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YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

Bought with the income
ofthe
ALFRED E. PERKINS FUND

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MEMOIRS

THE EIGHT HONOUKABLE WILLIAM

SECOND

VISCOUNT MELBOUENE

W. M. TORRENS, M.P.

IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOL. I.

WITH A PORTRAIT.

Hontron :
MACMILLAN AND CO.
1878.
iThe right of Translation and. Eeprocluction is reserved.'}

PREFACE.

Some historic tribute, it will be owned, is due to the memory
of a man who by the space of forty years took part in pro
moting every legislative change which subsequent experience
has approved, and who in three successive reigns filled some
of the most responsible offices of state. And if the recollec
tions of his public life be found entwined with those of
unbroken friendship and domestic tenderness, while not a
boastful phrase, ungenerous act, or word of flattery addressed
to monarch or to multitude needs extenuation or apology,
they can but furnish one more proof that he who makes
least claim to lofty motives is oftentimes most worthy of
respect and love.
I could have wished that some one more competent had
undertaken the task of chronicling the best doings and
sayings of Lord Melbourne. But time wears on, personah
recollections fade, and contemporaries one by one drop into
the grave. In a little while longer I felt that it probably
would be too late, and that regrets would then he vain. My
own acquaintance with public affairs began while he was
minister, and the impression he made on me, of genial temper,
hroad-heartedness, civil courage, practical wisdom, and fine
humour, has not been effaced by any combination of high
qualities in the statesmen I have subsequently known. He
was not an orator, a jurist, or a financier; no statute
hears distinctively his name, and no volume is inscribed
VOL. I. ^

PBEFACK

with it. He did not even take the trouble of writing letters
for effect ; and his correspondence, like his conversation, was
never in full dress. But a colleague who knew him well said
to me when speaking of him, — " He was a great gentle
man ;" high-minded without assumption, munificent without
letting it be known, careful of the interests of the Crown
without compromising his self-respect, faithful to party
without harbouring ill-will to opponents, outspoken almost
to a fault, yet never taking advantage of confidence or wilfuUy
inflicting a wound ; sensitive as a woman to misrepresenta
tion, yet of all men the most placable and ready to forgive a
wrong : a man sorely tried in the relations of private life,
yet never suffering his griefs to mar the happiness of those
around him hy a murmur at the pain he was doomed to
endure. No wonder he had fewer enemies and more warmly
attached friends than many men of his time. Such geniality,
however delightful and endearing, would not, indeed, of itr
self perhaps justify a claim to historical remembrance. But
circumstances in some degree exceptional enabled him to
earn a reputation for administrative skill which has not
frequently been surpassed. Unlike his predecessors in office,
power came to him late in life, and when habits of luxurious
leisure unfitted him, as was feared, for the performance of
its onerous duties. The elasticity of his nature, and a
noble ambition to vindicate the early expectations formed
regarding him, enabled him to win credit and confidence
as Secretary for Ireland and afterwards as Minister for the
Home Department, in very difficult times. The verdict of
colleagues, whose collective weal and individual ease are
necessarily at stake, is often more severe than that of the
public at large. Melbourne was, in fact, popular with both •
and when at last he was placed at the head of affairs he
evinced a maturity of judgment and finely-tempered tenacity
of purpose which, in seasons of perplexity, rendered him

PEEFACE.

indispensable to his party, and secured him a longer tenure
of office than has heen enjoyed hy any Premier of our time.
From the varied correspondence to which I have had
access I have endeavoured to draw the chief materials for
these Memoirs. My acknowledgments are especially due to
the Duke of Wellington, Lady Monteagle, and the Marquis
of Lansdowne for the papers respectively placed by them at
my disposal. But to a great extent I have preferred to weld
together traditional and documentary materials, rather than
to reproduce at length letters which in part have lost their
specific interest, and in part could hardly have heen written
with any idea of eventual publication. Two or three
subjects of a personal nature I have abstained altogether
from noticing, not because their fair discussion would, in
my opinion, tend to depreciate the value set upon the
character of the minister or the man, hut because I reject as
wholly untenable the claim of idle curiosity into the affairs
of the dead, merely on the pretence that the living were
illustrious. Whatever seemed to me fitted to explain or
illustrate the acts or motives of the statesman I have given
unreservedly : about things in no way calculated to serve
that purpose I am willing to bear the burthen of having
exercised a disinterested discretion.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTEE I.
ANTECEDENTS. Pagk
Manor of Melbourne — Secretary of State to Charles I. — Puri
tans and Cavaliers — Vice-Chamherlain to Queen Anne — The
old Pleader of Lincoln's Inn — Sir Mattheijo Lamb — First
Lord Melbourne — Brochet Hall ..... 1
CHAPTEE XL
EAELY SUEBOUNDINGS.
Birth and childhood — Prince of Wales's household — Guests
and intimates — Class-fellows at Eton — Mrs. Darner — Lord
Egremont — Exchange of mansions— Prize Declamation at
Cambridge — A winter at Glasgow . . . . .22
CHAPTEE III.
A YOTTNGBE SON.
Firing at the King — Brochet races — A play of doubtful author
ship — Beau Brummel — Call to the bar — Lady Caroline Pon-
soriby — Death of elder brother ..... 40
CHAPTEE IV.
IN THB COMMONS.
Contemporaries in ParUament — HusMsson — AU the Talents —
The Catholic Question — Maiden speech — Plunket — Fall of
Grenville — Seconds vote of censure — Discouraged as a
debater — Birth of only son . . . ¦ ¦ .67

CONTENTS.

CHAPTEE V.
VOTES IN OPPOSITION.

Page

Charge against the Duke of Tork — Abolition of sinecures —
Beform of the criminal law — Bestrictions on the Begency
— A Lord of the Bedchamber — Support of the war — Death
of Perceval ........ 76

CHAPTEE VI.
OUT OP PAELIAMENT.
Books and opinions — Melbourne House — Byron — Domestic
jars — ' Glenarvon' . . . . . . .94
CHAPTEE VII.
EE-ENTEKS PAELIAMENT.
Speech on reduction of offices — Beturned for Peterborough —
Speech on the Address — Secret Committee — Death of Lady
Melbourne — George Lamb for Westminster — Memoirs of
Sheridan ........ 116
CHAPTEE VIII.
KNIOHT OE THE 8HIEE.
M.P. for Hertfordshire — Bepressive legislation — Second con
test for Westminster — Death of George III. — Proceedings
against the Queen ....... 142
CHAPTEE IX.
BEGINNING OP THE END.
George IV. and the Whigs—Plunket's plea for religious liberty
—Lambton's motion for reform - Catholic Peers Bill—Death
of Castlereagh— Canning leader at last— Advice to Ward-
Literary friends ... - «q
CHAPTEE X.
LADY CAEOLINE AND HEE SON.
Domestic Life— Augustus Lamb— Letters to Godwin— HusMs
son— Beply to Mackintosh— Befusal of office— Death and
funeral of Byron — Alienation . . . _ .^^

CONTENTS.

CHAPTEE XI.
PEOGEESS AND EEACTlON.

Page

The Catholic Association — Bepression a'nd concession — Fail
ure of proposed compromise — Giving up the county — Contest
for Hertford ........ 196

CHAPTEE XII.
canning's administeation.
Bise of Copley — Coalition — Treatment of Plunket — Dissenters
Marriage Bill — Chief Secretary's office — Death of Can
ning — Goderich and Lansdowne . . . . .216
CHAPTEE XIII.
DUBLIN CASTLE.
Dublin Corporation — Assistant Barristers — Police Force — Sub
sidising the Press — Jobbing — Post Office abuses — Agrarian
combinations ........ 238
CHAPTEE XIV.
the ikish chancelloeship.
Plunket — Sir Anthony Hart — Catholic magistrates — Schools
and asylums — O'ConnelVs position — Perplexities of patron
age — Agrarianism — Betirement of Lord Wellesley . . 264
CHAPTEE XV.
the WELLINGTON ADMINISTEATION.
Hlness and death of Lady Caroline — Besignation of Goderich
— Commander-in-Chief sent for — Eldon left out — Huskisson
and his friends remain — Eastern Question . . .295
CHAPTEE XVI.
IN THB LOEDS.
Fifty years gone by — Catholic Emancipation — William IV. —
—Seat in Cabinet declined — Change of Government . 315

CONTENTS.

CHAPTEE XVII.
HOME 8ECEETAEY.

Page

The Grey Administration— Home Office — The Duke in Hamp
shire — Anglesey and Stanley — State of Ireland — First Be
form Bill  348
CHAPTEE XVIII.
THE EEFOEM BILL.
Ten-pound franchise — Schedule A. — Majority in the Commons
— Bill rejected by the Lords — General perturbation . . 365
CHAPTEE XIX.
PAELIAMENT REFORMED.
Correspondence with Bishop Doyle — Power to make Peers —
Projects of compromise — Second reading carried — Defeat in
Committee — Disturbed condition of Ireland-fr^Commandership
of the army ........ 392
CHAPTEE XX.
EXECUTIVE AND LEGISLATIVE DUTIES.
Coercion Bill — First Factory Act — Mrs. Norton — Home Office
patronage — Mr. Disraeli — Viceroyalty of Ireland — Church
Temporalities . , . . . . . .418

MBMOIES

VISCOUNT MELBOURNE.

CHAPTEE I.
ANTECEDENTS.
Manor of Melbourne — Secretary of State to Charles I. — Puritans
and Cavaliers — Vice- Chamberlain to Queen Anne — The old Pleader
of Lincoln's Inn — Sir Matthew Lamb — First Lord Melbourne —
Brocket Hall.
In one of the pleasant valleys of south Derbyshire, not far
from Ashby-de-la-Zouch, stands the ancient church and
modern town of Melbourne. The manor was in Norman
times part of the demesne of the Crown. Granted succes
sively to more than one favourite of the hour, and resumed on
some real or imaginary pretext of forfeiture ; it was given by
Edward III. to his brother, and it long remained among the
great possessions of the house of Lancaster. In Tudor days
a castle on the north bank of the stream, " metely kept in
repair,"* was held for the king: the neighbouring hamlet
thriving apace, by dint of certain handicrafts, into a busy
market town. The severed fiefs of York and Lancaster,
once more re-united in the heritage of royalty, were by
degrees distributed again in recompense for service done ;
and Melbourne Manor was in 1604 conferred by James I.
on Charles, Earl of Nottingham, from whom soon after
wards it passed to the family of Huntingdon, and subse
quently to that of Hastings. A survey at the close of
Elizabeth's reign noted " a faire ancient castle, which Her
* Leland, 1550.
VOL. I. B

MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.

Majesty keepeth in her own hands ; "* and, from a drawing
attached to the survey, there is an engraving in the ' Monu-
menta Vetusta 't from which the outworks seem to have
heen of considerable extent. Camden somewhat later speaks
of the structure as going to decay, and by the end of the
century it had nearly disappeared.
By a curious whim of mediasval patronage, an interest in
the weal of Melbourne had likewise been given to one of the
spiritual peers. King John conferred the church and par
sonage-manor on Walter Malelerc, Bishop of Carlisle, and
suffered him to annex both permanently to that see. In
1229 he obtained a grant of a fair on the Nativity of the
Virgin to be holden within the precincts of the episcopal
manor during five days. His successors found Melbourne a
pleasant resting-place on their way to the North, and some
times went no farther. On the plea of Border trouMes,
Bishop Kirkhy tarried longer than usual, and finally made
up his mind to hold his ordination there. As the realm be
came more tranquil and journeying grew less hazardous, the
diocesan fixed his country seat in Cumberland, and without
the transitory title of " palace," the not undesirable mansion
was let on lease to Sir John Coke, in possession of whose
descendants Melbourne Hall has ever since remained.
The worthy man was the second son of Eichard Coke of
Trusley, who had been bred to the law, but quitted that pro
fession on his marriage with the heiress of Thomas Sache
verell in the neighbouring county of Nottingham. His
eldest son Francis, who married the daughter of Lord Holies,
inherited the maternal lands of Kirkhy, attained the dignity
of knighthood and sat in one of the brief parliaments during
, Elizabeth's reign. A younger brother, George, took orders,
and late in life became Bishop of Hereford ; while his sister's
husband, Valentine Carey, was raised to the see of Exeter.
John, being of a studious turn and diligent in all his ways
rose late in life to an eminent position. Sent early to Cam
bridge, he became a fellow of Trinity in 1584, andsubsequently
* Lyson. f Published by the Society of Antiquaries.

SECBETABY COKE.

Professor of Ehetoric. Until his prime was passed he
tarried at the University, then travelled abroad, and was
nearly fifty years of age when he resolved to settle down in
Derbyshire and lead the life of his progenitors, in hospitality
and charity, hunting and' falconry, of which last he seems to
have heen very fond.
His academic friends had not forgotten him, and to the
first parliament of Charles I. he was sent as member for the
University. There he made divers speeches of -the practical
and prudent sort ; the times being still hut half awake, and
the light that was in him, though steady and useful, shining
only through narrow horn-lantern pane. Fuller * quaintly
praises him for being governed by good maxims :
That no man should let what is ungrateful or dangerous
appear under his hand, to give envy a steady aim at his
place or person, nor mingle intimate with great men made
desperate by debts or court injuries whose fall have been
ruinous to their wisest followers ; nor pry any further
into secrecy then rather to secure than shew himself in
no point to a friend which might empower him to become
an enemy.
Through the influence of his kinsman. Lord Brooke, he
was made Secretary of the Navy, a post of very subordinate
importance in those days, bnt in which he was so commended
as to obtain a more profitable place as Master of Bequests.
In the third parliament of the reign he was again returned
for Cambridge, and, upon the death of Sir Albertus Morton,
was made Secretary of State. While things went well he was
a good official, faithful and frugal, deprecating change and
war, and the dissipation of his master's substance in vain
shows. But when the clouds began to lower, and religious
feuds to warp the minds of men, he was hardly equal to the
tasks which unforeseen devolved upon him. The protracted
effort to impose the Liturgy on Scotland by haughty edicts,
polemical diplomacy, and at length hy force of arms, failed,
* 'Fuller and Lloyd Worthies.'
B 2

MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.

as the Scots averred, because they were stout of heart, and,
as the king's advisers told him, because his officers had no
stomach for the war beyond the Tweed. But Charles felt he
had incurred a heavy loss of credit both abroad and at home.
His melancholy looks were a mute reproach to all in his
employment. Secretary Coke was stricken in years, the best
of whose ability was spent, and whom none of the powerful
or ambitious courtiers regarded.
He was a man of gravity — says Clarendon — who never had
quickness from his cradle; who loved the Church well
enough as it was twenty years before; and understood
nothing that had , been done in Scotland, and thought
nothing that could be done there was worth such a journey
as the king had put himself to. Every man shifting the
fault from himself, and finding some friend to excuse him,
it fell to Secretary Coke's turn (for whom nobody cared)
to be made the sacrifice ; and upon the pretence that he
had omitted the writing which he ought to have done, and
inserted some, which he ought not to have done, he was
put out of his office by the dark contrivance of the Marquis
of Hamilton, and the open and visible power of the
Queen. The historian adds that Strafford, seeing its injustice,
strove to prevent his removal, and succeeded in having it
suspended for a time, but her Majesty and the courtiers were
too strong for him, and the upright man was dismissed to
make room for the elder Vane.
Announcing the event to his eldest son he wrote : —
You have heard me declare my desire, and endeavour to ob
tain in this evening of my age some time of repose at
home, wherein nothing did retard my resolution more
than the persuasion of my friends, that I must not abandon
the public whUst my being upon the stage might either
advance for good, or at least give interruption to the pre
vailing of evil, wherein though I know not how little I

PUBITANS AND CAVALIEBS.

could prevail in either, yet my tenderness was such that
I durst not break out till Grod should make my way. And
now since the world is satisfied that it is not my own act,
I both contentedly and cheerfully submit myself to God's
will, and the King's. What sense good men have of it you
shall hear of much by others. For me, assure yourself I
shall come home unto you with as much quiet, and with
as calm a mind, and with as little repining and complaining
or spleen against any one, as any ever went from court to
a country life after so long and so many employments.
Laying aside all that might remind him of the days he
had passed at Court, he proposed to live with his son at Mel
bourne, and calculated closely what establishment would
suffice for both : " a bailiff, a clerk, a butler, a cook, a falconer,
a groom, a footman, and a young fellow to bake and brew and
keep the tercels."
Sir John the younger sat in the Long Parliament,
following the counsels of Pym and Manchester, but much
disquieted by the subversive notions that eventually pre
vailed. He was named one of Strafford's judges, and assisted
throughout the trial, but at the end did not vote, accounting
for his absence to his father by some misapprehension as to
the hour fixed for the decision. On the outbreak of the civil
war the old man was driven, by fear of the quartering in his
house of some of the new levies, to seek shelter with Danvers,
his son-in-law, at Southlam in Leicestershire, having written
in vain to Essex for protection from the troops under his
command. He assured the general "that his heart was
faithful, and his prayers assiduous for the prosperity of the
Parliament wherein consisteth the welfare of the Church and
State." * But like many of the gentry and professional classes,
the family was viewed with distrust by strong partisans on
both sides, as waver ers and undecided ; because, like Falkland,
they wanted peace, and the triumph neither of the Puritans
nor of the Crown. * September 2Ctli, 1642.

6 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
Sir John writes tb his father in the second year of the
civil war :
I pray God to continue you in good health and preserve
you in safety through the troubles of the times. I hope
my letter came safe to hand through the unsafety of the
way. In another, the 16th of January :
He is exceedingly grieved that his father through the
misery of the times should be enforced to remove from
his house at Melbourne at this season of the year.
His letters are without signature, and bear the marks of
hard usage on the road. From Leicestershire the octo
genarian with difficulty made his way to the neighbourhood
of Tottenham, where the brother of his second wife, Alderman
Lee, resided, and where in September 1644 he closed his
eyes. Among the townsfolk at Melbourne, the greater part were
for the King, and they set about repairing some of the out
works of the castle, said to have covered two-and-twenty
acres in Plantagenet times ; but long since fallen into decay.
Sir John Gell ordered a detachment from Derby to occupy
the town, and levelled the remains of the crumbling fortress
to the ground. The commanding officer. Major Swallow,
found the manor excellent quarters, and established himself
there for some time. Baxter, the well-known preacher,
mentions that while on a visit to his friend at Sir John
Coke's house, he was taken ill, and by the doctors sentenced
to die, whereupon, thinking he had done with this troubled
world, he began the work upon ' Everlasting Eest,' which he
survived to publish, and by which his name is still widely
kept in remembrance. Yet Sir John the younger was
named with Lords Pembroke, Derby and Montague, Sir
Walter Earle and others of the Commons, as commissioners
to receive the captive King from the Scottish army ; and by
them he was conducted to Holdenby in Northamptonshire.

A PAELIAMENT ABY FAMILY.

Charles distinguished General Brown, Sir J. Holland, and
Sir J. Coke from- the rest for the consideration shown - him
in the performance of their unwelcome office ; telling them
at the same time, " it was one which unbecame gentlemen of
a free mind." Like others of the moderate party. Coke hoped
until the last that the great struggle might end in general
amnesty and accommodation of differences. But when he
saw the monarchy overthrown, he went into voluntary exile,
and died at Paris in the foUowing year.
His brother George was among the bishops who protested
against the enactments made during their enforced absence.
The revenues of his see were in consequence estreated, his
palace occupied by Colonel Birch, and his private estate
appropriated by that worthy until the Eestoration, which
the deprived prelate did not live to see. His nephew
Colonel Coke, who inherited the family estate, was more
fortunate. A pleasant gentleman, and well-favoured, he won
the hand of the heiress of the Leven thorpes in Hertfordshire,
and being popular with his neighbours, he was returned
for Derby to the complaisant House of Commons of 1685.
His father had been expelled the Long Parliament for his
steadfastness in the royal cause, and he had been bred in
like principles; but when James II. spurned the remon
strance of the Commons, and instead of mihtia, told them he
meant to employ a standing army, the House was daunted
and dumb. At last Colonel Coke rose and said, " I hope we
are all EngUshmen, and not to be frightened by a few hard
words :" but they sent him to the Tower for his temerity.
In 1688 he raised a troop of horse with Lord Devonshire,
and obtained the rank of colonel. And while travelling
abroad died in 1692 at Geneva.
Thomas Coke inherited from his father, soon after the
Eevolution, the family estate. Without the ability requisite
for great affairs, his winning manners and good looks early
made him popular in his county, for which he was re
turned, soon after he came of age, with Lord Hartington :
he subsequently sat with Mr. Curzon in three successive

8 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
parliaments of Anne. Though his name is not mentioned in
debate, and neither Steele or Prior thought him worthy of
an epigram, he seems to have been considered an influential
man. Lord Chesterfield, who had been brought up with
the Prince of Orange, and, after his coming into England,
had no little weight with government, gave the rising
Commoner his daughter in marriage. The Earl complains
to her of the conduct of her brother Woottan, and says he
would go out of the world with satisfaction if he had a son
like her husband. Even after her death in 1703, Chester
field continued to be solicitous for his advancement. He is
spoken of, indeed, as one of those who stood well with the
politicians of both parties, for in 1706 he was made by
Godolphin a Privy Councillor and Vice-Chamberlain to the
Queen, an office he continued to hold under Harley and St.
John. In 1709 he married the beautiful Mary Hale, one of
the maids of honour whom Swift mentions as " the toast "
of the day. When Mr. Coke " did him the honour to ask him
to dinner " she happened to be from home, being engaged
to her friend Lady Sunderland, whose mother — the difficult
Duchess — described her as "a very pretty young woman,
and of very good family." She was the daughter of Eichard
Hale of Oodicote, in Herts, whose grandfather sat for the
county in the parliament of the Eestoration; and whose
brother Sir Bernard Hale, an advocate of note, was made
Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer in 1722. He subse
quently became a puisne Baron at Westminster, and died
in 1729 at his house in Eed Lion Square.
In times when faction rent society in twain, and change '
of administration not unfrequently involved impeachment
of chiefs and the sweeping dismissal of subordinates it
needed more than ordinary repute and tact to keep a
position envied or influential. In what the skill of Cote
consisted, or where his influence lay, it is not very easy to
determine. He seems to have been a genial, tolerant, and generous
man, who had many friends and few enemies. With Gav

VICE-CHAMBEBLAIN COKE.

and Bolingbroke he lived on terms of intimacy, while Pope,
who spared nobody, quizzed his fine person and showy office
under the epithet of " Sir Plume." In the ' Eape of the
Lock ' the deputy lord of the ceremonies is sent by the
angry fair one to demand the surrender of the ravished
tress : Sir Plume, of amber snuff-box justly vain.
And the nice conduct of a clouded cane,
"With earnest eyes, and round unthinking face,
He first the snuff-box opened, then the case.
, A maiden sister resided at Melbourne, took care of his
children there when young, and kept together his interest
in the county by judicious management, whereof her loving
letters advertised him circumstantially from time to time.
All her skill and assiduity, however, in the practice of good
neighbourhood failed to baffle the ambition of Sir Godfrey
Clarke, who in 1710 resolved to contest the county. If the
Vice-Chamberlain would have come down in time, she was
sure his presence would have saved the seat ; but, too in
dolent or too secure, he came not till too late; and his
adversary won. The chroniclers of the period are content
with noting that he retained his place at Court in the
succeeding reign under Townshend, Stanhope, and Walpole.
He was appointed likewise to a Tellership of the Exchequer,
a lucrative office which he held until his death in 1727, as
well as his place in the household. Nor were these the
whole of his acquisitions. In the will of the political
pluralist is the recital of a grant in reversion by George I.
of the Surveyor-Generalship of Customs, worth besides fees
£500 a year, to him for his own life, that of his son, and
that of his son-in-law John Fanshaw. This, with the family
inheritance and the manor of Melton Mowbray, the marriage
portion of his second wife, was entailed on their only sur
viving son, with remainder to their only daughter Charlotte,
to whom, as well as to her half-sisters, suitable fortunes
were already secured.
His eldest daughter by Lady Mary Stanhope espoused

10 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
Lord Southwell ; his second had heen early asked in marriage
by Mr. Thornhill, but on a question regarding settlements
the engagement was broken off. Some years later the pro
posal was renewed ; and the lady, who blamed others for the
previous misunderstanding, announced that this time she
would not leave the business to Mr. Lamb. The legal
adviser whose circumspection the lady contemned was a
practitioner of long standing at Southwell in the adjoining
county ; who as little as herself then dreamed that in his
posterity the lands and honours of the Cokes were destined
to descend. He died in February 1735, dividing his pro
perty between his two sons Eobert and Matthew.
Left parentless in childhood, the care of George Coke
and his sister devolved upon the family of their mother, who
continued to reside in Hertfordshire. Besides his landed
inheritance, the accumulations of his minority lay at the
disposal of the young squire. For a time he lived at
Melbourne and afterwards in London, but his passion seems
to have been for foreign travel, in which he spent several
years. In 1740 the hand of Charlotte was given to Matthew
Lamb, whose father has been already named, and whose
uncle had bequeathed him a considerable fortune.
The name of Peniston Lamb is entered, the 7th of
October, 1708, as that of a student in the books of Lincoln's
Inn. The term of legal probation was then seven years, and
it was not, therefore, until the opening of the following reign
that he was admitted to practise at the bar. Early bent on
mastering the occult science of real property law and the
intricacies of equity drafting, he had long been qualified
to earn a considerable income by what was called pleading
Tinder the bar, and to give advice which his clients found to
be safe and wise. He lived unmarried all his days ; while
his younger brother took to wife a lady of whose charms and
virtues little is known, but who bore several children of
whom a daughter and two sons were destined to migrate
westward and to have their names identified with those of
folk of quality. Peniston went on pleading and demurring

THE PLEADEB OF LINCOLN'S INN. 11
weaving settlements and ravelling threads of adverse wile
from month to month and year to year, till, looking upon
parchment, he had ceased to view and had half forgotten
that there was any shire in the realm hut that in which he
laid the venue of his life. Still, as his balance rose at Child's,
he dreamed occasionally pleasant dreams of estates there
after to be settled strictly in tail male on his own or his
brother's progeny ; and when his hair grew grey, he gave
up dilatorily rather than deliberately the former alternative,
and vouchsafed hints, every year more plain, that if his
nephews showed capacity to raise their family in the world
as much as he had done, he might  , but further this
deponent sayed not. His brother at Southwell heard
whispers of these things and pondered them in his heart.
Eobert, his eldest born, took to Latin and was fond of choral
service. Here was fitness for the Church ; he had the best of
schooling, went to Cambridge, and in due time took holy
orders. He too, like Uncle Peniston, seems to have been
proof against the witchery of the sex, a point of resemblance
which, however it may have touched the equity draftsman's
heart, did not prevent him from providing hy special cove
nants that if the said Eeverend Eobert should marry, the
lands, to be purchased by the executors should be settled
strictly upon his issue, or in default thereof upon Matthew
and his heirs male lawfully begotten. This condition proved
to be the golden hinge on which eventually the gate of
splendour opened to the family.
Peniston Lamb died in 1734, and was buried in the
Chapel of Lincoln's Inn. His brother did not long survive
him, leaving his acquisitions in Nottinghamshire to his
children. Eobert rose by gradual steps of preferment until, 1744,
he became Dean of Peterborough. He lived a devout and
•charitable life', ripening mutely for the bishopric to come.
Matthew foUowed his uncle's caUing, and mastered the
difficulties of legal lore while he was still comparatively
young. Through the introduction of his kinsman he became

12 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.

known as a useful energetic man, who had a taste for the
improvement of land and an instinctive faculty for developing
its resources. For many years he is understood to have acted as con
fidential adviser to Lords SaUsbury and Egmont in matters
relating to their extensive estates ; and being ever careful
to turn opportunites to account, he profited largely by the
knowledge thus gained of men and circumstances. His
legal acumen and business capacity gave to his opinion no
inconsiderable weight as adviser and referee; and it was
probably on a well-founded estimate of his practical fitness
for the post that he was selected to be standing counsel to
the Board of Trade. To the competency bequeathed by his
uncle he steadily added gains arising from his own exertions ;
and in 1741 he thought he could afford himself the luxury
of a seat in Parliament, and agreed accordingly for one that
stood waiting to be hired at Stockbridge. It was the way of
the world at the time ; for lawyers, soldiers, men of letter-s,
and younger sons, the only way of getting without uproar or
ruinous expense to talace Yard. A son was born in January
1745, to whom the name of Peniston was given, and sub
sequently two daughters, Charlotte and Anne, bf whom the
latter died in childhood.
In 1746 Matthew Lamb purchased Brocket from the
representatives of Sir Thomas Winnington. .Several farms
originally forming portions of the estate had been alienated
from time to time by its prodigal owners. All of these were
gradually bought back by the new possessor. But the old
Hall was suffered to remain as it had been left by the family,
long extinct, whose name it bore ; and the indolent stream
of the Lee widened and narrowed at will as it wended its
way through the park, its rich banks overgrown with
sedge and reeds, furnishing the best cover for snipe in all
the country round.
Not long afterwards the unlooked-for tidings came that
his brother-in-law had died suddenly at Geneva, leaving the
whole of his goodly inheritance to his sister and her son.

SIB MATTHEW LAMB. 13
Mr. Lamb, though he seldom spoke in Parliament, being
indeed little of a party man, had sufficient influence to obtain
in 1755 the honour of a baronetcy. Thenceforth he sat for
Peterborough. The cathedral city had neither mayor nor . corporation.
The suffrage was by scot and lot, Lord Fitzwilliam exercising
the same degree of influence " as in the case of his burgage
tenures at Malton, or his corporators at Higham Ferrers."*
The steward or bailiff of the Chapter officiated as returning
officer. At rare intervals, attempts were made by lavish
outlay to beguile the electors into forgetting that they were
merely nominal. In this way, Mr. St. John was returned
in 1699 ; but the election was set aside the foUowing year
on petition. After that the placid course of nomination ran
so smooth that for two or three decades no trace is to be
found of any contention on the subject; "Scot and Lot"
periodically did the drinking and the shouting : that was all.
Sir Matthew's residence in town had hitherto been in
Eed Lion Square, then inhabited by judges and king's
counsel. But opulence was already moving westward ; and
accordingly in 1756 he bought a house in Sackville Street,
Piccadilly, where he dwelt for the residue of his days.
Beyond his advisorship to the Board of Trade, bis baronetcy,
and a secure seat in Parliament for life, his ambition did
not soar. The cup of his content was full ; yet fortune would
have it overflow. His brother became bishop of the diocese
where he had so long been dean, and his daughter wedded
Lord Belasyse, heir of the house of Fauconberg. If his son
gave Uttle promise of learning or of wit, and preferred
Melbourne woods to Cambridge Halls, his father was con
soled by his comely features, gentle manners, and docile
disposition. Sir Matthew died, after a short illness, in his sixty-fourth
year, bequeathing Peniston realty and personalty estimated
at nearly half a million sterling. To these were added, not
long afterwards, the savings of the frugal bishop, who sur-
* Oldfield, ' Representative History,' vol. iv. p. 287.

14 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
vived his brother only till the following year. Lord Belasyse
was returned in the room of his father-in-law.
Young Sir Peniston and Lord Garlics were named to
George Selwyn, the proprietor of Luggershall, as eligible
candidates ; and, though hardly acquainted with either, he
agreed to return them both for his borough as supporters of
Lord North's administration.* An intimation was sub
sequently made to Selwyn, that if he wished, Wigton might
in lieu be placed at his service; but he thought he could
take care of himself, and he did so, without incurring the
obligation. Sir Peniston continued to represent for many years the
hamlet in Wiltshire, which had returned two members from
the days of Edward I. The qualification in the lapse of
time had become so doubtful of definition as more than once
to puzzle committees. There were, now and then, contests
for one or both the seats between candidates without scruple
as to expenditure. But before the close of the century an
arrangement was come to between the two principal pro
prietors in the neighbourhood, which secured to their
respective nominees in several parliaments the unpurchased
privilege of legislators ; and to the voteless village the
uncoveted blessings of electoral peace.f The members who
ironically bore its name at St. Stephen's were never heard in
debate, and were not often told in division. In the meagre
records of the period it is difficult indeed to trace their
existence ; and in private memorials no mention is made of
their attendance save on remarkable occasions.
Without any of the talents which those who went- before
him had turned to account, the young baronet found himself
at three-and-twenty a person of no small consideration.
Women persuaded him that he was handsome ; politicians
only wanted to know what were his views ; in the county it
was hoped he would reside constantly, and complete the im
provements at Brocket his father had begun. Society opened
* Gr. Selwyn to Lord Carlisle, Jan. 1768.
t Oldfield, vol. V. p. 213.

lEISH PEEBAGE. 15

its arms to so eligible a recruit, and before six months he
was the suitor, slave, and betrothed of one of the fairest
women of her time. Elizabeth, only daughter of Sir Ealph
Milbanke, of Halnaby in Yorkshire, was then in her twentieth
year ; and if the portraiture and gossip of the day are to be
believed, possessed already the fascinations which eventually
gave her an influence so considerable in the world. Her
first picture, painted by Sir Joshua in 1770, was more than
once engraved.* It has the fault so frequently complained
of in his delineation of court beauties, that of betraying too
much desire for effect. But with the freshness of youth
there is mingled the unmistakable look of that ambition with
which throughout life this singular woman was animated.
Early in May her son Peniston was born, and with the
felicitations on the glad event were mingled those upon her
husband being created Lord Melbourne of Kilmore in the
County of Cavan. An Irish peerage was one of the honours
George III. was most ready to confer ; and, as it was not
incompatible with membership of the House of Commons, it
constituted an intervening grade of social rank, which, as
the experience of his father's reign had shown, led the holder
frequently to look for imperial ennoblement.
The world did its best to spoil the youthful favourite
of fortune. While the joy of motherhood was new, Lady
Melbourne was devoted to her first-born, and delighted with
his praise. Eeynolds persuaded her to be painted in the
attitude of fondling her child; and in simple garb made
her the subject of the charming picture engraved by Watson,
well known under the name of ' Maternal Affection.'
Ere the winter season came again, she was ready to
take part once more in the gaieties of the town. With the
Duchess of Eichmond and Mrs. Damer, one of the inost
gifted and accomplished women of her time, and with ever-
multiplying troops of friends she was content to float on the
stream of fashionable life. Masquerades were then in vogue,
and women of quality did not hesitate to adopt attire, at
* The mezzotint by Finlayson was published the following year.

MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.

balls where dress in character was the rule, which would
not be thought of in our day. Her name is mentioned with
that of the Duchess of Ancaster and Lady Fordyce as
" among the pretty fellows appearing in dominoes as mascu
line as many of the maccaroni things we see everywhere." *
In the following spring she persuaded her husband to
purchase a mansion in Piccadilly next to Burlington House,
which had been built for Lord Holland from designs by
Chambers, the architect of Somerset House.
Upon the site three separate dwellings originally stood,
one of which did not content the ambition of Charles Spencer,
second Lord Sunderland, who bought up the other two, and
added a library for the notable collection of books and
manuscripts subsequently transferred to Blenheim. " It was
noticed," says Swift, " that he had much fallen from the
heights of those republican principles with which he began "
as member for Tiverton, when he would not let himself be
called my Lord, and hoped to see the day when there would
not be a peer in England. Here he lived with exceeding
pomp, quarrelling with his imperious mother-in-law, Duchess
Sarah, circumventing his colleagues, patronising Addison,
and elaborating schemes for limiting the peerage: and
here he prematurely ceased from troubling, after which
Sunderland House became the possession of another, and
not less remarkable Secretary of State.
The family of Fox, like that of Coke, owed its uprise to
the favour of the Stuarts. Old Sir Stephen stood, upon the
scaffold at Whitehall; and steadily refused to conform to
the will of CromweU. Under the Eestoration he was re
compensed for loss and exile by more than one lucrative
post ; and when at his instance Chelsea Hospital was
founded, he backed his advice with a donation of thirteen
thousand pounds. His eldest son held office under Walpole,
and became Lord Ilchester. The younger Henry squandered
his inheritance at play ; then took to politics with a view
of retrieving his position ; soon made his mark as a debater
* Reynolds' Diary.

FAMILIES OF FOX AND LAMB. 17
of pith and versatility ; was made Surveyor of Works by
Walpole, and Lord of the Treasury by Carteret. Then he
asked Lady Caroline Lennox in marriage ; and when repelled
by her sire, stole her by the help of the Duke of Marl
borough, who gave her away. Holland House, at Kensing
ton, deserted and in disrepair, but encompassed with re
collections, would under his renovating hand make such a
residence for his lady wife as no ancient noble could com
mand in the vicinage of town. A lease for years was first
secured and then the fee. In 1755 Fox became Secretary
of State, but valuing opulence above all distinction, he let
himself down into the sinecure clerkship of the Pells in
Ireland, worth £2000 a year for life, and the Paymaster-
Generalship in England, whose percentages on all moneys
paid out of the Treasury, and all subsidies to foreign states,
together with the use of floating balances left in his hands,
enabled him in a few years to heap up wealth untold.* To
keep his places, and to advance withal his connections and
adherents, he voted sometimes with Newcastle, sometimes
with Bute, but always with the king. Offers of the first
place were more than once made to him, but in vain ; he kept
fast hold of what was best worth holding ; and not without
great difficulty and undying grudge towards former friends,
he was at last induced to relax his clutch upon being made
a peer. Tired of an ungrateful world, he resolved to trouble
himself no more with its affairs, and his precocious son
Charles James having already coaxed him to defray large
gambling debts, he was ready to dispose of his house in
town which he no longer wanted. Throughout his official
career he had heen the contemporary and intimate of
Sir Matthew Lamb, who purchased Brocket in the same
year that he began restoring the "brave old house at
Kensington." t
* "In time of war the office yielded thirty, forty, and even fifty
thousand pounds in one year to its fortunate possessor." — Farl Russell,
' Life and Times of C. J. Fox,' vol. i. p. 2.
t H. Walpole, May Sth, 1747.
VOL. I. 0

18 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
Afler he had betaken himself thither he sometimes let
the house in Piccadilly, and when his sons Stephen and
Charles first came into Parliament they took up their resi
dence there. But at length he disposed of it for a con
siderable sum in 1770 to the son of his old friend, from
whom it thenceforth bore the name of Melbourne House.
The courtyard in front was at that time inclosed by gates,
and the space now covered by the chambers of the Albany
was a garden having an entrance opposite Savile Eow. In
its adornment large sums were lavished by Lady Melbourne
with no ordinary taste and skill. Cipriani, who enjoyed
a high reputation in his special walk of art, and whose sub
stantial forms of nymph and cherub his countryman Bar-
tolozzi had made familiar to the public eye, undertook to
paint the ceiling of the ball-room. Wheatley, as eminent for
his versatility in landscape, embeUished several of the other
apartments, while to Eebecca, fast rising into note under
royal favour as a humorist in fresco, the remaining decora
tions were assigned. And then began that round of hospi
talities of which for many years there seemed to be no end.
Lord Melbourne boasted that on his marriage he had given
the whole of his wife's fortune back to her in diamonds. He
was very proud of her attractions, and cared not what expen
diture contributed to enhance the eclat of her position.
Sir Joshua became a greater favourite than ever, and, with
other men of genius, was made welcome always to festive
gatherings where the crowd went and came, and often to the
friendlier receptions of the few. He painted in 1776 a third
portrait of Lady Melbourne, holding her son by the hand,
which was engraved in mezzotinto by Finlayson. Though
less attitudinised, it is upon the whole less pleasing than
those already mentioned. Lord Melbourne belonged to the
Dilettanti and other clubs which consisted mainly of artists
and men of letters. He was fond of the drama, and liberally
befriended not a few of those who made it their profession.
In politics he took no deep or earnest interest, attending
irregularly at Westminster, and voting with his malcontent

FIEST LOBD MELBOUBNE. 19

friends at Brooke's two or three times in the session. He
had had in fact no training to business of any kind, and
easily fell into habits of indolent dissipation, which he never
probably made any serious effort to break through. At
Almack's he played faro with Lord Stavordale, who once at
a sitting lost £11,000, and on winning it back in a single
hand at hazard swore at his ill luck, for " if he had heen
playing deep he might have won millions."* His cousin,
Charles Fox, shone equally there and in the House of
Commons. The new nobility thought it became them to be more
lavish than the old. Without being singular. Lord Melbourne
indulged in all the pleasures of a pleasure-seeking time.
During half the year he had more enjoyment in shooting-
parties at Melbourne, or drawing the fox -covers of Hertford
shire, than in late hours in town. He was, upon the whole,
a good-for-little apathetic, kindly man, who never had a
quarrel in his life, and who probably never lay awake an hour
fretting about anything. By George Selwyn he continued to
be returned for Luggershall, with any one else who was
acceptable to Lord North ; and having no trouble about his
own seat, he was readily persuaded to help those who had
difficulty in gaining or keeping theirs. At the election for
Herts of 1774 he proposed Mr. Plumer, in a short and
sensible speech said to be the best made on the occasion.
His friend and neighbour Sir John Seabright performed
the same service for Mr. Halsey, while Mr. Eatcliffe proposed
Lord Grimstone : the Cowper and Dacre interest being on
the one side and all the influence of Hatfield on the other.
The day's amusement was said to have cost £4000, and the
two first-named candidates were returned. Calvert and
Seabright came in for the borough, and thus a very useful
contingent in support of Government was secured.
Meanwhile the additional buildings and external im
provements at Brocket were completed, and its fair mistress
longed to render it all beautiful within. Mortimer designed,
* H. Walpole to H. Mann, February 2nd, 1770. c 2

20 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.

and with the assistance of Wheatley painted, the allegoric
groups which decorate the ceiling of the centre drawing-
room ; and by degrees, to use the expression of her illustrious
adviser in artistic matters, " the walls being hung with pic
tures, came to be hung with thoughts."
Throughout the American war Lord Melbourne when he
voted had supported ministers, and at its disastrous close
did not desert them. Increased taxation and accumulating
debt weighed heavily upon commerce, whose wings were
continually clipped at eea by the privateers. Petitions for
retrenchment and peace poured in from many counties and
large towns. Burke persuaded the chiefs of opposition to
espouse the principles of economic reform, and though Shel
burne was defeated in his proposal in the Lords, Dunning
(his nominee for Calne) carried by eighteen, after hot debate,
his memorable resolution, that by means of sinecures and
pensions " the influence of the Crown had increased and
ought to be diminished." In the minority we find the
noble member for Luggershall. Burke's Eetrenchment BiU
to carry into effect the resolution was resisted at every stage.
The king, incensed beyond measure at the arguments used
on the occasion, which he said were personally aimed
against himself, bade Lord North be of good heart, keep
up the conflict, and things would mend. He did so for
another year, Lord Melbourne and the members for Herts,
both county and town, lending him their aid in the struggle
to defer the threatened change.
In the new parliament chosen during the autumn the
number of ministerial supporters was not much increased ;
and it was more than ever necessary to insure the fidelity of
those who had been faithful found. Decorations and pro
motions were liberally bestowed. Several creations and steps
in the peerage had been promised ; and in November Horace
Walpole, dining at the Lucans, heard, probably from Lord
Clermont— a man equally well-informed of moves at Court
and of odds at Newmarket — that Lord Melbourne was about
to be made a Viscount, and in time would read En voila pour

CEEATED A VISCOUNT. 21
aujourd'hui. In the same breath he adds. Lord Clermont
told them that Scipio had flrst introduced toothpicks from
Spain, a fact he did not know before, or that his lordship
knew Scipio to be anybody but a racehorse. The Gazette
before Christmas ratifled the rumour.

22 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.

CHAPTEE II.
EAKLV SUBEOUNDING-S.
Birth and childhood — Prince of Wales's household — Guests and
intimates — Class-fellows at Eton — Mrs. Damer — Lord Egremont—
Exchange of mansions— Prize Declamation at Cambridge — A
winter at Glasgow.
On the 15th of March, 1779, Lady Melbourne's second son
was born, and at St. James's font received the name of
William. Peniston was then nine years old. Gentle, in
telligent, and engaging, he began to concentrate all his
father's hopes and wishes, and daily to become more and
more a source of joy and pride. The Viscount never tired
of being told that his boy was like him ; and in no com
panionship did he find pleasure so unmixed. His heir must
of course be sent to Eton, and in due time Cambridge, and
have masters if he would learn classics and accomplish
ments. But his own recollections of the interval between
childhood and manhood were nearly bare of all that related
to learning of any description, except that its acquisition
was irksome and a bore. If his son cared as little for
books as he had done, he could as well afford it, and would
probably be as happy. Peniston grew apace ; held himself
well, had a high-bred look and air, was loved by everybody,
and by every dog about the place; would ride his pony
at anything, and no doubt in time would be a capital shot.
How he loved the hoy, and how the young affectionate
nature, cheerful and pUant and easily pleased, coiled round
each fibre of paternal being, none saw or cared but she of

ONLY A SECOND SON. 23

whom it came. Soon she felt however, that if the little
stranger was to be prized and loved, all must come from
her. And when he began to look around him and laugh up
into her eyes and play at her feet, woman of the world as
she was, her heart softened, all her best impulses were
moved; and she vowed within herself devotion to the
bringing-up and future destiny of her second son. Nor was
it long before tiny sparks were visible of a nature very
different from that which Peniston in infancy had shown.
Let alone, he would amuse himself readily. Eat when not
hungry no power could make him ; but when he began he
did uncommonly well. Not fretful, peevish or cross, he
was nevertheless healthily troublesome. He Uked mischief,
would have his way, and was often wholly unmanageable.
Three years later * Frederick was born. As children they
grew up together, for the most part at Brocket, and were
much attached ; their features bearing marked resemblance,
and many of their mental quaUties being equally akin.
George III. had for some time been anxiously engaged
with frugal plans of a provisional establishment for his
eldest son. Economy in the prince's expenditure might be
combined, he thought, with a continuance of parental control
over his ways of life. The heir apparent might very well
continue to live at St. James's or at Windsor, being allowed
as much for robes and privy purse as he himself had had ;
and he would give him sixteen horses instead of four. But
he might do with an equerry and two or three footmen less,
not having a house to keep of his own.
The great difficulty I find — wrote the king — in having
persons whose private conduct I think may with safety be
placed about a young person, is not surprising, as I thank
Heaven my morals and course of life have but little re
sembled those too prevalent in the present age ; and
certainly of all objects in this Ufe the one I have most at
heart, is to form my children that they may be useful
examples and worthy of imitation. I should therefore be
* April 17th, 1782.

24 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
scrupulous as to the private lives of those I place about
my son, though in other cases I never wish to be in
formed, unless of those great enormities, that must make
every man of principle shun the company of such persons,
but in the case of my children, my happiness as well as
the good of the public is materially concerned in this
investigation.* What Lord North would have recommended, had his
advice been really desired, it is useless to surmise ; he pro
bably thought that while the prince was denied an establish
ment of his own, he might as well be surrounded by those
whose tastes were congenial and whose position in life
rendered it easy for them to contribute to pleasures which
else he might seek in worse company. Many noble mansions
were ready to welcome him, and Melbourne .House was
gayest of the gay. Its poco eurante owner was proud to
receive him ; Lady Melbourne was cTiarmed with his visits ;
and he soon learned to make himself at home. Sheridan and
Fitzpatrick, Selwyn and Hare, contributed each in his special
way to the mirth of the table, and whatever was fascinating
and fair in the Whig saloons of the day was certain to be
found in the company of the new viscountess. There also
frequently came Francis, Duke of Bedford, and Charles Fox,
then in the ripening promise of popularity and power, though
damaged in character by the recklessness of his private
life, and, in spite of all his father's liberality towards him,
without a guinea.
As the time approached when the Prince of Wales would
come of age, it became necessary to provide for him a sepa
rate establishment ; and Lord Eockingham is understood to
have advised that such an allowance should be asked from
ParUament as would enable him- to maintain with befitting
splendour his position as the first subject of the Crown.
George II. had enjoyed £100,000 a year when the public reve
nues were far less, and when money went much farther in the
purchase of every necessary and luxury of life. His son
* Letter to Lord Korth.

PEINCE OF WALES'S HOUSEHOLD. 25
Frederick, though an object of parental dislike, received an
equal allowance, and George III. himself had had the same ;
but the minister vainly urged that these precedents should
be followed. The king was dissatisfied with the conduct of
the prince, and distrustful of the companions of his choice. Of
late he had been much in the society of Charles Fox, who,
far from deprecating the suspicion with which he thought
himself unjustly regarded, went out of his way to declare
that the grant of £50,000 a year moved by the Chancellor
of the Exchequer was inadequate, that the hope of economy
on which it was founded would not be realised, and that
sooner or later Parliament would be called on to relieve em
barrassment which its improvident parsimony was about to
render unavoidable.
Had it remained with him, he certainly would have advised
an establishment more adequate and suitable ; but the per
son most proper to decide on the business was of a very
different opinion, and therefore it was his duty to submit.
The imprudence and unseemliness of such language from a
Secretary of State did not prevent its being cheered warmly
by those who began to call themselves the prince's friends.
The Commons would readily have voted one hundred thou
sand a year had they been suffered to do so. The king,
however, adhered to his resolve, and beside the separate
revenue of the Duchy of CornwaU, could only be induced to
add the colonelcy of the 10th Dragoons, the only mihtary
appointment the prince ever obtained and which he continued
to hold until he ascended the throne. For his residence his
father gave him the well known house, originally built by
Henry Boyle, Lord Carleton, on a piece of ground leased to
him in 1709 by Queen Anne for thirty-one years at £35 a
year. It was described as part and parcel of the royal garden
near St. James's Palace. His nephew. Lord Burlington,
subsequently inhabited the mansion and gav6 it to his
mother, from whom it was bought in 1732 by Frederick,
Prince of Wales, being, as was said, deUghtfuUy situated for

26 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
a place of courtly pleasure ; but the building itself was
tame and poor, hardly any place being capable of greater
improvements, and hardly any standing in more need of
them.* There the widowed princess resided till her death. The
gardens reached to those of Marlborough House, and consti
tuted its chief attraction ; for near the approach stood a num
ber of dwellings not of the most sightly aspect. Holland
designed a colonnade to serve as a screen, and erected the
portico which in later years was transferred to the fagade
of the National Gallery. When finished, Horace Walpole
pronounced the new palace in Pall Mall the most perfect
in Europe ; the three chief apartments and the music-room
looking on the secluded grounds, and the vestibule, hall, and
staircase superb. " But where the money was to come from,
he conceived not ; all the tin mines in CornwaU would not
pay a quarter."t This consideration gave his Eoyal Highness
small concern. The Chancellor of the Exchequer had had
full warning of what was likely to happen ; and happen it
should. To celebrate his birthday the prince was resolved
upon a feast ; and Carlton House being still in the hands of
the workmen, the dinner was given to a numerous company
at the White Hart, Windsor, whereat, as Lord Melbourne
loved long afterwards to tell, a turtle was served weighing
four hundredweight — a present from the East India Board.
Appointments in the household of the prince were
coveted by all who had interest at Court or with Opposition ;
and many were the jealousies and disappointments which
they caused. Lord Lewisham was made Warden of the
Stannaries and Lord Melbourne was named Gentleman of the
Bedchamber, with Lord Spencer Hamilton, son of the sixth
duke of his name. The place of the latter was subsequently
filled by Lord Charles Somerset, and some years later hy
Lord Clermont.
At the ball given on taking possession of his new home
* ' Critical Review of Public Buildings,' p. 75 1734.
t Letter to Lady Ossory, September 17th.

WESTMINSTEB ELECTION. 27
the heir apparent received the gratulations of all that was
best born and most beautiful in the land, as sung in after-
years by the granddaughter of his wittiest and merriest
confidant — They crowd around me like young girls peeping,
And seem to question me which is most fair !
On none were admiring eyes more fixed than on Lady
Melbourne, then perhaps at the zenith of her popularity and
attraction. Maria Cosway, wife of the well-known miniature painter,
had exhibited not long before at the Academy two or three
historical pictures giving evidence of much originality and
feeling. Her acquaintance was sought by many persons of
distinction, and it became the fashion to bid high for the
possession of her works. The Duchess of Devonshire visited
her studio; and at the request of the. prince she painted
some remarkable portraits. One of them was that of Lady
Melbourne, which remained at Carlton House until removed
to the Corridor at Windsor.
At the general election of 1784 no contest provoked so
much passion or proved so memorable as that of Westminster.*
At the end of the tenth day's poll, Fox had three hundred
and eighteen votes less than Sir Cecil Wray. The exultation
of his opponents knew no bounds, but their rejoicings were
premature. Surprise, disappointment, and rage bewildered
the adherents of the Whig chief, and his cause would have
been irretrievably lost but for allies who had never taken
part in such a fray before. Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire,
then without compeer as queen of fashion, openly undertook
with the aid of her sister Lady Duncannon and Mrs. Crewe
to canvass for the leader of Opposition ; Lady Melbourne,
Mrs. Damer and others took a part less prominent, but not
less enthusiastic. On the twentieth day the majority was
reduced to eighty-four; the struggle became keener than
ever; and the profusion. of blandishments and inducements
* March 1784.

28 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
were on both sides unparalleled; for, the example once set
of female interference, the Countess of Salisbury and other
Tory ladies sought to exert a counter-ruling influence over
the electors. On the thirtieth day Lord. Hood was still
head of the poll, while Fox was but one hundred and sixty-
six ahove his other competitor. And when on the fortieth
day his victory was announced, it was by a majority of no
more than two hundred and thirty-six, out of thirteen
thousand votes. The protracted suspense, and the violence
of the passions which had been excited during the conflict,
together with the bitterness of disappointment, caused, ere
its termination, by the tidings of multiplied defeat in other
cities and towns, all served to intensify rather than abate
the delirium of triumph. The carriages of the Duchess of
Portland and the Duchess of Devonshire, each drawn by
six horses, took part in the procession from the hustings to
Piccadilly, where, in front of Devonshire House, the orator
was received by his " Grand Electress " and presented by the
Prince of Wales with a wreath of laurel.
Meanwhile in the clear air of Hertfordshire the younger
children of the household throve apace; and at each re
curring holiday-time deUghted more and more the ever
onward and upward spirit of their mother. Peniston was
too old for companionship with the youngsters, but their
joyous freaks amused him, and he entered often into their
childish play. Their mother was deUghted, and she per
suaded Eeynolds, though overladen with engagements more
than he could execute, to undertake a group illustrating in
their varied ages the fraternal love of her children. By
some it has been said that the idea originated with
himself, as in the weU-known painting which keeps in
memory, at HoUand House, the youthful gaUantry of Charles
Fox towards his cousin. Lady Sarah Lennox, beneath the
window whence her mother is observing them. We only
know that the veteran President of the Academy entered
genially into the reaUsation of the design, and made two or
three studies of the pranksome younger boys and of their

THE ' AFFECTIONATE BEOTHEES: 29
more staid and thoughtful elder. Peniston is portrayed as
encouraging Frederick and WiUiam to romp about ' him,
while there is in his features the mingled look of amusement
at their gambols and of dreams less childish passing through
his mind. The ' Affectionate Brothers ' was one of the last
pictures finished by Sir Joshua, and in conception, grace, and
vividness of expression, it is eminently worthy of his fame.
It was first engraved in mezzotinto by Bartolozzi; and
subsequently in a smaller size by' S. M. Eeynolds. The
youngest is in the dress and attitude of a spoilt child still an
inmate of the nursery ; while the vivacity and force of the
picture are concentrated in the unruly youngster; who,
according to Sir Joshua, gave him more trouble than he
liked, and whom he used to bribe into brief intervals of quiet
by promises of another ride on his foot. And he' looks it
still — a hearty, gladsome, wayward Uttle fellow, with a soft
roguish eye and gesture full of provocation.
A few months afterwards, George, not yet three years
old, was painted by Maria Cosway, in the allegoric style she
affected, as the ' Infant Bacchus.' The picture was said
to be particularly happy, and was probably as like as the
delineation of chubby and rosy features is by those who love
them, usually said to be.
Emily, the only daughter who survived the period of
infancy, was not born until 1787. In expression and in
spirit she bore a striking resemblance to her mother, and as
she grew up attracted and attained the attachment of all
around her. In after-life William and his sister found
innumerable points of sympathy, and her influence with him
was great.
Of those who were intimate during his boyhood at
Melbourne House, he remembered none in after-life with
greater pleasure than the widowed daughter of General
Conway. While yet a girl, her desire to excel in art had
received a singular impulse from some passing words of
David Hume. In a morning walk she saw him give a shilling
to an Italian boy who offered him some small casts from the

30 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
antique for sale, asking thoughtlessly what he saw worth
encouraging in such a calling. The philosopher gently
rebuked her, saying that, valueless as these cheap copies
seemed to be, they were the produce of genius and skill
beyond any she possessed ; and that no modern attainments
enabled one now to produce anything comparable to them.
Piqued by his reproof, she resolved to try what she could do
in modelling, and after some little time presented him with
a head, in wax, of merits so promising that he made amends
by cordial praise and incentives to pursue her studies in that
direction. Her marriage with the eldest son of Lord
Dorchester, though it brought her early into society, did not
change her predilections in art. John Damer was a gambler,
whose premature death left her without children, to follow
the bent of her own tastes and inclinations. Her father's
greatest friend was Horace Walpole, who took an interest in
all she did, and hy his advice she studied the elementary
principles of anatomy from Cruikshank, and details of
drawing and form from Cerrachi and Bacon. With Mrs.
Crew she sojourned long in Italy, chiefly for the enjoy
ment and instruction its churches, palaces, and museums
afford those who love art with devotion. • Eeturning to
England, she resumed with persevering zeal her amateur
vocation. Her busts of Lady Elizabeth Foster,. Lady
Melbourne, and her mother, Lady Aylesbury, still attest
the unaffected freedom and the uneffeminate delicacy of
her style.
It was a caprice of the time to paint or moiild likenesses
in allegoric character, and young Peniston Lamb was repre
sented hy her in marble with the classic insignia of Mercury.
The heads in relief of Thame and Isis on the keystone of
Henley Bridge were the work of her chisel ; and she took
especial pleasure in transferring to marble the forms of her
dumb favourites, though in this species of delineation she
never perhaps attained the life-like touch of Lady Dacre.
For a present on his birthday she brought Horace Walpole
an osprey, whose plumage she had elaborated with pecuUar

MES. DAMEE. 31

care ; and in acknowledgment he engraved its pedestal with
the graceful flattery, Non me Praxiteles fecit, at Anna Damer.
Her house was the centre of attraction for artists and
men of letters, to not a few of whom she rejoiced in render
ing timely and essential service. Angelica Kauffmann painted
the best portrait of Mrs. Damer which remains; and
through her the latter became acquainted with Maria Cosway,
whose craving for admission within the exclusive fences of
society she helped oftentimes to gratify. Mrs. Damer was
one of Lady Melbourne's earliest, truest, and most intimate
friends. When Brocket was adorning she was ever ready
with suggestion or caution; always with a reason, and
that a good one, for any deviation from customary style or
breach of conventional rules of embellishment, she sympa
thised with her friend's love of magnificence, but her finer
taste preferred harmony to glitter, and subdued colouring
to fantastic show.
Both were fond of theatricals, and in the impersonation
of character on the private stage had few equals. Fox,
Fitzpatrick, and. Sheridan, with all the young men of talent
or of toil that were led by their example, were ready to aid
by pen or voice or sympathetic presence whatever cast their
fair friends chose. For the veteran critic of Strawberry
Hill, the child of his greatest friend had the greatest
charm, and he was seldom better content than when com
plaining that tie was put to his wits' end at Twickenham to
find at short notice a dinner good enough for her and Lady
Melbourne. Another intimate of both ladies, who equally delighted in
all that was best in art, and whose great possessions enabled
him to become one of its most generous and judicious
ptomoters, was young Lord Egremont.*
George O'Brien Wyndham, while yet a boy, inherited
great possessions. His grandfather had been the confidant
* Born December 18th, 1751.

82 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
and compeer of Bolingbroke, his father the colleague of
GrenviUe and Bute. Eeynolds has preserved the ex
pression • of his features, which were singularly fine ; and
Fox is known to have said of him at eight-and-twenty,
that though he had no experience in business, and had
never been in office, he would rather take his judgment on
the India Bill than that of most other men he knew.
Petworth, rebuilt in the preceding reign by the Duke of
Somerset, had been filled by him with treasures of painting
and carving such as no other country house in England
could boast ; and the delight of its new possessor was still
further to enrich its halls and chambers with whatever
seemed to him most noble in design and beautiful in execu
tion of the sculpture and painting of his day. He loved
the companionship of men of wit and art, and took less
pleasure in playing the patron than the host. Gainsborough
and Flaxman were his guests for days and weeks together.
With the entertainment of a palace they found a school
where they might study, by what light and at what hours
they would, the masterpieces of Holbein, Van Eyck and
Anthony Moore, Titian, Correggio, Hohbema, and Claude.
In early life Lord Egremont professed to be no more
than a man of pleasure, given to hospitality, fond of the
turf, content to be a cause of war among strategic mothers.
Eather shy and taciturn, many outshone him in the ball
room, none in the morning ride or garden walk. There
was in his voice and manner, say his contemporaries, that
fascination for women, and even for men, which neither knew
how to resist. At Melbourne House he was a constant
guest, and through a long course of years his friendship and
sympathy were never wanting. Old Horace snarls at him in
his characteristic way as " a worthless young fellow ; " * his
offence being that, having proposed to Walpole's niece. Lady
Maria Waldegrave, he had seemed to grow cold, whereupon
the lady's relatives in a pet threatened to break off the' match
which, when he took them at their word, they much repented.
* Letter, July 24th, 1780.

AT ETON. 3g

He long remained unmarried, but his tastes were eminently
social, and one of his greatest pleasures was to invite not
only his friends, but their children to his princely house in
Sussex, and to witness the varied enjoyment of pastimes pro
vided for all ages. Some of the brightest scenes of WiUiam
Lamb's childhood were in Petworth Park, where he and his
brothers used to gambol all day long. Arthur Young had
been a frequent visitor, and under his. Mvice the old deer-
park was disafforested, and Petworth, like Holkam and
Woburn, lent its name to a school of improved agriculture.
Except at Wentworth, there was not to he found in England
stabling so extensive or a stud so numerous or high-bred ;
and its owner liked to be reminded that few great races had
been run in his time in which some measure of success was
not ascribable to him.
In 1790 WiUiam Lamb was entered at Eton. Among
his class-feUows were Charles Sumner, destined to become
Archbishop of Canterbury ; Charles Ellis, afterwards Lord
Stuart de Eothesay ; and Sir Charles Stewart, the last
two distinguished in diplomacy; TuUibardine, afterwards
Duke of AthoU ; F. Male, who enjoyed a high repute as a
physician at Birmingham ; and one who, in his way, attained
more notoriety than any of the rest, George commonly
known during the Eegency as Beau Brummel. In the class
ahove him were Henry Hallam the historian ; and Assheton
Smith, well known for his scientific inventions, still more for
his long-asserted leadership in the hunting-field. In the
class below him was Henry Fane, of whom he then knew
little, but whose name, after the lapse of half a century, was
destined to be associated sadly with the least fortunate and
defensible proceedings in his pubUc life.
A singular incident in family history occurred about this
time. One day the Duke of York, a frequent guest at Picca
dilly, complained to Lady Melbourne that he was tired of
his residence at Whitehall ; and that he longed for the pos
session of a house like hers, which he particularly admired.
With her usual naivete, she replied that she in her turn
VOL. I. ' ^

34 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
desired the opportunity of looking on the park every morning
when she rose, and that, were it possible, she would willingly
exchange the chimes at night of St. James's for those of the
Abbey. His Eoyal Highness vowed that anything was
possible to her; and recurring to the subject frequently,
the Viscount, who at first treated the affair as a joke, and
then as one of his wife's unaccountable whims, was per
suaded to consider seriously the feasibility of making the
exchange. The pleasure of the king was the first thing to
he ascertained ; for the Duke was affectionate towards his
father, and a special favourite with him.
The mansion, which occupies the space between the
Horse Guards and the Treasury, and which was originally
built by Payne for Sir Matthew Fetherstonhaugh, had been
vacated for the use of the Duke in 1784 by Sir Jeffery
Amherst, and was thenceforth held on lease from the Crown.
The entrance stood some distance back from the street, and,
to please its new occupant, a circular hall and portico were
added by HoUand soon after he had executed the colonnade
in front of Carlton House for the Prince of Wales. Lord
North, cheerful as ever, though grown quite blind, heard of
the changes that were making, and said when they were
described to him that " things were coming to a strange
pass when the Duke of York was sent to the Eound House,
and the Heir Apparent to the Pillory."
Before Christmas it was agreed that the proposed ex
change should be carried into effect ; and in the course of
the ensuing autumn the transfer actually took place. His
Eoyal Highness assigned by deed the capital messuage and
premises situate at or near Whitehall, and the furniture
therein, together with the Old Lottery Office, and other the
premises which his Eoyal Highness then held or had made
application to the Treasury to hold hy lease from the Crown
for the term of fifty years, to Viscount Melbourne, who on
his part transferred and made over all that and those the
messuages and tenements situate and lying between Bur
lington Garden and Sackville Street and between Savile

CAMBBIDGE.

Eow and Piccadilly, &c. Thenceforth the titles of the two
mansions were simultaneously transposed. The dwelling in
Piccadilly was called York House, and subsequently the
Albany ; that in Whitehall took the name of its new pro
prietor, by which it was known during the rest of his Ufe.
The seventeenth Parliament of Great Britain met on the
25th of November, 1790, to which were returned for Newport
in the Isle of Wight Viscount Palmerston and Viscount
Melbourne, whose sons, then pursuing their studies at Eton
and Harrow, were destined to be associated in after-life so
intimately. The Eev. Sir H. Worsley was then patron of
the borough. Lord Melbourne vacated his seat in 1793,
when, his son having come of age, he wished him to take
his place, and Peniston was returned accordingly. The
Viscount himself did not re-enter the House of Commons.
With the sons of other Whigs of quality WilUam was
s&ai to Cambridge ; he was entered on the 7th of July, 1796,
as a fellow-commoner of Trinity, and he went into residence
in the October foUowing. It was not with him, however,
during the next three years the ordinary course of pleasure
and nothing more. Though he would not learn by rote,
to read long and hard he was not ashamed. Already it
would seem as though he had beaconings of ambition. Not
a bad classic when he quitted Eton, he acquired during his
stay at Trinity a fairly extended acquaintance with the
ancient poets and historians whose works were then among
the books of the undergraduate course. But his studies
were seldom bounded by the limits defined in lecture notice;
for he was not reading for class, but to satisfy his own
curiosity and love of information. From mathematics he
turned away with distaste and aversion somewhat similar
perhaps to that which Macaulay has confessed. In pre
ference he gave himself to ethical speculation, in which
throughout his life he never ceased to take peculiar in
terest. The law being assigned him for a profession, and
political life pointed to by his mother as within his reach
not remotely beyond probation at the bar, he wished to be
D 2

36 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
allowed to keep his terms in London simultaneously with
those at Cambridge. No reasonable wish (seldom, probably,
an unreasonable one) was refused by Lady Melbourne ; and
accordingly, on the 21st of July, 1797, the registry of
Lincoln's Inn records that William Lamb was entered a
student of law by the Eight Hon. Henry Addington, Speaker
of the House of Commons, one of the benchers of the Society.
At the close of Michaelmas Term 1798 he delivered an
oration in the chapel of Trinity which won the declamation
prize. It was the first composition of any length or im
portance he had attempted, and it was subsequently printed
for private circulation. The theme was " The progressive
improvements of mankind." By his hearers it was received
with no slight marks of favour, and by friends and kinsfolk
made the occasion of kindly criticism and undiscerning
praise. Like so many youthful essays, it would doubtless
have passed quickly into forgetfulness, had not a passage
caught the fancy of Mr. Fox, who, to the surprise and delight
of its author, quoted it in his speech on the character of
Francis, Duke of Bedford, when moving a new writ for
Tavistock. After exhausting the rich vocabulary of encomium, the
statesman said he would conclude with applying to the
present occasion a beautiful passage from the speech of a
very young orator. It might, he thought, perhaps savour
too much of the sanguine views of youth to stand the test
of a rigid philosophical inquiry, but it was at least cheering
and consolatory ; and that in this instance it might be ex
emplified, he was confident was the sincere wish of every
man who heard him.
Crime, says he, is a curse only to the period in which it is
successful; but virtue, whether fortunate or otherwise,
blesses not only its own age, but remotest posterity;
and is as beneficial by its example as by its immediate
effects. *
* ' Speeches of C. J. Fox,' vol. vi. p. 472, March 16th, 1802.

A SPOKEN ESSAY. 37

The following is perhaps the most felicitous example of
the style and drift of the essay •: — •
Before this discovery (art of printing) the improve
ment of man could not be termed progressive ; it was
confined in its operation, and liable to long and frequent
interruptions. He emerged, indeed, from the woods and
caverns ; he assembled societies ; he founded cities ; he
instituted laws and cultivated learning. The arts reaped
their noblest triumphs. The canvas glowed with anima
tion, the marble swelled beneath the chisel into life.
Philosophy in her colonnades and gardens dictated her
solemn truths ; Eloquence poured her loudest ; and Poetry
breathed her most enchanting strains. The great and
unwieldy empire of Eome, under which, notwithstanding
the corruption of manners and the depravation of taste,
the productions of genius were still admired and pre
served, now tottered to its fall. The barbarous hordes
descended from the North. Literature, having no reUance
except upon perishable transcripts of her works, was soon
involved in the common ruin. The statues were broken,
the pictures were defaced, the volumes committed to the
flames, and the precious relics that escaped the savages
are hut the venerable vestiges of genius, and the splendid
fragments of excellence. An age of sterility intervened.
A period of thick darkness long brooded over the earth ;
and the mind of man slept, deprived of all its energies,
and forgetful of everything that it had been accustomed
to consider honourable and great. The mass of mankind
can be amended only by experience, and experience can
only be acquired by time. Every setting sun leaves
behind it new instruction ; every day spreads truths
' already ascertained, confirms those that have been hitherto
doubtful, affords tests to detect fallacy, and establishes
precedents to guide uncertainty. While generation is
following generation ; while the sceptre of power is passing
from the gr^a'sp of one nation into that of another ; while
the dank dews of night are imperceptibly wearing away

38 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
the monument and the column ; while cities are going to
decay, and stupendous piles of marble and brass moulder
into dust ; the mind of man grows vigorous from time,
and is ever struggling on with increased energy in pursuit
of that perfection, which to have sought after, though,
perhaps, it can never be attained, exalts and glorifies
human nature.
The tone of the essay, which the sentence quoted by his
illustrious friend has preserved from oblivion, is throughout
hopeful and genial, rather than argumentative or profound.
We catch no shadow of the desponding temper which the
susceptible author must have been familiar with, just then,
in the political society of Melbourne House. The vexed
spirit of Burke had indeed sunk to rest ; but the schism his
irresistible enthusiasm and eloquence on behalf of Catho
licity and royalty as essential elements of Christian civilisa
tion, opposed in his mind to every form of democracy and
every phase of sceptic thought, was still unhealed. Lord
Spencer, Mr. Windham, Sir Gilbert Eliott, and the Duke of
Portland had joined Mr. Pitt's administration : while the
adherents of Fox were so weakened and disheartened that
they had not long before, in a fit of abortive rage, formally
withdrawn from attendance in Parliament : and it was among
the seceders that the young essayist had opened his .political
eyes. It is not therefore undeserving of note that in this
first effort are traceable, though undogmatically writ, the
lines of confident and even sanguine faith in- moderate and
steady progress, which in maturer years Lamb was found
ready to defend against the opposite extremes of reaction and
revolution. At the end of Trinity Term 1799 he took his degree,
and bade farewell to Cambridge with its genial associations
of culture and speculation, to return no more.*
* He is entered in the registry of the University as having matriculated
on the 29th of June, 1799, and having graduated on the .1st of July
following. It is clear that his matriculation must have been accidentally
omitted at the correct time, and that he matriculated just in time to
enable him to take his degree.

STUDIES AT GLASGOW. 39

It was not unusual at the period in question for young
men of promise to attend the open classes of philosophy
and jurisprudence in one of the Scotch Universities. On
quitting Westminster, Lord Henry Petty spent two years at
Edinburgh before entering Trinity; and between Harrow
and St. John's, the bright-eyed, laughing, but diUgent
Henry Temple resided for some time in the house of Dugald
Stewart, notes of whose lectures he long preserved with care.
Glasgow indeed no longer numbered Adam Smith among
her Ulustrious teachers; but her reputation as a seat of
learning continued to stand high ; and by the wish of Lady
Melbourne inquiry was made if her son could be received as
a resident pupil by Professor Millar, of whose well-known
work ' An Historical View of the EngUsh Government,' Fox
once said, " It is dedicated to me, and written on the best
and surest principles." Lord Lauderdale wrote —
There is a young man who wishes much to reside in your
house next winter. He is a younger son of Lord Mel
bourne's. He has the reputation and. I beUeve really
possesses uncommon talents. He means to go to the
English Bar with a view to follow the law as a profession.
He is the only person I have ever yet recommended to
you of whom I think I could with any safety say that
you will have real comfort and satisfaction in having
him as a pupil. I wish you to write me a letter such as
I may show to them stating whether you can have room
for him the time he must be at Glasgow &c. It is the
Duke of Bedford who has appUed to me about it.*
The matter being arranged, William Lamb spent the winter
of 1799 and part of the succeeding one in Scotland, devot
ing his attention specially to the Professor's lectures on
history and law and to those of Mylne on metaphysics. In
the Collegiate Debating Club he took a constant and
brilliant part, being distinguished for aptitude of historic
illustration, and for caustic humour in reply.
* From Walthamstow, June 11th, 1799.

40 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.

CHAPTEE III.
A YOtTNGBE SON.
Firing at the king— Brocket races^—A play of doubtful authorship —
Beau Brummel — Call to the bar — Lady Caroline Ponsonby — Death
of elder brother.
Lady Melbourne's aspirations for distinction and influence
renewed their youth as she gazed upon her favourite son.
Accustomed to flattery, and too quick-witted to be deceived
thereby, she probably gave little heed to looks and words of
admiration of which he was the object, from daughters who
longed to dance with him, and fathers who liked being
asked to dine ; and doubtless she as little recked the smile-
enamelled fear with which he was regarded as a fascinating
younger son, by every shrewd mother of quality. What
would he settle into ? what would he do in life ? would he go
high ? would he go far ? Would her spirit, would her name
live again in him, as the mirror told her that his features
would ? and she thought, with a sigh, he will be young when
I am old. She studied his nature, antithetically mixed as
it was, and full of qualities and dispositions the most
opposite — not as an artist, to catch the fleeting expression
or. as an analyst, to note and weigh the elements continually
apt to effervesce, but as a woman of the world whose
maternal love was purified from worldliness where he was
concerned. AU the experience she had gathered, and keen
discernment she would fain impart redeemed from cynicism
and without losing hold on him. For his sake she wished

EQUEBBY FOB AN EOUB. 41

him to be invulnerable before he went into the fray ; and
yet she could not bring herself to forego the hope that his
reliance upon her would never grow less fond.
On the 15th of May, an attempt was made by a man
named Hatfield, who had formerly heen in the Guards, to
assassinate the king as he entered his box at Drury Lane
Theatre. The news spread rapidly, and soon reached
Melbourne House, where the Prince of Wales was dining.
Lady Melbourne instantly ordered her carriage, and conjured
her royal guest to lose not a moment in repairing to the
theatre, where his Majesty was said to have resolved on
remaining with the queen as if nothing had happened. The
prince, who was on bad terms with his father, affected to
disbelieve the rumour, and made various excuses for not
going ; hut the good sense of Lady Melbourne prevailed, and
by desire of the prince, William Lamb, who happened to be
at table, accompanied him. On arriving at the theatre he
found the Duke of York already there, and after tendering
their congratulations to his Majesty on his narrow escape
they withdrew to the apartment where the offender was in
custody, and remained during the preUminary examination
of witnesses who saw him present and fire the pistol. Hat
field recognised the Duke, under whom he had served, and
said that he was a good fellow. His lunacy, real or feigned,
was confidently asserted by the king, who showed no emotion,
and laughed at Queen Charlotte's supposing " that any one
but a madman would shoot him." Before midnight the
prince returned to Whitehall to thank his hostess for
persuading him to earn for once tlie praise of filial duty.
His young equerry on the occasion was wont to teU the
story with humour all his own, making the best of it for his
Eoyal Highness, and dwelling with affectionate emphasis on
the promptitude and tact shown by his mother. He was
thenceforth more frequently included in the invitations to
Carlton House, and became unluckily an early partaker in its
revelries. Up to this time Hertfordshire contained no racecourse

42 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
except Barnet, which had never been a favourite with the
gentlemen of the Turf, and which, owing partly to its
proximity to town, grew every year less agreeable and worse
regulated. The prince declared that it was a reproach to a
county so accessible without being suburban that it did not
supply an eligible place of meeting. In reply to his appeal
Lord Melbourne was persuaded to devote a portion of his
park particularly well suited to the purpose required ; and
in the autumn of 1799 a subscription list was opened for
Cup and sweepstakes, headed by his Eoyal Highness, the
Duke of Bedford, Lords Egremont, Clarendon and Burford,
Sir G. Wombwell, Mr. Hale, Hon. G. Watson, &c. ; Lord
Melbourne and Mr. Hale of King's Walden agreeing to act
as stewards. Hospitalities lavish and prolonged contributed
to insure success. Next year the county members, Mr.
Thomas Brand and Mr. Peniston Lamb, were stewards, and
each following season brought new patrons — the Duke of
St. Albans, Colonel Whalley, Lords Cowper and Ossulston,
and Mr. Heathcote. When these assemblages began WilUam
Lamb was not at home, and at no period of bis life did he
take much interest in the events or controversies of the turf.
Mrs. Damer still continued to be one of Lady Melbourne's
kindest, as she was one of her oldest, friends. On his death
Lord Orford left Strawberry Hill to her, who had for him
no greater charm than her rare talents for dramatic repre
sentation. Mrs. Damer's taste had not changed with ad
vancing years, and it was by her that the pretty theatre
was added to the house at Twickenham. One of the first
performances upon its boards was a two-act comedy found
among Walpole's papers, entitled 'Fashionable Friends.'
The manuscript was not in his handwriting, and it bore no
author's name. The piece, however, was well got up, and
pronounced inimitable by the guests bidden to the scene.
Charles Kemble was amongst them ; and wanting just then
something novel, he conceived the idea of obtaining leave
from the executors to bring out the play as a posthumous
work by the author of ' The Castle of Otranto.' It was ac-

'FASHIONABLE FEIENDS.' 43
cordingly produced in April 1802 at Drury Lane, Kemble
himself and Mrs. Jordan sustaining the principal parts.
Its reception was unfavourable, and after a second repre
sentation it was withdrawn. Some of the criticisms on its
tone and tendency seemed to have piqued the executors into
its publication, as the best means of refuting the harsh
insinuations of which it had been made the object. This
was stated in the advertisement to the edition published by
Eidgway, of which but few were sold ; and even the glimmer
of its ephemeral existence is now difficult to catch among
the relics of dramatic mortality, and its ashes need not have
been disturbed, but for the recent ascription of the author
ship to William Lamb.* Nothing in Walpole's diary or
letters furnishes any warrant for the assertion ; nor is there
in the memoirs of the time any proof, direct or circumstantial,
on the point. If, as appears not improbable, the piece was
an adaptation from the French, it may have been a youthful
essay in composition given to the octogenarian critic by
some too partial friend ; and never having been returned, it
is just conceivable that Charles Kemble was misled as to
its acting qualities by learning that it came from Lord
Orford's library. But how it should have ever come to be
associated with the name of his youthful acquaintance does
not appear. There is nothing either very good or very bad,
very dull or very adroit, in the construction of the play,
which turns on ordinary incidents of life in the luxurious
quarter of the capital; and it contains some smart and
cynical turns of expression, but hardly one deserving of
remembrance. Mrs. Jordan may have done her best to make
the character she played attractive, and Chippendale and
Fisher are not said to have been wanting in their way.
But the only wonder is how it should have occurred to the
manager of Drury Lane to take the trouble of trying, at
some expense, whether it would do to attract or amuse an
audience. Brummel, who was born in 1778, was more than a year
* Allibone, ' Dramatic Authors.

44 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.

older in ways and ideas. Already fastidiousness in diet
and in dress possessed him. While his playmates roamed
or rollicked with laughing disregard of drenching or be-
miring, and happy forgetfulness of what figure they cut as
they got back to supper, the incipient dandy was ready to
elude on any convenient pretence the apprehended soaking,
not so much on account of discomfort as at the loss of
dignity. In every particular of person and apparel, he
would come into class finished ad unguem ; and the pocket-
money TuUibarden, Ellis or Lamb spent on sweets or sports
the premature cockscomb devoted to knickknacks of the
toilet. He was never known to hack his desk or cut his
name on the wall, while every other boy had ruined half-a-
dozen penknives in the process ; and Assheton Smith was
wont to tell, long years after, how well he recollected that
Brummel never was flogged through the school, a circum
stance which the veteran fox-hunter thought little to his
credit. But he was liked, in spite of his priggishness, by his
tutor and his dame, to whom he gave no trouble, and by
class-feUows, with whom he was always ready to share what
he had, making fun out of nothing to keep up the general
glee. In discharge of the duties of fag, especially "as
toaster of bread and cheese, nobody ever equalled him."
Lamb, like others, often quizzed him for his formality, but,
on the whole, remembered him as not a bad fellow. He
spent a year at Oriel, where he did nothing but break the
rules ; and completed his education in the Prince's regiment
of Hussars. By the time William Lamb came back from
Glasgow, and began to saunter down the shady side of St.
James's Street, the " Beau," having come to maturity, was
on the sunny side, just bursting into blossom. He had sold
his captaincy, disentangUng himself, as he said, of the in
human trappings of war, abjured the levelling appellation
of " Mister," and had set about squandering his fortune in
the most exquisite manner. The entree at Carlton' House
was all very well in its way ; but he meant to hold his court
at White's, and to make himself king of fashion.

BBUMMEL. 45

Between the Etonians there was Uttle in common but
the zest for sarcasm and the love of raillery; this was
enough, however, to make five minutes of each other's
company constantly pleasant, and they met every day.
Brummel gave dinners of six or eight at his bijou mansion
in Chesterfield Street, where more than one royal highness
came; whUe Melbourne House was one of the few so
fortunate as to have a chef worthy of his approval. The
refinement and versatUity of his impertinence, though it
seldom amounted to wit, amused his old class-feUow. Lamb
too had his foppery, though of a wholly different kind.
He could not help knowing that he was uncommonly good-
looking; but his vanity disdained ornaments or oddities
adopted by others to gain notice. An air of carelessness of
what he wore, and how he, looked and what he said, was his
earliest affectation, and it stuck by him to the last ; for
nobody ever happened to have coats that fitted better, books
more full of ideas or worthier of being remembered ; and' in
conversation, words more nicely chosen and heavily shotted
with meaning. But, from the outset, some vague and un
accountable wish to be thought indolent and idle appears to
have had a witchery for him, which in the midst of the
highest responsibilities he never entirely shook off. Dandy
ism he always looked upon as a species ' of actings amusing
when consummate, and surprising in a person of talent and
skill, but simply ridiculous in itself, and despicable in a
man capable of better things. To vie with Brummel, or
Alvanley, or Mildmay, never occurred to him, but he enjoyed
their society, and in a certain sense admired and applauded
the way they played their parts. The Beau had a fancy for
enriching his album with contributions in verse by con
temporaries of rank and distinction ; and thus were preserved
some Anacreontics and other stanzas, serious or playful, from
the pens of Sheridan, Canning, Payne Knight, and Lady
Granville, which else might have dropped out of remem
brance. At all periods of his Ufe Lamb loved classic verse ;

46 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOVENE.
Greek most in youth, English most in age. The melody of
tenderness and the majesty of thought could in turn melt
him to softness or stir him into passion. Ehythm had for
his ear a spell, which even in the turn of his merriest jest is
traceable ; and many fragments of versification remain to
belie the foolish sneer that he was one who had not music
in his soul. TRANSLATED PROM ANACREON.
Come painter, who with skilful hand
Canst rival even nature's art ;
Come, painter, draw as I command,
The absent mistress of my heart.
Paint first each soft and jetty tress,
With which her graceful head is crown'd ;
If colours can so much express.
Oh! paint them breathing odours round.
Above her cheek, full, lovely, fair,
Where modest blushes reddening glow,
Beneath her mildly curling hair,
Describe with skill her ivoiy brow.
Ah ! how to imitate her face
Thy chiefest science will be tried ;
Between her brows the middle space
Nor quite confound nor quite divide.
Here let the eyelid's lash be shown;
Here let her semblance bear complete.
Dark arching eyebrows like her own.
Which meeting, scarcely seem to meet.
But, painter, do not here forget
To give her eye its native flame,
Azure, Minerva-like, and yet
As melting as the Paphian dame.
Her nose and cheek then fashion well —
That white as milk, and roseate this ;
Her lips like soft Persuasion's swell,
Pouting and challenging the kiss.
Beneath her chin where dimples play,
About her neck of Parian stone,
Let all the loves and graces stray ;
That happy spot is all their own.

CHAMBEBS IN THE TEMPLE. 47
At the end of Michaelmas Term 1804 he was admitted to
the bar, Charles Christopher Pepys being called on the
same day. For an hour the currents of their destiny just
touched, and then diverged as though they were never like
to mingle. Except the uniform of learning which they then
put on, they had as little in common as any two young men
of the time. The one had fixed his thoughts on Equity,
the ambitious dreams of the other led him to prefer Common
Law. The one was by art a pleader, and by nature a plodder;
unattractive in person, ineloquent in speech, unacquainted
with the accomplishments or arts of society ; but doggedly
determined to know all that was to be known in his calling,
and to allow nothing to divert him from its pursuit. The
other, versatile and brilliant, of noble presence, and with a
thorough air of fashion, was willing (or thought he was) to
undergo the drudgery of sitting in court, and reading text
books, and copying forms, and trying to forget for so many
hours a day all that made life enjoyable, for the chance of
some day making a hit in a speech to a jury, and thereby
getting into the golden groove of nisi prius gain ; or, after a
certain time, being held qualified for some easy post, which
the blandishments and banquets of Melbourne House might
secure for him. He had already chambers at No. 4 Pump
Court, Temple, where his name is entered in the Law List
"of the Northern Circuit, Special Pleader." As casual
acquaintances, Pepys and Lamb met now and then, just
often enough to be kept in mind of one another's existence,
and to feel, if they felt at all, how Uttle they had to say
to each other. The equity draftsman had no taste for
politics, rarely went to Levee, and never had time to read
the Morning Post ; and his companion for the Call Day had
probably never the curiosity, during the next thirty years,
to look at the pages wherein the deeds and arguments of Mr.
Pepys, and all that he said to Lord Eldon and Sir Lancelot
Shadwell — are they not written in the books of Vesey
junior ? How, at the end of the long interval, they once more
drifted notably into contact, and became firmly bound to

48 3IEM0IES OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
each other by the ties of mutual confidence, the sequel will
disclose. Part of the family wealth had come from the elder
Peniston of Lincoln's Inn, whose life had been devoted to
equity pleading. But his grand-nephew can hardly have
heen swayed in choosing a profession by the repute of an old
gentleman who was dead many years before he was born.
His studies at Glasgow, and still more the ambition to excel
in argumentative fence which his practice in what has
been called the Wrangle School of the University had kindled,
were more likely to predispose him at two-and-twenty to
saunter five days in each term from St. James's to Temple
Bar, and dine off pewter in Lincoln's Inn Hall with noisy
and needy comrades of his own time of life. Then as now,
there was at the bar a sprinkling of younger sons, in whom
had been instilled the prudent notion that if they were not
to drop behind the rank in which they had heen bred, they
must make their way in diplomacy, the Church, or the law.
There had been already mitres in the family ; and as epis
copal preferments were then dispensed, holy orders might
have seemed to one of epicurean temperament the shortest
path to competence and luxury. It was the heyday of
ecclesiastical jobbing ; deaneries and golden stalls were the
recognised perquisites which courtiers and politicians appro
priated according to their need or greed. Bishoprics were
the rarer prizes in the game ; but a parliamentary family of
distinction might secure, at least, a spiritual peerage on the
Irish establishment. Many houses with vast estates in land
were thus founded ; and nobody in good society thought
the method scandalous or even questionable. For WiUiam
Lamb, with all his early love of ease and enjoyment, there
seemed, however, no fascination in this sort of solemn farce
for Ufe ; and Lord Egremont, though withheld by no scruple
of conscience on the subject, told him it was a pity that one
who had so much promise in him should be thrown away in
squabbling about tithe of agistment or cribbing a fortune
out of Church lands by running his Ufe against leases. He

BOEHAMPTON. 49

would have him put on wig and gown, rather than scarf and
stole ; use his brain and tongue like Murray or Erskine ;
go into Parliament and in due time all the rest would come.
His mother, when she had time to think, thought so too ;,she
was very proud of her son, and would have done anything
to kindle in him the fire of ambition. He did read some
law during his student days ; more history perhaps than law.
How these years glided by he was never able distinctly to
recall ; but amid the distractions and delights of Devonshire
House and Petworth, Whitehall and Kensington, there was
much to keep alive the hope and purpose of a career.
There were gathered all the wit and talent of the day ; old
Sheridan and young Canning, fastidious Windham and sar
donic Francis, Monk Lewis with his spectre tales, and
Gilbert Eliot with his reminiscences of Burke ; Hookham
Frere and Lord Henry Petty, Whitbread and General Fitz
patrick, Charles Fox and Lord Grey. There was another
mansion out of town, where most of these celebrities were
welcome, and where he began to feel himself a favourite.
Frederick, third Earl of Beshorough had a villa at Eoe-
hampton. By his first wife, Henrietta, sister of the Duchess
of Devonshire, he had four sons and an only daughter, Caro
line, then in her nineteenth year. Brought up chiefly by
her grandmother. Lady Spencer^ she possessed many attain
ments then unusual in one so young, and a peculiar charm
of manner that more than compensated for the want in some
degree of other attractions. In person she was slight and
graceful, but of somewhat less than the ordinary height ; her
features, small and regular, were not set off by any beauty of
complexion ; only her dark eyes, which contrasted strikingly
with her golden hair, vindicated her claim to be reckoned
among the distinguished and prepossessing.
Some yeai^of her childhood were spent in Italy with
her mother, then an invalid. Subsequently she was sent to
Devonshire House, and for a while was brought up with her
youthful cousins. Her account of life in the nursery is
curious. The children saw little of their parents; were

VOL. I.

E

50 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
served on silver in the morning, and allowed to carry their
plates to the kitchen in quest of the dainties they longed for.
Their state of ignorance was profound. They imagined all
people were either nobles or paupers, and that for the rich
there was no end of money.
We had no idea that bread or butter was made ; how it
came we did not pause to think ; but had no doubt that
fine horses must be fed on beef At ten years old I could
not write. My kind aunt Devonshire had taken me when
my mother's ill health prevented my being at home. My
cousin Hartington loved me better than himself, and every
one paid me the compliments shown to children likely to
die. I wrote not, spelt not, hut I made verses which they
all thought beautiful. For myself, I preferred washing a
dog, or polishing a piece of Derbyshire spar, or breaking
in a horse if they would let me. At ten years old I was
taken to my godmother, Lady Spencer's, where the house
keeper, in hoop and ruffles, reigned over seventy servants,
and attended the ladies in the drawing-room. All my child
hood I was a trouble, not a pleasure ; and my temper was
so wayward that Lady Spencer got Dr. Warren to exa
mine me. He said I was neither to learn anything or see
any one for fear the violent passions and strong whims
found in me should lead to madness ; of which, however, he
said there were as yet no symptoms. I differ ; my instinct
was for music ; in it I delighted, I cried when it was
pathetic, and did all that Dryden made Alexander do. But
of course I was not allowed to follow it up. The severity
of my governess and the over-indulgence of my parents
spoiled my temper ; and the end was that until I was
fifteen I learned nothing.*
As Lady Caroline grew up she evinced great faciUty in
the acquisition of languages ; and, not content with French
and Italian, voluntarily endured the drudgery of learning
Greek and Latin, till at length she was able to enjoy not
* Letters to Lady Morgan, ' Memoir.s,' vol. ii.

