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diff --git a/30591.txt b/30591.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..bac91e6 --- /dev/null +++ b/30591.txt @@ -0,0 +1,19364 @@ +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, Vol. III + +Author: Charles C. F. Greville + +Editor: Henry Reeve + +Release Date: December 3, 2009 [EBook #30591] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GREVILLE MEMOIRS *** + + + + +Produced by Stacy Brown, Eve Behr, Paul Murray and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://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 L100 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. III. + + Second Edition + + LONDON + LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. + 1874 + + + + + Contents of the Third Volume + + + CHAPTER XXI. + +Dinner at Greenwich--Monk Lewis--The King's Letter--Lord + Althorp's Finance--Salutes to the Royal Family--Death of Lord + Dover--His Character--Lyndhurst and Brougham on the Local + Courts Bill--Charles Napier captures the Miguelite Fleet--The + Irish Church Bill--The Duke of Wellington and the Bonapartes-- + Blount's Preaching--Sir Robert Peel on Political Unions--Mr. + George Villiers appointed to Madrid--Duke of Richmond-- + Suspension Clause in Irish Church Bill--Apprenticeship Clause + in West India Bill--State of House of Commons--Lucien and + Joseph Bonaparte--Lord Plunket--Denis Lemarchant--Brougham and + Sugden--Princess Lieven--Anecdotes of the Emperor Nicholas-- + Affairs of Portugal--Don Miguel at Strathfieldsaye--Prorogation + of Parliament--Results of the Reform Bill. + Page 1 + + + CHAPTER XXII. + +The Speaker a Knight of the Bath--Lord Wellesley Lord Lieutenant + of Ireland--M. Thiers in England--Prince Esterhazy's Opinion of + the State of England--Queen of Portugal at Windsor--The Duke of + Leuchtenberg--Macaulay and Sydney Smith--Brougham's Anecdotes + of Queen Caroline--Judicial Committee of the Privy Council--Sir + Stratford Canning and M. Dedel--Sydney Smith and the 'Siege of + Saragossa'--Edward Irving--The Unknown Tongues--Tribute to Lord + Eldon--W. J. Fox--Lord Tavistock on the Prospects of his + Party--Moore at the State Paper Office--Russia and England-- + Belvoir Castle--The Duke of Wellington at Belvoir--Visit to + Mrs. Arkwright--Sir Thomas Lawrence and the Misses Siddons--A + Murder at Runton--Sandon--Lord and Lady Harrowby--Burghley-- + Railroads talked of--Gloomy Tory Prognostications--State of + Spain--Parliament opens--Quarrel of Sheil and Lord Althorp-- + Unpopularity of Lord Palmerston--Mrs. Somerville--O'Connell's + Attack on Baron Smith--Lord Althorp's Budget--The Pension + List--Lord Althorp as Leader of the House--Sir R. Peel's + Position in the House--Meeting of Supporters of Government--Mr. + Villiers on the State of Spain--Predicament of Horne, the + Attorney-General. + Page 30 + + + CHAPTER XXIII. + +Spain--Russia and Turkey--Sir R. Peel's Pictures--Peel and + Stanley--Lord Brougham's Judicial Changes--Lord Brougham's + Defence--Admission of Dissenters to the Universities--Lord + Denman's Peerage--Growing Ascendancy of Peel--An Apology for + Lord Brougham--Personal Reflections--Crime in Dorsetshire-- + Spain and Portugal--Procession of the Trades' Unions--Lady + Hertford's Funeral--Petition of the London University for a + Charter--Repeal of the Union--Excitement of the King--Brougham + and Eldon at the Privy Council--Duke of Wellington's Aversion + to the Whigs--Lord Brougham and Lord Wynford--Fete at + Petworth--Lord Brougham's Conduct on the Pluralities Bill-- + Crisis in the Cabinet--Prince Lieven recalled--Stanley, Graham, + and the Duke of Richmond resign on the Irish Church Bill-- + History of the Crisis--Ward's Motion defeated by moving the + previous Question--Affairs of Portugal--Effects of the late + Change--Oxford Commemoration--Peel's Declaration--Festival in + Westminster Abbey--Don Carlos on his way to Spain--Stanley's + 'Thimble-rig' Speech--Resignation of Lord Grey--Mr. Greville's + account of the Causes of his Retirement--The Government + reconstituted by Lord Melbourne--Lord Duncannon Secretary of + State. + Page 68 + + + CHAPTER XXIV. + +Taylor's 'Philip Van Artevelde'--Goodwood--Earl Bathurst's + Death--Death of Mrs. Arbuthnot--Overtures to O'Connell--Irish + Tithe Bill--Theodore Hook's Improvisation--Lord Westmeath's + Case in the Privy Council--First Council of Lord Melbourne's + Government and Prorogation--Brougham's Vagaries--Lord Durham's + Exclusion--The Edinburgh Dinner--Windsor and Meiningen--Spencer + Perceval--Lord Grey's Retirement--The Westmeath Case again--The + Queen's Return--Melbourne and Tom Young--Holland House-- + Reflections--Conversation on the Poets--Miscellaneous Chat-- + Lord Melbourne's Literary Attainments--Lord Holland's Anecdotes + of Great Orators--Execution of Charles I.--Lord Melbourne's + Opinion of Henry VIII.--The 'Times' attacks Lord Brougham--His + Tour in Scotland--His Unpopularity--Cowper's Secret--Canning on + Reform--Lord Melbourne on Palmerston and Brougham--Canning and + Brougham in 1827--Senior--Lord Melbourne and the Benthamites-- + His Theology--Spanish Eloquence--The Harley Papers--The Turf-- + Death of Lord Spencer--The Westmeath Case heard--Law + Appointments--Bickersteth--Louis Philippe's Position. + Page 114 + + + CHAPTER XXV. + +Fall of Lord Melbourne's Government--History and Causes of this + Event--An Intrigue--Effect of the _Coup_ at Holland House--The + Change of Government--The two Camps--The King's Address to the + New Ministers--The Duke's Account of the Transaction--And Lord + Lyndhurst's--Difficult Position of the Tories--Their Policy-- + The Duke in all the Offices--Negotiation with Mr. Barnes--Power + of the 'Times'--Another Address of the King--Brougham offers to + be Lord Chief Baron--Mr. Barnes dines with Lord Lyndhurst--Whig + View of the Recent Change--Liberal Views of the Tory + Ministers--The King resolved to support them--Another Account + of the Interview between the King and Lord Melbourne--Lord + Stanley's Position--Sydney Smith's Preaching at St. Paul's-- + Lord Duncannon and Lord Melbourne--Relations of the four + Seceders to Peel--Young Disraeli--Lord Melbourne's Speeches at + Derby--Lord John Russell's Speech at Totness--The Duke of + Wellington's Inconsistencies and Conduct. + Page 143 + + + CHAPTER XXVI. + +Sir R. Peel arrives--The First Council--The King's Address--Lord + Stanley and Sir J. Graham decline to join the Government--Lord + Wharncliffe and Sir E. Knatchbull join--The Ministers sworn + in--Peel's Address to his Constituents--Dinner at the Mansion + House--Offer to Lord Roden--Prospects of the Election-- + Stanley's Want of Influence--Pozzo di Borgo's Views--Russia and + England--Nomination of Lord Londonderry to St. Petersburg-- + Parliament dissolved--State of the Constituencies--A + Governor-General for India--Sebastiani and St. Aulaire--Anecdote + of Princess Metternich--The City Elections--Lord Lyndhurst's View + of the Government--Violence of the Opposition--Close Contest at + Rochester--Sydney Herbert--Sir John Hobhouse's Views-- + Anecdotes--County Elections--The Queen supposed to be with + Child--Church Reform--Dinner of Ministers--Story of La + Ronciere--The King's Crotchets. + Page 174 + + + CHAPTER XXVII. + +The Speakership--Temporary Houses of Parliament--Church Reform-- + Dissenters' Marriage Bill--Peel's False Position--Burke-- + Palmerston's Talents as a Man of Business and Unpopularity-- + Sympathy of Continental Courts with the Tories--Abercromby + elected Speaker--Defeat of the Government--Tactics of the + Opposition--The Speaker does not dine with Peel--Meeting of + Stanley's Friends--Debate on the Address--Lord John Russell + leads the Opposition--The Stanley Party--Second Defeat of the + Government--Peel's Ability--The Lichfield House Meeting--Debate + on Lord Londonderry's Appointment--His Speech in the Lords and + Resignation--Sir E. Sugden resigns the Great Seal of Ireland-- + Lady Canterbury--Brougham in the House of Lords--Peel's + Readiness and Courage--Lord Canterbury and Stratford Canning + proposed for Canada--Approaching Fall of the Peel Government-- + Meetings of the Opposition--Further Defeat--Sir Robert Peel's + own View of the State of Affairs--He resigns. + Page 204 + + + CHAPTER XXVIII. + +Lord Grey and Sir James Graham express Conservative Views-- + Opinions of Lord Stanley--Lord Grey sees the King, but is not + asked to resume Office--Lord Melbourne's Second + Administration--His Moderation--A Difficulty--Spring Rice--A + Joyless Victory--Exclusion of Brougham--The New Cabinet--Lord + John Russell defeated in Devonshire--Lord Alvanley and + O'Connell--Duel with Morgan O'Connell--Lord Wellesley resigns + the Lord Stewardship--The Eliot Convention--Swift _v._ Kelly-- + The Kembles--London University Charter discussed at the Privy + Council--Corporation Reform--Formation of the Conservative + Party--The King's Habits--Secretaryship of Jamaica--Lord + Melbourne's Tithe Bill--The Pope rejects the Recommendation of + the British Government--Relations with Rome--Carlists and + Christinos in Spain--Walcheren--The King's Address to Sir + Charles Grey--Stanley and Graham cross the House--Failure of + Stanley's Tactics--Alava and the Duke of Cumberland--A Sinecure + Placeman--Lord Glenelg and the King--Concert at Stafford + House--The King's Aversion to his Ministers and to the + Speaker--Decision on the Secretaryship of Jamaica--Archbishop + Whateley--Irish Church Bill--Payment of Catholic Clergy--Peel + and Lord John Russell--Factious Conduct of Tory Peers--The + King's Violence--Debate on the Corporation Bill. + Page 248 + + + CHAPTER XXIX. + +Resistance of the Lords--Duke of Richmond--Happiness--Struggle + between Lords and Commons--Peel keeps aloof--Inconsistency of + the Whigs on the Irish Church Bill--Violent Language in the + Lords--Lord John Russell and Peel pass the Corporation Bill-- + Dissolution of the Tory Party foreseen--Meeting of Peers to + consider the Amendments--King's Speech in Council on the + Militia--Lord Howick's Bitterness against the Lords--Lord + Lyndhurst's Opinion of the Corporation Bill--The King's + Language on the Regency--Talleyrand's View of the English + Alliance--Comparison of Burke and Mackintosh--The St. Leger-- + Visit of Princess Victoria to Burghley--O'Connell's Progress + through Scotland--Mackintosh's Life. + Page 290 + + + CHAPTER XXX. + +Emperor Nicholas's Speech at Warsaw--His Respect for Opinion in + England--Burdett proposes the Expulsion of O'Connell from + Brooks's--Club Law--George Villiers at Madrid--Lord Segrave + Lord-Lieutenant of Gloucestershire--Dispute between France and + America--Allen's Account of Mackintosh and Melbourne-- + Prolongation of a Patent--Should Dr. Arnold be made a Bishop?-- + Frederic Elliot--O'Connell's mischievous Influence--Bretby-- + Chesterfield MSS.--The Portfolio--Lord Cottenham and Lord + Langdale--Opening of Parliament--The Judicial Committee-- + Poulett Thomson at the Board of Trade--Mr. Perceval's + Interviews with the Ministers--Prospects of the Tories--Lord + Stanley's Relations to them--Holland House Anecdotes-- + Mischievous Effects of the Division on his Address--The Youth + of Macaulay--Brougham and Macaulay--Lord William Bentinck-- + Review of Sir R. Peel's Conduct--Dr. Hampden's Appointment--The + Orange Lodges. + Page 319 + + + CHAPTER XXXI. + +Moore and O'Connell--Defeat of the Opposition--The Carlow + Election--Lord Alvanley's Speech to the Tory Peers--Norton _v._ + Lord Melbourne--Catastrophe after Epsom--Mendizabal and Queen + Christina--Lord John Russell's Moderation in the Ecclesiastical + Commission--Theatricals at Bridgewater House--Irish Church-- + Ministerial Difficulties--Deplorable State of Spain--What was + thought of Lord Palmerston in 1836--Weakness of Government-- + Lord Lyndhurst's Summary of the Session--Balance of Parties-- + Lady Augusta Kennedy's Marriage--King's Speech to Princess + Victoria--Revolution of La Granja--Rudeness of the King to + Ministers--Irritation of the King at the Duchess of Kent--Scene + at Windsor on the King's Birthday--Prince Esterhazy's View of + the Affairs of Europe--Emperor Nicholas at Vienna--A Crisis in + Trade--State of the Court at Vienna--Duc de Reichstadt. + Page 346 + + + CHAPTER XXXII. + +Crisis in the City--The Chancellor of the Exchequer--A Journey to + Paris--Lord Lyndhurst in Paris--Princess Lieven--Parties in + France--Berryer--The Strasburg Conspirators--Rotten State of + France--Presentation at the Tuileries--Ball at the Tuileries-- + Bal Musard--Lord Granville--The Due de Broglie--Position of the + Duc d'Orleans--Return to England--Conservative Reaction-- + Sheil's Tirade against Lord Lyndhurst--Lyndhurst as a Tory + Leader--Angry Debate on Church Rates--The Government on the + Brink of Resignation--Sir R. Peel's Prospects--The King and + Lord Aylmer--Death of Mrs. Fitzherbert--Ministerial + Compromise--Westminster Election--Majority of the Princess + Victoria--The King's Illness--The King's Letter to the + Princess--Preparations for the Council--Sir E. Peel on the + Prospects of the New Reign--Prayers ordered for the King's + Recovery--Affairs of Lord Ponsonby--Death of King William IV.-- + First Council of Queen Victoria--The Queen proclaimed-- + Character of William IV. + Page 376 + + + + + A JOURNAL + of the + REIGN OF KING WILLIAM THE FOURTH + + + + + CHAPTER XXI. + +Dinner at Greenwich--Monk Lewis--The King's Letter--Lord + Althorp's Finance--Salutes to the Royal Family--Death of Lord + Dover--His Character--Lyndhurst and Brougham on the Local + Courts Bill--Charles Napier captures the Miguelite Fleet--The + Irish Church Bill--The Duke of Wellington and the Bonapartes-- + Blount's preaching--Sir Robert Peel on Political Unions--Mr. + George Villiers appointed to Madrid--Duke of Richmond-- + Suspension Clause in Irish Church Bill--Apprenticeship Clause + in West India Bill--State of House of Commons--Lucien and + Joseph Bonaparte--Lord Plunket--Denis Lemarchant--Brougham and + Sugden--Princess Lieven--Anecdotes of the Emperor Nicholas-- + Affairs of Portugal--Don Miguel at Strathfieldsaye--Prorogation + of Parliament--Results of the Reform Bill. + + +June 29th, 1833 {p.001} + +I am going, if not too lazy, to note down the everyday nothings +of my life, and see what it looks like. + +We dined yesterday at Greenwich, the dinner given by Sefton, who +took the whole party in his omnibus, and his great open carriage; +Talleyrand, Madame de Dino, Standish, Neumann, and the Molyneux +family; dined in a room called 'the Apollo' at the Crown and +Sceptre. I thought we should never get Talleyrand up two narrow +perpendicular staircases, but he sidles and wriggles himself +somehow into every place he pleases. A capital dinner, tolerably +pleasant, and a divine evening. Went afterwards to the 'Travellers,' +and played at whist, and read the new edition of 'Horace Walpole's +Letters to Sir Horace Mann.' There is something I don't like in +his style; his letters don't amuse me so much as they ought to do. + +A letter this morning from Sir Henry Lushington about Monk Lewis. +He is rather averse to a biographical sketch, because he thinks a +true account of his life and character would not do him credit, +and adds a sketch of the latter, which is not flattering. Lord +Melbourne told me the other day a queer trait of Lewis. He had a +long-standing quarrel with Lushington. Having occasion to go to +Naples, he wrote beforehand to him, to say that their quarrel had +better be _suspended_, and he went and lived with him and his +sister (Lady L.) in perfect cordiality during his stay. When he +departed he wrote to Lushington to say that now they should +resume their quarrel, and put matters in the 'status quo ante +pacem,' and accordingly he did resume it, with rather more +_acharnement_ than before. + +Charles Wood came into my room yesterday, and talked of the King's +letter, said he understood the Archbishop had imparted it to the +seven Bishops who had voted, that nothing would come of it, for it +was a private letter which nobody had a right to take up. I see +the Government are not displeased at such an evidence of the +King's goodwill. The King and Taylor both love letter-writing, and +both are voluminously inclined. Wood told me that last year Lord +Grey got one letter from them (for Taylor writes and the King +approves) of seven sheets; what a mass of silly verbiage there +must have been to wade through.[1] + + [1] [This is not just. The published correspondence of King + William IV. and Earl Grey proves that the King's + letters were written by Sir Herbert Taylor with the + greatest ability.] + + +July 3rd, 1833 {p.002} + +Nothing to put down these last two days, unless I go back to my +old practice of recording what I read, and which I rather think I +left off because I read nothing, and had nothing to put down; but +in the last two days I have read a little of Cicero's 'Second +Philippic,' Voltaire's 'Siecle de Louis XIV.,' Coleridge's +'Journey to the West Indies;' bought some books, went to the opera +to hear Bellini's 'Norma,' and thought it heavy, Pasta's voice not +what it was. Everybody talking yesterday of Althorp's exhibition +in the House of Commons the night before (for particulars of which +see newspapers and Parliamentary debates). It is too ludicrous, +too melancholy, to think of the finances of this country being +_managed_ by such a man: what will not people endure? What a +strange medley politics produce: a wretched clerk in an office who +makes some unimportant blunder, some clerical error, or who +exhibits signs of incapacity for work, which it does not much +signify whether it be well or ill done, is got rid of, and here +this man, this good-natured, popular, liked-and-laughed-at good +fellow, more of a grazier than a statesman, blurts out his utter +ignorance before a Reformed Parliament, and people lift up their +eyes, shrug their shoulders, and laugh and chuckle, but still on +he goes. + + +July 4th, 1833 {p.003} + +[Page Head: SALUTES TO THE ROYAL FAMILY.] + +At Court yesterday, and Council for a foolish business. The King +has been (not unnaturally) disgusted at the Duchess of Kent's +progresses with her daughter through the kingdom, and amongst the +rest with her sailings at the Isle of Wight, and the continual +popping in the shape of salutes to Her Royal Highness. He did not +choose that this latter practice should go on, and he signified +his pleasure to Sir James Graham and Lord Hill, for salutes are +matter of general order, both to army and navy. They (and Lord +Grey) thought it better to make no order on the subject, and they +opened a negotiation with the Duchess of Kent, to induce her of +her own accord to waive the salutes, and when she went to the +Isle of Wight to send word that as she was sailing about for her +amusement she had rather they did not salute her whenever she +appeared. The negotiation failed, for the Duchess insisted upon +her right to be saluted, and would not give it up. Kemp told me +he had heard that Conroy (who is a ridiculous fellow, a compound +of 'Great Hussy' and the Chamberlain of the Princess of +Navarre[2]) had said, 'that as Her Royal Highness's _confidential +adviser_, he could not recommend her to give way on this point.' +As she declined to accede to the proposals, nothing remained but +to alter the regulations, and accordingly yesterday, by an Order +in Council, the King changed them, and from this time the Royal +Standard is only to be saluted when the King or the Queen is on +board. + + [2] See Sir C. Hanbury Williams' Poems. + + +Friday, July 12th, 1833 {p.004} + +[Page Head: CHARACTER OF LORD DOVER.] + +Went to Newmarket on Sunday, came back yesterday, got back at +half-past nine, went to Crockford's, and heard on the steps of the +house that poor Dover had died that morning. The accounts I had +received at Newmarket confirmed my previous impression that there +was no hope; and, indeed, the sanguine expectations of his family +are only to be accounted for by that disposition in the human mind +to look at the most favourable side, and to cling with pertinacity +to hope when reason bids us despair. There has seldom been +destroyed a fairer scene of happiness and domestic prosperity than +by this event. He dies in the flower of his age, surrounded with +all the elements of happiness, and with no drawback but that of +weak health, which until within the last few months was not +sufficiently important to counterbalance the good, and only +amounted to feebleness and delicacy of constitution; and it is the +breaking up of a house replete with social enjoyment, six or seven +children deprived of their father, and a young wife and his old +father overwhelmed with a grief which the former may, but the +latter never can get over, for to him time sufficient cannot in +the course of nature be allotted. Few men could be more generally +regretted than Lord Dover will be by an immense circle of +connections and friends for his really amiable and endearing +qualities, by the world at large for the serious loss which +society sustains, and the disappointment of the expectations of +what he one day might have been. He occupied as large a space in +society as his talents (which were by no means first-rate) +permitted; but he was clever, lively, agreeable, good-tempered, +good-natured, hospitable, liberal and rich, a zealous friend, an +eager political partisan, full of activity and vivacity, enjoying +life, and anxious that the circle of his enjoyment should be +widely extended. George Agar Ellis was the only son of Lord +Clifden, and obtained early the reputation of being a prodigy of +youthful talent and information. He was quick, lively, and had a +very retentive memory, and having entered the world with this +reputation, and his great expectations besides, he speedily became +one of the most conspicuous youths of the day. Having imbibed a +great admiration for Lord Orford (Horace Walpole), he evinced a +disposition to make him his model, and took pains to store his +mind with that sort of light miscellaneous literature in which +Lord Orford delighted. He got into the House of Commons, but never +was able to speak, never attempted to say more than a few words, +and from the beginning gave up all idea of oratorical distinction. +After running about the world for a few years he resolved to +marry, and as his heart had nothing to do with this determination, +he pitched upon a daughter of the Duke of Beaufort's, who he +thought would suit his purpose, and confer upon him a very +agreeable family connection. Being on a tour in the North, he +intended to finish it at Badminton, and there to propose to Lady +Georgiana Somerset, with full assurance that he should not be +rejected; but having stopped for a few days at Lord Carlisle's at +Castle Howard, he there found a girl who spared him the trouble of +going any further, and at the expiration of three or four days he +proposed in form to Lord Morpeth's second daughter, Georgiana +Howard, who, not less surprised than pleased and proud at the +conquest she found she had so unconsciously made, immediately +accepted him. There never was a less romantic attachment, or more +business-like engagement, nor was there ever a more fortunate +choice or a happier union. Mild, gentle, and amiable, full of +devotion to, and admiration of her husband, her soft and feminine +qualities were harmoniously blended with his vivacity and animal +spirits, and produced together results not more felicitous for +themselves than agreeable to all who belonged to their society. +Soon after his marriage, Ellis, who had never been vicious or +profligate, but who was free from anything like severity or +austerity, began to show symptoms of a devout propensity, and not +contented with an ordinary discharge of religious duties, he read +tracts and sermons, frequented churches and preachings, gave up +driving on Sundays, and appeared in considerable danger of falling +into the gulf of methodism; but this turn did not last long, and +whatever induced him to take it up, he apparently became bored +with his self-imposed restrictions, and after a little while he +threw off his short-lived sanctity, and resumed his worldly habits +and irreverent language, for he was always a loose talker. Active +and ambitious in his pursuits, and magnificent in his tastes, he +devoted himself to literature, politics, and society; to the two +first with greater success than would be expected of a man whose +talents for composition were below mediocrity, and for public +speaking none at all. He became the patron of various literary +institutions and undertakings connected with the arts, he took the +chair at public meetings for literary or scientific purposes, he +read a good deal and wrote a little. The only work which he put +forth of any consequence was 'The Life of Frederick II.,' which +contained scarcely any original matter, and was remarkably barren +of original ideas; but as it was a compilation from several very +amusing writers, was not devoid of entertainment.[3] Though unable +to speak in Parliament, he entered warmly into politics, formed +several political intimacies, especially with the Chancellor +(Brougham), and undertook much of the minor Government work of +keeping proxies, making houses (in the House of Lords), and +managing the local details of the House itself. But however +contracted his sphere both in literature and politics, in society +his merits were conspicuous and his success unquestionable. +Without a strong understanding, destitute of fancy and imagination, +and with neither eloquence nor wit, he was a remarkably agreeable +man. He was hospitable, courteous, and cordial; he collected about +him the most distinguished persons in every rank and condition of +life. He had a constant flow of animal spirits, much miscellaneous +information, an excellent memory, a great enjoyment of fun and +humour, a refined taste and perfect good breeding. But his more +solid merit was the thorough goodness of his heart, and the strong +and durable nature of his friendships and early attachments. To +the friends of his youth he was bound to the last moment of his +life with unremitting kindness and never-cooling affection; no +greater connections or more ambitious interests cancelled those +early ties, and though he was not unnaturally dazzled and +flattered by the later intimacies he contracted, this never for a +moment made him forgetful of or indifferent to his first and less +distinguished friends. + + [3] [Lord Dover's volume on the 'Man in the Iron Mask' + deserves not to be altogether forgotten, though more + recent researches have proved that his theory + identifying the 'Iron Mask' with Mathioli, the captured + agent of the Duke of Parma, cannot be supported.] + +[Page Head: THE LOCAL COURTS BILL DEFEATED.] + +The Local Courts Bill was thrown out by twelve. His party made the +_amende honorable_ to Lyndhurst, and went down in a body to back +him. He and Brougham each spoke for two hours or more, and both +with consummate skill, the latter especially in his very best +style, and with extraordinary power and eloquence. It would not +perhaps be easy to decide which made the ablest speech; that of +Lyndhurst was clear, logical, and profound, replete with a sort of +judicial weight and dignity, with a fine and cutting vein of +sarcasm constantly peeping from behind a thick veil of complimentary +phraseology. Brougham more various, more imaginative, more +impassioned, more eloquent, and exceedingly dexterous. Unable to +crush Lyndhurst, he resembled one of Homer's heroes, who, missing +his great antagonist, wreaked his fury on some ignominious foe, +and he fell upon Wynford with overpowering severity. As somebody +told me who heard him, 'He flayed him alive, and kept rubbing salt +upon his back.' It appears to have been a great exhibition. There +was Lyndhurst after his speech, drinking tea, not a bit tired, +elated and chuckling: 'Well, how long will the Chancellor speak, +do you think, eh? we shall have some good fun from him. What lies +he will tell, and how he will misrepresent everything! come, let's +have done our tea, that we mayn't miss him, eh?' The truth seems +to be that the Bill is not a good Bill, and is condemned by the +lawyers, that some such measure is required, but that this is +nothing more than a gigantic job, conferring enormous patronage +upon the Chancellor. The debate, however, appears to have afforded +a grand display of talent.[4] + + [4] [The successful efforts of the Tories to prevent the + establishment of a system of Local Courts of limited + jurisdiction, retarded for many years that important + measure to which we, at last, owe the County Courts--now + an institution of the utmost social utility. + Nothing can be more characteristic of the blind bigotry + of the Tory party at that time, and the party spirit of + Lord Lyndhurst; for the measure had no bearing upon + politics, and was simply a cheap and easy mode of + recovering small debts.] + +Macaulay is said to have made an admirable speech last night on +the Indian question in the House of Commons. I observe, by the +bye, that very few of the Bishops voted the other night, but all +who did voted with Government; even Exeter went away before the +division, so the King's letter seems to have produced some +effect. I have had a squabble with Lady Holland about some +nonsense, but she was insolent, so I was fierce, and then she was +civil, as she usually is to those who won't be bullied by her. + + +July 12th, 1833 {p.008} + +It is extraordinary how little sensation the defeat of Government +in the House of Lords has caused. Everybody talks of the debate, +nobody thinks of the event, but I find several people expect that +the Church Bill will be thrown out, which would be a much more +serious thing. I betted Stanley five pounds to one yesterday that +they were not beaten on the second reading of the Irish Church +Bill. I have concluded a bargain with Murray for Lewis's journal +and sold it him for 400 guineas, the MSS. to be returned to +Lushington, and fifteen copies for him, and five for me, gratis. + + +July 14th, 1833 {p.008} + +[Page Head: IRISH CHURCH BILL.] + +Wharncliffe told me yesterday that the Duke and the Opposition do +not mean to throw out the Irish Church Bill on the second +reading. He had been in great alarm himself after the Duke's +speech lest they should, but had since heard what satisfied him +they would not; he said that Sir John Wrottesley's motion for a +call of the House had given them great offence, and was an +extreme piece of folly, for it was obviously for the purpose of +bullying the House of Lords, who would not be bullied, and this +species of menace only increased the obstinacy of the majority +there, but that the Duke could command the greater number, and +though there might be a division (as some cannot be restrained +from dividing) there would be no endeavour to throw it out. Thus +it is that one folly produces another: the Duke's silly speech +about the Coronation Oath (a piece of nonsense quite unworthy of +his straightforward, manly sense) produced Wrottesley's bravado +in the other House. But Wharncliffe says he is persuaded nothing +can prevent a collision between the two Houses ultimately. There +is a great idea that the Government will fall to pieces before +the end of this year. Tavistock told me that Althorp would +certainly go out in a very few months, and _that he would go on +the turf_! Tom Duncombe is found guilty at Hertford (of a libel), +and recommended to mercy, to the infinite diversion of his +friends. + + +July 15th, 1833 {p.009} + +Yesterday came the news of Captain Napier having captured the +whole of Don Miguel's fleet, to the great delight of the Whigs, +and equal mortification of the Tories. It appears to have been a +dashing affair, and very cowardly on the part of the Miguelites. +The day before the news came, Napier had been struck out of the +British Navy. + +Met Duncannon in the morning, who was very gloomy about +Wednesday, at the same time saying he rather hoped the Tories +would throw out the Irish Church Bill, for it was impossible to +go on as they were now doing; that if they did, two motions would +infallibly be made in the House of Commons, an address to the +Crown to make Peers, and a vote for the expulsion of the Bishops, +and that both would be carried by great majorities. He talked +much of the Irish Church, and of the abominations that had been +going on even under his own eyes. One case he mentions of a man +who holds a living of L1,000 a year close to Bessborough, whom he +knows. There is no house, no church, and there are no Protestants +in the parish. He went there to be inducted, and dined with +Duncannon at Bessborough the day after. Duncannon asked him how +he had managed the necessary form, and he said he had been +obliged to borrow the clerk and three Protestants from a +neighbouring parish, and had read the morning and evening service +to them within the ruined walls of the old Abbey, and they signed +a certificate that he had complied with the forms prescribed by +law; he added that people would no longer endure such things, +that no existing interests were to be touched, and that if +remedial measures were still opposed, the whole fabric would be +pulled down. He was still persuaded that the Opposition meant to +throw out the Bill. + +In the evening I dined at the Duke of Richmond's, and found +Stanley informed of the result of the meeting at the Duke of +Wellington's in the morning, which was decisive on the question. +The Duke, after his extraordinary speech in the House of Lords, +when he mounted the old broken-down hobby of the Coronation Oath +and cut a curvet that alarmed his friends and his enemies, +assembled the Tories at Apsley House, and there, resuming his own +good sense, though not very consistently, made them a speech, and +told them that some such measure must be passed, for nothing else +could save the Irish Church: that there were things in this Bill +that he did not approve of at all, but he could not resist its +going into committee, and he finished by announcing that he should +either vote for it or not vote at all, according to circumstances. +Lyndhurst goes on the circuit on Wednesday, so that though there +will be a division there will be a large majority for the Bill, +which is the best thing that could happen. Stanley said there +would be a great speech from Lord Grey, talked of his power in +that line, thought his reply at five in the morning on the +Catholic question the most perfect speech that ever was made. He +would rather have made it than four of Brougham's. He gave the +following instance of Lord Grey's readiness and clear-headed +accuracy. In one of the debates on the West India question, he +went to Stanley, who was standing under the gallery, and asked him +on what calculation he had allotted the sum of twenty millions. +Stanley explained to him a complicated series of figures, of terms +of years, interest, compound interest, value of labour, etc., +after which Lord Grey went back to his place, rose, and went +through the whole with as much clearness and precision as if all +these details had been all along familiar to his mind. It is very +extraordinary that he should unite so much oratorical and +Parliamentary power with such weakness of character. He is a long +way from a great man altogether. + +[Page Head: DUKE OF WELLINGTON AND THE BONAPARTES.] + +I met the Duke in the evening at the Duchess of Cannizzaro's, +talked of Napier's affair, at which he was extremely amused, +though he thinks it a very bad thing, and not the least bad part +of it that Napier should be lost to the service, so distinguished +as he is. It was he who in 1803 (I believe) was the cause of the +capture of a French squadron by Sir Alexander Cochrane. The +English fell in with and cleared the French fleet, but Napier in +a sloop outsailed the rest, and firing upon the stern of the +French Admiral's flagship, so damaged her (contriving by skilful +evolutions to avoid being hurt himself) that the rest of the +ships were obliged to haul to, to save the Admiral's ship, which +gave time to the British squadron to come up, when they took four +out of the five sail. The Whigs all talk of this action as +decisive of the Portuguese contest; the Duke says it is +impossible to say what the moral effect may be, but in a military +point of view it will not have much influence upon it. Lucien +Bonaparte was there, and was introduced to the Duke. He laughed +and said, 'He shook hands with me, and we were as intimate as if +we had known each other all our lives!' He said he had likewise +called on Joseph, who had called on him, but they had never met: +he added that some civilities had passed between them in Spain. +Before the battle of Salamanca he had regularly intercepted the +French correspondence, and as one of the King's daughters was ill +at Paris, and daily intelligence came of her health, he always +sent it to him. He did not forward the letters, because they +contained other matters, but he sent a flag every day to the +outposts, who said, 'Allez dire au Roi que sa fille se porte +mieux,' or as it might be. There was Lucien running downstairs to +look for his carriage, one brother of Napoleon who refused to be +a king, and another who was King of Naples, and afterwards King +of Spain, both living as private gentlemen in England! + + +July 16th, 1833 {p.012} + +The Cabinet met at the instance of Lord John Russell to take into +consideration Lord Hill's _not voting_ on Brougham's Local Courts +Bill. Nothing came of it, and it is extremely absurd when their +own people continually vote as they please--Duncannon, Ellice, +Charles