grew indignant. Wild threats prevailed, +and it seemed as if there might be at any moment a general +outbreak of violence. Even as it was, riots of the most disquieting +kind took place at Bristol, Derby, and other places. +Nottingham Castle was burnt down by an infuriated mob; +newspapers appeared in mourning; the bells of some of the +churches rang muffled peals; the Marquis of Londonderry +and other Peers who had made themselves peculiarly obnoxious +were assaulted in the streets; and the Bishops could +not stir abroad without being followed by the jeers and execrations +of the multitude. Quiet middle-class people talked +of refusing to pay the taxes, and showed unmistakably that +they had caught the revolutionary spirit of the hour. Birmingham, +which was the head-quarters of the Political Union, +held a vast open-air meeting, at which one hundred and fifty +thousand people were present, and resolutions were passed, +beseeching the King to create as many new Peers as might +be necessary to ensure the triumph of Reform. Lord +Althorp and Lord John Russell were publicly thanked at +this gathering for their action, and the reply of the latter is +historic: ‘Our prospects are obscured for a moment, but, I +trust, only for a moment; it is impossible that the whisper +of a faction should prevail against the voice of a nation.’</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Lord Ebrington, Lord John’s colleague in +the representation of Devonshire, came to the rescue of the +Government with a vote of confidence, which was carried by +a sweeping majority. Two days later, on Wednesday, October +12, many of the shops of the metropolis were closed in token +of political mourning, and on that day sixty thousand men +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span> +marched in procession to St. James’s Palace, bearing a petition +to the King in favour of the retention of the Grey Administration. +Hume presented it, and when he returned to the waiting +crowd in the Park, he was able to tell them that their prayer +would not pass unheeded. No wonder that Croker wrote +shortly afterwards: ‘The four M’s—the Monarch, the Ministry, +the Members, and the Multitude—all against us. The King +stands on his Government, the Government on the House +of Commons, the House of Commons on the people. How +can we attack a line thus linked and supported?’ Indignation +meetings were held in all parts of the country, and at +one of them, held at Taunton, Sydney Smith delivered the +famous speech in which he compared the attempt of the +House of Lords to restrain the rising tide of Democracy to +the frantic but futile battle which Dame Partington waged +with her mop, during a storm at Sidmouth, when the Atlantic +invaded her threshold. ‘The Atlantic was roused. +Mrs. Partington’s spirit was up. But I need not tell you +that the contest was unequal. The Atlantic Ocean beat +Mrs. Partington. Gentlemen, be at your ease, be quiet and +steady; you will beat—Mrs. Partington.’ The newspapers +carried the witty allusion everywhere. It tickled the public +fancy, and did much to relax the bitter mood of the nation, +and vapouring heroics were forgotten in laughter, and indignation +gave way to amused contempt.</p> + +<p>Parliament, which had been prorogued towards the end +of October, reassembled in the first week of December, and +on the 12th of that month Lord John once more introduced—for +the third time in twelve months—the Reform Bill. +A few alterations had been made in its text, the outcome +chiefly of the facts which the new census had brought to +light. In order to meet certain anomalies in the original +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span> +scheme, Ministers, with the help of Thomas Drummond, who +shortly afterwards honourably distinguished himself in Irish +affairs, drew up two lists of boroughs, one for total disenfranchisement +and the other for semi-disenfranchisement; +and the principle on which fifty-six towns were included in +the first list, and thirty in the second, was determined by +the number of houses in each borough and the value of the +assessed taxes. Six days later the second reading was +passed, after three nights’ discussion, by a majority of 324 to +162. The House rose immediately for the Christmas recess, +and on January 20 the bill reached the committee stage, +and there it remained till March 14. The third reading took +place on March 23, and the bill was passed by a majority +of 116. Althorp, as the leader of the Commons, and Russell, +as the Minister in charge of the measure, carried the Reform +Bill promptly to the House of Lords, and made formal +request for the ‘concurrence of their lordships to the same.’ +Other men had laboured to bring about this result; but the +nation felt that, but for the pluck and persistency of Russell, +and the judgment and tact of Althorp, failure would have +attended their efforts.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">LORD ALTHORP’S TACT</div> + +<p>It is difficult now to understand the secret of the influence +which Althorp wielded in the Grey Administration, but it was +great enough to lead the Premier to ask him to accept a peerage, +in order—in the crisis which was now at hand—to bring +the Lords to their senses. Althorp was in no sense of the +word a great statesman; in fact, his career was the triumph +of character rather than capacity. All through the struggle, +when controversy grew furious and passion rose high, Althorp +kept a cool head, and his adroitness in conciliatory speech was +remarkable. He was a moderate man, who never failed to do +justice to his opponent’s case, and his influence was not merely +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> +in the Commons; it made itself felt to good purpose in the +Court, as well as in the country. He was a man of chivalrous +instincts and unchallenged probity. It was one of his political +opponents, Sir Henry Hardinge, who exclaimed, +‘Althorp carried the bill. His fine temper did it!’</p> + +<p>Lord John Russell, like his colleagues, was fully alive to +the gravity of the crisis. He made no secret of his conviction +that, if another deadlock arose, the consequence +would be bloodshed, and the outbreak of a conflict in which +the British Constitution would probably perish. Twelve +months before, the cry in the country had been, ‘What will +the Lords do?’ but now an altogether different question +was on men’s lips, ‘What must be done with the Lords?’ +Government knew that the real struggle over the bill would +be in Committee, and therefore they refused to be unduly +elated when the second reading was carried on April 14 +with a majority of nine, in spite of the Duke of Wellington’s +blustering heroics. Three weeks later, Lord Lyndhurst +carried, by a majority of thirty-five, a motion for the mutilation +of the bill, in spite of Lord Grey’s assurance that it +dealt a fatal blow at the measure. The Premier immediately +moved the adjournment of the debate, and the situation +grew suddenly dramatic. The Cabinet had made its +last concession; Ministers determined, in Lord Durham’s +words, that a ‘sufficient creation of Peers was absolutely +necessary’ if their resignation was not to take immediate +effect, and they laid their views before the King. William +IV., like his predecessor, lived in a narrow world; he was surrounded +by gossips who played upon his fears of revolution, +and took care to appeal to his prejudices. His zeal for +Reform had already cooled, and Queen Adelaide was hostile +to Lord Grey’s measure. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span></p> + +<p>When, therefore, Lord Grey and Lord Brougham went +down to Windsor to urge the creation of new Peers, they +met with a chilling reception. The King refused his +sanction, and the Ministry had no other alternative than to +resign. William IV. took counsel with Lord Lyndhurst, +and summoned the Duke of Wellington. Meanwhile the +House of Commons at the instance of Lord Ebrington, +again passed a vote of confidence in the Grey Administration, +and adopted an address to His Majesty, begging him to call +to his councils such persons only as ‘will carry into effect +unimpaired in all its essential provisions that bill for reforming +the representation of the people which has recently +passed the House of Commons.’ Wellington tried to form +a Ministry in order to carry out some emasculated scheme +of Reform, but Peel was inexorable, and refused to have +part or lot in the project.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">THE FIERCE CRY OF THE STREETS</div> + +<p>Meanwhile the cry rang through the country, ‘The bill, +the whole bill, and nothing but the bill!’ William IV. was +hissed as he passed through the streets, and the walls blazed +with insulting lampoons and caricatures. Signboards which +displayed the King’s portrait were framed with crape, and +Queen Adelaide’s likeness was disfigured with lampblack. +Rumours of projected riots filled the town, and +whispers of a plot for seizing the wives and children of the +aristocracy led the authorities to order the swords of the +Scots Greys to be rough-sharpened. At the last moment, +when the attitude of the country was menacing, the King +yielded, on May 17, and sent for Lord Grey. ‘Only think,’ +wrote Joseph Parkes on May 18, ‘that at three yesterday +all was gloomy foreboding in the Cabinet, and at twenty-five +minutes before five last night Lord Althorp did not know +the King’s answer till Lord Grey returned at half-past five +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span>—“All +right.” Thus on the decision of one man rests the fate +of nations.’<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></p> + +<p>Instead of creating new Peers, the King addressed a letter +to members of the House of Lords who were hostile to the +bill, urging them to withdraw their opposition. A hint from +Windsor went further with the aristocracy in those days than +any number of appeals, reasonable or just, from the country. +About a hundred of the Peers, in angry sullen mood, shook +off the dust of Westminster, and, in Lord John’s words, +‘skulked in clubs and country houses.’ Sindbad, to borrow +Albany Fonblanque’s vigorous simile, was getting rid of the +old man of the sea, not permanently, alas! but at least for +the occasion. During the progress of these negotiations, the +nation, now confident of victory, stood not merely at attention +but on the alert. ‘I say,’ exclaimed Attwood at +Birmingham—and the phrase expressed the situation—‘the +people of England stand at this moment like greyhounds on +the slip!’ Triumph was only a matter of time. ‘Pray beg +of Lord Grey to keep well,’ wrote Sydney Smith to the +Countess; ‘I have no doubt of a favourable issue. I see an +open sea beyond the icebergs.’ At length the open sea was +reached, and on June 7 the Reform Bill received the Royal +Assent and became the law of the land, and with it the era +of government by public opinion began. The mode by +which the country at last obtained this great measure of +redress did not commend itself to Lord John’s judgment. +He did not disguise his opinion that the creation of many +new Peers favourable to Reform would have been a more +dignified proceeding than the request from Windsor to noble +lords to dissemble and cloak their disappointment. ‘Whether +twelve or one hundred be the number requisite to enable +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span> +the Peers to give their votes in conformity with public +opinion,’ were his words, ‘it seems to me that the House of +Lords, sympathising with the people at large, and acting +in concurrence with the enlightened state of the prevailing +wish, represents far better the dignity of the House, and its +share in legislation, than a majority got together by the long +supremacy of one party in the State, eager to show its ill-will +by rejecting bills of small importance, but afraid to appear, +and skulking in clubs and country houses, in face of a +measure which has attracted the ardent sympathy of public +opinion.’</p> + +<div class="sidenote">BOWING BEFORE THE STORM</div> + +<p>‘God may and, I hope, will forgive you for this bill,’ +was Lord Sidmouth’s plaintive lament to Earl Grey, ‘but I +do not think I ever can!’ There lives no record of reply. +The last protest of the Duke of Wellington, delivered just +before the measure became law, was characteristic in many +respects, and not least in its blunt honesty. ‘Reform, my +lords, has triumphed, the barriers of the Constitution are +broken down, the waters of destruction have burst the gates +of the temple, and the tempest begins to howl. Who can +say where its course should stop? who can stay its speed? +For my own part, I earnestly hope that my predictions may +not be fulfilled, and that my country may not be ruined by +the measure which the noble earl and his colleagues have +sanctioned.’ Lord John Russell, on the contrary, held then +the view which he afterwards expressed: ‘It is the right of +a people to represent its grievances: it is the business of a +statesman to devise remedies.’ In the first quarter of the +present century the people made their grievances known. +Lord Grey and his Cabinet in 1831-2 devised remedies, and, +in Lord John’s memorable phrase, ‘popular enthusiasm rose +in its strength and converted them into law. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span>’</p> + +<p>The Reform Bill, as Walter Bagehot has shown, did +nothing to remove the worst evils from which the nation +suffered, for the simple reason that those evils were not +political but economical. But if it left unchallenged the +reign of protection and much else in the way of palpable +and glaring injustice, it ushered in a new temper in regard +to public questions. It recognised the new conditions of +English society, and gave the mercantile and manufacturing +classes, with their wealth, intelligence, and energy, not only +the consciousness of power, but the sense of responsibility.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">A GENEROUS TRIBUTE</div> + +<p>The political struggle under Pitt had been between +the aristocracy and the monarchy, but that under Grey +was between the aristocracy and the middle classes, for +the claims of the democracy in the broad sense of the +word lay outside the scope of the measure. In spite of its +halting confidence in the people, men felt that former things +of harsh oppression had passed away, and that the Reform +Bill rendered their return impossible. It was at best only +a half measure, but it broke the old exclusive traditions and +diminished to a remarkable degree the power of the landed +interest in Parliament. It has been said that it was the +business of Lord John Russell at that crisis to save England +from copying the example of the French Revolution, and +there can be no doubt whatever that the measure was a +safety-valve at a moment when political excitement assumed +a menacing form. The public rejoicings were inspired +as much by hope as by gladness. A new era had dawned, +the will of the nation had prevailed, the spirit of progress +was abroad, and the multitudes knew that other reforms +less showy perhaps but not less substantial, were at hand. +‘Look at England before the Reform Bill, and look at it +now,’ wrote Mr. Froude <ins class="correction" title="Transcriber's note: original reads 'in in 1874'">in 1874</ins>. ‘Its population +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span> +almost doubled; its commerce quadrupled; every individual +in the kingdom lifted to a high level of comfort +and intelligence—the speed quickening every year; the +advance so enormous, the increase so splendid, that language +turns to rhetoric in describing it.’ When due allowance is +made for the rhetoric of such a description—for alas! the +‘high level of comfort’ for every individual in the kingdom +is still unattained—the substantial truth of such a statement +cannot be gainsaid. When the battle was fought, Lord +John was generous enough to say that the success of the +Reform Bill in the House of Commons was due mainly to +the confidence felt in the integrity and sound judgment of +Lord Althorp. At the same time he never concealed his +conviction that it was the multitude outside who made the +measure resistless.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> <i>Correspondence of Mr. Joseph Jekyll</i>, 1818-1838. Edited, with a +brief Memoir, by the Hon. Algernon Bourke. Pp. 272-273.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> Flood’s Reform proposals were made in 1790. His idea was to +augment the House of Commons by one hundred members, to be elected +by the resident householders of every county.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> <i>Life of George Grote</i>, by Mrs. Grote, p. 80.</p></div> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span></p> + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<p class="title">THE DAWN OF A NEW ERA<br /><br /> + +1833-1838</p> + +<p class="desc">The turn of the tide with the Whigs—The two voices in the Cabinet—Lord +John and Ireland—Althorp and the Poor Law—The Melbourne +Administration on the rocks—Peel in power—The question +of Irish tithes—Marriage of Lord John—Grievances of Nonconformists—Lord +Melbourne’s influence over the Queen—Lord +Durham’s mission to Canada—Personal sorrow.</p> + + +<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">High-water</span> mark was reached with the Whigs in the spring +of 1833, and before the tide turned, two years later, Lord +Grey and his colleagues had, in various directions, done +much to justify the hopes of their followers. The result of +the General Election in the previous December was seen +when the first Reformed Parliament assembled at Westminster, +on January 29, 1833. Lord Althorp, as Leader of +the House of Commons, found himself with 485 members +at his back, whilst Sir Robert Peel confronted him with +about 170 stalwart Tories. After all, the disparity was +hardly as great as it looked, for it was a mixed multitude +which followed Althorp, and in its ranks were the elements +of conflict and even of revolt. The Whigs had made common +cause with the Radicals when the Reform Bill stood in +jeopardy every hour, but the triumph of the measure +imperilled this grand alliance. Not a few of the Whigs had +been faint-hearted during the struggle, and were now +some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span>what +alarmed at its overwhelming success. Their inclination +was either to rest on their laurels or to make haste slowly. +The Radicals, on the contrary, longed for new worlds to +conquer. They were full of energy and enthusiasm, and +desired nothing so much as to ride abroad redressing human +wrongs. The traditions of the past were dear to the Whigs, +but the Radicals thrust such considerations impatiently +aside, and boasted that 1832 was the Year 1 of the people. +It was impossible that such warring elements should permanently +coalesce; the marvel is that they held together so +long.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">REMEDIAL MEASURES</div> + +<p>Even in the Cabinet there were two voices. The Duke +of Richmond was at heart a Tory masquerading in the +dress of a Whig. Lord Durham was a Radical of an outspoken +and uncompromising type, in spite of his aristocratic +trappings and his great possessions. Nevertheless, the new +era opened, not merely with a flourish of trumpets, but with +notable work in the realm of practical statesmanship. +Fowell Buxton took up the work of Wilberforce on behalf +of the desolate and oppressed, and lived to bring about +the abolition of slavery; whilst Shaftesbury’s charity began +at home with the neglected factory children. Religious +toleration was represented in the Commons by the +Jewish Relief Bill, and its opposite in the Lords by the +defeat of that measure. Althorp amended the Poor +Laws, and, though neither he nor his colleagues would +admit the fact, the bill rendered, by its alterations in the +provisions of settlement and the bold attack which it made +on the thraldom of labour, the repeal of the Corn Laws +inevitable. Grant renewed the charter of the East India +Company, but not its monopoly of the trade with the East. +Roebuck brought forward a great scheme of education, whilst +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span> +Grote sought to introduce the ballot, and Hume, in the +interests of economy, but at the cost of much personal odium, +assailed sinecures and extravagance in every shape and form. +Ward drew attention to the abuses of the Irish Church, and +did much by his exertions to lessen them; and Lord John +Russell a year or two later brought about a civic revolution +by the Municipal Reform Act—a measure which, next to +the reform of Parliament, did more to broaden and uplift the +political life of the people than any other enactment of the +century. Ireland blocked the way of Lord Grey’s Ministry, +and the wild talk and hectoring attitude of O’Connell, and +his bold bid for personal ascendency, made it difficult for +responsible statesmen to deal calmly with the problems by +which they were confronted.</p> + +<p>It is true that Lord John was not always on the side of the +angels of progress and redress. He blundered occasionally +like other men, and sometimes even hesitated strangely to +give effect to his convictions, and therefore it would be idle +as well as absurd to attempt to make out that he was +consistent, much less infallible. The Radicals a little later +complained that he talked of finality in reform, and supported +the coercive measures of Stanley in Ireland, and opposed +Hume in his efforts to secure the abolition of naval and military +sinecures. He declined to support a proposed investigation +of the pension list. He set his face against Tennyson’s +scheme for shortening the duration of Parliaments, and Grote +had to reckon with his hostility to the adoption of the ballot. +But in spite of it all, he was still, in Sydney Smith’s happy +phrase, to all intents and purposes ‘Lord John Reformer.’ +No one doubted his honesty or challenged his motives. +The compass by which Russell steered his course through +political life might tremble, but men felt that it remained true. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span></p> + +<div class="sidenote">FIRST VISIT TO IRELAND</div> + +<p>Ireland drew forth his sympathies, but he failed to +see any way out of the difficulty. ‘I wish I knew what +to do to help your country,’ were his words to Moore, +‘but, as I do not, it is of no use giving her smooth words, +as O’Connell told me, and I must be silent.’ It was +not in his nature, however, to sit still with folded hands. +He held his peace, but quietly crossed the Channel to +study the problem on the spot. It was his first visit to +the distressful country for many years, and he wished Moore +to accompany him as guide, philosopher, and friend. He +assured the poet that he would allow him to be as patriotic +as he pleased about ‘the first flower of the earth and first +gem of the sea’ during the proposed sentimental journey. +‘Your being a rebel,’ were his words, ‘may somewhat atone +for my being a Cabinet Minister.’ Moore, however, was +compelled to decline the tempting proposal by the necessity +of making ends meet by sticking to the hack work which +that universal provider of knowledge, Dr. Lardner, had set +him in the interests of the ‘Cabinet Encyclopædia’—an enterprise +to which men of the calibre of Mackintosh, Southey, +Herschell, and even Walter Scott had lent a helping hand.</p> + +<p>Lord John landed in Ireland in the beginning of September +1833, and went first to Lord Duncannon’s place at +Bessborough. Afterwards he proceeded to Waterford to +visit Lord Ebrington, his colleague in the representation of +Devonshire. He next found his way to Cork and Killarney, +and he wrote again to Moore urging him to ‘hang Dr. +Lardner on his tree of knowledge,’ and to join him at the +eleventh hour. Moore must have been in somewhat +reduced circumstances at the moment—for he was a luxurious, +pleasure-loving man, who never required much persuasion +to throw down his work—since such an appeal availed +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> +nothing. Meanwhile Lord John had carried Lord Ebrington +back to Dublin, and they went together to the North of +Ireland. The visit to Belfast attracted considerable attention; +Lord John’s services over the Reform Bill were of +course fresh in the public mind, and he was entertained in +orthodox fashion at a public dinner. This short tour in +Ireland did much to open his eyes to the real grievances of +the people, and, fresh from the scene of disaffection, he was +able to speak with authority when the late autumn compelled +the Whig Cabinet to throw everything else aside in order to +devise if possible some measure of relief for Ireland. Stanley +was Chief Secretary, and, though one of the most brilliant +men of his time alike in deed and word, unfortunately his +haughty temper and autocratic leanings were a grievous +hindrance if a policy of coercion was to be exchanged for +the more excellent way of conciliation. O’Connell opposed +his policy in scathing terms, and attacked him personally with +bitter invective, and in the end there was open war between +the two men.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">POOR LAW REFORM</div> + +<p>Lord Grey, now that Parliamentary Reform had been +conceded, was developing into an easy-going aristocratic +Whig of somewhat contracted sympathies, and Stanley, +though still in the Cabinet, was apparently determined +to administer the affairs of Ireland on the most approved +Tory principles. Althorp, Russell, and Duncannon +were men whose sympathies leaned more or less decidedly +in the opposite direction, and therefore, especially with +O’Connell thundering at the gates with the Irish people and +the English Radicals at his back, a deadlock was inevitable. +Durham, in ill health and chagrin, and irritated by the stationary, +if not reactionary, attitude of certain members of +the Grey Administration, resigned office in the spring of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span> +1833. Goderich became Privy Seal, and this enabled Stanley +to exchange the Irish Secretaryship for that of the Colonies. +He had driven Ireland to the verge of revolt, but he had +nevertheless made an honest attempt to grapple with many +practical evils, and his Education Bill was a piece of constructive +statesmanship which placed Roman Catholics on +an equality with Protestants. Early in the session of +1834 Althorp introduced the Poor Law Amendment +Act, and the measure was passed in July. The changes +which it brought about were startling, for its enactments +were drastic. This great economic measure came +to the relief of a nation in which ‘one person in every +seven was a pauper.’ The new law limited relief to +destitution, prohibited out-door help to the able-bodied, +beyond medical aid, instituted tests to detect imposture, +confederated parishes into unions, and substituted large +district workhouses for merely local shelters for the destitute. +In five years the poor rate was reduced by three millions, +and the population, set free by the new interpretation of +‘Settlement,’ were able, in their own phrase, to follow the +work and to congregate accordingly wherever the chance of +a livelihood offered. One great question followed hard +on the heels of another.</p> + +<p>In the King’s Speech at the opening of Parliament, the +consideration of Irish tithes was recommended, for extinguishing +‘all just causes of complaint without injury to the +rights and property of any class of subjects or to any institution +in Church or State.’ Mr. Littleton (afterwards Lord +Hatherton), who had succeeded Stanley as Irish Secretary +accordingly introduced a new Tithe Bill, the object of which +was to change the tithe first into a rent-charge payable by +the landlord, and eventually into land tax. The measure also +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> +proposed that the clergy should be content with a sum which +fell short of the amount to which they were entitled by law, +so that riot and bloodshed might be avoided by lessened +demands. On the second reading of the bill, Lord John +frankly avowed the faith that was in him, a circumstance +which led to unexpected results. He declared that, as he +understood it, the aim of the bill was to determine and secure +the amount of the tithe. The question of appropriation was +to be kept entirely distinct. If the object of the bill was +to grant a certain sum to the Established Church of Ireland, +and the question was to end there, his opinion of it might +be different. But he understood it to be a bill to secure +a certain amount of property and revenue destined by the +State to religious and charitable purposes, and if the State +should find that it was not appropriated justly to the purposes +of religious and moral instruction, it would then be +the duty of Parliament to consider the necessity of a different +appropriation. His opinion was that the revenues of the +Church of Ireland were larger than necessary for the religious +and moral instruction of the persons belonging to that +Church, and for the stability of the Church itself.</p> + +<p>Lord John did not think it would be advisable or wise +to mix the question of appropriation with the question of +amount of the revenues; but when Parliament had vindicated +the property in tithes, he should then be prepared to +assert his opinion with regard to their appropriation. If, +when the revenue was once secured, the assertion of that +opinion should lead him to differ and separate from those +with whom he was united by political connection, and for +whom he entertained the deepest private affection, he should +feel much regret; yet he should, at whatever cost and +sacrifice, do what he should consider his bounden duty—namely, +do justice to Ireland. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span></p> + +<div class="sidenote">UPSETTING THE COACH</div> + +<p>He afterwards explained that this speech, which produced +a great impression, was prompted by the attitude of +Stanley concerning the permanence and inviolability of the +Irish Church. He was, in fact, afraid that if Stanley’s +statement was allowed to pass in silence by his colleagues, +the whole Government would be regarded as pledged to the +maintenance in their existing shape of the temporalities of +an alien institution. Lord John accordingly struck from his +own bat, amid the cheers of the Radicals. Stanley expressed +to Sir James Graham his view of the situation in the now +familiar phrase, ‘Johnny has upset the coach.’ The truth +was, divided counsels existed in the Cabinet on this question +of appropriation, and Lord John’s blunt deliverance, though +it did not wreck the Ministry, placed it in a dilemma. He +was urged by some of his colleagues to explain away what +he had said, but he had made up his mind and was in no +humour to retract.</p> + +<p>Palmerston, with whom he was destined to have many an +encounter in coming days, thought he ought to have been +turned out of the Cabinet, and others of his colleagues were +hardly less incensed. The independent member, in the person +of Mr. Ward, who sat for St. Albans, promptly took advantage +of Russell’s speech to bring forward a motion to the effect +that the Church in Ireland ‘exceeds the wants of the population, +and ought to be reduced.’ This proposition was +elbowed out of the way by the appointment of a Royal Commission +of Inquiry into the revenues of the Irish Church; but +Stanley felt that his position in the Cabinet was now untenable, +and therefore retired from office in the company of the +Duke of Richmond, Lord Ripon, and Sir James Graham. The +Radicals made no secret of their glee. Ward, they held, had +been a benefactor to the party beyond their wildest dreams, +for he had exorcised the evil spirits of the Grey Administration. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span></p> + +<p>Lord Grey had an opportunity at this crisis of infusing +fresh vigour into his Ministry by raising to Cabinet rank men +of progressive views who stood well with the country. +Another course was, however, taken, for the Marquis of +Conyngham became Postmaster-General, the Earl of Carlisle +Privy Seal, whilst Lord Auckland went to the Admiralty, and +Mr. Spring Rice became Colonial Secretary, and so the opportunity +of a genuine reconstruction of the Government was +lost. The result was, the Government was weakened, and +no one was satisfied. ‘Whigs, Tories, and Radicals,’ wrote +Greville, ‘join in full cry against them, and the “Times,” in a +succession of bitter vituperative articles very well done, fires +off its contempt and disgust at the paltry patching-up of the +Cabinet.’</p> + +<p>Durham’s retirement, though made on the score of +ill-health, had not merely cooled the enthusiasm of the +Radicals towards the Grey Administration, but had also +awakened their suspicions. Lord John was restive, and +inclined to kick over the traces; whilst Althorp, whose tastes +were bucolic, had also a desire to depart. ‘Nature,’ he +exclaimed, ‘intended me to be a grazier; but men will +insist on making me a statesman.’ He confided to Lord +John that he detested office to such an extent that he +‘wished himself dead’ every morning when he awoke. +Meanwhile vested interests here, there, and everywhere, +were uniting their forces against the Ministry, and its sins +of omission as well as of commission were leaping to light +on the platform and in the Press. Wellington found his +reputation for political sagacity agreeably recognised, and +he fell into the attitude of an oracle whose jeremiads +had come true. When Lord Grey proposed the renewal +of the Coercion Act without alteration, Lord Althorp +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> +expressed a strong objection to such a proceeding. He had +assured Littleton that the Act would not be put in force +again in its entirety, and the latter, with more candour than +discretion, had communicated the intimation to O’Connell, +who bruited it abroad.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">O’CONNELL THROWS DOWN THE GAUNTLET</div> + +<p>Lord John had come to definite convictions about +Ireland, and he was determined not to remain in the Cabinet +unless he was allowed to speak out. On June 23 the Irish +Tithe Bill reached the stage of committee, and Littleton +drew attention to the changes which had been introduced +into the measure—slight concessions to public opinion which +Lord John felt were too paltry to meet the gravity of the +case. O’Connell threw down the gauntlet to the Ministry, +and asked the House to pass an amendment asserting that +the surplus revenues of the Church ought to be applied to +purposes of public utility. Peel laid significant stress on +the divided counsels in the Ministry, and accused Lord John +of asserting that the Irish Church was the greatest grievance +of which the nation had ever had to complain. The latter +repudiated such a charge, and explained that what he had +said was that the revenues of the Church were too great for +its stability, thereby implying that he both desired and contemplated +its continued existence. Although not unwilling +to support a mild Coercion Bill, if it went hand in hand with +a determined effort to deal with abuses, he made it clear +that repressive enactments without such an effort at Reform +were altogether repugnant to his sense of justice. He +declared that Coercion Acts were ‘peculiarly abhorrent to +those who pride themselves on the name of Whigs;’ and he +added that, when such a necessity arose, Ministers were confronted +with the duty of looking ‘deeper into the causes of +the long-standing and permanent evils’ of Ireland. I am +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> +not prepared to continue the government of Ireland without +fully probing her condition; I am not prepared to propose +bills for coercion, and the maintenance of a large force of +military and police, without endeavouring to improve, so far +as lies in my power, the condition of the people. I will not +be a Minister to carry on systems which I think founded +on bigotry and prejudice. Be the consequence what it +may, I am content to abide by these opinions, to carry them +out to their fullest extent, not by any premature declaration +of mere opinion, but by going on gradually, from time to +time improving our institutions, and, without injuring the +ancient and venerable fabrics, rendering them fit and proper +mansions for a great, free, and intelligent people.’ Such a +speech was worthy of Fox, and it recalls a passage in Lord +John’s biography of that illustrious statesman. Fox did his +best in the teeth of prejudice and obloquy to free Ireland +from the thraldom which centuries of oppression had +created: ‘In 1780, in 1793, and in 1829, that which had +been denied to reason was granted to force. Ireland +triumphed, not because the justice of her claims was apparent, +but because the threat of insurrection overcame prejudice, +made fear superior to bigotry, and concession triumphant +over persecution.’<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a></p> + +<div class="sidenote">CROSS CURRENTS</div> + +<p>Even O’Connell expressed his admiration of this bold +and fearless declaration, and the speech did much to increase +Lord John’s reputation, both within and without the +House of Commons. In answer to a letter of congratulation, +he said that his friends would make him, by their +encouragement—what he felt he was not by nature—a +good speaker. ‘There are occasions,’ he added, ‘on +which one must express one’s feelings or sink into contempt. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> +I own I have not been easy during the period in which I +thought it absolutely necessary to suspend the assertion of +my opinions in order to secure peace in this country.’ Lord +John’s attitude on this occasion threw into relief his keen +sense of political responsibility, no less than the honesty +and courage which were characteristic of the man. A day +or two later the Cabinet drifted on to the rocks. The +policy of Coercion was reaffirmed in spite of Althorp’s protests, +and in spite also of Littleton’s pledge to the contrary +to O’Connell. Generosity was not the strong point of the +Irish orator, and, to the confusion of Littleton and the +annoyance of Grey, he insisted on taking the world into his +confidence from his place in Parliament. This was the last +straw. Lord Althorp would no longer serve, and Lord +Grey, harassed to death, determined no longer to lead. +After all, ‘Johnny’ was only one of many who upset the +coach, which, in truth, turned over because its wheels were +rotten. On the evening of June 29 a meeting of the Cabinet +was held, and, in Russell’s words, ‘Lord Grey placed before +us the letters containing his own resignation and that of Lord +Althorp, which he had sent early in the morning to the +King. He likewise laid before us the King’s gracious +acceptance of his resignation, and he gave to Lord Melbourne +a sealed letter from his Majesty. Lord Melbourne, +upon opening this letter, found in it an invitation to him to +undertake the formation of a Government. Seeing that +nothing was to be done that night, I left the Cabinet and +went to the Opera.’</p> + +<p>Lord Melbourne was sent for in July, and took his +place at the head of a Cabinet which remained practically +unaltered. He had been Home Secretary under Grey, +and Duncannon was now called to fill that post. The +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> +first Melbourne Administration was short-lived, for when +it had existed four months Earl Spencer died, and Althorp, +on his succession to the peerage, was compelled to +relinquish his leadership of the House of Commons. +William IV. cared little for Melbourne, and less for Russell, +and, as he wished to pick a quarrel with the Whigs, since +their policy excited his alarm, he used Althorp for a pretext. +Lord Grey had professed to regard Althorp as indispensable +to the Ministry, and the King imagined that Melbourne +would adopt the same view. Although reluctant to part with +Althorp, who eagerly seized the occasion of his accession to +an earldom to retire from official life, Melbourne refused to +believe that the heavens would fall because of that fact.</p> + +<p>There was no pressing conflict of opinion between +the King and his advisers, but William IV. nevertheless +availed himself of the accident of Althorp’s elevation +to the peerage to dismiss the Ministry. The reversion +of the leadership in the Commons fell naturally to Lord +John, and Melbourne was quick to recognise the fact. +‘Thus invited,’ says Lord John Russell, ‘I considered it +my duty to accept the task, though I told Lord Melbourne +that I could not expect to have the same influence with the +House of Commons which Lord Althorp had possessed. +In conversation with Mr. Abercromby I said, more in joke +than in earnest, that if I were offered the command of the +Channel Fleet, and thought it my duty to accept, I should not +refuse it.’ It was unlike Sydney Smith to treat the remark +about taking command of the Channel Fleet seriously, when +‘he elaborated a charge’ against Lord John on the Deans +and Chapters question; but even the witty Canon could lose +his temper sometimes.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">WILLIAM IV. DEFENDER OF THE FAITH</div> + +<p>The King, however, had strong opinions on the subject +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> +of Lord John’s qualifications, and he expressed in emphatic +terms his disapproval. The nation trusted Lord John, and +had come to definite and flattering conclusions about him +as a statesman, but at Windsor a different opinion prevailed. +The King, in fact, made no secret to Lord Melbourne, +in the famous interview at Brighton, of his conviction +that Lord John Russell had neither the ability nor the influence +to qualify him for the task; and he added that +he would ‘make a wretched figure’ when opposed in the +Commons by men like Peel and Stanley. His Majesty +further volunteered the remark that he did not ‘understand +that young gentleman,’ and could not agree to the arrangement +proposed. William, moreover, took occasion to pose +as a veritable, as well as titular, Defender of the Faith, for, +on the authority of Baron Stockmar, the King ‘considered +Lord John Russell to have pledged himself to certain encroachments +on the Church, which his Majesty had made +up his mind and expressed his determination to resist.’ As +Russell was clearly quite out of the reckoning, Melbourne +suggested two other names. But the King had made up his +mind on more subjects than one, and next morning, Lord +Melbourne found himself in possession of a written paper, +which informed him his Majesty had no further occasion +either for his services or for those of his colleagues.</p> + +<p>William IV. acted within his constitutional rights, +but such an exercise of the royal prerogative was, to +say the least, worthy of George III. in his most uninspired +mood. Althorp regarded the King’s action as the +‘greatest piece of folly ever committed,’ and Lord John, +in reply to the friendly note which contained this emphatic +verdict, summoned his philosophy to his aid in the following +characteristic rejoinder: ‘I suppose everything is for +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span> +the best in this world; otherwise the only good which I +should see in this event would be that it saves me from +being sadly pommelled by Peel and Stanley, to say nothing +of O’Connell.’ Wellington, who was hastily summoned by +the King, suggested that Sir Robert Peel should be entrusted +with the formation of a new Government.</p> + +<p>Sir Robert Peel was accordingly sent for in hot haste from +Rome to form a new Ministry. On his arrival in London in +December 1834, he at once set about the formation of a +Cabinet. This is Jekyll’s comment: ‘Our crisis has been +entertaining, and Peel is expected to-day. I wish he could +have remained long enough at Rome to have learnt mosaic, +of which parti-coloured materials our Cabinets have been +constructed for twenty years, and for want of cement have +fallen to pieces. The Whigs squall out, “Let us depart, +for the Reformers grow too impatient.” The Tories squall +out, “Let us come in, and we will be very good boys, and +become Reformers ourselves.” However, the country is safe +by the Reform Bill, for no Minister can remain in office now +by corrupt Parliaments; he must act with approbation of the +country or lose his Cabinet in a couple of months.’ At the +General Election which followed, Peel issued his celebrated +address to the electors of Tamworth, in which he declared +himself favourable to the reform of ‘proved abuses,’ and to +the carrying out of such measures ‘gradually, dispassionately, +and deliberately,’ in order that it might be lasting. Lord +John was returned again for South Devon; but on the reassembling +of Parliament the Liberal majority had dwindled +from 314 to 107. It was during his election tour that he +delivered an address at Totnes, which Greville described as +not merely ‘a very masterly performance,’ but ‘one of the +cleverest and most appropriate speeches’ he had ever read, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span> +and for which his friends warmly complimented him. It +was a powerful and humorous examination of the Tories’ +professed anxiety for Reform, and of the prospects of any +Reform measures being carried out by their instrumentality.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION</div> + +<p>Lord John now became leader of the Opposition, though +the Duke of Bedford dreaded the strain, and expostulated +with his son on his acceptance of so irksome and laborious +a task. ‘You will have to conduct and keep in order a +noisy and turbulent pack of hounds which, I think, you will +find it quite impossible to restrain.’ The Duke of Bedford’s +fears were not groundless, and Lord John afterwards confessed +that, in the whole period during which he had led the +Liberal party in the House of Commons, he never had so +difficult a task. The forces under his command consisted +of a few stalwart Radicals, a number of Whigs of the traditional +and somewhat stationary type, and some sixty Irish +members. Nevertheless, he promptly assumed an aggressive +attitude, and his first victory as leader of the Opposition was +won on the question of the choice of a new Speaker, when +Mr. Abercromby was placed in the chair in preference to +the Ministerial candidate. As the session went on, Lord +John’s resources in attack grew more and more marked, but +he was foiled by the lack of cohesion amongst his followers. +It became evident that, unless all sections of the Opposition +were united as one man, the Government of Sir Robert +Peel could not be overthrown. Alliance with the Radicals +and the Irish party, although hateful to the old-fashioned +Whigs, was in fact imperative. Lord John summoned a +meeting of the Opposition at Lord Lichfield’s house; the +support of the Radicals and Irish was secured, and then +the leader marshalled his forces for what he hoped would +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span> +prove a decisive victory. His expectations were not disappointed, +for early in April he brought forward a motion for the +appropriation of the surplus revenues of the Irish Church +to general moral and religious purposes, and won with a +majority of twenty-seven votes (285 to 258). Sir Robert Peel +forthwith resigned, and the Whigs were avenged for their +cavalier dismissal by the King.</p> + +<p>On the day after the Prime Minister’s resignation, Lord +John Russell was married—April 11, 1835, at St. George’s, +Hanover Square—to Adelaide, Lady Ribblesdale, the widow +of the second bearer of that title. The respite from political +strife was of short duration, for at the end of forty-eight +hours he was summoned from Woburn to take the seals of +the Home Office in the second Melbourne Administration. +The members of the new Cabinet presented themselves +to their constituents for re-election, and Lord John suffered +defeat in Devonshire. A seat was, however, found for him +at Stroud, and in May he was back again in the House of +Commons. The first measure of importance introduced by +him, on June 5, was the Municipal Reform Act—a measure +which embodied the results of the Commission on the +subject appointed by Lord Grey. The bill swept away +a host of antiquated and absurd privileges of corporate +cities and towns, abolished the authority of cliques of +freemen, rectified a variety of abuses, and entrusted municipal +government to the hands of all taxpayers. Lord +John piloted the measure through the Commons, and +fought almost single-handed the representatives of vested +rights. After a long contest with the Opposition and the +Lords, he had the satisfaction of passing the bill, in a +somewhat modified form, through its final stages in September, +though the Peers, as usual, opposed it as long as they +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span> +dared, and only yielded at last when Peel in the one House +and Wellington in the other recommended concession.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">A POPULAR OVATION</div> + +<p>The Irish Tithes Bill was subsequently introduced, +and, though it now included the clauses for the appropriation +of certain revenues, it passed the Commons by +a majority of thirty-seven. The Lords, however, struck +out the appropriation clauses, and the Government in consequence +abandoned the measure. The Irish Municipal +Bill shared a similar fate, and Lord John’s desire to see +justice done in Ireland was brought for the moment to +naught. The labours of the session had been peculiarly +arduous, and in the autumn his health suffered from the +prolonged strain. His ability as a leader of the House of +Commons, in spite of the dismal predictions of William IV. +and the admonitions of paternal solicitude, was now recognised +by men of all shades of opinion, though, of course, he +had to confront the criticism alike of candid friends and +equally outspoken foes. He recruited his energies in the +West of England, and, though he had been so recently +defeated in Devonshire, wherever he went the people, by +way of amends, gave him an ovation. Votes of thanks were +accorded to him for his championship of civil and religious +liberty, and in November he was entertained at a banquet +at Bristol, and presented with a handsome testimonial, +raised by the sixpences of ardent Reformers.</p> + +<p>Parliament, in the Speech from the Throne, when the +session of 1836 began, was called upon to take into early +consideration various measures of Reform. The programme +of the Ministry, like that of many subsequent administrations, +was not lacking in ambition. It was proposed to deal with +the antiquated and vexatious manner in which from time +immemorial the tithes of the English Church had been +col<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span>lected. +The question of Irish tithes was also once more to +be brought forward for solution; the municipal corporations +of Ireland and the relief of its poor were to be dealt with +in the light of recent legislation for England in the same +direction. Improvements in the practical working of the +administration of justice, ‘more especially in the Court of +Chancery,’ were foreshadowed, and it was announced that +the early attention of Parliament would also be called to +certain ‘grievances which affect those who dissent from the +doctrines or discipline of the Established Church.’ Such a +list of measures bore on its very face the unmistakeable +stamp of Lord John Russell’s zeal for political redress and +religious toleration. Early in the session he brought forward +two measures for the relief of Nonconformists. One of them +legalised marriages in the presence of a registrar in Nonconformist +places of worship, and the other provided for a +general civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths. +His original proposal was that marriage in church as +well as chapel should only take place after due notice +had been given to the registrar. The bishops refused +to entertain such an idea, and the House of Lords gave +effect to their objections, with the result that the registrar +was bowed out of church, though not out of chapel, where +indeed he remains to this day. The Tithe Commutation +Act and three other measures—one for equalising the +incomes of prelates, rearranging ancient dioceses and +creating new sees; another for the better application of +the revenues of the Church to its general purposes; and +a third to diminish pluralities—bore witness to his ardour +for ecclesiastical reform. The first became law in 1836, and +the other two respectively in 1838 and 1839. He lent +his aid also to the movement for the foundation on a broad +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span> +and liberal basis of a new university in London with power +to confer degrees—a concession to Nonconformist scholarship +and liberal culture generally, which was the more +appreciated since Oxford and Cambridge still jealously +excluded by their religious tests the youth of the Free +Churches.</p> + +<p>The Tithe Commutation Act was passed in June; it +provided for the exchange of tithes into a rent-charge upon +land payable in money, but according to a sliding scale +which varied with the average price of corn during the +seven preceding years. In the opinion of Lord Farnborough, +to no measure since the Reformation has the +Church owed so much peace and security. The Irish +Municipal Bill was carried in the course of the session +through the Commons, but the Lords rendered the measure +impossible; and though the Irish Poor Law Bill was carried, +a different fate awaited Irish Tithes. This measure was +introduced for the fifth time, but in consequence of the +King’s death, on June 20, and the dissolution of Parliament +which followed, it had to be abandoned. Between 1835 +and 1837 Lord John, as Home Secretary, brought about +many changes for the better in the regulation of prisons, and +especially in the treatment of juvenile offenders. By his +directions prisoners in Newgate, from metropolitan counties, +were transferred to the gaol of each county. Following in +the steps of Sir Samuel Romilly, he also reduced the number +of capital crimes, and, later on, brought about various prison +reforms, notably the establishment of a reformatory for juvenile +offenders.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">THE QUEEN’S ACCESSION</div> + +<p>The rejoicings over Queen Victoria’s accession in the +summer of 1837 were quickly followed by a General Election. +The result of this appeal to the country was that the Liberal +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> +majority in the House of Commons was reduced to less +than forty. Lord John was again returned for Stroud, and +on that occasion he delivered a speech in which he cleverly +contrasted the legislative achievements of the Tories with +those of the Whigs. He made a chivalrous allusion to the +‘illustrious Princess who has ascended the Throne with purest +intentions and the justest desires.’ One passage from his +speech merits quotation: ‘We have had glorious female +reigns. Those of Elizabeth and Anne led us to great victories. +Let us now hope that we are going to have a female reign +illustrious in its deeds of peace—an Elizabeth without her +tyranny, an Anne without her weakness.... I trust that we +may succeed in making the reign of Victoria celebrated among +the nations of the earth and to all posterity, and that England +may not forget her precedence of teaching the nations +how to live.’</p> + +<div class="sidenote">LORD MELBOURNE AND THE COURT</div> + +<p>Lord Melbourne had never been a favourite with William, +but from the first he stood high in the regard of the young +Queen. Her Majesty was but eighteen when she ascended +the throne upon which her reign has shed so great a lustre; +she had been brought up in comparative seclusion, and her +knowledge of public affairs was, of necessity, small. Lord +Melbourne at that time was approaching sixty, and the +respect which her Majesty gave to his years was heightened +by the quick recognition of the fact that the Prime Minister +was one of the most experienced statesmen which the +country at that moment possessed. He was also a man of +ready wit, and endowed with the charm of fine manners, and +under his easy nonchalance there lurked more earnest and +patriotic conviction than he ever cared to admit. ‘I am +sorry to hurt any man’s feelings,’ said Sydney Smith, ‘and +to brush aside the magnificent fabric of levity and gaiety he +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> +has reared; but I accuse our Minister of honesty and diligence.’ +Ridiculous rumours filled the air during the earliest +years of her Majesty’s reign concerning the supposed undue +influence which Lord Melbourne exerted at Court. The +more advanced Radicals complained that he sought to +render himself indispensable to the sovereign, and that his +plan was to surround her with his friends, relations, and +creatures, and so to obtain a prolonged tenure of power. +The Tories also grumbled, and made no secret of the same +ungenerous suspicions. They knew neither her Majesty +nor Lord Melbourne who thus spoke. At the same time, it +must be admitted that Lord Melbourne was becoming more +and more out of touch with popular aspirations, and the +political and social questions which were rapidly coming to +the front were treated by him in a somewhat cavalier +manner.</p> + +<p>Russell had his own misgivings, and was by no means +inclined to lay too much stress on the opinions of philosophical +Radicals of the type of Grote. At the same time, +he urged upon Melbourne the desirability of meeting the +Radicals as far as possible, and he laid stress on the fact +that they, at least, were not seeking for grounds of difference +with the Premier. ‘There are two things which I think +would be more acceptable than any others to this body—the +one to make the ballot an open question, the other to +remove Tories from the political command of the army.’ +Lord Melbourne, however, believed that the ballot would +create many evils and cure none. Lord John yielded to his +chief, but in doing so brought upon himself a good deal of +angry criticism, which was intensified by an unadvised +declaration in the House of Commons. In his speech on +the Address he referred to the question of Reform, and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span> +declared that it was quite impossible for him to take part +in further measures of Reform. The people of England +might revise the Act of 1832, or agitate for a new one; +but as for himself, he refused to be associated with any such +movement. A storm of expostulation and angry protest +broke out; but the advanced Reformers failed to move +Lord John from the position which he had taken. So +they concentrated their hostility in a harmless nickname, +and Lord John for some time forward was called in Radical +circles and certain journalistic publications, ‘Finality Jack.’ +This honest but superfluous and embarrassing deliverance +brought him taunts and reproaches, as well as a temporary +loss of popularity. It was always characteristic of +Lord John to speak his mind, and he sometimes did it not +wisely but too well. Grote wrote in February 1838: ‘The +degeneracy of the Liberal party, and their passive acquiescence +in everything, good or bad, which emanates from the +present Ministry, puts the accomplishment of any political +good out of the question; and it is not worth while to undergo +the fatigue of a nightly attendance in Parliament for +the simple purpose of sustaining Whig Conservatism against +Tory Conservatism. I now look back wistfully to my unfinished +Greek history.’ Yet Lord Brougham, in the year +of the Queen’s accession, declared that Russell was the +‘stoutest Reformer of them all.’</p> + +<div class="sidenote">LORD DURHAM AND CANADA</div> + +<p>The rebellion in Canada was the first great incident in the +new reign, and the Melbourne Cabinet met the crisis by proposals—which +were moved by Lord John in the Commons, +and adopted—for suspending the Canadian Constitution for +the space of four years. The Earl of Durham, at the beginning +of 1838, was appointed Governor-General with +extraordinary powers, and he reluctantly accepted the +diffi<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span>cult +post, trusting, as he himself said, to the confidence and +support of the Government, and to the forbearance of those +who differed from his political views. No one doubts that +Durham acted to the best of his judgment, though everyone +admits that he exceeded at least the letter of his authority; +and no one can challenge, in the light of the subsequent +history of Canada, the greatness and far-reaching nature of +his services, both to the Crown and to the Dominion. Relying +on the forbearance and support, in the faith of which +he had accepted his difficult commission, the Governor-General +took a high hand with the rebels; but his ordinances +were disallowed, and he was practically discredited and +openly deserted by the Government. When he was on the +point of returning home, a broken-hearted man, in failing +health, it was Lord John Russell who at length stood up in +Durham’s defence. Speaking on the Durham Indemnity +Bill, Lord John said: ‘I ask you to pass this Bill of Indemnity, +telling you that I shall be prepared when the time +comes, not indeed to say that the terms or words of the +ordinances passed by the Earl of Durham are altogether +to be justified, but that, looking at his conduct as a whole, +I shall be ready to take part with him. I shall be ready to +bear my share of any responsibility which is to be incurred +in these difficult circumstances.’ The generous nature of +this declaration was everywhere recognised, and by none +more heartily than Lord Durham. ‘I do not conceal from +you that my feelings have been deeply wounded by the conduct +of the Ministry. From you, however, and you alone +of them all, have I received any cordial support personally; +and I feel, as I have told you in a former letter, very +grateful to you.’</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Lord John Russell had been called upon +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> +to oppose Mr. Grote’s motion in favour of the ballot. +Although the motion was lost by 315 to 198 votes, the +result was peculiarly galling to Lord John, for amongst the +majority were those members who were usually opposed to +the Government, whilst the minority was made up of Lord +Melbourne’s followers. But the crisis threatening the +Ministry passed away when a motion of want of confidence +in Lord Glenelg, the head of the Colonial Office, was +defeated by twenty-nine votes. The Irish legislation of the +Government as represented by the Tithe Bill did not prosper, +and it became evident that, in order to pass the measure, the +Appropriation Clause must be abandoned. Although Lord +John Russell emphatically declared in 1835 that no Tithe +Bill could be effective which did not include an Appropriation +Clause, he gave way to the claims of political expediency, +and further alienated the Radicals by allowing a +measure which had been robbed of its potency to pass +through Parliament. Lord Melbourne’s Government accomplished +during the session something in the direction of +Irish Reform by the passage of the Poor Law, but it failed +to carry the Municipal Bill, which in many respects was the +most important of the three.</p> + +<p>The autumn, which witnessed on both sides of the +Atlantic the excitement over Lord Durham’s mission to +Canada, was darkened in the home of Lord John by the +death at Brighton, on November 1, of his wife. His first +impulse was to place the resignation of his office and of +leadership in the Commons in the hands of his chief. Urgent +appeals from all quarters were made to him to remain at his +post, and, though his own health was precarious, cheered by +the sympathy of his colleagues and of the country, he resumed +his work after a few weeks of quiet at Cassiobury. +</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> Russell’s <i>Life of Fox</i>, vol. i. p. 242.</p></div> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<p class="title">THE TWO FRONT BENCHES<br /><br /> + +1840-1845</p> + +<p class="desc">Lord John’s position in the Cabinet and in the Commons—His +services to Education—Joseph Lancaster—Lord John’s Colonial +Policy—Mr. Gladstone’s opinion—Lord Stanmore’s recollections—The +mistakes of the Melbourne Cabinet—The Duke of Wellington’s +opinion of Lord John—The agitation against the Corn Laws—Lord +John’s view of Sir Robert Peel—The Edinburgh Letter—Peel’s +dilemma—Lord John’s comment on the situation.</p> + + +<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">The</span> truth was, Lord John could not be spared, and his +strong sense of duty triumphed over his personal grief. One +shrewd contemporary observer of men and movements +declared that Melbourne and Russell were the only two men +in the Cabinet for whom the country cared a straw. The +opinion of the man in the street was summed up in Sydney +Smith’s assertion that the Melbourne Government could +not possibly exist without Lord John, for the simple reason +that five minutes after his departure it would be dissolved +into ‘sparks of liberality and splinters of reform.’ In +1839 the Irish policy of the Government was challenged, +and, on the motion of Lord Roden, a vote of censure was +carried in the House of Lords. When the matter came +before the Commons, Lord John delivered a speech so +adroit and so skilful that friends and foes alike were satisfied, +and even pronounced Radicals forgot to grumble. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span></p> + +<p>Lord John’s speech averted a Ministerial crisis, and on a +division the Government won by twenty-two votes. A month +later the affairs of Jamaica came up for discussion, for the +Government found itself forced, by the action of the House +of Assembly in refusing to adopt the Prisons Act which +had been passed by the Imperial Legislature, to ask Parliament +to suspend the Constitution of the colony for a period +of five years; and on a division they gained their point by +a majority of only five votes. The Jamaica Bill was an +autocratic measure, which served still further to discredit +Lord Melbourne with the party of progress. Chagrined at +the narrow majority, the Cabinet submitted its resignation +to her Majesty, who assured Lord John that she had +‘never felt more pain’ than when she learnt the decision +of her Ministers. The Queen sent first for Wellington, +and afterwards, at his suggestion, for Peel, who undertook +to form an Administration; but when her Majesty insisted +on retaining the services of the Whig Ladies-in-Waiting, Sir +Robert declined to act, and the former Cabinet was recalled +to office, though hardly with flying colours.</p> + +<p>Education, to hark back for a moment, was the next great +question with which Lord John dealt, for, in the summer +of 1839, he brought in a bill to increase the grant to elementary +schools from 20,000<i>l.</i> a year to 30,000<i>l.</i>—first made +in 1833—and to place it under the control of the Privy +Council, as well as to subject the aided schools to inspection. +‘I explained,’ was his own statement, ‘in the simplest terms, +without any exaggeration, the want of education in the +country, the deficiencies of religious instruction, and the +injustice of subjecting to the penalties of the criminal law +persons who had never been taught their duty to God and +man.’ His proposals, particularly with regard to the +establish<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span>ment +of a Normal school, were met with a storm of opposition. +This part of the scheme was therefore abandoned; +‘but the throwing out of one of our children to the wolf,’ +remarks Lord John, ‘did little to appease his fury!’ At +length the measure, in its modified shape, was carried in +the Commons; but the House of Lords, led on this occasion +by the Archbishop of Canterbury, by a majority of more than +a hundred, condemned the scheme entirely. Dr. Blomfield, +Bishop of London, at this juncture came forward as peacemaker, +and, at a private meeting at Lansdowne House, +consisting of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishops of +London and Salisbury, Lord Lansdowne, and Lord John +Russell, the dispute was amicably adjusted, on the basis of +the reports of the Inspectors of Schools being sent to the +Bishops as well as to the Committee of Privy Council, and +co-operation between the Bishops and the Committee in +the work of education.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">JOSEPH LANCASTER</div> + +<p>The Duke of Bedford was one of the first men of position +in the country to come to the aid of Joseph Lancaster—a +young Quaker philanthropist, who, in spite of poverty and +obscurity, did more for the cause of popular education in +England in the early years of the century than all the privileged +people in the country.<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> Here a floating straw of reminiscence +may be cited, since it throws momentary light on the +mischievous instincts of a quick-witted boy. Lord John, +looking back towards the close of his life, said: ‘One of my +earliest recollections as a boy at Woburn Abbey is that of +putting on Joseph Lancaster’s broad hat and mimicking his +mode of salutation.’</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span></p> +<p>Other changes were imminent. Lord Normanby had +proved himself to be a popular Viceroy of Ireland; indeed, +O’Connell asserted that he was one of the best Englishmen +that had ever been sent across St. George’s Channel in an +official capacity. He was now Colonial Secretary; and, +in spite of his virtues, he was scarcely the man for such a +position—at all events, at a crisis in which affairs required +firm handling. He managed matters so badly that the +Under-Secretary (Mr. Labouchere, afterwards Lord Taunton) +was in open revolt. The cards were accordingly shuffled +in May 1839, and, amongst other and less significant +changes, Normanby and Russell changed places. Lord +John quickly made his presence felt at the Colonial Office. +He was a patient listener to the permanent officials; indeed, +he declared that he meant to give six months to making +himself master of the new duties of his position. Like all +men of the highest capacity, Lord John was never unwilling +to learn. He held that the Imperial Government was bound +not merely by honour, but by enlightened self-interest, to +protect the rights and to advance the welfare of the Colonies. +His words are significant, and it seems well to quote them, +since they gather up the policy which he consistently +followed: ‘If Great Britain gives up her supremacy from a +niggardly spirit of parsimony, or from a craven fear of helplessness, +other Powers will soon look upon the Empire, not +with the regard due to an equal, as she once was, but with +jealousy of the height she once held, without the fear she once +inspired. To build up an empire extending over every sea, +swaying many diverse races, and combining many forms of +religion, requires courage and capacity; to allow such an +empire to fall to pieces is a task which may be performed +by the poor in intellect, and the pusillanimous in conduct. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span>’</p> + +<div class="sidenote">COLONIAL POLICY</div> + +<p>When Lord John was once asked at the Colonial Office +by an official of the French Government how much of +Australia was claimed as the dominion of Great Britain, he +promptly answered, ‘The whole.’ The visitor, quite taken +aback, found it expedient to take his departure. Lord John +vigorously assailed the view that colonies which had their +own parliaments, framed on the British model, were virtually +independent, and, therefore, had no right to expect more +than moral help from the Mother Country. During his +tenure of office New Zealand became part of the British +dominions. By the treaty of Waitangi, the Queen assumed +the sovereignty, and the new colony was assured of the +protection of England. Lord John assured the British +Provinces of North America that, so long as they wished +to remain subjects of the Queen, they might confidently rely +on the protection of England in all emergencies.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gladstone has in recent years done justice to +the remarkable prescience, and scarcely less remarkable +administrative skill, which Lord John brought to bear at a +critical juncture in the conduct of the Colonial policy of +the Melbourne Government. He lays stress on the ‘unfaltering +courage’ which Russell displayed in meeting, as far +as was then possible, the legitimate demand for responsible +self-government. It is not, therefore, surprising that, to +borrow Mr. Gladstone’s words, ‘Lord John Russell substituted +harmony for antagonism in the daily conduct of +affairs for those Colonies, each of which, in an infancy of +irrepressible vigour, was bursting its swaddling clothes. Is +it inexcusable to say that by this decision, which was far +ahead of the current opinion of the day, he saved the +Empire, possibly from disruption, certainly from much +em<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span>barrassment +and much discredit.’<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> Lord John was a man of +vision. He saw, beyond most of his contemporaries, the +coming magnitude of the Empire, and he did his best to +shape on broad lines and to far-reaching issues the policy of +England towards her children beyond the seas. Lord John +recognised in no churlish or half-hearted spirit the claims +of the Colonies, nor did he stand dismayed by the vision +of Empire. ‘There was a time when we might have stood +alone,’ are his words. ‘That time has passed. We conquered +and peopled Canada, we took possession of the +whole of Australia, Van Dieman’s Land, and New Zealand. +We have annexed India to the Crown. There is no +going back. For my part, I delight in observing the imitation +of our free institutions, and even our habits and +manners, in colonies at a distance from the Palace of Westminster.’ +He trusted the Colonies, and refused to believe +that all the wisdom which was profitable to direct their +affairs was centred in Downing Street. His attitude was sympathetic +and generous, and at the same time it was candid +and firm.</p> + +<p>Lord Stanmore’s recollections of his father’s colleague +go back to this period, and will be read with interest: ‘As +a boy of ten or twelve I often saw Lord John. His half-sister, +Lady Louisa Russell, was the wife of my half-brother, +Lord Abercorn, and Lord John was a frequent guest at Lord +Abercorn’s villa at Stanmore, where my father habitually +passed his Saturdays and Sundays during the session, and +where I almost wholly lived. My first conscious remembrance +of Lord John dates from the summer of 1839, and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> +in that and the following years I often saw him at the Priory. +Towards the close of 1839 Lord John lost his first wife, and +the picture of his little figure, in deep mourning, walking by +the side of my father on the gravel walks about the house in +the spring and summer of 1840 is one vividly impressed on +my recollection. His manner to children was not unpleasant, +and I well remember his pausing, an amused listener to +a childish and vehement political discussion between his +step-daughter, Miss Lister, and myself—a discussion which +he from time to time stirred up to increased animation by +playfully mischievous suggestions.’</p> + +<div class="sidenote">A HOSTILE RESOLUTION</div> + +<p>Early in the session of 1840, the Ministry was met by a +vote of want of confidence, and in the course of the discussion +Sir James Graham accused Lord John of encouraging +sedition by appointing as magistrate one of the leaders of +the Chartist agitation at Newport. Lord John, it turned +out, had appointed Mr. Frost, the leader in question, on the +advice of the Lord-Lieutenant, and he was able to prove that +his own speech at Liverpool had been erroneously reported. +The hostile resolution was accordingly repelled, and the +division resulted in favour of the Government. For six years +Turkey and Egypt had been openly hostile to each other, +and in 1839 the war had been pushed to such extremities +that Great Britain, Austria, Russia, and Prussia entered into +a compact to bring about—by compulsion if necessary—a +cessation of hostilities. Lord Holland and Lord Clarendon +objected to England’s share in the Treaty of July 1840, +but Lord Palmerston compelled the Cabinet to acquiesce +by a threat of resignation, and Lord John, at this crisis, +showed that he was strongly in favour of his colleague’s +policy. The matter, however, was by no means settled, for +once more a grave division of opinion in the party arose as +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span> +to the wisdom of practically throwing away our alliance +with France. Althorp—now Lord Spencer—reminded his +former colleagues that that nation was most fitted to be our +ally of any in Europe, on the threefold ground of situation, +institutions, and civilisation.</p> + +<p>Lord John drew up a memorandum and submitted +it to his colleagues, in which he recognised the rights of +France, and proposed to summon her, under given conditions, +to take measures with the other Powers to preserve +the peace of Europe. The personal ascendency of +Lord Palmerston on questions of foreign policy was, however, +already so marked that Lord Melbourne—now his +brother-in-law, was reluctant to insist on moderation. Lord +John, however, stood firm, and the breaking up of the +Government seemed inevitable. During the crisis which +followed, Lord Palmerston, striking, as was his wont, from his +own bat, rejected, under circumstances which Mr. Walpole +has explained in detail in his Life of Lord John Russell, a +proposal for a conference of the allied Powers. Lord John +had already entered his protest against any one member of +the Cabinet being allowed to conduct affairs as he pleased, +without consultation or control, and he now informed Lord +Melbourne in a letter dated November 1, 1840—which +Mr. Walpole prints—that Palmerston’s reply to Austria +compelled him to once more consider his position, as he +could not defend in the House of Commons measures +which he thought wrong. Lord Melbourne promptly recognised +that Russell was the only possible leader in the +Commons, and he induced Lord Palmerston to admit his +mistake over the despatch to Metternich, and in this way the +misunderstanding was brought to an end. Meanwhile, the +fortunes of the war in the East turned against Ibrahim Pasha, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span> +and Palmerston’s policy, though not his manner of carrying +it out, was justified.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">DIVIDED COUNSELS</div> + +<p>The closing years of the Melbourne Administration were +marked not only by divided counsels, but by actual blunders +of policy, and in this connection it is perhaps enough to cite +the Opium war against China and the foolhardy invasion of +Afghanistan. At home the question of Free Trade was +coming rapidly to the front, and the Anti-corn Law League, +which was founded in Manchester in 1838, was already +beginning to prove itself a power in the land. As far back +as 1826, Hume had taken up his parable in Parliament +against the Corn Laws as a blight on the trade of the country; +and two years after the Reform Bill was passed he had +returned to the attack, only to find, however, that the nation +was still wedded to Protection. Afterwards, year after year, +Mr. Villiers drew attention to the subject, and moved for an +inquiry into the working of the Corn Laws. He declared +that the existing system was opposed by the industry, the +intelligence, and the commerce of the nation, and at length, +in a half-hearted fashion, the Government found itself compelled, +if it was to exist at all, to make some attempt to deal +with the problem. Lord Melbourne, and some at least of +his colleagues, were but little interested in the question, and +they failed to gauge the feeling of the country.</p> + +<p>In the spring of 1841 action of some kind grew inevitable, +and the Cabinet determined to propose a fixed duty of +eight shillings per quarter on wheat, and to reduce the +duty on sugar. Lord John opened the debate on the latter +proposal in a speech which moved even Greville to +enthusiasm; but neither his arguments nor his eloquence +produced the desired impression on the House, for the +Government was defeated by thirty-six votes. Everyone +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> +expected the Ministry at once to face the question of dissolution +or resignation; but Melbourne was determined to +cling to office as long as possible, in spite of the growing +difficulties and even humiliations of his position. On June +4, the day on which Lord John was to bring forward his +proposal for a fixed duty on wheat, Sir Robert Peel carried +a vote of want of confidence by a majority of one, and, as +an appeal to the country was at length inevitable, Parliament +was dissolved a few days later. The Melbourne +Ministry had outstayed its welcome. The manner in which +it had left Lord Durham in the lurch over his ill-advised +ordinances had aroused widespread indignation, for the +multitude at least could not forget the greatness of his +services to the cause of Reform. If the dissolution had +come two or three years earlier, the Government might have +gone to the country without fear; but in 1841, both at home +and abroad, their blunders and their vacillation had alienated +confidence, and it was not difficult to forecast the result. +The General Election brought Lord John a personal +triumph. He was presented with a requisition signed by +several thousand persons, asking him to contest the City of +London, and after an exciting struggle he was returned, +though with only a narrow majority; and during the political +vicissitudes of the next eighteen years London was +faithful to him.</p> + +<p>Lord John Russell was essentially a home-loving man, and +the gloom which bereavement had cast over his life in the +autumn of 1839 was at best only partially dispelled by the +close and sympathetic relations with his family. It was, +therefore, with satisfaction that all his friends, both on his +own account and that of his motherless young children, +heard of his approaching second marriage. Immediately +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> +after the election for the City, Lord John was married to Lady +Fanny Elliot, second daughter of the Earl of Minto, a union +which brought him lasting happiness.