Ld. Grenville extremely impressive in vindication of the Manchester magistrates, lofty and convincing from beginning to end. Several peers in passing through us, in and out of the House, observed this

to us.

In our House, Ld. Lascelles (the new Ld. Lieutenant for the West Riding) spoke better upon Yorkshire affairs than ever I remember him upon any subject. He had no uncouthness of language, and what was better, no hesitation as to opinions, in short spoke

out.

Dec. 1st, 1819.- Saw the Duke, who immediately began upon general affairs. He said Ld. Grenville's was the finest speech he had ever heard in the House of Lds., and had put the Manchester case much higher than it was put by the Government. I observed upon Ld. Wellesley's, which he said was very good too. He seemed, however, more to lean to practical arguments, than generals, especially as to effect, and hence to me his preference, or rather his dwelling on the one more than the other. He said the case had now been put out of all doubt with every one, there would still be a great deal of barking, but the thing was done.

Dec. 2nd.-At the House on the second reading of the Seditious Meetings Bill. New ground, and an attempt to make a stand on its duration; many of the Opposition promising to vote for it if only for a time. This overruled by an immense majority

of 351 to 128. In the debate, Peel, who had been ill and could not attend before, was remarkably good, particularly in the detail of the proofs, and convinced many. Several of the Whigs joined us. Lyttelton of Worcestershire, Grenfell, Lds. A. Hamilton and Stanley, W. Lamb (just returned for Hertfordshire), &c.

In the evening Ld. Harrowby drank his tea with me at the same table, and nobody being by we had some talk. He fell upon Ld. Grenville's speech, which he praised as a model of high and dignified argument, and said Ld. Grey had in vain attempted to answer it. I said I had never heard Ld. Grey so weak before, that he did not grapple with the question. He observed that was exactly so, he did not grapple, but went beside it picking holes where he could. I said I thought Radicalism had received its quietus; he feared not, or at least that there would be a rising in the north among the colliers before the Bills were passed. He asked about our Ordnance measures, and seemed satisfied. We then talked of Sandon (Ld. Harrowby's village), which I had visited in the summer, and he seemed pleased with what I said of it. I was very sincere, for I think that whole country, though not so magnificent, perhaps not so beautiful as some parts, is yet very picturesque and, as a calm, happy, agricultural landscape, unequalled almost in England.

Dec. 3rd, 1819. The Duke sent for me and showed a letter from the Marquis of Salisbury,

pointing out the danger of allowing large guns to lie upon the beach near Aldborough, with no guard but a single invalid, and asked if it was so. I told him it was strictly correct, not only at Aldborough but all along the south and east coasts. He asked where the carriages were. I said, In safety; but I wished he would consider the subject of these cannon which had been left there skidded on account of the expense of moving them, and proposed going to that expense though it might cost 5000l.; that I had just been with Mr. Vansittart, and obtained from him a promise of 30,000l. more than last year's estimate; and proposed he should allot part of it, say 5000, to this service. He assented, and said. he would not for 5000l. the Radicals should possess themselves of any of these cannons, for though from their weight they could not easily manage them, especially without carriages, and though they might only pick them up unresisted, yet the possession of them would give occasion to a triumph, as if they had taken them from the King's troops, and do incalculable mischief. So much is there in opinion. I said it would be like the effect produced in Mexico, when the head of the first of the Spaniards that had been killed was sent round the empire to prove they were not immortal. He assented, and added with quickness that it was not at all clear that they could not and would not use these cannon, if they knew how to set about it. He said it might be done by means of a strong cart, and that he himself had had recourse to such means in Spain,

that at Burgos he had used a heavy gun with but one trunnion which on that account they had called the Nelson, alluding to his one arm. He then asked opinions out of doors, and the nature of Brougham's attack upon him for having signed the Counter Requisition in Hampshire, advising the Sheriff not to call a meeting to petition the Regent to assemble Parliament. "I am a peer," said he, "as well as Ld. Caernarvon, who set the Requisition on foot, and my being a Minister does not take away my rights as a subject." The notion of Tierney, that it was a breach of privilege of the House was, he said, ridiculous. Speaking of the chances of a partial rising before the Bills passed, I mentioned the speculations of some men, that perhaps it might lead to good, as it would be suppressed, and with it much of the spirit of insurrection, he said he was by no means one of those who wished this;

he could not even hope that a great deal of mischief, and the ruin of thousands, would not be effected before it was suppressed; that this ruin, particularly of manufacturers, who would be the first victims, would affect much of the innocent population, which would spread the discontent; that the nation would be put to the double expense of losing much in taxes and replacing the losses, which latter, however, would never restore the suffering to their primitive situation; that much blood would at any rate be spilt, and that though the rebels themselves might

deserve this, yet the friends of the rebels would not fail to profit by it elsewhere, by inquiries in Parliament, inquests, and attacks upon magistrates and officers, and every sort of inflammatory topic, in short, that we should have the Manchester and Oldham inquest over again, only multiplied tenfold, and who could foresee the discontent this might spread, with proper colouring, even among those who were at present peaceable. He said if the rising broke out anywhere, it would be at Glasgow and Paisley, where many rich merchants and all they supported would be sure to suffer, while no one could certainly foretell how soon it might be put down. This led him to his favourite notion, that the loyal should be taught to rely more upon themselves, and less upon the Government, in their own defence against the disloyal. It was this he thought that formed and kept up a national character; while every one was accustomed to rely upon the Government, upon a sort of commutation for what they paid to it, personal energy went to sleep and the end was lost; that in England, he observed, every man who had the commonest independence, one, two, five, or six hundred, or a thousand a year, had his own little plan of comfort his favourite personal pursuit, whether his library, his garden, his hunting, or his farm, which he was unwilling to allow any thing (even his own defence) to disturb; he therefore deceived himself into a notion, that if there was a storm it would not reach him, and went on his own train till it was actually broke in upon by