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diff --git a/25700-8.txt b/25700-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5b22305 --- /dev/null +++ b/25700-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,20588 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Greville Memoirs, by Charles C. F. Greville + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Greville Memoirs + A Journal of the Reigns of King George IV and King William + IV, Volume 1 (of 3) + +Author: Charles C. F. Greville + +Editor: Henry Reeve + +Release Date: June 5, 2008 [EBook #25700] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GREVILLE MEMOIRS *** + + + + +Produced by Paul Murray, Eve M. Behr and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +Transcriber's note: + + In this work, all spellings and punctuation were + reproduced from the original work except in the very few + cases where an obvious typo occurred. These typos are + corrected without comment. + + In the original work, monetary pounds were expressed as + an italicized "l." after the number. For the text + version, I am using the more conventional £100 form for + clarity. + + In the original volumes in this set, each even-numbered + page had a header consisting of the page number, the + volume title, and the chapter number. The odd-numbered + page header consisted of the year of the diary entry, a + subject phrase, and the page number. In this set of + e-books, the year is included as part of the date (which + in the original volume were in the form reproduced here, + minus the year). The subject phrase has been converted to + sidenotes, usually positioned where it seemed most + logical but occasionally simply between two paragraphs of + the even-odd pair. + + In the original book set, consisting of three volumes, + the master index was in Volume 3. In this set of e-books, + the index has been duplicated into each of the other + volumes. To make the index easier to use in this work, + the page number has been added to each Diary date. + + * * * * * + + The Greville Memoirs + + A JOURNAL OF THE REIGNS + of + KING GEORGE IV. + and + KING WILLIAM IV. + + + By the Late + CHARLES C. F. GREVILLE, Esq. + Clerk of the Council to Those Sovereigns + + Edited by + HENRY REEVE + Registrar of the Privy Council + + + IN THREE VOLUMES + VOL. I. + + Second Edition + + LONDON + LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. + 1874 + + + + + PREFACE + BY THE EDITOR + + +The Author of these Journals requested me, in January 1865, a few +days before his death, to take charge of them with a view to +publication at some future time. He left that time to my +discretion, merely remarking that Memoirs of this kind ought not, +in his opinion, to be locked up until they had lost their +principal interest by the death of all those who had taken any +part in the events they describe. He placed several of the +earlier volumes at once in my hands, and he intimated to his +surviving brother and executor, Mr. Henry Greville, his desire +that the remainder should be given me for this purpose. The +injunction was at once complied with after Mr. Charles Greville's +death, and this interesting deposit has now remained for nearly +ten years in my possession. In my opinion this period of time is +long enough to remove every reasonable objection to the +publication of a contemporary record of events already separated +from us by a much longer interval, for the transactions related +in these volumes commence in 1818 and end in 1837. I therefore +commit to the press that portion of these Memoirs which embraces +the Reigns of King George IV. and King William IV., ending with +the Accession of her present Majesty. + +In accepting the trust and deposit which Mr. Greville thought fit +to place in my hands, I felt, and still feel, that I undertook a +task and a duty of considerable responsibility; but from the time +and the manner in which it was offered me I could not decline it. +I had lived for more than five-and-twenty years in the daily +intercourse of official life and private friendship with Mr. +Greville. Sir George Cornewall Lewis, to whom he had previously +intended to leave these Journals, died before him. After that +event, deeply to be regretted on so many accounts, Mr. Greville +did me the honour to select me for the performance of this duty, +which was unexpected by myself; and my strong attachment and +gratitude to him for numberless acts of kindness and marks of +confidence bound me by every consideration to obey and execute +the wishes of my late friend. + +In the discharge of this trust I have been guided by no other +motive than the desire to present these Memorials to the world in +a manner which their Author would not have disapproved, and in +strict conformity with his own wishes and injunctions. He +himself, it should be said, had frequently revised them with +great care. He had studiously omitted and erased passages +relating to private persons or affairs, which could only serve to +gratify the love of idle gossip and scandal. The Journals contain +absolutely nothing relating to his own family, and but little +relating to his private life. In a passage (not now published) of +his own writings, the Author remarks:-- + + 'A journal to be good, true, and interesting, should be + written without the slightest reference to publication, + but without any fear of it: it should be the transcript + of a mind that can bear transcribing. I always + contemplate the possibility that hereafter my journal + will be read, and I regard with alarm and dislike the + notion of its containing matters about myself which + nobody will care to know' (January 2nd, 1838). + +These notes were designed chiefly to preserve a record of the +less known causes and details of public events which came under +the Author's observation, and they are interspersed with the +conversations of many of the eminent men with whom he associated. +But it must be borne in mind that they are essentially what they +profess to be--a _contemporary_ record of facts and opinions, not +altered or made up to square with subsequent experience. Hence +some facts may be inaccurately stated, because they are given in +the shape they assumed at the time they were recorded, and some +opinions and judgments on men and things are at variance (as he +himself acknowledges and points out) with those at which the +writer afterwards arrived on the same persons and subjects. Our +impressions of what is passing around us vary so rapidly and so +continually, that a contemporary record of opinion, honestly +preserved, differs very widely from the final and mature judgment +of history: yet the judgment of history must be based upon +contemporary evidence. It was remarked by an acute observer to +Mr. Greville himself, that the _nuances_ in political society are +so delicate and numerous, the details so nice and varying, that +unless caught at the moment they escape, and it is impossible to +collect them again. That is the charm and the merit of genuine +contemporary records. + +The two leading qualities in the mind of Mr. Greville were the +love of truth and the love of justice. His natural curiosity, +which led him to track out and analyse the causes of events with +great eagerness, was stimulated by the desire to arrive at their +real origin, and to award to everyone, with judicial impartiality, +what appeared to him to be a just share of responsibility. +Without the passions or the motives of a party politician, he +ardently sympathised with the cause of Liberal progress and +Conservative improvement, or, as he himself expresses it, with +Conservative principles on a Liberal basis. He was equally +opposed to the prejudices of the old Tory aristocracy, amongst +whom he had been brought up, and to the impetuous desire of +change which achieved in his time so many vast and various +triumphs. His own position, partly from the nature of the +permanent office he held in the Privy Council, and partly from +his personal intimacies with men of very opposite opinions, was a +neutral one; but he used that neutral position with consummate +judgment and address to remove obstacles, to allay irritations, +to compose differences, and to promote, as far as lay in his +power, the public welfare. Contented with his own social +position, he was alike free from ambition and from vanity. No man +was more entirely disinterested in his judgments on public +affairs, for he had long made up his mind that he had nothing to +gain or to lose by them, and in the opinions he formed, and on +occasion energetically maintained, he cared for nothing but their +justice and their truth. I trust that I do not deceive myself in +the belief that the impressions of such a man, faithfully +rendered at the time, on the events happening around him, will be +thought to possess a permanent value and interest. But I am aware +that opinions governed by no party standard will appear to a +certain extent to be fluctuating and even inconsistent. I have +not thought it consistent with my duty as the Editor of these +papers to suppress or modify any of the statements or opinions of +their Author on public men or public events; nor do I hold myself +in any way responsible for the tenor of them. Some of these +judgments of the writer may be thought harsh and severe, and some +of them were subsequently mitigated by himself. But those who +enter public life submit their conduct and their lives to the +judgment of their contemporaries and of posterity, and this is +especially true of those who fill the most exalted stations in +society. Every act, almost every thought, which is brought home +to them leaves its mark, and those who come after them cannot +complain that this mark is as indelible as their fame. The only +omissions I have thought it right to make are a few passages and +expressions relating to persons and occurrences in private life, +in which I have sought to publish nothing which could give pain +or annoyance to persons still alive. + +It will be observed that these Journals begin in the year 1818, +when Mr. Greville was barely twenty-four years of age, and indeed +I possess some notes of an earlier period, which it was not +thought desirable to include in this publication. At that age Mr. +Greville had but a short experience of life, without the +opportunities of information which he subsequently enjoyed; +consequently the first two or three chapters of the first volume +are of secondary interest, and the political value of the work +begins with the retirement of Lord Liverpool. But it is by his +own express desire that these chapters are retained to complete +the series, and the particulars relating to the Duke of York and +to the Queen's trial are not without interest. As the Author +advanced in life his narrative increases in value both in +substance and in style, and the most important portion of it is +that which must at present be reserved for future publication. + +Of the Author of these Journals it may suffice to say that +Charles Cavendish Fulke Greville was the eldest of the three sons +of Charles Greville (who was grandson of the fifth Lord Warwick), +by Lady Charlotte Cavendish Bentinck, eldest daughter of William +Henry, third Duke of Portland, K.G., who filled many great +offices of State. He was born on the 2nd of April, 1794. Much of +his childhood was spent at his grandfather's house at Bulstrode. +He was educated at Eton and at Christ Church, Oxford; but he left +the University early, having been appointed private secretary to +Earl Bathurst before he was twenty. + +The influence of the Duke of Portland obtained for him early in +life the sinecure appointment of the Secretaryship of Jamaica, +the duties of that office being performed by deputy, and likewise +the reversion of the Clerkship of the Council. He entered in 1821 +upon the duties of Clerk of the Council in Ordinary, which he +discharged for nearly forty years. During the last twenty years +of his life Mr. Greville occupied a suite of rooms in the house +of Earl Granville in Bruton Street, and there, on the 18th of +January, 1865, he expired. I was with him on the previous evening +until he retired to rest; from that sleep he never woke. + +No additions whatever have been made to the text of these +Journals. The passages occasionally interposed in a parenthesis, +at a later date, to correct or comment upon a previous statement, +are all by the hand of the Author. So likewise are the notes +distinguished by no mark. For the notes included in brackets [] +the Editor is responsible. + + Henry Reeve. + October 1st, 1874 + + + + + Contents of the First Volume + + + CHAPTER I. + +Queen Charlotte--Duchesses of Cumberland and Cambridge-- + Westminster Election--Contest between Sir Francis Burdett and + Sir Murray Maxwell--London Election--Oatlands--The Duke of + York--Duchess of York--Ampthill--Tixall--Mr. Luttrell--Lady + Granville--Teddesley--Macao--Burleigh--Middleton--Lady Jersey-- + The New Parliament--Tierney and Pitt--Princess Lieven--Madame + de Staël on the French Revolution--Westminster Election-- + Hobhouse Defeated--Scarlett's Maiden Speech--Influence of + Party--Play--The Persian Ambassador at Court--Prince Leopold-- + Woburn--Anecdote of the Allies--Death of George III.--Illness + of George IV.--Queen Caroline--Fleury de Chabaulon--The Cato + Street Conspiracy--George IV. at Ascot--Marchioness of + Conyngham--Queen Caroline in London--Message to Parliament-- + Debates--Insubordination in the Guards--Wilberforce's Motion-- + Proceedings against the Queen--'Les Liaisons dangereuses'--The + Queen's Trial--The Duke of Wellington on the Battle of Waterloo + and the Occupation of Paris. + Page 1 + + + CHAPTER II. + +Popularity of George IV.--The Duke of York's Racing + Establishment--Clerk of the Council--Lord Liverpool and Mr. + Sumner--Lady Conyngham--Death of Lady Worcester--Her + Character--Ball at Devonshire House--The Duke of York's + Aversion to the Duke of Wellington--The Pavilion at Brighton-- + Lord Francis Conyngham--The King and the Duke of Wellington-- + Death of the Marquis of Londonderry--His Policy--Sir B. + Bloomfield sent to Stockholm--Mr. Canning's Foreign Secretary-- + Queen Caroline and Brougham--Canning and George IV.--Lord + William Bentinck aspires to go to India--His Disappointment-- + The Duke of York's Duel with Colonel Lennox--George III.'s + Will--George IV. appropriates the late King's Personal + Property--The Duke of Wellington on the Congress of Verona and + on the Politics of Europe--Intervention in Spain--Ferdinand + VII.--M. de Villèle--The Duke's Opinion of Napoleon--Sir + William Knighton--The Duke of York's Anecdotes of George IV.-- + Death of the Marquis of Titchfield--His Character + Page 43 + + + CHAPTER III. + +The Panic of 1825--Death of the Emperor Alexander--The Duke of + Wellington's Embassy to St. Petersburg--Robinson Chancellor of + the Exchequer--Small Notes Bill--Death of Arthur de Ros--George + III. and Lord Bute--Illness and Death of the Duke of York--His + Funeral--Lord Liverpool struck with Paralysis--Rundell's + Fortune and Will--Copley and Phillpotts--The Cottage--Formation + of Mr. Canning's Administration--Secession of the Tories--The + Whigs join him--Dinner at the Royal Lodge--Difficulties of + Canning's Government--Duke of Wellington visits the King-- + Canning's Death--Anecdotes of Mr. Canning--Recognition of South + American States--His Industry--The Duke of Wellington on + Canning--Lord Goderich's Administration formed--The Difficulty + about Herries--Position of the Whigs--The King's Letter to + Herries--Peel and George IV.--Interview of Lord Lansdowne with + the King--Weakness of the Government--First Resignation of Lord + Goderich--Lord Harrowby declines the Premiership--Lord Goderich + returns--Brougham and Rogers--Conversation and Character of + Brougham--Lord Goderich's Ministry dissolved--Cause of its + Dissolution--Hostility of Herries--Position of Huskisson and + his Friends--Herries and Huskisson both join the New Cabinet + Page 77 + + + CHAPTER IV. + +The Duke of Wellington's Administration--Huskisson's Speech-- + Irritation of Mr. Canning's Friends--Tom Duncombe's Maiden + Speech--Mr. Huskisson resigns and the Canningites quit the + Government--Princess Lieven hostile to the Duke--The Catholic + Question--Jockey Club Dinner at St. James's--Lord Lyndhurst-- + Sir Robert Adair--Fox and Burke--Fox and Pitt--The Lord High + Admiral dismissed by the King--Dawson's Speech on Catholic + Emancipation--The King's Health--His Pages--State of Ireland-- + Marquis of Anglesey--O'Connell--His Influence in Ireland--Lord + Belmore Governor of Jamaica--The Duke's Letter to Dr. Curtis-- + Recall of Lord Anglesey from Ireland--Causes of this Event-- + Excitement of the King on the Catholic Question--His Aversion + to Sir William Knighton--Character of George IV.--Denman's Silk + Gown--Pension to Lady Westmeath--Duke of Wellington on Russia-- + The Reis-Effendi--Duke of Northumberland goes to Ireland--Privy + Council Register--State Paper Office--The Gunpowder Plot-- + Catholic Emancipation--Navarino + Page 124 + + + CHAPTER V. + +The Catholic Relief Bill--Inconsistency of the Tories--The + Catholic Association--Dinner at Charles Grant's--The Terceira + Expedition--Tory Discontent--Peel resigns his Seat for Oxford + University--A Blunder in Chancery--The Oxford Election-- + Influence of the Duke of Wellington--Debate of Royal Dukes-- + Peel beaten--Sir Edward Codrington--Violence of the King-- + Intrigues to defeat the Catholic Bill--The Duke of Cumberland-- + Furious State of Parties--Matuscewitz--Peel's Speech on + Catholic Emancipation--Exclusion of O'Connell from his Seat for + Clare--Pitt's View of Catholic Emancipation--'Musae + Cateatonenses'--'Thorough'--Mr. Lowther not turned out--Duke of + Newcastle's Audience of George IV.--The King's Personal + Habits--The Debate--Mr. Sadler--Hardness of the Duke of + Wellington--His Duel with Lord Winchelsea--The Bishops and the + Bill--Sir Charles Wetherell--The King on the Duel--Lord + Winchelsea's Pocket-handkerchief--Debate on the Catholic Bill-- + The Duke of Richmond--Effects of Dawson's Speech on the King-- + The Bill in Jeopardy--Lady Jersey and Lord Anglesey--Lord + Falmouth and Lord Grey--O'Connell at Dinner--The Duke breaks + with Lord Eldon--Hibner the Murderess--Theatrical Fund--The + Levee--The Duke's Carriage stopped--The King's Health--Lady + Conyngham--O'Connell's Seat--Child's Ball at Court--Princess + Victoria--Legal Appointments--Lord Palmerston on Foreign + Affairs--The King and Lord Sefton--The King's Speech on the + Prorogation--Madame Du Cayla--George IV.'s Inaccuracy-- + Conversation of the Duke of Wellington on the King and the Duke + of Cumberland + Page 166 + + + CHAPTER VI. + +The Recorder's Report--Manners of George IV--Intrigues of the + Duke of Cumberland--Insults Lady Lyndhurst--Deacon Hume at the + Board of Trade--Quarrel between the Duke of Cumberland and the + Lord Chancellor--A Bad Season--Prostration of Turkey--France + under Polignac--State of Ireland--Mr. Windham's Diary--George + IV.'s Eyesight--Junius--A Man without Money--Court-martial on + Captain Dickenson--The Duke and the 'Morning Journal'--Physical + Courage of the King--A Charade at Chatsworth--Huskisson and the + Duke--Irish Trials--Tom Moore--Scott--Byron--Fanny Kemble--Sir + James Mackintosh--His Conversation--Black Irishmen--Moore's + Irish Story--Moore's Singing--George IV. and Mr. Denman-- + Strawberry Hill--Moore at Trinity College--Indian Vengeance at + Niagara--Count Woronzow--Lord Glengall's Play--The Recorder's + Report + Page 221 + + + CHAPTER VII. + +Chapter of the Bath--The Duc de Dino arrested--A Ball to the + Divan--English Policy in Greece--Sir Thomas Lawrence-- + Gallatin--Court of King's Bench--Accident to the Grand Duke + Constantine--Osterley--Young Sidney Herbert--Duke of Wellington + in Office--Stapleton's 'Life of Canning'--Death of Sir Thomas + Lawrence--Leopold and the Throne of Greece--Canning's Answers + to Lord Grey--Distressed State of the Country--Canning's + Greatness and his Failings--Death of Tierney--Sir Martin Shee + President--The Duke of Wellington's Views and Conduct--The + coming Session--Moore's 'Life of Byron'--Character of Byron-- + Opening of Parliament--The Fire King--The Duke of Wellington's + Speaking--The English Opera House burnt down--Lord Thurlow on + Kenyon and Buller--Old Rothschild--Lansdowne House--Earl + Stanhope--John Murray--Departure for Italy + Page 254 + + + CHAPTER VIII. + +Calais--Beau Brummell--Paris--The Polignac Ministry--Polignac and + Charles X.--The Duke of Orleans--State of Parties--Talleyrand-- + Lyons--First Impressions of Mountain Scenery--Mont Cenis-- + Turin--Marengo--Genoa--Road to Florence--Pisa--Florence--Lord + and Lady Burghersh--Thorwaldsen--Lord Cochrane--Rome--St. + Peter's--Frascati--Grotto Ferrata--Queen Hortense and Louis + Napoleon--Coliseum--Death of Lady Northampton--The Moses-- + Gardens--Palm Sunday--Sistine Chapel--The Cardinals--Popes-- + Cardinal Albani--The Farnese Palace--A Dead Cardinal--Pasquin-- + Statue of Pompey--Galleries and Catacombs--Bunsen--The Papal + Benediction--Ceremonies of the Holy Week--The Grand + Penitentiary--A Confession--Protestant Cemetery--Illumination + of St. Peter's--Torlonia--Bunsen on the Forum + Page 282 + + + CHAPTER IX. + +Lake of Albano--Velletri--Naples--Rapid Travelling in 1830--A + Trial at Naples--Deciphering Manuscripts--Ball at the Duchesse + d'Eboli's--Matteis's Plot and Trial--Pompeii--Taking the Veil-- + Pausilippo--Baiae--La Cava--Salerno--Paestum--Lazaroni--Museum + of Naples--Grotto del Cane--The Camaldoli--Herculaneum-- + Vesuvius--Sorrento--Miracle of St. Januarius--Astroni--Farewell + to Naples + Page 331 + + + CHAPTER X. + +Moladi Gaeta--Capua--Lines on leaving Naples--Return to Rome--The + Aqueducts--'Domine, quo vadis?'--St. Peter's--The Scala Santa-- + Reasons in Favour of San Gennaro--Ascent of St. Peter's-- + Library of the Vatican--A racing _ex voto_--Illness of George + IV.--Approaching _Coup d'État_ in France--The Villa Mills--The + Malaria--Duc and Duchesse de Dalberg--The Emperor Nicholas on + his Accession--Cardinal Albani--A _Columbarium_--Maii--Sir + William Gell--Tivoli--Hadrian's Villa--The Adventures of Miss + Kelly and Mr. Swift--Audience of the Pope--Gibson's Studio--End + of Miss Kelly's Marriage--A Great Function--The Jesuits-- + Saint-making--San Lorenzo in Lucina--The Flagellants--Statues + by Torchlight--Bunsen on the State of Rome--Frascati--Relations + of Protestant States with Rome--The French Ministry--M. de + Villèle--The Coliseum--Excommunication of a Thief--The + Passionists--The Corpus Domini--A Rash Marriage--Farewell to + Rome--Falls of Terni--Statue at Pratolino--Bologna-- + Mezzofanti--Ferrara--Venice--Padua--Vicenza--Brescia--Verona-- + Milan--Lago Maggiore--The Simplon--Geneva--Paris + Page 350 + + + NOTE. + +Mr. Greville's Connexion with the Turf. + + + + + A JOURNAL + of the + REIGN OF KING GEORGE THE FOURTH + + + + + CHAPTER I. + +Queen Charlotte--Duchesses of Cumberland and Cambridge-- + Westminster Election--Contest between Sir Francis Burdett and + Sir Murray Maxwell--London Election--Oatlands--The Duke of + York--Duchess of York--Ampthill--Tixall--Mr. Luttrell--Lady + Granville--Teddesley--Macao--Burleigh--Middleton--Lady Jersey-- + The New Parliament--Tierney and Pitt--Princess Lieven--Madame + de Staël on the French Revolution--Westminster Election-- + Hobhouse Defeated--Scarlett's Maiden Speech--Influence of + Party--Play--The Persian Ambassador at Court--Prince Leopold-- + Woburn--Anecdote of the Allies--Death of George III.--Illness + of George IV.--Queen Caroline--Fleury de Chabaulon--The Cato + Street Conspiracy--George IV. at Ascot--Marchioness of + Conyngham--Queen Caroline in London--Message to Parliament-- + Debates--Insubordination in the Guards--Wilberforce's Motion-- + Proceedings against the Queen--'Les Liaisons dangereuses'--The + Queen's Trial--The Duke of Wellington on the Battle of Waterloo + and the Occupation of Paris. + + + 1818. + + +I began to keep a Journal some time ago, and, after continuing it +irregularly, dropped it entirely. I have since felt tempted to +resume it, because, having frequent opportunities of mixing in +the society of celebrated men, some particulars about them might +be interesting hereafter. + + +[Page Head: LAST YEARS OF THE REGENCY.] + +June 7th, 1818 {p.001} + +The dissolution of Parliament is deferred on account of the +mistakes which have been made in passing the Alien Bill. On +Friday night the exultation of the Opposition was very great at +what they deemed a victory over the Ministers. It is said that +there will be 100 contests, and that Government will lose twenty +or thirty members. The Queen was so ill on Friday evening that +they expected she would die. She had a severe spasm.[1] + + [1] [Queen Charlotte, consort of George III., died on the + 17th of November of this year, 1818.] + +The Duchess of Cambridge[2] has been received in a most +flattering manner here, and it is said that the Duchess of +Cumberland is severely mortified at the contrast between her +reception and that of her sister-in-law. On the Sunday after her +arrival the Duke took her to walk in the Park, when she was so +terrified by the pressure of the mob about her that she nearly +fainted away. + + [2] [Prince Adolphus Frederick, Duke of Cambridge, seventh + son of George III., married on the 7th of May, 1818, + Augusta Wilhelmina Louisa, Princess of Hesse, youngest + daughter of the Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel. Ernest, Duke + of Cumberland, the King's fourth son, married on the + 29th of August, 1815, at Strelitz, the Princess + Frederica, third daughter of the Duke of + Mecklenburg-Strelitz. This lady had been twice married + before, first to Prince Frederic Louis Charles of + Prussia, and secondly to the Prince of Salms-Braunfels. + As the Duchess of Cumberland had been divorced from her + last husband, the Queen received her with great + coldness; and the position in which she was placed + contrasted strongly with that of the Duchess of + Cambridge on her marriage.] + +The Regent drives in the Park every day in a tilbury, with his +groom sitting by his side; grave men are shocked at this +undignified practice. + + +June 21st, 1818 {p.002} + +I dined at Holland House last Thursday. The party consisted of +Lord Lansdowne, Mr. Frere, and Mrs. Tierney and her son. After +dinner Mr. Frere repeated to us a great deal of that part of +'Whistlecraft' which is not yet published.[3] I laughed whenever +I could, but as I have never read the first part, and did not +understand the second, I was not so much amused as the rest of +the company. + + [3] [The whole poem of 'Whistlecraft' has since been + republished in the collected works of the Right Hon. + Hookham Frere.] + +On Friday I went to the Stud-house, where a great party was +assembled to see the stock and buy them. After visiting the +paddocks, Bloomfield[4] gave a magnificent dinner to the company +in a tent near the house; it was the finest feast I ever saw, but +the badness of the weather spoilt the entertainment. + + [4] [Sir Benjamin Bloomfield filled the offices of Marshal + and Chief Equerry to the Regent, and in 1817 he became + Receiver-General of the Duchy of Cornwall and Keeper of + the Privy Purse to the Prince. The Stud-house of + Hampton Court had been given him as a residence. He was + raised to the peerage in 1825.] + +The Queen's illness was occasioned by information which she +received of the Duchesses of Cumberland and Cambridge having met +and embraced. This meeting took place as if by accident, but +really by appointment, in Kew Gardens; and the Duke of Cambridge +himself informed the Queen of it. She was in such a rage that the +spasm was brought on, and she was very near dying. + + +[Page Head: A GENERAL ELECTION.] + +June 24th, 1818 {p.003} + +The elections are carried on with great violence, and every day +we hear of fresh contests being in agitation. The disgraceful +scenes which have taken place in Westminster excite universal +shame and indignation. The mob seem to have shaken off the +feelings and the usual character of Englishmen, and in the brutal +attacks which they have made on Captain Maxwell have displayed +the savage ferocity which marked the mobs of Paris in the worst +times. He has been so much hurt that his life is now in danger. +Sir F. Burdett told me this morning that as soon as he was at the +head of the poll he thought he should appear upon the hustings +and thank the people for having raised him thus high. It is +supposed that Burdett has laid out £10,000. on this election, +though his friends do not acknowledge that he has spent anything. +It is clear that the open houses, cockades, and bands of music we +have seen these three days were not procured for nothing. + +Lord Castlereagh went to the hustings, and voted for Sir Murray +Maxwell; he was hooted, pelted, and got off with some difficulty. +His Lordship's judgment was not very conspicuous on this +occasion; both Sir Murray's friends and enemies are of opinion +that Lord Castlereagh's vote did him a great deal of harm and +turned many men against him. The severest contests will be in +Wiltshire, Herefordshire, Devonshire, and Lincolnshire. The +elections are going against Government generally; in London +particularly, as the Ministers lose one seat in the Borough and +two in the City. This last election is the most unexpected of +all. Curtis has been member for twenty-eight years, and has been +used to come in very high on the poll. On this occasion the +contest between him and Alderman Thorpe was severe, but Curtis +would have carried it had not Wood and Waithman coalesced with +Thorpe the last day, and thrown their spare votes over to him; +this determined the election in his favour.[5] + + [5] [Sir William Curtis was the Ministerial candidate in + the City of London; he was thrown out, and Messrs. + Wood, Waithman, Wilson, and Thorpe were returned.] + + +June 30th, 1818 {p.004} + +There was an affray yesterday afternoon in Covent Garden. Sir +Murray Maxwell's people paraded about a large boat drawn by six +horses. Burdett's mob attacked and demolished the boat, and this +action having raised their spirits, the contest continued. The +consequence was that a large party of Horse Guards were marched +into Covent Garden, and paraded there during the rest of the +night. The people expressed their discontent by cries of 'This is +what they call freedom of election!' 'Burdett for ever!' &c.[6] + + [6] [The Westminster election terminated as follows:--Sir + Samuel Romilly, 5,339; Sir Francis Burdett, 5,238; Sir + Murray Maxwell, 4,808; Henry Hunt, 84.] + + +August 4th, 1818 {p.004} + +I went to Oatlands[7] on Saturday. There was a very large party-- +Mr. and Mrs. Burrell, Lord Alvanley, Berkeley Craven, Cooke, +Arthur Upton, Armstrong, Foley, Lord Lauderdale, Lake, Page, Lord +Yarmouth. We played at whist till four in the morning. On Sunday +we amused ourselves with eating fruit in the garden, and shooting +at a mark with pistols, and playing with the monkeys. I bathed in +the cold bath in the grotto, which is as clear as crystal and as +cold as ice. Oatlands is the worst managed establishment in +England; there are a great many servants, and nobody waits on +you; a vast number of horses, and none to ride or drive. + + [7] [Oatlands Park, Weybridge, at that time the residence + of the Duke of York.] + + +[Page Head: DUKE AND DUCHESS OF YORK.] + +August 15th, 1818 {p.004} + +The parties at Oatlands take place every Saturday, and the guests +go away on Monday morning. These parties begin as soon as the +Duchess leaves London, and last till the October meetings. During +the Egham races there is a large party which remains there from +the Saturday before the races till the Monday se'nnight +following; this is called the Duchess's party, and she invites +the guests. The Duke is only there himself from Saturday to +Monday. There are almost always the same people, sometimes more, +sometimes less. We dine at eight, and sit at table till eleven. +In about a quarter of an hour after we leave the dining-room the +Duke sits down to play at whist, and never stirs from the table +as long as anybody will play with him. When anybody gives any +hint of being tired he will leave off, but if he sees no signs of +weariness in others he will never stop himself. He is equally +well amused whether the play is high or low, but the stake he +prefers is fives and ponies.[8] The Duchess generally plays also +at half-crown whist. The Duke always gets up very early, whatever +time he may go to bed. On Sunday morning he goes to church, +returns to a breakfast of tea and cold meat, and afterwards rides +or walks till the evening. On Monday morning he always sets off +to London at nine o'clock. He sleeps equally well in a bed or in +a carriage. The Duchess seldom goes to bed, or, if she does, only +for an hour or two; she sleeps dressed upon a couch, sometimes in +one room, sometimes in another. She frequently walks out very +late at night, or rather early in the morning, and she always +sleeps with open windows. She dresses and breakfasts at three +o'clock, afterwards walks out with all her dogs, and seldom +appears before dinner-time. At night, when she cannot sleep, she +has women to read to her. The Duchess of York[9] is clever and +well-informed; she likes society and dislikes all form and +ceremony, but in the midst of the most familiar intercourse she +always preserves a certain dignity of manner. Those who are in +the habit of going to Oatlands are perfectly at their ease with +her, and talk with as much freedom as they would to any other +woman, but always with great respect. Her mind is not perhaps the +most delicate; she shows no dislike to coarseness of sentiment or +language, and I have seen her very much amused with jokes, +stories, and allusions which would shock a very nice person. But +her own conversation is never polluted with anything the least +indelicate or unbecoming. She is very sensible to little +attentions, and is annoyed if anybody appears to keep aloof from +her or to shun conversing with her. Her dogs are her greatest +interest and amusement, and she has at least forty of various +kinds. She is delighted when anybody gives her a dog, or a +monkey, or a parrot, of all of which she has a vast number; it is +impossible to offend her or annoy her more than by ill-using any +of her dogs, and if she were to see anybody beat or kick any one +of them she would never forgive it. She has always lived on good +terms with the Royal Family, but is intimate with none of them, +and goes as little as possible to Court. The Regent dislikes her, +and she him. With the Princess Charlotte she was latterly very +intimate, spent a great deal of time at Claremont, and felt her +death very severely. The Duchess has no taste for splendour or +magnificence, and likes to live the life of a private individual +as much as possible. + + [8] [Five-pound points and twenty-five pounds on the + rubber.] + + [9] [The Duchess of York was born Princess Royal of + Prussia; she married the Duke of York in 1791, and died + on the 6th of August, 1820.] + +[Page Head: DUKE AND DUCHESS OF YORK.] + +The Duke of York is not clever, but he has a justness of +understanding, which enables him to avoid the errors into which +most of his brothers have fallen, and which have made them so +contemptible and unpopular. Although his talents are not +rated high, and in public life he has never been honourably +distinguished, the Duke of York is loved and respected. He is the +only one of the Princes who has the feelings of an English +gentleman; his amiable disposition and excellent temper have +conciliated for him the esteem and regard of men of all parties, +and he has endeared himself to his friends by the warmth and +steadiness of his attachments, and from the implicit confidence +they all have in his truth, straightforwardness, and sincerity. +He delights in the society of men of the world and in a life of +gaiety and pleasure. He is very easily amused, and particularly +with jokes full of coarseness and indelicacy; the men with whom +he lives most are _très-polissons_, and _la polissonnerie_ is the +_ton_ of his society. But his aides-de-camp and friends, while +they do not scruple to say everything before and to him, always +treat him with attention and respect. The Duke and the Duchess +live upon the best terms; their manner to one another is cordial, +and while full of mutual respect and attention, they follow +separately their own occupations and amusements without +interfering with one another. Their friends are common to both, +and those who are most attached to the Duke are equally so to the +Duchess. One of her few foibles is an extreme tenaciousness of +her authority at Oatlands; one way in which this is shown is in +the stable, where, although there are always eight or ten +carriage-horses which seldom do any work, it is impossible ever +to procure a horse to ride or drive, because the Duchess +appropriates them all to herself. The other day one of the +aides-de-camp (Cooke) wanted to drive Burrell (who was there) to +Hampton Court; he spoke of this at breakfast, and the Duke +hearing it, desired he would take the curricle and two Spanish +horses which had been given to him. The Duchess, however, chose +to call these horses hers and to consider them as her own. The +curricle came to the door, and just as they were going to mount +it a servant came from the Duchess (who had heard of it) and told +the coachman that her Royal Highness knew nothing of it, had not +ordered it, and that the curricle must go home, which it +accordingly did. + + +September 3rd, 1818 {p.007} + +I went to Oatlands for the Egham races. The party lasted more +than a week; there was a great number of people, and it was very +agreeable. Erskine was extremely mad; he read me some of his +verses, and we had a dispute upon religious subjects one morning, +which he finished by declaring his entire disbelief in the Mosaic +history. We played at whist every night that the Duke was there, +and I always won. The Duchess was unwell most of the time. We +showed her a _galanterie_ which pleased her very much. She +produced a picture of herself one evening, which she said she was +going to send to the Duchess of Orleans; we all cried out, said +it was bad, and asked her why she did not let Lawrence paint her +picture, and send a miniature copied from that. She declared she +could not afford it; we then said, if she would sit, we would pay +for the picture, which she consented to do, when all the men +present signed a paper, desiring that a picture should be painted +and a print taken from it of her Royal Highness. Lawrence is to +be invited to Oatlands at Christmas to paint the picture. The men +who subscribe are Culling Smith, Alvanley, B. Craven, Worcester, +Armstrong, A. Upton, Rogers, Luttrell, and myself, who were +present. The Duchess desired that Greenwood and Taylor might be +added. From Oatlands I went to Cirencester, where I stayed a week +and then returned to Oatlands, expecting to find the Queen dead +and the house empty, but I found the party still there. + + +Ampthill,[10] September 9th, 1818 {p.008} + +I rode down here to-day, Alvanley and Montrond came in a chaise +and four, and were only three hours and three-quarters coming +from town. Luttrell and Rogers are here. The dinner very bad, +because the cook is out of humour. The evening passed off +heavily. + + [10] [Ampthill Park, at that time the seat of Lord and Lady + Holland, who had inherited it from the Earl of Upper + Ossory. On the death of Lady Holland Ampthill was + purchased by the Duke of Bedford, and has since been + inhabited by Lord and Lady Wensleydale.] + + +Ampthill, September 11th, 1818 {p.008} + +The Duke and Duchess of San Carlos came yesterday with their two +daughters, one of whom is fourteen and the other twelve or +thirteen years old. The eldest is betrothed to the Count +Altimira, a boy of seventeen years old, son of one of the richest +Spanish grandees. He has £70,000 a year. The Duke of Medina-Coeli +before the French invasion had £215,000 a year. + +Lord Holland was talking to Mr. Fox the day after the debate on +the war (after the Peace of Amiens) about public speakers, and +mentioned Sheridan's speech on the Begums. Fox said, 'You may +rest assured that that speech was the finest that ever was made +in Parliament.' Lord Holland said, 'It is very well of you to say +so, but I think your speech last night was a pretty good one.' +Fox said, 'And that was a devilish fine speech too.' + + +[Page Head: CHARACTER OF MR. LUTTRELL.] + +Teddesley, November 30th, 1818 {p.009} + +I went to Tixall[11] on Tuesday, the 10th of November. There were +Luttrell, Nugent, Montagu, Granville Somerset (who went away the +next day), and afterwards Granville Vernon, Wilmot, and Mr. +Donald. I never remember so agreeable a party--'le bon goût, les +ris, l'aimable liberté.' Everybody was pleased because each did +what he pleased, and the tone of the society was gay, simple, and +clever. + + [11] [Tixall, the seat of Sir Clifford Constable in + Staffordshire, was let at this time to Lord and Lady + Granville.] + +It is hardly possible to live with a more agreeable man than +Luttrell. He is difficult to please, but when pleased and in good +spirits, full of vivacity. He has a lively imagination, a great +deal of instruction, and a very retentive memory, a memory +particularly happy for social purposes, for he recollects a +thousand anecdotes, fine allusions, odd expressions, or happy +remarks, applicable to the generality of topics which fall under +discussion. He is extremely sensitive, easily disconcerted, and +resents want of tact in others, because he is so liable to suffer +from any breach of it. A sceptic in religion, and by no means +austere in morals, he views with indulgence all faults except +those which are committed against society, but he looks upon a +bore with unconcealed aversion. He is attached to a few persons +whose talents he respects and whose society he covets, but +towards the world in general he is rather misanthropical, and +prides himself upon being free from the prejudices which he +ridicules and despises more or less in everybody else. Detesting +the importance and the superiority which are assumed by those who +have only riches or rank to boast of, he delights in London, +where such men find their proper level, and where genius and +ability always maintain an ascendancy over pomp, vanity, and the +adventitious circumstances of birth or position. Born in +mystery,[12] he has always shrouded himself in a secresy which +none of his acquaintance have ever endeavoured to penetrate. He +has connections, but they are unknown or only guessed at. He has +occupations, amusements, and interests unconnected with the +society in which he publicly moves. Of these he never speaks, and +no one ever ventures to ask him any questions. Ostensibly he has +no friend. Standing thus alone in the world, he derives but +little of his happiness from others; and he seems to delight in +the independence of his feelings as well as of his situation. He +is very witty and says excellent things, brilliant in general +society and pleasant in _tête-à-tête._ Many men infinitely less +clever _converse_ more agreeably than he does, because he is too +epigrammatic, and has accustomed himself so much to make +brilliant observations that he cannot easily descend to quiet, +unlaboured talk. This only applies to him when in general +society; when alone with another person he talks as agreeably as +possible. + + [12] [Mr. Luttrell was believed to be a natural son of Lord + Carhampton. He had sat in the last Irish Parliament + before the Union, and died about 1855 at a very + advanced age.] + +Nugent is clever, and in many respects a more amiable companion +than Luttrell, though very inferior to him in ability. He is +well-informed, gentlemanlike, sensible, with good manners, good +taste, and has a talent for music; he is always in good humour, +and discriminating without being difficult. + +Lady Granville[13] has a great deal of genial humour, strong +feelings, enthusiasm, delicacy, refinement, good taste, _naïveté_ +which just misses being affectation, and a _bonhomie_ which +extends to all around her. + + [13] [Henrietta Elizabeth, daughter of William, fifth Duke + of Devonshire, married in 1809 to Lord Granville + Leveson Gower, created Viscount Granville in 1815, and + Earl Granville in 1833, during his embassy at the Court + of France.] + +Nothing could exceed the agreeableness of the life we led at +Tixall. We breakfasted about twelve or later, dined at seven, +played at whist and macao the whole evening, and went to bed at +different hours between two and four. 'Nous faisions la bonne +chère, ce qui ajoute beaucoup à l'agrément de la société. Je ne +dis pas ceci par rapport à mes propres goûts; mais parce que je +l'ai observé, et que les philosophes n'y sont pas plus indifférents +que les bons vivants.' + +[Page Head: PARTY AT TIXALL.] + +When the party at Tixall was over we all removed to Teddesley. +Littleton[14] is good-natured, liberal, hospitable, and anxious +to oblige, but he wants tact, and his table is more copious than +refined. The house is ugly and in an ugly situation; the rooms +are small, but not ill furnished. The dinners were not good, and +Luttrell and Nugent were both very angry at the badness of the +fare. We had a brilliant _chasse_. Luttrell left Teddesley on +Monday, the Granvilles on Sunday, and Nugent and I on Tuesday; we +travelled together to Oxford. He is very agreeable, full of +information, and has a great facility in expressing himself. We +parted at Oxford. I went to Redrice, and came to town on Sunday. + + [14] [Edward Littleton, Esq., at that time M.P. for the + county of Stafford; raised to the Privy Council in + 1833, when he became Chief Secretary for Ireland, and + to the peerage under the title of Baron Hatherton in + 1835.] + +Tixall was the most agreeable party I ever was at. We were all +pleased and satisfied; we played at whist, and afterwards at +macao. Littleton was the greatest winner and Lord Granville the +loser. I wrote a description of the macao in verse:-- + + _MACAO_ + + The solemn chime from out the ancient tower[15] + Invites to Macao at th' accustomed hour. + The welcome summons heard, around the board + Each takes his seat and counts his iv'ry hoard. + 'Tis strange to see how in the early rounds + The cautious punters risk their single pounds, + Till, fired with generous rage, they double stake + And offer more than prudent dealers take. + My Lady[16] through her glass with keen delight + Observes the brisk beginnings of the fight; + To some propitious, but to me unkind, + With candour owns the bias of her mind, + And asks of Fortune the severe decree + T' enrich the happy Skew,[17] to ruin me. + The fickle Goddess heard one-half the prayer, + The rest was melted into empty air; + For while she smiled complacent on the Skew,[18] + On me she shed some trifling favours too. + Sure Granville's luck exceeds all other men's + Led through a sad variety of tens;[19] + The rest have sometimes eights and nines, but he + Is always followed by 'the jolly three;'[20] + But the great Skew some guardian sylph protects, + His judgment governs, and his hand directs + When to refrain, when boldly to put in + And catch with happy nine the wayward pin.[21] + +The next morning Luttrell came down with, a whole paper full of +epigrams (I had been winning at macao, and had turned up five +nines in my deal):-- + + Why should we wonder if in Greville's verses + Each thought so brilliant and each line so terse is? + For surely he in poetry must shine + Who is, we know, so favoured by the nine.[22] + + _THE JOLLY TENS._ + + Quoth Greville, 'The commandments are divine; + But as they're ten, I lay them on the shelf: + O could they change their number and be nine, + I'd keep them all, and keep them to myself!' + +Thus we trifled life away. + + [15] A clock tower. + [16] Lady Granville. + [17] E. Montagu. + [18] We gave him this nickname. + [19] Tens, ruinous at macao. + [20] Tens. + [21] The middle pin, a large gain. + [22] _Nines_ are the grand desiderata at macao. + + + 1819. + + +[Page Head: LADY JERSEY.] + +January 17th, 1819 {p.012} + +I went to Burleigh on the 23rd of December; there was no one +there but Irby. The house disappointed me very much, but it is a +very fine showplace. I went away on the 27th to Middleton; there +were the Culling Smiths, Worcesters, Sir James Mackintosh, +Ossulstons, Nugent, &c.; it was very agreeable, and the house +extremely comfortable. Lady Jersey[23] is an extraordinary woman, +and has many good qualities; surrounded as she is by flatterers +and admirers, she is neither proud nor conceited. She is full of +vivacity, spirit, and good nature, but the wide range of her +sympathies and affections proves that she has more general +benevolence than particular sensibility in her character. She +performs all the ordinary duties of life with great correctness, +because her heart is naturally good; and she is, perhaps, from +her temperament exposed to fewer temptations than the generality +of her sex. She is deficient in passion and in softness (which +constitute the greatest charm in women), so that she excites more +of admiration than of interest; in conversation she is lively and +pleasant, without being very remarkable, for she has neither wit, +nor imagination, nor humour; her understanding is active rather +than strong, and her judgment is too often warped by prejudice to +be sound. She has a retentive memory and a restless mind, +together with a sort of intellectual arrangement, with which she +appears rather to have been gifted by nature than to have derived +it from the cultivation of her reasoning faculties. + + [23] [Sarah Sophia, eldest daughter of John, tenth Earl of + Westmoreland, and heiress of Robert Child, Esq., of + Osterley Park, her maternal grandfather.] + +I went from Middleton to Oatlands. The Duke was not there. We had +the Smiths, Worcesters, Alvanley, Stanhope, Rogers, Luttrell, +George Dawson, Lord Lauderdale, &c. Lord Erskine was ill, and +Lord Lauderdale was taking care of him. The house was very +uncomfortable, and the room I was in small, noisy, and inconvenient. + +I came to London on Friday last. Parliament having met on the +Thursday, it is very full, and is filling more and more every +day. The Opposition expect to divide 180 on the Bank question; +they talk of re-establishing the dinners which they used to have +in Fox's time. + +Rogers is in a nervous state about his poem, and trembles at the +reviewers.[24] + + [24] [Rogers' poem entitled 'Human Life' was on the eve of + publication. The reviewers treated it more tenderly + than it deserved, as appears below.] + + +January 28th, 1819 {p.013} + +I went to Gorhambury on the 24th to shoot. The Duke of York was +there. We should have had a brilliant _chasse_, but it rained. We +went out at three and killed 105 pheasants. + +There has been some skirmishing in the House of Commons, +particularly the night before last, on Dr. Halloran's petition, +when the Opposition (Bennet _duce_) got completely beaten. Many +of the new members have spoken, but Mr. Lawson, a _soi-disant_ +wit, and Sir R. Wilson have failed lamentably. It is odd enough +that Wilson made a reply to an attack which Cobbett had inserted +in one of his papers upon him. Cobbett said that he would make a +silly speech in Parliament and destroy himself, and it is just +what he did. The Opposition were very angry with Sir J. Coffin, +who, with the candour of a novice, had made himself informed of +the facts of the petition, and finding they were against his +friends, said so in the House. + +Arbuthnot told me some particulars about Tierney. He began by +being a friend of Mr. Pitt, and in one of his speeches on the +Southwark or Colchester election he praised him in opposition to +Mr. Fox. This latter never liked him, and the Regent assured +Arbuthnot he had letters of Tierney in his possession thanking +him for having endeavoured to remove Mr. Fox's antipathy to him. +When Addington came in, Pitt advised him to get Tierney, as +nobody would be so useful to him. He did accordingly, and so +Tierney became a member of the Administration.[25] When Pitt came +again into office a negotiation was opened with him through the +medium of Charles Long. He was offered the Chief Secretaryship in +Ireland, which he wished to have, but he made it a condition that +he should not be in Parliament. To this Mr. Pitt would not agree, +as he said that he must commit himself with them entirely or not +join them at all; he refused, not choosing to commit himself, and +the negotiations broke off. + + [25] [Right Hon. George Tierney, Treasurer of the Navy and + P.C. in 1803. President of the Board of Control in + October, 1806, Member of the Mint in 1827.] + + +January 31st, 1819 {p.014} + +I dined with Lady Bathurst yesterday. We talked of the +approaching contests in Parliament, and she said that she felt +more apprehensive now than ever she had done for the safety of +the Government, that it was impossible for Ministers to stay in +if they were defeated, as they had occasionally been in the last +Parliament, and that if they were defeated she should attribute +it all to Vansittart, who is a millstone about their necks. I +asked why they did not get rid of him, and she said that it was +from good-nature; they had scruples about telling him he was +inefficient and must resign. She said that Canning's conduct had +been so good towards them, they were very anxious to put him in +some more considerable office. + + +[Page Head: PRINCESS LIEVEN.] + +February 3rd, 1819 {p.015} + +I went with Bouverie to Newmarket on Monday to look at the +horses. On Wednesday I came to town and went on to Oatlands. +Madame de Lieven was there. This woman is excessively clever, and +when she chooses brilliantly agreeable. She is beyond all people +fastidious. She is equally conscious of her own superiority and +the inferiority of other people, and the contempt she has for the +understandings of the generality of her acquaintance has made her +indifferent to please and incapable of taking any delight in +general society. Her manners are very dignified and graceful, and +she is extremely accomplished. She sometimes endeavours to assume +popular and gracious manners, but she does this languidly and +awkwardly, because it is done with an effort. She carries _ennui_ +to such a pitch that even in the society of her most intimate +friends she frequently owns that she is bored to death. She +writes memoirs, or rather a journal, of all that falls under her +observation. She is so clever, has so much imagination and +penetration, that they must be very entertaining. She writes as +well as talks with extraordinary ease and gracefulness, and both +her letters and her conversation are full of point; yet she is +not liked, and has made hardly any friends. Her manners are +stately and reserved, and so little _bonhomie_ penetrates through +her dignity that few feel sufficiently attracted to induce them +to try and thaw the ice in which she always seems bound.[26] + + [26] [A very imperfect character of Princess Lieven, with + whom Mr. Greville was at this time but slightly + acquainted. But in after years he became one of her + most intimate and confidential friends, and she + frequently reappears in the course of these memoirs.] + + +February 5th, 1819 {p.016} + +I have finished Madame de Staël's 'Considérations sur la +Révolution Française.' It is the best of her works, extremely +eloquent, containing the soundest political opinions conveyed in +a bold and eloquent style. It is perhaps too philosophical +and not sufficiently relieved by anecdotes and historical +illustrations. Her defence of her father is written with much +enthusiasm and great plausibility, but the judgment of the world +concerning Necker is formed, and it is too late to alter it. The +effect of her eloquence is rather weakened by the recollection of +her conduct to him, for she lived with him as little as possible, +because she could not bear the _ennui_ of Coppet.[27] + + [27] [In the latter years of Madame de Staël's life Coppet + became one of the most brilliant social resorts in + Europe, for she attracted there the Schlegels, B. + Constant, Bonstetten, Sismondi, Byron, and a host of + other celebrities. Towards her father Madame de Staël + expressed the most passionate regard.] + + +February 9th, 1819 {p.016} + +The Opposition are in a state of the highest exultation on +account of the division in the House of Commons last night on +Brougham's being added to the Bank Committee. The numbers were +173 to 135. They triumph particularly in this strong minority +because the attack upon Brougham in the 'Quarterly Review' was +deemed so successful by the Ministerial party that they thought +he would not be able to lift up his head again. The review is +extremely well done, as all allow. It is supposed to be written +by Dr. Ireland [it was by Dr. Monk[28]], and that Canning +supplied the jokes, but Arbuthnot assured me he had no hand in +it. + + [28] [Dr. Monk, not Dr. Ireland, was the author of the + article. Monk became Bishop of Gloucester in 1830. This + passage relates to the celebrated article on the Report + of Mr. Brougham's Committee on the Education of the + People which appeared in the 'Quarterly Review' of + December 1818. The article was a violent one, but it is + amusing to see the effects attributed to it at the + time. Some controversy has since taken place as to the + share Canning had in it. I have myself seen the letters + from Gifford (editor of the 'Review') to Dr. Monk, in + which he speaks of the additions which have been made + to the article; and there is the strongest internal + evidence that these _purpurei panni_ were added by + Canning. The subject is discussed in the 'Edinburgh + Review' for July 1858.] + + +February 10th, 1819 {p.016} + +Wilberforce made a speech last night which reminded one of the +better days of the House of Commons. He presented a petition from +the Quakers against the Criminal Code, and introduced a +compliment to Romilly. Castlereagh was in a minority in the +Committee concerning the equerries of the Windsor establishment; +he wished to keep two more than Tierney proposed; the latter had +eight to six in the Committee.[29] + + [29] [In consequence of the death of Queen Charlotte in the + preceding month of November, the Government visited the + Windsor establishment. The Duke of York was appointed + _custos personae_ of the King, and received in that + capacity £10,000 a year, which had previously been + allowed to the Queen. A debate took place on this + subject on the 25th of February, which is referred to + by Mr. Greville under that date.] + + +February 14th, 1819 {p.017} + +George Lamb has been proposed in opposition to Hobhouse.[30] The +latter drew this opposition upon himself by his speech, and still +more by the reports of his Committee, in which they abused the +Whigs in unmeasured terms. Lambton went to Hobhouse and asked him +if he would disavow the abuse of Lord Grey, which his Committee +had inserted in the document they printed; he refused, on which +the opposition was determined upon and begun. McDonald proposed +Lamb, but they would not hear him; Evans seconded him. G. Jones +made a very good speech in proposing Cartwright. Burdett and +Kinnaird both spoke with moderation in proposing Hobhouse. It is +generally supposed that Lamb will win. + + [30] [The death of Sir Samuel Romilly in November 1818 + caused a vacancy in the representation of Westminster, + and another election took place upon the meeting of + Parliament. The numbers were: Hon. George Lamb, 4,465; + John Cam Hobhouse, 3,861; Major Cartwright, 38.] + +Rogers' poem is disliked; the cry is all against it; some of the +lines are pretty, but it is not perspicuous enough, and is +deficient in novelty and force. + + +[Page Head: WESTMINSTER ELECTION.] + +February 18th, 1819 {p.017} + +Yesterday Lamb was only seven behind Hobhouse on the poll; +everybody thinks he is sure to win, even if Burdett should come +forward with money. The day before there was great uproar and +much abuse on the hustings. Burdett made a shameful speech full +of blasphemy and Jacobinism, but he seems to have lost his +popularity in a great measure even with the blackguards of +Westminster. Hobhouse yesterday was long and dull; he did not +speak like a clever man, and if the people would have heard Lamb, +and he has any dexterity in reply, he must have crushed him--it +was so answerable a speech. + +I went to the Berrys[31] in the evening, where the blues and the +wits were assembled; as Sidney Smith said, 'the conversation +raged,' but there was nothing remarkably entertaining. + + [31] [Miss Berry's well-known _salon_, No. 8 Curzon Street, + which was for more than a half a century the resort of + the best company in London.] + + +[Page Head: PARTY SPIRIT.] + +February 25th, 1819 {p.018} + +The debate on the £10,000 to the Duke of York on Monday produced +four very good speeches--Peel and the Solicitor-General on one +part, and Tierney and Scarlett[32] on the other. This latter +spoke for the first time, and in reply to the two former. The +Opposition came to Brookes' full of admiration of his speech, +which is said to be the best _first speech_ that ever was made in +the House of Commons. I, who hear all parties and care for none, +have been amused with the different accounts of the debate; one +man says Peel's speech was the best of the night and the finest +that has been made in the House for a length of time; another +prefers the Solicitor-General's; then on the other side it is +said that Tierney was excellent, Mr. Scarlett beyond all praise. +The friends of Government allow great merit to the two latter +speakers, but declare that Peel was unanswerable, besides having +been beautifully eloquent, and that Scarlett's speech was a +fallacy from beginning to end. Again I am told Peel was not good; +his was a speech for effect, evidently prepared, showy, but not +argumentative; Scarlett triumphantly refuted all his reasoning. +Thus it is that a fair judgment is never formed upon any +question; the spirit of party influences every man's opinions. It +is not extraordinary that each individual of a party connected by +general similarity of opinion should adhere to the great body, +even in cases where he may not happen to agree with them, and +excellent reasons may be adduced for his sacrificing his own view +for the great object of unanimity; but it is very improbable that +on a particular question, unconnected with any general system, +where arguments are adduced from opposite sides, and submitted to +the enlightened judgment of an assembly, the same arguments which +are looked upon as satisfactory and unanswerable by one set of +men should be deemed without exception utterly fallacious by +another. If any proof were requisite of the mighty influence of +party spirit, it would be found in a still stronger light in the +State trials in the House of Lords. I have in my mind the trial +of Lord Melville; when each Peer had to deliver his judicial +opinion upon the evidence adduced in a matter so solemn, and in +the discharge of a duty so sacred, it might be imagined that all +party feelings would be laid aside, and that a mature judgment +and an enlightened conscience would alone have regulated the +conduct of every individual. Yet either by an extraordinary +accident or by the influence of party spirit we beheld all the +Peers on the Ministerial side of the House declaring Lord +Melville innocent, and all those of the Opposition pronouncing +him guilty. + + [32] [Sir James Scarlett, afterwards Lord Abinger and Lord + Chief Baron. It is remarkable that his first speech in + the House of Commons was delivered on the Whig side of + the House. He afterwards became a decided Tory.] + + +March 5th, 1819 {p.019} + +George Lamb was to have been chaired on the day he was elected, +but the mob was outrageous and would not suffer it. They broke +into his committee room, and he and McDonald were forced to creep +out of a two pair of stairs window into the churchyard. His +partisans, who assembled on horseback, were attacked and pelted, +and forced to retreat after receiving many hard knocks. In the +evening the mob paraded the town, and broke the windows of Lord +Castlereagh's and Lord Sefton's houses. + +The other night Sir James Mackintosh[33] made a splendid speech +on the Criminal Laws; it was temperate and eloquent, and excited +universal admiration. The Ministerial party spoke as highly of it +as the Opposition themselves. Last night Canning moved the thanks +to Lord Hastings, and they say it was the finest speech he ever +made, in the best taste, the clearest narrative, and the most +beautiful language. + + [33] [Sir James Mackintosh's motion for the appointment of a + Committee on Capital Punishments was carried against + the Government on the 2nd of March by 148 to 128.] + + +June 12th, 1819 {p.020} + +I have been at Oatlands for the Ascot party. On the course I did +nothing. Ever since the Derby ill fortune has pursued me, and I +cannot win anywhere. Play is a detestable occupation; it absorbs +all our thoughts and renders us unfit for everything else in +life. It is hurtful to the mind and destroys the better feelings; +it incapacitates us for study and application of every sort; it +makes us thoughtful and nervous; and our cheerfulness depends +upon the uncertain event of our nightly occupation. How anyone +can play who is not in want of money I cannot comprehend; surely +his mind must be strangely framed who requires the stimulus of +gambling to heighten his pleasures. Some indeed may have become +attached to gaming from habit, and may not wish to throw off the +habit from the difficulty of finding fresh employment for the +mind at an advanced period of life. Some may be unfitted by +nature or taste for society, and for such gaming may have a +powerful attraction. The mind is excited; at the gaming-table all +men are equal; no superiority of birth, accomplishments, or +ability avail here; great noblemen, merchants, orators, jockies, +statesmen, and idlers are thrown together in levelling confusion; +the only pre-eminence is that of success, the only superiority +that of temper. But why does a man play who is blessed with +fortune, endowed with understanding, and adorned with accomplishments +which might ensure his success in any pursuit which taste or +fancy might incite him to follow? It is contrary to reason, but +we see such instances every day. The passion of play is not +artificial; it must have existed in certain minds from the +beginning; at least some must have been so constituted that they +yield at once to the attraction, and enter with avidity into a +pursuit in which other men can never take the least interest. + + +June 14th, 1819 {p.020} + +The other night in the House of Commons on the Foreign Enlistment +Bill Sir James Mackintosh made a brilliant speech; all parties +agree in commending it. Canning answered him, but not successfully. +The Duke of Wellington told me on Friday that there was a good +debate in the House of Lords the night before on the Catholic +question, but he thought his side had the worst of it; he +acknowledged that Lord Grey's speech had done much to shake his +opinion, and that he had not conceived that his propositions +would have been framed in so unobjectionable a manner.[34] + + [34] [On the 10th of June Earl Grey submitted to the House + of Lords a Bill to relieve Roman Catholics from taking + the declaratory oaths against Transubstantiation and + the Invocation of Saints. On this occasion, for the + first time, Lord Grenville supported the Catholic + claims. But the Bill was thrown out by 141 to 92.] + + +[Page Head: PERSIAN AMBASSADOR AND THE REGENT.] + +June 25th, 1819 {p.021} + +The Persian Ambassador has had a quarrel with the Court. He +wanted to have precedence over all other Ambassadors, and because +this was not allowed he was affronted and would not go to Court. +This mark of disrespect was resented, and it was signified to him +that his presence would be dispensed with at Carlton House, and +that the Ministers could no longer receive him at their houses. +On Sunday last the Regent went to Lady Salisbury's, where he met +the Persian, who, finding he had given offence, had made a sort +of apology, and said that illness had prevented him from going to +Court. The Regent came up to him and said, 'Well, my good friend, +how are you? I hope you are better?' He said, 'Oh, sir, I am very +well, but I am very sorry I offended your Royal Highness by not +going to Court. Now, sir, my Sovereign he tell me to go first, +and your Congress, about which I know nothing, say I must go +last; now this very bad for me (pointing to his head) when I go +back to Persia.' The Regent said, 'Well, my good friend, never +mind it now; it does not signify.' He answered, 'Oh yes, sir; but +your Royal Highness still angry with me, and you have not asked +me to your party to-morrow night.' The Regent laughed and said, +'I was only going to have a few children to dance, but if you +like to come I shall be very happy to see you.' Accordingly he +went to Carlton House, and they are very good friends again. + + +August 11th, 1819 {p.021} + +The Vice-Chancellor was going to Italy, but his journey is +stopped, as he says, because the Prince Regent has desired him to +stay in England in consequence of the approaching return of the +Princess of Wales. + + +August 30th, 1819 {p.022} + +I am just returned from Oatlands; we had an immense party, the +most numerous ever known there. The Duchess wished it to have +been prolonged, but there were no funds. The distress they are in +is inconceivable. When the Duchess came down there was no water +in the house. She asked the reason, and was informed that the +water came by pipes from St. George's Hill, which were stopped up +with sand; and as the workmen were never paid, they would not +clear them out. She ordered the pipes to be cleared and the bills +brought to her, which was done. On Thursday there was a great +distress, as the steward had no money to pay the tradespeople, +and the Duke was prevailed on with great difficulty to produce a +small sum for the purpose. The house is nearly in ruins. + + +December 24th, 1819 {p.022} + +The Duke of Kent gave the name of Alexandrina to his daughter[35] +in compliment to the Emperor of Russia. She was to have had the +name of Georgiana, but the Duke insisted upon Alexandrina being +her first name. The Regent sent for Lieven and made him a great +many compliments (_en le persiflant_) on the Emperor's being +godfather, but informed him that the name of Georgiana could be +second to no other in this country, and therefore she could not +bear it at all. + + [35] [The Princess, afterwards Queen, Victoria, born 24th of + May, 1819.] + +The frost is intense. The town is empty. I returned from Whersted +last Wednesday se'nnight, and went to Oatlands on Thursday; there +was nearly the same party. Prince Leopold came and dined there on +Saturday. He is very dull and heavy in his manner, and seems +overcome with the weight of his dignity. This Prince will not +succeed here; everybody is civil to him from the interest he +excited at the time of the Princess's death--an interest which +has not yet subsided. There seems to be no harm in him, but +everybody contrasts his manners with those of the Duke of York, +and the comparison is not to his advantage. The Duchess likes the +society of men of wit and letters; more, I think, from the +variety of having them around her than from any pleasure she +takes in their conversation. Lord Alvanley is the man in whom she +takes the greatest delight. + + + 1820. + + +London, January 20th, 1820 {p.023} + +I went last Sunday se'nnight to Woburn. The Duke of York, Duke of +Wellington, Lievens, Jerseys, Worcesters, Tavistocks, Mr. +Russell, Lady Sandwich, Alvanley, C. Smith, Huntleys, Frederick +Ponsonby, Lauderdale, and others were there. The house, place, +establishment, and manner of living are magnificent. The _chasse_ +was brilliant; in five days we killed 835 pheasants, 645 hares, +59 rabbits, 10 partridges, and 5 woodcocks. The Duchess was very +civil and the party very gay. I won at whist, and liked it very +much. + + +January 22nd, 1820 {p.023} + +Just before the advance of the allied army on Paris a council of +war was held, when it was unanimously resolved to retreat. The +Emperor of Russia entered the room, and said he had reasons for +advancing, and ordered the advance; the generals remonstrated, +but the Emperor was determined. Woronzoff told Sydenham that that +day a courier arrived at his outposts with a letter for the +Emperor in the handwriting of Talleyrand. This was told me by +Frederick Ponsonby. + + +[Page Head: ILLNESS OF GEORGE IV.] + +February 4th, 1820 {p.023} + +I returned to Woburn on Sunday. We shot the whole week and killed +an immense quantity of game; the last two days we killed 245 and +296 pheasants, 822 and 431 head. On Sunday last arrived the news +of the King's death.[36] The new King has been desperately ill. +He had a bad cold at Brighton, for which he lost eighty ounces of +blood; yet he afterwards had a severe oppression, amounting +almost to suffocation, on his chest. Halford was gone to Windsor, +and left orders with Knighton not to bleed him again till his +return. Knighton was afraid to bleed him. Bloomfield sent for +Tierney,[37] who took upon himself to take fifty ounces from him. +This gave him relief; he continued, however, dangerously ill, and +on Wednesday he lost twenty ounces more. Yesterday afternoon he +was materially better for the first time. Tierney certainly saved +his life, for he must have died if he had not been blooded. +Brougham sent a courier to the Queen immediately after the late +King's death, and gave notice at Carlton House that he had +applied for a passport for a courier to her Majesty the Queen. + + [36] [King George III. died on the 20th of January, 1820.] + + [37] [Sir Matthew Tierney, one of His Majesty's physicians.] + +The King has given to Lady Bloomfield the Rangership of Hampton +Court Park. He wished to give it to both of them with the +survivorship, but Lord Liverpool submitted to him that the +House of Commons had pronounced so strongly their dislike to +reversionary grants that it would be unadvisable, and it was +accordingly given to Lady B. only. + + +February 14th, 1820 {p.024} + +The Cabinet sat till past two o'clock this morning. The King +refused several times to order the Queen to be prayed for in the +alteration which was made in the Liturgy. The Ministers wished +him to suffer it to be done, but he peremptorily refused, and +said nothing should induce him to consent, whoever might ask him. +Lord Harrowby told me this last night. + +[Page Head: NAPOLEON IN THE HUNDRED DAYS.] + +I think Fleury's book[38] almost the most interesting memoir I +ever read; it is excessively well written, and his partiality to +Bonaparte has not blinded him to the errors he committed. This +book was wanted to bring under the same view the immediate causes +of his return to France and the situation in which he found +himself when seated on the throne. This was essentially different +from that in which he had been before his abdication; so much so +that I do not believe, if he had concluded a peace with the +Allies, he could have remained upon the throne. Not only his +civil power was reduced within very narrow limits, but his +military authority was no longer the same; men seemed to have +lost that reverential submissiveness which caused all his orders +to be so blindly and implicitly obeyed. During the height of his +power none of his generals would have dared to neglect or oppose +his orders as Ney did at the battles of the 16th of June. It is +impossible now to determine what might have been the political +result in France of the success of Bonaparte's arms had he gained +the battle of Waterloo. He would probably have made peace with +the Allies. Had he returned to Paris triumphant, he might have +dissolved the Chambers and re-established the old Imperial +Government. In such a measure he must have depended upon his army +for success. But a spirit of liberty had sprung up in France +during his absence, which seemed to be the more vigorous from +having been so long repressed. The nation, and even the army, +appear to have imbibed the principles of freedom; and if upon +this occasion Bonaparte was placed on the throne by the force of +opinion, he could not have restored the ancient despotism without +exciting universal dissatisfaction. Men seem formerly to have +been awed by a conviction of his infallibility, and did not +suffer themselves to reason upon the principles of action of a +man who dazzled their imaginations by the magnificence of his +exploits and the grandeur of his system. + + [38] [M. Fleury de Chabaulon was a young _auditeur_ at the + Conseil d'État who had joined Napoleon at Elba, and + afterwards returned with him to France, when he was + attached to the Imperial Cabinet during the Hundred + Days. His memoir of that period is here referred to.] + + +February 20th, 1820 {p.025} + +The Ministers had resigned last week because the King would not +hear reason on the subject of the Princess. It is said that he +treated Lord Liverpool very coarsely, and ordered him out of the +room. The King, they say, asked him 'if he knew to whom he was +speaking.' He replied, 'Sir, I know that I am speaking to my +Sovereign, and I believe I am addressing him as it becomes a +loyal subject to do.' To the Chancellor he said, 'My Lord, I know +your conscience always interferes except where your interest is +concerned.' The King afterwards sent for Lord Liverpool, who +refused at first to go; but afterwards, on the message being +reiterated, he went, and the King said, 'We have both been too +hasty.' This is probably all false, but it is very true that they +offered to resign. + + +[Page Head: THE CATO STREET CONSPIRACY.] + +February 24th, 1820 {p.026} + +The plot[39] which has been detected had for its object the +destruction of the Cabinet Ministers, and the chief actor in the +conspiracy was Arthur Thistlewood. I was at Lady Harrowby's last +night, and about half-past one o'clock Lord Harrowby came in and +told us the following particulars:--A plot has been in agitation +for some time past, of the existence of which, the names and +numbers of the men concerned, and of all particulars concerning +their plans, Government has been perfectly well informed. The +conspirators had intended to execute their design about last +Christmas at a Cabinet dinner at Lord Westmoreland's, but for +some reason they were unable to do so and deferred it. At length +Government received information that they were to assemble to the +number of from twenty to thirty at a house in Cato Street, +Edgware Road, and that they had resolved to execute their purpose +last night, when the Cabinet would be at dinner at Lord +Harrowby's. Dinner was ordered as usual. Men had been observed +watching the house, both in front and rear, during the whole +afternoon. It was believed that nine o'clock was the hour fixed +upon for the assault to be made. The Ministers who were expected +at dinner remained at Fife House, and at eight o'clock Mr. Birnie +with twelve constables was despatched to Cato Street to apprehend +the conspirators. Thirty-five foot guards were ordered to support +the police force. The constables arrived upon the spot a few +moments before the soldiers, and suspecting that the conspirators +had received intimation of the discovery of their plot, and were +in consequence preparing to escape, they did not wait for the +soldiers, but went immediately to the house. A man armed with a +musket was standing sentry, whom they secured. They then ascended +a narrow staircase which led to the room in which the gang were +assembled, and burst the door open. The first man who entered was +shot in the head, but was only wounded; he who followed was +stabbed by Thistlewood and killed. The conspirators then with +their swords put out the lights and attempted to escape. By this +time the soldiers had arrived. Nine men were taken prisoners; +Thistlewood and the rest escaped. + + [39] [The Cato Street Conspiracy.] + + +March 1st, 1820 {p.027} + +Thistlewood was taken the morning after the affair in Cato +Street. It was the intention of these men to have fired a rocket +from Lord Harrowby's house as soon as they had completed their +work of destruction; this was to have been the signal for the +rising of their friends. An oil shop was to have been set on fire +to increase the confusion and collect a mob; then the Bank was to +have been attacked and the gates of Newgate thrown open. The +heads of the Ministers were to have been cut off and put in a +sack which was prepared for that purpose. These are great +projects, but it does not appear they were ever in force +sufficient to put them in execution, and the mob (even if the mob +had espoused their cause, which seems doubtful), though very +dangerous in creating confusion and making havoc, are quite +inefficient for a regular operation. + + +June 4th, 1820 {p.027} + +I went to Oatlands on Tuesday. The Duchess continues very ill; +she is not expected to recover. The King was at Ascot every day; +he generally rode on the course, and the ladies came in +carriages. One day they all rode. He was always cheered by the +mob as he went away. One day only a man in the crowd called out, +'Where's the Queen?' The Duke of Dorset was at the Cottage, and +says it was exceedingly agreeable. They kept very early hours. +The King always breakfasted with them, and Lady Conyngham looked +remarkably well in the morning, her complexion being so fine. On +Friday she said she was bored with the races and should not go; +he accordingly would not go either, and sent word to say he +should not be there. They stay there till to-morrow. In the +meantime the Queen is coming to England, and Brougham is gone to +meet her. Nobody knows what advice he intends to give her, but +everybody believes that it is his intention she should come. It +was supposed that Lady Conyngham's family (her son and brother) +had set their faces against her connection with the King; but +Lord Mount Charles was at the Cottage, and Denison was at the +levee and very well received. + + +[Page Head: THE QUEEN'S RETURN.] + +June 7th, 1820 {p.028} + +The Queen arrived in London yesterday at seven o'clock. I rode as +far as Greenwich to meet her. The road was thronged with an +immense multitude the whole way from Westminster Bridge to +Greenwich. Carriages, carts, and horsemen followed, preceded, and +surrounded her coach the whole way. She was everywhere received +with the greatest enthusiasm. Women waved pocket handkerchiefs, +and men shouted wherever she passed. She travelled in an open +landau, Alderman Wood sitting by her side and Lady Ann Hamilton +and another woman opposite. Everybody was disgusted at the +vulgarity of Wood in sitting in the place of honour, while the +Duke of Hamilton's sister was sitting backwards in the carriage. +The Queen looked exactly as she did before she left England, and +seemed neither dispirited nor dismayed. As she passed by White's +she bowed and smiled to the men who were in the window. The crowd +was not great in the streets through which she passed. Probably +people had ceased to expect her, as it was so much later than the +hour designated for her arrival. It is impossible to conceive the +sensation created by this event. Nobody either blames or approves +of her sudden return, but all ask, 'What will be done next? How +is it to end?' In the House of Commons there was little said; but +the few words which fell from Creevy, Bennett, or Denman seem to +threaten most stormy debates whenever the subject is discussed. +The King in the meantime is in excellent spirits, and the +Ministers affect the greatest unconcern and talk of the time it +will take to pass the Bills to 'settle her business.' 'Her +business,' as they call it, will in all probability raise such a +tempest as they will find it beyond their powers to appease; and +for all his Majesty's unconcern the day of her arrival in England +may be such an anniversary to him as he will have no cause to +celebrate with much rejoicing.[40] + + [40] [On the day that the Queen landed at Dover a royal + message was sent down to Parliament, by which the King + commended to the Lords an enquiry into the conduct of + the Queen. In the House of Commons there was some + vehement speaking; and on the following day, before + Lord Castlereagh moved the address in answer to the + message, Mr. Brougham read to the House a message from + the Queen, declaring that her return to England was + occasioned by the necessity her enemies had laid upon + her of defending her character.] + + +June 9th, 1820 {p.029} + +Brougham's speech on Wednesday is said by his friends to have +been one of the best that was ever made, and I think all agree +that it was good and effective. The House of Commons is evidently +anxious to get rid of the question if possible, for the moment +Wilberforce expressed a wish to adjourn the county members rose +one after another and so strongly concurred in that wish that +Castlereagh was obliged to consent. The mob have been breaking +windows in all parts of the town and pelting those who would not +take off their hats as they passed Wood's door. Last night Lord +Exmouth's house was assaulted and his windows broken, when he +rushed out armed with sword and pistol and drove away the mob. +Frederick Ponsonby saw him. Great sums of money have been won and +lost on the Queen's return, for there was much betting at the +clubs. The alderman showed a specimen of his taste as he came +into London; when the Queen's coach passed Carlton House he stood +up and gave three cheers. + +It is odd enough Lady Hertford's windows have been broken to +pieces and the frames driven in, while no assault has been made +on Lady Conyngham's. Somebody asked Lady Hertford 'if she had +been aware of the King's admiration for Lady Conyngham,' and +'whether he had ever talked to her about Lady C.' She replied +that 'intimately as she had known the King, and openly as he had +always talked to her upon every subject, he had never ventured to +speak to her upon that of his mistresses.' + + +June 16th, 1820 {p.029} + +The speech which Canning made on the occasion of the King's +message has been violently attacked by all parties, and is said +to have given as great dissatisfaction to the Queen as to the +King. It is not easy to discover what the Queen could have +objected to in the speech, for it was highly favourable and +flattering to her. It was generally supposed last Sunday that he +would resign in the course of the week, and bets were laid that +he would not be in office next Sunday. On Wednesday he had an +audience of the King at the levee, which lasted fifty-two minutes +by Yarmouth's watch; nobody knows what passed between them. Lord +Fitzwilliam and Lord Sefton have refused to act as negotiators +for the Queen. + +There was some indiscipline manifested in a battalion of the 3rd +Guards the day before yesterday; they were dissatisfied at the +severity of their duty and at some allowances that had been taken +from them, and on coming off guard they refused to give up their +ball cartridges. They were ordered off to Plymouth, and marched +at four yesterday morning. Many people went from the ball at +Devonshire House to see them march away. Plymouth was afterwards +changed for Portsmouth in consequence of their good behaviour on +the route. Worcester[41] met many of them drunk at Brentford, +crying out, 'God save Queen Caroline!' There was some disturbance +last night in consequence of the mob assembling round the King's +mews, where the rest of the battalion that had marched to +Portsmouth still remained. + + [41] [The Marquis of Worcester, afterwards seventh Duke of + Beaufort] + + +[Page Head: SECRET COMMITTEE ON THE QUEEN.] + +June 23rd, 1820 {p.030} + +I never remember to have seen the public curiosity so excited as +on Wilberforce's motion last night.[42] Nearly 520 members voted +in the House, and some went away; as many people as could gain +admission attended to hear the debate. The speaking on the +Opposition side was excellent, but as everybody differs in +opinion with regard to the comparative merit of the speakers, it +is impossible for one who was not present to form a correct +judgment on the subject. The best speeches were Brougham's, +Denman's, Burdett's, and Canning's. Denman's speech was admirable +and, all agree, most judicious and effective for his client. +Burdett's was extremely clever, particularly the first part of +it. In the meantime it is doubtful whether anything is gained by +the resolution carried last night. Public opinion seems very +equally divided as to the probability of the Queen agreeing to +the expressed or implied wish of the House of Commons, and even +if she refuses to consent to the omission of her name in the +Liturgy it seems doubtful whether the green bag will ever be +opened, so strong is the repugnance of the House of Commons to +enter upon such an investigation. It is this feeling in the House +which emboldens the Queen to hold out with the firmness and +constancy she has hitherto displayed. The House of Lords cuts a +most ridiculous figure, having precipitately agreed to go into +the Committee. They have since been obliged to put off the +investigation by repeated adjournments, in order to see what +steps the House of Commons will take. Lord Grey made an indignant +speech, last night on this very subject; they say Lord Liverpool +spoke remarkably well in reply. + + [42] [Mr. Wilberforce moved an address to the Queen to stop + the investigation, by entreating her Majesty, under the + assurance of the protection of her honour by the + Commons, to yield the point of the insertion of her + name in the Liturgy. This proposal the Queen + courteously declined.] + + +June 25th, 1820 {p.031} + +The Queen's refusal to comply with the desire of the House of +Commons keeps conjecture afloat and divides opinions as to the +opening of the bag. The Opposition call her answer a very good +one; those of the other party I have seen think it too long, and +not neatly and clearly worded. Brougham declined advising her as +to her answer; he told her she must be guided by her own +feelings, and was herself the only person capable of judging what +she had best do. The discussion of the Queen's business is now +become an intolerable nuisance in society; no other subject is +ever talked of. It is an incessant matter of argument and dispute +what will be done and what ought to be done. All people express +themselves tired of the subject, yet none talk or think of any +other. It is a great evil when a single subject of interest takes +possession of society; conversation, loses all its lightness and +variety, and every drawing-room is converted into an arena of +political disputation. People even go to talk about it from habit +long after the interest it excited has ceased. + + +June 27th, 1820 {p.031} + +The mob was very abusive to the member who carried up the +resolution to the Queen, and called Wilberforce 'Dr. Cantwell.' +The Queen demanded to be heard by counsel at the bar of the House +of Lords. Contrary to order and contrary to expectation, the +counsel were admitted, when Brougham made a very powerful speech. +Denman began exceedingly well; Lord Holland said his first three +or four sentences were the best thing he ever heard; _si sic +omnia_, he would have made the finest speech possible; but on the +whole he was inferior to Brougham. If the House had refused to +hear her counsel, it is said that she would have gone down to-day +to the House of Lords and have demanded to be heard in person. As +usual Brougham's speech is said by many of his political +adversaries to have been weak in argument. Many, however, do him +the justice to acknowledge that it was a very powerful appeal for +his client. + + +June 28th, 1820 {p.032} + +The debate last night in the House of Lords was excellent. Lord +Grey made a powerful speech, very much against the Queen, a +speech for office. The manager announced at Drury Lane that the +Queen would go to the play to-night. Brougham knew nothing of +this; she never told him. Mrs. Brougham told me so last night, +and that he was quite worn out with the business.[43] + + [43] [The report of the Secret Committee of the Lords was + made on the 4th of July. It declared that the evidence + against the Queen was such as to demand a solemn + enquiry. The trial, or rather investigation, began on + the 17th of August. The defence was opened on the 3rd + of October, and the Bill was abandoned on the 6th of + November.] + + +July 6th, 1820 {p.032} + +Since the report of the Secret Committee public opinion is +entirely changed as to the result of the proceedings against the +Queen. Everybody thinks the charges will be proved and that the +King will be divorced. It is impossible to discover what effect +the report may have in the country; it is certain hitherto that +all ranks of men have been decidedly favourable to the Queen, and +disbelieve the charges against her. The military in London have +shown alarming symptoms of dissatisfaction, so much so that it +seems doubtful how far the Guards can be counted upon in case of +any disturbance arising out of this subject. Luttrell says that +'the extinguisher is taking fire.' + + +[Page Head: THE QUEEN'S TRIAL] + +July 8th, 1820 {p.033} + +I was in the House of Lords the night before last to hear +Brougham and Denman speak at the bar. Brougham's speech was +uncommonly clever, very insolent, and parts of it very eloquent. +A very amusing episode was furnished by the Bishop of Exeter, who +moved that the counsel should withdraw, and then asked the House +whether they were not out of order. Lord Holland cut him up in +the most beautiful style, and excited universal laughter. Nobody +came to the assistance of the Bishop, and the counsel were called +in again and resumed. Brougham's speech is reported in the +'Morning Chronicle' of yesterday word for word. + + +July 14th, 1820 {p.033} + +I have been at Newmarket, where I had the first fortunate turn +this year. The conversation about the Queen begins to subside; +everybody seems to agree that it is a great injustice not to +allow her lists of the witnesses; the excuse that it is not usual +is bad, for the proceedings are anomalous altogether, and it is +absurd to attempt to adhere to precedent; here there are no +precedents and no analogies to guide to a decision. London is +drawing to a close, but in August it will be very full, as all +the Peers must be here. They say the trial will last six months. + +Luttrell's poem[44] has succeeded. The approbation it receives is +general but qualified; in fact, it was difficult to make such a +sketch of life and manners sufficiently piquant without the +infusion of a little satire, and his fear of giving offence has +induced him to be so good-natured that he is occasionally rather +insipid. 'Il y a des tracasseries de société.' I cannot record +them, though perhaps years hence, when I may look over what I now +write, I might be amused with stories of long-forgotten +jealousies and various interests extinguished by the lapse of +time, or perhaps silenced in the grave; still it would be +melancholy to retrace the days of my youth and to bring before my +imagination the blooming faces and the gaiety and brilliancy of +those who once shone the meteors of society, but who would then +be so changed in form and mind, and with myself rapidly +descending to our last home. + + [44] [Mr. Luttrell's 'Advice to Julia,' published in 1820.] + +Read 'Les Liaisons dangereuses.' Much has been said about the +dangerous tendency of certain books, and probably this would be +considered as one pregnant with mischief. I consider this a mere +jargon, and although I would never recommend this book (because +it is so grossly indecent) I should never apprehend the smallest +danger to the most inexperienced mind or the warmest passions +from its immoral tendency. The principle upon which books of this +description are considered pernicious is the notion that they +represent vice in such glowing and attractive colours as to make +us lose sight of its deformity and fill our imagination with the +idea of its pleasures. No one who has any feeling or a spark of +generosity or humanity in his breast can read this book without +being moved with compassion for Madame de Tourval and with horror +and disgust towards Valmont and Madame de Merteuil. It raised in +my mind a detestation of such cold-blooded, inhuman profligacy, +and I felt that I would rather every pleasure that can flow from +the intercourse of women were debarred me than run such a course. +The moral effect upon my mind was stronger than any which ever +resulted from the most didactic work, and if anyone wants to +excite remorse in the most vicious mind I would recommend him to +make use of 'Les Liaisons dangereuses' for the purpose. + +The Duchess of York died on Sunday morning of water on her chest. +She was insensible the last two days. She is deeply regretted by +her husband, her friends, and her servants. Probably no person in +such a situation was ever more really liked. She has left £12,000 +to her servants and some children whom she had caused to be +educated. She had arranged all her affairs with the greatest +exactitude, and left nothing undone. + +[Page Head: THE QUEEN'S TRIAL.] + +The Queen's letter was brought to the King whilst he was at +dinner (at the Cottage). He said, 'Tell the Queen's messenger +that the King can receive no communication from her except +through the hands of his Ministers.' Esterhazy was present, and +said he did this with extraordinary dignity. + + +Newmarket, October 2nd, 1820 {p.035} + +I left town in the middle of August with George Fox. We went down +with extraordinary rapidity. I never was happier than to escape +from London and to find myself in Yorkshire. It was a new world, +and the change was most refreshing. The refinement of London was +not there, but there was a good humour, gaiety, and hospitality +which amused and delighted me. + + +London, October 8th, 1820 {p.035} + +I came to town with Payne on Friday, having won a little at +Newmarket. He told me a good story by the way. A certain bishop +in the House of Lords rose to speak, and announced that he should +divide what he had to say into twelve parts, when the Duke of +Wharton interrupted him, and begged he might be indulged for a +few minutes, as he had a story to tell which he could only +introduce at that moment. A drunken fellow was passing by St. +Paul's at night, and heard the clock slowly chiming twelve. He +counted the strokes, and when it had finished looked towards the +clock and said, 'Damn you! why couldn't you give us all that at +once?' There was an end of the bishop's story. + +The town is still in an uproar about the trial, and nobody has +any doubt that it will finish by the Bill being thrown out and +the Ministers turned out. Brougham's speech was the most +magnificent display of argument and oratory that has been heard +for years, and they say that the impression it made upon the +House was immense; even his most violent opponents (including +Lord Lonsdale) were struck with admiration and astonishment. + + +[Page Head: THE QUEEN'S TRIAL.] + +October 15th, 1820 {p.035} + +Since I came to town I have been to the trial every day. I have +occupied a place close to Brougham, which, besides the advantage +it affords of enabling me to hear extremely well everything that +passes, gives me the pleasure of talking to him and the other +counsel, and puts me behind the scenes so far that I cannot help +hearing all their conversation, their remarks, and learning what +witnesses they are going to examine, and many other things which +are interesting and amusing. Since I have been in the world I +never remember any question which so exclusively occupied +everybody's attention, and so completely absorbed men's thoughts +and engrossed conversation. In the same degree is the violence +displayed. It is taken up as a party question entirely, and the +consequence is that everybody is gone mad about it. Very few +people admit of any medium between pronouncing the Queen quite +innocent and judging her guilty and passing the Bill. Until the +evidence of Lieut. Hownam it was generally thought that proofs of +her guilt were wanting, but since his admission that Bergami +slept under the tent with her all unprejudiced men seem to think +the adultery sufficiently proved. The strenuous opposers of the +Bill, however, by no means allow this, and make a mighty +difference between sleeping dressed under a tent and being shut +up at night in a room together, which the supporters of the Bill +contend would have been quite or nearly the same thing. The Duke +of Portland, who is perfectly impartial, and who has always been +violently against the Bill, was so satisfied by Hownam's evidence +that he told me that after that admission by him he thought all +further proceedings useless, and that it was ridiculous to listen +to any more evidence, as the fact was proved; that he should +attend no longer to any evidence upon the subject. This view of +the case will not, however, induce him to vote for the Bill, +because he thinks that upon grounds of expediency it ought not to +pass. The Ministers were elated in an extraordinary manner by +this evidence of Hownam's. The Duke of Wellington told Madame de +Lieven that he was very tired; 'mais les grands succès fatiguent +autant que les grands revers.' They look upon the progress of +this trial in the light of a campaign, and upon each day's +proceedings as a sort of battle, and by the impression made by +the evidence they consider that they have gained a victory or +sustained a defeat. Their anxiety that this Bill should pass is +quite inconceivable, for it cannot be their interest that it +should be carried; and as for the King, they have no feeling +whatever for him. The Duke of Portland told me that he conversed +with the Duke of Wellington upon the subject, and urged as one of +the reasons why this Bill should not pass the House of Lords the +disgrace that it would entail upon the King by the recrimination +that would ensue in the House of Commons. His answer was 'that +the King was degraded as low as he could be already.' The +vehemence with which they pursue this object produces a +corresponding violence in their language and sentiments. Lady +Harrowby, who is usually very indifferent upon political +subjects, has taken this up with unusual eagerness. In an +argument which I had with her the day before yesterday, she said +that if the House of Lords was to suffer itself to be influenced +by the opinions and wishes of the people, it would be the most +mean and pusillanimous conduct, and that after all what did it +signify what the people thought or what they expressed if the +army was to be depended upon? I answered that I never had +expected that the day would come when I should be told that we +were to disregard the feelings and wishes of the people of this +country, and to look to our army for support. In proportion +as the Ministers were elated by what came out in Hownam's +cross-examination so were they depressed by the unlucky affair of +Rastelli,[45] which has given such an important advantage to +their adversaries. Mr. Powell's explanation was extremely +unsatisfactory, and in his examination yesterday they elicited +from him what is tantamount to a contradiction of what he had +said the day before. It is not possible to doubt what is the real +state of the case. Rastelli is an active, useful agent, and they +had occasion for his services; consequently they sent him off, +and trusted that he would be back here before he could possibly +be called for, if ever he should be called for again. It was a +rash speculation, which failed. The last two days have been more +amusing and interesting than the preceding ones. The debates in +the House, a good deal of violence, and some personalities have +given spirit to the proceedings, which were getting very dull. +Lord Holland made a violent speech, and Lord Carnarvon a clever +one, which was violent enough too, on Rastelli's affair. Lord +Holland made one or two little speeches which were very comical. +Lord Lauderdale made a violent speech the other day, and paid +himself in it a great many compliments. It must be acknowledged +that the zeal of many of the Peers is very embarrassing, +displayed as it is not in the elucidation of the truth, but in +furtherance of that cause of which they desire the success. There +is no one more violent than Lord Lauderdale,[46] and neither the +Attorney-General nor the Solicitor-General can act with greater +zeal than he does in support of the Bill. Lord Liverpool is a +model of fairness, impartiality, and candour. The Chancellor is +equally impartial, and as he decides personally all disputes on +legal points which are referred to the House, his fairness has +been conspicuous in having generally decided in favour of the +Queen's counsel. Yesterday morning some discussion arose about a +question which Brougham put to Powell. He asked him who was his +principal, as he was an agent. The question was objected to, and +he began to defend it in an uncommonly clever speech, but was +stopped before he had spoken long. He introduced a very ingenious +quotation which was suggested to him by Spencer Perceval, who was +standing near him. Talking of the airy, unsubstantial being who +was the principal, and one of the parties in this cause, he said +he wished to meet + + This shape-- + If shape it could be called--that shape had none, + Distinguishable in member, joint, or limb; + Or substance might be called that shadow seemed, + For each seemed either . . . + What seemed its head + The likeness of a kingly crown had on. + _Paradise Lost_, ii. 666. + + [45] [Rastelli was a witness for the Bill--not a very + important one. After his examination was over he was + allowed to leave the country. Brougham found this out, + and instantly demanded that he should be recalled for + further cross-examination, well knowing this could not + at the moment be done. This answered his purpose, and + he then turned with incredible vehemence on the other + side, and accused them of spiriting away the witness.] + + [46] [In the course of the trial, in order to show that the + Queen had associated in Italy with ladies of good + character, it was stated that a Countess T---- + frequented her society at Florence. On + cross-examination it came out that the Countess spoke a + provincial dialect, anything but the purest Tuscan, + whence it was implied that she was a vulgar person, and + Lord Lauderdale especially pointed out this inference, + speaking himself in very broad Scotch. Upon which + Lord ----, a member of the Opposition, said to the + witness, 'Have the goodness to state whether Countess + T---- spoke Italian with as broad an accent as the + noble Earl who has just sat down speaks with in his + native tongue.' The late Sir Henry Holland was present + when this occurred, and used to relate the anecdote.] + + +[Page Head: WELLINGTON'S ACCOUNT OF WATERLOO.] + +Whersted, December 10th, 1820 {p.039} + +I left Woburn on Thursday night last, and got here on Friday +morning. The Lievens, Worcesters, Duke of Wellington, Neumann, +and Montagu were here. The Duke went away yesterday. We acted +charades, which were very well done. Yesterday we went to shoot +at Sir Philip Brookes'. As we went in the carriage, the Duke +talked a great deal about the battle of Waterloo and different +things relating to that campaign. He said that he had 50,000 men +at Waterloo. He began the campaign with 85,000 men, lost 5,000 on +the 16th, and had a corps of 20,000 at Hal under Prince +Frederick. He said that it was remarkable that nobody who had +ever spoken of these operations had ever made mention of that +corps,[47] and Bonaparte was certainly ignorant of it. In this +corps were the best of the Dutch troops; it had been placed there +because the Duke expected the attack to be made on that side. He +said that the French army was the best army that was ever seen, +and that in the previous operations Bonaparte's march upon +Belgium was the finest thing that ever was done--so rapid and so +well combined. His object was to beat the armies in detail, and +this object succeeded in so far as that he attacked them +separately; but from the extraordinary celerity with which the +allied armies were got together he was not able to realise the +advantages he had promised himself. The Duke says that they +certainly were not prepared for this attack,[48] as the French +had previously broken up the roads by which their army advanced; +but as it was in summer this did not render them impassable. He +says that Bonaparte beat the Prussians in a most extraordinary +way, as the battle[49] was gained in less than four hours; but +that it would probably have been more complete if he had brought +a greater number of troops into action, and not detached so large +a body against the British corps. There were 40,000 men opposed +to the Duke on the 16th, but he says that the attack was not so +powerful as it ought to have been with such a force. The French +had made a long march the day before the battle, and had driven +in the Prussian posts in the evening. I asked him if he thought +Bonaparte had committed any fault. He said he thought he had +committed a fault in attacking him in the position of Waterloo; +that his object ought to have been to remove him as far as +possible from the Prussian army, and that he ought consequently +to have moved upon Hal, and to have attempted to penetrate by the +same road by which the Duke had himself advanced. He had always +calculated upon Bonaparte's doing this, and for this purpose he +had posted 20,000 men under Prince Frederick at Hal. He said that +the position at Waterloo was uncommonly strong, but that the +strength of it consisted alone in the two farms of Hougoumont and +La Haye Sainte, both of which were admirably situated and adapted +for defence. In Hougoumont there were never more than from 300 to +500 men, who were reinforced as it was necessary; and although +the French repeatedly attacked this point, and sometimes with not +less than 20,000 men, they never could even approach it. Had they +obtained possession of it, they could not have maintained it, as +it was open on one side to the whole fire of the English lines, +whilst it was sheltered on the side towards the French. The Duke +said the farm of La Haye Sainte was still better than that of +Hougoumont, and that it never would have been taken if the +officer who was commanding there had not neglected to make an +aperture through which ammunition could be conveyed to his +garrison. + + [47] [The Duke of Wellington has frequently been criticised + for leaving so important a body of troops at Hal, so + far upon his right that they were of no use in the + battle. He always defended this disposition, and + maintained that the greater probability was that + Napoleon would attack his extreme right and advance by + Hal. On this occasion (in 1820) he himself drew + attention to it, as is explained in the text.] + + [48] [This passage is obscure, as the pronoun _they_ can + hardly refer to the allied armies: but it stands so in + the MS.] + + [49] [The battle of Ligny, 16th of June, 1815.] + +[Page Head: WELLINGTON AND BLUCHER IN PARIS.] + +When we arrived at Sir Philip Brookes' it rained, and we were +obliged to sit in the house, when the Duke talked a great deal +about Paris and different things. He told us that Blücher was +determined to destroy the Bridge of Jena. The Duke spoke to +Müffling, the Governor of Paris, and desired him to persuade +Blücher to abandon this design. However, Blücher was quite +determined. He said the French had destroyed the pillar at +Rosbach and other things, and that they merited this retaliation. +He also said that the English had burnt Washington, and he did +not see why he was not to destroy this bridge. Müffling, however, +concerted with the Duke that English sentinels should be placed +on the bridge, and if any Prussian soldiers should approach to +injure it, these sentinels were not to retire. This they +conceived would gain time, as they thought that previous to +making any attempt on the bridge Blücher would apply to the Duke +to withdraw the English sentinels. This was of no avail. The +Prussians arrived, mined the arches, and attempted to blow up the +bridge, sentinels and all. Their design, however, was frustrated, +and the bridge received no injury. At length Müffling came to the +Duke, and said that he was come to propose to him a compromise, +which was that the bridge should be spared and the column in the +Place Vendôme should be destroyed instead. 'I saw,' said the +Duke, 'that I had got out of the frying-pan into the fire. +Fortunately at this moment the King of Prussia arrived, and he +ordered that no injury should be done to either.' On another +occasion Blücher announced his intention of levying a contribution +of 100 millions on the city of Paris. To this the Duke objected, +and said that the raising such enormous contributions could only +be done by common consent, and must be a matter of general +arrangement. Blücher said, 'Oh! I do not mean to be the only +party who is to levy anything; you may levy as much for +yourselves, and, depend upon it, if you do it will all be paid; +there will be no difficulty whatever.' The Duke says that the two +invasions cost the French 100 millions sterling. The Allies had +1,200,000 men clothed at their expense; the allowance for this +was 60 francs a man. The army of occupation was entirely +maintained; there were the contributions, the claims amounting to +ten millions sterling. Besides this there were towns and villages +destroyed and country laid waste. + + + + + CHAPTER II. + +Popularity of George IV.--The Duke of York's Racing + Establishment--Clerk of the Council--Lord Liverpool and Mr. + Sumner--Lady Conyngham--Death of Lady Worcester--Her + Character--Ball at Devonshire House--The Duke of York's + Aversion to the Duke of Wellington--The Pavilion at Brighton-- + Lord Francis Conyngham--The King and the Duke of Wellington-- + Death of the Marquis of Londonderry--His Policy--Sir B. + Bloomfield sent to Stockholm--Mr. Canning's Foreign Secretary-- + Queen Caroline and Brougham--Canning and George IV.--Lord + William Bentinck aspires to go to India--His Disappointment-- + The Duke of York's Duel with Colonel Lennox--George III.'s + Will--George IV. appropriates the late King's Personal + Property--The Duke of Wellington on the Congress of Verona and + on the Politics of Europe--Intervention in Spain--Ferdinand + VII.--M. de Villèle--The Duke's opinion of Napoleon--Sir + William Knighton--The Duke of York's Anecdotes of George IV.-- + Death of the Marquis of Titchfield--His character. + + + 1821. + + +London, February 7th, 1821 {p.043} + +The King went to the play last night (Drury Lane) for the first +time, the Dukes of York and Clarence and a great suite with him. +He was received with immense acclamations, the whole pit standing +up, hurrahing and waving their hats. The boxes were very empty at +first, for the mob occupied the avenues to the theatre, and those +who had engaged boxes could not get to them. The crowd on the +outside was very great. Lord Hertford dropped one of the candles +as he was lighting the King in, and made a great confusion in the +box. The King sat in Lady Bessborough's box, which was fitted up +for him. He goes to Covent Garden to-night. A few people called +'The Queen,' but very few. A man in the gallery called out, +'Where's your wife, Georgy?' + + +February 11th, 1821 {p.044} + +I came to town from Euston the end of last month. The debates +were expected to be very stormy and the minorities very large, +not that anybody expected Ministers to go out. It has all ended +as such anticipations usually do, in everything going off very +quietly and the Government obtaining large majorities. Their +Parliamentary successes and the King's reception have greatly +elated them, and they think (and with reason probably) that they +are likely to enjoy their places for the term of their natural +lives, not that they care about the King's popularity except in +as much as it may add strength to their Administration. They do +not conceal their contempt or dislike of him, and it is one of +the phenomena of the present times that the King should have +Ministers whom he abuses and hates, and who entertain corresponding +sentiments of aversion to him; yet they defend all his errors and +follies, and he affords them constant countenance and protection. +However, the King was delighted by his reception at the theatres, +and told Lady Bessborough, as he came downstairs, he never was +more gratified. + + +February 23rd, 1821 {p.044} + +Yesterday the Duke of York proposed to me to take the management +of his horses, which I accepted. Nothing could be more kind than +the manner in which he proposed it.[1] + + [1] [Mr. Greville continued to manage the racing + establishment of the Duke of York from this time till + the death of his Royal Highness.] + + +March 5th, 1821 {p.044} + +I have experienced a great proof of the vanity of human wishes. +In the course of three weeks I have attained the three things +which I have most desired in the world for years past, and upon +the whole I do not feel that my happiness is at all increased; +perhaps if it were not for one cause it might be, but until that +ceases to exist it is in vain that I acquire every other +advantage or possess the means of amusement.[2] + + [2] [One of these things was Mr. Greville's appointment as + Clerk of the Council; the second was his connection + with the Duke of York in his racing establishment; I am + ignorant of the third.] + + +[Page Head: THE CLERKSHIP OF THE COUNCIL.] + +March 22nd, 1821 {p.044} + +I was sworn in the day before yesterday, and kissed hands at a +Council at Carlton House yesterday morning as Clerk of the +Council. + + +March 25th, 1821 {p.045} + +Lord Fife has been dismissed from his place of Lord of the +Bedchamber for voting against the Malt Tax, and Lord Lovaine has +been appointed instead. + + +April 19th, 1821 {p.045} + +The night before last Hobhouse made his furious attack upon +Canning. Last night everybody expected that Canning would speak, +and was extremely anxious to hear what notice he would take of +Hobhouse. The army estimates came on first in the evening, and +almost all the members went away, intending to return to the +Reform debate, but when Reform came on there were only 100 +members in the House. 'Le combat finit faute de combattans,' and +when everybody came crowding down at nine o'clock the House had +been up half an hour, having divided 53 to 41.[3] + + [3] [On the 17th of April Mr. Lambton (afterwards Earl of + Durham) moved for a Committee of the whole House to + consider the state of the representation of the people + in Parliament. It was owing to the misapprehension + described in the text that the division was so small.] + + +May 2nd, 1821 {p.045} + +When the Canonry of Windsor became vacant Lady Conyngham asked +the King to give it to Mr. Sumner,[4] who had been Mount +Charles's tutor. The King agreed: the man was sent for, and +kissed hands at Brighton. A letter was written to Lord Liverpool +to announce the appointment. In the meantime Lord Liverpool had +sent a list of persons, one of whom he should recommend to +succeed to the vacancy, and the letters crossed. As soon as Lord +Liverpool received the letter from Brighton he got into his +carriage and went down to the King, to state that unless he was +allowed to have the distribution of this patronage without any +interference, he could not carry on the Government, and would +resign his office if Sumner was appointed. The man was only a +curate, and had never held a living at all. The King 'chanta +palinodie,' and a sort of compromise was made, by which Lady +Conyngham's friend was withdrawn, and the King begged it might be +given to Dr. Clarke, to which appointment Lord Liverpool +consented, although he did not approve of him; he did not, +however, wish to appear too difficult. + + [4] [Afterwards Bishop of Winchester. This was the + beginning of the fortune of that amiable prelate, of + whom it must be said that if he owed his early + advancement to a questionable influence, no man has + filled the episcopal office with more unaffected piety, + dignity, and goodness. The difference between George + IV. and Lord Liverpool on this occasion was a very + serious one. The Duke of Wellington referred to it in a + confidential letter to Lord Liverpool, written on the + 26th of October, 1821, in the following terms:--'As I + told you at Windsor, the King has never forgiven your + opposition to his wishes in the case of Mr. Sumner. + This feeling has influenced every action of his life in + relation to his Government from that moment; and I + believe to more than one of us he avowed that his + objection to Mr. Canning was that his accession to the + Government was peculiarly desirable to you. Nothing can + be more unjust or more unfair than this feeling; and as + there is not one of your colleagues who did not highly + approve of what you did respecting Mr. Sumner, so there + is not one of them who would not suffer with you all + the consequences of that act.' ('Correspondence of the + Duke of Wellington,' Second Series, vol. i. p. 195; + published in 1867.)] + +Lady Conyngham lives in one of the houses in Marlborough Row. All +the members of her family are continually there, and are supplied +with horses, carriages, &c., from the King's stables. She rides +out with her daughter, but never with the King, who always rides +with one of his gentlemen. They never appear in public together. +She dines there every day. Before the King comes into the room +she and Lady Elizabeth join him in another room, and he always +walks in with one on each arm. She comports herself entirely as +mistress of the house, but never suffers her daughter to leave +her. She has received magnificent presents, and Lady Elizabeth +the same; particularly the mother has strings of pearls of +enormous value. Madame de Lieven said she had seen the pearls of +the Grand Duchesses and the Prussian Princesses, but had never +seen any nearly so fine as Lady Conyngham's. The other night Lady +Bath was coming to the Pavilion. After dinner Lady Conyngham +called to Sir William Keppel and said, 'Sir William, do desire +them to light up the saloon' (this saloon is lit by hundreds of +candles). When the King came in she said to him, 'Sir, I told +them to light up the saloon, as Lady Bath is coming this +evening.' The King seized her arm and said with the greatest +tenderness, 'Thank you, thank you, my dear; you always do what is +right; you cannot please me so much as by doing everything you +please, everything to show that you are mistress here.' + + +[Page Head: THE DEATH OF LADY WORCESTER.] + +May 12th, 1821 {p.047} + +I have suffered the severest pain I ever had in my life by the +death of Lady Worcester.[5] I loved her like a sister, and I have +lost one of the few persons in the world who cared for me, and +whose affection and friendship serve to make life valuable to me. +She has been cut off in the prime of her life and in the bloom of +her beauty, and so suddenly too. Seven days ago she was at a ball +at Court, and she is now no more. She died like a heroine, full +of cheerfulness and courage to the last. She has been snatched +from life at a time when she was becoming every day more fit to +live, for her mind, her temper, and her understanding were +gradually and rapidly improving; she had faults, but her mind was +not vicious, and her defects may be ascribed to her education and +to the actual state of the society in which she lived. Her +virtues were inherent in her character; every day developed them +more and more, and they were such as to make the happiness of all +who lived with her and to captivate the affection of all who +really knew her. I have never lost anyone I loved before, and +though I know the grief I now feel will soon subside (for so the +laws of nature have ordained), long, long will it be before I +forget her, or before my mind loses the lively impression of her +virtues and of our mutual friendship. + + [5] [Georgiana Frederica, Marchioness of Worcester, + daughter of the Hon. Charles Fitzroy, married to Henry, + afterwards seventh Duke of Beaufort, in 1814, died 11th + of May, 1821. This lamented lady left two daughters, + afterwards Lady Augusta Neumann and Lady Georgiana + Codrington.] + +This is one of those melancholy events in life to which the mind +cannot for a long time reconcile or accustom itself. I saw her so +short a time ago 'glittering like the morning star, full of life +and splendour and joy;' the accents of her voice still so vibrate +in my ear that I cannot believe I shall never see her again. What +a subject for contemplation and for moralising! What reflections +crowd into the mind! + +Dr. Hume told me once he had witnessed many death-beds, but he +had never seen anything like the fortitude and resignation +displayed by her. She died in his arms, and without pain. As life +ebbed away her countenance changed, and when at length she ceased +to breathe, a beautiful and tranquil smile settled upon her face. + + Call round her tomb each, object of desire, + Each, purer frame informed by purer fire; + Let her be all that cheers or softens life, + The tender sister, daughter, friend, and wife: + Bid her be all that makes mankind adore, + Then view this marble, and be vain no more. + + +June 24th, 1821 {p.048} + +The King dined at Devonshire House last Thursday se'nnight. Lady +Conyngham had on her head a sapphire which belonged to the +Stuarts, and was given by Cardinal York to the King. He gave it +to the Princess Charlotte, and when she died he desired to have +it back, Leopold being informed it was a crown jewel. This crown +jewel sparkled in the headdress of the Marchioness at the ball. I +ascertained the Duke of York's sentiments upon this subject the +other day. He was not particularly anxious to discuss it, but he +said enough to show that he has no good opinion of her. The other +day, as we were going to the races from Oatlands, he gave me the +history of the Duke of Wellington's life. His prejudice against +him is excessively strong, and I think if ever he becomes King +the other will not be Commander-in-Chief. He does not deny his +military talents, but he thinks that he is false and ungrateful, +that he never gave sufficient credit to his officers, and that he +was unwilling to put forward men of talent who might be in a +situation to claim some share of credit, the whole of which he +was desirous of engrossing himself. He says that at Waterloo he +got into a scrape and avowed himself to be surprised, and he +attributes in great measure the success of that day to Lord +Anglesea, who, he says, was hardly mentioned, and that in the +coldest terms, in the Duke's despatch.[6] + + [6] [The unjust and unfavourable opinion expressed of the + Duke of Wellington by the Duke of York dated from the + appointment of Sir Arthur Wellesley to a high command, + and afterwards to the chief command of the army in + Portugal. The Duke of York had at one moment + entertained hopes of commanding that army, but when he + was made to understand that this was impossible he + erroneously attributed this disappointment to the + intrigues of those who were preferred before him. This + matter is explained with further particulars _sub_ 24th + of December, 1822.] + + +[Page Head: THE PAVILION.] + +December 18th, 1821 {p.049} + +I have not written anything for months. 