Lord Oxford and Lord Bolingbroke had quarrelled whether one or both should be Earls; but Robert Walpole, a country gentleman of Norfolk, had the sagacity to perceive that the rule of Great Britain was about to pass from the House of Lords to the House of Commons. He refused the title of Earl and the white staff of Lord High Treasurer. As First Lord of the Treasury in the House of Commons, he ruled England for more than twenty years; and when at last he retired to the House of Lords he said to Pulteney, who had accepted the title of Earl of Bath, 'You and I, my Lord, are now two of the most insignificant fellows in England.'

The next great leader of the House of Commons was William Pitt, like Walpole and like Churchill, a member of a country gentleman's family. William Pitt, unlike Henry Fox, who regarded money more than power, was bold, disinterested, and lofty in his aims. He said of his chief, the Duke of Newcastle, 'The Duke of Newcastle lent me his majority to carry on the government.' He commanded his expeditions against France by placing a sheet of paper over the orders he gave, and leaving at the bottom of the page on which they were written only room for the signatures of the Lords of the Admiralty. In contradiction to his former declamations against Hanover, he gave large subsidies to Frederick of Prussia ; and when he got possession of Canada said, 'I have conquered America in Germany.'

When Lord Chatham disappeared, the Tories obtained a majority in the Cabinet. They lost America; and, under the guidance of William Pitt the younger, fought against frenzy embodied in the democracy of France. By playing on the fears of England they were enabled to make gigantic efforts, and to raise her debt from one hundred and thirty millions to eight hundred millions. The two athletes who contended on the floor of the House of Commons were Pitt and Fox. Pitt, like his father, had the power of commanding men; his ruinous policy did not prevent his obtaining in the House of Commons attached friends, unbounded admiration, and a majority of twothirds of the representatives of the people.

He

Fox was a great speaker, and, in the words of Burke, the greatest debater the world ever saw. Not place or power, but reputation as an orator, was the object of his ambition, as he declares in one of his earliest letters to an intimate friend and relation. inspired affection rather than admiration. In his worst days an observer said of his party, 'There are only forty of them, but every one of them is ready to be hanged for Fox.' In his earlier days, Lord Mansfield being asked who that young man was whom he saw in Westminster Hall, answered, That is the son of old Harry Fox, with twice his parts and half his sagacity.' These two men, Charles Fox and William Pitt, set a proper value upon each other's great abilities. Pitt

said of Fox, 'Whenever I have made a better speech than usual, I observe that Fox in his reply surpasses himself.' Of Pitt's great speech on the renewal of the war with France, Fox remarked that he had spoken with an eloquence which Demosthenes would have admired, perhaps have envied.

The errors of Fox-his coalition with Lord North, and his India Bill-were grave; but the warmth of his feelings and his passionate love of liberty should obtain for his memory indemnity for these or even greater faults. His affectionate temper, combined with his love of liberty, won him the attachment of devoted friends. His memory ought to be consecrated in the heart of every lover of freedom throughout the globe.

I think I have shown that the faculty of leading the House of Commons does not consist merely in making flashy speeches, but is founded upon qualities which entitle men to obtain as followers a majority in the noblest assembly of freemen in the world.

CHAPTER VI.

MINISTRY OF LORD ABERDEEN.-ORIGIN OF THE

CRIMEAN WAR.

I THINK I have said in a former chapter that I committed an error in resigning my office under Lord Aberdeen at the time and in the manner in which I did it.

But I had, in fact, committed a much greater error in consenting to serve under Lord Aberdeen as Prime Minister. I had served under Lord Grey and Lord Melbourne before I became Prime Minister, and I served under Lord Palmerston after I had been Prime Minister. In no one of these cases did I find any difficulty in allying subordination with due counsel and co-operation. But, as it is proverbially said, Where there is a will, there is a way,' so in political affairs the converse is true, 'Where there is no will, there is no way.'

As an instance of failure I may mention, that Lord Aberdeen earnestly wished to preserve peace between Russia and Turkey. I had pointed out a way in which this might be done. The Austrian Government had

framed a note of conciliation, which the Emperor of Russia had accepted as a settlement of all difficulties. I proposed to Lord Clarendon that the Turkish Government should be told that if they would accept this note, totidem verbis, we could arrange a peace between Turkey and Russia; but that if Turkey altered the note, we could not befriend her any further. Lord Aberdeen, although he saw very clearly that by this means peace would be ensured, declined to use his authority to enforce the condition. Lord Clarendon recommended the Austrian note, but not in such a manner as to oblige Turkey to accept it, totidem verbis. Lord Stratford de Redcliffe failed in persuading the Turkish Ministers to accept the Austrian note. Alterations were made with a view to make it more palatable to the Oriental taste. But the Emperor of Russia, in his turn, was peremptory. In his turn he was unreasonable. He declared the alterations were made. by the Padishah, a name he was wont to apply to Lord Stratford de Redcliffe. He refused the amended note, and war was the consequence.

Had I been Prime Minister at that time I should have insisted on the acceptance of the Austrian note. I may add that had war then been averted, the Reform Bill of 1854, to which Sir James Graham had most willingly, and Lord Palmerston most reluctantly, assented, would in all probability have passed through Parliament recommended by Lord Aberdeen and his