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 LI RARY 
 
 STA-T TEACMER'SC^L'EGE 
 SA..TA BARBARA. CALIF'-RNIA
 
 Z§t (prime QUinider* of 
 Quun (Victoria 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 STUART J. RE ID 
 
 LORD MELBOURNE
 
 UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME. 
 
 THE QUEEN'S PRIME MINISTERS, 
 
 A SERIES OF POLITICAL BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 STUAET vJ. REID, 
 
 AITHOR OF 'THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SYDNEY SMITH.' 
 
 The Vohunti will eon fain Portraits, and will be published at 
 
 periodical intervals. 
 
 THE EARL OF BEACONSFIELD, K.G. By T. A. Froude, 
 D.C.L. 
 
 VISCOUNT MELBOURNE. By Henry Dunckley, LL.I). 
 
 (' Verax.'j 
 
 SIR ROBERT PEEL. By Justin McCarthy, M.P. 
 
 VISCOUNT PALMERSTON. By the Marquis of Lorne, 
 
 K.T. 
 
 THE RIGHT HON. W. E. GLADSTONE, M.P. By 
 G. W. E. Russell. 
 
 EARL RUSSELL. By Stuart J. Reid. 
 
 THE EARL OF ABERDEEN. By Sir Arthur Gordox, 
 G.C.M.G. &c. 
 
 THE EARL OF DERBY. By George Saintsbury. 
 
 THE MARQUIS OF SALISBURY. By H. D. Traill, 
 D.C.L. 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 HARPER & BROTHERS, Franklin Square.
 
 ■ ■
 
 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 BY 
 
 HENRY DUNCKLEY, M.A., LL.D. 
 
 NEW YORK 
 HARPER & BROTHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE 
 
 1890
 
 PRINTED BV 
 SP0TT1SW0ODE AND CO.. NEW-STREET SQUARE
 
 The latest and most authentic materials for a biography of 
 Lord Melbourne are to be found in ' Lord Melbourne's 
 Papers, edited by Lloyd C. Sanders, with a preface by the 
 Earl Cowper, K.G.' (Longmans, Green, and Co., 1889.) 
 The volume was not published till after the following 
 Memoir was begun, but it has been of great assistance 
 to the author. His acknowledgments are also due to 
 Mr. W. M. Torrens, whose ' Memoirs of Lord Melbourne,' 
 in two volumes (Macmillan and Co., 1878), furnish some 
 information gathered from personal sources which is not 
 to be found elsewhere. Sir Denis Le Marchant's ' Memoir 
 of Lord Althorp,' Lord Dalling's ' Life of Lord Palmerston,' 
 and Mr. Spencer Walpole's ' Life of Lord John Russell,' 
 throw interesting side-lights on Lord Melbourne's career. 
 The ' Greville Memoirs ' it is almost needless to mention. 
 ' The Manuscripts of the Earl Cowper, K.G., preserved at 
 Melbourne Hall,' and published by the Historical Manu- 
 scripts Commission (1888), supply ample notices of the 
 Coke family. The author's thanks are due to F. J. Head- 
 lam, Esq., who, as an old Etonian, kindly inquired of the 
 Provost of Eton for any record or tradition of Lord Mel- 
 bourne's schooldays, and to Professor Jack, for similar 
 inquiries made by him at Glasgow University.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 A NEW PATRICIAN HOUSE 
 
 Melbourne ancestry— Melbourne Hall — Sir Juhn Coke, Secre- 
 tary of State and political scapegoat — His sons — Puritan ami 
 Cavalier — A glimpse of Richard Baxter — Thomas Coke, Vice- 
 Chamberlain and Court exquisite — Swift to Stella — The Lambs 
 of Southwell — Sir Matthew Lamb and Charlotte Coke — The 
 Church and Lincoln's Inn — The blending of two patrimonies — 
 Joint result — Sir Peniston Lamb, first Viscount Melbourne 
 
 I'ACE 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 EARLY YEARS AND EDUCATION 
 
 The Melbourne household — Sir Peniston in Parliament — The 
 ambitions of a great lady — An Irish peerage— With princes of 
 the blood— Another Vice-Chamberlain in the family — The 
 company at Melbourne House — William Lamb at Eton and 
 Cambridge — A first flight in declamation — To be quoted by 
 Fox— Law and philosophy at Glasgow — Home correspondence 
 — Glasgow manners — The Miss Millars— Robert Hall's ser- 
 mon Lamb does not like the Di renters .... 12
 
 Vlll LORD .MELBOURNE 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 WAITING FOR THE TIDE 
 
 PACK 
 
 Education finished; what next? — Some disadvantages on setting 
 out —Sauntering—Decides for the law — Is called to the bar 
 with his future Lord Chancellor — Lamb and Pepys — Goes on 
 circuit — Actually gets a brief— A twofold crisis — Falls in love 
 —Becomes an eldest son — A courtship not without sinister 
 auguries — A double marriage and some maternal dreams ful- 
 filled ss 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 POLITICAL LAND-SURVEYING 
 
 \\ iliiam Lamb in Parliament —The men he found there — Pitt and 
 Fox — Family connections — Lord Althorp — William Huskisson 
 — Quick fate of ' All the Talents ' — Lamb moves the Address — 
 A Constitutional question raised — Lamb stands by the Consti- 
 tution — Veers towards administrative Radicalism — The Duke 
 of York scandal — The Regency —The ' rising sun ' will surely 
 shine upon us — Not at all : has no predilections — Lamb loses 
 his seat and is adrift ........ 49 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 TROUBLES AT HOME 
 
 La<iy Caroline Lamb— Sinister auguries fulfilling themselves — Ad- 
 vent of Lord Byron and ' Childe Harold '—The flirtations of 
 Lady Caroline, serio-comic verging upon tragedy— William 
 Lamb's conjugal ruminations— Marriage of Lord Byron and 
 its results at Brocket — Waywardness or madness ? — A separa- 
 tion planned and frustrated— The future Lord Lytton a sacri- 
 ficial victim —Separation at last— A ' psalm of life ' . 70
 
 CONTENTS ix 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 A FOLLOWER OF MR. CANNING 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Again in Parliament — Influence of Huskisson — The charm of Can- 
 ning—Lamb a Convert, but does not leave his party and some- 
 times votes with it — Votes for a committee of inquiry into the 
 public expenditure —Speaks in favour of a reduction of expendi- 
 ture — Votes for the suspension of Habeas Corpus and for the 
 Six Acts— Opposed to Parliamentary Reform — The Catholic 
 Association — Queen Caroline — Impecuniosity — A philosophy 
 of credit — Proclaimed a political renegade, and 'out' once 
 more ........... 88 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND 
 
 Sudden turn of the political kaleidoscope — Canning in power — 
 The Whig party rent asunder — Lamb Chief Secretary for Ire- 
 land, and a seat found for him — Leaves for Ireland— Death of 
 Canning — Lamb's Irish achievements and experiences — Retains 
 office under the Duke of Wellington and pays dearly for it— 
 The Whigs cleared out — Huskisson's resignation and its con- 
 sequences — Lamb secedes with the rest of the Canningites — 
 Death of Viscount Melbourne . . . . . .112 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 AT THE HOME OFFICE 
 
 Lamb, now Viscount Melbourne, in the House of Lords — Catholic 
 Emancipation— Death of George IV. — The Administration on 
 the shoals — A revolution in Paris, and a threatened one at 
 home— The Duke is afraid to visit the City -The Canningites 
 declare for Parliamentary Reform, and prepare to join the 
 Whigs— Melbourne moves with them, but slowly— Earl Grey 
 in power— Melbourne Home Secretary — The Reform Bill- 
 Melbourne's mind quite made up— Work at the Home Office - 
 Mr. Thomas Young and Mr. Francis Place . . . • '35
 
 X LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 PREMIER 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Further work at the Home Office — State of the Country — Earl 
 Grey's apprehensions — Melbourne will have no repressive 
 measures — The Dorchester labourers — Robert Owen — Irish 
 policy of the Government — Growing dissensions in the Cabinet 
 —The passing of the Reform Bill has severed the bond of 
 union — O'Connell and the 'Rupert of debate '— Proposed 
 secularisation of Church property in Ireland — •' Johnny upsets 
 the coach ' — Earl Grey resigns — Melbourne accepts the pre- 
 miership . . . . . . . . . 155 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 EGO ET REX MEUS 
 
 I difficulties of office — The pranks of Lord Brougham — Lord 
 Althorp goes to the House of Lords— Melbourne's letter to the 
 King — His interview with the King at Brighton — Summarily 
 dismissed and Sir Robert Peel sent for— Failure of an uncon- 
 stitutional experiment — Melbourne avenged — Premier again — 
 How he manages the King — Lord Brougham disposed of — 
 Mrs. Norton; a second social misadventure— Hostility of the 
 Lords — Lord John's ' Finality ' — Radical discontent — Death 
 of the King ......... 177 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 REGIUS PROFESSOR 
 
 The Queen's accession— Peculiarities of the new reign— A youth- 
 ful Sovereign — Guidance and instruction needed — Lord Mel- 
 bourne undertakes the task — How he discharged it — His devo- 
 tion and self-denial— Melbourne and Baron Stockmar — The 
 Coronation — The ' Court and the Whigs — The Bedchamber 
 squabble — Chivalry and office — Melbourne's Church patronage 
 —The Deanery of Exeter — Arnold and Thirlwall — At Court 
 with Robert Owen ........ 202
 
 CONTENTS xi 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 HIS FALL 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Growing weakness of the Cabinet— Incidents of a protracted Disso- 
 lution — Canada— The Syrian question — Palmerston's autocracy 
 in foreign affairs — Melbourne keeps the peace — The Queen's 
 Marriage -His fatherly approval — The troubles of the Minis- 
 try thicken— Embarrassed finance — The Corn Laws— Defeat 
 on the Sugar Duties— A general election— The majority of 
 ninety-one — Melbourne resigns — His parting interview with 
 the Queen • 222 
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 BROCKET 
 
 A speech at Melbourne— Brocket reminiscences— -Augustus Lamb 
 Lord Egremont — The picture in the Great Saloon — Not left 
 in utter loneliness — His interest in politics — Again in the House 
 of Lords —A Windsor incident — Still ready to go if ' sent for '— 
 His health steadily declining —Not included in the Ministerial 
 combination of 1846 — His last vote by proxy— An episode of 
 1832— The end ......... 235 
 
 [NDEX 245
 
 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 A NEW PATRICIAN HOUSE 
 
 The Melbourne ancestry— Melbourne Hall— Sir John Coke, Secretary 
 of State and political scapegoat — His sons — Puritan and Cavalier— 
 A glimpse of Richard Baxter — Thomas Coke, Vice-Chamberlain 
 and Court exquisite — Swift to Stella — The Lambs of Southwell — 
 Sir Matthew Lamb and Charlotte Coke — The Church and Lincoln's 
 Inn— The blending of two patrimonies — Joint result — Sir Peniston 
 Lamb, first Viscount Melbourne. 
 
 Lord Melbourne, the first of the Prime Ministers of 
 Queen Victoria, and the subject of this memoir, was the 
 son of Peniston, the first Viscount, by his marriage with 
 Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Ralph Milbanke, of Halnaby, 
 Yorkshire. He was born at Melbourne Hall, Derbyshire, 
 on March 15, 1779. His father lived till 1828. Hence, to 
 avoid confusion we shall have at once to drop the title by 
 which he is universally known, and to speak of him for fifty 
 years of his life as William Lamb, a name by which he is 
 hardly known at all. 
 
 The place cf his birth, from which also the family title 
 was derived, suggests a previous history, and it will repay us 
 to take a brief retrospective glance. We are about to see a 
 
 B
 
 2 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 patrician house in the making. It will be interesting to 
 observe how the materials were acquired and how the fabric 
 was gradually built. Melbourne Hall was formerly the 
 rectory house of the parish church of Melbourne, and from 
 the reign of Henry II. had been annexed, together with the 
 glebe and tithe, to the see of Carlisle. In 1628 Sir John 
 Coke acquired possession on a lease for three lives, and in 
 1 710, by an arrangement with the then bishop, confirmed 
 by Act of Parliament, the lease was turned into freehold. 
 Sir John Coke must be considered the most distinguished 
 member of the Melbourne ancestry. He was the second 
 son of Thomas Coke, of Trusley, near Derby, where the 
 family had been settled for four generations as lords of the 
 manor. The eldest son, Sir Francis Coke, Knight, took 
 the patrimonial estates. The third son, George, entered 
 the Church, becoming Bishop of Bristol and afterwards of 
 Hereford. The second son, John, with whom we are now 
 concerned, went to Trinity College, Cambridge, as a Foun- 
 dation scholar. He was afterwards admitted a fellow, and 
 is said by Fuller to have been Professor of Rhetoric. From 
 some correspondence which remains, bearing the date 1588, 
 it seems probable that he was attached in some capacity to 
 the household of Lord Burghley. In 1591 we find him 
 occupying a post in the Dockyard at Deptford, but the two 
 following years were spent in travelling on the Continent. 
 Among his correspondents at that time was the celebrated 
 Isaac Casaubon. From the time of his return he was in 
 close relations with Fulke Greville, afterwards Lord Brooke, 
 Treasurer of the Navy. He seems to have been employed 
 by Greville in managing his private affairs as well as in the 
 business of the Admiralty. In 16 18, in consequence of the 
 experience he had acquired, he was put upon a commission
 
 A NEW PATRICIAN HOUSE 3 
 
 appointed to inquire into the state of the Navy, and when 
 the Duke of Buckingham became Lord High Admiral, Coke 
 was at his instance appointed a Commissioner of the Navy. 
 This office carried no fixed salary, but in 162 1 the King, for his 
 'great services,' granted him certain allowances amounting to 
 300/. a year. In 1622 he was made one of the Masters of 
 Requests ; two years later he was knighted, and in September 
 1625, he was appointed one of the two principal Secretaries 
 of State, and became a Privy Councillor. As Commissioner 
 of the Navy he was employed in fitting out the expeditions 
 to Cadiz and Rochelle, and as Secretary of State he accom- 
 panied the King on his visits to Scotland in 1633 and 1639. 
 Since 1620 he had been a member of the House of Com- 
 mons, sitting successively for Warwick, St. Germans, and 
 Cambridge University. 
 
 His last journey with the King to Scotland was the 
 climax of his fortunes, and the end of his public career. 
 The King had put himself at the head of his army bent 
 upon chastising the insolence of his Scottish subjects. He 
 was forced into an ignominious treaty, and came back out 
 witted and disgraced. 'The King,' says Clarendon, 'was 
 very melancholic, and quickly discerned that he had lost 
 reputation at home and abroad, and those Councillors who 
 had been most faulty, either through want of courage or 
 wisdom (for at that time few of them wanted fidelity), never 
 afterwards recovered spirit enough to do their duty, but 
 gave themselves up to those who had so much over-witted 
 them ; every man shifting the fault from himself and finding 
 some friend to excuse him, and it being yet necessary that 
 so infamous a matter should not be covered with absolute 
 oblivion it fell to Secretary Coke's turn (for whom nobody 
 cared), who was then near four score years of age, to be 
 
 £ 2
 
 4 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 made the .sacrifice, and upon pretence that lie had omitted 
 the writing what he ought to have done, and inserted some- 
 what he ought not to have done, he was put out of his office.' 
 Strafford opposed his removal, partly out of dislike to his 
 successor, Sir Henry Vane, but was unable to overcome the 
 secret influence of the Queen. The old man took his dis- 
 missal philosophically, as he might well do at his age. He 
 writes to his son at Melbourne that he is bringing a great 
 family upon him to pester his house, but not to be a charge 
 upon his purse. He wants the study to be got ready, as he 
 is bringing down sundry books, ' though not very choice,' to 
 fill it. He has sent to Barbary for hawks, and his daughter 
 is to be sure to ' brew a store of beer against March.' He 
 is also having a gown made for the rector whom he has just 
 presented to the living. It is at present at the dyer's, but it 
 shall be ' made up in convenient time.' Unfortunately, he 
 was not long allowed to live in peace at Melbourne Hall. 
 When the Civil War broke out he was harassed by both 
 parties, neither having full confidence in him. The Royalist 
 leanings of the townspeople brought over a detachment of 
 Parliamentary soldiers from Derby, and their commander, 
 Major Swallow, took up his quarters at the Hall, where he 
 was visited by his friend Richard Baxter, the Puritan divine. 
 While there Baxter began writing the treatise which has 
 brought repose to so many souls, his ' Saints' Everlasting 
 Rest.' That was the rest towards which Sir John was 
 hastening. Forced to quit Melbourne, he slowly made his 
 way to Tottenham, with a pass provided for him by his son, 
 and there, at the house of his relative, Alderman Lee, in 
 September 1644, he finished his long pilgrimage. 
 
 Sir John Coke left two sons, John and Thomas. They 
 both had seats in the Long Parliament, but took opposite
 
 A NEW PATRICIAN HOUSE 5 
 
 sides. John, who was knighted in 1633, subscribed the 
 Solemn League and Covenant, and was one of the Com- 
 missioners appointed by the House of Commons to receive 
 the King at the hands of the Scots' army. He died in 1650, 
 without issue. Thomas, who succeeded to the family 
 estates, adhered to the cause of the King. He was declared 
 incapable of sitting, fined 500/. in 1648, and again 2,200/. in 
 1650, for delinquency to the Commonwealth. During a part 
 of this latter year he was imprisoned in the Tower by the 
 order of the House. He left an only child, John Coke, 
 who became member for Derby, and at least achieved the 
 distinction of being mentioned in Hume's History. In his 
 speech from the throne on opening his first Parliament 
 James II. informed both Houses that in levying additional 
 forces he had employed many Catholic officers, and in order 
 to do so had dispensed with the law requiring a test to be 
 administered to all persons holding office. The Commons 
 voted an address against the dispensing power. ' The 
 address,' says Hume, 'was expressed in most respectful 
 and submissive terms, yet it was very ill received by the 
 King, and his answer contained a flat denial, uttered with 
 great warmth and vehemence. The Commons were so 
 daunted with this reply that they kept silence a long time, 
 and when Coke, member for Derby, rose up and said, " I 
 hope we are all Englishmen, and not to be frightened with 
 a few hard words," so little spirit appeared in that assembly, 
 often so refractory and mutinous, that they sent him to the 
 Tower for bluntly expressing a free and generous sentiment.' 
 Both father and son had thus the honour of being sent to 
 the Tower by the order of the House of Commons, one for 
 sympathising with Charles I., the other for speaking out too 
 boldly against the illegal proceedings of James II. The
 
 6 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 discipline of the Tower was wasted on John Coke. He was 
 ready to act in accordance with his sense of an Englishman's 
 duty when the time came. In November and December 
 1688 we find him busy through his agents in enlisting a 
 Derbyshire regiment for the Prince of Orange, and from the 
 accounts forwarded to him at his London quarters, ' Mrs. 
 Warner's, in Surry Street, over against the Maypole in the 
 Strand,' he would appear to have borne the greater part of 
 the expense. He took the post of Lieutenant-Colonel, and 
 the Earl of Devonshire had the chief command. A despatch 
 from Marshal Schomberg, dated Whitehall, February 1689, 
 orders the Earl to report the number of his effective troops 
 to His Majesty, and to hold them in readiness for a speedy 
 march. 
 
 After the Revolution John Coke travelled a good deal 
 abroad, his only son Thomas filling his place at Melbourne 
 Hall. Thomas Coke is described as handsome, clever, of 
 winning manners, and universally popular. His career 
 affords proof that he was well equipped with social and 
 courtly qualities. He represented the county of Derby in 
 the House of Commons, with Lord Hartington for his 
 colleague, and it appears from his correspondence that it 
 was to him chiefly his constituents looked for the protection 
 of their local interests. One letter out of many that were 
 addressed to him deserves perhaps a passing notice on 
 account of the light it sheds upon the state of the Poor 
 Laws. By a recent Act power had been conferred upon 
 the county justices to compel persons, under a penalty of 
 10/., to take poor parish children as apprentices. The 
 Derbyshire magistrates were forcing these apprentices on the 
 clergy, and the Rev. John Ward of Mickle Over writes that 
 an apprentice girl is to be put upon him by an indenture
 
 A NEW PATRICIAN HOUSE 7 
 
 wherein he ' must covenant to teach her the art and mystery 
 of husbandry.' Mr. Ward complains that he is quite unable 
 to fulfil this covenant. Husbandry is not practised by the 
 clergy, as ' being unsuitable to their holy function, and not 
 agreeable to the nature and tenure of their church livings.' 
 Understanding that a new law is about to be made for the 
 better relief of the poor, he suggests that a clause should 
 be inserted exempting the clergy from being compellable to 
 receive such apprentices, or that if they cannot be wholly 
 relieved, they shall be assessed in some moderate sum by 
 way of equivalent. ' I know none like yourself,' Mr. Ward 
 concludes, ' to whom I could with that hope and expectation 
 address my submissive desires.' 
 
 Thomas Coke married Mary, daughter of the second 
 Earl of Chesterfield, built himself a house in London, and 
 figured as a man of fashion. His marriage brought him 
 into close connection with the Lord Treasurer, and the 
 same year, 1706, in which Godolphin was raised to the 
 peerage, Coke was appointed Vice-Chamberlain in the 
 household of Queen Anne, and made a Privy Councillor. 
 This office he held for twenty years. Ministers came in 
 and went out, one dynasty succeeded another, but, like the 
 Vicar of Bray, Thomas Coke kept his place at court almost 
 to the end of the reign of George I. He must have been 
 a born Polonius, knowing how to make himself agreeable 
 to a matronly sovereign of the purest morals, and to the 
 foreign ladies who graced the court of her successor. His 
 position secured him an acquaintance with the wits who 
 hung upon the skirts of the ministries of Queen Anne, and 
 his dandified airs exposed him to the raillery of Pope. His 
 portraiture has been recognised, perhaps by mistake, in the 
 ' Rape of the Lock ' : —
 
 8 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 (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 his snuff-box opened, then the case. 
 
 But his fine ways as well as his occasional impecuniosity 
 are better shown by the contents of a bill which he left 
 unsettled when he left London for Melbourne in 1701. An 
 unfortunate tradesman, John Arnold, thus writes after him : 
 ' I have seen Sir Christopher Hailes several times since you 
 left London, but he tells me he has no money for me. 
 Really, sir, my necessities are so urgent at present that I 
 am obliged to insist on your Honour's promise made to me 
 at your departure, which I hope (after your Honour has 
 considered my case) you will perform by remitting the 
 money by the first opportunity : for 16 months shaving 
 head and face, 11/. ; for 12 times cleaning your Honour's 
 teeth, 61. ; for curing your page's legs, and others of your 
 servants, what your honour pleases ; for Naples soap, 2/. 10s. ; 
 for orange flower water, 16s. ; the Frenchman's bill 18/. — 
 total 38/. 6*.' 
 
 We get one or two glimpses of the Vice-Chamberlain 
 in Swift's ' Journal to Stella.' Swift's first visit to Windsor 
 was rather sudden. He missed his portmanteau on the 
 way, and had to borrow one of Bolingbroke's shirts to go to 
 court in. He afterwards went down more leisurely for a 
 week at the invitation of Bolingbroke, and when the week 
 was over, and Bolingbroke went to London, he resolved to 
 stay on. 'The Vice-Chamberlain,' he says, 'and Mr. 
 Masham and the Green Cloth have promised me dinners. I 
 shall want but four till Mr. Secretary returns.' 'The Green 
 Cloth,' he remarks with satisfaction, ' is the best table in 
 England, and costs the Queen a thousand pounds a month
 
 A NEW TATRICIAN HOUSE 9 
 
 while she is at Windsor or Hampton Court.' In 1709 
 Coke had married a second time. His wife was Mary 
 Hale, one of the maids of honour and a court beauty. 
 Swift does homage to her reputation. ' Mr. Coke, the 
 Vice-Chamberlain, made me a long visit this morning, and 
 invited me to dinner, but the toast, his lady, was unfortu- 
 nately engaged to Lady Sunderland.' Again, the next 
 morning, ' Mr. Vice-Chamberlain lent me his horses to ride 
 about and see the country.' If the Vice-Chamberlain 
 treated everybody with as much consideration as he did 
 Swift, his popularity is easily explained. 
 
 Thomas Coke died a rich man. Besides the salary 
 which he had enjoyed for twenty years, a grateful sovereign 
 had given him a Tellership in the Exchequer and the grant 
 of a reversion in the Customs for two lives worth 500/. a 
 year. Most of his property, in addition to the family 
 estates, was settled on an only son, with remainder to his 
 daughter Charlotte. They were both children by the second 
 marriage, and being still young at the time of their father's 
 death they spent some years with their mother's relatives 
 in Herefordshire. In 1740 Charlotte was married to 
 Mr. Matthew Lamb, and on the death of her brother a few 
 years later, the whole of the Coke property became hers 
 and her children's. 
 
 Mr. Matthew Lamb was one of the luckiest ol men. 
 He was one of two brothers, the sons of Mr. Matthew 
 Lamb, a solicitor of long standing in the town of Southwell, 
 Nottinghamshire. It was till lately a quiet place, of faded 
 looks, as if it belonged to an earlier world. There still 
 lingers about it an unmistakable air of greatness in decay. 
 The church is one of the finest in England, a splendid 
 example of Norman and Early English architecture, full of
 
 10 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 monumental tombs and effigies of prelates long since gone ; 
 close to it are the remains of what was once a palace of the 
 Archbishop of York, where Cardinal Wolsey liked to live, 
 It has lately been made, as we all know, the seat of a 
 bishopric, and mitre and crosier may again be seen on the 
 altar steps. Such old towns are the chosen nests of leading 
 country solicitors, and in Southwell Matthew Lamb the 
 elder plied his profession for half a century. He was the 
 confidential adviser of the Cokes ot Melbourne Hall, and 
 of many of the neighbouring gentry. He had a brother 
 Peniston who practised at Lincoln's Inn, made large earnings, 
 lived frugally, and put by almost all he made. Of Matthew's 
 two sons, Robert, the elder, entered the Church, became suc- 
 cessively Dean and Bishop of Peterborough, and inherited 
 the wealth of his uncle Peniston. But the bishop was a 
 bachelor, like his uncle, and at his death the accumulated 
 spoils of the Church and the law came into the possession 
 of his younger brother Matthew. Their father had left 
 them 100,000/. in equal shares, but the whole flowed at last 
 in the same channel. Matthew was a man of ability, quite 
 equal to the making of a fortune for himself, if several 
 fortunes had not been left him. He followed his uncle 
 Peniston's profession, settled in London, was made per- 
 petual solicitor to the revenue of the Post Office, and as 
 confidential adviser had among his clients the Earls or 
 Salisbury and Egmont. In the year after his marriage he 
 had bought himself into Parliament for the borough of 
 Stockbridge. In 1746 he purchased Brocket Hall, the old 
 residence of the Winnington family, gradually buying back 
 the farms which had formerly been a part of the estate, and 
 turning them into a verdant demesne through which the 
 river Lea wanders leisurely and drowsily on its way to the
 
 A NEW PATRICIAN HOUSE II 
 
 Thames. It was easy for a man in such a position to 
 obtain a baronetcy, which he did. His brother's position 
 at Peterborough suggested a more dignified seat than 
 Stockbridge. Lord FitzWilliam had the usual influence of 
 a landlord over the scot and lot voters who formed the 
 constituency of the cathedral city, and the steward of the 
 Chapter officiated as returning officer. Matters were easily 
 arranged, and during the last few years of his life Sir 
 Matthew sat for Peterborough. He died worth property 
 which was estimated at nearly half a million, besides half 
 a million more in ready money. With these ample revenues, 
 one half entirely at his own disposal, his only son Sir Peniston 
 Lamb began to reign. They were resources which skilful 
 hands might employ in raising the family fortunes still 
 higher.
 
 12 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 EARLY YEARS AND EDUCATION 
 
 The Melbourne household — Sir Peniston in Parliament — The ambi- 
 tions of a great lady — An Irish peerage — With princes of the blood 
 — Another Vice-Chamberlain in the family — The company at 
 Melbourne House —William Lamb at Eton and Cambridge — A first 
 flight in declamation— To be quoted by Fox — Law and philosophy 
 at Glasgow — Home correspondence — Glasgow manners — The Miss 
 Millars — Robert Hall's sermon — Lamb does not like the Dis- 
 senters. 
 
 William Lamb, the future Premier, was born at Melbourne 
 Hall on March 13, 1779. Territorial associations are dear 
 to a new family. It was proper that he should first see the 
 light of heaven in the place which had given a peerage 
 title to his father, but he was taken up to London to be 
 christened. The ceremony is one which, when prudently 
 arranged, with due publicity and a proper choice of sponsors, 
 affords an introduction at once to the Church and to the 
 world, giving a promise of two very different sets of blessings. 
 The boy was not born into an empty home. He had a 
 brother nine years older than himself, who bore his father's 
 name, and experienced the disadvantages which, as some 
 equipoise to greater material fortune, are generally the lot 
 of eldest sons. The Melbourne family enlarged itself 
 slowly. After three years a third son, Frederick, was born. 
 He lived to enjoy the advantage of having a brother and a
 
 EARLY YEARS AND EDUCATION 1 3 
 
 brother-in-law occupying important positions in the State. 
 Next came George, who acquired some local celebrity as 
 a politician, and ran the gauntlet of certain contests at 
 Westminster. Then in 1787 the last and brightest addition 
 was welcomed in a daughter Emily, who became the wife 
 of Earl Cowper, and afterwards, as Lady Palmerston, pro- 
 longed to our own time that commingling of social and 
 political influences which was the special mark of an earlier 
 generation. 
 
 These were as yet remote and unforeseen developments. 
 We must dwell for a moment upon the earlier characteristics 
 of their family life. It is interesting to see in what direction 
 those who had command of the helm meant to steer, and 
 how they spread their sails to the breeze. This will serve 
 to illustrate the tone and temper of the period, and help us 
 to appreciate the circumstances which told upon our hero's 
 susceptible years from the time he left the cradle till he 
 reached manhood- 
 
 In this case there was never but one helmsman, the 
 brilliant lady who, at twenty years of age, became the wife 
 of Sir Peniston Lamb. She was not a great heiress, and if 
 it is true, as her husband is said to have boasted, that on 
 his marriage he gave his wife's portion back to her in 
 diamonds, it may be inferred that her beauty and accom- 
 plishments were her chief and sufficient dower. Sir 
 Peniston did not want money. On the threshold of life he 
 had stepped into possession of what passed then for a 
 abulously large fortune. The thrifty accumulations of several 
 generations of lawyers, churchmen, and placemen had fallen 
 into his hands, amounting, we have seen, to nearly a million. 
 The day of colossal fortunes had not then come. Manu- 
 factures were in their infancy, and commercial operations
 
 14 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 on a scale with which we are familiar were unknown. The 
 race of great contractors came in with railroads and steam. 
 A revolution in the iron trade had sent a fortunate inventor 
 to the House of Lords, and success in banking was soon to 
 pave the way for another aspirant ; but the land, the law, and 
 the Church were as yet the chief avenues to wealth, and it 
 would have been regarded almost as sacrilege to bestow a 
 peerage upon plutocratic distinction otherwise achieved. 
 Sir Peniston had some slight recommendations in addition. 
 His uncle was Bishop of Peterborough, and his sister was 
 married to Lord Belasyse, son of Viscount Fauconberg. 
 The second Lord Fauconberg married Mary, daughter of 
 Oliver Cromwell, and the Calendar of State Papers for the 
 first and second years after the Restoration contains two 
 entries which may be placed in contrast. One records a 
 certificate by Thomas Viscount Fauconberg ' of his laying 
 hold of the King's gracious pardon, promised to all who 
 should lay hold of it within forty days,' the other the ' grant 
 to Mark Milbanke, of Halnaby, co. York, of the dignity of 
 a baronet' 
 
 Sir Peniston made it his first business after his father's 
 death to obtain a seat in the House of Commons. It may 
 be taken for granted that he cared nothing about politics, 
 any more than his father had done. But the King, who 
 was the fountain of honour, took a deep interest in the pro- 
 ceedings of the House. He read the lists of the votes and 
 knew to a man who figured in the ministerial majorities. 
 To have a vote and to place it at the minister's disposal was 
 a proof of loyalty certain, sooner or later, to receive a 
 grateful recognition. Besides, it was obviously the part of 
 a new man, one of the latest accessions to the conservative 
 forces of the nation, to stand up for the Crown. Lord
 
 EARLY YEARS AND EDUCATION 1 5 
 
 Belasyse had succeeded his father-in-law at Peterborough, so 
 that Sir Peniston had to look elsewhere. But there was no 
 difficulty. There was generally a seat in the market to be 
 had at a price. George Selwyn was the joint owner of 
 Luggershall, a Wiltshire hamlet long since lost to fame, but 
 then returning two members. One of these seats was 
 assigned to Sir Peniston. He had to pay for it no doubt, 
 and George Selwyn had a private account of his own with 
 the Government. He had a place in the pension list on the 
 strength of the use he made of his proprietary rights. It 
 was a good time for a parliamentary speculator. Lord 
 North was beginning his administration. He wanted a safe 
 majority, and he was familiar with the means of obtaining 
 one. Hence, within a year of Sir Peniston's marriage, and 
 while he was receiving the felicitations of his friends on the 
 birth of a son and heir, his Majesty was pleased to create 
 him Baron Melbourne of Kilmore in the county of Cavan. 
 The new peer had never been in Ireland, had not a jot of 
 interest there, and knew nothing of the country. But the 
 King drew at his pleasure upon Irish peerages and pensions. 
 He played in a different style the game of Charles I. He 
 used his prerogative in one country as a means of governing 
 the other. Not for all his fortune would Sir Peniston have 
 been able at that time to win a British peerage. 
 
 It was in the House of Commons that votes were wanted, 
 and with an Irish peerage he could still sit there. The King 
 bestowed his honours with a keen sense of thrift. The man 
 whom he made a baron to-day would readily comprehend 
 that his further elevation depended upon himself. Lord 
 Melbourne placed his vote unreservedly at the disposal of 
 the Government. All through the disastrous struggle with 
 the revolted colonies he gave the King and his minister an
 
 \6 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 undeviating support. As the crisis of the administration 
 approached, Burke brought in his Bill for promoting 
 economical reform, and ' the better security of the inde- 
 pendence of Parliament.' Dunning followed with his 
 famous resolution, that the power of the Crown 'had 
 increased, was increasing, and ought to be diminished.' 
 Lord Melbourne, of course, voted against both. In pre- 
 paring for the final struggle in a new Parliament, the 
 minister anxiously reviewed his forces. The lists of those 
 who had stood firm, and of those who had shown signs of 
 defection, were critically scanned in the royal closet. Lord 
 Melbourne's record was unexceptionable, but there were 
 social influences at work which might suggest some devia- 
 tion even to him. His fidelity was probably strengthened 
 by his being made a viscount. The first step in the 
 peerage followed close upon the birth of his eldest son ; 
 the next came two years after the birth of his second. 
 
 During the intervening ten years Lord Melbourne was 
 worthily seconded by his wife. What he did in Parliament 
 by simply walking into the lobby, she did in society by far 
 more elaborate and costly exertions. Lady Melbourne 
 made her husband aware that it was his duty to maintain 
 an establishment in keeping with his rank. He bought the 
 house in Piccadilly which the first Lord Holland had built, 
 but had lately left for the historic mansion at Kensington 
 which excites so much interest to-day. The house was 
 thenceforth called Melbourne House, but only for a time. 
 There was another change of ownership under circum- 
 stances which show how amiability may be seconded by 
 versatile tastes, and how two wishes, each the fruition of 
 the other, may unconsciously ripen in different minds, even 
 on a subject so prosaic as a choice of dwellings. Some
 
 EARLY YEARS AND EDUCATION \y 
 
 years later the Duke of York happened to say to Lady 
 Melbourne how much he would wish to have a house like 
 hers. Her ladyship at once said how she had often wished 
 to have a house like his. Since their mutual happiness 
 could be so easily augmented it would have been foolish 
 not to make the exchange. Accordingly the King's con- 
 sent was obtained, the Duke took possession of Melbourne 
 House, and Lady Melbourne, her lord dutifully acquiescent, 
 removed to Whitehall, where she could ' look out upon the 
 Park.' The houses of course exchanged names. There 
 must have been some sacrifice on the part of Lady Mel- 
 bourne. Her former residence had been decorated regard- 
 less of expense by the first artists of the day, and the same 
 rich assortment of ' nymphs and cherubs ' would hardly be 
 found at her new abode. But it was something to have 
 obliged a royal duke, and something also to live in a house 
 which a royal duke had occupied. Some odour of royalty 
 could hardly fail to be left behind. 
 
 It will not do to accept too literally the descriptions 
 given us of the hospitalities at Melbourne House, and of 
 the exalted personages who were wont to seek a welcome 
 there. That the hospitalities were sumptuous may be readily 
 believed. Certain it is also that the hostess flew at high 
 game and would measure with instinctive discernment the 
 social value of her guests. We are told who were there, 
 which is equivalent to telling us who were not, and the 
 negative test is perhaps the more conclusive one as to 
 character. Lord Melbourne was hardly the man to attract 
 to his table the wit and genius of the day. He was a 
 dawdler in politics, a dawdler in art, a dawdler even in play. 
 Languid, insipid, aimless, illiterate to an almost incon- 
 ceivable degree, he can hardly have been chosen as a 
 
 c
 
 1 8 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 companion for his own sake, except by men like himself 
 who would not form a very brilliant circle. The chief 
 attraction doubtless was the incomparable hostess, and 
 nothing is better established than the selective worth of 
 feminine charms. Mr. Fox is said to have been a frequent 
 visitor. He knew every corner of the house, having lived 
 in it, and would naturally feel himself at home. He had 
 not yet outlived the shadiest period of his shady youth. 
 The son of a man who had mastered all the arts of corrup- 
 tion, and grown rich on public plunder ; who had himself, 
 while at Eton, polluted the morals of the place, and made 
 juvenile profligacy fashionable, he had not yet begun that 
 compensatory part of his career which made men forget the 
 vices of his earlier years, and finally enshrined him in the 
 Whig pantheon as a creature little less than divine. 
 
 The Prince of Wales was a constant guest at Melbourne 
 House. He had already taken some steps in his novitiate 
 of debauchery, and gave full promise of his riper achieve- 
 ments. We find the King writing confidentially to Lord 
 North begging him to buy back at any reasonable price the 
 letters which the Prince had sent to Perdita Robinson. 
 Let us hope he had not become so very bad as yet ; but, 
 at any rate, the first bloom of dissoluteness was upon him. 
 The King was at length prevailed upon to give him a sepa- 
 rate establishment at Carlton House, with one-half the allow- 
 ance which his friends thought requisite. Lord Melbourne 
 was appointed one of the gentlemen of the bedchamber. 
 It was almost the same position that his grandfather had 
 filled at the court of George I., and must at times have 
 involved duties equally delicate. But, like his grandfather, 
 he weathered all storms, and was still at his post when the 
 allied sovereigns visited London thirty years later. What
 
 EARLY YEARS AND EDUCATION 1 9 
 
 had best be regarded as inscrutable are the qualifications 
 which led to his appointment and kept him in it. At the 
 ball which was held at Carlton House when the Prince 
 took possession, he is said to have received ' the congratula- 
 tions of all that was best-born and most beautiful in the 
 land,' and that 'on none were admiring eyes more fixed 
 than on Lady Melbourne, then, perhaps, at the zenith of 
 her popularity and attraction.' 
 
 Lady Melbourne had another admirer. Mr. Torrens 
 devotes a couple of pages to Lord Egremont. He says 
 that by the admission of his contemporaries ' there was in 
 his voice and manner a fascination for women, and even 
 for men, which neither knew how to resist.' We are told 
 that at Melbourne House he was a constant guest, and that 
 through a long course of years his friendship and sympathy 
 were never wanting. ' Some of the brightest scenes of 
 William Lamb's childhood were in Petworth Park, where 
 he and his brothers used to gambol all day long.' To 
 introduce the name of this wealthy nobleman merely to 
 exalt the fame of Lady Melbourne's hospitality seems 
 needless and injudicious. It is a pity to put on gilding 
 which, as it has been put on, it is almost a duty to take off 
 We are reminded that ' old Horace snarls at Egremont in 
 his characteristic way as " a worthless young fellow," ' and 
 an explanation is added which seems to extract the sting 
 Mr. Greville shall tell us what he was as an old fellow 
 ' Lord Egremont was eighty-one the day before yesterday. 
 He has reigned here for sixty years, with great authority 
 and influence. He is shrewd, eccentric, and benevolent, 
 and has always been munificent and charitable in his way. 
 . . . His course, however, is nearly run, and he has the 
 mortification of feeling that, though surrounded with 
 
 c 2
 
 20 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 children and grandchildren, he is almost the last of his 
 race, and that his family is about to be extinct. All his 
 own children are illegitimate.' His fascination had perhaps 
 been found irresistible, and enormous wealth, profusely 
 lavished, can cover a multitude of social sins ; but character 
 should count for something in gratuitously enumerating for 
 our admiration the intimates and bosom friends of a great 
 lady's household. Of course, we are not to forget the moral 
 perspective which is proper in looking back upon the 
 eighteenth century, and it would be unjust to set up any 
 austere standard in estimating the proprieties or impro- 
 prieties of Melbourne House. Nevertheless it is impossible 
 to dispense with a standard of some sort, and it is not to be 
 lowered to suit the exigencies of complacent biography. 
 Lady Melbourne and her husband were not unequally 
 mated. They took their several ways, and probably had 
 not much right to complain of each other. 
 
 With these aids one may perhaps be able to picture the 
 domestic scenes on which their second son would open his 
 large eyes when he began to see and feel on his own account. 
 The children lived chiefly at Brocket. The old Hall had 
 been enlarged and beautified by Sir Matthew Lamb. When 
 Lady Melbourne succeeded to power, she took it into her 
 own hands and did with it as she had done with their place 
 in London. She lavished upon it every kind of adornment, 
 and turned both Hall and grounds into such an earthly 
 paradise as the decorator and the landscape gardener can 
 create. A greater artist was employed to do justice to the 
 charms of her children. Sir Joshua Reynolds, who had 
 twice painted a portrait of the mother, was persuaded to 
 make a study of the three elder boys, and ' the Affectionate 
 Brothers,' in which they are represented as a group at play,
 
 early years and education 21 
 
 ranks among his most graceful and finished compositions. 
 Lady Melbourne gave as much time to her children as could 
 be spared from the exacting claims of the fashionable society 
 in which she lived, moved, and had her being. It is not 
 necessary to waste words upon maternal love. Epithets 
 are but foolish when employed to paint instinctive passion. 
 Lady Melbourne loved them all, but is said to have shown 
 a marked difference in favour of her second son. This 
 difference, discernible when they were young, lasted till this 
 second son had grown to manhood, and the death of the 
 eldest put an end as between them to all preference. 
 Peniston, the eldest, was his father's favourite, and the love 
 lavished upon him seems to have been so absorbing that 
 none was left for his brother, who had to look to his other 
 parent for compensation. Of Lady Melbourne it is said in 
 reference to her second son, in language which sounds 
 extravagant, if not mysterious, ' Soon she felt, however, 
 that if the little stranger was to be prized and loved, all must 
 come from her ; ' and then we are told that she ' vowed 
 within herself devotion ' to his ' upbringing and future 
 destiny.' How this maternal love displayed itself, or how 
 the boy was brought up during the first eleven years of 
 his life, there is no evidence to show. Perhaps it was not 
 thought worth recording. The importance of early training 
 was insufficiently felt among the higher classes. The 
 traditions of country life influenced their homes, and pro- 
 duced an indifference to intellectual occupations. Chil- 
 dren were left pretty much to themselves. They picked up 
 their English and the rudiments of knowledge from the 
 servants, and their education was supposed only to begin 
 when they went to a public school. Lord Althorp, living 
 under the same roof which sheltered a famous library, was
 
 22 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 taught to read by his mother's Swiss footman. The stimulus 
 afforded to the manufacturing classes by mechanical in- 
 ventions and the sudden outburst ot industry had not yet 
 reached the aristocracy, and would not reach them for a long 
 time to come. They little dreamed of the character of the 
 epoch upon which they were entering. The fabric of landed 
 ascendency was still undisturbed, and they acted as if they 
 imagined that it would last for ever. Hence they took no 
 pains to equip the rising generation for the shock of new 
 opinions and for the social changes which were rapidly 
 preparing. It may be doubted whether Lady Melbourne's 
 devotion to the welfare of her favourite son assumed any 
 higher form than a resolve to quicken his ambition and 
 assist him in forming those political connections which would 
 help him on the road to place and power. 
 
 In 1790, when eleven years old, William Lamb was sent 
 to Eton, where he had as class-fellows John Bird Sumner, 
 who became Archbishop of Canterbury, Charles Ellis, 
 afterwards Lord Stuart de Rothesay, the Marquis of 
 Tullibardine, Charles Stewart, afterwards third Marquis of 
 Londonderry, and the famous Beau Brummel. Among his 
 contemporaries were Hallam the historian, Denman the 
 future Lord Chief Justice, Shadwell the Vice-Chancellor, 
 and Assheton Smith, the prince of fox-hunters. The only 
 memorial left of William Lamb at Eton is a copy of verses 
 in the ' Musas Etonenses ' which show at least that he had 
 made some proficiency in the mysteries of Latin versification, 
 and we are able to state on the highest authority that he 
 'got a good deal of distinction as a scholar.' The verses 
 bear the date 1793. In 1796, his last year at Eton, he was 
 in the sixth form. This record is pretty well for a boy 
 who had no spur to exertion, and it probably does him less
 
 EARLY YEARS AND EDUCATION 23 
 
 than justice. Eleven hours of class work in the week left 
 the greater part of every day in his own hands, and what he 
 did with it lay with himself. The taste for reading, which 
 was one of Lamb's best points in after years, must have 
 been acquired early. He had no liking for outdoor amuse- 
 ments. He never took kindly to the autumn stubble or the 
 hunting field. He preferred a book and a reverie. As he 
 grew up he showed a great aptitude for making verses. He 
 always had a large stock of poetical images at command, and 
 could lay claim to a good ear for melody and rhythm. 
 These accomplishments it is fair to ascribe to his Eton 
 studies ; if he had left Eton without them, they would hardly 
 have been acquired afterwards. A stronger contrast than that 
 presented in these respects between himself and his younger 
 contemporary and future colleague, Lord Althorp, can hardly 
 be imagined. Lord Althorp was delighted to roam the 
 fields with dog and gun. He was a lover of the ring. He 
 stole off to enjoy the ' pugilistic displays of Jackson and 
 Cribb,' and handled the gloves himself with no ordinary 
 skill. At Harrow he was set to read Blair's ' Sermons,' and 
 found Johnson's Dictionary useful in helping him to under- 
 stand the fine words. Fine words were quite in the line of 
 William Lamb, but a bout at gloves would have killed him. 
 In 1796 he went to Cambridge, entering as fellow- 
 commoner at Trinity. His sole college triumph was to win 
 the declamation prize at the end of his second year by an 
 essay on ' the progressive improvements of mankind.' The 
 essay was of course printed, and a copy sent to Mr. Fox, 
 who, mindful of his friendships at Melbourne House, took 
 occasion to quote a sentence from it in one of his House of 
 Commons speeches, devoted chiefly to a eulogium on the 
 character of Francis, Duke of Bedford. The passage which
 
 24 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 had this celebrity conferred upon it runs as follows : ' Crime 
 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.' Lamb lived to see 
 through the fallacy of this argument and to make fun of it. 
 The virtues which the passage was quoted to illustrate are 
 lost, it is to be feared, upon the present age, to say nothing 
 of a remoter posterity. Francis, Duke of Bedford, lives 
 only in the pages of Junius, and Junius himself is beginning 
 to afford a proof that literary reputations derived from the 
 politics of the hour are almost as mortal as the men who 
 made them. It would be cruel as well as absurd to visit an 
 undergraduate's compositions with stringent criticism, but 
 this piece of prize declamation is interesting, inasmuch as it 
 displays for the first time those qualities which characterised 
 the matured performances of its author. It affords evidence 
 of wide if desultory reading, and of a susceptible and 
 versatile mind ; but we fail to discern in it even the promise 
 of a capacity for severe thinking. Facts are resolved into 
 metaphors and lost in boundless generalisations, while 
 flowing periods satisfy the ear but get no further. In the 
 course of a dozen lines we find man emerging from the 
 woods and caverns, assembling societies, founding cities, 
 instituting laws, and cultivating learning. Then the arts 
 reap their noblest triumphs, the canvas glows with animation, 
 the marble swells beneath the chisel into life. Then also 
 ' Philosophy in her colonnades and gardens dictated her 
 solemn truths, Eloquence poured her loudest, and Poetry 
 breathed her most enchanting strains.' We come next to 
 the 'unwieldy empire of Rome,' the descent of the 
 ' barbarous hordes ' from the north, and the ' age of sterility '
 
 EARLY YEARS AND EDUCATION 2$ 
 
 which followed. From such vicissitudes we have been 
 rescued by the art of printing, which, 'by giving permanency 
 to the productions of the intellect, makes successive changes 
 but so many steps in the path of progress.' The philosophy 
 is optimistic, and this is perhaps its best quality, but such 
 exercitations were hardly promising for a budding legislator. 
 Far other powers than were here displayed would be necessary 
 to sway opinion in the House of Commons. 
 
 The compliment of quoting this dissertation in the 
 House of Commons was almost the discharge of a debt 
 which Fox owed to his young friend. The previous January 
 Lamb had broken out in political rhyme, the provocation 
 coming from that brilliant coterie of Tory wits who were 
 doing their best to cover Fox and his adherents with 
 ridicule. His epistle to the editor of the ' Anti-Jacobin ' 
 was published in the ' Morning Chronicle ' of January 1 7, 
 1798. It was his first appearance in print, and it marks 
 his starting-point in politics, fixed by his social sympathies 
 rather than by anything in the shape of matured opinion. 
 The lines would require a glossary to make them intelligible, 
 and they are hardly worth quoting. A sample, including 
 one which was deemed the best, will show that they were 
 not wanting in the spice of personality : 
 
 I swear by all the youths that Malmesbury chose, 
 By Ellis' sapient prominence of nose, 
 By Morpeth's gait, important, proud, and big, 
 By Leveson-Gower's crop-imitating wig. 
 
 The 'Anti-Jacobin' returned the fire, Canning himself sup- 
 plying powder and shot : 
 
 Bard of the borrowed lyre, to whom belong 
 The shreds and remnants of each hackney'd song, 
 Whose verse thy friends in vain for wit explore, 
 And count but one good line in eighty-four.
 
 26 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 The retort told with fatal effect. Lamb did not again try 
 his hand at lampoons. 
 
 As a younger son with uncertain prospects, it was de- 
 sirable that Lamb should choose a profession, and the bar 
 had been pointed out to him as likely to afford a suitable 
 career. It might prove to be of solid worth if his talents 
 developed in that direction, and in any case it would serve 
 to employ his time till he could find an opening in Parlia- 
 ment. Accordingly he was entered at Lincoln's Inn during 
 his second year at Trinity, and ran the scholastic and legal 
 courses together. Here he was on ancestral ground, some 
 considerable portion of the family fortunes had been made 
 at the bar, and it was, perhaps, possible to dream of a 
 Lord Chancellorship. But fagging industry was not yet in 
 his line, and never was to be. Politics might open its 
 portals on easy terms, but his legal studies would not 
 show him the way to the woolsack. In the meantime, as a 
 finish to his collegiate studies, it was decided that he should 
 spend a year or two at one of the Scottish Universities. 
 Dugald Stewart was the great attraction at Edinburgh, but 
 Glasgow had the preference. Professor Millar filled the 
 chair of history and law at that university. He had 
 dedicated his ' Historical View of the English Govern- 
 ment' to Mr. Fox, whose advice, perhaps, determined the 
 selection. Lamb had a sufficiently aristocratic introduction 
 to the homely seat of learning on the Clyde. The Duke of 
 Bedford applied to Lord Lauderdale, and Lord Lauderdale 
 wrote to the professor, conveying in language which was, 
 perhaps, not quite faultless, the most satisfactory assurances 
 as to the character and abilities of the young student ; ' He 
 is a younger son of Lord Melbourne's. He has the repu- 
 tation and, I believe, really possesses, uncommon talents.
 
