the troops did not return from their ungrateful duty without a sanguinary conflict, in which several people were slain. A more useless or unnecessary provocation of a scene of carnage does not occur in our history. Sir Francis brought an action against the Speaker, and, being defeated, thus had the merit of formally establishing the important principle of the Constitution which he had attacked."

Hoisting Canning with his own Petard.—In one of the debates of the pre-Reform period, Canning, in the course of an elaborate defence of the borough system, urged that it formed an essential element of the British Constitution, since it had

"Grown with our growth, and strengthened with our strength.”

Sir Francis Burdett took up the quotation in reply, and said, "The right honourable gentleman doubtless remembers the first line of the distich he has cited, and that it is

'The young disease, which must subdue at length,

Grows with our growth, and strengthens with our strength.''

Canning acknowledged that the retort was a happy and a just one.

An Extraordinary Debate.-Sir T. F. Buxton, writing to his brother-in-law, Mr. Gurney, in November, 1819, thus refers to a debate on the Manchester Riots, and Burdett's speech in it: We have had a wonderful debate; really it has raised my idea of the capacity and ingenuity of the human mind. All the leaders spoke, and almost all outdid themselves. But Burdett stands first; his speech was absolutely the finest, and the clearest and the fairest display of masterly understanding, that ever I heard; and, with shame I ought to confess it, he did not utter a sentence to which I could not agree. Canning was second; if there be any difference between eloquence and sense, this was the difference between him and Burdett. He was exquisitely elegant, and kept the tide of reason and argument, irony, joke, invective, and declamation, flowing for nearly three hours. Plunket was third; he took hold of poor Mackintosh's argument, and griped it to death; ingenious, subtle, yet clear and bold, and putting with the most logical distinctness to the House the errors of his antagonist. Next came Brougham-and what do you think of a debate in which the fourth man could keep alive the attention of the House from three to five in the morning, after a twelve hours' debate?”

Burdett a High Tory.-Sir Francis Burdett, reverting to the notion that the prerogative of the Crown in choosing its servants ought to be unfettered and uncontrolled, said, in bringing forward a motion for reform of Parliament, "If a country gentleman were to offer to a servant out of place to make him his butler, and the man were to answer, 'I will not be your butler unless you will take Harry for your coachman, and Thomas for your groom, and Dick for your footman,' the gentleman would be greatly astonished." This remark (says Earl Russell) proves that Sir Francis Burdett was, as he sometimes avowed himself to be, a high prerogative Tory of the days of Queen Anne.

His Duel with Mr. Paull.-The following particulars of the duel which took place between Sir Francis Burdett and Mr. Paull are taken

from the Annual Register. "Mr. Paull, who was a candidate for the representation of Westminster in 1807, had advertised a meeting of his friends to dine at the Crown and Anchor in the Strand, the chair to be occupied by Sir Francis Burdett. A correspondence ensued upon this announcement, opening with a communication from Sir Francis, in which he disavowed any knowledge of the proposed gathering, and asserted that he had not sanctioned the use of his name in connection with it. The dispute between the two gentlemen, increasing in acrimony, finally culminated in a challenge being forwarded by Mr. Paull to Sir Francis Burdett. The parties met, attended by their seconds, at Combe Wood, near Wimbledon Common, on the 5th of May. They discharged two pistols each; the second shot fired by Mr. Paull wounded Sir Francis in the thigh; the second pistol fired by Sir Francis wounded Mr. Paull in the leg. This terminating the business, they both returned from Wimbledon in Mr. Paull's carriage."

WILLIAM COBBETT.

(1762-1835.)

His First Appearance.—At the first general election after the passing of the Reform Bill of 1832, Cobbett was returned for Oldham, and delivered his maiden speech January 29th, 1833, on the choice of a Speaker. The opening sentence with which he addressed the House was not of a very complimentary character: "It appears to me that since I have been sitting here, I have heard a great deal of vain and unprofitable conversation." On the 11th of February he rose to move an amendment to the report of the Address in answer to the King's speech. "Other honourable members," he said, "may intercept the reading of the report where they please, and move that such or such parts be omitted; for my own part, I object to every tittle of the report after the words 'Most Gracious Majesty.' Meeting with several interruptions by calls of " "Question" and " Order," he said, "I have a very sacred duty to

perform, and if the House be determined not to hear me to-night, I will certainly bring it forward to-morrow, and if the House will not hear me to-morrow, I will then bring it forward the day after. The statement I have to make I am determined to make, and that without any considerable interruption."