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">‘A HOST IN HIMSELF’</div> + +<p>Parliament met in the middle of August, and the Government +were defeated on the Address by a majority of ninety-one, +and on August 28 Lord John found himself once more +out of harness. In his speech in the House of Commons +announcing the resignation of the Government, he said that +the Whigs under Lord Grey had begun with the Reform Act, +and that they were closing their tenure of power by proposals +for the relief of commerce. The truth was, the +Melbourne Administration had not risen to its opportunities. +Its fixed duty on corn was a paltry compromise. The +leaders of the party needed to be educated up to the level +of the national demands. Opposition was to bring about +unexpected political combinations and new political opportunities, +and the years of conflict which were dawning were +also to bring more clearly into view Lord John Russell’s +claims to the Liberal leadership. When the Melbourne +Administration was manifestly losing the confidence of +the nation, Rogers the poet was walking one day with +the Duke of Wellington in Hyde Park, and the talk turned +on the political situation. Rogers remarked, ‘What a +powerful band Lord John Russell will have to contend +with! There’s Peel, Lord Stanley, Sir James Graham——;’ +and the Duke interrupted him at this point with the laconic +reply, ‘Lord John Russell is a host in himself.’</p> + +<p>Protection had triumphed at the General Election, and +Sir Robert Peel came to power as champion of the Corn +Laws. The Whigs had fallen between two stools, for the +country was not in a humour to tolerate vacillation. The +Melbourne Cabinet had, in truth, in the years which had +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span> +witnessed its decline and fall, spoken with the voice of +Jacob, but stretched forth the hands of Esau. The +Radicals shook their heads, scouted the Ministry’s deplorable +efforts at finance, and felt, to say the least, lukewarm +about their spirited foreign policy. ‘I don’t thank a man +for supporting me when he thinks me right,’ was the cynical +confession of a statesman of an earlier generation; ‘my +gratitude is with the man who supports me when he thinks +me wrong.’ Melbourne was doubtless of the same mind; +but the man in the crowd, of Liberal proclivities, was, for the +most part, rather disgusted with the turn which affairs had +taken, and the polling booths made it plain that he thought +the Prime Minister wrong, and, that being the case, he was +not obliging enough to return him to power. The big drum +had been successfully beaten, moreover, at the General Election +by the defenders of all sorts and sizes of vested interests, +sinecures, monopolies, and the like, and Sir Robert Peel—though +not without personal misgivings—accordingly succeeded +Melbourne as First Lord, whilst Stanley, now the +hope of stern unbending Tories, took Russell’s place as +Secretary for the Colonies.</p> + +<p>The annals of the Peel Administration of course +lie outside the province of this monograph; they have +already been told with insight and vigour in a companion +volume, and the temptation to wander at a tangent into the +history of the Queen’s reign—especially with Lord John out +of office—must be resisted in deference to the exigencies of +space. In the Peel Cabinet the men who had revolted +under Melbourne, with the exception of the Duke of Richmond, +were rewarded with place and power. Lord Ripon, +who was spoken of at the time with scarcely disguised contempt +as a man of tried inefficiency, became President of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span> +the Board of Trade. Sir James Graham, a statesman who +was becoming somewhat impervious to new ideas, and who +as a Minister displayed little tact in regard to either movements +or men, was appointed Home Secretary. Stanley, +who had proved himself to be a strong man in the wrong +camp, and therefore the evil genius of his party, now +carried his unquestionable skill, and his brilliant powers of +debate, as well as his imperious temper and contracted +views, to the service of the Tories. One other man held a +prominent place in Peel’s Cabinet, and proved a tower of +strength in it—Lord Aberdeen, who was Secretary for Foreign +Affairs, and who did much to maintain the peace of Europe +when the Tahiti incident and the Spanish marriages +threatened embroilment. Lord Aberdeen, from 1841 to +1846, guided the foreign policy of England with ability and +discretion, and, as a matter of fact, steered the nation through +diplomatic quarrels which, if Lord Palmerston had been at +the Foreign Office, would probably have ended in war. +This circumstance heightens the irony of his subsequent +career.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">THE POLITICAL OUTLOOK</div> + +<p>The outlook, political and social, when Peel took office +and Russell confronted him as leader of the Opposition, was +gloomy and full of hazard. The times, in Peel’s judgment, +were ‘out of joint,’ and this threw party Government out of +joint and raised issues which confused ordinary minds. +The old political catchwords ‘Peace, retrenchment, and +reform,’ no longer awoke enthusiasm. Civil and religious +liberty were all very well in their way, but they naturally +failed to satisfy men and women who were ground down +by economic oppression, and were famished through lack +of bread. The social condition of England was deplorable, +for, though the Reform Bill had brought in its wake +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span> +measures of relief for the middle classes, it had left the +artisans and the peasants almost where it found them. +In spite of the new Poor Law and other enactments, +the people were burdened with the curse of bitter and +hopeless poverty, and the misery and squalor in which +they were permitted to live threw a menacing shadow +over the fair promise of the opening years of the young +Queen’s reign. The historians of the period are responsible +for the statement that in Manchester, for example, one-tenth +of the population lived in cellars; even in the rural +districts, the overcrowding, with all its attending horrors in +the direction of disease and vice, was scarcely less terrible, +for in one parish in Dorset thirty-six persons dwelt, on an +average, in each house. The wonder is, not that the Anti-Corn +Law League under such circumstances grew strong +and the demand for the People’s Charter rang through the +land, but that the masses in town and country alike bore the +harsh servitude of their lot with the patience that was +common, and with the heroism that was not rare.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">PEEL’S OPEN MIND</div> + +<p>Lord John Russell never refused to admit the ability of +Peel’s Administration. He described it as powerful, popular, +and successful. He recognised the honesty of his great +rival, his openness of mind, the courage which he displayed +in turning a deaf ear to the croakers in his own Cabinet, and +the genuine concern which he manifested for the unredressed +grievances of the people. In his ‘Recollections’ he lays +stress on the fact that Sir Robert Peel did not hesitate, when +he thought such a step essential to the public welfare, to +risk the fate of his Ministry on behalf of an unpopular +measure. Ireland was a stone of stumbling in his path, and +long after he had parted with his old ideas of Protestant +ascendency he found himself confronted with the suspicion +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span> +of the Roman Catholics, who, in Lord John’s words, ‘obstinately +refused favours at Peel’s hands, which they would +have been willing to accept from a Liberal Administration.’ +The allusion is, of course, to the Maynooth Grant—a measure +of practical relief to the Irish Catholics, which would, without +doubt, have thrown Sir Robert Peel out of office if he +had been left to the tender mercies of his own supporters. +Disraeli was fond of asserting that Peel lacked imagination, +and there was a measure of truth in the charge. He was a +great patriotic statesman, haunted by no foolish bugbear of +consistency, but willing to learn by experience, and courageous +enough to follow what he believed to be right, with +unpolitical but patriotic scorn of consequence. Men with +stereotyped ideas, who persisted in interpreting concession, +however just, as weakness, and reform, however urgent, as +revolution, were unable to follow such a leader.</p> + +<p>Peel might lack imagination, but he never lacked courage, +and the generosity of vision which imposed on courage great +and difficult tasks of statesmanship. He could educate himself—for +he kept an open mind—and was swift to seize and +to interpret great issues in the affairs of the nation; but it +was altogether a different matter for him to educate his party. +In the spring of 1845, Sir Robert Peel determined to meet +the situation in Ireland by bold proposals for the education +of the Catholic priesthood. Almost to the close of the +eighteenth century the Catholics were compelled by the existing +laws to train young men intended for the work of the +priesthood in Ireland in French colleges, since no seminary +of the kind was permitted in Ireland. The French Revolution +overthrew this arrangement, and in 1795, by an Act of the +Irish Parliament, Maynooth College was founded, and was +supported by annual grants, which were continued, though +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span> +not without much opposition, by the Imperial Parliament +after the Union. On April 3, Sir Robert Peel brought forward +his measure for dealing in a generous manner with the +needs and claims of this great institution. He proposed +that the annual grant should be raised from 9,000<i>l.</i> to upwards +of 26,000<i>l.</i>, that a charter of incorporation should be +given, and that the trustees should be allowed to hold land +to the value of 3,000<i>l.</i> a year. He also proposed that the +new endowment should be a charge upon the Consolidated +Fund, so that angry discussions of the kind in which bigotry +and prejudice delight might be avoided. Moreover, in order +to restore and enlarge the college buildings, Sir Robert +finally proposed an immediate and separate grant of 30,000<i>l.</i> +Few statesmen were more sensitive than Peel, but, convinced +of the justice of such a concession, he spoke that +day amid the angry opposition of the majority of his +usual supporters and the approving cheers of his ordinary +opponents.</p> + +<p>Peel was not the man to falter, although his party was in +revolt. He had gauged the forces which were arrayed +in Ireland against the authority of Parliament; he stated +in his final words on the subject that there was in that +country a formidable confederacy, which was prepared +to go any lengths against a hard interpretation of the supremacy +of England. ‘I do not believe that you can break it +up by force; I believe you can do much by acting in a spirit +of kindness, forbearance, and generosity.’ At once a great +storm of opposition arose in Parliament, on the platform, and +in the Press. The Carlton Club found itself brought into +sudden and unexpected agreement with many a little Bethel +up and down the country, for the champions of ‘No Surrender’ +in Pall Mall were of one mind with those of ‘No +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span> +Popery’ in Exeter Hall. Society for the moment, according +to Harriet Martineau, seemed to be going mad, and she saw +enough to convince her that it was not the extent of the +grant that was deprecated so much as an advance in that +direction at all. Public indignation ran so high that in some +instances members of Parliament were called upon to resign +their seats, whilst Dublin—so far at least as its sentiments +were represented by the Protestant Operative Association—was +for nothing less than the impeachment of the unhappy +Prime Minister. Sectarian animosity, whipped into fury by +rhetorical appeals to its prejudices, encouraged the paper +trade by interminable petitions to Parliament; and three +nights were spent in debate in the Lords and six in the +Commons over the second reading of the bill.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">HOW PEEL TRIUMPHED</div> + +<p>Lord John Russell was assailed with threatening letters +as soon as it was known that he intended to help Peel to +outweather the storm of obloquy which he was called to +encounter. Sir Robert’s proposals were welcomed by him +as a new and worthy departure from the old repressive +policy. It was because he thought that such a measure +would go far to conciliate the Catholics of Ireland, as well +as to prove to them that any question which touched their +interests and welfare was not a matter of unconcern to the +statesmen and people of England, that he gave—with a +loyalty only too rare in public life—his powerful support to +a Minister who would otherwise have been driven to bay by +his own followers. It was, in fact, owing to Lord John’s +action that Peel triumphed over the majority of his own +party, and his speech in support of the Ministry, though +not remarkable for eloquence, was admirable alike in temper +and in tact, and was hailed at the moment as a presage of +victory. ‘Peel lives, moves, and has his being through +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span> +Lord John Russell,’ was Lord Shaftesbury’s comment at +the moment. Looking back at the crisis from the leisure of +retirement, Lord John Russell declared that the Maynooth +Act was a work of wisdom and liberality, and one which +ought always to be remembered to the honour of the statesman +who proposed and carried it. The controversy over +the Maynooth Grant revealed how great was the gulf +between Peel and the majority of the Tories, and Greville, +as usual, in his own incisive way hit off the situation. ‘The +truth is that the Government is Peel, that Peel is a Reformer +and more of a Whig than a Tory, and that the mass of his +followers are prejudiced, ignorant, obstinate, and selfish.’ +Peel declared that he looked with indifference on a storm +which he thought partly fanatical and partly religious in its +origin, and he added that he was careless as to the consequences +which might follow the passing of the Maynooth +Bill, so far at least as they concerned his own position.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile another and far greater question was coming +forward with unsuspected rapidity for solution. The summer +of 1845 was cold and wet, and its dark skies and drenching +showers were followed by a miserable harvest. With the +approach of autumn the fields were flooded and the +farmers in consequence in despair. Although England and +Scotland suffered greatly, the disaster fell with still greater +force on Ireland. As the anxious weeks wore on, alarm +deepened into actual distress, for there arose a mighty +famine in the land. The potato crop proved a disastrous +failure, and with the approach of winter starvation joined +its eloquence to that of Cobden and Bright in their demand +for the repeal of the Corn Laws. In speaking afterwards of +that terrible crisis, and of the services which Cobden and +himself were enabled to render to the nation, John Bright +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span> +used these memorable words: ‘Do not suppose that I +wish you to imagine that he and I were the only persons +engaged in this great question. We were not even the first, +though afterwards, perhaps, we became before the public +the foremost, but there were others before us, and we were +joined, not by scores, but by hundreds, and afterwards by +thousands, and afterwards by countless multitudes, and +afterwards famine itself, against which we had warred, joined +us, and a great Minister was converted, and minorities became +majorities, and finally the barrier was entirely thrown +down.’</p> + +<div class="sidenote">COBDEN’S PREDICTION</div> + +<p>Quite early in the history of the Anti-Corn-Law League, +Cobden had predicted, in spite of the apathy and opposition +which the derided Manchester school of politics then +encountered, at a time when Peel and Russell alike turned +a deaf ear to its appeals, that the repeal of the Corn Laws +would be eventually carried in Parliament by a ‘statesman +of established reputation.’ Argument and agitation prepared +the way for this great measure of practical relief, but the +multitude were not far from the mark when they asserted +that it was the rain that destroyed the Corn Laws.<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> The +imperative necessity of bringing food from abroad if the +people were not to perish for lack of bread brought both +Sir Robert Peel and Lord John Russell almost at the same +moment to the conclusion that this great economic problem +must at once be faced. Peel declared in 1847 that towards +the end of 1845 he had reached the conclusion that the repeal +of the Corn Laws was indispensable to the public welfare. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span> +If that was so, he seems to have kept his opinion to himself, +for as late as November 29, in the memorandum which +he sent to his colleagues, there is no hint of abolition. On +the contrary, Sir Robert, who was always fond of setting +forth three alternatives of action, wrote as follows: ‘Time +presses, and on some definite course we must decide. Shall +we undertake without suspension to modify the existing +Corn Law? Shall we resolve to maintain the existing Corn +Law? Shall we advise the suspension of that law for a +limited period? My opinion is for the last course, admitting +as I do that it involves the necessity for the immediate +consideration of the alterations to be made in the existing +Corn Law; such alterations to take effect after the period of +suspension. I should rather say it involves the question of +the principle and degree of protection to agriculture.’<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> As +to the justice of the demand for Free Trade, Peel, there can be +no doubt, was already convinced; but his party was regarded +as the stronghold of Protection, and he knew enough of the +men who sat behind him to be fully alive to the fact that +they still clung tenaciously to the fallacies which Adam +Smith had exploded. ‘We had ill luck,’ were Lord +Aberdeen’s words to the Queen; ‘if it had not been for the +famine in Ireland, which rendered immediate measures +necessary, Sir Robert would have prepared the party gradually +for the change.’<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a></p> + +<div class="sidenote">THE ‘EDINBURGH LETTER’</div> + +<p>Cobden, it is only fair to state, made no secret of his +conviction that the question of the repeal of the Corn +Laws was safer in the hands of Sir Robert than of Lord +John. Peel might be less versed in constitutional questions, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span> +but he was more in touch with the manufacturing classes, +and more familiar with economic conditions. Sir Robert, +however, was sore let and hindered by the weaklings +of his own Cabinet, and the rats did not disguise their +intention of quitting the ship. Lord John Russell, who was +spending the autumn in Scotland, was the first ‘responsible +statesman’ to take decisive action, for whilst Peel, hampered +by the vacillation and opposition of his colleagues, still +hesitated, Russell took the world into his confidence in his +historic ‘Edinburgh Letter,’ dated November 22, 1845, to +his constituents in London. It was a bold and uncompromising +declaration of policy, for the logic of events had +at length convinced Lord John that any further delay was +dangerous. He complained that Her Majesty’s Ministers +had not only met, but separated, without affording the +nation any promise of immediate relief. He pointed out +that the existing duties on corn were so contrived that, the +worse the quality of the wheat, the higher was the duty. +‘When good wheat rises to seventy shillings a quarter, the +average price of all wheat is fifty-seven or fifty-eight shillings, +and the duty fourteen or fifteen shillings a quarter. Thus +the corn barometer points to fair, while the ship is bending +under a storm.’ He reviewed the course of recent legislation +on the subject, and declared that he had for years +endeavoured to obtain a compromise. He showed that +Peel had opposed in 1839, 1840, and 1841, even qualified +concession, and he added the stinging allusion to that statesman’s +attitude on other great questions of still earlier date. +‘He met the proposition for diminished Protection in the +same way in which he had met the offer of securities for +Protestant interests in 1817 and 1825—in the same way in +which he met the proposal to allow Manchester, Leeds, and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span> +Birmingham to send members to Parliament in 1830.’ +Finally, Lord John announced his conviction that it was no +longer worth while to contend for a fixed duty, and his +vigorous attack on the Ministry ended with a call to arms. +‘Let us unite to put an end to a system which has been +proved to be the blight of commerce, the bane of agriculture, +the source of bitter divisions among classes, the +cause of penury, fever, mortality, and crime among the +people. The Government appear to be waiting for some +excuse to give up the present Corn Law. Let the people, +by petition, by address, by remonstrance, afford them the +excuse they seek.’</p> + +<div class="sidenote">THE ‘POISONED CHALICE’</div> + +<p>Sir Robert, when this manifesto appeared, had almost +conquered the reluctance of his own Cabinet to definite +action; but his position grew now untenable in consequence +of the panic of Stanley and the Duke of Buccleuch. +Lord John’s speech was quickly followed by a Ministerial +crisis, and Peel, beset by fightings without and fears +within his Cabinet, had no alternative but resignation. +He accordingly relinquished office on December 5, and +three days later Lord John, much to his own surprise, +was summoned to Windsor and entrusted with the task +of forming a new Ministry. He was met by difficulties +which, in spite of negotiations, proved insurmountable, +for Howick, who had succeeded in the previous summer +to his distinguished father’s earldom, refused to serve +with Palmerston. Lord Grey raised another point which +might reasonably have been conceded, for he urged that +Cobden, as the leader of the Anti-Corn-Law League, +ought to have the offer of a seat in the Cabinet. Lord +John was unable to bring about an amicable understanding, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> +and therefore, as the year was closing, he was compelled +to inform her Majesty of the fact, and to hand back +what Disraeli theatrically described as the ‘poisoned +chalice’ to Sir Robert. ‘It is all at an end,’ wrote Lord +John to his wife. ‘Power may come, some day or other, in +a less odious shape.’</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> Justice has never yet been done to the founder of the Lancasterian +system of education. Joseph Lancaster was a remarkable man +who aroused the conscience of the nation, and even the dull intelligence +of George III., to the imperative need of popular education.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> ‘The Melbourne Government: its Acts and Persons,’ by the +Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, M.P. <i>The Nineteenth Century</i>, January +1890, p. 50.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> ‘The Corn Law of 1815 was a copy of the Corn Law of 1670—so +little had economic science grown in England during all those years. +The Corn Law of 1670 imposed a duty on the importation of foreign +grain which amounted almost literally to a prohibition.’—<i>Sir Robert +Peel</i>, by Justin M<sup>c</sup>Carthy, M.P., chapter xii. p. 136.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> <i>The Croker Papers</i>, edited by Louis Jennings, vol. iii. p. 35.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> <i>Life of the Prince Consort</i>, by Sir Theodore Martin, vol. i. p. +317.</p></div> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span></p> + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<p class="title">FACTION AND FAMINE<br /><br /> + +1846-1847</p> + +<p class="desc">Peel and Free Trade—Disraeli and Lord George Bentinck lead the +attack—Russell to the rescue—Fall of Peel—Lord John summoned +to power—Lord John’s position in the Commons and in the country—The +Condition of Ireland question—Famine and its deadly +work—The Russell Government and measures of relief—Crime and +coercion—The Whigs and Education—Factory Bill—The case of +Dr. Hampden.</p> + + +<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Lord Stanley’s</span> place in the ‘organised hypocrisy,’ as the +Protectionists termed the last Ministry of Sir Robert Peel, +was taken by Mr. Gladstone. Sir Robert Peel resumed +office in the closing days of December, and all the members +of his old Cabinet, on the principle of bowing to the inevitable, +returned with him, except the Duke of Buccleuch +and Lord Stanley, who resolutely declined to have part or lot +in the new departure which the Premier now felt called upon +to make. The Duke of Wellington, though hostile to Free +Trade, determined to stand by Peel; but he did not disguise +the fact that his only reason for remaining in office was for +the sake of the Queen. He declared that he acted as the +‘retained servant of the monarchy,’ for he did not wish her +Majesty to be placed under the necessity of taking members +of the Anti-Corn-Law League, or, as he put it, ‘Cobden +& Co.,’ for her responsible advisers. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span></p> + +<div class="sidenote">THE QUEEN’S SPEECH</div> + +<p>The opening days of 1846 were full of political excitement, +and were filled with all kinds of rumours. Wellington, +on January 6, wrote: ‘I don’t despair of the Corn Laws,’ +and confessed that he did not know what were the intentions +of Sir Robert Peel concerning them.<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> Peel kept his +own counsel, though the conviction grew that he had +persuaded himself that in boldness lay the chance as well +as the duty of the hour. Peel, like Russell, was converted +to Free Trade by the logic of events, and he +determined at all hazards to avow the new faith that was in +him. Parliament was opened by the Queen in person on +January 22, and the Speech from the Throne laid stress on +the privation and suffering in Ireland, and shadowed forth +the repeal of prohibitive and the relaxation of protective +duties. The debate on the Address was rendered memorable +by Peel’s explanations of the circumstances under which the +recent crisis had arisen. He made a long speech, and the +tone of it, according to Lord Malmesbury, was half threatening +and half apologetic. It was a manly, straightforward +statement of the case, and Sir Robert made it plain that he +had accepted the views of the Manchester school on the +Corn Laws, and was prepared to act without further hesitation +on his convictions. One significant admission was +added. He stated before he sat down that it was ‘no easy +task to insure the harmonious and united action of an +ancient monarchy, a proud aristocracy, and a reformed +House of Commons.’</p> + +<p>New interests were, in fact, beginning to find a voice +in Parliament, and that meant the beginning of the +principle of readjustment which is yet in progress. A +few days later the Prime Minister explained his financial +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span> +plans for the year, and in the course of them he proposed +the gradual repeal of the Corn Laws. Free trade +in corn was, in fact, to take final effect after an interval +of three years. Meanwhile the sliding scale was to be +abandoned in favour of a fixed duty of ten shillings the +quarter on corn, and other concessions for the relief not +only of agriculture but of manufactures and commerce were +announced. The principle of Free Trade was, in fact, +applied not in one but in many directions, and from that +hour its legislative triumph was assured. In the course of +the protracted debate which followed, Disraeli, with all the +virulence of a disappointed place-hunter, attacked Sir Robert +Peel with bitter personalities and barbed sarcasm. On this +occasion, throwing decency and good taste to the winds, +and, to borrow a phrase of his own, ‘intoxicated with the +exuberance of his own verbosity,’ and with no lack of tawdry +rhetoric and melodramatic emphasis, he did his best to +cover with ridicule and to reduce to confusion one of the +most chivalrous and lofty-minded statesmen of the Queen’s +reign.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">OUTCAST PROTECTIONISTS</div> + +<p>Disraeli’s audacity in attack did much to revive the +drooping courage of the Protectionist party, the leadership +of which fell for the moment into the hands of Lord George +Bentinck, a nobleman more renowned at Newmarket than at +Westminster. Once saddled with authority, Lord George +developed some capacity for politics; but his claims as a +statesman were never serious, though Disraeli, in the political +biography which he published shortly after his friend’s +sudden death, gives him credit for qualities of mind of which +the nation at large saw little evidence. After long and +tedious discussion, extending over some twenty nights, the +Free Trade Bill was carried through the Commons by a +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span> +majority of ninety-eight votes, and in the Lords it passed +the second reading by forty-seven votes. Croker—true to +the dismal suggestion of his name—promptly took up his +parable against Sir Robert. He declared that the repeal of +the Corn Laws meant a schism in the great landed interest +and broad acres, in his view, were the only solid foundation +on which the government of the nation could possibly be +based. He asked, how was it possible to resist the attack +on the Irish Church and the Irish Union after the surrender +of the Corn Laws? He wanted to know how primogeniture, +the Bishops, the House of Lords, and the Crown itself were +to be maintained, now that the leader of the Conservative +party had truckled to the League. Sir Robert Peel, he +added, had imperilled these institutions of the country more +than Cobbett or O’Connell; he had broken up the old +interests, divided the great families, and thrown personal +hostility into the social life of half the counties of England—and +all to propitiate Richard Cobden. Such was the +bitter cry of the outcast Protectionist, and similar vapourings +arose in cliques and clubs all over the land. The +abolition of the Corn Laws was the last measure of Sir +Robert Peel’s political life, and he owed the victory, which +was won amid the murmurs and threats of his own followers, +to the support which his political antagonists gave him, +under the leadership of Lord John Russell, who recognised +both the wisdom and the expediency of Sir Robert’s course.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the dark winter of discontent which privation +had unhappily brought about in Ireland had been +marked by many crimes of violence, and at length the +Government deemed it imperative to ask Parliament to +grant them additional powers for the suppression of outrage. +The measure met with the opposition alike of Lord John +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> +Russell and Daniel O’Connell. The Government moved +the second reading of the Irish Coercion Bill, and the Protectionists, +who knew very well not only the views of Daniel +O’Connell, but of Smith O’Brien, saw their opportunity and +promptly took it. Lord George Bentinck had supported +the Coercion Bill on its introduction in the spring, and had +done so in the most unmistakable terms. He was not the +man, however, to forego the mean luxury of revenge, and +neither he nor Disraeli could forgive what they regarded as +Sir Robert’s great betrayal of the landed interest. He now +had the audacity to assert that Peel had lost the confidence +of every honest man both within and without the House of +Commons, and in spite of his assurances of support he +ranged himself for the moment with Russell and O’Connell +to crush the Administration. The division took place on +June 25, and in a House of 571 members the Ministry was +defeated by a majority of 73. The defeat of the Government +was so crushing that Whigs and Protectionists alike, on +the announcement of the figures, were too much taken aback +to cheer. ‘Anything,’ said Sir Robert, ‘is preferable to maintaining +ourselves in office without a full measure of the confidence +of this House.’</p> + +<div class="sidenote">THE RUSSELL CABINET</div> + +<p>Lord John had triumphed with the help of the Irish, +whom Peel had alienated; but the great Minister’s downfall +had in part been accomplished by the treachery of those +who abandoned him with clamour and evil-speaking in the +hour of need. Defeat was followed within a week by +resignation, and on July 4 Peel, writing from the leisured +seclusion of Drayton Manor, ‘in the loveliest weather,’ +was magnanimous enough to say, ‘I have every disposition +to forgive my enemies for having conferred on me the blessing +of the loss of power.’ Lord John was summoned to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span> +Windsor, and kissed hands on July 6. He became Prime +Minister when the condition of affairs was gloomy and +menacing, and the following passage from his wife’s +journal, written on July 14, conjures up in two or three +words a vivid picture of the difficulties of the hour: ‘John +has much to distress him in the state of the country. God +grant him success in his labours to amend it! Famine, +fever, trade failing, and discontent growing are evils which +it requires all his resolution, sense of duty, and love for the +public to face.’ Lord Palmerston was, of course, inevitable +as Foreign Secretary in the new Administration; Sir Charles +Wood became Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Sir George +Grey, Home Secretary. Earl Grey’s scruples were at length +satisfied, and he became Secretary to the Colonies; whilst +Lord Clarendon took office as President of the Board of +Trade, and Lord Lansdowne became President of the +Council. Among the lesser lights of the Ministry were Sir +J. C. Hobhouse, Mr. Milner Gibson, Mr. Fox Maule, Lord +Morpeth, and Mr. (afterwards Lord) Macaulay. Sir James +Graham was offered the Governor-Generalship of India, but +he had aspirations at Westminster, which, however, were +never fulfilled, and declined the offer. The Tory party was +demoralised and split up into cliques by suspicion and indignation. +Stanley was in the House of Lords by this time, +Peel was in disgrace, and Lord George Bentinck was already +beginning to cut a somewhat ridiculous figure, whilst nobody +as yet was quite prepared to take Disraeli seriously. ‘We +are left masters of the field,’ wrote Palmerston, with a touch +of characteristic humour, ‘not only on account of our own +merits, which, though we say it ourselves, are great, but by +virtue of the absence of any efficient competitors.’</p> + +<p>The new Ministry began well. Lord John’s address to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span> +his constituents in the City made an excellent impression, +and was worthy of the man and the occasion. ‘You may be +assured that I shall not desert in office the principles to +which I adhered when they were less favourably received. +I cannot indeed claim the merit either of having carried measures +of Free Trade as a Minister, or of having so prepared +the public mind by any exertions of mine as to convert +what would have been an impracticable attempt into a certain +victory. To others belong those distinctions. But I have +endeavoured to do my part in this great work according to +my means and convictions, first by proposing a temperate +relaxation of the Corn Laws, and afterwards, when that +measure has been repeatedly rejected, by declaring in favour +of total repeal, and using every influence I could exert to +prevent a renewal of the struggle for an object not worth +the cost of conflict. The Government of this country ought +to behold with an impartial eye the various portions of the +community engaged in agriculture, in manufactures, and in +commerce. The feeling that any of them is treated with +injustice provokes ill-will, disturbs legislation, and diverts +attention from many useful and necessary reforms. Great +social improvements are required: public education is manifestly +imperfect; the treatment of criminals is a problem +yet undecided; the sanitary condition of our towns and villages +has been grossly neglected. Our recent discussions +have laid bare the misery, the discontent, and outrages of +Ireland; they are too clearly authenticated to be denied, +too extensive to be treated by any but the most comprehensive +means.’</p> + +<div class="sidenote">EVER A FIGHTER</div> + +<p>Lord John had been thirty-three years in the House of +Commons when he became for the first time Prime Minister. +The distinction of rank and of an historic name gave him in +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span> +1813, when government by great families was still more than +a phrase, a splendid start. The love of liberty which he +inherited as a tradition grew strong within him, partly +through his residence in Edinburgh under Dugald Stewart, +partly through the generous and stimulating associations +of Holland House, but still more, perhaps, because of the +tyranny of which he was an eye-witness during his travels as +a youth in Italy and Spain at a period when Europe lay under +the heel of Napoleon. Lord John was ever a fighter, and the +political conflicts of his early manhood against the triple alliance +of injustice, bigotry, and selfish apathy in the presence of +palpable social abuses lent ardour to his convictions, tenacity +to his aims, and boldness to his attitude in public life. Although +an old Parliamentary hand, he was in actual years only +fifty-four when he came to supreme office in the service of +the State, but he had already succeeded in placing great +measures on the Statute Book, and he had also won recognition +on both sides of the House as a leader of fearless +courage, open mind, and great fertility of resource alike in +attack and in defence. Peel, his most formidable rival on +the floor of the Commons, hinted that Lord John Russell +was small in small things, but, he added significantly that, +when the issues grew great, he was great also. Everyone +who looks at Lord John’s career in its length and breadth +must admit the justice of such a criticism. On one occasion +he himself said, in speaking of the first Lord Halifax, +that the favourite of Charles II. had ‘too keen a perception of +errors and faults to act well with others,’ and the remark +might have been applied to himself. There were times +when Lord John, by acting hastily on the impulse of the +moment, landed his colleagues in serious and unlooked for +difficulties, and sometimes it happened that in his anxiety to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span> +clear his own soul by taking an independent course, he compromised +to a serious extent the position of others.</p> + +<p>Lord Melbourne’s cynical remark, to the effect that nobody +did anything very foolish except from some strong principle, +carries with it a tribute to motive as well as a censure +on action, and it is certain that the promptings to which Lord +John yielded in the questionable phases of his public career +were not due to the adroit and calculating temper of self-interest. +His weaknesses were indeed, after all, trivial in comparison +to his strength. He rose to the great occasion and +was inspired by it. All that was formal and hesitating in +manner and speech disappeared, and under the combined +influence of the sense of responsibility and the excitement +of the hour ‘languid Johnny,’ to borrow Bulwer Lytton’s +phrase, ‘soared to glorious John.’ Palmerston, like Melbourne, +was all things to all men. His easy nonchalance, +sunny temper, and perfect familiarity with the ways of the +world and the weaknesses of average humanity, gave him +an advantage which Lord John, with his nervous temperament, +indifferent health, fastidious tastes, shy and rather +distant bearing, and uncompromising convictions, never +possessed. Russell’s ethical fervour and practical energetic +bent of mind divided him sharply from politicians who +lived from hand to mouth, and were never consumed +by a zeal for reform in one direction or another; and +these qualities sometimes threw him into a position of +singular isolation. The wiles and artifices by which less +proud and less conscientious men win power, and the opportune +compliments and unwatched concessions by which +too often they retain it, lay amongst the things to which he +refused to stoop.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">HIS PRACTICAL SAGACITY</div> + +<p>Men might think Lord John taciturn, angular, abrupt, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span> +tenacious, and dogmatic, but it was impossible not to +recognise his honesty, public spirit, pluck in the presence +of difficulty, and high interpretation of the claims of public +duty which marked his strenuous and indomitable career. +His qualifications for the post of Prime Minister were not +open to challenge. He was deeply versed in constitutional +problems, and had received a long and varied training +in the handling of great affairs. He possessed to an +enviable degree the art of lucid exposition, and could +render intricate proposals luminous to the public mind. +He was a shrewd Parliamentary tactician, as well as a statesman +who had worthily gained the confidence of the nation. +He was ready in debate, swift to see and to seize the +opportunity of the hour. He was full of practical sagacity, +and his personal character lent weight to his position in +the country. In the more militant stages of his career, +and especially when he was fighting the battles of Parliamentary +reform and religious liberty, he felt the full brunt +of that ‘sullen resistance to innovation,’ as well as that +‘unalterable perseverance in the wisdom of prejudice,’ which +Burke declared was characteristic of the English race. The +natural conservatism of growing years, it must be frankly +admitted, led eventually in Lord John’s case, as in that of +the majority of mankind, to the slackening of interest in +the new problems of a younger generation, but to the extreme +verge of life he remained far too great a statesman +and much too generous a man ever to lapse into the position +of a mere <i>laudator temporis acti</i>. Lord John did not allow +the few remaining weeks of a protracted and exhaustive +session to elapse without a vigorous attempt to push the +principle of Free Trade to its logical issues. He passed a +measure which rendered the repeal of the Corn Laws total +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span> +and immediate, and he carried, with the support of Peel +and in spite of the opposition of Bentinck and Disraeli, the +abolition of protection to sugar grown in the British +Colonies.</p> + +<p>Ireland quickly proved itself to be a stone of stumbling +and a rock of offence to the new Administration. Lord +John’s appointment of Lord Bessborough—his old colleague, +Duncannon, in the Committee on Reform in 1830—as +viceroy was popular, for he was a resident Irish landlord, +and a man who was genuinely concerned for the welfare of +the people. O’Connell trusted Lord Bessborough, and that, +in the disturbed condition of the country, counted for much. +The task of the new viceroy was hard, even with such +support, and though Bessborough laboured manfully and +with admirable tact to better the social condition of the +people and to exorcise the spirit of discord, the forces +arrayed against him proved resistless when famine came to +their aid. As the summer slipped past, crime and outrage +increased, and the prospect for the approaching winter grew +not merely gloomy but menacing. Peel had been turned out +of office because of his Irish Arms Bill, and Bessborough +was no sooner installed in Dublin than he made urgent +representations to the Cabinet in Downing Street as to the +necessity of adopting similar repressive measures, in view of +the prevailing lawlessness and the contempt for life and property +which in the disaffected districts were only too common. +In August the crisis was already so acute that the Government, +yielding to the fears of its Irish advisers, stultified itself by +proposing the renewal of the Arms Bill until the following +spring. The step was ill advised, and provoked much hostile +criticism. Lord John did not relish the measure, but Lord +Bessborough declared that Ireland could not be governed for +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span> +the moment without it, and as he also talked of throwing +up his appointment, and was supported in this view of the +situation by Mr. Labouchere (afterwards Lord Taunton), who +at that time was Chief Secretary, the Prime Minister gave +way and introduced in the House of Commons proposals +which were out of keeping with his own antecedents, and +which he personally disliked. In speaking of Sir Robert +Peel’s Coercion Bill in his published ‘Recollections,’ Lord +John makes no secret of his own attitude towards the measure. +‘I objected to the Bill on Irish grounds. I then thought, +and I still think, that it is wrong to arrest men and put +them in prison on the ground that they <i>may</i> be murderers +and housebreakers. They may be, on the other hand, +honest labourers going home from their work.’ On the +contrary, he thought that every means ought to be promptly +taken for discovering the perpetrators of crime and bringing +them to justice, and he also believed in giving the authorities +on the spot ample means of dealing with the reign of terror +which agrarian outrages had established.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">THE IRONY OF THE SITUATION</div> + +<p>If O’Connell had been at Lord John’s side at that juncture, +England might have sent a practical message of good-will to +Ireland instead of falling back on the old policy of coercion. +O’Connell had learnt to trust Russell—as far, at least, as it was +possible for a leader of the Irish people to trust a Whig statesman—and +Russell, on the other hand, was beginning to +understand not merely O’Connell, but the forces which lay +behind him, and which rendered him, quite apart from his own +eloquence and gifts, powerful. Unfortunately, the Liberator +was by this time broken in health, and the Young Ireland +party were already in revolt against his authority, a circumstance +which, in itself, filled the Premier with misgivings, and +led him to give way, however reluctantly, to the demand of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span> +the viceroy for repressive measures. Lord John was, in fact, +only too well aware that force was no remedy. He wished, +as much as O’Connell, to root up the causes which produced +crime. Young Ireland, however, seemed determined to kick +over the traces at the very time when the Liberator was inducing +the Whigs to look at the question in a practical +manner. Lord John knew, to borrow his own expression, +that the ‘armoury of penal legislation was full of the +weapons of past battles, and yet the victory of order and +peace had not been gained.’ The Liberal party set its face +against coercion in any shape or form, and the Government +withdrew a proposal which they ought never to have introduced. +This course had scarcely been taken when a new +and terrible complication of the social problem in Ireland +arose.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">THE IRISH FAMINE</div> + +<p>Famine suddenly made its presence felt, and did so in +a manner which threw the privation and scarcity of the +previous winter altogether into the shade. The potato crop +was a disastrous failure, and, as the summer waned, the +distress of an impoverished and thriftless race grew acute. +The calamity was as crushing as it was rapid. ‘On July 27,’ +are Father Mathew’s words, ‘I passed from Cork to Dublin, +and this doomed plant bloomed in all the luxuriance of an +abundant harvest. Returning on August 3 I beheld with +sorrow one wide waste of putrefying vegetation.’ A million +and a half of acres were at the moment under cultivation, +and the blight only spared a quarter of them, whilst, to make +matters worse, the oat crop, by an unhappy coincidence, +proved to a startling extent insufficient. The financial loss +in that disastrous harvest, in the reckoning of experts, +amounted to between fifteen and sixteen millions sterling. +Fever and dysentery made fatal inroads on the dwindling +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span> +strength of the gaunt and famished peasantry, and in one +district alone, out of a population of 62,000 inhabitants, +no less than 5,000 persons died, directly or indirectly, of +starvation in the course of three months. ‘All our thoughts,’ +wrote O’Connell, ‘are engrossed with two topics—endeavouring +to keep the people from outbreaks, and endeavouring to +get food for them.’ In many instances the landlords seemed +robbed of the characteristics of ordinary humanity, for the +ruthless process of eviction was carried on with a high hand, +and old men and children were left unsheltered as well as +unfed.</p> + +<p>Property had neglected its duties, but, as usual, did not +neglect its rights, and in that terrible crisis it overrode the +rights of humanity. Many of the landowners, however, +manfully did their best to stay the plague, but anything +which they could accomplish seemed a mockery amid the +widespread distress. Readers of Sir Gavan Duffy’s ‘Four +Years of Irish History’ will recall his vivid description of +the manner in which some of the landowners, however, saw +their cruel opportunity, and accordingly ‘closed on the +people with ejectments, turned them on the road, and plucked +down their roof-trees,’ and also that still more painful +passage which describes how women with dead children in +their arms were seen begging for a coffin to bury them. +Relief committees were, of course, started; the Friends, in +particular, busied themselves in practical efforts to cope with +the distress, and Mr. W. E. Forster, who went to Ireland to +distribute relief, declared that his wonder was, as he passed +from village to village, not that the people died, but that so +many contrived to live.</p> + +<p>The Russell Government met the crisis with courage, +though scarcely with adequate understanding. Ireland +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span> +remembered with bitterness their Arms Bill and their repressive +measures. Public feeling ran high over some of +their proposals, for the people resented Lord John’s modification +of Sir Robert Peel’s plan by which the cost of public +works was to be defrayed by the State and district in which +employment was given. Lord John determined that the +cost should be met in the first instance by Government +loans, which were to be repaid with an almost nominal +interest by the people of the district. This was interpreted +to mean that Ireland was to bear her own burdens, and in +her impoverished state was to be saddled with the financial +responsibilities inseparable from so pitiable a collapse of +prosperity. Bread riots and agrarian disturbances grew +common, and the Government met them with rather more than +becoming sternness, instead of dealing promptly with the land-tenure +system which lay at the root of so much of the misery. +At the beginning of the session of 1847 it was stated that +10,000,000<i>l.</i> would be required to meet the exigencies of the +situation. Lord George Bentinck proposed a grant of +16,000,000<i>l.</i> for the construction of Irish railways, but Lord +John made the question one of personal confidence in himself, +and threatened resignation if it passed. His chief +objection to the proposal was based on the fact that seventy-five +per cent. of the money spent in railway construction +would not reach the labouring classes. Lord George Bentinck’s +motion was rejected by a sweeping majority, though +at a subsequent stage in the session the Government consented +to advance a substantial sum to three Irish railways—a +concession which exposed them to the usual taunts of inconsistency.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">MEASURES OF RELIEF</div> + +<p>Measures were also introduced for promoting emigration +to the colonies, and for the suspension of certain clauses of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span> +the Navigation Laws which hindered the importation of +foreign corn. At one time during the distress there were +no less than six hundred thousand men employed on public +works in Ireland, and the Government found it no easy +task to organise this vast army of labour, or to prevent +abuses. Lord Bessborough urged that the people should +be employed in the improvement of private estates, but +Lord John met this proposal with disapproval, though he at +length agreed that the drainage of private land should come +within the scope of public works. It was further determined +to lend money in aid of the improvement of private property, +the operation of the Irish Poor Law was also extended, and +in other directions energetic measures were taken for the +relief of the prevailing destitution. Lord John was a keen +observer both of men and of movements, and the characteristics +of the peasantry, and more particularly the personal +helplessness of the people, and the lack of concerted action +among them, impressed him. ‘There are some things,’ he +declared, ‘which the Crown cannot grant and which Parliament +cannot enact—the spirit of self-reliance and the spirit +of co-operation. I must say plainly that I should indeed +despair of this task were it not that I think I see symptoms +in the Irish people both of greater reliance on their own +energies and exertions, and of greater intelligence to co-operate +with each other. Happy will it be, indeed, if the +Irish take for their maxim, “Help yourselves and Heaven +will help you,” and then I think they will find there is some +use in adversity.’</p> + +<p>Lord John Russell’s Irish policy has often been misunderstood, +and not seldom misrepresented, but no one +who looks all the facts calmly in the face, or takes into +account the difficulties which the famine threw in his path, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span> +will be inclined to harsh criticism. Lady Russell’s journal +at this period reveals how great was her husband’s anxiety +in view of the evil tidings from Ireland, and one extract may +be allowed to speak for itself. After stating that her husband +has much to distress him in the state of the country, these +words follow: ‘God grant him success in his labours to +amend it—famine, fever, trade failing, and discontent growing +are evils which it requires all his resolution, sense of +duty, and love for the public to face. I pray that he may, +and believe that he will, one day be looked back to as the +greatest benefactor of unhappy Ireland.’ When once the +nature of the calamity became apparent, Lord John never +relaxed his efforts to grapple with the emergency, and, +though not a demonstrative man, there is proof enough that +he felt acutely for the people, and laboured, not always perhaps +wisely, but at least well, for the amelioration of their +lot. He was assailed with a good deal of personal abuse, +and was credited with vacillation and apathy, especially in +Ireland, where his opponents, acting in the capacity of jurymen +at inquests on the victims of the famine, sometimes +went so far as to bring in a verdict of wilful murder against +the Prime Minister. It is easy enough after the event to +point out better methods than those devised at the imperious +call of the moment by the Russell Administration, but there +are few fair-minded people in the present day who would +venture to assert that justice and mercy were not in the ascendent +during a crisis which taxed to the utmost the resources +of practical statesmanship.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">LORD CLARENDON IN IRELAND</div> + +<p>The new Parliament assembled in November, and a Committee +of both Houses was appointed to take into consideration +the depressed condition of trade, for symptoms of unmistakable +distress were apparent in the great centres of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span> +industry. Ireland, moreover, still blocked the way, and Lord +Clarendon, who had succeeded to the viceroyalty, alarmed +at the condition of affairs, pressed for extraordinary powers. +The famine by this time was only a memory, but it had left +a large section of the peasantry in a sullen and defiant mood. +As a consequence stormy restlessness and open revolt made +themselves felt. Armed mobs, sometimes five hundred and +even a thousand strong, wandered about in lawless fashion, +pounced upon corn and made raids on cattle, and it seemed +indeed at times as if life as well as property was imperilled. +Lord Clarendon was determined to make the disaffected feel +that the law could not be set aside with impunity. He +declared that the majority of these disturbers of the peace +were not in actual distress, and he made no secret of his +opinion that their object was not merely intimidation but +plunder. ‘I feel,’ were his words as the autumn advanced, +‘as if I was at the head of a provisional government in a +half-conquered country.’</p> + +<p>It is easy to assert that Lord Clarendon took a panic-stricken +view of the situation, and attempts have again and +again been made to mitigate, if not to explain away, the +dark annals of Irish crime. The facts, however, speak for +themselves, and they seemed at the moment to point to +such a sinister condition of affairs that Lord John Russell +felt he had no option but to adopt repressive measures. +Sir George Grey stated in Parliament that the number +of cases of fatal bloodshed during the six summer +months of 1846 was sixty-eight, whilst in the corresponding +period in 1847 it had increased to ninety-six. Shooting +with intent to slay, which in the six months of 1846 had +numbered fifty-five, now stood at 126. Robbery under +arms had also grown with ominous rapidity, for in the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span> +contrasted half-years of 1846 and 1847 deeds of violence +of this kind were 207 and 530 respectively, whilst outrage in +another of its most cruel and despicable forms—the firing +of dwelling-houses—revealed, under the same conditions of +time, 116 acts of incendiarism in 1847, as against fifty-one +in the previous year. The disaffected districts of Clare, +Limerick, and Tipperary made the heaviest contribution to +this dismal catalogue of crime; but far beyond their borders +though with diminished force, the lawless spirit prevailed.</p> + +<p>Mr. Spencer Walpole, in his standard and authoritative +‘Life of Lord John Russell,’ has shown, by an appeal to his +correspondence with Lord Clarendon, how reluctant the +Prime Minister was to bring forward a new Arms Bill. He +has also made it plain that it was only the logic of events +which finally convinced the Prime Minister of the necessity +in any shape for such a measure. Mr. Walpole has also vindicated, +at considerable length, Lord John from the familiar +charge of having adopted in power the proposals which led to +the overthrow of the Peel Administration. He lays stress on +the fact that the Arms Bill, which the Government carried +at the close of 1847 by a sweeping majority, was, to a noteworthy +extent, different from that which Sir Robert sought to +impose on Ireland twelve months earlier, and which the +Whigs met with strenuous and successful opposition. In +Mr. Walpole’s words, the new proposals ‘did not contain +any provision for compensating the victims of outrages at +the expense of the ratepayers; they did not render persons +congregated in public-houses or carrying arms liable +to arrest; above all, they did not comprise the brutal clause +which made persons out of doors at night liable to transportation.’ +The condition of Ireland was, indeed, so +menacing that the majority of the English people of all +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span> +shades of political opinion were of one mind as to the +necessity for stern measures. Sir Robert Peel, with no less +candour than chivalry, declared that the best reparation +which could be made to the last Government would be +to assist the present Government in passing such a law. +Perhaps still more significant were the admissions of Mr. John +Bright. At the General Election the young orator had +been returned to Parliament, not for a Sleepy Hollow like +Durham, which had first sent him, but for the commanding +constituency of Manchester, and almost at once he +found himself in opposition to the views of a vast number +of the inhabitants. He was requested to present a petition +against the bill signed by more than 20,000 persons +in Manchester. In doing so he took the opportunity of explaining +in the House of Commons the reasons which made +it impossible for him—friend of peace and goodwill as he +assuredly was—to support its prayer. He declared that the +unanimous statements of all the newspapers, the evidence +of men of all parties connected with Ireland, as well as the +facts which were placed before them with official authority, +made it plain beyond a doubt that the ordinary law was +utterly powerless, and, therefore, he felt that the case of the +Government, so far as the necessity for such a bill was +concerned, was both clear and perfect.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">JOHN BRIGHT AND IRISH AFFAIRS</div> + +<p>Mr. Bright drew attention to the fact that assassinations +in Ireland were not looked upon as murders, but rather as +executions; and that some of them at least were not due +to sudden outbursts of passion, but were planned with +deliberation and carried out in cold blood. He saw no +reason to doubt that in certain districts public sentiment +was ‘depraved and thoroughly vitiated;’ and he added +that, since the ordinary law had failed to meet the emergency +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span> +the Government had a case for the demand they made +for an extension of their present powers, and he thought +that the bill before the House was the less to be opposed +since, whilst it strengthened the hands of the Executive, it +did not greatly exceed or infringe the ordinary law. Mr. Bright +at the same time, it is only fair to add, made no secret of his +own conviction that the Government had not grappled with +sufficient courage with its difficulties, and he complained of +the delay which had arisen over promised legislation of a +remedial character.</p> + +<p>Lord John himself was persuaded, some time before +Mr. Bright made this speech, that it was useless to attempt +to meet the captious and selfish objections on the question of +agrarian reform of the landlord class; and, as a matter of fact, +he had already drawn up, without consulting anyone, the +outline of a measure which he described to Lord Clarendon +as a ‘plan for giving some security and some provision to +the miserable cottiers, who are now treated as brute beasts.’ +Years before—to be exact, in the spring of 1844—he had declared +in the House of Commons that, whilst the Government +of England was, as it ought to be, a Government of opinion, +the Government of Ireland was notoriously a Government +of force. Gradually he was forced to the view that centuries +of oppression and misunderstanding, of class hatred and +opposite aims, had brought about a social condition which +made it necessary that judicial authority should have a voice +between landlord and tenant in every case of ejectment. +Lord John’s difficulties in dealing with Ireland were complicated +by the distrust of three-fourths of the people of the +good intentions of English statesmanship. Political agitators, +great and small, of the Young Ireland school, did their best +to deepen the suspicions of an impulsive and ignorant +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span> +peasantry against the Whigs, and Lord John was personally +assailed, until he became a sort of bogie-man to the lively +and undisciplined imagination of a sensitive but resentful +race.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">THE TREASON FELONY ACT</div> + +<p>Even educated Irishmen of a later generation have, +with scarcely an exception, failed to do justice either to the +dull weight of prejudice and opposition with which Lord +John had to contend in his efforts to help their country, or +to give him due credit for the constructive statesmanship +which he brought to a complicated and disheartening task.<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> +Lord John Russell was, in fact, in some directions not only +in advance of his party but of his times; and, though it has +long been the fashion to cavil at his Irish policy, it ought not +to be forgotten, in common fairness, that he not only passed +the Encumbered Estates Act of 1848, but sought to introduce +the principle of compensation to tenants for the improvements +which they had made on their holdings. Vested +interests proved, however, too powerful, and Ireland stood +in her own light by persistent sedition. The revolutionary +spirit was abroad in 1848 not only in France, but in other +parts of Europe, and the Irish, under Mr. Smith O’Brien, +Mr. John Mitchel, and less responsible men, talked at random, +with the result that treasonable conspiracy prevailed, and the +country was brought to the verge of civil war. The Irish Government +was forced by hostile and armed movements to proclaim +certain districts in which rebellion was already rampant. +The Treason Felony Act made it illegal, and punishable with +penal servitude, to write or speak in a manner calculated to +provoke rebellion against the Crown. This extreme +stipula<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span>tion +was made at the instance of Lord Campbell. Such an +invasion of freedom of speech was not allowed to pass unchallenged, +and Lord John, who winced under the necessity +of repression, admitted the force of the objection, so far as +to declare that this form of irksome restraint should not be +protracted beyond the necessity of the hour. He was not +the man to shirk personal danger, and therefore, in spite of +insurrection and panic, and the threats of agitators who were +seeking to compass the repeal of the Union by violent measures, +he went himself to Dublin to consult with Lord +Clarendon, and to gather on the spot his own impressions +of the situation. He found the country once more overshadowed +by the prospects of famine, and he came to the +conclusion that the population was too numerous for the +soil, and subsequently passed a measure for promoting aided +emigration. He proposed also to assist from the public +funds the Roman Catholic clergy, whose livelihood had +grown precarious through the national distress; but, in +deference to strong Protestant opposition, this method of amelioration +had to be abandoned. The leaders of the Young +Ireland party set the authorities at defiance, and John +Mitchel, a leader who advocated an appeal to physical force, +and Smith O’Brien, who talked wildly about the establishment +of an Irish Republic, were arrested, convicted, and +transported. O’Connell himself declared that Smith +O’Brien was an exceedingly weak man, proud and self-conceited +and ‘impenetrable to advice.’ ‘You cannot be sure +of him for half an hour.’ The force of the movement was +broken by cliques and quarrels, until the spirit of disaffection +was no longer formidable. In August, her Majesty displayed +in a marked way her personal interest in her Irish +subjects by a State visit to Dublin. The Queen was +re<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span>ceived +with enthusiasm, and her presence did much to weaken +still further the already diminishing power of sedition.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTERS</div> + +<p>The question of education lay always close to the heart +of Lord John Russell, who found time even amid the stress +of 1847 to advance it. The Melbourne Administration had +vested the management of Parliamentary grants in aid of +education in a committee of the Privy Council. In spite of +suspicion and hostility, which found expression both in Parliament +and in ecclesiastical circles, the movement extended +year by year and slowly pervaded with the first beginnings +of culture the social life of the people. Lord John had +taken an active part in establishing the authority of the Privy +Council in education; he had watched the rapid growth of +its influence, and had not forgotten to mark the defects which +had come to light during the six years’ working of the system. +He therefore proposed to remodel it, and took steps in +doing so to better the position of the teacher, as well as to +render primary education more efficient. Paid pupil teachers +accordingly took the place of unpaid monitors, and the +opportunity of gaining admittance after this practical apprenticeship +to training colleges, where they might be equipped +for the full discharge of the duties of their calling, was +thrown open to them. As a further inducement, teachers +who had gone through this collegiate training received a +Government grant in addition to the usual salary. Grants +were also for the first time given to schools which passed +with success through the ordeal of official inspection.</p> + +<p>The passing of the Factory Bill was another effort in the +practical redress of wrongs to which Lord John Russell lent +his powerful aid. The measure, which will always be +honourably associated with the names of Lord Shaftesbury +and Mr. Fielden, was a victory for labour which was hailed +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span> +with enthusiasm by artisans and operatives throughout the +land. It came as a measure of practical relief, not merely +to men, but to upwards of three hundred and sixty-three +thousand women and children, employed in monotonous +tasks in mill and manufactory. Another change which Lord +John Russell was directly instrumental in bringing about +was the creation of the Poor Law Commission into a Ministerial +Department, responsible to Parliament, and able to +explain its work and to defend its policy at Westminster, +through the lips of the President of the Poor Law Board. +Regulations were at the same time made for workhouse control, +meetings of guardians, and the like. The great and +ever-growing needs of Manchester were recognised in 1847 +by the creation of the Bishopric. Parliament was dissolved +on July 23, and as the adoption of Free Trade had left +the country for the moment without any great question +directly before it, no marked political excitement followed +the appeal to the people. The Conservative party was in +truth demoralised by the downfall of Peel, and the new +forces which were soon to shape its course had as yet +scarcely revealed themselves, though Lord Stanley, Lord +George Bentinck, and Mr. Disraeli were manifestly the +coming men in Opposition. If the general election was distinguished +by little enthusiasm either on one side or the +other, it yet brought with it a personal triumph to Lord John, +for he was returned for the City at the head of the poll. +The Government itself not only renewed its strength, but +increased it as a result of the contest throughout the country. +At the same time the hostility of the opponents of Free Trade +was seen in the return of two hundred and twenty-six Protectionists, +in addition to one hundred and five Conservatives +of the new school of Bentinck and Disraeli. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span></p> + +<div class="sidenote">DIFFICULTIES OF A PLAIN ENGLISHMAN</div> + +<p>In other directions, meanwhile, difficulties had beset the +Government. The proposed appointment of a Broad +Churchman of advanced views, in the person of Dr. Hampden, +Regius Professor at Oxford, to the vacant see of Hereford +filled the High Church party with indignant dismay. Dr. +Newman, with the courage and self-sacrifice which were +characteristic of the man, had refused by this time to hold +any longer an untenable position, and, in spite of his brilliant +prospects in the English Church, had yielded to conscience +and submitted to Rome. Dr. Pusey, however, remained, +and under his skilful leadership the Oxford Movement grew +strong, and threw its spell in particular over devout women, +whose æsthetic instincts it satisfied, and whose aspirations after +a semi-conventual life it met.<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> Lord John had many of the +characteristics of the plain Englishman. He understood +zealous Protestants, and, as his rejected scheme for aiding the +priests in Ireland itself shows, he was also able to apprehend +the position of earnest Roman Catholics. He had, however, +not so learnt his Catechism or his Prayer Book as to understand +that the Reformation, if not a crime, was at least a +blunder, and therefore, like other plain Englishmen, he was +not prepared to admit the pretensions and assumptions of a +new race of nondescript priests. Thirteen prelates took the +unusual course of requesting the Prime Minister to reconsider +his decision, but Lord John’s reply was at once courteous +and emphatic. ‘I cannot sacrifice the reputation of Dr. +Hampden, the rights of the Crown, and what I believe to be the +true interests of the Church, to a feeling which I believe to +have been founded on misapprehension and fomented by +prejudice.’ Although Dr. Pusey did not hesitate to +de<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span>clare +that the affair was ‘a matter of life and death,’<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> +ecclesiastical protest availed nothing, and Dr. Hampden was +in due time consecrated.</p> + +<p>Neither agrarian outrages in Ireland nor clerical agitation +in England hindered, in the session of 1848, the passing of +measures of social improvement. The Public Health Act, +which was based on the representations of Sir Edwin Chadwick +and Dr. Southwood Smith, grappled with the sanitary +question in cities and towns, and thus improved in a variety +of directions the social life of the people. It had hitherto +been the fashion of Whigs and Tories alike to neglect practical +measures of this kind, even though they were so closely +linked to the health and welfare of the community.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> <i>The Croker Papers</i>, vol. iii. ch. xxiv. p. 53.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> Judge O’Connor Morris, in his interesting retrospect, <i>Memories +and Thoughts of a Life</i>, just published, whilst severely criticising the +Whig attitude towards Ireland, admits that Russell’s Irish policy was +not only ‘well-meant,’ but in the main successful.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> The first Anglican Sisterhood was founded by Dr. Pusey in London +in the spring of 1845.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> <i>Life of E. B. Pusey, D.D.</i>, by H. P. Liddon, D.D., vol. iii. p. 160.</p></div> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<p class="title">IN ROUGH WATERS<br /><br /> + +1848-1852</p> + +<p class="desc">The People’s Charter—Feargus O’Connor and the crowd—Lord +Palmerston strikes from his own bat—Lord John’s view of the +political situation—Death of Peel—Palmerston and the Court—‘No +Popery’—The Durham Letter—The invasion scare—Lord John’s +remark about Palmerston—Fall of the Russell Administration.</p> + + +<p class="noi">England in 1848 was not destined to escape an outbreak of +the revolutionary spirit, though the Chartist movement, in spite +of the panic which it awakened, was never really formidable. +The overthrow and flight of Louis Philippe, the proclamation +in March of the French Republic on the basis of universal +suffrage and national workshops, and the revolutionary +movements and insurrections in Austria and Italy, filled the +artisans and operatives of this country with wild dreams, +and led them to rally their scattered and hitherto dispirited +forces. Within six years of the passing of the Reform Bill, +in fact, in the autumn after the Queen’s accession, the +working classes had come to the conclusion that their +interests had been largely overlooked, and that the expectations +they had cherished in the struggle of 1831-32 had +been falsified by the apathy and even the reaction which +followed the victory. Not in one, but in all the great civil +and religious struggles of the century, they had borne the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span> +brunt of the battle; and yet they had been thrust aside when +it came to the dividing of the spoil.</p> + +<p>The middle classes were in a different position: their +aspirations were satisfied, and they were quite prepared, for +the moment at least, to rest and be thankful. The sleek +complacency of the shopkeeper, moreover, and his hostility +to further agitation, threw into somewhat dramatic relief the +restless and sullen attitude of less fortunate conscripts of +toil. Food was dear, wages were low, work was slack, and +in the great centres of industry the mills were running half-time, +and so keen was the struggle for existence that the +operatives were at the mercy of their taskmasters, and too +often found it cruel. Small wonder if social discontent +was widespread, especially when it is remembered that the +people were not only hopeless and ill-fed, but housed under +conditions which set at defiance even the most elementary +laws of health. More than to any other man in the ranks +of higher statesmanship the people looked to Lord Durham, +the idol of the pitmen of the North, for the redress of their +wrongs, and no statesman of that period possessed more +courage or more real acquaintance with the actual needs of +the people. Lord Durham, though a man of splendid +ability, swift vision, and generous sympathy, had, unhappily, +the knack of making enemies, and the fiery impetuosity +of his spirit brought him more than once into conflict with +leaders whose temperament was cold and whose caution +was great. The rebellion in Canada withdrew Lord Durham +from the arena of English politics at the beginning of 1838. +Then it was that the people recognised to the full the +temper of the statesmen that were left, and the fact that, if +deliverance was to come from political and social thraldom, +they must look to themselves and organise their strength. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span></p> + +<p>The representatives of the working classes in 1838 formulated +their demand for radical political reform in the +famous six points of the People’s Charter. This declaration +claimed manhood suffrage; the division of the country into +equal electoral districts; vote by ballot; annual Parliaments; +the abolition of property qualification for a seat in the House +of Commons; and payment of members of Parliament for +their services. The People’s Charter took the working +classes by storm: it fired their imagination, inspired their +hopes, and drew them in every manufacturing town and +district into organised association.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">A SORRY CHAMPION</div> + +<p>The leader of the movement was Feargus O’Connor, an +Irish barrister and journalist, who had entered Parliament +in 1832 as a follower of O’Connell and as member for Cork. +He quarrelled, however, with the Irish leader, a circumstance +which was fatal to success as an agitator in his own country. +Restless and reckless, he henceforth carried his energy and +devoted his eloquence to the Chartist movement in England, +and in 1847 the popular vote carried him once more to the +House of Commons as member for Nottingham. He +copied the tactics of O’Connell, but had neither the judgment +nor the strength of the Irish dictator. He seems, +indeed, to have been rather a poor creature of the vainglorious, +bombastic type. A year or two later he became +hopelessly insane, and in the vaporing heroics and parade +of gasconade which marked him as the champion of the +Chartists in the spring of 1848 it is charitable now to +discover the first seeds of his disorder. However that may +be, he was a nine-days’ wonder, for from All Fools’ Day to +the morning of April 10 society in London was in a state +of abject panic. The troubles in Ireland, the insurrections +and rumours of insurrection on the Continent, the revolution +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span> +in France, the menacing discontent in the provinces, and +the threatening attitude of the working men in the metropolis, +were enough to cause alarm among the privileged classes, +and conscience made cowards, not certainly of them all, but +of the majority.</p> + +<p>Literature enough and to spare, explanatory, declamatory +and the like, has grown around a movement which +ran like an unfed river, until it lost itself in the sand. Three +men of genius took up their parable about what one of +them called the ‘Condition of England Question,’ and in +the pages of Carlyle’s ‘Chartism’ and ‘Past and Present,’ +Disraeli’s ‘Sybil,’ and last, but not least, in Kingsley’s +‘Alton Locke,’ the reader of to-day is in possession of +sidelights, vivid, picturesque, and dramatic, on English +society in the years when the Chartists were coming to their +power, and in the year when they lost it. Lord John +was at first in favour of allowing the Chartists to demonstrate +to their hearts’ content. He therefore proposed to +permit them to cross Westminster Bridge, so that they +might deliver their petition at the doors of Parliament. He +thought that the police might then prevent the re-forming +of the procession, and scatter the crowd in the direction of +Charing Cross. Lord John had done too much for the +people to be afraid of them, and he refused to accept the +alarmist view of the situation. But the consternation was +so widespread, and the panic so general, that the Government +felt compelled on April 6 to declare the proposed +meeting criminal and illegal, to call upon all peaceably +disposed citizens not to attend, and to take extraordinary +precautions. It was, however, announced that the right of +assembly would be respected; but, on the advice of Wellington, +only three of the leaders were to be allowed to cross the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span> +bridge. The Bank, the Tower, and the neighbourhood of +Kennington Common meanwhile were protected by troops +of cavalry and infantry, whilst the approaches to the Houses +of Parliament and the Government offices were held by +artillery.