 EARLY YEARS AND EDUCATION 27 
 
 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.' Lord Lauderdale must have been 
 strangely inconsiderate in his previous recommendations, or 
 grievously reckless of the professor's comfort, and it was 
 high time to make amends by sending him at last a model 
 young man. William Lamb spent one winter and part of 
 another at Glasgow, residing with Professor Millar. He 
 attended the professor's class in history and law, and went 
 to Professor Mylne for metaphysics. There was a Debating 
 club in the university, and Mr. Torrens is able to assure us 
 that he took a ' constant and brilliant part ' in its discussions, 
 ' being distinguished for aptitude of historic illustration, and 
 for caustic humour in reply.' On this point we must be 
 permitted to have some doubts. Scotch students, at any 
 rate at Glasgow, where the class discipline is strict, are kept 
 too hard at work to have much leisure for declamation, and 
 of William Lamb's presence at the university no trace or 
 tradition can be found. It is'probable that the intellectual 
 atmosphere of the place suited him. There, at any rate, 
 the existence of great problems in philosophy and morals 
 was recognised, and young men were encouraged by the 
 example of their teachers to endeavour to contribute some 
 speculative mite towards a solution. The 'Scotch meta- 
 physics' which George III. disliked, and which had no 
 counterpart in the English universities, were the daily food 
 for six months at a time of the ingenuous youth across the 
 border, no small proportion of whom literally cultivated 
 learning on a little oatmeal. A succession of distinguished 
 men filled the logic and moral philosophy chairs of Glasgow
 
 28 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 during the last century. In the earlier part Hutcheson led 
 the way with his inquiry into the origin of our ideas and his 
 disquisitions on the nature and conduct of the passions. 
 Adam Smith, not yet absorbed in the great work of his life, 
 followed with his ' Theory of the Moral Sentiments,' and 
 when he retired Reid entered the lists against Berkeley and 
 Hume. Reid remained an intellectual force to the last, and 
 he had not long been dead when Lamb went to Glasgow. 
 The traditions of these great teachers still rested as a spell 
 upon the place, and it is possible that Professor Mylne's 
 lectures may have helped to nourish those speculative 
 tendencies and that dreamy fondness for casuistic discus- 
 sions which characterised Lamb in after years. 
 
 It must be admitted that the reminiscences of his 
 Glasgow life contained in ' Lord Melbourne's Papers ' throw 
 something like a wet-blanket over these conjectures, which 
 may nevertheless be true. William did not go alone. He 
 had his brother Frederick as a companion. They both 
 resided with Professor Millar, and they kept up a brisk 
 correspondence with their mother. Their letters are long 
 and racy, and prove the footing of perfect comradeship on 
 which they stood with her. Frederick sends her a descrip- 
 tion of their life in-doors. ' There is nothing heard of in 
 this house but study, though there is as much idleness, 
 drunkenness, &c, out of it, as in most universities. YVe 
 breakfast at half-past nine, but I am roused by a stupid, 
 slow, lumbering mathematician, who tumbles me out of bed 
 at eight. During the whole of the day we are seldom out 
 of the house or the lecture-rooms for more than an hour, 
 and after supper, which finishes a little after eleven, the 
 reading generally continues till near two. Saturday and 
 Sunday are holidays, but on Monday we have examinations
 
 EARLY YEARS AND EDUCATION 29 
 
 in Millar's lectures. You may guess whether in this way 
 many things are likely to happen. Millar himself is a little 
 jolly dog, and the sharpest fellow I ever saw. All the 
 ladies here are contaminated with an itch for philosophy 
 and learning, and such a set of fools it never was my lot 
 to see. One of the Miss Millars is pretty, but they are all 
 philosophers, and the eldest is exactly like Mrs. Trimmer. 
 William quotes poetry to them all day, but I don't think he 
 has made any impression yet, and my conversation with 
 them is very little. One of the fellows in the house is a 
 Scotchman, a blustering, positive sort of fellow, but very 
 good-humoured and with a good deal of knowledge. The 
 other is an Irishman, who is very good-humoured with none, 
 and as like Lord Duncannon as he can stand. So there is 
 a sketch of the family.' A letter from William relates other 
 incidents. ' Thanks for your account of Kinnaird (Byron's 
 friend, Charles, eighth baron Kinnaird). Is he staying in 
 town ? I hope you will contrive this winter to rub off a 
 few rum ideas which he contracted in these philosophical 
 colleges, and to divest him of rather too minute and 
 scrupulous a morality, which is entirely unfit for this age. 
 I suppose they did this for him a little in Edinburgh last 
 year, but, however, I daresay some work is still left fur 
 London. For the company and manners of this place I do 
 not see much difference in them from the company and 
 manners of any country town. I have dined out in a 
 family-way at a wealthy merchant's, and we have had several 
 parties at home. We drink healths at dinner, hand round 
 the cake at tea, and put our spoons into our cups when we 
 desire to have no more, exactly in the same manner that we 
 used to behave at Hatfield, at Eton, and at Cambridge. 
 Almost the only exclusive custom I have remarked is a
 
 30 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 devilish good one, which ought to be adopted everywhere. 
 After the dinner they hand round the table a bottle of 
 whisky and another of brandy, and the whole company, 
 male and female in general, indulge in a dram. This is 
 very comfortable and very exhilarating, and affords an 
 opportunity for many jokes. As to language, they talk 
 infinitely better English here than at Newcastle, and are 
 much more easily understood. The town is a damnable 
 one, and the dirtiest I ever saw, and full of all the incon- 
 veniences that accompany manufactures. I have received 
 the works of the Divine Plato and the Greek Grammar with 
 great thankfulness, though Xenophon would be of more 
 use to me.' 
 
 William Lamb writes to his mother on all sorts of topics, 
 and in a style of great vivacity. He evidently pours out his 
 soul to her without the least reserve. Novels, politics, the 
 doings of Bonaparte, the course which Mr. Fox might 
 pursue ' with the greatest propriety and dignity and utility,' 
 all pass under review. 'Lunacy is the distemper which 
 common fame seems always to give to our ministers (justly 
 enough) when they keep themselves up. I remember they 
 said so of Pitt a year ago. The time may not be very 
 far off when they may be devilishly glad to be able to plead 
 it.' At that time the politics of Melbourne House were 
 Foxite. Referring to an anonymous preface from some 
 English pen accompanying the publication of certain alleged 
 original letters from the French army in Egypt, he writes : 
 ' It is impossible to determine whether the preface is 
 Canning's or Gifford's, or some one else of the same set, for 
 the like hitch and catch of monotonous wit runs through 
 them all, poets, secretaries, parsons and nobles, from the 
 top to the bottom, from Frere to Boringdon. Whoever the
 
 EARLY YEARS AND EDUCATION 3 1 
 
 author may be signifies little. The only doubt is whether 
 he be a more degraded fool, or a more infamous calumniator.' 
 Lord Egremont has told Lady Melbourne of the disputatious 
 character of some of the men who have been at Professor 
 Millar's, a hint perhaps to Lamb. He thinks the impeach- 
 ment likely to be true of the whole University : ' No place 
 can be perfect, and the truth is that the Scotch universities 
 are very much calculated to make a man vain, important, and 
 pedantic. This is naturally the case where there is a great 
 deal of reading. You cannot have the advantages of study 
 and of the world together. The way is to let neither of 
 them get too fast a hold of you.' He receives from Dr. 
 Langford a 'Treatise on the Requisites for Confirmation, with 
 a dissertation on the Sacrament,' and he tells his mother that 
 he has written ' to praise it and thank him for it.' Some one, 
 perhaps his mother, has sent him a copy of Robert Hall's 
 sermon on ' Modern Infidelity,' and he subjects it to rather 
 pungent criticism. Though it 'exactly hits Lewis's taste 
 (Monk Lewis) both in argument and eloquence,' he confesses 
 that it meets his in neither. What he ' particularly repro- 
 bates in the sermon, and which will be found in all writings 
 of this nature, is the indiscriminate abuse of all who have 
 thought against them. They take the faults and crimes of 
 any one man, and apply them liberally to the whole sect.' 
 'However,' he says, 'read it through. I do not think you 
 will find one argument of the absurdity of which I cannot, I 
 will not say convince you, for that is a bold word, but of the 
 validity of which I cannot make you doubt.' And then he 
 adds : ' I do not like the Dissenters, and this Hall is one. 
 They are more zealous and consequently more intolerant 
 than the Established Church. Their only object is power. 
 If we are to have a prevailing religion, let us have one that
 
 32 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 is cool and indifferent and such a one as we have got.' Lady 
 Melbourne seems to have been anxious to keep her favourite 
 son right in matters of belief, but he had already formed 
 habits of thought which made him impervious to sermons, 
 at any rate if drawn from Dissenting quivers.
 
 00 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 WAITING FOR THE TIDE 
 
 Education finished ; what next ? — Some disadvantages on setting out — 
 Sauntering — Decides for the law — Is called to the bar with his 
 future Lord Chancellor — Lamb and Pepys — Goes on circuit — 
 Actually gets a brief — A twofold crisis — Falls in love — Becomes 
 an eldest son — A courtship not without sinister auguries — A double 
 marriage and some maternal dreams fulfilled. 
 
 William Lamb had now crossed the threshold of manhood, 
 and on a superficial view his position might seem to be in 
 all respects enviable, but, looked at more closely, we shall 
 perhaps have to admit that it was attended with some dis- 
 advantages. It is a mere matter of justice to record this 
 fact. In afterlife his character was often made the subject 
 of severe criticism, and it is therefore proper to take into 
 account the circumstances which told upon its formation 
 during those long years, one third of an average career, when 
 responsibility is wholly borne or largely shared by others. 
 His childhood and youth were spent in mere enjoyment, and 
 enjoyment chiefly of the passive kind. Gambolling on the 
 lawns at Brocket and Petworth appears to be the severest 
 exercise in which he ever indulged. As he grew up he 
 showed no fondness for those manly games which foster 
 energy, quicken resolution, and train the will to habits of 
 decision. It is to be feared that there was a large lack in 
 
 n
 
 34 
 
 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 his home life of that moral discipline, something quite 
 different from strictness or severity, which insensibly instils 
 into the youthful mind a sense of duty and leads to the 
 gradual discovery of obligations which have to be recognised 
 and discharged if conduct is to spring from any deeper source 
 than voluptuous caprice. There is no trace of evidence that 
 he ever had set before him a higher ideal than one which 
 was purely worldly, and blame must be mixed with much 
 extenuation if we find that the twig grew as it was bent. 
 
 With the abilities he undoubtedly possessed, it would 
 have been a good for him intellectually, and even with a 
 view to success, if he had been born in different surround- 
 ings. Work, and the discipline attendant upon it, were 
 needed to give point to his powers, and if he had been 
 thrown from the outset upon his own exertions, he might 
 have won distinction sooner than he did, and won it more 
 obviously on his personal merits. It was his ill-fortune to 
 be brought up in the midst of a lavish display of wealth. It 
 did not mend matters that the display, as measured by the 
 more sober tastes of the present day, was slightly vulgar in 
 the forms it took. The object was to make a show, to pro- 
 duce an impression. It was an ill-regulated profuseness, 
 suggesting that the mines of Golconda lay in the background 
 close at hand, and that the flow could never be exhausted. 
 It is true that William Lamb was only a younger son, and 
 that, by a cherished usage upon which it would be sacrilege 
 to innovate, the bulk of the patrimony of a great family 
 passes to the first-born, but it would have been absurd to read 
 out to him the dry lessons of prudence when princes of the 
 blood were being feasted at his father's table. The mere 
 overflow of this sumptuous expenditure would replenish a 
 reservoir deep enough to wade and swim in.
 
 WAITING FOR THE TIDE 35 
 
 When school and college days were over, there was no 
 one to whom the young man could look for advice, no one 
 belonging to him competent to give it, or with authority 
 sufficient to make him feel that he stood in need of it. His 
 father did not care for him, he was wrapped up in his eldest 
 son, who resembled him, and whose tastes were the same as 
 his own. He was a passive and almost silent member of 
 the household at Whitehall, proud perhaps to be the host 
 of the gay throng whom its mistress had the courage and 
 the tact to gather round her, but acquiescent rather than 
 delighted, and shut up at times, it would seem, to un- 
 pleasant reveries. 'What sacrifices,' says Mr. Torrens, '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 will ever 
 know ? ' A father to whom such remarks will apply, even 
 if they be a little overcharged, is a most important fact, 
 if only on the negative side, in a son's history. William 
 Lamb was left to his mother. She might do with him what 
 she liked and what she could, so that the trouble taken went 
 no further than herself. In one sense she worked bravely 
 for him and for them all. She had already won an Irish 
 peerage for her husband, and she hoped some day to make 
 it a peerage of the United Kingdom. Her eldest son was 
 to be valued as the next possessor. His future was supposed 
 to be fixed, but there was ample room for solicitude and 
 effort in the uncertain fortunes of his brother. He had, if 
 possible, to be got into Parliament, though his chance as yet 
 seemed rather remote. Peniston was already in possession 
 of a seat, and the family estates, so heavily weighted in other 
 ways, would hardly bear the cost of two. Much would 
 depend upon the abilities he might in time develop, but if 
 
 I) 2
 
 36 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 the worst came to the worst, it would surely be possible so 
 to arrange matters that some kind-hearted minister would 
 some day feel obliged out of civility and gratitude to present 
 him with a sinecure. 
 
 The new family had as yet no influential connections, 
 and this was a serious defect at a period when family con- 
 nection was a potent factor in politics. The title itself had 
 no lustre, it was held to be one of those titles which had 
 been given for votes, and the older peers, forgetting the 
 comparative juvenility of their own patents, looked with 
 some jealousy on peerages created for the mere convenience 
 of the Crown. Old blood, or blood that had flowed through 
 at least two or three coroneted generations, counted for 
 much in the composition of a ministry and in the distribu- 
 tion of places. Umbrage was already being taken at the 
 too frequent making of new peers. The House of Lords, 
 it was felt, was growing too numerous, and the honour of a 
 seat in it would soon be hardly worth having. Moreover, it 
 rather told against the Melbournesthat their recent honours 
 were so ostentatiously paraded, and made the occasion for 
 such desperate and successful attacks upon the patronage, 
 and apparently the very intimate friendship, of the very 
 highest personages in the realm. In some respects the 
 Prince of Wales was cheap enough, and was every day 
 making himself cheaper, but at any rate he was the heir to 
 the throne, and it showed some audacity to seize upon every 
 opportunity for creeping up the sleeve of the future King. 
 It amounted almost to an attestation of character, betraying 
 the absence of that fine ancestral pride which puts no 
 excessive value upon the social pre-eminence of the Crown, 
 and looks with disesteem upon any immoderate effort to 
 cultivate its blandishments. This want of aristocratic
 
 WAITING FOR THE TIDE 37 
 
 connections of a well established type was a difficulty to be 
 overcome. To scale the barrier and settle down among the 
 strawberry leaves and fair white lilies on the other side was 
 the next task to be accomplished. We shall soon see that 
 it was managed with tolerable success. 
 
 William Lamb was not left unprovided with the prompt- 
 ings of ambition, but they came from the outside and found 
 but a faint echo within. Of course he wished to become a 
 distinguished man ; to be an orator, a statesman, a minister, 
 and a ruler of the realm. But it was a feeble wish, feeble 
 partly perhaps because of diffidence springing from a half- 
 suspicion of incapacity for any lofty flight, but still more 
 because there was not in him much of the material, good or 
 ill, of which ambitious minds are made. Still, as a filial 
 duty, as the best recompense he could render to maternal 
 solicitude, he did his best to be ambitious, and succeeded 
 fairly well. But it is one thing to wish and another to 
 achieve. Nothing is more treacherous and useless than 
 vague ambitious dreams. The important point is the first 
 step. One foot securely placed on the lowest rung of the 
 ladder is better than any amount of gazing at the top. But 
 it was this first step that Lamb hesitated to take, and knew 
 not how to take. He wanted a guide through those next 
 five or six years of his life, which would probably determine 
 the remainder of it. Several paths were equally open, or, 
 whicli came to the same thing, were equally shut. It is 
 suggested that the Church occurred to him as offering a 
 possible career. The idea was quite feasible. His suscep- 
 tible and pliant mind would have taken kindly to theology, 
 and good taste, if no higher influence were at hand, would 
 perhaps have ensured the irreducible minimum of professional 
 decorum. So far as intellectual qualifications are concerned,
 
 38 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 and we are warned against going one step further, he would 
 probably have made a better bishop than he made a states- 
 man. It is said that Lord Egremont advised him not to 
 think of the Church ; the advice came from an odd quarter, 
 but it was sound, though perhaps it was not required. 
 William Lamb must have felt himself unfitted for either 
 linen or lawn. He had, as we have seen, entered himself 
 in the books of Lincoln's Inn during his second year at 
 Cambridge, and while it is probable that he had not yet 
 finally made up his mind, he looked forward to the bar as 
 his destination in default of anything better. 
 
 In the meantime he spent four or five years in thorough 
 idleness. It is not to be supposed that he did not attend 
 lectures occasionally, or peep into the law courts to pick 
 up hints with a remote eye to business, or neglect his dinners 
 at Lincoln's Inn, or even that he did not read a good deal. 
 There is abundant evidence that he was an omnivorous 
 reader, and that he found real pleasure in reading. This 
 must always be remembered as one of his saving qualities. 
 But he did not engage in any course of systematic study. 
 He did not set himself to acquire the knowledge requisite 
 for the profession he had in view. He passed his time as a 
 fine gentleman about town, looking into the clubs, sauntering 
 along St. James's Street and Pall Mall, and spending his 
 evenings convivially. He renewed his Eton acquaintance 
 with Brummel, whom he saw almost every day, and they 
 often dined together. It would be going too far to say that 
 they were rivals in dress, for Brummel was admitted to be 
 unapproachable, but Lamb knew the art of concealing art, 
 and was not the less fastidious in his attire because it fell in 
 with his humour to add to it the piquancy of an affected 
 indifference. He was a man of fashion, and aspired to be
 
 WAITING FOR THE TIDE 39 
 
 considered a man of the world. He stood well with the 
 guests who met under his father's roof. Lord Minto 
 describes him as ' a remarkably pleasant, clever, and well- 
 informed young man.' He was often invited to Carlton 
 House. The moral atmosphere of the place was not 
 invigorating, but it was a distinction to go there, and the 
 invitation was a requital of hospitality. Mr. Torrens tells an 
 incident which he says Lamb used often to relate. On the 
 night of Hatfield's attempt to assassinate the King at Drury 
 Lane, the Prince was dining at Melbourne House. When 
 the news came, Lady Melbourne instantly ordered her 
 carriage, and entreated the Prince to lose not a moment in 
 going to the theatre to congratulate the King on his escape. 
 The Prince, who was then on bad terms with his father, 
 made excuses, but at last yielded and went, asking Lamb 
 10 go with him. They presented themselves at the royal 
 box, and a filial duty was discharged, thanks to Lady 
 Melbourne. The Prince could hardly have been in closer 
 relations with Melbourne House ; the mother his hostess, 
 the father one of his gentlemen-in-waiting, and their son his 
 • equerry for an hour.' 
 
 At length this gay interval was coming for the time to 
 an end. In 1804 Lamb was called to the bar, and in good 
 company, one of his companions being Mr. Pepys, whom 
 thirty years later he was to advance to the Woolsack. The 
 careers of these two men, who met casually on one occasion, 
 and hardly saw each other again till one of them made the 
 other Lord Chancellor, present a striking contrast. A 
 vigorous outline of Pepys's career is given by Sir Denis Le 
 Marchant in his ' Life of Lord Althorp.' He was the second 
 of three sons of Sir William Pepys, Master in Chancery, 
 and one of the Boswellian circle. Their father educated
 
 40 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 them at home before sending them to Harrow, ' instructing 
 them himself, reading with them, and sparing no efforts to 
 give them the accomplishments in which it had been the 
 great object of his life to excel.' He succeeded with the 
 eldest and the youngest, but he could make but little of the 
 second boy. He was a sturdy, thick-set fellow, cold in 
 manners, blunt in speech, aiming at no distinction, and in 
 every way ill-repaying his father's culture. He did not show 
 one spark of genius. ' His dark searching eyes, massive 
 forehead, and expressive lips,' combined with ' an air of 
 independence and determination,' alone indicated the stuff 
 of which he was made. At Lincoln's Inn he gave himself 
 up to hard work. He studied and mastered everything that 
 bore on his profession, concentrating the whole force of his 
 will and intellect on this one aim. At the bar he rose 
 slowly, then fast. In course of time, but not too soon, he 
 entered Parliament, became Solicitor-General, then Master 
 of the Rolls, and finally, under circumstances which we will 
 not anticipate, accepted the Lord Chancellorship at the 
 hands of his call-day companion. Both succeeded, it need 
 not be said in what different ways, and it would be invidious 
 to point the contrast too rigorously. 
 
 The ice being broken, Lamb took the plunge and set 
 forth in quest of clients. He chose the Northern circuit, 
 and made his first appearance in wig and gown at the 
 Lancashire sessions. There was a very good reason for 
 his selecting the common law side of jurisprudence. He 
 had not been a diligent student. His stock of legal lore was 
 limited, and he took that branch of the profession in which 
 it could be made to go furthest. A novice may easily 
 imagine that it requires but little knowledge of law to argue 
 most of the cases that are brought before a criminal court.
 
 WAITING FOR THE TIDE 4 1 
 
 No very refined technicalities are likely to arise in a trial 
 for murder or burglary. The great thing, it would seem, 
 is to master the facts, to be able to make the most of every 
 point which tells in favour of your client, and to present 
 the whole in such a way as shall be likely to tell upon the 
 jury. A good voice, a knowledge of human nature, some 
 dexterity in argument, and a fair command of language 
 have been held to be the essentials of success, and some 
 famous instances could be adduced in support of the 
 theory. Lamb might well flatter himself that he possessed 
 all these, and that with such experience as could be picked 
 up in practice, he might be able to make a respectable 
 figure. It may be recorded for the encouragement of 
 nascent forensic genius that he did not wholly fail. He 
 got a guinea brief, his first and only one. It is said that 
 he was indebted for it to Mr. Scarlett, afterwards Lord 
 Abinger, who suggested to a Salford solicitor that he should 
 bestow this mark of confidence upon the coming man. 
 Mr. Scarlett had met Lamb in London, knew all about 
 him, and may well have been as favourably impressed with 
 his talents as others were. Forensic advocacy was perhaps 
 the line in which Lamb might fairly hope to excel. The 
 chief danger was that the point and sparkle of his conver- 
 sation would disappear when he came to face a jury. It 
 was an odd choice that took him down to Lancashire, where 
 he was unknown, and where the dialect, which could not be 
 excluded from the witness box, must have been almost un- 
 intelligible to a fine gentleman who had never strayed far 
 from Pall Mall. The Home circuit would have seemed 
 preferable. Perhaps the experiment was not meant to be 
 made in serious earnest, and he may have thought that as a 
 breakdown was possible, the further it was made from home
 
 42 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 the better. How it would have finally fared with the 
 common-law crusader the world will never know. At this 
 time two events happened which fixed him permanently in 
 London, and decided his career. 
 
 The first of these events was that he had fallen in love. 
 Considering the social influences to which he had been ex- 
 posed, it speaks well for him that he was not invulnerable to 
 the charms of an honest attachment. Probably he became 
 entangled in the meshes before he was aware, but this 
 would only be another proof in his favour, since it would 
 show that his heart was unsophisticated by the ways of the 
 world, and lay freely open to nature. It is certain that his 
 feelings were engaged before prudence would have coun- 
 selled or sanctioned matrimony, but here he had a safe- 
 guard in others who would not fail to make his retreat easy. 
 The lady who was to share and, as the event proved, to 
 sadly chequer his life, was Caroline Ponsonby, daughter of 
 the third Earl of Bessborough. Her mother was daughter 
 of the first Earl Spencer, another of whose daughters, 
 Georgiana, was married to the fifth Duke of Devonshire, 
 and has been known ever since as the ' beautiful Duchess.' 
 Lord Bessborough had a house at Roehampton, and it was 
 there that Lamb met Lady Caroline. She was then nine- 
 teen years of age, had the charm of sprightliness derived 
 from an extreme naturalness of manners, and was of a 
 character in some respects unique. In her letters to Lady 
 Morgan, at a later period one of her most intimate friends, 
 Lady Caroline gives a vivid portraiture of what she was, or 
 imagined herself to have been, in her youthful years. It 
 should, however, be borne in mind that these recollections 
 were written down in the light of a rather fitful memory, 
 and were probably exaggerated. Some years of her child-
 
 WAITING FOR THE TIDE 43 
 
 hood were spent in Italy, where her mother was residing on 
 account of infirm health. On returning from Italy, she 
 went to live with her aunt, the Duchess of Devonshire. 
 ' Her account,' says Mr. Torrens, ' of life in the nursery is 
 curious. The children saw little of their parents ; were 
 served on silver in the morning, and allowed to carry their 
 plates to the kitchen in quest of the dainties they longed 
 for. Their ignorance was profound. They imagined that 
 all people were either nobles or paupers, and that for the 
 rich there was no end of money.' It would appear that 
 the pictures given us of the old French noblesse before the 
 Revolution had a pretty exact counterpart at home. ' We 
 had no idea,' writes Lady Caroline, ' 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 cousin Hartington 
 loved me better than himself, and every one paid me com- 
 pliments shown to children likely to die. I wrote not, 
 spelt not, but 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.' 
 
 When ten years old Lady Caroline was transferred to the 
 care of her maternal grandmother, wife of the first Earl 
 Spencer. Lord Althorp, in the fragment of autobiography 
 prefixed to his memoirs, gives no very agreeable impression 
 of this lady, to whom he stood in the same relation. He 
 describes her as a woman who ' did not possess naturally 
 any quickness of understanding ' nor sterling good sense, 
 but ' she had taken great pains with herself, had read a great 
 deal, and, though far from brilliant in conversation, had 
 lived in the society of clever people. This gave her a
 
 44 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 reputation for ability to which she was not entitled.' Sir 
 Denis Le Marchant prints from a manuscript letter of 
 Mrs. Delany's an amusing accouut of Lady Spencer's 
 marriage. She was the daughter of Mr. Poyntz, sometime 
 minister plenipotentiary in Sweden, and an attachment had 
 sprung up between her and Mr. Spencer, the future first 
 Earl, who was then a minor. A large party assembled at 
 Althorp to celebrate his coming of age, among whom were 
 Mr. Poyntz and his daughter. When the day came Mr. 
 Spencer told Mr. Poyntz that he had determined to make 
 Miss Poyntz his wife as soon as he was master of himself, 
 and begged that they might be married the next day. His 
 request was granted, and though fifty people were in the 
 house, none knew anything of the matter except Lord and 
 Lady Cowper, Mrs. Poyntz, and her eldest son. Accordingly, 
 after tea the parties necessary to the wedding stole away 
 from the company to Lady Cowper's dressing-room, where 
 the ceremony was performed, and then rejoined the dancing. 
 ' After supper everybody retired as usual to their different 
 apartments. Miss Poyntz and her sister lay from their first 
 going to Althorp in the best apartments, and Miss Louisa 
 resigned her place on this occasion.' Her bridal outfit lost 
 nothing in splendour by being post-nuptial. The dress in 
 which she went to court was of the most sumptuous 
 description, and her diamonds were worth 12,000/. It 
 should be added as some counterpoise to the disparaging 
 remarks of her grandson, that competent judges, one of 
 whom was David Garrick, spoke in glowing terms of her 
 conversational powers, and that the years of her widowhood 
 were employed in works of benevolence. She was, says 
 Sir Denis Le Marchant, one of the first among the higher 
 classes to take an interest in Sunday schools. The philan-
 
 WAITING FOR THE TIDE 45 
 
 thropic Mrs. Trimmer, to whom we have seen Lamb 
 comparing one of the Glasgow Miss Millars, was her 
 frequent guest and a most attached friend. 
 
 Such was the relative with whom Lady Caroline 
 Ponsonby chiefly lived after reaching the age of ten. The 
 romantic marriage just described may perhaps suggest the 
 idea of reversionary types of character. The scene in Lady 
 Cowper's dressing-room at Althorp has its counterpart in 
 much that afterwards happened at Brocket and Melbourne 
 House. In spite of the disadvantages of her early training 
 Lady Caroline became the mistress of many accomplish- 
 ments. She acquired French and Italian, ventured even 
 upon Greek and Latin, and had the further courage, Mr. 
 Torrens tells us, to undertake the recital of an ode of 
 Sappho. She could draw and paint, and had the instinct 
 of caricature. Her mind was brimming with romance, and 
 regardless of conventionality she followed her own tastes in 
 everything. In conversation she had the vivacity and grace 
 which Garrick admired in her grandmother, and where such 
 qualities were present there must have been something like 
 wit. It is not surprising that William Lamb should have 
 found himself the slave of her attractions, or should have 
 felt the bondage too delightful to have any desire to 
 escape from it. Nor is it more surprising that the lady 
 should have been drawn to William Lamb, and met him, as 
 it almost seems she did, half way. Their natures were 
 sympathetic. Quick susceptibility was the characteristic of 
 both. It is enough to look at his portrait to know that he 
 was handsome. There is, moreover, a suppressed glow in 
 the features which tells of passion beneath. They were 
 perhaps too much alike for happiness. The complimentary 
 elements were wanting on both sides. A kind, good,
 
 46 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 matter-of-fact woman, with plenty of common sense and a 
 sturdy understanding, would have suited him better. He 
 had too much romance of his own and needed no accession 
 to the stock. The meeting of two such aerial forms in the 
 summer sky might mean lightning and thunder some day. 
 Happily, or unhappily, the future was hidden from their 
 view and it was enough to taste the blessedness of the hour. 
 Their mutual preference took no account for the present of 
 matrimony. There were obstacles in the way which others 
 would see if they did not. Lamb was a younger son and 
 had no means for setting up an adequate establishment. 
 His immediate business was to contrive some way ot 
 keeping himself, and his guinea brief at Salford, though 
 gratifying as his first retainer, fell rather short of a full 
 assurance of fortune. 
 
 At this moment that other event happened which helped 
 to determine his career. His elder brother died, and his 
 prospects changed at once. He was no longer a younger 
 son, but heir to the title and estates, with the duty of main- 
 taining the position and reputation of the family. His 
 father was inconsolable. The clever bright youth who 
 would now succeed could be no adequate substitute with 
 him for the son he had lost. He seems to have acted 
 unreasonably. He was intractable on the question of an 
 allowance. His son Peniston had had 5,000/. a year, but 
 for his son William, who stepped into the vacant place and 
 had the same claims, he would only go as far as 2,000/. 
 Judges of aristocratic economics will be able to determine 
 how far this sum fell below the proper standard. It would 
 be fair perhaps to say that Lord Melbourne best knew his 
 own business, and that he may have been influenced by 
 reasons which had nothing to do with paternal affection.
 
 WAITING FOR THE TIDE 47 
 
 It was one thing to reduce an allowance which had been 
 long enjoyed, and another to fix upon the sum which should 
 be given where there was still entire freedom to arrange 
 the scale of future expenditure. There had been thirty years 
 of lavish disbursement at Melbourne House, and the million 
 with which the start was made, though large, was not an 
 exhaustless treasure. At any rate, with the diminished 
 allowance Lamb had to be content. He was sure of free 
 quarters while his mother lived. The Melbourne family had 
 several mansions, and one of them could always be spared 
 for him. He was now free to think more seriously of Lady 
 Caroline. If not rich at present, he had expectations which 
 might well be held to make up the deficiency. He was not 
 about to marry a woman with an enormous dower, but she 
 would bring with her riches of another kind, a connection 
 with some of the greatest and noblest families in the land. 
 
 So matters were soon arranged, and Lamb was married 
 to Lady Caroline Ponsonby. On the same day another 
 marriage took place which must have been infinitely agree- 
 able to Lady Melbourne. Emily, the daughter of the 
 house, bestowed her hand upon Earl Cowper, one of the 
 richest landowners in Hertfordshire, and a near neighbour 
 at Brocket. The earldom was not of ancient date, but it 
 was at any rate a century old, and had lately gathered 
 around it more imposing ancestral honours. As the sole 
 representative of the Princes and Counts of Nassau 
 dAuverquerque, his father had been created a Prince of 
 the Holy Roman Empire, and had obtained permission of 
 George III. to accept the title. The marriage to which he 
 owed this elevation also connected him by descent with the 
 ancient house of Butler, and added an Irish and a Scotch 
 barony to his other distinctions. These honours descended
 
 48 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 to his son, who now became the son-in-law 01 Lady 
 Melbourne. The heroine who had fought in the van of the 
 amily fortunes for more than thirty years had at last 
 realised some of her ambitious dreams. The sumptuous 
 hospitalities of Melbourne House and the million which 
 penurious placemen and lawyers and bishops had slowly 
 heaped together, had not been lavished wholly in vain.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 POLITICAL LAND-SURVEYING 
 
 William Lamb in Parliament — The men he found there — Pitt and Fox 
 — Family connections — Lord Althorp — William Huskisson — Quick 
 fate of 'All the Talents' — Lamb moves the Address — A Constitu- 
 tional question raised — Lamb stands by the Constitution— Veers 
 towards administrative Radicalism — The Duke of York scandal — 
 The Regency — The ' rising sun' will surely shine upon us — Not at 
 all : has no predilections — Lamb loses his seat and is adrift. 
 
 Lamb entered Parliament in 1805 as member for Leo- 
 minster. His election being simply a commercial trans- 
 action, needing only a cheque upon his father's bankers, he 
 did not take the trouble to present himself to his constitu- 
 ents, who having the grace of their condition were willing 
 enough to take him on trust. While he and his bride were 
 spending their honeymoon at Brocket, great events were 
 happening. The army which had been threatening our 
 shores with invasion was on its victorious march to Ulm 
 and Vienna. It was the year of Trafalgar and Austerlitz ; 
 it was also the last of Pitt's career. The statesman who had 
 grasped the helm a second time did not weather the storm 
 which his policy helped to create. His death on the 23rd 
 of the following January brought with it a notable change in 
 the position of English parties, and soon after Lamb took 
 his seat in the House his political friends were in power. 
 What his political principles were at this time, or whether
 
 50 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 he had any, it would hardly repay us to inquire. His 
 politics for some years to come must not be taken too 
 seriously. He had been bred up in admiration of Mr. Fox, 
 who was still a frequent guest at Melbourne House, and the 
 social element had so far been a dominating force in the 
 formation of his opinions. The influence of Carlton House 
 was on the same side. The Prince of Wales was at variance 
 with the King, the Whigs were opposed to the policy of the 
 Court, and common enmities were supposed to bind them 
 together. From its very nature the tie was not strong 
 enough to last long, and the expectations it seemed to justify 
 were doomed to be disappointed, but for the present the 
 Whigs consoled themselves with the belief that the future 
 had blessings in store for them, and they made the most of 
 the beams of the rising sun. 
 
 In the meantime, whatever the future might bring with 
 it, the King had been forced to stifle a long-cherished 
 resentment and to admit Mr. Fox to his counsels. For 
 twenty years he had kept him at arm's length. Again and 
 again he had vowed never more to have anything to do with 
 a man whom he regarded as a Jacobin and a profligate, the 
 two names comprising the sum of all wickedness. The 
 King's estimate of moral obliquity in any particular case 
 was not altogether unaffected by the politics of the sinner, 
 and Fox had done nothing to induce any voluntary blind- 
 ness to his defects. But the death of Pitt left the King in 
 a quandary. The one strong man was gone, and no other 
 member of the Government had any pretension to take his 
 place. There were fairly strong men outside, and it was 
 necessary to call them in, if only to inspire the nation with 
 some confidence in its rulers. The King would have been 
 glad to take Lord Grenville and Mr. Grey and one or two
 
 POLITICAL LAND-SURVEYING 5 I 
 
 more without Fox, but they refused to leave him outside, 
 and the King had to take them all. Fox's interview in the 
 royal closet on accepting his appointment would have been 
 a scene for a painter. ' Mr. Fox,' said the King, ' I little 
 thought that you and I should ever meet again in this 
 place, but I have no desire to look back upon old griev- 
 ances, and you may rest assured I never shall remind you 
 of them.' ' My deeds, and not my words,' rejoined Mr. Fox, 
 ' shall commend me to your Majesty.' This was in Febru- 
 ary ; in September he followed his rival to the grave. He 
 lived long enough to clear his conscience as Foreign 
 Minister, charged with the conduct of a war which he had 
 condemned, by opening negotiations with Bonaparte, in a 
 despairing hope that they might lead to a peaceful result. 
 "When they failed his colleagues found their way clear ; 
 they could carry on the struggle without inconsistency. 
 
 This is not a time at which one would choose to intro- 
 duce into the memoirs of a man who left us nearly fifty years 
 ago, any allusion to what is now known as the Irish ques- 
 tion. But it must be remembered that we are standing 
 close to the period at which that question in its modern 
 form first arose, that is, within six years after the passing of 
 the Act of Union. It is a fact which cannot be dispensed 
 with. The Irish question will be found running like a dark 
 thread through the whole history of successive administra- 
 tions from then till now. The events we shall have to 
 record as those in which Lamb took an increasingly active 
 part, will be unintelligible unless we recognise this guiding 
 clue and keep it always in sight. The chief point to be 
 borne in mind is that, in the view of Pitt, Catholic Emanci- 
 pation was the necessary complement of the Act of Union. 
 It was the consideration for which the Catholics of Ireland 
 
 E 2
 
 52 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 had given at any rate some partial assent to that important 
 measure, and to refuse to pay down the stipulated price 
 after the bargain was completed amounted to a flagrant 
 and fatal breach of faith. Pitt resigned in 1801 on the 
 King's refusal to sanction the introduction of a Bill dealing 
 with the Catholic claims. He threw up his post at a critical 
 moment in the midst of a great war, so imperative did he 
 feel to be the obligations he had incurred. Unfortunately 
 he agreed to waive them three years later when he resumed 
 office, and on his death this waiver, at least in part, was 
 accepted as a legacy by his successors. Their determination 
 not to accept it fully was the rock on which they foundered 
 after only a twelvemonth's voyage. 
 
 These successors of Pitt were the famous ministry known 
 by the nickname of All the Talents. At its head was Lord 
 Grenville, whom at a time when obscure celebrities are apt 
 to be forgotten it may be useful to identify as the nephew 
 of Hester Grenville, wife of the great Earl of Chatham, and 
 brother of the Marquis of Buckingham, whose grandson, the 
 Duke of the same name, fell into the hands of his creditors 
 some forty years ago. Fox, as has been said, was at the 
 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lord Henry Petty, afterwards 
 known to us as Lord Lansdowne, was Chancellor of the 
 Exchequer, Henry Erskine, the intrepid defender of Hardy 
 and Home Tooke, Lord Chancellor, Mr. Gray, presently to 
 become Lord Howick and then Earl Grey, First Lord of the 
 Admiralty, and Lord Spencer, father of Lord Althorp, at the 
 Home Office. Sheridan must not be forgotten. He was 
 Treasurer of the Navy, and probably found in his depart- 
 ment, though hardly fit for the drama, another ' School for 
 Scandal.' Among them also was Lord Sidmouth, who, as 
 Mr. Addington, filled up the short interregnum between
 
 POLITICAL LAND-SURVEYING 53 
 
 Pitt's two administrations, the uncompromising Tory of the 
 ' Peterloo ' days, and the author of the Six Acts, whose 
 fame or infamy still endures. It was a brilliant turn-out. 
 The ' Talents ' were all there. Several of the men who were 
 to play a leading part in the politics of a later day then took 
 their seats in the saddle. To the country it was a rather 
 strange spectacle, and the satires and squibs t called 
 forth, as they lingered on provincial book-shelves, may have 
 been met with in their earlier days by persons still living. 
 But the ministry carried within itself the sentence of disso- 
 lution. It fell as suddenly as it arose, and it had the ill- 
 fortune to leave behind it a name which has barely escaped 
 being held ridiculous. 
 
 These are the statesmen and politicians whom William 
 Lamb soon found on the right hand of the Speaker on enter- 
 ing the House of Commons. He would have taken his seat 
 among them or behind them on whichever side they hap- 
 pened to sit, but he doubtless did so with all the greater 
 pleasure, because in following his own inclinations, or 
 rather in obeying the natural law of his political existence, 
 he was placed not far from the Treasury Bench. He was 
 in the midst of friends, many of them his immediate con- 
 nections. Mr. Grey had married a Ponsonby, one of his 
 wife's relatives ; Mr. G. Ponsonby, another relative, and 
 brother-in-law to Mr. Grey, was Chancellor of Ireland ; 
 Earl Spencer was her uncle ; Mr. Fox, the leader of the 
 House, had known him from a child, had snatched his 
 college oration from oblivion, and had just introduced him 
 at Brooks's, the social gathering-place of the Whig party 
 Other relationships are discoverable were it worth while to 
 search them out. ' The Whigs,' Lamb himself once said, 
 with the usual decorative epithet, 'are all cousins.' It was
 
 54 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 true not of the Whigs only, though in them perhaps the 
 clannish instinct was most strongly developed. Family 
 connection played a great part in every political combina- 
 tion. Blood was thicker than water, and they helped each 
 other on. Hence it had happened that for more than a 
 century the government of the country was the appanage of 
 a few great families, and a change of administration gene 
 rally meant little more than the transfer of power from one 
 set of cousins to another. At his first start in politics 
 Lamb had the full advantage of this arrangement. There 
 were persons who took some interest in looking after him. 
 But for this circumstance perhaps he would have sunk 
 beneath the seething waters, and been heard of no more. 
 
 There are one or two men whose political fortunes were 
 afterwards closely linked with his own, and who entered 
 with him now for the first time into public life, of whom a 
 few words should be said. Among them the first place is 
 due to Lord Althorp. He entered Parliament the year 
 before Lamb as member for Okehampton, and on his 
 father's appointment to the Home Office in the ministry of 
 All the Talents, he was made by way of compliment a 
 junior Lord of the Treasury. It was an honour for which 
 he rendered no thanks. He abhorred public life ; his 
 tastes lay in the fields with his horses and hounds ; but he 
 took up with a parliamentary career as a duty which he had 
 to discharge, and we have since known how well he dis- 
 charged it. Earl Spencer was one of the old Whigs who 
 went off with Mr. Burke and became a Tory. He bred up 
 his son in his new opinions. When Lord Althorp went to 
 Harrow his mother cautioned him to have nothing to do 
 with the Whigs ; but, without intending it, he disregarded 
 her advice, and became very intimate with those who came
 
 POLITICAL LAND-SURVEYING 55 
 
 in his way, finding them the pleasantest companions. The 
 truth is he was a born Liberal. His strong and manly- 
 nature could brook no exclusiveness, and ranged him always 
 on the side of progress. His talents were not of a high 
 order, but he could work hard when he liked, and when he 
 did he succeeded. To please his mother he toiled during 
 his second year at college and came out first in the ex- 
 aminations, but the extraordinary virtue thus displayed 
 demanded some recompense. The last year he almost 
 lived on the race -course, accumulating debts to the amount 
 of some thousands, which his father had to borrow money 
 to pay off. He had an almost reverent respect for the 
 distinguished pugilists of his day. He kept a record of 
 every shot he fired and of every race he ran with the 
 hounds, including the most minute particulars, thus form- 
 ing in the course of years a considerable library of quartos, 
 which are religiously preserved at Althorp House. One 
 would have said that these were not very promising begin- 
 nings for a legislator. It might have been difficult to see 
 in them the earnest of a future leader of the House of 
 Commons who could have had the premiership if he would 
 have taken it. But he had within him a pearl of great 
 price. He had a conscience which no sophistry could spoil, 
 an honesty which was proof against all temptation, and a 
 sturdy independence which scorned whatever might seem 
 intended to turn him from the straight path. He became 
 the ruler of his party and the most trusted of politicians 
 by no other force than the force of character, the noblest 
 triumph perhaps that a man can win. 
 
 William Huskisson was another of Lamb's personal 
 connections with whom we should become at once ac- 
 quainted. He is best known now for the tariff reforms
 
 56 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 which were carried out seventeen years later when he 
 became President of the Board of Trade ; but he had 
 already acquired much administrative experience. His 
 political career was an afterthought, and the success he 
 achieved in it was due exclusively to his personal talents. 
 He was born at Birch Moreton, Worcestershire, in 1770, 
 and was therefore Lamb's senior by nine years. Part of 
 his early education was received in Paris, whither he went 
 some years later to study medicine. As a student he took 
 a lively interest in the earlier scenes of the French Revolu- 
 tion, and was present at the capture of the Bastile. Lord 
 Gower was then our ambassador in Paris. Happening to 
 meet with Huskisson he was impressed by his talents, and 
 prevailed upon him to become his private secretary. The 
 knowledge he acquired in this capacity led to his being 
 employed on his return to London in superintending the 
 enforcement of the Alien Act, and the diligence he dis- 
 played made way for further promotion. At the age of 
 twenty-six he became Under Secretary for War and the 
 Colonies, and in Pitt's second administration he held the 
 office of Secretary for the Treasury. Between him and Pitt 
 there was entire sympathy on questions of trade, as there 
 was then and in after years between him and Canning. 
 He was soon regarded as an indispensable man in matters 
 of finance, and his superior knowledge made him a thorn 
 in the side of the ministry of All the Talents. The financial 
 measures of the new ministry laid them open to criticism, 
 and Huskisson took advantage of the opportunity. His 
 marriage in 1 799with the daughter of Admiral Milbanke, Lady 
 Melbourne's uncle, brought him often to Melbourne House. 
 His wide knowledge and the practical bent of his mind would 
 have made him an admirable guide for Lamb, but he lacked
 
 POLITICAL LAND-SURVEYING 57 
 
 the touch of saving grace. He was not versed in the ways 
 of society, and he had awkward manners. He could even 
 blush and get embarrassed in fine company. His reputation 
 outshone this cloud when he became a Cabinet minister. 
 The diamond in the rough was then admitted to be a 
 diamond after all. 
 
 On the death of Mr. Fox, Mr. Grey, now Lord Howick, 
 became Foreign Minister and leader of the House. It was 
 natural that he should put forward his young relative to 
 move the address in reply to the speech from the throne. 
 The speech which Lamb delivered on that occasion has not 
 been preserved beyond a few lines. He remarked in this 
 maiden effort that we had but two allies left in Europe ; 
 nevertheless he hoped and believed that the spirit of the 
 country would not repine at the burdens and sacrifices that 
 would be necessary to maintain our attitude of national 
 resistance. The internal condition of the realm was, he 
 said, prosperous and tranquil ; all classes were contented, 
 and our commerce flourishing. This might be described as 
 drawing the long bow, but such liberties are permitted to a 
 new member on moving the address. He had the honour 
 to be followed by Mr. Canning, who moved as an amend- 
 ment a counter-address, rivalling the ministerial one in pro- 
 fessions of loyalty and devotion, but intimating that recent 
 successes had been won ' notwithstanding the apparent 
 inactivity of ministers.' It was a mere show of fighting, the 
 Opposition did not care to go to a division, and the amend- 
 ment was withdrawn. 
 
 A more serious question soon came to the front. 
 Though Catholic Emancipation was a forbidden thing, not 
 even to be mentioned in the King's presence, ministers felt 
 that they owed something to the Catholics as well as to
 
 58 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 their own principles. Accordingly they brought in a Bill 
 enabling His Majesty to grant commissions in the army to 
 dissenters from the Established Church. Lord Howick, 
 who had charge of the measure, explained it to the King 
 before producing it to the House, and obtained his pro- 
 visional assent. But there were traitors in the Cabinet, 
 there were whisperings and intrigues, the King's conscience 
 became alarmed, and he told his ministers that the Bill 
 must be dropped, alleging that he had not fully understood 
 the extent of its proposed concessions. The Cabinet showed 
 the white feather, and agreed to withdraw the Bill. But 
 they had deceived themselves as to his Majesty's wishes. 
 He wanted to get rid of them as well as of the Bill, and for 
 that purpose he imposed upon them a further test. He 
 required from them a written and positive engagement never 
 under any circumstances to propose in the closet any 
 measure of concession to the Catholics, or anything even 
 connected with the Catholic question. This was more than 
 could be endured, but perhaps not more than they deserved. 
 They had forgotten what was due to themselves as ministers 
 of the Crown, and retribution quickly followed. They'were 
 obliged to resign. ' All the Talents ' melted into thin air, 
 and the opposition took their places, with the Duke of 
 Portland as Prime Minister. 
 
 A serious constitutional question was now raised which 
 afforded Lamb an opportunity for wielding the controversial 
 weapons that had been so industriously burnished up in the 
 Debating Club of Glasgow University. The post of honour 
 fell to Mr. Brand, who moved that ' it is contrary to the 
 first duty of the confidential servants of the Crown to 
 restrain themselves by any pledge, expressed or implied, 
 from offering the King any advice which the course of
 
 POLITICAL LAND-SURVEYING 59 
 
 circumstances may render necessary for the welfare and 
 service of the empire.' Lamb seconded the motion in a 
 speech of which one solid fragment is preserved. Its 
 solidity is apparent in the two opening sentences. 'The 
 constitution of this realm,' he said, '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 
 the 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.' This extract will suffice. We see 
 whither our orator is tending. From this point it is easy to 
 jump to the end of the argument, after first demurring 
 perhaps to the statement about ' two great councils of the 
 nation.' The resolution was in fact slightly irrelevant. It 
 might be unconstitutional for ministers to give such a 
 pledge, but they had not given it. The King had required 
 it, and the question which really arose was whether the 
 King could constitutionally make such a demand — a ques- 
 tion which it was hardly constitutional to discuss. Mr. 
 Canning saw this and founded his speech upon it, winding 
 up by saying that ' even if His Majesty should be condemned 
 at the bar of that House, it was still some consolation that 
 from that sentence an appeal lay to the people, which under 
 certain circumstances he should deem it his duty to make.' 
 There was no need for such an appeal. The motion was 
 rejected by 258 votes to 226. Lamb remarks in his diary 
 upon the extraordinary change which had occurred since 
 the Easter recess. Before it, when the new ministers were 
 in opposition, they could rarely muster more than sixty or 
 seventy votes, whereas now that they were installed in
 
 60 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 power they could command a majority of thirty-two in a 
 large House. There had been no appeal to the country in 
 the meantime — members had merely changed sides. The 
 influence of the Crown explained the process. 
 
 Though the discarded ministers had been so soundly 
 beaten, the question' was not allowed to drop, and it may 
 be worth while referring to the views Lamb held on one 
 collateral point which had been raised. He cannot yet be 
 accepted as a constitutional authority, though it is probable 
 that his opinions were better than his rhetoric, but he was 
 in close communication with some of the ablest men of the 
 party, and may be supposed to have known what was then 
 regarded as orthodox Whig doctrine. He mentions in his 
 diary that Mr. Bathurst Bragge, Lord Sidmouth's brother- 
 in-law, in the course of the discussion in the House, 
 broached a doctrine which he believed to have been 
 ' unheard of before that day,' namely, that the King may 
 act constitutionally without any advisers, and that there are 
 certain occasions, such as the interval between the dismissal 
 of one set of ministers and the appointment of another, in 
 which he must so act. Lamb's comment is, ' If this be 
 admitted it leads either to the absurdity that in a free 
 government there may be acts of the executive power for 
 which no one is responsible, or to the unconstitutional 
 conclusion that the King is amenable,' and he denounces 
 the doctrine as ' completely subversive of the very founda- 
 tions of our government.' In a speech on a motion made 
 by Mr. Lyttelton, the Master of the Rolls waived, says 
 Lamb, the question whether the King can act without 
 responsible advisers, and no further satisfaction appears to 
 have been furnished by the debates in either House, but 
 Sir Erskjne May suggests the sort of bridge that can be
 
 POLITICAL LAND-SURVEYING 6 1 
 
 made to span the yawning chasm. By no known process 
 can a sovereign be prevented from coming to any decision 
 he thinks fit, but it is of no avail unless it is carried into 
 effect, and ministers become themselves responsible for the 
 acts which brought them into power. 
 
