Page:History of the Radical Party in Parliament.djvu/424

 410 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1855- CHAPTER XVII. FROM THE RESIGNATION OF LORD ABERDEEN IN 1855 TO THE DISSOLUTION OF PARLIAMENT IN 1859. WHEN Aberdeen resigned, application was made first to Derby, as leader of the formal opposition, and then to Russell, whose secession had been the means of destroying the unity of the late Cabinet. On the failure of both these statesmen, Palmerston was asked by the Queen, and strongly advised by Lansdowne, to persevere in the formation of a Ministry. The new Government was still somewhat composite in character Mr. Gladstone, Graham, and Sidney Herbert retaining office ; Aberdeen, Russell, and Newcastle retiring. This first accession to power of Lord Palmerston marked the beginning of a long period not of reaction, but of stagnation in domestic policy. By degrees the Conservatives and the Whigs, without entering into a coalition, formed a working combination, which left office in the hands of Palmerston and power in those of the old governing classes. What the position of the new Premier was with respect to home policy may be ascertained from the fact that, during his attempt to form an administration, Derby had applied to Palmerston to join him, and Derby said, " I found that, with regard to any personal considerations, he could have no objection to act in a Government with which I was connected. We went so far as to discuss the particular position in the Government in which the noble viscount should be placed." * For the time, however, the public mind was fixed not on domestic, but on foreign affairs ; the war with Russia and its
 * Lord Derby's speech in the House of Lords on the 8th of February, 1855.