its
legs for the present. Fourteen of the Conservatives were absent
from illness or the death of relations, so that the strength of
the party really amounts to 300 if it would all be mustered.
There must always be some casualties, and probably there were
some likewise on the other side.

[Page Head: LORD BROUGHAM'S ANTI-SLAVERY SPEECH.]

On Tuesday night Brougham made another great Slavery speech in
the House of Lords, as usual, very long, eloquent, powerful; but
his case overstated, too highly wrought, and too artificial. It
was upon the Order in Council by which coolies were brought into
Antigua from India. He made out a case of real or probable abuse
and injustice, and his complaint was that the Government had not
sufficiently guarded against the contingency by regulations
accompanying the Order. He was followed by several of the Tory
Lords; but the Duke of Wellington refused to support him,
provided Melbourne would agree to adopt certain rules which he
proposed as a security against future abuses, in which case he
said he would move the previous question. Melbourne agreed, and
the Duke moved it. As he and the bulk of his followers joined
with the Government, they had a large majority, but Ellenborough,
Lyndhurst, Wharncliffe, the Bishop of Exeter, and a few more,
voted with Brougham, and the whole party would have been very
glad to do so if the Duke would have let them. Brougham was
exceedingly disconcerted, and threw out all sorts of baits to
catch the Duke's vote and support, but did not succeed, and he
said that the Duke had again stepped in to save the Government.
The 'Times' yesterday morning made a very sulky allusion to what
they consider his ill-timed moderation; but he will not be a
party to anything that has the semblance of faction, and to
worrying and bullying the Government merely to show the power or
to have the pleasure of doing so. In the present instance,
although Melbourne gave way to the Duke (as he could not do
less), it so happens that the Government would have been in a
majority of three or four if the Duke had divided against them,
for the Tories had taken no pains to bring their people down, and
Brougham's great orations are not so attractive to the Lords as
they are popular with the public. He will certainly gain a great
deal of reputation and popularity by his agitation of the Anti-
slavery question, for it is a favourite topic in the country.
Wharncliffe told me he walked away with hi