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">LONDON IN TERROR</div> + +<p>The morning of the fateful 10th dawned brightly, but no +one dared forecast how the evening would close, and for a +few hours of suspense there was a reign of terror. Many +houses were barricaded, and in the West End the streets +were deserted except by the valiant special constables, who +stood at every corner in defence of law and order. The +shopkeepers, who were not prepared to take joyfully the +spoiling of their goods, formed the great mass of this citizen +army—one hundred and fifty thousand strong. There were, +nevertheless, recruits from all classes, and in the excitement +and peril of the hour odd men rubbed shoulders. Lord +Shaftesbury, for instance, was on duty in Mount Street, +Grosvenor Square, with a sallow young foreigner for companion, +who was afterwards to create a more serious disturbance +on his own account, and to spring to power as +Napoleon III. Thomas Carlyle preferred to play the +part of the untrammelled man in the street, and sallied +forth in search of food for reflection. He wanted to see the +‘revolution’ for himself, and strode towards Hyde Park, +determined, he tells us, to walk himself into a glow of heat +in spite of the ‘venomous cold wind’ which called forth his +anathemas. The Chelsea moralist found London, westward +at least, safe and quiet, in spite of ‘empty rumours and a +hundred and fifty thousand oaths of special constables.’ +He noticed as he passed Apsley House that even the Duke +had taken the affair seriously, in his private as well as his +public capacity, for all the iron blinds were down. The Green +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span> +Park was closed. Mounted Guardsmen stood ready on +Constitution Hill. The fashionable carriage had vanished +from Piccadilly. Business everywhere was at a standstill, for +London knew not what that day might bring forth. Presently +the rain began to fall, and then came down in drenching +showers. In spite of their patriotic fervour, the special constables +grew both damp and depressed. Suddenly a rumour +ran along the streets that the great demonstration at Kennington +Common had ended in smoke, and by noon the crowd was +streaming over Westminster Bridge and along Whitehall, +bearing the tidings that the march to the House of Commons +had been abandoned. Feargus O’Connor had, in fact, taken +fright, and presently the petition rattled ingloriously to +Westminster in the safe but modest keeping of a hackney +cab. The shower swept the angry and noisy rabble homewards, +or into neighbouring public-houses, and ridicule—as +the evening filled the town with complacent special constables +and their admiring wives and sweethearts—did even +more than the rain to quench the Chartist agitation. It had +been boldly announced that one hundred and fifty thousand +people would meet at Kennington. Less than a third of +that number assembled, and a considerable part of the crowd +had evidently been attracted by curiosity. Afterwards, when +the monster petition with its signatures was examined, it was +found to fall short of the boasted ‘five million’ names by upwards +of three millions. Many of those which did appear +were palpably fictitious; indeed the rude wit of the London +apprentice was responsible for scores of silly signatures. +Lord John’s comment on the affair was characteristic. +After stating that no great numbers followed the cab which +contained the petition, and that there was no mob at the +door of the House of Commons, he adds: ‘London escaped +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span> +the fate of Paris, Berlin, and Vienna. For my own part, +I saw in these proceedings a fresh proof that the people of +England were satisfied with the Government under which +they had the happiness to live, did not wish to be instructed +by their neighbours in the principles of freedom, and did +not envy them either the liberty they had enjoyed under +Robespierre, or the order which had been established among +them by Napoleon the Great.’</p> + +<div class="sidenote">PALMERSTON’S OPPORTUNITY</div> + +<p>Lord John’s allusion to Paris, Berlin, and Vienna +suggests foreign politics, and also the growing lack of +harmony between Lord Palmerston on the one hand and +the Court and Cabinet on the other. Although he long +held the highest office under the Crown, Lord Palmerston’s +chief claim to distinction was won as Foreign Minister. He +began his official career as a Tory in the Portland Administration +of 1807, and two years later—at the age of five-and-twenty—was +appointed Secretary at War in the Perceval +Government. He held this post for the long term of +eighteen years, and when Canning succeeded to power +still retained it, with a seat in the Cabinet. Palmerston +was a liberal Tory of the school of Canning, and, when +Lord Grey became Premier in 1830, was a man of sufficient +mark to be entrusted with the seals of the Foreign +Office, though, until his retirement in 1834, Grey exercised +a controlling voice in the foreign policy of the nation. It +was not until Grey was succeeded by Melbourne that +Palmerston began to display both his strength and his +weakness in independent action.</p> + +<p>He saw his opportunity and took it. He knew his +own mind and disliked interference, and this made him +more and more inclined to be heedless of the aid, and +almost of the approval, of his colleagues. Under a +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span> +provokingly pleasant manner lurked, increasingly, the temper +of an autocrat. Melbourne sat lightly to most things, and +not least to questions of foreign policy. He was easily +bored, and believed in <i>laissez-faire</i> to an extent which has +never been matched by any other Prime Minister in the +Queen’s reign. The consequence was that for seven critical +years Palmerston did what was right in his own eyes, until he +came to regard himself not merely as the custodian of +English interests abroad, but almost as the one man in the +Cabinet who was entitled to speak with authority concerning +them. If the responsibility of the first Afghan war must +rest chiefly on his shoulders, it is only fair to remember +that he took the risk of a war with France in order to drive +Ibrahim Pacha out of Syria. From first to last, his tenure +at the Foreign Office covered a period of nearly twenty years. +Though he made serious mistakes, he also made despots +in every part of the world afraid of him; whilst struggling +nationalities felt that the great English Minister was not +oblivious of the claims of justice, or deaf to the appeal +for mercy. Early in the Russell Administration Lord +Palmerston’s high-handed treatment of other members of +the Cabinet provoked angry comment, and Sir Robert Peel +did not conceal his opinion that Lord John gave his impetuous +colleague too much of his own way. The truth +was, the Premier’s hands, and heart also, were in 1846 +and 1847 full of the Irish famine, and Lord Palmerston +took advantage of the fact. Moreover, Lord John Russell +was, broadly speaking, in substantial agreement with his +Foreign Minister, though he cordially disliked his habit +of taking swift and almost independent action.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">CLIMBING DOWN</div> + +<p>At the beginning of 1848 Palmerston seemed determined +to pick a quarrel with France, and in February +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span> +drew up a threatening despatch on the difficulty which +had arisen between our Ambassador (Lord Normanby) +and Louis Philippe, which brought matters to a crisis. +Louis Philippe had acted a dishonourable part over the +Spanish marriages, and Palmerston was prepared to go +out of his way to humiliate France. At the last moment, +the affair came to Lord John’s knowledge through Lord +Clarendon, with the result that the communication was +countermanded. Lord Palmerston appears to have taken +the rebuff, humiliating as it was, with characteristic nonchalance, +and it produced little more than a momentary +effect. The ignominious flight of Louis Philippe quickly +followed, and the revolution in France was the signal in +Vienna for a revolt of the students and artisans, which +drove Metternich to find refuge in England and the +Emperor Ferdinand to seek asylum in the Tyrol. Austrians, +Hungarians, and Slavs only needed an opportunity, such +as the ‘year of revolutions’ afforded, to display their hostility +to one another, and the racial jealousy brought Austria and +Hungary to open war. In Milan, in Naples, and Berlin +the revolutionary spirit displayed itself, and in these centres, +as well as in Switzerland, changes in the direction of liberty +took place.</p> + +<p>Lord John Russell, in an important document, which +Mr. Walpole has printed, and which bears date May 1, 1848, +has explained his own view of the political situation in +Europe at that moment. After a lucid and impressive +survey of the changes that had taken place in the map of +Europe since the Congress of Vienna, Lord John lays down +the principle that it is neither becoming nor expedient for +England to proclaim that the Treaties of 1815 were invalid. +On the contrary, England ought rather to promote, in the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span> +interests of peace and order, the maintenance of the territorial +divisions then made. At the same time, England, amid +the storm, ought not to persist in clinging to a wreck if a safe +spar is within her reach. He recognised that Austria could +hardly restore her sway in Italy, and was not in a position +to confront the cost of a protracted war, in which France +was certain to take sides against her. He, therefore, thought +it advisable that English diplomacy should be brought to +bear at Vienna, so as to ‘produce a frank abandonment +of Lombardy and Venice on the part of Austria.’ He +declared that it was not to the advantage of England to +meddle with the internal affairs of Spain; but he thought +there was a favourable chance of coming to an understanding +with Germany, where the Schleswig-Holstein +question already threatened disturbance. ‘It is our +interest,’ are the final words of this significant State paper, +‘to use our influence as speedily and as generally as possible +to settle the pending questions and to fix the boundaries of +States. Otherwise, if war once becomes general, it will +spread over Germany, reach Belgium, and finally sweep +England into its vortex. Should our efforts for peace +succeed, Europe may begin a new career with more or less +of hope and of concord; should they fail, we must keep +our sword in the scabbard as long as we can, but we cannot +hope to be neutral in a great European war. England +cannot be indifferent to the supremacy of France over +Germany and Italy, or to the advance of Russian armies +to Constantinople; still less to the incorporation of Belgium +with a new French Empire.’</p> + +<div class="sidenote">OUR POLICY ABROAD</div> + +<p>As usual, Lord Palmerston had his own ideas and the +courage of them. Within three weeks of the Russell Memorandum +to the Cabinet he accordingly stood out in his true +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span> +colours as a frank opportunist. The guiding rule of his +foreign policy, he stated, was to promote and advance, +as far as lay in his power, the interests of the country as +opportunity served and as necessity arose. ‘We have no +everlasting union with this or that country—no identification +of policy with another. We have no natural enemies—no +perpetual friends. When we find a Power pursuing +that course of policy which we wish also to promote, for +the time that Power becomes our ally; and when we find a +country whose interests are at variance with our own, we +are involved for a time with the Government of that country. +We find no fault with other nations for pursuing their interests; +and they ought not to find fault with us, if, in pursuing +our interests, our course may be different from theirs.’</p> + +<p>Lord Palmerston held that the real policy of this +country was to be the champion of justice and right, +though professing no sympathy with the notion that England +ought to become, to borrow his own expression, the Quixote +of the world. ‘I hold that England is a Power sufficiently +strong to steer her own course, and not to tie herself as an +unnecessary appendage to the policy of any other Government.’ +He declared that, if he might be allowed to gather +into one sentence the principle which he thought ought to +guide an English statesman, he would adopt the expression +of Canning, and say that with every British Minister the +interests of England ought to be the shibboleth of his policy. +Unfortunately, Lord Palmerston, in spite of such statements, +was too much inclined to throw the moral weight of England +into this or that scale on his own responsibility, and, as it +often seemed to dispassionate observers, on the mere caprice +of the hour. He took up the position that the interests of +England were safe in his hands, and magnified his office, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span> +sometimes to the annoyance of the Court and often to the +chagrin of the Cabinet. No matter what storm raged, +Palmerston always contrived to come to the surface again +like a cork. He never lost his self-possession, and a profound +sense of his own infallibility helped him, under +difficulties and rebuffs which would have knocked the spirit +out of other men, to adopt the attitude of the patriotic statesman +struggling with adversity. When the session of 1849 +closed he was in an extremely difficult position, in consequence +of the growing dislike in high quarters to his policy, +and the coolness which had sprung up between himself +and the majority of his colleagues; yet we find him writing +a jaunty note to his brother in the strain of a man who had +not only deserved success but won it. ‘After the trumpetings +of attacks that were to demolish first one and then +another of the Government—first me, then Grey, then +Charles Wood—we have come triumphantly out of the debates +and divisions, and end the session stronger than we +began it.’<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a></p> + +<div class="sidenote">STRAINED RELATIONS</div> + +<p>Lord Palmerston’s passion for personal ascendency was +not to be repressed, and in the electric condition of Europe +it proved perilous as well as embarrassing to the Russell +Administration. Without the knowledge of the Queen or his +colleagues, Lord Palmerston, for instance, sent a letter to Sir +H. Bulwer advising an extension of the basis of the Spanish +Government, an act of interference which caused so much +irritation at Madrid that the Spanish Government requested +the British Ambassador to leave the country. Happily, the +breach with Madrid was repaired after a few months’ anxiety +on the part of Palmerston’s colleagues. The Queen’s +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span> +sense of the indiscretion was apparent in the request to +Lord Palmerston to submit in future all his despatches to the +Prime Minister. Other occasions soon arose which increased +distrust at Windsor, and further strained friendly relations +between the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary. The +latter’s removal to some less responsible post was contemplated, +for her Majesty appeared to disapprove of everything +Lord Palmerston did. Without detailing the various circumstances +which awakened the Queen’s displeasure, it is sufficient +to draw attention to one event—known in the annals +of diplomacy as the ‘Don Pacifico’ affair—which threatened +the overthrow of the Ministry.</p> + +<p>Two British subjects demanded in vain compensation +from the Greek Government for damage to their property. +Lord Palmerston came to their defence, and sent private +instructions to the Admiral of the British fleet at the +Dardanelles to seize Greek vessels by way of reprisal, which +was promptly done. The tidings fell like a thunderbolt upon +Downing Street. France and Russia made angry protests, +and war was predicted. At length an offer of mediation +from Paris was accepted, and the matter was arranged in +London. Lord Palmerston, however, omitted to inform the +English Minister at Athens of the settlement, and, whilst +everyone in England rejoiced that the storm had blown +over, the Admiral was laying an embargo on other ships, +and at last forced the Greek Government to grant compensation. +France, indignant at such cavalier treatment, recalled +M. Drouyn de Lhuys from London, and again the war-cloud +lowered. Lord Palmerston had the audacity to state in +the House of Commons that the French Minister had +returned to Paris in order ‘presumably to be the medium of +communication between the two Governments as to these +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span> +matters.’ The truth came out on the morrow, and Lord +John, in the discreet absence of his colleague, was forced to +explain as best he might the position of affairs. Although +he screened Lord Palmerston as far as he was able, he +determined to make a change at the Foreign Office.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">PEEL AND PALMERSTON</div> + +<p>In June 1850, Lord Stanley challenged the foreign policy +of Lord Palmerston in the House of Lords, and carried, by +a majority of thirty-seven, a resolution of censure. Mr. +Roebuck, in the Commons, met the hostile vote by a resolution +of confidence, and, after four nights’ debate, secured a +majority of forty-six. Lord Palmerston made an able +defence of his conduct of affairs, and Lord John Russell, who +differed from him not so much in the matter as in the +manner of his decisions, not merely refused to leave his +colleague in the lurch, but came vigorously to his support. +The debate was rendered memorable on other grounds. +Sir Robert Peel, in the course of it, delivered his last speech +in Parliament. The division, which gave Palmerston a fresh +tenure of power, was taken at four o’clock on the morning of +Saturday, June 29. Peel left the House to snatch a few +hours’ sleep before going at noon to a meeting which was to +settle the disputed question as to the site of the Great Exhibition. +He kept his appointment; but later in the day he was +thrown from his horse on Constitution Hill, and received +injuries which proved fatal on the night of July 2. His +death was a national calamity, for at sixty-two he was still +in the fulness of his strength. There will always be a +diversity of judgment concerning his career; there is but +one opinion about his character. Few statesmen have gone +to their grave amid more remarkable expressions of regret. +Old and young colleagues, from the Duke of Wellington to +Mr. Gladstone, betrayed by their emotion no less than by +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span> +their words, their grief over the loss of a leader who followed +his conscience even at the expense of the collapse of his +power. Lord John Russell, the most distinguished, without +doubt, of Sir Robert’s opponents on the floor of the House, +paid a generous tribute to his rival’s memory. He declared +that posterity would regard Sir Robert Peel as one of the +greatest and most patriotic of statesman. He laid stress on +that ‘long and large experience of public affairs, that profound +knowledge, that oratorical power, that copious yet exact +memory, with which the House was wont to be enlightened, +interested, and guided.’ When the offer of a public funeral +was declined, in deference to Sir Robert’s known wishes, +Lord John proposed and carried a resolution for the erection +of a statue in Westminster Abbey. He also marked his +sense of the loss which the nation had sustained, in the +disappearance of an illustrious man, by giving his noble-minded +and broken-hearted widow the refusal of a peerage.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, Lord Palmerston, on the strength of the +vote of confidence in the Commons, was somewhat of a +popular hero. People who believe that England can do no +wrong, at least abroad, believed in him. His audacity +delighted the man in the club. His pluck took the platform +and much of the press by storm. The multitude +relished his peremptory despatches, and were delighted when +he either showed fight or encouraged it in others. In +course of time ‘Pam’ became the typical fine old English +gentleman of genial temper but domineering instincts. +Prince Albert disliked him; he was too little of a courtier, +too much of an off-handed man of affairs. Windsor, of +course, received early tidings of the impression which was +made at foreign Courts by the most independent and +and cavalier Foreign Minister of the century. Occasionally +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span> +he needlessly offended the susceptibilities of exalted personages +abroad as well as at home. At length the Queen, +determined no longer to be put in a false position, drew up +a sharply-worded memorandum, in which explicit directions +were given for the transaction of business between the Crown +and the Foreign Office. ‘The Queen requires, first, that Lord +Palmerston will distinctly state what he proposes in a given +case, in order that the Queen may know as distinctly to what +she is giving her royal sanction; secondly, having once given +her sanction to a measure, that it be not arbitrarily altered +or modified by the Minister. Such an act she must consider +as failing in sincerity towards the Crown, and justly to be +visited by the exercise of her constitutional right of dismissing +that Minister. She expects to be kept informed of +what passes between him and the Foreign Ministers before +important decisions are taken, based upon that intercourse; +to receive the foreign despatches in good time; and to have +the drafts for her approval sent to her in sufficient time to +make herself acquainted with their contents before they +must be sent off.’</p> + +<p>No responsible adviser of the Crown during the reign +had received such emphatic censure, and in August 1850 +people were talking as if Palmerston was bound to resign. +He certainly would have done so if he had merely consulted +his own feelings; but he declared that to resign just then +would be to play into the hands of the political adversaries +whom he had just defeated, and to throw over his supporters +at the moment when they had fought a successful battle on +his behalf. Lord Palmerston, therefore, accepted the Queen’s +instructions with unwonted meekness. He assured her +Majesty that he would not fail to attend to the directions which +the memorandum contained, and for a while harmony was +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span> +restored. In the autumn of 1851 Louis Kossuth arrived in +England, and met with an enthusiastic reception, of the kind +which was afterwards accorded in London to another popular +hero, in the person of Garibaldi. Lord Palmerston received +Kossuth at the Foreign Office, and, contrary to the wishes +of the Queen and Prime Minister, deputations were admitted, +and addresses were presented, thanking Palmerston for his +services in the cause of humanity, whilst in the same breath +allusions to the Emperors of Austria and Russia as ‘odious +and detestable assassins’ were made. Almost before the +annoyance created by this fresh act of indiscretion had subsided, +Lord Palmerston was guilty of a still more serious +offence.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">THE <i>COUP D’ÉTAT</i></div> + +<p>Louis Napoleon had been elected President of the +French Republic by five and a half million votes. He was +thought to be ambitious rather than able, and he had pledged +himself to sustain the existing Constitution. He worked for +his own hand, however, and accordingly conciliated first the +clergy, then the peasants, and finally the army, by fair promises, +popular acts, and a bold policy. On December 2, +1851, when his term of office was expiring, Napoleon suddenly +overthrew the Assembly, which had refused a month or two +previously to revise the Constitution in order to make the +President eligible for re-election, and next morning all +Europe was startled with tidings of the <i>Coup d’État</i>. Both +the English Court and Cabinet felt that absolute neutrality +must be observed during the tumult which followed in Paris, +and instructions to that effect were accordingly transmitted +to Lord Normanby. But when that diplomatist made +known this official communication, he was met with the +retort that Lord Palmerston, in a conversation with the +French Ambassador in London, had already declared that +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span> +the <i>Coup d’État</i> was an act of self-defence, and in fact was +the best thing under the circumstances for France. Lord +Palmerston, in a subsequent despatch to Lord Normanby, +which was not submitted either to the Queen or the Prime +Minister, reiterated his opinion.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">‘THERE WAS A PALMERSTON!’</div> + +<p>Under these circumstances, Lord John Russell had no +alternative except to dismiss Lord Palmerston. He did so, +as he explained when Parliament met in February, on the +ground that the Foreign Secretary had practically put himself, +for the moment, in the place of the Crown. He had +given the moral approbation of England to the acts of the +President of the Republic of France, though he knew, when +he was doing so, that he was acting in direct opposition to +the wishes of the sovereign and the policy of the Government. +Lord John stated in the House of Commons that +he took upon himself the sole and entire responsibility of +advising her Majesty to require the resignation of Lord +Palmerston. He added that, though the Foreign Secretary +had neglected what was due to the Crown and his colleagues, +he felt sure that he had not intended any personal +disrespect. Greville declared that, in all his experience of +scenes in Parliament, he could recall no such triumph as Lord +Russell achieved on this occasion, nor had he ever witnessed a +discomfiture more complete than that of Palmerston. Lord +Dalling, another eye-witness of the episode, has described, +from the point of view of a sympathiser with Palmerston, +the manner in which he seemed completely taken by surprise +by the ‘tremendous assault’ which Lord John, by a +damaging appeal to facts, made against him. In his view, +Russell’s speech was one of the most powerful to which he +had ever listened, and its effect was overwhelming. Disraeli, +meeting Lord Dalling by chance next day on the staircase +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span> +of the Russian Embassy, exclaimed as he passed, with significant +emphasis, ‘There <i>was</i> a Palmerston!’ The common +opinion at the clubs found expression in a phrase which +passed from lip to lip, ‘Palmerston is smashed;’ but, though +driven for the moment to bay, the dismissed Minister was +himself of another mind.</p> + +<p>Lord Palmerston was offered the Irish Viceroyalty, but +he declined to take such an appointment. He accepted +his dismissal with a characteristic affectation of indifference, +and in the course of a laboured defence of his action in the +House of Commons, excused his communication to the +French Ambassador on the plea that it was only the expression +of an opinion on passing events, common to that ‘easy +and familiar personal intercourse, which tends so usefully to the +maintenance of friendly relations with foreign Governments.’ +Lady Russell wrote down at the time her own impressions +of this crisis in her husband’s Cabinet, and the following +passage throws a valuable sidelight on a memorable incident +in the Queen’s reign: ‘The breach between John +and Lord Palmerston was a calamity to the country, to the +Whig party, and to themselves; and, although it had for +some months been a threatening danger on the horizon, I +cannot but feel that there was accident in its actual occurrence. +Had we been in London or at Pembroke Lodge, +and not at Woburn Abbey, at the time, they would have met, +and talked over the subject of their difference; words spoken +might have been equally strong, but would have been less +cutting than words written, and conciliatory expressions on +John’s part would have led the way to promises on Lord +Palmerston’s.... They two kept up the character of England, +as the sturdy guardians of her rights against other nations, +and the champions of freedom and independence abroad. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span> +They did so both before and after the breach of 1851, which +was, happily, closed in the following year, when they were +once more colleagues in office. On matters of home policy +Lord Palmerston remained the Tory he had been in his +earlier days, and this was the cause of many a trial to John.’</p> + +<p>The Russell Administration, as the Premier himself +frankly recognised, was seriously weakened by the dismissal +of Lord Palmerston; and its position was not improved when +Lord Clarendon, on somewhat paltry grounds, refused the +Foreign Office. Lord John’s sagacity was shown by the prompt +offer of the vacant appointment to Lord Granville, who, at +the age of thirty-six, entered the Cabinet, and began a career +which was destined to prove a controlling force in the +foreign policy of England in the Victorian era.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">ROME AND OXFORD</div> + +<p>Meanwhile fresh difficulties had arisen. In the autumn +of 1850—a year which had already been rendered memorable +in ecclesiastical circles by the Gorham case—Pius +IX. issued a Bull by which England became a province +of the Roman Catholic Church. Dr. Wiseman was created +Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, and England was +divided into twelve sees with territorial titles. The assumption +by Pius IX. of spiritual authority over England was a +blunder; indeed, no better proof in recent times of the lack +of infallibility at Rome could well be discovered. One +swallow, proverbially, does not make a spring; and when +Newman took refuge in flight, other leaders of the Oxford +Movement refused to accept his logic and to follow his example. +Englishmen have always resented anything in the +shape of foreign dictation, and deep in the national heart +there yet survives a rooted hostility to the claims of the +Vatican. Napoleon’s <i>Coup d’État</i>, which followed quickly +on the heels of this dramatic act of Papal aggression, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span> +scarcely took the nation more completely by surprise. No +Vatican decree could well have proved more unpopular, +and even Canon Liddon is obliged to admit that the bishops, +with one solitary exception, ‘threw the weight of their authority +on the side of popular and short-sighted passion.’<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a></p> + +<p>Pius IX. knew nothing of the English character, but +Cardinal Wiseman, at least, could not plead ignorance of the +real issues at stake; and therefore his grandiloquent and, +under all the circumstances, ridiculous pastoral letter, which +he dated ‘From out of the Flaminian Gate at Rome,’ was +justly regarded as an insult to the religious convictions of +the vast majority of the English people. Anglicans and +Nonconformists alike resented such an authoritative deliverance, +and presently the old ‘No Popery’ cry rang like a +clarion through the land. Dr. Newman, with the zeal of a +pervert, preached a sermon on the revival of the Catholic +Church, and in the course of it he stated that the ‘people of +England, who for so many years have been separated from +the See of Rome, are about, of their own will, to be added +to the Holy Church.’ The words were, doubtless, spoken +in good faith, for the great leader of the Oxford Movement +naturally expected that those who had espoused his views, like +honest men, would follow his example. Dr. Pusey, however, +was a more astute ecclesiastical statesman than Cardinal Wiseman. +He was in favour of a ‘very moderate’ declaration +against Rome, for the resources of compromise were evidently +in his eyes not exhausted. The truth was, Pusey and Keble, +by a course of action which to this day remains a standing +riddle to the Papacy on the one hand, and to Protestantism +on the other, threw dust in the eyes of Pius IX., and were +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span> +the real authors of Papal aggression. Lord John Russell +saw this quite clearly, and in proof of such an assertion it is +only necessary to appeal to his famous Durham Letter. He +had watched the drift of ecclesiastical opinion, and had seen +with concern that the tide was running swiftly in the direction +of Rome.</p> + +<p>England had renounced the Papal supremacy for the +space of 300 years, and had grown strong in the liberty +which had followed the downfall of such thraldom. Oxford +had taught Rome to tempt England; the leaders of the +so-called Anglican revival were responsible for the flourish +of trumpets at the Vatican. Lord John’s ecclesiastical +appointments called forth sharp criticism. He was a Protestant +of the old uncompromising type, with leanings +towards advanced thought in Biblical criticism. He knew, +moreover, what Puritanism had done for the English +nation in the seventeenth century, and made no secret +of his conviction that it was the Nonconformists, more +than any other class, who had rendered civil and religious +liberty possible. He moreover knew that in his own time +they, more than any other part of the community, had +carried the Reform Bill, brought about the abolition of +slavery, and established Free Trade. He had been brought +into contact with their leaders, and was beginning to perceive, +with the nation at large, how paltry and inadequate +were the claims of a rigid Churchmanship, since the true +apostolical succession is a matter of altitude of spiritual +devotion, and borrows none of its rights from the pretensions +of clerical caste.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">THE DURHAM LETTER</div> + +<p>The Durham Letter was written from Downing Street, +on November 4, 1850. It gained its name because it was +addressed to the Premier’s old friend Dr. Maltby, Bishop of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span> +Durham, and appeared in the newspapers on the day on +which it was dated. Lord John declared that he had not +only promoted to the utmost of his power the claims of +Roman Catholics to all civil rights, but had deemed it not +merely just, but desirable, that that Church should impart +religious instruction to the ‘numerous Irish immigrants in +London and elsewhere, who, without such help, would have +been left in heathen ignorance.’ He believed that this +might have been accomplished without any such innovation +as that which the Papacy now contemplated. He laid stress +on the assumption of power made in all the documents on +the subject which had come from Rome, and he protested +against such pretensions as inconsistent with the Queen’s +supremacy, with the rights of the bishops and clergy, and with +the spiritual independence of the nation. He confessed +that his alarm was not equal to his indignation, since Englishmen +would never again allow any foreign prince or potentate +to impose a yoke on their minds and consciences. He +hinted at legislative action on the subject, and then proceeded +to take up his parable against the Tractarians in the +following unmistakeable terms: ‘There is a danger, however, +which alarms me much more than the aggression of a foreign +sovereign. Clergymen of our Church who have subscribed the +Thirty-nine Articles and have acknowledged in explicit terms +the Queen’s supremacy, have been the most forward in leading +their flocks, step by step, to the verge of the precipice. +The honour paid to saints, the claim of infallibility for the +Church, the superstitious use of the sign of the Cross, the +muttering of the Liturgy so as to disguise the language in +which it was written, the recommendation of auricular confession, +and the administration of penance and absolution—all +these things are pointed out by clergymen as worthy of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span> +adoption, and are now openly reprehended by the Bishop of +London in his Charge to the clergy of his diocese. What, +then, is the danger to be apprehended from a foreign prince of +no power, compared to the danger within the gates from the +unworthy sons of the Church of England herself? I have +but little hope that the propounders and framers of these +innovations will desist from their insidious course; but I +rely with confidence on the people of England, and I will +not bate a jot of heart or life so long as the glorious principles +and the immortal martyrs of the Reformation shall be +held in reverence by the great mass of a nation, which +look with contempt on the mummeries of superstition, and +with scorn at the laborious endeavours which are now being +made to confine the intellect and enslave the soul.’</p> + +<div class="sidenote">‘NO POPERY’</div> + +<p>Lord John’s manifesto was as fuel to the flames. All over +the kingdom preparations were in progress at the moment +for a national carnival—now fallen largely into disrepute. +Guy Fawkes was hastily dethroned, and the Pope and +Cardinal Wiseman were paraded in effigy through the +streets of London, Exeter, and other cities, and burnt at +nightfall amid the jeers of the crowd. Petitions began to +pour in against Papal aggression, and the literature of the +subject, in controversial tract, pamphlet, and volume, grew +suddenly not less bewildering than formidable. The arrival +in London of Father Gavazzi, an ex-priest of commanding +presence and impassioned oratory, helped to +arouse still further the Protestant spirit of the nation. The +Press, the pulpit, the platform, formed a triple alliance +against the Vatican, and the indignant rejection of the +Pope’s claims may be said to have been carried by acclamation. +Clamour ran riot through the land, and spent its +force in noisy demonstrations. The Catholics met the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span> +tumult, on the whole, with praiseworthy moderation, and +presently signs of the inevitable reaction began to appear. +Lord John’s colleagues were not of one mind as to the +wisdom of the Durham Letter, for if there is one taunt +before which an ordinary Englishman quails, it is the accusation +of religious bigotry.</p> + +<p>The Durham Letter was an instance in which Lord John’s +zeal outran his discretion.<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> Lord Shaftesbury, who was in +the thick of the tumult, and has left a vivid description +of it in his journal,<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> declared that Cardinal Wiseman’s +manifesto, in spite of its audacity, was likely to prove +‘more hurtful to the shooter than to the target.’ Looking +back at the crisis, after an interval of more than forty years, +the same criticism seems to apply with added force to the +Durham Letter. Lord John overshot the mark, and his +accusations wounded those whom he did not intend to +attack, and in the recoil of public opinion his own reputation +suffered. He resented, with pardonable warmth, +the attitude of the Vatican, and was jealous of any +infringement, from that or any other quarter, of the +Queen’s supremacy in her own realms. The most damaging +sentences in the Durham Letter were not directed +against the Catholics, either in Rome, England, or Ireland, +but against the Tractarian clergymen—men whom he +regarded as ‘unworthy sons of the Church of England.’ +The Catholics, incensed at the denial of the Pope’s supremacy, +were, however, in no mood to make distinctions, +and they have interpreted Lord John’s strictures on Dr. +Pusey and his followers as an attack on their own +reli<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span>gious +faith. The consequence was that the manifesto was +regarded, especially in Ireland, not merely as a protest +against the politics of the Vatican, but as a sweeping censure +on the creed of Rome. Lord John’s character and past +services might have shielded him from such a construction +being placed upon his words, for he had proved, on more +than one historic occasion, his devotion to the cause of religious +liberty. Disraeli, writing to his sister in November, +said: ‘I think John Russell is in a scrape. I understand +that his party are furious with him. The Irish are frantic. +If he goes on with the Protestant movement he will be thrown +over by the Papists; if he shuffles with the Protestants, their +blood is too high to be silent now, and they will come to us. +I think Johnny is checkmated.’<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a></p> + +<div class="sidenote">UNDER WHICH FLAG?</div> + +<p>For the moment, however, passion and prejudice everywhere +ran riot, and on both sides of the controversy +common sense and common fairness were forgotten. A +representative Irish politician of a later generation has not +failed to observe the irony of the position. ‘It was a +curious incident in political history,’ declares Mr. Justin +McCarthy, ‘that Lord John Russell, who had more than +any Englishman then living been identified with the principles +of religious liberty, who had sat at the feet of Fox, and +had for his closest friend the Catholic poet Thomas Moore, +came to be regarded by Roman Catholics as the bitterest +enemy of their creed and their rights of worship.’<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> It is +easy to cavil at Lord John Russell’s interpretation of the +Oxford Movement, and to assert that the accusations of the +Durham Letter were due to bigotry and panic. He believed, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span> +in common with thousands of other distressed Churchmen, +that the Tractarians were foes within the gates of the Establishment. +He regarded them, moreover, as ministers of religion +who were hostile to the work of the Reformation, and +therefore he deemed that they were in a false position in the +Anglican Church. Their priestly claims and sacerdotal rites, +their obvious sympathies and avowed convictions, separated +them sharply from ordinary clergymen, and were difficult to +reconcile with adherence to the principles of Protestantism. +Like many other men at the time, and still more of to-day, +he was at a loss to discover how ecclesiastics of such a stamp +could remain in the ministry of the Church of England, +when they seemed to ordinary eyes to be in league with +Rome. The prelates, almost to a man, were hotly opposed +to the Tractarians when Lord John wrote the Durham +Letter. They shared his convictions and applauded his +action. Since then many things have happened. The +Oxford Movement has triumphed, and has done so largely +by the self-sacrificing devotion of its adherents. It has +summoned to its aid art and music, learning and eloquence; +it has appealed to the æsthetic and emotional elements in +human nature; it has led captive the imagination of many +by its dramatic revival of mediæval ideas and methods; and +it has stilled by its assumption of authority the restlessness +of souls, too weary to argue, too troubled to rebel. The +bishops of to-day have grown either quite friendly towards the +Oxford Movement, or else discreetly tolerant. Yet, when +all this is admitted, it does nothing towards proving that +Lord John Russell was a mistaken alarmist. The Durham +Letter and its impassioned protest have been justified by the +logic of events. It is easy for men to be charitable who +have slipped their convictions.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span></p> +<p>Possibly it was not judicious on Lord John’s part to be +so zealously affected in the matter. That is, perhaps, open +to dispute, but the question remains: Was he mistaken in +principle? He saw clergymen of the English Church, Protestant +at least in name, ‘leading their flocks step by step to +the very verge of the precipice,’ and he took up his parable +against them, and pointed out the danger to the hitherto +accepted faith and practice of the English Church. One of +the most distinguished prelates of the Anglican Church in +the Queen’s reign has not hesitated to assert that the tenets +against which Lord John Russell protested in the Durham +Letter were, in his judgment, of a kind which are ‘destructive +of all reasonable faith, and reduce worship to a mere +belief in spells and priestcraft.’ Cardinal Vaughan, it is +needless to say, does not sympathise with such a view. He, +however, has opinions on the subject which are worthy of +the attention of those who think that Lord John was a mere +alarmist. His Eminence delivered a suggestive address at +Preston on September 10, 1894, on the ‘Re-Union of +Christendom.’ He thinks—and it is idle to deny that he has +good ground for thinking—that, in spite of bishops, lawyers, +and legislature, Delphic judgments at Lambeth, and spasmodic +protests up and down the country, a change in doctrine +and ritual is in progress in the Anglican Church which +can only be described as a revolution. He asserts that the +‘Real Presence, the sacrifice of the Mass, offered for the +living and the dead, no infrequent reservation of the Sacrament, +regular auricular confession, Extreme Unction, Purgatory, +prayers for the dead, devotions to Our Lady, to her +Immaculate Conception, the use of her Rosary, and the invocation +of saints, are doctrines taught and accepted, with a +growing desire and relish for them, in the Church of England. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span>’</p> + +<p>Cardinal Vaughan also declares that the present churches +of the Establishment are ‘often distinguishable only with +extreme difficulty from those belonging to the Church of +Rome.’ Such statements are either true or false. If false, +they are open to contradiction; if true, they justify in +substance the position taken up in the Durham Letter. +Towards the close of his life, Lord John told Mr. Lecky +that he did not regret his action, and to the last he maintained +that he was right in the protest which he made +in the Durham Letter. Yet he acknowledged, as he +looked back upon the affair, that he might have softened +certain expressions in it with advantage. Parliament met +on February 4, 1851, and the Queen’s Speech contained +the following passage: ‘The recent assumption of certain +ecclesiastical titles conferred by a foreign Power has excited +strong feelings in this country; and large bodies of +my subjects have presented addresses to me expressing +attachment to the Throne, and praying that such assumptions +should be resisted. I have assured them of my resolution +to maintain the rights of my crown and the independence +of the nation against all encroachments, from whatsoever +quarter they may proceed.’</p> + +<div class="sidenote">THE GIST OF THE WHOLE MATTER</div> + +<p>Three days later, Lord John introduced the Ecclesiastical +Titles Bill. The measure prohibited the assumption of territorial +titles by Roman Catholic bishops; but there is truth in +the assertion that no enactment of the kind could prevent other +persons from giving the dignitaries of the Catholic Church such +titles, and, as a matter of fact, the attempt to deprive them of +the distinction led to its ostentatious adoption. The proposal +to render null and void gifts or religious endowments acquired +by the new prelates was abandoned in the course of the +acrimonious debates which followed. Other difficulties +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span> +arose, and Ireland was declared to be exempt from the +operation of the measure. The object of the bill, declared +Lord John Russell, was merely to assert the supremacy of +the Crown. Nothing was further from his thought than to +play the part of a religious persecutor. He merely wished to +draw a sharp and unmistakeable line of demarcation between +the spiritual jurisdiction of the Pope over the adherents of +the Roman Catholic Church in the Queen’s realms, and +such an act of Papal aggression as was involved in the claim +of Pius IX. to grant ecclesiastical titles borrowed from places +in the United Kingdom.</p> + +<p>The bill satisfied neither the friends nor the foes of +Roman Catholicism. It was persistently regarded by the +one as an attack on religious liberty, and by the other as +quite inadequate as a bulwark of Protestantism. Nevertheless +it became law, but not before the summer of 1851, +when the agitation had spent its force. It was regarded +almost as a dead letter from the first, and, though it remained +on the Statute-book for twenty years, its repeal was a foregone +conclusion. When it was revoked in 1871 the temper +of the nation had changed, and no one was inclined to make +even a passing protest. John Leech, in a cartoon in <i>Punch</i>, +caught the droll aspect of the situation with even more +than his customary skill. Lord John relished the joke, +even though he recognised that it was not likely to prove +of service to him at the next General Election. In conversation +with a friend he said: ‘Do you remember a +cartoon in <i>Punch</i> where I was represented as a little boy +writing “No Popery” on a wall and running away?’ +The answer was a smile of assent. ‘Well,’ he added, +‘that was very severe, and did my Government a great deal +of harm, but I was so convinced that it was not maliciously +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span> +meant that I sent for John Leech, and asked him what I +could do for him. He said that he should like a nomination +for his son to the Charterhouse, and I gave it to him. That +is how I used my patronage.’</p> + +<div class="sidenote">A MINISTERIAL CRISIS</div> + +<p>Meanwhile, when the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill was still +under discussion, a Ministerial crisis had arisen. Finance +was never the strong point of the first Russell Administration, +and Sir Charles Wood’s Budget gave widespread dissatisfaction. +Mr. Locke King heightened the embarrassment +of the moment by bringing forward a motion for +placing the county and borough franchise on an equal basis; +and before the discussion of the Budget could be renewed +this motion was carried against the Government, though in +a small House, by a majority of almost two to one. Lord +John Russell met the hostile vote by immediate resignation; +and Lord Stanley—who four months later became Earl of +Derby—was summoned to Windsor and attempted to form +a Ministry. His efforts were, however, unsuccessful, for +Peel had left the Tory party not merely disorganised but +full of warring elements. Lord John, therefore, returned to +office in March, and Locke King’s measure was promptly +thrown out by a majority of more than two hundred. The +London season of that year was rendered memorable by the +opening of the Great Exhibition, amid universal plaudits and +dreams of long-continued peace amongst the nations. As +the year closed Lord Palmerston’s ill-advised action over +the <i>Coup d’État</i> in France brought about, as we have already +seen, his dismissal, a circumstance which still further +weakened the Russell Cabinet.</p> + +<p>The year 1852 opened darkly for Lord John. Difficulties, +small and great, seemed thickening around him. He had +been called to power at a singularly trying moment, and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span> +no one who looks dispassionately at the policy which he +pursued between the years 1846 and 1852 can fail to +recognise that he had at least tried to do his duty. There +is a touch of pathos in the harassed statesman’s reply +to a letter of congratulation which reached him on the +threshold of the new year from a near relative, and it is +worthy of quotation, since it reveals the attitude of the man +on far greater questions than those with which he was beset +at the moment: ‘I cannot say that the new year is a +happy one to me. Political troubles are too thick for +my weak sight to penetrate them, but we all rest in the +mercy of God, who will dispose of us as He thinks best.’<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> +When Parliament met in February, Lord Palmerston’s +opportunity came. On the heels of the panic about Papal +aggression came widespread alarm as to the policy which +Napoleon III. might pursue towards this country. The +fear of invasion grew strong in the land, and patriotic +fervour restlessly clamoured for prompt legislative action. +Forty years ago, in every town and village of England there +were people who could speak from personal knowledge concerning +the reign of terror which the first Napoleon, by his +conquering march over Europe and his threatened descent +on the English shores, had established, and, as a consequence, +though with diminished force, the old consternation +suddenly revived.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">PALMERSTON’S ‘TIT-FOR-TAT’</div> + +<p>Lord John Russell had no more real fear of Napoleon +than he had of the Pope, but he rose to the occasion and +brought before Parliament a measure for the reorganisation +of the local Militia. He believed that such a force, with +national enthusiasm at its back, was sufficient to repel +invasion—a contingency which, in common with other +re<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span>sponsible +statesmen, he did not regard as more than remote. +Lord Palmerston, however, posing as the candid friend +of the nation, and the exceptionally well-informed ex-Foreign +Minister, professed to see rocks ahead, and there +were—at all events for the Russell Administration. In England, +any appeal to the Jingo instincts of the populace is +certain to meet with a more or less hysterical welcome, and +Palmerston more than once took advantage of the fact. He +expressed his dissatisfaction with Lord John’s Militia Bill, +and by a majority of eleven carried an amendment to it. +Lord John met the hostile demonstration by resignation, +and, though Palmerston professed to be surprised at such a +result, his real opinion leaps to light in the historic sentence +which he wrote to his brother on February 24: ‘I have had +my tit-for-tat with John Russell, and I turned him out on +Friday last.’ One hitherto unpublished reminiscence of +that crisis deserves to be recorded, especially as it throws +into passing relief Lord John’s generosity of temper: ‘I +remember,’ states his brother-in-law and at one time private +secretary, the Hon. George Elliot, ‘being indignant with +Lord Palmerston, after he had been dismissed by Lord John, +bringing forward a verbal amendment on the Militia Bill in +1852—a mere pretext by which the Government was overthrown. +But Lord John would not at all enter into my +feelings, and said, “It’s all fair. I dealt him a blow, and he +has given me one in return.”’</p> + +<p>Lord John’s interest in the question of Parliamentary +Reform was life-long. It was one of the subjects on which +his views were in complete divergence with those of Lord +Palmerston. Just before the ‘tit-for-tat’ amendment, the +Premier brought forward a new scheme on the subject which +he had reluctantly waived in 1849 in deference to the wishes +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span> +of the majority of his colleagues, who then regarded such a +proposal as premature. At the beginning of 1852 Lord +John had overcome such obstacles, and he accordingly +introduced his new Reform Bill, as if anxious to wipe out +before his retirement from office the reproach which the +sobriquet of ‘Finality Jack’ had unjustly cast upon him. +He proposed to extend the suffrage by reducing the county +qualification to 20<i>l.</i>, and the borough to 5<i>l.</i>, and by granting +the franchise to persons paying forty shillings yearly in direct +taxation. He also proposed to abolish the property qualification +of English and Irish members of Parliament, and to +extend the boundaries of boroughs having less than 500 +electors. Lord Palmerston’s hostile action of course compelled +the abandonment of this measure, and it is worthy of +passing remark that, on the night before his defeat, Lord +John made a chivalrous and splendid defence of Lord +Clarendon, in answer to an attack, not merely on the policy, +but on the personal character of the Viceroy of Ireland.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">A CONFLICT OF OPINION</div> + +<p>Sudden as the fall of the Russell Administration was, it +can hardly be described as unexpected, and many causes, +most of which have already been indicated in these pages, +contributed to bring it about. Albany Fonblanque, one of +the shrewdest contemporary observers of men and movements, +gathered the political gossip of the moment together +in a paragraph which sets forth in graphic fashion the tumult +of opinion in the spring of 1852. ‘Lord John Russell has +fallen, and all are agreed that he is greatly to blame for +falling; but hardly any two men agree about the immediate +cause of his fall. “It was the Durham Letter,” says one. +“Not a jot,” replies another; “the Durham Letter was quite +right, and would have strengthened him prodigiously if it +had been followed up by a vigorous anti-Papal measure: it +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span> +was the paltry bill that destroyed him.” “The Ecclesiastical +Titles Bill,” interposes a third, “did just enough in doing +next to nothing: no, it was the house tax in the Budget that +did the mischief.” “The house tax might have been got +over,” puts in another, “but the proposal of the income tax, +with all its injustices unmitigated, doomed Lord John.” +“Not a whit,” rejoins a Radical reformer, “the income tax +is popular, especially with people who don’t pay it; Lord +John’s opposition to Locke King’s motion sealed his fate.” +“Locke King’s division was a flea-bite,” cries a staunch Protestant, +“the Pope has done it all.”’</p> + +<p>Stress has been laid in these pages on the attempts of +the Russell Administration to deal with an acute and terrible +phase of the eternal Irish problem, as well as to set forth in +outline the difficulties which it encountered in regard to its +foreign policy through the cavalier attitude and bid for personal +ascendency of Lord Palmerston. The five or six years +during which Lord John Russell was at the head of affairs +were marked by a succession of panics which heightened immeasurably +the difficulties of his position. One was purely +commercial, but it threw gloom over the country, brought +stagnation to trade, and political discontent followed in its +train, which in turn reacted on the prospects of the Government. +The Irish famine and the rebellion which followed +in its wake taxed the resources of the Cabinet to the utmost, +and the efforts which were made by the Ministry to grapple +with the evil have scarcely received even yet due recognition. +The Chartist movement, the agitation over the Papal claims +and the fear of invasion, are landmarks in the turbulent +and menacing annals of the time.</p> + +<p>The repeal of the Navigation Act bore witness to Lord +John’s zealous determination to extend the principles of Free +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span> +Trade, and the Jewish Disabilities Bill—which was rejected +by the House of Lords—is itself a sufficient answer to those +who, because of his resistance, not to the spiritual claims, but +to the political arrogance of the Vatican, have ventured to +charge him with a lack of religious toleration. He himself +once declared that as a statesman he had received as much +favour as he had deserved; he added that, where his +measures had miscarried, he did not attribute the failure +to animosity or misrepresentation, but rather to errors +which he had himself committed from mistaken judgment +or an erroneous interpretation of facts. No one who looks +at Lord John Russell’s career with simple justice, to say +nothing of generosity, can doubt the truth of his words. ‘I +believe, I may say, that my ends have been honest. I have +looked to the happiness of my country as the object to which +my efforts ought to be directed.’</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> <i>Life of Lord Palmerston</i>, by the Hon. Evelyn Ashley, vol. ii. +p. 95.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> <i>Life of E. B. Pusey, D.D.</i>, by H. P. Liddon, D.D., vol. iii. p. 292. +Longmans & Co.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> Cobden described it as ‘a Guy Fawkes outcry,’ and predicted the +fall of the Ministry.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> See <i>Life and Work of the Seventh Earl of Shaftesbury</i>, by Edwin +Hodder, pp. 429-435.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> <i>Lord Beaconsfield’s Correspondence with his Sister</i> (1832-1852), +p. 249. London: John Murray.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> <i>History of Our Own Times</i>, by Justin McCarthy, M.P. vol. ii. +pp. 85, 86.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> <i>Life of Lord John Russell</i>, by Spencer Walpole, vol. ii p. 143.</p></div> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span></p> + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<p class="title">COALITION BUT NOT UNION<br /><br /> + +1852-1853</p> + +<p class="desc">The Aberdeen Ministry—Warring elements—Mr. Gladstone’s position—Lord +John at the Foreign Office and Leader of the House—Lady +Russell’s criticism of Lord Macaulay’s statement—A small cloud in +the East—Lord Shaftesbury has his doubts</p> + + +<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">There</span> is no need to linger over the history of the next few +months, for in a political sense they were barren and unfruitful. +The first Derby Administration possessed no elements +of strength, and quickly proved a mere stop-gap +Cabinet. Its tenure of power was not only brief but inglorious. +The new Ministers took office in February, and they +left it in December. Lord Palmerston may be said to have +given them their chance, and Mr. Gladstone gave them their +<i>coup de grâce</i>. The Derby Administration was summoned +into existence because Lord Palmerston carried his amendment +on the Militia Bill, and it refused to lag superfluous on +the stage after the crushing defeat which followed Mr. +Gladstone’s brilliant attack on the Budget of Mr. Disraeli. +The chief legislative achievement of this short-lived Government +was an extension of the Bribery Act, which Lord John +Russell had introduced in 1841. A measure was now passed +providing for a searching investigation of corrupt practices +by commissioners appointed by the Crown. The affairs of +New Zealand were also placed on a sound political basis. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span> +A General Election occurred in the summer, but before the +new Parliament met in the autumn the nation was called to +mourn the death of the Duke of Wellington. The old +soldier had won the crowning victory of Waterloo four years +before the Queen’s birth, and yet he survived long enough +to grace with his presence the opening ceremony of the +Great Exhibition—that magnificent triumph of the arts of +peace which was held in London in the summer of 1851. +The remarkable personal ascendency which the Duke of +Wellington achieved because of his splendid record as a +soldier, though backed by high personal character, was not +thrown on the side of either liberty or progress when the +hero transferred his services from the camp to the cabinet. +As a soldier, Wellington shone without a rival, but as a +statesman he was an obstinate reactionary. Perhaps his +solitary claim to political regard is that he, more than any +other man, wrung from the weak hands of George IV. a +reluctant consent to Catholic Emancipation—a concession +which could no longer be refused with safety, and one which +had been delayed for the lifetime of a generation through +rigid adherence in high places to antiquated prejudices and +unreasoning alarm.</p> + +<p>The strength of parties in the new Parliament proved to +be nearly evenly balanced. Indeed, the Liberals were only +in a majority of sixteen, if the small but compact phalanx of +forty Peelites be left for the moment out of the reckoning. +The Conservatives had, in truth, gained ground in the +country through the reverses of one kind and another which +had overtaken their opponents. Lord Palmerston, always +fond, to borrow his own phrase, of striking from his own +bat, declared in airy fashion that Lord John had given him +with dismissal independence, and, though Lord Derby +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span> +offered him a seat in his Cabinet, he was too shrewd and +far-seeing a statesman to accept it. The Liberal party was +divided about Lord Palmerston, and that fact led to vacillation +at the polling booths. Ardent Protestants were disappointed +that the Durham Letter had been followed by what +they regarded as weak and insufficient legislative action, +whilst some of the phrases of that outspoken manifesto still +rankled in the minds of ardent High Churchmen. The old +Conservative party had been smashed by Peel’s adoption of +Free Trade, and the new Conservative party which was +struggling into existence still looked askance at the pretensions +of Mr. Disraeli, who, thanks to his own ability and to +the persistent advocacy of his claims in earlier years by his +now departed friend, Lord George Bentinck, was fairly seated +in the saddle, and inclined to use both whip and spurs.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">DISRAELI’S POSITION</div> + +<p>In the autobiography recently published of the late Sir +William Gregory<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> a vivid description will be found of the +way in which the aristocracy and the squires ‘kicked at the +supremacy of one whom they looked at as a mountebank;’ +and on the same page will be found the remarkable assertion +that it was nothing but Mr. Disraeli’s claim to lead the +Conservative party which prevented Mr. Gladstone from +joining it in 1852.<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> Disraeli’s borrowed heroics in his +pompous oration in the House of Commons on the occasion +of the death of Wellington, and his errors in tactics +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span> +and taste as leader of the House, heightened the prevailing +impression that, even if the result of the General +Election had been different, the Derby Administration was +doomed to failure. All through the autumn the quidnuncs +at the clubs were busy predicting the probable course of +events, and more or less absurd rumours ran round the town +concerning the statesmen who were likely to succeed to +power in the event of Derby’s resignation. The choice in +reality lay between Russell, Palmerston, and Aberdeen, for +Lansdowne was out of health, and therefore out of the +question.</p> + +<p>As in a mirror Lady Russell’s journal reflects what she +calls the alarm in the Whig camp at the rumour of the +intended resignation of the Derby Cabinet if Disraeli’s +financial proposals were defeated, and the hurried consultations +which followed between Lord Lansdowne, Lord Aberdeen, +and Lord John, Sir James Graham, Mr. Cobden, and +Mr. Bright. Two days before the division which overthrew +the Government on December 17, Lord John was at Woburn, +and his brother, the Duke of Bedford, asked him what +course he thought the Queen should adopt in case the +Ministry was beaten. He replied that her Majesty, under +such circumstances, ought to send for Lord Lansdowne and +Lord Aberdeen. This was the course which the Queen +adopted, but Lord Lansdowne, old and ill, felt powerless to +respond to the summons. Meanwhile, Lord John, who +certainly possessed the strongest claims—a circumstance +which was recognised at the time by Mr. Gladstone—had +determined from a sense of public duty not to press them, +for he recognised that neither Palmerston nor the Peelites, +who, for the moment, in the nice balance of parties, commanded +the situation, would serve under him. He had led +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span> +the Liberal forces for a long term of years, both in power and +in opposition, and neither his devotion nor his ability was +open to question, in spite of the offence which he had given, +on the one hand to a powerful colleague, and on the other +to powerful interests.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">LORD ABERDEEN</div> + +<p>Lord Aberdeen was regarded by the followers of Peel as +their leader. He was a favourite at Court, and a statesman +of established reputation of the doctrinaire type, but he +was not a man who ever excited, or probably was capable +of exciting, popular enthusiasm. On the day after Disraeli’s +defeat Lord Aberdeen met Lord John by chance +in the Park, and the latter, waiving personal ambition, told +him that, though he could say nothing decisive for the +moment, he thought he should accept office under him. +On the morrow Lord Aberdeen was summoned to Osborne, +and accepted the task of forming an Administration. Next +day her Majesty wrote to Lord John announcing the fact, +and the letter ended with the following passage: ‘The +Queen thinks the moment to have arrived when a popular, +efficient, and durable Government could be formed by the +sincere and united efforts of all professing Conservative and +Liberal opinions. The Queen, knowing that this can only +be effected by the patriotic sacrifice of personal interests +and feelings to the public, trusts that Lord John Russell +will, as far as he is able, give his valuable and powerful +assistance to the realisation of this object.’ This communication +found Lord John halting between two opinions. +Palmerston had declined to serve under him, and he might, +with even greater propriety, in his turn have refused to serve +under Aberdeen. His own health, which was never strong, +had suffered through the long strain of office in years which +had been marked by famine and rebellion. He had just +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span> +begun to revel, to quote his own words, in ‘all the delights +of freedom from red boxes, with the privilege of fresh air +and mountain prospects.’</p> + +<div class="sidenote">‘SHOEBLACK’ TO ABERDEEN</div> + +<p>He had already found the recreation of a busy man, and +was engrossed in the preparation of the ‘Memoirs and +Journal’ of his friend, Thomas Moore. The poet had died +in February of that year, and Lord John, with characteristic +goodwill, had undertaken to edit his voluminous papers +in order to help a widow without wounding her pride. +In fact, on many grounds he might reasonably have stood +aside, and he certainly would have done so if personal motives +had counted most with him, or if he had been the self-seeker +which some of his detractors have imagined. Here +Lord Macaulay comes to our help with a vivid account of +what he terms an eventful day—one of the dark days before +Christmas—on which the possibility of a Coalition Government +under Aberdeen was still doubtful. Macaulay states +that he went to Lansdowne House, on December 20, on a +hasty summons to find its master and Lord John in consultation +over the Queen’s letter. He was asked his opinion of +the document and duly gave it. ‘Then Lord John said that +of course he should try to help Lord Aberdeen: but how? +There were two ways. He might take the lead of the Commons +with the Foreign Office, or he might refuse office, and +give his support from the back benches. I adjured him not +to think of this last course, and I argued it with him during a +quarter of an hour with, I thought, a great flow of thoughts +and words. I was encouraged by Lord Lansdowne, who +nodded, smiled, and rubbed his hands at everything I +said. I reminded him that the Duke of Wellington had +taken the Foreign Office after having been at the Treasury, +and I quoted his own pretty speech to the Duke. “You +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span> +said, Lord John, that we could not all win battles of +Waterloo, but that we might all imitate the old man’s +patriotism, sense of duty, and indifference to selfish +interests; and vanities when the public welfare was concerned; +and now is the time for you to make a sacrifice. +Your past services and your name give us a right to expect +it.” He went away, evidently much impressed by what +had been said, and promising to consult others. When +he was gone, Lord Lansdowne told me that I had come just +as opportunely as Blücher did at Waterloo.’<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> It is only +right to state that Lady Russell demurs to some parts of +this account of her husband’s attitude at the crisis. Nothing +could be further from the truth than that Lord John’s vacillation +was due to personal motives, or that his hesitation +arose from his reluctance to take any office short of the +Premiership. Lady Russell adds ‘this never for one +moment weighed with him, so that he did not require Lord +Macaulay or Lord Lansdowne to argue him out of the +objection.’ Lord John’s difficulty was based upon the +‘improbability of agreement in a Cabinet so composed, and +therefore the probable evil to the country.’ Letters written by +Lady Russell at the moment to a relative, of too private a +character to quote, give additional weight to this statement. +One homely remark made at the time may, however, be +cited. Lady Russell declared that her husband would not +mind being ‘shoeblack to Lord Aberdeen’ if it would serve +the country.</p> + +<p>The Aberdeen Ministry came into existence just as +the year 1852 was ending. It was, in truth, a strange bit +of mosaic work, fashioned with curious art, as the result +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span> +of negotiations between the Whigs and the Peelites which +had extended over a period of nearly six months. It +represented the triumph of expediency, but it awakened +little enthusiasm in spite of the much-vaunted ability and +experience of its members. Derby and Disraeli were left +out on the one side and Cobden and Bright on the other, +a circumstance, however, which did not prevent men comparing +the Coalition Government to the short-lived but +famous Ministry of all the Talents. The nation rubbed its +eyes and wondered whether good or evil was in store when +it saw Peel’s lieutenants rowing in the same boat with +Russell. The vanished leader, however, was responsible for +such a strange turn of the wheel, for everyone recognised +that Sir Robert had ‘steered his fleet into the enemy’s port.’ +His followers came to power through the dilemma of the +moment and the temporary eclipse of politicians of more +resolute convictions. The Whigs were divided, and with +Ireland they were discredited, whilst the Radicals were still +clamouring at the doors of Downing Street with small chance +of admission, in spite of their growing power in the country. +The little clique of Peelites played their cards adroitly, and +though they were, to a large extent, a party without followers, +they were masters of the situation, and Russell and Palmerston, +in consequence, were the only men of commanding +personality, outside their own ranks, who were admitted to +the chief seats in the new Cabinet. Russell became +Foreign Secretary, whilst Palmerston took control of the +Home Office.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">ONE OF LIFE’S LITTLE IRONIES</div> + +<p>So great was the rush for place that Lord Derby with a +smile informed the Queen that, as so many former Ministers +expected a seat, he thought that less than thirty-two could +hardly be the number of the new Cabinet. Tories of the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span> +old school looked on with amazement, and Radicals of +the new with suspicion. All things seemed possible in the +excitement of parties. ‘Tom Baring said to me last night,’ +Greville remarks, ‘“Can’t you make room for Disraeli in this +Coalition Government?” I said: “Why, will you give him +to us?” “Oh yes,” he said, “you shall have him with +pleasure.”’ Great expectations were, however, ruthlessly +nipped in the bud, and the Cabinet, instead of being unwieldy, +was uncommonly small, for it consisted only of thirteen +members—an unlucky start, if old wives’ fables are +to be believed. Five of Sir Robert Peel’s colleagues—the +Premier, the Duke of Newcastle, Sir James Graham, Mr. +Sidney Herbert, and Mr. Gladstone—represented the moderately +progressive views of their old leader. Russell and +Palmerston represented the Whigs, but, thanks to one of +life’s little ironies, the statesman who passed the Reform +Bill was installed for the moment at the Foreign Office, and +the Minister who was a Liberal abroad and a Conservative +at home was intrusted with the internal affairs of the nation. +The truth was, Lord Palmerston was impossible at the +Foreign Office if Lord Aberdeen was at the Treasury, for +the two men were diametrically opposed in regard to the +policy which England ought to adopt in her relations with +Europe in general, and Russia in particular. In fact, if +Lord John Russell was for the moment out of the +reckoning as Premier, Lord Palmerston ought unquestionably +to have had the reversion of power. Unfortunately, +though growingly popular in the country, he had rendered +himself unwelcome at Court, where Lord Aberdeen, on the +contrary, had long been a trusted adviser.</p> + +<p>Even if it be granted that neither Russell nor Palmerston +was admissible as leader, it was a palpable blunder to exclude +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span> +from Cabinet rank men of clean-cut convictions like Cobden +and Bright. They had a large following in the country, +and had won their spurs in the Anti-Corn-Law struggle. +They represented the aspirations of the most active section +of the Liberal Party, and they also possessed the spell which +eloquence and sincerity never fail to throw over the imagination +of the people. They were not judged worthy, +however, and Milner Gibson, in spite of his services as a +member of the Russell Cabinet, was also debarred from +office; whilst Mr. Charles Villiers, whose social claims +could not be entirely overlooked, found his not inconsiderable +services to the people rewarded by subordinate rank. +The view which was taken at Court of the Aberdeen Ministry +is recorded in the ‘Life of the Prince Consort.’ The Queen +regarded the Cabinet as ‘the realisation of the country’s and +our own most ardent wishes;’<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> and in her Majesty’s view the +words ‘brilliant’ and ‘strong’ described the new Government. +Brilliant it might be, but strong it assuredly was not, +for it was pervaded by the spirit of mutual distrust, and circumstances +conspired to accentuate the wide divergence +of opinion which lurked beneath the surface harmony. +However such a union of warring forces might be agreeable +to the Queen, the belief that it realised the ‘most +ardent wishes’ of the nation was not widely held outside the +Court, for ‘England,’ to borrow Disraeli’s familiar but significant +phrase, ‘does not love Coalitions.’ In the Aberdeen +Cabinet, party interests were banded together in office; +but the vivifying influences of unity of conviction and +common sentiment were absent from its deliberations. +After all, as Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton drily remarked when +the inevitable crisis arose, there is ‘one indisputable element +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span> +of a Coalition Government, and that is that its members +should coalesce.’ As a matter of fact, they not only drifted +into war but drifted apart. ‘It is a powerful team and will +require good driving,’ was the comment of a shrewd political +observer. ‘There are some odd tempers and queer ways +among them.’</p> + +<div class="sidenote">ABERDEEN AS DRIVER</div> + +<p>Lord Aberdeen had many virtues, but he was not a +good driver, and when the horses grew restive and kicked +over the traces, he lacked nerve, hesitated, and was lost. +Trained for political life at the side of Pitt,<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> after a distinguished +career in diplomacy, which made him known in all +the Courts of Europe, he entered the Cabinet of the Duke of +Wellington in 1828, and afterwards held the post of Secretary +for the Colonies in the first Peel Administration of 1834, +and that of Secretary for Foreign Affairs during Sir Robert’s +final spell of power in the years 1841-46. He never sat in +the House of Commons, but, though a Tory peer, he voted +for Catholic Emancipation. He swiftly fell into line, however, +with his party, and recorded his vote against the +Reform Bill. He never, perhaps, quite understood the +temper of a popular assembly, for he was a shy, reserved +man, sparing in speech and punctilious in manner. Close +association with Wellington and Peel had, of course, done +much to shape his outlook on affairs, and much acquaintance +with the etiquette of foreign Courts had insensibly led +him to cultivate the habit of formal reserve. Born in the +same year as Palmerston, the Premier possessed neither +the openness to new ideas nor the vivacity of his masterful +colleague; in fact, Lord Aberdeen at sixty-eight, unlike Lord +Palmerston, was an old man in temperament, as well as +conservative, in the sense of one not given to change. Yet, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span> +it is only fair to add that, if Aberdeen’s views of foreign +policy were of a somewhat stereotyped kind, he was, at all +events at this period in their careers, more progressive on +home policy than Palmerston, who was too much inclined +not to move for the social welfare of the people before he +was compelled.</p> + +<p>The new Ministry ran well until it was hindered by complications +in the East. In the middle of February, a few +days after the meeting of Parliament, Lord John retired from +the Foreign Office, and led the House through the session +with great ability, but without taking office. It is important +to remember that he had only accepted the Foreign Office +under strong pressure, and as a temporary expedient. It was, +however, understood that he was at liberty at any moment to +relinquish the Foreign Office in favour of Lord Clarendon, if +he found the duties too onerous to discharge in conjunction +with the task of leadership in the Commons. The session +of 1853 was rendered memorable by the display of Mr. +Gladstone’s skill in finance; and the first Budget of the +new Chancellor of the Exchequer was in every sense in +splendid contrast with the miserable fiasco of the previous +year, when Mr. Disraeli was responsible for proposals +which, as Sir George Cornewall Lewis said, were of a kind +that flesh and blood could not stand. The trade of +the country had revived, and, with tranquility, some degree +of prosperity had returned, even to Ireland. Lord John +Russell, true to his policy of religious equality, brought +forward the Jewish Disabilities Bill, but the House of Lords, +with equal consistency, threw out the measure. The Law +of Transportation was altered, and a new India Bill was +passed, which threw open the Civil Service to competition. +Many financial reforms were introduced, a new proposal was +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span> +made for a wider extent of elementary education, and much +legislative activity in a variety of directions was displayed.