Ld. H. made, on ye 10th of January, his debut in the H. of Lords, on the subject of the Assessed Taxes.[181] He spoke well in his first speech, but admirably in his reply. His speech was precisely what a friend would wish: argumentative and simple, evidently not a studied declamation, and such as a first opening should be, more because it promised success than that it possessed it. I should have been sorry to have heard it was eloquent, as almost all the speakers who have begun pompously have stopped short, as for instance Ld. Hawkesbury, Belgrave, and Mr. Canning. The wit and quickness of his reply is an answer to those who probably would have ascribed to Mr. Fox his speech. In answer to Lord Grenville’s repeated boasts of the excellence of the Constitution, he said it reminded him of Prior’s lines:-- When Harlequin extolled his horse Fit for the road, the chase, the course; One fault he had, a fault indeed, And what was that? His horse was dead. He entered a protest, but by some unlucky misunderstanding the Duke of Bedford did not sign it, and Ld. H. was too indolent to get the signatures of the other peers who wanted to sign; and unfortunately Ld. Oxford was the only person who signed with him. The Assessed Taxes have passed, and there is besides a voluntary subscription open for those who have money enough left to squander upon such an absurd donation.[182] The Assessed Taxes add to us 1000_l._ and fifty pounds besides the old assessment--a sum added to the annual expenditure that compels us to exceed our income, and nothing but the desperate state of affairs can make me look upon such a certainty as a moderate calamity. [Sidenote: MR. GREY]