that the Government has no consideration, and that
people are getting tired of their blunders and embarrassments, and
begin to turn their eyes to those who are more capable, and know
something of the business of Government--to Peel and to Stanley,
for the former, in spite of his cold, calculating selfishness and
duplicity, is the ablest man there is, and we must take what we
can get, and accept services without troubling ourselves about the
motives of those who supply them. It must come to this conclusion
unless the reign of Radicalism and the authority of the Humes 'et
hoc genus omne' is to be substituted. That the present Government
loses ground every day is perfectly clear, and at the same time
that the fruits of the Reform Bill become more lamentably
apparent. The scrape Government lately got into was owing partly
to the votes that people were obliged to give to curry favour with
their constituents, and partly to negligence and carelessness in
whipping in. Hobhouse's resignation is on account of his pledges,
and because he is forced to pledge himself on the hustings he
finds himself placed in a situation which compels him to save his
honour and consistency by embarrassing the public service to the
greatest degree at a very critical time. Men go on asking one
another how is it possible the country can be governed in this
manner, and nobody can reply.

Since I have been out of town the appeal against the Chancellor's
judgment in the Drax (lunacy) case has been heard at the Privy
Council, and will be finally determined on Saturday.[5] Two years
have nearly elapsed since that case was lodged, and the Chancellor
has always found pretexts for getting the hearing postponed; at
length the parties became so clamorous that it was necessary to fix
a day. He then endeavoured to pack a committee, and spoke to Lord
Lansdowne about summoning Lord Plunket, Lord Lyndhurst, and the
Vice-Chancellor, but Leach, who hates Brougham, and is particularly
nettled at his having reversed some of his judgments, bestirred
himself, and represented to Lord Lansdowne the absolute necessity
(in a case of such consequence) of having all the ex-Chancellors to
hear it. Plunket was gone to Ireland, so the Committee consisted of
the Lord President, the Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, Master of the
Rolls, Lords Eldon, Lyndhurst, and Manners. They say the argument
was very able--Sugden in support of the Chancellor's judgment, and
Pemberton against it; they