the polls, but were still in a minority, and as
soon as it was known that Lord John Russell and Lord Palmerston were
reconciled, the end was in sight. A hostile Amendment to the
Address was carried by a majority of thirteen, but on Lord Derby's
resignation, the Queen was placed in a dilemma by the competing claims
of Lord Palmerston and Lord John Russell, who had each been Prime
Minister and leader of the Liberal Party. Unwilling to be compelled to
decide between them, she called upon Lord Granville to form a
Ministry representative of all sections of the Liberal Party; but the
difficulties proved insuperable, and Lord Palmerston eventually formed
a Ministry in which the Whigs, the Peelites, and the Manchester
School were all represented, though Mr Cobden declined to join the
Government. Mr Gladstone, who had returned from the mission he had
undertaken for the Derby Cabinet, and voted with them in the critical
division, became Chancellor of the Exchequer, and kept his seat for
Oxford University by a majority of nearly two hundred.

The continent of Europe was the scene of a contest between Austria on
the one hand, who was struggling to maintain her position in Italy,
and France with Sardinia on the other. Sardinia, under the guidance of
Cavour, had joined the alliance of England and France against Russia;
and in July 1858 an interview at Plombieres, under rather mysterious
circumstances, between Cavour and Louis Napoleon, led to effective
confederacy; a marriage, arranged or suggested at the same time,
between Princess Clothilde of Sardinia and a cousin of the Emperor,
brought the two illustrious houses still closer together. In the
spring of 1859, Sardinia prepared to take up arms to resist Austrian
predominance, and the assistance of the guerilla leader, Garibaldi,
was obtained. Count Cavour, in reply to interrogatories from the
British Government, stated officially his grievances against Austria,
while Lord Malmesbury despatched Lord Cowley on a special mission to
Vienna to mediate between Austria and France. In April, however,
after a curt summons to the Sardinians to disarm had been disregarded,
Austria invaded Piedmont, and Victor Emmanuel placed himself at the
head of his army. The first engagement took place, with unfavourable
results to the Austrians, at Montebello, followed by French victories
at Palestro and Magenta. A revolution had meanwhile taken place in
Florence. The Grand Duke had fled, and a Commissio