 So long as his friends were in office Lamb's course was 
 plain. He voted with them on all occasions. Nor had he 
 any reason to complain of the treatment he received. They 
 put him well to the front, he had an opportunity of showing 
 what was in him, and he was probably not without hopes ot 
 being able before long to plant his foot on one of the lower 
 rungs of the administrative ladder. When the Tories came 
 in with the Duke of Portland his point of view was shifted 
 a little. Fresh influences came into play. He could con- 
 sider his own position more freely, and perhaps with less 
 illusion. Lord Howick had gone to the House of Lords 
 as Earl Grey, and Mr. Ponsonby, Lady Caroline's kins- 
 man, had taken his place as leader of the Opposition. 
 Canning was now at the Foreign Office, and Lamb was 
 powerfully impressed by Canning's eloquence. Lord Pal- 
 merston now appeared on the Government bench for the 
 first time. He was Lamb's junior by five years, yet he had 
 no sooner obtained a seat in the House than he was made 
 a Lord of the Admiralty. As soon as the Whigs were out 
 of office the usual process of disintegration began. A 
 Radical wing was forming, led by Whitbread, and including 
 Lord Althorp, Lord Folkestone, better known as Lord 
 Radnor, and Lord Milton, afterwards Earl FitzWilliam. 
 These were men to kindle sympathies even in a nature at 
 that time so loftily aristocratic as Lamb's. He could well 
 afford to move on with old titles and broad acres. At any 
 rate the existence of a second party on the Liberal side
 
 63 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 placed an alternative at the disposal of a political aspirant. 
 Lord Althorp was Lamb's relative by marriage, and this 
 would help to bring them together. It is, moreover, a 
 lesson taught afresh with every Parliamentary generation, 
 that nothing so much enhances the value of a rising 
 politician with the chiefs of his party as a prudent display 
 of independence. Lamb was innocent of any in ention to 
 sunder himself from the strictly orthodox connection, but 
 for several years to come he swerved a little towards the 
 left. 
 
 In 1809 there arose the famous scandal concerning the 
 Duke of York. One day a Colonel Wardle got up from 
 the ministerial side of the House and gave notice of motion 
 for an inquiry into the official conduct of the Commander- 
 in-Chief, whom he accused of selling commissions in the 
 army through his mistress, Mrs. Clarke. The leaders of 
 both parties were scandalised and incredulous. Very little 
 was known of the Duke's accuser, and that little was not 
 to his advantage. The Duke gave private assurances to 
 Mr. Perceval, now at the head of affairs and leader of the 
 House, that there was not the slightest foundation for the 
 charge, and having thus, as he thought, sure ground to go 
 upon, the minister thought it the best course to challenge 
 investigation. But the tables were turned when the lady 
 appeared at the bar as a witness. Her good looks and 
 piquant manners exercised a certain fascination upon the 
 House. To listen to her cross-examination was more 
 exciting than a play. By some means or other, probably 
 through her mother's second marriage to a compositor, she 
 had received a fair education. She herself had married a 
 stone-mason with whom her previous relations had not been 
 exemplary. Captain Gronow tells us in his ' Reminiscences '
 
 POLITICAL LAND-SURVEYING 63 
 
 that the Duke made her acquaintance while walking across 
 Blackheath, and that he took her to the royal box at the 
 theatre, where she found from the way the people stared at 
 her, and the remarks which reached her ears, that she was 
 supposed to be the Duchess of York. The fashionable 
 world of London soon discovered that a great lady kept 
 house at Gloucester Place, and lived in a style which a 
 royal revenue could hardly maintain. Her relations with 
 the Duke were notorious, and it was presently ascertained 
 that to propitiate her favour was a sure way of obtaining 
 commissions and promotions at the Horse Guards. There 
 was one straight road to her good graces. Her extravagance 
 would have beggared her royal lover if he had been as 
 munificent as his promises, but they probably both alike 
 found that patronage was as good as money. With what- 
 ever pretences the process was concealed, he found, in point 
 of fact, that to act upon her recommendations was a cheap 
 way of indulging in a disgraceful amour. 
 
 There could be no doubt that Mrs. Clarke had been 
 in the habit of doing all that was alleged. She obtained 
 commissions from the Duke, and received large sums of 
 money from the persons in whose names they were made 
 out. For some considerable time she acted as patronage- 
 purveyor for the army. Whether the Duke was fully ac- 
 quainted with the character of these transactions is a point 
 which could not be clearly proved. It was shown by his 
 love-letters that she had been allowed to talk to him on the 
 claims and requests of officers, but that he knew she took 
 money and applied it to the maintenance of their joint 
 establishment did not appear except from her evidence. It 
 came out that her good offices were not restricted to the 
 army. A Rev. Mr. O'Meara had secured her approbation,
 
 64 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 and she prevailed upon the Duke to recommend him to 
 the King as one of the court preachers. The Duke's best 
 defence was the weakness of his understanding. He had 
 the reputation of being the least intelligent of the King's 
 sons, and this was a large admission. Though open to 
 reproach on the score of morals, he had a certain reputation 
 for piety. It was understood on his own assurance that he 
 never travelled without having a Bible in the carriage. 
 
 What side he should take in the Parliamentary contro- 
 versy was a rather delicate question for Lamb. The Duke 
 had always been a favourite guest at Melbourne House. He 
 was one of his mother's friends. There was once between 
 them that charming harmony of discontent which made each 
 prefer the house of the other, and led to an exchange. If 
 Lamb had sought an excuse for taking the Duke's side, 
 he might have found one, but he went with morality. The 
 Government resolution exonerating the Duke from the charge 
 of personal corruption was carried by a large majority, but 
 under circumstances which detracted so much from its moral 
 weight, that he immediately resigned the office of commander- 
 in-chief. But this was not allowed to settle the question. 
 Lord Althorp, breaking away from the chief of his party, 
 came to the front with a resolution and a maiden speech. 
 His object was to emphasise the Duke's resignation as an 
 act which had been forced upon him. He accordingly 
 moved that as the Duke had resigned the command of the 
 army, the House did not ' now ' think it necessary to pro- 
 ceed any farther in the consideration of the evidence before 
 the committee. One sentence from Lord Althorp's speech 
 deserves to be singled out, since it struck for the first time 
 a chord which still has its vibrations. Speaking of the Duke 
 he said, ' He was rather disposed to think that such high
 
 POLITICAL LAND-SURVEYING 6$ 
 
 rank and affinity to the throne were not the most recom- 
 mendatory qualifications for the most responsible situation 
 under the Crown,' and ' it appeared to him to be of the 
 greatest importance that for the future no person should be 
 called to such high situations but such as could be com- 
 pletely responsible.' The battle was fought over the word 
 ' now ' which contained the sting, and the Government 
 carried its omission by an overwhelming majority. Lamb 
 was among those who voted for its retention. 
 
 This swerve in a Radical direction went much further on 
 Lord Folkestone's motion for a committee of inquiry into 
 the existence of any corrupt practices in the disposal of 
 offices in any department of the State. The shameful dis- 
 closures which had been made, added to those which had 
 come to light a few years before in connection with Lord 
 Melville's administration of the navy, afforded ample justifica- 
 tion for such an inquiry, but there was not enough virtue in 
 either party to sanction a general assault on the citadel of 
 corruption. The young campaigners knew this so well that 
 they did not seek the advice of the Whig leaders before 
 bringing on their motion. They drew their inspiration from 
 Mr. Whitbread, who planned the enterprise, and their 
 utmost hope was that they might shame their chiefs into 
 such a display of public spirit as the occasion demanded. 
 They were bitterly disappointed. They had no sooner 
 stated their case than the Whigs rode down upon them in 
 a body. Lord Althorp in a letter to his father mentions 
 Lamb as one of the ' very small minority ' who voted for the 
 motion. He made out thirty-one in the lobby, and there 
 was one whose face he did not know. The breach thus 
 made between the official Whigs and the more advanced 
 
 F
 
 66 LOUD MELBOURNE 
 
 members of the party lasted long. It amounted to a 
 Radical secession. 
 
 The following year we find Lamb speaking in support 
 of a motion to abolish sinecures, assigning as one reason 
 for their abolition that besides providing Government with 
 venal support, they furnish a motive for factious opposition, 
 ' since those who vote and are numbered in the day or 
 battle, have reason to complain if they happen to be over- 
 looked in the distribution of the spoil.' 
 
 We are now approaching one of his great displays, and it 
 must be introduced with due ceremony. He had to show 
 what constitutional eloquence could do on an important 
 constitutional question. But the occasion was a mournful 
 one. In 1810 the King began to show more decided 
 symptoms 01 that distressing malady from which he was 
 never to recover. It was the jubilee year of his reign. His 
 youngest child, Amelia, to whom he was tenderly attached, 
 lay dying. During fitful gleams of sanity, he used to summon 
 the physicians to his room to ascertain from them by minute 
 inquiries how she was going on. She was twenty-seven 
 years of age. It is said that on one of his visits to her bed- 
 side she had a secret attachment to reveal, and that the 
 disclosure helped still further to unhinge his mind. One 
 incident is beyond all doubt. The princess had a ring made 
 with a lock of her hair, and as she placed it on her father's 
 finger she said to him, ' Remember me.' The poor old 
 man, half blind and already half insane, sank beneath this 
 blow. From that moment what was left of his reason 
 vanished irrecoverably. 
 
 When Parliament met in November, there was no com- 
 mission to open the session. The Great Seal was in 
 abeyance. It was necessary to make immediate provision
 
 POLITICAL LAND-SURVEYING 67 
 
 for executing the functions of the Crown. The obvious 
 expedient was a regency, with the Prince of Wales as regent ; 
 but at this point, which settled itself, a serious disagreement 
 arose. The Government, following the example set by Pitt 
 in 1788, held that the royal authority should be transferred 
 to the Prince by a Bill, and that it should be subject to some 
 restrictions. The Whigs on the other hand, adopting the 
 doctrine of Fox, were of opinion that no Bill was necessary, 
 but that the two Houses should merely present a joint 
 address praying the Prince to assume the reins of govern- 
 ment. Fox, indeed, went a step further. He held that the 
 Prince had an inherent right to take up the reins as they 
 fell from the King's hands, the only condition precedent 
 being an attestation of the King's inability to discharge his 
 royal duties. The Whigs did not on the present occasion 
 take quite such high ground. Both parties practically 
 agreed to proceed by Bill, and the only point in dispute was 
 whether the royal authority should be transferred with or 
 without conditions, the conditions suggested being that no 
 new peers should be created, that no pension or place 
 should be granted other than was necessary bylaw, and that 
 the King's person should be left in the hands of the Queen. 
 It was proposed to exact these conditions only for twelve 
 months. 
 
 In the debate un the resolutions which were introduced 
 as a preface to the Bill Lamb took an active part, steering 
 a middle course. He repudiated the notion of inherent 
 right and of proceeding by address. He held it to be the 
 duty of Parliament to confer the powers of royalty upon 
 the Prince by a Bill, but he was opposed to any restrictions. 
 Considering their character and for how short a time they 
 were to be imposed, it will probably be thought that there
 
 68 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 was not much left to fight about ; but it must be remembered 
 that something more than a constitutional principle was at 
 stake. The dignity of the Prince was menaced. It looked 
 like an insult to fetter him with restrictions. If they were 
 meant to endure but for twenty-four hours, the offence would 
 be intrinsically all the same. The Whigs were still the 
 Prince's friends, and they believed that he was still their 
 friend. The traditions which began with Fox still lingered. 
 The Whigs and the Prince were supposed to be in standing 
 opposition to the Tories and the Court. Hence the Prince's 
 accession to royal power was hailed by the Whigs as the 
 dawn of a brighter day, and they were eager to lay some 
 tribute of homage at his feet. Lamb was put forward on 
 behalf of his party to move an amendment on the resolution 
 for limiting the powers of the Prince Regent. We need 
 not reproduce his arguments. They were the arguments of 
 a courtier who had his eyes all the time fixed upon the 
 rising sun whose gracious beams had so often mingled 
 with the lesser splendours of Melbourne House. He was 
 answered by Canning, who paid mellifluous compliments to 
 his young friend, and then the amendment was disposed of. 
 The great thing was to have fought in such a cause. To 
 have lost was nothing. 
 
 The Prince was now installed in all but royal authority, 
 and it remained to be seen what use he would make of his 
 new powers. The first use he made of them was not 
 encouraging. He reappointed the Duke of York to the 
 command of the army. The scandals which led to his 
 dismissal were still green. The street cries which rang 
 indecorous versions of his adventures into the ears of old 
 and young had hardly died away. Althorp and Lamb were 
 still under the fond impression that their Parliamentary
 
 POLITICAL LAND-SURVEYING 69 
 
 action had placed an insuperable barrier in the way of the 
 Duke's return. The Prince Regent undid their work by a 
 stroke of the pen. Lord Milton moved a vote of censure 
 on ministers for recommending the reappointment, but 
 Lamb stood aloof. Forty-nine members voted for the 
 motion, but Lamb was not one of the forty-nine. He 
 invented lame apologies in self-exculpation. He thought 
 that enough had been done, that a sufficient warning had 
 been given, and that the Duke after all was perhaps 
 ' morally innocent.' It would probably not be unjust to 
 surmise that he did not care to fly in the face of the Prince 
 Regent, now, perhaps, on the eve of redeeming his long 
 professions of attachment to the Whigs. The party flattered 
 themselves that they were on the verge of restoration to 
 power. What really awaited them was the discomfiture of 
 all their hopes. The Prince satisfied his ' historical con- 
 science ' by declaring that he had ' no predilections,' that 
 Whigs or Tories would suit him equally well if they would 
 only come to terms and make a pleasant Cabinet selection 
 from both sides. He did not choose to see that certain 
 principles, the Catholic claims, and a more liberal policy in 
 home affairs among them, stood in the way. The result, 
 after endless intriguing, was, no doubt, in harmony with his 
 wishes. The Tories were installed in power. Lord Liver- 
 pool took up the reins, which he kept in his hands till 1827. 
 Protestant ascendency and repressive measures were the 
 order of the day. The borough-mongers rallied to the 
 support of the ' minions ' of the Prince Regent, and among 
 those who lost their seats at the ensuing general election 
 was Lamb, who bade farewell to Parliament for the next 
 four years.
 
 yO LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 TROUBLES AT HOME 
 
 Lady Caroline Lamb — Sinister auguries fulfilling themselves— Advent 
 of Lord Byron and ' Childe Harold ' — The flirtations of Lady Caro- 
 line, serio-comic verging upon tragedy — William Lamb's conjugal 
 ruminations— Marriage of Lord Byron and its results at Brocket- 
 Waywardness or madness? — A separation planned and frustrated 
 — The future Lord Lytton a sacrificial victim — Separation at last 
 — A ' psalm of life.' 
 
 In throwing up politics for the present, Lamb yielded more 
 or less passively to a variety of considerations. He could 
 not but feel that the seven years he had spent in the House 
 had not been crowned with distinguished success. He had 
 spoken on several important occasions, nor could any one 
 deny that his speeches were ornate, highly polished, and 
 strongly tinctured with constitutional lore ; but they had 
 produced no impression, and had won no recognition more 
 valuable or more promising than now and then a ceremonial 
 compliment. There was a change, moreover, in the pro- 
 spects of the party to which, more by force of circumstances 
 than by conviction, he had attached himself, and it was 
 possible that the party itself might be slipping out of 
 existence. The hopes founded on the supposed predilec- 
 tions of the Prince Regent had proved delusive. Hence- 
 forth, if he was to act with his party, he would be brought 
 into frequent collision with the illustrious patron of
 
 TROUBLES AT HOME 7 I 
 
 Melbourne House, and such a course was not to be lightly 
 ventured upon. His father held a place in the Prince's 
 household, and a step in the peerage was an object of 
 domestic ambition. If he could not promote its attain- 
 ment by his personal influence in politics, he might, at any 
 rate, abstain from throwing needless obstacles in the way. 
 It was out of the question that he should cast in his lot 
 decisively with the Radical group of members who had 
 occasionally had the support of his votes. He did not 
 share in their popular sympathies nor in their earnest 
 convictions, and yet he could not make up his mind as yet 
 to an open rupture. On the whole, it would be just as well 
 to stand aside for a year or two and see how events would 
 shape themselves. These considerations would probably 
 have sufficed, but they were reinforced from another quarter. 
 His domestic relations were not in the happiest plight. He 
 had worry and vexation at home. 
 
 In glancing at the early years of Lady Caroline Lamb, 
 as described in her letters, we have already seen indications 
 of a character which did not promise well for the repose 
 and dignity of married life. Her union with Lamb seemed 
 to be one of affection, and in ordinary cases this might be 
 accepted as a sufficient augury of future happiness. It is 
 all that is usually attainable, most persons have to start upon 
 their joint voyage with no better security, and the expectations 
 based upon it are seldom wholly disappointed. In the case 
 of Lady Caroline the guarantee was of less than the usual 
 value. As our acquaintance with her extends, we find that 
 the whole of her life was composed of a series of episodes 
 in which love, or what passed for it, played a leading part. 
 Lamb had the honour, perhaps the ill-fortune, of becoming 
 the hero of one of these episodes, but unluckily it was only
 
 -2 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 the first of the series, if indeed it was the first. In her 
 passion for him there may have been some under-current of 
 permanency. We find it welling up to the surface by fits 
 and starts, and apparently surviving all other attachments, 
 but the long interval between the beginning and the end 
 was infinitely chequered. She has been described as a 
 woman of impulse ; but impulse is not quite the right word. 
 It is true that she was often borne away on a current which 
 seemed irresistible, but she had first deliberately opened 
 the floodgates and calculated exactly upon what would 
 happen. She was on the whole a very cool practitioner. 
 The basis of her character was wilfulness, and vanity was 
 the main- spring which set the volitional apparatus going. 
 She would select with keen judgment some incident in social 
 life which afforded ample play for two parts, a torturer and 
 a victim, and though she began by being the first she often 
 ended by becoming the second. When the game was once 
 begun she threw herself into it with the whole force of her 
 nature, and managed to develop a drama in which her own 
 feelings became insensibly engaged till she was no longer at 
 liberty to disentangle herself the moment she pleased. It 
 has been hinted that she was mad ; but there was no mad- 
 ness in the case. She dallied with momentary rushes of 
 feeling, which, however, were intellectual rather than 
 emotional, and were not so much impulses as whims. But 
 when she was once in them it was not so easy to get out, 
 and by force of acting she often became for a time sincere, 
 with final discomfiture and mortification to herself, and infi- 
 nite annoyance to everybody about her, and to her husband 
 most of all. 
 
 These peculiarities grew upon her by degrees. Perfec- 
 tion in the arts most natural to her was not reached at once,
 
 TROUBLES AT HOME 73 
 
 and perhaps for the development they subsequently achieved 
 she was not alone to blame. It has been said that she and 
 her husband were an ill-assorted couple, and the remark is 
 so obvious that it must be true, though it does not cover all 
 the facts. In 1807 their only son was born, the Prince 
 of Wales standing sponsor for him at the font. He was 
 called George Augustus Frederic, after his royal godfather, 
 Augustus being the name selected from the three for daily 
 use, and its magnificent suggestiveness offered a melancholy 
 contrast to the destiny thus honoured. Outwardly healthy, 
 and even handsome as he grew up, there were symptoms in 
 infancy of a constitutional ailment which showed itself later 
 on in an infirmity of the intellect that lasted through life. 
 There was noactual imbecility, but rather the constant promise 
 of a maturity which was watched for with unceasing anxiety, 
 but never came. This calamity was but slowly realised, and 
 it was not till the stage of manhood was passed that all hope 
 had to be mournfully abandoned. At the period of which 
 we are now speaking there was nothing to becloud the sky ; 
 there was only too much sunshine. Life at Melbourne 
 House was an incessant round of frivolous dissipation. The 
 after-supper revels often lasted till daybreak. But gaiety and 
 merriment did not bring happiness, and, looked at from no 
 puritanical point of view, but from that of a rational economy 
 of enjoyment, it is probable that few households were more 
 forlorn. Mr. Torrens, who appears to have gathered up the 
 traditions of the family from authentic sources, says of Lamb 
 that ' disenchantment seemed to have spread its insidious 
 spell over him, and that, though weary of ennui, he could 
 not bring himself to set about any undertaking requiring 
 effort or toil.' Of his wife it is said that, ' unceasingly active, 
 she spent her existence with as little concentration of aim.
 
 74 Lord Melbourne 
 
 Painting, music, reading, writing verses, patronising plays, 
 taking part in private theatricals, dreaming romantically, and 
 talking in a way to make people stare ; riding on horseback, 
 often coquetting, sometimes quarrelling (she hardly knew 
 what it was about) 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 in- 
 termingling trifles, filled up her time.' In a letter printed 
 among Lord Melbourne's Papers, she writes in one of her 
 penitential moods, ' I think lately, my dearest William, we 
 have been very troublesome to each other, which I take by 
 wholesale to my own account, and mean to correct, leaving 
 you in retail a few little sins which I know you will correct.' 
 Apparently about the same period Lamb thus moralises in 
 his journal : ' The general reason against marriage is this, 
 that two minds, however congenial they may be, or however 
 submissive the one may be to the other, can never act like 
 one. It is the nature of human things that no man can be 
 free and independent.' The conclusion seems too large for 
 the argument. A passage follows which is more specific : 
 ' By marriage you place yourself upon the defensive instead 
 of the offensive in society, which latter is admitted to be in 
 all contentions the most advantageous mode of proceeding.' 
 Then follows a reflection which looks like experience : 
 ' Before marriage the shape, the figure, the complexion, 
 carry all before them ; after marriage the mind and cha- 
 racter unexpectedly claim their share, and that the largest, 
 of importance.' He then remembers that before he was 
 married if he saw anything wrong in a house, he used to lay 
 all the fault upon the master, who might at once put a stop 
 to it if he pleased : but, he adds, 'since I have married I
 
 TROUBLES AT HOME 75 
 
 find that this was a very rash and premature judgment.' 
 Almost the last of these fugitive entries relates to the effect 
 produced, ' particularly upon women,' by what others say 
 of their husbands. ' Nothing's fixed. Their opinion rises 
 or falls according to what they hear in the world, according 
 to the lightest observation or the most casual remarks.' 
 These reflections are not remarkably luminous. They do 
 not appear to be particularly acute or manly, while on the 
 side of philosophy they are certainly defective. They almost 
 suggest that a husband who could soliloquise in this rather 
 moonstruck fashion was hardly the best fitted to fix the 
 wayward fancies of Lady Caroline. 
 
 Such was the state of affairs with the inmates of Mel- 
 bourne House when a portent suddenly burst upon society 
 in the person of Lord Byron. In the autumn of 1811 he 
 returned from his two or three years' travel in Turkey and 
 Greece, bringing the first two cantos of ' Childe Harold ' in 
 his pocket. They were soon in his publisher's hands, and 
 made their appearance in February the following year. The 
 poem produced a great sensation. Byron awoke one morn- 
 ing and found himself famous. Some proofs had been 
 struck off beforehand for the perusal of private friends, one 
 of which was sent to Rogers, who gave or lent it to Lady 
 Caroline Lamb. She read it, and was enchanted like the 
 rest of the world, and before many hours had passed by all 
 her friends knew that she had read it and what she thought 
 of it. All the world was soon talking of Byron, and what 
 was learned of his previous career, supplemented by ela- 
 borate portraitures in the poem itself, which were assumed 
 to be autobiographical, presently crystallised into myths. 
 He was a lord — that at least was certain. He had come 
 unexpectedly into his heritage. He was the owner of
 
 76 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 a fine estate and of a weather-beaten abbey where the 
 ashes of his ancestors who came over at the Conquest had 
 reposed for ages. He had passed through many vicissitudes 
 in his short life. He was more than suspected of having 
 been prodigiously wicked. The opening pages of his poem 
 threw a lurid light upon his escapades. But there were 
 signs that his heart had been disillusionised, and perhaps 
 crushed. He had roamed in many lands, and had come 
 back with a halo of Eastern splendour round his head. To 
 see him was to be convinced that all this, and more than 
 this, was true. His pensive face, the melancholy that shaded 
 his noble brow, was irresistible. It suggested conquests 
 and invited consolation. There was witchery in his reputed 
 wickedness. It gave piquancy to his charms, and threw a 
 colour of romance into a dawning future with which it was 
 perhaps hoped that dreams of reformation did not too largely 
 mingle. That sad averted glance, in which scorn and 
 tenderness seemed to blend in equal measure, told how 
 much he had suffered and how much he might still enjoy if 
 sympathetic natures could be found. Language can hardly 
 exaggerate the folly which prevailed, though some faint 
 gleams which descended within the reach of living memories 
 may help us to judge of what it must have been when the 
 burning fit was on. 
 
 Lady Caroline found in Byron a foeman worthy of her 
 steel, and forthwith prepared for the attack. There is not 
 much room for doubt as to how the fight began, nor as to the 
 conditions of the combat. Taking only what we know of 
 her from contemporary sources, and making due allowance 
 for the feverish extravagance of her own admissions, there 
 can be but little hesitation in assuming that she was the 
 aggressor, and that, whatever suffering may afterwards have
 
 TROUBLES AT HOME 77 
 
 been endured, no claim can be alleged for pity. In a letter 
 to her friend Lady Morgan, she tells how their acquaintance 
 began. ' I was one night at Lady "Westmoreland's ; the 
 women were all throwing their heads at him. Lady West- 
 moreland led me up to him, I looked earnestly at him, and 
 turned on my heel. My opinion in my journal was, " mad, 
 bad, and dangerous to know." A day or two passed; I was 
 sitting with Lord and Lady Holland when he was announced. 
 Lady Holland said, " I must present Lord Byron to you." 
 Lord Byron said, " That offer was made to you before ; may I 
 ask why you rejected it ? " He begged permission to come 
 and see me. He did so the next day. Rogers and Moore 
 were standing by me. I was on the sofa. I had just come 
 in from riding ; I was filthy and heated. When Lord 
 Byron was announced, I flew out of the room to wash myself. 
 When I returned, Rogers said, " Lord Byron, you are a happy 
 man. Lady Caroline has been sitting in all her dirt with 
 us, but when you were announced she flew to beautify her- 
 self." Lord Byron wished to come and see me at eight 
 o'clock, when I was alone ; that was my dinner hour. I said 
 he might. From that moment for more than nine months 
 he almost lived at Melbourne House. It was then the 
 centre of all gaiety, at least in appearance.' 
 
 The acquaintance thus begun soon became something 
 more than friendship. They called each other by endearing 
 names. Her passion broke out in verse. In one of her 
 letters she offered him all her jewels if he was in want 
 of money. Their intimacy soon became notorious, and 
 speculations were rife as to how far it was compatible with 
 innocence. Rogers took the charitable view— and he was a 
 close and cynical observer ; but he was the friend of both, 
 and a case must be pretty far gone when a friend can
 
 ;8 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 volunteer the part of a juryman. When they were at the 
 same parties, she returned with him in the same carnage. 
 When she had not been invited, she watched him on his 
 way home for the chance of a moment's interview. Rogers 
 found her waiting for him one night to beg his interposition 
 in a quarrel she had just had with Lord Byron. These 
 quarrels became frequent, and it soon appeared that the poet 
 was bored with the craving for a monopoly which it was not 
 in his nature to bestow. 
 
 A serious cause for jealousy presented itself before 
 long. However strange it might appear, it was a fact that 
 Byron thought of marrying. It is said that he sought the 
 advice of Lady Melbourne on this delicate subject, pro- 
 testing his virtues, and asking her help in delivering him 
 from 'the daughters of Heth.' It is not improbable that 
 Lady Melbourne took the liberty of giving him the advice 
 unasked. She kept a diligent watch over the happiness of 
 her son, and would no doubt have been glad of any 
 arrangement which would place the too welcome visitor 
 under matrimonial watch and ward. The lady suggested 
 was Lady Caroline's cousin-in-law, the only child of Lady 
 Melbourne's eldest brother, Sir Ralph Milbanke. Lord 
 Byron proposed to her in the autumn of the same year in 
 which he had made Lady Caroline's acquaintance. He met 
 with a refusal, but a refusal couched in such kind terms, 
 that it encouraged a correspondence which ended two years 
 later in a second offer. This was accepted, and the 
 marriage took place in February 1815. To be ousted by 
 her cousin from the blessedness of sole possession to which 
 she had aspired was a strain too severe to be endured 
 patiently. After an altercation with Lord Byron at Lady 
 Heathcote's ball in June 181 3, she tried to throw herself
 
 TROUBLES AT HOME 79 
 
 out of the window, and then, in a fit of melodramatic despair, 
 stabbed herself with a supper-knife. If any wound was 
 inflicted it was not serious. To put an end to the scandal, 
 her mother, Lady Bessborough, took her over to Ireland. 
 Before consenting to go, she made a personal appeal to 
 Byron. The interview was not successful, but it was 
 followed by a soothing letter, in which he declared that till 
 that moment he never knew ' the madness of my dearest 
 and most beloved friend,' and, while firmly counselling 
 submission, wound up by saying, ' I was and am yours, 
 freely and entirely to obey, to honour, love, and fly with 
 you, when, where, and how yourself might and may 
 determine.' To Ireland, nevertheless, she went ; their 
 correspondence was kept up during her absence, but, on 
 learning that she was about to return, Lord Byron sent her 
 a very different letter, which put an end to all intimacy. It 
 was couched in terms of brutal frankness, and bore on its 
 seal the coronet and initials of a lady whom she recognised 
 as a rival. A serious illness was the result, and before she 
 recovered Byron had left England. 
 
 What William Lamb thought and felt through all this 
 troubled period may perhaps be set down among those 
 things that are better imagined than described. Probably 
 he was of the same opinion, and said nothing. No reference 
 is made to these later experiences in his journal. There 
 can be no doubt that his sensitive and fastidious nature felt 
 the humiliation keenly. It is likely that many of the 
 scandals that were afloat never reached his ears. So far as his 
 own observation went, he might choose to be a little blind, 
 and for the rest to suffer in silence rather than run the risk 
 of making himself ridiculous. He had one great refuge in 
 his love of books, which is said to have grown upon him at
 
 80 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 this period, and another in his dislike to take trouble over 
 anything. When half resolved upon some step which might 
 help to mitigate the nuisance of his wife's follies, he perhaps 
 said to himself, as he used to say to his colleagues in the 
 Cabinet many years later, ' Why can't you leave it alone ? ' 
 He has been censured for want of resolution in not show- 
 ing more firmness with his wife — and his wife herself 
 figures among his censurers. She told her friend Lady 
 Morgan that he took no care of her, and did not mind how 
 many men she flirted with. Another remark perhaps goes 
 nearer the secret of their unhappiness. She complains that 
 he never treated her seriously. Balzac had not yet reached 
 the age of authorship, or there are some chapters in his 
 ' Physiologie du mariage ' which even Lamb, man of the 
 world as he was, might have read with advantage. Perhaps 
 he took too little trouble with his wife, perhaps less than 
 she deserved. He had thought fit to marry a capricious but 
 clever woman, and he should have made up his mind to 
 adjust himself to his fate. After all, it is only a part of the 
 discipline of life, and has to be accepted uncomplainingly. 
 With all her faults, Lady Caroline had some virtues and 
 many charms. For one thing she was kind-hearted. One 
 day she saw a child hurt in the street. She took him up in 
 her carriage and conveyed him to his home. The late 
 Lord Lytton, a boy at [the time, heard of the incident, and 
 sent her some verses which it had inspired. He and his 
 brother were invited to Brocket, and Lady Caroline drew 
 his portrait. Some years later Lord Lytton knew her well, 
 too well for his own happiness, and he has left a description 
 of her to which Earl Cowper in his preface to Lord Mel- 
 bourne's Papers refers with satisfaction : ' She had large 
 hazel eyes, capable of much varied expression, exceedingly
 
 troubles at home 8i 
 
 good teeth, and a pleasant and a musical intonation of voice, 
 despite a certain artificial drawl, habitual to what was called 
 the Devonshire House set. Apart from these gifts she 
 might be considered plain. But she had, to a surpassing 
 degree, the attribute of charm, and never failed to please if 
 she chose to do so. There was indeed a wild originality in 
 her talk : combining great and sudden contrast, from deep 
 pathos to infantine drollery, now sentimental, now shrewd, 
 it sparkled with anecdotes of the great world, and of the 
 eminent persons with whom she had been brought up, or 
 been familiarly intimate ; and ten minutes after it became 
 gravely eloquent with religious enthusiasm, or shot off into 
 metaphysical speculations, sometimes absurd, sometimes 
 profound, generally suggestive and interesting. A creature 
 of caprice and impulse and whim, her manner, her talk, and 
 her character shifted their colours as rapidly as those of a 
 chameleon.' Undoubtedly it would have required a vast 
 amount of trouble, a variety of splendid gifts, and patience 
 all but inexhaustible, to gratify the roving fancies and fill 
 the imagination of this remarkable woman. Lamb may 
 have known enough of her and of himself to feel that it 
 was hopeless to make the attempt. 
 
 After Byron had left England, within a few months of 
 his separation from his wife, Lady Caroline began to take 
 her revenge for his desertion. On reading a copy of verses 
 which he was supposed to have addressed to her through 
 the press at the moment of leaving, she made a bonfire in 
 front of Brocket Hall, burnt him in effigy and sent him an 
 account of the performance. Having ' played the devil,' as 
 is said in 'Don Juan,' she then 'wrote a novel.' In 
 ' Glenarvon ' Byron and she figured as the principal cha- 
 racters under a thin disguise of fiction, and her adventures 
 
 G
 
 82 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 and humiliations were exhibited to the gaze of a curious 
 and mocking world. It took her, she says, a month to 
 write the book. She did it at night, sitting at her desk 
 dressed like a page in boy's clothes. Her page was her 
 chief companion by day. She played at ball with him in 
 the dining-room. He liked to throw detonating squibs 
 into the fire. She scolded him, but he persisted. One day 
 when he had thrown a squib into the fire she flung the ball 
 at his head. He cried out, ' Oh, my lady, you have killed 
 me ! ' Out of her senses she ran into the hall, and screamed 
 ' O God, I have murdered the page.' The rumour of an 
 actual murder flew abroad, and there was prodigious excite- 
 ment in the neighbourhood. It was impossible to put up 
 with such escapades any longer, and the family insisted on 
 a separation. Lamb slowly and mournfully consented. It 
 was agreed on both sides that the painful step should be 
 taken with all possible quietness and decorum. At length 
 the final arrangements were made and the documents ready 
 for signature. At the last moment Lamb went to his wife's 
 room for a final interview, and especially to talk with her 
 about their child, who was to be left at Brocket. The 
 interview lasted so long that his brother thought it right to 
 venture in, when he found Lady Caroline seated by his side 
 tenderly feeding him with bits of thin bread and butter. 
 She had had him to herself for one half hour, and her low, 
 caressing voice had won a short reprieve. 
 
 This incident brings us to the point of time at which 
 our main narrative should be resumed, but we do not wish 
 to return, except for a moment, to Lady Caroline, and will 
 therefore anticipate a little. We have just witnessed 
 another of those many episodes of which, as has been said, 
 her married life was made up. It was one of the most
 
 TROUBLES AT HOME S$ 
 
 touching and most critical, but it was not by any means the 
 last. Words of reconciliation had been spoken, but closer 
 union was beyond hope, and the domestic wound remained 
 open for another ten years, till it was closed at last by the 
 hand of death. There was ari election for Westminster in 
 1818, in which George Lamb stood against Hobhouse. 
 Lady Caroline entered heartily into the cause of her 
 brother-in-law, and wrote a polite note to Godwin, begging 
 for his vote and interest, though expressing some fear that 
 his well-known sentiments would prevent him from sup- 
 porting a man of George Lamb's very lukewarm politics. 
 The author of ' Caleb Williams ' replied that she was mis- 
 taken ; though in theory a republican, in practice he was a 
 Whig, and he should be happy to vote for George Lamb. 
 This led to a closer acquaintance with the philosophical 
 novelist, and Godwin one day received a letter from Lady 
 Caroline inviting him to Brocket. The intimacy may be 
 left to take its course, but the letter is a curiosity. Lady 
 Caroline wished to consult him about her son, and also 
 about herself. 'Tell me,' she said, 'would you dislike 
 paying me a little visit ? . . . 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. Pray say a 
 few wise words to me I have nothing to do — I mean 
 necessarily. There is no particular reason why I should 
 exist ; I conduce to no one's happiness, and, on the con- 
 trary, I stand in the way of many. Besides, I seem to have 
 lived 500 years, and feel I am neither better nor worse than 
 
 G 2
 
 84 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 when I began.' Such were the pleasant confessions of 
 Lady Caroline. Godwin had his own novel experiences in 
 matrimony, and he happened by a strange coincidence or 
 fatality to be the step-father of that Jane Clermont who 
 had with Byron, soon after Lady Caroline ceased to know 
 him, her own obscure tragedy of romance and guilt. 
 Perhaps Lady Caroline was not aware of the fact. Anyhow, 
 Godwin brought with him no potent medicine for a mind 
 diseased. 
 
 About the same time that she was imploring Godwin 
 to tell her how to ' go on,' she renewed the acquaintance 
 with Lord Lytton, which, as we have seen, began when he 
 was a boy. At her invitation he visited Brocket, being then 
 a Cambridge student. He was one-and-twenty, while she 
 was between thirty and forty, but the disparity made no 
 difference. He fell beneath her tender spells, became for 
 a time violently enamoured, was driven half-mad with 
 jealousy, and had to retreat to save himself. He ' lost 
 twenty ounces of blood ' and got better. At a time when 
 she chose to fancy herself dying she sent for him. He sat 
 by her bedside for hours, and ' if ever counterfeit tenderness 
 seemed real hers did.' She contrived to write him a few 
 lines, though forbidden by the doctors. When she recovered, 
 though still kind and affectionate, there was a coldness in 
 her manner. She begged that he would be to her like a 
 son or the dearest of friends, but not her lover ; yet uttering 
 these dissuasive sentiments with such exquisite grace that 
 the poor youth was ' more in love with her than ever.' At 
 Lady Cowper's ball the secret w r as revealed. She never 
 spoke to him. Her dearest friend now was Mr. Russell, 
 ' a fashionable beau, extremely handsome, but dull, insipid, 
 and silly.' When they were all going to bed Bulwer said
 
 TROUBLES AT HOME 85 
 
 ' good-bye ' to her, announcing his intention to leave next 
 morning before she was up. By nine next morning he got 
 rom her a note imploring him to stay. He went to her 
 room. ' She entreated me to forgive her, threw her arms 
 about me, and cried.' At dinner Mr. Russell sat opposite 
 him. ' He wore a ring. It was one which Lord Byron 
 had given Lady Caroline — one which was only to be worn 
 by those she loved. I had often worn it myself. She had 
 wanted me to accept it, but I would not, because it was so 
 costly. And now he wore it.' Bulwer left next morning, 
 and the night after was in a fever. If he had to lose blood 
 the quantity he lost was not a drop too much. ' Lamb, 
 by-the-bye,' says Bulwer to his friend, ' was particularly kind 
 to me. I think he saw my feelings. He is a singularly fine 
 character for a man of the world.' 
 
 This happened in 1824. It was the year of Byron's 
 death. He died in April, and if Lady Cowper's ball, the 
 exact date of which is not given, took place later in the 
 year, the illness which brought Bulwer to her bedside, and 
 which rendered another passion necessary for her conva- 
 lescence, may have been anything but fictitious. That 
 event threw her for a time into utter prostration. Riding 
 out one morning, at the gates of Brocket Park she met a 
 hearse and mourning coaches. Asking whose funeral it 
 was, she was told it was Lord Byron's. He had been 
 brought over from Missolonghi to be buried. It was the 
 first news she had received of his death, and its suddenness 
 gave her a severe shock. But the symptoms of her re- 
 covery were more remarkable than her illness, affording a 
 further illustration of the fact that love with her was more 
 an affair of the imagination than of the heart, and that a 
 change of object, or some new device for relieving her from
 
 86 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 the burden of inactivity, was always enough to effect a cure. 
 After Byron's death she gave herself up to livelier escapades 
 than ever. Every day brought with it some new extrava- 
 gance. She would leap into the middle of the dining-table 
 to give a lesson to the startled butler as to the proper 
 height of a centre-piece. On going to a ball she would in- 
 sist upon taking her seat by the side of the coachman, and 
 throw herself into the arms of the footman on getting down. 
 At the same time she grew more and more exacting at 
 home. She quarrelled with her husband for his impassive- 
 ness. It would have pleased her better if he had stormed 
 away in return, as he sometimes did when human nature 
 could stand the strain no longer, raining upon her ' a 
 terrible tempest of rebuke and ridicule, intermixed with 
 reasoning harder to bear than either, for the space of half 
 an hour.' Then he would relent, and all be calm again for 
 a time. But these things were of daily occurrence, and 
 there was not a moment when she might not fly off into 
 paroxysms of ungovernable rage. One night, after a scene 
 at the dinner table at Melbourne House, he quietly ordered 
 his horses and drove off to Brocket. While pensively 
 musing during the small hours, he heard a noise in the 
 corridor, and on opening the door found his wife lying 
 there, 'convulsed,' says Mr. Torrens, 'with what she took 
 for grief.' At last the fatal hour had come. Separation 
 seemed to be the only alternative. Both families con- 
 curred in recognising its necessity, and did what they could 
 to lighten the blow. Lady Caroline was left at Brocket, 
 and her husband divided his time between the two Mel- 
 bourne Houses at Whitehall and in Derbyshire. Corre- 
 spondence was kept up, there were occasional visits and 
 something like the old love, or something better, seemed
 
 TROUBLES AT HOME 87 
 
 to grow up through the crevices of later ruins. Her hus- 
 band had treated her seriously enough at last, but her 
 health was shattered, and the rest of her life was but a slow 
 lingering on the way to the grave. In her confidential 
 letters she spoke of him with respect and gratitude as her 
 best protector and truest friend, whom alone she had ever 
 really loved. In December 1825 she sent him in a letter 
 the following verses. They are a tribute to herself as well 
 as to him, and may well conclude this sad part of our 
 narrative : 
 
 Loved one ! No tear is in mine eye, 
 Though pangs my bosom thrill, 
 
 For I have learned when others sigh 
 To suffer and be still. 
 
 Passion and pride and flatt'ry strove, 
 
 They made a wreck of me, 
 But oh ! I never ceased to love, 
 
 I never loved but thee. 
 
 My heart is with our early dream 
 
 And still thy influence knows, 
 Still seeks thy shadow on the stream 
 
 Of memory as it flows : 
 
 Still hangs o'er all the records bright 
 
 Of moments brighter still 
 Ere love withdrew his starry light, 
 
 Ere thou hadst suffered ill. 
 
 'Tis vain ! 'tis vain ! no human will 
 
 < an bid that time return ; 
 There's not a light on earth can fill 
 
 Again love's darkened urn. 
 
 Tis vain — upon my heart, my brow, 
 
 Broods grief no words can tell, 
 But grief itself were idle now — 
 
 Loved one, fare thee well,
 
 88 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 A FOLLOWER OF MR. CANNING 
 
 Again in Parliament — Influence of Huskisson — The charm of Canning 
 — Lamb a convert, but does not leave his party, and sometimes votes 
 with it — Votes for a committee of inquiry into the public expendi- 
 ture — Speaks in favour of a reduction of expenditure — Votes for the 
 suspension of Habeas Corpus and for the Six Acts — Opposed to 
 Parliamentary Reform — The Catholic Association — Queen Caroline 
 — Impecuniosity — A philosophy of credit — Proclaimed a political 
 renegade, and ' out ' once more. 
 
 From these scenes of domestic discord and chagrin, it is 
 some relief to step again into the more bracing atmosphere 
 of politics. In 1816 William Lamb returned to the House 
 of Commons as member for Northampton. The previous 
 year his father had been raised to the peerage of the United 
 Kingdom as Baron Melbourne. This was the fulfilment of 
 a hope which had long been anxiously cherished. It also 
 gave fixity to Lamb's prospects by promising him some day 
 a seat in the House of Lords. On re-entering the House 
 he took his place as a matter of course among his old 
 friends on the opposition benches ; but his opinions were 
 still in the making, and they had undergone some change. 
 He had lately seen more of his relative Mr. Huskisson, 
 whose abilities he was beginning to respect. Huskisson was 
 personally attached to Canning. He had spent the previous 
 Christmas at Brocket, and talked over the state of politics
 
 A FOLLOWER OF MR. CANNING 89 
 
 with Lady Melbourne. He foresaw that Mr. Canning 
 would soon join the Government, and hoped that her son 
 would be again in the House before long. The two things 
 were joined together in his thoughts, and he probably felt 
 that he had already made a convert. 
 
 It did not need much persuasion to bring Lamb over to 
 the side of Canning. The eloquence of the brilliant ex- 
 minister was of a kind which his own intellectual qualities 
 disposed him to admire — ornate, resonant, and magni- 
 ficently periodic, stronger far on the score of rhetoric than 
 in solid argument. Canning, moreover, seemed to have 
 struck out a middle course between the unyielding Toryism 
 of Liverpool and Sidmouth and the reforming tendencies of 
 the Whigs. He offered an alternative to either extreme, a 
 line of action in which it would be possible for a man of 
 moderate abilities to figure to advantage. In addition to 
 all this, it appeared likely, on a fair calculation of proba- 
 bilities, that Canning had the future in his grasp. It would 
 require something like a revolution to bring the Whigs into 
 power. What the people at large would do if they had the 
 suffrage in their hands it was useless to conjecture. The 
 House of Commons held the pass, and was not likely to 
 surrender. But it was quite on the cards that Canning 
 might succeed in transforming the ministry and in throwing 
 open the door of office to outsiders whose views were liberal 
 without being, as the phrase went, revolutionary. There 
 was no telling what he might not do. He was ambitious, 
 he had splendid talents, he was the most powerful speaker 
 in the House, his enterprising policy when at the Foreign 
 Office touched the popular imagination, he could lay some 
 claim to the mantle of William Pitt. As the advocate of 
 Catholic Emancipation, and favourable to more enlightened
 
 90 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 views in matters of commerce, he had some hold upon 
 Liberal sentiment, while he gratified the Tories by his 
 unmeasured denunciation of all approaches to Parliamen- 
 tary reform. He was a politician of the market as well as 
 of the forum. He knew how to make a bargain, and com- 
 prehended that in order to get it was necessary to give. 
 Hence he placed his wit and eloquence and sarcasm at the 
 service of the enemies of progress as the condition on which 
 he might hope to rule. Nevertheless, he was one of those 
 men who catch the spirit of the time and become the inter- 
 preters of the age in which they live. What he would have 
 done if his life had been prolonged after he reached 
 supreme power can hardly be inferred from anything that 
 he actually did. 
 
 Henceforth Lamb must be regarded as a disciple of 
 Canning. He was the first of the Whigs to yield to his 
 influence, and for a long time the only one. He did not 
 think it necessary to change sides. On the question oi 
 party allegiance he held peculiar views. ' In politics,' he 
 remarks in his journal, ' you may serve the cause of wisdom 
 and justice better by remaining with those to whom you 
 have attached yourself, even after you disapprove much of 
 their conduct and prefer that of their adversaries, than by 
 leaving them.' This appears to have been the principle on 
 which he acted. There were, of course, many buestions on 
 which he could speak and vote with his old friends. It 
 was so with the first movements of the Opposition in 1816. 
 In the debate on the Address Mr. Brand moved an amend- 
 ment pledging the House to a rigid inquiry into the public 
 expenditure. Lord John Russell seconded the amend- 
 ment, remarking in the course of his speech that ' the bare 
 proposal that a standing army of 150,000 men should be
 
 A FOLLOWER OF MR. CANNING 91 
 
 supported must alarm every friend to his country and its 
 constitution.' Lamb voted for the amendment. He voted 
 also for Lord Althorp's motion for the appointment of a 
 Select Committee to inquire into the pay of public officers 
 with a view to retrenchment, and in a speech of some 
 length condemned the proposal of the Government to 
 substitute a Treasury Commission for a Select Committee, 
 declaring that the House ought to look into these matters 
 for itself. So at the commencement of the session of 181 7, 
 when Mr. Ponsonby, as the leader of the Opposition, 
 moved an amendment to the Address, expressing regret 
 that, in view of the prevailing distress, the Government had 
 not thought it right to reduce the public expenditure, Lamb 
 supported the amendment in an elaborate speech. Can- 
 ning, who had recently taken office as President of the 
 Board of Control, in replying to the speech took occasion 
 to pay a compliment to Lamb, referring to him as 'an 
 honourable gentleman who never spoke without making a 
 deep impression by his eloquence and ability.' It was a 
 dazzling bait, and with or without it the fish was caught. 
 Henceforth on all important questions Lamb took his cue 
 from Canning. 
 
 Such questions were not long in coming. As yet the 
 Government were in the shallows, but popular discontent 
 was rising fast, and they were soon to be assailed on all 
 sides by the surging flood. The country was in a deplor- 
 able condition. Peace had come after a quarter of a 
 century of war, but it had not been followed by plenty. 
 During those years the nation, in addition to its enormous 
 taxation, had spent hundreds of millions of borrowed 
 capital, drawing a heavy bill upon posterity. The National 
 Debt stood at 860,000,000/., and the annual charge, include
 
 92 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 ing the sinking fund, amounted to more than 46,000,000/. 
 ' The charge of the debt,' says Mr. Spencer Walpole, ' was 
 more than twice the sum required for the whole expenditure 
 of the State at the beginning of the war.' Most of the money 
 raised by loans had been spent at home. One result had 
 been an artificial stimulus to industry and a higher rate of 
 increase in the population. With the close of the war there 
 came a great recoil, and multitudes were thrown out of 
 employment. To add to the hardships of the poor the 
 season of 1816 was one of the worst on record. The price 
 of wheat rose to 105 shillings a quarter, and the average 
 wages of working-men were not enough to find their families 
 in bread. The taxes were ruinous to all, except, it was 
 said, to those who lived upon them, and they were legion. 
 It was only natural that this wide-spread suffering should 
 lead to political discontent, and that discontent should grow 
 into disaffection. The Government were not responsible 
 for the distress which prevailed, and no measures they 
 could have taken would have brought effectual relief. The 
 malady, so far as it was political, lay in a want of sympathy 
 between the people and the governing classes, and in the 
 absolute impossibility of compelling the attention of the 
 House of Commons. It seemed to the people that their 
 rulers were deaf, blind, and dumb. Hence a cry went up every- 
 where for Parliamentary Reform. In the meantime spies were 
 busy at work, employed by the Government as volunteers 
 if not sought out by them, and alarming reports were 
 poured in at headquarters. There was a great meeting 
 of all shades of Radicals at Spa Fields, a mock march 
 upon the Tower, and a raid upon the gunsmiths on 
 Snow Hill. The climax was reached when stones were 
 thrown at the Prince Regent's carriage. The Government
 
 A FOLLOWER OF MR. CANNING 93 
 
 felt it was time to take action when his sacred person was 
 assailed. 
 
