^ET. 30.] HOME POLITICS. 399 



TO EAEL GREY. 



"ALBANY, LONDON, April 21, 1808. 

 " MY DEAR LORD GREY, The Liverpool and Man- 

 chester delegates are gone at last, all tolerably well 

 satisfied, except old Eathbone, who neither got his 

 speeches out in the Lords nor Commons. The Lon- 

 don merchants, however, kept him quiet, and the 

 whole petitioners in a body met and passed a very 

 handsome vote of thanks to me. The Londoners also 

 invited me to practise in the Cockpit, where they 

 have the whole business in their hands, and have 

 adopted me as Stephen's successor. I have ordered 

 a copy of the report of my speech to be sent to you 

 in an office cover. It is tolerably accurate the four 

 first and twenty last pages, I am sure, nearly ver- 

 batim. Stephen is more outrageous than ever. He 

 has completely quarrelled with me, first, for saying 

 what I did say, and next, for not preventing its being 

 published. He says it is an incendiary and per- 

 nicious speech, and can only do mischief. But the 

 real truth is that he does not like being attacked, and 

 he finds Perceval is the only man w r ho defends him. 

 His witnesses all failed, and did more good to us than 

 to the ministry, which exasperates them the more ; 

 and George Eose goes about saying he blames him 

 greatly for not stopping me at every other sentence. 

 They bitterly repent having allowed our petitions to 

 be gone into. Burdett gave Stephen an unmerciful 

 thrashing the other day, and is more wonderfully 

 improved, I understand, in speaking than could have 