Grey, etc. On Sunday I went to hear Mr. Blount preach. He +is very popular, and has a great deal of merit, not so clever as +Thorpe, not so eloquent as Anderson, but with a great appearance +of zeal and sincerity, and he is very conscientious and +disinterested, for he refused the living of Chelsea (which Lord +Cadogan offered him) because he thought he could not discharge +the duties belonging to it together with those of his present +cure. Went last night to hear Malibran in the 'Sonnambula,' a +fine piece of acting and fine singing. + + +July 18th, 1833 {p.012} + +I fell in with Sir Robert Peel yesterday in the Park, and rode +with him for an hour or two, never having had so much conversation +with him before in my life. He was very agreeable, told me that he +had just come from the Police Committee, when a member of one of +the political unions had been under examination, who had +acknowledged that they were provided with arms, and exercised +themselves in their use, to be ready for the struggle which they +thought was fast approaching. This evidence will appear in the +Report to the House of Commons, but what will not appear is that +an attempt was made (by Mr. Charles Buller especially) to prevent +its being elicited, and the aforesaid gentleman endeavoured to put +down Peel, who drew it out. The room was cleared, and they had an +angry discussion, but Peel insisted upon asking his question, and +carried his point, even in this Radical Committee. It seems to +have been very curious, and the man was nothing loth to say all he +knew. Peel thinks very ill of everything. I asked him if there was +no way of putting down the Repeal Union. He said none, and that +they had found the impossibility of doing so in Ireland, except by +investing the Lord Lieutenant with extraordinary powers; talked of +the Government and its strange way of going on, spoke highly of +Stanley in all ways. + +[Page Head: STANLEY AND ALTHORP.] + +Althorp's retirement seems certain, and if the Government goes on +Stanley will be leader, but unless he puts it all on a different +footing it must break up, and unless the Government people can be +brought under better discipline it will fall to pieces, for +nobody will support it on that motion of Wrottesley's for a call +of the House. Both Stanley and Althorp deprecated it in the +strongest way, in the name of their colleagues as well as their +own, with whom Stanley said they had consulted, and that they +felt it would materially embarrass the Government if persisted +in, and after this Duncannon, Kennedy, and Charles Grey voted for +the call, Ellice and Poulett Thomson stayed away. The other night +(I forget on what question) Ellice voted one way and Stanley the +other, and the former said to the latter as he was going out of +the house, 'You will see if the boys don't go with me instead of +with you.' The vote of the night before last against sinecures +was carried in a thin house, only one Cabinet Minister present +(Althorp), no pains taken to secure a majority, and he (Althorp) +saying that it signified more to the Tories than to him, and they +ought to have come down and rejected it. Peel thinks it of great +importance, and very difficult to get out of. However, it will be +got out of by some particular case being tried, on which Hume, or +whoever brings it forward, will be beaten, and then it will sleep +for a time; but there stands and will stand the resolution on the +journals, and the House of Commons has admitted the principle of +dealing with actual vested interests, and not confining their +operation to the future. + +There seems every probability of Stanley's West India Bill being +thrown out. The Saints, who at first had agreed to support it, +object to pay the twenty millions for emancipation to take place +twelve years hence, and the present condition of the question +seems to be that all parties are dissatisfied with it, and there +is nearly a certainty that it will be received with horror by the +planters, while the slaves will no longer work when they find the +fiat of their freedom (however conditional or distant the final +consummation may be) has at length gone forth. + + +July 20th, 1833 {p.013} + +I dropped into the House of Lords last night, and heard the +Bishop of London reply severally to the Duke of Newcastle and +Lord Winchilsea, the first of whom muttered, and the latter +bellowed something I could not hear, but I gathered that the last +was on the subject of the King's letter to the Bishops. The +Bishop made very pertinent answers to both, but the Duke of +Wellington got up after Winchilsea, and entreated nothing might +be said upon the subject, and put down discussion with that +authority which the Tories dare not resist, and which he +exercised on this occasion with the good sense and, above all, +consideration for public convenience and disdain of party rancour +which distinguish him above all men I have ever seen, and which +compel one to admire him in spite of the extraordinary things he +occasionally says and does. + +George Villiers is going Minister to Madrid, instead of Addington, +who is so inefficient they are obliged to recall him, and at this +moment Madrid is the most important diplomatic mission, with +reference to the existing and the prospective state of things. The +Portuguese contest, the chance of the King of Spain's death and a +disputed succession, the recognition of the South American +colonies, and commercial arrangements with this country, present a +mass of interests which demand considerable dexterity and +judgment; besides, Addington is a Tory, and does not act in the +spirit of this Government, so they will recall him without +ceremony. There is another Ambassador (Frederic Lamb) whose +principles are equally at variance with those of Palmerston, and +who is completely be-Metternich'd, but his removal is out of the +question; he knows it, and no doubt conducts himself accordingly. +George Villiers told me that he touched incidentally one day with +Palmerston on Lamb's conduct in some matter relating to Lord +Granville, and he found that it was sacred ground, and he only +got, 'Ah, aw--yes, _Metternich_ is, I suppose, too old to mend +now.' + + +July 21st, 1853 {p.014} + +[Page Head: DUKE OF RICHMOND.] + +The Duke of Wellington did not vote on Friday night, but he made a +bitter speech against Government, and attacked Lord Anglesey very +unnecessarily, when Melbourne retorted on him very well. Lord +Grey's reply appears to have been exceedingly good. I met the Duke +of Richmond last night, and talked to him about the prospects of +Government, and suggested that if Stanley (when Althorp retires) +does not make it a _sine qua non_ that better discipline should be +observed in their ranks, the Government cannot go on. He agreed, +and said Stanley would, but he thought the House of Lords were +going on in such a way that before three years there would be +none. It appears to me totally impossible for Stanley or anybody +to go on without remodelling the Government, and one of his +difficulties would be in getting rid of Richmond himself. He is +utterly incapable, entirely ignorant, and his pert smartness, +saying sharp things, cheering offensively, have greatly +exasperated many people against him in the House of Commons, and +these feelings of anger have been heightened by his taking +frequent opportunities of comporting himself with acrimony towards +the Duke of Wellington, though he always professes great +veneration for him, and talks as if he had constantly abstained +from anything like incivility or disrespect towards him. It is +remarkable certainly that his colleagues appear to entertain a +higher opinion of him than he deserves, and you hear of one or +another saying, 'Oh, you don't know the Duke of Richmond.' He has, +in fact, that weight which a man can derive from being positive, +obstinate, pertinacious, and busy, but his understanding lies in a +nutshell, and his information in a pin's head. He is, however, +good-humoured, a good fellow, and personally liked, particularly +by Stanley and Graham, who are of his own age, and have both the +same taste for sporting and gay occupations. The Tories threaten +mighty things in the Committee, but I don't think they will +attempt much. + + +July 24th, 1833 {p.015} + +Divisions in both Houses last night. The Duke of Wellington +proposed an important amendment (which he would afterwards have +withdrawn, but his friends would not let him), and he was beaten +by fourteen. A great division for Government _in the House of +Lords_. In the Commons 166 minority for triennial Parliaments, +and by every sort of whipping and Billy Holmes's assistance a +majority, but only of sixty or seventy; fine work this. + + +July 25th to 26th, 1833 {p.016} + +[Page Head: GOVERNMENT DEFEATED.] + +_Half-past two in the morning._--Just come home, having heard of +the division in the House of Lords, in which Ministers were +beaten on what they call the Suspension clause by two. Alvanley, +Belhaven, and Clanricarde got there too late. Gower could not +attend, nor Lord Granville. Lyndhurst came all the way from +Norwich (being on the circuit) to vote. The question is, what +Ministers will do--go on with the Bill, or throw it up, resign, +make Peers, or what? Nothing can be more silly than the +amendment, although it may be questioned whether it signifies +very materially; but the light in which Ministers see it is this: +are they to submit night after night to the vexatious insolence +of the Tories, who are constantly on the watch to find some +vulnerable point, and without intending or daring to throw over +their great measures, to mangle their details as much as they can +venture to do, and hold the Government in a sort of subjugation +and in a state of sufferance? The Tory lords are perfectly rabid, +and reckless of consequences, regardless of the embarrassment +they cause the King, and of the aggravation of a state of things +they already think very bad, they care for nothing but the silly +vain pleasure of beating the Government, every day affording +fresh materials for the assaults that are made upon them by the +press, and fresh cause for general odium and contempt. The Duke +of Wellington has no power over them for good purposes, and they +will only follow him when he will lead them on to some rash and +desperate enterprise. This event has affected people differently +according to their several views and opinions, but all are in +eager curiosity to see what the Government will do. + +In the House of Commons things are no better than in the House of +Lords. Stanley was nearly beaten on the Apprenticeship clause in +the West Indian Bill on Wednesday night, Macaulay opposing him; +so yesterday morning he came down to the House and gave it up. It +is remarkable that he made an admirable speech in defence of his +clause, was unusually and enthusiastically cheered, Macaulay's +speech falling very flat, and to all appearance the whole House +with Stanley, yet upon division he only carried it by some seven +or eight votes. It is said that after the vote he could not do +otherwise than give it up, but that if he had taken a higher tone +in his speech, and treated it as a compact fixed and agreed upon, +which nothing could shake, and to which he was irrevocably +pledged, he would have carried the House with him, and have got a +larger majority. But the truth is that the House of Commons is in +such a state that it is next to impossible to say what Ministers +can or ought to do, or what the House will do. There is no such +thing as a great party knit together by community of opinion, +'idem sentientes de republica.' The Government conciliate no +attachment, command no esteem and respect, and have no following. +Althorp is liked, Stanley admired, but people devote themselves +to neither; every man is thinking of what he shall say to his +constituents, and how his vote will be taken, and everything goes +on (as it were) from hand to mouth; by fits and starts the House +of Commons seems rational and moderate, and then they appear one +day subservient to the Ministers, another riotous, unruly, and +fierce, ready to abolish the Bishops and crush the House of +Lords, and to vote anything that is violent. The Tories in the +House of Commons are lukewarm, angry, frightened: they say, Why +should we come and support a Government that won't support +itself? the Government from weakness or facility, or motives of +personal feeling and partiality, suffers itself to be bearded and +thwarted by its own people, and does nothing. Duncannon, on the +triennial motion the other night, stayed in the House of Lords +and would not vote, there are some half-dozen of them whose votes +the Ministerial bench cannot count upon. Then it is no small +aggravation to the present difficult state of things that Stanley +does not appear to be a man of much moral political firmness and +courage, a timid politician, _ignavus adversum lupos_. He is bold +and spirited against individuals, but timid against bodies, and +with respect to results. Labouchere went to him some time ago, +and told him that it was evident a feeling was growing up in the +House of Commons against this Apprenticeship clause, and that he +had better make up his mind early what course he should pursue, +that if he meant to stand to it they would support him, but if +not, he had better give it up early and from foresight rather +than from necessity at last, but above all, not to drag them +through the mire by making them support him, and then throwing +them over. He declared he would stand to his clause. They +supported him, and he threw them over. This will not do for a man +who aspires to be leader, and Sandon told me last night that men +would not be led by him, in spite of his talents, that when +Althorp went under Stanley's banner the friends of Government +would not enlist. God only knows how it all will end, and out of +such a mass of confusion, of so much violence and folly and +weakness, and the working of so many bad passions, what will +result, but any day the chance becomes less of the elements of +disorder being resolved into a state of tranquillity and good +government. It is every day more apparent that with such a House +of Commons, so elected, so acted upon, no Government can feel +secure; none can undertake with confidence to carry on the +affairs of the country. It is difficult to describe the state of +agitation into which the minds of people of all persuasions are +thrown by the continual recurrence of these little events, of the +feeling of insecurity, of doubt, of apprehension which pervades +all classes. Nobody thinks the present Government can go on, at +the same time they can see no party and no individual who could +go on as well if they were to retire. The present House of +Commons it is found impossible to manage, but it is believed that +in the event of a dissolution another would be much worse; in +short, all is chaos, confusion, and uncertainty, and the only +thing in which all parties agree is that things are very bad, and +every day getting worse. + +[Page Head: THE BONAPARTES.] + +I dined the day before yesterday with old Lady Cork, to meet the +Bonapartes. There were Joseph, Lucien, Lucien's daughter, the +widow of Louis Bonaparte, Hortense's son,[5] the Dudley Stuarts, +Belhavens, Rogers, Lady Clarendon, and Lady Davy and myself; not +very amusing, but curious to see these two men, one of whom would +not be a King, when he might have chosen almost any crown he +pleased (conceive, for instance, having refused the kingdom of +Naples), and the other, who was first King of Naples and then +King of Spain, commanded armies, and had the honour of being +defeated at Vittoria by the Duke of Wellington. There they sat, +these brothers of Napoleon, who once trampled upon all Europe, +and at whose feet the potentates of the earth bowed, two simple, +plain-looking, civil, courteous, smiling gentlemen. They say +Lucien is a very agreeable man, Joseph nothing. Joseph is a +caricature of Napoleon in his latter days, at least so I guess +from the pictures. He is taller, stouter, with the same sort of +face, but without the expression, and particularly without the +eagle eye. Lucien looked as if he had once been like him, that +is, his face in shape is like the pictures of Napoleon when he +was thin and young, but Lucien is a very large, tall man. They +talked little, but stayed on in the evening, when there was a +party, and received very civilly all the people who were +presented to them. There was not the slightest affectation of +royalty in either. Lucien, indeed, had no occasion for any, but a +man who had ruled over two kingdoms might be excused for +betraying something of his former condition, but, on the +contrary, everything regal that he ever had about him seemed to +have been merged in his American citizenship, and he looked more +like a Yankee cultivator than a King of Spain and the Indies. +Though there was nothing to see in Joseph, who is, I believe, a +very mediocre personage, I could not help gazing at him, and +running over in my mind the strange events in which he had been +concerned in the course of his life, and regarding him as a +curiosity, and probably as the most extraordinary living instance +of the freaks of fortune and instability of human grandeur. + + [5] [This must have been the Emperor Napoleon III.] + +The Duke of Sutherland is dead, a leviathan of wealth. I believe +he is the richest individual who ever died, and I should like to +know what his property amounts to, out of pure curiosity. + + +July 27th, 1833 {p.020} + +This affair in the House of Lords blew over. The Patriots at +Brookes' were loud in their indignation, and talked nonsense +about dignity and resignation, and so forth, but Lord Grey took +the better course, and came down to the House with a lecture, +conceived in mild yet firm language, and announced his intention +of going on with the Bill. Accordingly they got through the +Committee last night without further obstructions. The amendment +is in fact so trivial that I don't think he will attempt to +re-establish the original clause on the report, and if he does +not, the Commons (I am told) will not either. + + +August 7th, 1833 {p.020} + +At Goodwood from Saturday se'nnight to Saturday last. Magnificent +weather, numerous assemblage, tolerable racing, but I did not win +the great cup, which I ought to have won, a most vile piece of +ill luck, but good fortune seems to have deserted me, and the +most I can do is not to lose. + +George Villiers is appointed to Madrid, but he tells me that he +can neither see nor hear from Palmerston, that though his +appointment is in everybody's mouth it has never been notified to +him. All this negligence is because our Foreign Secretary is +engaged in the conferences, in which, however, he gives no +greater satisfaction to those he is concerned with, for +Talleyrand complains that he invariably makes them wait from one +to two hours, and Dedel says that his manner is so insulting +towards the Dutch nation and King, and that on every occasion he +acts with so much partiality towards Belgium, that it is with the +greatest difficulty he can transact business with him at all. +They say the Duke of Wellington has scarcely missed a day during +this session in his attendance on the House of Lords, always in +his place from the beginning to the end of the debates, speaking +and evidently preparing himself on every subject, doing duty as +the head of a party. + + +August 8th, 1833 {p.020} + +Met Lord Grey in the street; he said this session had nearly done +him up, and he must have repose, he talked of Portugal, of the +desirableness of getting rid of Pedro, and of putting Palmella at +the head of the Government. I said he must take care they did not +establish too liberal a Government. He replied the Portuguese +certainly were not fit for any such thing, and that the +constitution had undoubtedly done all the mischief; spoke of the +Duke of Wellington, and of his being always in the House of +Lords, speaking on anything, and generally not well, that he had +made a most tiresome bad speech on the India Charter question, +etc. Brougham's Privy Council Bill has, I perceive, passed the +House of Commons, having gone through both Houses without a +syllable said upon it in either. + +[Page Head: GEORGE VILLIERS MINISTER AT MADRID.] + +George Villiers is at last acknowledged Minister to Madrid. He +told me he was with Palmerston at his house yesterday morning, +and was much struck with his custom of receiving all his numerous +visitors and applicants in the order in which they arrive, be +their rank what it may. Neumann told him he had never known him +vary in this practice, or deviate from it in anybody's favour. It +is a merit. There seems little danger of any movement on the part +of Spain, for Zea Bermudez (Palmerston told George Villiers) is +struck to the earth by the events in Portugal, and only anxious +to curry favour with England. + + +August 15th, 1833 {p.021} + +At Council yesterday to swear in James Parke and Bosanquet (who +did not come) Privy Councillors, in order to carry into operation +the Chancellor's new Bill for the establishment of the Judicial +Committee of the Privy Council. + + +August 20th, 1833 {p.021} + +To Stoke on Saturday with Creevey and Lemarchant, the +Chancellor's secretary. The Chancellor and others of the Ministry +were to have come, but they all dined at Blackwall. Brougham, +Plunket, and John Russell came the next day. Brougham is not so +talkative as he was; his dignities, his labours, and the various +cares of his situation have dashed his gaiety, and pressed down +his once elastic spirits; however, he was not otherwise than +cheerful and lively. Plunket I never met before, he was pretty +much at his ease, and talked sufficiently without exhibiting +anything remarkable. Lemarchant is a clever, industrious fellow, +whom I remember at Eton. The Chancellor's secretaryship must be +no sinecure, and he has particularly distinguished himself by his +reports of the debates in the House of Commons. He goes there +every night, and forwards to the Chancellor from time to time an +account of the debate, and the manner of it, very well executed +indeed. He talked to me of Brougham's labours and their +intensity, which put me in mind of his gasconading to Sefton a +year or two ago about his idleness, and finding the Great Seal a +mere plaything; Lemarchant said that by severe and constant +application he had made himself very tolerably acquainted with +equity law, and very extensively with cases. I find from Sefton +that he means to propose next year that his salary should be +reduced to L8,000 a year, and that the new Equity Judges should +be paid out of what he now has. I believe he is liberal about +money, and not careless, but I have some doubts whether this +project will be executed. Lemarchant told me that the cause of +Sugden's inveterate animosity against Brougham was this--that in +a debate in the House of Commons, Sugden in his speech took +occasion to speak of Mr. Fox, and said that he had no great +respect for his authority, on which Brougham merely said, loud +enough to be heard all over the House, and in that peculiar tone +which strikes like a dagger, 'Poor Fox.' The words, the tone, +were electrical, everybody burst into roars of laughter, Sugden +was so overwhelmed that he said afterwards it was with difficulty +he could go on, and he vowed that he never could forgive this +sarcasm. + +[Page Head: LORD BROUGHAM AS CHANCELLOR.] + +Sefton talked to me of Brougham's reluctance when the Government +was formed to take the Great Seal; after they had offered him the +Attorney-Generalship, which he so indignantly refused, they sent +Sefton to cajole him and get him to take the Seal. He wanted to +be made Master of the Rolls, and left in the House of Commons, +the Seal being put in Commission. This they would not hear of, +naturally enough not choosing to exist at his mercy in the House +of Commons, and rely upon his doubtful and capricious support. It +was very well for him to act the part of Atlas, and bear the +Government on his shoulders, but they shrewdly enough guessed +that they would not ride on them very comfortably, that they +would be considerably jolted, and perhaps at last shoved off. He, +on the other hand, would not suffer anybody to be Chancellor but +himself; and at last, with many misgivings, he yielded to the +gentle violence which would make him the first officer of the +Crown. Great was his lamentation at this necessity. 'How,' he +said, 'am I fallen! As member for Yorkshire in the House of +Commons, what a position was mine.' Sefton tried to comfort him +by representing that 'the fall' upon the woolsack was somewhat of +the softest, and that a few years ago he would not have +considered it so grievous a misfortune if it had been foretold +him that he should be seated there at such a time. + +After dinner on Sunday Brougham talked of the Reform Bill and its +first appearance in the House of Commons. He said that once +allowed to take root there it could not be crushed, and that +their only opportunity was thrown away by the Tories. Had Peel +risen at once and declared that he would not even discuss such a +measure, that it was revolution, and opposed its being brought +in, he would have thrown it out, and if he had then come down +with a moderate measure, it would have satisfied the country _for +the time_. This is exactly what William Banks said to me last +year, and the very thing Peel had intended to do, and from which +he was deterred by Granville Somerset. The Duke of Wellington has +continued to attend in the House of Lords day after day, +proposing alterations and amendments to all the Bills, evidently +reading hard, and preparing himself for each occasion, always +loaded with papers. Lyndhurst said to somebody, 'I shall attend +no more, what's the use of it? The Duke comes down every day, and +tries to make the Bills _better_; if I could make them _worse_, I +would come too.' + + +August 22nd, 1833 {p.023} + +Called on Madame de Lieven yesterday, who is just come back from +Petersburg, _rayonnante_ at her reception and treatment. The +Emperor went out to sea to meet her, took her into his own boat, +when they landed he drove her to the palace, and carried her into +the Empress's room, who was _en chemise_. She told me a comical +anecdote illustrative of the good humour of the Emperor (who, she +says, is an angel), and of the free and frank reception he gives +to strangers. In the midst of some splendid military fetes, which +terminated with a sham siege by 50,000 of his guards the last +day, word was brought him that two strange-looking men had +presented themselves at the lines, and requested to be allowed to +see what was going on. They said they were English, had come from +Scotland on purpose to see the Russian manoeuvres, and had +started from Petersburg under the direction of a laquais de +place, who had conducted them to where they heard the firing of +the cannon. The Emperor ordered them to be admitted, received +them with the greatest civility, and desired apartments to be +prepared for them in the palace (Peterhof), at the same time +inviting them to dine with him, and be present at a ball he gave +at night. She said that one was a Don Quixote sort of figure; +they called themselves Johnstone. The Emperor asked her if she +knew them. She said no, but that there were many of that name in +England. There they remained, enchanted, astonished, behaving, +however, perfectly well. After seeing all the sights, they were +one evening led into a great hall, where all sorts of pastimes +were going on, and among others a _Montagne Russe_ (of which the +Emperor is passionately fond). He is a very tall powerful man, +and his way is to be placed at the top of the machine, when a man +mounts astride on his shoulders, and another on his, and so on +till there are fourteen; when a signal is given, with the +rapidity of lightning down they go. On this occasion the Emperor +took the Johnstones on his back, and she says their astonishment +at the position they occupied, and at the rapidity of the +descent, was beyond everything amusing. They were asked how they +liked it, and they said they thought it 'very good fun,' and +should like to begin again. So they were allowed to divert +themselves in this way for an hour. Bligh told her afterwards +that these men returned to Petersburg their heads turned, and +utterly bewildered with, such an unexpected reception. + +In her serious talk the Princess said that the Emperor was full of +moderation and desire for peace, 's'il y a des orages ce ne sera +pas de ce cote qu'ils viendront,' that he could not comprehend the +English Parliament, nor the sort of language which was held there +about him, that he was 'le plus genereux, le plus humain, le +meilleur des hommes,' that they believed all the lies which were +'debites sur les affaires de Pologne, qui enfin est notre affaire, +qu'il etait peu connu ici, qu'elle avait vu en Russie beaucoup de +respects, beaucoup d'amour pour l'Empereur, et voila tout.' In +short, she is returned in a state of intoxication, and her +adoration for the Emperor is only exceeded by that which she has +for the Empress. + + +August 24th, 1833 {p.025} + +[Page Head: AFFAIRS OF PORTUGAL.] + +Matters have taken a bad turn in Portugal. Bourmont is marching +on Lisbon with 18,000 men, 'regna il terror nella citta.' William +Russell, in a fit of enthusiasm, says, 'the capital must be saved +even at the hazard of a war.' Admiral Parker says he shall land +1,200 marines and make them occupy the forts. Our Government are +in great confusion and alarm, and have despatched a swift steamer +to Parker to desire him to do no such thing; but the steamer will +probably arrive too late, and if Bourmont is really there, we +shall cut a pretty figure with our non-intervention, for Parker +will probably have to surrender the forts to Miguel. I dined with +Talleyrand yesterday, who is furious, laughing non-intervention +to scorn; and he told me he had for the last ten days been +endeavouring to get the Government to take a decided part. What +he advised was that we should recognise Donna Maria and the +Regency appointed by the Charter; that is, Donna Isabella Regent, +with a Council to be comprised of Palmella, Villa Flor, and any +other; that our Minister should be directed to acknowledge _no +other government_, and at the same time concert with Palmella +that Pedro should be sent away, and the constitution be suspended +till the Queen shall be of age. Pedro has committed, since he was +in Lisbon, every folly and atrocity he could squeeze into so +small a space of time; imprisoning, confiscating, granting +monopolies, attacking the Church, and putting forth the +constitution in its most offensive shape. I suspect we shall have +made a sad mess of this business. + +Just come from the Duke of Wellington; talked about Portugal and +the intercepted letters; the writer said that he (the Duke) had +told Neumann he approved of Bourmont's going, whereas he thought +it an objectionable nomination, because he had formerly deserted +from the Portuguese service.[6] He had never had any communication +with these agents, and did not believe Aberdeen had had any +either: he said Lisbon was more defensible than Oporto, but +required more men. Talking of Miguel, the Duke related that he was +at Strathfieldsaye with Palmella, where in the library they were +settling the oath that Miguel should take, Miguel would pay no +attention, and instead of going into the business and saying what +oath he would consent to take (the question was whether he should +swear fidelity to Pedro or to Maria) he sat flirting with the +Princess Therese Esterhazy. The Duke said to Palmella, 'This will +never do, he must settle the terms of the oath, and if he is so +careless in an affair of such moment, he will never do his duty.' +Palmella said, 'Oh, leave him to us, we will manage him.' He had +no idea of overturning the constitution and playing false when he +went there, but was persuaded by his mother and terrified by the +lengths to which the constitutional party was disposed to go. The +Duke said the Government would be very foolish to interfere for +Pedro, who was a ruffian, and for the constitution, which was +odious, and that Pedro would never have more than the ground he +stood on; talked of our foreign policy, his anxiety for peace, but +of France as our 'natural enemy!' and of the importance of +maintaining our influence in Spain, which so long as we did we +should have nothing to fear from France. + + [6] Bourmont was an emigrant, and went into the Portuguese + service. When Junot came to Portugal he joined him, was + taken into the French service, in which he continued to + rise, till he deserted just before the battle of + Waterloo from Napoleon to Louis XVIII. + + +September 3rd, 1833 {p.026} + +On Wednesday last when the King's speech was read there was no +Council. Brougham brought Sir Alexander Johnston, formerly Chief +Justice in Ceylon, to be sworn a Privy Councillor without giving +any notice, consequently I was not there. The King, therefore, +comes again to-morrow on purpose, and, what is unpleasant, +desired a Clerk of the Council might always be in attendance when +there was anything going on. This, I suppose, His Majesty will +repeat to me himself to-morrow. The Parliament is at last up; it +was a fine sight the day the King went down, the weather +splendid, and park full of people, with guards mounted and +dismounted, making a picturesque show. He was very coolly +received, for there is no doubt there never was a King less +respected. George IV., with all his occasional unpopularity, +could always revive the external appearance of loyalty when he +gave himself the trouble. + +[Page Head: RESULTS OF THE REFORM BILL.] + +[Page Head: SURVEY OF THE STATE OF AFFAIRS.] + +The Parliament is up, and not before people were dead sick of it, +and had dropped out of town one by one till hardly any Parliament +was left. It may be worth while to take a little survey of the +present condition of things as compared with what it was a few +months ago, and consider at this resting time what has been the +practical effect of the great measure of Reform, without going +very deeply into the question. The Reform Bill was carried _in +toto_, the Tories having contrived that everything that was +attempted should be gained by the Reformers. No excuse, therefore, +was left for the Parliament, and if 'the people' did not choose a +good one it was their own fault. It was chosen, and when it met +was found to be composed of a majority of supporters of the +present Government, a certain number of Tories, not enough to be +powerful, and many Radicals, who soon proved to be wholly +inefficient. It speedily became manifest that in point of ability +it was not only inferior to the last, but perhaps to any +Parliament that has sat for many years. There were 350 new members +(or some such number), but not one man among them of shining or +remarkable talent; Cobbett, Silk, Buckingham, Roebuck, and such +men soon found their level and sunk into insignificance. The House +appeared at first to be very unruly, not under the command of +Government, talkative, noisy, and ill-constituted for the +transaction of business. After a little while it got better in +this respect, the majority, however, though evidently determined +to support Government, would not be _commanded_ by it, and even +men in place often took up crotchets of their own, and voted +against Government measures; but whenever the Ministers seemed to +be in danger they always found efficient support, and on the Malt +Tax the House even stultified itself to uphold them. As the +session proceeded the men who gained reputation and established +the greatest personal influence were Peel and Stanley; Macaulay +rather lost than gained; Althorp lost entirely, but the weight of +his blunders and unfitness could not sink him, his personal +character and good humour always buoyed him up. The great +measures, some of the greatest that any Parliament ever dealt +with, were got through with marvellous facility. They did not for +the most part come on till late in the session, when the House had +got tired, and the East India Charter Bill was carried through +most of the stages in empty Houses. The measures have generally +evinced a Conservative character, and the Parliament has not shown +any disposition to favour subversive principles or to encourage +subversive language. It has been eminently liberal in point of +money, granting all that Ministers asked without the slightest +difficulty; twenty millions for the West Indians, a million for +the Irish clergy, were voted almost by acclamation. Hume cut no +figure in this Parliament. Notwithstanding apprehensions and +predictions the Government has contrived to carry on the business +of the country very successfully, and great reforms have been +accomplished in every department of the State, which do not seem +liable to any serious objections, and in the midst of many +troubles, of much complaining and bickering; the country has been +advancing in prosperity, and recovering rapidly from the state of +sickly depression in which it lay at the end of last year. It is +fair to compare the state of affairs now and then, merely reciting +facts, and let the praise rest where it may, whether it be due to +the wisdom of men or the result of that disposition to right +itself which has always appeared inherent in the British +commonwealth. Some months ago there appeared every prospect of a +war in Europe; the French were in Belgium, whence many predicted +they would never be got away; Ireland was in a flame, every post +brought the relation of fresh horrors and atrocities; in England +trade was low, alarm and uncertainty prevalent, and a general +disquietude pervaded the nation, some fearing and others desiring +change, some expecting, others dreading the great things which a +Reformed Parliament would do. The session is over, and a Reformed +Parliament turns out to be very much like every other Parliament, +except that it is rather differently and somewhat less ably +composed than its predecessors. The hopes and the fears of mankind +have been equally disappointed, and after all the clamour, +confusion, riots, conflagrations, furies, despair, and triumphs +through which we have arrived at this consummation, up to the +present time, at least, matters remain pretty much as they were, +except that the Whigs have got possession of the power which the +Tories have lost. We continue at peace, and with every prospect of +so being for some time, we are on good terms with France, and by +degrees inducing the French to extend their incipient principles +of free trade, to the benefit of both countries. In Ireland there +never has been a period for many years when the country was so +quiet; it may not last, but so it is at the present moment. In +England trade flourishes, running in a deep and steady stream, +there are improvement and employment in all its branches. The +landed interest has suffered and suffers still, but the wages of +labour have not fallen with the rents of landlords, and the +agricultural labourers were never better off. Generally there is a +better spirit abroad, less discontent, greater security, and those +vague apprehensions are lulled to rest which when in morbid +activity, carrying themselves from one object to another, are +partly the cause and partly the effect of an evil state of things. +We hear nothing now of associations, unions, and public meetings, +and (compared with what it was) the world seems in a state of +repose. + + + + + CHAPTER XXII. + +The Speaker a Knight of the Bath--Lord Wellesley Lord Lieutenant + of Ireland--M. Thiers in England--Prince Esterhazy's Opinion of + the State of England--Queen of Portugal at Windsor--The Duke of + Leuchtenberg--Macaulay and Sydney Smith--Brougham's Anecdotes + of Queen Caroline--Judicial Committee of the Privy Council--Sir + Stratford Canning and M. Dedel--Sydney Smith and the 'Siege of + Saragossa'--Edward Irving--The Unknown Tongues--Tribute to Lord + Eldon--W. J. Fox--Lord Tavistock on the Prospects of his + Party--Moore at the State Paper Office--Russia and England-- + Belvoir Castle--The Duke of Wellington at Belvoir--Visit to + Mrs. Arkwright--Sir Thomas Lawrence and the Misses Siddons--A + Murder at Runton--Sandon--Lord and Lady Harrowby--Burghley-- + Railroads talked of--Gloomy Tory Prognostications--State of + Spain--Parliament opens--Quarrel of Sheil and Lord Althorp-- + Unpopularity of Lord Palmerston--Mrs. Somerville--O'Connell's + Attack on Baron Smith--Lord Althorp's Budget--The Pension + List--Lord Althorp as Leader of the House--Sir R. Peel's + Position in the House--Meeting of Supporters of Government--Mr. + Villiers on the State of Spain--Predicament of Horne, the + Attorney-General. + + +September 5th, 1833 {p.030} + +At Court yesterday, the Speaker[1] was made a Knight of the Bath +to his great delight. It is a reward for his conduct during the +Session, in which he has done Government good and handsome +service. He told them before it began that he would undertake to +ride the new House, but it must be with a snaffle bridle. +Bosanquet and Sir Alexander Johnston were made Privy Councillors +to sit in the Chancellor's new Court. The Privy Council is as +numerous as a moderate-sized club, and about as well composed. +Awful storms these last few days, and enormous damage done, the +weather like the middle of winter. + + [1] [Rt. Hon. Manners Sutton, afterwards Viscount + Canterbury.] + + +September 6th, 1833 {p.030} + +[Page Head: LORD WELLESLEY.] + +Yesterday the announcement of Lord Wellesley's appointment to be +Lord Lieutenant of Ireland was received with as great astonishment +as I ever saw. Once very brilliant, probably never very efficient, +he is now worn out and _effete_. It is astonishing that they +should send such a man, and one does not see why, because it is +difficult to find a good man, they should select one of the very +worst they could hit upon. It is a ridiculous appointment, which +is the most objectionable of all. For years past he has lived +entirely out of the world. He comes to the House of Lords, and +talks of making a speech every now and then, of which he is never +delivered, and he comes to Court, where he sits in a corner and +talks (as those who know him say) with as much fire and liveliness +as ever, and with the same neat, shrewd causticity that formerly +distinguished him; but such scintillations as these prove nothing +as to his fitness for business and government, and as he was quite +unfit for these long ago, it is scarcely to be supposed that +retirement and increased age and infirmities should have made him +less so now.