 This was a crucial and perhaps a cruel test for Lamb. 
 He was named a member of the Secret Committee of 
 Inquiry which was appointed at the instance of Lord 
 Sidmouth for the purpose of examining the reports that 
 had been forwarded to the Government. The Government 
 had, as was usual, a large majority on the committee, and 
 the result of their deliberations was a series of Bills, among 
 them one for suspending the Habeas Corpus Act, and 
 another for suppressing seditious meetings. Lamb sup- 
 ported both. Mr. Torrens says that ' as a member of the 
 Secret Committee, he was ready to bear his share of any 
 odium that might be excited by measures founded upon 
 their report.' But he was not required to approve of those 
 measures because he had been a member of the committee. 
 Other Liberals had been on it, and were among their 
 strongest opponents. Though in very bad health, the Bill 
 for the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act brought Lord 
 John Russell down to the House. ' I am determined,' he 
 said in his speech, ' that no weakness of frame, no indispo- 
 sition of body, shall prevent me from protesting against 
 the most dangerous precedent which this House ever made.' 
 Referring to the fact that the Habeas Corpus Act had been 
 presented for the Royal Assent at the very height of the 
 so-called Popish Plot, he said, ' We talk much, I think a 
 great deal too much, of the wisdom of our ancestors. I 
 wish we would imitate the courage of our ancestors. They 
 were not ready to lay their liberties at the foot of the throne 
 upon every vain and imaginary alarm.' Lamb was proof 
 against this appeal, and followed Canning into the Govern- 
 ment lobby : while Brougham, Burdctt, Folkestone, Mackin-
 
 94 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 tosh, Rom illy, Tavistock, Althorp, and Cavendish passed 
 into the other. 
 
 The next test which his political virtue had to undergo 
 was furnished in connection with the famous meeting held 
 in St. Peter's Fields, Manchester, and ending in what is 
 commonly known as the ' Peterloo Massacre.' At the order 
 of a magistrate a troop of Yeomanry Cavalry had pushed 
 their way through the crowd to serve a writ on Mr. Hunt, 
 one of the speakers on the platform. Not being able to get 
 through easily, the yeomanry struck out with their swords. 
 A scene of frightful disorder ensued, and matters became 
 still worse when the Hussars were ordered up to clear the 
 ground. The first rumours which spread through the 
 country were much exaggerated, and the name which tra- 
 dition has given to the affair suggests the idea of extensive 
 slaughter. It was found at the end of the day that six 
 persons had been killed, including one of the yeomanry 
 and a special constable. More than seventy were wounded. 
 The news made a great sensation throughout the country. 
 The Government sent letters of thanks in the name of the 
 Prince Regent to the Lancashire and Cheshire magistrates, 
 and Parliament w r as summoned to pass the measures which 
 were thought necessary. They are known as the Six Acts, 
 and a stain of infamy has never ceased to attach to them. 
 Their general object was to increase the power of the 
 magistrates, to put down seditious meetings, and to limit 
 still further the freedom of the press by making the law of 
 libel more stringent and extending the newspaper stamp to 
 publications which had hitherto been exempt. By seditious 
 meetings all meetings were understood which were held to 
 discuss the conduct of ministers or to promote a reform 
 of Parliament. Such meetings could not be held in future
 
 A FOLLOWER OF MR. CANNING 95 
 
 without the licence of a magistrate, who was authorised 
 to preside over them and maintain order. When these 
 measures were brought forward, Lord Althorp moved as 
 an alternative the appointment of a Select Committee to 
 inquire into the conduct of the magistrates at Manchester, 
 and Lamb spoke in support of the motion, alleging that 
 an inquiry was desirable, in the interest of the magistrates 
 themselves. Lord Althorp's proposal was soon disposed of. 
 The Six Acts were not carried without strenuous and pro- 
 tracted opposition. A few of the old W^higs voted with the 
 Government, but the party as a whole stood firm. Lamb 
 might have found a very good reason for taking the same 
 course, since the Committee of Inquiry which he thought 
 necessary had been refused, but he went with his new 
 friends. 
 
 In his speech on Lord Althorp's motion Lamb had 
 referred incidentally to the question of Parliamentary 
 reform. He said he understood that an honourable friend 
 of his was about to bring forward a measure to effect a 
 reform in Parliament. He should be ready to support it if 
 he thought its provisions good, but he had hitherto objected 
 to the plans of the advocates of Parliamentary reform, 
 because he thought them not likely to effect their object, 
 and tending to degrade rather than to improve the repre- 
 sentation of the people. Canning, the uncompromising 
 opponent of all reform, might have said the same. The 
 allusion was to a notice which Lord John Russell had given 
 of his intention to move the disfranchisement of the 
 borough of Grampound. The borough in question was 
 neither better nor worse than any dozen of other Cornish 
 boroughs, but in its case the mask of secrecy had acci- 
 dentally fallen off through a quarrel between the candidates,
 
 g6 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 and its corruption had become notorious. Lord John's 
 motion comprised four points ; the disfranchisement of all 
 boroughs where gross bribery and corruption were shown to 
 prevail, the transfer of the seats to some great town or to 
 the largest counties, the duty of the House to provide 
 better means for the detection of bribery at elections, 
 and the immediate disfranchisement of Grampound. The 
 Government met him half-way, offering to accept a Bill for 
 the disfranchisement of Grampound if he would withdraw 
 his resolutions, and he fell in with the proposal, satisfied 
 with having taken a first step, though a short one, in the 
 direction of reform. For the present there was no hope of 
 being able to do anything more, and there was some wisdom 
 in fixing public attention on the most conspicuous vices of 
 the system. In one sense it was no doubt absurd to pounce 
 down upon a particular group of sinners when most of the 
 boroughs were in the hands of private patrons, and numbers 
 were regularly bought and sold. But a nice distinction 
 might be set up between buying from a proprietor and 
 buying from the voters direct. It is not worth while 
 attempting to assess the relative morality of the two 
 processes, but patrons as a rule liked to keep the burgesses 
 in their own hands. When Lord Palmerston was returned 
 for Newtown, in the Isle of Wight, in 1807, Sir Leonard 
 Holmes made it a condition that he would never, even for 
 the election, set foot in the place, ' so jealous was the 
 patron lest any attempt should be made to get a new interest 
 in the borough.' Lamb remarked it as an inconsistency in 
 Lord John Russell that he proposed the disfranchisement 
 of corrupt boroughs while he himself sat for Tavistock, a 
 pocket borough belonging to his father the Duke of Bedford. 
 It is perhaps a sufficient answer that in attacking the vast
 
 A FOLLOWER OF MR. CANNING 97 
 
 fortress of corruption it was necessary to begin somewhere, 
 and that a bad system could hardly be put to a better use 
 than by making it the means of hastening its own extinction. 
 Certain it is that the discussions raised in Parliament at 
 intervals for a period of ten years over the rotten boroughs 
 of Grampound, Penryn, and East Retford did much to 
 quicken the indignation of the public, and to prepare the 
 way for a comprehensive measure of reform. 
 
 With the reform movement Lamb at this period of his 
 career had no sympathy. He might excusably take alarm 
 at the extensive scheme proposed by Sir Francis Burdett, 
 and hailed with enthusiasm by Radicals out of doors ; but 
 he looked with suspicion upon the tentative and preparatory 
 proposals of Lord John Russell. He was thinking out his 
 half-formed views on the subject, and the result so far was 
 in favour of standing still. It is hardly fair to quote 
 passages from his journal, since he obviously took no pains 
 with them, and they are wanting in clearness, but they show 
 the drift of his thoughts. Thus he writes : ' Majority — will 
 of all — cannot acquiesce in it, touch upon it with reluctance 
 — in curia popuhun defenderem, etc., but cannot go so far as 
 to admit, when I am speaking, that the majority of the 
 people are always in the right.' This is a proposition which 
 few would maintain, and it should hardly have proved a 
 stumbling-block. He notices the ' great increase of persons 
 who think upon and take an active part in politics,' and the 
 1 great rise into political power of merchants, manufacturers, 
 and persons raised into consequence by the increasing trade 
 of the country.' He reflects upon the ' extreme importance 
 that correct notions should be formed by such persons, and 
 that they should not immediately think that nothing is so 
 easy as to reform the system, and to exclude every evil 
 
 H
 
 98 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 which has heretofore been admitted.' He regards it as a 
 reason against reform that ' it will not be attended by any ot 
 the benefits expected from it, and then more and more will 
 be required, till the original argument against any innovation 
 will be lost.' He anticipates that a reform of Parliament 
 will lead to a ' total destruction of freedom of speech,' the 
 reason given being that such a House of Commons as then 
 existed, having a consciousness of its defects, was patient 
 of criticism, while a House elected ' according to what is 
 called theory and principle ' will not allow itself to be freely 
 and violently censured. These remarks, though desultory, 
 illustrate his methods of reasoning. They show the sort of 
 logic he used with himself. The time came when he threw 
 his conclusions to the winds, but he was then under the 
 stress of altered circumstances. 
 
 On January 20, 1820, George III. passed away. Owing 
 to his long seclusion it was an event of no importance. 
 The Prince Regent became King, and a numeral was 
 changed in the royal title. But when the Prince became 
 King, the Princess of Wales became Queen, and this neces- 
 sary incident of his accession brought the long quarrel 
 between them to a climax. The storm had long been 
 brewing. Since 181 3 the Princess had lived abroad, 
 wandering through various countries of the East, as far as 
 Ephesus and Jerusalem, and finally taking up a more 
 permanent residence in Italy. Her conduct had been 
 eccentric and more than indiscreet. Rumours highly 
 unfavourable to her reputation had reached England, and 
 spies were not wanting who, in communicating with their 
 employers at home, painted her character in the darkest 
 colours. Two years before the King's accession a Com- 
 mission had been sent to Milan to inquire into her conduct
 
 A FOLLOWER OF MR. CANNING 99 
 
 A heap of incriminatory evidence was accumulated and 
 submitted to ministers, who were loth to touch it. One of 
 the first things the King did on coming to the throne was 
 to order the Archbishop of Canterbury to omit the Queen's 
 name from the Liturgy, and direct Lord Liverpool to prepare 
 a Bill for a divorce. The prelate did as he was bid ■ the 
 Prime Minister refused. The King was told pretty plainly 
 the predicament in which he stood. Divorce Bills were 
 not uncommon. They were the means devised by custom 
 for overriding the matrimonial law of the church. By the 
 law as administered in the church-courts the marriage tie 
 could not be severed ; but as an Act of Parliament could do 
 anything, it could separate man and wife. Divorce was 
 then, as it remained till our days, a luxury in which only 
 the rich could indulge. But in ordinary cases, the House 
 of Lords, in whose hands, by a wise abstinence on the part 
 of the House of Commons, such Bills were usually left, 
 did not refuse to admit recriminatory evidence, and a 
 husband who could be shown to have committed the same 
 offence with which he charged his wife was disentitled to 
 relief. How, then, would it stand with the King? His 
 licentiousness was notorious. A list could be made of his 
 mistresses. One of them he had appointed to attend upon 
 his wife when she first came over as his bride. He had 
 been unfaithful from the first day of his married life. It 
 was almost certain that the ceremony which made her his 
 wife made him a bigamist. At that moment he was still 
 living in the practice of the sin which he affected to 
 condemn. Then, or a little later, the reigning beauty might 
 be seen at his table with the jewels which had been his 
 daughter's flaming on her forehead. How could such a 
 man, even though a king, venture to go to Parliament for a 
 
 11 2
 
 100 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 divorce ? Another course was open to him. Adultery in 
 a Queen consort or a Princess of Wales was high treason. 
 For this crime Henry VIII. sent two of his wives to the 
 block. He might do the same ; but, if he did, it would 
 jeopardise his crown. 
 
 The great hope of the Government was that the Queen 
 might be prevailed upon to remain abroad. In that case 
 they were prepared to permit her to retain the royal title, 
 to make her a handsome allowance, and to arrange that at 
 the courts she was likely to visit she should be received with 
 the honours proper to her rank. Brougham, whom she had 
 made her Attorney-General, approved of this course ; but 
 the advice he tendered had to yield to her peremptory will. 
 The Queen was resolved upon coming to England. She 
 entered London amid an extraordinary display of popular 
 enthusiasm. Ministers then relented, and the same night 
 the King sent a message to both Houses, directing attention 
 to the documentary evidence touching the conduct of the 
 Queen, which he had ordered to be laid before them. The 
 Lords appointed a committee to examine the evidence, and 
 on the presentation of their report, which was adverse to 
 the Queen, Lord Liverpool brought in a Bill ' to deprive 
 her Majesty Queen Caroline Amelia Elizabeth of the title, 
 prerogatives, rights, privileges, and exemptions of Queen 
 consort of the realm, and to dissolve the marriage between 
 his Majesty and the said Caroline Amelia Elizabeth.' The 
 recrimination difficulty was got over by a legal quibble. 
 Lord Eldon held that, as this was a public Bill, the King 
 did not appear as plaintiff, and recriminating pleas might be 
 rejected. The discussion on the Bill went on for months. 
 Witnesses were examined on the minutest details. On this 
 occasion the members exercised their rights, instead of
 
 A FOLLOWER OF MR. CANNING IOI 
 
 leaving the Bill in the hands of the law lords, and prurient 
 peers had splendid opportunities. A magnificent throne 
 was prepared for the King, who, however, did not appear, 
 and the Queen sat on a chair of state before the bar. All 
 England attended the trial, and every morning the press 
 poured forth the disgusting story to listening millions. The 
 public mind had never been so absorbed before. The 
 Peterloo massacre, the Cato Street conspiracy, the state 
 prisoners at York Castle, the repressive operation of the 
 Six Acts, all political cries and grievances and wrongs were 
 forgotten in this great issue. The Radicals became the 
 most loyal of all in their enthusiasm for an injured Queen. 
 The mass of the people ' rose ' against the Bill, which slowly 
 went on its way with waning fortunes. The second reading 
 was carried by 123 votes to 95 ; the third reading by 108 
 to 99. This was enough. It would have been useless to 
 send it to the Commons with no larger majority in its 
 favour, and Lord Liverpool forthwith announced its with 
 drawal. The great case was at an end, and the nation went 
 frantic with delight. The Queen, whose guilt few dis- 
 passionate minds could affect to doubt, was the heroine of 
 the hour. Thousands of fathers and mothers, in the 
 innocence of their hearts, when they carried their infant 
 daughters to the font, gave them the name of Caroline. 
 
 One has to overcome a certain sense of disproportion in 
 asking how Lamb bore himself in the Parliamentary con- 
 troversy ; hut it must be admitted that few members of the 
 House of Commons had stronger reasons for taking a 
 personal interest in it than he. All through the days of 
 the Regency, and still more in the earlier days before it 
 began, the King had been the unwavering friend and patron 
 of Melbourne House. Lamb had been bred to feel as 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 ST*T C TEACHER'S C n L' EGE 
 SA..TA oARBA-RA. CALIFORNIA
 
 102 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 much reverence for him as it was possible to entertain 
 towards one who was something less than a galaxy of per- 
 fections. He had found in him a godfather for his son. 
 The question on which he had to form an opinion and to 
 vote was, in some measure, a test of his manliness and 
 independence, and on the whole he stood it well. His own 
 sad domestic experience helped to sharpen his insight and 
 quicken his sympathies. Among all who had to take action 
 in the matter, there was no more competent judge. Though 
 fully alive to the Queen's misconduct, he could not take 
 sides with the King. After the Bill was withdrawn, he 
 went with the Opposition in endeavouring to give the 
 Queen's name its proper place in the Liturgy. He voted 
 twice against the Government on this question, and he 
 supported the vote of censure which was proposed on the 
 policy they had pursued from first to last. In taking this 
 course, he happened also to be in perfect harmony with 
 his political master. Canning had discountenanced the 
 proceedings against the Queen from the very beginning. 
 When the Milan papers were sent to him for perusal, he 
 refused to break the seal. When the Bill of Pains and 
 Penalties was introduced, he went off to Paris to be out of 
 the reach of the discussion ; and when it seemed likely to 
 be dragged over into another year beyond the period for 
 which his absence could, with any decency, be prolonged, 
 he resigned his office at the Board of Control and quitted 
 the Government. 
 
 From these ignominious shoals the nation soon floated 
 into deeper water. The question of Catholic Emancipation 
 was gathering force, to hold henceforth a dominant place in 
 domestic politics till it was settled, or rather carried on a 
 stage further, by the surrender of 1829. The revival of
 
 A FOLLOWER OF MR. CANNING 103 
 
 agitation in Ireland was due to despair, the offspring of hope 
 deferred. The question was made an open one in the 
 Cabinet, but the King was inflexible, and so long as men 
 were willing to serve him at the cost of suppressing their 
 convictions the opinions they held were of little value. Eight 
 times between 1805 and 1820 Bills or resolutions on the 
 subject had been brought before Parliament, but all had 
 failed. The earlier ones were rejected by the House of 
 Commons, but for some years past successful opposition had 
 been confined to the House of Lords. In 182 1 Plunket 
 introduced a Relief Bill in a speech which contemporary 
 judges declare to have been of surpassing eloquence, but it 
 met with the usual fate. The year following Canning 
 brought in a much smaller measure, merely proposing that 
 Catholic peers should be admitted to the House of Lords. 
 It passed the Commons by a slender majority, but was 
 thrown out by much larger numbers in the Upper House. 
 The Catholic Association was O'Connell's reply to these 
 repeated failures. Started in 1823, it met with prodigious 
 success and soon became a formidable power ; the organisa- 
 tion covered the whole country. There was a branch in 
 every parish. All classes joined it. To raise the sinews of 
 war, an appeal was made to the poverty-stricken peasants. 
 One penny a month was the amount of contribution suggested. 
 It was collected at the chapel doors, and the Catholic rent 
 soon reached an average of 500/. a week. A system of 
 representation was formed, and presently there sat in Dublin 
 an assembly which was a Parliament in all but the name, 
 and seemed prepared to take over the government of 
 the country. On going over as Lord-Lieutenant before the 
 Association was formed, Lord Wellesley had found it neces- 
 sary to ask for an Insurrection Act and the suspension of
 
 104 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 Habeas Corpus. With a representative assembly of the 
 Irish people gathered within earshot of the Castle, he soon 
 had to ask for something more. 
 
 The Government decided that their first duty was to put 
 down the Association, and a Suppression Bill was introduced 
 which passed as a matter of course without much difficulty. 
 As soon as these measures were disposed of, the friends of 
 Catholic Emancipation once more brought in a Relief Bill. 
 It passed the Commons, but, according to established pre- 
 cedent, was thrown out in the Lords. Two other measures 
 were then proposed — one to abolish the forty-shilling fran- 
 chise in Ireland, the other to make a provision for the 
 Catholic clergy. They were called the wings, with some 
 allusion to aerial flotation. Borne up by two such pinions, 
 perhaps the Emancipation Bill might soar above the obstacles 
 which fear and bigotry had placed in its path. The Clergy 
 Bill proposed that stipends should be paid to them by the 
 State, at the rate of 1,000/. a year for the bishops, 200/. for 
 the parish priests, and 60/. for the curates. It passed the 
 House of Commons by a majority of forty-seven, but was 
 attended with the usual fate in the Lords. The present 
 generation may perhaps put it down to their credit that 
 they alone stood in the way of a large measure of concurrent 
 endowment. Before any of these Bills reached the House 
 of Lords, the Duke of York, on presenting a petition against 
 them from the Dean and Canons of Windsor, wound up his 
 speech with this emphatic declaration : ' My own opinions, 
 my lords, are well known. They have been carefully formed, 
 and I cannot change them. I shall continue to act con- 
 formably to them, to whatever obloquy I may be exposed, 
 in whatever circumstances and in whatever situation I may 
 be placed, so help me God.' As the heir-presumptive to
 
 A FOLLOWER OF MR. CANNING 105 
 
 the Crown, there was no difficulty in interpreting the allusion. 
 Intolerance was to hold perpetual possession of the throne, 
 and those who wished to enjoy its favours knew what course 
 to take. This Anti-Catholic manifesto from a prince of the 
 blood drew warm commendations from Lord Eldon, who, 
 however, could not help expressing his regret that the Duke 
 spent so much of his time with blacklegs. 
 
 Throughout these discussions Lamb favoured a 'judicious 
 mixture ' of coercion and concession. He was heartily on 
 the side of the Catholic claims. There was not a particle of 
 intolerance in his nature, and, though he probably had no 
 theory as to the rights of conscience, he could well under- 
 stand that in matters of religion every man should be allowed 
 to go his own way. This was not merely because of his 
 easy disposition. On some questions his disposition was 
 not at all easy. He had reasoned himself into certain views, 
 and he adhered to them at some sacrifice of friend- 
 ship. But he was of fair and generous sentiments, full of 
 kindliness, and averse to anything that savoured of oppres- 
 sion. Yet Liberalism had no great hold upon him on the 
 side of principle. He was not the man to defend the pass 
 with a few faithful comrades by his side when the enemy 
 drew near. On the repressive measures which the Govern- 
 ment considered necessary in coping with the Catholic 
 crisis in Ireland he gave them his steady support. He 
 voted for the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act. He 
 spoke as well as voted in favour of the Bill for suppressing 
 the Catholic Association. Retorting a cheer from Lamb 
 which he thought derisive, Brougham in the course of a 
 speech against the Bill assailed him with fierce invective as 
 an apostate from his former professions. This drew forth a 
 reply from Lamb in which he sought to explain and defend
 
 106 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 his views. He thought the Association dangerous because, 
 under pretence of seeking redress for particular grievances, 
 it proceeded to discuss the whole political affairs of the 
 empire. He had a further objection. ' When it was con- 
 sidered that the Catholic clergy claimed the power of absolu- 
 tion, the power of totally forgiving sins, then he maintained 
 that their operations ought to be looked to with great cau- 
 tion, and only to be approved when directed to purposes 
 purely spiritual.' In the debate on the second reading 
 Lamb ventured to enter the lists against Sir James Mackin- 
 tosh, who had suggested an excuse for certain violent 
 language imputed to O'Connell on the ground that it was 
 'the rhetoric of just impatience, not the logic of dangerous 
 conspiracy.' Lamb remarked that O'Connell was no inex- 
 perienced orator who might be led by the warmth of his 
 feelings to say more than he meant. He also ridiculed the 
 simile which honourable gentlemen had invented for Catholic 
 Associations, calling them safety valves ; they were rather 
 ' furnaces for raising the public feeling into fury.' By the 
 line he took Lamb placed himself in opposition to the great 
 body of the Liberal party. He voted for the abolition of 
 the forty-shilling freeholders in Ireland and for the con- 
 current endowment proposals, but this only involved him in 
 further complications. 
 
 Lamb had taken his own course since he re-entered 
 Parliament, and a day of reckoning was at hand. He had 
 earned the reputation of a renegade, and there were rumours 
 that many of his constituents had turned against him. He 
 was not assisted by the politics of his brother George, who 
 had been returned for Westminster in 1818 in opposition to 
 Hobhouse, whom he distanced by a large majority. The 
 vacancy was caused by the lamented death of Sir Samuel
 
 A FOLLOWER OF MR. CANNING 107 
 
 Romilly, and George Lamb presented himself to the electors 
 as one who held the same opinions as their late representa- 
 tive. To conciliate his Radical opponents, who enjoyed the 
 patronage of Jeremy Bentham and had among their leaders 
 a man of more than local notability, Mr. Francis Place, 
 clothier, of Charing Cross, he made rather large professions ; 
 but in these he was far outbid by Hobhouse and by Major 
 Cartwright, who was also a candidate. The great Whig 
 houses turned out for him, and there was a fierce fight, in 
 which he came off winner, one half of his supporters being 
 among those who had plumped for the ministerial candidate 
 at the general election a few months before. Under these 
 circumstances it is not strange that George Lamb should 
 have been regarded as a ministerialist, and his Parliamentary 
 conduct was held to confirm this view. William Lamb 
 organised his brother's canvass, and did all he could to secure 
 his return. He did the same for him at the next election, 
 when there was a still fiercer fight. This contest reversed 
 the previous decision as regards George Lamb. He was 
 at the bottom of the poll, and Sir Francis Burdett and 
 Hobhouse were triumphantly returned, the latter having in 
 the meantime been sent to Newgate by the House of 
 Commons for a breach of privilege, and thus acquired 
 additional popularity. It was natural that Lamb and his 
 brother should be classed together, and be regarded with 
 suspicion as politicians who were sailing under false colours, 
 and while still calling themselves Liberals were ready on all 
 occasions to play into the hands of the Government. 
 
 At this time Lamb's domestic circumstances were 
 peculiarly depressing. He was separated from his wife. 
 His fondest hopes were mocked by his son's condition. To 
 add to his private griefs he had suffered an irreparable loss
 
 108 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 in his mother's death. The great lady, who for so many 
 years presided over the grand doings at Melbourne House 
 and played a brilliant part in the world of fashion, had 
 passed away. Many tributes of warm admiration are on 
 record from those who knew her. Social ambition was the 
 inspiring motive of her career, and she won some of the 
 chief prizes at which she aimed. Perhaps there were 
 illusions which she outlived, but this is only a part of the 
 common lot. If in the course of her experience she was 
 led to discover that the best of life's bargains are not always 
 those which are made at Vanity Fair, she had some solid 
 gain to show at the end, though unhappily too late for re- 
 investment. His letters show the intimate confidence and 
 close companionship which subsisted between her and her 
 favourite son. Amid the divergent tastes and interests of a 
 not ideally assorted household, they always went together. 
 To him she was always a steady friend ; not perhaps in his 
 earlier years the faithful monitor he needed, nor his wisest 
 guide, but then and ever of unfailing devotedness to what 
 she conceived to be his welfare. With the loss of her he 
 had almost nothing left. 
 
 Nor was he at this period altogether free from cares of 
 another kind. The million with which his father began life 
 had been dwindling away. There is no difficulty in 
 imagining how the money went. The social influence to 
 which Lady Melbourne aspired involved a large expenditure. 
 The new nobility,' says Mr. Torrens, ' thought it incumbent 
 upon them to spend more money than those whose patents 
 were of older date. Wealth being their only title to distinc- 
 tion, they had to show it in order to make their pretensions 
 good.' Mr. Torrens mentions one fact which reveals much. 
 Lord Melbourne had for some time been desirous of selling
 
 A FOLLOWER OF MR. CANNING 1 09 
 
 a pension of 1,200/. a year which his father had bought from 
 Lady Gower. ' It was the moiety of a grant in perpetuity, 
 charged on the revenues of the Duchy of Cornwall, and, in 
 default, on that of the Excise, by Charles II., in favour of 
 the first Earl of Bath, son of Sir Bevil Grenville, who fell 
 at Lansdowne fight in defence of the royal cause.' Sir 
 Matthew Lamb had given 36,000/. for it. In 1826, consols 
 standing at about 75, the Treasury offered to buy it back at 
 five-and-twenty years' purchase. Lord Melbourne closed 
 with the offer. The pension had been mortgaged to Lord 
 Mansfield for 26,000/., and when this was paid off, a balance 
 of only 6,000/. remained. Lamb had received at first but a 
 slender allowance from his father. It had probably been 
 increased, but his expenses were considerable, owing partly 
 to the lavishness of his wife. Hence he was sometimes 
 without a balance at his bankers', besides being seriously in 
 debt. ' It is a curious illustration of his condition,' says 
 Mr. Torrens, ' that on one occasion Francis Place [the 
 clothier of Charing Cross], who had given him credit for 
 some years, and who found it impossible to get a settlement 
 of his account, had served him with a writ, instructing his 
 solicitor to see what that would do, but, d— n it, nothing 
 further.' It may have been just after he was served with 
 this writ that he made the following entry in his diary : 'If 
 your expenditure either amounts to or somewhat exceeds 
 your income, it appears to me to be a great convenience not 
 to purchase the whole of any one material article at one 
 shop. It will be found more convenient to have 25/. each to 
 pay to four tradesmen than 100/. to one. A creditor is less 
 anxious over a smaller debt. If it is required, two out of 
 the four may probably be induced to wait somewhat longer, 
 when the one has probably an immediate necessity for so
 
 IIO LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 large a sum of money. In short, a man to whom you owe 
 a great deal which it is inconvenient for you to pay is your 
 master, and of a man to whom you owe a few pounds 
 which you can throw upon his counter at any time you are 
 the master, and this latter appears to me much the most 
 natural order of things.' In Lamb's transactions with the 
 tailor of Charing Cross, this natural order seems to have 
 been reversed. 
 
 In this impecunious condition he had to face the prospect 
 of a contest for his Hertfordshire seat, with the further 
 prospect of being beaten if he went to the poll. There was 
 just one possible way of escape, easy, thrifty, and in all 
 respects convenient, if the arrangement which seemed to 
 offer it could be carried out. While the county was more 
 than doubtful, the county town might be regarded as 
 perfectly safe. Hertford returned two members, one sup- 
 posed to represent the Hatfield, the other the Cowper 
 interest. Mr. Calvert, who represented the Cowper interest, 
 was popular in the county, his votes having given general 
 satisfaction to the Liberal freeholders, who were disgusted 
 with the conduct of Lamb. What could be easier than for 
 them to change places? This accordingly was the plan 
 quietly agreed upon. Calvert was to offer himself for the 
 county, and Lamb to go in for the borough. But the secret 
 oozed out, and the Hertford electors were indignant ; the 
 Liberals of the borough were no more willing to have a 
 recreant politician thrust upon them than the Liberals of 
 the county, and they forthwith chose a candidate for them- 
 selves in the person of Mr. Thomas Slingsby Duncombe, 
 familiarly known in after years as Tom Duncombe, the 
 member for Finsbury. Mr. Duncombe accordingly took 
 the field. The contest began a year before the election
 
 A FOLLOWER OF MR. CANNING III 
 
 took place, the dissolution which was expected in 1825 
 having been deferred till 1826. The new candidate, with 
 his splendid professions of Radicalism, his fine dashing 
 manners, and plenty of money for those whose votes stood 
 in need of some gentle suasion, took the electors by storm, 
 and Lamb, who seems to have regarded as an indignity the 
 opposition sprung upon him, withdrew from the contest, 
 Mr. Henry Bulwer, the late Lord Dalling, being prevailed 
 upon to take his place. Duncombe, though he managed to 
 have money to spend on bribery, was himself in debt, and 
 had to conceal himself during the poll from the sheriff's men 
 who were sent to find him. When the poll was over, his 
 perils were at an end. He came in triumphantly, and stood 
 protected by the privilege of Parliament. As for Lamb, 
 his fate was deplorable. Forced to abandon the county, 
 and driven ignominiously from the town, he tasted the full 
 bitterness of retribution for his political sins, and fled for 
 refuge to the solitudes of Derbyshire.
 
 112 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND 
 
 Sudden turn of the political kaleidoscope — Canning in power — The 
 Whig party rent asunder — Lamb Chief Secretary for Ireland, and 
 a seat found for im — Leaves for Ireland — Death of Canning — 
 Lamb's Irish achievements and experiences — Retains office under 
 the Duke of Wellington and pays clearly for it— The Whigs cleared 
 out — Huskisson's resignation and its consequences — Lamb secedes 
 with the rest of the Canningites — Death of Viscount Melbourne. 
 
 While Lamb was endeavouring to find consolation in books 
 and in social pleasures for his exile from the House of 
 Commons, a great change took place in the state of public 
 affairs. On January 27, 1827, the Duke of York died. It 
 was an event of some importance, for though personally in- 
 significant, he was heir-presumptive to the Crown, and the 
 coincidence of his opinions on the Catholic question with 
 those of a decaying but still powerful party, rendered him 
 something more than a political cipher. Henceforth the 
 friends of religious freedom would have only one royal 
 obstructive to deal with instead of two. This event was 
 soon followed by another of much greater importance. On 
 February 17, Lord Liverpool was disabled by a paralytic 
 seizure, and the certainty of his speedy resignation raised 
 the question of the successorship. Personal rivalries gave a 
 false aspect to the issue. It seemed to be one between 
 men, but it was really one between policies. There was no
 
 CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND 113 
 
 immediate prospect of any great legislative change, but two 
 divergent tendencies were struggling for ascendency in the 
 Government, and the point to be settled was which of them 
 should prevail. 
 
 On one side stood the champions of stern unyielding 
 Toryism, of which Eldon was the purest type. Next to him 
 in the tenacity of his opinions came Wellington, whose 
 political sentiments were hardened and made combative 
 rather by the instincts of his profession than by any force 
 of intellectual conviction. To them Peel lent the aid of 
 practical statesmanship. His mind was far more open than 
 theirs to the influences of the new era upon which the world 
 had entered. It was more plastic, more accommodating, more 
 opportunist, and had in it some affinity with Canning's ; but 
 political possibilities and chances had to be considered, and 
 the combination most favourable to those personal aims 
 of which no politician can entirely divest himself, was that 
 which made him the spokesman of the Tories. Outside 
 that combination, with Canning in the field before him, he 
 could only expect to play a second part ; remaining where 
 he was, he might hope soon to play the first. Over against 
 these Tories of pure blood stood Canning and Huskisson, 
 Tories as well as their colleagues, but with a difference. 
 Some tincture of Liberalism had been infused into their 
 veins. They were opposed to Parliamentary reform, but 
 they were in favour of Catholic emancipation, in continental 
 politics their sympathies were on the side of freedom, and 
 they were for relaxing the fetters on trade. For fifteen years 
 these opposing tendencies had been gathering strength, but 
 the influence of Lord Liverpool had been strong enough to 
 enforce a compromise. Now that he was gone, the armistice 
 came to an end. One of the two parties must prevail over 
 
 1
 
 114 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 the other, and which it should be depended, for the present 
 at least, upon the King's choice of a premier. 
 
 The royal will settled the question in favour of Canning. 
 By what motives the decision was swayed, whether any 
 inducements were offered or any pledges exacted, has been 
 the subject of much controversy ; but the facts as we know 
 them supply a sufficient explanation. Canning had much 
 the advantage of his rivals in point of address. His melli- 
 fluous tongue could charm in private as well as in the 
 House of Commons. He was charged with being obse- 
 quious to the King, and at this supreme moment, when a 
 long cherished ambition had a promise of being fulfilled, 
 he was not likely to err on the side of intractability. It is 
 improbable, notwithstanding the King's assertion to the 
 contrary, that pledges as to future policy were exacted or 
 given ; but the King was fully persuaded that the new Pre- 
 mier would not trouble him with the question of Catholic 
 Emancipation. Wellington had not Canning's attractive 
 ways. He took his military manners with him into the 
 royal closet, and was proud of being able on critical occa- 
 sions to bring the King to terms. The rumour at the time 
 was that Wellington and Peel had given some offence to 
 the King touching his prerogative. They were by far the 
 stronger party in the Cabinet, and they probably pressed 
 their claims with too little deference. As between the rival 
 claimants, too much need not be made of their political 
 differences. Canning's case was clear. The Catholic ques- 
 tion apart, there was no one who could fairly be put in 
 competition with him. He knew his pretensions were good, 
 and he stood by them. If he could not be first he was 
 determined not to be second, and this resolution made his 
 opponents equally resolute. As between them it was a per-
 
 CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND 1 1 5 
 
 sonal question, and when Canning carried it with the King 
 they resolved that he should have the stage all to himself. 
 
 Accordingly, he was no sooner appointed than Welling- 
 ton, Peel, Westmoreland, Bathurst, Melville, and Bexley all 
 resigned, and Canning had to turn to the Whigs for help. 
 From whatever point of view the question might be re- 
 garded, it was not an easy one for them. On the one hand 
 there was the chance of office, always of some weight with 
 politicians who have long been sitting in the shade. There 
 was the further consideration that if they declined the over- 
 tures now made to them Canning would be compelled to 
 abandon his task, and the party of reaction would be 
 installed in power. How could they best promote their 
 principles — by standing aloof, or by joining the Cabinet and 
 helping to mould its policy ? On the other hand there was 
 the certainty that Catholic Emancipation, to which they 
 were pledged up to the hilt, would have to remain in abey- 
 ance with their consent, and that they must also consent 
 for the present not to bring forward any measure of Parlia- 
 mentary reform. The result was a rent in the party. The 
 great Whig houses took opposite sides. Lord Lansdowne 
 joined the Government, while Earl Grey rejected the over- 
 tures with disdain, and assailed Canning himself with bitter 
 animosity. The same families were divided. Lord Spencer 
 went to the House of Lords expressly to avow his adhesion 
 to the Government, while Lord Althorp in the Commons 
 took the same side as Earl Grey. In the Russell family 
 the attitude of the elder and the younger members was just 
 the reverse. The Duke of Bedford angrily denounced the 
 coalition, while his two sons, Lord Tavistock and Lord 
 John Russell, gave it their warm support. Lord John him- 
 self, says his biographer, declared that he was 'too happy' 
 
 I 2
 
 Il6 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 to sec Mr. Canning in office free from the restrictions or 
 Tory support 'to wish to moot against him the necessity 
 of Parliamentary reform.' Brougham, Tierney, Duncannon, 
 and Sir Francis Burdett had been the first to take action 
 with their party on the same side, and it was upon them 
 that the sterner or the more aristocratic Whigs who disdained 
 all compromise, and perhaps disdained 'adventurers' still 
 more, threw the responsibility for the disruption which 
 ensued. 
 
 In the distribution of offices William Lamb was not for- 
 gotten. He was favourably known to Canning, and he 
 stood in a more or less intimate connection with a number 
 of influential people whom it was the minister's interest to 
 conciliate. He had, moreover, a warm friend in Mr. Hus- 
 kisson, who was one of Canning's most trusted colleagues. 
 Things had greatly changed with Huskisson since the time 
 when his marriage brought him within the fashionable circle 
 of Melbourne House, and Lamb used to gently chaff him 
 at dinner in the benevolent hope of assisting him to get rid 
 of his awkward manners. His untiring industry, his mastery 
 of finance, his wide knowledge of commercial subjects, and 
 his enlightened policy in legislation affecting them, had re- 
 commended him to Canning as a valuable ally. It was at 
 Canning's instance that a place was found for him in Lord 
 Liverpool's administration as President of the Board of 
 Trade, and it was at Canning's further instance that he was 
 taken into the Cabinet a little later. Of the men who com- 
 posed the Liverpool and Canning administrations, Hus- 
 kisson is the only one, next to the chiefs themselves, whom 
 the present generation cares to remember. He was the 
 originator of the reciprocity system, which was a vast im- 
 provement on our former practice, while it had the further
 
 CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND 117 
 
 merit, by the experience we were enabled to gather of its 
 insufficiency, of preparing the way for free trade. Huskisson 
 was the most useful man on the Treasury bench, and next 
 in influence to Canning. Of course he remembered Lamb, 
 whose hopes and hitherto foiled ambition and ardent dis- 
 cipleship to Canning he must have known. While Lord 
 Liverpool was in power he had been enabled to offer him a 
 subordinate post in the administration ; but though Lamb 
 was gratified by the offer, and knew how to speak of it 
 to his friends, he had hardly the courage to go over to the 
 Government benches by himself. Things were different 
 now. The Whig party was split asunder, and one half 
 of them were trooping to the ministerial camp. When 
 Brougham, who had taunted Lamb with apostasy, was the first 
 to challenge the support of his party for the new Premier, 
 there was no longer any reason for hesitation. But Lamb 
 did not go over as a Whig, though he sheltered himself 
 under Whig example. He had long been a political Nico- 
 demus. All he did now for the first time was to act on his 
 opinions by taking office. 
 
 A seat had to be found for Lamb, and on the spur of 
 the moment it was easily arranged. Canning had vacated 
 his seat for Newport on accepting office as premier, but the 
 borough was largely under Tory influences, and he did not 
 venture to go back for re-election. Lamb, who would run 
 less risk, was therefore nominated in his place, and returned 
 by a small majority. There was some talk of a petition, 
 but, before it could be presented, the seat was again vacated 
 by his own acceptance of office, and not caring to face the 
 formidable opposition with which he was threatened, he 
 took refuge in the borough of Bletchingley, where one of the 
 sitting members retired to make room for him. When pre-
 
 Il8 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 sented to kiss hands on his appointment, the King was 
 particularly gracious. On his name being first mentioned 
 for office, the King had said to Canning, ' William Lamb, 
 William Lamb — put him anywhere you like.' They were 
 old acquaintances, there could not but be some surviving 
 recollections of evening revels at Melbourne House, and 
 the King was good-natured enough to bestow warm felici- 
 tations on the son of one who for more than thirty years 
 had held a place in his household. The post assigned to 
 Lamb was that of Chief Secretary for Ireland. We have 
 learned to associate a degree of importance with that office 
 which it did not then possess. The Lord Lieutenant was 
 in communication with the Prime Minister on matters of 
 general policy, and the Chief Secretary, to whom the manage- 
 ment of details was entrusted, was really a subordinate of 
 the Home Office. The Under-Secretary for the Home 
 Department was practically the administrator of Irish affairs, 
 and it was some relief to Lamb, who knew but little about 
 Ireland, that this office was bestowed upon Mr. Spring 
 Rice. He, at any rate, knew a great deal more. Lamb re- 
 ceived his appointment in May, but he was in no hurry to 
 depart, and did not leave for Dublin till July 4. His wife 
 of course was left at Brocket, but he took his son with him, 
 trusting that the change might help to rouse his slumbering 
 faculties. 
 
 But events were travelling fast. Lamb had been barely 
 a month in Dublin, when the news reached him of Canning's 
 death. The fatal issue was hardly unexpected, though it 
 was a shock to all that it should come so soon. Nothing 
 could be more dramatic or more sad. Premier on April 10, 
 dead on August 8 ; the highest object of his ambition no 
 sooner grasped than lost, His health had long been fail-
 
 CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND 1 19 
 
 ing, and he never quite recovered from a cold he caught at 
 the funeral of the Duke of York, when he and the other 
 ministers, near midnight, and in the depth of winter, were kept 
 standing for two hours on the cold flagstones of St. George's 
 Chapel. He told Lord Eldon to stand on his cocked hat, 
 but he took no such care of himself. In February he was 
 so ill that it seemed doubtful whether he would recover. 
 His energies were roused by the struggle for the premier- 
 ship, and the fierce debates which followed may almost be 
 said to have kept him alive, but the strain only made a 
 speedy collapse more certain. When Parliament broke up 
 on July 2, he went to Chiswick on the invitation of the 
 Duke of Devonshire, and there, a month later, he breathed 
 his last in the same room where Fox expired. 
 
 The transfer of the premiership to Lord Goderich did 
 not affect Lamb's position. It was understood that the 
 policy of the Government would remain unaltered. The 
 bark had been newly rigged and manned, and it was to 
 proceed on its voyage, although it had lost its pilot and 
 the steam-power had been cut off. There was a partial 
 reconstruction of the ministry. Lord Lansdowne suc- 
 ceeded Mr. Sturges Bourne at the Home Office, and Mr. 
 Huskisson became Secretary of State for the Colonies. He 
 ought to have been Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the 
 office is said to have been pressed upon him, but he had 
 probably good reasons for declining. An economist and 
 reformer in command at the Treasury would hardly have 
 been acceptable to the King, who asserted his right to 
 choose his own ministers. These changes cannot but have 
 been agreeable to Lamb. They helped at any rate to make 
 him feel more at home among his new friends. 
 
 We must now follow him to Dublin and see how he
 
 120 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 acquitted himself there. It is needless to say that he did 
 not set the Liffey on fire. He soon found out how little 
 any man could do, though equipped with an official title 
 and animated with the best intentions. The administrative 
 system over which he was supposed to have some rights of 
 direction and control turned out on a closer inspection to 
 have a separate existence of its own, and to be delightfully 
 independent of the gentlemen who were sent over from 
 England to take charge of its operations. The permanent 
 officials were the real rulers of the country. They knew 
 their business, they were entrenched behind a mass of 
 venerable traditions, which had the force of unwritten laws, 
 and which they held that nobody in his senses would dream 
 of violating. They were armed with precedents at all 
 points. One thing could not be done because it had never 
 been done before. Something else could not be done be- 
 cause it depended upon something else which had a pre- 
 scriptive right to be let alone. It seemed practically im- 
 possible to change anything without changing everything. 
 If a single brick were meddled with, the whole fabric might 
 be expected to tumble in ruins. Hence, as the edifice 
 existed by a sacred tenure, no innovation of any kind could 
 be permitted. Lamb used his eyes and ears without stint. 
 He was ready to listen to any one who had a story to tell. 
 He pushed his inquiries into all corners with the curiosity 
 of a novice and the zeal of a reformer, and when he had 
 found an undoubted grievance he would ask, perhaps with 
 some mild expletive which gave relief to his indignation, 
 why on earth it could not be redressed. He was of course 
 treated with official deference, but the experts would shake 
 their heads and soon envelope the question with a cloud of 
 difficulties not one of which, utter ignoramus as he was in
 
 CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND 121 
 
 the conditions of Irish life and in the details of administra- 
 tion, did he see his way to solve. They were patient with 
 him to his face, but they made amends for their silence as 
 soon as his back was turned. He had perhaps some reason 
 for fancying them, when he was out of sight and hearing, 
 exchanging satirical observations and looks of derision at 
 his expense, wondering at the vanity of these imported wise- 
 acres, who imagined that, because they had got a post and 
 a salary on the Irish establishment, it was their business to 
 upset everything. A few experiences of this kind taught 
 Lamb the length of his tether, and he soon resigned him- 
 self to make a virtue of necessity at the easy cost of doing 
 nothing. 
 
 He had other difficulties to encounter. The duties of 
 his office were ill-defined. He was responsible, but he did 
 not exactly know to whom, and he was wholly without power 
 He could not act except with the approval and under the 
 virtual direction of the Lord Lieutenant. But the Marquis 
 of Wellesley did not care to exert himself about anything. 
 He had been six years in office, and was now longing 
 impatiently for the moment when he could leave it. The 
 hopes with which he entered upon his Viceregal mission had 
 been cruelly disappointed. Trusting to be able to win the 
 confidence of all classes by kind and impartial treatment, he 
 found himself compelled soon after his arrival to ask for an 
 Insurrection Act. The Catholic Association had grown up 
 under his eyes. He obtained an Act for its suppression, 
 but O'Connell boasted that he would drive a coach-and-six 
 through its provisions, and he had fulfilled his threat. His 
 Majesty's representative had the semblance of power, but 
 the reality lay in other hands. The Marquis had not the 
 freshness of his colleague, and did not share in his appetite
 
 122 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 for work. At the same time he did not like to be passed 
 over. Lamb had to remember that he was a subordinate, 
 and must not take upon himself too much. When letters 
 were sent to him from the Home Office asking for his opinion 
 on some Irish question, he knew that it would be best to 
 return them in order that the request might be addressed 
 through him to his chief. The transitional character of the 
 Government favoured a paralysis of administration in Ireland. 
 It could not last long, that was certain, and there was a 
 natural disposition to wait to see what the next would be. 
 Perhaps something might happen which would bring the 
 Catholic claims to the front, and extort a recognition of 
 them from the King, whose obstinate prejudices were the 
 only real obstacle to emancipation. In that case the 
 Marquis would be well content to reign a little longer at 
 the Castle. For the present he resigned himself to apathy 
 and indifference, the silent and helpless brood of despair. 
 
 It was considered one of the duties of the Chief 
 Secretary to prepare the Irish measures which might be 
 needed for the following session, and a letter which Lamb 
 addressed to Lord Lansdowne on this subject will enable us 
 to form some idea of his powers of initiation, and of the 
 difficulties he met with in any attempt to improve the law. 
 The letter is in reply to one from Lord Lansdowne, in 
 which nine different subjects are enumerated as requiring 
 attention. Lamb is no doubt thankful for the suggestions, 
 though perhaps half ashamed that he should have to be 
 indebted for them to an official at Whitehall, while with some 
 of them he is extremely puzzled. In his reply he begins by 
 mentioning four measures which he has actually thought of 
 himself, and three of which are ready for presentation. But 
 two of them, a Jury Bill, and a General Paving and
 
 CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND 1 23 
 
 Lighting Bill, had been brought into Parliament during the 
 previous session and left over. The third, a Bill for the 
 renewal of the Insolvent Act, had been left by his pre- 
 decessor, Mr. Goulburn, in a complete state of prepara- 
 tion. The fourth was a Bill for the Amendment of the 
 Criminal Law, and the prevention of malicious outrages, 
 one of a class which the Castle officials were sure not to 
 overlook. Having so far vindicated the forethought of the 
 Lord Lieutenant and himself, he passes in review the nine 
 other topics which the Home Secretary commends to his 
 consideration. He admits the desirableness of introducing 
 some order into the statutes relating to public works, their 
 present state being so confused that he has to own himself 
 unable to understand them ; there should at least be some 
 provision for the methodical execution of such works, and 
 for a frequent and strict audit of the expenditure. A Bill 
 for amending the Civil Bill Process is under consideration, 
 so also is a Bill for reforming the abuses reported as existing 
 in the office for the Registration of Deeds. Tolls and customs 
 are a large and delicate question upon which he has to con- 
 fess himself uninformed, but attention shall be paid to it. 
 As regards Grand Jury presentments, ' it is unnecessary to 
 expatiate on the magnitude, the importance, and the difficulty 
 of this subject.' Plans of reformation may be suggested by 
 others, but it would only be deceiving his correspondent at 
 the Home Office and subjecting himself to the charge 
 of presumption if he held out any hope of being himself 
 prepared to bring forward any general measure in the next 
 Parliament. The state of the magistracy in both countries 
 requires serious consideration, and will soon press itself, he is 
 convinced, on the attention of the Legislature, but not at pre- 
 sent, it would seem, upon his own. The Tithe Composition
 
 124 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 Act of 1823 has been carried into effect in 940 parishes 
 out of 2,600. It would no doubt be highly beneficial to 
 establish a more permanent system, but the existing one is 
 working pretty well and had better perhaps be let alone. 
 There are no doubt abuses connected with the appointment 
 of sheriffs, but ' those who are best informed on the 
 subject ' conceive that it is impossible to remedy them with- 
 out running the risk of introducing others quite as bad. 
 The question of education is far too large for incidental 
 discussion. It is one of ' great delicacy and difficulty.' 
 Still, it has received, and will receive, ' the most anxious con- 
 sideration on the part of the Lord Lieutenant.' This is the 
 legislative budget for the year in a tentative stage. It shows 
 us the machine in motion. We see the official brain at 
 work, and are perhaps surprised at the tutorial functions 
 assumed by the Home Office. In reply to this letter Lord 
 Lansdowne assures Lamb that while he feels it his duty to 
 dwell occasionally on points connected with local administra- 
 tion in Ireland, he feels persuaded that they have not been 
 overlooked, and that Lord Wellesley and himself are best 
 able to judge of the difficulties attending any efforts to 
 remedy the defects of the present system. An outside 
 observer might perhaps infer that in Lord Lansdowne's 
 opinion both master and man at Dublin wanted keeping up 
 to the mark, and that the hints conveyed to them might 
 almost be construed as a reprimand. 
 
 There was other work in which Lamb was more in his 
 element. He liked to talk— and few men could talk better. 
 He cared nothing for the pomp and circumstance of official 
 life, and the restraints of etiquette he was apt to resent as a 
 bore. There was that in him which is sometimes wanting 
 in persons who can declaim at large upon the rights of man,
 
 CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND 125 
 
 and who profess to be democrats of the purest water, a 
 sense of equality and fellowship with all around him. There 
 is some risk in saying that he was a gentleman, the word 
 has come to be so much abused, but he had all the 
 attributes of thorough manliness. He never stood upon 
 his dignity ; perhaps he would have been unable to conceive 
 the necessity of such a severe proceeding, for he was always 
 at the bottom of his heart urbane and kind and good, and 
 all that unconscious dignity implies was wrought into his 
 nature. Bluff manners, and the bluff speech in which he 
 sometimes indulged, sat upon him as a foil, illustrating but 
 never long concealing his amiable qualities. He liked to 
 come to close quarters with the people he met, so as to get 
 at their thoughts and let them get at as much of his as he 
 was not bound to conceal, though even that occasionally 
 came out. A fairer minded man, or one more utterly free 
 from all taint of bigotry or of class prejudices, never entered 
 Dublin Castle. He no doubt did much good as Chief 
 Secretary by the genial spirit he breathed, but he would 
 probably have done even more good if he had been sent on 
 his travels through Ireland, with the simple commission to 
 talk to everybody he met, whether peer or priest or peasant. 
 It is certain that he would have left behind him wherever he 
 went an atmosphere of tolerance and goodwill. 
 