'Quante cose mi sono +accadute!' My progress was as follows, not very interesting:--To +Newmarket, Whersted, Riddlesworth, Sprotborough, Euston, Elveden, +Welbeck, Caversham, Nun Appleton, Welbeck, Burghley, and London. +Nothing worth mentioning occurred at any of these places. +Sprotborough was agreeable enough. The Grevilles, Montagu, +Wilmot, and the Wortleys were there. I came to town, went to +Brighton yesterday se'nnight for a Council. I was lodged in the +Pavilion and dined with the King. The gaudy splendour of the +place amused me for a little and then bored me. The dinner was +cold and the evening dull beyond all dulness. They say the King +is anxious that form and ceremony should be banished, and if so +it only proves how impossible it is that form and ceremony should +not always inhabit a palace. The rooms are not furnished for +society, and, in fact, society cannot flourish without ease; and +who can feel at ease who is under the eternal constraint which +etiquette and respect impose? The King was in good looks and good +spirits, and after dinner cut his jokes with all the coarse +merriment which is his characteristic. Lord Wellesley did not +seem to like it, but of course he bowed and smiled like the rest. +I saw nothing very particular in the King's manner to Lady +Conyngham. He sat by her on the couch almost the whole evening, +playing at patience, and he took her in to dinner; but Madame de +Lieven and Lady Cowper were there, and he seemed equally civil to +all of them. I was curious to see the Pavilion and the life they +lead there, and I now only hope I may never go there again, for +the novelty is past, and I should be exposed to the whole weight +of the bore of it without the stimulus of curiosity. + + +December 19th, 1821 {p.049} + +I dined with Lord Gwydir yesterday, and sat next to Prince +Lieven. He told me that Bloomfield is no longer in favour, that +he has been supplanted by Lord Francis Conyngham,[7] who now +performs almost all the functions which formerly appertained to +Bloomfield. He is quite aware of his decline, and submits himself +to it in a manly way. He is no longer so necessary to the King as +he was, for a short time ago he could not bear that Bloomfield +should be absent, and _now_ his absence is unfelt. Francis goes +to the King every morning, usually breakfasts with him, and +receives all his orders. He was invited to go to Panshanger for +two days, and was very anxious to go, but he could not obtain +leave from the King to absent himself. Bloomfield does not put +himself forward; 'même il se retire,' he said, and it is +understood that he has made up his mind to resign his situation +and leave the Court. The King is still perfectly civil and +good-humoured to him, but has withdrawn his confidence from him, +and Bloomfield is no longer his first servant. + + [7] [Lord Francis Conyngham, second son of the first + Marquis of Conyngham (who was raised to the British + peerage in June 1821), afterwards himself Marquis of + Conyngham.] + +I asked Lieven whether Francis Conyngham, in performing the other +duties which had been hitherto allotted to Bloomfield, also +exercised the functions of Private Secretary, because this +involved a much more serious question. He said that he did not +know; all he knew was that whilst he was at Brighton Bloomfield +was absent for five days, and that during that time the other had +ostensibly occupied the place which Bloomfield used to hold about +the King's person. The commencement of this revolution in the +King's sentiments is to be dated from the journey to Hanover. Now +Bloomfield sits amongst the guests at dinner at the Pavilion; the +honours are done by the father on one side and the son on the +other. + + + 1822. + + +July 16th, 1822 {p.050} + +Since I wrote last I have been continually in town. I have won on +the Derby, my sister is married,[8] and I have done nothing worth +recording. How habit and practice change our feelings, our +opinions; and what an influence they have upon our thoughts and +actions! Objects which I used to contemplate at an immeasurable +distance, and to attain which I thought would be the summit of +felicity, I have found worth very little in comparison to the +value my imagination used to set upon them.... London is nearly +over, has been tolerably agreeable; but I have been very often +bored to death by the necessity of paying some attention to keep +up an interest. + + [8] [Miss Greville married Lord Francis Leveson Gower, + afterwards Earl of Ellesmere, in 1822.] + + +July 30th, 1822 {p.051} + +Madame de Lieven is ill with the King, and is miserable in +consequence. Lady Cowper is her _confidante_, and the Duke of +Wellington; but this latter pretends to know nothing of it, and +asked me the other day what it was, I am sure in order to +discover what people say. When the Duke was at Brighton in the +winter, he and the King had a dispute about the army. It began +(it was at dinner) by the King's saying that the Russians or the +Prussians (I forget which) were the best infantry in the world. +The Duke said, 'Except your Majesty's.' The King then said the +English cavalry were the best, which the Duke denied; then that +an inferior number of French regiments would always beat a +superior number of English, and, in short, that they were not +half so effective. The King was very angry; the dispute waxed +warm, and ended by his Majesty rising from table and saying, +'Well, it is not for me to dispute on such a subject with your +Grace.' The King does not like the Duke, nor does the Duke of +York. This I know from himself. + + +[Page Head: DEATH OF LORD LONDONDERRY.] + +August 13th, 1822 {p.051} + +I went to Cirencester on Friday and came back yesterday. At +Hounslow I heard of the death of Lord Londonderry.[9] When I got +to town I met several people who had all assumed an air of +melancholy, a _visage de circonstance_, which provoked me +inexpressibly, because it was certain that they did not care; +indeed, if they felt at all, it was probably rather satisfaction +at an event happening than sorrow for the death of the person. It +seems Lord Londonderry had been unwell for some time, but not +seriously, and a few days before this catastrophe he became much +worse, and was very much dejected. He told Lord Granville some +time ago that he was worn out with fatigue, and he told Count +Münster the other day that he was very ill indeed. The Duke of +Wellington saw him on Friday, and was so struck by the appearance +of illness about him that he sent Bankhead to him. He was cupped +on Saturday in London, got better, and went to Foot's Cray. On +Sunday he was worse, and the state of dejection in which he +appeared induced his attendants to take certain precautions, +which unfortunately, however, proved fruitless. They removed his +pistols and his razors, but he got hold of a penknife which was +in the room next his, and on Sunday night or early on Monday +morning he cut his throat with it. There is not a Minister in +town but Lord Liverpool, Vansittart, and the Chancellor. Lord +Bathurst is at Cirencester, the Duke of Wellington in Holland, +Lord Sidmouth in Yorkshire, Peel and Lord Melville in Scotland +with the King. No event ever gave rise to more speculation with +the few people there are left to speculate, and the general +opinion seems to be that Canning will not go to India,[10] but +will be appointed in his room. It certainly opens a door to his +ambition as well as to that of Peel, who, unless Canning comes +into office, must of necessity lead the House of Commons. Another +speculation is that Lord Liverpool will take this opportunity of +resigning, and that the King will form a Whig Ministry. I do not +believe Lord Liverpool wishes to resign, and my opinion is that +Canning will come into office. + + [9] [Lord Castlereagh, far better known by that name, + succeeded as second Marquis of Londonderry on the 11th + of April, 1821--only sixteen months before his death.] + + [10] [Mr. Canning had just accepted the office of + Governor-General of India, and was about to go out to + that country.] + +[Page Head: CHARACTER OF LORD LONDONDERRY.] + +I had hardly any acquaintance with Lord Londonderry, and +therefore am not in the slightest degree affected by his death. +As a Minister he is a great loss to his party, and still greater +to his friends and dependents, to whom he was the best of +patrons; to the country I think he is none. Nobody can deny that +his talents were great, and perhaps he owed his influence and +authority as much to his character as to his abilities. His +appearance was dignified and imposing; he was affable in his +manners and agreeable in society. The great feature of his +character was a cool and determined courage, which gave an +appearance of resolution and confidence to all his actions, and +inspired his friends with admiration and excessive devotion to +him, and caused him to be respected by his most violent +opponents. As a speaker he was prolix, monotonous, and never +eloquent, except, perhaps, for a few minutes when provoked into a +passion by something which had fallen out in debate. But, +notwithstanding these defects, and still more the ridicule which +his extraordinary phraseology had drawn upon him, he was always +heard with attention. He never spoke ill; his speeches were +continually replete with good sense and strong argument, and +though they seldom offered much to admire, they generally +contained a great deal to be answered. I believe he was +considered one of the best managers of the House of Commons who +ever sat in it, and he was eminently possessed of the good taste, +good humour, and agreeable manners which are more requisite to +make a good leader than eloquence, however brilliant. With these +qualities, it may be asked why he was not a better Minister, and +who can answer that question? or who can aver that he did not +pursue the policy which he conscientiously believed to be most +advantageous to his country? Nay, more, who can say but from +surmise and upon speculation that it was not the best? I believe +that he was seduced by his vanity, that his head was turned by +emperors, kings, and congresses, and that he was resolved that +the country which he represented should play as conspicuous a +part as any other in the political dramas which were acted on the +Continent. The result of his policy is this, that we are mixed up +in the affairs of the Continent in a manner we have never been +before, which entails upon us endless negotiations and enormous +expenses. We have associated ourselves with the members of the +Holy Alliance, and countenanced the acts of ambition and +despotism in such a manner as to have drawn upon us the +detestation of the nations of the Continent; and our conduct +towards them at the close of the war has brought a stain upon our +character for bad faith and desertion which no time will wipe +away, and the recollection of which will never be effaced from +their minds. + + +August 19th, 1822 {p.019} + +I went to Brighton on Saturday to see the Duke [of York]; +returned to-day. The Pavilion is finished. The King has had a +subterranean passage made from the house to the stables, which is +said to have cost £3,000 or £5,000; I forget which. There is also +a bath in his apartment, with pipes to conduct water from the +sea; these pipes cost £600. The King has not taken a sea bath for +sixteen years. + +The Marquis of Londonderry is to be buried to-morrow in +Westminster Abbey. It is thought injudicious to have anything +like an ostentatious funeral, considering the circumstances under +which he died, but it is the particular wish of his widow. She +seems to consider the respect which is paid to his remains as a +sort of testimony to his character, and nothing will pacify her +feelings or satisfy her affection but seeing him interred with +all imaginable honours. It seems that he gave several indications +of a perturbed mind a short time previous to his death. For some +time past he had been dejected, and his mind was haunted with +various apprehensions, particularly with a notion that he was in +great personal danger. On the day (the 3rd of August) he gave a +great dinner at Cray to his political friends, some of them +finding the wine very good, wished to compliment him upon it, and +Arbuthnot called out, 'Lord Londonderry!' He instantly jumped up +with great vivacity, and stood as if in expectation of something +serious that was to follow. When he was told that it was about +the wine they wished to speak to him, he sat down; but his manner +was so extraordinary that Huskisson remarked it to Wilmot as they +came home. In the last interview which the Duke of Wellington had +with him he said he never heard him converse upon affairs with +more clearness and strength of mind than that day. In the middle +of the conversation, however, he said, 'To prove to you what +danger I am in, my own servants think so, and that I ought to go +off directly, that I have no time to lose, and they keep my +horses saddled that I may get away quickly; they think that I +should not have time to go away in a carriage.' Then ringing the +bell violently, he said to the servant, 'Tell me, sir, instantly +who ordered my horses here; who sent them up to town?' The man +answered that the horses were at Cray, and had never been in +town. The Duke desired the man to go, and in consequence of this +strange behaviour wrote the letter to Bankhead which has been +since published. + + +August 20th, 1822 {p.055} + +Knighton went with the King to Scotland, and slept in one of his +Majesty's own cabins, that next to him. He is supposed to have +been appointed Privy Purse. Bloomfield has got the mission to +Stockholm. When Bloomfield was dismissed a disposition was shown +to treat him in a very unceremonious manner; but he would not +stand this, and displayed a spirit which he was probably enabled +to assume in consequence of what he knows. When they found he was +not to be bullied they treated with him, and gave him every +honour and emolument he could desire. + + +[Page Head: CANNING RETURNS TO OFFICE.] + +September 22nd, 1822 {p.055} + +I saw Lady Bathurst on the 13th. Canning had not then sent his +answer, and greatly surprised were the Ministers at the delay. +Lord Liverpool's proposal to him was simple and unclogged with +conditions--the Foreign Office and the lead in the House of +Commons. The King's repugnance to his coming into office was +extreme, and it required all the efforts of his Ministers to +surmount it. The Duke of Wellington and Peel have all the credit +of having persuaded the King to consent, but Lord Bathurst's +arguments influenced him as much as those of any person, and he +told Lady Conyngham that he was more satisfied by what Lord +Bathurst had said to him on the subject than by any of the +Ministers. I know that amongst the Canning party Lord Bathurst is +supposed to have joined with the Chancellor in opposing his +appointment. The danger in which the Duke of Wellington was +sensibly affected the King, because at this moment the Duke is in +high favour with him; and when he heard he was so ill he sent +Knighton to him to comfort him with a promise that he would +reconsider the proposal of receiving Canning, and the next day he +signified his consent. I saw a note from Lady Conyngham to Lady +Bathurst, in which she gave an account of the uneasiness and +agitation in which the King had been in consequence of the Duke's +illness, saying how much she had suffered in consequence, and how +great had been _their_ relief, when Knighton brought word that he +was better. The 'dear King,' she said, was more composed. She +added that she (Lady B.) would hear that evening what would give +her pleasure, and this was that the King had agreed to take +Canning. In a conversation also Lady C. said that she did hope, +now the King had yielded his own inclination to the wishes and +advice of his Ministers, that they would behave to him better +than they had done. Canning was sworn in on Monday. His friends +say that he was very well received. The King told Madame de +Lieven that having consented to receive him, he had behaved to +him, as _he always did_, in the most gentlemanlike manner he +could, and that on delivering to him the seals, he said to him +that he had been advised by his Ministers that his abilities and +eloquence rendered him the only fit man to succeed to the vacancy +which Lord Londonderry's death had made, and that, in appointing +him to the situation, he had only to desire that he would follow +the steps of his predecessor. This Madame de Lieven told to Lady +Jersey, and she to me. It seems that the King was so struck with +Lord Londonderry's manner (for he said to the King nearly what he +said to the Duke of Wellington), and so persuaded that some fatal +catastrophe would take place, that when Peel came to inform him +of what had happened, he said to him before he spoke, 'I know you +are come to tell me that Londonderry is dead.' Peel had just left +him, and upon receiving the despatches immediately returned; and +when Lady Conyngham was told by Lord Mount Charles that there was +a report that he was dead, she said, 'Good God! then he has +destroyed himself.' She knew what had passed with the King, and +was the only person to whom he had told it. + + +September 23rd, 1822 {p.057} + +George Bentinck, who thinks there never existed such a man as +Canning, and who probably has heard from him some circumstances +connected with his resignation at the time of the Queen's trial, +told ---- that it was in consequence of a dispute between the +King and his Ministers concerning the payment of the expenses of +the Milan Commission. The Ministers wished the King to pay +the expenses himself, and he wished them to be defrayed by +Government. Lord Londonderry promised the King (without the +concurrence of the other Ministers) that the expenses should be +paid by Government, but with money ostensibly appropriated to +other purposes. This Canning could not endure, and resigned. Such +is his story, which probably is partly true and partly false. + + +[Page Head: QUEEN CAROLINE'S RETURN.] + +November 5th, 1822 {p.057} + +I have been to Newmarket, Euston, Riddlesworth, Rendlesham, +Whersted, besides going to town several times and to Brighton. +Since I left London for the Doncaster races I have travelled near +1,200 miles. At Riddlesworth the Duke of York told me a great +deal about the Queen and Brougham, but he was so unintelligible +that part I could not make out and part I do not remember. What I +can recollect amounts to this, that the Emperor of Austria was +the first person who informed the King of the Queen's conduct in +Italy, that after the enquiry was set on foot a negotiation was +entered into with the Queen, the basis of which was that she +should abdicate the title of Queen, and that to this she had +consented. He said that Brougham had acted a double part, for +that he had acquiesced in the propriety of her acceding to those +terms, and had promised that he would go over to her and confirm +her in her resolution to agree to them; that he had not only not +gone, but that whilst he was making these promises to Government +he had written to the Queen desiring her to come over. The Duke +told me that a man (whose name he did not mention) came to him +and said, 'So the Queen comes over?' He said, 'No, she does not.' +The man said, 'I know she does, for Brougham has written to +her to come; I saw the letter.' If Lord Liverpool and Lord +Londonderry had thought proper to publish what had been done on +the part of Brougham, he would have been covered with infamy; but +they would not do it, and he thinks they were wrong. The rest I +cannot remember.[11] + + [11] [This is an erroneous and imperfect account of this + important transaction, the particulars of which are + related by Lord Brougham in his 'Memoirs,' cap. xvi. + vol. ii. p. 352, and still more fully by Mr. Yonge in + his 'Life of Lord Liverpool,' vol. iii. p. 52. Mr. + Brougham had sent his brother James to the Queen at + Geneva to dissuade her from setting out for England, + but, as he himself observes, 'I was quite convinced + that if she once set out she never would stop short.' + He met her himself at St. Omer, being the bearer of a + memorandum dated the 15th of April, 1820, which + contained the terms proposed by the King's Government. + He went to St. Omer in company with Lord Hutchinson, + but Mr. Brougham, and not Lord Hutchinson, was the + bearer of these propositions. Lord Hutchinson had no + copy of the document. The extraordinary part of Mr. + Brougham's conduct was that he never at all submitted + or made known to the Queen the memorandum of the 15th + of April; and she knew nothing of it till she had + reached London, when all negotiation was broken off. + This fact Lord Brougham does not explain in his + 'Memoirs;' but Lord Hutchinson declared in his report + to Lord Liverpool that in truth Brougham 'did not + appear to possess the smallest degree of power, weight, + or authority over the mind of the Queen' when at St. + Omer.] + + +[Page Head: CANNING AND GEORGE IV.] + +Welbeck, November 16th, 1822 {p.058} + +I have had a great deal of conversation with Titchfield,[12] +particularly about Canning, and he told me this curious fact about +his coming into office:--When the King had consented to receive +him he wrote a letter nearly in these words to Lord Liverpool: +'The King thinks that the brightest jewel in the crown is to +extend his forgiveness [I am not sure that this was the word[13]] +to a subject who has offended him, and he therefore informs Lord +L. that he consents to Mr. Canning forming a part of the Cabinet.' +This letter was communicated by Lord Liverpool to Canning, and +upon reading it he was indignant, as were his wife and his +daughter. The consequence was that he wrote a most violent and +indignant reply, addressed to the same person to whom the other +letter had been addressed, and which was intended in like manner +to be shown to the King, as the King's letter was to him. Upon +hearing what had passed, however, down came Lord Granville and +Mr. Ellis in a great hurry, and used every argument to dissuade him +from sending the letter, urging that he had entirely misunderstood +the purport of the letter which had offended him; that it was +intended as an invitation to reconciliation, and contained nothing +which could have been meant as offensive; that the country would +be so dissatisfied (which ardently desired and expected that he +should come into office) if he rejected this overture that he +would not be justified in refusing his services to the public, who +so anxiously wished for them. These arguments, vehemently urged +and put in every possible shape, prevailed, and the angry reply +was put in the fire, and another written full of gratitude, duty, +and acquiescence. + + [12] [The Marquis of Titchfield, eldest son of the fourth + Duke of Portland, Mr. Greville's first cousin, died in + the twenty-eighth year of his age.] + + [13] [The exact words in the King's letter to Lord Liverpool + are 'extend his grace and favour to a subject who may + have incurred his displeasure.' This letter, Lord + Liverpool's letter transmitting it to Mr. Canning, and + Mr. Canning's answer to Lord Liverpool are now all + published in Mr. Yonge's 'Life and Administration of + Lord Liverpool,' vol. iii. p. 200.] + + +[Page Head: LORD WILLIAM BENTINCK.] + +London, November 24th, 1822 {p.059} + +The morning I left Welbeck I had a long conversation with +Titchfield upon various matters connected with politics and his +family, particularly relating to Lord William's correspondence +with Lord Liverpool about the Government of India. He showed me +this correspondence, in which, as I anticipated, Lord William had +the worst of it. Lord Liverpool's answer was unanswerable. He +showed me also a very long letter which he had received from Lord +William, together with the copies of the correspondence, which +was written the evening before he went abroad. In this letter +(which I only read once, and which was so long that I cannot +recollect it) he gave a detailed account of his sentiments upon +the Indian matter, with the reasons for his having acted as he +did, also his feelings with regard to the manner in which Canning +had behaved upon the occasion and a conversation which he had +with Mrs. Canning.[14] This latter I think exceedingly curious, +because it serves to show what the object and the pretensions of +Canning are in taking office, and exhibit that ambition the whole +extent of which he dares not show. It seems that the Directors +were anxious that Lord William should be appointed Governor-General, +and this he knew through friends of his in the Court. Government, +however, having signified their dissent to his nomination, Lord +Amherst was nominated by the Court and accepted. Lord William's +displeasure with Canning arises from an idea that Canning was +backward in supporting his interests in this matter, and that he +kept aloof from Lord William, and acquiesced in his rejection +without ever communicating with him on the subject. Had Canning +stated to him the difficulties under which he laboured, from his +anxiety to serve him on the one hand and his obligation of +coinciding with his colleagues on the other, Lord William would +not have hesitated to _desire_ him to abandon his interests +rather than involve himself in any embarrassment on his account. +He wrote to Lord Liverpool to complain that the Court of +Directors being inclined to nominate him, Lord L. had interposed +his influence to prevent that nomination; that he did not ask +Lord L. to consent to his appointment, but he did ask him not to +interpose his influence to prevent his nomination, because that +nomination was essential to his character, as proving that the +Court of Directors were satisfied of the injustice with which he +had been treated in the affair of the Vellore mutiny. Lord +Liverpool's answer was short and civil, assuring him that he had +neither directly nor indirectly exerted any influence at all, +maintaining his right to give his opinion to the Directors in +case it had been asked, and stating that Lord Amherst had been +proposed by the Court and accepted by Government.[15] Whilst +this matter was still pending, and before Lord Amherst's +appointment had been made known, Lord William went to Gloucester +Lodge. He saw Mrs. Canning, and being anxious to acquire +information concerning the Indian appointment, he told her that +she had an opportunity of obliging him by telling him anything +she knew concerning it. She answered very quickly and in a very +bad humour, 'Oh, it is all settled; Lord Amherst is appointed.' +She then put into his hand a letter which Canning had received +that morning from the Duke of Portland, declining his offer of +the Private Secretaryship for John and George, alleging as a +reason the hostile politics of Lord William and Titchfield. Mrs. +Canning said that she had no idea that they would not have +supported Canning, that she was aware they differed on some +matters of minor importance, but that she had imagined their +general opinions to be similar; that she had conceived Lord +William's opposition to have been directed against Lord +Londonderry, and that it would have ceased with his death; that +'the present must be considered as a new Administration, and that +Canning must be virtually Minister of the country.' Lord William +replied that he could not view it in that light, that he thought +it likely the introduction of Canning into the Cabinet might +effect a beneficial influence on the measures of Government, and +more particularly that a system of foreign policy might be +adopted more congenial to his sentiments upon that subject; that +it would give him the greatest pleasure to see such a change of +measures as would enable him to give his support to a Government +of which Canning was so conspicuous a member, but that he could +not think that to be a new Administration which was composed +(with the sole exception of Canning) of precisely the same +persons of which it consisted before he joined them. + + [14] [Mrs. Canning was the younger sister of Henrietta, wife + of the fourth Duke of Portland, both of them being the + daughters and coheiresses of Major-General John Scott + of Balcomie. Lord William Bentinck, the Duke's brother, + was therefore a near connection, and Lord George + Bentinck and Lord John Bentinck, the Duke's sons, were + by their mother's side Mrs. Canning's nephews. Lady + Charlotte Greville, Mr. Charles Greville's mother, was + of course connected with Mrs. Canning in the same + degree as her brother Lord William Bentinck.] + + [15] [Lord Liverpool's letter to the King on this + appointment has been published by Mr. Yonge in his Life + of that statesman. He stated strongly to George IV. his + opinion that although Lord William Bentinck was + supported by a powerful party in the Court of + Directors, he thought it would be 'humiliating to the + Government and productive of the very worst effects to + appoint to such a station a man who had taken so strong + a part in Parliamentary Opposition.' George IV. replied + that he thought it 'highly unadvisable that Lord + William Bentinck should be the successor of the Marquis + of Hastings.' (Yonge's 'Life of Lord Liverpool,' vol. + iii. p. 204.) Lord William Bentinck had previously been + Governor of Madras at the time of the mutiny at + Vellore.] + +George,[16] after having refused the Private Secretaryship, was +talked over by Canning and accepted it. He tried to gain over +John, but he refused to share it. + + [16] [Lord George Bentinck, third son of the fourth Duke of + Portland; born 1802, died 1848; afterwards + distinguished as the leader of the Protectionist + party.] + +Canning wished that Manners Sutton should be appointed +Governor-General, in order that Wynn might be made Speaker, and +room made for Huskisson in the Cabinet; but Wynn would not have +given up his situation, and it is very much suspected that if he +had, the strength of Government would have been insufficient to +procure his election as Speaker, so unpopular is he in the House. + + +December 24th, 1822 {p.062} + +The other day I went to Bushy with the Duke [of York], and as we +passed over Wimbledon Common he showed me the spot where he +fought his duel with the Duke of Richmond. He then told me the +whole story and all the circumstances which led to it, most of +which are in print. That which I had never heard before was that +at a masquerade three masks insulted the Prince of Wales, when +the Duke interfered, desired the one who was most prominent to +address himself to him, and added that he suspected him to be an +officer in his regiment (meaning Colonel Lennox), and if he was +he was a coward and a disgrace to his profession; if he was not +the person he took him for, he desired him to unmask, and he +would beg his pardon. The three masks were supposed to be Colonel +Lennox, the Duke of Gordon, and Lady Charlotte. This did not lead +to any immediate consequences, but perhaps indirectly contributed +to what followed. The Duke never found out whether the masks were +the people he suspected. + +[Page Head: DUKE OF YORK'S DISLIKE TO WELLINGTON.] + +The last time I was with him he told me a variety of particulars +about the Duke of Wellington's conduct at the siege of Seringapatam, +of Lord Harris's reluctance to entrust the command of a storming +party to him, of his not arriving at the place of rendezvous the +first night, of Lord Harris's anger and the difficulty with +which he was brought to consent to his being employed the second +night, when he distinguished himself so signally. Amongst various +other matters, of which it was impossible to bring away a perfect +recollection, from his confused manner of narrating, and +particularly his inaccuracy as to dates, he told me (with many +recommendations to secrecy) that which immediately explained to +me the dislike which he certainly bears to the Duke and (which I +did not know before) to Lord Londonderry. He said that after the +retreat of our army under Sir J. Moore from Spain (he was not +quite certain himself as to the exact period, though a reference +to the history of that period will probably elucidate the matter) +Lord L. sent for him, and communicated to him that it was the +intention of Government to send out an expedition to Portugal, +and to confer the command of it upon him. He replied that if +called upon he should consider it his duty to serve, but he +should never solicit any command. Nothing more passed at that +time, but the newspapers by some means immediately got hold of +this project and violently attacked the Government for thinking +of sending him out. He does not appear to have known what +intermediate deliberation led to a change in the determination of +the Ministers in regard to himself. He says that Lord Chatham, +who was much attached to him, and was then a Cabinet Minister, +came to him one day, and told him he was betrayed, and that he +was sacrificed to make way for Sir A. Wellesley; that soon after +this Lord L. sent for him, and said that he was extremely sorry +that public opinion was so strongly against his appointment to +the command of the army that it was impossible for Government to +confer it upon him. Soon after this the expedition was formed, +and Sir A. Wellesley was appointed to the command. This was the +Duke's own version of the transaction. + + + 1823. + + +[Page Head: GEORGE THE THIRD'S WILL.] + +Some particulars concerning the late King's will were told me by +the Duke of York as we were going to Oatlands to shoot on +Wednesday, the 8th of January, 1823. The King was empowered by +Act of Parliament to make a will about the year 1766. In 1770 he +made a will, by which he left all he had to the Queen for her +life, Buckingham House to the Duke of Clarence, some property to +the Duke of Kent, and to the Duke of York his second best George +and some other trifling remembrance. He considered the Duke of +York provided for by the Bishopric of Osnaburgh. Of this will +three copies were made; one was deposited in the German +_chancellerie_ in England, one in Hanover, and the other it was +believed the King kept himself. He afterwards resolved to cancel +this will, and two of the copies of it were destroyed, the third +still existing (I could not make out by what means--if he told me +I have forgotten--or which copy it was that survived). In 1810 +the King made another will, but for various reasons he always put +off signing it, once or twice because he wished to make +alterations in it; at length he appointed a day to sign it, but +when the Chancellor brought it one of the witnesses was absent, +and the signature was again postponed. Other days were afterwards +fixed for this purpose, but before the signature was affixed the +King was taken ill, and consequently the will never was signed. +After the death of the King the only good will, therefore, was +his original will of 1770, which was produced and read in the +presence of the King, the Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, Lord +Liverpool, the Duke of York, Adair, the King's solicitor (Spyer +his name), and one or two others whom he mentioned. Buckingham +House, which had been left to the Duke of Clarence, had been +twice sold; the Queen and the Duke of Kent were dead; the +only legatee, therefore, was the Duke of York. Now arose a +difficulty--whether the property of the late King demised to the +King or to the Crown. The Chancellor said that the only person +who had anything to say to the will was the Duke of York; but +the Duke and the King differed with regard to the right of +inheritance, and the Duke, wishing to avoid any dispute or +discussion on the subject, begged to wash his hands of the whole +matter. The King conceives that the whole of the late King's +property devolves upon him personally, and not upon the Crown, +and he has consequently appropriated to himself the whole of the +money and jewels. The money did not amount to more than £120,000. +So touchy is he about pecuniary matters that his Ministers have +never dared to remonstrate with him, nor to tell him that he has +no right so to act. The consequence is that he has spent the +money, and has taken to himself the jewels as his own private +property. The Duke thinks that he has no right thus to appropriate +their father's property, but that it belongs to the Crown. The +King has acted in a like manner with regard to the Queen's +[Charlotte's] jewels. She possessed a great quantity, some of +which had been given her by the late King on her marriage, and +the rest she had received in presents at different times. Those +which the late King had given her she conceived to belong to the +Crown, and left them back to the present King; the rest she left +to her daughters. The King has also appropriated the Queen's +[Caroline's] jewels to himself, and conceives that they are his +undoubted private property. The Duke thinks that the Ministers +ought to have taken the opportunity of the coronation, when a new +crown was to be provided, to state to him the truth with regard +to the jewels, and to suggest that they should be converted to +that purpose. This, however, they dared not do, and so the matter +remains. The King had even a design of selling the library +collected by the late King, but this he was obliged to abandon, +for the Ministers and the Royal Family must have interfered to +oppose so scandalous a transaction. It was therefore presented to +the British Museum. + + +[Page Head: THE CONGRESS OF VERONA.] + +January 25th, 1823 {p.065} + +I came from Gorhambury with the Duke of Wellington last +Wednesday, and he was very communicative. He gave me a detailed +history of the late Congress, and told me many other things which +I should be glad to recollect. + +After the two treaties of Paris and Vienna the Allied Powers +agreed to meet in Congress from time to time to arrange together +any matters of general interest which might arise, and to settle +and discuss any differences which might occur between any two +Powers, a rule being laid down that the affairs of no Power +should be discussed without that Power being invited to the +deliberation. The affairs of Naples were the first that attracted +their attention. Austria complained that the ramifications of the +secret political societies which had sprung up at Naples tended +to disturb and revolutionise the Italian possessions, and +demanded the consent of the Allied Powers that she should abate +the nuisance. The cause was deemed sufficient to justify her +interference, and the events followed which are known. The +Congress at Verona was assembled for the purpose of taking into +consideration the affairs of Italy, and for discussing the +propriety of relieving Naples from the burden of that military +force which had been maintained there for the purpose of +extinguishing the revolutionary spirit. At this Congress France +came forward and complained that the revolution which had taken +place in Spain menaced her internal tranquillity, and demanded +the advice of Congress as to the measures she should adopt. In +this it will be observed that the rule of every Power being +called upon to attend a deliberation in which its affairs were to +be discussed was dispensed with. Austria, Russia, and Prussia +immediately replied that if she considered the Spanish revolution +to be dangerous to her repose, she would be justified in stifling +that revolution by force of arms, and offered to co-operate with +her in the attempt. England refused to give any answer to the +demands of France, and demanded in return what was her case +against Spain. To this no answer was given. The part then taken +by the Duke was to deprecate hostilities, both publicly as +Plenipotentiary of England and privately in the various +conversations which he had with the Emperor of Russia, who seems +to have been the strongest advocate for making war with Spain. +The imprudence of the Spaniards has afforded some colour to the +right assumed by their enemies of interfering with their affairs, +for they have upon several occasions attempted to foment the +troubles which either existed or threatened to appear both in +Naples and Piedmont; and the Emperor of Russia told the Duke that +he had detected the Spanish Minister at St. Petersburg in an +attempt to corrupt his soldiers at the time of the mutiny of the +Guards, and that he had consequently sent him out of the country. +The Duke replied that if the Emperor of Russia had reasonable +grounds of complaint against Spain, he would be fully justified +in declaring war against her, and that he would advise him to do +so if he could march 150,000 men into Spain; but in suffering +three years to elapse without making any complaint he had +virtually renounced his right to complain, and that it was unfair +to rake up a forgotten grievance against Spain at a time when she +was menaced by another Power upon other grounds. The Duke +said that the Emperor of Russia once talked to him of the +practicability of marching an army into Spain, and seemed to +think he might do so. The Duke said that the French Government +would never allow it, when he said he could send them by sea. The +Duke told him it would take 2,000 ships. One of the arguments of +the Emperor of Russia was this: that constituted as their +Governments were (military Governments) it was impossible for +them to tolerate consistently with their own security any +revolution which originated in military insubordination. + +[Page Head: DUKE OF WELLINGTON ON FRENCH INTERVENTION.] + +After the Congress the Duke returned to Paris, and found that not +only Monsieur de Villèle was averse to war, but that the King, +Monsieur, and the Duke and Duchess of Angoulême were equally +disinclined to commence hostilities. His endeavours have been +incessantly directed to confirm their pacific dispositions, and +to induce the Spanish Government to display moderation in their +language and conduct. I asked him if such were the sentiments of +the ruling powers in France upon what the question now turned, +and why all idea of war was not abandoned, since both parties +were pacifically inclined. He said[17] that France had been led +into a dilemma by a series of erroneous measures, that hers was a +false position, that having made the demands she had done to the +Allied Powers, having held such lofty language, and having made +such a show of military preparation, her difficulty was how to +retract and retrace her steps with honour and credit to herself; +that she was a nation whose character depended in great measure +upon her military renown, and that it would reflect disgrace upon +her to have made such mighty preparations and assumed so +peremptory a tone without performing any action commensurate with +the expectations she had raised. He said that appearances +certainly became more warlike, but that he still hoped peace +would be maintained; that if war ensued it would be entered into +contrary to the interests and inclinations of all the parties +concerned, and that it would have been brought about by a +succession of circumstances over which they had no control; that +it was impossible for two armies to remain for a length of time +so near each other without mutual incursions being made, insults +and injuries exchanged, which must inevitably end in a state of +warfare and hostility; that the recall of the French Minister +from Madrid would contribute to this result, for both in the +Cortes and the Andalusian Junta expressions would be uttered +offensive to the French Government, and misrepresentations would +be made which would have the effect of exasperating the parties +and of widening the breach; and that there being no agent of +France at Madrid to furnish explanations and destroy the +effect of the misrepresentations, there would be a constant +correspondence between Madrid and Paris, in which vent would be +given to all the angry feelings that ever existed.[18] The Duke +advised that no answer should be given to the notes of the three +Powers, nor to that of the French Minister. Had the Spanish +Government declined to take notice of the notes, they would have +imposed upon them the difficulty of taking the next steps. +However, he admitted that the answer to the French note was very +moderate. There is no statesman in Spain. There are some eloquent +men in the Cortes, particularly Torreno and Arguelles. Torreno is +the ablest man, but he has injured his character by peculation. +The state of Spain is such that the most violent and turbulent +possess the greatest share of influence. Portugal is in a state +of greater intellectual improvement, and amongst the Portuguese +there are some men of ability--Palmella, and another whose name I +have forgotten. But Spain is not only deficient in men of +education and talent to direct her councils, but she has no army, +and not one officer of capacity. Not one was formed by the late +war, for such were their vanity and ignorance that they would +learn nothing from the English. + + [17] All this reasoning appears to me exceedingly false, and + I do not understand a Government being compelled to + adopt measures adverse to her inclinations and + injurious to her interests by circumstances which she + could not control. A wise and vigorous statesman would + break through such a web as that in which the French + politics are entangled, and I cannot comprehend how the + honour of a nation is to be supported by an obstinate + adherence to measures which she had been led + incautiously to adopt, and which were afterwards found + to militate with her true interests. If the councils of + France were directed by a Minister of a vigorous and + independent character--if such a Minister were to come + forward and state frankly to Spain, and announce to all + Europe, that he would not invade the liberty and the + rights of Spain, and instantly put a stop to all + hostile preparations, finding arguments for an act of + magnanimity, moderation, and justice, which are never + wanting when some deed of lawless ambition and violent + aggression is to be perpetrated, would not such a man + acquire a more solid reputation than he who sacrifices + to some punctilio the interests of his own country and + the happiness and repose of millions, how great soever + might be the success with which his efforts should be + crowned?--[C.C.G.] + + [18] These notes were addressed by the respective Courts to + their own Ministers at Madrid. The Spanish Minister for + Foreign Affairs need not have taken any notice of them + whatever according to the forms of diplomatic + communication.--[C.C.G.] + +Upon one occasion only the Spaniards gained a victory, the day on +which St. Sebastian was stormed. Soult attacked a Spanish corps +commanded by General Freyre. When the Duke was informed of the +attack he hastened to the scene of action and placed two British +divisions in reserve, to support the Spaniards, but did not allow +them to come into action. He found the Spaniards running away as +fast as they could. He asked them where they were going. They +said they were taking off the wounded. He immediately sent and +ordered the gates of Irun, to which they were flying, to be shut +against them, and sent to Freyre to desire he would rally his +men. This was done, and they sustained the attack of the French; +but General Freyre sent to the Duke to beg he would let his +divisions support him, as he could not maintain himself much +longer. The Duke said to Freyre's aide-de-camp, 'If I let a +single man fire, the English will swear they gained the victory, +and he had much better do it all himself; besides, look through +my glass, and you will see the French are retreating.' This was +the case, for a violent storm of rain had occurred, and the +French, who had crossed a river, finding that it began to swell, +and that their bridges were in danger of being carried away, had +begun to retreat. The Spaniards maintained their position, but +the Duke said he believed they owed it to the storm more than to +their own resolution. + +The Duke wrote to Alava some time ago (three years, I think) and +desired him to advise the King from him, now that he had accepted +the Constitution, to throw himself upon his Ministers. He has not +written to Alava, nor Alava to him, for three years, because he +knows that all letters are opened and read. He says the King of +Spain is not clever, but cunning; his manners are good. He is in +correspondence with the Allied Sovereigns, and is playing false. +He has the means of corresponding, because, although his +household is composed of men friendly to the revolution, there is +no restraint upon his person, and he sees whomsoever he pleases. +In case of war the French would obtain complete success. He +conceives their object would be to obtain possession of the +person of the King, to overthrow the Constitution, establish the +King upon the throne with a Constitution perhaps similar to the +French Charte, and to establish an army of occupation to maintain +such an order of things till he should be able to form an army of +his own. + +[Page Head: DUKE OF WELLINGTON'S RECOLLECTIONS.] + +The Duke saw the King of France twice while he was in Paris. He +was much broken, but talked of living twelve or fourteen years. +The second time he was in better health and spirits than the +first time. Madame du Cayla sent to the Duke to ask him to call +upon her; he went twice and she was not at home. At his levee the +King said, 'Il y a une personne qui regrette beaucoup de n'avoir +pas eu le plaisir de vous voir.' The courtiers told him the King +meant Madame du C. He went the same evening and saw her. She is a +fine woman, about forty, and agreeable. She sees the King every +Wednesday; he writes notes and verses to her, and he has given +her a great deal of money. He has built a house for her, and +given her a _terre_ near St. Denis which is valued at 1,500,000 +francs. The King likes M. de Villèle[19] exceedingly. He has +occasionally talked to the Duke of Bonaparte. One day, when they +were standing together at the window which looks upon the garden +of the Tuileries, he said, 'One day Bonaparte was standing here +with ----, and he said, pointing to the Chamber of Deputies, +"Vous voyez ce bâtiment là: si je les démuselais, je serais +détrôné." I said, "The King has given them freedom of debate, and +I think I go on very well with it."' + + [19] Villèle was a lieutenant in the navy, and afterwards + went to the Isle of France, where he was a member of + the council (or whatever the legislation was called). + At the revolution he returned to France and lived with + his family near Toulouse, became a member of the + departmental body, and subsequently Mayor of Toulouse; + he was afterwards elected a Member of the Chamber, when + he distinguished himself by his talents for debate, and + became one of the chiefs of the Ultra party. He was a + member of the Duc de Richelieu's Government, which he + soon quitted, and was one of the principal instruments + in overturning it. He anticipates a long + administration.--[C.C.G.] + +The Duke said he had been struck down by a musket shot whilst +reconnoitring the enemy as they were retreating in the Pyrenees. +The people round him thought he was killed, but he got up +directly. Alava was wounded a few minutes before him, and Major +Brooke nearly at the same time. He is of opinion that Massena was +the best French general to whom he was ever opposed. + +He said that Bonaparte had not the patience requisite for +defensive operations. His last campaign (before the capture of +Paris) was very brilliant, probably the ablest of all his +performances. The Duke is of opinion that if he had possessed +greater patience he would have succeeded in compelling the Allies +to retreat; but they had adopted so judicious a system of defence +that he was foiled in the impetuous attacks he made upon them, +and after a partial failure which he met with, when he attacked +Blücher at Laon and Craon, he got tired of pursuing a course +which afforded no great results, and leaving a strong body under +Marmont to watch Blücher, he threw himself into the rear of the +Grand Army. The march upon Paris entirely disconcerted him and +finished the war. The Allies could not have maintained themselves +much longer, and had he continued to keep his force concentrated, +and to carry it as occasion required against one or other of the +two armies, the Duke thinks he must eventually have forced them +to retreat, and that their retreat would have been a difficult +operation. The British army could not have reached the scene of +operations for two months. The Allies did not dare attack +Napoleon; if he had himself come up he should certainly have +attacked him, for his army was the best that ever existed. + +The Duke added that he traced back the present politics of France +to their chagrin at the dissolution of the Family Compact. At the +general pacification the Duke, on the part of the English +Government, insisted upon that treaty not being renewed, and made +a journey to Madrid for the purpose of determining the Spanish +Government. Talleyrand and the King of France made great efforts +to induce the Duke to desist from his opposition to the renewal +of the treaty, and both were exceedingly mortified at being +unable to shake the determination of our Government on this +point. + +The Duke of Wellington told me that Knighton[20] managed the +King's affairs very well, that he was getting him out of debt +very quickly, and that the Ministers were well satisfied with +him. When he was appointed to the situation he now holds, he +called at Apsley House to announce it to the Duke, and expressed +his hopes that the appointment would not displease him. The Duke +said that he could have no objection, but he would give him a +piece of advice he trusted he would take in good part: this was, +that he would confine himself to the discharge of the functions +belonging to his own situation, and that he would not in any way +interfere with the Government; that as long as he should so +conduct himself he would go on very well, but that if ever he +should meddle with the concerns of the Ministers he would give +them such offence that they would not suffer him to remain in a +situation which he should thus abuse. Knighton thanked him very +much for his advice, and promised to conform himself to it. It +seems that he told this to the King, for the next time the Duke +saw him the King said he had heard the advice which he had given +to 'a person,' and that he might depend upon that person's +following it entirely. + + [20] [Sir William Knighton, who was originally the King's + physician, had been appointed Keeper of the King's + Privy Seal and Receiver of the Duchies of Lancaster and + Cornwall; but in fact he acted as the King's Private + Secretary, and it was to the duties of that delicate + office that the Duke's advice applied.] + + +[Page Head: DUKE OF YORK'S ANECDOTES OF GEORGE IV.] + +November 29th, 1823 {p.073} + +In the various conversations which I have with the Duke of York +he continually tells me a variety of facts more or less curious, +sometimes relating to politics, but more frequently concerning +the affairs of the Royal Family, that I have neglected to note +down at the time, and I generally forget them afterwards. I must +acknowledge, however, that they do not interest me so much as +they would many other people. I have not much taste for Court +gossip. Another reason, too, is the difficulty of making a clear +narrative out of his confused communications. The principal +anecdotes he has told me have been, as well as I recollect, +relative to the Duchess of Gloucester's marriage, to the Duke of +Cumberland's marriage and all the dissensions to which that event +gave rise in the Royal Family, the differences between the King +and Prince Leopold, and other trifling matters which I have +forgotten. In all of these histories the King acted a part, in +which his bad temper, bad judgment, falseness, and duplicity were +equally conspicuous. I think it is not possible for any man to +have a worse opinion of another than the Duke has of the King. +From various instances of eccentricities I am persuaded that the +King is subject to occasional impressions which produce effects +like insanity; that if they continue to increase he will end by +being decidedly mad. The last thing which I have heard was at +Euston the other day. I went into the Duke's room, and found him +writing; he got up and told me that he was thrown into a great +dilemma by the conduct of the King, who had behaved extremely ill +to him. The matter which I could collect was this:--Upon the +disturbances breaking out in the West Indies it became necessary +to send off some troops as quickly as possible. In order to make +the necessary arrangements without delay, the Duke made various +dispositions, a part of which consisted in the removal of the +regiment on guard at Windsor and the substitution of another in +its place. Orders were expedited to carry this arrangement into +effect, and at the same time he communicated to the King what he +had done and desired his sanction to the arrangement. The Duke's +orders were already in operation, when he received a letter from +the King to say that he liked the regiment which was at Windsor, +and that it should not move; and in consequence of this fancy the +whole business was at a standstill. Thus he thought proper to +trifle with the interests of the country to gratify his own +childish caprice. He gave, too, great offence to the Duke, in +hindering his dispositions from being carried into effect, at the +same time. + +The Duke told me another thing which he thought was indirectly +connected with the first. It seems one of the people about the +Court had ordered some furniture to be removed from Cumberland +Lodge to Windsor (something for the Chapel). Stephenson, as head +of the Board of Works, on being informed this was done, wrote to +the man to know by what orders he had done it. The man showed the +letter to the King, who was exceedingly incensed, and wrote to +Lord Liverpool to say that Stephenson's letter was insulting to +him, and desired he might be turned out. After some correspondence +on the subject Lord Liverpool persuaded the King to reinstate him; +but he was obliged to make all sorts of apologies and excuses for +having done what it was his duty to do. Stephenson is a friend +and servant of the Duke's, and in his ill-humour he tried to +revenge himself upon the Duke as well as on Stephenson, and he +thwarted the Duke in his military arrangements. What made his +conduct the less excusable was that it was important that these +things should be done quickly, and as the Duke was out of town a +correspondence became necessary, by which great delay would be +caused. + + + 1824. + + +[Page Head: CHARACTER OF LORD TITCHFIELD.] + +March 6th, 1824 {p.075} + +Poor Titchfield[21] died last night at eight o'clock, having +lingered for some days in a state which gave to his family +alternate hopes and fears. He was better till yesterday +afternoon, when he was removed into another room; soon after this +he grew weaker, and at eight o'clock he expired. He is a great +loss to his family, of which he was by much the cleverest member, +and he was well calculated to fill the situation in which fortune +had placed him. His talents were certainly of a superior +description, but their efficacy was counteracted by the +eccentricity of his habits, the indolence of his mind, and his +vacillating and uncertain disposition. He was, however, +occasionally capable of intense application, and competent to +make himself master of any subject he thought fit to grapple +with; his mind was reflecting, combining, and argumentative, but +he had no imagination, and to passion, 'the sanguine credulity of +youth, and the fervent glow of enthusiasm' he was an entire +stranger. He never had any taste for society, and attached +himself early to politics. He started in life with an enthusiastic +admiration for Mr. Canning, but after two or three years, being +thrown into the society of many of his political opponents, he +began to entertain opinions very different from those of Mr. +Canning. He never, however, enlisted under any political banner, +and his great object seemed to be to prove to the world that he +belonged to no party. After Mr. Canning came into office he took +the earliest opportunity of informing his constituents that he +was unfettered by any political connection with him. Titchfield +was never at a public school, but was educated at home. Such an +education--the most injudicious which can be given to a young man +destined to fill a great situation--was not without its effect +upon his mind. The superior indulgences and the early habits of +authority and power in which he was brought up, without receiving +correction from any of those levelling circumstances which are +incidental to public schools, threw a shade of selfishness and +reserve over his character, which time, the commerce of the +world, and a naturally kind disposition had latterly done much to +correct. The subject to which he had principally devoted his +attention was political economy, and in the discussions in the +House of Commons upon currency he had particularly distinguished +himself. Whatever he attempted he had done so well that great +expectations were entertained of his future success, and the +indications he had given of talent will ensure to his memory a +lasting reputation. He has died at a moment the most fortunate, +perhaps, for his fame as a public man; but his loss to his family +is very great, and by them will be long felt and deeply lamented. + + [21] [William Henry, Marquis of Titchfield, eldest son of + the fourth Duke of Portland.] + +[An interval of two years occurs in the Journal, during which Mr. +Greville wrote nothing.] + + + + + CHAPTER III. + +The Panic of 1825--Death of Emperor Alexander--The Duke of + Wellington's Embassy to St. Petersburg--Robinson Chancellor of + the Exchequer--Small Notes Bill--Death of Arthur de Ros-- + George III. and Lord Bute--Illness and Death of the Duke of + York--His Funeral--Lord Liverpool struck with Paralysis-- + Rundell's Fortune and Will--Copley and Philpots--The Cottage-- + Formation of Mr. Canning's Administration--Secession of the + Tories--The Whigs join him--Dinner at the Royal Lodge-- + Difficulties of Canning's Government--Duke of Wellington visits + the King--Canning's Death--Anecdotes of Mr. Canning-- + Recognition of South American States--His Industry--The Duke of + Wellington on Canning--Lord Goderich's Administration formed-- + The Difficulty about Herries--Position of the Whigs--The King's + letter to Herries--Peel and George IV.--Interview of Lord + Lansdowne with the King--Weakness of the Government--First + Resignation of Lord Goderich--Lord Harrowby declines the + Premiership--Lord Goderich returns--Brougham and Rogers-- + Conversation and Character of Brougham--Lord Goderich's + Ministry dissolved--Cause of its Dissolution--Hostility of + Herries--Position of Huskisson and his Friends--Herries and + Huskisson both join the New Cabinet. + + + 1826. + + +[Page Head: FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES.] + +February 12th, 1826 {p.077} + +The last three months have been remarkable for the panic in the +money market, which lasted for a week or ten days--that is, was +at its height for that time. The causes of it had been brewing +for some months before, and he must be a sanguine and sagacious +politician who shall predict the termination of its effects. +There is now no panic, but the greatest alarm, and every prospect +of great distress, and long continuation of it. The state of the +City, and the terror of all the bankers and merchants, as well as +of all owners of property, is not to be conceived but by those +who witnessed it. This critical period drew forth many examples +of great and confiding liberality, as well as some of a very +opposite character. Men of great wealth and parsimonious habits +came and placed their whole fortunes at the disposal of their +bankers in order to support their credit. For many days the evil +continued to augment so rapidly, and the demands upon the Bank +were so great and increasing; that a Bank restriction was +expected by everyone. So determined, however, were Ministers +against this measure, that rather than yield to it they suffered +the Bank to run the greatest risk of stopping; for on the evening +of the day on which the alarm was at its worst there were only +8,000 sovereigns left in the till.[1] The next day gold was +poured in, and from that time things got better. + + [1] [Mr. Baring (Lord Ashburton) stated in his pamphlet on + this crisis, 'The gold of the Bank was drained to + within a very few thousand pounds, for although the + public returns showed a result rather less scandalous, + a certain Saturday night closed with nothing worth + mentioning. It was then that the Bank applied to Lord + Liverpool for an Order in Council to suspend cash + payment. A conference took place between Lord + Liverpool, Mr. Huskisson, the governor of the Bank, and + Mr. Baring. The suspension of cash payments was happily + averted, chiefly as it was said by the accidental + discovery of a box of one-pound Bank of England notes, + to the amount of a million and a half, which had never + been issued, and which the public were content to + receive.' Mr. Tooke, however, states in his 'History of + Prices' (Continuation, vol. iv. p. 342) that the lowest + amount of the banking treasure was on the 24th of + December, 1825: Coin, £426,000; bullion, £601,000: in + all, £1,027,000. The passage in the text refers of + course to the banking department only.] + +In the midst of all this the Emperor Alexander died, and after a +short period of doubt concerning his successor it was found that +Nicholas was to mount the throne. The first act of the Russian +Government was to communicate to ours their resolution no longer +to delay a recognition of the independence of Greece, and their +determination to support that measure if necessary by force of +arms. They invited us to co-operate in this object, but intimated +that if we were not disposed to join them they should undertake +it alone. The Duke of Wellington is gone to Russia, ostensibly to +compliment the new Emperor, but really to concert measures with +the Russian Ministry for carrying this measure into effect; and +it is remarkable that the Duke, upon taking leave of his friends +and family to set out on this journey, was deeply affected, as if +he had some presentiment that he should never return. Alava told +me that he had frequently taken leave of him, when both expected +that they should never meet again, yet neither upon that occasion +nor upon any other in the course of the seventeen years that he +has known him did he ever see him so moved. Lady Burghersh said +that when he took leave of her the tears ran down his cheeks; he +was also deeply affected when he parted from his mother. + +In the discussion which took place on Friday night in the House +of Commons, when the Chancellor of the Exchequer[2] opened his +financial plan, he is deemed to have made a very bad speech, and +Huskisson a very good one. Robinson is probably unequal to the +present difficult conjuncture; a fair and candid man, and an +excellent Minister in days of calm and sunshine, but not endowed +with either capacity or experience for these stormy times, +besides being disqualified for vigorous measures by the +remissness and timidity of his character. However, though it is +the peculiar province of the Finance Minister to find a remedy +for these disorders, he may well be excused for not doing that +which the united wisdom of the country seems unequal to +accomplish. All men agree as to the existence of the evil, and +all differ as to the causes of it and the measures which will +effect its removal; not one man seems to see his way clearly +through the difficulty; however, 'time and the hour runs through +the roughest day,' and probably the country will what is called +right itself, and then great credit will be given to somebody or +other who deserves none. + + [2] [Right Hon. Frederick John Robinson, Chancellor of the + Exchequer from January 1823 to April 1827; afterwards + Viscount Goderich and Earl of Ripon.] + + +[Page Head: MR. ROBINSON'S SMALL NOTES BILL.] + +February 20th, 1826 {p.079} + +The Small Notes Bill,[3] as it is called, lowered the funds and +increased the alarm among the monied men. Numerous were the +complaints of the inefficacy of the measure for present relief, +numerous the predictions of the ultimate impossibility of +carrying it into effect. In the City, however, on Thursday +afternoon things began to improve; there was more confidence and +cheerfulness. On Friday evening the Chancellor of the Exchequer +comes down to the House and surprises everyone by abandoning one +part of his plan, and authorising the Bank to issue one pound +notes till October. The immediate cause of this alteration was a +communication which Hudson Gurney made to the Chancellor, that if +he persisted in his Bill he should send up £500,000 which he had +in Bank of England notes and change them for sovereigns, and that +all country bankers would follow his example. From this he found +that it would be impossible to persist in his original plan. The +great evil now is a want of circulating medium, and as the +immediate effect of the measure would be another run upon the +Bank, and that probably all the gold drawn from it would +disappear--for men now are anxious to hoard gold--this evil would +be increased tenfold. The whole country is in distress from the +absence of circulating medium for the common purposes of life; no +country banker will issue notes, for they are instantly returned +upon his hands and exchanged for gold. The circulation of country +notes being generally confined within a very limited extent, the +holders of them can easily present them for payment. The +circulation of a quantity of Bank of England paper will relieve +the immediate distress arising from this necessity, and the +difficulty of exchanging them for gold will ensure the continuance +of their circulation. When men find that they must take notes, +and that gold is not to be had without so much pain and trouble, +they will be contented to take the notes to which they have been +accustomed, and will think the paper of their own bankers as +good as that of the Bank of England, besides the advantage of +being less exposed to the losses arising from forgery. This is +the argument of the opponents of Robinson's Bill. It is generally +thought that the Ministers have disgraced themselves by their +precipitation and by the crudeness of their measures. Hitherto +they have done nothing towards removing the present distress, or +satisfying the minds of men, but the contrary. Robinson is +obviously unequal to the present crisis. His mind is not +sufficiently enlarged, nor does he seem to have any distinct +ideas upon the subject; he is fighting in the dark. + + [3] [On the 10th of February the Chancellor of the + Exchequer moved in Committee 'That all promissory notes + payable on demand issued by licensed Bankers in England + or by the Bank of England for less than £5 shall not be + issued or circulated beyond the 5th of April next.' Mr. + Huskisson made an able speech in support of the + proposal, showing that the inflation produced by the + small note paper currency had greatly contributed to + cause and aggravate the panic ('Huskisson's Speeches,' + vol. ii. p. 444). Mr. Baring, afterwards Lord + Ashburton, opposed the restriction of small notes, but + with small success. The period allowed for the + contraction of their circulation was, however, extended + to the 10th of October.] + +Everybody knows that Huskisson is the real author of the finance +measure of Government, and there can be no greater anomaly than +that of a Chancellor of the Exchequer who is obliged to propose +and defend measures of which another Minister is the real though +not the apparent author. The funds rose nearly two per cent, upon +this alteration in the Bill before the House, on account of the +prospect of an abundance of money. Still it is thought that +nothing will be sufficient to relieve the present distress but an +issue of Exchequer bills. So great and absorbing is the interest +which the present discussions excite that all men are become +political economists and financiers, and everybody is obliged to +have an opinion. + + +February 24th, 1826 {p.081} + +I have been since yesterday the spectator of a melancholy scene +and engaged in a sad office. Arthur de Ros,[4] who was taken ill +a fortnight ago, became worse on Monday night. After this time he +was scarcely ever sensible, and yesterday, at a quarter-past two, +he expired. After they had given up all hopes they were induced +again to suffer them to revive from the disappearance of the most +unfavourable symptoms; but this was only the weakness which +preceded dissolution, and a few moments after his brother Henry +had told me that he did not despair he came and said that all was +over, and a little while after Rose announced that he had ceased +to breathe. He died tranquilly, and did not suffer at all. I +never saw such a distress. His father, mother, sisters, William, +and his wife went immediately to Boyle Farm. Henry would have +followed them, but I persuaded him to go home. He went first to +Mrs. ----, to whom Arthur had been attached for ten years, and +after a painful interview with her he came to his own house; he +has since been too ill to move. I have never seen grief so +strong and concentrated as his; it has exhausted his body and +overwhelmed his mind, and though I knew him to have been much +attached to his brother, I did not believe him capable of +feelings so acute as those which he has evinced. William is +much more calm and resigned, a strange, unaccountable thing +considering the characters of the two men--the one so indifferent, +and with feelings so apparently deadened to the affections of +this world, and the other with a sensibility so morbid, and such +acute susceptibility and strong feelings, that the least thing +affects him more deeply than very serious concerns do other men. + + [4] [Colonel the Hon. Arthur John Hill de Ros, born 1793, + died February 1826. He was aide-de-camp to his Royal + Highness the Duke of York.] + +Arthur was an excellent creature, and will be regretted by the +Duke and deeply lamented by all who knew him intimately. His +talents were not brilliant, but he had good sound sense, and was +besides modest, diligent, honest, and trustworthy in a high +degree. There breathed not a more honourable man, and as his +ambition did not extend beyond the sphere in which fortune had +placed him and he was contented with his destiny, but for this +illness his career might have been long and prosperous. I went +last night to sleep at the house, that it might not appear to +have been entirely abandoned to the care of servants. The only +wish he expressed was that Francis Russell should succeed him, +which I have no doubt he will do. + + +February 25th, 1826 {p.082} + +Received a letter from the Duke of York (to whom I had written to +announce poor Arthur's death) expressive of the greatest regret +for his loss. + + +March 2nd, 1826 {p.082} + +I am just come from poor Arthur's funeral. There were present +William de Ros, the two Hills, Craufurd, Torrens, Taylor, Francis +Russell, Campbell, and B. Paget. The Duke appointed Francis his +aide-de-camp directly. + + +[Page Head: ILLNESS OF THE DUKE OF YORK.] + +July 2nd, 1826 {p.083} + +Four months since I have written anything. The Duke of York has +been dangerously ill, and it is still doubtful whether he will +recover. I was with him at Frogmore before Ascot; we went with +the King to see Windsor Castle. His Majesty has since been very +much annoyed about the Duke, cried a great deal when he heard how +bad he was, and has been twice to see him. + +The elections have been particularly violent and the contests +very numerous. A batch of Peers has been made; everybody cries +out against Charles Ellis's peerage[5] (Lord Seaford); he has no +property, and is of no family, and his son is already a Peer. The +King, when these other Peers were created, asked Canning to name +somebody. He said he had nobody about whom he was interested but +Charles Ellis, and the King consenting to his elevation, it was +all arranged without his knowledge. However, it is thought very +ridiculous, and that he would have done much better to have +declined it. Clanricarde, too, being made a Marquis and an +English Peer is thought an indirect exertion of Canning's +influence. + + [5] [Charles Rose Ellis, created Baron Seaford in 1826. + Lord Seaford was the father of Charles Augustus Ellis, + who succeeded to the title of Lord Howard de Walden + through his mother, Elizabeth Catherine Caroline + Hervey, granddaughter of the fourth Earl of Bristol, + who was the last Baron Howard de Walden, as heir + general of Thomas, first Baron. The son of Lord Seaford + had married a daughter of the fifth Duke of Portland, + and was consequently a connection of Mr. Canning.] + + +London, December 14th, 1826 {p.083} + +The Duke of York very ill; has been at the point of death several +times from his legs mortifying. Canning's speech the night before +last was most brilliant; much more cheered by the Opposition than +by his own friends. He is thought to have been imprudent, and he +gave offence to his colleagues by the concluding sentence of his +reply, when he said, '_I_ called into existence the new world to +redress the balance of the old.' The _I_ was not relished. +Brougham's compliment to Canning was magnificent, and he was +loudly cheered by Peel; altogether it was a fine display. + +Yesterday the Duke [of York] told me that the late King [George +III.] was walking with him one day at Kew, and his Majesty said, +'The world tells many lies, and here is one instance. I am said +to have held frequent communication with Lord Bute, and the last +time I ever saw or spoke to him was in that pavilion in the year +1764.' The King went over to breakfast with his mother, the +Princess Dowager, and she took him aside and said, 'There is +somebody here who wishes very much to speak to you.' 'Who is it?' +'Lord Bute.' 'Good God, mamma! how could you bring him here? It +is impossible for me to hold any communication with Lord Bute in +this manner.' However, he did see him, when Lord Bute made a +violent attack upon him for having abandoned and neglected him. +The King replied that he could not, in justice to his Ministers, +hold any communication with him unknown to them, when Lord Bute +said that he would never see the King again. The King became +angry in his turn, and said, 'Then, my Lord, be it so, and +remember from henceforth we never meet again.' And from that day +he never beheld Lord Bute or had any communication with him. + + + 1827. + + +[Page Head: DEATH OF THE DUKE OF YORK.] + +Friday night, January 5th, 1827, half-past one {p.084} + +I am just come from taking my last look at the poor Duke.[6] He +expired at twenty minutes after nine. Since eleven o'clock last +night the physicians never left his room. He never moved, and +they repeatedly thought that life was extinct, but it was not +till that hour that they found it was all over. The Duke of +Sussex and Stephenson were in the next room; Taylor, Torrens and +Dighton, Armstrong and I were upstairs. Armstrong and I had been +there about half an hour when they came and whispered something +to Dighton and called out Taylor. Dighton told Torrens and they +went out; immediately after Taylor came up, and told us it was +all over and begged we would go downstairs. We went directly into +the room. The Duke was sitting exactly as at the moment he died, +in his great arm-chair, dressed in his grey dressing-gown, his +head inclined against the side of the chair, his hands lying +before him, and looking as if he were in a deep and quiet sleep. +Not a vestige of pain was perceptible on his countenance, which, +except being thinner, was exactly such as I have seen it a +hundred times during his life. In fact, he had not suffered at +all, and had expired with all the ease and tranquillity which the +serenity of his countenance betokened. Nothing about or around +him had the semblance of death; it was all like quiet repose, and +it was not without a melancholy satisfaction we saw such evident +signs of the tranquillity of his last moments. + + [6] [His Royal Highness the Duke of York, second son of + King George III., died on the 5th of January, 1827.] + +In about a quarter of an hour Taylor and Halford set off to +Windsor to inform the King; the Duke of Sussex went to the +Princess Sophia; letters were written to all the Cabinet +Ministers, to the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of London, +and the Speaker of the House of Commons. Orders were given that +the great bell of St. Paul's should toll. The servants were then +admitted to see the Duke as he lay. Worley[7] was very much +affected at the sight, and one woman, the wife of Kendal, cried +bitterly, and I saw her stoop down and kiss his hand. The room +was then cleared and surrendered to the Lord Chamberlain's +people. Thus did I take my last leave of the poor Duke. I have +been the minister and associate of his pleasures and amusements +for some years, I have lived in his intimacy and experienced his +kindness, and am glad that I was present at this last sad +occasion to pay my poor tribute of respect and attachment to his +remains. + + [7] [Worley was the Duke's stud-groom.] + +[Page Head: ILLNESS OF THE DUKE OF YORK.] + +After the October meetings of 1825 the Duke came to town, not in +good health. At the end of November the Duchess of Rutland died, +which was a great blow to him, and probably made him worse. A +short time after her funeral he went to Belvoir, when the Duke of +Rutland took him down into the vault, where he stayed an hour and +returned excessively chilled. From that moment he grew worse till +the time of the Ascot races. We went to Frogmore two days before +the party began, and for those two days he led a quiet life. When +the party was assembled he lived as he had been used to do, going +to the races, sitting at table, and playing for hours at whist. +He slept wretchedly and seldom went to bed, but passed the +greater part of the night walking about the room or dozing in his +chair. I used to go into his room, which was next to mine, the +moment I was out of bed, and generally found him in his dressing +gown, looking harassed and ill. He showed me his legs, which were +always swelled. Still he went on till the last day of the party, +and when we got to town he was so ill that M'Gregor, who came to +him that night, thought him in danger. From that moment the +illness was established which has ended in his death. They began +by putting him through several courses of mercury, and they sent +him to the Greenwoods' villa at Brompton. Here he continued to +receive everybody who called on him, and went out in his carriage +every day. They always said that he was getting better. In August +he went to Brighton, and soon after his arrival his legs +mortified. It was then that Taylor went down to him and told him +that he was in great and immediate danger. He received the +information with perfect composure. The gangrene, however, was +stopped, and he came to town to the Duke of Rutland's house. The +dropsy continued to make rapid progress, and some time in +September he was tapped; twenty-two pints of water were drawn. +from him. This operation was kept secret, for the Duke did not +like that his situation should be known. He recovered from the +operation and regained his strength; no more water formed in his +body, but there was still water in his system, and a constant +discharge from his legs, which occasioned him great pain and made +wounds which were always open and extending. These wounds again +produced gangrene, but they always contrived to stop its +progress, and put the legs in a healing condition. As often, +however, as the legs began to heal the water began to rise, and +the medicines that were given to expel the water drove it again +to the legs, through which it made its way, making fresh sores +and entailing fresh mortification. In this way he went on, the +strength of his constitution still supporting him, till towards +the end of December, when the constitution could resist no +longer; his appetite totally failed, and with loss of appetite +came entire prostration of strength, and in short a complete +break-up. From that moment it was obvious that his recovery was +impossible, but he continued to struggle till the 5th of January, +although he had tasted no solid food whatever for above a +fortnight. At all the different periods at which his state was +critical it was always made known to him, and he received the +intimation with invariable firmness and composure. He said that +he enjoyed life but was not afraid to die. But though perfectly +acquainted with his own danger he never could bear that other +people should be informed of it, and so far from acknowledging +it, he always told his friends that he was better, and his +language was invariably that of a man who did not doubt of his +recovery. He was particularly anxious that nobody should know he +had been tapped, and it was not till many weeks after that +operation that he talked of it one day to me. Up to the last +moment that I saw him (the day week before he died) he told me he +was better, and he desired me to tell Montrond, who had called +upon him, that he would see him as soon as he was well enough. He +held the same language to everybody until the day previous to his +death, when he sent for Taylor and Stephenson into his room. He +could then hardly speak, but he took hold of Stephenson's hand, +and looking at Taylor, said, 'I am now dying.' He tried to +articulate something else, but he was unintelligible. About a +fortnight before his death, soon after his appetite began to +fail, Taylor had to announce to him his danger. He received the +intelligence with the same coolness he had before shown, but it +was not without difficulty that he admitted the conviction. A few +days after he received the Sacrament, which was administered by +the Bishop of London, in the presence of Sir H. Halford, Taylor, +and the Princess Sophia. He was then very weak, but calm and +collected during the ceremony. When it was over he shook hands +with the men and kissed the Princess. The King saw him the next +day, but he was in a lethargic state nearly the whole time that +he was there. For many days before his death the physicians +thought that every day must close the scene, but such was the +natural strength of his constitution that he evinced a tenacity +of life and maintained a struggle which astonished them all, and +of which they unanimously declared that their practice had never +furnished them with a similar instance. It seems that three years +ago, when he was very unwell, M'Gregor told him that unless he +was more prudent he would certainly be afflicted with dropsy. He +had been subject to spasms, and in consequence of them was averse +to lie down in bed, and to this pernicious habit and that of +sitting for many hours together at table, or at cards, they +attribute the origin, of the complaint which has terminated so +fatally. Had he been a more docile patient, from the amazing +vigour of his constitution he might have looked forward to a very +long life. His sufferings in the course of his illness have been +very great, and almost without cessation. Nothing could exceed +the patience and courage with which he endured them; his serenity +and good humour were never disturbed, and he never uttered a +word or complaint, except occasionally at the length of his +confinement. He not only saw all the visitors who chose to call +upon him, even those with whom he was not in habits of intimacy, +but he transacted the whole of his public business every day, and +every paper was laid before him and every detail gone through as +if he had been in perfect health. This he continued to within a +few days of his death, till his strength was so entirely +exhausted that he lay in a state of almost complete insensibility. +It is remarkable that from the beginning to the end of his +illness I never saw him that he did not tell me that he was a +great deal better, and he never wrote to me without assuring me +that he was going on as well as possible. + + +[Page Head: FUNERAL OF THE DUKE OF YORK.] + +February 12th, 1827 + +The Duke of York was no sooner dead than the public press began +to attack him, and while those private virtues were not denied +him for which he had always been conspicuous, they enlarged in a +strain of severe invective against his careless and expensive +habits, his addiction to gambling; and above all they raked up +the old story of Mrs. Clark and the investigation of 1809, and +published many of his letters and all the disgusting details of +that unfortunate affair, and that in a manner calculated to throw +discredit on his character. The newspapers, however, soon found +they had made a mistake, that this course was not congenial to +public feeling, and from that moment their columns have been +filled with panegyrics upon his public services and his private +virtues. The King ordered that the funeral should be public and +magnificent; all the details of the ceremonial were arranged by +himself. He showed great feeling about his brother and exceeding +kindness in providing for his servants, whom the Duke was himself +unable to provide for. He gave £6,000 to pay immediate expenses +and took many of the old servants into his own service. There +appeared a few days after the Duke's death an infamous forgery, +purporting to be a letter or declaration written by him a short +time before his death (principally upon the subject of the +Catholic question), which, however, was disavowed by Taylor, but +not till after many thousand copies had been sold. I dare say +many people believe still that he was the author of this +pamphlet. All his effects either have been or will be sold by +auction. The funeral took place a fortnight after his death. +Nothing could be managed worse than it was, and except the +appearance of the soldiers in the chapel, which was extremely +fine, the spectacle was by no means imposing; the cold was +intense, and it is only marvellous that more persons did not +suffer from it. As it is the Bishop of Lincoln has died of the +effects of it; Canning has been dangerously ill, and is still +very unwell; and the Dukes of Wellington and Montrose were both +very seriously unwell for some days after. The King was very +angry when he heard how miserably the ceremony had been +performed. I have been this evening to hear Peel move the address +of condolence to the King, which Canning would have done if he +had been here; and it is a pity he was not, for Peel did it very +ill: it was poor and jejune, and undistinguished by eloquence or +the appearance of deep feeling. I was greatly disappointed, for I +expected to hear a worthier tribute to his merits. Canning was +very anxious to have been here to have performed this duty +himself. The letters which he wrote to the Royal Family abroad +announcing the event of his death were admirable and gave great +satisfaction to the King. + + +February 21st, 1827 {p.090} + +Three days ago Lord Liverpool was seized with an apoplectic or +paralytic attack. The moment it was known every sort of +speculation was afloat as to the probable changes this event +would make in the Ministry. It was remarked how little anybody +appeared to care about the _man_; whether this indifference +reflects most upon the world or upon him, I do not pretend to +say. A report was generally circulated that the Duke of +Cumberland was dead, which was believed, but turns out to be +untrue. + +Old Rundell (of the house of Rundell and Bridge, the great +silversmiths and jewellers) died last week, and appointed Robarts +one of his executors. Robarts called on me this morning, and told +me he had been yesterday to Doctors' Commons to prove the will. +Rundell was eighty years old, and died worth between £1,400,000 +and £1,500,000, the greater part of which is vested in the funds. +He has left the bulk of his property to his great-nephew, a man +of the name of Neal, who is residuary legatee and will inherit +£900,000--this Mr. Neal had taken care of him for the last +fourteen years--to a woman who had lived with him many years, and +in whose house he died, and to two natural sons by her he only +left £5,000 apiece. The old man began the world without a guinea, +became in the course of time partner in that house during its +most flourishing period, and by steady gains and continual +parsimony amassed this enormous wealth. He never spent anything +and lived wretchedly. During the panic he came to Robarts, who +was his banker, and offered to place at his disposal any sum he +might require. When the executors went to prove the will, they +were told at Doctors' Commons that it was the largest sum that +ever had been registered there. + + +March 13th, 1827 {p.091} + +Since the debate on the Catholic question there has been a great +expectation that Canning would resign. Many of his friends think +he made an imprudent speech that night, and if he had not lashed +the Master of the Rolls so severely that he would have got more +votes.[8] The truth is he was mightily nettled by Dr. Philpots' +pamphlet and at Copley making a speech taken entirely from it. +The Master protested that he had no idea of offending Canning, +and until he got up had no notion that Canning had taken offence +at his speech. The question was lost by accident; several +pro-Catholics were suddenly taken ill or arrived too late for the +division, and the election petitions went all against them. + + [8] [Sir John Copley was then Master of the Rolls, but this + occurrence did not prevent Canning from making him Lord + Chancellor on the 2nd of May following, when he was + raised to the peerage with the title of Baron + Lyndhurst.] + + +[Page Head: INTERVIEW WITH GEORGE IV.] + +March 16th, 1827 {p.091} + +On Wednesday at the Council at St. James's the King desired I +would go down to Windsor, that he might speak to me. I went down +on Thursday to the Cottage, and, after waiting two hours and a +half, was ushered into his bedroom. I found him sitting at a +round table near his bed, in a _douillette_, and in pretty good +health and spirits. He talked about his horses and told some old +stories, lamented the death of the Duke of York, which he said +was a loss to him such as no one could conceive, and that he felt +it every instant. He kept me about an hour, was very civil, and +then dismissed me. + +Canning made an apology to the Master of the Rolls for his +severity in the debate on the Catholic question. + + +March 25th, 1827 {p.091} + +When the King heard of Lord Liverpool's illness he was in great +agitation. He sent for Peel in the night, and told him he must +see the Duke of Wellington. Peel endeavoured to dissuade him, but +in vain. The Duke was sent for, but he refused to go. He sent the +King word that he had nothing to say to him, and that it would +not be fair to his colleagues that he should see the King at such +a moment. Consequently he saw none of his Ministers till he saw +Canning, who was taken to the Pavilion in a chair one day. There +have been a variety of reports about Lord Liverpool's successor +and a new Administration, as always happens on such occasions. + +The King is in very good health and excellent spirits. He had a +large party at the Lodge last week, and Canning, the Granvilles, +Carlisles, Lievens, are going there next week. Mount Charles told +me yesterday that next week he thinks something must be decided, +and he told me what I did not know, that the King's opinions on +the Catholic question are just the same as those of the Duke of +York, and equally strong. This is the great difficulty which +Canning has to get over with him. He does not much like Canning, +though C. does everything he can to gratify and please him. Mount +Charles told me that his mother (Lady Conyngham) has strong +opinions in favour of the Catholics, but that she never talks to +the King on the subject, nor indeed upon politics at all. + + +[Page Head: MR. CANNING'S ADMINISTRATION.] + +April 13th, 1827 {p.092} + +The King came to town a week ago. From the moment of his arrival +every hour produced a fresh report about the Administration; +every day the new appointment was expected to be declared, and +the Ministers Peel, Lord Bathurst, Duke of Wellington, and +Canning were successively designated as the persons chosen to +form a Government. He had no sooner arrived than he saw his +Ministers _seriatim_, but nothing could induce him to come to any +determination. He wavered and doubted, and to his confidants, +with whom he could bluster and talk big, he expressed in no +measured terms his detestation of Liberal principles, and +especially of Catholic Emancipation. He begged his Ministers to +stand by him, and day after day elapsed and nothing was settled. +In the meantime London was alive with reports; and the _on dit_ +of the day, repeated with every variety of circumstance and with +the usual positiveness of entire ignorance, would fill a volume. +Time crept on, and Parliament was to adjourn on the 13th (this +day). On the 9th Canning went to the King, and, after a long +audience, he came away without anything being settled. On the +10th he went again, and told his Majesty that longer delay was +impossible, and that he must come to some determination. On the +evening of the 10th we received a note from Lord Bathurst, saying +that the King had desired Canning to form an Administration on +the principles of that of which Lord Liverpool had been at the +head. This was not generally known that evening. Last night it +was said that the Duke of Wellington would not remain in the new +Cabinet, and we heard that Peel had resigned. To-day everything +will probably be known. Canning and his friends say that the King +has behaved admirably in this business, and they affect to +consider his appointment unconditional and unfettered; but this +is by no means the view which the others take of it. The King, +however, has acted in such a way that all his Ministers (except +those whose interest it now is to laud him to the skies) are +disgusted with his doubting, wavering, uncertain conduct, so weak +in action and so intemperate in language. It is now supposed +that he has been influenced by Knighton in coming to this +determination, in which he certainly has acted in a manner quite +at variance with his professions and the whole tenor of his +language. It must be owned, if this is so, that although Canning +has gained his point--has got the power into his hands and is +nominally Prime Minister--no man ever took office under more +humiliating circumstances or was placed in a more difficult and +uncertain situation; indeed, a greater anomaly cannot be +imagined. Canning, disliked by the King, opposed by the +aristocracy and the nation, and unsupported by the Parliament, is +appointed Prime Minister. The King, irresolute and uncertain, is +induced to nominate a man whose principles and opinions he fears +and dislikes by the advice and influence of his physician. The +measure which is of paramount importance Canning cannot carry as +he desires and believes to be necessary; he must form a Cabinet +full of disunion, and he is doubtful what support he can expect +from the old adherents of Government, by whom he is abhorred. + +[Page Head: MR. CANNING'S ADMINISTRATION.] + +The writ was moved for Canning yesterday by Wynne, 'he having +accepted the office of First Commissioner of the Treasury.' This +morning the Chancellor, Peel, Lord Westmoreland, and the Duke of +Wellington resigned. Lord Bathurst immediately wrote to Canning, +saying that, finding they had resigned, he could not avoid +sending in his resignation also; that it was unnecessary to enter +into explanations, which could only tend to widen the breach such +a separation must make. Afterwards Lord Melville resigned, +although well with Canning and a friend to the Catholics; he said +he could not desert the men with whom he had acted for so many +years. The Whigs seem greatly elated at the breaking up of this +Administration. The Tories evidently think Canning is in a +scrape, that he will not be able to form a Government, and that +the power will return into their hands. How Canning and his +friends feel is not yet known, nor what the King feels at being +deserted by half his Cabinet. The opinion prevalent with the +Opposition is that Canning has been deserted by his colleagues, +who induced him to accept the Government by promising their +support and adherence, and that when he had taken the final step +they left him to make the arrangements and fill up their places +as he could. This, however, is not the case. I saw George +Dawson[9] this evening, and he assured me that Canning had +received ample notice from all these Ministers that they would +not hold office under him, and that if he was appointed Prime +Minister they should resign. Peel told him this three weeks ago: +'that he could not, with a due regard to his own character, +continue in office under a man whose opinions are so diametrically +opposite to his own upon the most important question; that he had +no views of personal ambition, but that as the administration of +Ireland was his peculiar province it was impossible they should +not come into constant collision upon that subject.' They had no +objection to act with Canning, always considering him as one of +the most influential members of the Cabinet, but they could not +hold offices _under_ him. He said that he could not imagine how +Canning with his knowledge could take such a step, and it is +evident that he has no idea of his being able to carry on the +Government at all. + + [9] The Right Hon. George Robert Dawson was Secretary of + the Treasury from 1828 to 1830, and was made a Privy + Councillor on resigning that office. He married in 1816 + Mary, the eldest daughter of the first Sir Robert Peel, + and was consequently the brother-in-law of Mr. Peel, + the Minister. + + +April 30th, 1827 {p.095} + +From the period of Canning's acceptance of office up to Thursday +night there have been continual negotiations between Canning and +the Whigs, and it is not possible to imagine greater curiosity +and more intense anxiety than have been exhibited during the +interval. The violence and confusion of parties have been +extreme--the new Ministers furious with their old colleagues, the +ex-Ministers equally indignant with those they left behind them. + + +May 12th, 1827 {p.095} + +It is necessary to go back to the first formation of the +Government.[10] As soon as Canning had got the King's commission +he began to negotiate, and the Whigs readily enough entered into +negotiation. The friends of Ministers resigned one after another, +and for some time it seemed very doubtful whether Canning would +be able to form a Government at all. His first measure was, +however, very judicious--that of appointing the Duke of Clarence +Lord High Admiral--nothing served so much to disconcert his +opponents. The negotiations went on (through the Duke of +Devonshire) up to the end of the Easter recess, when Lord +Lansdowne came to town, and after much delay it was announced +that the Whigs would support the new Government, but that none of +them would take office immediately. The places were all filled +up, but the appointments were understood to be only provisional, +and the Duke of Portland, Lord Dudley, and Sturges Bourne were +considered to hold their offices until Lord Lansdowne, Lord +Carlisle, and Tierney should join the Cabinet. With this +arrangement Parliament met, and the rage which had been +accumulating in the minds of the seceders soon burst forth in a +furious attack on this provisional arrangement. The Whigs have +nearly in a body joined Government, with the exception of Lord +Grey in the House of Lords, who in a speech full of eloquence +attacked Canning's political life and character and announced his +intention of remaining neuter. In the meantime it was understood +that there was a reason for Lord Lansdowne not joining Government +immediately, which was not to be made public till that event took +place, and this secret was only imparted to a very few people; it +was even concealed from Brougham and the leaders of the party. +The secret, however, turns out to be this: Lord Lansdowne +insisted upon modelling the Irish Government as he pleased--that +is, in putting a Lord-Lieutenant, a Chancellor, and a Secretary +there favourable to the Catholic claims, to which the King would +not consent. Canning entreated Lord Lansdowne to have patience, +to allow time to elapse, during which the King's scruples might +be removed, and promised that every endeavour should be made to +reconcile the King to the arrangement Lord Lansdowne desired. +After much discussion it was resolved that Lord Lansdowne should +support Government, but that he should not take office until this +point was settled; and so the matter has remained. + + [10] [The Cabinet formed by Mr. Canning was thus + constituted:-- + Mr. Canning, First Lord of the Treasury and + Chancellor of the Exchequer. + Lord Lyndhurst, Lord High Chancellor. + Earl of Harrowby, Lord President of the Council. + Duke of Portland, Lord Privy Seal, and afterwards the + Earl of Carlisle. + Lord Dudley, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. + Lord Goderich, Secretary of State for Colonial + Affairs and War. + Mr. Sturges Bourne, Secretary of State for the Home + Department (this office was shortly afterwards + transferred to the Marquis of Lansdowne) + Mr. Huskisson, President of the Board of Trade. + Mr. Wynn, President of the Board of Control. + Lord Bexley, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. + Mr. Tierney, Master of the Mint. + The Duke of Clarence was named Lord High Admiral. + The Office of Commander-in-Chief remained vacant + during the Administration of Mr. Canning. This + Administration lasted ninety-eight days, until the + death of Mr. Canning.] + + +[Page Head: MR. CANNING'S ADMINISTRATION.] + +June 3rd, 1827 {p.096} + +Soon after writing this Lord Lansdowne came into the Cabinet, +together with Tierney and Lord Carlisle, M'Donald and Abercromby +also taking places. They found so many objections to the +unsettled state of the Cabinet, and the provisional arrangements +had brought so much odium and ridicule upon the Government, that +it was thought necessary to settle this matter without loss of +time, but Lord Lansdowne would not consent to take the Home +Office except upon the conditions on which he had before +insisted. He therefore came into the Cabinet without a place. But +it is quite evident that the present state of affairs is far from +satisfactory; the Government is not established on a firm or +secure basis, and the members of it are not altogether satisfied +with each other or themselves. Lord Lansdowne particularly does +not feel comfortable where he is, and does not think that he has +been well treated by his own friends. It seems that when first +overtures were made to him by Canning he called a meeting of his +friends at Lansdowne House, at which he declared his own +sentiments and the conditions on which he would join the +Government. The persons there assembled unanimously agreed with +him, but a few days after a meeting was called at Brooks's which +was more numerously attended, and there certain resolutions were +agreed upon which were not in conformity with the opinions +expressed in Lansdowne House, and these resolutions were +communicated to Canning as the sentiments of the great body of +the Whigs, but without the same being imparted to Lord Lansdowne, +who was then at Bowood (this fact I had last night from +Duncannon[11] and Hobhouse[12]). Matters, however, went on +quietly enough till the other night, when the Government was beat +in the House of Lords upon the clause in the Corn Bill, and this +defeat it is obvious has enraged and embarrassed them to the +greatest degree.[13] Duncannon, who is entirely in the confidence +of the moderate Whig party, says that it is impossible the thing +can go on in this way; three Lords in the King's household +(Errol, Macclesfield, and Delawarr) voted against the Bill, and +if they are not dismissed it will be such a proof of the +feebleness of Government as will disgust all the Whigs and make +their support very lukewarm.[14] Burdett, who was more active and +zealous than anybody in bringing about the Coalition, is very +much disgusted already, and there appears altogether such a want +of confidence and unanimity among them as must lead to the +dissolution of the Government unless Canning can by some vigorous +measures establish his credit and convince the world of his +strength. In Ireland the Chancellor[15] has refused to put the +Great Seal to the appointment of Doherty as Solicitor-General. It +is supposed that he will take this occasion to resign, and it +will then be seen what part the King will take in the nomination +of his successor. The King sees numbers of people, talks +incessantly, and does nothing. Canning was with him yesterday +evening, and the result of his audience will be very interesting, +because it will appear whether he has insisted upon, and the King +consented to, the dismissal of the refractory Lords, as well as +what he will do about the Irish Chancellor. Government are +indignant with the Duke of Wellington and the other ex-Ministers +for opposing the Corn Bill, which they had been themselves (when +in office) instrumental in framing, as well as for the use which +the Duke made of Huskisson's letter. + + [11] [John William, Viscount Duncannon, afterwards fourth + Earl of Bessborough.] + + [12] [Mr. John Cam Hobhouse, M.P. for Westminster, + afterwards Sir John C. Hobhouse, Bart., raised to the + peerage in 1851 by the title of Baron Broughton de + Giffard.] + + [13] [It was with reference to this defeat that Canning said + soon afterwards in the House of Commons that 'the Duke + of Wellington had been made the instrument of others + for their own particular views,' and he pledged himself + to bring in another Corn Bill in the following session. + But these were almost the last words uttered by Canning + in Parliament.] + + [14] [Lord Delawarr resigned of his own accord, Lord Errol + was obliged to resign, and Lord Macclesfield came over + and voted with Government on the second reading of the + Corn Bill.] + + [15] [Lord Manners was still Lord Chancellor of Ireland, as + he had been since 1807. Mr. Doherty was made + Solicitor-General for Ireland on the 18th of June.] + + +[Page Head: THE ROYAL LODGE.] + +June 17th, 1827 {p.098} + +I was at the Royal Lodge for one night last Wednesday; about +thirty people sat down to dinner, and the company was changed +nearly every day. It is a delightful place to live in, but the +rooms are too low and too small for very large parties. Nothing +can exceed the luxury of the internal arrangements; the King was +very well and in excellent spirits, but very weak in his knees +and could not walk without difficulty. The evening passed off +tolerably, owing to the Tyrolese, whom Esterhazy brought down to +amuse the King, and he was so pleased with them that he made them +sing and dance before him the whole evening; the women kissed his +face and the men his hand, and he talked to them in German. +Though this evening went off well enough, it is clear that +nothing would be more insupportable than to live at this Court; +the dulness must be excessive, and the people who compose his +habitual society are the most insipid and uninteresting that can +be found. As for Lady Conyngham, she looks bored to death, and +she never speaks, never appears to have one word to say to the +King, who, however, talks himself without ceasing. Canning came +the day I went away, and was very well received by his Majesty; +he looked dreadfully ill. The only thing which interested me was +the account I heard from Francis Conyngham about Knighton. He is +seldom there, and when he comes scarcely stays above a night or +two. But he governs everything about the house, and cannot endure +anybody who is likely to dispute his empire. The King certainly +does not like him, is always happier when he is away, and never +presses him to stay or to return. When he is there he has +constant access to the King at all times and whenever he pleases. +He is on bad terms with Mount Charles, he bullies Lord Conyngham, +and he is barely civil to Lady C.; he knows that Mount Charles is +independent of him, and that the King likes him and admits him +continually and familiarly to his presence, and of this it seems +that he is jealous. I was more struck with one word which dropped +from him than with all he told me of Sir W. Knighton. While the +Tyrolese were dancing and singing, and there was a sort of gay +uproar going on, with which the King was greatly delighted, he +said, 'I would give ten guineas to see Knighton walk into the +room now,' as if it were some master who was absent, and who +should suddenly return and find his family and servants +merrymaking in his absence; it indicates a strange sort of power +possessed by him. + +[Page Head: HOSTILITY OF LORD GREY.] + +The King was very civil to the Duke of Dorset, and repeatedly +told him that what had passed would make no difference in their +private friendship. In the meantime the Corn Bill has been thrown +out, and I think political animosities are full as strong as +ever, though they have taken rather a sulky than a violent tone. +I had a long conversation with Duncannon yesterday, who is fully +possessed of the sentiments of all the Whigs, and by what he says +it is clear that they are extremely dissatisfied; they want +Canning to display his power by some signal act of authority, and +to show that he is really supported cordially by the King. The +opposite party are persuaded that the King is secretly inclined +to them and averse to his present Government, and this opinion +obtains more or less with the public in consequence of the +impunity with which Canning has been braved by the Chancellor in +Ireland. The appointment of Doherty as Solicitor-General has +never yet passed the Great Seal, and Lord Manners refuses to +sanction it; he has likewise refused to put Sir Patrick Bellew (a +Catholic) in the Commission of the Peace, though he is a +respectable man and he has been strongly pressed to do it even by +Protestants. This refusal so disgusted Duncannon that he was very +near withdrawing his name from the Commission, and if he had his +example would have been followed by many others, but Lord Spencer +dissuaded him from doing so. Lord Grey is in such a state of +irritation that he will hardly speak to any of his old friends, +and he declares that he will never set his foot in Brooks's +again. All this is the more extraordinary, and the vivacity of +his temper the more unaccountable, because he has constantly +declined taking an active part in politics when invited to do so +for a long time past; and whenever Duncannon has asked his advice +or consulted his opinions or wishes, he has invariably referred +him to Lord Lansdowne as the person whom his friends were to look +upon as their leader, asserting that he had withdrawn himself +from public life and would have no more concern with politics. +More than this, when first overtures were made by Canning to the +Whigs, it was the unanimous opinion of all those who have since +joined the Government that Lord Lansdowne and his friends could +not join an Administration of which Peel was to be a member (for +at that time the resignation of Peel was not contemplated as a +probable event), and this opinion was warmly combated by Lord +Grey, who contended that there was no reason why they should not +coalesce with Canning and Peel. What induced him to alter his +opinion so decidedly and to become so bitter an enemy to the +present arrangements does not appear, unless it is to be +attributed to a feeling of pique and resentment at not having +been more consulted, or that overtures were not made to himself. +The pretext he took for declaring himself was the appointment of +Copley to be Chancellor, when he said that it was impossible to +support a Government which had made such an appointment. + + +July 5th, 1827 {p.101} + +The session is over, and has been short but violent enough. There +is apparently a majority against the Ministry in the House of +Lords, though they seem safe in the House of Commons. All depends +upon Canning's prudence and firmness during the recess. As to the +King, he seems desirous of living a quiet life and disposing of +all patronage; public measures and public men are equally +indifferent to him. The Duke of Wellington, who knows him well, +says he does not care a farthing about the Catholic question, but +he does not like to depart from the example of his father and the +Duke of York, to which they owed so much of their popularity. His +conduct is entirely influenced by selfish considerations, and he +neither knows nor cares what measures the exigencies of the +country demand. The present state of parties is so extraordinary +that it cannot last, and it remains to be seen whether Lord Grey +and the other Whigs will reunite themselves to the main body and +support Canning's Government, or whether they will join with the +Tories in their efforts to overturn it. Lord Grey's temper, +irritated by the attacks which have been made on him, seems +likely to urge him to the latter alternative. + + +July 25th, 1827 {p.102} + +Canning is gone to Chiswick, where he has had the lumbago, and +could not go to the Council last week. He is very unwell, and in +a very precarious state, I think. I was at the Council last +Monday week; it was held for the appointment of Lords Lansdowne +and Carlisle, Lord Lansdowne having consented to take the Home +Office, and Lord Carlisle the Privy Seal; the only Cabinet +Ministers present were the four who changed places. It was the +first time the King had given Lord Lansdowne an audience, but I +believe he was very civil to him. The King gave him an account of +the Duke of Buckingham's visit to him (from Dropmore), the result +of which was that he sent his proxy to Lord Goderich, but not +with a good grace. + +The Duke of Wellington has been to the Lodge, and great is the +speculation thereupon.[16] It is fiercely debated whether he went +by invitation or not, and how long he stayed. He was only with +the King twenty minutes, for so Prince Leopold, who was there, +told Lambton, who told me. I don't know if he was invited or no. +The King has taken from Prince Leopold the plate that was given, +or, as they now say, lent to him, on his marriage. The Chamberlain +sent to Sir E. Gardiner for it in the Prince's absence, and he +refused to give it up without his Royal Highness's orders, but +the Prince, as soon as he heard of it, ordered it to be sent to +the Chamberlain. + + [16] [The causes and consequences of this visit, which was + by invitation from the King, are related in the Duke of + Wellington's 'Correspondence,' New Series, vol. iv. + p. 63 _et seq_.] + +The Irish Chancellor has given way about Doherty's appointment, +and put the Great Seal to it before his own resignation. He did +it with a good grace, Lord Lansdowne told me. + +We went all over the Castle the other day; his Majesty will not +let anybody see it now. I don't think enough is effected for the +enormous sums expended, though it is a fine and will be a good +house; still, how far (as a palace) from Versailles, St. Cloud, +and the other palaces in France! The external terrace has spoilt +the old one, and is altogether a frightful excrescence, and +should never have been made. + + +[Page Head: DEATH OF CANNING.] + +August 9th, 1827 {p.103} + +Canning died yesterday morning at four o'clock. His danger was +only announced on Sunday night, though it had existed from the +preceding Wednesday. When he saw the King on Monday his Majesty +told him he looked very ill, and he replied that 'he did not know +what was the matter with him, but that he was ill all over.' +Nothing could exceed the consternation caused by the announcement +of his danger and the despair of his colleagues. From the first +there was no hope. He was aware of his danger, and said, 'It is +hard upon the King to have to fight the battle over again.' The +Cabinet met on Monday, and great unanimity prevailed among them. +They all agreed to stand by each other in the event of his death. +As soon as it happened Lord Lansdowne went down to Windsor and +saw the King. His Majesty spoke with great affection of Canning, +and said something of the difficulties in which he was again +involved. Lord L. replied that he had come down, as it was his +official duty to do, to announce to him the event; that nothing +could be further from his wish or intention than to elicit from +him any opinion as to the future, and he begged his Majesty would +not say one word upon that subject. The King said that the first +thing he should do would be to show every mark of respect to the +memory and attachment to the person of Canning, and that he +should therefore send for those of his Ministers who had been the +most closely connected with him in public and private life. He +sent immediately for Lord Goderich and Sturges Bourne, who went +down to him when Lord Lansdowne returned. + +Yesterday I saw some letters from Mr. Arbuthnot[17] (Gosh) giving +an account of the break-up of the old Government, and of the +reasons by which they had been influenced in resigning. They were +three in number, very violent and indignant, defending the Duke +and attacking Canning, but they contained little more than has +since appeared and been made public. The only fact that appeared +to me of consequence was this: that Peel, though he had resigned +on different grounds, was indignant at the way in which the Duke +had been treated, and was resolved never to take office till full +reparation had been made to him; that Lord Bathurst had begged +Gosh (Mr. Arbuthnot) not to mention this, as it might do harm. +The next letter was a long tirade with a great deal of wrath and +indignation, such as might be expected. He says that they knew +Canning was negotiating with the Whigs while he was pretending +that he wished the old Government to go on; and that in the +course of the negotiation with his old colleagues he offered +Peel, if he would stay with him, to recall the pro-Catholic +Lord-Lieutenant and send a Protestant. Peel wanted the Duke to +give up the army and take the Treasury, which he would not hear +of. He was miserable at the idea, and opposed it so strongly that +they could not press it upon him. However, the Peers--meaning all +the Lords who had made such a stir--applied to the Duke to put +himself at the head of the Government, but he hardly sent an +answer to their application--he would not hear of it. + + [17] [Right Hon. Charles Arbuthnot, the most confidential + friend of the Duke of Wellington, with whom he lived. + He was known in society by the nickname of 'Gosh,' by + which he is frequently described in these Journals.] + +[Page Head: ANECDOTES OF CANNING.] + +I may here introduce some anecdotes of Canning told me by Lord +George Bentinck, his private secretary:-- + +Some time after they had been in office (after Lord Londonderry's +death) they found in a drawer, which apparently had been +forgotten or overlooked, some papers, which were despatches and +copies of correspondence between Lord Castlereagh and Lord +Stewart. These despatches were very curious, and more particularly +so after his attack last year on Canning for misappropriating the +secret service money, for they gave an account of his own +employment of the secret service money in getting Italian +witnesses for the Queen's trial. There was likewise an account of +the discovery Stewart had made of the treachery of an office +messenger, who had for a long time carried all his despatches to +Metternich before he took them to England, and Lord Stewart says, +'I tremble when I think of the risk which my despatches have +incurred of coming before the House of Commons, as there were +letters of Lord Londonderry's written expressly "to throw dust in +the eyes of the Parliament."' These were his own expressions, and +he said, 'You will understand this and know what to say to +Metternich.' In fact, while Lord Castlereagh was obliged to +pretend to disapprove of the Continental system of the Holy +Alliance he secretly gave Metternich every assurance of his +private concurrence, and it was not till long after Mr. Canning's +accession that Metternich could be persuaded of his sincerity in +opposing their views, always fancying that he was obliged to act +a part as his predecessor had done to keep the House of Commons +quiet. + +From the moment Mr. Canning came into the Cabinet he laboured to +accomplish the recognition of the South American Republics, but +all the Cabinet were against him except Lord Liverpool, and the +King would not hear of it. The King was supported in his +opposition by the Duke of Wellington and by Lieven and Esterhazy, +whom he used to have with him; and to them he inveighed against +Canning for pressing this measure. The Duke of Wellington and +those Ambassadors persuaded his Majesty that if he consented it +would produce a quarrel between him and his allies, and involve +him in inextricable difficulties. Canning, who knew all this, +wrote to Mrs. Canning in terms of great bitterness, and said if +the King did not take care he would not let him see these +Ambassadors except in his presence, and added, 'I can tell his +Majesty that his father would never have acted in such a manner.' +At length after a long contest, in the course of which Peel came +round to him, he resolved to carry the measure or resign. After a +battle in the Cabinet which lasted three hours, and from which he +came heated, exhausted, and indignant, he prepared a memorial to +the King, and Lord Liverpool another, in which they tendered +their resignations, alleging at length their reasons, and this +they submitted to the Cabinet the following day. When their +colleagues found they were in earnest they unanimously surrendered, +and agreed upon a declaration to the King that they would all +resign unless the measure was adopted. This communication was +made to his Majesty by the Duke of Wellington, who told him that +he found Canning was in earnest, and that the Government could +not go on without him, and he must give way. The King accordingly +gave way, but with a very ill grace.[18] When he saw Canning he +received him very ill, and in a letter to him signifying his +assent to the measure he said that it must be his business to +have it carried into effect in the best way it would admit of. +Canning took fire at the ungracious tone of the letter, and wrote +for answer that he feared he was not honoured with that +confidence which it was necessary that the King should have in +his Ministers, and that his Majesty had better dismiss him at +once. The King sent no answer, but a gracious message, assuring +him he had mistaken his letter, and desiring he would come to the +Cottage, when he received him very well. From that time he grew +in favour, for when the King found that none of the evils +predicted of this measure had come to pass, and how it raised the +reputation of his Minister, he liked it very well, and Canning +dexterously gave him all the praise of it, so that he soon +fancied it had originated with himself, and became equally +satisfied with himself and with Canning. + + [18] [The memorial of Mr. Canning on this subject, the + counter-opinions of the Duke of Wellington, and the + King's minute upon them have been published in the + second volume of the New Series of the 'Duke of + Wellington's Correspondence,' pp. 354, 364, and 402.] + +Canning concealed nothing from Mrs. Canning, nor from Charles +Ellis. When absent from Mrs. C. he wrote everything to her in the +greatest detail. Canning's industry was such that he never left a +moment unemployed, and such was the clearness of his head that he +could address himself almost at the same time to several +different subjects with perfect precision and without the least +embarrassment. He wrote very fast, but not fast enough for his +mind, composing much quicker than he could commit his ideas to +paper. He could not bear to dictate, because nobody could write +fast enough for him; but on one occasion, when he had the gout in +his hand and could not write, he stood by the fire and dictated +at the same time a despatch on Greek affairs to George Bentinck +and one on South American politics to Howard de Walden, each +writing as fast as he could, while he turned from one to the +other without hesitation or embarrassment. + + +August 10th, 1827 {p.107} + +The Cabinet sat yesterday morning and again at night. It is +generally believed that Lord Goderich will succeed Canning at the +Treasury, and Lord Lansdowne has no objection to serve under him. +The Tories were full of hope and joy at first, but in proportion +as they were elated at first so were they dejected yesterday, +when they found that the King sent for Lord Goderich and not for +the Duke of Wellington. He never seems to have thought of the +Duke at all. It will all be out to-day or to-morrow. The Tories +may now give the King up. They have taken leave of office, except +Peel, who will come in some day or other. + +[They remained out of office five months. What a prophecy!