Volume III Part 22 (1/2)

August 6th, 1835 {p284}

Yesterday to Brighton, to see hton stake, which he won, and back at night The day before Idown, to the House of Lords 'Well,' said he, shrugging his shoulders, 'here I a evidence all the ' 'What is to happen?'

I asked hireatest bore; they have heard Coventry and Oxford; they got so of a case out of the first, but the other was beyond anything tiresohareed that _it is all da more after Saturday next' So this is the end of all this hubbub, and here are these two great coainst each other in the House of Lords overnight with all iether the next ree that _it is all da very reat bull calf the public does not care about such things, and is content to roar when he is bid, there are those on the alert ill turn such trilling and folly to account, and convert what is half ridiculous into so all serious Winchelsea and Newcastle after all did not vote the other night; they said they wanted no evidence, that they would have no such Bill, and would not meddle with the discussion at all except to oppose it point-blank Fools as they are, their folly is more tolerable and probably less mischievous than the folly of the wise ones

[15] The Great Seal being in Coland (Sir Lancelot Shadwell) sat as one of the Coust 9th, 1835

[Page Head: THE KING AND LORD TORRINGTON]

On Wednesday last at the levee the King ton, one of his Lords of the Bedcharaceful scene A card was put into Torrington's hands of somebody as presented, which he read, 'So and so, _Deputy-Governor_'

'Deputy-Governor?' said the King, 'Deputy-Governor of what? I cannot tell your Majesty,' replied Torrington, 'as it is not upon the card' 'Hold your tongue, sir,' said the King; 'you had better go home and learn to read;' and shortly after, when soainst (I believe) the Irish tithe Bill, and the King was going as usual to hand over the papers to the Lord in waiting, he stopped and said to Lord Torrington, who advanced to take theton; these are not fit docu' His habitual state of excite on sooner or later thened instantly and as publicly as the insult was offered

The King cannot bridle his te his dislike, impotent as it is, of the people who surround him He adoes Tories accouests This provokes his Ministers, but it necessarily makes them more indifferent to the cultivation of his favour, and accustoms them to consider themselves as the Ministers of the House of Commons and not of the Crown

My brother writesdetails of the funeral of the victi and ed, and as it has produced a burst of enthusiasy to hithen his throne His undaunted courage ingratiates him with the French

[16] [The victiust 15th, 1835

[Page Head: DEBATE ON THE CORPORATION BILL]

On Wednesday the Lords cos on the Corporation Bill The Ministers were aware that they meant to throw it out, for Lord John Russell and Lord Lansdowne both told me at the levee that they had heard such was the intention of the Tories

However, they never had such a design, and the second reading passed without a division; on Thursday they went into Coainst Governuished by divers sallies of inteesticulated in his finest style When somebody cried, 'Question,' he burst out, 'Do you think to put ainst 300 of the House of Coive way to _you_?' This was uttered with all ie and scorn[17] This ah the Government object to it, Lord Lansdowne toldclause had passed without opposition, he did not care for the other alterations, but theupon the ridiculous; a Minister who could only muster thirty-seven present, and as in a minority of three to one, presented a novel spectacle nobody could account for the carelessness of their ht easily have been there, and several who belong to Government by office or connexion It did not, however, occur to anybody that they would feel then upon it, except perhaps to a few Tories, who hinted their notion that Melbourne could not go on with such a ainst hinifies nothing as to any iry Lyndhurst did not reply to hiue of late hours and his own indisposition, and on Thursday he attacked hiround of coreat injury to the House of Lords by lowering the style and character of their debates and introducing coarseness and acriht passes without so and vituperation bandied between hih Tory Lords, one or other of thely breaking out He and Lyndhurst, though constantly pitted against each other, are great friends all the time, but with the others it is a rabid passion of hatred and contee Head: ENERGY OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS]