[2] They have judiciously waited till Parliament is up +before the appointment was made known. Lord Wellesley is said to +be in the hands of Blake the Remembrancer, a dangerous Jesuitical +fellow. + + [2] [This opinion of Lord Wellesley was, however, speedily + changed by his successful and vigorous administration + of Ireland. See _infra_, November 14th.] + + +September 10th, 1833 {p.031} + +At Gorhambury on Saturday till Monday. Dined on Friday with +Talleyrand, a great dinner to M. Thiers, the French Minister of +Commerce, a little man, about as tall as Sheil, and as mean and +vulgar looking, wearing spectacles, and with a squeaking voice. +He was editor of the 'National,' an able writer, and one of the +principal instigators of the Revolution of July. It is said that +he is a man of great ability and a good speaker, more in the +familiar English than the bombastical French style. Talleyrand +has a high opinion of him. He wrote a history of the Revolution, +which he now regrets; it is well done, but the doctrine of +fatalism which he puts forth in it he thinks calculated to injure +his reputation as a statesman. I met him again at dinner at +Talleyrand's yesterday with another great party, and last night +he started on a visit to Birmingham and Liverpool. + +After dinner on Friday I had rather a curious conversation with +Esterhazy, who said he wanted to know what I thought of the +condition of this country. I told him that I thought everything +was surprisingly improved, and gave my reasons for thinking so. +He then went off and said that these were his opinions also, and +he had written home in this strain, that Neumann had deceived his +Government, giving them very different accounts, that it was no +use telling them what they might wish to hear, but that he was +resolved to tell them the truth, and make them understand how +greatly they were deceiving themselves if they counted upon the +decadence or want of power of this country; a great deal more of +the same sort, which proves that the Austrian Court were all on +the _qui vive_ to find out that we are paralysed, and that their +political conduct is in fact influenced by their notion of our +actual position. They probably hardly knew what they would be at, +but their hatred and dread of revolutionary principles are so +great that they are always on the watch for a good opportunity of +striking a blow at them, which they know they can only do through +England and France. They would therefore willingly believe that +the political power of England is diminished, and Neumann, who +wrote in the spirit of a disappointed Tory rather than of an +impartial Foreign Minister, no doubt flattered their desires in +this respect. Last night I sat by Dedel, the Dutch Minister, who +told me he knew Neumann had given very false accounts (not +intentionally) to his Government, that Wessenberg took much +juster views, and he (Dedel) agreed with Esterhazy, who said that +nobody could understand this country who had not had long +experience of it, and that he found it impossible to make his +Government comprehend it, or give entire credit to what he said. +Dedel told me that Holland is ruined, that the day of reckoning +will come, when they will discover what a state of bankruptcy +they are in, that the spirit of the nation had been kept up by +excitement, and that therein lay the dexterity of the King and +his Government, but that this factitious enthusiasm was rapidly +passing away. They now pay fifty millions of florins interest of +debt, about four millions sterling, and their population is not +above two millions. + +[Page Head: QUEEN OF PORTUGAL IN ENGLAND.] + +The young Queen of Portugal goes to Windsor to-day. The King was +at first very angry at her coming to England, but when he found +that Louis Philippe had treated her with incivility, he changed +his mind, and resolved to receive her with great honours. He +hates Louis Philippe and the French with a sort of Jack Tar +animosity. The other day he gave a dinner to one of the regiments +at Windsor, and as usual he made a parcel of foolish speeches, in +one of which, after descanting upon their exploits in Spain +against the French, he went on: 'Talking of France, I must say +that whether at peace or at war with that country, I shall always +consider her as our natural enemy, and whoever may be her King or +_ruler_, I shall keep a watchful eye for the purpose of +repressing her ambitious encroachments.' If he was not such an +ass that nobody does anything but laugh at what he says, this +would be very important. Such as he is, it is nothing. 'What can +you expect' (as I forget who said) 'from a man with a head like a +pineapple?' His head is just of that shape. + +The history of the French King's behaviour is that he wanted the +young Queen of Portugal to marry the Duke de Nemours, and when he +found that impossible (for we should have opposed it) he proposed +Prince Charles of Naples, his nephew. This was likewise rejected. +The Emperor Don Pedro wants the Duke of Leuchtenberg, his wife's +brother, to marry her.[3] This Duke went to Havre the other day, +where the Prefet refused to admit him, though he went with (or +to) his sister, pleading the law excluding Napoleon's family. He +went to the Prefet to say that he protested against such +application of the law, but, as he would not make any disturbance +there, desired to have his passports _vise_ for Munich, and off +he went. At the same time he wrote a letter to Palmerston, which +George Villiers, to whom Palmerston showed it, told me was +exceedingly good. He said that though he did not know Palmerston +he ventured to address him, as the Minister of the greatest and +freest country in the world, for the purpose of explaining what +had happened, and to clear himself from the misrepresentations +that would be made as to his motives and intentions in joining +his sister; that it was true that Don Pedro had wished him to +marry his daughter, and that he had written him a letter, of +which he enclosed a copy. This was a very well written letter, +begging the Emperor to pause and consider of this projected +match, and setting forth all the reasons why it might not be +advantageous for her; in short, Villiers says, exhibiting a very +remarkable degree of disinterestedness, and of longsighted views +with regard to the situation of Portugal and the general politics +of Europe. + + [3] [Queen Donna Maria did eventually many the young Duke + of Leuchtenberg, son of Prince Eugene Beauharnais and a + Bavarian Princess. But he survived his marriage only a + few months, and died of a fever at Lisbon.] + +He told me another anecdote at the same time. Palmerston showed +him a letter he had received from Charles Napier, in which, +talking of the possible interference of Spain, he said; 'Your +Lordship knows that I have only to sail with my fleet (enumerating +a respectable squadron of different sizes) to Cadiz, and I can +create a revolution in five minutes throughout the whole South of +Spain.' Palmerston seems to have been a little amused and a little +alarmed at this fanfaronade, in which there is, however, a great +deal of truth. He said that of course they should not allow Napier +to do any such thing, but as nothing else could prevent him if we +did not, the Spaniards may be made to understand that we shall not +be at the trouble of muzzling this bull-dog if they do not behave +with civility and moderation. + + +London, November 13th, 1833 {p.034} + +[Page Head: SYDNEY SMITH AND MACAULAY.] + +Nothing written for nearly two months. I remained in town till the +end of September, when I went to Newmarket, and afterwards to +Buckenham, where I met Sir Robert Peel. He is very agreeable in +society, it is a toss up whether he talks or not, but if he thaws, +and is in good humour and spirits, he is lively, entertaining, and +abounding in anecdotes, which he tells extremely well. I came back +to town on Friday last, the 8th, dined with the Poodle, and found +Rogers, Moore, and Westmacott (the son); a very agreeable dinner. +On Sunday dined with Rogers, Moore, Sydney Smith, Macaulay. Sydney +less vivacious than usual, and somewhat overpowered and talked +down by what Moore called the 'flumen sermonis' of Macaulay. +Sydney calls Macaulay 'a book in breeches.' All that this latter +says, all that he writes, exhibits his great powers and +astonishing information, but I don't think he is agreeable. It is +more than society requires, and not exactly of the kind; his +figure, face, voice, and manner are all bad; he astonishes and +instructs, he sometimes entertains, seldom amuses, and still +seldomer pleases. He wants variety, elasticity, gracefulness; his +is a roaring torrent, and not a meandering stream of talk. I +believe we would all of us have been glad to exchange some of his +sense for some of Sydney Smith's nonsense. He told me that he had +read Sir Charles Grandison fifteen times! + +Not a word of news, political or other; the Ministers are all +come, Spain and Portugal potter on with their civil contests and +create uneasiness, though of a languid kind. I came to town for a +meeting at the Council Office, the first under Brougham's new +Bill, to make rules and regulations for the proceedings of the +Court. All the lawyers attended, not much done, but there do not +seem to be any great difficulties. There was Brougham, with Leach +next him, and Lyndhurst opposite, all smirks and civility, he and +Leach quite fondling one another. Dined yesterday with Stanley, +who gave me a commission to bet a hundred for him on Bentley +against Berbastes for the Derby, and talked of racing after +dinner with as much zest as if he was on the turf. Who (to see +him and hear him thus) would take him for the greatest orator and +statesman of the day? + + +November 14th, 1833 {p.035} + +Dined with Sefton yesterday; after dinner came in the Chancellor +in good humour and spirits; talked of Lord Wellesley, who, since +he has been in Ireland, has astonished everybody by his activity +and assiduity in business. He appeared, before he went, in the +last stage of decrepitude, and they had no idea the energy was in +him; but they say he is quite a new man, and it is not merely a +splash, but real and bona-fide business that he does. The +Chancellor talked over some of the passages of the Queen's trial, +to which he loves to revert. It was about the liturgy. The +negotiations which had taken place at Apsley House between the +Duke of Wellington and Lord Castlereagh on one part and Brougham +and Denman on the other were broken off on that point. It was +then agreed to refer the matter to others; the Duke and +Castlereagh were to meet Lord Fitzwilliam and Sefton; a queer +choice, old Fitzwilliam a driveller, and Sefton, with all his +sharpness, totally unfit for the office of negotiator in a grave +matter. He can't be grave, life itself is to him a plaything; but +the night before they were to meet, Fitzwilliam took fright, and +backed out. Notice was sent to the other party, but they did not +get it, owing to some mistake. In the morning Brougham came to +Sefton and asked him to drive him up to the Queen's house, and as +they passed through Grosvenor Square, to their amazement they saw +Wellington and Castlereagh alighting (full dressed for the levee) +at Lord Fitzwilliam's door. Sefton went into the house, and found +them already in the dining-room, the table covered with papers, +when an explanation ensued, on which they had to bundle up their +papers again and trot off. + +[Page Head: BROUGHAM'S ANECDOTES OF QUEEN CAROLINE.] + +When the deputation from the House of Commons went up with the +address to the Queen, entreating her to come to terms (Banks, +Wortley, Acland, and Wilberforce), she had got all her Council +assembled, and before receiving the deputation from the Commons, +she asked their advice. Brougham said that she was disposed to +acquiesce, but wanted _them_ to advise her to do so, and that her +intention was, if they had, to act on that advice, but to save +her popularity by throwing the odium on them, and devoting them +to popular execration. He therefore resolved, and his brethren +likewise, to give no advice at all; and when she turned to him, +and said, 'What do you think I ought to do?' he replied, in a +sort of speech which he gave very comically, 'Your Majesty is +undoubtedly the best judge of the answer you ought to give, and I +am certain that your own feelings will point out to you the +proper course.' 'Well, but what is your opinion?' 'Madam, I +certainly have a strong opinion on the subject, but I think there +cannot be a shadow of doubt of what your Majesty ought to do, and +there can be no doubt your Majesty's admirable sense will suggest +to you what that opinion is.' 'Humph,' said she, and flung from +him; turning to Denman, 'And Mr. Solicitor, what is your +opinion?' 'Madam, I concur entirely in that which has been +expressed by the Attorney-General;' and so they all repeated. She +was furious, and being left to herself she resolved not to agree. +Sefton was on horseback among the crowd which was waiting +impatiently to hear the result of the interview and her +determination. He had agreed with Brougham that as soon as she +had made up her mind he should come to the window and make him a +sign. He _was to stroke his chin_ if she refused, and do +something else, I forget what, if she agreed. Accordingly arrived +Brougham at the window, all in gown and wig, and as soon as he +caught Sefton's eye began stroking his chin. This was enough for +Sefton, who (as he declares) immediately began telling people in +the crowd who were wondering and doubting and hoping that they +might rely upon it she would 'stand by them,' and not accept the +terms. + + +November 21st, 1833 {p.037} + +Another meeting at the Council Office the day before yesterday. +The Chancellor arranging everything, but proposing many things +which meet with opposition, wants people to be allowed to plead +_in forma pauperis_ before the Privy Council, which they object +to. I have doubts whether this Court will work well after all, +and foresee great difficulty about the rota; everybody had +something to prevent their attendance; however we meet on the +27th for the despatch of business. I have just finished +'Clarissa;' never was so interested or affected by any book. + + +November 28th, 1833 {p.038} + +Yesterday the first meeting under Brougham's new Bill of 'the +Judicial Committee,' the Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, Baron Parke, +Justice Bosanquet, and Erskine (Chief Judge in Bankruptcy). I +can't perceive that matters are likely to go on a bit better than +when one Judge sat there, though the Chancellor endeavours to +confer all the importance he can on his Committee, that he may +hereafter figure there himself. There has been a lively +controversy between the Whig and Tory papers, of which he has been +the object, the former lauding his law reforms, the latter +attacking his judicial incompetence. It is actually true that +hardly any original causes are brought before him, and he has +little business except appeals which must come into his Court. He +feels himself every day in a more unpleasant predicament, and of +course has a growing impatience to get rid of his judicial duties. +That he will by a series of tricks wriggle out of them there can +be no doubt, for just now he can do whatever he pleases. What he +wants is to be Prime Minister; his restless and versatile mind +will then find sufficient occupation, and there is no department +of Government which he does not think himself capable of presiding +over, leaving as he would do all troublesome details to be worked +out by others. + + +November 30th, 1833 {p.038} + +A long sitting of our Court yesterday. The Chancellor comes +regularly. Jenner (the King's Advocate) told me that he believed +the Chancellor's object was to transfer all appeals from the +House of Lords to the Privy Council. Lyndhurst (whom I met at +Mrs. Fox's) said that it was quite true that he had no business +in his own Court, for nobody would plead there, that he wanted to +be Prime Minister, retaining the emoluments and patronage of the +Great Seal, and getting rid of its duties. There can be no doubt +that he does, and if Lord Grey dies, or is ill (in which case he +will resign), he probably will succeed. It is amusing to see +Brougham's tricks in small things; his present object is to raise +the Judicial Committee as much as he can, and bring all the +business there he can collect; in order to increase the appeals +he proposed to allow of them from the Indian Courts _in forma +pauperis_. This, however, was strenuously resisted by all the +Judges and others present, and as he always takes the lead in all +discussions relating to rules and regulations, when he found that +the unanimous opinion of the Committee was the other way, he +turned himself round and argued against his own proposal, stating +or anticipating the objections of the others, just insinuating +incidentally counter-arguments, and ending by letting the +question remain in abeyance. + +[Page Head: STRATFORD CANNING AND DEDEL.] + +Madame de Lieven told me an anecdote of Stratford Canning which +highly delighted her, because it justified the resistance which +the Court of Russia made to his nomination to that Embassy. The +other day Dedel called on Palmerston. When shown into the +waiting-room, he said, 'Tell Lord Palmerston that the Dutch +Minister will be glad to see him,' when a man who was there, and +whom he did not know, jumped up and said, 'And I desire you will +tell Lord Palmerston that I have been waiting here these two +hours, and that I expect to see him before anybody else;' and +then, turning to Dedel, 'Sir, this is too bad; two persons have +been already shown in to Lord Palmerston, both of whom came after +me, and I expect that you will not go in to his Lordship till +after me.' Dedel, who is the mildest and civillest of men, +replied, 'Sir, far be it from me to dispute your right, and I +assure you I have no desire to go in before you, but I only beg +that if Lord Palmerston should send for me first you will +understand that I cannot help going;' and then the other, 'Sir, I +am Sir Stratford Canning.' 'And I am Mr. Dedel.' This extraordinary +scene he told Madame de Lieven, not knowing what had passed about +the mission. Touching that affair, there is an understanding that +he shall not go there, and no other Ambassador is to be named till +it is quite convenient to Palmerston. + +The day before yesterday I met Sydney Smith at dinner at Poodle +Byng's, when a conversation occurred which produced a curious +coincidence. We were talking of Vaughan, the Minister in America, +how dull he appeared, and yet how smart and successful had been +'The Siege of Saragossa,' which he published at the time of the +Spanish war. Sydney Smith said that the truth was he had not +written a word of it, and on being questioned further said that +he was himself the author. Vaughan, who was a friend of his, had +given him the materials, and he had composed the narrative. He +then went on to say that it was not the only instance of the +kind, for that the celebrated pamphlet which had been attributed +to Lady Canning had not been written by her, not a word of it, +that it had been written by Stapleton. I said that I had it in my +power to contradict this, for that I had been privy to the +composition of it, had seen the manuscript, and had at her +request undertaken the task of revising and correcting it. Thus +were two mistakes accidentally cleared up, by the circumstance of +the only persons who could have explained them being present. + + +December 2nd, 1833 {p.040} + +[Page Head: THE UNKNOWN TONGUES.] + +I went yesterday to Edward Irving's chapel to hear him preach, and +witness the exhibition of the tongues. The chapel was formerly +West's picture gallery, oblong, with a semicircular recess at one +end; it has been fitted up with galleries all round, and in the +semicircle there are tiers of benches, in front of which is a +platform with an elevated chair for Irving himself, and a sort of +desk before it; on each side the chair are three arm-chairs, on +which three other preachers sat. The steps from the floor to the +platform were occupied by men (whether peculiarly favoured or not +I don't know), but the seats behind Irving's chair are evidently +appropriated to the higher class of devotees, for they were the +best dressed of the congregation. The business was conducted with +decency, and the congregation was attentive. It began with a hymn, +the words given out by one of the assistant preachers, and sung by +the whole flock. This, which seems to be common to all dissenting +services, is always very fine, the full swell of human voices +producing a grand effect. After this Irving delivered a prayer, in +a very slow drawling tone, rather long, and not at all striking in +point of language or thought. When he had finished, one of the men +sitting beside him arose, read a few verses from the Bible, and +discoursed thereon. He was a sorry fellow, and was followed by two +others, not much better. After these three Spencer Perceval stood +up. He recited the duty to our neighbour in the catechism, and +descanted on that text in a style in all respects far superior to +the others. He appeared about to touch on politics, and (as well +as I recollect) was saying, 'Ye trusted that your institutions +were unalterable, ye believed that your loyalty to your King, your +respect for your nobility, your'--when suddenly a low moaning +noise was heard, on which he instantly stopped, threw his arm over +his breast, and covered his eyes, in an attitude of deep devotion, +as if oppressed by the presence of the spirit. The voice after +ejaculating three 'Oh's,' one rising above the other, in tones +very musical, burst into a flow of unintelligible jargon, which, +whether it was in English or in gibberish I could not discover. +This lasted five or six minutes, and as the voice was silenced, +another woman, in more passionate and louder tones, took it up; +this last spoke in English, and words, though not sentences, were +distinguishable. I had a full view of her sitting exactly behind +Irving's chair. She was well dressed, spoke sitting, under great +apparent excitement, and screamed on till from exhaustion, as it +seemed, her voice gradually died away, and all was still. Then +Spencer Perceval, in slow and solemn tones, resumed, not where he +had left off, but with an exhortation to hear the voice of the +Lord which had just been uttered to the congregation, and after a +few more sentences he sat down. Two more men followed him, and +then Irving preached. His subject was 'God's love,' upon which he +poured forth a mystical incomprehensible rhapsody, with +extraordinary vehemence of manner and power of lungs. There was +nothing like eloquence in his sermon, no musical periods to +captivate the ear, no striking illustrations to charm the +imagination; but there is undoubtedly something in his commanding +figure and strange, wild countenance, his vehemence, and above all +the astonishing power of his voice, its compass, intonation, and +variety, which arrests attention, and gives the notion of a great +orator. I daresay he can speak well, but to waste real eloquence +on such an auditory would be like throwing pearls to swine. 'The +bawl of Bellas' is better adapted for their ears than quiet sense +in simpler sounds, and the principle 'omne ignotum pro magnifico,' +can scarcely find a happier illustration than amongst a +congregation whose admiration is probably in an inverse ratio to +their comprehension. + + +December 6th, 1833 {p.042} + +The Vice-Chancellor, Parke, Bosanquet, and Erskine met yesterday +to consider a judgment, and took three hours to manage it; +business does not go on so quickly with many Judges as with one, +whether it be more satisfactory or not. The Chancellor, the last +time we met, announced to the Bar (very oddly) that for the +future their Lordships would give judgment in turn. (He had +himself delivered the only judgment that had been given.) The +Vice-Chancellor, who I thought was his friend, laughed at this +yesterday with me, and said that he wanted to throw off from +himself as much as he could. I asked him (he had said something, +I forget what, about the Chancery Bill) what would be left for +the Chancellor to do when that Bill was passed. He said, +'Nothing, that he meant to be Prime Minister and Chancellor, and +that it was what he had been driving at all along, that the Bill +for regulating the Privy Council was only a part of his own plan, +and that all his schemes tended to that end.' Setting political +bias aside, it is curious, considering his station, to hear the +lawyers talk of him, the contempt they universally have for him +professionally, how striking the contrast with the profound +respect which is paid to Lord Eldon. The other day, in the action +brought against the Chancellor for false imprisonment, Lord Eldon +was subpoenaed, and he appeared to give evidence; when he entered +the Court, while he was examined, and when he departed, the whole +Bar stood up, and the Solicitor-General _harangued_ him, +expressed in the name of his brethren the satisfaction they felt +at seeing him once more among them. There is something affecting +in these reverential testimonials to a man from whom power has +passed away, and who is just descending into the grave, and I +doubt if, at the close of his career, Brougham will ever obtain +the same. + + +December 9th, 1833 {p.043} + +Went yesterday with Frederic Elliot and Luttrell to hear Fox, a +celebrated Unitarian preacher, at a chapel in South Place, +Finsbury Square. He is very short and thick, dark hair, black +eyes, and a countenance intelligent though by no means handsome; +his voice is not strong, and his articulation imperfect, he cannot +pronounce the s. His sermon was, however, admirable, and amply +repaid us for the trouble of going so far. He read the whole of +it, the language was beautiful, the argument clear and unembarrassed, +the reasoning powerful, and there were occasionally passages of +great eloquence. The conclusion, which was a sort of invocation to +the Deity, was very fine. I like the simplicity of the service: +hymns, a prayer, and the sermon, still I think a short liturgy +preferable--our own, much abbreviated, would be the best. + + +December 13th, 1833 {p.043} + +[Page Head: LORD TAVISTOCK ON THE LIBERAL PARTY.] + +Met Tavistock at dinner the other day, and talked about the +Government; from his intimacy with Althorp and connection with +the others he knows their sentiments pretty accurately. He said +that Lord Grey had so high an opinion of Althorp that he made his +remaining a _sine qua non_, and accordingly he does remain. He +thought Lord Grey would be glad to retire, but that he will go on +as long as he can, because the Government would be placed in such +great embarrassment by his retreat. He did not think Brougham +could succeed him, though he believed his popularity in the +country to be great; that all depended on the part Peel took in +the next session, for in the event of Lord Grey's resignation he +looked to the King's sending for Peel to form a Government (much +as Canning did when Lord Liverpool died), principally composed of +course of the _purest_ materials, but not exclusively, and that +he did not think the great body of the Liberal party would make +any difficulty of accepting office under Peel; that Stanley would +not. He (Tavistock) thinks that Peel could not come into office +_with_ the Duke of Wellington; the Tories (Irvine, e.g.) think he +would not come in _without_ him. + + +December 18th, 1833 {p.044} + +Went with Moore yesterday morning to the State Paper Office, and +introduced him to Lemon.[4] It was at the new office, where the +documents are in course of arrangement, and for the future they +will be accessible and useful. John Allen told Moore the other +day that he considered that the history of England had never +really been written, so much matter was there in public and +private collections, illustrative of it, that had never been made +use of. Lemon said he could in great measure confirm that +assertion, as his researches had afforded him the means of +throwing great light upon modern history, from the time of Henry +VIII. The fact is, that the whole thing is conventional; people +take the best evidence that has been produced, and give their +assent to a certain series of events, until more facts and better +evidence supplant the old statements and establish others in +their place. They are now printing Irish papers of the time of +Henry VIII., but from the folly of Henry Hobhouse, who would not +let the volume be indexed, it will be of little service. In the +evening dined with Moore at the Poodle's. He told a good story of +Sydney Smith and Leslie the Professor. Leslie had written upon +the North Pole; something he had said had been attacked in the +'Edinburgh Review' in a way that displeased him. He called on +Jeffrey just as he was getting on horseback, and in a great +hurry. Leslie began with a grave complaint on the subject, which +Jeffrey interrupted with 'O damn the North Pole.' Leslie went off +in high dudgeon, and soon after met Sydney, who, seeing him +disturbed, asked what was the matter. He told him what he had +been to Jeffrey about, and that he had in a very unpleasant way +said, 'Damn the North Pole.' 'It was very bad,' said Sydney; +'but, do you know, I am not surprised at it, for I have heard him +speak very disrespectfully of _the Equator_.' + + [4] [Robert Lemon, Esq., F.S.A., was the Deputy Keeper of + the State Papers, who rendered the greatest services in + the classification of the Records, which at this time + were but little known and had not been opened to + literary investigation.] + + +December 21st, 1833 + +[Page Head: HOSTILITY TO RUSSIA.] + +There is great talk of war with Russia, which I don't believe will +take place. I had a long talk with Madame de Lieven the day before +yesterday, and was surprised to find her with such a lofty tone +about war. She said that it was '_chance egale_;' that they +neither desired nor feared it; that our tone had latterly been so +insulting that they had no option but that of replying with +corresponding hauteur; that if we sent ships to the Mediterranean +they would send ships: that if those measures were pursued, and +such language held, it was impossible to say that circumstances +might not bring about war, though equally against the wishes and +interests of all parties. In such a case we might destroy their +fleet and burn their harbours, but we could not exclude them from +Turkey, nor once established there get them out again. That we +must not fancy we should be able, in conjunction with France, to +keep the rest of Europe in check; for it was the opinion of the +wisest heads, and of Louis Philippe himself, that a war would +infallibly bring about his downfall. (This latter opinion is +likewise, I find, that of the French ultra-Radicals; but they +think the war must be a war of opinion, and that the extreme +Liberals, who would thereby gain the ascendency, would make the +King the first victim.) She complained bitterly of the language of +our newspapers, and of our orators in Parliament, described the +indignation of the Russian Court, and the dignified resentment +mixed with contempt of the Emperor; in short, talked very big, but +still there will be no war.