1829-3 CoHversazione. 251 



draw me from the smoke of London. In sober phrase, and in 

 language more " germane to the matter," I am waiting the printer's 

 pleasure, as I wish to correct the last sheets before I leave town. 



Sir Charles Ar — L (Looking at the promissory ?iote.J " What Has 

 Been !" It is an admirable title ! 

 The Hon. Mr. R—ds. Excellent ! 

 Mr. T — ss. It is quite new ! 



Dr. M — k. Yes. There never has been a work so called. 

 Mr. C — II. No ; and I venture to predict, not only that there never 

 has been, but that there never will be, a work so delightful. 



The Right Hon. J. TV. C—r. (In a whisper to Mr. T—ss.J Fudge ! 

 His lordship is one of the has heens himself; and what can you expect 

 from the winter of a life whose spring never ripened into summer ? what 

 from the musty lees of an old age, whose best flowings were thin and 

 sour .'' (Aloud to Lord L .) I suppose the work is a species of auto- 

 biography j if so I can easily imagine what a rich harvest a mind like 

 your lordship's must have gathered, in the abundant fertility of the 

 scenes through which you have passed. 



Lord L . You do me honour ! The fact is, my dear C — r, I have 



seen a great deal, — mingled with men of every party, — and as I never 

 betrayed any, it is impossible for public men to conceive what an 

 advantage that gave me in acquiring the confidence of all. 



The Right Hon. J. W. C — r. (Smiling.) I shall be impatient for the 

 appearance of your lordship's volumes. 



Lord L Suppose I were to give you a whet, just to take off the 



edge of your appetite — will there be no danger, think you, of its taking 

 away your appetite altogether } 



The Right Hon. J. W. C — r. Just as much danger as in the first glass 

 of a bottle that is kept for a bonne bouche. (hi a whisper to Mr. T — ss.) 

 His lordship's whet wiU take away all appetite, I'll be sworn. 



Omnes. (A clamorous chorus of entreaty which Lord L . is unable 



to resist.) 



Lord L . Here is the last sheet, as I received it from the printer 



this morning. (Giving it to the Right Hon, J. W. C — r.) 

 Omnes. Read ! Read ! 



The Right Hon. J. W. C — r. Gentlemen, your cry is so parliamentary, 

 that I could almost fancy you had all seen the very first words which 



have caught my eye. " Recollections of both Houses of Parliament." 



I see, at once, the style which your lordship has adopted, — the desultory, 



the most agreeable of all styles, and the only one suited to a work . 



Lord L . (interrupting him.) Of which I intend the motto to be — 



*' A thing of shreds and patches." 



The Right Hon. J. W. C — r. Most felicitously apt, indeed. Attend, 

 gentlemen, while I read a few pages. (Reads.) 



" Strange and whimsical blunders have sometimes occurred, from the 

 haste and negligence with which public and private bills are prepared. 

 I remember an instance of one, when the present Lord Bexley was 

 Chancellor of the Exchequer. He brought in a bill for repealing ' all 

 duties jiayable upon importation of madder into the kingdom of Great 

 Britain ;' and the bill actually passed through both Houses before it was 

 discovered that the words,. ' of madder,' were omitted. Instead, there- 

 fore, of repealing the duties upon that one article only, the duties upon 

 all articles were repealed ; and Mr. Vansittart afterwards brought in a 

 second bill, to amend and explain the first. 



" A more laughable blunder occurred in another instance, which was 

 detected by the late Earl Stanhope. A bill had been introduced into 