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">THE COALITION GOVERNMENT</div> + +<p>Lord Aberdeen had taken office under pressure and +from a sense of duty. It had few attractions for him, and +he looked forward with quiet satisfaction to release from its +cares. Lord Stanmore’s authority can be cited for the +statement that in the summer of 1853 his father deemed +that the time had come when he might retire in Lord John +Russell’s favour, in accordance with an arrangement which +had been made in general terms when the Cabinet was +formed. There were members of the Coalition Government +who were opposed to this step; but Lord Aberdeen anticipated +no serious difficulty in carrying out the proposal. +Suddenly the aspect of affairs grew not merely critical but +menacing, and the Prime Minister found himself confronted +by complications abroad, from which he felt it would be +despicable to retreat by the easy method of personal resignation. +There is not the slightest occasion, nor, indeed, is +this the place, to recount the vicissitudes of the Aberdeen +Administration in its baffled struggles against the alternative +of war. The achievements of the Coalition Government, +no less than its failures, with much of its secret history, have +already been told with praiseworthy candour and intimate +knowledge by Lord Stanmore, who as a young man acted as +private secretary to his father, Lord Aberdeen, through the +stress and storm of those fateful years. It is therefore +only necessary in these pages to state the broad outlines of +the story, and to indicate Lord John Russell’s position in +the least popular Cabinet of the Queen’s reign.</p> + +<p>Lord Shaftesbury jotted down in his journal, when the +new Ministry came into office, these words, and they sum +up pretty accurately the situation, and the common verdict +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span> +upon it: ‘Aberdeen Prime Minister, Lord John Russell +Minister for Foreign Affairs. Is it possible that this arrangement +should prosper? Can the Liberal policy of Lord +John square with the restrictive policy of Lord Aberdeen? +I wish them joy and a safe deliverance.’</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> <i>Sir William Gregory, K.C.M.G.: an Autobiography</i>, edited by +Lady Gregory, pp. 92, 93.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> Mr. Gladstone’s comment on this statement is that it is interesting +as coming from an acute contemporary observer. At the same time it +expresses an opinion and presents no facts. Mr. Gladstone adds that +he is not aware that the question of re-union with the Conservative +party was ever presented to him in such a way as to embrace the relations +to Mr. Disraeli.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> <i>Life and Letters of Lord Macaulay</i>, by the Right Hon. Sir George +Otto Trevelyan, M.P., vol. ii. p. 340.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> Sir Theodore Martin’s <i>Life of the Prince Consort</i>, vol. ii. p. 483.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> Pitt became guardian to the young Lord Haddo in 1792.</p></div> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<p class="title">DOWNING STREET AND CONSTANTINOPLE<br /><br /> + +1853</p> + +<p class="desc">Causes of the Crimean War—Nicholas seizes his opportunity—The Secret +Memorandum—Napoleon and the susceptibilities of the Vatican—Lord +Stratford de Redcliffe and the Porte—Prince Menschikoff shows +his hand—Lord Aberdeen hopes against hope—Lord Palmerston’s +opinion of the crisis—The Vienna Note—Lord John grows restive—Sinope +arouses England—The deadlock in the Cabinet.</p> + + +<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Many</span> causes conspired to bring about the war in the +Crimea, though the pretext for the quarrel—a dispute +between the monks of the Latin and Greek Churches concerning +the custody of the Holy Places in Palestine—presents +no element of difficulty. It is, however, no easy matter to +gather up in a few pages the reasons which led to the war. +Amongst the most prominent of them were the ambitious +projects of the despotic Emperor Nicholas. The military +revolt in his own capital at the period of his accession, and +the Polish insurrections of 1830 and 1850, had rendered him +harsh and imperious, and disinclined to concessions on any +adequate scale to the restless but spasmodic demands for +political reform in Russia. Gloomy and reserved though the +Autocrat of All the Russias was, he recognised that it would +be a mistake to rely for the pacification of his vast empire on +the policy of masterly inactivity. His war with Persia, his +invasion of Turkey, and the army which he sent to help +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span> +Austria to settle her quarrel with Hungary, not only appealed +to the pride of Russia, but provided so many outlets +for the energy and ambition of her ruler. It was in the East +that Nicholas saw his opportunity, and his policy was a +revival, under the changed conditions of the times, of that +of Peter the Great and Catherine II.</p> + +<p>Nicholas had long secretly chafed at the exclusion of +his war-ships—by the provisions of the treaty of 1841—from +access through the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, +and he dreamed dreams of Constantinople, and saw +visions of India. Linked to many lawless instincts, there +was in the Emperor’s personal character much of the +intolerance of the fanatic. Religion and pride alike +made the fact rankle in his breast that so many of the +Sultan’s subjects were Sclavs, and professed the Russian +form of Christianity. He was, moreover, astute enough +to see that a war which could be construed by the simple +and devout peasantry as an attempt to uplift the standard +of the Cross in the dominions of the Crescent would +appeal at once to the clergy and populace of Holy +Russia. Nicholas had persuaded himself that, with Lord +Aberdeen at the head of affairs, and Palmerston in a place +of safety at the Home Office, England was scarcely in a +condition to give practical effect to her traditional jealousy +of Russia. In the weakness of her divided counsels he +saw his opportunity. It had become a fixed idea with the +Emperor that Turkey was in a moribund condition; and +neither Orloff nor Nesselrode had been able to disabuse his +mind of the notion.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">NICHOLAS AND THE ‘SICK MAN’</div> + +<p>Everyone is aware that in January 1853 the Emperor +told the English Ambassador, Sir Hamilton Seymour, that +Turkey was the ‘sick man’ of Europe, and ever since +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span> +then the phrase has passed current and become historic. +It was often on the lips of Nicholas, for he talked freely, +and sometimes showed so little discretion that Nesselrode +once declared, with fine irony, that the White Czar could +not claim to be a diplomatist. The phrase cannot have +startled Lord Aberdeen. It must have sounded, indeed, +like the echo of words which the Emperor had uttered +in London in the summer of 1844. Nicholas, on the +occasion of his visit to England in that year, spoke freely +about the Eastern Question, not merely to the Duke of +Wellington, whose military prowess he greatly admired, but +also to Sir Robert Peel and Lord Aberdeen, who was then +Minister for Foreign Affairs. He told the latter in so +many words that Turkey was a dying man, and did his +best to impress the three English statesmen with the necessity +for preparation in view of the approaching crisis. He stated +that he foresaw that the time was coming when he would +have to put his armies in movement, and added that +Austria would be compelled to do the same. He protested +that he made no claim to an inch of Turkish soil, but was +prepared to dispute the right of anyone else to an inch of it—a +palpable allusion to the French support of Mehemet +Ali. It was too soon to stipulate what should be done +when the ‘sick man’s’ last hour had run its course. All he +wanted, he maintained, was the basis of an understanding.</p> + +<p>In Nicholas’s opinion England ought to make common +cause with Russia and Austria, and he did not disguise his +jealousy of France. It was clear that he dreaded the growth +of close union between England and France, and for Louis +Philippe then, as for Louis Napoleon afterwards, his feeling +was one of coldness if not of actual disdain. The Emperor +Nicholas won golden opinions amongst all classes during his +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span> +short stay in England. Sir Theodore Martin’s ‘Life of the +Prince Consort,’ and especially the letter which is published +in its pages from the Queen to King Leopold, showed the +marked impression which was made at Windsor by his handsome +presence, his apparently unstudied confidences, the +simplicity and charm of his manners, and the adroitness of +his well-turned compliments. Whenever the Autocrat of All +the Russias appeared in public, at a military review, or the +Opera, or at Ascot, he received an ovation, and Baron +Stockmar, with dry cynicism, has not failed to record the +lavish gifts of ‘endless snuff-boxes and large presents’ which +made his departure memorable to the Court officials. Out +of this visit grew, though the world knew nothing of it then, +the Secret Memorandum, drawn up by Peel, Wellington, and +Aberdeen, and signed by them as well as by the Emperor himself. +This document, though it actually committed England +to nothing more serious than the recognition in black and +white of the desperate straits of the Porte, and the fact that +England and Russia were alike concerned in maintaining +the <i>status quo</i> in Turkey, dwelt significantly on the fact that, +in the event of a crisis in Turkey, Russia and England were +to come to an understanding with each other as to what +concerted action they should take. The agreement already +existing between Russia and Austria was significantly +emphasised in the document, and stress was laid on the fact +that if England joined the compact, France would have no +alternative but to accept the decision.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">A FRIEND AT COURT</div> + +<p>There can be no question that Nicholas attached an +exaggerated importance to this memorandum. It expressed +his opinion rather than the determination of the Peel Administration; +but a half-barbaric despot not unnaturally +imagined that when the responsible advisers of the Crown +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span> +entered into a secret agreement with him, no matter how +vague its terms might appear when subjected to critical +analysis, England and himself were practically of one mind. +When the Coalition Government was formed, two of the +three statesmen, whom the Emperor Nicholas regarded as +his friends at Court, were dead, but the third, in the person +of Lord Aberdeen, had succeeded, by an unexpected turn of +the wheel, to the chief place in the new Ministry. Long before +the Imperial visit to London the Emperor had honoured +Lord Aberdeen with his friendship, and, now that the Foreign +Minister of 1844 was the Prime Minister of 1853, the opportune +moment for energetic action seemed to have arrived. +Nicholas, accordingly, now hinted that if the ‘sick man’ +died England should seize Egypt and Crete, and that the +European provinces of Turkey should be formed into independent +states under Russian protection. He met, however, +with no response, for the English Cabinet by this time saw +that the impending collapse of Turkey, on which Nicholas +laid such emphatic stress, was by no means a foregone conclusion. +Napoleon and Palmerston had, moreover, drawn +France and England into friendly alliance. There was no +shadow of doubt that the Christian subjects of Turkey were +grossly oppressed, and it is only fair to believe that Nicholas, +as the head of the Greek Church, was honestly anxious to +rid them of such thraldom. At the same time no one +imagined that he was exactly the ruler to expend blood and +treasure, in the risks of war, in the <i>rôle</i> of a Defender of the +Faith.</p> + +<p>Count Vitzthum doubts whether the Emperor really +contemplated the taking of Constantinople, but it is plain that +he meant to crush the Turkish Empire, and England, knowing +that the man had masterful instincts and ambitious schemes +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span>—that +suggest, at all events, a passing comparison with +Napoleon Bonaparte—took alarm at his restlessness, and the +menace to India, which it seemed to suggest. ‘If we do not +stop the Russians on the Danube,’ said Lord John Russell, +‘we shall have to stop them on the Indus.’ It is now a +matter of common knowledge that, when the Crimean War +began, Nicholas had General Duhamel’s scheme before him +for an invasion of India through Asia. Such an advance, it +was foreseen, would cripple England’s resources in Europe +by compelling her to despatch an army of defence to the +East. It certainly looks, therefore, as if Russia, when hostilities +in the Crimea actually began, was preparing herself for a +sudden descent on Constantinople. Napoleon III., eager to +conciliate the religious susceptibilities of his own subjects, as +well as to gratify the Vatican, wished the Sultan to make the +Latin monks the supreme custodians of the Holy Places. +Complications, the issue of which it was impossible to forecast, +appeared inevitable, and for the moment there seemed +only one man who could grapple with the situation at +Constantinople. Lord Palmerston altogether, and Lord +John Russell in part, sympathised with the clamour which +arose in the Press for the return of the Great Elchi to the +Porte.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">LORD STRATFORD DE REDCLIFFE</div> + +<p>In the entire annals of British diplomacy there is +scarcely a more picturesque or virile figure than that of Lord +Stratford de Redcliffe. Capacity for public affairs ran in +the blood of the Cannings, as the three statues which to-day +stand side by side in Westminster Abbey proudly attest. +Those marble memorials represent George Canning, the +great Foreign Minister, who in the famous, if grandiloquent, +phrase ‘called the New World into existence to redress the +balance of the Old;’ his son Charles, Earl Canning, first +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span> +Viceroy of India; and his cousin, Stratford Canning, Viscount +Stratford de Redcliffe, who for a long term of years sought +to quicken into newness of social and political life the broken +and demoralised forces of the Ottoman Empire, and who +practically dictated from Constantinople the policy of +England in the East. He was born in 1786 and died in +1880. He entered the public service as a <i>précis</i>-writer at +the Foreign Office, and rose swiftly in the profession of diplomacy. +His acquaintance with Eastern affairs began in 1808, +when he was appointed First Secretary to Sir Robert Adair, +whom he succeeded two years later at Constantinople as +Minister Plenipotentiary. The Treaty of Bucharest, which +in 1812 brought the war, then in progress between Russia and +Turkey, to an end, was the first of a brilliant series of diplomatic +triumphs, which established his reputation in all the +Councils of Europe, and made him, in Lord Tennyson’s words, +‘The voice of England in the East.’ After services in +Switzerland, in Washington, and at the Congress of Vienna, +Canning, in 1825, returned to Constantinople with the rank +of Ambassador.</p> + +<p>He witnessed the overthrow of the Janissaries by +Sultan Mahmoud II., and had his own experience of +Turkish atrocities in the massacre which followed. He +took a prominent part in the creation of the modern kingdom +of Greece, and resigned his appointment in 1828, because +of a conflict of opinion with Lord Aberdeen in the early +stages of that movement. Afterwards, he was gazetted +Ambassador to St. Petersburg; but the Emperor Nicholas, +who by this time recognised the masterful qualities of the +man, refused to receive him—a conspicuous slight, which +Lord Stratford, who was as proud and irascible as the Czar, +never forgave. Between the years 1842 and 1858 he again +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span> +filled his old position as Ambassador to Constantinople, and +during those years he won a unique ascendency—unmatched +in the history of diplomacy—over men and movements in +Turkey. He brought about many reforms, and made it his +special concern to watch over the interests of the Christian +subjects at the Porte, who styled him the ‘Padishah of the +Shah,’ and that title—Sultan of the Sultan—exactly hit off +the authority which he wielded, not always wisely, but always +with good intent. It was an unfortunate circumstance that +Lord Stratford, after his resignation in 1852, should have been +summoned back for a further spell of six years’ tenure of +power exactly at the moment when Nicholas, prompted by +the knowledge of the absence from Constantinople of the +man who had held him in check, and of the accession to +power in Downing Street of a statesman of mild temper and +friendly disposition to Russia, was beginning once more to +push his claims in the East. Lord Stratford had many +virtues, but he had also a violent and uncertain temper. He +was a man of inflexible integrity, iron will, undeniable moral +courage, and commanding force of character. Yet, for a great +Ambassador, he was at times strangely undiplomatic, whilst +the keenness of his political judgment and forecasts sometimes +suffered eclipse through the strength of his personal +antipathies.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">FAREWELL TO THE FOREIGN OFFICE</div> + +<p>Meanwhile, Lord John Russell, who had expressly stipulated +when the Cabinet was formed that he was only to hold +the seals of the Foreign Office for a few weeks, convinced +already that the position was untenable to a man of his +views, insisted on being relieved of the office. The divergent +views in the Cabinet on the Eastern Question were +making themselves felt, and Lord Aberdeen’s eminently +charitable interpretation of the Russian demands was +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span> +little to the minds of men of the stamp of Palmerston +and Russell, neither of whom was inclined to pin his faith +so completely to the Czar’s assurances. When Parliament +met in February, Lord John quitted the Foreign Office +and led the House of Commons without portfolio. His +quick recognition of Mr. Gladstone’s great qualities as a +responsible statesman was not the least pleasing incident of +the moment. In April, Lord Aberdeen once more made +no secret of his determination to retire at the end of the +session, and this intimation no doubt had its influence with +the more restive of his colleagues.</p> + +<p>When Parliament rose, Lord John Russell’s position in +the country was admitted on all hands to be one of +renewed strength, for, set free from an irksome position, +he had thrown himself during the session with ardour +into the congenial work of leader of the House of +Commons. The resolution of the Cabinet to send Lord +Stratford to Constantinople has already been stated. He +received his instructions on February 25; in fact, he +seems to have dictated them, for Lord Clarendon, who had +just succeeded to the Foreign Office, made no secret of the +circumstance that they were largely borrowed from the +Ambassador’s own notes. He was told that he was to +proceed first to Paris, and then to Vienna, in order that he +might know the minds of France and Austria on the issues +at stake. Napoleon III. was to be assured that England +relied on his cordial co-operation in maintaining the integrity +and independence of the Turkish Empire. The young +Emperor of Austria was to be informed that her Majesty’s +Government gladly recognised the fact that his attitude +towards the Porte had not been changed by recent events, +and that the policy of Austria in the East was not likely to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span> +be altered. Lord Stratford was to warn the Sultan and his +advisers that the crisis was one which required the utmost +prudence on their part if peace was to be preserved.</p> + +<p>The Sultan and his Ministers were practically to be told by +Lord Stratford that they were the authors of their own misfortunes, +and that, if they were to be extricated from them, they +must place the ‘utmost confidence in the sincerity and soundness +of the advice’ that he was commissioned to give them. +He was further to lay stress on palpable abuses, and to urge +the necessity of administrative reforms. ‘It remains,’ added +Lord Clarendon, ‘only for me to say that in the event, which +her Majesty’s Government earnestly hope may not arise, of +imminent danger to the existence of the Turkish Government, +your Excellency will in such case despatch a messenger +to Malta requesting the Admiral to hold himself in readiness; +but you will not direct him to approach the Dardanelles +without positive instructions from her Majesty’s Government.’ +The etiquette of Courts has to be respected, especially by +Ambassadors charged with a difficult mission, but Lord +Stratford’s diplomatic visits to Paris and Vienna were unduly +prolonged, and occupied more time than was desirable at +such a crisis. He arrived at Constantinople on April 5, +and was received, to his surprise, with a remarkable personal +ovation. In Kinglake’s phrase, his return was regarded +as that ‘of a king whose realm had been suffered to fall +into danger.’</p> + +<p>The Czar’s envoy, Prince Menschikoff, had already been +on the scene for five weeks. If Russia meant peace, the choice +of such a representative was unfortunate. Menschikoff was +a brusque soldier, rough and impolitic of speech, and by no +means inclined to conform to accepted methods of procedure. +He refused to place himself in communication with the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span> +Foreign Minister of the Porte; and this was interpreted at +Stamboul as an insult to the Sultan. The Grand Vizier, +rushing to the conclusion that his master was in imminent +danger, induced Colonel Rose, the British Chargé d’Affaires, +to order the Mediterranean Fleet, then at Malta, to proceed +to Vourla. The Admiral, however, refused to lend +himself to the panic, and sent back word that he waited +instructions from London, a course which was afterwards +approved by the Cabinet. The commotion at Stamboul was +not lost upon Napoleon, though he knew that the English +Cabinet was not anxious to precipitate matters. Eager to +display his newly acquired power, he promptly sent instructions +to the French Fleet to proceed to Salamis. Meanwhile +Prince Menschikoff, who had adopted a more conciliatory +attitude on the question of the Holy Places, with the result that +negotiations were proceeding satisfactorily, assumed shortly +before the arrival of Lord Stratford a more defiant manner, +and startled the Porte by the sudden announcement of new +demands. He claimed that a formal treaty should be drawn +up, recognising in the most ample, not to say abject, terms, +the right of Russia to establish a Protectorate over the +Christian subjects of the Porte. This meant, as Lord +Clarendon pointed out at the time, that fourteen millions of +people would henceforth regard the Czar as their defender, +whilst their allegiance to the Sultan would become little more +than nominal, and the position of the Turkish ruler would +inevitably dwindle from independence to vassalage.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">TAKING THE BULL BY THE HORNS</div> + +<p>Lord Stratford at once took the bull by the horns. Acting +on his advice, the Porte refused even to entertain such +proposals until the question of the Holy Places was settled. +Within a month, through Lord Stratford’s firmness, Russia +and Turkey came to terms over the original point in dispute; +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span> +but on the following day Menschikoff placed an ultimatum +before the Porte, demanding that, within five days, his master’s +claim for the acknowledgment of the Russian Protectorate +over the Sultan’s Greek subjects should be accepted. The +Sultan’s Ministers, who interpreted the dramatic return of +Lord Stratford to mean that they had England at their back, +declined to accede, and their refusal was immediately followed +by the departure of Prince Menschikoff. Repulsed in diplomacy, +the Czar, on July 2, marched forty thousand troops +across the frontier river, the Pruth, and occupied Moldavia +and Wallachia. The Imperial manifesto stated that it was +not the Czar’s intention to commence war, but only to obtain +such security as would ensure the restoration of the rights of +Russia. This was, of course, high ground to take, and a +conference of the Great Powers was hastily summoned, with +the result that the French view of the situation was embodied +by the assembled diplomatists in the Vienna Note, which +was despatched simultaneously to Russia and Turkey. Lord +John Russell, even before the arrival of Lord Stratford at +Constantinople, had come to the conclusion that the Emperor +of Russia was determined to pick a quarrel with Turkey; but +Lord Aberdeen and his Peelite following were of another +mind, and even Lord Clarendon seems for the moment to +have been hoodwinked by the Czar’s protestations.</p> + +<p>A month or two later the Foreign Minister saw matters +in a different light, for he used in the House of Lords, in the +summer of 1853, an expression which has become historic: +‘We are drifting into war.’ The quarrel at this stage—for +the susceptibilities of France and of Rome had been appeased +by the settlement of the question of the Holy Places—lay +between Russia and Turkey, and England might have +compelled the peace of Europe if she had known her own +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span> +mind, and made both parties recognise in unmistakeable +terms what was her policy. Lord John Russell had a policy, but +no power to enforce it, whilst Lord Aberdeen had no policy +which ordinary mortals could fathom, and had the power to +keep the Cabinet—though scarcely Lord Stratford de Redcliffe—from +taking any decided course. The Emperor Nicholas, +relying on the Protocol which Lord Aberdeen had signed—under +circumstances which, however, bore no resemblance +to existing conditions—imagined that, with such a statesman +at the head of affairs, England would not take up arms +against Russia. Lord Aberdeen, to add to the complication, +seemed unable to credit the hostile intentions of the +Czar, even after the failure of the negotiations which followed +the despatch of the Vienna Note. Yet as far back +as June 19, Lord John Russell, in a memorandum to his +colleagues, made a clear statement of the position of affairs. +He held that, if Russia persisted in her demands and invaded +Turkey, the interests of England in the East would compel +us to aid the Sultan in defending his capital and his throne. +On the other hand, if the Czar by a sudden movement +seized Constantinople, we must be prepared to make war on +Russia herself. In that case, he added, we ought to seek the +alliance of France and Austria. France would willingly +join; and England and France together might, if it were +worth while, obtain the moral weight, if not the material +support, of Austria in their favour.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">CAUTION HAS ITS PERFECT WORK</div> + +<p>Lord Aberdeen responded with characteristic caution. He +refused to entertain warlike forecasts, and wished for liberty to +meet the emergency when it actually arose. Lord Palmerston, +a week or two later, made an ineffectual attempt to persuade +the Cabinet to send the Fleet to the Bosphorus without further +delay. ‘I think our position,’ were his words on July 7, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span> +‘waiting timidly and submissively at the back door, whilst +Russia is violently threatening and arrogantly forcing her +way into the house, is unwise, with a view to a peaceful +settlement.’ Lord Aberdeen believed in the ‘moderation’ +of a despot who took no pains to disguise his sovereign +contempt for ‘les chiens Turcs.’ Lord Palmerston, on the +other hand, made no secret of his opinion that it was the +invariable policy of Russia to push forward her encroachment +‘as fast and as far as the apathy or want of firmness’ +of other Governments would allow. He held that her plan +was to ‘stop and retire when she was met with decided +resistance,’ and then to wait until the next favourable opportunity +arose to steal once more a march on Europe. There +was, in short, a radical divergence in the Cabinet. When +the compromise suggested in the Vienna Note was rejected, +the chances of a European war were sensibly quickened, +and all the more so because Lord Stratford, with his notorious +personal grudge against the Czar, was more than any +other man master of the situation. What that situation had +become in the early autumn of 1853 is pithily expressed in +a letter of Sir George Cornewall Lewis’s to Sir Edmund +Head: ‘Everything is in a perplexed state at Constantinople. +Russia is ashamed to recede, but afraid to strike. The +Turks have collected a large army, and have blown up their +fanaticism, and, reckoning on the support of England and +France, are half inclined to try the chances of war. I think +that both parties are in the wrong—Russia in making unjust +demands, Turkey in resisting a reasonable settlement. +War is quite on the cards, but I still persist in thinking it +will be averted, unless some accidental spark fires the train.’<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a></p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span></p> +<div class="sidenote">THE VIENNA NOTE</div> + +<p>The Vienna Note was badly worded, and it failed as a +scheme of compromise between the Porte and Russia. +When it was sent in a draft form to St. Petersburg the +Czar accepted it, doubtless because he saw that its statements +were vague in a sense which might be interpreted to +his advantage. At Constantinople the document swiftly +evoked protest, and the Divan refused to sanction it without +alteration. England, France, and Austria recognised +the force of the amendments of Turkey, and united in urging +Russia to adopt them. The Emperor Nicholas, however, +was too proud a man to submit to dictation, especially from +the Sultan, with Lord Stratford at his elbow, and declined +to accede to the altered proposals. Lord John deemed +that Turkey had a just cause of complaint, not in the mere +fact of the rejection of her alterations to the Vienna Note, +but because they were rejected after they had been submitted +to the Czar. He told Lord Aberdeen that he hoped +that Turkey would reject the new proposals, but he added +that that would not wipe away the shame of their having +been made. In a speech at Greenock, on September 19, +Lord John said: ‘While we endeavour to maintain peace, I +certainly should be the last to forget that if peace cannot be +maintained with honour, it is no longer peace. It becomes +then but a truce—a precarious truce, to be denounced by +others whenever they may think fit—whenever they may +think that an opportunity has occurred to enforce by arms +their unjust demands either upon us or upon our allies.’</p> + +<p>England and France refused to press the original Vienna +Note on Turkey; but as Austria and Prussia thought that +their reasons for abandoning negotiations were scarcely of +sufficient force, they in turn declined to adopt the same +policy. The concert of Europe was, in fact, broken by the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span> +failure of the Vienna Note, and the chances of peace grew +suddenly remote. There is a saying that a man likes to +believe what he wishes to be the fact, and its truth was illustrated +at this juncture by both parties to the quarrel. The +Czar persuaded himself that Austria and Prussia would give +him their aid, and that England, under Aberdeen, was hardly +likely to proceed to the extremity of war. The Sultan, on +the other hand, emboldened by the movements of the French +and English fleets, and still more by the presence and counsels +of Lord Stratford, who was, to all intents and purposes, the +master spirit at Constantinople, trusted—and with good +reason as the issue proved—on the military support of England +and France. It was plain enough that Turkey would +go to the wall in a struggle with Russia, unless other nations +which dreaded the possession of Constantinople by the Czar +came, in their own interests, to her help. With the rejection +by Russia of the Turkish amendments to the Vienna Note, +and the difference of opinion which at once arose between +the four mediating Powers as to the policy which it was best +under the altered circumstances to pursue, a complete deadlock +resulted.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">HOSTILITIES ON THE DANUBE</div> + +<p>Lord John’s view of the situation was expressed in a +memorandum which he placed before the Cabinet, and in +which he came to these conclusions: ‘That if Russia will +not make peace on fair terms, we must appear in the field +as the auxiliaries of Turkey; that if we are to act in conjunction +with France as principals in the war, we must act +not for the Sultan, but for the general interests of the population +of European Turkey. How, and in what way, requires +much further consideration, and concert possibly with +Austria, certainly with France.’ He desired not merely to +resist Russian aggression, but also to make it plain to the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span> +Porte that we would in no case support it against its Christian +subjects. The Cabinet was not prepared to adopt such a +policy, and Lord John made no secret of his opinion that +Lord Aberdeen’s anxiety for peace and generous attitude +toward the Czar were, in reality, provoking war. He believed +that the Prime Minister’s vacillation was disastrous +in its influence, and that he ought, therefore, to retire and +make way for a leader with a definite policy. The Danube, +for the moment, was the great barrier to war, and both Russia +and Turkey were afraid to cross it. Lord John believed +that energetic measures in Downing Street at this juncture +would have forestalled, and indeed prevented, activity of a +less peaceful kind on the Danube. Meanwhile, despatches, +projects, and proposals passed rapidly between the Great +Powers, for never, as was remarked at the time by a +prominent statesman, did any subject produce so much +writing. Turkey—perhaps still more than Russia—was +eager for war. Tumults in favour of it had broken out at +Constantinople; and, what was more to the purpose, the +finances and internal government of the country were in a +state of confusion. Therefore, when the concert of the four +Powers had been shattered, the Turks saw a better chance +of drawing both England and France into their quarrel. At +length, on October 10, the Porte sent an ultimatum to the +commander of the Russian troops which had invaded Moldavia +and Wallachia, demanding that they should fall back +beyond the Pruth within fifteen days. On October 22 the +war-ships of England and France passed the Dardanelles in +order to protect and defend Turkish territory from any +Russian attack. The Czar met what was virtually a declaration +of war by asserting that he would neither retire nor act +on the aggressive. Ten days after the expiration of the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span> +stipulated time, Omar Pacha, the Ottoman commander in +Bulgaria, having crossed the Danube, attacked and vanquished +the Russians on November 4 at Oltenitza. The +Czar at once accepted the challenge, and declared that he +considered his pledge not to act on the offensive was no +longer binding. The Russian fleet left Sebastopol, and, +sailing into the harbour of Sinope, on the southern coast of +the Black Sea, destroyed, on November 30, the Turkish +squadron anchored in that port, and slew four thousand +men.</p> + +<p>A significant light is thrown on the crisis in Sir Theodore +Martin’s ‘Life of the Prince Consort,’<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> where it is stated +that the Czar addressed an autograph letter to the Queen, +‘full of surprise that there should be any misunderstanding +between her Majesty’s Government and his own as to the +affairs of Turkey, and appealing to her Majesty’s “good +faith” and “wisdom” to decide between them.’ This letter, +it is added, was at once submitted to Lord Clarendon for +his and Lord Aberdeen’s opinion. The Queen replied that +Russia’s interpretation of her treaty obligations in the particular +instance in question was, in her Majesty’s judgment +and in the judgment of those best qualified to advise her, +‘not susceptible of the extended meaning’ put upon it. The +Queen intimated in explicit terms that the demand which the +Czar had made was one which the Sultan could hardly concede +if he valued his own independence. The letter ended +with an admission that the Czar’s intentions towards Turkey +were ‘friendly and disinterested.’ Sir Theodore Martin states +that this letter, dated November 14, was submitted to Lord +Aberdeen and Lord Clarendon, and was by them ‘thought +excellent.’ Scarcely more than a fortnight elapsed when +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span> +Russia’s ‘friendly and disinterested’ feelings were displayed +in her cruel onslaught at Sinope, and the statesmen who had +prompted her Majesty’s reply received a rude awakening. It +became plain in the light of accomplished events that the +wisdom which is profitable to direct had deserted her +Majesty’s chief advisers.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">MAKING HASTE SLOWLY</div> + +<p>Lord Aberdeen always made haste slowly, and when other +statesmen had abandoned hope he continued to lay stress on +the resources of diplomacy. He admitted that he had long +regarded the possibility of war between England and Russia +with the ‘utmost incredulity;’ but even before Sinope his +confidence in a peaceful solution of the difficulty was beginning +to waver. He distrusted Lord Stratford, and yet he refused +to recall him; he talked about the ‘indignity’ which +Omar Pacha had inflicted on the Czar by his summons to +evacuate the Principalities, although nothing could justify the +presence of the Russian troops in Moldavia and Wallachia, +and they had held their ground there for the space of three +months. Even Lord Clarendon admitted that the Turks had +displayed no lack of patience under the far greater insult of +invasion. The ‘indignity’ of notice to quit was, in fact, inevitable +if the Sultan was to preserve a vestige of self-respect. +Lord Aberdeen was calmly drafting fresh plans of pacification, +requiring the Porte to abstain from hostilities ‘during the +progress of the negotiations undertaken on its behalf’<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> a +fortnight after Turkey had actually sent her ultimatum to +Russia; and the battle of Oltenitza was an affair of history +before the despatch reached Constantinople. Lord Stanmore +is inclined to blame Lord John Russell for giving +the Turks a loophole of escape by inserting in the document +the qualifying words ‘for a reasonable time;’ but his +argu<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span>ment +falls to the ground when it is remembered that this +despatch was written on October 24, whilst the Turkish +ultimatum had been sent to Russia on October 10. Sinope +was a bitter surprise to Lord Aberdeen, and the ‘furious +passion’ which Lord Stanmore declares it aroused in England +went far to discredit the Coalition Ministry.</p> + +<p>Unfortunately, all through the crisis Lord Aberdeen +appears to have attached unmerited weight to the advice of +the weak members of his own Cabinet—men who, to borrow +a phrase of Lord Palmerston’s, were ‘inconvenient entities in +council,’ though hardly conspicuous either in their powers of +debate or in their influence in the country. Politicians of the +stamp of the Duke of Newcastle, Mr. Sidney Herbert, and +Sir James Graham played a great part in Downing Street, +whilst for the moment men of superior ability like Palmerston +and Russell found their advice unheeded. More than any +other man, Sir James Graham, now almost a forgotten statesman, +was Lord Aberdeen’s trusted colleague, and the wisdom +of his advice was by no means always conspicuous; for +rashness and timidity were oddly blended in his nature. +‘The defeat of the Turks at Sinope upon our element, the +sea,’ wrote the Prince Consort to Baron Stockmar, ‘has +made the people furious; it is ascribed to Aberdeen having +been bought over by Russia.’<a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> The rumour which the +Prince mentions about Lord Aberdeen was, of course, +absurd, and everyone who knew the lofty personal character +of the Prime Minister laughed it at once to scorn. Nevertheless, +the fact that the Prince Consort should have thought +such a statement worth chronicling is in itself significant; and +though no man of brains in the country held such a view, at +least two-thirds of the educated opinion of the nation +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span> +regarded the Prime Minister with increasing disfavour, as a +man who had dragged England, through humiliating negotiations, +to the verge of war.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">ENGLAND RESENTS SINOPE</div> + +<p>The destruction of the Turkish squadron at Sinope under +the shadow of our fleet touched the pride of England to +the quick. The nation lost all patience—as the contemptuous +cartoons of ‘Punch’ show—with the endless +parleyings of Aberdeen, and a loud and passionate cry for +war filled the country. Lord Stanmore thinks that too much +was made in the excitement of the ‘massacre’ of the Turkish +sailors, and perhaps he is right. However that may be, the +fact remains that the Russians at Sinope continued to storm +with shot and shell the Turkish ships when those on board +were no longer able to act on the defensive—a naval +engagement which cannot be described as distinguished for +valour. Perhaps the indignation might not have been so +deep and widespread if the English people had not recognised +that the Coalition Government had strained concession +to the breaking point in the vain attempt to propitiate +the Czar. All through the early autumn Lord +Palmerston was aware that those in the Cabinet who were +jealous of Russia had to reckon with ‘private and verbal +communications, given in all honesty, but tinctured by the +personal bias of the Prime Minister,’ to Baron Brunnow, +which were doing ‘irreparable mischief’ at St. Petersburg.<a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> +The nation did not relish Lord Aberdeen’s personal friendship +with the Czar, and now that Russia was beginning to +show herself in her true colours, prejudice against a Prime +Minister who had sought to explain away difficulties was +natural, however unreasonable. The English people, moreover, +had not forgotten that Russia ruthlessly crippled Poland +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span> +in 1831, and lent her aid to the subjugation of Hungary in +1849. If the Sultan was the Lord of Misrule to English +imagination in 1853, the Czar was the embodiment of despotism, +and even less amenable to the modern ideas of +liberty and toleration. The Manchester School, on the +other hand, had provoked a reaction. The Great Exhibition +had set a large section of the community dreaming, not of +the millennium, but of Waterloo. Russia was looked upon +as a standing menace to England’s widening heritage in the +East, and neither the logic of Cobden nor the rhetoric of +Bright was of the least avail in stemming the torrent of +national indignation.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">THE CONCLUSION OF THE WHOLE MATTER</div> + +<p>When the Vienna Note became a dead letter Lord +Aberdeen ought either to have adopted a clean-cut policy, +which neither Russia nor Turkey could mistake, or else +have carried out his twice-repeated purpose of resignation. +Everyone admits that from the outset his position was one +of great difficulty, but he increased it greatly by his practical +refusal to grasp the nettle. He was not ambitious of +power, but, on the contrary, longed for his quiet retreat +at Haddo. He was on the verge of seventy and was +essentially a man of few, but scholarly tastes. There can be +no doubt that considerable pressure was put upon him both +by the Court and the majority of his colleagues in the +Cabinet, and this, with the changed aspect of affairs, and the +mistaken sense of duty with regard to them, determined his +course. His decision ‘not to run away from the Eastern +complication,’ as Prince Albert worded it, placed both +himself and Lord John Russell in somewhat of a false +position. If Lord Aberdeen had followed his own inclination +there is every likelihood that he would have carried +out his arrangement to retire in favour of Lord John. His +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span> +colleagues were not in the dark in regard to this arrangement +when they joined the Ministry, and if not prepared +to fall in with the proposal, they ought to have stated +their objections at the time. There is some conflict of +opinion as to the terms of the arrangement; but even if we +take it to be what Lord Aberdeen’s own friends represent it—not +an absolute but a conditional pledge to retire—Lord +Aberdeen was surely bound to ascertain at the outset +whether the condition was one that could possibly be +fulfilled. If the objection of his colleagues to retain office +under Lord John as Prime Minister was insurmountable, +then the qualified engagement to retire—if the Government +would not be broken up by the process—was worthless, and +Lord John was being drawn into the Cabinet by assurances +given by the Prime Minister alone, but which he was powerless +to fulfil without the co-operation of his colleagues. Lord +Aberdeen was therefore determined to remain at his post, +because Lord John was unpopular with the Cabinet, and +Palmerston with the Court, and because he knew that the +accession to power of either of them would mean the +adoption of a spirited foreign policy.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> <i>Letters of Sir George Cornewall Lewis, Bart.</i>, edited by his +brother, Canon Frankland Lewis, p. 270.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> Sir Theodore Martin’s <i>Life of the Prince Consort</i>, ii. 530, 531.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> Lord Stanmore’s <i>Earl of Aberdeen</i>, p. 234.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> Sir Theodore Martin’s <i>Life of the Prince Consort</i>, ii. 534.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> <i>Life of Lord Palmerston</i>, by the Hon. Evelyn Ashley, ii. 282.</p></div> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<p class="title">WAR HINDERS REFORM<br /><br /> + +1854-1855</p> + +<p class="desc">A Scheme of Reform—Palmerston’s attitude—Lord John sore let and +hindered—Lord Stratford’s diplomatic triumph—The Duke of Newcastle +and the War Office—The dash for Sebastopol—Procrastination +and its deadly work—The Alma—Inkerman—The Duke’s +blunder—Famine and frost in the trenches.</p> + + +<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">All</span> through the autumn of 1854 Lord John Russell was busy +with a scheme of Parliamentary reform. The Government +stood pledged to bring forward the measure, though a section +of the Cabinet, and, notably Lord Palmerston, were opposed +to such a course. As leader of the House, Lord John had +announced that the question would be introduced to Parliament +in the spring, and the Cabinet, therefore, took the +subject into consideration when it resumed its meetings +in November. A special committee was appointed, and +Lord John placed his proposals before it. Every borough +with less than three hundred electors was to be disfranchised, +and towns with less than five hundred electors were to lose +one of their representatives. Seventy seats, he argued, +would be gained by this plan, and he suggested that they +should be divided between the largest counties and the great +towns. He proposed greatly diminishing the qualifications +alike in counties and boroughs. He laid stress on the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span> +necessity of calling into existence triangular constituencies, +in which no elector should have the power to vote for more +than two of the three candidates, and wished also to deprive +the freemen of their guild qualification. Lord Palmerston +had no relish for the subject. His predilections, in fact, +leaned in quite the opposite direction. If his manner was +genial, his temper was conservative, and he was inclined to +smile, if not to scoff, at politicians who met such problems +of government with other than a light heart. He was therefore +inclined at this juncture to adopt Lord Melbourne’s +attitude, and to meet Lord John with that statesman’s famous +remark, ‘Why can’t you let it alone?’</p> + +<div class="sidenote">PALMERSTON AND REFORM</div> + +<p>Devotion to one idea, declared Goethe, is the condition +of all greatness. Lord John was devoted from youth to age +to the idea of Parliamentary reform, and in season and out +was never inclined to abandon it. Probably Lord Palmerston +would have adopted a less hostile attitude if he had +been in his proper element at the Foreign Office; but being +Home Secretary, he was inclined to kick against a measure +which promised to throw into relief his own stationary +position on one of the pet subjects of the party of progress. +Whilst the Cabinet was still engaged in thrashing the subject +out, tidings of the battle of Sinope reached England, and the +popular indignation against Russia, which had been gathering +all the autumn, burst forth, as has already been stated, into a +fierce outcry against the Czar. Two days after the news of +Russia’s cowardly attack had been confirmed, Palmerston +saw his opportunity, and promptly resigned. Doubtless +such a step was determined by mixed motives. Objections +to Lord John’s proposals for Parliamentary reform at +best only half explains the position, and behind such repugnance +lay hostility to Lord Aberdeen’s vacillating policy on +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span> +the Eastern Question. The nation accepted Lord Palmerston’s +resignation in a matter-of-fact manner, which probably +surprised no one more than himself. The Derbyites, oddly +enough, made the most pother about the affair; but a man +on the verge of seventy, and especially one like Lord +Palmerston with few illusions, is apt to regard the task of +forming a new party as a game which is not worth the +candle. The truth is, Palmerston, like other clever men +before and since, miscalculated his strength, and on +Christmas Eve was back again in office. He had received +assurances from his colleagues that the Reform proposals +were still open to discussion; and, as the Cabinet had taken +in his absence a decision on Turkish affairs which was in +harmony with the views that he had persistently advocated, +he determined to withdraw his resignation.</p> + +<p>The new year opened darkly with actual war, and with +rumours of it on a far more terrible scale. ‘My expectation +is,’ wrote Sir G. C. Lewis on January 4, ‘that before long +England and France will be at war with Russia; and as long +as war lasts all means of internal improvement must slumber. +The Reform Bill must remain on the shelf—if there is war; +for a Government about to ask for large supplies and to impose +war taxes, cannot propose a measure which is sure to +create dispersion and to divide parties.’ France, in spite +of the action of the Emperor over the question of the Holy +Places, had not displayed much interest in the quarrel; but +a contemptuous retort which Nicholas made to Napoleon +III.’s final letter in the interests of peace put an end to the +national indifference. The words ‘Russia will prove herself +in 1854 what she was in 1812,’ cut the national pride to the +quick, and the cry on that side of the Channel as on this, +was for war with Russia. The Fleets were ordered to enter the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span> +Black Sea, and on February 27 England and France sent a +joint ultimatum to St. Petersburg, demanding that the Czar’s +troops should evacuate the Principalities by April 30.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">AN INDIGNANT PROTEST</div> + +<p>The interval of suspense was seized by Lord John to +place the Reform proposals of the Government before the +House of Commons; but the nation was by this time restless, +dissatisfied, and preoccupied, for the blast of the trumpet +seemed already in the air. The second reading of the +measure was fixed for the middle of March; but the increasing +strain of the Eastern Question led Lord John to +announce at the beginning of that month that the Government +had decided not to bring forward the second reading +until the end of April. This announcement led to a +personal attack, and one member, whose name may be +left in the oblivion which has overtaken it, had the audacity +to hint that the leader of the House had never intended +to proceed with the measure. Stung into sudden indignation +by the taunt, Lord John promptly expressed his +disdain of the opinion of a politician who had no claim +whatever to speak in the name of Reform, and went on, with +a touch of pardonable pride, to refer to his own lifelong +association with the cause. When he turned to his opponent +with the words, ‘Does the honourable gentleman +think he has a right to treat me——,’ the House backed and +buried his protest with its generous cheers. Lord John +Russell, in power or out of it, was always jealous for the +reputation of the responsible statesmen of the nation, and he +did not let this occasion pass without laying emphasis on +that point. ‘I should be ashamed of myself if I were to +prefer a concern for my own personal reputation to that +which I understood to be for the interests of my country. +But it seems to me that the character of the men who rule +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span> +this country—whether they be at the moment in office or in +opposition—is a matter of the utmost interest to the people +of this country, and that it is of paramount importance that +full confidence should be reposed in their character. It is, in +fact, on the confidence of the people in the character of public +men that the security of this country in a great degree depends.’</p> + +<p>A few days later it became plain that war was at hand, and +a strong feeling prevailed in Parliament that the question of +Reform ought to be shelved for a year. Lord John’s position +was one of great difficulty. He felt himself pledged on the +subject, and, though recognising that a great and unexpected +emergency had arisen, which altered the whole political outlook, +he knew that with Lord Palmerston and others in the +Ministry the question was not one of time, but of principle. +The sinews of war had to be provided. Mr. Gladstone proposed +to double the income tax, and Lord John urged that +a period of increased taxation ought to be a period of +widened political franchise. He therefore was averse to +postponement, unless in a position to assure his Radical +following that the Government recognised that it was committed +to the question. Lord Aberdeen was only less anxious +than Lord John for the adoption of a progressive and enlightened +home policy; in fact, his attitude in his closing +years on questions like Parliamentary reform was in marked +contrast to his rigidly conservative views on foreign policy. +He therefore determined to sound the Cabinet advocates of +procrastination as to their real feeling about Reform, with +the result that he saw clearly that Lord John Russell’s fears +were not groundless, since Lord Palmerston and Lord +Lansdowne bluntly declared that they meant to retire from +office if the Government went forward with the Bill. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span></p> + +<div class="sidenote">‘GOD DEFEND THE RIGHT’</div> + +<p>Lord John felt that he could not withdraw the Bill unconditionally, +and therefore resignation seemed the only +honourable course which was left. After deliberate consideration +he could see no other choice in the matter, and, +on April 8, relinquished his seat in the Cabinet. The Court, +the Prime Minister and his colleagues saw at once the gravity +of the position, for the Liberal party were restive enough +under Lord Aberdeen, without the withdrawal from his +Cabinet of a statesman of the first rank, who was not anxious +for peace at any price. Lord John’s position in the +country at the moment rendered it probable that a quarrel +with him would bring about the downfall of the Government. +His zeal for Reform won him the respect and support +of the great towns, and the determination which he shared +with Palmerston to resist the intolerable attitude of the +Czar made him popular with the crowd. A recent speech, +delivered when Nicholas had recalled his Ambassador +from London, had caught, moreover, the sympathies of all +classes of the community. ‘For my part, if most unexpectedly +the Emperor of Russia should recede from his former +demands, we shall all rejoice to be spared the pain, the +efforts, and the burdens of war. But if peace is no longer +consistent with our duty to England, with our duty to +Europe, with our duty to the world, we can only endeavour +to enter into this contest with a stout heart. May God +defend the right, and I, for my part, shall be willing to bear +my share of the burden and the responsibility.’</p> + +<p>John Leech, in one of his inimitable cartoons in ‘Punch,’ +caught the situation with a flash of insight which almost +amounted to genius, and Lord John became the hero of +the hour. One verse out of a spirited poem entitled ‘God +defend the Right,’ which appeared in ‘Punch’ at the time, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span> +may be quoted in passing, especially as it shows the patriotic +fervour and the personal enthusiasm which Lord John +Russell’s speech evoked in the country:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘From humble homes and stately domes the cry goes through the air,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">With the loftiness of challenge, the lowliness of prayer,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Honour to him who spoke the words in the Council of the Land,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">To find faith in old England’s heart, force in old England’s hand.’<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>A week before the appearance of these lines, the cartoon +in ‘Punch’ represented Lord Aberdeen, significantly arrayed +in Windsor uniform, vainly attempting to hold back the +struggling British lion, which sees the Russian bear in the +distance, and exclaiming, ‘I <i>must</i> let him go.’</p> + +<p>Lord John’s resignation meant much, perhaps everything, +to the Government. Great pressure was put upon him. +The Queen and the Cabinet alike urged him to abandon his +intention of retirement; whilst Lord Palmerston, with that +personal chivalry which was characteristic of him, declared +that in a moment of European crisis he could be better +spared, and was ready to resign if Lord John insisted upon +such terms, as the price for his own continuance in office. +Every day the situation abroad was becoming more critical, +and Lord John saw that it might imperil greater interests +than any which were bound up with the progress of a party +question to resist such appeals. He, therefore, on April 11 +withdrew his resignation, and received an ovation in the +House of Commons when he made it plain that he was +willing to thrust personal considerations aside in the interests +of his colleagues, and for the welfare of his country. Mr. +Edward Miall has described the scene. ‘“If it should be +thought that the course he was taking would damage the +cause of Reform”—the noble Lord paused, choked with the +violence of his own emotions. Then arose a cheer from +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span> +both sides of the House, loud and long continued.... +Every eye was glistening with sudden moisture, and every +heart was softened with genuine sympathy.... The effect +was electric. Old prejudices long pent up, grudges, accumulated +discontents, uncharitable suspicions, all melted +away before that sudden outburst of a troubled heart.’<a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a></p> + +<div class="sidenote">THE PLAN OF CAMPAIGN</div> + +<p>Throughout the spring diplomacy was still busy, though +it became every week more and more apparent that hostilities +were inevitable. Lord Stratford achieved, what Lord Clarendon +did not hesitate to term, a ‘great diplomatic triumph’ +when he won consent from the Porte to fresh terms in the +interests of peace, which met with the approval, not only of +England and France, but also of Austria and Prussia. The +Czar began at length to realise the gravity of the situation +when Austria moved in February fifty thousand men to the +frontier of the territory which Russia had seized. When the +Russian troops, a few months later, evacuated the Principalities, +Austria and Prussia, whose alliance had been formed +in defence of the interests of Germany, were no longer +directly concerned in the quarrel. Thus the war which England +and France declared at the end of March against Russia +was one which they were left to pursue, with the help of +Turkey, alone. Lord John Russell urged that it should be +short and sharp, and with characteristic promptitude sketched +out, with Lord Panmure’s help, a plan of campaign. He +urged that ten thousand men should at once be raised for +the Army, five thousand for the Navy, and that the services +of fifteen thousand more be added to the Militia. He laid +stress on the importance of securing the active aid of +Austria, for he thought that her co-operation might make the +difference between a long and a short war. He proposed +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span> +that Sweden should be drawn into the Alliance, with the +view of striking a blow at Russia in the North as well as +on her southern frontier. He also proposed that English +and French troops should be massed at Constantinople, +and submitted a plan of operations for the consideration of +the Cabinet.</p> + +<p>Lord John knew perfectly well that radical changes +were imperative in the administration of the Army. The +Secretary for War was, oddly enough, Secretary for the +Colonies as well, and there was also a Secretary at War, +who controlled the finances at the bidding of the Commander-in-Chief. +The Ordnance Department was under +one management, the Commissariat under another, whilst +the Militia fell within the province of a third, in the shape +of the Home Office. Lord John Russell had seen enough +of the outcome of divided counsels in the Cabinet, and +insisted, in emphatic terms, on the necessity of separating +the duties of the War and Colonial Departments, and of +giving the Minister who held the former post undisputed +control over all branches of the executive.</p> + +<p>It was perhaps an undesigned coincidence, but none +the less unfortunate, that the statesmen in the Aberdeen +Government who were directly concerned with the war were +former colleagues of Sir Robert Peel. Lord Aberdeen’s repugnance +to hostilities with Russia was so notorious that +the other Peelites in the Cabinet fell under the suspicion of +apathy; and the nation, exasperated at the Czar’s bombastic +language and high-handed action, was not in the mood to +make fine distinctions. The Duke of Newcastle and his +<ins class="correction" title="Transcriber's note: original reads 'riend'">friend</ins>, Mr. Sidney Herbert, were regarded, perhaps unjustly, +as lukewarm about the approaching campaign; but it was +upon the former that the brunt of public censure ultimately +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span> +fell. The Duke was Secretary for War and the Colonies. +It was an odd combination of offices which had existed for +more than half a century. The tradition is that it had +been brought about in order that the Secretary for the +Colonies, who at the beginning of the century had comparatively +little to do, but who possessed large patronage, +might use that patronage on behalf of deserving military men.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE’S FAILURE</div> + +<p>In the immediate prospect of hostilities, it was felt to be +imperative that two posts of such responsibility should not +be held by the same Minister; but the Duke was adverse to +the proposed change. It was, however, brought about in +the early summer, and the Duke was given his choice of the +two posts. He decided to relinquish the Colonies, and +thus the burden of the approaching conflict fell upon him +by his own deliberate act. Sir George Grey was appointed +to the vacant office. The Duke of Newcastle’s ambition outstripped +his ability, and the choice which he made was +disastrous both to himself and to the nation. Because +some men are born great, they have greatness of another +kind thrust upon them; and too often it happens that +responsibility makes plain the lack of capacity, which the +glamour neither of rank nor of place can long conceal. The +Duke of Newcastle was born to greatness—for in the middle +of the century the highest rank in the Peerage counted for +more in politics than it does to-day—but he certainly did +not achieve it as War Minister.</p> + +<p>There is no need to relate here the more than twice-told +story of the Crimean War. Its incidents have been +described by historians and soldiers; and, of late, gallant +officers who took part in it have retraced its course and +revived its memories. In one sense it is a glorious chapter +in the annals of the Queen’s reign, and yet there are +cir<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span>cumstances +connected with it which every Englishman, +worthy of the name, would gladly forget. Although the +nation did not take up arms with a light heart, its judgment +was clouded by passion; and the first great war since +Waterloo caught the imagination of the people, especially +as Lord Raglan, one of the old Peninsular heroes, was in +command of the Army of Invasion. England and France +were not satisfied merely to blockade the Black Sea and +crush the commerce of Russia. They determined to strike +at the heart of the Czar’s power in the East, and therefore +the Allies made a dash at the great arsenal and fort of +Sebastopol. It did not enter into their reckoning that there +might be a protracted siege. What they anticipated was a +swift march, a sudden attack, and the capture of the stronghold +by bombardment. The allied forces—25,000 English +soldiers, 23,000 French, and about 5,000 Turks—landed in +the Crimea in September, 1854, and stormed the heights of +the Alma on the 20th of that month. Then they hesitated, +and their chance of reducing Sebastopol that autumn was lost. +‘I have been very slow to enter into this war,’ said Lord +Aberdeen to an alderman at a banquet in the City. ‘Yes,’ +was the brusque retort, ‘and you will be equally slow to get +out of it.’</p> + +<div class="sidenote">BALACLAVA AND INKERMAN</div> + +<p>Divided counsels prevailed in the camp as well as in +the Cabinet. Cholera attacked the troops, and stores +began to fail. Prince Menschikoff, defeated at Alma, +seized the opportunity which the delay gave him to render +the harbour of Sebastopol impassable to hostile ships; and +General Todleben brought his skill as an engineer to the +task of strengthening by earthworks the fortifications of the +Russian stronghold. The Allies made the blunder of marching +on Sebastopol from the southern instead of the northern +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span> +side of the harbour, and this gave time to the enemy to +receive strong reinforcements, with the result that 120,000 +men were massed behind the Russian fortifications. Meanwhile +a rumour that Sebastopol had fallen awakened short-lived +rejoicings in England and France. The tidings were +contradicted in twenty-four hours, but most people thought, +on that exciting 3rd of October, that the war was virtually +at an end. The Emperor Napoleon announced the imaginary +victory of their comrades in arms to his assembled +troops. Even Mr. Gladstone was deceived for the moment, +and there is a letter of his in existence to one of the most +prominent of his colleagues, full of congratulation at such a +result. The chagrin of the nation was great when it learnt +that the Russians were not merely holding their own, but +were acting on the aggressive; whilst the disappointment was +quickened by the lack of vigour displayed by the Cabinet. +The Allies fought, on October 25, the glorious yet indecisive +battle of Balaclava, which was for ever rendered memorable +by the useless but superb charge of the Light Brigade. +Less than a fortnight later, on November 5, the Russians +renewed the attack, and took the English by surprise. A +desperate hand-to-hand struggle against overwhelming odds +ensued. Then the French came to the aid of the English +troops, and the battle of Inkerman was won.</p> + +<p>As the winter approached, the position of the Allies grew +perilous, and it seemed likely that the plans of the invaders +would miscarry, and the besieging Allies be reduced to the +position of the besieged. Before the middle of November +winter set in with severity along the shores of the Black Sea, +and a hurricane raged, which destroyed the tents of the troops, +and wrecked more than a score of ships, which were carrying +stores of ammunition and clothing. As the winter +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span> +advanced, with bleak winds and blinding snow, the shivering, +ill-fed soldiers perished in ever-increasing numbers under the +twofold attack of privation and pestilence. The Army had +been despatched to the Crimea in the summer, and, as +no one imagined that the campaign would last beyond the +early autumn, the brave fellows in the trenches of Sebastopol +were called to confront the sudden descent of winter without +the necessary stores. It was then that the War Office awoke +slowly to the terrible nature of the crisis. Lord John Russell +had made his protest months before against the dilatory action +of that department, and, though he knew that personal odium +was sure to follow, endeavoured at the eleventh hour to +persuade Lord Aberdeen to take decisive action. ‘We are +in the midst of a great war,’ were his words to the Premier +on November 17. ‘In order to carry on that war with +efficiency, either the Prime Minister must be constantly +urging, hastening, completing the military preparations, or +the Minister of War must be strong enough to control other +departments.’ He went on to contend that the Secretary +of State for War ought to be in the House of Commons, and +that he ought, moreover, to be a man who carried weight in +that assembly, and who brought to its debates not only +vigour of mind but experience of military details. ‘There is +only one person belonging to the Government,’ added Lord +John, ‘who combines these advantages. My conclusion is +that before Parliament meets Lord Palmerston should be +entrusted with the seals of the War Department.’</p> + +<div class="sidenote">INCAPACITY IN HIGH PLACES</div> + +<p>This was, of course, an unwelcome proposition to Lord +Aberdeen, and he met it with the declaration that no one man +was competent to undertake the duties of Secretary of State +for War and those of Secretary at War. He considered that +the latter appointment should be held in connection with +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span> +the finances of the Army, and in independence of the Secretary +for the War Department. Lord John replied that ‘either +the Prime Minister must himself be the acting and moving +spirit of the whole machine, or else the Secretary for War +must have delegated authority to control other departments,’ +and added, ‘neither is the case under the present <i>régime</i>.’ +Once more, nothing came of the protest, and, when Parliament +met on December 12, to indulge in the luxury of dull +debates and bitter personalities, the situation remained unchanged, +in spite of the growing sense of disaster abroad and +incapacity at home. The Duke of Newcastle in the Lords +made a lame defence, and his monotonous and inconclusive +speech lasted for the space of three hours. ‘The House +went to sleep after the first half hour,’ was the cynical +comment of an Opposition peer. As the year ended the +indignation in the country against the Duke of Newcastle +grew more and more pronounced, and he, in common with +Lord Aberdeen, was thought in many quarters to be starving +the war. The truth was, the Duke was not strong enough +for the position, and if he had gone to the Colonial Office, +when that alternative was offered him, his reputation would +not now be associated with the lamentable blunders which, +rightly or wrongly, are laid to his charge. It is said that he +once boasted that he had often kept out of mischief men +who, he frankly admitted, were his superiors in ability. +However that may be, the Duke of Newcastle ignominiously +failed, at the great crisis in his public career, to keep out of +mischief men who were his subordinates in position, and, +in consequence, to arrest the fatal confusion which the +winter campaign made on the military resources of the +nation. Lord Hardinge, who on the death of the Duke of +Wellington had succeeded to the post of Commander-in- +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span>Chief, +assured Lord Malmesbury in January 1855 that the +Duke of Newcastle had never consulted him on any subject +connected with the war. He added, with considerable heat, +that not a single despatch had been submitted to him; in +fact, he had been left to gather what the War Minister was +doing through the published statements in the newspapers.</p> + +<p>The Duke of Newcastle was a sensible, well-intentioned +man, but allowed himself to be involved in the management +of the details of his office, instead of originating a +policy and directing the broad course of affairs with vigour +and determination. He displayed a degree of industry +during the crisis which was praiseworthy in itself, and quite +phenomenal in the most exalted branch of the Peerage, but +he lacked the power of initiative, and had not sufficient +force and decision of character to choose the right men for +the emergency.</p> + +<p>The Cabinet might falter and the War Office dawdle, the +faith of the soldiers in the authorities might be shaken and +their hopes of personal succour be eclipsed, but the charity +of womanhood failed not to respond to the call of the suffering, +or to the demands of self-sacrifice. Florence Nightingale, +and the nurses who laboured at her side in the +hospital at Scutari not only soothed the dying and nursed +the sick and wounded, but thrilled the heart of England by +their modest heroism and patient devotion.</p> + +<p>Before Parliament met in December, Lord John Russell, +in despair of bringing matters to a practical issue, informed +his colleagues that, though he was willing to remain in the +Cabinet, and to act as Leader of the House during the short +session before Christmas, it was his intention to relinquish +office at the close of the year. The objection was raised +that it was unconstitutional for him to meet Parliament in +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span> +a responsible position if he had arrived at this fixed +but unannounced resolution. He met this expression of +opinion by requesting Lord Aberdeen to submit his resignation +to the Queen on December 7. The correspondence +between Lord Lansdowne and Lord John, and the important +memorandum which the latter drew up on December 30, +which Mr. Walpole has printed, speak for themselves.<a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> It +will be seen that Lord John once more insisted that the +Secretary of State for the War Department ought immediately +to be invested with all the more important functions +hitherto exercised by the Secretary at War, and he again laid +stress on the necessity in such a crisis that the War Minister +should be a member of the House of Commons. He complained +that, though he was responsible in the Commons, +Lord Aberdeen did not treat him with the confidence which +alone could enable a Leader of the House to carry on +the business of the Government with satisfaction. He +declared that Lord Grey treated Lord Althorp in a different +fashion, and that Lord Melbourne, to bring the matter +nearer home, had shown greater consideration towards himself. +He added that he felt absolved from the duty of +defending acts and appointments upon which he had not +been consulted.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">LORD LANSDOWNE AS PEACEMAKER</div> + + + +<p>Lord Lansdowne succeeded for the moment in patching +up an unsatisfactory peace, but it was becoming every day +more and more obvious that the Aberdeen Government +was doomed. The memorandum which Lord John drew +up, at the suggestion of Lord Lansdowne, describes in +pithy and direct terms the privations of the soldiers, and +the mortality amongst men and horses, which was directly +due to hunger and neglect. He shows that between the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span> +end of September and the middle of November there was +at least six weeks when all kinds of supplies might have +been landed at Balaclava, and he points out that the +stores only needed to be carried seven or eight miles +to reach the most distant division of the Army. He +protested that there had been great mismanagement, and +added: ‘Soldiers cannot fight unless they are well fed.’ +He stated that he understood Lord Raglan had written +home at the beginning of October to say that, if the Army +was to remain on the heights during the winter, huts would +be required, since the barren position which they held did +not furnish wood to make them. Nearly three months had, +however, passed, and winter in its most terrible form had +settled on the Crimea, and yet the huts still appeared not to +have reached the troops, though the French had done their +best to make good the discreditable breakdown of our commissariat. +<span class="sidenote">A FRANK STATEMENT</span>‘There appears,’ concludes Lord John, ‘a want +of concert among the different departments. When the +Navy forward supplies, there is no military authority to +receive them; when the military wish to unload a ship, they +find that the naval authority has already ordered it away. +Lord Raglan and Sir Edmund Lyons should be asked to +concert between them the mode of remedying this defect. +Neither can see with his own eyes to the performance of +all the subordinate duties, but they can choose the best men +to do it, and arm them with sufficient authority. For on the +due performance of these subordinate duties hangs the welfare +of the Army. Lord Raglan should also be informed +exactly of the amount of reinforcements ordered to the +Crimea, and at what time he may expect them. Having +furnished him with all the force in men and material which +the Government can send him, the Government is entitled +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span> +to expect from him in return his opinion as to what can be +done by the allied armies to restore the strength and efficiency +of the armies for the next campaign. Probably the troops +first sent over will require four months’ rest before they will +be able to move against an enemy.’ Procrastination was, +however, to have its perfect work, and Lord John, chilled +and indignant, told Lord Aberdeen on January 3 that nothing +could be less satisfactory than the result of the recent +Cabinets. ‘Unless,’ he added, ‘you will direct measures, I +see no hope for the efficient prosecution of the war;’ for by +this time it was perfectly useless, he saw, to urge on Lord +Aberdeen the claims of Lord Palmerston.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> <i>Life of Edward Miall, M.P.</i>, by A. Miall, p. 179.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> <i>Life of Lord John Russell</i>, by Spencer Walpole, vol. ii. 232-235.</p></div> +</div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span></p> + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<p class="title">THE VIENNA DIFFICULTY<br /><br /> + +1855</p> + +<p class="desc">Blunders at home and abroad—Roebuck’s motion—‘General Février +turns traitor’—France and the Crimea—Lord John at Vienna—The +pride of the nation is touched—Napoleon’s visit to Windsor—Lord +John’s retirement—The fall of Sebastopol—The Treaty of Paris.</p> + + +<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Parliament</span> met on January 23, and the general indignation +at once found expression in Mr. Roebuck’s motion—the +notice of which was cheered by Radicals and Tories +alike—to ‘inquire into the condition of our Army before +Sebastopol, and into the conduct of those Departments of +the Government whose duty it has been to minister to the +wants of that Army.’ Lord John, in view of the blunders at +home and abroad, did not see how such a motion was to +be resisted, and at once tendered to Lord Aberdeen his +resignation. His protests, pointed and energetic though +they had been, had met with no practical response. Even +the reasonable request that the War Minister should be in +the Commons to defend his own department had passed unheeded. +Peelites, like Sir James Graham and Mr. Sidney +Herbert, might make the best of a bad case, but Lord John +felt that he could not honestly defend in Parliament a course +of action which he had again and again attacked in the +Cabinet. Doubtless it would have been better both for +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span> +himself and for his colleagues if he had adhered to his +earlier intention of resigning; and his dramatic retreat at +this juncture unquestionably gave a handle to his adversaries. +Though prompted by conscientious motives, sudden flight, +in the face of what was, to all intents and purposes, a +vote of censure, was a grave mistake. Not unnaturally, such +a step was regarded as a bid for personal power at the +expense of his colleagues. It certainly placed the Cabinet +in a most embarrassing position, and it is easy to understand +the irritation which it awakened. In fact, it led those who +were determined to put the worst possible construction on +Lord John’s action to hint that he wished to rid himself +of responsibility and to stand clear of his colleagues, so that +when the nation grew tired of the war he might return to +office and make peace. Nothing could well have been further +from the truth.