in order, and chaffed his Radical supporters out of all the reforms
on which their hearts were set, Derby was not to turn him out of
office, though the Conservative minority in the House of Commons
was very large, and there were frequent openings for harassing
attack.

Palmerston's death, of course, dissolved this compact; and, though
the General Election of 1865 had again yielded a Liberal majority,
the change in the Premiership had transformed the aspect of political
affairs. The new Prime Minister was in the House of Lords, seventy-three
years old, and not a strong man for his age. His lieutenant in the
House of Commons was Gladstone, fifty-five years old, and in the
fullest vigour of body and mind. Had any difference of opinion
arisen between the two men, it was obvious that Gladstone was in a
position to make his will prevail; but on the immediate business of
the new Parliament they were absolutely at one, and that business
was exactly what Palmerston had for the last six years successfully
opposed--the extension of the franchise to the working man. When
no one is enthusiastic about a Bill, and its opponents hate it,
there is not much difficulty in defeating it, and Derby and Disraeli
were not the men to let the opportunity slide. With the aid of the
malcontent Whigs they defeated the Reform Bill, and Derby became
Prime Minister, with Disraeli as Leader of the House of Commons. It
was a conjuncture fraught with consequences vastly more important
than anyone foresaw.

In announcing his acceptance of office (which he had obtained by
defeating a Reform Bill), Derby amazed his opponents and agitated
his friends by saying that he "reserved to himself complete liberty
to deal with the question of Parliamentary reform whenever suitable