Lord Auckland told me the other night that Government are prepared for the Dissenters Bill being thrown out in the House of Lords, and that they don't care. He thinks it never will be carried, and will be a standing grievance of no great weight. The Chancellor made an admirable speech on secondary punishments, connecting with it the question of education. He told me he was called on to pronounce an essay without any preparation, and he did the best he could. I did not hear it, but was told it was excellent. He shines in this sort of thing; his views are so enlarged and philosophical, and they are expressed in such becoming and beautiful language. June 26th, 1834 {p.097} There was a good debate on Monday in the House of Commons on the Irish Tithes Bill. Peel made a very clever speech, attacking the Commission with great felicity, and John Russell made an excellent speech in reply, failing to excuse the Commission, which is inexcusable, but very good upon the question. Both he and Ellice _spoke out_. I was at the Abbey on Tuesday and yesterday for a performance and a rehearsal of the 'Messiah.' The spectacle is very fine, and it is all admirably managed--no crowd or inconvenience, and easy egress and ingress--but the 'Messiah' is not so effective as I expected, not so fine as in York Minster; the choruses are admirably performed, but the single voices are miserable--singers of extreme mediocrity, or whose powers are gone; old Bellamy, who was at Handel's commemoration as a singing boy, Miss Stephens, &c. June 27th, 1832 {p.098} Lord William Russell told me last night that his brother John has frequently offered to resign, and they never would let him; at last he said he must speak out on this Church appropriation question, or positively he would not stay in, so that his speech was not _blurted_ out, as I supposed, but was the result of a fixed resolution. This alters the case as far as he is concerned, and it can't be denied that he was right in thinking it better that Government should make itself clearly understood, and that a break-up was preferable to going on without any real cordiality or concurrence amongst each other and the Administration an object of suspicion to all parties. William Russell said that Government were quite aware that Peel and the Duke could turn them out when they would, but that they would not know what to do next. [Page Head: DON CARLOS ON HIS WAY TO SPAIN.]