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">ROEBUCK’S MOTION</div> + +<p>Lord John’s retirement was certainly inopportune; but it +is almost needless to add—now that it is possible to review his +whole career, as well as all the circumstances which marked +this crisis in it—that he was not actuated by a self-seeking +spirit. Looking back in after life, Lord John frankly admitted +that he had committed an error in resigning office under Lord +Aberdeen at the time and in the manner in which he did it. +He qualified this confession, however, by declaring that he +had committed a much greater error in agreeing to serve +under Lord Aberdeen as Prime Minister: ‘I had served +under Lord Grey and Lord Melbourne before I became +Prime Minister, and I served under Lord Palmerston after I +had been Prime Minister. In no one of these cases did I +find any difficulty in allying subordination with due counsel +and co-operation. But, as it is proverbially said, “Where +there is a will there is a way,” so in political affairs the +con<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span>verse +is true, “Where there is no will there is no way.”’ He +explained his position in a personal statement in the House +of Commons on the night of Mr. Roebuck’s motion. ‘I +had to consider whether I could fairly and honestly say, +“It is true that evils have arisen. It is true that the brave +men who fought at the Alma, at Inkerman, and at Balaclava +are perishing, many of them from neglect; it is true that +the heart of the whole of England throbs with anxiety and +sympathy on this subject; but I can tell you that such +arrangements have been made—that a man of such vigour +and efficiency has taken the conduct of the War Department, +with such a consolidation of offices as to enable him to have +the entire control of the whole of the War Offices—so that +any supply may be immediately furnished, and any abuse +instantly remedied.” I felt I could not honestly make such a +declaration; I therefore felt that I could come only to one +conclusion, and that as I could not resist inquiry—by giving +the only assurances which I thought sufficient to prevent it—my +duty was not to remain any longer a member of the +Government.’ In the course of a powerful speech Lord +John added that he would always look back with pride on +his association with many measures of the Aberdeen +Government, and more particularly with the great financial +scheme which Mr. Gladstone brought forward in 1853.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">OPEN CONFESSION</div> + +<p>He refused to admit that the Whigs were an exclusive +party, and he thought that such an idea was refuted by the fact +that they had consented to serve in a Coalition Government. +‘I believe that opinion to have been unjust, and I think that +the Whig party during the last two years have fully justified +the opinion I entertained. I will venture to say that no set +of men ever behaved with greater honour or with more disinterested +patriotism than those who have supported the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span> +Government of the Earl of Aberdeen. It is my pride, and +it will ever be my pride to the last day of my life, to have +belonged to a party which, as I consider, upholds the true +principles of freedom; and it will ever be my constant endeavour +to preserve the principles and to tread in the +paths which the Whig party have laid down for the guidance +of their conduct.’ Lord John made no attempt to disguise +the gravity of the crisis, and the following admission might +almost be said to have sealed the fate of the Ministry: ‘Sir, I +must say that there is something, with all the official knowledge +to which I have had access, that to me is inexplicable +in the state of our army. If I had been told, as a reason +against the expedition to the Crimea last year, that your +troops would be seven miles from the sea, and that—at that +seven miles’ distance—they would be in want of food, of +clothing, and of shelter to such a degree that they would +perish at the rate of from ninety to a hundred a day, I should +have considered such a prediction as utterly preposterous, +and such a picture of the expedition as entirely fanciful and +absurd. We are all, however, forced to confess the notoriety +of that melancholy state of things.’ Three days later, after +a protracted and heated debate, Mr. Roebuck’s motion was +carried in a House of 453 members by the sweeping majority +of 157. ‘The division was curious,’ wrote Greville. ‘Some +seventy or eighty Whigs, ordinary supporters of Government, +voted against them, and all the Tories except about six or +seven.’ There was no mistaking the mandate either of +Parliament or of the people. Lord Aberdeen on the following +day went down to Windsor and laid his resignation +before the Queen, and in this sorry fashion the Coalition +Government ignominiously collapsed, with hardly an expression +of regret and scarcely a claim to remembrance. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span></p> + +<p>The Queen’s choice fell upon Lord Derby, but his efforts +to form an Administration proved unavailing. Lord Lansdowne +was next summoned, and he suggested that Lord John +Russell should be sent for, but in his case, also, sufficient +promises of support were not forthcoming. In the end +Her Majesty acquiesced in the strongly-expressed wish of +the nation, and Lord Palmerston was called to power on +February 5. For the moment Lord John was out of office, +and Lord Panmure took the place of the Duke of Newcastle +as War Minister, but all the other members of the defeated +Administration, except, of course, Lord Aberdeen, entered +the new Cabinet. Lord Palmerston knew the feeling of the +country, and was not afraid to face it, and, therefore, determined +to accept Mr. Roebuck’s proposals for a searching +investigation of the circumstances which had attended the +conduct of the war. Loyalty to their late chief, as well as +to their former colleague, the Duke of Newcastle, led Sir +James Graham, Mr. Sidney Herbert, Mr. Gladstone, and +other Peelites to resign. Lord John, urged by Lord +Palmerston, became Colonial Secretary. Palmerston +shared Lord Clarendon’s view that no Government calling +itself Liberal had a chance of standing without Lord John. +Sir G. C. Lewis succeeded Mr. Gladstone as Chancellor of +the Exchequer, and Sir Charles Wood took Sir James +Graham’s vacant place at the Admiralty.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">‘GENERAL FÉVRIER TURNS TRAITOR’</div> + +<p>Changes of a more momentous character quickly followed. +Early in the winter, when tidings of the sufferings +of the Allies reached St. Petersburg, the Emperor Nicholas +declared, with grim humour, that there were two generals +who were about to fight for him, ‘Janvier et Février;’ +but the opening month of the year brought terrible privations +to the Russian reinforcements as they struggled +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span> +painfully along the rough winter roads on the long march +to the Crimea. The Czar lost a quarter of a million of +men before the war ended, and a vast number of them fell +before the cold or the pestilence. Omar Pasha defeated +the Russian troops at Eupatoria in the middle of February. +The fact that his troops had been repulsed by the hated +Turks touched the pride of Nicholas to the quick, and is +believed to have brought on the fatal illness which seized +him a few days later. On February 27, just after the +Emperor had left the parade-ground on which he had been +reviewing his troops, he was struck down by paralysis, and, +after lingering in a hopeless condition for a day or two, +died a baffled and disappointed man. The irony of the +situation was reflected with sombre and dramatic realism in +a political cartoon which appeared in ‘Punch.’ It represented +a skeleton in armour, laying an icy hand, amid the +falling snow, on the prostrate Czar’s heart. The picture—one +of the most powerful that has ever appeared, even in +this remarkable mirror of the times—was entitled, ‘General +Février turned Traitor,’ and underneath was the dead Emperor’s +cruel boast, ‘Russia has two generals on whom she can +confide—Generals Janvier and Février.’ Prior to the resignation +of the Peelites the second Congress of Vienna +assembled, and Lord John Russell attended it as a plenipotentiary +for England; and France, Austria, Turkey, and +Russia were also represented. The ‘four points’ which +formed the basis of the negotiations were that Russia should +abandon all control over Moldavia, Wallachia, and Servia; +that the new Czar, Alexander II., should surrender his +claim to command the entrance of the Danube; that +all treaties should be annulled which gave Russia supremacy +in the Black Sea; and that she should dismiss her +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span> +pretensions to an exclusive right to protect in her own +fashion the Christians in the Ottoman Empire. Nicholas, +though at one time favourable to this scheme as a basis of +peace, eventually fell back on the assertion that he +would not consent to any limitation of his naval power in +the Black Sea. Though the parleyings at Vienna after his +death were protracted, the old difficulty asserted itself again, +with the result that the second Congress proved, as spring +gave way to summer, as futile as the first.</p> + +<p>Although subjects which vitally affected the Turkish +Empire were under consideration, the Turkish Ambassador +at Vienna had received anything but explicit directions, and +Lord John was forced to the conclusion that the negotiations +were not regarded as serious at Constantinople. Indeed, he +had, in Mr. Spencer Walpole’s words, ‘reason to suspect that +the absence of a properly credited Turk was not due to the +dilatory character of the Porte alone but to the perverse +action of Lord Stratford de Redcliffe.’<a name="FNanchor_38_38" id="FNanchor_38_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> Lord Clarendon +did not hesitate to declare that Lord Stratford was inclined +to thwart any business which was not carried on in Constantinople, +and the English Ambassador kept neither Lord +John in Vienna nor the Cabinet in Downing Street +acquainted with the views of the Porte. Lord John +declared that the Turkish representative at Vienna, from +whom he expected information about the affairs of his +own country, was ‘by nature incompetent, and by instruction +silent.’ Two schemes, in regard to the point which was +chiefly in dispute, were before the Congress; they are best +stated in Lord John’s own words: ‘One, called limitation, +proposed that only four ships of the line should be maintained +in the Black Sea by Russia, and two each by the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span> +allies of Turkey. The other mode, proposed by M. Drouyn +de Lhuys, contemplated a much further reduction of force—namely, +to eight or ten light vessels, intended solely to protect +commerce from pirates and perform the police of the +coast.’ Although a great part of the Russian fleet was +at the bottom of the sea, and the rest of it hemmed in in +the harbour of Sebastopol, Prince Gortschakoff announced, +with the air of a man who was master of the situation, that +the Czar entirely refused to limit his power in the Euxine.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">COUNT BUOL’S COMPROMISE</div> + +<p>At this juncture Count Buol proposed a compromise, +to the effect that Russia should maintain in the Black Sea +a naval force not greater than that which she had had at +her disposal there before the outbreak of the war; that +any attempt to evade this limitation should be interpreted +as a <i>casus belli</i>, by France, England, and Austria, +which were to form a triple treaty of alliance to defend +the integrity and independence of Turkey in case of +aggression. Lord Palmerston believed, to borrow his own +phrase, that Austria was playing a treacherous game, but +that was not the opinion at the moment either of Lord +John Russell or of M. Drouyn de Lhuys. They appear +to have thought that the league of Austria with England +and France to resist aggression upon Turkey would prove +a sufficient check on Russian ambition, and did not lay stress +enough on the objections, which at once suggested themselves +both in London and Paris. The Prince Consort put +the case against Count Buol’s scheme in a nutshell: ‘The +proposal of Austria to engage to make war when the Russian +armaments should appear to have become excessive is of +no kind of value to the belligerents, who do not wish to +establish a case for which to make war hereafter, but to +obtain a security upon which they can conclude peace now. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span>’ +Lord John Russell, in a confidential interview with Count +Buol, declared that he was prepared to recommend the +English Cabinet to accept the Austrian proposals. It +seemed to him that, if Russia was willing to accept the compromise +and to abandon the attitude which had led to the +war, the presence of the Allies in the Crimea was scarcely +justifiable. M. Drouyn de Lhuys took the same view, and +both plenipotentiaries hastened back to urge acquiescence +in proposals which seemed to promise the termination of a +war in which, with little result, blood and treasure had +already been lavishly expended.</p> + +<p>Lord Palmerston and Lord Clarendon, backed by +popular sentiment, refused to see in Russia’s stubborn +demand about her fleet in the Black Sea other than a perpetual +menace to Turkey. They argued that England had +made too heavy a sacrifice to patch up in this fashion an +inglorious and doubtful peace. The attitude of Napoleon +III. did more than anything else to confirm this decision. +The war in the Crimea had never been as popular in France +as it was in England. The throne which Napoleon had +seized could only be kept by military success, and there is +no doubt whatever that personal ambition, and the prestige +of a campaign, with England for a companion-in-arms, +determined the despatch of French troops to the Crimea. +On his return, Lord John at once saw the difficulty in which +his colleagues were landed. The internal tranquility of +France was imperilled if the siege of Sebastopol was abandoned. +‘The Emperor of the French,’ he wrote, ‘had been +to us the most faithful ally who had ever wielded the sceptre +or ruled the destinies of France. Was it possible for the +English Government to leave the Emperor to fight unaided +the battle of Europe, or to force him to join us in a peace +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span> +which would have sunk his reputation with his army and +his people?’ He added, that this consideration seemed +to him so weighty that he ceased to urge on Lord Palmerston +the acceptance of the Austrian terms, and Lord +Clarendon therefore sent a reply in which Count Buol’s +proposals were rejected by the Cabinet. Lord Palmerston +laid great stress on Lord John’s presence in his ministry, +and Mr. Walpole has shown that the latter only consented +to withdraw his resignation after not merely an urgent, but +a thrice-repeated personal request from the Premier.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">PRESSURE FROM PALMERSTON</div> + +<p>He ought unquestionably, at all hazards to Lord Palmerston’s +Government, to have refused to remain a member of +it when his colleagues intimated that they were not in a +position to accept his view of the situation without giving +mortal offence to the Emperor of the French. Under the +circumstances, Lord Palmerston ought not to have put the +pressure on Lord John. The latter stayed in order to +shield the Government from overthrow by a combined +Radical and Tory attack at a moment when Palmerston +was compelled to study the susceptibilities of France and +Napoleon III.’s fears concerning his throne. There is a +published letter, written by the Prince Consort at this juncture +to his brother the Duke of Saxe-Coburg, which throws +light on the situation. The Prince hints that the prospects +of the Allies in the Crimea had become more hopeful, just +as diplomatic affairs at Vienna had taken an awkward turn. +He states that in General Pélissier the French ‘have at +last a leader who is determined and enterprising, and who +will once more raise the spirit of the army, which has sunk +through Canrobert’s mildness.’ He adds that the English +troops ‘are again thirty thousand men under arms, and their +spirit is excellent. At home, however, Gladstone and the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span> +Peelites are taking up the cry for peace, and declaring themselves +against all further continuation of the war; whilst +Lord Derby and the Protectionists are all for making +common cause with Layard and others, in order to overthrow +Palmerston’s Ministry.’ Disraeli, significantly adds the +Prince, has been ‘chiefly endeavouring to injure’ Lord +John Russell.</p> + +<p>Towards the end of May, Mr. Disraeli introduced a +resolution condemning the conduct of the Government, +and calling attention to Lord John Russell’s attitude at +the Vienna Conference. Lord John had fulfilled the +promise which he had given to Count Buol before leaving +Vienna; but Lord Palmerston was determined to maintain +the alliance with France, and therefore, as a member +of his Government, Lord John’s lips were sealed when he +rose to defend himself. He stated in a powerful speech the +reasons which had led to the failure of the Conference, and +ended without any allusion to the Austrian proposals or +his own action in regard to them. Irritated at the new turn +of affairs, Count Buol disclosed what had passed behind the +scenes in Vienna, and Lord John found himself compelled +to explain his explanations. He declared that he had +believed before leaving Vienna that the Austrian scheme +held out the promise of peace, and, with this conviction in +his mind, he had on his return to London immediately +advised its acceptance by Lord Palmerston. He was not +free, of course, to state with equal frankness the true reason +of its rejection by the Cabinet, and therefore was compelled +to fall back on the somewhat lame plea that it had +been fully considered and disallowed by his colleagues. +Moreover he felt, as a plenipotentiary, it was his duty to +submit to the Government which had sent him to Vienna, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span> +and as a member of the Cabinet it was not less his duty +to yield to the decision of the majority of his colleagues.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">AN EMBARRASSING POSITION</div> + +<p>Lord John’s explanations were not deemed satisfactory. +He was in the position of a man who could only defend +himself and make his motives plain to Parliament and the +country by statements which would have embarrassed his +colleagues and have shattered the French alliance at a +moment when, not so much on national as on international +grounds, it seemed imperative that it should be sustained. +The attacks in the Press were bitter and envenomed; +and when Lord John, in July, told Lord Palmerston it +was his intention to retire, the latter admitted with an +expression of great regret that the storm was too strong +to be resisted, though, he added, ‘juster feelings will in +due time prevail.’ A few days later Lord John, in a calm +and impressive speech, anticipated Sir E. B. Lytton’s +hostile motion on the Vienna Conference by announcing +his intention to the House. Though he still felt in +honour obliged to say nothing on the real cause of his +withdrawal, his dignified attitude on that occasion made +its own impression, and all the more because of the +sweeping abuse to which he was at the moment exposed. +It was of this speech that Sir George Cornewall +Lewis said that it was listened to with attention and respect +by an audience partly hostile and partly prejudiced. He declared +that he was convinced it would go far to remove the +imputations, founded on error and misrepresentation, under +which Lord John laboured. He added, with a generosity +which, though characteristic, was rare at that juncture: +‘I shall be much surprised if, after a little time and a little reflection, +persons do not come to the conclusion that never was +so small a matter magnified beyond its true <ins class="correction" title="Transcriber's note: original reads 'porportions'">proportions</ins>. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span>’</p> + +<p>Within twenty-four hours of his resignation Lord John +had an opportunity of showing that he bore no malice +towards former colleagues. Mr. Roebuck, with characteristic +denunciations, attacked the Government on the damaging +statements contained in the report of the Sebastopol +Committee. He proposed a motion censuring in severe +terms every member of the Cabinet whose counsels had led +to such disastrous results. Whatever construction might +be placed on Lord John’s conduct of affairs in Vienna, he +at least could not be charged with lukewarmness or apathy +in regard to the administration of the army and the prosecution +of the war. He had, in fact, irritated Lord +Aberdeen and the Duke of Newcastle by insisting again +and again on the necessity of undivided control of the +military departments, and on the need of a complete +reorganisation of the commissariat. A less magnanimous +man would have seized the opportunity of this renewed +attack to declare that he, at least, had done his best at +great personal cost to prevent the deplorable confusion and +collapse which had overtaken the War Office. He disdained, +however, the mean personal motive, and made, what +Lord Granville called, a ‘magnificent speech,’ in which he +declared that every member without exception remained +responsible for the consequences which had overtaken the +Expedition to the Crimea, Mr. Kinglake once asserted that, +though Lord John Russell was capable of coming to a bold, +abrupt, and hasty decision, not duly concerted with men +whose opinions he ought to have weighed, no statesman in +Europe surpassed him on the score of courage or high +public spirit. The chivalry which he displayed in coming +to the help of the Government on the morrow of his own +almost compulsory retirement from office was typical of a +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span> +man who made many mistakes, but was never guilty, even +when wounded to the quick, of gratifying the passing resentments +of the hour at the expense of the interests of the +nation.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">WARLIKE COUNSELS PREVAIL</div> + +<p>During the summer of 1855 the feeling of the country +grew more and more warlike. The failure of the negotiations +at Vienna had touched the national pride. The State +visit in the spring to the English Court of the Emperor +Napoleon, and his determination not to withdraw his troops +from the Crimea until some decisive victory was won, had +rekindled its enthusiasm. The repulse at the Redan, +the death of Lord Raglan, and the vainglorious boast of +Prince Gortschakoff, who declared ‘that the hour was at +hand when the pride of the enemies of Russia would be +lowered, and their armies swept from our soil like chaff +blown away by the wind,’ rendered all dreams of diplomatic +solution impossible, and made England, in spite of the +preachers of peace at any price, determined to push forward +her quarrel to the bitter end. The nation, to borrow the +phrase of one of the shrewdest political students of the time, +had now begun to consider the war in the Crimea as a ‘duel +with Russia,’ and pride and pluck were more than ever +called into play, both at home and abroad, in its maintenance. +The war, therefore, took its course. Ample supplies and +reinforcements were despatched to the troops, and the Allies, +under the command of General Simpson and General +Pélissier, pushed forward the campaign with renewed vigour. +Sardinia and Sweden had joined the alliance, and on August +16 the troops of the former, acting in concert with the +French, drove back the Russians, who had made a sortie +along the valley of the Tchernaya. After a month’s +bombardment by the Allies, the Malakoff, a redoubt which +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span> +commanded Sebastopol, was taken by the French; but the +English troops were twice repulsed in their attack on the +Redan. Gortschakoff and Todleben were no longer able to +withstand the fierce and daily renewed bombardment. The +forts on the south side were, therefore, blown up, the ships +were sunk, and the army which had gallantly defended the +place retired to a position of greater security with the result +that Sebastopol fell on September 8, and the war was virtually +over. Sir Evelyn Wood lately drew attention to the fact +that forty out of every hundred of the soldiers who served +before Sebastopol in the depth of that terrible winter of +1854 lie there, or in the Scutari cemetery—slain, not by the +sword, but by privation, exposure, disease, and exertions +beyond human endurance.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">ALL FOR NAUGHT</div> + +<p>France was clamouring for peace, and Napoleon was +determined not to prolong the struggle now that his troops +had come out of the siege of Sebastopol with flying colours. +Russia, on her part, had wellnigh exhausted her resources. +Up to the death of the Emperor Nicholas, she had lost +nearly a quarter of a million of men, and six months later, +so great was the carnage and so insidious the pestilence, +that even that ominous number was doubled. The loss of +the Allies in the Crimean war was upwards of eighty-seven +thousand men, and more than two-thirds of the slain fell to +France. Apart from bloodshed, anguish, and pain, the +Crimean war bequeathed to England an increase of +41,000,000<i>l.</i> in the National Debt. No wonder that overtures +for the cessation of hostilities now met with a +welcome which had been denied at the Vienna Conference. +After various negotiations, the Peace of Paris was signed +on March 30, 1856. Russia was compelled to relinquish +her control over the Danube and her protectorate over the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span> +Principalities, and was also forbidden to build arsenals on +the shores of the Black Sea, which was declared open to all +ships of commerce, but closed to all ships of war. Turkey, +on the other hand, confirmed, on paper at least, the privileges +proclaimed in 1839 to Christians resident in the +Ottoman Empire; but massacres at Damascus, in the +Lebanon, and later in Bulgaria, and recently in Armenia, +have followed in dismal sequence in spite of the Treaty of +Paris. The neutrality of the Black Sea came to an end a +quarter of a century ago, and the substantial gains—never +great even at the outset—of a war which was costly in blood +and treasure have grown small by degrees until they have +almost reached the vanishing point.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> <i>Life of Lord John Russell</i>, vol. ii. p. 251.</p></div> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<p class="title">LITERATURE AND EDUCATION</p> + +<p class="desc">Lord John’s position in 1855—His constituency in the City—Survey +of his work in literature—As man of letters—His historical +writings—Hero-worship of Fox—Friendship with Moore—Writes +the biography of the poet—‘Don Carlos’—A book wrongly attributed +to him—Publishes his ‘Recollections and Suggestions’—An +opinion of Kinglake’s—Lord John on his own career—Lord +John and National Schools—Joseph Lancaster’s tentative efforts—The +formation of the Council of Education—Prejudice blocks the +way—Mr. Forster’s tribute.</p> + + +<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Men</span> talked in the autumn of 1855 as if Lord John +Russell’s retirement was final, and even his brother, the +Duke of Bedford, considered it probable that his career as +a responsible statesman was closed. His health had always +been more or less delicate, and he was now a man of sixty-three. +He had been in Parliament for upwards of forty +years, and nearly a quarter of a century had passed since +he bore the brunt of the wrath and clamour and evil-speaking +of the Tories at the epoch of Reform. He had +been leader of his party for a long term of difficult years, +and Prime Minister for the space of six, and in that +capacity had left on the statute book an impressive record +of his zeal on behalf of civil and religious liberty. No +statesman of the period had won more distinction in spite +of ‘gross blunders,’ which he himself in so many words +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span> +admitted. He was certainly entitled to rest on his laurels; +but it was nonsense for anyone to suppose that the animosity +of the Irish, or the indignation of the Ritualists, or +the general chagrin at the collapse—under circumstances +for which Lord John was by no means alone responsible—of +the Vienna Conference, could condemn a man of so much +energy and courage, as well as political prescience, to perpetual +banishment from Downing Street.</p> + +<p>There were people who thought that Lord John was played +out in 1855, and there were many more who wished to think +so, for he was feared by the incompetent and apathetic of his +own party, as well as by those who had occasion to reckon with +him in honourable but strenuous political conflict. The great +mistake of his life was not the Durham Letter, which has +been justified, in spite of its needless bitterness of tone, by +the inexorable logic of accomplished events. It was not +his attitude towards Ireland in the dark years of famine, +which was in reality far more temperate and generous than +is commonly supposed. It was not his action over the +Vienna Conference, for, now that the facts are known, his +reticence in self-defence, under the railing accusations which +were brought against him, was magnanimous and patriotic. +The truth is, Lord John Russell placed himself in a false +position when he yielded to the importunity of the Court +and the Peelites by consenting to accept office under Lord +Aberdeen. The Crimean War, which he did his best to +prevent, only threw into the relief of red letters against a +dark sky the radical divergence of opinion which existed in +the Coalition Government.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">OUT OF OFFICE</div> + +<p>For nearly four years after his retirement from office +Lord John held an independent political position, and +there is evidence enough that he enjoyed to the full +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span> +this respite from the cares of responsibility. He gave up +his house in town, and the quidnuncs thought that they +had seen the last of him as a Minister of the Crown, whilst +the merchants and the stockbrokers of the City were supposed +to scout his name, and to be ready to lift up their +heel against him at the next election.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, Lord John studied to be quiet, and succeeded. +He visited country-houses, and proved a delightful as well as +a delighted guest. He travelled abroad, and came back +with new political ideas about the trend in foreign politics. +He published the final volume of his ‘Memoirs and Correspondence +of Thomas Moore,’ and busied himself over his +‘Life and Times of Charles James Fox,’ and other congenial +literary tasks. He appeared on the platform and +addressed four thousand persons in Exeter Hall, in connection +with the Young Men’s Christian Association, on the +causes which had retarded moral and political progress in +the nation. He went down to Stroud, and gave his old +constituents a philosophic address on the study of history. +He spoke at the first meeting of the Social Science Congress +at Birmingham, presided over the second at Liverpool, +and raised in Parliament the questions of National +Education, Jewish Disabilities, the affairs of Italy, besides +taking part, as an independent supporter of Lord Palmerston, +in the controversies which arose from time to time in the +House of Commons. His return to office grew inevitable +in the light of the force of his character and the integrity +of his aims.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">LITERARY WORK</div> + +<p>It is, of course, impossible in the scope of this volume to +describe at any length Lord John Russell’s contributions +to literature, even outside the range of letters and articles +in the press and that almost forgotten weapon of +con<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span>troversy, +the political pamphlet. From youth to age Lord +John not merely possessed the pen of a ready writer, but +employed it freely in history, biography, criticism, <i>belles-lettres</i>, +and verse. His first book was published when +George III. was King, and his last appeared when almost +forty years of Queen Victoria’s reign had elapsed. The +Liverpool Administration was in power when his biography +of his famous ancestor, William, Lord Russell, appeared, and +that of Mr. Disraeli when the veteran statesman took the +world into his confidence with ‘Recollections and Suggestions.’ +It is amusing now to recall the fact that two years +after the battle of Waterloo Lord John Russell feared that +he could never stand the strain of a political career, and +Tom Moore’s well-known poetical ‘Remonstrance’ was +called forth by the young Whig’s intention at that time to +abandon the Senate for the study. When Lord Grey’s +Ministry was formed in 1830 to carry Reform, Lord John +was the author of several books, grave and gay, and had +been seventeen years in Parliament, winning already a considerable +reputation within and without its walls. It was a +surprise at the moment, and it is not even yet quite clear +why Russell was excluded from the Cabinet. Mr. Disraeli +has left on record his interpretation of the mystery: ‘Lord +John Russell was a man of letters, and it is a common +opinion that a man cannot at the same time be successful +both in meditation and in action.’ If this surmise is correct, +Lord John’s fondness for printer’s ink kept him out of +Downing Street until he made by force his merit known +as a champion of popular rights in the House of Commons. +Literature often claimed his pen, for, besides many contributions +in prose and verse to periodicals, to say +nothing of writings which still remain in manuscript and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span> +prefaces to the books of other people, he published about +twenty works, great and small. Yet, his strength lay elsewhere.</p> + +<p>His literary pursuits, with scarcely an exception, represent +his hours of relaxation and the manner in which he sought +relief from the cares of State. In the pages of ‘William, +Lord Russell,’ which was published in 1819, when political +corruption was supreme and social progress all but impossible, +Lord John gave forth no uncertain sound. ‘In these +times, when love of liberty is too generally supposed to be +allied with rash innovation, impiety, and anarchy, it seems to +me desirable to exhibit to the world at full length the +portrait of a man who, heir to wealth and title, was foremost +in defending the privileges of the people; who, when busily +occupied in the affairs of public life, was revered in his own +family as the best of husbands and of fathers; who joined +the truest sense of religion with the unqualified assertion of +freedom; who, after an honest perseverance in a good +cause, at length attested, on the scaffold, his attachment to +the ancient principles of the Constitution and the inalienable +right of resistance.’ The interest of the book consists not +merely in its account—gathered in part at least from family +papers at Woburn and original letters at Longleat—of Lord +Russell, but also in the light which is cast on the period of +the Restoration, and the policy of Charles II. and the Duke +of York.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">A CONFIDENT WHIG</div> + +<p>Two years later, Lord John published an ‘Essay on the +History of the English Government and Constitution,’ +which, in an expanded form, has passed through several +editions, and has also appeared in a French version. The +book is concerned with constitutional change in England +from the reign of Henry VII. to the beginning of the +nine<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span>teenth +century. Lord John made no secret of his conviction +that, whilst the majority of the Powers of Europe +needed revolutionary methods to bring them into sympathy +with the aspirations of the people, the Government of +England was not in such an evil case, since its ‘abuses +easily admit of reforms consistent with its spirit, capable of +being effected without injury or danger, and mainly contributing +to its preservation.’ The historical reflections which +abound in the work, though shrewd, can scarcely be described +as remarkable, much less as profound. The ‘Essay on +English Government’ is, in fact, not the confessions of an +inquiring spirit entangled in the maze of political speculation, +but the conclusions of a young statesman who has made +up his mind, with the help of Somers and Fox.</p> + +<p>Perhaps, however, the most important of Lord John’s +contributions to the study of the philosophy of history was +‘Memoirs of the Affairs of Europe from the Peace of Utrecht.’ +It describes at considerable length, and often with luminous +insight, the negotiations which led to the treaty by which +the great War of the Spanish Succession was brought to an +end. It also throws light on men and manners during +the last days of Louis XIV., and on the condition of affairs +in France which followed his death. The closing pages of +the second volume are concerned with a survey of the +religious state of England during the first half of the eighteenth +century. Lord John in this connection pays homage +to the work of Churchmen of the stamp of Warburton, +Clarke, and Hoadly; but he entirely fails to appreciate at +anything like their true value the labours of Whitfield and +Wesley, though doing more justice to the great leaders of +Puritanism, a circumstance which was perhaps due to the +fact that they stand in the direct historical succession, not +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span> +merely in the assertion of the rights of conscience, but in the +ordered growth of freedom and society.</p> + +<p>Amongst the most noteworthy of Lord John Russell’s +literary achievements were the two works which he published +concerning a statesman whose memory, he declared, +ought to be ‘consecrated in the heart of every lover of +freedom throughout the globe’—Charles James Fox, a +master of assemblies, and, according to Burke, perhaps the +greatest debater whom the world has ever seen. The +books in question are entitled ‘Memorials and Correspondence,’ +which was published in four volumes at intervals +between the years 1853 and 1857, and the more important +‘Life and Times of Charles James Fox,’ which appeared +in three volumes between the years 1859 and 1866. This +task, like so many others which Lord John accomplished, +came unsought at the death of his old friend, Lady Holland, +in 1845. It was the ambition of Lord Holland, ‘nephew +of Fox and friend of Grey,’ as he used proudly to style +himself, to edit the papers and write the life of his brilliant +kinsman. Politics and society and the stately house at +Kensington, which, from the end of last century until the +opening years of the Queen’s reign, was the chief <i>salon</i> +of the Whig party, combined, with an easy procrastinating +temperament, to block the way, until death ended, in the +autumn of 1840, the career of the gracious master of +Holland House. The materials which Lord Holland and +his physician, librarian, and friend, Dr. John Allen, had +accumulated, and which, by the way, passed under the +scrutiny of Lord Grey and Rogers, the poet, were +edited by Lord John, with the result that he grew fascinated +with the subject, and formed the resolution, in +consequence, to write ‘The Life and Times’ of the great +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span> +Whig statesman. He declared that it was well to have a +hero, and a hero with a good many faults and failings.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">FOX AND MOORE</div> + +<p>Fox did more than any other statesman in the dull reign +of George II. to prepare the way for the epoch of Reform, +and it was therefore fitting that the statesman who more +than any other bore the brunt of the battle in 1830-32 +should write his biography. Lord Russell’s biography of +Fox, though by no means so skilfully written as Sir George +Otto Trevelyan’s vivacious description of ‘The Early History +of Charles James Fox,’ is on a more extended scale than the +latter. Students of the political annals of the eighteenth +century are aware of its value as an original and suggestive +contribution to the facts and forces which have shaped the +relations of the Crown and the Cabinet in modern history. +Fox, in Lord John’s opinion, gave his life to the defence of +English freedom, and hastened his death by his exertion to +abolish the African Slave Trade. He lays stress, not only +on the great qualities which Fox displayed in public life, +but also on the simplicity and kindness of his nature, and +the spell which, in spite of grievous faults, he seemed able +to cast, without effort, alike over friends and foes.</p> + +<p>One of the earliest, and certainly one of the closest, +friendships of Lord John Russell’s life was with Thomas +Moore. They saw much of each other for the space +of nearly forty years in London society, and were also +drawn together in the more familiar intercourse of foreign +travel. It was with Lord John that the poet went to +Italy in 1819 to avoid arrest for debt, after his deputy at +Bermuda had embezzled 6,000<i>l.</i> Moore lived, more or +less, all his days from hand to mouth, and Lord John Russell, +who was always ready in a quiet fashion, in Kingsley’s +phrase, to help lame dogs over stiles, frequently displayed +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span> +towards the light-hearted poet throughout their long friendship +delicate and generous kindness. He it was who, in +conjunction with Lord Lansdowne, obtained for Moore +in 1835 a pension of 300<i>l.</i> a year, and announced the +fact as one which was ‘due from any Government, but +much more from one some of the members of which +are proud to think themselves your friends.’ Moore died +in 1852, and when his will was read—it had been made +when Lord John was still comparatively unknown—it +was discovered that he had, to give his own words, ‘confided +to my valued friend, Lord John Russell (having +obtained his kind promise to undertake the service for +me), the task of looking over whatever papers, letters, or +journals I may leave behind me, for the purpose of forming +from them some kind of publication, whether in the shape +of memoirs or otherwise, which may afford the means of +making some provision for my wife and family.’ Although +Lord John was sixty, and burdened with the cares of State, +if not with the cares of office, he cheerfully accepted the +task. Though it must be admitted that he performed +some parts of it in rather a perfunctory manner, the eight +volumes which appeared between 1853 and 1856 of the +‘Memoirs, Journal, and Correspondence of Thomas Moore’ +represent a severe tax upon friendship, as well as no ordinary +labour on the part of a man who was always more or less +immersed in public affairs.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">‘DON CARLOS’</div> + +<p>Lord John also edited the ‘Correspondence of John, +fourth Duke of Bedford,’ and prefaced the letters with a +biographical sketch. Quite early in his career he also +tried his hand at fiction in ‘The Nun of Arrouca,’ a story +founded on a romantic incident which occurred during his +travels in the Peninsula. The book appeared in 1822, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span> +and in the same year—he was restless and ambitious of +literary distinction at the time, and had not yet found his +true sphere in politics—he also published ‘Don Carlos,’ a +tragedy in blank verse, which was in reality not merely a +tirade against the cruelties of the Inquisition, but an +impassioned protest against religious disabilities in every +shape or form. ‘Don Carlos,’ though now practically forgotten, +ran through five editions in twelve months, and the +people remembered it when its author became the foremost +advocate in the House of Commons of the repeal of the +Test and Corporation Acts. Amongst other minor writings +which belong to the earlier years of Lord John Russell, it is +enough to name ‘Essays and Sketches of Life and Character,’ +‘The Establishment of the Turks in Europe,’ ‘A Translation +of the Fifth Book of the Odyssey,’ and an imitation of the +Thirteenth Satire of Juvenal, as well as an essay on the +‘Causes of the French Revolution,’ which appeared in 1832.</p> + +<p>It is still a moot point whether ‘Letters Written for the +Post, and not for the Press,’ an anonymous volume which +appeared in 1820, and which consists of descriptions of a tour +in Scotland, interspersed with dull moral lectures on the conduct +of a wife towards her husband, was from his pen. Mr. +George Elliot believes, on internal evidence, too lengthy +to quote, that the book—a small octavo volume of more +than four hundred pages—is erroneously attributed to his +brother-in-law, and the Countess Russell is of the same +opinion. Mr. Elliot cites inaccuracies in the book, and +adds that the places visited in Scotland do not correspond +with those which Lord John had seen when he went thither +in company with the Duke and Duchess in 1807; and +there is no evidence that he made another pilgrimage north +of the Tweed between that date and the appearance of the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span> +book. He adds that his father took the trouble to collect +everything which was written by Lord John, and the book +is certainly not in the library at Minto. Moreover, Mr. +Elliot is confident that either Lord Minto or Lord John +himself assured him that he might dismiss the idea of the +supposed authorship.</p> + +<p>After his final retirement from office, Lord John published, +in 1868, three letters to Mr. Chichester Fortescue +on ‘The State of Ireland,’ and this was followed by a +contribution to ecclesiastical history in the shape of a +volume of essays on ‘The Rise and Progress of the +Christian Religion in the West of Europe to the Council of +Trent.’ The leisure of his closing years was, however, +chiefly devoted to the preparation, with valuable introductions, +of selections from his own ‘Speeches and Despatches;’ +and this, in turn, was followed, after an interval of five +years, by a work entitled ‘Recollections and Suggestions, +1813-1873,’ which appeared as late as 1875, and which was +of singular personal interest as well as of historical importance. +It bears on the title-page two lines from Dryden, +which were often on Lord John’s lips in his closing years:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Not Heaven itself upon the past has power,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But what has been has been, and I have had my hour.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="sidenote">A RETROSPECT</div> + +<p>The old statesman’s once tenacious memory was failing +when he wrote the book, and there is little evidence of +literary arrangement in its contents. If, however, Lord +John did not always escape inaccuracy of statement or +laboured discursiveness of style, the value not only of his +political reminiscences, but also of his shrewd and often +pithily expressed verdicts on men and movements, is unquestionable, +and, on the whole, the vigour of the book is +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[281]</a></span> +as remarkable as its noble candour. Mr. Kinglake once +declared that ‘Lord John Russell wrote so naturally that it +recalled the very sound of his voice;’ and half the charm of +his ‘Recollections and Suggestions’ consists in the artlessness +of a record which will always rank with the original +materials of history, between the year in which Wellington +fought the battle of Vittoria and that in which, just sixty +years later, Napoleon III. died in exile at Chislehurst. In +speaking of his own career, Lord Russell, writing at the age +of eighty-one, uses words which are not less manly than +modest:</p> + +<p>‘I can only rejoice that I have been allowed to have +my share in the task accomplished in the half-century +which has elapsed from 1819 to 1869. My capacity, I +always felt, was very inferior to that of the men who have +attained in past times the foremost place in our Parliament +and in the councils of our Sovereign. I have committed +many errors, some of them very gross blunders. But the +generous people of England are always forbearing and +forgiving to those statesmen who have the good of their +country at heart. Like my betters, I have been misrepresented +and slandered by those who know nothing of me; +but I have been more than compensated by the confidence +and the friendship of the best men of my own political +connection, and by the regard and favourable interpretation +of my motives, which I have heard expressed by my generous +opponents, from the days of Lord Castlereagh to these of +Mr. Disraeli.’</p> + +<p>There were few questions in which Lord John Russell +was more keenly interested from youth to age than that of +National Education. As a boy he had met Joseph Lancaster, +during a visit of that far-seeing and practical friend +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[282]</a></span> +of poor children to Woburn, and the impression which the +humble Quaker philanthropist made on the Duke of Bedford’s +quick-witted as well as kind-hearted son was retained, +as one of his latest speeches show, to the close of life. At +the opening of the new British Schools in Richmond in the +summer of 1867, Lord John referred to his father’s association +with Joseph Lancaster, and added: ‘In this way I +naturally became initiated into a desire for promoting +schools for the working classes, and I must say, from that +time to this I never changed my mind upon the subject. +I think it is absolutely necessary our schools should not +merely be secular, but that they should be provided with +religious teaching, and that religious teaching ought not to +be sectarian. There will be plenty of time, when these +children go to church or chapel, that they should learn +either that particular form of doctrine their parents follow +or adopt one more consistent with their conscientious +feelings; but I think, while they are young boys and girls +at school, it ought to be sufficient for them to know what +Christ taught, and what the apostles taught; and from +those lessons and precepts they may guide their conduct in +life.’</p> + +<p>Lord John put his hand to the plough in the day of +small things, and, through good and through evil report, +from the days of Lancaster, Bell, and Brougham, to those +of Mr. Forster and the great measure of 1870, he never +withdrew from a task which lay always near to his heart. +It is difficult to believe that at the beginning of the present +century there were less than three thousand four hundred +schools of all descriptions in the whole of England, or that +when the reign of George III. was closing one-half of the +children of the nation still ran wild without the least +pre<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[283]</a></span>tence +of education. At a still later period the marriage +statistics revealed the fact that one-third of the men and +one-half of the women were unable to sign the register. +The social elevation of the people, so ran the miserable plea +of those who assuredly were not given to change, was +fraught with peril to the State. Hodge, it was urged, ought +to be content to take both the Law and the Commandments +from his betters, since a little knowledge is a dangerous +thing. As for the noisy, insolent operatives and artisans +of the great manufacturing towns, was there not for them +the strong hand of authority, and, if they grew too obstreperous, +the uplifted sabre of the military as at Peterloo? It +was all very well, however, to extol the virtues of patience, +contentment, and obedience, but the sense of wrong and of +defiance rankled in the masses, and with it—in a dull and +confused manner—the sense of power.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">THE AWAKENING OF THE PEOPLE</div> + +<p>The Reform Bill of 1832 mocked in many directions +the hopes of the people, but it at least marked a great +social as well as a great political departure, and with it +came the dawn of a new day to modern England. As +the light broadened, the vision of poets and patriots began +to be realised in practical improvements, which came +home to men’s business and bosom; the standard of +intelligence rose, and with it freedom of thought, and +the, sometimes passionate, but more often long-suffering +demand for political, social, and economic concessions +to justice. It was long before the privileged classes began +to recognise, except in platform heroics, that it was high +time to awake out of sleep and to ‘educate our masters;’ +but the work began when Lord Althorp persuaded the +House of Commons to vote a modest sum for the erection of +school buildings in England; and that grant of 20,000<i>l.</i> in +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[284]</a></span> +1832 was the ‘handful of corn on the top of the mountains’ +which has brought about the golden harvest of to-day. The +history of the movement does not, of course, fall within the +province of these pages, though Lord John Russell’s name +is associated with it in an honourable and emphatic sense. +The formation, chiefly at his instance, in 1839 of a Council +of Education paved the way for the existing system of +elementary education, and lifted the whole problem to the +front rank of national affairs.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">POPULAR EDUCATION</div> + +<p>He was the first Prime Minister of England to carry a +measure which made it possible to secure trained teachers +for elementary schools; and his successful effort in 1847 to +‘diminish the empire of ignorance,’ as he styled it, was one of +the events in his public life on which he looked back in after +years with the most satisfaction. During the session of 1856 +Lord John brought forward in the House of Commons a bold +scheme of National Education. He contended that out of +four million children of school age only one-half were receiving +instruction, whilst not more than one-eighth were attending +schools which were subject to inspection. The vast majority +were to be found in schools where the standard of education, +if not altogether an unknown quantity, was deplorably low. +He proposed that the number of inspectors should be increased, +and that a rate should be levied by the local authorities +for supplying adequate instruction in places where it was +unsatisfactory. He contended that the country should be +mapped out in school districts, and that the managers should +have the power to make provision for religious instruction, +and, at the same time, should allow the parents of the children +a voice in the matter. Prejudices ecclesiastical and social +blocked the way, however, and Lord John was compelled +to abandon the scheme, which suggested, and to a large +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[285]</a></span> +extent anticipated Mr. Forster’s far-reaching measure, which +in 1870 met with a better fate, and linked the principles +of local authority and central supervision in the +harmonious working of public education. When the victory +was almost won Mr. Forster, with characteristic kindliness, +wrote to the old statesman who had laboured for the people’s +cause in years of supreme discouragement:—‘As regards +universal compulsory education, I believe we shall soon +complete the building. It is hard to see how there would +have been a building to complete, if you had not, with great +labour and in great difficulty, dug the foundations in 1839.’ +Happily Lord John lived to witness the crowning of the +edifice by the Gladstone Administration.</p> + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[286]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV</h2> + +<p class="title">COMING BACK TO POWER<br /><br /> + +1857-1861</p> + +<p class="desc">Lord John as an Independent Member—His chance in the City—The +Indian Mutiny—Orsini’s attempt on the life of Napoleon—The +Conspiracy Bill—Lord John and the Jewish Relief Act—Palmerston +in power—Lord John at the Foreign Office—Cobden and Bright—Quits +the Commons with a Peerage.</p> + + +<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Lord John</span> came prominently to the front in public +affairs in the brief session of 1857, which ended in Lord +Palmerston’s appeal to the country. He spoke against the +Government during the discussions in the House of +Commons on the conduct of the Persian War, and he +exercised his independence in other directions. Even +shrewd and well-informed observers were curiously oblivious, +for the moment, of the signs of the times, for Greville wrote +on February 27: ‘Nobody cares any longer for John Russell, +everybody detests Gladstone; Disraeli has no influence in +the country, and a very doubtful position with his own +party.’ Yet scarcely more than a fortnight later this cynical, +but frank scribe added: ‘Some think a reaction in favour of +John Russell has begun. He stands for the City, and is in +very good spirits, though his chances of success do not look +bright; but he is a gallant little fellow, likes to face danger, +and comes out well in times of difficulty.’ Between these +two statements the unexpected had happened. Cobden +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[287]</a></span> +had brought forward a motion censuring the conduct of +the Government in the affair of the lorcha, ‘Arrow,’ at +Canton, and the three statesmen on whom Greville had +contemptuously pronounced judgment—Russell, Gladstone, +and Disraeli—had supported the Manchester school, with +the result that the Government, on March 4, suffered defeat +by a majority of sixteen votes. Parliament was dissolved in +the course of the month, and the General Election brought +Lord Palmerston back to power, pledged to nothing unless +it was a spirited foreign policy.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">THE CITY FIGHTS SHY</div> + +<p>The personal ascendency of Lord Palmerston, whom +Disraeli cleverly styled the Tory chief of a Radical Cabinet, +carried the election, for there was a good deal of truth in +the assertion that nobody cared a straw for his colleagues. +The Peace party suffered defeat at the polls, and, amongst +others, Cobden himself was turned out at Huddersfield, +and Bright and Milner Gibson were his companions in +misfortune at Manchester. A vigorous attempt was made +to overthrow Lord John in the City, and his timid friends +in the neighbourhood of Lombard Street and the Exchange +implored him not to run the risk of a contested election. +He was assured in so many words, states Lady Russell, +that he had as much chance of being elected Pope as of +being elected member for the City; and the statement +roused his mettle. He was pitted against a candidate from +Northampton, and the latter was brought forward with +the powerful support of the Registration Association of +the City of London, and in a fashion which was the reverse +of complimentary to the old statesman.</p> + +<p>Lord John was equal to the occasion, and was by no +means inclined to throw up the sponge. He went down to +the City, and delivered not merely a vigorous, but vivacious +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[288]</a></span> +speech, and in the course of it he said, with a jocularity +which was worthy of Lord Palmerston himself: ‘If a +gentleman were disposed to part with his butler, his +coachman, or his gamekeeper, or if a merchant were +disposed to part with an old servant, a warehouseman, a +clerk, or even a porter, he would say to him, “John—(laughter)—I +think your faculties are somewhat decayed; +you are growing old, you have made several mistakes, and I +think of putting a young man from Northampton in your +place.” (Laughter and cheers.) I think a gentleman would +behave in that way to his servant, and thereby give John an +opportunity of answering that he thought his faculties were +not so much decayed, and that he was able to go on, at all +events, some five or six years longer. That opportunity was +not given to me. The question was decided in my +absence, without any intimation to me; and I come now to +ask you and the citizens of London to reverse that decision.’ +He was taken at his word, and the rival candidate from +Northampton was duly sent to the neighbouring borough of +Coventry.</p> + +<p>The summer of 1857 was darkened in England by +tidings of the Indian Mutiny and of the terrible massacre +at Cawnpore. In face of the disaster Lord John not +merely gave his hearty support to the Government, but +delivered an energetic protest against the attack of the +Opposition at such a crisis, and moved an address assuring +the Crown of the support of Parliament, which was carried, +in spite of Disraeli, without a division. At the same time +Lord John in confidential intercourse made it plain that he +recognised to the full extent the need of reform in the administration +of India, and he did not hesitate to intimate +that, in his view, the East India Company was no longer +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[289]</a></span> +equal to the strain of so great a responsibility. He brought +no railing accusations against the Company, but, on the +contrary, declared that it must be admitted they had ‘conducted +their affairs in a wonderful manner, falling into errors +that were natural, but displaying merits of a high order. +The real ground for change is that the machine is worn +out, and, as a manufacturer changes an excellent engine of +Watt and Boulton made fifty years ago for a new engine +with modern improvements, so it becomes us to find a new +machine for the government of India.’</p> + +<div class="sidenote">THE ORSINI PLOT</div> + +<p>Before the upheaval in India had spent its force fresh +difficulties overtook Lord Palmerston’s Government. Count +Orsini, strong in the conviction that Napoleon III. was the +great barrier to the progress of revolution in Italy, determined +to rid his countrymen of the man who, beyond all others, +seemed bent on thwarting the national aspirations. With other +conspirators, he threw three bombs on the night of January +14, 1858, at the carriage of the Emperor and Empress as they +were proceeding to the Opera, and, though they escaped unhurt, +ten persons were killed and many wounded. The bombs +had been manufactured in England, and Orsini—who was +captured and executed—had arranged the dastardly outrage +in London, and the consequence was a fierce outbreak of +indignation on the other side of the Channel. Lord +Palmerston, prompted by the French Government, which +demanded protection from the machinations of political +refugees, brought forward a Conspiracy Bill. The feeling +of the country, already hostile to such a measure, grew pronounced +when the French army, not content with congratulating +the Emperor on his escape, proceeded to refer to +England in insulting, and even threatening, terms. Lord +John, on high constitutional grounds, protested against the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[290]</a></span> +introduction of the measure, and declared that he was +determined not to share in such ‘shame and humiliation.’ +The Government were defeated on the Conspiracy Bill, on +February 19, by nineteen votes. Amongst the eighty-four +Liberals in the majority occur the names, not merely of +Lord John Russell and Sir James Graham, but Mr. Cardwell +and Mr. Gladstone. Lord Palmerston promptly resigned, +and Lord Derby came into office. Disraeli, as +Chancellor of the Exchequer and leader of the House of +Commons, proceeded with characteristic audacity and a +light heart to educate the new Conservative Party in the art +of dishing the Whigs.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">THE JEWISH RELIEF ACT</div> + +<p>The new Ministry was short-lived. Lord Derby was in +advance of his party, and old-fashioned Tories listened with +alarm to the programme of work which he set before them. +For the moment Lord John was not eager for office, +and he declared that the ‘new Ministers ought not to be +recklessly or prematurely opposed.’ He added that he +would not sanction any cabal among the Liberal party, and +that he had no intention whatever of leading an alliance of +Radicals and Peelites. Impressed with the magnitude of +the issues at stake, he helped Lord Derby to pass the new +India Bill, which handed the government of that country +over to the Crown. He held that the question was too great +to be made a battle-field of party, but thorough-paced +adherents of Lord Palmerston did not conceal their indignation +at such independent action. Lord John believed at the +moment that it was right for him to throw his influence into +the scale, and therefore he was indifferent to the passing +clamour. The subsequent history of the English in India +has amply justified the patriotic step which he took in scorn +of party consequences. The Jewish Relief Act became law +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[291]</a></span> +in 1858, and Lord John at length witnessed the triumph of +a cause which he had brought again and again before +Parliament since the General Election of 1847, when Baron +Rothschild was returned as his colleague in the representation +of the City. Scarcely any class of the community +showed themselves more constantly mindful of his services +on their behalf than the Jews. When one of them took an +opportunity of thanking him for helping to free a once +oppressed race from legal disabilities, Lord John replied: +‘The object of my life has been not to benefit a race alone, +but all nationalities that suffered under civil and religious +disabilities.’ He used to relate with evident appreciation the +reply which Lord Lyndhurst once gave to a timid statesman +who feared a possible Hebrew invasion of the woolsack. The +man who was appointed four times to that exalted seat retorted: +‘Well, I see no harm in that; Daniel would have made +a good Lord Chancellor.’</p> + +<p>Everyone recognised that the Derby Administration +was a mere stop-gap, and, as months passed on, its +struggle for existence became somewhat ludicrous. They +felt themselves to be a Ministry on sufferance, and, according +to the gossip of the hour, their watchword was ‘Anything +for a quiet life.’ There were rocks ahead, and at +the beginning of the session of 1859 they stood revealed in +Mr. Disraeli’s extraordinary proposals for Reform, and in +the war-cloud which was gathering rapidly over Europe in +consequence of the quarrel between France and Austria about +the affairs of Italy. Mr. Disraeli’s Reform Bill taxed the +allegiance of his party to the breaking point, and when its +provisions were disclosed two of his colleagues resigned—Mr. +Spencer Walpole the Home Office, and Mr. Henley the +Board of Trade, rather than have part or lot in such a +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[292]</a></span> +measure. There is no need here to describe in detail a +scheme which was foredoomed by its fantastic character to +failure. It confused great issues; it brought into play what +Mr. Bright called fancy franchises; it did not lower the +voting qualification in boroughs; its new property qualifications +were of a retrograde character; and it left the working +classes where it found them. It frightened staid Tories of +the older school, and excited the ridicule, if not the indignation, +of all who had seriously grappled with the problem.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">LORD GRANVILLE’S IMPOSSIBLE TASK</div> + +<p>The immediate effect was to unite all sections of the +Liberal Party. Lord John led the attack, and did so on the +broad ground that it did not go far enough; and on April 1, +after protracted debate, the measure was defeated by a +majority of thirty-nine votes in a House of six hundred and +twenty-one members. Parliament was prorogued on April 19, +and the country was thrown into the turmoil of a General +Election. Lord John promptly appealed to his old constituents +in the City, and in the course of a vigorous address +handled the ‘so-called Reform Bill’ in no uncertain +manner. He declared that amongst the numerous defects +of the Bill ‘one provision was conspicuous by its presence +and another by its absence.’ He had deemed it advisable +on the second reading to take what seemed to be the ‘most +clear, manly, and direct’ course, and that was the secret +of his amendment. The House of Commons had +mustered in full force, and the terms of the amendment had +been carried. The result of the General Election was that +three hundred and fifty Liberals and three hundred and two +Conservatives were returned to Westminster. Parliament +met on May 31, and Lord Hartington moved an amendment +to the Address which amounted to an expression of want of +confidence. The amendment was carried by a majority +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[293]</a></span> +of thirteen on June 12, and Lord Derby’s Administration +came the same night to an end. The result of the division +took both parties somewhat by surprise. The astonishment +was heightened when her Majesty sent for Lord +Granville, an action which, to say the least, was a left-handed +compliment to old and distinguished advisers of the Crown. +Happily, though the sovereign may in such high affairs of +State propose, it is the country which must finally dispose, +and Lord Granville swiftly found that in the exuberance of +political youth he had accepted a hopeless commission. +He therefore relinquished an impossible task, and the Queen +sent for Lord Palmerston.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">PALMERSTON’S MIXED MULTITUDE</div> + +<p>In the earlier years of Lord John’s retirement from +office after the Vienna Conference his relations with some +of his old colleagues, and more particularly with Lord +Clarendon and Lord Palmerston, were somewhat strained. +The blunders of the Derby Government, the jeopardy in +India, the menacing condition of foreign politics, and, still +more, the patriotism and right feeling of both men, gradually +drew Palmerston and Russell into more intimate +association, with the result that in the early summer of +1859 the frank intercourse of former years was renewed. +More than twelve years had elapsed since Lord John had +attained the highest rank possible to an English statesman. +In the interval he had consented, under strong pressure +from the most exalted quarters, to waive his claims by consenting +to serve under Lord Aberdeen; and the outcome of +that experiment had been humiliating to himself, as well as +disastrous to the country. He might fairly have stood on +his dignity—a fool’s pedestal at the best, and one which +Lord John was too sensible ever to mount—at the present +juncture, and have declined to return to the responsibilities +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[294]</a></span> +of office, except as Prime Minister. The leaders of the +democracy, Mr. Bright and Mr. Cobden, were much more +friendly to him than to Lord Palmerston. Apart from published +records, Lady Russell’s diary shows that at the +beginning of this year Mr. Bright was in close communication +with her husband. Lord John good-humouredly protested +that Mr. Bright alarmed timid people by his speeches; +whereupon the latter replied that he had been much misrepresented, +and declared that he was more willing to be lieutenant +than general in the approaching struggle for Reform. +He explained his scheme, and Lord John found that it had +much in common with his own, from which it differed only +in degree, except on the question of the ballot. ‘There has +been a meeting between Bright and Lord John,’ was Lord +Houghton’s comment, ‘but I don’t know that it has led to +anything except a more temperate tone in Bright’s last +speeches.’ Mr. Cobden, it is an open secret, would not have +refused to serve under Lord John, but his hostility to Lord +Palmerston’s policy was too pronounced for him now to +accept the offer of a seat in the new Cabinet. He assured +Lord John that if he had been at the head of the Administration +the result would have been different. Both Mr. Cobden +and Mr. Bright felt that Lord Palmerston blocked the way to +any adequate readjustment in home politics of the balance of +power, and they were inspired by a settled distrust of his +foreign policy. Lord John, on the other hand, though +he might not move as swiftly as such popular leaders thought +desirable, had still a name to conjure with, and was +the consistent advocate, though on more cautious lines, +of an extension of the franchise. Moreover, Lord John’s +attack on Palmerston’s Government in regard to the +conduct of the Chinese war, his vigorous protest against +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[295]</a></span> +the Conspiracy Bill, and his frank sympathy with Mazzini’s +dream of a United Italy, helped to bring the old leader, +in the long fight for civil and religious liberty, into +vital touch with younger men of the stamp of Cobden, +Bright, and Gladstone, of whom the people justly expected +great things in the not distant future. Lord John knew, +however, that the Liberal camp was full of politicians +who were neither hot nor cold—men who had slipped into +Parliament on easy terms, only to reveal the fact that their +prejudices were many and their convictions few. They +sheltered themselves under the great prestige of Lord +Palmerston, and represented his policy of masterly inactivity, +rather than the true sentiments of the nation. Lord Palmerston +was as jaunty as ever; but all things are not possible +even to the ablest man, at seventy-five.</p> + +<p>Although Lord John was not willing to serve under +Lord Granville, who was his junior by more than a score +of years, he saw his chance at the Foreign Office, and +therefore consented to join the Administration of Lord +Palmerston. In accepting office on such terms in the +middle of June, he made it plain to Lord Palmerston +that the importance of European affairs at the moment had +induced him to throw in his lot with the new Ministry. The +deadlock was brought to an end by Lord John’s patriotic +decision. Mr. Gladstone became Chancellor of the +Exchequer, Lord Granville President of the Council; and +amongst others in the Cabinet were Sir G. C. Lewis, Mr. +Milner Gibson, Sir George Grey, and the Duke of Argyll. +Though Cobden would not accept a place in the Government, +he rendered it important service by negotiating the +commercial treaty with France, which came into force at the +beginning of 1860. Next to the abolition of the Corn Laws, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[296]</a></span> +which he more than any other man brought about, it was +the great achievement of his career. Free Trade, by liberating +commerce from the bondage under which it groaned, +gave food to starving multitudes, redressed a flagrant and +tyrannical abuse of power, shielded a kingdom from the +throes of revolution, and added a new and magical impetus +to material progress in every quarter of the globe. The +commercial treaty with France, by establishing mercantile +sympathy and intercourse between two of the most +powerful nations of the world, carried forward the work +which Free Trade had begun, and, by bringing into play +community of interests, helped to give peace a sure foundation.</p> + +<p>Parliament met on January 24, and in the Speech from +the Throne a Reform Bill was promised. It was brought +forward by Lord John Russell on March 1—the twenty-ninth +anniversary of a red-letter day in his life, the introduction of +the first Reform Bill. He proposed to reduce the county +franchise to 10<i>l.</i> qualification, and the borough to 6<i>l.</i>; one +member was to be taken from each borough with a population +of less than seven thousand, and in this way twenty-five +seats were obtained for redistribution. Political power was +to be given where the people were congregated, and Lord +John’s scheme of re-distribution gave two seats to the West +Riding, and one each to thirty other counties or divisions, +and five to boroughs hitherto unrepresented. The claims +of Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, and Leeds were +recognised by the proposal to add another representative in +each case; and the claims of culture were not forgotten, for +a member was given to London University. Gallio-like, +Lord Palmerston cared for none of these things, and he made +no attempt to conceal his indifference. One-half of the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[297]</a></span> +Cabinet appear to have shared his distaste for the measure, +and two or three of them regarded it with aversion. If +Cobden or Bright had been in the Cabinet, affairs might +have taken a different course; as it was, Lord John and Mr. +Gladstone stood almost alone.</p> + +<p>The Radicals, though gaining ground in the country, +were numerically weak in the House of Commons, and the +measure fell to the ground between the opposition of the +Tories and the faint praise with which it was damned by +the Whigs. Even Lord John was forced to confess that +the apathy of the country was undeniable. A more sweeping +measure would have had a better chance, but so long +as Lord Palmerston was at the head of affairs it was idle +to expect it. Lord John recognised the inevitable after +a succession of dreary debates, and the measure was withdrawn +on June 11. Lord John’s first important speech +in the House of Commons was made in the year of Peterloo, +when he brought forward, thirteen years before the +Reform Bill of 1832 was passed, proposals for an extension +of the franchise; and his last great speech in the House of +Commons at least showed how unmerited was the taunt of +‘finality,’ for it sought to give the working classes a share in +the government of the country.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">ACCEPTS A PEERAGE</div> + +<p>Early in the following year, Lord John was raised to +the peerage as Earl Russell of Kingston-Russell and +Viscount Amberley and Ardsalla. ‘I cannot despatch,’ +wrote Mr. Gladstone, ‘as I have just done, the Chiltern +Hundreds for you, without expressing the strong feelings +which even that formal act awakens. They are mixed, +as well as strong; for I hope you will be repaid in +repose, health, and the power of long-continuing service, +for the heavy loss we suffer in the House of Commons. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[298]</a></span> +Although you may not hereafter have opportunities of adding +to the personal debt I owe you, and of bringing it +vividly before my mind by fresh acts of courage and kindness, +I assure you, the recollection of it is already indelible.’ +Hitherto, Lord John—for the old name is the one under +which his family and his friends still like to apply to him—had +been a poor man; but the death, in the spring of this +year, of his brother the Duke of Bedford, with whom, from +youth to age, his intercourse had been most cordial, placed +him in possession of the Ardsalla Estate, and, indeed, made +possible his acceptance of the proffered earldom. Six +months later, her Majesty conferred the Garter upon him, +as a mark of her ‘high approbation of long and distinguished +services.’ Lord John had almost reached the +age of three score and ten when he entered the House of +Lords. He had done his work in ‘another place,’ but he +was destined to become once more First Minister of the +Crown, and, as Mr. Froude put it, to carry his reputation at +length off the scene unspotted by a single act which his biographers +are called upon to palliate.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[299]</a></span></p> + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV</h2> + +<p class="title">UNITED ITALY AND THE DIS-UNITED STATES<br /><br /> + +1861-1865</p> + +<p class="desc">Lord John at the Foreign Office—Austria and Italy—Victor Emmanuel +and Mazzini—Cavour and Napoleon III.—Lord John’s energetic +protest—His sympathy with Garibaldi and the struggle for freedom—The +gratitude of the Italians—Death of the Prince Consort—The +‘Trent’ affair—Lord John’s remonstrance—The ‘Alabama’ difficulty—Lord +Selborne’s statement—The Cotton Famine.</p> + + +<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Foreign</span> politics claimed Lord John’s undivided attention +throughout the four remaining years of the Palmerston +Administration. It was well for the nation that a statesman +of so much courage and self-reliance, cool sagacity, and +wide experience, controlled the Foreign Office in years when +wars and rumours of war prevailed alike in Europe and in +America. He once declared that it had always been his aim +to promote the cause of civil and religious liberty, not merely +in England, but in other parts of the world, and events were +now looming which were destined to justify such an assertion. +It is not possible to enter at length into the complicated +problems with which he had to deal during his tenure +of the Foreign Office, but the broad principles which animated +his policy can, in rough outline at least, be stated. It +is well in this connection to fall back upon his own words: +‘In my time very difficult questions arose. During the +period I held the seals of the Foreign Office I had to discuss +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[300]</a></span> +the question of the independence of Italy, of a treaty regarding +Poland made by Lord Castlereagh, the treaty regarding +Denmark made by Lord Malmesbury, the injuries done to +England by the republic of Mexico, and, not to mention +minor questions, the whole of the transactions arising out of +the civil war in America, embittered as they were by the +desire of a party in the United States to lay upon England +the whole blame of the insurrection, the “irrepressible conflict” +of their own fellow-citizens.’ Both of these questions +were far-reaching and crucial, and in his attitude towards +Italy and America, when they were in the throes of revolution, +Lord Russell’s generous love of liberty and vigour of +judgment alike stand revealed.</p> + +<p>Prince Metternich declared soon after the peace of 1815 +that Italy was ‘only a geographical expression.’ The taunt +was true at the time, but even then there was a young +dreamer living who was destined to render it false. ‘Great +ideas,’ declared Mazzini, ‘create great nations,’ and his +whole career was devoted to the attempt to bring about a +united Italy. The statesmanship of Cavour and the sword +of Garibaldi were enlisted in the same sacred cause. The +petty governments of the Peninsula grew suddenly impossible, +and Italy was freed from native tyranny and foreign domination. +Austria, not content with the possession of +Lombardy, which was ceded to her by the treaty of 1815, +had made her power felt in almost every direction, and +even at Naples her authority prevailed. The Austrians +were not merely an alien but a hated race, for they stood +between the Italian people and their dream of national +independence and unity, and native despotism could +always count on their aid in quelling any outbreak of +the revolutionary spirit. The governments of the country, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[301]</a></span> +Austria and the Vatican apart, were rendered contemptible +by the character of its tyrannical, incapable, and superstitious +rulers, but with the sway of such powers of darkness Sardinia +presented a bright contrast. The hopes of patriotic Italians +gathered around Victor Emmanuel II., who had fought +gallantly at Novara in 1849, and who possessed more public +spirit and common-sense than the majority of crowned +heads. Victor Emmanuel ascended the throne of Sardinia +at the age of twenty-eight, immediately after the crushing +disaster which seemed hopelessly to have wrecked the cause +of Italian independence. Although he believed, with Mazzini, +that there was only room for two kinds of Italians in +Italy, the friends and the enemies of Austria, he showed +remarkable self-restraint, and adopted a policy of conciliation +towards foreign Powers, whilst widening the liberties of +his own subjects until all over the land Italians came to +regard Sardinia with admiration, and to covet ‘liberty as it +was in Piedmont.’