e is a very
agreeable man into the bargain. His collection is excellent, and
does honour to his taste. We talked of various matters, but the
thing that struck me most was what he said had passed between him
and Stanley the night before indicative of such good feeling
between them. It was about the job of Lord Plunket's with regard
to the Deanery of Down (concerning which they say there is a very
good case; not that it will do, be it ever so good, for Plunket
has a bad name, and public opinion will not pause or retract in
any concern of his). He and Stanley met at Madame de Lieven's
ball, and Peel said to him, 'Why did you let that appointment
take place?' Stanley replied, 'The fact is, I could not give the
true and only excuse for Plunket, viz., that he had signed the
report, but had never read it.' Peel said, 'You had better give
him some other deanery and cancel this appointment.' They talked
for a long time, but this tone and this advice exhibit a state of
sentiment by no means incompatible with a future union, when
matters are ripe for it. I found Peel full of curiosity to know
for what purpose Brougham and Denman had been hunting each other
about the County of Beds. The Chief Justice was on the circuit at
Bedford, and the Chancellor sent to him by special messenger to
appoint a meeting. The Chancellor went to Ampthill, and then to
Bedford. The Chief Justice had left Bedford in the morning, and
went towards London. Brougham had left his carriage at Ampthill
and hired a job one, that he might enter Bedford incognito.
Somewhere between Barnet and St. Albans they met, and returned to
town together in the Chancellor's job coach. They went to Lord
Grey's, and the next day Denman returned to the circuit, which he
had left without notice to his brother judge or to anybody--a
mystery.

March 16th, 1834 {p.071}

[Page Head: LORD BROUGHAM'S JUDICIAL CHANGES.]

Heard last night the explanation of the above. Brougham found
that Williams would not do in the Exchequer, so he shuffled up
the judges and redealt them. Williams was shoved up to the Common
Pleas, Bosanquet sent to the King's Bench, and James Parke put
into the Exchequer. I thought this was odd, because the Exchequer
is an inferior court; but I was told that Parke likes to be with
Lord Lyndhurst, who has now made the Court of Exchequer of
primary importance. 48,000 writs were issued from the Exchequer
last year, and only 39,000 from the King's Bench. I forget w