Whig character; his
judgment was very independent; and on Church questions especially he
was never fully in harmony with his party. He was appointed
Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in his father's first
short Ministry in March 1852, at a time when he was travelling in
India, and he left office with his father in December of the same
year. In 1853 he made a remarkable speech on Indian affairs, in some
degree foreshadowing the Indian policy which he was afterwards
destined to take such a large part in carrying into effect. During the
next few years he spoke frequently on Indian and Colonial questions,
on questions connected with education, factories, and other
working-class interests, and he supported--often in opposition to the
majority of his party--a large number of reforms which have since been
accomplished. He advocated the introduction of competitive
examinations, first of all into the Diplomatic, and then into most
branches of the Civil Service. He spoke against the system of purchase
in the army, and served on a Royal Commission on the subject. He
supported a motion for securing to married women their property and
earnings. He took a decided part in opposition to Church rates. He
voted for the emancipation of the Jews. He voted and spoke in favour
of the Maynooth grant. He was an early advocate of the opening of
museums on Sundays, and of a conscience clause to be enforced in all
schools receiving State assistance. He supported the establishment of
the Divorce Court, and clearly showed that preference for social as
distinguished from political questions which he retained through his
whole life. He delighted in placing himself in touch with working men.
Mechanics' institutes, free libraries, almost every movement for the
education and improvement of the working class, found in him a steady
friend. He once wrote to Lord Shaftesbury: 'We are both public men
deeply interested in the condition of the working class, and for my
own part I would rather look back on services such as you have
performed for that class than receive the highest honours in the
employment of the State.' On working-class questions he was often
accused of Radicalism, but it was Radicalism of the old school, which
relied mainly for reform on spontaneous effort, on moral improvement,
and extended education, and was very jealous of State interference,
compulsion, and control. He had a great admiration for Mill's
writings, and especially