the
embarrassment of the moment by bringing forward a motion for placing the
county and borough franchise on an equal basis; and before the
discussion of the Budget could be renewed this motion was carried
against the Government, though in a small House, by a majority of almost
two to one. Lord John Russell met the hostile vote by immediate
resignation; and Lord Stanley--who four months later became Earl of
Derby--was summoned to Windsor and attempted to form a Ministry. His
efforts were, however, unsuccessful, for Peel had left the Tory party
not merely disorganised but full of warring elements. Lord John,
therefore, returned to office in March, and Locke King's measure was
promptly thrown out by a majority of more than two hundred. The London
season of that year was rendered memorable by the opening of the Great
Exhibition, amid universal plaudits and dreams of long-continued peace
amongst the nations. As the year closed Lord Palmerston's ill-advised
action over the _Coup d'Etat_ in France brought about, as we have
already seen, his dismissal, a circumstance which still further weakened
the Russell Cabinet.

The year 1852 opened darkly for Lord John. Difficulties, small and
great, seemed thickening around him. He had been called to power at a
singularly trying moment, and no one who looks dispassionately at the
policy which he pursued between the years 1846 and 1852 can fail to
recognise that he had at least tried to do his duty. There is a touch of
pathos in the harassed statesman's reply to a letter of congratulation
which reached him on the threshold of the new year from a near relative,
and it is worthy of quotation, since it reveals the attitude of the man
on far greater questions than those with which he was beset at the
moment: 'I cannot say that the new year is a happy one to me. Political
troubles are too thick for my weak sight to penetrate them, but we all
rest in the mercy of God, who will dispose of us as He thinks best.'[25]
When Parliament met in February, Lord Palmerston's opportunity came. On
the heels of the panic about Papal aggression came widespread alarm as
to the policy which Napoleon III. might pursue towards this country. The
fear of invasion grew strong in the land, and patriotic fervour
restlessly clamoured for prompt legislative action. Forty years ago, in
every town and village of England there were people who could speak from
personal knowledge concerning the reign of terror which the fir