Committee. No witnesses. Walked with Lords Bathurst and Rosslyn to the Duke's. The bulletin is good. The King had some sleep and is better. Halford's account, too, is better. The King slept six hours, but the water was so much increased about the legs that they have made punctures to draw it off. Upon the whole the account leads one to suppose the thing will be protracted.
In the House of Commons last night, Goulburn was obliged to withdraw the vote of 100,000£. for Windsor Castle and refer it to a Committee upstairs. The expectation of a dissolution is acting powerfully on votes, and he would have been beaten. The Duke approved entirely of his having withdrawn the motion.
The continuance of the King in this state would be highly inconvenient indeed. There would be no possibility of carrying on the money business in the House of Commons.
In the House of Lords we had a motion from Lord MountCashel for an address for a commission to enquire into the abuses of the English and Irish Church. No one thought it worth while to reply to him.
May 5.
Read and altered a letter relative to the new arrangement of civil allowances.
Elphinstone approved generally of what I proposed—which is.
1. To depose every chief who shall harbour banditti.
2. To oblige them to give up refugee criminals under the same penalty.
3. To engage as many as possible to abandon their heritable jurisdictions.