r whom a few hours before he had mocked as 'a weird sibyl'; the
other member whom he would not say he greatly respected, but whom he
greatly regarded; and the third member whom he bade learn that petulance
is not sarcasm, and insolence is not invective. Lord John Russell
congratulated him on the ability and the gallantry with which he had
conducted the struggle, and so the curtain fell. The result, as the
great newspaper put it with journalistic freedom, was 'not merely the
victory of a battle, but of a war; not a reverse, but a conquest. The
vanquished have no principles which they dare to assert, no leaders whom
they can venture to trust.'

FOOTNOTES:

[270] Charles Wordsworth, _Letter to Mr. Gladstone_, 1852, p. 50.

[271] Inglis, 1368; Gladstone, 1108; Marsham, 758.

[272] I suppose this refers to a passage about Mr. Disraeli:--'For my
part I acquit the chancellor of the exchequer, so far as his own
convictions are concerned, of the charge of having ever been a
protectionist. I never for one moment thought he believed in the least
degree in protection. I do not accuse him of having forgotten what he
said or what he believed in those years. I only accuse him of having
forgotten now what he then wished it to appear that he believed.' The
same speech contains a whimsical reason why the Jews make no converts,
which the taste of our more democratic House would certainly not
tolerate.

[273] 'The only serious misunderstanding I ever had with my noble and
lamented friend Lord George Bentinck, which I am happy to say was
thoroughly removed before his untimely death--was upon a full and frank
expression of my opinion that nothing could be more unfitting nor more
impolitic than to load with terms of vituperation those from whom we are
compelled conscientiously to differ' (_Dec. 6_).

[274] 'We had a preliminary debate to have the whole resolution put,
instead of the preamble only, which was ultimately agreed to, and placed
the question more fairly before the public, Disraeli making the
extraordinary declaration that though the proposal was for doubling the
house-tax, nobody was bound by that vote to do so. It was an attempt at
a shuffle in order to catch votes from his own people, and to a certain
extent it succeeded.'--_Halifax Papers_, 1852.

[275] Trevelyan, ii. p. 331.

[276] _Times_, Dec. 23, 1852.

[277] _Letters_, p. 315.

Book IV

_1853-18