AN ONLY DAUGETEE. 51

only a classic play at Harrow, where her brothers spent
their school days, but was not afraid to undertake herself
the recital of an ode of Sappho. FuU of romance in all her
tastes, she loved painting; and devoted to water-colour
drawing long mornings throughout every period of her Ufe.
She had besides that most rare of graphic gifts, the instinpt
of caricature, which she indulged, not always circumspectly,
but never spitefully, in a letter to a friend, or on the fly-leaf
of a favourite volume, or wherever else opportunity served
and fantastic impulse prompted. She dressed as she painted
and played, picturesquely; prematurely indifferent to opinion;
and never exactly in accordance with the mode. Above all
she was, as Lamb too soon found out, like nobody else in
conversation. She had no patience, as she said, with the
preliminaries; and skipped all the prefatory matter conven
tionally deemed indispensable, about coming and not coming,
health and the weather, which bored her to extinction. To
any one she liked she gave her hand at a second or third
interview, without the least unmaidenly air of freedom ; and
with any one she did not fancy she would not shake hands
at all. Very early her pointed and often puzzling questions
attracted the notice, and fixed the gaze of accomplished
visitors at Eoehampton and St. James's Place, where she de
lighted to be present at one of her aunt's receptions. She
is one of the few young persons of quality mentioned in
letters at the time as remarkable for talent or originality ;
yet it could hardly be said that her sparkling talk, though it
held in solution an abundance of oddity, quaintness, and
humour, often crystallised into wit. WiUiam Lamb found
her irresistibly fascinating, and this perhaps would not have
mattered if she had not found him better worth talking to,
quicker to catch her meaning, and, in short, more delightful
than anybody she had ever seen. The family took no
special heed of the growing intimacy ; with her connections
and accomplishments, a second son having naught but his
allowance and his profession was simply not worth thinking
about. Good looks and good society might get him a rich
E 2

52 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
wife, if he must marry early ; hut who cared ? that was his
own affair. Lady Caroline had the ideas of a duchess, and
without much fortune would of course make an excellent
match by-and-by. For the present it was natural that the
young people should amuse themselves in each other's
society; they were very much in the same set, and the
time passed happily when they were together. Did Lady
Melbourne observe nothing of this, or ruminate, when alone,
on possible contingiences ?
Meanwhile Lamb lost no time in joining the bar at the
Lancashire Sessions. At the instance of Scarlett, who was
much taken with him, a solicitor at Salford sent him a guinea
brief : long afterwards he used to say that the moment of
greatest pleasure he remembered in life was that in which
he saw his name inscribed above the unexpected retainer.
He had fortunately little to do in the case ; but he got
through it without making any mistake; and thenceforth
felt that he was really a member of the profession — the
profession which, with its many faults and foibles, has after
all done more than any other class or calling to shape the
civil history of England, and to mould the curious fabric of
our social and political order. The die was cast; he had
done his first stroke of work, and he felt seven years older
for it in willingness to work and in determination. No
second brief was left at his lodgings; and during the
remainder of the sessions he occupied himself in watching
how others did the business, and trying to understand the
strange dialect of the provincial witnesses, and the equally
unintelligible gibberish of legal phraseology, used in a sort
of oral shorthand. At mess he was voted a decided acqui
sition. Natural, outspoken, well-informed, joyous, shrewd
and comical, he promised to be a positive blessing to
the sessional circuit, whose chief hardship did not consist
in having to put up with bad cooking or indifferent beds,
but in having to endure, through long successive evenings'
close confinement in dull country towns. Would he really
come to sessions regularly? Certainly he would; hfe had

SOCIAL AMBITION. 53
quite made up his mind, and he would be there without fail
next time. In this promise he was quite sincere, hut fate
did not mean it to be kept. He came no more.
Family residences acquire a social climate of their own,
not to be resisted in its influence by a susceptible nature
born and bred therein ; and never to be wholly forgotten
even by the exceptional one whose idiosyncrasy would fain
break out of the atmosphere. The climate of the house in
Whitehall was courtly. The windows of the living-rooms
looked across the park towards St. James's, whence by re
flection not a little of its claim to distinction was derived.
The new wealth of the Lambs had supplied the beautiful
and ambitious daughter of Sir Ealph Milbank with the means
of spreading the gilded nets of fashion; and within her
subtle toils a rare succession of the gaily plumaged and
idly chattering birds were to be seen, caught for a little while
and then let go. But Lady Melbourne was not a. woman
to be satisfied with a show of brilliant equipages, or the
celebrity of sumptuous banquets over which the guests
lingered untU dawn. Her husband had heen made an Irish
Peer, and a Lord-in-waiting, if not to his Majesty, to his
most gracious son, who should be king hereafter. Farther
on, the baron's coronet had been exchanged for that of a
viscount, why not a seat in the Lower House for one in the
Upper, and an Irish be transfigured into a British Peer?
All this she accomplished by the arts of courtiership, and
by those of fascination over clever men and high-born
dames, epicures of quaUty, poets of renown, statesmen of
note, and Princes of the Blood. Tradition has not preserved
any evidences of her possessing wit, but Sir Joshua and
Maria Cosway give us a vivid notion of her beauty; and that
she possessed the spirit and the grace, the tact of society,
and the instinct of savoir-faire, cannot be doubted. What
sacrifices her indolent and undemonstrative mate had silently
to endure, by what regrets his hours of solitude were
haunted, by what jealousies his dreams were troubled, who
wiU ever know ? The only child in whom he seemed to take

54 3IEM0IBS OF VISCO UNT MELBO UENE.
affectionate interest was Peniston, born to him in 1770, and
while he lived the chief object of his pride and care. He
appears to have transmitted something of his own passive cha
racter to his heir, who in boyhood was obedient, gentle, and
polite ; in adolescence studious, decorous, and fond. Arrived at
man's estate, he became at once a court card in his mother's
hand. That he might have a seat in Parliament, his father in
1793, as we have seen, made way for him at Newport ; and
subsequently he was, by a skilful combination of influences,
returned for Hertfordshire. This distinction he did not
long enjoy. Attacked suddenly by illness for which the
physicians were unable to account, his constitution, never
robust, rapidly gave way; and on the 24th of January,
1805, he expired in his thirty-fifth year. By this so un
expected event William Lamb became heir to the titles and
estates of the family, and thence must be dated the be
ginning of his long and distinguished career.
The death of Peniston stilled in Lord Melbourne's
lonely bosom whatever fitful echoes may have heen wakened
there by the aspirations of his wife. William, in every
respect unlike his elder brother, had always been her
favourite son ; and in his noble features, quick perception,
fine person, and audacious humour, he was the very realisa
tion of all her cherished hopes, the darling object of her
solicitude and love. But all her powers of suasion failed to
place him in the position Peniston had occupied. It is said
that, failing to procure for him the allowance of £5000 a year
his elder brother had enjoyed, she induced a friend to remon
strate with Lord Melbourne on the subject, and to enlist, if
ppssible, hi.*! interest for him who had become his heir. All
was in vain, WiUiam must do with £2000, which was quite
enough for him ; he owned that he was very good-looking,
lively, and clever in a certain way, but he could never be to
him the son whom he had lost. He did not object to paying
the requisite smart-money in order that the family might
still be represented in Parliament, and accordingly a seat
was secured at Leominster for him, who now abandoned all

GOLDEN PBOSPECTS. 55

thoughts of following the profession of the law, and thence
forth devoted his attention to public affairs.
The days of mourning for her first-born were ended, and
Lady Melbourne did not affect to conceal the hope and joy
with which she looked confidently into the future of her
second son. The prospect opening to him was indeed
golden. At six-and-twenty, without drawback or encum
brance, or anxiety of any kind to chill his satisfaction, he
was about to marry her whom he had freely chosen, and
who had shown her preference for him when he was still a
younger son. A seat in Parliameiit, without the trouble
of a contest, and all that was pleasant and luxurious in
town or country life was his, either in possession or in
anticipation. It added not a little to his own and his mother's
happiness, that about the same time his sister Emily, to
whom from childhood and throughout the long continuance
of their subsequent lives he was deeply attached, was he-
trothed*fo.Earl Cowper, one of the richest proprietors in
Hertfordshire, and a man whom every one esteemed. The
bright ^ys of spring were spent partly at Eoehampton and
partly at Melbourne, of which he had always brief fits of
fondness. He said he had a bath of quiet there which he
could never get in London ; and but rarely at Brocket :
it rested and refreshed his spirits more than any other
change he knew. Early in 1805 he became the accepted
suitor of Lady Caroline Ponsonby, to the great satisfaction
of his mother, who appreciated aU the advantages of his
adoption into the highest Whig connection in England.
Lord Besborough's cousin had married Mr. (afterwards Earl)
Grey; and not less nearly, his family was related to many
others of distinction.
Most of Lamb's relatives and friends were members of
Brooks's Club, admission to which was regarded as the
initiatory rite of Whigism. One of his sponsors was Mr. Fox,
who was favourably impressed by his gay incisive talk, and
who augured weU of his design to devote himself to puhUc
life.

56 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
On the 3rd of June his marriage took place with Lady
Caroline, and on the 21st day of July his sister was married
to Earl Cowper. Although it was then usual for the season
to end with the king's birthday on the 4th of June, people
did not go out of town this year so early, and we find mention
made of dinner parties which were numerously attended
throughout July and August. The Prince of Wales returned
from Brighton on the 14th, and dined at Melbourne House,
Lord and Lady Holland, Monk Lewis, Lord and Lady
Beshorough, their daughter and her spouse, and Lord and
Lady Cowper being of the party. From the private letters
of Lord Minto about this date, it appears that he too had
tarried in London all this time :
I accompanied Lord and Lady Holland to Lord Besborough's
at Eoehampton yesterday. We had the two Mr. Lambs-
there, the eldest of whom, having been the second brother,
was intended for the law, and appeared to me a remarkably
pleasant, clever, and well-informed young man ; he is now
the eldest son ; the other, George, seems merely a good-
natured lad. They are very unlike : the eldest puts me
in mind of Windham; the other has something of the
Prince of Wales, only stunted in height, but very like in
some points of manner. Lady Caroline Lamb, wife of
Mr. WiUiam Lamb, and daughter of Lady Beshorough,
was also there.*
The following week Whitehall was deserted for Welwyn,
and the newly married pair spent the rest of the year between
Panshanger and Brocket.
* Letter from Lord Minto, August 24th, 1805.

( 57 ).

CHAPTEE IV.
IN THE COMMONS.

Contemporaries in Parliament — Huskisson — All the Talents — The
Catholic Question — Maiden speech — Plunket — Fall of Grenville
— Second vote of censures-Discouraged as a debater — Birth of
only son — Copenhagen.
The news of Austerlitz reached England early in De
cember; and before Christmas the rumour spread that
the health of Mr. Pitt was faiUng fast. Should he be
unable to meet Parliament early in the year a change of
executive hands would be inevitable ; for no one among his
followers had weight or influence enough to face the lower
ing storm. Tidings of Trafalgar came too late to revive the
spirit of the sinking minister ; and on his decease Lord
Grenville and Mr. Fox were caUed upon to form an adminis
tration. For three-and-twenty years George III. had kept
his word not to admit the leader of the Whigs again to
office, or any who openly adhered to him. The Prince, on the
other hand, continued to profess the utmost friendship for
them,poUticaUy and personally. He stiU frequented Brooks's,
and if its chiefs did not possess his exclusive confidence, the
younger members of the party had no reason to complain
that he forgot them in his revels. Lamb and his brothers
were frequently commanded to Carlton House, and his Eoyal
Highness was not unfrequently a guest at Whitehall.
How All the Talents came together, what they achieved,
and in Uttle more than twelve months how unexpectedly

s5S MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
they fell, can T)e but briefly glanced at here. In the new
administration were combined nearly all the persons whom
Lamb was accustomed to regard as public guides or private
friends. Fox, Windham, and Sheridan, who divided his
admiration in Parliament, had for colleagues Lords Erskine,
Howick, and Henry Petty, towards all of whom he felt the
strongest ties of friendship. His wife's relative was Chan
cellor of Ireland, the Duke of Bedford Viceroy, and Elliot
of Wells, the confidant of Burke in his declining days, was
a second time Secretary. For an effective performance the
parts were badly cast.
With good but irresolute intentions, Elliot went back to
Ireland lamed in reputation by having served in the same
capacity under Lord Camden during the evil days of 1798 —
still too near to be forgotten, too dark to be forgiven. We
know now that he deplored and deprecated many of the
atrocities of that shameful time, but the people justly asso
ciated him with a system in which he had been something
more than a passive accomplice. His look and figure were
as unlucky as the associations revived by his name. Solemn
in feature and spare in person, the thinnest and palest man
in Parliament, they will be sure to call him, said Fitzpatrick,
the " Castle Spectre," and exclaim whenever he moves, " See
where it comes again ! " * Plunket and Bush were indeed
made law officers of the Crown, but Curran by some unex
plained infatuation was passed over, though he was by far
the most popular man of the day ; and he avenged himself
hy incessant jokes at the expense of the new officials, in one
of which he affected to have learned hy accident that the
Chief Secretary had left testamentary directions that if he
died in Ireland, to elude detection in the grave, his body
should he buried in the barrel of a,duck-gun.
Lords Holland and Beshorough urged on Mr. Fox the
folly of leaving such a man as Curran to chafe at neglect and
injustice ; for he had risked and sacrificed for the principles
which the party professed to hold dear infinitely more than
* Lord Holland's ' Memoirs of the Whig Party.'

CUBBAN. 59

most of those who were then enjoying oflice : and his courage
in bearding the ruthless partiality of the judicial hench had
endeared him to an outlawed people. The just and generous
heart of Fox sympathised with the outspoken discontent of
Curran, and he told the Duke of Bedford that the error
must be repaired. His Grace availed himself of the first
opportunity, and by midsummer Curran was appointed
Master of the EoUs.*
On taking his seat in the Commons, Lamb found himself
surrounded by not a few friends and relatives new like
himself to the duties and responsibilities of Parliament.
Lord Althorp, lately returned for Okehampton, was a Junior
Lord of the Treasury ; hut, fonder of hunting than politics,
he was seldom to be seen in the House except on the eve of
a party division. Lord Duncannon attended better, though
hardly yet evincing the aptitude for public business that
eventually distinguished him. On the other side, close to
Mr. Canning, sat the member for Liskeard, who hy marriage
had lately become a near connection of his own.
William Huskisson, the son of a Staffordshire squire,
Lamb's senior hy several years, had entered political life
as secretary to Lord Gower when Minister at Paris; and
by his aptitude for official work he had won his way to
advancement. Soon after, he was named hy Dundas to
superintend the working of the Alien Act ; this duty he dis
charged so well that at twenty-six he became Under-Secre
tary for the Colonies, and in that department gained much of
the knowledge of external trade which subsequently made
him an authority without rival in debate. In 1799 he
married the daughter of Admiral Milbanke, uncle of Lady
Melbourne, an officer who had seen much service and had
earned the commendations of Lord Spencer when he pre
sided at the Admiralty. Mrs. Huskisson was a favourite
at Melbourne House ; her husband, an amiable but formal
man, with a certain air of mauvais honte, was little qualified
* The appointment is dated 28th June, 1806 ; it was vacated by
resignation on the 22iid of February, 1814.

60 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
to mingle in the frivolities and revels there. It was not
until the previous year that he had succeeded in obtain
ing a seat in Parliament : his opponent at Liskeard being
Thomas Sheridan, with whom he had an equal number of
votes at the poll, but whom as competitor he got rid of
on petition, to the no small regret of William Lamb, who
thought the latter far the better fellow of the two. During
the brief term of Mr. Pitt's second administration Hus
kisson was Secretary of the Treasury; and he now pre
pared to maintain his reputation as a rising financier by
sifting the estimates and criticising the Budget of Lord
Henry Petty, whose inexperience in details gave him no
ordinary advantage. Lamb understood little of the ques
tions that arose in debate between them ; but his sym
pathies were all with the Chancellor of the Exchequer ;
and he had nothing in common, either of tastes, habits, or
prejudices with the clever but ill-assured man of calcula
tions. Huskisson was then just six-and- thirty, but in
countenance and bearing he looked considerably older.
Prom some constitutional want of bodily vigour, or a strange
fatality which clung to him through life, too many of his
days were spent in the endurance of pain. In childhood he
had suffered much from a broken arm ; a day or two before
his marriage his horse fell with him, and though he would
not confess it at the time he was hurt severely. Not long
afterwards, when crossing the entrance to the Horse Guards,
he was knocked down by the pole of a carriage ; and in
1801, while staying at Blair Athol, he dislocated his ankle
in attempting to follow the example of others who under
took to leap the Moat : and being unskilfully treated, he
was never afterwards free from a slight degree of lameness.
Untiring in the acquisition of knowledge, conscientious in
the use he made of it, and perspicuous and fluent in discus
sion, a high value was set on his aid hy the leaders of his
party ; but he was not endowed with quaUties calculated to
win any especial favour in society : and for a time he and
Lamb saw little of each other.

TEE CATEOLIC QUESTION. 61
The Whig leader in the Commons succeeded, when the
new administration was formed, in dissuading the Catholic
leaders from presenting their petition during the session.
If they did so he would as usual support it with all his
power; but he warned them that if beaten, the Govern
ment would be broken up, and another formed bent on
their absolute exclusion. Instead of risking what might
prove an abortive effort to grasp all that they desired, he
promised that measures should be brought forward to
secure the Catholics in substance what they had then
only in words — a right to equal promotion in the army,
and to hold municipal offices ; a revision of the local magis
tracy, and a bill for the commutation of tithes : " The effect
of these measures would be partly to make the Catholics
generaUy more contented, partly to enable them to come with
additional weight and strength when they again asserted their
claims."* After the death of Fox the popular party in
Ireland sought by various means to ascertain when the partial
concessions which had been promised by him were likely
to be forthcoming. The Lord Lieutenant was mute, the
Secretary inarticulate, and the Chancellor, who made but an
indifferent judge, was too lofty to be audible. The removal
of corrupt and oppressive magistrates lay with him, and this
part of the promise of Mr. Fox, which needed no new
statute, was not performed owing, it was suspected, to Mr.
Ponsonby's fear of endangering his family influence in certain
constituencies. One attempt he did make to break down the
fence of sectarian exclusion wherewith every seat even of
local judgment was girt round. By the terms of Grattan's
Eelief Act, which Pitt's administration, at the outbreak of
war with revolutionary France, allowed tp pass in 1793,
Eoman Catholics were admitted to the elective franchise, and
such subordinate offices as were not excepted therein. They
* * might not aspire to any then existing rank or dignity of the
law, but the newly created function of salaried Chairman
of Quarter Sessions was plainly not within the mischief of
* Letter to Mr.- Ryan, 1806.

62 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
these reservations. Mr. Bellew, a gentleman of character and
standing at the, bar, was named by the ChanceUor to act as
assessor to the magistrates of Galway, and recommended by
him as well fitted to be their chairman. It was hoped that
his being the son of a baronet of old descent would ex
tenuate the sin of his professing the ancient creed; but
the justices were highly offended, and to all expostulations
proved inexorable. The heart of the Government failed, and
Mr. Bellew was persuaded to relinquish this invidious post
for a pension of £400 a year. Foxhunting intolerance was
left to blunder on undisturbed for twenty years more, and
the community at large paid the annual fine for Mr. Pon
sonby's abortive attempt to steal a morsel of right in a court
house. Grattan vehemently urged in private the policy and
humanity of reforming the unequal and ruinous tithe
system, which he described as a perennial source of distrust,
oppression, and crime. Plunket, who drank out of the same
cup with him, earnestly pleaded for some such measure. The
moderate party out of doors, through Lord Fingall, offered to
exert all their influence to postpone the agitation of the
general question, if this indispensable measure, and one
admitting Catholic officers in the army to the higher grades
of rank and command, were carried without delay. The
democratic majority disparaged these instalments, and fore
told, if they did not actually hope for, their defeat. They
dreamed not of the powerful ally who was secretly preparing
to aid them, and to sow tares while ministers slept, in the
field of gradual reform. That ally was no other than the
King. The new member for Leominster heard these and other
subjects connected with Ireland freely and frequently dis
cussed at Holland House and Eoehampton ; and the impres
sions then left upon his mind remained indelible. He then
first learned the difficult but important lesson which he was
destined subsequently to apply, with a thoroughness none had
ventured to do before him, to retrieve the imperial blunder

POLICY TOWAEDS IBELAND. 63
of provincial oppression, and to win back to healthful
content the temper of a community poisoned by wrong : and
that it were mere folly and impotence to affect the pedantic
observance of rules ordinarily recognised in the administra
tion of a country long accustomed to the equal treatment of
every class and creed. He knew, as yet, little or nothing of
the island with the government of which he was subse
quently to be occupied and identified more than any minister
of his time ; but even to his inexperience the question
irresistibly suggested itself — why not govern through the
men whom the majority trust and honour, instead of by those
who are generally hated or feared ? And he learned like
wise the yet more important principle in the policy of
concession, that it is neVer worth while, where a great evil is
confessed and a great want admitted, to attempt remedies hy
halves. The inducement held out by Fox to the CathoUc
leaders, that the instalment he contemplated was one which
would enable them to exact the rest, was of all others,
calculated to alarm the fears of ascendency and inflame its
antagonism ; or if not, and if in full view of future demands
unsatisfying concessions should be granted, why not offer to
pay at once the debt of justice in fuU ? To fritter away the
credit of the giver and the gratitude of the receiver, was not
more objectionable than needlessly to keep up agitation after
the main point in dispute had been yielded. It wiU be found
that, when Lamb came himself to deal with measures involv
ing the same choice of difficulties, he preferred the manlier and
simpler course, and found therein the satisfaction of success ;
until on the occasion of the very last legislative measure to
which he was a party by the surrender of his own judgment
as to the inexpediency of stopping short halfway, he was
finally overthrown.
Meanwhile the session was suffered to pass without a de
bate on the general question of religious disabUities ; and the
partial relaxations promised as payments on account were
deferred to a more convenient season.
The death of Fox irreparably shook the credit and in-

64 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
fluence of the ministry. The portfolio of foreign affairs was
given to Lord Howick ; and the leadership of the Commons
was likewise intrusted to him. Thoroughly conversant with
the ideas and intentions of his distinguished predecessor,
and having the entire confidence of Lord GrenviUe, he con
tinued to pursue a policy unchanged with respect to the
conduct of the war. His coldness, and inapproachability by
the rank and file, strikingly contrasted with the affable and
communicative manner of him who was gone, and tended,
no doubt, to lessen the authority which his acknow
ledged talents and integrity were calculated to give him.
But he possessed qualities of guidance and control that
won respect from those who neither loved his politics
or his person. Speaker Abbot, when asked who of all
the leaders he had known did best the business at the
table, said,
Beyond all doubt Lord Howick : even Pitt, though he had
a great majority, and could accomplish marvels when he
chose to exert his power of speaking, was neither so clear
or so decided in the conduct of details ; and of course
Addington was not to be compared with either. But when
Howick stated what he meant to do regarding a particular
measure or motion, I knew exactly what to expect, and that
he would suffer no departure from his word.
But the place so long occupied by Fox 'in the bosom of
his friends and followers, no one could supply. He was
perhaps the only parliamentary chief whose ascendency
had been originaUy gained, and when lost through political
dissension had been regained by the force of personal attach
ment. Other party leaders have commanded larger majori
ties and carried more great measures, but none before or
since was ever so beloved, nor was the loss of any ever so
lamented. Lamb had in childhood sat at his feet, and in
youth hung upon his genial talk, and learned when he came
to man's estate to regard him with sentiments of party

MAIDEN SPEECE 65

loyalty which he could never feel for any other man. Upon
the pedestal of Fox's bust he wrote the following lines : —
Live, marble, live! for thine's a sacred trust,
The patriot's name that speaks a noble mind;
Live, that our sons may stand before thy bust.
And hail tbe benefactor of mankind!
This was the man, who, midst tbe tempest's rage,
A mark of safety to the nation stood;
Warn'd with prophetic voice a servile age,
And strove to quench the ruthless thirst for blood.
This was the man, whose ever deathless name
Recalls his generous life's illustrious scenes ;
To bless his fellow-creatures was his aim —
And universal liberty his means !
On the 19th of December, 1806, Lamb moved the address
in reply to the speech from the throne. The renewal of
exertions to resist the continual aggression of France had
been rendered indispensable by the rejection of all terms of
accommodation ; and though we had but two aUies left in
Europe, he hoped and beUeved that the spirit of the country
would not repine at the burthens and sacrifices that would
be necessary to maintain our attitude of national resistance.
The internal condition of the realm was prosperous and
tranquil; aU classes were contented, and our commerce
flourished. Mr. Canning moved, as an amendment, an elaborate
counter-address, effusive in profession of devotion to the
sovereign, and boastful of the courage and loyalty of the
people, and pledging ParUament to greater efforts by sea
and land to make good successes recently gained " notwith
standing the apparent inactivity of ministers," and their
tardy and recalcitrant negotiations abroad. Howick de
nounced the amendment and sf eech as unwarranted by fact,
and as more fitting a charge of impeachment. Castlereagh
defended Canning, but was glad the amendment was not to
be pressed. The Talents then sought to strengthen themselves in
VOL. I.

66 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
debate, especially on the Catholic question. Ponsonby and
Grattan urged the pre-eminent worth of the aid in this
respect which Plunket could afford. He was personally
unknown among the Scotch and English Whigs; but his
forensic reputation stood already high, and his old leaders
in the Irish Parliament recalled with enthusiasm the courage
and vigour of his denunciations of the means employed to
carry the Union. At the beginning of 1807, at the special
request of Grenville, he consented to come into Parliament
for the close borough of Midhurst. He was not long in re
deeming the promise of his friends ; and on an early occasion
made a speech which Whitbread declared would never be
forgotten. No intelligible report remains, and he himself
did not think it worth preserving. His unwillingness at
all times to take the trouble of reproducing from memory
what he had spoken was almost insuperable; and the
minute preparation of sentences and phrases beforehand was
a labour he could seldom bring himself to undergo. On the
logical ground-plan and the well-proportioned pillars of his
argument he grudged no thought or care ; for his mind he-
came thoroughly charged with any great cause he espoused ;
and all its powers were given cheerfully and unstintedly
to the development in due order, in the marshalling in
fit procession, resources of reasoning, sarcasm, illustration,
and invective. Ehetorical vanity he had none ; and though
in his rich wardrobe of words the variety seemed inexhaust
ible, scarcely anything that could be termed a decoration
was to be found. This was his only speech of any importance
during the two months he sat for Midhurst ; for after the
dissolution in May he did not offer himself again. He
remained out of Parliament for five ensuing years. Lamb
was among the most attentive of his hearers on the occasion
referred to, and among the m«6t anxious of those who longed
to hear him again ; for Plunket, if he failed to dazzle and
charm him like Canning, swayed his judgment in Irish
affairs even more. He preferred his masculinity of thought
and style to the whimsicality and sometimes extravagance

CATHOLIC OFFICEBS BILL. 67

of Grattan ; Plunket, he said, came nearer to his ideal of
Demosthenes. When the purport of the Catholic Officers BiU was explained
¦by Howick to the King he raised no objection; and notice
thereupon was given for the introduction of the measure.
It was received in Ireland with general indifference, pro
voking no anger, and eliciting no thanks.
In his confidential correspondence the Duke of Bedford
furnished the Home Secretary, for the information of the
Cabinet, with a careful account of the various meetings
of Catholics in Dublin during the spring, and of several
interviews given by him to Catholic peers, and by Mr. Elliot
to deputations of landed proprietors and merchants, at which
this proposal of limited concession, and the expediency of
petitioning for general relief from disabilities, were discussed.
Lords Fingall, Ffrench and Gormanston, Sir Edward Bellew,
Mr. Keogh, and Mr. Burke, are with others mentioned as
persons of influence and weight ; but no allusion is made,
by name or otherwise, to Mr. O'Connell. Up to this time,
and for some years later, Mr. Keogh performed somewhat
languidly and condescendingly the part of leader. As a
man of property and intelligence, he was uniformly treated
with respect ; but in meetings said to have varied from
fifty persons to two hundred, there was not much room for
the exercise of stimulating rhetoric; and the drenching
showers of caution which fell upon their deliberations when
ever the wind blew from the east and the mail-bags were
delivered from London were not propitious to ignition when
any sparks did fall. In general the measure for equalising
the condition of Catholic officers in the army was regarded
with silent indifference. At a public meeting Lord Fingall
moved to defer any general petition for relief, lest it should
impede the measure and embarrass Government; neither
reason was thought of sufficient weight, but the former was
hardly thought worth noticing.* While ministers were
* Duke of Bedford to Lord Spencer, Feb. 17th, 1807.
F 2

68 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
confidentially assuring George III. " that they could not look
without great uneasiness and apprehension at the state of
Ireland, which they considered the only vulnerable part of
the British Empire," * and warning him that the situation
of that country appeared to them " to constitute the most
formidable part of the existing difficulties " t of the realm,
the surface of discontent remained unruffled by a passing
gust of complaint. It was the sullen torpor of despondency,
generated by the memory, still fresh, of the horrors and
miseries of ineffectual resistance, and by a hardening unbelief
in hopes and promises of redress. The Whigs had been
twelve months in office, and nothing had been done even
through the medium Of legislation. To the bulk of the
community the obstacles that hindered them were utterly
unknown ; and save to a very few persons who had oppor
tunities of private communication with members of the
Government, their silence seemed, and could not but seem,
evidence of insincerity. Even Moore, the especial favourite
of their salons, could not refrain from blended ridicule and
reproach : — As bees on flowers alighting ceased to hum,
So settling upon places Whigs grow dumb.
With their apology before us, from the pen of one of the
most candid and consistent amongst them, we may judge the
Grenville cabinet more leniently, though he himself admits
their conduct on the whole was indefensible.
George III. believed that he might with impunity reject
their half-hearted counsel, backed as it was by no popular
demand ; and before the bill came on for second reading he
informed his ministers that it went beyond what he could
conscientiously yield. He had misunderstood, he said, the
scope of the measure, and required that it should be with
drawn. Lord Grenville, thfe Chancellor, the Duke of Portland,
the Chief Justice, and Lord Spencer were for compliance, and
sooner than break up the Government their colleagues ac
quiesced. The King, having thus humiliated them, demanded
* Cibinet Minute, March 15th, 1807. f Ibid. March 18th, 1807.

FALL OF GBENVILLE. 69
a pledge that under no circumstances should he be disturbed
by such a proposition again. This was too much, and they
all forthwith resigned.
Lord Holland owned to Lamb, in whom he placed especial
confidence, that he was adverse to their withdrawal of the
bill ; but being the youngest and most inexperienced member
of the cabinet, he thought it hopeless to resist. He believed
that if the Duke of Bedford and Lord Spencer, who were
primarily responsible, as Viceroy and Home Secretary, for the
pledges given by Fox, had tendered their resignation in
the first instance, they might have caused a schism among
their friends ; but public opinion would have done them
justice, and public faith would have revived. The concession
offered was confessedly the minimum of redress, for sake of
which they hoped that all the rest would be aUowed to stand
adjourned sine die; yet that minimum they consented to
abandon in a vain attempt to appease the crazy prejudices
of the sovereign. Their submission, contrary to their con
viction of what was intrinsically right, and what they had
declared requisite for the safety of the realm, could not have
been justified had it stood alone.
The surrender of our opinions — wrote Lord Holland some
years afterwards— was, as I then thought and still think,
quite wrong. It might in many cases prove as injudicious
in policy as it was indefensible in principle. . . The im--
patience of the King to get rid of us spared us the em
barrassment, and gave to our blunder all the effect and
advantage of an act of dexterity. He put himself com
pletely in the wrong, and relieved us from a situation
from which it had otherwise been difficult to extricate
ourselves with honour.*
On the formation of Mr. Perceval's Cabinet of resistance
to aU concession, Mr. Brand moved, "That itis contrary to
the first duties of the confidential servants of the Crown to
restrain themselves by any pledge, expressed or implied,
* ' Memoirs of the Whig Party,' vol. ii. p. 202.

70 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
from offering to the King any advice which the course of
circumstances may render necessary for the welfare and
security of any part of his Majesty's extensive empire."
Lamb seconded the motion in a careful speech. It
reads like a fragment of one of the many constitutional
pamphlets which lie thick in Hansard, and which can only
be accounted for, in their mutilated state, by imperfect
reporting, or by the failure of their authors to catch or to
keep the ear of the House. The instinct of that assembly
has been ever quick to discern when a gentleman meditates
inflicting on it a dissertation upon the general aspects of a
subject about which he has probably nothing original to
say. It may be that all he has written down and got hy
heart is good enough for himself, as an exercise of mind or
as evidence quantum valeat that he has something in him,
or, if by good luck it is given in the journals next day, as
redeeming a hustings pledge to make himself heard at
St. Stephen's. But prize essays of the sort are not thought
good for them by the bulk of the House of Commons. A
witty or bitter attack is worth hearing; a humorous or
even a ludicrous defence is worth staying for, but a set dis
quisition, philosophic, pretentious, or vague, is upon the
whole better not heard, for it tends simply to generate a
low fever of impatience, a sense of headache, and eventually
an ungracious cry of " Divide." The more faultless the
exercise the worse for its author's chance of getting it
listened to, because the less chance of interjection or inter
ruption breaking the reproachful silence which gravely
warns to desist those who are not wanted. What is sur
prising is that so many clever men at their wits' end for an
occasion to talk should fall into the error, and only discover
their mistake when, after certain preliminary platitudes the
chill of a general thaw comes over them, and they perceive
friends and foes gently melting away through the side
doors ; there is nothing for it then but to break off with a
well-turned declaration that everything has been said al
ready that needs to be said, and that the case is incon-

MINISTEBIAL PLEDGES. 71

testable. The scrap of the speech ascribed to Mr. Lamb in
1807 reads like a paragraph or two in a letter from " Verax"
to the Editor of the Times when everybody is out of town.
A quaint quotation from Lord Coke nods threateningly over
the field of view. " The great Keeper of the Seal," it is
said, "maintained that the councillors of the king ought
to leave simulation and dissimulation at the porter's lodge
when they came to council." This notion, when worked
out and applied to the outgoing and the incoming ministry
in phrases trenchant and terse, might have been made to
tell on the sensibilities of those who had lost and those who
had won ; but the working-out and the application do not
appear — possibly never were uttered, though we may take
for granted that they were all to be found clearly written in
the pigeon-hole of some escritoire at Melbourne House.
The constitution of this realm required that the king in
exercising the functions of government should take the
advice of the two great councils of the nation, the
Houses of Lords and Commons. But the slow progress
as well as publicity of their deliberations would in many
instances destroy that secrecy and interfere with that
promptitude and despatch so often necessary to the
success of the measures of the government. It had been
adopted as a principle coeval with the constitution that
the right and duty of both Houses to advise the sovereign
might be deputed to a selection from the members of
both Houses, chosen by his Majesty as his privy coun
cillors, by whose advice every act of the government was
supposed to be guided ; and thus, as far as was possible
in a human institution, to give to the free government of
England all the advantages of secrecy and despatch which
belong to an arbitrary monarchy. But what surety did
the country possess that this duty would be uniformly
performed by men who could restrain themselves by a
pledge to withhold their advice from his Majesty npon
any occasion, however important or indispensable ? What

72 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
security had the country against such men giving their
sovereign the worst advice ; or how could the people be
secure of their liberties under the government of men who,
for the sake of possessing power, could violate their duty
to their sovereign, break their oaths as privy councillors
and sink their responsibility as ministers? If such a
doctrine as that of the pledge required were to be allowed
to pass or to be sanctioned, the constitution would be at
an end. Ministers might be men of rank and talent, but
by signing such a pledge they would resign their duty as
honest councillors of the Crown ; and if the House were to
sit silent on such a question, it would abandon that con
stitution which was its pride, its duty, and its glory to
maintain, to preserve, and to defend.
Plunket in a long and able speech contended that the
motion meant no reflection on the King ; but those who had
recently advised him had done a double injury, first in in
ducing his Majesty to believe that he was acting contrary
to the interests of his people, and next in persuading him to
demand an unconstitutional pledge.
Grattan supported the resolutions as did Sir S. EomiUy,
Whitbread and Howick. But on a division it was defeated
by 258 to 226, after two nights' debate. Mr. Brand was com
plimented on the moderation and discretion of the motion,
but no notice appears to have been taken of Lamb.
His only son was born on the 11th of August, 1807, and
was named by the Prince of Wales, as sponsor at his baptism,
George Augustus Frederick. Of the many hopes encircling
his infancy none were destined to be realised. Miss Berry
notes in her diary, the following May, with what maternal
pride Lady Caroline took her to a room at the top of the
house at Whitehall to see her little boy asleep, who then
promised well, only that he seemed too big for his age. Next
day he was seized with fits, which it was thought-would prove
fatal. Life unhappily was preserved, but only to himself to
prove a burthen, and to his father a grief incurable.

SEIZUBE OF THE DANISH FLEET. 73

Early in the session of 1808, the conduct of ministers
was impugned regarding the memorable seizure of the
Danish fleet, without any previous declaration of war, in
breach of the. recognised comity of nations. If meditated
treachery on the part of Denmark had been discovered it
might and ought to be disclosed. Vague suspicion, it was
contended, could not justify the sudden and arbitrary demand
by our admiral, at the head of an outnumbering squadron,
that the ships of an ally lying at anchor in their own
waters should be surrendered as hostages for future observance
of peace. Such a precedent would be fatal to all sense of
international good faith or security; and ParUament had,
therefore, a right to know what speciflc grounds there were
for imputing to the Danes a perfldious purpose which could
alone constitute our vindication. In both Hduses the
correspondence was called for between the Foreign Office,
and the English Envoy at Copenhagen. The motion being
made by the new leader of Opposition Mr. G. Ponsonby,
Lamb could not but take a lively interest in a contention the
subject and character of which quickened the pulse of every
man of political feeling at the time ; and one can imagine how
ill his undisciplined expectations of dashing and damaging
onslaught were realised by the speech of his relative in
moving that the secret despatches should be laid upon the
table. The ex-Chancellor was, after all, but the equity pleader
still. He opened the case very much as he uaed to do in
the Court of Chancery, with precision and method, with
many innuendoes in ambush, and the heavy pomp of a funeral
cavalcade. No better foil could have been furnished to the
brilliancy of Canning, radiant with exultation at the success
of his first exploit as Minister for Foreign Affairs. Secure
of a majority, and confident in his power of arousing all the
national pride and passion on his side, he revelled in the
boast that he and his colleagues had not missed a great
opportunity as their predecessors had done, and that he had
built up the national power and influence, which had been
dilapidated by them. They had designed a similar expedition

74 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.

with reference to Portugal, where they failed to carry it to
completion. He could show, if he chose to violate confldence,
ample justification for doubting the sincerity and distrusting
the stability of the Court of Denmark in its promise to keep
neutral ; but whatever the verdict of the House might be,
for himself he would ever glory in the expedition to Copen
hagen, for it had saved the country. Windham, equally
warm on the other side, declared that it was an abandon
ment of the established rules of international dealing, and
the beginning of a war of plunder. The stain on the national
honour could only be wiped out by the parliamentary condem
nation implied in the proposed resolution. Palmerston argued
that ministers were pledged to observe secrecy regarding
the information on which they had acted ; while Whitbread
did not believe Government could produce letters such as
they pretended to possess. Not that he accused them of
actual forgery of the extracts they had read, but if the
contexts were produced, these garbled extracts would tell a
very different tale. Ministers had vaunted having outdone
Napoleon with the vigour and rapidity of their measures.
France had slain a giant ; and they had imbued their hands
in the blood of a dwarf. Lord Granville L. Gower, from
personal knowledge, attested the reality of the cause for
apprehension that Eussia as well as the other Baltic States
had heen secretly won "over by Napoleon to a maritime
confederacy for the extermination of English commerce ; and
Castlereagh denied that in time of public danger ministers
were free to produce all the information they relied on.
Angry taunts and bitter scoffs were interchanged through
out the night, and it was near six in the morning ere it was
announced by the tellers that Government had triumphed
by 253 to 108 votes. On this occasion — and likewise when
the subject was revived by Whitbread some days later,
chiefly with a view of declaring on behalf of Lord Grey that
his despatches to Mr. Garlicke in 1806 had been unfairly
quoted — Lamb voted with his party. But his confidence
in their power to achieve anything was daunted ; and his

CONDUCT IN OPPOSITION. 75
belief in his own capacity for debate waxed so cold that he
did not make any attempt to speak during the session. His
attendance, like that of Althorp, at this period was desultory
and broken by many intervals devoted to pleasure ; but he
was generally ready to be in his place when the elders
whom he trusted thought it needful or important. Plunket
had disappeared from the scene, not to be lured back by the
blandishments of Lord Grenville, or the offer of reappoint
ment as Attorney-General by Lord Eedesdale. Ponsonby and
Grattan and Newport led his convictions in Irish affairs ; we
£nd him voting with them in favour of increasing the grant
to Maynooth from £9250 to £13,000 a year, to prevent many
of the students for the Catholic priesthood being sent abroad
for their education. In general politics he appears to have
usually voted in consonance with the opinions of those with
whom he lived. Among them the policy of the new ad
ministration was held in as much aversion as its capabilities
were treated with disparagement. Canning while he re
tained office, and after him Lord WeUesley, were indeed
exceptions to their disdain ; but Perceval and Castlereagh
were habitual themes of depreciation; and Lamb had
not the vanity, while yet inexperienced in public affairs, to
set up for himself as a discerner of spirits. In the daily
round of refined and luxurious existence, time gUded by.
The lot had fallen to him in pleasant places. As yet there
was no shadow on his path ; and if, contrary to the heUef of
HoUand House, the Tories should last for ever, he was ready
to say with Mr. Fox, " that in the company of witty men
and pretty women, with plenty of fresh air, old books, and
nothing to do, life was very endurable."
Meanwhile the family continued to enjoy the favour of
Carlton House, the heir to the throne being present at
assembUes given by Lady Caroline and attended by Sheridan
and other intimates of the circle, tarrying at supper not un
frequently tUl break of day.*
* Miss Berry's Journal, vol. ii. p. 346.

76 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.

CHAPTEE V.
VOTES IN OPPOSITION.
Charges against the Duke of York^Abolition of sinecures — Beform
of the criminal law — Bestrictions on the Begency — A Lord of the
Bedchamber — Support of the war — Death of Perceval.
Had any one told either Lady Spencer or Lady Melbourne,
on coming to town early in 1809, that before Easter her son
would be found censuring by his vote in Parliament the
most affable Prince of the blood, he would have been deemed
a trifler or insane. If any one had told the youthful and
idle politicians themselves that such an unwelcome duty
lay before them he would assuredly have seemed to them
as one that mocked. Had anybody ventured to repeat
the prophecy a month later, when sinister rumours had'
got into circulation of disclosures about to be made of mal
practices at the Horse Guards, Althorp in half an hour
would have forgotten it at the next meet of the Pytchley
Hounds, and Lamb would have answered with an indolent
stare or a lazy laugh. Yet so it was to be. A test of the
very different metal of which the two were made was about
to be applied, unexpectedly and painfully. There is no
reason to suppose that at this early period the judgment
of either was materially influenced by that of the other-
but the coincidence of the views they formed and acted
upon under all the circumstances, may be regarded as the
first link in the long chain of sympathy that bound them
together in political Ufe. To the careless observer they had

LOBD ALTHOEP. 77

little in common. Their pursuits and tastes, their ways
of life and notions of enjoyment were in all respects the
most opposite. It could hardly be said that the political
opinions of either were as yet mature, or that as party men
their joints were yet flrmly knit. But there was in both of
them, unprofessed in wordy platitude and hitherto never
put to the proof, a genuine love of justice for its own sake,
and a fearless independence of character which inevitably
begot mutual confidence and respect, and eventually led an
ever- widening circle to -look to and to trust them.
Lord Althorp had been more than four years in Par
liament. His distaste for general society, his unacquaintance
with literature and art, his inveterate bashfulness — which
imparted a sense of hesitation to his utterance of earnest
thoughts, provokingly unlike their clearness and solidity —
had precluded his attainment of political influence out of
doors, except in his own county, the representation of which
he held without a contest from 1806 until he became a
peer. For two years he had worked hard at Cambridge to
gratify his mother's wish that he should be in the first
class, and by dint of self-denial of all his favourite amuse
ments he succeeded in gaining the first place, a very un
usual thing for young patricians in that day, then pre
cluded from even competing for the higher honours of the
University. He thus acquired a knowledge of the ele
mentary science of calculation, which fitted into the matter-
of-fact texture of his mind and grew with it to maturity.
He became a scientific agriculturist and a valuable assistant
in public inquiries where the collation of minute facts or
the elucidation of complicated figures was involved. For
a good while he was too much absorbed in country pursuits
to attend regularly at Westminster; but by degrees he
took more interest in national affairs, rather for the sake of
the practical improvements in legislation he deemed neces
sary, than from any strong interest in party warfare. The
Whigs knew he would always vote straight for what was
most liberal ; and the reporters knew what he meant to say

78 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
although he did not always succeed in saying it. When
beaten, which was frequently the case, he was never seen to
frown, and with an opponent he was just as good-humoured
next day as with a defeated friend. His parents were more
fond than proud of him, for never had accomplished
and ambitious parents a more unambitious or ungraceful
son. But they loved his sterling worth, and had implicit
confidence that whenever tried he would be found worthy of
his name.
Early in the session Colonel Wardle, an almost unknown
and wholly uninfluential member of the ministerial party,
gave notice of motion for an inquiry into the misconduct of
the Commander-in-Chief, to whom he openly imputed cor
rupt connivance in the sale by his mistress of commissions
and promotions in the army. People asked in wonder if he
were in earnest, or what his antecedents were. Mr. Elliot
and Lord Castlereagh had unfavourable recollections of him
in Ireland, where he commanded a Welsh regiment of
Fencibles during the rebellion of 1798, by whom some of
the atrocities were committed that excited the indignation
of the gallant Abercromby and the grief of the humane
Cornwallis. Otherwise his antecedents had been obscure.
His seat had been won by' the profession of extreme opinions,
but having neither education, talent or fortune, he had no
chance of making way with his own side, and was taunted
with seeking notoriety by playing up to the cheers of the
other. The Whig leaders had no fancy, however, for such
a recruit. Ponsonby, Tierney, and Lord Henry Petty gave
ministers to understand that they discredited his imputa
tions and regretted their utterance as a public scandal.
General Fitzpatrick and Mr. Windham, who enjoyed the
personal friendship of his Eoyal Highness, were more open
in their condemnation, and Lord Grey was known to have
spoken of the affair as a mean and miserable species of per
secution.* If Mr. Perceval had met the motion with a
summary refusal it is possible that no more would have
* Le Marchant's ' Memoir of Viscount Althorp,' ch. vi.

DUKE OF YOEK. 79

been heard of the matter, for no man of mark on either side
was disposed to have his name associated with accusations
which, if not incredible, it was generaUy supposed would
never be substantiated. But the Duke had given such
personal assurances of their utter groundlessness that the
minister was tempted to challenge the accuser to the proof;
and for many days the House was occupied in the examina
tion of witnesses at the bar, whose revelations filled Govern
ment with dismay and the public with rage and shame.
Attempts were then made to break down the value of the
evidence, much of which would not have been admitted hy a
court of law; EomiUy and Whitbread felt called on to
interpose for the protection of witnesses and the elucidation
of the truth ; and it became evident that a growing section
df ministerialists were getting ashamed of the transaction.
Excitement out of doors rapidly waxed warm. On the other
hand, all the influence of the Court was brought to the aid of
Government, and in a House where so many members had
virtually no constituents it was only surprising that a
minority of two hundred should have been found steadfastly
resisting Mr. Perceval's resolution exonerating the Com
mander-in-Chief from complicity in corruption. But many
grievous charges had not been confuted; Wilberforce
and Sir Eobert Peel,* J. W. Ward, N. Sneyd, and other
ministerialists voted with Opposition, and one hundred and
fifty members did not vote at all. Next day Perceval
informed the House that the Duke had retired from the
command of the army, which he had held for fourteen years.
Althorp moved that in consequence of his Eoyal Highness
having resigned it was not necessary to proceed further in
the matter. This implied censure was rejected by two to
one. Lamb, Milton, and Whitbread voting in the minority.
The younger Liberals would have carried their virtual
triumph further. Lord Folkestone moved for a committee of
general inquiry into the existence of any corrupt practices
in the disposal of offices in any department of the State,
* The father of the Statesmen.

80 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.

He was supported by Mr. Whitbread and Lord A. Hamilton,
but opposed by Mr. Ponsonby, Mr. Tierney, and Lord Henry
Petty on constitutional grounds, and by Canning and
Perceval on the part of the Government. Only thirty voted
for the motion, against one hundred and seventy-eight ; but
in the minority were Lord Althorp, Lord Forbes, Sir John
St. Aubyn, Lyttelton, Pelham, Dudley North, Western,
Coke, Ord, Lord Ossulston, and Lamb.*
In the autumn Lord H. Petty was called to the Upper
House on the death of his brother ; and the Opposition lost
in him their most popular and trusted leader. In a private
letter Lord Palmerston notices the event with characteristic
clearness of appreciation :
Potty's elevation to the Upper House is a great circumstance
for us, not so much from the harm which he would have
done us by his individualat tacks, as from the unity and
vigour the Opposition would have acquired by placing him
ostensibly, at least, at their head ; a situation for which he
was well qualified, but into which there is not another
individual among them whom they can with equal
advantage elect.f
Hansard contains no record of Lamb in 1808 or 1809 ;
but in 1810 he supported Mr. Fuller's motion to abolish
sinecure places. He charged Perceval, who preceded him in
debate, with misrepresenting the aims and motives of his
honourable friend, who really sought to purify and not to
subvert parliamentary institutions.
His objection to these places was that they had a tendency
to introduce into Parliament men who could not be expected
to give an unbiassed suffrage in any discussion, and who
would at all times be ready to sell their votes for their offices.
He objected to these offices as not only offering means of
venal support to administration, but as also giving birth
and strength to a factious opposition to Government —
* Letter from Lord Althorp to his father, April 19th, 1809.
t To Lord Malmesbury, November 24th, 1809.

CBIMINAL LA W EEFOEM. 81

when those who vote and are numbered in the day of
battle think they have reason to complain, if they happen
to be overlooked in the distribution of the spoU.*
Though supported by Creecy, Lord Archibald Hamilton,
and Whitbread, on an understanding that the subject would
be revived when the report was brought up of the Finance
Committee the motion was withdrawn.
EomiUy found in Lamb a willing convert to the doctrines
of merciful wisdom he sought to apply in the reform of the
criminal law. Every abatement in the sanguinary catalogue
of penalties for offences against property proposed by that
gentle and sagacious preacher in the wilderness, had his
cordial support. In May 1810 EomiUy snatched a second
reading in a thin house for one of what Bentham called his
Anti-hanging Bills ; but on a subsequent stage the zealots
for the scaffold rallied to the rescue ; and though Canning,
Wilberforce, Brougham, Abercromby, Sir. W. Grant, Granville
Sharp, Lamb, and other disciples who loved and trusted him
were at their posts, orthodox cruelty succeeded in throwing
out the measure by a majority of one.
He likewise supported a motion of his friend Mr. Brand
for an inquiry into the state of the national representation,
with a view to a juster distribution of electoral power. Pon
sonby and Whitbread, Tierney and Newport led a respect
able minority in its favour; but Canning and Windham
persisted in regarding EngUsh reform as but an abridged
edition of French revolution; and they were able to lend
ministers a decisive majority.
In October Mr. Lamb, accompanied by Lady Caroline,
met Lord Palmerston at the house of Mr. Conyers, where
there was a shooting party, but the woods were so full of
traps and spring guns that the owner " dared not set his
foot in any of his plantations lest he should leave it behind
him." He shot better than his friend, who tells, in his own
characteristic way, how he brought down but one brace of
* Hansard, vol. xv. p. 383, February 12th.
VOL. I. &

82 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
pheasants owing to the high wind which blew; bnt Lamb
was luckier, and always found the wind lower when he fired,
which was a knack he had through life, which stood him in
good stead in politics as in sporting.*
Towards the end of the year the illness of the king
rendered it necessary that Parliament should make provision
for the exercise of the royal authority, and resolutions were
submitted to the House having for their object its limitation
with regard to making peers and conferring offices for life.
Opposition contended, as in 1787, that the Prince of Wales
should be unfettered during his regency in the use of the
prerogative. Prolonged debates arose on the mode in which
Parliament ought to perform its exceptional function. Perce
val would have them declare the right and duty of the two
Houses to supply the defect in the personal exercise of the
sovereign authority. Sir F. Burdett and Lord W. Eussell
were for acknowledging the Heir Apparent as invested de
jure with supreme executive power without any abstract
declaration by Parliament implying their right to give or to
withhold it. WiUiam Lamb replied with much animation
that such doctrine comported not with sound constitutional
principle or usage; and was highly complimented by Mr.
Stephen and others on the excellence of his argument.
But when it came to the adoption of the proposed
restrictions Government found it difficult to carry their
recommendations. Lamb was intrusted by his party with
the duty of moving an amendment on the principal
resolution for limiting the functions of the Prince Eegent.
He began by expressing his inability to foUow the right
honourable gentleman through the more minute parts of his
able speech, but felt it to be his duty to submit some observa
tions upon the general principles involved in this great
question to the consideration of the House. The right
honourable gentleman had now opened the plan under which
he proposed to commit, during the incapacity of his Majesty,
to his Eoyal Highness the Prince of Wales the government
* Letter to his sister, October 29th, 1810.

SPEECE ON EEGENCY. 83
of these realms ; and it was for Parliament to decide how far
that pla,n was expedient, or whether it was such as could
with propriety be adopted. With respect to those functions
derived under the king, but in the exercise of which he had
no immediate concern, such as the administration of justice
in the courts of law, it was evident that the royal authority
had suffered no diminution, and that the powers of the
executive were in their full force and vigour ; but where
the mind of his Majesty was to be applied, where the
personal judgment of the sovereign had to be called into
action, there the executive was incomplete, and those powers
were dead and gone, and dormant to as great an extent as
would result even from the demise of the king. The
question now, therefore, before the Committee was, whether
they would supply those powers in a complete and efficient
manner, or in the mode proposed by the right honourable
gentleman. With respect to the precedents of 1788, upon
which so much had been said, and to which so much
authority had been ascribed, he must say that, having never
been carried into effect, it wanted the great sanction of all
authority, it wanted the sanction which every precedent
should have, that of experience. It was in reality no
precedent, and he was convinced that, had it been carried
into effect at that period, the consequences would have been
found to be most injurious to the country. But should any
gentlemen, from deference to the characters of the eminent
men of the day, and more particularly to that of the dis
tinguished individual with whom it originated, be inclined
to look to it with more respect, they would do well to
consider the times that had passed over in the interval, and
the different circumstances in which the country stood and
stands respectively at the two different periods. It was not
enough, in describing that difference, to say with the right
honourable gentleman that we were then in a state of peace
and now in a state of war (and here he must beg to remark
that there was a reprehensible levity in the right honourable
gentleman's manner upon this part of the subject, which he
G 2

84 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.

thought but ill accorded with its nature and importance).
The country was then not only in a state of peace, but of
internal tranquillity and safety ; now it was engaged in
foreign war, oppressed with internal dissatisfaction, sur
rounded with peril and with danger. Such was the situation
in which they were called upon to constitute a limited
regency; hut let gentlemen put it to their own minds,
then, whether, under such circumstances, a proposition of
that kind could with propriety be acceded to; and with
respect to the precedent of 1788, so much but so un
deservedly relied on, let them reflect, whether, if the limited
government then projected had been carried into effect, and
his Majesty had not happily recovered, that government
would have had force or energy enough to weather the storm
of the French Eevolution. It was not necessary for him to
speak here of the measures adopted at that period, or the
alarm which was spread in consequence of that great event ;
men's minds were sufficiently made up on those points.
There might have heen, and he had no doubt there were,
many persons in that and in this country who believed that
the alarms which prevailed in this country during the
French Eevolution had no solid foundation, and were excited
without justifiable cause ; but there were also gentlemen
who believed that there were real grounds for those alarms ;
and he would therefore put it to those gentlemen to say, if
they believed that during the period of those alarms we
should have been able to weather the storm with the arm of
the royal prerogative so palsied and weakened? With
respect to external danger at the present moment, he had
not words to express his sense of it, and as to domestic
danger, though he had not much fear in general of opinions
that could be met with other opinions, he was not without
his apprehensions. What were called Jacobinical principles
in the former instance — the refinements of philosophy and
the speculations of theorists which characterised that day,
carried a sort of corrective in their own wildness and ex
travagance ; but the doctrines which were now afloat were

IMPOLICY OF BESTBICTIONS. 85
much more dangerous, because more specious and more
seemingly constitutional. But, after all, why should Parlia
ment entertain such suspicions of his Eoyal Highness as
were evidently to be inferred from imposing such limita
tions? He did not mean to offer any personal eulogium
upon that iUustrious personage, agreeing as he did with
the right honourable gentleman in the impropriety and
irrelevancy of it upon the present occasion; but still he
could not avoid saying that he considered such suspicions
wholly unfounded and unnecessary. Why was that illustrious
person to be deprived of the necessary power for effectually
exercising the royal prerogative? The right honourable
gentleman told them that he would vest him with all the
powers of that prerogative, necessary to carry on external
war, because the interests of the country demand that he
should have the most ample powers in that respect ; but
that it was otherwise in the internal management of the
nation. Why did the right honourable gentleman make
this distinction ? Was not this a most dangerous doctrine ?
Are we not taught to consider the power of his Majesty
and that of the country as one and the same, and that the
one assists and supports the other ? Are not the powers of
his Majesty in external war materially influenced by the
internal management of the country ? With respect to the
power of creating peers, he differed very much from the
right honourable gentleman. The right honourable gentle
man had been careful to state the few creations which had
taken place during his administration ; and he had been no
less studious to point out a period wherein he conceived the
power of creating peers to have been abused. But he would
contend that the instance brought forward was by no means
an abuse of the royal prerogative ; and that these creations
were highly necessary and expedient. They were necessary
to give to the House of Peers an accession of property and
influence corresponding to the growing prosperity of the
nation. As to the danger of bad advice being given to the
Eegent, he could see no reason for assuming that a regent

86 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
would be influenced by bad advisers any more than a king ;
and to his mind it appeared most clear that any arguments
which applied in support of the restrictions in the one case
would equally apply to the other. As to the household
establishment, which the right honourable gentleman was at
first unwilling to enter upon this evening, he would say,
that the officers of the household are officers appointed for
the purpose of supporting the splendour and magnificence
of the Crown. The House would do well to consider that in
all the plans of reform which had yet been submitted to
them, no reformer had ever attempted to encroach on the
magnificence of the throne. This had always been con
sidered as essential to the executive ; and surely they could
not think it proper, in the present case, to attempt to
disjoin that splendour from the executive. To his Majesty
that splendour was now useless; it could minister to him
no enjoyment, it could afford him no gratification. Why,
therefore, should there be two households ? Surely, in the
present state of the nation, when economy was so necessary,
and considering how little prospect there was of his
Majesty's recovery, it was everything but wise to saddle the
nation with two establishments, one for his Majesty and the
other for the Eegent. What, however, was the object of the
proposed limitation of the Eegent's control over the royal
household ? The whole object was professed to be delicacy
to his Majesty, that his Majesty may find on his recovery
the same persons around him whom he saw previous to his
calamity. If this was the object, he must say that the
method proposed no such security ; according to this resolu
tion the queen might remove them if she pleased, and he
did not know that, in this respect, a tribute of delicacy was
more Ukely to he paid by her Majesty than by his Eoyal
Highness. But the body to which he alluded, the lords of
the bed-chamber, &c., was also a political body, and the
question now was, not whether the influence of such a
poUtical body should remain, hut whether it should be put
into other hands than those of the Eegent ? Many books

COMPLIMENTED BY CANNING. 87
had been lately written on the subject of the influence of the
Crown, and some by honourable and right honourable
members of that House. In some of these it was contended,
and with great show of reason, that the influence of the
Crown has not been lately increased, and was barely
sufficient for the due carrying on of the business of the
nation. He would put it to those gentlemen who entertained
these sentiments, how they could conscientiously vote on the
present occasion that the powers of the executive ought to
be limited. He would put it to those gentlemen who had
the most recent experience of the difficulties thrown in the
way of Government by the different parties in that House,
and in the country, to say, if they found the management of
the pubUc affairs, with the unimpaired vigour of the Crown,
so very easy a matter. But if the influence of parties
prevailed at present, what wquld they be during a regency ?
A regency, as was well known, was the period when factions
of all kinds were sure to prevaU the most. Was it the duty
of the Committee, then, to weaken the arm of the executive
at a period when it ought to be the strongest ? He would
therefore put it to the Committee, if it was not their duty
so to legislate on the present occasion as to prevent the
danger to be apprehended from the coUision of these factions
and parties, and so as to prevent the undue diminution of
the influence of the Crown. He therefore moved, as an
amendment, to omit the last words of the resolution,
" subject to such restrictions and limitations as were con
nected with the custody of his Majesty's person, and the
arrangement of his household," inasmuch as these were to
become the object of future discussion.
Canning foUowed on the same side, complimenting his
young friend— as he was glad in pubUc as in private to caU
him— on the moderation of tone and the fitness of topics he
had reUed on ; and the amendment was only defeated in a
full house by twenty-four.*
* ' Parliamentary Debates,' December 31st, 1810, p. 493 : « State of the
nation— Resolutions respecting Regency."

88 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
, One of the first acts of the Eegent was to reappoint his
brother to the command of the army. The scandals which
had compelled him to resign in the preceding year were
dying out, but they were not yet dead. A good many who
had yielded to the clamour of public indignation now half
repented their votes, and sober reconsideration of all the
facts and circumstances of the case led others to an honest
change of opinion. Lord Grey from the first had vehemently
denounced the accusation of the Duke of York, and he never
ceased to load with obloquy its authors, whose motives he
declared to be dastardly and mean.
Ponsonby, without quarrelling with the younger men of
his party in the House of Commons who adhered to the
austerer view, deprecated Lord Milton's resolution, " That
it was highly improper and indecorous in the advisers of the
Prince Eegent to have recommended the reappointment of
the Duke of York to the office of Commander-in-Chief."
Perceval justified the reinstatement of the Prince upon the
ground that no opinion had been expressed by Parliament
touching his personal honour, or imputing to him conscious
participation in corruption.
In reply to the taunts and reproaches of Whitbread, who
inveighed against those who had aided in driving the Duke
from his office yet now acquiesced in his restoration. Lamb
declared that he himself had voted for further investigation,
having been persuaded at the time that such was necessary ;
but even then, had the question been taken on the unsatis
factory evidence adduced, he would have said Not guilty.
He certainly had wished for the Duke's removal as a matter
of public policy, hardly dealt with as he conceived him to be,
and undoubtedly made the victim of a public cry ; but the
justice of the case had, he thought, been satisfied, and the
compulsory retirement of a son of the sovereign from a post
he had previously held with credit, in consequence of the
votes of Parliament, would serve as a sufficient warning in
future against want of administrative vigilance which, though
morally innocent, was politically reprehensible. Many were

CONDUCT OF TEE EEGENT. 89
constrained by the recollection of their previous votes to
absent themselves ; but forty-nine proved inexorable, while
296 recorded their acquiescence in the replacement of the
Duke. When the restrictions on the Eegency expired, at the
beginning of 1812, the statesmen who for five-and- twenty
years had endured the enmity of the Court, not less for their
attachment to religious freedom than because they were the
Prince's friends, naturaUy expected to be called to power.
Lords GrenviUe and Grey were indeed invited to form an
administration, and about the disposal of poUtical offices no
difficulty was rtiade. But when they demanded the right to
nominate afresh to all the offices in the household, the
Eegent peremptorily refused. An effort was then made to
bring about a coalition with some of the existing ministera
through the intervention of the Duke of York ; his creden
tials for the purpose being a letter in which occurred the
expression made memorable by Moore in the parody, which
is perhaps the happiest effort of his satiric muse :
'You know, my dear Fred, I have no predilections,'
My heart is a sieve, in which hopes and affections
Are danced up and down for a moment or two,
And the finer they are the more sure to slip through.
The Whig nobles disdainfully rejected all idea of fusion
with Perceval and Hawkesbury, and the Prince, to their
amazement and chagrin, placed himself unreservedly in the
hands of a party whom he had always professed to regard
with aversion and distrust.
But if he changed his political advisers, the Eegent was
rather less inclined to alienate old friends who had hitherto
constituted his household. He wished Lord Melbourne to
continue Lord-in- waiting ; and though the office henceforth
entailed more duties of attendance at Court than suited his
advancing years, the wish was construed as a command.
Throughout the latter years of the war Lamb supported
Government generaUy in the increasing votes they asked for
the army and navy. His admiration of Earl Grey and his

90 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
intimacy with Lord Holland would have drawn him the other
way, but his convictions were more nearly those of Grattan
and Plunket. While Canning and Wellesley held the seals
of the Foreign Office he went cordially with them in the
general scope of their foreign policy ; and, believing that in
the life-and-death struggle to which the country was com
mitted it was too late to hesitate or yield, h& resolved to
refuse no reinforcement of munitions or men which were
deemed necessary to sustain the army of Wellington in Spain.
The opposition of Fox to the original declaration of war with
France, and the traditions of his placability and personal
good-will towards Napoleon, from which his nephew never
swerved, were frequently the theme of frank and sometimes
of vehement debate between them. And although during
his last brief term of office the great leader of the Whigs
had occupied the ground of resistance to Bonaparte's dictation
maintained by his deceased rival, it was not unreasonably
contended that, had he lived to witness the further progress
of the seemingly abortive struggle, and the vast cumulation
of national debt incurred each succeeding year on terms
more onerous, and entailing enhanced burthens of taxation.
Fox would have sided with the friends of peace and left the
despotic powers of the Continent to fight it out among
themselves, — Lamb thought differently. He undervalued,
probably, the evils of heavy taxation and of usuriously con
tracted debt, but he was right enough in arguing that fiscal
or financial objections were not the basis of Fox's general
view of foreign policy. Such considerations would not have
outweighed with him those involving the freedom of the sea
and the independence of the realm, and if he believed these
to be in jeopardy he would not have stopped to ask if the
augmented liabiUty was eventually to be feared. How little
his mind was fitted to estimate accurately possible or prob
able consequences of war was illustrated by a curious incident
of his earlier life. A year after the struggle with America
had begun he bet Lord BoUnghroke a thousand guineas to one
that the national debt would never reach £170,000,000, and

GBENVILLE AND GBEY. 91

took the one guinea down, registering the wager at Brooks's
with the condition that he was not to be caUed on to pay it
untu he was in the Cabinet. Within six years he had kissed
hands as Secretary of State, and in the interval the national
debt had risen from £127,162,413 to £231,843,631.
Lamb early showed a leaning towards the liberal
conservatism of Canning, who had intimate relations with
another independent section of which Lord Wellesley was
the head. The ranks of both were recruited from the Whigs
who thought Lord Grey too exacting, and from the Tories who
disliked Perceval as a bigot. The personal friendship of
Lord G. Leveson and Lord Carlisle for Canning softened
the aversion of many of the former. Plunket avowed his
attachment to Lord GrenviUe, who more nearly impersonated
his ideas than any one else during the latter years of the
war; and Grattan, whose confidence he completely shared,
gravitated towards the same point. It would be difficult to
say in what these various sections differed from one another,
all of them professing to regard the abolition of religious
disabilities as the distinctive feature of sound policy. But
the egotism of leadership and the prejudices engendered in
bygone collisions kept their respective chiefs sometimes at
arms' length, and sometimes wholly apart. While the Govern
ment was barren in legislation and dull in debate, their ac
complished and eloquent opponents were constantly originat
ing convergent movements against them, which, but for
mutual distrust, would probably have proved successful.
Lord GrenviUe had been Premier, and could contemplate no
second position. Lord Grey was ready to take the Foreign
Office under him, but his hatred of Canning was inappeasahle
and Whitbread was identified with. him. At a muster of the
Bedfordshire Militia, of which the latter was colonel. Lord
John Eussell, then a youthful subaltern, expressed in conver
sation his regret at the news from town that some efforts
at a coalition among the different shades of opposition had
failed. " What ! " exclaimed Whitbread, " the union with
Canning? — never!" So many were the chasms, even in social

92 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
intercourse, between those who were looking daily for each
other's aid, and conscious that without it they could effect
nothing, that up to this time, and for many years after, Lord
Lansdowne was personally unacquainted with Mr. Canning.
At Devonshire House there was perhaps less of political
exclusiveness ; and there Lord Boringdon first announced
the project of moving an address to the Eegent in favour of
an administration that would conciliate the confidence of
all creeds and classes. The 19th of March was fixed in the
Lords for its discussion ; and there was a fluttering of
anxieties about the roost of power. At Melbourne House
several intimates of Lady Caroline assembled on the evening
of the discussion to learn the earliest tidings. The debate
lasted long ; and near midnight Miss Berry found " Lady
Holland and fifteen other ladies at supper, waiting the
arrival of their friends from the House of Lords. They
came at last, crest-fallen Whigs and the party of Canning,
all except their chief. Lord WeUesley had entirely failed
them at the hour of need, not having chosen to open his
mouth." * He voted, however, in the minority of seventy-
two with Lords Grenville and Grey. For the previous
question, moved as an amendment by Lord Grimston,
Government had a majority of ninety-three. Perceval did
not long survive his triumph. What all the rival strategies
of Opposition could not accomplish was effected by the
desperate hand of a lunatic, on the evening of the 11th of
April, as the minister was entering the House. The populace
who crowded Palace Yard evinced curiosity, but no symptom
of compassion or concern ; and the business of new cabinet
making began once more. An idler of fashion with a seat
in ParUament, a residence in the centre of the official
firmament, and married to a woman of wit and ambition was
likely to enjoy keenly the animated suspense that ensued,
and to learn more of men and things in such a period of
transition than constitutional theories could teach him.
Whigs and Canningites concurred in supporting the motion
* Miss Berry's Journal, March 19th, 1812.

WELLESLEY AND CANNING. 93
of Mr. Stuart-Wortley on the 21st of May for an address
to the Eegent calling upon him to take steps for forming
an efficient administration. In the division we find the name
of Lamb with those of Huskisson, Sandon, and Binning ;
Ponsonby, Milton, Whitbread, Althorp, and Tavistock.
Ministers only ventured to divide upon the previous ques
tion, and even then were beaten by 174 to 170 ; for the
consequent motion, half an hour later, that the address
should be presented by the Privy Councillors in Parliament,
the same individuals voted, but they were then outnumbered
by a majority of two. Further negotiations for a junction
of parties followed, but each and all proved fruitless, and at
length Lord Liverpool was named First Lord of the Treasury,
a position which he continued to hold for fifteen years. The
seals of the Foreign Department were confided to Lord
Castlereagh, and, although it was necessary in his case to
treat Catholic emancipation as an open question, the
cabinet was emphatically constituted on the principle of
resistance to all measures of civil and religious concession.
Lord Eldon was promoted to the woolsack, and Mr. Peel
was sent to Ireland, where the whole of the executive acted
under the guidance of the Attorney-General, Saurin, in
accordance with the principle of Orangeism. At the end of
the session it was announced that a dissolution had been
resolved on. Everywhere the standard of "No Popery"
was unfurled ; and in the new House of Commons many of
the advocates of liberal progress were no longer found.
Among those who thus disappeared was William Lamb.

94 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.

CHAPTEE VI.
OUT or PARLIAMENT.
Books and opinions — Melbourne House — Byron— Domestic jars—
' Glenarvon.'
Seven years' apprenticeship, spent for the most part in
desultory reading and irregular attendance at St. Stephen's
(not to be named as real or genuine work), had failed to
make him, or even to make him fancy himself a master of
parliamentary arts. It sufficed, indeed, to teach him many
things important to be known; but for the present
savouring only of disappointment and disenchantment. He
had learned by experience that he was no orator, and that
plausibility, good taste, coincidence of opinion with many
who listen, sound logic, and an occasional dash of sarcasm —
not too saucy from a young man on one of the back benches —
will not command a hearing, secure a report in the morning
papers, or evoke a careless " devilish good" from the chattering
critics at the clubs next day. In spite of many advantages
of person, voice, address, leisure, acquaintance, connections,
and not a few sincere well-wishers, he had as yet accom
plished nothing which scores of young men of his class
had not accomplished on their way to epicurean obscurity.
Such advantages probably went for less at a time when
Parliament contained a much greater proportion of men of
birth, fortune, and social accomplishment than it does now.
But, on the other hand, the judgment of the House was more
exacting and less tolerant of commonplace. Men who had

INEFFECTIVE SPEAKING. 95

bought their seats in the poUtical theatre were ready to back
their party chiefs by sitting up all night and walking home
to breakfast in the dead of the morning now and then. But
occasions of prolonged debate were rare, and afforded few
opportunities for neophytes to gain a hearing. For the
rest, the majority of the House wanted to be amused or to
be excited, or to be moved in some manner, grave or gay.
Sheridan made them laugh, Whitbread and Burdett made
them angry. Canning and Windham filled them as connoisseurs
with delight, Tierney and Perceval with pleasure analogous
to that which some of them took in a well-sustained match
in the ring or the cockpit. They instinctively refused to be
drawn down to Westminster, or to be detained there from more
agreeable occupations, to hear their junior colleagues spout
their exercises in debating. Ill done or well done, what
did it matter to the nation, or to them, or to anybody except
the ambitious adventurers themselves ? They represented
nothing of popular interest or popular sentiment; nothing
but their own money, or their fathers' manors, or their uncles'
longing for a blue ribbon. If endowed with indomitable
perseverance and clothed with a hide of insusceptibility,
they learned by degrees to say all they had to say notwith
standing the buzz of inattention or the spectacle of empty
benches ; and in the course of years acquired a character for
persistency in speech which answered pretty well as a sub
stitute for oratoric fame. Sensitive and fastidious natures
like J. W. Ward and William Lamb froze in this atmosphere
of neglect, and all but abandoned in despair the hope of
ever making their mark or realising their ambitious dreams.
The oftener they tried, the more painfully oppressive self-
consciousness became — that deadliest of foes to all true.
success. Neither had to encounter anything worth men
tioning of hindrance or enmity; that would have been too
great luck, for it would have drawn him out of himself, and
infused something of reality into exertion. Both listened
with discriminating curiosity and gratification to those who
were masters of the arts of fence and exemplars in those of

96 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
declamation. Again and again the desire of emulating what
they saw and heard impelled them to new efforts. Of the
two. Ward succeeded better than his friend, who cheered and
encouraged him ungrudgingly ; but his letters tell how little
he was deceived by the partial praise of friendship into
imagining that he had become a power in the House ; and
Lamb, less painstaking, though certainly less morbid in
temperament, seems to have yielded to the benumbing
influences of parliamentary failure and domestic chagrin :
and upon the dissolution of 1812 he did not seek re-election
to Parliament. Many of the Opposition lost their seats who could ill he
spared, owing rather to the selfishness of borough-owners
than to the oscillation of popular opinion. Brougham felt
that —
EomiUy, Tierney, and Lamb being out of Parliament was a
great imputation on some of their friends, who must not
thereafter talk of the fickleness and wropg-headedness of
the people. These professors of party attachments had
no sort of scruple to dissolve the regular Whig interest, or
leave it with one single leader in the House of Commons,
rather than forego the gratification of giving some cousin
or toad-eater a power of franking letters !*
Somewhat later, himself excluded. Brougham changed
his mind, and did not regret Lamb and Horner being left
out, because the former had become as much a Canningite
as Ward ; and the latter was so ill that nothing but perfect
rest would keep him alive.f He thought Lord Thanet ought
to bring in Tierney for one of his safe seats, hut the men
of mere talent and worth had but a frail hold on the political
affection of men who loved to do what they would with their
own. Close boroughs were part of their investments when
they were not part of their inheritance, and were sold, let,
or given away like other descriptions of property. Sooner
* To Earl Grey from Brougham Hall, September 10th, 1812.
t To Earl Grey from Croiteth Park, October 16th, 1812.

INDECISIVENESS. 97

than abandon the career he loved, Tierney took to fighting
contested elections at Colchester, on which his wife, who was
wrapped up in his success, lavished from time to time the
chief part of her fortune. Lamb took it easier, and made no
immediate effort to get back to St. Stephen's ; though George
Lamb thought there was a prospect of a seat for WiUiam
through the Duke of Devonshire.*
While the zest for pleasure was unchilled, and the power
of fascination at its height, study and reflection asserted
their claim to comparatively Uttle of his time. The ambition
to show in debate would every now and then prompt him to
work up a subject, as people say ; and, with access to the
best sources of information about the Court and in society,
with a good stock of constitutional reading in his retentive
memory, the labour could not have been irksome, and success
might have been great had he been less sensitive to criticism
and more sanguine or enthusiastic in temperament. But,
like so many of the finest minds, the flaw of doubt continually
marred his would-be whole-heartedness in the advocacy of
broad and generous principles. He hated the creeping palsy
of misgiving, and tried hard to conquer and resist it. But
it would not be beaten away ; nor, even when most carefully
prepared, and assured of fellowship in argument by the men
he most respected, could he get rid of the self-consciousness,
which is the great hindrance to effect either in public or
private utterance. In the worth of right, in the wisdom of
justice, in the safety of courage, in the duty of toleration,
in the prudence of generosity, and above all, in the divine
satisfaction of contributing to the happiness and contentment
of others, he was the firmest of believers ; and thus it came
to pass that his name is found inscribed among the combatants
who conquered in all the great struggles against prejudice,
privilege, fanaticism, and oppression, from the death of Pitt
until his own. But for twenty years it must be owned that
as a subaltern he gained little distinction in the fight ; and
this not because he lacked the spirit of emulation, but because
* Letter of Brougham, from Greeta Bridge, October 24th.
VOL. I. H

98 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
he wanted intellectual earnestness. He had no exclusive
faith in religion, or politics, or love. He could argue
eloquently, lucidly, wittily for Anglicanism, as against the
Curia, the Kirk, or the Tabernacle ; but nobody could convince
him that there was not a deal of good in all these, and that
kindly, honourable, and learned men might not honestly
consider their pretensions superior. He would banter alter
nately Tories and Eadicals for opposite faults ; and he was
ready to speak or vote, stand forward or stand by, as the
honour of his party required. But he could not forget his
inherent weaknesses, and often infirmities, or be mesmerised
into the delusion that patriotism and wisdom were of the
Whigs alone. And the bitter experience of his private life
had sown tares in the field of his affections, -till at length he
had made up his mind there was nothing for it hut to let
them grow together unto the harvest. When this sad process
of disenchantment, and goodnatured despair of constancy
began who knoweth ? who, if he knew, would have the cruelfy
to tell? The heart knoweth its own bitterness, and the
stranger ought not to intermeddle therewith. Were there
propriety, there would he no profit in laying bare griefs and
agonies of a sensitive and excitable spirit. For the most
part, he was able, and he chose, to gulp down the poison of
his happiness ; and with such antidote or anodyne as he
could lay hands upon, to live on, without more than occasional
wincing, manfully on the whole, usefully and cheerily.
One of his specifics, and one of the best of them, was
reading ; gradually the habit gained upon him until books
became the companions of half his life; he took the same
pleasure in them that he did in the society of wise and
witty people. He communed with philosophers, theolo
gians, scholars, poets, jurists, novelists, satirists, all in
turn ; and sometimes mutely, sometimes audibly, combated
their notions or damned their spite. The result of reading
so varied, preserved, as it was, in memory so retentive,
showed itself notably in conversation, where, by the suffrage
of all who knew him, he was truly delightful. The quaint-

BEADING. 99

ness and originality of his manner, fitful,' abrupt, full of
irony, and at times of tenderness almost feminine, gave to
his talk a charm specific and peculiar, unlike that of other
men with whom he lived. Inevitably it was a continued
irritant to the pedantic and impatient, the frigid and fana
tical. Now he was accused of levity; now of cynicism.
One blockhead was convinced that he was a mere trifler
who had no opinions, another was persuaded that he was a
high-born sybarite who disguised hard and heartless views
for the selfish sake of passing popularity. Both were
utterly mistaken; from first to last it may be said of
him with truth that he was a .better man than he
affected to be.
Old books and new by turns attracted him. He delighted
in the theological writers of the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries, and spent no Uttle time in the study of patristic
divinity. His familiarity with the subjects they discussed
would now and then show itself in a striking quotation, or
the correction of an inaccurate one by some one in his
presence. He kept up his classic recollections, chiefly
through Horace and Juvenal, of whom he never tired, and
many of whose most suggestive passages he turned into
English verse. One charming paraphrase, rather than trans
lation, was published with his name in one of the annuals
of a later period. 'Tis late, and I must haste away,
My usual hour of rest is near ;
And do you press me, youths, to stay —
To stay and revel longer here?
Then give me back the scorn of care
Which spirits light in health allow ;
And give me back the dark brown hair
Which curled upon my even brow.
And give me back the sportive jest
Which once could midnight hours beguile,
The life that bounded in my breast.
And joyous youth's becoming smile !
H 2

100 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
And give me back the fervid soul
Which love inflamed with strange delight,
When erst I sorrowed o'er the bowl
At Chloe's coy and wanton flight.
'Tis late, and I must haste away,
My usual hour of rest is near ;
But give me these and I will stay —
Will stay till morn and revel here !
With Mr. Allen, the librarian at Holland House, he had
innumerable polemics. Allen possessed great learning and
discrimination in judging of the authenticity of manuscripts
and the comparative purity of editions. As brusque as
Lamb himself, he was more intolerant of opinions he
deemed indefensible by logic ; and having reasoned himself
early out of all belief, he spent the rest of his life in trying
to lead others to the same conclusion, or to laugh them into
scepticism. He had, besides, the habit of saying of every
man of superior intellect he knew, that at heart he was an
unbeliever, though for policy sake he might conform to
established usages. He was, in fact, a genuine bigot in
materialism, and put about the notion widely that his ac
complished patron, and most of those who were his favoured
guests, held similar opinions. But of Lamb this was
certainly untrue. Perplexity between conflicting views re
garding the great mystery of existence saddened many of
his lonely hours. He envied those who had got through the
stage of doubt, and had done with it. He longed for a
solution of his own misgivings, and read and argued on in
the sincere hope of flnding it. Far from wishing to be
convinced of the truth of the negative philosophy, his nature
turned from it with a shudder. Milton was among his
favourite companions, and he would recite whole passages
with exquisite feeling and expression from his works.
Whatever may have heen the effects of life passed in
the whirl of distraction and indulgence which characterised
the early days of the Eegency, they were nowhere more
traceable perhaps than upon the young and impression-

LADY MELBOUBNE. 101

able dwellers at Melbourne House. Lady Melbourne had
ceased, indeed, to be more than casually amused by whims or
novelties ; and she moved on in her own diplomatic way,
observant of all that was going on around her in loots and
spirits, less brilliant than she once had been, though still
not a bit like sixty-two: in artiflces of dress and arts of
manner more consummate than ever. Like Lady HoUand at
Kensington, and Lady Spencer at St. James's Place, her
ascendancy in the household was supreme ; yet there were
some things her influence could not control, some energies
she could not fire. William would do anything to please
her when asked ; but she knew it was no use always asking
him to work as others worked for political advancement.
Disenchantment seemed to have spread its insidious spell
over him ; and though weary enough of ennui, she could not
bring him, and he could not bring himself, to set about any
undertaking requiring effort or toil. His wife, unceasingly
active, spent her existence with as little concentration of
aim. Painting, music, reading, writing verses, patronising
plays, taking part in private theatricals, dreaming roman
tically, and talking in a way to make people stare ; riding
on horseback, often coquetting, sometimes quarrelling (she
hardly knew about what) with her husband, trying to please
her father-in-law, who thought her a fidget ; and trying to
please her child, whose wistful gaze of incurious wonder
made her for the moment staid and sad : — these and a world
of intermingling trifles filled up her time. But her
versatility found no resting-place, and the fatal habit of
mentally looking into the glass grew upon her day by day.
Her quick powers of appreciation were thrown away
upon a glittering crowd of forms and faces, but few of which
she paused to look at long enough to be able to caricature.
None of the remarkable persons whom she met in society
fixed her attention or riveted her fancy. It was not a
profitable condition of mind, but it had been well for her and
all who loved her, had her butterflyhood continued longer.
Out of the unknown a new influence was about to break

102 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
forth on English society, and especially upon that portion of
it wherein she moved, compared with which all other talents,
genius, and originality seemed to her but as so many dull and
motionless lamps, while the lightning was flashing in at the
window. An instinctive sense of misgiving impelled her at
first to turn away ; but when this new element of dazzling"
and resistless power came so gently as not even to cause a
start, and in its vivid and seemingly harmless beauty
lingered and played all the summer evening round her, her
imagination was led captive to its will.
Up to this time the name of Byron, save to a compara
tive few, may be said to have been unknown. Lord Carlisle,
though one of his guardians, had seldom inquired after him
during his college days ; and on his coming of age forgot to
ask him to dinner. When he took the oaths and his seat at
Westminster he was not recognised by any one of his peers ;
and on the Chancellor offering his hand in welcome, as a new
member of the House, he mistook the courtesy for the form
of party enlistment, and took it so ungraciously that Lord
Eldon turned away with- a frown. Morbidly sensitive to
neglect, and attributing it to a slight deformity of which
nobody but himself thought or cared, and fevered with an
insatiable thirst for distinction, he published in 1809 a
satire in which he attacked nearly every critic and poet of
the day, in order to be revenged for the ridicule cast by
Brougham on his ' Hours of Idleness ' in the ' Edinburgh
Eeview.' With his Cambridge class-fellow, Mr. Hobhouse,
he spent two years abroad, and returned full of aspirations
as a poet and a politician. Through Samuel Eogers, his only
acquaintance of note, he was introduced to Lord Holland, who,
more suo, forgetting the petulance of his 'prentice rhymes,
aided him cheerfully with information and advice for his
maiden speech in the Lords. It was an undoubted success,
and he was forthwith enrolled as a promising recruit in the
ranks of the Liberal Party. But in the crowd of celebrities
and competitors for notice at Holland House, his vanity
might have eaten its heart out with scant pity or heed, had

BYEON. 103

he not been able to lay the world under tribute in a very
different sphere. His speech, he thought, would prove a good
advertisement for ' Childe Harold,' which appeared a few days
afterwards. Eogers and Moore had seen it in the proof, and
foretold the triumph which awaited him. The former told
Lady Caroline Lamb that she ought to know the new poet,
and lent her his copy to read before the work came out.
Soon afterwards Lady Westmoreland introduced him to her.
Her first impression was unfavourable, and she wrote in her
diary, " Mad, bad, and dangerous to know." But the eclat
of his poem made him in a few weeks the star without rival
of society. Wherever he went, and he soon went every
where, to use his own expression "the women suffocated
him." His air of abstraction and look of melancholy,
and the rumours put about of his eccentric life, all contri
buted to fan the flame. Emulation for his favour became
fierce, and the wiles spread for his bewitchment were in
numerable. Lady Caroline avers that she spread none.
She had called at HoUand House after a morning ride
through wind and rain ; he was unexpectedly announced,
and she owns that she ran away to readjust her toilet before
they met. His grave attention pleased her ; the interview
ended in his asking leave to call, and the acquaintance thus
begun quickly ripened into friendship.
He lived much at Melbourne House, where he was
received on terms of the utmost familiarity. For the talents
of society, in which Lady Melbourne had probably no equal
in her day, his admiration was unbounded. The world she
knew by long and keen observation, and whose scenes she
had the rare faculty of picturing by a few graphic touches,
was all a new world to him. There was hardly a person of
note among courtiers, politicians, artists, or men of letters,
from the time of Garrick and Chatham, whom she had not
known ; and there was not a prominent character living
whom she did not weigh in the balance of her own judg
ment, and whose idiosyncrasy she could not when she would
accurately tell. This, with casual acquaintances, was not

104 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
often. Experience had taught her the thanklessness of
those who delight in another's unguarded candour. She
used to say that few men were to be trusted with their
neighbours' secrets, and hardly any woman with her own.
But she found Byron better worth gossiping with than other
young m'^n of his years. He asked her questions which it
really interested her to answer ; and, notwithstanding her
habitual wariness and reserve, a remarkable degree of
confidence sprang up between them.
With Lady Caroline it was hero-worship. The fascination
wrought upon her susceptible and credulous fancy by his
account of his youth and foreign adventures ; his dark hints
at the hidden griefs, the sorrows of his loneliness, the pain
of early disappointments, and his real or pretended indiffer
ence to pas-sing success; the ever changing beauty of his
features, and the glittering splendour of his verse ; and all
these laid with a look and tone of ineffable gallantry at her
feet by one whose nobility dated from the conquest, fairly
bewildered her. It is all very well for those who have never
been brought within the perilous circle of such a spell to
talk pharisaically of the ease with which it might have been
resisted. But to be just, one must estimate antecedents and
surroundings ; the enervating atmosphere of dissipation, and
the furore about a picturesque poet of high degree. If these
things are not taken into account, what really is left but the
mingled echo of two names of whose brief association and
subsequent severance the world has heard too much and
understands too little. It was impossible that such intimacy
should not be remarked, but this was exactly what his
vanity wanted. With all his profession of democratic
enthusiasm, he was habitually swayed by aristocratic
feeling ; with all his romance in rhyme about devotion to
nameless and secluded beauty, he was vain as any coxcomb
of being greeted by smiles of quaUty, and to be known as
the favourite of supreme fashion. In the best set Lady
Caroline was just then one of the fair and fickle rulers.
Melbourne House was the centre of gaiety and revel.

LADY CAEOLINE. 105
My cousin Hartington wanted to have waltzes and quadrilles ;
and at Devonshire House it would not be allowed,* so we
had them in the great drawing-room at Whitehall. All ,
the hon ton assembled there continually. There was
nothing so fashionable. But after a time Byron contrived
to sweep them all away.
For his overweening egotism, gratified by special recog
nition in the glittering throng, chafed at devotion to the
pastime in which he could not participate. He preferred
sentimental talk with a clever and wayward woman, whose
self-idolatry, already too mature, ripened into fruit as bitter
as his own. One who knew her long, and well, and who was
more than others lenient to her errors, has said of her that
her conversation had all the charm of intellect, fancy,
culture, and a low musical voice : it had but one fault, that
it was aU about herself. There was an affinity in this
respect between them which in itself became gradually the
cause of disappointment and vexation. Craving on the one
side, encountered exaction on the other; and as neither
knew how to stifle Ul-humour or chagrin, he would grow
moody and she fretful when their rival egotisms jarred.
For the sensitive plant which could yield small fruit
Of the love that it felt from the leaf to the root
Desired more than all, it loved more than ever,
Where none wanted but it could belong to the giver.
She brought him fresh verses on which she had spent
half the sleepless night in an agony of hope that his eye
would kindle and his lips respond to emotions she had thus
endeavoured to express. But though he faUed not to praise
the weU-chosen epithet and flowing rhythm, he was far too
fuU of his own greater thoughts to be able, had he tried, to
affect enthusiasm at the tinkling of her lyric beUs, In her
mortification, she would inwardly upbraid him with being
* The Duke bad married a second time Lady Elizabeth Foster,
daughter of the Earl of Bristol and sister of the eccentric Bishop of
Derry.

