There were Liberals and Tories at both sides. The noble proposer of
the Irish Railway Scheme proclaimed--and, no doubt, intended--that it
should not be regarded as a party question. After his very effective
speech on introducing it, the common opinion was that it would be
carried. It was popular in the House and out of it. Everybody in England
and in Ireland was sick of spending money on unprofitable work. Lord
John Russell saw but one way of defeating the measure, and that was to
make it a party question; and so he made it one. We find some of the
most decided Irish Tories voting for the Bill, whilst many Whigs and
professing patriots voted against it.[212] For some days before the
division it was known the Bill would be defeated, but few, if any,
thought the majority against it would have been so large. After his
seven or eight months of hard work, in preparing and maturing his
Railway Scheme, its rejection touched Lord George keenly; but his lofty
spirit would not stoop to manifest his feelings.
He had, however, the gratification to see himself vindicated, not to say
avenged, a few weeks afterwards. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, the
great opponent and decrier of Lord George's Bill, actually brought in a
Railway Bill himself of a similar character.
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