Volume II Part 11 (1/2)

March 22nd, 1831 {p131}

The debate began again last night, and was adjourned It was dull, and the House iht they will divide, and after a thousand fluctuations of opinion it is thought the Bill will be thrown out by a small majority Then will come the question of a dissolution, which one side affir will not consent to it, knowing, as 'the man in the street' (as we call his, and being the confidant of theirbut a choice of difficulties either way, and victory or defeat would be equally bad It is odd enough, but I believe Lord Lansdowne thinks just the sa what I expected would be the result, and I told him my opinion on the whole question, and he replied, 'I can add nothing to what you have said; that is exactly my own opinion,' and I have very little doubt that more than half the Cabinet in their hearts abhor the , and could not go to the House at all

March 23rd, 1831 {p132}

The House divided at three o'clock thiswas carried by a majority of _one_ in the fullest House that ever was known--303 to 302--both parties confident up to the moment of division; but the Opposition most so, and at last the Government expected to be beaten Den to divide that the question would be lost; Calcraft and the Wynnes' going over at the eleventh hour did the business

I believe that this division is the best thing that could happen, and so I told the Duke in the , and that I had wished it to be carried by a s with Arbuthnot in the Park He said, 'I could not take such a course'

(that was in answer toI wished it to be read a second time, to be lost in the Co to do with it personally' 'No; but as belonging to the party I could not recoether disagree with my view of it I stopped at the 'Travellers' till past three, when a man came in and toldwithfroe well and are active and determined) that the Bill will be lost in Co that could have occurred

March 24th, 1831 {p132}

[Page Head: REFORM BILL CARRIED BY ONE VOTE]

The agitation the other night on the division was prodigious The Governht they had lost it by ten, and the Opposition, ere crowded in the lobby, fancied fro There was betting going on all night long, and large sums have been won and lost The people in the lobby were ht they had 303 At the levee yesterday and Council; the Govern satisfied, but hardly can be I ton afterwards, ned to ht this s that could have occurred, and that see particularly at the levee; Brougha to the Opera on account of the death of his son-in-law Kennedy, appeared in(crape, that is), which is reckoned bad taste; the public allow natural feeling to supersede law and etiquette, but it is too hter is not in England

Soland had appeared into the Ancient Concert, where the Queen was, and by-the-bye in ravine and duchess of Gloucester too, but they (the two latter) could hardly befor Lord Cassilis's son Horace Seymour, Meynell, and Calvert were all turned out of their places in the Lord Chaht

The change of Ministers at Paris and Casi like confidence about French affairs The Prince of Orange is gone back to Holland, to his infinite disgust; he was escorted by Lady Dudley Stewart and Mrs Fox as far as Gravesend, I believe, where they were found the next day in their white satin shoes and evening dresses He reat fool of hiht have been for his political , and little (rather innocent) orgies at these ladies' houses formed his habitual occupation

A sort of repose from the cursed Bill for a oing to support it in Committee; nobody knows When the Speaker put the question, each party roared 'Aye' and 'No' _totis viribus_ He said he did not know, and put it again After that he said, 'I am not sure, but I think the ayes have it' Then the noes went out into the lobby, and the others thought they never would have done filing out, and the House looked so eone that the Government was in despair They say the excitereat complaints of Peel--of his coldness, incommunicativeness, and deficiency in all the qualities requisite for a leader, particularly at such a time There is nobody else, or he would be deserted for any h to take a proust his adherents nobody knohat are his opinions, feelings, wishes, or intentions; he will not go _en avant_, and nobody feels any dependence upon him There is no help for it and the man's nature can't be altered I said all this to Ross yesterday, his devoted adherent, and he was obliged to own it, with all kinds of regrets and endeavours to soften the picture

April 14th, 1831 {p134}

The Reforn has reopened with a violent speech fro as a delusion; that the people begin to find out how they are hu cheaper they don't care about it The man's drift is not very clear whether the Bill is really unpalatable at Preston or whether he wants to go further directly At the same time John Russell announced so upon its principle, but, as the Opposition declares, altering it altogether On the whole, these things have inspirited its opponents, and, as they must produce delay, are in so far bad for the Reforh the opinion of the country is universally in its favour, people are beginning to think that it may be rejected without any apprehension of such dreadful consequences ensuing as have been predicted Then the state of Ireland is such that it is thought the Ministers cannot encounter a dissolution, not that I feel any security on that head, for I believe the Cabinet is ruled by two or threetheir oer

