When the great measure of Reform in Parliament was introduced in 1831, apart from all question of party struggles there was the still greater question considered by many reflecting people, whether the new Parliamentary and electoral system would be found compatible with the old practice of government by means of party and steady Parliamentary majorities. The Duke of Wellington in particular expressed his apprehension that it would not, and he put the question which has so often been quoted and referred to, 'How is the King's Government to be carried on?' He did not, so far as I remember, develope his thoughts at the time, and argue the matter in detail, but it is very evident that what he anticipated was some such state of things as that at which we now appear to have arrived. For a long time his apprehensions appeared to be groundless, and certainly they were not realised by the course of events. In consequence of political circumstances which I shall not stop to specify and explain, notwithstanding all the changes which were effected, the governments contrived to go on without any insuperable difficulties, and without any striking difference from the way in which governments had been previously conducted. The popularity of the Reform Bill Administration supported them for a few years, and the Tory reaction, together with the great abilities of Sir Robert Peel, supported the Conservative Government for a few years more. Matters went on better or worse, as might be, till the great Conservative schism in 1846, which completely broke up that party, and produced a final separation between the able few and the numerous mediocrity of the party. Ever since that time the House of Commons has been in a state of disorganisation and confusion: the great party ties had been severed. After the repeal of the Corn Laws and the establishment of Free Trade it was difficult to find any great party principles which could be converted into bonds of union, and every day it became obviously more and more difficult to form any government that could hope to be strong or permanent. John Russell succeeded on the fall of Peel, but the Peelites warmly resented the conduct of the Whigs in Peel's last struggle, and, though they hated Derby and his crew much more, never gave Lord John's Government a cordial support.
Next came the quarrel between Palmerston and Lord John and the fall of the Whig Government. Many people, and Graham especially, were of opinion that a Derby Government for a time was an inevitable but indispensable evil, and after one abortive attempt at length a Derby Government was formed. From the beginning nobody thought it could last; the wretched composition of it, its false position, and the mixture of inconsistency and insincerity which characterised it, deprived it of all respect, authority, and influence, and it was the more weak because divided and dissatisfied within, and because all the more honest and truthful of the party were disgusted and ashamed of the part they were playing. Thus feeble and powerless, despised by the public and detested by the Court, the first moment that the different parties and sections of parties combined to overthrow them, their destruction was inevitable, and after enjoying office for one year they fell.
It was easier to turn them out than to find a good and strong government to replace them. It was obvious that neither the Whigs nor the Peelites could form a government, still less Palmerston or the Radicals, and it became a matter of absolute necessity to attempt a coalition, which, whatever objections there might be to coalitions, would at least have the advantage of filling the several offices with able men.
When the Queen had a short time before, in anticipation of the event, consulted the Duke of Bedford as to whom she should send for when Derby resigned, he had advised her to send for Lord Lansdowne and Lord Aberdeen, being himself conscious that Lord John could not again form a government, at least not at that time. She did send for them, and each of them very sincerely and earnestly endeavoured to persuade the other to accept the post of Prime Minister, and the task of forming a Government. Lansdowne was ill at the time, and while it is very doubtful whether anything would have induced him to come forward, his attack of gout was enough to ensure his peremptory refusal, and nothing remained but that Aberdeen should make the attempt. The task was difficult and unpleasant, for it was impossible not to make many people discontented and mortified, inasmuch as places could not be found for all who had previously been in office, or who aspired to it, and it was no easy matter to decide who should be taken in, and who left out. Aberdeen resolved to make the coalition very comprehensive, and as much as possible to form a government which should represent the Opposition which had turned Derby out, but he put almost all the Peelite leaders into good offices, and the exclusions were principally on the Whig side. For a long time it was very doubtful whether John Russell would enter the Government at all, but Aberdeen was so well aware that he could not do without him that he announced his determination to throw up the Government unless Lord John consented to join. After much hesitation, and a struggle between his family and some malcontent hangers on who wished him to keep aloof, on one side, and the wisest of his political friends and colleagues who urged that it was his duty to come forward on the other, Lord John consented to lead the House of Commons, but without an office. He proposed indeed to take the Presidency of the Council, to which Aberdeen objected, but gave him the choice of every other office. He said that if he could not be President of the Council he would be nothing at all, and so it was settled. Next came the negotiation about Palmerston, who first refused, and afterwards, at the pressing solicitation of Lansdowne, agreed to join. Molesworth came in to represent the Radicals; Monsell and Keogh (not in the Cabinet) represented the Irish, and so the Coalition Government was completed.
THE COALITION GOVERNMENT.
Very strongly composed, it never, however, was so strong as it looked. The Ministers, Aberdeen, John Russell, Palmerston, having consented to act together, were too sensible, too gentlemanlike and well-bred, not to live in outward good fellowship with each other, but their respective and relative antecedents could not be forgotten. There could be no real cordiality between Palmerston and Aberdeen, or between Palmerston and John Russell, and both the latter all along felt uncomfortable and dissatisfied with their respective positions. Lord John fancied he was degraded, and his flatterers endeavoured to persuade him he was so, by joining a government of which he was not the head, and by serving under Aberdeen. Palmerston could not forget the long and bitter hostility which had been carried on between himself and Aberdeen upon foreign policy, and still less his having been turned out of the Foreign Office by John Russell. The Whigs were dissatisfied that the Peelites, who had no party to bring to the support of the Government, should have so large a share of the offices, and above all the great bulk of the Whig party could not endure that a Peelite should be at the head of the Government, and of all the Peelites they most particularly disliked Aberdeen, so that they yielded a reluctant allegiance, and gave a grudging and capricious support to the coalition.
Nevertheless, the first session of Parliament was pretty well got through, principally owing to Gladstone's successful Budget, the great ability he displayed in the House of Commons, and the efficient way in which the public business was done, while the numerous measures of improvement which were accomplished raised the reputation of the Government, and gave them security if not strength. The session of 1853 closed in quiet, prosperity, and sunshine, but during the recess clouds began to gather round the Government; they were beset with internal and external difficulties. John Russell became more and more discontented, and at last he announced to Aberdeen that he was resolved not to meet Parliament again in his present position, and intimated his intention to be once more Prime Minister or to quit the concern. In the meantime the Turco-Russian quarrel had begun, the hostile correspondence with Russia was in full activity, the public mind in a high state of excitement, the press bellowed for war and poured forth incessant volleys of abuse against the Government, but more particularly against Aberdeen, who was singled out as the object of attack, and the persevering attempts to render him unpopular produced a certain amount of effect. The Cabinet became divided as to the mode of carrying on the dispute and the negotiations, some being for what were called vigorous measures, that is, for threats and demonstrations of force which could only lead to immediate war, while others were for exhausting every attempt to bring about an accommodation and preserve peace. Something was known or suspected of these divisions, they were published and commented on with enormous exaggerations and the most unscrupulous violations of truth, and the Tory and Radical newspapers vied with each other in the violence of their denunciations of Aberdeen, and, in a less degree, of Clarendon.
When this fury was at its height, the world was startled and astounded by the news of Palmerston's resignation. It is needless to state here the history of that affair, which I have already recorded in ample detail. It was in vain that the 'Times' proclaimed that it was the Reform Bill and not the Eastern Question which was the cause of it. The statement was scouted with the utmost scorn, and the public incredulity was confirmed when the 'Morning Post,' which was notoriously devoted to Palmerston, asserted the direct contrary. Everybody imagined that the Government would go to pieces, that when Parliament met there would be prodigious revelations, and that the Eastern Question with its supposed mismanagement would prove fatal to the Coalition Cabinet. The Derbyites were in raptures, and already counted on Palmerston as their own. Great as had been the public surprise and the exultation of the Carlton Club at Palmerston's resignation, greater still was that surprise and the mortification and disappointment of the Carlton, when a few days afterwards it was announced that Palmerston had changed his mind and was not going to resign. Nobody could comprehend what it all meant, and ample scope was afforded to every sort of conjecture, and to all the statements and inventions that anybody chose to circulate. But as about the same time the Eastern affair progressed a step or two, and some energetic measures were adopted, the most plausible explanation was, that Palmerston had resigned because enough was not done, that the Government had been frightened into doing what he had before advised, and that, on their adopting his suggestion, he had consented to remain. In process of time the truth began to ooze out, but it never was completely known till Parliament met, and even then many people continued to believe that though the Reform Bill was the pretext, the Eastern Question was the real cause of Palmerston's conduct.
THE BLUE BOOKS.
These threatening clouds cleared away. Aberdeen told Lord John nothing should induce him to resign after all the attacks that had been made on him, and he would meet Parliament and defend himself. Lord John gave up his demands, and consented to go on leading the House of Commons. Palmerston agreed to swallow the Reform Bill, and at length Parliament met. Everybody was ravenous for the Blue Books, which as soon as possible were produced. Their production was eminently serviceable to the Government, and though some criticisms were made, and there were some desultory attacks in both Houses, and the press continued to be as scurrilous and abusive as ever, the general impression was extremely favourable. Clarendon's despatches were highly approved of, and all fair and candid observers, including many who had found fault with the Government before, declared that they were perfectly satisfied that our policy had been wise and proper, and the whole of the negotiations very creditable to all who had been concerned in carrying them on. So little did the event correspond with the general expectation, that the Eastern Question, which had been considered to be the weak part of the Government, turned out to be its greatest strength; and the war which eventually broke out has been the principal cause of their being able to maintain themselves in power. It is now the fashion to say that if it were not for the war, they would have been turned out long ago. It is certainly true that their power in the House of Commons has been limited to all that concerns the war, in respect to which they have had no difficulty to contend with. The estimates have been granted without a semblance of opposition, and they have received hearty and unanimous support in every measure and every demand requisite for carrying on the war, nor, though exposed to some adverse criticism, have they been seriously assailed with regard to their diplomacy or their warlike preparations.