-- +_January 28th, 1828_.] + +[Page Head: WELLINGTON'S OPINION OF CANNING.] + +The Duke of Wellington talked of Canning the other day a great +deal at my mother's. He said his talents were astonishing, his +compositions admirable, that he possessed the art of saying +exactly what was necessary and passing over those topics on which +it was not advisable to touch, his fertility and resources +inexhaustible. He thought him the finest speaker he had ever +heard; though he prided himself extremely upon his compositions, +he would patiently endure any criticisms upon such papers as he +submitted for the consideration of the Cabinet, and would allow +them to be altered in any way that was suggested; he (the Duke) +particularly had often 'cut and hacked' his papers, and Canning +never made the least objection, but was always ready to adopt the +suggestions of his colleagues. It was not so, however, in +conversation and discussion. Any difference of opinion or dissent +from his views threw him into ungovernable rage, and on such +occasions he flew out with a violence which, the Duke said, had +often compelled him to be silent that he might not be involved in +bitter personal altercation. He said that Canning was usually +very silent in the Cabinet, seldom spoke at all, but when he did +he maintained his opinions with extraordinary tenacity. He said +that he was one of the idlest of men. This I do not believe, for +I have always heard that he saw everything and did everything +himself. Not a despatch was received that he did not read, nor +one written that he did not dictate or correct. + + +[Page Head: COUNCIL AT WINDSOR.] + +August 20th, 1827 {p.108} + +There was a Council at Windsor Castle on Friday last, which was a +very curious scene. What I saw puzzled me very much till matters +have since been explained to me. + +On Tuesday morning Drummond, Lord Goderich's private secretary, +came to me at my office and told me the Council would be held on +Friday, and that Herries was to be appointed Chancellor of the +Exchequer and was going down that day with Lord Goderich to +Windsor. Accordingly when I arrived at the Castle I found Herries +in the room, and I asked him if he was to take an oath as +Chancellor of the Exchequer, because there was none in the +oath-book for Chancellor, but one for the Treasurer of the +Exchequer, and whether he was to take that. He said he did not +know, upon which I asked Wynn if he knew. He did not; when we all +agreed to wait till Lord Bexley came,[19] and enquire of him what +he had done. When Lord Bexley arrived we asked him, and he said +that Herries would only be sworn then as a Privy Councillor, and +must take the oath of Chancellor of Exchequer in the Court of +Exchequer. Shortly after we walked round the Castle, and some +conversation occurring about the elevation of the Round Tower, +which Wyattville was anxious to accomplish, Herries said to him, +'But it is my business now to ask you what you will do it for, +how much it will cost. Will you do it for £10,000?' Wyattville +said, 'You must give me £15,000,' so that I could have no doubt +that Herries was Chancellor of the Exchequer. In the meantime all +the Ministers arrived, the whole Cabinet being present except the +Chancellor and Lord Anglesey, who arrived afterwards. As soon as +Lord Goderich and Lord Lansdowne were come they retired into the +next room and had a long conference. Shortly afterwards the King +came, when Lord Goderich went into his room. He stayed some time, +when the Duke of Portland went in, then Herries. When Lord +Goderich came out he had another conference with Lord Lansdowne, +at the end of which he went again to the King. He came out, and +at the end of three-quarters of an hour went a third time, and +after him Herries a second time, and with him Lord Bexley. +Another very animated conversation took place between Lord +Lansdowne and Lord Goderich, when the latter went to the King a +fourth time, and after him Lord Lansdowne, Goderich whispering +something to him as he went in. Previous to this I remarked a +conference between Lord Lansdowne, Goderich, and Carlisle, after +which Carlisle took Tierney into the next room, evidently +communicating what had passed. Something was clearly going on, +but I could not make out what. I fancied that Lord Lansdowne +insisted upon Lord Holland's being in the Cabinet. Yesterday, +however, I discovered that it was all about Herries and his +appointment. The appointment was the King's, with whom Herries +had ingratiated himself by transacting some of his pecuniary +business, and getting odds and ends for him out of _droits_, &c. +The King then named him, and Goderich made no objection. Herries +came to Windsor, not doubting but that he was to receive the +seals, which in fact Goderich brought down with him on purpose. +Lord Lansdowne, however, declared that he would not consent to +the appointment, and hence arose all the conferences and +audiences for which I could not account at the time. The Whigs +dislike Herries' politics, and still more do they object to the +King taking upon himself to nominate the members of the +Government without consulting his Ministers. They are determined +to resist this nomination, and the consequence of Lord Lansdowne's +remonstrance was the suspension at least of the appointment. Such +is the state of affairs, and not a very agreeable state +certainly. + + [19] [Lord Bexley as Mr. Vansittart had been Chancellor of + the Exchequer, from 1812 to 1823.] + +The Whigs are satisfied of the candour, fairness, and plain +dealing of Goderich, but dissatisfied with his facility and want +of firmness. The King is grasping at power and patronage, and +wants to take advantage of the weakness of the Government and +their apparent dependence upon him to exercise all the authority +which ought to belong to the Ministers. The Whigs are not easy in +their places. They feel that they are not treated with the +consideration to which they are entitled. But they have got too +far to recede, and they evidently are alarmed lest, if they +exasperate the King, he should accept their resignation and form +a Government by a junta of the old Tories with the rest of his +Administration, by which their exclusion would be made certain +and perpetual. I find that the Duke of Portland was likewise +named by the King himself. They do not object to the Duke, on the +contrary, but they object greatly to his being so appointed. All +this I have from Tierney, who added, if the Duke had been +proposed to the King by Lord Goderich, not a member of the +Cabinet would have objected, but they don't like his being named +by the King. At the end of the Council, on Friday, Lord Anglesey +arrived, having travelled day and night, and brought with him the +Duke of Wellington's acceptance of the command of the army. +Altogether it was a day of unusual interest, and unlike the +dulness of ordinary Councils. + + +[Page Head: MR. HERRIES' APPOINTMENT.] + +September 1st, 1827 {p.110} + +Since the Council on the 17th the affair of Herries has still +been going on. It appears that when Goderich went into the King +(at the Council) to announce to him the objection that had been +raised, his Majesty was very angry, angry at having been so +committed and at being obliged to give up a nomination he liked. +Herries naturally felt himself very ill treated and nettled by +the attacks upon him in the newspapers. He has ever since +insisted upon being admitted to the Cabinet as the only thing +which could afford due reparation to his honour, and prove that +he had not been rejected for the reasons which had been assigned. +This the Ministers opposed, and it was at length determined that +this matter should rest till Huskisson's return. Huskisson agreed +with his colleagues about Herries, went to the King, and spoke to +him openly and firmly on the subject. The King consented that +another arrangement should be made; the one proposed was, that +Sturges Bourne should be Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Herries +take the Woods and Forests without a seat in the Cabinet. +Herries, who had constantly refused to accede to any arrangement +by which he was to be excluded from the Cabinet, said he would +consider of it; but in the meantime Sturges took fright, and +refused to take the Exchequer. In vain Huskisson offered to take +all the trouble on himself, and they all tried to persuade +Sturges. He would not do it, and so this arrangement fell to the +ground. They went again to the King yesterday to report progress +and state to him what had occurred. When they came back +(Goderich, Huskisson, Sturges, Herries, and the Chancellor) +Goderich wrote a long letter to Lord Lansdowne, and he is to go +to the King again this evening. + +I had a long conversation with Tierney yesterday, and I find that +the Whig Ministers are sick to death of their situation and +anxious to resign. They think they are not treated with the +consideration which is due to them whether as individuals or as +the representatives of a great party who are supporting the +Government. Then they think Goderich has behaved so ill in this +affair that they can have no confidence in him. They believe so +much in the integrity of his character that they do not suspect +him of any duplicity in what has passed, but his conduct has been +marked by such deplorable weakness as shows how unfit he is for +the situation he occupies. He has acted equally ill to the King, +to his colleagues, and to Herries himself. The history of the +transaction is this:--While Goderich was Chancellor of the +Exchequer Herries was the man upon whose assistance he relied to +carry on the business of his office, and who in fact did it all +for him. As soon as he was at the head of the Treasury he +felt that Herries would be equally necessary to him, and he +accordingly pressed him to take the office of Chancellor of the +Exchequer, which Herries declined. After repeated solicitations, +Herries told him that he had no objection to belong to his +Government, and that he would take the office of Vice-President +of the Board of Trade, and do all his Treasury business for him +(this is the account of Herries' friends, which seems to me +somewhat doubtful), though he did not wish to be in the Cabinet. +At last, however, Goderich prevailed on Herries to let him +propose him to the King, which was done. The appointment was +particularly agreeable to the King, who wrote a letter with his +own hand to Herries, desiring him to take the place. When +Goderich returned to town, with this letter in his pocket, he +went (before he delivered it) to the Cabinet, and then mentioning +Herries, without saying what had passed, he found that the +Cabinet would not approve of the appointment, on which he went to +Herries, and said that he found that it would not do, and begged +him to allow his appointment to be cancelled. Herries told him +that he had never desired it, and was quite ready to give it up. +As soon as Herries had agreed to give it up Goderich pulls out of +his pocket the King's letter, and says, 'By-the-by, here is a +letter which I ought to have given you before.' When Herries had +read this letter he said, 'This puts me quite in another +situation, and though I am still ready to give up being +Chancellor of the Exchequer, I must have my conduct explained to +the King, and you must take me down to Windsor to-morrow for that +purpose.' This Goderich refused to do, when Herries said he +should go down by himself. He did so, and then passed all which I +have described above in the account of the Council on the 19th. I +ought to have mentioned, as not the least curious circumstance of +the Council, that in the middle of it the King sent for Sir +William Knighton, who was closeted with him for an hour. I see +this account is not altogether the same as the preceding, a proof +of the inaccuracy of anecdotes and historical facts whenever they +differ. This is the true one. + +Henry de Ros told me that he saw George Dawson, Peel's +brother-in-law, at Brighton, who told him that he believed there +was nobody the King was more exasperated against than Peel, and +for this reason:--When the late Government (Canning's) was +forming, Peel went to the King, and in reply to his desire that +he should form a part of it told him he could not continue in any +Government the head of which was a supporter of Catholic +Emancipation. The King proposed to him to remain, with a secret +pledge and promise from him that the question should not be +carried. This of course Peel refused, and the King, who construed +his rejection of the disgraceful proposal as conveying a doubt of +his word, dismissed him with much resentment. + + +[Page Head: LORD LANSDOWNE AND THE KING.] + +September 15th, 1827 + +Taking up the account from where I left off, Goderich went to the +King, and it was settled Herries was to be Chancellor of the +Exchequer. He returned and wrote to Lord Lansdowne entreating him +to acquiesce. Lord Lansdowne went to the King, and the result of +his interview was that he retained office together with his +friends. He wrote a letter to one of them, which he intended +might be communicated to others, giving an account of his conduct +and motives. I saw this letter. He said the King received him +very well and spared no entreaties to him to keep office. The +King said that he was most anxious the present Government should +continue on every account, but more particularly on account of +what was now passing on the Continent; that Lord Lansdowne's +holding office was indispensable for this object, and he asked +him in his own name and for the sake of the country not to +resign; that what had occurred had arisen out of a series of +blunders which, 'let me say,' he added, 'were neither yours nor +mine.' Lord Lansdowne said it was put to him in such a way that +he could not do otherwise; that he had insisted with Goderich +that Stanley and Mackintosh[20] should be employed. This was the +pith of his letter. I have been with Huskisson for a week in the +country; he is in good health and excellent spirits. Capo +d'Istria was there, going to Greece. Huskisson told me he wanted +money. He owned to me that he considered Greece as a great +humbug. I discovered from what he said that they only interfered +that they might keep the Russians quiet and prevent a war between +Russia and Turkey. The Sultan had announced his intention of +sending any Minister to the Seven Towers who should communicate +the treaty to him.[21] Everything is now quiet for the moment, +and will probably continue so till the meeting of Parliament. + + [20] [Mr Stanley, afterwards Earl of Derby, had taken office + under Mr. Canning, and was Under-Secretary of State for + the Colonies from April 1827 till January 1828. Lord + Lansdowne must have recommended him for a higher + office.] + + [21] [The Treaty of London for the Settlement of the Affairs + of Greece was signed by England, France, and Russia on + the 7th of July, 1827. It was of course received with + indignation by the Porte, and led three months + afterwards to the battle of Navarino, which was fought + on the 20th of October.] + + +December 13th, 1827 {p.114} + +Three months have passed since the above was written. I went to +Doncaster and Chatsworth, then to Newmarket, and returned to town +the middle of last month. The battle of Navarino has been fought, +and after three weeks' expectation we know very little about the +matter. The strong part of the Cabinet, with Huskisson at the +head, are for letting things take their course, and for suffering +Russia to go to war with Turkey, and leaving it to her to enforce +the articles of the Treaty of London. The plan is that Russia +should occupy Moldavia and Wallachia; that the terms should then +be offered to the Sultan, and that on his yielding the Greek +independence these provinces should be evacuated by the Russians; +this is what they propose that our mediation shall effect. In the +meantime the Ministers are uneasy about the approaching meeting +of Parliament. They anticipate a violent opposition in the House +of Lords; they are by no means sure of a majority in that House, +and there is not one among them who has spirit and character +enough to face it. Lord Dudley is terrified to the greatest +degree at the notion of being attacked by Lord Grey. Then, though +they are not disunited, they derive no strength from mutual +co-operation and support, and the tone which the King has assumed, +and the peremptory manner in which he has claimed the disposal of +every sort of patronage, is both a proof of the weakness of +Government, a source of discord among themselves, and the cause +of distrust mixed with contempt on the part of many of their +friends. The King and the Duke of Clarence made the promotions +and dispensed the honours after the battle of Navarino without +consulting the Ministers. The King gave Sumner the Bishopric of +Winchester in the same way,[22] and there is a very general +opinion that the Cabinet is weak, that they do not act together +with cordiality, that they have neither energy nor authority, and +are not likely to keep their places. It has been currently +reported that they would willingly have censured Codrington, and +have thrown the responsibility of the battle from their own +shoulders upon his, if they had dared, but that they were +prevented by the precipitate approbation expressed by the King. +These things are greatly exaggerated, but are not without +foundation. + + [22] [_Vide supra_, p. 45, when Lord Liverpool caused the + nomination of Mr. Sumner to a canonry of Windsor to be + cancelled, because he had not been consulted. The King + took the earliest opportunity of appointing him to the + See of Llandaff, whence he was soon afterwards + translated to that of Winchester. He died in 1874.] + + +[Page Head: LORD GODERICH'S RESIGNATION.] + +December 15th, 1827 + +The Ministry is at an end. Goderich resigned either by letter to +the King yesterday or at the Council on Thursday. They have been +going on ill together for some time. Goderich has no energy, and +his colleagues are disgusted at his inefficiency, and at the +assumption by the King of all power in disposing of patronage. +Huskisson is away, and wishes to be out. They are embarrassed +with the Greek question, and have to meet Parliament with an +immense deficiency in the revenue. This state of things and +mutual irritation and dissatisfaction have at length produced +Goderich's resignation. Yesterday the Chancellor, Dudley, and +Huskisson were backwards and forwards to the King all day, and +when he went to Windsor at half-past five they were still in the +Palace, and he left them there in consultation. He is gone, but +Knighton remains behind to negotiate and communicate. In the +meantime I find that the King is quite mad upon the Catholic +question, and that his real desire is to get rid of the Whigs, +take back the Duke of Wellington, and make an anti-Catholic +Government. This seems to be quite impossible in the present +state of affairs, but a few days will probably produce some +decisive change. + + + 1828. + + +January 2nd, 1828 {p.116} + +As soon as Lord Goderich had resigned they sent to Lord Harrowby +and offered him the Premiership. He came to town directly, and +went to the King, but refused the place. His refusal was +immediately known, and of course there were a variety of +conjectures and opinions afloat as to the man who would be +chosen. A few days, however, put an end to these, for it was +announced, to the astonishment of everybody, that Goderich had +returned to town, and that he would not resign. Here ended this +matter, which made a great noise for a few days; but the effects +of what passed are yet to be seen when Parliament meets. The +injury which Goderich's conduct has done to the Government is +incalculable, for it has brought them into such low estimation +that it is the general opinion they will not be able to retain +their places, and there are a great variety of persons in both +Houses of Parliament who are disposed to withdraw from them the +support which they did give to Canning's Government, and which +they were previously inclined to give to this. As matters now +stand they do not themselves know upon whom they can count, nor +who are their friends and who their foes. They are, however, to +have Lord Holland in the Cabinet, to help them on in the House of +Lords, but it is very doubtful whether his appointment will not +lead to the resignation of some of the Tory members of the +Government and the secession of some of its Tory supporters. +Nothing can exceed the alarm which they feel at the prospect of +the approaching contest in Parliament, and thus, full of fears +and weakness, neither inspiring nor feeling confidence, there +seems a bad chance of their getting through the session. + +I have heard no more of the King and of his intentions, except +that he said he did not see why he was to be the only gentleman +in his dominions who was not to eat his Christmas dinner in +quiet, and he was determined he would. Don Miguel has been with +him at the Cottage these two days. He has been received with +great magnificence; they say he behaves well enough, but is very +shy. He went out stag-hunting in red coat and full hunting +costume, and rode over the fences like anybody else. + +M'Gregor told me the other day that not one of the physicians and +surgeons who attended the Duke of York through his long and +painful illness had ever received the smallest remuneration, +although their names and services had been laid before the King. +He told me in addition that during sixteen years that he attended +the Duke and his whole family he never received one guinea by way +of fee or any payment whatever. + +[Page Head: MR. BROUGHAM AT PANSHANGER.] + +About three weeks ago I passed a few days at Panshanger, where I +met Brougham; he came from Saturday till Monday morning, and from +the hour of his arrival to that of his departure he never ceased +talking. The party was agreeable enough--Luttrell, Rogers, &c.-- +but it was comical to see how the latter was provoked at +Brougham's engrossing all the talk, though he could not help +listening with pleasure. Brougham is certainly one of the most +remarkable men I ever met; to say nothing of what he is in the +world, his almost childish gaiety and animal spirits, his humour +mixed with sarcasm, but not ill-natured, his wonderful information, +and the facility with which he handles every subject, from the +most grave and severe to the most trifling, displaying a mind +full of varied and extensive information and a memory which has +suffered nothing to escape it, I never saw any man whose +conversation impressed me with such an idea of his superiority +over all others. As Rogers said the morning of his departure, +'this morning Solon, Lycurgus, Demosthenes, Archimedes, Sir Isaac +Newton, Lord Chesterfield, and a great many more went away in one +post chaise.' He told us a great many details relating to the +Queen's trial, and amongst other things (which I do not believe) +his conviction that the Queen had never had any intrigue with +Bergami. He told us the whole story of his finding out the +departure of Rastelli, which happened from a friend of his +accidentally seeing Rastelli in the street, recognising him, and +telling Brougham.[23] Brougham told none of his colleagues, and +at first did not believe the story, but by putting artful +questions, and watching their effect, he found it was so, and +then out he came with it. There was a grand discussion whether +they should not throw up their briefs and stop there, and he was +all for it, but was overruled and gave way. The person who was +most anxious they should go on was Lord Grey, for he had got a +notion that they could not any of them speak to evidence, and he +wanted to make such a speech, which he fancied he could do very +well. Brougham said that as leading counsel for the Queen he +always reserved to himself the power of acting as he thought fit, +whatever the opinions of his colleagues might be, though they +always consulted together and gave their sentiments upon every +debated point _seriatim_. He and Denman invariably thought alike. +The Queen never could bear him, and was seldom civil to him. When +she had to answer the address of the House of Commons she +appealed to her counsel for their advice, which they declined to +give, and she was furious, for she wanted to make them advise her +to accept the propositions of the House, which would have been +very unpopular, and then throw the odium of doing so on them.[24] +He spoke very highly of Alderman Wood, who behaved very well, +never annoyed or interfered with them, and seems to have been +altogether a _brave homme_. + + [23] [For the use made by Mr. Brougham of the accidental + departure of Rastelli during the Queen's trial _vide + supra_, p. 37, October 15, 1820.] + + [24] [This was the address moved by Mr. Wilberforce on the + 22nd of June, 1820 (_vide supra_, p. 30, June 23rd, + 1820). Lord Brougham states in his 'Memoirs' that the + Queen resolved to reject the advice of Parliament + without consulting her lawyers. In one of Lord + Brougham's letters written at the time he calls Wood + 'the ass and alderman called _Thistle_-wood,' and + attributed to him the intrigue which brought the Queen + to England.] + +If it had been possible to recollect all that Brougham said on +this and a hundred other subjects, it would be well worth writing +down, but such talk is much too evanescent, and I remember no +more. + +[Page Head: CHARACTER OF MR. BROUGHAM.] + +After all Brougham is only a living and very remarkable instance +of the inefficacy of the most splendid talents, unless they are +accompanied with other qualities, which scarcely admit of +definition, but which must serve the same purpose that ballast +does for a ship. Brougham has prospered to a certain degree; he +has a great reputation and he makes a considerable income at the +bar; but as an advocate he is left behind by men of far inferior +capacity, whose names are hardly known beyond the precincts of +their courts or the boundaries of their circuits. As a statesman +he is not considered eligible for the highest offices, and +however he may be admired or feared as an orator or debater, he +neither commands respect by his character nor inspires confidence +by his genius, and in this contrast between his pretensions and +his situation more humble abilities may find room for consolation +and cease to contemplate with envy his immense superiority. To +suppose that his ambition can be satisfied in the possession of +natural and acquired powers far greater than the majority of +mankind would be contrary to all experience. Such men consider +their acquirements as means for the attainment of greater ends, +and the disappointments which they frequently meet with in the +pursuit of their objects of ambition more than counteract all the +feelings of pride and satisfaction which conscious superiority is +calculated to inspire. The life of a politician is probably one +of deep mortification, for the race is not always to the swift +nor the battle to the strong, and few things can be more galling +than to see men far inferior to ourselves enabled by fortune and +circumstances to attain what we toil after in vain, and to learn +from our own experience how many things there are in this life of +greater practical utility than splendid abilities and unwearied +industry. + + +London, January 19th, 1828 {p.120} + +The Ministry is at last settled, and now for its history. Early +in last week Goderich went down to the King and told him there +was such a quarrel in the Cabinet between Huskisson and Herries +about the Finance Committee that both could not remain, and that +Huskisson would resign if he had not his own way. The King was +furious at this new disturbance, and said he could not understand +it; if Huskisson resigned, the Government was at an end. 'Go,' he +ended, 'and send the Chancellor to me.' The Chancellor [Lord +Lyndhurst] went, and was desired to bring the Duke of Wellington. +The Government was dissolved and the King desired the Duke to +form a new one. All this was immediately known, and first it was +asked, 'What is the quarrel between Huskisson and Herries which +broke up the old Cabinet?' The friends of each put about a story, +one of which appeared in the 'Times,' the other in the 'Morning +Chronicle.' The question was Lord Althorp's appointment as +chairman of the Finance Committee. Huskisson's story is this:--In +November Tierney went to Goderich and proposed Althorp as a good +man to be in the chair of that Committee. Goderich assented, and +said, 'But you had better speak to Huskisson about it, as it is a +House of Commons matter.' He did so, and Huskisson approved of +it. A few days after Tierney called on Huskisson and found +Herries with him, when they discussed the matter generally, as +well as the particular appointment of Althorp, and Herries made +no objection, and, as they thought, agreed with them; but shortly +after Herries went to Goderich, complained that this matter had +been settled without his knowledge and concurrence, that it was a +slight put upon him, and said he would not agree to Althorp's +nomination, nor stay in office if it were persisted in. + +[Page Head: HOSTILITY OF HERRIES.] + +This is one story, told me by Sefton, who had it (I am sure) from +Brougham, and _verbatim_ the same by Robarts, who had it (he told +me himself) from Tierney. Herries' story only differs in this: it +omits the interview between the three Ministers, and declares the +matter was never mentioned to him at all till they had decided on +it, when it was shown him as a plan which was not to be +discussed, but which he was at once to assent to. It appears +difficult to know which to believe, and at first my impression +was that they had probably not treated Herries with as much +consideration as he was entitled to as Finance Minister, and that +he had been prone to take offence and touchy from old recollections, +which were probably not effaced. But a circumstance I heard +afterwards convinced me that Herries has been all along full of +ill-will towards his colleagues, and not a little desirous of +breaking up the Ministry. When he found, too, with what +difficulties they would have to contend in Parliament and the +weakness of Goderich, he probably thought they would never be +able to go on, and was not sorry to find an opportunity of +accelerating their dissolution. The circumstance is this:--In the +old business of his appointment to the Chancellorship of the +Exchequer, when he thought he was _not_ to be appointed, he wrote +to Arbuthnot telling him how ill he had been treated, and +promising to send him all the correspondence on the subject. +Subsequently he _was_ appointed, when he wrote again to A., +saying that as it was settled and he was appointed, he did not +think it would be right to send him the correspondence, which he +was sure he would understand; that there he was, and he should do +his best to act cordially with his new colleagues; but he +finished, 'I shall hail the day which brings all of you back +again.' Such an expression to a man who was the bitterest enemy +of the Government of which he was a member did not evince much +cordiality towards his colleagues. + +[Page Head: MR. HUSKISSON'S POSITION.] + +The first thing to be done by the Duke was to negotiate with +Huskisson. He sent forthwith for his own friends, Peel, Lord +Bathurst, and Melville, and for many days the great question was +whether Huskisson would join or not, the Whigs of course most +anxious he should refuse, the new Government ready to make great +concessions to tempt him to join them. He has acceded, however, +but much to the disgust of many of his friends, some of whom +think he has behaved shabbily in abandoning the Whigs, who +supported him, and who had supported Canning at his utmost need. +Some think he was pledged never to act with the men who they +consider to have behaved so ill to Canning, and some think he has +compromised his dignity and independence by not insisting on +higher terms, particularly the lead in the House of Commons. At +present the exact terms of his bargain are not known, and without +being acquainted with all that has passed _de part et d'autre_ it +is impossible to form a judgment as to the wisdom or the fairness +of his conduct. Those who think he would have acted a wiser part +and have made himself of greater importance by heading a third +party in the House of Commons and keeping aloof, judge too +hastily. He would have been followed by all those who call +themselves Canning's personal friends, and probably by a +considerable body of neutrals, who would not have been disposed +to support a Tory Government, and still less to join a Whig +Opposition. But however weak the Ministry (without Huskisson) +might have appeared at first sight in the House of Commons, it +would very possibly have proved stronger than was imagined. +Strength and weakness are relative terms, and it remained to be +seen what sort of power would have been brought against it, and +to what attacks the Government would have exposed itself. The old +Tory Ministry, which was voted out for incapacity by the House of +Commons, was the strongest and longest that we have seen for many +years, though opposed by all the talent and power of an +Opposition more formidable than this can be. To be sure it must +always be remembered that they floated through their difficulties +on the tide of the Duke of Wellington's victories. Of all the +party who would have ranged themselves under Huskisson, only +Canning's friends, a select few, would have considered themselves +bound to him, and the rest, if they found the Government strong +and likely to last, would probably have dropped off and gradually +joined it. In that case Huskisson would never have been able to +treat as an independent power, and though they might have been +glad to take him into the Administration, he could not have made +his own terms. I do not think he ever could have looked to +overturning the Tory Government and coming in with the whole body +of the Whigs, for he has no natural partiality (any more than +Canning had) for that party, and he is fully aware how odious +they are to the King and how unpopular in the country, which is +always more inclined to the Tories than to them. If the Tories +have agreed to those measures (except the Catholic question, for +that is to remain on its old footing) which he deems necessary, +and of which he is the author--that is, of Free Trade, &c.--he +would probably rather act with them than with the Whigs; and in +joining Government he is liable to no reproach but that of having +shaken off his Whig colleagues too easily. But it remains to be +proved whether they could have gone on, and at all events Lords +Lansdowne and Carlisle might have remained in office if they +pleased, though certainly it was not probable that they would do +so. The part of the transaction which will appear extraordinary +is, that the Government having been broken up by a quarrel +between Huskisson and Herries, the opposite party come in and +both these Ministers remain with them. In private life the +transaction would look very like a fraud, and be open to great +suspicion. It would appear as if they had got up a sham quarrel +in order to get out their colleagues and stay in themselves with +the Tories. This, however, I believe not to have been the case, +at least as far as Huskisson is concerned, though perhaps Herries +may not be altogether so clear. + + + + + CHAPTER IV. + +The Duke of Wellington's Administration--Huskisson's Speech-- + Irritation of Mr. Canning's Friends--Tom Duncombe's Maiden + Speech--Mr. Huskisson resigns and the Canningites quit the + Government--Princess Lieven Hostile to the Duke--The Catholic + Question--Jockey Club Dinner at St. James's--Lord Lyndhurst-- + Sir Robert Adair--Fox and Burke--Fox and Pitt--The Lord High + Admiral dismissed by the King--Dawson's Speech on Catholic + Emancipation--The King's Health--His Pages--State of Ireland-- + Marquis of Anglesey--O'Connell--His Influence in Ireland--Lord + Belmore Governor of Jamaica--The Duke's Letter to Dr. Curtis-- + Recall of Lord Anglesey from Ireland--Causes of this Event-- + Excitement of the King on the Catholic Question--His Aversion + to Sir William Knighton--Character of George IV.--Denman's Silk + Gown--Pension to Lady Westmeath--Duke of Wellington on Russia-- + The Reis-Effendi--Duke of Northumberland goes to Ireland--Privy + Council Register--State Paper Office--The Gunpowder Plot-- + Catholic Emancipation--Navarino. + + +[Page Head: IRRITATION OF THE WHIGS.] + +January 28th, 1828 {p.124} + +Until the Duke of Wellington's commission as First Lord of the +Treasury appeared many people doubted that he would take the +office.[1] The Ordnance was offered to Lord Rosslyn, who refused +it, and then given to Lord Beresford, but without a seat in the +Cabinet (as Lord Bathurst told me) by his own particular desire. +Some days have now elapsed, and time has been afforded for the +expression of popular feeling and opinion on the late changes. +Lady Canning and many of Canning's friends are very much +dissatisfied with Huskisson, and think he deserted his principles +and outraged the memory of Canning. Lady C. particularly is much +hurt at what has passed. She has not seen Huskisson, but he is +aware of her sentiments, though he says she has so high an +opinion of him that she is sure he is acting for what he believes +to be the best. The majority of Canning's friends have adhered to +the Government. The great body of the Whigs who belonged to or +supported the late Government are indignant and violent, +particularly with Huskisson, who they think has betrayed them. An +interview has taken place between Huskisson and Lord Lansdowne, +in which the former explained his conduct, and (as far as I can +learn) the latter said but little, neither condemning nor +approving. But the great body of the party are resolved to oppose +the new Government in every way, though without attempting to +form a party, which they do not think feasible in their present +condition. They intend a desultory and harassing warfare, +particularly attacking Huskisson upon Liberal measures, to which +he stands pledged, but which they think he will now be prevented +by his colleagues from carrying into effect. The seceding Whigs +are triumphant, because they assert that what has happened is a +full justification of their conduct. They forget, however, that +all this is mainly attributable to them and to Canning's death, +which occurred in the interim. On the other hand the old Tories +are not altogether satisfied, and, though rejoiced at the +restoration of the party, cannot bear to see Huskisson and his +friends members of the Government from abhorrence of Canning and +all Liberal principles. However, the principal men have sent in +their adhesions in very civil letters to the Duke. + + [1] [The Duke of Wellington's Administration was at first + constituted as follows:-- + Duke of Wellington, First Lord of the Treasury. + Lord Lyndhurst, Lord Chancellor. + Earl Bathurst, Lord President of the Council. + Earl of Ellenborough, Lord Privy Seal. + Mr. Peel, Home Secretary. + Lord Dudley, Foreign Secretary. + Mr. Huskisson, Colonial Secretary. + Earl of Aberdeen, Duchy of Lancaster. + Mr. Goulburn, Chancellor of the Exchequer. + Mr. Charles Grant, President of the Board of Trade. + Mr. Herries, Master of the Mint. + Viscount Melville, President of the India Board. + Lord Dudley, Mr. Huskisson, Mr. Grant, and Lord + Palmerston (Secretary at War, not in the Cabinet) + were the four Canningite members who resigned in + May following. They were replaced by Lord + Aberdeen, Sir George Murray, Mr. Vesey Fitzgerald, + and Sir Henry Hardinge respectively.] + +All the Ministers (old and new) were at Windsor the other day; +but it was contrived that they should not meet, the _ins_ being +in one room and Lansdowne and Carlisle in another, and it was +afterwards discovered that in a third room by himself was +Goderich. This Lord Sefton told me, and he had it from Lord +Lansdowne, who had it from the King and confirmed by Lord +Conyngham. His Majesty was remarkably civil to Lords Lansdowne +and Carlisle. The King had a scene with the Duke of Devonshire, +whom he could not persuade to stay in his place, though he tried +hard. Scarlett has resigned the Attorney-Generalship, but not +very willingly. He wrote to Milton and asked his advice. Milton +advised him to resign, and so he did. One thing that has angered +the Tories is the Duke's not having consulted Lord Eldon, nor +offered him any place; and it seems he is extremely mortified, +for though he did not want the seals again, he would have been +very glad to take office as President of the Council. + + +[Page Head: IRRITATION OF THE WHIGS.] + +February 25th, 1828 {p.126} + +There is one advantage in writing at intervals of some time +instead of keeping a regular diary; I can take a more bird's-eye +view of events, and avoid falling into many errors, which it +would be afterwards necessary to correct. I went to Newmarket and +stayed there three weeks for my health. While I was there +Huskisson made his speech at Liverpool.[2] The Tories were +furious, and in the House of Lords the Duke of Wellington +contradicted it, or rather said he did not believe it was +faithfully reported, for all that he was reported to have said +about _the guarantee_ was untrue. I returned to town in time for +the House of Commons, and found the greatest excitement, +curiosity, and violence generally prevailing. As to Huskisson, he +had offended the Tories, the Whigs, and Lady Canning, and +everybody condemned him. Parties were split to pieces, there was +no Opposition, and no man could tell what were the politics of +his neighbour, scarcely what his own. Lady Canning was in a state +of great rage and resentment, and had inspired George Bentinck +with the same sentiments. Clanricarde had been sent down by her +to the House of Lords furnished with extracts of Canning's +letters to throw in the teeth of his old friends and his old +enemies, and she threatened fresh disclosures and fresh documents +which were to confound all whom she deemed worthy of her +indignation. A very angry colloquy took place at a dinner at +Warrender's between Lord Seaford and George Bentinck, in which +the latter violently attacked Mr. Canning's friends for joining +the present Government, and quoted Huskisson's declaration that +he would never act with the men who had abandoned him. Lord +Seaford grew angry, and asked George what he knew of that +declaration and what his authority was for quoting it. To which +George replied that he had it from himself--from Lord Seaford at +Paris. This confounded the noble Lord, and altogether there was a +pretty violent altercation, which greatly annoyed both him and +Howard, who was present, and was regretted by all their common +friends. Two days after this came on the debate in the House of +Commons and the explanations of Huskisson and Herries. Their +speeches were both satisfactory enough till Tierney spoke, who +entirely knocked over their cases, or at least that of Herries, +for against Huskisson he proved nothing, except that he might +perhaps have been more communicative, though I think this +reproach applies more to Lord Goderich than to him. The +impression left with regard to Herries was as unfavourable as +possible. + + [2] [The speech made by Mr. Huskisson on his re-election at + Liverpool on the 5th of February, 1828, is printed in + vol. iii. of his 'Collected Speeches,' p. 673. It + contains a full account of these transactions. The + passage which gave so much offence to the Tories was + that 'if the Government was such as satisfied the view + I took of the interests of the country, and provided + such arrangements were made in its construction _as + afforded a guarantee_ that the principle I approved + should not be departed from, I was not precluded from + joining it;' and again, 'The presence in office of such + men as Lord Dudley, Lord Palmerston, Mr. Grant, and Mr. + Lamb is the most satisfactory of all guarantees that + the general principles of our foreign and commercial + system would remain unchanged, and that Ireland would + be governed with the strictest impartiality in respect + to the Catholic question.' + These declarations of Mr. Huskisson had a material + effect on the occurrences which not long afterwards + took place.] + +[Page Head: TOM DUNCOMBE'S MAIDEN SPEECH.] + +The great event of the night was Duncombe's[3] speech, which was +delivered with perfect self-possession and composure, but in so +ridiculous a manner that everybody laughed at him, although they +were amused with his impudence and at the style and objects of +his attack. However, the next day it was discovered that he +had performed a great exploit; he was loudly applauded and +congratulated on all sides, and made into the hero of the day. +His fame was infinitely increased on a subsequent night, when +Herries again came before the House and when Tommy fired another +shot at him. The newspapers were full of his praises. The Whigs +called at his door and eagerly sought his acquaintance. Those who +love fun and personality cheered him on with loud applause, and +he now fancies himself the greatest man going, and is ready to +get up and abuse anybody on the Treasury bench. To me, who knew +all the secret strings that moved this puppet, nothing can be +more amusing. + + [3] [Thomas Slingsby Duncombe, nephew of the first Lord + Feversham distinguished for his Radical opinions, M.P. + for Finsbury after the Reform Bill. He sat at this time + for Hertford; and the incident related in the text + appears to have been his _début_ in political life.] + +The history of Tom Duncombe and his speech is instructive as well +as amusing, for it is a curious proof of the facility with which +the world may be deceived, and of the prodigious effect which may +be produced by the smallest means, if they are aided by some +fortuitous circumstances and happily applied. Tommy came to Henry +de Ros and told him that his constituents at Hertford were very +anxious he should make a speech, but that he did not know what to +say, and begged Henry to supply him with the necessary materials. +He advised him to strike out something new, and having received +his assurance that he should be able to recollect anything that +he learned by heart, and that he was not afraid of his courage +failing, Henry composed for him the speech which Duncombe +delivered. But knowing the slender capacity of his man, he was +not satisfied with placing the speech in his hands, but adopted +every precaution which his ingenuity suggested to avert the +danger of his breaking down. He made him learn the speech by +heart, and then made him think it over again and put it into +language of his own, justly fearing that if he should forget any +of the more polished periods of the original it would appear +sadly botched by his own interpolations. He then instructed him +largely as to how and when he was to bring it in, supplying him +with various commonplace phrases to be used as connecting links, +and by the help of which he might be enabled to fasten upon some +of the preceding speeches. I saw Henry de Ros the day before the +debate, when he told me what he was doing, and asked me to +suggest anything that occurred upon the subject, and at the same +time repeated to me the speech with which he had armed his hero. +I hinted my apprehensions that he would fail in the delivery, but +though he was not without some alarm, he expressed (as it +afterwards appeared a well-grounded) confidence in Duncombe's +extraordinary nerve and intrepidity. + +His speech on the second night was got up precisely in the same +manner, and although it appeared to arise out of the debate and +of those which preceded it, the matter had been all crammed into +him by his invisible Mentor. The amusement to him and to me +(especially at the honours that have been thickly poured upon him +and the noise which he has made in the world) is indescribably +pungent. + +Thus Duncombe and his speech have made what is called a great +sensation, and he has the reputation (no matter whether justly or +not) of having thrown the enemy's camp into greater confusion by +the boldness of his language than anybody has ever done, because +nobody has ever before dared to mention those whom he dragged +forward. To the ignorant majority of the world he appears a man +of great promise, of boldness, quickness, and decision, and the +uproar that is made about him cannot fail to impress others as +well as himself with a high notion of his consequence. + +Knighton is gone abroad, I have very little doubt, in consequence +of what passed, and as nobody enquires very minutely into the +real causes of things where they get apparent ones with ease, it +is said and believed at once that Duncombe is the man who has +driven him out, and that he has given the first blow to that +secret influence which has only been obscurely hinted at before +and never openly attacked. These are great and important matters, +far exceeding any consequences which the authors of the speech +anticipated from its delivery at the time. And what are the +agents who have produced such an effect? A man of ruined fortune +and doubtful character, whose life has been spent on the +race-course, at the gaming-table, and in the green-room, of +limited capacity, exceedingly ignorant, and without any stock +but his impudence to trade on, only speaking to serve an +electioneering purpose, and crammed by another man with every +thought and every word that he uttered. + + +[Page Head: DISPUTES IN THE CABINET.] + +June 12th, 1828 {p.130} + +We have now got a Tory Government, and all that remained of +Canning's party are gone.[4] The case of the Duke of Wellington +and Huskisson is before the world, but nobody judges fairly. +Motives are attributed to both parties which had no existence, +and the truth is hardly ever told at first, though it generally +oozes out by degrees. After the explanations in February the +Government went on to all appearance very well, but there lurked +under this semblance of harmony some seeds of jealousy and +distrust, not I believe so much in the mind of the Duke as in +those of his Tory colleagues, and the Canningites on their side +certainly felt no cordiality even towards the Duke himself. They +said that he never could nor would understand anything; that he +said a thing one day and forgot it the next, and instead of that +clearness of intellect for which he had credit, nothing could be +more puzzled and confused than he was; that nothing could absolve +him from the suspicion of duplicity and insincerity but the +conviction that his ambiguous conduct on various occasions arose +from a confusion of ideas. On the other hand, Lord Bathurst told +my father that he thought they (Huskisson and his friends) were +too much disposed to act together as a party in the Cabinet; and +it is clear that the Duke thought so too, and that this feeling +and the resentment it engendered in his mind are the real reasons +of his conduct on the late occasion. + + [4] [Bills had been brought into Parliament for the + disfranchisement of the boroughs of Penryn and East + Retford, and the transfer of those seats to Manchester + and Birmingham. On the East Retford case, which came + before the House of Commons on the 19th of May, Mr. + Huskisson felt bound in honour to support the measure, + and voted against his colleagues. On his return home + after the debate he wrote a hasty letter to the Duke of + Wellington, in which he said that he 'owed it to the + Duke and to Mr. Peel to lose no time in affording them + an opportunity of placing his office in other hands.' + The Duke regarding this as a formal act of resignation, + laid it before the King and filled up the appointment. + The correspondence is published in the Duke of + Wellington's 'Correspondence,' New Series, vol. iv. + p. 449. The resignation of Lord Palmerston, Charles + Grant, and Lord Dudley followed. The details of this + transaction are sufficiently alluded to in the text.] + +There had been a dispute in the Cabinet about the Corn Bill, +which occasioned the discussion of it to be put off for a few +days at the time, and upon that occasion Grant resigned his +office. The matter was made up and he stayed. But when upon +the East Retford affair Huskisson resigned, and in such an +extraordinary manner, the Duke felt that there was a disposition +to embarrass him by these perpetual tenders of resignation, which +he believed they thought he would not venture to accept. Upon +receiving Huskisson's letter he went to Lord Bathurst and +consulted him, and Lord Bathurst advised him to take him at his +word. Everybody looks for some cause which does not appear for +important events, and people with difficulty admit of very simple +solutions and very trifling causes, though such are not +unfrequently the real ones. I believe that Huskisson had no +intention of embarrassing the Duke and none of resigning; but for +a cool and sensible man his conduct is most extraordinary, for he +acted with the precipitation of a schoolboy and showed a complete +want of all those qualities of prudence and calm deliberation for +which he has the greatest credit. But though this breach might +have been avoided, from the sentiments which have been expressed +by both parties, it is evident other differences would have +arisen which must have dissolved the Government before long. +After putting aside the violent opinions on both sides, the +conclusion is that Huskisson acted very hastily and imprudently, +and that his letter (say what he will) was a complete resignation, +and that the Duke had a right so to consider it; that in the +Duke's conduct there appeared a want of courtesy and an anxiety +to get rid of him which it would have been more fair to avow and +defend than to deny; that on both sides there was a mixture of +obstinacy and angry feeling, and a disposition to treat the +question rather as a personal matter than one in which the public +interests were deeply concerned. But the charge which is made on +one side that Huskisson wanted to embarrass the Duke's Government +and enhance his own importance, and that on the other of the +Duke's insincerity, are both unfounded. + +Some circumstances, however, contributed to place the Duke's +conduct in an unfavourable point of view. These were the +extravagant and unconcealed joy of the High Tories and of his +immediate friends, and his attending at the same time the Pitt +dinner and sitting there while Lord Eldon gave his famous 'one +cheer more' for Protestant ascendency. That he treated Huskisson +with some degree of harshness there is no doubt, but he was +angry, and not without reason; the former brought it all upon +himself. During the debate upon East Retford, when Huskisson was +called upon by Sandon to redeem his pledge, he told Peel that he +could not help himself, and must vote against him; but he begged +him to put off the question till the following week, that it +might be considered again. This Peel refused; had he acceded, all +this would not have taken place. + +When the King saw Huskisson he was extremely gracious to him, +expressed the utmost regret at losing him, and said that he had +wished not to see him at first, that he might avoid receiving his +resignation, and in hopes that the matter would have been +arranged.[5] However, the other party say that the King is very +glad to have got rid of him and his party. + + [5] [Huskisson solicited an audience, which his Majesty + refused for some days to grant: he would not see him + until he had written again to the Duke of Wellington.] + +In the middle of all this Madame de Lieven is supposed to have +acted with great impertinence if not imprudence, and to have made +use of the access she has to the King to say all sorts of things +against the Duke and the present Government. Her dislike to the +Duke has been increasing ever since that cessation of intimacy +which was caused by Canning's accession to power, when she +treated him very uncivilly in order to pay court to Canning. +Esterhazy told me last night that although her position here was +now greatly changed, and that it was far from being so agreeable +as it was, he could not accuse her of imprudence in having taken +the part she had done, because he thought that it had answered +very well, and that the objects of her Court had been in great +measure accomplished through her means. + + +[Page Head: THE CATHOLIC QUESTION.] + +June 18th, 1828 + +The Duke of Wellington's speech on the Catholic question is +considered by many to have been so moderate as to indicate a +disposition on his part to concede emancipation, and bets have +been laid that Catholics will sit in Parliament next year. Many +men are resolved to see it in this light who are anxious to join +his Government, and whose scruples with regard to that question +are removed by such an interpretation of his speech. I do not +believe he means to do anything until he is compelled to it, +which if he remains in office he will be; for the success of the +Catholic question depends neither on Whigs nor Tories, the former +of whom have not the power and the latter not the inclination to +carry it. The march of time and the state of Ireland will effect +it in spite of everything, and its slow but continual advance can +neither be retarded by its enemies nor accelerated by its +friends. In the meantime men affect to consider his expressions +as of importance enough to influence their conduct in taking or +refusing office. Frankland Lewis,[6] who refused the Irish +Secretaryship, said that after that speech he regretted his +refusal and would be glad to take it, and now he wants to join +the Government again. Certainly at this moment the Tories are +triumphant, and so far from the Duke's Government having any +difficulty in standing, there does not appear to be a disposition +in any quarter to oppose it. Not only in Parliament there is no +Opposition, but the press is veering round and treating him with +great civility. The Government seem well disposed to follow up +the Liberal policy, to which they have been suspected of being +adverse, and have already declared that they do not intend to +deviate either in their foreign or domestic policy from the +principles on which the Government was understood to act previous +to the separation. Arbuthnot told my father yesterday that they +all regret now having resigned in 1827, and Huskisson owned to A. +that he had acted with unfortunate precipitancy. + + [6] [Right Hon. T. Frankland Lewis, a member of the + Grenville and Canning section of the Tory party; made a + baronet by Sir Robert Peel; the father of the Right + Hon. Sir George Cornewall Lewis.] + + +June 29th, 1828 {p.134} + +I dined yesterday with the King at St. James's--his Jockey Club +dinner. There were about thirty people, several not being invited +whom he did not fancy. The Duke of Leeds told me a much greater +list had been made out, but he had scratched several out of it. +We assembled in the Throne Room, and found him already there, +looking very well and walking about. He soon, however, sat down, +and desired everybody else to do so. Nobody spoke, and he laughed +and said, 'This is more like a Quaker than a Jockey Club +meeting.' We soon went to dinner, which was in the Great Supper +Room and very magnificent. He sat in the middle, with the Dukes +of Richmond and Grafton on each side of him. I sat opposite to +him, and he was particularly gracious to me, talking to me across +the table and recommending all the good things; he made me (after +eating a quantity of turtle) eat a dish of crawfish soup, till I +thought I should have burst. After dinner the Duke of Leeds, who +sat at the head of the table, gave 'The King.' We all stood up, +when his Majesty thanked us, and said he hoped this would be the +first of annual meetings of the sort to take place, there or +elsewhere under his roof. He then ordered paper, pens, &c., and +they began making matches and stakes; the most perfect ease was +established, just as much as if we had been dining with the Duke +of York, and he seemed delighted. He made one or two little +speeches, one recommending that a stop should be put to the +exportation of horses. He twice gave 'The Turf,' and at the end +the Duke of Richmond asked his leave to give a toast, and again +gave 'The King.' He thanked all the gentlemen, and said that +there was no man who had the interests of the turf more at heart +than himself, that he was delighted at having this party, and +that the oftener they met the better, and he only wanted to have +it pointed out to him how he could promote the pleasure and +amusement of the turf, and he was ready to do anything in his +power. He got up at half-past twelve and wished us good night. +Nothing could go off better, and Mount Charles told me he was +sure he was delighted. + +[Page Head: LORD LYNDHURST AND THE GREAT SEAL.] + +I dined with the Chancellor [Lord Lyndhurst] three days ago; he +talked to me a great deal about his acceptance of the Great Seal +and of the speculation it was. He was Master of the Rolls with +£7,000 a year for life when it was offered to him; he debated +whether it was worth while to give this up to be Chancellor for +perhaps only one year, with a peerage and the pension. He talked +the matter over with his wife, and they agreed that if it only +lasted one year (which he evidently thought probable) it was +worth while, besides the contingency of a long Chancellorship. He +asked me if the Government was popular and reckoned strong. I +told him it was apparently popular and reckoned strong, because +there was no Opposition and little chance of any. I said that +however hazardous his speculation might have been, it had turned +out well, for he had a good chance of being Chancellor as long as +his predecessor had been, there being so few candidates for the +office. He said this was true, and then he talked of his Court, +and said it was impossible for one man to do the business of it. +In talking of the speculation he had made, political opinions and +political consistency seemed never to occur to him, and he +considered the whole matter in a light so business-like and +professional as to be quite amusing. He talked of the Duke, said +he was a good man to do business with, quick and intelligent, and +'how well he managed that little correspondence with Huskisson,' +which was droll enough, for Huskisson dined there and was in the +room. + + +[Page Head: SIR ROBERT ADAIR'S ANECDOTES.] + +August 6th, 1828 {p.136} + +About three weeks ago I went to Windsor to a Council. The King +had been very ill for a day or two, but was recovered. Rob +Adair[7] was sworn in Privy Councillor, and he remained in the +room and heard the speech, which he ought not to have done. The +Duke attacked me afterwards (in joke) for letting him stay; but I +told him it was no business of mine, and his neighbour ought to +have told him to go. That neighbour, however, was Vesey +Fitzgerald, who said it was the first time he had attended a +Council, and he could not begin by turning another man out. I +brought Adair back to town, and he told me a great many things +about Burke, and Fox, and Fitzpatrick, and all the eminent men of +that time with whom he lived when he was young. He said what I +have often heard before, that Fitzpatrick was the most agreeable +of them all, but Hare the most brilliant. Burke's conversation +was delightful, so luminous and instructive. He was very +passionate, and Adair said that the first time he ever saw him he +unluckily asked him some question about the wild parts of +Ireland, when Burke broke out, 'You are a fool and a blockhead; +there are no wild parts in Ireland.' He was extremely terrified, +but afterwards Burke was very civil to him, and he knew him very +well. + + [7] [Right Hon. Sir Robert Adair, the friend of Fox, + formerly ambassador at Constantinople and Vienna. It + was he whom Canning once called 'Bobadare-a-dool-fowla.'] + +He told me a great deal about the quarrel between Fox and Burke. +Fox never ceased to entertain a regard for Burke, and at no time +would suffer him to be abused in his presence. There was an +attempt made to bring about a reconciliation, and a meeting for +that purpose took place of all the leading men at Burlington +House. Burke was on the point of yielding when his son suddenly +made his appearance unbidden, and on being told what was going on +said, 'My father shall be no party to such a compromise,' took +Burke aside and persuaded him to reject the overtures. That +son Adair described as the most disagreeable, violent, and +wrong-headed of men, but the idol of his father, who used to say +that he united all his own talents and acquirements with those of +Fox and everybody else. After the death of Richard Burke, Fox and +Burke met behind the throne of the House of Lords one day, when +Fox went up to Burke and put out both his hands to him. Burke was +almost surprised into meeting this cordiality in the same spirit, +but the momentary impulse passed away, and he doggedly dropped +his hands and left the House. + +Adair told me that Lord Holland has written very copious memoirs +of his own time, and particularly characters of all the eminent +men who have died, in the delineation of which he excels. Soon +after Pitt's resignation in 1801 there was an attempt made to +effect a junction between Pitt and Fox, to which they were +neither of them averse. The negotiation was, however, entrusted +to subordinate agents, and Adair said that he had always +regretted that they had not met, for if they had he thought the +matter would have been arranged. As it was the design was +thwarted by the King through the intervention (I think he said) +of Lord Loughborough. + +There was another Council about a week ago. On these occasions +the King always whispers to me something or other about his +racehorses or something about myself, and I am at this moment in +high favour. We had Howley and Bloomfield[8] at this Council, +with the latter of whom I made acquaintance, to the great +amusement of the Duke. He laughed at seeing me conversing with +this bishop. + + [8] [The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of + London.] + +I hear from Frederick Lamb that the Duke is greatly alarmed about +Ireland. By-the-by he, Frederick,[9] is come back from Portugal, +thinking that our Government have acted very ill and very +foolishly, first encouraging and then abandoning these wretched +Constitutionalists to their fate, and he is no particular friend +to Liberalism. + + [9] [Sir Frederick Lamb, afterwards created Lord Beauvale, + and who became Lord Melbourne on the death of his + brother William.] + + +August 14th, 1828 {p.137} + +Just returned from Goodwood, where I went on the 11th, and heard +on arriving that the Lord High Admiral had resigned, but no +particulars. It is a very good thing at all events. + + +August 16th, 1828 {p.138} + +The Lord High Admiral was turned out.[10] The Duke told him that +he must go, but that he might resign as if of his own accord. The +Duke is all-powerful. It is strongly reported that Peel will +resign, that the Duke means to concede the Catholic question and +to negotiate a _concordat_ with the Pope. Many people think Lord +Grey will join the Government, and that he will be First Lord of +the Admiralty. The Duke gave his brother Dr. Bloomfield's living +without any solicitation. Esterhazy told me to-night that +Palmella entertains from twenty to thirty of his countrymen at +dinner every day, of whom there are several hundred in London, of +the best families, totally destitute. All Palmella's property is +sequestrated, but he receives the appointment of Portuguese +Minister from the Brazilian Government. + + [10] [The King's letter dismissing the Duke of Clarence from + the office of Lord High Admiral was dated the 11th of + August, 1828. It is published in the Duke of + Wellington's 'Correspondence,' New Series, vol. iv. + p. 595.] + + +[Page Head: DAWSON'S SPEECH AT DERRY.] + +August 22nd, 1828 {p.138} + +Went to Stoke on the 19th and came back yesterday. There were the +Dowager Lady Salisbury, Duchess of Newcastle, Worcester and Lady +W. Russell, Giles, Billy Churchill. On the 18th Dawson's +speech[11] at Derry reached us, and I never remember any +occurrence which excited greater surprise. The general impression +was that he made the speech, with the Duke's knowledge and +concurrence, which I never believed. I thought from what he said +to me just before he went to Ireland that he had changed his own +opinion, and now many people say they knew this; but I was little +prepared to hear of his making such a speech at such a place as +Derry, and on such an occasion as a 'Prentice Boy' commemoration. +The rage and fury of the Orangemen there and of the Orange press +here are boundless, and the violence and scurrility of their +abuse are the more absurd because Dawson only described in +glowing colours, and certainly without reserve, the actual state +of Ireland, but did not argue the question at all further than +leaving on his hearers the inevitable inference that he thought +the time for granting emancipation was come. The truth is that +the conversion of one of the most violent anti-Catholics must +strike everybody as a strong argument in favour of the measure, +and they know not by how many and by whom his example may be +followed. The Orangemen are moving heaven and earth to create +disturbances, and their impotent fury shows how low their cause +is sunk. The Catholics, on the contrary, are temperate and calm, +from confidence in their strength and the progressive advance of +their course. But although I think the Catholics are now in a +position which renders their ultimate success certain, I am very +far from participating in the sanguine expectations of those who +think the Duke of Wellington is convinced that the question must +be settled directly, and that he will carry it through in the +ensuing session. In the first place I see clearly that the +Government are extremely annoyed at Dawson's speech. I saw +Goulburn to-day, and though he did not say much, what he did say +was enough to satisfy me of this: 'he hoped that it had been +incorrectly reported.' Dawson has written to the Duke,[12] and +the letter was sent to him to-day. But what has put me in despair +about it is a letter of the Duke's which Drummond read to me +to-day addressed, I do not know to whom, but upon that subject. +It began, 'My dear sir,' and after other matter proceeded nearly +as follows:--'This subject has been more discussed and more +pamphlets have been written upon it in the course of the last +twenty-five years than any other that I can remember. No two +people are agreed upon what ought to be done, and yet the +Government is expected at once to settle the question.' This is +the old argument, as if after thirty years' discussion in every +shape it was not time to settle the question. As if those who +undertake to govern the country were not the men who are bound to +find the means of settling it and allaying the irritation it +causes. And as if, instead of no two persons being agreed upon +the subject, all the ablest and wisest men in the country were +not cordially agreed that complete emancipation is the only +remedy for the evils that exist, and that they are opposed by the +most despicable faction which ever existed, animated by the most +base and sordid motives. This letter was read to me as conveying +the Duke's opinions, which his secretary thought were very sound +and sensible, and which I think evinced a degree of anility quite +pitiable, and proves how little there is to expect from any +liberality and good sense on his part. + + [11] [Mr. Peel's confidential letter to the Duke of + Wellington, stating his reluctant conviction that it + was indispensably necessary for the Government to + change its policy on the Catholic question, was written + on the 11th of August, 1828. The letter is published in + Sir Robert Peel's 'Posthumous Memoirs,' vol. i, p. 189. + It is a remarkable circumstance that Mr. Dawson's + speech at Derry was made _just one week afterwards_; + but there is no evidence that he knew of the change in + his brother-in-law's opinion. See for further details + as to the effect of Dawson's speech _infra_.] + + [12] [This letter is published in the Duke of Wellington's + 'Correspondence,' New Series, vol. iv. p. 633. The Duke + said, 'Dawson's speech is too bad. Surely a man who + does such things ought to be put in a strait + waistcoat.' _Ibid._ p. 636.] + +[Page Head: DISMISSAL OF THE LORD HIGH ADMIRAL.] + +I do not yet know the whole truth of the Lord High Admiral's +resignation, but it seems that it is not yet certain. Negotiations +on the subject are still going on. I believe he quarrelled with +his council, particularly Cockburn, and that Government took part +with Cockburn. The Duke of Clarence wants to promote deserving +officers, but they oppose it on account of the expense, and they +find in everything great difficulty in keeping him in order. His +resignation will be very unpopular in the navy, for his system of +promotion was more liberal and impartial than that of his +predecessor, whose administration was one perpetual job, and who +made the patronage of the Admiralty instrumental to governing +Scotland. Hitherto the appointments of Government have not been +the most judicious--Lord Belmore to Jamaica, because he is a +Lord, and a very dull one; Lord Strangford to the Brazils, though +the Duke knows as well as anybody that he cannot be trusted, and +was recalled by Canning because he said and did all sorts of +things at Constantinople for which he had no authority, and they +found that no reliance whatever was to be placed in him. Lord +Stuart de Rothesay, too, is sent back to Paris, though personally +obnoxious to the King and universally disliked. + + +Stoke, August 25th, 1828 {p.141} + +Went to Windsor to-day for a Council and came on here after it. +There were the Chancellor, Peel, Fitzgerald, Ellenborough, Sir G. +Murray, the Archbishop, and Bishop of London, who came to do +homage. The King gave the Chancellor a long audience, and another +to Peel, probably to talk over Dawson's speech and Orange +politics. After the Council the King called me and talked to me +about racehorses, which he cares more about than the welfare of +Ireland or the peace of Europe. We walked over the Castle, which +is nearly finished, but too gaudy. The King told me he would go +to Egham races to-morrow. I talked to Fitzgerald about Dawson's +speech. He said he believed Dawson had never told the Duke or +Peel what he meant to do, that he thought he was very bold and +imprudent. However, he was glad of it, as it must assist the +cause, and the moral effect in Ireland would be produced before +the Duke's sentiments could be known. Lord Mount Charles told me +the day before yesterday that the reason the Duke of Clarence had +resigned was, that he had in many instances exceeded his powers, +which had produced remonstrances from the Duke of Wellington, +whereupon the Duke of Clarence tendered his resignation, and the +Duke immediately carried it to the King without asking him to +stay.[13] Afterwards there were some negotiations, when the Duke +of Clarence refused to stay if Cockburn did. They would not, +however, part with Cockburn, but subsequently the Duke shook +hands with him and asked him to dine at Bushy on his birthday. He +said that his successor was not appointed, but it will probably +be Lord Melville. The King has not been well; he goes fishing and +dining at Virginia Water, stays out late, and catches cold. + + [13] [A letter from the Duke of Wellington to Sir Robert + Peel, dated the 13th of August, 1828, explains the + circumstances that led to the removal of the Duke of + Clarence from the office of Lord High Admiral. This + letter is published in the first volume of Sir Robert + Peel's 'Posthumous Memoirs on the Catholic Question and + the Repeal of the Corn Laws,' p. 269. The Duke of + Wellington says, 'He behaved very rudely to Cockburn. I + saw Cockburn and Croker, and both agreed in stating + that the machine could no longer work.' In a subsequent + letter the Duke added, 'I quite agree with you that it + is very unfortunate the Duke of Clarence has resigned. + I did everything in my power to avoid that result, + excepting give up Cockburn.' The whole correspondence + is published in the fourth volume of the Duke's + 'Correspondence,' New Series.] + + +August 29th, 1828 {p.142} + +Came from Stoke last night. There were the Lievens, Cowper, Lord +Melbourne, Luttrell, Pierre d'Aremberg, Creevy, Russell, +Montrond. The King went to Egham races Tuesday and Thursday, was +very well received and pleased. He was very gracious to me. +Madame de Lieven went over to the Lodge to see Lady Conyngham, +who finding she had never seen Clifden, carried her off there, +ordered luncheon and the pony carriage, took her all over the +place, and then carried her back to Salthill, where the King's +carriage met her and took her back to Virginia Water to dinner. +Lieven told me they had never expected to find this Turkish +expedition an easy business, and had always been prepared for +great difficulties, &c., from which I conclude that they have met +with some check. I met Bachelor, the poor Duke of York's old +servant, and now the King's _valet de chambre_, and he told me +some curious things about the interior of the Palace; but he is +coming to call on me, and I will write down what he tells me +then. There is a report that the Admiralty has been offered to +Lord Melbourne. I asked him (at Stoke), and he said he had never +heard of it. + + +London, November 25th, 1828 {p.142} + +I have not written anything since I left town, because nothing +occurred worth remembering. Yesterday I went to the Council at +Windsor. Most of the Ministers were there, the Recorder, two +foreign Ministers, and the Duke of Clarence. The King seemed to +be very well. The Duke of Wellington did not arrive till late, +and before he was come the King sent for Peel and gave him an +audience of two hours at least. I thought there must be something +in the wind, and was struck with Peel's taking the Duke into one +of the window recesses and talking to him very earnestly as soon +as he came out. I returned to town after the Council, and in the +evening went to the play, and coming out I met Henry de Ros and +Frederick Lamb. The former made me go with him in his carriage, +when he told me what fully explained the cause of Peel's long +audience--that the Duke has at last made up his mind to carry the +Catholic question, and that Peel[14] and the rest of the violent +anti-Catholics are going out; that the Duke's present idea is to +apply to Huskisson, but that nothing will be done or said till +the Ministers assemble in town and hold their cabinets. + + [14] [It had not then transpired, nor was it known until + long afterwards, that the proposal to carry Catholic + Emancipation was made by Mr. Peel to the Duke of + Wellington on the 11th of August. Sir Robert Peel + states, however, in his 'Memoir,' p. 269, 'At the close + of the year 1828 little, if any, progress had been made + in removing the difficulties with which the Duke of + Wellington had to contend;' and, p. 274, 'The chief + difficulty was the King. At the commencement of the + month of January 1829 his Majesty had not yet signified + his consent that the whole subject of Ireland, + including the Catholic question, should be taken into + consideration by his confidential servants.'] + +He told me also that the French Government have at last agreed to +make common cause with us in preventing the Russians from +prosecuting the war against Turkey. + + +[Page Head: HEALTH AND HABITS OF GEORGE IV.] + +December 16th, 1828 {p.143} + +A Council at Windsor yesterday; very few present, and no +audiences but Aberdeen for three-quarters of an hour and the Duke +for five minutes. I sent for Bachelor and had a long talk with +him. He said the King was well, but weak, his constitution very +strong, no malady about him, but irritation in the bladder which +he could not get rid of. He thinks the hot rooms and want of air +and exercise do him harm, and that he is getting every day more +averse to exercise and more prone to retirement, which, besides +that it weakens his constitution, is a proof that he is beginning +to break. Bachelor thinks he is in no sort of danger; I think he +will not live more than two years. He says that his attendants +are quite worn out with being always about him, and living in +such hot rooms (which obliges them to drink) and seldom getting +air and exercise. B. is at present well, but he sits up every +other night with the King and never leaves him. He is in high +favour, and Sir William Knighton is now as civil and obliging to +him as he used to be the reverse. The King instructs him in his +duties in the kindest manner, likes to have him about him, and +talks a great deal to him. But his Majesty keeps everybody at a +great distance from him, and all about him are afraid of him, +though he talks to his pages with more openness and familiarity +than to anybody. He thinks Radford (who is dying) is not in such +favour as he was, though he is always there; of O'Reilly the +surgeon, who sees the King every day and carries him all the +gossip he can pick up, Bachelor speaks with very little ceremony. +The King told them the other day that 'O'R. was the damnedest +liar in the world,' and it seems he is often in the habit of +discussing people in this way to his _valets de chambre_. He +reads a great deal, and every morning has his boxes brought to +him and reads their contents. They are brought up by Knighton or +Watson, both of whom have keys of all the boxes. He says there is +not one person about him whom he likes--Mount Charles pretty +well, Taylor better than anybody, Knighton constantly there and +his influence unbounded; he thinks K. can do anything. + + +[Page Head: CHARACTER OF O'CONNELL.] + +December 20th, 1828 {p.144} + +Hyde Villiers called on me ten days ago to give me an account of +his visit to Ireland. He seems to have been intimate with several +of the leading men, particularly Shiel, whom all agree in +describing as the cleverest man of his party. He also saw a good +deal of the Lord-Lieutenant;[15] and was struck by his imprudence +and unreserve. He spoke very positively of his determination not +to be a party to any measures contrary to his opinions, and did +not scruple to complain of the little information he received +from the Government here concerning their intentions. He also +appears to have been flattered by O'Connell into entire +confidence in him, and told Villiers that he would trust him +implicitly. O'Connell and Shiel detest each other, though Shiel +does not oppose him. Lawless detests him too, and he does +everything he can to thwart and provoke him, and opposes him in +the Association[16] upon all occasions. Lately in the affair of +the 'exclusive dealing' he met with such opposition in the +Association that it required a great deal of time and management +to get rid of that proposition, although in the end he carried +the matter very triumphantly. But O'Connell, though opposed by a +numerous party in the Association, is all-powerful in the +country, and there is not one individual who has a chance of +supplanting him in the affections of the great mass of the +Catholics. For twenty-five years he has been continually +labouring to obtain that authority and consideration which he +possesses without a rival, and is now so great that they yield +unlimited obedience to his individual will. As an orator he would +probably fail in the English House of Commons; but to a mob, +especially an Irish mob, he is perfect, exactly the style and +manner which suits their tastes and comprehensions, and +consequently his success with them is unbounded. He has a large +landed property, is at the head of his profession, an admirable +lawyer and manager of a cause, and never for a moment diverted by +political or other considerations from the due discharge of his +professional duties. He is besides a man of high moral character +and great probity in private life, and has been for years in the +habit of affording his professional assistance gratis to those of +his own religion who cannot afford to pay for it. These are some +of the grounds of his popularity, to which may be added his +industry and devotion to the Roman Catholic cause; he rises at +three every morning and goes to bed at eight. He possesses a very +retentive memory, and is particularly strong in historical and +constitutional knowledge. The great object of his ambition is to +be at the head of his own profession, and his favourite project +to reform the laws, a task for which he fancies himself eminently +qualified. To accomplish any particular object he cares not to +what charges of partial inconsistency he exposes himself, +trusting to his own ingenuity to exonerate himself from them +afterwards. Neither O'Connell nor Shiel are supposed to be men of +courage, but Lawless is, and he is thought capable of the most +desperate adventures. Shiel is of opinion that the Association +might be suppressed by law; O'Connell thinks it could not, and +that if it might legally it could not practically. O'Connell says +he can keep the country quiet another year certainly, Doyle +thinks not. Doyle is a very able man, a man of the world, +dislikes O'Connell, but is obliged to act in concert with him. +Doyle, conscious of his own talents, is deeply mortified that no +field is open for their display, and he is one of those men who +must be eminent in whatever cause they are engaged. Murray[17] is +a clever man, but not so ambitious as Doyle; Francis Leveson +is extremely cautious, cold in his manners, and therefore +conciliates no general regard in Ireland, where they like an +exactly opposite character. William Lamb was popular beyond all +precedent, but Francis seems to have avoided giving offence to +either party, which is perhaps as much as could have been +expected from him, and in a country where the rival factions are +so exasperated against each other to be able to preserve a +character for impartiality is no small praise. I wrote to my +brother Henry what I have mentioned under the head of November +21st, and in return he told me that it was in contemplation to +put down the Association, and that the law officers in Ireland +had reported that it was practicable, and their opinion had come +over here, but the decision of the Government had not arrived. + + [15] [The Marquis of Anglesey was then Lord-Lieutenant of + Ireland.] + + [16] [The Catholic Association. The 'exclusive dealing' was + a pledge required of members of the Association not to + deal with Orangemen.] + + [17] [Dr. Murray, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin. Lord + Francis Leveson (afterwards Lord Francis Egerton and + Earl of Ellesmere), Mr. Greville's brother-in-law, was + then Irish Secretary. William Lamb, afterwards Lord + Melbourne, had preceded him in that office. Henry + Greville held a place at the Vice-Regal Court.] + +I very soon saw enough to satisfy me that the Duke is +endeavouring to prevail on Peel to stay in office, and his +repeated conferences with the Bishop of Oxford and other bishops +are enough to prove that he is negotiating with the Church, but +nothing transpires of his intentions. Not one word has been said +to Huskisson or any of his friends. My belief is that in that +long conference at Windsor the King tried to prevail on Peel not +to go; since which discussions between Peel, the Duke, and the +Bishop have been going on to see how the matter can be arranged +so as to make Peel's acquiescence palatable to the Church and the +Brunswickers, and perhaps to engage the Duke to modify his +intended measures accordingly. This is conjecture. The Duke is +gone to Wootton and to Middleton; he is always going about. + + +[Page Head: LORD BELMORE GOVERNOR OF JAMAICA.] + +December 21st, 1828 {p.147} + +A few days ago I saw Lord Belmore just as he was setting out for +Jamaica. I went to talk to him about my plan.[18] He was very +civil and said he would do all that depended upon him. He does +not seem to be bright, but whatever his talents may be, he seems +to be left to the free exercise of them, for he told me that he +felt his situation to be one of some difficulty, never having +received any instructions (except of course the formal instructions +given to every governor in writing) as to his conduct from the +Secretary of State, having had no conversation with any of the +authorities about the state of the colony, nor any intimation of +their views and intentions in respect to the principal matters of +interest there. He said that as the Assembly of Jamaica is now +sitting, he had proposed to postpone his departure till the end +of their session, when the Bills they passed would come over +here, and he might discuss them with the Government and learn +their sentiments and wishes as to the course he should adopt; a +very sensible proposition. But he received for answer that he had +better go now, for that when these Bills came over here +Parliament would be sitting, and Government would not have +leisure to attend to the affairs of Jamaica. And this is the way +our colonies are governed! Stephen,[19] to whom I told this, +said he was not surprised, for that Sir George Murray did +nothing--never wrote a despatch--had only once since he has been +in office seen Taylor, who has got all the West Indies under his +care. + + [18] [Mr. Greville held the office of Secretary of the + Island of Jamaica. The duties of the office were + performed by a deputy paid by the Secretary out of the + fees received in the island. He never visited Jamaica, + and the office held on these conditions was a sinecure; + but he occasionally took part in the affairs of Jamaica + in this country. The 'plan' alluded to in this passage + is unknown to me. Somerset, second Earl of Belmore, had + just been appointed Governor of Jamaica at this time.] + + [19] [James Stephen, Esq., then law adviser of the Colonial + Office, and afterwards Under-Secretary of State for the + Colonies. Mr. Henry Taylor, the accomplished author of + 'Philip von Artevelde,' was at the head of the West + India department of the office. Sir George Murray was + Secretary of State.] + +I might as well have put in on the 25th of November what the King +said to me, as it seems to have amused everybody. I was standing +close to him at the Council, and he put down his head and +whispered, 'Which are you for, Cadland or the mare?' (meaning the +match between Cadland and Bess of Bedlam); so I put my head down +too and said, 'The horse;' and then as we retired he said to the +Duke, 'A little bit of Newmarket.' + + +December 30th, 1828 {p.148} + +Hyde Villiers brought me on Thursday or Friday last a copy of the +Duke's letter to Dr. Curtis,[20] which had been sent to him from +Dublin under strict injunction of not showing it. The next day it +appeared in all the newspapers, O'Connell having read it to the +Association. It has made a great noise, and being as usual +ambiguous, both parties affect to consider it to be in their +favour. I fancy the Duke is very angry at its publication, at +least judging from what his secretaries say. + + [20] [The Duke of Wellington had corresponded with Dr. + Curtis, the titular Roman Catholic Primate of Ireland, + for many years. Indeed, as appears in the text, he had + known him long before at Salamanca, when this prelate + was at the Irish College there. Several excellent + letters by Dr. Curtis to the Duke are published in the + second volume of the Duke's 'Correspondence,' New + Series. The letter adverted to in the text was that in + which the Duke said (not very wisely) that 'if men + could bury the subject (of Catholic Emancipation) in + oblivion for a short time, it might be possible to + discover a satisfactory remedy.' Curtis put a copy of + the letter in O'Connell's hands, and he read it aloud + at the Catholic Association. Curtis sent a copy of the + letter and his own reply to the Lord-Lieutenant, who + answered him in another letter, in which he said that + 'he did not before know the precise sentiments of the + Duke upon the present state of the Catholic question.' + This letter was also made public, and added fuel to the + flames.] + +The word _the_ in the first paragraph was substituted for _a_, +and this alteration these blockheads pretend makes a great +difference in the sense. It makes none, and is only worthy of +remark because they probably echo what he has said. It is clear +enough as to his _opinion_, but nothing more. Curtis was in Spain +and imprisoned by the French at Salamanca. After the battle the +Duke delivered him and had a good deal of communication with him. +He returned to Ireland, and from that period has been in +occasional correspondence with the Duke. Curtis had written him a +long letter, desiring information about his intentions, and this +was the answer. A few days ago Hyde Villiers called on the Duke +and placed in his hands the resolutions which were agreed to by a +committee of the general meeting to be held in Dublin next month. +He took them, but said he must decline saying anything; as +Minister of the Crown he could not say a word, as whatever he did +must be done in conjunction with his colleagues and with the +King; that there was a disposition to draw inferences from +everything, as, for example, that a gentleman he had known in +Spain had written to him on the subject, and his answer had been +handed about, and all sorts of inferences drawn from it, which +was very inconvenient, and proved how cautious he must be. No +doubt it was the Curtis correspondence to which he alluded. + + + 1829. + + +[Page Head: RECALL OF LORD ANGLESEY.] + +January 2nd, 1829 {p.149} + +Lord Anglesey was recalled last Sunday. The Duke of Wellington +came to see my mother either Saturday or Sunday last, and told +her he had been with the King three hours the day before, talking +to him about Lord A., that his Majesty was furious with him, +thought he took upon himself as if he were King of Ireland, and +was indignant at all he said and all he did. The Duke talked a +great deal about him, but did not say he was recalled, though his +manner was such that he left an impression that he had something +in his mind which he would not let out. He gave it to be +understood, however, that he had been endeavouring to appease the +King, and that Lord A.'s recall was insisted on by his Majesty +against his (the Duke's) desire. I enquired warmly whether he had +asserted or only implied this, because I don't believe one word +of it. I was told that he had only implied it, but had left that +impression. But the Duke complained of Lord A.'s conduct to +himself; that he had at first written him insolent letters, and +latterly had hardly ever written to him at all. My belief is that +the Duke has for some time wished to get rid of Lord Anglesey, +that these Cabinets have been upon this subject, and that his +recall was settled there. As to the King's dictation and the +Duke's submission, I don't believe a word of it. It has been +clear to me for some time that the Irish Government could not +remain in Lord Anglesey's hands. I am very sorry for it, for I +think it will have a bad effect, and have little hope of its +being followed by any measures likely to counteract the evil it +immediately occasions. + + +January 4th, 1829 {p.150} + +I have seen letters from Dublin stating that the immediate cause +of the recall was a letter which Lord Anglesey had written to the +Duke (but what that was I have not ascertained), and that his +imprudence was so great it was impossible he could have gone on. +Certainly the writing and then publishing this letter of Curtis' +is an enormous act of indiscretion. The consternation in Dublin +seems to have been great, and Henry says that if Lord A. does not +decline all demonstrations of popular feeling towards him, he +will leave Ireland as Lord Fitzwilliam did, attended by the whole +population. Yesterday I asked Fitzgerald[21] if it was true that +Lord A. was recalled. He put on a long face, and said 'he did not +know; _recalled_ he certainly was not.' I saw he was not disposed +to be communicative, so I said no more; he, however, began again +of his own accord, and asked me whether I thought, in the event +of Lord A.'s coming away, that Francis Leveson would remain. I +told him under what conditions he had taken the place, viz. that +he was only to stay while Lord A. did; that circumstances might +make a difference, but that I knew nothing. He said he had done +remarkably well, given great satisfaction, and shown great +discretion in a difficult situation; that the rock Lord A. had +split upon was his vanity. + + [21] [Right Hon. Vesey Fitzgerald, then President of the + Board of Trade. He was raised to the peerage of the + United Kingdom in 1835, as Baron Fitzgerald and Vesci.] + + +[Page Head: RECALL OF LORD ANGLESEY.] + +January 5th, 1829 {p.150} + +The exact history of what took place in Dublin is as follows:-- +Lord Anglesey first of all desired George Villiers would get his +letter to Dr. Curtis inserted in the newspaper. He took it to +Shiel, who agreed to write as good an article as he could to go +with it, and then he went to Dr. Murray to inform him (as Dr. +Curtis's friend) of the intended publication, as Curtis himself +was absent, and his consent ought to have been previously +obtained. He went afterwards to the Phoenix Park, and Lord +Anglesey laid the whole case and correspondence before him. Some +time ago the Duke wrote to Lord Anglesey proposing that O'Gorman +Mahon and Steele should be removed from the Commission of the +Peace on account of their conduct to the Sheriff of Clare. Lord +Anglesey wrote word that the subject had engaged his attention, +and he had laid the case before the law officers, who had +reported to him that there were no grounds for any legal +proceedings against them. 'How, therefore,' said the Lord-Lieutenant, +'could I degrade men against whom my law officers advised me that +no charge could be brought?' This was one offence; and another, +that he had countenanced Lord Cloncurry, who, being a member +of the Association, was unworthy to receive the King's representative +and the Chancellor. Lord Anglesey warmly defended Lord Cloncurry +as a magistrate and a man, and appealed to his known loyalty and +respect for the King as a proof that he would never have done +anything derogatory to his own situation. The Duke's letter +he described to have been overbearing and insolent, Lord +Anglesey's[22] temperate, but firm. Lord Anglesey declares that +these were all the grounds of offence he had given. Five weeks +elapsed, during which he heard nothing from the Duke, and at the +end of that time he received his letter of recall, conceived +nearly in these words:--'My dear Lord Anglesey,--I am aware of +the impropriety of having allowed your letter to remain so long +unanswered, but I wished to consult my colleagues, who were out +of town. I have now done so, and they concur with me that with +such a difference of opinion between the King's Minister and the +Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland the government of that country could +not be conducted by you with advantage to the public service. I +have therefore taken the King's pleasure on the subject, and he +commands me to inform you that you will be immediately relieved +from your government. I will give you the earliest information of +the arrangement which will be made in consequence. Believe me, +&c.' This is nearly the letter.[23] From Lord Anglesey George +Villiers went to Shiel, and with him to O'Connell, to whom Lord +A. desired he would communicate the event. O'Connell was +dreadfully dejected, so much so that Shiel and G. Villiers were +glad to go home and dine with him in order to calm him. They at +length succeeded in doing so, and made him engage to abstain from +any discussion of the recall in the Association the next day (a +promise which he did not keep). Shiel made a very fine speech in +the Association. Nothing, they say, can exceed the general +feeling on the subject, and Lord Anglesey appears to be acting +with great dignity and reserve; he wishes to decline all popular +honours, and he put off going to the play, which he was to have +done. + + [22] [The correspondence of Lord Anglesey with the Duke of + Wellington on these charges is now published in the + 'Wellington Correspondence,' New Series, vol. v. p. + 244.] + + [23] [The letter itself is now published in the 'Wellington + Correspondence,' New Series, vol. v. p. 366. Mr. + Greville's version of it differs in no material point + from the original, though the language is slightly + altered.] + + +January 7th, 1829 {p.152} + +The Duke wrote to Francis Leveson to say he must not be surprised +to hear that a letter would reach Lord Anglesey by that day's +post, conveying to him his recall; that the King was so furious +with him that he said he would make any sacrifice rather than +allow him to remain there five minutes longer. His Secretary had +repeatedly remonstrated with the Lord-Lieutenant on his imprudent +language in Ireland, and on the tone of his letters to the Duke, +but that he always defended both on principle. The Duke said that +his letters were most offensive towards him, yet he continued to +declare that he should have been glad to keep Lord Anglesey on +but for the King. The Lord-Lieutenant did not go to the play, but +his family did, and were received with great applause, although +the pit was full of Orangemen. Lord Melville has refused the +Lord-Lieutenancy. + + +January 11th, 1829 {p.153} + +When George Villiers sent me the accounts of what had passed in +Ireland about Lord Anglesey's letter to Curtis I wrote him a long +letter, in which I told him why I thought the letter and its +publication were unjustifiable and indiscreet, and particularly +cautioned him against connecting himself much with the agitator, +on account of the harm it would do him here. He wrote me a long +answer, defending Lord Anglesey and his measures, but I do not +think he makes out a case for him, and if the Lord-Lieutenant +makes in the House of Lords the defence which he proposes to make +I think he will fail; but if he can keep Lord Plunket on his +side, who is now said to be very eager about him, he will do. +Plunket is under the influence of Blake, who keeps, as George +Villiers says, 'Lord Plunket's mind in his breeches' pocket.' +Lord Anglesey has behaved very well since the quarrel, declining +all honours and expressions of public feeling. + + +[Page Head: THE KING AND THE CATHOLIC QUESTION.] + +January 12th, 1829 {p.153} + +Lord Mount Charles came to me this morning and consulted me about +resigning his seat at the Treasury. He hates it and is perplexed +with all that has occurred between the Duke and Lord Anglesey. I +advised him to resign, feeling as he does about it. He told me +that he verily believed the King would go mad on the Catholic +question, his violence was so great about it. He is very angry +with him and his father for voting as they do, but they have +agreed never to discuss the matter at all, and his mother never +talks to the King about it. Whenever he does get on it there is +no stopping him. Mount Charles attributes the King's obstinacy to +his recollections of his father and the Duke of York and to the +influence of the Duke of Cumberland. He says that 'his father +would have laid his head on the block rather than yield, and that +he is equally ready to lay his head there in the same cause.' He +is furious with Lord Anglesey, but he will be very much afraid of +him when he sees him. Mount Charles was in the room when Lord +Anglesey took leave of the King on going to Ireland, and the King +said, 'God bless you, Anglesey! I know you are a true Protestant.' +Anglesey answered, 'Sir, I will not be considered either +Protestant or Catholic; I go to Ireland determined to act +impartially between them and without the least bias either one +way or the other.' Lord Anglesey dined with Mount Charles the day +before he went. The same morning he had been with the Duke and +Peel to receive their last instructions, and he came to dinner in +great delight with them, as they had told him they knew he would +govern Ireland with justice and impartiality, and they would give +him no instructions whatever. He showed me a letter from +Mr. Harcourt Lees full of invectives against the Duke and +lamentations at the recall, to show how the Protestants regretted +him as well as the Catholics. + +He then talked to me about Knighton, whom the King abhors with a +detestation that could hardly be described. He is afraid of him, +and that is the reason he hates him so bitterly. When alone with +him he is more civil, but when others are present (the family, +for instance) he delights in saying the most mortifying and +disagreeable things to him. He would give the world to get rid of +him, and to have either Taylor or Mount Charles instead, to whom +he has offered the place over and over again, but Mount Charles +not only would not hear of it, but often took Knighton's part +with the King. He says that his language about Knighton is +sometimes of the most unmeasured violence--wishes he was dead, +and one day when the door was open, so that the pages could hear, +he said, 'I wish to God somebody would assassinate Knighton.' In +this way he always speaks of him and uses him. Knighton is +greatly annoyed at it, and is very seldom there. Still it appears +there is some secret chain which binds them together, and which +compels the King to submit to the presence of a man whom he +detests, and induces Knighton to remain in spite of so much +hatred and ill-usage. The King's indolence is so great that it is +next to impossible to get him to do even the most ordinary +business, and Knighton is still the only man who can prevail on +him to sign papers, &c. His greatest delight is to make those who +have business to transact with him, or to lay papers before him, +wait in his anteroom while he is lounging with Mount Charles or +anybody, talking of horses or any trivial matter; and when he is +told, 'Sir, there is Watson waiting,' &c., he replies, 'Damn +Watson; let him wait.' He does it on purpose, and likes it. + +[Page Head: CHARACTER OF GEORGE IV.] + +This account corresponds with all I have before heard, and +confirms the opinion I have long had that a more contemptible, +cowardly, selfish, unfeeling dog does not exist than this King, +on whom such flattery is constantly lavished. He has a sort of +capricious good-nature, arising however out of no good principle +or good feeling, but which is of use to him, as it cancels in a +moment and at small cost a long score of misconduct. Princes have +only to behave with common decency and prudence, and they are +sure to be popular, for there is a great and general disposition +to pay court to them. I do not know anybody who is proof against +their seductions when they think fit to use them in the shape of +civility and condescension. The great consolation in all this is +the proof that, so far from deriving happiness from their +grandeur, they are the most miserable of all mankind. The +contrast between their apparent authority and the contradictions +which they practically meet with must be peculiarly galling, more +especially to men whose minds are seldom regulated, as other +men's are, by the beneficial discipline of education and early +collision with their equals. There have been good and wise kings, +but not many of them. Take them one with another they are of an +inferior character, and this I believe to be one of the worst of +the kind. The littleness of his character prevents his displaying +the dangerous faults that belong to great minds, but with vices +and weaknesses of the lowest and most contemptible order it would +be difficult to find a disposition more abundantly furnished. + + +January 16th, 1829 {p.155} + +I went to Windsor to a Council yesterday. There were the Duke, +the Lord Chancellor, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Master of +the Mint, Lord President, Lord Aberdeen, Peel, Melville, +Ellenborough. The King kept us waiting rather longer than usual. +He looked very well, and was dressed in a blue great coat, all +over gold frogs and embroidery. Lord Liverpool was there to give +up the late Lord's Garter, and had an audience. He said to me +afterwards that the King had asked him all sorts of questions +about his family concerns, with which he seemed extraordinarily +well acquainted, and to some of which he was puzzled to give an +answer. The King is the greatest master of gossip in the world, +and his curiosity about everybody's affairs is insatiable. I +spoke to Peel about the Council books,[24] which are in the State +Paper Office, and he promised they should be restored to the +Council Office. + + [24] [At the fire which took place at Whitehall in 1619 + several volumes of the 'Council Register' were lost or + dispersed. Some of these missing volumes were in the + State Paper Office, and two are still in the British + Museum.] + +Just before I set off to Windsor I heard from Ireland, and this +is an extract of the letter:--'Lord Anglesey received a letter +from Peel this morning to the effect "that as he had written and +published a letter such as no Lord-Lieutenant was justified in +writing, it was his Majesty's pleasure that Lords Justices should +be immediately appointed." Francis found him very smiling and +glorious, but angry, and declaring that he would do just the same +again if he had to choose his line of conduct.' + +_À propos_ of Denman's silk gown, Mount Charles told me the other +day that Denman wrote a most humble apology to the King, +notwithstanding which the Duke of Wellington had great trouble in +mollifying him. At last he consented, but wrote himself on the +document that in consideration of his humble apology his Majesty +forgave him, as he thought it became the King to forgive a +subject, but desired this note might be preserved in the +Treasury, where Mount Charles says it now is.[25] + + [25] [This curious correspondence has now been published in + the fifth volume of the Duke of Wellington's + 'Despatches,' New Series, pp. 117 and 153. The cause of + the quarrel was a Greek quotation from Dion which + Denman had introduced into one of his speeches at the + Queen's trial. In the King's answer to the memorial + (which answer was drawn up by the Duke of Wellington) + the following passage occurs:-- + 'The King could not believe that the Greek quotation + referred to had occurred to the mind of the advocate in + the eagerness and heat of his argument, nor that it was + not intended, nor that it had not been sought for and + suggested for the purpose of applying to the person of + the Sovereign a gross insinuation.' Denman, however, + prayed his Majesty to believe that 'no such insinuation + was ever made by him, that the idea of it never entered + his mind,' &c. + The truth about this quotation is this:--During the + Queen's trial Dr. Parr, who was a warm supporter of the + Queen and an intimate friend of Denman, employed + himself in ransacking books for quotations which might + be used in the defence. Thus he lit in Bayle's + Dictionary, article 'Octavia,' upon the answer made by + Pythias, one of the slaves of Octavia, to Tigellinus, + when he was torturing the slaves of the Empress in + order to convict her of adultery. The same answer + occurs in substance in Tacitus' 'Annals,' book xiv. + cap. 60. This Parr sent to Denman, and Denman used it + in his speech. The fact is, therefore, that the + quotation had been 'sought for and suggested' for the + express purpose of saying something personally + offensive to the King. The King's resentment against + Denman did not end here as will be seen lower down, + where he refused to receive the Recorder's report + through the Common Serjeant.] + + +January 21st, 1829 {p.156} + +The sealed orders with which the ships have sailed from Plymouth, +were orders to prevent the Portuguese (who have been sent away) +from landing at Terceira. + +Lady Westmeath was the woman meant in the article in the 'Times' +from Ireland about the pension to which Lord Anglesey would not +agree. The story is very true. There was £700 disposable on the +Pension Fund, and the Duke of Wellington desired £400 might be +given to Lady Westmeath, which Lord Anglesey and the Secretary +both protested against, and were resolved to resign rather than +agree to it. They wrote to the Duke such strong remonstrances +that he appears to have desisted from the design, for they heard +no more of it. It is therefore false that this had anything to do +with the recall, though it is by no means improbable that it +served to alienate the Duke from the Marquis and to make him +desire the more to get rid of him. This happened as long ago as +last August, I think. + +[Page Head: STATE OF RUSSIA.] + +Yesterday the Duke dined with us, in very good spirits, and +agreeable as he always is, though not so communicative and free +as he used to be. He had never told Francis Leveson about the +Duke of Northumberland[26] till Sunday, when he wrote to announce +the appointment. His Grace seems mightily pleased with it, and +fancies that his figure and his fortune are more than enough to +make him a very good Lord-Lieutenant. He says he was obliged to +coax him a little to get him to accept it. + + [26] [Hugh, third Duke of Northumberland, was declared + Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland on the recall of Lord + Anglesey.] + +[Page Head: THE EMPEROR ALEXANDER I.] + +He said that he was on the best terms with France, talked of +Russia and her losses in the war, adding that the notion of her +power was at an end. He believed that the Russians were +numerically as strong as the Turks in the last campaign, and they +were much more numerous than they said: first, _because_ they +said they were not so; and secondly, that he had other reasons +for believing it; he thought they had begun the campaign with +160,000 men and had lost 120,000.[27] They were talking of St. +Petersburg and its palaces. The Duke said that the fortunes of +the great Russian nobles--the Tolstoys, &c.--were so diminished +that they lived in corners of their great palaces; but this was +owing to the division of property and the great military +colonies, by which the Crown lands were absorbed, and the +Emperors had no longer the means of enriching the nobles by +enormous donations as formerly. When to these circumstances are +added the amelioration of the condition of the serfs, and the +spirit of general improvement, and the growth of Liberal ideas, +generated by intercommunication with the rest of Europe, it is +impossible to doubt that a revolution must overtake Russia within +a short period, and probably the Emperor has undertaken this war +in order to give vent to the restless humours which are beginning +to work. I said so to Lord Bathurst, and he replied that 'he +thought so too, but that the present Emperor was a man of great +firmness,' as if any individual authority or character could stem +the torrent of determined action impelled by universal revolution +of feeling and opinion. He said the late Emperor was so well +aware of this that he died of the vexation it had caused him, +which was aggravated by the reflection that he was in great +measure himself the cause of it. He was so bit by Liberal +opinions, and so delighted with the effects he saw in other +countries flowing from the diffusion of intelligence and freedom, +that he wished to engraft these dangerous exotics upon the rude +and unprepared soil of his own slavish community. When he went to +Oxford he was so captivated with the venerable grandeur of that +University that he declared he would build one when he got +home, and it is equally true that he said he 'would have an +Opposition.' These follies were engendered in the brain of a very +intelligent man by the mixture of such crudities with an +unbounded volition, and the whole fermented by a lively +imagination and a sincere desire to confer great benefits on his +country. + + [27] [This seems an extraordinary statement, but it shows + how well informed the Duke was. In Major von Moltke's + narrative of the campaign of 1828 he estimates the + average force of the Russian army at 100,000. But from + May 1828 to February 1829 no less than 210,108 men + passed through the hospitals, or died in them. So that, + as Moltke remarks, in the course of those ten months + every man in his army was twice in hospital. Never did + an army suffer more severely from sickness.] + + +January 25th, 1829 {p.159} + +Lord Anglesey's departure from Dublin was very fine, and his +answer to the addresses good. I fancy George Villiers had some +hand in penning them. The Duke when he dined with us the other +day said that a Russian Extraordinary Ambassador was coming here +to overhaul Lieven, a M. Matuscewitz. He is the principal writer +in their Foreign Office, a clever man. Their despatches are more +able than they used to be, but the Duke said that the Turkish +offices are better conducted than any, and the Turkish Ministers +extremely able. Lord Bathurst told me he had lately read the +minutes of a conversation between the Reis-Effendi and the Allied +Ministers after the battle of Navarino, when they were ignorant +whether the Turk had received intelligence of the event, and that +his superiority over them was exceedingly striking. This was the +conference in which when they asked him 'supposing such an event +had happened, what he should say to it,' he replied 'that in his +country they never named a child till its sex was ascertained.' + +Everybody thinks the appointment of the Duke of Northumberland a +very good one, and that the Duke is in great luck to get him. It +is surprising that he should have consented to go, but he +probably likes to do something and display his magnificence. He +is a very good sort of man, with a very narrow understanding, an +eternal talker, and prodigious bore. The Duchess is a more +sensible woman, and amiable and good-humoured. He is supposed to +be ruled in all things by her advice; he has no political +opinions, and though he has hitherto voted against the Catholics, +he is one of the people who pin their faith on the Duke, and who +are made to vote in any way and upon anything as he may please to +desire them. + +This pension of Lady Westmeath's makes a great noise, and it is +generally believed that when Lord Anglesey refused to grant it +the Duke got the King's sign manual for it, and the job was done. +The truth is that Lord Anglesey had at first refused, or rather +expressed his disapprobation, and asked the Duke if the King had +commanded it, to which the Duke sent an angry answer that he +might have been sure he should not have recommended it but by the +King's commands. M---- told me the pension (£400) was granted +four months ago, for he signed the warrant himself. + +Polignac is gone to Paris, but the Duke thinks not to be +Minister. Polignac told him that he wished to return here, as he +thought he could do more good here than there. + +[Page Head: THE STATE PAPER OFFICE.] + +Yesterday I went with Amyot to the State Paper Office to look +after my Council books. I found one book belonging to my office +and nearly thirty volumes of the 'Register of the Council of +State,'[28] which I mean to ask for, but which I suppose they +will refuse. Amyot suggests that as all the acts of the Council +of State were illegal and of no authority they cannot be +considered as belonging to the Council Office, and are merely +historical records without an official character. I shall try, +however, to get them. Mr. Lemon showed us a great many curious +papers. When he first had the care of the State papers they were +in the greatest confusion, and he has been diligently employed in +reducing them to order. Every day has brought to light documents +of importance and interest which as they are successively found +are classed and arranged and rendered disposable for literary and +historical purposes. + + [28] [Of the time of the Commonwealth. The 'Privy Council + Register' extends from the last years of Henry VIII. to + the present time, not including the Commonwealth.] + +Lemon has found papers relating to the Powder Plot alone +sufficient to make two quarto volumes, exceedingly curious; all +Garnett's original papers, and I hope hereafter they will be +published.[29] We saw the famous letter to Lord Mounteagle, of +which Lemon said he had, he thought, discovered the author. It +has been attributed to Mrs. Abington, Lord Mounteagle's sister, +but he thinks it was written by Mrs. Vaux, who was a friend of +hers, and mistress, probably, of Garnett; it is to her that many +of Garnett's letters are addressed. It seems that Mrs. Vaux and +Mrs. Abington were both present at the great meeting of the +conspirators at Hendlip, and he thinks that the latter, desirous +of saving her brother's life, prevailed on Mrs. Vaux to write the +letter, for the handwriting exactly corresponds with some other +writing of hers which he has seen. There is a remarkable paper +written by King James with directions what questions should be +put to Guy Faux, and ending with a recommendation that he should +be tortured first gently, and then more severely as might be +necessary. Then the depositions of Faux in the Tower, which had +been taken down (contrary to his desire) in writing, and which he +was compelled to sign upon the rack; his signature was written in +faint and trembling characters, and his strength had evidently +failed in the middle, for he had only written 'Guido.' There is a +distinct admission in the Plot papers in Garnett's own hand that +he came to a knowledge of the Plot otherwise than by the +Sacrament of Confession, which oversets Lingard; a paragraph by +which it is clear that the Pope knew of it; and a curious paper +in which, having sworn that he had never written certain letters, +which letters were produced when he was taxed with the false +oath, Garnett boldly justifies himself, and says that they ought +not to have questioned him on the subject, having the letters in +their hands, and that he had a right to deny what he believed +they could not prove--a very remarkable exposition of the tenets +of his order and the doctrines of equivocation. + + [29] [The substance of these papers has since been published + by the late David Jardine, Esq., in his excellent + 'Narrative of the Gunpowder Plot.' (Murray, London, + 1857.) Some of the particulars here referred to by Mr. + Greville are not strictly accurate, or at least have + not been confirmed by subsequent investigation. It is + not probable that the letter to Lord Mounteagle was + written by Mrs. Abington or by Mrs. Vaux, nor is it at + all certain that either of these ladies had any + knowledge of the Plot. Mr. Jardine ascribes the letter + to Tresham ('Narrative,' &c., p. 83). Garnett's + admissions are printed in Jardine's Appendix. His + knowledge of the Plot was derived from Greenway, a + priest to whom Catesby had revealed it in confession. + The Pope was probably not privy to the Plot. The + celebrated 'Treatise on Equivocation' was found in + Tresham's desk. The identical copy with Garnett's notes + is still in the Bodleian; it was reprinted in 1851.] + +When I came away from the State Paper Office I met George Dawson, +and we had a long conversation about Irish affairs, from which I +gathered what is to be done. The Catholic question is to be +conceded, the elective franchise altered, and the Association +suppressed. This latter is, I take it, to be a preliminary +measure, and I suspect the Duke went to the King on Monday with +the resolution of the Cabinet on the subject, and I think so the +more because the Archbishop was sent for post-haste just before +he went. Dawson talked to me a great deal about his speech at +Derry, and said that so many of his friends were aware of the +change in his opinions that he thought it more fair and manly to +declare them at once in public than to use any dissimulation with +his constituents and leave them to be guessed at, as if he dared +not own them; that he had made a great sacrifice, for he had +risked his seat, which was very secure before, and had quarrelled +with Peel, with his family, and with all his old political +friends and associates. We talked a great deal about Peel, and I +see clearly that he has given way; probably they have compromised +the business, and he agrees to the Emancipation part, in order to +have the Association suppressed and the 40s. freeholders +disfranchised. Lord Anglesey always said that his removal would +facilitate the business, for the Duke wished to have all the +credit of it to himself, and had no mind to divide it with him, +whereas if Lord Anglesey had remained the chief credit would have +fallen to his share. + +[Page Head: NAVARINO.] + +I met Sir Edward Codrington in the morning, and walked with him +to Downing Street, where he was going to talk to the Duke about +his Navarino business. He is mightily incensed, thinks he has +been scandalously used both by Dudley and Aberdeen, is ready to +tell his story and show his documents to anybody, and says he is +resolved the whole matter shall come out, and in the House of +Commons if he can produce it. God knows how his case will turn +out, but I never saw a man so well satisfied with himself. He +says that the action at Navarino was, as an achievement, nothing +to the affair at Patras, when with one line-of-battle ship, one +frigate, and a corvette he drove before him Ibrahim and four +Turkish admirals and a numerous fleet. + + +February 4th, 1829 {p.163} + +Went to Middleton last Friday; very few people. I returned by +Oxford, and called on Dr. Bandinell, who took me to the Bodleian. +I could not find any Council books, but I had not much time to +devote to the search. Dr. Bandinell promised to inform me if he +could find any books or manuscripts relating to my office. I was +surprised to find in the Bodleian a vast number of books +(manuscripts) which had belonged to Pepys. I came to town on +Monday night, and found that the concession of Catholic +Emancipation was generally known; the 'Times' had an article on +Friday which clearly announced it. The rage and despair of the +Orange papers is very amusing. I have not yet heard how the King +took it all. Glad as I am that the measure is going to be +carried, the conduct of all those who are to assist in it (the +old anti-Catholics) seems to me despicable to the greatest +degree; having opposed it against all reason and common sense for +years past, now that the Duke of Wellington lifts up his finger +they all obey, and without any excuse for their past or present +conduct. The most agreeable event, if it turns out to be true, is +the defection of Dr. Philpots, whose conduct and that of others +of his profession will probably not be without its due effect in +sapping the foundations of the Church. All the details that I +have yet learnt confirm my opinion that the spirit in which the +Duke and his colleagues approach this great measure is not that +of calm and deliberate political reasoning, but a fearful sense +of necessity and danger, to which they submit with extreme +repugnance and with the most miserable feelings of pique and +mortification at being compelled to adopt it. The Duke and Peel +wrote to Francis Leveson, complaining of my brother's having +met Shiel at dinner, and they were so enraged with George +Villiers[30] that they seriously meditated turning him out of his +office. Wretched and contemptible to the greatest degree! They +are now exceedingly annoyed because it is discovered that Woulffe +was once a member of the Association, and would willingly have +him turned out of the place of Assistant-Barrister, which has +just been given to him; but Francis is resolved to maintain him +in it. They say the Duke sent a copy of the King's Speech to Lord +Eldon. + + [30] [Mr. George Villiers, then an Irish Commissioner of + Customs (afterwards Earl of Clarendon), had cultivated + the society of Shiel and invited him to dinner. Such an + attention from an English official to an Irish Catholic + was at that time an unheard-of innovation. Shiel told + his host that he had never dined in a Protestant house + before. The Duke of Wellington took great umbrage at + what he considered an unwarrantable breach of official + decorum.] + + +[Page Head: CATHOLIC RELIEF BILL.] + +February 5th, 1829 {p.164} + +Went to Brookes' yesterday, and found all the Whigs very merry at +the Catholic news. Most of them were just come to town and had +heard nothing till they arrived. The old Tories dreadfully +dejected, but obliged to own it was all true; intense curiosity +to hear what Peel will say for himself. The general opinion seems +to be that the Duke has managed the matter extremely well, which +I am disposed to think too, but there is always a disposition to +heap praise upon him whenever it is possible. Nobody yet knows +who are converted and who are not; they talk of nine bishops; I +think he will have them all, and I expect a very great majority +in the House of Lords. Many people expect that Wilmot's plan will +be adopted, restraining the Catholics from voting in matters +concerning the Church, which I do not believe, for Wilmot is at a +discount and his plan is absurd and impracticable. Lord Harrowby, +however, is all for it. I hear many of the Liberals are +exceedingly provoked, and not unnaturally, at the Duke's +effecting this measure, at which they have been so long labouring +in vain, and give as many spiteful flings at him as they can +about the insincerity of his letter to Curtis. It matters very +little now whether he was sincere or not. It evidently was part +of his plan to keep it all secret till it was matured, and as +Curtis chose to ask him questions he was quite right to throw +dust in his eyes. + + + + + CHAPTER V. + +The Catholic Relief Bill--Inconsistency of the Tories--The + Catholic Association--Dinner at Charles Grant's--The Terceira + Expedition--Tory Discontent--Peel resigns his Seat for Oxford + University--A Blunder in Chancery--The Oxford Election-- + Influence of the Duke of Wellington--Debate of Royal Dukes-- + Peel beaten--Sir Edward Codrington--Violence of the King-- + Intrigues to defeat the Catholic Bill--The Duke of Cumberland-- + Furious State of Parties--Matuscewitz--Peel's Speech on + Catholic Emancipation--Exclusion of O'Connell from his Seat for + Clare--Pitt's View of Catholic Emancipation--'Musae + Cateatonenses'--'Thorough'--Mr. Lowther not turned out--Duke of + Newcastle's Audience of George IV.