106 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
like the rest of his sex, too self-engrossed ; and the time was
to come when she would tell him so in no measured terms.
But with ' Childe Harold ' she could not thus make free.
At a reception one evening Lord Holland took an antique
censer from a cabinet to show it to some learned guest ; as he
passed Byron and Lady Caroline he turned and said
gallantly to her, " You see I bear you incense." " Offer it to
Lord Byron," she replied, " he is accustomed to it." How
soon the poet began to tire of the confidential iteration of
morbid fancies, which were not redeemed by grandeur of
outline or depth of colouring that marked those drawn from
the dark chamber of his imagery, — who can tell ? But
he loved being conspicuous in everything ; and above the
admiration of women he coveted the envy of men; and
liked being spoken of as a favoured intimate at Melbourne
House. Throughout the year 1813 Byron continued to visit con
stantly at Whitehall and Kensington. The ' Giaour ' and
' Bride of Abydos ' kept his name before the public, and in the
estimation of his female critics maintained his reputation.
Lord Holland was too good-natured, and too loyal in every
thing to the taste of his wife, to be niggardly in his praise.
Other men more fastidious and outspoken in their criticisms
tried to induce the poet to take more serious interest in
politics ; but without effect ; his letters and journals evince
hardly a trace of sympathy or regard for the great events
which were stirring the heart of Christendom ; and it seems
to have been for him too great a sacrifice of pleasure to attend
frequently even as a listener any long debate in the House
of Lords. His second speech did not attract much notice ;
and with all his pretentious vows of zeal for liberty, he
was a soldier that, without encouragement of fife and drum,
could not be got to march. His time was spent for the
most part in flattering pretty women, or being flattered by
them ; and by his own account he was not sure with which
of them he was most in love. Lamb grew tired of his airs of
self-importance, and laughed at his wife's exaggerated

MISS MILBANKE. 107

estimate of his perfections. If sometimes provoked at her
misplaced friendship, he anticipated that it would soon wear
out ; and sighed only at the illusion he was unable to dispel.
He knew better what Byron was than she could ever know,
and felt secure that ere very long he would declare himself
bored, and betake himself to other company. There was
another circumstance which no doubt influenced him, but of
which few were aware. Byron had in confidence told Lady
Melbourne his intention and desire to form a matrimonial
alliance, in order that he might settle down at Newstead
and take the part that became him in public life. Would
she advise him ? Did she not know every one worth knowing
in the sphere out of which he did not care to wed ? Would
she not save him from the daughters of Heth ? To the mind
of the old lady thus consulted, no connection seemed more
suitable than one with her young relative, the daughter of
Sir Noel Milbanke, who, beside many other attractions
possessed a considerable fortune, and was heiress to the
barony of Wentworth in her own right. Without professing
to fall in love, the poet offered her his hand. It was refused,
but with so much kindness, and even compliment, that he
readily agreed that they should continue friends, and upon
indifferent subjects correspond.
At Cheltenham, then in highest vogue, many of those
with whom he was most intimate — the Hollands, Cowpers,
Jerseys, Oxfords, and Melbournes — passed September plea
santly. Lady Melbourne had more leisure there; she
listened to his wandering talk and gave him good advice.
Whatever it was, he believed it sound and wise. On receipt
of a letter from her not long afterwards he wrote, —
I have had a letter from Lady Melbourne, the best friend
I ever had in my life, and the cleverest of women. I
write with most pleasure to her, and her answers are so
sensible, so tactique. I never met with half her talent.
If she had been a few years younger, what a fool she
would have made of me, had she thought it worth her

108 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
while, and I should have lost a valuable and most agreeable
friend* The ' Corsair ' was followed by ' Lara.' The hero of the
latter, writes Ward, " is just the same sort of gloomy,
haughty, mysterious villain, as Childe Harold, the Giaour, the
Corsair and all the rest. There is a strange mixture of
fertility and barrenness. One would think it was easier to
invent a new character than to describe the old one over and
over again." t
On the 20th of April, 1814, the King of France entered
London accompanied by the Prince Eegent, who went to
meet him at Stanmore. The Duke of Montrose, Master of
the Horse, and Viscount Melbourne, were in attendance. A
vast concourse of all classes awaited their arrival in town,
and the populace, they scarce knew why (except that they
had a certain notion that the end of the weary war was near),
vociferously bade the Bourbon godspeed on his way back
to Paris. Later on, the allied sovereigns came to thank in
person the royal representative of England's constancy and
courage, which had stood fast for them and theirs when all
else in Europe quailed. For weeks London was in carnival.
Eejoicings and festivities never ceased ; and those who,
through evil report and good report, had helped to sustain
the policy thus crowned at last with triumph, could not but
feel, as Lamb confessed he did, historic exultation. He was
very proud of his country, and not a little proud of having
never despaired of its success. When all their other visits
were paid, the Czar and the King of Prussia went with the
Eegent to inspect the great naval arsenals, and were enter
tained hy the officers of the fleet.
On leaving Portsmouth for Goodwood, early on the 25th
of June, their Majesties were received at breakfast by the
Duke of Eichmond. In the afternoon they visited Lord
Egremont at Petworth, where a brilliant company, including
* Byron's diary, November 13th and 17th, 1813.
t Letter to Bishop of Llandaff, July 7th, 1814.

A SEAT IN TEE LOEDS. 109

Lord and Lady Melbourne and WilUam Lamb, awaited them.
Thence they proceeded to Dover and embarked next day.
By letters patent of the 11th of August, 1815, Lord Mel
bourne was created a peer of the United Kingdom, as Baron
Melbourne of Melbourne in the county of Derby. He took
the oaths and his seat on the 5th of February, 1816. Early
in this year Lord Byron had married Miss Milbanke with
the advice and approval of Lady Melbourne, and in spite of
many petulant warnings of evil to come from Lady Caroline.
Her cousin might be learned, and pious, and philosophical,
but she was quite unsuited for a soul that was all sensibility
and romance. It would never do ; she was quite sure of
that. A woman that went to church punctually, understood
statistics, and had a bad figure ; how could Conrad find any
real community of sentiment with such a being ? But the
real grievance was that Byron could no longer be a lord-in-
waiting to her majesty expectant of Whitehall. Ere long
he heard of her complainings at his absence and alienation ;
and he had the effrontery to address to his peevish and
hypochondriacal friend the lines beginning —
"And sayest thou, Cara," etc.,
in which, to excuse the discontinuance of his visits, he tells
her that in fact he is thinking of nobody else, and apologises
for conjugal perfidy by the assurance that " falsehood to
all else is truth to thee." The only palliation that can
be suggested for all the inconsistent, exaggerated, and in
defensible freaks in rhyme of which poor Lady Caroline was
the theme, is the poetic license Byron gave himself of treat
ing esthetically the impulse of the hour without the least
regard to what had gone before or was to follow after, and
with entire indifference to the obligations of delicacy and of
truth. The world has already heard too much of his ill-
starred union, and how, during its brief continuance, he
was wiUing to have it believed that he still valued the
society of Lady Caroline more than that of his wife. During
Lady Caroline's temporary stay in Ireland a correspon-

110 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
dence was kept up between them in prose and verse. At
length, on learning that she was about returning to
England, Byron resolved to put an end to all future com
munication ; and did so in a letter which bore on its seal
the coronet and initials of Lady Oxford, whom he knew she
disliked. Before she recovered from the illness that
ensued, he had quitted England, and they met no more.
The publication of the well-known verses in which he
made his affected sorrow known to the world, piqued her
into an outward show of indifference which she did not feel ;
but her mortification was deep, and her temper, ill-fitted
naturally to bear the strain, became ungovernable. Many
tales, for the most part exaggerated, were put about in idle
ness or malice. That which gained widest currency related
to a page whom she was said to have ill-treated in a fit of
passion. Her own version of the affair, written some time
afterwards, is very different : —
The boy was a little espiegle, and would throw detonating
balls into the fire. Lord Melbourne always scolded m,e for
this, and I the boy. One day I was playing ball with him,
he threw a squib into the fire. I threw the ball at his
head, it hit him on the temple, and he bled. He cried out,
" Oh ! my lady, you have killed me." Out of my senses, I
rushed into the hall and screamed, "Oh God, I have
murdered the page ! " The servants and people in the street
caught the sound, and it was soon spread about. William
Lamb would live with me no longer. His family insisted on
our separation. While instruments were drawing up, in one
month I wrote and sent ' Glenarvon ' to the press. It was
written at night, without the knowledge of any one but a
governess. Miss Walsh. I sent for a copyist, and when he
came she pointed to me seated at a table and dressed in boy's
clothes. He would not believe that a schoolboy could write
such a thing. In a few days I received him dressed as usual.
I told him the author, William Osmand, was dead. When
printed, I sent it to my husband, who was delighted with it,

FAMILY JABS. Ill

and we became united just as the world thought we were
parted for ever.
The truth was, that, in the interval which had elapsed.
Lamb relented. Many of her eccentricities and incoherences
had come to his knowledge for the first time, when it was
supposed he was about to put her away. Vexed and
humiliated as he had long been by what he deemed her
unpardonable wilfulness, he could not bring himself to
make a public example of one whom he had loved so passion
ately - when life was young, and whose girlish fears and
warnings that she was incapable of self-control he had
vowed to disregard. Had he not left her with too little
guidance ? Ought he to fling her in the face of the hissing
world, and from such a height of luxury and indulgence,
down such a steep of ignominy, humiliation, and reproach ?
He felt he could not do it, and readily clutched at the
excuse her strange and foolish novel unexpectedly offered to
reprieve the but half-accountable offender. Others might
say or think what they would, but he read in his mother's
face, that face of marvellous expression even in old age,
that her subtler nature and more resolute will would approve
rather than disapprove his resolution. She could not bid
him sacrifice his life to a crazed and fitful humour ; but, if
he had the generosity and determination to endeavour to
exorcise the evil spirit, she would think more highly of his
understanding and his worth. His wife had not upbraided
him with forsaking her, but bowed submissively to what she
called her fate, and for once surprised those around her by her
equanimity. Near relatives were apprised of what was in
contemplation, and consented to arrangements being made
with such consideration and privacy that the outer world
might still remain ignorant in some degree of the change of
relation intended. The deed was prepared for signature, and
when ali the parties necessary for its completion were in
attendance, he went to speak a few last soothing words to her
about their son, who was to remain with her at Brocket as

112 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
before. Her brother and the man of law waited patiently
for awhile, and then impatiently for a good deal longer;
and when at length the former went to the parties to the
meditated act of renunciation, he found her seated beside
him feeding him with tiny scraps of transparent bread and
butter. And so the storm blew over for that time, and she
made all manner of promises to be tractable, and obedient,
and calm. But the spoiled child of fortune and affection,
though for the hour sincere, was not to be so easily cured of
spoiling. The evil spirit had departed for the moment, but,
unhappily it returned.
While the scandal of Lord Byron's separation from his wife
was still recent, the story of ' Glenarvon ' was announced,
which uncontradicted rumour ascribed to Lady Caroline
Lamb. Curiosity was on tip-toe to peep through a window so
unexpectedly opened into the home of youth, beauty, and
fame prematurely and mysteriously abandoned. The good
and the bad, the wise and the unwise, were equally eager to
read the book. AU were alike disappointed. It was merely a
rhapsodical tale, published before any one was aware who
could have prevented its appearance, and which owed its brief
celebrity to the portrait it was supposed to contain of Byron
as he was in social life. His friends not unreasonably pro
tested against imputations unexpectedly cast upon him in his
absence and from such a quarter. Save in passing sarcasm,
he does not seem to have taken any notice of the attack, and
the glaring points of difference between his known career
and that of the hero of the tale sufficiently negatived the
hypothesis that the picture had been literally meant for
him. If likeness there were, it was a preposterous cari
cature. In a fit of indignation, his friend and subsequent
biographer, Thomas Moore, wrote a review of the foolish book
which he was about to send to the ' Edinburgh,' when Horner
interposed, and without much difficulty convinced him of
the inexpediency of doing so. In some journals it was
handled with severity not greater than it deserved ; consider
ation for the feelings of family and friends made others sUent.

GLENAEVON. 113

That its perusal could have had any other effect upon Lamb
than that of exciting his pity is inconceivable, and to
suppose, as its erratic authoress did, that it justified to him
her extravagant demeanour where the poet was concerned,
is simply impossible. Whatever was blameworthy in her
predilection for Byron or her manner of evincing it, it was
far eclipsed by the infatuation and incoherence of ' Calantha ' ;
while the incidents of fashionable dissipation are thrown
into the shade by a grotesque combination of foppery and
Whiteboyism. It was not surprising that all who felt
concerned for her reputation and welfare should have
concurred to deprecate the notion of her again trying her
hand in fiction. But 'Glenarvon,' in spite of its defects,
had had a sort of success which makes a publisher ready to
advise a second venture; and before long she was busily
engaged in weaving the plot of another story, which made
its appearance in due time.
Byron on quitting England addressed to her the well-
known lines beginning with
Farewell, if ever fondest prayer
He felt or affected pique at her travesty of the supposed
incidents of his life; which he laughed at as a rather
insincere production when Madame de Stael asked him
was the likeness correct. But he admitted the identity by
volunteering the admission that part of a letter of his as
given in the story was genuine.
Lady Caroline was at Brocket when she learned what he
had said, and forthwith ordered a bonfire to be prepared, in
which she had him burned in effigy ; and then transmitted
to him an account of his sentence and execution. None of
her compositions attained high commendation from the
critics of the day. ' Glenarvon,' 'Graham Hamilton,' and ' Ada
Eeis ' were the only novels acknowledged as the productions
of her pen, though others were ascribed to her author
ship. In the Annuals are to be found not a few stanzas of
merit. VOL. I. ^

114 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
Ever impressionable, her husband yielded to the literary
influences around him ; and now and then wrote pungently
or picturesquely as the whim inspired him; or snatched a
torch from some of the revellers in rhyme as they passed
by, and waved it gracefully aloft as if to show that he too
could versify if he would. Here is a fragment preserved by
Jordan, who coaxed him sometimes to write in the Literary
Gazette, and says that he was certainly the pleasantest of
pleasant men : —
What ! is the ancient Shepherd dead ?
The Patriarch of tbe Mountains gone ?
And is all his white hair withered,
That once like snow in the moonlight shone ?
And is yon old dame left alone
To battle with the world ? Alas !
How different from the thing she was !
He was no common kind, who held
An idle occupation here ;
Nor in fantastic dreams beheld
Wild visions from another sphere ;
But his mind was firm and clear,
And many useful things could tell.
And, at times, on loftier story dwell.
Every bird that wandereth forth,
And every grass and herb tbat sips
Nourishment from the rainy North
He knew, aye, and the dark eclipse,
The moon, the sun, and why he dips
His bead beneath the burning seas.
And nature's many mysteries.
Oh, he was well beloved there !
The very breezes seem'd to play,
In fondness, with his silver hair ;
But now he's vanished from the day,
And shook his eighty years away.
Free as his mountain winds is he.
Let loose to immortality.
Huskisson, Palmerston, and Brougham were among the
Christmas party at Brocket, where the first-named talked
without reserve to Lady Melbourne of public affairs, of

POBTABLINGTON. 115
his belief that Canning would soon join the Government,
and of his hope that her son would ere long re-enter the
House of Commons. Arrangements were already in pro
gress for his doing so through the friendly intervention of
the Damers. At Portarlington twelve obedient burgesses
went through the ceremony as often as desired of sending
a new member to St. Stephen's. On the last occasion the
Earl in his conge d'elire had nominated one Eichard Shake
spear, who was now about to accept the Stewardship of
East Hendred in order to make room for William Lamb.
Brougham wrote all he learned to Lord Grey. He had
been for some time getting up his case about the con
tinuance of the income tax, against which during the
ensuing session he led the Opposition to unaccustomed
victory.* * See his letters to Earl Grey, January 9th, 11th, 22nd, 1816.

I 2

116 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.

CHAPTEE VII.
KE -enters PAELIAMENT.
Speech on reduction of offices — Beturned for Peterborough — Speech
on ihe Address — Secret Committee — Death of Lady Melbourne —
George Lamb M.P. for Westminster — Memoirs of Sheridan.
To appease the angry cry of dissatisfaction at the main
tenance in time of peace of military establishments un-
precedentedly large, for which no probable need could be
shown. Lord George Cavendish moved an address to the
Eegent, praying that steps might be taken without delay to
reduce the number of troops, and to retrench the civil ex
penditure. Palmerston defended the army estimates for the
year as moderate ; 28,000 men was a reasonable force for
home service ; and considering that there were still old
reckonings on account of the lately concluded war, and
garrisons to be provided for our newly acquired colonies, he
thought the Government ought not to he blamed for adhering
to the amount of eight millions already voted. When 1817
came they could better judge whether the standing force
ought to be reduced. Althorp, A. Baring, Brougham,
Duncannon, Grattan, Mackintosh, Milton, G. Ponsonby,
Plunket, EomiUy, Tavistock, and Lamb voted for the motion,
but were beaten by fifty-six.
A vacancy having occurred in the representation of
Wicklowi Mr. Ponsonby retired from Peterborough, and
was returned without opposition for the county. Lamb
desired to replace him in the seat his grandfather and

PETEBBOEOUGE. ii;

uncle so long had occupied, and early in April he was
returned for the cathedral town; Eichard Sharp being his
successor at Portarlington.
On the 7th of May, Lord Althorp moved for a select
committee to inquire into the pay of public officers, with a
view to retrenchment. Two days after his notice had heen
given, a Treasury Commission was appointed, within certain'
limits to inquire into new offices and augmented salaries ;
but though its members were respectable men, he thought
it was the duty of the House freely to investigate the
matter for itself. Lamb spoke with much effect, objecting
especially that our military establishments had not been
reduced to a peace footing.
He thought that, after all the explanations which had been
given, strong grounds for inquiry still remained, an
inquiry which, without any disrespect to the members of
the new commission, would be better executed by a com
mittee of that. House. The Eight Hon. the ChanceUor
of the Exchequer had founded his objections on the
lateness of the session, and the tardy progress of a com
mittee. He did not think that technical arguments like
these were suited to a period of such severe and general
pressure, or that they were such as could weigh with a
House of Commons anxious to discharge its duties to the
country. The House was now called upon to consider
whether they would at length give to the people those
benefits which they were expected to confer. It was
said on the other side that confidence ought to be placed
in the pledges offered by the Prince Eegent's ministers ;
but he believed the pledge to which the public looked,
and on which they founded all their hopes, was the solid
and substantial one given by that House, in its defeat of
the minister's project for renewing the property tax. If
the House did not redeem the pledge then given, they
had only excited idle expectations, and acquired a delusive
popularity. He could assure the noble Lord, that his

118 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
absence from a seat in that House, to which he had only
returned this session, had but served to confirm his con
viction of the embarrassed situation of the country, and
of the extraordinary symptoms which had accompanied
the return of peace. It was not, he admitted, surprising
that a war which had shaken every throne in Europe, and
driven every system of finance except our own through
the ordeal of bankruptcy, should in its conclusion be
attended with extraordinary effects. Such multiplied
disasters could not pass over our heads like a summer
cloud, and leave no trace behind. The country, however,
had done its part ; nothing was to be seen but a spirit of
cordial co-operation, and mutual desire to accommodate.
A noble Lord opposite had talked of attempts of pro
pagating a base delusion. He had seen with as much
regret as the noble Lord a few exaggerated statements in
different publications ; but in that House, and on the part
of his honourable friends, he denied that any practices
had been adopted or any topics adverted to which were
calculated to produce erroneous impressions. In point of
fact he did not believe that any delusion existed in the
public mind in relation to this subject. The public were
as little led astray into wild expectations, and had as
clear and distinct a view of what was practicable in re
trenchment, as the noble Lord. What was looked for was
example, and the effect of just principles adopted with
sincerity, and carried into operation with vigour. Since
the period when he had first the honour of a seat in that
House, he had never seen in it so much apathy to con
siderations of economy — an apathy too well corresponding
with the disposition of the Government. He begged
however, to warn ministers, and to implore the House not
to entertain the belief that a similar apathy was to he
found in the present silence of the people. It was an
unfortunate coincidence that this indifference hitherto
manifested, except on one memorable occasion should
occur at a period when popular meetings were suspended.

BETBENCEMENT. 119

and the expression of the public voice was consequently
relaxed. Friendly as he was to such declarations of
public feeling, he should be sorry to see the functions of
the executive assumed on these occasions; and it would
be most painful to him to find that a persuasion prevailed
that, without the constant superintendence of the con
stituent body, there was no security for the public service.
Should such an opinion however prevail, it would be
owing solely to the conduct of ministers. In ordinary
times, inquiries of this nature were better intrusted to
the Government ; but under extraordinary circumstances,
and when retrenchment was to be carried far, and to be
directed to great objects, he was satisfied that ministers
had neither the courage nor the means of carrying it into
effect by their own influence, and he submitted, therefore,
the propriety of arming them with the authority of that
House. He believed, indeed, that no inquiry or reform
instituted under the sanction of the present ministers
could be effectual, or give satisfaction to the public. It
was true, perhaps, that no possible system of retrenchment
or reform could satisfy all the hopes which sanguine
spirits might conceive ; but the mere mention of the word
inspired nothing but distrust, when applied to the existing
administration. He had had many opportunities of mark
ing this impression on the public mind. It was chiefly
founded on the attempt to impose unconstitutional taxes,
and to procure the consent of Parliament to exorbitant
estimates, both of which they had been compelled to
relinquish. This feeling gave a new colour to the lan
guage universally employed, and created an opinion that
it was necessary to watch every motion of the Govern
ment, and that the best and only security for their conduct
was to withhold from them the public suppUes. He
begged them to reflect that they held in their hands,
not only their own character and responsibility, but
the character of the country and the safety of the
constitution. Their measures most certainly, instead of

120 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
exciting confidence or affection had hitherto produced
nothing but alienation, jealousy, suspicion, and distrust.*
At the close of the session Canning became President of
the Board of Controul, an office which he continued to hold
for several ensuing years.
The harvest of 1816 was the worst since the beginning
of the century, and at Christmas the price of wheat rose to
103 shillings a quarter. After the quotation of eighty
shillings was passed, importation was free ; but the unwise
law which prohibited clearance for consumption under that
price, had prevented any considerable stock from being
accumulated in bond ; and when relief was wanted to avert
famine, the requisite supplies were not forthcoming. Bitter
cries of reproach were heard in every manufacturing town,
and merciless invectives directed against those in power, for
having at the close of the war offered such a sacrifice of
popular industry, health, and comfort, in the hour of victory.
Parliament met on the 28th of January, when Mr.
Ponsonby moved an amendment to the Address declaring '
that the pressure of distress was graver than at the conclu
sion of any former war ; but that to maintain the patience
of the people it was incumbent on the House by a severe
and vigilant exercise of its powers to prove to their fellow-
subjects that the sacrifices it might be their painful duty
to make were strictly limited to the real necessities of the
state, and to express regret that the measures of the most
rigid economy had not hitherto been pursued.
Lamb's speech in support of the amendment was as
follows : —
He admitted that the noble Lord who had opened the debate
and the honourable gentleman who had seconded the
Address, had in some points touched upon and explained
with ability the state and prospects of the country ; they
had forcibly dwelt with exultation on the general state
* Hansard, May 7th, 1816, pp. 338-40 : « On Lord Althorp's Motion
for appointing a Committee respecting Public Offices."

CAUSES OF DISTBESS. 121
and situation of the realm, and in one of the topics of
their gratulation he most fully concurred ; he need not
say that he alluded to the prompt undertaking and
effective execution of the armament against Algiers. The
honourable gentleman who seconded the Address had,
however, - carried his feeling of eulogium into a sort of
poetical enthusiasm on this event ; he had described it as
a proof to the nations of the earth that there was nothing
selfish in the policy of Great Britain towards other
powers; that her aid and co-operation were always in
readiness to redress the injuries inflicted upon other
states, and to relieve them in their hour of calamity. He
was sorry to say that he could not concur in this
unlimited panegyric, and before the honourable gentle
man who had framed it could have wound his mind up to
such a pitch of affectionate credulity, he should have
turned his eyes to the systems which England had
revived in Europe, to the dynasties she had restored and
to the forms of government she had re-imposed. Had the
honourable gentleman looked at the dynasties restored
by British influence, he would have had his answer as to
the liberal and enlightened policy of our ministers, in
those of Spain and other nations, which they had- reared
from their ashes. Had the expedition to Algiers been
undertaken on other grounds than those of national
insult, he for one would not have concurred in its justi
fication; great as was the principle connected with its
object, he could never consent to Quixotic projects upon
this general scale. England was, and he trusted ever
would be, capable of maintaining her own dignity, and the
Commons House of Parliament, her just avenger, would
ever assert her title to that uncompromising claim.
There was certainly no triumph more pregnant with
satisfaction, or calculated to excite more heartfelt grati
tude, than that to which allusion had been made. It was
to be hoped that our great object was, on that occasion,
most fully and permanently secured. The experience,

122 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
indeed, of past times forbade anything more decisive than
the indulgence of a hope on such an occasion. He was
satisfled that the conflict had been waged for a cause of
whose justice there could exist no doubt, and that it
had been conducted and terminated in the most efficient
manner. It was greatly the interest of England, and
indeed of the human race, that the atrocious slave traffic
should have been abolished. On no other part of the
speech could he bestow the same unqualified approbation.
One paragraph in the speech, which ascribed the present
state of distress to the sudden termination of the war,
was certainly founded upon a very unfair view of existing
circumstances ; it was affixing to the end of the war that
consequence which ought to be attached to its continuance.
It was not its conclusion, but its long continuance which
had produced the effects which are now visible, and which
might have been obviated by the adoption of a different
course of policy. The war was the cause, and the distinct
cause, of the present prevailing distress ; and if it should
appear in any future investigation, that an opportunity
had been culpably lost of terminating that war, and of
course with it a part of the public distress that was
incidental to its continuance, then the culpability would
attach to those who had ill discharged their duty, and
who became thereby responsible for the distresses, the
continuance of which they had caused. If, on the contrary,
no fair opportunity had been lost of terminating the war,
then the distresses which had arisen were unavoidable,
and must be met by patience and forbearance. Our
calamities had been produced by the war, though their
complete pressure was not felt till the arrival of peace ;
they were thus connected with the peace in point of time,
hut they could not be traced to the peace as their cause.
In this situation the great object for us to pursue was,
not to propagate a delusion with respect to the cause of
our distress, but to take every means of alleviating it, or
preventing its extension by supporting and maintaining

NATIONAL CBEDIT. 123
public credit. He stated this opinion, not from any fear
that the recommendations of those who ' attempted to
justify a breach of the national faith would be attended
to, but from a firm conviction that breaking faith with
the national creditor would bring no relief to the people,
or Intend to remove, in any degree, the embarrassments of
the country. On the contrary, he was convinced that such
conduct on the part of the legislature would aggravate
and extend them. If we were to trust to the dictates of
experience we had it in support of this opinion. Some
time ago the complaints against the landholder were as
loud as they now were against the fundholder. These
complaints were now heard no more, for there was no
reason for them. Bents had been reduced, the landed
interests were straitened in their incomes, but who had
benefited by the change ? The distresses of the manu
facturing and labouring classes, instead of being alleviated,
had been increased ; they had been deprived of employ
ment by the reduced circumstances of those who employed
them, and found no advantage in the diminution of the
income of those against whose wealth they clamoured.
Any interference with the fundholder he was convinced
would be productive of similar effects, instead of relieving
our distress". Our situation should be supported with that
firmness and patience that could alleviate every calamity,
instead of leading us to attempt plans and expedients
which might aggravate temporary sufferings into irre
trievable ruin, by destroying entirely public confidence
and national credit. But how were we to support pubUc
credit if we did not resort to such expedients ? He would
answer — by economy and retrenchment. Parliament, he
hoped, was prepared for entering into economical reduc
tions ; ministers, he hoped, were prepared for the task ;
and the country, he hoped, was Ukewise prepared. He
said, he hoped the country was prepared for it; for,
although he meant no reflection against any particular
individuals, he could not refrain from observing that those

124 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.

who now called for economy and retrenchment might he
sorry that they were adopted. It should be recollected
that retrenchment was not an unmixed good. A strict
and rigorous attention to economy, and reduction of all
our establishments to the lowest possible scale, must be
productive of evils to certain individuals, and he was not
disposed to underrate their sufferings; but the national
good and the public security were paramount to all other
considerations. The right honourable gentleman who had
spoken last had contended that there was no necessity
for the amendment, to obtain the object which his right
honourable friend had in view, because the Address pledged
the House to the same course of conduct as the amend
ment. This he would by no means admit. The Address
merely pledged the House to take into consideration the
state of the public income and expenditure ; whereas the
amendment went much further, and embraced an inquiry
into the state of the nation in all its interests, financial,
commercial, political, and colonial; examining all its
concerns, its extensions of colonial territory, which was
made the ground or the excuse of extending military and
civil establishments — in short, the whole of our expendi
ture at home and abroad. Our commercial situation and
system required revision, after such a violent change as it
had lately undergone in the political circumstances of
the world. The whole should be taken into consideration,
with the view of ascertaining whether the regulations
which had guided it in war should be continued or
altered on the return of peace. There was one subject
which pressed upon the attention of all, and which would
be embraced in the inquiry that the amendment of his
right honourable friend proposed — he meant the poor
laws. The sums raised for the support of the poor, in the
shape of rates, now amounted to a tax almost as great,
and on certain classes pf the community certainly more
oppressive, than the property tax. It was impossible that
eight millions a year could be collected or administered in

PBESSUBE OF BATES. 125

the manner, and for the purpose, in which this tax was
collected and administered, without the greatest oppres
sion to the landed interest, and the ultimate diminution
of the industry and resources of the country. Not only
this, but many other subjects, demanded an inquiry which
might lead to amendments in our laws, institutions, and
establishments, mild and moderate in their pperation, and
certain in their results upon the pubUc prosperity and
happiness. Nor ought the House to be deterred from its
duty in adopting improvements and economical reforms,
by the rumours or the fears of any disturbances or
breaches of the peace which they either had heard or
with which they were threatened. His opinion on this
subject was always the same ; it had always remained
unaltered, and he believed would do so. He allowed in
their fullest extent the rights of the people to petition for
any lawful object that they thought connected with their
interests, privileges, or well-being ; he reverenced popular
meetings which were regularly and quietly conducted, he
reverenced the rights and the privileges which they
exercised, and he was disposed to attend to their represen
tations, as much as any man ; but when such assemblies
proceeded to violence, when they led to breaches of the
peace, he was for vigorous and immediate repression.
This conduct he would recommend, not only from motives
of public security, but from motives of tenderness and
mercy to the deluded persons themselves. He deprecated
all breaches of the peace, disturbance and riot, not only
for their immediate effects, but for their ultimate con
sequences. Tumult for liberty and right was not only
dangerous and destructive, but was a liar, and never kept
its promises. It led in the end, through scenes of anarchy
and blood, to a political tyranny, or military despotism ;
the more fatal in its nature, and the more hopeless in its
consequences, from the circumstance that the people
were taught to seek refuge under its protection from
the more appalling evils of insecurity and confusion.

126 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.

For these reasons he would give his cordial support to the
amendment of his^right honourable friend.*
While Charles Grant was speaking in answer to Lamb,
a message of urgency from the Lords, demanding a conference
forthwith in the Painted Chamber, was delivered by the
clerks of their lordships' House, Black Eod and his Deputy
being both accidentally absent. On his return from West
minster through St. James's Park, bullets had been fired
and stones thrown at the carriage of the Eegent, which
broke the window, but inflicted no other injury. Lord
James Murray, the lord-in-waiting, was examined at the bar
as to the incident, and an address of congratulation having
been voted on his Eoyal Highness's safety, the debate thus
interrupted was adjourned till the following day.
Canning resumfed the debate on the Address : —
An honourable gentleman, Mr. Lamb, who never spoke
without making a deep impression by his eloquence and
ability, truly observed, last night, that retrenchment is
not an unmixed good. Such a process necessarily throws
upon the world many meritorious and helpless individuals
' who are added to the numbers of the distressed and who
augment the mass of discontent throughout the country.
I state this not as an argument against reduction, but as
an excuse for the frank avowal that in cutting deep it is
impossible not to pain severely.
The amendment was lost by 264 to 112. The minority
included Abercromby, Althorp, Brougham, Burdett, Ebring-
ton. Mackintosh, Morpeth, EomiUy, Tavistock, and Tierney.
Lord Cochrane presented a petition from Saddleworth,
bitterly complaining of the neglect with which popular
suffering was treated, declaring that no relief by way of charity
would be of any use unless the grievances of the community
were redressed by the concession of a thorough and compre-
* Hansard, January 28th, 1817 : " Address on Prince Regent's Speech,
moved by Lord Valletort, seconded by Mr. Dawson."

LANGUAGE OF PETITIONS. 127
hensive change, and averring that the existing House of
Commons did not represent the nation. A question was
raised as to whether such language ought to he tolerated by
Parliament, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer moved that
it be rejected. Lamb expressed his strong condemnation of
the revolutionary language held at public meetings during
the recess, and especially regarding universal suffrage and
annual parliaments :
But they ought to remember the emphatic language of their
Speaker, that their doors should be thrown wide open for
the statement of grievances ; yet a line should be drawn :
those petitions which denied the authority of that House
and its power to make laws ought to be rejected, but the
present petitioners did not go to that extent ; on the con
trary, they fully admitted both those functions in their
prayer that the House would be pleased to pass a bill for
parliamentary reform. The petition from Bristol just
ordered to lie upon the table had prayed that the House
would receive and pass a bill for that purpose. The bill
was to be prepared out of doors, and they were to sit
there to receive and pass it. That was the popular doc
trine now with the gentlemen who had taken the subject
of reform into their hands. They were to get the bill
ready and send it to the House of Commons, as a mere
formality, necessary to give it the effect of law. That
doctrine reminded him of what took place at the end of
the Civil War, when notions of a republic were generally
diffused. Serjeant Maynard and some of the old reformers
who still retained an attachment to constitutional forms
in the midst of all their repubUcan zeal, proposed that a
king should be elected for the purpose of giving the royal
assent to biUs ; but that all other functions and authority
of royalty should be aboUshed. Upon the whole, he con
sidered the petition as less objectionable than the former
one which had been received, and therefore he hoped it
would not be rejected.

128 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
Brougham and Canning took a similar view; and forty-
eight members voted accordingly ; but it was rejected by a
large majority.
Before venturing to propose measures of repression, the
executive resolved to take Parliament into its confidence,
and to invite it to share its responsibility. A committee of
secrecy was appointed to consider and report upon the in
formation contained in certain sealed papers laid upon the
table, which ministers believed would show an extent of
seditious combination formidable to the safety of the realm.
Opposition were invited to suggest names for the committee ;
and although, according to precedent, the ultimate actual
choice was determined by ballot in the whole House, every
one being free to modify the list as he pleased, the choice
for the most part confirmed the list mutually agreed upon
behind the chair. With Mr. Ponsonby were thus associated
Lord Milton, Mr. Elliot, Sir Arthur Pigott, Mr. Lamb, Sir J.
NichoU, and Mr. Dundas. And when at the beginning of
the following session the committee was reappointed for a
like purpose. Lord G. Cavendish and Mr. Wynn replaced Mr.
Elliot and Mr. Ponsonby. Evidence in support of the depo
sitions and reports from' the Home Office was brought before
this parliamentary court of inquiry to aid its scrutiny and
to shape its judgment. It is of the nature of such a tribunal
that its consultations should frequently take the form of
argument, and that its decisions should be come to not
without controversy. Without such conflict of views it
would indeed be of little use. But precedents forbid a dis
closure of the divisions which take place on a proposed
report or on any of its recommendations. It would, indeed,
be incompatible with the idea of secrecy were lists of the
majority and the minority upon important questions publicly
recorded, when the grounds for such difference are withheld.
The part taken subsequently in debate by members of the
committee on the hills founded on the report, sheds, indeed,
a partial light upon some of the questions which are sup
posed to have given rise to discussion with closed doors ; but

SECBET COMMITTEE. 129

a speech in a popular assembly wiU always essentially differ
from the condensed and contentious arguments suited to a
committee-room. Service on committees of importance,
where a man of inteUect really devotes time and care to the
investigation, and tries to carry others with him, or to resist
their powers of suasion, is a special training of the best and
highest kind; land few ordeals test more thoroughly the
metal of which men are made.
For Lord Milton's amendment questioning the payment
of war salaries to ' secretaries of the Admiralty during the
expedition to Algiers, Lamb spoke briefly but much to the
purpose. The votfe, however, was carried by 169 to 114 in
a strictly party division.
On the third reading of the Habe9,s Corpus Suspension
Bill, Lamb, as a member of the Secret Committee, was ready
to bear his share of any odium that might be excited by
measures founded on their report ; but he believed the bill
to be required by the exceptional state of things that unhap
pily prevailed. A minority of 103, including Abercromby,
Brougham, Burdett, Duncannon, Ebrington, Folkestone,
Lambton, Mackintosh, EomiUy, Tavistock, Tierney, Ponsonby,
Althorp, and Cavendish, voted against the third reading.
Three days before the fatal illness of Mr. Ponsonby
Lamb had differed from him in debate and division, and when
he was gone he could not restrain his wish to pay a tribute
of respect to the leader they had lost. He accordingly
undertook the task of moving a new writ for Wicklow,
prefacing the motion with a warm eulogy on the patience,
temper, judgment, and urbanity of his deceased friend.
The plight of Opposition in 1817 was deplorable. Whigs
and Eadicals opposed one another, and no party chief
succeeded to the authority of George Ponsonby, who for
several years had filled the difficult post of leader. Tierney
and Brougham were spoken of as qualified to replace
him. In activity and versatility the latter was con
fessedly pre-eminent, but Tierney possessed temper, dis
cretion, and standing in a far higher degree : and as he
VOL. I. K

130 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
could be depended on to act loyally with the great Whig
chiefs, they determined to have him for their representative
in the Commons. In manner he was decidedly an improve
ment on his predecessor, whose bearing, haughty, cold, and
repellent, aggravated the deficiencies of mind that came to
him by nature. " He was the least eminent man," said
Ward, " that ever filled such a station, and yet his loss was
an event of considerable importance." But he was a man of
independent means, of family connection, and of fidelity to
his word. Tierney was in rather indifferent health, simply a
soldier of political fortune, enterprising, clever, and a great
swordsman in the wordy fray, but without a relative or
follower in the ranks, and without decisive weight in counsel ;
for by birth he was nobody, and when he had lavished his
wife's fortune on contested elections he was poor.
Lady Caroline continued still to write, regardless of the
dissuasions of her friends, and this year was published her
third novel, ' Ada Eeis,' by some deemed her best. It was
violently opposed to many prejudices of society, and had
little attraction for ordinary readers. She herself regarded
it with no little pride, and playfully urged a friend with
whom she interchanged literary confidence to uphold it :
All I have asked of Murray is a dull sale, or a still birth.
This may seem strange, and I assure you it is contrary
to my own feelings of ambition ; but what can I do ? I
am ordered peremptorily by my own family not to write.
All you say is true, and so true, that I ask you if one
descended in a right line from Spenser, not to speak of
the Duke of Marlborough, with all the Cavendish and
Ponsonby blood to boot, which you know were always
rebellious, should feel a little strongly upon any occasion,
and burst forth, and yet be told to hold one's tongue and
not write, what is to happen ? You cannot do me a
greater favour than to recommend and set abroad ' Ada
Eeis.' I will send you three copies, and with them the
letters I have received from Gifford, Lady Dacre, and

'ADA eeis: 131

several others whom you know. In the mean time I am
doing all I can for your future work upon Salvator Eosa.
I have received kind answers from the Duke of Devon
shire, Lord Palmerston, and Lord Cowper, in which they
say they will certainly obey your orders. You must
wait, but depend on the information. Will you, in re
turn for the three Ada Eeises, which I value at sixpence
apiece, — will you read the inclosed list, and serve me, if
you can, by trying to secure me a vote in Westminster
Hospital, in the case of a vacancy for a physician ? it
may not happen this year, and it may in a month. I am
anxious to serve a physician whose name is Dr. Eoe, and
as we both love Ireland, let me speak it to the honour of
that country, that he sprung from it. He has done
everything he could for my dear and only child. I there
fore have done, and will do, everything for him. It is
Scotland, Ireland and England that are opposing each
other. You know you are all-powerful with the Opposi
tion, and I hope for Ireland you wiU do your best. I will
do all I can for Salvator Eosa.*
Near the centre window of the drawing-room looking
into St. James's Park, the chair long retained its place
fastened to the floor, in which Byron sat for his picture to
Sanderson. Lady Morgan notes, in her diary, being received
in this room with the Countess D'Ameland, who seems to have
understood Lady Caroline's temper and manner, " more odd
and amusing than ever. There was no kindness she would
not take the trouble to devise for those who were in favour,
but it was hazardous not to accept the offer." Her song be
ginning " Waters of EUe," written in the autumn of 1818,
pubUshed with music, retained its popularity longer than
most West-end ballads. She deUghted in the harp, on which
instrument she had attained considerable proficiency.
In consequence of a faU from her horse Lady Caroline
suffered, in December, from an attack of nervous fever,
* To Lady Morgan from Brocket Hall, undated, but obviously soon
after the publication of ' Ada Reis.' ^

132 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.

which seemed at one time like to prove fatal. Her own
account of her recovery is too characteristic to be trans
lated into other language than her own :
For one week I never swallowed anything. The moment of
danger is now passed, and I believe, in truth, I died ; for
assuredly a new Lady Caroline has arisen from this death.
I seem to have buried my sins, griefs, melancholy, and
to have come out like a new-born babe, unable to walk,
think, speak ; but perfectly happy. So, finding myself
— after I had wished for death and died — alive again,
I made them carry me out into the air in a blanket,
and then, to the astonishment of every one, ordered my
horse next day, and Sat upon it and would ride, and now
am well, only weak. I have positively refused to take
any draughts, pills, laudanum, wine, brandy, or other
stimulants. I live upon meal-porridge, soda water, milk,
arrowroot, and all the farinaceous grains. My mind
is calm — I am pleased to be alive — grateful for the
kindness shown me; and never mean to answer any
questions further back than the 15th of this month, that
being the day of this new Lady Caroline's birth : and I
hate the old one. She had her good qualities, but she
had grown into a sort of female Timon^not of Athens —
bitter, and always going over old, past scenes. She also
imagined that people hated her. Now the present Lady
Caroline is as gay as a lark, sees all as it should be, not
perhaps as it is ; and having received your very clever
letter, full of good sense, means to profit by it ; but, at
present, like her predecessor, and like one of your country
men, is going about wanting work. I have nothing neces-
sarUy to do. I know I might, and ought to do a great
many things, but then I am not compelled to do them.
As to writing, assuredly, enough has been written, besides
it is different writing when one's thoughts flow out before
one's pen, and writing with one's pen waiting for thoughts.*
* From Brocket, December 18th.

DEATE OF LADY MELBOUBNE. 133

For some time Lady Melbourne had been in declining
health, and in March she was made aware that her end was
approaching. Firm and collected to the last, she spoke to
her children frequently of their inevitable separation, and
counselled each apart, in her own way, as to what she
believed best for them in life. Even at the gate of death
she would not quench the torch of that ambition which had
lighted her devious and audacious path for well-nigh fifty
years ; but handed it to the son in whose destiny she
believed, and bade him look high. Her parting words seem
never to have lost the sharpness of their first impression.
Her death took place on the Oth of April, 1818, at White
hall, whence, on the 14th, her remains were removed for
interment in the family vault in Hatfield Church. The
chief mourners were Earl Cowper, William, and George
Lamb. Frederick was not in England.
The loss of his mother proved, in many ways, a serious
one to Lamb. Though she never could accomplish all she
wished in his favour, she was to the last watchful for his
interest and versatile in expedients to promote it. More
than all, she was for him the safest and best of confidantes.
Up to this time no avowed estrangement had taken place
between husband and wife ; their pursuits were different,
and their companions ; her whims and oddities multiplied ;
and, as he could not cure, he resolved not to see them, or,
when that could not be helped, not to remember them. He
had reasoned himself into the conviction that the world
knew very little about them, and that society held him in
no way accountable for her unaccountabilities. No one but
her immediate relations ever thought of talking to him on
the subject. He continued, indeed, to be cherished and
beloved by them all, for they knew how much he had to
endure, and with what good-humoured fortitude he bore one of
the greatest trials of a sensitive nature, that of being made
ridiculous by her whom, of aU others, he would have heen
proud and glad to see identified with himself in honour and
esteem. What impatience and repining at the fate which

334 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.

bound him for life to a woman he had once ardently loved,
and still was fervently attached to, when she was lovable,
feminine, and tranquil, but who, by her waywardness and
folly, every now and then outraged all his fastidious regard
for conventionalities, and humiliated him in the eyes of the
frivolous and tattling crowd. What struggles he had with
himself to choke down resentment, and to adjourn in
definitely the half-formed resolve to break with her once
and for all — we shall never know. From his mother he had
few secrets ; none in domestic affairs. While she lived con
jugal squabbles were more easily adjusted, or at least
smoothed over ; for Lady Melbourne was in his opinion,
and not in his alone, a person of rare insight into character,
and she possessed a singular ascendency over the impulses
and tendencies of others. Affection for her daughter-in-law
she probably had none. Had she been ever so beautiful,
influential or wise, the old lady would have warred to the
death with a woman who had spoilt the happiness of her
idolised son, if warring' would do him any good. But she
knew better. Long experience of the ways of the world
taught her to give him other counsel. She was ambitious
for him, and she knew that in the society in which they
moved there was every species of danger and detriment in
open separation. He was very handsome, very fascinat
ing, and very susceptible. So long as the household was
preserved, there was little risk of his falling a prey to wiles
certain to beset him, if once the domestic bond were publicly
and irreparably broken. Notwithstanding all her sympathy
and aid, she knew that his pecuniary resources became every
year less adequate to meet his personal wants, and the obliga
tions unreasonably thrown upon him : these requirements
would certainly be augmented heavily if he had to provide a
separate establishment suitable for her who bore his name.
He was in debt, but not yet to an extent that was formidable,
even though the possession of his inheritance might be long
deferred. But all this would speedily change for the worse
if Lady CaroUne should cease to have her home at Melbourne

SIB SAMUEL BOMILLY. 135
House, and designing persons once began to entangle him
in the web of their enchantments. " Ah," he used to say
long afterwards, " my mother was a most remarkable
woman ; not merely clever and engaging, but the most
sagacious woman I ever knew. She kept me right as long
as she lived." It is not difficult to imagine, though im
possible to tell, in how many little ways, and by what subtle
arts she contrived to quench sparks of contention, and to
reconcile differences ere they gained head, to laugh ill-
humour out of countenance, on either or both sides, ere it
found angry words, and to create a diversion in favour of
pleasure or peace when her intractable daughter-in-law
seemed bent on mischief. The very presence of such a
woman as Lady Melbourne, in her later years, was an
insurance against dangerous incompatibilities taking fire.
And when that presence ceased nothing could supply its
place. At the general election of 1818 the greatest triumph of
the Whigs was the return for Westminster of Sir Samuel
EomiUy by a large majority over Sir Murray Maxwell, for
whom Lord Castlereagh and all the supporters of the
Government voted, — and by a still greater preponderance
over Mr. Henry Hunt, then the idol of the populace.
Upon Eomilly's unexpected death soon afterwards, candidates
of various shades of liberal opinion presented themselves.
The Westminster Committee that had mainly contributed
to bring in Burdett in 1807, of which Mr. Adams, a wealthy
coachbuUder in Long Acre, Mr. Francis Place, clothier, of
Charing Cross, and Mr. Brook, glass manufacturer, of the
Strand were the most influential members, undertook to
find him a colleague after his own heart, and gave their
support to Mr. J. C. Hobhouse, then best known as the
devoted friend and confidant of Byron. An appeal to the
electors, written by Place, staking the issue upon the prin
ciple of radical reform, appeared to Jeremy Bentham, who
was consulted daily on the subject, to be just the right
thing ; and was considered by Tierney and Brougham and

136 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
Lord Eobert Spencer as an insufferable affront to the Whig
party. Hobhouse personally was known to all and liked by
most of them ; and he had the great merit of having a rich
father who would spend any sum that might be necessary
to carry Westminster. But that he should be returned in
wanton defiance of the social and political influence that
had theretofore been paramount, was unendurable ; and, come
what might, a Whig must stand.
Neither Tory or Eadical at first appeared willing to take
the field. At the instance of his brother William, who
undertook the arduous work of organising a canvass of the
most difficult, because the most spoiled, constituency in
the kingdom, George Lamb agreed to become a candidate.
A joint committee of Whigs and Eadicals gave him their
support. Eepresentatives of the great family connection, all
of whose mansions stood within the city, figured in the list
as in the days of Charles Fox, and afterwards of Sheridan.
Sir Francis, however, did not approve of the selection, and
after some days promised his support to Hobhouse. He
professed to be an advocate of household suffrage, triennial
parliaments and ballot. But this did not content many
who had supported Mr. Hunt, and they accordingly brought
forward Major Cartwright, who outbid both his competi
tors by recommending that the suffrage should be universal,
and that a new parliament should be chosen every year.
This it was supposed would decide the fate of the election
by splitting the Eadical party. Yet many circumstances
conduced to render the event till the last moment doubtful.
In his address George Lamb asked the suffrages of those
who had lately returned EomUly, simply on the pledge of
his adherence to the principles exemplified in the political
career of that distinguished man, and these he promised to
make the invariable guide of his pubUc conduct.* Though
little used to figure before a querulous and turbulent
audience, he had acquired as an amateur actor some
facility in elocution ; and his pleasant features and good
* Address to Westminster, Febraary 12 ih, 1819.

GEOEGE LAMB. 137

temper won him as much favour as could be expected from
the crowd. He parried questions meant to entangle him
in his talk, with adroitness so as not to give offence, and
steadily refused to be pushed beyond his promise to walk
according to the liberal light as it had shone forth calmly
in the votes and speeches of his illustrious predecessor. AU
the arts of female suasion were pressed into requisition on
his behalf. The Duchess of Devonshire and Lady Melbourne
were no more; but their memory was recalled by Lady
Georgiana Morpeth and Lady Caroline Lamb, both of whom
succeeded in winning many doubtful suffrages. Among
these they hoped to reckon William Godwin, then at the
height of his literary fame, but whom neither of the fair
canvassers had ever seen. The philosopher was supposed to
be inaccessible to ordinary blandishments, and it was thought
advisable to approach him deferentially. On the 25th of
February he was rather surprised, but, as it would appear,
rather more pleased, at receiving the following note :
Lady Caroline Lamb presents her compliments to Mr. God
win, and fears his politics will incline him to refuse her
request of his interest for Mr. George Lamb. She hopes,
however, it will not offend if she solicits it.
He replied without delay :
You have mistaken me. Mr. G. Lamb has my sincere good
wishes. My creed is a short one. I am in principle a
EepubUcan, but in practice a Whig. But I am a philosopher,
that is a person desirous to become wise, andl aim at that
object by reading, by writing, and a little by conversation.
But I do not mix in the business of the world, and I am
now too old to alter my course, even at the flattering in
vitation of Lady Caroline Lamb.
Thus began an acquaintance which in due time ripened
into intimacy.
WiUiam Lamb, who never could be got to work energeti-

138 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
cally for himself at an election, threw all his energies into
the struggle for his brother. His influence with moderate
men among the ministerialists was personally considerable.
Although no positive certainty could be had that at the
last moment a government candidate would not appear upon
the scene, it grew less probable every day. Two votes had
been taken a few days previously in the House of Commons
giving an addition of £10,000 a year each to the Prince
Eegent and the Duke of York. Tierney had led the opposi
tion to both, and had been supported by Scarlett, Denman,
Wilberforce, and Brougham. Ministers were too well satisfied
with their majority of more than one hundred in the new
parliament to embroil themselves in the Westminster elec
tion. Mr. M'Donald, who had recently made a very popular
speech in the House of Commons, proposed the Whig
candidate on the hustings.
Hobhouse was proposed by Sir F. Burdett and seconded
by the Hon. Douglas Kinnaird. Major Cartwright was
proposed by Mr. Nicholson and seconded by Mr. Bowie, who
thought Hobhouse did not go far enough. Lamb was at
first ill received, but quickly gained a hearing ; rank and
property sided with him against the democratic brewer. Out
of 2763 votes polled for him, 1070 had been plumpers for
Sir Murray MaxweU at the previous election some months
before ; and the fact was flung at him subsequently hy way
of proof that he was at heart a ministerialist. Hobhouse
was distanced by hundreds and Cartwright by thousands.
Later on in this year Sheridan died, and William Lamb
was among the weU-born crowd who foUowed him to the
grave. His admiration was unbounded for his genius. He
had never, indeed, heard him at his best ; and continually
in his company during his latter years, he could not be un
conscious of his foibles and his faults ; the after-glow of his
fame, and the fascination of his talk even in the clouded
period of his decline, were for so lenient a judge and so
generous a critic irresistible. Tom Sheridan was, besides,
his personal friend; they were not far apart in age, and were

SEEEIDAN. 139

closely knit by sympathy in taste and turn of thought. Ere
many months had passed Lamb communicated to his friend
the notion of becoming his father's biographer ; and as few
things are pleasanter, and none easier, than to build in the
air a monumental shrine to keep in remembrance the great
abilities and achievements of one we have known and loved,
he gave himself up for a season to the enjoyment, and
persuaded himself the while that at last he had hit upon
something in the shape of work, that would be not only
useful, but that would make him a name. He went in for
a preliminary course of reading in Old English comedy from
Beaumont to Congreve, and long afterwards he used to
excite the wonder of the superficial and the admiration of
the learned frequenters of Holland House by reciting whole
colloquies from Wycherley and long speeches from Massinger.
This was preparatory to writing the earlier portions of his
work, and delightful preparation it was. Then there was a
course of more laborious study in the orations, English,
Irish, French, Eoman, Greek. Their differences of style and
comparative anatomy had for him a charm that they never
had before. It was very much owing to the working of his
thoughts at this period that his predUection for the con
densed and laconic, over the diversified and diffuse, was
crystallised into principle and reduced into practice. He
liked the speeches in Livy, and still more those in Sallust
and Tacitus, better than those of Cicero himself, who he was
sure must have bored the Conscript Peers, thinking a great
deal more of their costly suppers than of the virtue of their
republican fathers : but in his opinion the model of states
manlike eloquence was to be found in the orations in Thu-
cydides. Of the earlier Irish school he had little or no means
of judging. Fox and Windham were the penates of his
house, and the latter was with him a sort of idol. Canning
he' could listen to for ever ; but the man who he always
said was the most irresistible in argument he had ever heard
was Plunket. By the time he had come to settle conclusions
about aU these, something of his youthful preference for

140 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
Sheridan was shaken ; for he could not reconcile them
with his unbridled freaks of fancy and tendency to over-
decoration. This did not cool his biographic zeal, or abate
his ambition to be the author of a book that every one would
read. After many postponements and changes of design
he at length began, and actually wrote the introductory
portions of the Life of the orator as we have it now.
But the drudgery of seeking out, and testing and winnow
ing the materials for a consecutive narrative stretching back
into the days of Garrick and Wilkes, was a dreadful reality
for which his studies and philosophisings had not the least
prepared him. Eepartees were feasily remembered, and the
number of nights that ' The Eivals ' and ' The Critic ' ran was
chronicled to his hand in the records of Covent Garden ; but
what put it into the dramatist's head to write as he did, how
he managed to live while he was writing, and fighting to get
it properly played ; and then why he did not write on instead
of turning aside into politics ; and why when he had made
the greatest speech of his day and generation, and was offered
a thousand pounds next morning if he would give a correct
report of it, he would not, could not, or at all events did not,
though he had not at the time a thousand pence to spare- 
all this thoroughly bewildered the intending biographer. He
had got together all the best marbles and bronzes, sacrificial
tools and incense-burners for his temple, but to go quarrying
for the stones and digging out the rubbish for the founda
tion, or making the cement and trowelling it into the
numberless interstices that must be filled up  Heigh-ho !
perhaps somebody else would do it better : why not Thomas
Moore, an enthusiast by nature, a skilled workman by trade ?
There was some hesitation and some demur : the poet
instinctively knew that, professionally considered, it was not
a job that would pay ; people would expect too much, and
if for himself he was to forage for materials, they wonld
find that they had got too little for their money. Yet if
he did not perform that more laborious part of the work for
which an author gets no thanks and few traces of which are

BIOGBAPHY. 141

ever discernible at all, how was it to be done? Moore
was just then in the highest vogue, and the brilliant frag
ments of the great polisher and setter of intellectual diamonds
were ten times more profitable, and a hundred times easier
to supply, than circumspect and circumstantial biography of
a man, half of whose associates and antagonists were still
living. It was too late to detect many of the lies, and too
soon to tell many of the truths about him. Moore was told
by everybody he dined with that he was just the man to em
balm Sheridan's memory in frankincense and myrrh. The
Minstrel Boy liked the compliments better than the work,
and took to it reluctantly. Lamb proffered him all the aid
in his power, and sent him his notes and sketches, with the
introductory chapters which only were written. Eventually
they made their appearance, with little adaptation, at the
beginning of Sheridan's Life, accompanied with due ac
knowledgments.

142 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.

CHAPTEE VIII.
KNIGHT OF THE SHIEE.
M.P. for Hertfordshire — Bepressive legislation — Second contest for
Westminster — Death of George III. — Proceedings against the
Queen.
THROtTGHOtrT the manufacturing districts, open air meet
ings in favour of Eadical Eeform took place during the
autumn. No breach of the peace occurred, and the local
magistracy did not feel themselves called on to interfere
until, upon the 16th of August, an assemblage estimated
at seventy thousand persons, collected from various con
tiguous districts, met under the presidency of Mr. Hunt at
Peterloo Fields near Manchester. The military formation of
the converging columns as they marched to the rendezvous,
and the exhibition of caps of liberty and flags with ominous
inscriptions, above all the dreaded purpose of the demon
stration, impelled the magistrates to order the yeomanry to
disperse the multitude ; and upon their getting helplessly
entangled and wedged in by the people, a troop of hussars
was called on to clear the ground. No resistance was offered,
but in the confusion and terror which ensued many persons
were severely injured, and six or seven killed. Ministers
advised the Eegent to thank the county justices for the
promptitude of their loyalty and vigour in crushing sedition
and preserving the peace; but on careful consideration,
their legal advisers told them that the existing state of
the law against popular manifestations was clouded with

MANCEESTEB MASSACBE. 143
so much doubt that it was difficult to say what really
constituted an abuse of the liberty of publication, of
meeting, or of speech. Several measures of repression of
the most stringent kind were thereupon prepared under
the direction of Lords Sidmouth and Eldon ; and ParUament
was summoned to meet in November to confer upon them
the validity of law. Before they were taken into considera
tion by the Commons, Lord Althorp moved for a select
committee to inquire into the state of the country, with a
view to ascertain the cause of the discontent and distress
which had led to the recent manifestations of a desire for
organic change. He was supported in debate by Douglas
Kinnaird, Milton, Brougham, Duncannon, Tierney, and
William Lamb, who said that :
On reviewing all the circumstances of the case, he found it
absolutely impossible to doubt that inquiry into whati
had taken place at Manchester ought to be immediately
instituted. This was necessary for the character of the
magistrates themselves. To the argument which seemed
to be principally relied on, that a parUamentary inquiry
would prejudice proceedings about to take place in a
court of justice, he would reply that, in a case of national
importance, this was an inconvenience that must be
submitted to. In the next place, he would remark, that
he knew of no pending prosecution that would bring the
whole case before any of the ordinary tribunals ; and for
himself he would say, that in his opinion nowhere could
so impartial an investigation of the circumstances take
place as in a committee of that House. If it were ad
mitted that the magistrates had acted legally, stiU an
important poUtical question must arise on the discretion
which they had exercised, and this made a parUamentary
investigation desirable. He was apprehensive that co
ercive measures, in the present state of the country,
would prove injudicious, and was afraid that more meetings
Uke that at Manchester might be expected if something

144 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
was not done to conciliate and tranquillise the public
mind. A measure, he understood, was to be brought for
ward by an honourable friend of his, the object of which
was to effect a reform in Parliament. He should be ready
to support it if he thought its provisions were good. He
had hitherto objected to the plans of the advocates for
parliamentary reform, because he thought them not
calculated to effect their object, and tending to degrade
rather than to improve the representation of the people.
He should certainly vote for the motion.*
It was rejected, however, by 323 to 150 ; a preponderance by
which, with little variation of relative numbers, the whole of
the six Acts were passed. Throughout the controversy the
Grenvillites aided ministers, and on one critical occasion
Plunket's voice rallied many waverers and, it was believed,
saved them from defeat. Lord Grey brooked ill being
thwarted by any who had ever acted with him. He spoke
angrily of the veteran statesman with whom he had so long
been associated, and he was said to have written in offensive
terms to a friend in Ireland of the conduct of Plunket. But
the intervention of Lord Lansdowne, who had better temper
than either, reconciled the differences, ere they had become
public, between Plunket and Grey.f
The new year opened in political and social gloom.
Industry sought in vain an adequate price for its produce ;
labour failed to win enough of bread, and enterprise looked
round with languid gaze. Political repression was begin
ning to bear fruit in seditious plots. Early in the winter
Lord Sidmouth had information of designs to overthrow
the Government by means of a sudden outbreak in the
capital, to be responded to by armed risings in the manufac
turing towns. The agencies of espionage were forthwith
redoubled. The Home Office tightened the cords of rigour,
* Hansard, vol. xii. pp. 554^55, November 30th, 1819.
t Plunket to Sir John Newport, January 9th, 1821. Lansdowne to
Plunket, January 24th, 1821.

GEOEGE IV. 145

and loosened the purse-strings of reward for the betrayal
of crime. But perjury grew faster than prevention ; and
dark promises of discovery ended for the most part in dis
covering nothing. Late on the 29th of January the tolling
of the great bell of St. Paul's announced that George III.
had passed away. For eight years the Eegent had ex
ercised all the powers of royalty, and henceforth he would
enjoy the long-coveted name. At the Privy Council on
the morrow he appeared to be unwell, and ere he could be
proclaimed, his physicians confessed themselves uneasy at
symptoms of acute inflammation. Both Houses of Parlia
ment assembled, according to law, for the purpose of taking
the necessary oaths; and adjourned until after the royal
funeral. For several days George IV. was thought to be in
imminent danger ; as if death, having mocked him with the
gift of a crown, was lurking near to make away with it
again. He had not yet, however, wasted wholly the natural
strength of his constitution, and the malady yielded by
degrees. His first act on being reassured of life was to
desire the Premier to prepare without delay a bill of divorce
against the Queen, and his next to command the Archbishop
of Canterbury to omit the prayer for her in the Liturgy.
Doctor Howley meekly complied : Lord Liverpool refused to
obey. The King was wroth, and peremptory in the re
iteration of his commands. The Cabinet met, adjourned and
met again ; submitted reasons as to the impolicy and de
precations of the scandal necessarily attendant on such a
precipitate act : and finding expostulation fruitless they
resigned. No set of public men could be found to take
their place on condition of giving the pledge they had
refused, and his Majesty, sore against his will, consented to
the question being left in abeyance so long as the Queen
should remain abroad. Lord Liverpool engaged, on the
other hand, to institute parUamentary inquiry into her
conduct if she should return to England. In the midst of
these discussions Lord Sidmouth received warning that an
attempt was maturing by a few desperate men upon the
VOL. I. ^

146 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
lives of ministers. The sanguinary deed was to be per
petrated on the 23rd of February at Lord Harrowby's
house, where the Cabinet were to dine. The dinner was
postponed; Thistlewood and his gang were surrounded
at their rendezvous in Cato Street, and eventually brought
to trial, found guilty, and executed. Parliament was kept
together long enough to vote the new civil list ; but men's
thoughts were busy with preparations everywhere for the
general election.
It was during the session of 1819 that Canning, in a
bantering speech against parliamentary reform, was betrayed
into the use of personalities which regard for the dignity of
debate and for his own high reputation would have equally
forbidden. They escaped at the time with a protest from
Lambton, which had little effect ; but, stirring the wrath of
the Eota Club, where advanced Liberals like Douglas Kennaird,
Sir Eobert Wilson, Burdett, and Bickersteth periodically
dined, it provoked a reply in the shape of a pamphlet which
attracted no little attention. Canning, whose foibles it
rudely exposed, ascribed it to the pen of Sir Philip Francis :
it was really from that of Hobhouse. Success tempted him
to try his hand again in reply to Lord Erskine, whose views
did not differ materially from those of Canning. He assailed
in unmeasured terms the whole system of representation as
it then existed ; and asked the question, " What prevents
the people from marching to the House, pulling the members
out by the ears, locking the door and flinging the key into
the Thames ? Knightsbridge Barracks ! " This was brought
to the notice of the House by Mr. Courtney,* and after brief
debate was voted a false, scandalous, and seditious libel.
The publisher having given up the author, he was sent to
Newgate by ninety-eight to sixty-five votes.
Next to being a victor the best thing was to be a victim.
The Eota drank his health up-standing with all the honours •
and the Eadical Committee were more proud than ever of
their man. Hobhouse received no end of visitors and lived
* Afterwards Earl of Devon.

. SIB FBANCIS BUBDETT. 147
as well as usual on what he called the wrong side of Temple
Bar. George Lamb had not been able during the session of
1819 to allay the discontent of the Eadicals in Westminster.
He had voted sometimes with the Government, sometimes
with his colleagues, and sometimes not at all. His speech
in support of Burdett's motion for parliamentary reform
was stigmatised as half-hearted, because he thought, as many
earnest Liberals of the period did, that any general measure
of change was then unattainable, and because he offered to
vote for the gradual transfer of seats from boroughs found
to he corrupt to populous counties and towns. Sir Francis,
amid professions of personal regard, rated him for his Whig
caution, and complained that his backing was akin to that
ridiculed by Falstaff.
If we were all sure of attaining the age of Methuselah, we
might, by possibility at least, hope to see some good effected
in this manner before we died ; but in our circumscribed
sphere of existence to entertain such a hope from such a
source would be as absurd as for any parliamentary reformer
to vote for a candidate who entertained such puerile ideas
on the subject.*
Nor was the knotted lash of Cobbett sparingly laid upon
him. Stoutly advocating the claims of the rival whom it
was resolved to bring forward again, he revelled, as was usual
with him, in alternate scolding and banter.
If you, electors, belong to that indecisive, vacillating class of
mere wishers, mere grumblers, hair-splitters, and oppo
sitionists, who are satisfied with representatives, who sit out
a debate in silent admiration of the wax candles and the
Speaker's wig, and finish with voting in a hopeless minority,
— then indeed I shall not attempt to influence your choice.
Take, if you please, this Mr. Lamb, this yearling of the
flock which Tierney folds ; make him your pet, your House
* Address to the electors of Westminster, February 25 th, 1820.
L 2

148 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
Lamb : but for your cause, gentlemen, if by that word I
understand your property, your liberty, and your national
character, I fear that in the hands of Mr. Lamb your cause
will be lost fnutton.
Meanwhile, Hobhouse lay in Newgate, whither he had been
sent on a Speaker's warrant for a libel on the House of Com
mons. Brougham and others would have dissuaded George
Lamb from offering himself again for Westminster ; and he
was not disinclined to follow their advice. Sir Eobert Wilson
on his behalf communicated with the local leaders early in
February, disclaiming any wish to cause useless division, and
intimating that the Whigs would stand by and look on if
they could be sure that the Eadicals would not abuse the
concession by crowing over them. Service, who was prominent
amongst them, readily accepted the proposal for his own
part, and assured him he might depend on Place behaving
handsomely. Hobhouse, whom Lamb had visited in prison,
hoped to avoid a contest, and plied his adherents with
suggestions to that end ; amongst the rest, that one thousand
signatures should be promptly obtained for a banquet to be
given him on the day he was liberated by the dissolution.
This he thought would have a decisive effect on the minds
of the rest,. of the constituency. Government, full of internal
distraction and despondency Uttle understood out of doors,
renounced all thoughts of contesting Westminster; and
certain of their friends signified their intention to support
any moderate Liberal who might stand. In a family conclave
at Melbourne House it was unwisely resolved to try the
issue of another contest ; and the constituency, being then
far smaller than it is now, the first foot-fall of canvassing
was speedily overheard by the watchful ears of rivalry.
Hobhouse, from his not unendurable dungeon in the City,
wrote to his friend at Charing Cross : —
George Lamb positively starts ; some Whigs have made efforts
to prevent him, hut he will try. I do not think that
anything public should be done yet. The later the can-

JOEN CAM HOBHOUSE. 149
vassing is delayed the better for us ; it will be in our
favour if we wait until all the great folks are out of town,*
as they must be speedily in their various counties.
After another fortnight of preparation the addresses of
the three candidates appeared; and as WiUiam Lamb's
return for Hertfordshire was not to be opposed, he devoted
himself for some weeks to the Westminster election.
On the 9th of March the contest began. G. Lamb was
accompanied to the hustings by his brother, and was nomi
nated by Mr. Wishart, and seconded by Mr. Evans, of Pall
Mall, both supporters of EomiUy and Burdett. He offered
his hand to Hobhouse, who took it cordially, but he wholly
failed to gain a hearing. The multitude were all for Hobhouse
and Burdett, and rapturously cheered their liberated
champion. Hobhouse complained that G. Lamb had up
braided him with the publication for which he had been
incarcerated, and reproached him with having had in 1819
the support of those who voted against Sir S. EomiUy and
for Sir Murray Maxwell. He therefore called him the
ministerial candidate. This justified him in opposing one
who had shown no active sympathy with the cause of the
people. He acknowledged that his rival had visited him in
Newgate, then why should he reproach him with the senti
ments for uttering which he had been sent thither ? George
Lamb justified himself by saying that sympathy for a friend
whose political indiscretion had brought him into trouble
was not inconsistent with reprobation of language all
reasonable men condemned. He was not afraid to stand
by an honourable man even when he thought him in the
wrong; but he did not expect to find his having done so
made the occasion of a taunt.
While the event was pending. Sir Francis was compelled
to attend the assizes of Leicester, as defendant in the trial
of an ex officio information filed by the Attorney-General
against him for a seditious libel on the Government re-
* Letter from J. C. Hobhouse, February 11th, 1820.

150 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
garding the" Manchester massacre. Sir W. D. Best tried
the case ; and the jury, under his direction, found for the
Crown. The issue of the Westminster election five days
after was taken as the popular reversal of the verdict, and
Sir Francis was more the idol of the multitude than ever.
When the conviction at Leicester was known in town, a
placard appeared in these terms : —
Electors of Westminster, Burdett has been convicted.
Hasten to the poll, and show by your votes how you love
and venerate him.
The Morning Post observed that as probation in a jail
was evidently preferred to probation in parliament, and as
conviction of a crime was sufficient warranty for West
minster suffrages, to have two convicted libellers at once
was evidently a great " hit,"— and the chance of having one
out of prison at a time might add much to the perfection
of Eadical representation.
The friends of Government stood aloof generaUy, only a
few, from personal regard, recording their votes. Burdett
was returned by 5327, Hobhouse by 4882, while Lamb
polled but 4436 votes. George Lamb, however, did not long
remain without a seat, being returned for Dungarvan, then
a close borough of the Duke of Devonshire's, in the room of
Captain (afterwards Sir Augustus) Clifford, who had been
appointed to a frigate under orders for the Mediterranean.
Whatever ill-humour the Westminster contest occasioned,
the rival candidates did not quarrel, and Hobhouse continued
to visit at Melbourne House as before.
Government were thought to have rather gained strength
by the new elections; and Castlereagh continued still to
lead the Commons ; while Opposition lost soon afterwards
by the death of Grattan, one of its most venerated chiefs.
The first session of the new Parliament proved singularly
barren of good fruit. Sir J. Mackintosh, on whom Eomilly's
legislative mantle had descended, succeeded in carrying two
bills abolishing capital punishment for a number of minor

QUEEN CAEOLINE. 151
offences,* notwithstanding the fears of Lord Eldon that small
tradesmen would be ruined if shoplifters to the value of five
shillings were not hanged. But the peers, by his advice,
rejected the mitigation of punishment in the case of
poachers, who blackened their faces at night ; and Lamb
found with regret that other humane clauses, in which he
had supported his friend, must be abandoned.
Public attention unhappily reverted to the liturgical
scandal caused by omitting the name of the Queen. Con
jecture was busy as to the course she would pursue ; and
many who pitied the misfortunes of her early wedded life,
and who would fain have saved her from exposure and
ignominy, advised that she should be left the undisputed
possession of her rank, and given an aUowance sufficient to
maintain it, with a view to her residing permanently abroad.
But the reckless and lawless omission of her name in the
service of the Church was an insult hard to bear ; and the
orders sent to ambassadors at foreign courts to disown her
claim as Queen Consort, and to deprecate her recognition
by the Governments to which they were accredited, filled
the cup of provocation to the brim. The rights and
privileges of a Queen Consort had long been established and
defined ; and that which had been hitherto observed as an
assurance the most solemn of her dignity as Princess of
Wales was the coupling her name in the Book of Common
Prayer with that of her husband. While his father lived,
this had been uniformly done.
Very properly, says Lord Campbell, it was directed that
Caroline should no longer be prayed for as Princess of
Wales, and very improperly that a new form of prayer for
the Eoyal family should be used from which her name was
entirely excluded.
It was worse than idle to argue that in the sovereign, as
temporal head of the Church, is vested a discretion, for the
* 4th June, 1820.

162 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
use of which he cannot be called in question. Irresponsibility
might with equal freedom, but with equal folly, be pleaded
for his sending eonge d'elire to a dean and chapter to nomi
nate a dotard or blasphemer bishop of their diocese ; or for
any other act of arbitrary caprice tending to subvert the
ecclesiastical system established by law. A constitutional
monarch does not so trifle with his prerogatives. He knows
that they are public trusts, not personal privileges ; and that
to be preserved, they must be exercised not only with decorum,
but in the spirit of exalted equity. To bid the nation on its
knees, brand with scorn an absent woman, unconvicted by
law of any crime, and against whom no charge had ever
been preferred in any public tribunal, was not only immoral,
because ruthless and vindictive, but unconstitutional in the
highest degree, as condemning the desolate and oppressed
unheard. A secret commission to gather evidence of the
Queen's alleged misconduct had in the preceding year been
sent to Milan, and such of the Cabinet as had perused its
report might feel persuaded of her guilt. Canning refused
to break the seal of the copy sent to him, and returned it,
saying-
He would not give any countenance to the notion that he
acquiesced in a procedure he so thoroughly condemned.
Let her be impeached of treason, if treason could be proved.
Let her be put away publicly by the highest court of the
realm, as one who had forfeited her right to share the
throne. But until convicted and condemned, she was
entitled, like every other subject of the realm, to be deemed
innocent ; and to prejudge her cause by royal authority
was to insult a defenceless woman, to violate the first
fundamental principles of law, and seriously to compromise
the Crown.
Unhappily for George IV., Canning stood alone ; and finding
his position in the Cabinet untenable, he resigned the Board
of Control. Beside the members of Opposition, many inde
pendent supporters, like Lord Wellesley and Mr. Ward,

BILL OF PAINS AND. PENALTIES. 153
shared these views, and in a short time the current of public
opinion set in strongly in the same direction. Before
leaving Italy, Queen Caroline appointed Mr. Brougham and
Mr. Denman her Attorney and Solicitor General ; and made
known through various channels her resolution to return
to England. Thenceforth his Majesty would listen to no
sound advice. In common with nearly all his friends, both
Whig and Tory, Lamb deplored the infatuation of the King
and the evils which it was too obvious would ensue from a
public trial. Few were less disposed than he was to wound
the pride of the new monarch, or to yield to what he felt to
be popular illusions as to the character and conduct of his
wife. Living in the circle where all she said and did from
the time of her marriage was known, he paid little regard to
the plausible extenuations of her reckless and unseemly
behaviour. But he had no confidence that, once embarked
in a judicial investigation so unusual, and for which Parlia
ment was so ill qualified, justice would really be done.
Bills of divorce were, after all, in his opinion, clumsy and
coarse expedients for releasing injured parties from an
intolerable bondage. They had grown into use in com
paratively modern days ; and the practice, even where the
public in general hardly listened or looked on, and something
of the proprieties of a high court of equity were observed,
was not free from serious objection. Sometimes peers who
had heard but half the case voted on the third reading of a
divorce bill. Sometimes the decision was practically left to
the Chancellor and the other law lords. But the Commons,
obeying with singular forbearance a wise instinct of justice,
had almost invariably abstained from discussing the merits
of such bills. His mind revolted at the prospect of the
opposite course being pursued, as it would be inevitably, were
a measure introduced to dissolve the royal marriage. Even
in the Upper House, it would be impossible, under the cir
cumstances, to dissuade the great body of the peers from
voting; and the scenes that were likely to occur in the
Lower House filled his imagination with disgust and dismay.

164 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
He had many an anxious conference on the subject with
Brougham, who was a constant visitor at the house of his
younger brother. Lord Ellenborough had desired her
Majesty's Attorney-General, on the first day of Easter Term,
to take the precedence to which he was officially entitled in
Court ; and his friends were delighted for his sake at the
professional prominence the otherwise valueless distinction
gave him. But they were not without fears that his be
setting love of notoriety might blind him to some of the
worst consequences of the struggle that seemed impending.
With his energy, versatility, and eloquence, to lead in a suit
between King and Queen in the High Court of Parliament,
with the nation for an audience, was a temptation hardly
possible to resist ; yet Lamb, who understood him well, and
saw him daily, always acquitted him of blame in the trans
action ; and though part of his conduct remained unaccounted
for, no one ever accused him of misusing his influence to
draw the unhappy Princess needlessly or hastily into the
struggle. She did not, indeed, disguise at first her misgivings
of the thoroughness of his devotion to her cause. She con
sidered him to incline, in point of fact, too much towards
compromise ; and she would have superseded him in favour
of Sir James Scarlett, had he been willing to accept the
charge. Great efforts were made to dissuade her from returning
to England ; and at one time it was hoped that they might
prove successful. On the indiscreet persons about her, who
naturally wished to exchange the insignificance of a fourth-
rate household at Eome, for the luxury and splendour of
an English Court, was laid the blame of her ultimate de
cision. But her Majesty was not in reality swayed by them,
or by any feeling or opinions save her own. Impulsive, vain,
ill-educated, and unscrupulous — the best advisers would pro
bably have failed to turn the most wilful of women from her
purpose. She had cleverness enough to know that she could
make herself intolerable, if not formidable, to the husband
who had deserted, wronged, and insulted her. She sought

POPULAE ANGEB. 155
reparation for private injuries, revenge for public affronts ;
and the opportunity had come. In her six years' exile she
had outlived all remains of self-respect, and shrunk not
therefore from discussions fraught with indelicacy and shame.
Even before quitting England in 1814, she had ceased to be
regarded with respect by those of her court whose consider
ation was best worth having ; and all that had been told of
her by general rumour since tended still further to lower
her in estimation. On landing at Dover, early in June, she
was saluted, it was said, through mistake, by the guard;
and she was greeted with enthusiastic cheers by the crowds
awaiting her from far and near. In a womanly and coura
geous appeal to the nation, without a word of reflection on
her husband, she called for justice and demanded the recog
nition of her rights. Her progress was a series of triumphs,
and the middle and working classes in London received her
with rapturous welcome. The rage of George IV. could
hardly be controlled. He went in state the same day to
Westminster, and upon retiring sent a message to both
Houses directing inquiries to be made forthwith touching
the conduct of the Queen. The evidence had been long pre
paring, and, in a sealed bag, was laid on the table of the
Upper House by Lord Liverpool, on that of the Lower
House by Lord Castlereagh. The Lords adjourned in
silence till the morrow. The anger of the Commons burst
into a flame not to be extinguished for several months to
come. Who and what was her accuser ? The question was
paramount to all others in the popular mind, and troubled,
above all others, the legal advisers of her adversary. The
right of recrimination had always been adinitted in proceed
ings for divorce ; and to set up a new and exceptional
practice at variance with established law, would, it was felt,
destroy all semblance of consistent justice. Technically, the
ChanceUor satisfied himself that a distinction might be
drawn sufficiently plain to warrant a refusal of proof that
his Majesty's conduct disentitled him to relief from the

156 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.

nuptial tie. Ordinary bills for dissolution of marriage were
always founded on the petition of the party complaining, who
was treated throughout as a plaintiff in a suit. In that
capacity he was liable to retaliation ; and if his hands were
not clean he was refused redress. But the King had not
petitioned, could not therefore be called a plaintiff, and was
not consequently liable to counter charges. Infidelity by a
queen consort was by old statute-law high treason ; but it
could not be alleged that any corresponding crime could be
committed against the state by a King ; and therefore the
analogy failed.* These specious distinctions might satisfy
a majority of the Upper House ; but who would guarantee
that the fundamental principles of criminal equity would ho
put in abeyance, out of regard to distinctions so special
and formal, by a majority of the House of Commons ? Lord
Essex used to tell how George IIL, about to mount his
horse for a morning ride, noticed that the heir apparent,
whom he desired to accompany him and who stood uncovered
by his side, wore a wig, and he asked sharply why he did so ;
the Prince replied " that he found himself subject to take
cold, and that he had been advised by his physician to take
this precaution." His Majesty turned to the lord-in-waiting,
and said, " A lie ever ready when it's wanted." And if
once the controversy were opened, who would set limits to
the suggestions and imputations likely to be made ? The
dissolute life led by George IV. subsequently to his mar
riage was simply notorious ; he had never taken any pains
to conceal his excesses of any kind ; and there lay in ambush,
hardly concealed, a charge against him which, if brought for
ward publicly in debate, could not there be set at rest, and
which directly affected the validity of his title to the crown.
He was said to have previously married Mrs. Fitzherbert, and
she was still alive. Eelying on his solemn word of honour,
Charles Fox had undertaken to deny the fact ; but finding that
he had been duped, he addressed to the Prince reproaches
without precedent or parallel in the history of scorn ; and
* Private letter of Lord Eldon to his brother, September 1820.

ANECDOTES OF TEE KING. 157
when Lord Grey was asked to patch up matters by saying
something in Parliament ahout misapprehension of meaning
on the part of Fox, he peremptorily refused. The documents
connected with the transaction remain to this day in a box
which cannot be opened without the consent of parties never
likely to agree in the breaking of the seals.
From the day that, to obtain a grant to pay debts, the
denial referred to was given to Parliament, distrust of the
royal veracity never could be stilled. It came at length to
be regarded by courtiers and statesmen as a matter which it
was idle to discuss; and anecdotes innumerable were told
illustrating the universality of the impression. When
Eegent, he once called on Lady Spencer to ask her to do him
a great service. He wished her to choose a person of attain
ments and accomplishments to be governess to the Princess
Charlotte. Ahove all things, he desired that the lady should
teach his daughter always to tell the truth. Lady Spencer
betrayed by the expression of her features what was passing
in her mind. On which his Eoyal Highness observed,
" You know I don't speak the truth, and my brothers don't,
and I find it a great defect, from which I would have my
daughter free. We have been always brought up badly ;
the Queen having taught us to equivocate ; and I want you
to help me in the matter."
Negotiations for a compromise, conducted by the Duke
of Wellington and Lord Castlereagh on one side, by Mr.
Brougham and Mr. Denman on the other, led to nothing.
Queen Caroline would have consented to live abroad if her
regal station were recognised by the Austrian or Sardiniqijji
Government at the instance of our own, and if her name
were restored in the Liturgy. The King refused ; and the
proceedings in both Houses were resumed. Mr. Wilberforce
made a despairing attempt to induce the Queen to waive her
pretensions, and confide implicitly in the honour and discre
tion of Parliament. An address to this effect was carried
against the Opposition ; Althorp, Brougham, Duncannon,
J. Eussell, Mackintosh, Whitbread, Scarlett, Graham, Tierney,

158 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
Denman, and W. Lamb voting in the minority. George
Lamb did not vote. As this was hardly a question on which
difference of opinion among persons on the same side might
not be reasonably entertained, it was regarded as decisive of
the course which each individual who voted had made up his
mind to take in the controversy. On the 3rd of July a
select committee of the Lords reported that a primd facie
case had been established against the Queen ; and on the
following day Lord Liverpool introduced a bill of pains and
penalties depriving her of the title, prerogative, rights, and
privUeges of Queen Consort ; and declaring that her mar
riage should be dissolved. Discussions on the mode of pro-
cedure,^examination of witnesses, and arguments of counsel
occupied many weeks, to the great detriment of public morals,
and serious damage to the authority and reputation of
Government. At length, on the 6th of November, after, a
debate of four days, the second reading was carried by 123 to
95 ; ministers and other holders of office at the will of the
prosecutor voting in the majority, and more than sixty of
their usual supporters declining to give it their support.
Public impatience overflowed at the announcement that,
after a decision which was virtually equivalent to defeat,
the bill was to be passed through a committee without a
day's delay. The conscience of Lord Liverpool staggered
beneath its burthen ; and he suffered this further stage to
be completed before attempting to make a stand. But in
the Cabinet, on the evening of the 9th, he proposed that
the bill should be withdrawn. Lord Eldon stoutly resisted
^s abandonment, and sharp words were exchanged between
the Chancellor and the Premier. By way of compromise it
was resolved to feel again the temper of the House ; and to
move the third reading on the following day. An exciting
debate was concluded by a speech of the Duke of Bedford,
who declared upon his honour that he believed the Queen
had falsely been accused. The majority of one hundred and
twenty-three was found to have dwindled to one hundred
and eight, and the minority to have increased to ninety-

DIVISION IN TEE LOEDS. 159
nine. It was clear that to send such a bill to the Commons,
disowned by more than half the unsalaried peers who had
voted, would be vain ; and it was therefore withdrawn.
In the final division nearly all the friends and relatives
of Lamb were tpld against the prosecution of the Queen.
Devonshire and Bedford, Egremont and Spencer, Bes
horough and Fitzwilliam, Lansdowne and Grey, HoUand
and Cowper, contributed to secure the only result which in
the existing state of national feeling was desirable or safe.
In the great reputation won by Brougham during the
protracted trial Lamb heartily rejoiced ; for he admired
intensely the self-reliant courage, untiring energy and
inexhaustible versatility, of the man ; nor could his keen
perception of his volatility, or distrust of his overweening
egotism, quench the sympathy he felt for one in whose
company he took infinite pleasure, and even in controversy
with whom he felt his own powers quickened into a
higher life. It was at this period that the great intimacy
began, which continued so many years uninterrupted, and
the kindly memories of which no mere political breach could
obliterate. Yet he was glad that the name he expected
some day to inherit was not recorded among those who by
their votes condemned the conduct of the King. At seventy-
five, it could not be expected that Lord Melbourne should
endure the excitement and exhaustion of sitting as a judge
for thirty consecutive days on a state trial. With what
feelings the old man learned the progress of the affair, it
were worse than vain to surmise. Although he had retired
from his place in the household, it was impossible for him
to forget the confidence so long reposed in him. Beneath a
tranquil hearing and impassive mien, one can well believe
there ebbed and flowed memories of bygone days ill suited
to the equanimity of mind becoming a juror in a suit
brought by his sovereign. For once, infirmity and age were
felt to be beneficent ; for they exonerated him obviously,
in the eyes of himself and of all others, from the duty
of forming or pronouncing judgment. He had known

160 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
George IV. too early and too well, and yet he had received
unnumbered marks of favour from him, the last being the
coronet he wore. Upwards of one hundred and sixty peers
shunned the scene of shame ; assigning as varied pretexts
as the unworthy guests in the Gospel who when bidden
would not come. But with the venerable recluse at Brocket
it was not necessary to make excuse ; for enfeebled strength
was too deeply written on his brow. And all who loved or
cared for him rejoiced that he should be left undisturbed in
his tranquillity.
Not so easy or so clear seemed to be the course which
the subject of these memoirs had to pursue. Thinking as
he did of the conduct of the unhappy Queen, and regarding
as blind infatuation the fervour of popular passion on her
behalf, he felt daily more and more the humiliation which
Parliament and the country had been subjected to by her.
He believed that indignation at the way in which she had
been treated by her husband during fourteen years of pro
vocation, was at the bottom of the hatred and fury mani
fested by all ranks in her defence. A man who could so
illuse and insult his wife had no chance of a fair hearing
from the people, whatever her frailties might be. The
question was not, was she true, but, was he not false?
Notwithstanding the imputations which every hour were
publicly reiterated in the Government orders, she had the
ineffable folly to bring in her carriage with her to the
House of Lords the hoy whom she said she had adopted, but
about whom no satisfactory account could be given ; and the
mob shouted as she passed, " God bless your Majesty and
your innocent child." Blatant absurdity was but the vulgar
echo of more decorous and grave incoherency. It was, and
could not but be, lamentable in the eyes of sensitive and
honourable men. On the other hand, was it compatible
with public courage or with public duty to stand aside on
the plea of mere disgust ? All the resources of espionage
and menace, of vilipending and invective, of party organi
sation and Court influence, had been tried, and they had

QUEEN'S NAME IN TEE LITUBGY. 161
failed. The BiU of Pains and Penalties was abandoned in
despair. A worthless, wayward, and as her own counsel
believed, demented woman was become the darling of the
populace, the balcony idol of a turbulent faction, and the
heroine of millions of honest folk who knew hut half the
truth. Her partisans gave out that she intended to insist
on being crowned in Westminster Abbey along with her
loving lord. What she might attempt or do neither she
or anybody else could tell. It was only clear that her name
was a signal and her presence an incentive to mischief and
confusion. With very few exceptions, women of rank and
station could not be induced to visit her. She resented
bitterly their abstention, and had even thoughts, it was said,
of displacing Lord and Lady Hood, who had unflinchingly
adhered to her throughout the trial, with a view to identify
her cause more distinctively with the classes that had wel
comed her. The prospect was dismal in the extreme, for
all who wished a speedy end of disreputable controversy
and the return of national attention to healthful and useful
subjects of consideration.
Parliament adjourned for the Christmas recess, and ere
it met again Lamb was one of many who had made up their
minds that, under all the circumstances, the best policy lay
in seeking to assuage every reasonable cause of irritation,
and at the same time encouraging the Government to
provide a liberal establishment for the Queen. Without
ostensible grievance, it was hoped that the frenzy of the
hour would cool, and that people would grow tired of her
melodramatic cravings for applause. Appeals, public and
private, were made to ministers to correct the initiatory
error they had committed in the preceding year. On the
26th of January the member for Herts voted in a minority
of 209 against 310 upon Lord Archibald Hamilton's motion
for the restoration of the Queen's name to the Liturgy ; on
the 13th of February he was one of 178 who divided against
298 on the motion of Mr Smith of Norwich to the same
effect ; and on Lord Tavistock's subsequent resolution con-
VOL. I. M

162 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
demnatory of ministers for the course they had pursued,
he voted with the same number against 324.
George IV. did not dissemble his anger at these re
iterated protests against his implacability. Folkestone and
Althorp, Milton and Burdett did not surprise him ; but he
was mortified at the votes of Cavendish, and vexed with
those of Lamb. It was manifestly not the interest of the
Whigs to rekindle his resentment. He made no secret of
his discontent with Lord Liverpool, whose place he had more
than once offered in vain to Castlereagh. They had begun
to estimate the chances of a break-up in the administration,
and to reconcile personal differences that might stand in their
way if called upon to take the government ; * and politicians
long excluded from power are seldom given to reprimanding
the personal errors of the Court. Did their pertinacity in
asserting their opinions in this affair of the Liturgy turn
the scale of royal pique once more in favour of their rivals ?
We know not, and probably will never know. It is only
certain that ministers held on, in spite of their unpopularity,
without any change, while the Queen lived ; that what was
called a policy of conciliation was devised for Ireland, to
be inaugurated by a royal visit, and carried into effect by
Lord Wellesley's appointment as Viceroy, with Plunket for
Attorney-General ; that Canning was at any price to be
sent beyond sea; and that Grey and his friends were to
be shown his Majesty could do without them.
" Lansdowne to Plunket, January 24th, 1821.

