ABSTRACT
William Ewart Gladstone, in respect of his fundamental ideas, was undoubtedly nearer to Aberdeen than to Lord Palmerston. He was quite immune from the comfortable tendency to veil the horrors of war by a romantic ideology. Lord Derby considered that without Gladstone and Palmerston he could not undertake to form a Government. The “Civis Romanus” faith found spontaneous expression, and since the Conspiracy Bill which Palmerston introduced gave rise to the impression that he himself had relapsed from the faith, he was swept aside. Palmerston displayed no inclination to conclude peace before his war-aims were completely achieved. The Crimean War was finally terminated by the Peace of Paris on the 30th of March, 1856. By the English people, the war and the peace were both placed to the credit of Palmerston. The sympathies of the British public were entirely on the side of Italy, and again the public took it for granted that Palmerston would be in agreement with it.