--The King's Personal + Habits--The Debate--Mr. Sadler--Hardness of the Duke of + Wellington--His Duel with Lord Winchelsea--The Bishops and the + Bill--Sir Charles Wetherell--The King on the Duel--Lord + Winchelsea's Pocket-handkerchief--Debate on the Catholic Bill-- + The Duke of Richmond--Effects of Dawson's Speech on the King-- + The Bill in Jeopardy--Lady Jersey and Lord Anglesey--Lord + Falmouth and Lord Grey--O'Connell at Dinner--The Duke breaks + with Lord Eldon--Hibner the Murderess--Theatrical Fund--The + Levee--The Duke's Carriage stopped--The King's Health--Lady + Conyngham--O'Connell's Seat--Child's Ball at Court--Princess + Victoria--Legal Appointments--Lord Palmerston on Foreign + Affairs--The King and Lord Sefton--The King's Speech on the + Prorogation--Madame du Cayla--George IV.'s Inaccuracy-- + Conversation of the Duke of Wellington on the King and the Duke + of Cumberland. + + +[Page Head: PEEL'S SPEECH ON THE CATHOLIC BILL.] + +February 6th, 1829 {p.166} + +Parliament met yesterday; a very full attendance and intense +interest and curiosity. The King's Speech, which was long and +better written than usual, was not quite satisfactory to the +Catholics. I met Lord Harrowby coming from the House of Lords, +and he said they did not like it at all; the previous suppression +of the Association was what they disliked. However, all +discontent was removed by Peel's speech, which was deemed (as to +the intentions of Ministers) perfectly satisfactory even by those +who were most prejudiced before against Government. I was in the +House of Commons. Peel was very feeble, and his case for himself +poor and ineffective; all he said was true enough, but it was +only what had been said to him over and over again for years +past, and he did not urge a single argument for acquiescing now +which was not equally applicable to his situation two years ago. +However, everybody was so glad to have the measure carried that +they did not care to attack Peel or his speech, though if there +had been a Brunswicker of any talent in the House he might have +cut it up finely; two or three of them spoke, but wretchedly ill, +and Lord Chandos was not at all violent, which I expected he +would have been. Lord Eldon was violent but impotent, in the +House of Lords, and Lord Bathurst made a sort of explanation +which was very poor. + +On leaving the House of Commons I fell in with Burdett, Lord +Sefton, and G. Bentinck, and they all owned that the business is +very handsomely done; and Morpeth and many others whom I saw +afterwards at the Club are quite satisfied. They would have +preferred that the Catholic Relief Bill and the suppression of +the Association should have gone together, but do not make any +difficulties on this head, and acknowledge (which is the truth) +that the Duke was probably obliged to do something to cajole the +Tories, and give some colour to their conduct. I sat next to +Fitzgerald in the House, who is not yet re-elected, and he told +me that this was absolutely necessary. He was of course delighted +and said, 'How right Lord Francis was to trust to the Duke,' +which, however, is all nonsense. He had no reason to trust to him +at all, and I really believe would not have continued in office +as Irish Secretary unless he had adopted this measure. He owned +as Peel was speaking that he was not doing it well; he was feeble +and diffuse in the beginning, and too full of civilities and +appeals to Bankes and his old associates. However, thank God, the +event is accomplished, no matter how; probably it could not have +been done without the concurrence of these Tories, who have, I +think, certainly lost their character by their conduct; and there +is this evil in the history of the measure, that a blow will have +been given to the reputation of public men in general which will, +I strongly suspect, have an important though not immediate effect +upon the aristocratic influence in this country, and tend +remotely to increase the democratic spirit which exists. In all +these proceedings there has been so little of reason, principle, +or consistency; so much of prejudice, subserviency, passion, and +interest, that it is impossible not to feel a disgust to parties +in general. The conduct of those idiots the Brunswickers is +respectable in comparison with such men as the High Churchmen; +and the Whigs and Catholic supporters, however they may have +suffered before, in this matter stand clear and have only grounds +for exultation. They accept the measure with great moderation, +and are not disposed to mar the success of it by the introduction +of any topics likely to create ill blood, nor to damp the ardour +of new converts by throwing their former follies in their faces. + +Now, then, the Duke is all-powerful, and of course he will get +all the honour of the day. Not that he does not deserve a great +deal for having made up his mind to the thing; he has managed it +with firmness, prudence, and dexterity; but to O'Connell and the +Association, and those who have fought the battle on both sides +of the water, the success of the measure is due. Indeed, Peel +said as much, for it was the Clare election which convinced both +him and the Duke that it must be done, and from that time the +only question was whether he should be a party to it or not. If +the Irish Catholics had not brought matters to this pass by +agitation and association, things might have remained as they +were for ever, and all these Tories would have voted on till the +day of their death against them. + +Mahony, who is here, has written over to O'Connell, as have all +the other Catholics, to implore him to use his whole influence to +procure the dissolution of the Association, and it is said that +O'Connell had an idea of resigning his seat for Clare to Vesey, +on the ground that, having turned him out because he had joined a +Government hostile to their claims, he owed him this reparation +on finding it not to be the case. But I doubt whether this scheme +is practicable; still, I think if O'Connell could do it it would +be a good thing, and serve to reconcile the people here to him, +and give a great lift to his character. I expect to hear that the +Association has dissolved itself on receiving intelligence of the +proceedings in the House of Commons. Lord Anglesey spoke very +well, but nobody will care for his case now; besides, I doubt his +making out a good one. The fact is that they laid a trap for him, +and that he fell into it; that the Duke's letters became more +insulting, and that a prudent man would have avoided the snare +into which his high spirit and passion precipitated him. + + +[Page Head: DINNER AT CHARLES GRANT'S] + +February 8th, 1829 + +Peel spoke on Friday night better than he did on Thursday. +Huskisson made a spiteful speech, and George Dawson one which I +heard Huskisson say he thought one of the neatest speeches he had +ever heard. I dined yesterday with all the Huskissonians at +Grant's. There were there Lords Granville, Palmerston, and +Melbourne, Huskisson, Warrender, and one or two more. Huskisson +is in good humour and spirits, but rather bitter; he said that if +Peel had asked the advice of a friend what he should do, the +advice would have been for his own honour to resign. I said I did +not think Peel would have got credit by resigning. He said, 'But +don't you think he has quite lost it by staying in?' He owned, +however, that the Duke could not have carried it without Peel, +that his influence with the Church party is so great that his +continuance was indispensable to the Duke. + +This affair of the Portuguese at Terceira[1] (which certainly, +unless it can be explained, seems a gross outrage) they all fell +upon very severely, and Lord Harrowby told me afterwards he could +not understand it, and thought for the honour of the country it +should be explained forthwith. + + [1] [In December 1828 an expedition, consisting of 652 + Portuguese refugees of the party of the Queen, sailed + from England for Terceira in four vessels, under the + command of Count Saldanha. Terceira held for the Queen, + and arms and ammunition had previously been sent them + from England. The British Government ordered Captain + Walpole, of the 'Ranger' to stop this expedition off + Terceira, which he did by firing a gun into Saldanha's + ship. The ground taken by the Duke of Wellington in + defence of this measure was his resolution to maintain + the neutrality of England between the two parties then + contending for the Crown of Portugal. But the + proceeding was vehemently attacked in Parliament and + elsewhere.] + +[Page Head: DISCONTENT OF THE TORIES.] + +We are now beginning to discover different people's feelings +about this Catholic business, and it is clear that many of the +great Tories are deeply offended that the Duke was not more +communicative to them, principally, it seems, because they have +continued to talk in an opposite sense and in their old strain up +to the last moment, thereby committing themselves, and thus +becoming ridiculous by the sudden turn they are obliged to make. +This they cannot forgive, and many of them are extremely out of +humour, although not disposed to oppose the Duke. The Duke of +Rutland means to go to Belvoir, and not vote at all. The Duke of +Beaufort does not like it, but will support the measure. Lowther +has been to the King, and it is supposed he has resigned. They +complain that the Duke has thrown them over, still nobody doubts +that he will have great majorities in both Houses. It was +asserted most positively at Brookes' yesterday that Peel's offer +of resigning his seat at Oxford had been accepted. In Dublin the +moderate people are furious with O'Connell for his abuse of +everybody. There is no getting over the fact that he it is who +has brought matters to this conclusion, and that but for him the +Catholic question would never have been carried; but his +violence, bad taste, and scurrility have made him 'lose the +lustre of his former praise.' + + +February 9th, 1829 {p.179} + +I called at Devonshire House in the morning, and there found +Princess Lieven very eloquent and very angry about the Terceira +business, which certainly requires explanation. She is very +hostile to the Duke, which is natural, as he is anti-Russian, and +they have never got over their old quarrel. Saldanha got up a +_coup de théâtre_ on board his ship. When Walpole fired on him a +man was killed, and when the English officer came on board he had +the corpse stretched out and covered by a cloak, which was +suddenly withdrawn, and Saldanha said, 'Voilà un fidèle sujet de +la Reine, qui a toujours été loyal, assassiné,' &c. + +Went from thence to Mrs. Arbuthnot, who declaimed against +O'Connell and wants to have a provision in the Bill to prevent +his sitting for Clare, which I trust is only her folly, and that +there is no chance of such a thing. The Duke came in while I was +there. He said he had no doubt he should do very well in the +House of Lords, but up to that time he could only (that he knew +of for certain) reduce the majority of last year to twenty. He +did not count bishops, of whom he said he knew nothing, but the +three Irish bishops would vote with him. There were many others +he did not doubt would, but he could only count upon that number. +He held some proxies, which he said he would not make use of, +such as Lord Strangford's, as he could not hear from him in time, +and would not use anybody's proxy for this question who had voted +against it before. I told him how peevish the Duke of Rutland, +and Beaufort, and others of the High Tories were, but he only +laughed. In the evening Fitzgerald told me that the Convocation +at Oxford had accepted Peel's resignation of his seat for the +University, but left the time to him. It seems to me that this +affair was mismanaged. In the first instance Peel wrote to the +Dean of Christ Church, but he and Lloyd[2] agreed that he ought +to write to the Vice-Chancellor, which he did. The Vice-Chancellor +did not read his letter till after they had voted the address +to Parliament by three to one, after which it was difficult for +them to express anything but disapprobation of Peel's conduct; +whereas if the Vice-Chancellor had read it first, probably the +petition would not have been carried, or at any rate not by so +large a majority. He had better have carried his Bill through +and then resigned, when I have no doubt he would have been +re-elected; very likely he may be as it is. + + [2] [The Bishop of Oxford, one of Sir Robert Peel's most + intimate friends.] + +Tom Duncombe is going to make another appearance on the boards of +St. Stephen's, on the Terceira business, and he is to give notice +to-night. He has been with Palmella and Frederick Lamb, who are +both to assist in getting up his case, and he expects to be +supported by some of the Whigs and by the Huskissonians, which +latter are evidently anxious to do anything they can to embarrass +the Government. I know nothing of the case, which, _primâ facie_, +appears much against Government; but the moment is so ill-chosen, +in the midst of this great pending affair, that I think they will +make nothing of it. Palmella is a great fool for his pains, for +in clamouring against the Duke he is only kicking against the +pricks. As to Duncombe, he is egged on by Lambton and instructed +by Henry de Ros, who cares nothing about the matter, and only +does it for the fun of the thing. I have no idea but that +Duncombe must cut a sorry figure when he steps out of the line of +personal abuse and impertinence. + + +[Page Head: CATHOLIC RELIEF BILL.] + +February 11th, 1829 {p.172} + +Nothing is thought of or talked of but the Catholic question; +what Peers and bishops will vote for it? who voted before against +it? There is hardly any other feeling than that of satisfaction, +except on the part of the ultra-Tories, who do not attempt to +conceal their rage and vexation; the moderate Tories, who are +mortified at not having been told of what was going on; and +Huskisson's party, who would have been glad to have a share in +the business, and who now see themselves in all probability +excluded for ever. O'Connell arrived yesterday; it is supposed he +will not take his seat, but he does not seem inclined to +co-operate with Government in keeping things quiet. However, his +real disposition is not yet known, and probably he has not made +up his mind what to do, but waits for events. Notwithstanding the +declaration of the bishops, I do not believe they will vote +against Government. Peel spoke very well last night, and severely +trimmed old Bankes, which gives me great pleasure, so much do I +hate that old worn-out set. How this change of measures changes +one's whole way of thinking; though I have nothing to do with +politics, I cannot help being influenced to an extraordinary +degree by what has passed, and can understand from my own +feelings how those who are deeply engaged may be biassed by the +prejudices and attachments of party without any imputation +against their sincerity or judgment. When we see men pursuing a +course of which we greatly disapprove, all their actions and +motives are suspected by us, and _vice versâ_. We lend a willing +ear to imputations of vanity, interest, and other unworthy +motives, and when we cannot explain or comprehend the particulars +of men's conduct, we judge them unfavourably while we are opposed +to their measures; but when they do what we wish, we see the same +things very differently, and begin to hesitate about the justice +of our censures and the suspicions which we previously entertained. +It is pretty clear that the Duke will have a good majority in the +House of Lords, and that many Peers and bishops will find excuses +between this and then for voting with him or remaining neutral. + +A ridiculous thing happened the other day in the Vice-Chancellor's +Court. Sugden had taken a brief on each side of a case without +knowing it. Home, who opened on one side and was followed by +another lawyer, was to be answered by Sugden; but he, having got +hold of the wrong brief, spoke the same way as Home. The +Vice-Chancellor said coolly, 'Mr. Sugden is with you?' 'Sir,' +said Home, 'his argument is with us, but he is engaged on the +other side.' Finding himself in a scrape, he said 'it was true he +held a brief for the other party, but for no client would he ever +argue against what he knew to be a clear rule of law.' However, +the Court decided against them all. + + +February 13th, 1829 {p.173} + +Still the Catholic question and the probable numbers in the House +of Lords; nobody talks of anything else. Lord Winchelsea makes an +ass of himself, and would like to be sent to the Tower, but +nobody will mind anything such a blockhead says. Lord Holland +talks of a majority of sixty in the Lords. I walked with +Ebrington to O'Connell's door the other day; he went in. The next +day I asked him what had passed. He said that he had pressed him +strongly to dissolve the Association; O'Connell said he could not +press it himself, but would write to Ireland that it was the +unanimous opinion of all the friends of the cause here that it +should be done. The fact is, he does not dare to acquiesce in all +the measures of Government, though there is little doubt but that +he desires to see an end to associations and agitations. Lady +Jersey affects to be entirely in the Duke's confidence. She said +to Lord Granville at Madame de Lieven's the other night that 'she +made it a rule never to talk to the Duke about affairs in +public,' and she said to me last night that she had known what +was to be done about the Catholics all along. Certainly she +contrives to make the Duke see a great deal of her, for he calls +on her, and writes to her perpetually, but I doubt whether he +tells her much of anything. Some of the household have made a +struggle to be exempted from the general obligation on all +members of Government to vote for the Bill, but the Duke will not +stand it, and they must all vote or go out. The Privy Seal was +offered to Lord Westmoreland, but he refused, and his answer was +good--that if he had been in the Cabinet, he might possibly have +seen the same grounds for changing his mind on the Catholic +question that the other Ministers did; but not having had those +opportunities, he retained his former opinions, and therefore +could not accept office. + + +[Page Head: CATHOLIC RELIEF BILL.] + +February 22nd, 1829 {p.174} + +Went to Newmarket last Sunday and came back on Thursday. Still +the Catholic question and nothing else. Everybody believed that +the Duke of Cumberland would support Government till he made +this last speech. He went to the King, who desired him to call +on the Duke, and when he got to town he went uninvited to dine +with him. There has been nothing of consequence in either House, +except the dressing which Lord Plunket gave Lord Eldon, though +that hard-bitten old dog shows capital fight. Peel has got a +most active and intelligent committee at Oxford, and they +consider his election safe. Inglis's committee, on the contrary, +is composed of men not much better than old women, except Fynes +Clinton, the chairman. Every day the majority promises to be +greater in the House of Lords, but it is very ridiculous to see +the faces many of these Tory Lords make at swallowing the +bitter pill. Too great a noise is made about Peel and his +sacrifices, but he must be supported and praised at this +juncture. It is not for those who have been labouring in this +cause, and want his assistance, to reject him or treat him +uncivilly now that he tenders it. But as to the body of the High +Tories, it is impossible not to regard their conduct with +disgust and contempt, for now they feel only for themselves, +and it is not apprehension of those dangers they have been +constantly crying out about that affects them, but the necessity +they are under of making such a sudden turn, and bitter +mortification at having been kept in total ignorance, and, +consequently, having been led to hold the same violent language +up to the last moment. If Canning had lived, God knows what +would have happened, for they never would have turned round for +him as they are now about to do for the Duke. The circumstances +of the case are just the same; since 1825 the same game has been +going on in Ireland, and in the same manner, and the Clare +election was only what had happened at Waterford before. All +this has given a blow to the aristocracy, which men only laugh +at now, but of which the effects will be felt some day or other. +Who will have any dependence hereafter on the steadiness and +consistency of public men, and what credit will be given to +professions and declarations? I am glad to see them dragged +through the mire, as far as the individuals are concerned, but I +am sorry for the effect that such conduct is likely to produce. +There was a capital paper of Cobbett's yesterday, in his best +style. Many Liberals are uneasy about what are called the +securities, and when the Duke tells Lord Colchester that if he +will wait he will be satisfied with the Bill, it is enough to +make them so; but my hopes predominate over my fears. Yesterday +Vesey Fitzgerald said that 'we had not yet seen what some people +might consider the objectionable parts of the measure, but that, +though certain things might be necessary, the Government are +impressed with the paramount necessity of not leaving the +Catholic question behind them, and that the Duke was a man of +too firm a mind not to go through with it;' and I think he said +distinctly that Catholics and Protestants must be placed on an +equal footing, or something to that effect. He went off into a +panegyric on the Duke, and said that seeing him as he did for +several hours every day, he had opportunities of finding out +what an extraordinary man he was, and that it was remarkable +what complete ascendency he had acquired over all who were about +him. The English of this is (what everybody knew) that he +dictates to his Cabinet. The fact is, he is a man of great +energy, decision, and authority, and his character has been +formed by the events of his life, and by the extraordinary +circumstances which have raised him to a situation higher than +any subject has attained in modern times. That his great +influence is indispensable to carry this question, and therefore +most useful at this time, cannot be doubted, for he can address +the King in a style which no other Minister could adopt. He +treats with him as with an equal, and the King stands completely +in awe of him. It will be long before a correct and impartial +estimate is formed of the Duke's character and abilities; his +talents, however, must be of a very superior, though not of the +most shining description. Whatever he may be, he is at this +moment one of the most powerful Ministers this country has ever +seen. The greatest Ministers have been obliged to bend to the +King, or the aristocracy, or the Commons, but he commands them +all. M---- told me that he had not seen the King, but that he +heard he was as sulky as a bear, and that he was sure he would +be very glad if anything happened to defeat this measure, though +he is too much afraid of the Duke to do anything himself tending +to thwart it. + +The Emperor of Russia is extremely disgusted at the language of +the newspapers here, and desired his Minister to complain of it, +and the Duke wrote the answer himself, in which he entered at +great length into the character and utility of the press in this +country, a dissertation affording a proof certainly of his +quickness and industry, overwhelmed as he is with business. The +Duke of Richmond offered to give up his Garter, but the Duke +would not take it back. + + +[Page Head: DEBATE OF THE ROYAL DUKES.] + +February 26th, 1829 {p.177} + +The debate on Monday night in the House of Lords was very +amusing. It was understood the Duke of Clarence was to speak, and +there was a good deal of curiosity to hear him. Lord Bathurst was +in a great fright lest he should be violent and foolish. He made +a very tolerable speech, of course with a good deal of stuff in +it, but such as it was it has exceedingly disconcerted the other +party. The three royal Dukes Clarence, Cumberland, and Sussex got +up one after another, and attacked each other (that is, Clarence +and Sussex attacked Cumberland, and he them) very vehemently, and +they used towards each other language that nobody else could have +ventured to employ; so it was a very droll scene. The Duke of +Clarence said the attacks on the Duke [of Wellington] had been +_infamous_; the Duke of Cumberland took this to himself, but when +he began to answer it could not recollect the expression, which +the Duke of Clarence directly supplied. 'I said "infamous."' The +Duke of Sussex said that the Duke of Clarence had not intended to +apply the word to the Duke of Cumberland, but if he chose to take +it to himself he might. Then the Duke of Clarence said that the +Duke of Cumberland had lived so long abroad that he had forgotten +there was such a thing as freedom of debate. + + +February 27th, 1829 {p.177} + +They say Plunket made one of the best speeches he ever delivered +last night, and Lord Anglesey spoke very well. There was hardly +anybody in the House. Peel's election [Oxford University] is +going on ill. The Convocation presents a most disgraceful scene +of riot and uproar. I went to the Committee Room last night at +twelve, and found nobody there but Dr. Russell, the head-master +of the Charterhouse, who was waiting for Hobhouse and amusing +himself by correcting his boys' exercises. He knew me, though he +had not seen me for nearly twenty years, when I was at school. I +shall be sorry if Peel does not come in, not that I care much for +him, but because I cannot bear that his opponents should have a +triumph. + +Lady Georgiana Bathurst told me she had had a great scene with +the Duke of Cumberland. She told him not to be factious and to go +back to Germany; he was very angry, and after much argument and +many reproaches they made it up, embraced, and he shed a flood of +tears. + +I met with these lines in 'The Duke of Milan' (Massinger), which +are very applicable to the Duke in his dealings with his Cabinet +and his old friends the Tories:-- + + You never heard the motives that induced him + To this strange course? No; these are cabinet councils, + And not to be communicated but + To such as are his own and sure. Alas! + We fill up empty places, and in public + Are taught to give our suffrages to that + Which was before determined. + + +March 1st, 1829 {p.178} + +As the time draws near for the development of the plans of +Government a good deal of uneasiness and doubt prevails, though +the general disposition is to rely on the Duke of Wellington's +firmness and decision and to hope for the best. Peel's defeat at +Oxford,[3] though not likely to have any effect on the general +measure, is unlucky, because it serves to animate the anti-Catholics; +and had he succeeded, his success would have gone far to silence, +as it must have greatly discouraged, them. Then the King gives +the Ministers uneasiness, for the Duke of Cumberland has been +tampering with him, and through the agency of Lord Farnborough +great attempts have been made to induce him to throw obstacles in +the way of the measures. He is very well inclined, and there is +nothing false or base he would not do if he dared, but he is such +a coward, and stands in such awe of the Duke, that I don't think +anything serious is to be apprehended from him. There never was +anything so mismanaged as the whole affair of Oxford. First the +letter Peel wrote was very injudicious; it was a tender of +resignation, which being received just after the vote of +Convocation, they were obliged to accept it. Then he should +never have stood unless he had been sure of success, and it +appears now that his canvass never promised well from the +beginning. He should have taken the Chiltern Hundreds, and +immediately informed them that he had done so. Probably no +opposition would have been made, but after having accepted his +resignation they could not avoid putting up another man. It +appears that an immense number of parsons came to vote of whose +intentions both parties were ignorant, and they almost all voted +for Inglis. + + [3] [Upon the 4th of February Mr. Peel resigned his seat + for the University of Oxford, in consequence of the + change of his opinions on the Catholic question. A + contest ensued, Sir Robert Harry Inglis being the + candidate opposed to Peel. Inglis was returned by a + majority of 146. Mr. Peel sat for the borough of + Westbury during the ensuing debates.] + +[Page Head: SIR E. CODRINGTON AND THE DUKE.] + +Codrington was at Brookes' yesterday, telling everybody who would +listen to him what had passed at an interview, that I have +mentioned before, with the Duke of Wellington, and how ill the +Duke had treated him. He said the Duke assured him that neither +he nor any of his colleagues, nor the Government collectively, +had any sort of hostility to him, but, on the contrary, regarded +him as a very meritorious officer, &c. He then said, 'May I, +then, ask why I was recalled?' The Duke said, 'Because you did +not understand your instructions in the sense in which they were +intended by us.' He replied that he had understood them in their +plain obvious sense, and that everybody else who had seen them +understood them in the same way--Adam, Ponsonby, Guilleminot, +&c.--and then he asked the Duke to point out the passages in +which they differed, to which he said, 'You must excuse me.' All +this he was telling, and it may be very true, and that he is very +ill-used; but if he means to bring his case before Parliament, he +is unwise to chatter about it at Brookes', particularly to Lord +Lynedoch, to whom he was addressing himself, who is not likely to +take part with him against the Duke. + + +March 2nd, 1829 {p.179} + +Saw M---- yesterday; he has been at Windsor for several days, and +confirmed all that I had heard before about the King. The Duke of +Cumberland has worked him into a state of frenzy, and he talks of +nothing but the Catholic question in the most violent strain. +M---- told me that his Majesty desired him to tell his household +that he wished them to vote against the Bill, which M---- of +course refused to do. I asked him if he had told the Duke of +Wellington this; he said he had not, but that the day the +Ministers came to Windsor for the Council (Thursday last, I +think) he did speak to Peel, and told him the King's violence was +quite alarming. Peel said he was afraid the King was greatly +excited, or something to this effect, but seemed embarrassed and +not very willing to talk about it. The result, however, was that +the Duke went to him on Friday, and was with him six hours, and +spoke to his Majesty so seriously and so firmly that he will now +be quiet. Why the Duke does not insist upon his not seeing the +Duke of Cumberland I cannot imagine. There never was such a man, +or behaviour so atrocious as his--a mixture of narrow-mindedness, +selfishness, truckling, blustering, and duplicity, with no object +but self, his own ease, and the gratification of his own fancies +and prejudices, without regard to the advice and opinion of the +wisest and best informed men or to the interests and tranquillity +of the country. + + +March 3rd, 1829 {p.180} + +Called on H. de Ros yesterday morning, who told me that the Duke +of Cumberland and his party are still active and very sanguine. +Madame de Lieven is in all his confidence, who, out of hatred to +the Duke, would do anything to contribute to his overthrow. The +Duke of Cumberland tells her everything, and makes her a medium +of communication with the Huskisson party, who, being animated by +similar sentiments towards the Duke, the Tories think would +gladly join them in making a party when the way is clear for +them. The Chancellor went to Windsor on Sunday, and on to +Strathfieldsaye at night, where he arrived at three in the +morning. Yesterday the Duke came to town, but called at Windsor +on his way. Dawson, however, told me that he believed the Duke in +_his_ interview on Friday had settled everything with the King, +and had received most positive assurances from him that no +further difficulties should be made; but it is quite impossible +to trust him. + + +[Page Head: CATHOLIC RELIEF BILL.] + +March 4th, 1829 {p.180} + +Nothing could exceed the consternation which prevailed yesterday +about this Catholic business. The advocates of the Bill and +friends of Government were in indescribable alarm, and not +without good cause. All yesterday it was thought quite uncertain +whether the Duke's resignation would not take place, and the +Chancellor himself said that nothing was more likely than that +they should all go out. On Sunday the King sent for the +Chancellor; he went, and had an audience in which the King +pretended that he had not been made aware of all the provisions +of the Bill, that the securities did not satisfy him, and that he +could not consent to it. The Chancellor could do nothing +with him; so instead of returning to town he went on to +Strathfieldsaye, where the Duke was gone to receive the Judges. +There he arrived at three in the morning, had a conference of two +hours with the Duke, and returned to town quite exhausted, to be +in the House of Lords at ten in the morning. The Duke called at +Windsor on his way to town on Monday, and had a conversation with +the King, in which he told him it was now impossible for him to +recede, and that if his Majesty made any more difficulties he +must instantly resign. The King said he thought he would not +desert him under any circumstances, and tried in vain to move +him, which not being able to do, he said that he must take a day +to consider his final determination, and would communicate it. +This he did yesterday afternoon, and he consented to let the Bill +go on. There was a Cabinet in the morning, and another in the +evening, the latter about the details of the Bill, for Francis +Leveson and Doherty were both present. + +I met Lord Grey at dinner, and in the evening at Brookes' had a +great deal of conversation with Scarlett, Duncannon, and Spring +Rice. They are all much alarmed, and think the case full of +difficulties, not only from the violence and wavering of the +King, but from the great objections which so many people have to +the alteration of the elective franchise. Duncannon says nothing +shall induce him to support it, and he would rather defeat the +whole measure than consent to it; Spring Rice, on the contrary, +is ready to swallow anything to get Emancipation. The object of +the anti-Catholics is to take advantage of this disunion and of +the various circumstances which throw difficulties in the way of +Government, and they think, by availing themselves of them +dexterously, they will be able to defeat the measure. They all +seem to think that the Oxford election has been attended with +most prejudicial effects to the cause. It has served for an +argument to the Cumberland faction with the King, and has +influenced his Majesty very much. + +Huskisson made a speech last night which must put an end to any +hopes of assistance to the Opposition from him and his party, +which it is probable they looked to before, and I dare say the +Duke of Cumberland has held out such hopes to the King. The +correspondence between the Duke of Wellington and the Duke of +Cumberland was pretty violent, I believe, but the Duke of +Cumberland misrepresents what passed both in it and at their +interview. He declared to the Duke that he would not interfere in +any manner, but refused to leave the country; to Madame de Lieven +he said that the Duke had tried everything--entreaties, threats, +and bribes--but that he had told him he would not go away, and +would do all he could to defeat his measures, and that if he were +to offer him £100,000 to go to Calais he would not take it. The +degree of agitation, alternate hopes and fears, and excitement of +every kind cannot be conceived unless seen and mixed in as I see +and mix in it. Spring Rice said last night he thought those next +four days to come would be the most important in the history of +the country of any for ages past, and so they are. I was told +last night that Knighton has been co-operating with the Duke of +Cumberland, and done a great deal of mischief, and that he has +reason to think that K. is intriguing deeply, with the design of +expelling the Conyngham family from Windsor. This I do not +believe, and it seems quite inconsistent with what I am also +told--that the King's dislike of Knighton, and his desire of +getting rid of him, is just the same, and that no day passes that +he does not offer Mount Charles Knighton's place, and, what is +more, that Knighton presses him to take it. + + +March 5th, 1829 {p.182} + +Great alarm again yesterday because the Duke, the Chancellor, and +Peel went down to Windsor again. Dined at Prince Lieven's. In the +evening we learned that everything was settled--that as soon as +the King found the Duke would really leave him unless he gave +way, he yielded directly, and that if the Duke had told him so at +first he would not have made all this bother. The Duke of +Cumberland was there (at Lieven's), but did not stay long. I sat +next to Matuscewitz (the Russian who is come over on a special +mission to assist Lieven), and asked him if he did not think we +were a most extraordinary people, and seeing all that goes on, as +he must do, without any prejudices about persons or things, if it +was not marvellous to behold the violence which prevailed in the +Catholic discussion. He owned that it was inconceivable, and, +notwithstanding all he had heard and read of our history for some +years past, he had no idea that so much rage and animosity could +have been manifested and that the anti-Popery spirit was still so +vigorous. The day, however, is at last arrived, and to-night the +measure will be introduced. But the Duke of Cumberland and his +faction by no means abandon all hopes of being able to throw over +the Bill in its progress, and they will leave no stone unturned +to effect their purpose and to work on the King's mind while it +is going on. + + +[Page Head: CATHOLIC RELIEF BILL.] + +March 6th, 1829 + +Peel brought on the Catholic question last night in a speech of +four hours, and said to be far the best he ever made. It is full +of his never-failing fault, egotism, but certainly very able, +plain, clear, and statesmanlike, and the peroration very +eloquent. The University of Oxford should have been there in a +body to hear the member they have rejected and him whom they have +chosen in his place. The House was crammed to suffocation, and +the lobby likewise. The cheering was loud and frequent, and often +burst upon the impatient listener without. I went to Brookes' and +found them all just come from the House, full of satisfaction at +Peel's speech and the liberality of the measure, and in great +admiration of Murray's. The general disposition seemed to be to +support both the Bills, and they argued justly who said that +those who would have supported the whole measure if it had been +in one Bill ought not to take advantage of there being two to +oppose the one they dislike. The part that is the most objectionable +is making the measure so far prospective ('hereafter to be +elected') as to exclude O'Connell from Clare, more particularly +after the decision of the Committee in his favour. Six weeks ago +Mrs. Arbuthnot told me that it was intended to exclude him, but I +did not believe her. It seemed to me too improbable, and I never +thought more about it. If they persist in this it is nothing +short of madness, and I agree with Spring Rice, who said last +night that instead of excluding him you should pay him to come +into Parliament, and rather buy a seat for him than let him +remain out. If they keep him out it can only be from wretched +motives of personal spite, and to revenge themselves on him for +having compelled them to take the course they have adopted. The +imprudence of this exception is obvious, for when pacification is +your object, and to heal old wounds your great desire, why begin +by opening new ones and by exasperating the man who has the +greatest power of doing mischief and creating disturbance and +discontent in Ireland? It is desirable to reconcile the Irish to +the measures of disfranchisement, and to allow as much time as +possible to elapse before the new system comes into practical +operation. By preventing O'Connell from taking his seat +his wrongs are identified with those of the disfranchised +freeholders. He will have every motive for exasperating the +public mind and exciting universal dissatisfaction, and there +will be another Clare election, and a theatre for the display of +every angry passion which interest or revenge can possibly put in +action. It is remarkable that attacks, I will not say upon the +Church, but upon Churchmen, are now made in both Houses with much +approbation. The Oxford parsons behaved so abominably at the +election that they have laid themselves open to the severest +strictures, and last night Lord Wharncliffe in one House and +Murray in the other commented on the general conduct of Churchmen +at this crisis with a severity which was by no means displeasing +except to the bishops. I am convinced that very few years will +elapse before the Church will really be in danger. People will +grow tired of paying so dearly for so bad an article. + + +[Page Head: DIVISION ON THE CATHOLIC RELIEF BILL.] + +March 8th, 1829 {p.185} + +Yesterday the list came out of those who had voted on the +Catholic question, by which it appeared that several people had +voted against the Government (particularly all the Lowthers) who +were expected to vote with them, and of course this will be a +test by which the Duke's strength and absoluteness may be tried, +so much so that it is very generally thought that if he permits +them to vote with impunity he will lose the question. It was said +in the evening that Lowther and Birkett had resigned, but Lord +Aberdeen, whom I met at dinner, said they had not at five o'clock +yesterday evening. It is, I think, impossible for the Duke to +excuse anybody who votes against him or stays away. Dined at Agar +Ellis's and met Harrowbys, Stanleys, Aberdeen, &c. Lord Harrowby +thought Peel's speech extremely able and judicious. He said that +Lord Eldon had asserted that Mr. Pitt's opinions had been changed +on this question, which was entirely false, for he had been much +more intimate with Mr. Pitt than Lord Eldon ever was, and had +repeatedly discussed the question with him, and had never found +the slightest alteration in his sentiments. He had deprecated +bringing it on because at that moment he was convinced that it +would have driven the King mad and raised a prodigious ferment in +England. He talked a great deal of Fox and Pitt, and said that +the natural disposition of the former was to arbitrary power and +that of the latter to be a reformer, so that circumstances drove +each into the course the other was intended for by nature. Lord +North's letter to Fox when he dismissed him in 1776 was, 'The +King has ordered a new commission of the Treasury to be made out, +in which I do not see your name.' How dear this cost him and what +an influence that note may have had on the affairs of the country +and on Fox's subsequent life! They afterwards talked of the +'Cateatonenses' written by Canning, Frere, and G. Ellis. Lady +Morley has a copy, which I am to see.[4] + + [4] [The 'Musae Cateatonenses,' a burlesque narrative of a + supposed expedition of Mr. George Legge to Cateaton + Street in search of a Swiss chapel. Nothing can be more + droll. The only copy I have seen is still at Saltram. + This _jeu d'esprit_ (which fills a volume) was composed + by Canning and his friends one Easter recess they spent + at Ashbourne.] + + +March 9th, 1829 {p.186} + +It was reported last night that there had been a compromise with +Lowther, who is to retain his seat and to vote for the Bill in +all its other stages. But he dined at Crockford's, and told +somebody there that he had tendered his resignation and had +received no answer. I do not understand this indecision; they +must deprive those who will not support them thoroughly. +'Thorough,' as Laud and Strafford used to say, must be their +word. + +_Evening._--I asked Lord Bathurst to-day if Lowther, &c., were +out, and he said nothing had been done about it, that there was +plenty of time. Afterwards met Mrs. Arbuthnot in the Park, and +turned back with her. She was all against their being turned out, +from which I saw that they are to stay in. We met Gosh, and I +walked with them to the House of Commons. We renewed the subject, +and he said that he had been just as much as I could be for the +adoption of strong measures, but that the great object was to +carry the Bill, and if the Duke did not act with the greatest +prudence and caution it would still be lost. He hinted that the +difficulties with the King are still great, and that he is in a +state of excitement which alarms them lest he should go mad. It +is pretty clear that the Duke cannot venture to turn them out. In +the meantime the Duke of Cumberland continues at work. Lord +Bathurst told me that he went to Windsor on Saturday, that he had +assured the King that great alarm prevailed in London, that the +people were very violent, and that the Duke had been hissed by +the mob in going to the House of Lords, all of which of course he +believes. The Duke is very unwell. I think matters do not look at +all well, and I am alarmed. + + +[Page Head: CATHOLIC RELIEF BILL.] + +March 11th, 1829 {p.186} + +The Duke was much better yesterday, went to the House, and made a +very good and stirring speech in answer to Lord Winchelsea, who +disgusted all his own party by announcing himself an advocate for +reform in Parliament. It is now clear that Lowther, &c., are not +to quit their places unless something fresh occurs. The reason +supposed is that the King supports them, and that the Duke does +not venture to insist on their dismissal. The real reason is that +he has got an idea that the Whigs want to make him quarrel with +his old friends in order to render him more dependent upon them, +and he is therefore anxious (as he thinks he can) to carry +through the measure without quarrelling with anybody, so that he +will retain the support of the Tories and show the Whigs that he +can do without them, a notion which is unfounded, besides being +both unwise and illiberal. He has already given some persons to +understand that they _must_ support him on this question, and now +he is going to grant a dispensation to others, nor is there any +necessity for _quarrelling_ with anybody. Lowther himself +evidently felt that he could not hold his office and oppose the +measure, and consequently resigned. The Duke might accept his +resignation with a very friendly explanation on the subject; +eventually he would be certain to join Government again, for to +what other party could he betake himself? These great Tory +borough-mongering Lords have no taste for opposition. Arbuthnot +told my father that this was his feeling, and when I told Mrs. +Arbuthnot what a bad moral effect the Duke's lenity had, she +said, 'Oh, you hear that from the Opposition.' Last night in his +speech, when he said he had the cordial support of his Majesty, +he turned round with energy to the Duke of Cumberland. Several +Peers upon one pretext or another have withdrawn the support they +had intended to give to the Duke's Bill. Fourteen Irish bishops +are coming over in a body to petition the King against this Bill, +and most foolish they. The English bishops may by possibility be +sincere and disinterested in their opposition (not that I believe +they are), but nobody will ever believe that the Irish think of +anything but their scandalous revenues. The thing must go; the +only question is when and how. The Kent petition to the King is +to be presented, I believe, by Lords Winchelsea and Bexley; they +would not entrust it to Peel. Lord W. wanted to march down to +Windsor at the head of 25,000 men. + + +March 14th, 1829 {p.188} + +Arbuthnot told the Duke what was said about not turning out the +refractory members, and he replied, 'I have undertaken this +business, and I am determined to go through with it. Nobody knows +the difficulties I have in dealing with my royal master, and +nobody knows him so well as I do. I will succeed, but I am as in +a field of battle, and I must fight it out my own way.' This +would be very well if there were not other motives mixed up with +this--jealousy of the Whigs and a desire to keep clear of them, +and quarrel with them again when this is over. Herries told Hyde +Villiers that _their_ policy was conservative, that of the Whigs +subversive, and that they never could act together. All false, +for nobody's policy is subversive who has much to lose, and the +Whigs comprise the great mass of property and a great body of the +aristocracy of the country. Nobody seems to doubt that the Bill +will pass. The day before yesterday the Duke of Newcastle went to +Windsor and had an audience. Lord Bathurst told me that they had +reason to believe his Grace had told the King his own sentiments +on the Catholic question, but that the King had made no answer. +But as nobody was present they could not depend on the truth of +this (which they had from his Majesty himself, of course), and he +begged me to find out what account the Duke gave of it. + + +March 15th, 1829 {p.188} + +The Duke of Newcastle was with the King an hour and a half or two +hours. After he had presented his petitions he pulled out a +paper, which he read to the King. His Majesty made him no answer, +and desired him if he had any other communications to make to him +to send them through the Duke of Wellington. I dare say this is +true, not because he says so, but because there has been no +notice taken of the Duke's visit in any of the newspapers. They +now talk of thirteen bishops, and probably more, voting with +Government. I suppose the majority will be very large. + + +[Page Head: PERSONAL HABITS OF GEORGE IV.] + +March 16th to 17th, 1829 + +I received a message from the King, to tell me that he was sorry +I had not dined with him the last time I was at Windsor, that he +had intended to ask me, but finding that all the Ministers dined +there except Ellenborough, he had let me go, that Ellenborough +might not be the only man not invited, and 'he would be damned if +Ellenborough ever should dine in his house.' I asked Lord +Bathurst afterwards, to whom I told this, why he hated Ellenborough, +and he said that something he had said during the Queen's trial +had given the King mortal offence, and he never forgave it. The +King complains that he is tired to death of all the people about +him. He is less violent about the Catholic question, tired of +that too, and does not wish to hear any more about it. He leads a +most extraordinary life--never gets up till six in the afternoon. +They come to him and open the window curtains at six or seven +o'clock in the morning; he breakfasts in bed, does whatever +business he can be brought to transact in bed too, he reads every +newspaper quite through, dozes three or four hours, gets up in +time for dinner, and goes to bed between ten and eleven. He +sleeps very ill, and rings his bell forty times in the night; if +he wants to know the hour, though a watch hangs close to him, he +will have his _valet de chambre_ down rather than turn his head +to look at it. The same thing if he wants a glass of water; he +won't stretch out his hand to get it. His valets are nearly +destroyed, and at last Lady Conyngham prevailed on him to agree +to an arrangement by which they wait on him on alternate days. +The service is still most severe, as on the days they are in +waiting their labours are incessant, and they cannot take off +their clothes at night, and hardly lie down. He is in good +health, but irritable, and has been horribly annoyed by other +matters besides the Catholic affair. + + +March 18th, 1829 {p.189} + +I was at Windsor for the Council and the Recorder's report. We +waited above two hours; of course his Majesty did not get up till +we were all there. A small attendance in Council--the Duke, +Bathurst, Aberdeen, Melville, and I think no other Cabinet +Minister. I sent for Batchelor, the King's _valet de chambre_, +and had a pretty long conversation with him; he talked as if the +walls had ears, but was anxious to tell me everything. He +confirmed all I had before heard of the King's life, and said he +was nearly dead of it, that he was in high favour, and the King +had given him apartments in the Lodge and some presents. His +Majesty has been worried to death, and has not yet made up his +mind to the Catholic Bill (this man knows, I'll be bound). But +what he most dwelt on was Sir William Knighton. I said to him +that the King was afraid of the Duke. He replied he thought not; +he thought he was afraid of nobody but of Knighton, that he hated +him, but that his influence and authority were without any limit, +that he could do anything, and without him nothing could be done; +that after him Lady Conyngham was all-powerful, but in entire +subserviency to him; that she did not dare have anybody to dine +there without previously ascertaining that Knighton would not +disapprove of it; that he knew everything, and nobody dared say +or do a thing of any sort without his permission. There was a +sort of mysterious awe with which he spoke of Knighton, mixed +with dislike, which was curious. He is to call on me when he +comes to London, and will, I dare say, tell me more. Returned to +town at night, and heard of Sadler's speech[5] and read it. It is +certainly very clever, but better as reported than as it was +delivered. He sent the report to the 'Morning Journal' himself, +and added some things and omitted others, and thereby improved +it. He is sixty-seven years old, and it is his maiden speech; +certainly very remarkable and indicative of much talent. Lord +Harrowby told me he heard it, and was greatly struck by it. + + [5] [Mr. Sadler, who had never sat in Parliament before, + was returned by the Duke of Newcastle at this time for + the express purpose of opposing the Catholic Relief + Bill, which he did with considerable ability.] + + +[Page Head: DEBATE ON THE CATHOLIC BILL.] + +March 19th, 1829 {p.190} + +Last night the debate ended, with a very excellent speech from +Robert Grant,[6] and a speech from Lord Palmerston which +astonished everybody. The Attorney-General was violent and +brutal, and Peel's reply very good; he was bursting with passion, +but restrained himself. I met Tierney, and told him that there +was great disappointment that he had not answered Sadler. He said +he could not speak for coughing, that Sadler's speech was clever, +but over-rated, nothing like so good as they talked of. Robert +Grant's was very good indeed, the best for matter; Palmerston's +the most brilliant, 'an imitation of Canning, and not a bad one.' +Though the Opposition gained eight in this division, they are +disappointed and disheartened, and will make but little fight on +the other stages (as it is thought). Nine bishops are to vote. +The meeting at Lambeth took place the day before yesterday, but +it came to nothing. They separated agreeing to meet again, and in +the meantime that each should take his own line. Tierney talked +of the Duke's management of this business with great admiration, +as did Lord Durham last night in the same strain; but after all +what was it but the resolution of secresy (which I think was a +most wise and judicious one)? for he did nothing but keep the +secret. However, the thing has been well imagined and well +executed. Tierney thinks Peel will resign when it is all over, +and at his father's death will be made a Peer. I should not +wonder; he must be worn to death with the torrents of abuse and +invective with which his old friends assail him on every +occasion. I presume that if he could have anticipated their +conduct he would not have been so civil to them in the beginning, +and would have taken another turn altogether; it would have been +better for him. Lady Worcester told me to-day what adds to many +other proofs that the Duke is a very _hard_ man; he takes no +notice of any of his family; he never sees his mother, has only +visited her two or three times in the last few years; and has not +now been to see Lady Anne, though she has been in such affliction +for the death of her only son, and he passes her door every time +he goes to Strathfieldsaye. He is well with Lady Maryborough, +though they quarrelled after Lord M. was driven from the Cabinet; +Lord Wellesley is seriously affronted with him at the little +consideration the Duke shows for him, and for having shown him no +confidence in all this business, especially as the Catholic +question was the only political difference that existed between +them. He is a very extraordinary man certainly, and with many +contradictions in his character; in him, however, they are so +much more apparent than in any other man, for he is always before +the world--all his actions, his motives, and even his thoughts. + + [6] [Robert Grant, Esq., M.P., brother of Mr. Charles + Grant. He was afterwards appointed Governor of Bombay.] + + +[Page Head: DUEL OF THE DUKE AND LORD WINCHELSEA.] + +March 21st, 1829, at night {p.192} + +This morning the Duke fought a duel with Lord Winchelsea. Nothing +could equal the astonishment caused by this event. Everybody of +course sees the matter in a different light; all blame Lord W., +but they are divided as to whether the Duke ought to have fought +or not. Lord W.'s letter appeared last Monday, and certainly from +that time to this it never entered into anybody's head that the +Duke ought to or would take it up, though the expressions in it +were very impertinent. But Lord Winchelsea is such a maniac, and +has so lost his head (besides the ludicrous incident of the +handkerchief[7]), that everybody imagined the Duke would treat +what he said with silent contempt. He thought otherwise, however, +and without saying a word to any of his colleagues or to anybody +but Hardinge, his second, he wrote and demanded an apology. After +many letters and messages between the parties (Lord Falmouth +being Lord Winchelsea's second) Lord Winchelsea declined making +any apology, and they met. The letters on the Duke's part are +very creditable, so free from arrogance or an assuming tone; +those on Lord Winchelsea's not so, for one of them is a senseless +repetition of the offence, in which he says that if the Duke will +deny that his allegations are true he will apologise. They met at +Wimbledon at eight o'clock. There were many people about, who saw +what passed. They stood at a distance of fifteen paces. Before +they began Hardinge went up to Lords Winchelsea and Falmouth, and +said he must protest against the proceeding, and declare that +their conduct in refusing an apology when Lord Winchelsea was so +much in the wrong filled him with disgust. The Duke fired and +missed, and then Winchelsea fired in the air. He immediately +pulled out of his pocket the paper which has since appeared, but +in which the word 'apology' was omitted. The Duke read it and +said it would not do. Lord Falmouth said he was not come there to +quibble about words, and that he was ready to make the apology in +whatever terms would be satisfactory, and the word 'apology' was +inserted on the ground. The Duke then touched his hat, said 'Good +morning, my Lords,' mounted his horse, and rode off. Hume was +there, without knowing on whose behalf till he got to the ground. +Hardinge asked him to attend, and told him where he would find a +chaise, into which he got. He found there pistols, which told him +the errand he was on, but he had still no notion the Duke was +concerned; when he saw him he was ready to drop. The Duke went to +Mrs. Arbuthnot's as soon as he got back, and at eleven o'clock +she wrote a note to Lord Bathurst, telling him of it, which he +received at the Council board and put into my hands. So little +idea had he of Lord Winchelsea's letter leading to anything +serious that when on Wednesday, at the Council at Windsor, I +asked him if he had read it, he said, laughing, 'Yes, and it is a +very clever letter, much the wisest thing he ever did; _he has +got back his money_. I wish I could find some such pretext to get +back mine.' At twelve o'clock the Duke went to Windsor to tell +the King what had happened. Winchelsea is abused for not having +made an apology when it was first required; but I think, having +committed the folly of writing so outrageous a letter, he did the +only thing a man of honour could do in going out and receiving a +shot and then making an apology, which he was all this time +prepared to do, for he had it ready written in his pocket. I +think the Duke ought not to have challenged him; it was very +juvenile, and he stands in far too high a position, and his life +is so much _publica cura_ that he should have treated him and his +letter with the contempt they merited; it was a great error in +judgment, but certainly a venial one, for it is impossible not to +admire the high spirit which disdained to shelter itself behind +the immunities of his great character and station, and the +simplicity, and almost humility, which made him at once descend +to the level of Lord Winchelsea, when he might, without +subjecting himself to any imputation derogatory to his honour, +have assumed a tone of lofty superiority and treated him as +unworthy of his notice. Still it was beneath his dignity; it +lowered him, and was more or less ridiculous. Lord Jersey met him +coming from Windsor, and spoke to him. He said, 'I could not do +otherwise, could I?' + + [7] [The incident of the handkerchief is related below, p. + 198 (March 29th, 1829).] + +I met the Bishop of Oxford in the Park this morning; he said nine +bishops, and probably ten, would vote for the Bill. He said he +was not at the meeting at Lambeth, but the Archbishop sent for +him, and despatched him to the Duke with an account of their +proceedings. The Archbishop summoned the bishops to consult upon +the course they should pursue, and see if there was any chance of +their acting with unanimity. Finding this was not possible, they +resolved that each should take his own line; and a proposal to +address the King, which was urged by one or two of the most +violent (he did not name them), was overruled. The anti-Catholic +papers and men lavish the most extravagant encomiums on +Wetherell's speech, and call it 'the finest oration ever +delivered in the House of Commons,' 'the best since the second +Philippic.' He was drunk, they say. The Speaker said 'the only +lucid interval he had was that between his waistcoat and his +breeches.' When he speaks he unbuttons his braces, and in his +vehement action his breeches fall down and his waistcoat runs up, +so that there is a great interregnum. He is half mad, eccentric, +ingenious, with great and varied information and a coarse, vulgar +mind, delighting in ribaldry and abuse, besides being an +enthusiast. The first time he distinguished himself was in +Watson's trial, when he and Copley were his counsel, and both +made very able speeches. He was then a trading lawyer and +politician, till the Queen came over, when he made a very +powerful speech in the House of Commons, full of research, in +favour of inserting her name in the Liturgy. He was then engaged +by Chancellor Eldon for the Court, soon after made Solicitor-General, +much abused for ratting, became Attorney-General, and resigned +when Canning became Minister. He was restored when the Duke was +made Prime Minister, and now he will have to retire again. + + +[Page Head: THE KING ON THE DUEL.] + +March 26th, 1829 {p.195} + +Everything is getting on very quietly in the House of Commons, +and the Opposition are beginning to squabble among themselves, +some wishing to create delay, and others not choosing to join in +these tricks, when they know it is useless. The Duke came here +the night before last, but I was not at home. He talked over the +whole matter with his usual simplicity. The King, it seems, was +highly pleased with the Winchelsea affair, and he said, 'I did +not see the letter (which is probably a lie); if I had, I +certainly should have thought it my duty to call your attention +to it.' Somebody added that 'he would be wanting to fight a duel +himself.' Sefton said, 'he will be sure to think he has fought +one.' Hume gave the two Lords a lecture on the ground after the +duel, and said he did not think there was a man in England who +would have lifted his hand against the Duke. Very uncalled for, +but the Duke's friends have less humility than he has, for Lord +Winchelsea did not lift his hand against him. It is curious that +the man who threw the bottle at Lord Wellesley in Dublin (and who +is a Protestant fanatic) has been lurking constantly about the +House of Lords, so much so that it was thought right to apprise +Peel of it, and the police have been desired in consequence to +keep a strict watch over him, and to take care that he does no +mischief. The Duke after the duel sent Lord Melville to the Duke +of Montrose with a message that his son-in-law had behaved very +much like a gentleman. The women, particularly of course Lady +Jersey, have been very ridiculous, affecting nervousness and fine +feeling, though they never heard of the business till some hours +after it was over. Mrs. Arbuthnot was not so foolish but made +very light of it all, which was in better sense and better taste. + +M---- told me two days ago that, although he is more quiet, the +King is not at all reconciled to the Catholic question. His +Majesty was very much annoyed at his speech the other day, having +always hoped that he was at heart too indifferent about it to +take a decided line or express publicly a strong opinion. It is +supposed that either Sugden or Alderson will be Solicitor-General. +O'Connell has done himself great credit by his moderation in the +Committee. Grattan wanted to move an amendment omitting the words +by which O'Connell is excluded from taking his seat for Clare, +when Rice and Duncannon begged him to withdraw it, and said they +were charged with the expression of O'Connell's wish that his +individual case should not be thought of, as he would not have it +be any impediment to the success of the measure. This, of course, +greatly annoys those who have inveighed against him, and who have +always contended that he only wished for confusion, and would be +very sorry to see the question settled. + +The other day Jack Lawless[8] called on Arbuthnot to ask him some +question about the Deccan prize money, in which a brother of his +has an interest. He entered upon politics, was very obsequious in +his manner, extravagant in praise of the Duke, quite shocked that +he should have fought a duel, and said, 'Sir, we are twelve of us +here, and not one but what would fight for him any day in the +week.' He said that some years ago, when he heard the Duke speak, +he was distressed at his hesitation, but that now he spoke better +than anyone; that in the Lords he heard Eldon, and Plunket, and +Grey, and then up got the Duke and answered everybody, and spoke +better than they all. Arbuthnot says he was bowing and scraping, +and all humility and politeness, with none of the undergrowl of +the Association. + + [8] [A prominent member of the Catholic Association in + Dublin.] + + +[Page Head: LORD ELDON'S INTERVIEW WITH THE KING.] + +March 26th, 1829, at night {p.196} + +Just met M----, who had returned that moment from Windsor, where +he had left the King in such an ill humour that he would not stay +and dine there. The Duke of Cumberland never goes there without +unsettling his mind, and yesterday evening Lord Mansfield had +been to the Castle and had an audience. Lord Eldon prevails on +all these Peers to exercise their right and demand audiences. +Lord Mansfield had no petition to present, and only went to +remonstrate about the Catholic question and tell the King that +all the Protestants looked to him to save them from the impending +danger. The King declares he only listens to what they say, and +replies that he must leave everything to his Ministers; but it is +impossible for him to listen (and not talk himself) for an hour +and a quarter together. He is very angry at the Bishop of +Winchester's speech, and at the declaration in favour of the Bill +by both of the brothers.[9] He accused M---- of having influenced +the Bishop, which he denied, and told him that he would not have +been biassed by anybody. The King still is in hopes that the Bill +will not pass, and said that the Ministers had only a majority of +five, and with that they would not carry it through. M---- +replied that they had above fifty, and after such a majority as +there had been in the Commons it must pass. All this he received +as sulkily as possible, and it is clear that if he dared, and if +he could, he would still defeat the measure. His dislike to it is +the opposition of a spoiled child, founded on considerations +purely personal and selfish and without any reason whatever. + + [9] [The two Sumners. Dr. John Bird Sumner (afterwards + Archbishop of Canterbury) had been raised to the see of + Chester in 1828. They owed their advancement to the + especial favour of George IV. The bishop adverted to in + the next sentence was the Bishop of Winchester.] + + +March 29th, 1829, at night {p.197} + +Dined at Lady Sandwich's, and met Madame de Lieven, who is grown +very gracious, craving for news, and probably very malignant. +Lieven told me (which she did not) that Lord Eldon was with the +King yesterday for four hours. She confirmed it after dinner, and +said that Halford had told her, but added that he had done no +harm.[10] Lieven also told me that Stratford Canning is coming +home, and Robert Gordon going to Constantinople. He is a dull, +heavy man, and not able, I should think, to cope with the Turkish +Ministers, if they are (as the Duke says) the ablest diplomatists +in Europe. I don't know why Stratford Canning is coming home, +whether _nolens_ or _volens_. + + [10] [This was the celebrated interview related in Lord + Eldon's 'Memoirs' vol. iii., when, however, the King + gave Lord E. a very erroneous account of the + transaction, subsequently corrected by Sir Robert Peel + in his 'Memoirs.'] + +I have, I see, alluded to Lord Winchelsea's handkerchief +story,[11] but have not mentioned the circumstances, which I may +as well do. Lord Holland came home one night from the House of +Lords, and as soon as he had occasion to blow his nose pulled his +handkerchief out of his pocket; upon which my Lady exclaimed (she +hates perfumes), 'Good God, Lord H., where did you get that +handkerchief? Send it away directly.' He said he did not know, +when it was inspected, and the letter _W_ found on it. Lord H. +said, 'I was sitting near Lord Winchelsea, and it must be his, +which I took up by mistake and have brought home.' Accordingly +the next day he sent it to Lord Winchelsea with his compliments. +Lord Winchelsea receiving the handkerchief and the message, and +finding it marked _W_, fancied it was the Duke's, and that it was +sent to him by way of affronting him; on which he went to the +Duke of Newcastle and imparted to him the circumstances, and +desired him to wait on Lord Holland for an explanation. This his +Grace did, when the matter was cleared up and the handkerchief +was found to be the property of Lord Wellesley. The next day Lord +Winchelsea came up laughing to Lord Holland in the House of +Lords, and said he had many apologies to make for what had +passed, but that he really was in such a state of excitement he +did not know what he said and did.[12] + + [11] [_Supra_, p. 192 (March 21st, 1829).] + + [12] [Lord Winchelsea was in the habit of flourishing a + white pocket handkerchief while he was speaking in the + House of Lords. This peculiarity; associated with his + sonorous tones, his excited action, and his extravagant + opinions, gave point to the incident.] + + +[Page Head: DEBATE ON THE CATHOLIC BILL.] + +April 4th, 1829 {p.198} + +On the third reading of the Catholic Bill in the House of Commons +Sadler failed, and Palmerston made a speech like one of +Canning's. The Bill has been two nights in the House of Lords. +They go on with it this morning, and will divide this evening. +The Chancellor made a very fine speech last night, and the Bishop +of Oxford spoke very well the night before, but the debate has +been dull on the whole; the subject is exhausted. The House of +Lords was very full, particularly of women; every fool in London +thinks it necessary to be there. It is only since last year that +the steps of the throne have been crowded with ladies; formerly +one or two got in, who skulked behind the throne, or were hid in +Tyrwhitt's box, but now they fill the whole space, and put +themselves in front with their large bonnets, without either fear +or shame. + + +April 5th, 1829 {p.199} + +The question was put at a little before twelve last night, and +carried by 105--217 to 112 (a greater majority than the most +sanguine expected)--after a splendid speech from Lord Grey and a +very good one from Lord Plunket. Old Eldon was completely beat, +and could make no fight at all; his speech was wretched, they +say, for I did not hear it. This tremendous defeat will probably +put an end to anything like serious opposition; they will hardly +rally again. + +I dined at Chesterfield House, but nobody came to dinner. +Chesterfield and his party were all at the House of Lords. I +found myself almost alone with Vesey Fitzgerald, with whom I had +much talk after dinner. He said that it would be a long time +before all the circumstances and all the difficulties relating to +their proceedings were known, but when they were it would be seen +how great had been the latter, how curious the former; that the +day the Chancellor, the Duke, and Peel were with the King they +actually were out (all of which I knew), and that he believes if +the other party could have made a Government with a chance of +standing, out they would have gone; but that it was put to them +(this I did not know), and they acknowledged they could not. They +held consultations on the subject, and the man they principally +relied on was the Duke of Richmond; they meant he should be +either First Lord of the Treasury or Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. +Lord Winchelsea said to Ellenborough, 'Why, he speaks better than +the Duke of Wellington any day.' He happens to have his wits, +such as they are, about him, and has been quick and neat in +one or two little speeches, though he spoke too often, and +particularly in his attack on the Bishop of Oxford the other +night. Last year, on the Wool question, he did very well, but all +the details were got up for him by George Bentinck,[13] who took +the trouble. Besides, his fortune consists in great measure of +wool, he lives in the country, is well versed in rural affairs +and the business of the quarter sessions, has a certain calibre +of understanding, is prejudiced, narrow-minded, illiterate, and +ignorant, good-looking, good-humoured, and unaffected, tedious, +prolix, unassuming, and a duke. There would not have been so much +to say about him if they had not excited an idea in the minds of +some people of making him Prime Minister and successor to the +Duke of Wellington. + + [13] [It deserves remark that Lord George Bentinck was thus + early employing his singular talents in mastering + details, although he took no conspicuous part in + politics until the proposal for the repeal of the Corn + Law in 1845.] + +[Page Head: THE BILL IN JEOPARDY.] + +Vesey told me that Dawson's speech at Derry very nearly +overturned the whole design. The King heard of it the day of a +Council at Windsor (which I well remember). The Chancellor was +with him for a long time, but it was almost impossible to +persuade the King that Dawson knew nothing of the intention of +the Government, and that his speech was not made in concert with +Peel and the Duke. This it was which caused them such excessive +annoyance, because it raised difficulties which well-nigh +prevented the accomplishment of the design. It must be owned that +the King might well believe this, and although it is very certain +that Dawson knew nothing, and that his making such a speech ought +to have been a proof that he was in ignorance, it will always be +believed that he was aware of the intended measure, and that his +speech was made with the Duke's concurrence. It is curious enough +that his opinion had been long changed, and that he had intended +to pronounce his recantation when Brownlow did, but as Brownlow +got the start of him he would not. For two years after this he +persevered in the old course, and when Canning came in, and the +Catholic question was the great field on which he was to be +fought, Dawson reverted vigorously to his old opinions, and spoke +vehemently against emancipation. Such is party! + +The circumstances that Vesey talked of are in fact pretty well +known or guessed at, nor has there ever been any secret as to the +main fact of the King's opposition and dislike to the measure. He +told me that after Eldon's visit of four hours the Duke +remonstrated, and told the King what great umbrage it gave his +Ministers to see and hear of these long and numerous interviews +with their opponents. The King declared that he said nothing and +that nothing passed calculated to annoy them, which they none of +them believed, but of course could make no reply to. + + +April 8th, 1829 {p.200} + +I have mentioned above (March 4th[14]), p. 180, the Chancellor, +the Duke, and Peel going to the King, and the alarm that +prevailed here. That day the Catholic question was in great +jeopardy. They went to tell the King that unless he would give +them his real, efficient support, and not throw his indirect +influence into the opposite scale, they would resign. He refused +to give them that support; they placed their resignations in his +hands and came away. The King then sent to Eldon, and asked him +if he would undertake to form a Government. He deliberated (then +it was that it was question of the Duke of Richmond being First +Lord or Lord-Lieutenant), but eventually said he could not +undertake it. On his refusal the King yielded, and the Bill went +on; but if Eldon had accepted, the Duke and his colleagues would +have been out, and God knows what would have happened. It was, of +course, of all these matters that the King talked to Eldon in the +long interview they had the other day. He is very sulky at the +great majority in the House of Lords, as I knew he would be. + + [14] [It was on the 3rd of March that this interview took + place, as related by Sir R. Peel himself in his + 'Memoir' (vol. i. p. 343). The King asked his Ministers + to explain the details of the measure they proposed to + bring in. They informed his Majesty that it would be + necessary to modify in the case of the Roman Catholics + that part of the oath of supremacy which relates to the + ecclesiastical jurisdiction and supremacy of the Pope. + To this the King said he could not possibly consent. + Upon this Mr. Peel and his colleagues informed his + Majesty that they must resign. His Majesty accepted the + resignations, and the Ministers returned to London + (after an audience of five hours) under the full + persuasion that the Government was dissolved. In the + interval some attempt was made to form a Protestant + Cabinet; but on the evening of the following day, the + 4th of March, the King wrote a letter to the Duke of + Wellington, informing him that his Majesty anticipated + so much difficulty in the attempt to form another + Administration that he could not dispense with his + Ministers' services, and that they were at liberty to + proceed with the measures of which notice had been + given in Parliament.] + +Lady Jersey is in a fury with Lord Anglesey, and goes about +saying he insulted her in the House of Lords the other night. She +was sitting on one of the steps of the throne, and the Duchess of +Richmond on the step above. After Lord Anglesey had spoken he +came to talk to the Duchess, who said, 'How well you did speak;' +on which he said, 'Hush! you must take care what you say, for +here is Lady Jersey, and she reports for the newspapers;' on +which Lady Jersey said very angrily, 'Lady Jersey is here for her +own amusement; what do you mean by reporting for newspapers?' to +which he replied with a profound bow, 'I beg your Ladyship's +pardon; I did not mean to offend you, and if I did I beg to make +the most ample apology.' This is his version; hers, of course, is +different. He says that he meant the whole thing as a joke. It +was a very bad joke if it was one, and as he knows how she abuses +him, one may suspect that there was something more than joking in +it. + +The other night Lord Grey had called Lord Falmouth to order, and +after the debate Falmouth came up to him with a menacing air and +said, 'My Lord Grey, I wish to inform you that if upon any future +occasion you transgress in the slightest degree the orders of the +House, I shall most certainly call you to order.' Lord Grey, who +expected from his air something more hostile, merely said, 'My +Lord, your Lordship will do perfectly right, and whenever I am +out of order I hope you will.' Last night old Eldon got a +dressing again from the Chancellor. + + +[Page Head: O'CONNELL AT DINNER.] + +April 9th, 1829 {p.202} + +Met O'Connell at dinner yesterday at William Ponsonby's. The only +Irish (agitators) were he and O'Gorman Mahon; ----, he said, was +too great a blackguard, and he would not invite him. O'Connell +arrived from Ireland that day; there is nothing remarkable in his +manner, appearance, or conversation, but he seems lively, well +bred, and at his ease. I asked him after dinner 'whether +Catholics had not taken the oath of supremacy till it was coupled +with the declaration;' he said, 'in many instances in the reigns +of Elizabeth, James, and Charles, because at that time it was +considered to apply to the civil supremacy of the Pope only, and +that the Government admitted of that interpretation of it, but +that no Catholic could take it now, because that construction is +never given to the oath.' Duncannon told me that O'Connell has no +wish to be in Parliament, that he makes so much money by his +profession that it is a great loss to him to attend Parliament at +all. What they want is a compromise with Vesey Fitzgerald, by +which he may be admitted to take his seat in this Parliament on +an understanding that he will not oppose Vesey in the next; not +that I see how that is to be done, except by an Act of Parliament +(which would never pass) in his favour. Besides, the Duke detests +him, and Vesey likewise. They cannot forgive him for all he has +done and all he has made them do. O'Gorman, the secretary of the +Catholic Association, appears a heavy, civil, vulgar man. I sat +next to Stanley, who told me a story which amused me. Macintosh, +in the course of the recent debates, went one day to the House of +Commons at eleven in the morning to take a place. They were all +taken on the benches below the gangway, and on asking the +doorkeeper how they happened to be all taken so early, he said, +'Oh, sir, there is no chance of getting a place, for Colonel +Sibthorpe sleeps at a tavern close by, and comes here every +morning by eight o'clock and takes places for all the saints.' + + +April 13th, 1829 {p.203} + +On Friday last the Catholic Bill was read a third time, after a +very dull debate. Lord Eldon attempted to rally, and made a long +and wretched speech which lasted two hours. Nobody spoke well. +The Duke in his reply dropped all the terms of courtesy and +friendship he had hitherto used in speaking of old Eldon, and +broke off with him entirely. He is disgusted at his opposition +out of doors, and at his having been the constant adviser of the +Duke of Cumberland and all the foolish Lords who have been +pestering the King at Windsor; and he is acquainted with all his +tricks and underhand proceedings, probably with more of them than +we know of. He thanked the Opposition for their support--thanks +which they well merit from him--but of course nobody is +satisfied. He was before accused of ingratitude in never taking +notice of their conduct, and even it is said that he gave them to +understand he had no more need of their services, and wished to +make them his bow. I don't believe he meant any such thing; he +intended to thank them simply, though it is probably true that he +does not wish to continue in alliance with them, and is anxious +to see the Tories put themselves under his orders again. On +Saturday he sent the commission down to Windsor for the King's +signature, with other papers as a matter of course; he would not +go himself, that there might be no fresh discussion between them. + +I went on Friday morning to the Old Bailey to hear the trials, +particularly that of the women for the murder of the apprentices; +the mother was found guilty, and will be hanged to-day--has been +by this time.[15] The case exhibited a shocking scene of +wretchedness and poverty, such as ought not to exist in any +community, especially in one which pretends to be so flourishing +and happy as this is. It is, I suppose, one case of many which +may be found in this town, graduating through various stages of +misery and vice. These wretched beings were described to be in +the lowest state of moral and physical degradation, with scarcely +rags to cover them, food barely sufficient to keep them alive, +and working eighteen or nineteen hours a day, without being +permitted any relaxation, or even the privilege of going to +church on Sunday. I never heard more disgusting details than this +trial elicited, or a case which calls more loudly for an +investigation into the law and the system under which such +proceedings are possible. Poverty, and vice, and misery must +always be found in a community like ours, but such frightful +contrasts between the excess of luxury and splendour and these +scenes of starvation and brutality ought not to be possible; but +I am afraid there is more vice, more misery and penury in this +country than in any other, and at the same time greater wealth. +The contrasts are too striking, and such an unnatural, artificial, +and unjust state of things neither can nor ought to be permanent. +I am convinced that before many years elapse these things will +produce some great convulsion. + + [15] [Two wretched women named Hibner were tried, and one of + them convicted for the murder of a parish apprentice + named Francis Colepitts by savage ill-treatment. The + elder prisoner was found guilty and executed on the + 13th of April. No such concourse of people had + assembled to witness an execution since that of + Fauntleroy. The details of the crime were horrible, and + had excited great sympathy for the victim amongst all + classes.--_Ann. Regist. for 1829, Chronicle_, p. 71.] + +[Page Head: THEATRICAL FUND DINNER.] + +After the Old Bailey I went and dined at the Covent Garden +Theatrical Fund dinner. The Duke of Clarence could not come, so +they put Lord Blessington in the chair, who made an ass of +himself. Among other toasts he was to give 'The memory of the +Duke of York,' who was the founder of the institution. He +prefaced this with a speech, but gave 'The health,' &c., on which +Fawcett, who sat opposite, called out in an agony, 'The memory, +my Lord!' He corrected himself, but in a minute after said again +'The health.' 'The memory, my Lord!' again roared Fawcett. It was +supremely ridiculous. Francis Leveson sat on his right, +Codrington on his left, and Lawless the agitator just opposite; +he is a pale, thin, common-looking little man, and has not at all +the air of a patriot orator and agitator. + + +May 14th, 1829 {p.205} + +I have been at Newmarket for three weeks, and have had no time to +write, nor has anything particular occurred. The King came to +town, and had a levee and drawing-room, the former of which was +very numerously, the other shabbily attended. At the levee he was +remarkably civil to all the Peers, particularly the Duke of +Richmond, who had distinguished themselves in opposition to +Government in the late debates, and he turned his back on the +bishops who had voted for the Bill. O'Connell and Shiel were both +at the levee; the former had been presented in Ireland, so had +not to be presented again, but the King took no notice of him, +and when he went by said to somebody near him, 'Damn the fellow! +what does he come here for?'--dignified. + +There was an odd circumstance the day of the drawing-room. The +Duke of Cumberland, as Gold Stick, gave orders at the Horse +Guards that no carriages should be admitted into the Park, and +Peel and the Duke of Wellington, when they presented themselves +on their way to Court, were refused admission. The officer on +guard came to the Duke's carriage and said that such were his +orders, but that he was sure they were not meant to extend to his +Grace, and if he would authorise him he would order the gates to +be opened. The Duke said 'By no means,' and then desired his +carriage to go round the other way. Many people thought that this +was a piece of impertinence of the Duke of Cumberland's, but the +Duke says that the whole thing was a mistake. Be this as it may, +the Duke of Cumberland and the Duke of Wellington do not speak, +and whenever they meet, which often happens in society, the +former moves off. + +Yesterday morning Batchelor called on me, and sat with me for an +hour, telling me all sorts of details concerning the interior of +Windsor and St. James's. The King is well in health, except that +since last September he has been afflicted with a complaint in +his bladder, which both annoys and alarms him very much. There is +no appearance of stone or gravel, but violent irritation, which +is only subdued by laudanum, and always returns when the effect +of the opiate is gone off. The laudanum, too, disagrees much with +his general health. He is attended by Sir Henry Holland, Brodie, +and O'Reilly. Sir A. Cooper, who did attend him, is not now +consulted, in consequence (Batchelor thinks) of some petty +intrigue in some quarter. This O'Reilly, who has gradually +insinuated himself into the King's confidence, and by constantly +attending him at Windsor, and bringing him all the gossip and +tittle-tattle of the neighbourhood (being on the alert to pick up +and retail all he can for the King's amusement), has made himself +necessary, and is not now to be shaken off, to the great +annoyance of Knighton, who cannot bear him, as well as of all the +other people about the King, who hate him for his meddling, +mischievous character, The King's _valets de chambre_ sit up +alternately, and as he sleeps very ill he rings his bell every +half-hour. He talks of everybody and everything before his valets +with great freedom, except of politics, on which he never utters +a word in their presence, and he always sends them away when he +sees anybody or speaks on business of any kind. Batchelor thinks +that this new disorder is a symptom of approaching decay, and +that the King thinks so himself. + +[Page Head: LADY CONYNGHAM.] + +In the meantime the influence of Knighton and that of Lady +Conyngham continue as great as ever; nothing can be done but by +their permission, and they understand one another and play into +each other's hands. Knighton opposes every kind of expense, +except that which is lavished on her. The wealth she has +accumulated by savings and presents must be enormous. The King +continues to heap all kinds of presents upon her, and she lives +at his expense; they do not possess a servant; even Lord +Conyngham's _valet de chambre_ is not properly their servant. +They all have situations in the King's household, from which they +receive their pay, while they continue in the service of the +Conynghams. They dine every day while in London at St. James's, +and when they give a dinner it is cooked at St. James's and +brought up to Hamilton Place in hackney coaches and in machines +made expressly for the purpose; there is merely a fire lit in +their kitchen for such things as must be heated on the spot. At +Windsor the King sees very little of her except of an evening; he +lies in bed half the day or more, sometimes goes out, and +sometimes goes to her room for an hour or so in the afternoon, +and that is all he sees of her. A more despicable scene cannot be +exhibited than that which the interior of our Court presents-- +every base, low, and unmanly propensity, with selfishness, +avarice, and a life of petty intrigue and mystery. + + +May 16th, 1829 {p.207} + +O'Connell attempted to take his seat last night, but the business +was put off till Monday. His case is exceedingly well got up, but +too long. There are many opinions as to his right; many people +think he has established it (though he had failed to do so), that +a Bill ought to be brought in to enable him to take the new +oaths. It was supposed Government would take no part, but Peel's +speech and the language of some of the Ministers are rather +unfavourable to him. Lord Grey, when he read the case, thought +his argument on the tenth clause of the Bill conclusive, but when +he examined the Bill he thought differently, and that the context +gives a different signification to the words on which O'Connell +relies. Tierney thinks otherwise, and this they debated Bill in +hand in Lady Jersey's room yesterday morning. O'Connell was in a +great fright when he went up to the table. He got, through the +necessary forms in the Steward's office by means of the +Commissioners whom Duncannon provided, and who were, I believe, +Burdett and Ebrington. He ought to be allowed to take his seat, +but probably he will not; it is a very hard case.[16] The Duke of +Orleans is come, and his son, the Duke of Chartres; the latter +was at the opera to-night in Prince Leopold's box. + + [16] [O'Connell was excluded from taking his seat as member + for Clare, for which he had been elected before the + passing of the Relief Act, because it was held that he + was bound to take the oath which was required by law at + the time of his election, and not the oath imposed on + Roman Catholics by the recent statutes. He presented + himself to be sworn at the table of the House of + Commons on the 15th of May, and there refused to take + the former oath, which was tendered to him by the + Clerk. The House divided 100 to 116 against his + admission without taking the oath of supremacy on the + 18th; Mr. O'Connell having previously been heard at the + bar in person in support of his claim.] + + +May 29th, 1829 {p.208} + +O'Connell is said to have made a very good speech at the bar of +the House, and produced rather a favourable impression. He has +done himself this good, that whereas it was pretty generally +thought that he was likely to fail in the House of Commons as a +speaker, he has now altered that impression. There is but one +opinion as to the wretched feeling of excluding him, but the +saddle is put upon the right horse, and though the Government are +now obliged to enforce the provisions of their own Bill, +everybody knows that the exclusion was the work of the King. +O'Connell goes back to Clare (as he says) sure of his election; +there will be a great uproar, but at present nobody expects any +opposition, and all deprecate a contest. + +[Page Head: PRINCESS VICTORIA AT A CHILD'S BALL.] + +Yesterday the King gave a dinner to the Dukes of Orleans and +Chartres, and in the evening there was a child's ball. It was +pretty enough, and I saw for the first time the Queen of +Portugal[17] and our little Victoria. The Queen was finely dressed, +with a ribband and order over her shoulder, and she sat by the +King. She is good-looking and has a sensible Austrian countenance. +In dancing she fell down and hurt her face, was frightened and +bruised, and went away. The King was very kind to her. Our little +Princess is a short, plain-looking child, and not near so +good-looking as the Portuguese. However, if nature has not done +so much, fortune is likely to do a great deal more for her. The +King looked very well, and stayed at the ball till two. There +were very few people, and neither Arbuthnot nor Mrs. A. were +asked. I suspect this is owing to what passed in the House about +opening the Birdcage Walk. It puts the King in a fury to have +any such thing mentioned, not having the slightest wish to +accommodate the public, though very desirous of getting money out +of their pockets. + + [17] [Donna Maria II. da Gloria, Queen of Portugal, on the + abdication of her father, Don Pedro, succeeded to the + throne on the 2nd of May, 1826. She was born on the 4th + of April, 1819, and was consequently but a few weeks + older than the Princess Victoria.] + +The day before yesterday there was a review for the Duke of +Orleans, and the Marquis of Anglesey, who was there at the head +of his regiment, contrived to get a tumble, but was not hurt. +Last night at the ball the King said to Lord Anglesey, 'Why, +Paget, what's this I hear? they say you rolled off your horse at +the review yesterday.' The Duke as he left the ground was +immensely cheered, and the people thronged about his horse and +would shake hands with him. When Lord Hill went to the King the +day before to give him an account of the intended review and the +dispositions that had been made, he said, 'Hill, if I can throw +my leg over your Shropshire horse, don't be surprised if you see +me amongst you.' + +The new law appointments have just been announced, and have +created some surprise.[18] + + [18] [The Attorney-General, Sir Charles Wetherell, had + resigned in consequence of his violent opposition to + the Catholic Relief Bill, and was succeeded by Sir + James Scarlett (afterwards Lord Abinger). The + Solicitor-General, Sir Nicholas Conyngham Tindal, was + raised on the 9th of June to the Chief Justiceship of + the Common Pleas; and was succeeded in the + Solicitorship by Sir Edward Burtenshaw Sugden + (afterwards Lord St. Leonards). The vacancy in the + Common Pleas was caused by the resignation of Sir + William Draper Best, who was created Lord Wynford for + the purpose of assisting the Chancellor with the + judicial business of the House of Lords.] + + +June 11th, 1829 {p.210} + +I have been at Epsom for a week; the Duke of Grafton, Lords +Wilton, Jersey, and Worcester, Russell, Anson, Irby, and myself +took Down Hall for the races and lived very well. Nothing +particular has occurred. Lord and Lady Ellenborough are +separated, and he is supposed to have behaved very handsomely to +her. They say he does not now know the whole story of her +intrigue with Felix Schwarzenberg; that hero is gone to the +Russian army. All the new appointments were declared when I was +out of town, and they excited some surprise and more disapprobation. +They have made Best a Peer, who is poor and has a family, by +which another poor peerage will be added to the list; and he +is totally unfit for the situation he is to fill--that of +Deputy-Speaker of the House of Lords, and to assist the +Chancellor in deciding Scotch causes, of which he knows nothing +whatever; and as the Chancellor knows nothing either, the Scotch +law is likely to be strangely administered in that great court of +appeal. They would have done better to have made Alexander[19] a +Peer, who is very old, understands Equity Law, and has no +children; but he knows very little of Common Law (which Best is +well versed in), and so they keep him on the bench and put Best +on the Woolsack. Lord Rosslyn is Privy Seal,[20] and Scarlett +Attorney-General, which looks like a leaning towards the Whigs; +but then Trench and Lord Edward Somerset are put into the +Ordnance; George Bankes goes back to the India Board, and +Government supports him in his contest at Cambridge against +William Cavendish. This conduct is considered very unhandsome, +and Tierney, who was well disposed towards the Government, told +me yesterday that if the Duke did not take care he thought he +would get swamped with such doings, that the way he went on was +neither fish nor flesh, and he would offend more people than he +would conciliate. At present there is no party, and if Government +have no opponents they have no great body of supporters on whom +they can depend; everything is in confusion--party, politics, and +all. + + [19] [Sir William Alexander, then Lord Chief Baron of the + Exchequer. The Court of Exchequer still retained its + Equity jurisdiction.] + + [20] [Lord Rosslyn was considered to be a Whig, and Sir + James Scarlett was better known for the Liberal + opinions he once professed than for the Tory opinions + he afterwards assumed.] + +[Page Head: LORD PALMERSTON ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS.] + +The event of last week was Palmerston's speech on the Portuguese +question, which was delivered at a late hour and in an empty +House, but which they say was exceedingly able and eloquent. This +is the second he has made this year of great merit. It was very +violent against Government. He has been twenty years in office +and never distinguished himself before, a proof how many +accidental circumstances are requisite to bring out the talents +which a man may possess. The office he held was one of dull and +dry detail, and he never travelled out of it. He probably stood +in awe of Canning and others, and was never in the Cabinet; but +having lately held higher situations and having acquired more +confidence, and the great men having been removed from the House +of Commons by death or promotion, he has launched forth, and with +astonishing success. Lord Granville told me he had always thought +Palmerston was capable of more than he did, and had told Canning +so, who did not believe it. + +Yesterday the King had his racing dinner, which was more +numerously attended and just as magnificent as that he gave last +year, but not half so gay and joyous. I believe he had some gouty +feeling and was in pain, for, contrary to his usual custom, he +hardly spoke, and the Duke of Richmond, who sat next to him, told +me that the little he did say was more about politics than the +turf, and he fancied that something had annoyed him. He looked +well enough, and was very cheerful before dinner. When his health +was drunk 'as Patron of the Jockey Club, and many thanks to him +for condescending to accept that title,' he made a speech, in +which he said that 'he was much gratified by our kindness, and he +could assure us that in withdrawing himself as he had done from +the Jockey Club he was not influenced by any unkindness to any +member of it, or any indifference to the interests of the turf.' + + +[Page Head: THE COTTAGE.] + +June 24th, 1829 {p.212} + +Went to Stoke for the Ascot races. There was such a crowd to see +the cup run for as never was seen before. The King was very +anxious and disappointed. I bought the winner for Chesterfield[21] +two hours before the race, he having previously asked the King's +leave, which he gave with many gracious expressions. I have set +about making a reconciliation between the King and Lord Sefton. +Both are anxious to make it up, but each is afraid to make the +first advances. However, Sefton must make them, and he will. The +cause of their quarrel is very old, and signifies little enough +now.... They have been at daggers drawn ever since, and Sefton +has revenged himself by a thousand jokes at the King's expense, +of which his Majesty is well aware. Their common pursuit, and a +desire on the one side to partake of the good things of +the Palace, and on the other side to be free from future +pleasantries, has generated a mutual disposition to make it up, +which is certainly sensible. The King has bought seven horses +successively, for which he has given 11,300 guineas, principally +to win the cup at Ascot, which he has never accomplished. He +might have had Zinganee, but would not, because he fancied the +Colonel would beat him; but when that appeared doubtful he was +very sorry not to have bought him, and complained that the horse +was not offered to him. He is now extravagantly fond of +Chesterfield, who is pretty well bit by it. There is always a +parcel of eldest sons and Lords in possession invited to the +Cottage for the sake of Lady Maria Conyngham. The King likes to +be treated with great deference but without fear, and that people +should be easy with him, and gay, and listen well. There was a +grand consultation at the Cottage between the King, Lieven, +Esterhazy, and the Duke of Cumberland as to the way in which the +ladies should be placed at dinner, the object being that Lady +Conyngham should sit next to his Majesty, though according to +etiquette the two Ambassadresses should sit one on each side of +him. It was contrived by the Duke of Cumberland taking out one of +them and sitting opposite, by which means the lovely Thais sat +beside him and he was happy. + + [21] [George Augustus, sixth Earl of Chesterfield, born in + 1805, died in 1866. He married in 1830 Anne, daughter + of Lord Forester. In 1829 he was one of the most + brilliant of the young men of fashion of that day, + having succeeded to a large rental and large + accumulations in his minority.] + + +June 26th, 1829 {p.213} + +I met Tierney and Lord Grey at dinner yesterday; the former +wanted to know what passed about the King's Speech at the Council +at Windsor the other day. I had heard nothing, not having been at +the Council, but it is believed that the Ministers had put in the +Speech a sentence expressive of satisfaction and sanguine hopes +about Ireland, and that at the last moment the King would not +agree to this; for after the Duke's audience, which lasted a good +while, there was a Cabinet, and it is supposed they knocked +under, for the paragraph about Ireland is cold enough. The Duke +of Cumberland is thought to have had a hand in all this, and to +have persuaded the King to be obstinate. We talked a great deal +about the situation of the Government and the state of the House +of Commons, and Tierney thinks that unless the Duke strengthens +himself he will not be able to go on; that Rosslyn and Scarlett +are of little use to him, and what he wants is the support of +those who will bring followers in their train, such as Althorp, +who has extensive connections, enjoys consideration, and would be +of real use to him. There is a strong report that Althorp is to +be Chancellor of the Exchequer, Goulburn Speaker, and Sutton[22] +a Peer. At present the Government is anything but strong, but +then there exists no party, nor is there any man of ability and +authority enough to make one. The Duke must strengthen himself, +and have recourse for the purpose either to the Whigs or to +Huskisson and his friends. These latter he detests, and he knows +they hate him and are his bitterest enemies. The Whigs he would +not dislike so much, but the King is averse to have them, and the +Duke is beset by his old suspicion that they want to break up the +Tory party and make him dependent on themselves. At the same +time, in taking in Lord Rosslyn and Scarlett, he has made some +advances towards them, though Lord Grey is displeased at his not +having shown him more deference and communicated to him his +intentions about Rosslyn. Lord Rosslyn asked Lord Grey's advice +as to accepting, and he advised him to take office, explaining at +the same time that he should not pledge himself to support +Government, though he was at present well disposed to do so, and +should be still more disposed when Lord Rosslyn became a part of +it. Tierney said it was very lamentable that there should be such +a deficiency of talent in the rising generation, and remarkable +how few clever young men there are now in the House of Commons. +The King did not like Lord Rosslyn's appointment; he hates all +the Whigs; indeed, he hates the best men of all parties, and +likes none but such as will be subservient to himself. So little +public spirit has he, and so much selfishness, that he would +rather his Government was weak than strong, that they may be the +more dependent upon him; though he only wishes to be powerful in +order to exercise the most puerile caprices, gratify ridiculous +resentments, indulge vulgar prejudices, and amass or squander +money; not one great object connected with national glory or +prosperity ever enters his brain. I am convinced he would turn +out the Duke to-morrow if he could see any means of replacing +him. I don't think I mentioned that when he talked of giving the +child's ball Lady Maria Conyngham said, 'Oh, do, it will be so +nice to see the _two little Queens_ dancing together' (the little +Queen of Portugal and the Princess Victoria), at which he was +beyond measure provoked. + + [22] [Right Hon. Manners Sutton, Speaker of the House of + Commons. He retained that office till 1835, when he was + beaten on the great contest with Mr. Abercromby, and + raised to the peerage as Lord Canterbury.] + + +[Page Head: MADAME DU CAYLA.] + +July 10th, 1829 {p.214} + +I dined with the Duke of Wellington yesterday; a very large party +for Mesdames the Duchesse d'Escars and Madame du Cayla; the first +is the widow of the Duc d'Escars, who was Premier Maître d'Hôtel +of Louis XVIII., and who was said to have died of one of the +King's good dinners, and the joke was, 'Hier sa Majesté a eu une +indigestion, dont M. le Duc d'Escars est mort.' Madame du +Cayla[23] is come over to prosecute some claim upon this +Government, which the Duke has discovered to be unfounded, and he +had the bluntness to tell her so as they were going to dinner. +She must have been good-looking in her youth; her countenance is +lively, her eyes are piercing, clear complexion, and very +handsome hands and arms; but the best part about her seemed to be +the magnificent pearls she wore, though these are not so fine as +Lady Conyngham's. All king's mistresses seem to have a rage for +pearls; I remember Madame Narischkin's were splendid. Madame du +Cayla is said to be very rich and clever. + + [23] [Madame du Cayla had been the _soi-disant_ mistress of + Louis XVIII., or rather the favourite of his declining + years. 'Il fallait une Esther,' to use her own + expression, 'à cet Assuérus.' She was the daughter of + M. Talon, brought up by Madam Campan, and an early + friend of Hortense Beauharnais. Her marriage to an + officer in the Prince de Condé's army was an unhappy + one; and she was left, deserted by her husband, in + straitened circumstances. After the assassination of + the Duc de Berry, M. de la Rochefoucauld, one of the + leaders of the ultra-Royalist party, contrived to throw + her in the way of Louis XVIII., in the hope of + counteracting the more Liberal influence which M. de + Cazes had acquired over the King. Madame du Cayla + became the hope and the mainstay of the altar and the + throne. The scheme succeeded. The King was touched by + her grace and beauty, and she became indispensable to + his happiness. His happiness was said to consist in + inhaling a pinch of snuff from her shoulders, which + were remarkably broad and fair. M. de Lamartine has + related the romance of her life in the thirty-eighth + book of his 'Histoire de la Restauration,' and Béranger + satirised her in the bitterest of his songs--that which + bears the name of 'Octavie':-- + + Sur les coussins où la douleur l'enchaîne + Quel mal, dis-tu, vous fait ce roi des rois? + Vois-le d'un masque enjoliver sa haine + Pour étouffer notre gloire et nos lois. + + Vois ce coeur faux, que cherchent tes caresses, + De tous les siens n'aimer que ses aïeux; + Charger de fer les muses vengeresses, + Et par ses moeurs nous révéler ses dieux. + + Peins-nous ces feux, qu'en secret tu redoutes, + _Quand sur ton sein il cuve son nectar,_ + Ces feux dont s'indignaient les voûtes + Où plane encor l'aigle du grand César. + + It is curious that in 1829 the last mistress of a King + of France should have visited London under the reign of + the last mistress of a King of England.] + +[Page Head: WELLINGTON'S ANECDOTES OF GEORGE IV.] + +After dinner the Duke talked to me for a long time about the King +and the Duke of Cumberland, and his quarrel with the latter. He +began about the King's making Lord Aberdeen stay at the Cottage +the other day when he had engaged all the foreign Ambassadors to +dine with him in London. Aberdeen represented this to him, but +his Majesty said 'it did not matter, he should stay, and the +Ambassadors should for once see that he was King of England.' 'He +has no idea,' said the Duke, 'of what a King of England ought to +do, or he would have known that he ought to have made Aberdeen go +and receive them, instead of keeping him there.' He said the King +was very clever and amusing, but that with a surprising memory he +was very inaccurate, and constantly told stories the details of +which all his auditors must know to be false. One day he was +talking of the late King, and asserted that George III. had said +to himself, 'Of all the men I have ever known you are the one on +whom I have the greatest dependence, and you are the most perfect +gentleman.' Another day he said 'that he recollected the old Lord +Chesterfield, who once said to him, "Sir, you are the fourth +Prince of Wales I have known, and I must give your Royal Highness +one piece of advice: stick to your father; as long as you adhere +to your father you will be a great and a happy man, but if you +separate yourself from him you will be nothing and an unhappy +one;" and, by God (added the King), I never forgot that advice, +and acted upon it all my life.' 'We all,' said the Duke, 'looked +at one another with astonishment.' He is extremely clever and +particularly ingenious in turning the conversation from any +subject he does not like to discuss. + +'I,' added the Duke of Wellington, 'remember calling upon him the +day he received the news of the battle of Navarino. I was not a +Minister, but Commander-in-Chief, and after having told me the +news he asked me what I thought of it. I said that I knew nothing +about it, was ignorant of the instructions that had been given to +the admiral, and could not give any opinion; but "one thing is +clear to me, that your Majesty's ships have suffered very much, +and that you ought to reinforce your fleet directly, for whenever +you have a maritime force yours ought to be superior to all +others." This advice he did not like; I saw this, and he said, +"Oh, the Emperor of Russia is a man of honour," and then he began +talking, and went on to Venice, Toulon, St. Petersburg, all over +the Continent, and from one place and one subject to another, +till he brought me to Windsor Castle. I make it a rule never to +interrupt him, and when in this way he tries to get rid of a +subject in the way of business which he does not like, I let him +talk himself out, and then quietly put before him the matter in +question, so that he cannot escape from it. I remember when the +Duke of Newcastle was going to Windsor with a mob at his heels to +present a petition (during the late discussions) I went down to +him and showed him the petition, and told him that they ought to +be prevented from coming. He went off and talked upon every +subject but that which I had come about, for an hour and a half. +I let him go on till he was tired, and then I said, "But the +petition, sir; here it is, and an answer must be sent. I had +better write to the Duke of Newcastle and tell him your Majesty +will receive it through the Secretary of State; and, if you +please, I will write the letter before I leave the house." This I +did, finished my business in five minutes, and went away with the +letter in my pocket. I know him so well that I can deal with him +easily, but anybody who does not know him, and who is afraid of +him, would have the greatest difficulty in getting on with him. +One extraordinary peculiarity about him is, that the only thing +he fears is ridicule. He is afraid of nothing which is hazardous, +perilous, or uncertain; on the contrary, he is all for braving +difficulties; but he dreads ridicule, and this is the reason why +the Duke of Cumberland, whose sarcasms he dreads, has such power +over him, and Lord Anglesey likewise; both of them he hates in +proportion as he fears them.' I said I was very much, surprised +to hear this, as neither of these men were wits, or likely to +make him ridiculous; that if he had been afraid of Sefton or +Alvanley it could have been understood. 'But,' rejoined the Duke, +'he never sees these men, and he does not mind anybody he does +not see; but the Duke of Cumberland and Lord Anglesey he cannot +avoid seeing, and the fear he has of what they may say to him, as +well as of him, keeps him in awe of them. No man, however, knows +the Duke of Cumberland better than he does; indeed, all I know of +the Duke of Cumberland I know from him, and so I told him one +day. I remember asking him why the Duke of Cumberland was so +unpopular, and he said, "Because there never was a father well +with his son, or husband with his wife, or lover with his +mistress, or a friend with his friend, that he did not try to +make mischief between them." And yet he suffers this man to have +constant access to him, to say what he will to him, and often +acts under his influence.' I said, 'You and the Duke of +Cumberland speak now, don't you?' 'Yes, we speak. The King spoke +to me about it, and wanted me to make him an apology. I told him +it was quite impossible, "Why," said he, "you did not mean to +offend the Duke of Cumberland, I am sure." "No, sir," said I; "I +did not wish to offend him, but I did not say a word that I did +not mean. When we meet the Royal Family in society, they are our +superiors, and we owe them all respect, and I should readily +apologise for anything I might have said offensive to the Duke; +but in the House of Lords we are their peers, and for what I say +there I am responsible to the House alone." "But," said the King, +"he said you turned on him as if you meant to address yourself to +him personally." "I did mean it, sir," said I, "and I did so +because I knew that he had been here, that he had heard things +from your Majesty which he had gone and misrepresented and +misstated in other quarters, and knowing that, I meant to show +him that I was aware of it. I am sorry that the Duke is offended, +but I cannot help it, and I cannot make him an apology."' + +[Page Head: DUKES OF WELLINGTON AND CUMBERLAND.] + +The Duke went on, 'I was so afraid he would tell the Duke that I +was sorry for what I had said, that I repeated to him when I went +away, "Now, sir, remember that I will not apologise to the Duke, +and I hope your Majesty will therefore not convey any such idea +to his mind." However, he spoke to him, I suppose, for the next +time I met the Duke he bowed to me. I immediately called on him, +but he did not return my visit. On a subsequent occasion [I +forget what he said it was] I called on him again, and he +returned my visit the same day.' + +The Duke then talked of the letter which the Duke of Cumberland +had just written (as Grand Master of the Orange Lodges) to +Enniskillen, which he thought was published with the most +mischievous intentions. However, he said, 'I know not what he is +at, but while I am conscious of going on in a straightforward +manner I am not afraid of him, or of anything he can do,' which I +was surprised to hear, because it looked as if he was afraid of +him. I asked him whether, with all the cleverness he thought +belonged to the King, he evinced great acuteness in discussing +matters of business, to which he replied, 'Oh, no, not at all, +the worst judgment that can be.' This was not the first time I +had heard the Duke's opinion of the King. I remember him saying +something to the Duke of Portland about him during the Queen's +trial indicative of his contempt for him. + +In the meantime the Duke of Cumberland, instead of returning to +Berlin, has sent for the Duchess and his son, and means to take +up his abode in this country, in hopes of prevailing upon the +King to dismiss his Ministers and make a Government under his own +auspices; but however weak the Government may be, he will not +succeed, for the King has an habitual reliance upon the Duke [of +Wellington] which overcomes the mortification and dislike he +feels at being dependent upon him; and, besides, the materials do +not exist out of which a Government could be formed that would +have the support of the House of Commons. The great want which +this Administration experiences is that of men of sufficient +information and capacity to direct the complicated machinery of +our trade and finances and adjust our colonial differences. +Huskisson, Grant, and Palmerston were the ablest men, and the two +first the best informed in the Government. Fitzgerald knows +nothing of the business of his office, still less of the +principles of trade; he is idle, but quick. Of Murray I know +nothing; he is popular in his office, but he has neither the +capacity nor the knowledge of Huskisson. + + + + + CHAPTER VI. + +The Recorder's report--Manners of George IV.