en at the time, and it is obvious indeed to the
generations that had an opportunity of knowing how eminently Lord John
Russell was qualified for the work which had been entrusted to his
hands. He was a member of one of the greatest aristocratic families in
the land, and one of the practical dangers threatening the Reform Bill
was the alarm that might spread among the wealthier classes at the
thought of a wild democratic movement upsetting the whole principle of
aristocratic predominance in the English constitutional system. Still
more important was the fact that Lord John Russell, who had
distinguished himself already as the most devoted promoter of
constitutional reform, was a man peculiarly qualified by intellect and
by his skill in exposition to pilot such a measure through the House of
Commons.

Lord John Russell had not yet won reputation as a great Parliamentary
orator; nor did he, during the whole of his long career, succeed in
acquiring such a fame. But he was a master of the art which consists
in making a perfectly clear statement of the most complicated case, and
in defending his measure point by point with never-failing readiness
and skill throughout the most perplexing series of debates. It was
pointed out also, at the time, that if Lord John Russell was selected
to introduce the Reform Bill, although he was only Paymaster of the
Forces and had not a seat in the Cabinet, thus too had Edmund Burke
been selected to introduce the East India Bill, although he, like Lord
John Russell, was only Paymaster of the Forces and had not a seat in
the Cabinet. Indeed, to us, who now look back on the events from a
long distance of time, the impression would rather be that Lord Grey
had little or no choice in the matter. He was not himself a member of
the House of Commons, and therefore could not introduce the Bill there.
Brougham had ceased to be a member of the House of Commons, and was
therefore out of the question. Lord Althorp, who had not yet succeeded
to the peerage, and had a seat in the representative chamber, was, as
we have already said, the poorest of {134} speakers, and utterly
unsuited for the difficult task of steering so important a measure
through the troublous sea of Parliamentary debate. Lord Grey, of
course, was thoroughly well acquainted with Russell's great abilities
and his peculiar fitness for the task assigned to him, and could, under
no circumstances, have made a better choice. But our onl