rived to make his case a good one. It was a fine display
and very short. Carnarvon and Mansfield were outrageously
violent, but both in their way clever, and parts of the speech of
the latter were eloquent. Lord Grey was excellent, short, very
temperate and judicious, exactly what was requisite and nothing
more. Nobody else spoke on his side, except Mulgrave at the end.

[Page Head: THE KING'S LETTER TO THE PEERS.]

The debate, however interesting, left the whole matter in
uncertainty; and the next day the old question began again. What
was to be done--Peers or no Peers? A Cabinet sat nearly all day,
and Lord Grey went once or twice to the King. He, poor man, was at
his wits' end, and tried an experiment (not a very constitutional
one) of his own by writing to a number of Peers, entreating them
to withdraw their opposition to the Bill. These letters were
written (I think) before the debate. On Thursday nothing was
settled, and at another meeting of the Cabinet a minute was drawn
up agreeing to offer again the same advice to the King. Before
this was acted upon Richmond, who had been absent, arrived, and he
prevailed upon his colleagues to cancel it. In the meantime the
Duke of Wellington, Lyndhurst, and other Peers had given the
desired assurances to the King, which he communicated to Lord
Grey. These were accepted as sufficient securities, and
declarations made accordingly in both Houses of Parliament. If the
Ministers had again gone to the King with this advice, it is
impossible to say how it would have ended, for he had already been
obstinate, and might have continued so on this point, and he told
Lord Verulam that he thought it would be contrary to his
coronation oath to make Peers. Our princes have strange notions of
the obligations imposed by their coronation oath.

On Thursday in the House of Commons Peel made his statement, in
which, with great civility and many expressions of esteem and
admiration of the Duke, he pronounced as bitter a censure of his
conduct, while apparently confining himself to the defence of his
own, as it was possible to do, and as such it was taken. I have
not the least doubt that he did it _con amore_, and that he is
doubly rejoiced to be out of the scrape himself and to leave
others in it.

May 31st, 1832 {p.304}

Since I came back from Newmarket there has not been much to write
about. A calm has succeeded the storm. Last night Schedules A and
B were galloped through the Commit