</p> + +<div class="sidenote">COUNT CAVOUR</div> + +<p>He gathered around him men who were in sympathy +with modern ideas of liberty and progress. Amongst +them was Count Cavour, a statesman destined to +impress not Italy alone, but Europe, by his honesty of +purpose, force of character, and practical sagacity. From +1852 to 1859, when he retired, rather than agree to the +humiliating terms of the Treaty of Villafranca, Cavour was +supreme in Sardinia. He found Sardinia crippled by defeat, +and crushed with debt, the bitter bequest of the Austrian +War; but his courage never faltered, and his capacity was +equal to the strain. Victor Emmanuel gave him a free +hand, and he used it for the consolidation of the kingdom. +He repealed the duties on corn, reformed the tariff, and +introduced measures of free trade. He encouraged public +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[302]</a></span> +works, brought about the construction of railways and +telegraphs, and advanced perceptibly popular education. +He saw that if the nation was to gain her independence, and +his sovereign become ruler of a united Italy, it was necessary +to propitiate the Western Powers. In pursuance of such a +policy, Cavour induced Piedmont to join the Allies in the +Crimean War, and the Italian soldiers behaved with conspicuous +bravery at the battle of Tchernaya. When the war +closed Sardinia was becoming a power in Europe, and +Cavour established his right to a seat at the Congress of +Paris, where he made known the growing discontent +in Italy with the temporal power of the Papacy.</p> + +<p>In the summer of 1858 Napoleon III. was taking the +waters at Plombières, where also Count Cavour was on a +visit. The Emperor’s mood was leisured and cordial, and +Cavour took the opportunity of bringing the Court of +Turin into intimate but secret relations with that of the +Tuileries. France was to come to the aid of Sardinia under +certain conditions in the event of a war with Austria. +Napoleon was not, of course, inclined to serve Victor +Emmanuel for naught, and he therefore stipulated for +Savoy and Nice. Cavour also strengthened the position +of Sardinia by arranging a marriage between the Princess +Clotilde, daughter of Victor Emmanuel, and the Emperor’s +cousin, Prince Napoleon. Alarmed at the military preparations +in Sardinia, and the growth of the kingdom as a +political power in Europe, Austria at the beginning of 1859 +addressed an imperious demand for disarmament, which was +met by Cavour by a curt refusal. The match had been +put to the gunpowder and a fight for liberty took place. +The campaign was short but decisive. The Austrian +army crossed in force the Ticino, then hesitated and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[303]</a></span> +was lost. If they had acted promptly they might have +crushed the troops of Piedmont, whom they greatly outnumbered, +before the soldiers of France could cross the +Alps. The battle of Magenta, and the still more deadly +struggle at Solferino between Austria and the Allies, decided +the issue, and by the beginning of July Napoleon, for the +moment, was master of the situation.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">VILLAFRANCA</div> + +<p>The French Emperor, with characteristic duplicity, +had only half revealed his hand in those confidential +talks at Plombières. Italy was the cradle of his race, +and he too wished to create, if not a King of Rome, a +federation of small States ruled by princes of his own +blood. The public rejoicings at Florence, Parma, Modena, +and Bologna, and the ardent expression of the populace +at such centres for union with Sardinia, made the Emperor +wince, and showed him that it was impossible, even +with French bayonets, to crush the aspirations of a +nation. Napoleon met Francis Joseph at Villafranca, and +the preliminaries of peace were arranged on July 11 in a +high-handed fashion, and without even the presence of +Victor Emmanuel. Lombardy was ceded to Sardinia, though +Austria was allowed to keep Venetia and the fortress of +Mantua. France afterwards took Nice and Savoy; and the +Grand Duke of Tuscany and the Duke of Modena were +restored to power. The Treaty of Zürich ratified these +terms in the month of November. Meanwhile it was officially +announced that the Emperor of Austria and the Emperor of +the French would ‘favour the creation of an Italian Confederation +under the honorary presidency of the Holy +Father.’</p> + +<p>The Countess Martinengo Cesaresco, in a brilliant book +published within the last few months on ‘The Liberation +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[304]</a></span> +of Italy,’ in describing Lord John Russell’s opposition +to the terms of peace at Villafranca, and the vigorous +protest which, as Foreign Minister, he made on behalf +of England, says: ‘It was a happy circumstance for Italy +that her unity had no better friends than in the English +Government during those difficult years. Cavour’s words, +soon after Villafranca, “It is England’s turn now,” +were not belied.’<a name="FNanchor_39_39" id="FNanchor_39_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> With Lord John at the Foreign +Office, England rose to the occasion. Napoleon III. +wished to make a cat’s-paw of this country, and was +sanguine enough to believe that Her Majesty’s Government +would take the proposed Italian Confederation +under its wing. Lord Palmerston, Mr. Gladstone, and Lord +John Russell, were not, however, the men to bow to his +behests, and the latter in particular could scarcely conceal +his contempt for the scheme of the two emperors. ‘We +are asked to propose a partition of the peoples of Italy,’ he +exclaimed, ‘as if we had the right to dispose of them.’</p> + +<div class="sidenote">FRANCE AND AUSTRIA</div> + +<p>Lord John contended that if Austria, by virtue of her +presence on Italian soil, was a member of the suggested confederation, +she, because of the Vatican, the King of Naples, +and the two dukes, would virtually rule the roost. He wrote to +the British Minister at Florence in favour of a frank expression +on the part of the people of Tuscany of their own +wishes in the matter, and declared in the House of +Commons that he could have neither part nor lot with any +attempt to deprive the people of Italy of their right to choose +their own ruler. He protested against the presence in Italy +of foreign troops, whether French or Austrian, and in despatches +to Paris and Vienna he made the French and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[305]</a></span> +Austrian Governments aware that England was altogether +opposed to any return to that ‘system of foreign interference +which for upwards of forty years has been the misfortune +of Italy and the danger of Europe.’ Lord John urged +that France and Austria should agree not to employ armed +intervention for the future in the affairs of Italy, unless called +upon to do so by the unanimous voice of the five Great +Powers of Europe. He further contended that Napoleon III. +should arrange with Pius IX. for the evacuation of +Rome by the troops of France. He protested in vain against +the annexation of Savoy and Nice by France, which he +regarded as altogether a retrograde movement. In March +1860, in a speech in the House of Commons, he declared +that the course which the Emperor Napoleon had taken was +of a kind to produce great distrust all over Europe. He +regarded the annexation of Savoy, not merely as in itself an +act of aggression, but as one which was likely to ‘lead a +nation so warlike as the French to call upon its Government +from time to time to commit other acts of aggression.’ +England wished to live on the most friendly terms with +France. It was necessary, however, for the nations of +Europe to maintain peace, to respect not merely each others’ +rights, but each others’ boundaries, and, above all, to restore, +and not to disturb that ‘commercial confidence which is +the result of peace, which tends to peace, and which ultimately +forms the happiness of nations.’ When Napoleon +patched up a peace with Francis Joseph, which practically +ignored the aspirations of the Italian people, their indignation +knew no bounds, and they determined to work out +their own redemption.</p> + +<p>Garibaldi had already distinguished himself in the +campaign which had culminated at Solferino, and he now +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[306]</a></span> +took the field against the Bourbons in Naples and Sicily, +whilst insurrections broke out in other parts of Italy. +France suggested that England should help her in arresting +Garibaldi’s victorious march, but Lord John was too +old a friend of freedom to respond to such a proposal. +He held that the Neapolitan Government—the iniquities of +which Mr. Gladstone had exposed in an outburst of righteous +indignation in 1851—must be left to reap the consequences +of ‘misgovernment which had no parallel in all Europe.’ +Garibaldi, carried thither by the enthusiasm of humanity +and the justice of his cause, entered Naples in triumph on +September 7, 1860, the day after the ignominious flight of +Francis II. Victor Emmanuel was proclaimed King of +Italy two days later, and when he met the new Parliament +of his widened realm at Turin he was able to declare: +‘Our country is no more the Italy of the Romans, nor the +Italy of the Middle Ages: it is no longer the field for every +foreign ambition, it becomes henceforth the Italy of the +Italians.’</p> + +<p>Lord John’s part in the struggle did him infinite credit. +He held resolutely to the view all through the crisis, and +in the face of the censure of Austria, France, Prussia, and +Russia, that the Italians were the best judges of their own +interests, and that the Italian revolution was as justifiable +as the English revolution of 1688. He declared that, far +from censuring Victor Emmanuel and Count Cavour, her +Majesty’s Government preferred to turn its eyes to the +‘gratifying prospect of a people building up the edifice of +their liberties, and consolidating the work of their independence, +amid the sympathies and good wishes of Europe.’ +Foreign Courts might bluster, protest, or sneer, but England +was with her Foreign Minister; and ‘Punch’ summed up +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[307]</a></span> +the verdict of the nation in generous words of doggerel +verse:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Well said, Johnny Russell! That latest despatch<br /></span> +<span class="i0">You have sent to Turin is exactly the thing;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And again, my dear John, you come up to the scratch<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With a pluck that does credit to you and the Ring.’<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="sidenote">ITALY’S GRATITUDE</div> + +<p>The utmost enthusiasm prevailed in Italy when the +terms of Lord John’s despatch became known. Count +Cavour and General Garibaldi vied with each other in +emphatic acknowledgments, and Lord John was assured +that he was ‘blessed night and morning by twenty millions +of Italians.’ In the summer of 1864 Garibaldi visited +England, and received a greater popular ovation in the +streets of the metropolis than that which has been accorded +to any crowned head in the Queen’s reign. He went down +to Pembroke Lodge to thank Lord John in person for the +help which he had given to Italy in the hour of her greatest +need. Lord John received a beautiful expression of the +gratitude of the nation, in the shape of an exquisite marble +statue by Carlo Romano, representing Young Italy holding +in her outstretched arms a diadem, inscribed with the arms +of its united States. During subsequent visits to Florence and +San Remo he was received with demonstrations of popular +respect, and at the latter place, shortly after his final retirement +from office in 1866, he said, in reply to an address: ‘I +thank you with all my heart for the honour you have done +me. I rejoice with you in seeing Italy free and independent, +with a monarchical government and under a patriotic king. +The Italian nation has all the elements of a prosperous +political life, which had been wanting for many centuries. +The union of religion, liberty, and civil order will increase +the prosperity of this beautiful country. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[308]</a></span>’</p> + +<div class="sidenote">THE PRINCE CONSORT</div> + +<p>A still more delicate problem of international policy, +and one which naturally came much nearer home to English +susceptibilities, arose in the autumn of 1861—a year which +was rendered memorable on one side of the Atlantic by the +outbreak of the Civil War, and on the other by the national +sorrow over the unexpected death, at the early age of forty-two, +of the Prince Consort. The latter event was not +merely an overwhelming and irrevocable loss to the Queen, +but in an emphatic sense a misfortune—it might almost be +said a disaster—to the nation. It was not until the closing +years of his life that the personal nobility and political +sagacity of Prince Albert were fully recognised by the English +people. Brought up in a small and narrow German Court, +the Prince Consort in the early years of her Majesty’s +reign was somewhat formal in his manners and punctilious +in his demands. The published records of the reign show +that he was inclined to lean too much to the wisdom, which +was not always ‘profitable to direct,’ of Baron Stockmar, a +trusted adviser of the Court, of autocratic instincts and strong +prejudices, who failed to understand either the genius of the +English constitution or the temper of the English race. +It is an open secret that the Prince Consort during the first +decade of the reign was by no means popular, either with the +classes or the masses. His position was a difficult one, for +he was, in the words of one of the chief statesmen of the +reign, at once the ‘permanent Secretary and the permanent +Prime Minister’ of the Crown; and there were undoubtedly +occasions when in both capacities he magnified his office. +Even if the Great Exhibition of 1851 had been memorable +for nothing else, it would have been noteworthy as the +period which marked a new departure in the Prince’s +relations with all grades of her Majesty’s subjects. It not +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[309]</a></span> +only brought him into touch with the people, but it brought +into view, as well as into play, his practical mastery of +affairs, and also his enlightened sympathy with the progress +in art and science, no less than in the commercial activities, +of the nation. It was not, however, until the closing years +of his life, when the dreary escapades of the Coalition +Ministry were beginning to be forgotten, that the great +qualities of the Prince Consort were appreciated to any +adequate degree. From the close of the Crimean War +to his untimely death, at the beginning of the Civil War +in America, was unquestionably the happiest as well as +the most influential period in a life which was at once +sensitive and upright.</p> + +<p>It ought in common fairness to be added that the +character of the Prince mellowed visibly during his later +years, and that the formality of his earlier manner was +exchanged for a more genial attitude towards those with +whom he came in contact in the duties and society of the +Court. Mr. Disraeli told Count Vitzthum that if the Prince +Consort had outlived the ‘old stagers’ of political life with +whom he was surrounded, he would have given to England—though +with constitutional guarantees—the ‘blessing of +absolute government.’ Although such a verdict palpably +overshot the mark, it is significant in itself and worthy of +record, since it points both to the strength and the limitations +of an illustrious life. There are passages in Lady +Russell’s diary, of too personal and too sacred a character to +quote, which reveal not only the poignant grief of the Queen, +but the manner in which she turned instinctively in her +burst of need to an old and trusted adviser of the Crown. +High but artless tribute is paid in the same pages to the +Queen’s devotion to duty under the heart-breaking strain of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[310]</a></span> +a loss which overshadowed with sorrow every home in England, +as well as the Palace at Windsor, at Christmas, 1861.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">THE ‘TRENT’ AFFAIR</div> + +<p>The last act of the Prince Consort of an official kind +was to soften certain expressions in the interests of international +peace and goodwill in the famous despatch which +was sent by the English Government, at the beginning of +December, to the British Ambassador at Washington, when +a deadlock suddenly arose between England and the +United States over the ‘Trent’ affair, and war seemed +imminent. Hostilities had broken out between the North +and the South in the previous July, and the opinion of +England was sharply divided on the merits of the struggle. +The bone of contention, to put the matter concisely, was the +refusal of South Carolina and ten other States to submit to +the authority of the Central Government of the Union. It +was an old quarrel which had existed from the foundation +of the American Commonwealth, for the individual States +of the Union had always been jealous of any infringement +of the right of self-government; but slavery was now the +ostensible root of bitterness, and matters were complicated +by radical divergences on the subject of tariffs. The Southern +States took a high hand against the Federal Government. +They seceded from the Union, and announced their independence +to the world at large, under the style and title of +the Confederate States of America. Flushed by the opening +victory which followed the first appeal to the sword, the +Confederate Government determined to send envoys to +Europe. Messrs. Mason and Slidell embarked at Havana, +at the beginning of November, on board the British mail-steamer +‘Trent,’ as representatives to the English and French +Governments respectively. The ‘Trent’ was stopped on +her voyage by the American man-of-war ‘San Jacinto,’ and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[311]</a></span> +Captain Wilkes, her commander, demanded that the Confederate +envoys and their secretaries should be handed over +to his charge. The captain of the ‘Trent’ made a vigorous +protest against this sort of armed intervention, but he had +no alternative except to yield, and Messrs. Mason and Slidell +were carried back to America and lodged in a military fortress.</p> + +<p>The ‘Trent’ arrived at Southampton on November 27, +and when her captain told his story indignation knew no +bounds. The law of nations had been set at defiance, and +the right of asylum under the British flag had been violated. +The clamour of the Press and of the streets grew suddenly +fierce and strong, and the universal feeling of the moment +found expression in the phrase, ‘Bear this, bear all.’ Lord +John Russell at once addressed a vigorous remonstrance to +the American Government on an ‘act of violence which was +an affront to the British flag and a violation of international +law.’ He made it plain that her Majesty’s Ministers were not +prepared to allow such an insult to pass without ‘full reparation;’ +but, at the same time, he refused to believe that it +could be the ‘deliberate intention’ of the Government of +the United States to force upon them so grave a question. +He therefore expressed the hope that the United States of +its own accord would at once ‘offer to the British Government +such redress as alone could satisfy the British nation.’ +He added that this must take the form of the liberation of +the envoys and their secretaries, in order that they might +again be placed under British protection, and that such an +act must be accompanied by a suitable apology. President +Lincoln and Mr. Seward reluctantly gave way; but their +decision was hastened by the war preparations in England, +and the protests which France, Austria, Prussia, Russia, and +Italy made against so wanton an outrage. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[312]</a></span></p> + +<p>The war took its course, and it seemed on more than one +occasion as if England must take sides in a struggle which, it +soon became apparent, was to be fought out to the bitter end. +Thoughts of mediation had occurred, both to Lord Palmerston +and Lord Russell, and in 1862 they contemplated the +thankless task of mediation, but the project was abandoned +as at least premature. Feeling ran high in England over the +discussion as to whether the ‘great domestic institution’ of +Negro slavery really lay at the basis of the struggle or not, and +public opinion was split into hostile camps. Sympathy with +the North was alienated by the marked honours which were +paid to the commander of the ‘San Jacinto;’ and the bravery +with which the South fought, for what many people persisted +in declaring was merely the right of self-government, kindled +enthusiasm for those who struggled against overwhelming +odds. In the summer of 1862 a new difficulty arose, and +the maintenance of international peace was once more imperilled. +The blockade of the Southern ports crippled the +Confederate Government, and an armed cruiser was built on +the Mersey to wage a war of retaliation on the high seas +against the merchant ships of the North. When the ‘Alabama’ +was almost ready the Federal Government got +wind of the matter, and formally protested against the ship +being allowed to put to sea.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">THE ‘ALABAMA’ DIFFICULTY</div> + +<p>The Cabinet submitted the question to the law officers +of the Crown; delay followed, and whilst the matter was +still under deliberation the ‘Alabama,’ on the pretext of a +trial trip, escaped, and began at once her remarkable career +of destruction. The late Lord Selborne, who at that +time was Solicitor-General, wrote for these pages the +following detailed and, of course, authoritative statement +of what transpired, and the facts which he recounts show +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[313]</a></span> +that Lord Russell, in spite of the generous admission which +he himself made in his ‘Recollections,’ was in reality not +responsible for a blunder which almost led to war, and which +when submitted to arbitration at Geneva cost England—besides +much irritation—the sum of 3,000,000<i>l.</i></p> + +<p>‘It was when Lord Russell was Secretary of State for +Foreign Affairs, during the American Civil War, and when I +was one of the Law Officers of the Crown, that I first became +personally well acquainted with him; and from that +time he honoured me with his friendship. In this way +I had good opportunities of knowledge on some subjects +as to which he has been at times misrepresented or misunderstood; +and perhaps I may best do honour to his +memory by referring to those subjects.</p> + +<p>‘There can be no idea more unfounded than that which +would call in question his friendliness towards the United +States during their contest with the Confederates. But he +had a strong sense, both of the duty of strictly observing all +obligations incumbent on this country as a neutral Power +by the law of nations, and of the danger of innovating +upon them by the admission of claims on either side, not +warranted by that law as generally understood, and with +which, in the then state both of our own and of the +American Neutrality Laws, it would have been practically +impossible for the Government of a free country to comply. +As a general principle, the freedom of commercial dealings +between the citizens of a neutral State and belligerents, +subject to the right of belligerents to protect themselves +against breach of blockade or carriage of contraband, had +been universally allowed, and by no nation more insisted on +than by the United States. Lord Russell did not think it +safe or expedient to endeavour to restrict that liberty. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[314]</a></span> +When asked to put in force Acts of Parliament made for the +better protection of our neutrality, he took, with promptitude +and with absolute good faith, such measures as it would +have been proper to take in any case in which our own +public interests were concerned; but he thought (and in +my judgment he was entirely right in thinking) that it was +not the duty of a British Minister, seeking to enforce British +statute law, to add to other risks of failure that of unconstitutional +disregard of the securities for the liberty of the +subject, provided by the system on which British laws +generally are administered and enforced.</p> + +<p>‘It was not through any fault or negligence of Lord +Russell that the ship “Alabama,” or any other vessel +equipped for the war service of the Confederate States, left +the ports of this country. The course taken by him in all +those cases was the same. He considered that some <i>prima +facie</i> evidence of an actual or intended violation either of +our own law or of the law of nations (such as might be +produced in a court of justice) was necessary, and that in +judging whether there was such evidence he ought to be +guided by the advice of the Law Officers of the Crown. +To obtain such evidence, he did not neglect any means +which the law placed in his power. If in any case the Board +of Customs may have been ill-advised, and omitted (as Sir +Alexander Cockburn thought) to take precautions which they +ought otherwise to have taken, this was no fault of Lord +Russell; still less was he chargeable with the delay of three +or four days which took place in the case of the “Alabama,” +in consequence of the illness of the Queen’s Advocate, Sir +John Harding; without which that vessel might never have +gone to sea.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">LORD SELBORNE’S EXPLANATION</div> + +<p>‘Lord Russell stated to Mr. Adams, immediately +after<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[315]</a></span>wards, +that Sir John Harding’s illness was the cause +of that delay. No one then called that statement in +question, which could not have been made without +good foundation. But after a lapse of many years, when +almost everybody who had known the exact circumstances +was dead, stories inconsistent with it obtained currency. +Of these, the most remarkable was published in 1881, in a +book widely read, the “Reminiscences” of the late Thomas +Mozley. The writer appears to have persuaded himself +(certainly without any foundation in fact) that “there was +not one of her Majesty’s Ministers who was not ready to +jump out of his skin for joy when he heard of the escape of +the ‘Alabama.’”<a name="FNanchor_40_40" id="FNanchor_40_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> He said that he met Sir John Harding +“shortly after the ‘Alabama’ had got away,” and was told +by him that he (Sir John) had been expecting a communication +from Government anxiously the whole week before, +that the expectation had unsettled and unnerved him for +other business, and that he had stayed in chambers rather +later than usual on Saturday for the chance of hearing at +last from them. He had then gone to his house in the +country. Returning on Monday, when he was engaged to +appear in court, he found a large bundle of documents in a +big envelope, without even an accompanying note, that had +been dropped into the letter-box on Saturday evening. To +all appearance, every letter and every remonstrance and +every affidavit, as fast as it arrived from Liverpool, had been +piled in a pigeon-hole till four or five o’clock on Saturday, +when the Minister, on taking his own departure for the +country, had directed a clerk to tie up the whole heap and +carry it to Doctors’ Commons.</p> + +<p>‘The facts are, that in the earlier stage of that business, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[316]</a></span> +before July 23, the Attorney- and Solicitor-General only were +consulted, and Sir John Harding knew nothing at all about +it. No part of the statement said by Mr. Mozley to have +been made to him could possibly be true; because during +the whole time in question Sir John Harding was under care +for unsoundness of mind, from which he never even partially +recovered, and which prevented him from attending to any +kind of business, or going into court, or to his chambers, or +to his country house. He was in that condition on July 23, +1862 (Wednesday, not Saturday) when the depositions on +which the question of the detention of the “Alabama” +turned were received at the Foreign Office. Lord Russell, +not knowing that he was ill, and thinking it desirable, from +the importance of the matter, to have the opinion of all +the three Law Officers (of whom the Queen’s Advocate was +then senior in rank), sent them on the same day, with the +usual covering letter, for that opinion; and they must have +been delivered by the messenger, in the ordinary course, +at Sir John Harding’s house or chambers. There they +remained till, the delay causing inquiry, they were recovered +and sent to the Attorney-General, who received +them on Monday, the 28th, and lost no time in holding a consultation +with the Solicitor-General. Their opinion, advising +that the ship should be stopped, was in Lord Russell’s hands +early the next morning; and he sent an order by telegraph +to Liverpool to stop her; but before it could be executed +she had gone to sea.</p> + +<p>‘Some of the facts relating to Sir John Harding’s illness +remained, until lately, in more or less obscurity, and Mr. +Mozley’s was not the only erroneous version of them which +got abroad. One such version having been mentioned, +as if authentic, in a debate in the House of Commons on +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[317]</a></span> +March 17, 1893, I wrote to the “Times” to correct it; and +in confirmation of my statement the gentleman who had +been Sir John Harding’s medical attendant in July 1862 came +forward, and by reference to his diary, kept at the time, +placed the facts and dates beyond future controversy.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">THE QUESTION OF ARBITRATION</div> + +<p>‘In the diplomatic correspondence, as to the “Alabama” +and other subjects of complaint by the United States, Lord +Russell stood firmly upon the ground that Great Britain had +not failed in any duty of neutrality; and Lord Lyons, the +sagacious Minister who then represented this country at +Washington, thought there would be much more danger to +our future relations with the United States in any departure +from that position than in strict and steady adherence +to it. But no sooner was the war ended than new currents +of opinion set in. In a debate on the subject in the House +of Commons on March 6, 1868, Lord Stanley (then Foreign +Secretary), who had never been of the same mind about it with +his less cautious friends, said that a “tendency might be detected +to be almost too ready to accuse ourselves of faults we +had not committed, and to assume that on every doubtful +point the decision ought to be against us.” The sequel is well +known. The Conservative Government consented to refer +to arbitration, not all the questions raised by the Government +of the United States, but those arising out of the ships alleged +to have been equipped or to have received augmentation of +force within the British dominions for the war service of the +Confederate States; and from that concession no other +Government could recede. For a long time the Government +or the Senate of the United States objected to any reference +so limited, and to the last they refused to go into an +open arbitration. They made it a condition, that new Rules +should be formulated, not only for future observance, but for +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[318]</a></span> +retrospective application to their own claims. This condition, +unprecedented and open in principle to the gravest +objections, was accepted for the sake of peace with a +nation so nearly allied to us; not, however, without an +express declaration, on the face of the Treaty of Washington, +that the British Government could not assent to those new +Rules as a statement of principles of international law which +were in force when the claims arose.</p> + +<p>‘While the Commissioners at Washington were engaged +in their deliberations, I was in frequent communication both +with Lord Granville and other members of the Cabinet, and +also with Lord Russell, who could not be brought to +approve of that way of settling the controversy. He had an +invincible repugnance to the reference of any questions +affecting the honour and good faith of this country, or its +internal administration, to foreign arbitrators; and he thought +those questions would not be excluded by the proposed +arrangement. He felt no confidence that any reciprocal +advantages to this country would be obtained from the new +Rules. Their only effect, in his view, would be to send us +handicapped into the arbitration. He did not believe that +the United States would follow the example which we +had set, by strengthening their Neutrality Laws; or that +they would be able, unless they did so, to prevent violations +of the Rules by their citizens in any future war in which +we might be belligerent and they neutral, any more than +they had been able in former times to prevent the equipment +of ships within their territory against Spain and +Portugal. It was not without difficulty that he restrained +himself from giving public expression to those views; but, +from generous and patriotic motives, he did so. The sequel +is not likely to have convinced him that his apprehensions +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[319]</a></span> +were groundless. The character of the “Case” presented +on the part of the United States, with the “indirect +claims,” and the arguments used to support them, would +have prevented the arbitration from proceeding at all, but +for action of an unusual kind taken by the arbitrators. +In such of their decisions as were adverse to this country, +the arbitrators founded themselves entirely upon the new +Rules, without any reference to general international law or +historical precedents; and the United States have done +nothing, down to this day, to strengthen their Neutrality +Laws, though certainly requiring it, at least as much as ours +did before 1870.’</p> + +<div class="sidenote">THE COTTON FAMINE</div> + +<p>Lord Russell then held resolutely to the view that her +Majesty’s Government had steadily endeavoured to maintain +a policy of strict neutrality, and so long as he was in power +at the Foreign Office, or at the Treasury, the demands of +the United States for compensation were ignored. Meanwhile, +there arose a mighty famine in Lancashire through +the failure of the cotton supply, and 800,000 operatives were +thrown, through no fault of their own, on the charity of +the nation, which rose splendidly to meet the occasion. +All classes of the community were bound more closely together +in the gentle task of philanthropy, as well as in +admiration of the uncomplaining heroism with which +privation was met by the suffering workpeople.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_39_39" id="Footnote_39_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> <i>The Liberation of Italy</i>, 1815-1870, by the Countess Evelyn +Martinengo Cesaresco (Seeley and Co. 1895), p. 252.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_40_40" id="Footnote_40_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> Second edition, 1892, chap. xcii.</p></div> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[320]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI</h2> + +<p class="title">SECOND PREMIERSHIP<br /><br /> + +1865-1866</p> + +<p class="desc">The Polish Revolt—Bismarck’s bid for power—The Schleswig-Holstein +difficulty—Death of Lord Palmerston—The Queen summons Lord +John—The second Russell Administration—Lord John’s tribute to +Palmerston—Mr. Gladstone introduces Reform—The ‘Cave of +Adullam’—Defeat of the Russell Government—The people accept +Lowe’s challenge—The feeling in the country.</p> + + +<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Lord John</span>, in his conduct of foreign affairs, acted with +generosity towards Italy and with mingled firmness and +patience towards America. It was a fortunate circumstance, +for the great interests at stake on both sides of the Atlantic, +that a man of so much judgment and right feeling was in +power at a moment when prejudice was strong and passion +ran high. Grote, who was by no means consumed with enthusiasm +for the Palmerston Government, did not conceal +his admiration of Lord John’s sagacity at this crisis. ‘The +perfect neutrality of England in the destructive civil war +now raging in America appears to me almost a phenomenon +in political history. No such forbearance has been shown +during the political history of the last two centuries. It is +the single case in which the English Government and +public, generally so meddlesome, have displayed most +prudent and commendable forbearance in spite of great +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[321]</a></span> +temptations to the contrary.’ Lord John had opinions, +and the courage of them; but at the same time he showed +himself fully alive to the fact that no greater calamity +could possibly overtake the English-speaking race than a +war between England and the United States.</p> + +<p>Europe was filled at the beginning of 1863 with tidings +of a renewed Polish revolt. Russia provoked the outbreak +by the stern measures which had been taken in the previous +year to repress the growing discontent of the people. The +conspiracy was too widespread and too deep-rooted for +Alexander II. to deal with, except by concessions to national +sentiment, which he was not prepared to make, and, therefore, +he fell back on despotic use of power. All able-bodied +men suspected of revolutionary tendencies were marked +out for service in the Russian army, and in this way, in +Lord John’s words, the ‘so-called conscription was turned +into a proscription.’ The lot was made to fall on all +political suspects, who were to be condemned for life +to follow the hated Russian flag. The result was not +merely armed resistance, but civil war. Poland, in her +struggle for liberty, was joined by Lithuania; but Prussia +came to the help of the Czar, and the protests of England, +France, and Austria were of no avail. Before the year +ended the dreams of self-government in Poland, after +months of bloodshed and cruelty, were again ruthlessly +dispelled.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">BISMARCK SHOWS HIS HAND</div> + +<p>One diplomatic difficulty followed another in quick +succession. Bismarck was beginning to move the pawns +on the chess-board of Europe. He had conciliated +Russia by taking sides with her against the Poles in spite +of the attitude of London, Paris, and Vienna. He feared +the spirit of insurrection would spread to the Poles in +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[322]</a></span> +Prussia, and had no sympathy with the aspirations of +oppressed nationalities. His policy was to make Prussia +strong—if need be by ‘blood and iron’—so that she might +become mistress of Germany. The death of Frederick VII. +of Denmark provoked a fresh crisis and revived in an +acute form the question of succession to the duchies of +Schleswig-Holstein. The Treaty of London in 1852 was +supposed to have settled the question, and its terms had been +accepted by Austria and Prussia. The integrity of Denmark +was recognised, and Prince Christian of Glucksburg was +accepted as heir-presumptive of the reigning king. The +German Diet did not regard this arrangement as binding, +and the feeling in the duchies themselves, especially in +Holstein, was against the claims of Denmark. But the +Hereditary Prince Frederick of Augustenburg disputed the +right of Christian IX. to the Duchies, and Bismarck induced +Austria to join Prussia in the occupation of the disputed +territory.</p> + +<p>It is impossible to enter here into the merits of +the quarrel, much less to describe the course of the +struggle or the complicated diplomatic negotiations which +grew out of it. Denmark undoubtedly imagined that +the energetic protest of the English Government against +her dismemberment would not end in mere words. The +language used by both Lord Palmerston and Lord John +Russell was of a kind to encourage the idea of the +adoption, in the last extremity, of another policy than +that of non-intervention. Bismarck, on the other hand, it +has been said with truth, had taken up the cause of Schleswig-Holstein, +not in the interest of its inhabitants, but in +the interests of Germany, and by Germany he meant the +Government of Berlin and the House of Hohenzollern. He +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[323]</a></span> +represented not merely other ideas, but other methods than +those which prevailed with statesmen who were old enough +to recall the wars of Napoleon and the partition of Europe +to which they gave rise. It must be admitted that England +did not show to advantage in the Schleswig-Holstein +difficulty, in spite of the soundness of her counsels; and +Bismarck’s triumph in the affair was as complete as the +policy on which it was based was bold and adroit. Lord +Palmerston and Lord John were embarrassed on the one +hand by the apathy of Russia and France and on the +other by the cautious, not to say timid, attitude of their +own colleagues. ‘As to Cabinets,’ wrote Lord Palmerston, +with dry humour, in reply to a note in which Lord John +hinted that if the Prime Minister and himself had been +given a free hand they could have kept Austria from war +with Denmark, ‘if we had had colleagues like those who +sat in Pitt’s Cabinet, such as Westmoreland and others, +or such men as those who were with Peel, like Goulburn +and Hardinge, you and I might have had our own way in +most things. But when, as is now the case, able men +fill every department, such men will have opinions and +hold to them. Unfortunately, they are often too busy +with their own department to follow up foreign questions +so as to be fully masters of them, and their conclusions +are generally on the timid side of what might be the +best.’<a name="FNanchor_41_41" id="FNanchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a></p> + +<div class="sidenote">AS SCHOOLMASTER ABROAD</div> + +<p>Lord John wrote to Foreign Courts—was Mr. Bagehot’s +shrewd criticism—much in the same manner as +he was accustomed to speak in the House of Commons. +In other words, he used great plainness of speech, and, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[324]</a></span> +because of the very desire to make his meaning clear, he, +was occasionally indiscreetly explicit and even brusque. +Sometimes it happened that the intelligent foreigner grew +critical at Lord John’s expense. Count Vitzthum, for example, +laid stress on the fact that Lord John ‘looked on the +British Constitution as an inimitable masterpiece,’ which +less-favoured nations ought not only to admire but adopt, +if they wished to advance and go forward in the direction +of liberty, prosperity, and peace. There was just enough +truth in such assertions to render them amusing, though +not enough to give them a sting. There were times when +Lord John was the ‘stormy petrel’ of foreign politics, but +there never was a time when he ceased to labour in season +and out for what he believed to be the honour of England. +‘I do not believe that any English foreign statesman, who +does his duty faithfully by his own countrymen in difficult +circumstances, can escape the blame of foreign statesmen,’ +were his own words, and he assuredly came in for his full +share of abuse in Europe. One of Lord John Russell’s +subordinates at the Foreign Office, well known and distinguished +in the political life of to-day, declares that Lord +John, like Lord Clarendon, was accustomed to write many +drafts of despatches with his own hand, but as a rule did not +go with equal minuteness into the detail of the work. It +sometimes happened that he would take sudden resolutions +without adequate consideration of the points involved; but +he would always listen patiently to objections, and when +convinced that he was wrong was perfectly willing to +modify his opinion. In most cases, however, Lord John +did not make up his mind without due reflection, and +under such circumstances he showed no vacillation. No +tidings from abroad, however startling or unpleasant, seemed +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[325]</a></span> +able to disturb his equanimity. He was an extremely +considerate chief, but, though always willing to listen to +his subordinates, kept his own counsel and seldom took +them much into his confidence.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">COBDEN AND PALMERSTON</div> + +<p>The year 1865 was rendered memorable both in England +and America by the death of statesmen of the first rank. +In the spring, that great master of reason and economic +reform, Richard Cobden, died in London, after a few +days’ illness, in the prime of life; and almost before the +nation realised the greatness of such a loss, tidings came +across the Atlantic that President Abraham Lincoln +had been assassinated at Washington, in the hour of +triumph, by a cowardly fanatic. The summer in England +was made restless by a General Election. Though Bright +denounced Lord Palmerston, and Mr. Gladstone lost his +seat at Oxford, to stand ‘unmuzzled’ a few days later +before the electors of South-West Lancashire, the predicted +Conservative reaction was not an accomplished +fact. Lord Palmerston’s ascendency in the country, though +diminished, was still great, and the magic of his name +carried the election. ‘It is clear,’ wrote Lord John to the +plucky octogenarian Premier, when the latter, some time +before the contest, made a fighting speech in the country, +‘that your popularity is a plant of hardy growth and deep +roots.’ Quite suddenly, in the spring of 1865, Lord Palmerston +began to look as old as his years, and as the summer +slipped past, it became apparent that the buoyant elasticity +of temperament had vanished. On October 18 the great +Minister died in harness, and Lord John Russell, who was +only eight years younger, was called to the helm.</p> + +<p>The two men, more than once in mid-career, had +serious misunderstandings, and envious lips had done their +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[326]</a></span> +best to widen their differences. It is pleasant to think +now that Palmerston and Russell were on cordial and +intimate terms during the critical six years, when the former +held for the last time the post of First Minister of the Crown, +and the latter was responsible for Foreign Affairs. It is true +that they were not of one mind on the question of Parliamentary +Reform; but Lord John, after 1860 at least, was +content to waive that question, for he saw that the nation, as +well as the Prime Minister, was opposed to a forward movement +in that direction, and the strain of war abroad and +famine at home hindered the calm discussion of constitutional +problems. Lord Lyttelton used to say that +Palmerston was regarded as a Whig because he belonged +to Lord Grey’s Government, and had always thrown in his +lot with that statesman’s political posterity. At the same +time, Lord Lyttelton held—even as late as 1865—that +a ‘more genuine Conservative, especially in home affairs, +it would not be easy to find.’ Palmerston gave Lord John +Russell his active support in the attitude which the latter took +up at the Foreign Office on all the great questions which +arose, sometimes in a sudden and dramatic form, at a period +when the power of Napoleon III., in spite of theatrical +display, was declining, and Bismarck was shaping with consummate +skill the fortunes of Germany.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">PRIME MINISTER</div> + +<p>The day after Palmerston’s death her Majesty wrote in the +following terms to Lord John: ‘The melancholy news of +Lord Palmerston’s death reached the Queen last night. +This is another link with the past that is broken, and +the Queen feels deeply in her desolate and isolated condition +how, one by one, tried servants and advisers are +taken from her.... The Queen can turn to no other +than Lord Russell, an old and tried friend of hers, to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[327]</a></span> +undertake the arduous duties of Prime Minister, and to +carry on the Government.’ Such a command was met +by Lord John with the response that he was willing to +act if his colleagues were prepared to serve under him. +Mr. Gladstone’s position in the country and in the councils +of the Liberal Party had been greatly strengthened by his +rejection at Oxford, and by the subsequent boldness and +fervour of his speeches in Lancashire. He forestalled Lord +John’s letter by offering, in a frank and generous spirit, to +serve under the old Liberal leader. Mr. Gladstone declared +that he was quite willing to take his chance under Lord +John’s ‘banner,’ and to continue his services as Chancellor +of the Exchequer. This offer was of course accepted, and +Mr. Gladstone also took Lord Palmerston’s place as Leader +of the House of Commons. Lord Cranworth became Lord +Chancellor, Lord Clarendon took Lord John’s place at the +Foreign Office, the Duke of Argyll and Sir George Grey +resumed their old positions as Lord Privy Seal and Home +Secretary. After a short interval, Mr. Goschen and Lord +Hartington were raised to Cabinet rank; while Mr. Forster, +Lord Dufferin, and Mr. Stansfeld became respectively +Under-Secretaries for the Colonies, War, and India; but +Lord John, in spite of strong pressure, refused to admit +Mr. Lowe to his Cabinet.</p> + +<p>At the Lord Mayor’s banquet in November, Lord John +took occasion to pay a warm tribute to Palmerston: ‘It is a +great loss indeed, because he was a man qualified to conduct +the country successfully through all the vicissitudes of war +and peace.’ He declared that Lord Palmerston displayed +resolution, resource, promptitude, and vigour in the conduct +of foreign affairs, showed himself also able to maintain +internal tranquillity, and, by extending commercial +relation<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[328]</a></span>ships, +to give to the country the ‘whole fruits of the blessings +of peace.’ He added that Lord Palmerston’s heart never +ceased to beat for the honour of England, and that his mind +comprehended and his experience embraced the whole field +which is covered by the interests of the nation.</p> + +<p>The new Premier made no secret of his conviction that, if +the Ministry was to last, it must be either frankly Liberal or +frankly Conservative. As he had the chief voice in the +matter, and was bent on a new Reform Bill, it became, after +certain changes had been effected, much more progressive +than was possible under Palmerston. Parliament was +opened on February 1, 1866, by the Queen in person, for +the first time since the death of the Prince Consort, and +the chief point of interest in the Speech from the Throne +was the guarded promise of a Reform Bill. The attention +of Parliament was to be called to information concerning the +right of voting with a view to such improvements as might +tend to strengthen our free institutions and conduce to +the public welfare. Lord John determined to make haste +slowly, for some of his colleagues were hardly inclined to +make haste at all, since they shared Lord Palmerston’s +views on the subject and distrusted the Radical cry which +had arisen since the industrial revolution. The Premier +and Mr. Gladstone—for they were a kind of Committee +of Two—were content for the moment to propose a +revision of the franchise, and to leave in ambush for another +session the vexed question involved in a redistribution of +seats. ‘It was decided,’ states Lord John, ‘that it would +be best to separate the question of the franchise from that +of the disfranchisement of boroughs. After much inquiry, +we agreed to fix the suffrages of boroughs at an occupation +of 7<i>l.</i> value. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[329]</a></span>’</p> + +<div class="sidenote">THE CAVE OF ADULLAM</div> + +<p>The House of Commons was densely packed when +Mr. Gladstone introduced the measure on March 12, +but, in spite of his powers of exposition and infectious +enthusiasm, the Government proposals fell undeniably flat. +Broadly stated, they were as follows. The county franchise +was to be dropped to 14<i>l.</i>, and that of the borough, as already +stated, to half that amount, whilst compound householders +and lodgers paying 10<i>l.</i> a year were to possess votes. It +was computed at the time that the measure would add four +hundred thousand new voters to the existing lists, and that +two hundred thousand of these would belong to what Lord +John termed the ‘best of the working classes.’ Mr. Bright, +and those whom he represented, not only in Birmingham, +but also in every great city and town in the land, gave their +support to the Government, on the principle that this was +at least an ‘honest’ measure, and that half a loaf, moreover, +was better than no bread. At the same time the country +was not greatly stirred one way or another by the scheme, +though it stirred to panic-stricken indignation men of the +stamp of Mr. Lowe, Mr. Horsman, Lord Elcho, Earl Grosvenor, +Lord Dunkellin, and other so-called, but very indifferent, +Liberals, who had attached themselves to the party +under Lord Palmerston’s happy-go-lucky and easy auspices. +These were the men who presently distinguished themselves, +and extinguished the Russell Administration by their ridiculous +fear of the democracy. They retired into what Mr. +Bright termed the ‘political cave of Adullam,’ and, as Lord +John said, the ‘timid, the selfish, and those who were +both selfish and timid’ joined the sorry company.</p> + +<p>The Conservatives saw their opportunity, and, being +human, took it. Lord Grosvenor brought forward an +amendment calling attention to the omission of a +redis<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[330]</a></span>tribution +scheme. A debate, which occupied eight nights, +followed, and when it was in progress, Mr. Gladstone, +in defending his own conduct as Leader of the House, +incidentally paid an impressive tribute to the memorable +and protracted services in the Commons of Lord John:—</p> + +<p>‘If, sir, I had been the man who, at the very outset of +his career, wellnigh half a century ago, had with an almost +prophetic foresight fastened upon two great groups of +questions, those great historic questions relating to the +removal of civil disabilities for religious opinions and to +Parliamentary Reform; if I had been the man who, having +thus in his early youth, in the very first stage of his political +career, fixed upon those questions and made them his own, +then went on to prosecute them with sure and unflagging +instinct until the triumph in each case had been achieved; if +I had been the man whose name had been associated for +forty years, and often in the very first place of eminence, with +every element of beneficent legislation—in other words, had +I been Earl Russell, then there might have been some temptation +to pass into excess on the exercise of authority, and +some excuse for the endeavour to apply to this House a pressure +in itself unjustifiable. But, sir, I am not Earl Russell.’</p> + +<p>In the end, Lord Grosvenor’s amendment was lost by a +majority equal only to the fingers of one hand. Such an unmistakeable +expression of opinion could not be disregarded, +and the Government brought in a Redistribution of Seats +Bill at the beginning of May. They proposed that thirty +boroughs having a population of less than eight thousand +should be deprived of one member, whilst nineteen other +seats were obtained by joint representation in smaller +boroughs. After running the gauntlet of much hostile +criticism, the bill was read a second time, but the +Govern<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[331]</a></span>ment +were forced to refer it and the franchise scheme to a +committee, which was empowered to deal with both schemes. +Lord Stanley, Mr. Ward Hunt, and Mr. Walpole assailed +with successive motions, which were more or less narrowly +rejected, various points in the Government proposals, and +the opposition grew more and more stubborn. At length +Lord Dunkellin (son of the Earl of Clanricarde) moved to +substitute rating for rental in the boroughs; and the Government, +in a House of six hundred and nineteen members, +were defeated on June 18 by a majority of eleven. The +excitement which met this announcement was extraordinary, +and when it was followed next day by tidings that the Russell +Administration was at an end, those who thought that the +country cared little about the question found themselves +suddenly disillusioned.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">FALL OF THE RUSSELL GOVERNMENT</div> + +<p>Burke declared that there were moments when it +became necessary for the people themselves to interpose on +behalf of their rights. The overthrow of the Russell +Administration took the nation by surprise. Three days +after Lord John’s resignation there was a historic gathering +in Trafalgar Square. In his speech announcing the resignation +of his Ministry, Lord John warned Parliament about +the danger of alienating the sympathy of the people from +the Crown and the aristocracy. He reminded the Peers +that universal suffrage prevailed not only in the United +States but in our own Colonies; and he took his stand in +the light of the larger needs of the new era, on the +assertion of Lord Grey at the time of the Reform Bill +that only a large measure was a safe measure. ‘We have +made the attempt,’ added Lord John, ‘sincerely and +anxiously to perform the duties of reconciling that which +is due to the Constitution of the country with that which +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[332]</a></span> +is due to the growing intelligence, the increasing wealth, +and the manifest forbearance, virtue, and order of the +people.’ He protested against a niggardly and ungenerous +treatment of so momentous a question.</p> + +<p>Lord Russell’s words were not lost on Mr. Bradlaugh. He +made them the text of his speech to the twenty thousand +people who assembled in Trafalgar Square, and afterwards +walked in procession to give Mr. Gladstone an ovation in Carlton +House Terrace. About three weeks later another great +demonstration was announced to take place in Hyde Park, +under the auspices of the Reform League. The authorities +refused to allow the gathering, and, after a formal protest, +the meeting was held at the former rendezvous. The +mixed multitude who had followed the procession to the +Park gates took the repulse less calmly, with the result that, +as much by accident as by design, the Park railings for the +space of half a mile were thrown down. Force is no remedy, +but a little of it is sometimes a good object-lesson, and +the panic which this unpremeditated display occasioned +amongst the valiant defenders of law and order was unmistakeable.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">‘DISHING THE WHIGS’</div> + +<p>Mr. Lowe had flouted the people, and had publicly +asserted that those who were without the franchise did not +really care to possess it. Forty-three other so-called +Liberals in the House of Commons were apparently of the +same way of thinking, for the Russell Administration was +defeated by forty-four ‘Liberal’ votes. This in itself shows +that Lord John, up to the hour in which he was driven from +power, was far in advance of one section of his followers. +The great towns, and more particularly Birmingham, Manchester, +and Leeds, promptly took up the challenge; and in +those three centres alone half a million of people assembled +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[333]</a></span> +to make energetic protest against the contemptuous dismissal +of their claims. The fall of the Park railings appealed to +the fear of the classes, and aroused the enthusiasm of the +masses. It is scarcely too much to say that if they had been +demolished a month earlier the Russell Government would +have carried its Reform proposals, and Disraeli would have +lost his chance of ‘dishing the Whigs.’ The defeat of +Lord John Russell was a virtual triumph. He was driven +from power by a rally of reactionary forces at the very +moment when he was fighting the battle of the people.<a name="FNanchor_42_42" id="FNanchor_42_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a> The +Tories were only able to hold their own by borrowing a leaf +from his book, and bringing in a more drastic measure of +reform.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_41_41" id="Footnote_41_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> <i>Life and Correspondence of Viscount Palmerston</i>, by the Hon. +Evelyn Ashley, vol. ii. p. 438.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_42_42" id="Footnote_42_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> In a letter written in the spring of 1867, Lord Houghton refers to +Mr. Gladstone as being ‘quite awed’ for the moment by the ‘diabolical +cleverness of Dizzy.’ He adds: ‘Delane says the extreme party for +Reform are now the grandees, and that the Dukes are quite ready to +follow Beale into Hyde Park.’—<i>The Life, Letters, and Friendships of +Lord Houghton</i>, by Sir Wemyss Reid, vol. ii. pp. 174-5.</p></div> +</div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[334]</a></span></p> + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII</h2> + +<p class="title">OUT OF HARNESS<br /><br /> + +1867-1874</p> + +<p class="desc">Speeches in the House of Lords—Leisured years—Mr. Lecky’s reminiscences—The +question of the Irish Church—The Independence +of Belgium—Lord John on the claims of the Vatican—Letters to +Mr. Chichester Fortescue—His scheme for the better government +of Ireland—Lord Selborne’s estimate of Lord John’s public career—Frank +admissions—As his private secretaries saw him.</p> + + +<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Lord John</span> never relinquished that high sense of responsibility +which was conspicuous in his attitude as a +Minister of the Crown. Although out of harness from the +summer of 1866 to his death, twelve years later, he retained +to the last, undiminished, the sense of public duty. He +took, not merely a keen interest, but an appreciable share in +public affairs; and some of the speeches which he delivered +in the House of Lords after his retirement from office show +how vigorous and acute his intellect remained, and how wide +and generous were his sympathies. The leisured years +which came to Lord John after the fall of the second Russell +Administration enabled him to renew old friendships, +and gave him the opportunity for making the acquaintance +of distinguished men of a younger generation. His own +historical studies—the literary passion of a lifetime—made +him keenly appreciative of the work of others in that direction, +and kindred tastes drew him into intimate relations with +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[335]</a></span> +Mr. W. E. H. Lecky. Few of the reminiscences, great or +small, which have been written for these pages, can compare +in interest with the following statement by so philosophic +a critic of public affairs and so acute a judge of men:—</p> + +<div class="sidenote">MR. LECKY’S REMINISCENCES</div> + +<p>‘It was, I think, in 1866, and in the house of Dean +Milman, that I had the privilege of being introduced to Lord +Russell. He at once received me with a warmth and kindness +I can never forget, and from this time till near the +end of his life I saw him very frequently. His Ministerial +career had just terminated, but I could trace no failure in +his powers, and, whatever difference of opinion there might +be about his public career, no one, I believe, who ever came +in contact with him failed to recognise his singular charm in +private life. His conversation differed from that of some of +the more illustrious of his contemporaries. It was not a +copious and brilliant stream of words, dazzling, astonishing, +or overpowering. It had no tendency to monologue, and it +was not remarkable for any striking originalities either of +language, metaphor, or thought. Few men steered more +clear of paradox, and the charm of his talk lay mainly in his +admirable terseness and clearness of expression, in the skill +with which, by a few happy words, he could tell a story, or +etch out a character, or condense an argument or statement. +Beyond all men I have ever known, he had the gift of seizing +rapidly in every question the central argument, the essential +fact or distinction; and of all his mental characteristics, +quickness and soundness of judgment seemed to me the +most conspicuous. I have never met with anyone with +whom it was so possible to discuss with profit many great +questions in a short time. No one, too, could know him +intimately without being impressed with his high sense of +honour, with his transparent purity of motive, with the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[336]</a></span> +fundamental kindliness of his disposition, with the remarkable +modesty of his estimate of his own past. He was +eminently tolerant of difference of opinion, and he had in +private life an imperturbable sweetness of temper that set +those about him completely at their ease, and helped much +to make them talk their best. Few men had more anecdotes, +and no one told them better—tersely, accurately, with a +quiet, subdued humour, with a lightness of touch which I +should not have expected from his writings. In addition to +the experiences of a long and eventful life, his mind was +stored with the anecdotes of the brilliant Whig society of +Holland House, of which he was one of the last repositories. +It is much to be regretted that he did not write down his +“Recollections” till a period of life when his once admirable +memory was manifestly failing. He was himself sadly +conscious of the failure. “I used never to confuse my facts,” +he once said to me; “I now find that I am beginning to do +so.”</p> + +<p>‘He has mentioned in his “Recollections” as one of the +great felicities of his life that he retained the friendship of +his leading opponents, and his private conversation fully +supported this view. Of Sir Robert Peel he always spoke +with a special respect, and it was, I think, a matter of +peculiar pleasure to him that in his old age his family was +closely connected by marriage with that of his illustrious +rival. His friendship with Lord Derby, which began when +they were colleagues, was unbroken by many contests. He +spoke of him, however, as a man of brilliant talent, who had +not the judgment or the character suited for the first place; +and he maintained that he had done much better both +under Lord Grey and under Sir Robert Peel than as Prime +Minister. Between Lord Russell and Disraeli there was, I +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[337]</a></span> +believe, on both sides much kindly feeling, though no two +men could be less like, and though there was much in +Disraeli’s ways of looking at things that must have been +peculiarly trying to the Whig mind. Lord Russell told me +that he once described him in Parliament by quoting the +lines of Dryden:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘He was not one on picking work to dwell.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He fagotted his notions as they fell;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And if they rhymed and rattled, all was well.’<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="sidenote">HIS EARLY CHIEFS</div> + +<p>‘Of his early chiefs, he used to speak with most +reverence of Lord Grey. Lord Melbourne, he said, greatly +injured his Government by the manner in which he treated +deputations. He never could resist the temptation of bantering +and snubbing them. Two men who flourished in his +youth surpassed, Lord Russell thought, in eloquence any +of the later generation. They were Canning and Plunket, +and as an orator the greater of these was Plunket. Among +the statesmen of a former generation, he had an especial +admiration for Walpole, and was accustomed to maintain +that he was a much greater statesman than Pitt. His judgment, +indeed, of Pitt always seemed to me much warped by +that adoration of Fox which in the early years of the century +was almost an article of religion in Whig circles. Lord +Russell had also the true Whig reverence for William III., +and, I am afraid, he was by no means satisfied with some +pages I wrote about that sovereign.</p> + +<p>‘Speaking of Lord Palmerston, I once said to him that I +was struck with the small net result in legislation which he +accomplished considering the many years he was in power. +“But during all these years,” Lord Russell replied, “he kept +the honour of England very high; and I think that a great +thing. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[338]</a></span>”</p> + +<p>‘The Imperialist sentiment was one of the deepest in +his nature, and few things exasperated him more than the +school which was advocating the surrender of India and +the Colonies. “When I was young,” he once said to me, +“it was thought the work of a wise statesman that he had +turned a small kingdom into a great empire. In my old age +it seems to be thought the object of a statesman to turn a +great empire into a small kingdom.” He thought we +had made a grave mistake, when conceding self-government +to the Colonies, in not reserving the waste lands and free +trade with the Mother Country; and he considered that +the right of veto on legislation, which had been reserved, +ought to have been always exercised (as he said it was +under Lord Grey) when duties were imposed on English +goods. In Irish politics he greatly blamed Canning, who +agreed with the Whigs about Catholic Emancipation, though +he differed from them about Reform. The former question, +he said, was then by far the more pressing, and if Canning +had insisted on making it a first-class ministerial question he +would have carried it in conjunction with the Whigs. “My +pride in Irish measures,” he once wrote to me, “is in the +Poor Law, which I designed, framed, and twice carried.” +Like Peel, he strongly maintained that the priests ought to +have been paid. He would gladly have seen the principle +of religious equality in Ireland carried to its furthest consequences, +and local government considerably extended; +but he told me that any statesman who proposed to repeal +the Union ought to be impeached, and in his “Recollections,” +and in one of his published letters to the present Lord +Carlingford, he has expressed in the strongest terms his +inflexible hostility to Home Rule.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">POLITICAL APPREHENSIONS</div> + +<p>‘Though the steadiest of Whigs, Lord Russell was by no +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[339]</a></span> +means an uncompromising democrat. The great misfortune, +he said, of America was that the influence of Jefferson +had eclipsed that of Washington. One of her chief advantages +was that the Western States furnished a wide +and harmless field for restless energy and ambition. In +England he was very anxious that progress should move +on the lines of the past, and he was under the impression +that statesmen of the present generation studied English +history less than their predecessors. He was one of the +earliest advocates of the Minority Vote, and he certainly +looked with very considerable apprehension to the effects of +the Democratic Reform Bill of 1867. He said to me that +he feared there was too much truth in the saying of one of +his friends that “the concessions of the Whigs were once +concessions to intelligence, but now concessions to ignorance.”</p> + +<p>‘When the Education Act was carried, he was strongly in +favour of the introduction of the Bible, accompanied by +purely undenominational teaching. This was, I think, one +of his last important declarations on public policy. I +recollect a scathing article in the “Saturday Review,” demonstrating +the absurdity of supposing that such teaching +was possible. But the people of England took a different +view. The great majority of the School Boards adopted the +system which Lord Russell recommended, and it prevailed +with almost perfect harmony for more than twenty years.</p> + +<p>‘In foreign politics he looked with peculiar pleasure to +the services he had rendered to the Italian cause. Italy +was always very dear to him. He had many valued friends +there, and he spoke Italian (as he also did Spanish) with +much fluency. Among my most vivid recollections are +those of some happy days I spent with him at San Remo. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[340]</a></span>’</p> + +<p>Two years before the disestablishment of the Irish +Church, Lord John Russell, knowing how great a stumbling-block +its privileges were to the progress of the people, +moved for a Commission to inquire into the expenditure of +its revenues. The investigation was, however, staved off, +and the larger question was, in consequence, hastened. He +supported Mr. Gladstone in a powerful speech in 1870, and +showed himself in substantial agreement with Mr. Forster +over his great scheme of education, though he thought that +some of its provisions bore heavily upon Nonconformists. +The outbreak of war between France and Germany seemed +at first to threaten the interests of England, and Lord John +introduced a Militia Bill, which was only withdrawn when +the Government promised to take action. The interests of +Belgium were threatened by the struggle on the Continent, +and Lord John took occasion to remind the nation that we +were bound to defend that country, and had guaranteed by +treaty to uphold its independence:—</p> + +<p>‘... I am persuaded that if it is once manfully declared +that England means to stand by her treaties, to perform her +engagements—that her honour and her interest would allow +nothing else—such a declaration would check the greater +part of these intrigues, and that neither France nor Prussia +would wish to add a second enemy to the formidable foe +which each has to meet.... When the choice is between +honour and infamy, I cannot doubt that her Majesty’s +Government will pursue the course of honour, the only one +worthy of the British people.... I consider that if +England shrank from the performance of her engagements—if +she acted in a faithless manner with respect to this matter—her +extinction as a Great Power must very soon follow.’</p> + +<div class="sidenote">ATTACKS THE CLAIMS OF PIUS IX.</div> + +<p>Lord John’s vigorous protest did not go unheeded, and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[341]</a></span> +the King of the Belgians sent him an autograph letter in +acknowledgment of his generous and opportune words. On +the other hand, Lord John Russell resented the determination +of Mr. Gladstone to submit the ‘Alabama’ claims to arbitration, +and also opposed the adoption of the Ballot and the +abolition of purchase in the Army. The conflict which arose +in the autumn of 1872 between the Emperor of Germany +and Pius IX. was a matter which appealed to all lovers of +liberty of conscience. Lord John, though now in his eighty +second year, rose promptly to the occasion, and promised to +preside at a great public meeting in London, called to protest +against the claims of the Vatican. At the last moment, +though the spirit was willing, the flesh was weak, and +yielding to medical advice, he contented himself with a +written expression of sympathy. This was read to the +meeting, and brought him the thanks of the Kaiser and +Prince Bismarck. Lord John’s letters, declared Mr. Kinglake +seem to carry with them the very ring of his voice; +and the one which was written from Pembroke Lodge on +January 19, 1874, was full of the old fire of enthusiasm and +the resolution which springs from clean-cut convictions:—‘I +hasten to declare with all friends of freedom, and I trust +with the great majority of the English nation, that I could no +longer call myself a lover of civil and religious liberty were +I not to proclaim my sympathy with the Emperor of +Germany in the noble struggle in which he is engaged.’</p> + +<p>Lord John Russell’s pamphlets, published in 1868-9—in +the shape of letters to Mr. Chichester Fortescue—show that +in old age and out of office he was still anxious to see +justice done to the legitimate demands of Ireland. He +declared that he witnessed with alarm the attempt to involve +the whole Irish nation in a charge of disaffection, conspiracy, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[342]</a></span> +and treason. He contended that Englishmen ought to seek +to rid their minds of exaggerated fears and national +animosities, so that they might be in a position to consider +patiently all the facts of the case. ‘We ought to weigh with +care the complaints that are made, and examine with still +more care and circumspection the remedies that are proposed, +lest in our attempts to cure the disease we give the +patient a new and more dangerous disorder.’ In his ‘Life +of Fox’ Lord John Russell maintained that the wisest system +that could be devised for the conciliation of Ireland had yet +to be discovered; and in his third letter to Mr. Chichester +Fortescue, published in January 1869, he made a remarkable +allusion to Mr. Gladstone as a statesman who might +yet seek to ‘perform a permanent and immortal service to +his country’ by endeavouring to reconcile England and +Ireland. If, added Lord John, Mr. Gladstone should ‘undertake +the heroic task of riveting the union of the three kingdoms +by affection, even more than by statute; if he should +endeavour to efface the stains which proscription and prejudice +have affixed on the fair fame of Great Britain, then, +though he may not reunite his party ... he will be enrolled +among the noblest of England’s statesmen, and will have +laid the foundations of a great work, which either he or a +younger generation will not fail to accomplish.’</p> + +<div class="sidenote">IRISH PROPOSALS</div> + +<p>The proposals Lord John Russell made in the columns of +the ‘Times,’ on August 9, 1872, for the better government +of Ireland have been claimed as a tentative scheme of Home +Rule. ‘It appears to me, that if Ireland were to be allowed to +elect a representative assembly for each of its four provinces +of Leinster, Ulster, Munster, and Connaught, and if Scotland +in a similar manner were to be divided into Lowlands +and Highlands, having for each province a representative +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[343]</a></span> +assembly, the local wants of Ireland and Scotland might be +better provided for than they are at present.’ Lord John +went on to say that the Imperial Parliament might still +retain its hold over local legislation, and added that it was +his purpose to explain in a pamphlet a policy which he +thought might be adopted to the ‘satisfaction of the nation +at large.’ The pamphlet, however, remained unwritten, and +the scheme in its fulness, therefore, was never explained. +Evidently Lord Russell’s mind was changing in its attitude +towards the Irish problem; but, as Mr. Lecky points out in +the personal reminiscences with which he has enriched +these pages, though in advance of the opinion of the hour +he was not prepared to accept the principle of Home +Rule. Although Mr. Lecky does not mention the year +in which Lord John declared that any statesman who ‘proposed +to repeal the Union ought to be impeached,’ Lord +Russell himself in his published ‘Recollections’ admits that +he saw no hope that Ireland would be well and quietly +governed by the adoption of Home Rule. In fact, he makes +it quite clear that he was in sympathy with the view which +Lord Althorp expressed when O’Connell demanded the +repeal of the Union—namely, that such a request amounted +to a dismemberment of the Empire. On the other hand, +Lord John was wont in his latest years to discuss the +question in all its bearings with an Irish representative who +held opposite views. There can be no doubt that he +was feeling his way to a more generous interpretation +of the problem than that which is commonly attributed +to him. His own words on this point are: ‘I should have +been very glad if the leaders of popular opinion in Ireland +had so modified and mollified their demand for Home Rule +as to make it consistent with the unity of the Empire.’ His +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[344]</a></span> +mind, till within a few years of his death, was clear, and +did not stand still. Whether he would have gradually +become a Home Ruler is open to question, but in 1874 +he had gone quite as far in that direction as Mr. Gladstone.</p> + +<p>Lord John, though the most loyal of subjects, made it +plain throughout his career that he was not in the least +degree a courtier. His nephew, Mr. George Russell, after +stating that Lord John supported, with voice and vote, Mr. +Hume’s motion for the revision of the Civil List under +George IV., and urged in vigorous terms the restoration of +Queen Caroline’s name to the Liturgy, as well as subscribing +to compensate an officer, friendly to the Queen, whom the +King’s animosity had driven from the army, adds: ‘It may +well be that some tradition of this early independence, or +some playful desire to test the fibre of Whiggery by putting +an extreme case, led in much later years to an embarrassing +question by an illustrious personage, and gave the opportunity +for an apt reply. “Is it true, Lord John, that you +hold that a subject is justified, under certain circumstances, in +disobeying his Sovereign’s will?” “Well,” I said, “speaking +to a Sovereign of the House of Hanover, I can only say +that I suppose it is!”’