reasons which the heart apprehends more rapidly than tongue or hand can state them; with the Porte, under the provocation of the interference of strangers between her and her rebellious subjects; with the Egyptians, in their duty of vassalage, however wrongly it might be performed; with the Allied Powers, in their sense of the intolerableness of a warfare so cruel and so hopeless going on amidst the haunts of commerce, and to the disturbance of a world otherwise at peace; and with two of those three Allies, in their apprehension of Turkey being destroyed, and Greece probably once more enslaved, by the power and arts of the third.

If the case appears to us now, so many years after the event, Troubles in perplexing, and in every way painful, what must have the Cabinet. been the sensation in the Cabinet of Lord Goderich on the arrival of the news of the battle of Navarino? The Cabinet was already torn by dissensions of its own, so serious and unmanageable that the Premier was meditating his resignation. At a moment when the members of the government were feeling that no one of them was sure of his function for a week, and that it was certain that all could not remain in power, came this thunder-clap, this stroke of war in the midst of peace. They were the successors of the great Peace-minister, whose fame as a pacificator had spread over the world; and here was a fierce belligerent act perpetrated on an Ally, amidst declarations of peace, and probably a train of consequences to be met which there was no seeing the end of! Any power but Turkey would go to war with us on the instant. If Turkey did not, it would be only through her weakness; and the first consequence of that weakness would be that Russia would endeavor to devour her; and While there again was danger of far more formidable war. waiting to hear how the news would be received at Constantinople, it was necessary to decide at once on the countenance to be given to the admirals who had been driven to act on their own judgment. The countenance afforded them by their respective governments, in the first instance, was cordial and emphatic; and there can be little doubt that this was right. Theirs was a position of singular difficulty; not only they acted in good concert to the best of their judgment, but no one ventured to say what they could have done better, while all deplored the event. There was a degree of chance-medley about the catastrophe which seemed to exclude the event from the scope of human control; and, in cases so out of the common course, the wisest method always is to uphold the reputation, and with it the nerve and confidence, of responsible public officers. So, from the existing government, Sir Edward Codrington received ample justice. The news of the battle arrived in London on the 10th of No

vember; and, on the 13th, Sir Edward Codrington was gazetted as Knight-commander, and eleven of his officers as Companions of the Bath. From the Emperor of Russia and the King of France, the English admiral received thanks and high honors; and, whatever differences of opinion existed as to the treaty and the policy of the Allies towards Turkey, there was nothing heard in Parliament but praise of the officers whose charge it was to carry that policy into effect.

The difficulties which endangered the existence of the Cabinet at this time were occasioned by a discordance of prin- Dissolution of ciple among its members, though they took the form the Ministry. of a personal quarrel. Mr. Herries was unacceptable to the liberal section of the ministry; and, though he naturally supposed that, having acted with Lord Goderich before, he could act now in a Cabinet of which Lord Goderich was the head, he found that the Premier's connection with the Whigs had materially changed their relation to each other.1 The immediate cause of quarrel was about the Finance Committee, promised by Mr. Canning, and looked forward to in the approaching session. It was time to be making arrangements for this committee, and to be agreeing upon a chairman. Lord Goderich left the affair in the hands of the ministers who sat in the Commons, concluding that the Chancellor of the Exchequer would take the lead, or at least be cognizant of whatever was done. But negotiations were entered into with Lord Spencer to secure Lord Althorp for chairman, without a word being said to Mr. Herries; and it was only by accident that he learned what proceedings had been taken in the business of his own office without his knowledge. It did not gratify his feelings to find, that everybody, all round, supposed that he knew, or had forgotten to inquire whether he did or not. Either personal offence was intended, or he was too insignificant to have been the object of it; and in either case his position was intolerable. The nomination of Lord Althorp was disapproved This was on the by him; and he opposed it, stating his reasons. 29th of November. Other difficulties, many and serious, had now arisen; and, from this time till the 19th of December, the country can hardly be said to have had a government at all. Lord Goderich had formally tendered his resignation. It was clear that either Mr. Huskisson or Mr. Herries must go out: but nothing could be settled for want of a head to the Cabinet for, of course, Lord Goderich could not act as such among his colleagues after having sent in his resignation. On or about the 20th of December, Lord Goderich was induced to withdraw his resignation; and then Mr. Herries, and, immediately after, Mr. Huskisson, placed their offices at his disposal. But Mr. Herries

1 Hansard, xviii. 273–279.

was again forgotten or slighted. No one told him of Mr. Huskisson's offer to resign, while the Premier urged him to retain his place. As soon as he heard of Mr. Huskisson's resolution to abide by the nomination of Lord Althorp, and to go out if he could not carry that point, Mr. Herries resigned. Lord Goderich, apparently believing both these gentlemen to be absolutely essential to his government, and being unable to reconcile their differences, gave the matter up, and went to Windsor, on the 8th of January, to explain to the King that he could not go on, and to resign his office.1

