UNIFORMS OF VOLUNTEERS, 1860.] It was an unlucky device. The Bill was not a very formidable one, but it disturbed a great question. Two members of the Cabinet, Mr. Walpole and Mr. Henley, threw up their offices rather than join in work which they, in common with most Conservatives in the country, considered alien from Conservative principles. The Whigs and Radicals would have no hand in such a measure, which they exposed as a sham, and Russell persuaded the House to reject it by a majority of thirty-nine. Neither did the Bill serve its author's purpose in the country. When Lord Derby appealed to the constituencies, the response came, at the end of May 1859, in the form of a feeble accession to Conservative numbers, not strong enough to avert defeat by thirteen votes on a vote of want of confidence, moved by a young member put up by the combined Whigs, Radicals, and Peelites--the Marquis of Hartington (now Duke of Devonshire). The only effects of Disraeli's stratagem had been to disgust and disunite his own party, and to cause his opponents to sink their differences in united action. [Illustration: _R. Simkin._} A. Private, London Rifles. B. Gunner, Artillery. C. Sapper, Engineers. D. Officer, 1st Middlesex. E. Officer, and V.B. Royal Fusiliers. F. Private, Artists. G. Private, London Scottish. UNIFORMS OF VOLUNTEER BATTALIONS, 1897.] [Sidenote: Lord Palmerston's Second Administration.] [Sidenote: Threatened French Invasion.] [Sidenote: The Volunteers.] On Lord Derby's resignation, Lord Palmerston formed a strong Cabinet, including Lord Granville, Mr. Gladstone, Sir George Cornewall-Lewis, Mr. Sidney Herbert, and Mr. Cardwell. Lord John Russell refused any post except that of Foreign Secretary, which shut out Lord Clarendon, who declined any other appointment. At the moment, as it happened, England was keeping scrupulously clear of the conflict between France and Austria. The Queen's speech to the new Parliament had announced that "a strict and impartial neutrality" should be maintained, and this was done in spite of persistent attempts on the part of Louis Napoleon to secure the assistance of Great Britain in the deliverance of Italy, in spite, too, of the strong sympathy entertained by Mr. Gladstone and others in the Cabinet for the cause of Italian nationality. There was, however, a shrewd distrust of the French Emperor growing in the minds of the British public at this time, which made it easier than it had otherwise been for the Government to steer clear of foreign complications. In fact, the development of the arsenal at Cherbourg and the assembly there of a powerful fleet were interpreted, perhaps not without justice, as indicating a contemplated invasion of England. The Volunteer movement first assumed important proportions in the year 1859 under this feeling of apprehension. "Form, form, riflemen, form! Ready--be ready, to meet the storm"--