tend _the Committee_?'
I did not then know; but yesterday in the House of Lords I asked
the Duke, and he said 'No, for the same reasons,' that upon
consideration he was sure he had better not go, that by so doing
he might give umbrage to his own party, and he could only do good
by exercising a powerful influence over them and restraining them,
and that his means of doing good would be impaired by any
appearance of approximating himself to Government, that when the
general plan of the arrangements was settled, he should have no
objection to lend a helping hand, if wanted, to the details with
which he was very conversant. I wrote on a slip of paper that he
would _not_ come, and gave it to Lord Grey, who said nothing. Peel
did not write to me, but he and Rosslyn do the same as the Duke.

[Page Head: RESERVE OF MR. PEEL.]

The Belgian deputation came yesterday, and Lebeau and his
colleagues were in the House of Lords. We had been promised a
good day there between Londonderry and Brougham and Plunket, but
the former made a tiresome, long speech; the latter spoke civilly
and dully; and Brougham not at all, so it ended in smoke. In the
other House on Monday the Ministers got a good majority (102) on
the wine duties, to their great delight, but the Opposition were
not only mortified at the defeat, but disgusted and enraged at
the conduct of Peel (their leader, as they considered him), who
came into the House, got up in the middle of Herries' speech,
walked out and was heard of no more that night; never voted, nor
gave any notice of his intention not to vote. The moral effect of
this upon his party is immense, and has served to destroy the
very little confidence they had in him before. It is impossible
to conceive by what motives he is actuated, because if they were
purely selfish it would seem that he defeats his own object; for
what can he gain by disgusting and alienating his party, when
although they cannot do without him, it is equally true that he
cannot do without them? I walked home with William Banks, who
went largely into the whole question of Peel's extraordinary
disposition and conduct, and said how disheartening it was, and
what a blow to those who looked to him as a leader in these
troublous times. Henry Currey (no important person, but whose
opinion is that of fifty other like him) told me that his conduct
had been _atrocious_, and that he had himself voted in the
minority against his opinion because he though