m written
nineteen years afterwards, which is inserted at the end
of it, the opinion he entertained of him at this time
was unjust. But he at the same time decided 'to leave
it as it is, because it is of the essence of these
Memoirs not to soften or tone down judgments by the
light of altered convictions, but to leave them
standing as contemporary evidence of what was thought
at the time they were written.' These are his own
words.]

* * * * *

[Memorandum added by Mr. Greville in April 1850.]

N.B.--I leave this as it is, though it is unjust to the
Duke of Wellington; but such as my impressions were at
the time they shall remain, to be corrected afterwards
when necessary. It would be very wrong to impute
_selfishness_ to him in the ordinary sense of the term.
He coveted power, but he was perfectly disinterested, a
great patriot if ever there was one, and he was always
animated by a strong and abiding sense of duty. I have
done him justice in other places, and there is after all
a great deal of truth in what I have said here.

* * * * *

[Page Head: AN ESCAPE FROM THE GALLOWS.]

December 12th, 1830 {p.084}

For the last few days the accounts from the country have been
better; there are disturbances in different parts, and alarms
given, but the mischief seems to be subsiding. The burnings go
on, and though they say that one or two incendiaries have been
taken up, nothing has yet been discovered likely to lead to the
detection of the system. I was at Court on Wednesday, when Kemp
and Foley were sworn in, the first for the Ordnance, the other
Gold Stick (the pensioners). He refused it for a long time, but
at last submitted to what he thought _infra dig_., because it was
to be sugared with the Lieutenancy of Worcestershire. There was
an Admiralty report,[3] at which the Chief Justice was not
present. The Chancellor and the Judge (Sir C. Robinson) were
there for the first time, and not a soul knew what was the form
or what ought to be done; they did, however, just as in the
Recorder's reports. Brougham leans to mercy, I see. But what a
curious sort of supplementary trial this is; how many accidents
may determine the life or death of the culprit. In one case in
this report which they were discussing