His Demeanour in the House.-I know no other instance (writes Lord Dalling) of a man entering the House of Commons at Cobbett's age (between sixty and seventy) and becoming at once an effective debater in it. Looking carelessly round the assembly so new to him, with his usual self-confidence he spoke on the first occasion that presented itself, proposing an amendment to the Address; but this was not his happiest effort, and consequently created disappointment. He soon, however, obliterated the failure, and became rather a favourite with an audience which is only unforgiving when bored. It was still seen, moreover, that nothing daunted him; the murmurs, the Oh!" or more serious reprehension and censure, found him shaking his head with his hands in his pockets, as cool and defiant as when he first stuck up the picture of King

George in his shop window at Philadelphia. He exhibited in Parliament, too, the same want of tact, prudence, and truth; the same egotism, the same combativeness, and the same reckless desire to struggle with received opinions, that had marked him previously through life, and shattered his career into glittering fragments, from which the world could never collect the image nor the practical utility of a whole.

The Black Hole of St. Stephen's.-Complaining of the deficient accommodation for members in the House, Cobbett thus gave utterance to his discontent in the columns of the Weekly Register: "Why are we squeezed into so small a space that it is absolutely impossible that there should be calm and regular discussion, even from that circumstance alone? Why do we live in this hubbub? Why are we exposed to all these inconveniences? Why are 658 of us crammed into a space that allows to each of us no more than a foot and a half square, while, at the same time, each of the servants of the King, whom we pay, has a palace to live in, and more unoccupied space in that palace than the little hole into which we are all crammed to make the laws by which this great kingdom is governed." The fire of 1834, however, burned down the "little hole" so contemptuously spoken of by the member for Oldham, and thus made way for a more commodious although still inadequate structure.

His Influence.-People (said Hazlitt) have about as substantial an idea of Cobbett as they have of Cribb. His blows are as hard, and he himself is as impenetrable. One has no notion of him as making use of a fine pen, but a great mutton-fist; his style stuns his readers, and he fillips the ear of the public with a three-man-beetle." He is too much for any single newspaper antagonist; "lays waste" a City orator or member of Parliament, and bears hard upon the Government itself. He is a kind of fourth estate in the politics of the country.

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Taking out the Sting.-Cobbett looked (remarks Professor Pryme) like a better sort of farmer. He was a very able man, but his career in the House was a complete failure. Though bold in public assemblies, he was timid and overawed in Parliament, and was never able to say more than a few sentences. . Cobbett was said to have "a good face

for a grievance." I remember one trait which shows it. He moved to bring in a bill to modify the Stamp Act, more especially that part of it which obliged every one to give a twopenny stamp on payment of any sum between 21. and 5l. Lord Althorp said that it would require great time for modification, and that it should be taken into consideration, but that meantime the member for Oldham might, if he liked, have that particular grievance of the twopenny stamp redressed at once. We all who were opposite to him were amused to observe that Cobbett looked quite disappointed, as if feeling that the sting was taken out of his complaints.

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Political Nicknames.-Cobbett's talent (says Lord Dalling) for fastening his claws into anything or anyone by a word or an expression, and holding them down for scorn or up to horror, was unrivalled. Prosperity Robinson," "Eolus Canning," the "bloody Times," the "pink-nosed Liverpool," the "unbaptised, buttonless blackguards" (in which way he

designated the disciples of Penn), were expressions with which he attached ridicule where he could not fix reproach; and it is said that nothing was more teasing to Lord Erskine than being constantly addressed by his second title of Baron Clackmannan.

JOSEPH HUME.

(1777-1855.)

Small Economies.-Hume had been a surgeon in India, and had made a fortune. He had an office and kept a clerk at his own cost, in order to examine the estimates and accounts of public moneys, and to prepare his statements and facts; and by his attention to economy effected a considerable reduction in the national expenditure. He had his faults (writes Professor Pryme), which produced political errors, for he looked rather to what in his mind was desirable than to what was practicable. That kind of feeling predominated throughout. He suggested even the smallest economies. Gilt-edged paper was, I take it, given up in consequence of his observation on the extravagance of using it for parliamentary notices. Parker, secretary to the Treasury, brought up some reports. Hume remarked, "I think that splendid gilt paper is unnecessary." Parker, nettled at this, replied, "Perhaps the honourable member may think the margins are too wide;" but it had its effect, and in a short time the paper in the library and writing-rooms, as well as all the future reports, had no gilt edges. Soon after it went out of fashion altogether.

