lly were out (all of which I knew), and that he believes if
the other party could have made a Government with a chance of
standing, out they would have gone; but that it was put to them
(this I did not know), and they acknowledged they could not. They
held consultations on the subject, and the man they principally
relied on was the Duke of Richmond; they meant he should be
either First Lord of the Treasury or Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland.
Lord Winchelsea said to Ellenborough, 'Why, he speaks better than
the Duke of Wellington any day.' He happens to have his wits,
such as they are, about him, and has been quick and neat in
one or two little speeches, though he spoke too often, and
particularly in his attack on the Bishop of Oxford the other
night. Last year, on the Wool question, he did very well, but all
the details were got up for him by George Bentinck,[13] who took
the trouble. Besides, his fortune consists in great measure of
wool, he lives in the country, is well versed in rural affairs
and the business of the quarter sessions, has a certain calibre
of understanding, is prejudiced, narrow-minded, illiterate, and
ignorant, good-looking, good-humoured, and unaffected, tedious,
prolix, unassuming, and a duke. There would not have been so much
to say about him if they had not excited an idea in the minds of
some people of making him Prime Minister and successor to the
Duke of Wellington.

[13] [It deserves remark that Lord George Bentinck was thus
early employing his singular talents in mastering
details, although he took no conspicuous part in
politics until the proposal for the repeal of the Corn
Law in 1845.]

[Page Head: THE BILL IN JEOPARDY.]

Vesey told me that Dawson's speech at Derry very nearly
overturned the whole design. The King heard of it the day of a
Council at Windsor (which I well remember). The Chancellor was
with him for a long time, but it was almost impossible to
persuade the King that Dawson knew nothing of the intention of
the Government, and that his speech was not made in concert with
Peel and the Duke. This it was which caused them such excessive
annoyance, because it raised difficulties which well-nigh
prevented the accomplishment of the design. It must be owned that
the King might well believe this, and although it is very certain
that Dawson knew nothing, and that his making such a speech ought
to have been a proof that he was in ignorance,