394 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1850- done since Sir R. Peel's death ; second, to act in friendly con- cert with the Whigs, preserving their own independent position ; or third, to join the Whigs and form a fusion either with or without Cobden. The last-named course was adopted ; it was, indeed, inevitable if any strong Government was to be formed. The chief difficulty lay, not in the want of agreement between the Peelites and Whigs, but in the differences between the Whigs themselves, Lord John Russell having engaged to re-open the question of Parliamentary reform, to which Palmerston and Lansdowne were opposed.* There was throughout all the negotiations a possibility felt that Palmer- ston would join Derby rather than the coalition ; and Greville in his Journal, as late at the 22nd of October, 1852, says, " I have been for two days at Broadlands, where I had a good deal of talk with him (Palmerston), and I came away with the conviction that it would end in his joining the Government." Whilst all this excitement was being manifested in official circles, the public attention was for a long time diverted from it by the passing away of one who had been looked upon as a final arbitrator when the confusion of parties endangered the stability of Governments. The Duke of Wellington died on the I4th of June, and over his grave there was the mourning of the heart of the whole nation a nation which forgot the times when he had been in opposition to the popular will, and remembered only his enormous services, the nobility of his character, and the sincerity of his desire to serve his country. The election of 1852 did not make any great difference in the relative strength of parties ; what change did take place was to the advantage of ministers, at the expense of the Peelites. The Government were supposed to have gained sixty-three seats, and to have lost forty ; the returns, as far as they could be depended on, showing ministerialists, 310;
- These negotiations and speculations are described in the memoirs of Lord
Aberdeen, privately printed, but summarized and quoted from in the Edinbitrgh Review for October, 1883. See also Greyille's Journal and Martin's " Life of the Prince Consort."
