Page:Life of William Shelburne (vol 1).djvu/384

358 interest. The Prime-Serjeant was not so prudent, and opposed it in a long languid speech, full of false calculations; among the rest this curious one; that adding 40,000l. per annum to the national expense was in fact adding a million to its debt, and that the nation in the next session would be 1,800,000l. in debt. If all this is true, how will he have the impudence to support this measure hereafter? But indeed he has contradicted himself three or four times in the course of the session upon this subject.

"He talks now of being dismissed. His profit by his employment is trifling, not above three or four hundred a year. He is personally disliked, a mean gambler, not one great point in him, and exceedingly unpopular in this country. I must tell you a short anecdote which put him very much out of temper. The day after the first division, he came to Council in a hackney chair, which happened unluckily to be No. 108 (the number of the majority). A young officer at the Castle wrote under the number of the chair, '' in large characters, and at the top a coronet was drawn. He denied positively in the beginning of his speech, any bargain or terms proposed by him at the Castle, but was not believed.

"Lucas tried to get the citizens to instruct him to oppose the augmentation, but not being able to succeed, he contented himself with giving a silent negative. All other attempts to make the measure unpopular were nearly as fruitless, and indeed some members were instructed to vote for it. Dennis did not speak but voted with Lord Shannon. The speakers for Government were, the Solicitor-General, Mason, Cunningham, Butler, French, Bagwell, Burke, Waite, Burton, FitzGerald, Gore brother to Lord Annaly, Gisborne, who spoke well, and Lord F. Campbell who, to do him justice, chose his ground well, proved that there was no more money wanted than what was already granted by the vote of credit, and showed himself better informed of the state of this kingdom than most of them. He also very properly corrected