Although the houses of the _grandes dames_ of politics were opened earlier than usual in 1862, and politicians flocked to town sooner than was their custom, it was generally known that the Session would be dull and uneventful. The death of the Prince Consort overshadowed Society, and the leaders of both parties generously agreed that political strife should be suspended till the Queen was better able to bear the anxieties of party conflicts which lead to Ministerial crises. Lord Russell was well pleased with the termination of the American quarrel, because it left the Foreign Office free to assert the ascendency of England in the councils of Europe. Lord Palmerston was not displeased that his Government had won a diplomatic victory, for which the public, ignorant of the true effect of his extravagant military preparations on American opinion, gave him credit. Rumours had at this time gone abroad that his health was seriously impaired by the death of the Prince Consort, but these he was at pains to disperse by his conspicuous energy in the hunting-field. Lord Derby did not complain of the settlement of the _Trent_ affair, because he saw it would enable Lord Palmerston to hold office for life. But the rank and file of the Tory Party, and a small fringe of aristocratic Whigs, were disappointed, for a war in which England would have fought on the side of the Southern Confederacy had been averted. Mr. Disraeli, who has obtained great credit for never manifesting his sympathies in favour of the slave-holding confederacy, did not conceal them from his intimate friends. In conversation with Count Vitzthum he said, “The effects on England (of the American War) are incalculable. Considering the probable loss to English trade, we (the Tory leaders) cannot, of course, proclaim openly the satisfaction we naturally feel at the collapse of Republican institutions. But speaking privately, we can only congratulate ourselves if the monarchical principle comes into favour on the other side of the Atlantic.”[130] Parliament was opened on the 6th of February, 1862. The Speech from the Throne touched on the death of the Prince Consort, the termination of the dispute with the United States, and on the Convention with France and Spain, the object of which was to obtain redress from Mexico for wrongs committed by the Mexican Government on foreign residents. It alluded to a Land Transfer Bill, and vaguely to “other measures of public usefulness” which would be submitted to Parliament. The debate on the Address mainly consisted of eloquent eulogies on the late Prince Consort--Lord Palmerston declaring that it was no exaggeration to say that so far as the word “perfect” could be applied to human imperfection, it was applicable to the character of the Prince. Out of respect to the Queen, politics were but lightly touched, Ministers promising to give full information as to the blockade of the Confederate ports, and the Mexican enterprise.