gn, the Park railings for the
space of half a mile were thrown down. Force is no remedy, but a little
of it is sometimes a good object-lesson, and the panic which this
unpremeditated display occasioned amongst the valiant defenders of law
and order was unmistakeable.

[Sidenote: 'DISHING THE WHIGS']

Mr. Lowe had flouted the people, and had publicly asserted that those
who were without the franchise did not really care to possess it.
Forty-three other so-called Liberals in the House of Commons were
apparently of the same way of thinking, for the Russell Administration
was defeated by forty-four 'Liberal' votes. This in itself shows that
Lord John, up to the hour in which he was driven from power, was far in
advance of one section of his followers. The great towns, and more
particularly Birmingham, Manchester, and Leeds, promptly took up the
challenge; and in those three centres alone half a million of people
assembled to make energetic protest against the contemptuous dismissal
of their claims. The fall of the Park railings appealed to the fear of
the classes, and aroused the enthusiasm of the masses. It is scarcely
too much to say that if they had been demolished a month earlier the
Russell Government would have carried its Reform proposals, and Disraeli
would have lost his chance of 'dishing the Whigs.' The defeat of Lord
John Russell was a virtual triumph. He was driven from power by a rally
of reactionary forces at the very moment when he was fighting the battle
of the people.[42] The Tories were only able to hold their own by
borrowing a leaf from his book, and bringing in a more drastic measure
of reform.

FOOTNOTES:

[41] _Life and Correspondence of Viscount Palmerston_, by the Hon.
Evelyn Ashley, vol. ii. p. 438.

[42] In a letter written in the spring of 1867, Lord Houghton refers to
Mr. Gladstone as being 'quite awed' for the moment by the 'diabolical
cleverness of Dizzy.' He adds: 'Delane says the extreme party for Reform
are now the grandees, and that the Dukes are quite ready to follow Beale
into Hyde Park.'--_The Life, Letters, and Friendships of Lord Houghton_,
by Sir Wemyss Reid, vol. ii. pp. 174-5.

CHAPTER XVII

OUT OF HARNESS

1867-1874

Speeches in the House of Lords--Leisured years--Mr. Lecky's
reminiscences--The question of the Irish Church--The Independence
of Belgium--Lord John on the claims of the Vatican--Letters to Mr.
Chichester Fortescue--His scheme f