y, a few days after the meeting of
Parliament, Lord John retired from the Foreign Office, and led the House
through the session with great ability, but without taking office. It is
important to remember that he had only accepted the Foreign Office under
strong pressure, and as a temporary expedient. It was, however,
understood that he was at liberty at any moment to relinquish the
Foreign Office in favour of Lord Clarendon, if he found the duties too
onerous to discharge in conjunction with the task of leadership in the
Commons. The session of 1853 was rendered memorable by the display of
Mr. Gladstone's skill in finance; and the first Budget of the new
Chancellor of the Exchequer was in every sense in splendid contrast with
the miserable fiasco of the previous year, when Mr. Disraeli was
responsible for proposals which, as Sir George Cornewall Lewis said,
were of a kind that flesh and blood could not stand. The trade of the
country had revived, and, with tranquility, some degree of prosperity
had returned, even to Ireland. Lord John Russell, true to his policy of
religious equality, brought forward the Jewish Disabilities Bill, but
the House of Lords, with equal consistency, threw out the measure. The
Law of Transportation was altered, and a new India Bill was passed,
which threw open the Civil Service to competition. Many financial
reforms were introduced, a new proposal was made for a wider extent of
elementary education, and much legislative activity in a variety of
directions was displayed.

[Sidenote: THE COALITION GOVERNMENT]

Lord Aberdeen had taken office under pressure and from a sense of duty.
It had few attractions for him, and he looked forward with quiet
satisfaction to release from its cares. Lord Stanmore's authority can be
cited for the statement that in the summer of 1853 his father deemed
that the time had come when he might retire in Lord John Russell's
favour, in accordance with an arrangement which had been made in general
terms when the Cabinet was formed. There were members of the Coalition
Government who were opposed to this step; but Lord Aberdeen anticipated
no serious difficulty in carrying out the proposal. Suddenly the aspect
of affairs grew not merely critical but menacing, and the Prime Minister
found himself confronted by complications abroad, from which he felt it
would be despicable to retreat by the easy method of personal
resignation. There is not the slightest occasion, nor, inde