"I could not have done a thing like that, Kitty, not for the life of me. I went back to the House; and for three days we fought like dogs, tooth and nail, over the dissolution. Then Lord Grey and Lord Brougham did such a thing as never was: they went to the King and told him, plump and plain, he must dissolve Parliament or they would resign, and he must be answerable for consequences; and the King did not want to dissolve Parliament; he knew a new House would be still fuller of Reform members; and he made all kinds of excuses. He said, 'The Crown and Robes were not ready, and the Guards and troops had not been notified;' and then, to his amazement and anger, Lord Brougham told him that the officers of State had been summoned, that the Crown and Robes were ready, and the Guards and troops waiting." "My word, John! That was a daring thing to do." "If William the Fourth had been Henry the Eighth, Lord Brougham's head wouldn't have been worth a shilling; as it was, William flew into a great passion, and cried out, 'You! You, my Lord Chancellor! You ought to know that such an act is treason, is high treason, my lord!' And Brougham said, humbly, that he did know it was high treason, and that nothing but his solemn belief that the safety of the State depended on the act would have made him bold enough to venture on so improper a proceeding. Then the King cooled down; and Brougham took from his pocket the speech which the King was to read; and the King took it with words; that were partly menace, and partly joke at his Minister's audacity, and so dismissed them." "I never heard of such carryings on. Why didn't Brougham put the Crown on his own head, and be done with it?" "I do not like Brougham; but in this matter, he acted very wisely. If the King had refused to dissolve a Parliament that had proved itself unable to carry Reform, I do think, Maude, London would have been in flames, and the whole country in rebellion, before another day broke." "Were you present at the dissolution, John?"