Last night the qualification clause was carried against Governe majority, or nearly so, and this time Government does not seem disposed to take it so patiently It ell understood that a qualification would be imposed, and many of the supporters of the Bill said they did not object thereto, but they had no notion of such a qualification as Lyndhurst proposed and carried last night, and the Duke of Richmond (whom I met at Crockford's) told me that it would be fatal to the Bill He saw Lord John Russell after the division, who told him so, and that the Commons would never take the Bill with such an alteration as this Richoes entirely with Government in this measure, and I was rather surprised to hear hied that Lord Stanley was opposed to this part of the Bill, but that if this were so a e for himself in so important a matter,' which looks a little as if he meant to back out of the dilly, and I should not be very ain with these people, if they stay in I asked him what in his opinion would happen, and he replied that he thought the House of Lords was nearly done for, that he expected the Com resolutions; he should not be surprised if they refused to pass the Appropriation Bill I said they would hardly do that, because it would be a ainst Governn This he admitted, but he went on to say that he expected it would throw the House of Commons into a ferment, that they would adopt some violent course, and then there would be a 'row royal' What astonishes reat abilities, and certainly, if wishi+ng for anything, wishi+ng for the success of the party he belongs to, should urge these desperate courses He it ho proposed the fatal postponement of Schedule A, which led to such utter ruin and confusion, and now it is he who es this Bill, and who ventures to mutilate the Ministerialdown all the wrath of the Commons on him and his Conservative majority I am not at all sure but that the Government is content to exhibit its paltry numbers in the House of Lords, in order that the world may see how essentially it is a Tory body, that it hardly fulfils the conditions of a great independent legislative assembly, but presents the appearance of a dominant party-faction which is too numerous to be affected by any constitutional process and too obstinate to be turned fro all the measures which have a tendency to diminish the influence of the Conservative party in the country It is ireat majority and not ad harmoniously with the present House of Coe islation to go on at all It is anything but clear that the nation desires the destruction of the House of Lords, nor is it clear that the nation cares for its preservation It is, I think, exceedingly probable that a majority of those who return members to Parliament, and in whoh they ht be content to retain the House of Lords, if it could be made to act in harmony with, and therefore necessarily in subordination to, the House of Commons, would not hesitate for an instant to decree its downfall if it beca the Tory faction which now rules triu a desperate gaies of the party are great and wise men; but what if it fail? They seem to have no answer to this but that if they

Screw their courage to the sticking place, It will _not_ fail

CHAPTER XXIX

Resistance of the Lords--Duke of Richle between Lords and Cos on the Irish Church Bill--Violent Language in the Lords--Lord John Russell and Peel pass the Corporation Bill-- Dissolution of the Tory Party foreseen--Meeting of Peers to consider the A's Speech in Council on the Militia--Lord Howick's Bitterness against the Lords--Lord Lyndhurst's Opinion of the Corporation Bill--The King's Language on the Regency--Talleyrand's View of the English Alliance--Coer-- Visit of Princess Victoria to Burghley--O'Connell's Progress through Scotland--Mackintosh's Life

August 19th, 1835 {p290}

[Page Head: MUNIcipaL CORPORATION BILL]

Yesterday the Lords finished the Committee on the Corporation Bill Their last amendment (which I do not very well understand at present), by which certain aldermen elected for life are to be taken in the first instance frousted the authors of the BillI ainst the ah the others o down, as it was in direct opposition to the principle of the Bill Howick talked of 'the Lords being swept away like chaff' and of 'the serious ti' Duncannon said there would be a conference, and if the Lords insisted on these amendments the Bill would be lost I asked if a co this and the Co the other amendments, which he said would not be undesirable, but difficult to effect The continual discussions about this Bill haveof it towards the end of thenorant of the details and of the tendency of the Bill to have an opinion of the coinal shape, but I am sure the Lords are bound in prudence not to mutilate it more than is absolutely necessary to ood, and o to the country with, if eventually such an appeal is to be made On the other hand the House of Commons, powerful as it is, must not assert its power too peren, for the purpose of nation instrumental to the consolidation of their power and the destruction of the House of Lords; they also ood case, and be able to show that the amendments made by the Lords are incompatible with the object proposed, that they were made in a factious spirit and for the express purpose of thwarting the principle contended for, and that their conduct in this eneral systee in the constitution of the Upper House itself These are violent conclusions to come to, and when one reflects calmly upon the possible and probable consequences of a collision, and the onistic parties collectively and individually are blended together, it is difficult to believe that both will not pause on the brink of the precipice and be influenced by a simultaneous desire to come to a decent and practicable compromise This would probably be easy if both parties were actuated by a sincere desire to enact a law to reform corporations in the safest, best, and most satisfactory manner; but the reformation of the corporations is not the first object in the minds of either One wants to save as much as possible of the Tory influence, which is menaced by the Bill, and the other wants to court the democratic spirit, which vivifies its party, and erect a new and auxiliary influence on the ruins of the ancient establishh all their wranglings that these are the _arriere-pensees_ of the two antagonistic parties