( 1C3 )

CHAPTEE IX.
BEGINNING OF THE END.
George IV. and the Whigs —Plunket's plea for religious liberty —
Lambton's motion for reform — Catholic Peers BiU — Death of'
Castlereagh — Canning leader at last — Advice to Ward — Literary
friends.
Grattan on his death-bed had bequeathed the charge of the
Catholic question to the most faithful and eloquent of his
disciples ; and for its sake had bidden his son forgive, even
as he had forgiven, the greatest of his former foes. Plunket
and Cartlereagh mourned alike his loss ; and promised one
another to persist in the assertion of his principles of
religious liberty unto the end. And to the end both kept
their word.
Early in the session Plunket, as Attorney-General for
Ireland, brought in the Eelief Bill in a shape somewhat
different from that of former years, but in all essential
points the same ; and on the second reading , spoke as even
he had never spoken before. Peel, who as leader of the
party of resistance had to reply, told Henry Bulwer many
years afterwards, that it was the finest speech he ever
heard. Canning, over-sanguine, heard in it the trumpet
note of approaching triumph. Mackintosh went home to
dream that he had heard Demosthenes. Lamb's delight was
unspeakable. Thenceforth Plunket's opinion had greater
weight with him on Irish affairs than that of any other man ;
and to this must in some degree be ascribed the deflection of
M 2

164 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.

his course from the straight and narrow way of Whiggery
for several ensuing years.
A motion of Mr. Lambton for reform was defeated by
a chance division of 55 to 43, there not being sufficient
speakers to carry the debate over the dinner hour. On
the 9th of Maya like accident was guarded against, and
the discussion was worthier of the cause. Still there was no
general belief that organic change had approached the period
of ripening into legislative fruit. On both sides there was
an evident disposition to generalise or speculate ; and when
Hobhouse had exhausted the stock arguments for household
suffrage, large constituencies, and short parliaments, no one
on the niinisterial side took the trouble to reply, and the
debate would have died out had not the member for Herts
risen to express his dissent from certain of the doctrines of
his more advanced friend. Like most of the Whigs who
leaned to Mr. Canning, he was disposed to deprecate making
reform a party question until religious liberty had been
achieved. He regarded, moreover, the extreme demands made
universally by popular assemblies at the time as wholly
impracticable, and calculated to harden the heart of resistance
against those measures of progress which began to look
attainable. Ward's letters to Bishop Copleston at this
period described the uneasiness and despondency of the
moderate party in Parliament at the advocacy by men like
Lord Althorp, Mr. Lambton, Dr. Lushington, and Lord J.
Eussell of comprehensive changes in the representation.
Mackintosh and Brougham would have been content to
leave many of the nomination boroughs untouched, and to
transfer seats to large towns from small places wherein from
time to time corruption might be proved on petition. Had
the alternative of a new suffrage been left to the Liberal
opposition to decide, a great preponderance would have
ruled for twenty rather than ten pounds a year. Lamb's
reply to Hobhouse touched skilfuUy the chords of this state
of feeling, and its success as a speech was long remembered.
It is easy, of course, to turn the telescope of experience
the wrong way, and call such improvements on the oligar-

MINIMUM OF CONCESSION. 165
chical system of representation then existing, diminutive
and dwarfish. Why did not men who ten years later were
fain to force the passing of Schedule A. even at the risk of
convulsion, see beforehand what was coming, and boldly
anticipate the duty of wholesale redistribution ? The answer
is plain and unanswerable. The mob in Covent Garden
were ready for radical reform, but the mass of the community
were not ; and to force its adoption therefore by Parliament
would have been wrong had it been seriously contemplated.
The discussion of thorough-going theories with half empty
benches at St. Stephen's was an easy way of acquiring
popularity ; and it helped, no doubt, gradually to educate
opinion. But the minority, if taken at their word, -must have
been driven to own that the changes they advocated could
in 1821 have only been imposed by the legislative will of
an insignificant minority, by dint of threats of physical force.
Looking back at things as they eventually fell out, who will
now hesitate to confess that it was better for the permanent
peace and welfare of the nation that opinion in favour of
electoral reform was aUowed to ripen slowly and steadily,
instead of being prematurely snatched at and flung into the
wine-press of revolution ?
Lord WeUesley had demanded power to suspend the
Habeas Corpus Act, and the passing of the Insurrection
Bill. Lord Folkestone opposed going into committee, as did
Spring Eice. Lamb had such confidence in the Lord Lieu
tenant, whom he warmly panegyrised, and generaUy in the
Government declaration of their policy, that he supported the
bills. So did Sir J. Newport, Mr. Calcraft, and Colonel Davies.
George Lamb voted, 25th April, 1822, for Lord J. Eussell's
motion in favour of parliamentary reform. William Lamb
neither voted or paired.
As a minimum of concession Canning, on the 30th April,
moved for leave to bring in a bill to enable Eoman Catholic
peers to sit and vote in Parliament. His elaborate speech on
the occasion was listened to with feelings of mingled delight
and sadness by Huskisson and Lamb and many more, who

166 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
had reason to regard it as a farewell offering on a shrine where
the high-priest of their political faith and hope was but too
likely to minister no more. Contrary to the usual practice,
even at this preliminary stage the proposal encountered
vehement opposition, and the first reading was carried in a
House of near five hundred members by a majority of only
five. On the 10th of May the second reading was peremptorily
opposed by Mr. Secretary Peel, who deprecated earnestly
the success of the bill in proportion to the probability of
the success of the general measure of emancipation. Lord
Londonderry supported the concession, and it was carried by
a majority of twelve. The Duke of Portland moved the
second reading in the Upper House. Lords Erskine, Grey,
Grenville and Holland supported. Lords Colchester and Eldon
opposed. The measure was lost by 171 to 129, including
proxies ; and the disheartened friends of toleration learned
that its distinguished author was about to quit the scene
of his ineffectual struggles, for the Golden East. Tlfe
Directors of the East India Company had chosen Canning
for their next Governor-General, and the Government, too
glad to be relieved of his presence in Parliament, with effu
sion ratified their choice. His small but brilliant staff of
adherents was disbanded, and at the end of the session he
went to take leave of his constituents at Liverpool.
On the day after the prorogation. Lord Melbourne
entertained at Whitehall a distinguished party, at what the
Court Newsman designated " a grand turtle dinner." It was
the last of the banquets given during the season to please
Lady CaroUne and Mrs. George Lamb, rather than to gratify
any lingering fancy of the aged host for luxurious display.
A few days after. Lady HoUand made it a point that the
famiUar circle should once more meet around her table
before the world went out of town ; and so it happened
that they had not separated for the autumn, when tidings
of a deplorable event became known, which it was felt by
all must inevitably lead to consequences of the greatest
moment. The minister who for ten trying years had led

DEATE OF CASTLEBEAGH. 167
the House of Commons alid guided the foreign policy of the
empire, in a paroxysm of mental aberration had fallen by his
own hand. Nothing else was thought or spoken of for many
days. Irrespective of party, Lord Londonderry had many
attached friends ; and a still more numerous circle who
admired his courage and equanimity in public life, and
delighted in his amenity, gentleness, and absolute freedom
from affectation or pretension in private intercourse. The
intrepid champion of reactionary views abroad and at home,
he had long been pre-eminently hated and feared by the
friends of constitutional progress ; but no provocation could
ruffle his parliamentary temper, and no threat of revolution
bend or break his resolve that England should adhere to the
policy agreed upon at the Congress of Vienna. Personally,
few men exercised a greater power to charm, when he had
time to be at the trouble ; and in the interchange of courtesies
and hospitalities he seemed wholly unconscious of the
prejudices arising from differences of opinion. Without
eloquence or wit, he possessed extraordinary influence in
Parliament, and retained to the last the friendship of not a
few opponents, and the affection of every friend who had
known or trusted him. To Lamb he had invariably shown
kindness and consideration; and it seemed but yesterday
that they had parted at Westminister with mutual expres
sions of good-will, signifying little at the time, but recalled
by the survivor in a deep sense of melancholy. The un
checked ebullition of satisfaction with which the deplorable
event was received out of doors moved him only with a
shudder of disgust, and made him all the more outspoken
in paradoxical apology for faults, and exaggerated praise of
good qualities.
In the funeral cortege which foUowed Londonderry's
remains to the Abbey were the carriages of Lords Sydney,
Melbourne, and Listowel, with those of many of his political
friends. But popular hatred was too much concentrated
upon one object to distinguish whose liveries were there.
It was a dreadful scene, the passionate and implacable rage.

168 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.

such as before or since has not desecrated the portal of the
cathedral. In Jerusalem Chamber assembled many who
had served under the deceased statesman, some whom he
had promoted, others whom he had befriended, in order to
pay the last tribute of respect ; and there were gathered
also, Lords Grenville, Althorp, Bective and Gower, Alex
ander Baring, Sir Walter Stirling, and WiUiam Lamb.
It was not possible that his mind should not turn to the
imminent consequences of an event so startling; and he
shared the curiosity of the Duke of Devonshire, whom he
saw on his way through town from Paris, and of Lord
Holland as to what would happen to Canning and what he
would do.
While staying at Seaforth, the residence of Mr. John
Gladstone, one of his influential supporters at Liverpool
the disappointed statesman under sentence of viceregal
banishment, received the tidings that the rival who had so
long held the Foreign Office against him was no more.
" Not gone yet," was the irrepressible thought of every
friend of Canning, who was tardily preparing for exile.
George IV. received the news at Edinburgh when about to
commence a royal progress through Scotland. Instinctively
he drew the same inference as they had done ; and wrote
urgently to the Premier that no steps should be taken with
regard to the vacant post until he should have an opportunity
of conferring personally with him. In point of form Lord
Liverpool obeyed the interdict; but he needed no time to
consider what must he done. The Duke of Wellington
without hesitation arrived at a similar conclusion, that in
the Foreign Office Canning was now inevitable. The
Congress of Verona was to meet in October, and England
had agreed to be represented there. Some of the last
official papers which the deceased minister had taken with him
to his seat at North Cray related to the proposals about to
be submitted by Eussia to the Privy Council of Europe for
the more effectual suppression of representative aspirations
in Italy and Spain. What he had meditated saying or doing

CANNING FOBEIGN MINISTEB. 169

at the approaching conclave was still to a certain extent
doubtful ; but having long had the conduct of English
diplomacy completely in his hands, his colleagues had
grown accustomed to rely mainly on his judgment, and the
King on his disposition. Now all was changed; and the
man whom the Court and Cabinet regarded with misgiving,
must be the builder if not the architect of a new foreign
policy, unless indeed they could make with him beforehand
reassuring terms. But how and by whom was this to be
done ? Canning was too subtle and astute to squabble about
the length of the reins or the colour of the ribbons to be
placed at flrst on the horses' heads. Give him only the
power, and he would use it as opportunity served. It was
not till after a long interview on the 11th of September
that his old and attached friend Lord Liverpool shook him
by the hand cordially and congratulated him on renouncing
the governorship of India, to be Secretary of State and
leader of the House of Commons. How greatly this event
was to influence the career of the subject of this biography
he himself assuredly did not know.
Various and opposite were the feelings which Canning's
sudden change of fortune caused in the ranks of the
Opposition. Hobhouse and Lambton and nearly all the
extreme men of the party had been congratulating them
selves that they should hear his merciless jeers at their
expense no more. Plunket and Lamb and most of the
moderate Liberals were glad, on the contrary, that he should
remain. Canning offered the third under-secretaryship (then
incompatible with a seat in Parliament), to Lord Binning ;
and on his declining, to Mr. Ward, who consulted everybody
he knew on the subject, and for more than a fortnight could
not make up his mind what to do. His father was all
against it, unwilling to forego the fond expectation that he
would one day cut a great figure in Parliament. Copleston,
who knew his weakness best, and grieved to see his fine
understanding slowly drifting to ruin for want of active
occupation which might compel him to cease thinking of his

170 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
real or imaginary ailments, urged him to accept. Tierney said
he ought to refuse, because he hated Canning, and because to
his mind, wounded and worn with pecuniary embarrassments
incurred in a long struggle to keep his position, the notion
seemed absurd of a young man with vast expectations relin
quishing his seat to drudge in an office at fifteen hundred a
year. William Lamb wrote from Panshanger :
I received your letter this morning alone, destroyed it as
soon as I had read it, and have considered its contents as
I rode over here from Brocket ; and upon the whole,
putting myself in your place, I have little doubt that you
should accept the offer. It is one of the pleasantest places
under Government — necessarily gives an insight into all
that is going on, and would be rendered to you particu
larly agreeable by your cordial agreement and intimacy
with your principal — add to this that it would have the
effect of supporting and assisting Canning at this moment
— that it might lead to more — that it would give you what
you want in occupation and employment — and that, with
out flattering your abilities and knowledge of the world at
home and abroad, it might enable you to be of essential
service to the ministry and the country. These are
considerations sufficient, in my mind, to induce you to
accept ; at the same time do not take it unless you can
make up your mind, in the flrst place, to bear every
species of abuse and misrepresentation, and the imputa
tion of the most sordid and interested motives; in the
second place, to go through with it if you undertake it,
and not to be dispirited by any difficulties or annoyances
which you may find in the office, and which you may
depend upon it no office is free from. I write in a great
hurry, and with a bad pen, but if you can read it you will
understand me as well as if I had written three times as
much. Yours very sincerely, W. Lamb.*
From day to day the mind of the hypochondriac oscillated
* To the Hon. J. W. Ward from Panshanger, September 29th, 1822.

LYTTON BULWEB. ' 171
between conflicting doubts as to what people would think,
and as to what he ought to think himself of the proposal.
It ended in his refusing, and the post was offered to
Frederick Lamb, whom he describes as just of his own age,
but his superior in talents. He likewise declined, where
upon Canning, desirous of pleasing the King, appointed
Lord Francis Conyngham.
Lady Caroline cared little for politics for their own sake ;
but she liked celebrities of every sort, and politicians
amongst the rest. Youth and age, wealth and poverty were
of small account with her, and in her drawing-room were to
be met critics and poets, philosophers and dramatists,
promising wits from Cambridge, and veteran book-makers
from the Eow. She had made the acquaintance of Godwin
soon after her ineffectual effort to get his vote for George
Lamb at Westminster. He made himself agreeable, and she
was deUghted with the eccentricity of his opinions. Her
husband had read without being much struck by his ' Theory
of PoUtical Justice' ; of ' Caleb WiUiams ' and ' St. Leon ' he
thought more highly. Hobhouse considered him a bore;
but the son of an old friend in Herts, fresh from the
University, and with his head full of Bond Street and Lord
Byron, asked as a special favour that her ladyship would
present him to the father of Mary WoUstonecraft, whose art
as a novelist fiUed him, as the style of Hume did Gibbon,
"with admiration and despair." The name of the youth
was Edward Lytton Bulwer. In a letter without date, hut
evidently about this period, she wrote :
My brother, WiUiam Ponsonby, is so much delighted with
the two books you left with me, and I am so enchanted with
the letter of advice to the young American, that we both
request you to send us a list of aU your pubUcations for
the use of young people. Send also to St. James' Square,
Hon. William Ponsonby, ' The Advice to the American,'
' A Eoman History,' and ' The Pantheon.' I forget my
brother's number, but it is next door to the Duke of St.

172 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
Albans'. Mr. Lytton Bulwer, a very young man and an
enthusiast, wishes to be introduuced to you. He is
taking his degree at Cambridge ; on his return pray let
me make him acquainted with you. I shall claim your
promise of coming to Brocket ; would your daughter or
son accompany you ? Hobhouse came to me last night ;
how strange it is I love Lord Byron so much now in my
old age, in despite of all he is said to have said ; and I
also love Hobhouse because he so warmly takes his part.
Pray write to me, for you see your advice has had some
effect. I have been studying your little books with an
ardour and a pleasure which would surprise you; but
what has vexed me is that the two children and four
young women to whom I endeavoured to read them, did
not choose to attend. . . . After all, what is the use of
anything here below, but to be enlightened and try to
make others happy ? From this day I will endeavour to
conquer all my violence, all my passions; but you are
destined to be my master. The only thing that checks
my ardour is this : For what purpose, for whom should I
endeavour to grow wise ? What is the use of anything ?
What is the end of life ? When we die, what difference
is there here between a black-beetle and me? . . . The
only thoughts that ever can make me lose my senses are
these,—- A want of knowledge as to what is really true — •
A certainty that I am useless — A fear that I am worthless
— A belief that all is vanity and vexation of spirit, and
that there is nothing new under the sun. The only prayer
I ever say besides the sinner's, and the only Ufe I shall
ever leave written.
WiUiam Ponsonby— who was nearest to her in age of her
brothers, and, throughout her wanderings and troubles, was
ever ready to Usten patiently to her complainings and to
turn aside gently the querulous and fitful thoughts with
which it was in vain to reason — tried to pique her sense of
dignity. Her quarrel with Byron was now of long standing,

LETTEES TO GODWIN. 173
and was generally known : and on this, as on most other
subjects that fascinated her wandering imagination, she was
ready, on brief acquaintance, to speak unreservedly to any
one who would listen to her. It was to no purpose that her
brother hushed her into 'silence on such a theme. In a
placid mood she would promise to be more reserved, because
he wished it, not because she was convinced she had been
wrong. But at the first allusion to a sardonic fling of
the poet in conversation or correspondence, whereof stories
were seldom long wanting, she would break out, as formerly,
in a torrent of reproach and lament, wildly recounting
passages which had, or which she dreamed had occurred
between them ; and generally ending in an invective against
nameless wicked ones who had poisoned his mind against
her. Before they left town for Easter, she wrote —
By desire of her husband, to remind Godwin of his promised
visit to Brocket, where they meant to stay a week. We
are, and shall be, entirely alone until I have seen my dear
father, who returns from Italy in May. Your room will
be always ready, and a quiet day in the country may not
displease you ; and, as I said before, a person with your
mind can, I am sure, encounter all the dulness of a mere
family party without fear. You have only to choose a
fine day, and let us know the night before ; you will be
sure to be welcome. I am, with respect and truth, yours,
C. L.
Melbourne House. Actually four in the morning.
I'rom Brocket, some weeks later, in a fit of gloomy
egotism, she warned her correspondent not to imagine that
there was anything, after all, marked, sentimental, or
interesting in her career : —
All I know is, that I was happy, well, rich, joyful, and
surrounded by friends. I have now one faithful, kind
friend in WiUiam Lamb, two others in my father and
brother— but health, spirits, and all else is gone— gone

174 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.

how? Oh, assuredly not by the visitation of God, but
slowly and gradually, by my own fault ! You said you
would like to see me and speak to me. I shall, if possible,
be in town in a few days. When I come I wiU let you
know. The last time I was in town, I was on my bed
three days, rode out and came off here on the 4th. God
preserve you. Yours, C. L.
Brocket Hall.
She delighted in the woods and gardens at Brocket — a
paradise, full of flowers and fruits, only wanting inhabit
ants. Her invalid boy and her venerable father-in-law
divided her attention ; but the alternate spectacle of the
infirmity of youth and the infirmity of age added only to
the deepening habit of despondency.
Sir Charles and Lady Morgan, on their return from
Italy, stayed some time in London, and were frequently
guests at Whitehall. Lady Caroline's early predilection for
the Wild Irish Girl had not lessened with years ; she admired
the courage and originality of her friend, and spent a good
deal of time in her company. Lamb was seldom of their
coterie, but he liked talking about books with Sir Charles,
who had wandered a good deal off the beaten tracks of
reading ; and he enjoyed still more a dish of foreign politics
with his wife, the abuse of whom in certain journals he
condemned unsparingly. In this, as in many other in
stances, he seemed to make it a point to be attentive and
kind to those who were favourites of Lady Caroline : and
long after her death, when unexpected power had come to
him, he availed himself cheerfully of the opportunity it gave
to confer upon the authoress an important benefit.

( 175 )

CHAPTEE X.
LADY CAROLINE AND HER SON.
Domestic Life — Augustus Lamb — Letters to Godmn — Huskisson —
Beply to Mackintosh — Befusal of office — Death and funeral of
Byron — Alienation.
Autumn glided by more tranquilly than usual. Harvest
ripened plentifully, and was early gathered in. Employ
ment grew once more abundant, disaffection gradually gave
place to reasonable hopes of progress, and the name of
Government was less unpopular than it had been. Instead
of unattainable projects of organic change, men's thoughts
turned to the prospect of substantial improvements in the
laws affecting industry and trade. Murmurs and reproaches
at our support of the Holy Alliance gave place to glad
expectation that England was about to point the way, if not
to aid the nations of the West in gradual self-emancipation.
The whole tone of administration was softened ; and while
Canning was preparing his colleagues in the Cabinet, and
the mind of the King to recognise the independence of the
South American States, and warning the Porte that if the
Greeks were not humanely and justly governed Christen
dom would recognise the rending of their thrall ; while
Huskisson was elaborating measures for the liberation of
trade, and Peel preparing mitigations of the criminal code
that EomiUy would have rejoiced to see— moderate Liberals
were drawing slowly but steadily towards the Government.
Lamb found every day less and less in which he differed

176 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
from Palmerston and Huskisson; and altogether he was
politically inclined to be more hopeful ahd better content.
Lord Melbourne dozed placidly in the sunshine, with
drawn altogether from the bustle of the world, and satisfied
if he saw those around him healthful and happy. Even
the troubled spirit of Lady Caroline partook of the general
temper of content. Alluding to a contrary surmise in a
recent review of her novels, she said she would not be judged
by what she had written in ' Ada Eeis,' as if it had been
meant descriptively : —
I am satisfied with all I have. My husband has been to me
a guardian angel, I love him most dearly ; and my boy,
though affiicted, is clever, amiable, and cheerful. Let me
not be judged by hasty words and hasty letters. My
heart is calm as a lake on a fine summer day ; and_ I am
as grateful to God for His mercy and blessing as it is
possible to be.
Unhappily the placid surface was but too easily ruffled.
The son of so many hopes and cares was nearly seventeen,
well-grown for his age, and in features not ill-favoured ;
delicate in health, and of languid temperament, but uncom
plaining, easily amused, rather of a reading turn, courteous,
tractable, and fond. There was no indulgence his mother
would not give him ; no boyish whim of curiosity his father
would not gladly gratify, if he would only ask it, or take it
without asking. But he asked not, or asked for so little
suitable to his years ; and when provided by the yearning
forethought of affection, it called forth no ejaculation of
surprise or joy. His lips did not forget gentle words of
thanks ; but his eye kindled not, and his hand did not grasp
the new fishing-rod or the new pony's bridle, as if it was his
own. He could play cards with his grandfather, and was
ready whenever the old lord was in the humour but he
hardly cared whether he lost or won, and was content to
give over at the slightest hint of weariness. He did not
revoke, and was even shrewd in his play, but it was too like

MOTEEB AND SON. 177

the cleverness of the automaton. When those about him
talked he listened, and when they laughed he smiled ; but
he rarely caught the contagion of their mirth, and seldom
joined in the conversation. The impetuous mother strove
in her erratic way to rally him into activity, or pique him
into self-assertion, but all to no purpose. It was not in him
to contend with her about anything, and as to the future, it
was a region far beyond his ken or dream. And when she
gave up the effort in despair, and was unable to hide her
vexation, he would take her hand in his as though he thought
he ought to soothe her if he knew how. But the cause of
her grief and its intensity were as incomprehensible to him
as its remedy was to her. In her perplexity she turned
from physical to mental science. Medical skill could do
nothing; but a metaphysician — a man who had made the
mind's workings, the strength and weakness of brain power
a study — who understood, or professed to understand, the
difference between genius and learning, aptitude and dulness,
passion and phlegm, reserve and incoherency, in all their
strange varieties — might not he have insight into the great
affliction of her life, and minister to a mind diseased ? She
would consult Godwin— have him down to Brocket, where
he could observe the symptoms of the mental case under all
circumstances, and form his diagnosis of the malady, if
malady it were, and then advise, or mayhap, cure. Lamb
did not share her fond anticipations. He knew tolerably
well all that psychology had done in the way of opening
new shafts into the depths of the great enigma of existence,
what strata of curious rubbish it had drawn forth and cleared
away, and what small residuum of precious things it had to
show for its laborious delving. He knew that when the
owner of one pit died another was opened by some new
speculator in the wealth of the unseen world, to be neglected
and superseded in his turn by some yet more confident
adventurer. But for comfort, light, or even for termination
of controversy, he had come to the conclusion that all their
metaphysic learning and logic was but vanity and vexation
VOL. I. N

178 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.

of spirit : and he groaned as he said within himself^— they
cannot kindle mind, not ready to be set aflame ; or tell us how
and why it will not burn. He did not object, however, to
the renewed invitation to Godwin, whom he rather liked.
Lady Caroline's letter, as usual, touched on a good many other
subjects than the one uppermost in her thoughts — her own
unappeasable discontent with herself and her destiny.
From the moment when I saw you last under such excessive
agitation, until the present moment, I have been — you said
I might be if I would — calm and perfectly well, "and
tolerably happy. Is it not strange, then, that I can suffer
my mind to be so overpowered, and mostly about trifles ?
Can you think of me with anything but contempt ? Tell
me, would you dislike paying me a little visit ? I will
not allure you by descriptions of a country life. If you
come, I imagine it is to pay me a friendly visit, and if you
do not, I shall feel secure you have good reason for not
coming. The whole of what passed, which set me so beside
myself, I forget and forgive ; for my own faults are so
great that I can see and remember nothing beside. Yet I
am tormented with such superabundance of activity, and
have so little to do, that I want you to tell me how to go
on. It is all very well if one died at the end of a tragic
scene, after playing a desperate part; but if one lives,
instead of growing wiser one remains the same victim of
every folly and passion, without the excuse of youth and
inexperience : what then ? Pray say a few wise words to
me. There is no one more deeply sensible than myself of
kindness from persons of high intellect, and at this period
of my life I need it. I have nothing to do — I mean
necessarily. There is no particular reason why I should
exist; it conduces to no one's happiness, and, on the
contrary, I stand in the way of many. Besides, I seem
to have lived five hundred years, and feel I am neither
better nor worse than when I began. My experience
gives me no satisfaction ; all my opinions and beliefs and

LETTEE TO GODWIN. 179

feelings are shaken, as if suffering from frequent little
shocks of earthquakes. I am like a boat in a calm, in an
unknown and, to me, unsought-for sea, without compass
to guide or even a knowledge whither I am destined.
Now, this is probably the case of millions, but that does
not mend the matter, and whilst a fly exists, it seeks to
save itself. Therefore excuse me if I try to do the same.
Pray write to me, and tell me also what you have done
about my journal. Thank you for the frame ; will you
pay for it, and send me in any account we have at your
house ? I am very anxious about my dear boy. I must
speak to you of him. Every one, as usual, is kind to me ; I
want for nothing this earth can offer, but self-control.
Forgive my writing so much about myself, and believe
me most sincerely yours.
It may be easily imagined that the writer of a letter like
this to a comparative stranger was little suited for the intimate
companionship of wedlock with any man of exigeant and
fastidious nature, however gentle and generous he might be.
The confidence that gave her unlimited freedom in the
disposition of her time and choice of friends, her husband
would indeed have conceded as easily to any woman that he
loved. Distrust was not in him, and his pride would not
accept compulsory devotion. Proofs of affection touched him
deeply when they were spontaneous, and given as though
unconsciously, and without profession or explanation of
purpose. But he winced at a caress that insisted on
exacting acknowledgment there and then ; and chafed at the
notion that any sacrifice made for him, whether great or
small, imposed an obligation. He was ready to deny himself
many things he liked, to please or gratify his wife ; and he
wished for nothing in return but the unclouded look and
simple accents of her love. He was deUghted when he saw
that she on her part gave up in trifles her own way, as she
was sometimes ready to do, to humour or amuse him. But
all was marred by the insatiable longing for the romance
N 2

180 MEMOIBS OF VISCO UNT MELBO UENE.
rather than the reaUty of fondness. She did not upbraid
him with oc6asional absence, but she mourned over it as
evidence unniistakable that she was forgotten and might be
done without. She was very proud of his attention, and of
the admiration of others for him; and she had too much
discernment not to see, though she had too much delicacy to
show, how much she felt chagrined at her share of social
celebrity being less than his ; but it grieved her ambition,
which was boundless, and her avarice for distinction, which
was unappeasable ; and, worse than all, she fretted herself to
death because she was not thought an indispensable part of
his being. Could she have only persuaded herself of that,
and that he felt it to be so, she imagined she would have
been happy, and failing this, her misfortune and his misery
was, that she was for ever brooding over her lot, explaining
her unhappiness to him, and telling her story to the whole
world in prose and verse. His forbearance by the testimony
of all who knew them was unspeakable ; but his very
equanimity and self-control occasionally aggravated her
vexation. After spending a week in the country, with no
other society than hers, humouring quietly every whim, and
letting every little petulancy pass without remonstrance,
she would get into a paroxysm at his impassibility, declare
that he treated her like a child, and that she was the most
solitary of women. The fountains of the great deep of his
impatience were then broken up, and it rained a terrible
tempest of rebuke and ridicule, intermixed with reasoning
harder to bear than either, for the space of half an hour.
But he soon relented, and his irritation passed away.
It is hardly necessary to say that Goodwin was unable
to afford any consolation during his visit to his friends
respecting the condition of their child, for child he still
remained in all but outward form. The philosopher appeared
occasionaUy among the crowd of notabilities, political and
Uterary, at Melbourne House, and Lady Caroline always made
him welcome.
The first significant proof of Canning's power, and his

EUSKISSON IN THE CABINET. 181
determination to use it, was the introduction of Mr. Huskisson
into the Cabinet.* His services in subordinate office were
well known to Lord Liverpool, but the liberality of his
opinions on questions of taxation and trade, and those
connected with foreign affairs, had hitherto stood in his
way. Up to this time he had never voted for the removal
of religious disabilities or for any concession of electoral
reform, yet he was looked upon as an unsafe man ; and the
Chancellor's consent to his promotion was so little to be
expected that it was not asked.f At first Lord Liverpool
did not venture more than to offer him the Presidency of
the Board of Trade, with which was then associated the
Treasurership of the Navy. Difficulties, he said about
making the Cabinet too numerous, alone prevented his
immediate admission ; but the earliest opportunity would
be taken of giving him the rank which he had fairly earned.
With this Canning and Lamb advised him to be satisfied,
and in January he accepted the offer accordingly. But when
the session of 1823 had passed without the promise being ful-
fiUed, Canning, who felt the ground growing firm beneath
him, told the Premier that if, with his hands full of foreign
affairs, he was to lead the Commons, as the times required.
they should be led, through the series of fiscal and financial
changes that could no longer be postponed, he must have by
his side in Council as well as in the House some one on
whom he could absolutely rely to think with and for him.
The mere consumption of time in the work of the Foreign
Office rendered it impossible for him to gather and collate
the masses of fact necessary for the elucidation of various and
complicated subjects. Palmerston could not render the same
sort of assistance, and was even less acceptable to the King.
On Huskisson he could thoroughly depend, and his presence
in the Cabinet was therefore indispensable; the Premier
himself was already weU-disposed, and before ministers
separated in August, Huskisson was included in their
* January 21st, 1823.
t Lord Eldon's letter to Lord Stowell, January 1823.

182 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.

number. The announcement was received with no little
satisfaction by Lamb. There had of late been more of
approximation and confidence between them. From opposite
sides both had become more and more identified with the
middle policy of Canning. Huskisson was preparing to
concur in the demand for complete religious liberty ; Lamb,
for the sake of obtaining that liberty, to support, irre
spective of party antecedents, any Government by which
its advent might be hastened. Lord Granville, connected
by early friendship with Huskisson, and by the ties of
family with Lamb, enjoyed peculiarly the confidence: of the
Foreign Secretary ; while Lord Palmerston, and other
members of the Government who had always voted with him
on the Catholic question, daily looked with strengthening
hope to the time when he should be at the head of affairs.
From this period may be dated the slow but gradual
undoing of the fiscal policy originating in the exigencies of
the American War, and elaborated by Mr. Pitt and his
successors, to supply the means of supporting the prolonged
struggle with France. With its provisions were curiously
and subtilely intertwined those of preference,' and prohibition,
which it took a quarter of a century to eradicate completely
from the statute book. It was a system of elaborate
intricacy and ingenuity that covered like a net-work every
field and store of the realm and its wide dependencies.
.Affecting every act and relation of life, from the cradle
to the altar, from the play-ground to the grave, it weighed
down every energy of commerce, and all the elasticity of in
vention. Every class except the landed and the official class
chafed beneath its yoke, or pined under its pressure. The
income tax had been flung off in 1816 in a spasm of popular
impatience, against the protests and prophecies of adminis
tration ; but no such concentration of the resentments of
suffering could be anticipated for the summary removal of
any other impost. The schedules of articles paying custom,
or excise duties ; the diversities of charge and the anomalies
of exemption ; the riddles of drawback, and the multiplicity

BEPEAL OF PBOHIBITIONS. 183
of penalties for breach of equivocal or half-repealed enact
ments, made up a code of hindrance and impediment which
drove industry often to despair. To gnaw away the fringe of
this web of oppression, and to curtail here a little and there a
little its all-embracing folds, until better days should come
and productive labour be set free, was the avowed purpose of
independent thinkers like Mill and Eicardo — the esoteric
purpose of Canning and Huskisson. Well-born Whigs, with
the exception of Lords Lansdowne, Althorp, Milton, and
Eadnor, scoffed at political economy as useless for party
objects; and feared the application of its rules to the produce
of the soil, as likely to prove fatal at elections and ruinous to
rents. The mind of Lamb in this as in most other things oscil
lated between opposite theories. He was too candid not to own,
and too just not to condemn, the enormities of the existing
system. Prohibition of every kind he was ready to sweep
away, and competition in all branches of production he was
ready to faciUtate. What might or ought to come afterwards,
he did not pretend to calculate.- The remedial measures
brought forward by his friends in office from 1823 to 1826
were practical and humane ; cordially, therefore, he sup
ported them all. He was rather proud of Huskisson being
in the Cabinet, and rather liked him at a quiet dinner;
if he would but hold himself better, and dress better, and
not be so confoundedly deferential to blockheads he must
in his heart despise, merely because they dined oftener at
Brighton, or had two or three borough seats in their pockets.
Lamb, receptive and discerning, looked into the heart of
the man with interest and sympathy. Glad of his gladness,
and proud of his pride, he could not help quizzing him a
little on his occasional ponderosity and tapistical reserve.
Huskisson's equanimity took all in good part ; and sometimes
he was too much pre-occupied with his own computative
thoughts to heed or hear the badinage of his kinsman.
But was he not worth a score of the ordinary talkers and
voters in St. Stephen's Chapel to the right or left of the
chair ? And was not Canning better worth foUowing than

184 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
anybody else whatsoever? Day by day, in common with
several of his Whig friends, he drew closer to the eloquent
and enlightened minister. Canningism was hardly yet
a positive or distinctive creed, but among all parties it made
proselytes and had devoted believers.
The Huskissons were from this time more frequently
at Brocket. Lady Caroline was to him a puzzle and a
marvel ; the aged peer was to her an object of gentle de
ference and regard. The more the friends talked politics,
the more Canningite Lamb became ; and, as unreserve had
grown with him to be a social habit, he began to be sus
pected by out-and-out Whigs in the co.utity of wavering in
his party allegiance. This would not haye so much mattered
had it ended there. But when in the course of the parlia
mentary fray, ranks were broken and old rallying cries
disregarded, from the desire to save the progressive section
of the ministry from defeat, the name of the county member
in the opposite division list to that which contained Althorp,
Eussell, and Brougham, set staunch Nonconformists and
hitherto lenient Liberals by the ears. Dogmatic Bentham
ites, of which there were few, and incoherent Cobbetites,
of which there were many, half-ossified Whigs, and Eadicals
of imperfect formation, cast their respective shells on the
heap of reproach ; but with so little of clamour or combi
nation that it widened and rose high without his noticing
the fact.
Fiscal and legal reforms occupied chiefly the attention of
Parliament during the session of 1824, and Lamb took little
part in their discussion. He listened with interest to the
first remarkable speech of Mr. Stanley, then in his twenty-
seventh year, who grappled vigorously with the arguments
of Mr. Hume against maintenance of the Irish Church and
thus undertook, as the favourite and special duty ofhis life
a defence which, after five and forty years, he was compelled
by his own followers reluctantly to abandon. In the effort
of George Lamb to introduce the principle that counsel
should be allowed to address the jury on behalf of persons

ALIEN ACT. 185

on trial for their lives, his brother took much interest ; but,
the debate having been prolonged to a later hour than was
expected, he was accidentally shut out of the division. His
only reported speech of any interest this year was against a
motion of Hobhouse, on the 23rd of March, who, with the
approval of the more advanced Liberals, endeavoured to
prevent a renewal of the Alien Act. Eecent attempts at
insurrection in Italy and Spain had been loudly encouraged
at popular meetings and in the press ; but in the substantial
form of contributions the aid offered had been small, and the
only proof of continued sympathy with those who suffered
for their premature devotion to the cause of freedom was
unmeasured abuse of the rulers who had stamped out revolt.
England was almost the only secure asylum for the fugitives
who had escaped at the end of each abortive struggle, and
there was no real danger that any Secretary of State would
listen to demands for their surrender : Lord GrenvUle had
been firm and haughty in repudiating any suggestion of the
kind even; in the anti- Jacobin days of Pitt ; and under a
Foreign Minister like Canning it was not alleged that any
unhappy exile had cause to fear betrayal. But Lord
Liverpool was apprehensive lest the right of asylum should
be abused by reckless or desperate men, and the good faith
of our national pledge of non-intervention compromised:
and the Foreign Secretary, who had more difficulties with the
Court and in the Cabinet than he dared confess or explain,
thought he might be safely trusted with a deadly weapon
of old-fashioned form which he could not be suspected of
willingness to use. There was no statute law of asylum to
whose reservations of control he could appeal on any sudden
emergency ; and the Alien Act was in truth a clumsy device
to enable the executive summarily to send any foreigner out
of the country whose presence should have become mis
chievous or dangerous. Mackintosh objected to an expedient
so out of joint with his philosophy of freedom ; Althorp,
because he distrusted the plausible and devious ways of the
minister.

186 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
Lamb took a different view. Eeplying to Mackintosh, he
said : —
Nothing was so unsafe, nothing so uncertain, as analogy ;
but if any one thing could be more unsafe or more un
certain than another, it was historical analogy. It was
impossible to know the circumstances as they had
previously existed. It was very easy to depreciate what
was done at this or that former time, and to scatter
sarcasm and invective on affairs that possibly were entitled
to be very differently treated. He deprecated the indis
criminate language of vituperation lavished on various
foreign governments. Lamenting as much as the honour
able gentleman could do that civil and religious liberty
did not flourish as he could wish it (and he undoubtedly
wished that every nation should obtain liberty suited to
its own habits, manners, and character), he would ask if
the existing situation of certain countries of Europe, de
graded as it was described to be, ought to be attributed
solely to the sovereigns now reigning, and their ministers,
or to the impracticable designs of that very Eadical party
who now lamented over the evils by which these countries
were afflicted ? Surely those who wished the people to
resist their governments ought to know that to attempt
to relieve a country from arbitrary power without the
least chance of success was in fact a folly. He lamented
to be obliged to say that injurious efforts abroad had
been seconded by the violent and indefensible language
used towards foreign governments in that and the other
House of ParUament. Such language could do no good ;
it might be productive of much mischief There was,
besides, no courage in it. Tyranny and oppression were
not confined to absolute monarchies ; republics, whether
democratical or aristocratical, had ever exhibited a spirit
of great domestic tyranny, of much greater foreign aggres
sion than monarchies ; nor was the abuse so freely
bestowed on certain foreign rulers in the British Parlia-

OFFEB OF OFFICE. 187

ment, in his opinion, more wise than it was brave. Seeing
the state of Europe at the present moment, recollecting
that some individuals had thought proper to interfere with
the internal concerns of foreign states, recollecting what
had fallen from the Secretary for Foreign Affairs as to the
policy which the Cabinet of England wished to pursue,
and recollecting that there was an evident disposition on
the part of some persons in this country to mix themselves
up with the affairs of foreign powers — a disposition, he
doubted not, which arose from the noblest motive, from
the warm love which Englishmen bore to liberty, from that
superabundance of talent and activity which so eminently
distinguished this country, a disposition which he ad
mitted to be praiseworthy, but which was not therefore
the less dangerous, the less embarrassing to this country,
or the less offensive to foreign powers — feeling very strongly
on these points, he should vote for the bill as a proper
and necessary measure. He did so the more readily
because he believed that the Secretary of State for the
Foreign Department would never countenance any act that
was calculated to tarnish the honour of the country ; and
that he would be as far from giving up any principle
which appeared to be beneficial to mankind as any
minister that had ever gone before him.
About this time Lord Liverpool offered him, through
Huskisson, one of the junior offices in the Government, and
he is believed to have communicated on the subject with
Canning. The views of the flexible and aspiring statesman
tended palpably towards detaching moderate men from the
old standards of party and combining them under his own.
But the Whigs showed little disposition to change sides
individually, and so long as Lord Eldon was Chancellor and
Lord Liverpool Premier the acceptance of office would only
be..regarded by the world in that light. Lamb declined the
offer, saying only to the few intimates who knew of its
having been made that he preferred freedom to enjoy his

188 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
books and pleasures, which in a certain sense was true ; for,
whatever confidence he may have had in the eventual aims
of Canning, or his power to impress his reconstructive
image and superscription on the policy of his own depart
ment, the position of a sincere Liberal in any subordinate
office of the Liverpool administration could not be otherwise
than compromising and humiliating. Huskisson would have
gladly hailed his enrolment among the friends of Canning ;
and Stafford House already leaned that way. But the
Duke of Devonshire, whom he always consulted, approved of
his resolution to remain independent and to bide his time.
With 'the luxurious establishments, almost his own, at
Whitehall and in Hertfordshire he might well be content.
But the profuse expenditure of his wife, though capriciously
chequered at times with odd fits of self-denial, had for a
good while far exceeded his allowance ; and though he did
not play or bet to any amount worth noticing, he found him
self often without a balance on which to draw for sums the
world believed he might easily throw away. It is a curious
illustration of his condition, that on one occasion Francis
Place, who had given him credit for some years, and who
found it impossible to get a settlement of his account, had
him served with a writ ; instructing his solicitor at the same
time " to see what that would do ; but, d — n it, nothing
further." Other mortifications arising from his easy-going
unthrift followed ; the old Viscount, who had long outlived
the taste for squandering, thought Lady Caroline too profuse,
but except in passing vows of retrenchment, forgotten as
soon as made, her " Lavishship," as he sometimes called her,
cared for none of these things. Her husband tried in various
ways to persuade her to curb her taste for fantastic outlay;
and perhaps the vexation arising from her failure to do so
tended to generate in his own disposition a certain degree of
inconsistency regarding money, of which, when he came at
last to have abundance, he was alternately generous and the
contrary. An allusion to the subject occurs in one of her
earlier letters to Lady Morgan : —

FUNEBAL OF BYEON. 189

Would I could be useful ! I did write a book about stables
and domestic economy, upon a new and beautiful plan ; but
unless some one saw it and thought it good, I would not
venture to pubUsh it ; yet I wrote it while I was writing
'Ada Eeis.' My laundry and stables I conduct upon
that plan to save myself trouble, but it is more difficult
to put it into practice in a house, although it was done,
and with success one year. I mention this to show you
I, too, have been a good housewife, and saved William
much ; but he says. What is the use of saving in one place
if you squander all away in another ? Alas ! what is the
use of anything ? We may go on saying what is the use,
till we really puzzle ourselves, as I did as to why we exist
at aU.*
Byron's death was known in England early in May, and
on the 12th of July his remains were followed out of London,
on the way to their last resting-place at Newstead, by
Campbell, Eogers, Moore, Hobhouse, Leycester, Stanhope,
and other attached friends. After most of the distinguished
mourners had returned to town, the sad procession took the
north road through Hertfordshire, and was met by an open
carriage, one of whose occupants inquired whose funeral
passed by. The questioner was Lady Caroline Lamb.
The effects of the shock were in every way lamentable.
For a time her health seemed to sink beneath it ; and she
lay as one who had been stunned, and could not be recalled
to mental sensibility or interest in the ordinary concerns of
life. By degrees the ennui of solitary grief grew irksome ;
she resumed her pen, and occasionally her pencil ; then her
favourite books and music; until hopes were entertained
that the dark cloud had passed over her, and that she might
yet return to. fill the place in society where she was certain
of welcome. But it was not so to be. Her disregard of
conventional opinion appeared to be more complete than ever,
and her wayward indulgence of irritability on the slightest
cause, more reckless and unaccountable. Caprice, to whose
freaks she had childishly given way long after they had
* Letter to Lady Morgan, Brocket.

190 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
grown to the dimensions of wilful unreason, had gained the
upper hand, and held her enfeebled understanding captive to
its will. There was no whim of gesture or attire, no incon
sistency of manner, no breach of conventional rule regarding
time or place which those about her could feel confident that
she might not commit. There was neither mischief nor
malice in her vagaries ; and it was never whispered that she
sought deUberately to do harm to any one. Sometimes they
were only ludicrous ; sometimes calculated to create alarm
for her own safety. One day when numerous guests were
expected, she entered the dining-room when the servants
were laying the table ; and, after surveying its decorations,
told the butler they were too level and too low ; there was
no character about them, no feature to give expression : there
ought to be something picturesque or elevated ; a group of
figures, or at least of flowers, high above all the rest. The
well-trained man of method and observance looked at my
lady and wondered, assented mildly, but went on spreading
the treasures of his plate-chest, while he thought within
himself, " Worse than ever." Incensed at the contumacy of
his passive resistance, she peremptorily ordered the centre
piece to be taken away, and then without disturbing the
surrounding garniture stepped lightly into the vacant place
and stood in a graceful attitude to illustrate her idea. The
butler rushed from the room, and finding Lamb in the library,
begged him for God's sake to come to the rescue. The mo
ment he saw her, he said only in the gentlest tone of expos
tulation "Caroline, Caroline!" then took her in his arms
and carried her out of doors into the sunshine, talking of
some ordinary subject to divert her attention from what had
happened. That evening she received her friends with as
calm a look and tone as in happier days; but what an ordeal
for him to pass through !
Other incidents as strange lingered long in the memo
ries of those who lived in the neighbourhood at the time,
A visit was to be returned at Danesbury, and having no one
to accompany her, she chose to occupy the seat beside the
coachman, instead of her wonted place in the carriage. On

ECCENTEICITIES. 191

arriving at the door of the mansion, the footman waited to
hand her down, when to his horror she exclaimed, " I am
going to jump off, and you must catch me ;" and before he
could expostulate, she had made good her word, and com
peUed him to perform that unusual office. But her hostess
observed nothing particular in her manner during her visit,
and heard nothing of the strange prank until after she was
gone. At other times, unfortunately, she gave way to fits of
irritability and excitement unutterably painful ; and while
the paroxysm lasted it was in vain trying to tranquillise her
emotions, or appease the querulous impetuosity of her temper.
While at table on one occasion at Melbourne House, her
demeanour was so petulant and affronting, that when she
had left the room Lamb quietly ordered horses and in half
an hour was on his road to Brocket, glad to escape from the
renewal of domestic strife. He sat up late enjoying the
stillness of the summer night, and had not long betaken
himself to rest when he was disturbed by some unusual
noise in the corridor. As it did not cease, he rose, and on
opening the door of his chamber found his wife lying at the
entrance convulsed with what she took for grief. The
absurdity and scandal of such incidents wounded his sensi
bility to the quick. He writhed beneath a yoke that after
twenty years had grown intolerable. He could not persuade
himself that she was insane ; on the contrary, he came to the
conclusion, sadly but sternly, that if she found him really
resolved to separate from her, she might, and perhaps would,
be brought to comprehend how much she was to blame in
making all around her miserable, him most of all. There
was, between affection and resentment, a long and bitter
struggle in his bosom ere it came to this. At last he told
her quietly that his life was unendurable, and that they
' must part. He quitted her, and went for a time to Mel
bourne, where Mr. and Mrs. George Lamb resided. He
would come to Brocket frequently as a matter of duty and
respect to its venerable owner ; as an act of duty and of

192 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
love towards his afflicted son, and as an unreproachful friend,
who did not wish to keep alive the memory of unkindness,
if his wife (no longer wife) would so receive him ; but he
would be the sport of her fantastic whims no more. It was
then that she addressed to him the lines, which when they
failed to move him, she sent for pubUcation to one of the
periodicals of the day : —
If thou could'st know what 'tis to weep,
To weep unpitied and alone,
The livelong night, whilst others sleep,
Silent and mournful watch to keep,
Thou would'st not do what I have done.
If thou could'st know what 'tis to smile —
To smile whilst scorned hy every one,
To hide, by many an artful wile,
A heart that knows more grief than guile,
Thou would'st not do what I have done.
And, oh, if thou could'st think how drear,
When friends are changed and health is gone,
The world would to thine eyes appear,
If thou, like me, to none wert dear,
Thou would'st not do what I have done.
Members of the family were made aware of the reasons
that had tardily and reluctantly led him to a determination,
in the sad necessity of which they concurred. Their friend
ship for him continued unbroken to the end, especially that
of her eldest brother, Lord Duncannon, with whom he ever
continued to associate on terms the most confidential, both
in public and private affairs.
Too late convinced by her husband's absence and the un
welcome watch over all her movements which had been pre
scribed as necessary, the sad consciousness came over her
that she had wantonly let fall the reins of passionate whim
and lawless temper. Instead of curbing the morbid impulses
of discontent and self-idolatry, she had suffered them to
subvert the darling privilege she so much valued of irrespon
sibility for her words and actions. Truly has it been said
by a great analyst of human motives, that the gradations are

SEEKING SOLACE IN PUBLICATION. 193
infinite and impalpable between self-deception and voluntary
fraud. Few persons know where the unfenced demesne of
reason ends and the tractless wild of aberration begins. No
one loved more to palter with the fiend than Byron. He
delighted to climb the dizzy height of speculation and dance
upon the brink of madness ; these were among his favourite
devices for making the world stare and for gratifying his
insatiable vanity. And of the frail natures dazzled by his
example and bewildered by the witchery of his verse here
was one. In her admiration and enthusiasm she drank but
too deeply of his cup of morbid egotism. Warned by every
true friend that in its fragrance and its sparkling there was
deadliest poison, she grew impatient, angry, even resentful ;
she would drink on until at last to all except herself the
effect became only too palpable.
In more than one set of verses addressed to her husband,
soon afterwards, she describes the bitterness of her humilia
tion. But the ineradicable sin of Byronism clings to every
line. It is all importunity for pity from the man whose
devotion she had worn out by her waywardness; and we
^nd them duly given to the public in the Annuals of the
succeeding year. Though all at once unheard, reprove me,
Left alike by friend and foe,
I will not shrink, if thou but love me,
No band but thine can strike the blow.
*****
And say'st thou that I dare not face
The storm that bursts above my head ?
The proud must keenly feel disgrace,
And 'tis disgrace, alone, I dread.
I fear not censure's bitter sneer,
I heed not envy's venomed tongue.
Nor hadst thou seen one woman's tear
If my own heart had known no wrong.
And even though wrong, if thou canst love me.
Or friend, or foe, may frown on me ;
Their barbarous rage shall never move me,
If blest by one kind word from thee.
VOL. I. ^

194 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
Arriving in England, after a sojourn of some weeks in
Paris, she wrote from Dover to the most attached of her
literary correspondents in Ireland : —
It would be charitable in you to write me a letter, and it
would be most kind if you would immediately send me
Lord Byron's portrait, as more than six weeks have expired
and I am again in England ; if you will send it for me to
Melbourne House, to the care of the porter, I shall be
most sincerely obliged to you. My situation in life now
is new and strange. I seem to be left to my fate most
completely, and to take my chance on rough or smooth
without the smallest interest being expressed for me : it is
for a good purpose, no doubt ; besides I must submit to
my fate, it being without remedy. I am now with my
maid at the Ship Tavern, Water Lane, having come over
from Calais. I have no footman, page, carriage, horse,
nor fine rooms. The melancholy of my situation in this
little dreary apartment is increased by the very loud,
jovial laughter of my neighbours who are smoking
in the next room. Pray send me my invaluable
portrait, and pray think kindly of me. Every one in
France talked much of you, and with great enthusiasm.
Direct to me at the Hon. William Ponsonby's, St. James'
Square. Then, in the twilight of seclusion, humiUated in the
vital point of all her pride, and penitent for the error of her
ways, she tried earnestly and with tears to regain her
husband's love, though she dared not ask his confidence
again. In the retrospect of years wasted in phantasy and
frenzy, did any clue enable her to retrace her wanderings
through the treacherous intricacies of self- worship ; or did
the past seem aU but one confused and calcined heap of dis
appointments ? Who shall tell ? We only know that he who
had borne and foreborne beyond beUef until it was no longer
possible, as soon as he was told that she was really calm and

TOO LATE. 195

wished to see him, came to her again with looks and words
of the old genial and gentle time ; and that thenceforth all
bickering and reproach ceased between them. Her shattered
health was a sufficient reason for her living chiefly at
Brocket, while his occupations led him to remain for the
most part in town. Infinite care was taken to disguise from
her the melancholy distrust of the abiding nature of her
equanimity by all around her, while by him the part was
acted to perfection in every glance and syllable of un-
doubting confidence in her self-possession. When absent he
wrote to her continually in terms that could not be dis
tinguished from those he had formerly used: for, besides
the instinct of kindliness which thus prompted him to
gratify her susceptibility, he was too keen a metaphysician
not to know that the sympathy of sanity continually tendered
and received is the subtlest and best medicine to a mind
diseased.

0 2

196 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.

CHAPTEE XI.
PROGRESS AND REACTION.
The Catholic Association — Bepression and Concession — Failure of
proposed compromise — Giving up the county — Contest for Hertford.
George IV. had in 1825 become as averse from any measure
of religious or political liberty as his father had ever been.
He resisted to the last the policy of recognising the in
dependence of the South American States because they
were founded in successful rebellion, and because their forms
of government were republican. He would gladly have
sanctioned the offer of Eussia to assist Spain in a prolonged
effort to reconquer her misgoverned colonies ; but Canning
began to feel his power in the country, and therefore in the
Government ; and when all his arts of suasion in the closet
failed, he threatened to resign unless his policy were
adopted. His heart was likewise set on seeing the Greeks
freed from the Turkish yoke ; but as an English minister
he felt himself bound to wait until they had fairly won by
persistent valour and endurance, the rights of a separate
people, before according their government national recogni
tion. While occupied with these noble aims, and with the
important measures of commercial freedom brought forward
by Huskisson, he did not think it expedient to press with
equal urgency for the settlement of the question of religious
liberty. He believed that settlement could not be long
delayed, and that public opinion would inevitably overbear
the tottering prejudices of class and creed. His acces-

HOPES OF EMANCIPATION. 197
sion to the leadership of the Commons had raised the
hopes of the Catholics that some legislative effort would be
made effectually to abate the rigour of exclusion ; and
when he was reluctantly compelled to own that in taking
office he had made no actual stipulation on the subject,
their disappointment was proportionately keen. The many
sacrifices he had made in common with Plunket and Wellesley
for the sake of consistency on the question were not indeed
forgotten in Ireland; but the confessed inability of these
statesmen to make their sentiments prevail in council,
wrought silently but steadily a perilous change in the minds
of thoughtful men on both sides of the Channel. Writing
in England and for Englishmen, Sidney Smith declared that.
Looking to the sense and reason of the thing, and to
the ordinary working of humanity and justice when
assisted by self-interest and worldly policy, it might seem
absurd to doubt of the result. But looking to the facts
and the persons by which they were surrounded, one was
constrained to fear greatly that these incapacities never
would be removed, till they were removed by fear.*
Brougham and Tierney gave utterance to the same vaticina
tion in debate. The Catholics themselves after many feuds
began to unite and consolidate their strength. Shiel, who had
for years incurred the distrust and anger of O'Connell for his
persistent advocacy of the more moderate courses, waived all
difficulties and differences, and agreed to join in organised
agitation. How sharp and bitter their enmity had been was
hardly credited by their common adversaries at the time,
or for many years after. But on the eve of a pubUc meeting
not long before, O'Connell wrote to a trusty henchman : —
I am just told that Shiel has prepared an address for
the aggregate meeting full of the worst politics, re
joicing at the downfaU of the spirit of democracy, a
kind of ode in prose in favour of the Pitt system, I
* S. Smith's ' VVorks,' vol. iii. pp. 12, 13.

198 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
entreat of you to exert yourself to bring as many honest
men as possible to the meeting to enable us to control
any political rascality. Perhaps we are in more danger
than you imagine,*
They met at the house of a friend in Wicklow in May
1823, and interchanging admissions of despondency, agreed
to appeal to all classes of their communion in an address,
which they jointly signed, adjuring them to unite in a
general confederacy for emancipation. The response came
slowly, but it came. The Catholic Association from this
mustard seed grew apace, and in the course of the following
year attained a magnitude and importance of which its
sanguine authors hardly dreamed. The Catholic nobles
and landed proprietors, headed by Lords Gormanston and
Fingall, and the Catholic clergy headed by Bishop Doyle,
gave in their adhesion ; members of the bar and wealthy
merchants joined the ranks ; and many Protestants of
infiuence and distinction enrolled themselves likewise aa,
members. To show the power of the organisation and to
confute at the same time the idea that their aims were
subversive of order or law, a commission was publicly sent
into the disturbed districts of Tipperary to interpose between
the classes there engaged in deadly strife regarding rents
and tithes ; and to offer those who thought themselves
aggrieved the aid of counsel and advocacy in the estabUshed
tribunal, or, if both sides would agree, the speedy settle
ment of disputes by arbitration. The standing text from
which these missionaries preached speedily passed into a
proverb, — " The man who commits a crime gives strength
to the enemy." Like other proverbs, it was destined to be
too often disregarded ; but it indicated with epigrammatic
force the whole policy of O'Connell. While the energies
of discontent were wasted in fierce acts of revenge for
individual wrong, the moral sympathy of mankind was
paralysed or aUenated. But if political hope could be
' MS. letter, July 18th, 1821, to J. D. Mullen.

BEVENUE OF AGITATION. 199
infused into the people, the waters of bitterness might be
drained into one mighty stream capable of being regulated
and directed. To make good the offer, and to carry on
the costly business of systematic agitation, steady supplies
were indispensable. The donations of opulence would soon
have fallen short, and the middle classes would it was
feared grow weary of contribution. O'Connell invented a
device which solved the difficulty. Membership of the
association was founded on the payment of one penny a
month or one shilling a year. In every parish collectors
were appointed to gather from the humble and the well-to-
do their common quota and to enroll the subscribers.
The pence of the poor will do more to emancipate the
peer than the pounds of the peer will do to emancipate
them ; for wherever a man gives his money he gives his
heart ; and whenever ascendency finds that enough of
hearts are beating together it will give way.
The Catholic rent was the fruit of this sagacious counsel,
and by the end of 1824 it had reached £500 a week.
Government became seriously alarmed. Lord Wellesley
wrote to the Premier that if something were not speedily
done he could not be responsible for the preservation of
authority, the reins of which were slipping from his
hands. Despair of redress had worked a miracle of
union in the people. A bill might be framed to pro
hibit political societies continuing their meetings for more
than fourteen days, and thus the association might be
put down; but peacefully this could not be attempted
unless a measure of comprehensive relief from disabilities
were carried at the same time. The restrictive measure
was accordingly framed by Plunket as Irish law officer
of the Crown, and it led to fierce debate. Lamb and
many of the Opposition forbore to interpose obstacles to
its introduction, in the persuasion that it would only serve
to clear the way for the measure of concession which was to

200 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
follow. Others objected to shutting down the valves of
popular complaint before raking out the fire of intolerance
that burned beneath. Brougham, never so irritable or
impetuous, as when upon his legs, started at an ironical
cheer from the member for Herts, on whom he turned
ruthlessly as though they had never been comrades or
friends, upbraiding him with all manner of tergiversation
and abandonment of the old faith as it was in Whiggery.
Lamb without losing temper firmly replied : —
That he would not have intruded himself upon the House
were it not for the observation that had been so pointedly
directed against him by the honourable and learned
gentleman. The cheer to which the honourable and
learned gentleman alluded had been drawn from him for
no other reason but this, that he thought the honourable
and learned gentleman's language somewhat too ex
aggerated when speaking of the effect that would have
been produced in the times of those preceding Charles IL,
if any persons dared talk-of scruples in a high quarter.
This, he thought, had tended to weaken the honourable
gentleman's argument ; and that was his only motive for
expressing what he felt, in the usual manner, by a cheer.
The honourable and learned gentleman was pleased to
observe that he had tried all parties and opinions. He
was not aware on what facts this assertion was founded.
As he had never been one of those who despaired of the
resources of the country, even when most depressed, so he
did not wish to encourage a too sanguine feeling with
respect to the extent to which our prosperity was likely
to go. In the one case, as in the other, he would re
commend moderation, both in action and in expectation.
With respect to the Catholic Association, he begged to
observe that he conceived a case was likely to be made
out against it, sufficiently strong to induce him to
vote for its regulation if not suppression. There were,
it was true, other associations of nearly a similar descrip-

AN ANTI-PABLIAMENT. 201
tion ; but they differed in this, that they did not interfere
in political subjects. If any assembly of persons met,
and, under the pretence of seeking redress for particular
grievances, proceeded to discuss the whole political affairs
of the empire, then he maintained that such a society was
a fit subject for legislative interference. Again, subscrip
tions for particular public purposes were perfectly legal ;
but if he found that the Eoman Catholic clergy were
actively engaged in collecting what was called CathoUc
rent, he should say that it was a symptom to be viewed
with great alarm. When it was considered that the
Eoman Catholic clergy claimed the power of absolution —
the power of totally forgiving sins — then he maintained
that their operations ought to be looked to with great
caution, and only to be approved when directed to
purposes purely spiritual. Notwithstanding these opinions,
however, he was now, as he had ever been, the staunch
friend of Catholic emancipation. Let the conduct of the
Catholic Association be what it might, still he felt that
all religious distinctions ought to be removed. Whenever
the question came forward he should be found its firm
supporter ; but he could not help observing that the
success of it was in a great degree endangered by the
imprudence, if not the violence, of some of its advocates.
It should not be forgotten that there were in this country
deep and well-founded objections to that question, and
that however time and circumstances might have quieted
or removed those prejudices, they ought not to be aroused
by any injudicious conduct on the part of those, or the
friends of those, who seek for emancipation.
On the second reading of the Suppression BUl, Plunket
argued that the permanency of the Association, its assump-
"tion of representative character, its activity in recruiting
members, its levy of contributions, and above all its
exercise of the duty of pubUc prosecutor, rendered it a
complete usurpation of the functions of executive govern-

202 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
ment, without the check which the constitution had
imposed upon the authority exercised in the name of the
Crown, or the direct responsibility which Parliament was
accustomed to enforce. This view he urged with his ac
customed earnestness and energy, taking care, however, to
combine with it pleadings equally forcible for the pressing
need of that great measure of redress whose delay had
called into existence so formidable a body. Tierney and'
Brougham scoffed at the policy of open questions in the
Cabinet, and urged that the agitation should be allowed free
scope so long as intolerable grievances were not removed.
Canning argued that the duty of Parliament was to get
rid of both, and to do so simultaneously. Words of
revolutionary import used by O'Connell were quoted with
effect in the debate in justification of the exceptional
provisions proposed; but Mackintosh ingeniously essayed to
extenuate the import of his daring language, which he
described as the rhetoric of just impatience, not the logic
of dangerous conspiracy. Lamb deprecated the Jesuitical
casuistry which had been employed by his honourable and
learned friend : —
One thing with respect to the Catholic Association was
certain, — whatever might be their intentions, they had
not performed a single act which was not calculated to
place all the sentiments of England in array against them.
If the effect of particular expressions was to be argued, it
must be considered who the parties were by whom such
expressions had been uttered. Let it be remembered that
the learned gentleman whose words had formed the
subject of so much discussion — that he was a man
accustomed to public speaking, and, from the very
nature of his profession, used to maintain a command of
temper. Such an individual had no right to plead that
warmth which sometimes led an inexperienced orator
beyond his real meaning ; that which he had said, be the
effect what it might, must be assumed to have been said

SUPPRESSION BILL. 203
in earnest and with deliberation. He had never intended,
in anything he had ever uttered, to introduce discussion
or paraUel as to the merits of the two contending faiths ;
his objection was to associations like the Catholic Associa
tion, and to the principles on which they proceeded.
Was it to be endured, that any assembly should take it
upon itself to open an account for the redress of grievances,
and to give itself, in such a character, a permanent ex
istence? Some honourable gentlemen were fond of
metaphor, and perhaps a lively illustration did some
times hit harder than an argument. Some gentlemen
had invented a simile for Catholic associations, calling
them safety-valves by which the dangerous ebullitions of
public feeling were wont to escape. But were honourable
gentlemen sure that they had not mistaken the office of
societies like these ; were they sure that, instead of the
safety-valves which let the public feeling out, they were
not the furnaces that raised it into fury? There was
already too much disposition among the lower orders,
even in England, to litigation. Everybody knew that of
the indictments and causes which were tried in courts —
if half were entirely omitted, it would be for the benefit
of all the parties concerned in them. But, if people
would go to law and prosecute each other needlessly, at
their own expense, and even to their own ruin, where
would be the end of petty ill-blood and dissension, when
they were enabled to do it free of cost? What, he
asked, could be more likely to effect aU the mischief
apprehended from the " Constitutional Society" than that
very Catholic Association which gentlemen were defending?
Over and over again it had been argued, by those who
were the advocates of liberal principles, that it was
objectionable even for the Houses of Parliament to order
prosecutions, because it sent a man to his trial with an
opinion in some sort already pronounced upon him. And
here was a body, assembled by its own authority, taking
upon itself to order people to be prosecuted, and its

204 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
existence was defended ! He (Mr. Lamb) looked at the
conduct of this society, subject to the condition of the
country in which it existed. Here was a confederacy, of
its own motion, causing persons to be put upon their trial,
and before juries taken from among a people on the very
brink of rebellion : or if they were not on the brink
of rebeUion, they were smarting under restrictions likely
to inspire them with anything rather than impartial
spirit or good-will.
By a majority of 145 the House passed the Suppression
Bill. The day after it was sent to the Lords* Sir Francis
Burdett moved the second reading of the Eelief Bill, which,
supported by Plunket and Canning, was carried by a ma
jority of only twenty-one. The numbers on both sides
were, however, greater than had ever divided before upon
the question, and the majority included, in addition to old
friends, many who now for the first time voted, and of these
several who hitherto had uniformly voted the other way. f
Along with this, wrote Plunket to Lord Wellesley, there is
a general admission that the measure must ultimately be
carried. The prospects now opening of a peaceful and
prosperous administration of government in Ireland are
of the most gratifying and hopeful character. In order
to realise these prospects it is most essential that you
should have the means of holding continued and cordial
intercourse with the principal persons, whether lay or
ecclesiastical, of the Eoman Catholic persuasion. I mean
this not merely with a view to the present measure, but
to the effectual and tranquil administration of the general
business of the country. I have heard much of the
present opinions and sentiments of the Eoman Catholic
leaders, and I have seen something of them. I believe
they are, at present, sincerely disposed to support Govern
ment, and to express their confidence in, and to afford all
* February 28th, 1825. f Ward to Bishop Copleston.

THE WINGS. 205

the facilities in their power to the carrying of the present
measure. It appears to me to be obvious policy to
encourage these feelings and not to let the Suppression
Bill assume a character of triumph over them.*
These views Plunket expounded in conversation at Lans
downe House, in presence of Lamb, Holland, Tierney, and
Spring Eice, about the same time. The whole Liberal party
concurred with one or two exceptions in supporting the two
supplemental bills called The Wings, by which it was hoped
that emancipation might be borne at last over the obstacles
that had hitherto impeded its progress. The one was the abo
lition of forty shilling franchise, which had been deplorably
abused for the creation of multitudes of dependent voters ;
the other the payment from the Treasury of £1000 a year
to every bishop, £200 a year to every parish priest and
£60 to every curate of the ancient faith in Ireland. Lord
Francis L. Gower undertook the charge of the latter; and,
as soon as the Eelief Bill had passed through its various
stages, succeeded in obtaining leave to bring in a bill for
the purpose. Lamb and Dudley were zealous in its favour,
and hopeful that the end of controversy was nigh. But
the end was not yet. The declaration in the House of
Lords, of the Duke of York, as heir presumptive to the throne,
that " in whatever situation he might be placed he would
never forsake his father's principles, so help him God,"
suddenly quickened the dying embers of intolerance into
flame, and put an end to all the sanguine hopes entertained
of amicable compromise.
George IV., with all his resentment at the espousal by
the Whigs of the cause of the Queen, and their vituperation
of his own inconsistency to early promises and professions,
was anxious to keep well with many of them individuaUy,
and especially those whose social ambition had its centri
petal movement round Devonshire House. Lamb continued
to be a favourite, and in the midst of the excitement of the
* March 2nd, 1825.

206 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
Catholic question we find him dining at the palace with Lord
and Lady Cowper, Lord Anglesey, and the Dukes of Devon
shire and Wellington.*
Agitation in Ireland burst forth anew. O'Connell re
deemed his promise of driving a coach and six through the
Suppression Act by devising a new association for charitable
purposes such as were not forbidden by the statute. In
1826 simultaneous meetings to petition were organised;
the CathoUc rent was collected more amply, and expended
more boastfully than ever ; moderate men, exasperated at
the fatuity that had thrown away the last chance of gracious
concession, joined the movement, and the executive was defied
openly to put it down. In England there was upon the sur
face no ruffle of the calm that denotes the return of industrial
prosperity. The panic of 1825 gradually passed away. The
middle classes had betaken themselves afresh to the cumu
lating of profits, and capitalists to the rebuilding of fortunes.
In the late eventful .struggle it was felt by both political
parties that they had put forth their utmost strength, and
that the issue must be decided by an appeal to the people.
ParUament was six sessions old ; and it would be useless to
re-try the cause of sectarian liberty before the approaching
dissolution. The speeches of Canning and Plunket would,
it was believed by their admirers, work a potent spell upon
the younger minds of the community wherever access was
general to the luxury of dear newspapers. The believers in
Lord Eldon and the Duke of York were equally sanguine
that in the counties and small country towns a fresh election
would show a retrocession in the tide of liberal sentiment.
The patriotism and Protestantism of the majority in the
Commons were gravely impugned, and members were so
pelted with reproach and taunt that some were deterred
from attempting to keep their representative position, and
several who ventured to do so lost their seats.
* This was shortly after the Duke of York's memorable speech, which
his Majesty loudly complained of as disrespectful to himself, and shortly
be.''ore the decisive vote of the Lord,s rejecting the Relief Bill.

LOSS OF TEE COUNTY. 207
By many in Hertfordshire who had hitherto supported
Lamb he felt, after his votes in 1825, that he was condemned
past all forgiveness :
For the same thing that 's righteous in
The one in t'other is a sin.
Is't not contemptible and nonsense
That bigots should be slaves to conscience?
He would not temporise or palter ; and the only question
was whether, disregarding much defection, he ought to pre
pare to stand another contest, which would certainly be
expensive and as certainly doubtful. Apart from the
Catholic Question, now compUcated with that of concur
rent endowment, he had disappointed some earnest Liberals
by what they deemed lukewarmness in the cause of parUa
mentary reform. And though the Whig interest was still
believed to be preponderant, his best friends could not
conceal their apprehensions as to the consequence of his
standing in the face of such alienation. For the borough it
was said he was certain of being returned, if he would con
sent to change places with Mr. Calvert, who was personally
popular in the county and against whose votes no objections
had been raised. The subject was discussed in all its bear
ings by those who had his interest at heart. While pondering
what to do, symptoms of increasing feebleness in Lord
Melbourne threatened to relieve him from further responsi
bility as a representative, and warranted urgent recommen
dations by other members of his family that he should free
himself from even the contingent liability for a great expen
diture of money which might prove almost if not altogether
useless. When a dissolution did not seem so near at hand,
a deputation had been sent to the metropolis in search of a
Eadical candidate for the town. They appUed to Mr. T. S.
Duncombe, a man of family and fashion, who was tired of
routine duty in the Guards, and ambitious of a seat in
Parliament. He had some time before, at much trouble
and expense, tried to win the confidence of Pontefract. and.

208 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
though unsuccessful, he took expensive lessons in the art of
canvassing, of which eventually he became so accomplished
a master. He agreed to pay a visit to Hertford, where he
quickly won his way by a charm of manner which in elec
tioneering oftentimes goes further than more solid qualifica
tions. This was in 1823, and he had in the interval confirmed
the favourable impression then made, giving a pledge to hold
himself in readiness whenever occasion should arise. On
the first rumour of Mr. Calvert's intention to retire, urgent
messages were sent to him recommending a resumption of
his canvass, and on the 5th of September his address appeared,
" assuring the constituency of his unalterable determination
to give his aid at the next election in support of the sacred
cause of their independence." This, it was felt, rendered a
counter-declaration necessary. Mr. Lamb was then in
Derbyshire, but was daily expected to return. A requisition
from many of the most respectable electors of the borough
awaited his arrival at Panshanger ; and he sent next day
the following reply : Panshanger, September lOtb, 1825.
My dear Sir,
I beg leave to acknowledge having received from you
yesterday morning, a letter numerously and most re
spectably signed, inviting me to become a candidate
for the representation of the borough of Hertford, at
the next general election. As this was the first direct
intimation which I had received of such a proposal, it was
but natural that I should wish to take a few hours for
deliberation upon a step of considerable importance both
to the inhabitants of Hertford and to myself.
With respect to the county, I have every reason to expect
that were I to persevere in offering myself, I should meet
with a support, at least as powerful and effectual as that
with which I have been honoured upon former occasions ;
but at the same time the reasons stated in the letter trans
mitted by you yesterday are of such weight as to induce
me to decline a contest. Under these circumstances, and

TEOMAS DUNCOMBE. 209

feeling strongly how desirable it is in every point of view
that the borough of Hertford should maintain its de
servedly high character, by continuing to be represented
by gentlemen resident in the county, I cannot hesitate to
accept the offer which has been made me ; and I beg you
will have the goodness to communicate to those by whom
the letter has been signed, as well as to all others who
have expressed themselves favourably towards me, how
deeply I feel this mark of their kindness, and how much I
am flattered and gratified by this testimony of their good
opinion. Believe me, my dear Sir,
Yours faithfully,
Wm. Lamb.
His committee then commenced a canvass in favour of the
retiring county member, and it might have been successful
but for the signal popularity rapidly gained by his rival,
and the adhesion of many influential supporters of Mr. Byron,
the Tory member for the borough.
The position was indeed anomalous, and naturally pro
voked bitter taunts and lively ridicule. Family influence
had hitherto divided the representation of the town ; the
house of Cecil usuaUy nominating one of the members, and
that of Cowper the other. The arrangement was denounced
as " unconstitutional and unjust, odious and tyrannical,"
which had privately prepared the transfer of Mr. Calvert to
the county, and of Mr. Lamb to the borough. The latter, it
was insinuated, was moreover intended as a locum tenens for
Lord Fordwich, who would ere long come of age. Obviously
it was requisite that he should renounce at once all future
claim as a candidate for the county, and this he did by
issuing the foUowing address : —
To the Gentry, Clergy, Freeholders, and Inhabitants of the
County qf Hertford.
The certainty of an approaching dissolution of the present
Parliament renders it my duty to inform you that I shall
VOL. I. P

210 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
not present myself as a candidate for the honour of repre
senting you at the ensuing election. I am induced ' to
come to this determination solely by personal and private
considerations. What would have been the event of a poll
it is impossible to determine with perfect certainty, but I
have every reason to think, that had I persevered in soli
citing your suffrages, I should have found the course,
which I have pursued in Parliament, sanctioned by the
approbation of a great majority of my constituents ; and
amongst many reasons for deep regret at dissolving the
connection which has subsisted between us, there is none
which I feel more poignantly than that my opponents will
thereby lose the most legitimate opportunity of arraigning
my public conduct, and I the fairest occasion of defend
ing it.
At this moment you will allow me to recall to your recollection
the address which I published after the last election in
the year 1820, in which I ventured to express a con
fident hope that the fortitude and courage which had
surmounted the difficulties and perils of the war would
carry the country safely through those heavy embarrass
ments, which the war had left behind it. This expecta
tion has not been disappointed ; and, though well aware
that elation in prosperity is to the full as dangerous as
depression in adversity, I cannot abstain from remarking
to you, that the House of Commons, which is now .called
upon to render up its trust, delivers the public affairs into
the hands of its constituents in a different situation from
that in which it received them ; in a state indeed so im
proved, that even three years ago the most sanguine mind
would hardly have ventured to hope for the amendment.
At the same time such are the vicissitudes of human affairs,
such the magnitude, complication, and diversity of the
interests of this widely extended empire, that it is im
possible to say how soon difficulties may embarrass or
calamity fall upon us. Whensoever that hour shall arrive,
I trust that the nation will be found to have learned from

CANVASSING. 211

late experience that safety is to be sought in patience,
spirit, and resolution ; in a firm adherence to sound prin
ciples and good faith ; not in measures of spoliation ; not
in ill-considered and desperate projects; still less in
timidity and despondency, exaggerated complaint, and
undistinguishing crimination.
With the warmest gratituKie to my friends, for the firm
support and the liberal allowance, which I have ever expe
rienced at their hands ; with the acknowledgment to my
adversaries, that from them I have met with nothing but
fair political opposition, — I bid you farewell, and remain,
With great respect.
Your most obedient and devoted Servant,
W. Lamb.
Panshanger, September 22nd, 1825.
Meanwhile canvassing on both sides went on briskly.
Duncombe's gaiety of manner, readiness at repartee, transcen
dent dandyism and lavish expenditure made him the idol of
the crowd. His faults were forgiven and his foibles forgotten
in the vehemence of his vows to abolish negro slavery, repeal
the corn laws, and obtain a sweeping measure of parlia
mentary reform. He quizzed unmercifully his competitor
in the race as being unsound in both fore-legs ; and the
usual interchange of taunts and recriminations was kept up
for some weeks during which the county town enjoyed all
the excitement that usuaUy precedes an election. But no
election loomed as yet in sight. Parties in the Government
were so balanced, and it was so difficult to estimate the
probable strength of their respective adherents in the new
Parliament, that Lord Liverpool resolved to defer the
dissolution until the end of another session, A truce in
electioneering was therefore agreed upon, a fact which
Duncombe announced to his staff early in November by
declaring that the enemy had gone into winter quarters.
Towards the end of February, Hertford was astir once
more with preparations for the election, which could not be
p 2

212 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
much longer postponed. Duncombe rallied his partisans
by a characteristic manifesto : —
Gentlemen,
Mr. William Lamb, the county member, having, with
that consistency which is so peculiarly his own,
renewed those " scenes " the " heat and agitation " of
which he had so strenuously deprecated, it becomes
necessary for me once more to address you. Your firmness,
energy, and courage in support of our common cause,
excite in me feelings of the warmest gratitude and
admiration. BeUeve me, your reward will not be an empty
one ; you may possibly have to encounter the frowns and
petty persecutions of the squirearchy, who seek to enthral
you ; you may, it is most likely, forfeit the condescending
protection of noblemen, whose parliamentary influence
your votes have formerly contributed to increase. But
you will also have the pure and delightful satisfaction of
knowing that you have raised yourselves from the ranks
of slavery to those of freedom. Cast off with indignation
your unworthy fetters, and raise aloft the noble and gallant
banner of British independence. I am too proud of the
honourable office of leading you in this glorious cause, not
to feel determined to leave no effort unattempted, and to
spare no exertion that can contribute to such a result,' —
united as we are, by the powerful ties of liberty and in
dependence, our success is certain, and we shall, on the
day of the election, read a severe lesson to those who would
trample on your rights, and make you the victims of family
arrangements and unconstitutional compromises.*
Dead walls and wooden gates were decorated, as usual on
such occasions, with every variety of electioneering literature,
and many amusing and ill-natured things were said in speech
and print by heated partisans on either side. Attacks on what
was declared to be his political inconsistency. Lamb did not
' To the truly independent electors of tbe borough of Hertford.
Queen Street, Mayfair, February 26th, 1826.

HENBY BULWEB. 213
seem to mind ; hut when it appeared to be part of the tactics
of his adversaries to drag before the hissing crowd the griefs
and troubles of his private life, his pride and sensibility
dissuaded him from continuing the contest.* Having made
up his mind to retire, the terms in which he announced
his withdrawal confessed frankly his disappointment and
mortification : —
Driven from the representation of the county by the advan
tage taken of my peculiar situation by a minority of the
freeholders, it would have been very grateful to my feelings,
and as I view it not injurious to your character, if I had
found support from you at such a period, and under such
circumstances. Such an employment of the elective
franchise would at least have had in it something of a
lofty and generous nature. When, however, I perceived
that a difference of opinion greater than I had anticipated
prevailed amongst you, I took the earliest opportunity of
informing my friends that it did not suit with my views
to run the slightest risk of failure, — that your suffrages,
if spontaneously bestowed, would be received with thank
fulness, and ever acknowledged with gratitude ; but that
they were not to me so precious an object as to be sought
and struggled for against difficulty, ill-will, and opposition.
Looking round amongst his old supporters for some one
eligible to take his place, his choice fell on Mr. Henry -
Bulwer, who had already shown that he possessed capability
and ambition to win distinction in a different sphere from
his elder brother. Two years before he had volunteered to
go out to the Morea, as one of the representatives of the
Greek Committee, confidentially to report to them the actual
state of affairs, and to advise the bondholders in England
with respect to the loan raised to carry on the war. On his
return he published an amusing volume of letters descriptive
* One of the most malignant attacks of this kind alluded openly to his
wife, and was subscribed " Glenarvon.'*

214 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
of his sojourn in the classic land of conflict ; and, on the
whole, gained credit by the good use he had made of his
powers of observation and judgment. But his repute as
author or envoy went for little with a constituency by this
time thoroughly demoralised by rancour, money, and beer.
Eather effeminate in appearance and voice, and with more fine
appreciation of sarcasm than capacity for rough-and-ready
humour, he was never able to overtake the headway made
by his dandy competitor. For a good while he was satisfied
with the assurances that in the long run people would lean
to a son of their own county in preference to a fancy foreigner
from Yorkshire ; and what youth of poUtical inexperience
ever doubted that his first contested election might after all
be won ? So he went on, reporting progress in delicate little
notes to Panshanger and Knebworth, till most of his money
was spent, and a good deal of the confidence of his discerning
friends. Still it would never do to give in on the eve of the
battle, and he persevered to the end. The Eadicals pelted him
with imputations of secret help from Hatfield; and the
Tories were half afraid to split their votes in his favour, lest
with simUar help from ultra-Liberals their own man might
go to the wall. In such a triangular duel he was sure to be
worsted; and ere the writ came down Whiggery knew it
was beaten, though it said nothing' about it. Bulwer's
family had long been connected with the county, and
he had already given proofs of taste and talent as a
writer ; but these went for little in the heat and passion bf
a general election like that of 1826, and notwithstanding
all the influence that could he brought to bear in his support,
he was distanced at the poll by both his competitors. A
day or two before a creditor to whom a considerable sum
was due threatened to arrest Duncombe ; and thus prevented
his showing himself in the town. A handbill appeared,
containing merely the words " Where is he ? " His friends
all the more resolved that he should be ahead early in the
day, and having succeeded in placing him there before
noon, a triumphant placard was issued, " Where is he now ?"

BESULT OF THE ELECTIONS. 215

The battle won, he came forth to receive more than the
customary meed of gratulation. His unfastidious biographer
lauds the exertions he made to win the wavering affections
of the constituency throughout this protracted courtship,
and then records with a brevity of candour that " Mr. Dun
combe having bribed handsomely, secured a majority at
Hertford."* The results of the general election were less favourable
to the progress of toleration than its supporters had been
encouraged to expect : Lord J. Eussell was beaten in
Huntingdonshire, Mr. Brougham in Westmoreland, Lord
Howick and Mr. Beaumont in Northumberland. But in
Ireland the revolt of the Forty-shilling Freeholders, till
then the electoral vassals of the landed proprietary was
signalised by the return of Mr. Villiers Stuart for the
county of Waterford, where the influence of the Beresford
family had been regarded as supreme.
Lord Melbourne had for some time wished to dispose of
a pension of £1200 a year, purchased by his father not long
before his death from Lady Gower. It was the moiety of
a grant in perpetuity, charged on the revenue of the Duchy
of Cornwall, and, in default, on that of the Excise, by
Charles II. in favour of the flrst Earl of Bath, son of Sir
Bevil Granville, who fell at Lansdowne fight in defence of
the royal cause. It was divided on failure of heirs male
between his daughters, one of whom married Sir W. Leveson
Gower, the widow of whose grandson sold it for £36,000 to
Sir Matthew Lamb. In 1826 Consols stood at or about 75 ;
and the Treasury offered to redeem it at five-and-twenty
years' purchase. £24,000 was paid to Lord Mansfield, who
held a mortgage for that amount, and the balance, £6000, to
Lord Melbourne. * ' Life of T. S. Duncombe,' vol. i. p. 86.

216 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.

CHAPTEE XII.
canning's ADMINISTRATION.
Bise of Copley — Coalition — Treatment of Plunket — Dissenters
Marriage Bill — A Chief Secretary's Office — Death of Canning —
Goderich and Lansdowne.
The year 1827 was an eventful one in the personal history
of those with whom these memoirs are concerned. Early
in January the heir presumptive to the throne was borne
to the tomb ; and a few weeks later, the Premier who had
held office nearly as long as Mr. Pitt was laid aside by
illness from which he never rallied. The brilliant and
versatile chief of the middle or transitional party had like
wise in the inclement spring of 1827 threatening notice of
his end ; but he could not bear to put away the ambitious cup
at length so nearly brimming to the full ; he owned to
Knighton that he had lain awake for many nights without
ever losing consciousness, and felt his nervous system
quivering from head to heel through the effects of calomel ;
yet he refused to devolve on Eobinson or Huskisson the
task of bringing in the promised Corn Bill ; and by an effort
greater than he conld sustain, he performed that difficult
duty to perfection. On the 3rd of March Sir Francis
Burdett moved for leave to bring in the Catholic Eelief Bill.
Lord Elliot, for many years an opponent of concession, avowed
himself a convert to its necessity. Copley, lately appointed
Master of the EoUs, until he entered Parliament had been
known as a Eadical, and something more. To the surprise of
all, he now broke forth as an enthusiast for the policy of " No
Surrender." Stirred by his Nisi Prius zeal, Smithfield's

BISE OF COPLEY. 217
embers glowed again ; the Armada hove in sight ; Charles
IX. and his plotting mother were conjured from the dead
to gaze from Louvre windows at Huguenots shot down;
plots to murder Elizabeth ; plots to blow up the Parliament
of James ; were made to explode in historic order ; the trial
of the seven Bishops was rehearsed; and the charter of
Magdalene College put again in jeopardy ; the rebellions of
1641 and 1798, and the dispensing power of royalty with
the pretended air of the Stuarts, were each in turn made to
pass in dread array by one who had in early life professed
himself a Jacobin, and in maturer days a hater of intolerance.
But in March 1827 the Great Seal was visibly slipping from
Lord Eldon's hand ; Lord Liverpool was sick unto death ;
and the rumour gained currency, that whether Peel or
Canning succeeded him, George IV. had averred that the
keeper of his delicate conscience must be a Protestant.
Whichever way the scales inclined, the Master of the EoUs
meant to be Chancellor. If he could but persuade the King
of his being sound in spiritual things. Canning must know
well enough how flexible and facile he would prove in council.
The role of bigot was a part worth playing for one night
only ; fastidious critics might condemn, and old companions
stare, but he had made up his mind that it was the way to
win ; and so it proved. His speech drew down many plaudits,
although by not a few the framework of his argument and
most of his historic illustrations were recognised as identical
with those of a recent pamphlet from the pen of the caustic
Prebendary of Durham.* Canning, in reply, could not resist
the temptation of taxing him with plagiarism ; and sought to
blunt the point and dim the glitter of his hastily furbished
fanaticism by the long-remembered travesty of the lines —
Dear Tom, this brown jug that now foams with mild ale.
And formerly plighted to Kate of the Vale,
Was once Toby Philpotts', &o.
Peel defended warmly his learned and unlooked-for ally
* Dr. Philpotts.

218 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
in the policy of resistance. Plunket, on the other hand,
grappled fearlessly with the law and the logic of Copley,
and by anticipation showed how readily his ill-fitting bonds
might be broken asunder, and how quickly he might cast
away such cords of conscience from him. In truth it was a
memorable wrestling for power. The life of Lord Liverpool
hung in the balance ; and no man knew for certain who
would succeed him, or which policy would prevail. The
Master of the EoUs had shortly before delighted the Liberals
by his proposed reforms of the Court of Chancery ; and he
now won the confidence of the wavering monarch by his
timely trifling with " No Popery." Plunket, who had spent
his best abilities and best days in hewing down intolerance,
saw that its wide-spreading branches were at length
trembling to their fall ; and raising his axe for a final blow,
he struck as none but he could strike, even at the root. No
man who heard his invective against the short-sighted folly
of exclusion, his denunciation of its suicidal selfishness, his
malediction of the cruelty of prolonging the fearful tanta-
lisation of a people certain to be eventually free, ever forgot
his burning words. They were his last in the Commons.
For us they are unfortunately lost ; but were gratitude in
the world, their worth and courage, uttered as they were in
that supreme hour of national fate, would not have passed
away. In a House of 548, religious liberty was negatived
by a majority of four.
For some weeks George IV. tried by various expedients
to withhold from Canning the long-coveted prize of life,
which now he claimed as his by equitable reversion. He
had served under Lord Liverpool upon the understanding
that the removal of religious disabilities was an open
question, and that he and those who thought with him sat
in the Cabinet in all respects upon a footing of equality
with those who thought differently. He would not com
promise that equality by admitting their opinion on this
vital point to be a disqualification for the first office in the
State. His Majesty had in writing assured him that in all

ADHESION OF THE WHIGS. 219

other respects he was not only eligible, but pre-eminently
qualified in his estimation. If then it was the royal will,
that an anti-Catholic must be the future head of the ad
ministration, he must ask to be excused from forming a part
of it. But no one would venture to try the experiment of
governing with only a majority of four.
By Canning's nomination to the Premiership, BroOks's
would be rent in twain from the top to the bottom. Lords
Landsdowne, Carlisle and Holland, Tierney, Burdett and
Mackintosh listened to the suasive voice of Brougham, and
one by one agreed to enter into coalition. The Duke of
Devonshire and other Whig magnates took the same view,
and confidentiaUy aided in promoting the design. Earl
Grey, on the contrary, denounced the proposal as compromis
ing the honour of the Whigs, and with him stood inflexibly
Lords Althorp, Tavistock and Milton, Lambton, Hobhouse
and Lord George Cavendish. Lord Althorp assembled his
friends around him at the Albany, and Lord George at
Burlington House, where they agreed to remain in opposition
to any new Government that might be formed ; placing in
abeyance the removal of religious disabilities, and Parlia
mentary reform. . Brougham, however, carried the vote of
an influential meeting at Brooks's in favour of coalition,
Sir Francis Burdett backing him with a paradoxical but
amusing speech against the evils of over-tenacious con
sistency. Throughout the controversy Lamb sided with the
coalitionists ; but not having a seat at the moment, his
opinion had less weight than many of less wit ; and the public,
though listening eagerly for every informing rumour, knew
little of what was going on.*
The suspense lasted to the 12th of April, when the King
was at length persuaded to desire Mr. Canning to form a
new administration. The Duke, the Chancellor, Mr. Peel,
and four other members of the Liverpool Cabinet declined
to act under him, and their places were thereupon filled hy
the Duke of Clarence, made Lord High Admiral, Duke of
* 'Memoir of Earl Spencer,' p. 174.