--Intrigues of the + Duke of Cumberland--Insults Lady Lyndhurst--Deacon Hume at the + Board of Trade--Quarrel between the Duke of Cumberland and the + Lord Chancellor--A Bad Season--Prostration of Turkey--France + under Polignac--State of Ireland--Mr. Windham's Diary-- + George IV.'s Eyesight--Junius--A Man without Money--Court-martial + on Captain Dickinson--The Duke and the 'Morning Journal'-- + Physical Courage of the King--A Charade at Chatsworth--Huskisson + and the Duke--Irish Trials--Tom Moore--Scott--Byron--Fanny + Kemble--Sir James Mackintosh--His Conversation--Black Irishmen-- + Moore's Irish Story--Moore's Singing--George IV. and Mr. Denman-- + Strawberry Hill--Moore at Trinity College--Indian Vengeance at + Niagara--Count Woronzow--Lord Glengall's Play--The Recorder's + Report. + + +July 21st, 1829 {p.221} + +There was a Council last Thursday, and the heaviest Recorder's +report that was ever known, I believe; seven people left for +execution. The King cannot bear this, and is always leaning to +the side of mercy. Lord Tenterden, however, is for severity, and +the Recorder still more so. It not unfrequently happens that a +culprit escapes owing to the scruples of the King; sometimes he +put the question of life or death to the vote, and it is decided +by the voices of the majority. The King came to town at one, and +gave audiences until half-past four. He received Madame du Cayla, +whom he was very curious to see. She told me afterwards that she +was astonished at his good looks, and seemed particularly to have +been struck with his 'belles jambes et sa perruque bien +arrangée;' and I asked her if she had ever seen him before, and +she said no, 'mais que le feu Roi lui en avait souvent parlé, et +de ses belles manières, qu'en vérité elle les avait trouvées +parfaites.' There was a reigning Margrave of Baden waiting for an +audience in the room we assembled in. Nobody took much notice of +him, and when the Duke spoke to him he bowed to the ground, bow +after bow; when he went away nobody attended him or opened the +door for him. + + +July 24th, 1829 {p.222} + +The accounts from Ireland are very bad; nothing but massacres and +tumults, and all got up by the Protestants, who desire nothing so +much as to provoke the Catholics into acts of violence and +outrage. They want a man of energy and determination who will +cause the law to be respected and impartially administered. If +Lord Anglesey was there, it is very probable these outrages would +not have taken place, but no one cares for such a man of straw as +the present Lord Lieutenant. + +[Page Head: INTRIGUES OF THE DUKE OF CUMBERLAND.] + +The Duke of Cumberland is doing all he can to set the King +against the Duke; he always calls him 'King Arthur,' which made +the King very angry at first, and he desired he would not, but he +calls him so still, and the King submits. He never lets any of +the Royal Family see the King alone; the Duchess of Gloucester +complains bitterly of his conduct, and the way in which he +thrusts himself in when she is with his Majesty. The other day +Count Münster came to the King, and the Duke of Cumberland was +determined he should not have a private audience, and stayed in +the room the whole time. He hates Lady Conyngham, and she him. +They put about that he has been pressed to stay here by the King, +which is not true; the King would much rather he went away. The +Duke of Wellington told me that he one day asked the King when +the Duke was going, and he said, 'I am sick to death of the +subject. I have been told he was going fifty times, but when he +goes, or whether he ever goes at all, I have not the least idea.' +He is now very much provoked because the King will not talk +politics with him. His Majesty wants to be quiet, and is tired of +all the Duke's violence and his constant attacks. + + +August 8th, 1829 {p.222} + +There is a story current about the Duke of Cumberland and Lady +Lyndhurst which is more true than most stories of this kind. The +Duke called upon her, and grossly insulted her; on which, after a +scramble, she rang the bell. He was obliged to desist and to go +away, but before he did he said, 'By God, madam, I will be the +ruin of you and your husband, and will not rest till I have +destroyed you both.' + +Vesey Fitzgerald has turned out the Chief Clerk in the Board of +Trade, and put in Hume[1] as Assistant Secretary. He told me it +was absolutely necessary, as nobody in the Office knew anything +of its business, which is, I believe, very true, but as true of +himself as of the rest. Hume is a very clever man, and probably +knows more of the principles of trade and commerce than anybody, +but so it is in every department of Government--great ignorance +on the part of the chiefs, and a few obscure men of industry and +ability who do the business and supply the knowledge requisite, +_sic vos non vobis_ throughout. + + [1] [Mr. Deacon Hume, a very able public servant. He + remained at the Board of Trade many years.] + +O'Connell was elected without opposition; he was more violent and +more popular than ever. They treat him with every indignity, and +then they complain of his violence; besides, he must speak to the +Irish in the strain to which they have been used and which +pleases them. Had he never been violent, he would not be the man +he is, and Ireland would not have been emancipated. + + +[Page Head: QUARREL OF CUMBERLAND AND LYNDHURST.] + +August 18th, 1829 {p.223} + +Last Saturday I came back from Goodwood, and called on Lady +Jersey, whom I found very curious about a correspondence which +she told me had taken place between the Duke of Cumberland and +the Chancellor relative to a paragraph which had appeared in the +'Age,' stating that his Royal Highness had been turned out of +Lady Lyndhurst's house in consequence of having insulted her in +it. She said she was very anxious to see the letter, for she +heard that the Duke had much the best of it, and that the +Chancellor's letter was evasive and Jesuitical. The next day I +was informed of the details of this affair. I found that the Duke +had called upon her and had been denied; that he had complained +half in jest, and half in earnest, to the Chancellor of her not +letting him in; that on a subsequent day he had called so early +that no orders had been given to the porter, and he was let in; +that his manner and his language had been equally brutal and +offensive; that he afterwards went off upon politics, and abused +the whole Administration, and particularly the Chancellor, and +after staying two or three hours, insulting and offending her in +every way, he took himself off. Soon after he met her somewhere +in the evening, when he attacked her again. She treated him with +all possible indignation, and would have nothing to say to him. + +Yesterday I met the Chancellor at the Castle at a Council. He +took me aside, and said that he wished to tell me what had +passed, and to show me the correspondence. He then began, and +said that after the Duke's visit Lady L. had told the Chancellor +of his abuse of him and the Government, but had suppressed the +rest, thinking it was better not to tell him, as it would put him +in a very embarrassing position, and contenting herself with +saying she would never receive the Duke again upon the other +grounds, which were quite sufficient; but that some time after +reports reached her from various quarters (Lord Grey, Lord +Durham, Lord Dudley, and several others) that the Duke went about +talking of her in the most gross and impertinent manner. Upon +hearing this, she thought it right to tell the Chancellor the +other part of his conduct which she had hitherto concealed, and +this she did in general terms, viz. that he had been very +insolent and made an attack upon her. The Chancellor was +exceedingly incensed, but he said after much consideration he +thought it better to let the matter drop; a long time had elapsed +since the offence was committed; all communication had ceased +between all the parties; and he felt the ridicule and inconvenience +of putting himself (holding the high office he did) in personal +collision with a Royal Duke, besides the annoyance which it would +be to Lady Lyndhurst to become publicly the subject of such a +quarrel. There, then, he let the matter rest, but about a +fortnight ago he received a letter from the Duke enclosing a +newspaper to this effect, as well as I can recollect it, for I +was obliged to read the letter in such a hurried way that I +could not bring the exact contents away with me, though I am sure +I do not err in stating their sense:-- + + 'My Lord,--I think it necessary to enclose to your + Lordship a newspaper containing a paragraph which I have + marked, and which relates to a pretended transaction in + your Lordship's house. I think it necessary and proper to + contradict this statement, which I need not say is a + gross falsehood, and I wish, therefore, to have the + authority of Lady Lyndhurst for contradicting it. + 'I am, my Lord, yours sincerely, + 'Ernest.' + +This was the sense of the letter, though it was not so worded; it +was civil enough. The Chancellor answered:--'The Lord Chancellor +with his duty begs to acknowledge the favour of your Royal +Highness's letter. The Lord Chancellor had never seen the +paragraph to which your Royal Highness alludes, and which he +regards with the most perfect indifference, considering it as one +of that series of calumnies to which Lady Lyndhurst has been for +some time exposed from a portion of the press, and which she has +at length learnt to regard with the contempt they deserve.' He +said that he thought it better to let the matter drop, and he +wrote this answer by way of waiving any discussion on the +subject, and that the Duke might contradict the paragraph himself +if he chose to do so. To this the Duke wrote again:--'My Lord,--I +have received your Lordship's answer, which is not so explicit as +I have a right to expect. I repeat again that the statement is +false and scandalous, and I have a right to require Lady +Lyndhurst's sanction to the contradiction which I think it +necessary to give to it.' This letter was written in a more +impertinent style than the other. On the receipt of it the +Chancellor consulted the Duke of Wellington, and the Duke +suggested the following answer, which the Chancellor sent:--'The +Lord Chancellor has had the honour of receiving your Royal +Highness's letter of ----. The Lord Chancellor does not conceive +it necessary to annoy Lady Lyndhurst by troubling her upon the +subject, and with what relates to your Royal Highness the Lord +Chancellor has no concern whatever; but with regard to that part +which states that your Royal Highness had been excluded from the +Lord Chancellor's house, there could be no question that the +respect and grateful attachment which both the Chancellor and +Lady Lyndhurst felt to their Sovereign made it impossible that +any brother of that Sovereign should ever be turned out of his +house.' To this the Duke wrote another letter, in a very sneering +and impertinent tone in the third person, and alluding to the +_loose reports_ which had been current on the subject, and saying +that 'the Chancellor might have his own reasons for not choosing +to speak to Lady Lyndhurst on the subject;' to which the +Chancellor replied that 'he knew nothing of any loose reports, +but that if there were any, in whatever quarter they might have +originated, which went to affect the conduct of Lady Lyndhurst in +the matter in question, they were most false, foul, and +calumnious.' So ended the correspondence; all these latter +expressions were intended to apply to the Duke himself, who is +the person who spread the _loose reports_ and told the lies about +her. When she first denied him, she told Lord Bathurst of it, who +assured her she had done quite right, and that she had better +never let him in, for if she did he would surely invent some lies +about her. Last Sunday week the Chancellor went down to Windsor, +and laid the whole correspondence before the King, who received +him very well, and approved of what he had done; but of course +when he saw the Duke of Cumberland and heard his story, he +concurred in all his abuse of the Chancellor. I think the +Chancellor treated the matter in the best way the case admitted +of. Had he taken it up, he must have resigned his office and +called the Duke out, and what a mixture of folly and scandal this +would have been, and how the woman would have suffered in it all! + + +[Page Head: QUARREL OF CUMBERLAND AND LYNDHURST.] + +August 22nd, 1829 {p.226} + +The day before yesterday Sir Henry Cooke called on me, and told +me that he came on the part of the Duke of Cumberland, who had +heard that I had seen the correspondence, and that I had given an +account of it which was unfavourable to him, that his Royal +Highness wished me, therefore, to call on him and hear his +statement of the facts. Cooke then entered into the history, and +told me that it was he who had originally acquainted the Duke +with the reports which were current about him, and had advised +him to contradict them, but that he had not found any opportunity +of taking it up till this paragraph appeared in the 'Age' +newspaper; that the Duke had given him an account of what had +passed, which was that Lady Lyndhurst had begged him to call upon +her, then to dine with her, and upon every occasion had +encouraged him. I heard all he had to say, but declined calling +on the Duke. As I wished, however, that there should be no +misrepresentation in what I said on the subject, I wrote a letter +to Cooke, to be laid before the Duke, in which I gave an account +of the circumstances under which I had been concerned in the +business, stating that I had not expressed any opinion of the +conduct of the parties, and that I did not wish to be in any way +mixed up in it. After I had seen Cooke I went to the Chancellor +and read my letter to him. I found he had not shown the King the +two last letters that had passed; and as Cooke had told me that +the Duke meant to go to Windsor the next day and lay the whole +correspondence before the King, the Chancellor immediately sent +off a messenger with the two letters which the King had not seen. +The Chancellor has since circulated the correspondence among his +friends, but with rather too undignified a desire to submit his +conduct to the judgment of a parcel of people who only laugh at +them both, and are amused with the gossip and malice of the +thing. + +August 25th, 1829 {p.227} + +I came to town from Stoke yesterday morning, and found a +palavering letter from Cooke, returning mine, saying that the +Duke was quite satisfied, and saw that it would be useless to +have an interview with me; that he had persuaded his Royal +Highness to drop the whole affair; and ended with many protestations +of respect for the Chancellor and the purity of his own motives +in meddling with the matter. I sent his letter to the Chancellor, +together with my own, that he might show them both to the Duke +of Wellington. + +Melbourne, who is a pretty good judge of Irish affairs, thinks +that Government will probably be under the necessity of adopting +strong coercive measures there; but whether they are adopted, or +a temporary policy of expedients persisted in, nobody is there +fit to advise what is requisite. The Duke of Northumberland is an +absolute nullity, a bore beyond all bores, and, in spite of his +desire to spend money and be affable, very unpopular. The Duchess +complains of it and can't imagine why, for they do all they can +to be liked, but all in vain. + + +August 28th, 1829 {p.228} + +At Stoke since Tuesday for the Egham races; Esterhazy, Alvanley, +Montrond, Mornay, B. Craven, &c. The King came to the races one +day (the day I was not there) in excellent health. The weather +exceeds everything that ever was known--a constant succession of +gales of wind and tempests of rain, and the sun never shining. +The oats are not cut, and a second crop is growing up, that has +been shaken out of the first. Everybody contemplates with dismay +the approach of winter, which will probably bring with it the +overthrow of the Corn Laws, for corn must be at such a price as +to admit of an immense importation. So much for our domestic +prospect here, to say nothing of Ireland. + +[Page Head: RUSSIA AND TURKEY.] + +In the meantime the Sultan with his firmness has brought the +Russians to the gates of Constantinople, and not a soul doubts +that they are already there, or that they will be directly; there +is nothing to resist either Diebitsch or Paskiewitch. Esterhazy +talks of it as certain, and so unaccountable does it seem that +Austria should have been a passive spectator of the Russian +victories, that a strong notion prevails that Metternich has made +his bargain with them, and that in the impending partition +Austria is to have her share. Still more extraordinary does it +appear that the Duke, from whom vigour and firmness might have +been expected, should not have interfered. That cursed treaty of +the 6th of July, and the subsequent battle of Navarino, which +were intended to give us a right to arrest the ambition of +Russia, have been rendered nugatory by the obstinacy of the Turks +on the one hand, and the perpetual changes of Administration here +and in France, which have prevented any steady and consistent +course of policy from being followed; while the Russians, +availing themselves of both these circumstances, have pushed on +with singleness of purpose and great vigour of execution. It is +quite impossible now to foresee the end of all this, but the +elements are abroad of as fine disturbances as the most restless +can desire. + +France is probably too much occupied with her own affairs to pay +much attention to those of Turkey, nor is it clear that the +French would much regret any event which tended to impair our +commercial greatness. So busy are the French with their own +politics, that even the milliners have left off making caps. Lady +Cowper told me to-day that Madame Maradan complained that she +could get no bonnets, &c., from Paris; for they would occupy +themselves with nothing but the change of Administration.[2] +Nothing can exceed the violence that prevails; the King does +nothing but cry. Polignac is said to have the fatal obstinacy of +a martyr, the worst sort of courage of the _ruat coelum_ sort. +Aberdeen said at dinner at Madame de Lieven's the other day that +he thought him a very clever man; and that the Duke of Wellington +went still further, for he said that he was the ablest man France +had had since the Restoration. I remember him well when he was +courting his first wife, Archy Macdonald's sister; and if being +first a prisoner, then an emigrant, then a miser, and now a saint +can make him a good Minister, he may be one. + + [2] [The Polignac Ministry took office on the 8th of + August.] + + +August 31st, 1829 {p.229} + +The Duke, the Chancellor, and Privy Seal came from Walmer to-day +for a Cabinet; and Esterhazy, who was to have dined with me, sent +word that as he had received a courier this morning, and was +obliged to send off Dietrichstein this evening, he could not +come. It is said that Sir Frederick Gordon has sent word that the +Turks are frightened and wish to treat, but probably it is now +too late. + +Last night news came that Villa Flor had routed Miguel's +expedition against Terceira, and at the same time the little +Queen is embarking with the Empress for the Brazils. This +probably comes too late; some time ago it might have been of some +use. Miguel will probably be recognised by this country, and then +the game is up. I have long been convinced that the Duke meant +eventually to acknowledge Miguel, or he would not have tolerated +Beresford's conduct. If Lamb is to be believed, Beresford was +secretly in it all. + +I met the Chancellor this morning, who gave me back my letter and +Cooke's answer. He said, 'There are other reports afloat now, I +hear.' I said, 'What? I have heard none.' 'Oh,' he said, 'on +public matters, and they are put about by that blackguard,' +meaning the Duke of Cumberland. I suppose he alludes to changes +in the Government, but I have heard of none; they are, in fact, +kept in hot water by this fellow's activity, though I think he +cannot do the mischief he would, like. + +From what I hear, it is probable that Lord William Bentinck will +be speedily recalled from India. His measures are of too Liberal +a cast to suit the taste of the present Government. The Duke has +never liked him, not since the war in Spain, when he did not +behave quite well to Lord William, and he seldom forgets old +animosities; besides, he cannot bear anybody who takes a line of +their own. + +Lord Ellenborough, strong in the concurrence of the Duke, is +inclined to be insolent in his tone to Lord William, which, I +take it, he will not stand. The Duke looks upon Lord William as a +hasty, imprudent man, with bad judgment, and I am not sure that +he is very wrong. He has made himself popular by the affability +and _bonhomie_ of his manner, his magnificence and hospitality, +and the liberal and generous character of his political opinions, +but he is far from a clever man, and I suspect his judgment is +very indifferent. + +I hear from Ireland that Doherty conducts the trial of the +policeman with consummate skill; the object was that the trial +should appear fair, and that the men should be acquitted. They +were acquitted, and the people were furious. There is excitement +enough in that wretched country, and every effort is made to keep +it up at its highest pitch; the press on each side teems with +accusations and invectives, and the Protestants strain every +nerve to inflame the spirit of rancorous fury which distinguished +the Brunswickers before the Catholic question was carried, and to +provoke the Catholics to overt acts of violence. Both sides are +to blame, but the Protestants the most. George Villiers wrote me +word of a crime that has been perpetrated, the most atrocious I +ever heard of.... The country in which such an abomination was +perpetrated should be visited with the fate of Sodom and +Gomorrah. The arm of justice is too slow; public indignation +should deal out a rapid and a terrible vengeance. + + +September 5th, 1829 {p.231} + +There is a strong report that the Turks want to treat, and the +proclamation of Diebitsch looks as if the Russians were ready to +make peace. There is also a hope that the Russian army may have +been too bold, and finds itself in a scrape by having advanced +too far from its resources, but the former notion is the most +likely of the two. Three or four sail of the line are ordered out +to the Mediterranean. + +[Page Head: MR. WINDHAM'S DIARY.] + +Yesterday I went with Amyot to his house, where he showed me a +part of Windham's diary; there are twenty-eight little volumes of +it, begun in 1784, when he was thirty-four years old, and +continued irregularly till his death; it seems to be written very +freely and familiarly, and is probably a correct picture of the +writer's mind. I only read a few pages, which were chiefly +notices of his moving about, where he dined, the company he met, +and other trifles, often very trifling and sometimes not very +decent; it abounds with expressions of self-reproach for +idleness, breach of resolutions, and not taking care of his +health; talks of the books he reads and means to read, and +constantly describes the state of spirits he is in. There is a +paper containing an account of his last interview with Johnson, +shortly before Johnson died; he says that he told Johnson how +much he reproached himself for not having lived more in his +society, and that he had often resolved to be with him as much as +he could, but that his not having done so was a proof of the +fallacy of our resolutions, that he regretted. In Windham's diary +are several Johnsoniana, after the manner of Boswell, only much +shorter, his opinions on one or two subjects briefly given, some +quotations and criticisms. I was much struck with his criticisms +on Virgil, whom he seems to have held in great contempt, and to +have regarded as inferior to Ovid. He says, 'Take away his +imitation of Homer, and what do you leave him?' Of Homer his +admiration was unbounded, although he says that he never read the +whole of the 'Odyssey' in the original, but that everything which +is most admirable in poetry is to be found in Homer. I care the +less about remembering these things because they will probably +appear in print before long.[3] + + [3] [A selection from Mr. Windham's journals was published + by Mrs. Henry Baring in 1866. The Johnsoniana had + previously been published by Mr. Croker in his edition + of Boswell's 'Life of Johnson.'] + +Windham told Johnson that he regretted having omitted to talk to +him of the most important of all subjects on which he had often +doubted. Johnson said, 'You mean natural and revealed religion,' +and added that the historical evidences of Christianity were so +strong that it was not possible to doubt its truth, that we had +not so much evidence that Caesar died in the Capitol as that +Christ died in the manner related in the Bible; that three out of +four of the Evangelists died in attestation of their evidence, +that the same evidence would be considered irresistible in any +ordinary historical case. Amyot told me, as we were coming along, +that Windham had questioned Johnson about religion, having +doubts, and that Johnson had removed them by this declaration: +if, then, the commonest and hundred times repeated arguments were +sufficient to remove such doubts as were likely to occur to a +mind like Windham's, it may be counted a miracle, for I am sure, +in the ordinary affairs of life, Windham would not have been so +easily satisfied. It has always appeared to me questionable +whether Johnson was a believer (I mean whether his clear and +unbiassed judgment was satisfied) in Christianity; he evidently +dreaded and disliked the subject, and though he would have been +indignant had anybody hinted that he had doubts, his nervous +irritation at any religious discussion betokened a mind ill at +ease on the subject. I learnt one thing from Windham's diary +which I put into immediate practice, and that is, to write mine +on one side only, and leave the other for other matters connected +with the text; it is more convenient certainly. + + +September 16th, 1829 {p.233} + +Went to Brighton on Saturday last to pay Lady Jersey a visit and +shoot at Firle. Jersey and I shot 376 rabbits, the greatest +number that had ever been killed on the hills. The scenery is +very fine--a range of downs looking on one side over the sea, and +on the other over a wide extent of rich flat country. It is said +that Firle is the oldest park in England. It belongs to Lord +Gage. + +[Page Head: WELLINGTON AND THE 'MORNING JOURNAL.'] + +I heard at Brighton for the first time of the Duke of +Wellington's prosecution of the 'Morning Journal,' which was +announced by the paper itself in a paragraph quite as scurrilous +as those for which it is attacked. It seems that he has long made +up his mind to this measure, and that he thinks it is a duty +incumbent on him, which I do not see, and it appears to me to be +an act of great folly. He stands much too high, has performed too +great actions, and the attacks on him were too vulgar and vague +to be under the necessity of any such retaliatory measure as +this, and he lowers his dignity by entering into a conflict with +such an infamous paper, and appearing to care about its abuse. I +think the Chancellor was right, and that he is wrong. There is a +report that the King insists upon the Duke of Cumberland being +Commander-in-Chief, and it is extraordinary how many people think +that he will succeed in turning out the Duke. Lord Harrington +died while I was at Brighton, and it is supposed that the Duke of +Cumberland will try and get the Round Tower,[4] but probably the +King will not like to establish him so near himself. The King has +nearly lost his eyesight, and is to be couched as soon as his +eyes are in a proper state for the operation. He is in a great +fright with his father's fate before him, and indeed nothing is +more probable than that he will become blind and mad too; he is +already a little of both. It is now a question of appointing a +Private Secretary, and Knighton, it is supposed, would be the +man; but if he is to abstain from all business, there would seem +to be no necessity for the appointment, as he will be as little +able to do business with his Private Secretary as with his +Minister. + + [4] Lord Conyngham got the Round Tower, and Lord Combermere + the regiment--[C.C.G.] + +I have been living at Fulham at Lord Wharncliffe's villa for six +or seven weeks; I have lived here in idleness and luxury, giving +dinners, and wasting my time and my money rather more than usual. +I have read next to nothing since I have been here; I am ashamed +to think how little--in short, a most unprofitable life. + + +September 23rd, 1829 + +At Fulham till Friday, when I came to town. Went to Stoke on +Saturday, and returned yesterday; old Lady Salisbury, Giles, E. +Capel, and Conroy. There is always something to be learnt from +everybody, if you touch them on the points they know. Giles told +me about the letter to his sister written by Francis,[5] and +which was supposed to have afforded another proof that he was +Junius. Many years ago Francis was in love with his sister, Mrs. +King (at Bath), and one day she received an anonymous letter, +enclosing a copy of verses. The letter said that the writer had +found the verses, and being sure they were meant for her, had +sent them to her. The verses were in Francis' handwriting, the +envelope in a feigned hand. When the discussion arose about +Francis being Junius, Giles said to his sister one day, 'If you +have kept those verses which Francis wrote to you many years ago +at Bath, it would be curious to examine the handwriting and see +if it corresponds with that of Junius.' She found the envelope +and verses, and, on comparing them, the writing of the envelope +was identical with that of Junius as published in Woodfall's +book. + + [5] [Sir Philip Francis, the reputed author of the 'Letters + of Junius.' This anecdote has since been verified with + great minuteness by Mr. Twisleton in his researches on + the authorship of 'Junius.' The copy of verses and the + envelope in a feigned hand are still in existence. I + have seen them. The feigned hand appears to be + identical with that of Junius.] + +[Page Head: A MAN WITHOUT MONEY.] + +Old Creevey is rather an extraordinary character. I know nothing +of the early part of his history, but I believe he was an +attorney or barrister; he married a widow, who died a few years +ago; she had something, he nothing; he got into Parliament, +belonged to the Whigs, displayed a good deal of shrewdness and +humour, and was for some time very troublesome to the Tory +Government by continually attacking abuses. After some time he +lost his seat, and went to live at Brussels, where he became +intimate with the Duke of Wellington. Then his wife died, upon +which event he was thrown upon the world with about £200 a year +or less, no home, few connections, a great many acquaintance, a +good constitution, and extraordinary spirits. He possesses +nothing but his clothes, no property of any sort; he leads a +vagrant life, visiting a number of people who are delighted to +have him, and sometimes roving about to various places, as fancy +happens to direct, and staying till he has spent what money he +has in his pocket. He has no servant, no home, no creditors; he +buys everything as he wants it at the place he is at; he has no +ties upon him, and has his time entirely at his own disposal and +that of his friends. He is certainly a living proof that a man +may be perfectly happy and exceedingly poor, or rather without +riches, for he suffers none of the privations of poverty and +enjoys many of the advantages of wealth. I think he is the only +man I know in society who possesses nothing. + +Captain Dickinson's trial[6] ended last week, with a sentence +which was levelled against Codrington, and which called the +charges groundless, frivolous, and vexatious. It is generally +thought that this sentence might have been spared, though the +acquittal was proper; that Codrington behaved very foolishly, and +in ever mentioning the round robin after he had forgiven it, very +inexcusably; but that, on the other hand, the Admiralty had +displayed a spirit of hostility and rancour against him which +is very disgusting, and that Blackwood was sent down to the +court-martial for the express purpose of bullying and thwarting +him. I saw him after the sentence; he seemed annoyed, but said +that such a sentence made it necessary the matter should not stop +there, and that it must be taken up in Parliament. I cannot see +what he is to gain by that; he may prove that the Ministry of +that day (which was not the Duke's) behaved very ill, but that +has nothing to do with the court-martial. + + [6] [Captain Dickinson fought the 'Genoa' at the battle of + Navarino after Captain Bathurst, the commander of the + ship, was killed. A quarrel afterwards took place + between him and Sir Edward Codrington, and Dickinson + was tried by court-martial for not making proper use of + the springs ordered by the Admiral to be placed on the + anchors, the consequence of which was that her + broadside was not directed against the enemy, but fired + into the 'Albion.' Captain Dickinson was honourably + acquitted of all the charges, and it was proved that + Sir Edward Codrington's recollection of what had passed + was inaccurate in some particulars.] + +The whole press has risen up in arms against the Duke's +prosecution of the 'Morning Journal,' which appears to me, though +many people think he is right, a great act of weakness and +passion. How can such a man suffer by the attacks of such a +paper, and by such attacks, the sublime of the ridiculous?--'that +he is aiming at the Crown, but _we_ shall take care that he does +not succeed in this.' The idea of the Duke of Wellington seeking +to make himself King, and his ambition successfully resisted by +the editor of a newspaper, 'flogs' any scene in the 'Rehearsal.' +I saw the Duke yesterday morning; he was just come from +Doncaster, where he told me he had been very well received. He +was with Chesterfield, who was to have had a large party. +Afterwards I rode with him, and he took me to see his house, +which is now excellent. He told me that both the King's eyes were +affected, the left the most, and that he would have the operation +performed when they were fit for it; he said that the King never +evinced any fear upon these occasions, that he was always +perfectly cool, and neither feared operations or their possible +consequences; that he remembered when he had a very painful and +dangerous operation performed some time ago upon his head, that +he was not the least nervous about it, nor at all afraid of +dying, for they told him that he would very likely not recover. I +said, 'Then, after all, perhaps he who has the reputation of +being a coward would prove a very brave man if circumstances +occasioned his showing what he is.' He said, 'Very likely;' that +he seemed to have but one fear, that of ridicule: he cannot bear +the society of clever men, for fear of ridicule; he cannot bear +to show himself in public, because he is afraid of the jokes that +may be cut on his person. + +In the evening I met Matuscewitz, who is all glorious at the +Russian successes. He, Montrond, and I talked the matter over, +and he said that they should make peace, but of course (I had +said, 'Vous serez modestes, n'est-ce pas?') they should profit by +circumstances; that the Allied Ministers would not be permitted +to interfere, and they should grant such terms as they pleased +without consulting them. This was a lie,[7] for Bandinell had +told me in the morning that the negotiations were going on in +concert with the Ambassadors of the Allies. + + [7] It was not a lie though after all, for I don't believe + the Allied Ministers had any concern in the matter. + (December 5th.)--[C.C.G.] + + +[Page Head: CHATSWORTH.] + +November 4th, 1829 + +Left London the last week in September, and, after visiting at +several country houses, slept at Harborough, and went to Bretby +to breakfast; got there at twelve and found nobody up. In process +of time they came down to breakfast, the party consisting of the +Chancellor and Lady Lyndhurst, the Worcesters, Mrs. Fox, and +Williams, the chaplain, and his wife. I saw very little of the +place, which seems pretty, but not large; a very large unfinished +house. I stayed two or three hours, and went on to Chatsworth,[8] +where I arrived just as they were going to dinner, but was not +expected, and so there was no room at the table. The party was +immense; 40 people sat down to dinner every day, and about 150 +servants in the steward's room and servants' hall; there were the +Lievens, Cowpers, Granvilles, Wharncliffes, Granthams, Wiltons, +Stanleys, Belfasts, Newboroughs, Dawsons, Matuscewitz, Clanwilliams, +G. Anson, H. de Ros, &c. Nothing could be more agreeable from the +gaiety of numbers and the entire liberty which prevails; all the +resources of the house--horses, carriages, keepers, &c.--are +placed at the disposal of the guests, and everybody does what +they like best. In the evening they acted charades or danced, and +there was plenty of whist and _écarté_ high and low. It was in +the middle of that party that news came of the negotiations being +begun between the Russians and Turks,[9] and I received a letter +from Robert Grosvenor, which Madame de Lieven was ready to +devour, and she was very angry that I would not let her see the +whole of it. Our Russians were of course triumphant, and the +Princess's good humour was elevated to rapture by a very pretty +compliment which was paid her in the shape of a charade, +admirably got up as a _pièce de circonstance_, and which has +since made some noise in the world. The word was Constantinople, +which was acted: _Constant_, Penelope and the suitors; _Inn_, a +tavern scene; and _Opal_, the story in 'Anne of Geierstein.' The +whole represented the Divan, the arrival of Diebitsch's +Ambassadors, a battle between the Turks and Russians, the victory +of the latter, and ended by Morpeth as Diebitsch laying a crown +of laurel at Madame de Lieven's feet. She was enchanted, and of +course wrote off an account of it to the Empress. The whole thing +is abused as a _bassesse_ by her enemies, but it was very +amusing, and in the Duke's house, who is a friend of the Emperor, +a not unbecoming compliment. + + [8] [The hospitality of Chatsworth in the lifetime of + William Spencer Cavendish, sixth Duke of Devonshire, + was princely. The Duke of Portland, Mr. Greville's + grandfather, married Dorothy, only daughter of William, + fourth Duke of Devonshire, from whom Mr. Greville + derived his second name of Cavendish. He was therefore + second cousin of the sixth Duke and of Lady Granville + and Lady Carlisle.] + + [9] [The negotiations for the peace of Adrianople, which + terminated the Russo-Turkish war.] + +I returned to Newmarket on the 11th of October. At the end of the +week I had a fall from my horse, which confined me to my room for +ten days. The Arbuthnots were at Newmarket, having come from +Sudbourne, where Lord Hertford had brought the Duke and Huskisson +together. Nothing seems to have passed between them beyond the +common civilities of society, but Huskisson has suffered greatly +from a universal opinion that the meeting was sought by him for +the purpose of re-ingratiating himself with the Duke, and, if +possible, getting into office on any terms. It is a proof of the +low estimation in which his character is held even by those who +rate his talents the highest that all his former political +adherents think this of him. With such a reputation his political +efficacy never can be great again. There was a strong report that +he was to join the Government, which is now dying away. The Duke +is very fortunate, for his most formidable opponents always do +something to lower their own characters and render themselves as +little formidable to him as possible. + +[Page Head: IRISH TRIALS.] + +The trials in Ireland are just over, and the Government have been +defeated, which I find they think may be productive of very +important consequences to the peace of the country. The obstinacy +of one man, who held out against the other eleven, in the second +batch of conspirators who were tried, obliged them at length to +dismiss the jury, and the prisoners will be tried at the next +assizes; the others were acquitted, though the evidence against +them was the same as that on which Leary, &c., were convicted. +The exertions of O'Connell, who appears to have acted with great +ability, produced this result. The Government say, of course, +that he has acted very ill, but as the Judge, at the conclusion +of the trial, said publicly that the defence had been conducted +with perfect regard to the due administration of the laws, we may +conclude that while he availed himself of every advantage, he did +not overstep the legitimate duty of an advocate to his client. It +is, however, agreed on all hands, notwithstanding these excesses, +that the state of the country is improving, and the Emancipation +Bill producing fresh benefits every day. + + +November 9th, 1829 {P.239} + +Dined to-day with Byng and met Tom Moore, who was very agreeable; +he told us a great deal about his forthcoming 'Life of Byron.' He +is nervous about it; he is employed in conjunction with Scott and +Mackintosh to write a history of England for one of the new +publications like the Family Library.[10] Scott is to write +Scotland, Mackintosh England, and Moore Ireland; and they get +£1,000 apiece; but Scott could not compress his share into one +volume, so he is to have £1,500. The republication of Scott's +works will produce him an enormous fortune; he has already paid +off £30,000 of the Constable bankruptcy debt, and he is to pay +the remaining £30,000 very soon. A new class of readers is +produced by the Bell and Lancaster schools, and this is the cause +of the prodigious and extensive sale of cheap publications. Moore +had received a letter from Madame de Guiccioli to-day; he says +she is not handsome. Byron's exploits, especially at Venice, seem +to have been marvellous. Moore said he wrote with extraordinary +rapidity, but his corrections were frequent and laborious. When +he wrote the address for the opening of Drury Lane Theatre, he +corrected it repeatedly. + + [10] Dr. Lardner's 'Cyclopaedia.' Moore told me that the + editor of one of the annuals offered him £600 to write + two articles for his work, but 'that he loathed the + task' and refused, though the money would have been + very acceptable. The man said he did not care about the + merit of the performance, and only wanted his name; + when Moore refused, the editor raked out some old and + forgotten lines of his to Perry, and inserted them with + his name.--[C.C.G.] + +I saw Miss Fanny Kemble for the first time on Friday, and was +disappointed. She is short, ill made, with large hands and feet, +an expressive countenance, though not handsome, fine eyes, teeth, +and hair, not devoid of grace, and with great energy and spirit, +her voice good, though she has a little of the drawl of her +family. She wants the pathos and tenderness of Miss O'Neill, and +she excites no emotion; but she is very young, clever, and may +become a very good, perhaps a fine actress. Mrs. Siddons was not +so good at her age. She fills the house every night. + +The King, who was to have gone to Brighton, has given it up, +nobody knows why, but it is supposed that the Marchioness is not +well. This morning the Duke and my brother were occupied for half +an hour in endeavouring to fold a letter to his Majesty in a +particular way, which he has prescribed, for he will have his +envelopes made up in some French fashion. I hear he thinks that +he rode Fleur de Lis for the cup at Goodwood, which he may as +well do as think (which he does) that he led the heavy dragoons +at Salamanca. + +O'Connell has been making a most infamous speech at Youghal, and +is moving heaven and earth to begin a fresh agitation about the +Union, and to do all the mischief he can. Francis Leveson is to +meet Sheil at dinner to-morrow for the first time; he did not +dare do this without asking leave of Peel. Peel answered his +letter that he 'rather inclined himself to do anything to win +him, but stating that the Duke would urge the difficulties of +their position, and also the King's horror of the man,' &c. The +King's horror is in consequence of his speech about the Duke of +York. I am told Greece is to be erected into a kingdom, with a +boundary line drawn from Volo to Arta, and that the sovereignty +is to be offered to Prince Frederick of Orange, and, if he +refuses it, to Leopold. + + +[Page Head: SIR JAMES MACKINTOSH] + +November 12th, 1829 + +At Roehampton at Lord Clifden's from Tuesday, the 10th, till +to-day; Sir James Mackintosh, Moore, Poodle Byng,[11] and the +Master of the Rolls. It was uncommonly agreeable. I never was in +Mackintosh's society for so long before, and never was more +filled with admiration. His prodigious memory and the variety and +extent of his information remind me of all I have heard and read +of Burke and Johnson; but his amiable, modest, and unassuming +character makes him far more agreeable than they could either of +them (particularly Johnson) have been, while he is probably +equally instructive and amusing. Not a subject could be mentioned +of which he did not treat with equal facility and abundance, from +the Council of Trent to Voltaire's epistles; every subject, every +character, every work, all were familiar to him, and I do not +know a greater treat than to hear him talk. + + [11] [Hon. Frederick Byng, formerly of the Foreign Office, + universally known at this time as 'The Poodle,' + probably because he once kept a fine animal of that + breed.] + +Mackintosh said he was a great reader of novels; had read 'Old +Mortality' four times in English and once in French. Ellis said +he preferred Miss Austen's novels to Scott's. Talked of the old +novelists--Fielding, little read now, Smollett less; Mackintosh +is a great admirer of Swift, and does not think his infamous +conduct to Vanessa quite made out. Talked of the articles of our +religion, and said that they were in almost exact conformity with +certain doctrines laid down in the Council of Trent. The +Jansenists differ very little from our Church, except as to the +doctrine of the Real Presence. Speaking of India, Mackintosh said +that it was very remarkable that we had lost one great empire and +gained another in the same generation, and that it was still a +moot point whether the one really was a gain or the other a loss. +Called America the second Maritime Power. Franklin wept when he +quitted England. When he signed the treaty at Paris, he retired +for a moment and changed his coat. It was remarked, and he said +he had been to put on the coat in which he had been insulted by +Lord Loughborough at the English Council Board. Madame de Staël, +he said, was more agreeable in _tête-à-tête_ than in society; she +despised her children, and said, 'Ils ne me ressemblent pas.' He +told her she did not do them justice, particularly her daughter. +She said, 'C'est une lune bien pâle.' She took an aversion to +Rogers, but when she met him at Bowood, and he told her +anecdotes, she liked him. She had vanquished Brougham, and was +very proud of those conquests. + +Moore told several stories which I don't recollect, but this +amused us:--Some Irish had emigrated to some West Indian colony; +the negroes soon learnt their brogue, and when another shipload +of Irish came soon after, the negroes as they sailed in said, +'Ah, Paddy, how are you?' 'Oh, Christ!' said one of them, 'what, +y're become black already!' + +Moore, without displaying the astonishing knowledge of +Mackintosh, was very full of information, gaiety, and humour. Two +more delightful days I never passed. I could not help reflecting +what an extraordinary thing success is in this world, when a man +so gifted as Mackintosh has failed completely in public life, +never having attained honours, reputation, or wealth, while so +many ordinary men have reaped an abundant harvest of all. What a +consolation this affords to mediocrity! None can approach +Mackintosh without admiring his extraordinary powers, and at the +same time wondering why they have not produced greater effects in +the world either of literature or politics. His virtues are +obstacles to his success; he has not the art of pushing or of +making himself feared; he is too _doucereux_ and complimentary, +and from some accident or defect in the composition of his +character, and in the course of events which have influenced his +circumstances, he has always been civilly neglected. Both +Mackintosh and Moore told a great many anecdotes, but one morning +at breakfast the latter related a story which struck us all. +Mackintosh said it was enough to furnish materials for a novel, +but that the simple narrative was so striking it ought to be +written down without exaggeration or addition. I afterwards wrote +it down as nearly as I could recollect it. It was Crampton, the +Surgeon-General, who told it to Moore, and Crampton _loquitur_. + +[Page Head: SIR PHILIP CRAMPTON'S STORY] + +'Some years ago I was present at a duel that was fought between a +young man of the name of MacLoughlin and another Irishman. MacL. +was desperately wounded; his second ran up to him, and thought to +console him with the intelligence that his antagonist had also +fallen. He only replied, "I am sorry for it if he is suffering as +much as I do now." I was struck by the good feeling evinced in +this reply, and took an interest in the fate of the young man. He +recovered, and a few years after my interest was again powerfully +excited by hearing that he had been arrested on suspicion of +having murdered his father-in-law, his mother's second husband. +He was tried and found guilty on the evidence of a soldier who +happened to be passing in the middle of the night near the house +in which the murder was committed. Attracted by a light which +gleamed through the lower part of the window, he approached it, +and through an opening between the shutter and the frame was able +to look into the room. There he saw a man in the act of lifting a +dead body from the floor, while his hands and clothes were +stained all over with blood. He hastened to give information of +what he had seen; MacLoughlin and his mother were apprehended, +and the former, having been identified by the soldier, was found +guilty. There was no evidence against the woman, and she was +consequently acquitted. MacLoughlin conducted himself throughout +the trial with determined calmness, and never could be induced to +acknowledge his guilt. The morning of his execution he had an +interview with his mother; none knew what passed between them, +but when they parted he was heard to say, "Mother, may God +forgive you!" The fate of this young man made a deep impression +on me, till time and passing events effaced the occurrence from +my mind. It was several years afterwards that I one day received +a letter from a lady (a very old and intimate acquaintance) +entreating that I would immediately hasten down to the assistance +of a Roman Catholic priest who was lying dangerously ill at her +house, and the symptoms of whose malady she described. Her +description left me doubtful whether the mind or the body of the +patient was affected. Being unable to leave Dublin, I wrote to +say that if the disease was bodily the case was hopeless, but if +mental I should recommend certain lenitives, for which I added a +prescription. The priest died, and shortly after his death the +lady confided to me an extraordinary and dreadful story. He had +been her confessor and intimate friend, and in moments of agony +and doubt produced by horrible recollections he had revealed to +her a secret which had been imparted to him in confession. He had +received the dying confession of MacLoughlin, who, as it turned +out, was not the murderer of his father-in-law, but had died to +save the life and honour of his mother, by whom the crime had +been really committed. She was a woman of violent passions; she +had quarrelled with her husband in the middle of the night, and +after throwing him from the bed had despatched him by repeated +blows. When she found he was dead she was seized with terror, and +hastening to the apartment of her son, called him to witness the +shocking spectacle and to save her from the consequences of her +crime. It was at this moment, when he was lifting the body and +preparing to remove the bloody evidence of his mother's guilt, +that the soldier passed by and saw him in the performance of his +dreadful task. To the priest alone he acknowledged the truth, but +his last words to his mother were now explained.' + + +[Page Head: TOM MOORE] + +November 20th, 1829 + +Roehampton. Only Moore and myself; Washington Irving and Maclane, +the American Minister, come to-morrow. Moore spoke in the highest +terms of Luttrell, of his wit and information, and of his +writings, to which he does not think the world does justice, +particularly the 'Advice to Julia,' but he says Luttrell is too +fearful of giving offence. Moore was very agreeable, told a story +of Sir ---- St. George in Ireland. He was to attend a meeting at +which a great many Catholics were to be present (I forget where), +got drunk and lost his hat, when he went into the room where they +were assembled and said, 'Damnation to you all; I came to +emancipate you, and you've stole my hat.' In the evening Moore +sang, but the pianoforte was horrid, and he was not in good +voice; still his singing 'va dritto al cuore,' for it produces an +exceeding sadness, and brings to mind a thousand melancholy +recollections, and generates many melancholy anticipations. He +told me as we came along that with him it required no thought to +write, but that there was no end to it; so many fancies on every +subject crowded on his brain; that he often read what he had +written as if it had been the composition of another, and was +amused; that it was the greatest pleasure to him to compose those +light and trifling pieces, humorous and satirical, which had been +so often successful. He holds Voltaire to have been the most +extraordinary genius that ever lived, on account of his +universality and fertility; talked of Scott and his wonderful +labour and power of composition, as well as the extent to which +he has carried the art of book-making; besides writing this +history of Scotland for Dr. Lardner's 'Encyclopaedia,' he is +working at the prefaces for the republication of the Waverley +Novels, the 'Tales of a Grandfather,' and has still found time to +review Tytler, which he has done out of the scraps and chips of +his other works. A little while ago he had to correct some of the +proofs of the history of Scotland, and, being dissatisfied with +what was done, he nearly wrote it over again, and sent it up to +the editor. Some time after finding another copy of the proofs, +he forgot that he had corrected them before, and he rewrote these +also and sent them up, and the editor is at this moment engaged +in selecting from the two corrected copies the best parts of +each. + +Yesterday I met the Chancellor at dinner at the Master of the +Rolls', when he told me about the King and Denman.[12] The King +would not have the Recorder's report last week, because the +Recorder was too ill to attend, and he was resolved not to see +Denman. The Duke went to him, when he threw himself into a +terrible tantrum, and was so violent and irritable that they were +obliged to let him have his own way for fear he should be ill, +which they thought he would otherwise certainly be. He is rather +the more furious with Denman from having been forced to consent +to his having the silk gown, and he said at that time that he +should never set his foot in any house of his; so that business +is at a standstill, and the unfortunate wretches under sentence +of death are suffered to linger on, because he does not choose to +do his duty and admit to his presence an officer to whom he has +taken an aversion. As the Chancellor said to me, 'the fact is, he +is mad.' The fact is that he is a spoiled, selfish, odious beast, +and has no idea of doing anything but what is agreeable to +himself, or of there being any duties attached to the office he +holds. The expenses of the Civil List exceed the allowance in +every branch, every quarter; but nobody can guess how the money +is spent, for the King makes no show and never has anybody there. +My belief is that ---- and ---- ---- plunder him, or rather the +country, between them, in certain stipulated proportions. Among +other expenses his tailor's bill is said to be £4,000 or £5,000 a +year. He is now employed in devising a new dress for the Guards. + + [12] [Thomas Denman, afterwards Lord Denman and Lord Chief + Justice of England, was at this time Common Serjeant of + the City of London. George IV. hated him for the part + he had taken on the Queen's trial, and did all he could + to prevent his having a silk gown. _Vide supra_, + p. 156, January 16th, 1829.] + + +[Page Head: STRAWBERRY HILL] + +November 21st, 1829 {p.247} + +Maclane, the American Minister, could not come, but Irving did. +He is lively and unassuming, rather vulgar, very good-humoured. +We went to Strawberry Hill to-day--Moore, Ellis, Lady Georgiana, +and I. Ellis is an excellent cicerone; everything is in the state +in which old Horace Walpole left it, and just as his catalogue +and description describe it. He says in that work that he makes +that catalogue to provide against the dispersion of his +collections, and he tied up everything as strictly as possible. +Moore sang in the evening and was very agreeable the whole day. +He said that Byron thought that Crabbe and Coleridge had the most +genius and feeling of any living poet. Nobody reads Crabbe now. +How dangerous it is to be a story-teller, however agreeable the +manner or amusing the budget, for Moore to-day told a story which +he told here last week! However, they all laughed just the same, +except me, and I moralised upon it thus. Clifden is a very odd +man, shrewd and well informed, and somewhat sarcastic, but very +gay and good-humoured, fond of society and the 'Times' newspaper, +a great enemy to the Church, and chuckles over its alarms and its +dangers, but I was amused with a comical contradiction. Somebody +told a story about an erratum in an Irish paper, which said that +such a one had abjured the errors of the Romish Church and +embraced those of the Protestant, at which he was greatly +diverted, and said, 'That is just what I should have said +myself;' and to-day after dinner, all of a sudden, he said grace +(he says grace on Sunday only). + +Moore gave an account this morning of his being examined in +Trinity College, Dublin, when a boy, during the rebellion. Many +of the youths (himself, and he says he is pretty sure Croker, +among the number) had taken the oath of the United Irishmen[13] +(Emmett[14] and some others who were in the College had +absconded). The Chancellor (Lord Clare) came to the College, +erected his tribunal, and examined all the students upon oath. He +asked first if they had belonged to any society of United Irish, +and, if the answer was in the affirmative, he asked whom they had +ever seen there and what had passed. Contumacy was punishable by +expulsion and exclusion from every profession. At the end of the +first day's examination Moore went home to his parents, and told +them he could not take an oath which might oblige him to +criminate others (as he should be forced to answer any question +they might choose to put), and though they were poor, and had +conceived great hopes of him, they encouraged him in this +resolution. The next day he was called forth, when he refused to +be sworn, stating his reasons why. The Chancellor said he did not +come there to dispute with him, but added that they should only +ask him general questions, on which he took the oath, but +reserved to himself the power of declining to answer particular +questions. They only asked him such questions as he could +conscientiously answer (they had got all the information they +wanted, and were beginning to relax), but when they had done with +him Lord Clare asked him why he had demurred to answer. He said +he was afraid he might be called on to criminate others, and that +he had never taken an oath before, and naturally felt some +reluctance and dread on such an occasion. + + [13] He did not take the oath till after this examination. + + [14] He had lived in intimacy with Emmett. + +Moore told a story of an Irishman who saw from the pit a friend +of his acting Othello, and he called out, 'Larry, Larry, Larry, +there's the least taste in life of your linen hanging out!' One +day in America near the falls of Niagara Moore saw this scene:-- +An Indian whose boat was moored to the shore was making love to +the wife of another Indian; the husband came upon them unawares; +he jumped into the boat, when the other cut the cord, and in an +instant it was carried into the middle of the stream, and before +he could seize his paddle was already within the rapids. He +exerted all his force to extricate himself from the peril, but +finding that his efforts were vain, and his canoe was drawn with +increasing rapidity towards the Falls, he threw away his paddle, +drank off at a draught the contents of a bottle of brandy, tossed +the empty bottle into the air, then quietly folded his arms, +extended himself in the boat, and awaited with perfect calmness +his inevitable fate. In a few moments he was whirled down the +Falls and disappeared for ever. + +Washington Irving wants sprightliness and more refined manners. +He was in Spain four years, at Madrid, Seville, and Grenada. +While at the latter place he was lodged in the Alhambra, which is +excellently preserved and very beautiful; he gives a deplorable +description of the ignorance and backward state of the Spaniards. +When he returned to France he was utterly uninformed of what had +been passing in Europe while he was in Spain, and he says that he +now constantly hears events alluded to of which he knows nothing. + + +[Page Head: LORD GLENGALL'S COMEDY] + +December 1st, 1829 {p.249} + +After I left Roehampton last week came to town and dined with +Byng, Moore, Irving, Sir T. Lawrence, and Vesey Fitzgerald; very +agreeable. No news but the failure of the Spanish expedition +against Mexico, which capitulated, and the soldiers promised +never to bear arms against Mexico again. On Friday went to see +Lord Glengall's comedy, with a prologue by F. Mills and an +epilogue by Alvanley.[15] It succeeded, though the first two acts +went off heavily; not much novelty in it, but the characters well +drawn and some of the situations very good: it amused me very +well, and was exceedingly well acted. Glengall came to me +afterwards to get criticisms on his play. I told him some of the +faults, and he was not in the Sir Fretful line, but took it all +very thankfully. At Roehampton on Sunday; Byng, Sir Robert +Wilson, Sharpe,[16] and Luttrell. There is a joke of Luttrell's +about Sharpe. He was a wholesale hatter formerly; having a dingy +complexion, somebody said he had transferred the colour of his +hats to his face, when Luttrell said that 'it was _darkness which +might be felt_.' Wilson has written to the Sultan a letter full +of advice, and he says the Turks will be more powerful than ever. +Wilson is always full of opinions and facts; the former are wild +and extravagant, the latter generally false. + + [15] [A comedy by the Earl of Glengall, entitled 'The + Follies of Fashion.'] + + [16] [Richard Sharpe, Esq., well known by the _sobriquet_ of + 'Conversation Sharpe.'] + +No Council yet; the King is employed in altering the uniforms of +the Guards, and has pattern coats with various collars submitted +to him every day. The Duke of Cumberland assists him, and this is +his principal occupation; he sees much more of his tailor than he +does of his Minister. The Duke of Cumberland's boy, who is at +Kew, diverts himself with making the guard turn out several times +in the course of the day to salute him. + + +December 3rd, 1829 {p.250} + +Came from Roehampton. Lady Pembroke and her daughter, Luttrell +and I, and the Lievens, dined there one day. Lady Pembroke was +Countess Woronzow; Lord Pembroke pleaded poverty all his life, +and died leaving each of his five daughters £20,000, and his wife +£200,000 to do what she liked with. Old Woronzow was Ambassador +here many years, has lived here ever since, and never learnt a +word of English. His son Michel is one of the most distinguished +officers in the Russian army, and now Governor of Odessa and the +province of which that city is the capital. + +I went to see Glengall's play again, which was much better acted +than the first time, and, having been curtailed, went off very +well. Henry de Ros, Glengall, and I went together. I was very +much amused (but did not venture to show it) at a point in one of +the scenes between Lureall and Sir S. Foster: the latter said, +'Let me tell you, sir, that a country gentleman residing on his +estate is as valuable a member of society as a man of fashion in +London who lives by plundering those who have more money and less +wit than himself;' when De Ros turned to Glengall and said, +'Richard, there appears to me to be a great deal of twaddle in +this play; besides, you throw over the good cause.' + + +[Page Head: THE RECORDER'S REPORT] + +December 5th, 1829 {p.250} + +This morning the Duke of Wellington sent for me about the Council +on Monday, and after settling that matter he began talking about +the King's conduct with reference to the Recorder's report. I +told him it was thought very extraordinary. He said, 'You have no +idea what a scene I had with him; there never was anything like +it. I never saw him so violent.' He then rang the bell, when +Drummond (his secretary) appeared, and the Duke desired him to +bring the correspondence with the King about the Recorder, which +was done. He then said, 'I came to town on the Monday for the +Council and report, which was to have been on Tuesday, and which +he had himself settled, without consulting me; in the afternoon +Phillips came to me and said that the Recorder could not attend, +and that they did not know if his Majesty would receive Denman. I +wrote to the King directly this letter.' He then read the letter, +which was to this effect: that he informed the King that the +Recorder was ill, and therefore the Common Serjeant, Mr. Denman, +would have the honour of making the report to his Majesty; that +he thought it right to apprise him of this, and if he had any +objection to receive Mr. Denman, it would be better to put off +the Council, as no other person could now lay the report before +him. 'To this the King wrote an answer, beginning "My dear Duke," +not as usual,' the Duke said, '"My dear Friend," that the state +of his eyes would not allow him to write by candle-light, and he +was therefore obliged to make use of an amanuensis. The letter +was written by Watson, and signed by the King, "Your sincere +Friend, G. R." It was to the effect that he was quite surprised +the Duke should have made him such a proposal; that he had been +grossly insulted by Denman, and would never admit him to his +presence; that it had been settled the Deputy-Recorder, Arabin, +in the absence of the Recorder, should make the report, and that +he had already done so; that he was surprised, knowing as the +Duke must do the firmness of his character, that he should think +him capable of yielding on this subject; that he never would do +so, and desired the Council might take place, and the report be +made by Arabin.' His letter was much longer, but this was the +pith of it. On the receipt of this the Duke held a consultation +with Peel and the Chancellor, when they determined to put off the +Council, which was done, and the Duke wrote to the King, as +nearly as I can recollect, as follows. This was an admirable +letter--business-like, firm, and respectful:--'That upon the +receipt of his Majesty's letter he had thought it his duty to +consult the Chancellor, and that they had come to the resolution +of postponing the Council and report; that the making of this +report was the privilege of the City of London, and that the +Recorder in the execution of this duty, being unable to attend, +had placed it in the hands of the Common Serjeant, whose duty it +then became to present it; that it was now in his hands, and +could not be withdrawn without his consent; that the only +occasion on which it had been presented by Mr. Serjeant Arabin +had been when the Common Serjeant was on the circuit; that as his +Majesty objected to admit Mr. Denman to his presence, they had +thought it best to put off the Council, as if Mr. Arabin was +summoned he could have no report to present, and there would +probably arise some discussion between the Common Serjeant and +him, which would be a proceeding such as ought not to take place +in his Majesty's palace, and that he would wait upon his Majesty +the next morning and take his commands upon the subject.' The +next day, he continued, he went to Windsor, where he had a grand +scene with his Majesty. 'I am sure,' said the Duke, 'that nobody +can manage him but me.' He repeated all he had said in his +letter, and a great deal more; represented to him that having +given his sanction to the official appointment of Denman since +the Queen's trial, he could not refuse to receive him in the +execution of his duty without alleging legal objections for so +doing; to which the King replied that Lord Liverpool had behaved +very ill to him, and had made him do this; and then he became +very violent, and cursed and swore, and said he never would see +him. The Duke said that he might put off the report; that there +were three men who must be hanged, and it did not signify one +farthing whether they were kept in prison a little longer or +shorter time (he forgets that there are others lying under +sentence of death, probably several), and that he had better put +it off than have the Common Serjeant come down to a scene in his +palace. After letting him run on in his usual way, and exhaust +his violence, he left him, and the report stands over once more; +but the Duke told me that it could not stand over after this, and +if the Recorder is not well enough when the time arrives for the +next report, his Majesty must receive Denman whether he will or +no, and that he shall insist upon it. He told me the whole +history in great detail mixed with pretty severe strictures on +the King. I have put down all I could carry away. I have not such +a memory (or such an invention) as Bourrienne. + +[Page Head: THE CIVIL LIST] + +The Duke then told me that he had made strong remonstrances about +the excess of expenditure on the Civil List; that in the Lord +Steward's department there had been an excess of £7,000, in that +of the Master of the Horse of £5,000, and that of the Master of +the Robes (the tailor's bill) of £10,000 in the last half-year;[17] +that he had stated that unless they could save the difference in +the next half-year, or pay it out of the Privy Purse, he must go +to Parliament, which would bring the whole of the expenses of the +Civil List under discussion. He said it was very extraordinary, +that the King's expenses appeared to be nothing; his Majesty had +not more tables than he (the Duke) had. + + [17] I am not sure that I am correct in the sums, but very + nearly so.--[C.C.G.] + +I asked him about Brummell and his Consulship. He said Aberdeen +hesitated; that he had offered to take all the responsibility on +himself; that he had in Dudley's time proposed it to him +(Dudley), who had objected, and at last owned he was afraid the +King might not like it, on which he had spoken to the King, who +had made objections, abusing Brummell--said he was a damned +fellow and had behaved very ill to him (the old story, always +himself--_moi, moi, moi_)--but after having let him run out +his tether of abuse, he had at last extracted his consent; +nevertheless Dudley did not give him the appointment. The Duke +said he had no acquaintance with Brummell. + + + + + CHAPTER VII. + +Chapter of the Bath--The Duc de Dino arrested--A Ball to the + Divan--English Policy in Greece--Sir Thomas Lawrence-- + Gallatin--Court of King's Bench--Accident to the Grand Duke + Constantine--Osterley--Young Sidney Herbert--Duke of Wellington + in Office--Stapleton's 'Life of Canning'--Death of Sir Thomas + Lawrence--Leopold and the Throne of Greece--Canning's Answers + to Lord Grey--Distressed State of the Country--Canning's + Greatness and his Failings--Death of Tierney--Sir Martin Shee + President--The Duke of Wellington's Views and Conduct--The + Coming Session--Moore's 'Life of Byron'--Character of Byron-- + Opening of Parliament--The Fire King--The Duke of Wellington's + Speaking--The English Opera House burnt down--Lord Thurlow on + Kenyon and Buller--Old Rothschild--Lansdowne House--Earl + Stanhope--John Murray--Departure for Italy. + + +December 7th, 1829 {p.254} + +At Windsor for a Council; the Duke was there, and Lord Aberdeen, +Murray, Lord Rosslyn, the Chancellor, and Herries. There was a +chapter of the Bath, when the Duke of Clarence was installed +Grand Master, Stratford Canning and Robert Gordon Grand Crosses. +The King looked very well, but was very blind. The Council was by +candle-light, but he could not see to read the list, and begged me +to read it for him. However, I was so good a courtier that I held +the candle in such a way as to enable him to read it himself. He +saw the Duke for a short time, and the Chancellor for a long +time. I asked the latter if the King had been _Denmanising_, and +he said, 'Oh, yes--"I said when I consented to that fellow's +having the silk gown that I would never admit him," &c.' I was +amused with old Conyngham, who told me his wife had been in +danger, 'so they tell me,' talking of her as if she were somebody +else's wife. The Duke went from the Council to Stowe; we all +returned to town. + + +[Page Head: THE DUC DE DINO ARRESTED] + +December 9th, 1829 {p.254} + +Dined with Prince Lieven; a great dinner--Laval,[1] Granvilles, +Aberdeen, Montrond, &c. The Duc de Dino, who came here to amuse +himself, has been arrested, and Montrond and Vaudreuil begged +Laval to put him on his list of _attachés_ at the Foreign Office, +which would release him from the sponging-house. He was afraid +and made difficulties; they were excessively provoked, but at +last induced him to speak to Lord Aberdeen about it, which he +said he would do after dinner. In the meantime Montrond got me to +tell the story to Aberdeen, which I did, and got him to encourage +Laval to do the business. He then told Laval that I had _aplani_ +the matter, at which the Ambassador was rather affronted, but I +suppose the thing will be done and Dino will get out. The Duc de +Dino is Talleyrand's nephew, and his son has married Mademoiselle +de Montmorency, a relation of the Duc de Laval. + + [1] [The Duc de Laval had succeeded Prince Polignac as + French Ambassador in London.] + + +December 10th, 1829 {p.255} + +Last night Miss Kemble acted Belvidera for the first time, and +with great success. + + +December 18th, 1829 {p.255} + +At Roehampton last Saturday to Monday; Granvilles, Byng, Lord +Ashley, and I. Dino was extricated from prison by Laval's paying +the money, which he did very handsomely; he thought it wrong to +have him in prison and wrong to attach him fictitiously to his +Embassy, so he paid the debt, and Dino is gone back to France. + +Despatches were received from Gordon yesterday giving an account +of a ball he had given to the Divan; the Turks came, and the +Reis-Effendi waltzed with a Mrs. Moore. After supper they drank +King George IV.'s health in bumpers of champagne. This story was +told to Lord Sidmouth as a good joke; but he said with a face of +dismay, 'Good God, is it possible? To what extent will these +innovations be carried?' + + +December 19th, 1829 {p.255} + +There is a review in the 'Foreign Quarterly' (the last number) on +Greece, which is a remarkably able critique of the conduct of our +Government in the affairs of that State. The writer, whoever he +may be, has been amply supplied with documents and information, +probably from Paris. Nothing can be more just than his remarks on +our miserable policy, or more severe. I showed it to Lord +Granville, who told me that it was generally correct, though +containing some errors; for instance, that it was not true that +we had engaged to afford the Greeks pecuniary aid, which we never +did promise, but that he had been himself the person to negotiate +with M. de la Ferronays, then Minister for Foreign Affairs at +Paris, for the more limited boundary, and to dissuade the French +from sending their expedition to the Morea; that there had been a +violent contest in the English Cabinet on that subject, Huskisson +and Dudley being in favour of the French expedition, and the Duke +and the rest against it, but that the moment Huskisson and his +party resigned the Duke gave way and agreed to the measure. This +affords another example of his extraordinary mode of proceeding, +that of opposing the views and plans of others violently, and +when he finds opposition fruitless, or likely to become so, +turning short round and adopting them as his own, and taking all +the credit he can get for doing so. He did so in the case of the +recognition of the South American colonies, of the Test and +Corporation Acts, the Catholic question, and in this instance. +Then his conduct on the Corn Bill is only the converse of the +same proposition--begins by being a party to it and then procures +its rejection. Greece and Portugal, if well handled, would afford +two great cases against the Duke's foreign policy, and they serve +as admirable commentaries on each other. The raising the siege of +Previsa, and the respect paid to Miguel's blockade, and +compulsion exercised on the Terceira people are enough to prove +everything. + +Ashley told me a curious thing about Sir Thomas Lawrence the +other day. His father kept the inn at Devizes,[2] and when Lord +Shaftesbury's father and mother were once at the inn with Lord +Shaftesbury, then a boy, the innkeeper came into the room and +said he had a son with a genius for drawing, and, if they would +allow him, his little boy should draw their little boy's picture; +on which the little Lawrence was sent for, who produced his chalk +and paper, and made a portrait of the young Lord. + + [2] [Sir Thomas Lawrence's father at one time kept the + 'Black Bear' at Devizes. In 1775 Lord and Lady Kenyon + had the young prodigy (as he was called) introduced to + them there. Lawrence was then only six years old.] + + +[Page Head: GALLATIN] + +December 21st, 1829 {p.257} + +At Roehampton from Saturday; Maclane, the American Minister, +Washington Irving, Melbourne, Byng, and on Sunday the Lievens to +dinner. Maclane a sensible man, with very good American manners, +which are not refined. Even Irving, who has been so many years +here, has a bluntness which is very foreign to the tone of good +society. Maclane gave me a curious account of Gallatin. He was +born at Geneva, and went over to America early in life, possessed +of nothing; there he set up a little huxtering shop--in I forget +what State--and fell in love with one of the daughters of a poor +woman at whose house he lodged, but he was so destitute that the +mother refused him. In this abject condition accident introduced +him to the celebrated Patrick Henry, who advised him to abandon +trade, and go into the neighbouring State and try to advance +himself by his talents. He followed the advice, and soon began to +make himself known. + + +December 22nd, 1829 {p.257} + +Dined with Byng yesterday and met Moore, Fitzgerald, and +Luttrell. Luttrell is a great lover of conundrums, which taste he +acquired from Beresford, the author of the 'Miseries of Human +Life,' who has invented some very curious but elaborate +conundrums. They are not worth repeating. Moore told a story of +an Irishman at the play calling out, 'Now, boys, a clap for +Wellington!' which being complied with, 'And now silence for the +rest of the family!' He complained that all the humour which used +to break out in an Irish audience is extinct. + +Fitzgerald told me that the King had been annoying them as much +as he could, that he took pleasure in making his Government weak, +that the money matter (which the Duke told me of before) had been +settled by 'contrivances,' or that they must have gone to +Parliament for the amount; that he has just ordered plate to the +amount of £25,000. Fitzgerald is so ill that he can scarcely +carry on the business of his office, and yet he does not like to +give it up, for fear of embarrassing the Government; he +complained that the other offices had thrown much of their +business on the Board of Trade, a custom which had grown up in +Huskisson's time, who was the most competent man, and who took it +all. Probably Huskisson was not sorry, by making himself very +useful, to make himself nearly indispensable, and thought that he +was so; and so he was _de jure_, but the Duke would not let him +be so _de facto_. + + +[Page Head: PRESS PROSECUTIONS] + +December 23rd, 1829 {p.258} + +Went to the Court of King's Bench this morning to prove that the +Duke of Wellington is a Privy Councillor, on the trial of the +action which the Duke brought against the 'Morning Journal.' The +action brought by the Chancellor had been tried the day before. +Scarlett was feeble; Alexander again defended himself in a very +poor speech; the jury retired for three hours, and I thought +would have said 'Not guilty;' but they brought in a verdict which +is tantamount to a defeat of the prosecution on this charge, and +amply proves the folly of having instituted it at all. I did not +hear the second trial, on which they gave a verdict of guilty, +after consulting for about half an hour. The jury in each case +consisted of eight special jurors and four talesmen. Afterwards +there was a _crim. con._ case, which I did not stay out, but +which was amusing enough from the translations of the counsel, +the Judge, the witnesses, and the interpreters, for some of the +witnesses were French. Lord Tenterden has a comical way of +muttering to himself half aloud as the counsel are speaking, +either answering or commenting on what they say. Scarlett was +saying (in this last case) that he could not prove the fact, but +he could prove that the defendant passed the night in the lady's +room, and the jury might judge what he did, when Tenterden +muttered, 'If he did nothing, what was he there for?' + +The prosecution finished with the trial of Bell (of the 'Atlas'), +who made a very good speech (it was about Lord and Lady +Lyndhurst), and the jury found him guilty of publishing only, +which I take to be an acquittal; the point, however, will not be +tried probably, for it is not likely that he will be brought up +for judgment. He will be contented to get off, and they will not +like to stir such a question. The result of the trials proves the +egregious folly of having ever brought them on, especially the +Duke's. One of the verdicts is, as far as he is concerned, an +acquittal; the author showed himself to be so contemptible that +he had better have been treated with indifference. He has been +converted into a sort of martyr, and whatever may have been +thought of the vulgar scurrility of the language, ruin and +imprisonment will appear to most people too severe a punishment +for the offence. Then the whole press have united upon this +occasion, and in some very powerful articles have spread to every +corner of the country the strongest condemnation of the whole +proceeding. The Government, or rather the Duke, is likely to +become unpopular, and no good end will have been answered. I do +not believe that these prosecutions originate in a desire to curb +the press, but merely in that of punishing a writer who had so +violently abused him; not, however, that he would be sorry to +adopt any measure which should tend to fetter free discussion, +and subject the press to future punishment. But this would be a +fearful war to wage, and I do not think he is rash enough to +undertake such a crusade. + + +December 27th, 1829 {p.259} + +At Panshanger since the 24th; Lievens, J. Russell, Montrond, M. +de la Rochefoucauld, F. Lamb. On Christmas Day the Princess +[Lieven] got up a little _fête_ such as is customary all over +Germany. Three trees in great pots were put upon a long table +covered with pink linen; each tree was illuminated with three +circular tiers of coloured wax candles--blue, green, red, and +white. Before each tree was displayed a quantity of toys, gloves, +pocket-handkerchiefs, workboxes, books, and various articles-- +presents made to the owner of the tree. It was very pretty. Here +it was only for the children; in Germany the custom extends to +persons of all ages. The Princess told us to-day about the +Emperor of Russia's relapse and the cause of it. He had had a +cold which he had neglected, but at length the physicians had +given him some medicine to produce perspiration, and he was in +bed in that state, the Empress sitting by him reading to him, +when on a sudden a dreadful noise was heard in the next (the +children's) room, followed by loud shrieks. The Empress rushed +into the room, and the Emperor jumped out of bed in his shirt and +followed her. There the children, the governess, and the nurses +were screaming out that Constantine (the second boy, of two years +old) was destroyed; a huge vase of porphyry had been thrown down +and had fallen over the child, who was not to be seen. So great +was the weight and size of the vase that it was several minutes +before it could be raised, though assistance was immediately +fetched, and all that time the Emperor and Empress stood there in +ignorance of the fate of the child, and expecting to see the +removal of the vase discover his mangled body, when to their +delight it was found that the vase had fallen exactly over him, +without doing him the least injury, but the agitation and the +cold brought on a violent fever, which for some time put the +Emperor in great danger. The Princess said she was surprised that +it did not kill the Empress, for she is the most nervous woman in +the world, ever since the conspiracy at the time of his +accession, when her nerves were _ébranlés_ by all she went +through. That scene (of the revolt of the Guards) took place +under the window of the Palace. The whole Imperial Family was +assembled there and saw it all, the Emperor being in the middle +of men by whom they expected him to be assassinated every moment. +During all that time--many hours--the young Empress never spoke, +but stood 'pâle comme une statue,' and when at length it was all +over, and the Emperor returned, she threw herself on her knees +and began to pray. + + +December 29th, 1829 {p.260} + +At Osterley;[3] Lady Euston, Mrs. Sheridan and her son; a very +fine house, which is thrown away, as they hardly ever live there. +They spent £200,000 in building Middleton, which is the worst +place in England, and now they regret it, but Lord Jersey hates +Osterley and likes Middleton. This place belonged to Sir Thomas +Gresham, but the present house is modern. It was here that Sir +Thomas Gresham feasted Queen Elizabeth, and pulled down a wall in +the night which she had found fault with, so that in the morning +she found it was gone. + + [3] [Lord Jersey's seat near Hanwell, Middlesex.] + + + 1830. + + +[Page Head: WELLINGTON AS A MINISTER] + +January 2nd, 1830 {p.261} + +At Roehampton; William Howard, Baring Wall, and Lady Pembroke's +son;[4] the best sort of youth I have seen for a long while, and +he will have £12,000 a year, besides what his mother may leave +him. Vesey Fitzgerald is so ill that it is doubtful if he will +recover, and, at all events, almost impossible that he should +remain in office. It will be very difficult for the Duke to fill +his place. There is not a man in office now who is fit for it, +and where is he to look for anyone else? Yet I think almost +anybody would take it; for although the late prosecutions are +blamed, and the foreign policy is thought by most people to have +been very miserable, there is an extensive disposition to support +the Duke and to keep him at the head of affairs. Huskisson is the +man whose knowledge and capacity would be of the greatest service +just now, but the Duke will not like to apply to him in a moment +of distress, because he would probably take advantage of that +distress to make better terms for himself; at the same time, I +should not be surprised if the Duke were to invite him to return +to the Cabinet, and that he accepted the Chancellorship of the +Exchequer or one of the Secretaryships without any conditions. +Vesey will be a great loss, for he is clever and ready in debate, +and by great diligence and application, and the powerful +assistance of Hume and Stephen, he has made considerable progress +in the science of trade and commerce. + + [4] [Sidney Herbert, afterwards Lord Herbert of Lea, whose + life and character did not belie the promise of his + youth.] + + +January 5th, 1830 {p.261} + +There are many speculations about Vesey's successor; some think +Lord Chandos or Herries; I think Frankland Lewis, but that Lord +Chandos will have some place before long; the Duke has a great +hankering after that set. In the meantime all accounts concur in +admitting the great and increasing distress; and, as such a state +of things not unnaturally produces a good deal of ill-humour, the +Duke is abused for gadding about visiting and shooting while the +country is in difficulty, and it is argued that he must be very +unfeeling and indifferent to it all to amuse himself in this +manner. Nothing can be more unjust than such accusations as +these. The sort of relaxation he takes is necessary to his +health, and, all things considered, it is not extraordinary he +should prefer other people's houses to his own, particularly when +everyone invites him in the most pressing manner. But these +visits by no means interrupt the course of his official business; +all his letters are regularly sent to him, and as regularly +answered every day, and it is his habit to open his letters +himself, to read them all, and to answer all. He never receives +any letter, whatever may be the subject or the situation of the +writer, that he does not answer, and that immediately, to a +degree which is not only unprecedented, but quite unnecessary, +and I think unwise, although certainly it contributes to his +popularity. It is another proof of that simplicity of character +and the absence of all arrogance which are so remarkable in him, +especially as he has long been used to command and to implicit +obedience, and the whole tenor of his conduct since he has been +in office shows that he is covetous of power and authority, and +will not endure anybody who will not be subservient to him; still +in his manner and bearing there is nothing but openness, +frankness, civility, and good-humour. As to his supposed +indifference to the public distress, I firmly believe that his +mind is incessantly occupied with projects for its relief, and +that when unwarped by particular prejudices, partialities, and +antipathies, which have had a stronger and more frequent +influence over him than befits so great a man, he is animated +with a sincere desire to reform abuses of any kind, and is not +diverted from his purpose by any personal considerations or +collateral objects. The King is preparing for a new battle with +him (stimulated, I presume, by the Duke of Cumberland) about the +appointment of sheriffs. He has taken it into his head that he +will not appoint any Roman Catholic sheriff; and as several have +been named, and these generally first on the list, according to +the usual practice, they must be chosen. The King will be obliged +to give way, but it is an additional proof of his bad disposition +and his pleasure in thwarting his Ministers on every possible +occasion. + + +[Page Head: STAPLETON'S 'MEMOIRS OF CANNING'] + +January 7th, 1830 {p.263} + +Stapleton's 'Memoirs of Canning' are coming out directly, but he +is prevented from making use of all the documents he, or rather +Lady Canning, has. She has had an angry correspondence with the +Foreign Office. Every Minister takes away a _précis_ of all he +has done while in office, but Canning's _précis_ was not finished +when he died. She wrote and demanded that what was incomplete +should be furnished to her, but claimed it as a right, and said +it was for the purpose of vindicating him. Lord Aberdeen declined +giving it, and I think very properly. The reason he assigned was +that a Minister who was furnished with such documents for his own +justification was bound by his oath of secresy not to reveal the +contents, but the secrets of the State could not be imparted to +any irresponsible person, who was under no such restraint. + +Vesey Fitzgerald is better, but will hardly be able to do any +business. Some think he will have leave of absence, that Dawson +will exchange offices with Courtenay, and do the business of the +Board of Trade; others, that Herries will succeed Vesey, or +Frankland Lewis. The revenue has fallen off one million and more. +The accounts of distress from the country grow worse and more +desponding, and a return to one pound notes begins to be talked +of. + + +Roehampton, January 9th, 1830 {p.263} + +Yesterday morning died Sir Thomas Lawrence after a very short +illness. Few people knew he was ill before they heard he was +dead. He was _longè primus_ of all living painters, and has left +no one fit to succeed him in the chair of the Royal Academy. +Lawrence was about sixty, very like Canning in appearance, +remarkably gentlemanlike, with very mild manners, though rather +too _doucereux_, agreeable in society, unassuming, and not a +great talker; his mind was highly cultivated, he had a taste for +every kind of literature, and was enthusiastically devoted to his +art; he was very industrious, and painted an enormous number of +portraits, but many of his later works are still unfinished, and +great complaints used to be made of his exacting either the whole +or half payment when he began a picture, but that when he had got +the money he could never be prevailed on to complete it. Although +he is supposed to have earned enormous sums by his paintings, he +has always been a distressed man, without any visible means of +expense, except a magnificent collection of drawings by the +ancient masters, said to be the finest in the world, and procured +at great cost. He was, however, a generous patron of young +artists of merit and talent. It was always said that he lost +money at play, but this assertion seems to have proceeded more +from the difficulty of reconciling his pecuniary embarrassments +with his enormous profits than from any proof of the fact. He was +a great courtier, and is said to have been so devoted to the King +that he would not paint anybody who was personally obnoxious to +his Majesty; but I do not believe this is true. He is an +irreparable loss; since Sir Joshua there has been no painter like +him; his portraits as pictures I think are not nearly so fine as +Sir Joshua's, but as likenesses many of them are quite perfect. +Moore's was the last portrait he painted, and Miss Kemble's his +last drawing. + +The King has been very ill; lost forty ounces of blood. Vesey is +better, but has no chance of going on with his office. The +general opinion seems to be that Herries will succeed him. I do +not believe he knows anything of the business of the Board of +Trade. Charles Mills told me yesterday that a proposal was lately +made by Government to the East India Company to reduce their +dividends, and that at the very time this was done Rothschild, +who had £40,000 East India stock, sold it all out, and all his +friends who held any did the same. The matter was eventually +dropped, but he says nobody doubts that N---- gave notice to +Rothschild of the proposed measure. The Company are mightily +satisfied with Lord William Bentinck, who has acted very +handsomely by them in this business by the reduction of the pay +of the troops. He has written some very trimming letters to Lord +Combermere, who is coming home, and if he had not been, would +probably have been recalled. The Duke, as well as the Company, is +furious with Combermere for the part he has acted in the affair. + +[Page Head: LEOPOLD AND THE THRONE OF GREECE] + +Leopold's election to the throne of Greece seems to be settled, +and while everybody has been wondering what could induce him to +accept it, it turns out that he has been most anxious for it, and +has moved heaven and earth to obtain it; that the greatest +obstacle he has met with has been from the King, who hates him, +and cannot bear that he should become a crowned head. He may +think it 'better to reign in hell than serve in heaven,' but I +should have thought he had a better prospect here, with £50,000 a +year and as uncle to the heiress apparent, than to go to a ruined +country without cities or inhabitants, and where everything is to +be created, and to sit on such a wretched throne as the nominee +of the Allied Powers, by whom he will be held responsible for his +acts; however, 'il ne faut pas disputer des goûts.' + +George Bentinck told me that Lady Canning is not satisfied with +Stapleton's book, particularly with that part of it in which he +attempts to answer Lord Grey's speech, which she thinks poor and +spiritless; he is not disposed to be very severe on Lord Grey, +being in a manner connected with him. She is persuaded that that +speech contributed to kill Canning; his feelings were deeply +wounded that not one of his friends said a word in reply to it, +although some of them knew that the facts in Lord Grey's speech +were incorrect. He vehemently desired to be raised to the +peerage, that he might have an opportunity of answering it, and +he had actually composed and spoken to Mrs. Canning the speech +which he intended to make in the House of Lords. A great part of +this she remembers. It seems, too, that to the day of his death +this was the ruling desire of his mind, and he had declared that +the following year, when he should have carried the Corn Bill +through the House of Commons, he would go to the House of Lords +and fight the battle there. + + +January 17th, 1830 {p.266} + +Charles Mills told me the other day that the Chancellor of the +Exchequer has been making enquiries as to the fact of Rothschild +having sold his India stock at the time he did. The two Grants +(Charles and Robert) are always together, and both very forgetful +and unpunctual. Somebody said that if you asked Charles to dine +with you at six on Monday, you were very likely to have Robert at +seven on Tuesday. + +Edward Villiers (who has been living with Malcolm on board his +ship in the Mediterranean) writes word that Malcolm told him that +he had orders, in the event of Diebitsch's marching upon +Constantinople, to destroy the Russian fleet. If this is true, it +would have been a great outrage, and a most extraordinary piece +of vigour, after so much long-suffering and endurance. + +The country gentlemen are beginning to arrive, and they all tell +the same story as to the universally prevailing distress and the +certainty of things becoming much worse; of the failure of rents +all over England, and the necessity of some decisive measures or +the prospect of general ruin. Of course they differ as to the +measures, but there appears to be a strong leaning towards the +alteration in the currency and one pound notes. It really does +appear, from many representations, that a notion prevails of the +Duke of Wellington's indifference to the state of the country, +and of his disposition to treat the remonstrances and petitions +of the people, as well as their interests and feelings, with +contempt, which I believe most false and unjust. He has an +overweening opinion of his own all-sufficiency, and that is his +besetting sin, and the one which, if anything does, will overturn +his Government, for if he would be less dictatorial and +opinionated, and would call to his assistance such talents and +information as the crisis demands, he would be universally voted +the best man alive to be at the head of the Government; but he +has such a set of men under him, and Peel will never get over the +Catholic question. [Peel got over it, but not before he had +expiated his conduct by being turned out.] + + +January 20th, 1830 {p.267} + +The Duke and Lord Bathurst dined here yesterday, the former not +in good spirits. The battle about Leopold and Greece is still +going on between his Majesty and his Ministers. The Duke was +talking about the robbery at Brussels of the Princess of Orange's +jewels, and that there is reason to believe that Pereira, the +Prince's friend, had some concern in it; many people suspect that +both he and the Prince were concerned. The Princess was in the +country, and only one maid-servant in the house where such +valuable property was left. The jewels were in a case, and the +key of the case was kept in a cabinet, which was opened, the key +taken, and the large case or chest opened by it. Small footsteps +(like those of Pereira, who has very small feet) were traced in +the house or near it, and the day of the robbery the porter was +taken by Pereira's servant to his house and there made drunk. The +robbery was discovered on Friday morning, but no steps were taken +to inform the police till Sunday night. + + +[Page Head: POLITICAL MORALITY] + +January 22nd, 1830 {p.267} + +I believe it to be impossible for a man of squeamish and +uncompromising virtue to be a successful politician, and it +requires the nicest feeling and soundest judgment to know upon +what occasions and to what extent it is allowable and expedient +to diverge from the straight line. Statesmen of the greatest +power, and with the purest intentions, are perpetually counteracted +by prejudices, obstinacy, interest, and ignorance; and in order +to be efficient they must turn, and tack, and temporise, +sometimes dissemble. They who are of the _ruat coelum_ sort, who +will carry everything their own way or not at all, must be +content to yield their places to those who are certainly less +scrupulous, and submit to the measures of those who are probably +less wise. But though it is possible that the less rigid and +austere politician may be equally virtuous and disinterested, the +whole context of his life must be such as to endure the most +scrutinising enquiry, which unfortunately it will very seldom do, +in order to establish a character for integrity. If Canning had +had a fair field, he would have done great things, for his lofty +and ambitious genius took an immense sweep, and the vigour of his +intellect, his penetration and sagacity, enabled him to form +mighty plans and work them out with success; but it is impossible +to believe that he was a high-minded man, that he spurned +everything that was dishonest, uncandid, and ungentlemanlike; he +was not above trick and intrigue, and this was the fault of his +character, which was unequal to his genius and understanding. +However, notwithstanding his failings he was the greatest man we +have had for a long time, and if life had been spared to him, and +opposition had not been too much for him, he would have raised +our character abroad, and perhaps found remedies for our +difficulties at home. What a difference between his position and +that of the Duke of Wellington's! Everybody is disposed to +support the latter and give him unlimited credit for good +intentions. The former was obliged to carry men's approbation by +storm, and the moment he had failed, or been caught tripping, he +would have been lost. + +[Page Head: DUKE OF WELLINGTON'S POSITION] + +The Duke has lately given audience to the West Indians who came +to complain of their sufferings and taxation and to implore +relief. Murray and Goulburn were present, neither of whom, it is +said, spoke a word. The Duke cut them very short, and told them +they were not distressed at all, and that nothing would be done +for them. He is like the philosopher in Molière's play, who says, +'Il ne faut pas dire que vous avez reçu des coups de bâton, mais +qu'il vous semble que vous en avez reçus.' + +Lawrence was buried yesterday; a magnificent funeral, which will +have cost, they say, £2,000. The pall was borne by Clanwilliam, +Aberdeen, Sir G. Murray, Croker, Agar Ellis, and three more--I +forget who. There were thirty-two mourning-coaches and eighty +private carriages. The ceremony in the church lasted two hours. +Pretty well for a man who died in very embarrassed circumstances. +The favourites for the chair of the Academy are Shee and Wilkie, +painters, and Westmacott and Chantrey, sculptors. + +We were talking of Clanwilliam, who Agar said was the quickest +man he had ever known; Luttrell said he and Rogers were 'the +_quick_ and the _dead_.' Looking over the 'Report of the Woods +and Forests and the Cost of the Palaces,' somebody said 'the +pensive' (meaning the public: see Rejected Addresses) must pay; +Luttrell said 'the public was the pensive and the King the +expensive.' + + +January 26th, 1830 {p.269} + +Yesterday afternoon Tierney died. He sank back in his chair and +expired suddenly, without any previous illness; he had been in an +indifferent state of health for some time, but he had resolved to +make one more effort in Parliament and deliver his opinion on the +present state of affairs. He is a great loss to all his friends; +his political life was already closed. + +Shee was elected President of the Royal Academy last night at ten +o'clock. He had sixteen or eighteen votes; Sir William Beechey +six, who was the nearest to Shee; Wilkie only two. He is an +Irishman and a Catholic, a bad painter, a tolerable poet, and a +man of learning, but, it is said, florid. + +Had a long conversation with Arbuthnot yesterday, who is weak, +but knows everything; his sentiments are the Duke's. They are +furious with the old Tories, especially Lord Lonsdale, and not +well satisfied with Lowther, whom they suspect to be playing a +sneaking, underhand part. The Duke is determined not to alter his +Government, nor to take anybody in to strengthen it. Arbuthnot +said that the Duke had shown he did not mean to be exclusive when +he had taken in Scarlett and Calcraft, and that 'his friends' +would not have borne any more extensive promotion from that +party; that of all Ministers he was the one who least depended +upon Parliamentary influence and the assistance of the great +families; and that if Lord Lonsdale and all his members were to +leave him to-morrow, he would not care a straw. Still he pays +them, if not court, great deference, and he keeps Lowther, though +he suspects him. Arbuthnot said that as soon as the Duke became +Minister he said to him, 'Now, Duke, for God's sake settle that +question' (the Catholic), which was as much as to say, 'Now that +you have got rid of every enemy and every rival, now that you can +raise your own reputation, and that you will share the glory with +no one, do that which you would never let anybody else do, and +fight for the measure you have been opposing all your life.' It +may be imagined he would not have said this unless he had been +fully aware of the Duke's sentiments on the subject. This speech +was made to him eight months after Canning came into office, when +they _all_ went out, _on the Catholic question_. He says it is +utterly false that the Duke is unconscious of or indifferent to +the distress, but that it is exaggerated, and the Duke attributes +it to temporary and not to permanent causes; that he labours +incessantly on the subject, and his thoughts are constantly +occupied with devising a remedy for it, which he thinks he can +do. He adverted to the difficulties with the King, who is never +to be depended upon, as his father was. He remembers upon +some occasion, when Perceval was Minister, and thought the +difficulties of his situation great, he represented to George III. +his sense of them in a letter; Perceval showed him the King's +answer, which was in these words:--'Do you stand by me as I will +stand by you, and while we stand by each other we have nothing to +fear.' + +I told Arbuthnot it was reported that the Duke had given a very +rough answer to the West Indian deputations, and that if he had +it was unwise, as, though he might not adopt such measures of +relief as they desired, he could treat them with soft language. +He said that, so far from it, Lord Chandos had returned to the +Duke the next day, and apologised for their conduct to him, +assuring him that he was ashamed and tired of his connexion with +them, and should withdraw from it as soon as possible. This I +mentioned at Brookes', but Gordon (a West Indian) said that they +had all been shocked at the manner in which he had used them, +that some of them had declared they would never go to him again; +and Spring Rice said that old George Hibbert, who has been their +agent these thirty years, and had attended deputations to every +Prime Minister since Pitt, had told him that he never saw one so +ill received before. It is customary for every deputation to draw +out a minute of their conversation with the Minister, which they +submit to him to admit its correctness. They did so, but the Duke +destroyed their minute, and sent them back one drawn out by +himself, which, however, they declare was not so correct as that +which had been transmitted to him; which I can well believe, but +they had no right to complain of this, on the contrary. + + +January 30th, 1830 {p.271} + +Laid up with the gout these last three days. George Bankes has +resigned, and John Wortley is appointed Secretary to the Board of +Control. He was of the Huskisson party, as it is called (though +it does not deserve the name), and previously to the offer of +this place being made to him was rather inimical to the +Government; but the Duke proposed, and he accepted. I doubt his +being of much use to them. Lord Ellenborough's letter to Sir John +Malcolm, which appeared in the 'Times' a few days ago, has made a +great deal of noise, as it well may, for a more flippant and +injudicious performance has seldom been seen.[5] + + [5] [This letter, which excited much attention at this + time, will be found in the 'Life of Sir John Malcolm,' + by Mr. (now Sir John) Kaye, vol. ii. p. 528. It had + been written a year before, and by some indiscretion + obtained publicity in India. A warm dispute had broken + out between Sir John Malcolm, then Governor of Bombay, + and the Judges of the Supreme Court there. Lord + Ellenborough took Malcolm's part with great eagerness, + and said of the Chief Justice, Sir J. P. Grant, that he + 'would be like a wild elephant between two tame ones.' + This expression was long remembered as a joke against + Lord Ellenborough.] + +[Page Head: THE COMING SESSION] + +The greatest curiosity and interest prevail about the +transactions in the ensuing session--whether there will be any +opposition, and from what quarter, how Peel will manage, how the +country gentlemen will act and what language they will hold, and +whether the Duke will produce any plan for alleviating the +distress. I think there will be a great deal of talking and +complaining, a great many half-measures suggested, but no +opposition, and that the Duke will do nothing, and get through +the session without much difficulty. There was to have been a +Council on Thursday to prick the sheriffs, but it was put off on +account of my gout, and I was not able to attend at the dinner at +the Chancellor's on Wednesday for the same reason. I remember +once before a Council was put off because I was at Egham for the +races; that was a Council in '27, I think, to admit foreign corn. + + +February 1st, 1830 {p.272} + +Stapleton's book on Mr. Canning is not to appear. Douglas was +sent to him by Aberdeen to tell him that if anything appeared in +it which ought not to be published he would be turned out of his +office. He wrote to Lady Canning accordingly, who sent him a very +kind answer, desiring him by no means to expose himself to any +such danger, and consenting to the suppression of the work. I am +glad of it on all accounts. + + +February 3rd, 1830 {p.272} + +Brougham has given up Lord Cleveland's borough, and comes in for +Knaresborough, at the Duke of Devonshire's invitation. He is +delighted at the exchange. I see by the 'Gazette' there has been +a compromise with the King about the Catholic sheriffs; only one +(Petre for Yorkshire) is chosen, the others, though first on the +list and no excuses, passed over: they were Townley for +Lancashire and Sir T. Stanley for Cheshire. It is childish and +ridiculous if so; but no matter, as the principle is admitted. + +[Page Head: CHARACTER OF LORD BYRON] + +I have just finished the first volume of Moore's 'Life of Byron.' +I don't think I like this style of biography, half-way between +ordinary narrative and self-delineation in the shape of letters, +diary, &c. Moore's part is agreeably and feelingly written, and +in a very different style from the 'Life of Sheridan'--no turgid +diction and brilliant antitheses. It is, however, very amusing; +the letters are exceedingly clever, full of wit, humour, and +point, abounding in illustration, imagination, and information, +but not the most agreeable sort of letters. They are joined +together by a succession of little essays upon his character. But +as to life, it is no life at all; it merely tells you that the +details of his life are not tellable, that they would be like +those of Tilly or Casanova, and so indecent, and compromise so +many people, that we must be content to look at his life through +an impenetrable veil. Then in the letters and diary the perpetual +hiatus, and asterisks, and initials are exceedingly tantalising; +but altogether it is very amusing. As to Byron, I have never had +but one opinion about his poetry, which I think of first-rate +excellence; an enormous heresy, of course, more particularly with +those whose political taste rests upon the same foundation that +their religious creed does--that of having been taught what to +admire in the one case as they have been enjoined what to believe +in the other. With regard to his character, I think Moore has +succeeded in proving that he was far from deficient in amiable +qualities; he was high-minded, liberal, generous, and good-natured, +and, if he does not exaggerate his own feelings, a warm-hearted +and sincere friend. But what a wretch he was! how thoroughly +miserable with such splendid talents! how little philosophy!-- +wretched on account of his lame foot; not even his successes with +women could reconcile him to a little personal deformity, though +this is too hard a word for it; then tormenting himself to +death nobody can tell why or wherefore. There never was so +ill-regulated a mind, and he had not even the talent of making +his pleasures subservient to his happiness--not any notion of +_enjoyment_; all with him was riot, and debauchery, and rage and +despair. That he very sincerely entertained a bad opinion of +mankind may be easily believed; but so far from his pride and +haughtiness raising him above the influence of the opinion of +those whom he so despised, he was the veriest slave to it that +ever breathed, as he confesses when he says that he was almost +more annoyed at the censure of the meanest than pleased with the +praises of the highest of mankind; and when he deals around his +fierce vituperation or bitter sarcasms, he is only clanking the +chains which, with all his pride, and defiance, and contempt, he +is unable to throw off. Then he despises pretenders and +charlatans of all sorts, while he is himself a pretender, as all +men are who assume a character which does not belong to them, and +affect to be something which they are all the time conscious they +are not in reality. But to 'assume a virtue if you have it not' +is more allowable than to assume a vice which you have not. To +wish to appear better or wiser than we really are is excusable in +itself, and it is only the manner of doing it that may become +ridiculous; but to endeavour to appear worse than we are is a +species of perverted vanity the most disgusting, and a very bad +compliment to the judgment, the morals or the taste of our +acquaintance. Yet, with all his splendid genius, this sort of +vanity certainly distinguished Lord Byron, and that among many +other things proves how deeply a man may be read in human nature, +what an insight he may acquire into the springs of action and +feeling, and yet how incapable he may be of making any practical +application of the knowledge he has acquired and the result of +which he can faithfully delineate. He gives a list of the books +he had read at eighteen which appears incredible, particularly as +he says that he was always idle, and eight years after Scott says +he did not appear well read either in poetry or history. Swift +says 'some men know books as others do Lords--learn their titles, +and then boast of their acquaintance with them,' and so perhaps +at eighteen he knew by name the books he mentions; indeed, the +list contains Hooker, Bacon, Locke, Hobbes, Berkeley, &c. It +sounds rather improbable; but his letters contain allusions to +every sort of literature, and certainly indicate considerable +information. 'Dans le pays des aveugles les borgnes sont rois,' +and Sir Walter Scott might think a man half read who knows all +that is contained in the brains of White's, Brookes', and +Boodle's, and the greater part of the two Houses of Parliament. +But the more one reads and hears of great men the more reconciled +one becomes to one's own mediocrity. + + Say thou, whose thoughts at nothingness repine, + Shall Byron's fame with Byron's fate be thine? + +Who would not prefer any obscurity before such splendid misery as +was the lot of that extraordinary man? Even Moore is not happy. +One thinks how one should like to be envied, and admired, and +applauded, but after all such men suffer more than we know or +they will confess, and their celebrity is dearly purchased. + + Se di ciascun l'interno affanno + Si leggesse in fronte scritto, + Quanti guai ch'invidia fanno + Ci farebbe pietà. + +One word more about Byron and I have done. I was much struck by +the coincidence of style between his letters and his journal, and +that appears to me a proof of the reality and nature which +prevailed in both. + + +[Page Head: WEAKNESS OF THE GOVERNMENT] + +February 5th, 1830 {p.275} + +Parliament met yesterday; there was a brisk debate and an +amendment on the Address in each House. The Duke had very +indiscreetly called the distress 'partial' in the Speech, and the +consequence was an amendment moved by Knatchbull declaring it to +be general. The result shows that Government has not the +slightest command over the House of Commons, and that they have +nothing but casual support to rely upon, and that of course will +only be to be had 'dum se bene gesserint.' For a long time Holmes +and their whippers-in thought that they should be in a minority; +but Hume and a large party of Reformers supported them (contrary +to their own expectations), so they got a majority of 50 out of +250. The division was very extraordinary, Brougham, Sadler, and +O'Connell voting together. It is pretty clear, however, that they +are in no danger of being turned out, but that they are +wretchedly off for speakers. Huskisson made a shabby speech +enough, O'Connell his _début_, and a successful one, heard with +profound attention; his manner good and his arguments attended +and replied to. In the Lords there was nothing particular, but +nothing was concerted by any party, for the subject of the +amendment in the Commons was not even touched upon in the Lords, +which is very remarkable. Lord Chandos has refused the Mint, +because they will not give him a seat in the Cabinet, but many +people think it is because he has been pressed to refuse by +his High Tory friends. Charles Ross is the new Lord of the +Admiralty,[6] and Abercromby Chief Baron of Scotland, which +everybody is glad of. + + [6] The appointment has not taken place. + +There is a charlatan of the name of Chobert, who calls himself +the Fire King, who has been imposing upon the world for a year or +more, exhibiting all sorts of juggleries in hot ovens, swallowing +poisons, hot lead, &c.; but yesterday he was detected signally, +and after a dreadful uproar was obliged to run away to avoid the +ill-usage of his exasperated audience. He pretended to take +prussic acid, and challenged anybody to produce the poison, which +he engaged to swallow. At last Mr. Wakley, the proprietor of the +'Lancet,' went there with prussic acid, which Chobert refused to +take, and then the whole deception came out, and there is an end +of it; but it has made a great deal of noise, taken everybody in, +and the fellow has made a great deal of money. It was to have +been his last performance, but 'tant va la cruche à l'eau +qu'enfin.... + + +February 13th, 1830 {p.276} + +In the House of Lords last night: Lord Holland's motion on +Greece; his speech was amusing, but not so good as he generally +is; Aberdeen wretched, the worst speaker I ever heard and +incapable of a reply; I had no idea he was so bad. The Duke made +a very clever speech, answering Holland and Melbourne, availing +himself with great dexterity of the vulnerable parts of their +speeches and leaving the rest alone. I was sitting by Robert +Grant on the steps of the throne, and said to him, 'That is a +good speech of the Duke's,' and he said, 'He speaks like a great +man;' and so he did; it was bold and manly, and a high tone, not +like a practised debater, but a man with a vigorous mind and +determined character. + +In the House of Commons Graham spoke for two hours; Burdett said +not well, but others said the contrary. The Government resolution +moved as an amendment by Dawson was better than his, so it was +adopted without difficulty. Burdett said Peel made the best +speech he ever heard him make, and threw over the Tories. Dined +afterwards with Cowper, Durham, and Glengall. Durham said that +Lord Grey's politics were the same as his, and that before Easter +he thought an Opposition would be formed, and that the elements, +though scattered, exist of a strong one. I doubt it. + + +[Page Head: THE ENGLISH OPERA HOUSE BURNT] + +February 16th, 1830 {p.277} + +Last night the English Opera House was burnt down--a magnificent +fire. I was playing at whist at the 'Travellers' with Lord +Granville, Lord Auckland, and Ross, when we saw the whole sky +illuminated and a volume of fire rising in the air. We thought it +was Covent Garden, and directly set off to the spot. We found the +Opera House and several houses in Catherine Street on fire +(sixteen houses), and, though it was three in the morning, the +streets filled by an immense multitude. Nothing could be more +picturesque than the scene, for the flames made it as light as +day and threw a glare upon the strange and motley figures moving +about. All the gentility of London was there from Princess +Esterhazy's ball and all the clubs; gentlemen in their fur +cloaks, pumps, and velvet waistcoats mixed with objects like the +_sans-culottes_ in the French Revolution--men and women +half-dressed, covered with rags and dirt, some with nightcaps or +handkerchiefs round their heads--then the soldiers, the firemen, +and the engines, and the new police running and bustling, and +clearing the way, and clattering along, and all with that intense +interest and restless curiosity produced by the event, and which +received fresh stimulus at every renewed burst of the flames as +they rose in a shower of sparks like gold dust. Poor Arnold lost +everything and was not insured. I trust the paraphernalia of the +Beefsteak Club perished with the rest, for the enmity I bear that +society for the dinner they gave me last year. + + +February 19th, 1830 {p.277} + +In the House of Lords last night to hear Melbourne's motion about +Portugal--a rather long and very bad debate. Melbourne spoke very +ill--case very negligently got up, weakly stated, confused, and +indiscreet--in the same sense as his brother's pamphlet, with +part of which (the first part) none of the members of Canning's +Administration or of Goderich's agree, and consequently it was +answered by Lansdowne and Goderich. The latter made an excellent +speech, the only good one that was made. Aberdeen was wretched; +it is really too bad that a man should be Secretary for Foreign +Affairs who cannot speak better. The Duke made no case for the +Terceira business, and delivered a very poor speech; but I like +his speaking--it is so much to the point, no nonsense and +verbiage about it, and he says strongly and simply what he has to +say. The other night on Greece there was a very brisk skirmish +between Palmerston and Peel, and the former spoke, they say, +remarkably well; the latter, as usual, was in a passion. + + +February 21st, 1830 {p.278} + +Dined with the Chancellor; Granvilles, Hollands, Moore, Luttrell, +Lord Lansdowne, Auckland, and one or two more; very agreeable. +Lord Holland told stories of Lord Thurlow, whom he mimicks, they +say, exactly. When Lord Mansfield died, Thurlow said, 'I +hesitated a long time between Kenyon and Buller. Kenyon was very +intemperate, but Buller was so damned corrupt, and I thought upon +the whole that intemperance was a less fault in a judge than +corruption, not but what there was a damned deal of corruption in +Kenyon's intemperance.' Lady Holland and I very friendly; the +first time I have met her in company since our separation (for we +have never quarrelled). She is mighty anxious to get me back, for +no other reason than because I won't go. Everybody is surprised +at Melbourne's failure the other night; some say he was not well, +some that he did not like the business. I doubt if he is up to +it; he did not speak like a man that has much in him. + + +February 23rd, 1830 {p.278} + +Dined with Lord Bathurst and a dull party; but after dinner Lady +Bathurst began talking about the King, and told me one or two +anecdotes. When the account of Lord Liverpool's seizure reached +the King at Brighton, Peel was at the Pavilion; the King got into +one of his nervous ways, and sent for him in the middle of the +night, desiring he would not dress; so he went down in his +bedgown and sat by the side of the King's bed. Peel has got an +awkward way of thrusting out his hands while he talks, which at +length provoked the King so much that he said, 'Mr. Peel, it is +no use going on so (taking him off) and thrusting out your hands, +which is no answer to my question.' + +Went to Esterhazy's ball; talked to old Rothschild, who was there +with his wife and a dandy little Jew son. He says that Polignac's +Government will stand by the King's support and Polignac's own +courage; offered to give me a letter to his brother, who would +give me any information I wanted, squeezed my hand, and looked +like what he is. + + +[Page Head: WINDSOR CASTLE] + +February 25th, 1830 {p.279} + +Yesterday at Windsor for a Council; the first time I have seen +one held in the new rooms of the Castle. They are magnificent and +comfortable, the corridor really delightful--furnished through +its whole length of about 500 feet with the luxury of a +drawing-room, and full of fine busts and bronzes, and +entertaining pictures, portraits, and curious antiquities. There +were the Chancellor, the Duke, three Secretaries of State, +Bathurst, and Melville. The King very blind--did not know the +Lord Chancellor, who was standing close to him, and took him for +Peel; he would not give up the point, though, for when he found +his mistake he attributed it to the light, and appealed to Lord +Bathurst, who is stone-blind, and who directly agreed. + + +February 26th, 1830 {p.279} + +Intended to go to the House of Lords to hear the debate on Lord +Stanhope's motion (state of the nation), but went to see Fanny +Kemble in 'Mrs. Beverley' instead. She had a very great success-- +house crowded and plenty of emotion--but she does not touch me, +though she did more than in her other parts; however, she is very +good and will be much better. + +The debate in the Lords was not lively, and the Duke, they say, +made a most execrable speech. The fact is that he is not up to a +great speech on a great question; he wants the information and +preparation, the discipline of mind, that is necessary, and +accordingly he exposes himself dreadfully, and entirely lost all +the advantages he had gained by the excellent speeches he had +previously made on other and more confined questions. He was very +angry with the Duke of Richmond, whose opposition to him is +considered by the Duke's adherents as a sort of political +parricide. Old Eldon spoke very well, and Radnor; the rest but +moderate. + + +February 27th, 1830 {p.280} + +Dined at Lord Lansdowne's; Moore, Rogers, J. Russell, Spring +Rice, Charles Kemble, Auckland, and Doherty; very agreeable, but +Rogers was overpowered by numbers and loud voices. Doherty told +some good professional stories, and they all agreed that Irish +courts of justice afforded the finest materials for novels and +romances. The 'Mertons' and 'Collegians' are both founded on +facts; the stories are in the 'New Monthly Magazine;' they said +the author had not made the most of the 'Collegians' story. Very +odd nervousness of Moore; he could not tell that story (of +Crampton's), which I begged him to do, and which would not have +been lugged in neck and shoulders, because everybody was telling +just such stories; he is delighted with my note of it. Charles +Kemble talked of his daughter and her success--said she was +twenty, and that she had once seen Mrs. Siddons in 'Lady +Randolph' when she was seven years old. She was so affected in +'Mrs. Beverley' that he was obliged to carry her into her +dressing-room, where she screamed for five minutes; the last +scream (when she throws herself on his body) was involuntary, not +in the part, and she had not intended it, but could not resist +the impulse. She likes Juliet the best of her parts. + + +February 28th, 1830 {p.280} + +Dined yesterday with Lord Stanhope; Murray the bookseller (who +published 'Belisarius'), Wilkie the painter, and Lord Strangford; +nobody else of note. Wilkie appears stern, and might pass for +mad; he said very little. Murray chattered incessantly; talked to +me a great deal about Moore, who would have been mightily +provoked if he had heard him. An odd dinner, not agreeable, +though Lord Stanhope is amusing, so strange in his appearance, so +ultra-Tory and anti-Liberal in his politics, full of information +and a good deal of drollery. Murray told me that Moore is going +to write a 'Life of Petrarch.' Croker would have written +Lawrence's Life if Campbell [the poet] had not seized the task +before anybody else thought of laying hold of it. He has +circulated a command that all persons who have anything to +communicate will send their letters to _his secretary_, and not +to him. + + +[Page Head: FOR ITALY] + +March 2nd, 1830 + +To-morrow I set out to Italy, after many years of anxiety to go +there, without violent expectations of pleasure, but not thinking +of disappointment. I care not for leaving London or anything in +it; there are a few people whose society I regret, but as to +friends or those who care for me, or for whom I care, I leave few +behind. + + + + + CHAPTER VIII. + +Calais--Beau Brummell--Paris--The Polignac Ministry--Polignac and + Charles X.