One important event that took place after the death of William IV. was the accession of his brother Ernest, Duke of Cumberland, to the throne of Hanover. This gave general satisfaction in England, for the duke was thoroughly detested, and his absence from the country most welcome. He was suspected of having taken part in the Orange plot, in 1835, the object of which was to set aside the claims of the Princess Victoria and place himself on the throne, and this circumstance certainly did not increase his popularity. Of all the sons of George III. he was the roughest, the most overbearing, unprincipled, and brutal, and England was blessed in being rid of him. Lord Melbourne was the queen's prime minister, and she had a sincere regard and affection for him always. He was kindly, good-natured, and honest, and sought in every possible way to make her reign agreeable to her. He advised her to the best of his ability, but she had too much sense to depend entirely on his counsel. He was not a man of very strong intellect, nor was he a statesman, so there was little danger of the young queen becoming a mere puppet in his hands, as some prominent Tories feared she might. The Duke of Wellington was one of these. He said on the queen's accession: "The Tories will never have a chance {328}with a young woman for sovereign; I have no small talk and Peel has no manners." But he was to find his mistake, for the queen had the interest of her kingdom too much at heart to be governed entirely by personal feelings. [Illustration: 0324] There were two powerful leaders in the House of Lords who were opposed to Lord Melbourne, though one was a Whig and the other a Tory. They were Lord Brougham and Lord Lyndhurst,--the former a man whose capacity for work seemed almost superhuman, and whose power as a speaker was immense. There never was a man whose knowledge was so universal or who did so much at one time as Lord Brougham, and his extraordinary ability was felt in England for many years. {329}Lord Lyndhurst was one of the most remarkable parliamentary debaters of his day, and resembled Lord Brougham in his ability to labor, though he was not master of so many branches of learning. The two combined were the most formidable opponents the ministry could have had, and they were merciless in their criticisms of Lord Melbourne.