nt, who, having renounced politics, could not endure the
idea of his son being member for the county. Had Lord Egremont
lifted up his finger, Windham would have come in. The most
extraordinary of all these elections is that of Bingham Baring.
He could not stand again with any chance of success for
Winchester, and he went with L5,000 in his pocket to Stafford,
from time immemorial a corrupt borough; there he was beat, and he
was about to return after spending about one half of his cash,
when Lord Sandon pressed him to allow himself to be proposed for
Staffordshire, asserting that nothing was requisite but a
candidate, so much stronger was the Conservative feeling in the
county than people were aware of. Without much hope of success,
his family having never resided in the county, though his father
has some property in it, and being personally unknown to the
electors, he consented to stand, and, though he had no committee,
and nothing was previously organised or arranged, he was carried
by a prodigious majority to the head of the poll. The elections
in which the Conservatives have failed have, nevertheless,
exhibited a vast change in the public mind, for they have
generally been very severe contests, and in Yorkshire, with
nearly twice the constituency that there was at the last
election, John Wortley was within a few hundreds of his
opponents, when on the former occasion he was in a miserable
minority.

[8] [William Bingham Baring, afterwards second Baron
Ashburton, born June 1799, died March 1864. He sat for
North Staffordshire in this Parliament.]

Lord Munster has got back his keys of the Round Tower. Melbourne
found out that the place was held for life, and he sent for
Munster, and told him he had been hasty in disposing of it, that
it was his own doing and not the Queen's, who had acted entirely
by his advice, and that in his situation it was impossible for
him to do otherwise than bestow any vacant appointment upon a
person connected with his own party, but that he was extremely
glad in the present instance to find that he was not at liberty
to deprive Munster of the office. Munster afterwards saw the
Queen, who was exceedingly gracious, and told him she was very
glad to restore the keys to him. The Queen and Melbourne appear
to have both evinced kindness and good feeling on this occasion.

August 25th, 1837 {p.018}

Nothing of any moment has occurred for some time past, and all
t