--The Duke of Orleans--State of Parties--Talleyrand-- + Lyons--First Impressions of Mountain Scenery--Mont Cenis-- + Turin--Marengo--Genoa--Road to Florence--Pisa--Florence--Lord + and Lady Burghersh--Thorwaldsen--Lord Cochrane--Rome-- + St. Peter's--Frascati--Grotta Ferrata--Queen Hortense and Louis + Napoleon--Coliseum--Death of Lady Northampton--The Moses-- + Gardens--Palm Sunday--Sistine Chapel--The Cardinals--Popes-- + Cardinal Albani--The Farnese Palace--A Dead Cardinal--Pasquin-- + Statue of Pompey--Galleries and Catacombs--Bunsen--The Papal + Benediction--Ceremonies of the Holy Week--The Grand + Penitentiary--A Confession--Protestant Cemetery--Illumination + of St. Peter's--Torlonia--Bunsen on the Forum. + + +[Page Head: PARIS IN MARCH 1830] + +Paris, March 6th, 1830 {p.282} + +I left London at three o'clock on Wednesday, the 3rd, and arrived +at Dover between twelve and one. Went over in the packet at nine +on Thursday, which was not to have sailed till twelve, but did go +at nine, principally because they heard that I had got despatches, +for I had armed myself with three passports couched in such +terms as were most likely to be useful. A good but rather long +passage--near four hours--and the day magnificent. Landed with +difficulty in boats. Detained at Calais till seven. There I had a +long conversation with Brummell about his Consulship, and was +moved by his account of his own distresses to write to the Duke +of Wellington and ask him to do what he could for him. I found +him in his old lodging, dressing; some pretty pieces of old +furniture in the room, an entire toilet of silver, and a large +green macaw perched on the back of a tattered silk chair with +faded gilding; full of gaiety, impudence, and misery. + +Lord Tweeddale came over in the packet, and we dined together. He +was full of the Duke of Richmond's speech about the Duke of +Wellington the other night, which he said had annoyed the Duke of +Wellington more than anything that ever happened to him, and that +the Duke of Richmond was now equally sorry for what he had said. +He (Tweeddale) was employed to carry a message from the one Duke +to the other, which, however, the Duke of Wellington did not take +in good part, nor does it seem that he is at all disposed to lay +aside his resentment. Tweeddale ranks Richmond's talents very +highly, and says he was greatly esteemed in the army. + +Left Calais at seven; travelled all night--the roads horrid in +most parts--and arrived at Paris last night at half-past twelve. +Found everything prepared--an excellent apartment, _laquais de +place_, and courier. Called on Lady Stewart and old Madame +Craufurd, and wandered about the whole day. Paris looking gay and +brilliant in the finest weather I ever saw. I find the real +business is not to begin in the Chambers till about the 10th, so +I shall not wait for it. Polignac is said to be very stout, but +the general opinion is that he will be in a minority in the +Chambers; however, as yet I have seen nobody who can give good +information about the state of parties. For the first time +(between Calais and Paris) I saw some new houses and barns +building near Abbeville and Beauvais, and the cottages near +Monsieur de Clermont-Tonnerre's mansion had a very English look. + +It is Lent, and very little going on here. During the Carnival +they had a ball for the benefit of the poor, which was attended +by 5,000 people, and produced 116,000 francs. Immense sums were +given in charity, and well appropriated during the severe +weather. There are also nuns (_soeurs de charité_), who visit and +tend the sick, whose institution is far more practically useful +than anything of which our Protestant country can boast. I shall +only stay here a very few days. + + +[Page Head: IMPENDING CRISIS IN FRANCE] + +March 8th, 1830 {p.283} + +It will be difficult to get away from this place if I don't go at +once; the plot thickens, and I am in great danger of dawdling on, +Yesterday morning I walked about, visiting, and then went through +the Tuileries and the Carrousel. The Gardens were full of +well-dressed and good-looking people, and the day so fine that it +was a glorious sight. The King is, after all, hardly master of +his own palace, for the people may swarm like bees all around and +through it, and he is the only man in Paris who cannot go into +the Gardens. Dined with Standish, Brooke Greville, Madame Alfred +de Noailles and her daughter, and then went to Madame de +Flahault's to see the world and hear politics. After all, nobody +has an idea how things will turn out, or what are Polignac's +intentions or his resources. Lord Stuart[1] told me that he knew +nothing, but that when he saw all the Ministers perfectly calm +and satisfied, and heard them constantly say all would be well, +although all France and a clear majority in both Chambers seemed +to be against them, he could not help thinking they must have +some reason for such confidence, and something in reserve, of +which people were not aware. Lady Keith,[2] with whom I had a +long talk, told me that she did not believe it possible they +could stand, that there was no revolutionary spirit abroad, but a +strong determination to provide for the stability of their +institutions, a disgust at the obstinacy and pretensions of the +King, and a desire to substitute the Orleans for the reigning +branch, which was becoming very general; that Polignac is wholly +ignorant of France, and will not listen to the opinions of those +who could enlighten him. It is supposed that the King is +determined to push matters to extremity, to try the Chambers, and +if his Ministry are beaten to dissolve them and govern _par +ordonnance du Roi_, then to try and influence the elections and +obtain a Chamber more favourable than the present. Somebody told +her the other day of a conversation which Polignac had recently +had with the King, in which his Majesty said to him, 'Jules, +est-ce que vous m'êtes très-dévoué?' 'Mais oui, Sire; pouvez-vous +en douter?' 'Jusqu'à aller sur l'échafaud?' 'Mais oui. Sire, s'il +le faut.' 'Alors tout ira bien.' It is thought that he has got +into his head the old saying that if Louis XVI. had got upon +horseback he could have arrested the progress of the Revolution-- +a piece of nonsense, fit only for a man 'qui n'a rien oublié ni +rien appris.' It is supposed the Address will be carried against +the Government by about 250 to 130. (It was 221 to 180. ---- has +a _tabatière Warin_ of that day, with the names of the 221 on the +lid.) All the names presented to the King yesterday for the +Presidency are obnoxious to him, but he named Royer Collard, who +had twice as many votes as any of the others. It was remarked at +the _séance royale_ that the King dropped his hat, and that the +Duke of Orleans picked it up, and they always make a great deal +of these trifles. The Duke of Orleans is, however, very well with +the Court, and will not stir, let what will happen, though he +probably feels like Macbeth before the murder of Duncan-- + + If chance will have me King, why let chance crown me + Without my stir. + + [1] [Lord Stuart de Rothesay was then British Ambassador in + Paris.] + + [2] [Married to Count de Flahault; in her own right + Baroness Keith and Nairn. She died in 1867.] + + +March 8th, 1830, at night {p.285} + +Walked about visiting, and heard all the gossip of Paris from +little Madame Graham, who also invited me to Pozzo di Borgo's box +at the Opera. I don't mean to record the gossip and scandal +unless when I hear something out of the common way and amusing. +Dined with Stuart; Tweeddale, Gurwood, Allen, and some heavy +_attachés_; no French. He appears to live handsomely. Afterwards +to the Opera to see Taglioni, who did not dance; then to Madame +Appony's, to whom I was introduced, and we had plenty of bowing +and smirking and civilities about my family. Rather bored at the +party, and am come home quite resolved to be off on Thursday, but +am greatly puzzled about my route, for everybody recommends a +different one. + + +March 9th, 1830 {p.285} + +Dined with M. de Flahault; met M. de Talleyrand, Madame de Dino, +General Sébastiani, M. Bertin de Vaux, Duc de Broglie, and +Montrond. Sébastiani and Bertin de Vaux are Deputies, and all +violent Oppositionists. After dinner M. de Lescure, another man, +and the young Duc de Valençay, Madame de Dino's son, came in. +They talked politics all the time, and it was curious enough to +me. Bertin is the sort of man in appearance that Tierney was, and +shrewd like him; he is brother to the editor, and principal +manager himself, of the 'Journal des Débats.' Sébastiani is slow +and pompous. The Duc de Broglie is one of the best men in France. +They all agreed that the Government cannot stand. Talleyrand is +as much against it as any of them. Sébastiani told me they should +have 280 against 130. Talleyrand said that it was quite +impossible to predict what might be the result of this contest +(if the Court pushed matters to extremity) both to France and +Europe, and that it was astonishing surrounding nations, and +particularly England, did not see how deeply they were interested +in the event. He said of us, 'Vous avez plus d'argent que de +crédit.' He looks horridly old, but seems vigorous enough and +alive to everything. After dinner they all put their heads +together and chattered politics as fast as they could. Madame de +Flahault is more violent than her husband, and her house is the +resort of all the Liberal party. Went afterwards to the Opera and +saw Maret, the Duc de Bassano, a stupid elderly bourgeois-looking +man, with two very pretty daughters. The battle is to begin in +the Chamber on Saturday or Monday on the Address. Talleyrand told +me that the next three weeks would be the most important of any +period since the Restoration. It is in agitation to deprive him +of his place of Grand Chambellan. + + +[Page Head: MOUNTAIN SCENERY] + +Susa, March 15th, 1830, 9 o'clock. {p.286} + +Just arrived at this place at the foot of Mont Cenis. Left Paris +on the 11th, at twelve o'clock at night. On the last day, +Montrond made a dinner for me at a club to see M. des Chapelles +play at whist. I saw it, but was no wiser; but I conclude he +plays very well, for he always wins, is not suspected of +cheating, and excels at all other games. At twelve I got into my +carriage, and (only stopping an hour and a half for two +breakfasts) got to Lyons in forty-eight hours and a half. Journey +not disagreeable, and roads much better than I expected, +particularly after Macon, when they became as good as in England; +but the country presents the same sterile, uninteresting +appearance as that between Calais and Paris--no hedges, no trees, +except tall, stupid-looking poplars, and no châteaux or farm-houses. +I am at a loss to know why a country should look so ill which I +do not believe is either barren or ill cultivated. Lyons is a +magnificent town. It was dark when I arrived, or rather +moonlight, but I could see that the quay we came along was fine, +and yesterday morning I walked about for an hour and was +struck with the grandeur of the place; it is like a great and +magnificent Bath; but I had not time to see much of it, and, with +beautiful weather, I set off at ten o'clock. The mountains (les +Échelles de Savoie) appear almost directly in the distance, but +it was long before I could make out whether they were clouds or +mountains. + +After crossing the Pont de Beauvoisin we began to mount the +Échelles, which I did on foot, and I never shall forget the first +impression made upon me by the mountain scenery. It first burst +upon me at a turn of the road--one huge perpendicular rock above +me, a deep ravine with a torrent rushing down and a mountain +covered with pines and ilexes on the other side, and in front +another vast rock which was shining in the reflected light of the +setting sun. I never shall forget it. How I turned round and +round, afraid to miss a particle of the glorious scene. It was +the liveliest impression because it was the first. I walked +nearly to the other post with the most exquisite pleasure, but it +was dark by the time I got to La Grotta. I went on, however, all +night, very unhappy at the idea of losing a great deal of this +scenery, but consoled by the reflection that there was plenty +left. As soon as it was light I found myself in the middle of the +mountains (the Lower Alps), and from thence I proceeded across +the Mont Cenis. Though not the finest pass, to me, who had never +seen anything like it, it appeared perfectly beautiful, every +turn in the road presenting a new combination of Alpine +magnificence. Nothing is more striking than the patches of +cultivation in the midst of the tremendous rocks and precipices, +and in one or two spots there were plots of grass and evergreens, +like an English shrubbery, at the foot of enormous mountains +covered with snow. There was not a breath of air in these +valleys, and the sun was shining in unclouded brightness, so that +there was all the atmosphere of summer below with all the livery +of winter above. + + The altitude of some tall crag + That is the eagle's birthplace, or some peak + Familiar with forgotten years, that shows, + Inscribed as with the silence of the thought + Upon its bleak and visionary sides, + The history of many a winter storm + Or obscure record of the path of fire. + There the sun himself + At the calm close of Summer's longest day + Rests his substantial orb; between those heights, + And on the top of either pinnacle, + More keenly than elsewhere in night's blue vault + Sparkle the stars, as of their station proud: + Thoughts are not busier in the mind of man + Than the mute agents stirring there,--alone + Here do I sit and watch. + +In one place, too, I remarked high up on the side of the rugged +and barren mountain two or three cottages, to arrive at which +steps had been cut in the rock. No sign of vegetation was near, +so exactly the description of Goldsmith:-- + + Dear is that shed to which their souls conform, + And dear that hill that lifts them to the storm; + +[Page Head: THE MONT CENIS] + +In another place there was a cluster of houses and a church newly +built. Not far from Lans-le-Bourg (at the foot of Mont Cenis) is +a very strong fort, built by the King of Sardinia, which commands +the road. It has a fine effect perched upon a rock, and +apparently unapproachable. A soldier was pacing the battlement, +and his figure gave life to the scene and exhibited the immensity +of the surrounding objects, so minute did he appear. At +Lans-le-Bourg they put four horses and two mules to my carriage, +but I took my courier's horse and set off to ride up the mountain +with a guide who would insist upon going with me, and who +proposed to take me up a much shorter way by the old road, which, +however, I declined; he was on foot, and made a short cut up the +hill while I rode by the road, which winds in several turns up +the mountain. Fired with mountainous zeal, I had a mind to try +one of these short cuts, and giving my horse to Paolo (my _valet +de chambre_) set off with my guide to climb the next intervening +ascent; but I soon found that I had better have stuck to my +horse, for the immensity of the surrounding objects had deceived +me as to the distance, and the ground was so steep and slippery +that, unprepared as I was for such an attempt, I could not keep +my footing. When about half-way up, I looked ruefully round and +saw steeps above and below covered with ice and snow and loose +earth. I could not get back, and did not know how to get on. I +felt like the man who went up in a balloon, and when a mile in +the air wanted to be let out. My feelings were very like what +Johnson describes at Hawkestone in his tour in Wales. 'He that +mounts the precipices at ---- wonders how he came thither, and +doubts how he shall return; his walk is an adventure and his +departure an escape. He has not the tranquillity but the horrors +of solitude--a kind of turbulent pleasure between fright and +admiration.' My guide, fortunately, was active and strong, and +properly shod so he went first, making steps for me in the snow, +into which I put my feet after his, while with one hand I grasped +the tail of his blue frock and with the other seized bits of twig +or anything I could lay hold of; and in this ludicrous way, +scrambling and clambering, hot and out of breath, to my great joy +I at last got to the road, and for the rest of the ascent +contented myself with my post-horse, who had a set of bells +jingling at his head and was a sorry beast enough. I was never +weary, however, of admiring the scenery. The guide told me he had +often seen Napoleon when he was crossing the mountain, and that +he remembered his being caught in a _tormento_,[3] when his life +was saved by two young Savoyards, who took him on their backs +and carried him to a _rifugio_.[4] He asked them if they were +married, and, finding they were not, enquired how much was enough +to marry upon in that country, and then gave them the requisite +sum, and settled pensions of 600 francs on each of them. One is +dead, the other still receives it. As I got near the top of the +mountain the road, which had hitherto been excellent, became +execrable and the cold intense. I had left summer below and found +winter above. I looked in vain for the chamois, hares, wolves, +and bears, all of which I was told are found there. At last I +arrived at the summit, and found at the inn a friar, the only +inhabitant of the Hospice, who, hearing me say I would go there +(as my carriage was not yet come), offered to go with me; he was +young, fat, rosy, jolly, and dirty, dressed in a black robe with +a travelling-cap on his head, appeared quick and intelligent, and +spoke French and Italian. He took me over the Hospice, which is +now quite empty, and showed me two very decently furnished rooms +which the Emperor Napoleon used to occupy, and two inferior +apartments which had been appropriated to the Empress Maria +Louisa. The N.'s on the _grille_ of the door had been changed for +V.E.'s (Victor Emmanuel) and M.T.'s (Maria Theresa), and +frightful pictures of the Sardinian King and Queen have replaced +the Imperial portraits. All sorts of distinguished people have +slept there _en passant_, and do still when compelled to spend +the night on Mont Cenis. He offered to lodge and feed me, but I +declined. I told him I was glad to see Napoleon's bedroom, as I +took an interest in everything which related to that great man, +at which he seemed extremely pleased, and said, 'Ah, monsieur, +vous êtes donc comme moi.' I dined at the inn (a very bad one) on +some trout which they got for me from the Hospice--very fine +fish, but very ill dressed. The sun was setting by the time I set +off, it was dusk when I had got half-way down the descent, and +dark before I had reached the first stage. When half-way down the +descent, the last rays of the sun were still gilding the tops of +the crags above, and the contrast between that light above and +the darkness below was very fine. From what I saw of it, and from +what I guess, straining my eyes into the darkness to catch the +dim and indistinct shapes of the mountains, the Italian side is +the finest--the most wild and savage and with more variety. On +the French side you are always on the breast of the same +mountain, but on the Italian side you wind along different rocks +always hanging over a precipice with huge black, snow-topped +crags frowning from the other ridge. I was quite unhappy not to +see it. Altogether I never shall forget the pleasure of the two +days' journey and the first sight of the Alps, exceeding the +expectations I had formed, and for years I have enjoyed nothing +so much. The descent (at the beginning of which, by-the-bye, I +was very nearly overturned) only ends at this place, where I +found a tolerable room and a good fire, but the _cameriere_ +stinking so abominably of garlic that he impregnated the whole +apartment. + + [3] A _tormento_ (most appropriate name) is a tempest of + wind, and sleet, and snow, exceedingly dangerous to + those who are met by it. + + [4] A _rifugio_ is a sort of cabin, of which there are + several built at certain distances all the way up the + mountain, where travellers may take shelter. + + +[Page Head: TURIN] + +Turin, March 16th, 1830 {p.291} + +Got here early and meant to sleep, but have changed my mind and +am going on. A fine but dull-looking town. Found the two +Forsters, who pressed me to stay. Made an ineffectual attempt to +get into the Egyptian Museum, said to be the finest in the world. +It was collected by Drovetti, the French Consul, and offered to +us for £16,000, which we declined to give, and the King of +Sardinia bought it. Forster told me that this country is rich, +not ill governed, but plunged in bigotry. There are near 400 +convents in the King's dominions. It is the dullest town in +Europe, and it is because it looks so dull that I am in a hurry +to get out of it. This morning was cloudy, and presented fresh +combinations of beauty in the mountains when the clouds rolled +round their great white peaks, sometimes blending them in the +murky vapour, and sometimes exhibiting their sharp outlines above +the wreath of mist. I did not part from the Alps without casting +many a lingering look behind. + + +Genoa, March 18th, 1830 {p.291} + +Got on so quick from Turin that I went to Alessandria that night, +and set off at half-past six yesterday morning. Crossed the field +of battle of Marengo, a boundless plain (now thickly studded with +trees and houses), and saw the spot where Desaix was killed. The +bridge over the Bormida which Melas crossed to attack the French +army is gone, but another has been built near it. The Austrians +or Sardinians have taken down the column which was erected to the +memory of Desaix on the spot where he fell; they might as well +have left it, for the place will always be celebrated, though +they only did as the French had done before. After the battle of +Jena they took down the Column of Rossbach,[5] but that was +erected to commemorate the victory, and this the death of the +hero. I feel like Johnson--'far far from me and my friends be +that frigid philosophy which can make us pass unmoved over any +scenes which have been consecrated by virtue, by valour, or by +wisdom'--and I strained the eyes of my imagination to see all the +tumult of this famous battle, in which Bonaparte had been +actually defeated, yet (one can hardly now tell how) was in the +end completely victorious. This pillar might have been left, too, +as a striking memorial of the rapid vicissitudes of fortune: the +removal of it has been here so quick, and at Rossbach so tardy, a +reparation of national honour. + + [5] The battle of Rossbach was gained by Frederick the + Great over the French and Austrians in 1757. + +[Page Head: PALACES AND CHURCHES OF GENOA] + +The Apennines are nothing after the Alps, but the descent to +Genoa is very pretty, and Genoa itself exceeds everything I ever +saw in point of beauty and magnificence. + + How boldly doth it front us, how majestically-- + Like a luxurious vineyard: the hill-side + Is hung with marble fabrics, line o'er line, + Terrace o'er terrace, nearer still and nearer + To the blue heavens, here bright and sumptuous palaces + With cool and verdant garden interspersed. + * * * * * * + While over all hangs the rich purple eve. + MILMAN's _Fall of Jerusalem_. + +I passed the whole day after I got here in looking into the +palaces and gardens and admiring the prospect on every side. You +are met at every turn by vestiges of the old Republic; in fact, +the town has undergone very little alteration for hundreds of +years, and there is an air of gaiety and bustling activity which, +with the graceful costume of the men and women, make it a most +delightful picture. Genoa appears to be a city of palaces, and +although many of the largest are now converted to humbler uses, +and many fallen to decay, there are ample remains to show the +former grandeur of the princely merchants who were once the lords +of the ocean. Everything bespeaks solidity, durability, and +magnificence. There are stupendous works which were done at the +expense of individuals. In every part of the town are paintings +and frescoes, which, in spite of constant exposure to the +atmosphere, have retained much of their brilliancy and freshness. +The palaces of Doria are the most interesting; but why the Senate +gave him that which bears still the inscription denoting its +being their gift it is difficult to say, when his own is so +superior and in a more agreeable situation. The old palace of +Andrew is now let for lodgings, and the Pamfili Doria live at +Rome. The walls are covered with inscriptions, and I stopped to +read two on stone slabs on the spot where the houses of +malefactors had formerly stood, monuments of the vindictive laws +of the Republic, which not only punished the criminal himself, +but consigned his children to infamy and his habitation to +destruction; though they stand together they are not of the same +date. There is no temptation to violate the decree by building +again on the spot, for they are in a narrow, dirty court, to +which light can scarcely find access. The Ducal Palace now +belongs to the Governor. It has been modernised, but in the dark +alleys adjoining there are remains demonstrative of its former +extent--pictures of the different Doges in fresco on the walls +half erased, and little bridges extending from the windows (or +doors) of the palace to the public prisons and other adjoining +buildings. The view from my _albergo_ (_della villa_) is the +gayest imaginable, looking over the harbour, which is crowded +with sailors and boats full of animation. + +[Page Head: PALACES AND CHURCHES OF GENOA] + +_Evening._--Passed the whole day seeing sights. Called on Madame +Durazzo, and went with her and her niece, Madame Ferrari, to the +King's palace, formerly a Durazzo palace. Like the others, a fine +house, full of painting and gilding, and with a terrace of black +and white marble commanding a view of the sea. The finest picture +is a Paul Veronese of a Magdalen with our Saviour. The King and +Queen sleep together, and on each side of the royal bed there is +an assortment of ivory palms, crucifixes, boxes for holy water, +and other spiritual guards for their souls. For the comfort of +their bodies he has had a machine made like a car, which is drawn +up by a chain from the bottom to the top of the house; it holds +about six people, who can be at pleasure elevated to any storey, +and at each landing-place there is a contrivance to let them in +and out. From thence to the Brignole Palace (called the Palazzo +Rosso), where I met M. and Madame de Brignole, who were very +civil and ordered a scientific footman to show us the pictures. +They are numerous and excellent, but we could only take a cursory +look at them; the best are the Vandykes, particularly a Christ +and a portrait of one of the Brignoles on horseback, and a +beautiful Carlo Dolce, a small bleeding Christ. I saw the +churches--San Stefano, Annunziata, the Duomo, San Ambrosio, San +Cyro. There are two splendid pictures in the Ambrosio, a Guido +and a Rubens; the Martyrdom in the San Stefano, by Julio Romano +and Raphael, went to Paris and was brought back in 1814. The +churches have a profusion of marble, and gilding, and frescoes; +the Duomo is of black and white marble, of mixed architecture, +and highly ornamented--all stinking to a degree that was +perfectly intolerable, and the same thing whether empty or full; +it is the smell of stale incense mixed with garlic and human +odour, horrible combination of poisonous exhalations. I must say, +as everybody has before remarked, that there is something highly +edifying in the appearance of devotion which belongs to the +Catholic religion; the churches are always open, and, go into +them when you will, you see men and women kneeling and praying +before this or that altar, absorbed in their occupation, and who +must have been led there by some devotional feeling. This seems +more accordant with the spirit and essence of religion than to +have the churches, as ours are, opened like theatres at stated +hours and days for the performance of a long service, at the end +of which the audience is turned out and the doors are locked till +the next representation. Then the Catholic religion makes no +distinctions between poverty and wealth--no pews for the +aristocracy well warmed and furnished, or seats set apart for the +rich and well dressed; here the church is open to all, and the +beggar in rags comes and takes his place by the side of the lady +in silks, and both, kneel on the same pavement, for the moment at +least and in that place reduced to the same level. + +I saw the Ducal Palace, where there are two very fine halls,[6] +the old Hall of Audience and the Hall of Council, the latter 150 +by 57 feet; and the Doria Palace, delightfully situated with a +garden and fine fountain, and a curious old gallery opening upon +a marble terrace, richly painted, gilt and carved, though, now +decayed. Here the Emperor Napoleon lived when he was at Genoa, +preferring Andrew Doria's palace to a better lodging: he had some +poetry in his ambition after all. Lastly to the Albergo dei +Poveri,[7] a noble institution, built by a Brignole and enriched +by repeated benefactions; like all the edifices of the old +Genoese, vast and of fine proportions. The great staircase and +hall are adorned with colossal statues of its benefactors (among +whom are many Durazzos), and the sums that they gave or +bequeathed are commemorated on the pedestals. In the chapel is a +piece of sculpture by Michael Angelo, a dead Christ and Virgin +(only heads), and an altarpiece by Puget. Branching out from the +chapel are two vast chambers, lofty, airy, and light, one for the +men, the other for the women. About 800 men and 1,200 or 1,300 +women are supported here. Many of the nobles are said to be +rich--Ferrari, Brignole, Durazzo, and Pallavicini particularly. I +forgot to mention the chapel and tomb of Andrew Doria; the chapel +he built himself; his body, arrayed in princely robes, lies in +the vault. There is a Latin inscription on the chapel, signifying +that he stood by the country in the days of her affliction. It is +a pretty little chapel full of painting and gilding. In the early +part of the Revolution the tomb narrowly escaped destruction, but +it was saved by the solidity of its materials. I gave the man who +showed me this tomb a franc, and he kissed my hand in a transport +of gratitude. + + [6] They are left just in the state in which they were in + the time of the Republic; the balustrade still + surrounds the elevated platform on which the throne of + the Doge was placed. + + [7] The Albergo dei Poveri and the Scoghetti Gardens + pleased me more than anything I saw in Genoa. I am + sorry I did not see the Sordi e Muti, which is + admirably conducted, and where the pupils by all + accounts perform wonders. The Albergo is managed by a + committee consisting of the principal nobles in the + town. The Scoghetti Gardens are delightfully laid out; + there is a shrubbery of evergreens with a cascade, and + a summer-house paved with tiles--two or three rooms in + it, and a hot and cold bath. It is astonishing how they + cherish the memory of 'Lord Bentinck.'[7a] I heard of him in + various parts of the town, particularly here, as he + lived in the house when first he came to Genoa. The + Gardens command a fine view of the city, the sea, and + the mountains. The saloon in the Serra is only a very + splendid room, glittering with glass, and gold, and + lapis lazuli; by no means deserves to be called, as it + is by Forsyth, the finest saloon in Europe. It is not + very large, and not much more gilt than Crockford's + drawing-room, but looks cleaner, though it has been + done these seventy years or more. + + [7a] [Lord William Bentinck was Mr. Greville's uncle.] + + +[Page Head: SESTRI AND PISA] + +Florence, March 21st, 1830 {p.296} + +Arrived here at seven o'clock. Left Genoa on the 19th (having +previously gone to see the Scoghetti Gardens and the Serra +Palace), and went to Sestri to pass that evening and the next +morning with William Ponsonby, who was staying there. The road +from Genoa to Chiavari is one continual course of magnificent +scenery, winding along the side of the mountains and hanging over +the sea, the mountains studded with villages, villas, and +cottages which appear like white specks at a distance, till on +near approach they swell into life and activity. The villas are +generally painted as at Genoa; the orange trees were in full +bloom, and the gardens often slope down to the very margin of the +sea. Every turn in the road and each fresh ascent supplies a new +prospect, and the parting view of Genoa, with the ocean before +and the Apennines behind, cannot be imagined by those who have +not seen it. 'Si quod vere natura nobis dedit spectaculum in hac +tellure vere gratum et philosopho dignum, id semel, mihi +contigisse arbitror, cum ex celsissimâ rupe speculabundus ad oram +maris mediterranei, hinc aequor caeruleum, illinc tractus Alpinos +prospexi, nihil quidem magis dispar aut dissimile nec in suo +genere magis egregium et singulare.'[8] + + [8] Burnet's 'Theory of the Earth.' + +Chiavari and Sestri are both beautiful, especially the latter, in +a little bay with a jutting promontory, a rocky hill covered with +evergreens, and shrubs, and heather, and affording grand and +various prospects of the still blue sea and the white and shining +coast with the dark mountains behind-- + + A sunny bay + Where the salt sea innocuously breaks + And the sea breeze as innocently breathes + On Sestri's leafy shores--a sheltered hold + In a soft clime encouraging the soil + To a luxuriant beauty. + +[Page Head: FLORENCE] + +The mountain road from Chiavari to La Spezzia presents the same +scenery as far as Massa and Carrara, which I unfortunately lost +by travelling in the night. I crossed the river in the boat by +candle-light, which was picturesque enough, the scanty light +gleaming upon the rough figures who escorted me and plied the +enormous poles by which they move the ferry-boat. Got to Pisa to +breakfast (without stopping at Lucca), and passed three hours +looking at the Cathedral, Leaning Tower, Baptistry, and Campo +Santo, the last of which alone would take up the whole day to be +seen as it ought. The Cathedral is under repair; the pictures +have been covered up or taken down, and the whole church was full +of rubbish and scaffolding; but in this state I could see how +fine it is, and admire the columns which Forsyth praises, and the +roof and many of the marbles. The Grand Duke has ordered it all +to be cleaned, and very little of it to be altered. One +alteration, however, is in very bad taste; he has taken away the +old confessionals of carved wood, and substituted others of +marble, fixed in the wall, which are exactly like modern +chimney-pieces, and have the worst effect amidst the surrounding +antiquities. The exterior is rather fantastic, but the columns +are beautiful, and John of Bologna's bronze doors admirable. The +Campo Santo is full of ancient tombs, frescoes, modern busts, and +morsels of sculpture of all ages and descriptions. The Leaning +Tower[9] is 190 feet high, and there are 293 steps to the top of +it, which I climbed up to view the surrounding country, but it +was not clear enough to see the sea and Elba. Here is the finest +aqueduct I have seen, which continues to pour water into the +town. Part of the old wall[10] with its towers is still standing. +These pugnacious republics, who were always squabbling with each +other and wasting their strength in civil broils, erected very +massive defences. The Pisans are proud of their ancient exploits. +The San Stefano or Chiesa dei Cavalieri is full of standards +taken from the Turks, and the man who showed me the Campo Santo +said that a magnificent Grecian vase which is there had been +brought from Genoa by the Pisans before the foundation of Rome. +There are Egyptian, Etruscan, Roman, and Grecian remains, which +have been plundered, or conquered, or purchased by patriotic +Pisans to enrich their native city. The frescoes are greatly +damaged. I went to look at the celebrated house 'Alla Giornata,' +a white marble palace on the Arno; the chains still hang over the +door, and there is an inscription above them which looks modern. +My _laquais de place_ told me what I suppose is the tradition of +the place--that the son of the family was taken by the Turks, and +that they had captured a Turk, who was put in chains; that an +exchange was agreed upon, and the prisoners on either side +released, and that the chains were hung up and the inscription +added, signifying that the Turk was at liberty to go again into +the light of day. But it was a lame and improbable story, and I +prefer the mystery to the explanation. + + [9] There was another leaning edifice, but the Grand Duke + had it pulled down; it was thought dangerous. + + [10] It had been destroyed, but was restored by the Medici + or the present family. + +Much as I was charmed with the mountains, I was not sorry, for a +change, to get into the rich, broad plain of Tuscany, full of +vineyards and habitations along the banks of the Arno. The voice +and aspect of cheerfulness is refreshing after a course of rugged +and barren grandeur; the road is excellent and the travelling +rapid. Yesterday being a holiday, and to-day Sunday, the whole +population in their best dresses have been out on the road, and +very good-looking they generally are. There are not more beggars +than in France, and certainly a far greater appearance of +prosperity throughout the north of Italy than in any part of +France I have seen, although there are the same complaints of +distress and poverty here that are heard both there and in +England. Thorwaldsen, the sculptor, is in this inn, and the King +of Bavaria left it this morning. The book of strangers is rather +amusing; the entries are sometimes remarkable or ridiculous. I +found 'La Duchesse de Saint-Leu et le Prince Louis-Napoléon; Lord +and Lady Shrewsbury and family; Miss Caroline Grinwell, of New +York; the King of Bavaria (not down in the book though); +Thorwaldsen'. Tuscany seems to be flourishing and contented; the +Government is absolute but mild, the Grand Duke enormously rich. + + +March 23rd, 1830 {p.299} + +Yesterday morning breakfasted with Lord Normanby, who has got a +house extending 200 feet in front, court, garden, and stables for +about £280 a year, everything else cheap in proportion, and upon +£2,000 a year a man may live luxuriously. His house was +originally fitted up for the Pretender, and C. R.'s are still to +be seen all over the place. Called on Lord Burghersh,[11] who was +at breakfast--the table covered with manuscript music, a +pianoforte, two fiddles, and a fiddler in the room. He was full +of composition and getting up his opera of 'Phaedra' for +to-morrow night. The Embassy is the seat of the Arts, for Lady +Burghersh has received the gift of painting as if by inspiration, +and she was in a brown robe in the midst of oils, and brushes, +and canvas; and a model was in attendance, some part of whose +person was to be introduced into a fancy piece. She copies +pictures in the Gallery, and really extraordinarily well if it be +true that till a year ago she had never had a brush in her hand, +and that she is still quite ignorant of drawing. + + [11] [Lord Burghersh, afterwards Earl of Westmoreland, was + then British Minister at Florence.] + +Went into two or three of the churches, then to the Gallery, and +sat for half an hour in the Tribune, but could not work myself +into a proper enthusiasm for the 'Venus,' whose head is too small +and ankles too thick, but they say the more I see her the more I +shall like her. I prefer the 'Wrestlers,' and the head of the +'Remontleur' is the only good _head_ I have seen, the only one +with expression. 'Niobe' is fine, but I can't bear her children, +except one. Then to the Casine on horseback to see the town and +the world: it seems a very enjoyable place. This morning again +dropped into some of the churches, after which I have always a +hankering, though there is great sameness in them, but I have a +childish liking for Catholic pomp. The fine things are lost +amidst a heap of rubbish, but there is no lack of marble, and +painting, and gilding in most of them. They are going on with the +Medici Chapel, on which millions have been wasted and more is +going after, for the Grand Duke is gradually finishing the work. +The profusion of marble is immense, and very fine and curious if +examined in detail; the precious stones are hardly seen, and when +they are, not to be recognised as such. To the Pitti Palace, of +which one part is under repair and not visible, but I saw most of +the best pictures. I like pictures better than statues. It is a +beautiful palace, and well furnished for show. Nobody knows what +Vandyke was without coming here. To the Gabinetto Fisico, and +saw all the wax-works, the progress of gestation, and the +representation of the plague, incomparably clever and well +executed. I saw nothing disgusting in the wax-works in the +museum, which many people are so squeamish about. + +Before dinner yesterday called upon Thorwaldsen, who was in the +inn, to tell him Lord Gower likes his 'Ganymede.' He was mighty +polite, squeezed my hand, and reconducted me to my own door. At +night went to the Opera and heard David and Grisi in 'Ricciardo e +Zoraida.' She is like Pasta in face and figure, but much +handsomer, though with less expression. She is only eighteen. He +has lost much of his voice, and embroiders to make up for it, but +every now and then he appears to find it again, and his taste and +expression are exquisite. To-night at a child's ball at Lady +Williamson's, where I was introduced to Lord Cochrane, and had a +great deal of talk with him; told him I thought things would +explode at last in England, which he concurred in, and seemed to +like the idea of it, in which we differ, owing probably to the +difference of our positions; he has nothing, and I everything, to +lose by such an event. + + +[Page Head: FLORENCE] + +March 25th, 1830 {p.301} + +Went yesterday morning to Santa Croce to hear a Mass on the +completion of a monument which has been erected to Dante; very +crowded and the music indifferent. Afterwards to the Gallery and +saw all the cabinets, but we were hurried through them too +rapidly. I began to like the 'Venus' better, best of all the +statues. The 'Niobe'[12] cannot have been a group, nor the +children have belonged to the mother. Rode to Normanby's villa at +Sesto, five miles from Florence; a large and agreeable house, +gardens full of fountains, statues, busts, orange and lemon +trees, shrubs and flowers. He pays 600 dollars a year for it, +exclusive of the race-ground. In the evening to Burghersh's +opera, which was very well performed; pretty theatre, crowded to +suffocation. All the actors amateurs;[13] chorus composed of +divers ladies and gentlemen of Florence, principally English. +Here all the society of Florence was assembled in nearly equal +proportions of Italians, English, and other foreigners. Nothing +can be worse than it is, for there is no foundation of natives, +and the rest are generally the refuse of Europe, people who come +here from want of money or want of character. Everybody is +received without reference to their conduct, past or present, +with the exception, perhaps, of Englishwomen who have been +divorced, whose case is too notorious to allow the English +Minister's wife to present them at Court. + + [12] The 'Niobe' is supposed to have been a group upon some + temple + [Illustration: Schematic of Temple Arch] + so, of which the mother was the centre figure; this + makes it more probable, but the difficulty to this + hypothesis is, that there do not appear to be the + necessary gradations in the size or altitude of the + other figures; the sons in the 'Laocoon' are certainly + little men. + + [13] Phaedra Miss Williams Soprano. + Hippolytus Madame Vigano Contralto. + The Girl Madame de Bombelles Soprano. + Theseus Goretti Tenor. + Attendant Franceschini Bass. + + +March 26th, 1830 {p.302} + +Yesterday morning to a Mass at the Annunziata, to which the Grand +Duke came in state, with his family and Court. The piazza was +lined with guards; seven coaches-and-six with his _guardia +nobile_ and running footmen; the Mass beautifully performed by +his band, Tacchinardi (father of Madame Persiani, I believe) +singing and Manielli directing. Then rode to Lord Cochrane's +villa, where we found them under a matted tent in the garden, +going to dinner. He talks of going to Algiers to see the French +attack it. He has made £100,000 by the Greek bonds. It is a pity +he ever got into a scrape; he is such a fine fellow, and so +shrewd and good-humoured. To the Certosa, on a hill two miles +from Florence; very large convent, formerly very rich, and had +near forty monks, now reduced to seven residents, though there +are a few more who belong to it, but who are absent. It is in +good repair, but looks desolate. There is an old monk, Don +Fortunatus by name, who understands English and speaks it +tolerably, delights in English people and books, received us in +his cell, which consists of two or three little apartments, not +uncomfortable and commanding a beautiful view; talked with great +pleasure of his English acquaintance, and showed all their cards, +which he treasured up. A very lively, good-humoured old friar. +Returned to ride in the Corso, which is a narrow street going +from the Duomo to the Annunziata, to drive up and down which is +one of the ceremonies of the day (Lady Day), as the people are +supposed to go and pay their respects to the Virgin. In the +evening to the Opera and heard David again. + + +[Page Head: ROME] + +Rome, March 29th, 1830 {p.303} + +Set off yesterday morning at half-past seven from Florence, and +arrived here at six this evening in a fine glowing sunset, +straining my eyes to catch interesting objects, and trying in +vain to make out the different hills. The last two days at +Florence I went to the Gallery and Pitti Palace again with the +Copleys. Half the rooms were shut up when I was at the Pitti +before, but we now saw them all, and probably the finest +collection of pictures in the world. The Raphaels, Rubens, Andrea +del Sartos, and Salvators I liked the best. On Saturday evening +went to Court and was presented to the Grand Duke, who is +vulgar-looking and has bad manners; but the whole thing is rather +handsome. Stopped at Siena to see the cathedral; very fine, +the ancient fount beautiful. The mutilated Graces I am not +connoisseur enough to appreciate, but the illuminated Missals of +the thirteenth century I thought admirable, both for the +colouring and the drawing, and as exquisitely finished as any +miniature. The entrance to Rome through the Porta del Popolo +appeared very fine, but I was disappointed in the first distant +view of the city from the hill above Viterbo. I passed Radicofani +in the dark, and saw little to admire in the Lake of Bolsena or +the surrounding country. The women throughout Italy appeared very +handsome, one quite beautiful at Siena. + + +March 30th, 1830 {p.303} + +This morning I awoke very early, and could not rest till I had +seen St. Peter's; so set off in a hackney coach, drove by the +Piazza della Colonna and the Castle of St. Angelo (which burst +upon me unexpectedly as I turned on the bridge), and got out +as soon as St. Peter's was in sight. My first feeling was +disappointment, but as I advanced towards the obelisk, with the +fountains on each side, and found myself in that ocean of space +with all the grand objects around, delight and admiration +succeeded. As I walked along the piazza and then entered the +church, I felt that sort of breathless bewilderment which was +produced in some degree by the first sight of the Alps. Much as I +expected I was not disappointed. St. Peter's sets criticism at +defiance; nor can I conceive how anybody can do anything but +admire and wonder there, till time and familiarity with its +glories shall have subjected the imagination to the judgment. I +then came home and went with Morier to take a cursory view of the +city and blunt the edge of curiosity. In about five hours I +galloped over the Forum, Coliseum, Pantheon, St. John Lateran, +Santa Maria Maggiore, the Vatican, and several arches and +obelisks. I cannot tell which produced the greatest impression, +St. Peter's or the Coliseum; but if I might only have seen one it +should be the Coliseum, for there can be nothing of the same kind +besides.[14] + + [14] Of the same kind there is, at Pompeii, but not near so + fine; more perfect as a specimen, far less beautiful as + an object. And the amphitheatre at Verona, but that is + very inferior. + +[Page Head: SIGHTS OF ROME] + +They only who have seen Rome can have an idea of the grandeur of +it and of the wonders it contains, the treasures of art and the +records of antiquity. Of course I had the same general idea of +there being much to see that others have, but was far from being +prepared for the reality, which exceeds my most sanguine +expectations. The Vatican alone would require years to be +examined as it deserves. It is remarkable, however, how the +pleasure of the imagination arising from antiquities depends upon +their accidents. The busts, statues, columns, tombs, and +fragments of all sorts are heaped together in such profusion +at the Vatican that the eyes ache at them, the senses are +bewildered, and we regard them (with some exceptions) almost +exclusively as objects of art, and do not feel the interest +which, separately, they might inspire by their connection with +remote ages, whereas there is scarcely one of those, if it were +now to be discovered, that would not excite the greatest +curiosity, and be, in the midst of the ruins to which it belongs, +an object of far greater interest than a finer production which +had taken its splendid but frigid position in this collection. We +went to the Sistine Chapel, and saw Michael Angelo's frescoes, +which Sir Joshua Reynolds says are the finest paintings in the +world, and which the unlearned call great rude daubs. I do not +pretend to the capacity of appreciating their merits, but was +very much struck with the ease, and grace, and majesty of some of +the figures; it was, however, too dark to see the 'Last +Judgment.' I ended by St. Peter's again, where there were many +devout Catholics praying round the illuminated tomb of the +Apostle, and many foolish English poking into it to stare and ask +questions, the answers to which they did not understand. I have +but one fault to find, and that is with the Glory, a miserable +transparency in the great window opposite the entrance, throwing +a yellow light upon the Dove, which has the most paltry effect, +and is utterly unworthy of the grandeur of such a place. + + +April 1st, 1830 {p.305} + +Yesterday morning at nine o'clock went with Edward Cheney and +George Hamilton to Frascati to dine with Henry Fox, who has got a +villa there. As soon as we arrived Cheney and I walked over to +Grotta Ferrata to see Domenichino's frescoes. The convent is +about a mile and a half off, large, formerly rich, full of monks, +and a fortress; also the scene of various miracles performed by +St. Nilo, the founder and patron saint; now tenanted by a few +beggarly friars, and part of it let to Prince Gagarin, the +Russian Minister, as a villa. Domenichino sought and found an +asylum there in consequence of some crime he had committed or +debt he had incurred; he stayed there two years, and in return +for the hospitality of the monks adorned their chapel with (some +think) the finest frescoes in the world. They are splendid +pictures, and all painted by his own hand. + +At dinner we had Hortense, the ex-Queen of Holland, her son, +Prince Louis Napoleon, her lady in waiting, Lady Sandwich and her +daughter, Cheney, Hamilton, Lord Lovaine, and Fordwich. We +dined in the garden, but there was too much wind for a _fête +champêtre_. Hortense is not near so ugly as I expected, very +unaffected and gay, and gives herself no royal airs. The only +difference between her and anybody else was that, after dinner, +when she rose from table, her own servant presented her with a +finger-glass and water, which nobody else had. She is called +Madame. + +We returned by moonlight, and though I did not go into the +Coliseum, because the moon was not full enough, it looked fine, +and the light shining through the lower arches had a beautiful +effect. This morning went a long round of sights--Caesar's +Palace, of which there are no remains but fragments of walls; it +really does 'grovel on earth in indistinct decay.' Caracalla's +Baths, which are stupendous; the _custode_ showed us a room in +which were heaped up bits of marble of all sorts and sizes, +fragments of columns and friezes; and he told us that they never +excavated without finding something. And Titus's Baths, less +magnificent but equally curious, because they contain the remains +of the Golden House of Nero, on which Titus built his Thermae. +The ruins are, in fact, part of the Golden House, for the Thermae +have been altogether destroyed. Then to the Capitol, Forum, +Temple of Vesta, Fortuna Virilis, and other places with Morier. +The Capitol contains an interesting collection of busts and +statues of all the Emperors, most famous characters of ancient +Rome and Greece together, with various magnificent objects of +art. By dint of repeatedly seeing their effigies, one becomes +acquainted with the faces of these worthies. These tastes grow +upon one strangely at Rome, and there is a sort of elevation +arising from this silent intercourse with the 'great of old.' + + Proud names, who once the reins of empire held, + In arms who triumphed, or in arts excell'd, + Chiefs graced with scars, and prodigal of blood, + Stern patriots who for sacred freedom stood, + Just men by whom impartial laws were given, + And saints who taught, and led the way to heaven. + TICKELL. + +There has been a wrangle about the Borghese Gardens which the +Prince ordered to be shut up; the Government remonstrated, and a +correspondence ensued which ended in their being reopened to the +public, whom he has no right to exclude. Paul V. gave the +Borghese Gardens to his nephew (Aldobrandini) with a condition +that they should always be open to the public, which they have +been from then till now. They were a part of the Cenci property, +which was immense, and confiscated by an enormous piece of +injustice. + + +[Page Head: SIGHTS OF ROME] + +April 3rd, 1830 {p.307} + +Went on Thursday to Lady Mary Deerhurst's and the Duchess +Torlonia's, where all the English in Rome (or rather all the most +vulgar) were assembled. Yesterday morning to the Colonna Palace, +Museum of the Capitol, Baths of Diocletian, now Church of Santa +Maria degli Angeli, which are very remarkable because built on +the baths, of which it has preserved the form; San Pietro in +Vincoli, San Bernardo, all built on the site and amidst the ruins +of Titus's and Vespasian's Baths; in various parts the old +pavement is preserved, which shows how magnificent they must have +been, for it is all of giallo, verd antique, porphyry, &c. To the +garden of the Maronite Convent to see the Coliseum, whence there +is the finest view of it in Rome. Then to the Coliseum, and +walked all over the ruins while a parcel of friars with covered +faces were chanting and praying at each of the altars in +succession round the circle below (called the Via Crucis). + +I called yesterday morning on M. de la Ferronays, the French +Ambassador, who was very civil and obliging. Dined in the evening +with Lord Haddington, Lovaine, Morier, Prince Gagarin the Russian +Minister, Cheney, and M. Dedel. After dinner George Hamilton came +in and said that Lady Northampton had died suddenly at five +o'clock. I never saw her, but they say she was a very good sort +of woman, and remarkably clever, which good sort of women seldom +are. She had written a poem full of genius and imagination. Lord +Northampton was absent at a _scavo_ he has forty miles off. + +There has been no rain here for two months, and the clouds of +dust are insupportable; as it is the town in Europe best supplied +with water (there are three aqueducts; the ancients had sixteen) +so it is the worst watered. The excavations which are going on +(though languidly) are always producing something. Two busts, +said to be fine, were found the day before yesterday at the +Borghese Villa at Frascati. + +I saw yesterday at San Pietro in Vincoli Michael Angelo's famous +Moses. It may be very fine, but to my eye is merely a colossal +statue; the two horns are meant to represent rays of light; but +how can rays of light be represented in marble, any more than the +breath? It is impossible to make marble imitate that which is +impalpable. The beard is ropy and unnatural; it is, however, an +imposing sort of figure. But I am more sensible to painting than +to sculpture. I delight in almost everything of Domenichino's, +who is only inferior (if inferior) to Raphael. As to Michael +Angelo, he speaks a language the unlearned do not understand; his +merit, acknowledged to be transcendent as it is by all artists, +cannot be questioned; but he must serve as a model to form future +excellence, and not be expected to produce present delight, +except to those who, by long study, have learnt to comprehend and +appreciate him. + +_Evening._--This morning to the tomb of the Scipios, Catacombs, +Cecilia Metella (from which I wonder they don't take the +battlements), the Circus of Maxentius, Temple of Bacchus, the +Fountain of Egeria, San Stefano Rotondo, Temple of Pallas, Arches +of Drusus and Dollabella, and the Borghese Villa and Gardens. The +ruins of the Gaetani Castle are rather picturesque, but they +spoil the tomb, which would be far finer without its turrets. The +Circus is as curious as anything I have seen, for it looks like a +fresh ruin. Old Torlonia furbished it up at his own expense, +and brought to light the inscription which proved it to be +Maxentius's instead of Caracalla's Circus. The remains are so +perfect that it is easy to trace the whole arrangement of the +ancient games. Forsyth says very truly that the Fountain of +Egeria is a mere trough; but everybody praises the water, which +is delicious, and it falls with a murmur which invites to +idleness and contemplation. This fountain has been beautifully +sung, but it is a miserable ruin, ill deserving of such strains. + + In vallum Egeriae descendimus et speluncas + Dissimiles veris--quanto praestantius esset + Numen aquae, viridi si margine clauderet undas + Herba, nec ingenuum violarent marmora tophum. + JUVENAL. + +A little wood of firs, and pines, and ilexes about thirty or +forty years old is pointed out as the grove in which Numa used to +meet the nymph. In all the views on one side Soracte is a +striking object, as it + + From out the plain + Heaves like a long-swept wave about to break + And on the curl hangs pausing. + +I like this side of Rome, where the aqueducts stride over the +Campagna, and the ruins of the mighty Claudian tower over the +pigmy arches of the Pope, like the genius of ancient over that of +modern Rome. The Borghese is the _beau idéal_ of a villa; lofty, +spacious apartments, adorned with statues, busts, and marbles, +painting and gilding, and magnificent gardens; but deserted by +its owner, who has only been there once in the last thirty years, +and untenable in the summer from malaria, which is very +unaccountable, for it is close to Rome, high, and full of trees; +but nobody knows anything about the malaria. The Gardens are the +fashionable lounge, but after June nobody can walk there. Though +the Prince never comes here he has just bought a large piece of +ground between the Porta del Popolo and the Gardens, and is +making a handsome entrance, has already built gates and some ugly +Egyptian imitations, and is making a waterfall. I dined with Lady +William Russell, and set off to go to Queen Hortense in the +evening, but found so few carriages in the court that we would +not go in. + + +[Page Head: THE SISTINE CHAPEL] + +April 4th, 1830 {p.309} + +To the Sistine Chapel for the ceremonies of Palm Sunday; we got +into the body of the chapel, not without difficulty; but we saw +M. de la Ferronays in his box, and he let us in (Morier and me). +It was only on a third attempt I could get there, for twice the +Papal halberdiers thrust me back, and I find since it is lucky +they did not do worse; for upon some occasion one of them knocked +a cardinal's eye out, and when he found who he was, begged his +pardon, and said he had taken him for a bishop. Here I had a fine +opportunity of seeing the frescoes, but they are covered +with dirt, the 'Last Judgment' neither distinguishable nor +intelligible to me. The figures on the ceiling and walls are very +grand even to my ignorance. The music (all vocal) beautiful, the +service harmoniously chanted, and the responsive bursts of the +chorus sublime. The cardinals appeared a wretched set of old +twaddlers, all but about three in extreme decrepitude-- +Odescalchi, who is young and a good preacher, Gregorio, Capellari +[afterwards Pope Gregory XVI.]. On seeing them, and knowing that +the sovereign is elected by and from them, nobody can wonder that +the country is so miserably governed. These old creatures, on the +demise of a Pope, are as full of ambition and intrigue as in the +high and palmy days of the Papal power. Rome and its territory +are certainly worth possessing, though the Pontifical authority +is so shorn of its beams; but the fact is that the man who is +elected does not always govern the country,[15] and he is +condemned to a life of privation and seclusion. An able or +influential cardinal is seldom elected. The parties in the +Conclave usually end by a compromise, and agree to elect some +cardinal without weight or influence, and there are not now any +Sixtus the Fifths to make such an arrangement hazardous. Austria, +Spain, and France have all vetos, and Portugal claims and +exercises one when she can. To this degradation Rome is now +obliged to submit. The most influential of the cardinals is +Albani.[16] At the last election the Papal crown was offered to +Cardinal Caprara, but Albani stipulated that he should make him +Secretary of State; Caprara refused to promise, and Albani +procured the election of the present Pope (who did not desire or +expect the elevation), became Secretary of State (being eighty), +and governs the country. He is rich and stingy. The great Powers +still watch the proceedings of the Conclave with jealousy; and +though it is difficult to conceive how the Pope can assist any +one of them to the detriment of another, an Ambassador will put +his veto upon any cardinal whom he thinks unfavourable to his +nation; this produces all sorts of trickery, for when the +Conclave want to elect a man who is obnoxious to Austria, for +example, they choose another whom they think is equally so (but +whom they do not really wish to elect), that the veto may be +expended upon him, for each Government has one veto only. The +last veto absolutely put was on Cardinal ----, who was elected on +the death of Pius VII. He had behaved very rudely to the Empress +Maria Louisa when she took refuge in the north of Italy after the +downfall of Napoleon, thinking it was a good moment to bully the +abdicated Emperor's wife. She complained to her father, who +promised her the Cardinal never should be Pope. He was a young +and ambitious man, and the veto killed him with vexation and +disappointment. + + [15] This, from what I have heard since, was not true of the + last Pope, Leo XII., who was an odious, tyrannical + bigot, but a man of activity, talent, and strength of + mind, a good man of business, and his own Minister. He + was detested here, and there are many stories of his + violent exertions of authority. He was a sort of + bastard Sixtus V., but at an immense distance from that + great man, 'following him of old, with steps unequal.' + He used, however, to interfere with the private + transactions of society, and banish and imprison + people, even of high rank, for immorality. + + [16] Albani holds the Austrian veto, and is supported by her + authority. But I have heard that since Clement XI., who + was an Albani, there has always been a powerful Albani + faction in the Conclave. This cardinal is enormously + rich and the head of his house. The Duke of Modena is + his nephew, and it is generally thought will be his + heir. + +Went and walked about St. Peter's, and was surprised to find how +very little longer it is than St. Paul's. To the Farnese Palace, +built by Paul III. out of the ruins of the Coliseum, which now, +with all the Farnese property, belongs to the King of Naples, and +is consequently going to decay. It got into his hands by the +marriage of a King of Naples with the last heiress of the house +of Farnese. The Neapolitan property here consists of the Farnese +and Farnesina Palaces, the Orti Farnesiani, and the Villa Madama, +all in a wretched state; and the Orti, in which there are +probably great remains, they will not allow to be excavated. Many +of the fine things are gone to Naples, but a few remain, most of +which came out of the Thermae of Caracalla, and originally from +the Villa of Adrian. These two, principally the one through the +other, have been the great mines from which the existing +treasures of art were drawn. The frescoes in this palace are +beautiful--a gallery by Annibal and Agostino Caracci, with a few +pictures by Domenichino, Guido, and Lanfranco. Annibal Caracci's +are as fine as any I have seen; also a little cabinet picture +painted entirely by Annibal, which is exquisite. + +[Page Head: A DEAD CARDINAL] + +As we were going to this palace we drove by the Cancellaria +(which was likewise built out of the Coliseum), and heard by +accident that a dead cardinal (Somaglia) was lying in state +there. Somaglia was Secretary of State in Leo's time. Having seen +all the living cardinals, we thought we might as well complete +our view of the Sacred College with the dead one, and went up. +After a great deal of knocking we were admitted to a private view +half an hour before the public was let in. He had been embalmed, +and lay on a bed under a canopy on an inclined plane, full +dressed in cardinal's robes, new shoes on, his face and hands +uncovered, the former looking very fresh (I believe he was +rouged), his fingers black, but on one of them was an emerald +ring, candles burning before the bed, and the window curtains +drawn. He was 87 years old, but did not look so much, and had a +healthier appearance in death than half the old walking mummies +we had seen with palms in their hands in the morning. + +Took a look at Pasquin, who had nothing but advertisements pasted +upon him. I had seen Marphorius in the Capitol; there has long +been an end to the witty dialogues of the days of Sixtus V., so +quaintly told by Leti; they are so little 'birds of a feather' +(for Pasquin is a mutilated fragment, Marphorius a colossal +statue of the ocean) that, residing as they did at different +parts of the town, it is difficult to understand how they ever +came to converse with each other at all. I remember one of the +best of his stories. Sixtus V. made his sister a princess, and +she had been a washerwoman. The next day Pasquin appeared with a +dirty shirt on. Marphorius asks him 'why he wears such foul +linen;' and he answers 'that his washerwoman has been made a +princess, and he can't get it washed.' + +To the Farnesina: Raphael's frescoes, the famous Galatea, and the +great head which Michael Angelo painted on the wall, as it is +said as a hint to Raphael that he was too minute. There it is +just as he left it. Here Raphael painted the Transfiguration, and +here the Fornarina was shut up with him that he might not run +away from his work. It might be thought that to shut up his +mistress with him was not the way to keep him to his work. Be +that as it may, the plan was a good one which produced these +frescoes and the Transfiguration. + +[Page Head: POMPEY'S STATUE] + +I very nearly forgot to mention the Palazzo Spada, where we went +to see the famous statue of Pompey, which was found on the spot +where the Senate House formerly stood, and which is (as certainly +as these things can be certain) the identical statue at the foot +of which Caesar fell. + + Muffling his face within his robe + Ev'n at the base of Pompey's statue, + Which all the while ran blood, great Caesar fell. + +People doubt this statue, because it is not like his busts. There +is certainly no resemblance to the bust I have seen, which +represents Pompey as a fat, vulgar-looking man with a great +double chin. It is impossible for the coldest imagination to look +at this statue without interest, for it calls up a host of +recollections and associations, standing before you unchanged +from the hour when Caesar folded his robe round him and +'consented to death' at its base. Those who cannot feel this had +better not come to Rome. Cardinal Spada was Secretary of State +when this statue was found, and Julius III. (Giocchi del Monti, +1550) made him a present of it. + +The Temple of Bacchus is one of the most remarkable objects in +Rome; it is not in the least altered, merely turned into a +Christian church, and some saints, &c., painted on the walls. The +mosaic ceiling and the pavement are just the same as when it was +devoted to the worship of the jolly god. The mosaics are +beautiful, and perfect models of that sort of ceiling. The +pavement is covered with names and other scribblings cut out upon +it, all ancient Roman. Not a column has been removed or +mutilated. The fact is, Rome possesses several complete specimens +of places of heathen worship; this temple, the Pantheon, and San +Stefano Rotondo are perfect in the inside, the Pantheon within +and without, Vesta and Fortuna Virilis perfect on the outside. + +[Page Head: A CAPUCHIN CHARNEL-HOUSE] + +In the Rospigliosi Palace is the famous Aurora of Guido. It is in +excellent preservation, and three artists were copying it in +oils. One copy was just finished, and admirably done, for which +the painter asked forty louis. I begin to like frescoes better +than oils; there is such a life and brilliancy about them. At the +Quirinal, which was fitted up for the King of Rome and inhabited +by the Emperor of Austria, we saw everything but the Pope's +apartments. It is a delightful house, and commands a charming +view of Rome. The Pope always goes there the last day of the Holy +Week, and stays there all the summer. Nothing can be more +melancholy than his life as described by the _custode_; he gets +up very early, lives entirely alone and with the greatest +simplicity. In short, it shows what a strange thing ambition is, +which will sacrifice the substantial pleasures of life for the +miserable shadow of grandeur. Coming home we stopped by accident +at the Capuchins, and looked in to see Guido's St. Michael, with +which I was disappointed till I looked at it from a distance. We +then went to their catacombs, the most curious place I ever saw. +There are a series of chapels in the cloisters, or rather +compartments of one chapel, entirely fitted up with human bones +arranged symmetrically and with all sorts of devices. They are +laid out in niches, and each niche is occupied by the skeleton of +a friar in the robes of his order; a label is attached to it with +the name of the skeleton and the date of his death. Beneath are +mounds of earth, each tenanted by a dead friar with similar +labels. When a friar dies, the oldest buried friar, or rather his +skeleton, is taken up and promoted to a niche, and the newly +defunct takes possession of his grave; and so they go on in +succession. I was so struck by this strange sight that, when I +came home at night, I ventured on the following description of +it:-- + + _THE CATACOMBS IN THE CAPUCHIN CONVENT._ + + In yonder chapel's melancholy shade, + Through which no wandering rays of daylight peep, + In strange and awful cemetery laid, + The ancient Fathers of the convent sleep. + + No storied marble with monastic pride + Records the actions of their tranquil life, + Or tells how, fighting for their faith, they died + Unconquer'd martyrs of religious strife. + + They are not laid in decent shroud and pall, + To wait, commingling with their kindred earth, + Th' Archangel's trumpet, whose dread blast shall call + The whole creation to a second birth. + + But midst the mouldering relics of the dead + In shapes fantastic, which the brethren rear, + Profaned by heretic's unhallowed tread, + The monkish skeletons erect appear. + + The cowl is drawn each ghastly skull around, + Each fleshless form's arrayed in sable vest, + About their hollow loins the cord is bound, + Like living Fathers of the Order drest. + + And as the monk around this scene of gloom + The flick'ring lustre of his taper throws, + He says, 'Such, stranger, is my destined tomb; + Here, and with these, shall be my last repose.' + +At night I went with a party of English to see the Coliseum, but +the moon was as English as the party, and gave a faint and feeble +light. Still, with this dim moon it was inconceivably grand. The +exquisite symmetry of the building appears better, and its vast +dimensions are more developed by night. I long to see it with an +Italian sky and full moon; but not with a parcel of chattering +girls, who only 'flout the ruins grey.' + + +[Page Head: THE HOLY WEEK AT ROME] + +April 9th, 1830 {p.315} + +On Wednesday called on Bunsen, the Prussian Minister, who lives +at the top of the Tarpeian Rock, in a house commanding one of the +best views of Rome. He has devoted himself to the study of Roman +history and antiquities, and has the whole subject at his +fingers' ends. He is really luminous, and his conversation +equally amusing and instructive. He is about to publish a book +about ancient and modern Rome, which, from what I hear, will be +too minute and prolix. I then went to look at the Tarpeian Rock, +but the accumulation of earth has diminished its height--there is +the Rock, but in a very obscure hole. It was probably twice as +high as it is now. I think it is now about forty feet. Bunsen +says that though the antiquaries pretend to point out the course +of the ancient triumphal way, he does not think it can ever be +ascertained. The only remains (only bits of foundations) of the +temple of the Capitoline Jupiter, to which the conquerors +ascended, are in the garden under his windows. He thinks the +population of ancient Rome may be taken at two millions at its +most flourishing period. It is curious that there are hardly any +houses on the hills on which ancient Rome was built, and that +there were none formerly where modern Rome stands--no private +houses, only public buildings and temples. + +To the Mamertine Prisons, probably not a stone of which has been +changed from the time that Jugurtha was starved in them. The +tradition about St. Peter and the well of course is not to be +believed; but it is very odd there should be a well there when +there are so few in Rome. To the Sistine Chapel with M. de la +Ferronays, and very much disappointed with the music, which was +not so good as on Sunday; nor was the ceremony accompanying the +Miserere at all imposing. Yesterday morning to the Sistine again; +prodigious crowd, music moderate. As soon as it was over we set +off to see the benediction; and, after fighting, jostling, and +squeezing through an enormous crowd, we reached the _loggia_ over +one side of the colonnade. The Piazza of St. Peter's is so +magnificent that the sight was of necessity fine, but not near so +much so as I had fancied. The people below were not numerous or +full of reverence. Till the Pope appears the bands play and the +bells ring, when suddenly there is a profound silence; the +feathers are seen waving in the balcony, and he is borne in on +his throne; he rises, stretches out his hands, blesses the +people--URBI ET ORBI--and is borne out again. A couple of +indulgences were tossed out, for which there is a scramble, and +so it ends. Off we scampered, and, by dint of tremendous +exertions, reached the hall in which the feet of the pilgrims are +washed. The Pope could not attend, so the Cardinal Deacon +officiated. No ceremony can be less imposing, but none more +clean. Thirteen men are ranged on a bench--the thirteenth +represents the angel who once joined the party--dressed in new +white caps, gowns, and shoes; each holds out his foot in +succession; an attendant pours a few drops of water on it from a +golden jug which another receives in a golden basin; the cardinal +wipes it with a towel, kisses the foot, and then gives the towel, +a nosegay, and a piece of money to the pilgrim--the whole thing +takes up about five minutes--certain prayers are said, and it is +over. Then off we scampered again through the long galleries of +the Vatican to another hall where the pilgrims dine. The +arrangements for the accommodation of the Ambassadors and +strangers were so bad that all these passages were successive +scenes of uproar, scrambling, screaming, confusion, and danger, +and, considering that the ceremonies were all religious, really +disgraceful. We got with infinite difficulty to another box, +raised aloft in the hall, and saw a long table at which the +thirteen pilgrims seated themselves; a cardinal in the corner +read some prayers, which nobody listened to, and another handed +the dishes to the pilgrims, who looked neither to the right nor +the left, but applied themselves with becoming gravity to the +enjoyment of a very substantial dinner. The whole hall was filled +with people, all with their hats on, chattering and jostling, and +more like a ring of blacklegs and blackguards at Tattersall's +than respectable company at a religious ceremony in the palace of +the Pope. There remained the cardinals' dinner, but I had had +more than enough, and came away hot, jaded, and disgusted with +the whole affair. + +[Page Head: THE GRAND PENITENTIARY] + +In the evening I went to St. Peter's, when I was amply +recompensed for the disappointment and bore of the morning. The +church was crowded; there was a Miserere in the chapel, which was +divine, far more beautiful than anything I have heard in the +Sistine, and it was the more effective because at the close it +really was night. The lamps were extinguished at the shrine of +the Apostle, but one altar--the altar of the Holy Sepulchre--was +brilliantly illuminated. Presently the Grand Penitentiary, +Cardinal Gregorio, with his train entered, went and paid his +devotions at this shrine, and then seated himself on the chair of +the Great Confessional, took a golden wand, and touched all those +who knelt before him. Then came a procession of pilgrims bearing +muffled crosses; penitents with faces covered, in white, with +tapers and crosses; and one long procession of men headed by +these muffled figures, and another of women accompanied by +ladies, a lady walking between every two pilgrims. The cross in +the procession of women was carried by the Princess Orsini, one +of the greatest ladies in Rome. They attended them to the church +(the Trinità delle Pellegrine) and washed their feet and fed +them. A real washing of dirty feet. Both the men and the women +seemed of the lowest class, but their appearance and dresses were +very picturesque. These processions entered St. Peter's, walked +all round the church, knelt at the altars, and retired in the +same order, filing along the piazza till they were lost behind +the arches of the colonnades. As the shades of night fell upon +the vast expanse of this wonderful building it became really +sublime; 'the dim religious light' glimmering from a distant +altar, or cast by the passing torches of the procession, the +voices of the choir as they sang the Miserere swelling from the +chapel, which was veiled in dusk, and with no light but that of +the high taper half hid behind the altar, with the crowds of +figures assembled round the chapel moving about in the obscurity +of the aisles and columns, produced the most striking effect I +ever beheld. It was curious, interesting, and inspiring--little +of mummery and much of solemnity. The night here brings out fresh +beauties, but of the most majestic character. There is a colour +in an Italian twilight that I have never seen in England, so +soft, and beautiful, and grey, and the moon rises 'not as in +northern climes obscurely bright,' but with far-spreading rays +around her. The figures, costume, and attitudes that you see in +the churches are wonderfully picturesque. I went afterwards to +the Jesù, where there was a tiresome service (the Tre Ore), and +heard a Jesuit preaching with much passion and emphasis, but +could not understand a word he said. So then I called on Cheney +and saw his mother's illustrations of Milton, which are +admirable, full of genius. + +_At night._--To St. Peter's, where the Miserere was not so good +as last night. It was reported that the Pope was coming to St. +Peter's, and the Swiss Guards lined the nave, but he did not +arrive. Formerly, when the Cross was illuminated, he used to come +with all the cardinals to adore it. Now the cardinals (or rather +some of them) came and adored the Cross and the relics belonging +to the church, which were exhibited in succession from one of the +balconies--a bit of the true Cross, Santa Veronica's bloody +handkerchief, and others. There were, as the night before, +several fraternities of penitents, some in black, others in white +or brown, all disguised by long hoods, but there was to-night one +of the most striking and remarkable exhibitions I ever beheld. + +The Grand Penitentiary, Cardinal Gregorio, again took his seat in +the chair of the Great Confessional. All those who have been +absolved after confession by their priest, and who present +themselves before him, are touched with his golden wand, in token +of confirmation of the absolution, and here again that quality +which I have so often remarked as one of the peculiar characteristics +of the Catholic religion is very striking. Men and women, beggars +and princesses, present themselves indiscriminately; they all +kneel in a row, and he touches them in succession. In the +churches there seem to be no distinctions of rank; no one, +however great or rich, is contaminated by the approximation of +poverty and rags. But to return to the Confessional. There are +some crimes of such enormity that absolution for them can only be +granted by the Pope himself, who delegates his power to the Grand +Penitentiary, and he receives such confessions in the chair in +which he was seated to-day. They are, however, very rare; but +this evening, after he had finished touching the people, a man, +dressed like a peasant in a loose brown frock, worsted stockings, +and brogues, apparently of the lowest order, dark, ill-looking, +and squalid, approached the Confessional to reveal some great +crime. The confession was very long, so was the admonition of the +Cardinal which followed it. The appearance of the Cardinal is +particularly dignified and noble, and, as he bent down his head, +joining it to that of this ruffian-like figure, listening with +extreme patience and attention, and occasionally speaking to him +with excessive earnestness, while the whole surrounding multitude +stood silently gazing at the scene, all conscious that some great +criminal was before them, but none knowing the nature of the +crime, it was impossible not to be deeply interested and +impressed with such a spectacle. Nothing could exceed the +patience of the Cardinal and the intensity with which he seemed +absorbed in the tale of the penitent. When it was over he wiped +his face, as if he had been agitated by what he heard. It was +impossible not to feel that be the balance for or against +confession (which is a difficult question to decide, though I am +inclined to think the balance is against) it is productive of +some good effects, and, though susceptible of enormous abuses, is +a powerful instrument of good when properly used. I have no doubt +it is largely abused, but it is the most powerful weapon of the +Romish Church, the one, I believe, by which it principally lives, +moves, and has its being. That penitence must be real, and of a +nature to be worked upon, which can induce a man to come forward +in the face of multitudes and exhibit himself as the perpetrator +of some atrocious though unknown crime. + +[Page Head: PILGRIMS AT SUPPER] + +At night I went to the Trinità dei Pellegrini to see the pilgrims +at supper. The washing of the feet was over; a cardinal performs +it with the men, and ladies with the women, but it is no mere +ceremony as at the Vatican; they really do wash and scrub the +dirty feet perhaps of about a dozen of them each night. I saw the +room in which they were just clearing away the apparatus and +collecting piles of dirty towels. The pilgrims sit on benches; +under their feet are a number of small wooden tubs, with cocks to +turn the water into them, and there they are washed. Afterwards +they go to supper, and then to bed. The men sup in a very long +hall--most curious figures, and natives of half the world. The +Cardinal Camerlengo[17] says grace and cuts the meat. They are +waited upon by gentlemen and priests, and have a very substantial +meal. The women are treated in the same way.[18] No men are +admitted to their hall, but we contrived to get to the door and +saw it all. The Princess Orsini and a number of Roman ladies were +there (who had been washing feet) with aprons on, waiting upon +them at supper. Their dormitories were spacious, clean, and +sweet, though the beds were crowded together. The pilgrims are +kept there from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, when they are +dismissed. Their numbers are generally about 250 or 300. The +funds of the establishment are supplied by private subscriptions, +legacies, and donations, the names of the benefactors, with the +amount of their contributions, being recorded on boards hung up +in the hall. There were a great many spectators, but the whole +ceremony was ordered with regularity and decency, which is more +than can be said for those of the Vatican. I walked to-night to +St. Peter's, to look at it by moonlight. From every point of view +it is magnificent; the stillness of the night is broken only by +the waters of the fountains, which glitter in the moonbeams like +sheets of molten silver. The obelisk, the façade, the cupola, and +the columns all contribute to the grandeur and harmony of the +scene: but everything at Rome should be seen at night. The Castle +of St. Angelo, the Tiber, and the Bridge are all wonderfully fine +in these bright nights. + + [17] Minister of the Interior and Chamberlain; but Gonsalvi + deprived the Camerlengo of his Ministerial functions, + and joined them to the Secretaryship of State, and so + it has since remained. + + [18] I met Lady ----, a very tiresome woman, a day or two + after, who had been to see this ceremony, and was most + devoutly edified by the humility and charity of the + ladies. She told me a very old woman put out her foot + to her, thinking she was one of them, and begged her to + be very careful, as she had got some sores produced by + the itch; but as it formed no part of her Protestant + duty, she turned her over to the Princess Orsini, who + handled this horrid old leg with great tenderness; and + afterwards, when the same Princess was handed into the + other apartment to see the male pilgrims at supper, by + an attendant in the livery which they all wore, this + attendant turned out to be Prince Corsini. It sounds + very fine, but after all I don't think there is much in + it. It is ostentatious charity and humility, and though + rather disgusting and disagreeable, it is the fashion, + and those who do it are set up in a capital stock of + piety and virtue. It _may be_ both cause and effect of + great moral excellence, but I think it questionable. + + +[Page Head: PROTESTANT BURIAL GROUND] + +April 10th, 1830 {p.322} + +In the morning to St. John Lateran, where, as my _laquais de +place_ said, 'converted Jews, or Turks, or _Lutherans_' were +baptised; got too late for the baptism, which I believe is a +farce regularly got up, but heard the High Mass. The churches +were crowded all this week with pilgrims, whose appearance is +always very picturesque. Went into the cloisters, and was shown +by the monk or priest (whichever he was) some very remarkable +articles that they possess--a bit of the column on which the cock +stood when he crowed after Peter's three denials; a slab showing +the exact height of Jesus Christ, as he could just stand under +it,[19] and two halves which had once been a whole column, but +which was broken when the veil of the Temple was rent on the +death of Christ. The column is adorned with sculpture, which they +say is Jewish, and was brought to Rome with the Holy Stairs. Then +to Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, where they were performing High +Mass, with many assistants and a full choir, but without a +congregation; there were not six people in the church. To Minerva +Medica, a questionable and uninteresting ruin, and besides +falling to pieces. To the Barberini Palace, where there is little +besides the Cenci, which is worth going any distance to see. To +the Doria, a magnificent palace, with an immense number of +pictures, and some very fine ones, which I was hurried through. +To the Pyramid of Caius Cestius, which is in the middle of the +wall of Aurelian, and forms the back of a very pretty Protestant +burial ground, the greatest number of those who have been buried +there being of course English. It is on the side of a hill with +high, turreted walls behind it. There are two rows of white +marble tombs, whose diminutive proportions form a contrast with +the enormous sepulchre of the Roman. Round some of the tombstones +rose-trees and other shrubs have been planted, and all but one +adorned with epitaphs and inscriptions in Latin, English, German, +and Italian. That one is the tomb of the pretty Miss Bathurst who +was drowned in the Tiber. Her mother was to have returned to Rome +and supply the epitaph, but she has never come, and it has not +even her name inscribed upon it. I copied the following, which +are apparently intended for Latin verses, from one of the tombs-- +of Frederica Ursulina Arabella de Montmorency, by her father, +Colonel Raymond Henry de Montmorency, whose feelings set quantity +at defiance:-- + + Frederica quae Claris fueram praelata puellis + Illa ego hoc brevi condita sum tumulo; + Cui formam pulcherrimam, charites tribuere decoram + Quam Deus cunctis artibus erudiit. + + [19] He must have been just six feet high. + +Clambered up Monte Testaccio, from which the view is beautiful, +and then went on to the ruins of San Paolo fuori le Mure. The +church, which was the finest in Rome except St. Peter's, was +entirely destroyed by fire; but although it is near three miles +from the gates, and not the least wanted, and that there are +hundreds of churches, half of which seldom or never have +congregations to fill them, they are already rebuilding this at +an enormous cost, and the priest told me, to my great disgust, +that they had got all the materials ready, and in ten years they +expected the work to be finished. There are plenty of fools found +to contribute to the expense, the greatest part of which, +however, is supplied by the Government. It is to be built just as +it was before, but they cannot replace the enormous marble +columns which were its principal ornament. To a church to hear +the Armenian Mass. The priests arrived in splendid oriental +dresses, but I did not stay it out. Walked to the Borghese +Gardens, the fine weather being something of which no description +can convey an idea, and in it the beauty of Rome and its gardens +and environs are equally indescribable. Groups of pilgrims in +their odd dresses, with staves, and great bundles on their heads, +were lounging about, or lying under the trees. At night to the +Coliseum (but the moon never will shine properly), and back by +the Forum and the Capitol. The columns in the Forum look +beautiful, but St. Peter's gains at least as much as the ancient +ruins by the light of the moon. The views from different hills, +and sunset from the Pincian in such weather as this, and with +spring bursting in every direction, are things never to be +forgotten. + + +Sunday. {p.324} + +High Mass in St. Peter's, which was crowded. I walked about the +church to see the groups and the extraordinary and picturesque +figures moving through the vast space. They are to the last +degree interesting: in one place hundreds prostrate before an +altar--pilgrims, soldiers, beggars, ladies, gentlemen, old and +young in every variety of attitude, costume, and occupation. The +benediction was much finer than on Thursday, the day magnificent, +the whole piazza filled with a countless multitude, all in their +holiday dresses, and carriages in the back-ground to the very +end. The troops forming a brilliant square in the middle, the +immense population and variety of costume, the weather, and the +glorious locality certainly made as fine a spectacle as can +possibly be seen. The Pope is dressed in white, with the triple +crown on his head; two great fans of feathers, exactly like those +of the Great Mogul, are carried on each side of him. He sits +aloft on his throne, and is slowly borne to the front of the +balcony. The moment he appears there is a dead silence, and every +head is bared. When he rises, the soldiers all fall on their +knees, and some, but only a few, of the spectators. The distance +is so great that he looks like a puppet, and you just see him +move his hands and make some signs. When he gives the blessing-- +the sign of the cross--the cannon fires. He blesses the people +twice, remains perhaps five minutes in the balcony, and is +carried out as he came in. + +The numbers who come to the benediction are taken as a test of +the popularity of the Pope, though I suppose the weather has a +good deal to do with it. Leo XII. was very unpopular from his +austerity, and particularly his shutting up the wine shops. The +first time he gave the benediction after that measure hardly +anybody came to be blessed. + +[Page Head: ILLUMINATION OF ST. PETER'S] + +_At night._--The illumination of St. Peter's is as fine as I was +told it was, and that is saying everything. I saw it from the +Pincian, from the windows of the French Academy and Horace +Vernet's room. He is established in the Villa Medici; a very +lively little fellow, and making a great deal of money as +director of the Academy and by his paintings. His daughter is +very pretty. Here I met Savary, the Duc de Rovigo, a tall, stout, +vulgar-looking man. We were introduced and conversed on French +politics. Afterwards drove down to the piazza and round it. The +illumination is more effective at a distance, but I think it +looks best from the entrance to the piazza and the Bridge of St. +Angelo; the blaze of light, the crowd, and the fountains, covered +with a red glare, made altogether the most splendid sight in the +world. (One poor devil was killed, and there is almost always +some accident.) Eight hundred men are employed in illuminating +St. Peter's; the first pale and subdued light, which covers the +whole church, is brought out by the darkness of night, the little +lamps being lit in the day-time. The blazing lights which succeed +are made by large pots of grease with wicks in them; there is one +man to every two lamps. On a given signal, each man touches his +two lamps as quick as possible, so that the whole building bursts +into light at once by a process the effect of which is quite +magical--literally, as the Rejected Addresses say, 'starts into +light, and makes the lighter start.' + + +April 12th, 1830 {p.325} + +At night at Torlonia's to see the girandola, which is as fine as +fireworks can be, but nothing will do after the illumination of +St. Peter's. All the world was there at an assembly after the +ceremony, at which I was introduced to Don Michele Gaetani, said +to be the cleverest man in Rome, and I had a long conversation +with Monsignore Spada, who is a young layman with ecclesiastical +rank and costume, and a judge. A Monsignore holds ecclesiastical +rank at Rome, as a Lady of the Bedchamber at St. Petersburg holds +military rank, where she is a major-general; there is no other. +He is free to marry, and I presume to do anything else, but he +must preserve a certain orthodox gravity of dress and conduct; he +is a curious nondescript, about an equal mixture of the cardinal +and the dandy. This Monsignore is a very clever, agreeable man, +and gave me some information about the administration of law in +this country. There seems to be a good deal of laxity in it, for +a man was condemned for stabbing another (with premeditation) a +little while ago to six months' imprisonment, or more perhaps; +and having been George Hamilton's _laquais de place_, his family +came to him and begged him to try and get him off. He applied to +Spada, and got the punishment commuted to some trifling +imprisonment, and when he got out he came, with all his family, +to kiss Hamilton's hand. + + +[Page Head: BUNSEN ON THE FORUM] + +April 13th, 1830 {p.326} + +Breakfasted with Bunsen at the Capitol; Lovaine, Morier, +Haddington, Hamilton, Kestner, Falck, G. Fitzclarence, Sir W. Gell, +a little Italian servant, and Mr. Hall, Bunsen's brother-in-law. +Haddington told the story of Canning's sending to Bagot a despatch +in cipher, containing these lines:-- + + In matters of commerce the fault of the Dutch + Is giving too little and asking too much; + With equal protection the French are content: + So we'll lay on Dutch bottoms just twenty per cent. + _Chorus of Officers._--We'll lay, &c. + _Chorus of Douaniers._--Nous frapperons Falck + avec Twenty per cent. + +He received the despatch at dinner, and sent it to be deciphered. +After some hours they brought him word they did not know what to +make of it, for it seemed to be in verse, when he at once saw +there was a joke. + +Went to see the excavations in the Via Triumphalis and the Temple +of Concord, and heard Bunsen's theory of the Forum. Bunsen gives +different names to the remains of the temples in the Forum from +those which have been usually given, and by which they are known, +and on very plausible grounds, drawn chiefly from accounts in +different Roman authors and peculiarities in the buildings +themselves. The Temple of Fortune he thinks was the Basilica of +Augustus, and the Temple of Jupiter Tonans the Temple of Saturn; +but all his reasons I need not put down if I could remember them, +for are they not written in the voluminous work he is going to +publish in four or six volumes octavo? + +Bunsen's history is rather curious. He was a poor German student +destined for the Church; came to Rome, and got employed by +Niebuhr, from whom he first got a taste for antiquities. The King +of Prussia came to Rome and saw him; he was struck with his +knowledge and the character he heard of him, and consulted him +about a new Liturgy he wished to introduce into Prussia. Bunsen +gave him so much satisfaction in that matter, as well as in some +others which were entrusted to him, that on Niebuhr's return to +Prussia he was appointed to succeed him, and has been at Rome +ever since--thirteen years. Some say he is not a profound man, +and that his speculations about the ruins are all wrong. He talks +English, French, and Italian like his own language. + +[Page Head: SIGHTS OF ROME] + +The part of the triumphal road was discovered by accident in +digging for a drain; and an attempt is being made to procure the +permission of the Government to excavate all that can be found of +it, and ascertain its exact course. It was in the Temple of +Concord that Cicero assembled the Senate and pronounced one of +his orations against Catiline. The building must have been large +and magnificent, from the remains now visible, which are of the +finest marble. The pavement is in a state of considerable +preservation. Then we went to the old Tabularium, standing on the +Intermontium, an undoubted work of the Republic. This was the +place where the records of the Senate were kept. It is very +perfect. Nibby, the great authority here, differs, however, about +this place; the antiquaries are at daggers drawn upon the subject +of the ruins, remains, and discoveries. They have all different +systems, which they support with great vehemence and obstinacy, +and perhaps ingenuity, but the ignorant and curious traveller is +only perplexed with their noisy and discordant assertions. They +will insist upon knowing everything, whereas there are many +things here which are so doubtful, that they can only conjecture +about them; but when once they have published a theory they will +not hear of its being erroneous, and oppose any fresh discovery +likely to throw discredit upon it. After his lecture in the Forum +we went to San Nicolo in Cercera, an old church built on three +old temples, or two and a prison, but not much to see. The prison +of San Nicolo in Cercera is said to be the scene of the story of +the Roman daughter, which it probably is not. Over the Bridge of +Fabricius to the Basilica of Saint Bartholomew and Temple of +Esculapius; small remains, but curious; and very pretty view of +the Tiber and Temple of Vesta. To the Villa Lanti, a delicious +villa belonging to Prince Borghese, who never goes there, and +will neither let nor lend it. One of the finest views of Rome is +from the terrace, and Julio Romano's frescoes adorn the ceilings. +When Raphael was painting the Vatican, he and Julio Romano used +to retire every night to the Villa Lanti, and the ceilings are +covered with frescoes painted by both of them. Just below is a +terrace, and on it a beautiful tree called Tasso's Oak, because +under it he used to sit and compose when he lived in the Convent +of San Onofrio, which is close by, and where he died. This +convent is remarkably clean, airy, and spacious. In the library +is a bust of Tasso, a mask taken from his face just after he +died; in the chapel his tomb. + + And Tasso is their glory-- + Hark to his strain and then survey his cell. + BYRON. + +In the cloister are some frescoes of the universal Domenichino. I +like the Convent of San Onofrio. To Santa Maria in Trastevere, a +very fine church; splendid ceiling with a Domenichino in the +middle. Immense granite columns of various orders taken from God +knows what temples, and mosaic floor rich to a degree. Large +pieces of porphyry and verd antique eternally trodden by the +Trasteverine mob, and never even cleaned. It is a basilica, and +at the end is an ancient stone chair, which, was evidently the +old justice-seat, though they of the Church do not know it. + + +April 14th, 1830 {p.329} + +Set off early to make up an arrear of churches. First to Santa +Maria sopra Minerva, and lit upon the funeral of a cardinal +(Bertazzoli), which I was obliged to see instead of Michael +Angelo's Christ. All the cardinals attended; the church hung with +black and gold; guards, tapers, mob, &c. Then to the SS. +Apostoli, Araceli (built where the Citadel stood, and is a +corruption of Arx, but with a legend); a curious church enough, +with some fine frescoes of Pintoriccio, and the Chapel of the +Virgin with hundreds of ex voto's hang round it, almost all +wretched daubs of pictures, and principally representing +accidents in gigs, carriages, or carts, broken heads or limbs. To +Santa Anastasia, Santa Maria in Cosmedin, Santa Sabina. Santa +Maria in Cosmedin, or the Bocca della Verità, built in and on the +ruins of an old temple (di Pudicizia), is one of the best worth +seeing in Rome; the columns, if freed from the modern church, +would present as perfect a front as the temples in the Forum. To +Monte Aventino to see the view of Rome and the Chapel of the +Order of Malta, where Cardinal Zurla as Grand Prior has a most +agreeable residence. The garden contains immense orange-trees and +a very large palm. To San Gregorio to see the famous rival +frescoes of Guido and Domenichino, which are much impaired. I +began by liking Guido's and ended by liking the other best. The +view of the Palatine from this convent is magnificent. To San +Gregorio and San Paolo, and saw the ruins, which must have +belonged to the Coliseum, for the architecture is exactly +similar, and they have every appearance of having been the +Vivarium from their shape. To the Corsini Palace, containing one +of the best collections of pictures, of which the finest are two +portraits of cardinals by Raphael and Domenichino. The palace is +very fine, and the villa joins it on the opposite hill of the +Janiculum, but both are affected by the malaria. Then to the +Vatican and saw all the frescoes and pictures; the collection of +pictures is very small, but they are all masterpieces. To the +gallery below to see the mosaics and the process of copying the +great pictures. The coloured bits are numbered, and though there +are not above six or seven colours, the sub-divisions of various +shades amount to 18,000. This art is in a great degree mechanical, +but requires ingenuity, attention, and some knowledge of +painting. On the large pictures, such as those which are in +St. Peter's, several men are employed at the same time, but on +the lesser only one. It is very tedious, requiring years to copy +one of the largest size. All the pictures in St. Peter's are in +mosaic, except one, and they are at work on one which is to +replace this single oil-piece. The studio appeared in good order, +but there were only two men at work, as the Government spends +very little money upon it at present. From one of the open +galleries we (Morier and I) saw a thunderstorm, with gusts of +wind, flashes of lightning, and rain. It was amazingly grand from +that place as it swept over the city and made us 'sharers in its +fierce delight.' Then to the Borghese Gardens, and back to one of +those sunsets from the Pincian which will long be remembered +among the smoke and fogs in which I am destined to live. + + + + + CHAPTER IX. + +Lake of Albano--Velletri--Naples--Rapid Travelling in 1830--A + Trial at Naples--Deciphering Manuscripts--Ball at the Duchesse + d'Eboli's--Matteis's Plot and Trial--Pompeii--Taking the Veil-- + Pausilippo--Baiae--La Cava--Salerno--Paestum--Lazaroni--Museum + of Naples--Grotto del Cane--The Camaldoli--Herculaneum-- + Vesuvius--Sorrento--Miracle of St. Januarius--Astroni--Farewell + to Naples. + + +[Page Head: ALBANO--NAPLES] + +Velletri, April 15th, 1830 {p.331} + +Left Rome at nine o'clock this morning; at Albano procured an +ancient rural cicerone, a boy, and two donkeys, and set out on +the grand _giro_ of the place. The road over the Campagna is +agreeable, because the prospect roundabout is so fine, and the +aqueducts stretching over the plain so grand. After climbing up +to the Capuchin Convent, close to which are the remains of what +is called Domitian's Theatre, we came to the lake, which is +beautiful, but does not look large, and still less as if it had +ever threatened Rome with destruction. There is a road called the +Upper Gallery, shaded by magnificent ilexes, which leads to the +Villa Barberini, a delicious garden, once Clodius's and +afterwards part of Domitian's Villa, containing many remains of +former magnificence. This villa was probably the scene of the +council described by Juvenal (Fourth Satire). + + Misso proceres exire jubentur + Concilio, quos Albanam Dux magnus in arcem + Traxerat attonitos. + +I could not make out that any excavations have ever been made +here, though they would be certain of finding marbles. The road +passes along the hill which overhangs the margin of the lake to +Castel Gandolfo, and thence a path leads to the bottom, where are +the Emissarium, the Nyphaeum (called the Baths of Diana), and a +beautiful view of the lake, Monte Albano, and its towns. There is +nothing more curious than the Emissarium, built with a solidity +which has defied the effect of time, for it has never required +reparations, and performs its office still as it did more than +2,000 years ago (393 years before the Christian era). Nothing is +so incomprehensible as the magnitude and grandeur of the works of +the Republic before it had acquired power, territory, or +population. The Romans built as if they had an instinctive +prescience of future greatness, and not even the pressure of +immediate danger could induce them to sacrifice solidity to +haste. After wondering at their enterprise and industry we may go +and admire their subsequent luxury in the Baths of Diana, as the +place is called, but which is evidently a natural cave improved +into a delicious retreat by some inhabitant of one of the villas +above. We mounted the hill and went by another road (called the +Lower Gallery, shaded by the finest ilexes, elms, and oaks, which +'high over-arch'd embower,' and where there is one ilex which +twelve men can hardly embrace) to the Doria Villa, once Pompey's +and likewise Domitian's, who included both Clodius's and Pompey's +in his own. There are no remains here, but some arabesques in a +sort of grotto, which I suspect are modern. All their villas +command views of the Campagna, the sea, Rome, and the mountains. +It is no wonder Hannibal was deeply mortified when he looked down +on Rome from these hills (the hills at least close by called the +Prati d'Annibale) at having twice just missed taking it. Poetry +and history contribute alike to the interest of this beautiful +scenery. We met an Englishman, a single bird who had lost his +covey, and had procured a guide who could not understand what he +said. He wanted to go to Albano, and the man was taking him to +the Emissarium. We put him right, but his fury in mixed Italian, +French, and English was exceedingly comical. It was unlucky that +we met him at the top instead of the bottom of the hill. + +The road to Aricia, where Horace got such a bad dinner-- + + Egressum magnâ me excepit Aricia Româ + Hospitio modico-- + +is beautiful, and close to Gensano we went to look at the Lake of +Nemi, which is very pretty, but not so grand as Albano. The +peasantry are a fine race in these parts, and we met many men +driving carts or riding asses who would not disgrace the most +romantic group of banditti. The people were all working in the +open air, and seemed very gay. There were few beggars, and not +much rags and wretchedness. + +Started from Velletri at six in the morning; went very quick over +the Pontine Marshes (which form an avenue of about twenty miles, +quite straight, shaded with trees, and with vegetation of +remarkable luxuriance on each side) to Terracina (Anxur), where +we breakfasted in a room looking upon the sea. The place is +extremely pretty. Thence to Mola di Gaeta, which is very +beautiful, but where we did not stop; and, after a very tiresome +journey, got to Naples at two o'clock in the morning. Vesuvius +was so obliging as to emit some flames as we passed by, just to +show us his whereabouts. They were, however, his first and his +last while I was at Naples. + + +Naples, April 18th, 1830 {p.333} + +I am disappointed with Naples. I looked for more life and gaiety, +a more delicious air, beautiful town, and picturesque lazaroni, +more of Punch, more smoke and flame from Vesuvius. It strikes me +as less beautiful than Genoa, but these are only first impressions. +The Bay and the Villa Reale, a garden along the sea, full of +sweets and sea breezes and shade, are certainly delightful. All +the people seem anxious to cheat as much as they can, from the +master of the inn to the driver of the hackney-coach. At present +I don't feel disposed to stay here, and when I have seen Paestum, +Pompeii, and the environs I shall be glad to get back to Rome. +Sir Henry Lushington said at dinner yesterday he had seen at +Naples a 'Courier' newspaper of that day week, produced by +Rothschild and brought by one of his couriers. I came very fast, +but was 236 hours on the road, including 20 hours' stoppage. +This is 168 hours, which appears incredible, but 'gold imp'd by +Jews can compass hardest things.' + + +April 19th, 1830 {p.334} + +I retract all I said about disappointment, for I have since seen +Naples, and it is the most beautiful and the gayest town in the +world. Yesterday morning with Morier I walked up to the Castle of +St. Elmo and the Certosa; went over the chapel, which is full of +costly marbles, and fine pictures both in oil and fresco, +particularly one by Spagnolet as fine as any at Rome or anywhere. +Tasted the _custode's_ lachryma Christi, which, if it be as good +of the sort as he pretends, is middling stuff, but not bad with +water. Saw all the views, which are magnificent. Walked down to +the Villa Reale, which was crowded with people, and the +Chiaja with carriages. Dined with Hill--half English and half +foreigners--and went to the Opera; a very indifferent opera of +Rossini, ill sung, called the 'Siege of Corinth.' + +This morning at half-past eight we went to the Court of Justice +to hear an extraordinary trial which excites great interest here. +The proceedings of the day happened to be very uninteresting, not +that it made much difference, for I could not understand a word +anybody said, but I had an opportunity of seeing the manner in +which they conduct trials in this country, and the behaviour of +the judges, the counsel, and the prisoners. Nothing can be less +analogous than the proceedings here to those which prevail in our +courts; and although it is possible that ours might be better, it +is not possible that theirs could be worse. + +I soon left the Court, and walked up the Strada di Toledo--the +finest and liveliest street in the world, I believe--crowded with +people. An Italian proverb says, 'Quando Dio onnipotente è +tristo, prende una finestra nella Toledo.' Then to the Museum, of +which everything was shut but the library and the papyri. The +former contains 180,000 volumes, but is deficient in modern +(particularly foreign) books. They showed us the process of +deciphering the papyri, which is very ingenious. The manuscript +(which is like a piece of charcoal) is suspended by light strings +in a sort of frame; gum and goldbeater's skin are applied to it +as it is unrolled, and, by extreme delicacy of touch, they +contrive to unravel without destroying a great deal of it, but +probably they have been discouraged by the small reward which has +attended their exertions; for there are several black-looking +rolls which have never yet been touched, and very few men at +work. The gentlemen who explained to us the process said that Sir +Humphrey Davy had attended them constantly, and had taken great +pains to contrive some better chemical process for the purpose, +but without success. + + +[Page Head: MARQUIS DI GALLO'S VILLA] + +April 20th, 1830 {p.335} + +A delightful drive (made by Murat) to the Marquis di Gallo's +villa on the Capo di Monte, which far surpasses all the villas I +saw at Rome. The entrance is about half a mile from the house, +through a wood, one part of which is a vineyard; the vines +hanging in festoons from cherry trees, and corn growing +underneath. The house is not large, but convenient; a wide +terrace runs along the whole front of it with a white marble +balustrade; below this is a second terrace covered with +rose-trees; below that a third, planted with vines, and oranges, +and myrtles. From the upper terrace the view is beautiful. Naples +lies beneath, and the Bay stretches beyond with the opposite +mountains, and all the towns and villages from Portici to +Sorrento. On the right the Castle of St. Elmo and the Certosa, +and Vesuvius on the left. There is a large wood on one side, cut +into shady walks and laid out with grottoes, and on the other a +vineyard, through which there is also a walk under a treillage of +vines for nearly half a mile. The ground extremely diversified, +and presenting in every part of it views of the surrounding +country-- + + Umbrageous grots and caves + Of cool recess, o'er which the mantling vine + Lays forth her purple grape, and gently creeps + Luxuriant. + +It is always let, and, till he went away, was occupied by +Stackelberg, the Russian Ambassador. + +In the evening went to a ball at the Duchesse d'Eboli's; very few +people, and hardly any English, and those not the best--only +four, I think: Sir Henry Lushington, the Consul; a Mr. Grieve, of +whom I know nothing but that his father was a physician at St. +Petersburg, and that he killed his brother at Eton by putting a +cracker into his pocket on the 5th of November, which set fire to +other crackers and burnt him to death; Mr. Auldjo, the man who +made a very perilous ascent of Mont Blanc, of which he published +a narrative; Mr. Arbuthnot, who levanted from Doncaster two years +ago--but most of the Italian women were there, and I was +surprised at their beauty. Acton, who introduced me to some of +them, assured me that they were models of conduct, which did not +precisely tally with my preconceived notions of Neapolitan +society. They danced, but with no music but a pianoforte. This is +one of the few houses here which is habitually open, for they +have not the means of doing much in the way of society and +gaiety; they are poor, and the Government (the worst in the +world) interferes. The Duchesse d'Eboli is poor, but she was a +beauty, and has had adventures of various sorts. + + +[Page Head: MATTEIS'S TRIAL] + +April 21st, 1830 {p.336} + +Dined with Keppel Craven yesterday; Acton, Morier, Duchesse +d'Eboli, and some other people. + +The day was so disagreeable yesterday I could not go out--not +cold, but a hurricane and clouds of dust. The principal topic of +conversation at dinner was the trial, which goes on every day, +has already lasted a month, and is likely to last two or three +more. The Code Napoléon is in force here, so that there may +probably be something like a certain and equal administration +of justice between man and man; but this is a Government +prosecution, and therefore exempted from ordinary rules. The +history of this trial exemplifies the state of both the law and +the Government of this country. The accused are five in number; +the principal of them, Matteis, was an _intendente_, or governor, +of a province; 2nd, the advocate-general of the province; 3rd, +Matteis's secretary; and 4th and 5th, two spies. These men united +in a conspiracy to destroy various persons who were obnoxious to +them in the province, some of them actuated by political motives, +and others in order to get possession of the property of their +victims. The bugbear of the Court is Carbonarism, and Matteis +pretended that there was a Carbonari plot on foot, in which +several persons were implicated. He employed the spies to seduce +the victims into some imprudence of language or conduct, and then +to inform against them; in this way he apprehended various +individuals, some of whom were tortured, some imprisoned or sent +to the galleys, and some put to death. These transactions took +place eight or nine years ago, and such was the despotism of this +man and the terror he inspired, that no resistance was made to +his proceedings, or any appeal against them ever sent to Naples. +At last one of his own secretaries made some disclosures to +Government, and the case appeared so atrocious that it was +thought necessary to institute an immediate enquiry. The +_intendente_ was ordered to Naples, and commissioners were sent +to obtain evidence in the province and sift the matter to the +bottom. After much delay they made a report confirming the first +accusations and designating these five men as the criminals. As +soon as the matter was thus taken up, the public indignation +burst forth, and a host of witnesses who had been deterred by +fear from opening their lips came forward to depose against +Matteis and his associates. They were arrested in the year 1825 +and thrown into prison, but owing to the difficulties and delay +which they contrived by their influence to interpose, and to the +anomalous character of the prosecution, five years elapsed before +the proceedings began. At length a royal order constituted a +Court of Justice, composed of all the judges of the Court of +Cassation (about twenty), the highest tribunal in the kingdom, +and they have just been enjoined not to separate till the final +adjudication of the case. Although the offences with which the +criminals are charged are very different in degree, they are all +arraigned together; a host of witnesses are examined, each of +whom tells a story or makes a speech, and the evidence is +accordingly very confused, now affecting one and now another of +them. They have counsel and the right of addressing the Court +themselves, which the _intendente_ avails himself of with such +insolence that they are obliged to begin the proceedings of each +day by reading an order to the prisoners to behave themselves +decently to the Court. Their counsel are assigned by the Court, +and it is not one of the least extraordinary parts of this case +that the advocate of Matteis is his personal enemy, and a man +whom he displaced from an office he once held in the province. +They say, however, that he defends him very fairly and zealously. +The day I was there the proceedings were uninteresting, but +yesterday they were very important. An officer was examined who +had been imprisoned and ill-treated in prison, and who deposed to +various acts of cruelty. They on their part hardly deny the +facts, but attempt to justify them by proving that the sufferers +really were Carbonari, that other governors had done the same +thing, and that they were doing a service to the Government by +these pretended plots and consequent executions. Though their +guilt is clear, it is by no means so clear that they will be +condemned, or at least all of them. The public indignation is so +great that they must sacrifice some of them, and the spies, it is +said, will certainly be hanged. Matteis has interest in the +Court, but, as a majority of votes will decide his fate, it is +most likely he will be condemned. + + +April 22nd, 1830 {p.338} + +Yesterday to Pompeii, far better worth seeing than anything else +in Italy. Who can look at other ruins after this? At Rome there +are certain places consecrated by recollections, but the +imagination must be stirred up to enjoy them; here you are +actually in a Roman town. Shave off the upper storey of any town, +take out windows, doors, and furniture, and it will be as Pompeii +now is: it is marvellous. About one-fifth part of the town has +been excavated, and the last house found is the largest. It is +said 1,000 men would clear it in a year, and there are thirty at +work. The road is a bed of dust, and infested with blind beggars, +each led by a boy. There are habitations almost uninterruptedly +along the road between Naples and Pompeii, built apparently for +no other reason than because they are exposed to eruptions of the +mountain, for any other part of the Bay would be just as +agreeable, and safe from that danger. + +[Page Head: TAKING THE VEIL] + +This morning we went to an Ursuline convent to see two girls +take the veil. The ceremony was neither imposing, nor interesting, +nor affecting, nor such as I expected. I believe all this would +have been the case had it been the black veil, but it was the +white unfortunately. I thought they would be dressed splendidly, +have their hair cut off in the church, be divested (in the +convent) of their finery, and reappear to take leave of their +relations in the habit of the order. Not at all. I went with A. +Hill and Legge, who had got tickets from the brother of one of +the _sposine_; we were admitted to the grating, an apartment +about ten feet long by five wide, with a very thick double +grating, behind which some of the nuns appeared and chattered. A +turning box supplied coffee and cakes to the company. I went to +the door of the parlour (which was open), but they would not +admit me. There the ladies were received, and the nuns and +novices were laughing and talking and doing the honours. Their +dress was not ugly--black, white, and a yellow veil. The chapel +was adorned with gold brocade, and blue and silver hangings, +flowers, tapers; a good orchestra, and two or three tolerable +voices. It was as full as it could hold, and soldiers were +distributed about to keep order; even by the altar four stood +with fixed bayonets, who when the Host was raised presented +arms--a military salute to the Real Presence! The brother of one +of the girls did the honours of the chapel, placing the ladies +and bustling about for chairs, which all the time the ceremony +was going on were handed over heads and bonnets, to the great +danger of the latter. It was impossible not to be struck with +this man's gaiety and _sang-froid_ on the occasion, but he is +used to it, for this was the fourth sister he has buried here. +When the chapel was well crammed the _sposine_ appeared, each +with two _marraines_. A table and six chairs were placed opposite +the altar; on the table were two trays, each containing a Prayer +Book, a pocket-handkerchief, and a white veil. The girls (who +were very young, and one of them rather pretty) were dressed in +long black robes like dressing-gowns, their hair curled, hanging +down their backs and slightly powdered. On the top of their +heads were little crowns of blue, studded with silver or +diamonds. The ladies attending them (one of whom was Princess +Fondi and another Princess Bressano) were very smart, and all the +people in the chapel were dressed as for a ball. There was a +priest at the table to tell the girls what to do. High Mass was +performed, then a long sermon was delivered by a priest who spoke +very fluently, but with a strange twang and in a very odd style, +continually apostrophising the two girls by name, comparing them +to olives and other fruit, to _candelabri_, and desiring them to +keep themselves pure that 'they might go as virgins into the +chamber of their beloved.' When the Sacrament was administered +the ladies took the crowns off the girls, who were like automata +all the time, threw the white veils over them, and led them to +the altar, where the Sacrament was administered to them; then +they were led back to their seats, the veils taken off and the +crowns replaced. After a short interval they were again led to +the altar, where, on their knees, their profession was read to +them; in this they are made to renounce the world and their +parents; but at this part, which is at the end, a murmuring noise +is made by the four ladies who kneel with them at the altar, that +the words may not be heard, being thought too heart-rending to +the parents; then they are led out and taken into the convent, +and the ceremony ends. The girls did not seem the least affected, +but very serious; the rest of the party appeared to consider it +as a _fête_, and smirked and gossiped; only the father of one of +them, an old man, looked as if he felt it. The brother told me +his sister was eighteen; that she would be a nun, and that they +had done all they could to dissuade her. It is a rigid order, but +there is a still more rigid rule within the convent. Those +nuns who embrace it are for ever cut off from any sort of +communication with the world, and can never again see or +correspond with their own family. They cannot enter into this +last seclusion without the consent of their parents, which +another of this man's four sisters is now soliciting. + +We afterwards drove through the Grotto of Pausilippo, that +infernal grotto which one must pass through to get out of Naples +on one side; it is a source of danger, and the ancient account of +it is not the least exaggerated:-- + + Nihil isto carcere longius, nihil illis faucibus + obscurius, quo nobis praestant non ut per tenebras + videamus sed ut ipsas. + +There are a few glimmering lamps always obscured by dust, and it +is never hardly light enough to avoid danger except at night; in +the middle it is pitch dark. + +Then round the Strada Nuova, Murat's delightful creation, and +walked in the Villa Reale, where I found Acton, who had been all +the morning at the trial, which was very interesting. A woman was +examined, who deposed that her husband was thrown into prison and +ill-treated by Matteis because he would not give some false +evidence that he required of him; that she went to Matteis and +entreated him to release him, and that he told her he would if +she would bring her daughter to him, which she refused, and he +was put to death. On this evidence being given, the examining +judge dropped the paper, and a murmur of horror ran through the +audience. The accused attacked the witness and charged her with +perjury, and said he was ill in bed at the time alluded to. The +woman retorted, 'Canaglia, tu sai ch' egli è vero,' and there was +a debate between the counsel on either side, and witnesses were +called who proved that he was in good health at the time. They +think the evidence of to-day and the apparent disposition of the +judges must hang him. + + +[Page Head: BAIAE] + +Salerno, April 24th, 1830 {p.341} + +Here Morier and I are going to pass the night on our way to +Paestum, and as he is gone to bed (at half-past eight) I must +write. Yesterday morning Morier, St. John, Lady Isabella, and I +went to Pozzuoli, embarked in a wretched boat to make the _giro_ +of Baiae. + + Ante bonam Venerem gelidae per litora Baiae + Illa natare lacu cum lampade jussit amorem, + Dura natat, algentes cecidit scintilla per undas, + Hinc vapor ussit aquas, quicumque natavit, amavit. + + Venus bade Cupid on fair Baiae's side + Plunge with his torch into the glassy tide; + As the boy swam the sparks of mischief flew + And fell in showers upon the liquid blue; + Hence all who venture on that shore to lave + Emerge love-stricken from the treacherous wave. + +I was disappointed with the country, which is bare and +uninteresting; but the line of coast, with the various bays and +promontories and the circumjacent islands, is extremely +agreeable, and the Bay of Baiae, with the Temple of Venus, +delightful. The Temple of Mercury is also worth seeing. The Cave +of the Sybil, Lake Avernus, and Temple of Apollo are not worth +seeing, but as they are celebrated by Virgil they must be +visited, though the embellishments of Virgil's imagination and +the lapse of time have made disappointment inevitable. Nature +indeed no longer presents the same aspect; for there is a +mountain more (Monte Nuovo) and a wood less about the lake than +in Virgil's time. We found two ridiculous parties there, one +English, the other French, the latter the most numerous and +chattering, and mounted on asses, so as to make a long cavalcade. +There was a fat old gentleman just coming puffing out of the +cave, and calling with delight to his ladies, 'Ah, mesdames, +êtes-vous noires?' as they certainly were, for all one gets in +the cave is a blackened face from the torches. There was another +gaunt figure of the party in a fur cap, who was playing the +flute-- + + His reedy pipe with music fills, + To charm the God who loves the hills + And rich Arcadian scenery. + +We landed from our boat in various places, but declined going +down the Cento Camerelle to have a second face-blackening. +All the ruins, said to be of Caesar's and Marius's Villas, +Agrippina's Tomb, Caligula's Bridge, &c., may be anything; they +are nothing but shapeless fragments, only on a rock I saw a bit +of marble or stucco in what they call Caesar's Villa. The Stygian +Lake presented no horrors, nor the Elysian Fields any delights; +the former is a great round piece of water, and the latter are +very common-looking vineyards. When well wooded, which in the +time of the Romans it was, this coast must have been a most +delicious and luxurious retreat, so sequestered and sheltered, +such a calm sea, and soft breezes. + + Mira quies pelagi; ponunt hic lassa furorem + Aequora, et insani spirant clementius Austri. + +We went up to look at the old harbour of Misenum, where, instead +of a Roman fleet, were a few fishing-boats, and walked back +through fields in which spring was bursting forth through endless +varieties of cultivation--figs, mulberries, and cherry trees, +with festoons of vines hanging from tree to tree, and corn, peas, +and beans springing up underneath. + +Our boatmen, as we rowed back, were very proud of their English, +and kept on saying 'Pull away,' 'Now boys,' and other phrases +they have picked up from our sailors. This morning we set off +to come here [to Salerno] with Vetturino horses; the dust +intolerable; stopped at Pompeii, and walked half round the walls +and to the Amphitheatre. All the ground (now covered with +vineyards) belongs to the King (for Murat bought it); the +profusion and brilliancy of the wild flowers make it quite a +garden-- + + Flowers worthy of Paradise, which not nice art + In beds and curious knots, but nature boon + Pours forth profuse on hill, and dale, and plain. + +[Page Head: EXCAVATIONS AT POMPEII] + +If Murat had continued on the throne two or three years longer, +the whole town would have been excavated. He, and still more the +Queen, took great interest in it, and they both went there +frequently. She used to see the houses excavated, and one day +they found the skeleton of a woman with gold bracelets and +earrings, which were brought to her, and she put them on herself +directly. In their time 800 men and 50 cars were at work; now +there are 40 men and 6 cars. The expense of 800 men and 50 cars +would be about £13,000 a year, but these men will spend nothing. +A car costs a scudo, and a man four carlins, a day. (A scudo is +ten carlins, a carlin fourpence.) The Royal Family seldom or +never come here; the Duke of Calabria has been once. The +Amphitheatre, though not to be compared in size or beauty with +the Coliseum, is much more perfect. The road here is beautiful, +particularly about La Cava. I walked up to the Convent of the +Trinità; it stands on the brink of a deep ravine in the middle of +the hills, which are tossed into a hundred different shapes and +covered with foliage--a magnificent situation. The convent is +very large, and well kept; it contains fifty monks, who were most +of them walking about the road. Here were all the raw materials +requisite for a romance--a splendid setting sun, mountains, +convent, flock of goats, evening bell, friars, and peasants. +Arrived here, delighted with the outside and disgusted with the +inside of the town; but the Bay of Salerno is beautiful, the +place gay and populous, all staring at a fire-balloon which was +just ascending, and soon after came down in the sea. The inns +execrable. We got into one at last, in which there is a wide +terrace looking over the sea, and there we ordered our dinner to +be laid; but we were soon driven in, not by the cold, but by the +flaring of our tallow candles. + +We were obliged to write our names down for the police, who are +very busy and inquisitive. One man, whose name was just before +mine, had added this poetical encomium on the inn:-- + + I mention by way of _guidanza_ + For those who are going to Paestum, + They'll find at this inn, the 'Speranza,' + A good place to eat and to rest 'em. + +I could not concur with this poet, so I added to my name this +contradiction:-- + + On the 'Hope's' being such a good treat + We must both put our positive vetos; + We not only got nothing to eat, + But ourselves were ate up by mosquitos. + + +[Page Head: PAESTUM] + +Naples, April 25th, 1830 {p.344} + +Started at four o'clock in the morning from Salerno, and got to +Paestum at eight. Tormented to death by beggars and ciceroni +(often both characters in one), for in Italy everybody who shows +a stranger about is a cicerone, from Professor Nibby down to a +Calabrian peasant. There is little beauty in the scenery of +Paestum, but the temples amply repay the trouble of the journey. +I agree with Forsyth that they are the most impressive monuments +I have ever seen. The famed roses of Paestum have disappeared, +but there are thousands of lizards 'nunc virides etiam occultant +spineta lacertos.' No excavations have ever been made here, but +they talk of excavating. There were some fine Etruscan vases +found in a tomb at Paestum, which we did not see. The brute of a +_custode_ knew nothing of it, nor should I if I had not seen the +model in the Museum afterwards. Thousands of Etruscan vases may +be had for digging; they are found in all the tombs. The peasants +have heaps of little carved images of terra cotta and coins, +which they offer for sale. I believed they were fabricated, but a +man I met there showed me two or three that he had turned up with +his stick, so that they may be genuine. What treasures Naples +possesses, and how unworthy she is of them! Paestum[1] long +neglected, and Pompeii hardly touched! At Rome they are always +digging and doing something, and though the Papal Government is +neither active nor rich, I do believe they would not let this +town (Pompeii, I mean) remain buried when a few thousand pounds +would bring it all to light. There seem to be no habitations near +Paestum, but there is a church, which was well attended, for the +peasants were on their knees all round it; and while we were +breakfasting (in a manger with the horses out in the air) they +came out, strange-looking figures, rude, uncouth, and sunburnt, +and without any of the finery which they generally wear on a +Sunday. + + [1] The authorities of course can't agree when Paestum was + built, and by whom, or whether one of the temples (the + largest) was a temple or a basilica. The perfect state + of these temples, particularly that called of Neptune, + is the more remarkable because there are scarcely any + vestiges of other buildings. Morier thought them + inferior to the temples at Athens, but so they may well + be; the Athenian temples are built of white marble from + the Pentelic quarries, and highly ornamented by + Phidias. + + +Naples, April 26th, 1830 {p.345} + +To the Museum; met the Dalbergs and Prince and Princess +Aldobrandini, a good-looking daughter and two sons. They will +have all Prince Borghese's estate. I only went into the Pompeii +and Herculaneum part of the collections. + +The lazaroni are very amusing. This morning four of them stripped +stark naked under my window, put off in a boat, and thirty yards +from the shore fished for cockle fish, which they do by diving +like ducks, throwing their feet up in the air as the ducks do +their tails. The creatures are perfectly amphibious; they don't +care who sees them, and their forms are perfect. Then there are +little lazaroni who ape the big ones. Met a christening this +morning, and then a funeral. The wet nurse, full dressed, was +carried in a sedan chair down the middle of the street, and the +child, dressed also, held out of the window in her arms, and so +she was going to church. The funeral was a priest's--a long file +of penitents in white, carrying torches, a bier covered with +crimson and gold, and the priest dressed in robes and exposed +upon it, a ghastly sight, with a chalice in his hand and a book +at his feet, other priests following, the cross borne before him. +When young girls are buried in this way, they are gaily dressed +with chaplets of flowers, a flower in the mouth, and flowers at +their feet. + +Rode to the race-course and round the hills; such views and such +an evening! At seven o'clock I could see the houses at Sorrento, +nineteen miles off on the other side of the Bay. Dined with +Acton; none but English. In the evening went to Toledo, the +Spanish Ambassador's. The Duc de Dalberg talked of an association +to excavate at Calabria and Apulia. The Government reserves four +places--Pompeii, Paestum, Stabiae, Herculaneum--for its own use, +and anybody may excavate elsewhere who will be at the trouble and +expense. + + +[Page Head: ANTIQUE PAINTING] + +April 29th, 1830 {p.346} + +On Tuesday again to the Museum and the King's Palace; rather +fine, good house, very ridiculous pictures of the royal families +of Naples and Spain. The Duchess of Floridia's apartment (old +Ferdinand's wife) is delightful; the rooms are furnished with +blue satin and white silk, opening upon a terrace covered with +orange-trees, flowers, and shaded walks, and looks over the Bay. +A few fine pictures, but not many. There is a bath, built after +one of those at Pompeii. + +From what I saw at the Museum, I see no reason to doubt that the +ancients were as excellent in painting as in sculpture; there are +some very exquisite paintings taken from Pompeii. Then we are not +to believe that the best have been found, or that a provincial +town contained the finest specimens of the art. Painted on walls, +they appear deficient in light and shade, but the drawing and +expression, and sometimes the colouring (allowing for spoiling), +are very good. There are some Cupids playing at games, and +driving chariots, very like the Julio Romanos in the Lanti Villa +at Rome, which indeed were borrowed from the ancient frescoes +discovered in the Baths of Titus. The bronzes taken out of +Herculaneum and Pompeii are very interesting, because they +display the whole domestic economy of the ancients, and their +excellent taste in furniture, sacrificial instruments, &c., but +there is nothing particularly curious in the fact of their pots +and pans being like our pots and pans, for if they were to boil +and stew they could not well have performed those operations with +a different kind of utensils. However, all the people marvel at +them; they seem to think the Romans must have been beings of a +different organisation, and that everything that is not +dissimilar is strange. What is really curious is a surgical +instrument which was lately found, exactly similar to one +invented thirty years ago in France. The lava would not touch +bronze; the iron was always encrusted and spoilt, but the bronze +things all look like new. + + +May 2nd, 1830 {p.347} + +Went to the Lake of Agnano and the Grotto del Cane; very pretty +lake, evidently the crater of a volcano; saw the dog perform; a +sight neither interesting nor cruel; the dog did not mind it a +bit, and the old woman must make a fortune, for she had eight +carlins for it. The grotto is very hot and steaming; a torch goes +out held near the ground, and when I put my face down the steam +from the earth went up my nose like salts. Virgil's Tomb, which +is very picturesque, and from whence the common view of Naples is +taken; there has been plenty of discussion whether it really is +Virgil's tomb or not. Forsyth seems to doubt it, with one of his +off-hand flings at the authority for its being so, a sort of 'Who +the Devil, I humbly beg to know, is Donatus?' but there is +tradition in its favour, the fact of Virgil having been buried +here or hereabouts, and the honour being claimed by no other +spot. When there is probability it is unwise to be so very +sceptical: take away names, and what are the places themselves? +Here not much, at Rome nothing. + + +[Page Head: RUINS ABOUT NAPLES] + +Thursday. {p.348} + +Went a long and most beautiful ride up to the Camaldoli, from +which the view extends over sea and land to an immense distance +in every direction. + + Thus was this place + A happy rural seat of various views. + +The convent was once very rich, but the French stripped all the +convents of their property, which they have never since +recovered. It is remarkably clean and spacious. Each monk has a +house of his own containing two or three little rooms, and a +little garden, and they only eat together on particular days. The +old man who took us about said he had been there since he was +eighteen, had been turned out by the French, but came back as +soon as he could, and had never regretted becoming a monk. He +showed me a bust of the founder of their order (I think San +Romualdo), and when I asked him how many years ago it was +founded, he said, 'Perhaps 2,000.' I said when I became a monk I +would go to that convent, when he asked very seriously if I was +going to be a monk. I said, 'Not just yet.' 