TRIUMPH OF LORD PALMERSTON.
There is no denying the fact, however, that a strong sense has been evinced of partiality for Palmerston and resentment against the China vote. The news of the Emperor of China having ordered Yeo to make peace on any terms comes very opportunely, but nothing can be so absurd as the pretence that by so doing the Emperor himself condemns his Viceroy and justifies our conduct at Canton. It only proves that His Majesty is very much alarmed, and wishes to heal the breach as quickly as possible, and on any terms he can. I am bound to say that many people, not extravagant either, maintain that this promises to be a very good Parliament, and by no means so dangerous as my fears have pictured it to myself; still I cannot look upon it as a safe and innocent Parliament. Cardwell's defeat at Oxford proves how low the Peelites are. Frederic Peel's loss of his seat is a great inconvenience to the Government, and one does not see how it is to be repaired, for it is almost impossible in these days to treat any place (if one can be found) as a nomination borough, turn the sitting member out, and put him in instead. The serious part of it is that he has to move the Army Estimates, and nobody else can do it now.
Old Lady Keith is dead, at some prodigious age. She was the 'Queeny' of Dr. Johnson, Mrs. Hale's daughter, and was the last surviving link between those times and our own, and probably the only person surviving who could remember Johnson himself and his remarkable contemporaries, or who had lived in intimacy with them.
[CHAPTER XIV.]
Results of the Elections—Defeat of Cobden and Bright—The War with China—Death of Lady Ashburton—Lord Palmerston's Success—The Handel Concerts—M. Fould in London—The Queen and Lord Palmerston—The Indian Mutiny—The Prince Consort—Death of General Anson—The State of India—Royal Guests—The Government of India—Temper of the House of Commons—Debates on India—Royal Visits—The Divorce Bill—The Divorce Bill in the House of Lords—Close of the Session—A Dukedom offered to Lord Lansdowne—Death of Mr. Croker—History of the Life Peerages—The Indian Mutiny and the Russian War—The Struggle in India—Reinforcements for India—The Queen's Attention to Public Business—Attacks on Lord Canning—Big Ships and Big Bells—Lord Canning defended—Courteous Behaviour of Foreign Nations—The Capture of Delhi and Lucknow—Difficulties in India—Depression in the City—Speculations on the Contingency of a Change of Government—The East India Company and the Government—Exaggerated Reports from India—A Queen's Speech—The Bank Charter Act.
April 4th, 1857.—The elections are drawing to a close. It is strange that what ought to be a matter of fact is made matter of opinion, for while the Whigs of Brooks's and the Liberals generally claim an immense gain, the Conservatives and the Carlton Club and their organs only admit an inconsiderable loss. There can be no doubt, however, that a great many Conservatives have lost their seats, and a great many Radicals and Palmerstonians have been elected. At Brooks's they insist that it will be a very good Parliament, and they are throwing their caps up at the Government successes; but it seems to me that they are reckoning somewhat rashly, and counting as gains to the Government many men who will be found more troublesome and unmanageable than the moderate men over whose defeats they are exulting. But as to gains and losses, and all calculations, I agree with the late Speaker, Lord Eversley, who said to me the other day that nothing could be so fallacious as all such calculations, and that it is impossible to know the result till Parliament meets, and it is seen how the new members group themselves. The most striking and remarkable feature of this election is the complete rout of the Peelites and of the Manchester men, the Old Leaguers. For a long time past it has been absurd to talk of the Peelites as a Party. There were not a dozen men in the House of Commons who could by any possibility be so designated, and in fact only a few formerly members of Sir Robert Peel's Government or of Lord Aberdeen's, who still kept together, and were called Peelites, because they would not be either Whigs or Tories or Radicals. Now the designation must fall to the ground. Half these men have lost their seats; of the rest, some repudiate the association and announce their independence; some join, or are ready to join, Derby and the Tories; others openly declare their adhesion to Palmerston; and thus in one way or another there are no Peelites left.
DEFEAT OF COBDEN AND BRIGHT.
The fate of Bright, Cobden, and Co. exhibits a curious example of the fleeting and worthless nature of popular favour. They who were once the idols of millions, and not without cause, have not only lost all their popularity, but are objects of execration, and can nowhere find a parliamentary resting place. No constituency will hear of them. The great towns of Lancashire prefer any mediocrities to Bright and Cobden. It seems that they had already ceased to be popular, when they made themselves enormously unpopular, and excited great resentment, by their opposition to the Russian War, the rage for which was not less intense in Manchester and all the manufacturing district than in the rest of the kingdom. This great crime, as it appeared in the eyes of their constituents, was never pardoned, and their punishment was probably determined while the war was still going on. As the favour of Cobden fell, so that of Palmerston rose, and his visit to Manchester a few months ago raised the favour to a pitch of enthusiasm. When Cobden therefore originated the China motion, he no doubt gave great offence, and he sealed his own condemnation. Bright has been long abroad, and has done nothing lately that any one could take umbrage at, but his opposition to the war has not been forgotten or forgiven, and when Cobden appeared at Manchester as his representative, and made a very able speech in his behalf, it is highly probable that his advocacy was in itself fatal to his re-election. It seems quite clear that another man, Sir Elkanah Armytage, lost his election at Salford solely because he was strongly supported and recommended by Cobden.