eted her. The matter was
brought before the Chancellor, who sent for Wellesley. He came,
and refused to give her up; so Brougham committed him to the
Fleet Prison. The matter was brought the next day before the
House of Commons, and referred to their Committee of Privileges;
and in the meantime Brougham has been making a great splutter
about his authority and his Court both on the judicial bench and
from the Woolsack. The lawyers in the House of Commons were
divided as to Wellesley's right of privilege in such a case.[1]

[1] [Both the Chancellor and Mr. Wellesley wrote to the
Speaker, and their letters were read to the House
before the Committee of Privileges was appointed.
Meanwhile Mr. Wellesley remained at his house in Dover
Street in charge of two officers of the Court of
Chancery. There is, I believe, no doubt that the
committal was good, and that Mr. Wellesley's privilege
as a member of Parliament did not protect him, a
contempt of the Court having been committed. A similar
point has recently been raised in the Court of Queen's
Bench upon the committal of Mr. Whalley.]

[Page Head: ALDERMAN THOMPSON AND HIS CONSTITUENTS.]

There has been exhibited in the course of the last few days one
of the most disgraceful scenes (produced by the Reform Bill) ever
witnessed. On the question of the disfranchisement of Appleby a
certain Alderman Thompson, member for the City, who stood deeply
pledged to Reform, voted for hearing counsel in defence of the
borough, on which there was a meeting of his ward, or of certain
of his constituents, to consider his conduct. He was obliged to
appear before them, and, after receiving a severe lecture, to
confess that he had been guilty of inadvertence, to make many
submissive apologies, and promise to vote no more but in
obedience to the Minister. It is always an agreeable pastime to
indulge one's virtuous indignation, and wish to have been in the
place of such an one for the sake of doing what he ought to have
done but did not do, by which, without any of the risk of a very
difficult and unpleasant situation, one has all the imaginary
triumph of eloquence, independence, and all kinds of virtue; and
so in this instance I feel that I should have liked to pour upon
these wretches the phials of my wrath and contempt. If the
alderman had had one spark of spirit he would have spurned the