The Reform Bill of 1832 was the protest of the middle classes against evils which had been endured for centuries,—­a protest to which the aristocracy was compelled to listen.  Amid terrible animosities and fearful agitations, reaching to the extremities of the kingdom, the bill was finally passed by the Liberal members, who set aside all other matters, and acted with great unanimity and resolution.

As noted above, during this exciting parliamentary contest the great figure of Henry Brougham had disappeared from the House of Commons; but more than any other man, he had prepared the way for those reforms which the nation had so clamorously demanded, and which in part they had now achieved.  From 1820 to 1831 he had incessantly labored in the lower House, and but little was done without his aid.  It would have been better for his fame had he remained a commoner.  He was great not only as a parliamentary orator, but as a lawyer.  His labors were prodigious.  Altogether, at this period he was the most prominent man in England, the most popular among the friends of reform, and the most hated by his political enemies,—­a fierce, overbearing man, with great talent for invective and sarcasm, eccentric, versatile, with varied rather than profound learning.  When Lord Melbourne succeeded Lord Grey as premier, Brougham was left out of the cabinet, being found to be irascible, mischievous, and unpractical; he retired, an embittered man, to private life, but not to idleness, He continued to write popular and scientific essays, articles for reviews, and biographical sketches, taking an interest in educational movements, and in all questions of the day.  He was always a lion in society, and, next to Sir Walter Scott, was the object of greatest curiosity to American travellers.  Although great as statesman, orator, lawyer, and judge, his posthumous influence is small compared with that which he wielded in his lifetime,—­which, indeed, may be said of most statesmen, the most noted exception to the rule being Lord Bacon.

With Brougham in the upper House, Lord John Russell had become the most prominent man in the lower; but being comparatively a poor man, he was contented to be only paymaster of the forces,—­the most lucrative office in the government.  His successful conduct of the great Reform Bill gave him considerable prestige.  In the second ministry of Lord Melbourne, 1834-1841, Lord Russell was at first colonial and afterward home secretary.  Whatever the post he filled, he filled it with credit, and had the confidence of the country; for he was honest, liberal, and sensible.  He was not, however, an orator, although he subsequently became a great debater.  I have often heard him speak, both in and out of Parliament; but I was never much impressed, or even interested.  He had that hesitating utterance so common with aristocratic speakers, both clerical and lay, and which I believe is often assumed.  In short, he had no magnetism, without