No one who did not appreciate the man and the occasion would have
dreamed that he was confronting a crisis which might lead to a change
in the Ministry, and might array the two Houses of Parliament in angry
hostility against each other. But here lay the consummate skill of the
Premier. He was playing a most difficult role, and he played it to
perfection. He could not rely on the support of the Radicals. He must
therefore make amends for their possible defection by drawing largely
on the Conservative strength. The great danger was, that, while
conciliating the Conservatives by a show of concession, he should
alienate his own party by seeming to concede too much. Now, that the
effect which he aimed to produce excluded all declamation, all attempt
at eloquence, anything like flights of oratory or striking figures of
rhetoric, nobody understood better than Lord Palmerston.

In view of all these circumstances, the adroitness, the ability, the
sagacity, and the success of his speech were most wonderful. Gladstone
was more philosophical, statesmanlike, and eloquent; Whiteside more
impassioned and vehement; Disraeli more witty, sarcastic, and telling;
but Lord Palmerston displayed more of those qualities without which no
one can be a successful leader of the House of Commons. The result was,
that two of the resolutions passed without a division, and the third was
carried by an immense majority. The Prime Minister had understood the
temper of the House, and had shaped his course accordingly. As we have
seen, he succeeded to a marvel. But was it such a triumph as a great and
far-reaching statesman would have desired? And this brings us to the
other side of the picture.

Dexterous, facile, adroit, politic, versatile,--as Lord Palmerston
certainly is,--fertile in resources, prompt to seize and use to the