We have shown that liberty is compatible with order; that individual freedom is reconcilable with obedience to law; we have shown the example of a nation, in which every class of society accepts with cheerfulness the lot which Providence has assigned to it; while at the same time every individual of each class is constantly striving to raise himself in the social scale--not by injustice and wrong, not by violence and illegality--but by persevering good conduct, and by the steady and energetic exertion of the moral and intellectual faculties with which his Creator has endowed him. To govern such a people as this, is indeed an object worthy of the ambition of the noblest man who lives in the land; and therefore I find no fault with those who may think the opportunity a fair one, for endeavoring to place themselves in so distinguished and honorable a position. But I contend that we have not in our foreign policy done anything to forfeit the confidence of the country. We may not, perhaps, in this matter or in that, have acted precisely up to the opinion of one person or another--and hard indeed it is, as we all know by our individual and private experience, to find any number of men agreeing entirely in any matter, on which they may not be equally possessed of the details of the facts, and circumstances, and reasons, and conditions which led to action. But, making allowance for those differences of opinion which may fairly and honorably arise among those who concur in general views, I maintain that the principles which can be traced through all our foreign transactions, as the guiding rule and directing spirit of our proceedings, are such as deserve approbation. I therefore fearlessly challenge the verdict which this House, as representing a political, a commercial, a constitutional country, is to give on the question now brought before it: whether the principles on which the foreign policy of her Majesty’s Government has been conducted, and the sense of duty which has led us ourselves bound to afford protection to our fellow-subjects abroad, are proper and fitting guides for those who are charged with the Government of England; and whether, as the Roman, in days of old, held himself free from indignity, when he could say _Civis Romanus sum_; so also a British subject, in whatever land he may be, shall feel confident that the watchful eye and the strong arm of England will protect him against injustice and wrong. ROBERT LOWE, VISCOUNT SHERBROOKE Compared with the two men who have preceded him in this selection, the life and achievements of Robert Lowe (1811–1892) present a distinction with a difference. On any public question there could be little doubt where O’Connell would stand, or, for that matter, Lord Palmerston. But of Lowe, in some ways more individual than either, the exact position could hardly be predicated. In short, he was truer to himself than to any cause or party; and his chief title to fame he won as a recalcitrant Liberal.