220 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.

Portland, Lords Dudley, Palmerston and Harrowby, Mr.
Sturges Bourne, the Marquis of Anglesey, and Copley as
keeper of the Great Seal. Canning's letter offering the last
characteristically ended with the words, Philpoto non obstante.
Out of the Cabinet were the Duke of Devonshire, Lord
Chamberlain ; the Duke of Leeds, Master of the Horse ; Mr.
Tierney, Master of the Mint ; Marquis WeUesley, remaining
Viceroy; Plunket raised to the peerage, and designated
as ChanceUor of Ireland. The King was as glad to get
the great tribune of the Catholics out of the Commons as
Canning was to have him in the Lords. But no sooner was
his patent of nobility signed, and the seat for Dublin
University vacated, than his Majesty was seized with a spasm
in the Irish side of his conscience, which neither vigorous
nor soothing treatment could allay. He " commanded the
Archbishop of Canterbury to write in his name to Lord
Manners, signifying his desire that he would continue to
hold the Great Seal of Ireland for another year, in ord^r
to afford time for placing it in proper hands."* And his
Lordship at once informed the Lord Lieutenant of the
communication and of his resolution to comply with what
he regarded as a command of the sovereign. After the
Primate's missive had been despatched with instructions to
make it publicly known, its purport was intimated to Mr.
Canning, who needed not this unconstitutional warning how
hollow was the ground on which he trod. Without reflection
or consultation, he forthwith named Plunket Master of the
EoUs in England. The office, being for Ufe, would have more
than compensated his friend in point of emolument for the
loss of higher dignity. The bar, however, murmured at the
intrusion of one who had never practised amongst them,
and that so openly and angrily that, although the Premier
was unwilling to give way, Plunket declined the office, not
being able to reconcile himself to act in opposition to the
feelings of a great number of the profession against the
appointment of an Irishman, or rather an Irish barrister to
* Marquis Wellesley to Plunket, April 19th, 1827.

TEEATMENT OF PLUNKET. 221

a judicial seat in England.* Canning did all that in him
lay to retrieve the consequences of a disappointment so
undeserved. There was reason to beUeve that the octo
genarian chief of the Irish Court of Common Pleas was not
unwiUing to resign. Mr. Doherty, a kinsman of the Premier
and a favourite with him, undertook to negotiate the change.
But it was not so easily accomplished; and during the
doubtful interval, Croker, an old antagonist at University
election, gave out that Plunket had been made a lord-in-
waiting. At length the concession of a step in the peerage
secured Lord Norbury's acquiescence ; and the worst judge
that Ireland ever saw was replaced by one of the most
upright, able, and humane.
Althorp, willing to waive his own predilections, and
yielding to the judgment of the friends he loved and trusted,
was ever governed by the practical desire to shape the ends
of party to good purpose. He intimated accordingly his
readiness to give the new administration a fair trial, though
he declined to cross the floor. His father of late years
seldom mingled in debate, but stirred by a sense of the im
portance of the crisis, he went down to the House of Lords
and emphatically expressed, a few days after, his resolve to
support Mr. Canning ; partly in recognition of his adhesion,
but influenced, no doubt, still more by personal estimation.
The Duke of Clarence named Lord Eobert Spencer, who had
.gained a high character for efficiency as a naval commander,
his private secretary ; the Premier requested Lord Althorp
to be chairman of the promised Finance Committee.
It seemed as if the occasion that filled his party with
exultation and hope was to be for Lamb one only of tanta-
lisation and chagrin. Personally he believed that he was
liked by the new Premier, and if he had kept his seat he
might fairly have counted on being deemed as eligible as
other men of the moderate Whig section who had ex
perience in Parliament, good connections, capacity for
affairs, and who were not distasteful to the Court. But what
* Plunket to Mr. J. Lloyd, April 20, 1827.

222 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
could he expect, standing as he did outside the lists on the
eve of the race being run? Knowledge, aptitude, courage,
coincidence with the Premier in opinions more than many
of those who were likely to bear office, — what did all avail if
he had neither a following to bring, or a vote of his own to
give ? In the middle of the first session of the new Parlia
ment vacancies were not likely to occur ; and if they did,
who would secure him a nomination? There was in the
new Cabinet one whom self-interest and good-will alike
prompted to further his desires, and who had the power of
so doing. His relative Huskisson was indeed more power
ful than ever. There was little in common between the
personal tastes and habits of the cautious financier and the
frank man of fashion : but there was much in their political
tendencies that since 1822 had drawn them towards each
other. Huskisson, timid and irresolute by nature, had
none of the accomplishments that in public or private life
help to conceal defects and to make knowledge and ability
go far. Beside a leader of superior genius he was in
valuable. Full of information, clear in his figures as in his
logic, indefatigable in research and ever ready with illustra
tion, now that Peel had left the Treasury bench he was
second only to the Premier in general estimation. He had
few personal adherents, and might legitimately wish to add
to their number. In the last Parliament Lamb had gene
rally voted with him ; and the exclusion of his connection
from the existing House was a source of disappointment
and sincere regret. If he were there again he might with
confidence be relied on as a staunch supporter : if he were
there again, why should he not have office ? In a ministerial
crisis a few earnest words frequently determine the future
course of a career. Canning, who was said to have eyes
all round his head, hardly needed reminding that he should
direct a seat to be found for the near connection of the
houses of Cavendish, Spencer Ponsonby, and Howard.
Thus it came to pass that before the writ was moved for
Newport, vacated by his elevation to the chief place in the

MEMBEE FOB NEWPOBT. 223
Government, arrangements had been made for returning in
his room the ex-member for the county of Hertford.
At the general election in the preceding year. Lord
Eldon's son, the Hon. W. Scott, was returned with Mr. Can
ning, who had had enough of the onerous distinction of
representing a great constituency like Liverpool, and who
wished to end his parliamentary career where it had begun.
But in the altered condition of affairs the same influence
which had returned him in July 1826 could not be de
pended on in April 1827 ; and, beset with difficulties on all
sides, it was thought imprudent that he should expose him
self to the needless risk and trouble of a contest. The
Hon. A. F. Ellis readily agreed to make way for him, and
he re-entered the House as member for Seaford. Lamb
thereupon offered himself for Newport, and on the 27th of
April was returned by a small majority. A petition was
threatened, but before it could be presented he was ap
pointed Chief Secretary for Ireland.
On Canning's proposal of the newly returned member
for Newport as Minister for Ireland, the King said,
"WiUiam Lamb, William Lamb, — put him anywhere you
like." It was in fact one of the appointments that pleased
him most ; and on coming to kiss hands the felicitations
of his Majesty were particularly gracious. Eather than
contest Newport again, he availed himself of a vacancy made
for him by Mr. William Eussell at Bletchingley, for which he
was returned without opposition on the 8th of May, while
Mr. Scott found a congenial colleague for the Hampshire
borough in Mr. Spencer Perceval.
Sir James Scarlett, who up to this time was thoroughly
identified with the Whigs, became Solicitor-General ; and a
further pledge of an altered policy in domestic affairs was
given to Ireland by the appointment of Mr. Spring Eice as
Under-Secretary for the Home Department. For several
years the latter had represented the City of Limerick. His
intimate acquaintance with Irish business and great facility
in debate had rendered him one of the most trusted and

224 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.

influential members of his party. His private correspon
dence shows how highly his judgment and advice were re
garded by the most distiuguished men of his time on both
sides of the Channel. A better choice could not have been
made, under the circumstances, by a minister desirous of
daily information on all that was thought and said regarding
the Government in that portion of the kingdom, whoae long
alienated confidence he wished to conciliate, but whose
hopes and demands he was not yet in a position definitely
to satisfy. Canning at first offered Palmerston the Exchequer ; but
Croker having suggested that he might escape a contest for
the University if he waited until the end of the session, it
was decided that he should remain Secretary at War with a
seat in the Cabinet. He knew, however, that George IV.
hated him. Why (in his Autobiography) he does not say ;
but the royal dislike soon made itself manifest in a some
what curious way. Mr. Canning sent for him, and, with
evident embarrassment, explained how he feared he would
be unable to fulfil his intention of promoting him to be
Chancellor of the Exchequer. He said he was content with
his old office, and there for the moment the matter dropped.
Soon afterwards the First Minister, to his surprise, informed
him that his Majesty had had reason to know that the
vacant Governorship of Jamaica was just the thing he
would like ; at which he laughed so heartily that Canning
seemed annoyed, and did not repeat the proposal. Deter
mined to be rid of him at any price, the King then author
ized the Premier to offer him the Governor-Generalship of
India, but this also he declined, as he had done when the
splendid post had been suggested as a tempting object of
ambition hy Lord Liverpool.*
The new administration was fiercely assailed from the
outset by opposite extremes. Lord Grey in the Upper
House and Hobhouse and Lambton in the Lower headed
the irreconcilables of their party ; while Sir E. Peel and the
* Autobiographic Sketch.

DISSENTEBS MABBIAGE BILL. 225

Duke of Wellington lent their sanction to the bitterest
attacks on the personal character and conduct of Canning.
The King stipulated that the heads of the law in both
England and Ireland should be men professing sentiments
avowedly opposed to concession. Lamb, who understood
Canning's difficulties, thought he would have been wrong
had he refused to acquiesce. It was something to get
Copley out of the Commons, where, with a seat for the
University of Cambridge and a judicial place worth £8000 a
year for life, he might have become a formidable malcontent
and obstacle in the way of reasonable progress : while in the
Upper House he might more easily recant all he had said
in the Lower, when the proper time came. Nor was he
long in justifying this estimate of his versatility. Even
in the brief remnant of the session of 1827, he threw
Lord Eldon into hysterics by the philosophic radicalism of
his defence of the Dissenters Marriage Bill. All that was
needed to secure the nuptial tie was publicity and certainty,
and the observance of some decorous form. For the rest,
one religious service was as good as another; for the
Established Church only did itself harm and made itself
odious by imposing its sanctions legally on persons professing
other creeds. With such a Court to deal with as that of
George IV., and with a House of Commons still unreformed,
it might well seem Quixotic to refuse the aid which
Lyndhurst had ready to give any premier or party that
wanted him. Canning persuaded his facile colleague
Eobinson to take a peerage and the leadership in the
Lords, which he held just long enough to incur a signal
though undeserved defeat on the Corn Bill, His amiable
manners, conscientiousness, veracity, statistical knowledge,
and familiarity with Virgil, admirable accomplishments
as a subordinate debater, were worth just nothing at all
for the defence of a beleaguered position and the chieftain
ship of an outnumbered party. Enemies he had none ; but
the figure he cut as leader was simply pitiable; and as
generally happens in such cases, the only pity he got was
VOL. I. Q

226 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
his own ; for his friends were justly provoked beyond mea
sure at his irresolution. Sir Denis le Marchant says:
" Even upon an attack from Lord Londonderry I recollect
his once bursting into tears." *
Canning sent for Lamb on the eve of his departure for
Ireland, and expounded to him the views he entertained of
the transitional policy to be pursued. Emancipation was
inevitable, and even imminent; but until a government of
toleration should be consolidated, it were simple fatuity to
attempt its legislative enactment. The way for it must be
prepared by administrative changes high and low, so that
men's minds might become gradually accustomed to see the
friends of toleration and, as far as a bigoted code allowed,
the victims of exclusion brought into posts of influence.
The Premier spoke with the unreserve of great confidence in
the discretion of his new lieutenant; and Lamb bade him
farewell not without a certain sadness as he gazed upon his
worn features and felt his feverish hand, but still with
hopeful anticipation that after the recess he should find him
renewed in strength and reinvigorated for the struggle
manifestly in store for them. He little dreamed that he
should see his face no more. After an hour spent at
Lansdowne House he left town for Brocket, where he spent
the evening, and then set out upon his journey, travelling
by night in consequence of the excessive heat of the
weather.f Ill-health was the sufficient cause assigned for Lady
Caroline's remaining at Brocket ; but it was his wish that
Augustus should accompany him to Ireland. Change of
scene might possibly be useful, and any break in the
monotonous round of secluded life in which he had latterly
spent his days could not be other than beneficial. Stronger
even than these considerations was the feeling that he could
not bear being long separated from the youth, whom every day
he regarded with more tenderness and fondness. To no one
did his unuttered thoughts turn in soUtude or sleeplessness
* ' Memoir of Earl Spencer,' p. 41. f July 4th 1827.

CHIEF SECBETABY' S OFFICE. 227
so yearningly or so devotedly ; and from no one did he
receive wistful looks of affection and confidence so undoubted
and undoubting. What would he not have gladly given to
be able even to hope that the mysterious cloud might yet
pass away from the face of the glass wherein he had been
looking for twenty years in vain, to see his own mental
image reproduced ! And who but himself would take the
pains to comfort and cheer the still immature mind that
imperfectly seemed to grow more and more sensible of its
captivity ? Poor Lady Caroline's desultory fits of endearment
and paroxyms of solicitude, though natural and touching,
were anything but calculated to mend her son's condition,
which medically required the avoidance of sudden cause of
emotion, whether pleasurable or painful. It was therefore
with the strong approval of his physician that Lamb took
his son, as he said, to keep him company at Dublin, and to
show him a number of things and places he had never seen
before. From the day he took his seat in the Secretary's Eoom
at the- Castle access thereto never was denied. His intuitive
sense of what he was there to do and how it should be done
prompted every look and action without formal preface,
programme, or apology. Canning, who knew him well, and
who, with longer and larger experience, was a still more
consummate discerner of spirits, had placed him there to
work out a policy of gradual change, preparatory to the
ultimate enactment of justice for all. The way had to be
cleared of innumerable prejudices and superstitions of mis
rule, which though separately small and mean, collectively
served to impede the way towards the reconstruction of society
on a just and solid basis. There cannot be a doubt that ere his
sun went down, the ambitious minister saw the day of justice
afar off and was glad ; and into the receptive ear of William
Lamb he poured from time to time thoughts and imaginings,
and hopes and plans which he dared communicate to few.
Without ostensibly subverting the outworks of ascendency,
he wished to see them gradually dismantled ; without forcibly
Q 2

228 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
removing the old land-marks of exclusion, he would have
them quietly overpassed. No written instructions could
have explained all he meant should be done, and no official
power of prophecy could vindicate the times and opportunities
for effecting it. Disciplehood was indispensable for the
purpose ; and among his many personal adherents Canning
had none more deft or devoted than his new Minister for
Ireland. From the outset he resolved to see and hear for
himself everybody and everything. The prescriptive reserve
which haunted the Secretary's office he put aside with no
other notice than a hearty laugh. Peel had encircled the
department with an arctic zone of distrust which, save by a
few adventurers, was impenetrable : Goulburn was the centre
of a mere fog, without light or sound or motion. His suc
cessor came to bring brighter and more hopeful weather.
The staff of the department viewed his proceedings with
surprise at first, and then with sorrow. Some hinted doubts
as to whether he was quite aware of the sort of persons he
consented to see, and inwardly they deplored the obstinacy
of his imprudence in seeming to talk to them just as he
would to old acquaintances. Old Mr. Gregory groaned;
melancholy Mr. Mangin sighed ; the sententious Attorney-
General, Mr. Joy, kept his mind to himself except when asked
point-blank for an opinion, and then fiavoured it with a sneer.
The versatile Solicitor- General, Mr. Doherty, who had fought
for his kinsman the Prime Minister at Liverpool elections,
and hoped that he would now have his reward, was all
things to all men ; and finding that Lamb loved a joke, plied
him with specimens imnumerable of Celtic fun. But the
Secretary went his own way, and kept to it. If agitation
would not go to bed, he would like to have a chat with it ;
and when his disposition became known some very queer
people tried how far they could presume on his accessibility :
they found it was not very far. When disposed to be saucy
or disrespectful, he good-humouredly but firmly pulled them
up; never snapping or bullying, but gravely rebuking or
merrily laughing them out of " their damned nonsense." In

DEATE OF CANNING. 229
a word, he had made up his mind that if he could not take
care of himself, it was not worth while getting others to
take care of him. His desire was to know if possible what
discontents were uppermost in men's thoughts, and what
vexations pressed hardest for removal. He would hear
what anybody had to say, believing only as little of it as ap
peared to him to have reason. The messengers of the office
used to say long after his time, " When Mr. Lamb was here
the only orders were, Show him in :" and though he could
not promise to grant one in fifty of their requests, they
invariably went away in better humour than they came,
and muttering as they passed the sentry at the gate,
"Not a bad kind of man that." At the end of an early
letter to the Home Office full of details of business he
says : "I have a dozen feUows talking to me whilst I write
this letter, which will account for its incoherence,"* in
regard to official formalities; for there was none as to
substance and sense.
Plunket went to Ireland to enter upon his judicial
duties; and he saw Canning no more. They parted with
feelings of mutual dissatisfaction. Lamb, who was the
confidant of both, when recalling these circumstances some
time after, wrote : " You are of course well aware that
Canning was discontented with Plunket, and of course
vice versa." \ The minister, who knew best how insecure
was still his hold of power, and whose hourly care was
to avoid or postpone questions which might afford pretext
for quarrel to the King, feared to press anew Plunket's
unsatisfied claims, and thought him unreasonable in ex
pecting it. On the other hand, it was not the first time
unhappily that Plunket thought he had been let down,
where the maintenance of his interests was in the balance.
Canning, with all his great and noble qualities, had the
character of being shifty and devious in his course ; most
frequently by being mute where his outspoken aid was
* August 22nd, 1827.
t MS. private and confidential to T. S. Rice, September 21st, 1827.

230 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
confidently reckoned on. It had been so in 1822, when
Plunket's position and credit were at stake, and when he
was indebted solely for his vindication and triumph to his
own undaunted eloquence. And now, when he had irre
vocably given up the great position he had in twenty years
established for himself in the House of Commons on the
explicit assurance that he should have the Great Seal of
Ireland as his just reward, he found himself sacrificed to
the very principle of exclusion on account of opinions, by
refusing to acknowledge which in his own case. Canning
had become Premier. Had it it only been a question of
delay, the disappointment might have been easily assuaged.
But Canning did not venture to hold out expectations which
must speedUy be dissipated. Lord Manners's stay in Ireland
could not be indefinitely prolonged, and already his suc
cessor was resolved on. The choice was certainly a strange,
and even by its object an unsuspected one. Before leaving
London
I told Lansdowne that I knew whom Canning destined for
Irish Chancellor, and that I thought it an appointment
which he would approve. He told me that he intended
Alexander, but that it was a profound secret, known only
to himself, Lyndhurst, and me ; that he had not communi
cated with Alexander, and did not know whether he would
accept the office.*
Alexander was known as a sound equity lawyer and an
upright judge, but his translation from Westminster to
Dublin was not contemplated on these accounts alone.
Canning hoped to tempt Brougham, by the offer of the
chief seat in the Exchequer, to quit Parliament, where
formerly he had been an enemy, was latterly a supporter,
but was certain to be always troublesome either as an ally
or a foe. Brougham declined without a peerage, not choosing
to be shelved at forty-nine, and preferring the enjoyments
of popularity and the sort of power it gives to doubling his
* Confidential letter to T. S. Rice.

CEIEF BABON ALEXANDEB. 231
income, with judicial repose. When Lamb met Plunket for
the first time in Dublin on his return from circuit, he was
secretly embarrassed by knowing what was in contempla
tion, and fearing the chagrin its announcement would oc
casion to his friend ; but he bears cordial testimony to his
steadfastness during the period of suspense which ensued
on Canning's death : —
Plunket has been most firm and decided in his language
during the whole of the late uncertainties, although he
cannot feel otherwise than dissatisfied, and although, as I
am informed, great efforts have been made to excite and
increase that dissatisfaction. Pray mention this to Aber
cromby when you see him, and tell him I should like much
to hear from him.*
Parliament was prorogued on the 2nd of July. Canning
breathed more freely, and set about consolidating his long-
planned edifice of power. Lord Lansdowne assumed the
office of Home Secretary, Mr. Sturges Bourne being content
with the Commissionership of Woods and Forests. Lord Wil
liam Bentinck was named Governor-General of India. His
nephew. Lord George, being private secretary to the Premier.
A beginning was promptly made in breaking down the
system of sectarian exclusion in the dispensation of patron
age and the distribution of honours. In Ireland especially
the change was regarded as significant, and to the Viceroy
and his new Secretary it was the performance of a welcome
duty. Huskisson, advised to go abroad, called to take leave
of Canning on the 18th of July, and struck by his altered
looks, observed that he seemed like the person most in want
of change of air and rest. Canning, who was still in bed,
replied gaily that it was only the reflection from the yellow
lining of the curtains. Huskisson sailed on the 19th,
and landing at Calais, entangled his foot in a cable and
lacerated it so seriously that he was unable to 'walk for
* Confidential letter to T. S. Rice.

232 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
several days. Lady Caroline received frequent letters from
Ireland from her son, full of fondness ; and from the
husband, in whose new career she took no little interest,
descriptive of his unaccustomed ways of official life. He
had early intimation from Whitehall of the uneasiness en
tertained regarding the Premier's condition ; but, with his
habitual caution, dropped no hint of it in his letters to
Brocket, lest through that quarter alarm should spread.
Mr. Canning's removal to Chis wick was noticed in the news
papers without particular comment, and it was not until the
Oth of August that even in private letters any serious fears
were breathed of his being in danger. A note without date,
probably written on the 7th, is thus explained : — •
Brocket, Wednesday.
I have just heard to my excessive horror that Mr. Canning
is dying or dead. I am coming to town in consequence to
know the truth, and if I can to see the Duke of Devonshire.
In the meantime will you call on me to-morrow the
moment you are up, and pray let it be early, I have two
or three notes from William, evidently not knowing this
disastrous news.*
At Innspruck, on the 12th of August, letters from England
informed Huskisson of Canning's convalescence. He went
thence to the Tyrol in better health and spirits. On the
15th, as his party were setting out for Coire, an estaffette
from Sir Brook Taylor, Minister at Munich, brought him
a letter from Lord Granville at Paris announcing the
alarming turn which the Premier's iUness had taken. As
fast as he was able he returned to Paris, and on the 20th
of August reached the English Embassy. On the way he
heard the fatal news. The funeral had already taken place,
and Huskisson, prostrate with fatigue and grief, remained at
Paris for some time. He there received letters from Lord
Goderich, urgently desiring his return, and offering him the
readership of the House of Commons ; this he was assured
* To Lady Morgan, who was then in London.

LOBD GODEEICE. 233
was especially desired by the King. Why he was not placed
in the Exchequer, for which he was pre-eminently qualified,
does not distinctly appear. Tierney preferred the leisure
and comparative obscurity of the Mint ; most of the other
offices remained as they were, the Admiralty continuing
under the presidency, or rather the command, for so he
treated it, of the heir presumptive to the throne. The
Duke of Wellington consented to be Commander-in-Chief,
declaring at the same time that he had never considered
the office one which pledged the holder to agreement with
ministers of the day on subjects of general policy. Lord
Harrowby made way for the Duke of Portland as President
of the Council. Lord Carlisle became Privy Seal, and Lord
Holland was made ChanceUor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
Canning's death caused no alteration in the policy on
which his colleagues were agreed. The Duke of Wellington,
by accepting the command-in-chief of the army, would, it
was supposed, be somewhat mollified in his opposition ;
and Lord Grey would, it was hoped, be propitiated by the
peerage promised to his son-in-law Mr. Lambton. Lord
Grenville and the Duke of Buckingham sent their proxies
to Lord Goderich, and the appointment of Copleston, the
friend of Dudley, to the see of Llandaff gave minister^
another vote among the spiritual peers. The country dur
ing the autumn was tranquil and prosperous ; the revenue
promised well ; and except in the Levant there was no
symptom of disturbance in foreign affairs.
George IV. persuaded himself, when he reluctantly ac
cepted Canning as head of a coalition government, that he
would be able to exercise more directly than probably he had
ever done before, personal influence and control in nomina
tions to office. In the instance of the Irish Chancellorship
he had signally prevailed ; and believing Goderich to be far
less capable of resistance than his predecessor, he took the
occasion of a visit to Windsor to inform him that he desired
the appointment forthwith of Herries as Chancellor of the
Exchequer. His new minister made no objection, and com-

234 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
municated to Herries, on his return to London, the wishes
of the King without, apparently, considering that before
doing so he ought to have consulted his Whig colleagues.
His Majesty thus lost no time in beginning to humiliate
in order to divide the weakened Cabinet. Instead of waiting
for Lord Goderich to recommend a new colleague at the
Treasury, he had at once named Mr. Herries, reckoning
astutely on submission on the part of the too compliant
minister. The three Whig members of the Cabinet demurred
to this departure from constitutional usage; but finding
their remonstrance vain, Lord Lansdowne resigned. The
question with him was not new or unconsidered. He was
aware of the difficulties with which Lord Liverpool had to
contend owing to this disposition of the King. In 1822
Charles Grant had been summarily dismissed from the Chief
Secretaryship of Ireland without any assignable cause, and
with protestations by Lord Londonderry and by Lord Liver
pool himself of the Cabinet's satisfaction at his conduct and
regret at his removal, solely because he had been found im
practicable in matters of patronage, where the nominees of
the Court were concerned.* Such nominees were in those
days a numerous brood ; and the Irish establishment had
Tong been treated as an outhouse, where they could be con
veniently reared. But the Treasury, after all, was the seat
and centre of patronage ; and his Majesty needed little
prompting in his wish that the second as well as the first
Commissioner should feel that he owed his place directly
to him. Lord Lansdowne therefore upon constitutional
grounds refused to sit in a Cabinet whose advice was not
previously taken in the filling up of the greater offices. If
the Premier had consulted some of the colleagues with
whose opinions he had theretofore been more closely agreed,
omitting all communication with those who, like himself, had
entered into coalition upon a footing of equality, that only
made the matter worse. He disclaimed all private or un-
confessed objections to Herries, but he refused to aquiesce
* Letter from T. S. Rice to Lord Lansdowne, January 28th, 1822.

APPOINTMENT OF HEBBIES. 235

in a precedent so destructive of the principle of cabinet
responsibility as the independent nomination of Finance
Minister by the Crown. The other Whigs were prepared to
follow his example, and for some days all was suspense and
doubt. At length the King protested that the whole affair
was a misconception, and left it to be inferred that whatever
mistake had been made was altogether on the part of the
Premier. He proffered the Home Secretary an assurance
that he had no idea of creating a precedent, by an appoint
ment of the kind, and made it a personal request that he
would withdraw his resignation ; Lord Lansdowne only
yielded, at the end of a long interview, upon condition that
he should be at liberty to state to whomsoever he thought
fit the reasons why he consented to resume office. The
circumstances drew forth warm expressions of satisfaction
and confidence from various independent quarters, and
tended to establish him in a position of influence with his
party, which he ever afterwards maintained.* Brougham
was especially effusive in his praise, and more than ever
sanguine of the permanency of the Government, and exultant
by anticipation at the part of unofficial Coryphaeus which he
believed it would enable him to play in legal reform. In
his other function of self-appointed mentor to the administra
tion he took care to mingle his meed of encouragement with
confidential admonitions to prudence, and pliability to the
Court, sufficiently amusing : —
What an excellent, honourable, and useful end all this has
had. I am sure Lord Lansdowne does far more good to his
principles and party by giving way when the matter is so
pressed, and on such grounds, than by gaining a victory
dangerous to the victor and galling to, and never to be
forgotten by the vanquished. Nothing can be better, and
I look forward now to amity and courtesy, and I hope
kindness, prevailing with the King and our friends. They
should not be outrageously proud and dignified, but think
* Letter from T. S. Rice, September 3rd, 4th, and Sth, 1827.

286 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
how much good on momentous questions they may do by
gratifying the King and his friends in trifles. AU other
modes seem resorted to of furthering great objects, this
•alone we always neglect. I rejoice in the prospect before
us for the next session. I shall have some half-dozen re
forms in our law and policy well matured, for I must
avail m.yself of the influence my singular position gives
me in the House to do permanent good ; viz. all the
weight of being out of place (both weight with the King
and country) and the favour of the old Tory opposition,
who I do not think will quarrel with me rashly.*
His vituperation of Herries was equally exaggerated ; and
the Times having taken a similar tone, while the Courier
defended the favourite of the King, a polemic ensued be
tween the oracles of the two sections of the Cabinet. Lord
Goderich, much disturbed thereby, sent his private secretary,
Mr. Drummond, to the Home Office to expostulate against
what he supposed to be Whig instigation. The Under-Secre
tary disavowed any personal knowledge of the writer in the
Times, or of any influence which might have swayed him ;
but he promised, through a third party to suggest the
cessation of the strife as injurious to the stability of the
Coalition ; and thereupon communicated through his friend
Empson with Mr. Barnes. The Courier, on the other hand,
was persuaded to moderate the rancour of its pen, and for a
time there was peace between the journals.f
Lord Lansdowne did not consent to form part of the
re- organised administration without making terms for his
friends ; these are best told in his own words : —
I have arranged, I will not say insisted, that an arrangement
should immediately be made for bringing Mackintosh and
young Stanley into office, so that there is respect for the
past and hope for the future. Lord Darlington is to be
a marquis, likewise my friend Lord Camden ; the Chan-
* From H. Brougham to T. S. Rice, September 4th, 1827. f Idem.

THE INDISPENSABLE MAN. 237
cellorship of the Exchequer has been pressed again upon
Sturges Bourne, also upon Huskisson. It is essential
that all this should be made known to justify an ac
quiescence which I think .requires a little propping up in
the public eye.
Mr. Stanley spent a few days at Bowood early in September,
upon the intimation of his appointment as Under-Secretary
for the Colonies, with which he was much pleased ; and his
official life commenced in October.
After a visit to Panshanger, Huskisson returned to
Eartham, where his physicians thought he must remain for
the quiet and repose indispensable to his recovery. He was
subsequently reported to be very low in bodily health and
much depressed in spirits; and among the apprehensions
which his state occasioned was the effect which his con
tinued debility might have in the approaching session by
giving greater scope and prominence to words and works of
supererogation from their irrepressible patron Brougham.*
Huskisson's health did not improve. The Home Secretary
was alarmed at the accounts which reached him on the sub
ject — " It is unnecessary to proclaim it to the profane, but
we cannot disguise from ourselves that he is Vhomnie neces-
saire for this administration."!
* Letter from T. S. Rice, September 14th, 1827.
t From Bowood, September 16th, 1827.

238 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.

CHAPTEE XIII.
DUBLIN CASTLE.
Dublin Corporation — Assistant Barristers — Police Force — Subsi
dising the Press — Jobbing — Post Office Abuses — Agrarian Com
binations.
It had been usual to vote the honorary freedom of Dublin to
each Chie£ Secretary on his assuming office ; but in the bit
terness of party, the compliment was now for the first time
withheld. At a meeting of the Common Council early in
August, the proposal to follow the usual precedent was re
jected upon the specific ground that the Goderich Cabinet were
not to be trusted, and that their newly appointed repre
sentative in Ireland had disentitled himself by his votes and
speeches in Parliament to the confidence of the Protestants
of the realm. The Board of Aldermen were more nearly
divided in political opinions ; and on a subsequent day they
agreed to atone for the affront thus offered by appointing a
deputation to wait on Mr. Lamb with a copy of an address
which they desired on a convenient day to present with civic
formalities. He received the deputation with due courtesy,
and said he would intimate to the Lord Mayor when he
should be ready to receive the address in form. It would
not have been easy to give a public answer, such as would
satisfy the Corporation in its querulous mood, without
seeming to compromise the policy of the Government ; and
as nothing was to be gained by entering into controversy
with a pubUc body daily losing influence and repute, it was

LOCAL ABUSES. 239
thought most prudent to defer the formal reception of the
address sine die.
In July appeared the first of a series of articles entitled
' Lessons for Lamb,' written by Mr. Stanton, the proprietor
of the Morning Register. Their object was to direct his atten
tion to the abuses in local taxation long admitted by succes
sive holders of power. Promises of reform had frequently
been made by Mr. Goulburn and others ; but these had been
forgotten as soon as uttered, and the citizens of Dublin, then
oppressed with assessments to the amount of over £250,000 a
year, had too much reason of complaint against Government.
One of the most crying of these grievances was the corrupt
and oppressive mismanagement of the impost levied on house
property under the name of "pipe water and metal main
rates." The new Chief Secretary was counselled to make
no hasty pledges of redress, but to set about the work in a
workmanlike manner, and wait for popularity till the thing
was done. A Select Committee had recommended all that was
desired in 1822, and another in 1825 reported to the same
purport ; yet still the overtaxed and tantalised householders
waited for a cheap and good supply of water. In reply to
remonstrances often urged previously in vain, the Irish Sec
retary gave an unconditional pledge that all the details of local
disbursements should be in future open to investigation.
This was received in Dublin with a degree of satisfaction
that reads to us now as painfully strange. Yet it is quite
true not only that the irresponsible local officials had up
to this time contemptuously refused to publish annual ac
counts but that gross instances of wholesale malversation
were brought to the notice of the executive without con
vincing them that ratepayers were entitled to have cogni
sance of the way in which their money was expended.
Nowhere did the ill effects of misused patronage manifest
themselves more mischievously than in the demoralisation
of the constabulary. Needy and incompetent men were fre
quently appointed to sub-inspectorships, and sometimes "to
higher posts, in districts where their antecedents were too

240 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
well known. Abuses, both in the nature of partiality and
corruption, grew apace. The chief constables were generally
above their business ; they lived expensively, ran in debt,
and then were at the mercy of their inferiors. Spring Eice
transmitted the copy of a note he had just received on the
subject, omitting names, which he did not venture to insert
owing to the existing state of the Post Office : —
It is reported that  is dismissed. At all events he
owes more than he can ever pay, and of course cannot
appear ; he is now at Paris.  is also in debt beyond
his means, and I believe ¦ — — is as deep as either. The
police horses, after being fed for some time on grass cut in
the hedgerows, are turned out to grass where they are
useless for the public service, as they are kept by the
farmer in pledge for their grazing. There are now ten or
twelve persons paid as inspectors and chief magistrates. If
they were all changed into superintendents of districts of
three or four counties it would be much more efficient
with half the number of chief constables than the present
establishment. This would create a clear saving by the
reduction of the chief constables, and it would save the
expense of paymasters in Dublin and pay-clerks in the
counties, as the inspector's clerk could pay in every
district. Many other savings might also be effected.
Lamb thought the improved condition of the country would
allow of a reduction of £10,000 a year in the estimate for
the mounted police, and he so reported to Whitehall. But
ere the winter closed, his hope of lasting tranquillity vanished,
and Tipperary became as turbulent as ever.
The Irish Secretary frequently thanks his indefatigable
correspondent at the Home Office for his confidential sug
gestions on practical topics connected with Ireland, on many
of which he confessed himself to be wholly uninformed • but
it was easier to receive and read than to answer or act upon
these recommendations. Some of his terse and thoughtful
observations of what was going on around him are curious : 

CEAIBMAN OF _ SESSIONS. 241
I am worried by magistrates, assistant barristers, &c., for
the statutes ; but the printer assures me that they are not
yet printed in England. Pray let me know how this is.
Nobody in England ever, I beUeve, thinks of a law till
about a year after it has passed; but here they are so
busy and eager for new laws that there is no satisfying
them. Disregarding precedent of failure in 1806, Plunket had
advised the appointment in 1824 of a Eoman Catholic, Mr.
Eichard Farrell, to the office of Assistant Barrister. Lord
Manners and Mr, Goulburn did not approve ; but they did
not actually refuse to comply. There was a good deal of
grumbling among the privileged majority of the outer bar at
the ominous infraction of a system hitherto strictly observed.
But the intruder was personally unexceptionable ; and with
a shrug and a sigh the deviation from orthodox rule was
aUowed to pass. No further attempt was then made to
go beyond the pale of sectarian monopoly, or to show six
millions of people whose allegiance was claimed, and whose
taxes were levied by law, that their ordinary disputes in a
court of justice were triable without respect of creeds ; and
Lamb found in Ireland but one county-court judge professing
the ancient faith. His sense of right and of policy revolted
at the continuance of this needless aggravation of injustice,
and he recommended strongly that it should be gradually
swept away.
It would take me some time to collect and digest the
materials necessary for answering your letter of the 31st
ult. as fully as I could wish. But I prefer noticing im
perfectly the various important suggestions made in it
to the appearance of delay and neglect. It may be proper
in this place to inform you that most, if not all the points
to which your letter adverts, have been already considered
by the Lord Lieutenant; and that I have already dis
cussed with him the propriety of preparing the necessary
documents, with a view to their early discussion in the
VOL. I. K

242 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
next session of Parliament. Before, however, I advert to
those subjects which you have enumerated, I will shortly
mention other matters, some of which have been already
brought forward under the Lord Lieutenant's direction,
and all of which are intended to be introduced in the
next session, entirely agreeing with you and the Lord
Lieutenant that it will be wise to employ the present
time in maturing and preparing measures, so as to have
them actually in readiness by the meeting of Parliament.
1. Jury Bill. — I have received some suggestions founded
on the differences between the law and the practice of the
two countries, to which it appears to me that it will be
necessary to advert. I have submitted the bill to the
judges, and am assured by the Chief Justice that he will
consider it, and give me his opinion upon it ; and I will
take care that any alteration which it may appear wise to
adopt shall be communicated to you at a period sufficiently
early to enable you to form your own judgment deliber
ately, and to obtain upon it the opinion of others. 2. The
General Paving and Lighting Bill. — This bill, as well as
the Jury Bill, was brought in pro forma and printed in
the course of the last session, and the same course shall
be pursued with it. 3. The bill for the renewal of the
Insolvent Act was left by Mr. Goulburn in a complete
state of preparation ; but as it is a subject of great im
portance and great interest, on which opinions are a good
deal divided, and as great abuses are said to prevail in the
administration of this branch of the law, I wish to call
your particular attention to it, and to beg that you will
suggest any alteration which you may find calculated to
obviate inconvenience and prevent fraud. 4. The bills
for the consolidation and amendment of the criminal law
the prevention of malicious outrages, are in a state of for
wardness ; but they require great care and consideration,
the law of Ireland being in many points essentially
different from that of England. Similar acts have been
in operation in England during the late assizes, and it

PUBLIC WOBKS. 243

would be desirable to have the benefit and advantage pf
the experience which has now been had of their actual
working in practice. With respect to any reformations
of the law generally, it appears to me not unadvisable
that this country should follow England at a certain
interval of time, for the sake of experience and greater
maturity of legislation. These are the principal measures
not mentioned in your letter, which are at present under
the consideration of the Lord Lieutenant, and I now
proceed to those which you have enumerated. 1. The
statutes which relate to public works. — Whatever may
be the decision upon the general principle of these
measures, which is a large and important question for
every Government, and more particularly for the Govern
ment of a country placed in such peculiar circumstances
as Ireland, it is evidently expedient to reduce to some
order the statutes which prescribe and regulate this
system, and which appear to he extremly confused — so
much so, indeed, that I own myself unable to understand
them, and to provide, as you suggest, for some methodical
arrangement in the execution, and some frequent and
strict audit of the expenditure. At the same time, the
difficulty of effecting this object will be considerable, and
will form the main ingredient in the considerations of the
wisdom of the general principle, and certainly one of the
strongest objections to the adoption of it. The advancing
of public money for such purposes in Ireland as a general
measure originated in the severe distress of 1822. Un
questionably the works then undertaken in Ireland have
been highly beneficial to the country, and have greatly
relieved local distress. The extreme pressure of that
crisis, however, and the great solicitude of Parliament for
the immediate application of the grants to the relief of
the suffering population, prevented the possibility of ap
plying such effectual checks on a systematic plan against
the danger of mismanagement and abuse, as may be pro
vided, if it should be determined to establish a system of
B 2

244 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
this description for the future benefit of Ireland. It
would he well to know with certainty what has been done
in England on this subject ; what abuses may have been
practised, and remedies applied or suggested for the future
regulation of such expenditure. 2. The civil bill process
is under consideration, and I am in hopes of soon having
a bill in such a state of preparation as to be able to submit
it to the judges for their consideration. 3. A bill has
been prepared for the reformation of the abuses pointed
out by the report on the office for the registration of
deeds. This bill is now also under consideration, and no
exertion shall be spared in order to have an efficient
measure in preparation by the opening of Parliament.
I cannot find that this report has been referred to the
judges, certainly no opinion has been given, nor do I
believe formed by them upon the subject, but before the
bill is transmitted to you their opinion shall be taken.
4. ToUs and Customs. — This is a large, and as affecting
the rights of Corporations, a delicate position, upon which I
confess myself uninformed ; but attention shall be paid to
it, and I shall be thankful for any suggestion or infor
mation on the subject. 5. Grand Jury presentments. — It
is unnecessary to expatiate on the magnitude, the import
ance and the difficulty of this subject, connected and
interwoven as it is with all the transactions and with the
whole system of the local administration of this country.
Plans of reformation may be suggested by others, but it
would only be deceiving you, and subjecting myself to
the charge of presumption, if I were to hold out any
expectations of being prepared myself to bring forward
any general measure on this subject in the next session of
Parliament. I am well aware that a bill has been re
peatedly called for ; but you are well aware that those
measures which are the most loudly demanded are often
found the most difficult to get adopted, and that the plan
which receives the most general assent is apt to be
subjected in detail to the most serious objection and

COMMUTATION OF TITHE. 245
opposition. I do not mean to say that some beneficial
amendments may not be devised immediately, but with
respect to the general question, I should apprehend that
the renewal of the committee of last year would be found
the preferable mode of proceeding. It is proper here to
state that Mr. Goulburn, with the Lord Lieutenant's
approbation, intended to have submitted the matter to a
committee of the House of Commons in the last session of
Parliament as a preliminary step to the introduction of
any new law. 6. The Corporate Magistracy in both
countries requires serious consideration, and will, I am
convinced, soon press itself inevitably on the attention of
the legislature. You are of course aware of the 7 Geo. 4
c. 61, which has given the Lord Lieutenant the power of
applying a remedy in cases of necessity. 7. Tithe. — The
Tithe Composition Act passed in 1823, has been carried
into effect in 940 parishes. The total parishes in
Ireland are 2600, and at the present time the Act is pre
paring to be carried into effect in about two hundred
parishes. This is a copy of a return which I obtained
from the office here upon my first arrival. Some further
progress has been made since that time, but nothing very
material. It would undoubtedly be highly beneficial to
establish "a still more permanent system, but considering
the great progress this measure has made and is still
making, and the extensive and increasing advantages
resulting from it, together with the consideration that the
earliest of these compositions have still eighteen years to
run, induce me to submit to you that it would not be
advisable to interfere further at present with this subject,
which we know to be so pregnant with jealousy and alarm.
An extension of the leasing powers of the Church would
be highly advantageous in both countries, but the agitation
of such a question at present, especially in Ireland, strikes
me as liable to all the prudential objections which I have
hinted at above. 8. Sheriffs.— A bill has been prepared
on this subject. The abuses stated in the report are ad-

246 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
mitted still to prevail in some parts of Ireland ; but those
who are best informed on the subject appear to conceive
that there will be considerable difficulty in devising such
legislative measures as will obviate these abuses without
running the risk of introducing and encouraging others.
9. Education. — This question is, as you observe, far too
large for incidental discussion. It is one of great delicacy
and difficulty, particularly in the point of view in which
it is placed by your letters ; but it has received and will
receive the most anxious consideration on the part of the
Lord Lieutenant. In a matter in which religious jealousy
is so strong, and religious feelings so highly excited, and
so many conflicting interests and passions are to be con
ciliated, it is impossible to proceed otherwise than with
the greatest caution and deliberation. I have thus gone
through very generally and very imperfectly the several
heads of your letter. I will write more particularly upon
each of them, according to the information I collect and
the views which open themselves. No exertion, depend
upon it, will be spared on the part of the Lord Lieutenant
for the purpose of enabling his Majesty's Government to
bring forward in a mature and perfect shape such measures
as they may deem it expedient to propose ; or to give a
full statement of their views and intentions upon any
subject to which the attention of Parliament may be
directed by others. The Lord Lieutenant has seen this
letter, and entirely approves it.*
A kindly and confiding rejoinder from the Home Secretary
expressed his
Satisfaction that nearly all the measures on which he had
written connected with Ireland, respecting which it was
desirable that some decision should be taken previous to
the ensuing session, as well as others not immediately
adverted to, had engaged the attention of the Lord Lieu
tenant and his Chief Secretary. He need not repeat that
* From W. Lamb to Lord Lansdowne, September 19th 1827.

CONSTABULABY. 247

while he felt it his duty to dwell occasionaUy upon those
points connected with the local administration of Ireland
which had led to discussion in or out of Parliament, he
felt persuaded they had not been overlooked in Ireland,
and that Lord WeUesley and he were best able to judge
of the nature of the difficulties which interfered with a
remedy where the present system should be considered
defective. Upon several of the measures under considera
tion, Eice's experience as a magistrate and a grand juror
would enable him to furnish useful suggestions, and he
had requested him to write fully as to details.*
Throughout the whole period an active correspondence was
kept up between Whitehall and the Castle ; the vigilant and
suggestive Under-Secretary being full of practical information
as to men and things, which he seems to have been always
ready to impart to his friend. Some of the cautions and
commentaries interchanged regarding the disposal of patron
age, and projects of all kinds for effecting jobs are sufficiently
amusing. After a long disclosure of the local abuses
existing in the constabulary force. Spring Eice says : —
I received a letter this morning that is so comical, but so in
structive, that I cannot resist giving it to you. Dick
Martin caught hold of Goulburn and Copley (last session)
and, under pretence of assimilating the law, obtained
their support of a bill abolishing the functions of coroners
in civil matters, they having immemorially enjoyed a
power concurrent with sheriffs in execution of civil process.
I warned Goulburn of the mischief he was about to
sanction ; but he was suspicious, I inexorable. I divided
the House, but of course was beaten, and the bill was
carried. What has been the result ? Look at the report
of the Commissioners. A monopoly of injustice being
given to the sheriffs, the difficulty of recovering debts
has been augmented tenfold ; and to' complete the whole
argument by one illustration, I received a letter from
* Lord Lansdowne to W. Lamb, October 4tb, 1827.";

248 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.

a magistrate and a grand juror, a late high employe of
the Government, and a near relation of a noble friend of
yours and mine, of which I now give you a literal copy : —
" I have this moment heard that the Commissioners of
" Inquiry recommend that coroners should be employed
" as before, in the execution of civil process. Have the
" goodness to drop me a line to say if this is to be the case,
"for if it be so, all poor gentlemen who unfortunately
" happen to be in difficulties must fly the country: God
" forbid that it should be so."*
Among other subjects discussed in the confidential
correspondence of this period was the pecuniary relations
existing between the Government and the press. An annual
vote was regularly taken, nominally for the expense of
publishing proclamations in certain Irish journals ; and an
other for printing the Dublin Gazette. Both had from time
to time been questioned in Parliament, the latter as being .
excessive in amount, and the former as wrong in principle ;
but the Liverpool administration had defended the outlay
as a legitimate and necessary means of influencing public
opinion, and in committee of supply were always successful
on division. In point of fact, the prices paid for the insertion
as advertisements of royal proclamations yielded a sufficient
proflt to the conductors of certain favoured newspapers to
sustain them with a very limited sale. One of these was the
Hibernian Journal, which it was admitted had no circu
lation worth mentioning, and no contributions worth reading.
The patronage of the Castle had been withdrawn from it by
Mr. Charles Grant, when Chief Secretary, and the foUowing
week it ceased to appear. Other newspapers made a better
show of independent existence, and continued to be recipients
of Treasury pay. Spring Eice urged strongly the policy of
reforming the system of Government advertisements, and
of renouncing openly the idea of guiding or controlling
opinion by a method at once wasteful and indefensible.
" T. S. Ri'ce to W. Lamb, September 27th, 1827.

SUBSIDISING TEE PBESS. 249

Is this mode of influencing the press worthy or honourable,
or even effectual ? Does a good Government require this
aid ? Can it support a weak one ? And, above all, does
it not contain within it mischiefs infinitely greater than
any it seeks to avert ? The best answer to these questions
is to be found in the actual condition of the press. The
influence of these proclamations is so well known and
admitted that the papers writing under this retaining fee
have but little weight with the public. The editors, in
place of thinking of the public o'nly, worship the Castle,
and then generally repay the favours they receive in
adulation, base, unprincipled, and tasteless. On the other
hand, the papers excluded from a participation in these
profits are driven into furious discontent. The favoured
few, being monopolists, consider they have a right to do
as they choose, charge what they like, and the result has
been a general system of jobbing and corruption. In
Limerick, for example, the Commissioner of Accounts for
several years reported fraudulent and unreasonable charges
against a particular paper, and yet to the present time it
has received the patronage of the Government. If not
right, can all this be useful? The whole has produced
the degradation of the press without contributing to the
power of the Government. If retrenchment is to be
practised, is not this one of the points on which economy
and sound policy run together ? The Dublin Gazette is
one of those jobs which, producing no benefit at all com
mensurate with its cost, which either the carelessness of
the Local Government or the ignorance of the Treasury^
has allowed to continue. The most effectual remedy
would be to reduce the duty on advertisements, and to
throw upon all papers the necessity of inserting pro
clamations gratuitously. In an Irish paper of twenty or
thirty years back you will find the advertisements greater
than at present, though the lands, &c., to be let or sold,
and the commercial transactions of the day were then less
important in all Ireland than they now are in a single

250 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
province. Duties on advertisements operate as a tax on
the transfer of commodities, and as such are objectionable
on every principle by which taxation ought to be regulated.
If this be impracticable, let the proclamations be inserted
only in the Gazette, and such as are locally interesting
will be gratuitously reprinted in the newspapers. All
this applies to Government notices in every civil and
military department.*
The letter containing these suggestions was first sent for
approval to Lord Landsdowne, who replied next day : —
I shall forward your letter to Lamb, with a line from myself.
I entirely concur in your view of the course which it
would be most dignified, and ultimately most useful for
the Government to pursue ; but we must hear what he
feels and thinks on the subject.f
His individual assent was cordially and promptly given
to the views thus enunciated, and in his reply he fully
expressed his concurrence in the propriety of withdrawing
the subsidies from the press. J Nevertheless, he found
the opinions even of the best among his local advisers
adverse to a sudden change of system : —
Plunket when he heard of our scheme about the press
laughed loudly, and said, " Oh, this is Utopian." I only
mention this to show you what strong possession the idea
has of minds here. I am not apt to be very pos'itive about
future measures, but if I feel confident of anything, it is
that taking away all the paymfents would not in the least
diminish the strength of the Government.§
He had not been long in Ireland before he conceived
* From T. S. Rice to William Lamb, September 12th 1827.
t Lord Lansdowne to T. S. Rice, September 13th, 1827.
t From Lord Lansdowne, September 23rd, 1827.
§ Letter from W. Lamb, not dated, but probably towards the end of
September.

AGBABIANISM. 251

the idea of making a personal acquaintance with some of
the leaders of agitation. Sir Philip Crampton, with
whose conversational talents he was especially charmed,
undertook to gratify his wish by asking Shiel to meet him
at dinner. The only other person invited was Mr. Blake,
the Chief Eemembrancer, who, though a Catholic, had long
enjoyed the confidence of Lord Wellesley and Lord Gren
ville, and was the intimate friend of Lord Plunket. The
Chief Secretary threw aside all reserve of tone, and invited
equal candour. Shiel depicted as few could so graphically
do the chronic sources of predial disturbance, which he
argued were aggravated and heightened by the sectarian
character of the administration of justice. While combating
stoutly for the indispensability of maintaining order at any
cost, as the first condition of legal liberty. Lamb was involun-
tarUy moved by the touching recitals of wrong and oppression
which daily drove the peasantry to madness ; and he dis
dained to hide his disgust at the manner in which criminal
justice was administered by exclusive juries and a partisan
bench. He began to understand for the first time in his
life whence arose the anarchic sympathy with agrarian
outrage which was not shown to mean or mercenary crime.
Involuntarily yielding to the force of new conviction, he
asked numerous questions, and Ustened with increasing
curiosity to the details of cases illustrating internecine war
between the many and the few. It happened that several
of these were instances of lawless vengeance dealt out by
the peasantry on process-servers, tithe-collectors or small
proprietors themselves. " And why," he asked, " don't they
go at the big ones ? " Absenteeism answered the question
in part, and for the rest the habit of going armed after
nightfaU, which at the time prevailed in many counties.
A weU-known landlord in Tipperary was commonly caUed
the " Woodcock," because he was so hard to hit ; and other
examples were supplied by Sir Philip to prove, as he said,
that there was no especial tenderness shown to rank or
fortune. But the significance of the question, and the tone

252 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
in which it was put, were not to be forgotten. Ten years
afterwards, when the minister had reached the height of
power, it was recalled to his memory by Shiel.
Lamb spent but a few months in Ireland, and it cannot
be said that he accomplished great changes during his
stay. To him it was not given. But he did what he could.
He visited the Four Courts Marshalsea, then the Dublin
Debtors' Prison, which was at the time singularly unhealthy
and ill-regulated. Spendthrifts who had lost caste in society,
speculators who had gone half crazed with their schemes,
bravos of old descent and ruined fortunes, who were fond of
boasting of the real or fabulous deeds they had done, and
litigants whose pertinacious seeking for justice had brought
them to beggary, with a crowd of obscure and wretched
victims of misery, dwelt together, each as he chose, or could,
in every variety of deflant jollity and wan despair. Certain
reforms had been not long before carried into effect ; and he
expressed himself satisfied with the improved discipline and
cleanliness which began to be visible ; but he thought the
whole system bad and requiring thorough change. One
thing he did accomplish, namely, to abolish the weekly
rent paid by debtors for their miserable unfurnished rooms ;
" this, as well as being a great relief to poor persons, would,
independent of its consideration in a pecuniary point of view,
compel the authorities to classify the prisoners."
From the time of Lord Cornwallis, jobbing in every
department of the public service had continued to be
regarded as a perquisite of nobility and gentry, which it
was a mere vulgar affectation to disguise or deny. Church
dignities, judicial appointments, cadetships in India, places
in the excise, post office, and police, formed the recognised
staple of the wholesale and retail traffic carried on with
Government. Peers and members of Parliament, prelates
and ladies of fashion partook the richest fruits of the field
of patronage ; country gentlemen of influence, advocates of
note at the bar, and trusted officials of more or less weight
gathered the gleanings and found them ample. Not only

JOBBING. 25£

the prevalent feeling, but the almost invariable tone of
application for employment and promotion implied the
absolute belief that nothing was given away except by
favour. Fitness or unfitness was hardly worth talking
about. To carry the Union the country had been drowned
in corruption; and the pestiferous flood, though gradually
subsiding, still overspread the land, and stifled the growth
of self-reliance, of merit, and of industry. Demands of the
audacious magnitude which Lord Castlereagh was instructed
to grant, and Sir Arthur WeUesley somewhat later thought
it expedient to palter with, had become rarer in the days of
their successors in office ; Government in a certain sense
had bought up the privilege and power of many great
families to be troublesome ; the market had grown flat, and
only now and then, or here and there, booty on the old
scale could be wrung from economising imperialism or
irresolute viceroyalty. Lord Wellesley had striven at the
outset to assert his right to the more valuable appointments
civil and ecclesiastical, and when his peculiar domain was
encroached upon by Downing Street he tried hard to preserve
a veto. Towards the end of his pro-consulate even this
was frequently infringed ; and the place-hunters of high
and low degree learned more and more to look to London
aS' a true and higher source of all quarterly blessings.
Lamb was not long in Ireland before he felt the pressure of
influence thus exercised or attempted through his colleagues
in England. Unacquainted with the personal character of
nineteen out of twenty applicants for favour, and indisposed
by temperament to think ill of persons without specific
cause, he would have easily become an assenting party to
many bad appointments, had the Home Office been in other
hands. One of the best consequences, however, of his
intimacy with Spring Eice, and his confidence in Lord
Lansdowne, was that from time to time he was kept aware of
predatory designs upon the Irish executive ere they came
ostensibly before him. A confidential letter from the Under-
Secretary on the 15th of September contained an intimation

254 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
that Lord  wanted a piece of preferment of more than
ordinary distinction ; and as he was an hospitable, busy,
talkative, and not very scrupulous individual, who had no
other claim on the consideration of Government than the
vague fear that he might be able to exercise some power of
annoyance in case he was refused. Lamb laconically replied,
" I have never heard of the application, and you may depend
upon it, if I can help it, it shall not be done. G  indeed !
not if Lady G  should,'' &c.* Far greater was his con
sternation on receipt of the further warning which his brief
epistle had evoked. To the Irish Secretary, hitherto in
credulous as to the system of espionage carried on. Spring
Eice wrote without reserve, "What would Lady- G 
say if a copy of your letter was sent to her?"t Certain
information had reached the Home Department that the
Post Office was not to be depended on, where letters to or
from official persons were concerned. The local staff in
Ireland consisted almost exclusively of the dependants of
the party theretofore in power ; and a common instinct in
spired them with apprehension, lest in the consolidation of
the new Government not merely the empire should be ruined,
but their special monopoly should be broken up. Fresh
indications that letters from the Castle were tampered with,
early aroused the suspicion of the Under-Secretary, and at
length on the 24th of September he wrote privately to his
chief, who was then at Bowood : —
It is quite clear that the seals of Lamb's last three letters
have been broken at the Irish P.O. This I knew to be
suspected ; but the appearances of the last speak for them
selves, and I have written to Lamb on the subject. I shall
direct three or four small boxes to be prepared for the
Irish correspondence, as it would never answer to have the
correspondence between this department and the Castle
examined by the Orange clerks at the Post Office.
* T. S. Rice, September 19th.
t T. S. Rice to W. Lamb, September 1827.

POST OFFICE ESPIONAGE. 255
At length even Lamb's good-nature could no longer
keep its eyes shut to what was going on around him : — -
You frighten me out of my wits about my letters, not so
much for what may have been in them of a public as of a
private nature. Did you get a line in answer to yours
about G  ? I hope they have not sent a copy of it to
her ladyship. When I first came here I was told that
malpractices took place at the Post Office ; but my letters
seemed to go so safe, and yours to come, that I gradually
lost all distrust, and, I must say, I have never observed
anything in the appearance of the letters from England
to excite the least suspicion. By asking at the Irish
Office you may see our keys ; they are quite different from
those of the Cabinet. When I got your letter yesterday
morning, I sent for Lees, but, upon second thoughts, I
considered it best to say nothing to him about the matter,
as it would give alarm and induce caution. If such
things are done it is best that they should go on in order
that they may be detected.*
Later on he was again assured from the Home Office
that the seals of his letters were tampered with frequently ;
luckily, the one about which he was most uneasy had escaped.
On examination, the locks of the Irish Office boxes had been
pronounced worthless as a preventive against furtive prying ;
the new ones, it was hoped, would prove more reliable. How
to effect a discovery was the puzzle.
In the old times the practice of opening letters at the Post
Office was adopted, I beUeve, for the convenience of the
Government, and, like every other bad measure, it recoiled
on its authors. Forbes, one of Grattan's friends, wrote
during the critical times of the Eegency, and concluded
by saying : " I would tell you much more, but, at this
moment, that old rogue John Lees is reading every word
of the letter." The prudent course is the one you have
* W. Lamb to T. S. Rice, September 27th, 1827.

256 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.

taken, to lie by and watch. Send the letters you despatch
from the Castle or Park in some safe person's keeping. It
has been suggested that it is in that part of the journey
that the mischief occurs.*
Later on renewed uneasiness was felt at Whitehall owing
to the renewed proofs of malpractices in the Post Office ; and
various suggestions were made for detecting the offenders : —
Have you any police person you can rely on ? If not, shall
we send you a Bow Street officer ? Turn this in your mind,
for be assured treachery is somewhere latent about you,
and presents an example of the entire Irish system.f
But the Irish Secretary was not to be easily scared or drawn
into departing from the characteristic bearing and demeanour
by which through life he was distinguished. Keenly suscep
tible of reproach and femininely sensitive to misconstruction,
his sagacity and his pride equally concurred in forbidding
him to betray the pain or uneasiness he suffered. What
casual observers set down for indifference was in truth but
the consistent adherence to his notion of what became a
public man, in whatever circumstances he might be placed.
To wince when hurt in presence of the crowd was in his
view weakness unpardonable ; to countervail artifice and to
baffie attack he would listen to any suggestion, and resort
to any legitimate means; but to show uneasiness, or to
confess being out-witted, was in his mind to prove incapacity
for the conduct of affairs. In great things and in small he
pursued the same line of what seemed to be insouciance,
sometimes haughty, sometimes jocose, but always perplexing
to adversaries and reassuring to friends. His reply to the
recommendation above noted was in this vein : 
With regard to the letters you suspect to have been opened,
recoUect the absolute necessity of precision upon such
points ; the extreme difficulty of proof, and the manifest
* Letter from T. S. Rice, October 2nd, 1827.
t Letter (secret) from T. S. Eice, October 29th, 1827.

DIFFICULTIES OF DETECTION. 257
absurdity of stirring in such a matter with the least
chance of failure. EecoUect that these letters have passed
through both Post Offices. The letter dated the 28th,
though it bore the post-mark of the 29th, I wrote here
late at night, and sent it into town in the morning by
the messenger, which accounts for that circumstance.
You say that the seals and covers establish beyond all
possible doubt the fact that both seals had been broken.
Now upon inspection it does not seem to me that there
is the least appearance of either of them having been
Irohen,. They have been torn and cut round, but neither
has been broken ; and if I produce these covers and seals,
all they will have to say is that they know nothing
about it, and considering the variety of hands they have
passed through since they were in the Post Office here,
it will be quite impossible to fix anything in the shape of
proof upon any individual belonging to that establishment.
I will send by the post to-morrow two letters to you and
two to Landsdowne — that inside with a cross X on the
outside. Observe in what state they come ; do not open
them unless they appear to have been untouched ; return
them in the state in which you receive them. If you do
not receive them at all let me know.*
Next day he wrote : —
It is impossible for me to judge by the state of the covers
after they have been opened, whether they have been
meddled with or not. It is a strong circumstance that
you who see them as they arrive think that they have.
But are you sure, after all, that it is not the badness of
the sealing-wax, and my careless manner of folding and
sealing a letter, for which I was always famous ? Do you
' judge by the crease across the seal ; and if you do, may
not that have been occasioned by my tearing a sheet of
paper for a cover, and in folding it, allowing the rough
* From W. Lamb, November 2nd, 1827.
VOL. I. ®

258 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
torn edge to remain outwards ? The person who manages
the English (branch of the) Post Office here is Mr. Homan,
who was connected with Sheridan,* professes himself a
great Whig, and is always trotting about the office with
plans of economy and amendment. I know if I mentioned
the matter that the blame would very probably be thrown
upon him, ... I do not at present think that there is suffi
cient evidence to make it prudent to stir. All the letters
from England have reached my hands with the utmost
punctuality and without any appearance that could
create the least suspicion.f
Curiously enough, at the very moment that his sense of
fairness w&s desiring that it should be borne in mind how
many hands each confidential letter passed through on loth
sides of the channel. Lord Lansdowne was expressing serious
doubts whether his communications between Wiltshire and
Whitehall were secure from furtive inspection : —
I have thought it right to write to the Chancellor (as he
sent me all sorts of civil messages about it) to thank him
for the Lord-Lieutenancy, and I have inclosed my letter to
you, with an address to the King to be sent in by you, as
I am not certain whether, if I sent it into the post here,
it would go properly.
On the 17th October, being public quarter-day, it was pro
posed by Mr. Jno. W. Pasley (Coroner of the County of
Dublin) that the freedom of the Guild of St. George
should be presented to the Eight Hon. W. Lamb, which
motion was carried unanimously ; and that the Master,
Mr. Alderman Harty, the Wardens and Committee of five,
should wait on him.|
Towards the close of his term of office Lord Wellesley
took less and less share in the details of administration ; yet
* His private secretary in 1807.
t From W. Lamb, November 3rd, 1827.
t ' Freeman's Journal.'

OFFICIAL JEALOUSY. 259

his habitual susceptibility, ever on the watch for neglect or
¦ slight, occasioned him much unnecessary pain, and kept
him in a state of nervous irritability he could not conceal
from those around him ; sometimes, not even from strangers,
when guests at his table. The activity of his Chief
Secretary, his readiness to hear all species of complaint and
to discuss openly any fair means of redress, still more, the
value set upon his abiUty and discretion by members of the
Government who corresponded with him, aggravating the
besetting infirmity of the Viceroy's character, which was
undoubtedly the envious greed of official fame. Lamb saw
through and through his weakness, and being as much
exempt from it himself as any man of high ambition ever was,
he strove to avoid, as far as he was concerned, giving him any
cause for jealousy. When despatches came from the Home
Office, implying by their language that his independent
opinion and advice was desired by the Cabinet upon matters
of importance, he privately remonstrated at their erroneous
form, and offered to send them back in order that they might
be re- written.
The words "and of yourself" should, I apprehend, be
omitted. There is, I believe, no such thing as an original
public correspondence between the Chief Secretary to the
Lord Lieutenant and the Secretary of State. Everything
that the Chief Secretary writes is commanded and directed
by the Lord Lieutenant. Some jealousy has already been
excited upon this point, and I am afraid of more. If you
agree with me in this, and think it absolutely necessary,
send other letters. But, perhaps, as the man is so near
his end you may let him expire in peace ; and, if his office
could expire with him, so much the better. He talks of
leaving before Christmas, and has written to Lord Angle
sey to know when he means to arrive.*
Soon after the failure of the ill-advised attempt to
* Letter, November 11th, 1827. S 2

260 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
prosecute O'Connell for his aUusions to the triumph of
Bolivar, Plunket, writing ' confidentially to the Duke of
Buckingham, accompanied his regret at the violent language
of the Catholic leaders in Ireland with expressions of his
belief that they had little less effect in stirring the popular
mind than in exciting hostile prejudices in England. One
of our great misfortunes is that we have not any regular
and safe channel of communication with the Eoman
Catholic hody through whom admonition and private re
monstrance might effect a useful purpose. This is one of
the principal reasons why I have always been so anxious
for a settlement with the Eoman Catholic clergy.* The
memorable attempt to realise that favourite dream of all
the Liberal statesmen of the time failed, and a new penal
statute was passed in 1825 to suppress the Catholic Associa
tion. The bitterness of tantalisation was added to that of
hope deferred ; and the Government did not venture to put
to proof the metal of the new weapon they had forged.
The business of agitation went briskly on, and alarmists
grew hourly more convinced that a sanguinary insurrection
was meditated and that the forfeited estates were in jeo
pardy. How little such designs were harboured by the chief
demagogue is evidenced in a letter addressed by him to the
Attorney-General under the seal of confidence : —
I regret that I feel it a duty to inform you that the accounts
from the country by those who are well-acquainted with
the people are terrific. The Eibbon connection has
assumed a new form. There is now no oath, nor any
very distinct assertion of object. It is spreading fast
through Leinster— in the southern counties almost as
much as in the northern. It has got extensively into
Connaught and Munster. It has its origin in the north.
The Orangemen of Cavan and Fermanagh have armed
themselves with daggers of about fourteen inches in
length in the blade, or, what is nearly as bad, the lower
* ' Memoirs of Court and Cabinet of George IV.,' vol. ii. p. 194

BIBBONISM. 261

orders of Catholics have been made to believe that they are
¦so armed, and in consequence of such report tht Eibbon-
men are getting similar arms. It is sought not to involve
the married men in this society, but all the unmarried
peasants are expected to be in it. One priest assured me
that no less than seven youths in his parish, of regular
habits, left his confessional rather than renounce the
system, or abstain from supporting it. I have no remedy
to suggest save the increase of the King's troops in
Ireland. The exhibition of such a force may alone do
good. The Yeomanry are worse than useless. I have
done my duty in communicating these facts to you.
Those who gave me this information cannot be deceived,
and are themselves greatly horrified. The diminution of
the currency in both countries will certainly create still
greater distress among our landholders, and, of course,
increase the tendency to Whiteboyism of every species.*
There was in his mind at all times a detestation of secret
societies and acts of violence against life and property.
PoUtical exclusion and religious outlawry he was fearless to
denounce and deride ; but those who knew him best, best knew
how powerfully and how sincerely his influence would have
been exercised on the side of order and law, had not authority
spurned his service and impugned the loyalty of the creed
he held. It was, in theory, the maddest of mistakes ; in
practice, the most impracticable of impolicies.
The new Chief Secretary had been thoroughly imbued
with these views by Plunket and by Canning. Like the
latter, he appreciated the tenacity of the prejudices to be
overcome before emancipation could be carried ; but, unlike
the latter, he was hardly fitted to realise the fact that every
year's delay in conceding what was inevitable, lessened the
chance of its producing peace, or eUciting gratitude when
it came. Plunket confessed, when asked his opinion by
Canning, late in 1826,
» Letter from O'Connell to Plunket, March 7th, 1826.

262 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.

He was not as sanguine as in 1825 of the efficacy of the
Eoman Catholic measure in tranquillising Ireland, and
every year more of postponement made him less so. He,
at the same time, seriously believed that the measure, if
soon carried and honestly acted on, would give a fair
chance of tranquillity. And until it took place the task
of governing Ireland and administering its laws would
become every day more difficult. The new Catholic
association completely identified itself with the old,
and daily violated the recent law for its suppression.
Not to prosecute its leaders was a mark of weakness ; to
prosecute them would be very indiscreet, and probably
unavailing ; it would be in truth to prosecute the Eoman
Catholic people, who from head to foot made common
cause with them. So long as there was profound peace
things might drag on in that way ; but, come war,
or rumour of war, and who could answer for the
consequences ? *
It was not surprising that a man of fashion, hitherto un
used to business and wholly unacquainted with the perplexed
and troubled country he was sent to aid in governing,
should not easily be persuaded of the intensity of the evils
thus depicted with the power of a master whose life had been
spent in the study of them. His admiration of Plunket's
abilities, and sympathy in his scorn of vulgar applause, led
him to rely upon his judgment more than that of any other
man. As for himself, he was open-eyed and open-eared to
the complaints of the weak and the expostulations of the
unprivileged, candid in admission and outspoken in rebuke
of domineering wrong, as none of his predecessors had been.
The banter and even hrusquerie of his manner rather tickled
the fancy of a people with whom raillery and quizzing is
an habitual condiment of thought and speech. They hated
Goulburn as much for the melancholy literalism of his talk
as for the sentiments it conveyed. They thought Mr. Lamb
* Letter from Plunket to Mr. Canning, October 10th 1826.

GOOD LOOKS. 263

a jolly sort of fellow, who looked as if he was given to
mirth and took real delight in laughter. The Celts, more
over, are apt to be taken with a fine face and fine person ;
and if they must be ruled by some one from the other side
of the channel, it was a comfort to think that he was not
afraid to ride at his fences, and that he was an uncommonly
handsome man.

264 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.

CHAPTEE XrV.
THE IRISH CHANCELLORSHIP.
Plunket — Sir Anthony Hart — Catholic Magistrates — Schools and
Asylums — O'ConnelVs position — Perplexities of patronage —
Agrarianism — Betirement of Lord Wellesley.
In Plunket's disappearance from the scene of his triumphs
— the greatest triumphs of argumentative eloquence won by
any man of his time — the cause of religious liberty sustained
a heavier loss than any it had suffered since the death of Fox,
just twenty years before. Grattan, Mackintosh, Burdett,
and Brougham had each and all laid splendid offerings on
the shrine ; but the shrine was the shrine of party, and they
made no sacrifice in what they brought there. It is no dis
paragement of their wisdom or their worth to ask what else
as party men they could do. Whig traditions and Eadical
theories, the interest of opposition, and popular expectation
out of doors, all alike pointed the same way and promised
the same ready, constant and inspiring applause. Plunket
had from first to last little feeling as a party man ; and
probably no man of eminence had so little of party sym
pathy or party support. An adherent of Lord Grenville,
he sometimes co-operated with the Whigs and sometimes
differed from them ; but during his five years' Attorney-
Generalship he was alternately brought into antagonism
with the followers of Eldon and the admirers of Grey ; and
neither spared him in the vehemence of their attacks.
Without a relative or connection in Parliament, without a

PBE-EMINENCE OF PLUNKET. 265

house in London, and without leisure or opportunity to
cultivate social intimacies or disarm personal misapprehen
sions, he held his own undauntedly against all odds, and
wrung simultaneously from adversaries and allies tributes
of homage unlike those paid to any other man. Peel, from
whom he differed daily and differed sharply as to the whole
course of Irish administration, stated that his speech for
Catholic emancipation in 1825 was the highest display of
reasoning and declamation which he had ever heard. And
Mackintosh,, when asked who had done most for the cause of
religious freedom, answered, unhesitatingly,
Plunket ; for all the rest, Grattan, Sidney Smith, O'Connell,
spoke what enthusiastic sympathisers already felt and
were eager to applaud, while he wrestled with the
strongest prejudice in its strongest hold, and by dint of
his resistless power left it weakened and prostrate so that
it never was the same again.
The late Lord Fortescue, when asked what he thought
of him as compared with his eminent contemporaries, said,
The difference was one not of degree but of kind ; it seemed
as of the very nature of the man ; all the others made
you feel that they were doing their best — with him it
seemed as if he was taking no trouble, and could do even
better if he liked.
A friend quoted this fine criticism in conversation with
Lord Eussell, and asked if he thought him so transcendent
in debate ?
That, he replied, is the only phrase that properly conveys
my impression of his power : he was not measurable by
other men, he was above them all.
It may easily be conceived how desirous the new Chief
Secretary was to have the benefit of Plunket's long ex
perience in Irish administration; and how anxiously he
looked for occasions to consult him confidentially in the

266 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
progress of affairs. But the opportunities did not readily
present themselves. During the autumn, Plunket betook
himself to Old Connaught, his favourite residence on the
confines of Wicklow, not far from Tinnehinch, where his
iUustrious master in politics spent the evening of his days.
In the enjoyment, hitherto untasted, of leisure, competency,
and freedom from professional anxiety, the new Chief Justice
might be pardoned for resigning himself to repose ; and
except during ordinary visits they saw little of each other.
When winter came the business of the judicial bench did
not so absorb time or attention as to prevent Plunket
affording Lamb the benefit of his experience on various
questions which the former had left ripe for legislation.
But symptoms of creeping paralysis were already felt in
every limb of the doomed administration. The Home
Secretary was well-disposed towards every suggestion of
remedial legislation; and the Viceroy was willing as ever
to forward and enforce a policy of progress. But in Mr. Joy
the Irish executive had a law-adviser-in-chief who cared for
none of these things ; and in Mr. Gregory, an Under-Secre
tary whose capacity for obstruction nothing less than the
indomitable zeal and determination of Plunket had been
able to overcome. When the Chief Secretary asked why a
measure could not be framed to remedy some practical
grievance of tithe, church-cess, sub-letting, or education, •
he was encountered with a blinding shower of difficulties
and doubts which he knew not how to meet or to escape.
In answering deputations his natural quickness and sagacity
showed him the way to concUiate irritable complainants, and
his frank admission of what he felt to be practical wrongs
won for him golden opinions at the time, and laid the
foundation of personal esteem and liking not without sub
sequent results. But in conclave at the Castle he soon
found himself at helpless disadvantage. Ignorant of de
tails innumerable of law and fact, he was surrounded by
officials exulting in their riddance of him, who was so
long their plague,— and chief adversary in maintaining

PEBPLEXITIES OF PATBONAGE. 267
intact the old order of things : while from Lord Goderich
he could get no exposition of an Irish policy, for policy he
had none to expound.
The idea of promoting Alexander had not been laid aside.
The first reliable intimation of its probability was conveyed
to Plunket by Lord HoUand :
The present Government, I believe, means to name Alexander
Chancellor of Ireland. I need not tell you that no ap
pointment to that office but one can give me any perfect
satisfaction or real pleasure ; but I suppose the impracti
cability of that one being granted, and the reasons of it
being known and submitted to, one must consider Alex
ander as something better than one had a right to expect.
His opinions are had, but his age and habits disqualify
him, and his character, temper and moderation, rescue
him from becoming either the leader or tool of any active
faction. At least he is better than Saurin, and I beUeve a
great push was made by Lord Manners to secure the seals
devolving on him, a true descendant of the Orange Une.*
Lamb's sagacious perception of the susceptibUity of
others, and his freedom from the vanity of being thought
better informed than his departmental chief regarding the
views of the Cabinet, is indicated in a short note written
on the first appearance in print of Alexander's probable
appointment :
Pray remember my hint about informing Lord WeUesley of
it a day or two before it actually takes place, or rather
before it is known from authority ; also a Une to Plunket,
and that from as high authority as possible, would I think
have a good effect. Plunket, as you know, has behaved
very steadUy and handsomely .t
The Home Secretary suggested accordingly that Lord
Goderich should write to the susceptible Viceroy on the
* To Lord Plunket, August 23rd, 1827.
t To T. S. Bioe, September 4tb, 1827.

268 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
subject of the Chancellorship; but he thought it as well
that it should be known in Ireland that the appointment
was offered to the Chief Baron by Canning before his death,
though no answer was received from him till afterwards : so
that Plunket was set aside before, and not as the act of the
new Government.*
Plunket made no secret of his chagrin when com
municating confidentially with Spring Eice :
I was not aware till very lately, and that long since Canning's
death, in consequence too of a letter from a private friend
not a member of the Government, of any application at all
having been made to the Chief Baron, nor had I any reason
to suppose that he was in contemplation. When the place
of Master of the EoUs was offered to me, it was accompanied
by a distinct declaration that my claims, whatever they
were, were to remain unaffected by that appointment ; and
the same assurance was distinctly repeated when I was
appointed to the situation which I now fill. I was fully
apprised of the difficulties which stood in the way of my
appointment to the Great Seal. I have not the slightest
doubt that when Canning made the proposal to the Chief
Baron, and when the present Cabinet adopted it, he and
they acted under an impression that those difficulties were
insuperable. I need not assure you that even were my
conviction on this point less decided it should not make
any difference in the cordiality with which I regard the
interest of the present administration, and with, which I
shall support them as far as the duties belonging to the
office I fill are not incompatible with any interference in
politics.!
To the Home Secretary he wrote.
Earnestly deprecating the appointment of any person on
that side (of the channel) but himself, which made the case
* Marquis of Lansdowne, from Bowood, September 9th, 1827.
t From Lord Plunket to T. S, Rice, September 16th, 1827.

MB. JUSTICE BUBTON. 269
of the Irish Seal sufficiently embarrassing to those that
had to determine upon it.*
The Chief Baron finally made up his mind that he was too
old for transplanting if he was to bear any further fruit, and
another occupant of the Irish Woolsack had to be sought for
in Lincoln's Inn. An announcement of the fact appeared
upon authority in the morning papers :
We can state on the most undoubted authority that the chief
Baron Alexander does not proceed to Ireland as Lord
Chancellor of that country. An objection is known to
exist to Lord Plunket in a certain high quarter, arising
from his strenuous advocacy of a cause with which the
name of that eminent man is inseparably associated. The
present probability as to the person who is to be appointed
the successor of Lord Manners is, that the important office
will devolve upon Mr. Burton, a Puisne Judge of the Court
of King's Bench. The character of this gentleman is,
that he is " learned in the law," and prseterea nihil. He is
neither a bigot nor a liberal, but in such a country as
Ireland occupies the insipid station of a neutral. — Morning
Chronicle.
Lord Goderich could not make up his mind, on the refusal of
Alexander, to whom the Irish Chancellorship should be given.
Late in October nothing had been settled. Feelers had been
thrown out in semi-official journals that Mr. Justice Burton
might be advanced to the Woolsack ; but Lamb, who was in
constant communication with Plunket, wrote saying that he
would take the promotion of any of his colleagues on the
common law bench as a great aggravation of his own
exclusion. In England his jealousy on this score does not
seem to have been appreciated. His objection was in fact
ascribed to a morbid desire that if he could not himself have
the chief prize in his profession it should be given to an
EngUshman, as it had generaUy been, in order that his
* Letter from Lord Lansdowne, October 16th, 1827.

270 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
exclusion might ostensibly rest on national, but not personal
grounds. The question was pointedly asked, " Why did
Plunket feel so utterly averse to an Irish appointment?
Does he ever regret his decision respecting the EoUs?
Could he be induced to reconsider it ? The bar here are
thoroughly ashamed of themselves. He would be hailed
with acclamation. He would be truly in his own country.
Being placed here he could most advance her interests, and
his summers might still be spent at Old Connaught as before.
Pray give me a line in secrecy on this subject, which is most
material." * By return of post he received a reply that
Plunket was by no means confiding or communicative re
garding his own affairs.
Though he always speaks very favourably of me, he always
appears to be peculiarly distant and reserved. This may
possibly be my own fault ; but however that may be, the
natural consequence is that I know very little of his
views, objects, and intentions, except from others, which
mode of information is always liable to error and mis
conception. I understand his present language to be that
he trusts that whosoever they appoint they will not
insult him by the appointment ; and that his explanation
of what he should consider as an insult is the appointment
either of an individual of the local bench or bar, or of an
individual of the same political opinions as his own ;
meaning, of course, by political opinions the Eoman
Catholic question. Now it seems to me the first pf these
objections is absurd ; and the second something worse.
In the first instance, it would be impossible to conclude
that any one who was placed in this situation was there
fore considered to be of inferior character and abiUty ;
and in the second, he prefers his own personal feelings to
the furtherance of that cause which is identified with his
best thoughts. However, it must be recollected that
I have not heard these sentiments from himself, and
* Letter from T. S. Rice, October 20th, 1827.

SIB ANTHONY HABT. 271
therefore I may be in error respecting them. About a
week or ten days ago the Lord Lieutenant, who, as I have
already apprised Lansdowne confidentially, is extremely
discontented and anxious for anything that would make a
general move in which he might possibly find a place,
wrote to me, certainly under the infiuence of one of
those sudden accesses of violent feeling to which he is
particularly liable, that he was in the highest degree
alarmed at the report of the Irish Seal being intended to
be bestowed upon Mr. Anthony Hart, that it was an
insult to the bar and the nation, &c. At the same time
he sent an express to Lord Plunket, who went down to
him immediately. After this interview he wrote to me, in
a comparatively calm tone, that Lord Plunket did not feel
himself peculiarly hurt by the appointment of Mr. Hart ;
and that though he himself thought it most objectionable,
and that it was miserable weakness in the ministry not
to insist upon the nomination of Plunket, still, under the
whole of the circumstances, he should not now feel himself
called upon to interfere, and there the matter ended. I
quite agree with you generally, that it would not be
justifiable to hazard the existence of the Government
upon the point; besides, it having been conceded by
Canning, it appears to be hardly fair now to press it, if
the objections continue. It is almost superfluous to say
that it is necessary to have a man of stabiUty and who
knows his business, and one of whom it is possible to say
something beforehand, and to feel secure how he will turn
out. Unfortunately, most persons are very sure at the
present moment that the claims of the individual in
question are in point of ability paramount, and form an ex
ception to general rules ; otherwise, I should say that the
reasons in favour of Hart preponderate very strongly ; and
this must, I beUeve, be the opinion and feeling of the most
able and best judging here. I am aware that that opinion
is very much encouraged by the state of parties here. One
party hates the other so cordiaUy that they had rather

272 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
see a negro promoted than one who is opposed to them
selves upon the politics of this country. I think, if you
consider, you will feel it to be almost impossible that
Plunket should ever alter his decision with respect to the
EoUs — to take it once, to give it up, and then to take it
again, would be such a series of vacillations, and would
expose him to such ridicule, that I think he could hardly
do it. I am going down to-day to the Lord Lieutenant's, to
stay with him at his country-house until Wednesday ; and
I shall probably hear from him all that passed at the inter
view which I have mentioned in the former part of this
letter. After all, if Burton is the individual the Govern
ment have in view, I do not think much objection would
be felt in any quarter ; but do you not think it would he
better if I were to communicate openly and distinctly
with Plunket upon the subject? To do that with any
effect I must of course be fully informed of the intentions of
Government, and the course which is intended to be taken.*
Sir Anthony Hart, who for some time had been Vice-
Chancellor, was actually appointed before this letter reached
London. He stipulated expressly " that he was to have no
politics, general, local, or religious ; and that of Papists or
Orangemen he was to know nothing." t The Under-Secretary
at Whitehall tells his colleague at the Castle that he got
Lord Dudley's signature to the letter of appointment to
save it a journey to Bowood ; and forthwith forwarded it to
Windsor, requesting Lord Conyngham to obtain the King's
signature without delay in order that it might be trans
mitted by the next post to Ireland. Thus at length he
writes : —
The dice *are uncovered, and I hope that the new Chancellor
may be met somewhat more cordiaUy than Alexander
would have been.f
* W. Lamb to T. S. Eice, October 22nd, 1827.
t Letter from T. S. Rice, October 23rd, 1827.
J Letter to T. S. Rice, October 26th, 1827.

CATHOLIC MAGISTBATES. 273

The royal apprehension of Plunket being over, Lord Manners
was aUowed to relinquish the Great Seal of Ireland and
Sir Anthony Hart was appointed to succeed him. When
George IV., some months later, asked Lamb why a person
had been chosen whose name was unknown in public life, he
replied, " Because he is a man without either religion or
politics, and therefore safe for Ireland." Without showy
talents or a spark of humour. Sir Anthony got on very well.
He was a sound lawyer, a painstaking judge, and utterly
unswayed by the fits of prejudice and passion to which all
concerned in Irish administration were liable.
Upon the whole Lamb received the intelligence of his
appointment with a feeling of relief from uncertainty which
had become painful : —
Undoubtedly it would have been more satisfactory to every
one connected with this Government to have had Plun
ket ; yet it is to a certain degree an advantage that it is
arranged without occasioning any move at this bar. At
present the Lord Lieutenant is so hampered by promises
made to Lefroy, when Torrens was promoted to the bench,
that there would have heen some difficulty in parrying
his appointment, which although the individual is, I
believe, a good man, would have been in point of political
impression one of the worst that could be made. Other
wise, if the appointment of a Solicitor of our own way
of thinking could .be secured, it would be undoubtedly
desirable to promote Joy, who is, as far as the politics of
this country are concerned, a most decided and inveterate
enemy. I presume you have written to Plunket. You
never informed me of the communication you had last
with the Master of the EoUs, nor of the manner in which
it had been disposed of*
Sir Edward Bellew, an old Catholic baronet of good estate
and estimable character, had applied for the commission of
the peace, and had been refused by Lord Manners. Like other
* From W. Lamb, October 26th, 1827.
VOL. I. T

274 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
men of his creed and station, he had taken comparatively
little part in politics, contenting himself with giving a
yearly subscription to the Catholic rent, allowing his name
to be enrolled as a member of the Association, and taking
the chair occasionally at an aggregate meeting. These dis
qualifications, as they had hitherto been considered, ought
not in the judgment of Lamb to have any weight with the
new Chancellor, and the Home Office left the question
absolutely to his discretion.*
I am not at all acquainted with Sir A. Hart, but from his age
and habits I should fear that he would hardly be equal
to the taking of a step that I should think most advis
able, but which would, it must be felt, be one not deficient
in boldness, and which would cast a strong reflection upon
the conduct of his predecessor. I will, however, converse
with him upon the subject, and see what can be done.
With respect to the plan proposed that a book should be
specially kept and accessible in which the names of all
magistrates and the persons recommending should be
entered, do you not think it objectionable in this point of
view, that it seems to imply a right in persons to recom
mend for the commission of the peace, and to have their
recommendation attended to, and also that it will afford an
opportunity to those whose recommendations are refused
of comparing their claims with those of the persons whose
recommendations will appear to have been complied with ?
This matter of the appointment of the magistrates I have
never thought satisfactorily managed in England. There
they are recommended by the Lord Lieutenant ; they are
selected according to the peculiar notions and circum
stances of each Lord Lieutenant. In some counties he
has election interests to serve, and nominates none but
persons in his own interest ; in others he is identified with
the representation either of the county or borough is
anxious after popularity, and nominates anybody who can
* From T. S. Rice, October 26th, 1827.

KEEPING A CHIEF IN EUMOUB, 275
be considered in the rank of a gentleman. In the first
case the magistracy is perfectly close ; in the latter it
is too much diffused and too indiscriminate ; both of which
are great evils.
In what I wrote of O'Connell I must again repeat, that I
spoke from what I had heard of his feelings from others,
and had had no opportunity of ascertaining this from
himself, so that it is very possible I may have been entirely
mistaken, but I rather suspect that my report tallied
pretty well with what he himself had expressed to
those with whom he communicates. As to the reception
of the new ChanceUor, depend upon it, it will be very
good, and so would that of Alexander have been. The
bar is so divided by the politics of the country that they
never can act with any concert, and each party is so
rejoiced with the disappointment of the other, that all will
accept with the greatest satisfaction a man in whose election
neither have any peculiar interest. As to the press, it ap
pears to me to be entirely insignificant and contemptible.
With respect to the other matter, the letter which has been
written has had the most astonishing effect. Pray keep
them up to it, and make them write again. I know it is
a great bore, but it is necessary. Attention will do much ;
I believe everything. There is essentially a perfect
agreement in views and principles, and a natural leaning
towards them. Attention only is wanting, and it is
worth while to bestow it.*
The Chancellor's frank and fearless impartiality, and his
unaffected zeal in the discharge of his duties, won for him
the good opinion of nearly all who came into personal
contact with him. Lamb " could not sufficiently express "
when writing to one of his coUeagues in England, "how
much he liked him, and what expectations he had that he
would do much good." f And yet the same letter contains
incidentalfy a curious cropping-up of the primary formation
* To T. S. Eice, October 28th, 1827.
t Private letter from W. Lamb, November 15th, 1827.
T 2

276 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
of the pettifogger dmid all the generous and genial super
incumbent strata. The ChanceUor represented to Lamb
that when Ponsonby was in his situation twenty years before
he received his letters from England free, and wished that
he should have a like privilege.
Sir A. Hart dealt from the outset with the question of
eligibility to hold the commission of the peace with a frank
ness and fearlessness with which his colleagues were equally
surprised and pleased. Lamb felt that it was necessary for
the new Chancellor to .do nothing, more especially at the
commencement, " which should appear like a reflection and
censure upon Lord Manners, who, though detested upon the
one side, had left a host of powerful and warmly attached
friends amongst those whose friendship, as you well know,
is worth having. He would not say this to Sir Anthony,
because he did not fear that he would be too dashing and
imprudent, and it would not be wise to utter any suggestion
that might add to the caution of an Equity lawyer." *
Even Saurin and Joy must see the advantage of having so
open-minded and plain-dealing a man, and one so thoroughly
master of his business. All the members of the Government
were more than satisfied with him, and Lamb's expectation
was that he would do much good.f
Hart personified, in point of fact, the principle of negation
on which the Cabinet was founded. Neither hot or cold,
aggressive or obstructive; progressive at the full pace of
public opinion, or subservient to the crapulous bidding
of a despotic Court, he tried honestly, but unavailingly, to
let wrong die out, without daring to call right into existence.
He hoped that by slow degrees the ways and habits of rule
might be so changed and the permanent official staff so re
organised as to render impossible a resumption of Sidmouth's
and Eldon's abortive system of repression. Every move in
the Goderich game of chess had to be played without ex
planation beforehand, even in whispers to the backers who
* Letter, November 3rd, 1827.
t Letter, November 10th, 1827.

