large a sum of money. In short, a man to whom you owe a great deal which it is inconvenient for you to pay is your master, and of a man to whom you owe a few pounds which you can throw upon his counter at any time you are the master, and this latter appears to me much the most natural order of things.' In Lamb's transactions with the tailor of Charing Cross, this natural order seems to have been reversed.

In this impecunious condition he had to face the prospect of a contest for his Hertfordshire seat, with the further prospect of being beaten if he went to the poll. There was just one possible way of escape, easy, thrifty, and in all respects convenient, if the arrangement which seemed to offer it could be carried out. While the county was more than doubtful, the county town might be regarded as perfectly safe. Hertford returned two members, one supposed to represent the Hatfield, the other the Cowper interest. Mr. Calvert, who represented the Cowper interest, was popular in the county, his votes having given general satisfaction to the Liberal freeholders, who were disgusted. with the conduct of Lamb. What could be easier than for them to change places? This accordingly was the plan quietly agreed upon. Calvert was to offer himself for the county, and Lamb to go in for the borough. But the secret. oozed out, and the Hertford electors were indignant; the Liberals of the borough were no more willing to have a recreant politician thrust upon them than the Liberals of the county, and they forthwith chose a candidate for themselves in the person of Mr. Thomas Slingsby Duncombe, familiarly known in after years as Tom Duncombe, the member for Finsbury. Mr. Duncombe accordingly took the field. The contest began a year before the election

took place, the dissolution which was expected in 1825 having been deferred till 1826. The new candidate, with his splendid professions of Radicalism, his fine dashing manners, and plenty of money for those whose votes stood in need of some gentle suasion, took the electors by storm, and Lamb, who seems to have regarded as an indignity the opposition sprung upon him, withdrew from the contest, Mr. Henry Bulwer, the late Lord Dalling, being prevailed upon to take his place. Duncombe, though he managed to have money to spend on bribery, was himself in debt, and had to conceal himself during the poll from the sheriff's men who were sent to find him. When the poll was over, his perils were at an end. He came in triumphantly, and stood protected by the privilege of Parliament. As for Lamb, his fate was deplorable. Forced to abandon the county, and driven ignominiously from the town, he tasted the full bitterness of retribution for his political sins, and fled for refuge to the solitudes of Derbyshire.

immediate prospect of any great legislative change, but two divergent tendencies were struggling for ascendency in the Government, and the point to be settled was which of them should prevail.

On one side stood the champions of stern unyielding Toryism, of which Eldon was the purest type. Next to him in the tenacity of his opinions came Wellington, whose political sentiments were hardened and made combative rather by the instincts of his profession than by any force of intellectual conviction. To them Peel lent the aid of practical statesmanship. His mind was far more open than theirs to the influences of the new era upon which the world had entered. It was more plastic, more accommodating, more opportunist, and had in it some affinity with Canning's ; but political possibilities and chances had to be considered, and the combination most favourable to those personal aims of which no politician can entirely divest himself, was that which made him the spokesman of the Tories. Outside that combination, with Canning in the field before him, he could only expect to play a second part; remaining where he was, he might hope soon to play the first. Over against these Tories of pure blood stood Canning and Huskisson, Tories as well as their colleagues, but with a difference. Some tincture of Liberalism had been infused into their veins. They were opposed to Parliamentary reform, but they were in favour of Catholic emancipation, in continental politics their sympathies were on the side of freedom, and they were for relaxing the fetters on trade. For fifteen years these opposing tendencies had been gathering strength, but the influence of Lord Liverpool had been strong enough to enforce a compromise. Now that he was gone, the armistice came to an end. One of the two parties must prevail over

I

the other, and which it should be depended, for the present at least, upon the King's choice of a premier.

The royal will settled the question in favour of Canning. By what motives the decision was swayed, whether any inducements were offered or any pledges exacted, has been the subject of much controversy; but the facts as we know them supply a sufficient explanation. Canning had much the advantage of his rivals in point of address. His mellifluous tongue could charm in private as well as in the House of Commons. He was charged with being obsequious to the King, and at this supreme moment, when a long cherished ambition had a promise of being fulfilled, he was not likely to err on the side of intractability. It is improbable, notwithstanding the King's assertion to the contrary, that pledges as to future policy were exacted or given; but the King was fully persuaded that the new Premier would not trouble him with the question of Catholic Emancipation. Wellington had not Canning's attractive ways. He took his military manners with him into the royal closet, and was proud of being able on critical occasions to bring the King to terms. The rumour at the time was that Wellington and Peel had given some offence to the King touching his prerogative. They were by far the stronger party in the Cabinet, and they probably pressed their claims with too little deference. As between the rival claimants, too much need not be made of their political differences. Canning's case was clear. The Catholic question apart, there was no one who could fairly be put in competition with him. He knew his pretensions were good, and he stood by them. If he could not be first he was determined not to be second, and this resolution made his opponents equally resolute. As between them it was a per