Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 45.djvu/138

 the submission of all foreign office despatches to the prime minister (, 2nd ser. iii. 174). On 25 May 1848 he introduced the bill for the removal of Jewish disabilities. On 7 May 1849 he moved in the lords the repeal of the navigation laws, and prophesied an immediate extension of British commerce as the result.

In 1850 he led the opposition in the cabinet to Lord John Russell's proposals for a new reform bill (Life of Lord John Russell, ii. 100), and was successful in forcing its withdrawal; his opinions on the matter he confided to Greville, when the latter informed him that his presence in the cabinet was regarded by many as a guarantee that no strong measure would be taken. ‘They may rely with entire confidence on me, for you may be sure that if any strong measure was to be contemplated by the cabinet, I should immediately walk out of it’ (, 2nd ser. iii. 414). He was not in favour of the prolongation of the official existence of Lord John Russell's disunited ministry, and on their resignation showed his feeling (23 Feb. 1852) in the House of Lords by declaring that the retention of office by a government which does not obtain the amount of support necessary to enable it to conduct with efficiency the queen's affairs becomes productive of evil to the country. On the same occasion he took a formal leave, in dignified language, of the house. But though somewhat infirm through attacks of gout, he was not yet destined to retire from public life. On the death of the Duke of Wellington he spoke eloquently on the loss sustained by the nation (11 Nov. 1852). The same duty had fallen to his lot on the death of Nelson.

On the resignation of Lord Derby in December 1852, the queen sent for Lansdowne and the Earl of Aberdeen. Lansdowne was at the time crippled with gout, and declined the responsibility of forming a government. He arrived, however, at an understanding with Lord Aberdeen, and entered his cabinet without office (, Life of the Prince Consort, ii. 482). Again, on the resignation of Lord Aberdeen, 1 Feb. 1855, the queen sought the assistance of Lansdowne, and at his advice sent first for Lord Derby, then for Lord John Russell, and finally for Lord Palmerston, whose cabinet Lansdowne entered without office 22 Feb. 1855. He declined the offer of a dukedom in September 1857. The following lines appeared in ‘Punch’ on the occasion: Lord Lansdowne won't be Duke of Kerry, Lord Lansdowne is a wise man very, Punch drinks his health in port and sherry. Despite increasing infirmity, he maintained a regular attendance in the House of Lords until 4 March 1861, when he made his last recorded speech. During the last year of his life he spent most of his time at Bowood, where he died, from the effects of a fall, 31 Jan. 1863. He was buried in the mausoleum at Bowood.

Through life Lansdowne was, as Lord Campbell described him, ‘a very moderate whig’ (Autobiography of Lord Campbell, ii. 205). Though a prominent leader of the whig party for over fifty years, he never acquired the character of a party man. ‘The very happy temper’ and ‘strong natural judgment’ which Lord Shelburne remarked in his character in early life never failed him, and doubtless produced that love of moderation which dominated his political character. A member of three different coalition administrations, he appears to have been happily designed for making such constructions possible. Although not an obstinate minister in council, but, in Lord Campbell's words, ‘one who sincerely tries to pass measures which he does not entirely relish’ (ib. ii. 208), his political views were clear and definite; he proved himself a consistent and powerful advocate of the removal of political disabilities occasioned by religious opinions. Though no ardent parliamentary reformer, he saw the necessity of the Reform Bill of 1832, and gave it strong support. He had proclaimed himself in favour of free trade twenty years before his party recognised its possibility. In Irish affairs he was no sympathiser with the aspirations of O'Connell, but was inclined to temper a very firm support of the existing government with generosity. In his view of foreign policy he was influenced by the spirit of Canning, but was invariably governed by a sense of patriotism which, early in his career, prevented him sharing the romantic French sympathies entertained by his cousin, Lord Holland, and made him a determined supporter of the Napoleonic war. At the end of his public life he took up a similar attitude in the very different circumstances of the Crimean struggle. His great experience in affairs and the length of his public service made him supreme in questions of political precedent and etiquette (ib. ii. 208), and gave him for a time an influence possessed in like degree by no other statesman. On this account he was chosen, on the Duke of Wellington's death, to fill the latter's place as informal adviser on political and constitutional questions to the crown. He understood well the sentiment of the House of Lords, and was a skilful and successful leader of that assembly. He lacked ambition,