they
all were at it. Yesterday the Speaker delivered the reprimand,
and they all admitted that it was extremely well done. O'Connell
made a violent speech in reply, but clever.

March 4th, 1838 {p.071}

[Page Head: LORD BROUGHAM COURTS THE TORIES.]

Brougham again in the House of Lords on Friday night. He attacked
Pechell and Codrington for having attacked him[14] because he had
abused the Navy in his Slavery speech, and was very violent,
tedious, and verbose. He informed the House that he had written a
remonstrance to the Speaker for not having called the two sailors
to order, and he treated them with great contumely and abuse in
his speech. Lyndhurst[15] made him very wroth by asking him 'if
he had any right to write to the Speaker,' and Melbourne made a
short, but very good reply, reminding him that, as he had chosen
to publish his speech in the shape of a pamphlet, it was no
breach of privilege to comment on its contents. He made a great
splutter, but got the worst of this bout. In the meantime he
continues to be the great meteor of the day; he has emerged from
his seclusion, and is shining a mighty luminary among the Tory
_ignes minores_. The Conservatives are so charmed with him, that
they court his society with the liveliest demonstrations of
regard, and he meets their advances more than half way. They are
very naturally delighted with his unrivalled agreeableness, and
they are not sorry to pat him on the back as a _flagellifer_ of
the Ministers; but though they talk with expressions of regret of
his having radicalised himself, and he would probably, if he saw
an opening, try to wriggle himself out of Radicalism and into
Toryism, they will take care, in the event of their return to
office, not to let such a firebrand in amongst them. He calls his
last Anti-slavery speech his [Greek: peri stephanou], for he
thinks it his greatest effort, and it was such an oration as no
other man could have delivered. The Bishop of Exeter spoke for
two hours and a half the other night on Catholic oaths, but the
whole bench of Bishops, except Llandaff, stayed away, to mark
their disapprobation of his agitation on the subject.

[14] [In their speeches in the House of Commons.]

[15] [It was not Lord Lyndhurst who asked this question.
Lord Brougham intimated that he had written a private
letter on the matter to the Speaker, which he had a
right to do.]

Nobody knows what the Tories