the House of
Commons on the conduct of the Persian War, and he exercised his
independence in other directions. Even shrewd and well-informed
observers were curiously oblivious, for the moment, of the signs of the
times, for Greville wrote on February 27: 'Nobody cares any longer for
John Russell, everybody detests Gladstone; Disraeli has no influence in
the country, and a very doubtful position with his own party.' Yet
scarcely more than a fortnight later this cynical, but frank scribe
added: 'Some think a reaction in favour of John Russell has begun. He
stands for the City, and is in very good spirits, though his chances of
success do not look bright; but he is a gallant little fellow, likes to
face danger, and comes out well in times of difficulty.' Between these
two statements the unexpected had happened. Cobden had brought forward
a motion censuring the conduct of the Government in the affair of the
lorcha, 'Arrow,' at Canton, and the three statesmen on whom Greville had
contemptuously pronounced judgment--Russell, Gladstone, and
Disraeli--had supported the Manchester school, with the result that the
Government, on March 4, suffered defeat by a majority of sixteen votes.
Parliament was dissolved in the course of the month, and the General
Election brought Lord Palmerston back to power, pledged to nothing
unless it was a spirited foreign policy.

[Sidenote: THE CITY FIGHTS SHY]

The personal ascendency of Lord Palmerston, whom Disraeli cleverly
styled the Tory chief of a Radical Cabinet, carried the election, for
there was a good deal of truth in the assertion that nobody cared a
straw for his colleagues. The Peace party suffered defeat at the polls,
and, amongst others, Cobden himself was turned out at Huddersfield, and
Bright and Milner Gibson were his companions in misfortune at
Manchester. A vigorous attempt was made to overthrow Lord John in the
City, and his timid friends in the neighbourhood of Lombard Street and
the Exchange implored him not to run the risk of a contested election.
He was assured in so many words, states Lady Russell, that he had as
much chance of being elected Pope as of being elected member for the
City; and the statement roused his mettle. He was pitted against a
candidate from Northampton, and the latter was brought forward with the
powerful support of the Registration Association of the City of London,
and in a fashion which was the reverse of complimentary to the old
statesman.