April 24th, 1831 {p134}

[Page Head: DEFEAT AND DISSOLUTION]

At Newht to hear from those who saw them the extraordinary scenes in both Houses of Parliament (the day before) which closed the eventful week The Reforht before I went out of town I ent Street, when he told me that he did not believe the Ministers would be beaten, but if they were they should certainly dissolve instantly; that _he_ should have liked to dissolve long ago, but they owed it to their friends not to have recourse to a dissolution if they could help it On Monday General Gascoyne moved that the Committee should be instructed not to reduce the members of the House of Coht The dissolution was then decided upon

Meanwhile Lord Wharncliffe gave notice of anot to dissolve Parliament, and this was to have coain beaten in the House of Co they got the King to go down and prorogue Parliament in person the same day This _coup d'etat_ was so sudden that nobody are of it till within two or three hours of the time, and many not at all They told hiot ready, when he said, 'Then I will go with anybody else's horses' Soe to the Tower, to fetch the Crown, and they collected such attendants as they could find to go with his Majesty The Houses met at one or two o'clock In the House of Co the Government on every point, and (excited as he was) it was very well done The Ministers made no reply, but Sir Francis Burdett and Tennyson endeavoured to interrupt with calls to order, and when the Speaker decided that Vyvyan was not out of order Tennyson disputed his opinion, which enraged the Speaker, and soon after called up Peel, for who The scene then resenation in 1782, for Althorp (I think) moved that Burdett should be heard, and the Speaker said that 'Peel was in possession of the House to speak on thatthe Government for their incompetence, folly, and recklessness, and treated them with the utuns announced the arrival of the King, and at each explosion the Govern in the midst of every sort of noise and tumult when the Usher of the Black Rod knocked at the door to sus were if possible still eous; those ere present tellbut e read of the 'Serment du Jeu de Paume,' and the whole scene was as much like the preparatory days of a revolution as can well be iined Wharncliffe was to haveParliament, and this motion the Ministers were resolved should not coet it put upon the Journals The Duke of Rich points of order, and ular places (in separate ranks), which, however, is i, because the cross benches are removed; this put Lord Londonderry in such a fury that he rose, roared, gesticulated, held up his whip, and four or five Lords held hi on somebody Lord Lyndhurst was equally furious, and some sharp words passed which were not distinctly heard In the midst of all the din Lord Mansfield rose and obtained a hearing

Wharncliffe said to him, 'For God's sake, Mansfield, take care what you are about, and don't disgrace us more in the state we are in' 'Don't be afraid,' he said; 'I will say nothing that will alar philippic on the Govern y and excitation, was prodigiously effective While he was still speaking, the King arrived, but he did not desist even while his Majesty[1] was entering the House of Lords, nor till he approached the throne; and while the King was ascending the steps, the hoarse voice of Lord Londonderry was heard crying 'Hear, hear, hear!' The King fro-room heard the noise, and asked what it all meant The conduct of the Chancellor wasin and out of the House andmost extraordinary speeches In the midst of the uproar he went out of the House, when Lord Shaftesbury was ain ca's undoubted right to dissolve Parliament should be questioned at a moment when the House of Co the supplies,' and having so said (which was a lie) he flounced out of the House to receive the King on his arrival The King ought not properly to have worn the Crown, never having been crowned; but when he was in the robing-roos, I wear the Crohere is it?' It was brought to hi to put it on his head he said, 'nobody shall put the Crown on my head but myself'

He put it on, and then turned to Lord Grey and said, 'Now, e Villiers said that in his life he never saw such a scene, and as he looked at the King upon the throne with the Crown loose upon his head, and the tall, griure of Lord Grey close beside hi had got his executioner by his side, and the whole picture looked strikingly typical of his and our future destinies

[1] When Lord Mansfield sat down he said, 'I have spoken English to them at least' Lord Lyndhurst toldas soon as the door opened to ad He said he never saw hirand