My right honourable friend has stated that he did not know what the influence was which drew one of the editors or managers of the Times' to me; and if by that statement he means to imply a wish on my part to exercise any influence over the line of conduct which is pursued in the case of that journal, I can only say in answer to that charge, in the words of Mrs. Malaprop, that I should be but too glad to plead guilty to the soft impeachment, and to know that the insinuation which it involves was really founded on fact. If there are influences which, as the right honourable gentleman says, have fortunately led Mr. Delane to me, they are none other than the influences of society. My right honourable friend has observed, in that glowing address which he has just delivered, that the contributors to the press are the favourites and the ornaments of the social circles into which they enter. In that opinion he is, it seems to me, perfectly correct. The gentlemen to whom he refers are, generally speaking, persons of great attainments and information. It is, then, but natural that their society should be agreeable. My acquaintance with Mr. Delane is exactly of that character. I have had the pleasure of meeting him frequently in society, and he has occasionally done me the honour to join in society under my roof; that society was, I may add, composed of persons of all shades of politics and of various pursuits. I need hardly say I feel proud when persons so honour me without undertaking any other engagement than that which Mr. Delane always makes good-of making themselves agreeable during the time of their stay. +1866

A tribute paid by the Lord Chancellor to Lord Palmerston's conduct of public affairs during this session is so forcible and compendious that I here insert it. Lord Westbury writes to him in the month

of August:

I cannot close this note without expressing to you, with the most unfeigned sincerity, my admiration of your masterly leadership during this most difficult session. Great knowledge, great judgment, great temper and forbearance, infinite skill and tact, matchless courtesy, and great oratorical talent, rising with each important occasion, have in a most eminent degree marked your conduct of the Government and your leadership of the House of Commons. Those who know the secrets of the Cabinet must feel that none but you could have kept it together.

TRIBUTE TO HIS LEADERSHIP,

401.

But what I esteem most is that happy quality you possess by which, whilst you receive the admiration, you at the same time win the affection of all around you.

We must remember that during all these years the Liberal party had only a small nominal majority of twenty in the House of Commons, and that the Cabinet, containing statesmen of marked individual importance, contained also strong elements of divergence, whether on matters of finance, of reform, or of foreign affairs. Lord Westbury was right in thinking that none but a minister possessing peculiar talent for reconciling, cementing, and commanding diverse idiosyncrasies could have overcome such obvious difficulties.

CHAPTER XVI.

STATE OF PARTIES-LORD WARDENSHIP OF THE CINQUE PORTS— CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA-COTTON SUPPLY-TURKISH FINANCES -VISIT TO HARROW-FATHER DALY-DEATH OF PRINCE CONSORT TRENT AFFAIR-NATIONAL EXPENDITURE -CHURCH

PATRONAGE.

POLITICAL parties were in a singular jumble at the period which we have now reached. The Conservatives, alarmed at the 'advanced' tendencies of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, promised to refrain from all attempts to turn out the Liberal Premier, if only he would resist 'democratic' budgets, and keep his hands from any violent action against Austria. Needless to say that Lord Palmerston was too loyal to enter into any such secret understanding. The Radicals, on the other hand, hopeless of any effective pressure on their part, and impatient of the laggard steps of the Whig Cabinet, offered to help the Tories to turn out the existing Government, and to give the administration which would succeed a two years' lease of power. They anticipated that by that time the country would be ready for such a Government and such a Reform Bill as they would themselves desire. Needless to say that the Conservatives were not so shortsighted as to accept such an alliance. The upshot was that Lord Palmerston, although with a small nominal majority, continued to hold an unassailable position both in the House and the country.

The very ancient and dignified office of Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports becoming vacant by the death of Lord Dalhousie in the spring of 1861, the dignity

INSTALLATION AS LORD WARDEN.

403

was conferred by Her Majesty upon Lord Palmerston. It was at first intended that the post should not be filled up; but, on representations being made of the historical traditions which attached to it, and of the long line of illustrious men who had filled it, including during this century both Pitt and Wellington, the Premier rightly considered that, unless for some good reason, a link with the past so interesting in its character should not be lightly broken. The ancient residence of Walmer Castle still remained to the Lord Warden, although his emoluments, save a few droits of Admiralty, had disappeared. Lord Palmerston's installation took place at Dover with pomp and circumstance. Under the antiquarian care of the town-clerk all the old traditions had been unearthed and rusty ceremonies refurbished, and the new Lord Warden was conducted to the Bredenstone with due solemnity to take the oaths of office at a grand Court of Shepway. Lord Palmerston entered into the thing with proper spirit, and made an appropriate speech at the inaugural banquet, in which reminiscences of the past mingled with exhortations to the practice of modern patriotism.

But another penalty attached to the acceptance of the Lord Wardenship. It was a place of profit' (though of small profit) under the Crown.' So during the Easter recess he had to vacate his seat in Parliament, and was compelled to enjoy what the newspapers of the day called his 'favourite relaxation, when he had nothing else particular to do'-namely, the being returned for Tiverton. Of course the redoubtable Rowcliffe was on the watch, and from an open window near the hustings upbraided the Premier for his lukewarmness about reform. 'You come to Tiverton to gull the people, but you don't gull me. I have given the Whigs a long trial, but now I throw them over. Go back to Downing Street, and bring in an honest Reform Bill, and let us have no more double shuffle.' At the sound of the well-known accents Lord Palmerston came up smiling to the front, and, amid the cheers and laughter

of the crowd, turned his tormentor inside out, and then went down, shook hands with him, and gave him a receipt for the gout. This Tiverton butcher was a vulgar specimen, eager for notoriety; yet the spectacle of a Prime Minister, at the height of his power and popularity, giving himself as much pains to answer these taunts as if they had come from the Leader of the Opposition had its moral. In some countries the man would have been ejected, or at least hustled; but in England his rights as an elector were recognised both by the mob and the minister.

The great event of this year was, undoubtedly, the outbreak of the civil war in America. The English Government, though it recognised the Southerners as belligerents, proclaimed its neutrality and maintained it in spite of many temptations and frequent solicitations to take a different course. Not only were motions to that effect pressed upon them in both Houses of Parliament, but similar proposals were made to them by the French Government; but they early recognised that, if the war was to cease in any other way than by the complete success of the North, it was far better that it should so cease owing to a conviction on both sides that they could never live again happily as one community, than that the termination of hostilities should be brought about by the mediation or interference of any European Power. The sentiments which inspired the Cabinet may be gathered from the tone of the following short note, which I insert as contradicting the generally received impression of Lord Palmerston's hostility to the American Republic. It is quite true that he entertained a feeling of contempt, and even of dislike, for many of the men who from time to time occupied public positions in connection with the United States Government. He thought them deficient in honesty and offensive in tone-in short, not 'gentlemen,' in the sense which is independent of birth and depends solely upon character; but for the American people, apart from its politicians, he had that admiration and