The right of election is in the inhabitants paying scot and lot; and of 310, the whole number of electors, 195 were decided supporters of any candidate the Duke of Norfolk might recommend. After the election, about fifty of the principal inhabitants and electors dined with the Duke at the Castle. Healths were drunk, and speeches made, as is usual upon such occasions; and the Duke, in the course of one of his speeches, said that he had introduced me at Arundel, not from any private friendship he entertained for me, for he knew me but little in private, and, till the last autumn, when I passed two days at Arundel, we had never both slept at the same time under the same roof, but because he approved my political principles and my public conduct; and that all that he had required of me, when he had proposed to introduce me to his friends at Arundel, was, that I should do him the favour of dining with him once a year.

Norfolk.

The Duke's convivial talents are universally ac- Duke of knowledged by all who know him. It is a great misfortune that he possesses them, as they probably have prevented his exerting talents of a much higher order with which he certainly is endowed, and which, joined to his high rank and eminent station in society, ought to have made him act a very great part in the eventful times in which he has lived. He has an excellent understanding, improved by a great deal of reading. He seems to possess a very intimate and perfect knowledge of our history and constitution. His language is correct and forcible, and remarkably perspicuous; and he has a very happy facility of applying the

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various knowledge he possesses. I know few sons whose conversation is more entertaining and instructive. His political principles are very good, and he has constantly and firmly adhered to them through life, though at the expense of being always in disfavour with the Court. The Prince warmly cultivated his friendship, while his father reigned; but since he has himself assumed the Regency, and laid aside the Whig principles he once professed, he has slighted and shunned the Duke, as well as all the rest of his early friends. What reason is there not to deplore the habits of dissipation which the Duke in his youth acquired, and which he has never since endeavoured, or at least never been able, to shake off!

[The following prayer is written on the last page of the second MS. volume of this Diary: we have inserted it at the end of the year in which it is dated. - ED.]

1812.

ALMIGHTY God! Creator of all things! the source of all wisdom, and goodness, and virtue, and happiness! I bow down before thee-not to offer up prayers, for I dare not presume to think or hope that thy most just, unerring, and supreme will can be in any degree influenced by any supplications of mine nor to pour forth praises and adorations, for I feel that I am unworthy to offer them, but, in all humility, and with a deep sense of my own insignificance, to express the thanks of a contented and happy being, for the innumerable benefits which he enjoys. I cannot reflect that I

am a human being, living in civilised society, born the member of a free state, the son of virtuous and tender parents, blest with an ample fortune, endowed with faculties which have enabled me to acquire that fortune myself, enjoying a fair reputation, beloved by my relations, esteemed by my friends, thought well of by most of my countrymen to whom my name is known, united to a kind, virtuous, enlightened, and most affectionate wife, the father of seven children all in perfect health, and all giving, by the goodness of their dispositions, a promise of future excellence, and though myself far advanced in life, yet still possessed of health and strength which seem to afford me the prospect of future years of enjoyment, --I cannot reflect on all these things and not express my gratitude to thee, O God! from whom all this good has flowed. I am sincerely grateful for all this happiness. I am sincerely grateful for the happiness of all those who are most dear to me, of my beloved wife, of my sweet children, of my relations, and of my friends.

I prostrate myself, O Almighty and Omniscient God, before thee. In endeavouring to contemplate thy divine attributes, I seek to elevate my soul towards thee; I seek to improve and ennoble my faculties, and to strengthen and quicken my ardour for the public good; and I appear to myself to rise above my earthly existence, while I am indulging the hope that I may at some time prove an humble instrument in the divine work of enlarging the sphere of human happiness.

Tanhurst.

1813.

Jan. 7th, Th. I returned to Town from Tanhurst, a house most delightfully situated upon Leith Hill, in Surrey, which I have very lately taken as a yearly tenant. I have been passing ten days there with my family, and should have prolonged my stay for a few days more, if the sitting of the Privy Council to-morrow on plantation appeals had not compelled me to return.

The day to which the House of Commons is adjourned is now fast approaching. I think of taking my seat immediately on its meeting, and of bringing in without delay the Bills which I have in contemplation for making some alterations in the criminal law, and a Bill for subjecting the freehold estates of persons who die indebted to the payment of their simple contract debts. Ever since I was turned out of the office of Solicitor-General in 1807, I have been somewhat backward in proposing alterations in the law, because I have always supposed it possible that I might again be in office; and changes proposed by a person who has the support of Government, or at least has not their opposition to encounter, are so much more likely to be adopted than those which come from another quarter, that I have reserved myself for that favourable season. There seems, however,

now to be no prospect that the time will ever come when I or my friends shall be in power; and the only task that is likely ever to be allotted me, is, to propose useful measures with little hope of being able to carry them. Some good, however, may be done even by such unsuccessful attempts, and I shall therefore persevere in them.

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create a

15th. Lord Redesdale has published an answer Bill to to my pamphlet on the appointment of a Vice- ViceChancellor, which he has entitled "Observations Chancellor. occasioned by a Pamphlet entitled, Objections to the Project of creating a Vice-Chancellor of England." It appears to me to be very feeble and very unsatisfactory.

Feb. 1st, Mon. I have written and printed an answer to Lord Redesdale, under the title of "A Letter to a Noble Lord, by the Author of Objections to the Project, &c."

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2d, Tu. The House of Commons met after the adjournment for the Christmas recess, and I took my seat.

8th, Mon. I moved for returns of convicts.

11th, Th. The second reading of the ViceChancellor's Bill was carried by a majority of 79; 201 for it, 122 against it. I spoke very shortly upon it, having risen late in the debate.

15th, Mon. A debate on receiving a report of the Vice-Chancellor's Bill, in which I took some part.

Law.

17th, Wed. In the House of Commons, I moved Criminal for leave to bring in a Bill to repeal so much of the Act of King William as punishes with death the offence of stealing privately in a shop, warehouse,