idled rage
against the Government, he has appeared to be animated with so
much spite and malice, without a particle of public spirit, but
only with a vindictive determination to punish them for having
rejected him, that the world has only regarded him and his
performances as they would look at a great actor on the stage. So
bent has he been upon worrying the Ministers, so determined his
enmity to them, that he has sought to ally himself with the most
extreme sections of opposition, congregating with the Roebucks,
Wakleys, and Leaders in the morning, contriving and concocting
with them measures of ultra-Radicalism, then hugging Lyndhurst,
bowing down to the Duke, courting the Tory lords, and figuring,
flirting, and palavering at night at the routs of the Tory
ladies. In the House of Lords, Lyndhurst was well content to hunt
in couples with him; but the Duke has kept him at arm's length,
and though always on civil, would never be on intimate terms with
him. Far different has been the Duke's own career, for he has,
throughout the Session, displayed a dignity, candour, and
moderation, without any tameness or indifference or inactivity,
which raise him to the highest rank as a statesman and a patriot,
and show him equally mindful of his own honour and his country's
good. He alone has moderated the rancour of Lyndhurst, kept in
check the violence of Brougham, and restrained the impetuosity
and impatience of his party. His abstinence from opposition
exceedingly provoked his followers, for, with the exception of
the question of the appointment of magistrates by the Chancellor,
upon which he treated the latter with considerable asperity, and
blamed his conduct severely, he displayed uniform leniency and
forbearance; at the end of the session, indeed, he supported
Brougham in his attack upon Durham, though not by any means
joining in it with the same _animus_. Melbourne, very soon after
the commencement of the session, openly, avowedly, and
intentionally quarrelled with Brougham and set him at defiance.
However unequal to him on the whole, he came off tolerably well
in the little skirmishes which constantly took place between
them, and he derived a strength and security from the Duke's
forbearance or support, which enabled him to jog on without
sustaining any material damage from Brougham's terrible assaults.
None of his colleagues were of much use to him, and Glenelg got
so cruelly mauled at first, that he had afterwards no mi