Page:History of the Radical Party in Parliament.djvu/418

 404 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1850- Russell hoped that peace would be preserved ; Layard and Lord Dudley Stuart inveighed against Russia, and attacked the Government for their unwillingness to enter upon the conflict ; Cobden, whilst strongly disapproving of the policy of Russia, did not want to go to war, either to uphold the oppressive power of the Porte or to maintain a theoretical balance of power, declaring that Russia was not to be feared, and that Turkey could not be saved ; and Palmerston made a savage onslaught upon Cobden, averring that Turkey had the elements of life and prosperity, and that the dictum of France and England, if insisted upon with spirit, would yet be respected. Parliament was prorogued on the 2Oth of August, and on the 1 6th of December the public were surprised by the announcement that Palmerston had resigned. What led to the resignation was never clearly explained, and in a few days it was withdrawn. This was after the terrible engage- ment of Sinope, which had destroyed the expectation of peace in all minds except those of some members of the Government, who seemed to hope against hope. The session of 1854 opened on the 3<Dth of January, and ministers must still have thought that war could be prevented, for the Queen's speech contained a list of domestic subjects to be dealt with that would have demanded the undivided attention of the most industrious Parliament through the longest session. Alteration of the shipping laws ; improvement in university management ; civil service reform ; amendment of the legal administration of the poor laws ; and, above all, a measure for Parliamentary reform a large programme this, of which a foreign war would be likely to make short work. The very proposals, however, were calculated to attract the confidence of the Radicals towards a Ministry who could admit that there was so much in the national institutions that required amendment. Good intentions were all that the Government was fated to give to the country, but for a time there was at least the appearance of activity. On the I3th of February Lord John