--I met Dedel afterwards, and he told +me that at Broadlands, where they all met, some explanations in a +tolerably friendly tone did take place. The truth is that we have +divested ourselves of the right of objecting to Russia's measures +with regard to Turkey, although we do not dare acknowledge what we +have done, nor our motives. We were (and we are) in a false +position, and she has played her cards with great dexterity; but +the Treaty[5] is another thing, and is justly calculated to excite +our jealousy and suspicions. We have held this language to Russia +with regard to the Treaty: 'We do not remonstrate, because we +admit your right to make what treaties you think fit; but we give +you notice, that if any attempt is made to enforce the stipulations +of it against us, we shall not endure it, and you must be prepared +for the consequences.' + + [5] The treaty of Unkiar Skelesi. + + * * * * * + + 1834. + + +Belvoir Castle, January 7th, 1834 {p.046} + +[Page Head: BELVOIR CASTLE.] + +After many years of delay, I am here since the 3rd, to assist at +the celebration of the Duke of Rutland's birthday. The party is +very large, and sufficiently dull: the Duke of Wellington, +Esterhazy, Matuscewitz, Rokeby, Miss d'Este (afterwards Lady +Truro), and the rest a rabble of fine people, without beauty or +wit among them. The place is certainly very magnificent, and the +position of the castle unrivalled, though the interior is full of +enormous faults, which are wholly irretrievable. This results from +the management of the alterations having been entrusted to the +Duchess and Sir John Thurston (the former of whom had some taste +but no knowledge), and they have consequently made a sad mess of +it. There is immense space wasted, and with great splendour and +some comfort the Castle has been tumbled about until they have +contrived to render it a very indifferent house; no two rooms +communicating, nor even (except the drawing-room and dining-room, +the former of which is seldom or never inhabited) contiguous. The +gallery, though unfinished, is a delightful apartment, and one of +the most comfortable I ever saw. The outside of the Castle is +faulty, but very grand; so grand as to sink criticism in +admiration; and altogether, with its terraces and towers, its +woods and hills, and its boundless prospect over a rich and +fertile country, it is a very noble possession. The Duke lives +here for three or four months, from the end of October till the +end of February or March, on and off, and the establishment is +kept up with extraordinary splendour. In the morning we are roused +by the strains of martial music, and the band (of his regiment of +militia) marches round the terrace, awakening or quickening the +guests with lively airs. All the men hunt or shoot. At dinner +there is a different display of plate every day, and in the +evening some play at whist or amuse themselves as they please, and +some walk about the staircases and corridors to hear the band, +which plays the whole evening in the hall. On the Duke's birthday +there was a great feast in the Castle; 200 people dined in the +servants' hall alone, without counting the other tables. We were +about forty at dinner. When the cloth was removed, Esterhazy +proposed His Grace's health, who has always a speech prepared in +which he returns thanks. This time it was more simple than usual, +and not at all bad. To-night there is a ball for the servants, +which could not take place on the real birthday, as it fell on a +Saturday. + +I have had snatches of talk with the Duke of Wellington, and +yesterday morning he retired with Matuscewitz, and had a long +conference with him. The absolute Courts have a great hankering +after the Duke, though their Ministers here can hardly look for +his return to office; nor do I believe that if he was to come +back he would be found indulgent to the projects of Russia, +though he might be disinclined to continue so very intimate as we +now are with France. He told me this morning he thought the +French King's speech to his Chambers exceedingly good. He of +course disapproves of all our foreign policy, particularly in the +Peninsula. He says he sees no daylight whatever through the +Portuguese affair. The Spanish may terminate in the success of +the Queen, but only by her opposing Liberalism. He is convinced +that if she introduces Liberal principles she will be lost. He +says that the Spanish Government will be too happy to interfere +in the Portuguese contest (as in fact I know that they have +offered to do), but that we never can allow this, which besides +the consequences of interference (as a principle) would +necessarily make Portugal dependent on Spain. Arbuthnot, who is +here, told me (and he hears these things from the Duke) that +Matuscewitz had expressed the greatest contempt for Palmerston, +and not the less for Lord Grey; and that, with regard to the +latter, he had been much struck with his ignorance. I do not know +on what points he meant, but it must be in history or diplomacy, +which I am surprised at, because I thought he was a man of a +cultivated mind and general information, who would be found, as +far as knowledge goes, competent to any discussion. He likewise +said that he found him slow of comprehension. + + +Belvoir, January 8th, 1834 {p.048} + +There was a ball for all the servants and tenants on Monday, +which the Duke of Rutland opened with Lady Georgina Fane, and the +Duke of Wellington followed with Lady Brownlow. Yesterday half +the people went to Belton; it was nearly impossible to get any +talk with the Duke. He told me that the Russians were in no hurry +to do any overt act in Turkey, and that their policy was as it +had always been--to work very gradually. I asked him if he +thought they really intended a permanent occupation of Turkey. He +said certainly not; that they could not bear the expense of a +war, which in that case would ensue; that the difference of the +expense between their own and a foreign country was as between +10d. and 4s. a man. + +To-day I have been all over this Castle; the arrangements are +admirable, and the order and cleanliness of every part of the +offices and the magnitude of the establishment are very +remarkable, and such as I have never seen elsewhere. This +afternoon Gosh [Mr. Arbuthnot] came and sat with me, and talked +over all matters, which I have heard from him before, though he +has forgotten it, which he well may, for his intellect, never +very bright, seems to be almost entirely obscured. I daresay I +have put down these things before, but as they are curious scraps +of history they may as well go down again. It all relates to the +break-up of Lord Grey's Government in '32, and the abortive +attempts of the Duke to form an administration. + +The King had given his word that he had never promised to make a +single peer. Doubts arose whether he had not told a lie; they +pressed him on this point (Wellington and Lyndhurst); he +persisted in his denial, upon which they requested Taylor might +be sent for, and all the correspondence produced, when they found +he was pledged up to the throat, and without reserve. The King +then attempted to get out of it by saying he had consented to +call up the sons of Scotch peers and give to Irish peers English +peerages, which he did not consider a creation of peers! + +[Page Head: DUKE OF WELLINGTON AND MR. PEEL.] + +When the Duke accepted the commission to form a Government, it +was resolved to prorogue Parliament, and Lyndhurst was desired by +the King to go to Lord Grey and tell him such was his pleasure. +Lyndhurst forgot it! In after times, those who write the history +of these days will probably discuss the conduct of the great +actors, and it will not fail to be matter of surprise that such +an obvious expedient was not resorted to, in order to suspend +violent discussions. Among the various reasons that will be +imagined and suggested, I doubt if it will occur to anybody that +the real reason was that it was _forgotten_. + +Arbuthnot says they know that Lyndhurst was intriguing with the +Whigs when the Duke was turned out in '30, and that it had been +settled that he was to remain their Chancellor; and so he would +have been if Brougham would have consented to be Attorney-General, +and had not run restive, and given clear indications of his +resolution to destroy the Government if he was left out of it. He +says that notwithstanding the duplicity of Peel's conduct in 1832, +he and the Duke are always on good terms, and no great question is +ever agitated without Peel's coming to the Duke and talking it +over with him; that Peel is determined to have nothing to do with +the Whigs, and told him (Arbuthnot) so very lately, but the High +Tories are just as unmanageable as ever. Chandos came to the Duke +the other day, and told him he thought they ought to get up +petitions against the malt tax. The Duke said he would countenance +no such thing; that he thought the revenue of the country should +be supported; for if it failed, recourse must be had to a property +tax, which would fall on the aristocracy; and so he persuaded him +to let the malt tax alone. + + +January 26th, 1834 {p.049} + +I left Belvoir on Friday, the 10th, and went to Mrs. Arkwright's,[6] +at Stoke, where I found nobody but her own family. I was well +enough amused for two days with her original conversation and her +singing, and her cousin, Miss Twiss, who, with a face of uncommon +plainness and the voice of a man, is sensible and well informed. +Then they both liked to have me, and that is a great charm; a +little agreeableness goes a great way in the Peak, and it is not +difficult to procure a triumph to one's vanity from people who, +with a good deal of power of appreciation, have very little +opportunity for comparison, and are therefore easily satisfied. +Arkwright told me that it was reported by those who were better +informed than himself of his father's circumstances, that he is +worth from seven to eight millions. His grandfather began life as +a barber, invented some machinery, got a patent, and made a +fortune. His son gave him offence by a marriage which he +disapproved of, and he quarrelled with him, but gave him a mill. +Arkwright, the son, saw nothing of his father for many years, but +by industry and ability accumulated great wealth. When Sir Richard +served as Sheriff, his son thought it right to go out with the +other gentlemen of the county to meet him, and the old gentleman +was struck with his handsome equipage, and asked to whom it +belonged. Upon being informed, he sought a reconciliation with +him, and was astonished to find that his son was as rich as +himself. From that time they continued on good terms, and at his +death he bequeathed him the bulk of his property. + + [6] [Mrs. Arkwright was a Kemble by birth, and had much of + the musical and dramatic genius of that gifted family. + Her singing was most touching, and some of her musical + compositions were full of originality and expression.] + +Mrs. Arkwright told me the curious story of Sir Thomas Lawrence's +engagements with her two cousins, the daughters of Mrs. Siddons. +They were two sisters, one tall and very handsome, the other +little, without remarkable beauty, but very clever and agreeable. +He fell in love with the first, and they were engaged to be +married. Of course under such circumstances he lived constantly +and freely in the house, and after some time the superior +intelligence of the clever sister changed the current of his +passion, and she supplanted the handsome one in the affection of +the artist. They concealed the double treachery, but one day a +note which was intended for his new love fell into the hands of +the old love, who, never doubting it was for herself, opened it, +and discovered the fatal truth. From that time she drooped, +sickened, and shortly after died. On her deathbed she exacted a +promise from her sister that she would never marry Lawrence, who +firmly adhered to it. He continued his relations with her with +more or less intimacy up to the period of her death, the date of +which I do not recollect. + +[Page Head: A MURDER NEAR RUNTON.] + +From Stoke I went on Monday, 13th, to Drakelow, which Sir Roger +Gresley has lent to Craufurd, and stayed there two nights. It is +a miserable place, with the Trent running under the windows, and +Lord Anglesey's land close to the door. Thence on Wednesday to +Runton Abbey--Lord Lichfield's--who has added to it a farm-house, +and made a residence in the midst of his property, where he has +the best shooting in England. He and I went out the day after I +got there, and killed 41 pheasants, 74 hares, 24 rabbits, 8 +woodcocks, and 8 partridges. He is a fine fellow, with an +excellent disposition, liberal, hospitable, frank and gay, quick +and intelligent, without cultivation, extravagant and imprudent, +with considerable aptitude for business; between spending and +speculating, buying property in one place, selling in another, +and declining to sell in a third, he has half ruined a noble +estate. + +Just before I got there a murder had been committed close to his +house under very curious circumstances, of which some notice +appeared in the newspapers. A soldier in the Artillery got a +legacy of L500, with which he bought his discharge, went down to +the village near Runton, and took a very pretty girl of +indifferent character to live with him. He gave her shawls and +trinkets, and spent a good deal of money on her. Having addicted +himself immoderately to drink, he soon spent all his money, and, +to supply himself with the means of getting drunk, he began +robbing his mistress of the articles he had given her. It +happened that about this time somebody in the village who had +been robbed consulted a cunning man of great repute in the +neighbourhood, and so alarmed was the thief at the bare idea of +what this oracle might utter, that the stolen property was +secretly restored. The girl upon hearing of this restitution +resolved to have recourse to the cunning man, and invited her +lover to escort her to his abode. After endeavouring in vain to +dissuade her they set out together, but he was so overcome with +terror as he went along that he stopped short in the road and +refused to proceed. On this the girl said that it was easy to see +who was the thief, and that the reason he would not face the +conjuror was that he was conscious of his own guilt. Upon this +they fell to high words, then to blows, and he finished by +murdering her. He did not attempt to escape, but repaired to a +public-house, where he was soon after taken into custody. He +acknowledged the crime, and said he was weary of life, and +deserved to be hanged. Here is an example of the miserable +effects of good fortune upon a man who was unfit to use it, and +of the strange superstition of the common people. The murderer +will be tried at the next assizes. + +[Page Head: CHARACTER OF LORD HARROWBY.] + +I stayed at Runton till Sunday, 19th, when I came here,[7] where +there was nobody but the family and Ralph Sneyd. The place is +exceedingly beautiful, and arranged with excellent taste. It has +been very agreeable. Lady Harrowby is superior to all the women I +have ever known; 'her talk is so crisp,' as Luttrell once said of +her. She has no imagination, no invention, no eloquence, no deep +reading or retentive memory, but a noble, straightforward, +independent character, a sound and vigorous understanding, +penetration, judgment, taste. She is perfectly natural, open and +sincere, loves conversation and social enjoyment; with her +intimate friends there is an _abandon_ and unreserved communion +of thoughts, feelings, and opinions which renders her society +delightful. Of all the women I ever saw she unites the most +masculine mind with the most feminine heart. Lord Harrowby[8] has +all the requisites of disagreeableness, a tart, short, provoking +manner, with manners at once pert and rigid; but he is full of +information, and if made the best of may yield a good deal of +desirable knowledge. Though not illiberal in politics, he has +fallen into the high Tory despondency about the prospects of the +country, and anticipates every evil that the most timid alarmist +can suggest. Still, justice should be rendered to Lord Harrowby; +a purer and more disinterested statesman never existed. He was +always devoid of selfishness and ambition, honourable and +conscientious to a degree which rendered him incapable of a +sordid or oblique action. Always acute, but sometimes crotchety, +he had the same fault in politics which was the reproach of Lord +Eldon in law--indecision; and this in no small degree impaired +both his efficacy and his authority. His great idol was Pitt, +and, after him, he was the friend and admirer of Perceval. Bred +in their school, and a Tory by taste, by habit, and in opinion, +it is not a little to his honour that he was able to comprehend +the mighty changes which time and circumstances had effected, and +to perceive that an inflexible adherence to high Tory maxims was +dangerous, because their practical operation was no longer +possible; but justice must be rendered to him hereafter, for he +will never obtain it in his own time. By endeavouring to steer +between two great and exasperated factions he became thoroughly +obnoxious to both. After having refused the post of Prime +Minister, no one can doubt the sincerity of his desire to retire +from public life, and in the consciousness of rectitude, the +disgust of parties, and a calm and dignified philosophy, he finds +ample consolation for all the obloquy with which he has been +assailed. + + [7] [This must have been written at Sandon, Lord Harrowby's + seat in Staffordshire, but the entry is not dated.] + + [8] [Dudley Ryder, second Baron and first Earl of Harrowby, + born in 1762; married in 1795 Susan, a daughter of the + Marquis of Stafford.] + + +Burghley, January 28th, 1834 {p.053} + +Came here yesterday, and found Lady Clinton, Lady Frederic +Bentinck, Lyne Stephens and Irby, not amusing. Captain Spencer +came to-day. I had almost forgotten the house, which is +surprisingly grand in all respects, though the living rooms are +not numerous or handsome enough. I just missed Peel, who went to +Belvoir yesterday. I heard wonderful things of railroads and +steam when I was in Staffordshire, yet by the time anybody reads +what I now write (if anybody ever does), how they will smile +perhaps at what I gape and stare at, and call wonderful, with +such accelerated velocity do we move on. Stephenson, the great +engineer, told Lichfield that he had travelled on the Manchester +and Liverpool railroad for many miles at the rate of a mile a +minute, that his doubt was not how fast his engines could be made +to go, but at what pace it would be proper to stop, that he could +make them travel with greater speed than any bird can cleave the +air, and that he had ascertained that 400 miles an hour was the +extreme velocity which the human frame could endure, at which it +could move and exist. + + +February 1st, 1834 {p.054} + +Lord Wharncliffe has been here and is gone. He, like Harrowby, is +very dismal about the prospects of the country, and thinks we are +gravitating towards a revolution. He says that the constituency +of the great towns is composed of ultra-Radicals, and that no +gentleman with really independent and conservative principles can +sit for them, that the great majority of the manufacturers and of +the respectable persons of the middle class are moderate, and +hostile to subversion and violent measures, but that their +influence is overwhelmed by the numerical strength of the low +voters, who want to go all lengths. He says that he has received +greater marks of deference and respect in his own county, and +especially at Sheffield, where a short time ago he would have +been in danger of being torn in pieces, than he ever experienced, +but that he could no more bring a son in for Sheffield than he +could fly in the air. Sir John Beckett is just gone to stand for +Leeds, and certainly the catechism to which he was there forced +to submit is very ominous. A seat in the House of Commons will +cease to be an object of ambition to honourable and independent +men, if it can only be obtained by cringing and servility to the +rabble of great towns, and when it shall be established that the +member is to be a slave, bound hand and foot by pledges, and +responsible for every vote he gives to masters who are equally +tyrannical and unreasonable. I know nothing more difficult than +to form a satisfactory opinion upon the real state and prospects +of the country amidst the conflicting prejudices and impressions +of individuals of different parties and persuasions, and there +are so many circumstances that tell different ways, that at this +moment my judgment is entirely suspended on the subject. + +[Page Head: STATE OF SPAIN.] + +George Villiers gave a deplorable account of the state of Spain, +but he (unlike the Duke of Wellington) thinks that the only +chance of safety for the Queen is to make common cause with the +Liberals. He has been greatly instrumental to Zea's removal, +having conveyed to the Queen Regent that England by no means +considered his continuance in the Ministry indispensable, and +this intimation, together with the storm which assailed him from +all parts, determined her to dismiss him. Palmerston has never +written to George Villiers once since _October_. I heard the same +thing of him in some other case, I forget which. + + +February 6th, 1834 {p.055} + +Returned to town yesterday from Newmarket, which I took in my way +from Burghley. Parliament had opened the day before, with a long +_nothingy_ (a word I have coined) speech from the throne, in +which the most remarkable points were a violent declaration +against O'Connell, that is, against Irish agitation, and strong +expressions of amity with France. It is comical to compare the +language of the very silly old gentleman who wears the crown, in +his convivial moments, and in the openness of his heart, with +that which his Ministers cram into his mouth, each sentiment +being uttered with equal energy and apparent sincerity. Lord Grey +is said to have made a very good speech on the Address. The House +of Commons has commenced with all the dulness imaginable, but it +was enlivened last night by a squabble on the Hill and Sheil +business[9] (dragged on by O'Connell), and the ultimate arrest of +Althorp and Sheil by the Serjeant-at-arms, a very foolish affair, +which must end as it began, in much declaiming and swearing, and +no positive conviction, though complete moral certitude. It +afforded much amusement, as everything personal does. The present +expectation is that the session will go off rather quietly. + + [9] [Mr. Hill, a member of Parliament, had stated in a + speech that some of the Irish members most vehemently + opposed to the Coercion Bill in the House of Commons + had nevertheless privately stated to members of the + Government that they were glad the Act should be + renewed. This charge was denied with great heat by the + Irish members in the House when Parliament met. But + upon Mr. Sheil's calling upon Lord Althorp to state + whether he was one of the members alluded to, Lord + Althorp replied that the honourable gentleman was one + of them. Sheil immediately denied it in the most solemn + and emphatic terms; and as it was feared that a hostile + meeting might ensue between him and Lord Althorp, they + were both taken into custody by the Serjeant-at-arms. + Further explanations ensued, and Lord Althorp + subsequently withdrew the charge, stating that he + believed Mr. Sheil's asseveration, and that he must + himself have been misinformed.] + + +February 13th, 1834 {p.056} + +[Page Head: UNPOPULARITY OF LORD PALMERSTON.] + +It is observed by everybody that there never was a session of +Parliament which opened with such an appearance of apathy as +this. After the violent excitement which has almost incessantly +prevailed for the last two years or more, men's minds seem +exhausted, and though the undergrowl of political rancour is +still heard, and a feeble cry of the Church is in danger, on the +whole there is less bitterness and animosity, and a tolerably +fair promise that things will go on in a smooth and even course. +The storm that impended over Europe has blown off, and there +seems to be no danger of any interruption of the peace. Esterhazy +and Madame de Lieven both told me last night that they thought so +now, and the former that he had told Palmerston that we might +rely upon Austria's not being an indifferent spectator of the +political conduct of Russia, and if we would place confidence in +them, they would not only prevent any dangerous aggression on the +part of Russia in Europe, but would take such measures as should +contribute largely to the security of our Eastern dominions, +though that was no object of immediate interest to them. Madame +de Lieven told me that it was impossible to describe the contempt +as well as dislike which the whole corps diplomatique had for +Palmerston, and pointing to Talleyrand, who was sitting close by, +'surtout lui.' They have the meanest opinion of his capacity, and +his manners are the reverse of conciliatory. She cannot imagine +how his colleagues bear with him, and Lord Grey supports him +vehemently. The only _friend_ he has in the cabinet is Graham, +who has no weight. His unpopularity in his own office is quite as +great as it is among the foreign ministers, and he does nothing, +so that they do not make up in respect for what they want in +inclination. George Villiers complains that for above three +months he has not received a single line from him, and he is a +young minister, unpractised in the profession, to whom is +committed the most delicate and difficult mission in Europe. He +spends his time in making love to Mrs. P---- whom he takes to the +House of Commons to hear speeches which he does not make, and +where he exhibits his conquest, and certainly it is the best of +his exploits, but what a successor of Canning, whom by the way he +affects to imitate. What would be Canning's indignation if he +could look from his grave and see these new Reformers, who ape +him in his worst qualities, and who blunder and bluster in the +seat which he once filled with such glory and success. It must be +owned that we are in a curious condition, and if the character of +the Government, moral and intellectual, be analysed, it will +exhibit a very astonishing result: with a great deal of loose +talent of one sort or another scattered about it, but mixed with +so much alloy, that, compounded as it is, the metal seems very +base. However, we are not likely to get anything better, and +these people will very likely hammer on tolerably well. + +Since Parliament met, the foolish business of Sheil and Hill has +been the sole topic of discussion, to the unspeakable disgust of +every sensible person in and out of the House. All feel the +embarrassment, the ridicule, the disgrace of such an occupation, +and the members of Parliament are provoked that the affair was +not strangled at the outset. The Speaker is now generally blamed +for not having prevented Althorp from answering O'Connell's +question, which he ought to have done, at least ought to have +warned the House of the consequences, when undoubtedly the matter +would have been stifled. They say Althorp did what he had to do +very well, like a gentleman and man of honour, and in excellent +style and taste, though many think he need not have said so much. +The committee began to sit yesterday; it was not a secret +committee, but they agreed to request members not to come in; +however, the tail would go in, and they found it would be a +difficult matter to exclude them, for which reason, and because +Sheil had no friend on the committee, they unanimously agreed +that the House should be invited to add O'Connell to it, and +after some difficulty raised by John Russell, this was consented +to. + + +February 14th, 1834 {p.058} + +Last night at Miss Berry's met Mrs. Somerville, the great +mathematician. I had been reading in the morning Sedgwick's +sermon on education, in which he talks of Whewell, Airy, and Mrs. +Somerville, mentioning her as one of the great luminaries of the +present day. The subject of astronomy is so sublime that one +shrinks into a sense of nothingness in contemplating it, and +can't help regarding those who have mastered the mighty process +and advanced the limits of the science as beings of another +order. I could not then take my eyes off this woman, with a +feeling of surprise and something like incredulity, all +involuntary and very foolish; but to see a mincing, smirking +person, fan in hand, gliding about the room, talking nothings and +nonsense, and to know that La Place was her plaything and Newton +her acquaintance, was too striking a contrast not to torment the +brain. It was Newton's mantle trimmed and flounced by Maradan. + + +February 17th, 1834 {p.058} + +In the House of Commons the Sheil committee came to a sudden +termination. It was a silly and discreditable business, and +people were glad it ended. The course adopted was this: they took +the 'Examiner' newspaper, containing the paragraph inculpatory of +Sheil, and they called on Hill to prove his case. Hill called +witnesses, one of whom, Macaulay, refused to speak. He said he +would not repeat what had passed in private conversation. The +committee approved, and Hill threw up his case, held out his hand +'with strong emotion' to Sheil, made ample apologies, and Sheil +was acquitted. Then came the apologies in the House of Commons. +Peel told me that he was convinced Sheil really had never said +what was imputed to him; but that he said something tantamount, +though very loosely, is probable, and the people who had told +Althorp would not come forward to bear him out, so that he was +forced to apologise too, but he did it very reluctantly. The +Irishmen, however, had not done, and O'Dwyer (formerly a +reporter) attacked Pease, asked for explanations, his card and +address. Pease, who is a Quaker, said 'he gave no explanations +but on his legs in the House of Commons, had no card and no +address.' + +[Page Head: O'CONNELL'S ATTACK ON BARON SMITH.] + +But there was a more serious matter than Sheil and Hill's +trash--O'Connell's attack upon Baron Smith, the circumstances of +which exemplify the way the House of Commons is managed under +Althorp's auspices, and the general mode of proceeding of the +Government there. O'Connell gave notice of a motion for an address +to the Crown to remove the Baron. Government resolved to oppose it. +Littleton authorised Shaw to write to him and say so, and that he +would say nothing in the debate offensive to him, though he could +not but disapprove of his charge. Nobody thought of any support the +motion would receive beyond that of the tail. The Ministers came +down to the House in this mind. Stanley and Graham went away for +some purpose or other, and when they came back they found that +O'Connell had altered the terms of his motion, and that Althorp, +Littleton, and the Solicitor-General had agreed to support it; in +short, that O'Connell had laid a trap for them, and they had gone +ding-dong into it. Stanley was very angry and much annoyed, but the +thing being done he knocked under, and tried to bolster up the +business. Graham would not, and in a maudlin, stupid sort of speech +declared his opposition, which was honest enough. All this annoyed +the Government very much, and now O'Connell is said to be quite +satisfied with what he has done, and does not want to have a +committee, but (having thrown a slur on the Judge by the vote of +Parliament) to let the matter drop. Spring Rice also voted against +the Government, and said that he had never known a worse case since +he sat in Parliament, and that nothing could be more mischievous +than the effect such a vote would produce in Ireland. Scarlett, +Peel, and Spankie made very good speeches; Stanley, John Russell, +and Campbell as bad. + +[Page Head: STATE OF THE TORY PARTY.] + +The same night Althorp made his financial statement, exhibiting a +surplus revenue and reduction of taxation, all very flourishing +and promising; but in announcing his intended reduction of the +House Tax, he said without any disguise that he did not think it +an objectionable tax, but that he took it off on account of the +clamour against it. Here are three exhibitions in one week, and +this is the Minister of our finances and organ of Government in +the House of Commons. No matter how he blunders in word or deed, +he smiles in dogged good-humour at ridicule or abuse; his +intentions are good, his mind is straightforward, and his +conscious rectitude, his personal popularity, enable him to +commit his blunders with impunity; but the authority of +Government suffers in his hands; maxims get into vogue which are +incompatible with good and strong government, and the effects of +his weakness and facility may be felt long after the cessation of +their immediate operation. + + +February 19th, 1834 {p.060} + +Last night Whittle Harvey's motion on the Pension List. He made +admirable speeches; but had a majority of nine against him. This +division is not a bad exemplification of the state of parties and +of the House of Commons. Some of the Tories voted (in the +majority of course), many others would not. I asked one of them +(Henry Hope, a man of no consequence, certainly) if he was not +going to vote. 'No,' he said, 'I shall not vote, the Government +must manage their own business as they can.' He would not vote +against a proposition he must regard with the greatest aversion, +because he would thereby be supporting the Government and prefers +the chance of giving a victory to the Radicals, establishing a +dangerous principle, and doing a great injury to a host of +individuals, the greater part of whom are of his own party or +among his own friends, because he thinks that the result may be +productive of some embarrassment to Ministers. This is one of the +cases in which the conduct of Government has been such as their +bitterest enemies must applaud, when they risk their popularity +to support a very unsightly list of pensions, not granted by +themselves, or to their friends, from a sense of justice; and yet +these high Tories will not support them even in fighting such a +battle as this. On the other hand, the Government reject their +support when they might avail themselves of it against the +Radicals and ultra-Whigs, in such a case as that of Baron Smith +the other night; and so ill blood is constantly increasing +between them, while O'Connell and his tail and the Radical +blackguards sit by and chuckle at the evils these mutual +jealousies and antipathies produce. Richmond told me yesterday +that Stanley was greatly annoyed at Baron Smith's affair; but +finding the mischief done, and feeling the embarrassment that +would arise from his opposing Althorp, he threw himself into the +breach; said he had advised him never to do so again. The conduct +of Althorp, Littleton, and Campbell is inconceivable, unless it +were to give a fresh triumph to O'Connell (he has just carried +Dungarvan, Jacob _v._ Barron; 'it is the voice of _Jacob_ but the +hand of _Esau_'), who has had his own way hitherto in this +Parliament. In this business and in Sheil's he has done just what +he pleased, and made the Government appear in as pitiful a light +as he could possibly desire. O'Dwyer told the Speaker that +O'Connell had never expected _or even wished_ that Ministers +should give way to him to the extent they did. + +[Page Head: LORD ALTHORP'S DEFECTS AS LEADER.] + +Knatchbull has given notice of a motion to reverse the decision +for a committee on the case of Baron Smith, and in conjunction +with Peel. It must embarrass the Government, but it is not, I +think, judicious, because it is not the same question, and affords +them the opportunity of treating it on different grounds. In the +division last night the three Lennox's all voted with the +minority, brothers of a Cabinet Minister, and all their sisters +being on the Pension List. Molyneux was going out, and was +forcibly retained by Stanley. It looks as if the whipping in was +very unskilfully managed. Notwithstanding the present prosperity +and tranquillity, it is impossible not to be disturbed at the mode +in which business is conducted in the House of Commons, and at the +state and animus of parties, and above all at Althorp being the +leader there. His character is peculiarly fitted to do mischief in +these times, and his virtues are unfortunate, for they serve to +bolster him up, and to keep him where he is in spite of his +blunders. His temper is so admirable, his personal popularity so +great, that there is an impression that the House will be led by +him more easily than by Stanley, who alone, of the present +Government, could aspire to that post. Nobody imputes to Althorp a +spark of ambition, and ample credit is given him for the most +disinterested motives, and for making a great personal sacrifice +in retaining his present situation. The consciousness of this +makes him comparatively indifferent to victory or defeat, and +careless of that nice management which formerly was indispensable +in a leader. He seems totally blind to the consequences of his +errors, and the advantage that is taken of them by those who not +only meditate mischief to the Administration, but to the great +interests they are bound to protect. Occurrences and circumstances +that would have filled former leaders with vexation, and their +followers with dismay, seem to pass over him without ruffling his +serenity or alarming his mind. He acts as if in utter unconsciousness +of a restless spirit of popular aggrandisement, as if the House of +Commons was an innoxious and manageable machine, as if it was +sufficient to mean well, and he lets matters take their chance, +without any of that vigilant and systematic direction which, if +guided by a nice discrimination, might regulate the movements and +check the eccentricities of this vast and unruly body. Since the +opening of this session, all that he has said and done has proved +his utter unfitness for the place he occupies. First, his +imprudent answers to O'Connell, and the turn he gave to that +affair. Then, in bringing forward his financial statement, the +naivete with which he admitted that he had submitted to the +clamour against the House Tax, and withdrawn it contrary to his +own judgment; then the facility with which he gave in to +O'Connell's motion about the Irish Judge, and threw over his +colleagues and his party without an apparent reason or motive. It +produces a feeling allied to despair, all security is at an end, +for that which would be produced by his good intentions is +destroyed by reflecting on his miserable judgment; half republican +in his principles, and incredulous of any danger to be apprehended +from the continual increase of popular influences in the House of +Commons, he does not perceive how much the authority of a leader +is diminished in his hands, and how difficult it will be for any +successor of his to gain that sort of ascendency which is +indispensable for the effective conduct of public business, and +the moral character of the Government. To effect this, besides +great talents, great tact, discretion, sagacity, and temper will +be required; more, I fear, than fall to the share of Stanley, who +is better qualified to be a debater than a leader. Moderate men, +who do not approve of this Government, but who do not desire to +turn them out, if they would only act upon tolerably conservative +principles, are thrown into despair by the behaviour of Althorp, +and regard with consternation the inevitable increase of anarchy +in the House of Commons, and consequent prevalence of Radical +principles, from the sluggish, inert, vacillating, unforeseeing +character he displays.