the opinion of a politician who had no claim whatever to speak in the
name of Reform, and went on, with a touch of pardonable pride, to refer
to his own lifelong association with the cause. When he turned to his
opponent with the words, 'Does the honourable gentleman think he has a
right to treat me----,' the House backed and buried his protest with its
generous cheers. Lord John Russell, in power or out of it, was always
jealous for the reputation of the responsible statesmen of the nation,
and he did not let this occasion pass without laying emphasis on that
point. 'I should be ashamed of myself if I were to prefer a concern for
my own personal reputation to that which I understood to be for the
interests of my country. But it seems to me that the character of the
men who rule this country--whether they be at the moment in office or
in opposition--is a matter of the utmost interest to the people of this
country, and that it is of paramount importance that full confidence
should be reposed in their character. It is, in fact, on the confidence
of the people in the character of public men that the security of this
country in a great degree depends.'

A few days later it became plain that war was at hand, and a strong
feeling prevailed in Parliament that the question of Reform ought to be
shelved for a year. Lord John's position was one of great difficulty. He
felt himself pledged on the subject, and, though recognising that a
great and unexpected emergency had arisen, which altered the whole
political outlook, he knew that with Lord Palmerston and others in the
Ministry the question was not one of time, but of principle. The sinews
of war had to be provided. Mr. Gladstone proposed to double the income
tax, and Lord John urged that a period of increased taxation ought to be
a period of widened political franchise. He therefore was averse to
postponement, unless in a position to assure his Radical following that
the Government recognised that it was committed to the question. Lord
Aberdeen was only less anxious than Lord John for the adoption of a
progressive and enlightened home policy; in fact, his attitude in his
closing years on questions like Parliamentary reform was in marked
contrast to his rigidly conservative views on foreign policy. He
therefore determined to sound the Cabinet advocates of procrastination
as to their real feeling about Reform, with the result that he saw
clearly that Lord John Russell's fears were