ortunity which he had so long
desired of placing a less embarrassing and self-willed Chancellor on the
woolsack. This circumstance prompted the clever sketch of the _Fall of
Icarus_. Icarus in this instance is of course Brougham, who, flying in
defiance of the injunctions of Daedalus too near the sun--that is to say,
William the Fourth--the wax of his mechanical wings melted and he fell
into the sea. That there may be no mistake as to the artist's meaning,
the wings aforesaid are labelled with the titles of various publications
which were loudest in sounding the praises of the King and of the "noble
and learned lord," and to which he himself, with the questionable taste
which distinguished him, was reputed (with justice) to be a contributor.

Whether my Lord Chancellor Brougham caught the infection from his
client, Queen Caroline, we know not; but his conduct, whether in or out
of office, appears to have been of the most undignified character.
Ignoring the fact that his party were no longer in power, there is no
doubt whatever that he wrote a letter to his successor, Lord Lyndhurst,
actually suggesting his own nomination to Lyndhurst's vacant office of
Chief Baron of the Exchequer, thereby (as he pointed out) saving to the
public his own pension of ex-Chancellor. What his real motive may have
been is of little consequence; it was certainly a most undignified
proceeding, made the more undignified, if possible, because the proposal
was not accepted. It suggested to the artist one of his pictorial puns,
_The Vaux and the Grapes_, and to the Rev. Richard Harris Barham the
following amusing verses, which we have extracted from a contemporary
poetical skit:--

"Then in Great Stanhope Street
The confusion was great
In a certain superb habi-tation,
Where seated at tea,
O'er a dish of Bohea,
Brougham was quaffing his 'usual potation'
(For you know his indignant ne-gation,
When accused once of jollifi-cation),
Down went saucer and cup,
Which Le Marchant picked up,
Not to hear his lord mutter 'd--n-ation.'

But this greatest of men
Soon caught hold of a pen,
And, after slight delibe-ration,
No longer he tosses
His flexile proboscis
About in so much exci-tation;[121]
But scribbling with great ani-mation,
He sends off a communi-cation:--
'Dearest Lyndhurst,' says he,
'Can't you find room for me
When constructing your adminis-trati