[10] + + [10] [These remarks made at the time are not altogether just + to Lord Althorp, and it is now well known from other + sources, equally authentic, that he was more conscious + than anyone else was of his own shortcomings, and + passionately desirous to be released from office. But + it was notorious that the retirement of Lord Althorp + from the leadership of the House of Commons would be + the signal for the dissolution of Earl Grey's + Government, and so within a few months the result + proved.] + + +February 22nd, 1834 {p.063} + +[Page Head: SIR ROBERT PEEL'S FUTURE.] + +Went to the House of Commons last night, where I have not been +for many years. A great change, and hardly a human being whose +face I knew. I heard the end of the debate on Chandos' motion, +when Peel gave O'Connell a severe dressing, and I heard the +debate on rescinding the order for a committee on Baron Smith. +Shaw, who held the Baron's brief, made a very fine speech, but +afforded a memorable example of the danger of saying too much, +and of the importance of knowing when to stop. Not contented with +a very powerful and eloquent appeal, which he wound up with an +energetic peroration, he suffered himself to be led away into a +tirade about O'Connell's enmity to religion, and instead of +ending as he might have done with shouts of applause, was coughed +and 'questioned' to the close. Stanley made a wretched speech; +O'Connell very bad, affecting to be moderate, he was only dull. +Peel spoke very shortly, but very well indeed. Peel's is an +enviable position; in the prime of life, with an immense fortune, +_facile princeps_ in the House of Commons, unshackled by party +connections and prejudices, universally regarded as the ablest +man, and with (on the whole) a very high character, free from the +cares of office, able to devote himself to literature, to +politics, or idleness, as the fancy takes him. No matter how +unruly the House, how impatient or fatigued, the moment he rises +all is silence, and he is sure of being heard with profound +attention and respect. This is the enjoyable period of his life, +and he must make the most of it, for when time and the hour shall +bring about his return to power, his cares and anxieties will +begin, and with whatever success his ambition may hereafter be +crowned, he will hardly fail to look back with regret to this +holiday time of his political career. How free and light he must +feel at being liberated from the shackles of his old connections, +and at being able to take any part that his sense of his own +interests or of the public exigencies may point out! And then the +satisfactory consciousness of being by far the most eminent man +in the House of Commons, to see and feel the respect he inspires +and the consideration he enjoys. It is a melancholy proof of the +decadence of ability and eloquence in that House, when Peel is +the first, and, except Stanley, almost the only real orator in +it. He speaks with great energy, great dexterity--his language is +powerful and easy; he reasons well, hits hard, and replies with +remarkable promptitude and effect; but he is at an immense +distance below the great models of eloquence, Pitt, Fox, and +Canning; his voice is not melodious, and it is a little +monotonous; his action is very ungraceful, his person and manner +are vulgar, and he has certain tricks in his motions which +exhibit that vulgarity in a manner almost offensive, and which is +only redeemed by the real power of his speeches. His great merit +consists in his judgment, tact and discretion, his facility, +promptitude, thorough knowledge of the assembly he addresses, +familiarity with the details of every sort of Parliamentary +business, and the great command he has over himself. He never was +a great favourite of mine, but I am satisfied that he is the +fittest man to be Minister, and I therefore wish to see him +return to power. Stanley told me yesterday how very glad they +were at having been defeated on Baron Smith's case, and that they +were thereby relieved from a great embarrassment. Times are +mightily altered, when such defeats and such scrapes produce no +effect upon Government, and when they can go on upon two +majorities of 4 and 8 and one defeat. + + +February 25th, 1834 {p.065} + +There has been a meeting at Althorp's to-day, numerously +attended, in which he talked with some effect as it is said, the +audience having gone away in a humour to support Government. He +took occasion, on somebody hinting at the disunion among +themselves, to say that though there might exist differences of +opinion on some minor points, he believed there never had existed +a Cabinet of which the members were more firmly knit together by +private friendship and political concurrence. + +It was Methuen who harangued, and who said that the meeting was +very unsatisfactory. Althorp began by saying that unless +gentlemen would more regularly and consistently support the +Government it could not be carried on, when Paul[11] rejoined +that the Government did not support itself, and that they seemed +divided. Moreover, that when the Chancellor of the Exchequer +himself talked with so much doubt and uncertainty about reducing +particular taxes, he must not be surprised if everybody tried to +get what they could for themselves in the general scramble. + + [11] [Paul Methuen, Esq., M.P. for Wiltshire. It was to him + that O'Connell made the memorable but somewhat profane + retort, 'Paul, Paul, why persecutest thou me?'] + +There are letters from George Villiers to-day (not to me, but to +his mother), in which he gives a deplorable account of Spain, +that Carlos has a large party in the north, where the Queen's +person is odious, the monks have persuaded the people that she is +atheistical and republican, that she has not force enough to +crush the rebellion, and what she has is scattered on different +points, without being able to make any combined or vigorous +efforts, that she has no money. The Cortes is to be assembled, +but they (I suppose the Ministers) have rejected all good advice +on this subject, and nobody can anticipate the effect that will +be produced by 300 or 400 individuals meeting in a legislative +capacity. If Miguel had resolved to give effectual aid to Carlos, +and dashed into Spain, he might certainly have placed him on the +throne, and then secured him as a powerful ally to himself in his +own contest. Miguel's own case he (George Villiers) by no means +considers hopeless, thinks him much better off than Pedro was +when at Oporto. The stories of the Queen's[12] gallantries are +true. He does not say so _totidem verbis_, because he does not +dare, but he manages to convey as much in answer to a question +his mother asked him. He thinks that the great probability is +that universal anarchy will convulse that country with civil war +of the most destructive character, and that the provinces, +kingdoms, and districts will be arrayed against each other. The +Carlists of Spain being in the north, and those of France in the +south, it is very likely they will endeavour to make common +cause, in which case it will be difficult for France not to +interfere, so he thinks; so do not I, and am more disposed to +believe that Louis Philippe is too prudent to run his head into +such a hornet's nest, and that he will content himself with +keeping matters quiet in France, without meddling with the +Spanish disputes. He had not yet received any letters from +Palmerston.[13] + + [12] [Queen Christina the Regent is here meant. Queen + Isabella II. was a young child.] + + [13] [Within a few days of the date of this note the + Ministry of March 1st was formed in France, with M. + Thiers (for the first time) at the head of it. The + avowed object of that Minister was to induce the King + to interfere more actively in Spain in conjunction with + England, 'Nous entrainerons le Roi' was a boast he was + heard to utter. But he utterly failed. Mr. Greville's + prediction turned out to be correct, and in a few + months Thiers was again out of office.] + + +February 26th, 1834 {p.067} + +[Page Head: HORNE AND BROUGHAM.] + +Horne, the late Attorney-General, seems likely to fall between +the stools. When Brougham proposed to him to take a puisne +judgeship, he said he had been an equity lawyer all his life, and +had no mind to enter on a course of common law, for which he was +not qualified, and proposed that he should not go the circuits, +and be Deputy-Speaker of the House of Lords. Brougham told him +there would be no difficulty, and then told Lord Grey he had +settled it with Horne, but did not tell him what Horne required. +The general movement was made, and when Horne desired to see Lord +Grey he told him that his terms could not be complied with, so he +became a victim to the trickery and shuffling of the Chancellor, +who wanted to get him out, and did not care how. I hear that his +colleagues are quite aware of all his tricks and his intrigues, +and have not the slightest confidence in him. He thinks of +nothing but the establishment of political power on the basis of +patronage, and accordingly he grasps at all he can. All the +commissions of enquiry which are set on foot afford him the means +of patronage, but I doubt all will not do. He is emasculated by +being in the House of Lords, and he will hardly get anybody to do +his business for him in the House of Commons. + + + + + CHAPTER XXIII. + +Spain--Russia and Turkey--Sir R. Peel's Pictures--Peel and + Stanley--Lord Brougham's Judicial Changes--Lord Brougham's + Defence--Admission of Dissenters to the Universities--Lord + Denman's Peerage--Growing Ascendency of Peel--An Apology for + Lord Brougham--Personal Reflections--Crime in Dorsetshire-- + Spain and Portugal--Procession of the Trades' Unions--Lady + Hertford's Funeral--Petition of the London University for a + Charter--Repeal of the Union--Excitement of the King--Brougham + and Eldon at the Privy Council--Duke of Wellington's Aversion + to the Whigs--Lord Brougham and Lord Wynford--Fete at + Petworth--Lord Brougham's Conduct on the Pluralities Bill-- + Crisis in the Cabinet--Prince Lieven recalled--Stanley, Graham, + and the Duke of Richmond resign on the Irish Church Bill-- + History of the Crisis--Ward's Motion defeated by moving the + previous question--Affairs of Portugal--Effects of the late + Change--Oxford Commemoration--Peel's Declaration--Festival in + Westminster Abbey--Don Carlos on his way to Spain--Stanley's + 'Thimble-rig' Speech--Resignation of Lord Grey--Mr. Greville's + account of the Causes of his Retirement--The Government + reconstituted by Lord Melbourne--Lord Duncannon Secretary of + State. + + +March 12th, 1834 {p.068} + +I have been laid up with the gout for the greater part of a +fortnight, but went to Newmarket for two days to get well, and +succeeded. Weather like summer, nothing particularly new, a long +debate on the Corn Laws, which being called an open question, the +Ministers voted different ways--that is, all the Cabinet voted +one way, but the underlings took their own course. Half the +Ruralists are furious with Government for their indecision and +way of acting on this question, but I am so totally ignorant upon +it that I cannot enter into their indignation, or exactly +understand from what it proceeds. It was pretty to see Graham and +Poulett Thomson, like two game-cocks got loose from one pen, +pecking at and spurring one another. Everybody agrees that the +debate was very dull, and that is all they do agree upon. + +George Villiers writes to his family from Spain, that nothing can +be worse and more unpromising than the state of that country. +Notwithstanding his Liberal opinions and desire to see a system of +constitutional freedom established in the Peninsula, he is obliged +to confess that Spain is not fit for such a boon, and that the +materials do not exist out of which such a social edifice can be +constructed. He regards with dismay and sorrow the tendency +towards irremediable confusion and political convulsions, and sees +no daylight through the dark prospect. He appears to regret Zea, +to whose removal he contributed, and finds more difficulties in +dealing with the present Ministers than he had with him. + + +March 14th, 1834 + +[Page Head: RUSSIA AND TURKEY.] + +There is a fresh _demele_ with Russia on account of a new treaty +concluded by Achmet Pacha at St. Petersburg. By this Russia +agrees to remit six millions of the ten which Turkey owes her, +and to give up the Principalities, but she keeps the fortress of +Silistria and the military road, which gives her complete command +over them. The Sultan, 'not to be outdone in generosity,' in +return for so much, kindly cedes to Russia a slip of sea-coast on +the Black Sea, adjoining another portion already ceded by the +Treaty of Adrianople as far south as Poti. This territorial +acquisition is not considerable in itself, but it embraces the +line of communication with Persia, by which we have a vast +traffic, and which Russia will be able at any time to interrupt. +This new transaction, so quietly and plausibly effected, has +thrown our Government into a great rage, and especially his +Majesty King William, who insisted upon a dozen ships being sent +off forthwith to the Mediterranean. Nothing vigorous, however, +has been done, and Palmerston has contented himself with writing +to Lord Ponsonby, desiring him to exhort the Sultan not to ratify +this treaty, and rather to pay (or more properly, continue to +owe) the whole ten millions than accede to the wily proposal. +This advice will probably seem more friendly than disinterested, +and I have not the slightest idea of the Sultan's listening to +it. He has, in fact, become the vassal of Russia, and his lot is +settled in this respect, for from Russia he has most to fear and +most to hope. The conduct of our Government in this question, has +been marked by nothing but negligence and indecision, vainly +blustering and threatening at one moment and tamely submitting +and acquiescing at another, 'willing to wound and yet afraid to +strike,' treating Russia as if she was the formidable foe of +Turkey, and allowing her so to act as to make Turkey think her an +ally and protectress, and finally to throw herself into Russia's +arms. + +I went yesterday morning to Peel's house, to see his pictures; +since we met at Buckenham we have got rather intimate. The fact +is that, though I have never been a great admirer of his +character, and probably he is not improved in high-mindedness, I +am so sensible of his capacity, and of the need in which we stand +of him, that I wish to see him again in power, and he is a very +agreeable man into the bargain. His collection is excellent, and +does honour to his taste. We talked of various matters, but the +thing that struck me most was what he said had passed between him +and Stanley the night before indicative of such good feeling +between them. It was about the job of Lord Plunket's with regard +to the Deanery of Down (concerning which they say there is a very +good case; not that it will do, be it ever so good, for Plunket +has a bad name, and public opinion will not pause or retract in +any concern of his). He and Stanley met at Madame de Lieven's +ball, and Peel said to him, 'Why did you let that appointment +take place?' Stanley replied, 'The fact is, I could not give the +true and only excuse for Plunket, viz., that he had signed the +report, but had never read it.' Peel said, 'You had better give +him some other deanery and cancel this appointment.' They talked +for a long time, but this tone and this advice exhibit a state of +sentiment by no means incompatible with a future union, when +matters are ripe for it. I found Peel full of curiosity to know +for what purpose Brougham and Denman had been hunting each other +about the County of Beds. The Chief Justice was on the circuit at +Bedford, and the Chancellor sent to him by special messenger to +appoint a meeting. The Chancellor went to Ampthill, and then to +Bedford. The Chief Justice had left Bedford in the morning, and +went towards London. Brougham had left his carriage at Ampthill +and hired a job one, that he might enter Bedford incognito. +Somewhere between Barnet and St. Albans they met, and returned to +town together in the Chancellor's job coach. They went to Lord +Grey's, and the next day Denman returned to the circuit, which he +had left without notice to his brother judge or to anybody--a +mystery. + + +March 16th, 1834 {p.071} + +[Page Head: LORD BROUGHAM'S JUDICIAL CHANGES.] + +Heard last night the explanation of the above. Brougham found +that Williams would not do in the Exchequer, so he shuffled up +the judges and redealt them. Williams was shoved up to the Common +Pleas, Bosanquet sent to the King's Bench, and James Parke put +into the Exchequer. I thought this was odd, because the Exchequer +is an inferior court; but I was told that Parke likes to be with +Lord Lyndhurst, who has now made the Court of Exchequer of +primary importance. 48,000 writs were issued from the Exchequer +last year, and only 39,000 from the King's Bench. I forget what +the proportions used to be, but enormously the other way. It is +quite ludicrous to talk to any lawyer about the Chancellor; the +ridicule and aversion he has excited are universal. They think he +has degraded the profession, and his tricks are so palpable, +numerous, and mean, that political partiality can neither screen +nor defend them. As to the separation of the judicial from the +ministerial duties of his office, it is in great measure +accomplished without any legislative act, for nobody ever thinks +of bringing an original cause into his Court. He has nothing to +hear but appeals, which _must_ come before him, and lunacy and +other matters, over which he has sole jurisdiction. + + +March 19th, 1834 {p.071} + +The night before last Sheil brought on a debate on the Turkish +question, when Palmerston made a wretched speech, and Peel +attacked him very smartly, as it is his delight to do, for he +dislikes Palmerston. Talleyrand said to me last night, 'Palmerston +a tres-bien parle.' I told him everybody thought it pitiable. He +certainly took care to flatter France and not to offend Russia. In +the Lords Brougham took occasion, in replying to some question of +Ellenborough's, to defend himself from the charges which have been +brought against him of negligence and incapacity in his judicial +office, and he made out a good case for himself as far as industry +and despatch are concerned. Nobody ever denied him the merit of +the former quality. The virulent attacks of the Tory press (that +is, of the 'Morning Post,' by Praed, for the 'Standard' rather +defends him) have overshot their mark, and, though the general +opinion of the Bar seems to condemn him as a bad Chancellor, he is +probably not near so bad as they endeavour to make him out. A mind +so vigorous as his will master difficulties in a short time at +which an inferior capacity would in vain hammer away for years; +but his life, habits, and turn of mind seem all incompatible with +profound law-learning. He said to Sefton, after he had spoken, +'They had better leave me alone. I was afraid that when +Londonderry was gone nobody would attack me, and I did not think +Ellenborough would have been damned fool enough.' They certainly +can't get the best of him at the _gab_. + +George Villiers continues to give a deplorable account of Spanish +affairs--of the imbecility of the Government, and of the conduct +of the Queen, about whom the stories of gallantry are quite true, +and he says it has done irreparable injury to her cause. An +embassy had arrived from Pedro, with a proposition that they +should concert a combined operation for crushing the Miguelites +and the Carlists both, beginning with the former. George Villiers +seems to think it feasible, but doubts if the Spanish Government +has sufficient energy and courage to undertake such an operation. + + +March 25th, 1834 {p.072} + +[Page Head: DINNER AT SIR ROBERT PEEL'S.] + +Dined with Peel on Saturday; a great dinner with the Duke of +Gloucester and the Ambassadors. The day before, in the House of +Lords, Lord Grey presented a petition from certain members of the +University of Cambridge, praying for the admission of Dissenters +to take degrees, which he introduced with a very good speech. The +Duke of Gloucester, who, as Chancellor of the University, ought +properly to have said whatever there was to say, was not there (in +which Silly Billy did a wise thing), so the Duke of Wellington +rose to speak in his stead. It may have been that considering +himself to stand in the Duke of Gloucester's shoes, he could not +make too foolish a speech, and accordingly he delivered one of +those harangues which make men shrug their shoulders with pity or +astonishment. It is always a matter of great regret to me when he +exposes himself in this manner. After dinner at Peel's I talked to +Lyndhurst about it, who said, 'Unlucky thing that Chancellorship +of Oxford; it will make him commit himself in a very inconvenient +manner. The Duke is so very obstinate; if he thought that it was +possible to act any longer upon those High Church principles it +would be all very well, but you have transferred power to a class +of a lower description, and particularly to the great body of +Dissenters, and it is obvious that those principles are now out of +date; the question is, under the circumstances, What is best to be +done?' Lord Ellenborough entirely threw the Duke over, and made a +very good speech, agreeing to the prayer of the petitioners, with +the reservation only of certain securities which Lord Grey himself +approves of. I dined with him the day following, and he said so, +adding at the same time, 'though I dare say they will consider +them as an insult, and make great complaints at their imposition. +However, I don't care for that, and if they don't choose to accept +what is offered them on such conditions, they may go without it.' +There are two things which strike one (at least strike me) in the +discussion--that of the two principal actors the Duke of +Wellington is incomparably a man of a more vigorous understanding, +and of greater firmness, energy, and decision than Lord Grey, but +that Lord Grey appears like an accomplished orator, and prudent, +sagacious, liberal statesman, while the other exhibits bigoted, +narrow-minded views, ignorance almost discreditable, and nothing +but a blind zeal in deference to the obstinate prejudices of the +academical body with which he has connected himself. Who would +imagine (who heard the two men and knew nothing more of them) that +the latter is in reality immensely superior to the former in mind +and understanding? Nor must it be supposed that the Duke of +Wellington, if he came into power, would act in a manner +corresponding with his declared opinions. Very far from it; he +would do just as he did with regard to the Test Act and the +Catholic question, and if he was at the head of the Government, he +would calculate what sort and amount of concession it was +necessary to make, and would make it, without caring a farthing +about the University of Oxford or his own former speeches. The +'Times' in its remarks on his speech was very insolent, but +excessively droll. + +Denman's peerage is much abused; it is entirely the Chancellor's +doing. Denman has no fortune and a feeble son to succeed him, and +it was hoped that the practice of making all the Chief Justices +Peers would have been discontinued in his person. Brougham wrote +to Lyndhurst, ostensibly to inform him of this event, but really +to apologise for the misstatements he had made in his speech +about the business he (Lyndhurst) had done in the House of Lords +and in the Court of Chancery. Lyndhurst said (to me), 'What +nonsense it is. He has done all he could do, and so did his +predecessors before him; he has sat as long as he could, and if +he has not got through as much business it is because counsel +have made longer speeches, for I am told his practice is never to +interrupt them, to take away his papers, and come down a few days +after and deliver a written judgment.' + +On Sunday at dinner at Lord Grey's I sat next to Charles Grey, +who talked of the House of Commons, and said that there could be +no question of Peel's superiority over everybody there, that +Stanley had not done so well this session, had displayed so much +want of judgment now, as well as formerly, that he was evidently +not fit to be leader. He owned that Peel's conduct was very fair +as well as prudent, and said that if his father was to resign, he +himself, and he believed many others, would be willing to support +a Government headed by Peel. It is remarkable how men's minds are +gradually turning to Peel. I was amused yesterday with Poulett +Thomson, who told me that Peel had been very courteous to him, +and that they had some important points of coincidence of +opinion; that Peel did not like Graham, Palmerston, or Grant, but +to the rest of the Government he was remarkably civil. I think he +reckons without his host if he calculates upon Peel's politeness +extending to the offer of a place to our Vice-President in the +event of his coming in. + + +March 29th, 1834 {p.075} + +[Page Head: ADMISSION OF DISSENTERS TO THE UNIVERSITY.] + +At the beginning of the week there was a discussion in the House +of Commons which lasted for three mornings on the Cambridge +petition. Spring Rice, O'Connell, Stanley, and Palmerston spoke +for it; Goulburn, Inglis, and Peel against it. Old Cobbett made as +mischievous a speech as he could to blow the coals between the +parties. Peel spoke last, and as usual very well; but several +people expected he would have supported it, and have abstained +(from prudential motives) from saying anything likely to offend +the Dissenters. I expected no such thing; he was not violent, and +addressed his argument to the weak parts of his adversaries' +speeches rather than against the general principles of toleration; +and I still think that when the great question of concessions to +the Dissenters comes to be argued he will not be found in the +ranks of their virulent and uncompromising opponents. It would +have been an extraordinary thing indeed if he had all of a sudden +stood forth in the character of an anti-Churchman, for such he +especially would have been considered if he had united himself +with the petitioners, and he would have disgusted and alienated +all the High Churchmen and High Tories to a degree which must have +made a fresh and irreconcilable breach between them. This would +not have been judicious in his position, and I am satisfied that +he took the most prudent course. I am the more satisfied of it +from the circumstance that his speech by no means gave unalloyed +pleasure to the 'Standard,' which is the organ of the High Church +party. I feel it a strange thing to find myself the advocate and +admirer of Peel; but there is such a dearth of talent, his +superiority is so obvious, and it is so very desirable that +something like strength should be infused into the Government, +that I am compelled to overlook his faults without being the least +blind to them. I ascribe to him no more elevation of character +than I did before; but we must take what we can get and make use +of the existing materials, and for this reason I watch with +anxiety his conduct, because I am persuaded that he is under +present circumstances our best and only refuge. + +The Vice-Chancellor[1] called on me the other day, and talking +over the business that had been done by Brougham, and the recent +discussion about it, he said that he had taken the trouble to +examine the returns of hearings, decrees, and orders, and he found +that there was scarcely a shade of difference between what had +been done severally by Eldon, Lyndhurst, and Brougham in equal +spaces of time. (Eldon and Lyndhurst had the Bankruptcy business +besides.) This is a clear case for the Chancellor, and it is only +fair that it should be known. His friends think him much altered +in spirits and appearance; he has never shaken off his unhappiness +at his brother's death, to whom he seems to have been tenderly +attached. It is only justice to acknowledge his virtues in private +life, which are unquestionably conspicuous. I am conscious of +having often spoken of him with asperity, and it is some +satisfaction to my conscience to do him this justice. When the +greatest (I will not say the best) men are often influenced by +pique or passion, by a hundred petty feelings which their +philosophy cannot silence or their temperament obeys, it is no +wonder that we poor wretches who are cast in less perfect moulds +should be still more liable to these pernicious influences; and it +is only by keeping an habitual watch over our own minds and +thoughts, and steadily resolving never to be turned from +considerations of justice and truth, that we can hope to walk +through life with integrity and impartiality. I believe what I +have said of Brougham to be correct in the main--that he is false, +tricking, ambitious, and unprincipled, and as such I will show him +up when I can--but though I do not like him and he has offended +me--that is, has wounded my vanity (the greatest of all +offences)--I only feel it the more necessary on that account to be +on my guard against my own impressions and prejudices, and to take +every opportunity of exhibiting the favourable side of the +picture, and render justice to the talents and virtues which +cannot be denied him. + + [1] [Sir Lancelot Shadwell, Vice-Chancellor of England.] + + +April 3rd, 1834 {p.077} + +[Page Head: PERSONAL REFLECTIONS.] + +Yesterday I was forty years old, an anniversary much too +melancholy to think of; and when I reflect how intolerably these +forty years have been wasted, how unprofitably spent, how little +store laid up for the future, how few the pleasurable recollections +of the past, a feeling of pain and humiliation comes across me +that makes my cheeks tingle and burn as I write. It is very seldom +that I indulge in moralising in this Journal of mine; if anybody +ever reads it, what will they care for my feelings and regrets? It +is no reason, they will think, that because I have wasted my time +they should waste theirs in reading the record of follies which +are nothing more than the great mass of the world are every day +committing; idleness, vanity, and selfishness are our besetting +sins, and we are perpetually whirled about by one or other of +them. It is certainly more amusing, both to other people and to +myself (when I look back at what I have written), to read the +anecdotes and events of the day than all this moral stuff (by +which I mean stuff as applied to me, not as being despicable in +itself), but every now and then the fancy takes me, and I think I +find relief by giving vent on paper to that which I cannot say to +anybody. 'Cela fait partie de cette doctrine interieure qu'il ne +faut jamais communiquer' (Stendhal). _Jam satis est_, and I will +go to other things--the foreign or domestic scraps I have picked +up. + +Parliament being _en relache_, there are few people in town. +William Ponsonby, whom I met the other evening, told me he had +just returned from the assizes at Dorchester, where some men had +been convicted of illegal association. On the event of this +trial, he said, the lower and labouring classes had their eyes +fixed, and the conviction was therefore of great consequence; any +relaxation of the sentence would have been impossible under the +circumstances, and though a great disposition was evinced, partly +by the press, by petitions, and by some speeches in Parliament, +to get them left off more easily, Melbourne very wisely did not +wait for more manifestations, but packed them off, and they are +gone. William Ponsonby told me that the demoralisation in that +part of the country is very great--the distress not severe, no +political disaffection, but a recklessness, a moral obtuseness, +exceedingly disgusting. There was a certain trial, or rather case +(for the grand jury could not find a bill), in which a woman had +murdered a child, got by her son out of a girl who lodged in her +cottage. The only evidence by which she could have been convicted +would have been that of the son himself, and he refused to speak. +The crime went unpunished; but I mention this to introduce what +grew out of it. One of the lawyers said that in the course of the +investigations which this case had occasioned it had been +discovered (though not in a way which admitted of any proofs +being adduced and any measures adopted upon it) that there was a +woman whose trade was to get rid of bastard children, either by +procuring abortions or destroying them when born, and that she +had a regular price for either operation.