These miserable dissensions had been occupying the time and the minds of the ministers during the precious weeks which should have been employed in preparing for the approaching session of Parliament. Parliament was to have met at this very date; but, in order to afford time for the formation of a ministry, it was further prorogued to the 29th of January. During the interval of actual dissolution, Mr. Huskisson had been desired by the King to send Lord Harrowby to him. Lord Harrowby went to Windsor, but was firm in declining the premiership, on the ground of ill health. There is good reason to believe that Mr. Huskisson might have risen into Canning's seat at this time; but he was warned by his friend's fate, and decided that he had not health for the office.2

There had now been enough of mixed administrations; or the King thought so. Lord Liverpool had kept one in workingorder by his weight of character, his business faculty, and the power and dignity accruing from his length of service. Mr. Canning would have kept such an administration together by the commanding power of his mind. But it was not to be supposed that any one else could be found who could bring harmony out of elements of discord; and the condition of public affairs was such as unusually to require a strong and united government. So the King sent for the strongest and most peremptory man of all; and, in spite of the Duke of Wellington, Wellington's declaration not long before, that he Prime Min- should be mad if he ever thought of undertaking an office for which he was so little fit, he found himself, before the middle of January, 1828, Prime Minister of England. 2 Memoir of Huskisson, p. 145.

Duke of

ister.

1 Annual Register, 1828, p. 22.

CHAPTER IV.

FOR a few days the old Tory party were happy. All would be well now. The King would have no more trouble about the Catholics; for they would be put down. Lord Eldon would be the person consulted by the Duke about the formation of the new ministry, and would have great influence in it, even if he should at length, at seventy-seven years of age, think himself too old for office. There would be no more talk of a balance of parties in the Cabinet; but the Duke would have his political comrades drilled into uniformity," a perfect machine," as he had declared his Peninsular army to be. So people thought; but the strongest and most peremptory of men must bend like a willowwand before the force of opinion. Opinion was now too strong for even the Duke of Wellington; and no one of these anticipations was fulfilled.

tion.

The day after the Duke received His Majesty's commands, he wrote to Lord Eldon, declaring his intention of call- Wellington's ing on him the next day. By Lord Eldon's account, Administrathe meeting was a somewhat awkward one; the exchancellor evidently expecting the offer of some position in the Administration, though too old to resume his seat on the woolsack. "From the moment of his quitting me," writes Lord Eldon, "to the appearance in the papers of all the appointments, I never saw His Grace. I had no communication with him, either personally, by note, letter, by message through any other person, or in any manner whatever: and, for the whole fortnight, I heard no more of the matter than you did; some of my colleagues in office, and much obliged to me, too, passing my door constantly, on their way to Apsley House, without calling upon me. In the meantime, rumor was abroad that I had refused all office; and this was most industriously circulated, when it was found that there was, as there really does appear to me to have been, very great dissatisfaction among very important persons on my account, as neither included in office, nor at all, not in the least, consulted. . . . However, there was a degree of discontent and anger among persons of consequence, which, I suppose, working together with its having been somehow communicated that I was much hurt at this sort of treatment, brought the Duke of Wel

lington to me again; and the object of his visit seemed to be to account for all this. He stated, in substance, that he had found it impracticable to make any such Administration as he was sure I would be satisfied with; and, therefore, he thought he should only be giving me unnecessary trouble in coming near me, - or to that effect." 1 Then out came the old politician's soreness about not having been offered the office of President of the Council; and about being considered impracticable, which he was sure nobody had any reason to suppose; and about having been neglected for a whole fortnight. The Duke gave as a justification for having concluded that Lord Eldon would not have approved the composition of the ministry, that it seemed as if he did not like it, now the whole was complete; to which Lord Eldon replied, that he thought it a d- -d bad one. "We conversed together," he continues, however, "till, as it seemed to me, we both became a good deal affected." They might well find themselves " a good deal affected." Perhaps we may feel something of it, in merely reading the record. It is sad to think of these old comrades parting off in the way they were doing now, under a control which neither of them liked, but to which the younger could wisely bend, while the elder could only fret and be angry. Agreeing in dislike of the changes in the times, they differed about how to meet them; and the elder called the younger inconsistent, and the younger called the elder impracticable. The wedge was in, which was to split up policies and parties and friendships. It had been driven in some way now; everybody having, by intention or mischance, lent a hand to drive it further for some time past. The Duke was the man to knock out the wedge, and make all whole again; but, lo! he found himself under a compulsion which permitted him no choice but to drive the wedge home, leaving our Protestant constitution, as Lord Eldon believed, shivered to fragments. Meantime, he was compelled, as others had been, to adjust a balance of political forces in the Cabinet, and to find, as if he had been a weaker man, that it was not in the power of his will to make them work. As Lord Eldon classified them, pen in hand, it came out clear before his eyes that Protestantism was in as much danger as ever. Of the thirteen, he marks six as favorers of the Catholic claims, saying, "The other seven are as yet for Protestants, but some very loose. You will observe Dudley, Huskisson, Grant, Palmerston, and Lyndhurst (five), were all Canningites, with whom the rest were, three weeks ago, in most violent contest and opposition. These things are to me quite marvellous. How they are all to deal with each other's conduct as to the late treaty with Turkey, and the Navarino battle, is impossible to conjecture. Viscountess

1 Life of Lord Eldon, iii. p. 30.