A PODESTA. 277

stood nearest wistfully looking on ; and eventually with any
number of inconsistent explanations, to turn the edge of
conflicting criticisms. Chancellor Hart was sent to Ireland,
very much as a podesta in the Middle Ages used to be com
missioned to administer justice in an Italian State torn by
internecine feuds. He understood thoroughly why he had
been chosen, and he resolved to act the part without fear,
favour or affection. By all parties he was sure to be sus
pected at the outset ; for colourless impartiality was hitherto
unknown ; and its inscrutable features were regarded only
as a mask sooner or later to be dropped. Sir Anthony's
firmness, probity, and temper lived down these misgivings.
In court, diligent, patient, upright, learned, and clear, he
made an excellent judge ; in council, ignorant of men and
things, and unsympathetic with the views and aspirations of
his colleagues in administration, he was unimpressive, un
helpful, useless, and at length almost dumb. With all his
industry and integrity, his knowledge of Equity, and his
clean-handedness, his nomination was wholly indefensible. If
the bar of Ireland cannot furnish men fit to preside in courts
of supreme jurisdiction these tribunals ought .not to exist,
but should be made provincially subordinate to the Courts of
Westminster. If, on the other hand, men have never been
wanting in the ranks of the profession competent to fill
these exalted stations, the interests not only of the pro
fession, but of the community, demand that the highest
prizes should be given fairly amongst them. But the
Chancellorship is a political as well as a judicial office, and
his special functions can be adequately performed only by
one who, as each local question arises, does not need to be
crammed for the occasion with bits and scraps of personal or
party information. If the Viceroy or the Secretary be a
stranger, he ought to have a chancellor to consult confiden
tially at any and at every moment, who can tell him without
prompting who is who, and what is what. Lord Wellesley
needed no adviser of the sort, for he had known the country
from his birth, and knew all its byways like the walks in his

278 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
garden. But he was then about to give place to a suc
cessor utterly unacquainted with the idiosyncrasies of that
troubled land ; and as a political, ecclesiastical or social
privy councillor he might as well have consulted one of
his aides-de-camp, or his German private secretary, as Lord
Chancellor Hart.
Here is a specimen of the troubles of ecclesiastical
patronage : —
By-the-by, I do not know what can be done about Clare,
he has chosen to feel grievously ill-used, and both he and
Gort have written the most violent and offensive letters,
both to me and the Lord Lieutenant. I did not promise
him the. living, nor had I power to promise it; perhaps
I did use language which might be a little too much
calculated to encourage him in the expectation that he
would have it. But I found the Lord Lieutenant very
anxious to give it to Dr. Wallis. I also found Dr. W. al
ready in possession of a cure which is annexed to Kilmurry,
and which is in the gift of the. Bishop, and which it
appeared to me very inexpedient to separate from it. I
also found that in point of character there was every
reason to give it to Dr. W. ; that the father of the
gentleman for whom Clare applied was already in
possession of two large benefices within the diocese ; that
Lord Limerick and the Chief Baron had both applied as
well as Lord Clare ; and under the circunlstances I did not
feel justified in pressing upon the Lord Lieutenant the
application of Lord Clare, to whom, by-the-by, he was as
anxious to attend as I was.*
It must be owned that at this period he was incredulous
regarding the possibility of establishing a neutral system of
primary instruction in Ireland. He prognosticated accurately
many of the consequences which the attempt was certain to
entail ; and too truly foreshadowed the irreconcilability of
jealous churches on the subject. But he underrated the
* To T. S. Eice, October 28th, 1827.

PEIMABY EDUCATION. 279
desire of the people, of all grades and persuasions, for
elementary education ; and overlooked the glaring injustice of
leaving the impoverished majority to provide schools for their
children out of their own means and substance, while all the old
endowments remained in the hands of the wealthier sect : —
The more I think about education, the more difficult and
doubtful I consider the question. Are the Government
prepared for the expense of it ? Are they prepared to
establish a board to manage it according to the recommen
dation of the Commissioners, and do they consider what
infiuence such a board, with the management of such funds,
the nomination of so many masters, the building of so
many school -houses, will possess in the country? Is it
not certain that the moment the matter is undertaken by
the Government, all private education will at once cease,
and all the greater part of the schools which at present
exist will be put an end to ? The price of masters will be
raised, as also will the nature of the recommendation
necessary ; and, in short, the old role of educator will be
deserted. These are objections which strike me inde
pendent of the formidable obstacles which arise out of the
difference of the two forms of reUgion, and the Ninth
Eeport. The latter appears evidently intended for the
purpose of escaping from their former concession in the
recommendation of the First Eeport, and of laying the
ground of opposition to any general plan that may be
proposed. The Eoman Catholics also on their part
think to intimidate us by stating that if the Government
does not do something, they will themselves call upon
their flocks for contributions, and establish a fund by the
Association for their own people. I myself do not see the
danger of this, and should be disposed to desire them to
try the experiment. Everything of this sort is better
done by private exertion than by public institution.*
A report of the Education Commissioners, four years
* To T. S. Rice, October 28th, 1827.

280 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
previously consigned what were called the Charter Schools
to extinction. These institutions had been estabUshed in
several county towns, and elsewhere, for the avowed purpose
of proselytism to the ascendant creed. For purposes of
education they had proved lamentably deficient in most
instances; but the annual grant had been continued not
withstanding. The Chief Secretary wrote on this as on
most other topics, to his ever-ready correspondent at the
Home Office for information as to what had taken place in
the time of his predecessor : —
I see that the first report was ordered to be printed on the
3rd of June, 1825. Pray, was it almost immediately
declared in the House of Commons by Goulburn, that the
Charter Schools were to be given up ? You can probably
give me the history of this transaction, and point out the
details which took place upon it. I find myself much
puzzled, and a good deal of labour imposed upon me in
consequence of my never having paid the least attention
to any of the reports or debates upon Irish subjects. I
wrote to the Incorporated Society, informing them that
the first grant for 1828 could not exceed £12,000 ; for
1829, £6,000, and that after that year no further grant
would be made for that service. This I thought was
giving them time enough; but they remonstrated vehe
mently, and represented that the reduction ought to be
more gradual. They also claimed superannuation for
their officers.*
His correspondence on this subject continues : —
I have communicated confidentially with the managers of
the Belfast Institution, through their secretary, and I
now inclose to you a letter which I have received, and
which contains the whole of the views of the Board upon
the amount and distribution of the proposed Parliamentary
Grant. You will observe that the suggestion of the
¦* From W. Lamb, October 30th, 1827.

BELFAST INSTITUTION. 281
establishment of a professorship of theology for students
of the EstabUshed Church meets with their unequivocal
approbation. At the same time, it is impossible to say
how the Church may be inclined to view this proposition,
and it has been hinted to me that it may possibly excite
some jealousy in Trinity College, as being calculated to
diminish the number of their students. Under these
circumstances, I think the best course that I can pursue
is to converse confidentially with the Primate on the
subject, when he comes to Dublin — which of course he
will do, for the discharge of his duty as one of the
Lords Justices, upon Lord Wellesley's departure. You
will perceive that the Board of Management objects to
the manner of making and distributing the grant recom
mended by the Commissioners (Fourth Eeport, p. 25). As
far as I have considered the subject, I am induced to agree
with the Board of Management ; but it may be a material
consideration how far it may be prudent to omit any
check or control the adoption of which the Commissioners
have advised. I should be glad to hear your opinion
upon this point, as well as upon all the others, which are
touched upon in the inclosed letter, and upon the whole
subject generally.*
[ am very much afraid about the Divinity Professor at
Belfast. In the present temper of Church and State, and
religious feeling in this country, it is impossible to say
how a proposition of that sort may be viewed. Nobody
is acquainted with the intention of making any such pro
position at present, but as soon as it is made the Primate
will of course consult the other Bishops. The Archbishop
is too cool and wary a man to be preoccupied. At least,
I apprehend so. Somehow or other, I have no predi
lection for this Belfast business ; I never had. I think you
exaggerate its importance, and do not see that it does not
stand upon the same principle as other grants which you
condemn ; or, at least, how capable it is of being confounded
* From Phoenix Park, December 16th, 1827.

282 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
with them, and how difficult to be distinguished from
them. These people forget everything else in their own
particular object. The Kildare Place Society have sent
me in an estimate of £40,000.*
Popular objections had been raised for some time to the
increased grants annually voted by Parliament to the Kildare
Place Society, and the Society for Discountenancing Vice,
both of which consisted exclusively of members of the
Established Church, and had for their avowed object the
spread of Protestant education among the humbler classes.
Considering the then undiminished sources of the ecclesias
tical endowment, and the uninfringed monopoly of office
and employment enjoyed by members of the Anglican
communion. Lamb could not recommend the continuance
of such partial appropriations of the public revenue, and
strongly urged ministers to consider and decide the question
of their reduction or abolition during the meetings of the
Cabinet in November. The questions of policy involved
were too important, he thought, to be settled by those who
prepared the estimate of Irish Civil Contingencies ; and he
therefore hoped Lansdowne would not let ministers separate
without coming to some decision.f About the same time.
Sir John Byng was appointed Commander of the Forces in
Ireland, superseding Sir Colquhoun Grant, to whose judgment
and temper in managing the garrison of Dublin he bore
cordial testimony, and whose removal, therefore, he viewed
with regret. " This of course cannot be helped, but one is
sorry to stir anything that is quiet here." f
The law about foundUngs requires serious consideration.
Nothing can be done with the Foundling Hospital but by
Act of ParUament, for by the present Act they are bound
to receive every child sent according to the provisions of
the Act. I do not know what you mean by the " Local
* To T. S. Rice, December 25th and 28th, 1827.
t Marked " secret," from W. Lamb, November 18th, 1827.
t Idem.

SEEBIFFS. 288

FoundUng Establishments," but will inquire respecting
them. What do you think of considerably raising the
price to be paid upon the admission of a child into the
Foundling Hospital? A law doing away with admission
altogether would be too strong, would it not ? *
Great complaints had from time to time arisen in the
execution of the office of sheriff; the underlings of which
were not only partial, but corrupt. Lord Lansdowne desired
that steps should be taken to reform the whole system ; and
the Chief Secretary endeavoured to master the question with
a view to legislation : —
Upon the sheriff question, it will never do for us to attack
the Corporation of Dublin according to the recommendation
of the Committee, still less all the other corporations in
Ireland. We should have that whole interest in England
against us. Goulburn's bill carries into effect all the
recommendations of the Commissioners with respect to
the county sheriffs. I doubt if they are of any use. The
idea of changing the whole nature of the office and
assimilating the practice to that of Scotland may be good,
but it is difficult in execution, and will require very serious
consideration. It is a total change of the whole law. f
As an instance of the inveteracy which characterised the
spirit of administrative exclusion even in matters the most
* unpolitical, it may be mentioned that till this time Catholics
were silently treated as ineligible to act as governors of
county asylums. The members for the city of Limerick
addressed a formal application to the Government in favour
of the appointment of three respectable persons of that
persuasion to be commissioners of the lunatic asylum of
the place, no petition or remonstrance having hitherto
been of any avail on the subject, t The gentlemen recom
mended were forthwith appointed. §
* To T. S. Eice, December 25th and 28th, 1827. t Ibid.
t From T. S. Rice, November, 1827.
§ From W. Lamb, December 2nd, 1827.

284 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
O'Connell remained during the autumn at Derrynane, and
abstained from any public expression that could embarrass
the course of the new Government. In his private corre
spondence he did not conceal his just expectation that the
denial of his rank at the bar, which Lord Manners persisted
in to the last, would now be remedied, as had been done in
England in several instances, by a patent conferring on him
pre-audience after the law officers of the Crown. Without
any opportunity of ascertaining this from himself. Lamb
represented strongly to the Home Office what he had learned
of his feelings from others on this subject.* O'Connell
felt bitterly his continued exclusion from the place he had
fairly won above his fellow -practitioners of the law, and
wrote to Spring Eice remonstrating against its continuance
under a government professing principles of sectarian im
partiality. He had no objection, he said, to appeal directly to
the new Lord ChanceUor, and to refer him to the chief judges
of assize of the Munster Circuit, who must bear testimony to
the fact of his unequalled amount of business, both civil and
criminal ; while every half-employed competitor of the privi
leged creed took rank in court before him. The Under-Secre
tary inclosed his reply, which had been approved by Lord
Lansdowne, to Lamb, and suggested a conference with Sir
A. Hart, from whom he anticipated no objection. He wisely
recommended that if a patent of precedency were conceded it
had better come with the grace of a voluntary gift than as '
if yielded to complaint or negotiation ; and wishing that his
friend should have the credit of the concession, he begged that
no allusion should he made to his advice in conversation with
the Chancellor.t Lord Lansdowne authorized an intimation
to be conveyed to the Irish ChanceUor that " there would be
no indisposition, but the contrary, to make a communication
from the Home Office on the subject of O'Connell's claim to
precedency should he consider such a step expedient. But
it would be on every possible ground better that the matter
' W. Lamb to T. S. Eice, October 28th, 1827.
t T. S. Eice, December 1827.

PA'fENT OF PEEGEDENCY. 285
should be strictly considered as it affected the profession, the
business of the courts, and the interests of suitors and the
public." The Under-Secretary sent Sir A. Hart a private
letter from himself to O'Connell, endeavouring to dissuade
him from making the request, as likely to embarrass the
party ; but he admitted frankly that they had no claim upon
¦him to follow their advice, and that he wished the ChanceUor
to consider and decide the matter on strictly professional
grounds.* The Home Secretary approved of the dissuasive
letter, but would not sway the Chancellor's decision ;t and
Lamb was left free to form and give his own opinion on the
subject. O'Connell repUed with some bitterness; reproaching
the Whigs with their indifference to individual claims for
justice, all the harder to bear when, for the convenience of
Government, the general demands of their communion had
been put in partial abeyance—" The previous administration
had at least the virtue of sincerity ; the grace of hypocrisy
was now employed to mitigate the exclusive system." Spring
Eice rejoined that this was neither candid nor kind. When
O'ConneU had first proposed to apply for a patent of prece
dency with reference to the judges, regarding his forensic
position, he had been supposed to contemplate a puhUc and
official proceeding; and this had been deprecated in confi
dence as one in every way unwise. But when he explained
that he meant to follow only precedents at the English bar,
and to conduct the correspondence on a private footing, the
objection disappeared. In spite of what he had said to him
in private, he had really urged upon his colleagues the justice
of his professional remonstrance against denial of his rank
at the bar. .Not fifty such letters should "deter him from
labouring still to serve him, as an act of justice, and as a debt
due to his profession and his country. Whatever his cor
respondent's feeUngs might be, he would endeavour to do
what was right, to serve him in spite of himself "| O'Con-
* To Sir A. Hart, December 6th, 1827.
t To W. Lamb from T. S. Rice, December Sth, 1827.
t To O'Connell, December 14th-, 1827.

286 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
nell was touched and gratified by a circumstantial proof
placed before him at the same time of a sincere desire to
serve him in another matter. He acknowledged his mistake,
and the correspondence closed with mutual expressions of
good-will. But the opportunity was lost, and nothing was
done. The new Chancellor did not think much of Saurin : —
After hearing his first argument, he asked a friend to whom
he was accustomed to speak without reserve, "Is this
the gentleman who has made such a sensation in this
country ?" " Yes," was the reply; " I am rather surprisedat
it," the rejoinder. The great means by which the Orange
gentry have drawn over every one who has come here was
by assuming that their set were the only persons worth
associating with, quite the first company ; and you who
know Almack's, know that this is supposed to be one of the
strongest, if not the very strongest passion of the human
mind. Now to this Hart is completely inaccessible, he
does not care one damn for one society more than an
other ; on the contrary, he rather prefers the lower. I do
not believe Leach, with all the polish of London fashion
upon him, would have been above this feeling here, and
from what I hear of Alexander, I think he would have
been much more likely to have been overcome by it.
With respect to the Drogheda business, the very course
which you have recommended to A. Dawson, is that which
I had settled with Wallace should be pursued. The
Bishop of Limerick, and the persons whom you propose
for the Directors of the Limerick Lunatic Asylum, are
very proper, and I have ordered them to be appointed
forthwith ; but we have added that the Bishop of Killaloe
should also be appointed, and that he should be requested
to name such gentlemen as are fit for the office in the
county of Clare, which is a contributory county and does
not send any directors at present. I could not of course
refuse to make the offer to the Bishop, and also to mention

A KNIGET FOB A BISEOP. 287
to him the suggestion of the Bishop of Limerick, but I
shall wait a reply from you before I do anything further
in it.*
Of the difficulties of a position commanding official
patronage he was deeply sensible. He had never been in
office in England, and therefore did not know that it might
not be the same there. But in Ireland he could not give
away a place of fifty pounds a year without making fifty
enemies. t
Players at chess who carry on their game by correspon
dence are liable to make odd mistakes through inadvertence,
which could not otherwise occur. A comical blunder
appears in letters between the friends, who understood each
other in general so well. The Under-Secretary inclosed an
epistle addressed to him regarding the state of the country
hy a distinguished individual, whose initials he supposed the
Secretary for Ireland would recognise at a glance. Lamb
only made out that the surname was Doyle, and with a
judgmatical comment on the style, which he thought very
good, returned the letter of Sir Charles, J Great was his
amusement at discovering by return of post that he had
exchanged heedlessly a bishop for a knight.
I must say that you do not acquire experience rapidly : only
imagine your blunder ; you mistake Dromio of Syracuse
for Dromio of Ephesus, a general for a bishop ; the awful
I. K. L. for an innocent K.C.B. I sent you Bishop Doyle's
letter more as a curiosity than anything else ; for as to
his reasoning, I do not by any means admit its appli-
cabUity as a general expression for solving our Irish
problem. In Ireland we are all given to admit the mischief
but to shift the burthen of responsibUity, we fling ours
north to Greenland, Nova Zembla, or the Lord knows where.
. Thus the Protestant denounces the Papist, the Papist the
* Letter to T. S. Rice, December 11th, 1827.
t From W. Lamb, December 2nd, 1827.
t Private letter, December 6th, 1827.

288 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.

Proctor; the Proctor the PoUceman, the PoUceman the
Country Justice ; the resident the absentee, the latter the
Pope, the devil and I regret to add the Irish Secretary.
The latter takes his revenge on all classes in turn, and so
the vicious circle ends as it began. Whether Peachum
and Lockit " we are all in the wrong," or the old song,
" They were all of them rogues in their turn," describes
the case most accurately, I stop not to ask.*
agree, however, with much of Doyle's letter, and I do
believe the people are monstrously aggrieved by rent and
tithe. He mentions  . Now if one-half of what is told
me of him be true, and it -comes from many different
quarters, if he had had forty thousand lives, there could
have been no wonder if they had all been taken. I have
no doubt it is Lady Clare who has influenced Clare. No
man could be so wrong-headed ; at the same time, I
observe that those who have been in England, are more
craving and unreasonable than those who have lived here
all their lives, particularly those who have formed any
thing of an English connection. It exalts and influences
their ideas of their own consequence (always a feeble
point) to an astonishing degree. I wrote to Lansdowne
about the yeomanry here not long ago ; the sooner they
are all got rid of the better; at the same time, you are
aware that the measure is one of a too delicate nature, and
which will produce considerable sensation. I believe that
if the Militia staff were sent after the yeomanry, it would
be so much the better, not any country gentleman in
Ireland would be against this. To-morrow the Arch
bishop of Dublin takes the chair at the Eotunda for the
new reformation, and news is just brought that O'Connell
and Shiel have both taken tickets, so fun is expected.!
The most valuable piece of patronage in the staff of
* From T. S. Rice, December 10th, 1827.
t To T. S. Eice, December 13th, 1827.

A PBOTHONOTABY. 289
each of the Common Law Courts was the office of Protho-
notary, in which a vacancy occurring, Plunket asked the
appointment for his second son. A day or two after, tidings
were received that difficulties in the Cabinet were likely to
lead to its overthrow. Lamb wrote merely a few lines
saying he was unable to coUect distinctly what had happened.
To him it was entirely unintelligible; all he hoped was
that his correspondent would give all possible speed to the
appointment of David Plunket.
A fellow said to him the other day, speaking of the termina
tion of Lord Plunket's career, " For a failure, for a com
plete failure, it must be admitted that it was not so bad. '
There was justice in this observation.*
He learned that his advice was acted upon without hesita
tion or delay. "A pretty good hedge for a losing player.
£1500 salary, and patronage to a greater extent, is a
tolerable appanage for a younger son. You are strong,"
adds his correspondent, " to be able to part with so much."t
In the first place, Plunket begs that I will desire you to
express to Lord Lansdowne how very much he feels the
manner in which he has received the appointment of his
son. And secondly, I have sent you by to-night's post
some papers upon the subject of the Linen Board, which
I beg you will forward to Lord Lansdowne as soon as
you receive them, and request his attention to them. As
to iEneas M'Donnell it would be highly unadvisable to
interfere. The latter wants to get off his sentence, and
therefore represents to Blunt that great dangers are im
pending, &c. &c., all of which, I have no doubt, he would
represent as sure to be averted by his being pardoned.
The whole plan on the part of the Eoman Catholics is to
act by menace and intimidation. I quite agree with you
that what has taken place in politics is awkward and
* From W, Lamb, December 21st, 1827.
t To W. Lamb from T. S. Eice, December 24th, 1827.
VOL. I. t^

290 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
untoward, but it does not surprise me in the least. I
will write again to-morrow, but am tired now.*
As had frequently happened before, the discontinuance
of political agitation was foUowed by the revival of wild
schemes and plots among the peasantry in the more rest
less localities. Ministers grew uneasy at frequent reports
of agrarian disturbance, indicating the renewed activity of
secret societies banded together for local rather than general
objects. As early as the 20th of October a letter from
Lamb reached Bowood conveying information so "unsatis
factory that, although marked private and confidential, it
was by the Home Secretary's direction forwarded in circula
tion to the other members of the Cabinet. The Under-
Secretary was desired not to let the letter out of his own
hands." t j^s time went on, matters continued to grow
worse : —
As to the state of Tipperary, you see what it is. Donoughmore,
Llandaff, Glengall, Prittie, all agree that it is worse than
it ever was, and that the system of combination and terror
is more completely established and organised than ever
before. What this arises from you know better than I ;
at least, I hope you do. It has got to its present head
from the inactivity and relaxation of the police in that
province, which is mainly owing to the supineness, &c.,
arising in a great degree from ill-health, of the inspector.
General Wilcocks, whom we are going to change imme
diately. We are also about to get rid of Wilson, but the
roots of the evil of course lie far deeper, and if we could
ascertain them, there would still remain the task of eradi
cating them. With respect to D'Arcy's report, I am not
aware that you alluded to it in your official letter. I re
member it appeared to me upon the whole favourable, but
I will look over it again to-morrow. I will send an ex
perimental despatch to Lansdowne to-morrow. I knew it
* To T. S. Eice, December 24th, 1827.
+ From Lord Lansdowne, October 21st, 1827.

LOEDS JUSTICES. 291
was no use to write to him until he came to London. I
have now written some letters of considerable consequence
upon questions which must be decided upon by the ad
ministration. Lord WeUesley talks of leaving before
Christmas, about the 15th of next month. I have written
to Lord Anglesey to know when he means to arrive.*
Lansdowne thought it to be his duty, even at the risk of
disturbing the equanimity of the Viceroy, whose term of
office now drew near its close, to call serious attention to
the flagrancy of insubordination in parts of Munster, and
to inquire what measures, repressive or remedial, the Irish
executive were prepared to recommend. Lord WeUesley
waxed more and more impatient to be relieved of his
office. His successor had been some time announced, and
men's eyes were turning to the new Viceroy, whose influence
was already discernible in the horizon. The position of
superseded satrap did not suit the conqueror of Tippoo
Saib. Early in December, he wrote to the Home Office
naming for Lords Justices the Protestant and the Catholic
Archbishops of Dublin, and the Lord ChanceUor, and re
questing that the necessary documents should be forwarded
forthwith to enable him to quit the scene where he lagged
superfluous. Lord Lansdowne wrote him a soothing letter
of gratitude on behalf of the King, and of appreciation by
the Cabinet of his distinguished viceregal career. Spring
Eice asked Lamb why the two Chief Justices, Plunket and
Bushe, had been left out of the commission. No wonder he
repUed :
It is quite impossible that Plunket and Bushe could have
been in the commission as Lords Justices ; you must mean
the commisioners for holding the Great Seal. Three
Lords Justices are too many, five would be the DevU.t
From Huskisson's private communications, though neither
* Private letter from W. Lamb, December 11th, 1827.
t From W. Lamb, December 15, 1827.
' U 2

292 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.

numerous or unreserved, he had gathered truly how little
confidence was felt by his colleagues in the new Chancellor
of the Exchequer. Without his advice Tierney had 'been
authorized to ask Lord Spencer if the Chairmanship of the
promised Finance Committee would be accepted by his son.
Althorp was disposed to comply, but told his father he did
not believe the King would consent to his nomination ;* and
so it proved. Herries declared that in a matter affecting his
department he ought to have been consulted, and that if the
arrangement were insisted on he would resign. Huskisson,
on the other hand, refused to yield upon a point which
touched so nearly his authority as leader in the Commons ;
and the Premier and Home Secretary supported him.
Before Christmas private letters gave mysterious hints
that a break-up in the Government was at hand. Para
graphs appeared more or less obscurely indicating that
the First Lord of the Treasury was about to retire. On
the 16th, the bow-window at White's already declared the
resignation of the Premier to be accepted, and named
Lord Harrowby as his successor.! This was premature,
but not wholly unfounded. A king's messenger had been,
in fact, sent to the ex-Lord President, but had brought
back no answer of which the public were destined to be
informed. Lord Goderich had begun to realise thoroughly the
perplexities and pains of a situation for which, better than
any one else, he knew himself to be unfit. By an unaccount
able caprice of fortune he had been aUowed to sit undis
turbed in the dressing-gown and slippers of power during
the recess ; and if the wherewithal to fabricate a policy of
any distinctive kind had been in him, there was time and
opportunity enough for the purpose. But as another session
drew nigh he was constrained to own that except secondary
measures of administrative reform he had none to present to
Parliament. In foreign affairs, Lord Dudley, with all his
* Lord Althorp to his father, November 24th, 1827.
t From T. S. Eice, December 16th, 1827.

WEAKNESS OF TEE. CABINET. 293

naivete and talent, was unable to get beyond the point of
saying clever things about events that had happened ; but
he was wholly incapable of pre-determining what ought to
happen,- or how that which ought not, might be averted.
The Premier felt more and more his inabUity to lead the
Cabinet, to satisfy the King, or to face Parliament. He
would be examined and cross-examined about Navarino
and Catholic Emancipation ; and he was utterly unable to
make up his mind as to what was to be said or what was to
be done. The Duke of Clarence was becoming hourly more
unmanageable by his bearers at the Admiralty ; and after the
fate of the Turkish fleet, nobody could feel sure what ally's
squadron we might not next send to the bottom. Canning
had risked the consequences of his Eoyal Highness's ap
pointment as Lord High Admiral, relying on his own
personal ascendency to prevent mischief, or to supersede the
impulsive Duke, should necessity arise. But his timid
successor would have died of palpitation of the heart before
he accomplished such a feat ; and when, in addition to all
other perplexities, he learned that many leading Tories, in
cluding Lords Eldon and Bathurst, had offered to concert
plans of opposition with Earl Grey sooner than allow him
to enjoy his position of chief minister in peace, he began to
persuade himself that his health was giving way, and to pre
pare his Majesty for the contingency of a possible change.*
George IV. readily divined the truth, and carefuUy dis
sembled his satisfaction. Lord Goderich returned from
Windsor on the 18th, delighted with the more than cor
dial assurances of unabated confidence on the part of
royalty, and for a few days more, emphatic contradictions
were given personally and in the press to the rumours of his
resignation. Even Spring Eice seems to have been lulled
into security. He told Lamb there was little doubt of their
going on as before. There was no denying that the report
and the cause which produced it increased the difficulties
very considerably. But those difficulties must be met and
* Confidential letter from T, S. Eice, December 19th, 18:^7.

294 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
overcome. To succeed there must indeed be spirit and manli
ness equal to integrity and good intention. " The knights
must come into the lists with a flourish of trumpets and
kettle-drums, and not with lutes and harps. Lord Goderich
would continue in for the present. All this it must be ad
mitted was devilish unlucky, as it would give the notion of
timidity and irresolution ; and the world, which is always
cowardly and easily bullied, pardons a crime more easily than
a weakness. The mass of mankind hate the feeble. The
King has expressed himself with the utmost determination,
and there does not seem to have been one thought of the
Tories."* Lamb, however, knew better than his corre
spondent with whom they had to deal ; and from this time
he ceased to feel any reliance on the stability of the
Government. * A confidential letter from T. S. Rice, December 19th, 1827.

( 295 )

CHAPTEE XV.
THE WELLINGTON ADMINISTEATION.
Illness and death of Lady Caroline — Besignation of Goderich 
Commander-in-Chief sent for — Eldon left out — Euskisson and his
friends remain — Eastern Question.
The Lords Justices took little part in the business of
Government, and its responsibilities for the time being
devolved chiefly upon Lamb. His correspondence with
Whitehall continued daily to embrace exceptional topics
of local or individual interest and the large questions
awaiting legislative attention : —
You have never returned me Baron Pennefather's report
upon the case of Mary Doran. The circumstances are
most distressing; but what can be done in the case of
a barbarous murder ? It appeared to me that the case of
the Chelsea Pensioners, though not within the letter, was
within the spirit and principle of the order respecting the
payment of the troops, and that it was safer to have the
payments made in notes of the Bank of Ireland. You
will perceive that the Eoman Catholics have fixed on the
15th instant for their simultaneous meetings after Mass.
Nothing can be more unfair or ungenerous than that they
should assume a sterner tone towards us than they did
towards the former Government. However, I am clearly
of opinion that they should not be interfered with in any
way. If any breach of the public peace takes place it is
upon their own heads. Considering the various causes of
disturbances which are abroad, I am only surprised that

296 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
the tranquillity of the country is maintained, and of course
I should not be the least so at its being disturbed at any
moment. Pray return me Baron Pennefather's report. I
am harassed to death with domestic calamity, but I feel
that it would be awkward that I should leave this place
at this moment.*
The later period of Lamb's sojourn in Ireland was over
cast by the gloom of family affliction; from which he
sought relief in the varied details of official work. In the
beginning of November the health of Lady Caroline in
visibly declined. Lady Morgan notes in her diary, 27th
November, that though the Chief Secretary came to
dine with her to meet Lord Cloncurry, William Curran,
Evans of Portran, and A. E. Blake, he was in the lowest
spirits from the bad accounts of poor Lady Caroline ; her life ^
they feared was fast ebbing but she had tried friends around
her. A fortnight later he inclosed a note from Dr. Goddard,
the physician in attendance, saying that medicine knew no
effectual cure ; and that the expedients resorted to for
temporary relief were necessarily trying in their painful
nature even to temperaments more happily constituted. She
showed, however, little of impatience in her suffering, and
there was hardly a word of petulance or complaint. From
the first she evidently felt the seriousness of her condition,
and gradually accustomed herself to contemplate the event
which at no distant time she knew to be approaching. Her
letters to her husband might have been written by one who
had never known a troubled hour. They were full of
affection, fortitude, and tenderness ; not a word of recur
rence to sad memories, or of repining at her actual lot. It
seemed as if the unquiet spirit which so long had lamentably
possessed her was at length cast out ; and that she
reverted calmly to the days of early love and admiration for
the man to whom in girlhood she had given her heart and
hand. They were frequently inclosed by him to Lady
"^ To T. S. Bice, January 4th, 1828.

ILLNESS OF LADY CAEOLINE. 297
Morgan, towards whom to the end she evinced strong feel
ings of attachment ; and there are many brief but touching
proofs of the solicitude he felt on her account as time wore
on and no indication of amendment appeared : —
Phoenix Park, December 3rd, 1827.
Dear Lady Morgan,
I send you the letters which I received by yesterday's mail.
They are very melancholy. The firmness and distinctness
with which her letter is written shows how strong she is
both in mind and body. Send these to the Castle when
you have done with them. I have got a bad cold and sore
throat, which prevents my going into town to day.
Yours faithfully,
Wm. Lamb.
The following is the letter inclosed : —
Dearest William,
This is the first time I can write. I have suffered much, and
I hope patiently, since I wrote last. Tapping is by no
means an agreeable sensation. It does not give pain like
a tooth drawn, but it turns you deadly cold and sick. The
operation was more troublesome than usual ; this is the
first day I feel easy. AU the county have been to see me.
My dear brother has read to me and soothed me, and
is coming back. I never met with such affection and kind
ness as from all persons of both our families, and dear
Emily and Caroline ; but what pleased me most was your
dear letter saying you loved and forgave me. God bless
you, dearest. My love to Augustus. AU here doing well.
Ever yours, Caroline.
Dublin Castle, January 11th, 1828.
Dear Lady Morgan,
I inclose you the letter which I have received this morning.
The natural strength of her constitution shows itself, but

298 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
I am afraid fruitlessly. I am sorry that I cannot accept
your invitation for the 14th inst. Yours faithfully,
Wm. Lamb.
After the departure of Lord Wellesley and before the
arrival of his suciiessor, a new movement in the strategy of
agitation, originating with iVEr. Shiel, had marked the open
ing of the new year. Simultaneous meetings throughout
the whole country were summoned for the second week in
January. Two thousand assemblages around the altars of
a people. More than six millions in number uttered as if
with one voice the passionate prayer for equal justice ; and
the response which loudly came from every organ of liberal
opinion in Great Britain was followed by tokens of sympathy
not to be mistaken, from France and other continental states.
The lull in threatening excitement caused by Canning's ac
cession to power, and prolonged till the close of the year,
ended with the Goderich administration. The meetings of
the Central Association in Dublin were resumed, and larger
contributions than ever from the United States aug
mented its revenues. Whatever ministerial changes might
take place, it became more and more plainly inevitable that
the removal of religious disabilities must at least be re
cognised as an open question among the advisers of the
Crown. Until a settlement could be come to, and while the
irritation and mischief caused by its postponement were pro
longed, it seemed to the Chief Secretary peculiarly necessary
to show diligence in preparing and carrying remedial measures
of subordinate but substantial importance : —
Only let not too many be attempted at the same time. Let
me implore you not to attempt too many things at once.
There is the Jury BiU, an alteratioh of considerable im
portance, and which deserves to be well weighed. Let
one measure be adopted and settle down a little before
you bring oh another. If you dash at the whole at once,
you run the risk of producing confusion and discrediting
your own reformations. Pray let me know what is going

LOBD GODEEICE EESIONS. 299

on. I have written fully to the Lord Lieutenant upon
the simultaneous meetings of the Eoman Catholics, and
have desired him to communicate with the ministers
upon them.*
Some of his despatches refer to personal jealousies about
the shrievalty in. coun ties, and to general recommendations
for reforming the manner of filling the office in corporate
towns. Others are occupied with discussions relative to
plans of primary education, for the consideration of which
the Home Secretary proposed that he should move for a
select committee. But what, he asked, were they to do when
they got into the committee ? Were they prepared for the
plan of the Commissioners, to establish non-sectarian schools
in which lessons in the Bible should be taught without
exposition or comment ?
There appear to me to be innumerable difficulties in the
way of carrying it into effect, in constituting the Board,
in the question of the Scriptures, &c. But if it is
thought wise to have a committee upon it, I have no
objection, but it must be done upon mature consultation,
and with some determinate object.
Lord Goderich, in the audience on the 18th of December,
had recommended the addition of Lords Wellesley and HoUand
to the Cabinet. This would not have changed the proportion
of parties as originally settled, while it would have given
great additional strength to the Government in debating
power, and political weight in the eyes of the country. The
King gave no reply. A few days later the same proposal
was submitted by the Premier in a letter which was seen by
Mr. Huskisson and Lord Lansdowne, but to which a post
script, which they did not see, was added to the effect that
domestic circumstances affecting the health of one most dear
to the writer rendered him sometimes incapable of continuing
* To T. S. Rice, January 7th, 1828.

300 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
to perform the duties of his station. Lyndhurst, who had
adroitly offered to be the bearer of the letter, was asked by
his Majesty who should be sent for ; and, as had doubtless
been pre-arranged, he named the Duke of Wellington. He
shared the dislike of Peel which he knew was felt by the
King, and he could not be unconscious of the distrust and re
serve with which he himself was regarded in return. Under
the great soldier, his position would be very different from
that which he could hope to occupy under the strait-laced
and exacting formalist, whose value as Home Secretary and
leader of the Commons was indisputable, but whose " fitness
to be at the top" he never would admit. " Eemember," he
said to a colleague long afterwards, when Peel had gained
and lost that high position, " I never thought him a great
man." Differ as they might, they had one thing in common,
weariness of the obstinacy and imbecility of Lord Eldon.
George IV. liked what he had seen of the new ChanceUor,
and he was accordingly retained. It was perhaps the only in
stance in which within twelve months the Great Seal had
been confided to the same hands by three different Premiers.
Huskisson consented to remain Secretary for the Colonies
and leader of the House of Commons ; Palmerston, Dudley,
and Grant retained their respective positions, while the
places vacated were filled by Bathurst, Peel, Goulburn, Aber
deen, Ellenborough and Melville ; Herries being transferred
to the Duchy of Lancaster. It is said that Lord WeUesley
had reason to beUeve that he would be named as the most
fitting Premier by his brother, and that the Duke's accept
ance of the post himself caused an estrangement that was
never subsequently healed.*
Lord Eldon, though seventy-seven, felt aggrieved at being
passed over. The Duke paid him the compliment of a
friendly visit, to talk over matters, the day after his own ap
pointment, but the ex-ChanceUor saw no more of him untU
the administration was complete ; he then paid a second
visit— one, it would seem, of explanation. He had found it
* H. Bulwer, 'Life of Palmerston,' 213.

COMMAND-IN-CEIEF. 301

impracticable to put together such a cabinet as Lord Eldon
would like to join. The component elements were freely
discussed— the firmness of some, the flexibiUty of others,
and the infirmity of the whole. The field-marshal was too
proud to ask the ancient judge in so many words whether it
would do, but he evidently had a curiosity to know what his
old friend thought of it ; and he told him : " I said I thought
it a damned bad one." Before they parted the confidence of
the soldier seemed shaken, and the grief of the lawyer for his
own fate and that of the British constitution broke forth in
tears. For a period of six months the Duke had been Commander-
in-Chief, a proud and independent position which by uni
versal assent he might have continued to hold for life, but
which the ambition of being a political leader induced him
to exchange for the uncertainty, anxiety, and, as it proved,
unpopularity of the Premiership. That he lived to look back
upon this part of his life without pride or satisfaction, is
indicated in a memorandum which he wrote ten years later,
on military administration : —
In the winter of 1827-8, Lord Goderich having reported to
George IV. that the Government was defunct, I being at
that time Commander-in-Chief of the army, the King sent
for me ; and, I conclude for my sins, I was told I was to
form a Government for his Majesty. I acceded, and very
shortly after the Government was formed, it was intimated
to me by my colleagues that I ought to resign my office
as Commander-in-Chief of the army. I resigned accord
ingly, and Lord Hill was recommended to the King to be
my successor. I, at the same time, declared my determina
tion never to interfere from that time in any military
affair or arrangement, and particularly not in one of a
personal nature, such as the promotion, rewards, appoint
ment to offices, grant of commissions to officers or recom
mendations to the sovereign of gentlemen for commissions,
unless I should be called upon for my advice or assistance

302 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
by the general commanding the army in chief, by the
sovereign, or his ministers.*
The most singular feature in the statement perhaps is the
incidental admission that, when sent for by the King, it did
not at first occur to the great soldier that if he assumed the
powers and functions of chief minister he must renounce
those of Commander-in-Chief. Their union in the same
person probably never occurred as a possibility to the mind
of George IV., who was especially jealous of the extent and
degree of authority conceded to any one. But it would be
incredible, if we had it not thus frankly confessed under the
Duke's own hand, that he waited to be told by his colleagues
(probably by Lyndhurst and Huskisson) that the functions
of the two great offices of state could not be concentrated in
the same individual ; whereupon, as he declares with charac-
teristeric simplicity he not only laid down his military
power, but thenceforth scrupulously abstained, whether in
or out of office, from attempting to exercise any personal
influence with his successor.
The Duke wrote to Ireland without delay, expressing his
hope that Lamb would retain the situation he had hitherto
filled with so much credit to himself and satisfaction to the
King. Consistently with the course he had formerly pur
sued, he resolved to act in concert with others whom he
politically trusted, regarding the reacceptance of office, and
until he knew their determination he would give no definite
reply. His answer to the new Premier's letter courteously
intimated this resolve: —
I have just received your letter of the 12th inst., and feel
sensibly the friendly terms in which it is expressed. Both
on account of your public character and the uniform kind
ness which I have ever experienced at your hands, there
is no man either with whom or under whom personally I
should be more happy to serve than yourself ; but the
* MS. memorandum on Military Patronage, in the collection of
origmal papers at Apsley House, dated March 13th, 1839.

DEATE OF LADY CAEOLINE. 303

reply to your proposal depends upon so many considera
tions, that I trust you will think it prudent that I should
delay 'making it until I have the opportunity of conversing
with you upon the whole of the intended arrangements and
upon the proposed course of measures. For this purpose
I shall leave this country as early as I possibly can, and
hope to arrive in London by the end of the week at latest.
His departure was unavoidably delayed for some days, and
at length, on the 23rd of January, he left Ireland after six
months' residence, to return no more.
On reaching Melbourne House, he was shocked at the
change which had taken place in Lady CaroUne during his
absence. She had been removed to town for the beneflt of
medical advice soon after Christmas ; and whatever skill and
care could do was done to soothe her sufferings and preserve
the attenuated thread of life. Conscious of her approaching
end, her chief anxiety seemed to be that her husband should
be with her at the last. Long used to her exaggerated tone
of despondency, he had not fully realised the imminence of
her danger until within a few days of quitting Dublin ; but
no syllable of reproach for his seeming delay in coming
escaped the dying lips. The fever of that troubled soul had
ceased, her warfare with the world was over, and her feeble
accents were of the old love only, the flrst great triumph of
her life, and her last. She lingered only a few days longer,
for the most part in a state bordering on unconsciousness.
Her brother William, who throughout her iUness had been
unremitting in his care, warmly expressed his sense of the
solace which her husband's frequent letters had afforded
her, and the tenderness of his demeanour when he came.
" WiUiam Lamb behaved throughout as I always knew he
would." In the still fresh grave, all conjugal fret and feud was
buried ; and memories of the earlier days of mutual attach
ment and admiration seemed to fill his mind. He did not
care to look back into the long account between them of

804 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
faults and shortcomings. It was closed for ever in this world ;
and even among his adversaries none was found ruthless
enough to endeavour to reopen it.
A bequest to her old friend Lady Morgan was the
miniature of Byron painted in 1813 by Saunders. It was
accompanied by a letter from Lamb, February 1828, ex
pressive only of generous and manly sorrow. The portrait
was kept by Lady Morgan in a small ebony cabinet until her
death. It was finished with exquisite care, and considered
by many of the poet's contemporaries a more faithful like
ness than those with which the world is generaUy familiar.
Less masculine and more refined, it resembles rather in
expression the statue by Thorwaldsen in the Library at
Cambridge. With other pictures it was sold at Christie's,
and is now in the possession of a gentleman residing near
Carshalton. In spite of all her waywardness and folly. Lamb was
beyond all doubt passionately fond of his wife. She retained
to the last a strong influence over him, and years after her
death he used to speak of her with tears, and ask moodily,
" ShaU we meet in another world ? "
On communicating with his late colleagues, he found
that Lansdowne, CarUsle, Spring Eice, and Mackintosh had
not been invited to remain ; but that Dudley, Palmerston,
Grant and Tierney had been asked to do so; Huskisson
continuing to be leader of the Commons. Should he stay
or go ? Intimacies and friendships pleaded opposite ways ;
for a day or two he hesitated ; but finaUy -determined to
hold on. Was he wrong ? Judging by the event, it may be
said, as it was said at the time, " Undoubtedly." But it is
worthy of observation that by none of those who for the next
three months sat on the opposite benches was his course re
garded otherwise than as a venturous attempt on his part to
reinfuse the tolerant and modifying element of Canningism
into Government. It was an unsuccessful coaUtion ; and if
any one could have foreshown Huskisson and his friends
where and why it would fail, none of them would have joined

LAMB BETAINS HIS OFFICE. 305
the Duke. But such wisdom aforethought was not possessed
by any one concerned at the time. George IV. expressed
personally his satisfaction that Lamb retained his office ; but
he had given, and was soon to give again, proof that his mind
was not to be swayed in such matters by the personal liking
or flattery of the King. He liked his office, irksome and
onerous though he often felt its cares to be. But it gave
him for the first time fit occupation. After waiting during
half a lifetime for the opportunity to prove his capability of
usefulness as an administrator, he might well be pardoned
a feeling of reluctance to cast the opportunity away. He
was conscious that in opposition he could never hope to
assert his place among statesmen. Enthusiasm for abstract
principles was not in his heart, or the demagogue's greed of
applause in his head. His capacity was that of a minister,
not of a rhetorician ; and when he was told that as Secre
tary for Ireland he could still speak and vote for Catholic
Emancipation, and a lessening of prohibitory duties on
foreign corn, he resolved to remain with Huskisson, Dudley,
Palmerston, and Grant in the new administration. How
long he would have been able with satisfaction to himself
to have retained his post without a seat in the Cabinet, and
subject to the control of a Home Secretary like Peel, conjec
ture must be vain. He was not called upon by Lord Anglesey
to alter or forego in any respect the administrative policy
pursued under Lord Wellesley; the popularity he had acquired
did not seem to abate ; and when Mr. Hyde Villiers visited
Ireland somewhat later he learned that as Chief Secretary
he was generally liked beyond all precedent. But he soon
found the difference in his position caused by the retirement
of Lord Lansdowne and Spring' Eice, with whom he had
hitherto worked in uninterrupted confidence and cordiality.
Lord WiUiam Bentinck in terms sufficiently flattering
asked the late Under-Secretary to accompany him in a
confidential capacity to India : and the prospect of office at
home having come to an end, Eice felt disposed for some days
to entertain the proposal as one which opened fairly to him
VOL. I. ^

306 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
a new career of usefulness and ambition. The term of the
East Indies Charter was approaching its end; a growing
disposition already manifested itself in the public mind to
impose new conditions, on its renewal, favourable to free
principles of trade, of discussion and of local rule ; the new
Viceroy was a man with whom, personally and politically,
it would have been agreeable to act; and the pecuniary
inducements were not inconsiderable. But subsequently to
his first expression of conditional acceptance " a bar had been
put to the project by the feeling of one whom it was his
primary duty to consult."*
Great irritation was expressed by Canning's immediate
friends at Huskisson's retaining office under the Duke. A few
days after his return to England he assured Mrs. Canning that
" no power on earth should ever induce him to unite in office
with those whom he considered as the destroyers ofhis friend."
When assailed in Parliament his explanation was received
coldly. His vindication of himself and his friends rested on
their number and the importance of the offices they retained,
six of the Cabinet out of thirteen having been appointed by
Mr. Canning. He was thus entitled to say that they had
obtained guarantees that the principles would be respected
which they had always upheld. The Duke, when taunted
with having made terms of compromise, repudiated as de
rogatory to himself and Huskisson the idea of any compact
or bargain; but frankly recognised the confidence which
might be reasonably felt in the policy of a Government that
comprised so many friends of the deceased Premier, f Lamb,
though not in the Cabinet, was especially concerned on
account of the situation that he fiUed. To suppose that he
entertained no doubts or misgivings when severing himself
for the time from the Whig friends with whom tiU yesterday
he had been confidentially acting, and who thenceforth
resumed their old attitude in opposition, would be to misread
•,Lady Theodosia, daughter of Lord Limerick, whom be had married.
Letter to Lord William Bentinck, January 3rd 1828.
^ t Debate in the Lords, February 1828.

NEUTEALITY IN IBISH AFFAIES. 307

the whole character of the man. He had never expected to
find himself so placed ; and not all his liking for Huskisson,
Dudley, and Palmerston could reconcile him to antagonism
in public with Lansdowne, Holland, and Spring Eice. In
private their friendship was never marred, and if he lived
less with them during the few months that followed, it was
in some measure owing to the bereavement which neces
sarily withdrew him from general society. But as they had
not quarrelled with Lord Grey in the previous year, though
vexed by his pitiless attack on Canning, so there was not a
trace of ungenerous comment on the course now taken by
Lamb. He was able to point with satisfaction to the omis
sion in the King's speech of any threatening aUusion to
the CathoUc Association. The knowledge he had recently
acquired of the actual condition of things in Ireland taught
him to regard that body, not indeed as innocuous, but rather
as constituting a specific danger so formidable that no
sacrifice could be too great to effect the removal of the
intolerable grievance that was its cause. He had not been
many days at the Irish Office when the question was raised
in Parliament by one of his late colleagues regarding the
policy to be pursued towards Ireland ; — was it to be one of
repression or reconciliation ? On the 13th of February he
wrote a confidential note to the new Premier : —
Spring Eice gave notice yesterday in the House that he
would on Friday next ask whether it was the intention of
ministers to continue the 6th of George IV. c. 4, being
the act against the Eoman Catholic Association. It would
of course be better to be able to give him a decisive
answer, as the matter being kept in suspense occasions
agitation.*
The Cabinet on being consulted agreed that no new measure
of coercion should be brought forward, and he was directed
to reply to the question accordingly.
On the expiration of Lord Wellesley's term of office, the
* MS. correspondence at Apsley House.
X 2

808 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
Goderich Cabinet had agreed to recommend the Marquis of
Anglesey to be his successor. Personally a favourite with
the King, an idol with the army, and known to be far-going
in liberality on sectarian questions,* his appointment was
deemed a politic stroke, which the Duke of Wellington saw
no reason to disapprove. On the 27th of February he was
gazetted Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and his public entry into
Dublin was marked with demonstrations of popular goodwill.
The most notable paragraph in the speech on the opening
of the session of 1828 " lamented that the conflict at
Navarino should have occurred with the naval force of an
ancient ally ; and hoped that this untoward event would
not be followed by further hostilities, and would not impede
the amicable adjustment of existing differences between
the Porte and the Greeks." Angry criticism was directed
against the language thus applied to a transaction which,
though certainly not contemplated beforehand by the
Goderich Cabinet, had never been censured by them, and
which it was strenuously contended was the legitimate
consequence of the tripartite treaty of July acknowledging
Hellenic independence. Lamb, though he had nothing
departmentally to do with the matter, never shrank from
defending the foreign policy of his coUeagues as substan
tially just and wise. Huskisson and Dudley could not be
mistaken as to the real views entertained by Canning of
Eussian designs south of the Danube. And from these they
knew that there was no substantial difference in the senti
ments of the Duke. The Porte was, if possible, to be withheld
from attempting the reconquest of the Morea, whose aUegiance
she had forfeited, and whose possession she had lost; but
because her councils were obstinate and rash it was not our
interest that her territory should be appropriated by a
neighbour already too powerful and aggressive. To the
French Ambassador the language of the new Premier was
clear and emphatic.
¦* Sir W. Freemantle to the Duke of Buckingham, Pebruarv 25th
1828.

THE EASTEBN QUESTION. 309

We are aU interested in the continued existence in a state
of independence of the power of the Porte in Europe. We
are not prepared for its destruction. We ought to direct
our efforts steadily to attain our original object, the pacifi
cation of Greece without injury, or at least as little injury
,as possible, to the power of the Porte, according to the
plan upon which the allies have acted.*
At the same time Dudley, with whom Lamb was more
intimate than ever, reminded Prince Lieven that in the
judgment of the British Cabinet the Ottoman Empire was
not like some of those whose example we might cite within
our own times, which, after having been invaded, resumed
their domestic tranquillity and their political existence
upon the retreat of the invaders ; once broken up, its capital
taken, and its provinces in rebellion, the recomposition of it
as an independent state would be a work scarcely within the
reach of human capacity or human skill. A new order of
things must arise in those countries of which it now consists.
What that order might be it was vain to conjecture ; but we
might venture to foretell that a final adjustment would not
take place till after a series of troubles and disasters, for which
the greatest benefits that could be supposed to arise from
it could not for many years afford a sufficient compensation.!
If the loss of her fleet enabled a Muscovite army to overrun
Bulgaria and to threaten Constantinople, that was a danger
to the peace of Europe, and to the freedom of our trade in
the East, to which no administration could be blind ; and
Lamb contended always that Canning's policy which led to
the Treaty of London was inflexibly to control the separate
and selfish aims of the Muscovite without encouraging the
Porte in its vain dream of reconquering a people whom its
misrule had driven into successful revolt. Had he been living
he would not have hesitated to place in the lips of royalty a
plain intimation that England would continue to stand fair
* To Count La Ferronays, February 26th, 1828.
t To the Russian Ambassador, March 7th, 1828.

310 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
between the rival empires, offering aid to neither, but letting
the world know that she could not behold with indifference
any approach to the subjugation of the weaker by the
stronger state.
It was not long, however, before a question arose which
revealed the incongruity of the elements whereof the Cabinet
was made up, and which, though summarily settled by the
Premier's good sense, presaged disruption at no distant day.
Lord John Eussell moved for a committee of the whole
House to take into consideration the propriety of repealing
the Test Act, by which dissenters would have been excluded
from municipal and other offices were it not for a bill
annually passed suspending the penalties for its infraction.
The retention on the statute-book of a penal law affecting
conscience, long after its purpose and its provisions had
become obsolete, admitted of no constitutional defence. But
the newly formed administration were afraid to begin to
give way; and Huskisson had no better plea to offer for
resisting the change than the invidious one that the removal
of statutable disabilities from the dissenters would make the
sense of grievance on the part of the Catholics all the more
intolerable. The conclusive answer, if any were needed, to
this half-hearted excuse lay in the fact that the Catholic
Association had warmly recommended petitions for the
repeal of the Test Act. But the case was too clear for
argument. Palmerston, Grant, and Lamb, felt bound by
the obligation of official loyalty to divide with their leader ;
but most of the Canningites out of office left the House
without voting, and the motion was carried by a majority of
fourty-four, in which were included Duncannon and George
Lamb. It being clear, from the numerous defections in the
ministerial ranks, that the old spirit of exclusion was gone,
the minority in the Cabinet urged that the opportunity
should be taken of yielding gracefully and betimes to public
opinion. The Duke wisely and promptly agreed to a change
of front, difficult and awkward as the proceeding might be ;
and Huskisson was authorized to state, on behalf of the

AMENDMENT OF SUB-LETTING ACT. 311
Government, that, bowing to the decision of the House of
Commons, they would cordially support the bill. It passed
through all its stages with little controversy, and was
supported in the Upper House, to the horror of Lord Eldon,
by his versatile successor on the woolsack.
One of the last measures of importance carried by the
Liverpool administration was the Sub-letting Act, applicable
only to Ireland. For many years a constant theme of
censure by economic writers and reports of select com
mittees had been the excessive partition of the soil for the
purpose of creating forty-shilling freeholds. Crowds of
sub-tenants were yearly multiplied, not only impoverished
by usurious exaction, but who were subjected to the risk,
and often to the loss, of what little they possessed by
process of distraint for default in payment of rent, by the
middle-^man under whom they held. Nothing but a dis
abling law would, it was supposed, check this fertile source
of disquietude and misery ; and in 1826 an enactment was
passed rendering null and void sub-leases or sub-assign
ments of land, without regard to the depreciation of the
interests for which fines had frequently been given by the
primary lessees. Unable to enforce the payment of rent from
the smaU occupiers, the middle-men began, wherever they
could, to serve ejectments ; and agrarian suffering and dis
turbance were thus rendered greater than before. Petitions
couched in terms of bitterest complaint continued to pour
in from the central and southern Irish counties, and
Lamb was appealed to by Hume, H. Grattan, and others to
bring in an amending bUl, which should mitigate the
hardships complained of, if not to remove them altogether.
Good Irish landlords like Lord Milton and Mr. Brownlow
deprecated, on the other hand, any sudden reversal of recent
legislation, as tending stiU further to unsettle the respect
"for law in the minds of the people. .The Chief Secretary
admitted the inconsiderate and improvident rigour of certain
provisions in the statute of 1826, but declined to encourage
the demand made by the CathoUc Association for its absolute

312 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
repeal. He had in contemplation an amending bill, which
he hoped might in a great degree assuage the evils which
had been pointed out; and with this assurance the discussion
was aUowed to drop. Before an opportunity was afforded
for the consideration of his remedial measure he had felt it
his duty to quit office ; and nothing further was done until
four years later, when, as minister for the Home Depart
ment, he carried through the Upper House an amended
Sub-letting Act, introduced in the Commons when Mr.
Stanley was Chief Secretary for Ireland. *
Sir Francis Burdett had charge of the Catholic Eelief
Bill upon the last of many occasions on which it was
presented by an independent member. With the exception
of Brougham, the great orators were gone who had formerly
pleaded in its favour, wisely, but in vain. The Ministerial
bench was still divided on the question. Peel manifesting
more than his former skill and tact as a debater, and
successfully disguising his conviction that the cause was
lost, which he still incited those who believed in him,
persistently to defend. The Secretary for Ireland felt it
due to the position he held not to remain silent or
acquiescent after the statements of principle and of fact
that had fallen from the Home Secretary. On constitutional
grounds he must controvert the maxim that laws deemed
fundamental in the settlement of the kingdom at the
Eevolution could not be changed without endangering
the stability of the throne, and fatally altering the historic
unity and character of Parliament. It was impossible
to believe that the active intelligence of a great nation
would submit for any lengthened period to be bound by
the edicts or enactments of a distant and dissimilar age.
Adaptation to new circumstances and modification of old
provisions were inevitable in the current of national Ufe ;
and it was misleading and mischievous to teach the
unthinking and the timid to look with dread on mutations
that were inevitable. Pears of this kind had been in-
* 2 & 3 William IV. c. 17.

EAST BETFOBD AND PENBYN. 313
dustriously excited previous to the union with Scotland. It
was said that to admit a body of representatives brought
up under a different system of jurisprudence, and zealously
devoted to a different creed and method of church govern
ment, would destroy the homogeneous nature of the
legislature ; but experience had speedily dissipated these
apprehensions, which were now entirely forgotten ; and so it
would be when they had admitted, as sooner or later they
were certain to do, a reasonable number of Catholic members
from Ireland. If the temper of the community, disabled
from holding political rank or performing political service,
were as bad as had been described, and as inimical to the
constituted Government of the realm, that was but another
reason for bringing to an end the anomalies and absurdities
which put a whole people out of temper and alienated their
affections from those whom they should be led to honour
and obey. But the great measure was still unhappily
delayed. The last opportunity of yielding to considerations
of national justice and generosity was lost ; and the fatal
notice to the people of Ireland was given, that until they
could exact redress by the open threat of force they had no
chance of obtaining it.
The cause of Parliamentary Eeform seemed just then to
have as Uttle prospect of success. Sweeping proposals
were no longer brought forward, but Lord J. Eussell and
Mr. Tennyson brought in bills to transfer respectively the
seats forfeited by Penryn and East Eetford, by reason of
proved corruption, to Manchester and Birmingham, neither
of which at that time possessed representatives. The
Commons passed the former measure, but the Lords post
poned its adoption, and were understood to be disinclined to
pass it. The Cabinet, at the instance of Peel, resolved that
the seats for East Eetford should be conferred on an
agricultural district consisting of the hundreds around the
delinquent town ; but Huskisson had declared in his place
that if but one borough only were disfranchised, Birming
ham should have the seats. On the 19th of May, when the

814 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
East Eetford bill was pending. Lord Sandon, as a moderate
reformer, claimed the fulfilment of this pledge, which would
have left the Upper House the option of conferring the
seats for Penryn on a rural district. Huskisson, who had
acquiesced in the Cabinet in Peel's view, was in a dilemma,
and sat during the debate wavering and perplexed. Before
he could make up his mind what to do the division was
called. Peel gave him a reproachful look when he saw that,
without explanation, he was about to break' his word given
in council ; and the irresolute minister, tormented by self-
distrust and the obvious discontent he had provoked among
his colleagues, went home, and ere he slept wrote to the
Duke, offering to resign. His Grace thought he had
behaved ill, took him at his word, and forthwith forwarded
his letter to Windsor. Palmerston laughed at his over
scrupulous friend next morning, and with Dudley undertook
to rectify the error. They saw the Premier, who coldly
intimated that the resignation might still be withdrawn ;
but this was a humiliation they could not recommend, and
further parleying proved in vain. With Huskisson all
Canning's friends, including Lamb, retired from the ad
ministration, and Lord F. L. Gower became Secretary for
Ireland. Jerden called on him and persuaded him to resume his
contributions to the Literary Gazette. They had previously
been casual, but now became more frequent, being chiefly
criticisms on theological or ethical works. Some of his
reviews were of plagiaristic or platitudinarian volumes of
sermons, and are spiced with keen, though not irreverent
humour.

( 315 )

CHAPTEE XVI.
IN THE LOBDS.
Fifty years gone by — Catholic Emancipation — William IV. — Change
of Government.
Peniston, first Lord Melbourne, died on the 22nd of July,
1828, in his eighty-third year, leaving his estates in Derby
shire and Hertfordshire to William Lamb. A note to Lady
HoUand announced the event, which took place without
suffering, his sister Emily having been for some days in
close attendance with him upon his father.
A sense of sadness crept over him as he paced The Dell,
where he had so often loved to linger in the indolent enjoy
ment of summer life. The unfallen foliage of the oaks and
beeches on either side made it still a spacious shelter from
the winds of the outer world. But the voice of spring was
long since mute, the golden gladness had passed away, and
the hue of autumn seemed to presage the darkening season
of decline and of decay. Youth and maturity were passed.
The lot had fallen to him in pleasant^ places ; and though
late, he had come into possession of a goodly heritage.
Honour, love, ambition, troops of friends, he had all ; and if
he had not always made good use of opportunities, he could
jiot reproach himself with having idly or wilfully neglected
them. He had read thoughtfully as much as, or more than the
majority of men of his day ; he had loved, how fondly, and
endured how patiently, and forborne how tenderly, none
living knew. The hope of posterity had not been denied him ;

316 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
nor a place in the first assembly in the world. Yet what did
all avail to quench the unslaked thirst of sympathy, purpose,
occupation ? Learning, criticism, and philosophy might
make men listen to his talk, but they had not given him the
energy or perseverance necessary to build up even as much
as Sallust built to keep in memory his name. The partner of
his youth, with all her faults and errors, he loved better
than any woman he had ever known. She had survived his
confidence, though not his affection ; and had worn herself
out with waywardness ere she was old : and the son she had
borne him, now come to man's estate, remained childish
still, and without giving any hope pf mental manhood. For
five-and-twenty years Lamb had been a member of the House
of Commons, a favourite there, seldom refused a hearing ;
the intimate of its greatest men, and for a season the occu
pant of a difficult post ; yet he had not made a speech worth
remembering, and the Cabinet — the crown of parliamentary
strivings — had never been conceded him. In full possession
of faculties the world called excellent, with health and
strength unbroken, his time his own, with fortune ample, and
a name which, though new and hitherto undistinguished, he
might yet ennoble, — public life lay open to him as ever, and
with his dislike of trouble and contention, the more tranquil
region of the House of Lords was not distasteful. But he
was lonely and listless, disdaining to repine, yet haunted by
regrets. Half a century spent and gone, and how little to
show for it ! He would have given a great deal to have had
a fervid, even a fantastic faith in anything worth working
for. He had been born a Whig, bred a courtier, drawn by
conviction into Canningism, and persuaded to retain office
under the Duke of Wellington. But Whiggery was said to
be worn out. There was no longer a Court genial, generous,
or gay ; Canning was dead, and the great soldier's adminis
tration seemed tottering to its fall. Utilitarian levelling
like that of Bentham he regarded as nonsense. State
parsimony like Joseph Hume's he thought a pettifogging
blunder. Eadicalism after the manner of Hunt and Cobbett

NOT YET IN THE CABINET. 317
he called mere ragamuffinism. He envied Stanley, as he
said, the equal pleasure he took in fighting a main of cocks
and defending the abuses of the EstabUshed Church. He
coveted Palmerston's light-heartedness and india-rubber
temperament, and Lansdowne's delight in the arts and in
the duties of hospitality. Althorp's devotion to his wethers
and short-horns, and Holland's happiness in his great din
ners and amusement at my lady's whimsicality, were alike
to him marvels of contentedness. He was inactive, yet he
was not at ease. He felt that he had as keen an insight
into motives and as firm a grasp of the tendencies of things
as any of them, and he could not reconcile himself to sub
siding at fifty into a country gentleman that did not hunt,
or a peer that voted by proxy. The forecast of Charles Fox
and the estimate of Castlereagh, repeated in her last days by
his mother, recurred to him in his solitude and recalled him
from despondency. He would try again, try on ; but how ?
WhUe he pondered an unexpected shadow fell upon his path
that looked like the reaUsation of hope long deferred. ^ It
proved iUusory, and vanished into nothing, as out of nothing
it almost seemed to come; but it changed the whole con
dition of the man, and served undoubtedly to hasten his
advancement to the first rank in his party.
Late in August Mr. Greville mentions a party at Stoke,
during which he asked the new Viscount if the rumour was
true that he had been offered the Admiralty. " He said he
had never heard of it." Yet the rumour had its significance.
The Duke of Clarence had just been compelled to relinquish
the post of Lord High Admiral ; and for every reason it was
of importance that a return to the usual mode of adminis
tering the naval department by a board of commissioners
should be justified by the character of efficiency, its members,
and more especiaUy its president, enjoyed. That the ex-
"Secretary for Ireland, who had never been in the Cabinet,
should hear himself talked of as a probable First Lord of
the Admiralty in a circle closely associated with the Court
could not but sound like an augury of things to come.

818 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
Irish affairs were fast drifting near the rapids. O'Connell's
election for Clare, in defiance of his legal ineligibility, seemed
to have dazed his adversaries and crazed his friends. It was
a moral coup d'etat, which proved irreversible. His oppo
nent, Vesey Fitzgerald, the most popular man in his county,
had all his life been an emancipator ; yet, because he had
become a member of the now distrusted Cabinet, he was
driven from the representation by an overwhelming ma
jority. O'Connell himself had hesitated to make the experi
ment, and when it succeeded, hardly knew how to turn it
to account. Parliament was still in session, but he did not
demand admission to St. Stephen's to claim the seat. He
contented himself with franking letters and delighting the
multitude by allowing them to call him " The Member."
AU the autumn lively debate arose at every dinner-table as to
whether he would attempt to take his seat. In one of these
convivial discussions Plunket asked Chief Baron O'Grady
what he thought. His learned brother replied, " I think he
will, although he said he would." The Catholic Association,
freed from even the nominal inhibition of a statute never
put in force, revelled in the enjoyment of unbridled power,
and served notices to quit on all county members whose
names were not found upon its roll. Adhesions and sub
scriptions poured in from Nonconformists in England, and
from not a few fugitives of 1798 settled in America. The
spirit of ascendency for the first time seemed fairly daunted ;
and, to crown all. Canning's memorable question became
practical and pressing — " What is to be done when the
extinguishers take fire ?"
Lord Anglesey, who had been chosen Viceroy because
George IV. had " implicit confidence in his dash and devo
tion," began to feel the ground going from under him. He
sought counsel from the Chancellor, but found him very
much in the mood of Macbeth when he exclaims, "There is
nor flying hence nor tarrying here." Trusting him without
reserve, he imparted to him his own deepening sense of the
untenableness of the position he had been instructed to hold.

LOED CLONCUBEY. 319
The Chancellor had the same wish as Lamb to meet the
agitators face to face, and hear for himself what they had to
say. Lord Cloncurry, in accordance with his wish, invited
O'Connell to meet him at Lyons, the residence of his lordship
in Kildare ; and Sir Anthony was much interested and
amused on the occasion. If the incident was not formally
noticed as a matter of reproof from Downing Street, it was
probably because the Viceroy himself had become the
absorbing object of royal suspicion. He, too, had been a
guest of the malcontent Lord of Lyons, an indiscretion not
to be mutely endured. The Premier "could not conceal
from him that his visit and those of the Lord Chancellor to
Lord Cloncurry, and the attendance of his lordship at the
Eoman Catholic Association immediately subsequent, were not
circumstances calculated to give satisfaction to the King."*
Lord Cloncurry's account of how he came on a single occa
sion to be present in the dreaded assembly was, that multi
tudinous marchings in Tipperary had been announced for a
day then near at hand, and that the authorities were full of
apprehensions of a serious breach of the peace. He offered,
with Mr. WilUam Curran,t to remonstrate with the popular
leaders upon the danger of aUowing these demonstrations to
proceed ; and, there being barely time for interposition, they
had waived aU scruple and sought an interview, which proved
successful. When it was concluded in one of the committee-
rooms O'ConneU naively said, "While you are here you may
as weU come in and see our meeting." The mediators
thought they could not refuse, and were of course cordially
received ; but neither of them appeared on the scene again.
The Viceroy replied with warmth that the fideUty of his hfe
to the person and government of his Majesty ought to have
shielded him from mistrust or misgiving ; and he continued
his invitations to Lord Cloncurry as before. His pre
sumption in seeming to anticipate the inevitable, and the
extreme imprudence of his language in public and private
* Duke of Wellington to Lord Anglesey, November 11th, 1828.
t The son and biographer of the celebrated orator.

820 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
led to his recall. Some of his letters to the Duke had been
laid before the King, who was highly indignant at their dic
tatorial tone ; and his Grace, though personally attached to
him, was heard to complain of his insolence to himself. Vesey
Fitzgerald, being asked about (^his removal by Melbourne,
said " he had done remarkably well, but the rock on which he
split was his vanity."* On receiving the intimation of his
recall Lord Anglesey showed the Duke's letter to Mr. George
Villiers, who communicated its contents to Shiel, with whom
he called soon afterwards on O'ConneU. The Liberator
seemed greatly cast down by the intelligence ; anticipated
nothing but a policy of arbitrary repression ; and altogether
caused them so much uneasiness as to what he might be
impelled by the unlooked-for incident to say or do, that they
insisted on staying to dine with him, partly in order to dis
cuss all possible contingencies, and still more to prevent his
being left to less cool-headed companionship during the
evening. When they parted they fancied that they had
persuaded him to refrain from comment in his speech at
the Association on the morrow. But such tidings could not
be kept secret, and he had no choice but to give utterance
to the sense of disappointment that everywhere prevailed.
The revolution already planned and matured by the Govern
ment was inaugurated by the sacrifice. The Duke of
Northumberland, a moderate partisan of resistance, was
named Viceroy. Lord Anglesey's departure was marked
with every demonstration of popular sorrow. Accompanied
to the place of embarkation by many persons of distinction
and a vast multitude, his parting words to O'Connell were,
" Agitate, agitate, and you will succeed."
At the opening of ParUament on the 1st of February,
1829, " WiUiam, Viscount Melbourne, took the oaths and his
seat in the House of Peers."t The royal speech on the same
day recommended both Houses to take into consideration the
expediency of settling the Catholic question.
* Greville, ' Memoirs,' i. p. 150.
t Lords' Journal, Ixi. 5.

SUPPEESSION BILL. 821
The interval between the announcement of the great
measure and its formal introduction was spent in conjectures
as to how many would avow themselves converts ; whether
O'Connell would take his seat for Clare, or whether he
would be excluded by a special clause of the bill. He
arrived in London on the 9 th, and was immediately called
on by EUice, Burdett, Ebrington, Hume and others, most of
whom urged him to dissolve the Catholic Association, and
so take away all excuse for the threatened measure for its
suppression. He told them that until the bill was carried
he would not propose to break in pieces the instrument
which had compeUed the offer of surrender. He could not
tell what the Lords might do, sinister rumours being afloat
as to the Duke's failure to enforce compliance with his
right-about-face policy.
A stringent Act to put down the triumphant Association
was made a condition precedent of the Eelief Bill. It
passed rapidly through the Lower House, with brief and
formal protests, but without serious let or hindrance. In
the Upper House, Anglesey, who could not forgive his recent
recall, indulged in eulogy ad invidiam of the tact and talent
displayed by the Catholic leaders ; and Lord Longford
taunted ministers with not having executed the former
Suppression Act or come to Parliament betimes for greater
powers. Melbourne repUed: —
It is impossible that I can aUow the observations which
have been made upon the conduct of the last two Govern
ments in Ireland to pass, without troubling your lord
ships with a very few words upon the subject. The noble
lord says that the Government of 1825 having deter
mined, on a biU for the purpose of putting down the
Catholic Association conducted itself extremely ill, be
cause it did not, when it found the act prove inoperative,
come to ParUament for further powers. I beg to tell the
noble lord that the bUl in question was introduced, not
only on the responsibility, and by the advice of my noble
VOL. I. ^

322 MEMOIBS' OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
friend, — the then Attorney-General for Ireland, and now
a member of this House (Lord Plunket), — but that it re
ceived the sanction, generally, of his Majesty's ministers,
at that time forming the Government, and particularly of
the noble and learned Earl (of Eldon), who at that period
was the adviser of the Crown, and Lord Chancellor of
England. That learned peer bears as much of the respon
sibility of what was then done, or omitted to be done, as
can by possibility be placed to the account of my noble
friend the late Attorney-General for Ireland. The noble
lord says the second Government was still more culpable
than the flrst, because powers were placed in the magis
tracy of Ireland, who were members of the Association ; and
he argues that Government were altogether responsible
for such appointments. The noble lord has undoubtedly
great experience as respects these appointments in Eng
land, but he is wholly ignorant of the practice which is
pursued in Ireland. The Lord ChanceUor, there, appoints
the magistrates solely and entirely on his own responsi
bility, and an appointment is no way to be considered as
the act of the Government ; but at the same time, I must
say, that when there were so many individuals in that
country, — persons of character and piroperty, — who were
eligible to those offices, whether they were Catholics or
Protestants, to adhere to any rule of exclusion would have
been vain. I readily admit the insufficiency of the law
of 1825, and the causes of that insufficiency have been
very ably stated by the noble duke. That bill was
designated by one of the first lawyers in Ireland, the
"Enabling Bill," inasmuch as it gave to the Catholic
Association a power that it did not before possess. And
what was the consequence ? Why, no sooner were the
provisions of that bill known in Ireland, than the As
sociation advertised meetings to be held as under that
Bill — under the sanction of that very law, by the passing
of which it was intended to effect the demoUtion of the
Association! I have heard it asked in this House— and

SUPPOET OF MINISTEBS 323

I was astonished at the question— what was the reason
that the law of 1825 had proved inefficient for the
purpose for which it was intended ? I wiU answer that
question in two words— CathoUc disabilities were the
. cause which rendered that act inoperative. It is im
possible for any Government to act with proper energy,
when it finds its arms borne down by a sense of injury
and injustice in respect of those over whom the power
of that Government extends. I beg leave to say that the
present measure will, in my opinion, share the same fate
as the former Acts, if it be not foUowed by one of grace
and concession. It may have the effect of putting down
this Association and similar Associations ; but it will be
perfectly ineffectual to stay the tide of public opinion in
Ireland. It will be impossible to preserve order and
security to the Protestant Establishments in that country,
unless his Majesty's Eoman Catholic subjects are admitted
to the enjoyment of the blessings of the British constitu
tion. With respect to the Eoman Catholic Association,
I am one of those who do not think it has contributed to
the success of that cause which, we hope, is now arriving
at (Consummation. On the contrary, I think — though, I
differ in opinion from very many noble lords — that its
uncontrolled violence, and its unguarded conduct, have
rather impeded than advanced the great cause of Catholic
emancipation. I shall give my cordial support to the
bill as it at present stands, upon the understanding and
expectation that it will be foUowed by a measure which
shall have for its object the relief of all classes of his
Majesty's Eoman Catholic subjects.*
This was not the popular line to take, but it was the way to
render effective aid in securing the great benefit of religious
liberty too long deferred. For its sake he was ready to
concur in the propitiatory offering to the wounded pride of
* 'MiiTor of Parliament,' February 24th, 1829.
y 2

824 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
authority; and to bear his part in the sacrifice. The
juncture was critical.
The Duke of Eutland and other Tory friends of Govern
ment, piqued at not having had any hint in time that would
have enabled them tO keep up their county repute of being
in the secret of what was designed, had announced their
intention of withdrawing to their country seats, and taking
no further part in the controversy. Lords Eldon and
Winchelsea, Kenyon and Eoden prepared to rally round the
Duke of Cumberland for a last stand in the trenches of
the betrayed citadel. Plunket made impromptu one of his
best historical speeches in rebuke of the constitutional wail
of the ex-Chancellor.* But the Duke of Cumberland was
frequently at Windsor, where he at last wrought upon the
royal convert so effectually that serious misgivings were
entertained as to his fidelity in redeeming his promise to
give his assent to the Disabilities BiU. Peel's defeat at
Oxford gave new energy to reactionists, and George IV. told
his household that they might if they pleased vote against
ministers. The Duke sought an audience to remonstrate
and reassure himself in his position ; but six hours, with
occasional intervals, were spent in bringing his Majesty to
reason. The Premier, at length satisfied, took his de
parture for Strathfieldsaye to receive the judges, who
were on circuit. There, long after midnight, while he still
sat clearing his arrear of correspondence, the ChanceUor
appeared, to tell him that he had been sent for, and told
by his Majesty that certain clauses of the bUl as brought
in by Peel had not been previously explained to him, and
that he could not give his assent to them if passed by Par
liament. Before breakfast his Grace was on his way to
Windsor, and Lyndhurst had set out for town. George IV.
used every argument to excuse his vacillation, but the
minister who had staked his reputation upon carrying what
Pitt, GrenviUe, and Canning had been unable to carry was
not to be talked over at such a moment, and he quitted the
* 'Mirror of Parliament,' February 19th.

TEE LAST STAND. 825
royal presence with a declaration that unless the sovereign
would continue his promised support upon the question he
must forthwith resign. The fear of being left to the Duke
of Cumberland's party, or to the Whigs, finaUy determined
the wavering monarch. Peel, upon his defeat at Oxford,
hired for the session the seat for Westbury at an extravagant
price, and introduced the Eelief Bill on the 5th of March.
Its liberality and completeness won hearty praise from the
Opposition ; its only serious flaw being the unworthy
contrivance which, by a certain turn of phrase, excluded
O'ConneU until re-elected. No second opinion existed
among the Whigs on this point ; it was regarded by them
as sheer infatuation abortively to endeavour thus to shut
out the man by whom confessedly the door had been
broken in. Spring Eice, who loved him not, said truly that
instead of excluding him, they should pay him to come into
ParUament, and rather buy a seat for him than let him
remain out. Though disheartened, the opponents of the
measure did not yet despair. The Duke hesitated to accept
the resignations of holders of office like Lord Lowther who
voted against him ; he feared to add to the exasperation
prevalent among old supporters, or to rely too much upon
the Whigs, who when he had done their work would, he
beUeved, desert him. He knew that there was no depending
on the King, whose irritabiUty and caprice were the misery of
aU about him. Out of doors opinion was still divided. On
the second reading Mr. Sadler, who had been brought in for
the purpose, delivered a speech which produced a great impres
sion against the bill. No man at sixty- seven had been ever
known before to begin a parUamentary career successfully.
It was said, probably with truth, that had he spoken as long
and as well on any other question he would not have been one-
half reported, or the foUowing week asked out to dinner as
a rising man. This did not change the significance of the
fact that in him a deep national feeling found a voice to
which, willingly or unwiUingly, every one paused to listen.
The instinct of eloquence consists, after aU, in knowing when.

326 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
quite as much as in knowing what to say. Sadler had the
credit of adding some votes to the minority ; on the other
side, the person who did best, to the delight of Melbourne
and the surprise of those who knew him not so well, waa
Palmerston. On the 28th of March, Lord Eldon had an audience of
the King which lasted for four hours ; it was the forlorn
hope of the party of resistance, and when it failed the long
struggle was over. Sir Eobert Peel's version of what passed
differs materiaUy from that of the Earl. In the Lords the
ChanceUor formally recanted all his vaticinations of three
years before, while Grey and Plunket had the proud satis
faction of witnessing a triumph of th^ great principle in the
advocacy of which they had spent their lives. Some one
congratulated Lord Grenville that the great measure he too
had fought for so long and so unselfishly was at last about to
be carried. He replied sadly that he could feel no exultation
at what was called a settlement, but which in reality would
certainly settle nothing. " You are not going to pay the
priests ; " he said, " and therefore you will do more harm
than good by giving them mouthpieces in Parliament." *
An action brought against Melbourne early in the year
came on for trial on the second day of Michaelmas Term in
the Court of King's Bench, putting him to no little expense,
and causing him still more annoyance. He had been a
frequent guest in Ireland of Lord Brandon, who had married
Elizabeth, daughter of Colonel Latouche and granddaughter
of the Countess of Miltown, afterwards Lady Cloncurry.
To many charms of person Lady Brandon added those which
a lively disposition and an unusual degree of culture were
calculated to afford. Her house was one of the most agreeable
at the time in Dublin, and many persons of congenial senti
ments were there to be found, whom in the rigid severance of
political parties then prevailing, the Chief Secretary did not
meet elsewhere. Lord Brandon was gouty, and spent the
autumn at Buxton and the winter abroad ; his life had not
* Archbishop Whately in Senior's Journal, November 13th, 1858.

SUIT BY LOED BEANDON. 327
been the most domestic, and the ill-assorted marriage proved
unhappy. Mutual complaints led in the following year to a
separation, and to an attempt by him to obtain a divorce.
With this design in view, he was, unfortunately for himself,
advised to sue Lord Melbourne for damages on the alleged
ground of improper intimacy with his wife during her
residence in London. Mr. Gurney, with whom were asso
ciated Mr. Brougham and Mr. Charles Phillips, stated the
case for the plaintiff; but the evidence given was so valueless
that Lord Tenterden refused to call on Mr. Scarlett, who was
counsel for the defendant ; and telling the jury that " nobody
could give one word of proof against Lord Melbourne,"
directed a rule to be entered for a nonsuit. In the eccle
siastical court, soon afterwards. Lord Brandon equally failed
in the proceedings he had instituted against his wife. It is
said that the array of witnesses ready to be called on the
other side scared him from proceeding, and prompted his
counsel to withdraw the case. Dr. Lushington decided that
such a proceeding could only be aUowed on condition of the
plaintiff's paying the costs, and this being done the miser
able affair ended.
At the commencement of 1830, the breach seemed as
impassable as ever between ministers and the ultra-Tory
party, who still looked with desperate devotion to the
Duke of Cumberland and Lord Eldon as their faithful
but hopelessly baffied chiefs. The Premier and his Eoyal
Highness were hardly on speaking terms, and few, if any, of
the seceders had returned to the ranks of the party. The
debating strength of the Treasury Bench was unexpectedly
weakened by the sudden Ulness of Mr. Vesey Fitzgerald,
whose place as President of the Board of Trade was but
indifferently fiUed by Sir Frankland Lewis, a careful and ac-
compUshed man, but formal, verbose, and dull. Palmerston
rather disparaged Fitzgerald, whom he called fluent, but
rather vulgar. Spring Eice estimated more accurately his
worth to his friends and the detriment caused by his loss : —
I grieve at his Ulness ; his conduct at the Board of Trade

828 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
was in all respects admirable, and his zeal for the interests
of Ireland was equalled by a knowledge of the actual
condition of the country not possessed by any other
member of the Cabinet. We Irish change so rapidly that
the Duke of Wellington, Peel and Goulburn are already
as much outrun by events as if they had studied no later
authority than Spencer and Sir John Davies.*
The little section then led by Mr. Huskisson had been raised
in importance by the speeches of Palmerston on foreign
affairs. But they were all officers, and had no soldiers, or
any extensive field of opinion to recruit from. The Whigs
were not gaining influence, and there were rumours of
defections among some of the great families. Yet after
all the Duke's difficulty lay in devising measures big
enough to engage attention without exciting serious an
tagonism, and in finding colleagues, when he wanted them,
who should be at once docile in the Cabinet, efficient in office,
and unprovocative of jealousy in the House. It was to this
desire of personal government that Huskisson aUuded when
he said to a friend, the very day before his death, " The
Duke will find out at last that he cannot govern England
with men only who will move at the word of a drill sergeant."
But for the present he was resolved to try. Peel had sub
mitted to be shorn of his personal influence with clergy and
squirearchy, and he felt that he had no power of resistance
till it had time to grow again. Lyndhurst was too easy
going and self-indulgent to differ about any matter of mere
opinion; his sole conviction was that the best thing in
life was to be Keeper of the Great Seal. Aberdeen and
Ellenborough could hardly be said to occupy as yet a space
in the public eye of leading importance ; and the rest were
what Brougham used to call eleventh-rate men.
As the meeting of Parliament approached, reports
thickened. His faithful correspondent kept Lord Lans
downe informed at Bowood of such as were most believable.
* To J. Abercromby, January 9th, 1830.

BBEAK-UP OF PAETIES. 329
Edward EUice had come to town bringing Lord Grey's last
word, that "if the Duke conceived an union of all parties
unconnected with the Government was impossible, he never
was so wrong in his life." Melbourne was of course one of
the most available, because one of the most many-sided and
most popular elements of such a projected combination. In
one way or another he had intimacies, if not relations, with
each of the sections whom it was thus hoped to combine,
and his personal influence to that end Lord Grey well knew
was all the more likely to be effective because his air and
tone were more than ever those of banter and indifference.
Huskisson was said, on the score of health, to be desirous
that Palmerston should take his place during the session
as spokesman of the surviving remnant of the Canningites.
This was obvious policy with respect to the ultra-Tories
and to the Liberals, many of whom felt a distrust of
Huskisson not entertained towards the ex-Secretary at War.
To enlist rank and file; Palmerston was put forward as
recruiting sergeant.
Before the meeting of Parliament, Lords Cleveland,
Grosvenor, and Darnley had given in their adhesion to
ministers ; and the names of the Duke of Bedford and Lord
Jersey were included by the gossips in a list of moderate
Whigs who were ready to rally to their support against
royal reaction. But these were fitted, as Spring -Eice said,
rather to serve as reinforcements for the back than the front
bench, where everything depended on the Home Secretary's
encyclopaedic power of talk. Brougham made people laugh
at Brooks's by announcing that the session would open with
a change in the standing orders, aUowing Peel to speak any
number of times (not exceeding thirty) on all questions.*
The rank and file of Opposition were ready indeed to be
led to the attack on any point that might appear exposed ;
but if the Premier had any legislative policy he was inflexible
in his resolve to keep it to himself; and even the newspapers
could suggest nothing more tempting of topics for adverse
* Letter to Sir John Newport, January 18th, 1830.

330 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
criticism than ex officio prosecutions of the Morning Journal,
than neglect of agricultural distress and the want of vigour
in our foreign policy in the Levant. Not a muttering was
heard, however distant or faint, of the storm already threat
ening in the horizon and soon to sweep into comparative
forgetfulness all the common elements of parliamentary fret
and fume. Lord Althorp and his friends, Parnell, Graham,
Thompson, and Baring, were full of economics and busily
engaged with subjects of retrenchment, about which the
politicians proper cared not a jot, as ministers were believed
to be ready to outbid them in paring down, provided always
the Windsor and Whitehall pension lists were not touched.
But in the diaries and letters of the period scarcely a word
is said about Parliamentary Reform.
The two Houses met on the 4th of February, and the
temporary break-up of party ties caused by late events was
more strikingly displayed than ever. Sir Edward Knatch-
buU moved an amendment to the Address, declaring the
prevalence of distress to be general, and not, as ministers
had advised his Majesty to say, only partial. Brougham and
Sadler concurred; and O'Connell had the gratiflcation, of
which he had dreamed so long, of hearing his own voice in
the Chapel of St. Stephen. Curiosity, dislike, sympathy, and
at length admiration of his suasive tone and fine delivery
secured him breathless attention, and at the conclusion un
grudging praise. Who will venture to say that he under
stands or can realise the intoxication of that hour ? Many
triumphs had been his before, and many awaited him, of
which the world took more heed. There was nothing pecu
liarly apt or telling in the speech itself ; nothing he did not
far surpass on subsequent occasions. But no occasion could
for him have the exquisite satisfaction of this. He had
been shut out, and he had broken in, assuring ingress not
for himself only, but for his race and creed. And there he
stood alone, their leader, representative, chief, the welcomed
by many, courteously received and recognised as worthy to
be there by all.

FEEDEEICK LAMB. 331
Lord Holland made an amusing speech on Greek affairs,
quizzing the " Athenian Aberdeen" with effacing the inscrip
tion by Canning of national sympathy on the ruins of ancient
freedom. Melbourne backed his friend with vivacity and
vigour. The "travelled Thane," as his poetic namesake
called him, made a poor defence, but the Premier covered his
retreat in his own fashion. Eobert Grant, listening on the
steps of the throne, though his sympathies were the other
way, whispered to Greville, " He speaks like a great man."*
A few days afterwards Melbourne was less fortunate.
Frederick Lamb, whose abilities began to be recognised in
diplomacy, had published, on the eve of the session, a
pamphlet on Portuguese affairs, denouncing what had been
done in favour of Don Miguel by the advice of minis
ters and their immediate predecessors; and Melbourne
fraternally undertook to urge the same view in the House
of Lords. ¦ Not having been in the Goderich Cabinet he felt
himself free to disapprove of Lord Dudley's language in the
affair of Terceira as well as that of Lord Aberdeen. But
his temerity drew down on him severe chastisement. The
Duke and Lord Lansdowne concurred in excusing our tacit
acquiescence in the acts of the usurper ; and Lord Goderich
spoke better than usual in support of both. Mr. GrevUle,
who heard the debate, condemns Melbourne for not having
got up his case better, and says that his manner was con
fused and his, tone indiscreet. It was perhaps the only in
stance in a parUamentary Ufe of forty years in which he
severed himself on a question of importance from his poli
tical friends. They aU regretted his failure, which was
ascribed by some to passing indisposition, by others to want
of judgment. The experiment of privateering he never
tried again.f
The first public meeting of the Birmingham Political
Union took place on the 17th of May, Mr. Muntz in the
chair. The council recommended petitions in favour of
* ' Memoirs,' February 13th, 1830.
t Greville, ' Jovunal,' February lytb and lilst.

