I should say that he seemed to consider that he had had a quarrel put upon him, which it was his wisest course to close by receiving the fire of his adversary and not returning it.

He could not, in fact, have gained a victory against the Premier on the ground which Lord John Russell had chosen for the combat which would not have been more permanently disadvantageous to him than a defeat. The faults of which he had been accused did not touch his own honour nor that of his country. Let them be admitted, and there was an end of the matter. By-and-by an occasion would probably arise in which he might choose an advantageous occasion for giving battle, and he was willing to wait calmly for that occasion.

It came soon enough.

CHAPTER VIII.

FALL OF THE RUSSELL ADMINISTRATION-LORD DERBY'S GOVERNMENT-DISSOLUTION-SPEECHES AT TIVERTON AND LEWES

LETTERS-DEFEAT OF THE DERBY CABINET.

Your power and your command are taken off,
And Cassio rules in Cyprus.-Othello, Act V. Sc. 1.

IN February Lord J. Russell brought in a Militia Bill which was intended to develop a local militia for the defence of the country. Lord Palmerston at once expressed his dissatisfaction at the form of the measure, and in committee on the Bill moved as an amendment to omit the word 'local,' so as to constitute a regular militia, which should be legally transportable all over the kingdom, and so be always ready for any emergency. This he carried against the Government by a majority of eleven, and the Russell Administration came to an end. The event created little wonder, as the progressive feebleness of the Cabinet, since one of its strongest members left it, had for some time prepared the public mind for a change. We have, however, Sir George Lewis's testimony that the division on the amendment was a surprise, and that Lord Palmerston himself did not wish to turn out the Government; but the cup being full, a little movement was sufficient to make it run over. Lord Derby formed a Government, after having invited the co-operation of Lord Palmerston, who thus writes to his brother :

1

Sir G. Lewis to Sir E. Head. Letters,' p. 251.

C. G. February 24, 1852.

I have had my tit-for-tat with John Russell, and I turned him out on Friday last. I certainly, however, did not expect to do so, nor did I intend to do anything more than to persuade the House to reject his foolish plan and to adopt a more sensible one. I have no doubt that two things induced him to resign. First, the almost insulting manner towards him in which the House, by its cheers, went with me in the debate; and, secondly, the fear of being defeated on the vote of censure about the Cape1 affairs which was to have been moved to-day. As it is, the late Government have gone out on a question which they have treated as a motion, merely asserting that they had lost the confidence of the House, whereas if they had gone out on a defeat upon the motion about the Cape, they would have carried with them the direct censure of the House of Commons. Lord Derby has formed his Government solely out of his Protectionist party-none of any other party would join him. He made me on Sunday, immediately after he had seen the Queen, a very civil and courteous offer to join him, but of course it was impossible for me to do so on account of my entire difference with him on the question of imposing a duty on the importation of corn even if there had been no other reasons, but there are many other reasons against it. The House is adjourned till Friday, and then it will probably adjourn again for ten days to allow time for the new Ministers to be re-elected. They are not going to dissolve immediately, but will do so as soon as the Estimates are voted and the Mutiny Bill passed. I cannot conceive that such a Government can stand long, or can even get a majority by a fresh general election.

And to his brother-in-law, Mr. Laurence Sulivan, he writes the same day :

Lord Derby invited me to join him, but as he said that his adherence to or abandonment of protective duties on corn was to depend on the result of the next general election, that announcement created a preliminary obstacle which rendered all further discussion as to any other points needless. I could not, however, have joined him even if that objection had been removed, because his Government was not to be formed upon any broad principle of a general union of parties, but he meant me to come in singly; and the office of all others which he had

1 The Caffir war of 1851.

SUPPORTS THE TORY MILITIA BILL.

231

intended to propose to me was that of Chancellor of the Exchequer, which is, of course, departmentally subordinate to the First Lord of the Treasury. I do not mean to say that, irrespective of the question of Protection, I should have been much disposed to join him in any case; but if his Government had been framed on a comprehensive principle, and Protection had been thrown overboard, the matter would have required consideration.

Ministers brought in and carried their own Militia Bill, which Lord John Russell opposed, but which was strongly supported by Lord Palmerston on the second reading. In the following letters he describes with an accurate forecast the position of affairs; but it is curious to notice that Lord Aberdeen, who was to be Prime Minister within eight months, is not even mentioned as a possible choice :

Carlton Gardens: April 30, 1852.

My dear William,-It is a long time since I wrote to you, but one finds one's time nearly as much occupied out of office as in; there are so many things one has been obliged to leave undone during a five years' incessant Downing Street toil. But I am gradually getting through a mass of accumulated confusion. I am, however, a member of a committee on ventilation, which takes up much of my mornings, in addition to House of Commons attendance in evenings.

Our new Government gets on pretty well; Disraeli has this evening made a good financial statement. His speech of two hours was excellent, well arranged, clear, and well delivered, but it made out the complete success of the financial and commercial measures of the last ten years, of the Peel and of the Whig Administrations, which, while they were in progress and under discussion, he and Derby were the loudest to condemn. He was vociferously cheered by Liberals and Peelites, but listened to in sullen silence by the supporters of the Government. His only proposal is that the income tax, which expired on the 5th of this month, shall be continued for one year longer, to give the Government time to consider what permanent system they will propose; but he has entirely thrown over the idea of import duty on corn, or, in other words, the principle of Protection. Opinions differ as to the probable duration of the session, but the chances are that the

dissolution will not be till the end of June. I do not see that we need care much when it may be, now that by general consent it is agreed that the new Parliament is not to meet till November. The only inconvenience of delay is that people are put to trouble and expense by the measures necessary to guard against contests. In the meantime it is a real public advantage that the Tory party has come into office, and has had an opportunity of seeing and learning and judging as responsible Ministers many things of which in Opposition they had very imperfect knowledge and conceptions. They do better than was expected of them, but, nevertheless, it is scarcely possible that they should stand as they are; and if they do not get some material reinforcement, they will probably not live over next Christmas, notwithstanding any addition to the number of their supporters (and that will not be great) which a general election may bring them. The most natural reinforcement for them to look to would be the Peel party, not very numerous, counting about fifty or sixty, but containing a good many men of capacity. But as yet it seems to me that the Peelite leaders have not softened the bitter animosity they have hitherto felt for the Derby Protectionists. There is no knowing, however, how far a liberal offer of places in the Government might alter those feelings, still I think it unlikely. I believe the Derby Government rather calculate upon inducing me to join them when Protection has had its public funeral; on this point of course I am studiously silent, but I have no intention or inclination to enlist under Derby's banners. I do not think highly of him as a statesman, and I suspect that there are many matters on which he and I should not agree. Besides, after having acted for twenty-two years with the Whigs, and after having gained by, and while acting with them, any little political reputation I may have acquired, it would not answer nor be at all agreeable to me to go slap over to the opposite camp, and this merely on account of a freak of John Russell's which the whole Whig party regretted and condemned; moreover, I am in no great burry to return to hard work, and should not dislike a little more holiday. On the other hand, I own that it would be a very pressing public emergency which would induce me to place myself again under John Russell, not on account of personal resentment, which I have ceased to feel, and he and I meet in private as good friends as ever, but he has shown on so many occasions such a want of sound judgment and discretion that I have lost all political confidence in him. This last frolic of his