[2] I don't suppose that +the average state of morals is much worse in one county than in +another; but it is very remarkable that while education has been +more widely diffused than heretofore, and there is a strong +Puritanical spirit at work and vast talk about religious +observances, there should be such a brutish manifestation of the +moral condition of the lower classes, and that they should be +apparently so little humanised and reclaimed by either education +or religion. In this country all is contrast--contrast between +wealth the most enormous and poverty the most wretched, between +an excess of sanctity and an atrocity of crime. + + [2] [The same thing was proved more than thirty years + later, on the trial of Charlotte Winsor, who eventually + escaped the fate she deserved on the ground of some + legal technicality which was taken up to the House of + Lords, and though it was decided against the prisoner, + the Government refused, after a considerable lapse of + time, to have her executed.] + +George Villiers and Howard write equally bad accounts from their +respective Courts, neither seeing any hope of the termination of +the Peninsular contests, and each of them alike disgusted with +the men they have to deal with. Howard says that we could put an +end to the Portuguese affair whenever we chose, and that they +would submit to British power without thinking it a degradation; +that Miguel is not popular in Portugal, but that the priests have +made a crusade against Pedro and Liberal principles, and that +they drive the peasantry into the Miguelite ranks by the terrors +of excommunication; that the only reason why Pedro's military +operations are successful is that he has got an English corps, +against which the Portuguese will not fight. + + +April 21st, 1834 {p.079} + +[Page Head: OXFORD ADDRESS TO THE KING.] + +At Buckenham and Newmarket for the last fortnight, and all things +forgotten but racing. Seymour Bathurst's sudden death called me +up to town on Tuesday night, to go to Court on Wednesday. Then I +saw the Duke of Wellington march up at the head of the Doctors to +present the Oxford petition, attired in his academical robes; and +as I looked at him thus bedight, and then turned my eyes to his +portraits in the pictures of his battles which adorn the walls, I +thought how many and various were the parts he had played. He +made a great boggling of reading his petition, for it was on a +long and broad parchment, and he required both hands to hold it +and one to hold his glasses. This is the day for the procession +of the Trade Unions, and all London is alive with troops, +artillery and police. I don't suppose anything will happen, and +so much has the general alarm of these Unions subsided that there +is very little apprehension, though some curiosity to see how it +goes off. + + +April 23rd, 1834 {p.079} + +Nothing could go off more quietly than the procession on Monday. +There were about 25,000 men, mostly well dressed, no noise or +tumult, a vast crowd. It was a failure altogether; Melbourne's +answer was good. They say 250,000 men are enrolled in the Unions, +and the slang name for those who won't belong to them is 'dungs;' +the intimidation used is great. There was quite as great a crowd +assembled yesterday to see old Lady Hertford's funeral go by. The +King sent all the royal carriages, and every other carriage in +London was there, I believe--a pompous piece of folly, and the +King's compliment rather a queer one, as the only ground on which +she could claim such an honour was that of having been George +IV.'s mistress. Brougham made one of his exhibitions in the House +of Lords the other night about the Cambridge petition, quizzing +the Duke of Gloucester with mock gravity. It was very droll and +very witty, I fancy, but very unbecoming his station. Last night +O'Connell spoke for five hours on the repeal of the Union. + + +April 25th, 1834 {p.080} + +[Page Head: LONDON UNIVERSITY CHARTER.] + +Yesterday the Privy Council met to hear the London University +petition, praying for a charter, and the counter-petitions of +Oxford and Cambridge and the medical bodies. The assemblage was +rather curious, considering the relative political position of +some of the parties. All the Cabinet Ministers were summoned; +Lords Grey and Holland were there, the Chancellor, Denman, +Lyndhurst, Eldon, the two Archbishops, and the Bishop of London. +Old Eldon got a fall as he came into the house and hurt his head. +Brougham and the rest were full of civilities and tenderness, but +he said 'it was of no consequence, for the _brains_ had been +knocked out long ago.' Wetherell made an amusing speech, and did +not conclude. It is seldom that the sounds of merriment are heard +within those walls, but he made the Lords laugh and the gallery +too. There were Allen of Holland House and Phillpotts sitting +cheek by jowl to hear the discussion. + + +May 11th, 1834 {p.080} + +More than three weeks, and _rebus Newmarketianis versatus_, I +have written nothing. The debate on the repeal of the Union was +more remarkable for the length than the excellence of the +speeches, except Spring Rice's, which was both long and good, and +Peel's, the latter supereminently so. O'Connell spoke for five +hours and a quarter, and Rice for six hours; each occupied a +night, after the manner of American orators. The minority was +much smaller than was expected. Since that the only question of +consequence in the House of Commons has been the Pension List, on +which Government got a larger majority than they had hoped for, +and such an one as to set the matter at rest for some time. Peel +again spoke very well, and old Byng made a very independent, +gentlemanlike speech. Independence now-a-days relates more to +constituents than to the governing power. Nobody is suspected of +being dependent on the Crown or the Minister, and the question is +if a man be independent of the popular cry or of his own +constituency. + +The King has been exhibiting some symptoms of a disordered mind, +not, however, amounting to anything like actual derangement, only +morbid irritability and activity--reviewing the Guards and +_blowing up_ people at Court. He made the Guards, both horse and +foot, perform their evolutions before him; he examined their +barracks, clothes, arms, and accoutrements, and had a musket +brought to him, that he might show them the way to use it in some +new sort of exercise he wanted to introduce; in short, he gave a +great deal of trouble and made a fool of himself. He was very +angry with Lord de Saumarez for not attending Keat's funeral, and +still more angry because he would begin explaining and apologizing, +first at the levee and then at the drawing-room; and he +reprehended him very sharply at both places. An explanation +afterwards took place through Lord Camden, to whom he said that he +was angry because de Saumarez would prate at the levee, when he +told him that it was not a proper place for discussing the +subject. + +The debate at the Council Board terminated after two more days' +speaking. It was tiresome on the whole. Brougham is a bad +presiding judge, for he will talk so much to the counsel, and +being very anxious to abbreviate the business, he ought to have +avoided saying pungent things, which elicited rejoinders and +excited heat. The extreme gravity and patient attention of old +Eldon struck me forcibly as contrasted with the air of _ennui_, +the frequent and audible yawns, and the flippant and sarcastic +interruptions of the Chancellor. Wetherell made a very able +speech, which he afterwards published. The most striking incident +occurred in an answer of Bickersteth's to one of the Chancellor's +interruptions. He said, talking of degrees, 'Pray, Mr. Bickersteth, +what is to prevent the London University granting degrees _now_?' +to which, he replied, 'The universal scorn and contempt of +mankind.' Brougham said no more; the effect was really fine. There +was a little debate upon Portugal in the House of Commons on +Friday, in which Palmerston got roughly handled by Baring. A +report was believed that Don Carlos had sailed for England, and +that an agreement had been concluded between Miguel and Pedro, but +it turned out to be false. Nobody, however, doubts that the +quadruple alliance will settle the Portuguese business, if not the +Spanish. + + +May 12th, 1834 {p.082} + +There was a report yesterday that Palmerston was out and Durham +in his place. The latter was under the gallery when Palmerston +made that woful exhibition the other night, and must have been +well satisfied. I met Peel at dinner yesterday, and after it he +talked to me of this report, which he concluded was not true; but +he said that Palmerston had seemed bereft of his senses, and that +in his speech he had attempted a new line quite unusual with +him--that of humour--and anything so miserable he had never +heard. He then talked of Stanley; expressed his indignation at +hearing O'Connell bepraised by the men he is always vilifying, +especially by Stanley himself, of whom he had spoken in the early +part of the same night in such terms as these: 'The honourable +gentleman, with his usual disregard of veracity, ...' and again +'he attacked him, but took care how he attacked others, who he +knew were not restrained by obligations such as he was under to +bear with his language;' in other words, calling him a liar and a +coward; and after this Stanley condescended to flatter him and +applaud his speech. He said that he had expected better things of +Stanley, and was really distressed to hear it. + +[Page Head: DUKE OF WELLINGTON AND THE WHIGS.] + +I dined with the Duke of Wellington on Saturday. Arbuthnot was +there, and he said the Duke is in a state of unutterable disgust +with the present Government and their proceedings, particularly +with their foreign policy, which he fancies they shape in +systematic and wilful opposition to his own. This, of course, is +merely his imagination, and rather a preposterous notion. He says +the Duke does not think well of the state of the country, but +that he grasps with eagerness at any symptoms of returning or +increasing prosperity, and (what is rather inconsistent with his +bad opinion of affairs) he is always telling the foreigners (i.e. +the Ambassadors) who talk to him that they will fall into a great +error if they think the power or resources of England in any way +impaired. His antipathy to the Whigs, is, however, invincible, +and of very ancient date, as this proves. Arbuthnot said that he +was looking over a box of papers the other day, and hit upon the +copy of a letter he had written to Lord Liverpool, by desire of +some of his principal colleagues, to dissuade him from quitting +office, which, he thought of doing at the time of the first Lady +Liverpool's death. With it there was a scrap on which was +written, 'Taken down from the Duke of Wellington's own lips;' and +this was an argument that, in the event of his refusing, he (the +Duke) should think himself at liberty to join any other party or +set of men, but that his great object was to keep the Whigs out +of power, as he was convinced that whenever they got in they +would ruin the country. Lord Liverpool said that they (The +Tories) had been too long in possession of the Government. + + +May 23rd, 1834 {p.083} + +Newmarket, Epsom, and so forth. Nothing remarkably new. In the +House of Commons the Poor Law Bill has been going on smoothly; in +the House of Lords little of note but one of Brougham's +exhibitions. Old Wynford brought in a very absurd Bill for the +better observance of the Sabbath (an old sinner he, who never +cared three straws for the Sabbath), which Brougham attacked with +excessive virulence and all his powers of ridicule and sarcasm. +His speech made everybody laugh, very heartily, but on a +division, the Bishops all voting with Wynford, the latter carried +the second reading by three in a very thin House. The next day +the Chancellor came down with a protest, written in his most +pungent style, very smart, but more like a bit of an article in +the 'Edinburgh Review' than a Parliamentary protest. Wynford was +in the House when he entered his protest, and he called out to +him, 'Holloa, _Best_, look at my protest!' + +There is a very strong impression abroad that the King is +cracked, and I dare say there is some truth in it. He gets so +very choleric, and is so indecent in his wrath. Besides his +squabble with old Lord de Saumarez, he broke out the other day at +the Exhibition (Somerset House). They were showing him the +pictures, and Sir Martin Shee (I believe, but am not sure), +pointing out Admiral Napier's, said, 'That is one of our naval +heroes; to which his Majesty was pleased to reply that if he +served him right he should kick him downstairs for so terming +him. But the maddest thing of all is what appeared in the +'Gazette' of Tuesday--the peerage conferred on ----. She is a +disreputable, half-mad woman! he, perhaps, thought it fair to +give her this compensation for not being Queen, for he wanted to +marry her, and would have done so if the late king would have +consented. + +[Page Head: FETE AT PETWORTH.] + +On Monday last I went to Petworth, and saw the finest _fete_ that +could be given. Lord Egremont has been accustomed some time in +the winter to feast the poor of the adjoining parishes (women and +children, not men) in the riding-house and tennis court, where +they were admitted by relays. His illness prevented the dinner +taking place; but when he recovered he was bent upon having it, +and, as it was put off till the summer, he had it arranged in the +open air, and a fine sight it was; fifty-four tables, each fifty +feet long, were placed in a vast semicircle on the lawn before +the house. Nothing could be more amusing than to look at the +preparations. The tables were all spread with cloths, and plates, +and dishes; two great tents were erected in the middle to receive +the provisions, which were conveyed in carts, like ammunition. +Plum puddings and loaves were piled like cannon balls, and +innumerable joints of boiled and roast beef were spread out, +while hot joints were prepared in the kitchen, and sent forth as +soon as the firing of guns announced the hour of the feast. +Tickets were given to the inhabitants of a certain district, and +the number was about 4,000; but, as many more came, the old Peer +could not endure that there should be anybody hungering outside +his gates, and he went out himself and ordered the barriers to be +taken down and admittance given to all. They think 6,000 were +fed. Gentlemen from the neighbourhood carved for them, and +waiters were provided from among the peasantry. The food was +distributed from the tents and carried off upon hurdles to all +parts of the semicircle. A band of music paraded round, playing +gay airs. The day was glorious--an unclouded sky and soft +southern breeze. Nothing could exceed the pleasure of that fine +old fellow; he was in and out of the windows of his room twenty +times, enjoying the sight of these poor wretches, all attired in +their best, cramming themselves and their brats with as much as +they could devour, and snatching a day of relaxation and +happiness. After a certain time the women departed, but the park +gates were thrown open: all who chose came in, and walked about +the shrubbery and up to the windows of the house. At night there +was a great display of fireworks, and I should think, at the time +they began, not less than 10,000 people were assembled. It was +altogether one of the gayest and most beautiful spectacles I ever +saw, and there was something affecting in the contemplation of +that old man--on the verge of the grave, from which he had only +lately been reprieved, with his mind as strong and his heart as +warm as ever--rejoicing in the diffusion of happiness and finding +keen gratification in relieving the distresses and contributing +to the pleasures of the poor. I thought how applicable to him, +_mutatis mutandis_, was that panegyric of Burke's on the Indian +kings: 'delighting to reign in the dispensation of happiness +during the contracted space of human life, strained with all the +reachings and graspings of a vivacious mind to extend the +dominion of his bounty ... and to perpetuate himself from +generation to generation as the guardian, the protector, the +nourisher of mankind.' + + +May 24th, 1834 {p.085} + +The Chancellor, who loves to unbosom himself to Sefton because he +knows the latter thinks him the finest fellow breathing, tells +him that it is nuts to him to be attacked by noble Lords in the +Upper House, and that they had better leave him alone if they +care for their own hides. Since he loves these assaults, last +night he got his bellyful, for he was baited by a dozen at least, +and he did not come out of the _melee_ so chuckling and happy as +usual. The matter related to the Pluralities Bill, which he had +introduced some nights before, in an empty House, without giving +notice, and after having told many people (the Archbishop of York +among others) that there was nothing more to be done that night. +In short, he was at his tricks again, lying and shuffling, false +and then insolent, and all for no discernible end. The debate +exhibits a detail of his misstatements, and of all his wriggling +and plunging to get out of the scrape he had got himself into. It +is because scarcely any or rather no motive was apparent that it +is with difficulty believed that he meant to deceive anybody. But +it is in the nature of the man; he cannot go straightforward; +some object, no matter how trivial, presents itself to his busy +and distempered mind, and he immediately begins to think by what +artifice and what underhand work he can bring it about; and thus +he exposes himself to the charges of dishonourable conduct +without any adequate consideration or cause. He reminds me of the +man in 'Jonathan Wild' who was a rogue by force of habit, who +could not keep his hand out of his neighbour's pocket though he +knew there was nothing in it, nor help cheating at cards though +he was aware he should not be paid if he won. It is thought that +the exhibition of last night will not be without its influence +upon the fate of this Administration. + + +May 27th, 1834 {p.086} + +[Page Head: SPLIT ON THE IRISH CHURCH.] + +The Government is on the very brink of dissolution. The Irish +Church Bill is the immediate cause, Stanley and Graham standing +out against the majority of the Cabinet with regard to the +Appropriation clause. Stanley, _they think_, would have knocked +under if Graham had not been very fierce and urged him on to +resistance. They attribute all the present bother to Graham, who +pleads conscience and religious feelings. It is impossible to +guess how it will end, and there is a terrible turmoil. Stanley +was with the King for two hours yesterday. The violent party +evidently wish Lord Grey to let Stanley go out, and those who +choose to go with him, and to reinforce the Cabinet with Durham, +Mulgrave, and that sort of thing, and what they call 'throw +themselves on the House of Commons and the country.' On the other +hand the half-Tories and moderates wish the Government to adopt a +moderate tone and course, and seek support from the House of +Lords. As to the House of Commons, it is a curious body, +supporting the Ministers through thick and thin one day and +buffeting them the next. On the Bank question the night before +last Althorp was beaten, after imploring everybody to come and +support him and making the strangest declarations. I am very +sorry that there should be a chance of a split on such a question +as the Irish Church, which really is not tenable. His colleagues +(or their friends at least) suspect that Graham kicks up this +dust with ulterior views, and they think he aims at a junction +with Peel--Stanley of course included--and coming into office +with a moderate mixed party. It will be a great evil if the +Government is broken up just now, but it is quite clear that they +cannot go on long; it is a question of months. The Duke of +Wellington told me yesterday that he could do nothing, and he +will be rather shy of giving to the world a second volume of that +old business in which he got so bedevilled two years ago. + +The Lievens are recalled, which is a great misfortune to society. +She is inconsolable. The pill is gilded well, for he is made +governor to the Imperial Prince, the Emperor's eldest son; but +the old story of Stratford Canning, and Palmerston's obstinate +refusal to appoint anybody else, has probably contributed to this +change. His colleagues have endeavoured to persuade him to cancel +the appointment and name Mulgrave, whom they wish to provide for, +but he will not hear of it. I can't conceive why they don't let +him go out upon it; they would be the gainers in every way. We +are now in what is called a mess; the Whigs have put matters in +such a condition that they cannot govern the country themselves +and that nobody else can govern it either. 'Time and the hour run +through the roughest day.' + + +May 28th, 1834 {p.088} + +On returning from Epsom I heard that Stanley, Graham, and +Richmond had resigned, and it was supposed Ripon would follow +their example.[3] Althorp adjourned the debate till Monday next. +Sefton 'never was so happy in his life.' It is a bad sign when he +is happy--not meaning to be wicked, only very foolish and +violent. I have rarely seen the effects of a neglected education +and a vivacious temperament manifested in a more remarkable way +than in Sefton, who has naturally a great deal of cleverness, but +who, from the above causes and the absence of the habit of moral +discipline and of calm and patient reflection, is a fool, and a +very mischievous one. They will be forced to put Peers in the +vacant places, because nobody can get re-elected. The rotten +boroughs now seem not quite such abominations, or at all events +they had some compensating advantages. + + [3] [The members of the Grey Administration who seceded on + the Appropriation Resolution (as it was termed), moved + by Mr. Ward, were the Duke of Richmond, Postmaster-General; + the Earl of Ripon, Privy Seal; Mr. Stanley, Cabinet + Secretary; and Sir James Graham, First Lord of the + Admiralty. The Marquis of Conyngham became Postmaster-General, + the Earl of Carlisle Privy Seal, Lord Auckland first Lord + of the Admiralty, and Mr. Spring Rice Colonial Secretary.] + + +June 1st, 1834 {p.088} + +The arrangements rendered necessary by the recent resignations +were pretty quickly made, but they have given universal +dissatisfaction. Whigs, Tories, and Radicals join in full cry +against them, and the 'Times,' in a succession of bitter, +vituperative articles, very well done, fires off its contempt and +disgust at the paltry patching up of the Cabinet. The most +unpopular appears to be Lord Auckland's appointment, and, though +I like him personally, it certainly does appear strange and +objectionable. He has neither reputation nor political calibre to +entitle him to such an elevation, and his want of urbanity and +forbidding manner seem to render him peculiarly unfit for the +post they have conferred on him. [Auckland turned out a very +popular and, I believe, very good First Lord of the Admiralty. I +have heard many praises and not one complaint of him.--December +7th, 1834.] The general opinion is that this Cabinet, so amended, +cannot go on long; but as they clearly mean to throw themselves +upon the House of Commons, and as the House will at all events +support them for the present, they will probably last some time +longer; they will at any rate, scramble through this session, and +during the recess it will be seen whether they can acquire public +confidence and what chance they have of carrying on the +government. + +[Page Head: THE IRISH CHURCH.] + +After much conversation with Duncannon, Sefton, Mulgrave, and +others, I have acquired a tolerably correct understanding of the +history of these inconvenient proceedings. The speech of Lord John +Russell, to which all this hubbub is attributed, may have somewhat +accelerated, but did not produce, the crisis. The difference has +long existed in the Cabinet on the subject of the Irish Church, +and was well known, for Althorp stated as much last year. Stanley +and Graham were both vehemently opposed to any Parliamentary +appropriation of the surplus revenues of the Irish Church, but not +exactly on the same grounds. Stanley denies the right of +Parliament to interfere at all; that is, he asserts that +Parliament has no more right to deal with the revenues of the +Church than it would have to deal with his estate. Graham does not +deny the right, but contends that it is not expedient, that the +connexion between the two countries is mainly held together by the +Protestant Church, and that any meddling with the Establishment +will inevitably lead to its downfall. He stands upon religious +grounds. I confess myself to be lost in astonishment at the views +they take on this subject; that after swallowing the camel of the +Reform Bill, they should strain at the gnats which were perched +upon the camel's back, that they should not have perceived from +the first that such reforms as these must inevitably be consequent +upon the great measure, and, above all, that the prevalence of +public opinion, abstract justice, and the condition of Ireland all +loudly call for their adoption. However, such are their opinions, +and doubtless very conscientiously entertained. Upon Ward's motion +being announced, it was proposed in the Cabinet that the +difficulty should be waived for the present by moving the previous +question, and to this the dissentients agreed; but on further +investigation they discerned that if this was moved, in all +probability it would not be carried, and under these circumstances +Stanley proposed at once to resign. In the Cabinet some were for +accepting and others for refusing his resignation, and matters +remained unsettled when Althorp went down to the House of Commons +on the night of Ward's motion. It was strictly true (as he said) +that he was informed while Ward was speaking that they had +resigned. The King accepted their resignations at once, and +appears to have expressed his opinion that they adopted the proper +course, but he told the Duke of Richmond that the four members of +the Cabinet who had quitted it were the four whom he liked best of +them all. When they were gone it was to be settled how their +places were to be supplied. Ellice and Spring Rice were +indispensable; the Radicals wanted Durham; the Whigs wanted +Radnor, Abercromby, and Hobhouse; Lord Lansdowne was wavering, for +he is likewise opposed to any meddling with the Church, though not +perhaps to the extent that the seceders are, or to such a degree +as to make his resignation imperative. However, he haggled, and +they appear to have thought him of consequence enough to bribe him +high to remain. He made Durham's exclusion a _sine qua non_, but I +believe all the others were equally opposed to his re-admission. +Spring Rice and Auckland are Lansdowne's personal friends and +firmest adherents, and their promotion is very agreeable to him +(if he did not insist upon it). Mulgrave so entirely expected to +come in that he told me on Epsom racecourse on Thursday last that +he was to be one of the new Ministers, though he did not know +which place he was to have. Great, therefore, was his disgust when +they only offered him the Post Office without the Cabinet. He +refused it with some indignation, and thinks himself very ill +used. I do not yet know what are the reasons which induced them to +make the arrangements they have done, and deterred them from +applying to any of the above-mentioned men. It certainly has given +great disgust, and will not serve to make the Administration more +popular than before. Durham is of course furious, and if +Abercromby and the others did not expect or desire to come in, +they will nevertheless resent being passed over, and in favour of +such people. + + +June 2nd, 1834 {p.091} + +[Page Head: HISTORY OF THE CRISIS.] + +Yesterday I dined with Stanley; there was a vast deal of fine +company, outs and ins, Richmond, who would not _stay_ in the Post +Office, and Mulgrave who would not _come_ into it, Auckland, +Palmerston, &c. After dinner Stanley talked to Mulgrave and me +about the whole business; he said that above three weeks ago, in +consequence of the difference in the Cabinet, which everybody +knew, he had pressed his resignation on his colleagues, who +refused to take it, that he had agreed to vote for the previous +question on Ward's motion, but they were informed it would not be +carried. He then said, 'Why don't you take my resignation?' Still +they demurred, and on that day nothing was settled. He then saw +the King, who agreed to accept his resignation conditionally, +provided Lord Grey could make other arrangements, and desired +Stanley to go down to his colleagues and talk it over. He replied +that it was too late, that he ought then to be in his place in +the House of Commons, as the debate was going on. He went down, +saw Lord Grey, settled with him that he should resign, and then +sent into the House of Commons to Althorp to let him know that it +was so settled. In such hurry, uncertainty, and confusion was +this business done. Stanley talked not with acrimony, but with +something like contempt of the strange situation in which the +Government, and particularly Lord Grey, is placed, and he 'hoped' +they might be able to go on in a tone which, implied great doubt +if they would. He said 'that Lord Grey continues to preside over +a Cabinet which is to a certain degree committed to the principle +of a measure of which he disapproves, and he accepts the +resignation of the colleagues with whom he agrees; that if in the +House of Commons to-night no concession is made to the principle +of the measure under discussion, it will appear strange and +unaccountable why the seceders have been suffered to go. If any +be made, it will be inconsistent with the letter which Lord Grey +has just written to Ebrington, in a strain as conservative as the +King's speech to the bishops.' Thus Lord Grey appears to be +tossed on the horns of a very inconvenient dilemma. This speech +of the King's, which Stanley alluded to, has made a great noise, +and is matter of considerable triumph to the Conservatives. It is +reported in the papers as it was really delivered, except some +absurdities with which it was mixed. It is by no means a bad +speech, and very decided in its tone; but what matters decision +and a peremptory tone from a man so easily led or misled as the +King? Lord Grey's letter was addressed to Ebrington in reply to +an address signed by many supporters of Government, and has been +lying on the table at Brookes' for public inspection. + + +June 3rd, 1834 {p.092} + +[Page Head: MR. STANLEY IN OPPOSITION.] + +Lord Althorp summoned a meeting yesterday in Downing Street, +which was numerously attended, though some of the usual +supporters of Government stayed away as followers of Stanley. He +invited them to support the previous question, when there was a +good deal of speaking for and against, chiefly among county +members, and a good deal of cheering at his saying he hoped he +had their confidence; but the meeting broke up without any +satisfactory conclusion, and at five o'clock the general +impression was that Government would be beaten, and this in spite +of a conviction that they would resign if they were. In the +morning I met Graham, who said that he did not know whether he +and Stanley would speak or not, that they could not support the +previous question without repudiating the declaration with which +it was to be accompanied, that he considered the question to +involve the fate of the Irish Church, and with it the connexion +between the two countries. I told him we differed entirely, but +that I would not enter upon any argument on the subject; that it +was very unfortunate, and I thought the Government would not +stand. He said a tremendous contest must ensue upon the great +question, and so we parted. + +In the evening a very full House. Lord Althorp stated that the +King had issued a Commission, or rather extended the powers of one +that already existed, for the purpose of effecting the objects +contemplated by the resolution, and begged Ward to withdraw his +motion. He would not, and then Althorp moved the previous +question, which, to the astonishment of everybody, was carried by +a very great majority, all the Tories voting with Government. +Stanley spoke, and spoke very well, but with considerable acrimony +and in a tone which demonstrates the breach between him and his +old colleagues to be irreparable. He was vociferously cheered by +the Tories, especially at one passage of his speech about a +Chancellor of the Exchequer and his clerical budget which, however +pungent and smart, appears to me imprudent and worth nothing as +argument. I am very sorry he has taken such a line upon this +question. His scruples have come too late to be serviceable to the +cause he espouses, and all he can do is to fan the flame of +religious discord and throw innumerable embarrassments in the way +of settling a very difficult question, the ultimate solution of +which is no longer doubtful. + + +June 5th, 1834 {p.093} + +The Portuguese business is over--that is, for the present--but +Lord William Russell (whom I met at dinner at Richmond the day +before yesterday) told me he did not think Pedro would be able to +keep possession of the country, and that another revolution would +probably take place whenever the foreign troops in his pay were +disbanded; the party against him is too strong; he said that +nothing but an inconceivable succession of blunders and great +want of spirit and enterprise on the part of Miguel could have +prevented his success, as at one time he had 70,000 men, while +the other had not above 8,000 or 10,000 cooped up in Oporto, +which is not a defensible place; that Miguel might at any moment +during the contest have put an end to it. The country is in a +dreadfully ruined state from frequent exactions and the +depression of commerce and cultivation, but Carvalho, Pedro's +Minister of Finance, told Lord William he should have no +difficulty with his budget, and could find money to discharge all +the claims upon Government. The source from which he expects to +derive his assets is the confiscated Church property, which is +very great. Money, however, is so plentiful here, that the +Portuguese Government have been offered a loan of a million at +eighty, which they have declined[4]. + + [4] [The Quadruple Treaty for the pacification of the + Peninsular kingdoms was signed in London on the 22nd of + April; and on the 9th of May a decisive battle had been + gained by the troops of Don Pedro over those of Don + Miguel. Don Carlos and Don Miguel soon afterwards + withdrew from the Peninsula.] + + +June 7th, 1834 {p.094} + +I was in the House of Lords last night to hear a long debate on +the Commission, when Goderich made a very good speech, defending +himself for his resignation and attacking the instrument; like +other people, as soon as he got out of office he spoke with +greater energy and force. I thought Lord Grey was rather feeble, +though energetic enough in declaration and expression. Phillpotts +I did not hear, but he was wretchedly bad, they told me. The +Chancellor, to the surprise of everyone, made the strongest +declaration of his resolution not to permit a fraction of the +revenues of the Irish Church to be diverted to Catholic +purposes--the purposes, in my mind, to which they ought to be +diverted, and to which they in the end must and will be. The +Government is now reformed, and will scramble and totter on for +some time. Things are not ripe for a change, but people will +continue more and more to look for a junction between Peel and +Stanley. God forbid, however, that we should have two parties +established upon the principles of a religious opposition to each +other; it would be the worst of evils, and yet the times appear +to threaten something of the sort. There is the gabble of 'the +Church in danger,' the menacing and sullen disposition of the +Dissenters, all armed with new power, and the restless and +increasing turbulence of the Catholics, all hating one another, +and the elements of discord stirred up first by one and then +another. + + +June 9th, 1834 {p.094} + +Melbourne said to me on Saturday night, 'You know why Brougham +made that violent declaration against the Catholics in his speech +the other night, don't you?' I said, 'No.' Then he added, 'That +was for Spring Rice's election, to please the Dissenters.' +However, Duncannon says he does not believe it was for that +object, but certainly thrown out as a sop to the Dissenters +generally, who are violently opposed to any provision being made +for the Catholic Clergy. Duncannon added that 'those were his +(Brougham's) opinions as far as he had any, as they were not very +strong on any subject.' + + +June 15th, 1834 {p.095} + +[Page Head: DUKE OF WELLINGTON AT OXFORD.] + +Ascot races last week; many people kept away at Oxford, which +seems to have been a complete Tory affair, and on the whole a +very disgraceful exhibition of bigotry and party spirit; plenty +of shouting and that sort of enthusiasm, which is of no value +except to the foolish people who were the object of it, and who +were quite enraptured.[5] The reception of the Duke, however +vociferous, can hardly on reflection have given him much pleasure +when he saw Newcastle, Winchelsea, Wetherell, and _hoc genus +omne_ as much the objects of idolatry as himself. Peel very +wisely would have nothing to do with the concern, and they are +probably very angry with him for absenting himself. The +resentment he must feel towards the University on account of +their conduct to him must afford full scope to all the contempt +these proceedings are calculated to excite. There was a vast mob +of fine people, Mrs. Arbuthnot among the rest. The Duke made +rather indifferent work of his Latin speeches. As usual he seemed +quite unconcerned at the applause with which he was greeted; no +man ever courted that sort of distinction less. + + [5] [The Duke of Wellington was installed as Chancellor of + the University of Oxford on the 10th of June.] + + +June 18th, 1834 {p.095} + +Lord Conyngham and George Byng are to be Postmaster and a Lord of +Treasury, Abercromby is to be Master of the Mint, and Cutler +Fergusson Judge Advocate, appointments sneered and laughed at. +When Althorp announced the first in the House of Commons Hume +said, 'God bless us! is it possible?' Some think Abercromby will +be of use to them--that he is grave, practical, industrious, and +carries weight in the House. I am unable to discover anything in +him, except his consistency, to entitle him to any praise. An odd +thing happened to Brougham the other day. He got a note from +Althorp while he was sitting in his Court about the insolence and +violence of the 'Times,' and that its lies and abuse of the +Government ought to be put a stop to by some means. The +Chancellor tore the note up, and after finishing his business +departed. Two hours after Lemarchant got a note from the editor +to say that the note had been picked up, put together, and was in +his possession. Brougham was furious, and sent to ask the name of +the person who gave it, promising to forgive him if it was given +up, and threatening if it was not to dismiss every officer in his +Court, and not to replace any of them till the culprit was +discovered. + + +June 20th, 1834 {p.096} + +[Page Head: TORY WARFARE.] + +The Tories are in arms and eager for the fray. There was a dinner +of fifty at the Conservative Club on the 18th (Waterloo day), with +healths and speeches, when Peel delivered himself of a speech half +an hour long, to which vast importance is attached. People, +however, hear things, as they see things, differently. Theodore +Hook, who was present, told me 'it was very satisfactory, a +declaration of war; that he announced his having supported the +Government while he could from a sense of duty, but that seeing +they were resolved to attack the Church, he was prepared to act +with, or lead (I forget which), any party which might be formed +upon the principle of supporting the Establishment; that the +Tories were few in numbers, but strong in character,' and so on. +Vesey Fitzgerald, who was likewise there, said it was no +declaration of war whatever--a strong Conservative speech, but not +violent in any way, nor indicative of any intended deviation from +the course Peel has heretofore pursued. So his acts must show +which report is the more correct. When we hear that his speech +pleased Chandos and Falmouth, one can't help believing it must +have been somewhat fierce. I have great confidence in Peel's +watchful sagacity, but his game is a very difficult one, and with +all his prudence he may make a false step. It is so much his +interest to ascertain the real disposition of the country that I +am disposed to defer very much to his views and notions of +probabilities, otherwise I can with difficulty believe that it is +wise in him to encourage and head a High Church party and promote +the senseless cry of the Church in danger. It is the contest +itself as much as the triumph of any party that is to be +deprecated, for nothing is like the exasperation of religious +quarrels, and victory is always abused and moderation forgotten, +whichever side has the ascendant. Every day, however, it becomes +more apparent that this Government cannot last; living as I do +with men of all parties, I collect a variety of opinions, some of +them intrinsically worth little, except as straws show which way +the wind blows, but which satisfy me that the present House of +Commons has no great affection for them, and would not have much +difficulty in supporting any other Administration that presented a +respectable appearance, and would act upon principles at once +liberal and moderate. The majority of the members dread a +dissolution, knowing that the next elections must be fiercely +contested, and be expensive and embarrassing in all ways. +Altogether it is difficult to conceive a more unsettled and +unsatisfactory state of things, nor one from which it appears more +hopeless to emerge. In the state of parties and of the country the +one thing needful--a strong Government--appears the one thing that +it is impossible to obtain. + + +June 24th, 1834 {p.097} + +Lord Auckland told me the other night that Government are +prepared for the Dissenters Bill being thrown out in the House of +Lords, and that they don't care. He thinks it never will be +carried, and will be a standing grievance of no great weight. The +Chancellor made an admirable speech on secondary punishments, +connecting with it the question of education. He told me he was +called on to pronounce an essay without any preparation, and he +did the best he could. I did not hear it, but was told it was +excellent. He shines in this sort of thing; his views are so +enlarged and philosophical, and they are expressed in such +becoming and beautiful language. + + +June 26th, 1834 {p.097} + +There was a good debate on Monday in the House of Commons on the +Irish Tithes Bill. Peel made a very clever speech, attacking the +Commission with great felicity, and John Russell made an +excellent speech in reply, failing to excuse the Commission, +which is inexcusable, but very good upon the question. Both he +and Ellice _spoke out_. I was at the Abbey on Tuesday and +yesterday for a performance and a rehearsal of the 'Messiah.' The +spectacle is very fine, and it is all admirably managed--no crowd +or inconvenience, and easy egress and ingress--but the 'Messiah' +is not so effective as I expected, not so fine as in York +Minster; the choruses are admirably performed, but the single +voices are miserable--singers of extreme mediocrity, or whose +powers are gone; old Bellamy, who was at Handel's commemoration +as a singing boy, Miss Stephens, &c. + + +June 27th, 1832 {p.098} + +Lord William Russell told me last night that his brother John has +frequently offered to resign, and they never would let him; at +last he said he must speak out on this Church appropriation +question, or positively he would not stay in, so that his speech +was not _blurted_ out, as I supposed, but was the result of a +fixed resolution. This alters the case as far as he is concerned, +and it can't be denied that he was right in thinking it better +that Government should make itself clearly understood, and that a +break-up was preferable to going on without any real cordiality +or concurrence amongst each other and the Administration an +object of suspicion to all parties. William Russell said that +Government were quite aware that Peel and the Duke could turn +them out when they would, but that they would not know what to do +next. + +[Page Head: DON CARLOS ON HIS WAY TO SPAIN.] + +Don Carlos is coming to town to Gloucester Lodge. When they told +him the Spanish Ambassador (Miraflores) was come to wait upon +him, he replied, 'I have no Ambassador at the Court of London.' +He will not take any money, and he will neither relinquish his +claims to the Spanish throne nor move hand or foot in prosecuting +them. 