Palmerston's appeal to the country had been answered by an expression of confidence in him, but that confidence was of a very complex kind. The Radicals voted for him, because, as long as he was in Parliament, no other man could lead the Liberal party; but they distrusted his foreign policy, and chafed at his indifference to questions of reform. The Liberals voted for him, because he represented exactly the views of moderate Liberalism; and the attitude of many Conservatives was accurately expressed in a letter written by Mr. W. H. Smith, Liberal-Conservative candidate for Westminster, to Colonel Taylor, the Whip of the Conservative party, thanking him for the support he had received from Conservatives in his unsuccessful contest against Mr. Mill. "I believe in Lord Palmerston," he said, "and look forward ultimately to a fusion of the moderate men following Lord Derby and Lord Palmerston into a strong Liberal-Conservative party." [Illustration: HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT, BRISBANE.] [Sidenote: Death of Lord Palmerston.] But the strong link which for so long had bound the present to the past, and acted as a check on precipitate legislation, snapped at last. Palmerston died on October 18, 1865, aged eighty-one years, less two days, having sat in the House of Commons for fifty-eight years, which, as Mr. Cardwell observed, was just one-tenth of its whole existence. The feeling in the country was more profound than any which had been manifested since the death of Wellington. In the course of these pages no attempt has been made to palliate or conceal some of the errors of judgment, the faults of statesmanship, even the occasional want of sincerity to Parliament and the public which formed blemishes in his career, especially in the earlier part of the Queen's reign. In spite of these blots--and some of them were far from venial--he had lived to secure the confidence of his Sovereign and the affection of her people. A great deal of this was owing to his personal character and manner and his kindly humour. It is no slight upon Scotsmen or Irishmen to say that the chief secret of his universal popularity was that he was such a thorough Englishman. Some of his sayings had a much deeper meaning than their tone of levity implied. Two of them will bear repetition here, seeing how accurately the lapse of years has fulfilled the prediction contained in them. Palmerston was known to be opposed to any further extension of the franchise. Somebody once observed to him that it really would not make much difference, for the same class of member would be returned as before. "Yes," replied Palmerston, "the same men will get in as before, but they will play to the shilling gallery instead of to the boxes." The late Earl of Shaftesbury put on record one of Palmerston's latest sayings. Palmerston always distrusted Mr. Gladstone as a politician, and made no secret of it. But he always was extremely anxious for Mr. Gladstone's return for Oxford University. "He is a