e
recognised, and by none more heartily than Lord Durham. 'I do not
conceal from you that my feelings have been deeply wounded by the
conduct of the Ministry. From you, however, and you alone of them all,
have I received any cordial support personally; and I feel, as I have
told you in a former letter, very grateful to you.'

Meanwhile Lord John Russell had been called upon to oppose Mr. Grote's
motion in favour of the ballot. Although the motion was lost by 315 to
198 votes, the result was peculiarly galling to Lord John, for amongst
the majority were those members who were usually opposed to the
Government, whilst the minority was made up of Lord Melbourne's
followers. But the crisis threatening the Ministry passed away when a
motion of want of confidence in Lord Glenelg, the head of the Colonial
Office, was defeated by twenty-nine votes. The Irish legislation of the
Government as represented by the Tithe Bill did not prosper, and it
became evident that, in order to pass the measure, the Appropriation
Clause must be abandoned. Although Lord John Russell emphatically
declared in 1835 that no Tithe Bill could be effective which did not
include an Appropriation Clause, he gave way to the claims of political
expediency, and further alienated the Radicals by allowing a measure
which had been robbed of its potency to pass through Parliament. Lord
Melbourne's Government accomplished during the session something in the
direction of Irish Reform by the passage of the Poor Law, but it failed
to carry the Municipal Bill, which in many respects was the most
important of the three.

The autumn, which witnessed on both sides of the Atlantic the excitement
over Lord Durham's mission to Canada, was darkened in the home of Lord
John by the death at Brighton, on November 1, of his wife. His first
impulse was to place the resignation of his office and of leadership in
the Commons in the hands of his chief. Urgent appeals from all quarters
were made to him to remain at his post, and, though his own health was
precarious, cheered by the sympathy of his colleagues and of the
country, he resumed his work after a few weeks of quiet at Cassiobury.

FOOTNOTES:

[9] Russell's _Life of Fox_, vol. i. p. 242.

CHAPTER VI

THE TWO FRONT BENCHES

1840-1845

Lord John's position in the Cabinet and in the Commons--His
services to Education--Joseph Lancaster--Lord John's Colonial
Policy--Mr. Gladstone's opinion--Lord Sta