Earl Grey's scruples were at length
satisfied, and he became Secretary to the Colonies; whilst Lord
Clarendon took office as President of the Board of Trade, and Lord
Lansdowne became President of the Council. Among the lesser lights of
the Ministry were Sir J. C. Hobhouse, Mr. Milner Gibson, Mr. Fox Maule,
Lord Morpeth, and Mr. (afterwards Lord) Macaulay. Sir James Graham was
offered the Governor-Generalship of India, but he had aspirations at
Westminster, which, however, were never fulfilled, and declined the
offer. The Tory party was demoralised and split up into cliques by
suspicion and indignation. Stanley was in the House of Lords by this
time, Peel was in disgrace, and Lord George Bentinck was already
beginning to cut a somewhat ridiculous figure, whilst nobody as yet was
quite prepared to take Disraeli seriously. 'We are left masters of the
field,' wrote Palmerston, with a touch of characteristic humour, 'not
only on account of our own merits, which, though we say it ourselves,
are great, but by virtue of the absence of any efficient competitors.'

The new Ministry began well. Lord John's address to his constituents in
the City made an excellent impression, and was worthy of the man and the
occasion. 'You may be assured that I shall not desert in office the
principles to which I adhered when they were less favourably received. I
cannot indeed claim the merit either of having carried measures of Free
Trade as a Minister, or of having so prepared the public mind by any
exertions of mine as to convert what would have been an impracticable
attempt into a certain victory. To others belong those distinctions. But
I have endeavoured to do my part in this great work according to my
means and convictions, first by proposing a temperate relaxation of the
Corn Laws, and afterwards, when that measure has been repeatedly
rejected, by declaring in favour of total repeal, and using every
influence I could exert to prevent a renewal of the struggle for an
object not worth the cost of conflict. The Government of this country
ought to behold with an impartial eye the various portions of the
community engaged in agriculture, in manufactures, and in commerce. The
feeling that any of them is treated with injustice provokes ill-will,
disturbs legislation, and diverts attention from many useful and
necessary reforms. Great social improvements are required: public
education is manifestly imperfect; the treatment of criminals is a
prob