re present, and to which Sutton came, and
held forth for nearly four hours upon the position of their
affairs and his coming into office. He talked such incredible
nonsense (as I have before related) that when he was gone they all
lifted up their hands and with one voice pronounced the
impossibility of forming any Government under such a head. Baring
was then asked why he had made Sutton's coming into office the
condition of his own acceptance, and why he had wished him to be
Prime Minister. He said that he had never desired any such thing
himself, and had hardly any acquaintance with Sutton, except that
as speaker he was civil to him, and he dined with him once a year,
but that when he had gone to consult Peel, Peel had advised him to
insist upon having Sutton, and to put him at the head of the
Government. This avowal led to further examination into what had
passed, and it came out that when Lyndhurst went to Peel, Peel
pressed Manners Sutton upon him, refusing to take office himself,
but promising to support the new Government, and urging Lyndhurst
to offer the Premiership to Sutton. At the same time he put Sutton
up to this, and desired him to refuse every office except that of
Premier. Accordingly, when Lyndhurst went to Sutton, the latter
said he would be Prime Minister or nothing, and Lyndhurst had the
folly to promise it to him. Thus matters stood when Lady Cowley,
who was living at Apsley House, and got hold of what was passing,
went and told it to her brother, Lord Salisbury, who lost no time
in imparting it to some of the other High Tory Lords, who all
agreed that it would not do to have Sutton at the head of the
Government, and that the Duke was the only man for them. On
Saturday the great dinner at the Conservative Club took place, at
which a number of Tories, principally Peers, with the Duke and
Peel, were present. A great many speeches were made, all full of
enthusiasm for the Duke, and expressing a determination to support
_his_ Government. Peel was in very ill humour and said little; the
Duke spoke much in honour of Peel, applauding his conduct and
saying that the difference of their positions justified each in
his different line. The next day some of the Duke's friends met,
and agreed that the unanimous desire for the Duke's being at the
head of the Government which had been expressed at that dinner,
together with the unfitness of Sutton, proved the absolute
necessity of the Duke's being Premier, and i