statesman who passed the Reform Bill was installed for the moment at the
Foreign Office, and the Minister who was a Liberal abroad and a
Conservative at home was intrusted with the internal affairs of the
nation. The truth was, Lord Palmerston was impossible at the Foreign
Office if Lord Aberdeen was at the Treasury, for the two men were
diametrically opposed in regard to the policy which England ought to
adopt in her relations with Europe in general, and Russia in particular.
In fact, if Lord John Russell was for the moment out of the reckoning as
Premier, Lord Palmerston ought unquestionably to have had the reversion
of power. Unfortunately, though growingly popular in the country, he had
rendered himself unwelcome at Court, where Lord Aberdeen, on the
contrary, had long been a trusted adviser.

Even if it be granted that neither Russell nor Palmerston was admissible
as leader, it was a palpable blunder to exclude from Cabinet rank men
of clean-cut convictions like Cobden and Bright. They had a large
following in the country, and had won their spurs in the Anti-Corn-Law
struggle. They represented the aspirations of the most active section of
the Liberal Party, and they also possessed the spell which eloquence and
sincerity never fail to throw over the imagination of the people. They
were not judged worthy, however, and Milner Gibson, in spite of his
services as a member of the Russell Cabinet, was also debarred from
office; whilst Mr. Charles Villiers, whose social claims could not be
entirely overlooked, found his not inconsiderable services to the people
rewarded by subordinate rank. The view which was taken at Court of the
Aberdeen Ministry is recorded in the 'Life of the Prince Consort.' The
Queen regarded the Cabinet as 'the realisation of the country's and our
own most ardent wishes;'[29] and in her Majesty's view the words
'brilliant' and 'strong' described the new Government. Brilliant it
might be, but strong it assuredly was not, for it was pervaded by the
spirit of mutual distrust, and circumstances conspired to accentuate the
wide divergence of opinion which lurked beneath the surface harmony.
However such a union of warring forces might be agreeable to the Queen,
the belief that it realised the 'most ardent wishes' of the nation was
not widely held outside the Court, for 'England,' to borrow Disraeli's
familiar but significant phrase, 'does not love Coalitions.' In the
Aberdeen Cabinet, party interests we