ld and young
colleagues, from the Duke of Wellington to Mr. Gladstone, betrayed by
their emotion no less than by their words, their grief over the loss of
a leader who followed his conscience even at the expense of the collapse
of his power. Lord John Russell, the most distinguished, without doubt,
of Sir Robert's opponents on the floor of the House, paid a generous
tribute to his rival's memory. He declared that posterity would regard
Sir Robert Peel as one of the greatest and most patriotic of statesman.
He laid stress on that 'long and large experience of public affairs,
that profound knowledge, that oratorical power, that copious yet exact
memory, with which the House was wont to be enlightened, interested, and
guided.' When the offer of a public funeral was declined, in deference
to Sir Robert's known wishes, Lord John proposed and carried a
resolution for the erection of a statue in Westminster Abbey. He also
marked his sense of the loss which the nation had sustained, in the
disappearance of an illustrious man, by giving his noble-minded and
broken-hearted widow the refusal of a peerage.

Meanwhile, Lord Palmerston, on the strength of the vote of confidence in
the Commons, was somewhat of a popular hero. People who believe that
England can do no wrong, at least abroad, believed in him. His audacity
delighted the man in the club. His pluck took the platform and much of
the press by storm. The multitude relished his peremptory despatches,
and were delighted when he either showed fight or encouraged it in
others. In course of time 'Pam' became the typical fine old English
gentleman of genial temper but domineering instincts. Prince Albert
disliked him; he was too little of a courtier, too much of an off-handed
man of affairs. Windsor, of course, received early tidings of the
impression which was made at foreign Courts by the most independent and
and cavalier Foreign Minister of the century. Occasionally he
needlessly offended the susceptibilities of exalted personages abroad as
well as at home. At length the Queen, determined no longer to be put in
a false position, drew up a sharply-worded memorandum, in which explicit
directions were given for the transaction of business between the Crown
and the Foreign Office. 'The Queen requires, first, that Lord Palmerston
will distinctly state what he proposes in a given case, in order that
the Queen may know as distinctly to what she is giving her royal
sanction; secondly, h