It is not necessary to enter into the difficulties that beset his path, or to trace out the details of his policy. He was too despotic to please the colonists, but he acted conscientiously, and was warmly upheld by the home government at first. He issued a proclamation that caused dissatisfaction, and seems to have been misunderstood, and he was unmindful of some of the technicalities of English law. Then some of his friends turned against him, and his foes were merciless in their denunciation. Among the latter was the all-powerful Lord Brougham, against whose thundering eloquence no man could hold up his head. Suffice it to say that Lord Durham returned to England a {331}disgraced man. He had saved Canada, but ruined himself. The policy which he recommended on his return was the one upon which the foundation of the prosperity of all the British colonies was established. In so far Lord Durham's mission to Canada was a splendid success; but the anxiety and the hard work it had entailed upon him ruined his already enfeebled health, and he died a short time after his return, at the age of forty-eight. At the beginning of Queen Victoria's reign there was trouble nearer home to be contended with; and this was "Chartism," which a few words will serve to explain. The reform bill was passed before King William died, as we have seen, but those among the lower classes who had worked for it were not satisfied; they had not yet obtained all they desired, for they had looked for relief from poverty and misery, and no relief had come. They fancied that the new government was unmindful of their wants. They hated the rich, who enjoyed the comforts of which they were deprived, and the rich feared the consequences of their hatred. This separated the two classes as decidedly as though an ocean had rolled between them, in so far as sympathy or assistance was concerned.