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"There was a Palmerston," said Mr. Disraeli; and Guizot, himself in exile, raised a Nunc dimittis when he heard of his enemy's overthrow. The member for Tiverton bore his temporary adversity with that entire absence of rancour which is perhaps the most delightful trait in his fine nature. "Ah, how are you, Granville?" he said to his successor; Well, you have got a very interesting office, but you will find it very laborious," and proceeded to give him every assistance in his power. There was no ill-feeling in his mind against the Court, though he imagined that they had been influenced by foreign, especially Orleanist, influences in his dismissal. This view he communicated to his brother without circumlocution, together with a curious story about a contemplated descent upon the French coast by the Orleanist princes, the Duc d'Aumale and the Prince de Joinville, which he believed to have precipitated Napoleon's coup d'état, and which induced him to express his warm approval of that measure. Nor did he bear any unworthy resentment against Lord John Russell. According to Lord Shaftesbury, he never alluded to him but with a laugh, and "Oh, he's a foolish fellow, but we shall go on very well

now.

It is only fair then to consider that Palmerston was not influenced by personal motives in his attack upon Lord John's Militia Bill, by which, within a very short space of time, he so signally avenged his own dismissal from office. "I have had my tit-for-tat with John Russell," he wrote to his brother, "and I turned him out on Friday last "; but he hastened to add that his only object was to persuade the House to reject the feeble plan of the Government. Indeed, few statesmen of the day had taken more honourable interest in the state of

our defences, or had spoken more frequently on the subject. A memorandum which he addressed to Lor Melbourne, set forth the liability of England to invasion with a fulness of knowledge that a military authority might envy. During Peel's ministry he had examined the Government on harbours and fortifications with a persistency which aroused the wrath of Cobden, and which calls forth the mirth of Cobden's biographer, Mr. John Morley. Nor can it be questioned that Palmerston's amendment, which made the militia generally instead of "locally" available, was a vast improvement to the measure. It might have been accepted by the ministry without loss of honour, and he suspected them of incurring the defeat because they were anxious to escape from the responsibility of carrying on the Government any longer. A passage in Lord John Russell's Reminiscences proves that the guess was correct.

The tit-for-tat naturally drew attention once more to Palmerston's political isolation. In spite of his long service in the Whig ranks, he was still a political free lance; and Lord Derby, to whom fell the formation of a ministry, thrice made overtures for his services; in February 1852, again in July, and for a third time in December. All proposals were, however, declined, chiefly because of the Protectionist colour of the administration, though Palmerston gave valuable support to their Militia Bill, and even prolonged their existence at the opening of the new Parliament by bringing forward an amendment to Mr. Charles Villiers' free trade resolution which they were able to accept without loss of dignity. Conscious of his own strength, he was but little troubled by the gloomy looks of his former colleagues, whom from time to time he treated rather unkindly. When at the Tiverton hustings, the local orator

come.

the butcher, Rowcliffe, attempted to rally him on his position, Palmerston blandly replied that whatever Government he meant to join, he would never join a Government called a Rowcliffe Administration. His letters show that he was equally determined not to serve again under" Johnny "; and the admission which he went on to make, that Johnny was not likely to serve under him, proves that he felt that his own hour was not yet There happened at this time to be a movement on foot among the Whigs for uniting the Liberal party under the eminently prudent leadership of Lord Lansdowne; and though it was not initiated in any way by Palmerston, he gave it his cordial support. Age and ill-health, however, compelled Lord Lansdowne to determine upon a nolo episcopari; and on the retirement of the Derby Ministry, Lord Aberdeen constructed a cabinet of Peelites and Whigs, with Sir William Molesworth as the representative of Philosophic Radicalism.

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CHAPTER IX.

THE ABERDEEN MINISTRY.

1852-1855.

Lord Palmerston at the Home Office-Legislation and DeputationsThe Reform Bill-Temporary Resignation of Palmerston-Beginnings of the Eastern Question-The Menschikoff missionLord Palmerston's policy-His popularity with the nation-The Vienna note-The Concert of the Powers-Palmerston's description of the objects at issue-Declaration of war by Turkey-The Sinope disaster-Beginning of the war-The Napier banquet and its consequences-Proposal to make Palmerston Secretary at War The Crimean expedition-Fall of the Ministry.

In the Coalition Ministry Lord Palmerston, rather to the general surprise, was persuaded to take the Home Office. He did not yield until after considerable pressure had been put upon him, conscious, perhaps, that he was open to a charge of inconsistency if he served under a premier whose continental policy he had criticized so mercilessly. But the co-operation which he refused to Aberdeen was conceded to the solicitations of Lord Lansdowne, especially when he found that foreign affairs were to be in sound Whig hands. Palmerston chose the Home Office because it would bring him in contact with his fellow-countrymen, and would give him influence with regard to the militia and the

national defences; and as Home Secretary he was a most unqualified success. "I never knew any Home Secretary," wrote Lord Shaftesbury, "equal to Palmerston for readiness to undertake every good work of kindness, humanity, and social good, especially to the child and the working class. No fear of wealth, capital, or election terrors; prepared at all times to run a tilt if he could do good by it. Has already done more good than ten of his predecessors." The Shaftesbury hall-mark was indeed to be seen in most of his measures, with the exception of the timely extinction of the Board of Health, which vexed the righteous soul of his relative. The Youthful Offenders' Bill gave Government aid to reformatory schools, and greatly increased their number and efficiency; the Factory Acts were amended for the benefit of children; the institution of tickets-of-leave effected an admirable reform in the criminal system; while attention was paid to the health of the people of London by measures for the abatement of the smoke nuisance, and for shutting up the graveyards within the metropolitan area.

If Lord Palmerston's legislation was influenced by others, his manner of receiving deputations and answering memorials was entirely his own. Mr. Evelyn Ashley records that when the people of Rugely wanted a new name for their town, which had acquired notoriety through having been the residence of the poisoner, Palmer, the Home Secretary asked them how his own name, "Palmerstown," would suit them. His answer to the Presbytery of Edinburgh, who requested that a national fast might be appointed on account of the visitation of the cholera, was even more Palmerstonian, and resulted, wrote Lord Shaftesbury, in his being regarded by the religious world as little better than an infidel.

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