'Very well,' he said; +'you must pay 120 ducats, and you can come here.' We went down a +road cut for miles in the mountain, very narrow and steep, +through shady lanes, groves, and vineyards (with magnificent +views), through Pianura to Pozzuoli, entering by the old Roman +road and Street of Tombs. The _columbaria_ in the Street of Tombs +are the best worth seeing _ejus generis_ of any. Went to the +Temple of Jupiter Serapis, of which there are very curious +remains. + + Hard by the reverent ruins + Of a once glorious temple, reared to Jove, + Whose very rubbish (like the pitied fall + Of virtue, most unfortunate) yet bears + A deathless majesty, though now quite rased, + Hurl'd down by wrath and lust of impious kings, + So that where holy Flamens wont to sing + Sweet hymns to Heaven, there the daw and crow, + The ill-voiced raven, and still chattering pie + Send out ungrateful sounds. + MARSTON. + +To the ruins of the Amphitheatre, from the top of which there is +one of the finest views I ever saw of the Bay of Baiae and the +islands; and then to the Solfaterra. The ruins scattered about +Naples (those at Pozzuoli, for instance) are far more extensive +than most of those at Rome, but partly 'carent quia vate sacro,' +and partly because there are no well-known names attached to +them, the ground is not so holy, and little is said or thought +about them. If these temples were at Rome, what an uproar they +would cause! The Solfaterra is remarkable as a sort of link +between the quick and the dead volcanoes; it is considered +extinct, but the earth is hot, the sulphur strong, and at a +particular spot, when a hole is made, it hisses and throws up +little stones and ashes, and exhibits a sort of volcano in +miniature, but the surface of the crater is overgrown with +vegetation. The road to Naples by the convent of the Jesuits and +Chapel of St. Januarius is the most beautiful I ever saw, +particularly towards sunset, when the colouring is so rich and +varied. It lies over a crest commanding a prospect of the +mountains on one side and the sea on the other. + + Quid mille revolvam + Culmina visendique vices. + + +May 3rd, 1830 {p.349} + +We sailed across the Bay to Resina, to see Herculaneum, the old +and new excavations. At the new there are only seven or eight men +at work; the old are hardly worth seeing. So much earth and +cinders are mixed with the lava in the new part, that they might +excavate largely if they would spend money enough; at present +they have only excavated one or two houses, but have found some +bronzes and marbles. The houses are laid open, just like those at +Pompeii. + +[Page Head: ASCENT OF VESUVIUS] + +The next day Morier, Watson, and I set off to ascend Vesuvius; we +rode on donkeys from Salvatore's house to the bottom of the last +ascent, which was rather less formidable than I expected, though +fatiguing enough. Another party went up at the same time: one man +of that party, Watson, and I walked up alone; the others were all +lugged up. They take the bridles off the donkeys and put them on +the men; the luggee holds by this tackle and the guide goes +before him. After infinite puffing and perspiring, and resting at +every big stone, I reached the top in thirty-five minutes. It was +very provoking to see the facility with which the creatures who +attended us sprang up. There was one fellow with nothing on but a +shirt and half a pair of breeches, who walked the whole way from +Resina with a basket on his head full of wine, bread, and +oranges, and while we were slipping, and clambering, and toiling +with immense difficulty he bounded up, with his basket on his +head, as straight as an arrow all the time, and bothering us to +drink when we had not breath to answer. I took three or four +oranges, some bread, and a bottle of wine of him at the top, and +when I asked Salvatore what I should pay him, he said two carlins +(eightpence English). I gave him three (a shilling), and he was +transported. It was a magnificent evening, and the sunset from +the top of Vesuvius (setting in the sea) a glorious sight-- + + For the sun, + Declined, was hastening now with prone career + To the ocean's isles, and in th' ascending scale + Of heaven the stars, that usher evening, rose. + +The view, too, all round is very grand; the towns round the Bay +appear so clear, yet so minute. I had formed to myself a very +different idea of the crater, of which the dimensions are very +deceitful; it is so much larger than it appears. The bottom of +the crater is flat, covered with masses of lava and sulphur, but +anybody may walk all about it. At one end stands what looks like +a little black hillock, from which smoke was rising, as it was +from various crevices in different parts; that little hillock is +the crater from which all eruptions burst. The mountain was +provokingly still, and only gave one low grumble and a very small +emission of smoke and fire while we were there; it has never been +more tranquil. The descent is very good fun, galloping down the +cinders; you have only to take care not to tumble over the +stones; slipping is impossible. The whole ascent of the mountain +is interesting, particularly in that part which is like a great +ocean of lava, and where the guides point out the courses of the +different eruptions, all of which may be distinctly traced. We +got to the Hermitage just as it was dark; there was still a red +tint round the western horizon, and the islands were dimly +shadowed out, while the course of the Bay was marked by a +thousand dancing lights. Salvatore has especial care of the +mountain under the orders of Government, to whom he is obliged to +make a daily report of its state, and he is as fond of it as a +nurse of a favourite child, or a trainer at Newmarket of his best +race-horse, and delights in telling anecdotes of old eruptions +and phenomena, and of different travellers who have ascended it. + +Two years ago an English merchant here laid a bet of 200 +napoleons that he would go from Resina[2] to the top in an hour +and a half. Salvatore went with him, and they did it in an hour +and thirteen minutes. The Englishman rode relays of horses, but +the guide went the whole way on foot, and the best part of the +ascent had to drag up his companion He said it nearly killed him, +and he did not recover from it for several weeks; he is 53 years +old, but a very handsome man. He said, however, that the fatigue +of this exploit was not so painful as what he went through in +carrying the Duke of Buckingham to the top; he was carried up in +a chair by twelve men, and the weight was so enormous that his +shoulder was afterwards swelled up nearly to his head. When the +Duke got down he gave a great dinner (on the mountain), which he +had brought with him to celebrate the exploit. Salvatore said +that he continues to write to many scientific men in various +parts of Europe when anything remarkable occurs in the mountain, +and talked of Buckland, Playfair, and Davy. We got down to Resina +about half-past nine, and at ten embarked again and sailed over +to Castel-a-Mare, where we arrived at one o'clock. + + [2] From Salvatore's house at Resina to the top of the + mountain is seven miles; from the Hermitage to the top, + 3-1/3. It is a mile and 200 feet from the bottom of the + ascent (on foot) to the top, 800 feet from the point we + first gain to the bottom of the crater; the inner + crater (or black hill, as I call it) is 230 feet high + and 180 feet in circumference. The miles are Neapolitan + miles, about three-fourths of an English mile. + +The next morning Mr. Watson and I got a six-oared boat (with +sails) and went to Sorrento. Castel-a-Mare and the whole coast +are beautiful. Landed a mile from Sorrento, and walked by a path +cut in the rock to the Cocomella, a villa with a magnificent +prospect of the Bay exactly opposite Naples. + + Placido lunata recessu + Hinc atque hinc curvas perrumpunt aequora rupes. + Dat natura locum, montique intervenit imum + Litus et in terras scopulis pendentibus exit. + +Then to the town to see the curiosities, which are the Piscine, +Tasso's house, and some very romantic caverns in a wild dell +under the bridge at Sorrento; all very well worth seeing, but +Tasso's house was locked, so we could not get to the terrace. +Just as we arrived at Sorrento we found they were performing a +ceremony which takes place there every year on the 1st of May, +and there only--the benediction of the flowers, the ushering in +the may. + + With songs and dance they celebrate the day, + And with due honours usher in the may. + +It was in the Archiepiscopal church, which was gaily adorned with +hangings of various colours, gold and silver and flowers, full of +people, all in their best attire. A priest in the pulpit opposite +the Archbishop's throne called on the representatives of the +different parishes (seven in number), who advanced in succession, +each bearing a huge cross fifteen or twenty feet high, entirely +made of flowers, and adorned with garlands and devices, all +likewise of the most brilliant flowers, and, as each came up, a +little cannon was fired off. They were blessed in succession, and +then deposited around the throne of the Archbishop, who, after +this ceremony was concluded, went up to the altar and celebrated +High Mass. They told me that this festival had taken place at +Sorrento from the remotest time. + +After seeing the Piscine we went into a garden above, where there +was a profusion of orange and lemon trees, loaded with ripe +fruit; the oranges we pulled off the trees and ate; they were +excellent, and as red as Morella cherries-- + + Whose fruit, burnished with golden rind, + Hung amiable, Hesperian fables true, + If true, here only, of delicious taste. + +We could not stay long at Sorrento, and were four hours rowing +across the Bay to Naples. Dined with Hill at the Villa Belvidere +(a delicious villa on the Vomero), with a large, tiresome party, +principally English. + +[Page Head: THE BLOOD OF SAN GENNARO] + +Yesterday the miracle of the blood of San Gennaro was performed, +and of course successfully; it will be repeated every morning for +eight days. I went to-day to the Cathedral, where San Gennaro's +silver bust was standing on one side of the altar, surrounded by +lights, and the vessel containing the blood on the other. Round +the altar were ranged silver heads of various saints, his +particular friends, who had accompanied him there to do him +honour, and who will be taken this evening with him in procession +to his own chapel. Acton and I went together, and one of the +people belonging to the church seeing us come in, and judging +that we wanted to see the blood, summoned one of the canons, who +was half asleep in a stall, who brought out the blood, which is +contained in a glass vase mounted with silver. It liquefies in +the morning, remains in that state all day, and congeals again at +night. A great many people were waiting to kiss the vessel, which +was handed to us first. We kissed it, and then it went round, +each person kissing it and touching it with his head, as they do +St. Peter's foot at Rome. San Gennaro and his silver companions +were brought in procession from one of the other churches, all +the nobility and an immense crowd attending. I had fancied that +the French had exposed and put an end to this juggle, but not at +all. They found the people so attached to the superstition that +they patronised it; they adorned the Chapel of St. Januarius with +a magnificent altarpiece and other presents. The first time +(after they came to Naples) that the miracle was to be performed +the blood would not liquefy, which produced a great ferment among +the people. It was a trick of the priests to throw odium on the +French, and the French General Championnet thought it so serious +that he sent word that if the blood did not liquefy forthwith the +priests should go to the galleys. It liquefied immediately, and +the people were satisfied. Acton told me that nobody believed it +but the common people, but that they did not dare to leave it +off. It is what is called a false position to be in, when they +are obliged to go on pretending to perform a miracle in which no +men of sense and education believe, and in which it is well known +they don't any of them believe themselves. Miracles, if sometimes +useful and profitable, are sometimes awkward incumbrances. Drove +round the obscure parts of the town, and through dense masses of +population, by the old palace of Queen Joan and the market place, +which was the scene of Masaniello's sedition. He was killed in +the great church (in 1646). + + +May 4th, 1830 {p.354} + +To the Museum, and saw the mummies which have been unrolled; they +are like thin, black, shrivelled corpses; hair and shape of face +perfect, even the eyelids. The canvas fold in which they are +wrapped quite fresh-looking; the best preserved is 3,055 years +old. Amongst the bronzes there is a bust of Livia with a wig. +Dined with Toledo, the Spanish Minister. The women put their +knives into their mouths, and he is always kissing his wife's +hand--an ugly little old woman. Toledo was Romana's aide-de-camp. + + +May 5th, 1830 {p.354} + +To Cumae, and dined at the Lake of Fusaro with the Talbots and +Lushingtons; not a pretty lake, but the country near it pretty +enough. A splendid sunset, with real purple. 'Lumine vestit +purpureo.' + + +[Page Head: THE BLOOD OF SAN GENNARO] + +May 7th, 1830 {p.355} + +In the morning to the Chapel of St. Januarius, to see the blood +liquefy. The grand ceremony was last Saturday at the Cathedral, +but the miracle is repeated every morning in the Chapel for eight +days. I never saw such a scene, at once so ludicrous and so +disgusting, but more of the latter. There was the saint, all +bedizened with pearls, on the altar, the other silver ladies and +gentlemen all round the chapel, with an abundance of tapers +burning before them. Certain people were admitted within the +rails of the altar; the crowd, consisting chiefly of women, and +most of them old women, were without. There is no service, but +the priests keep muttering and looking at the blood to see if it +is melting. To-day it was unusually long, so these old Sibyls +kept clamouring, 'Santa Trinità!' 'Santa Vergine!' 'Dio +onnipotente!' 'San Gennaro!' in loud and discordant chorus; still +the blood was obstinate,[3] so the priest ordered them to go down +on their knees and to say the Athanasian Creed, which is one of +the specifics resorted to in such a case. He drawled it out with +his eyes shut, and the women screamed the responses. This would +not do, so they fell to abuse and entreaties with a vehemence and +volubility, and a shrill clamour, which was at once a proof of +their sincerity and their folly. Such noise, such gesticulations. +One woman I never shall forget, with outstretched arm, distorted +visage, and voice of piercing sharpness. In the meantime the +priest handed about the phial to be kissed, and talked the matter +over with the bystanders. 'È sempre duro?' 'Sempre duro, adesso +v' è una piccola cosa.' At last, after all the handling, praying, +kissing, screaming, entreating, and abusing, the blood did +melt,[4] when the organ struck up, they all sang in chorus, and +so it ended. It struck me as particularly disgusting, though +after all it is not fair to abuse these poor people, who have all +been brought up in the belief of the miracle, and who fancy that +the prosperity of their city and all that it contains is somehow +connected with its due performance. The priests could not +discontinue it but by acknowledging the imposture, and by an +imaginative people, who are the slaves of prejudice, and attached +to it by force of inveterate habit, the acknowledgment would not +be believed, and they would only incur odium by it; there it is, +and (for some time at least) it must go on. + + [3] I dined at Hill's; sat next to the Duchess de Dalberg, + talked of the miracle, which she told me she firmly + believed. I fancied none believed it but the lowest of + the people, and was (very foolishly) astonished; for + what ought ever to produce astonishment which has to do + with credulity in matters of religion? + + [4] Illarum lacrymae meditataque murmura praestant,-- + Juvenal, 6. + +Went up to Craven's villa (this is the villa at which the amour +between the present Queen of Naples and Captain Hess was carried +on), and sat there doing nothing in the middle of flowers, and +sea breezes, and beautiful views. To comprehend all the luxury of +the _bel far niente_ one must come to Naples, where idleness +loses half its evil by losing all its enervating qualities; there +is something in the air so elastic that I have never been at any +place where I have felt as if I could make exertions so easily as +here, and yet it is a great pleasure to sit and look at the Bay, +the mountains, the islands, and the town, and watch its amusing +inhabitants. At least half an hour of every morning is spent at +my window, while I am dressing, watching the lazaroni, who fish, +work, swim, dress, cook, play, and quarrel under it. At this +moment the scene is as follows:--Half a dozen boats with awnings +and flags moored off the landing-place, a few fishing-boats with +men mending their nets, three fellows swimming about them, two +with red caps on perched upon the wall playing at cards, two or +three more looking on, one on the ground being shaved by a barber +with a basin (the exact counterpart of Mambrino's helmet), and +two or three more waiting their turn for the same operation-- +always a certain number lounging about, others smoking or asleep. + + +[Page Head: ASTRONI] + +May 8th, 1830 {p.355} + +Rode with a large party to Astroni, where they dined, but I did +not. There were the Lushingtons, Prince and Princess Dentici (he +is at the head of the Douane), Madame and Mademoiselle Galiati +(she is remarkably pretty), Count (I believe) and Countess +Rivalvia, her uncle, Lord A. Chichester, Count Gregorio, and a +Mr. Stuart. The park, or whatever it is called--for it is the +King's chase and full of wild boars--is one of the most beautiful +and curious places about Naples. Milton's description of the +approach to Eden applies exactly to Astroni; if ever he saw it it +is likely that he meant to describe it-- + + To the border comes + Of Eden, where delicious Paradise, + Now nearer, crowns with her enclosure green, + As with a rural mound, the champaign head + Of a steep wilderness, whose hairy sides, + With thicket overgrown, grotesque, and wild, + Access denied; and overhead up grew + Insuperable height of loftiest shade, + A sylvan scene, and as the ranks ascend + Shade above shade, a woody theatre + Of stateliest view. + +It is an immense crater of a volcano, the amphitheatre quite +unbroken, and larger than that of Vesuvius, but covered with +wood, and the bottom with very fine trees of various sorts and +with fern--very wild and picturesque. There are several little +hillocks, supposed to have been small craters; but although it is +proved that this was a volcano from the lava under the soil and +from its shape, there is no mention of it as an active volcano, +and nobody can tell how many thousand years ago it was in +operation. The King, with his usual good taste, is cutting down +the finest trees, and has made a ride round the bottom, which he +has planted with poplars in a double row, spoiling as much as he +can all the beauty of the place. They dined in a shady arbour, +made on purpose with branches of trees bound together, and on +beds of fern, were very merry, pelting each other with oranges +and cherries, and dealing about an abundance of manual jests. + +_Evening._--I have taken my last ride and last look at Naples, +and am surprised at the sorrow I feel at quitting it, as I fear, +for ever. Rode again to Astroni with Morier, and walked through +the wood and tried to scale one of the sides of the mountain, but +lost the path, and could only get half-way up; it is the most +beautiful place about Naples. Came back by the Strada Nuova, and +saw for the last time that delicious Bay with its coast and its +islands, which are as deeply imprinted on my memory as if I had +passed my life among them. To-night I have stood once more by the +shore, and could almost have cried to think I should never see it +again-- + + The smooth, surface of this summer sea-- + +nor breathe this delicious air, nor feast my eyes on the scene of +gaiety, and brilliancy, and beauty around me. Nobody can form an +idea of Naples without coming to it; every gale seems to bring +health and cheerfulness with it, and appears 'able to drive all +sadness but despair.' + +Naples, they tell me, does very well for a short time, but you +will soon grow tired of it. To be sure, I have been here only +three weeks, but I liked it better every day, and I am wretched +at leaving it. What could I ever mean by thinking it was not gay, +and less lively than Genoa? To-night, as I came home from riding, +the shore was covered with lazaroni and throngs of people, +dancing, singing, harping, fiddling--all so merry, and as if the +open air and their own elastic spirits were happiness enough. I +suppose I shall never come again, for when I have measured back +the distance to my own foggy country, there I shall settle for +ever, and Naples and her sunny shores and balmy winds will only +be as a short and delightful dream, from which I have waked too +soon. + + + + + CHAPTER X. + +Mola di Gaeta--Capua--Lines on leaving Naples--Return to Rome-- + The Aqueducts--'Domine, quo vadis?'--St. Peter's--The Scala + Santa--Reasons in favour of San Gennaro--Ascent of St. + Peter's--Library of the Vatican--A racing _ex voto_--Illness of + George IV.--Approaching _Coup d'état_ in France--The Villa + Mills--The Malaria--Duc and Duchesse de Dalberg--The Emperor + Nicholas on his Accession--Cardinal Albani--A _Columbarium_-- + Maii--Sir William Gell--Tivoli--Hadrian's Villa--The Adventures + of Miss Kelly and Mr. Swift--Audience of the Pope--Gibson's + Studio--End of Miss Kelly's Marriage--A great Function--The + Jesuits--Saint-making--San Lorenzo in Lucina--The Flagellants-- + Statues by Torchlight--Bunsen on the State of Rome--Fiascati-- + Relations of Protestant States with Rome--The French Ministry-- + M. de Villèle--The Coliseum--Excommunication of a Thief--The + Passionists--The Corpus Domini--A Rash Marriage--Farewell to + Rome--Falls of Terni--Statue at Pratolino--Bologna-- + Mezzofanti--Ferrara--Venice--Padua--Vicenza--Brescia--Verona-- + Milan--Lago Maggiore--The Simplon--Geneva--Paris. + + +Mola di Gaeta, May 9th, 1830 {p.359} + +I have dined here on an open terrace (looking over the garden and +the delicious Bay), where I have been sitting writing the whole +evening. The moon is just rising, and throwing a flood of silver +over the sea-- + + Rising in cloudless majesty, + Apparent queen, unveiled her peerless light + And o'er the dark her silver mantle threw. + +We left Naples at half-past seven in the morning, went to +Caserta, and walked over the palace, in which nothing struck me +but the dimensions, the staircase, and a few of the rooms. The +theatre is very well contrived; it is at one end of the palace, +and the back of it opens by large folding doors into the garden, +so that they can have any depth of stage they please, and arrange +any pageants or cavalcades. This could, however, only be at a +theatre in a country house. Thence to Capua, and went over the +Amphitheatre, which is very remarkable. It is said to be larger +than the Coliseum, but the arena did not appear to me so vast. +Here we are in the land of names again, and it is impossible for +the imagination not to run over the grandeur, luxury, and fate of +Capua, for on the very spot on which I was standing (for the +chief places are ascertained) in all probability Hannibal often +sat to see the games.[1] + + [1] No such thing. _His_ Capua was nearly destroyed, and if + it had an amphitheatre it would have been ruined. These + ruins must have belonged to Capua the Second, which was + restored by Augustus or Tiberius, and became as + flourishing and populous as the first had been.-- + [C.C.G.] + +The Italian postilions, it must be owned, are a comical set. They +sometimes go faster than ever I went in England, then at others +they creep like snails, and stop at the least inclined plane to +put on the _scarpa_. The occasions they generally select for +going fast are when they have six horses harnessed to the +carriage, and so extend about ten yards, on slippery pavement, +through very narrow streets, extremely crowded with women and +children; then they will flog their horses to full speed, and +clatter along without fear or shame. Nothing happens; I have +remarked that nothing ever does anywhere in Italy. + +I have walked over this garden [at Gaeta], which contains remains +of one of Cicero's villas, but they are only arched rooms like +vaults, and not worth seeing but for the name of Cicero, and the +recollection that he was murdered almost on this spot. He had +good taste in his villas, for this bay is as placid and delicious +as that of Baiae. There is an ancient bath, which probably +belonged to the villa; it is in the sea, and still available, +when cleaned out, which just now it is not. + + +[Page Head: LINES ON LEAVING NAPLES] + +Rome, May 10th, 1830 {p.360} + +Left Mola at half-past seven and got here at ten minutes after +seven. It was so kind as to rain last night and this morning, and +lay the dust all the way. Stopped at Terracina, and went to see +the ancient port, which is worth seeing. The road is pretty all +the way, but the scenery in Italy wants verdure and foliage. The +beauty of these landscapes consists in the bold outlines, lofty +mountains, abundant vegetation, and bright atmosphere, and they +are always better to look at from a little distance than very +near. Aricia is pretty well wooded. I found a parcel of letters +with the London news; but the post is enough to drive one mad, +for I got one of the 23rd of April and another of the 19th of +March on the same day. + + _ON TAKING LEAVE OF NAPLES._ + (Written in a carriage between Naples and Mola di Gaeta.) + '_Nascitur poeta._' + + Though not a spark of true poetic fire + Beamed at my birth, or on my cradle fell, + Though rude my numbers, and untuned my lyre, + I will not leave thee with a mute farewell. + + I cannot see recede thy sunny shore, + Nor ling'ring look my last upon thy bay, + And know that they will meet my gaze no more, + Yet tearless take my unreturning way. + + 'Tis not that Love laments his broken toys, + Nor is it Friendship murmurs to depart, + Touching the chords of recollected joys + Which ring with sad vibration on the heart. + + Nor bound am I in Habit's unfelt chain, + Which o'er the fancy steals with gradual pow'r, + Till local sympathy awakes in pain, + That slept unconscious till the parting hour. + + But 'tis the charm, so great, yet undefin'd, + That Nature's self around fair Naples throws, + Which now excites and elevates the mind, + And now invites it to no dull repose. + + No exhalations damp the spirits choke, + That feed on ether temp'rate and serene; + No yellow fogs, or murky clouds of smoke, + Obscure the lustre of this joyous scene. + + The God of Gladness with prolific ray + Bids the rich soil its teeming womb expand, + While healthful breezes, cooled with Ocean's spray, + Scatter a dewy freshness o'er the land. + + No mountain billow's huge uplifted crest + Lashes the foaming beach with sullen roar; + The smooth sea sparkles in unbroken rest, + Or lightly rakes upon the pebbled shore. + + The Ocean's Monarch on these golden sands + Seems the luxurious laws of Love to own,[2] + And yield his trident to Thalassia's hands, + To rule the waters from the Baian throne. + + Here the green olive, and the purple vine, + The lofty poplar and the elm espouse, + Or round the mulberry their tendrils twine, + Or creep in clusters through the ilex boughs. + + A thousand flow'rs, enamelling the fields, + Declare the presence of returning spring; + A various harvest smiling Ceres yields, + And all the groves with vocal music sing. + + Earth, air, and sea th' enchantment of the clime, + Revived that young elation of the breast + When Hope, undaunted, saw the form of Time + In Fancy's gay, deluding colours drest, + + And though those visions are for ever fled + Which in the morning of existence rose, + And all the false and flatt'ring hopes are dead + That vainly promised a serener close. + + I'll snatch the joys which spite of fate remain + To cheer life's darkness with a transient ray, + And oft in vivid fancy roam again + Through these blest regions when I'm far away. + + [2] The Temple of Venus stands upon the shore of the Bay of + Baiae. + + +[Page Head: THE AQUEDUCTS] + +Rome, May 13th, 1830 {p.362} + +_11th._--Walked about visiting to announce my return, and found +nobody at home. Hired a horse and rode with Lovaine till near +eight o'clock; rode by the Via Sacra two or three miles along the +Street of Tombs--very interesting and curious--and then cut +across to the ruin of an old villa, where an apartment floored +with marble has lately been discovered, evidently a bath, and a +very large one; on to Torlonia's _scavo_ and under the arches of +the Claudian aqueduct. Nothing at Rome delights and astonishes +me more than the aqueducts, the way they stretch over the +Campagna--[3] + + As some earth-born giants spread + Their mighty arms along th' indented mead. + +And when you approach them how admirable are their vastness and +solidity--each arch in itself a fabric, and the whole so +venerable and beautiful. After all my delight at Naples I +infinitely prefer Rome; there is a tranquil magnificence and +repose about Rome, and an indefinable pleasure in the atmosphere, +the colouring, and the ruins, which are better felt than +described. We lingered about the aqueducts till dark, but there +is hardly any twilight here; the sun sets, and in half an hour it +is night. Almost everybody is gone or going, but the heat can't +have driven them away, for it is perfectly cool. + + [3] The Claudian aqueduct, which is the grandest, and whose + enormous remains form the great ornament of the + Campagna, was begun by Caligula, and finished by + Claudius. The structure of the arches is exactly like + those of the Coliseum. The first aqueduct was built by + Appius Caecus, the censor, the same who laid down the + Via Appia, 310 B.C. + +As we set out on our ride we passed a little church called +'Domine, quo vadis?' which was built on this occasion:--St. Peter +was escaping from Rome (he was a great coward, that Princeps +Apostolorum), and at this spot he met Christ, and said to him, +'Domine, quo vadis?' 'Why,' replied our Saviour, 'I am going to +be crucified over again, for you are running away, and won't stay +to do my business here;' on which St. Peter returned to suffer in +his own person, and the church was built in commemoration of the +event. The Saint has no reason to be flattered at the character +which is given of him by the pious editors of his Epistles. +'Confidence and zeal form a conspicuous part of his character, +but he was sometimes deficient in firmness and resolution. He had +the faith to walk upon the water, but when the sea grew +boisterous his faith deserted him and he became afraid. He was +forward to acknowledge Jesus to be the Messiah, and declared +himself ready to die in that profession, and yet soon after he +thrice denied, and with oaths, that he knew anything of Jesus. +The warmth of his temper led him to cut off the ear of the High +Priest's servant, and by his timidity and dissimulation +respecting the Gentile converts at Antioch he incurred the +censure of the eager and resolute St. Paul.' + +[Page Head: MODERN MIRACLES] + +We returned through the Porta di San Giovanni, and by the Scala +Santa. There are three flights of steps; those in the middle are +covered with wood (that the marble may not be worn out), and +these are the holy steps; the other two are for the pious to walk +down. I had no idea anybody ever went up on their knees, though I +was aware they were not allowed to go up on their feet, and with +no small surprise saw several devout females in the performance +of this ceremony. They walk up the vestibule, drop upon their +knees, rise and walk over the landing-place, carefully tuck up +their gowns, drop again, and then up they toil in the most absurd +and ridiculous postures imaginable. + + Weak in their limbs, but in devotion strong, + On their bare hands and feet they crawl along. + DRYDEN, _Juv._ 6. + +I suppose there is some spiritual advantage derivable from the +action, but I don't know what. Why, however, I should be +surprised I can't tell, after all I have seen here. Madame de +Dalberg came to my recollection, and San Gennaro; she had owned +to me that she believed in the miracle, and we had a long dispute +about it, though I have since thought that I am wrong to regard +her credulity with such pity and contempt. The case admits of an +argument, though not that which she made use of. Many people are +right in what they do, but without knowing why; some wrong, with +very fair reasons. She, however, is wrong both ways, but she had +been brought up in principles of strong religious belief, and she +belongs to a church which teaches that miracles have never ceased +from the days of the Apostles till now. Those who believe that a +miracle ever was performed cannot doubt that another _may_ be +performed now; the only question is as to the fact. _We_ believe +that miracles ceased with the Apostles, and we pronounce all that +are alleged to have happened since to be fictitious. Believing as +she does that miracles have continually occurred, it is more +reasonable to believe in the reality of one she sees herself than +in those which are reported by others. She sees this done; it is, +then, a miracle or it is an imposture; but it is declared to be a +miracle by a whole body of men, who must know whether it be so or +not, and to whom she has been accustomed to look up with respect +and confidence, and who have always been deemed worthy of belief. +What is it, then, she believes? The evidence of her own senses, +and the testimony of a number of men, and a succession of them, +who are competent witnesses, and whose characters are for the +most part unblemished, in her opinion certainly. The objection +that it is improbable, and that no sufficient reason is assigned +for its performance, is quite inadmissible, as all considerations +of reason are in matters of revelation. + + And when the event only is revealed, it is not for men to + dogmatise about the mode or means of its accomplishment, + for God's ways are not as our ways, nor His thoughts as + our thoughts, and His purposes may be wrought out in a + manner that we wot not.--KEITH. + +There is nothing of which we are so continually reminded as that +we must not pretend to judge of the reasonableness and fitness of +the Divine dispensations, and there may therefore be good cause +for the San Gennaro affair, though we cannot fathom it. Still, as +the generality of people of education have given it up, one +wonders at the orthodox few whose belief lingers on. There are +other bloods that liquefy in various places besides San +Gennaro's. + +_12th._--Walked to Santa Agnese, in the Piazza Navona, a pretty +church, but hardly anybody in it; to Santa Maria sopra Minerva, +empty likewise, but Michael Angelo's Christ was there--a grand +performance, though defective about the legs, which are too +thick; he has one golden foot for the devotees, who were wearing +out the marble toe, and would soon have had it as smooth as that +of Jupiter's in St. Peter's; _ci-devant_ Jupiter, now St. Peter. + +I went again to the Pantheon, and walked round and round, and +looked, and admired; even the ragged wretches who came in seemed +struck with admiration. It is so fine to see the clouds rolling +above through the roof; it passes my comprehension how this +temple escaped the general wreck of Rome. Then to St. Peter's, +and went up to the roof and to the ball, through the aperture of +which I could just squeeze, though there is plenty of room when +once in it. The ball holds above thirty people, stuffed close of +course. Three other men were going up at the same time, who +filled the narrow ascent with garlicky effluvia. It is impossible +to have an idea of the size and grandeur of St. Peter's without +going over the roof, and examining all the details, and looking +down from the galleries. The ascent is very easy; there are +slabs at the bottom taken from the holy gates, as they were +successively opened and closed by the different Popes at the +Jubilees.[4] At the top were recorded the ascents of various +kings and princes and princesses, who had clambered up; there was +also an inscription in Latin and Italian, the very counterpart of +that which is still seen on the wall in Titus's Baths, only +instead of 'Jovem omnipotentem atque omnes Deos iratos habeat,' +&c. &c., it runs, 'Iratos habeat Deum omnipotentem et Apostolos +Petrum et Paulum,' though I don't see why Paul should care about +it. Went afterwards and walked on the Pincian. + + [4] The Jubilee was established by Boniface VIII. in 1300, + and was originally a centenary commemoration, but + reduced to fifty years, and afterwards to twenty-five, + as it still continues. Hallam remarks that the Court of + Rome at the next Jubilee will read with a sigh the + description of that of 1300. 'The Pope received an + incalculable sum of money, for two priests stood day + and night at the altar of St. Peter, with rakes in + their hands, raking up the heaps of money.'--MURATORI. + +This morning went with the Lovaines and Monsignore Spada to see +the library of the Vatican, which was to have been shown us by +Monsignore Maii, the librarian, but he was engaged elsewhere and +did not come. These galleries are most beautiful, vast, and +magnificent, and the painting of the old part interesting and +curious, but that which was done by Pius VI. and Pius VII. has +deformed the walls with such trash as I never beheld; they +present various scenes of the misfortunes of these two Popes, and +certain passages in their lives. The principal manuscripts we saw +were a history of Federigo di Felto, Duke of Urbino, and nephew +of Julius II., beautifully illuminated by Julio Clovio, a scholar +of Giulio Romano. I never saw anything more exquisite than these +paintings. Amongst the most curious of the literary treasures we +saw are a manuscript of some of St. Augustine's works, written +upon a palimpsest of Cicero's 'De Republicâ;' this treatise was +brought to light by Maii; the old Latin was as nearly erased as +possible, but by the application of gall it has been brought out +faintly, but enough to be made out, and completely read: Henry +VIII.'s love-letters to Anne Boleyn, in French and English: +Henry's reply to Luther, the presentation copy to the Pope +(Clement VII.), signed by him twice at the end, in English at the +end of the book, in Latin at the dedication, which is also +written by his own hand, only a line; the pictures representing +St. Peter's in different stages of the work are very curious. In +the print room there is a celestial globe painted by Julio +Romano. + +[Page Head: A RACING VOW] + +Just before I went to the Vatican I read in 'Galignani' the +agreeable intelligence that my mare Lady Emily had beat Clotilde +at Newmarket, which I attribute entirely to my _ex voto_ of a +silver horse-shoe, which I vowed, before I went to Naples, to the +Virgin of the Pantheon in case I won the match; and, as I am +resolved to be as good as my word, I have ordered the horse-shoe, +which is to be sent on Monday, and as soon as it arrives it shall +be suspended amongst all the arms, and legs, and broken gigs, and +heads, and silver hearts, and locks of hair. + +Everybody here is in great alarm about the King (George IV.), who +I have no doubt is very ill. I am afraid he will die before I get +home, and I should like to be in at the death and see all the +proceedings of a new reign; but, now I am here, I must stay out +my time, let what will happen. I shall probably never see Rome +again, and 'according to the law of probability, so true in +general, so false in particular,' I have a good chance of seeing +at least one more King leave us. + + +May 15th, 1830 {p.368} + +I rode with Lord Haddington to the Villa Mellini last evening on +a confounded high-going old hunter of Lord Lynedoch's, which he +gave to William Russell. On my return found Henry de Ros just +arrived, having been stopped at Aquapendente and Viterbo for want +of a _lascia passare._ + +This morning I have been dragging him about the town till he was +half dead. The three last days have been the hottest to which +Rome is subject--not much sun, no wind, but an air like an oven. +The only cool place is St. Peter's, that is delicious. It is the +coolest place in summer and the warmest in winter. We went to St. +Peter's, Coliseum, gallery of the Vatican, Villa Albani, and +Villa Borghese. The Villa Albani I had not seen before; it is a +good specimen of a Roman villa, full of fine things (the finest +of which is the Antinous), but very ill kept up. The Cardinal has +not set his foot in it for a year and a half; there is one walk +of ilexes perfectly shady, but all the rest is exposed to the +sun. The post brought very bad accounts of the King, who is +certainly dying. I have no notion that he will live till I get +home, but they tell me there will be no changes. Gagarin told me +last night that Lieven is to be governor to the Emperor of +Russia's eldest son, that for the present he will retain the +title of Ambassador, and that Matuscewitz will be Chargé +d'Affaires in London. + + +[Page Head: APPROACHING COUP D'ETAT IN FRANCE] + +May 18th, 1830 {p.368} + +Again dragging Henry de Ros about, who likes to see sights, but +is not strong enough to undergo fatigue. Yesterday I called on M. +de la Ferronays, and had a long conversation about French +politics; he is greatly alarmed at the state of affairs in +France, and told me that he had said everything he could to the +King to dissuade him from changing his Ministry and trying a +_coup d'état_, that the King has always been in his heart averse +to a Constitution, and has now got it into his head that there is +a settled design to subvert the royal authority, in which idea he +is confirmed by those about him, 'son petit entourage.' He +anticipates nothing but disaster to the King and disorder in the +country from these violent measures, and says that France was +increasing in prosperity, averse to change, satisfied with its +Government and Constitution, and only desirous of certain +ameliorations in the internal administration of the country, and +of preserving inviolate the institutions it had obtained. He +thinks the success of the expedition to Algiers, if it should +succeed, will have no effect in strengthening the hands of +Polignac; says they committed a capital fault in the beginning by +proroguing the Chambers upon their making that violent Address in +answer to the Speech, that they should immediately have proceeded +to propose the enactment of those laws of which the country +stands in need, when if the Chamber had agreed to them the +Ministry would have appeared to have a majority, and would +thereby gain moral strength; and if they had been rejected, the +King would have had a fine opportunity of appealing to the +nation, and saying that as long as they had attacked him +personally he had passed it by, but as they opposed all those +ameliorations which the state of France required, his people +might judge between him and them, and that this would at least +have given him a chance of success and brought many moderate +people to his side. He added that he had also said the same thing +to Polignac, but without success, that he is totally ignorant of +France and will listen to nobody. I told him that Henry de Ros +had been at Lyons when the Dauphin came, and how ill he was +received by the townspeople and the troops, at which he did not +seem at all surprised, though sorry. + +Went to Santa Maria in Trastevere to-day, the Farnese Palace, the +Farnesina and Spada, Portico d'Ottavia and Mausoleo d'Augusto; +this last not worth seeing at all. The last time I was at the +Spada I did not see the pictures, some of which are very good, +particularly a Judith by Guido, and a Dido by Guercino, which is +damaged, but beautiful. Then to Santa Maria Maggiore and St. John +Lateran, and a ride over the Campagna to the Claudian aqueduct +and Torlonia's _scavo_. + + +May 20th, 1830 {p.370} + +I breakfasted with Mills at his villa on the Palatine; Madame de +Menon, Henry Cheney, Fox, and the Portuguese Charge d'Affaires; +very agreeable: his villa charming; it formerly belonged to +Julius II., and one room is painted in fresco by Raphael and his +scholars, as they say. + +The Portuguese is Donna Maria's officer. The relations of the +Holy See with Portugal are rather anomalous, but sensible. +The Pope says he has nothing to do with politics, does not +acknowledge Don Miguel, but as he is _de facto_ ruler of +Portugal, he must for the good of the Church (whose interests are +not to be abandoned for any temporal considerations) transact +business with him, and so he does. This Envoy is very sanguine as +to the ultimate success of the Queen's cause. + +Went to the Orti Farnesiani and to Livia's Baths, where there is +still some painting and gilding to be seen. Then to the Capitol; +saw the pictures and statues (again), and called on Bunsen, who +told me a colossal head of Commodus could not be Commodus (which +stands in the court of the Capitol); he won't allow anything is +anything. He is full of politics, and thinks the French will get +rid of their domestic difficulties by colonising Africa, and does +not see why they should not as well as the Romans; but he seems a +better antiquary than politician. + +Some pictures in the Capitol are very fine--Domenichino's Sybil +and Santa Barbara, Guercino's Santa Petronella (copied in mosaic +in St. Peter's) and Cleopatra and Antony. There are several +unfinished Guidos, some only just begun. They say he played, and +when he lost and could not pay, painted a picture; so these are +the produce of bad nights, and their progress perhaps arrested by +better. + +To the Borghese Villa. At present I think Chiswick better than +any villa here, but they tell me when I get home and see Chiswick +and remember these I shall think differently. + + +[Page Head: MALARIA] + +May 22nd, 1830 + +Found it absolutely necessary to adopt Roman customs and dine +early and go out after dinner; one must dine at four or at nine. +Went to Raphael's house, which is painted by his scholars, and +one room by himself; a very pretty villa, uninhabited, and +belongs to an old man and an old woman, who will neither live in +it nor let it. Though close to the Villa Borghese, which is +occupied by the malaria, this villa is quite free from it. The +malaria is inexplicable. If it was 'palpable to sight as to +feeling,' it would be like a fog which reaches so far and no +farther. Here are ague and salubrity, cheek by jowl. To the +Pamfili Doria, a bad house with a magnificent view all round +Rome; fine garden in the regular clipped style, but very shady, +and the stone pines the finest here; this garden is well kept. +Malaria again; Rome is blockaded by malaria, and some day will +surrender to it altogether; as it is, it is melancholy to see all +these deserted villas and palaces, scarcely one of which is +inhabited or decently kept. I don't know one palace or villa +which is lived in as we should live in England; the Borghese +Villa is the only one which is really well kept, but Prince +Borghese has £70,000 a year; he lives at Florence and never comes +here, but keeps collecting and filling his villa. The other +morning the ground here was in many parts covered by a thin red +powder, which was known to come from an eruption, and everybody +thought it was Vesuvius, and so travellers reported, but it turns +out to be from Etna or Stromboli. Naples was covered with it, and +the sun obscured, but it is much nearer. Rome must be 300 or 400 +miles from Etna. + + +May 23rd, 1830 {p.371} + +Went to three churches--Nuova, San Giovanni del Fiorentini, San +Agostino; in this latter is Raphael's fresco of the prophet +Isaiah, in the style of M. Angelo, but it did not particularly +strike me. There is a remarkable Madonna here, a great favourite; +her shrine is quite illuminated with lamps and candles, and +adorned with offerings which cover the columns on each side of +the church. Numerous devotees were kissing her gilt foot, and the +Virgin and Child were decked with earrings, bracelets, and jewels +and gold in every shape; the Child, which is of a tawny marble, +looked like some favourite little 'nigger,' so bedizened was he +with finery. She is a much more popular Madonna than my friend of +the Pantheon, to whom I went, as in honour bound, and hung up my +horse-shoe by a purple riband (my racing colour) round one of the +candlesticks on the altar, with this inscription--C.C.G., +P.G.R.N. A.27, 1830.[5] + + [5] [These letters appear to stand for the following votive + inscription: 'Charles Cavendish Greville. _Pro gratias + receptas nuper._ April 27, 1830.'] + +Took H. de Ros to see the Cenci and the skeleton friars, not +exactly birds of a feather; was obliged to squabble with the monk +to get a sight of my old friends the skeletons, who at last let +us in, but would not take any money, which I thought monks never +refused, but my _laquais de place_ said, 'Lo conosco bene, c'è +molto superbo.' Rode along the Via Appia and to Maxentius's +Circus. + + +[Page Head: ACCESSION OF THE EMPEROR NICHOLAS] + +May 24th, 1830 {p.372} + +Called on Sir William Gell at his eggshell of a house and pretty +garden, which he planted himself ten years ago, and calls it the +Boschetto Gellio. He was very agreeable, with stories of Pompeii, +old walls, and ruined cities, besides having a great deal to say +on living objects and passing events. + +Dined with M. de la Ferronays--a great party--and was desired to +hand out Madame la Comtesse de Maistre, wife to the Comte Xavier +de Maistre, author of the 'Voyage autour de ma Chambre' and +'Le Lépreux,' to which works I gave a prodigious number of +compliments. The Dalbergs and Aldobrandinis dined there, and some +French whom I did not know. The Duc de Dalberg and his wife are a +perpetual source of amusement to me, she with her devotion and +believing everything, he with his air _moqueur_ and believing +nothing; she so merry, he so shrewd, and so they squabble +about religion. 'Qui est cet homme?' I said to him when a +ludicrous-looking abbé, broader than he was long, came into the +room. 'Que sais-je? quelque magot.' 'Ah, je m'en vais dire cela à +la Duchesse.' 'Ah, mon cher, n'allez pas me brouiller avec ma +famille.' + +He had been talking to me about La Ferronays the day before, and +said he was a sensible, right-headed man, 'mais diablement +russe;' and last night La Ferronays gave us an account of the +revolt of the Guards on the Emperor Nicholas's accession, of +which he had been a witness--of the Emperor's firmness and +his subsequent conversations with him, all which was very +interesting, and he recounted it with great energy. He said +that the day after the affair of the Guards all the _Corps +Diplomatique_ had gone to him, that he had addressed them in an +admirable discourse and with a firm and placid countenance. He +told them that they had witnessed what had passed, and he had no +doubt would give a faithful relation of it to their several +Courts; that on dismissing them, he had taken him (La Ferronays) +into his closet, when he burst into tears and said, 'You have +just seen me act the part of Emperor; you must now witness the +feelings of the man. I speak to you as to my best friend, from +whom I conceal nothing.' He went on to say that he was the most +miserable of men, forced upon a throne which he had no desire to +mount, having been no party to the abdication of his brother, and +placed in the beginning of his reign in a position the most +painful, irksome, and difficult; but that though he had never +sought this elevation, now that he had taken it on himself he +would maintain and defend it. When La Ferronays had done, +'L'entendez-vous?' said Dalberg. 'Comme il parle avec goût; cela +lui est personnel. L'Empereur ne lui a pas dit la moitié de tout +cela.' + +La Ferronays introduced me to Cardinal Albani, telling him I had +brought him a letter from Madame Craufurd, which I did, and left +it when I was here before. He thought I was just come, and asked +for the letter, which I told his Eminence he had already +received. He had, however, forgotten all about me, my letter, and +old Craaf. We had a long conversation about the Catholic +question, the Duke's duel with Lord Winchelsea (which he had +evidently never heard of), the King's illness, &c. He is like a +very ancient red-legged macaw, but I suppose he is a dandy among +the cardinals, for he wears two stars and two watches. I asked +him to procure me an audience of the Pope, which he promised to +do. Escaped at last from the furnace his room was, and went to +air in the streets; came home early and went to bed. This morning +got up at half-past six, and went to look out for some _columbaria_ +I had heard of out of the Porta Pia, and near Santa Agnese. The +drones at Santa Agnese knew nothing about them, but I met La +Ferronays riding as I was returning in despair, and he showed me +the way to them. They have been discovered about six years, and +are in a garden. The excavation may be fifteen feet by about +eight or nine, more or less, and is full of broken urns and +inscriptions, some of which are very good indeed. One is upon C. +Cargilius Pedagogus:-- + + Vixi quandiu potui, sine lite, sine rixâ, + Sine contentione, sine aere alieno, amicis fidem + Bonam praestiti, peculio pauper, animo divitissimus, + Benè valeat is qui hoc titulum perlegit meum. + +Another-- + + Lucius Virius Sancius aet. xxiii. + Quod tu mî debebas facere, ego tibi facio, mater pia. + +The same idea as in Canning's verses on his son:-- + + Whilst I, reversed our nature's kindlier doom, + Pour forth a father's sorrows o'er his tomb. + +And Evander on Pellas:-- + + Contra ego vivendo vici mea fata superstes + Restarem ut genitor. + +As I came back I looked into San Bernardo, Santa Maria della +Vittoria, and Santa Susanna, and I stopped to look at the 'Moses +striking the Rock,' which is certainly very fine, though there is +too much of Moses and not enough of rock or water. After +breakfast to the Vatican library, where the Duc de Dalberg had +engaged the Abbé Maii to meet him, and he showed us all the +manuscripts, most of which I had already seen. He is very +laborious as well as learned. Maii is said to undertake too much, +and to leave a great deal half examined, and therefore unknown; +but somebody (I forget who) is at daggers drawn with him, so it +may be the accusation of a literary enemy. Went about with the +Dalbergs to several places, to all of which I had been before. At +every church the Duchess and her daughter dropped on their knees +and sprinkled themselves with holy water, and prayed and +curtsied, but nothing could get him down upon his marrow bones. + + +May 25th, 1830 {p.375} + +Breakfasted with Gell in his Boschetto Gellio under a treillage +of vines, and surrounded by fruits and flowers. He was very +agreeable, and told us a great many anecdotes of the Queen and +her trial. We are just setting off for Tivoli. + + +[Page Head: TIVOLI] + +May 27th, 1830 {p.375} + +Went to Tivoli. The journey hotter than flames over the Campagna. +It is the most beastly town I ever saw, more like the Ghetto here +than any other place, full of beggars and children. The inn very +moderate, but Henry and I got a very good appartment, looking +over the country, in a private house. We all dined together. + +---- is the merriest of saints, the jolliest of devotees, and +very unlike the ghost in 'Don Juan,' who says, 'Che si pasce di +cibo celeste non si pasce di cibo mortale,' for though rigorously +obedient to the prescribed fasts of the Church, she devours flesh +enough on other days to suffice for those on which it is +forbidden; and on the meagre days she indemnifies herself by any +quantity of fish, vegetables, and _sucreries_ of all kinds. It is +only like eating her first course on Thursday and her second on +Friday. + +After dinner we sent for the most famous guide, with the +magnificent name of Pietro Stupendo, called 'Stupendous' from his +frequent use of that adjective in pointing out the views. His +real name is Barbarossa, which is nearly as fine. We went to see +the sun set from the Villa d'Este a very fine villa, with clipped +trees, waterworks, and all the usual beauties of Italian villas. +It belongs to the Duke of Modena, is uninhabited, and falling to +decay for want of care and attention. Thence to the Temple of the +Sybil or Vesta [6] (for it goes by both names), which is very +airy and graceful, and perched on the point of a rock, but its +effect spoiled by being embedded in dirty, ugly houses. The fall +below was made by Bernini, and is very pretty, but not grand, and +it looks rather artificial. We saw it from what is called the +Grotto of Neptune. At night I returned again, but nobody else +would stir out. I went down to the fall, and had bundles of hay +lit on the rock above, and some blue lights called _lumi di +Bengala_, a sort of firework, put in the temple, and the effect +was beautiful. The reflected light upon the cascade, and the +light and shade upon the rocks, and the temple made visible +through the darkness by the soft blue flame, without any of the +background of buildings appearing, were very fine, and in the +obscurity it seemed much more extensive and natural. I saw this +first from the Grotto of Neptune, and then from the opposite +height. + + [6] I believe it to be the Sybil's Temple. There is a + frightful square building close to it they call the + Sybil's Temple, but I do not see by what authority. + Nibby says it is Vesta, but everybody else says the + Sybil.-- FORSYTH, CRAMER, &c. + +[Page Head: TIVOLI] + +Yesterday morning we were to have started on the _giro_ of Tivoli +at six, but as women are never ready, and a good deal of eating +and drinking was to be gone through before we got under weigh, we +were not off till near eight. The consequence was that we got +into the heat, and lost the colouring of the early morning, and +those lights and shades on which great part of the beauty of this +scenery depends. I was altogether disappointed; the hills are +either quite bare or covered with olives, the most tiresome of +trees; the falls are all artificial, and though the view at the +foot of the largest (or as near as you can approach it) is +beautiful, on the whole no part of the scenery answered my +expectations. The water falls in eleven separate cascades (above +and below), and sinking into the gulf appears to boil up again in +clouds of spray, but the artificial channel above is distinctly +visible. There is an ancient bridge over the Anio and part of a +road up to Tivoli in wonderful preservation. Our party pleased +their imaginations by thinking that Augustus and Mecaenas had +probably gone cheek by jowl over the road and bridge, but +Stupendous told me it was built by Valerian, A.D. 253, though he +had no notion who Valerian was, except that he was an Emperor. +There are some curious remains of Mecaenas's Villa, particularly +the places (if they are really so) where the slaves were kept, +which are just like cellars. I cannot remember seeing any +apartments destined for slaves at Pompeii, but from all one sees +or hears and reads of the Roman slaves, they must have been +treated in a manner that it is inconceivable they should have +endured, considering their numbers, and of what they were +generally composed--barbarian prisoners or free citizens reduced +to servitude. We ended the _giro_ at the Villa d'Este, and +breakfasted on the terrace; the rest of the party then retired to +sleep and play at cards at the inn, and I started with Stupendous +to see the remains of an ancient city, and some specimens of +Cyclopean walls, about four or five miles off. The first place is +called Ventidius Bassa's, because that gentleman had a villa +there, built on the ruins of a little Cyclopean town, where there +are still some walls standing. From thence to Mitriano, which +must have been a large town, the vestiges still covering several +hills, and the remains of walls being very large; there is +nothing left but a few broken fluted columns, and one flat marble +stone perfect, with an inscription. This jaunt was hardly worth +the trouble. + +When I came back from Mitriano, I went down to the Grotto of the +Syrens, from whence the view of the cascade is much finer than +from the other grotto, and really grand; but the path is very +slippery from the clouds of spray constantly falling over it. I +did not go quite to the grotto, for Stupendous told me he had +nearly slipped down the rock and cracked his crown; so I declined +running that risk, but saw just as well, for I went nearly to the +bottom. + +At half-past four we went to Adrian's Villa, with which I was as +much delighted as I was disappointed with Tivoli. Nothing can be +more picturesque than the ruins, and nothing gives such an idea +of the grandeur of the ancient masters of the world. They are six +miles in circumference, and the remains are considerable, though +not very distinct, but it is very easy to perceive that they are +the ruins of a villa, or a collection of ornamental and luxurious +buildings, and not of a town, which from their size they might +be. Almost all the ruins of antiquity that adorn Rome were found +here, or in Caracalla's Baths, which latter were supplied from +this stock--all the Albani collection, most of the Museo +Borbonico at Naples, and half the Vatican. The Albani collection +was made by a nephew of Clement XI., the Albani Pope. They say +only one-fourth has been excavated. The ruins are overgrown with +ivy and all sorts of creepers. The grounds are full of pines and +cypresses of great size, and it is altogether one of the most +interesting and beautiful spots I have seen in Italy. The Villa +Adriani now belongs to Duke Braschi, nephew of Pius VI. He has +not excavated, but the truth is that there is little temptation +to individuals to do so. The Government have taken all the ruins +under their protection, and no proprietor is allowed to destroy +any part of them. So far so good, but if he digs and finds +anything, he may not sell it; the Government reserves to itself a +right of pre-emption, and should he be offered a large sum by any +foreigner for any object he may find, he is not allowed to take +it, although the Government may not choose to buy it at the same +price. They will fix a fair, but not a fancy price, but the +vendor is often obliged, when they do buy it, to wait many years +for his money. Albani employed 1,000 men to excavate. + +We came back in a deliciously cool evening. The Duchess wanted us +to keep with her carriage (she had a pair and we had four +horses), for fear she should be robbed--for she had heard that +somebody had been robbed somewhere a little while ago--which we +promised; but our postilions set off in a gallop, we fell asleep, +and they were left to their fate. + +[Page Head: MISS KELLY'S ADVENTURE] + +_At night._--This morning as I was sitting at Torlonia's reading +the newspapers, a woman came in, whom Luigi Chiaveri soon after +begged to introduce to me. She was a Mrs. Kelly, of whose history +I had already heard, and I told Chiaveri I would assist her if I +could. She told me her case in detail. The short of it is this:-- +She and her daughter (who is very pretty) got acquainted at +Florence with a family of Swifts. Young Swift seeing the girl was +good-looking, and hearing she was rich, made up to her, gained +her affections (as they call it), and proposed to marry her. She +agreed, provided her mother did. They came to Rome. Swift +followed, established himself at the same inn, and wrote to the +mother to propose himself. The mother declined. He wrote a second +letter--same reply. He then prevailed on the girl to promise not +to give him up, but failed in persuading her to elope with him. +She said she would marry him when she was of age. He pressed her +to give him a written promise to this effect before witnesses. +After some hesitation she agreed, and one evening (having been +previously appointed by him) she met him in another room, where +she found a priest and two men. She signed two papers without +reading them, heard a short form muttered over, which she did not +understand, and then was told to run downstairs again. A few days +after she got uneasy as to what had happened, and confessed it +all to her mother, who immediately conceived that this was a +marriage ceremony into which she had been inveigled. She told her +lover what she had done, who asked her what her mother had said. +She told him that her mother fancied that it was a marriage, but +that she had told her it was not, when he informed her it was, +and this was the first intimation he gave her of the sort, and +the first time he had given her to understand that he regarded +her as his wife. She reproached him with his duplicity and the +imposition he had practised on her, and told him she would have +no more to say to him. This took place in St. Peter's one Friday +at vespers. Soon after they went to Naples, where Swift followed, +and wrote to her mother saying he had married her daughter, and +asking her forgiveness; that she might fancy the marriage was not +valid, but she would find it was, having been celebrated by an +abbé, witnessed by the nephew of a cardinal, and the certificate +signed by a cardinal, with the knowledge of the Pope. She sent no +answer, when he begged an interview, which she granted, and then +he told her that he was a Catholic, and that her daughter had +become so too, and had signed an act of abjuration of the +Protestant religion. The mother and daughter, however, declined +having anything to do with him, and the latter declared that she +had never changed her religion at all. He then claimed her as his +wife, and tried to prevail on Hill and Lushington (Sir Henry +Lushington, Consul--the present Lord Berwick, Minister) to +prevent their leaving Naples. They declined to interfere, and +advised the mother to go home, and let the matter be settled +between them in England. She took the hint and set off. He +followed, and overtook them at Rome, and there, by representations +to the civil and religious authorities that they were taking away +his wife to prevent her being a Catholic, and make her relapse to +the Protestant faith, he got them to interfere, and their +passports were refused. Such is their story. They have nobody to +advise, assist, or protect them. + +[Page Head: MISS KELLY'S ADVENTURE] + +I went to La Ferronays, who was all good-nature, and said he +would go with me to Cardinal Albani; but I went first to the +hotel and saw the girl alone, who corroborated all her mother had +said. I wrote down her evidence, and made her sign it, and then +went with the Ambassador to the Cardinal in the Quirinal Palace. +The door of his cabinet was locked, but after a sort of _abbé +suisse_ had knocked a little he came and opened it, and in we +went. He did not recollect my name the last time I saw him, nor +my person this. La Ferronays explained the business, with which +he was already acquainted, partly through Kestner (the Hanoverian +Minister) and partly through the Roman authorities, who had given +him the case of the adventurer, for such he seems to be. The +Cardinal seemed disposed to do nothing (Bunsen assures me he is a +very sensible man, and right-headed and well disposed), and said +she was married. We said, not at all. Then he hummed and hawed, +and stammered and slobbered, and talked of the 'case being in the +hands of the Saint Office [the Inquisition!!] under the eyes of +his Holiness. What could he do?' We fired off a tirade against +the infamy of the action, said that the English tribunals ought +to decide upon the validity of the marriage, that all they wanted +was to go home, that the man might follow and make his claim good +if he could, and that the story (if they were detained here) +would make a noise in England, and would be echoed back to France +by the press of both countries, and that it was very desirable to +avoid such a scandal. He seemed struck with this, and said it +would be best to send them off to settle their disputes at home, +but that they must have patience, that time was necessary and the +case must be examined. We were obliged to be contented with this, +and saying we were sure the case was in good hands (which I +doubt, for he would leave it there if he dared), with many +scrapes and compliments we took our leave. The girl has never +dared to show her face, for fear of being carried off by the +lover or shut up in a convent by the Grand Inquisitor, so I +tranquillised their minds and sent them out an airing. In the +evening I spoke to Monsignore Spada, who has promised to help to +get up a case in Italian, if it should be wanted. + +Dined with M. de la Ferronays, and went to his villa (Mattei) +afterwards. He has been perfect in this affair, full of +prompt kindness; but what a Government! how imbecile, how +superannuated!--a Minister of ninety almost, a sovereign of whom +all that can be said is that he is a great canonist, and all that +little bubbling and boiling of priestery and monkery, which is at +once odious, mischievous, and contemptible, a sort of extinct +volcano, all the stink of the sulphur without any of the +splendour of the eruption. They want the French again sadly. +English subjects detained by the Inquisition in 1830!! La +Ferronays advised me to ask the Pope for a moment of audience, +and to request him to see the girl himself, and interrogate her, +and learn the truth, of the case. + +I had just done writing the above when a note came from La +Ferronays with the passports for the Kellys, which Albani had +sent him, so I had only to thank the Cardinal instead of +mentioning it to the Pope. I did not think he would have been so +quick. How enchanted they will be to-morrow morning! + + +[Page Head: MISS KELLY'S ADVENTURE] + +May 29th, 1830 {p.382} + +At ten Kestner called for Lovaine and me, and we went to the +Pope.[7] His Court is by no means despicable. A splendid suite of +apartments at the Quirinal with a very decent attendance of Swiss +Guards, Guardie Nobili, Chamberlains--generally ecclesiastics-- +dressed in purple, valets in red from top to toe, of Spanish cut, +and in the midst of all a barefooted Capuchin. After waiting a +few minutes, we were introduced to the presence of the Pope by +the Chamberlain, who knelt as he showed us in. The Pope was alone +at the end of a very long and handsome apartment, sitting under a +canopy of state in an arm-chair, with a table before him covered +with books and papers, a crucifix, and a snuff-box. He received +us most graciously, half rising and extending his hand, which we +all kissed. His dress was white silk, and very dirty, a white +silk skullcap, red silk shoes with an embroidered cross, which +the faithful kiss. He is a very nice, squinting old twaddle, and +we liked him. He asked us if we spoke Italian, and when we +modestly answered, a little, he began in the most desperately +unintelligible French I ever heard; so that, though no doubt he +said many excellent things, it was nearly impossible to +comprehend any of them; but he talked with interest of our King's +health, of the antiquities, and Vescovali, of Lucien Buonaparte +and his extortion (for his curiosities), said when he was +Cardinal he used to go often to Vescovali. He is, in fact, a +connoisseur. Talked of quieting religious dissensions in England +and the Catholic question; and when I said, 'Très-Saint Père, le +Roi mon maître n'a pas de meilleurs sujets que ses sujets +catholiques,' his eyes whirled round in their sockets like +teetotums, and he grinned from ear to ear. After about a quarter +of an hour he bade us farewell: we kissed his hand and backed out +again. We then went to the Cardinal, whom I thanked warmly for +his prompt attention to my request in having given the passports +to _my protégées_. It is the etiquette in the Court of the +Quirinal for the servants to descend from behind the carriage, +and the horses to go a foot pace. + + [7] [The Pope was Pius VIII. (Francisco Xavierio + Castiglioni), whose reign was a very short one, for he + succeeded Leo XII. in March 1829, and was succeeded by + Gregory XVI. in December, 1830.] + +After this audience I took the passport to the Kellys. The mother +was in bed, but the girl came to me in a transport of gratitude +and joy. They went off in the evening to Florence. La Ferronays +advised me to send them off directly, for fear the priests should +begin to stir in the matter and raise fresh obstacles. + +In the afternoon went to Gibson's, the sculptor. He is very +simple and intelligent, and appears to be devoted to his art. +There is a magnificent Venus, composed from various models, like +Zeuxis's statue of Juno at Crotona. + + Quando Zeusi l'immagine far volse + Che par dovea nel tempio di Giunone, + E tante belle nude insieme accolse, + E per una farne in perfezione, + Da chi, una parte, e da chi, un' altra tolse. + + +May 31st, 1830 {p.383} + +Yesterday the advocate to whom I had advised Mrs. Kelly to go +came to me, and said he could not understand what she said, and +she had desired him to call on me. I told him the story, and he +said he would look into it and see what was to be done. I had +advised her before she went to consult an Italian lawyer as to +the necessary steps to be taken here in order to prove the +invalidity of the marriage in England. This man, whose name is +Dottore Belli, was recommended to me by Monsignore Spada as a +clever lawyer, and particularly good for the case, because +brother of one of the judges (or other officer) in the Vicar-General's +court. But I suppose he has less influence over the brother than +the brother over him, for this morning he sent me a very civil +but formal letter, saying 'the parties were married, and had +abjured after instruction received'--evidently a letter dictated +by the court or by his brother, or at all events by some +ecclesiastical interest. They evidently want to make the marriage +good to save their own credit, but there is a great mystery in +the whole affair. Cardinal Weld told La Ferronays that they had +not yet found the priest who had performed the ceremony. Bunsen +at my request undertook to enquire into the affair, but up to the +present moment (June 13th) he has only made the case more +confused and inexplicable.[8] + + [8] The conclusion of this affair is not less curious than + its commencement. The parties returned to this country. + Swift sued Miss Kelly in the Ecclesiastical Court for + the restitution of conjugal rights. After much delay + the case was elaborately argued before Sir John + Nicholl, who at very great length pronounced judgment + against the validity of the marriage. Swift appealed to + the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, when the + sentence of the Court below was reversed, and the + ceremony at Rome decided to be a good and binding + marriage. The parties were thus irrevocably made man + and wife, and after some time had elapsed their mutual + friends and relations set on foot a negotiation for a + reconciliation, and eventually Miss Kelly agreed to + live with Mr. Swift, on condition that the marriage + ceremony should be regularly performed, which was + accordingly done: certain settlements were made, and + they are now (for all I know to the contrary) living + happily and harmoniously together. [The further + proceedings in this cause are described in the second + volume of this Journal, when they came before the Privy + Council.] + +[Page Head: SAINT-MAKING] + +To-day there was a grand ceremony of the transportation of the +standard of a new saint (that is, one made about fifty years ago) +from St. Peter's to San Lorenzo in Lucina, his own church. This +saint is San Francisco Carraccioli, a Neapolitan. All the +peasantry came in, covered with religious gewgaws, and the +streets were crowded. There was a balcony at the Cardinal's as +for the Girandola, but the Duc de Dalberg and I went to the +Piazza di San Pietro, and saw it there; it was curious. First +came the guards; then the footmen of the cardinals in State +liveries, four for each, carrying torches; the clergy of various +orders with chandeliers, crucifixes, immense crosses, standards, +and all with torches; a long file of Jesuits, whose appearance +was remarkable, so humble and absorbed did they look; bands of +music and soldiers, the whole reaching from the door of +St. Peter's to the other side of the Castle of St. Angelo. This +procession made the _giro_ of the city, for we fell in with it +again in the Piazza della Colonna two hours afterwards. The +Church of San Lorenzo and the adjoining houses were illuminated, +and there was a picture, inscription, &c., stuck up over the +door. The Cardinal Galetti, who is the patron of this order, +asked the General of the Jesuits to send some of his flock to +swell the procession, which he was desirous of making as +brilliant as possible. The General excused himself on the ground +that the Jesuits were not in the habit of attending processions. +The Cardinal complained to the Pope of the General's refusal. The +next time the Pope saw him (he goes once a week to the Quirinal +to make his report), after discussing all their matters of +business and giving him the benediction, just as he was leaving +the room, the Pope called after him, 'O reverend Father, I hope +you will not send less than a hundred of your Jesuits to the +procession to-morrow.' The General was thunderstruck, but obliged +to obey. This ecclesiastical anecdote makes a noise here. The +present General is a Belgian, and a man of great ability. The +Jesuits have a college here, and a seminary; a hundred in the +one, and three hundred in the other. + +The process of saint-making is extremely curious. There are three +grades of saintship: the first, for which I forget the name, +requires irreproachable moral conduct; the second (beatification), +two well-proved miracles; the third (sanctification), three. It +costs an immense sum of money to effect the whole, in some cases +as much as 100,000 piastres. The process begins by an application +to the Pope, on the part of the relatives of the candidate, or on +that of the confraternity, if they belong to a religious order. +The Pope refers the question to a tribunal, and the claimants are +obliged to appear with their proofs, which are severely +scrutinised, and the miracles are only admitted upon the +production of the most satisfactory evidence. Individuals +continually subscribe for this purpose, particularly for members +of religious orders, in order to increase the honour or glory of +the society. These trials last many years, sometimes for +centuries. There is a Princess of Sardinia, sister of the late +King, who died lately, and they want to make a saint of her. The +money (estimated at 100,000 piastres) is ready, but they cannot +rout out a miracle by any means, so that they are at a dead +stand-still before the second step. Nobody can be sanctified till +two hundred years after their death, but they may arrive at the +previous grades before that, and the proofs may be adduced and +registered. + + +June 1st, 1830 {p.386} + +Yesterday news came of the change in the French Ministry,[9] of +which La Ferronays knew nothing the night before, and from which +Dalberg anticipates an increase of desperate measures on the part +of the Court. Went in the morning to Gibson's; in the evening to +the Orti Sallustiani, one of the many objects here not worth +seeing, though they show two great holes in a wall, which they +call the Campo Scelerato, and they say it is the place where the +frail vestals were buried. Coming back we met the Pope taking a +drive--two coaches-and-four, with guards and outriders. We got +out of the carriage and took off our hats, and our _laquais de +place_ dropped on his knees. The Pope was in white, two people +sitting opposite to him, and as he passed he scattered a +blessing. All persons kneel when he appears--that is, all +Catholics. The equipage was not brilliant. To the Corsini Villa, +the gardens of which are some of the shadiest and most agreeable +in Rome, but nobody inhabits the palace. The Corsinis live at +Florence, and when they come here they lodge elsewhere, for the +malaria, they say, occupies their domain. Thus it is that between +poverty and malaria Rome is deserted by its great men. But the +population ought to be increasing, for almost every woman one +meets is with child. Gell denies the malaria, says he should not +mind living where they say it is dangerous to live; but can this +be matter of opinion? + + [9] [Charles X. had signed the decree for the dissolution + of the existing Chamber of Deputies on the 16th of May: + on the 19th of May another ordinance appointed M. de + Chantelauze to the Ministry of Justice, M. de Peyronnet + to the Interior, M. de Montbel to the Finances, and M. + Capelle to the Department of Public Works. These + appointments, more especially that of M. de Peyronnet, + were deemed in the highest degree hostile to the + Liberal party.] + +[Page Head: SAN LORENZO IN LUCINA] + +In the evening looked into the Church and Piazza of San Lorenzo +in Lucina. The church is hung with drapery, adorned with statues, +and illuminated by innumerable wax candles. The piazza is +illuminated too, and drapery hung out from the windows. There +were crowds of people, lines of chairs, and boys bawling to the +people to come and sit upon them; others selling lemonade, others +the life and exploits of the saint on penny papers; a band of +military music on a scaffolding, and guards patrolling about. +Between the intervals of the band the bells, in discordant +chorus, regaled 'the ears of the groundlings.' This strange, +discordant scene, the foundation of which is religious, but which +has but little of the appearance of religion in it, lasts eight +successive days, and costs a vast sum of money--they say 9,000 +scudi--the greatest part of which is furnished by the Government. +It probably answers some end, for it is difficult to conceive +that any Government, even this, should spend money, of which they +have so little to spare, on these fooleries while poverty +overspreads the land. This ceremony has not taken place before +for a hundred years. The sight is certainly very gay. Close by, +in the Palazzo Mani, is a theatre of marionettes, who play a +comedy of Goldoni. The Duke Fiani lets part of his palace for +this purpose. What an exhibition of wretchedness! He reserves a +box which his servants let to anybody, whether on his account or +their own I don't know. + +_Evening._--Went before dinner to the Villa Madama, a ruined +villa belonging to the royal house of Naples, with fine paintings +still on the walls and ceilings, the vestiges of former luxury, +and a capital view of Rome, the Tiber, the Milvian Bridge, and +the mountains. After dinner to the San Gregorio to see the +frescoes, the 'Martyrdom of St. Andrew,' the rival frescoes of +Guido and Domenichino, and afterwards drove about till dark, when +we went to a most extraordinary performance--that of the +Flagellants. I had heard of it, and had long been curious to +assist at it. The church was dimly lit by a few candles on the +altar, the congregation not numerous. There was a service, the +people making the responses, after which a priest, or one of the +attendants of the church, went round with a bundle of whips of +knotted cord, and gave one to each person who chose to take it. I +took mine, but my companion laughed so at seeing me gravely +accept the whip, that he was obliged to hide his face in his +hands, and was passed over. In a few minutes the candles were +extinguished, and we were left in total darkness. Then an +invisible preacher began exhorting his hearers to whip themselves +severely, and as he went on his vehemence and passion increased. +Presently a loud smacking was heard all round the church, which +continued a few minutes; then the preacher urged us to fresh +exertions, and crack went the whips again louder and faster than +before as he exhorted. The faithful flogged till a bell rang; the +whips stopped, in a few minutes the candles were lit again, and +the priest came round and collected his cords. I had squeezed +mine in my hands, so that he did not see it, and I brought it +away with me. As soon as the candles were extinguished the doors +were locked, so that nobody could go out or come in till the +discipline was over. I was rather nervous when we were locked up +in total darkness, but nobody whipped me, and I certainly did not +whip myself. A more extraordinary thing (for sight it can't be +called) I never witnessed. I don't think the people stripped, +nor, if they did, that the cords could have hurt them much. From +thence to St. Peter's, where we found the _quarant' ore_ and the +high altar illuminated with heaps of candles. Only a few lights +scattered at a great distance through the rest of the church, +very few people there; but the dim light, the deep shades, the +vast space, and the profound stillness were sublime. Certainly +nothing in the world can approach St. Peter's, and it always +presents something new to admire. + +From St. Peter's to the Vatican, to see the statues by +torchlight. The effect is wonderful, and totally unlike that +which is produced by day. The finest statues unquestionably gain +the most, and it is easy, after seeing this, to understand why +most of the best are found in the baths; a better notion, too, +may be formed of their magnificence. It would seem as if some +statues had been formed expressly to be thus exhibited. There is +a mutilated statue they call a Niobe (God knows why), with +drapery blown back by the wind and appearing quite transparent. +This effect cannot be produced by daylight. + + +[Page Head: BUNSEN'S ACCOUNT OF ROME] + +June 2nd, 1830 + +Called on Bunsen, who has not yet got an answer from the agent he +sent to the office of the Grand Vicar. I had a long conversation +with him about the expediency of appointing an English Minister +or agent of some sort at Rome, which he thinks very desirable and +very feasible, upon the same plan on which the diplomatic +relations of Prussia with Rome are conducted, and which he says +go on very smoothly, and without embarrassment or inconvenience. +There is good faith on both sides. The Catholic bishops do not +attempt to deceive the Government, and he thinks that the Court +of Rome does not attempt to hold any clandestine intercourse with +the Prussian States. He says Albani is a sensible man; that the +cardinals are bigoted and prejudiced, hostile to England, and +most of them forgetful of all the See of Rome owes to our +country; but they are still aware that, in the hour of danger, it +is to England and the Protestant countries they must look for +protection, as they found it when Austria wanted to strip them of +the March of Ancona. He thinks there is much superstition among +the lower classes, little religion among any, great immorality in +all; the same desire of intriguing and extending its influence +which the Romish Church has always had, but with very diminished +means and resources. The Inquisition is still active in +repressing heresy among Roman subjects, but not venturing to +meddle with the opinions of foreigners. Its principles and its +forms are the same as in former times. He says we have an +inefficient Consul at Ancona, who was put in by Canning on +account of his Liverpool connections. It would be very desirable +to establish a regular Protestant church in Rome, with an able +and permanent minister; but there is only an occasional church, +with anybody who will serve in it, and who is paid by the +congregation; but such a man is totally unable to cope with the +Catholic preachers, and consequently many converts are made to +the Catholic religion. A Consul-General at Rome might answer the +purpose of an agent, and, without being an accredited Minister, +perform all the functions of one. This was the pith of what he +said, besides a great deal about the Catholic religion itself, +its inferiority to the Reformed, its incompatibility with free +institutions, and a good deal more, not much to the purpose. +Bunsen is a man of very considerable information, learned, very +obliging, and communicative, sensible, moderate, but rather +prejudiced. At this moment he is full of the French expedition +[to Algiers], and their colonising projects, of which he is +thoroughly persuaded and not a little afraid. + +The Duc de Dalberg told me that at the Congress of Vienna he was +deputed to speak to Consalvi about ceding the March of Ancona to +the Austrians. He answered, 'My dear Duke, the Congress can treat +us as it pleases. If we are pressed, we must retreat to the +walls; further we cannot go, and we are there already.' The +Cardinal afterwards spoke to the Emperor, and the next day +Metternich said he had orders from the Emperor to declare that he +would take nothing from the Pontifical States without the free +concurrence of the Pope; so there ended that question. + +[Page Head: FRASCATI] + +_At night._--Just returned from Frascati with Henry de Ros--a +very agreeable expedition. We went to the inn, a most execrable +hotel, but dined very well on a repast we had the foresight to +take with us. Before dinner went to the Villa Conti, which has a +delicious garden, with fine trees and ample shade, and one of the +prettiest falls of water I have seen. The house we did not enter, +but it appeared small. To the Villa Marconi, without any garden, +but a capital house, and the only one which looks well kept and +inhabited. The Marconi house in the Conti garden would be +perfect. After dinner to Tusculum, a beautiful walk under shade, +with magnificent views over the Campagna on one side and Monte +Cavo, Rocca di Papa, and the Prati d'Annibale on the other. The +remains at Tusculum are next to nothing, part of a theatre, of an +aqueduct, and of the walls. I believe the town was destroyed by +Pope Celestine III. (1191), in order to extirpate a band of +robbers which had long infested the country and made Tusculum +their stronghold. All the country hereabout is beautiful, and the +air excellent, so that a more perfect residence cannot be +imagined. To the Villa Belvidere, belonging to Prince Aldobrandini, +deserted and neglected, but very enjoyable, full of childish +waterworks, but a good house, which is to be hired for £150 a +year, and might be made very comfortable. Here is Mount +Parnassus, and the water turns an organ, and so makes Apollo and +the Muses utter horrid sounds, and a Triton has a horn which he +is made to blow, producing a very discordant noise. I fell in +with Lady Sandwich, and went back to tea with her at a villa +which belonged to the Cardinal York. There are the royal arms of +England, a bust of the Cardinal, and a picture of his father or +brother. We also went to the Rufinella, whence the view is +extremely fine; this was Lucien Buonaparte's villa, and the scene +of the capture of a painter and a steward by the banditti, who +carried them off from the door of the villa and took them into +the Abruzzi, which may be descried from the terrace. The cicerone +who went with us (a tiresome and chattering fellow) told us that +he had attended Queen Caroline, that they had come to him for +evidence against her, and he had declared he knew nothing; but he +said he could have deposed to some things unfavourable to her, +having seen her and Bergami together and witnessed their +familiarity. + + +[Page Head: PROTESTANT STATES AND ROME] + +June 4th, 1830 {p.391} + +Yesterday rode round the walls. In the evening to the Vatican, +and afterwards to Bunsen's. He gave me his memorandum to read, +which is contained in a letter to Wilmot Horton of the 28th of +December, 1828, upon the settlement of the Catholic question, and +his view of the mode in which it might be done. He approves of +Wilmot's plan, not knowing at that time that the Duke had +resolved to grant unqualified emancipation. In this paper he +describes the existing arrangements between the other Protestant +Powers and the Court of Rome, and states in what manner he thinks +we might pursue a similar course. It is well done, and his ideas +appear to me very clear and sound. It is pretty evident that we +should meet with no difficulties here, and that they would +practically agree to everything we should require, provided we +did not insist upon their doing so in specific terms. Our +difficulties would arise from the extreme parties at home--the +ultra-Catholics and the ultra-Protestants--but a steady hand +might steer betwixt them both. Bunsen describes what has been +done in Prussia, Hanover, Netherlands, and the minor German +States; the Prussian arrangements appear to be the wisest. When +the King of Prussia began to negotiate, he did not allow his +Ministers to enter upon any discussion of principles, nor to ask +for any express sanction of the _status quo_. On the other hand +he did not prescribe to the Church of Rome the canonical form in +which an express or tacit acknowledgment of the claims and rights +of the Crown was to be made as to the secularisation of Church +property. The Netherlands went on a different plan, and framed a +constitution of the Roman Catholic Church in their dominions, +called a Pragmatic Sanction, which they wanted the Pope to +acknowledge. The Hanoverian Government also wished to conclude a +formal treaty, and oblige the Pope to sanction certain civil +regulations concerning Church government. He observes that the +Court of Rome will appear ignorant of, and thus tacitly +acknowledge, many things which it never will nor can expressly +sanction and approve. + +Throughout Germany, both Catholic and Protestant, all +correspondence between the clergy and the Pope goes through the +Government by the law of the country--all matters public and +private--the Pope's bulls and briefs are returned in the same +way; and whenever any of these contain expressions which run +against the national laws, the _placet regium_ is only given with +clauses reserving the rights of the Crown, and annulling what is +irreconcilable with the civil law. The Court of Rome is quite +aware of this practice, and the legations of Bavaria and Austria, +as well as those of Prussia and Hanover, present the respective +petitions of their clergy through their Roman agents. Bunsen says +nothing can be practically more established, but that no +consideration would induce the Pope formally to sanction the +practice in a treaty. + +In the arrangements respecting the appointment of bishops and +dignitaries, Prussia proposed the establishment of chapters, with +the same right of election which had existed before the French +Revolution. The smaller States of Germany followed a similar +plan. Hanover proposed and obtained a veto. The chapter presents +a list; the Government strikes out any name, but must leave two, +out of which the chapter may elect, but in case of irregularity +or inconvenience the chapter may make a second list. The +Netherlands have the same system of limited veto and second list, +and the confidential brief in addition.[10] The chapters have the +right of election, the Pope of confirmation, by canonical +institution as the necessary condition of the bishop's consecration; +but besides a confidential brief was agreed on desiring the +chapter not to elect as bishop a person 'minus gratam serenissimo +regi;' this ensures respect to the royal recommendation. + + [10] [These facts, originally suggested by Bunsen at Rome to + Mr. Greville were afterwards used by him as the basis + of his argument for the establishment of diplomatic + relations with the Court of Rome in his book on the + 'Policy of England to Ireland,' published in 1845.] + + +June 5th, 1830 {p.393} + +Yesterday morning called on M. de la Ferronays, but only saw him +for a minute, for the Austrian Ambassador arrived, and I was +obliged to go. He is in great alarm as well as sorrow at the +appointment of M. de Peyronnet[11] and the aspect of affairs in +France. He told me that he had so little idea of this appointment +that he would have guessed anybody rather than that man, who was +so odious that he had been rejected for three successive places, +for the representation of which he had stood when he was +Minister; that Villèle, with all his influence, could not get him +elected; and that in the Chamber of Peers he had been so +intemperate that he had been repeatedly called to order, a thing +which hardly ever occurred; that the Government had evidently +thrown away the scabbard by naming him on the eve of a general +election, and thus offering a sort of insult to the whole nation; +that it rendered his own position here very disagreeable, +although his was an ecclesiastical and not a political mission, +and that he in fact considered it only as an honourable retreat; +yet he had written to Polignac the moment the news reached him, +saying that if he considered him as in the least degree +implicated politically with his Government he should immediately +resign, and that if he found by his answer that he looked upon +him as in the remotest degree connected with their measures he +should instantly retire. I saw Dalberg afterwards, who appears to +me deeply alarmed. He looks with anxiety to the Duke of +Wellington as the only man whose authority or interference can +arrest the French Ministry in the career which must plunge France +into a civil war, if not create a general war in Europe. He +believes that Metternich and the Austrians are backing up Charles +X., and that, in case of any troubles, they will, in virtue of +the Treaty of Chaumont, pour troops into France. His hope, then, +is that the Duke will interpose and prevent this Austrian +interference. + + [11] [M. de Peyronnet was the Garde des Sceaux in the + Polignac Cabinet: he was considered one of the most + reactionary members of that ill-fated Administration.] + +When La Ferronays told Polignac his opinion of the course he was +beginning, the other only said, 'Mon cher, tu ne connais pas le +pays.' The King told Dalberg himself that he would rather labour +for his bread than be King of England; that it was not being a +king. In his presence, too, he asked General ----, the Governor +of Paris, what was the disposition of the troops, and he +answered, 'Excellent, sir; I have been in all the _casernes_, and +they desire nothing so much as to fight for your Majesty;' and +such words as these the King swallows and acts upon. Their +confidence, audacity, and presumption are certainly admirable, +disdaining any art and management, and apparently anxious to +bring about a crisis with the least possible delay. + + +[Page Head: POLIGNAC AND VILLÈLE] + +June 7th, 1830 {p.394} + +Drove about yesterday taking leave of people and places, the +former of which I probably shall, and the latter shall not, see +again. I have seen almost everything, but leave Rome with great +regret, principally because I am afraid I shall never come again. +If I was sure of returning I should not mind it. + +_Three o'clock._--Have determined to stay till after the Corpus +Domini. Called on the Cardinal, who received me _à bras ouverts_, +was full of civilities, and reconducted me to the outward room; +talked of the Catholics and of the anxiety of his Government to +see relations established with ours. I was obliged to go and take +leave of him, for Bruti brought me a message full of politeness +and a letter to convey to the Nuncio at Paris. Then to La +Ferronays, who says, as does Dalberg, that he is persuaded it +will end by the recall of Villèle to the Ministry, a compromise +that all parties will be glad to make--that he has had the +prudence to decline being a party to Polignac's Administration, +and when he is called to form one he will have nothing to say to +Polignac.[12] It certainly will be curious if Villèle, after +being driven from the Government with universal execration, and +almost proscribed, should in two years be recalled by the general +voice as the only man who can save France from anarchy and civil +war. La Ferronays says that Villèle is not a great Minister, but +a clever man, with great ingenuity and the art of management. He +wishes to be thought like Pitt, who was also obliged to quit the +Ministry, and afterwards resumed it; and he considers Polignac as +his Addington, not that the resemblance holds good in any of the +particulars, either of the men, or the times, or the circumstances. + + [12] [M. de Villèle had come to Paris from his country seat + in April, and a secret attempt had been made to bring + him back to power. Prince Polignac offered him a seat + in the Cabinet, but showed no disposition to make way + for him. The King feared Villèle and preferred + Polignac. Yet if M. de Villèle had then returned to + power, he would probably have saved the monarchy and + changed the course of events in Europe. (See Duvergier + de Hauranne, 'Histoire du Gouvernement parlementaire en + France,' tome x. p. 468; for a narration of these + transactions.)] + + +June 8th, 1830 {p.395} + +Last night to the La Ferronays', when the Princess Aldobrandini +was so delighted with the anecdote of my horse-shoe that she is +gone off to the Pantheon to look at it. It was a full moon and a +clear night, so I went to the Coliseum, and passed an hour there. +I never saw it so well; the moon rode above without a cloud, but +with a brilliant planet close to her; there was not a breath of +air, not a human being near but the soldiers at the gates below, +and the monk above with me; not a sound was heard but those +occasional noises of the night, the bark of a dog, the chimes +from churches and convents, the chirp of a bird, which only +served to make silence audible. Though I have seen the Coliseum a +dozen times before, I never was so delighted with its beauty and +grandeur as to-night. No description in poetry or painting can do +it justice; it is a 'wreck of ruinous perfection,' whose charm +must be felt, and on such a night as this. The measures which the +Government have taken to save the Coliseum from destruction will +certainly accomplish that end, but its picturesque appearance +will be greatly damaged. There is no part of the ruin which is +not already supported by some modern brickwork, and they are +building a wall which will nearly surround it. If they had been +more selfish they would have left it to moulder away, and +posterity to grumble over their stinginess or indifference. I am +always tossed backwards and forwards between admiration of the +Coliseum and St. Peter's, and admire most that which I see last. +They are certainly 'magis pares quam similes,' but worth +everything else in Italy put together, except Paestum. + +[Page Head: EXCOMMUNICATION OF A THIEF] + +To-day the spiritual arms of the Church are to be fulminated +against a sinner in a case which is rather curious. There are two +brothers who live at a place called Genezzano, in two adjoining +houses, which formerly formed but one, belonging to the Colonna +family, of whom the progenitors of these men bought it. A short +time ago a man came to the brothers, and told them that in a +particular spot on the premises there was a treasure concealed, +the particulars of which he had learned from a memorandum in the +papers of the Colonna family, to which he had got access, and he +proposed to discover the same to them, if they would give him a +part of it. They agreed, when he told them that under a little +column built against a wall they would find a flat brick, +covering a hole, in which was an earthen pot containing 2,000 +ducats in gold. The column was there, so at night the brothers +set to work to take it down, and beneath it they found the flat +stone as described. When one of them (an apothecary) said to the +other that, after all, it was probably an invention, that they +should be laughed at for their pains, and he thought they had +better give up the search, the other (who must be a great flat) +said, 'Very well,' and they retired to bed. In the morning the +apothecary told the other that in the night he could not help +thinking of this business, and that his curiosity had induced him +to get up and dig on, and that he had actually found the pot, but +nothing in it. The other, flat as he was, could not stand this, +and, on examining the pot, he found marks which, on further +investigation, turned out to be indications of coin having been +in it. The thief stuck to his story, so the dupe complained, and, +as the presumption is considered to be strongly against him, they +are going to try what excommunication will do. It is remarkable +that they asked this man if he would swear upon the Host that he +had not found any money, and this he refused to do, though he +continued to deny it and to decline restitution. He was accounted +a very religious man, and these were religious scruples, which, +however, were not incompatible with robbery and fraud. His +refusal to swear was taken as a moral evidence of guilt, and he +was to be excommunicated to-day. + + +June 9th, 1830 {p.397} + +Saw Torlonia's house; very fine, and the only one in Rome which +is comfortably furnished, and looks as if it was inhabited. A +great many good pictures, and Canova's Hercules and Lycus, which +I do not admire. In the evening to the Convent of SS. Giovanni e +Paolo, which is remarkably clean and well kept. There are +forty-five friars (Passionisti), whose vows were not irrevocable, +and, though the cases do not often occur, they can lay aside the +habit if they please. They live on charity. In their garden is a +beautiful palm, one of three which grow in Rome. They have +several apartments for strangers who may like to retire to the +convent for a few days, which are very decently furnished, clean, +and not uncomfortable. They were at supper when I got there, so +I went to look at them. They eat in silence at two long tables +like those in our college halls, and instead of conversation they +were entertained by some passages of the life of St. Ignatius, +which a friar was reading from a pulpit. Their supper seemed by +no means despicable, for I met a smoking _frittura_ which looked +and smelt very good, and the table was covered with bread, fruit, +vegetables, and wine. But they fast absolutely three times a +week, and whip themselves (_la disciplina_) three others. They +teach theology and _la dogmatica_, and there is a library +containing (they told me) books of all sorts, though their +binding (for I only saw them through a trellis) looked desperately +theological. At night to a very fine _feu d'artifice_ in the +Piazza San Lorenzo, which ended the festivities in honour of San +Francisco Caraccioli, whose name appeared emblazoned amidst +rockets and squibs and crackers, and the uproarious delight of +the mob. Afterwards to the Pantheon to see it by moonlight, but +the moon was not exactly over the roof, so it failed, but the +effect of the partial light and the stars above was fine with the +torches below half hid behind the columns. + + +June 10th, 1830 {p.398} + +I thought I had seen everything here worth seeing, yet, though I +have been several times to the Capitol, I have somehow missed +seeing the Palazzo dei Conservatori, containing the famous wolf +that suckled Romulus and Remus, in bronze, said to have been +struck by lightning (of which it bears all the marks) the day +Julius Caesar was killed; the boy picking the thorn from his +foot; the statue of the first Brutus; the geese of the Capitol +(which are more like ducks); and the Fasti Consulares. It just +occurred to me in time, and I went there yesterday morning. After +dinner to the Villa Ludovisi with the Dalbergs and Aldobrandinis, +which must owe its celebrity principally to the difficulty of +getting access to it. I was extremely disappointed; Guercino's +'Aurora' is not to be compared to Guido's; his 'Day' and 'Night' +are very fine, and the 'Fame' magnificent, but the ladies bustled +through so rapidly that it was not possible to examine anything. +The gardens are large, but all straight walks and clipped hedges. +The gallery of statues contains three or four fine things, but +they are huddled together and their effect spoilt. + + +[Page Head: PROCESSION OF THE CORPUS CHRISTI] + +June 11th, 1830 {p.399} + +Whilst the carriage is getting ready I may as well scribble the +last day at Rome. And this morning went at eight to the Palazzo +Accoramboni, to see the procession of the Corpus Domini, and was +disappointed. This Palazzo Accoramboni, in which we were +accommodated, belonged to a very rich old man, who was married to +a young and pretty wife. He died and left her all his fortune, +but, suspecting that she was attached to a young man who used to +frequent the house, he made the bequest conditional upon her not +marrying again, and if she did the whole property was to go to +some religious order. She was fool enough (and the man too) to +marry, but clandestinely. She had two children, and this brought +the marriage to light. They therefore lost the property, +amounting to £10,000 or £12,000 a year; but the Pope, in his vast +generosity, allows her out of it 300 piastres (about £65) a year, +and gives a portion of 1,000 piastres (£200) to each of the +little girls. It is supposed that she consulted some priest, who +urged her to marry secretly, and then revealed the fact to the +order interested. Otherwise it is difficult to account for their +folly. + +The magnificence of ceremonies and processions here depends upon +the locality, and the awnings and flowers round the piazza spoilt +it all. It was long and rather tiresome--all the monks and +religious orders in Rome, the cardinals and the Pope, plenty of +wax-lights, banners, and crosses, the crosses of Constantine and +Charlemagne. The former is not genuine; that of Charlemagne is +really the one he gave to the See. The Pope looks as if he was +huddled into a short bed, and his throne, or whatever it is +called, is ill managed. He is supposed to be in the act of +adoration of the Host, which is raised before him, but as he +cannot kneel for such a length of time, he sits covered with +drapery, and with a pair of false legs stuck out behind to give +his figure the appearance of kneeling. Before him are borne the +triple crown and other Pontifical ornaments. The Guardia Nobile, +commanded by Prince Barberini, looked very handsome, and all the +troops _en très-belle tenue_. All the Ambassadors and foreigners +were in this palace, and from it we flocked to St. Peter's, which +is always a curious sight on these occasions from the multitudes +in it and the variety of their appearance and occupation-- +cardinals, princes, princesses, mixed up with footmen, pilgrims, +and peasants. Here, Mass going on at an altar, and crowds +kneeling round it; there, the Host deposited amidst a peal of +music at another; in several corners, cardinals dressing or +undressing, for they all take off the costume they wore in the +procession and resume their scarlet robes in the church; men +hurrying about with feathers, banners, and other paraphernalia of +the day, the peasantry in their holiday attire, and crowds of +curious idlers staring about. All this is wonderfully amusing, +and is a scene which presents itself in continual variety. Went +afterwards and took leave of all my friends--La Ferronays, +Dalbergs, Bunsens, Lovaines, &c.