w ministerial arrangements were completed Journal. and of March, and were as follows: the Treasury Duke of Portland .... vice Lord Grenville. Lord Moira. neral of the Lord Chatham............ bove formed the Cabinet. 'eneral....... Sir V. Gibbs......... vice Sir A. Pigott. neral ....... Sir Thomas Plomer... ...ntrol .................... Hon. S. Dundas ...... f the Navy... G. Rose....... War.... (Lt.-General Sir James) he Horse ..... Duke of Montrose... or Ireland.... Sir A. Wellesley...... {Sir Samuel Ro milly. Mr. Tierney. Mr. Sheridan. Elliot. Sir J. Newport. Remarks. 1807. BOOK II. Now in Parliament; and speaks with credit in defence of the Government in regard to the Copenhagen Expedition-Visits his Irish estates -Is offered the Chancellorship of the Exchequer, after the Canning and Castlereagh quarrel; refuses, and becomes Secretary at WarBecomes, on the dissolution, Member for Cambridge UniversityMakes a successful speech on bringing forward the estimates- Cites passages from the despatches of Lord Wellington, then driving Massena out of Portugal-Describes a shooting party in Essex-Correspondence with the Commander-in-Chief as to the position of Secretary at War. I HAVE stated that Lord Palmerston, after once more failing at Cambridge, had been returned for Newport. There was not so much and such constant talking in the House of Commons then as there is now. People did not take up the morning's reports of the debates and again put them down, lost amidst the wilderness of commonplace remarks of commonplace men on commonplace subjects, which, in the flattering way it has become the fashion to adopt in speaking of ourselves, we call business-like speaking, but which in reality is for the most part twaddle, and prevents or impedes the transaction of business. The ordinary affairs of Government, which after all have to be gone through as a matter of course, Remarks. with little or much speech about them, were permitted to pass off quietly, without every member making a speech which no other member wanted to hear. Any great affair was debated in a great manner by the leading men. When a new member was animated by ambition, he made a trial of his strength, and was judged by the assembly he addressed as fit or unfit to be one of the select to be listened to. The ordeal was a severe one. But the novice who passed it with tolerable credit in the judgment of those men whose opinion was the test of success and failure, and who knew at once how to detect mind-which, if accompanied by energy, ends in giving ascendency in any body of men who live much together-was henceforth classed, and almost certain, if he persevered in a Parliamentary career, to obtain place and distinction. A first speech under such circumstances was an Maiden important affair. Lord Palmerston thus speaks of speech. his own : "In September of this year (1807), Copenhagen Autowas taken, and the Danish fleet carried off. "The Danish expedition was the great subject of debate at the beginning of the Session in 1808. Papers relating to it were laid before Parliament. At that time lay Lords of the Admiralty had nothing to do but to sign their name. I had leisure, therefore, to study the Copenhagen papers, and put together a speech, on which I received many compliments. Robert biography. Autobiography. Letters relative to Speech. Milnes,* better known as Orator Milnes, had made a He thus writes modestly to his sister : To the Hon. Miss E. Temple. "MY DEAR ELIZABETH, "Admiralty, Feb. 4, 1808. "You will see by this day's paper that I was tempted by some evil spirit to make a fool of myself for the entertainment of the House last night; however, I thought it was a good opportunity of breaking the ice, although one should flounder a little in doing so, as it was impossible to talk any very egregious nonsense upon so good a cause. Canning's speech was one of the most brilliant and convincing I ever heard; it lasted near three hours. He carried the House with him throughout, and I have scarcely ever heard such loud and frequent cheers. Ponsonby† was dull and heavy, and neither Windham nor Whitbread were as good as usual; in fact, Canning's speech was so powerful that it gave a decisive turn to the debate. Lord Granville Levesont made a very *Father of the present Lord Houghton. † Described in the Whig Guide,' it is said by Palmerston, as a "squat gentleman, prolific in commonplaces." Then Secretary at War. He became Ambassador at St. Petersburg, and afterwards at Paris, and was created Earl Granville. He married a daughter of the fifth Duke of Devonshire, and was the father of the present Earl. good speech, and stated an important fact-that all Letters. the impartial people in Russia, and other parts of the Continent, as far as he had any opportunity of collecting their sentiments, highly applauded, instead of condemning, our Danish expedition. Our division was not so large as I expected.* The Opposition were not more numerous, but we were less so than I expected. I thought we should have had three to one, but during this weather it is difficult to get people to come up to town. "Adieu! my best love to all. "Ever your affectionate brother, "PALMERSTON." "Admiralty, Feb. 6, 1808. To the Hon. Miss E. Temple. "MY DEAR ELIZABETH, 66 I Many thanks for your congratulations. certainly felt glad when the thing was over, though I began to fear I had exposed myself; but my friends were so obliging as to say I had not talked much nonsense, and I began in a few hours afterwards to be reconciled to my fate. The papers have not been very liberal in their allowance of report to me; but the outline of what I said was as follows. In the Maiden speech. first place, that the House was, to a certain degree, pledged by the address, in which they expressed their approbation of the expedition; but that the papers were in themselves improper to be produced, as they |