<a name="FNanchor_43_43" id="FNanchor_43_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a></p> + +<div class="sidenote">IMPULSIVE BUT CHIVALROUS</div> + +<p>Looking back in the autumn of last year on the length and +breadth of Earl Russell’s public career, the late Earl Selborne +sent for these pages the following words, which gather up his +general, and, alas! final impressions of his old friend and +colleague: ‘I have tried to imagine in what words an ancient +Roman panegyrist might have summed up such a public +and private character as that of Lord Russell. “Animosa +juventus,” and “jucunda senectus,” would not inaptly have +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[345]</a></span> +described his earlier and his latter days. But for the life of +long and active public service which came between, it is +difficult to find any phrase equally pointed and characteristic. +Always patriotic, always faithful to the traditions associated +with his name, there was, as Sydney Smith said, nothing +which he had not courage to undertake. What he undertook +he did energetically, and generally in a noble spirit; +though sometimes yielding to too sudden impulses. As time +went on, the generosity and sagacity of his nature gained +strength; and, though he had not always been patient when +the control of affairs was in other hands, a successful rival +found in him the most loyal of colleagues. Any estimate +of his character would be imperfect which omitted to recognise +either his appreciative and sympathetic disposition +towards those who differed from him, even on points of +importance, when he believed their convictions to be sincere +and their conduct upright, or the rare dignity and magnanimity +with which, after 1866, he retired from a great position, +of which he was neither unambitious nor unworthy, +under no pressure from without, and before age or infirmity +had made it necessary for him to do so.’</p> + +<p>Lord Selborne’s allusion to Lord John’s sympathetic +disposition to those who differed from him, even on points +of importance, is borne out by the terms in which he referred +to Lord Aberdeen in correspondence—which was published +first in the ‘Times,’ and afterwards in a pamphlet—between +himself and Sir Arthur Gordon over statements in the first +edition of ‘Recollections and Suggestions.’ Lord John +admitted that, through lapse of memory, he had fallen into +error, and that his words conveyed a wrong impression concerning +Lord Aberdeen. He added: ‘I believe no man has +entered public life in my time more pure in his personal +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[346]</a></span> +views, and more free from grasping ambition or selfish consideration. +I am much grieved that anything I have written +should be liable to an interpretation injurious to Lord +Aberdeen.’ It is pleasant in this connection to be able to +cite a letter, written by Lord Aberdeen to the Duke of +Bedford, when the Crimean War was happily only a memory. +The Duke had told Lord Aberdeen that his brother admitted +his mistake in leaving the Coalition Government in the way +in which he did. Lord Aberdeen in his reply declared that +he did not doubt that Lord John entered the Government +on generous and high-minded motives, or that, in consequence +of delay, he might have arrived at the conclusion that he +was in a somewhat false position. Any appearance of lack +of confidence in Lord John, Lord Aberdeen remarked, was +‘entirely the effect of accident and never of intention.’ He +hints that he sometimes thought Lord John over-sensitive +and even rash or impracticable. He adds: ‘But these are +trifles. We parted with expressions of mutual regard, which +on my side were perfectly sincere, as I have no doubt they +were on his. These expressions I am happy in having this +opportunity to renew; as well as with my admiration of his +great powers and noble impulses to assure you that I shall +always feel a warm interest in his reputation and honour.’ +Lord Stanmore states that his father ‘steadily maintained +that Lord John was the proper head of the Liberal party, +and never ceased to desire that he should succeed him as +Prime Minister.’ Rashness and impatience are hard sayings +to one who looks steadily at the annals of the Coalition +Government. Lord Aberdeen and the majority of his +Cabinet, were, to borrow a phrase from Swift, ‘huge idolators +of delay.’ Their policy of masterly inactivity was disastrous, +and, though Lord John made a mistake in quitting the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[347]</a></span> +Ministry in face of a hostile vote of censure, his chief mistake +arose from the ‘generous and high-minded motives’ which +Lord Aberdeen attributes to him, and which led him to join +the Coalition Government.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">RELATIONS WITH POLITICAL OPPONENTS</div> + +<p>His personal relations with his political opponents, from +the Duke of Wellington to Lord Salisbury, were cordial. +His friendship with Lord Derby was intimate, and he visited +him at Knowsley, and in his closing years he had much +pleasant intercourse with Lord Salisbury at Dieppe. His +association with Lord Beaconsfield was slight; but one of the +kindest letters which Lady Russell received on the death of +her husband was written by a statesman with whom Lord +Russell had little in common. Sir Robert Peel, in spite +of the encounters of party warfare, always maintained +towards Lord John the most friendly attitude. ‘The +idea which the stranger or casual acquaintance,’ states his +brother-in-law and former private secretary, Mr. George +Elliot, ‘conceived of Lord Russell was very unlike the +real man as seen in his own home or among his intimates. +There he was lively, playful, and uniformily good-humoured, +full of anecdote, and a good teller of a story.... In +conversation he was easy and pleasant, and the reverse of +disputatious. Even in the worst of his political difficulties—and +he had some pretty hard trials in this way—he had the +power of throwing off public cares for the time, and in his +house retained his cheerfulness and good-humour.... In +matters of business he was an easy master to serve, and the +duties of his private secretary were light as compared to +others in the same position. He never made work and +never was fussy, and even at the busiest times never seemed +in a hurry.... Large matters he never neglected, but the +difficulty of the private secretary was to get him to attend to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[348]</a></span> +the trifling and unimportant ones with which he had chiefly +to deal.’</p> + +<p>The Hon. Charles Gore, who was also private secretary to +Lord John when the latter held the Home Office in the +Melbourne Administration, gives in the following words his +recollections: ‘Often members of Parliament and others +used to come into my room adjoining, after their interview +with Lord John, looking, and seeming, much dissatisfied +with their reception. His manner was cold and shy, and, +even when he intended to comply with the request made, in +his answer he rather implied no than yes. He often used to +say to me that he liked to hear the laugh which came to him +through the door which separated us, as proof that I had +been able to soothe the disappointed feelings with which his +interviewer had left him. As a companion, when not feeling +shy, no one was more agreeable or full of anecdote than +Lord John—simple in his manner, never assuming superiority, +and always ready to listen to what others had to say.’ +This impression is confirmed by Sir Villiers Lister, who +served under Lord John at the Foreign Office. He states +that his old chief, whilst always quick to seize great problems, +was somewhat inclined to treat the humdrum details +of official life with fitful attention.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_43_43" id="Footnote_43_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> <i>Contemporary Review</i>, vol. 56, p. 814.</p></div> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[349]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII</h2> + +<p class="title">PEMBROKE LODGE<br /><br /> + +1847-1878</p> + +<p class="desc">Looking back—Society at Pembroke Lodge—Home life—The house +and its memories—Charles Dickens’s speech at Liverpool—Literary +friendships—Lady Russell’s description of her husband—A packet +of letters—His children’s recollections—A glimpse of Carlyle—A +witty impromptu—Closing days—Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone—The +jubilee of the Repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts—‘Punch’ on +the ‘Golden Wedding’—Death—The Queen’s letter—Lord Shaftesbury’s +estimate of Lord John’s career—His great qualities.</p> + + +<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Peace</span> with honour—a phrase which Lord John used long +before Lord Beaconsfield made it famous—sums up the +settled tranquillity and simple dignity of the life at Pembroke +Lodge. No man was more entitled to rest on his +laurels than Lord John Russell. He was in the House of +Commons, and made his first proposals for Parliamentary +redress, in the reign of George III. His great victory +on behalf of the rights of conscience was won by the +repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts in the reign of +George IV. He had piloted the first Reform Bill through +the storms of prejudice and passion which had assailed +that great measure in the reign of William IV. He was +Home Secretary when Queen Victoria’s reign began, and +since then he had served her Majesty and the nation +with unwearied devotion for almost the life-time of a generation. +He was Secretary for the Colonies during a period +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[350]</a></span> +when the expansion of England brought delicate constitutional +questions to the front, and was Minister of Foreign +Affairs when struggling nationalities looked to England, +and did not seek her help in vain. Twice Prime Minister +in periods of storm and stress, he had left his mark, directly +or indirectly, on the statute-book in much progressive +legislation, and, in spite of mistakes in policy, had at length +quitted office with the reputation of an honest and enlightened +statesman.</p> + +<p>Peel at the age of fifty-eight had judged himself worthy +of retirement; but Russell was almost seventy-four, and +only his indomitable spirit had enabled him to hold his +own in public life against uncertain health during the whole +course of his career. In this respect, at least, Lord John +possessed that ‘strong patience which outwearies fate.’ He +was always delicate, and in his closing years he was accustomed +to tell, with great glee, those about him an incident +in his own experience, which happened when the century +was entering its teens and he was just leaving his own. Three +physicians were summoned in consultation, for his life +appeared to be hanging on a thread. He described how +they carefully thumped him, and put him through the usual +ordeal. Then they looked extremely grave and retired to an +adjoining room. The young invalid could hear them talking +quite plainly, and dreaded their return with the sentence +of death. Presently the conversation grew animated, and +Lord John found, to his surprise, they were talking about +anything in the world except himself. On coming back, +all the advice they gave was that he ought to travel +abroad for a time. It jumped with his mood, and he +took it, and to the end of his days travel never failed to +restore his energies. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[351]</a></span></p> + +<div class="sidenote">IN SYLVAN RETREAT</div> + +<p>‘For some years after his retirement from Ministerial +life,’ says Mr. Lecky, ‘he gathered round him at Pembroke +Lodge a society that could hardly be equalled—certainly +not surpassed—in England. In the summer Sunday afternoons +there might be seen beneath the shade of those +majestic oaks nearly all that was distinguished in English +politics and much that was distinguished in English literature, +and few eminent foreigners visited England without +making a pilgrimage to the old statesman. Unhappily, this +did not last to the end. Failing memory and the weakness +of extreme old age at last withdrew him completely from +the society he was so eminently fitted to adorn, but to +those who had known him in his brighter days he has left +a memory which can never be effaced.’</p> + +<p>Pembroke Lodge, on the fringe of Richmond Park, was, +for more than thirty years, Lord John Russell’s home. In +his busiest years, whenever he could escape from town, the +rambling, picturesque old house, which the Queen had +given him, was his chosen and greatly loved place of retreat. +‘Happy days,’ records Lady Russell, ‘so full of reality. The +hours of work so cheerfully got through, the hours of leisure +so delightful.’ When in office much of each week was of +necessity passed at his house in Chesham Place, but he appreciated +the freedom and seclusion of Pembroke Lodge, +and took a keen delight in its beautiful garden, with its winding +walks, magnificent views, and spreading forest trees—truly +a haunt of ancient peace, as well as of modern fellowship. +There, in old age, Lord Russell loved to wander with wife +or child or friend, and there, through the loop-holes of retreat +amid his books and flowers, he watched the great world, and +occasionally sallied forth, so long as strength remained, to +bear his part in its affairs. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[352]</a></span></p> + +<p>Lord John Russell in his closing years thoroughly distrusted +Turkish rule in Europe. He declared that he had +formerly tried with Lord Palmerston’s aid to improve the +Turks, but came to the conclusion that the task was hopeless, +and he witnessed with gladness the various movements to +throw off their control in South-Eastern Europe. He was +one of the first to call attention to the Bulgarian atrocities, +and he joined the national protest with the political ardour +which moral indignation was still able to kindle in a statesman +who cherished his old ideals at the age of eighty-four. +Two passages from Lady Russell’s journal in the year 1876 +speak for themselves:—‘August 18. My dearest husband +eighty-four. The year has left its mark upon him, a deeper +mark than most years ... but he is happy, even merry. +Seventy or eighty of our school children came up and sang in +front of his window. They had made a gay flag on which +were written four lines of a little poem to him. He was much +pleased and moved with the pretty sight and pretty sound. I +may say the same of Lord Granville, who happened to be here +at the time.’ Two months later occurs the following entry: +‘Interesting visit from the Bulgarian delegates, who called +to thank John for the part he has taken. They utterly +deny the probability of civil war or bloodshed between +different Christian sects, or between Christian and Mussulman, +in case of Bulgaria and the other insurgent provinces +obtaining self-government. Their simple, heart-felt words of +gratitude to John were touching to us all.’</p> + +<p>History repeats itself at Pembroke Lodge. On May 16, +1895, a party of Armenian refugees went thither on the ground +that ‘the name of Lord John Russell is honoured by every +Christian under the rule of the Turk.’ It recalled to Lady +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[353]</a></span> +Russell the incident just recorded, and the interview, she +states, was ‘a heart-breaking one, although gratitude for +British sympathy seemed uppermost in what they wished to +express. After they were gone I thought, as I have often +thought before, how right my husband was in feeling and in +saying, as he often did, that Goldsmith was quite wrong in +these two lines in “The Traveller”:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘How small of all that human hearts endure<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That part which laws or kings can cause or cure!<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noi">He often recited them with disapproval when any occurrence +made him feel how false they were.’</p> + +<div class="sidenote">KINGLAKE’S DESCRIPTION</div> + +<p>Lord John’s manner of life, like his personal tastes, was +simple. He contrived to set the guests who gathered +around him at his wife’s receptions perfectly at their ease, by +his old-fashioned gallantry, happy humour, and bright, vigorous +talk. One room in Pembroke Lodge, from the windows +of which a glorious view of the wooded valley is obtained, +has been rendered famous by Kinglake’s description<a name="FNanchor_44_44" id="FNanchor_44_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a> of a certain +drowsy summer evening in June 1854, when the Aberdeen +Cabinet assembled in it, at the very moment when they +were drifting into war. Other rooms in the house are full of +memories of Garibaldi and Livingstone, of statesmen, ambassadors, +authors, and, indeed, of men distinguished in every +walk of life, but chiefly of Lord John himself, in days of +intellectual toil, as well as in hours of friendly intercourse +and happy relaxation.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[354]</a></span></p> +<p>Charles Dickens, speaking in 1869 at a banquet in Liverpool, +held in his honour, over which Lord Dufferin presided, +refused to allow what he regarded as a covert +sneer against the House of Lords to pass unchallenged. +He repelled the insinuation with unusual warmth, and laid +stress on his own regard for individual members of that +assembly. Then, on the spur of the moment, came an +unexpected personal tribute. He declared that ‘there was +no man in England whom he respected more in his public +capacity, loved more in his private capacity, or from whom +he had received more remarkable proofs of his honour +and love of literature than Lord John Russell.’ The +compliment took Lord Russell by surprise; but if space +allowed, or necessity claimed, it would be easy to prove +that it was not undeserved. From the days of his youth, +when he lived under the roof of Dr. Playfair, and +attended the classes of Professor Dugald Stewart in +Edinburgh, and took his part, as a <i>protégé</i> of Lord +Holland, in the brilliant society of Holland House, Lord +John’s leanings towards literature, and friendship with other +literary men had been marked. As in the case of other +Prime Ministers of the Queen’s reign, and notably of Derby, +Beaconsfield, and Mr. Gladstone, literature was his pastime, +if politics was his pursuit, for his interests were always wider +than the question of the hour. He was the friend of Sir James +Mackintosh and of Sydney Smith, who playfully termed +him ‘Lord John Reformer,’ of Moore and Rogers, Jeffrey +and Macaulay, Dickens and Thackeray, Tyndall and Sir +Richard Owen, Motley and Sir Henry Taylor, Browning and +Tennyson, to mention only a few representative men.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">LITERARY FRIENDSHIPS</div> + +<p>When the students of Glasgow University wished, in 1846, +to do him honour, Lord John gracefully begged them to +ap<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[355]</a></span>point +as Lord Rector a man of creative genius, like Wordsworth, +rather than himself. As Prime Minister he honoured +science by selecting Sir John Herschel as Master of the Mint, +and literature, by the recommendation of Alfred Tennyson as +Poet Laureate. When Sir Walter Scott was creeping back in +broken health from Naples to die at Abbotsford it was Lord +John who cheered the sad hours of illness in the St. James’s +Hotel, Jermyn Street, by a delicately worded offer of financial +help from the public funds. Leigh Hunt, Christopher North, +Sheridan Knowles, Father Mathew, the widow of Dr. Chalmers, +and the children of Tom Hood are names which suggest the +direction in which he used his patronage as First Minister +of the Crown. He was in the habit of enlivening his +political dinner parties by invoking the aid of literary men +of wit and distinction, and nothing delighted him more than +to bring, in this pleasant fashion, literature and politics to +close quarters. The final pages of his ‘Recollections and +Suggestions’ were written in Lord Tennyson’s study at Aldworth, +and his relations with Moore at an earlier stage of +his life were even more intimate.</p> + +<p>Lord John Russell was twice married: first, on April 11, +1835, to Adelaide, daughter of Mr. Thomas Lister, of +Armitage Park, Staffordshire, the young widow of Thomas, +second Lord Ribblesdale; and second, on July 20, 1841, +to Lady Frances Anna Maria Elliot, second daughter of +Gilbert, second Earl of Minto. By his first wife he had +two daughters, the late Lady Victoria Villiers, and Lady +Georgiana Peel; and by his second three sons and one +daughter—John, Viscount Amberley, the Hon. George +William Gilbert, formerly of the 9th Lancers, the Hon. Francis +Albert Rollo, and Lady Mary Agatha. Viscount Amberley +married, on November 8, 1864, the fifth daughter of Lord +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[356]</a></span> +Stanley of Alderley. Lord Amberley died two years before +his father, and the peerage descended to the elder of his +two sons, the present Earl Russell.</p> + +<p>Lady Russell states: ‘Our way of life during the session, +from the time we first settled in Pembroke Lodge till John +ceased to take any active part in politics, was to be there from +Wednesday to Thursday and from Saturday to Monday. +This made him spend much time on the road; but he always +said the good it did him to snatch all he could of the delight +of his own quiet country home, to breathe its pure air, and +be cheered by the sight of his merry children, far outweighed +the time and trouble it cost him. When he was able to +leave town tolerably early, he used sometimes to ride down +all the way; but he oftener drove to Hammersmith Bridge, +where his horse, and such of our children as were old enough +to ride met him, and how joyfully I used to catch the first +sight of the happy riders—he on his roan “Surrey” and they +on their pretty ponies—from the little mount in our +grounds! He was very fond of riding, and in far later days, +when age and infirmity obliged him to give it up, used often +to say in a sad tone, pointing to some of his favourite grassy +rides, as we drove together in the park, “Ah! what pleasant +gallops we used to have along there!”’ Lord John was +seen to great advantage in his own home and with his +children. Even when the cares of State pressed most heavily +on him he always seemed to the children about him to +have leisure to enter with gay alacrity into their plans and +amusements. When at home, no matter how urgent the +business in hand, he always saw them either in the house or +the garden every day, and took the liveliest interest in the +round of their life, alike in work and play. He had conquered +the art of bearing care lightly. He seldom allowed +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[357]</a></span> +public affairs to distract him in moments of leisure. He +was able to throw aside the cares of office, and to enter with +vivacity and humour into social diversions. His equable +temper and placid disposition served him in good stead amid +the turmoil and excitement of political life.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">A PACKET OF OLD LETTERS</div> + +<p>Sorrows, neither few nor light, fell upon the household +at Pembroke Lodge in the closing years of Lord Russell’s +life; but ‘trials,’ as Lady Russell puts it in her journal, ‘had +taught Lord John to feel for others, and age had but +deepened his religion of love.’ In reply to a birthday letter +from Mr. Archibald Peel, his son-in-law, and nephew of his +great political rival he said: ‘Thanks for your good wishes. +Happy returns! I always find them, as my children are so +affectionate and loving; “many” I cannot expect, but I have +played my part.’ Two or three extracts from a packet of +letters addressed by Lord John to his daughter, Lady Georgiana +Peel, will be read with interest. The majority of them +are of too intimate and personal a kind for quotation. Yet +the whole of them leave the impression that Lord John, who +reproaches himself in one instance as a bad correspondent, +was at least a singularly good father. They cover a considerable +term of years, and though for the most part dealing +with private affairs, and often in a spirit of pleasant +raillery, here and there allusions to public events occur in +passing. In one of them, written from Gotha in the autumn +of 1862, when Lord John was in attendance on her Majesty, +he says: ‘We have been dull here, but the time has never +hung heavy on our hands. Four boxes of despatches and +then telegrams, all requiring answers, have been our daily +food.’ He refers touchingly to the Queen’s grief, and there +is also an allusion to the minor tribulation of a certain +little boy in England who had just crossed the threshold +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[358]</a></span> +of school-life. Probably Lord John was thinking of his +own harsh treatment at Westminster, more than sixty years +before, when he wrote: ‘Poor Willy! He will find a public +school a rough place, and the tears will come into his eyes +when he thinks of the very soft nest he left at home.’</p> + +<p>Ecclesiastical affairs never lost their interest to the author +of the Durham Letter, and the following comments show +his attitude on Church questions. The first is from a letter +written on May 23, 1867: ‘The Church has been greatly +disturbed. The Bishop of Salisbury has claimed for the +English clergy all the power of the Roman priests. The +question whether they are to wear white surplices, or blue, +green, yellow, or red, becomes a minor question in comparison. +Of course the Bishop and those who think with him +throw off the authority of our excellent Thirty-nine Articles +altogether, and ought to leave the Church to the Protestant +clergy and laity.’ England just then, in Carlyle’s judgment, +was ‘shooting Niagara,’ and Disraeli’s reform proposals +were making a stir in the opposite camp. In the letter above +quoted Lord John says: ‘Happily, we are about to get rid +of the compound householder. I am told Dizzy expects to +be the first President of the British Republic.’ Mr. Gladstone, +according to Lord Houghton, seemed at the same moment +‘quite awed with the diabolical cleverness of Dizzy.’ The +second bears date Woburn Abbey, September 29, 1868: +‘Dr. Temple is a man I greatly admire, and he has +become more valuable to his country since the death of +our admirable Dean of St. Paul’s. If I had any voice in +the appointment, Temple is the man I should wish to see +succeed to Milman; but I suppose the “Essays and Reviews” +will tell heavily against him.’ ‘We lead a very quiet +life here and a very happy one. I sometimes regret not seeing +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[359]</a></span> +my old political friends a little oftener.’ ‘In June [1869] I +expect Dickens to visit us. We went to see him last night +in the murder of Nancy by Sikes, and Mrs. Gamp. He +acts like a great actor, and writes like a great author. Irish +Church is looming very near in the Commons, and, in +June, in the Lords. The Archbishops and Bishops do not +wish to oppose the second reading, but Lord Cairns is prepared +to hack and hew in committee.’</p> + +<div class="sidenote">LADY GEORGIANA PEEL</div> + +<p>The recollections of Lord John’s children reveal, by +incidents too trivial in themselves to quote, how completely +he entered into their life. Lady Georgiana Peel recalls her +childish tears when her father arrived too late from London +one evening to see one of the glorious sunsets which he +had taught her to admire. ‘I can feel now his hand on my +forehead in any childish illness, or clasping mine in the +garden, as he led me out to forget some trifling sorrow.’ +She lays stress on his patience and serene temper, on his +tender heart, and on the fact that he always found leisure on +the busiest day to enter into the daily life of his little girls. +Half heartedness, either in work or play, was not to his mind. +‘<i>Do</i> what you are doing’ was the advice he gave to his +children.</p> + +<p>One of the elder children in far-off days at Pembroke +Lodge, Mrs. Warburton, Lord John’s step-daughter, recalls +wet days in the country, when her father would break the +tedium of temporary imprisonment indoors by romping with +his children. ‘I have never forgotten his expression of +horror when in a game of hide-and-seek he banged the door +accidentally in my elder sister’s face and we heard her fall. +Looking back to the home life, its regularity always astonishes +me. The daily walks, prayers, and meals regular and +punctual as a rule.... He was shy and we were shy, but I +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[360]</a></span> +think we spoke quite freely with him, and he seldom said +more than “Foolish child” when we ventured on any startling +views on things. Once I remember rousing his indignation +when I gave out, with sententious priggishness, that the +Duke of Wellington laboured under great difficulties in +Spain caused by the “factious opposition at home;” that +was beyond “Foolish child,” but my discomforted distress +was soon soothed by a pat on the cheek, and an amused +twinkle in his kind eyes.’ Lord Amberley, four days before +his death, declared that he had all his life ‘met with nothing +but kindness and gentleness’ from his father. He added: +‘I do earnestly hope that at the end of his long and noble +life he may be spared the pain of losing a son.’</p> + +<p>Mr. Rollo Russell says: ‘My father was very fond +of history, and I can remember his often turning back +to Hume, Macaulay, Hallam, and other historical works. +He read various books on the French Revolution with +great interest. He had several classics always near him, +such as Homer and Virgil; and he always carried about +with him a small edition of Horace. Of Shakespeare +he could repeat much, and knew the plays well, entering +into and discussing the characters. He admired Milton +very greatly and was fond of reading “Paradise Lost.” +He was very fond of several Italian and Spanish books, +by the greatest authors of those countries. Of lighter reading, +he admired most, I think, “Don Quixote,” Sir Walter +Scott’s novels, Miss Evans’ (“George Eliot”) novels, Miss +Austen’s, and Dickens and Thackeray. Scott especially he +loved to read over again. He told me he bought “Waverley” +when it first came out, and was so interested in it that he +sat up a great part of the night till he had finished it.’</p> + +<div class="sidenote">THE FRIENDSHIP OF BOOKS</div> + +<p>Lady Russell states that Grote’s ‘History of Greece’ was +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[361]</a></span> +one of the last books her husband read, and she adds: +‘Many of his friends must have seen its volumes open before +him on the desk of his blue armchair in his sitting-room at +Pembroke Lodge in the last year or two of his life. It was +often exchanged for Jowett’s “Plato,” in which he took great +delight, and which he persevered in trying to read, when, +alas! the worn-out brain refused to take in the meaning.’</p> + +<p>Lord John was a delightful travelling companion, and he +liked to journey with his children about him. His cheerfulness +and merriment on these occasions is a happy +memory. Dr. Anderson, of Richmond, who has been for +many years on intimate terms at Pembroke Lodge, and was +much abroad with Lord John in the capacity of physician +and friend, states that all who came in contact personally +with him became deeply attached to him. This arose +not only from the charm of his manner and conversation, +but from the fact that he felt they trusted him implicitly. +‘I never saw anyone laugh so heartily. He seemed almost +convulsed with merriment, and he once told me that after a +supper with Tom Moore, the recollection of some of the +witty things said during the course of the evening so tickled +him, that he had to stop and hold by the railings while +laughing on his way home. I once asked which of all the +merry pictures in “Punch” referring to himself amused him +the most, and he at once replied: “The little boy who has +written ‘No Popery’ on a wall and is running away because +he sees a policeman coming. I think that was very funny!”’ +Dr. Anderson says that Lord John was generous to a fault +and easily moved to tears, and adds: ‘I never knew any +one more tender in illness or more anxious to help.’ He +states that Lord John told him that he had encountered +Carlyle one day in Regent Street. He stopped, and asked +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[362]</a></span> +him if he had seen a paragraph in that morning’s ‘Times’ +about the Pope. ‘What!’ exclaimed Carlyle, ‘the Pope, +the Pope! The back of ma han’ for that auld chimera!’</p> + +<p>Lady Russell says: ‘As far as I recollect he never +but once worked after dinner. He always came up to the +drawing-room with us, was able to cast off public cares, and +chat and laugh, and read and be read to, or join in little +games, such as capping verses, of which he was very fond.’ +Lord John used often to write prologues and epilogues for +the drawing-room plays which they were accustomed to perform. +Space forbids the quotation of these sparkling and +often humorous verses, but the following instance of his +ready wit occurred in the drawing-room at Minto, and is +given on the authority of Mr. George Elliot. At a game +where everyone was required to write some verses, answering +the question written on a paper to be handed to him, +and bringing in a word written on the same, the paper that +fell to the lot of Lord John contained this question: ‘Do you +admire Sir Robert Peel?’ and ‘soldier’ the word to be +brought in. His answer was:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘I ne’er was a soldier of Peel,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Or ever yet stood at his back;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For while he wriggled on like an eel,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">I swam straight ahead like a <i>Jack</i>.’<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Mr. Gladstone states that perhaps the finest retort he +ever heard in the House of Commons was that of Lord +John in reply to Sir Francis Burdett. The latter had +abandoned his Radicalism in old age, and was foolish +enough to sneer at the ‘cant of patriotism.’ ‘I quite agree, +said Lord John, ‘with the honourable baronet that the cant +of patriotism is a bad thing. But I can tell him a worse—the +<i>re</i>cant of patriotism—which I will gladly go along with +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[363]</a></span> +him in reprobating whenever he shows me an example +of it.’</p> + +<div class="sidenote">LORD DUFFERIN’S RECOLLECTIONS</div> + +<p>Lord John Russell once declared that he had no need +to go far in search of happiness, as he had it at his own +doors, and this was the impression left on every visitor to +Pembroke Lodge. Lord Dufferin states that all his recollections +gather around Lord John’s domestic life. He +never possessed a kinder friend or one who was more pleasant +in the retirement of his home. Lord Dufferin adds: +‘One of his most charming characteristics was that he was +so simple, so untheatrical, so genuine, that his existence, +at least when I knew him, flowed at a very high level of +thought and feeling, but was unmarked by anything very +dramatic. His conversation was too delightful, full of +anecdote; but then his anecdotes were not like those told by +the ordinary <i>raconteur</i>, and were simple reminiscences of his +own personal experience and intercourse with other distinguished +men. Again, his stories were told in such an unpretending +way that, though you were delighted with what +you had heard, you were still more delighted with the speaker +himself.’</p> + +<p>The closing years of Lord Russell’s career were marked +by settled peace, the consciousness of great tasks worthily +accomplished, the unfaltering devotion of household love, +the friendship of the Queen, the confidence of a younger +race of statesmen, and the respect of the nation. Deputations +of working men found their way to Pembroke Lodge +to greet the old leader of the party of progress, and school +children gathered about him in summer on the lawn, and +were gladdened by his kindly smile and passing word. In +good report and in evil report, in days of power and in days of +weakness, the Countess Russell cheered, helped, and solaced +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[364]</a></span> +him, and brought not only rare womanly devotion, but +unusual intellectual gifts to his aid at the critical moments +of his life, when bearing the strain of public responsibility, +and in the simple round of common duty. The +nation may recognise the services of its great men, but can +never gauge to the full extent the influences which sustained +them. The uplifting associations of a singularly happy +domestic life must be taken into account in any estimate of +the forces which shaped Lord John Russell’s career. It is +enough to say—indeed, more cannot with propriety be added—that +through the political stress and strain of nearly forty +years Lady Russell proved herself to be a loyal and noble-hearted +wife.</p> + +<p>There is another subject, which cannot be paraded on +the printed page, and yet, since religion was the central +principle of Lord John Russell’s life, some allusion to his +position on the highest of all subjects becomes imperative. +His religion was thorough; it ran right through his nature. +It was practical, and revealed itself in deeds which spoke +louder than words. ‘I rest in the faith of Jeremy Taylor,’ +were his words, ‘Barrow, Tillotson, Hoadly, Samuel Clarke, +Middleton, Warburton, and Arnold, without attempting to +reconcile points of difference between these great men. I +prefer the simple words of Christ to any dogmatic interpretation +of them.’ Dean Stanley, whom he used to call his +Pope—always playfully adding, ‘but not an infallible one’—declared +shortly before Lord Russell’s death that ‘he was a +man who was firmly convinced that in Christianity, whether +as held by the National Church or Nonconformist, there +was something greater and vaster than each of the particular +communions professed and advocated, something which +made it worth while to develop those universal principles +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[365]</a></span> +of religion that are common to all who accept in any real +sense the fundamental truths of Christianity.’</p> + +<div class="sidenote">MR. SPURGEON’S BLESSING</div> + +<p>Mr. Spurgeon, in conversation with the writer of these +pages, related an incident concerning Lord John which deserves +at least passing record, as an illustration of his swift +appreciation of ability and the reality of his recognition of +religious equality. Lord John was upwards of sixty at the +time, and the famous Baptist preacher, though the rage of +the town, was scarcely more than twenty. The Metropolitan +Tabernacle had as yet not been built. Mr. Spurgeon was at +the Surrey Music Hall, and there the great congregation had +gathered around this youthful master of assemblies. One +Sunday night, at the close of the service, Lord John Russell +came into the vestry to speak a kindly word of encouragement +to the young preacher. One of the children of the ex-Prime +Minister was with him, and before the interview ended +Lord John asked the Nonconformist minister to give his +blessing to the child. Mr. Spurgeon never forgot the incident, +or the bearing of the man who came to him, amid a +crowd of others, on that Sunday night.</p> + +<p>In opening the new buildings of Cheshunt College in +1871, Lord John alluded to the foundress of that seat of +theological learning, Lady Huntingdon, as a woman who +was far in advance of her times, since, a century before the +abolition of University tests, she made it possible to divinity +students to obtain academical training without binding themselves +at the outset to any religious community.</p> + +<p>During the early months of 1878 Lord John’s strength +failed rapidly, and it became more and more apparent that +the plough was nearing the end of the furrow. His old +courage and calmness remained to the end. Mr. and Mrs. +Gladstone called at Pembroke Lodge on April 20, and he +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[366]</a></span> +sent down word that he wished to see them. ‘I took them to +him for a few minutes,’ relates Lady Russell. ‘Happily, he was +clear in his mind, and said to Mr. Gladstone, “I am sorry you +are not in the Ministry,” and kissed her affectionately, and was +so cordial to both that they were greatly touched.’ He told +Lady Russell that he had enjoyed his life. ‘I have made +mistakes, but in all I did my object was the public good!’ +Then after a pause: ‘I have sometimes seemed cold to my +friends, but it was not in my heart.’ A change for the worse +set in on May 1, and the last sands of life were slipping +quietly through the glass when the Nonconformist deputation +came on the 9th of that month to present Lord Russell +with an address of congratulation on the occasion of the +jubilee of the Repeal of the Corporation and Test Acts.<a name="FNanchor_45_45" id="FNanchor_45_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a> +Lady Russell and her children received the Deputation. In +the course of her reply to the address Lady Russell said that +of all the ‘victories won by that great party to which in his +later as in his earlier years Lord John had been inseparably +attached,’ there was none dearer to his memory at that +moment than that which they had called to remembrance. +‘It was a proud and a sad day,’ is the entry in Lady Russell’s +journal. ‘We had hoped some time ago that he might perhaps +see the Deputation for a moment in his room, but he +was too ill for that to be possible.’</p> + +<p>A few days later, there appeared in the columns of +‘Punch’ some commemorative verses entitled ‘A Golden +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[367]</a></span> +Wedding.’ They expressed the feeling that was uppermost +in the heart of the nation, and two or three verses may here +be recorded:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The Golden Wedding of Lord John and Liberty his love—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">‘Twixt the Russells’ House and Liberty, ’twas ever hand and glove—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">His love in those dark ages, he has lived through with his bride,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To look back on them from the sunset of his quiet eventide.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">His love when he that loved her and sought her for his own<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Must do more than suit and service, must do battle, trumpet blown,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Must slay the fiery dragons that guarded every gate<br /></span> +<span class="i0">On the roads by which men travelled for work of Church and State.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Now time brings its revenges, and all are loud to own<br /></span> +<span class="i0">How beautiful a bride she was, how fond, how faithful shown;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But she knows the man who loved her when lovers were but few,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And she hails this golden wedding—fifty years of tried and true.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Look and listen, my Lord Russell: ’tis your golden wedding-day;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">We may not press your brave old hand, but you hear what we’ve to say.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A blessing on the bridal that has known its fifty years,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But never known its fallings-out, delusions, doubt, or fears.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="sidenote">VICTORIOUS PEACE</div> + +<p>The end came softly. ‘I fall back on the faith of my +childhood,’ were the words he uttered to Dr. Anderson. +The closing scene is thus recorded in Mr. Rollo Russell’s +journal: ‘May 28 [1878].—He was better this morning, +though still in a very weak state. He spoke more distinctly, +called me by my name, and said something which I could +not understand. He did not seem to be suffering ... and +has, all through his long illness, been cheerful to a degree +that surprises everybody about him, not complaining of anything, +but seeming to feel that he was being well cared for. +About midday he became worse ... but bore it all calmly. +My mother was with him continually.... Towards ten he +was much worse, and in a few minutes, while my mother +was holding his hand, he breathed out gently the remainder +of life.’ Westminster Abbey was offered as a place of burial,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[368]</a></span> +but, in accordance with his own expressed wish, Lord John +Russell was gathered to his fathers at Chenies. The Queen’s +sympathy and her sense of loss were expressed in the following +letter:—</p> + +<p class="sig" style="font-size: 90%;"> +‘Balmoral: May 30, 1878.<br /> +</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">‘Dear Lady Russell</span>,—It was only yesterday afternoon +that I heard through the papers that your dear husband had +left this world of sorrows and trials peacefully and full of +years the night before, or I would have telegraphed and +written sooner. You will believe that I truly regret an old +friend of forty years’ standing, and whose personal kindness +in trying and anxious times I shall <i>ever</i> remember. “Lord +John,” as I knew him best, was one of my <i>first</i> and <i>most distinguished</i> +Ministers, and his departure recalls many eventful +times.</p> + +<p>‘To you, dear Lady Russell, who were ever one of the +most devoted of wives, this must be a terrible blow, though +you must have for some time been prepared for it. But one +is <i>never</i> prepared for the blow when it comes, and you have +had such trials and sorrows of late years that I most truly +sympathise with you. Your dear and devoted daughter +will, I know, be the greatest possible comfort to you, and I +trust that your grandsons will grow up to be all you could +wish.</p> + +<p class="center"> +‘Believe me always, yours affectionately,<br /></p> +<p class="sig">‘<span class="smcap">Victoria R. and I.</span>’<br /> +</p> + +<div class="sidenote">HIS GREAT QUALITIES</div> + +<p>Lord Shaftesbury wrote in his journal some words about +Lord Russell which speak for themselves. After recording +that he had reached the ripe age of eighty-six, and that he +had been a conspicuous man for more than half a century, +he added that to have ‘begun with disapprobation, to have +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[369]</a></span> +fought through many difficulties, to have announced, and +acted on, principles new to the day in which he lived, to +have filled many important offices, to have made many +speeches, and written many books, and in his whole course +to have done much with credit, and nothing with dishonour, +and so to have sustained and advanced his reputation to the +very end, is a mighty commendation.’</p> + +<p>When some one told Sir Stafford Northcote that Lord +John was dead, the tidings were accompanied by the trite +but sympathetic comment, ‘Poor Lord Russell!’ ‘Why +do you call him poor?’ was the quick retort. ‘Lord +Russell had the chance of doing a great work and—he +did it.’</p> + +<p>Lord John was not faultless, and most assuredly he was +not infallible. He made mistakes, and sometimes was inclined +to pay too little heed to the claims of others, and +not to weigh with sufficient care the force of his own impetuous +words. The taunt of ‘finality’ has seldom been +less deserved. In most directions he kept an open mind, +and seems, like Coleridge, to have believed that an error is +sometimes the shadow of a great truth yet behind the +horizon. Mr. Gladstone asserts that his old chief was +always ready to stand in the post of difficulty, and possessed +an inexhaustible sympathy with human suffering.</p> + +<p>It is at least certain that Lord John Russell served England—the +country whose freedom, he once declared, he +‘worshipped’—with unwearied devotion, with a high sense of +honour, with a courage which never faltered, with an integrity +which has never been impeached. He followed duty to the +utmost verge of life, and—full himself of moral susceptibility—he +reverenced the conscience of every man.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_44_44" id="Footnote_44_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> <i>History of the War in the Crimea</i>, by A. W, Kinglake, vol. ii. +sixth edition, pp. 249-50. +</p><p> +Lady Russell states that Lord John used to smile at Kinglake’s +rhetorical exaggeration of the scene. Her impression is that only two +of the Cabinet, and not, as the historian puts it, ‘all but a small +minority,’ fell asleep. The Duke of Argyll or Mr. Gladstone can +alone settle the point at issue.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_45_45" id="Footnote_45_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> Amongst those who assembled in the drawing-room of Pembroke +Lodge on that historic occasion were Mr. Henry Richard, M.P., Mr. +Samuel Morley, M.P., Mr. Edward Baines, Sir Charles Reed, Mr. +Carvell Williams, M.P., who came on behalf of the Protestant Dissenting +Deputies. The Congregationalists were represented by such men +as the Rev. Baldwin Brown and the Rev. Guinness Rogers; the Baptists +by Dr. Underhill; the Presbyterians by Dr. McEwan; and the Unitarians +by Mr. Middleton Aspland.</p></div> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[370]</a></span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[371]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="INDEX" id="INDEX"></a>INDEX</h2> + +<hr style="width: 3em; height: 1px; color: black; background-color: black; border: none;" /> + +<div class="index"> +<ul class="IX"> +<li><span class="smcap">Abercromby</span>, Mr., <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li> + +<li>Aberdeen, Lord, Foreign Secretary in Peel’s Cabinet, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> and the repeal of the Corn Laws, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>;</li> +<li> forms the Coalition Government, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>;</li> +<li> early political life and characteristics, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>;</li> +<li> and the Secret Memorandum, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>;</li> +<li> friendly relations with the Emperor Nicholas, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>;</li> +<li> belief in the peaceful intentions of Russia, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>;</li> +<li> vacillation on the eve of the Crimean War, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>;</li> +<li> public prejudice against him, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>;</li> +<li> home policy, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>;</li> +<li> fall of his Government, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>;</li> +<li> relations with Lord John Russell, <a href="#Page_346">346</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Adelaide, Queen, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a></li> + +<li>‘Adullamites,’ <a href="#Page_329">329</a></li> + +<li>Afghanistan, invasion of, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a></li> + +<li>‘Alabama’ Case, the, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>-<a href="#Page_319">319</a></li> + +<li>Albert, Prince, and Lord Palmerston, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> letter on the defeat of the Turks at Sinope, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>;</li> +<li> and Count Buol’s scheme, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>;</li> +<li> letter on the position of affairs in the Crimea, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>;</li> +<li> death, and characteristics, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>;</li> +<li> last official act, <a href="#Page_310">310</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Alexander II., <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a></li> + +<li>Alien Acts, the, <a href="#Page_27">27</a></li> + +<li>All the Talents, Ministry of, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a></li> + +<li>Alma, the battle of, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></li> + +<li>Althorp, Lord, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> and his part in carrying the Reform Bill, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>;</li> +<li> characteristics, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>;</li> +<li> introduces the Poor Law Amendment Act (Ireland), <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>;</li> +<li> and the Coercion Act, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>;</li> +<li> succeeds to the Peerage as Earl Spencer, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>. <i>See also</i> <a href="#Spencer">Spencer, Lord</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Amberley, Viscount, <a href="#Page_356">356</a></li> + +<li>America, war between England and, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> Napoleon’s opinion of the war, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>;</li> +<li> and the ‘Trent’ affair, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>-<a href="#Page_312">312</a>;</li> +<li> Civil War, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>;</li> +<li> and the Alabama Case, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>-<a href="#Page_319">319</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Anti-Corn-Law League, its founding <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> + +<li>Argyll, Duke of, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a></li> + +<li>Armenia, massacres in, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <a href="#Page_353">353</a></li> + +<li>Arms Bill, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> of 1847, <a href="#Page_154">154</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Auckland, Lord, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> + +<li>Austria, revolt in Vienna of 1848, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> and the retention of Lombardy and Venice, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>;</li> +<li> and the Vienna Note, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>;</li> +<li> and the Crimean War, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>;</li> +<li> proposed alliance with England and France to defend the integrity of Turkey, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>;</li> +<li> her power in Italy, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>;</li> +<li> campaign against France and Italy, and battles of Magenta and Solferino, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>;</li> +<li> and the peace of Villafranca, <a href="#Page_303">303</a></li></ul></li> +</ul> + + +<ul class="IX"> +<li><span class="smcap">Bagehot</span>, Walter, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a></li> + +<li>Ballot, the: Grote’s attempts to introduce a bill, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></li> + +<li>Bathurst, Lord, <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li> + +<li>Bedford, fourth Duke of, his ‘Correspondence’ edited by Lord John Russell, <a href="#Page_278">278</a></li> + +<li>— Francis, fifth Duke of, <a href="#Page_3">3</a></li> + +<li>— sixth Duke of, father of Lord John Russell, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> opinion of English Universities, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>;</li> +<li> encouragement given to Lord John in political training, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>;</li> +<li> characteristics, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>;</li> +<li> and Lord John’s leadership of the Opposition, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>;</li> +<li> and Joseph Lancaster, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>— seventh Duke of, <a href="#Page_202">202</a></li> + +<li>— first Earl of, <a href="#Page_2">2</a></li> + +<li>Belgium: the question of its independence, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a></li> + +<li>Bentinck, Lord George, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li> + +<li><a name="Bessborough" id ="Bessborough">Bessborough</a>, Lord, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li> + +<li>Birmingham, unrepresented in the House of Commons, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> great meeting on the Reform question at, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a></li></ul></li> + +<li><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[372]</a></span>Bismarck, Count, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>-<a href="#Page_323">323</a></li> + +<li>Blandford, Lord, <a href="#Page_59">59</a></li> + +<li>Blessington, Lady, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li> + +<li>Blomfield, Bishop, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></li> + +<li>Bradlaugh, Mr., <a href="#Page_332">332</a></li> + +<li>Bribery and corruption before the era of Reform, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> Lord John Russell’s resolutions for the discovery and punishment of, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Bridgeman, Mr. George (afterwards Earl of Bradford), <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> + +<li>Bright, John, on the influences at work in the repeal of the Corn Laws, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> on disaffection in Ireland, and the Arms Bill, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>;</li> +<li> relations with Lord John Russell, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>;</li> +<li> and the ‘Adullamites,’ <a href="#Page_329">329</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Brougham, Lord, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>; +<ul class="IX"> +<li> and the Reform Bill cry, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>;</li> +<li> speech on the second Reform Bill, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>;</li> +<li> opinion of Lord John Russell, <a href="#Page_110">110</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Buccleuch, Duke of, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a></li> + +<li>Bulgaria, massacres in, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <a href="#Page_352">352</a></li> + +<li>Bulwer, Sir H., <a href="#Page_174">174</a></li> + +<li>Buol, Count, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a></li> + +<li>Burdett, Sir Francis, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> his motion for universal suffrage, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>; <a href="#Page_70">70</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Buxton, Thomas Fowell, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></li> + +<li>Byng, Hon. Georgiana, <a href="#Page_3">3</a></li> +</ul> + +<ul class="IX"> +<li><span class="smcap">Camelford</span>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a></li> + +<li>Campbell, Lord, <a href="#Page_157">157</a></li> + +<li>Canada: the rebellion, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> Earl of Durham appointed Governor-General, <a href="#Page_110">110</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Canning, Mr., <a href="#Page_43">43</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> his Ministry, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>;</li> +<li> death, <a href="#Page_51">51</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Capital crimes, <a href="#Page_107">107</a></li> + +<li>Cardwell, Mr., <a href="#Page_290">290</a></li> + +<li>Carlisle, Earl of, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> + +<li>Carlyle, Thomas, and the Chartists, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>, <a href="#Page_362">362</a></li> + +<li>Caroline, Queen, proceedings against, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li> + +<li>Cartwright, Dr., <a href="#Page_5">5</a></li> + +<li>Cartwright, Major, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a></li> + +<li>Cassiobury, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></li> + +<li>Castlereagh, Lord, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li> + +<li>Catholics: political restrictions against them, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> agitation for Emancipation, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>;</li> +<li> passing of the Emancipation Bill, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>;</li> +<li> and the decree of Pius IX., <a href="#Page_182">182</a>-<a href="#Page_184">184</a>;</li> +<li> and the Durham Letter, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>-<a href="#Page_188">188</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Cato Street Conspiracy, <a href="#Page_40">40</a></li> + +<li>‘Cave of Adullam,’ <a href="#Page_329">329</a></li> + +<li>Cavour, Count, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a></li> + +<li>Chadwick, Sir Edwin, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></li> + +<li>Chartist movement, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> and Feargus O’Connor, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>-<a href="#Page_168">168</a>;</li> +<li> and its literature, <a href="#Page_166">166</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Chatham, Lord, on borough representation, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> + +<li>Chelsea Hospital, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li> + +<li>Cheshunt College, <a href="#Page_365">365</a></li> + +<li>China, opium war against, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li> + +<li>Church of England, the, and its adoption of Romish practices, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a></li> + +<li>Clare, Lord, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></li> + +<li>Clarendon, Lord, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> his Vice-royalty of Ireland, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>;</li> +<li> at the Foreign Office, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>;</li> +<li> on Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>;</li> +<li> Count Buol’s proposals, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Clive, Mr. Robert, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> + +<li>Clubs for the advancement of Reform, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> + +<li>Cobbett, William, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a></li> + +<li>Cobden, Richard, and the repeal of the Corn Laws, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> and Wellington, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>;</li> +<li> relations with Lord John Russell, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>;</li> +<li> negotiates the Commercial Treaty with France, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>;</li> +<li> death, <a href="#Page_325">325</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Coercion Act: Lord Grey proposes its renewal, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> Lord John Russell’s speech, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>;</li> +<li> and O’Connell, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>;</li> +<li> Peel’s proposal for its renewal, <a href="#Page_140">140</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Conspiracy Bill, the, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a></li> + +<li>Conyngham, Marquis of, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> + +<li>Corn Laws, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> John Bright on the influences working for their repeal, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>;</li> +<li> of 1670 reproduced in 1815, <a href="#Footnote_12_12">131 <i>n.</i></a>;</li> +<li> Sir Robert Peel proposes their gradual repeal, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>;</li> +<li> bill for repeal passes both Houses, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>;</li> +<li> total repeal carried by Russell, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Cranworth, Lord, <a href="#Page_327">327</a></li> + +<li>Crime, excessive penalties for, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li> + +<li>Crimean War: causes, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>-<a href="#Page_235">235</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> outbreak, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>;</li> +<li> Alma, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>;</li> +<li> Balaclava and Inkerman, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>;</li> +<li> siege of Sebastopol, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>;</li> +<li> privation and pestilence amongst the Allies, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>;</li> +<li> Roebuck’s motion in the House of Commons to inquire into the condition of the army before Sebastopol, and Lord John Russell’s speech on the question, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>-<a href="#Page_257">257</a>;</li> +<li> failure of Vienna Conference and renewal of the campaign, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>;</li> +<li> fall of Sebastopol, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>;</li> +<li> losses of Russia, and of the Allies, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>;</li> +<li> treaty of Paris, <a href="#Page_268">268</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Croker, J. W., <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li> +</ul> + +<ul class="IX"> +<li><span class="smcap">Dalling</span>, Lord, <a href="#Page_180">180</a></li> + +<li>Denmark and the Schleswig-Holstein Question, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a></li> + +<li>Derby, Lord, Administration of, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> fails to form a Ministry on the resignation of Lord Aberdeen, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>;</li> +<li> succeeds to the Premiership on the resignation of Lord Palmerston, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>;</li> +<li> resignation, <a href="#Page_293">293</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Devonshire, Duke of, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li> + +<li><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[373]</a></span> +Dickens, Charles, his tribute to Lord Russell, <a href="#Page_354">354</a></li> + +<li>Disraeli, Benjamin, and the ‘poisoned chalice,’ <a href="#Page_135">135</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> attacks Peel on the proposal to repeal the Corn Laws, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>;</li> +<li> and the Coercion Bill, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>;</li> +<li> and ‘Sybil,’ <a href="#Page_166">166</a>;</li> +<li> and the dismissal of Lord Palmerston, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>;</li> +<li> on Lord John Russell’s position after the issue of the Durham Letter, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>;</li> +<li> his Budget of 1852, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>;</li> +<li> leadership of the Conservative party, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>;</li> +<li> resolution condemning the Palmerston Ministry, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>;</li> +<li> on the exclusion of Lord John from Lord Grey’s Cabinet, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>;</li> +<li> his Reform Bill, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>;</li> +<li> on the Prince Consort, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>;</li> +<li> his ‘diabolical cleverness,’ <a href="#Footnote_42_42">333 <i>n.</i></a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Dissenters. <i>See</i> <a href="#Nonconformists">Nonconformists</a></li> + +<li>‘Don Carlos,’ by Lord John Russell, <a href="#Page_279">279</a></li> + +<li>‘Don Pacifico’ affair, the, <a href="#Page_175">175</a></li> + +<li>Dufferin, Lord, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_363">363</a></li> + +<li>Duffy, Sir Gavan, on Irish landowners, <a href="#Page_149">149</a></li> + +<li>Duhamel, General, his scheme for the acquisition of India by Russia, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li> + +<li>Duncannon, Lord, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> appointed Home Secretary, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>. <i>See also</i> <a href="#Bessborough">Bessborough, Lord</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Dunkellin, Lord, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a></li> + +<li>Durazzo, Madame, <a href="#Page_37">37</a></li> + +<li>Durham, Lord, his advanced opinions and popularity with the Radicals, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> and the preparation of the Reform Bill, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>;</li> +<li> and the scene in the House of Commons during the introduction of the bill, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>;</li> +<li> resigns office, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>;</li> +<li> appointed Governor-General of Canada, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>;</li> +<li> defended by Lord John Russell, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>;</li> +<li> popularity, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Durham Letter, the, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>-<a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li> +</ul> + +<ul class="IX"> +<li><span class="smcap">East India Company</span>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a></li> + +<li>East Retford, <a href="#Page_51">51</a></li> + +<li>Ebrington, Lord, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> moves a vote of confidence in Lord Grey’s Government, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>;</li> +<li> moves a second vote of confidence, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Ecclesiastical Titles Bill, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>-<a href="#Page_193">193</a></li> + +<li>‘Edinburgh Letter,’ the, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li> + +<li>Edinburgh Speculative Society, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li> + +<li>— University, Lord John Russell at, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>-<a href="#Page_14">14</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> and the influence of Professors Dugald Stewart and John Playfair, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>;</li> +<li> and the Speculative Society, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Education at the beginning of the century, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> Roebuck’s scheme, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>;</li> +<li> Bill of 1839, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>;</li> +<li> measure for providing competent teachers for elementary schools, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>;</li> +<li> Lord John Russell’s scheme of National Education, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>;</li> +<li> Mr. Forster’s measure, <a href="#Page_285">285</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Egypt, war between Turkey and, <a href="#Page_119">119</a></li> + +<li>Elcho, Lord, <a href="#Page_329">329</a></li> + +<li>Eldon, Lord, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>; +<ul class="IX"> +<li>and the proposed repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Elections, Parliamentary, cost of, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li> + +<li>Elliot, Hon. George, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a>, <a href="#Page_362">362</a></li> + +<li>Encumbered Estates Act, <a href="#Page_157">157</a></li> + +<li>Erskine, Lord, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li> + +<li>‘Essay on the History of the English Government and Constitution,’ by Lord John Russell, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a></li> +</ul> +<ul class="IX"> +<li><span class="smcap">Factory Act</span>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a></li> + +<li>Famine, Irish, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a></li> + +<li>Farnborough, Lord, <a href="#Page_107">107</a></li> + +<li>Fielden, Mr., <a href="#Page_159">159</a></li> + +<li>Fitzpatrick, General, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> + +<li>Flood, Mr., and Reform, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, and <a href="#Footnote_7_7"><i>note</i></a></li> + +<li>Fonblanque, Albany, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a></li> + +<li>Forster, W. E., and the Irish famine, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>; +<ul class="IX"> +<li> tribute to Lord John Russell for his work in the cause of education, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Fortescue, Mr. Chichester, Lord John Russell’s ‘Letters on the State of Ireland’ to, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a></li> + +<li>Fox, Charles James, his influence on Lord John Russell, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> on Parliamentary Representation, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>;</li> +<li> and the Test and Corporation Acts, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>;</li> +<li> Russell’s Biography of him, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>France: Napoleon’s intention to create a new aristocracy, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>; +<ul class="IX"> +<li> and England’s alliance, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>;</li> +<li> overthrow and flight of Louis Philippe, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>;</li> +<li> and the Spanish marriages, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>;</li> +<li> Revolution of 1848, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>;</li> +<li> and the ‘Don Pacifico’ affair, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>;</li> +<li> and the Crimean War, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>;</li> +<li> the Orsini Conspiracy, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>;</li> +<li> Commercial Treaty with England, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>;</li> +<li> campaign with Italy, against Austria, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>;</li> +<li> annexation of Savoy, <a href="#Page_305">305</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Free Trade: the question coming to the front, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>; +<ul class="IX"> +<li> and Tory opposition, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>;</li> +<li> conversion of Peel, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>;</li> +<li> and the Commercial Treaty with France, <a href="#Page_296">296</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>French Revolution, its influence on the English people, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a></li> + +<li>Friends of the People, Society of the, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li> + +<li>Froude, Mr., on the improvements effected by the Reform Bill, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> +</ul> +<ul class="IX"> +<li>‘<span class="smcap">Gagging Acts</span>,’ the, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a></li> + +<li>Garibaldi, General, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> entry into Naples, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>;</li> +<li> visit to Pembroke Lodge, <a href="#Page_307">307</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Gascoigne, General, <a href="#Page_73">73</a></li> + +<li>Gatton, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li> + +<li>Gavazzi, Father, <a href="#Page_186">186</a></li> + +<li>George III., his madness and blindness, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>;</li> +<li> and Catholic Emancipation, <a href="#Page_59">59</a></li> + +<li>George IV. and Queen Caroline, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> and Catholic Emancipation, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>;</li> +<li> death, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a></li></ul></li> + +<li><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[374]</a></span> +Gibson, Milner, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a></li> + +<li>Gladstone, Mr., on the Colonial policy of the Melbourne Government, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> Colonial Secretary, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>;</li> +<li> and Sir Robert Peel, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>;</li> +<li> his attack on Disraeli’s Budget, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>;</li> +<li> and Disraeli’s claim to lead the Conservative party, <a href="#Page_201">201</a> and <a href="#Footnote_27_27"><i>note</i></a>;</li> +<li> and Lord John Russell’s claim to the Premiership on the fall of the Derby Government, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>;</li> +<li> takes office under Lord Aberdeen, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>;</li> +<li> first Budget, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>;</li> +<li> and the income tax, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>;</li> +<li> resigns office, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>;</li> +<li> Chancellor of the Exchequer (1859), <a href="#Page_295">295</a>;</li> +<li> tribute to Russell on his accession to the Peerage, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>;</li> +<li> unseated at Oxford, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>;</li> +<li> Chancellor of the Exchequer under Lord Russell, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>;</li> +<li> introduces a Reform Bill, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>;</li> +<li> tribute to Lord Russell, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>;</li> +<li> ovation at Carlton House Terrace, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>;</li> +<li> and the Irish Question, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>, <a href="#Page_363">363</a>, <a href="#Page_366">366</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Glenelg, Lord, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></li> + +<li>Goderich, Lord, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a></li> + +<li>Gordon, Lady Georgiana, <a href="#Page_3">3</a></li> + +<li>Gore, Hon. Charles, <a href="#Page_348">348</a></li> + +<li>Gorham Case, the, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> + +<li>Gortschakoff, Prince, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li> + +<li>Goschen, Mr., <a href="#Page_327">327</a></li> + +<li>Graham, Sir James, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> withdraws from Lord Grey’s Ministry, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>;</li> +<li> accuses Lord John Russell of encouraging sedition, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>;</li> +<li> Home Secretary under Peel, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>;</li> +<li> declines the Governor-Generalship of India, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Grampound, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> disfranchised, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Granville, Lord, appointed Foreign Secretary, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> on Lord John Russell’s speech in defence of his late colleagues, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>;</li> +<li> fails to form a Ministry on the defeat of Lord Derby, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>;</li> +<li> becomes President of the Council, <a href="#Page_295">295</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Great Exhibition of 1851, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a></li> + +<li>Greece and the ‘Don Pacifico’ affair, <a href="#Page_175">175</a></li> + +<li>Greenock, Lord John Russell’s speech on the prospects of war, at, <a href="#Page_227">227</a></li> + +<li>Greville, Charles, comments of, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a></li> + +<li>Grey, (Charles, second) Lord, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> and Lord John Russell’s efforts on behalf of liberty, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>;</li> +<li> forms an Administration, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>;</li> +<li> early labours in the cause of Reform, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>;</li> +<li> characteristics, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>;</li> +<li> announcement in the House of Lords with regard to the introduction of the first Reform Bill, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>;</li> +<li> speech on the second Reform Bill, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>-<a href="#Page_78">78</a>;</li> +<li> resigns office, but resumes power on the inability of the Duke of Wellington to form a Ministry, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>;</li> +<li> changes in his Cabinet, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>;</li> +<li> proposes the renewal of the Coercion Act, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>;</li> +<li>resigns the Premiership, <a href="#Page_99">99</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Grey (Henry, third), Lord, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> Secretary to the Colonies under Lord John Russell, <a href="#Page_141">141</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Grey, Sir George, Home Secretary under Lord John Russell, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> and Irish crime, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>;</li> +<li> appointed Colonial Secretary, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>;</li> +<li> Home Secretary, <a href="#Page_327">327</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Grillion’s Club, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></li> + +<li>Grosvenor, Earl, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a></li> + +<li>Grote, George, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a></li> +</ul> + +<ul class="IX"> +<li><span class="smcap">Habeas Corpus Act</span>, suspension of, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a></li> + +<li>Hampden, Dr., and the see of Hereford, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></li> + +<li>Hampden Clubs, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> + +<li>Harcourt, Archbishop, on religious tests, <a href="#Page_57">57</a></li> + +<li>Harding, Sir John, and the ‘Alabama’ Case, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>-<a href="#Page_317">317</a></li> + +<li>Hardinge, Sir Henry (afterwards