'If chance will have me king, why let chance crown me, +without my stir.' (He was meditating evasion at this time, and +got away undiscovered soon after.) They say he can get all the +money he wants from his partisans in Spain, and that there is no +lack of wealth in the country. Strange infatuation when men will +spend their blood and their money for such a miserable object. If +he had anything like spirit, enterprise, and courage, he would +make a fine confusion in Spain, and probably succeed; his +departure from the Peninsula and taking refuge here has not +caused the war to languish in the north. Admiral Napier is +arrived, and has taken a lodging close to him in Portsmouth. +Miraflores paid a droll compliment to Madame de Lieven the other +night. She was pointing out the various beauties at some ball, +and among others Lady Seymour, and asked him if he did not admire +her. He said, 'Elle est trop jeune, trop fraiche,' and then, with +a tender look and squeezing her hand, 'J'aime les femmes un peu +passees.' + + +July 4th, 1834 {p.099} + +The other night Stanley made a fierce speech on Irish tithes, and +plainly showed that no reconciliation between him and the +Government is feasible. Last night Littleton made a melancholy +exhibition with O'Connell. Formerly a Minister must have resigned +who cut such a figure; now it is very different, for no matter +how unfit a man may be, it is ten to one nobody better can be +found to replace him. A more disgraceful affair never was seen; +the Tories chuckled, the Government and their friends were +disgusted, ashamed, and vexed; Durham sat under the gallery and +enjoyed the fun. + +I was at Woolwich yesterday to see the yacht in which the Queen +is to sail to the Continent. Such luxury and splendour, and such +gorgeous preparations. She will sail like Cleopatra down the +Cydnus, and though she will have no beautiful boys like Cupids to +fan her, she will be attended by Emily Bagot, who is as beautiful +as the Mater Cupidinum. She will return to her beggarly country +in somewhat different trim from that in which she left it, with +all her earls and countesses, equipages, pages, valets, dressers, +&c. The Duke of Wellington gave a great ball the other night, and +invited all the Ministers. The Chancellor was there till three or +four o'clock in the morning, and they say it was very amusing to +see the Duke doing the honours to him. The Tories have had a +great disappointment in the Finsbury election, which they fancied +Pownall was sure of carrying the first day, but Tommy Duncombe +beat him hollow the second. It is certainly a great exhibition of +Radical strength in that metropolitan district, and may serve to +sober the Tories a little, and bring some of them down from their +high horses. + + +July 6th, 1834 {p.100} + +[Page Head: STANLEY'S THIMBLERIG SPEECH.] + +When I wrote the above I had not read Stanley's speech, and had +only heard he had used very strong language. I was greatly +astonished when I did read it, and fully concur in the nearly +universal opinion that, however clever and laughable it may have +been, it was a most injudicious and unfortunate exhibition, and +is calculated to do him a serious and lasting injury. (This was +the famous 'thimblerig' speech.) I do not know when I have read +or heard so virulent and coarse an invective, and it is rather +disgusting than anything else to see such an one fired off at the +men with whom he has been acting for some years (up to three +weeks ago), with whom he declared his entire concurrence on every +other question, from whom he expressed the liveliest regret at +separating, and to whom he was individually bound by the +strongest ties of friendship and regard. (It will be seen that he +made similar professions when he separated from Peel's Government +in '46, and instantly rushed into a similar opposition.) The +Tories cheered him lustily; and what must he on reflection think +of such cheers, and of his position in the House--to be halloa'd +on by the party which he has hitherto treated with the greatest +contempt, and which he thinks the very essence of bigotry and +prejudice, at least on all secular matters, against his old +friends and colleagues, to whom he is still allied in opinion +upon almost every great question of foreign or domestic policy? +He availed himself of his knowledge that there was nobody on the +Treasury Bench who could answer him to fling out this spiteful +and intemperate invective. If Brougham could have been thrown for +half an hour into the House, 'like an eagle into a dovecot,' what +a grand opportunity there would have been for his tremendous +sarcasm to vent itself. As it was, Stanley went away unscathed, +for though Althorp was not bad in the few words he said with +great good-humour, and Littleton made a very tolerable speech, +the former twaddled, and the latter has been too much damaged to +allow of his saying anything with effect; besides, he quoted a +speech of Stanley's against him (at all times a poor argument) +and did not quote the whole of it. I dare say Peel was not very +sorry to hear Stanley's speech, and justly estimated the value of +the cheers with which it was hailed. It places him at an +immeasurable distance below Peel, and puts an end to any +pretensions of rivalship, if he ever entertained any. If a +junction is to take place between them, Stanley must be content +with a subordinate part; and, act with whomsoever he may, he will +never inspire real confidence or conciliate real esteem. I +entertain this opinion with regret, and could have wished he had +cut a better figure. I dined with a Tory at the 'Travellers' +yesterday, and he said, 'Of course we cheered him as loudly as we +could; we want to get him, but I must own that it was a very +injudicious speech and very unbecoming.' These are the sort of +events in a man's life which influence his destiny ever after; it +is not that his political career will be marred, or that anything +can prevent his talents rendering it on the whole important, and +probably successful, but there is a revulsion in men's minds +about him, which cannot fail to produce a silent, but in the end +a sensible effect upon his fortunes. It is remarkable that Lord +Derby, who is a very shrewd and sagacious old man, never would +hear of his grandson's superlative merits, and always in the +midst of his triumphs questioned his ultimate success. + + +July 10th, 1834 {p.101} + +Came to town last night from Newmarket, and found things in a +fine state. Althorp had resigned three days ago; his resignation +was accepted, on which Lord Grey resigned too. Both of them +explained in Parliament last night, Lord Grey, as they tell me, +in a very moving and gentlemanlike speech, admirably delivered. +The Duke of Wellington made a violent attack upon him in reply, +which it is thought he might as well have omitted. (The Duke's +speech gave great disgust to many even of his own party, and was +afterwards assigned as a reason by Stanley and his friends for +not taking office with the Duke.) Nobody knows what is to happen. +The King sent for Melbourne, and his nephew, John Ponsonby, told +me last night he believed he would endeavour to carry on the +Government; but whether he does or not it can't last; the Whig +Government is virtually at an end. The Tories, who were shouting +the night before last, are considerably disappointed that the +King did not instantly avail himself of Lord Grey's resignation +to send for them, or at least for Peel. I don't suppose, however, +that it is from any predilection for the Whigs that he tries to +bolster up this Government, but he is said to have an exceeding +horror of a dissolution, and it is just possible he may be acting +under some good advice surreptitiously conveyed to him, for under +all circumstances I think he is taking the most prudent part he +can. It is very essential that he should have no hand in the +dissolution of this Cabinet, and if he does his best to +reconstruct it, and gives the remaining Ministers a fair trial, +he will have a good right to call upon the House of Commons and +the country to support him in any ulterior measures that +circumstances may compel him to adopt. + +[Page Head: CAUSES OF THE RETIREMENT OF LORD GREY.] + +Thus Littleton has been the instrument of breaking up this +Government; a man powerless to serve his party has contrived to +destroy it. It is curious to trace this matter from the outset. +When Hobhouse threw up his office and his seat, it was extremely +difficult to find a successor to him in the Irish Office, +principally because not one man in fifty could procure a seat in +Parliament, or his re-election if already there. In this +emergency Littleton volunteered his services; he was sure of his +seat, and he wanted eventually a peerage, so he wrote to Lord +Grey, and said that if he thought him capable of filling the +place he would undertake it.[6] Nothing better suggested itself; +it was a way out of the difficulty, and they closed with his +offer. No man could be less fit for such a situation; his talents +are slender, his manners unpopular, and his vanity considerable. +When warned against O'Connell he said, 'Oh, leave me to manage +Dan,' and manage him he did with a vengeance, and a pretty Tartar +he caught. His first attempts at management were exhibited in the +business of Baron Smith. When the Coercion question came to be +agitated, he thought himself very cunning in beginning a little +intrigue without the knowledge of his colleagues, and he wrote to +Lord Wellesley for the purpose of prevailing upon him to +recommend to the Cabinet that the Bill should pass without the +strong clauses, and most unaccountably Lord Wellesley did so.[7] +He stated that this omission was desirable on account of +circumstances connected with the Government in England, and Lord +Wellesley replied that if it was necessary on that account he +would contrive to manage matters without the clauses. Upon this +he put himself in communication with O'Connell, and never +doubting that his and Lord Wellesley's advice (in accordance as +it was with the opinions of certain members of this Cabinet) +would prevail, he gave O'Connell those expectations the +disappointment of which produced the scene between them in the +House of Commons. Lord Grey, however, was equally astonished and +dissatisfied with this last recommendation of Lord Wellesley's, +which was directly at variance with the opinion he had given some +time before, and he accordingly asked him to explain why he had +changed his mind, and requested him to reconsider his latter +opinion. He still replied that if it was necessary, he would do +without the clauses. Upon this there was a discussion in the +Cabinet, and Althorp, Grant, Ellice, Abercromby, and Rice were in +a minority, who, however, ultimately gave in to the majority. All +this time Littleton went on negotiating with O'Connell,[8] having +told Althorp alone that he was doing so, though not telling him +all that passed, and neither of them telling Lord Grey. Upon the +_blow-up_ which O'Connell made, Althorp very unnecessarily +resolved to resign, and when he did Lord Grey followed his +example. + + [6] [This statement, though doubtless current at the time, + is to my certain knowledge entirely inaccurate. Mr. + Littleton was confined to his sofa at the time by an + accident, and knew little of what was going on. Nobody + was more surprised than himself to receive from Lord + Grey a spontaneous and unexpected offer of the Chief + Secretaryship of Ireland. He was fully aware of the + extreme difficulties of the office, which was at that + moment perhaps the most important in the Government. + With equal modesty and candour he distrusted his own + ability to fill it, and he still more distrusted his + own want of caution and prudence, which was his weak + point. He accepted it, however, to relieve the + Government from embarrassment, but he accompanied his + acceptance with a declaration to Lord Grey that he + would gladly resign his office whenever a better man + could be found to fill it. It had previously been + offered to Mr. Abercromby, who refused to accept it + without a seat in the Cabinet.] + + [7] [These details are also far from accurate, as has now + been demonstrated by the publication (1872) of Lord + Hatherton's own memoir on the subject, and of the + original correspondence, which proves that the letter + to Lord Wellesley was written at the instigation of the + Lord Chancellor, and that it expressed the deliberate + opinions of several members of the Cabinet. It must, + however, be acknowledged that it was written without + the knowledge of Lord Grey and in opposition to his + views. The subsequent communication made by Mr. + Littleton to O'Connell was made with the knowledge and + concurrence of Lord Althorp, though Mr. Littleton said + more to O'Connell than Lord Althorp had intended--an + indiscretion which Mr. Littleton himself admitted: but + O'Connell made a very base and ungenerous use of the + confidence which had been extended to him.] + + [8] [Mr. Littleton had but one conversation with + O'Connell.] + +[Page Head: POPULARITY OF LORD ALTHORP.] + +The Tories have been mighty cock-a-hoop, but their joy is a good +deal damped within the last twelve hours, for it is now +universally believed that Althorp will be prevailed upon to +remain, and will himself be at the head of the Government. His +popularity is so great in the House of Commons, and there is such +a dread of a dissolution, that if this arrangement takes place +they will scramble on some time longer, and at this advanced +period of the session it may be doubted whether the House of +Lords will throw out any of their essential measures. I met +Duncannon, Ellice, and John Russell this evening riding, and they +seemed in very good spirits. I have no doubt Ellice and Duncannon +have had a main hand in all this business, and that they urged on +Littleton to do what he did. The House was adjourned till Monday, +to afford time for the new arrangement. Brougham spoke like a +maniac last night, and his statements were at direct variance +with Althorp's, the latter declaring that they were all out and +the former that they were all still in office, and that Grey and +Althorp had alone resigned. + + +July 12th, 1834 {p.105} + +I went out of town yesterday morning, and did not return till +seven o'clock; in the meantime affairs were materially altered. I +met Duncannon riding with a face as long as the pictures of +Hudibras, which at once told the tale of baffled hopes. +Melbourne's negotiation had failed entirely. 'Jack,'[9] who was +backed at even against the field the night before in the House of +Commons, would have nothing to say to it. I have not yet heard in +detail the circumstances of this failure, but it will probably +turn out that the King insisted upon some Conservative conditions, +or an attempt at coalition, which is a favourite plan of his. +Yesterday it was generally expected that Peel would be sent for, +or the Duke of Wellington. Peel called at Apsley House and was +with the Duke a long time yesterday, and afterwards, as the Duke +rode through the Park, Ellice, who was sitting on his horse +talking to Sir Edward Kerrison, said, 'There goes a man who knows +more than he did an hour ago.' It is expected that Peel, if called +upon, will endeavour to form and carry on a Government; but +opinions are greatly divided as to the support he would get in the +House of Commons, and as to the effect of a dissolution, should he +be driven to adopt that hazardous alternative. I think that almost +everything depends upon the course which Althorp takes, as far as +the rest of this session is concerned. His popularity in the House +of Commons is very great, and even surprising; it is a proof of +the influence which personal character may obtain when unadorned +with great abilities and shining parts; his remarkable _bonhommie_, +unalterable good nature and good temper, the conviction of his +honesty and sincerity, and of his want of ambition, his +single-mindedness, his unfeigned desire to get out of the trammels +and cares of office, have all combined to procure for him greater +personal regard, and to a certain degree greater influence, than +any Minister ever possessed in my recollection. There is no such +feeling as animosity against Althorp. Some detest his principles, +some despise his talents, but none detest or despise the man; and +he is said by those who are judges of such matters to have one +talent, and that is a thorough knowledge of the House of Commons +and great quickness and tact in discovering the bias and +disposition of the House. If Althorp abstains from any rough +opposition, and endeavours to restrain others, upon the principle +of giving a fair trial to those who may have taken his place +because he would not continue to hold it, it is probable that the +majority will avail themselves of such an opportunity for avoiding +a dissolution, and give a sulky and suspicious assent to the +measures of the new Ministry, for a cordial support cannot be +expected. This, however, must depend upon circumstances which are +still _in nubibus_. To-day must, in all probability, decide who is +to attempt the task of forming a Government. Stanley, it is +supposed, if invited, will not join Peel, at least not at present; +all, however, is speculation, curiosity, and excitement. + + [9] [The cant name given at the time to John, Lord + Althorp.] + + +July 13th, 1834 {p.106} + +[Page Head: LORD GREY AND STANLEY.] + +All yesterday nothing was done; the King remains very quietly at +Windsor, still in communication with Melbourne, and I believe with +the Chancellor. He declines talking upon the present state of +affairs to anybody. What he wanted was, that some attempt should +be made towards a coalition, but this the remaining Ministers +would not consent to. Poulett Thomson called on me at my office in +the afternoon, and told me that it was by no means true that +Althorp would not on any terms take the Government; but that he +would not unless he had _carte blanche_, in which case he could +not refuse it; if he did refuse, Thomson added, that everybody +ought to support Peel or _any Tory_ Government. He is convinced +that if Peel took the Government he would be driven out by the +House of Commons _instanter_, unless he could show that he had +done so in consequence of the King being deserted by the present +men. I afterwards met Mulgrave, who had been riding with Althorp, +who told him that though it would be very disagreeable to him on +every account, and especially as regards Lord Grey, he might have +it put to him in a way that left him no option. Lord Grey and his +friends and family think that he has been extremely ill-used, and +they are indignant with all the actors in the Littleton affair, +and only burning with desire to expose those who are still +concealed. Charles Grey talked to me for half an hour in the lobby +of the Opera House last night, and said that Lord Wellesley ought +to disclose all that was still secret in the transaction, and +produce the private letters he had received from England, and by +which his opinions and advice had been influenced. Such letters +they know were written, and they believe by the Chancellor; this +belief, whether it turns out to be true or false, is, I perceive, +very general. It is inconceivable what a reputation that man has, +and how universally he is distrusted, and despised as much as +anybody with such great abilities can be. His political character +is about on a par with Whittle Harvey's moral character; his +insolence and swaggering, bullying tone in the House of Lords have +excited as much disgust out of the House as they have given +offence in it, and the only excuse for him is--what many people +believe--that there is a taint of madness about him. The other +night, in his reply to the Duke of Wellington's violent and +foolish speech, he chose to turn upon Lord Rolle, a very old man +and a choleric, hard-bitten old Tory. Rolle was greatly +exasperated, and after he sat down went up to him on the Woolsack +and said, 'My Lord, I wish you to know that I have the greatest +contempt for you both in this House and out of it.' + +While Lord Grey has been very indignant against the plotters in +his Cabinet he has been sorely wounded by the seceders, or rather +by the chief of them, Stanley; but this has been all made up in a +way soothing enough to his feelings, but not advantageous, though +not discreditable, to Stanley. The latter wrote a letter to Lord +Grey expressing his deep regret at having said anything to offend +him, disclaiming the slightest intention of the kind, pouring +forth the warmest protestations of gratitude, veneration, and +attachment to him, and finishing by an assurance that he would +take office under nobody else. After the gross attack he made it +is honourable in him to make such an apology, but it only enhances +the folly of his former conduct to find himself placed under the +necessity of writing a penitential letter. Lord Grey replied in +corresponding terms, and he says they shall be as good friends +again as ever, and that Stanley's speech shall henceforward be +forgotten; but it will be very long before the effect produced by +it will be forgotten, or that the recollection of it will cease to +have an influence on Stanley's reputation and prospects. His +especial friends, the other seceders, were as much annoyed at it +as anybody; and the Duchess of Richmond told me that her husband +regretted it very bitterly. It is but justice to Richmond to own +that he has acted a fair, open, and manly part in this business, +and has satisfied all parties. Lord Grey was not annoyed at what +passed between them in the House of Lords, and their friendship +has never suffered any interruption. + + +July 15th, 1834 {p.108} + +This interval of feverish anxiety has ended by the formation of +the Administration being entrusted to Lord Melbourne. He refused +to undertake it unless Althorp could stay with him. The King +wanted Lord Grey to come back, and spoke to Taylor about it, but +he told him it was out of the question, and therefore the King +did not propose it, but he has constantly written to him in the +most flattering terms, and desired he might be consulted in every +step of these proceedings. Lord Grey has acted very cordially +towards Melbourne, and pressed Althorp so earnestly to stay that +he has consented, and last night the announcements were made to +the two Houses. The Tories (the High and foolish) are down in the +mouth, but Peel is himself well content not to have been mixed up +in the concern. The present conjecture is that Abercromby will go +to the Home Office and Durham to Ireland. Nobody thinks the +Government will last long, and everybody 'wonders' how Melbourne +will do it. He is certainly a queer fellow to be Prime Minister, +and he and Brougham are two wild chaps to have the destinies of +this country in their hands. I should not be surprised if +Melbourne was to rouse his dormant energies and be excited by the +greatness of his position to display the vigour and decision in +which he is not deficient. Unfortunately his reputation is not +particularly good; he is considered lax in morals, indifferent in +religion, and very loose and pliant in politics. He is supposed +to have consented to measures of which he disapproved because it +suited his ease and convenience to do so, and because he was +actuated by no strong political principles or opinions. + + +July 17th, 1834 {p.109} + +[Page Head: LORD DUNCANNON HOME SECRETARY.] + +Yesterday it was announced that Duncannon is to be Secretary of +State and called to the House of Peers; Hobhouse in his place and +in the Cabinet, and to stand for Nottingham. This completes the +concern; Duncannon Secretary of State! Who could ever have +thought of him in such a station? His proper element seemed to be +the House of Commons, where he was a bustling, zealous partisan +and a very good whipper-in; but he cannot speak at all, and +though a tolerably candid talker, his capacity is slender; he has +no pretensions of any sort to a high office, and nothing but +peculiar circumstances could put him in one; but the difficulty +has been how to deal with Durham, for the majority of the Cabinet +were decided upon having nothing to do with him, although there +were some few who wanted to take him in. By I know not what +process of reasoning they arrived at the conclusion that +Duncannon's elevation was the only solution of this difficulty, +but so it is, for I believe he would have preferred to stay in +his old place. They are all in raptures with the King, and with +his straightforward dealing on this occasion. In the first +instance he desired Melbourne to write to the Duke, Peel, and +Stanley, stating his wish that an Administration should be formed +upon a wide and comprehensive plan. He wrote accordingly to each, +and with his letters he sent copies of his own letter to the +King, in which he gave his opinion that the formation of such a +Government was impossible. The Duke and Peel each replied, with +expressions of duty, to his Majesty, that they agreed with Lord +Melbourne, but did not see any necessity for giving reasons for +their opinions. The King, however, desired to have their reasons, +which have since been sent to him by them. Stanley wrote a long +letter, with a peremptory refusal to form part of any such +Government. He appears anxious to pacify the Whigs by disclaiming +any intention of connecting himself with the Tories. Though all +the Grey family are very indignant, and by no means silent, at +the way the Earl has been treated, he has behaved with great +temper and forbearance, and has lent his old colleagues his +cordial assistance in patching up the broken concern. + + +July 19th, 1834 {p.110} + +[Page Head: O'CONNELL AND THE COERCION BILL.] + +Two angry debates in the Lords last night and the night before; I +was present at the last, but not at the first. On Thursday Lord +Wicklow made a virulent attack on the Government; the Duke of +Buckingham was coarse, the Chancellor rabid, and a disgraceful +scene of confusion and disorder arose. Melbourne made his first +speech, declaration, and explanation, and is thought to have done +it very well--a good beginning. Last night Wharncliffe moved for +the production of Lord Wellesley's letter, by which the opinion +of the Cabinet had been shaken about the Coercion Bill. Lord Grey +made a very handsome speech indeed, throwing his shield over his +old colleagues, declaring he neither complained nor had he been +ill-used, and entreated that the new Government might be fairly +tried, and not embarrassed without cause in the outset. It was +certainly the speech of a thorough gentleman, but the case is +after all a bad one. The dates show what must have happened. It +was on the 20th of June that Mr. Littleton told O'Connell there +was a discussion going on in the Cabinet, and that the Coercion +Bill was not yet settled. Now on the 20th of June it _was_ +settled, but on the 23rd of June came Lord Wellesley's letter, +which unsettled it.[10] It is clear, then, that a communication +was made to Lord Wellesley which it was confidently expected +would elicit from him such a letter as would enable the authors +of the communication to revive the discussion, and Littleton, not +being able to wait for its arrival, anticipated it, and told +O'Connell that the discussion was begun before the cause of it +was in operation. There certainly never was a more complete +underhand intrigue perpetrated than this, and although no +official document, or demi-official will now be produced to +reveal the name of the prime mover, everybody's finger is pointed +at Brougham, and the young Greys make no secret of their +conviction that he is the man. But undoubtedly the greatest evil +resulting from the proceedings and the termination of them (in +the reconstruction of this Government, with its additions, and +the alteration of the Bill) is the vast increase which must be +made to the power and authority of O'Connell. He has long been +able to make the Irish believe anything he pleases, and he will +certainly have no difficulty in persuading them that he himself +has brought about this state of things, that he has ousted Lord +Grey, introduced Duncannon (who of all the Whigs has been his +greatest friend), and expunged the obnoxious clauses from the +Coercion Bill, and the fact is that all this is not very far from +the truth. Between his dexterity in availing himself of +circumstances and his betrayal of Littleton, between the folly of +some men and the baseness of others, he has appeared the most +prominent character in the drama. Even now I cannot make out +_why_ everybody wished the Bill to be thus emasculated, for there +would have been no difficulty in passing it through both Houses. +To the surprise of everybody Littleton is suffered to keep his +place, probably by the protection of Althorp, who may have been +as dogged about him on this occasion as he was about the +Speakership, and as he is considered (on account of his +character) so indispensable in the House of Commons, of course he +can make his own terms.[11] + + [10] [This again is not accurate. It was on the 23rd of + June, _after_ the arrival of Lord Wellesley's letter, + that Mr. Littleton saw O'Connell. The question was + still under discussion on that day, and the opinions of + different members of the Cabinet were much divided. + Those Ministers (including the Chancellor) who were + opposed to the renewal of the Coercion Bill in its + integrity wished to secure the assent of Lord Wellesley + to their views. After the receipt of Lord Wellesley's + letter of the 21st of June both Lord Melbourne and Lord + Althorp declared that 'it was impossible to ask + Parliament for an unconstitutional power which the + Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland had been led to disclaim.' + (See Hatherton's Memoir, p. 13.) The question was not + finally settled till the Cabinet of the 20th of June. + Mr. Littleton had been distinctly informed by Lord + Althorp, on the same day that he saw O'Connell, that + the matter was not settled, and that he (Lord Althorp) + would resign rather than allow the disputed clauses to + form part of the new Bill.] + + [11] [This was so. Lord Althorp positively refused to hold + office in the Melbourne Government, unless Mr. + Littleton could be prevailed upon to resume and retain + his office as Irish Secretary. Nothing could be more + honourable to both parties than this conduct of Lord + Althorp; but it was due to the fact that he had himself + been a party to the communication made by Mr. Littleton + to O'Connell, and that he knew Mr. Littleton had been + exposed to more censure than he deserved.] + + +July 20th, 1834 {p.112} + +At Court yesterday to swear in Duncannon Secretary of State. He +told me he had made Stanley[12] (the man they call Sir Benjamin +Backbite, and familiarly Ben) his under-secretary, telling him he +must speak, for that he (Duncannon) could not. Auckland and +Duncannon will not certainly add much to the oratorical splendour +of the Government. Ellice was there, and told me about a grand +case the Tories have got hold of against him, growing out of Lord +Western's evidence in Whittle Harvey's Committee. It there came +out that Western had applied to Ellice, then Secretary of the +Treasury (at the time of the great Reform election), for money to +assist at the Colchester election, and he sent L500. They want to +make out that this was public money, but they won't catch him. He +says several individuals subscribed large sums, which were placed +at his disposal to be employed to the best advantage for the +cause. He will get out of it. He talked of the Government, said +it was a great error to suppose it was inclined to _movement_ +principles, and that in point of fact there was very little +difference, except on Church matters, between Sir Robert Peel and +himself, that there never was so good a House of Commons for the +Government, that in all this mess--for mess it was--the Tories +could not succeed in getting up a feeling or a prejudice against +the Government, and it was clear they were utterly powerless +there, that the House only required to be a little cajoled, and +was easily led; the word Reform was still potent there, and had +only to be uttered on occasions to bring the majority round when +they began to show a refractory disposition. + + [12] [Afterwards Lord Stanley of Alderney.] + + +July 21st, 1834 {p.112} + +[Page Head: LORD MELBOURNE'S ADMINISTRATION.] + +The Chancellor and the Hollands urged Lord Grey to take the Privy +Seal. This Sefton told me as a great secret yesterday, but the +indignation of the Greys burst through all restraint, and they +told it 'a qui voulait les entendre,' with every expression of +rage and disgust, 'adding insult to injury.' Lord Grey was more +philosophical, and rather smiled at the proposition, but he did +not repress the pious resentment of his children. The Grey women +would murder the Chancellor if they could. It certainly was a +curious suggestion. The Hollands think of nothing on earth but +how they may best keep the Duchy of Lancaster, and they fancied +Lord Grey's holding the Privy Seal might be of service to the +Government, and if they could make him commit such a _bassesse_ +so much the better. It is not always easy to discover the +Chancellor's motives, but as he is as vindictive as he is false +and tricking, he perhaps took this opportunity of revenging +himself for the old offer of the Attorney-Generalship, which he +has never forgiven.