t's surrender as one,
difficult perhaps to avoid, but unfortunate in its results, and he was
an unflinching supporter of Metcalfe. He further declared that he
thought Metcalfe's council had an exaggerated view of their power, and
that to yield to them would involve dangers to the connection.[35] The
novelty involved in his policy lay, however, outside this point of
constitutional logic: it was a matter of practice, not of theory. Not
only did he support Sydenham in those practical reforms in which the
new political life of Canada began, but in spite of his theory he
really granted all save the form of full responsibility. So completely
had he, and his agent Sydenham, undermined their own imperial {262}
position, that when Peel's ministry fell in 1846, it was one of the
first acts of Lord John Russell, now prime minister, to consent to the
demolition of his own old theories. If he may not dispute with Grey
the credit of having conceded genuine responsibility to Canada, at
least he did not exercise his authority to forbid the grant.

It seems to me, indeed, that Russell definitely modified his position
between 1841 and 1847. At the earlier date he had been a stout
upholder of the supremacy of Britain in Canada, for he believed in the
connection, and the connection depended on the retention of British
supremacy. In the debate of January 16th, 1838, he argued thus for the
Empire: "On the preservation of our colonies depends the continuance of
our commercial marine; and on our commercial marine mainly depends our
naval power; and on our naval power mainly depends the strength and
supremacy of our arms."[36] It is worthy of note that Charles Buller
took occasion to challenge this description of the pillars of
empire--it seemed a poor theory to him to make the empire a
stalking-horse for the commerce and interests of the mother country.
But as events taught Russell surely that the casuistry of 1839 {263}
was false, and that Responsible Government was both a deeper and a
broader thing than he had counted it, and yet inevitable, he accepted
the more radical position. At the same time, he either came to lay
less stress on the unity of Empire, or he was forced to acknowledge
that, since Home Rule must be granted, and since with Home Rule
separation seemed natural, Britain had better practise resignation in
view of a possible disruption. The best known expression of this phase
in Russell's thought is his speech on Colonia