THE real threat to Melbourne's tenure of office came not from the Left or
the Right, from Radicals and Tories, but from within the ranks of those he
counted as his supporters. His government had been put together in a frag-
mentary way: one or two Foxite Whigs, the Grey family interest, and
Palmerston as a law unto himself. He kept it together by umpiring in crises
between departments, and by making personal appeals to whatever better
nature his colleagues had. It was political juggling of a very high order, but
it could not go on forever. Issues of any kind brought on new divisions. While
the agenda of 1830-4 was continued and polished, there was a chance of
minimum agreement, because his friends would be bound by previous deci-
sions. On the other hand, new points of business would be devastating.
Melbourne endlessly fought to divert the attention of his colleagues from any-
thing that would demand new responses. He knew that their formulation
would put intolerable strain on Cabinet loyalty, even when it was most loosely
defined. Unfortunately four issues could not be suppressed; the possibility of
introducing a secret ballot; the future of the Corn Laws; colonial policy; and
the problem of a resurgent France. Each of them divided Minister from
Minister. Cumulatively, they brought resignations and threats of resignation.
In the end, they forced Melbourne to call an election at a moment not of his
choosing on issues he would have preferred to ignore.

Melbourne was acutely aware of his situation. He fought the idea of new
agendas with, for him, something approaching vigour. He was 'for holding
the ground already taken, but not for occupying new ground rashly', ¹ or, as
he put it to Archbishop Whately, 'all this reforming gives a deuced deal of
trouble, eh? I wish they'd let it all alone.' ² On innumerable occasions,
Howick complained that the Prime Minister could not 'bear adopting any
new measures', ³ and William Mackworth Praed made a joke of it:

To promise, pause, prepare, postpone
And end by letting things alone:
In short, to earn the people's pay
By doing nothing every day. ⁴

-189-