 He did this in Dublin as far as a liberal interpretation 
 of his official duties would permit. He sought out oppor- 
 tunities for conversation with representatives of the popular 
 party. Mr. Torrens relates one such interview which he 
 had with Shiel, from whom he learned more of the state of 
 the country in half an hour than he would have extracted 
 from a hundredweight of official reports. He was made to 
 understand the difference which the Irish peasant always
 
 126 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 sees between agrarian and ordinary crime. The land 
 question and the tithe question were presented to him in 
 the lurid light of real life, with instances of lawless redress 
 at the cost of the unfortunate process-server and small 
 proprietor. 'And why don't they go at the big ones?' 
 asked Lamb. Most were absentees, was the reply, and the 
 rest they did 'go at ' when they got the chance. There 
 was a landlord in Tipperary who went by the name of the 
 Woodcock, because he was so hard to hit. Lamb took his 
 deputations in hand in the same style. He would draw 
 them out ; he would hear everything they had to say ; 
 perhaps banter them a little to keep them in good 
 humour, and send them away well pleased on the whole 
 with him and still more with themselves. The truth is that 
 Lamb had a great deal of the Irishman in him — the same 
 free and easy manners, the same glow of humour and the 
 same inbred courtesy. That he was popular there can be 
 no question. He even stole into the good graces of 
 O'Connell, and there was some talk of putting him up for 
 Dublin. 
 
 In the experience of his official life he met with many 
 things that amused and surprised him. He found that 
 Dublin had its 'kept' newspapers. The Government 
 advertisements were given exclusively to certain journals, 
 and as proclamations were frequent and lengthy they were a 
 valuable source of income. Of course, an equivalent was 
 given, but the advocacy which was supposed to repay 
 the patronage limited the circulation. Lamb thought the 
 arrangement costly and useless. He was for abolishing the 
 advertisements and requiring the papers to publish Govern- 
 ment notices gratis. He found nobody to favour his 
 proposal. Even Plunket laughed at him. Then he had
 
 CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND 1 27 
 
 reason to believe that things were not quite as they should 
 be at the Post Office. In former days the Government used 
 to open letters for their own purposes — and perhaps did so 
 still occasionally. The officials naturally thought that they 
 might follow the example on their own behoof. An Orange 
 postmaster, or an applicant for patronage who found means 
 to enlist that official's services, might often like to know 
 what was passing between the Chief Secretary and the 
 authorities in London. The Under-Secretary at the Home 
 Office felt persuaded that the letters sent to him had been 
 opened. The danger was all the greater because Lamb 
 wrote freely, sometimes using epithets and favourite ex- 
 pletives, which would not be agreeable reading for those 
 to whose names they were attached. On one occasion, when 
 it happened to be the name of a lady engaged in some 
 patronage hunt, Lamb was terrified at the suggestion, made 
 perhaps to frighten him, that his letter might have passed 
 under the lady's eyes. The patronage hunters were a con- 
 stant source of annoyance. People of position fancied that 
 everything was to be had for the asking. Peers, bishops, 
 squires, and parsons, all were playing the same game. 
 Posts under Government, berths in the customs or excise, 
 next presentations, all were so much game that had to be 
 run down. Nobody dreamed of such a thing as merit. All 
 sense of public duty seemed to be extinct. Corruption 
 flowed through a hundred mean and petty channels, and 
 every refusal meant reprisals somewhere. The social pecu- 
 liarities of Ireland had to be borne in mind in amending 
 the laws, since what seemed desirable on the score of 
 simplicity might turn out mischievous in practice. In 
 Ireland coroners and sheriffs had always had concurrent 
 powers in execution of civil process. Just before Lamb's
 
 128 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 time, Dick Martin, as Mr. Spring Rice calls him, an Irish 
 gentleman well known for his humanity and impecuniosity, 
 had prevailed upon Goulburn to pass a measure abolishing 
 the powers of the coroner, on the plea of assimilating the 
 laws of the two countries. The result was not foreseen, 
 though it was probably clear enough to Mr. Martin. The 
 difficulty of recovering debts was augmented ten-fold, and 
 there was an official recommendation to return to the former 
 practice. On a rumour to this effect getting abroad, ' a 
 magistrate and a grand juror, a late high employe of the Go- 
 vernment and a near relation of a noble friend of yours and 
 mine, wrote to Mr. Spring Rice to ask whether it was true. 
 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 happen to 
 be in difficulties must fly the country. God forbid that it 
 should be so ! ' 
 
 It has been said that Lamb did not do much in Ireland, 
 and there is, of course, some truth in the observation. 
 But no man in his position could have done much, and 
 probably no man could have done more than he did in 
 the same time and with no greater opportunities. One 
 thing at any rate he did which remains as a slight but en- 
 during memorial of his administration. He gave an example 
 of the spirit in which Ireland should be governed. A 
 hitherto proscribed party and persecuted race felt that they 
 had a friend in him. If all our relations to Ireland, legisla- 
 tive and administrative, could by some miracle have been 
 brought into harmony with the just and benign sentiments 
 with which he was inspired, we should have been spared 
 years of agitation, and events might have taken a different 
 course. He stayed long enough in Ireland to witness the 
 final gathering and concentration of those popular forces
 
 CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND 1 29 
 
 which were soon to bear down all resistance. On January 
 13, 1828, the Catholics throughout Ireland assembled at 
 the same hour in their chapels to send up their prayers to 
 Heaven for deliverance from an oppressive law which de- 
 prived them of the common rights of citizenship because of 
 their creed. The call to devotion reverberated all over the 
 land, and six millions of people fell on their knees. It was 
 a function in which patriotism and religion were combined, 
 and the circumstances which occasioned the demonstration 
 also brought Lamb's mission to an end. 
 
 Lord Goderich had proved himself unequal to the task 
 he had undertaken. He had been surprised into taking 
 office on an emergency for which everybody was unpre- 
 pared. Since then there had been time for reflection. 
 The King was no longer in the same mood. He had for- 
 gotten the little pique in the matter of the royal prerogative 
 which had led him to prefer Canning to Wellington and 
 Peel. A Tory in all his later sympathies, and much exer- 
 cised in his sensitive conscience on the Catholic question, 
 he was anxious to bring the Tories back to power. On the 
 other hand the Cabinet needed strengthening, and, as parties 
 stood, this was only possible by a further infusion of the 
 Whig element which would have made it still less accept- 
 able. At this juncture a letter from Lord Goderich pro- 
 posing the addition of Lords Holland and Wellesley to 
 the Cabinet, but at the same time regretting that domestic 
 circumstances occasionally prevented him from discharging 
 his official duties, gave the King the opportunity for which 
 he had been watching. Lord Goderich was relieved of his 
 burden, and the Duke of Wellington received the King's 
 command to form a Government. 
 
 Ireland was naturally among the preoccupations of the 
 
 K
 
 130 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 new premier. The news of his appointment had thrown 
 the Catholics into a ferment, and occasioned the impressive 
 demonstration of January 13. Actuated by strategical as 
 well as by pious motives, they had sought a refuge in prayer. 
 It must have been an object with the Duke to calm their 
 excitement, and this view would be best promoted by keep- 
 ing Lamb at his post. Accordingly the Duke wrote to him 
 expressing a hope that he would remain, and Lamb on his 
 part desired nothing better. But before he could give his 
 consent there were scruples that had to be considered. He 
 had gone back some paces when he accepted office under 
 Canning, but it would be a long stride still further back- 
 wards if he cast in his lot with a Tory administration pure 
 and simple. Some of his colleagues were in the same 
 dilemma, and, before deciding, he thought it prudent to see 
 what they meant to do. 
 
 With this view he left Dublin on January 23, and as 
 events turned out he did not return. On reaching London 
 he found things even worse than he perhaps expected. The 
 Whigs who joined Canning were not included in the 
 ministerial arrangements. The Duke had not passed the 
 compliment of inviting them to stay. Among those who 
 were left outside were Lord Lansdowne and Mr. Spring 
 Rice, with whom Lamb had been in daily communication 
 for the previous six months. On the other hand, Palmer- 
 ston, Grant, and Dudley, with all of whom he was on terms 
 of intimacy, had been asked to remain, and the invitation 
 had even been extended to Huskisson. It was probably 
 this last circumstance that determined Lamb. He saw no 
 good reason why he should sever himself from a relative 
 with whose principles he was in full accord, and whose 
 influential position in the ministry would give to it some
 
 CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND 13I 
 
 tincture of Liberalism. Nevertheless, it completed his 
 rupture with the Whigs, and it was a step for which he had 
 soon to pay dear. 
 
 The first sacrifice exacted of him was to vote in oppo- 
 sition to one of his strongest convictions. No man living 
 was more tolerant than Lamb ; no man was more deeply 
 penetrated with a sense of what was just and right and 
 fair, as between different sections of the community, and if 
 it had fallen to his lot to move the repeal of the Test and 
 Corporation Acts, he would have undertaken the task with 
 the liveliest satisfaction. But when Lord John Russell 
 brought in a Bill for this purpose in the session of 1828, 
 Lamb had to vote against it. He had only just accepted 
 the Government shilling, and it was too soon to turn tail. 
 Perhaps the sacrifice was less hard and less inconsistent with 
 his principles than might be supposed. He had an old 
 prejudice against Dissenters. To the surprise of all parties, 
 and not least of Lord John himself, the Government were 
 defeated by a majority of 44, and Peel, finding that they 
 had been abandoned by many of their own supporters, 
 announced that no further opposition would be offered to 
 the Bill. To be a Tory was bad enough, but to be beaten 
 by Tories on a question of civil and religious liberty was 
 unexpected ignominy, and Lamb must have felt his position 
 acutely. 
 
 But a more serious crisis was approaching. The question 
 on which it occurred looks insignificant to us now, though 
 it was then regarded as of vast importance, and the division 
 of opinion it created almost rent the Government to its 
 foundations. The boroughs of Penryn and East Retford 
 had been found guilty of shameful corruption, and it was 
 agreed that they should be disfranchised. But there was a 
 
 K 2
 
 I32 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 difficulty as to what should be done with the seats. Part of 
 the Cabinet were for throwing both places into their respec- 
 tive hundreds, and so keeping both seats for the counties ; 
 another part were for transferring the seats to two of the 
 great towns which were then unrepresented, Manchester 
 and Birmingham being the towns named ; while still another 
 were for a compromise, throwing one of the places into the 
 hundreds and giving the seats of the other to a town, and 
 this plan was finally adopted. The Bill for Penryn, pro- 
 viding for the transfer of the seats to Manchester, passed 
 the House first, and was sent to the Lords. The Bill for 
 East Retford was kept back in the Commons till it should 
 be seen what the Lords did with the Penryn Bill. The 
 Government were divided on the question ; but Peel, who 
 acted for the Duke of Wellington as well as for himself, 
 meant, in any case, to vote for throwing East Retford into 
 the hundred of Bassetlaw, while Huskisson adhered to the 
 view he had declared all along, that if one of the places was 
 thrown into the hundred, the seats for the other should be 
 transferred to a large town. By the time the East Retford 
 Bill came to be dealt with, it was certain that the Lords 
 would not agree to transfer the seats to Manchester. That 
 being the case, Huskisson held that his course was clear. 
 He could not vote for throwing East Retford into the 
 hundred, and in the division he and Peel took opposite 
 sides. Palmerston and Grant voted with Huskisson, so 
 that there was a pretty large rent in the Government mantle. 
 The affair might have blown over but for the course which 
 Huskisson thought it his duty to take. On going home 
 after the division, he wrote a note to the Duke tendering 
 his resignation, and received a reply the next morning in 
 which the Duke informed him that he had laid his letter
 
 CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND 1 33 
 
 before the King. Palmerston interposed with the Duke, 
 urging that Huskisson did not wish to resign, but merely 
 offered to resign if his resignation should be thought neces- 
 sary. Huskisson also wrote an explanatory letter to the 
 same effect. But the Duke, blind to consequences, wanted 
 to get rid of Huskisson, and refused to consider his first 
 letter as anything else than an unconditional resignation. 
 Huskisson being thus declared out, as the Duke alleged, by 
 his own act, Palmerston, Dudley, Grant, and Lamb at once 
 resigned. Lamb had voted with the Government, and was 
 not obliged to resign, but he decided to go with his friends. 
 Too good for the Tories, and not yet qualified for admission, 
 or, in Lamb's case, for re-admission, into the true church 
 where Grey, and Althorp, and Russell were the ministering 
 hierophants, the followers of Canning formed, for a time, a 
 group by themselves. ' Our party,' says Lord Palmerston 
 in his diary, ' though small, is very respectable.' It con- 
 sisted of about eleven peers and twenty-seven members of 
 the House of Commons, and among them Lamb henceforth 
 occupies a conspicuous place. 
 
 By this time Lamb was no longer a commoner. His 
 father died on July 22, 1828, in his eighty-third year. In 
 the previous January he had sustained another loss — for 
 a loss it was, and deeply felt, notwithstanding the painful 
 memories which it wound up and consummated. On his 
 return from Ireland he was summoned to his wife's bedside, 
 and a few days after his arrival she breathed her last. 
 During his six months' absence they had regularly corre- 
 sponded with each other. The old alienation had dis- 
 appeared, and the fondness of old days had seemed to come 
 back. After storms and whirlwinds the wearied heart had 
 sunk exhausted into repose, and there was a tranquil setting.
 
 134 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 His home was now desolate. Only his son remained, 
 affording him the solace of pity and grief. His father's 
 death, by giving him succession to a peerage, had an 
 important effect upon his political prospects. He was but 
 ill-suited to the atmosphere of the House of Commons, 
 where the prize of victory is won not without dust and heat, 
 and if he had remained there he never could have attained 
 to the position which proved to be in store for him. In 
 another place his mild eloquence might spend its charms 
 upon a more patient, a more respectful, perhaps a more 
 appreciative audience, and it was even possible that turbulent 
 rivals who could not yield to each other might agree to find 
 shelter under a reputation which excited no envy, while it 
 inspired affection and even respect.
 
 135 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 AT THE HOME OFFICE 
 
 Lamb, now Viscount Melbourne, in the House of Lords— Catholic 
 Emancipation —Death of George IV. — The Administration on the 
 shoals— A revolution in Paris, and a threatened one at home — The 
 Duke is afraid to visit the City —The Canningites declare for Par- 
 liamentary Reform and prepare to join the Whigs— Melbourne 
 moves with them, but slowly— Earl Grey in power — Melbourne 
 Home Secretary — The Reform Bill — Melbourne's mind quite made 
 up— Work at the Home Office — Mr. Thomas Young and Mr. 
 Francis Place. 
 
 When Parliament met in February 1829, Lamb took his 
 seat in the House of Lords as Viscount Melbourne, and we 
 are at length enabled to speak of him under the designation 
 with which his political career is chiefly associated. He was 
 now fifty years of age, and he had been for twenty-five 
 years a member of the House of Commons, but to the 
 country at large he was almost an unknown man. He had 
 made no great speeches, he had done nothing to impress 
 himself upon the imagination of the public, and if instead 
 of going to the House of Lords he had disappeared at that 
 moment from the scene of affairs, the world would hardly 
 have remembered that he had lived at all. The change of 
 rank and name coincided with a change in his own position. 
 He was soon to float or to be forced into greater prominence. 
 The country would learn before long that Lord Melbourne 
 was a personage of some importance among the leading
 
 136 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 politicians of the day. And the name which he now 
 assumed for the first time is not likely to be forgotten 
 while the English race endures. The historian centuries 
 hence will have to explain that one of the most opulent 
 and stately of Australian cities chose to call itself after the 
 title of a distinguished peer who figured about this period 
 in the annals of the mother country. 
 
 Lord Melbourne entered upon his duties in the Upper 
 House at the beginning of a memorable crisis. The 
 Government had been driven to the conclusion that it was 
 no longer possible to offer a successful resistance to the 
 Catholic claims. To this conclusion any Government must 
 have been brought before long, but the crisis was precipi- 
 tated by the course of events in Ireland. In the ministerial 
 rearrangements rendered necessary by the secession of Mr. 
 Huskisson and his friends, Mr. Vesey Fitzgerald, the member 
 for County Clare, was appointed President of the Board of 
 Trade, and had to go to his constituents for re-election. 
 This gave an opportunity to the Catholic Association which 
 the leaders were determined should not pass unimproved. 
 No one imagined that there would be a contest, or if a con- 
 test were ventured upon that it would prove successful. 
 Mr. Vesey Fitzgerald was one of the most popular men in 
 the county. The landlords could be trusted to stand by 
 him, and their influence had hitherto been omnipotent. It 
 had been the custom since the union to divide estates into 
 excessively small holdings and to convey them on life leases. 
 This gave the tenants the status of freeholders, and enabled 
 them to vote under the forty-shilling franchise. If political 
 freedom consisted in having votes, Ireland at that period was 
 the land of freemen. In the course of a country walk 
 almost every man you met was a voter. But the landlords
 
 AT THE HOME OEFICE 1 37 
 
 who manufactured the votes expected to have the use of 
 them on the day of election, and the customary right of the 
 Irish tenant to be always a year behind with his rent gave 
 his landlord the whip-hand over him in politics. This is 
 hardly a metaphor. It is said that on important occasions 
 the forty-shilling freeholders were whipped to the poll. 
 But on the occasion to which we are now referring, the 
 greatest that had occurred since the franchise was conferred 
 upon Catholics by ' Grattan's Parliament,' the landlords 
 were powerless. Their power had passed into the hand of 
 the priesthood, and when it was known that O'Connell 
 meant to stand in opposition to Mr. Vesey Fitzgerald the 
 call-to-arms went forth from every altar in Clare. The 
 incidents of the contest would fill a volume. For once it 
 was true that the eyes of the whole country were turned 
 upon the spot where the electoral verdict was to be given. 
 When the poll began Ennis was one great encampment, 
 and when it was announced at the close that O'Connell had 
 won by nearly two to one, it was felt that a revolution was 
 accomplished. 
 
 The blow told at once upon the ministry. O'Connell 
 could not sit in Parliament because he was a Catholic, but 
 he had been returned in spite of his disability, and in due 
 time he might be expected to present himself at the table 
 of the House. He would of course refuse to take the oath 
 in the prescribed form, and be ordered to retire ; but could 
 this be done without any promise of relief? If it could be 
 done now, could it be done after the next election, when 
 every county outside of Ulster would follow the example of 
 Clare ? The Duke of Wellington saw that it was time to 
 surrender, and Peel, though still unconverted in point of 
 principle, recognised the necessity of yielding to an over-
 
 138 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 riding principle, the safety of the State. The ultra-Tories 
 were furious when the secret leaked out. Lord Eldon at 
 once mounted guard over the King's conscience, and 
 Wellington made preparations as if for another siege of 
 Badajos. The royal conscience refused to yield, and had to 
 be taken by storm. The Duke assured his Majesty that 
 the alternative was civil war. Then at last he yielded, but 
 after yielding he withdrew his word, and the Duke resigned. 
 Then finally came an absolute surrender, which was put into 
 writing so as to be beyond the reach of repudiation, and the 
 struggle was at an end. With Parliament the Government 
 had an easy task. Their Tory following combined with the 
 Canningites, and the regular Whig opposition ensured a 
 decisive majority in both Houses. Before the Relief Bill 
 was introduced a Bill was passed for putting down the 
 Catholic Association, and a supplementary measure was 
 passed afterwards for disfranchising the forty-shilling free- 
 holders. This potent weapon, having fallen from the land- 
 lords' hands, could not be left in the grasp of the priesthood. 
 Melbourne spoke only once in the debates on these 
 measures, and that merely to defend the previous Govern- 
 ments of Lord Liverpool and Mr. Canning from censure in 
 not having applied to Parliament for fresh powers when the 
 former Act suppressing the Catholic Association was driven 
 through by O'Connell's coach-and-six. It was a word on 
 behalf of those with whom he had acted, and also on his 
 own, since as an ex-Chief Secretary he was included in the 
 censure. For the measures themselves he had nothing but 
 approval. The disfranchisement of the forty-shilling free- 
 holders fell in with his views, though Huskisson and 
 Palmerston were among those who opposed it in the other 
 House. We fear it must be said that he who had once been
 
 AT THE HOME OFFICE 1 39 
 
 a Whig, and could remember a time when he was full of 
 enthusiasm for Fox, was now more lukewarm in his Liberalism 
 than his two friends who had served in Tory administrations 
 for a quarter of a century. The wrench of separation had 
 been greater with them than with him, and when once they 
 had parted with their old associates they took a longer 
 stride in advance. They were perhaps more keen-sighted. 
 They were men of practical instincts, less given than 
 Melbourne to half moody, half mystical musing, and moved 
 in a more luminous atmosphere. They saw clearly what 
 was coming. The party of resistance was broken up, and 
 new combinations were on the cards. The Government 
 had weakened itself by passing the great measure which 
 now sheds upon it a flickering renown. By their sudden 
 change on the Catholic question they had spread confusion 
 through the Tory camp. The staunch old Tories who had 
 sworn by Lord Eldon stood aloof, willing to strike and 
 wound them if they could, and eager to stir up any question 
 which would be likely to embarrass them. In this position 
 the Duke would have been only too glad to welcome back 
 his semi-Liberal allies whom he had cleared out of the 
 Cabinet with so much gusto a year before. But it was too 
 late to hope for success in that direction. The Canningites 
 were carried by force of circumstances with which their own 
 political development kept pace to the side of the Whigs 
 who had with them the promise of the future, and the 
 Government could only float helplessly down the stream, 
 apprehensive of a fate which was not long in coming. 
 
 On June 25, 1830, George IV. died and William IV. 
 ascended the throne. A month later a revolution broke out 
 in Paris, and Charles X. was on his way to Holyrood. 
 There was a sinister resemblance between the political
 
 I.40 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 situations of the two countries. At the beginning of an 
 eventful week reactionary ministries were in power in Paris 
 and Westminster. By the end of the week one was over- 
 thrown by a popular uprising, and the other remained 
 standing, or rather shaking. It is not surprising that there 
 should have been a strong impulse here to finish the com- 
 parison. The moment for completing it seemed to have 
 arrived, when on November 9 the King was dissuaded by 
 his ministers from going to the Lord Mayor's banquet at 
 Guildhall, on the ground that if he went there might be 
 such a disturbance of the peace as would compel a resort 
 to military force. ' In regard to myself,' said the Duke, ' I 
 have no desire to be massacred, which would have happened. 
 I would have gone if the law had been equal to protect me, 
 but that was not the case.' The Duke had dimly seen for 
 some time past that the Government could not go on as it 
 was. Melbourne and Palmerston seem to us now but feeble 
 folk for such an emergency, but the Duke had made over- 
 tures to both. Would they come back, and on what terms ? 
 They both gave substantially the same answer. They 
 would not come alone ; if they came they must bring with 
 them Lord Lansdowne and Earl Grey. The Duke was 
 ready to welcome any or all of them but Earl Grey, whom 
 he could not imagine without a Reform Bill in his pocket. 
 When Palmerston had given his reply he went to Paris to 
 escape further importunities, but they were renewed when 
 he came back. The signal for the final break-up was given 
 by Brougham at the end of October, when he announced 
 his intention on that day fortnight to bring the question of 
 Parliamentary Reform before the House. The day before 
 his motion could come on, the Government were defeated 
 on Sir Henry Parnell's motion for a committee of inquiry
 
 AT THE HOME OFFICE 14I 
 
 into the Civil List ; the next day they resigned and Earl 
 Grey was sent for. Lord Palmerston says in his autobio- 
 graphical sketch : ' Melbourne, the two Grants, Binning, 
 Littleton, Graham, Warrender, Denison, and one or two 
 others, had met at my house a few days before to consider 
 what we should do on the motion which Brougham was to 
 make in favour of Parliamentary Reform, and I and the 
 Grants and Littleton had quite determined to vote for it.' 
 Melbourne does not appear to have then made up his 
 mind, but a conclusion was soon forced upon him. Poor 
 Huskisson, who would have had no hesitation, was no longer 
 one of their number. He had been killed two months 
 before by the railway accident at Parkside. 
 
 On accepting the King's command to form a ministry, 
 Earl Grey sent at once for Lord Palmerston, through whom 
 the adhesion of the Canningite group was easily secured. 
 They were willing to be won, more willing even than Earl 
 Grey was to make the necessary overtures. Earl Grey had 
 never liked Canning, and he had as little liking for his 
 followers, especially for those who had gone over to him 
 from the Whig party. But he was now obliged to accept 
 them as his friends, and their co-operation was invaluable. 
 Lord Palmerston offered himself for the Chancellorship of 
 the Exchequer with the leadership of the House, but he 
 was told that this post was reserved for Lord Althorp. 
 His next choice was the Foreign Office, for which indeed 
 he had special aptitudes, and the Home Office was bestowed 
 upon Lord Melbourne. Lord John Russell had earned a 
 place in the Cabinet, but he was for the present to be 
 content with an outside appointment as Paymaster of the 
 Forces. As for Brougham, imperious, self-willed, unfit for 
 rule, too turbulent to obey, and too powerful through his
 
 142 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 influence with the country to be disregarded, the one desire 
 of those whom he would fain have for colleagues was to get 
 him out of the House of Commons. He demanded the 
 Lord Chancellorship as the price of his services, and the 
 request could not be refused. Sir James Graham was made 
 First Lord of the Admiralty, the Marquis of Anglesea 
 returned to Ireland, with Mr. Stanley, the late Lord Derby, 
 as his Chief Secretary. This was the principal cast for the 
 drama to be played during the next three years, and for 
 the longer drama which was to last to the end of Lord 
 Melbourne's career. With the persons just named he was 
 henceforth to be intimately associated. 
 
 When Parliament met on February 3, 1831, a Reform 
 Bill was announced for March 1, when a struggle began of 
 unprecedented interest, which was not brought to a close till 
 the end of the following year. But Melbourne had to begin 
 work at once. He had been installed at the Home Office 
 in the previous December, and the two years during which 
 his colleagues were employed in piloting the Reform Bill 
 through both Houses covered the busiest period of his 
 administration. The prominence given to the reform 
 debates has occasioned him some injustice. The extreme 
 difficulty of the task which fell to his share has been in 
 some measure overlooked. While Althorp and Russell 
 were making speeches which were re-echoed through the 
 country day after day, Melbourne had to do his best to 
 maintain ' law and order.' He was at his desk from morning 
 to night, reading the reports which poured in from the local 
 authorities from one end of the kingdom to the other, taking 
 counsel with those who were best able to advise him, and 
 devising measures for dealing with emergencies as fast as 
 they arose. Here we encounter a difficulty which it is not
 
 AT THE HOME OFFICE 1 43 
 
 easy to overcome. Those who have not looked into the 
 history of that period can have but a faint conception of 
 the state of things which prevailed. It is only sixty years 
 ago, but by any political or social measurement the interval 
 might almost be one of centuries. It is hard to persuade 
 ourselves that the Duke of Wellington did not speak with 
 great extravagance when he talked of the probability of his 
 being massacred if he went to the banquet at Guildhall, and 
 there was no doubt an undue tendency to panic in the 
 public mind. But the aspect of the country was enough to 
 alarm the coolest observers. Popular outbreaks were con- 
 sidered probable, and even imminent, in many of our large 
 towns, while the agricultural counties were seething with 
 discontent. In the manufacturing districts of the north, 
 multitudes were without employment, and the wages of 
 those who could get a little work to do were at the lowest 
 ebb. The method adopted to remedy this evil was to attack 
 the factories, break the machinery, and force the workpeople 
 into the streets in order to overcome what was regarded as 
 the obstinate determination of the employers not to pay 
 higher wages. It seemed to be clear that inventions which 
 enabled one man to do the work of ten were adverse to the 
 interests of labour, and that the capitalists who used them 
 were the enemies of the working classes. Funds were 
 raised in spite of the poverty of the contributors, and plans 
 were secretly devised which threatened at any moment to 
 break out in open violence. In the agricultural districts, 
 especially in the south, things were even worse. Farm 
 labourers went about in masses of hundreds or thousands 
 at a time, demanding bread, pillaging the farmhouses, 
 breaking machines, and spreading havoc and terror through 
 whole counties. The rural population seemed to make
 
 144 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 themselves willing agents of a widespread and inscrutable 
 conspiracy. A farmer woke up at night to find that his 
 rickyards were on fire, while the people about him gave no 
 hell) and showed no sympathy. A mysterious personage, 
 known only by the name of ' Swing,' issued his mandate, 
 and the food for want of which the poor were starving went 
 up in smoke and flame. 
 
 Such was the state of things with which Melbourne had 
 
 to cope the moment he entered upon his duties at the Home 
 
 Office, and there can be no doubt that he showed himself 
 
 a capable and energetic administrator. ' He has surprised 
 
 all about him,' says Greville, 'by a sudden display of activity 
 
 and vigour, rapid and diligent transaction of business, for 
 
 which nobody was prepared.' Of his unwearied assiduity 
 
 the letters published in the Melbourne Papers, ' selected,' 
 
 we are told, ' from hundreds of a similar character,' afford 
 
 ample evidence. He had difficulties with the magistracy in 
 
 different parts of the country. Sometimes they refused to 
 
 act ; sometimes their action was too swift and inconsiderate ; 
 
 sometimes they pestered him about impracticable remedies, 
 
 while they neglected to use those which were within their 
 
 power. He found everywhere, among the influential classes, 
 
 a strange indifference to co-operate with each other in 
 
 repressing disorder. Jealousies prevailed between the 
 
 industrial and the landed aristocracies which rendered both 
 
 powerless. For the most part they preferred to look on 
 
 with folded arms and appeal to the Home Office to do for 
 
 them what they should have done for themselves. Nothing 
 
 is more strange than the paralysis which seems to have 
 
 fallen on society at that period. People were nerveless, 
 
 despairing, smitten with a sense of helplessness, full of 
 
 apprehensions of a dismal future, and in ill-humour with
 
 AT THE HOME OFFICE 145 
 
 everything. Melbourne had by turns to exhort, reprove, 
 stimulate, and curb, giving all round the advice which 
 seemed most suitable to the circumstances. He was in 
 constant correspondence with the Duke of Wellington as to 
 the disposition of the slender military forces at the disposal 
 of the authorities. In Hampshire ' gangs of labourers, 
 1,500 strong, moved through the country, destroying 
 machinery, burning farm-buildings, and levying contribu- 
 tions.' Acting in concert with the War Office, he marched 
 troops into the disturbed districts. In December, a Special 
 Commission sat at Winchester to try the rioters in Berkshire, 
 Buckinghamshire, Herts, and Wiltshire, and ' no fewer than 
 1,000 individuals were brought to justice.' 
 
 But there was one thing which Melbourne was most 
 reluctant to do, and another which he would not do under 
 any circumstances. He was slow to engage in press prose- 
 cutions. He thought it better that opinion, even if violent, 
 should have free expression, so long as there was no positive 
 instigation to mischief. Carlile and Cobbett were excep- 
 tions ; they fell under the ban. The former had a heavy 
 sentence at the Old Bailey, but the latter got off through 
 the jury failing to agree. The thing which he would not do 
 was to employ informers. He reminded those who recom- 
 mended this step of the shameful abuses which had resulted 
 from the spy-system some fifteen years before, when the 
 infamous Oliver, who was in the pay of the Home Office, 
 betrayed a number of misguided victims to the gallows. A 
 man named Comber was then undergoing a sentence of 
 imprisonment in Brixton Gaol. A Sussex magistrate, Mr. 
 Henry Drummond, represented him as an agent likely to 
 be useful if Lord Melbourne would consent to employ him. 
 He might ingratiate himself with the incendiaries and lead 
 
 L
 
 146 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 them on till the time came for entrapping and hanging 
 them. The magistrate was as disinterested as he was 
 zealous. Comber might set the magistrate's own ricks on 
 fire by way of a beginning. Mr. Henry Drummond was at 
 that time much given, in concert with Edward Irving and 
 other eminent divines, to the study of unfulfilled prophecy. 
 The seventh or eighth vial which he proposed to pour out 
 upon Sussex in the shape of the Brixton convict was allowed 
 to remain undischarged of its contents. Melbourne read 
 him a lecture. Referring to Jeremiah Brandreth and his 
 fellow-victims, he wrote : ' I make no apology for bringing 
 before you this view of the subject, as I am sure you must 
 feel that, in our desire to discover the perpetrators of these 
 most dangerous and atrocious acts, we should run as little 
 risk as possible of involving innocent persons in accusations, 
 and still less of adopting measures which may encourage 
 the seduction of persons, now innocent, into the commission 
 of crime ? ' The lecture is, perhaps, rather long-winded, but 
 the sentiments do honour to him who uttered them. 
 
 After the first twelve months the strain at the Home 
 Office abated for a time. Politics came in as a counter- 
 irritant, and agitation in the social form it first assumed 
 began to subside. There was not less suffering, but the 
 people were more hopeful. They knew in a general way 
 that it was proposed to make a great change in the compo- 
 sition of the House of Commons. If that change could be 
 brought about, surely it would be possible to make good 
 laws and get rid of the evils from which the nation suffered. 
 Hence attention everywhere was fixed upon the Reform 
 Bill. It became a symbol of hope to those who felt the 
 pinch of want. By some process, not very clearly com- 
 prehended, it was to act as a universal remedy. Then there
 
 AT THE HOME OFFICE 1 47 
 
 was the joy which Reformers felt at the approaching realisa- 
 tion of the visions that had floated before their eyes for 
 half a century. The ancient principles of the constitution 
 were about to be vindicated ; the people were at length to 
 be reinstated in their rights, too long usurped by the 
 aristocracy and the crown. In these circumstances public 
 feeling was raised to a high pitch of excitement, and it w r as 
 felt that if anything went wrong with the Bill serious events 
 might happen. 
 
 It is needless to follow the fortunes of the Bill in the 
 two Houses. The struggle will never cease to be one of 
 the most important that have taken place in the whole 
 course of our history, but its proportions are not quite the 
 same to us as they were to the last generation, and the 
 story has been often told. Two or three leading dates and 
 incidents will serve as stepping-stones across the stream. 
 The Bill which Lord John Russell brought in on March 1 
 was read a second time by a majority of one, and a defeat 
 in committee decided ministers to advise a dissolution. 
 The interview at which Earl Grey and Lord Brougham 
 tendered this advice to the King would suggest a scene for 
 the stage. The King fumed and his eye flashed with anger 
 as he learned the preparations which had been made for his 
 going down to the House, including even the ordering out 
 of the Life Guards. His prerogative was doubly assailed. 
 Ministers had dared to assume that he would do as they 
 advised him, and they had even presumed to give orders to 
 the army without his authority. But he went all the same. 
 The House of Lords was in a state of tumult as the Tower 
 guns announced the King's approach. The Ministerial 
 decision had taken the peers by surprise. They dreaded an 
 appeal to the country, and sincerely believed that they were 
 
 L 2
 
 148 lord Melbourne: 
 
 standing on the brink of a revolution. The King insisted 
 upon wearing his crown, though the coronation had not yet 
 taken place. He also insisted upon putting it on himself, 
 and he put it on awry. Greville enters in his diary, ' George 
 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 grim figure of Lord Grey 
 close beside him with the sword of state in his hand, it was 
 as if the King had got his executioner by his side, and the 
 whole picture looked strikingly typical of his and our future 
 destinies.' 
 
 The new Parliament met after a short interval and a 
 second Reform Bill was introduced. Ministers were now all- 
 powerful in the House of Commons. The Bill was read a 
 third time by a majority of 106, and on October 3 the 
 debate on the second reading began in the Lords. The 
 only speech with which we are here concerned is Lord 
 Melbourne's, not perhaps the weightiest that was delivered 
 on that great occasion, but nevertheless interesting, since he 
 spoke the experience of many besides himself. He had to 
 acknowledge and justify his recantation. He had to confess 
 that hitherto he had resisted every movement towards 
 reform. He had even opposed the transfer of the East 
 Retford seats to Birmingham. He did so from a persuasion 
 that if you once began there could be no stopping. Man- 
 chester had as good a claim to representation as Birmingham, 
 and a dozen other towns as good a claim as either. Much 
 the same might be said of the whole country, which had 
 grown immensely in wealth and population. Of one thing 
 Melbourne declared himself convinced. There could be no 
 half measures, and as it was settled by the irrevocable voice 
 of the nation that the old system must go, the largest con-
 
 AT THE HOME OFFICE I49 
 
 cessions would be the wisest. The speech is delightful 
 reading, solemn, sententious, and rich with constitutional 
 lore. It goes in a ruminating way to the bottom of things. 
 Is it not sometimes the duty of the Legislature to resist the 
 will of the people ? asked the opponents of the Bill. 
 Certainly, is the admission in reply. ' 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, and have we 
 not in this case resisted it long enough ? ' He quotes ' that 
 great philosopher and statesman Lord Bacon ' to show that 
 though change is undesirable in civil affairs, it is inevitable 
 when that which it is proposed to change is no longer sup- 
 ported by authority and consent. He draws upon his ex- 
 perience at the Home Office to warn their lordships that 
 popular feeling may break out with irresistible violence if 
 resistance is prolonged, and winds up by reminding them 
 of the advice of the Roman Consul when preparing his 
 decisive march against the Carthaginian general, ' a march 
 which perhaps changed the destinies of the world — only do 
 not procrastinate ; do not make a measure which is safe if 
 adopted immediately dangerous by delay.' The sentiment 
 sounds more weighty and solemn in the words of the 
 Roman historian, which are added as if to clinch the 
 argument. 
 
 Lord Melbourne's speech, with all its persuasiveness, did 
 not convert the peers. The Bill was thrown out on the 
 second reading by a majority of 41. He had then the 
 uneasy satisfaction of finding his forebodings too soon and 
 too fully realised. The country was brought at once to the 
 verge of civil war, and he had to sit from morning till night at 
 the Home Office to take measures for the preservation of 
 order. The restless spirits who hang on to the skirts of ever)-
 
 ISO LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 popular movement were eager for mischief. Nottingham 
 Castle was set on fire. Bristol was for three days in the 
 hands of the mob. These and similar outbreaks were 
 speedily suppressed. There was much greater difficulty 
 in dealing with the Birmingham Political Union and the 
 mighty force of opinion which it embodied. A meeting of 
 150,000 men assembled in October soon after the fate of 
 the Bill was known. They were advised to come armed, 
 but this advice was countermanded. They voted an address 
 to the King, praying his Majesty to create as many peers 
 as might be necessary to pass the Bill, and they pledged 
 themselves to pay no taxes in the event of its being rejected. 
 They also passed a vote of thanks to Lord Althorp and 
 Lord John Russell, who had borne the brunt of the battle 
 in the House of Commons, and upon whose constancy the 
 issue of the struggle depended. Lord John wrote at once 
 in reply : ' Our prospects are obscured for a moment, but I 
 trust only for a moment. It is impossible that the whisper 
 of a faction should prevail against the voice of a nation.' 
 
 Melbourne had to keep a watchful eye on all these 
 movements. He was no red-tapist. There was in him, 
 when fully roused, a practical sagacity corresponding to 
 mother-wit, and he was deterred by no false pride from 
 adapting means to ends. When he wanted information he 
 turned to his friend Mr. Francis Place, the philosophical 
 tailor of Charing Cross. Place was a friend of Bentham, a 
 contributor to the ' Westminster Review,' and the author of 
 a work on the ' Principle of Population.' Melbourne had 
 long known him in connection with the Westminster elec- 
 tions, in which his influence always went a long way. He 
 was acquainted with most of the leading politicians of the 
 Radical party in London, with Burdett, Hobhouse, de
 
 AT THE HOME OFFICE 151 
 
 Lacy Evans, Hume, and Roebuck, and he was in touch 
 with the ruling spirits at Birmingham and elsewhere. His 
 shop was almost as good as a club. Politicians would 
 lounge in there and learn the latest news, while humbler 
 members of the party, struck perhaps with some bright idea 
 which might help on the cause, would go to him for advice. 
 If anything was in the wind Place was sure to know of it. 
 If any excessively prudent person, fearing lest some popular 
 ebullition might do harm, wished to whisper a hint in the 
 right quarter, Place was the best medium through which the 
 whisper might be sent. Notable men from the country, 
 like Thomas Attwood or Joseph Parkes, never failed to 
 compare notes with him when they went to London to 
 watch the progress of the Reform Bill at close quarters. 
 In Maclise's ' Portrait Gallery ' we see him sitting in his 
 shop, with a row of ledgers behind him, bolt upright, stiff 
 and angular, the hair brushed back from a brow rather high 
 than spacious, with a face slightly puzzled and introspective 
 in expression, and probably pale. Melbourne had, as we 
 have seen, at one time occupied a considerable space in 
 those ledgers from year to year ; but he was better off now, 
 and writs were unnecessary even as reminders. It would 
 hardly have done to go straight from the Home Office to 
 the oracle at Charing Cross ; but Melbourne had his brother 
 George to serve as a go-between, and a yet more trusty 
 agent, his private secretary, Mr. Thomas Young. This 
 person was a remarkable character. He had been recom- 
 mended to Melbourne by the Duke of Devonshire, who 
 had employed him on board his yacht when he went to St. 
 Petersburg to attend the coronation of the Emperor Nicho- 
 las, and found him useful. He was rough-hewn, vulgar, 
 presuming, but also shrewd and capable, and devoted to
 
 15- LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 those whose pay lie took. It would perhaps be doing him 
 no injustice to say that he had the manners and the fidelity 
 of a bull-dog. He had his master's freedom of speech, but 
 the bluffness which was acquired and half-affected in the 
 one was probably innate with the other. Melbourne made 
 him his private secretary. The appointment was a freak 
 of humour, almost a stroke of genius. Through him, Mel- 
 bourne was in close contact with the nether world. He 
 could learn at any time what was going on there. Place 
 was rather proud of being on confidential terms with the 
 occupant of the ante-room at the Home Office, and between 
 them they wielded a good deal of influence over the obscurer 
 movements of the party. 
 
 Earl Grey, a sincere reformer, but an aristocrat to the 
 core, looked with disdain and suspicion upon the agitation 
 which, much against his will, he had been the means of 
 exciting. He could hardly brook his own handiwork, and 
 was especially exercised over the proceedings of the Bir- 
 mingham Political Union. The members were giving 
 themselves a military organisation. They professed to be 
 peaceful in their aims, but they were already pledging them- 
 selves in a certain contingency not to pay taxes, and they 
 might any day turn out into the streets an army ready for 
 action. The movement, moreover, was extending. Unions 
 were being formed in London. Sir Francis Burdett was 
 the president of one of them. They were advised to carry 
 arms, and- were beginning to call themselves the National 
 Guard. Earl Grey was nervous, and urged Melbourne to 
 take action of some sort. Melbourne was not nervous. 
 His maxim was that if it was not clear what ought to be 
 done it was best to do nothing. It is perhaps a good thing 
 that we had a man of his easy temperament, but at the
 
 AT THE HOME OFFICE 1 53 
 
 same time a thoughtful, brooding, ingenious man, capable 
 on an emergency of great decision and energy, at the head 
 of home affairs. He consented to issue a proclamation, 
 warning the Unions against the military organisation they 
 seemed disposed to assume ; he made a private appeal to 
 Sir Francis Burdett ; he put himself in communication with 
 Attwood and Parkes at Birmingham ; and managed, by 
 mingled expostulation, forbearance, and good temper, to 
 control the storm. Danger was kept at bay till the success 
 of Lord Lyndhurst's motion in committee on the third 
 Reform Bill led to the resignation of ministers, and brought 
 the Duke of Wellington into power for three days. When 
 the Duke seemed to be preparing to take the revolution in 
 hand, and the soldiers in the barracks at Birmingham were 
 sharpening their swords for what might happen, the danger 
 was extreme ; but it disappeared when the ministry were re- 
 instated in office, and the passing of the Bill was rendered 
 certain by the consent of the King to create peers should 
 it be found necessary. 
 
 Throughout the final crisis in the Lords, Melbourne's 
 conduct was in harmony with his speech. Practically he 
 was a convinced reformer. He had no sympathy with the 
 waverers. He could not understand their scruples and 
 hesitations. He said to Greville that after having swallowed 
 the disfranchisement of the pocket boroughs, a really useful 
 part, as he deemed it, of the old system, he did not see why 
 they should strain at the rest. Palmerston was one of those 
 who were willing to cut the Bill down to suit the waverers 
 and make sure of a majority in the Lords. He wrote to 
 Melbourne in rather caustic terms, half upbraiding him for 
 not being in favour of the scheme, and for having talked of 
 something even more democratic. Melbourne's self-posses-
 
 154 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 sion and quiet balance of mind gave him some advantage 
 over those who took sides more passionately. He talked 
 lightly, after his wont, on all the aspects of the question, 
 much to the bewilderment of Greville, who was playing 
 rather fussily the part of negotiator between" the factions ; 
 but one thing he saw clearly. It was of no use passing a 
 measure which would not satisfy the popular demands. 
 That would be labour in vain and would make them all 
 fools. He was opposed to the creating of peers till the 
 necessity for it was proved. But he stood by the Bill as it 
 was, ' The Bill, the whole Bill, and nothing but the Bill,' 
 and felt an immense relief when it received the royal assent, 
 though doubtless, like another statesman, when another 
 Reform Bill was on its way to the statute-book, he felt, in 
 common with many of his colleagues, that it was ' a leap in 
 the dark.' The wisest men on the eve of a great change 
 can hardly be expected to forestall the more cheaply pur- 
 chased wisdom of the next generation.
 
 155 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 PREMIER 
 
 Further work at the Home Office — State of the country — Earl Grey's 
 apprehensions — Melbourne will have no repressive measures — The 
 Dorchester labourers — Robert Owen — Irish policy of the Govern- 
 ment — Growing dissensions in the Cabinet — The passing of the 
 Reform Bill has severed the bond of union — O'Connell and the 
 ' Rupert of debate ' — Proposed secularisation of Church property 
 in Ireland — ' Johnny upsets the coach' — Earl Grey resigns — Mel- 
 bourne accepts the premiership. 
 
 When the first Reform Parliament met in January 1833 
 the ship of the State may be said to have entered upon a 
 voyage in latitudes hitherto untravelled, where coast-lines, 
 rocks, shoals, and even the prevailing winds were all unknown. 
 The voyage was begun, moreover, amid the ground-swell of 
 a storm which had hardly subsided, and the vessel lurched 
 heavily at setting out. The agitation which led to the pass- 
 ing of the Reform Bill was social in its motives and in its 
 objects, it was political only in its means. It was not from 
 any mere love of symmetery, nor yet as an assertion of 
 right, that the people had demanded and obtained a new 
 House of Commons. They were bent upon the redress of 
 evils which were sorely felt. The country seemed to be going 
 to ruin. The towns swarmed with unemployed workmen. 
 The rural districts were swamped with pauperism. Every 
 man of note had his patent remedy. Attwood believed
 
 156 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 that the one thing wanted was a paper currency. The 
 Birmingham Political Union originated in a crusade against 
 the despotism of bullion. Other specifics had their abettors. 
 The number of notices of new Bills at the beginning of the 
 session gave some amusement, and more alarm, to the older 
 members. It was at any rate clear that there would be 
 much disappointment, and what would happen when certain 
 fond illusions were dispelled could hardly be conjectured. 
 
 The disturbed state of the country kept Melbourne fully 
 employed. The Home Office was the chief centre of 
 interest so far as administration went. It was one of the 
 peculiar features of the situation that the upper classes were 
 in a state of panic. They saw a ghost in every shadow, and 
 scented the evidence of far-reaching combinations in every 
 petty beerhouse club. Melbourne was not in advance of 
 his age, especially on the labour question, in which so much 
 progress has been made within the last quarter of a century, 
 but his influence was on the whole soothing and restraining. 
 It is also important to remember that labour, poor-law relief 
 in aid of wages, and magisterial jurisdiction were so much 
 mixed up together, that much which would seem strange 
 now was then quite natural. We find him writing in ex- 
 planation of the law to a Dorsetshire magistrate : ' The 
 farmers,' he says, ' stand to the labourers in the same rela- 
 tion as the master manufacturers stand to their workmen. 
 The law with respect to both is substantially the same. By 
 that law, whether wise or unwise, unions and combinations 
 for the purpose of raising or of lowering wages, provided 
 they do not resort to violence, fraud, intimidation, illegal 
 oaths, or acts in themselves illegal, are legal.' He had 
 apparently been asked whether the magistrates should not 
 advise the farmers to dismiss from their employment
 
 PREMIER 157 
 
 labourers who had joined the union, and having stated the 
 law he bases on it a conclusive appeal. ' How then is it 
 possible for the Government to advise the magistrates, or 
 for the magistrates to advise the farmers, to discharge their 
 men for doing that which may not only be legal, but just 
 and reasonable ? ' At the same time he regards these com- 
 binations as pernicious, and we learn from another letter 
 that he would have been glad to hear that the farmers had 
 refused to employ labourers belonging to the union, if they 
 did so of their own accord. He also thinks that the farmers 
 should receive every encouragement and support in such 
 proceedings, ' always taking it for granted that they have 
 themselves acted justly, and have not generally attempted 
 to reduce the wages of the labourers below their fair and 
 natural level.' 
 
 There was no lack of incentives to vigorous action on 
 the part of Melbourne's colleagues. We have already seen 
 Earl Grey taking alarm at the military organisation affected 
 by the people at Birmingham. His apprehensions are 
 again excited by a meeting which Mr. Attwood summoned 
 for May, to discuss the policy of the Government. The 
 object, he admits, is not unlawful, but he regards the means 
 employed, the calling upon the people to come together 
 ' once more ' in their countless masses as at least dangerous 
 to the public peace, and he thus winds up : ' That it is 
 necessary, however, to take measures for checking proceed- 
 ings, the avowed aim of which is to overawe the King and 
 the Parliament by a display of physical force, appears to me 
 incontestable.' Lord Lansdowne is also impressed with the 
 need of vigour. He has heard of one instance of successful 
 resistance to the payment of the new house tax, and he 
 writes at once to express his strong conviction of the mis-
 
 153 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 chievous effect it may produce. He 'sees every appearance, 
 not only in London but in almost every town, of the for- 
 mation of a Radical party, not yet strong in numbers, and 
 much less in influence, but which any semblance of triumph 
 would call into activity.' He therefore trusts that 'the 
 means may be found for preventing any further effectual 
 resistance to the law, for which no effort should be spared.' 
 The Duke of Wellington calls Melbourne's attention to the 
 large number of unions or societies that exist in Hampshire, 
 and holds himself ready to execute any instructions he may 
 receive. The proceedings of the Trades Unions had caused 
 some anxiety at Windsor Castle. The King writes to Mel- 
 bourne through his private secretary, pointing out' that the 
 unions avow their intention of appealing to brute force, and 
 that though the varying interests of the different trades may 
 prevent any general combination, they may nevertheless 
 do much harm to the ' commerce and prosperity ' of the 
 country. ' Upon the whole,' so runs the closing passage, 
 with its characteristic italics, ' the King cannot lose sight of 
 the importance of endeavouring to impose some check to 
 the progress of this evil, and to adopt some preventive 
 measures, instead of trusting to its decay after the edifice 
 shall have been injured, and he is anxious that the question 
 should be brought under the consideration of his Govern- 
 ment at the approaching meeting of the Cabinet.' Mel- 
 bourne's reply is equally grave and amusing. He ' partakes 
 of the opinion ' expressed by his Majesty, ' that the preva- 
 lence of these combinations affords reason to apprehend 
 that there must be something in the law of the country on 
 the subject inadequate and defective, and which requires to 
 be amended.' But ' the difficulty is to discover where the 
 inadequacy and defect lies, and how it is to be supplied or
 
 PREMIER 159 
 
 corrected.' He gives the King a summary of the laws that 
 have been passed on the subject from the time of Edward I. 
 This early date shows, he says, ' the antiquity of the mis- 
 chief.' That all these laws, thirty-six in number, were 
 failures, is proved by the fact that they were all repealed in 
 the reign of his Majesty's predecessor, when the law then 
 in force was passed, and it is probable that this new law 
 will prove a failure like the rest. The letter concludes in 
 the same style of solemn rigmarole, which was nevertheless 
 suited to the occasion and adapted to the royal capacities. 
 ' Upon the whole, Viscount Melbourne humbly trusts that 
 your Majesty will rest assured that the subject will be con- 
 sidered by his Majesty's servants with that circumspection 
 which is suggested by its evident difficulty, and at the same 
 time with the firmness and determination which are required 
 by its dangerous and formidable character.' 
 