332 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
Lord Blandford's bill to expel all placemen from parlia
ment, abolition of rotten boroughs, repeal of the Septennial
Act, and adoption of household suffrage. Their advice was
accepted by an excited assembly, who went, however, much
further, denouncing the Pension List and the flagrant
abuses and jobs in all public departments. The keynote of
complaint thus struck was re-echoed far and near. The al
legations of distress were reiterated and intensified, until
men esteemed for their knowledge and judgment, and who
were supposed to have the best means of obtaining infor
mation, were led to believe that a state of anarchy was
imminent. Such was the condition in which George IV. left the
realm. Unhonoured and unloved he passed away, and the
folds of oblivion fell rapidly and silently over the recollec
tion of his worthless name. Yet of many acts of hospitaUty
and kindness Melbourne could not be unmindful. From
boyhood he had been to some extent a favourite with the
King; and though painfully conscious of his faults and
weaknesses, he shrank from joining in the censure un
sparingly pronounced upon them.
In appearance, habits, and demeanour, his successor was in
every particular his opposite ; and for a season spared no
pains to win the smiles and salutations of the crowd. He did
not understand that princely clap-trap goes for as little with
hard-driven artisans as with coxcombs of quality.
It was well known that the Duke of Clarence had little
of that peculiar pride which is called dignity; that he
was at times half crazy, and at, no time fit to be left to his
own guidance. He had made these things more than
sufficiently notorious during the time he held the office of
Lord High Admiral, from which it become necessary to
remove him. As king, his deportment was just the reverse
of that of his late brother. Instead of shutting himself
up and excluding himself from the sight of the people,
he went about challenging popularity. He walked in the

POPULAEITY OF WILLIAM IV. 333

streets, he rode in an open carriage with his queen, and
set the crowd shouting and vociferating, waving hats and
handkerchiefs Uke parish school children at a holiday
show. These were joined by the other royaUsts, no longer
a majority of the people. The rest stayed away or took
no heed of the folly ; and, as Burke had said of the same
sort of people in his time, indulged in the gloom of their
discontent. The King nodded and laughed and lifted his
hat to the silly people, and was exeedingly delighted.
The Queen was just the contrary of her husband as well
in appearance as in conduct ; and the mob soon began to
take a dislike to her.*
One of the first acts of the new sovereign was to direct
that the Duke of Norfolk should be named a Privy Coun
cillor. The compliment to his Eoman Catholic subjects was
not the less appreciated because it was paid to the first
noble in the realm, whose exclusion was a relic of intolerant
rule, abrogated in law, but not yet in fact. Melbourne took
means for conveying to the King how cordially he and
others approved of the spontaneous exercise of royal favour,
and family estrangement did not prevent him from con
gratulating his Grace on his taking the seat at the Council
Board so many of his ancestors had occupied.
Administration had escaped defeat, and with a new sove
reign and a new- Parliament they might hope that the
bitterness of late resentments would graduaUy die away.
The Premier had unbounded confidence in his own power
of managing the Upper House ; but he was not at ease re
garding the deficiency of debating power in the Lower,
which was indeed palpable to all. Palmerston thought
Ministers wretchedly weak, and that they would be out-
debated in a moment if questions were to arise in which
the Whigs chose vigorously to attack them. Peel was their
sole reliance, and he had lost weight by his recent change of
opinion. Vesey Fitzgerald was a good fighting speaker, but
' MS. Political Narratives,' by Francis Place, 1830, i., p. 32.

* I ¦

834 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
not a favourite with the House. Goulburn was very in
different. Murray could hardly say a word, and Herries
was absolutely mute. But where could they look for re
inforcements ? The Duke would hardly like to take back
the Canningites as a party, and individually none of them
were disposed to join, lest they should be too far out
numbered in the Cabinet to be able to make their opinions
felt on any question of importance. Palmerston thought
the Duke would like better to get in some of the rising
Whigs, who would help in debate and succumb to the weight
of his authority in councih But Lord Eosslyn's appoint
ment had made more enemies than friends.* Nevertheless
in July 1830 overtures were made to Melbourne to ascertain
if he with Palmerston and Grant would join the Govern
ment. Without Huskisson and Lord Grey he said it was
impossible for him to take office. To Huskisson the Duke
did not object; but Lord Grey had spoken of him both
publicly and privately in terms that must prevent their
acting confidentially together. After Huskisson's death
the proposal was renewed, this time through Palmerston.
Lord Clive was authorized by the Duke to ask him to re
turn to the Cabinet and to inquire who were his friends.
He replied Melbourne and Grant ; but that they would be
unwilling to join without Lansdowne and Grey. The Duke
was ready to assent to the three first-mentioned, but not to
the others, and instead of these suggested Goderich. Pal
merston declined to regard him as any sufficient substitute ;
and left town for Paris, considering the affair at an end.
On his return at the end of a fortnight the Duke asked him
to call at Apsley House. The interview lasted six minutes ;
he said he could make room, he thought, for Grant and Mel
bourne; but further he was not prepared to go. Palmer
ston maintained a reconstruction of the Cabinet to be in
dispensable if any fusion was contemplated. He had by this
time begun to estimate the great changes that were taking
place in public opinion respecting Eeform ; and invited a
* Letter to the Hon. Wm. Temple, June 14tb, 1829.

OFFEES OF COALITION. 335
conference on the subject to meet at Stanhope Street, to
which came Melbourne, the Grants, Denison, Binning,
Lyttelton, Graham, Warrender, and others. They were not
all agreed, but he and the Grants and Lyttelton had made
up their minds to support the motion of which Brougham
had already given notice on his return for the West Eiding
of Yorkshire. When J. W. Croker was therefore sent to
persuade him to reconsider the Duke's offer a few days
afterwards, Palmerston asked what the Duke meant to do
upon the question, which was rapidly becoming the dividing
line between parties, and on hearing Palmerston's resolve
Croker said " good-bye," for it was clear they would never
sit together in office again. Melbourne, always apt to take
less sanguine views of public affairs, gravitated somewhat
more slowly to the conclusion that parliamentary reform
was peaceably attainable ; and his mind was imbued with all
Burke's horror of violent revolution; but when he found
not only Holland House and Woburn, but Lansdowne House
and Broadlands half incUned to accept Brougham as a
standard-bearer on the question, he came to the belief that
to help to guide the inevitable was the most conservative
part that he could play.
The death of Huskisson, in September, ripened the ten
dency of the Canningites to absorption in the Liberal party.
Melbourne thought him more highly qualified than any of
his rivals ; for he understood profoundly the true principles
of trade, and was yet so free from dogmatism or asperity as
to be able to mollify the prejudices that beset their adoption.
His yielding temper and versatile disposition created doubts
of his being governed by high principle ; and his consenting
to retain office in January 1828 under the Duke of Welling
ton was a mistake the efi'ect of whiich Melbourne thought
irretrievable ; such, however, was not his own opinion, and to
his over-anxiety to pay court to the Duke on the fatal occa
sion of their meeting at the Manchester Eailway, the acci
dent was generally ascribed which caused his death. Bereft
unexpectedly within two years of their greater and their

836 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
lesser leader, the Canningites were now not a sheep without
a shepherd, but as sheep-dogs without a master. By official
standing and experience, Palmerston may have thought him
self entitled to the vacant position of chief. The repeated
proposals of the Duke were fairly calculated to encourage
such a pretension ; Melbourne's indolence. Grant's timidity,
and the friendship of both tended to foster its development.
But events were at hand that speedily swept into oblivion
any schemes of the kind, causing Melbourne definitely to
resume his place among the Whigs ; Dudley, Binning, and
Wynn to fall hack into the ranks of the Tories ; and
Palmerston finally to break with the latter, and cast in his
lot with the former.
In the autumn of 1830 the Home Office was no place
of rest. Throughout the autumn an uneasy feeling as to
the future pervaded all classes. Political associations in
the manufacturing towns were multiplied, their objects
varying with the complexion of local suffering or the humour
of local leadership, but all betraying a wild hope of social
redemption by means of political change. The spirit of dis
affection in the rural districts took less organic form. In
the darkness of ignorance that might be felt, its hand was
uplifted against property. Machinery of various kinds
tending to dispense with unskilled labour was assailed with
curses and with blows. The harvest was no sooner garnered
than the ricks were set on fire ; and threatening notices
signed with the ominous pseudonym of " Swing " were
affixed to the gate of the farmyard and the forge, none
would tell by whom or why. Decrepit officialism ascribed
all to the Paris revolution of July ; Birmingham patriotism
set all down to the want of little shiUings and one-pound
notes ; Manchester and Glasgow politicians ascribed it all to
prohibitory duties; and the Benthamite Eadicals thought
every man a fool, or worse, who did not see in it the want of
universal suffrage, annual parliaments and vote by ballot.
Sir Eobert Peel had grown daily more dejected at the state
of the country and more dissatisfied with the want of de-

SECBETABY PEEL. 337
terminate policy in the Government. Dining with a small
party at Apsley House early in August, he somewhat
abruptly asked the Duke, " In the event of a rising here,
similar to that in France, what steps should be taken at the
outset to resist it?" His Grace replied, "If wide-spread,
and in anything like force, it would be a very difficult thiug,
and must depend entirely on circumstances." The results
of the general election were not reassuring, and the attempts
made to obtain strength for the administration ended in
disappointment. The Home Secretary waxed more and
more desponding as rural crime and urban agitation grew
apace. He believed that the existing fabric of Government
was doomed ; and he told his old tutor. Bishop Lloyd, that
if once the break-up of traditional authority began, he did
not think the monarchy would last five years. Almost every
day he found at the Home Office letters threatening his
life, or putting him on his guard against some dreadful
conspiracy, and it is said that at last he had hardly resolu
tion to open any of which the address was at all sus
picious.* Outward appearances were kept up till Parlia
ment met; but with the announcement that ministers would
not suffer the King to visit the City in the month of
November, the mask of executive self-possession dropped.
In the words of Lord WeUesley, it was " an act of intrepid
cowardice ; " and it proved irretrievable.
Ministers admitted severe distress, but said its pressure
was partial. Sir E. KnatchbuU moved an amendment to
the Address declaring that the sovereign had been misin
formed, and that the suffering of the people was general and
beyond description. One hundred and five voted this ; and
its rejection, after the language used in debate concerning it,
spread additional alarm.
Here was enough, and more than enough, coupled as it was
with declamations out of doors, to make those who take
* Sir D. Le Marchant was so informed when under-secretary in 1847.
' Memoirs of Earl Spencer,' p. 208.
VOL. I. ^

338 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
opinions on trust believe that the country was on the
verge of bankruptcy. Here was enough to alarm the timid
and to excite the working people, to whom no change,
as they thought, could do any harm. In consequence a
persuasion, to a greater extent perhaps than ever before,
prevailed that a break-up was at hand, though many who
held this faith did not know what they themselves meant.
Many persons whose station in society and whose general
knowledge ought to have convinced them of the absurdity
of entertaining such notions spoke to me on the terrible
state of all trades, and prophesied that the time was at
hand when the stoppage of trade, commerce, and manu
factures would be complete and a great and terrible change
would be effected ; some went so far as to name the month
of June beyond which time it would be impossible to go
on ; and when such men could talk in this sort of way, it
may be easily imagined that the same opinion was general
throughout the country ; that great alarm prevailed, and
that men really did persuade themselves that there was
only one preventive, and that was parliamentary reform.
No such remedy was prescribed by either Whigs or Tories
in Parliament, but the people saw no other, and their
reiterated demands soon gave the tone to many members
of both Houses ; and this, coupled with the notices of dis
tress and the dread of the consequences, were the cause
of the change which, on the accession to power of the
Whigs, compeUed them to propose the Eeform Bill.*
All the zealots of the propagandism of Atwood and
Cobbett occupied themselves in forcibly depicting the in
coherent demands of the agriculturists who wanted new
" laws to make corn dear and other commodities cheap, and
the manufacturing people who wanted high profits and high
wages with cheap (farming) produce :— as absurd and un
intelUgible a state of things as had ever perhaps existed."!
* ' MS. Political Narratives,' by Francis Place, 1830 i p 24
t B. M. 27,789. ' '

TEE DUKE DENOUNCES BEFOBM. 839

It was popularly expected that the speech from the
throne would intimate at least a desire for peace abroad and
a willingness to reform at home. It wantonly ran counter
to both anticipations. The Belgians were scolded roundly
for their ingratitude in insisting on a repeal of the union
with Holland, whose sovereign was described as an impartial
and paternal ruler ; and lest the analogy should be missed,
royal threats of chastisement were held out against all who
should abet seditious schemes or foster hopes of organic
change in any portion of the realm. Place dined with
Bentham in the evening alone, and when a copy of the
King's speech was brought to him the old philosopher
imagined that such expressions would not have been
hazarded without some previous soundings of temper of the
Peers at all events, and a reliance on their support of the
policy forthshadowed. He augured ill for the future at
home and abroad, and his forebodings seemed to be confirmed
by the unanimous vote of the Upper House in favour of an
address in reply, which, according to custom, was a mere
echo of the speech. Great was his surprise and glee next
morning on reading the memorable commentary of the
Premier, who in answer to some measured words of Lord
Grey about Intervention and Electoral change, declared the
existing system of representation to be as nearly perfect
as human wisdom could make it, and that so long as he
was minister no alternative would be proposed. " He has
thrown away the scabbard," said Dudley as they left the
House : " No," rejoined Melbourne, " the sword with which
he might have parried attack, and maintained the position for
a good whUe." Place was in ecstasy. He urged Hume and
others to keep the Duke in office by all means, until the
irresolute Whigs should have made up their minds to a com
prehensive and practical measure of reform ; for his Grace
could no longer do any harm, and the worst to be feared was
from their too cheaply winning the personal game of office.
Writing to Hobhouse, who had asked for his opinion, he said :
"Pray do all you can to prevent the unwise conduct of
z 2

840 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
your friends in resisting ministers in such a way as may
compel them to resign. Abuse their proceedings as much
as you please, but beyond that do nothing to prevent them
from sinking as low as possible; aid them then to work
themselves out of office, and it will be quite soon enough.
I fear and abhor a premature change." * In the same
letter he says, that should the Duke go in procession
with the King to the Mansion House, there are many
who would not shrink from shooting him. Hunt's threat
of heading 20,000 petitioners for redress of grievances he
disbelieved ; but " Thomas Atwood, the most influential
man in England, proposed in writing to enrol an associa
tion not to pay taxes, if ministerial interference should pro
duce the probability of a war with Belgium ; and I believe
something of the kind will be done.! Many rich men are
wiUing to take part in it. Every shop in London would be
closed, and bank notes would not be taken. A violent re
volution would inevitably ensue." Atwood's language was
clearly indictable. Place framed a declaration in hypo
thetical terms pointing in the same direction, but postponing
any resolution until Government had done some specific act
tending to commit the country to war ; and this many re
spectable traders signed. But the Opposition in Parliament
pressed ministers on Sir Henry Parnell's motion to reduce
the Civil List, and after a brief resistance, conducted so
languidly that several near friends and adherents were not
brought down to vote, they were left in a minority of twenty-
nine. Lord Worcester, who was too late to vote, brought
the news to Apsley House, which he had heard on his way,
that they had twenty-nine in the Commons ; and till the
party broke up, none of the guests were aware that " they "
were the Opposition, nor was it until some of them met
again at Princess Lieven's later in the evening that they
learned the truth. In better times a hostile vote snatched
in this way might have been rescinded ; but no attempt of
the kind was made,. Peel was supposed to be glad of the
* To J, C. Hobhouse, November 8th, 1830. f Idem.

POLITICAL FELO DE SE. 341
opportunity to shake off a weight of responsibility, with
out either compensating popularity or power, and when
the Cabinet met next day they decided at once to resign.
Eetrenchment was generally desired; and some species of
parliamentary reform was deemed inevitable, but there waa
nothing like an agreement among the half-dozen sections of
.Opposition as to where reform should begin or where it
should end. Had Peel been allowed an unfettered discre
tion in dealing with the motion of Brougham, he would
possibly have succeeded in setting Whigs against Eadicals
and Scotch Covenanters against Irish Catholics, thus de
ferring for a season the settlement of the question and a
change of Government ; but the Premier, like all his prede
cessors and nearly all who have succeeded him, was impelled
by some inscrutable impulse to commit official felo de se.
Mr. Pitt, after eighteen years' experience of the incoherency
and intolerance of George IIL, picked a quarrel with his
Majesty about religious disabilities, and threw up his office
when he could not prevail. After three years' self-exile, he
discovered that his sine qua non might with honour be
waived ; and he came back without being able to give any
logical account of why he had quitted. Lord Grenville,
with a majority to back him, tried, in miniature, a similar
experiment, and sought to oblige George III. to concede the
eligibility of Catholic officers to promotion in the army. On
being resisted summarily he abandoned the project he had
advised a few weeks before as indispensable, and thus tempted
the King to demand from him a pledge which, as a man of
constitutional loyalty and legislative honour, he could not
give. Perceval and Canning were cut off by death; but
Goderich had dug a shallow well in his garden for no other
purpose except for that of extinguishing his own existence ;
and now Wellington, when nobody wanted it, came forth
with a new confession of Conservative faith full of damna
tory clauses against all who did not believe in the divine
right of borough-mongers to name half the House of
Commons. It is far from clear that he could have been put

842 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
into a minority on any great question, had he acted with
his habitual prudence, and waited for the development of
Brougham's project of reform, which there was good ground
for believing was far from being matured. His anathema
by anticipation against all change, however moderate, sealed
the doom of his Cabinet, and saved the impetuous but per
plexed member for Yorkshire from the grave responsibility
his electioneering promises involved.

( 343 )

CHAPTEE XVII.
HOME SECRETARY.
The Grey administration — Eome Office — The Duke in Eampshire —
Anglesey and Stanley — State of Ireland — First Beform Bill.
On the 16th November Earl Grey was sent for by the King ;
he took counsel first with Lansdowne and Holland, and with
their concurrence sent for Althorp, and told him that un
less he would undertake the leadership of the Commons as
Chancellor of the Exchequer he would at once decline the
task of forming a new administration. Not without difficulty
did he prevail on his reluctant friend, who had been warned
by Lord Tavistock the night before that the responsibility
was likely to devolve upon him ; but he was unable to over
come his unaffected misgivings as to his own fitness, and
his genuine antipathy to the restraints and burthens of
office. He looked forward to a continued residence in town
with aversion; and no feeling of ambition or desire of
power weighed in the opposite scale. Palmerston, now the
ostensible head of the Canningites, was ready, and indeed
so eager for the post that he waited on Earl Grey in the
course of the afternoon, and offered himself for it.* But
though it was universally felt that without him, Melbourne,
and Grant no Cabinet could be formed. Grey was im
movable in his resolution, and the recluse of the Albany was
compelled to yield.
There yras hesitation for some days about the disposal of
* Lo Marchant, ' Memoir of Earl Spencer,' p. 212,

344 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
the Great Seal. Melbourne, who had sat in Cabinet with
Lyndhurst, and understood his flexibility, thought he might
with advantage be retained. He had never found any
difficulty with him; he stood well at Court; he was am
bitious, fond of luxury, and in debt : why not keep him
on ? Brougham coveted the EoUs ; but this would have
made him over-ruler of Whigdom. The Attorney-General
ship^ was offered instead. This would have left him but
an out-door servant of the Cabinet : " The Great Seal or
nothing," was his angry reply. The Duke of Bedford, who
was consulted confidentially, took his part, and deprecated
the scandal of throwing over a faithful and energetic friend
for the favour of the compliant Lyndhurst, who was con
soled, however, with the office of Chief Baron, it being under
stood that the holder should not be conspicuous in party
warfare. Lady Lyndhurst thought he had been trifled with
by the new Premier, and she refused to speak to him when
they met, though they had been intimate. It is certain
that Melbourne, Althorp, and the majority of their col
leagues thought it desirable that Brougham should be got
out of the Commons, and lulled, as they imagined, to repose
on the Woolsack. The bar laughed, Mr. Sugden sneered,
and William IV., who had occasional glimpses of political
forecast, assented not without reluctance. On the other
hand, the Times pronounced the appointment admirable,
and the London University was exceeding glad.
A very general expectation prevailed that Mackintosh
would be included in the new list of ministers. Holland,
who appreciated justly his marvellous attainments and true
elevation of political thought, much desired it, as did
Lansdowne and Althorp. But Grey entertained a decided
prejudice against him. " He thought him a time-server,
and rather a flatterer. He did not do him justice, and
avowedly did not like him." * The friends of Sir James had
consequently to be contented with his appointment as Judge
Advocate, in the hope that eventually he might be more
* Lord Lansdowne to the author.

SECBETABY OF STATE. 345
suitably rewarded. The philosopher was too honest to affect
indifference to the disparagement he did not deserve ; but
he could not afford to be left out altogether when his party
was coming in. Too proud to complain, he chafed in silence,
and tried to forget among his books the injustice that attends
unequal conditions of birth and fortune. Disappointment,
however, preyed upon him, and ere his vaguely promised turn
came he had ceased to pine. Even in sarcasm to compare
him with men, who by dint of acreage, effrontery, or com
plaisance, from time to time won their way into Cabinet
office, would be to trifle with the dignity of a truly noble
reputation. It was not long before the discrimination of the Duke in
his estimate of the men whose aid was best worth seeking,
and whose adhesion betimes might have prolonged his
ministerial existence, was fully vindicated. While Lord
Anglesey's impetuosity and imprudence inflamed agitation
in Ireland, unexpected diligence, promptitude, and vigour
was from the first shown by Melbourne in dealing with a
state of turbulence and crime in England long unexampled.
To follow the ablest minister of the evicted party, in the
Home Office, he was chosen at a crisis the most critical
in domestic affairs. The popular cauldron was already
seething with social discontents, and the additional in
gredient of organic change was in the new Premier's hand
ready to be flung into it. If it should boil over, and con
flagration follow, he well knew that for him all the high
hope and lofty pride, and historic aspirations, and con
descending patronage of the country, with whose fate and
fortune the master-thought of his life was to associate his
name would be swept away beyond a chance of retrieval.
For the credit of the incoming party, for the safety of the
realm, and specially and emphatically for the safety and
the credit of a Prime Minister at sixty-nine, it was all-
important to place at the head of the daily administration
of domestic affairs a man who understood them, whose good
sense would tell him without prompting what to do, and in

846 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
whom courage and good-humour would not fail in the day
of trial. It is impossible to believe that, having to choose
from a crowd of associates and aspirants of every degree
of talent, influence, rank, and fortune. Grey would have
perilled the splendid chance for which he had waited half a
century by giving the Home Department to any but the
man he deemed most flt for it. Why did he regard
Melbourne as most fit ? Not because he brought to the
performance of its duties technical knowledge of tape-istry ;
for he had not held during twelve months the secretaryship
for Ireland, and he had never been in any other office. Not
that he had a knack in spinning the staple or weaving the
web of Acts of Parliament ; for in four-and-twenty years he
had never framed a clause or moved to bring in a bill. Not
that he was a prize-fighter of renown in St. Stephen's ring ;
for it may with confidence he said that not half-a-dozen
persons could recall an instance wherein a speech of his had
produced any remarkable effect. It was certainly not because
he pressed his claims to prominent and important office ; for
there never was a man more given to make little of the gifts
that he possessed, or to exaggerate more his own short
comings. Want of regular occupation from the time that
he had left the bar had begotten in him desultory habits of
all kinds, calculated to render the punctual discharge of
multifarious official duties peculiarly laborious. He would
probably have been satisfied with the Duchy or Privy Seal,
and would certainly have preferred one of the other offices '
whose walls are not of glass, and whose occupants are
consequently left unobserved to perform their functions at
their own time and in their own way. The distinctive
quaUties which marked him out as fit to be placed at the
head of the civil executive seemed from the first to have
struck HoUand, who probably knew them best, and who
was himself beyond compare the finest judge of character,
and, on the whole, the most impartial and disinterested man
of whom the First Minister took counsel. His clear blue
eyes rested fixedly on Melbourne, and if any doubt had

QUALIFICATIONS FOE OFFICE. Ul
previously existed in the mind of the Premier it would have
been dispelled by his advice, and the recollection that no one
would be more acceptable personally to the King. What,
then, were those distinctive qualities which recommended
their possessor so irresistibly? William IV. liked him
because, as he used to say, "he was a great gentleman;"
by which he meant that under all circumstances he felt
that he could appeal not only to his sense of honour,
but to his generosity and genuine loyalty to the state.
Lansdowne valued him for his veracity and highmindedness ;
HoUand, for the wisdom of his wit and good-nature of
his candour ; Grey, for his indomitable spirit, which he
knew would quail neither under the displeasure of the
Court or of the multitude. With Palmerston and Grant
he had been bound up for three years, and they were of
course more than satisfied to see high distinction accorded
him, and to know that so large a share of the government
patronage would be dispensed by hands like his. With
the personal tastes and theoretical opinions of Althorp he
had little sympathy ; and with the impetuosity of Stanley,
the impatience of Durham, the inappeasahle restlessness of
Brougham, he was constantly amazed, sometimes amused,
and often very angry. But they all grew to liking him and
trusting him for the transparent frankness and directness of
his dealings, whether in great affairs or small ; and while
among themselves there were occasional jealousies and
squabbles, none of his colleagues during the time they
served together ever had a difference with him, or a
misgiving with regard to him. To the outer world with
which he came in contact personally the charm of his
manner was its perfect unaffectedness. Instead of making
speeches to deputations, he talked matters over with them ;
instead of ceremonious bows and mysterious nothings, in
answer to complaints of hardship or injustice, he would set
them at their ease by a friendly chat, and without pledging
himself to do what they asked, promised to look into it and
see what could be done. The pomp and platitude of office

848 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
were to him an aboiriination. Where resistance and re
buke were required, he pronounced it with earnestness and
emphasis, in simple words, and in accents grave but gentle.
Sometimes he would read the unreasonable a lecture, and
sometimes adjure the misguided not to be led astray by evil
counsel ; and when he deemed it deserved he would heartily
commend and praise, and whatever he had to say, he would
say it exactly as the impulse moved him, for he never officially
intoned the service.
On assuming the duties of the Home Office, he found
a state of things beset on all sides with social perplexity
and political alarm. The respect for property, which for
generations had been an almost unbroken rural tradition,
seemed to be suddenly melting away. Incendiary fires lit
up the darkness of the hungry night throughout thirteen
of the southern counties. The Duke of Buckingham wrote
from Avington to the ex-Premier :
Nothing can be worse than the state of this neighbourhood.
I may say that this part of the country is wholly in the
hands of the rebels. There are two troops of dragoons
and a few marines in Winchester. The 42nd started
from Southampton at nine o'clock this morning. But
they are already separated in different divisions, in con
sequence of different riots. 1500 rioters are to assemble
to-morrow morning, and will attack any farmhouses where
there are threshing-machines. They go about levying
contributions on every gentleman's house. There are
very few magistrates, and what there are are completely
cowed. In short, something decisive must instantly be
done.*
By the same post the Duke of WelUngton received from Sir
William Heathcote a letter equally alarming, and both were
forwarded without delay to Whitehall.
One of Melbourne's first acts was to issue a circular
* November 22nd, 1830. MS. at Apsley House.

DISTUBBANCES IN HAMPSHIEE. 849
calling on the magistracy, in the then disturbed state of
the country, to act with promptitude, vigour, and decision.
The open acts of violence and the secret and malicious
destruction of property daily taking place demanded that
the powers intrusted to the magistracy should be exer
cised with a firmness and vigour which are not required in
ordinary times. Measures which might strengthen the civil
force of the country, by uniting and bringing it together,
and giving it the power and efficiency which arise from
communication and union, were loudly called for ; and for
the purpose of assisting them in obtaining this object, in
maintaining the authority of the law they might rely on
the most steady and effectual support of Government. The
Duke acquainted Melbourne that he was going at once into
Hampshire, and would report as soon as it was possible to
dispense with the services of the troops, which he knew
were called for elsewhere. At midnight he wrote from
Strathfieldsaye : ^
It appears that yesterday a mob of three or four hundred
persons did a great deal of mischief in the neighbourhood
of Kington. They went this morning to Mr. Chute's,
about five miles from hence towards Basingstoke. They
were returning towarda Wolveston, an estate recently
purchased by me from Sir Peter Pole. They had levied a
contribution at the time. The magistrates of Berkshire
and Hampshire had removed a detachment ,of Guards
from Eeading to Aldermaston, which followed the mob.
The magistrates at Basingatoke moved the Lancers from
that town as soon as they heard of the approach of the
mob. They were thua inclosed between the two detach
ments, and the whole were taken. I am informed that the
pressed men were allowed to go away ; the ringleaders, to
the amount of seventy-one, were detained and brought into
Basingstoke this evening, the amount of troops employed
being small, twenty Guards and twenty Lancers.*
* To Viscount Melbourne, November 23rd, 1830.

850 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
In other counties the work of pacification was not so
easy ; and to stimulate the organisation and concert, without
which the scattered resources of authority must prove in
adequate, a confidential letter was sent from the Home
Office on the 25th of November to the Lord Lieutenant of
each county, of which the copy addressed to the Duke of
Wellington ran as foUows : —
In consequence of the acts of outrage and violence which
have taken place, and still continue to take place, in
different parts of the country, I am commanded by hia
Majesty to urge upon your Grace in the strongest manner
the necessity of taking, with the least possible delay, such
measures as may be effectual for the repression of tumult,
the preservation of the public peace, and the protection of
the properties and lives of his Majesty's subjects. For
these purposes I am assured that your Grace will feel that
the utmost diligence and energy should be exerted in
concerting measures with the gentry and yeomanry of the
county, in assembling and strengthening the civil force,
and in disposing and arranging it in such a manner as
may secure its general union and co-operation. In order
that your Grace's efforts may receive the most effectual
support and assistance, I have the honour of inclosing the
copy of a letter which I have addressed to all justices of
the peace, mayors, and other magistrates having jurisdic
tion in the county over which your Grace presides.
Eeposing the firmest reliance upon your Grace's zeal, it is
unnecessary for me to recommend the most prompt and
immediate personal superintendence of those parts of the
county in which insubordination and disorder may un
fortunately prevail ; but it is my duty to represent, that
if any circumstances should prevent your actual presence
in such disturbed districts, it is greatly to be desired
that your Grace should lose -no time in appointing a Vice-
Lieutenant, under the provisions of the 46th of George III.
c. 90, s. 45. Under the present circumstances I shaU

CONFIDENTIAL CIBCULAB. 851
wish to hear from your Grace as speedUy as possible after
the receipt of this letter.*
On the following day Melbourne wrote privately to the
Duke, to whom on this as on every other occasion he was
careful to pay the highest consideration and deference :
I have just received your letter of yesterday. If your
letters are not acknowledged officially, or as punctally as
they ought to be, you must attribute it to the great
pressure of business. We are to have a Cabinet to-day
at four, but perhaps I shall be so hurried as not to be
able to write to you after it. We shall send down a
special commission as speedily as possible, and a very
able and active solicitor, Mr. Talents, will go to-night to
Winchester to consider the cases, and to obtain and arrange
the evidence. We intend the commission to be for Hamp
shire and Wiltshire, but I apprehend, upon consideration,
Berkshire would be included, as I apprehend a good
many have been taken in that county. It should, how
ever, sit at Winchester first. With respect to yeomanry
and volunteers, the course I have taken hitherto is to
supply those who have actually embodied themselves with
arms ; I am a little afraid of being hurried by the vehemence
of the moment into the adoption of any expensive and
comparatively inefficient system, which it may not be easy
afterwards to get rid of. However, I am fully sensible
that the spirit of the gentry, &c. &c., must be excited and
encouraged in every way, instead of being chided. Any
proposition of this nature which you will send me I will
sanction. And perhaps you will favour me with your
opinion upon the subject, and will try to direct the spirit
of the country into the most useful channel. What do
you think of the measure of calling out the pensioners,
the magistrates' writ or order to be issued to direct them
to be sworn in as special constables ? The magistrates
* To His Grace the Lord Lieutenant of Hants, November 25th, 1830.

352 MEMOIRS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
have ^ihis power at present, but they think it might be
strengthened by such an order.*
Early in December a special commission was issued to
try the offenders, with whom the jails were full. In the
towns the working classes, though they condemned rick-
burning, sympathised with the blind despair of the farm
labourers, whose abject plight and bitter penury they well
understood.! The artisan and working classes knew that
from the gathering-grounds of poverty in the surrounding
districts the influx of want and labour into the towns was
increasing, and in bad times swamping. Some were for
baling out the tide by emigration, some for damming it up
in its well-head by a more stringent poor law, some for
drying it up by free imports of foreign corn ; but all agreed
that hanging for arson, or transportation for agrarian cabals
to raise wages, could not reach the core of the evil. The
new Home Secretary saw this clearly, and while he felt
obliged to maintain the authority of the law, he bethought
him of an expedient never before tried in England in like
circumstances, namely, to make confidence with some of those
whom the despairing multitude trusted, and induce them to
offer wise and temperate counsel, dissuasive from violence,
and pointing to relief, if time were given for its legislative
reaUsation. He sent his brother George to Francis Place,
whose abUity and honesty he had long appreciated, both as
a supporter and an opponent at elections ; and who he there
fore felt sure would not abuse the confidence thus reposed
in him. " We are of opinion that you can write to them with
more effect than any one else ; " and then he went on to explain
how his friends thought they should be spoken to.
This is always the way with men in office : they teU you
what a clever fellow you are, and then they patronise
you and instruct you, and show by their instructions that
they think you may be a clever fellow— only— then, it is
* November 26th, 1830. -f Place i. p. 84

POPULAE OPINION. 853
by being their tool that you will be a clever fellow. I
never show any symptoms of dislike to any such persons,
but let them talk on until they say all they have to say :
this was the case with Mr. Lamb ; and when he had done
speaking I gave him my reasons for thinking any writing
addressed to people at the present moment must be
mischievous, and he was satisfied the best way would be to
refrain from making any address to them just now. After
a rather long conversation with him on the state of the
people and their opinions, I took the opportunity of speak
ing to him respecting reform of Parliament. I found that
he knew very little of what was really passing The
information he had received appeared to be very vague
and defective. I told him much that was new to him,
and my views as to the future. I said that the right
course for his friends to pursue was straight and clear,
but that I feared they would not take it, and so did all
the men whom I knew whose information was extensive,
and whose opinions were likely to be correct, but at any
rate were such as ought to command attention. That
Lord Grey had on the preceding Sunday told a friend of
mine " that whatever proposition for reform might be
made by ministers, it must be such an one as the House
of Commons would entertain ; " and I observed if this rule
were adopted, nothing but mischief could result from it.
That if the people were thus handed over to the borough- ,(
mongers, there would be a tremendous outcry against;
ministers ; and their popularity would be destroyed, their
present small majority would become a minority, and they
would be thrust out with ignominy. That if, on the con
trary, they proposed a plan of reform which would destroy
corruption, by which the borough-mongers would lose their
control, and the members be returned by the great body of
the people having_anysort^f^rfiperty, so that they might
recover their just influence over their representatives,
ministers would be lauded and supported far more than
any administration ever had been. That it seemed almost
VOL. I. 2 a

354 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
certain, if they did so, that they would be out-voted and
compelled to resign, but that they would fall back upon the
people, the whole of whom would make common cause with
them, and compel the King to restore them to office, with
full power, as far as his influence and power went, to ac
complish a thorough reform in the Commons House. That
if they were driven out of office for having introduced such
a measure as that described, no ministers the King could
appoint would be able to keep their uneasy seats, and
remain in their hateful offices for six months, probably not
six weeks ; and when they were ousted by the people, and
their friends restored, they might carry any measures of
reform they pleased. Mr. Lamb assented to this, but cau
tiously and properly refrained from giving any distinct
opinion except on one point. I said, clear as was the
course ministers ought to take, and easy as it would be
found if it was courageously followed up, I did not think
his friends had the courage to take it and resolutely to
pursue it ; to this he replied "he feared they had not."*
Mr. Stanley's appointment was generally approved. His
courageous defence of the Church Establishment in Ireland !
could hardly be forgotten by the Protestants, nor his votes
in favour of emancipation by Catholics. His management
of an extensive estate in Munster was painstaking and
popular ; and his personal energy, love of work, and love of
humour would, it was supposed, certainly make way. Qualities
of mind and temper which tended to countervail his many
talents and advantages were then unknown, and under other
circumstances might have less early become conspicuous, or
have never retained predominance in popular estimation.
But at the outset the auguries were all favourable ; troops of
friends were loud in feUcitations, and some whose experience
gave them a right to counsel tendered their advice. Old Sir
John Newport told Lord Althorp that what he most desired
* MS. Political Recollections, &c., part i.
t Speech on Mr. Hume's motion, 1826.

MB. STANLEY. 355

was, that Stanley should have an under-secretary at the
Castle uncommitted to the evil ways of past rule, and fit to
be trusted implicitly to carry out the policy of his chief;
and when he thought it seemed likely that the old permanent
staff would be left unchanged, he went the length of saying
that his support could not be given to his friends in office
unless Gregory were removed. Spring Eice told this next
day to Stanley, backing it with the expression that it was
the only point on which he would volunteer advice.*
The Secretary of the Treasury, who understood the wants
and perplexities of Ireland well, and who feared the im
petuous and imperious temper of the new Chief Secretary,
endeavoured to induce Melbourne to take from the outset
a guiding as well as controlling part in legislation fbr that
portion of the realm. " He had a long interview with
him on the subject of Irish measures, and he gave him in
the shape of a memorandum all that occurred to him on
the Grand Jury Laws, with the heads of a plan which he
undertook to lay before the Viceregal Government, and on
other subjects the full and frank results of his opinions."
He likewise endeavoured to impress Althorp with his views,
but he " felt disposed to fling all the responsibility on the
Lord Lieutenant. This, he adds, will never do ; the failure
will be complete." ! Never was forecast more quickly or
literaUy verified: Just in proportion as the Home Secretary
was induced to forego the guidance and control of Irish
affairs, they became a source of disappointment and disrepute
to the administration. The sound principles advocated by
him when previously fllling subordinate, and destined to be
developed fully when he afterwards gained supreme executive
power, were forgotten during the next three years, and the
result was in every day deplorable.
Lord Anglesey's appointment a second time to the Vice-
royalty of Ireland had been hailed with general satisfaction,
and if Melbourne and Lansdowne estimated more accurately
* Letter to Stanley, November 18th, 1830.
t To Lord Lansdowne, January 3rd, 1831. 2 A 2

356 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.

than others his capacity for civil administration, they were
only too wUUng' to hope that the zest for popularity which
in 1828 had led him astray would be countervailed by the
opposite tendency already discernible in his youthful Chief
Secretary. But ere quitting London the rare opportunity
which circumstances had unexpectedly afforded the Whigs
of conciliating Ireland was rashly thrown away. In a long
conference at Uxbridge House, to which O'Connell had been
frankly invited. Lord Anglesey announced his intention of
retaining the law officers of the old Government, as well as
the Under-Secretary, and thus persisting in the same system
of religious exclusion which rendered Emancipation politically
a dead letter. O'Connell did not conceal his surprise and
indignation ; and declared at once that such a course would
array against the new ministers the whole Catholic com
munity, who had theretofore looked upon them as old and
faithful friends. It would moreover furnish him, he said,
with conclusive arguments in favour of his still undeveloped
project of Eepeal. Were it left an open question he was
content not to make it a shibboleth at elections ; and if
practically all distinction between Protestant and Catholic
were put an end to at once and for ever in the distribution of
office, the Irish people would begin to believe at last in the
law, and in the principle of equal justice. For himself he
asked no favour ; and not a word was said about the Church
Establishment. But if partisans of ascendency were still to
be officially preferred, he could not do otherwise than raise
the standard of opposition. Expostulation, however, was in
vain. Lord Grey had unfortunately confided to the indiscre
tion of the gallant Marquis the choice of his subordinates
in the Viceregal executive ; bereft of the hope that his per
sonal reappearance in Ireland would reawaken the cheers
of the populace as they escorted him to the shore on his
recall in 1828, he sadly set out on his ill-starred mission.
O'ConneU, he was convinced, was bent upon desperate
agitation. This, he adds, would produce no change in his
course and conduct. For the love of Ireland he deprecated

IBISE EXECUTIVE. 357

agitation as the only thing that could prevent her from pros
pering. He prayed for peace and repose. But if the sword
was really to be drawn and the scabbard thrown away ; if he,
who had suffered so much for her, was to become a suspected
character and to be treated as an enemy ; if for the protection
of the state he was to be driven to the dire necessity of again
turning soldier, why then he must endeavour to get back
into old habits, and live amongst a people he loved in a state
of misery and distress.* On the 19th of December Lord
Anglesey wrote requesting that no friend of his in Ireland
would think it necessary to meet him on his landing, and
thereby incur a share of his unpopularity, proofs of which
he anticipated. His mortification at the manner in which he
was likely to be received overflows in his letters at this time,
his sole offence being, as he avers, " a soUtary law appoint
ment."! This was the elevation of Mr. Doherty to the
Chief Justiceship of the Court of Common Pleas, which
O'Connell regarded as a wanton affront to himself. The re
ception of the reappointed Viceroy was not what his morbid
sensibility led him to fear. Many persons of distinction
met him at Kingstown and accompanied him to the Castle.
He encountered on his arrival all the evidences of popular
hostility. Agitation, which he himself had sanctioned as the
only effectual means of extorting justice, suddenly broke
forth anew. The Eelief Act was declared to have been a
cheat which it was not meant to carry into operation ; and
as neither Whigs nor Tories, according to O'Connell, would
keep faith, there was nothing left but to insist on a separate
parliament for Ireland. Mr. Stanley, who had been made
the special object of vituperation by the great demagogue,
sent him a challenge, which he scornfully refused upon the
ground that he had already fought one fatal duel. A
proclamation was issued putting down public meetings, and
a criminal prosecution was commenced against O'ConneU.
Had the law appointments in Ireland been filled up as
* Private letter to Lord Cloncurry, December 15th, 1830.
t Letter to Lord Cloncurry.

358 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.

they had been in England, reparation would have been made
to the Uberal bar for their long denial of fair promotion ;
aud law advisers would have been given to Lord Anglesey
who would have kept him from engaging in the deplorable
personal conflict into which he precipitately plunged. But
while Brougham and Denman were placed in office in
England ; in Ireland neither Whig or Eadical was treated
with the semblance of confldence or fair play. Lord Plunket
was indeed too formidable to be overlooked ; but Holmes and
Wallace, O'Loghlen and Perrin were practically told to stand
by ; and O'Connell, who in profeaaional standing, ability, and
influence stood without a rival, instead of being named
Attorney-General, as he would undoubtedly have been had
the Irish Executive of 1830 been responsible to an Irish
ParUament, was not even offered a silk gown. Practically
this was to proclaim not only that liberal opinions were a
disqualification for advancement, but, what was far worse,
that religious disabilities had not been removed, the statute
of the previous year notwithstanding. Mr. Blackburn was
a man of learning and integrity in every way fitted to
advise an anti-reform Government; but their appointment
as Attorney and Solicitor General was under the circum
stances equivalent to a declaration of want of confidence
in nine- tenths of the Irish people. After five-and-forty
years its fatuity and folly stand out as .clearly as they did
then, and how Melbourne and Plunket could have reconciled
themselves to such a selection must ever remain an enigma.
Within a fortnight Government declared war against the .
discussion of Eepeal, under a temporary Act passed in 1829
to prevent dangerous assemblages for political or religious
objects. Lord Anglesey issued a proclamation prohibiting
a meeting of trade societies in Dublin, which had been
summoned to petition for redress of the grievances ascribed
to the Union. O'Connell forthwith issued a manifesto calling
a similar meeting under another name. The Viceroy over
trumped him by a second proclamation ; and the ridiculous
spectacle was continued for many days of notice and counter-

PEOSECUTION OF O'CONNELL. 359
notice, until at length a warrant was issued for his ap
prehension on the charge of inciting to sedition ; and on his
being held to bail, the contest was transferred to the Court
of King's Bench, in which, as then constituted, the ultimate
decision could not be doubtful. After some weeks spent in
arguing pleas and demurrers which were overruled, O'ConneU
resolved, instead of going through the form of a trial, which
must have been a mere useless humiliation, to let judgment
go by default, and throw upon the executive the responsibility
of putting him in prison.
It cannot be denied that both Melbourne and Holland
acquiesced in a course of proceeding which neither of them
would have advised ; and Althorp expressed the feelings of
many of the best men of his party when he wrote con
fidentially : "I cannot say that I am satisfied with what is
doing in Ireland. Notwithstanding the unanimous opinion
of our law authorities there, I entertain some doubts of the
legality of O'Connell's arrest. But as our law appointments
are already censured by many, and perhaps approved by
none very much, we shall be considered responsible for any
blunders they may have made ; " and he thought it very
possible that when Parliament met they might be turned out
in consequence.* The fatuity of the whole course of pro
ceeding was proved in the humiliating sequel. O'Connell
had no mind to trust his fate and fortune in the decision of
a great constitutional question by the Court of King's Bench
as it was then constituted, and the right minded majority
of the Cabinet saw nothing but humiliation and defeat in
rendering inveterate a breach between the Liberal party in
England and Ireland. After a certain show of forensic skill,
a truce was tacitly agreed on, and by the first of March the
attention of all was riveted on the forthcoming scheme of
parliamentary reform, a statement of which by Lord John
Eussell was fixed for that day.
In the Court of Queen's Bench, Mr. Perrin, the leading
counsel for O'ConneU, withdrew his plea of not guilty, and
* To Earl Spencer, January 22nd, 1831.

360 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
the case was aUowed to stand over until the first day of
Easter Term, to the delight of all who deprecated further
excitement, and the disappointment of equally unthinking
friends and foes. Lord Anglesey was exultant because he
had won in the encounter ; the Attorney-General was
satisfied, because under hia advice the authority of law had
not only been asserted, but was shown to be irresistible ;
Ijord Grey was glad, because he hated the agitator, and
because his defeat enabled him to tell the King that his
power to stir up discontent was now at an end. This was,
indeed, the prevalent impression. in political circles, and was
the staple of many well-turned periods in the daily press.
To say that O'Connell was not mortified at having to admit
himself checkmated for the first time in his life by the law
officers of the Crown would be untrue. To imagine that by
this defeat he was likely to be disheartened or dismayed was
to wholly misconceive his nature ; and to suppose that the
people whose feelings he embodied, and whose passions he
wielded at will, would suddenly lose faith in him was a
mere delusion. Lord Duncannon's re-election for Kilkenny
was ostensibly opposed on the ground of his not being a
repealer; but the old popularity of his name did not
fail him, and as in the case of Sir Henry Parnell, just then
made Secretary at War, who was standing for the Queen's
County, agitation's guns were not shotted against him, and
he and O'Connell met a week after as if nothing had
happened. They understood one another better from that
day. The great debate on the introduction of the Eeform
Bill was at hand ; O'Connell's aid was wanted, and at the
critical moment it was not wanting. The thoroughness of
hi^ support evoked the hearty cheers of all on his side of
the House, his recent prosecutors not excepted.
Before the time arrived, however, for pronouncing the
sentence the statute was about to expire. Ministers were
already engaged in the struggles of the Eeform Bill, and
it was not convenient to detach a score or two of their
supporters on the question.

SUB-LETTING ACT. 861
Melbourne had not forgotten the impressions made upon
his mind, when Secretary for Ireland, of the hardships caused
by the Sub-letting Act. His retirement from office in 1828
had prevented his attempting their legislative remedy ; but
now that he had the power to originate measures, he recurred
to the subject ; and with a view to gain correct information,
addressed the CathoUc Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, whose
evidence before the Select Committee on all that related to
the condition of the Irish people he had studied with care.
Although I have not the honour of any personal acquaintance
with you, I am sure you will forgive me for addressing
you upon a subject which relates to the welfare of your
country, and upon which you are capable of affording me
useful and important information. You are probably
informed that we are engaged upon a revisal of the law
commonly called the Sub-letting Act, and for this purpose
I am very anxious to obtain some certain and actual
knowledge with respect to the real extent and effect of
its operation. The perusal of your evidence before the
Committee of the House of Commons in the last year
proves to me that no man is more intimately or practically
acquainted with the state of Ireland than yourself. In
that evidence I find, that the disposition (viz., to consoli
date farms, and eject the poorer tenantry) was encouraged
and aided by several legal enactments, among which I
may specify Sir John Newport's Act, next the Sub
letting Act, and afterwards the Act annexed to the late
Eelief Bill which disfranchised the forty-shilling free
holders  What I wish to hear from you is, how
many cases you actually know of, in your own knowledge,
in which tenants have been removed by their landlords by
virtue and force of that law ; and whether you ean com
municate to me the form of the notices which have been
served, and whether their validity has been disputed and
brought to trial ; and before what courts, and in what
manner the questions have been decided. I have myself

362 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.

made much inquiry to this effect, but I cannot obtain
authentic information of any single case in which prose
cutions in ejectment have taken place under that law.
This difficulty wUl, I feel confident, excuse in your eyes
the trouble which I give you by this application ; and I
remain with great respect, your faithful and obedient
Servant, &c.*
Bishop Doyle's reply, which doubtless contained much useful
information, led to further correspondence. Melbourne wrote
again :
I beg leave to acknowledge your letter of the 13th inst., and
to return you my thanks for the promptness with which
you have replied to mine. Upon reading your communi
cation, it appears to me that the effect which you ascribe
to the Sub-letting Act is actually that which the legis
lature intended to produce. The object of the law was
to prevent sub-letting for the future ; an object which,
according to your statement, is effectually attained by it.
The objection generally urged. against the law, and which
it is intended by the new law to obviate, is, that its
provisions have a retrospective effect ; but with the working
of the measure, as far as it is prospective, no interference
is contemplated. Will you allow me to trespass so much
further upon your time and intelligence, as to ask you
whether you think the law, in this point of view, prejudicial
or the contrary ; and what is the nature and character of
the enactment pointed out in your postscript, in which
you observe that a law going directly and not circuitously
to prevent the sub-division of land is what this country
wanted and still requires. !
His reply to the Home Secretary set clearly in moral and
political apposition the twofold working of the Sub-letting
¦* Prom the Home Office to the Right Rev. Dr. Doyle, &c., February
9th, 1831.
t Idem, February 17th, 1831.

A POOB LAW FOB IBELAND. 863
Act as originally passed. A parte ante it wrought uncom
pensated and unwarrantable confiscation. A parte post it
might be a prudent economic restriction upon the in
finitesimal partition of land. But so long as the rural
population had no better employment or surer chance of
subsistence than the possession of a potato-field, it was idle
to expect them to submit to eviction from their miserable
holdings. Intensely conservative in his love of order, respect
for law, and conviction of the duty of deference to authority,
he deplored the misery endured by the people, and felt
bound to uplift his voice stern as that of the prophets of old,
against sordid and shameful oppression. Again and again
he staked his reputation as a patriot and his influence as
chief priest of his diocese in dissuading the exasperated
peasantry from engaging in illegal combinations, and by
denouncing their resort to violence and crime ; but he
appealed both in private and public to the conscience of
their rulers to make without delay a provision for the
destitute poor, by a tax on land, equivalent to half the tithe,
which he contended ought to cease and determine. His
letter to Spring Eice expounding this policy as the true
antidote to revolutionary agitation, and the indispensable
requisite for national peace, won the assent both of the
Viceroy and O'Connell. The former pressed its adoption on
the Cabinet ; the latter publicly declared himself convinced
and converted.* But the Bishop well knew that such
changes could not be easily or suddenly brought about, and
that until Parliament should be reformed they were wholly
unattainable ; he readily, therefore, greeted and encouraged
every improvement in detail of the existing law which might
assuage 'bitterness of feeling or mitigate immediate misery.
He strongly deprecated the rearming of the yeomanry to
aid the police in the enforcement of tithes, and the per
sistent exclusion from administrative office of all who did
not profess the ascendant creed. But the Chief Secretary
resented passionately disaffection to the Union and the
* O'Connell to Dr. Doyle, March 29tb, 1831.

364 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.

Established Church ; both of which he persuaded Lord Grey
must be maintained at any sacrifice. The Premier Ustened
to his impetuous and imperious counsel, and the predial
war began which lasted many years. Isolated deeds of
violence were perpetrated with impunity, and sanguinary
conflicts, sometimes involving considerable loss of life, oc
curred in various counties. But to remove the causes of
social or sectarian discontent little, if anything, was done.
The state of anarchy in Ireland troubled Melbourne more
than it surprised him. He used to say, " it is too bad that
when the right thing was done it was done so tardily and
insincerely as to falsify every reasonable anticipation, and
to realise every evil augury. What all the wise men
promised has not happened ; and what all the damned fools
said would happen has come to pass."
Plunket had at length attained the reward of his priceless
services. No one any longer contested his claim to the Great
Seal of Ireland ; and no one felicitated him more heartily
than Melbourne, who remembered well the tantalisation he
had been forced to suffer under Goderich and Canning.
" The whole aspect of the man," he said, " is changed
since he has had his due. The look is iron still, but the old
fine polish has come back, and the cancerous rust that was
growing over it is gone." In social intercourse he again
grew communicative : loquacious, or what is called chatty, he
never was, but he was no longer moody or reserved. He
dined out oftener in London, and at home saw more company ;
and seldom suffered an occasion to pass without the mark of
his wit. One of the Viceregal aides-de-camp had written a
book of travels, to which he prefixed the epithet of " personal
narrative." Stanley, always fastidious in composition, quizzed
him as to the reason for the superfluous phrase ; and appealed
to Plunket to say what a personal narrative meant. " We
lawyers divide all things worth talking of into two kinds,
and all that is not real we call personal."

( 865 )

CHAPTEE XVIII.
THE REFORM BILL.
Ten Pound Franchise — Schedule A. — Majority in the Commons —
Bill rejected by the Lords — General Perturbation.
Lord J. Eussell, instead of claiming a seat in the Cabinet,
had stipulated when taking office that to him should be
confided the introduction of the ministerial measure of
reform ; and with him were associated Lord Durham, Sir
James Graham, and Lord Duncannon, as a committee to
prepare the bill. " Durham proposed the ballot, and Graham
assented from a feeling that the bill would all seem fiat with
out it, rather than from choice. I was against it, said
Lord John, and thought if adopted it would be necessary
to modify our plans respecting the suffrage. Duncannon
asked Althorp's advice as to what he should do, and the
latter said by all means vote for the Ballot. The report
to the Cabinet was accordingly in that sense, if there was to
be a £20 franchise." On this point wide differences prevailed.
Durham, Althorp, and Duncannon would have preferred a
£20 franchise with the ballot to a £10 franchise without
it. Brougham, Graham, and Eussell preferred the latter.
Melbourne said, " I am for a low figure. Unless we have a
large basis to work upon we shall do nothing;" and this
was the judgment of the venerable Premier, who forty years
before had advocated household suffrage, but who never
could endure the idea of secret voting.
During Lord John's statement Hobhouse sat next Baring

366 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
Wall, who exclaimed, when the long list of boroughs was
read, " They are mad, they are mad." All the Opposition
seemed delighted but Sir E. Peel, who looked serious and
angry, as if he had discerned that the ministers by the bold
ness of their measure would secure the support of the
country. " Burdett and I walked home together, and agreed
that there was very little chance of the measure being
carried. We thought our friends in Westminster would
oppose the £10 franchise, but we were wrong."* Popular
distrust held its breath, indeed, while awaiting the revela
tion of the ministerial plan. Place records how he sat alone
in his house at Charing Cross, on the evening of the 1st of
March, fearing to learn details of the scheme, which would
dash the hopes strained nearly to snapping. At length a
friend who had reported the flrst half of Lord John's apeech
came in, and gave him the chief points of the proposed
measure : —
It was so very much beyond anything I had expected, that
had it been told me by a person unused to proceedings
in the House, I should have supposed he had made a
mistake. We both were delighted, and we at once took
measures to cause it to be known in the coffee-houses in
the neighbourhood, whence it spread like wildfire. In
less than an hour from the conclusion of the speech, the
intelligence was spread all over the metropolis. Next
morning the joy of the reformers was excessive. Nothing
within my memory had ever before produced such general
exultation. Lord John treated his difficult and compli
cated subject in a masterly manner ; it was so well
arranged, clear, and simple, that no one could mistake
any part of it." !
Calling next day on Place, Burdett and Hobhouse found
him delighted with the Bill, and were told all their
supporters were equally pleased with it. The echo of
* Hobhouse Autobiography in ' Edinburgh Review.'
t Place, part i. p. 30.

FIBST EEFOEM BILL. 367
satisfaction came quickly from all the great towns, and
ere the day fixed for the second reading, petitions in favour
of the measure poured in. Nevertheless, looking at the
constitution of the Lower House as it then existed, it
seemed difficult to comprehend how it could be brought to
commit patriotic suicide. The enormity of the proposal
was, in Croker's opinion, its redeeming merit : for, of course,
it could never be carried. In point of fact it was only
carried after two nights' debate by a majority of one.
Even such a nominal success was more than had been
counted on out of doors. It had come to this, that Eeform
was no longer out of the question. Illuminations were
announced in honour of the occasion, and the windows of
those who refused to affect rejoicing would it was feared be
broken, according to immemorial usage. In the afternoon
a gentleman" called on Place from the Comptroller of the
Household, requesting him to take measures to prevent
mischief, and offering to provide any assistance that might
be thought necessary. Place told him " any one who
would spend money had the power to cause mischief to be
done ; but that no one had the power to prevent its being
done." If any one had the power he said it would not be
advisable to use it, for the reasons already given to his old
acquaintance, Tom Young, who had just been with him.
On many occasions men in power had permitted money to
be distributed to vagabonds to break windows ; clerks in
office and understrapper"s~hM'~d'5Iie"^s "their masters wished
them, to set the mob on to bawl for lights, that the ex
hibition of loyalty might be as complete as possible. He
knew people whose windows were broken, and who complained
to the magistrates ; but they were treated as disloyal persons,
and told that a few farthing candles would have saved their
windows ; and they were sneered at and laughed at in
Parliament. If no one paid blackguards to do mischief,
and there were no well-dressed rascals to hound them on,
there would be no damage done, except perhaps to the
windows of a few obnoxious lords. This was nothing

868 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.

compared to the destruction these fellows, and such as they,
had perpetrated on more than one occasion within his
memory; every vagabond expected that he should be
applauded for the mischief he did, and would in no instance
be prosecuted. The case was now wholly altered, and every
one who broke windows did so in fear of being apprehended
and punished. The Opposition, who pretended that the
people were giving up the bill and the ministers, and that
there was a reaction in favour of themselves, would, if no
windows were broken, shout victory, and hold up-the. circum
stance as proof positive of the_fact. Sooner than recommence
the old sysfemTlif giving money to the mob, it was better
therefore to leave them alone.*
Young had been recommended to the Home Secretary
by the Duke of Devonshire as a shrewd, handy sort of
man, whom he had found as purser of his yacht more
serviceable than men of better breeding. To his surprise,
and that of others, Melbourne named him private secretary,
and, as he said, made use of him as a weather-gauge when
nicer instruments were off their balance. Had he checked
the habitual bluntness of the man, or winced at his innate
vulgarity, he would have been no longer useful. " Through
him," he would say, " I am able to look down below ; which
\ for me is more important than all I can learn from all the
fine gentleman clerks about me." B-y long sufferance Tom
Young grew too familiar not not only with his chief, but
with persons who could brook it less good-humouredly.
But he was devoted, indefatigable, had a keen discernment
of the foibles and oddities of his master ; and save on one
occasion served him sagaciously and well.
Hopes of reaction rose high. It was clear that, without
a working majority, ministers had not a chance of carrying
their scheme through committee, and preparations were made
accordingly to fight it clause by clause. It was not thought
possible that the King would be induced to dissolve a Par
liament scarce eight months old to try an experiment
* Place MS., vol. i. part ii. p. 52.

SUDDEN DISSOLUTION. 369
so novel and so perilous. Melbourne did not despond, like
some of his coUeagues, or believe that the country would fall
into convulsion or ruin .if the bill were lost or the Cabinet
overthrown ; but he thought they were bound to abide the
issue they had raised, and prove to the country that they
were steadfast and sincere. They must go on until they
were stopped by a hostile vote. It came, on General
Gascoigne's amendment, in the middle of April ; and the
Cabinet unanimously advised a dissolution.
Never were the two Houses simultaneously so excited
as when the guns were heard announcing the arrival of the
King to dissolve Parliament. Sir E. Peel in vain essayed
to get a hearing, Burdett disputing the priority of audience.
Althorp moved that Peel should be heard, but Black Eod cut
short the intended protest. Sir H. Harding crossed the
floor and said to Hobhouse, " The next time you hear those
guns they will be shotted, and will take off some of your
heads." Lord Goderich describes the scene in the Lords as
even more disorderly. Lord Londonderry shook his fist at
the Duke of Eichmond, and the Chancellor was hooted by
the Opposition peers when he left the Woolsack. Lord
Tankerville said the angry lords would without scruple
have voted off the ministers' heads that day.*
Lyndhurst was sitting in the Exchequer, when he
received the tidings that without previous notice the King
was coming down to prorogue Parliament in person. The
House of Lords was already in disorder, several peers
trying ineffectually to be heard, in the midst of which his
Majesty entered wearing the crown awry and betraying
many signs of haste and anger. As he returned to the
palace he waa vociferously cheered by the multitude ; and
the Chief Baron, seeing clearly the error that had been
committed, whispered to one of his party, " All is- now lost."
The general election gave ministers a decisive majority,
and the struggle thenceforth became undisguisedly one
between the two Houses.
* Hobhouse, vol. ii. pp. 103, 105.
VOL. I. 2 B

370 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
Nearly all the large towns and most of the counties
sent to the new ParUament supporters of the Bill; even
smaller towns threatened with partial disfranchisement
did so too. The rotten boroughs belonging to Whigs were
likewise thrown into the scale. Their price, however, daily
diminished from the fear of coming abolition. Lord Yar-
borough, as guardian of the daughter of Sir L. Holmes, sold
to the Government for £4000 the next presentation to the
eight political stalls in St. Stephen's appurtenant to her
property in the Isle of Wight. The eight incumbents duly
prayed for sudden death, and had the rare privilege of per
forming the part of chief mourners at their own funerals.
Eeform was still a riddle, about the solution of which
the Cabinet itself was not agreed ; still less the legislature
or the country. " The Whigs felt how feeble was their hold
on the nation. They could count neither on the suppport of
the Eadicals nor the forbearance of the Tories. Some had
adopted Eeform from necessity, others from choice; that
they should act cordially together in the accomplishment of
their task was not to be expected."*
Elated with the success of the elections, and misled by
his law advisers, Mr. Stanley introduced on the 1st of July
a bill limiting, in Ireland, the privilege of having fire-arms,
and punishing their retention without licence in a manner
hitherto unprecedented in any part of the kingdom. Not
only the Irish members. Whig and Catholic, and the whole
body of the EngUsh and Scotch Eadicals, but even some of
his colleagues on the Treasury Bench disapproved of his
proposals ; his exposition of the measure was Ustened to with
amazement not to be concealed. The Cabinet had some
weeks previously acceded to his recommendation that the
existing Arms Act should be renewed for three years : but
he subsequently adopted a variety of suggestions rendering
the law more stringent and penal, and these he proceeded
to embody in the bill without consulting the Home Secre
tary or any other member of the Government. Althorp
* 'Memoirof Lord Spencer,' p. 237.

STANLEY'S ARMS BILL. 371
writing confidentially to his father on the following day.

I did not know that he had altered the bill and made it one
of the most tyrannical measures I ever heard proposed. I
was quite astonished, and so was Graham, for not one of
us had ever heard that these alterations were to be made
in it. We must stand by Stanley, but we must soften
down his measure. It is a great scrape ; for O'Connell will
have the credit of forcing upon us any modification which
is embodied in the bill.*
Melbourne first heard of the rash proceeding when he
read the Morning Chronicle early next day in his dressing-
room. He was very wroth; and wrote at once to the
Premier his opinion on the subject. Various concessions
were eventually made in committee, all of which were
received in Ireland with scornful exultation. Confidence in
the discretion of the executive was dangerously wounded,
and Stanley's wild threat of disarming the disaffected popu
lation proved wholly vain. The second Eeform Bill was
introduced by Lord J. Eussell, and on the 24th of June a
majority of 106 approved its principle ; the discussion of its
details commenced on the 4th of July, and was not brought
to a close until the 7th of September. A fortnight later
Althorp, accompanied by two hundred members, appeared at
the bar of the Upper Jffouse, where Lord John presented
the bill which was to deprive the lords of the power they
had long enjoyed of nominating a third of the House of
Commons. In the memorable debate, which lasted five
nights. Grey, Lyndhurst, and Brougham outshone all
others ; Plunket, Ellenborough, and Carnarvon, though each
in turn eloquent and effective, failed to command the same
degree of interest. The speeches of Lansdowne and HoUand
on the one side, and of Harrowby and the Duke on the
other, though full of weight were still less striking. The
Home Secretary took a course peculiarly his own. Others
* Letter to Earl Spencer, July 2nd, 1831.
2 P 2

372 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
had appealed to the remembrance of their continued advocacy
of the same opinions, as entitling their earnest adjurations
to be heard. His claim resljed on the opposite consideration.
He had argued against fundamental change as long as he
could consistently with his sense of duty to the throne and
the safety of the nation. No man had held out longer
against lifting the anchors of the state; no man had
oftener opposed reform when the nation did not want it ;
no man was more ready to admit the possibility of its being
abused if conceded ; no man would have been more contented
to remain without the concession. But it was clear that
the nation had set its heart on remodelling this portion of
its institutions, and it was worse than idle to set at nought
its irresistible will. His fearless candour in abjuring past
opinions when they had become no longer practically
tenable was better calculated to tell upon the minds of any
who were wavering than the mOst specious apologies for
inconsistency. But waverers just then were few. The
notion had been carefully instilled into the minds of
conservative peers, that some measure of reform having
become inevitable, they had but to reject the sweeping
proposals sent up to them by the other House in order to
eject their fabricators from office, and to place in their room
warier and wiser men, who would be able to find means for
reconciling the removal of certain electoral anomalies with
the retention of what was best worth preserving in aristocratic
influence. FoUowing Lord Harrowby, Melbourne said : —
My Lords, I am most willing to concur with your lordships
in applauding the ability displayed in the eloquent but
I must say miscellaneous and sometimes contradictory
speech which we have just heard from my noble friend •
indeed I cannot but think that much which- has
fallen from my noble friend would have been better
suited to a committee on the bill than to a motion for its
second reading. In what feU from my noble friend in an
early part of his speech I entirely agree ; namely, that it

SPEECE ON EEFOEM. 373
is incumbent on the various members of his Majesty's
Government to explain the grounds on which they sup- I
port the measure, particularly those who were formerly |
unfriendly to Eeform, and who have recorded their opinions
against it ; and being myself in this predicament, without
that intimation, I should have taken an opportunity of
stating the reasons which have induced me to vote for the
second reading of this bill. Nay, my lords, concurring
heartily with my noble friend at the head of the Govern
ment, in now proposing this measure to Parliament, I think
it my duty to state at length my reasons for supporting
it. To many of the arguments of my noble friend it was
impossible for me to Usten with any other than a favour
able ear; for they are arguments which 'I have myself
urged elsewhere. If ever there was an individual in the
country more anxious than another that the affairs of the
country might have gone on without being forced to incur
the hazard and responsibility which must result from so
great and fundamental a change in the House of Commons,
I am that person. That great philosopher and statesman.
Lord Bacon, says that the difference between civil affairs
and the sciences is, that while in the latter there should
be nothing but change and movement, the former should
rest for support on authority and reputation. " Verum
in rebus civilibus mutatio etiam in melius (even if the
change were for the better) suspecta est ob perturbationem ;
cum civilia auctoritate, consensu, fama, et opinione, non
demonstratione nitantur. In artibus autem et scientiis
tanquam in metalli fodinis, omnia novis operibus et
ulterioribus progressibus circumstrepere debent." Un
doubtedly the perturbation arising from change is to
be avoided ; but then the other terms of the proposition
must be observed. That which it is proposed to change
must be supported by authority, consent, reputation, and
opinion. If we find that the columns of that support are
snapped and faUing — if we find that instead of authority,
there is a disrespect for all authority — if we find that

374 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.

instead of consensus there is dissensus — if we find that
instead of reputation and opinion, there are aversion and
repudiation, it is then our duty to look about us and to
consider the dangerous situation in which we are placed ;
it is then time to propose some change, it is then time to
revert to the first principles of the constitution, that we
may repair the edifice which is tottering and crumbling
around us. My lords, we have been told by one of your
/ lordships that we ought not to yield to popular opinion,
that we ought not to be governed arhitrio popularis aurse ;
V and that it frequently becomes the duty of legisla
tive and representative bodies, and of all those having
authority, to resist the will of the people. I readily
admit the truth of that proposition. Else why have a
representative body at all ? The wildest democrat in
existence, those who assert that all power is derived from
the people, would hardly deny the proposition. No man
can suppose that it is the duty of a legislative body to
yield to every gust of the popular breath; no man can
suppose that in questions involving the immediate petty
interests of the people this should be done, much less
in making those fundamental changes which affect the
whole interests of a great country, and of which the
people are necessarily very incompetent judges. But, my
lords, although it may be our duty to resist the will of
the people for a time, is it possible to resist it for ever ?
Have we not in this case resisted it long enough ? I say this
the more freely, because I have on former occasions been
in the foreground in resisting parliamentary reform. Night
after night have I resisted it in another place, going far
beyond some of those who are now adverse to the present
measure. Wherever the flag of parliamentary reform was
hoisted, I ranged myself under the opposite banner ; if I did
not lift the standard of the constitution and call its sup
porters to the field, I was always ready to follow it and
went beyond others in repelling every approach to reform.
I always opposed in the other House of Parliament the

JUSTIFICATION OF CEANGE. 375
extension of the elective franchise to Manchester and
Birmingham. I look back with great regret to the period
when a motion of that kind was brought before the other
House of Parliament, because circumstances connected
with that motion deprived the administration of that day
of the services of Mr. Huskisson ; I shall never cease to
regret them, for I think, and shall, I believe, always think
that he was not fairly treated ; and that occurrence, I own,
first shook my confidence in the noble duke opposite. On
that occasion, however, I opposed the transfer of the
elective franchise to Birmingham, because in my own
heart I knew that if that proposition were adopted, it
must necessarily lead to a large measure of reform, like
that which is now offered to your lordships. For why,
my lords, give the elective franchise to Manchester and
to Birmingham ? Because they have become great em
poriums of commerce, daily increasing in wealth and
importance. Because they are full of men of opulence, of
spirit and intelligence, because they have arrived almost
at imperial grandeur and metropolitan magnificence.
Such of your lordships as oppose the Eeform Bill, the
noble earl who spoke last (Harrowby), and the noble earl
who preceded him (Winchelsea), would give those towns
the elective franchise because they have thus increased.
But the whole country has so increased, my lords ; and
it seems to me, therefore, as almost all your lordships
have given up the idea that there shall be no reform,
to be impossible longer to resist the adoption of the large
measure now proposed, or one equal to it. The noble earl
recommended us to give time to the people ; he said that on
former occasions, when the wishes of the people on this
subject have been resisted, when similar claims were made
and denied, everything has returned to a peaceful
channel. For a certain time that may be good policy ;
the argument is plausible, but all experience proves, when
the wishes of the people are founded on reason and justice,
and when they are consistent with the fundamental

376 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
principles of the constitution, that there must come a time
when both the legislative and executive powers must
yield to the popular voice or be annihilated. Two of the
great arguments against the measure are, that Eeform is
merely used as a weapon of party, and that the popular
demand for it is merely a temporary clamour that springs
up whenever any general calamity occurs, and subsides
when that calamity is at an end. Admitting both these
arguments to be well-founded, would it not be desirable
to deprive party of so formidable a weapon ? But when
your lordships see that on every occasion of public
calamity and distress, from whatever cause arising, the
people call for an alteration in the representation, and
that the call is accompanied with a deep rankling sense of
injustice suffered and of rights withheld, can your lord
ships suppose that an opinion so continually revived has
not some deep-seated foundation, and can you be insensible
to the danger of continuing a permanent cause for angry
and discontented feelings to be revived and renewed at
every period of public distress and calamity ? Do not, my
lords, be parties to the continuance of this evil, if I must
not say this great injustice. What constituted the great
dangers of the system formerly pursued towards the
Eoman Catholics in Ireland ? That it gave opportunities
to those who, as it has been well observed, " were always
lying in wait to take advantage of the disasters of the
country." It gave a handle to those who were always
ready to stir up sedition. The same kind of danger that
the empire was exposed to by the refusal of CathoUc eman
cipation, it is now exposed to by the denial of Eeform, but
to a much greater degree. The Catholics were com
paratively a small body, whose strength could always be
seen and measured, but the spirit of Eeform has been dif
fused through the whole population, and the whole people
may be said to be ready for commotion. My lords the
j popular feeUng on the subject of Eeform extends, 'your
I lordships do not know how far ; it penetrates, your lord-

POLICY OF CONCESSION. 877

ships do not know how deep; and the great danger is
that it will break forth with irresistible violence when
your lordships are flattering yourselves that the country
is enjoying general repose and perfect tranquillity, or
when it is immersed in other dangers, and has no arms
to resist a discontented people. I have already ob
served that my noble friend who has just spoken stated
many things which would have been better stated in a
committee. Why will he not allow the bill to go into
that committee ? I am sure my noble friend did himself
great injustice when he said that his right hand had so
far forgot its cunning, that he should be unable to adopt
any amendments to the bill. But my noble friend has not
stated one objection which does not apply only to the
details of the bill, and which may not be obviated in the
committee. Undoubtedly the measure is an extensive one.
It does away with the nomination boroughs; it takes
away one member from a number of other boroughs; it
alters the constituency of boroughs ; it proposes to add to
the county representation — a measure which has always
been proposed in every plan of parliamentary reform sub
mitted to either House of Parliament ; it proposes a general
alteration of the qualification throughout the country ; and
it introduces — which is not the least important part of
the bill— a great variety of regulations as to the conduct
and management of elections, with a view to conducting
them cheaply and bringing them to a speedy termination.
I will not deny that these are great and important
changes and alterations, requiring much deliberation, and
I regret that so much misapprehension exists in the
public mind as to the supposed delay in proceeding with
this bill. I cannot concur in the censure which has been
passed upon the House of Commons for the time and
consideration they bestowed on this very important bill.
That House could not have done otherwise and have done
its duty, and no time has been needlessly consumed, no
delay has been excessive, considering the great importance

378 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
of the measure. But as this great measure is eagerly
sought for by the country — as it is proposed by his
Majesty's Government — as it has been thus deliberated
upon and considered by the House of Commons, and as they,
with a large majority pray your lordships' concurrence —
will you, I ask, at once reject it? Will you, by a single.
night's vote, defeat the hopes of the nation, and cast away,
as if it were idle and worthless, the fruit of so much care ?
WiU you reject it on the ground that you may, perhaps,
hereafter entertain some similar measure? If such, my
lords, he the ground of your opposition — if you now oppose
the bill, promising to give a better measure hereafter —
consider, my lords, that such a promise is a condemnation
of the present system, and the justification almost of that
dangerous discontent which I have adverted to, and which
your lordships will not in that case remedy; but your
lordships will weigh and deeply consider the step proposed
to you ; and pause, I implore you, before you disappoint
the wishes of the great body of the people. My noble
friend has gone into the whole history of the question since
the American War. I can only say that into all the
considerations which that extensive and discursive survey
embraces, I am not prepared to enter, as the question
before your lordships is sufficiently extensive and im
portant in itself. Let us consider the circumstances in
which we are placed and the subject as brought before us.
Though aU things may undoubtedly go well as long as
the members of the other House act harmoniously
together— supposing however, which may easily happen,
that the members returned by the popular voice range
themselves on one side, determined to carry this measure
and those who are returned in a manner which I need not
point out, were to range themselves on the other, what, my
lords, would be the result ? Could such a contest be other
wise than perfectly ruinous ? Or suppose, my lords, that
we should range ourselves in continued opposition to the
majority of the other House and the wishes of the people

BASIS OF BEPEESENT ATION. 379

must not that lead to consequences the most disastrous ?
My noble friend misinterpreted the language of my noble
friend at the head of the Treasury, when he inferred that
the bill must not be touched or modified, and that your
lordships were to be no longer masters of the measure,
and must merely register the decrees of the House of
Commons. That is not the conclusion which I drew from
what was stated by my noble friend, nor will his language
bear such an interpretation. Nothing which fell from
my noble friend can warrant the assumption that he
wishes in the slightest degree to impede or control your
lordships' deliberation. The noble lord has asked what
is the basis of the measure, and whether it is not the
population ? Population is not the basis of the measure.
It wa's necessary that we should have for the purposes of
disfranchisement some practical rule, and therefore the
want of population was adopted as the rule to disfranchise
nomination boroughs. But there is nothing about popu
lation on the face of the bill. I do not mean to deny the
statements by which the bill has been supported in
another place ; all that I mean to say is this — that there
was a necessity for some strict rule both for disfranchise
ment and for enfranchisement, and population was un
doubtedly chosen as the rule for determining the places
which should continue to return members to ParUament :
but that mere population was the basis adopted for the
representation of the country I distinctly deny. We never
intended that population should be the basis of the repre
sentation of the country. The whole measure goes to
effect an extension of the present system of represen
tation, and adapts it more completely to the circumstances
and situation of the country ; but iflooks at property,^ at
different interests, and at different classes, as well as at
population. It is impossible, however, on the second
reading of the bill, when the general principle of Eeform
is the only question for our consideration, when we have
to determine whether there shall be a reform or not.

380 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
[No, no !] Noble lords are eager to disclaim hostility to
Eeform ; every one is anxious to show thai, he is a reformer ;
and noble lords now as indignantly deny the charge of
being anti-reformers, as they some years ago would have
spurned at the imputation of being reformers. When
that is the case, I put it to your lordships, as reform is
the general principle of the bill, and as that is now the
question for discussion, I put it to your lordships whether
you can now refuse to read a bill a second time of which
you approve the principle. It is agreeable to the course
of your lordships' proceedings to discuss the principle of a
bill before going into a committee ; and if you approve
of that principle, to go into a committee. Or are your
lordships prepared to say that you approve of the reform,
and will not go into a committee ? I appeal to the noble earl
who spoke early in the debate, and who introduced a bill in
the beginning of the session, in which he took a consider
able interest, but which I must say was of very trifling
importance as compared to this bill, and was as inconsistent
as a bill could well be, and the noble lord pressed your
lordships to allow him to go into a committee, merely on
account of the excellency of the object he had in view. If
your lordships oppose the principle of Eeform, you will not
allow the bill to go to a committee, but as your lordships
are all reformers, and as the bill is made to your hand,
you will surely assent to the second reading, and amend
and change it in committee according to the reason,
the sense, and the justice of the House. If not, what
alternative is there? What course will your lordships
pursue ? What do you propose ? If you wiU not allow the
bill to go into a committee, and there is no other bill,
what have you to offer ? If it is necessary, as is stated, to
appease the spirit of the people— if it is necessary to
propitiate them, your lordships wiU allow the bill to go
to the committee, and so spare yourselves the mortifica
tion of hereafter retracting, and of presenting some other
similar bill. The arguments which have been directed

UBGENCY OF THE MEASUEE. 381
against the details of the bill are fit only for the com
mittee, and I should wish to spare your lordships' time by
not now discussing them. I will not go, therefore, into all
the questions mooted by the noble earl. I do not deny that
this is a measure of great importance — that it causes great
change — that it will be foUowed by other great changes ;
that other measures will be necessary to carry it into
complete effect. There must be a change in the constitu
tion in respect to ministers having seats in another place.
There are some defects which may lead to other changes.
I would not exclude ministers from that House, nor allow
them to obtain seats there by any other means than the
voice of the people. I should be exceedingly sorry to see
such a change, but the bill will make other changes neces
sary to adapt it to the working of the constitution, and
to the circumstances of the country ; but to effect these
changes, I rely on the elasticity of the constitution, and on
its adapting power, which has preserved and improved it in
times past, and will not fail, I hope, to preserve and improve
it on future occasions. I am departing, however, from the
rule I laid down not to go into the details, which demand
more discussion than I can now give them. I must abstain,
though that is doing the n^easure injustice, because it is
not possible for me to go une length I wish. I will only
implore your lordships to consider the subject well, and
not now to touch those subjects which will best be con
sidered in the committee, but to reserve yourselves for
the discussion of those details in which you are, I trust,
determined to enter in another stage of the bill. Your
lordships are about to decide a great question — a ques
tion involving the peace and happiness of the empire
in a far greater degree than that great question it was the
glory of the noble duke's administration (the Duke of
Wellington) to conduct to a successful termination. There
is, however, I beg leave to observe to your lordships, a
great difference between this biU and that for the relief
of the Eoman CathoUcs, to which it has been compared.

382 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.

That measure, my lords, had been frequently demanded,
and as frequently refused, till at length you were forced to
forget your own previous resistance, and grant that which
you before denied. You are not pledged to any opposition
to this bill. You have it now in your power to grant
what will be considered a boon, on which the repose of the
country depends, and which is looked for with impatience.
By this bill you are not bound in any manner. You have
never rejected this or any similar bill. Some of your
lordships may in the other House of Parliament have
expressed an opinion on Eeform; but as a body — as a
House of Peers — you are unbound and uncompromised.
Your lordships have free liberty and power to decide as
you think fit, and you will come to the decision free
. from the infiuence of fear, free from all apprehension, free
from all menace, free even from that fear by which a
noble and generous mind is sometimes led to rash and
untimely acts — free, my lords, from the imputation of
fear. The noble duke stated at the beginning of the
debates on the subject of Catholic Emancipation, that he"
did not consider that he was addressing himself to your
lordships' fears. I am not of a different opinion. It is
said that the great meaaure of Catholic Emancipation haa
not accomplished all that was promised. I admit that —
but I would beg leave to ask what would have been now
the state of Ireland had not that measure been passed into
a law ? If the want of complete success is to be ascribed
to the conduct of one man ; if he has had the power
to oppose the beneficial workings of the measure, and
delay its advantages, I must say that the power of that
man is the creature of your lordships' hands ; your
obstinacy gave him influence, and gave him the power
which he possesses to impede the healing effect of that
beneficial law. That he should bave had the power to
raise obstacles to the peace and tranquillity of the
country, is a circumstance which I deeply and seriously
lament ; and I implore your lordships to raise up no such

BEPLY OF LYNDHUBST. 383

other man, not to give a scimitar into the hands of many
such men, by making the people believe that their humble
petitions are disregarded, and that they must not look to
your lordships for redress. Do not, my lords, arm a host
of demagogues with the discontent of the people. What
ever other motives may actuate your lordships, I implore
you not to be guilty of the rashness of fear ; I implore
you not to be guilty of the greater rashness of delay. I
will remind your lordships of the address of the Eoman
Consul to his council on going to war, when he planned
that masterly march which overthrew the Carthaginian
general before he could unite himself to other forces — a
march which, perhaps, changed the destinies of the world.
What that great man then addressed to his council I will
presume to repeat to your lordships. He assured them
that their safety depended on the adopting his plan
immediately, and that there would be danger in delay. He
exclaimed, " Only do not procrastinate — do not make that
measure which is safe, if adopted immediately, dangerous
by delay." Ne consilium suum, quod tutum oeleritas fecisset
temerarum morando facerent.
Lyndhurst was the soul of opposition to the Eeform Bill,
but held back till the fifth night of the debate on the
second reading to answer Brougham. He praised his rival's
eloquence, but charged him and Melbourne with incon
sistency, quoting their former speeches against democratic
change. Lord Grey replied that these had been utterances
against universal suffrage and annual parliaments, not
against the enfranchisement of thrift and trade. But had
not the Chief Baron been in other days a far-going friend
of Eeform ? Every one knew that the retort struck home ;
yet Lyndhurst intrepidly assured the peers that it was not
true. Denman whispered Le Marchant, " Villain — No, he
was a Democrat ! "* — for he had gone circuit with him,
and frequently heard him advocate not only Eeform, but
" ' Memoir of Earl Spencer,' p. 850.

384 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
the substitution for Parliament of a constituent assembly
like that of France. The Lords, notwithstanding, beUeved
in their judicial leader, who thought that, if beaten,
ministers would resign. In point of tactics the blunder
was irreparable; it consolidated the hitherto uncemented
materials of the Eeform party, and created for the first time
a wave of excitement throughout the country, which even
Melbourne, with all his incredulity and caution, saw must
be headed, or it would overwhelm all.
By a majority of forty-one in a crowded house the minis
terial bill was thrown out. Althorp wrote to his father
next day : —
It appears to me that a majority of forty-one is not to be
coped with. I am sure neither Grey nor myself can stay
in unless we have a reasonable prospect of carrying a
measure as large as the one we have lost ; and I do not
see how we can say that we have a reasonable prospect of
doing this in the face of such a majority. By the ordi
nary rule we ought to resign. I am inclined to think
that this is the only mode of carrying Eeform. I think
it will never pass the House of Lords unless it is brought
forward by its enemies, as the Catholic Question was.*
Melbourne leaned at first towards the same' conclusion. The
Cabinet met in the afternoon, and decided nothing. But
in the course of the next few hours tidings reached the
Home Office from various quarters of the most alarming
nature. The people, who had had in general no idea that
the bill was really in danger, became suddenly exasperated
by disappointment ; and commotion on all sides grew im
minent. Mobs assembled at various places; most revo
lutionary language was used by persons hitherto moderate
and calm ; even the leaders of political unions betrayed
their anxiety lest they should not be able to guide or
control the passions of the hour; and not a few of the
* ' Memoir of Earl Spencer,' p. 354.

THE BILL AGAIN BEJECTED. 385
lords who had voted in the late majority expressed their
anxious wish that resolutions pledging their party to a
large measure of reform should be forthwith moved in the
Upper House, in the hope of thereby allaying the tempest.
Upon consultation, however, no agreement could be come to
as to the terms to be employed, and nothing was done. The
King and the Commons concurred in desiring that ministers
should not resign, and throughout the country a fierce de
mand was raised for the creation of peers. Durham, who
was ever ready to outbid his coUeagues for popularity,
vehemently urged this course ; but the Premier, supported by
Eichmond, Lansdowne, Melbourne, and Palmerston, resolved
to keep this expedient in reserve and until the last extremity.
The second Eeform Bill was again rejected by the Lords
at the instance of the Duke of Wellington, who was swayed
chiefly by the advice of the Chief Baron.
Place writes in his diary, on the Oth of October : — " In
the afternoon a journeyman bookseller named Bowyer called
and introduced himself, and said he was in conjunction with
an attorney's clerk named Powell to get up a great meeting
of the working classes and others, to form a procession and
present to the King at his levee an address that they should
pledge themselves to stand by the King, his ministers, the
House of Commons, and the bill." Place encouraged him all
he could to proceed with it, and gave him a circular note
with the names of many persons to whom he might show it,
as wellfor_pecuniary^aid as personal^ j,ssistance and re
ference to others ; and notes to every jperso.njc.onducting the
daily papers, requesting themjojnsert paragraphs ; they did
so, and the project was immediately made pubUc. " I gave
him a note to Mr. Young, Lord Melbourne's private secre
tary, and advised him to communicate_iree:^_jnt[i_Ypung,
but to tell him he did not come for either advice, approba
tion or disapprobation, as he had resolved to go through
with the business, and to let him know that the whole of it
would be conducted in an orderly, discreet way, so that no
one need fear any disagreeable results. This was done ; and
VOL. I. 2 c

386 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
when I saw Mr. Young I repeated what I had said to
Bowyer, and advised them to keep the police and soldiers
out of sight."*
Birmingham and Bristol led the way in revolutionary
projects. In the former town, a notice was issued for
public meetings by the council of the Political Union to
organise the non-payment of taxes until the Bill was
carried ; and the people were told to come armed. It was
impossible for Government to allow such an assembly to
take place ; yet an attempt to disperse it by force would in
all probability have caused a violent schism in the ranks of
their supporters, and thereby destroy their only chance of
peaceful triumph. Fortunately the council of the Union
had for its chief adviser Mr. Henry Atwood, who, whatever
his speculative errors may have been, had no sympathy
with appeals to violence or terror. One of his active col
leagues, Mr. Joseph Parkes, a solicitor in good practice,
was personally known to Place, from whom the Home
Secretary constantly received information ; and through him
a communication was unofficially made, pointing out the
folly and danger of the threatened proceeding. Parkes
executed his difficult task with fidelity and skiU ; and the
meeting was indefinitely postponed. At Bristol it fared
otherwise. No sagacious leader there held the reins of
popular feeUng in hand ; and because there was no regular
organisation, it was supposed that there could be no serious
peril. The entrance of Sir Charles Wetherell in a aort of
p^rty triumph, when about to open the seaaions as Eecorder,
kindled the first sparks of turbulence, and ere many hours
the city was wrapped in its flame. The magistrates at
first treated the uproar with indifference, and subsequently
showed deplorable want of decision. Business was sus
pended ; the inefficient constabulary were overpowered ; the
houses of obnoxious poUticians were set on fire, and the
work of pUlage began. Upwards of £300,000 happened to
* 'Vol. ii. part i. p. 25.