--and at seven, to my great +sorrow, left Rome. But as I do all that superstition dictates, I +drank in the morning a glass of water at the Fountain of Trevi, +for they say that nobody ever drinks of the Fountain of Trevi +without returning to Rome. + +The road about Narni and Augustus's Bridge is beautifully +picturesque. I set off directly to the cascade, with which I was +as much delighted as I was disappointed with that of Tivoli. It +is difficult to conceive anything more magnificent than the whole +of this scenery. + + +[Page Head: FALLS OF TERNI] + +Florence, June 10th, 1830 {p.400} + +The horses were announced, and I was obliged to break off my +account of Terni and resume it here, where I arrived after a +tedious journey of forty hours, from Rome. + +Most people are dragged up the mountain by _bovi_, see the upper +part of the fall, and walk down. But as the _bovi_ were not at +hand, I reversed the usual order, walked to the bottom, and then +toiled to the top. The walk, which is lovely, lies through the +grounds of a count, who has a house close to the Nera (the Nera +(Nar) is the river into which the Velino runs, and in which there +is very good trout fishing), where the Queen of England once +lived for a month. At the different points of view are little +cabins (which would be very picturesque if they were less rudely +constructed) for the accommodation of artists and other +travellers. This gentleman has got a house which he reserves for +the use of artists, of which there are always several on the spot +during the summer. They pay nothing for the accommodation, but +each is obliged to leave a drawing when he goes away; and by this +means he has got an interesting collection, of the scenery of +Terni. Nothing can be more accurate, as well as beautiful, than +Byron's description of the cascade, and it is wonderful in his +magnificent poetry, how he has kept his imagination within the +bounds of truth, and neither added a circumstance nor lavished an +epithet to which it is not entitled. + + Horribly beautiful! but on the verge + From side to side, beneath the glittering morn, + An Iris sits amidst the infernal surge, + Like Hope upon a death-bed, and, unworn + Its steady dyes, while all around is torn + By the distracted waters, bears serene + Its brilliant hues with all their beams unshorn: + Resembling, 'mid the torture of the scene, + Love watching Madness with unalterable mien. + +The rainbows are very various, seen from different points: from +the middle, where the river rushes from the vortex of the great +fall to plunge into another, the stream appears to be painted +with a broad layer of divers colours, never broken or mixed till +they are tossed up in the cloud of spray, and mingled with it in +a thousand variegated sparkles. Above, an iris bestrides the +moist green hill which rises by the side of the fall; and, as the +spray is whirled up in greater or less abundance, it perpetually +and rapidly changes its colours, now disappearing altogether, and +now beaming with the utmost vividness. The man told me that at +night the moon forms a white rainbow on the hill. There is a +delicious but dangerous coolness all about the cascade. All the +scenery about is as beautiful as possible. Just above the great +fall is the Velinus tearing along in the same channel, which was +first made for him by the Roman Consul 2,200 years ago-- + + Velino cleaves the wave-worn precipice-- + +and there, the guide told me, some years ago a man threw in a +young and beautiful wife of whom he was jealous. He took her to +see the cascade, and when he got to this part (which is at the +end of a narrow path overhung with brushwood) he got rid of the +boys who always follow visitors, and after some delay returned +alone, and said the woman had fallen in. One scream had been +heard, but there was nobody to witness the truth. The mangled +body was found in the stream below. Jealousy is probably common +here. As I was walking a man passed me, going in great haste to +the mountain, but I paid no attention to him. When I got back I +heard that he was escaping from justice (into the Abruzzi, +which are in the Neapolitan dominions), having stabbed his +brother-in-law a few moments before out of jealousy of his wife. +The wounded man was still alive, but badly hurt. The murderer was +_un bravo mechanico_. + +The mountain and the river have undergone many revolutions. The +rock through which the present path is cut has been formed +entirely by petrified deposits, and there are marks in various +parts of former cascades, from which the water has been turned +away. Clement VIII. (Aldobrandini) turned the water into its +present course. At the bottom the old outlet of the Romans is +dry, but is marked with that solidity which defies time, like all +their works of this kind. Great part of the road from Terni is +beautiful, and the Papal towns and villages appear to be in much +better condition than on the other road. Some of them perched on +the mountains are remarkably picturesque. + + +Bologna, June 14th, 1830 {p.402} + +I went yesterday morning to Pratolino to see the statue of the +genius of the Apennines, by John of Bologna, six miles from +Florence. Pratolino was the favourite residence of the famous +Bianca Capello. The house has been pulled down. It is in a very +pretty English garden belonging to the Grand Duke, and, I think, +amazingly grand, but disgraced by presiding over a duck pond. +They told me that if he stood up (and he looks as if he could if +he would) he would be thirty _braccia_ in height. I went into his +head, and surveyed him on all sides. He ought to be placed over +some torrent, or on the side of a mountain; but as he is, from a +little distance (whence the ducks and their pond are not visible) +he is sublime. Myriads of fire-flies sparkled in every bush; they +are beautiful in a night journey, flitting about like meteors and +glittering like shooting stars. + +[Page Head: MEZZOFANTI] + +Dined with Lady Normanby at Sesto, set off at half-past eight, +and arrived here at nine this morning. The first thing I did was +to present my letter to Madame de Marescalchi from her sister, +the Duchesse de Dalberg, who received me graciously and asked me +to dinner; the next to call on Mezzofanti at the public library, +whom I found at his desk in the great room, surrounded by a great +many people reading. He received me very civilly, and almost +immediately took me into another room, where I had a long +conversation with him. He seems to be between fifty and sixty +years of age, short, pale, and thin, and not at all remarkable in +countenance or manner. He spoke English with extraordinary +fluency and correctness, and with a very slight accent. I +endeavoured to detect some inaccuracy of expression, but could +not, though perhaps his phraseology was occasionally more stiff +than that of an Englishman would be. He gave me an account of his +beginning to study languages, which he did not do till he was of +a mature age. The first he mastered were the Greek and Hebrew, +the latter on account of divinity, and afterwards he began the +modern languages, acquiring the idioms of each as he became +acquainted with the parent tongue. He said that he had no +particular disposition that way when a child, and I was surprised +when he said that the knowledge of several languages was of no +assistance to him in mastering others; on the contrary, that when +he set to work at a fresh language he tried to put out of his +head all others. I asked him of all modern languages which he +preferred, and which he considered the richest in literature. He +said, 'Without doubt the Italian.' He then discussed the genius +of the English language, and the merits of our poets and +historians, read, and made me read, a passage of an English book, +and then examined the etymology and pronunciation of several +words. He has never been out of Italy, or further in it than +Leghorn, talks of going to Rome, but says it is so difficult to +leave his library. He is very pleasing, simple, and communicative, +and it is extraordinary, with his wonderful knowledge, that he +should never have written and published any work upon languages. +He asked me to return if I stayed at Bologna. The library has a +tolerable suite of apartments, and the books, amounting to about +80,000 volumes, are in excellent order. One thousand crowns a +year are allowed for the purchase of new books. + +The Bolognese jargon is unintelligible. A man came and asked him +some questions while I was there in a language that was quite +strange to me, and when I asked Mezzofanti what it was, he said +Bolognese, and that, though not harmonious, it was forcible and +expressive. Afterwards to the gallery, which contains the finest +pictures in Italy, though only a few: the Guidos and Domenichinos +are splendid. I think Domenichino the finest painter that ever +existed. + + +June 15th, 1830 {p.404} + +Dined yesterday with Madame de Marescalchi, who lives in a great +palace, looking dirty and uncomfortable, except one or two rooms +which they occupy. There is a gallery of pictures, all of which +are for sale. Seven or eight Italians came to dinner, whose names +I never discovered. After dinner she took me to the Certosa, to +see the Campo Santo, which is a remarkably pretty spot, and the +dead appear to be more agreeably lodged at Bologna than the +living. I had much rather die here than live here. It is very +unlike the Campo Santo at Pisa, entirely modern, and looks +exceedingly cheerful. Guido's skull is kept here. + +Went again to the gallery, and the Zambeccari Palace, where there +are a few good pictures, but not many. All the pictures in all +the palaces are for sale. + +[Page Head: FERRARA] + +_In the ferry, crossing the Po_ (i.e. written in the +ferry).--Called on Madame de Marescalchi to take leave. Set off +at half-past one, and in clouds of dust arrived at Ferrara. It is +curious to see this town, so large, deserted, and melancholy. A +pestilence might have swept over it, for there seems no life in +it, and hardly a soul is to be seen in the streets. It is eight +and a half miles round, and contains 24,000 inhabitants, of which +3,000 are Jews, and their quarter is the only part of the town +which seems alive. They are, as usual, crammed into a corner, +five streets being allotted to them, at each end of which is a +gate that is closed at nine o'clock, when the Jews are shut in +for the night. The houses are filthy, stinking, and out of +repair. The Corso is like a street in an English town, broad, +long, the houses low, and with a _trottoir_ on both sides. The +Castle, surrounded by a moat, stands in the middle of the town, a +gloomy place. In it lives the Cardinal Legate. I went to see the +dungeon in which Tasso was confined; and the library, where they +show Ariosto's chair and inkstand, a medal found upon his body +when his tomb was opened, two books of his manuscript poetry; +also the manuscript of the 'Gerusalemme,' with the alterations +which Tasso made in it while in prison, and the original +manuscript of Guarini's 'Pastor Fido.' The _custode_ told me that +in the morning the library was full of readers, which I did not +believe. There are some illuminated Missals, said to be the +finest in Italy. Though the idea of gaiety seems inconsistent +with Ferrara, they have an opera, corso, and the same round of +festivals and merriment as other Italian towns, but I never saw +so dismal a place. + + +[Page Head: VENICE] + +Venice, June 16th, 1830 {p.405} + +We crossed the Po, and afterwards the Adige, in boats. The +country is flat, and reminded me of the Netherlands. I was asleep +all night, but awoke in time to see some of the villas on the +banks of the Brenta. Of Padua I was unconscious. Embarked in a +gondola at Fusina, and arrived at this remarkable city under the +bad auspices of a dark, gloomy, and very cold day. It is Venice, +but living Venice no more. In my progress to the inn I saw +nothing but signs of ruin and blasted grandeur, palaces half +decayed, and the windows boarded up. The approach to the city is +certainly as curious as possible, so totally unlike everything +else, and on entering the Great Canal, and finding + + The death-like silence and the dread repose + +of a place which was once the gayest and most brilliant in the +world, a little pang shoots across the imagination, recollecting +its strange and romantic history and its poetical associations. + +_Two o'clock._--I am just driven in by a regular rainy day, and +have the prospect of shivering through the rest of it in a room +with marble floor and hardly any furniture. However, it is the +only bad day there has been since the beginning of my expedition. +The most striking thing in Venice (at least in such weather as +this) is the unbroken silence. The gondolas glide along without +noise or motion, and, except other gondolas, one may traverse the +city without perceiving a sign of life. I went first to the +Church of Santa Maria dei Frati, which is fine, old, and adorned +with painting and sculpture. At Santa Maria dei Frati Titian was +buried. Canova intended a monument for him, but after his death +his design was executed and put up in this church, but for him, +and not for Titian, the reverse of 'sic vos non vobis.' Here are +tombs of several Doges, of Francis Foscari, with a pompous +inscription. The body of Carmagnola lies here in a wooden coffin; +his head is under the stone on which it was cut off in the Piazza +di San Marco. He was beheaded by one of those pieces of iniquity +and treachery which the Venetian Government never scrupled to use +when it suited them. Then to the Scuola di San Rocco, containing +a splendid apartment and staircase, all richly gilded, painted by +Tintoret, and with bronze doors. To the Church of Santa Maria +della Salute, containing a very rich altar-piece of precious +stones, which is locked up, and produced on great occasions; and +in the sacristy three fine pictures by Titian. To the Church of +St. Mark and the Doge's Palace--all very interesting, antique, +and splendid. But the Austrians have modernised some of the +rooms, and consequently spoilt them. They have also blocked up +the Bridge of Sighs, and the reason (they told me) is that all +the foreigners who come here are so curious to walk over it, +which seems an odd one for shutting it up. The halls of audience +and of the different councils are magnificently gilded, and +contain some very fine pictures. + +The Hall of the Council of Ten (the most powerful and the +most abominable tribunal that ever existed) has been partly +modernised. In the Chamber of the Inquisitors of State is still +the hole in the wall which was called the 'Lion's Mouth,' through +which written communications were made; and the box into which +they fell, which the Inquisitors alone could open. There were +'Bocche di Lioni' in several places at the head of the Giant's +Staircase, and in others. The mouths are gone, but the holes +remain. Though the interior of the Ponte di Sospiri is no longer +visible, the prisons are horrible places, twenty-four in number, +besides three others under water which the French had closed up. +They are about fourteen feet long, seven wide, and seven high, +with one hole to admit air, a wooden bed, which was covered +with straw, and a shelf. In one of the prisons are several +inscriptions, scrawled on the wall and ceiling. + + Di chi mi fido, mi guardi Iddio, + Di chi non mi fido, mi guardo io. + + Un parlar pocho, un negar pronto, + Un pensar in fine può dar la vita + A noi altri meschini. + + Non fida d'alcuno, pensi e tacci + Se fuggir vuoi di spioni, insidie e lacci. + Il pentirti, il pentirti, nulla giova + Ma ben del valor tuo far vera prova. + +There are two places in which criminals, or prisoners, were +secretly executed; they were strangled, and without seeing their +executioner, for a cord was passed through an opening, which he +twisted till the victim was dead. This was the mode pursued with +the prisoners of the Inquisitors; those of the Council were often +placed in a cell to which there was a thickly grated window, +through which the executioner did his office, and if they +resisted he stabbed them in the throat. The wall is still covered +with the blood of those who have thus suffered. From the time of +their erection, 800 years ago, to the destruction of the Republic +nobody was ever allowed to see these prisons, till the French +came and threw them open, when the people set fire to them and +burnt all the woodwork; the stone was too solid to be destroyed. +One or two escaped, and they remain as memorials of the horrors +that were perpetrated in them. + + +[Page Head: VENICE] + +June 17th, 1830 {p.408} + +This morning was fine again, and everything looks gayer than +yesterday. From the Rialto to the Piazza di San Marco there is +plenty of life and movement, and it is exactly like Cranbourne +Alley and the other alleys out of Leicester Square. While Venice +was prosperous St. Mark's must have been very brilliant, but +everything is decayed. All round the piazza are coffee houses, +which used to be open and crowded all night, and some of them are +still open, but never crowded. They used to be illuminated with +lamps all round, but most of these are gone. One sees a few Turks +smoking and drinking their coffee here, but they are all obliged +to dine and sleep in one house, which is on the Grand Canal, and +called the Casa dei Turchi. I went this morning to the Chiesa +Scalzi, San Georgio Meggiore, Redentore, SS. Giovanni e Paolo, +and the Gesuiti. The latter is the most beautiful church I ever +saw, the whole of it adorned with white marble inlaid with verd +antique in a regular pattern. SS. Giovanni e Paolo has no marble +or gilding, but is full of monuments of Doges and generals. To +the Manfrini Palace for the pictures. The finest picture in the +palace is Titian's 'Deposition from the Cross,' for which the +Marchese Manfrini refused 10,000 ducats. A Guido (Lucretia) and +some others. Tintoret was no doubt a great genius, but his large +pictures I cannot admire, and Bassano's still less. Titian's +portrait of Ariosto is the most interesting in the collection. To +the Arsenal, which is three miles in circumference, and a +prodigious establishment. In the time of the Republic there were +nearly 6,000 men employed in it, in that of the French 4,000, now +800. The old armoury is very curious, full of ancient weapons, +the armour of Henry IV. of France, and of several Doges, Turkish +spoils, and instruments of torture. The Austrians have made the +French much regretted here. It is since the last peace that the +population of Venice has diminished a fourth, and the palaces of +the nobles have been abandoned. There is no commerce; the +Government spend no money, and do nothing to enliven or benefit +the town (there has not yet been time to see the effect of making +it a free port). The French employed the people, and spent money +and embellished the place. They covered over a wide canal and +turned it into a fine street, and adjoining it they formed a +large public garden, which is a delightful addition to the town. +Till the French came the bridges were dangerous; there was no +balustrade on either side, and people often fell into the water. +They built side walls to all of them, which was the most useful +gift they could bestow upon the Venetians. + +This morning I asked for the newspapers which came by the post +yesterday, and found that they had not yet returned from the +police, and would not be till to-morrow. Before anybody is +allowed to read their newspapers they must undergo examination, +and if they contain anything which the censor deems objectionable +they detain them altogether. After dinner I went to the public +gardens, and into a theatre which is in them; there is no roof to +it, and the acting is all by daylight, and in the open air. I +only arrived at the end, just in time to see the deliverance of a +Christian heroine and a very truculent-looking Turk crammed down +a trap-door, but I could not understand the dialogue. Nothing +certainly can be more extraordinary or more beautiful than Venice +with her adjacent islands, and nothing more luxurious than +throwing oneself into a gondola and smoothly gliding about the +whole day, without noise, motion, or dust. At night I went to a +dirty, ill-lit theatre, to see the 'Barbiere di Seviglia,' which +was very ill performed. There was a ballet, but I did not stay +for it. + + +June 18th, 1830 {p.409} + +To the Church of St. Mark, and examined it. It is not large, but +very curious, so loaded with ornament within and without, and so +unlike any other church. The pavement, instead of being flat, is +made to undulate like the waves of the sea. All the sides are +marble, all the top mosaic, all the pavement coloured marble in +exquisite patterns. There is not a single tomb in it, but it +wants no ornament that the wealth and skill of ages could supply. +Climbed up the tower to see Venice and the islands; a man is +posted here day and night to strike the hours and quarters on a +great bell, to ring the alarm in case of fire in any part of the +city. It is a very curious panorama, and the only spot from which +this strange place can be completely seen. In the Grimani Palace +there are some Titians (not very good) of Grimani Doges, and +others of the family; the famous statue of Agrippa, which +Cardinal Grimani brought from Home, and a ceiling by Salviati of +Neptune and Minerva contending to give a name to Athens. In the +Pisani Palace, a fine picture of P. Veronese, 'Darius's Family at +the Feet of Alexander.'[13] The Barbarigo Palace has never been +modernised, has kept all its original form and decorations. It is +full of Titians, all very dirty and spoiling. The finest is the +'Magdalen,' which is famous. The Royal Academy, called the Scuola +della Carità, contains a magnificent collection of the Venetian +school. + + [13] [This fine work is now in the National Gallery, + London.] + +In I forget which church is the 'Martyrdom of St. Peter' by +Titian, so like in composition the same subject by Domenichino at +Bologna that the one is certainly an imitation of the other +(Titian died in 1576; Domenichino was born in 1581). There is the +same sort of landscape, same number of figures, and in the same +respective attitudes and actions, and even the same dress to +each. In the hall of the Academy are preserved Canova's right +hand in an urn, and underneath it his chisel, with these words +inscribed: 'Quod amoris monumentum idem gloriae instrumentum +fuit.' There is also a collection of drawings and sketches by +various masters; some by M. Angelo and some by Raphael. + + +[Page Head: VINCENZA AND PADUA] + +Vicenza, June 19th, 1830 {p.411} + +This morning went again to St. Mark's to examine the library and +the palace, which I could hardly see the other day, it was such, +gloomy weather. The library is open to everybody, but with a long +list of rules, among which silence is particularly enjoined. The +_custos librorum_ is a thorough Venetian; talked with fond regret +of the splendour of the Republic, and is very angry with Daru for +his history. The Hall of the Great Council, containing the +portraits of the Doges (and Marino Faliero's black curtain), is +splendid, and adorned with paintings of Paul Veronese, Bassano, +Tintoret, and Palma Giovane. At twelve o'clock I got into the +gondola and left Venice without the least regret or desire to +return there. The banks of the Brenta would be very gay if the +villas were inhabited, but most of them are shut up, like the +palaces at Venice. There is one magnificent building, formerly a +Pisani palace, which belongs to the Viceroy, the Archduke Rainer. + +Padua is a large and rather gloomy town. They say it is beginning +to flourish, having been ruined by the French, and that, since +their downfall, the population has increased immensely. The +University contains 1,400 scholars. It contained 52,500 in the +time of the French, and in the great days of Padua 18,000. I went +to look at the outside of the building, which is not large, but +handsome. The old palace of the Carraras is half ruined, and what +remains is tenanted by the commandant of the place. The old Sala +di Giustizia, which, is very ancient, is now a lumber room, and +they were painting scenes in it. Still it is undamaged, and they +call it the finest room in Europe, and perhaps it is. It is 300 +feet long, 100 wide, and 100 high. At one end of it is the +monument and bust of Livy, the latter of which they pretend to +have found here; they also talk of his house and the marbles, +&c., that have been dug up in it, which they may believe who can. +The Cathedral has nothing to boast of, except that Petrarch was +one of its canons, and in it is his bust, put up by a brother +canon. I had not time to go to the churches. + +The whole road from Fusina to this place is as flat as the paper +on which I am writing. I really don't believe there is a +molehill, but it is extremely gay from the variety of habitations +and the prodigious cultivation of all sorts. Vicenza is one of +the most agreeable towns I ever saw, and I would rather live in +it than in any place I have seen since Rome. It is spacious and +clean, full of Palladio's architecture; besides the Palazzo della +Ragione, a very fine building, there are twenty-two palaces built +by him in various parts of the town. They show the house in which +he lived. From the Church of Santa Maria del Monte, a mile from +the town, there is a magnificent view, and the town itself, under +the mountains of the Tyrol, and the end of a vast cultivated +plain, looks very inviting and gay. There is a Campo di Marte, a +public walk and drive, and from it a covered walk (colonnade) +half a mile long up to the church on the hill. One of the most +remarkable things here is the Olympic Theatre, which was begun by +Palladio and finished by his son. It is a small Grecian theatre, +exactly as he supposes those ancient theatres to have been, with +the same proscenium, scenes, decorations, and seats for the +audience. There appeared to me to be some material variations +from the theatre at Pompeii. In the latter the seats go down to +the level of the orchestra, which they do not here, and at +Pompeii there is no depth behind the proscenium, whereas here +there is very considerable. It is, however, a beautiful model. +The air and the water are good, and there is shooting, so that I +really think it would be possible to live here. They talk with +horror of the French, and of the two seem to prefer the +Austrians, but peace is better than war, _caeteris paribus_. + + +[Page Head: BRESCIA AND MILAN] + +Brescia, June 21st, 1830 {p.412} + +This is a particularly nice town, airy, spacious, and clean, and +in my life I never saw so many good-looking women. There is a +drive and walk on the ramparts, where I found all the beauty and +fashion of Brescia, a string of carriages not quite so numerous +as in Hyde Park, but a very decent display. The women are +excessively dressed, and almost all wear black lace veils, thrown +over the back of the head, which are very becoming. The walks on +the ramparts are shaded by double rows of trees, and command a +very pretty view of the mountains and country round. This inn is +execrable. I stopped at Verona to see the Amphitheatre, which is +only perfect in the inside, and has been kept so by repeated +repairs. It is hardly worth seeing after the Flavian and the +Pompeiian. There is a wooden theatre in it, where they act, and +the spectators occupy the ancient seats. The tombs of the +Scaligeri are admirable, the most beautiful and graceful Gothic; +their castle (now the Castle Vecchio) a gloomy old building in a +moat, but with a very curious bridge over the Po. The Church of +St. Zeno is remarkable from its Gothic antiquity and the +profusion of ornament about it of a strange sort. Here is the +tomb of Pepin, erected by Charlemagne, but empty; for the French, +in one of their invasions, carried the body to France. In the +Cathedral is a fine picture of the 'Assumption of the Virgin' by +Titian. I saw many Veronese beauties in their balconies, but none +quite like Juliet. Her tomb (or, as they would say at Rome, +'sepolcro detto di Giulietta') I did not see, for it was too far +off. I was in a hurry to be off, and there was nobody to detain +me with a tender 'Wilt thou be gone? It is not yet near' _night_. +The road, which is excellent, runs in sight of the Alps all the +way, and the Lago di Garda is excessively pretty. + + +Milan, June 23rd, 1830 {p.413} + +Milan is a very fine town, without much to see in it. The Duomo, +Amphitheatre, Arch of the Simplon, Brera (pictures). There are a +few fine pictures in the Brera; among others Guido's famous +'St. Peter and St. Paul,' Guercino's 'Hagar and Abraham;' a row +of old columns which were broken and lying about till the French +set them upon their legs; Leonardo da Vinci's fresco, which is +entirely spoilt. The view from the top of the Duomo is superb, +over the boundless plain of Lombardy with the range of the Alps, +and the Apennines in the distance. I like the Duomo, but I know +my taste is execrable in architecture. I don't, however, like the +mixture of Italian with the Gothic--balustrades over the +door, for instance--but I admire its tracery and laborious +magnificence. Buonaparte went on with it (for it was never +finished), and this Government are completing it by degrees; +there will be 7,000 statues on different parts of the outside, +and there are already 4,500. St. Charles Borromeo's tomb is very +splendid, and for five francs they offered to uncover the glass +case in which his much esteemed carcase reposes, and show me the +venerable mummy, but I could not afford it. The entrance to Milan +from Venice, and the Corso, are as handsome as can be. The Opera +is very bad, but the Scala is not open, and none of the good +singers are here. + + +Varese, June 26th, 1830 {p.414} + +Left Milan at six o'clock on the 24th, and got to Como after +dark. Embarked in the steam boat at eight yesterday morning, went +as far as Cadenebbia, where I got out, saw the Villa Sommariva, +then crossed over and went round the point of Bellagio to see the +opening of the Lake of Lecco, turned back to the Villa Melzi, saw +the house and gardens, and then went back to dine at Cadenebbia, +and waited for the steam boat, which returned at four, and got +back to Como at half-past six. Nothing can surpass the beauty of +all this scenery, or the luxury of the villas, particularly +Melzi, which is the best house, and contains abundance of shade, +flowers, statues, and shrubberies. The owners live very little +there, and principally in winter, when, they say, it is seldom +cold in this sheltered spot. The late Count Melzi was Governor of +Milan under Napoleon, and used to feast the Viceroy here. He once +gave him a _fête_, and had all the mountain tops illuminated, of +which the effect must have been superb. + +_Evening. Top of the Simplon._--Set off at five from Varese, +travelled very slowly through a very pretty road to Navero, where +I crossed the Lago Maggiore in a boat, and landed at the Isola +Bella, which is very fine in its way, though rather flattered in +its pictures. The house is large and handsome, and there is a +curious suite of apartments fitted up with pebbles, spars, and +marble, a suite of habitable grottoes. The garden and terraces +are good specimens of formal grandeur, and as the Count +Borromeo's son is a botanist, they are full of flowers and shrubs +of all sorts and climates. + + Whatever fruits in different climes are found, + That proudly rise or humbly court the ground; + Whatever sweets salute the northern sky + With vernal flowers, that blossom, but to die; + These, here disporting, own the kindred soil, + Nor ask luxuriance from the planter's toil. + +The expense of keeping this place up is immense, but the owner is +very rich. He lives there during August and September, and has +fifteen other country houses. All the island belongs to him, and +is occupied by the palace and gardens, except some fishermen's +huts, which are held by a sort of feudal tenure. They live there +as his vassals, fishing for him, rowing him about the lake, and +their children and wives alone are employed in the gardens. It +was built about 150 years ago by a younger son (a nephew of San +Carlo), who was richer than his elder brother. He was his own +architect, and planned both house and garden, but never completed +his designs. The cost was enormous, but if he had lived and +finished it all, he would have spent four millions more. There is +a laurel in the garden, the largest in Europe, two trees growing +from one stem, one nine and the other ten feet round and eighty +high; under this tree Buonaparte dined, as he came into Italy, +before the battle of Marengo, and with a knife he cut the word +'Battaglia' on the bark, which has since been stripped off, or +has grown out--so the gardeners said at least. Breakfasted at +Baveno, which is the best inn I have seen in Italy. The road from +Baveno is exceedingly beautiful, but on the whole I am rather +disappointed with the Simplon, though it is very wild and grand; +but I am no longer struck with the same admiration at the sight +of mountains that I was when I entered Savoy and saw them for the +first time. I walked the last thirteen miles of the ascent to +this place, and found one of the best dinners I ever tasted, or +one which my hunger made appear such. + + +[Page Head: RETURN TO ENGLAND] + +Geneva, June 29th, 1830 {p.415} + +Got here last night, and found twenty letters at least. I only +think of getting home as fast as I can. Left the Simplon in +torrents of rain, which lasted the whole day. The descent is +uncommonly grand, wild, savage, and picturesque, the Swiss side +the finest. All along the valley of the Rhone fine scenery; and +yesterday, in the most delightful weather I ever saw, the drive +from Martigny, along the lake and under the mountains, is as +beautiful as possible. The approach to Geneva is gay, but Mont +Blanc looks only very white, and not very tall, which is owing to +the level from which he is seen. They tell me it has never ceased +raining here, while on the other side of the Alps hardly a drop +has fallen. Only three rainy days while I was in Italy--one at +Venice, one at Rome, and a couple of halves elsewhere. + +_Evening._--Passed the whole day driving about Geneva, in Bautt's +shop, and at the Panorama of Switzerland. Dined with Newton, +drove round the environs by Sécheron; a great appearance of +wealth and comfort, much cultivation, no beggars, and none of the +houses tumbling down and deserted. Altogether I like the +appearance of the place, though in a great hurry to get away from +it. We had a storm of thunder and lightning in the evening, which +was neither violent nor long, but I had the pleasure of hearing + + Jura answer from her misty shroud + Back to the joyous Alps, that call on her aloud. + +Mont Blanc was hid in clouds all day, but the mountains owe me +some grudge. Mont Blanc won't show his snows, nor would Vesuvius +his fires. It was dark when I crossed the Cenis, and raining when +I descended the Simplon. + + +[Page Head: DEATH OF GEORGE IV.] + +Paris, July 3rd, 1830 {p.416} + +Got here last night, after a fierce journey of sixty-three hours +from Geneva, only stopping two hours for breakfast; but by never +touching anything but bread and coffee I was neither heated nor +tired. The Jura Mountains, which they say are so tedious, were +the pleasantest part of the way, for the road is beautiful all +through them, not like the Alps, but like a hilly, wooded park. +It rained torrents when I set out, but soon cleared up, and when +I got to the top of the first mountain, I saw a mass of clouds +rise like a curtain and unveil the whole landscape of Geneva, +lake, mountains, and country--very fine sight. We heard of the +King's death in the middle of the night. + + +Calais, July 6th, 1830 {p.417} + +Voilà qui est fini. Got here last night, and found the Government +packet only goes out five days a week, and not to-day. I am very +sorry my journey is all over, but glad to find myself in England +again--that is, when I get there. I saw Lord Stuart at Paris, +just breaking up his establishment and sending his wife off to +the Pyrenees. Heard all the news of London and Paris, such as it +was. Not a soul left in Paris, which was like a dead city. I only +heard that, notwithstanding the way the elections are going +against the Government, Polignac is in high spirits. The King of +France was very civil about the death of our King,[14] and, +without waiting, as is usual, for the announcement of the event +by the English Ambassador, he ordered the Court into mourning +upon the telegraphic account reaching Paris. + + [14] [George IV. died at Windsor on the 26th of June, 1830.] + +Here is the end of my brief but most agreeable expedition, +probably the only one I shall ever make. However this may be, I +have gained thus much at least-- + + A consciousness remains that it has left, + Deposited upon the silent shore + Of memory, images, and precious thoughts, + That shall not die, and cannot be destroyed. + + + + + NOTE. + + _MR. GREVILLE'S CONNEXION WITH THE TURF._ + + +Frequent references will be remarked in these volumes to the +connexion of their author with the Turf, which was his favourite +amusement, and to his position as an influential member of the +Jockey Club. It may, therefore, be worth while to record in this +place the principal incidents in his racing career; and we are +tempted, in spite of the strange and incorrect phraseology of the +writer, to borrow the following notice of them from the pages of +'Bailey's Magazine,' published soon after Mr. Greville's death:-- + +'Though the Warwick family have long been identified with the +sports of the field, it is fair to assume that Mr. Greville's +love for the turf came from his mother's side, as the Portlands, +especially the late Duke, have always been amongst the strongest +supporters of the national sport, and raced, as became their +position in society. That Mr. Greville took to racing early may +be imagined when we state he saw his first Derby in 1809, when +the Duke of Grafton's Pope won it, beating five others. At that +period he was barely fifteen years of age, and the impression the +sight of the race made upon him at the time was very great, and +it was rekindled more strongly when, in 1816, travelling with his +father and mother to Ickworth, the seat of the Marquis of +Bristol, he stopped at Newmarket and saw Invalid and Deceiver run +a match on the heath; and subsequently he saw a great sweepstakes +come off between Spaniard, Britannia, and Pope, which the latter +won. Four years elapse, and, as a proof that the lad we have +described had kept pace with the times, we find him selected to +manage the racing establishment of the late Duke of York, on the +death of Mr. Warwick Lake. The first step taken by Mr. Greville +on being installed in office was to weed the useless ones and the +ragged lot; and with the aid of Butler (father of the late Frank +and the present William Butler) he managed so well that in his +second year he won the Derby for him with Moses. As the Duke's +affairs at that time were in anything but a flourishing +condition, Mr. Greville did not persuade him to back his horse +for much money; still his Royal Highness won a fair stake, and +was not a little pleased at the result. He likewise carried off +the Claret with him the following year. With Banker, who was a +very useful horse at all distances, he won for him many good +races; and, by a reference to the "Calendars" of the day, it will +be seen the Duke won in his turn, if he did not carry all before +him. To reproduce the names of his horses now would not be worth +while, as from the effluxion of time the interest in them has +ceased. The first animal in the shape of a race-horse that Mr. +Greville ever possessed was a filly by Sir Harry Dimsdale, which +he trained in the Duke's stable with a few others of no great +standing. + +'Circumstances with which the world are familiar rendering the +retirement of the Duke of York requisite, his stud came to the +hammer, and Mr. Greville came to the assistance of his uncle, the +Duke of Portland, who trained with Prince. With the Duke Mr. +Greville remained some little time, and afterwards became +confederate with Lord Chesterfield, who was at that time coming +out, and was in great force with his Zinganee, Priam, Carew, +Glaucus, and other crack horses. During this time he had few +horses of any great account of his own, although his confederate +had nothing to complain of in the shape of luck. At the +termination of this confederacy Mr. Greville entered upon another +with his cousin, Lord George Bentinck, who, from his father's +hostility to his racing, was unable to run horses in his own +name. The extent of this stud was so great that we are unable to +deal with it at the same time with the horses of the subject of +our memoir, who can scarcely be said to have come across a really +smashing good mare until he met with Preserve, with whom, in +1834, he won the Clearwell and Criterion, and in the following +year the One Thousand Guineas, besides running second for the +Oaks to Queen of Trumps. A difference of opinion as to the +propriety of starting Preserve for the Goodwood Stakes led to +their separation, and for a time they were on very bad terms, but +by the aid of mutual friends a reconciliation was effected. From +what Preserve did for him, Mr. Greville was induced to dip more +freely into the blood, or, as old John Day would have said, to +take to the family, and accordingly he bought Mango, her own +brother, of Mr. Thornhill, who bred him. Mango only ran once as a +two-year-old, when, being a big, raw colt, he was not quick +enough on his legs for the speedy Garcia filly of Col. Peel and +John Day's Chapeau d'Espagne, and was easily beaten. In the +spring Mango made so much improvement that Mr. Greville backed +him for the Derby for a good stake; and had he been able to have +continued his preparation at Newmarket, and been vanned to Epsom, +as is the custom in the present day, there is little doubt he +would have won; but having to walk all the way from Newmarket, he +could not afford to lose the days that were thus consumed, and +although he ran forward he did not get a place. That this view of +the case is not a sanguine one is proved by his beating Chapeau +d'Espagne, the second for the Oaks, for the Ascot Derby, and +within an hour afterwards bowling over Velure, the third in that +race, for William the Fourth's Plate. On the Cup Day he likewise +beat the Derby favourite, Rat-Trap, over the Old Mile. At +Stockbridge, in a sweepstakes of 100 sovs. each, with thirteen +subscribers, he frightened all the field away with the exception +of Wisdom, whom he beat cleverly, and then he remained at +Dilly's, at Littleton, to be prepared for the St. Leger. Having +stood his work well, John Day brought over The Drummer and +Chapeau d'Espagne from Stockbridge to try him on Winchester +race-course. Both Mr. Greville and Lord George Bentinck had +reason to be satisfied with what Mango did in his gallop on that +morning, and the latter backed him very heavily for the +race--much more so, indeed, than his owner. Mr. Greville was +anxious to have put up John Day, but the Duke of Cleveland having +claimed him for Henriade, he was obliged to substitute his son +Sam, a very rising lad, with nerves of iron and the coolest of +heads. The race was a memorable one, inasmuch as William Scott, +who was on Epirus, the first favourite, fell into the ditch soon +after starting, and Prince Warden running over him and striking +him with his hind leg, he sustained a severe fracture of the +collar-bone. Henriade also came down about a distance from home +from a dog crossing the course. John Day, however, soon righted +him, but the _contretemps_ spoilt his chance. At the stand there +were but three in the struggle--The Doctor, Abraham Newland, and +Mango. The two former seemed to be making a match of it, and it +looked impossible for Mango to get up; but a slight opening +presenting itself, which was not visible to the spectators, Sam +Day, with a degree of resolution which justifies the attributes +we have before ascribed to him, sent his horse through with such +a terrific rush that his breeches were nearly torn off his boots, +and won by a neck. + +'After the race Lord George, who was a very heavy winner, gave +Honest John £500 for his trial with the Drummer; the like sum to +Sam Day for having ridden him better than he was ridden in the +Derby, and an equivalent proportion to Montgomery Dilly for +preparing him better than Prince for the same race. Mango was +afterwards sent to Newmarket for the St. Leger, and "Craven," who +then edited the "Sporting Magazine," having asserted that Mr. +Greville had caused it to be reported that Mango was lame to get +him back in the markets for that race, he called on him to +apologise for the statement, which proving, by the volunteered +testimony of Lord George Bentinck, Colonel Anson, and Admiral +Rous, to be wholly without foundation, the writer in question +made Mr. Greville the fullest _amende honorable_. Mango only won +once again as a four-year-old, when he carried off a sweepstakes +of 300 sovereigns at Newmarket, beating Chapeau d'Espagne and +Adrian. Having thus established himself with Dilly, owing to Mr. +Payne, with whom he had become confederate, training at +Littleton, Mr. Greville made no change until Dilly gave up, when +he continued his confidence to his brother William Dilly, who +succeeded him on his retirement from Lord Glasgow. + +'It was some few years before Mr. Greville had another good +horse, at least one that is worth dwelling upon, and Alarm must +be considered the legitimate successor to Mango. This colt Mr. +Greville purchased of his breeder, Captain George Delmé, and +tried him good enough to win the Derby in 1845 in a canter, even +in the face of such animals as Idas and The Libel. But just prior +to starting an accident occurred by which all Mr. Greville's +hopes were destroyed; for The Libel flying at Alarm very +savagely, he jumped the chains, threw Nat who lay for a time +insensible on the ground, and ran away. He was, however, soon +caught and remounted, and although much cut about ran forward +enough to justify the idea that but for his accident he must have +won, as no other animal could have got through the Cambridgeshire +with 7st. 10lb. on him so easily as he did in a field of such +quality as he met. In the following year Alarm made some amends +for his Epsom failure, by winning the Ascot Cup, as well as the +Orange Cup at Goodwood, the latter after a terrific race with +Jericho. He also, at Newmarket in the autumn, won three great +matches in succession, viz. with Oakley, the Bishop of Romford's +cob, and Sorella. Going through the "Calendar," Cariboo is the +next most noteworthy animal we come across, for it will be +recollected he ran second to Canezou for the Goodwood Cup, having +been lent to make running for her. But it is almost needless to +add that, had Mr. Greville known him to be as good as he was, he +would have been started on his own account, in which case the cup +in all probability would have gone to Bruton Street instead of to +Knowsley. Continuing our track through the "Calendar," we light +on a better year for Mr. Greville, in 1852, when he had really +two good animals in Adine and Frantic. With the former, at York, +he had perhaps the best week he ever had in his life, having won +both the Yorkshire Oaks and Ebor Handicap with her, besides +beating Daniel O'Rourke with Frantic, who two months before had +carried off the Union Cup for him at Manchester. The following +year Adine did a good thing for him by winning the Goodwood +Stakes, and two years afterwards he again won that race with +Quince. + +'Between Adine and Quince's years came Mr. Greville's last good +horse, Muscovite, whom he thought impossible to lose the +Metropolitan, and backed him accordingly. He was much put out, +however, by old John Day telling him he had no chance with his +mare Virago. At first Mr. Greville was incredulous at what John +told him, and made him acquainted with the form of Muscovite. +This made not the slightest impression on the old man, who merely +went on repeating Mr. Greville must back Virago for £500, and the +value of the advice was proved by the mare beating the horse very +easily. Muscovite's career for a time was a very unfortunate one, +for when in Dockeray's stable he was so "shinned" that his chance +for the Goodwood Stakes was completely out, and his trainer, who +could not discover the offender, and who was terribly annoyed at +the circumstance, begged he might be transferred to William +Dilly's, at Littleton. While there he was betted against for the +Caesarewitch in the same determined manner as he had been for his +other races, and when he arrived at Newmarket, and stood in Nat's +stables, which were perfectly impregnable, there was no cessation +in the opposition to him, although his trainer told everybody +that unless he was shot on the Heath, which he could not prevent, +he would walk in. This he did, and the crash he produced is still +fresh in the public recollection; but it is creditable to the +bookmaker who laid the most money against him to state that out +of £23,000 which he lost, he paid £16,000 down on the spot, an +act which procured him time for the remainder. + +'Since Muscovite, who is now at the stud at Newmarket, Mr. +Greville has had no animal that has done a really good thing for +him, though Anfield made another determined attempt at the +Goodwood Stakes this year; and having, at Lord Ribblesdale's sale +of General Peel's horses, purchased Orlando, and added him to his +establishment at Hampton Court, he has turned his attention +perhaps more to breeding than racing. For some time his returns +were very large, but of late, from the age of Orlando, and from +getting some of his stock so small, they have diminished in +amount, although the old horse looks as fresh as a four-year-old, +and preserves all that fine symmetry for which he was remarkable +both in and out of training. Latterly Mr. Greville, from being +the confederate of Mr. Payne, has trained with Alec Taylor at +Fyfield; but with Godding he has generally two or three at +Newmarket. + +'In turning to Mr. Greville in his private capacity we hardly +know how to treat him, for his is a nature that shrinks from +having his good deeds brought before the glare of the public eye. +No man, ever so high or low, we believe, ever sought his advice +and assistance in vain; and to no one individual, probably, have +so many and such various difficulties been submitted. Neither can +we remember a new trial or even an appeal demanded by those who +had sought his counsel. Beloved by his friends, and feared by his +opponents, Mr. Greville will ever be considered one of the most +remarkable men that have lent lustre to the English turf.' + + + + + END OF THE FIRST VOLUME. + + + + + INDEX. + + +Abercromby, Right Hon. James, proposed as Speaker, ii. 333; + Master of the Mint, iii. 95; proposed as Speaker, 201; the + Speakership, 204; elected Speaker, 213 + +Aberdeen, Earl of, Duchy of Lancaster, i. 124; motion about + Belgium, ii. 238 + +Achmet Pacha, concludes a treaty with Russia, iii. 69 + +Adair, Right Hon. Sir Robert, sworn in Privy Councillor, i. 136 + +Addington, Henry Unwin, recalled from Madrid, iii. 14 + +Address, proposed amendment to the, iii. 217 + +Adelaide, Queen, ii. 7; at the Ancient Concert, 133; mobbed in + the City, 141; audience of, about the crown, 179; coronation + of, 190; Lord Howe, 338; yacht, iii. 99; return of, 125; + illness of, 125; supposed to be with child, 198, 199, 201 + +Adrian's Villa, i. 377 + +Agar Ellis, _see_ Dover, Lord + +Alava, General, and the Duke of Cumberland, iii. 275 + +Albani, Cardinal, influence of, i. 310; conversation with, 373; + interview with, 380 + +Albano, i. 331 + +Alexander, Emperor of Russia, death of, i. 78; coronation of, + described by Talleyrand, ii. 185 + +Allen, Dr., Bishop of Ely, iii. 363 + +Allen, John, iii. 135; unbelief of, 324 + +Althorp, Viscount, proposed as Chairman of the Finance + Committee, i. 120; Chancellor of the Exchequer, ii. 66, + introduces the budget, 114; leader of the House of + Commons, 116, 200; letter to Attwood, 205, 206; hurries on the + Irish Church Bill, 364; as Chancellor of the Exchequer, iii. 2; + arrested by the Sergeant-at-Arms, 56; financial statement, 60; + defects as leader, 62; summons a meeting of the supporters of + Government, 92; resigns, 101; popularity of, 105; Chancellor of + the Exchequer under Lord Melbourne, 113; succeeds his father as + Earl Spencer, 140 + +Alvanley, Lord, duel with Morgan O'Connell, ii. 257; on Irish + affairs, 348 + +America, dispute with France, iii. 322 + +Anglesey, Marquis of, recalled, i. 149; entry into + Dublin, ii. 99; disputes with O'Connell, 106 + +Antwerp, threatened bombardment of, by the Dutch, ii. 321; French + army marches to, 329 + +Arbuthnot, Right Hon. Charles, nickname 'Gosh,' i. 103; + conversation with, on the Duke of Wellington's + Administration, ii. 51; conversation with, at Oatlands, 170 + +Arbuthnot, Mrs., death of, iii. 116 + +Arkwright, Sir Richard, fortunes of, iii. 50 + +Arkwright, Mrs., visit to, iii. 49 + +Arms Bill, the, ii. 196 + +Arnold, Dr., proposed for a bishopric, iii. 325 + +Artevelde, Philip van, iii. 114; discussed at Holland House, 128 + +Ascot Races, 1831, ii. 147; 1833, 375 + +Attwood, chairman of the Birmingham Union, ii. 205, 206; + proclamation against, 215 + +Auckland, Lord, Board of Trade, ii. 66; First Lord of the + Admiralty, iii. 88, 113; on the state of affairs, 238; First + Lord of the Admiralty in Lord Melbourne's second + Administration, 256 + +Augustus, Prince, of Prussia, ii. 319 + +Austin, Mr. John, his work on Jurisprudence, iii. 138 + +Austin, Mr. Charles, ii. 306 + +Aylmer, Lord, recalled from Canada, iii. 394; the King's address + to him, 395 + + +Bachelor, valet to the Duke of York and to King George IV., + i. 142, 143; conversation with, ii. 30 + +Bagot, Lord, conduct to Lord Harrowby, ii. 253 + +Baiae, Bay of, i. 341 + +Baring, House of, ii. 53 + +Baring, Right Hon. Alexander, offered the Chancellorship of the + Exchequer, ii. 299; proposes a compromise with the ex-Ministers, + 300 + +Baring, Francis, Chairman of the West India Committee, iii. 279 + +Barnes, Mr., editor of the 'Times,' ii. 97, 214; negotiations + with, for supporting the Government, iii. 155, 156, 157; dines + with Lord Lyndhurst, 167, 169; alarm of, at the prevailing + spirit, 188 + +Barri, Madame du, ii. 219 + +Barry, Dr., sent to Sunderland, ii. 216; report on cholera, 217 + +Bath, Chapter of the Order of the, i. 254 + +Bathurst, Earl, Lord President, i. 124; death of, iii. 115; + character of, 115 + +Bathurst, Countess, conversation with, ii. 62 + +Bathurst, Hon. William, appointed Clerk of the Council, ii. 61, + 86; delay in appointment of, 74; sworn in Clerk of the Council, + 94 + +Bathurst, Lieut.-Colonel Hon. Seymour, death of, iii. 79 + +Baudrand, General, ii. 33; reception of, 38 + +Bazaar, in Hanover Square, ii. 383 + +Beauclerc, Lord Aurelius, dances a country dance with the King, + ii. 341 + +Belgian question, the, settlement of, ii. 314 + +Belgium, revolution in, ii. 41; affairs of, 44; unsettled state + of, 69; deputation from, 160; fortresses of, 169; invaded by + the Dutch, 175; French army refuses to leave, 181; end of + hostilities with the Dutch, 184; Conference, 1832, 321 + +Belmore, Earl of, Governor of Jamaica, i. 140, 147 + +Belvoir Castle, iii. 46 + +Benson, Canon, sermon at the Temple Church, ii. 113 + +Bentinck, Right Hon. Lord William, desires to be appointed + Governor-General of India, i. 59; address to the electors of + Glasgow, iii. 339, 343; qualities of, 339; inscription on + monument in honour of, 340 + +Bentinck, Lord Henry, quarrel with Sir Roger Gresley, ii. 148 + +Bergara, Convention of, iii. 259 + +Berri, Duchesse de, in La Vendée, ii. 322 + +Berry, Miss, iii. 58 + +Berryer, M., iii. 379; appearance of, 380 + +Best, Right Hon. William Draper, _see_ Lord Wynford + +Bethnal Green, distress in, ii. 261 + +Bexley, Lord, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, i. 95 + +Bickersteth, Henry, _see_ Lord Langdale + +Blacas, M. de, favourite of Louis XVIII., ii. 305 + +Black Book, the, ii. 79 + +Bloomfield, Sir Benjamin, dismissal of, i. 55 + +Blount, Rev. Mr., sermon, iii. 12 + +Body-snatchers, ii. 227 + +Bologna, i. 402 + +Bonaparte, Emperor Napoleon, in the 100 days, i. 24; campaigns + of, described by Marshal Marmont, ii. 35 + +Bonaparte, Louis Napoleon, Strasburg attempt, iii. 381 + +Bonaparte, Joseph, at dinner at Lady Cork's, iii. 18 + +Bonaparte, Lucien, introduced to the Duke of Wellington, iii. 11; + at dinner at Lady Cork's, 18 + +Boodle's, dinner at, ii. 124 + +Bosanquet, Right Hon. Sir John Bernard, sworn in a Privy + Councillor, iii. 30; Judge of the King's Bench, 71 + +Boswell, 'Life of Johnson,' anecdotes lost, ii. 105 + +Boulogne, iii. 388 + +Bourbon, Duke de, death of, ii. 50 + +Bourmont, Marshal de, marches on Lisbon, iii. 25 + +Bourne, Right Hon. Sturges, Secretary of State for the Home + Department, i. 95 + +Bowring, Dr., sent to Paris, ii. 219; satire of Moore on, 219; + career of, 220 + +Bradshaw, Mrs., acting of, at Bridgewater House, ii. 353 + +Brescia, i. 412 + +Bretby, visit to, iii. 327; Chesterfield Papers, 327 + +Bridgewater House, dramatic performances at, iii. 352, 355 + +Bridgewater Election, iii. 398 + +Brighton, the Court at, 1832, ii. 334; races, 1835, iii. 284 + +Bristol, riots at, ii. 208 + +Broglie, Duke de. conduct of, iii. 386 + +Brooks's Club, iii. 320 + +Brougham, Lord, attack upon, in 'Quarterly Review,' i. 16; speech + on the Queen's trial, 35; letter to the Queen, 57; character + of, 117; qualities of, ii. 18, 33; appointed Lord High + Chancellor, 65; discontent of, 65; social qualities of, 69; + anecdote of, 106; quarrel with Sugden, 106; correspondence with + Southey on rewards to literary men, 112; speech on Chancery + Reform, 118; domestic kindness of, 120; origin of + representation of Yorkshire, 125; as Lord Chancellor, 128; at + the Horse Guards, 129; as a judge, 145; at dinner at Hanbury's + brewery, 148; at the British Museum, 149; claims the old Great + Seal, 188; intention of sitting at the Privy Council, 223; + speech on the Russian Loan, 244; quarrel with Sugden, 312; + anecdote of, 314; Bill for creating a new Court of Appeal, 342; + Bill objected to, 344; Judicial Committee of the Privy Council + Bill, 365; sits on the case of Drax _v._ Grosvenor, 370; as + Chancellor, iii. 22; anecdotes of Queen Caroline, 36; and Sir + William Horne, 67; meets Sir Thomas Denman in Bedfordshire, 71; + judicial changes, 71; defence of himself, 72; apology for, 76; + speech on Lord Wynford's Bill for the observance of the + Sabbath, 83; on the Pluralities Bill, 86; on the Irish Church, + 94; and the 'Times,' 96; Lord Chancellor in Lord Melbourne's + Administration, 113; and Lord Westmeath, 119; conduct in the + Westmeath case, 119, 124; versatility of, 121; lines applied + to, 121; Greek epigrams, 121; ambition of, 122; in Scotland, + 133; communicates to the 'Times' the fall of Lord Melbourne's + first Administration, 145; resigns the Great Seal, 156; takes + leave of the Bar, 156; asks for the Chief Baronship, 157; + anecdote, 232; conduct of, in the case of Swift _v._ Kelly, + 260, 267; on the London University Charter, 261; judgment in + the case of Swift _v._ Kelly, 274; on the Corporation Bill, + 286; violence in the House of Lords, 303; illness of, 329; and + Macaulay, 337, 338; at Queen Victoria's first Council, 408 + +Brummel, 'Beau,' i. 282 + +Brussels, disturbances at, ii. 40 + +Buccleuch, Duke of, subscription to election expenses, iii. 182 + +Budget, the, 1831, ii. 113 + +Buller, James, death of, ii. 59 + +Bülow, Baron von, on English affairs, iii. 211 + +Bulwer, Sir Edward Lytton, iii. 348 + +Bunsen, Baron, i. 315; career of, 327; on Roman affairs, 389 + +Burdett, Sir Francis, returned for Westminster, 1837, iii. 398 + +Burghersh, Lord, at Florence, i. 299; amateur opera, 301 + +Burghersh, Lady, intercedes for a prisoner at the Old Bailey, ii. + 85 + +Burghley, party at, iii. 53 + +Burke, Right Hon. Edmund, writings of, iii. 209; compared with + Mackintosh, 314 + +Burke, Sir G., conversation with, on O'Connell, ii. 111 + +Buxton, Fowell, dinner at the brewery, ii. 148 + +Byng, Right Hon. George, Lord of the Treasury, iii. 95 + +Byron, Lord, Moore's Life of, i. 272; character of, 273 + + +Cambridge, H.R.H. the Duchess of, reception of, i. 2 + +Cambridge, University of, petition for the admission of + Dissenters to the, iii. 72, 75 + +Campbell, Sir John, Solicitor-General, ii. 333; Attorney-General, + iii. 141 + +Canada, affairs in, iii. 350 + +Canning, Right Hon. Sir Stratford, Ambassador at St. Petersburg, + ii. 352, 357; anecdote of, iii. 39; offered the + Governor-Generalship of Canada, 234 + +Canning, Right Hon. George, Foreign Secretary, i. 55; + correspondence with the King on taking office, 59; forms an + Administration (1827), 93, 95; death of, 103; anecdotes of, + 104; industrious habits of, 106; memoirs of, 263, 272; despatch + in verse, 326; sagacity of, ii. 42; conversation with the King, + 102; correspondence with the Duke of Wellington, 103; coldness + to the Duke of Wellington, 103; anecdote of, 125; negotiation + with the Whigs, 170; influence over Lord Liverpool, 172; in + favour with the King, 172; on Reform, iii. 135; and King George + IV., 137 + +Canning, Lady, visit to, ii. 101; authorship of pamphlet, iii. 40 + +Canning, Mr. Charles, offered a Lordship of the Treasury, iii. + 202 + +Cannizzaro, Duchess of, iii. 11; crowns the Duke of Wellington, + 406 + +Canterbury, Archbishop of, indecision of the, ii. 250, 262, 263; + importance of support of the, 252, 253 + +Canterbury, Viscount, declines to go to Canada, iii. 234 + +Capo di Monte, i. 335 + +Capua, i. 360 + +Cardinals, the, i. 309 + +Carlisle, Earl of, Lord Privy Seal, i. 95; iii. 88 + +Carlists, the, in Spain, iii. 66 + +Carlos, Don, in London, iii. 98 + +Carlow election, iii. 348 + +Carnarvon, Earl of, refuses to move the address in the House of + Lords, iii. 202 + +Caroline, Queen, return of, i. 28; trial of, 31, 35; anecdote of, + iii. 37 + +Carvalho, Minister of Finance to Dom Pedro, iii. 93 + +Catacombs, the, _see_ Rome + +Catholic emancipation, i. 163, 172, 174 + +Catholic Relief Bill, excitement concerning the, i. 180; debates + on, _see_ Lords and Commons + +Cato Street Conspiracy, the, i. 26 + +Cayla, Madame du, i. 71; dinner at the Duke of Wellington's, 214; + Béranger's verses on, 215; favourite of Louis XVIII., ii. 306 + +Cenis, the Mont, i. 287 + +Champollion, Jean François, death of, ii. 307 + +Chapeau de Paille, the, purchase of, ii. 125 + +Chapel, near Holland House, unable to be consecrated, iii. 200 + +Charles I., King, head of, discovered at Windsor, ii. 168; + executioner of, iii. 132 + +Charles X., King, of France, arrival of in England, ii. 31; at + Lulworth Castle, 33; off Cowes, 34 + +Charlotte, Queen, illness of, i. 2, 3 + +Charlotte, H.R.H. the Princess, anecdotes of, ii. 319 + +Chartres, H.R.H. the Duc de, arrival of, i. 208 + +Chatham, Earl of, death of, iii. 316 + +Chatsworth, hospitality at, i. 237; charade at, 238; party at, + ii. 51 + +Chesterfield Papers, the, iii. 327 + +Chobert, the 'Fire King,' i. 276 + +Cholera, the, in Russia, ii. 57; account of, 150; preventive + measures against, 154, 216; effect on trade of, 156; spread of, + 161; alarm about, 169; at Berlin, 192; at Sunderland, 208, 210; + at Marseilles, 221; on the decline, 224; near Edinburgh, 240; + in London, 258, 259; in Bethnal Green, 261; account of, 278; + diminution of, 285; in Paris, 287; alarm in London, 309, 311 + +Christina, Queen, of Spain, iii. 66, 72; reported flight of, 360; + courage of, 365 + +Christmas trees, introduced by Princess Lieven at Panshanger, i. + 259 + +Church Bill, the, Committee on, iii. 199 + +Church Reform, iii. 206 + +City, the, address to the King, ii. 126; illumination in, 140; + election, 1835, iii. 184, 186, 187; anxiety in the money-market, + 373, 376 + +Civil List, the, excess of expenditure on, i. 253; for debates + on, _see_ Commons, House of + +Clanricarde, Marquis of, sworn in a Privy Councillor, ii. 78 + +Clarence, H.R.H. the Duke of, Lord High Admiral, i. 95; removal + of, from the office of Lord High Admiral, 138, 140. _See_ + William IV. + +Cobbett, William, trial of, ii. 158; returned for Oldham, 335; + takes his seat, 351; and Sir Robert Peel, 373 + +Cochrane, Lord, at Florence, i. 301; villa near Florence, 302 + +Codrington, Sir E., interview with the Duke of Wellington, i. 179 + +Coercion Bill, the, introduced, ii. 359 + +Colchester Election, iii. 112 + +Commons, House of; Alien Bill, i. 1; Dr. Halloran's petition, 14; + debate on grant to the Duke of York, 18; debates on Queen + Caroline, 30, 32, 38; Small Notes Bill, 79; debates on Catholic + Relief Bill, 91, 133, 166, 191; division on Catholic Relief + Bill, 185; Catholic Relief Bill read a third time, 203; Regency + and Civil List, ii. 45; debate on the Evesham election, 25; + debate on the Civil List, 110; announcement of the Reform Bill, + 110; Pension List, 111; debate on Ireland, 112; Budget of 1831, + 113; proposed reductions, 118; introduction of the first Reform + Bill, 121; debates on the Reform Bill, 123, 125; debate on the + Timber duties, 130; debate on the Reform Bill, 131; division on + the Reform Bill, 132; Government defeated, 135; scene in the + House, 135; second reading of the Reform Bill, 156; Wine + duties, 160; Reform Bill, Schedule A, 170; second Reform Bill, + 227; debate on, and second reading of the second Reform Bill + carried, 228; Reform Bill supported by the Irish Members, 239; + division on the Russian Loan, 240; division on the sugar + duties, 267; Reform Bill passed, 270; debates, 296; violent + scene in debate on petition of the City of London, 299; Irish + Tithe question, 308; debate on, 309; debate on the Address, + 353; Irish Church Reform, 354; aspect of the reformed House, + 360; debate on Slave Emancipation, 371; vote of confidence in + the Ministers, 376; division on the Irish Church Bill, 381; + vote against sinecures, iii. 13; division on Apprenticeship + Clause of West India Bill, 16; disorganised state of the House, + 17; Pension List, 60; business of the House, 61; debate on the + Corn Laws, 68; debate on admission of Dissenters to the + University, 75; debate on Repeal of the Union, 80; Pension + List, 80; debate on Portugal, 82; Poor Law Bill, 83; debate on + Irish Tithe Bill, 98, 99; gallery for reporters, 205; debate on + the Speakership, 214; debate on the Address, 221; debate and + division on amendment to the Address, 223; Malt Tax, 224; + debate on appointment of Lord Londonderry, 225; Dissenters' + Marriage Bill, 230; Government beaten on Chatham election, 234; + state of parties in the House, 234; debate and division on + Irish Church question, 240; uproar in the House, 243; + Government defeated on Irish Tithe Bill, 246; debate on Irish + Church Bill, 281; position of the House, 288, 291; conflict + with the House of Lords, 225; debate and division on the + amendment to the Address, 334; effect of division, 336; + Opposition defeated, 347; division, 359; Irish Corporation + Bill, 388; insult to Lord Lyndhurst, 389; debates on Irish + Tithe Bill, 391; abandonment of the appropriation clauses, 393 + +Como, i. 414 + +Conroy, Sir John, ii. 190; iii. 3 + +Conservative Club, dinner at, ii. 327; speeches, 327 + +Constantine, the Grand Duke, accident to, i. 259; death of, ii. + 164 + +Convention signed between France, England, and Holland, ii. 375 + +Conyngham, Marquis of, Postmaster-General, iii. 88, 113 + +Conyngham, Marchioness of, i. 46; wears a Crown jewel, 48; Court + intrigues, 207 + +Conyngham, Lord Francis, i. 50 + +Coprogli, History of the Grand Vizier, iii. 115 + +Cornelius, painter, ii. 149 + +Coronation, the, of William IV., decided on, ii. 156; + preparations for, 157, 163, 165; estimates for, 181; disputes + over the arrangements for, 187 + +Cottenham, Lord, Lord High Chancellor, iii. 328 + +Cotton, Sir Willoughby, suppresses the insurrection in Jamaica, + ii. 262; on affairs in Jamaica, 380 + +Council, Clerk of the, Mr. Greville sworn in, i. 44; after the + accession of William IV., ii. 12; Lord Grey's Administration + sworn in, 71; for the proclamation against rioters, 73; + recorder's report in, 85; clerks of the, 87; scene at Council + for a new Great Seal, 188 + +Council, Privy: suttee case before the, ii. 307; embargo on Dutch + ships, 343; meeting of the, on the London University petition, + iii. 80; counter petition of Oxford and Cambridge, 80 + +Council, Cabinet: the first of Lord Melbourne's Administration, + iii. 120; the first of Sir Robert Peel's Administration, 174 + +Covent Garden Theatrical Fund Dinner, i. 205 + +Coventry, glove trade, ii. 224 + +Cowley, Abraham, lines from 'Ode to Solitude,' ii. 272 + +Cowper, Earl, at Panshanger, ii. 229 + +Cowper, Countess, at Panshanger, ii. 229 + +Cowper, William, Life of, by Southey, iii. 134 + +Cradock, Colonel, sent to Charles X., ii. 37 + +Crampton, Sir Philip, Irish story, i. 243 + +Craven, Earl of, disperses a mob, ii. 77; on the proposed new + Peers, 232 + +Craven, General the Hon. Berkeley, suicide of, iii. 350 + +Crawford, William, member for the City of London, iii. 188 + +Creevey, Mr., i. 235 + +Croker, Right Hon. John Wilson, edition of 'Boswell's Life of + Johnson,' ii. 105; reviews lost, 106 + +Cumberland, H.R.H. the Duke of, opposition to Catholic Relief + Bill, i. 180; intrigues at Court, 222; insults Lady Lyndhurst, + 222, 223; quarrel with Lord Lyndhurst, 224; disputes concerning + the office of 'Gold Stick,' ii. 5, 21 + +Cumberland, H.R.H. the Duchess of, i. 2 + +Cuvier, Baron, death of, ii. 307 + + +Dalberg, Duke de, letter on European affairs, ii. 44 + +Dawson, Right Hon. George Robert, speech on Catholic + Emancipation, i. 138, 200; sworn in a Privy Councillor, ii. 71 + +De Cazes, Duke, favourite of Louis XVIII., ii. 305; Ambassador to + the Court of St. James, 306 + +Dedel, M., Dutch Minister at the Court of St. James, iii, 32 + +Denbigh, Earl of, Chamberlain to Queen Adelaide, ii. 342; sworn + in Privy Councillor, 352 + +Denman, Lord, correspondence with the King, i. 156; sworn in a + Privy Councillor, ii. 329; Lord Chief Justice, 330; qualities + of, 331; meeting of, with Lord Brougham, in Bedfordshire, iii. + 71; raised to the Peerage, 74 + +Derby Dilly, the, iii. 236, 237, 253 + +De Ros, Lord, in Rome, i. 368 + +De Ros, Colonel, the Hon. Arthur John Hill, death of, i. 81; + character of, 82 + +Dickenson, Captain, trial of, by court-martial, i. 235 + +Diebitsch, Marshal, death of, from cholera, ii. 154 + +Dino, Duc de, arrest of the, i. 255 + +Dino, Duchesse de, ii. 57; on the state of France, 195 + +Discontent throughout the country, ii. 108 + +Disraeli, Benjamin, projects for sitting in Parliament, iii. 170 + +Dissenters' Marriage Bill, iii. 207, 230. For debates on, _see_ + Commons, House of + +Dorsetshire election, 1831, ii. 203, 207; crime in, iii. 77 + +Dover, Lord, resigns the Woods and Forests, ii. 109; created a + Peer, 150; death of, iii. 4; character of, 4; Life of + Frederick II., 6; book on the Man in the Iron Mask, 6 + +Down, deanery of, iii. 70 + +Drax _v._ Grosvenor, case of, ii. 224; lunacy case, 369; decision + on, 375; final meeting on, 377 + +Drummond, Henry, mission to the Archbishop of York, iii. 333 + +Dublin Police Bill, iii. 333 + +Dudley, Earl of, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, i. 95, + 124; dinner to Marshal Marmont, ii. 38; eccentricity of, 271, + 272 + +'Duke of Milan,' quotation from the, i. 178 + +Dulcken, Madam, performs before the Judicial Committee, iii. 325 + +Duncannon, Viscount, iii. 104; called to the House of Lords, and + Secretary of State, 109; sworn in, 112; Home Secretary, 113; on + O'Connell, 117; at a fire in Edward Street, 117; on the state + of affairs, 196; Commissioner of Woods and Forests under Lord + Melbourne, 256 + +Duncombe, Hon. Thomas Slingsby, maiden speech of, i. 128; + petition from Barnet, ii. 255; guilty of libel, iii. 9; at + Hillingdon, 123 + +Durham, Earl of, quarrel with Lady Jersey, ii. 119; influence + over Lord Grey, 222; attack on Lord Grey at a Cabinet dinner, + 226; rudeness of, 269; return from Russia, 333; violence of, + 333; created an earl, 365 + +Dwarris, Sir Fortunatus, dinner at the house of, ii. 359 + + +East, Sir E. Hyde, sworn in a Privy Councillor, ii. 155 + +Eboli, Duchesse d', ball at Naples, i. 335 + +Ebrington, Viscount, moves a vote of confidence in the + Government, ii. 202, 204 + +Ebury, Lord, sworn in a Privy Councillor, ii. 78 + +Egremont, Earl of, at Petworth, ii. 336; wealth of, 337; + hospitality to the poor, iii. 84 + +Eldon, Earl of, audience of King George IV., i. 197; speech at + Apsley House, ii. 198; career of, 378; tribute to, iii. 42 + +Election, General, in 1830, ii. 20, 29; in 1831, 139, 141, 142, + 145; in 1832, 335; in 1835, iii. 184, 189, 191, 193; results + of, 195; in the counties, 198; result, 201 + +Eliot, Lord, return of, from Spain, iii. 259; conversation with + Louis Philippe, 259 + +Ellenborough, Earl of, Lord Privy Seal, i. 124; letter to Sir + John Malcolm, 271; on West India affairs, ii. 350; on Egypt, + 351; speech on admission of Dissenters to the University, iii. + 73 + +Ellesmere, Earl of, Irish Secretary, i. 146 + +Ellice, Right Hon. Edward, iii. 104; and the Colchester election, + 112; Secretary for War, 113; in Paris, 379 + +Elliot, Frederic, letter from Canada, iii. 325 + +Epsom races, 1831, ii. 143; in 1833, 373 + +Erskine, Right Hon. Thomas, sworn in a Privy Councillor, ii. 223; + Chief Judge in Bankruptcy, 223 + +Escars, Duchesse d', at a party given by the Duke of Wellington, + i. 214 + +Este, Sir Augustus d', behaviour of, ii. 194 + +Esterhazy, Prince Paul, conversation with, ii. 40; on Belgian + affairs, 189; on the state of England, iii. 32; on affairs in + Europe, 370; conversation with, 373 + +Europe, state of, ii. 126; in 1831, 187; in 1836, iii. 370 + +Evans, General de Lacy, iii. 265; reported death of, 359 + +Evans, the incendiary, arrest of, ii. 70 + +Exeter, Bishop of, correspondence with Lord Melbourne, ii. 97; + interview with Lord Grey, 205; talents of, 287; ambition of, + 289 + + +Falck, Baron, ii. 15, 41 + +Ferdinand, Emperor, of Austria, iii. 374 + +Fergusson, Right Hon. Cutlar, Judge Advocate, iii. 95 + +Ferrara, i. 405 + +Fieschi conspiracy, iii. 286 + +Fingall, Earl of, created a Baron of the United Kingdom, ii. 150 + +Finsbury election, 1834, Radical returned, iii. 100 + +Fitzclarence, Colonel George, _see_ Munster, Earl of + +Fitzclarence, Lord Frederick, resigns appointment at the Tower, + ii. 362 + +Fitzclarence, Lord Adolphus, picture of, ii. 179 + +Fitzclarence, Lord Augustus, at Ascot, ii. 147; picture of, 176 + +Fitzclarence, Lady Augusta, marriage of, iii. 363 + +Fitzgerald, Right Hon. Vesey, i. 150 + +Fitzherbert, Mrs., death of, iii. 396; documents of, 396 + +Flahault, Madame de, anecdotes of Princess Charlotte, ii. 319; + _salon_ of, in Paris, iii. 381 + +Fleury, Cardinal, ii. 347 + +Florence, i. 299; sights of, 300; society at, 302; sculpture, + 300, 301; pictures, 303; Grand Duke, 303 + +Foley, Lord, sworn in a Privy Councillor, ii. 84; Lord-Lieutenant + of Worcestershire, 84; at St. James's, 297 + +Fonblanque, Albany, iii. 348 + +Forester, Right Hon. Colonel Cecil, resigns his appointment as + Groom of the Bedchamber, ii. 118 + +Forfar election, 1835, iii. 197 + +Fox, Mrs. Lane, accompanies the Prince of Orange to Gravesend, + ii. 133; receives the Cabinet Ministers, iii. 140 + +Fox, Right Hon. Charles James, described by Talleyrand, ii. 344 + +Fox, W. J., Unitarian minister, sermon, iii. 43 + +France, state of affairs in, i. 284; appearance of the country, + 287; impending crisis in 1830, 369; events in 1830, ii. 17; + revolution, 19; Duke of Orleans ascends the throne, 26; + political prospects, 26; reconstruction of the Constitution, + 28; army ordered to Belgium, 178; army in Belgium, 181; seizure + of Portuguese ships, 182, 184; republican tendencies of, 187; + state of the country, 1831, 195; weakness of the Government of + Louis Philippe, 322; dispute with America, iii. 322; state of + the country, 382 + +Francis, Sir Philip, handwriting of, i. 234 + +Franklin, Benjamin, ii. 185 + +Franz Joseph, Archduke, iii. 374 + +Frascati, convent at, i. 305; dinner at, 305; visit to, 390 + + +Gallatin, Albert, i. 257 + +Gambier, Lord, proxy of, ii. 286 + +Garrick, David, anecdotes of ii. 316 + +Gell, Sir William, at Rome, i. 372, 375 + +Geneva, i. 415 + +Genoa, i. 292; palaces, 293, 295; churches, 294; tomb of Andrew + Doria, 296 + +George III., death of, i. 23; will, 64; jewels and property, 65; + dislike of the Duke of Richmond, iii. 129 + +George IV., illness of, i. 23; at the Pavilion, 49; interview + with, 91; health and habits of, 143; violent dislike to the + Catholic Relief Bill, 153, 181; character of, 155; personal + habits of, 189; interview with the Lord Chancellor, the Duke of + Wellington, and Sir Robert Peel, 201; health of, 206; racing + interests of, 212; anecdotes concerning, 216; eyesight + affected, 233, 236; courage of, 236; conduct in reference to + Mr. Denman, 250; illness of, 368; death of, 417; funeral of, + ii. 4; sale of wardrobe, 23; details of last illness, 30; + anecdotes concerning, 189 + +Gérard, Marshal, reported resignation of, ii. 45; ordered to + Belgium, 178 + +Gibson, John, R.A., at Rome, i. 383 + +Gladstone, William Ewart, West India Committee, iii. 280 + +Glenelg, Lord, President of the Board of Trade, i. 124; Board of + Control, ii. 66, iii. 113; Colonial Secretary in Lord + Melbourne's second Administration, 256; and the King, 276 + +'Glenfinlas' performed at Bridgewater House, iii. 353, 355 + +Glengall, Earl of, comedy by the, i. 249 + +Glengall, Countess of, ii. 85 + +Gloucester, H.R.H. the Duke of, ii. 8 + +Goderich, Viscount, Small Notes Bill, i. 79; Secretary of State + for Colonial Affairs and War, 95; sent for by the King, 107; + scene at Windsor, 108; Administration of, formed, 108; + resignation of, 115; returns to office, 116; Ministry + dissolved, 120; Colonial Secretary, ii. 66; Lord Privy Seal, + 365; created an earl, 367; invested with the Order of the + Garter, 367 + +Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von, death of, ii. 307 + +Goodwood, ii. 182; in 1833, iii. 20 + +Gorhambury, party at, ii. 188 + +'Goriot, Le Père,' iii. 378 + +Goulburn, Right Hon. Henry, Chancellor of the Exchequer, i. 124 + +Graham, Right Hon. Sir James, First Lord of the Admiralty, ii. + 66; elevation of, 90; remarks on, 91; resignation of, iii. 88; + declines to join the Peel Administration, 176; conservative + spirit of, 249; on the crisis of 1835, 249; joins the + Opposition, 272 + +Grange, The, attacked by a mob, ii. 68 + +Grant, Right Hon. Charles, _see_ Glenelg, Lord + +Granville, Earl, Ambassador in Paris, iii. 385 + +Granville, Countess, i. 10; quarrel with M. Thiers, iii. 380 + +Greece, policy of the English Government towards, i. 255 + +Greenwich, dinner at, iii. 1 + +Grenville, Thomas, conduct during the riots of 1780, iii. 129 + +Gresley, Sir Roger, quarrel with Lord H. Bentinck, ii. 148 + +Greville, Charles, sen., death of, ii. 318 + +Greville, Mrs., 'Ode to Indifference,' ii. 319 + +Greville, Algernon, private secretary to the Duke of Wellington, + iii. 163 + +Grey, Earl, hostility to the Government, i. 100; forms an + Administration, 1830, ii. 64, 66; First Lord of the Treasury, + 66; at dinner at Lord Sefton's, 69; nepotism of, 78; character + of, 88; relations with Lord Lyndhurst, 88; lays the Reform Bill + before the King, 109; weakness of Government in the House of + Commons, 116; remarks on Administration of, 137; invested with + the Order of the Garter, 146; at dinner at Hanbury's Brewery, + 149; attacked on his foreign policy, 178; on Belgian affairs, + 178; attacked by Lord Durham, 226; proposed new Peers, 230; + altered conduct of, 232; reluctance to make new Peers, 247; + conversation with, 248; interview with Lord Harrowby and Lord + Wharncliffe, 259; minute of compromise with Lord Harrowby and + Lord Wharncliffe, 260; speech on Ancona, 269; speech at the + close of the Reform debate, 288; continued efforts for a + compromise, 291; Government defeated in committee, 293; + resignation of Administration of, 294; resumes office with his + colleagues, 300; remarks on the members of the Administration + of, 322; embarrassment of Government, 369; instance of + readiness of, iii. 10; on Portuguese affairs, 21; compared with + the Duke of Wellington, 73; changes in the Administration of, + 88, 90, 91; situation of, in the crisis of 1834, 91; letter to + Lord Ebrington, 92; weakness of the Government, 97; resignation + of, 101; refuses the Privy Seal, 112; desires to retire, 124; + dinner to, at Edinburgh, 135; events subsequent to retirement + of, 145; intrigue, 145; conservative spirit of, 249; audience + of the King, 251; dissatisfaction of, 352 + +Grey, Sir Charles, Governor of Jamaica, sworn in a Privy + Councillor, iii. 271 + +Grote, George, returned for the City of London, iii. 188 + +Guizot, Monsieur, reported resignation of, ii. 45; eminence of, + iii. 379 + +Gully, Mr., account of, ii. 335; returned for Pontefract, 336 + +Gunpowder Plot, papers relating to, i. 161 + + +Haddington, Earl of, Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, iii. 181 + +Halford, Sir Henry, report on the cholera, ii. 137 + +Hampden, Dr. Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford, iii. 341, + 342 + +Hanbury's Brewery, dinner at, ii. 148 + +Happiness, reflections on, iii. 293 + +Hardinge, Right Hon. Sir Henry, on the prospects of the Tory + Government, iii. 167; on the King and Lord Melbourne, 168 + +Harrowby, Earl of, Lord President, i. 95; speech on Reform, ii. + 206; interview with Lord Grey, 224; circular to the Peers, 242, + 248; interview with Lord Grey, 259; discussions on letter of, + 262; letter shown to Lord Grey, 264; the 'Times' on the letter + of, 264, 265; patriotic conduct of, 275; declines to vote on + Schedule A, 281; character of, iii. 52; subscription to + election expenses, 182 + +Harrowby, Countess of, iii. 52 + +Hartwell, visit to, ii. 345 + +Harvey, Whittle, committee, iii. 112; speech of, at Southwark, + 188 + +Harwich election, 1835, iii. 186 + +Health, formation of a board of, ii. 154 + +Henry II., King, and Thomas à Becket, iii. 130 + +Henry VIII., King, coffin of, found at Windsor, ii. 168 + +Herbert, Sydney, Secretary to the Board of Control, iii. 194 + +Herculaneum, i. 349 + +'Hernani,' ii. 154 + +Herries, Right Hon. John Charles, scene at Council, i. 108; + discussions on appointment of, 110; ill-will of, towards his + colleagues, 121; Master of the Mint, 124 + +Hertford, Marchioness of, funeral of, iii. 79 + +Hess, Captain, ii. 319, 320 + +Heurteloup, Baron, before the Judicial Committee, iii. 332 + +Heythrop, riot at, ii. 77 + +Hill, Mr., Irish members' squabble, iii. 55 + +Hobhouse, Right Hon. Sir John Cam, speech on the Reform Bill, ii. + 123; Secretary of War, 243; resigns Irish Secretaryship and + seat for Westminster, ii. 368; on the state of affairs, iii. + 195; Board of Control, in Lord Melbourne's second + Administration, 256 + +Holland, the King of, invades Belgium, ii. 175; state of, 200; + conduct of the King of, 314; the King refuses to give up + Antwerp, 321, 329; obstinacy of the King, 324; bankrupt + condition of, iii. 32 + +Holland, Lord, at Panshanger, ii. 47; Duchy of Lancaster, iii. + 113; anecdotes related by, 131; on Reform, 135; on Mr. Canning, + 135; anecdotes, 335; on Mr. Fox, 335; contempt for the Tory + party, 336 + +Holland, Lady, fancies of, ii. 331; and Spencer Perceval, iii. + 331 + +Holland House, dinner at, ii. 245; conversation at, 316; Allen + and Macaulay, 317; sketch of, 331; conversation at, iii. 127, + 129; literary criticisms, 130; Lord Melbourne's conversation, + 131; dinner at, 132; news of the fall of Lord Melbourne's + Administration, 147; party spirit at, 192 + +Holmes boroughs, ii. 140 + +Hook, Theodore, improvisation of, iii. 119, 197; singing of, 197 + +Home, Sir William, Attorney-General, ii. 333; and Lord Brougham, + iii. 67 + +Hortense, Queen, at Frascati, i. 305 + +Horton, Wilmot, lectures at the Mechanics' Institute, ii. 97 + +Howe, Earl, dismissal of, ii. 203; Queen's Chamberlain, 319; and + Queen Adelaide, 331; correspondence about the Chamberlainship, + 339 + +Howick, Viscount, Under-secretary, ii. 78; in office, iii. 254; + civility of the King to, 255; Secretary of War, 256; acrimony + of, 312; interview with Spencer Perceval, 330; on the position + of parties, 360 + +Hudson, Sir James, page of honour, ii. 339 + +Hume, John Deacon, Assistant-Secretary to the Board of Trade, i. + 223; ii. 49 + +Hume, Joseph, extreme Radical views of, ii. 361; speech on the + Orangemen, iii. 344; deputation to Lord Melbourne, 357 + +'Hunchback, The,' ii. 285 + +Hunt, Henry, speech of, ii. 112; speech of, against the Reform + Bill, 134 + +Huskisson, Right Hon. William, President of the Board of Trade, + i. 95; dispute in the Cabinet, 120; joins the new Government, + 122; Colonial Secretary, 124; resignation of, 131; Lord + Melbourne's opinion of, ii. 46; death of, 47; character of, 49; + funeral of, 51 + + +Incendiarism in the country, ii. 84 + +Ireland, trials in, i. 239; dissatisfaction in, ii. 76; + unpopularity of Government changes in, 89; state of, 112, 114; + education in, 267, 271; tithes, 309; Church difficulties in, + 323 + +Irish Church, abuses in, iii. 9; the Irish Church Bill dangerous + to the Government, 86; differences in the Cabinet, 89; + difficulties of the Irish Church question, 240, 253; opinions + of Lord Melbourne on the, 269. For debates on the Irish Church + Bill, _see_ Lords, House of, and Commons, House of + +Irish Tithe Bill, thrown out, iii. 117; divisions on the, 246; + conduct of the Government, 298; difficulties of, 353, 354; + abandonment of the Appropriation Clause, 355 + +Irving, Edward, service in chapel, iii. 40; the unknown tongues, + 41; sermon of, 41; interview with Lord Melbourne, 129 + +Irving, Washington, i. 249 + +Istria, Duchesse d', beauty of, iii. 381 + + +Jacquemont's Letters, iii. 115 + +Jamaica, insurrection in, ii. 262; Mr. Greville, Secretary of the + Island of, 349; petition to the King, 352; affairs of, 352; + anecdote of a slave, 359; opinion of Sir Willoughby Cotton, + 380; office of Secretary to the Island of, threatened, iii. + 266, 268, 275; secured, 279 + +Jebb, Judge, charge of, at O'Connell's trial, ii. 109 + +Jeffrey, Lord, and Professor Leslie, iii. 44 + +Jersey, Countess of, character of, i. 12; party at the house of, + ii. 64; quarrel with Lord Durham, 119; correspondence with Lord + Brougham, 126 + +Jockey Club, dinner given by the King to the, 1828, i. 154; in + 1829, 211 + +'John Bull,' the, newspaper, ii. 97 + +Johnson, Dr., anecdotes of, ii. 316 + +Johnstone, Right Hon. Sir Alexander, sworn in a Privy Councillor, + iii. 27, 30; at the Judicial Committee, 125 + +Jones Loyd, Mr., iii. 188 + +Jones, 'Radical,' interview with Lord Wharncliffe, ii. 200 + +Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, Bill for the + establishment of the, iii. 21; meeting to make regulations for + the, 35; first sitting of the, 38; working of the, 205 + + +Kelly, Mrs., adventures of her daughter, i. 379, 383; case before + the Privy Council, iii. 259, 261, 266, 267; judgment, 274 + +Kemble, Charles, and his family, iii. 260 + +Kemble, Miss Fanny, i. 240, ii. 129; tragedy by, 270; in the + 'Hunchback,' 285 + +Kempt, Right Hon. Sir James, Master-General of the Ordnance, + sworn in a Privy Councillor, ii. 84 + +Kent, H.R.H. the Duchess of, disputes in the Royal Family, ii. + 190; and the Duke of Wellington, 190; the Regency Bill, 191; + salutes to, iii. 3; at Burghley, 315; quarrels with the King, + 366; scene at Windsor, 367; answer to the address of the City + of London, 399; squabble with the King, 400 + +Kenyon, Lord, speech at Apsley House, ii. 198 + +Kinnaird, Lord, created a Baron of the United Kingdom, ii. 150 + +Klopstock, Friedrich Gottlieb, anecdote of, iii. 130 + +Knatchbull, Right Hon. Sir Edward, joins the Peel Government, + iii. 176, 177; attack on, 226 + +Knighton, Sir William, i. 72; influence with the King, 99, 144; + behaviour of, during the King's illness, ii. 174 + + +Lafayette, Marquis de, resignation of, ii. 99 + +La Ferronays, M. de, French Ambassador at Rome, i. 307; on the + accession of the Emperor Nicholas, 373; on French politics, + 368; civility of, 380, 381; on French affairs, 393, 395 + +La Granja, revolution of, iii. 364, 365 + +'Lalla Rookh,' at Bridgewater House, iii. 353 + +Lamb, Sir Frederick, ii. 94; reported letter to the King of + France from the Duke of Wellington, 94 + +Lambeth Palace, restoration of, ii. 34 + +Lancashire election, 1835, iii. 198 + +Langdale, Lord, reply to Lord Brougham, iii. 81; declines the + Solicitor-Generalship, 141; peerage, 328; Master of the Rolls, + 328 + +Lansdowne, Marquis of, Secretary of State for the Home + Department, i. 95; Lord President, ii. 66; dinner to name the + sheriffs, 109; on the Reform Bill, 131; and Lord Brougham, 347; + Lord President in both of the Administrations of Lord + Melbourne, iii. 113, 256 + +La Roncière, case of, iii. 202 + +Laval, M. de, at Apsley House, ii. 15 + +Law, History of English, iii. 114 + +Lawrence, Sir Thomas, early genius of, i. 256; death of, 263; + character of, 264; funeral of, 268; engagement of, to the + Misses Siddons, iii. 50 + +Leach, Right Hon. Sir John, disappointed of the Woolsack, ii. 68; + in the case of Drax _v._ Grosvenor, 378 + +Leigh, Colonel George, ii. 189 + +Leinster, Duke of, sworn in a Privy Councillor, ii. 155 + +Leitrim, Earl of, created a Baron of the United Kingdom, ii. 150 + +Le Marchant, Denis, at Stoke, iii. 21 + +Lemon, Robert, F.S.A., Deputy Keeper of the State Papers, iii. 44 + +Lennard, John Barrett, Chief Clerk of the Privy Council Office, + ii. 370 + +Leopold, King, i. 22; desires to ascend the throne of Greece, + 265; anxiety to ascend the throne of Belgium, ii. 153; accepts + the throne of Belgium, 158; starts for Belgium, 167; proposes + to the Princess Louise of France, 168; in Belgium, 177; want of + confidence in, 177; cold reception of, at Windsor, iii. 370 + +Leuchtenberg, Duke of, at Havre, iii. 33; marriage of, 33; letter + to Lord Palmerston, 34; arrival of, 195 + +Leveson, Lord Francis, _see_ Ellesmere, Earl of + +Levee, iii. 213 + +Lewis, Matthew Gregory, ('Monk' Lewis), journals and voyages to + the West Indies, ii. 382; anecdote of, iii. 2; agreement with + Mr. Murray for the Journal, 8 + +Lichfield, Earl of, at Runton, iii. 51 + +Lichfield Cathedral, iii. 327 + +Lieven, Prince, recalled, iii. 87 + +Lieven, Princess, character of, i. 15; attacks Lord Grey, ii. + 261; on the Belgian question, 266; conversation with, 322; + renews her friendship with the Duke of Wellington, 325; + grievances of, 351; interference of, 358; diplomatic + difficulties, 357; reception of, at St. Petersburg, iii. 23; + position, of, in Paris, 379 + +Littleton, Right Hon. Edward, i. 11; proposed by Lord Althorp as + Speaker, ii. 333; Secretary for Ireland, 372; and O'Connell, + iii. 99; instrumental in breaking up the Government, 102; + political career of, 103; letter to Lord Wellesley, 103, 110; + in communication with O'Connell, 103, 110; Irish Secretary, 113 + +Liverpool, Earl of, and the King, i. 25; paralytic seizure, 90; + transactions before the close of Administration of, ii. 173 + +Liverpool, opening of the railroad, ii. 43, 47; bribery at + election, 79 + +Lobau, Marshal, Commandant-Général, ii. 99 + +Lodge, the Royal, entertainments at, i. 99 + +London, speech of Bishop of, iii. 391; University Charter, iii. + 80, 81, 237; meeting of Committee of Council on, 260, 262 + +Londonderry, Marquis of, death of, i. 51; character of, 52; + funeral of, 54 + +Londonderry, Marquis of, motion on Belgium, ii. 180; attacks Lord + Plunket, 266; debate on appointment of, to St. Petersburg, iii. + 225; opinion of the Duke of Wellington, 227; speech of, 228; + resignation of, 229 + +Long, St. John, trial of, ii. 85 + +Lords, House of, debate of Royal Dukes, i. 177; debate on + Catholic Relief Bill, 199; division on Catholic Relief Bill, + 199; debate on affairs in Portugal, 277; debate on the Methuen + Treaty, ii. 118; speech of Lord Brougham, 118; violent scene in + the, 136; debate on Lord Londonderry's motion, 180; prospects + of the Reform Bill, 193; First Reform Bill thrown out, 202; + attack on the Bishops, 205; new Peers, 230; measures for + carrying the second reading of the Second Reform Bill, 235, + 237; division on the Belgian question, 240; Reform Bill, 271; + Irish education, 271; debates on second reading of the Reform + Bill, 272, 286; list of proposed new Peers, 283; Reform Bill + carried, 287; in Committee on the Reform Bill, 291; debate on + conduct of the Tory party, 303; Russo-Dutch Loan, 315; + Government beaten on Portuguese question, 376; powerlessness + of, 377; Local Courts Bill, 382, 384; debate on Local Courts + Bill, iii. 7; Government defeated, 7; Irish Church Bill, 8; + Bill for the observance of the Sabbath, 83; debate on the Irish + Church Bill, 94; Poor Law Bill, 114; debate on Irish Tithe + Bill, 117; conduct of the House, 239; debate on Corporation + Bill, 286, 290; position of the House, 288, 291; Irish Tithe + Bill thrown up, 295; conflict with the House of Commons, 295; + state of the House, 307; debate on Corporation Bill, 308, 351; + hostility to the House of Commons, 359; conduct of the House, + 360, 361 + +Louis XVIII., King, memoirs of, ii. 305; favourites of, 305; at + Hartwell, 345 + +Louis Philippe, King, accession of, ii. 26; conduct of, 27; + tranquillises Paris, 99; speech of, 169; averse to French + attack on Antwerp, 334; behaviour of, to the Queen of Portugal, + iii. 33; power of, in the Chamber, 142; courage of, 286; + conduct towards Spain, 321, 360, 364; at the Tuileries, 382; + dislike to the Duke de Broglie, 386 + +Louise, H.R.H. Princess, daughter of King Louis Philippe, ii. 168 + +Louis, Baron, reported resignation of, ii. 45 + +Luckner, General, ii. 219 + +Lushington, Dr., speech of, in the appeal of Swift _v._ Kelly, + ii. 383 + +Lushington, Sir Henry, and 'Monk' Lewis, iii. 2 + +Luttrell, Henry, character of, i. 10; 'Advice to Julia,' 33 + +Lyndhurst, Lord, Lord High Chancellor, i. 95, 124; quarrel with + the Duke of Cumberland, 223; dissatisfaction at Lord Brougham's + being raised to the Woolsack, ii. 68; reported appointment to + be Lord Chief Baron, 89; opinion of the Government, 93; Lord + Chief Baron, 106; political position of, 107; anecdote of a + trial, 107; retort to the Duke of Richmond, 139; on the + Government, 143; on Sir Robert Peel, 144; on Lord Brougham, + 144; sent for by the King, 294; efforts to form a Tory + Government, 326; judgment in Small _v._ Attwood, 330; account + of the efforts of the Tory party to form a Government, 340; + forgets the message of the King to Lord Grey, iii. 49; account + of transactions between the King and Lord Melbourne, 150; + policy of, 151; on Lord Brougham, 153; Lord High Chancellor, + 156; on the Administration of Sir Robert Peel, 189; conduct on + the Corporation Bill, 288, 292; on the prospects of the + session, 332; on the business of the House of Lords, 333; + speech in vindication of conduct, 362; in Paris, 378; insult + offered to, in House of Commons, 389; capacity of, 390; violent + speech of, 401 + +Lyndhurst, Lady, insulted by the Duke of Cumberland, i. 222; + conversation with, ii. 93 + +Lynn Regis, election, iii. 170, 171, 175, 181 + +Lyons, riots at, ii. 219 + + +Macao, verses on, i. 11, 12 + +Macaulay, Thomas Babington, speeches on the Reform Bill, ii. 123, + 199; eloquence of, 204; at Holland House, 245; appearance of, + 246; character of, 317; on the Coercion Bill, 363; conversation + of, iii. 35; memory of, 337; eloquence of, compared to Lord + Brougham, 338; inscription on monument erected in honour of + Lord William Bentinck, 339 + +Macaulay, Zachary, iii. 337 + +Mackintosh, Right Hon. Sir James, speech of, on the criminal + laws, i. 19; conversation of, 241; death of, ii. 307; 'History + of England,' iii. 139; remarks on life of, 293, 314; compared + with Burke, 314; life of, 316; abilities of, 316; religious + belief of, 324 + +Maggiore, Lago, i. 414 + +Maidstone, state of the borough, iii. 184 + +Maii, Monsignore, i. 367, 375 + +Malibran, Maria Felicita, in the 'Sonnambula,' iii. 12 + +Mallet, conspiracy of, ii. 186 + +Malt Tax, the, Government defeated on, ii. 368 + +Manners Sutton, Sir Charles, G.C.B., proposed as Premier, ii. + 326; conduct of, 341; reappointed Speaker, 343; Knight of the + Bath, iii. 30; the Speakership, 204, _see_ Canterbury, Lord + +Mansfield, Lord, speech against the Government, ii. 136; audience + of the King, 138; meeting of Peers, 152 + +Mansion House, the, dinner at, iii. 178 + +Marengo, battle-field of, i. 292 + +Maria, Donna, Queen of Portugal, at a child's ball, i. 209; + proposals of marriage for, iii. 33; at Windsor, 33; picture of, + 195 + +Marie Amélie, Queen, iii. 383 + +Marmont, Marshal, at Lady Glengall's, ii. 34; conversation with, + 34; revolution of 1830, 37; at Woolwich, 38; dinner at Lord + Dudley's, 38 + +Matteis, trial of, i. 336, 341 + +Matuscewitz, Russian Ambassador Extraordinary, i. 159; on affairs + in Europe, ii. 176; conduct of, 324; conversation with, iii. + 314 + +Maule, Mr. Justice, at dinner at the Athenaeum. ii. 101 + +Meeting of moderate men, origin of the 'Derby Dilly,' iii. 219 + +Meiningen, château of, model of the, iii. 122; the Queen revisits + the, 125 + +Melbourne, Viscount, Home Secretary, ii. 66; efficiency of, in + office, 90; negotiations with, 104; dissatisfaction of, 245; on + the proposed new Peers, 254; on the Reform Bill, 277; on the + members of Lord Grey's Administration, 322; sent for by the + King, iii. 102; forms an Administration, 108; letter to the + Duke of Wellington, Sir Robert Peel, and Mr. Stanley, 109; + Administration of, 113; anecdote of, 126; information of, 130; + literary conversation of, 131; on Benthamites, 138; theological + reading of, 138; fall of Government of, 143; dismissal of, 144; + details of fall of Government, 147; account of dismissal, 150, + 168; with the King, 163, 168; with his colleagues, 164, 165, + 166; dispute with Lord Duncannon, 166; speeches at Derby, 170; + weakness of, 170; second Administration formed, 253; + composition of, 256; theological reading of, 324; appointment + of Dr. Hampden, 342; action against, brought by the Hon. Mr. + Norton, 349; result of the trial, 351; difficulties of the + Government, 355 + +Melville, Viscount, President of the India Board, i. 124 + +Mendizabal, ability of, iii. 321; dismissal of, 350 + +Messiah, the oratorio of the, performed in Westminster Abbey, + iii. 98 + +Methuen, Paul, M.P., on supporting the Government, iii. 65; + retort of O'Connell to, 65 + +Metternich, Princess, anecdote of, iii. 187 + +Mexico, failure of the Spanish expedition against, i. 249 + +Meynell, Mr., retires from the Lord Chamberlain's department, ii. + 133 + +Mezzofanti, i. 403 + +Middlesex election, 1835, iii. 197 + +Middleton, party at, i. 12 + +Miguel, Dom, ii. 312, 315, 321; attacks Oporto, 324; fleet + captured by Captain Napier, iii. 9; anecdote of, 26; blunders + of, 93 + +Milan, i. 413 + +Mill, John Stuart, at breakfast given by Mr. Henry Taylor, ii. 59 + +Milton, Viscount, at a meeting at Lord Althorp's, ii. 161 + +Mirabeau, Count de, Talleyrand's account of, ii. 384 + +Miraflores, Count de, Spanish Ambassador in London, iii. 98; + doubtful compliment to Madame de Lieven, 99 + +Mola di Gaeta, i. 359; Cicero's villa, 368 + +Molé, M., Prime Minister of France, iii. 379; abilities of, 380 + +Montalivet, case of the French refugee, iii. 386 + +Monti, Vincenzo, anecdote of, ii. 186 + +Moore, Thomas, i. 239, 245; conversation of, 242; anecdotes, 247; + Irish patriotism of, ii. 98; opinions on Reform, 140; copy of + 'Lord Edward Fitzgerald,' 169; satire on Dr. Bowring, 219; + compared with Rogers, iii. 324; quarrel with O'Connell, 346 + +'Morning Herald,' the, moderate Tory organ, ii. 269 + +Mornington, Countess of, death of, ii. 194 + +Morpeth, Viscount, Irish Secretary, iii. 256; speech on Irish + Tithe Bill, 256 + +Mosley, Sir Oswald, meeting of moderate men, iii. 220 + +Mulgrave, Earl of, in Jamaica, ii. 352; refuses the office of + Postmaster-General, iii. 90; Lord Privy Seal, 113; capability + of, 255 + +Municipal Corporation Bill, iii. 263, 284, 290; policy of Tory + Peers on the, 283; prospects of the, 295; effects of the, 309, + 313; the Bill carried, 310 + +Munster, Earl of, employed by the King, ii. 10; raised to the + Peerage, 143; Lieutenant of the Tower, 168; sworn in a Privy + Councillor, 352 + +Murat, Achille, ii. 115 + +Murray, Dr., Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, i. 146 + +Murray, Sir George, Secretary of State for the Colonial + Department, ii. 11 + +Murray, Lady Augusta, marriage of, ii. 194 + +Musard's ball, iii. 384 + + +Namik Pacha, Turkish Ambassador, ii. 339 + +Napier, Sir William, on the state of the country, ii. 108; + 'History of the Peninsular War,' iii. 271 + +Napier, Captain Charles, captures Dom Miguel's fleet, iii. 9; + cause of capture of a French squadron, 11; anecdote of, 34 + +Naples, i. 333; sight-seeing at, 334; Court of Justice, 334; + manuscripts, 334; ceremony of taking the veil, 338; sights of, + 345, 356; miracle of the blood of San Gennaro, 353, 355, 364; + excursions to Astroni, 356; lines on leaving, 361 + +Navarino, battle of, i. 114, 163 + +Nemours, H.R.H. Duc de, accompanies King Louis Philippe, ii. 99; + nomination to the throne of Belgium declined, 111; in the House + of Commons, iii. 306; at Doncaster, 315 + +Newmarket, political negotiations at, ii. 290 + +Nicholas, Emperor, accession of, i. 373; reception of strangers, + iii. 24; on the change of Government in England, 211; speech at + Warsaw, 319; dislike to King Louis Philippe, 387; qualities of, + 371 + +'Norma,' the opera of, iii. 2 + +North, Lord, Letters of George III. to, iii. 129; anecdote of, + 132 + +Northamptonshire election, iii. 326 + +Northumberland, Duke of, Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, i. 157 + +Northumberland, Duchess of, resigns her office of governess to + the Princess Victoria, iii. 400 + +Norton, Hon. Mr., action brought against Lord Melbourne, iii. + 349; result of the trial, 351 + + +Oaks, The, ii. 374; party at, 374 + +Oatlands, the residence of the Duke of York, i. 4; weekly parties + at, 5, 7 + +O'Connell, Daniel, character of, i. 145; at dinner, 203; attempts + to take his seat, 207; elected for Clare, 1829, 223; insult to, + ii. 76; in Ireland, 96; opposition to Lord Anglesey, 98; + abilities of, 100; violence of, 106; arrest of, 107; trial of, + 109; position of, 111; pleads guilty, 114; opposition to Lord + Duncannon in Kilkenny, 115; explanation of, 123; dread of + cholera, 309; member for Ireland, 351; violent speech at the + Trades' Union, 362, 363; attack on Baron Smith, iii. 59; retort + to Mr. Methuen, 65; and the Coercion Bill, 103, 110; in + correspondence with Mr. Littleton, 110; union with the Whig + party, 219; power of, 255; affair with Lord Alvanley, 256; in + Scotland, 316; proposed expulsion from Brooks's club, 320; + quarrel with Moore, 346; Carlow election, 348 + +O'Connell, Morgan, duel with Lord Alvanley, iii. 256 + +Old Bailey, trials at, i. 204; ii. 85 + +Opera House, the English, burnt, i. 277 + +Orange, Prince of, dinner to the, ii. 57; returns to Holland, 133 + +Orange, Princess of, robbery of jewels of, i. 267 + +Orange Lodge, association of, iii. 343 + +Orangemen, meeting of, iii. 123 + +Orleans, H.R.H. Duke of, arrival of, i. 208; sent to Lyons, ii. + 219; in England, 373; project of marriage at Vienna, iii. 372; + question of marriage of, 387 + +Orloff, Count, arrival of, ii. 278; delay in ratification of the + Belgian Treaty, 285 + +Osterley, party at, ii. 187 + + +Padua, i. 411 + +Paestum, i. 344 + +Palmella, Duke of, arrival of in London, ii. 315 + +Palmerston, Viscount, speech on the Portuguese question, i. 211; + Foreign Secretary, ii. 66; suggests a compromise on the Reform + Bill, 211; on proposed new Peers, 254; on prospects of the + Reform Bill, 256; business habits of, iii. 20, 21; unpopularity + of, 56; speech on the Turkish question, 71; Foreign Secretary + in Lord Melbourne's Administration, 113; unpopularity with the + _corps diplomatique_, 136; loses his election in Hampshire, + 197; as a man of business, 210; Foreign Secretary, 256; + abilities of, 360 + +Panic, the, 1825, i. 77; on the Stock Exchange, 1830, ii. 43 + +Panshanger, parties at, ii. 46, 47, 229 + +Paris, society at, in 1830, i. 283; in July, 416, 417; Marshal + Marmont's account of events at, in 1830, ii. 36; alarm felt in, + 99; change of Ministry, 133; in 1837, iii. 377; society at, + 378, 385; sight-seeing, 381, 383 + +Park, Judge, anecdotes of, ii. 92; iii. 372 + +Parke, Right Hon. Sir James, sworn in a Privy Councillor, iii. + 21; Baron of the Exchequer, 71; in the appeal of Swift _v._ + Kelly, 268 + +Parliament, meeting of, 1830, ii. 53; meeting of, 1831, ii. 110; + dissolution of 1831, 137; opening of, 153; in 1831, 223; + dissolution of, 1832, 334; opening of, 1833, 351; prorogation + of, 1833, iii. 27; opening of, 1834, 55; dissolution of, 183; + temporary buildings for Houses of, 205; opening of, 219; in + 1836, 334; prorogation of, 1836, 361 + +Parnell, Sir Henry, turned out of office, ii. 243 + +Parsons, anecdotes of, ii. 108 + +Paskiewitch, Marshal, in quarantine, ii. 162 + +Pattison, James, returned to Parliament for the City of London, + iii. 188 + +Pavilion, The, dinner at, i. 49; completion of, 54 + +Pease, Mr., and O'Dwyer, iii. 59 + +Pedro, Dom, expedition of, ii. 312, 315; proposal to combine with + Spain, iii. 72; in possession of Portugal, 93 + +Peel, Right Hon. Sir Robert, Home Secretary, i. 124; speeches on + Catholic Relief Bill, 167, 183; Oxford University election, + 1829, 177; defeated, 178; political prospects of, ii. 95, 96; + power in the House of Commons, 116; speech on the Reform Bill, + 123; inactivity of, on the Reform Bill, 130, 134; complaints of + policy of, 141; conduct of, 160; reserve of, 161, 174; + excellence in debate, 200; answer to Lord Harrowby, 248, 249; + policy of, 264; speech on Irish Tithes, 269; invited to form a + Government, 294; refuses to take office, 296; defence of + conduct, 304; conduct during the Tory efforts to form a + Government, 327, 328; conduct compared with that of the Duke of + Wellington, 328; character of, 354; on political unions, iii. + 12; in society, 35; position of, in the House of Commons, 64; + collection of pictures, 70; great dinner given by, 72; speech + on admission of Dissenters to the University, 75; policy of the + Administration of, 161; friendship with the Duke of Wellington + renewed, 167; arrival of, from the Continent, 174; formation of + Administration, 177; manifesto to the country, 178; prospects + of the Ministry, 179; qualities of, 189; Toryism of + Administration of, 194; false position of, 208; prospects of + Government, 214, 235, 236; talents of, 224; conduct to his + adherents, 230, 244; courage of, 283; impending resignation of, + 242; Government defeated, 246; resignation of Administration + of, 1835, 246, 248; speech on Corporation Reform, 263; on Irish + Church Bill, 281; relations with Lord John Russell, 282; + seclusion of, 297; speech on Corporation Reform, 304; + consideration for Lord Stanley, 335; conduct with regard to the + Corporation Bill, 340; position of, 358; on the beginning of + the new reign, 402 + +Peel, Sir Robert, sen., account of, ii. 125 + +Peel, Right Hon. Jonathan, iii. 243 + +Pemberton, Thomas, ii. 314; in the appeal of Swift _v._ Kelly, + iii. 267, 271 + +Pembroke, Earl of, i. 250 + +Pension List, _see_ Commons, House of + +Pepys, Right Hon. Sir Christopher, Master of the Rolls, iii. 328. + _See_ Cottenham, Lord + +Perceval, Spencer, discourse of, iii, 41; the Unknown Tongue, 41; + on the condition of the Church, 123; apostolic mission to the + members of the Government, 331; at Holland House, 331; + apostolic mission of, 333 + +Périer, Casimir, momentary resignation of, ii. 175; attacked by + cholera, 288; death of, 307 + +Persian Ambassador, the, quarrel of, with the Regent, i. 21 + +Perth election, 1835, iii. 197 + +Petworth House and pictures, ii. 336; fête at, iii. 84 + +Peyronnet, Comte de, i. 393 + +Phillpotts, _see_ Exeter, Bishop of + +Pisa, i. 297 + +Pitt, Right Hon. William, described by Talleyrand, ii. 345; + anecdotes of, iii. 131 + +Plunket, Lord, Lord Chancellor in Ireland, ii. 90; anecdote of, + 107; at Stoke, iii. 21; Deanery of Down, 70 + +Poland, contest in, ii. 157 + +Polignac, Prince Jules de, head of the Administration in France; + i. 160, 229, 283; Administration of, 394; behaviour of, ii. 29; + letter to M. de Molé, 33; exasperation against, 38, 39 + +Pompeii, i. 338; excavations at, 343 + +Ponsonby, Viscount, Minister at Naples, ii. 155; letters of, 172; + conduct of, as Ambassador at Constantinople, iii. 405 + +Pope, the, audience of Pius VIII., i. 382; Irish appointments of + the, iii. 269. _See_ Rome + +Portfolio, the, iii. 327 + +Portland, Duke of, Lord Privy Seal, i. 95 + +Portugal, ships seized by the French, ii. 182, 184; affairs in, + iii. 25, 79; bankrupt state of, 93 + +Powell, Mr., ii. 52 + +Pozzo di Borgo, Count, ii. 347; views of, on the state of Europe, + iii. 182; Russian Ambassador in London, 201, 203 + +Praed, Winthrop Mackworth, first speech of, ii. 115; First + Secretary to the Board of Control, iii. 194 + +Pratolino, i. 402 + +Prayer, form of, on account of the disturbed state of the + kingdom, ii. 99 + +Proclamation against rioters, ii. 73 + + +Quakers, the, address to King William IV, ii. 17 + +'Quarterly Review, The,' attacks Lord Harrowby, ii. 269, 270; + pamphlet in answer to article, 270 + +Quintus Curtius, iii. 130 + + +Racing, remarks on, ii. 373; anecdote, 374 + +Redesdale, Lord, letter of, ii. 269 + +Reform, plan of, ii. 105; remarks on, 207; negotiations + concerning, 215, 217, 218 + +Reform Bill, the, laid before the King, ii. 109; excitement + concerning, 124; carried by one vote, 132; alterations in, 134; + Government defeated, 135; remarks on, 180; attitude of the + press, 193; prospects of, 199; negotiations for a compromise, + 211; altered tone of the press, 225; meeting of Peers in + Downing Street, 225; measures for carrying the second reading + in the House of Lords, 235, 237, 239, 241; continued efforts to + compromise, 268; finally passed in the House of Commons, 270; + continued discussions on, 274; difficulty with Schedule A, 280; + carried in the House of Lords, 287; in committee, 292; passes + through committee, 304; results of, iii. 27, 191. For debates + on, _see_ Lords, House of, and Commons, House of + +Reichstadt, Duke of, and Marshal Marmont, iii. 374 + +Reis-Effendi, the, i. 159 + +Renfrewshire election, iii. 388 + +Rice, Right Hon. Thomas Spring, Colonial Secretary, iii. 88, 113; + difficulties with, 253; Chancellor of the Exchequer, 256; + incapacity of, as Chancellor of the Exchequer, 376 + +Richmond, Duke of, and King George III. at a naval review, iii. + 129 + +Richmond, Duke of, summary of character of, i. 199; + Postmaster-General, ii. 66; refuses the appointment of Master of + the Horse, 67; difficulties with his labourers, 68; at Goodwood, + 182; on Reform, 211; character of, iii. 15; resignation of, 88 + +Riots, in London, 1830, ii. 55; among the farm labourers, 68; + proclamation against, 73; in the country, 77 + +Ripon, Earl of, Lord Privy Seal, ii. 66; resignation of, iii. 88. + _See_ Goderich, Viscount + +Robarts, Mr., dinner given by, iii. 184 + +Robinson, Right Hon. Frederick John, Chancellor of the Exchequer, + i. 79; _See_ Goderich, Viscount + +Rochester election, 1835, iii. 193 + +Roden, Earl of, declines the office of Lord Steward, iii. 179, + 181 + +Rogers, Samuel, breakfast given by, ii. 150; compared with Moore, + iii. 324 + +Rolle, Lord, remark to Lord Brougham, iii. 107 + +Rome, i. 303, 304; St. Peter's, 303, 321; sight-seeing, 306, 311, + 322; the Sistine Chapel, 309; the cardinals, 309; a cardinal + lying in state, 312; Pompey's statue, 313; Temple of Bacchus, + 313; the Catacombs, 314; the Pope's blessing, 316, 324; Holy + Week observances, 317; the Grand Penitentiary, 317, 319; + washing of pilgrims' feet, 320; supper to pilgrims, 321; + Protestant burial-ground, 322; St. Peter's illuminated, 325; + excavations, 327; sight-seeing, 328, 329, 362; aqueducts, 363; + the Scala Santa, 364; St. Peter's, 366; Library of the Vatican, + 367; votive offering of a horse-shoe, 367, 372; Columbaria, + 374; saints, 385; the Flagellants, 387; relations with + Protestant countries, 391; the Coliseum, 395; story of a thief, + 396; convent of SS. Giovanni e Paolo, 397; sight-seeing, 398 + +Rosslyn, Earl of, Lord Privy Seal, i. 210; Lord President of the + Council, iii. 177; dinner for selecting the Sheriffs, 201 + +Roussin, Admiral, at Constantinople ii. 367 + +Rovigo, the Duke de, at Rome, i. 325 + +Rundell, Mr., fortune of, will of, i. 90 + +Runton Abbey, shooting at, iii. 51; murder in the neighbourhood, + 51 + +Russell, Right Hon. Lord John, introduces the Reform Bill, ii. + 121; seat in the Cabinet, 150; brings in his Bill, 155; letter + to Attwood, 205, 206; willing to compromise, 223; brings on the + second Reform Bill, 227; Paymaster, of the Forces, iii. 113; + objected to by the King as leader of the House of Commons, 160; + speech at Totness, 171; on the Speakership, 205; on Church + Reform, 206; first speech as leader of the House of Commons, + 214; letter of, on the Speakership, 218; as leader of the House + of Commons, 221; marriage of, 252; Home Secretary in Lord + Melbourne's second Administration, 256; introduction of + Corporation Reform, 263; relations with Sir Robert Peel, 282; + course to be pursued on the Corporation Bill, 303, 310; speech + on the Orangemen, 344; moderation of, 352; meeting at the + Foreign Office, 357, 358; intention of the Government to + proceed with their Bills, 397; speech in answer to Roebuck, 401 + +Russia, state of, 1829, i. 158; intrigues of, ii. 351; diplomatic + relations with, 352; combines with Turkey against Egypt, 366; + fleet sent to Constantinople, 366; establishes her power in the + East, 371; quarrel with, iii. 44; policy towards Turkey, 48; + treaty with Turkey, 69; relations with Turkey, 183 + +Russo-Dutch Loan, question of the, ii. 240, 241; origin of the, + 244; debate on the, in the House of Lords, 315 + +Rutland, Duke of, anti-Reform petition, ii. 263; birthday party, + iii. 46 + + +Sadler, Mr., maiden speech of, in opposition to the Catholic + Relief Bill, i. 191 + +Saint-Aulaire, M. de, French Ambassador at Vienna, iii. 187; + anecdote of, 187 + +Saint-Aulaire, Madame de, iii. 187 + +Saint-Germain, Count de, account of, ii. 186; the 'Wandering + Jew,' 186 + +Salerno, i. 344 + +Salisbury, Marquis of, petition to the King, ii. 231 + +Saltash, borough of, division on, ii. 170 + +San Carlos, Duke and Duchess of, i. 8 + +Sandon, Viscount, moves the Address in the House of Commons, iii. + 202; on Sir Robert Peel, 340 + +Sandys, Lord, iii. 359 + +Sartorius, Admiral, petition, iii. 366 + +Scarlett, Sir James, Attorney-General, i. 210 + +Scott, Sir Walter, death of, ii. 307 + +Seaford, Lord, i. 83 + +Sebastiani, Count, French Ambassador to the Court of St. James's, + iii. 180 + +Sefton, Earl of, dinner to Lord Grey and Lord Brougham, ii. 69; + on Lord Brougham, 148; created a Peer of the United Kingdom, + 150; qualities of, 183 + +Segrave, Lord, Lord-Lieutenant of Gloucestershire, iii. 322 + +Senior, Nassau, at Holland House, iii. 138 + +Session of 1833, review of the, iii. 28 + +Sestri, i. 297 + +Seton, Sir Henry, arrival of, from Belgium, ii. 178 + +Seymour, Lord, withdraws his support from the Government, ii. 124 + +Seymour, George, Master of the Robes, ii. 50 + +Seymour, Horace, retires from the Lord Chamberlain's Department, + ii. 133 + +Seymour, Jane, coffin of, found at Windsor, ii. 168 + +Shadwell, Right Hon. Sir Lancelot, on legal business, iii. 76 + +Shee, Sir Martin, elected President of the Royal Academy, i. 269 + +Sheil, Right Hon. Richard, dispute with Lord Althorp, iii. 55; + arrest of, by the Serjeant-at-Arms, 56; committee, 57, 58; + insult to Lord Lyndhurst, 389 + +Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, iii. 336 + +Siege of Saragossa, the, iii. 40 + +Siena, i. 303 + +Simplon, the, i. 415 + +Slavery, abolition of, ii. 347; for debates on, _see_ Commons, + House of + +Smith, Baron, ii. 105; O'Connell's attack upon, iii. 59, 61, 63 + +Smith, Sydney, and the siege of Saragossa, iii. 39; and Professor + Leslie, 44; sermon of, in St. Paul's Cathedral, 166; on Sir + James Mackintosh, 317; dispute of, with the Bishop of London, + 395; letter to Archdeacon Singleton, 395 + +Smithson, Sir Hugh, ii. 337, 338 + +Somaglia, Cardinal, i. 312 + +Somerville, Mrs., iii. 58 + +Sorrento, i. 352; Benediction of the Flowers, 352 + +Soult, Marshal, sent to Lyons, ii. 219; Prime Minister of France, + 324 + +Southey, Robert, at breakfast given by Mr. Henry Taylor, ii. 59; + letter to Lord Brougham on rewards to literary men, 111 + +Spain, the Duke of Wellington on affairs in, iii. 47; state of, + 55; affairs in, 66, 72; proposal to combine with Dom Pedro, 72; + affairs in, 183; deplorable state of, 359 + +Spanish Legion, formation of the, iii. 265 + +Speaker, the, indecision of, ii. 299; disputes on the + Speakership, 333; iii. 204 + +Spencer, Earl, death of, iii. 140 + +Spencer, Earl, _see_ Althorp, Viscount + +Sprotborough, party at, for the races, ii. 50 + +Staël, Madame de, 'Considérations sur la Révolution française,' + i. 16; anecdote of, ii. 186 + +Stafford House, concert at, iii. 278 + +Stanley, Right Hon. Edward, Irish Secretary, ii. 66; speech on + the Reform Bill, 123; seat in the Cabinet, 150; speech in + answer to Croker, 228; Secretary for the Colonial Department, + 365; at The Oaks, 374; indecision of, iii. 17; racing interests + of, 35; resignation of, 88; in opposition, 93; 'Thimblerig' + speech, 100; conciliatory letter to Lord Grey, 107; disposition + of, 165, 167; declines to join Sir R. Peel, 175, 176; speech at + Glasgow, 180; formation of the Stanley party, 220; position of + Mr. Stanley, 222; policy of, 228; meeting of party at the + 'King's Head,' 237; speech on Irish Church question, 240; + character of, 250; letter to Sir Thomas Hesketh, 265; joins the + Opposition, 272; conduct of, 336 + +Stanley, Right Hon. Edward John, Under-Secretary of State, iii. + 112 + +State Paper Office, i. 160; iii. 44 + +Stephen, James, opinions on emancipation, ii. 359 + +Stephenson, George, on steam-engines, iii. 54 + +Stewart, Lady Dudley, party given by, ii. 115; accompanies the + Prince of Orange to Gravesend, 133 + +Stoke, party at, i. 142; ii. 185 + +Strangford, Viscount, sent to the Brazils, i. 140 + +Strasburg prisoners, acquittal of, iii. 381 + +Strawberry Hill, party at, i. 247 + +Strutt, Edward, ii. 59 + +Stuart de Rothesay, Lord, Ambassador in France, i. 141 + +Sugden, Right Hon. Sir Edward, quarrel of, with Lord Brougham, + ii. 312; origin of animosity towards Lord Brougham, iii. 22; + Irish Chancellor, 178; resignation of, 231; retains his + appointment, 234 + +Sugden, Lady, not received at Court, iii. 231 + +Sunderland, state of, ii. 216 + +Sussex, H.R.H. the Duke of, marriage of, ii. 194 + +Sutherland, Duke of, death of the, iii. 19; wealth, of the, 19 + +Suttee case, before the Privy Council, ii. 307 + +Swift _v._ Kelly, before the Judicial Committee of the Privy + Council, iii. 259, 266, 267, 271; judgment, 274 + + +Talleyrand, Charles Maurice de, letter to the Emperor of Russia, + i. 23; Ambassador to the Court of St. James, ii. 44; + conversation of, 185; anecdotes, 185; _mot_ of, 195; dinner + with, 222; on Fox and Pitt, 344; detained in the Thames, 346; + on Portuguese affairs, iii. 25; on relations between France and + England, 314; opinion of, of Lord Palmerston, 360; + dissatisfaction at his position in London, 386 + +Tasso, i. 328; bust of, 328 + +Tavistock, Marquis of, on the prospects of the Liberal party, + iii. 43 + +Taylor, Sir Herbert, conversation with Lord Wharncliffe, ii. 251; + correspondence with, about the Chancellorship, 339 + +Taylor, Henry, breakfast at the house of, ii. 58; breakfast to + Wordsworth, Mill, Elliot, Charles Villiers, 120; on the + abolition of slavery in the West Indies, 348; 'Philip van + Artevelde,' iii. 114 + +Taylor, Brook, mission to Rome, ii. 153 + +Teddesley, party at, i. 11 + +Tenterden, Lord, death of, ii. 329; character of, 331; classical + knowledge of, 331 + +Terceira, Portuguese expedition to, i. 169, 170 + +Terni, Falls of, i. 401 + +Thiers, Adolphe, dinner to, iii. 31; account of, 31; at the head + of the French Government, 66; on interference in Spain, 66; + foreign policy of, 364; social qualities of, 379; quarrel with + Lady Granville, 380; courts the favour of Austria, 387 + +Thompson, Alderman, difficulties with his constituents, ii. 166 + +Thomson, Right Hon. Charles Poulett, originates a commercial + treaty with France, ii. 219; Board of Trade, iii. 113, 256; + self-complacency of, 330 + +Thorwaldsen, Albert, at Florence, i. 299, 300 + +Tierney, Right Hon. George, i. 14; Master of the Mint, 95; death + of, 269 + +'Times,' the, on Lord Harrowby's letter, ii. 264, 265; attacks + Lord Grey, 267; Lord Chancellor's speech, 313; influence of + the, 362; and Lord Brougham, iii. 133; disposition of, to + support a Tory Government, 149, 152; terms of support to the + Duke of Wellington, 155; power of the, 156, 157; negotiations + with Lord Lyndhurst, 171; letter signed 'Onslow,' 199 + +Titchfield, Marquis of, death of, i. 75; character of, 75 + +Tivoli, i. 375 + +Tixall, party at, i. 10; Macao, 11 + +Torrington, Viscount, and the King, iii. 285 + +Tory party, state of the, ii. 162; meeting at Bridgewater House, + iii. 237; state of the, 306; indifference of members of the, + 389 + +Treaty of Unkiar Skelessi, iii. 45; between Russia and Turkey, + 1834, 69; the Quadruple, for the pacification of the Peninsula, + signed 1834, 94 + +Tree, Ellen, at the City Theatre, ii. 181 + +Tuileries, the, reception at, iii. 382; ball at, 383; small ball + at, 385 + +Turf, the, reflections on, iii. 139 + +Turin, i. 291 + +Turkey, threatened by Russia, i. 228; critical state of, ii. 351; + relations with Russia, iii. 183 + +Tusculum, i. 390 + +Twiss, Horace, supper party given by, iii. 260 + + +Union, speech of O'Connell on the repeal of the, iii. 80 + +Unions, proclamation against the, ii. 215; procession of trades, + iii. 79 + +Urquhart, Mr., Secretary to the Embassy at Constantinople, iii. + 405 + + +Van de Weyer, Sylvain, Belgian Minister to the Court of St. + James, ii. 180 + +Vaudreuil, M. de, French _chargé d'affaires_ in London, on French + affairs, ii. 24 + +Vaughan, Right Hon. Sir Charles, special mission to + Constantinople, iii. 405 + +Vaughan, Right Hon. Sir John, sworn in a Privy Councillor, ii. + 155 + +Venice, i. 405; sights of, 406, 408, 410 + +Vernet, Horace, at Rome, i. 325 + +Verona, Congress of, i. 65; visit to, 413 + +Verulam, Earl of, petition to the King, ii. 231 + +Vesuvius, ascent of, i. 350 + +Vicenza, i. 412 + +Victoria, H.R.H. the Princess, at a child's ball, i. 209; first + appearance of, at a drawing-room, ii. 119; at Burghley iii. + 315; health of, proposed by the King, 364; at Windsor, 367; + letter from the King, 400; seclusion of, 403; first Council of, + 406; proclaimed QUEEN, 408; impression produced on all, 409 + +Villiers, Hon. Hyde, appointed to the Board of Control, ii. 145 + +Villiers, Hon. George, at the Grove, ii. 105; conversation with + the Duke of Wellington, 105; mission to Paris for a commercial + treaty, 219; Minister at Madrid, iii. 14, 20, 21; on prospects + in Spain, 69, 79; letters of, from Madrid, 321, 360, 365 + +Villiers, Hon. Charles Pelham, ii. 59 + +Virginia Water, ii. 25; visit to, 30 + + +Walewski, Count Alexander, arrival of, in London, ii. 104 + +Walpole, Horace, letters to Sir Horace Mann, iii. 2 + +'Wandering Jew, The,' ii. 186 + +Warsaw, affair at, ii. 95; taken by the Russians, 192 + +Warwickshire Election, iii. 353, 354 + +Wellesley, Marquis of, Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, iii. 31; + correspondence with Mr. Littleton, 103, 110; resigns the White + Wand, 258 + +Wellesley, Long, Esq., committed for contempt of court, ii. 166 + +Wellington, Duke of, account of the battle of Waterloo, i. 39; in + Paris with Blücher, 41; dispute with the King, 51; on affairs + of France and Spain, 67; opinion of Bonaparte, 71; mission to + Russia, 78; visit to the Royal Lodge, 102; opinion of Mr. + Canning, 107; forms a Government, 1828, 124; resolves to carry + the Catholic Relief Bill, 143; correspondence with Dr. Curtis, + 148; ascendency of, in the Cabinet, and over the King, 176; + hardness of character of, 191; duel with Lord Winchelsea, 192; + conversation with, on King George IV. and the Duke of + Cumberland, 216, 218; prosecution of the press, 233, 258, 260; + business habits of, 262; conversation with on the French + Revolution, ii. 21; qualities of, 41; confidence in, 45; + declaration against Reform, 53; Administration of, defeated, + 61; resignation of, 62; suppresses disturbance in Hampshire, + 75; political character of, 81; reported letter of advice to + the King of France, 94; correspondence with Mr. Canning, 103; + conduct towards the Government, 159; objections to Mr. Canning, + 170; dinner at Apsley House, 188; anti-Reform dinner at Apsley + House, 197; remarks upon, 204; memorial to the King, 211; + correspondence with Lord Wharncliffe, 221; obstinacy of, 234; + letter to Lord Wharncliffe, 248; unbecoming letter laid before + the King, 252; reply to Lord Wharncliffe, 253; speech on Irish + Education, 272; sent for by the King, 294; efforts of, to form + an Administration, 299; inability of, to form an + Administration, 300; statement of his case, 302; conduct of the + Tory party, 302; ill-feeling towards Peel, 325; view of + affairs, 1833, 363; government of French provinces, 363; + respect evinced towards, 372; defence of policy, 379; Speech on + the Coronation Oath, iii. 9, 10; policy on the Irish Church + Bill, 10; on Portuguese affairs, 11, 26; and the Bonaparte + family, 26; subsequent account of attempt to form a Government, + 48; compared with Lord Grey, 73; speech on the admission of + Dissenters to the University, 73; presents the Oxford petition, + 79; and the Whigs, 82; installed as Chancellor of the + University of Oxford, 95; First Lord of the Treasury, and + Secretary of State for the Home Office, 149; arrangement for a + provisional Government, 149; at the public offices, 1834, 154; + account of crisis of 1834, 162; inconsistencies of, 172; on the + division on the Speakership, 216; on Lord Londonderry's + appointment, 227; anecdote of Lord Brougham, 232; on Spain, + 270; on the Walcheren expedition, 271; policy of, on the + Corporation Bill, 283; letter to the Duke of Cumberland, 320; + speech in answer to Lord Lyndhurst, 362; meeting of Tory Peers, + 397; crowned by the Duchess of Cannizzaro, 406; quarrel with + the Duke of Clarence, 406 + +Western, Lord, evidence of, iii. 112 + +West India Body, consternation of the, ii. 350; deputation of + the, 350 + +West India Bill, prospects of the, iii. 13. For debates on the, + _see_ Commons, House of + +West Indies, Lord Chandos's motion on the state of the, ii. 116; + project of emancipation, 347; alarm in the, 352; difficulties + attending emancipation, 360; committee on affairs of the, iii. + 266; decision on the office of Secretary of the Island of + Jamaica, 279 + +Westmeath, Marchioness of, pension, i. 157, 160 + +Westmeath _v._ Westmeath, appeal before the Judicial Committee, + iii. 119, 124; decision in, 140 + +Westminster election, 1818, contest, i. 3; in 1819, 17, 19; in + 1833, ii. 370; in 1837, iii. 398 + +Wetherell, Sir Charles, account of, i. 194; speech on the Reform + Bill, ii. 123; supports Sir E. Sugden's motion, 314 + +Wharncliffe, Lord, interview with Radical Jones, ii. 200; + overtures for a compromise on the Reform Bill, 211; character + of, 213; draws up a declaration for signature in the City, 214; + disappointment of, 218; final interview of, with Lord Grey, + 220; correspondence of, with the Duke of Wellington, 221; + interview of, with the King on the proposed new Peers, 231, + 233; memorandum laid before the King, 252; as chief of a party, + 289; in communication with Lord Lyndhurst and Lord + Ellenborough, 290; defends his policy, 292; paper on the Tory + party, 343; on the prospects of the country, iii. 54; joins the + Peel Government, 175; on the prospects of the session, 341 + +Whately, Richard, D.D., Archbishop of Dublin, iii. 280 + +Whig party, state of the, iii. 159; tactics of the, 216; union + with O'Connell, 219; symptoms of disunion in the, 221; meeting + at Lichfield House, 224; prospects of the, 235 + +Wicklow, Earl of, attack on the Government, iii. 110 + +Wilberforce, William, speech of, i. 16; negotiation with Mr. + Canning, ii. 125 + +William IV., King, accession of, ii. 1; dislike of, to the Duke + of Cumberland, 5; behaviour of, 6, 9; at the House of Lords, + 11; personal anecdotes of, 11, 12, 13, 14; dinner at Apsley + House, 14; at Windsor, 25; pays the racing debts of the Duke of + York, 50; speech on the change of Government, 72; levee, 74; + health of, 106, 108; mobbed on returning from the theatre, 117; + in mourning for his son-in-law, 133; in the House of Lords, + 136; dissolves Parliament, 136; conduct to his Ministers, 138; + at Ascot, 147; opens Parliament, 153; at Windsor, 179; and the + Bishops, 185; divides the old Great Seal, 188; crowned at + Westminster, 190; levee, 192; toasts at dinner at St James's, + 193; interview with Lord Wharncliffe on creation of new Peers, + 233; health of, 282; reluctance of, to make Peers, 283; adverse + sentiments towards the Whigs, 298; dinner to the Jockey Club, + 301; levity of, 302; letter to the Peers, 303; character of, + 307; struck by a stone, 307; country dance, 341; anecdotes of, + 342; state of mind of, 364; letter to the Archbishop of + Canterbury, 382, 383; letter-writing, iii. 2; animosity to the + French, 33; irritability of, 81; conduct of, 84; personal + feelings towards the members of Lord Melbourne's + Administration, 137; dismissal of Lord Melbourne, 144; speech + to the Tory Lords, 148; provisional appointments, 148; account + of difference with Lord Melbourne, 150; resolution of, to + support the Tory Government, 161; address to the new Ministers, + 175; on the state of Persia, 184; whims of, 203; Island of St. + Bartholomew, 203; indignation of, at the affair of Lord + Londonderry, 231; distress of, 251; and the Ministers, 245; + personal habits of, 264; speech to Sir Charles Grey, 272; + audience to Lord Durham, 272; hostility towards Lord Glenelg + and the Ministers, 276; conduct to the Speaker, 279; scene with + Lord Torrington, 285; speech to the Bishops, 303; speech on the + Militia, 311; and the Duchess of Kent, 313; speech at dinner to + the Jockey Club, 351; Toryism of, 358; joke, 361; speech to the + Bishop of Ely, 363; proposes the health of the Princess + Victoria, 364; aversion to his Ministers, 364, 366; speech to + Lord Minto, 364, 366; rudeness to the Duchess of Kent, 366; + scene at birthday party, 367; reception of King Leopold, 370; + speech, 1837, 385; address to Lord Aylmer, 394; illness of, + 399, 400; letter to the Princess Victoria, 399; dangerous + illness of, 401; prayers offered up for, 403; death of, 406; + kindness of heart of, 410 + +Williams, Sir John, Justice of the Common Pleas, iii. 71 + +Winchelsea, Earl of, duel of, with the Duke of Wellington, i. + 192; incident of the handkerchief, 198 + +Winchester Cathedral, iii. 283 + +Windham, Right Hon. William, diary of, i. 231; conversation with + Doctor Johnson, 232 + +Windsor Castle, dinner in St. George's Hall, ii. 34, 42; dinner + during the Ascot week, 147 + +Windsor election, mobs at the, iii. 130 + +Woburn, party at, i. 23; riot at, ii. 77 + +Wood, Charles, on the Reform Bill, ii. 280 + +Wood, Matthew, returned to Parliament for the City of London, + iii. 188 + +Worcester, Marchioness of, death of the, i. 47 + +Worcester Cathedral, iii. 327; monument of Bishop Hough, 327 + +Wordsworth, William, characteristics of, ii. 120 + +Wortley, Right Hon. John, Secretary to the Board of Control, i. + 271. _See_ Wharncliffe + +Wrottesley, Sir John, motion of, for a call of the House, iii. 8, + 13 + +Wynford, Lord, raised to the Peerage, i. 210; Deputy Speaker of + the House of Lords, 210 + +Wynn, Right Hon. Charles, President of the Board of Control, i. + 95; resignation of, ii. 124 + + +York, H.R.H. the Duke of, character of, i. 5; management of + racing establishment, 44; dislike to the Duke of Wellington, + 48, 62; duel with the Duke of Richmond, 62; anecdotes of King + George IV., 73; illness of, 83, 85; death of, 84; funeral of, + 89; letter to Lord Liverpool on the Catholic question, ii. 104 + +York, H.R.H. the Duchess of, character of, i. 5; portrait of, 8; + illness of, 27; death of, 34 + +Young, Thomas, private secretary to Lord Melbourne, iii. 126 + + +Zea Bermudez, iii. 21; dismissal of, 55 + +Zumalacarreguy, iii. 270 + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Greville Memoirs, by Charles C. F. 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