 Melbourne resisted all these incentives to strain or to 
 change the law. He kept on the even tenor of his way. 
 He had a supreme faculty for seeing where nothing could 
 be done, and he had a contempt for fuss. Some ministers 
 would have been tempted to make a reputation out of the 
 disorder which prevailed. They would have brought in 
 Bills of a hundred clauses. They would have made moving 
 statements in Parliament, and glorified their own sagacity 
 in the discovery of remedies. They would probably have 
 acquired much immediate fame by so doing. The ' friends 
 of order ' would have rallied to them, and the country 
 would have been called upon to be grateful that the interests 
 of society were in safe hands. This is what Sidmouth 
 would have done, and it is perhaps what one or two of his 
 colleagues would have done if they had been in his place. 
 Melbourne had a keen scepticism, and at the same time a
 
 l6o LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 large faith which is sometimes its mute companion. He 
 placed little trust in Government interference where ordinary 
 passions and interests are concerned, and he had a strong 
 confidence in the self-adjusting and self-rectifying tendencies 
 of society. ' Better do nothing,' ' hetter leave things alone,' 
 were with him no maxims of indolence, but the dictates of 
 solid sense and natural insight. Probably the world would 
 have got on much better than it has done if the same 
 maxims had been more generally observed. 
 
 On due occasion Melbourne could take any amount of 
 trouble, and show that he was not lacking in firmness. 
 This was seen in the case of the Dorchester labourers and 
 of the efforts made on their behalf. They had been found 
 guilty of belonging to a secret society whose members were 
 bound together by illegal oaths. They were sentenced to 
 transportation, and, to make the sentence more impres- 
 sive, they were conducted straight from the court of justice 
 to the ship which was to convey them to Sydney. The 
 National Trades Unions took up their cause, and a great 
 agitation was set on foot for their recall. But sympathy for 
 them was a mere incident in a general movement in advocacy 
 of the claims of labour as opposed to capital, and of the 
 poor as the victims of the rich. Robert Owen, who cared 
 nothing for politics, was one of its leaders. He was an 
 unselfish but dreamy philanthropist, who had his own views 
 of the way in which the world was to be regenerated, and 
 in default of better methods fell in with the idea that 
 working men should work for each other. Hitherto they 
 had toiled for the wealthy ; henceforth let them toil for 
 themselves. All that they wanted was the machinery of 
 exchange, and this could be easily contrived. The Dorset- 
 shire labourers were the victims of an accursed system.
 
 PREMIER l6l 
 
 which it was high time to get rid of, and the first step 
 towards the freedom of industry could not be taken in a 
 more signal way than by compelling the Government to 
 reston- those unhappy men to their native land. Accord- 
 ingly a grand demonstration of the trades of London was 
 organised for April 21, to be held in \\"hite Conduit Fields, 
 from which place the many thousands that might be expected 
 to assemble were to march in procession to Whitehall. 
 Owen, who was most anxious that everything should go on 
 peacefully, sent Melbourne a few days beforehand a copy 
 of the petition which he was to be asked to present to the 
 King, wishing to know whether he would be willing to 
 receive it. Willing, certainly, was Melbourne's reply, if it 
 were brought to him without any show of force or menace, 
 but not otherwise. Owen understood what was meant, and 
 would have persuaded his friends to entrust the presentation 
 of the petition to a few safe hands, but this was deemed far 
 below the importance of the occasion. The procession was 
 the great thing, greater even than the petition, and to 
 Whitehall they would go. Melbourne made all the prepa- 
 rations which prudence could suggest. Special constables 
 were sworn in, and the military held in readiness, but kept 
 carefully out of sight. When the eventful day arrived, 
 some twenty-five or thirty thousand men, with flags and 
 bands, streamed through the streets of London on their 
 way to the Home Office. We have seen many such sights 
 since, but they were not so familiar then, and Melbourne is 
 entitled to all the honour which attends a novel experiment. 
 The business of the procession was to escort the deputies, 
 and having left them at the Home Office, it moved on to 
 Kennington Common to await the result. Owen was one 
 of the deputies, and the Rev. Arthur Wade, vicar of St. 
 
 M
 
 162 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 Nicholas, Warwick, who had bestowed his benediction on 
 many a meeting of the Birmingham Political Union, attired 
 in ' cassock, gown, and bands,' attended in the capacity of 
 chaplain. Melbourne, who had watched the procession 
 from the windows, refused to see them. He informed 
 them, by the Under-Secretary, that he could not receive a 
 petition presented with such a display of physical force, 
 but that he would be ready to receive it any other day if 
 brought to him in a proper manner, and lay it before the 
 King. The result was duly reported at Kennington, with 
 the addition of this official mandate : ' 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.' 
 
 Melbourne's administration of the Home Office at a 
 highly critical period must be regarded as a success. He 
 showed adequate energy where energy was required. His 
 slowness to act, resulting from excessive reflectiveness rather 
 than from indolence, was an advantage. The characteristic 
 qualities of his intellect suited the circumstances with which 
 he had to deal. The Government, as a whole, were not 
 equally fortunate. They passed two great measures ; they 
 abolished negro slavery in the Colonies, and they amended 
 the Poor Laws. These measures in all probability could 
 not have been carried if it had not been for the authority 
 and force imparted to the Legislature by the Reform Act, 
 but they nevertheless represented the conclusions at which 
 thoughtful men of all parties had arrived, and can hardly be 
 regarded as the exclusive triumph of the Whig administra- 
 tion. Melbourne had not much to do with either. His 
 experience at the Home Office threw much light upon the 
 question of the Poor Laws, and must have convinced him
 
 PREMIER 163 
 
 that some change was absolutely necessary ; but he had not 
 that large acquaintance with social and economic principles 
 which would have enabled him to take an active part in the 
 framing of a new system, and he had hardly steel enough 
 in his composition to be in hearty sympathy with the 
 harsher features of the measure which was introduced and 
 carried. He had not much to do in the House of Lords 
 outside of his own department. The Poor Law Amendment 
 Bill naturally belonged to it, but its successful advocacy 
 demanded powers which he did not possess, and it fell as 
 of right into the hands of Lord Brougham, whose encyclo- 
 paedic knowledge and versatile talents were equal to any 
 task. But these two great measures, though they have 
 conferred a lasting splendour upon the first Reform Parlia- 
 ment, had little to do with its distinctive and determining 
 policy, or with its premature fate. The destiny that awaited 
 it is still a wonder, though it cannot be regarded as a 
 mystery. 
 
 The administration of Earl Grey was the first attempt 
 of the Liberals to govern the country after an exile from 
 office of half a century. It was composed of men who had 
 not been accustomed to work together, and between whom 
 the ties of principle were frail. Some of them had been 
 associated with previous Tory Governments, and only pro- 
 fessed a slow and modified conversion. The more liberal 
 element was not of the same fibre throughout. Earl Grey 
 and Lord Althorp were the two members of the Cabinet 
 who stood in the closest confidence with each other, but 
 even they were extremely divergent in their sympathies. 
 Aristocratic and democratic— these were the opposite poles 
 to which they tended. Taking the Cabinet as a whole, 
 they were surprised and forced into concert on the question 
 
 M 2
 
 104 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 of Parliamentary Reform. The events of the hour, the 
 attitude of public opinion, and the declared views of two 
 or three who were marked out as leaders, drove them to a 
 swift decision, and when once the contest was entered upon 
 they were compelled to keep together. When the Bill was 
 passed, the bond, which rather held than united them, was 
 severed. Other questions then came to the front, and the 
 process of disintegration set in rapidly. 
 
 It seems like anticipating history by sixty years to say 
 that Ireland was the rock on which the Government 
 foundered. This is not the place to enter at any length 
 into the discussion of Irish politics, but we are dealing with 
 Lord Melbourne's career, and we have to show how it came 
 to pass that he suddenly rose to the highest office in the 
 State. In showing this it will also be shown how, though 
 certainly not endowed with supreme qualifications for that 
 exalted position, he succeeded in retaining it so long. It 
 will be found that while the way in which Irish questions 
 were treated was the great defect of Earl Grey's administra- 
 tion, it was the redeeming feature of Lord Melbourne's. 
 The difference is one that does him honour, and all the 
 more so since it was largely due to the influence of his 
 personal character, which, whatever its deficiencies, was full 
 of sympathy and swayed by a love of justice. 
 
 There was a sanguine hope that when the Catholic 
 Emancipation Act became law Ireland would enter upon a 
 period of repose. There must have been disappointment 
 in any case unless other remedial measures had quickly 
 followed, since religious intolerance, avowed and practised 
 by the State, was only one of the evils from which Ireland 
 suffered. But it was the most irritating and exacerbating 
 grievance, and if due effect had been given to the eman-
 
 PREMIER 165 
 
 cipating statute, a pacific influence would have been diffused 
 through all classes, and the accomplishment of other reforms 
 would have been rendered easier. But the law was allowed 
 to remain a dead letter. For all practical purposes, so far 
 as local administration was concerned, it might as well not 
 have been passed at all. It threw open official appointments 
 to Catholics ; their religion was no longer a legal barrier 
 to employment in the service of the State. But of what 
 avail was this if the Government steadfastly refused to 
 employ them ? Their case was made worse rather than 
 better. To be disabled by law was bad enough, but to be 
 disabled by the arbitrary will of those with whom the power 
 of appointment rested was far more mortifying. If the 
 Tories had been in office this practical exclusion from the 
 benefits of the Emancipation Act might have been under- 
 stood. However inexcusable, it would at least have been 
 intelligible. But the Whigs were in office, the very people 
 who had been preaching Liberalism for half a century. What 
 could be said of them except that they were as intolerant 
 as their predecessors, and differed from them only in being 
 hypocrites as well as bigots. 
 
 If the spirit of the Emancipation Act had been allowed 
 to control the Irish policy of the Government, all posts of 
 honour, emolument, or trust throughout Ireland would have 
 been thrown open to Catholics as freely as to Protestants ; 
 and as the Catholics were a long way in arrear, the preference 
 should have been given to them till the balance was fairly 
 even. It would have been especially expedient, to say 
 nothing of justice, to recognise the claims of O'Connell. 
 He was the most representative man in Ireland. All eyes 
 were turned to him, and any honour done to him would 
 have been accented by six millions of Catholics as done
 
 1 66 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 to themselves. There was no reason why a place 
 should not have been found for him in the Government. 
 He had not then committed himself to the agitation for 
 repeal. The changes he desired as regards tithe and the 
 Irish Church were such as men like Althorp and Russell 
 were eager to accomplish. No man was more amenable 
 to good treatment than O'Connell. It was relentless and 
 irrational hostility that made him impracticable. Yet he 
 was held at arm's length, refused the position at the Bar 
 which belonged to him by customary right, and treated as a 
 political pariah. It was an act of transcendent folly, and 
 both countries have suffered for it ever since. The person 
 chiefly to blame is Earl Grey himself, who, with all his 
 excellences, was cold, reserved, and proud, full of starched 
 traditions, with no feeling for what was generous, urbane, or 
 even politic. The mischief was completed when he sent to 
 Ireland as Chief Secretary Mr. Stanley, the late Lord 
 Derby, a man of infinite ability, splendid in his very 
 defects, but by no means fitted to be the bearer of an olive 
 branch to an impoverished and distracted people who were 
 willing to forget their old resentments, but for that reason 
 only the more sensitive to new affronts. Melbourne saw 
 and deplored the mischief which was certain to ensue. As 
 Home Secretary, it was within his province to exercise some 
 control over Irish policy. But he could hardly venture to 
 overrule the Premier, and he probably felt how hopeless it 
 was to expect from the fiery Chief Secretary the deference 
 which he, when holding the same position, had shown to 
 Lord Lansdowne. He might have resigned, but he perhaps 
 reflected that this would do no good, and that it would be 
 wiser to reserve himself for better opportunities. His own 
 sense of the failure of the Emancipation Act was expressed
 
 PREMIER 167 
 
 in a pithy sentence, the freedom of which may be excused 
 for the sake of its truth : ' What all the wise men promised 
 
 has not happened, and what all the d d fools said 
 
 would happen has come to pass.' 
 
 Mr. Stanley had no sooner set foot in Dublin Castle 
 than the duel between him and O'Connell began. The 
 question first fought out was the right of holding public 
 meetings. The Chief Secretary had the law on his side, and 
 the meetings were proclaimed. O'Connell persisted and 
 was prosecuted. A true bill was found against him ; he 
 argued the case on technical grounds with the ingenuity of 
 a lawyer, but at last submitted to a hostile verdict, no 
 doubt in the full persuasion that it would lead to nothing, 
 as the result proved. He was never called up for judgment, 
 and he went on holding his meetings. The Chief Secretary 
 had far greater difficulties on his hands. A tithe war was 
 raging over the greater part of Ireland. The peasantry 
 refused to pay, the clergy were unable to enforce payment, 
 and were in great distress. A notable expedient was then 
 adopted. The Government advanced to the clergy some 
 portion of the tithe by way of relief, and undertook to collect 
 the tithes themselves, the Lord-Lieutenant becoming, as 
 O'Connell said, the tithe proctor for all Ireland. But the 
 Government met with no better success than the clergy, 
 and the collection of the impost was virtually abandoned. 
 Evictions were at the same time being carried out on a large 
 scale. The abolition of the forty-shilling freeholders had 
 deprived the small holdings of their political value, and 
 landlords were throwing them together into larger farms. 
 The evicted tenants had no alternative but to bid against 
 each other, and rack-rents were racked still higher. There 
 were distress and confusion everywhere, but a reformed
 
 168 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 Parliament was about to assemble, and all eyes turned to 
 it wistfully for relief. 
 
 Such was the situation of affairs at the beginning of 1833, 
 and events soon moved rapidly. The Speech from the 
 Throne foreshadowed a Coercion Bill, and certain measures 
 for the reform of the Irish Church. The Coercion Bill was 
 brought into the House of Lords by Earl Grey. We have 
 only to draw upon our recollections of ten years ago to learn 
 the case he made out and the remedies he proposed. Only 
 in one respect did the measure go further than others of 
 more recent times. It provided that martial law should be 
 set up in such districts as the Lord-Lieutenant thought fit 
 to proclaim. The Bill passed rapidly through the House of 
 Lords, and was sent down to the Commons, where it was 
 introduced by Lord Althorp. He went through his task 
 perfunctorily. It was obviously one from which he recoiled. 
 Lord John Russell, in his ' Recollections,' thus describes the 
 scene : ' The Liberal majority were disappointed, sullen, 
 and ready to break out into mutiny against their chief. Mr. 
 Stanley, who was sitting next to me, greatly annoyed at the 
 aspect of the House, said to me, ' I meant not to have 
 spoken till to-morrow night, but I find I must speak to- 
 night.' He took Lord Althorp's box of official papers, and 
 went up to a room where he could look over them quietly. 
 After the debate had proceeded two or three hours longer, 
 with no change of temper in the House, Stanley rose.' 
 Then follows such a recital of thrilling incidents as we in 
 later times have been too familiar with. He recalled to the 
 recollection of the House that O'Connell had spoken of them 
 as ' 658 scoundrels.' ' In a tempest of scorn and indignation 
 he excited the anger of the men so designated against the 
 author of the calumny. The House which two hours before
 
 PREMIER 169 
 
 seemed about to yield to the great agitator was now almost 
 ready to tear him to pieces. In the midst of the storm which 
 his eloquence had raised, Stanley sat down, having achieved 
 one of the greatest triumphs ever won by the powers of 
 oratory.' 
 
 The ' Rupert of Debate ' had won the victory. The 
 Coercion Bill passed as a matter 01 course, and we shall 
 presently hear of it again linked with remarkable conse- 
 quences. The Bill for the reform of the Irish Church, 
 brought in by Lord Althorp, on that principle of equipoise 
 between coercion and concession which has marked most of 
 our Irish legislation, raised a question which was destined 
 to remain unsettled for years to come, and to produce a 
 ministerial catastrophe almost at the outset. It provided 
 for the abolition often out of the twenty-two Irish bishopries, 
 lor the extinction of Church cess, and for a general revision 
 of the revenues of the Church. It was anticipated that a 
 surplus of 3,000,000/. would be shown over and above the 
 Church's needs, and the Bill proposed to place it at the 
 disposal of Parliament for public purposes. This is the 
 famous Appropriation clause which wrought so much poli- 
 tical havoc — then and afterwards. It was in the Bill as 
 originally introduced, but was dropped on the motion of 
 Mr. Stanley, and ultimately a Commission of Inquiry was 
 appointed. The correspondence published in Lord John 
 Russell's ' Life ' shows that there had been serious dissen- 
 sions in the Cabinet the previous autumn while the Bill was 
 in preparation. Althorp, Lord John, and Lord Durham 
 were for appropriating a large portion of the revenues of the 
 Irish Church to education. Lord John even went so far as 
 to tender his resignation ; but Earl Grey stoutly resisted the 
 principle of secularising Church property, and he gave in,
 
 170 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 swayed partly by Lord Althorp's example, and partly by the 
 advice of Lord Holland, whom Earl Grey begged him to 
 consult before coming to any decision. Under these cir- 
 cumstances, it is difficult to understand how the clause got 
 into the Bill. At any rate it was soon expunged, and the 
 question seemed to be amicably settled on the basis of a 
 working compromise. The following year, 1834, a Bill was 
 introduced for a final adjustment of the tithes in Ireland, 
 with a view to relieve the occupier while respecting the 
 interests of the Church. The principle of secular appro- 
 priation was not directly raised by the Bill, but it was alive 
 in the Cabinet, where opinions were found to be irrecon- 
 cilably opposed. Still, there seemed to be no prospect of 
 an immediate outbreak. Both parties were anxious to w r ork 
 together as far as they could, and it was understood that 
 they could all give an honest support to the Bill. But Lord 
 John was always troubled with a belligerent sense of con- 
 sistency, and it precipitated an explosion. He imagined 
 that Mr. Stanley, in speaking for the Bill, had let fall some 
 expressions signifying his determination to maintain the 
 Irish Church as it was, and he felt that honesty required 
 him to give similar publicity to his own views. He did so. 
 He said, in effect, that in his opinion the revenues of the 
 Irish Church were larger than necessary for the religious 
 and moral instruction of the persons belonging to that 
 Church, and that if the question arose in a practical shape, 
 he should be prepared to act upon that opinion, even 
 though it should exact from him the sacrifice of parting 
 with his friends. The declaration was received with im- 
 mense cheering. Stanley pencilled a few words to Sir James 
 Graham, ' Johnny has upset the coach.' There was some 
 trouble at the next Cabinet meeting. The final push which
 
 PREMIER 171 
 
 sent the vehicle clean over was given by Mr. Ward, the 
 member for St. Alban's, who embodied in a motion sharp 
 and precise the principle which Lord John had dealt with 
 in general terms. The debate on this motion had not 
 proceeded far when Lord Althorp stated that he had just 
 received information which induced him to beg that it might 
 be adjourned till the following Monday. When Monday 
 came it was announced that Earl Ripon, Mr. Stanley, Sir 
 James Graham, and the Duke of Richmond had left the 
 Government. 
 
 This was the first rent in the Whig administration ; it 
 was soon followed by a more serious one. The Coercion 
 Act of the year before would soon lapse, and its renewal was 
 thought necessary. It has already been said that the most 
 offensive feature in the restrictive policy of the Government 
 was the power given to the Lord- Lieutenant to forbid by 
 proclamation the holding of public meetings. It was this 
 that led to the prosecution of O'Connell. He had persisted, 
 and for some time there was no further interference. The 
 Coercion Act of the previous year had given the Lord- 
 Lieutenant power to proclaim meetings, and the question 
 had arisen in some quarters whether it was necessary to 
 renew this power in the new Act. It is a tangled misunder- 
 standing, but it can easily be made clear if one or two 
 points are kept in view, and it is surely worth even now as 
 much attention as is given to an ordinary police case. Lord 
 Wellesley was now Lord-Lieutenant, and his son-in-law, 
 Mr. Littleton, Chief Secretary. In his official correspondence 
 with Earl Grey, Lord ^Vellesley had expressed his conviction 
 that it would be necessary to renew the Coercion Act as it 
 stood, with the exception of the court-martial clauses. He 
 had done so as lately as June 11 ; but on the 21st he wrote
 
 1/2 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 in saj that he thought the clauses relating to public meetings 
 might be dispensed with. The sudden change awoke sus- 
 picions in Earl Grey's mind. This last letter seemed to 
 betoken some private correspondence of which he was 
 unaware, as indeed it did. The confusion began with Lord 
 Brougham, who wrote to Littleton suggesting that he should 
 use his influence with Lord Wellesley to induce him to drop 
 his demand for a renewal of the public meeting clauses. 
 He did so ; Lord Wellesley yielded, and the letter of the 
 21st to Earl Grey was the result. 
 
 Littleton told Althorp of this letter, and Althorp agreed 
 with him that in the face of such a declaration from 
 the Lord-Lieutenant it would be unconstitutional to ask 
 Parliament to renew the clauses. Anxious to propitiate 
 O'Connell, Littleton asked Althorp whether he might not 
 tell him privately, and as in confidence, that the precise 
 form and extent of the new Coercion Bill were not decided 
 upon, and Althorp said that he saw no harm in his doing 
 this, if he went no further. But Littleton went further. He 
 gave O'Connell to understand that neither Althorp nor him- 
 self approved of the clauses in question, and that they would 
 find no place in the Bill. So far no harm was done. But 
 harm was done in the Cabinet. Earl Grey was affronted 
 at the discovery of what had been going on without his 
 knowledge. He insisted upon holding Lord Wellesley to 
 his first view. He obtained from him another letter 
 virtually recalling that of the 21st. He had even talked 
 over Lord Brougham, the author of the whole proceeding. 
 Lord Althorp was naturally indignant. He divided the 
 Cabinet upon the clauses, but failed. On going home he 
 wrote to Earl Grey declaring that he would be unable 
 to move those clauses in the House of Commons, and
 
 PREMIER 173 
 
 tendering his resignation, in the hope apparently that this 
 might have more weight than his arguments. But it had 
 no such effect. Earl Grey refused to budge an inch, and 
 on being assured that his resignation would upset the 
 Government, Althorp reluctantly yielded. Accordingly the 
 Bill was introduced by Earl Grey in its original form, and 
 the next day O'Connell exploded. He told the House of 
 Commons all that Littleton had told him, and taxed Lord 
 Althorp with insincerity. Lord Althorp could hesitate no 
 longer. ' The pig's killed,' he whispered to Lord John 
 Russell, who sat beside him, and forthwith resigned. Earl 
 Grey sent Lord Althorp's letter of resignation to the King, 
 and sent his own along with it. 
 
 Such was the premature and ignominious collapse of the 
 administration which carried the Reform Bill. It was an 
 act of suicide. The really irreconcilable elements had been 
 purged away a few months before. The administration was 
 now fairly homogeneous, and might well have gone on, but for 
 personal susceptibilities which were out of place in a great 
 statesman. If Earl Grey had but accepted the assurance of 
 the Lord-Lieutenant that the public-meeting clauses of the 
 Coercion Act were no longer necessary, careless as to the 
 way in which this conclusion had been reached, and too 
 careful of the public service to be childishly jealous of his 
 authority, the harmony of the Cabinet need never have been 
 for a moment disturbed. The Bill would have been im- 
 proved, O'Connell would have been conciliated by a proof of 
 confidence and a sign of leniency, due deference would have 
 been shown to the more liberal section of the Cabinet, and 
 the next ten years might have had a nobler history. It was 
 a great default of public duty, but the deed was done. A 
 Cabinet,' says Lord John Russell, ' was summoned for the
 
 174 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 following evening. Meeting Lord Melbourne in the Park 
 he said, " I believe we are summoned to-night to consider 
 a decision already made." At the meeting of the Cabinet 
 in the evening, Lord Grey placed before us the letters con- 
 taining his own resignation and that of Lord Althorp, which 
 he had sent early in the morning to the King. He likewise 
 laid before us the King's gracious acceptance of his resigna- 
 tion, and he gave to Lord Melbourne a sealed letter from 
 his Majesty. Lord Melbourne, upon opening the letter, 
 found in it an invitation to him to undertake the formation 
 of a Government. Seeing that nothing was to be done that 
 night, I left the Cabinet and went to the opera.' 
 
 The King's selection of Melbourne was a surprise to 
 most people, and probably to none more so than to 
 Melbourne himself. He may well have been dazed for a 
 moment by surveying the giddy height which he was invited 
 to ascend. He knew that the task involved infinite trouble, 
 and he did not like trouble, but neither did he shrink from 
 it. There is nothing like the energy of which a strong but 
 inert nature is capable when roused to exertion, as Melbourne 
 himself had shown more than once, and was to show again. 
 What is certain is that he at once developed some of the 
 qualities required by his position. More dignified or more 
 constitutional action was never exhibited by any minister 
 than Melbourne displayed in his negotiations with the 
 King. After assuring himself that none of his colleagues 
 who might seem to have a prior claim would take the post, 
 he accepted the King's invitation, but in doing so he 
 imposed conditions. The King wished him to consult with 
 Wellington, Peel, and Stanley, and endeavour to bring about 
 a coalition. This was the King's favourite idea. Melbourne 
 told his Majesty it was impossible. But he acted with
 
 PREMIER 175 
 
 perfect openness. He sent to the persons named copies of 
 the King's communication and of his own reply, and they 
 agreed with him that the thing was a dream. The King put 
 to him a series of questions as to the persons he would 
 think of introducing into the Government, and as to the 
 policy he would pursue. Melbourne assured the King that 
 he had no intention of making a sudden change in the 
 character of the administration, but he declined to adopt 
 ' a principle of exclusion ' as impolitic and dangerous, and 
 reserved to himself ' the power of recommending to your 
 Majesty at any future time any one of your Majesty's 
 subjects who is qualified by law to fully serve your 
 Majesty.' The King had set forth in writing his full assur- 
 ance that he could rely upon any administration presided 
 over by Lord Melbourne 'to resist further encroachment 
 upon the prerogative of the Crown, the Church Establish- 
 ments in England and Ireland, and upon the character, the 
 responsibility, and the constitutional share in the Legislature 
 of the aristocracy of the country.' To some of the points 
 raised by the King's fussy susceptibility it was not worth 
 while to take exception, but on practical questions Melbourne 
 left no room for misapprehension. ' Your Majesty will not,' 
 he said, ' be surprised that Viscount Melbourne should be 
 anxious to state that neither he nor his colleagues can, by 
 acquiescing in the above-mentioned sentiments and expres- 
 sions, be considered to preclude themselves from offering 
 to your Majesty such measures for the reformation of the 
 hierarchy in England and Ireland as may appear to be 
 advisable.' He also told the King that the public meeting 
 clauses in the Coercion Bill could not possibly be renewed. 
 The reservations here made are in harmony with the views 
 expressed in Melbourne's speech in the House of Commons,
 
 176 lord Melbourne 
 
 on the dismissal of the ministry of All the Talents twenty- 
 eight years before. He declined to bind himself by pledges. 
 He held himself free to offer any advice which he might 
 deem necessary. He entered upon the Premiership with 
 unshackled hands. The King assented, but reluctantly, and 
 soon began to turn his thoughts elsewhere.
 
 177 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 EGO ET REX MEUS 
 
 Difficulties of office — The pranks of Lord Brougham — Lord Althorp 
 goes to the House of Lords — Melbourne's letter to the King — His 
 interview with the King at Brighton— Summarily dismissed and 
 Sir Robert Peel sent for— Failure of an unconstitutional experiment 
 — Melbourne avenged — Premier again — How he manages the King 
 — Lord Brougham disposed of — Mrs. Norton ; a second social mis- 
 adventure — Hostility of the Lords— Lord John's 'Finality' — 
 Radical discontent — Death of the King. 
 
 Lord Melbourne entered upon his new duties with the 
 hearty assent of his friends, and with as much goodwill as 
 could be expected on the part of his opponents. He was 
 not credited with ambition. He had never been involved 
 in eager rivalries. He had no great qualities to parade, 
 and he knew it. He gave himself no airs and excited no 
 envy. He had not sought the honours of the Premiership. 
 He had simply picked up the prize which was thrown at 
 his feet, as any other man would have done in the same 
 position. Above all, he was known to be amiable and con- 
 ciliatory, and there were some perhaps among his political 
 associates who regarded these qualities as a special recom- 
 mendation, since they might be made to throw some ad- 
 vantages in their way. 
 
 Among these associates was Lord Brougham, whom the 
 present generation remembers as a wandering star of vast 
 
 N
 
 1/3 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 magnitude but of dimmed lustre. For twenty years he 
 had played a great part in the public life of England. His 
 abilities were unquestionable, but his character was uncer- 
 tain and eccentric. His egotism was unbounded, and it is 
 doubtful by whom he was most dreaded, by his enemies or 
 by his friends. We have seen that at one time he taunted 
 Melbourne with being a Canningite, but that did not 
 prevent him from offering his services to Canning when 
 Canning became minister. He wrote Lord Althorp a letter 
 of bitter reproach for resigning office, and thus breaking up 
 the administration of Earl Grey, though it was he who set 
 the secret machinery going which forced him to resign. As 
 the keeper of the King's conscience, he naturally thought 
 that his proper place was at the King's side, and he used 
 the artifices of political terror as ecclesiastics in former 
 days used those of religion. But the King had a ready 
 means of relief. He had only to seek the company of the 
 Queen and his children and the spell was gone. Improv- 
 ing upon the choice of Lord Bacon, the Chancellor took all 
 politics for his province, and was as ready to intermeddle 
 in the business of his colleagues as to exercise absolute 
 authority in that which he deemed his own. He privately 
 boasted that it was he who had made Melbourne Prime 
 Minister, and he acted as if their respective parts were those 
 of master and man. He laid important Bills on the table 
 of the House, one of them involving a constitutional change 
 in the functions of the House of Lords, without having so 
 much as mentioned them in the Cabinet. Finally, as soon 
 as Parliament was up, he went on an oratorical tour in 
 Scotland, taking the Great Seal with him, and indulged 
 in a series of extravagances which seemed to combine the 
 parts of a mountebank and a cheap-jack.
 
 EGO ET REX IMEUS 179 
 
 The King was highly incensed when he learned that the 
 symbol of royal authority was travelling post-chaise through 
 the Highlands, and the reports which reached him increased 
 his indignation. A tedious correspondence was thrust 
 upon Melbourne, who had to soothe the royal irritation and 
 make himself in some sense responsible for proceedings 
 which filled him with disgust. To dismiss the offender was 
 impossible, and equally so to attempt to put any restraint 
 upon him. It would have been like trying to draw out 
 leviathan with a hook. Happily he had more sensible 
 colleagues, but they were not all considerate. Lord Lans- 
 downe was the President of the Council, and a man whom 
 one might suppose to be duly impressed with a sense of 
 ministerial responsibility, yet we find him at this critical 
 moment, when the new administration was hardly under 
 way, taking offence because by some mischance the names 
 of two persons in whom he was interested were left out of 
 the Irish Poor Law Commission, and tendering his resig- 
 nation. Lord Melbourne's fund of good nature, which sup- 
 plied the place and answered some of the ends of states- 
 manship, was soon drawn upon. He wrote letters of ex- 
 planation and apology to Lord Lansdowne's disappointed 
 friends, consulted Lord Lansdowne himself over the next 
 vacant Garter, and the offence was condoned. 
 
 A more serious embarrassment was the prospect of losing 
 Lord Althorp's services in the House of Commons. Earl 
 Spencer was in feeble health, and his death a contingency 
 to be reckoned with before long. His son might remain a 
 member of the Government when transferred to the House 
 of Lords, but that would be no equivalent for his absence 
 from the House of which he was the idolised leader. The 
 attachment felt for him was extraordinary. This is the 
 
 n 2
 
 I So LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 common testimony of men of all parties, and nothing could 
 be more creditable both to him and to the House. For he 
 was not a man of shining parts, nor even of great ability. 
 His manners were awkward, he was slow of utterance, and 
 had no easy or rapid powers of apprehension. But he was 
 transparently truthful, honest to the core, the very soul ot 
 integrity and honour. Character was his one sole equip- 
 ment, and it was held to be sufficient. Melbourne would 
 not have consented to undertake the Government if Althorp, 
 much against his inclination, had not allowed himself to be 
 prevailed upon to remain at his post. By tradition a Whig, 
 all his instincts were liberal, and while never straying far 
 from the orthodox centre of gravity, he commanded the 
 confidence of the most advanced members of the party. 
 At the same time it did not follow that his loss would be 
 absolutely irreparable. There was Lord John Russell. He 
 was as true a Whig as Althorp, and quite as advanced in 
 his views, while in political knowledge and oratorical talent 
 he was his superior. He had been the first to take in hand 
 the disfranchisement of the rotten boroughs. He had 
 carried the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts. He 
 had been entrusted by the Government with the manage- 
 ment of the Reform Bill, and had acquitted himself brilli- 
 antly, while in the historical associations that are dear to 
 Liberalism no name could be richer than his. There was 
 but one thing against him in . view of successorship to the 
 post which might soon be vacant. The opinions he had 
 expressed on the subject of the Irish Church were not to 
 the taste of the King. 
 
 Earl Spencer died on November 10, and on the 12th 
 Melbourne wrote to the King soliciting an audience. One 
 or two passages of his letter and of the King's reply must
 
 EGO ET REX MEUS l8l 
 
 be quoted textually. ' Viscount Melbourne presents his 
 humble duty to your Majesty, and is anxious in the present 
 emergency to wait upon your Majesty and receive your 
 Majesty's commands. Your Majesty will recollect that the 
 Government in its present form was mainly founded upon 
 the personal weight and influence possessed by Earl 
 Spencer (Lord Althorp) in the House of Commons, and upon 
 the arrangement which placed in his hands the conduct of 
 the business of the Government in that assembly. That 
 foundation is now withdrawn by the elevation of that 
 nobleman to the House of Peers, and in the new and 
 altered circumstances it is for your Majesty to consider 
 whether it is your pleasure to authorise Viscount Melbourne 
 to make such fresh arrangements as may enable your 
 Majesty's present servants to continue to conduct the affairs 
 of the country, or whether your Majesty deems it advisable 
 to adopt any other course.' After protesting his readiness 
 to place his services at the King's disposal ' so long as they 
 can be given honourably and conscientiously, and are 
 deemed worthy of acceptance,' he thus concludes : ' But 
 Viscount Melbourne earnestly entreats that no personal 
 consideration for him may prevent your Majesty from 
 taking any measures or seeking any other advice which your 
 Majesty may think more likely to conduce to your Majesty's 
 service and the advantage of the country.' The messenger 
 who took this letter to Brighton brought back the King's 
 reply. After assuring Melbourne of his high esteem, and 
 of the regret it would cause him to lose his valuable services, 
 the King proceeds : ' His Majesty, however, is quite sensible 
 of all the difficulties which have arisen from Earl Spencer's 
 removal to the House of Lords, and he is not blind to 
 those which may be anticipated in any attempt to make
 
 1 82 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 such fresh arrangements as shall enable his Majesty's 
 pre>ent servants to continue to conduct the affairs of the 
 country. He is quite aware that the Government in its 
 present form was mainly founded upon the personal weight 
 and influence possessed by Earl Spencer in the House of 
 Commons ; he cannot help feeling also that the'Government 
 exists by the support of that branch only of the Legislature, 
 and therefore that the loss of Viscount Althorp's services in 
 that House must be viewed also in reference to that con- 
 tingency.' The letter concludes : ' This and other circum- 
 stances producing embarrassment, to which the King will 
 not further allude at present, render the whole question one 
 of the most serious import, and one in which friendly and 
 disinterested advice becomes most important, and his 
 Majesty will therefore most readily avail himself of Viscount 
 Melbourne's proposal that he should have with him a full 
 and unreserved communication upon the present state of 
 public affairs, and will receive him at any time at which he 
 may present himself here to-morrow.' 
 
 These passages give all that is essential in the history of 
 an event which holds a conspicuous place in our constitu- 
 tional annals. They fix the character of the interview, and 
 distinctly foreshadow its result. Melbourne drove down to 
 Brighton the next day and had a long conversation with the 
 King. We have the King's own account of it in a memoir 
 which was communicated to Baron Stockmar and is pub- 
 lished in his ' Life.' The conversation was ' free, unreserved, 
 and dispassionate.' Lord Melbourne suggested that Lord 
 John Russell should succeed Lord Althorp as leader. The 
 King objected strongly to Lord John Russell, declaring 
 that he had neither the abilities nor the influence which 
 would qualify him for the task, and that ' he would make a
 
 EGO ET REX MEUS 1 83 
 
 wretched figure when opposed by Sir Robert Peel and Mr. 
 Stanley.' Nothing was concluded that night. Melbourne 
 slept at the Pavilion, and the next morning the King put 
 into his hands a letter in which he stated his opinion that 
 by the removal of Lord Althorp to the House of Peers the 
 weight and consideration of the Government were so much 
 diminished in the House of Commons and in the country 
 at large as to render it impossible that they should continue 
 at the head of public affairs. The letter ended thus : ' His 
 Majesty, therefore, under this view, and the apprehension 
 of contingencies which the King has expressed to Lord 
 Melbourne verbally, does not think it would be acting fairly 
 or honourably by his lordship to call upon the Viscount for 
 the continuance of his services in a position of which the 
 tenure appears to the King to be so precarious.' A con- 
 versation followed in which Melbourne ventured to offer 
 some remonstrance on constitutional grounds, but the King 
 waived it impatiently. He offered Melbourne an Earldom 
 and the Garter, which were curtly declined. Begging to 
 know whether he had any further commands, and to whom 
 he should resign his trust, the King told him that he was 
 sending for the Duke of Wellington. The letter to the 
 Duke was already prepared, and at the request of one of 
 the officials Melbourne undertook to see it delivered in 
 London. 
 
 The next morning the country had a great surprise. 
 After twelve o'clock, and just as he was going to bed, 
 Melbourne had a call from Lord Brougham. Under the 
 seal of absolute secrecy, Melbourne told him what had 
 happened. Brougham kept his word in his own way. He 
 went straight to the Times office and gave the information. 
 The announcement of the dismissal of the ministry appeared
 
 I 84 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 in the issue which was then preparing for the press, with 
 the addition made on the same veracious authority : ' The 
 Queen has done it all.' Melbourne had a delicate task with 
 his colleagues. He had some documentary evidence to 
 show, and it told, as we have seen, its own tale. Writing 
 to Lord John Russell, Althorp said : 'This is the greatest 
 piece of folly ever committed.' He did not say by whom. 
 In the memoir already referred to, the King says he 
 fully believed that Melbourne meant to resign, and it must 
 be admitted that his letter to the King suggests if it does not 
 convey this interpretation. Melbourne put himself into the 
 King's hands. Instead of going to him prepared with advice, 
 which, if refused, should have been followed by his resigna- 
 tion, he went to receive his commands, suggesting at the 
 same time reasons for his own dismissal. The King did 
 what his minister invited him to do, and if there was any 
 straining of constitutional practice, the fault was certainly 
 not wholly on the King's side, but must at any rate be 
 equally divided. Melbourne was safe for the next turn, 
 should it come soon, but his conduct on this critical occasion 
 was never forgotten by his colleagues. They bore it with 
 resignation, and perhaps thought that the result on the whole 
 might be for the best. But one of them was furious. 
 Brougham wrote to Althorp : ' What you and I thought, 
 and all men of sound minds thought, quite impossible, is 
 come to pass, and because— and only because — you are 
 removed from the House of Commons, the King turns its 
 all out I — a thing never before done, and without waiting for 
 the House of Commons to express its distrust in Lord John 
 Russell or in us. ... I have written to the King to throw 
 all the consequences on him and relieve myself.' It was a 
 burden which the King very willingly assumed.
 
 EGO ET REX MEUS 1 85 
 
 Melbourne's failure must be admitted, and it requires no 
 heroic explanation. It is not to be ascribed to his ' easy 
 temper.' His temper was not easy, but rather keen and 
 warm. The King found it anything but easy at the inter- 
 view of the 15th, when it glowed and scorched. Nor is it 
 to be set down to any supposed weakness of character. A 
 fair test of the strength of character is to ascertain how much 
 it will bear before giving way. Tried by this test Melbourne 
 comes out well. Earl Grey utterly broke down under one 
 half the difficulties and cares and disappointments against 
 which Melbourne bore up for six years with unflinching 
 fortitude. It would come perhaps a little nearer the mark 
 to say that he had an inbred horror of conventionality. He 
 disliked etiquette and formal ceremonies ; he was not always 
 dreaming of his dignity, and he did not care to insist 
 punctiliously on his rights. It was these peculiarities of 
 which his friends were thinking when they heard to their 
 amazement that he did not refuse at once the offer of the 
 Irish Viceroyalty made to him by Earl Grey. It was these 
 same peculiarities that gave such a novel air to his mode of 
 receiving deputations at the Home Office. It was his 
 habit to set aside formalities as so much very emphatic 
 ' nonsense ' ; he preferred to ' talk over ' matters in an easy 
 conversational fashion, that being in his opinion the best 
 way for coming to a speedy understanding. Tin's is the 
 style in which he approached the King when the difficulties 
 caused by the removal of Lord Althorp to the House of 
 Lords had to be dealt with. He knew very well what was 
 fitting and right, and what constitutional practice required, 
 but it was not his humour to act with formal precision. He 
 went to Brighton to 'talk matters over' with the King. He 
 thus placed himself at the King's mercy, and when the note
 
 I 86 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 of the 15th made him sensible of the fault he had committed, 
 he was too sensitive and too proud to redeem the blunder. 
 No trap was set for him, but he unwittingly set one for him- 
 self. It must also be said that there was a gentleman on 
 one side, and a king who was not exactly a gentleman on 
 the other. But he brought away with him a lesson which 
 was turned to good account in their further relations. It 
 was the King's first and last victory over Melbourne. 
 
 The Duke of Wellington advised the King to send 
 for Sir Robert Peel, who was then at Rome, consenting to 
 take upon himself the charge of the Government till other 
 arrangements could be made. It was the middle of De- 
 cember before Sir Robert reached London, but he then 
 lost no time. He accepted the King's commands, dissolved 
 Parliament, and issued an appeal to the nation in the shape 
 of an address to the electors of Tamworth. For the last 
 four years he had been anxiously watching the signs of a 
 reaction which had to some extent set in, and doing his 
 best to promote it, but it had not yet gone quite so far as 
 he imagined. The elections broke down the magnificent 
 Liberal majority of the previous Parliament, but there was 
 still a majority, varying, as was estimated, from twenty-five 
 to forty votes. At Melbourne's request, made with the full 
 concurrence of his colleagues, Lord John Russell undertook 
 the leadership of the Opposition in the new House. He 
 told Mr. Abercromby, the candidate for the Speakership, 
 that if he was offered the command of the Channel Fleet he 
 would accept it. He afterwards explained, first that he said 
 this in a joke, which may be readily assumed, and next that 
 he said he would not refuse it ' if he thought it his duty to 
 accept,' which robs the saying of all point, since no person 
 is expected to decline a duty. Posterity will adhere with
 
 EGO ET REX MEUS 1 87 
 
 Sydney Smith to the original version, which ought to be the 
 right one if it is not. In truth, the task he consented to 
 undertake was hardly less arduous to him, with all his talents 
 and experience, than the command of the Channel Fleet 
 would have been to untried hands. The Liberals might 
 count perhaps upon a majority of thirty, but that was taking 
 them altogether, the milk-and-water Whigs at one extreme, 
 the Radicals at the other, and somewhere between them 
 sixty Irish members who might be expected to act with 
 O'Connell. How to marshal these discordant forces was a 
 problem which it required all Lord John Russell's courage 
 and skill to solve. The result did infinite credit to his 
 generalship, and established his reputation on a lasting 
 basis. 
 
 He wisely concluded that he could not bring them too 
 soon under fire. The first battle was over the Speakership, 
 for which the Liberals put forward Mr. Abercromby in 
 opposition to Sir C. Manners Sutton, who had held that 
 office in the previous Parliament. It was won by ten votes, 
 but it was fought under extremely unfavourable conditions, 
 one of them being the rival pretensions of Mr. Spring Rice 
 and Mr. Abercromby as Liberal candidates for the post. 
 Nothing can be more dreary or more repulsive than the corre- 
 spondence in which Melbourne was involved on this subject 
 when so many graver issues were at stake. The next trial 
 of strength was on an amendment to the Address, and the 
 result was worse. The amendment was carried by a ma- 
 jority of only seven votes. It was clear that the contest 
 to be successful must be shifted to higher ground. The 
 question which might be regarded as the dividing line be- 
 tween the two parties was the Irish Church, and more 
 especially the appropriation of a portion of its revenues to
 
 1 88 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 public purposes. A series of resolutions on this subject 
 were carried after strenuous debates by majorities varying 
 from twenty-seven to thirty- three, and Sir Robert Peel 
 threw up the reins. 
 
 It was now Melbourne's turn once more. No attempt 
 was made to displace him from his position at the head of 
 the party, beyond a formal appeal to Earl Grey to take the 
 Treasury or the Foreign Office. Melbourne joined in it, no 
 doubt with entire sincerity. He would have been perfectly 
 willing to take office under his former chief. But the appeal 
 was largely a sacrifice to decorum. Lord Palmerston was 
 one who signed the letter to Lord Grey, but with him the 
 offer was restricted to the Treasury. He was resolved not 
 to take any part in the administration unless he was rein- 
 stated in his old quarters at the Foreign Office. The King 
 in the first instance sent for Earl Grey, who advised him to 
 send for Melbourne. In point of fact he was the indis- 
 pensable man. No one else had sympathies broad enough 
 to embrace all sections of the party. No one else had the 
 tact or the patience that would be required to adjust the 
 differences that were sure to arise. The Whigs of course 
 held their own at the centre, but it would be impossible for 
 the Government to command a majority in the House of 
 Commons unless a policy was adopted which would hold 
 all sections together in a working alliance. On this vital 
 matter Earl Grey was hopelessly impracticable. He had 
 taken fright at the sending of invitations to the Irish 
 members to attend a general meeting of the party at 
 Lichfield House. ' There is one point,' he wrote to Lord 
 John Russell, ' on which my opinion and resolution can 
 admit of no change. I have already stated to you and to 
 others, that nothing could induce me to be a party to any-
 
 EGO ET REX MEUS 1 89 
 
 thing like concert or co-operation with O'Connell and the 
 Radicals.' This is enough to show that he was not the 
 man for the emergency, and he did the best thing it was in 
 his power to do when he advised the King to send for 
 Melbourne. 
 
 One other important piece of business had to be disposed 
 of before the preparations for the new administration could 
 be considered complete. It had to be explained to Lord 
 Brougham that he would not be included. On this point 
 Melbourne was quite resolved. He had made up his mind 
 never again to sit with the ex-Chancellor in the same Cabinet. 
 This decision appeared to some of his colleagues one of an 
 almost portentous character. There was a general concur- 
 rence in the opinion that his exclusion was desirable, but 
 merely to inform him of the fact would be an act of daring, 
 and it needed still more nerve to face the consequences of 
 his terrible wrath. Melbourne did not hesitate a moment. 
 There are many ways of getting rid of an undesirable 
 colleague. The most common one is to allege some 
 secondary reason, which may be true and valid so far as it 
 goes, but is not the real one. Melbourne told Brougham 
 the exact truth. ' You must be perfectly aware,' he writes, 
 ' that your character and conduct have since November last 
 formed the principal and general topic of debate and dis- 
 cussion. ... It is a very disagreeable task to have to say 
 to a statesman that his character is injured in the public 
 estimation ; it is still more unpleasant to have to add that 
 you consider this his own fault ; and il is idle to expect to 
 be able to convince almost any man, and more especially a 
 man of very superior abilities and of unbounded confidence 
 in those abilities, that this is the truth. I must, however, 
 state plainly that your conduct was one of the principal
 
 190 LORD MELBOURN I 
 
 causes of the dismissal of the late ministry, and that it 
 
 forms the most popular justification of that step. . . . You 
 
 are generally for specific charges—?//;/ lapsus, quid feci? 
 
 Allow me to observe that there may be a course and series 
 
 of very objectionable conduct, there may be a succession of 
 
 acts which destroy confidence, and add offence to offence, 
 
 and yet it may be difficult to point out any great and 
 
 marked delinquency. I will however tell you fairly that in my 
 
 opinion you domineered too much, you interfered too much 
 
 with other departments, you encroached upon the province 
 
 of the Prime Minister ; you worked, as I believe, with the 
 
 press, in a manner unbecoming the dignity of your station, 
 
 and you formed political views of your own, and pursued 
 
 them by means which were unfair towards your colleagues. 
 
 ... I have written this with great pain. I owe it to myself 
 
 and to you, to truth and fair dealing, to be explicit. I can 
 
 only add that, whatever may be your determination, no 
 
 political differences will make any change in the friendship 
 
 and affection which I have always felt and still continue to 
 
 feel for you.' 
 
 These extracts are especially valuable for the light they 
 shed upon Melbourne's character. They are not such as 
 a weak man would or could have written. If there is one 
 thing more than another which weak men seek to avoid it 
 is the necessity for plain speaking, and when there is no 
 avoiding it they generally go into a passion to keep up their 
 courage. In the course of a long letter Melbourne does not 
 use a single angry word. He states his case with the calm- 
 ness of a judge, but with a merciless severity which is 
 absolutely crushing. We seem to see him looking straight 
 into his opponent's eyes while he speaks. He makes all 
 fair allowances ; he takes blame to himself for not having
 
 EGO ET REX MEUS I91 
 
 cautioned him in due time, but his obvious desire to be just, 
 and the effort it costs him to speak out at last, only increase 
 the weight of the verdict. His style reflects the temper of 
 his mind. It is measured and stately, and almost solemn. 
 Brougham himself felt the charge to be unanswerable. He 
 never recovered from the blow delivered by this man of 
 ' easy temper,' whom he had fondly hoped to manage and 
 domineer over by the force of bluster. Some years later, 
 in reply to one of his philippics in the House of Lords, 
 -Melbourne compressed the whole case into one short and 
 convincing argument. ' My Lords,' he said, ' your lordships 
 have heard the powerful speech of the noble and learned 
 lord, one of the most powerful ever delivered in this House, 
 and I leave your lordships to consider what must be the 
 strength and nature of the objections which prevent any 
 Government from availing themselves of the services of such 
 a man.' Having done his duty fearlessly, Melbourne yielded 
 to the remonstrances which Brougham was neither too strong 
 nor too proud to offer by postponing the appointment of a 
 new Chancellor. For the present the Great Seal was put 
 into commission, and though nothing could abate the stern 
 reality, appearances were soothingly saved. 
 
