judge of him by what they heard or read
of his speeches, and what was related of his conduct on former
occasions; that on that account he was very obnoxious, and that
his violent and intemperate attacks upon the foreign policy of
the late Government, the sentiments he had displayed generally,
had raised a great prejudice against him, and I had therefore
been sure from the moment I heard of the appointment that it
would be severely attacked, and regretted exceedingly for that
reason that it had ever been made. I had told Lady Peel the same
thing, for it is difficult to resist telling them the real truth;
and I know not why it should not be told them.

Last night I met Lord Howick, who is bitter enough against the
Ministers, and expressed his earnest desire that they might be
well dragged through the mire, but not be turned out. I asked,
'Why, if he wished they should stay in, he desired that they
should be discredited?' and he replied, 'That it would be very
difficult _at present_ to replace them, but that he saw the
prospective means, and he would have them go on till the time was
ripe for change, but that they should be made every day more
odious.' These means, I doubt not, are the reconciliation of
Stanley with the Whigs, which is clearly contemplated by both one
and the other. Hobhouse's speech the other night was very civil
to Stanley, no doubt with that view, and much personal intimacy
is affected between him and the Whig leaders. Then much light is
thrown upon it in my mind by the account I have just heard from
Charlton (who enlisted under the Stanley banner) of the tone and
_animus_ displayed at the last meeting at Stanley's. There
Stanley was pressed by Mr. Young to declare in strong terms his
want of confidence in the Government; and Patrick Stewart said
that if Hume's motion, for limiting the supplies to three months,
was placed in the hands of Lord John Russell, he thought he must
vote for it. Stanley opposed this suggestion, and declared his
disapprobation (let who would bring it on) of so strong a measure
as stopping the supplies, and he said he thought the want of
confidence might be sufficiently evinced without having recourse
to any murderous measures, anything absolutely destructive of the
Government. The general tone and disposition of the meeting was
very inimical to the present Ministry, and Charlton was himself
so little satisfied with what passed, and especially with
Stanley's apparent bias and