, 398 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1850- The determination was already known, and on Derby's resignation Lords Aberdeen and Lansdowne were sent for, and although Aberdeen alone waited on the Queen, he announced their joint readiness to form a Cabinet. On the 27th of December the new Premier announced in the House of Lords the formation of his Government, and the House separated for the Christmas recess, and on the 3ist the House of Commons also adjourned to the loth of February. In Lord Aberdeen's Cabinet all the sections of the late opposition were represented, but in very unequal proportions. As Sir James Graham recorded in his journal, the Ministry consisted of seven Peelites, five Whigs, and one Radical.* There were two Radicals also in office, but not in the Cabinet, men of very different character and influence Bernal Osborne and C. P. Villiers. The latter appointment was at once a recognition of free-trade principles, and a guarantee of their maintenance. The relations of the Radicals were not deter- mined merely by the inadequate representation they obtained in the Ministry. There were other reasons why they were alike bound and pleased to give it a loyal support. In the then state of parties both in Parliament and in the country using that phrase as meaning the limited constituencies which existed the Tories could only be kept from power by a combination such as that which had been effected ; and to keep the Tories out of power was the duty of all who desired any advance in Liberal politics. But there were positive, no less than negative, inducements to Liberals to support the Government. Some of its members were ready to take the lead in real even if it were too moderate reform, and in others there was an active growth going on which indicated an increasing sympathy with the cause of the people. Of one of these classes Lord John Russell was a good specimen, of the other, Mr. Gladstone was the most striking
- See Edinburgh Review, October, 1883, p. 570. The Peelites were
Aberdeen, Cranworth, Gladstone, Argyle, Newcastle, Graham, and Sidney Herbert ; the Whigs were Granville, Palmerston, Russell, Wood, and Lansdowne ; the Radical was Molesworth, who, although not at that time a strong man, represented many of the best traditions of the party.