Viscount), <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a></li> + +<li>Hartington, Lord, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a></li> + +<li>Henley, Mr., <a href="#Page_291">291</a></li> + +<li>Herbert of Lea, Lord, <a href="#Page_232">232</a></li> + +<li>Herbert, Sidney, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a></li> + +<li>Herschel, Sir John, <a href="#Page_355">355</a></li> + +<li>Hobhouse, Sir J. C., <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a></li> + +<li>Holland, Lord, visit of Lord John Russell to the Peninsula with, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>-<a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> and the Life of Charles James Fox, <a href="#Page_276">276</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Holland House, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a></li> + +<li>Holy Places in Palestine, dispute concerning, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li> + +<li>Horsman, Mr., <a href="#Page_329">329</a></li> + +<li>Houghton, Lord, <a href="#Page_294">294</a></li> + +<li>House of Commons, abuses and defects in representation before the era of Reform, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> presentation of the petition of the Friends of the People, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>;</li> +<li> suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>;</li> +<li> Sir Francis Burdett’s motion for universal suffrage, and Lord John Russell’s speech, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>;</li> +<li> and the ‘Gagging Acts,’ <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>;</li> +<li> Lord John’s first resolutions in favour of Reform, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>;</li> +<li> Lord John proposes an addition of 100 members, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>;</li> +<li> introduction and second reading of the first Reform Bill, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>-<a href="#Page_73">73</a>;</li> +<li> dissolution, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>;</li> +<li> first Reform Bill, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>-<a href="#Page_73">73</a>;</li> +<li> second Reform Bill, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>;</li> +<li> third Reform Bill, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>;</li> +<li> the first Reformed Parliament, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>;</li> +<li> number of Protectionists in 1847, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>House of Lords, and the proposed enfranchisement of Manchester, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> and the Test and Corporation Acts, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>;</li> +<li> effect of the Duke of Wellington’s declaration against Reform, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>;</li> +<li> its rejection of Reform, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>;</li> +<li><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[375]</a></span> +urged by William IV. to withdraw opposition to the Reform Bill, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>;</li> +<li> passing of the Reform Bill, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>;</li> +<li> and the Jewish Disabilities Bill, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Howick, Lord, <a href="#Page_134">134</a></li> + +<li>Hume, Joseph, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li> + +<li>Hunt, Mr. Ward, <a href="#Page_330">330</a></li> + +<li>— ‘Orator,’ <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> + +<li>Huskisson, Mr., <a href="#Page_56">56</a></li> + +<li>Hyde Park, Reform demonstration in, <a href="#Page_332">332</a></li></ul> + +<ul class="IX"> +<li><span class="smcap">Indemnity Bill</span> for Dissenters, <a href="#Page_51">51</a></li> + +<li>India, Napoleon’s prophecy as to the acquisition by Russia of, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> Duhamel’s scheme for its acquisition by Russia, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>;</li> +<li> Mutiny in, <a href="#Page_288">288</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>India Bills, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a></li> + +<li>Inkerman, battle of, <a href="#Page_247">247</a></li> + +<li>Ireland: condition of affairs on the accession of the Duke of Wellington to power, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> agitation for Catholic Emancipation, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>;</li> +<li> and O’Connell, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>;</li> +<li> Lord John Russell’s visit in 1833, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>;</li> +<li> Poor Law Amendment Act, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>;</li> +<li> Mr. Littleton’s Tithe Bill, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>;</li> +<li> Tithe Bill of 1835, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>;</li> +<li> Municipal Bill, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>;</li> +<li> passing of the Tithe Bill, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>;</li> +<li> Maynooth grant, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>;</li> +<li> potato famine, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>;</li> +<li> Peel’s proposal for renewal of Coercion Act, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>;</li> +<li> proposed renewal of Arms Bill, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>;</li> +<li> revolt of Young Ireland against O’Connell, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>;</li> +<li> measures to relieve distress, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>-<a href="#Page_152">152</a>;</li> +<li> crime, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>;</li> +<li> Arms Bill (1847), <a href="#Page_154">154</a>;</li> +<li> Treason Felony Act, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>;</li> +<li> Encumbered Estates Act, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>;</li> +<li> emigration, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Irish Church: Mr. Ward’s motion, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> Peel’s accusation against Lord John Russell, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>;</li> +<li> Lord John’s motion of April 1835, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Italy: Lord John Russell’s impressions, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> Lord John’s second visit, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>;</li> +<li> and the retention by Austria of Lombardy and Venice, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>;</li> +<li> accession of Victor Emmanuel II. to the throne of Sardinia, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>;</li> +<li> campaign, with France, against Austria, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>;</li> +<li> the Peace of Villafranca, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>;</li> +<li> intervention of England, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>;</li> +<li> annexation of Savoy by France, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>;</li> +<li> entry of Garibaldi into Naples, and proclamation of Victor Emmanuel as King of Italy, <a href="#Page_306">306</a></li></ul></li> +</ul> +<ul class="IX"> +<li><span class="smcap">Jamaica Bill</span>, the, <a href="#Page_114">114</a></li> + +<li>Jews: exclusion from Parliament, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> rejection in the Lords of bill for their relief, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>;</li> +<li> passing of the bill in 1858, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Jones, Gale, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li> +</ul> +<ul class="IX"> +<li><span class="smcap">Keble</span>, Dr., <a href="#Page_183">183</a></li> + +<li>Kennington Common, Chartist demonstration on, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>-<a href="#Page_168">168</a></li> + +<li>King, Mr. Locke, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li> + +<li>Kinglake, Mr., <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_353">353</a></li> + +<li>Kingsley, Charles, his ‘Alton Locke,’ <a href="#Page_166">166</a></li> + +<li>Kossuth, Louis, his visit to England, <a href="#Page_179">179</a></li> +</ul> +<ul class="IX"> +<li><span class="smcap">Labouchere</span>, Mr. (afterwards Lord Taunton), <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></li> + +<li>Lambton, Mr. (father of the first Earl of Durham), <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li> + +<li>Lancashire Cotton Famine, <a href="#Page_319">319</a></li> + +<li>Lancaster, Joseph, <a href="#Page_115">115</a> and <a href="#Footnote_10_10"><i>note</i></a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a></li> + +<li>Lansdowne, Lord, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a></li> + +<li>Lascelles, Mr., <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li> + +<li>Lecky, Mr. W. E. H., his reminiscences of Earl Russell, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>-<a href="#Page_339">339</a></li> + +<li>Leech, John, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a></li> + +<li>Leeds, unrepresented in the House of Commons, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a></li> + +<li>‘Letters written for the Post, and not for the Press,’ question of authorship of, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a></li> + +<li>Lewis, Sir George Cornewall, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> Chancellor of the Exchequer in Lord Palmerston’s Ministry, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>;</li> +<li> on Lord John Russell’s speech announcing his resignation (1855), <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Lhuys, M. Drouyn de, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a></li> + +<li>Lincoln, President, assassination of, <a href="#Page_325">325</a></li> + +<li>Lister, Sir Villiers, <a href="#Page_348">348</a></li> + +<li>Littleton, Mr. (afterwards Lord Hatherton), and the Irish Title Bill, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> and the Coercion Act, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Liverpool, Lord, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li> + +<li>Llandaff, Bishop of, and the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts, <a href="#Page_57">57</a></li> + +<li>London University, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> proposed enfranchisement of, <a href="#Page_296">296</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Londonderry, Marquis of, <a href="#Page_79">79</a></li> + +<li>Louis Philippe, overthrow and flight of, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> and the Spanish marriages, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Lowe, Mr., <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a></li> + +<li>Luddites, riots of the, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li> + +<li>Lyndhurst, Lord, and Jewish Lord Chancellors, <a href="#Page_291">291</a></li> + +<li>Lyons, Sir Edmund, <a href="#Page_252">252</a></li> + +<li>Lytton, Sir Edward Bulwer, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a></li> +</ul> +<ul class="IX"> +<li><span class="smcap">Macaulay</span>, Lord, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> urges Lord John Russell to take office in the Coalition Ministry, <a href="#Page_204">204</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Mackintosh, Sir James, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a></li> + +<li>Magenta, battle of, <a href="#Page_303">303</a></li> + +<li>Malmesbury, Lord, <a href="#Page_137">137</a></li> + +<li><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">[376]</a></span> +Maltby, Dr., Bishop of Durham, and Lord John Russell’s ‘Durham Letter,’ <a href="#Page_184">184</a></li> + +<li>Manchester, unrepresented in the House of Commons, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> creation of bishopric of, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Martineau, Harriet, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> + +<li>Maule, Fox, <a href="#Page_141">141</a></li> + +<li>Maynooth College, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>-<a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> + +<li>Mazzini, <a href="#Page_300">300</a></li> + +<li>McCarthy, Mr. Justin, on the attitude of the Catholics towards Lord John Russell, <a href="#Page_188">188</a></li> + +<li>Melbourne, Lord, becomes Prime Minister, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> dismissed by William IV., <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>;</li> +<li> again Prime Minister, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>;</li> +<li> Queen Victoria’s regard for him, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>;</li> +<li> characteristics, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>;</li> +<li> opinion of the ballot, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>;</li> +<li> resigns, but is recalled to power, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>;</li> +<li> his recognition of Russell’s influence as leader in the Commons, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>;</li> +<li> blunders of his Government, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>;</li> +<li> defeat of his Government, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Melville, Lord, <a href="#Page_8">8</a></li> + +<li>‘Memoirs of the Affairs of Europe from the Peace of Utrecht,’ by Lord John Russell, <a href="#Page_275">275</a></li> + +<li>Memorandum, Secret, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a></li> + +<li>Menschikoff, Prince, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a></li> + +<li>Metternich, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a></li> + +<li>Miall, Edward, <a href="#Page_242">242</a></li> + +<li>Militia Bill, the, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a></li> + +<li>Milton, Lord, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li> + +<li>Mitchel, John, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></li> + +<li>Moldavia and Wallachia, occupation by Russia of, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a></li> + +<li>Monson, Lord, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li> + +<li>Moore, Thomas, his ‘Remonstrance,’ <a href="#Page_34">34</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> accompanies Lord John Russell to the Continent, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>;</li> +<li> extracts from his journal, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>;</li> +<li> anxiety as to Lord John’s politics, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>;</li> +<li> on Lord John’s success with his motion for the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>;</li> +<li> and Lardner’s Encyclopædia, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>;</li> +<li> Russell’s ‘Memoirs and Correspondence’ of Moore, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Morpeth, Lord, <a href="#Page_141">141</a></li> + +<li>Municipal Reform Act, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li> +</ul> +<ul class="IX"> +<li><span class="smcap">Napoleon I.</span>, Lord Russell’s boyish hatred of, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> Lord John’s interview with him at Elba, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>-<a href="#Page_31">31</a>;</li> +<li> his description of Wellington, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>;</li> +<li> opinions on European politics, &c., <a href="#Page_29">29</a>-<a href="#Page_31">31</a>;</li> +<li> and Talma, <a href="#Page_37">37</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Napoleon III., <a href="#Page_167">167</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> and the <i>Coup d’<ins class="correction" title="Transcriber's note: original reads 'Etat'">État</ins></i> of 1851, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>;</li> +<li> and the fear of his invading England, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>;</li> +<li> and the custody of the Holy Places, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>;</li> +<li> his alliance with England during the Crimean War, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>;</li> +<li> visit to England (1855), <a href="#Page_267">267</a>;</li> +<li> interview with Count Cavour, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>;</li> +<li> designs with regard to Italy, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>;</li> +<li>and the Peace of Villafranca, <a href="#Page_303">303</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Navigation Acts, <a href="#Page_197">197</a></li> + +<li>Nesselrode, Count, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a></li> + +<li>New Zealand becomes part of the British dominions, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a></li> + +<li>Newcastle, Duke of, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> unpopularity as Secretary for War, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>;</li> +<li> incapacity as War Minister, <a href="#Page_245">245</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Newman, Dr., <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> + +<li>Nicholas, Emperor, his ambitious projects, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> visit to England in 1844 and the Secret Memorandum, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>;</li> +<li> friendship with Lord Aberdeen, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>;</li> +<li> letter to Queen Victoria, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>;</li> +<li> ‘Generals Janvier et Février,’ <a href="#Page_259">259</a>;</li> +<li> death, <a href="#Page_259">259</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Nightingale, Miss Florence, <a href="#Page_250">250</a></li> + +<li><a name="Nonconformists" id="Nonconformists">Nonconformists</a>: the Indemnity Bill, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> agitation for repeal of Test and Corporation Acts and their repeal moved and carried by Lord John Russell, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>-<a href="#Page_57">57</a>;</li> +<li> the Marriage Bill and Registration Act, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>;</li> +<li> and the struggle for civil and religious liberty, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>;</li> +<li> deputation to Lord Russell, <a href="#Page_366">366</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Normanby, Lord, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a></li> + +<li>Northcote, Sir Stafford, <a href="#Page_369">369</a></li> + +<li>Nottingham Castle, <a href="#Page_79">79</a></li> + +<li>‘Nun of Arrouca, The,’ <a href="#Page_278">278</a></li> +</ul> +<ul class="IX"> +<li><span class="smcap">O’Brien</span>, Smith, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></li> + +<li>O’Connell, Daniel, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> his election for Clare, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>;</li> +<li> on the revenues of the Irish Church, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>;</li> +<li> and the Coercion Bill, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>;</li> +<li> and Lord John Russell, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>;</li> +<li> and the potato famine, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>O’Connor, Feargus, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>-<a href="#Page_168">168</a></li> + +<li>Old Sarum, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li> + +<li>Oltenitza, battle of, <a href="#Page_230">230</a></li> + +<li>Omar Pacha, <a href="#Page_230">230</a></li> + +<li>Opium war, the, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li> + +<li>Orloff, Count, <a href="#Page_214">214</a></li> + +<li>Orsini conspiracy, the, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a></li> + +<li>Oxford Movement, the, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>-<a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li> +</ul> +<ul class="IX"> +<li><span class="smcap">Palmerston</span>, Lord, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> and the despatch to Metternich, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>;</li> +<li> Foreign Secretary under Lord John Russell, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>;</li> +<li> compared with Russell, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>;</li> +<li> early official life and politics, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>;</li> +<li> his independent action, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>;</li> +<li> his despatch to France on the Spanish marriages, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>;</li> +<li> foreign policy, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>;</li> +<li> despatch to Sir H. Bulwer at Madrid, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>;</li> +<li> and the ‘Don Pacifico’ affair, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>;</li> +<li> popularity, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>;</li> +<li> and the Queen’s instructions, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>;</li> +<li> and the Kossuth incident, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>;</li> +<li> and the <i>Coup d’<ins class="correction" title="Transcriber's note: original reads 'Etat'">État</ins></i> in Paris (1851), <a href="#Page_179">179</a>;</li> +<li> dismissed from the Foreign Office, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>;</li> +<li> declines the Irish Viceroyalty, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>;</li> +<li> his amendment on the Militia Bill, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>;</li> +<li> offered a seat in Lord Derby’s Cabinet, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>;</li> +<li> Home Secretary under Lord Aberdeen, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>;</li> +<li><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">[377]</a></span> +urges the despatch of the fleet to the Bosphorus, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>;</li> +<li> resignation, and its withdrawal, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>;</li> +<li> succeeds Lord Aberdeen as Prime Minister, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>;</li> +<li> and Count Buol’s proposals, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>;</li> +<li> defeat on the ‘Arrow’ question and return to power after the General Election, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>;</li> +<li> defeat and resignation on the Conspiracy Bill, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>;</li> +<li> renewal of friendly relations with Russell, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>;</li> +<li> forms a Ministry on the defeat of Lord Derby, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>;</li> +<li> indifference to Reform, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>;</li> +<li> on Cabinet opinions, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>;</li> +<li> death, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>;</li> +<li> Lord Lyttelton’s opinion of him, <a href="#Page_326">326</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Panmure, Lord, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a></li> + +<li>Papal aggression, and the decree of Pius IX., <a href="#Page_182">182</a>-<a href="#Page_184">184</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> and the Durham Letter, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>-<a href="#Page_188">188</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Paris, Treaty of, <a href="#Page_268">268</a></li> + +<li>Parliamentary representation before the era of Reform, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li> + +<li>Parnell, Sir H., <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li> + +<li>‘Partington, Dame,’ and Sydney Smith’s speech on Reform, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li> + +<li>‘Peace with honour,’ <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_349">349</a></li> + +<li>Peel, Lady Georgiana, <a href="#Page_357">357</a></li> + +<li>Peel, Sir Robert, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> leader of the House of Commons under the Duke of Wellington, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>;</li> +<li> opposes the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>;</li> +<li> and Catholic Emancipation, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>;</li> +<li> and the first Reform Bill, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>;</li> +<li> Prime Minister, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>;</li> +<li> resignation, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>;</li> +<li> and the Whig Ladies-in-Waiting, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>;</li> +<li> his motion of want of confidence in the Melbourne Administration, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>;</li> +<li> again Prime Minister, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>;</li> +<li> characteristics, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>;</li> +<li> and the grant to Maynooth College, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>;</li> +<li> on the state of Ireland, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>;</li> +<li> and the repeal of the Corn Laws, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>;</li> +<li> resignation and resumption of office, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>;</li> +<li> proposes gradual repeal of Corn Laws, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>;</li> +<li> defeat and resignation on the Coercion Bill, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>;</li> +<li> and Lord Palmerston, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>;</li> +<li> death, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>;</li> +<li> and the Emperor Nicholas, <a href="#Page_215">215</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Pélissier, General, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li> + +<li>Pembroke Lodge, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_351">351</a>-<a href="#Page_353">353</a>, <a href="#Page_356">356</a>, <a href="#Page_357">357</a></li> + +<li>Penal Code, the, before the era of Reform, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a></li> + +<li>Peninsular Campaign, its costliness, <a href="#Page_22">22</a></li> + +<li>Penryn, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a></li> + +<li>People’s Charter, the, <a href="#Page_165">165</a></li> + +<li>Peterloo Massacre, the, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li> + +<li>Petty, Lord Henry (afterwards third Marquis of Lansdowne), <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li> + +<li>Pius IX., and his decree of 1850, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a></li> + +<li>Playfair, Professor John, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li> + +<li>Polignac, Prince de, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a></li> + +<li>Polish revolt of 1863, <a href="#Page_321">321</a></li> + +<li>Poor Law Amendment Act (Ireland), <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li> + +<li>Poor Law Board, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></li> + +<li>Poor Laws, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a></li> + +<li>Potato famine, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a></li> + +<li>Prisons, regulation of, <a href="#Page_107">107</a></li> + +<li>Protestant Operative Association of Dublin, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> + +<li>Prussia and the Vienna Note, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> and the Crimean War, <a href="#Page_243">243</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Public Health Act, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></li> + +<li>‘Punch,’ cartoons, &c., in, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_367">367</a></li> + +<li>Pusey, Dr., <a href="#Page_161">161</a> and <a href="#Footnote_17_17"><i>note</i></a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a></li> +</ul> +<ul class="IX"> +<li><span class="smcap">Raglan</span>, Lord, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li> + +<li>‘Recollections and Suggestions,’ publication of, <a href="#Page_280">280</a></li> + +<li>Redistribution of Seats Bill, <a href="#Page_330">330</a></li> + +<li>Redcliffe, Lord Stratford de: skill in diplomacy, and early diplomatic life, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>-<a href="#Page_220">220</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> return to Constantinople, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>;</li> +<li> and the second Congress at Vienna, <a href="#Page_260">260</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Reform: its early advocates, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>-<a href="#Page_27">27</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> and the Society of the Friends of the People, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>;</li> +<li> Lord John Russell’s first speech on the subject, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>;</li> +<li> Sir Francis Burdett’s motion of 1819, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>;</li> +<li> Lord John brings forward his first resolutions in the House of Commons, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>;</li> +<li> disfranchisement of Grampound, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>;</li> +<li> Lord John’s motion for an addition of 100 members to the House of Commons, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>;</li> +<li> resolutions brought forward by Lord Blandford, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>;</li> +<li> rejection of Lord John’s Bill for enfranchising Manchester, Birmingham, and Leeds, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>;</li> +<li> O’Connell’s motion for Triennial Parliaments, &c., <a href="#Page_60">60</a>;</li> +<li> declaration of the Duke of Wellington, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>;</li> +<li> the Committee of Four and the first Reform Bill, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>;</li> +<li> introduction and second reading of the first Bill in the Commons, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>-<a href="#Page_73">73</a>;</li> +<li> the second Bill, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>-<a href="#Page_78">78</a>;</li> +<li> public excitement on the rejection of the second Bill by the House of Lords, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>;</li> +<li> the third Bill passes the Commons, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>;</li> +<li> the Bill passes the House of Lords, and receives the Royal Assent, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>;</li> +<li> secured by popular enthusiasm, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>;</li> +<li> Lord John’s Bill of 1852, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>;</li> +<li> Bill of 1854, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>;</li> +<li> Disraeli’s Bill, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>;</li> +<li> Lord John’s Bill of 1860, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>;</li> +<li> Bill introduced by Mr. Gladstone, <a href="#Page_328">328</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Regent, Prince, insulted on returning from opening Parliament, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> and the Peterloo Massacre, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Revolution, French (1848), <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li> + +<li>Rice, Mr. Spring, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> + +<li>Richmond, Duke of, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></li> + +<li>Ripon, Lord, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></li> + +<li>Roden, Lord, <a href="#Page_113">113</a></li> + +<li>Roebuck, J. A., and education, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">[378]</a></span> +moves vote of confidence in the Russell Administration, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>;</li> +<li> his motion to inquire into the condition of the Army in the Crimea, <a href="#Page_254">254</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Rogers, Samuel, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a></li> + +<li>Rothschild, Baron, <a href="#Page_291">291</a></li> + +<li>Russell, Mr. G. W. E., <a href="#Page_344">344</a></li> + +<li>Russell, John, the first Constable of Corfe Castle, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_2">2</a></li> + +<li>Russell, Sir John, Speaker of the House of Commons, <a href="#Page_2">2</a></li> + +<li>Russell, John, the third, and first Earl of Bedford, <a href="#Page_2">2</a></li> + +<li>Russell, Lord John: ancestry, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> boyhood and education, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>-<a href="#Page_9">9</a>;</li> +<li> schooldays at Sunbury and Westminster, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>-<a href="#Page_5">5</a>;</li> +<li> extracts from journal kept at Westminster, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>;</li> +<li> passion for the theatre, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>;</li> +<li> education under Dr. Cartwright, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>;</li> +<li> dedicates a manuscript book to Pitt, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>;</li> +<li> schooldays and schoolfellows at Woodnesborough, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>-<a href="#Page_9">9</a>;</li> +<li> writes satirical verses and dramatic prologues, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>;</li> +<li> opinion on the case of Lord Melville, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>;</li> +<li> influence of Mr. Fox upon him, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>;</li> +<li> at Holland House, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>;</li> +<li> friendship with Sydney Smith, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>;</li> +<li> visit to the English lakes and Scotland, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>;</li> +<li> impressions of Sir Walter Scott, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>;</li> +<li> first visit to the House of Lords, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>;</li> +<li> visit to the Peninsula with Lord and Lady Holland, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>-<a href="#Page_11">11</a>;</li> +<li> political predilections and sympathy with Spain, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>-<a href="#Page_11">11</a>;</li> +<li> goes to Edinburgh University, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>;</li> +<li> impressions of Professors Dugald Stewart and John Playfair, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>;</li> +<li> his powers of debate at the Edinburgh Speculative Society, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>;</li> +<li> early bias towards Parliamentary Reform, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>;</li> +<li> second visit to Spain, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>;</li> +<li> first impressions of Lord Wellington, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>;</li> +<li> commands a company of the Bedfordshire Militia, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>;</li> +<li> third visit to Spain, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>-<a href="#Page_20">20</a>;</li> +<li> on the field of Salamanca, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>;</li> +<li> at Wellington’s head-quarters, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>;</li> +<li> his ride to Frenida, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>;</li> +<li> dines with a canon at Plasencia, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>;</li> +<li> at Talavera and Madrid, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>;</li> +<li> elected member for Tavistock, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>;</li> +<li> his opinion of Lord Liverpool, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>;</li> +<li> maiden speech in Parliament, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>;</li> +<li> speech on the Alien Acts, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>;</li> +<li> elected a member of Grillion’s Club, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>;</li> +<li> his Italian tour of 1814-15, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>-<a href="#Page_31">31</a>;</li> +<li> interview with Napoleon at Elba, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>-<a href="#Page_31">31</a>;</li> +<li> speeches in Parliament against the renewal of war with France, against the income-tax and the Army Estimates, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>;</li> +<li> on the proposal to suspend the Habeas Corpus Act, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>;</li> +<li> proposes to abandon politics, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>;</li> +<li> literary labours and travel, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>;</li> +<li> returned again for Tavistock at the General Election of 1818, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>;</li> +<li> first speech in the House of Commons on Parliamentary Reform, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>;</li> +<li>growth of his influence in Parliament, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>;</li> +<li> visit to the Continent with Thomas Moore, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>;</li> +<li> impressions of Italy, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>;</li> +<li> brings forward in Parliament his first resolutions in favour of Reform, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>;</li> +<li> his bill for disfranchising Penryn, Camelford, Grampound, and Barnstaple, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>;</li> +<li> returned to Parliament for Huntingdon, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>;</li> +<li> and the case of Grampound, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>;</li> +<li> takes the side of Queen Caroline, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>;</li> +<li> writes ‘The Nun of Arrouca,’ <a href="#Page_42">42</a>;</li> +<li> taciturnity in French society, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>;</li> +<li> his resolutions for the discovery and punishment of bribery, &c., <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>;</li> +<li> proposes an addition of 100 members to the House of Commons, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>;</li> +<li> increase of his political influence, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>;</li> +<li> unseated in Huntingdonshire, and his second visit to Italy, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>;</li> +<li> elected for Bandon Bridge, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>;</li> +<li> on the condition of the Tory party on Canning’s accession to power, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>;</li> +<li> and restrictions upon Dissenters, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>;</li> +<li> proposal to enfranchise Manchester, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>;</li> +<li> moves the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>-<a href="#Page_57">57</a>;</li> +<li> and Catholic Emancipation, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>;</li> +<li> rejection of his bill for enfranchising Manchester, Birmingham, and Leeds, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>;</li> +<li> defeated at Bedford, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>;</li> +<li> visit to Paris, and efforts to save the life of Prince de Polignac, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>;</li> +<li> elected for Tavistock, and appointed Paymaster-General, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>;</li> +<li> prepares the first Reform Bill in conjunction with Lord Durham and others, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>;</li> +<li> introduces the bill, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>-<a href="#Page_72">72</a>;</li> +<li> moves the second reading of the Bill, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>;</li> +<li> returned to Parliament for Devonshire, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>;</li> +<li> raised to Cabinet rank, and introduces second Reform Bill, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>;</li> +<li> reply to vote of thanks from Birmingham, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>;</li> +<li> introduces the third Reform Bill, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>;</li> +<li> carries the bill to the Lords, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>;</li> +<li> and the Municipal Reform Act, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>;</li> +<li> opposition to Radical measures, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>;</li> +<li> and the wants of Ireland, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>;</li> +<li> visit to Ireland, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>;</li> +<li> on Mr. Littleton’s Irish Tithe Bill, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>;</li> +<li> ‘upsets the coach,’ <a href="#Page_95">95</a>;</li> +<li> on Coercion Acts, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>;</li> +<li> allusion to his Biography of Fox, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>;</li> +<li> and the leadership in the House of Commons under the first Melbourne Ministry, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>;</li> +<li> William IV.’s opinion of him, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>;</li> +<li> returned for South Devon on Peel’s accession to power, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>;</li> +<li> as leader of the Opposition, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>;</li> +<li> and the meeting at Lichfield House, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>;</li> +<li> defeats the Government with his Irish Church motion, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>;</li> +<li> marriage, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>;</li> +<li> appointment to the Home Office in the second Melbourne Administration, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>;</li> +<li> defeated in Devonshire, and elected for Stroud, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>;</li> +<li> presented with a testimonial at Bristol, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>;</li> +<li><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">[379]</a></span> +and the Dissenters’ Marriage Bill, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>;</li> +<li> and the Tithe Commutation Act, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>;</li> +<li> again returned for Stroud, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>;</li> +<li> allusion to the accession of the Queen, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>;</li> +<li> declines to take part in further measures of Reform, and is called by Radicals ‘Finality John,’ <a href="#Page_110">110</a>;</li> +<li> death of his wife, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>;</li> +<li> Education Bill of 1839, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>;</li> +<li> as Colonial Secretary, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>-<a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a>;</li> +<li> his appointment of a Chartist magistrate, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>;</li> +<li> and the Corn Laws, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>;</li> +<li> returned for the City of London, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>;</li> +<li> second marriage, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>;</li> +<li> Wellington’s opinion of him, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>;</li> +<li> his opinion of Peel’s Administration, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>;</li> +<li> supports Peel on the Maynooth question, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>;</li> +<li> and the repeal of the Corn Laws, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>-<a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>;</li> +<li> and the ‘Edinburgh Letter,’ <a href="#Page_133">133</a>;</li> +<li> fails to form a Ministry on the resignation of Peel, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>;</li> +<li> opposes Peel’s proposal for renewal of Coercion Act, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>;</li> +<li> succeeds Peel as Prime Minister, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>;</li> +<li> address in the City, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>;</li> +<li> political qualities, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>;</li> +<li> contrasted with Palmerston, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>;</li> +<li> his measure for total repeal of Corn Laws, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>;</li> +<li> and sugar duties, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>;</li> +<li> proposes renewal of Irish Arms Bill, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>;</li> +<li> his Irish policy, and anxiety and efforts for the improvement of the people, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>;</li> +<li> and the Arms Bill (1847), <a href="#Page_154">154</a>;</li> +<li> again visits Ireland, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>;</li> +<li> education measures, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>;</li> +<li> returned again for the City, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>;</li> +<li> his appointment of Dr. Hampden to the see of Hereford, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>;</li> +<li> and the Chartist demonstration of 1848, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>;</li> +<li> relations with Lord Palmerston, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>;</li> +<li> on the political situation in Europe after the French Revolution of 1848, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>;</li> +<li> and Palmerston’s action in the ‘Don Pacifico’ affair, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>;</li> +<li> tribute to Sir Robert Peel, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>;</li> +<li> dismisses Palmerston from the Foreign Office, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>;</li> +<li> and the breach with Palmerston, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>;</li> +<li> his ‘Durham Letter,’ <a href="#Page_184">184</a>-<a href="#Page_191">191</a>;</li> +<li> introduces the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>;</li> +<li> resigns the Premiership, but returns to office on the failure of Lord Stanley to form a Ministry, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>;</li> +<li> resignation on the vote on the Militia Bill, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>;</li> +<li> his Reform Bill of 1852, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>;</li> +<li> defence of Lord Clarendon, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>;</li> +<li> edits ‘Memoirs and Journal of Thomas Moore,’ <a href="#Page_204">204</a>;</li> +<li> accepts Foreign Secretaryship in the Aberdeen Administration, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>;</li> +<li> his vacillation in taking office under Lord Aberdeen not due to personal motives, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>;</li> +<li> retires from Foreign Office, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>;</li> +<li> on the projects of Russia, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>;</li> +<li> and the Vienna Note, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>;</li> +<li> speech at Greenock on the prospects of war, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>;</li> +<li>memorandum to the Cabinet on the eve of the Crimean War, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>;</li> +<li> Reform Bill of 1854, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>;</li> +<li> resignation, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>;</li> +<li> resumes his seat in the Cabinet, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>;</li> +<li> speech in the House of Commons on withdrawing his Reform measure, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>;</li> +<li> proposes a rearrangement of the War and Colonial departments, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>;</li> +<li> presses Lord Aberdeen to take decisive action with regard to the Crimean War, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>;</li> +<li> memorandum on the Crimean War, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>;</li> +<li> proposed resignation, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>;</li> +<li> resignation on Roebuck’s motion to inquire into the condition of the Army in the Crimea, and his speech on the question, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>-<a href="#Page_257">257</a>;</li> +<li> becomes Colonial Secretary in Palmerston’s Government, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>;</li> +<li> plenipotentiary at second Congress of Vienna, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>-<a href="#Page_263">263</a>;</li> +<li> consents at Palmerston’s request to remain in the Ministry, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>;</li> +<li> explanations in the House of Commons regarding the failure of the Vienna Conference, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>;</li> +<li> announces his resignation (1855), <a href="#Page_265">265</a>;</li> +<li> speech in defence of his late colleagues against Roebuck’s motion of censure, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>;</li> +<li> his mistake in joining the Coalition Ministry, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>;</li> +<li> leisure, travel, &c., <a href="#Page_272">272</a>;</li> +<li> literary labours, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>-<a href="#Page_281">281</a>, <a href="#Page_354">354</a>;</li> +<li> and the pension for Moore, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>;</li> +<li> remarks on his own career in ‘Recollections and Suggestions,’ <a href="#Page_281">281</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>;</li> +<li> allusions to Joseph Lancaster, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>;</li> +<li> work in the cause of education, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>-<a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>;</li> +<li> scheme of National Education (1856), <a href="#Page_284">284</a>;</li> +<li> opposes Lord Palmerston on the ‘Arrow’ question, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>;</li> +<li> speech in the City and re-election, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>;</li> +<li> supports Palmerston at the Indian Mutiny crisis, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>;</li> +<li> on the Conspiracy Bill, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>;</li> +<li> supports Lord Derby in passing the India Bill, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>;</li> +<li> thanked by Jews for his aid in removing their disabilities, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>;</li> +<li> attacks Disraeli’s Reform Bill, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>;</li> +<li> renewal of friendly intercourse with Palmerston, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>;</li> +<li> relations with Cobden and Bright, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>;</li> +<li> joins Palmerston’s Administration (1859) as Foreign Secretary, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>;</li> +<li> introduces a new Reform Bill, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>;</li> +<li> raised to the Peerage, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>;</li> +<li> acquires the Ardsalla estate, and receives the Garter, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>;</li> +<li> his work at the Foreign Office, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>;</li> +<li> intervention in Italian affairs, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>;</li> +<li> protests against the annexation of Savoy by France, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>;</li> +<li> receives Garibaldi at Pembroke Lodge, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>;</li> +<li> his reception in Italy, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>;</li> +<li> and the ‘Trent’ affair, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>;</li> +<li> and the ‘Alabama’ case, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>-<a href="#Page_319">319</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>;</li> +<li> on the Polish revolt, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>;</li> +<li> and the Schleswig-Holstein difficulty, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>;</li> +<li> as Foreign Secretary, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>;</li> +<li><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">[380]</a></span> +on Palmerston’s vivacity, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>;</li> +<li> second Premiership on the death of Palmerston, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>;</li> +<li> tribute to Lord Palmerston, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>;</li> +<li> defeated on the questions of Reform and Redistribution of Seats, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>;</li> +<li> Mr. Lecky’s reminiscences of him, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>-<a href="#Page_339">339</a>;</li> +<li> relations with colleagues and opponents, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a>;</li> +<li> speech on the maintenance of the independence of Belgium, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>;</li> +<li> letter on the claims of the Vatican, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>;</li> +<li> letters to the ‘Times’ on the government of Ireland, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>;</li> +<li> and Home Rule, <a href="#Page_338">338</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>;</li> +<li> independent attitude towards the throne, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>;</li> +<li> relations with Lord Aberdeen, <a href="#Page_346">346</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a>;</li> +<li> Lord Selborne’s impressions of him, <a href="#Page_345">345</a>;</li> +<li> his private secretaries’ impressions of him, <a href="#Page_347">347</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>;</li> +<li> life at Pembroke Lodge, <a href="#Page_351">351</a>-<a href="#Page_353">353</a>;</li> +<li> stories about doctors, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>;</li> +<li> visit of Bulgarian delegates, <a href="#Page_352">352</a>;</li> +<li> friendships, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>;</li> +<li> his use of patronage, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>;</li> +<li> his children, <a href="#Page_356">356</a>;</li> +<li> home life, and his children’s reminiscences, <a href="#Page_356">356</a>-<a href="#Page_361">361</a>;</li> +<li> Dr. Anderson’s recollections, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>;</li> +<li> a meeting with Carlyle, <a href="#Page_362">362</a>;</li> +<li> Lord Dufferin’s recollections, <a href="#Page_363">363</a>;</li> +<li> religious faith, <a href="#Page_364">364</a>;</li> +<li> interview with Spurgeon, <a href="#Page_365">365</a>;</li> +<li> at Cheshunt College, <a href="#Page_365">365</a>;</li> +<li> Nonconformist deputation, <a href="#Page_366">366</a>;</li> +<li> ‘Golden Wedding,’ <a href="#Page_367">367</a>;</li> +<li> death, <a href="#Page_367">367</a>;</li> +<li> opinion of Lord Shaftesbury, <a href="#Page_368">368</a>;</li> +<li> a remark of Sir Stafford Northcote’s, <a href="#Page_369">369</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Russell, Hon. Rollo, <a href="#Page_360">360</a>, <a href="#Page_367">367</a></li> + +<li>Russell, William, Member of Parliament in the reign of Edward II., <a href="#Page_2">2</a></li> + +<li>Russell, Lord William (of the seventeenth century), <a href="#Page_1">1</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> Lord John Russell’s Biography of him, <a href="#Page_274">274</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Russell, Lord William, Lord John Russell’s brother, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> wounded at Talavera, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>;</li> +<li> letter to Lord John, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Russia, and India, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> projects and demands with regard to Turkey, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>;</li> +<li> occupation of Moldavia and Wallachia, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>;</li> +<li> rejection of the Vienna Note, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>;</li> +<li> destroys Turkish fleet at Sinope, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>;</li> +<li> evacuates the Principalities, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>;</li> +<li> operations in the Crimea, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>-<a href="#Page_252">252</a>;</li> +<li> death of the Emperor Nicholas, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>;</li> +<li> fall of Sebastopol, and losses in the war, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>;</li> +<li> and the Polish revolt, <a href="#Page_321">321</a></li></ul></li> +</ul> +<ul class="IX"> +<li><span class="smcap">Salamanca</span>, battle of, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li> + +<li>Sardinia, and the Crimean War, <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li> + +<li>Schleswig-Holstein question, the, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a></li> + +<li>Scott, Sir Walter, Lord John Russell’s first acquaintance with, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li>and the Edinburgh Speculative Society, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Sebastopol, siege and fall of, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a></li> + +<li>Secret Memorandum, the, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a></li> + +<li>Sefton, Lord, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li> + +<li>Selborne, Lord, on the ‘Alabama’ case, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>-<a href="#Page_319">319</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> impressions of Lord Russell, <a href="#Page_345">345</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Seymour, Sir Hamilton, <a href="#Page_214">214</a></li> + +<li>Seymour, Lord Webb, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li> + +<li>Shaftesbury, Lord, and factory children, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> and Lord John Russell’s support of Peel, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>;</li> +<li> and the Factory Bill, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>;</li> +<li> special constable in 1848, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>;</li> +<li> and Cardinal Wiseman’s manifesto, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>;</li> +<li> on the Coalition Government, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_368">368</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>‘Shannon’ and the ‘Chesapeake,’ battle between the, <a href="#Page_22">22</a></li> + +<li>Shelley and the Peterloo massacre, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li> + +<li>Sheridan, Mr., <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li> + +<li>Sidmouth, Lord, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a></li> + +<li>Simpson, General, <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li> + +<li>Sinope, destruction of Turkish fleet at, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></li> + +<li>Slave trade, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></li> + +<li>Smith, Rev. —, Vicar of Woodnesborough, a tutor of Lord John Russell’s, <a href="#Page_6">6</a></li> + +<li>Smith, Dr. Southwood, and the Public Health Act, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></li> + +<li>Smith, Sydney, friendship with Lord John Russell, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> on Reform, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>;</li> +<li> on the political situation after Canning’s accession to power, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>;</li> +<li> and ‘Dame Partington,’ <a href="#Page_80">80</a>;</li> +<li> hopeful of the triumph of Reform, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>;</li> +<li> and ‘Lord John Reformer,’ <a href="#Page_90">90</a>;</li> +<li> on Lord John’s influence in the Melbourne Government, <a href="#Page_113">113</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Society of the Friends of the People, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li> + +<li>Solferino, battle of, <a href="#Page_303">303</a></li> + +<li>Spain, Lord John Russell’s visit with Lord and Lady Holland, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>-<a href="#Page_11">11</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> Lord John’s sympathy, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>;</li> +<li> Lord John’s second visit, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>;</li> +<li> Lord John’s third visit and adventures, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>-<a href="#Page_20">20</a>;</li> +<li> entry of Wellington into Madrid, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>;</li> +<li> the Spanish marriages, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>;</li> +<li> Lord Palmerston’s interference, <a href="#Page_174">174</a></li></ul></li> + +<li><a name="Spencer" id="Spencer">Spencer</a>, Lord, on the alliance of England with France, <a href="#Page_120">120</a></li> + +<li>Spurgeon, C. H., <a href="#Page_365">365</a></li> + +<li>Stanhope, Colonel, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></li> + +<li>Stanley, Lord, and Irish affairs, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> Secretary for the Colonies, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>;</li> +<li> and the Irish Church, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>;</li> +<li> withdraws from Lord Grey’s Cabinet, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>;</li> +<li> Secretary for the Colonies under Peel, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>;</li> +<li> succeeds to the House of Lords, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>;</li> +<li> challenges Palmerston’s foreign policy, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>;</li> +<li> fails to form a Ministry on the resignation of Lord John Russell, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Stanmore, Lord, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a></li> + +<li><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">[381]</a></span> +Stansfeld, Mr., <a href="#Page_327">327</a></li> + +<li>Stewart, Dugald, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li> + +<li>Stockmar, Baron, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a></li> + +<li>Sussex, Duke of, and the claims of Dissenters, <a href="#Page_53">53</a></li> + +<li>Sweden, and the Crimean War, <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li> + +<li>Syllogism, a merry canon’s, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li> +</ul> +<ul class="IX"> +<li><span class="smcap">Tahiti</span> incident, the, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li> + +<li>Tavistock, monastic lands granted to the first Earl of Bedford, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>; +<ul class="IX"> +<li> election of Lord John Russell as member for, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Tavistock, Lord, elder brother of Lord John Russell, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li> + +<li>Tennyson, Mr., <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> + +<li>Tennyson, Lord, his appointment as Poet Laureate, <a href="#Page_355">355</a></li> + +<li>Test and Corporation Acts; agitation for their total repeal, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>; +<ul class="IX"> +<li> speech of Fox, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>;</li> +<li> their provisions, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>;</li> +<li> jubilee of repeal, <a href="#Page_366">366</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Tithe Acts (Ireland): Mr. Littleton’s Bill, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>; +<ul class="IX"> +<li> Bill of 1835, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>;</li> +<li> Bill passes through Parliament, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Tithe Commutation Act, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a></li> + +<li>Tooke, Horne, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> + +<li>Trafalgar Square demonstration on the Reform question, <a href="#Page_332">332</a></li> + +<li>Treason Felony Act, <a href="#Page_157">157</a></li> + +<li>Treaty of Paris (1856), <a href="#Page_268">268</a></li> + +<li>‘Trent’ affair, the, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>-<a href="#Page_312">312</a></li> + +<li>Turkey, war with Egypt, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>; +<ul class="IX"> +<li> and the custody of the Holy Places in Palestine, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>;</li> +<li> the ‘sick man’ of Europe, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>;</li> +<li> oppression of Christian subjects, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>;</li> +<li> reception of Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>;</li> +<li> and the Vienna Note, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>-<a href="#Page_227">227</a>;</li> +<li> ultimatum to Russia, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>;</li> +<li> destruction of fleet by Russia at Sinope, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>;</li> +<li> and the second Congress at Vienna, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>-<a href="#Page_262">262</a>;</li> +<li> and the Treaty of Paris, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a></li></ul></li> +</ul> + +<ul class="IX"> +<li><span class="smcap">University</span> of London, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>; +<ul class="IX"> +<li> proposed enfranchisement of, <a href="#Page_296">296</a></li></ul></li> +</ul> + +<ul class="IX"> +<li><span class="smcap">Vansittart</span>, Mr., <a href="#Page_21">21</a></li> + +<li>Vaughan, Cardinal, on Romish practices in the Anglican Church, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li> + +<li>Victor Emmanuel II., accession to the throne of Sardinia, and efforts to secure Italian independence, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> proclaimed King of Italy, <a href="#Page_306">306</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Victoria, Queen, accession, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> her regard for Lord Melbourne, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>;</li> +<li> declines to dismiss her Whig Ladies-in-Waiting, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>;</li> +<li> visit to Ireland, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>;</li> +<li> instructions to Lord Palmerston, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>;</li> +<li> letter to Lord John Russell on the formation of a Coalition Government, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>;</li> +<li> her view of the Coalition Ministry, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>;</li> +<li> reply to letter from the Czar on the eve of the Crimean War, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>;</li> +<li> and the death of the Prince Consort, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>;</li> +<li> letter to Lord Russell on the death of Palmerston, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>;</li> +<li> opens Parliament (1866), <a href="#Page_328">328</a>;</li> +<li> letter to Lady Russell on the death of the Earl, <a href="#Page_368">368</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Vienna, revolt of (1848), <a href="#Page_171">171</a>; +<ul class="IX"> +<li> Congress, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>;</li> +<li> second Congress, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>-<a href="#Page_262">262</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Vienna Note, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>-<a href="#Page_228">228</a></li> + +<li>Villafranca, Treaty of, <a href="#Page_303">303</a></li> + +<li>Villiers, Mr. Charles, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a></li> + +<li>Vittoria, battle of, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> + +<li>Vitzthum, Count, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a></li> +</ul> +<ul class="IX"> +<li><span class="smcap">Walpole</span>, Mr. Spencer, on the Arms Bill of the Russell Administration, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> retires from the Home Office on the introduction of Disraeli’s Reform Bill, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li>Ward, Mr., and the Irish Church, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a></li> + +<li>Wellington, Duke of, Lord John Russell’s first impressions of, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> described by Napoleon, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>;</li> +<li> becomes Prime Minister, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>;</li> +<li> and Catholic Emancipation, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>;</li> +<li> his declaration against Reform, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>;</li> +<li> resignation, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>;</li> +<li> predictions on the Reform question, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>;</li> +<li> failure to form a Ministry, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>;</li> +<li> lament on the triumph of Reform, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>;</li> +<li> opinion of Lord John, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>;</li> +<li> and the Anti-Corn-Law agitation, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>;</li> +<li> and the demonstration on Kennington Common of 1848, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>;</li> +<li> and Sir Robert Peel, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>;</li> +<li> death, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>;</li> +<li> and the Emperor Nicholas, <a href="#Page_215">215</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Wesley, influence of the preaching of, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li> + +<li>Westminster School, its condition at the beginning of the century, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>; +<ul class="IX"><li> Lord John’s experiences at, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>-<a href="#Page_5">5</a>;</li> +<li> some of its celebrated scholars, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_4">4</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Westmoreland, Lord, <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li> + +<li>Wetherell, Mr., and the first Reform Bill, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></li> + +<li>Whitfield, influence of his preaching, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li> + +<li>Wilberforce, William, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></li> + +<li>William IV., his accession, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>; +<ul class="IX"> +<li> receives a petition in favour of the Grey Administration, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>;</li> +<li> refuses his sanction for the creation of new peers, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>;</li> +<li> lampooned, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>;</li> +<li> urges the House of Lords to withdraw opposition to the Reform Bill, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>;</li> +<li> dismisses the first Melbourne Ministry, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>;</li> +<li> his opinion of Lord John Russell, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li></ul></li> + +<li>Winchilsea, Lord, <a href="#Page_57">57</a></li> + +<li>Wiseman, Cardinal, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a></li> + +<li>Wolseley, Sir Charles, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li> + +<li>Wood, Sir Charles, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a></li> + +<li>Working classes, their condition and claims in 1848, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>-<a href="#Page_165">165</a></li> + +<li>Wynn, Mr. Charles, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li> +</ul> +<ul class="IX"> +<li><span class="smcap">Zürich</span>, Treaty of, <a href="#Page_303">303</a></li> +</ul> +</div> +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<p class="center"><i>Spottiswoode & Co. Printers, New-street Square, London.</i></p> + + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a id="series2" name="series2"></a> +<img src="images/series2.jpg" height="54" width="500" +alt="The Queen's Prime Ministers" title="The Queen's Prime Ministers" /></div> + + +<p class="title">A SERIES OF POLITICAL BIOGRAPHIES<br /> + +<small>EDITED BY</small><br /> + +<span style="letter-spacing: 0.1em;">STUART J. REID.</span></p> + +<hr style="width: 20%;" /> + +<p class="desc" style="font-weight: bold;"><sup>*</sup><sub>*</sub><sup>*</sup> A Limited Library Edition of <i>Two Hundred and Fifty +copies</i>, each numbered, printed on hand-made paper, parchment +binding, gilt top, with facsimile reproductions, in some +cases of characteristic notes of Speeches and Letters, which +are not included in the ordinary Edition, and some additional +Portraits.</p> + +<p class="center">Price for the Complete Set of NINE VOLUMES,<br /> +<big><span style="font-weight: bold;">FOUR GUINEAS NETT.</span></big><br /> + +<span class="adsans">NO VOLUMES OF THIS EDITION SOLD SEPARATELY.</span></p> + +<hr style="width: 20%;" /> + + +<p class="center"><i>VOLUMES ALREADY PUBLISHED.</i><br /> + +<big><b>THE EARL OF BEACONSFIELD, K.G.</b></big><br /> + +<span class="adsans">BY JAMES ANTHONY FROUDE, D.C.L.</span></p> + +<p class="center">SEVENTH EDITION. With Photogravure Portrait. Crown 8vo. 3<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i></p> + +<p>‘There is something in Mr. Froude’s account even of these years which will be +new to Lord Beaconsfield’s admirers as well as to his critics, and will contribute to +the final estimate of his place in the annals of our generation.’—<span class="smcap">Times</span> (Leader).</p> + +<p class="nomt">‘We believe that Mr. Froude’s estimate of Lord Beaconsfield, on the whole, will +be the one accepted by posterity.... It is the man’s character which interests us; +and this, we think, Mr. Froude has exhibited in its true light, and in colours that +will not fade.’—<span class="smcap">Standard</span>.</p> + + +<p class="adstit">LORD MELBOURNE</p> + +<p class="adsans">BY HENRY DUNCKLEY (‘VERAX’).</p> + + +<p class="center">With Photogravure Portrait. 3<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i></p> + +<p>‘It is hard to imagine a better piece of work than this short study of Lord +Melbourne by Mr. Dunckley. Amongst some of the most amusing of Mr. Dunckley’s +pages—and hardly a page of this little book is dull after the preliminary matter is +passed by—is his account of Lord Melbourne’s dealings with theology and Church +preferments.... Of two lives of the Queen’s Prime Ministers which have as yet +appeared, we certainly give the preference to Mr. Dunckley’s over Mr. Froude’s. +Mr. Froude had the more attractive theme, but Mr. Dunckley has made more of the +less interesting theme.’—<span class="smcap">Spectator</span>.</p> + + +<p class="adstit">SIR ROBERT PEEL</p> + +<p class="adsans">BY JUSTIN McCARTHY, M.P.</p> + +<p class="center">SECOND EDITION, with an additional Chapter. With Photogravure Portrait. +Crown 8vo. 3<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i></p> + +<p>‘Mr. McCarthy relates clearly and well the main incidents of Peel’s political +life, and deals fairly with the great controversies which still rage about his conduct +in regard to the Roman Catholic Relief Bill and the Repeal of the Corn Laws.’</p> +<p class="sig"><span class="smcap">Saturday Review</span>.</p> + +<p class="notm">‘Mr. McCarthy’s chapters on Catholic Emancipation are written with admirable +impartiality, and he does ample justice to that high-minded administrator, Lord +Anglesey.’—<span class="smcap">Athenæum</span>.</p> + +<hr style="width: 20%;" /> + +<p class="center">NEW EDITION. TWELFTH THOUSAND.<br /> + +<big><b>THE RT. HON. W. E. GLADSTONE, M.P.</b></big><br /> + +<span class="adsans">BY G. W. E. RUSSELL.</span><br /> + +With Photogravure Portrait. Crown 8vo. 3<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i></p> + +<p>‘Written in a manly and independent spirit, which we should expect in one of +his lineage ... an honest book.’—<span class="smcap">World</span>.</p> + +<p class="notm">‘One of the most complete and succinct accounts of his extraordinary career that +we have yet received.... A volume which we may specially commend as the most +attractive and authoritative history of the man with whom it deals that has yet +been given to the world.... Mr. Russell’s clear and able sketch of one whom he is +justly proud to call his friend.’—<span class="smcap">Speaker</span>.</p> + + +<p class="center"><big><b>THE MARQUIS OF SALISBURY, K.G.</b></big><br /> + +<span class="adsans">BY H. D. TRAILL, D.C.L.</span><br /> + +SECOND EDITION. With Photogravure Portrait. Crown 8vo. 3<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i></p> + +<p>‘It is a good thing when a book is written as a gentleman should write it; a good +thing when it is written as a scholar should write it; a good thing when it is written +as a man full of practical and theoretical knowledge of his subject should write it. +But it is a very rare thing indeed to find, as we find here, all three merits in combination. +The result is not only a remarkable criticism on a man; it is, in part of it at +least, the best and ... the most impartial sketch of recent political history that we +have recently seen.’—<span class="smcap">Saturday Review</span>.</p> + + +<p class="adstit">LORD PALMERSTON</p> + +<p class="adsans">BY THE MARQUIS OF LORNE.</p> + +<p class="center">SECOND EDITION. With Photogravure Portrait. Crown 8vo. 3<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i></p> + +<p>‘The Marquis of Lorne’s little book must be consulted by every student who wishes +to get a thorough understanding of European history in the early part of the century. +The documents to which the author has obtained access ... are both interesting and +authoritative.’—<span class="smcap">Standard</span>.</p> + + +<p class="adstit">THE EARL OF DERBY</p> + +<p class="adsans">BY GEORGE SAINTSBURY.</p> + +<p class="center">With Photogravure Portrait. Crown 8vo. 3<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i></p> + +<p>‘A biography distinguished throughout by scrupulous fairness to its subject.... +It is perhaps superfluous to add that the book is written with all Mr. Saintsbury’s +customary animation of style, and that it abounds in those shrewd and often humorous +comments on men and affairs which enliven everything he writes.’</p> + +<p class="sig"> +<span class="smcap">Saturday Review.</span><br /> +</p> + + +<p class="adstit">THE EARL OF ABERDEEN</p> + +<p class="adsans">BY SIR ARTHUR GORDON, G.C.M.G. &c.</p> + +<p class="center">With Portrait. Crown 8vo. 3<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i></p> + +<p>‘This little book, unlike its companion volumes, contains original documents of +solid historical importance, and hitherto no authentic biography of Lord Aberdeen +has existed, and the editor of the series certainly made a large demand upon Sir +Arthur Gordon’s good nature when he requested a biography compressed within the +limits prescribed. The author, however, has surmounted all difficulties with admirable +skill.’—<span class="smcap">Athenæum</span>.</p> + + +<p class="adstit">LORD JOHN RUSSELL</p> + +<p class="adsans">BY STUART J. REID.</p> + +<p class="center">With Portrait. Crown 8vo. 3<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i></p> + +<p>The book contains a good deal of new material concerning the career of the +last of the great Whig statesmen. The Dowager-Countess of Russell has given +Mr. Reid access to her own journals, and has personally taken a lively interest in +the book; while other relatives, intimate friends, and political associates have lent +their assistance.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p class="center">London: SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON & COMPANY, <span class="smcap">Limited</span>,<br /> + +St. Dunstan’s House, Fetter Lane, Fleet Street, E.C.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<div class="tnote"> +<h3>Transcriber’s Note:</h3> + +<p class="noi">The original punctuation, language and spelling have been retained, +except where noted. Minor typographical errors +have been corrected without note.</p> + +<p>Page <a href="#Page_8">8</a>: The political atmosphere of Woburn and Woodnesborourgh</p> + +<p>Page <a href="#Page_18">18</a>: and ink, and a bag of money. He woul not carry anything</p> + +<p>Page <a href="#Page_74">74</a>: Lord John Russell said that the electors in the approachhing</p> + +<p>Page <a href="#Page_86">86</a>: now,’ wrote Mr. Froude in in 1874. ‘Its population</p> + +<p>Page <a href="#Page_244">244</a>: riend, Mr. Sidney Herbert, were regarded, perhaps unjustly,</p> + +<p>Page <a href="#Page_265">265</a>: so small a matter magnified beyond its true porportions.’</p> + +<p>Page <a href="#Page_376">376</a>: and the <i>Coup d’Etat</i> of 1851, 179;</p> + +<p>Page <a href="#Page_376">376</a>: and the <i>Coup d’Etat</i> in Paris (1851), 179;</p> +</div> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LORD JOHN RUSSELL***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 27553-h.txt or 27553-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/7/5/5/27553">http://www.gutenberg.org/2/7/5/5/27553</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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