 To the many subjects which have been suggested for 
 historical paintings that have never yet found an artist there 
 would be some reason for adding Lord Melbourne's inter- 
 view with King William on being summoned a second time 
 to form an administration. It marked the close of a short 
 and keen constitutional struggle, in which the Crown had 
 striven to resume a portion of its disused prerogative and 
 had been signally worsted. It was a humiliation to have 
 to face once more the minister whom he had curtly and 
 arbitrarily dismissed a few months previously. The King
 
 1 92 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 did all he could to avoid the unpleasant alternative. He 
 first had recourse to Earl Grey. The Earl declined office 
 for himself and advised the King to send, not for Melbourne 
 alone, but for Melbourne and Lansdowne. The Earl and the 
 King in present circumstances thought very much alike. The 
 King would have preferred the Duke of Wellington to every- 
 body else, but since this was a dream he would have been well 
 content with Earl Grey. The Earl shared the King's horror 
 of extreme men, and probably coupled Lansdowne with Mel- 
 bourne in the hope that the pedantic Whiggism of the one 
 would act as some check upon the political catholicity of 
 the other. The King tried to press the same idea. The 
 plan he preferred was a union of the moderate men of the 
 two great parties. It has always been a favourite device of 
 the Crown, which by this means sees a chance of holding 
 the position of managing partner in the national concern. 
 Again, as in the previous year, the suggestion was summarily 
 rejected, and Melbourne was then required to undertake 
 the task alone. In his personal interviews the King was 
 more than civil. He had his sailor manners at hand which 
 served very well as a disguise tor his real feelings. But 
 henceforth it was war between him and his ministers, with 
 only such variations as were due to the moods and whims 
 of a capricious temper. The necessary negotiations were 
 carried on chiefly by correspondence. Melbourne took 
 care that this time there should be no mistake. In a very 
 able State paper he explained to the King the conditions on 
 which he consented to undertake the Premiership. They 
 included some control over the household appointments, 
 power to create peers in order to hold in check the domi- 
 neering majority in the Upper House, a repudiation of the 
 principle of exclusion on the score of creed or of politics in
 
 EGO ET REX MEUS 193 
 
 the filling of administrative offices, and, above everything 
 else, a frank acceptance of the policy of the new Government 
 on the Irish Church. On this last point the King hesi- 
 tated. Like his father and his brother, he pleaded his con- 
 science, and begged that it might be submitted to the fifteen 
 judges how far he was bound by his coronation oath. Mel- 
 bourne refused to admit of such an appeal, and at last the 
 King gave in. 
 
 The special note of the new administration was its 
 liberal policy as regards Ireland. The legislative measures 
 it had in view with respect to the Irish Church and the 
 Irish tithes were well known, but the character of its ap- 
 pointments and the spirit in which the Government would 
 be conducted were even more important. In this direc- 
 tion the chief thing wanted was to give loyal effect to the 
 Catholic Emancipation Act. Melbourne would have gladly 
 given the Irish Attorney-Generalship to O'Connell, who was 
 ready to accept it, and believed that it would be offered to 
 him, but public feeling furnished an insuperable obstacle. 
 O Connell was bitterly disappointed, but he took no offence. 
 He showed a wonderful magnanimity, as Lord John Russell, 
 one of his severest judges, confesses. Melbourne did what 
 he could. The highest office at the Irish bar was given to Mr. 
 Perrin, a Protestant indeed, but one whose impartiality was 
 above suspicion ; while Mr. O'Loghlen, a Catholic and one 
 of O'Connell's closest friends, was made Solicitor-General, 
 the first time for a century and a half that a Catholic had 
 held the office. A change for the better was begun at 
 Dublin Castle, by the removal of Sir W. Gosset from the 
 post of Under-Secretary, and the appointment in his stead of 
 Mr. Thomas Drummond, the distinguished man who ven- 
 tured to remind the landlords of Ireland that 'property has 
 
 o
 
 194 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 its duties as well as its rights.' Orders were given to include 
 Catholics in the Sheriff lists, to appoint a fair proportion of 
 Catholic solicitors as local prosecutors for the Crown, and to 
 exclude zealous Orangemen from the constabulary. As re- 
 gards Orangemen, more energetic measures were soon deemed 
 necessary. They had long been in the ascendant at the 
 Castle. It was in the spirit they breathed and fostered that 
 the government of Ireland had been carried on ever since 
 the Union. They were beginning to infect the army. It 
 was discovered on inquiry, that under warrants signed by 
 the Duke of Cumberland, the King's brother, Orange lodges 
 had been established in thirty or forty regiments. It was 
 time that the power of this intolerant and insolent faction 
 should be broken, and Mr. Hume took up the task. He 
 moved an address to the Crown praying for the removal of 
 all officials, civil or military, who attended the meetings 
 of the Orange lodges, or of any other political club. The 
 Government adopted the motion in a slightly amended form. 
 The words employed were perhaps a little too wide, but 
 their meaning was well understood, and the form adopted 
 made the address less unpalatable to the King. These 
 changes in the administration of the law gave immense 
 satisfaction in Ireland. They presented a striking contrast 
 to the policy hitherto pursued. During his own short Chief- 
 Secretaryship Melbourne had groaned and fumed at the 
 restrictions by which his action was fettered, and he viewed 
 with repugnance and regret the course adopted by Mr. 
 Stanley under the Premiership of Earl Grey. At both those 
 periods he was practically helpless. Now he was in power 
 with colleagues who shared his sentiments, and Ireland for 
 the first time since the Union began to believe in a reign 
 of justice.
 
 EGO ET REX MEUS 1 95 
 
 The details of the Melbourne administration are beside 
 our aim. They belong to the history of the country, and a 
 brief reference will suffice. The short session of 1835 was 
 turned to good account. The Municipal Corporations Bill 
 passed after a struggle with the Lords which, thanks to the 
 firmness of the Government, left its most important features 
 unchanged. An Irish Bill framed on the same lines was 
 thrown out by the Lords, and a Bill for the settlement of 
 the Irish tithe question was so mangled by them that it had 
 to be abandoned. They accepted one half, but rejected the 
 other, the rejected half relating to the appropriation of the 
 surplus revenues of the Church to public purposes. The 
 next session was crowded with important work. It included 
 the commutation of tithe in England and Wales, the civil 
 registration of births and deaths, and a measure enabling 
 marriages to be performed elsewhere than in the churches 
 of the Establishment. A series of Bills was also introduced 
 for giving effect to the recommendations of the Ecclesiastical 
 Commissioners, one providing for the equalisation of epis- 
 copal incomes ; another for applying the surplus income 
 of capitular establishments to the general purposes of the 
 Church, and a third discouraging pluralities. The first was 
 passed at once, the other two in 1838 and 1S39. Justice 
 has hardly been done to these measures. They were framed 
 and carried by Lord John Russell, and his biographer, 
 Mr. Spencer Walpole, in referring to them is well justified 
 in the remark that ' Lord John might fairly claim that if he 
 had done more to satisfy Dissent than any statesman since 
 the days of Nottingham, he had done more to strengthen 
 the Church than any minister since the days of Godolphin.' 
 He was less fortunate with his Irish measures. The Irish 
 Municipal Corporation Bill and the Tithe Bill were again 
 
 02
 
 196 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 sent up to the Lords, and again thrown back on his 
 hands. 
 
 During the earlier part of the year, Melbourne was bur- 
 dened with other cares in addition to those of politics. He 
 was involved in a social misadventure which caused him 
 much distress and threatened to becloud his reputation. 
 Unfortunately, it was not the first of the kind which had 
 befallen him. Soon after his return from Ireland, in 1829, 
 he was sued in an action for damages by Lord Brandon, for 
 undue intimacy with Lady Brandon, whose acquaintance he 
 had made in Dublin. Lord Tenterden, who tried the case, 
 held that there was no evidence to go to the jury, and 
 directed a non-suit. Lord Brandon then went into the 
 Ecclesiastical Court, where his failure was even more 
 complete. His own counsel thought fit to withdraw the 
 case. In his second misadventure the ordeal was more 
 severe. 
 
 The present generation retains some recollection of 
 the Hon. Mrs. Norton. She is remembered chiefly for the 
 wrongs which, as was publicly alleged, she suffered from 
 her husband, who, availing himself of the unjust law then in 
 force as regards the property of married women, stepped in 
 between her and her publishers, and strove to intercept the 
 fruits of her literary toil. All the world heard of her wrongs, 
 and pitied her. Perhaps the only service her husband ren- 
 dered to society was to force the inequitable state of the 
 law upon public attention, and pave the way for its amend- 
 ment. He was the brother and heir-presumptive to Lord 
 Grantley, and grandson of the first Lord Grantley, who, as 
 Sir Fletcher Norton, was for many years Speaker of the 
 House of Commons. As the grand-daughter of Richard 
 Brinsley Sheridan, Mrs. Norton belonged to a family in
 
 EGO ET REX MEUS 1 97 
 
 which genius has been hereditary. They were married in 
 1827, they moved in society, their income was not more 
 than adequate to their position, and Mrs. Norton betook 
 herself to her pen. When Melbourne was at the Home 
 Office it probably occurred to both that something might be 
 looked for in the way of patronage. He knew her father 
 and her grandfather, and he had places at his disposal. 
 Accordingly, Mrs. Norton wrote to him asking for some 
 appointment for her husband for which he might be deemed 
 suitable. If the terms of the application had been strictly 
 construed, it might perhaps have met with a refusal, but 
 that was impossible. Mr. Norton had been called to the 
 bar, and though he had held but few briefs, he might do 
 very well for a magistrate. Melbourne, at any rate, thought 
 so, and appointed him to a vacancy in one of the London 
 police courts. He met with his due reward. Mr. Norton 
 was lazy, quarrelsome, and inefficient. But Melbourne 
 found a strong attraction in the society of Mrs. Norton. It 
 would have been strange if he had not, for she was a woman 
 of brilliant gifts, admired, applauded, and caressed by all 
 who had the privilege of her acquaintance. Her literary 
 tastes fell in with his. He occasionally met people at her 
 house whom it was interesting to know. Among others he 
 met Mr. Disraeli, then a rising star in the fashionable world, 
 and heard from him with puzzled amazement the no doubt 
 humorous avowal that he wanted to be Prime Minister of 
 England. It is no wonder that he found some solace in 
 such a home. But there were dangers in the path which a 
 man of his knowledge of the world, and with previous ex- 
 perience to warn him, might have foreseen. Domestic broils 
 began ; husband and wife quarrelled ; suspicion, real or pre- 
 tended, crept in, charges at first general, and then very
 
 I9S LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 specific, were alleged, till at last Melbourne was made de 
 fendant in an action for damages. 
 
 It would be unpardonable to rake up the details of an 
 obsolete scandal. From what has been said, everything of 
 importance can be inferred. The facts speak for themselves, 
 and speak, perhaps, too unfavourably for Melbourne. Due 
 allowance being made for all the circumstances, the conclu- 
 sion at first suggested may be, as it was held to be, altogether 
 wrong. The letters written at the time certainly favour that 
 impression. The affair naturally caused a great sensation. 
 The Prime Minister was on his trial, and if the verdict went 
 against him, he would have to resign. Melbourne offered 
 to resign at once ; but the King would not hear of it. and 
 the Duke of Wellington is said to have declared that he 
 would be no party to any arrangements which such a step 
 would involve. It is not, perhaps, from them that one 
 would expect a deliverance superheated by any extreme 
 sensitiveness on the score of morals, but greater confidence 
 may be placed in the decision of the jury. The case came 
 on for trial in the Court of King's Bench, before Mr. Justice 
 Tindal. It was a question of character and credibility on 
 the part of the witnesses. Sir John Campbell, the Attorney- 
 General, led for the defence, and after a brief summing up, 
 the jury gave a verdict of acquittal without leaving the box. 
 There was great applause in Court and among the crowd 
 outside, and it probably was not wholly the applause of 
 partisans. Decent people of all classes and parties must 
 have felt it a relief that the Prime Minister had come out of 
 the ordeal unscathed. This is the impression conveyed by 
 Greville. ' The town,' he says, ' has been full of Melbourne's 
 trial ; great exultation at the result on the part of his poli- 
 tical adherents, great disappointment on that of the mob of
 
 EGO ET REX MEUS 199 
 
 low Tories, and a creditable satisfaction among the better 
 sort ; it was, in point of fact, a very triumphant acquittal.' 
 'The King,' he adds, 'behaved very civilly about it, and 
 expressed his satisfaction at the result in terms sufficiently 
 flattering to Melbourne.' 
 
 The King was generally civil to Melbourne. He prob- 
 ably liked him better than any of his other ministers. To 
 some of them he took great pains to be uncivil, and his 
 hostility to the Government, as a whole, could hardly brook 
 concealment. The consequences of his own great blunder 
 in dismissing a ministry which had the support of the House 
 of Commons were always rankling in his mind. He had 
 been forced to take them back, and this was a humiliation 
 which he could not forgive. It made him irritable and 
 peevish, and he took his revenge in all manner of odd ways. 
 For some time he made a point of inviting none of them to 
 dinner. Then he would relent, at least for a moment, and 
 send word that he expected those who attended the council 
 to dine with him and ' drink two bottles of wine a man.' 
 He was on the watch for every fancied slight to his prero- 
 gative. One day Lord Palmerston was the offender because 
 he took steps to ascertain whether Lord Durham would be 
 acceptable as ambassador at the Court of St. Petersburg 
 before mentioning his name to the King. Another day 
 Lord John Russell was in disgrace because he introduced 
 the Irish Corporation Bill into the House of Commons 
 without having first submitted the heads of the measure to 
 his Majesty. Lord Glenelg, the Colonial Secretary, was a 
 constant butt for the King's ill-will because he was supposed 
 to be in favour of bestowing some measure of self-govern- 
 ment upon the Canadians. The Bill for the abolition of 
 church rates excited his apprehensions. It was hostile to
 
 200 LORD .MELBOURNE 
 
 the interests of the Church and called for serious remon- 
 strance. Whenever he was annoyed he poured forth his 
 complaints to Melbourne ; sometimes through his private 
 secretary, sometimes in long letters of his own. Melbourne 
 showed wonderful patience under these inflictions. His 
 method was always the same. He identified himself with 
 his colleagues, assumed entire responsibility for what had 
 been done, and gave soothing explanations which usually 
 brought back a friendly reply. An angry tirade aimed at 
 Lord Glenelg at a meeting of the council demanded firmer 
 treatment. In a memorandum presented to him on behalf 
 of the Cabinet, Melbourne told the King some plain truths, 
 and the rebuke had some effect. There were reasons for 
 treating him with forbearance. His health was giving way, 
 and he was not always master of himself. His conduct at 
 times was hardly consonant with perfect sanity, and he rated 
 some of the members of his own family, especially the 
 Duchess of Kent, even worse than he did his ministers. 
 Cood-nature and humanity pleaded for large allowance. 
 
 Whatever difficulties Melbourne and his colleagues had 
 with the King, those they encountered with the House of 
 I ,ords were far greater. The schism between that assembly 
 and the House of Commons, which has lasted till our days, 
 began with the passing of the Reform Bill, and it was more 
 bitter and more exasperating under the Melbourne adminis- 
 tration than it has ever been since. At the instigation of 
 Lord Lyndhurst, the Tory peers, who were in an over- 
 whelming majority, systematically threw out the Government 
 Bills, or amended them in a way which was equivalent to 
 rejection. The Irish Corporation Bill and the Irish Tithe 
 Bill were thrown out session after session. ' The Lords 
 have been bowling down Bills like ninepins,' says Greville,
 
 EGO ET REX MEUS 201 
 
 Lord Howick said to him as they rode in the Park that he 
 supposed the Government must go out at the end of the 
 session, and that they ought to go out, since they could carry 
 none of their measures. ' It was quite impossible,' he 
 added, ' that things could go on upon their present footing ; 
 the country would not stand it, and the Lords must look 
 for those changes which their own conduct rendered indis- 
 pensable.' Lord John Russell proposed to Melbourne that 
 they should at once create eight, ten, or twelve peers, and 
 that the ministry should be prepared to advise a similar 
 creation ' whenever it was provoked.' The object of the 
 Tory peers was to discredit the Government with the 
 country — and to some extent they succeeded, but indirectly 
 they succeeded still more effectually in alienating from the 
 Government their Radical supporters by forcing upon them 
 ignominious concessions and compromises. They agreed 
 to drop the Appropriation clause, thus abandoning the very 
 principle on which they had taken office. They staked their 
 existence on the passing of the Irish Corporation Bill, which 
 had been again introduced. It was again rejected, and they 
 still went on. The end seemed to be very near when the 
 Church Rate Abolition Bill escaped defeat in the House of 
 Commons by only five votes. At last, after many humilia- 
 tions, they were making up their minds to resign, when the 
 state of the King's health gave them something more than 
 an excuse for postponing that step a little longer, and they 
 were soon able to count upon the better chances which 
 might be offered by a new reign, 

 
 202 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 REGIUS PROFESSOR 
 
 The Queen's accession — Peculiarities of the new reign — A youthful 
 sovereign — Guidance and instruction needed — Lord Melbourne un- 
 dertakes the task — How he discharged it — His devotion and self- 
 denial — Melbourne and Baron Stockmar — The Coronation — The 
 Court and the Whigs — The Bedchamber squabble— Chivalry and 
 office — Melbourne's Church patronage — The Deanery of Exeter — 
 Arnold and Thirl wall — At Court with Robert Owen. 
 
 At twenty minutes past two on the morning of June 20, 
 1837, the King died, and the present auspicious reign began. 
 To us who look back upon that eventful day from a distance 
 of more than fifty years, its incidents seem tinged with 
 the colours of romance. The Archbishop of Canterbury 
 and Lord Conyngham, travelling from Windsor, reached 
 Kensington Palace, where the Princess Victoria was residing, 
 about five o'clock, and desired to see ' the Queen.' ' Pre- 
 sently,' says Mr. Greville, ' she appeared, wrapped in a 
 dressing-gown, and with slippers on her naked feet.' In a 
 few words Lord Conyngham announced his errand. No 
 sooner had he uttered the words ' your Majesty,' than she 
 put out her hand, intimating that he should kiss hands 
 before proceeding further, which, dropping on one knee, he 
 did, and then told the particulars of the King's death. The 
 Archbishop went through the same ceremony, and gave the 
 Queen the benefit of a short homily. At eleven the Queen
 
 REGIUS PROFESSOR 203 
 
 met her Privy Council. The scene has often been depicted 
 by pen and pencil, and it is one that will never lose its 
 charm. A few sentences from the narrative of Mr. Greville, 
 who looked on with official eyes, will enable us to realise 
 it vividly. ' When the Lords were assembled, the Lord 
 President informed them of the King's death, and suggested 
 that, as they were so numerous, a few of them should repair 
 to the presence of the Queen and inform her of the event, 
 and that their lordships were assembled in consequence ; and 
 accordingly the two royal Dukes, the two Archbishops, the 
 Chancellor, and Melbourne went with him. The Queen 
 received them in the adjoining room alone. As soon as 
 they had returned the proclamation was read and the usual 
 order passed, when the doors were thrown open and the 
 Queen entered, accompanied by her two uncles, who ad- 
 vanced to meet her. She bowed to the Lords, took her 
 seat, and then read her speech in a clear, distinct, and 
 audible voice, and without any appearance of fear or 
 embarrassment. She was quite plainly dressed, and in 
 mourning. After she had read her speech and taken and 
 signed the oath for the security of the Church of Scotland, 
 the Privy Councillors were sworn, the two royal Dukes first 
 by themselves ; and as these two old men, her uncles, 
 knelt before her, swearing allegiance and kissing her hand, 
 I saw her blush up to the eyes, as if she felt the contrast 
 between their civil and their natural relations, and this was 
 the only sign of emotion which she evinced. Her manner 
 to them was very graceful and engaging ; she kissed them 
 both, and rose from her chair and moved towards the Duke 
 of Sussex, who was furthest from her and too infirm to 
 reach her. She seemed rather bewildered at the multitude 
 of men who were sworn, and who came one after another
 
 204 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 to kiss her hand, but she did not speak to anybody, nor did 
 she make the slightest difference in her manner, or show 
 any in her countenance to any individual of any rank, sta- 
 tion, or party. I particularly watched her when Melbourne 
 and the Ministers, and the Duke of Wellington and Peel 
 approached her. She went through the whole ceremony, 
 occasionally looking at Melbourne for instruction when she 
 had any doubt what to do, which hardly ever occurred, with 
 perfect calmness and self-possession, but at the same time 
 with a graceful modesty and propriety particularly interesting 
 and engaging. When the business was done she retired as 
 she had entered, and I could see that nobody was in the 
 adjoining room.' 
 
 The King's death, though decorously and no doubt 
 sincerely deplored in official speeches, was a fortunate event 
 for the Melbourne administration. It gave them a new 
 lease of life. There was an end to the hostility on the part 
 of the sovereign which had been encountered throughout 
 the previous reign, and had at last become almost intolerable. 
 Everything was smooth at court. The Queen was too young 
 to have imbibed any political prejudices, and such predilec- 
 tions as she might have begun to form were naturally in 
 favour of her present advisers. With such cheerful prospects 
 before them, they had fresh reasons for desiring to remain 
 in office, and, what was perhaps of greater importance, they 
 had a plausible defence for showing some anxiety to remain. 
 It was easy and even graceful to say that they thought less 
 of themselves than of the duties they owed to their youthful 
 sovereign, and that they were willing to incur some reproach 
 rather than subject her to the inconvenience of a change of 
 ministers on the very threshold of her reign. Similar motives 
 told with the Opposition. Eager as they were for power,
 
 REGIUS PROFESSOR 20$ 
 
 and full as was their persuasion that they had a moral right 
 to it, they could not but feel that it would be more becoming 
 to postpone their claims. There ought at any rate to be no 
 change till after the coronation. Nevertheless, the elections 
 were fought with great asperity. The Whigs, and even the 
 Radicals, were willing to make all the capital they could out 
 of the new reign. The people were congratulated from the 
 hustings on the defeat of Orange plots, which, had they 
 succeeded, might have plunged the country into civil war 
 and placed the hated Duke of Cumberland on the throne. 
 It was a two-edged sword to fight with : one better suited, 
 perhaps, to factious than to patriotic purposes, and the 
 Tories, in seeking to return blow for blow, were almost 
 driven into disloyalty. Nor was the result so favourable as 
 ministers had allowed themselves to expect. Their majority 
 in the new Parliament was not increased, and their hold on 
 power had not ceased to be precarious. 
 
 For us, the most remarkable feature of the new reign 
 was the unique position in which it placed Lord Melbourne. 
 No such lot as his had ever fallen to any statesman in the 
 whole course of our history. The Queen was but eighteen 
 when she ascended the throne. She was just old enough 
 to escape a regency. As only heiress-presumptive, whose 
 claims might at any moment be set aside by the birth of a 
 direct heir, her position had not been sufficiently considered. 
 It was a subject which ministers would naturally feel some 
 difficulty in pressing upon the King, even if he could have 
 been made to comprehend the importance of affording to 
 his probable successor advantages which he had not received 
 himself. The education of our future Queen was left in the 
 hands of her mother, the Duchess of Kent, with the Baroness 
 Lehzen, the daughter of a Hanoverian clergyman, as her
 
 206 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 chief instructress. More adequate provision might have 
 been made if the Queen's accession had been deferred a 
 few years, but any such arrangement was foreclosed by 
 events, and, if some advantages were thereby forfeited, it 
 may be also said that no risks were run. The Queen was 
 spared the doubtful lessons in kingcraft which were im- 
 pressed upon the youthful mind of her royal grandfather 
 under the influence of Lord Bute. It was perhaps a piece 
 of good fortune that she had to learn her duties as a con- 
 stitutional sovereign from the responsible ministers of the 
 Crown, and it was equally their good fortune that they had 
 such promising materials to work upon — a quick sense of 
 duty, an unsophisticated intelligence, and a heart without 
 guile. 
 
 There had been four Queens regnant in England before 
 Victoria, but the circumstances of none of them at the 
 period of their accession to the throne resembled hers. The 
 two Stuart Queens were of mature years and married, one of 
 them to the greatest statesman of his time, who reigned with 
 equal right, and in whom all the executive functions of the 
 crown were vested by Act of Parliament. The two Tudors 
 were unmarried, but they also were of ripe age, and well 
 fitted by the wonderful vicissitudes through which they had 
 passed to stand alone. Elizabeth was the youngest of the 
 four, but she had an intimate knowledge of the politics and 
 leading personages of the day, and experience had made 
 her a statesman. For some years it had been her chief 
 business to keep her head on her shoulders. She had been 
 inside the Tower, and but for her consummate prudence she 
 would have been taken to Tower Hill. In these respects 
 Queen Victoria offered a striking contrast to her prede- 
 cessors. She was but a girl in years, and knew nothing of
 
 REGIUS PROFESSOR 20/ 
 
 politics except by rumour. She had been kept, perhaps, 
 too carefully under her mother's wings, never allowed to 
 sleep except in the same room, nor to see any person unless 
 her mother or the Baroness Lehzen were present. A 
 nursery would have afforded more freedom and a wider 
 range of observation, and the transition from such a condi- 
 tion of artificial pupilage to one in which more than the 
 independence of womanhood and the dignity and respon- 
 sibilities of a sovereign were acquired at once was a change 
 which it is hard to realise. Perhaps no woman in the world's 
 history ever experienced such a change before ; certainly 
 none could have passed through it more triumphantly. 
 
 But to offer a chance of this result there was much that 
 needed doing, and it had to be done informally and in the 
 most delicate manner. The Queen could not be left to 
 grope her way alone through the difficulties of her new 
 position. To instruct her in its technical duties was an 
 easy matter — a month's experience would suffice for that. 
 But it was desirable that she should understand her duties 
 in a much larger sense ; that she should learn something 
 of the history and principles of the constitution, that she 
 should know the several parts assigned to the Lords, the 
 Commons, and the Crown, and the practical, as distinct 
 from the theoretic, relations in which they stood to each 
 other. No pedagogue could do this. A professor from one 
 of the Universities might have taught her the letter of the 
 constitution in a course of morning lessons, but he would 
 probably have failed to convey along with it that informing 
 and quickening spirit without which the letter profiteth 
 nothing, or leads to mischief. It was suggested that the 
 Queen should be furnished with a private secretary, after 
 the example of her uncles, who should assist her in routine
 
 203 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 duties and offer occasional advice, but it was felt that any 
 such arrangement would be inadequate, and for many 
 reasons undesirable. The position and qualifications of the 
 Prime Minister supplied an easier solution of the difficulty. 
 Melbourne had, in fact, already undertaken the task. The 
 Queen naturally looked to him for advice not only on 
 matters of State, but on what was expected from her in dis- 
 charging the everyday functions of royalty. He thus slid 
 by degrees into an office without a name which combined 
 in itself the duties of private secretary and tutor. They 
 were distinct from those which belonged to him as the head 
 of the Government, and he knew how to keep them well 
 apart. The disinterestedness, the self-negation, the absolute 
 loyalty with which he acquitted himself in this delicate 
 position were admitted by those of his eminent contempo- 
 raries who were best qualified to form an opinion. It is a 
 remarkable tribute to his character that his political rivals 
 regarded him without jealousy or an atom of suspicion. 
 There were some mutterings of discontent among inferior 
 men, but no dissatisfaction was expressed by Wellington or 
 Peel. They knew that he had undertaken a difficult but 
 indispensable task, one which was imposed upon him by 
 the position he occupied, and of which they themselves 
 when they came into office would reap the benefit. He was 
 a Whig no doubt, perhaps he was something less ; but at 
 any rate he was an honest-hearted Englishman, in no merely 
 conventional sense a gentleman, in whose perfect honour 
 no one hesitated to place entire reliance. 
 
 Melbourne had not the field all to himself. The King 
 of the Belgians, sympathising with the loneliness of his 
 niece, to whom he stood almost in the position of a natural 
 guardian, and feeling the need of supplying her with trusty
 
 REGIUS PROFESSOR 209 
 
 counsel, had sent over his confidential agent, Baron Stock- 
 mar, to act as his personal representative with the Queen. 
 The King was too wise to take this step without the pre- 
 vious knowledge and sanction of the Queen's ministers, and 
 they could hardly refuse their assent. Nevertheless, the 
 presence of a foreigner at Court in the quality of private 
 adviser to the Queen could not be quite to their taste. 
 Considering our insular prejudices, it was a rather hazardous 
 experiment, and if it had been generally known there might 
 have been a storm. They acted with great discretion. 
 They raised no objection to Baron Stockmar's mission, but 
 they took care to establish an equipoise. Melbourne was 
 the necessary complement of Stockmar, and he proved 
 more than the complement. The Baron was of course 
 treated with deference, and he no doubt found ample oppor- 
 tunities for the display of that oracular wisdom which he 
 took to be his special gift, but with a girl of eighteen he stood 
 no chance against a man like Melbourne. The Prime 
 Minister was fifty-eight years of age, a man of the world 
 and at the same time the soul of honour. His tempera- 
 ment was sympathetic, he had a passion for female society, 
 and he had no one of his own to love. He was devotedly 
 attached to the Queen. He regarded her with almost 
 parental affection, and for her sake accustomed himself to a 
 mode of life which in other circumstances would have been 
 felt as an intolerable ' bore.' His manner to the Queen 
 was marked by the most respectful deference. Without a 
 trace of obsequiousness his demeanour had all the effect of 
 the most winning and graceful flattery, differing from it only 
 in being perfectly sincere. The discipline was morally 
 useful to him in many ways. It obliged him to prune his
 
 210 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 speech of all needless expletives. In the Queen's presence 
 he took care to speak only the Queen's English. 
 
 In the memoirs of Baron Stockmar we find some 
 references to Melbourne which illustrate the footing on 
 which they stood with each other. The Baron's biographer 
 explains that the purely personal affairs of the Queen were 
 under the care of the Baroness Lehzen, and that in regard 
 to affairs of State, properly speaking, the functions of a 
 private secretary were in part replaced by the Premier, Lord 
 Melbourne, ' who gave himself up in a far greater degree 
 than a Premier is wont to do to personal intercourse with 
 the Queen,' and in consequence of this took ' a considerable 
 share in the discussion of her non-political affairs.' There 
 still remained a gap, it is further said, inasmuch as it was 
 not everything that could be settled in the way of direct 
 intercourse between the Queen and her ministers, especially 
 between the Queen and the Premier. ' It was necessary in 
 such cases that there should be a go-between, especially at 
 first, when so many matters wholly new and unknown to 
 the Queen came on for discussion.' This ' gap,' we are told, 
 was for fifteen months filled in by Stockmar. Whether there 
 was any such ' gap,' except in the Baron's imagination, or 
 whether he filled it, is a question not to be decided by his 
 biographer. Melbourne lived at the Castle. He was in 
 constant attendance upon the Queen. At his farewell inter- 
 view with her, on the fall of his ministry, he could say that 
 for the previous four years he had seen her every day. 
 Every morning after breakfast he took her the despatches to 
 read. After lunch he almost invariably rode out with her, 
 one of a numerous cavalcade, but taking his place next to 
 her. At dinner in the evening he was always present when 
 his Parliamentary duties permitted, and his seat at table was
 
 REGIUS PROFESSOR 211 
 
 next to hers, on the left. It was a permanent arrangement. 
 He took in the lady-in-waiting in order that he might sit 
 next the Queen, and if public business required his tem- 
 porary absence the place was kept vacant for him. It is not 
 easy to see where any ' gap ' could exist between the Queen 
 and Melbourne, and we may take it for granted that there 
 was none. Stockmar's biographer says : ' Lord Melbourne 
 was strongly devoted to the Queen, and even warmly 
 attached to her personally. He initiated her in public 
 affairs in the most easy and kindly manner. She, on the 
 other hand, placed in him an almost filial confidence.' 
 
 On one point, we are told, Stockmar had many a dispute 
 with Melbourne. He thought he found in him too great an 
 inclination to yield to party interests, not because Melbourne 
 was himself a partisan, but from too readily complying with 
 the wishes of his supporters. Hence, ' in the momentary 
 advantage which a measure might bring to the W higs and 
 the minister,' he sometimes overlooked ' the possible lasting 
 damage which it might inflict upon the Queen and the 
 Crown.' The criticism merely shows that Stockmar did 
 not understand, as he never could be made to understand^ 
 the nature of Parliamentary government ; while the sup- 
 position that the Queen and the Crown were dearer to 
 him than to Melbourne is rather grotesque. Stockmar 
 thought that Melbourne failed to impress ' upon his illustrious 
 pupil the great maxim that she was the Queen of the entire 
 people, and that it was her duty to hold herself free from 
 the bonds of any party,' instead of appearing to be only ' the 
 Queen of the Whigs.' Stockmar did not perceive how far 
 it is the duty of the Crown in a constitutional system to 
 identify itself with the party in power, which is held to re- 
 present the entire people, and that both parties have the 
 
 r 2
 
 212 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 privilege of basking in turn in the sunshine of the Court. 
 During Stockmar's fifteen months' residence at Windsor 
 there may have been some undue ' neglect of the Tories in 
 invitations and social civilities,' and there was some excuse 
 for it in the unbroken monopoly they had enjoyed during 
 the three previous reigns. It was a novelty for a Whig to 
 find himself at Windsor. But Melbourne was utterly free 
 from the vice of political sectarianism, and as soon as 
 political circumstances foreboded a change he honourably 
 did his best to prepare the Queen for a return of the Tories 
 to power. Stockmar's presence at Windsor, ensconced in 
 permanent domicile, was some inconvenience to Melbourne. 
 It exposed him to misconstructions. ' King Leopold and 
 Stockmar,' he said on one occasion, ' are very good and in- 
 telligent people, but I dislike very much to hear my friends 
 say that I am influenced by them. We know it is not true 
 but still I dislike to hear it said.' To Stockmar he was 
 always civil, and he spoke of him in terms of appreciation 
 which he knew would be grateful to the Queen. Stockmar 
 repaid his courtesy by giving him the nickname of ' the 
 Pococurante.' 
 
 In due time the Queen was crowned. Happily we have 
 among our recent memories an event which eclipses the 
 splendour of her coronation. It if lost in the stately 
 magnificence of her jubilee, and in the sentiments of loyalty 
 and gratitude and chastened pride which it called forth 
 in all parts of the land. When the coronation was over 
 politics took a more wilful and acrid turn. The ministry 
 were weak. They had chiefly in hand the remanets of Irish 
 legislation. ' It seems to me ' said Lord Holland, ' that we 
 have nothing to depend upon but the Queen and Paddy ; ' 
 and this was about the truth. Lord John Russell's disinclina-
 
 REGIUS PROFESSOR 5,1% 
 
 tion to countenance any further extension of Parliamentary 
 Reform gave great offence to his more advanced adherents, 
 and they were not unwilling to leave him occasionally in the 
 lurch. He was becoming unpopular, and the reputation of 
 the Government was visibly on the wane. The climax was 
 reached when Lord John published a letter to his constituents 
 setting forth the reasons which made it impossible for him 
 to sanction any further change. ' In introducing the 
 Reform Act,' he wrote, 'the organs of the Government 
 declared in the name of that Government that it was intended 
 as the permanent settlement of a great constitutional ques- 
 tion. If after these declarations any member of Lord 
 Grey's Cabinet were to propose to begin the whole question 
 anew, the obvious remark would be, "you have either so 
 egregiously deceived us that we cannot trust to your public 
 engagements, or you have so blindly deceived yourself that 
 we cannot believe in the solidity of your new scheme." ' 
 That such a man should have considered such an argument 
 conclusive is a striking illustration of the change that has 
 taken place in the point of view from which politics are 
 regarded, and there were some who did not accept it as 
 conclusive then. ' Sound and temperate,' is Mr. Greville's 
 comment, ' will be a bitter pill to the Radicals, and a source 
 of vexation to his own people.' It went through three 
 editions in a couple of days, but retribution was not long 
 in coming. On the day it was published the House of 
 Commons went into committee on the Jamaica Bill. The 
 Jamaica House of Assembly was in the hands of the planters, 
 and its policy in dealing with the negroes called imperatively 
 for interference. The Government proposal was that the 
 constitution of the colony should be suspended for five 
 years. They expected a majority of twenty, but when the
 
 214 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 division took place some days later they found themselves 
 with a majority of only five, and at once determined to 
 resign. Lord Melbourne and Lord John Russell com- 
 municated their decision to the Queen. It is stated by 
 Mr. Greville, on the authority, as Mr. Walpole supposes, of 
 Lord Tavistock, that throughout the interview the Queen 
 ' was dissolved in tears.' 
 
 This incident is at least in keeping with the romantic 
 but very unpolitical episode which followed. On the advice 
 of Melbourne the Queen sent for the Duke of Wellington, 
 who in turn advised her to send for Sir Robert Peel. Sir 
 Robert was quite prepared to form an administration, but 
 he submitted to the Queen as a condition that there should 
 be some change in the ladies of the household. The Queen 
 took alarm. It was enough to have to part with Melbourne, 
 but to surrender at the bidding of a Prime Minister her 
 female associates and friends and to accept strangers of his 
 dictating was more than she could bear, and she referred 
 the question to her advisers. A cabinet council was called 
 and a minute drawn up embodying their opinion : ' The 
 Queen, having considered the proposal made to her 
 yesterday by Sir Robert Peel to remove the ladies of her 
 bedchamber, cannot consent to adopt a course which she 
 conceives to be contrary to usage, and which is repugnant 
 to her feelings.' The communication of this minute to Sir 
 Robert Peel put an end to the negotiations, and minis- 
 ters resumed office. The affair cannot be considered very 
 creditable to either party. The feelings of the Queen were 
 natural enough, and readily command sympathy, but men 
 of fifty ought to have been able to take a calmer view of 
 the circumstances. On constitutional grounds the question 
 settles itself. A Prime Minister is free to stipulate for what-
 
 REGIUS PROFESSOR 215 
 
 ever terms he thinks necessary, and the sovereign must 
 assent to them or dispense with his services. It was not an 
 unreasonable condition to exact that while the Tories took 
 charge of the Government in the Queen's name the ladies 
 of great Whig lords should not stand guard over the royal 
 closet. It is wonderful how much chivalry the Queen's 
 ministers displayed. -Even men like Earl Grey and Earl 
 Spencer declared that it was their duty to stand by the 
 Queen. A misunderstanding was afterwards alleged which 
 may or may not have existed. What cannot be doubted is 
 that it was necessary to come to some arrangement, and 
 two years later the question was settled in the sense for 
 which Sir Robert Peel contended. 
 
 Probably there mingled with these chivalrous inspirations 
 in the cause of their royal mistress a secret indisposition, 
 stronger than they could have been willing to confess or 
 were perhaps conscious of, to abandon the sweets of office. 
 So far as material advantages were concerned it may be con- 
 fidently said that Melbourne thought more of others than of 
 himself. But he could not help caring for others. It was 
 a genuine pleasure to him to be able to do anybody a good 
 turn, and if he could be of any service to his friends by re- 
 maining in office, that, it is to be feared, would have weighed 
 with him as a sufficient motive. When the duty of resigna- 
 tion was forced upon him, with yet some room for choice, 
 he counted up, it is said, two hundred people who would 
 suffer in their worldly circumstances if he took that step. 
 He thought tenderly of those who liked to keep a brougham 
 and would have to surrender the luxury if he ceased to be 
 Prime Minister. This was anything but heroic on his part, 
 but it was typical of his character, which was kind and 
 genial, deriving some colour from the maxim 'live and let
 
 216 lord Melbourne 
 
 live,' and on a level with ordinary human nature. He was 
 free from the conceit which might have led him to imagine 
 that his retention of office was of supreme importance to 
 the world, and he would probably not have owned to him- 
 self that it mattered very much to the nation whether he or 
 Sir Robert Peel was at the head of affairs. He would per- 
 haps have said that neither the one nor the other would 
 stray very far from the beaten path which public opinion 
 had marked out, and that which of them it should be might 
 be left to circumstances. This view determined the character 
 of his motives, which were not exalted, though they were not 
 sordid, and were more disinterested than some which wear 
 a fairer show. He was no doubt reluctant to quit Windsor. 
 He found there a sphere of happiness and of duty which no 
 man was better fitted to fill, and for which the whole of his 
 previous life had been a preparation. ' Month after month,' 
 writes Mr. Greville, ' he remains at the Castle, submitting to 
 this daily routine ; of all men he appeared to be the last 
 to be broken in to the trammels of a Court, and never was 
 such a revolution seen in any one's occupations and habits. 
 Instead of indolently sprawling in all the attitudes of 
 luxurious ease, he is always sitting bolt upright ; his free and 
 easy language interlarded with " damns " is carefully guarded 
 and regulated with the strictest propriety, and he has 
 exchanged the good talk of Holland House for the trivial, 
 laboured, and wearisome inanities of the Royal circle.' 
 
 As the chief purveyor of patronage in Church and State 
 he had more embarrassing duties to perform. We take 
 some illustrations from his papers, which Mr. Sanders has 
 edited with so much care and skill. He ' carefully preserved 
 all applications for appointments and promotions, and his 
 refusals of demands which he thought unworthy of con-
 
 REGIUS PROFESSOR 2\"J 
 
 sideration were couched in terms of crushing severity. 
 There was a familiar reply of his to an earl soliciting a 
 
 marquisate, which began, " My dear , how can you be 
 
 such a d fool ? " Of another seeker of honours and 
 
 rewards he asked, " Confound it, does he want a Garter for 
 his other leg ? " To a colonial governor who wished to 
 take a title reminiscent of his administration he wrote, " Is it 
 not too much like Scipio Africanus ? " He was perhaps 
 
 especially irreverent in the case of bishops. " D it," he 
 
 has been heard to say, "another bishop dead." He thought 
 bishops died on purpose to plague him, and he is reported 
 to have said that he never knew a sleepless night except 
 when he had to fill up some episcopal vacancy. His theo- 
 logical reading is believed to have been extensive, but he 
 began it rather late in life, probably to qualify himself for 
 making his ecclesiastical appointments. The following is 
 addressed to Lord John Russell, whose brother, the Rev. 
 Lord Wriothesley Russell, was apparently a candidate for the 
 Deanery of Exeter, where the arch-foe of Liberalism, Dr. 
 Philpott, was bishop : " I believe that I have been mis- 
 informed after all about the Deanery of Exeter, and that it 
 is in the gift of the Crown. There is much application for 
 
 it, and writes in the greatest anxiety, saying that they 
 
 want a man of the firmest character and the greatest abilities 
 to cope with that devil of a bishop, who inspires more terror 
 than ever Satan did. If it is in the gift of the crown Wrio 
 shall have it, and I wish you would write and tell him so. 
 I think his aristocratic name and title will be of advantage 
 to him in his contest with the Prince of Darkness, of whom, 
 however, it must be said that he is a gentleman." ' 
 
 Some years previously he had asked Archbishop 
 Whately whether Arnold was open to reasonable objection
 
 2l8 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 on the ground of heterodoxy in his works. The Arch- 
 bishop replied, ' Certainly not,' but thought it right to add 
 that the ' imputation of heresy ' was likely to be kept up 
 and urged as in the case of Dr. Hampden, and on very 
 similar grounds. In 1840 Arnold's name came up again, 
 and Melbourne writes thus to the Bishop of Norwich : ' I 
 return you Arnold's letters. With respect to the immediate 
 object, the Act of last session has annexed this canonry of 
 Christchurch which has just fallen vacant, to the Margaret 
 Professorship of Divinity. I have, as you know, a high 
 opinion of Arnold, which has been raised still higher by the 
 affair of the Wardenship of Manchester (refused by Arnold), 
 but Dr. Arnold has published some indiscreet opinions. I 
 call them indiscreet because they have, as it appears to me, 
 without any adequate reason or object, impaired his own 
 utility, and these opinions would, I own, render me un- 
 willing to name him for a professorship of divinity or any 
 science connected with divinity, in the University of 
 Oxford.' He writes to the same bishop on another sub- 
 ject : ' The incumbent of Woodbridge is anxious to ex- 
 change benefices with the incumbent of Methwold, both in 
 your diocese. Do you think this ought to be done, and 
 would the arrangement have your approbation and sanction ? 
 I do not much like myself this chopping and changing of 
 livings. A clergyman should take his parish as a husband 
 does his wife, for better or worse, and not be seeking 
 separation on any small disgust, or for any petty reason, 
 such as climate, bad neighbourhood, quarrelling with 
 parishioners. The liberty of divorce would in both cases 
 lead to dissolution of the connection for any and every 
 trifling reason.' 
 
 The most important of Melbourne's episcopal appoint-
 
 REGIUS PROFESSOR 219 
 
 ments was that of Dr. Connop Thirlwall to the diocese of 
 St. David's. Thirlwall had long laboured under a suspicion 
 of heresy. When a fellow and tutor of Trinity he had 
 published a pamphlet in favour of admitting Dissenters to 
 the university, and the censures it drew upon him from 
 Dr. Wordsworth, then master of the college, led him to 
 resign. He had since published a translation of Schleier- 
 macher's Gospel of St. Luke, and joined Julius Hare in 
 translating Niebuhr's ' History of Rome.' He held the 
 college living of Kirby Lonsdale when Melbourne searched 
 him out, and a letter asking him to call upon the Prime 
 Minister found him on his rambles at a village inn. The 
 story of the interview is told by Mr. Torrens : ' He called 
 at South Street, as he had been asked to do, and on finding 
 that the minister had not yet risen was about to leave his 
 card, when he was told that directions had been given that 
 he was to be shown in whenever he happened to come. 
 Melbourne was in bed, surrounded with letters and news- 
 papers. " Very glad to see you (he began) ; sit down, sit 
 down ; hope you are come to say you accept. I only wish 
 you to understand that I don't intend, if I know it, to make 
 a heterodox bishop — I don't like heterodox bishops. As 
 men they may be very good anywhere else, but I think they 
 have no business on the Bench. I take great interest," he 
 continued, " in theological questions, and I have read a good 
 deal of those old fellows, pointing to a pile of folio editions 
 of the Fathers. They are excellent reading and very 
 amusing ; some time or other we must have a talk about them. 
 I sent your edition of Schleiermacher to Lambeth, and 
 asked the Primate to tell me candidly what he thought of 
 it — and look, here are his notes on the margin, pretty copious, 
 you see. He does not concur in all your opinions, but he
 
 520 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 says there is nothing heterodox in your book?" Thirlwall 
 frankly responded to the appeal thus made to his honour, 
 Melbourne was satisfied, the appointment was confirmed, 
 and few men have conferred greater dignity on the Bench.' 
 Heterodoxy, if not of too strong a flavour, might at 
 least be tolerated, but there were extremes from which 
 public opinion recoiled, and Melbourne was held to have 
 gone to the furthest limit, and some leagues beyond, when 
 he presented Robert Owen to the Queen. Melbourne had 
 made his acquaintance many years before. We have seen 
 him at the Home Office in connection with the movement 
 for the release of the Dorsetshire labourers. His educational 
 experiments at New Lanark earned for him a reputation for 
 philanthropy which nothing that he afterwards said or did 
 could be held to forfeit. The Duke of Kent, the Queen's 
 father, visited him at New Lanark, and afterwards corre- 
 sponded with him on the most confidential terms. Owen had 
 since imbibed extreme opinions, and had made himself the 
 scarecrow of the religious world. He had his schemes for 
 the regeneration of society which he propagated with the 
 zeal of an apostle. They were wild and pernicious, but his 
 motives were pure. A more amiable and benevolent man 
 never lived. He called upon Melbourne with a petition 
 which he desired to present to the Queen, and asked to 
 be presented for that purpose at an approaching levee. 
 Melbourne consented. When the occasion came Owen 
 knelt before the Queen, attired in ' bag wig and sword,' the 
 petition was handed over to the Secretary of State, and 
 probably no mortal ever read a word of it. But a dreadful 
 deed was done. The religious and respectable world took 
 deep offence ; a petition signed by four thousand clergymen 
 and magistrates, and praying that legal proceedings might
 
 REGIUS PROFESSOR 221 
 
 be taken for the suppression of Socialist opinions, was pre- 
 sented by the Bishop of Exeter in the House of Lords, 
 and Melbourne had to defend himself. He did so by 
 speech and pen. In a letter to the late Sir Edward Baines 
 he repudiated all sympathy with Owen's opinions, and ad- 
 mitted that he had put his name on the presentation card 
 ' unguardedly and imprudently.' This was the sum of his 
 offence, but it demanded some expiation, which was no 
 doubt suffered in part at the poll-booth. It added to the 
 unpopularity of the Government, and was not forgotten at 
 the political crisis which was fast approaching.
 
 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 HIS FALL 
 
 Growing weakness of the Cabinet — Incidents of a protracted dissolution 
 — Canada — The Syrian question — Palmerston's autocracy in foreign 
 affairs — Melbourne keeps the peace — The Queen's Marriage — His 
 fatherly approval — The troubles of the Ministry thicken — Embar- 
 rassed finance — The Corn Laws — Defeat on the Sugar Duties — A 
 general election — The majority of ninety-one — Melbourne resigns — 
 His parting interview with the Queen. 
 
 The closing years of Lord Melbourne's administration have 
 been styled inglorious, but they were in some respects 
 memorable. By dint of unwearied patience the Irish 
 measures which the Government had in view on first taking 
 office were passed through Parliament. The tithe question 
 was settled, the Irish Municipal Corporations were placed 
 on a more popular basis, and a system of poor law relief was 
 established in Ireland for the first time. These measures, 
 it is true, were maimed and shorn of much of their efficacy 
 by the amendments to which they were subjected in the 
 House of Lords, where the Opposition, led by Lord Lynd- 
 hurst, the renegade Jacobin of other days, did all they could 
 to resist pacificatory legislation. 'Aliens in blood, in 
 language, and in religion ' was the savage description Lord 
 Lyndhurst applied to our Irish fellow-subjects. Melbourne's 
 application to him of a remark once made of Lord Strafford 
 was a fairly adequate retort : ' The malignity of his practices
 
 HIS FALL 223 
 
 is hugely aggravated by his vast talents, whereof God has 
 given him the use, but the Devil the application.' The 
 Government had to surrenderon many points, but they did 
 their best, and concluded that half the good they intended 
 was better than nothing. In England a beginning was made 
 with popular education. The Committee of Privy Council 
 was established, and a grant of 30,000/. in aid of Voluntary 
 Schools was the forerunner of the more elaborate system 
 and the larger expenditure of to-day. It must be owned 
 that on the education question Melbourne was somewhat of 
 an obscurantist. He did not share Lord John Russell's 
 enthusiasm. He never believed that the mixed system in 
 Ireland would work well, and to this extent his sagacity 
 has been proved by the result. As regards one main plea 
 for extending education. in England — its probable effect in 
 diminishing crime, he wrote to Lord John : ' I do not myself 
 much like connecting the subject of education with criminal 
 law. It leads to the doctrine which is held by man)-, that 
 the uninstructed are not responsible, and therefore not fit 
 objects of punishment.' He 'doubted whether there was 
 anybody who had not been told that there was a God who 
 would punish him, that Jesus Christ had made an atone- 
 ment for the sins of the world, and that it was displeasing 
 to God, and therefore wrong, to murder and rob.' He 
 thought these elementary doctrines were ' strongest in them- 
 selves,' and would only be weakened by explanation. He 
 admitted, however, that Lord John was likely to be butter 
 informed than he was, and happily Lord John had his 
 way. One other measure reflects honour on the waning 
 administration. They gave their support to Rowland Hill, 
 and the country thenceforth enjoyed the inestimable boon 
 of penny postage.
 
 224 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 It was a seething time in colonial affairs. The old 
 system of irresponsible government in the colonies was 
 coming to an end, and a ' new departure ' was forced upon 
 Parliament by an outbreak in Canada. The people de- 
 manded an elective Legislature. The demand had driven 
 Kine William almost frantic. He declaimed about his 
 prerogative in the Privy Council and in his interviews with 
 colonial officials. It was not his fault that our immortal 
 blunder with the thirteen American colonies was not 
 repeated. The first outbreak in Canada was promptly 
 suppressed, but it broke out again, and, with sympathisers 
 on the American side of the St. Lawrence, it involved us 
 in difficulties with the United States. The Government 
 sent over Lord Durham as Governor-General with large 
 powers. As a Radical in politics he seemed likely to win 
 colonial confidence. Unhappily his rashness marred the 
 experiment. He took over with him in official positions 
 two men of spotted reputation, Mr. Turton and Mr. 
 Wakefield. Melbourne inveighed vehemently against the 
 imprudence, but all he could do with the wilful Earl 
 was to insist that at least they should be kept in the 
 background. On arriving in Canada Lord Durham pub- 
 lished an amnesty, with numerous exceptions, the excepted 
 persons being subjected to the penalty of death if they 
 ventured to return. The amnesty ordinance made a great 
 uproar in Parliament. It was held to be a violation of 
 the first principles of justice, and Lord Durham was in- 
 structed to announce its disallowance. He did this in 
 a proclamation which was virtually an appeal from the 
 Government to the people of Canada, and he was at once 
 recalled, but before the order of recall could reach him, he 
 had thrown up his post and landed at Plymouth. Never-
 
 HIS FALL 225 
 
 theless, his report on Canadian affairs, drawn up by Mr. 
 Charles Buller, suggested the outlines of a constitutional 
 system, and under his successor, Mr. Poulett Thompson, 
 afterwards Lord Sydenham, a beginning was made in that 
 wise administration which restored loyalty to the colony, 
 and prepared the way for the federation of all the provinces 
 in the present Dominion of Canada. 
 
