what the King would do. 'Yes,' he said, 'he
will send for Stanley.' 'What next?' 'He may send for Lord Grey.'
'Will Lord Grey propose such measures as you think indispensable?'
'If he will not return, or won't go the length, he may send for
Melbourne again; but it is clear he--the King--must be prepared
for a more Radical Government.' I said, 'I don't think he will
ever consent to take such a one, or to agree to the measures they
will propose to him.' 'Oh, but he must, he can't help himself.'
'Well, but my belief is that, happen what may, he will not.' 'Why,
you don't think he will abdicate?' 'Yes, I do, rather than agree
to certain things.' 'Well, but then he must abdicate.' Such is the
language of the leaders of the other party, and so calmly do they
contemplate the possibility of such a consummation. The point on
which all this turns is evidently the destruction of the House of
Lords. The Whigs find it necessary to finish the work they began,
and to destroy the last bulwark of Conservative power. Stanley's
speech at his election, which was very able and eloquent, has
evidently disappointed them. They had cherished a hope that he
would unite with them at last, which they now find he will not do.
There has been a great debate in their camp whether they shall
attack the Speaker or not, but it seems fixed that they shall, and
probably they will be beaten. I am glad they do this.

Theodore Hook, whom I met at dinner the other day, and who is an
_ame damnee_ of the Speaker's, said that he was ready to give up
the chair if it was thought imprudent to fight for it; he also
said (which I don't believe) that the Home Office had been
offered him, and that he had declined it because he could not
quit the chair without a peerage, and that he should be of more
use in it than in the House of Lords.

Theodore Hook _improvised_ in a wonderful way that evening; he
sang a song, the burthen of which was 'Good Night,' inimitably
good, and which might have been written down. I heard two good
things at dinner yesterday, one of Spankie's. In his canvass he
met with a refusal from some tradesman, who told him he should
vote for Duncombe and Wakley. Spankie said, 'Well, my friend, I
am sorry you won't vote for me, and I can only say that I hope
you may have Tom Duncombe for your customer, and Wakley for your
tenant.'[6] The other is attributed to Alvanley. Some reformer
was clamouring for the expulsion of the Bishops from the House of
Lo