three
o’clock in the morning
This placard was of course Mr. Tadpole 's last effort , but that worthy gentleman soon forgot his mortification about Northborough in the general triumph of his party . The Whigs were nowhere , though Mr. Ferrars was returned without opposition , and in the month of August , still wondering at the rapid , strange , and even mysterious incidents , that had so suddenly and so swiftly changed his position and prospects in life , took his seat in that House in whose galleries he had so long humbly attended as the private secretary of a cabinet minister . His friends were still in office , though the country had sent up a majority of ninety against them , and Endymion took his seat behind the Treasury bench , and exactly behind Lord Roehampton . The debate on the address was protracted for three nights , and then they divided at three o'clock in the morning , and then all was over . Lord Roehampton , who had vindicated the ministry with admirable vigour and felicity , turned round to Endymion , and smiling said in the sweetest tone , `` I did not enlarge on our greatest feat , namely , that we had governed the country for two years without a majority . Peel would never have had the pluck to do that . '' Notwithstanding the backsliding of Lord Beaumaris and the unprincipled conduct of Mr. Waldershare , they were both rewarded as the latter gentleman projected -- Lord Beaumaris accepted a high post in the Household , and Mr. Waldershare was appointed Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs .