to speak of Mr. Fox, and said that he had no great
respect for his authority, on which Brougham merely said, loud
enough to be heard all over the House, and in that peculiar tone
which strikes like a dagger, 'Poor Fox.' The words, the tone,
were electrical, everybody burst into roars of laughter, Sugden
was so overwhelmed that he said afterwards it was with difficulty
he could go on, and he vowed that he never could forgive this
sarcasm.

[Page Head: LORD BROUGHAM AS CHANCELLOR.]

Sefton talked to me of Brougham's reluctance when the Government
was formed to take the Great Seal; after they had offered him the
Attorney-Generalship, which he so indignantly refused, they sent
Sefton to cajole him and get him to take the Seal. He wanted to
be made Master of the Rolls, and left in the House of Commons,
the Seal being put in Commission. This they would not hear of,
naturally enough not choosing to exist at his mercy in the House
of Commons, and rely upon his doubtful and capricious support. It
was very well for him to act the part of Atlas, and bear the
Government on his shoulders, but they shrewdly enough guessed
that they would not ride on them very comfortably, that they
would be considerably jolted, and perhaps at last shoved off. He,
on the other hand, would not suffer anybody to be Chancellor but
himself; and at last, with many misgivings, he yielded to the
gentle violence which would make him the first officer of the
Crown. Great was his lamentation at this necessity. 'How,' he
said, 'am I fallen! As member for Yorkshire in the House of
Commons, what a position was mine.' Sefton tried to comfort him
by representing that 'the fall' upon the woolsack was somewhat of
the softest, and that a few years ago he would not have
considered it so grievous a misfortune if it had been foretold
him that he should be seated there at such a time.

After dinner on Sunday Brougham talked of the Reform Bill and its
first appearance in the House of Commons. He said that once
allowed to take root there it could not be crushed, and that
their only opportunity was thrown away by the Tories. Had Peel
risen at once and declared that he would not even discuss such a
measure, that it was revolution, and opposed its being brought
in, he would have thrown it out, and if he had then come down
with a moderate measure, it would have satisfied the country _for
the time_. This is exactly what William Banks said to me last
year, and the very thin