BIOTS AT BEISTOL. 387
be in the Post Office, which would have fallen into the hands
of the mob, had not one of the clerks courageously under
taken to convey it without any guard to Bath. Destruction
of property and life, accompanied with many circumstances
of wanton cruelty, ensued ; strangely at variance with the
general character of the population. Vigorous measures
of suppression were taken, however, by the Home Secretary;
and at the end of three days order was restored, and the
principal delinquents were handed over to justice. To
guard against a similar outbreak in London, discretionary
powers were conferred by Melbourne on Lord Hill, and in
his absence on Lord Fitzroy Somerset, to hold the troops
in readiness ; and no breach of the peace in the metropolis
occurred. Melbourne, speaking of the Corporation of Bristol in
reference • to the riots, and comparing the conduct of the
people of Bristol and Birmingham, the latter of whom had
been unjustly impugned, said " he had no apprehension of
mischief at Birmingham, where there was no corporation.
He had no doubt at all that the very same description of
persons who made the riots at Bristol would at Birmingham
be employed to prevent rioting."* " The words last quoted,"
aaya Place, " are not in the published speech, but I was assured
at the time, and this assurance has since been repeated to me,
that the words were used."
Faith in the security of movable property had not
received such a shock since Chief Justice Mansfield's library
was given to the flames by Lord George Gordon's mob. Two
generations had passed away since that outbreak of bigotry
in alliance with ruffianism, and the old traditional belief
had come to doze again in peace. Those who had something
to lose were so much stronger in England than those who
had nothing, that danger of plunder and arson was as much
a thing gone by as peril from foot-pads on Hounslow Heath.
Suddenly the lurid blazein which half Bristol was threatened
¦* MS., vol. ii. part i. p. 124.
2 c 2

888 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.

with ruin threw a ghastly reflection far and wide over the
land. What town could teU whose turn might be next?
The utter impotency of the effete system of municipal watch
and special constables had heen proved during three days of
bloodshed and rapine in the most conservative community
in the realm. What would become of free-spoken and free-
thinking seats of manufacture, if ragamuffinism there should
catch the contagion ? And what would become of London,
with its accumulations of realised property widely scattered ?
It must be confessed now that men came to think of it, their
goods were wholly defenceless should the hungry multitude,
whom no man could number, take it into their heads to have
a raid and a general bonfire. It was a terrible question for
those in power, and especiaUy for a Home Secretary, to whom
in emergency the entire community instinctively looked in
their helplessness for the means of protection and orders
what to do. Melbourne did not conceal his anxiety from
those around him. He did not believe in the possibility of
any serious injury being attempted to the dwelling of
Eoyalty or the offices of the Government. The interchange
of a few communications with the Horse Guards assured
him that the chief places in Westminster might easily be
protected from molestation. Nor did he think the City was in
much danger, even though another Lord Mayor should prove
himself as great a blockhead as Sir John Key. But for the
rest of the metropolis he shuddered daily, for he knew how
deficient in numbers and organisation were the New Police,
as they were still called ; and he felt that unless the
" Haves" should volunteer to organise some method of self-
protection, " the Have-nots " might rifle or burn any district
they pleased, or any two or three districts simultaneously,
if sufficiently remote from each other, before the gUtter of
bayonets could scare them from their prey. It was not with
out a groan and a certain amount of profane swearing
that he read the bold but timely counsel given by the Times,
that associations should at once be formed by loyal men who

VOLUNTEEB POLICE. 889
were Eeformers, for the purpose of constituting themselves a
volunteer constabulary for the defence of property and order
during the existing state of things. The improbability that
the busy and unarmed men of the middle classes could be
got together in such numbers, and induced to submit to any
sort of discipline or drill by any amount of newspaper suasion,
did not allay his fears that London might, like Paris, become
a hive of revolutionary sections. But he soon learned that
there were many and determined men who saw in the peril
of the hour an opportunity not to be neglected for fabricat
ing a casting weight for the political scale. The men of '
Birmingham had already their Political Union. The leading
Eadicals of the metropolis quickly took the resolution of
forming a similar society ; for the twofold purpose of
securing the passing of the Eeform Bill and defending order,
property, and law. As politicians, they felt that if the
imputation of disorder and spoliation were not stamped out
by overwhelming demonstrations, the cause of progress was
lost ; and they knew, as citizens, that after the expectation
which had been raised, the excitement and perturbation
which paralysed business would never cease until the
promised measure was carried. The steps by which during
November the new organisation was rapidly called into
existence are chronicled in the journals of the day ; but the
reasons and explanations which led to each resolution, and
not unfrequently to its retractation or modiflcation, are only to
be gathered from the letters and personal narratives of the
chief actors in the scene, most of whom have long since passed
away. One of the most graphic accounts is that contained
in the poUtical narrative of the events of the period by
Bentham's friend at Charing Cross. He enumerates with
pride the active men, fellow-workers with himself, whose
energy and worth he lauds enthusiastically, — others who
were marplots, he scruples not to brand as fools or worse ;
but who nevertheless took part in rocking the cradle of
the scheme of volunteering in defence of order. Among

890 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
the former were Major Beauclerc, Mr. Eoebuck, W. J. Fox,
Colonel Jones, and Erskine Perry. The Ultras distin
guished by the name of Eotunda Men (from the place where
they used to assemble), finding they could not have their
way, appeared to have co-operated with the stronger and
wiser majority. The general meetings of the Union were
attended by several men of distinction, and drew vast
audiences together. But its real work consisted in an active
propagandism for the enrolment of members in separate
local societies, all of them framed in exact accordance with
the ceiitral model, but each being self-contained and distinct
the from rest. The deputations sent to each district had
strict instructions to excite their friends to organise a
local union for themselves ; but as soon as they saw it was
about to be done they were to make it a point to withdraw ;
and thus to furnish no excuse for the accusation that they
were infringing the statute of George III. enacted for the
purpose of preventing the existence of corresponding societies.
Nor was their caution superfluous. Various attempts were
actually made at the time at rival schemes with the most
revolutionary designs, which fell into the mistake of organis
ing branches and appointing delegations in the hope of
thereby effecting by combination of members and concentra
tion of authority what they lacked in weight of character or
position. Some of these openly attacked the transfer of
property by inheritance or will ; others affected to assert the
right of appointing officers and constables whom all persons
must be compelled to obey. So formidable did these begin
nings of sedition appear that the Home Secretary, with the
sanction of the Cabinet, submitted to the King for his
signature a proclamation, which was issued on the 21st of
November, and which warned the people against incurring
the penalties of the law that forbade associations with
affiUated branches, with grades, divisions, and subordina
tion of officers, as subversive of the royal authority. At the
next meeting of the Political Union the chairman thanked

LONDON POLITICAL UNION. 391
 =  I
ministers for the proclamation, as calculated to do their
society infinite service ; as they had taken care not to offend
against the statute as the wild and wicked counter-schemes ¦
were safe to do. Melbourne was kept accurately informed
from day today of all that was going on : he believed that
Pla"cei whatever his views and opinions might be, would jiot
deceive him as to matters of fact ; and in this he was not
mistafenTTntn times of commotion no duty of a ruler is
more imperative, yet none more difficult, than that of stand
ing fast when sanguine or bewildered friends on all sides
are shouting that something decisive must be done — they
know not exactly what. During one of the not unfrequent
paroxysms of the time the Home Minister was reminded ofthe
many letters calling for some new and peremptory instruc
tion as to the course to be taken in case of possible
emergency; but neither Chief Clerk nor Under-Secretary
could point out distinctly what the novel direction ought
to be : " Whenever you are in doubt," he said, " what should
be done, do nothing."

892 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.

CHAPTEE XIX.
parliament reformed.
Correspondence with Bishop Doyle — Power to make Peers — Projects
of compromise — Second reading carried — Defeat in Committee —
Disturbed condition of Ireland— Commandership of the Army.
Melbourne's position at this time was arduous and anxious.
Eesponsible as Home Secretary for the peace of the country,
he had to deal continually with incidents and ebullitions of
popular feeling, dangerous to neglect and still more dangerous
to palter with. Every day agitation out of doors grew more
and more inflamed. Scotland, usually so quiet, gave forth
wild and unwonted sounds ; and Ireland was ablaze with a
fury of its own againat Church Establishment. Bishop
Doyle, who believed the movement for repeal to be delusive,
sought to divert popular attention to the abolition of tithes,
which practically touched the farming classes far more nearly
than any question of representation. His memorable expres
sion, in a published letter on the subject, became stereotyped
as the motto of every public gathering in the central and
southern portions of the island : " May the hatred of the
people to the exaction of tithes be as lasting as their love of
justice." Lord Anglesey adopted in principle the views of
Dr. Doyle, and told the Home Secretary that the reduction
of the Anglican establishment in Ireland was the only
antidote to the cry for repeal. He pointed out that for thia
the Presbyterians of the north and the Whig gentry every
where would coalesce, and that it presented the most feasible

BISHOP DOYLE. 393

and tangible result which that portion of the empire could
gain by Eeform. Melbourne, who had voted for concurrent
endowment in 1825, as a condition of emancipation, would
willingly have promoted a redistribution of Church property,
suited to the wants of the three denominations ; but his
colleagues were engrossed with English and foreign policy :
and with Stanley representing the Irish Department, he saw
that it was hopeless to raise prematurely the question of
the Irish Church Establishment which, sooner or later, he
believed must be dealt with. Lord Anglesey's apprehen
sions and anxieties regarding Eepeal he tried to soothe as
valetudinarian : for, the gallant Marquis was a great sufferer
from bodily pain, and was not a little mortified by his
unpopularity during his second term of viceregal office. He
was more disposed to give heed to the statesmanlike sug
gestions of Dr. Doyle, whose thoughtful letters were
shown him by Sir Henry Parnell. Twice he had succeeded
in breaking up the agrarian confederacies that spread ter
ror through his diocese, though he feared their recurrence
- daily if a change of measures and of men were not speedily
adopted. I have been on the best of terms, wrote the Bishop, with
O'Connell since he relinquished the agitation for repeal
of the Union, and I would most willingly labour to dissuade
him from reopening that question, if the state of Ireland
be taken up in a decided way by Government. But, even
now, the difficulties created within the last year are great
beyond belief, and are every hour increasing. I cannot
account on any principle for the errors that have been
committed. If anything happens to the Eeform BiU, the
administration is ruined in both countries ; and this, in
Ireland, through their own wilful blindness. It ia useless
to advert to the question of poor laws, or to any other,
until the system in this country is changed. AU my
thoughts are occupied with apprehenaiona for the future.*
* To Sir H. Parnell, August 8th, 1831.

394 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
Lansdowne, Duncannon, and Spring Eice appreciated
equally the value of these views, and understood to what
they pointed. After many communications with the Chan
cellor and the Premier, Sir Henry felt himself warranted
in teUing his correspondent that no insuperable obstacle
stood in the way of offering professional rank and office
to O'Connell, provided it were ascertained beforehand that
he would accept it ; and he authorized the Bishop to act
upon his own discretion in the matter.* Melbourne had
not forgotten the desire of O'Connell in 1827 to have a
patent of precedency ; and to this distinction he now argued
he was more than ever entitled by his transcendent
superiority to his rivals at the bar. It was, after all, but
the tardy acknowledgment of a debt of justice, which ought
to be no longer withheld, and upon the party now in
power his recent claims were undeniable for the aid he had
rendered in debate on Eeform. Tha sagacious prelate, who
was as little of a courtier as a flatterer of the multitude, had
urged the expediency of giving some pledge to the popular
members in London of substantial changes in Ireland, pre
vious to the close of the session, if the country was not
to be thrown into a state of anarchy during the recess.!
He thought Government were right in endeavouring to
induce O'Connell to take responsible office; and believing
him to set some value on his opinion, he promised he would
urge it with all his might. In case of disappointment there
would be time for further deliberation ; but he would risk
everything rather than submit to continued abuse of power
against right and justice.^
In reply to another letter from the Secretary at War,
after the second Eeform Bill had been rejected by the Lords,
he said : —
I shaU, as you desire, write this evening to Mr. O'Connell.
He will be in the hands of the agitators even before my
* September 27th, 1831.
t Bishop Doyle to Sir H. Parnell, October 1st, 1831.
t Idem, October 10th, 1831.

PATENT OF PEECEDENCY. 395
letter arrives ; but the moment is not one that he should
select for agitation, and he may pause. My (first) applica
tion to him was more successful than I anticipated ; but
finding how isolated was the proposal of office made to
him, I fully agreed with him that it should be rejected.
Does the Government, or any member of it, suppose that,
seeing their acts for the last year, we can expect a change
if they hesitate to state, however confidentially, that
there will be a change, and to what extent ? or do they
imagine we are such simpletons as to commit ourselves
with a bad system, cast from us the means of improve
ment which we possess, and render ourselves, for base
lucre, the byword of the age ? I leave home for two or
three weeks, and will remain in the neighbourhood of
Dublin. I intend to pass a few days with Blake, who is a
depositary of all knowledge. I shall not, however, inform
him on the subject of O'Connell. I still hope, though but
faintly, that your efforts may be successful. I will see
O'Connell on going to town.*
At the opening of term the great tribune appeared in
court and presented his patent of precedency, which, it is
needless to say, could not have been issued without the
direct sanction of the Home Secretary and the Chancellor
of Ireland, both of whom would doubtless have agreed
to follow up this beginning of administrative concession
by his appointment as first law officer of the Crown. A
brief note from O'Connell to a trusted friend declared
that " within an hour he could be Attorney-General." No
assurance, however, of even a modified policy, such as
Parnell led him to hope for, would be given ; and O'ConneU,
thinking he had been trifled with, renewed his attacks on
the Government, and publicly admonished Bishop Doyle
against being deluded by viceregal blandishments. The
sarcasm was undeserved ; but though it wounded the
susceptibility of the prelate, it did not warp him from his
* To Sir H. Parnell, October 17th, 1831.

396 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOURNE.
disinterested course. He still confidentially reiterated his
advice to those in power that they should " come to some
understanding with O'Connell ;"* while Stanley held 'office
this was impossible, for he regarded such an alliance as
derogatory to the position of the Government.
A minority in the Cabinet, consisting of Grey, Lansdowne,
Eichmond, Palmerston, and Melbourne, would have made
concessions of importance to secure a measure of moderate
reform. They feared the recurrence of outbreaks like those
at Nottingham and Bristol, and, still more, ways of organised
agitation becoming habitual in England, which in Ireland
had proved so formidable. Grey and Palmerston had several
communications in November with Harrowby and Wharn-
cliffe, who were recognised as the spokesmen of a party of
compromise supposed to be influential. As long as pour
parler was devoted to the interchange of regrets at national
division, and fears of the subversive tendency of dema-
gogueism, all went well. But, from the first, Melbourne's
common sense discerned that they would never be able to
agree about details ; or, if they did, that one or other of the
great parties, now thoroughly roused by conflict, would fly
off in a rage from the terms of compromise when clearly
placed before them. Matters had not gone very far when
the truth of these prognostics appeared. Earl Grey would
have risked a good deal to save " his order," which he began
to think in jeopardy ; but he did not want to throw away his
popularity for nothing. Peel had never committed himself
broadly or embarrassingly against enfranchisement or dis
franchisement, and even the Duke had become a convert to the
policy of some change. But neither would endure that the
conduct of an affair so all-important should be quietly taken
out of their hands by men Uke the self-appointed mediators ;
and both refused, consequently, to have anything to do with
the negotiation. Disapproval of il spread rapidly on whis
per's wing, and when the Premier asked for a list of the
peers prepared to take up a neutral position, when the bill
* Letter to Sir H. Parnell, December 23rd, 1831.

HABBOWBY AND WEABNCLIFFE. 897

a second time should be before the Lords, WharncUffe was
compeUed to own that their followers were few.
On the 12th of December Lord J. Eussell laid on the
table the third edition of the Eeform BiU, which left to the
freemen their old franchise, adopted the £50 occupation
suffrage in counties, and based the disfranchising schedules
on a compound ratio of property and population. Some of
the more reflecting Conservatives were disposed to acknow
ledge the conciliatory spirit of these modiflcations, and would
gladly have gone into committee without a division. Sir
Eobert Peel decided otherwise, knowing that his party in
the Upper House remained inexorable, with exception of the
fraction who were endeavouring to assume the function
and dignity of umpires, and whose secession he felt to
be injurious to his authority and influence as leader. He
signiflcantly announced that whatever others might do, he
would record his opinion on the second reading against the
principle of the bill. After two nights' debate, in which
Stanley and Macaulay surpassed themselves, 324 voted for
the second reading, and but 162 against it.* The pre
ponderance was thus increased by thirty votes above the
greatest majority of the previous session.
Melbourne complained that Durham, though adverse to
the concessions that had helped to aecure this result, would,
in his exultation, have used it to crush all further opposition.
He had all along been outbidding his colleagues in vehemence
of language find advocacy of extreme views. Brougham he
hated as a supposed rival in the succession to his father-in-
law as head of the Liberal party, whose triumphs were not
to end, but only to begin at the passing of the Eeform BiU.
Every day's delay was mere waste of time. The Premier's
reluctance to overbear the Lords fllled him alternately with
pity and rage, and his taunts and goadings from this time
became intolerable. At the Cabinet dinner on the 19th of
December, wrote Althorp : —
Durham made the most brutal attack on Lord Grey I ever
* The debate closed on Sunday morning, December 18th, 1831.

398 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
heard in my life, and I conclude he will certainly resign.
He will put this upon alterations in the bill — most
unfairly — because there is no alteration of any conse-.
quence in the main principle ; and I doubt whether he
knows anything about the alterations, as he will not allow
anybody to tell him what they are. But if he resigns on
this ground it will break up the Government.*
He did not resign, but continued browbeating the Premier ;
and opposing Palmerston, whom he wanted to supplant in
the Foreign Office. Melbourne listened with loathing to
his tirades ; and on one occasion said, " If I had been Lord
Grey I would have knocked him down." After Christmas it
became a question whether before the bill was sent to the
Upper House power should be demanded to make peers.
The veteran chief confessed to his trusted lieutenant with
what anxiety he regarded such an alternative, which "he
wished to God could be avoided." " Melbourne, Eichmond,
and Palmerston might in consequence resign ; and pos
sibly Lansdowne and Stanley. The Cabinet could not then
hold together, and therefore with a view to the eventual
success of the measure, it would perhaps be better for them
all to make up their minds to resign if again beaten in
the Lords."! Brougham was at this time lying ill at his
house in Westmoreland ; and in opinion he seems to have
wavered. To have the power in the last resort was become
indispensable, if the ministry were to hold together ; and
that they should be believed to have it was equally essential
to carrying the measure unmutilated through committee in
the Commons. When, if ever, it should be exercised, and to
what extent, it was premature to determine ; but on the 13th
of January a minute was agreed to by the Cabinet, reciting
their unanimous opinion that it was necessary for them to
have the power of making an addition to the peerage for the
purpose of carrying the bill; and that the expediency of
making such an addition depended on his Majesty being
* Althorp to bis father, December 20th, 1831.
t Grey to Althorp, January 10th, 1832.

POWEB TO MAKE PEEBS. 399
prepared to allow them the discretion of carrying it to the
full extent it might be necessary to secure the success of the
measure. The Home Secretary and the Lord President shared
the flrst minister's repugnance to the alternative, but it was
probably owing in no slight degree to a conviction of their
sincerity in this respect, that William IV. was induced to
refuse no longer a request so unwelcome. After the rejection
of the first bill by the Lords, when the King expressed his
desire that ministers should not resign, he stated his belief
that no minister could be found to propose a very large
creation of peers for the purpose of carrying a new bill, and
they certainly had acquiesced in that opinion : —
Things in their progress since had forced upon their
consideration what was originally thought impossible ;
they had been brought gradually to contemplate what
once appeared to be an unqualified evil, as an absolute
necessity ; and the King, as these discussions proceeded,
was brought at last, though most reluctantly, to confide to
them the power which they claimed, to be exercised
however only in the last extremity, and on certain
conditions.*
Such is the authentic version given at the time by him
who was primarily accountable to the sovereign and the
nation for counsels which might have been defeated had
they been disclosed. Outsiders were divided between mis
givings they forebore to express, and impatient unbelief they
did not scruple to avow. Even deferential followers who
lay nearest the tent of their reticent chief, longed to
penetrate the secret of what he would do in extremity, and
when he would believe the decisive hour had come. Week
after week Althorp and Eussell steadily went on working
their bill through committee, discussing every insidious
amendment with temper and' disposing of it handsomely in
'division. Honest opponents made no more way in public
than the Intermediaries in private negotiation. Popular
* Grey to Althorp, March 11th, 1832.

400 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
expectancy was calm ; but if the peers should misconstrue
this for slackening zeal in the cause of Eeform, what were
ministers prepared to do ? Melbourne, when pressed to tell;
resorted to his favourite method of defence, and parried
Charles Greville's questions by bantering exaggeration and
ironical appeals for compassion towards the unfortunate
possessors of power — at the risk of being set down for a
trifler, or registered in confidential note-book aa a recusant
at heart ready to go over to the enemy. Hobhouse says
Lord Howick urged him to call upon his father and tell him
his character would be lost if the bill failed, through his
irresolution. In a letter to the Edinburgh Review,* the
present Earl Grey confidently affirms from his own knowledge
and recollection that his father " never hesitated in creating
peers to whatever extent might be necessary; nor did he
ever falter in his determination to fulfil this duty. But he
believed it to be of the very highest importance for the
future welfare of the nation that the necessity should be
averted ; and that if it could not in the end be avoided, it
ought to be deferred as long as possible." But in February
there was a prevalent feeling among the coUeagues and
friends of the Premier that he was deferring the creation of
peers too long. His own explanation of hia conduct is to be
found in a note on his letter to Sir Herbert Taylor, 10th of
February, 1832, in which he told his son that he was quite
aware " that the loss of the Eeform BiU a second time in
the House of Lords would be fatal to his character as a
pubUe man, and make his whole long political life a failure ;
but he must play the game his own way. A premature
creation of peers would diminish the chances of success;
and he would not suffer himself to be driven into acting
untu in his own judgment the proper time was come," He
thought the motive Ukely to induce Lords Harrowby and
WharncUffe to vote for the second reading was the desire to
prevent what they considered the great evil of creating
peers to carry it. But were the step now taken this motive
* May 25th, 187 J.

CEAELES GEEVILLE. 401

would cease to operate, and they would naturally vote against
the bUl, and might be followed by no small number of peers.
Meanwhile Harrowby and WharncUffe, with Charles
Greville for their plenipotentiary, clung to the fond illusion
that their project of marriage between the party that wanted
to go back and the party that wanted to go forward might
be realised, and blessed with all the happiness which is
proverbially the guerdon of true love. Nobody but the
three matchmakers seems to have believed in its feasibility ;
all the invitations to take part in the eventful ceremonial
were refused; and again the critical day was deferred.
Nevertheless the busy go-between notes with pensive satis
faction how he and his friends persevered from day to
day rebuilding their house of cards and plying Ministers
and Opposition chiefs impartially with arguments to prove
that theirs was the only plan to save the country. Mel
bourne's good-nature, and probably too his quiet enjoy
ment of the ridiculous, encouraged the prince of gossips by
throwing him every now and then a sympathetic response,
which was duly recounted during the day, and recorded at
night as a gratifying proof that in his heart he was with
them. One Saturday evening about the middle of February,
when we may imagine the Home Secretary trying to get
through his letters, the Clerk of the Council dropped in to
give him an extra lesson on the sinfulness of making peers
to carry the bill, not because the bill was bad, or the
country indifferent, but because it might prevent him and
other sensible- men from coalescing hereafter with those who
did not approve of it. He describes the Home Secretary as
well inclined to assent to all he said, but being " in one of
his listening lazy moods, he was disposed to hear everything
and say little * — alternately thinking, no doubt, his visitor
a bore, and that it might after all be worth while learning all
he had to tell of what was going on among the waverers
and waiters upon providence. Next day Palmerston sent to
say that he wanted to see him — a proof how much more alert
* Greville's Journal, February 14th, 1832, p. 2.54.
VOL. I, 2d

402 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
he was in political exigencies, " and more satisfactory to talk
to." So down he trotted to the Foreign Office with a list of
trimmers in his pocket who were to turn the balance and
save the'nation. In strict confidence he showed the names,
and then, as a fine stroke of diplomacy, permitted Palmerston
to say if he chose on his own authority that he had seen the
men in ambush, provided he did not mention any of their
names : because, " in fact, not one of them had given any
authority to be so counted."* We now understand Mel
bourne's lazy listening mood when set upon by such a
negotiator, who, self-appointed, fancied he could talk re
formers and anti-reformers into a new settlement of the
representation, for sake of which both should give up a good
deal. Palmerston accomplished his purpose in sending for
him by telling him certain awful secrets, which he knew he
would reveal to his frightened friends, about Lord Grey's
waxing wroth and being resolved to make peers. Therewith
he presented some rough sketches in chiaro 'seuro of the
" explosion that must inevitably follow,"! if the bill was
thrown out a third time; a catastrophe .they must at any
cost prevent. The machinist of impossible compromise
undertook to dispute the probability of such an event, and
commenced reweaving the WharncUffe web again. Palmer
ston having charged him to the muzzle with blank cartridge,
took all the rest quietly, and bowed him out with the
intimation that he would be delighted to see him again.
For another month whispered hints and muttered innuendoes
continued without abatement. Sometimes Archbishop How-
ley's indecision stopped the way; fragments of letters from
Lord Harrowby set people by the ears tiU the press began
to doubt Lord Grey's fidelity to the £10 franchise; and
the "Moderate Party," as that nebulous element was
called, entertained hopes that even that might be modified.
As time wore on other tales got into circulation : one with
respect to the right of voting in counties out of freeholds
situated in towns was to be given up ; another that Maryle-
* Jouruiilj February 14th, 1832, p. 255. f idem.

PEOJECTS OF COMPEOMISE. 403
bone only, of the metropolitan cities, was to be enfranchised.
The Clerk of the Council seriously believed that Lord
Harrowby might have extorted this concession in a con
ference with Lord Grey, but that he "happened to have
a headache." No wonder Brougham and Durham grew
uneasy, restless, and tormenting ; and that Melbourne was
worried by their forebodings, which his correct appreciation
of the character of the Premier and his Home Office intro
spection of the state of feeling throughout the country
made him regard as groundless.
Still anxious doubt overhung the two ensuing months
as to what would happen should the possible exigency arise.
The bill passed the Commons, without further change of
importance, by a majority of 116 ; and, unwiUing to risk
the consequences of its rejection by the Lords, Althorp
supported Brougham and Durham in urging a sufficient
creation of peers. Out-voted in the Cabinet, he wrote
to the Premier that considering all that had happened he
thought they were bound to omit nothing necessary to
insure the passing of the measure; and that if by their
omission it were lost they would never be forgiven by the
nation for the calamities that might ensue. Earl Grey
could not venture in reply to say with confidence that the
Waverers, as they were called, were strong enough to turn
the trembling scale.
The majority against us (in October) was forty-one; the
conversions from which we now look forward to a more
favourable result on the second reading, would turn
against us almost to a man ; many of those on whom we
now depend would, I believe, certainly leave us ; and there
is no saying how far a defection to which the natural
feeling of the House of Lords would tend might be
carried. We should be exposed then to a great risk of
failure even on the second reading : . . . . and I really
beUeve we should fail. In such a failure you may say
our characters would be safe. I doubt it. We should be
2 D 2

404 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.

exposed to attacks of another kind, in which that part of
the community which must be regarded as the soundest
and the best would probably join. Even the most
violent, who have no affection for us, and whose object it
is to vilify all public men, and to wean public opinion
from the settled institutions of the Government, would
cry out against us, for want of vigour and energy in not
having made enough. What then would be the effect
in the country ? Would the indignation directed against
the House of Lords be less after the creation of peers,
in the event of another failure, than before it ; would not
all the dangers which we now apprehend be equally in
curred ? and cap you believe that our characters would save
us in the general wreck that would ensue ? My belief is
the danger of a general combination against the Govern
ment would not be less, and that its consequences would
be worse. As at present advised, I do not think anything
would induce me to be a consenting party to a large
creation of peers.*
A certain deceptive show of success cheered the fainting
hopes of compromise when the bill reached the Lords.
Bishop Blomfield stood forth like another Aaron with a rod
of peace which promised to devour all the rods of war ; he
was cheered by a few sensible men on both sides, who above
all things recoiled from the prospect of recourse to violent
measures ; and all the extreme politicans on either side of
the Woolsack sulked at the conciliatory tone of the Duke
and Lord Grey. Bishop Philpotts scandaUsed his discreeter
brethren in lawn by the vehemence of his antagonism. He
was severely handled by 'Lord Grey, who towards others was
mUd and conciUatory, conscious that a harsh or threatening
word might turn the balance at the last moment. Many
wavered during that eventful night. It could hardly be
said that Harrowby and WharncUffe led a compact party
of seceders; for they had no design or capabiUty of
* To Althorp, March 11th, 1832.

SECOND EEADING CABBIED. 405
welding men together for the purpose of separate action ;
and their chief function lay in supplying a score or two of
Conservative peers with plausible reasons for agreeing to go
into committee rather than drive matters to extremity.
But it is certain that they were unable to devise, much
less to show the way of executing, any definite counter-
scheme to be worked out by amendments in detail ; and it
may with truth be said that the Waverers whose votes were
to determine the issue on the second reading had no agree
ment amongst themselves what ought to follow, or how the
measure was to be ultimately fashioned. The second read
ing was carried by a majority of nine. Seventeen of their
lordships reversed their previous votes, ten abstained from
repeating theirs, and twelve whose former absence signified
their indifference to Eeform mustered in the ranks of Govern
ment to save their order. It was day-dawn on the 14th of
April when the memorable result was declared. The san-
guiiie were much elated; but Melbourne said gravely as
he quitted the House, " It is not aU over yet." *
The Easter hoUdays were spent in negotiations between
Palmerston, Graham, Stanley, and the Duke of Eichmond
on one side, and WharncUffe, Haddington, and Lyndhurst
on the other, for the Seceders, as they were caUed, had re
joined the ranks of Opposition, and wished it to be so under
stood. The Premier was ready to make more considerable
concessions than previously, and Lyndhurst professed him
self anxious to come to an accommodation. He believed, how
ever, that the principle of some reform having been at
length settled by a certain amount of Conservative acqui
escence, ministers could neither carry Schedule A. in the
Upper House as then constituted, nor persuade the King to
create fifty peers for the purpose; and if not they must
either yield in committee or give place to other men. He
p)roposed therefore to begin by turning the bill upside down,
and moving that the disfranchising clauses should be post
poned until after the enfranchising clauses had been.
* Hobhouse, vol. ii. p. 230.

406 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
determined on. The First Minister declared that to this he
could not agree. When, therefore, Harrowby and Wharn
cUffe consented beforehand to vote for it, they knew that
they were insuring a defeat of ministers, who would treat
it as a vote of want of confidence. No intimation was given
nevertheless by them of the .course about to be taken until
the afternoon of the 7th of May, when the peers were about
to go into committee. This reticence, and the consequent
surprise to which it led, put an end to further parley.
Upon going into committee the Lord Chief Baron proposed
to postpone all the disfranchising clauses with a view of
enforcing amendments of the other portions of the bill, and
virtually hoisting a new standard of Eeform inscribed with
the motto, " Creation of new rights without extinction of old
privileges." Melbourne and Palmerston always said that,
had this been proposed by the Tory Cabinet in 1830, it
would have been carried in both Houses by three to one,
and a decade or two would have elapsed before ¦ any serious
attempt was made to extinguish nomination boroughs.
But it was now too late. Like the rest of his coUeagues,
the Home Secretary was now prepared to advise a creation
of peera rather than throw over Schedule A. Twenty years'
experience of elections had naturaUy led him to^ appreciate
highly the convenience of nomination seats ; and he would
sometimes amuse himself and scandaUse a Benthamite ac
quaintance by arguing that if small boroughs were to be
kept they would generally be corrupt; that it was im
material to the candidate whether he paid two thousand
pounds to one owner or to two hundred vendors for the
seat; and that public decency- was less infringed in the
former case than in the latter. He loved to play with
the edged tools of argument, when he talked in private and
without reserve. But to turn gossip of this kind into
grave declarations of opinion, and to found on them re-
fiections injurious to common sense and personal honour, is
wholly without justification. We are asked to believe that
at a ball at the Duchess de Dino's, two nights after he had

DEFEAT IN COMMITTEE. 407
helped to carry the second reading of the Eeform Bill,
Melbourne strove to convince Mr. Greville, then in the
confidence of the Opposition, that the Government could not
be carried on without the rotten boroughs ; and that he did
not see why the bill ought not be rejected ! What frag
ments of interrupted talk, or scraps of irony and sarcasm
uttered amid the music and bustle of a crowded assembly,
may have tickled the ear of the Clerk of the Council, none
can tell ; but the concatenation of such phrases dropped in
such a place, at such a time and by such a man, and the
construction put upon them of spontaneous insincerity and
wanton treachery to his party, his kindred, and himself, is
simply incredible. Lyndhurst's argument for his motion
was in effect a declaration against disfranchisement, and in
so many words a rejection of the policy three times de
liberately adopted within twelve months by the House of
Commons. It was carried by a majority of thirty-five, no
proxies being available in committee.
In the Chancellor's private room the Premier consulted
Holland, Lansdowne, Althorp, and Melbourne; and they
were now unanimous that unless peers were created they
must resign. The promptitude of acquiescence by the
minority who had hitherto deprecated resort to this ex
treme measure, thus fully indicated their prudence and
patriotism. They had persuaded their more eager colleagues
to wait until the necessity had been made clear ; and there
by exonerated the Cabinet from the responsibility of
needlessly wounding the constitution. To have advised the
use of the prerogative for the purpose of overbearing the
legislative judgment of the peers a day previously, would
have exposed them to the imputation of grievous error in
calculating the event, which it might always have been said
would have gone the other way ; or of recklessly humiliating
an independent branch of the legislature in their eagerness
to secure the success of their bill. No reasonings or pro
testations could have silenced this reproach. History would
have been bound to record how a ministry availed itself of

408 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
its popularity out of doors to compel an unwilling monarch
to infringe the constitution when many of the best and wisest
thought there was no actual need of doing so ; and the
precedent thus established would ever after have been felt
to overhang freedom of judgment in the Lords. But neither
Melbourne, Lansdowne, or Grey had ever disputed or
doubted that a crisis might come, when to avert revolution
the power of making peers might and ought to be exerted.
The crisis had now arrived ; it had been brought about by
their opponents deliberately, and after full warning and dis
cussion ; their consciences were therefore free, and without a
dissentient voice they bade their chief upon the morrow tell
the King that unless the unwise majority of peers should
be overborne they could no longer be answerable for the
peace and welfare of the country. A minute of the Cabinet,
drawn by Palmerston with Melbourne's approval, and signed
by all except the Duke of Eichmond, recommended an
immediate creation of peers. The Premier and the Chan
cellor were deputed to lay it before the King, and they
received from his Majesty a peremptory refusal. Ministers
at once resigned. Next day, while hearing a law argument
in court, the Chief Baron received a letter from Sir Herbert
Taylor, requiring his immediate presence in the royal closet.
The incidents that followed are well known : Sir Eobert Peel
and the Speaker Manners Sutton, successively declined the
perilous honour of the Premiership ; and after the experiment
of a single night's debate, Mr. A. Baring renounced the hope
less attempt of persuading the House of Commons to allow
him to bring in a counter Eeform Bill. William IV. was
forced to give way ; a sufficient number of the Lords
at his Majesty's private request withdrew from further
opposition ; and the bill became law on the 7th of June.
In the struggle which thus ended, the personal popularity
of the sovereign passed away, and thenceforth gave place
to feelings of distrust, rather than disUke, among large
classes of the community. Queen Adelaide was supposed to
have chiefly influenced him in the unfortunate attempt to

STATE OF IBELAND. 409

displace his ministers, regardless of the decided preference
shown them by the House of Commons. Angry invectives
and coarse lampoons filled the columns of the journals of
widest circulation. The monarch bitterly complained that
the authors of these libels were not brought to punishment ;
and reproached the Home Secretary with not directing the
Attorney-General to institute proceedings, as had frequently
been done in his brother's reign. Melbourne detested the
scurrility of the press, and tried his best to soothe royal
susceptibility thus wounded. Hut he could not, to please
the Court, encourage the idea that any good would come of
criminal proceedings. He understood too well the futility
of such a course, and he was deeply impressed with the
conviction that nothing could be more injurious to the
interests of monarchy. WilUam IV. listened to his courtly
but candid expostulations without being convinced ; but he
believed in his loyalty and devotion, and continued to repose
more confidence in his reliability than in that of any other
of his advisers, with the exception of Earl Grey.
Meanwhile, in Ireland, the experiment of government by
impartial disregard of all opinions, off-hand snubbings of
all suggestions, and the employment of force in repressing
all kinds of manifestations, was felt by the Cabinet to be a
complete failure. Lord Anglesey pressed for the passing of
a Tithe BiU and the redemption of Church lands, the enact
ment of a poor law and a redistribution of seats in accordance
with the altered proportions of population in the three
kingdoms since the Union. But Parliament was engrossed
with the conflict about the EngUsh Eeform Bill, and his in
fluence, with his popularity, was gone. Distrust of Stanley
characterised his correspondence, which was full of com
plaints of the ill-usage and ingratitude he had met with from
all local factions ; and his incessant reiteration of disgust
and despair at the position in which he found himself, swayed
ministers, no doubt, in neglecting to act upon his recom
mendations, though it could not justify them in leaving
him twelve months longer to be little better than a target

410 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
whereat conflicting parties fired their insulting pellets,
while the country became every day more insubordinate and
miserable. No reckless speech in opposition or anonymous
invective in the press could depict in darker hues than his
own confidential letters the deplorable state of the kingdom
of which he was the un-Governor-General. In February he
wrote : —
The country is at this moment all but in a state of
rebellion. I have shown what additional force will be
immediately necessary, which I have rather under than
over-rated ; and I conscientiously believe that if our tithe
plan were instantly adopted and acted upon, at the same
time that a firm determination were shown to enforce the
actual laws whilst they last, bad as they are, the country
might yet be saved. If we are to act upon a contrary
system, I have no hope. Blake goes over immediately.
He is perfectly equal to show the practicability of over
coming all the difficulties put forth by Stanley. Indeed,
answers to his objections are already sent over to Lord
Grey. In the meantime I tremble at every day's post.
I cannot cover the whole country, and can only subdue
two or three counties at a time, and then fall upon others.
But what a miserable state pf things ! I really doubt
if my presence here can be much longer of use. Personally
I have nothing to complain of with ministers. AU with
whom I communicate are apparently full of kindness and
confidence. Still there is something, or somebody, too
powerful for me to counteract, and therefore I expect mis
chief I will not, however, abandon the sinking vessel.*
Elsewhere he describes the relation subsisting between
himself and his Chief Secretary, who hardly took the trouble
to write to him from London, or to impart his views and
projects of legislation. Early in the session he warned
Stanley that if the various plans for the improvement of the
country were vigorously pushed forward, there would be little
* Private letter to Lord Cloncurry, February 11th 1832

MAEQUIS OF ANGLESEY. 411

need of coercion; but if this were not done (and that
promptly), then he had no hesitation in saying that his
mihtary means were wholly inadequate ; and less than an
addition of twenty thousand men could not secure the tran
quillity of Ireland.* AU this, nevertheless, was not done, nor
any material part of it. The Marquis stuck to the ship, which
lay helplessly rolling in the trough of the sea of troubles,
through many a dark night and dreary day. The Home Secre
tary continued to write frank and genial letters. Holland's,
always witty, were always welcome ; Althorp's, considerate
and kind. But nothing effectual was done in the way of
legislation. A few Whigs were given appointments without
distinction or power, and Ponsonby was advanced by his
relative, the First Lord of the Treasury, to the exceptionally
rich see of Derry. Practically the disregard of the law
which proclaimed men of all creeds entitled to trust and
employment remained unredressed ; and disaffection to mis
rule grew accordingly.
A bill making the composition for tithes compulsory in
Ireland was the only general measure of amelioration for
which in 1832 Parliament found time, and, like too many
others, it came too late. Animosity to the manner of
collection was half forgotten in awakened desire to get rid
altogether of a charge upon land which, to the Catholic
niajority, could never cease to be a badge of conquest. The
gentry sympathised with the clergy, who were suddenly
reduced to absolute want by the refusal of their dues ; and
the clergy instinctively looked for sympathy and aid to the
few wealthy parishioners of their own communion. Emanci
pation remained almost a dead letter, its only effect dis
cernible by the peasantry being a rapid multiplication of
evictions, stimulated by the abolition of the forty-shilling
franchise. And thus the confiuent streams of social and
sectarian animosity deepened and widened, till order and law
seemed everywhere in danger of being swamped in the flood.
Melbourne had early foreseen the deplorable consequences of
* Letter to Secretary Stanley, February 6th, 1832.

412 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
too long postponing relief from religious disabilities, and
the readjustment of the relations between the owners and
occupiers of the soil. But while the conflict for Eeform
lasted no one hut Lansdowne, Spring Eice, and Sir H.
Parnell had time to give heed to suggestions or effective
measures for tranquillising Ireland. The creation of a
Board of Works endowed by the Treasury, and the establish
ment of the system of national education, whose grants in
aid of local contribution were furnished from the same
imperial source, would in peaceful times have won popular
applause, if not gratitude. But in the anarchy of sect and
party their effect was inappreciable. The solution of the
great disturbing questions was not even attempted. Electoral
reform, when England and Scotland had been satisfled, was
given to Ireland so grudgingly and with so niggard a hand
as to furnish O'Connell with new topics of reproacM and
upbraiding; and the Tithe BiU of 1832, which if passed
three years before might have prevented the guerilla
conflicts of Carrickshock and Newtownbarry, was wholly
impotent to appease the storm. Lord Anglesey's proposals
were in fact overruled at the instance of Stanley, of whom
he bitterly complained as thwarting instead of supporting
him :¦ —
What a pity (he wrote to Lord Cloncurry) that when there
was a scheme worked up by Blake and Griffith, assisted
by you, and approved by Lord Plunket and Blackburn,
and recommended by me, who was without prejudice
and in no respect committed by public declarations or
pledges, and had only calmly to listen to the opinions of
such able men and then to form my own — what a pity
that such a plan should be thrown overboard, and that
another of Uttle promise should be substituted.
Melbourne acquiesced doubtingly in a course he felt
himself unable to control or guide. Stanley by his courage
and eloquence had virtually persuaded Lord Grey to regard

COMMAND OF TEE ABMY. 413

him as Home Secretary for Ireland; and there was quite
enough in the condition of Great Britain to occupy the at
tention of the Secretary of State. Melbourne himself, it
must be owned, was fascinated by the dauntless energy and
unwavering self-reliance of the Irish Secretary, who began
to be looked upon hy many as the coming man of the
party, Charles Greville notes the substance of his talk with
Melbourne on their way to town from Panshanger, where
they had been staying.* He regretted Lord John's ex
pressions at Torquay about the baUot, which were, he
thought, unwarrantable. Brougham, he said, was "tossed
about in perpetual caprices, fanciful and sensitive, and
actuated by all sorts of littlenesses, even"^with regard to
people so insignificant that it was difficult to conceive how
he could ever think about them." The Irish question
seemed to him most difficult to settle. Archbishop Howley
was willing to reform the temporalities of the Church, but
not to alienate to other uses any portion of its property.
He evinced no little uneasiness regarding the state of the
country and to this his companion ascribed the desire he
expressed to keep Lord HiU and Lord F. Somerset at the
Horse Guards. But in truth his opinions on this important
subject rested on no transitory apprehension regarding
public tranquillity.
A feeling showed itself early in the new House of
Commons hostile to the influence and independence of the
Horse Guards. Had the Duke of Wellington retained the
command-in-chief, which he took after the death of the
Duke of York with the approval of the whole nation, no idea
of subverting it would have gained ground ; but Lord Hill
did not possess equal weight as an administrator ; both he and
his Secretary, Lord Fitzroy Somerset, were regarded as party
men, and the insinuation was perpetually reiterated that the
patronage of the army was used for party purposes. Lord
Hill sometimes voted in consonance with his own opinions
* September 28th, 1832.

414 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.

as a peer ; and sometimes stayed away. This did not escape
censure in the press and in Parliament ; and for not voting
for the Eeform BiU, Hume and O'ConneU had loudly called
for his dismissal. It was even mooted in the Cabinet
whether he should not be reproved. Melbourne warmly
encountered what he deemed an error of executive policy,
and his view prevailed. He thought the command of the
army ought to be regarded as a neutral trust, to be exer
cised without regard to the fluctuating politics of the day.
He adhered to the policy of Mr. Pitt in this respect,
sanctioned by the unqualified approval of Mr. Fox ; both
of whom in 1788 desired to sever military patronage from
that of the administration, in the hope that thereby more
thorough confidence should be created in the minds of the
officers as to the impartial judgment of their ,conduct, and
their claims to promotion. Government by party he held
to be indispensable to the vitality of parliamentary rule,
and the dispensation of civil patronage among the adherents
of the party in power for the time being, he always vindi
cated as a necessary concomitant of party government.
But he deprecated earnestly the multiplication of prizes to
be battled for on the hustings or in the lobby ; and having
regard to the position of officers, subject as they were to the
summary and absolute authority of those above them, and
often to their unaccountable and unreasonable caprice, af
fecting not only their character but their hopes of advance
ment, he urged strongly the importance of maintaining the
theory and the principle that from the sovereign head of
the army down through all its grades to the drummer and
recruit there ought to be no recognition of political ante
cedents or party opinions. This was avowedly the senti
ment of the Duke of WelUngton, and not the sentiment
merely, but the administrative rule which he maintained at
the Horse Guards. An active and intelligent section of
Whigs and Eadicals began at this time to advocate the op
posite principle, insisting that all control and patronage
should be vested in the Secretary for War ; who should be

UNWILLING EESOBT TO COEECION. 415

held answerable to Parliament for every act of military
administration. Sir J. Graham and Mr. Edward EUice
were at all times zealous in their advocacy of this policy,
and both pursued its developement as a favourite aim,
though neither lived to see its consummation. Grey and
Palmerston sided with the Home Secretary; and though
they regretted the occiasional votes of Lord Hill, they
believed him to be an honourable man; and they resisted
all attempts to remove him because he did not ' happen to
belong to Brooks's Club. But Greville, in his love of the
piquant and epigrammatic, put together frequently odds
and ends of opinion dropped in the carelessness of con
versation; and then when he came to jot them down,
philosophised about them in a fashion not a little calculated
to mislead. "It was curious," he wrote of Melbourne, "to see
the working and counter-working of his real opinions and
principles with his false position, and the mixture of blunt
ness, facility and shrewdness, discretion, levity, and serious
ness, which, colouring his mind and character by turns,
made up the strange compound of his thoughts and
actions."* How little this kaleidoscopic picture of the man
resembled the reality, when, having bid his caricaturist good-
morning, he sat down to write confidentially to Bowood, a
letter dated the same day enables us correctly to judge : —
Your letter this morning put me in mind of how ill I have
fulfilled my promise, of keeping you informed upon the
state of Ireland, but I have been in the habit of sending
the papers regularly to Grey, and I do not know that
you will not give a better judgment if you read the whole
of the information together than you would if you had
received it in detail. I therefore send you in a box the
most material of the letters which have been received. I
have perhaps erred rather in this — of sending too many
than too few ; I add also a copy of a letter from Stanley,
which contains his views upon many most important and
* September 28th, 1832.

416 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.

material points. The result of the whole appears to me
to be that there is no chance nor thought of any active
and determined resistance to the law in Ireland where it
ia adequately enforced, but it is clear that there is a
settled determination not to obey it unless they are com
pelled to do so. The tithe is paid wherever a military
force is shown sufficient to compel the payment, but the
barbarous murder at Doneraile and other circumstances
show that the animus is as decided as ever, and will not
scruple any violence or enormity. The murders, out
rages, &c., are dreadful, and will undoubtedly sooner
or later compel the adoption of measures stronger than
the ordinary law. I have long foreseen this, but such
measures must not be prematurely proposed ; you must
carry along with you the public feeling and the general
conviction. The evil must be so glaring as to be seen
even by the blind, and the necessity so certain as to con
vince not only the understanding of the prudent, but the
passions of the multitude. I say nothing of foreign
affairs, you will hear of them from Palmerston. The
decision of the Conference in which he is now engaged
is of great importance. From the tone of the Eussian
embassy I think they will throw every obstacle in the
way of the adoption of coercive measures. But our
situation is become embarrassing; and the country is
getting impatient at it. Grey writes that Althorp and
Brougham are indisposed to any step which may lead to
war ; but at the same time alive to the necessity of ful
filling our engagements. Grey intended to leave Howick
on the 4th of October, to call at Castle Howard and to
be in town from the 8th to the 10th ; but Palmerston
thinks that what he and Graham wrote to him yesterday
wUl probably induce him to hasten his journey. In
truth, affairs are rather too important for the absence of
so many ministers at such distances. Holland is better,
but stiU very bad, and I should fear his recovery would
be very slow. She fidgets his Ufe out with anxiety and

COLLOQUY WITE EAYDON. 417
solicitude and I am convinced adds a fourth to the time
in which he otherwise would get well.*
Melbourne sat to Haydon about this time, who thought
him very affable and amiable; he had a fine head, and looked
refined and handsome. He asked much about Hazlitt,
Leigh Hunt, Keats and Shelley. The artist thought him
a delightful, frank, easy, unaffected man of fashion. He
says, " I spoke of Lord Durham's return : — Dead silence.
I talked of Birmingham. A sort of hint as to Scholefield
and Atwood, — a passing opinion, yet confidential." Mel
bourne said he knew that Lord North often endeavoured to
persuade the King not to continue the American War, but
that the virulence of the old King's feelings obliged him;
and added that the King patronised West against Eeynolds
because the latter was so intimate with Fox and Burke.
With regard to Art, he was afraid history would never have
the patronage which portraiture obtained. Haydon said
the Government alone could do it. The minister ejaculated,
"How?" "First by a committee of the House, then by vote."
Melbourne was afraid selections might be invidious. The
painter rejoined that the selected would be more likely to
be envied than otherwise. He asked, had not sculptors
had every opportunity, and had they generally done as well
as they ought ? Haydon repUed " that they had not. But
it was no argument, because one class of artists had acted
as manufacturers that others must do so too." Melbourne,
" then we shall see what a popular Parliament will do. If
Hume is not against it your scheme may be feasible." !
* To Lord Lansdowne, September 28th, 1832.
t Haydon's Diary, October to December, 1832.

VOL. I.

2 E

418 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.

CHAPTEE XX.
EXECUTIVE AND LEGISLATIVE DUTIES.
Coercion Bill — First Factory Act — Mrs. Norton — Eome Office
patronage — Mr. Disraeli — Viceroyalty of Ireland — Church Tem
poralities.
Stanley's brilliant achievements in debate and indefatigable
energy in the discharge of the duties of his department won
him the reward he coveted — a seat in the Cabinet; and
thenceforth the framing of legislative measures and the
distribution of Irish patronage were left wholly to him. He
had a genuine admiration for Earl Grey, who was older
than his father, and to whom from childhood he had been
taught to look up. To him he showed a deference and
respect which he affected for no other of his colleagues.
He had never shown much consideration for the Viceroy's
opinions ; and not much more for the Chancellor's. The
Attorney-General, Blackburn, and the law adviser to the
Castle, Mr. (afterwards Baron) Greene, chiefly supplied him
with the details of information he wanted, and the forms
of legislation he designed. The former was the legitimate
successor of Mr. Saurin, with greater versatility and reti
cence ; the latter a timid, hypochondriacal and colourless
man, who only required to be wound up once a week to tell
punctually on his face at Dublin how the wind blew at
Knowsley. Stanley was thenceforth Home Secretary for
Ireland, and was the absolute ruler of the country. Unfortu
nately its condition was one of unparalleled provocation

TEE COEECION BILL. 419

to high-handed rigour. Agrarian crime desolated whole
counties, and the tithe war raged more fiercely than ever.
O'Connell, incensed at finding himself excluded as completely
as before the passing of the Eeform Act, which he had essen
tially contributed to carry, from all participation or influence
in affairs, gave himself unreservedly to agitation for the Eepeal
of the Union. A few Catholic proprietors held aloof, but they
could hardly be said to support the Government ; Melbourne,
Althorp, and Grant were for prompt and large measures of
sectarian conciliation ; but Stanley declared that " Ireland
must be taught to fear before she could be taught to love ; "
and the Premier, and those who sympathised in his personal
resentments and vexations, induced the Cabinet to adopt
the combination of repressive provisions which formed the
first important measure submitted to the new Parliament.
Althorp, overweighted with the business of the Exchequer
and the leadership of the Commons, and who personally
knew nothing of Ireland, stammered through a melancholy
statement of crime and outrage, which he said could only
be quelled by suspending the legal tribunals, by proclaiming
martial law, and at the same time prohibiting by pro
clamation political meetings. But he failed to persuade
the new House of Commons, for he bad failed to be per
suaded himself, that these remedies would be effectual. In
common with half the Liberal party, he believed Stanley to
be the truest incarnation of Conservatism in Parliament ;
and with his known opinions on the Church question, he
foresaw insuperable difficulty in the way of compensatory
measures of concession, were those of repression once
passed. Unconsciously he betrayed how little his heart was
in the business; and O'Connell's denunciation of the whole
scheme, followed as it was by strong expressions of disap
proval from others, rendered it doubtful what the issue
might be. Stanley in half an hour changed the whole
state of affairs. Lord Eussell has described it as the most
surprising instance of what intense earnestness, high in
tellect, reckless courage, and passionate eloquence can
2 B 2

420 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.

achieve in changing the mood of a popular assembly. Mel
bourne, who sat under the gallery, said afterwards, " he com
pletely brought back the House to the stern purpose from
which it had been wandering, by his incomparable mastery of
details. O'Connell felt keenly' the odium heaped upon him,
during this invective, which held him responsible for all the
crime and outrage committed in the land, and the result was
practically seen when but a score of English members
sided with their Irish colleagues in the division. Lord
Grey was delighted with his undaunted lieutenant, and
Melbourne began to regard him as next in succession to the
headship of the Whig party.
Great as was the effect of Stanley's speech upon the
division, Melbourne felt that the minority was well worth
considering. It was plain that, out of doors, multitudes
thought the bill tyrannical ; and he would much rather it
had been carried without the triumph of declamation, than,
so to speak, by dint of it. ObUged as he was to hear from
day to day every popular whisper and murmur through
the Dionysian ear of his department, he could not be un
conscious that the resistance offered to the measure found
prolonged echoes throughout the great cities and towns.
O'Connell felt this also, and was not dismayed ; he even
boasted in his own bantering way at having scared his
opponents by his denunciations ; every shop window had his
likeness by H. B., stretched upon his back as Gulliver, with
Anglesey, Stanley, and Althorp eagerly heading the Lillipu
tians against him. He was supposed to be exclaiming, " I
roared so loud, they all ran away, and some of them were
hurt by the fall they got jumping off my side, but they soon
came back again."
A long arrear of legislative measures ofthe practical and
unpoUtical kind had to be worked off; and it remained to
be seen how a reconstructed Parliament would deal with
them. Eevision of the East India Company's Charter, and
its renewal on principles of free trade and free colonisation,
engrossed the attention of the Board of Control. Abolition

FIEST FAOTOEY ACT. 421
of negro slavery, loudly insisted on by the Liberals when
out of power, could no longer be postponed, and the Colonial
Department was occupied with the details of a legislative
scheme. The Treasury had in hand the important con
siderations involved in the renewal of the Bank Act ; and on
the Home Office devolved the preparation of a Factory Bill
and a new Poor Law. Up to this time the labour of
children was wholly unprotected by any statute law.
Parents and the masters of apprentices might indeed be
called to account for neglect or cruelty by anybody who
witnessed overt acts of ill-usage so heinous as not to admit
of palliation or disproof. But " anybody " practically meant
nobody. Liability to the bondage and brutalisation of pre
mature toil had gradually become the normal condition of
the offspring of the wage classes throughout the manufactur
ing districts ; and in the quickened pace of competition and
stimulated greed of unprecedented gain, the temptations to
use up the otherwise unmarketable capabilities of childhood
had become irresistible. Melbourne called to mind how
Sir Eobert Peel, the father of the statesman, had some years
before been the first to denounce publicly the spreading
evil. A select committee had been appointed at his instance
in 1816, which reported important evidence, but made no
definite recommendation ; and in 1818 the worthy baronet
brought in a restrictive bill, which had the support of Wilber
force and others who preferred humanity to class interests.
At that time the number of hands engaged in spinning and
weaving cotton was estimated at sixty thousand ; Sir Eobert
himself stated that he had one thousand apprentices ; and that
he knew the necessity of some legal regulation with respect
tb that class of persons, which was yearly becoming more
numerous. He therefore called on Parliament to interpose
for the protection of the defenceless ones, whose chances of
health and life were daily sacriflced by employers, making
haste to be rich, at the smallest possible cost in wages. But
the old House of Commons cared for none of these things,
and the Government of which the great manufacturer's

422 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
son was a leading member, could not be induced to take up
the question. Melbourne had caused inquiries to be made
into the actual condition of things in the chief seats of
textile industry ; and having obtained a body of authentic
evidence which placed the magnitude of the abuse beyond all
controversy, he had a bill carefully drawn, which with some
difficulty he persuaded the Cabinet to sanction, prohibiting
the employment for hire of chUdren under nine years of age
in any except silk mills, limiting the time for which chUdren
under eleven might be employed to nine hours in the day,
and forty-eight hours in the week; and providing for
attendance at school, with a charge of one penny in the
shilling out of the earnings of the child, if the employer
required it. Medical aid was estabUshed, and inspectors
appointed to see that the enactment was obeyed.
Such was the first chapter of what has since been ex
tended into a code of laws for the defence of youth against
the cupidity of age ; and for the preservation of the moral and
material energies of the community from premature exhaus
tion for the inordinate advantage of a, few. The Factory BiU
of 1833 encountered sharp opposition in'its progress through
the legislature. Arguments with which we have since grown
famUiar, about the right divine of capital to make the most
it can of opportunities, and the right divine of parentage to
do what it likes with its little ones, were then heard for the
first time, from both Eadical and Tory benches ; and the
book of lamentations over trade about to be banished, and
foreign rivals about to be enriched in consequence of Eng
land's sentimental folly, was then opened, and has not yet
been closed. But the Home Secretary was not to be moved
by deputations of miU-owners who foretold impending
ruin, each to their own particular trade, and aU to an un
happy country. He told them that he thought the country
was not so unhappy; and (as Macaulay said of the consti
tution) that it " took a deal of ruining." If the experi
ment of limiting hours of labour threatened to fail, it could
be discontinued; but he was resolved that it should be tried

MES. NOBTON. 423

One day Mr. Evelyn Denison stopped him at the door of
the Home Office when about to mount his horse, to urge
certain amendments in the education clauses. He bade him
speak to hia brother George. "I have been with him,"
said his friend, " for half an hour, but can make no way ; "
and on being asked why, he said complainingly, " he damned
me, damned the clauses, and damned the Bill." Melbourne,
by this time in the saddle, replied gravely, "And damn
it, what more could he say ? — but I'U see ahout it."
He had not been long at the Home Office when he re
ceived a letter frdm the grand-daughter of Sheridan, who was
a near relative of Sir James Graham, asking for her hus
band, Mr Norton, some appointment for which he might be
considered eligible as a member of the bar ; and gently plead
ing, as a claim to consideration, the illustrious memory of
him who had once been the idol of the Whigs, but who had
unrequited passed away while yet they tarried in the wilder
ness. Eecollections of many a brilliant gathering at Mel
bourne House were awakened by the name

¦ of that rare gifted man,

The pride of the senate, the bower, and the ball,
The orator, dramatist, minstrel who ran
Through each mode of the lyre and was master of all.
Nor were the more recent memories of the son, still better
known to Melbourne as a contemporary and friend, less cal
culated to excite his interest. He thought he would answer
the letter in person as he passed by Storey's Gate ; and thus
began the intimacy destined to exercise no little influence on
his subsequent life. George Norton, though next in remainder
to his brother Lord Grantley, had but a slender income;
and possessing neither talent or industry to win advance
ment at the bar, thought he might better his income through
the influence of his wife's family and connections. She was
then but flve-and-twenty ; possessing hereditary charms of
wit and beauty, and having made good already high preten
sions to celebrity in criticism and verse. From the hours
devoted to her children and to her literary pursuits, society

424 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
insisted upon stealing not a few, to pay her homage. With
her sisters Lady Seymour and Mrs Blackwood she " was
everywhere ;" and everywhere men of mark and distinction
sought her recognition. A Secretary of State was now
among the number ; and finding in her pociety attraction
and sympathy which he had neither at home nor in the crowd,
he was too glad to be received after a while on the easy
footing of an old acquaintance, and soon of a valued friend. A
vacancy in the Divisional Magistracy of London enabled him to
confer on Mr. Norton the sort of place which he desired. The
work was not laborious, and the salary, though not large, was
enough to add materially to the comforts of the unpretentious
household. He professed himself grateful, and did not dis
guise that he was hopeful of greater benefits to come. He
was ever warm in the welcome of his patron, and obsequious
in deference to each passing whim. Only one thing he would
not do — attend punctually at his court. Murmurs on the
subject reached Melbourne, and he was vexed. He heard also
of disputes between the magistrates, which if made public
would be, he thought, unseemly, and tried remonstrance in
the way that he supposed least likely to offend.
T. W., as you say, does what he has not the least right to do ;
and the worst is, he is not only foolish himself, but is the
cause of folly in others. I had the greatest difficulty in
preventing Norton from replying to him in the Times. I
was much alarmed at the notion of his doing this, especially
as I found him thoroughly impressed with the opinion
that he could do it with great cleverness and dexterity.
I hate the magistrates writing to the newspapers ; besides
people will be sure to say to me,— if the magistrates get
squabbling in public, why do you not clear the bench of
these fellows altogether ? They tell me also that Norton
does not go to his office early enough. I should be
annoyed at having a complaint made on this subject.
Pray dissuade him, gently, from any public exhibitions in
, the newspapers; and urge him gently to a little more

EOME OFFICE PATBONAGE. 425
activity in the morning. He might surely without diffi--
culty get there by twelve o'clock in the morning. This is
a disagreeable lecturing letter, but still upon matters to
which it is necessary to pay some attention.*
With exceptional colleagues like Mr. Walker, the author
of 'The Original,' and Mr. Hardwicke, both of them men
of attainments and accomplishments, Mr. Norton contrived
to get on better ; and when a vacancy subsequently oc
curred on the Whitechapel bench, " he seemed to think
that he and H. had almost the right to make the appoint
ment, and that everything was to give way to the con
sideration of giving him a pleasant companion. He said
the bench used, with Walker, to be like a pleasant club,
and that he must have an agreeable fellow to walk to
and fro with."! Melbourne soon discerned, however, how
selfish and unyielding was the temper of the man ; and how
unsympathetic was his nature with that of his wife. The
greater portion of their income was the fruit of her literary
toil, and she could not always conceal her disappointment
and chagrin at his insensibility to the continued self-denial
it entailed. She was for some time the editor of a well-known
monthly journal, and afterwards of 'The Keepsake.' And Mel
bourne, who took daily more interest in her indefatigable
exertions, was ever ready with the suggestion and advice his
fine scholarship and unfailing memory enabled him, without
reference or research, to supply. In weariness of the bicker
ing and spite of party politics, he was glad to spend an hour
without ceremony or notice in society so engaging. He was
for years a frequent visitor at Storey's Gate, and there made
the acquaintance of Mr. E. B. Sheridan and his brothers, of
Albany Fonblanque, who became one of his warmest and
most unwavering adherents ; and, as chance would have it, of
a man then but rising into note, who was destined to fill as
high a place in the world's history as himself.
To celebrate her younger brother's birthday, Mrs. Norton
* To the Hon. Mrs. Norton, July 19th, 1831.
t January 27th, 1836.

426 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
asked to dinner the other members of her family who were
in town, two of her husband's colleagues in the magistracy.
Lord Melbourne, and the author of ' Vivian Grey,' in whom
she had recently discovered the son of her father's intimate
friend. Young Disraeli was not long returned from his
travels in the East, with traits of which he had interested.
her on the occasion of their first acquaintance. He had just
then been defeated in an attempt to get into Parliament
for the borough of Wycombe, where he attributed his failure
to want of support by the Whigs. Mrs. Norton presented
him after dinner to the Home Secretary, who had the power,
she said, of retrieving the disappointment if he chose ; and
whose frank and open manner led to a long conversation, in
which Mr. Disraeli mentioned the circumstances of his late
discomfiture, dwelling on each particular with the emphasis
which every young man of ambition since Parliament was
invented is sure to lay upon the broken promises and scanda
lous behaviour of his victorious foes. The minister was
attracted more and more as he listened to the uncommon-
place language and spirit of the youthful politician, and
thought to himself he would be well worth serving. Abruptly,
but with a certain tone of kindness which took away any
air of assumption, he said " Well now, tell me,— what do you
want to be ?" The quiet gravity of the reply fairly took
him aback — " I want to be Prime Minister." Melbourne
gave a long sigh, and then said very seriously :
No chance of that in our time. It is all arranged and
settled. Nobody but Lord Grey could perhaps have
carried the Eeform BiU ; but he is an old man, and when
he gives up, he wiU certainly be succeeded by one who
has every requisite for the position, in the prime of life
and fame, of old blood, high rank, great fortune, and
greater ability. Once in power, there is nothing to pre
vent him holding office as long as Sir Eobert Walpole
Nobody can compete with Stanley. I heard him the
other night in the Commons, when the party were all

MB. DISBAELI. 427

divided and breaking away from their ranks, recall them
by the mere force of superior will and eloquence : he rose
like a young eagle above them all, and kept hovering over
their heads till they were reduced to abject submission.
There is nothing like him. If you are going into poUtics
and mean to stick to it, I dare say you will do verv well,
for you have ability and enterprise ; and if you are care
ful how you steer, no doubt you will get into some port
at last But you must put all these foolish notions out
of your head ; they won't do at all. Stanley will be the
next Prime Minister you will see.
How both would have started, had their sybil-like hostess
unfolded there and then in prophetic dream the fate in store
for each ; for the one, that before many months, and for the
other after the lapse of five-and-thirty years, — that he should
be Prime Minister of England.
His son, though unable to enjoy the sports or share the
adventures of youth, was more than ever an object of
his solicitude and care. As he grew to man's estate he
had improved in person, and in features might be called
handsome. He was not without inteUigence ; amused
himself with reading, and occasionally with cards and music.
In manner he was affable, and usually gentle in disposition,
seldom evincing waywardness or excitability. His father
spent some portion of every day with him, and exhausted
every artifice of affection to beguile his loneliness and to
devise occupations having a tendency to waken him from
the apathy of his condition. But the distressing malady to
which he was abnormally a victim refused to yield to any
kind of treatment, and, though for many years its destructive
influence was not generaUy observable in his bodily frame,
it gradually exerted its debilitating sway over the faculties
of his mind. The physicians forbade his being left for any
time alone, and his father was frequently harassed with
apprehension lest he should suffer from the inattention of
his attendants. "I have often," said Mrs. Norton, "seen Lord

428 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.

Melbourne, at his own house, pause in the middle of con
versation and remain for some moments listening for some
sound from the adjoining room, where he had left the invalid,
as if he dreaded his being alone." The world knew or recked
not this long protracted trial of his feelings; but that it
weighed upon his spirit and wore the fibre of his mental
elasticity, who can doubt ?
On Lord Anglesey's resignation in consequence of ill-
health, the Premier proposed that Melbourne should suc
ceed him in the Viceroyalty of Ireland ; and, strange to say,
he did not at first refuse. He was weary of the routine
drudgery of the Home Office, and the irrepressible versatility
and loquacity of the Chancellor left him almost nothing" to
do in the House of Lords. The excitement of the Eeform
struggle was over; and after three years' Secretaryship of
State he began to feel bored. Ireland was still the difficulty
of the Government, and he fancied that he would find in the
duties of its administration objects of more interest, if not
more usefulness, than those which demanded his attention
at Whitehall. To those who knew his ways and peculia
rities, and whom observation qualified to judge of the re
quirements of such a post, it might well seem doubtful
whether he would have suited it, or it would have suited
him. His frankness and love of humour would hardly have
had free play in the mimic pageantry of a court whose
provincialism could not afford to be un-pompous ; and he who
had laughed so often at the magnificent airs of his old .chief
at the Castle, " the conqueror of Seringapatam," would have
felt himself ineffably ridiculous in the part of mummer
sovereign, with his^friend Lady Morgan for Mistress of the
Eobes. His sister. Lady Cowper, from whom he had few poli
tical thoughts apart, looked incredulous when told that there
was a notion of what she called banishing him to Dublin. He
did not always agree with her in opinion, but he knew her
affection for him, and had the highest estimate of her sagacity
and discernment. He was rather pleased at the offer being
made, but after a day or two he made up his mind that he

IBISH VICEBOYALTY. 429
would rather not go. It was not easy to find any one fit to
send who would take it ; but upon the whole it was finally
resolved to reappoint Lord WeUesley. Eecollections of his
former difficulties, while holding the office in a period of
intense political excitement, were doubtless present to his
mind, and the difference of circumstances was in many
ways disheartening. O'Connell's power and influence were
greatly increased, and the able adviser whom he had then
to lean upon, though still a member of the Government,
could not, as Chancellor, be referred to on all occasions as he
had been when Attorney-General. Lord Wellesley liked to
be considered capable of devising an original policy and
possessing a superior courage requisite for carrying it into
effect ; and it has been conjectured, not unreasonably, that
through Mr. A. B. Blake, O'Connell was again sounded
as to the views he entertained with respect to office. The
great agitator was in the eyes of the noble Marquis simply
an obstacle to be effectually put out of his way if possible.
He looked upon him- very much as he had looked upon the
Peishwa as head of the Mahrattas, whom he was quite
wUling to take into pay if he desired it, or, if he refused,
to reduce to submission. He was profoundly persuaded
of his own superiority to the rest of mankind, and of the
obligations he owed to fame as a type of transcendent
magnanimity, not to suffer personal prejudice to divert him
from his purpose, or to cherish resentment for abuse and
ridicule as Lord Grey was apt to do. Had he been able to
persuade O'Connell to give up Eepeal for the office of chief
adviser of the Crown in Ireland, Lord WeUesley would not
have shrunk from telUng the Cabinet that his flrst act
would be a master-stroke against which he would listen to
no objections ; and if he had not got his way he would not
have hesitated to throw up his office, as more than once in
his lifetime he had done before. It is of course quite possible
that he only thought aloud upon the subject in the presence
of his old confidant, and had not fully made up his mind as
to what he would do ; while an eager and intriguing politican

430 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
like Blake, who deUghted in mysterious hints and specious
innuendoes, could not refrain from making the most of a
suggestion to O'Connell, and giving him to understand that
all would speedily be settled if he chose. A sincere Catholic,
and politically a disciple of the school of Burke and Gren
ville, Blake abhorred the democratic tendencies of agita
tion, and would readily have made any exertion or sacrifice
to loyalise his fellow-countrymen uppn the basis of social
and sectarian equality. In a word, he was anxious in
1833 for the great experiment in Irish administration
which actually was tried two years later. But opinion
was not yet ripe; for the present the design fell to the
ground; and except within a very limited circle, nothing
at the time was further known to have been contemplated.
Lady Wellesley was a devout Catholic ; and Archbishop
Murray became a more frequent guest at the Phoenix Park,
as did Lord Killeen. But neither exercised much political
influence over the great body of those who belonged to
their communion.
A remarkable discussion arose in the Lords on the Irish
Church Temporalities BiU, which struck off ten bishoprics
from that establishment, and vested the superfluities of
episcopal and capitular endowments in commissioners for
the bettering of poorer brethren. The measure was Stanley's
chef d'oeuvre in Ireland by alternately humiliating the
rival creeds. Twenty years before it might have materiaUy
strengthened the Protestant Establishment, and possibly
contributed to prolong its existence. Even in 1833 the
equity and reasonableness of its provisions reflected a cer
tain degree of credit on its contrivers ; but it was treated by
Oxford and Lambeth as the first serious breach in the out
works of national establishment, and while stimulating the
development of the counter-movement afterwards known
as Tractarianism, it evoked thunders of denunciation in the
General Assembly of Scotland and the " no popery " meet
ings at Exeter HaU. Haydon, who troubled his head as
little as most men with ecclesiastical apprehensions, went

CEUECE TEMPOEALITIES ACT. 431
to hear the debate in the Lords. Nor was his curiosity
disappointed :
In the Irish Church debate the Duke spoke well, without
hesitation, enforcing what he said with a bend of his head,
striking his hand forcibly, and as if convinced, on the
papers. He finished, and to my utter astonishment, up
starts Melbourne like an artillery rocket. He began in
a fury. His language flowed out Uke fire ; he made such
palpable hits that he floored the Duke as if he had shot
him. But the moment the stimulus was over, his habitual
apathy got a head ; he stammered, hummed and hawed. It
was the most pictorial exhibition of the night. He waved
his white hand with the natural grace of Talma, expanded
his broad chest, looked right at his adversary like a
handsome lion, and grappled him with the grace of Paris.
Eesistance throughout the metropolis was organised,
during the autumn, to the payment of the window tax.
Meetings were held, at some of which Colonel Evans took
part, in Westminster ; and the collectors hesitated to enforce
payment by distress. This was just the sort of case in which
the Home Secretary's firmness and decision served to pre
vent mischievous consequences, which might have readily
become wide-spread ; but he writes about the matter as
quietly as if it were the correction of a clerical error in a
turnpike bill: —
I certainly agree with you in all you say, and I hope the
matter now stands better than it did. There was some
bungling on Thursday in consequence of the Board of
Taxes not having had sufficient communication with the
sheriffs themselves ; but as soon as I heard of it I sent for
the latter officers and told them that I looked to them to
. execute the law, which was accordingly done on Saturday
morning, as you will have seen in the newspapers. The
effect has been good, and I understand, now, there is a
general disposition to pay in the regular course. Meetings,

482 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
however, still continue, and Colonel Evans does all he can
to prevent matters from subsiding, but I have every hope
that they will do so in spite of him. There never was
such a strange fancy as the Chancellor had got into his
head, about proroguing the Parliament before the day to
which it stands prorogued at present. However, we have
beat him out of it, and everything will go on in the
regular course.*
His manner of dealing with deputations had sometimes
the appearance of levity or whim. His mood was variable ;
and he indulged now and then in an affectation of ignorance
or indifference shocking to Utilitarians who mistook it for
reality, and grievous to sub-officials who knew it to be but
wayward make-believe. His pranks at these interviews
were deemed of more consequence than he supposed. To
seem absorbed in blowing a feather or nursing a sofa-cushion
when giving audience about capital punishment, or receiving
a report on Criminal Law Eeform, in preparation for debate,
was, according to Miss Martineau, a " moral offence." Sydney
Smith, with a juster discrimination, tried to quiz him out of
what he felt to be a fault.
Our Viscount is somewhat of an impostor. Instead of being
the ignorant man he pretends to be, before he meets the
deputation of tallow chandlers in the morning, he sits
up half the night talking with  about melting and
skimming, and then, although he has acquired knowledge
enough to work off a whole vat of prime Leicestershire
tallow, he pretends next morning not to know the
difference between a dip and a mould. I moreover
believe him to be conscientiously alive to the good or evil
that he is doing, but if you had no mind to put or be put
to, the sooner you get out of his way the better.
When the Commissioners of Poor Inquiry in Ireland were
appointed, Archbishop Whately asked for a secretary quali
fied to aid in organising an efficient staff, and free from the
"¦ To Lord Lansdowne ; Home OfBce, October 29th, 1833.

IBISE POOB INQUIEY. 433

prejudices likely to embarrass them in the performance of
their difficult task. Mr. Senior being consulted, named Mr.
Eevans, who had distinguished himself in a subordinate
capacity under the EngUsh Commission, and who had thereby
become known to the Home Secretary. As usual, however, in
questions of Irish patronage, the claims of others, on the
ground of parliamentary influence, were strongly pressed,
and the prelate learned with vexation that an individual
whom he considered far less fltted for the post, was likely to
be appointed. He wrote saying that if they did not nominate
Mr. Eevans, or some one equally colourless in Irish, and
capable in English eyes, he must decline to act. Two days
after, the secretary was summoned to the Home Office.
" You must be off to Ireland," said Melbourne, as soon as he
entered the room. " I have no wish to go," was the rejoinder ;
" but if the Government require it, I will only ask that my
position may not be worsened by the transfer." " Certainly
not," said the minister ; " but talk to Tom Young on the
subject, and I will see' that the right thing is done. Lose no
time about it, as they are waiting for you ; and let me hear
how you get on." After some weeks spent in Dublin, Mr.
Eevans was recalled to London to assist in winding up the
affairs of the English Inquiry, and he asked for an interview,
to report progress, at Whitehall. On seeing him, Melbourne
began with "Well, what sort of team have you got?"
" The wary official," writes Haydon, " hesitated, and said he
was not quite sure that he understood the question." " How
do the two archbishops pull together?" "As well as
possible," was the reply ; " I only hope we may flnd no
difficulty greater than with them."
"The scene at the -Lord Mayor's dinner was exquisite;
the mischievous air of over-politeness with which Lord
Brougham handed in the Lady Mayoress ; the arch looks
of Lord Melbourne ; the supercUious sneer of Lord Stanley
at a City affair, as he calls it. In the ball-room I said to
Lord Stanley, Lord Melbourne enjoys it. There is nothing
VOL. I. 2 F

484 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.

Lord Melbourne does not enjoy, said he. Can there be a
flner epitaph on a man? It is true of Lord Melbourne,
who is aU amiabiUty, good-humour, and simpUcity of
mind." *
His duties in the House of Lords were manifold and
onerous. As having the charge of Government bills ori
ginating in that House or sent up from the Commons, he had
to master not only the subject of each, but to make himself
acquainted with the multifarious details they included,
and to give reasons for resisting the changes which an
astute and angry Opposition were incessantly attempting
to make in them. Grey, Holland, and Plunket dealt ably
and eloquently with general principles, on the second reading
of the greater measures of the day, and Lansdowne was
alike ready to aid in this and in the practical labours of
committee. The irrepressible ChanceUor took his full share,
and something more, of work as well as talk ; but to the
circumspect and practical Home Secretary his provoking
and exaggerative way was sometimes less a help than a
hindrance. He had less scruple about compromise than any
of his colleagues, when suggested by himself; but he did
more than all of them to make compromise difficult hy his
taunts and jeers at the expense of opponents. Melbourne's
uppermost thought, when bringing in or taking up a biU,
was so to engineer it as to expose the fewest possible points
of attack to his vigilant and oTit-numbering foea ; and for
thia purpose he often said but little, and refused to be drawn
out of his trenches by the most tempting or affronting show
ol attack Brougham, on the contrary, was ready to fight
any number of duels, rhetorical or conversational, of black-
letter law or black-mouthed insinuation, upon any conceivable
rmber oft- ' T' 7T'''''' ^^^^« ^« ^^^^^ speak any
grand affair of baiting^on ^lt"::lZflIrttl^^^^^^
* 9th Nov. 1833. Haydon's ' Memoirs,' vol. ii. p. ss3~4:

DOECHESTEB L ABOU BEES. 435

let them get through the clauses, deliberatively it would not
so much matter : but this was a division of labour to which
the noble and learned economist would not by any means
agree. At length it came to be tacitly understood that if an
amendment was to be peaceably carried it must be arranged
with the Home Secretary. Lord Grey's confidence in his
judgment and tact left him a wide discretion ; and he was
able, by his personal influence, to accomplish much that the
reporters did not notice at the time, and of which no
record is to be found in Hansard. He had, besides, a great
variety of business thrown upon him, in preparing the
answers to questions to be given by the Premier or by
himself, and in dealing with petitions, diversified and often
difficult in their character. His laconic method of previous
inquiry for these occasions, is indicated in a note to the
Secretary of the Treasury.
^.jr T> Home Offlce, March 20th, 1834.
My dear Eice, . '
When Lord Dundonald received a pardon under the Great
Seal, was the fine which had been imposed upon him not
repaid to him ? I wish to know this because Mr. Butt has
given Lord Wynford a petition to the House of Lords
in which he alleges this to be the fact, and prays the
same from himself Yours faithfully.
At the Spring Assizes, 1834, six agricultural labourers
were found guilty at Dorchester of belonging to an associa
tion bound together by unlawful oaths, and sentenced to
transportation for seven years. Surprise and indignation filled
the minds of the whole body of trades unionists throughout
the kingdom at the severity of the sentence, and with one
voice they publicly denounced its execution as unjust. It
being resolved that the men should be transported, their im
mediate removal was thought necessary as the most effectual
way to extinguish wUd hopes, if not dangerous projects of
rescue ; they were accordingly sent on board with as little
delay as possible and it was announced that the ship had
saUed for Sydney. This was regarded as an aggravation of

436 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
the injustice ; and at public meetings all through the country
Government were denounced as the enemies of the working
classes. This was what came, it was bitterly said, of ac
cepting a measure of reform which enfranchised the whole of
the middle ranks of life, but left without electoral power the
great bulk of those who Uved by wage labour. A new move
ment must be organised to redress the inequality of political
privileges ; and, Eobert Owen and others added, to secure
an equality of the benefits and blessings of wealth. In the
metropolis the influence of these ideas spread rapidly. Owen
lectured, argued, wrote, and talked himself hoarse in dis
semination of his fixed idea of mutual support as the one all-
sufficient remedy for the ills of life ; and being a thoroughly
earnest and disinterested man, he made such way that even
those who regarded his doctrines as fatuous and dangerous
were compelled to acknowledge his devoted sincerity. To
multitudes out of work, or half starving themselves in the
desperate conflict of strikes, his word seemed a message of
social glad tidings, the like of which had never been heard
before ; and when to pecuniary losa and domestic privation
there was added the sting of political wrong, the words of the
theorist were caught up and reiterated with ever-increasing
fervour and force, till they threatened to become like the
breath of the whirlwind. The council of the National Trades
Union, whose affiliated branches were said to contain from
three to four hundred thousand men, published a manifesto
embodying the salient principles of Owenism, and enjoining
practical measures for their realisation. The governing
classes were denounced as idlers, and the trading classes as
profit-mongers who added nothing to the common stock of
the community, but, like their betters, lived upon the fruits
of productive labour.
The best means of enabling the working classes themselves
to be consumers of the necessaries, commoditiea and
luxuries of life, as well as producers of them, was bv
forming arrangements to prevent the profits of their toil

TEEOBIES OF OWEN. 487
from going out of the circle of the productive classes into
that of the unproductive. To this end each trade society
must open shops for dealing with each other and profitably
employing their unemployed ; no unionist to lay out his
money at any other places than these for all the articles
they could supply. Let the baker's union, in the first
instance, open shops where all unionists could be supplied
with bread or have it baked for them. Butchers' shops,
gardeners, cheesemongers, and other provision dealers,
tailors, shoemakers, and other trades, should do the same.
By these means the producers of real wealth would be
enabled to keep the greater part of the circulating medium
in their own hands, and thereby become what the political
economists have often tauntingly told them to become,
capitalists ; and, consequently, they might then give what
directions to industry they should think proper, and no
longer be forced to be slavish suppliants to the upper
classes for leave to toil at what prices they should choose to
offer. Besides, the useful classes would become what they
ought to be, a distinct people from the idle and useless.
Without these arrangements any strike for higher wages
would be fruitless ; for if the labourers got higher wages
they would have to pay a higher price for all they con
sumed, and they might become losers by higher prices, as
the aristocracy would most likely fly to other countries for
a supply of those articles which they now got in England.
The adoption of this plan would force the shop-ocracy into
other and more useful occupations, and to cry for a re
duction of taxation.
By way of being practical, the manifesto bade each and every
member of the union refuse to aid in manufacturing any
article of clothing or equipment for the army or police.
„In order to make a signal beginning in the complete change
of society on which their organisation was determined, they
summoned all the unions in and around London to meet on
the 21st of April in White Conduit Fields, thence to march

438 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.

to the Home Office to present, through the Secretary of
State, a petition to the King for the immediate recall of the
Dorsetshire labourers.
Owen, who heartily abhorred all thoughts of violence and
disorder, became uneasy at the feverish symptoms of the
excitement he had helped so much to create ; and, in his sim
plicity, wrote to Melbourne, inclosing a copy of the petition,
and asking if he would receive deputies from the assembled
trades on the appointed day. The minister replied that he
would present any memorial reasonably framed, praying for
a mitigation of what was felt to be a hardship, if sent to him
without menace, ostensible or implied ; but that from a mul
titude threatening to overawe the executive by an array of
numbers he would receive nothing. He would be at his
office from ten till five o'clock on Monday, and would see
them if they came in a peaceful and proper manner. Owen
communicated this answer to the council of trades, and pre
vailed on them to name five of their body whose temper and
discretion might be relied on to take charge of the petition;
but he strove in vain to dissuade them from accompanying
the deputies to Whitehall. Thither the procession must go ;
its numbers would appal the heart of power ; and when it
was known they were coming in their might, the officials
would not dare to remain at their posts and say them nay.
Such being the state of affairs, it became the duty of the Home
Secretary to provide for the preservation of public tranquillity.
Circulars were addressed to the magistrates desiring them to
be on the alert, and directing them to swear in large bodies
of special constables in every parish to take charge for the
day in their various localities, the police being necessarily con
centrated at different points near the projected route. The
Guards and other troops received orders to be in readiness
whenever called upon, but they were on no account to quit
their barracks unless specially required. In the course of
Saturday the 19th, notices were issued by the divisional ma
gistrates at the instance of the Home Office to all manufac
turers and employers of labour against the dangers of tumult

A MONSTEB DEPUTATION. 439
and recommending them to keep their apprentices at home.
All Sunday the town was full of anxiety ; Melbourne spent
many hours at Whitehall communicating with the various
persons in subordinate authority, and endeavouring to im
press them all with his own spirit of confidence, that if they
only kept their heads cool and refused to be provoked into
impatience or ill-humour all would pass off without harm.
From daybreak on the 21st crowds began to assemble
at White Conduit House, a tavern which then stood on the
rising ground not very far from King's Cross, in the centre
of a number of open fields, now no longer recognisable,
having been for many years densely covered with buildings.
By degrees the unions appeared with their flags and bands,
every man in his best attire and wearing the insignia of his
trade. When all were assembled, their numbers were esti
mated from twenty-five to thirty thousand. And as the pro
cession wound its slow length through the streets, the last
contingent had not quitted the rendezvous when the head
of the column emerged at Charing Cross. The sentries
at the Horse Guards and Home Office had been called
in for the day, the gates leading into the Park were shut,
and not a soldier or constable was to be seen in the
neighbourhood of Whitehall. As the cavalcade moved on
towards Westminster, Owen and the deputies, accompanied
by Dr. Wade, who acted as a sort of chaplain to the associa
tion, and appeared in cassock, gown and bands, presented
themselves as had been arranged and asked for an inter
view with the Secretary of State. Melbourne, ^who had
made a point of being seen at one of the front windows,
whence he quietly observed the procession, sent the Under-
Secretary, Mr. PhiUips, to say that he would not receive
them, representing as they did a demonstration of physical
force meant to overawe the Government ; that he had seen a
. copy of the petition, and did not quarrel with its language ;
and if that petition were presented on another day and in a
becoming manner, he would receive it, and would himself lay
it before the King. Melbourne had desired him to add, that

440 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUENE.
he would always be ready to present to His Majesty any
petition respectfully worded and delivered to him in a proper
manner. At Kennington they awaited the answer of the deputation
charged with the presentation of the petition to the Home
Office. The reply was delivered to them by their secretary,
Mr. Brown, in these terms : —
Brothers, Lord Melbourne's answer is that he would not
receive it in the way it had been presented : but his lordship
has condescended to say, that if presented with proper
decorum he will himself present it to his Majesty. And
now, brothers, it is the order of the Council that you all
return promptly and in good order to your several lodges,
there to discuss our future .proceedings.
Without any expression of feeling, the unions then
separated and marched off on their return to their respective
districts.* " The conduct of the Government throughout the
affair was both courageous and humane, though not without
an extra-judicial air." !
The most important measure of 1834 was the New Poor
Law, which wrought, as it was designed to do, little less
than a revolution in the habits and ideas of the agricultural
community ; and drew down on those by whom it was
carried a weight of obloquy which it is hardly possible for
a subsequent generation to estimate or comprehend. Its
chief provisions were foreshadowed in the reports of a Com
mission of Inquiry of the preceding year, in which the most
prominent thinkers and writera were Mr. Senior and Mr.
Chadwick. The abuses and anomalies which had grown up
under the allowance system had long required treatment
with a vigorous hand; but the difficulty of the social
questions involved, and the unpopularity certain to be
provoked hy any comprehensive scheme for checking the
demoralising practice of undiscriminating relief, had deterred
* Examiner, April 27th, 1834.
! ' History of the Half Centiury,' by W. Wilks, chap. iv. p. 253.

 TEE NEW POOB LAW. 441
previous administrations from attempting the ungrateful
task. Brougham "and Althorp it is generally understood
were the chief advocates in councU for making the attempt.
To them must be ascribed the resolve to issue a Commission
of Inquiry ; and the subsequent persuasion of the Cabinet to
embody in legislative form the stringent remedies which
the Commission advised. As a Home Office BUl, it would
naturaUy have been introduced by the Minister of the
Interior, had he been a member of the House of Commons.
But its details had been mainly elaborated under the
auspices of the Keeper of the Great Seal and the Chancellor
of the Exchequer ; and by the latter it was brought in on
the 17th of April in a speech of great length and great
lucidity. Sir Eobert Peel and most of the country gentle
men around him cordially supported its provisions; and
with some unessential modifications in committee it passed
the Lower House by great majorities. Melbourne willingly
complied with the Chancellor's desire to take charge of the
measure in the Lords, while the Duke of WelUngton gave
it a hearty support. In both Houses, nevertheless, humane
and thoughtful men pleaded earnestly against some of its
more rigorous enactments; and their objections were ve
hemently enforced by many influential organs of public
opinion ; above all by the Times. The editor, Mr. Barnes,
expressed from the outset his aversion from the principles
of overruling centralism, refusal of outdoor relief to the
able-bodied, and the separation of husband and wife, parent
and child, which formed the leading features of the remedial
law; and for several years the hardships said to be in
separable from the austere application of these principles
formed the theme of the most eloquent contributions to
the pages of the great journal. Melbourne had no cordial
liking for the bill. Practically he knew little or nothing
bf the old system of poor relief. His intuitive good sense
led him to appreciate the force of the economic objections
urged against its continuance ; but his lenient and generous
nature recoiled from the stern enforcement of novel rules,
VOL. I. 2 G

442 MEMOIBS OF VISCOUNT MELBOUBNE.
for which the habits of the most ignorant and helpless
classes of the community were wholly unprepared. He
acquiesced in the Cabinet because something effectual and
thorough must be done to arrest the downward tendency of
an outworn system ; and beoause he knew not what else
to propose. But he discerned more clearly than others the
consequeiice to his party of thus making themselves the
legislative protectors of the wealthy and well-to-do, at the
apparent cost of those who live by labour. He shrugged
his shoulders as he perfunctorily said "content," and
muttered to himself something which had very much the
sound of profane swearing.
Upon another .question, of engrossing interest, which
was brought to issue in the session of 1834, his views like
wise differed materially from those of his leading colleagues.
In their eyes the agitation for the Eepeal of the Union was
a mere factious and foolish outcry, incited by one man to
promote his selfish aims, and to gratify his personal spleen.
At any cost he was to be put down. That done, disaffection
to imperial rule and disturbance of social tranquillity would
disappear ; and Ireland, with a uniform coinage, mileage,
and postage, would thenceforth become an undistinguishable
part and parcel of an incorporate realm. Melbourne's
sagacity led him to look deeper into things ; and while
regarding the proposal to call an independent parliament in
Dublin as delusive, and the threat of separation as chimerical,
he ascribed the demand to general discontent, sectarian
and political, on the part of the Catholic community, for
which there was too much cause. Taken literaUy, he called
Eepeal damned nonsense ; but the organised agitation
which used it as a watch-word seemed to him a grave
reproach to Imperial Government at the end of thirty years.
He did not believe that it was the mere reverberation of
one stentorian voice, or that it would cease from troubling
if that voice were mute. O'ConneU, on the 23rd of April
against his own shrewder judgment, consented to bring
forward a motion for a committee to inquire into the means

BEPEAL OF THE UNION. 443
by which the Union had been carried, and the effects it had
produced. After a week's debate, but 37 out of 105 Irish,
and but one out of 553 English and Scotch members could
, be induced to vote for the motion. A joint address to the
King pledged both Houses to • maintain inviolate the Union
as settled in 1800 ; and a tombstone was thereby supposed
to be laid on Irish disaffection. But at Holland House
there was no such vain illusion. The warning words of Fox,
when his rival was carrying, by equally great majorities, his
bill for the union of the three kingdoms, were not forgotten
there ; and Melbourne's experience of departmental adminis
tration served but to confirm his conviction that until equal
laws and privileges should be made operative, without regard
to creed or race, unity of empire there would never be. He
thought if he had power that thus he would 'shape hia
policy : but of the possession of such power he did not
dream.

END OF VOL. I.

LONDO.S : PEIKTED BY WILLIAM CLOWKS AND SONS, SIAMFOKU STREET
AND CHAEING CKOSS.

3 9002