The Duties of an Archdeacon.—Lord Althorp, when Chancellor of the Exchequer, having to propose to the House of Commons a vote of 4001. a year for the salary of the Archdeacon of Bengal, was puzzled by a question from Mr. Hume, "What are the duties of an archdeacon ?" So he sent one of the subordinate occupants of the Treasury bench to the other House to obtain an answer to the question from one of the bishops. The messenger first met with Archbishop Vernon Harcourt, who described an archdeacon as aide-de-camp to the bishop; " and then with Bishop Copleston, of Llandaff, who said, "The archdeacon is oculus episcopi.' Lord Althorp, however, declared that neither of these explanations would satisfy the House. "Go," said he, "and ask the Bishop of London (Blomfield); he is a straightforward man, and will give you a plain answer." To the Bishop of London accordingly the messenger went, and repeated the question, "What is an archdeacon ? " "An archdeacon ?" replied the bishop in his quick way-" an archdeacon is an ecclesiastical officer who performs archidiaconal functions; " and with this reply (says the bishop's biographer) Lord Althorp and the House were perfectly satisfied.

A Free Translation.—In the discussions on the Orange system in 1835-36, Mr. Joseph Hume took (says Mr. John O'Connell) an active and, as usually happened with him, a manly and an honest part. Here, however, his excitement betrayed his tongue. Mr. Sheil, alluding to the disclaimer of a certain personage of very high rank, that he had been aware of the fact of his name being at the foot of warrants for the creation of Orange

lodges, which had been distributed in some of the regiments of the line, had said, "When I am called upon to give credit to this disclaimer, I take refuge in one of the dicta of my creed, and I say, Credo quia impossibile!” To this Mr. Hume appended the following free translation: Like the honourable member who has preceded me I say, in reference to the denial, Credo quia impossibile-Let who will believe it, I will not!"

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"Humbug."-Mr. J. Grant, in his Random Recollections," describes a scene which took place in the House of Commons in 1836. The House was in committee of supply, and Mr. Joseph Hume (then member for Middlesex) was, as usual on such occasions, making a field day of it. He opposed almost every grant of money that was proposed for the public service, and while he was objecting to one vote, a Mr. Kearsley thus addressed the chairman of committees: "Mr. Bernal, it has often been said in this house and elsewhere that the honourable member for Middlesex has been very useful to the country, by checking the extravagant expenditure of Ministers. But after what I have just seen with my own eyes I put down his conduct as perfect humbug. (Interruptions.) Yes, and I pronounce the honourable member himself to be a complete humbug. (Order, order!) I do not mean any personal unkindness to the honourable member, but I must say that when a vote was put to the House for granting some secret service money-30,000l. odd, I believe-I saw an honourable gentleman, connected with the noble lord (John Russell) opposite, go up to him and give him a check for coming forward. (Loud laughter.) Yes, sir, with my own eyes I saw it. It's a complete humbug and nothing else." Mr. Hume replied to this attack, from one who was usually considered a good-natured man, “I am afraid that the honourable member's optics are not in the best possible state to-night. I think the honourable member sees double. I certainly did protest against voting 30,000l. secret service money; but I am glad we have reduced the grant so low, for we formerly voted 60,000l. and upwards for the same purpose. As to the honourable gentleman's charge against me, I tell him that no person whatever spoke to me on the subject. No man has ever attempted to control or check me in my public conduct. I will be controlled by no man-and least of all shall the honourable member control me." Mr. Kearsley jumped up with the rejoinder, "I tell the honourable gentleman that if my sight is not so good as it ought to be, neither is his head so good as it ought to be. I tell him that I can see to count up the 'tottel of the whole [a common expression with Hume] as well as he can." (Loud laughter.) Mr. Hume, whom it was impossible to put out of temper, replied, "I beg the honourable member not to mistake me. I did not say anything about the infirmity of his eyes; I did not accuse him of not seeing; I only accused him of seeing too much." The matter then dropped, after having caused much amusement to both sides of the House.

Support of the Speaker's Warrant. In 1845 a discussion occurred in the House of Commons on a question of privilege. The Serjeant-at-Arms, Sir William Gossett, had executed a Speaker's warrant against one Thomas Howard, but an action was brought in the Queen's