 On the Syrian question the Government narrowly 
 escaped a war with France. Mehemet Ali, not satisfied 
 with the Pashalic of Egypt, entertained aggressive designs 
 against the Sultan, the final scope of which could only be 
 conjectured. His troops were victorious in Syria and in 
 full march towards Constantinople when England inter- 
 fered. Their rival views on Egypt prevented harmonious 
 action between England and France. It was the rehearsal 
 of a very recent story. To checkmate France, Lord Pal- 
 merston negotiated a treaty between England, Austria, 
 Russia, and Prussia for the protection of Turkey, and a 
 fleet was sent to the Mediterranean under orders for instant 
 action. France was furious. At home the Cabinet was 
 torn asunder. Throughout the whole affair Lord Pal- 
 merston acted like an autocrat, but nevertheless with much 
 suppleness, bidding only for delay. Lord John Russell was 
 incensed at the high-handed proceedings of his colleague. 
 He urged that conciliatory overtures should be made to 
 France, but he urged still more persistently that Lord Pal- 
 merston should submit his measures and his despatches 
 beforehand to the judgment of the Cabinet. Melbourne 
 played the part of mediator between them, but he was 
 too closely associated with Palmerstcn and had too much 
 sympathy with him to take any peremptory measures. 
 There was an absence of central control. ' We are a 
 
 Q
 
 226 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 republic,' said Lord Holland, but the Cabinet was not even 
 a republic. It was a group of departmental chiefs, each of 
 whom was clothed with plenary power. Lord John Russell's 
 voice was absolute in home affairs, and Lord Palmerston 
 was resolved that no one should overrule himself in foreign 
 affairs. The quarrel then begun had a memorable revival a 
 dozen years later. For the present Lord Palmerston was tri- 
 umphant. His plans succeeded. The blow struck at Acre 
 finished the business, and the resignation of M. Thiers was an 
 admission on the part of France that his policy had prevailed. 
 Melbourne might well be careless of Cabinet bickerings. 
 He knew they could not last long. Fate with winged foot 
 was hastening to put an end to them, and the work he liked 
 best was at Court, where for the time he had a new pupil. 
 The Queen's marriage had been at last a sudden affair. 
 Prince Albert had visited England in 1836, but from the 
 period of her accession the Queen had kept up no corre- 
 spondence with him as she had done before, and it was 
 understood that she wished three or four years to pass by before 
 thinking of marriage. His relatives were, naturally averse to 
 any long postponement. His father said that if he waited 
 till his twenty-first, twenty-second, or twenty-third year, it 
 would be impossible for him to begin any new career, and 
 that his whole life would be marred if the Queen should 
 change her mind. In the ' Early Years of the Prince Con- 
 sort,' the tender offering laid in later days at the shrine of 
 youthful love, the Queen tells us that ' she never entertained 
 any idea of this, nor,' she adds, ' can the Queen now think 
 without indignation against herself of her wish to keep the 
 Prince waiting for probably three or four years, at the risk of 
 ruining all his prospects for life, until she might feel inclined 
 to marry.' None would wish to disturb the exquisite pleasure
 
 HIS FALL 227 
 
 of an act of penance which only love could impose, though 
 we may think that the Queen's self-reproaches were unde- 
 served. So late as July 15, 1839, the Queen wrote to her 
 uncle, King Leopold, strongly desiring delay ; but it was not 
 to be. On October 10, Prince Albert arrived at Windsor 
 on a visit to the Queen, and the white flag of the maiden 
 fortress went up at the first sight of the handsome summoner. 
 On the 15th the Queen 'proposed.' 
 
 These facts dispose of a passage in Greville's ' Memoirs,' 
 which implies that on this occasion the Queen withheld her 
 usual confidence from Melbourne. Mr. Greville says : 
 ' The Queen settled everything about her marriage herself, 
 and without consulting Melbourne at all on the subject, not 
 even communicating to him her intentions. The reports were 
 already rife while he was in ignorance, and at last he spoke 
 to her, told her that he could not be ignorant of the reports, 
 nor could she ; that he did not presume to inquire what 
 her intentions were, but that it was his duty to tell her that 
 if she had any it was necessary that her ministers should be 
 apprised of them. She said she had nothing to tell him, 
 and about a fortnight afterwards she informed him that the 
 whole thing was settled.' It appears that the Queen did 
 not know her own mind as to marriage till the 10th, and 
 that on the 15th she was a betrothed bride, so that a fort- 
 night before she might well say to Melbourne that she had 
 nothing to tell him. The Queen's letter to King Leopold 
 announcing her engagement refers to Melbourne in terms of 
 utter frankness and simplicity. It is written on the day on 
 which the engagement took place, and the conversation 
 with Melbourne must have been earlier. The Queen says : 
 ' Lord Melbourne, whom I have of course consulted about 
 the whole affair, quite approves my choice, and expresses 
 
 Q 2
 
 228 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 great satisfaction at this event, which he thinks in every way 
 highly desirable. Lord Melbourne has acted in this busi- 
 ness, as he has always done towards me, with the greatest 
 kindness and affection. We also think it better, and Albert 
 quite approves of it, that we should be married very soon 
 after Parliament meets, about the beginning of February.' 
 
 The preparations for the marriage furnished Melbourne 
 with a good deal of congenial occupation. There was the 
 declaration to be prepared which the Queen was to read in 
 the Privy Council. ' Precisely at two,' says the Queen in 
 her journal, ' I went in. The room was full, but I hardly 
 knew who was there. Lord Melbourne I saw looking kindly 
 at me with tears in his eyes, but he was not near me. I 
 felt my hands shook, but I did not make one mistake. I 
 felt most happy and thankful when it was over.' The 
 annuity to be settled on the Prince had to be fixed upon. 
 The Government proposed 50,000/., and Melbourne told 
 the Queen that in this the Cabinet anticipated no diffi- 
 culty whatever. But there was a difficulty. Mr. Hume 
 proposed to reduce the annuity to 21,000/., and on this 
 being negatived, an amendment was carried on the motion 
 of Colonel Sibthorpe, supported by Sir Robert Peel, re- 
 ducing it to 30,000/. Melbourne said to Stockmar a few 
 days later : ' The Prince will be very angry at the Tories. 
 But it is not the Tories only whom the Prince has to thank 
 for cutting down his allowance. It is rather the Tories, 
 the Radicals, and a great proportion of our own people.' 
 Some questions were raised as to whether the Prince was a 
 Protestant. Melbourne told the Queen that he was afraid 
 to say anything about the Prince's religion, and that the 
 subject would not therefore be alluded to in the declaration 
 to be made in the Privy Council. But there were suspicious
 
 HIS FALL 229 
 
 sticklers in the House of Lords, and the Prince had to be 
 described as Protestant in the Annuity Bill. The prece- 
 dence to be assigned to the Prince was a more ticklish 
 question. Melbourne was pestered by all the Royal Dukes, 
 and what with their remonstrances and the Act of Henry 
 VIII. for the placing of peers, the matter was sufficiently 
 intractable. A paper drawn up by Mr. Greville at last 
 pointed a way out of the dilemma, and whereabouts the 
 Prince should stand or sit was left to be determined by the 
 Queen's prerogative. In other words, if we can bear the 
 simplicity of the solution, the Queen might put him where 
 she pleased. 
 
 It was a strange transition from the trivialities of Court 
 etiquette to the serious difficulties which beset the Cabinet. 
 There were two distinct growths of public opinion, Radi- 
 calism and Conservatism, and both were unfavourable to 
 the Government. The Whigs, who at one time seemed to 
 represent the whole of the Liberal following, were becom- 
 ing more and more a left centre party, and the party to the 
 left of them, by no means the extreme left, was rapidly in- 
 creasing. A similar change was taking place on the right, 
 though there the number of the right centre, where Sir 
 Robert Peel planted his banner, was increasing, while the 
 more extreme members of the party, those who could re- 
 member the good old days of ' Church and King,' were 
 diminishing. The forces under the Conservative leader 
 were every day becoming more numerous and more com- 
 pact, and could be relied upon to move together at the 
 word of command. The growth of Radicalism could not be 
 prevented, yet, in proportion as it grew, there was a certain 
 amount of reaction in public opinion towards the Conserva- 
 tive side. There was once more a good deal of social
 
 230 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 disturbance in various parts of the country. There was an 
 absurd outbreak in South Wales which had to be put down 
 by military force. Chartism was rife at Birmingham and in 
 Lancashire. The six points became the programme for a 
 new agitation. Eloquent working-class leaders were spring- 
 ing up who had a leaning towards physical force and did 
 not mind risking the treadmill. Most formidable appari- 
 tion of all, the Anti-Corn Law League was sending forth its 
 lecturers into all parts of the land, and a cry was being 
 raised for cheap bread. Trade was miserably bad. Manu- 
 factures were depressed. In towns like Stockport half the 
 looms were silent. The people were beginning to perceive 
 that the same law which made bread dear restricted the 
 labour and lowered the wages of the workmen. This was 
 becoming a general conviction, though on the question of 
 method there was a difference of opinion. The free-traders 
 thought it wiser to assail one clearly pernicious law or set 
 of laws, while the chartists were for availing themselves 
 of the prevailing distress in order to accomplish organic 
 changes. 
 
 The ministry drifted with the stream. They had to 
 revise their opinions. The ballot was recognised as an 
 open question. Lord John Russell offered some encourage- 
 ment to the motion for a ten-pound franchise in the counties. 
 Some change was seen to be necessary in the Corn Laws. 
 Lord John advocated the abolition of the sliding scale and 
 the substitution of a fixed duty of eight shillings per quarter. 
 Melbourne was the one whom it was the most difficult to 
 move on this question. He doubted whether ' the property 
 or the institutions of the country could stand' the free im- 
 portation of corn. A year or two before he had expressed 
 the opinion that ' the minister who should try to carry the
 
 HIS FALL 231 
 
 total abolition of the Corn Laws would be considered fit 
 for a lunatic asylum.'- But even Melbourne came round. 
 In February 1841 Lord John Russell brought the question 
 of the Corn Laws before the Cabinet, and it was decided 
 that they should take their stand on a fixed duty. Perhaps 
 the discussion was not very luminous, or it had perhaps 
 been left in the hands of the experts and the conclusion 
 arrived at was not very distinctly announced. At any rate, 
 it is probably of this meeting that a story is told which Mr. 
 Walpole finds in a letter from Lord Clarendon, but which 
 may be given in its raciest version. Just as they were 
 breaking up, Melbourne shouted to his colleagues from the 
 top of the staircase : ' Stop a bit ; is it to lower the price of 
 bread, or isn't it? It doesn't much matter which, but we 
 must all say the same thing.' It is perhaps as well to 
 remember that such stories are quite susceptible of a little 
 garnishing. 
 
 The state of the finances pointed to the necessity of 
 some fiscal change. There had been deficits year after 
 year, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer had now to 
 deal with one of a couple of millions. Mr. Baring resolved 
 to try what some approach to free trade would do. There 
 were differential duties in favour of sugar and timber im- 
 ported from the colonies. It was proposed to reduce the 
 duties on foreign sugar and timber and to raise those 
 imposed on the colonial products, thereby reducing the 
 difference between them. The anticipated gain to the 
 revenue was fixed at 1,300,000/. The battle was fought 
 over the Sugar Bill, and, after a debate which lasted over 
 eight nights, the Government were beaten by a majority of 
 thirty-six. Then arose the question whether they should 
 resign or dissolve. Melbourne was opposed to a dissolu-
 
 232 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 tion, but the majority of the Cabinet were against him and 
 he gave way. Writing to the Queen, he said : ' Of course 
 I felt I could but go with them ; so we shall go on, bring 
 in the old sugar duties, and then, if things are in a pretty 
 good state, dissolve.' But Sir Robert Peel did not lend 
 himself to this arrangement. He saw his opportunity and 
 resolved to charge home. On finding that they were pre- 
 pared to go on, he moved a vote of want of confidence and 
 carried it by a majority of one. This left the Government 
 no alternative, and on June 23 Parliament was dissolved. 
 The new Parliament met in August, an amendment to the 
 address, moved by Sir Robert Peel, was carried by a majority 
 of ninety-one, and the Government forthwith resigned. 
 
 The long agony was over. For a couple of years the 
 Melbourne administration had been dying a lingering 
 death, and at last the end had come. They might perhaps 
 have died with greater dignity. They might have folded 
 their robes around them and chosen the moment of disso- 
 lution. Instead of this, they held on to the furthest bounds 
 of fate and yielded only to necessity. Perhaps they did 
 right. Why should men or governments die before their 
 time? If office is a trust, they might well consider them- 
 selves bound to remain in till they were turned out. In 
 this way they divested themselves of all responsibility for 
 the result, and threw it upon those to whom it properly 
 belonged, the representatives of the people in Parliament, 
 and ultimately upon the people themselves. They had 
 fought a gallant fight with the reactionary forces in the 
 Lords, and practically raised a question which has been 
 growing in gravity ever since. If it must be said that 
 Melbourne's career as Prime Minister had not been brilliant, 
 there remains the fact that his administration was one
 
 HIS FALL 233 
 
 of the longest of the century, that it had passed many 
 useful measures, and had been more successful in dealing 
 with Ireland than any other administration before or since. 
 And there is the further title to our grateful recognition, 
 that he played an important part at the critical period of a 
 long reign, and by his devotion to the Queen rendered 
 services to the State of which we have reaped the benefit 
 through a peaceful constitutional development of fifty years. 
 It was far easier for Melbourne to resign the cares of 
 Government than to bid farewell to Windsor. On the 
 evening of his resignation he saw the Queen by special 
 request. ' He praised,' says the Queen's ' Journal,' ' the 
 speeches of Lord John Russell and Sir Robert Peel.' 
 'Lord Melbourne himself,' writes Sir Theodore Martin, 'was 
 in very good spirits, saying the only person he was sorry for 
 was the Queen, and that it was very painful for him to leave 
 her. " For four years I have seen you every day ; but it is 
 so different now from what it would have been in 1839. 
 The Prince," Lord Melbourne added, " understands every- 
 thing so well, and has a clever, able head." The Queen saw 
 Lord Melbourne next morning before he left the Castle, and 
 was much affected in taking leave of him. " You will find," 
 he said, "a great support in the Prince ; he is so able. You 
 said when you were going to be married that he was perfec- 
 tion, which I thought a little exaggerated then, but really 
 I think now that it is in some degree realised." ' Similar 
 testimony to the Prince's abilities was conveyed in a parting 
 note, a copy of which the Queen sent to King Leopold with 
 this remark : ' This naturally gave me great pleasure and 
 made me very proud, as it comes from a person who is no 
 flatterer, and would not have said it if he did not think so 
 and feel so.'
 
 234 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 It was not a final adieu. The Queen's friendship for 
 Melbourne was cherished to the last. While the recent 
 elections were going on she had visited him at Brocket. 
 The Queen told Sir Robert Peel that she could not break 
 off all intercourse with Lord Melbourne, and Sir Robert 
 heartily acquiesced. At a memorable crisis in the career of 
 the new Premier we shall meet his rival again at Windsor, 
 an indulged and chartered guest.
 
 o 3 
 
 5 
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 BROCKET 
 
 A speech at Melbourne — Brocket reminiscences — Augustus Lamb — ■ 
 Lord Egremont — The picture in the Great Saloon — Not left in 
 utter loneliness — His interest in politics — Again in the House of 
 Lords — A Windsor incident — Still ready to go if 'sent for' — His 
 health steadily declining — Not included in the Ministerial combina- 
 tion of 1S46 — His last vote by proxy — An episode of 1S32 — The 
 end. 
 
 Lord Melbourne lived six years after resigning office, but 
 for him they were eventless years, and there remains but 
 little to be said. He went for a few weeks into Derbyshire 
 in search of quiet after the excitement of the political crisis, 
 but he was afraid of ' some address or something of that 
 sort.' ' Melbourne itself,' he writes to Lord John Russell, 
 ' is a large manufacturing and political village ; it is twenty- 
 five miles from Leicester, seventeen from Nottingham, eight 
 from Derby — rather an inflammable neighbourhood. Per- 
 haps, however, they will leave me quite alone, and if they 
 do not I must manage as well as I can.' They did not 
 leave him quite alone. The presence of the ex-Premier 
 in the place from which he derived his title was an occasion 
 which could not be allowed to pass unimproved. Addresses 
 were presented to him from Derby and Melbourne, and he 
 had to make a speech. He was, of course, duly sensible of 
 the honour of receiving such proofs of appreciation from
 
 2$6 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 ' the enlightened and opulent ' county town, and from his 
 ' immediate neighbours and friends.' Though he regarded 
 it as a ' bore ' beforehand, he was no doubt glad of the 
 opportunity of reviewing his administration, and of dwelling 
 upon the benefits, political and social, which it had been 
 the means of conferring upon the country. In deprecating 
 the inconveniences of popularity he was not to be taken at his 
 word — as, indeed, few men are — and if it had been possible 
 to present him with addresses on an average of one in three 
 months, it is probable that his sense of political loneliness 
 would have been greatly soothed, and his remaining days 
 made more happy. 
 
 His fixed abode was henceforth at Brocket. Among 
 its sheltering woods and its soft pastures by the banks 
 of the dreamy Lea he found the solace of sad but dear 
 memories, and could live over again the days of his youth. 
 It was there that Sir Joshua Reynolds used to give him a 
 ride on his foot as a reward for being quiet while some fresh 
 touches were added to his portrait. It was there that he 
 had brought his wife when love had not yet lost its hues of 
 visionary romance, and there were no wayward impulses 
 to disturb his repose. The latest recollections the place 
 jevived were, perhaps, the saddest. It was there that he 
 had witnessed the departure of his only son, whom he had 
 loved and watched over from childhood with more than a 
 mother's tenderness. ' Augustus,' he wrote at the time, 
 ' was lying on a sofa near me ; he had been reading, but I 
 thought had dropped asleep. Suddenly he said to me in a 
 quiet and reflective tone : " I wish you would give me some 
 franks that I may write and thank people who have been 
 kind in their inquiries." The pen dropt from my hand as if 
 I had been struck ; for the words and the manner were as
 
 BROCKET 237 
 
 clear and thoughtful as if no cloud had ever hung heavily 
 over him. I cannot give any notion of what I felt ; for I 
 felt it to be, as it proved, the summons they call lightning 
 before death. In a few hours he was gone.' This event 
 occurred just on the eve of his four years' residence at 
 court. The parental void created prepared him for a new 
 and dutiful attachment which was almost parental. The 
 sense of bereavement was assuaged till it was almost for- 
 gotten by incessant occupation with a task in which his best 
 feelings found scope for action. Now that he was suddenly 
 released from all public duties, the emotions so pathetically 
 described in the extract just given would come upon him 
 afresh, and he had leisure to realise his loss. 
 
 Every room at brocket carried his thoughts back to 
 old days. The decoration and garniture of the place were 
 memorials of his mother's taste and prodigality. She had 
 lavished upon it all that artistic skill could furnish or that 
 wealth could buy. In the saloon there hung a portrait of 
 the Earl of Egremont, ' so wonderfully like Lord Melbourne,' 
 says Mr. Hayward, ' that it is impossible to help being struck 
 by it.' Late in life he was taking Sir Edwin Landseer and 
 another visitor round the Grand Saloon, when Landseer, 
 coming opposite the portrait, gave a start and involuntarily 
 turned round to look at him. ' Ay,' said Lord Melbourne, 
 'you have heard that story, have you? But it's all a lie 
 for all that.' Egremont had died a few years before, 
 surrounded by a host of children and grandchildren, but 
 without one whom the law could recognise as his heir. 
 When his end was approaching, he sent for Melbourne, who, 
 says Mr. Torrens, ' was seldom long without paying him a 
 visit, and never ceased to delight in his original and sug- 
 gestive conversation.' At this last interview, at the age of
 
 23S LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 eighty-five, 'he was in full possession of his faculties, and 
 talked, as if done with life, of the condition of the country, 
 and what he deemed the tendency of things.' Looking at 
 the timepiece, he said, 'William, I have lived long enough 
 to see the hand go round. In the first quarter of my time 
 the world was nothing but profligate ; in the next there came 
 a great revival of puritanism ; then came another spell of 
 luxury and licence, and now you have a revival of religion 
 once more.' Though he had come to differ from Melbourne 
 in politics he was delighted with his success, and declared 
 that the only blunder in his career which he could never 
 understand was his 'mad choice of a wife.' Melbourne, 
 who knew the whole of that delicate business better, was 
 probably not prepared even then to say that he repented of 
 the bargain, and on the point challenged he had perhaps 
 shown more sanity than his censor. 
 
 It is said that he suffered much from mental depression 
 at Brocket, and when the circumstances are considered there 
 can be no wonder if he did. For twelve years he had been 
 a member of the Government, he had been Premier for more 
 than six, and for the greater part of that time he had been 
 in constant attendance on the Queen. He had led a busy 
 life, he had been the centre of important interests, the arbiter 
 of Cabinet differences, the dispenser of patronage, a notable 
 man in society. All at once his pleasant occupations ceased, 
 and he was thrown upon himself, with nothing to do but 
 to ruminate upon the past. Probably Brocket was not the 
 best place for him, full as it was of melancholy associations. 
 Six months at Cannes or a trip to Egypt or India would 
 now be recommended, but such remedies were not then so 
 much in fashion. Apart from his liking for books he had no 
 employment and no source of enjoyment. In this respect
 
 BROCKET 239 
 
 he was worse off than some of his friends. Lord Althorp 
 found a large resource in sheep-breeding. Lord John 
 Russell, when freed from Cabinet cares, would superintend 
 his children's and step-children's tea-parties, or write a 
 pamphlet, or meditate a drama, or compose a dissertation 
 on the state of Europe. With Melbourne, social intercourse 
 was the very breath of life, and when deprived of it he sank 
 into torpor or uneasy restlessness. But he was not left, as 
 has been imagined, to pine in utter loneliness. Hisbrother 
 Lord Beauvale and his wife made their home at Brocket for 
 half the year. Lord Beauvale had been minister at Vienna, 
 where Lord Palmerston did not find him too submissive an 
 agent, and Melbourne had to keep the peace between them. 
 Few men were better acquainted with the state of parties or 
 more versed in the political gossip of the day. After a free- 
 and-easy bachelorhood of sixty years, he had married a lady 
 of twenty, who from the description given of her was almost 
 perfect in character, in accomplishments, and in devotion to 
 her husband. 'With such relatives always at hand there can 
 have been no lack of sunshine or of breezy talk. His sister 
 Emily, widow of Earl Cowper, had lately married Lord 
 Palmerston, his friend and colleague. Broadlands and 
 Panshanger were within easy reach. Visits could be easily 
 exchanged, and a word at any time would bring his sister 
 to Brocket. Lady Holland, the indomitable talker of 
 Holland House, now in her widowhood, was often there. 
 He had nephews and nieces who were not likely to forget 
 him. Mrs. Norton occasionally sent him a sprightly letter. 
 'Who have you got at Brocket?' she writes. 'Does 
 Emily hang her long gowns up, like banners of victory, in 
 the cupboards ? Does Lady Holland cut herself in four to 
 help and serve you ? Are Fanny Jocelyn's soft purple eyes
 
 240 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 at your tabic, under the lamps ? or does the " Minny " who 
 rivals our own " Georgy " rouse you to any love and admira- 
 tion of your own relations ?' The two ladies first mentioned 
 were his sister's daughters, married to Lord Shaftesbury and 
 Lord Jocelyn. ' Georgy ' was the Duchess of Somerset. 
 These were openings into social life on its upper level. 
 Elsewhere, his old secretary, Mr. Thomas Young, was always 
 foraging for his entertainment, sending him ' long budgets 
 dealing with every topic under the sun.' With these re- 
 sources he had not to suffer many of the pangs of exile. 
 He was not shut up to the consolations of pure philosophy. 
 In the session of 1S42 he was in his place in the House 
 of Lords, and took an active part in the deflates. In the 
 autumn he had an attack of palsy from which he never 
 entirely recovered. This circumstance is sufficient to explain 
 his partial exclusion from the counsels of his political 
 friends. They cannot be charged with neglecting him. 
 They wrote to him frequently to exchange opinions on the 
 current politics of the day and to ask his advice, but it was 
 clearer to them than it was perhaps to him that he could no 
 longer be reckoned upon as a factor in party combinations. 
 There is some evidence that he did not consider himself as 
 altogether laid aside. Free Trade and the Corn Laws were 
 the great questions of the hour, and he watched with eager 
 curiosity the course taken by Sir Robert Peel, whose fol- 
 lowers were becoming seriously alarmed by what he had 
 already done and seemed likely to do in a free trade direc- 
 tion. It was possible that if he went much further his 
 majority would break up, and then there would be a chance 
 for the Whigs. Perhaps an eight-shilling fixed duty would 
 triumph after all. ' If you have thoroughly made up your 
 mind,' he writes to Lord John Russell in 1S43, ' I wish you
 
 BROCKET 24I 
 
 would inform me what language you mean to hold respect- 
 ing corn when Parliament meets. Of course you have 
 quite dismissed from your mind the notion that the Govern- 
 ment will move upon that subject. Peel would be an 
 imbecile if he were to break up his party, and probably his 
 administration, in that manner. He will remain quietly 
 in his present position.' In this forecast his usual sagacity 
 was wanting. Sir Robert Peel took the opposite course 
 to that which he imagined. Hence his disappointment 
 and anger when the final plunge was made. It did break 
 up the Conservative party, and immediately opened a way 
 to office for their opponents, but it was on the basis of entire 
 free trade in corn, a policy which Melbourne was as yet by 
 no means prepared to adopt. His anger at Peel's conver- 
 sion broke out rather unseasonably. ' There has been a 
 curious scene,' writes Greville, 'with Melbourne at Windsor, 
 which was told me by Jocelyn, who was present. It was 
 at dinner, when Melbourne was sitting next to the Queen. 
 Some allusion was made to the expected measure, when 
 
 Melbourne suddenly broke out : " Ma'am, it is a d 
 
 dishonest act." The Queen laughed and tried to quiet 
 him, but he repeated, " I say again, it is a very dishonest 
 act," and then he continued a tirade against the abolition 
 of the Corn Laws, the people not knowing how to look, 
 and the Queen only laughing.' The Queen at last said 
 that she wished to hear no more on the subject then, 
 though she would be willing to speak with Lord Melbourne 
 about it in private. 
 
 Holding such opinions on the vital question of the day, 
 it is difficult to imagine that Melbourne can have expected 
 to have a place found for him in Lord John Russell's 
 ministry, as he is said to have done. Perhaps he only 
 
 R
 
 242 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 wanted the compliment of an offer from his old friends. 
 Perhaps he thought that as the question was settled once 
 for all he might consistently acquiesce in what had been done 
 by others though he could not have done it himself. No 
 offer was made, but he received from Lord John a soothing 
 letter : — ' I submitted to the Queen yesterday the list of a 
 new Ministry. I have not proposed to you to form a part 
 of it, because I do not think your health is equal to the fa- 
 tigues which any office must entail. For although there are 
 offices with little business in themselves, the Parliamentary 
 work has increased so greatly that a Lord Privy Seal, for 
 instance, must take charge of committees, and be constantly 
 engaged in assisting the leader of the House of Lords. I 
 propose to put William Cowper (Melbourne's nephew) into 
 his old place in the Treasury.' Melbourne replied : — 'You 
 have judged very rightly and kindly in making me no offer. 
 I am subject to such frequent accesses of illness as render 
 me incapable of any exertion. I am glad of what you 
 intend about William Cowper. I do not think that he would 
 mind being left out himself, but it would have been very 
 unpalatable to his mother.' Two years before, when there 
 was a rumour of an impending crisis in the Cabinet, he had 
 held himself prepared to obey a summons from the Queen. 
 The altered situation of affairs and his infirm health had 
 changed his views, and his reply to Lord John Russell's 
 letter may be taken to express what he really felt. 
 
 His work was dons. His last vote in Parliament, given 
 by proxy, was in favour of the Bill for the removal of Jewish 
 disabilities. This was in May 1848. Through the summer 
 and autumn he was visibly declining. Almost at the end an 
 incident occurred which was at once ridiculous and painful. 
 At the trial of Mr. Smith O'Brien on a charge of high
 
 BROCKET 243 
 
 treason, a remarkable letter was produced by the defence. 
 It was addressed to Sir William Napier, who in 1S32 held 
 the post of commander in the Midland counties. It was 
 dated from the Home Office, signed ' T. Y.,' sealed with the 
 official seal, and franked by Melbourne. The letter was not 
 read in court, but it was published next day in the ' Freeman's 
 Journal.' It was a suggestion to Napier that he might be 
 asked to take command of the insurgent forces in the event 
 of an insurrection. The case was too plain for mistake or 
 contradiction. The letter was one of the pranks of his 
 private secretary, Mr. Thomas Young, who had been trusted 
 by his confiding employer not wisely but too well. Young 
 was summoned from London to Brocket for explanations, 
 and his confession and excuses were stammered out by the 
 bedside. The press exploded with laughter, but it was no 
 laughing matter for the dying statesman, whose prudence 
 was so signally impeached. He felt the blow keenly, and it 
 perhaps hastened his end. On November 22 the public 
 were informed of his critical condition by the ' Morning 
 Chronicle : 'It is feared that Lord Melbourne is dying. 
 At one time the family at Brocket did not expect, on 
 Thursday, that he would live through the day. On Friday 
 he rallied ; on Saturday morning he still continued rather 
 better.' The hopeful signs were delusive. Two days later, 
 on November 24, 1848, at the age of three score years and 
 ten, he passed peacefully away.
 
 INDEX 
 
 ABE 
 
 At'ERCROMBlE, Mr., 186-187 
 
 Abinger, Lord, 41 
 
 Act of Union, 51 
 
 Addington, Mr. (Lord Sidmouth), 5^ 53 
 
 Albert, Prince, 226-228, 233 
 
 Alien Act, Hnskisson and, 56 
 
 ' All the Talents' Ministry, 52-58, 176 
 
 Althorp, Lord 21-23, 43 _ 44> 54-55. 6 1 
 64-65; 68, 91, 94, 95, 115, i3?> M'- 
 142, 150, 163, i65, 168-174, 178-186, 
 
 =39 
 
 Anglesca, Marquis of, 142 
 Anti-Corn Law League, 230 
 ' Anti-Jacobin,' Lamb and the, 25 
 Arnold, John (tradesman), 8 
 
 — Dr., 217-218 
 
 Attwood, Thomas, 151, 153, 155, 157 
 
 Bai ON, Lord. 178 
 
 Baines, Sir Edward, 221 
 
 Balzac's ' Physiologie du manage,' 80 
 
 Paring, Mr., 231 
 
 Bathurst, 115 
 
 Baxter, Richard (the Puritan), 4 
 
 Beauvale, Lord, 239 
 
 Bedford, Duke of, 23-26, 115 
 
 Belasyse, Lord, 14-15 
 
 Bentham, Jeremy, 107, 150 
 
 Berkeley, 28 
 
 Bessborough, the third Earl of, 1 
 
 I.ady, 79 
 Bexley, Lord, 115 
 Birmingham, 132, 148 
 
 — Political Union, 150, 152, 156, 157, 
 162 
 
 Bletchingly, Borough of, 117-118 
 Bonaparte, Pox and, 51 
 Bourne, Mr. Sturges, 119, 127 
 Bragge, Mr. Bathurst, 60 
 Brand, Mr., 58-59, 90 
 Brandon, Lord and Lady, 196 
 
 Ireth, Jeremiah, 146 
 Brocket Hall, 10, 20, 33, 49, 85-86 
 Queen's visit to, 234 ; last days ai. 
 
 236 
 
 I 
 Broi ham I rd too, 105, ti6, 117, 
 
 141, [47,1 1 '77-179) iS jj 189-191 
 Brummel, Beau, 22, 38 
 
 DEV 
 
 Buckingham. Duke of, 3 
 
 Puller, Mr. Chas., 225 
 
 Bulwer, Mr. H. (Lord Dalling), in 
 
 Burdett, Sir Francis, 97, 107, 116, 150, 
 
 i5=-i53 
 Burghley, Lord, 2 
 
 llurke and Economical Reform, 16, 54 
 Bute, Lord, 206 
 Byron, Lord, and Lady Caroline Lamb, 
 
 75-79, 81-82 ; death of, 85 
 
 Calvert, Mr., no 
 
 Campbell, Sir John, 198 
 
 Canada, 224-225 
 
 Canning, and the 'Anti-Jacobin,' 25 ;and 
 
 Huskisson, 56, 57, 59, 61, 68, S8-91, 
 
 93, 95, 102, 113-117 ; death of, 118-119 ; 
 
 i29 7 i3o, 138, 139 
 Caroline, Queen, 98-102 
 Cartwright, Major, 107 
 Casaubon, Isaac, 2 
 Catholic Association, the, 103-106, 121- 
 
 122, 129, 136-139 
 
 — Emancipation, 51-52, 57-5S, 89, 102- 
 104, 112, 115, 164-166, 193-194 
 
 Chartism, 230 
 
 Church Rates Abolition Bill, 199-201 
 
 Civil Bill Process, 123 
 
 Clarendon and Sir John Coke, 3-4 
 
 Clarke, Mrs., 62-65 
 
 Clergy Bill, the, 104 
 
 Cobbett, 145 
 
 Coercion Bill, 168-173, 175 
 
 Coke, Sir John, and sons, 2-1 1 
 
 Comber (Brixton Gaol), 145-146 
 
 Conyngham, Lord, 202-203 
 
 Corn Laws, 230-231, 240-241 
 
 Corporation Am. 1 ;i. 180 
 
 Corruption in Ireland, 127 
 
 Cowper Earl, Emily, wifeof, 13, 47, 04-S5 
 
 — Lord and Lady, 44-45 
 
 — Wm., 242 
 
 Criminal Law Amendment Bill. I 
 Cumberland, Duke of, 205 
 
 Dalling, Lord, 1 1 1 
 
 Penman, Lord Chief Juslici 
 
 1 >erby. Lord, 1 1 166-171, 174, l- , 
 
 Devonshire, Duke of, 119, 151
 
 246 
 
 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 DIS 
 
 Disraeli, Mr., 197 
 
 Dissenters, Win. Lamb on, 31-32, iji 
 
 Divorce Bills, 99 
 Dorchester Labourers, 160 
 I hummond, Henry, 145-146 
 — Thomas, 193-194 
 Dublin, Lamb at, 119-130 
 Dudley, Lord, 130, 133 
 Duncannon, Viscount, 116 
 Duncombe, Tom, 110-111 
 Dunning, and the Crown, 16 
 Durham, Lord, 169, 199, 224 
 
 East Retford, Borough of, 97, 131- 
 
 132, 148 
 Education in England, 223 
 Egremont, Lord, 19, 31, 38, 237 
 Eldon, Lord, 100, 105, 113, 119, 138, 139 
 Ellis, Charles (Lord Stuart do Rothesay), 
 
 22 
 Erskine, Henry, 52 
 
 Essay, W. Lamb's first, at Cambridge, 
 23-25, and on the ' English Govern- 
 ment,' 26 
 Eton, Wm. Lamb at, 22-23 
 Evans, De Lacy, 151 
 
 Farmers and farnVlabourers, Melbourne 
 
 on, 156-157 
 Fauconberg, Lord, 14 
 Fitzgerald, Mr. Vesey, 136, 137 
 Fitzwilliam, Lord, n 
 Folkestone, Lord, 61, 65, 93 
 Fox, Mr., 18, 23-26, 50-53. 57. 67-68, 
 
 1 19, 139 
 B ranee and Syria, 225 
 Francis, Duke of Bedford, 23-24, 26 
 Free Trade, 231, 240 
 
 Garrick, David, 44 
 
 George III., 27, 39, 50, 58-61, 66; 
 
 Regent appointed for, 67-69 ; death of, 
 
 98 
 George IV. (see also ' Prince of Wales '), 
 
 accession of, 98 ; his wife, 98-102, 
 
 114-115, 118-119, 129, 138; death of, 
 
 '39 
 Glasgow, Law and Philosophy at, 26-31 
 Glenelg, Lord, 199-200 (see Mr. Grant) 
 Goderich, Lord, 119, 129 
 ( rodolphin, 7 
 
 ( iodwin and Lady Caroline Lamb, 83-84 
 Gosset, Sir W., 193 
 Goulburn, Mr., 123, 128 
 Gower, Lord, and Huskisson, 56 ; Lady, 
 
 109 
 Graham, Sir Jas., 142, 170-171 
 1 Irampound, Borough of, 95-97 
 Grand Jury Presentments, 123 
 Grant, Mr. (Lord Glenelg), 130, 132, 133, 
 
 141 
 Grantley, Lord, 196 
 < '.rattan's Parliament, 137 
 Grenville, Lord, 50, 52 
 Greville, Fulke (Lord Brooke), 3 
 
 LAM 
 
 ' Greville Memoirs,' the, 19-20, 144, 14S, 
 I 53~ I 54> 198-199, 200, 202-204, 213, 
 214, 216, 227-229, 241 
 
 Grey, Earl, 50, 52, 53, 57, 61, 115, 133, 
 140, 141, 147-148, 152, 157. 163-164, 
 169-174, 178, 188, 192, 194, 2or, 213-215 
 
 ' Gronow's Reminiscences,' Captain, 62-63 
 
 Habeas Corpus Act, 93, 105 
 
 Hallam, the Historian, 22 
 
 Hall's Sermon on ' Modern Infidelity,' 
 
 31 
 Hampden, Dr., 218 
 Harrow, Lord Althorp at, 23 
 Hayward, Mr., 237 
 Hertford election, no 
 Heterodoxy, Melbourne and, 220 
 Hill, Rowland, and Penny Postage, 223 
 Hobhouse, Mr., 83, 106-107, J 5° 
 Holland, Lord, 77, 129, 170, 212, 226 
 
 — Lady, 77, 239 
 Holmes, Sir Leonard, 96 
 
 Home Office, Melbourne at, 142-163, 
 
 185 
 Howiclc, Lord. See 'Earl Grey 
 Hume's History, 5 ; Mr., 151, 194, 228 
 Huskisson, William, 55-57, 88, 113, 116, 
 
 117, 119, 130, 132-133, 136, 138; death 
 
 of, 141 
 Hutcheson, Glasgow Professor, 28 
 
 Insolvent Act, renewal of, 123 
 
 Insurrection Act, 121 
 
 Ireland (Lamb Chief Sec. for), 118-130, 
 136-137. 164-173. 193-194 5 Irish 
 Question, 51, 103, 105, 106 ; Land 
 Question in, 126; corruption in, 127; 
 Church in, 166-170, 180, 187, 193-194; 
 tithe war in 167, 170, 195 ; Poor Law 
 Commission in, 179 ; Irish Corpora- 
 tion Bill, 199-201 ; Irish Tithe Bill, 200 
 
 Irving, Edward, 146 
 
 Jamaica Bill, the, 213 
 jury Bill, 122-123 
 
 Kent, Duchess of, and William IV., 
 200 ; and Queen Victoria, 205-206 ; 
 Duke of, 220 
 
 Kinnaird, Chas., 29 
 
 Lamb, Sir Peniston (first Lord 
 Melbourne), 11, 13-17 
 
 — son, 21, 35 ; death of, 46 
 
 Lamb, William (Lord Melbourne), 
 ancestry of, i-nj birth, 12; early- 
 years and education, 22-33 '. an d the 
 law, 37-42, 46 ; marriage, 42-43 ; his 
 wife, 45-48, 71-87, 107, 118; death 
 of, 133-134; in Parliament, 49-69, 88- 
 iii, death of his mother, 108; im- 
 pecuniosity, 108-110; Chief Secretary 
 for Ireland, 117-130; in the House of 
 Lords, 135-137, 140; at the Home 
 Office, 142-163, 185 ; Prime Minister,
 
 INDEX 
 
 247 
 
 LAM 
 
 174-176 ; and Lord Al thorp, 179-1S3 ; 
 and Lord Brougham, 183-184, 189 ; 
 and King \VIlliam IV., 188, 191-193 ; 
 character, 190, 191 ; the Melbourne 
 Administration, 195-196 ; and Lady 
 Brandon, 196 ; and the Hon. Mrs. 
 Norton, 196-199 ; and Queen Vic- 
 toria, 204-216, 226-229, 234 ; and 
 Church and State, 216-220 ; and R. 
 Owen, 220-221 ; Cabinet difficulties, 
 229-233 ; at Brocket, 236-243 ; death 
 of son, 236-237 ; last days and death, 
 238-243. See also 'Essays,' 'Letters,' 
 'Speeches,' &c. 
 
 Lamb, George, brother of Lord Mel- 
 bourne, 106-107 
 
 Lamb, Lady Caroline (Lady Mel- 
 bourne), 45-48, 71-87, 107, 118 ; death 
 
 O f i 133-134 
 Lamb, Matthew, 9- n 
 
 — Emily (Countess Cowper), 13, 47, 239 
 
 — George Augustus Frederick (^on of 
 William), 73, 236-237 
 
 Lancashire Sessions, Wm. Lamb and 
 
 the, 40-42 
 Land Question in Ireland, 126 
 Landseer, Sir Edwin, 237 
 Langford, Dr., 31 
 Lansdowne, Lord, 52, 115, 119, 122, 124 
 
 130, 140, 157, 166, 179, 192 
 Lauderdale, Lord, 26-27 
 Lee, Alderman, 4 
 Lehzen, Baroness, and Queen Victoria, 
 
 205-207, 210 
 Leominster, Wm. Lamb, member for, 49 
 Leopold, King, 208, 212, 227, 233 
 Letters of William Lamb, 28 32 ; on 
 
 Parliamentary Reform, 97-98 ; on 
 
 Labour, 156-157 ; on Trades Unions, 
 
 158-159; to William IV., 180-183; 
 
 to Lord Brougham, 189-191 ; on 
 
 Church and State, 216-220 
 Lewis, Monk, 31 
 Littleton, Mr., 171-173 
 Liverpool, Lord, 69, 99-101, 112, 113, 
 
 116, 117, 138 
 Lyndhurst, Lord, 153, 200, 222 
 Lyttleton, Mr., 60 
 Lytton, Lord, and Lady Caroline Lamb, 
 
 80-81, 84-85 
 
 Mackintosh, Sir James, 106 
 
 Maclise's Portrait Gallery, 151 
 
 Manchester, 132, 148 
 
 Mansfield, Lord. 
 
 Marchant, Sir Denis le, ' Life of Lord 
 
 Althorp,' 39, 40, 44 
 Martin, Dick, 128 
 
 — Sir Theodore, 233 
 May, Sir Erskine, 60-61 
 Mehemet Ali, 225 
 
 Melbourne, Lord. See 'William Lamb' 
 Lord (first) and Lady, 15-22, 39 
 
 - Hall, 2-11 ; House, 16-17, 4 8 , 68 ; life 
 at> 73 
 
 RAP 
 
 Melville. Lord, 65, 115 
 
 Millar, Professor, 26-31 
 
 Milton, Loid, 61, 69 
 
 Minto, Lord, 39 
 
 Moore, 77 
 
 Morgan, Lady, 42-43, 77, 80 
 
 Municipal Corporations Bill, 195, 222 
 
 Mylne, Professor, 27-28 
 
 Napier, Sir William, 243 
 National Debt in 1817, 91-92 
 North, Lord, 15, 18 
 Norton, Hon. Sirs., 196-199, 239 
 Nottingham Castle, 150 
 
 O'Brien - , Mr. Smith, 242-243 
 O'Connell and the Catholic Association, 
 
 103, 106, 121, 126, 137, 138, 165-160, 
 
 171-174, 187, 189, 193 
 Oliver (the spy), 145 
 O'Loghlen, Mr., 193 
 O'Meara, Rev., and Mrs. Clarke, 63-64 
 Orangemen, 194, 205 
 Owen, Robert, 160-162, 220-221 
 
 Palmerston', Lady, 13 
 
 — Lord, 61, 96, 130, 132, 133, 138, 140, 
 141, 153, 188, 199, 225-226, 239 
 
 Parkes, Joseph, 151, 153 
 
 Parliamentary Reform, 92, 95, 97-98, 
 113, 116 ; Bill, 140-141, 163-164 
 
 Parnell, Sir Henry, 140 
 
 Paving and Lighting Bill (Dublin), 122- 
 123 
 
 Peel, Sir R., 113-115, 129, i3 r . *32. 137, 
 174, 183, 186, 188, 204, 208, 214-216, 
 228, 229, 232-234, 240 
 
 Penryn, Borough of, 97, 131-132 
 
 Pepys, the Lord Chancellor, 35-40 
 
 Perceval, Mr., 62 
 
 Perrin, Mr., 193 
 
 Peterloo Massacre, the, 94. toi 
 
 Petty, Lord Henry, see Lord Lans- 
 downe 
 
 Petworth, 33 
 
 Philpott, Dr., of Exeter, 217 
 
 Pitt, Wm., 49-52 ; and Huskisson, 56, 
 67, 89 
 
 Place, Mr. Francis, 107, ioj-no, 150- 
 
 151 
 Plunket, Mr., 103, 126 
 Ponsonby, Caroline (Lamb's wife). 4 j 46 
 
 — Mr. G., 53, 61, 91 
 Poor Laws, 6, 162-163 
 Portland, Duke of, 58, 61 
 Poyntz, Mr., 44 
 
 Privy Council Committee, 223 
 
 Queens of i rd id, the four, 206 
 
 Radicalism, growth of, 229 
 Radicals at Spa Fields, 92-93 
 Radnor, Lord, 61 
 ' Kape of the Lock,' Thomas Coke's 
 
 portrait in, 7 8
 
 248 
 
 LORD MELBOURNE 
 
 REF 
 
 Reform Bills, 140, 14?, 146 140, 153 155 
 162, 173, 180, 200; Lord John Russell 
 and, 213 
 
 Reid, 28 
 
 Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 20-21, 236 
 
 Rice, Mr. Spring, 118, 128-130, 187 
 
 Richmond, Duke of, 171 
 
 Ripon, Earl, 171 
 
 Roebuck, Mr., 151 
 
 Rogers, 75, 77-78, 
 
 Romilly, Sir Samuel, 94, 106-107 
 
 Russell, Lord John, 90, 93, 95-97, 115, 
 131, 133, 141, 142, 147, 150, 166, 168- 
 171, 173-174, 1S0, 182, 184, 186-188, 
 193, 195, 199, 201, 212-214, 2I 7> 22 3, 
 225-226,230-231, 233, 235, 239, 240-242 
 
 — Mr., 84-85 
 
 — Rev. Lord W., =t 7 
 
 Saxder's ' Lord Melbourne's Papers,' 
 
 216-217 
 Satan, Lord Melbourne and, 2:7 
 Scarlett, Mr. (Lord Abinger), 41 
 Schleiermacher's 'St. Luke,' 219 
 Schomberg, Marshal, 6 
 Selwyn, George, 15 
 Shadwell, the Vice-Chancellor, 22 
 Sheridan, R. B., 52 ; granddaughter of, 
 
 196 
 Shiel, 125 
 
 Sibthorpe, Colonel, 228 
 Sidmouth, Lord, 52-53, 93, 159 
 Six Acts, the, 94-95, 101 
 Smith, Adam, 28 
 
 — Assheton, 22 
 Southwell, town of, 9-10 
 
 Speeches, maiden, William Lamb's, 57 ; 
 
 on a constitutional question, 58-60 ; 
 
 about sinecures, 66 ; on Reform Bill, 
 
 148-149 
 Spencer, Earl. See ' Lord Althorp ' 
 
 — the first Earl, 42-43 ; Lady, 44 ; 
 Lord, 52, 54, 115, 215 
 
 Stanley, Mr. (Lord Derby), 142, 166-171, 
 174, 183, 194 
 
 Stewart, Chas. (Marquis of London- 
 derry), 22 
 
 — Dugald, 26 
 
 Stockmar's 'Life' (Baron), 182, 210; 
 
 Queen Victoria, Melbourne, and 208- 
 
 212, 228 
 Strafford, Lord, 4, 222 
 Sugar Bill, 231 
 Sumner, John Bird, 22 
 Sussex, Duke of, 203 
 Sutton, Sir C. Manners, 187 
 Swallow, Major, 4 
 Swift's ' Journal to Stella,' 8-9 
 ' Swing,' 144 
 Sydenham, Lord, 225 
 Syrian Question, the. 225-226 
 
 YOU 
 
 Tamworth, Sir Robert Peel and, 186 
 Tavistock, Lord, 115, 214 
 Tenterden, Lord, 196 
 Test Act, 131, 180 
 Thiers, M., 226 
 
 Thirlwall, Dr. Connop, 219-220 
 Thompson, Mr. Poulett (Lord Syden- 
 ham), 225 
 Tierney, 116 
 
 Times, Brougham and the, 183-184 
 Tindal, Justice, 198 
 Tithe Bill in Ireland, 170, 195, 200 
 Tithe Composition Act, 123-124 
 Torrens, Mr., 'Memoirs of Lord 
 Melbourne,' 19, 27, 35, 39, 43, 45, 73- 
 ,75, 86, 93, 108-109, I2 5, 219, 237 
 Trades Unions, 158-161 
 Trimmer, Mrs., 29, 45 
 Tullibardine, Marquis of, 22 
 Turton. Mr., 224 
 
 Vane, Sir Henry, 4 
 
 Victoria, accession and coronation ol 
 Queen, 202-216; marriage of, 226- 
 229 ; and Lord Melbourne, 233, 241 
 
 Yilliers, Geo., 148 
 
 Voluntary Schools, 223 
 
 Wade, Rev. A., 161-162 
 
 Wakefield, Mr., 224 
 
 Wales, the Prince of, 18-19, 3 6 , 39, 5°, 
 67-69, 73. See also ' George IV.' 
 
 Walpole, Mr. S., and the National Debt, 
 92 ; and Lord J. Russell, 195 ; and the 
 Queen, 214; and Lord Clarendon, 231 
 
 Ward, Mr., 171 
 
 Ward, Rev. John, 6-7 
 
 Wardle, Colonel, and the Duke of York, 
 62 
 
 Wellesley, Lord, 103-104, 121-122, 124, 
 129, 171-172 
 
 Wellington, Duke of, ii3-"5, 129-130, 
 132-133, 137-140, 143, 145, 153, I 58, 
 174, 183, 186, 192, 198, 204, 208, 214 
 
 Westmoreland, Lady, 77 ; Lord, 115 
 
 Whately, Archbishop, 217-218 
 
 Whigs, Lamb and the, 53-54, 67-68 
 
 Whi'tbread, Mr., 61, 65 
 
 William IV., 139-140, 147-148, i5°, 158 ; 
 and Melbourne, 174-176, 179-186, 191- 
 193, 199 ; and Lord Brougham, 177- 
 179 ; death of, 202, 204 ; and Canada, 
 224 
 
 Wordsworth, Dr., 219 
 
 York, Duke of, and Lady Melbourne, 
 17 ; scandal concerning, 62-65 ; Prince 
 of Wales and, 68-69 ; and the Clergy 
 Bill, 104-105 ; death of, 112; funeral, 
 119 
 
 Young, Mr. Thos., 151-15 2 , 2 4°, 2 43 
 
 Spottisiuoode & Co, Printers, New-street Square, London.
 
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