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 254 THE CECILS

so that in reading these debates one seems to be listening to a later Cecil pointing out the iniquities of a later Chancellor of the Exchequer. But Gladstone, in spite of his doctrines, inspired respect and admiration in his opponent, of whose character and abilities, as will be seen later, he conceived a high opinion.

Lord Robert Cecil was now, as ever, a close student of foreign politics, upon which he spoke with increasing authority. His speeches on the Brazilian difficulty in 1863, when he accused Earl Russell of adopting " a sort of tariff of insolence in his correspondence with foreign powers," and on the Government's policy toward Denmark in 1864, were marked by wide intellectual grasp and considerable oratorical power.

On the death of his elder brother (June I4th, 1865), Lord Robert succeeded to his title as Viscount Cranborne, and became heir to the Marquessate.

The death of Palmerston, in October, finally closed the period of compromise between the aristocratic and democratic tendencies in British politics, and the new era was ushered in with Gladstone as leader of the House of Commons, pledged to Reform. Of the ill-fated Reform Bill of 1866, Lord Cranborne was one of the most vigorous opponents.

Liberal opposition to the Bill was so strong that it had little chance of passing, but there is no doubt that Lord Cranborne's eloquent and

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