mised to a serious extent the
position of others.

Lord Melbourne's cynical remark, to the effect that nobody did anything
very foolish except from some strong principle, carries with it a
tribute to motive as well as a censure on action, and it is certain that
the promptings to which Lord John yielded in the questionable phases of
his public career were not due to the adroit and calculating temper of
self-interest. His weaknesses were indeed, after all, trivial in
comparison to his strength. He rose to the great occasion and was
inspired by it. All that was formal and hesitating in manner and speech
disappeared, and under the combined influence of the sense of
responsibility and the excitement of the hour 'languid Johnny,' to
borrow Bulwer Lytton's phrase, 'soared to glorious John.' Palmerston,
like Melbourne, was all things to all men. His easy nonchalance, sunny
temper, and perfect familiarity with the ways of the world and the
weaknesses of average humanity, gave him an advantage which Lord John,
with his nervous temperament, indifferent health, fastidious tastes, shy
and rather distant bearing, and uncompromising convictions, never
possessed. Russell's ethical fervour and practical energetic bent of
mind divided him sharply from politicians who lived from hand to mouth,
and were never consumed by a zeal for reform in one direction or
another; and these qualities sometimes threw him into a position of
singular isolation. The wiles and artifices by which less proud and less
conscientious men win power, and the opportune compliments and unwatched
concessions by which too often they retain it, lay amongst the things to
which he refused to stoop.

[Sidenote: HIS PRACTICAL SAGACITY]

Men might think Lord John taciturn, angular, abrupt, tenacious, and
dogmatic, but it was impossible not to recognise his honesty, public
spirit, pluck in the presence of difficulty, and high interpretation of
the claims of public duty which marked his strenuous and indomitable
career. His qualifications for the post of Prime Minister were not open
to challenge. He was deeply versed in constitutional problems, and had
received a long and varied training in the handling of great affairs. He
possessed to an enviable degree the art of lucid exposition, and could
render intricate proposals luminous to the public mind. He was a shrewd
Parliamentary tactician, as well as a statesman who had worthily gained
the confidence of the nation. He was