Britain, London.
John Russell and his Whig Party had failed to meet the expectations of either the public or the government, so their defeat in the election came as no surprise.
John Russell had always suspected that many things were connected to Palmerston. Though he had no conclusive evidence, he could still use the power in his hands to send a less-than-successful diplomat to the other side of the world.
Palmerston was equally depressed. He had no idea exactly how he had offended the Prime Minister. Even after clinging to Prince Albert's thigh, he could only serve as a black glove.
At this time, Palmerston had been banished by John Russell to New Zealand.
New Zealand was hardly considered a good place in British eyes. Though they were all colonies, the natives elsewhere did not have a taste for eating people, while the natives of New Zealand were famous for their fondness for cannibalism.
Yet it was precisely this savage behavior of the New Zealand natives that spared them the fate of extinction suffered by the natives of neighboring Australia.
New Zealand at this time could be called utterly dull, with nothing but farmers keen on reclaiming land and flocks of bleating sheep.
Palmerston did not like this respectable life of exile. Bored out of his mind, he could only buy some rabbits for the occasional leisurely hunt.
But such days did not last long. New Zealand now had sixty thousand British settlers and one hundred thousand Maori, yet through relentless trickery, plunder, and all manner of land agreements, the British had already obtained 80% of the land on the islands of New Zealand.
Only then did the Maori belatedly discover that land was not limitless. Feeling that they had been swindled, they wanted to reclaim their land.
The root