[13] + + [13] [This view of the case is certainly unjust to Lord + Brougham, who had more respect and regard for Lord Grey + than for any other statesman of the time, as his + correspondence with the Earl, now recently published in + Brougham's 'Posthumous Memoirs' sufficiently proves.] + [The first Administration of Lord Melbourne was + thus constituted: + First Lord of the Treasury Viscount Melbourne. + Lord Chancellor Lord Brougham. + Lord President Marquis of Lansdowne. + Home Secretary Viscount Duncannon. + Foreign Secretary Viscount Palmerston. + Colonial Secretary Mr. Spring Rice. + Chancellor of the Exchequer Viscount Althorp. + Admiralty Lord Auckland. + Board of Control Mr. Charles Grant. + Board of Trade Mr. Poulett Thomson. + Duchy of Lancaster Lord Holland. + Paymaster of the Forces Lord John Russell. + Secretary-at-War Mr. Edward Ellice. + Lord Privy Seal Earl of Mulgrave. + Postmaster-General Marquis of Conyngham. + Irish Secretary Mr. Littleton.] + + + + + CHAPTER XXIV. + +Taylor's 'Philip van Artevelde'--Goodwood--Earl Bathurst's + Death--Death of Mrs. Arbuthnot--Overtures to O'Connell--Irish + Tithe Bill--Theodore Hook's Improvisation--Lord Westmeath's + Case in the Privy Council--First Council of Lord Melbourne's + Government and Prorogation--Brougham's Vagaries--Lord Durham's + Exclusion--The Edinburgh Dinner--Windsor and Meiningen--Spencer + Perceval--Lord Grey's Retirement--The Westmeath Case again--The + Queen's Return--Melbourne and Tom Young--Holland House-- + Reflections--Conversation on the Poets--Miscellaneous Chat-- + Lord Melbourne's Literary Attainments--Lord Holland's Anecdotes + of Great Orators--Execution of Charles I.--Lord Melbourne's + Opinion of Henry VIII.--The 'Times' attacks Lord Brougham--His + Tour in Scotland--His Unpopularity--Cowper's Secret--Canning on + Reform--Lord Melbourne on Palmerston and Brougham--Canning and + Brougham in 1827--Senior--Lord Melbourne and the Benthamites-- + His Theology--Spanish Eloquence--The Harley Papers--The Turf-- + Death of Lord Spencer--The Westmeath Case heard--Law + Appointments--Bickersteth--Louis Philippe's Position. + + +July 23rd, 1834 {p.114} + +Brougham spoke for four hours on the Poor Law Bill on Monday, and +made a luminous speech; Alvanley, to people's amusement, spoke, +and against the Bill; he spoke tolerably well--a grave speech and +got compliments. + + +July 24th, 1834 {p.114} + +Read Reeves' 'History of English Law,' finished Henry Taylor's +'Van Artevelde,' and read 250 lines of Virgil. 'Philip van +Artevelde' is a poem of extraordinary merit, and the offspring of +a vigorous and independent mind. The author, who is my particular +friend, and for whom I have a sincere regard and a great +admiration, took his work to Murray, who gave it to Lockhart to +read. Lockhart advised Murray not to publish it, at least at his +own risk, but he bestowed great encomiums on the work, and urged +Taylor to publish it himself. He did so, without much expectation +that it would be popular, and has been agreeably surprised to +find that in a short space of time a second edition is called +for. With the vivacity of a sanguine disposition, and a +confidence in the sterling merits of his poem, he now believes +that edition will follow edition like wave upon wave, in which I +fear he will be disappointed. [When the first edition was all +sold, and a second called for, he made up his account with his +publisher, and the balance was L37 _against_ him.--November +29th.] + + +August 5th, 1834 {p.115} + +At Goodwood for the races, so read nothing except half of +Jacquemont's Letters and a little book I picked up, the 'History +of the Grand Vizier Coprogli;' called to town on Wednesday last +for a Council, to swear in Mulgrave Privy Seal; went to Petworth +on my way for one night. Stanley was at Goodwood, absorbed in +racing, billiards, and what not; nobody would have guessed that +all this rough and rustic gaiety covered ambition, eloquence, and +powers which must make him one of the most eminent men, though +his reputation is not what it was. + +[Page Head: DEATH AND CHARACTER OF LORD BATHURST.] + +While I was there news came of Lord Bathurst's death. He was a +very amiable man and with a good understanding, though his +talents were far from brilliant, a High Churchman and a High +Tory, but a cool politician, a bad speaker, a good writer, +greatly averse to changes, but unwillingly acquiescing in many. +He was nervous and reserved, with a good deal of humour, and +habitually a jester. His conversation was generally a series of +jokes, and he rarely discussed any subject but in a ludicrous +vein. His conduct to Napoleon justly incurred odium, for although +he was only one of many, he was the Minister through whom the +orders of Government passed, and he suffered the principal share +of the reproach which was thrown upon the Cabinet for their rude +and barbarous treatment of the Emperor at St. Helena. He had not +a lively imagination, and his feelings were not excited by the +contemplation of such a striking example of fallen greatness. I +was Lord Bathurst's private secretary for several years, but so +far from feeling any obligation to him, I always consider his +mistaken kindness in giving me that post as the source of all my +misfortunes and the cause of my present condition. He never +thought fit to employ me, never associated me with the interests +and the business of his office, and consequently abandoned me at +the age of eighteen to that life of idleness and dissipation from +which I might have been saved had he felt that my future +prospects in life, my character and talents, depended in great +measure upon the direction which was at that moment given to my +mind. He would probably have made me a Tory (which I should +hardly have remained), but I should have become a man of +business, and of the antagonist tastes which divided my mind that +for literature and employment would have got the better of that +for amusement and idleness, instead, as unfortunately happened, +of the latter prevailing over the former. Though I knew Lord +Bathurst so long, and was his private secretary for some years, +and his family and mine have always been so intimate, I had no +real intimacy with him. From what I have learnt from others I am +disposed to rate his abilities more highly than the world has +done. He was the friend and devoted admirer of Pitt, and a +regular Tory of the old school, who felt that evil days had come +upon him in his old age. When he left office with the Duke of +Wellington he resolved upon finally quitting public life, and let +what might happen, never to take office again. On coming to town +yesterday I heard of another death--Mrs. Arbuthnot, after a short +illness. The Duke of Wellington, with whom she had lived in the +most intimate relations for many years, evinced a good deal of +feeling, but he is accused of insensibility because he had the +good taste and sense to smooth his brow and go to the House of +Lords with a cheerful aspect. She was not a clever woman, but she +was neither dull nor deficient, and very prudent and silent. + + +August 6th, 1834 {p.116} + +To my office, then to the House of Lords and heard a discussion +on foreign politics; not very amusing; Melbourne not so good as +Grey would have been. The Duke spoke, but he looked very ill. +Walked from the House with Lord Carnarvon, who is an intelligent +man, but a great alarmist and very desponding; he thinks we are +going on step by step to an utter subversion of all interests and +institutions. + + +August 7th, 1834 {p.117} + +[Page Head: IRISH TITHE BILL.] + +Yesterday I met the Duke of Wellington, who talked to me of Mrs. +Arbuthnot; I walked away from my office with Duncannon, who told +me that O'Connell's amendment in the Tithe Bill met with his +concurrence (and in fact, though he did not exactly say as much, +his connivance). He said he was sure this Bill was the only +chance for the Irish Church, which he was very anxious to save +and support; expressed great anxiety to make it up with O'Connell +by giving him a great judicial situation, is convinced he is +sincere (at the moment) in all he says, but that he is so vain +and excitable and ambitious that when he returns to Ireland he +forgets all he has promised or professed; the demon of agitation +regains the ascendant, and he bursts into all those excesses +which have made him so odious and formidable; but there is no +chance of any arrangement with him, for the majority of the +Government would not hear of it. I dined at the 'Travellers;' +walked to a fire in Edward Street, where I amused myself with the +strange figures and groups, the glare, bustle, and noise. There +was Duncannon again, a Secretary of State jostling and jostled in +the mob. + + +August 12th, 1834 {p.117} + +On Saturday to Hillingdon, and back yesterday; passed the night +at the House of Lords, to hear the debate on the Irish Tithe +Bill.[1] At a meeting at Apsley House the Tory Lords came to an +unanimous resolution to throw out the Bill, and at one or two +meetings at Lambeth the bishops agreed to do the same. The debate +was heavy; Melbourne very unlike Lord Grey, whose forte was +leading the House of Lords and making speeches on such occasions. +Ellenborough spoke the best, I think. I hardly ever heard such +unbroken fluency, and a good deal of _stuff_, too, in his speech. +Ellice and Spring Rice both told me that this decision was the +most fatal and most important that had occurred for years; the +latter said that no tithe would be paid, but that there would be +no _active_ resistance. Such tithe property as could be seized +would not be sold, because there would be no purchasers for it. +One thing is clear to me, that those Tories who are always +bellowing 'revolution' and 'spoliation,' and who talk of the +gradual subversion of every institution and the imminent peril in +which all our establishments are placed, do not really believe +one word of what they say, and, instead of being oppressed with +fear, they are buoyed up with delusive confidence and courage; +for if they did indeed believe that the Church--the Church of +Ireland especially--was in danger, and that its preservation was +the one paramount desideratum, they would gladly avert, as far as +they might, that danger by a compromise involving a very small +(if any) sacrifice of principle, and which would secure to the +Irish clergy, as far as human prudence, legislative sanction, and +the authority of law can secure it, a permanent and a competent +provision, free from the danger and the odium which have for a +long time past embittered the existence of every clergyman in the +country. It is a curious speculation to see what the effect will +be of this vote practically in Ireland on the condition of the +clergy, and upon public opinion here. + + [1] [The Irish Tithe Bill was thrown out by the House of + Lords by 189 to 122.] + +It is difficult to understand why the Lords did not alter the +Bill in Committee and restore it to its original state, that +which Ellenborough said he would not have opposed, and which had +been already sanctioned by a great majority of the House of +Commons upon the report of a Committee. If they had done this, +either the Bill must have passed in this less obnoxious shape or +the odium of its rejection would have been thrown upon the +Commons, and the Lords would undoubtedly have had an excellent +case to present to the country. But if there is a wall they are +sure to run their heads against it, and if there is none they +build one up for the purpose. What puzzles me most is the +opposition of the clergy; they are the parties most immediately +and most deeply interested in this Bill, and yet the great +majority of them appear to be opposed _totis viribus_ to it. + + +August 13th, 1834 {p.118} + +[Page Head: THEODORE HOOK.] + +Dined at Roehampton yesterday with Farquhar. Mrs. Norton and Mrs. +Blackwood and Theodore Hook dined there among others. After +dinner he displayed his extraordinary talent of improvisation, +which I had never heard but once before, and then he happened not +to be in the vein. Last night he was very brilliant. Each lady +gave him a subject, such as the 'Goodwood Cup,' the 'Tithe Bill;' +one 'could not think of anything,' when he dashed off and sang +stanzas innumerable, very droll, with ingenious rhymes and +excellent hits, 'his eye begetting occasion for his excellent +wit,' for at every word of interruption or admiration, every look +or motion, he indulged in a digression, always coming back to one +of the themes imposed upon him. It is a _tour de force_, in which +I believe he stands alone, and it is certainly wonderfully well +worth hearing and uncommonly amusing. + + +August 14th, 1834 {p.119} + +Yesterday there was a bother with the Chancellor about Lord +Westmeath's case pending before the Privy Council.[2] He took it +into his head (probably having been got at by Lady Westmeath or +some of her friends) to have it decided forthwith, and sent to +desire a Committee might be convened. Westmeath's counsel was out +of town; Follett, whom he relies on, is on the Northern Circuit, +but his other counsel is to be had, being at Chislehurst. +Accordingly the Chancellor desired that the case might stand over +from Thursday, the day he first appointed it (giving only two +days' notice), to Monday, and that it should be notified to the +parties that if they did not then appear the case should go on +without them. Westmeath came to me in a frenzy of rage, and said +the Chancellor was the greatest of villains, and so he would tell +him in the House of Lords or in the Privy Council. I begged him +to hold his tongue, and I would speak to the Chancellor. So I +went to the House of Lords where he was sitting, and told +Lemarchant what had passed, and that the case ought not to be +thus hurried on. He thanked me very much, and said he would go to +Brougham; but he soon returned, and said that the Chancellor +would hear nothing, and would have the case brought on, and he +therefore advised me not to give myself any further concern in +it, and to leave him and Westmeath to settle it as they might. In +the meantime Westmeath went down to the House of Lords, and after +speaking to Wynford, whom the Chancellor had asked to attend (as +he learnt from me), was going to get up in the House of Lords and +attack him, and was only prevented by Wynford dragging him down +by the tail of his coat. I had already spoken to Wynford, and I +afterwards spoke to Lord Lansdowne, telling them that the case +ought not to be hurried on in this peremptory way, and I +persuaded Lord Lansdowne to set his face against it. However, in +the meantime Wynford had urged the Chancellor to put it off, and +not exasperate that madman, who would say or do something +violent; and, whether from reason or fear, he prevailed on him. +Wynford told me that Brougham is undoubtedly mad, and so I really +believe he is. While I was in the House of Lords Horne came in +from the Commons, and said they had succeeded in stifling there +all discussion on the rejection of the Tithe Bill by the House of +Lords. Grattan was going to introduce the subject, but was +prevailed on to say nothing, and to some questions put by Major +Beauclerck Althorp refused to reply. + + [2] [The appellate jurisdiction in causes matrimonial was + vested at this time in the King in Council. The case of + Westmeath _v._ Westmeath, which was a suit for a + separation and a question of alimony, came up on appeal + from the Court of Arches.] + + +August 16th, 1834 {p.120} + +[Page Head: LORD BROUGHAM.] + +At a Council for the prorogation; the first time I have seen all +these new Ministers in a bunch--a queer set, all things +considered, to be in possession of the Palace. Great change of +decoration. Duncannon, Ellice, Hobhouse, Abercromby, Mulgrave, +Auckland. The King, who is fond of meddling in the Council +business instead of repeating like a parrot what is put in his +mouth, made a bother and confusion about a fancy matter, and I was +forced to go to Taylor and beg to explain it to him, which I did +after the House of Lords. The King was quite knocked up and easily +satisfied, for he neither desired nor could have understood any +explanations. There were not much more than half a dozen Peers in +the House, but many ladies. The Chancellor went down, and, in +presence of the ladies, attired in his golden robes (and +especially before Mrs. P., to whom he makes love), gave a judgment +in some case in which a picture of Nell Gwynne was concerned, and +he was very proud of the _delicacy_ of his judgment. There never +was anything like his exhilaration of spirits and good-humour. I +don't know what has come to him, except it be that he has +scrambled through the session and got Lord Grey out. He wound up +in the House of Lords by the introduction of his Bill for a +Judicial Committee there, which he prefaced by a speech exhibiting +his own judicial acts, and undoubtedly making a capital case for +himself as to diligence and despatch if it be all true (which I +see no reason to doubt), and passing a great eulogium upon the +House of Lords as an institution, and drawing comparisons between +that House and the House of Commons (much to the disadvantage of +the latter), expressing many things which are very true and just +and of a highly conservative tendency. He is a strange being whom, +with all his inconsistencies, one cannot but admire; so varied and +prodigious are his powers. Much more are these lines applicable to +him than to his predecessor on the Woolsack:-- + + Great wits are sure to madness near allied, + And thin partitions do their bounds divide. + +In a speech the other night, by way of putting his audience on a +wrong scent with regard to his correspondence with Lord +Wellesley, he assured them that that correspondence was on any +subject but politics, and in every language except English; and +Lemarchant told somebody that his most difficult employment was +to correct and copy out the Chancellor's Greek epigrams to Lord +Wellesley, his Greek characters being worse than his English; +while Lord Wellesley sent him very neatly written and prettily +composed epigrams in return. I should think Lemarchant's +occupation very amusing, and that no study could be more curious +than that of the mind and actions of this strange specimen of +humanity. + + +August 19th, 1834 {p.121} + +At Stoke from Saturday, the 16th, till yesterday; had much talk +with old Creevey about the Chancellor. Sefton, his great ally, so +resented his conduct to Lord Grey that he was on the point of +quarrelling with him, and Brougham miscalculated so far as to +chuckle to Sefton himself over the improvement of his own +position in the new order of things, telling him that he could +more easily _manage_ Melbourne than he could Lord Grey. They are +a precious set with their squabbles and _tracasseries_. It +appears that they very well knew what Brougham was from the +beginning, especially Grey's womankind, who warned their father +against him, but they all flattered themselves they had taken the +sting out of him by getting him into the House of Lords. Creevey +says that Brougham is devoured with ambition, and what he wants +is to be Prime Minister, but that it is quite impossible he +should for ever escape detection and not be regularly _blown up_ +sooner or later. He now wants to appear on good terms with Lord +Grey, and there is a dinner at Edinburgh in contemplation (at +which Brougham is to preside) to be given to Lord Grey. His +friends want him not to go, but he has a notion that the Scotch +have behaved so well to him that he ought not to refuse the +invitation. The Chancellor had intended to go junketting on the +Rhine with Mrs. P., and this project was only marred by his +discovering that he could not leave the country without putting +the Great Seal in commission at a cost (to himself) of L1,400. +This was a larger price than he was disposed to pay for his trip, +so he went off to Brougham instead. + +On Sunday I went all over the private apartments of Windsor +Castle, and walked through what they call the slopes to the +Queen's cottage; all very splendid and luxurious. In the gallery +there is a model of a wretched-looking dog-hole of a building, +with a ruined tower beside it. I asked what this was, and the +housekeeper said, 'The Chateau of Meiningen;' put there, I +suppose, to enhance by comparison the pleasure of all the +grandeur which surrounds the Queen, for it would hardly have been +exhibited as a philosophical or moral memento of her humble +origin and the low fortune from which she has been raised. + +[Page Head: SPENCER PERCEVAL.] + +As I rode into London yesterday morning I fell in with Spencer +Perceval, and got off my horse to walk into town with him. He +talks rationally enough till he gets on religious topics; he +asked me what I thought of the state of affairs, and, after +telling him my opinion of the condition and prospects of the +Church, I asked him what he thought of them. He said he agreed +with me as to the _status_, but his notion was 'that it all +proceeded from a departure from God,' that ours was a backsliding +Church, and that God had forsaken it, and that we had only to put +our trust in Him, and rely entirely on Him, and He would work out +the salvation of His own. We parted in the midst of the +discussion, and before I had any time to get from him any +explanation of the course he would recommend to those who govern +in furtherance of his own theocratical principles. + +There has been what is called 'a great Protestant meeting' at +Dublin, at which Winchilsea was introduced to the Irish Orangemen +and made one of them. It was great in one way, for there were a +great many fools, who talked a great deal of nonsense and evinced +a disposition to do a great deal of mischief if they can. +Winchilsea's description of himself was undoubtedly true, only it +is true always and of all of them, 'that his feelings were so +excited that he was deprived of what little intellect he +possessed.' + + +August 26th, 1834 {p.123} + +On Friday to Hillingdon, Saturday to Stoke; Lord John Russell, +Medem, Dedel, Tommy Duncombe, D'Orsay. Lord John and I walked to +Bulstrode on Sunday; talked about the Chancellor and the +Government. He said that Lord Holland was struck with Brougham's +want of tact at hearing him press Lord Grey to go to a public +dinner at Edinburgh _because_ he was to be in the chair; that +Lord Grey did not think Brougham had been engaged _ab initio_ in +a plot to get him out. Lord John talked of the House of Lords, +and how it and the House of Commons were to be re-united. He +thinks that the obstinacy of the House of Lords and its Tory +spirit are attributable solely to the numerous creations of the +last thirty or forty years. + +Tommy Duncombe is the greatest political comedy going, he is +engaged in a mediation between the master builders and the +operatives, who have quarrelled about the unions, and an express +came to him from Cubitt after dinner. + +Sefton told me that Lord Grey, when he was at Windsor, had a long +conversation with the King, in which his Majesty expressed no +little dissatisfaction at what had recently occurred and at the +present posture of his affairs. He told me that Lord Grey +certainly would not have continued in office under any circumstances +till Parliament met again, and that, in fact, his continual +propositions to retire and expressions of consciousness of +inability and unfitness had been very embarrassing and annoying +both to his colleagues and the King, and that the latter had +evidently been tired out by them, as was proved by his not making +the slightest effort to induce Lord Grey to remain when he +tendered his resignation. Grey acted very handsomely in giving his +proxy to Melbourne, and the reason he stayed away from the House +of Lords during the latter days of the session was that he was +afraid of being compelled to say something indicative of the real +state of his mind and feelings with regard to past occurrences. + +[Page Head: LORD WESTMEATH'S CASE.] + +When I got to town yesterday, to my great astonishment I found +that the Vice-Chancellor had been at the office with a peremptory +mandate from the Chancellor to bring on the Westmeath case on +Friday next, sent up from Brougham Hall. In my absence the +summonses had been issued, but I desired them all to be recalled, +and the Vice-Chancellor soon after happening to call on me, I told +him what had occurred before, and that the Lord President was +opposed to the cause being thus hurried on. He acquiesced, and +wrote to the Chancellor to say he had heard from me that it could +not be; and so it ended, but I dare say the Chancellor will be in +a violent rage, which I rather enjoy than not.[3] It is very clear +that he intends to exercise paramount authority over the Judicial +Committee, and to consider everything connected with it at his +disposal. When first he had the Privy Council Bill drawn up by one +of his devils, he intended to create a new tribunal, of which he +should be the head, and though he was obliged to give up his +original design, he still considers himself entitled to deal with +the Judicial Committee as he pleases. If the Lord President had +more of the spirit that is due to the office over which he +presides, he would not suffer him to interfere, and I am resolved +if I can to get Lord Lansdowne to assert his own authority. The +Chancellor has promised Sefton that when Mr. Blackburn, now a +judge at the Mauritius, comes home, he shall be made a Privy +Councillor; that Sir Alexander Johnston, who now attends the +sittings of the Council, shall be dismissed, and Blackburn invited +to attend instead of him, and that he shall have L400 a year +(which by the Act he may). This, if it takes place, will be one of +the grossest and most barefaced jobs that ever were perpetrated; +but I think it can never be. What makes it worse is that Brougham +introduced this clause for the express purpose of meeting +Blackburn's case; so he told Sefton, but I suppose it means that +he made the stipend receivable by an ex-judge in _any colony_, +when the pretext for it was the power of obtaining the assistance +of Indian judges.[4] + + [3] [In addition to other reasons, which are obvious, + against this proceeding, it would have been an + unprecedented thing to call on an important appeal for + hearing at the end of August, in the midst of the long + vacation.] + + [4] [No colonial judge has ever been appointed to one of + the assessorships of the Judicial Committee, except Sir + Alexander Johnston, who had been Chief Justice of + Ceylon; but Sir Alexander refused to accept the stipend + (L400 a year) attached to the office, and never did + receive it.] + + +September 4th, 1834 {p.125} + +At Court yesterday. The King came to town to receive the address of +the City on the Queen's return--the most ridiculous address I ever +heard. The Queen was too ill to appear. Her visit to Germany knocked +her up, and well it might, considering the life she led--always up +at six and never in bed till twelve, continual receptions and +ceremonies. Errol told me she showed them her old bedroom in the +palace (as they call it) at Meiningen--a hole that an English +housemaid would think it a hardship to sleep in. + +Stanley (not the ex-Secretary, but the Under-Secretary) told me +last night an anecdote of Melbourne which I can very easily +believe. When the King sent for him he told Young 'he thought it a +damned bore, and that he was in many minds what he should do--be +Minister or no.' Young said, 'Why, damn it, such a position never +was occupied by any Greek or Roman, and, if it only lasts two +months, it is well worth while to have been Prime Minister of +England.' 'By God that's true,' said Melbourne; 'I'll go.' Young +is his private secretary--a vulgar, familiar, impudent fellow, but +of indefatigable industry and a man who suits Melbourne. His taste +is not delicate enough to be shocked at the coarseness, while his +indolence is accommodated by the industry, of his secretary. Then +Young[5] knows many people, many places, and many things; nobody +knows whence he comes or what is his origin, but he was a purser +in the navy, and made himself useful to the Duke of Devonshire +when he went to Russia, who recommended him to Melbourne. He was a +writer and runner for the newspapers, and has always been an +active citizen, struggling and striving to get on in the world, +and probably with no inconsiderable dexterity. I know nothing of +his honesty, for or against it; he seems good-humoured, but vulgar +and familiar. Ben Stanley and I were talking about public men, and +agreed that by far the ablest, and at the same time the most +unscrupulous, of them are Brougham and O'Connell, and that the +latter is probably on the whole the most devoid of principle. +Their characters and adventures would be worthy of a Plutarch. + + [5] [Tom Young was commonly known as 'Ubiquity Young,' + because you saw him in every place you might happen to + go to.] + + +September 5th, 1834 {p.126} + +[Page Head: HOLLAND HOUSE.] + +At Holland House yesterday, where I had not been these two years. +Met Lord Holland at Court, who made me go. The last time I was +with my Lady she was so mighty uncivil that I left off my visits, +and then we met again as if there had been no interruption, and +as if we had been living together constantly. Spring Rice and his +son, Melbourne, and Palmerston dined there; Allen was at Dulwich, +but came in the evening, and so did Bobus Smith. There was a +great deal of very good talk, anecdotes, literary criticism, and +what not, some of which would be worth remembering, though hardly +sufficiently striking to be put down, unless as forming a portion +of a whole course of conversations of this description. A vast +depression came over my spirits, though I was amused, and I don't +suppose I uttered a dozen words. It is certainly true that the +atmosphere of Holland House is often oppressive, but that was not +it; it was a painful consciousness of my own deficiencies and of +my incapacity to take a fair share in conversation of this +description. I felt as if a language was spoken before me which I +understood, but not enough to talk in it myself. There was +nothing discussed of which I was altogether ignorant, and when +the merits of Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Crabbe were brought into +comparison, and Lord Holland cut jokes upon Allen for his +enthusiastic admiration of the 'De Moribus Germanorum,' it was +not that I had not read the poets or the historian, but that I +felt I had not read them with profit. I have not that familiarity +with either which enables me to discuss their merits, and a +painful sense came over me of the difference between one who has +superficially read and one who has studied, one who has laid a +solid foundation in early youth, gathering knowledge as he +advances in years, all the stores of his mind being so orderly +disposed that they are at all times available, and one who (as I +have done) has huddled together a quantity of loose reading, as +vanity, curiosity, and not seldom shame impelled; reading thus +without system, more to cover the deficiencies of ignorance than +to augment the stores of knowledge, loads the mind with an +undigested mass of matter, which proves when wanted to be of +small practical utility--in short, one must pay for the follies +of one's youth. He who wastes his early years in horse-racing and +all sorts of idleness, figuring away among the dissolute and the +foolish, must be content to play an inferior part among the +learned and the wise. Some instances there are of men who have +united both characters, but it will be found that these have had +frequent laborious intervals, that though they may have been +vicious, they have never been indolent, and that their minds have +never slumbered and lost by disuse the power of exertion. +Reflections of this sort make me very uncomfortable, and I am +ready to cry with vexation when I think on my misspent life. If I +was insensible to a higher order of merit, and indifferent to a +nobler kind of praise, I should be happier far; but to be +tormented with the sentiment of an honourable ambition and with +aspirations after better things, and at the same time so sunk in +sloth and bad habits as to be incapable of those exertions +without which their objects are unattainable, is of all +conditions the worst. I sometimes think that it would be better +for me, as I am not what I might have been (if my education had +been less neglected, and my mind had undergone a better system of +moral discipline), if I was still lower than I am in the scale, +and belonged entirely to a more degraded caste; and then again, +when I look forward to that period which is fast approaching-- + + When ... a sprightlier age-- + Comes tittering on to drive one from the stage-- + +I am thankful that I have still something in store, that though +far below the wise and the learned, I am still something raised +above the ignorant mob, that though much of my mental substance +has been wasted, I have enough left to appear respectably in the +world, and that I have at least preserved that taste for literary +pursuits which I cling to as the greatest of blessings and the +best security against the tedium and vacuity which are the +indispensable concomitants of an idle youth and an ignorant old +age. + +[Page Head: CONVERSATION AT HOLLAND HOUSE.] + +As a slight but imperfect sketch of the talk of Holland House I +will put down this:-- + +They talked of Taylor's new poem, 'Philip van Artevelde.' +Melbourne had read and admired it. The preface, he said, was +affected and foolish, the poem very superior to anything in +Milman. There was one fine idea in the 'Fall of Jerusalem'--that +of Titus, who felt himself propelled by an irresistible impulse +like that of the Greek dramatists, whose fate is the great agent +always pervading their dramas. They held Wordsworth cheap, except +Spring Rice, who was enthusiastic about him. Holland thought +Crabbe the greatest genius of modern poets. Melbourne said he +degraded every subject. None of them had known Coleridge; his +lectures were very tiresome, but he is a poet of great merit. +Then they spoke of Spencer Perceval and Irving preaching in the +streets. Irving had called on Melbourne, and eloquently +remonstrated that 'they only asked the same licence that was +given to puppet-shows and other sights not to be prevented; that +the command was express, "Go into the highways," and that they +must obey God rather than man.' Melbourne said this was all very +true and unanswerable. 'What _did_ you answer?' I asked. 'I said, +"You must not preach there."' Then of Cambridge and Goulburn, who +is a saint and gave lectures in his room, by which he has caught +several young men. Lord Holland spoke of George III.'s letters to +Lord North; the King liked Lord North, hated the Duke of +Richmond. Amongst the few people he liked were Lord Loughborough +and Lord Thurlow. Thurlow was always 'endeavouring to undermine +the Minister with whom he was acting, and intriguing underhand +with his enemies.' Loughborough used to say, 'Do what you think +right, and never think of what you are to say to excuse it +beforehand'--a good maxim. The Duke of Richmond in 1763 or 1764, +after an audience of the King in his closet, told him that 'he +had said that to him which if he was a subject he should not +scruple to call an untruth.' The King never forgave it, and the +Duke had had the imprudence to make a young king his enemy for +life. This Duke of Richmond, when Lord-Lieutenant of Sussex, +during the American war, sailed in a yacht through the fleet, +when the King was there, with American colours at his mast-head. +He never forgave Fox for putting the Duke of Portland instead of +himself at the head of the Government in 1782. During the riots +in 1780 on account of Admiral Keppel, Tom Grenville burst open +the door of the Admiralty, and assisted at the pillage and +destruction of papers. Lord Grey a little while ago attacked him +about it, and he did not deny it. Such things could not be done +now. During the Windsor election they hired a mob to go down and +throw Lord Mornington (Lord Wellesley) over Windsor Bridge, and +Fitzpatrick said it would be so fine to see St. Patrick's blue +riband floating down the stream. They first sent to Piper to know +if Lord Mornington could swim. The plan was defeated by his +having a still stronger mob. After dinner they discussed women's +works: few _chefs-d'oeuvres_; Madame de Sevigne the best; the +only three of a high class are Madame de Sevigne, Madame de +Stael, and (Bobus Smith said) Sappho, but of her not above forty +lines are extant: these, however, are unrivalled; Mrs Somerville +is very great in the exact sciences. Lady Holland would not hear +of Madame de Stael. They agreed as to Miss Austen that her novels +are excellent. Quintus Curtius is confirmed by Burnes' travels in +Bokhara, but was reckoned no authority by the greatest scholars; +Lord Melbourne said Mitford had expressed his confidence in him. +Of the early English kings there is no reason to believe that any +king before Edward III. understood the English language; the +quarrel between Beckett and King Henry II. was attributed (by +some writers) to the hostile feeling between Normans and Saxons, +and this was the principal motive of the quarrel and the murder +of the Archbishop. Klopstock had a _sect_ of admirers in Germany; +some young students made a pilgrimage from Gottingen to Hamburg, +where Klopstock lived in his old age, to ask him the meaning of a +passage in one of his works which they could not understand. He +looked at it, and then said that he could not then recollect what +it was that he meant when he wrote it, but that he knew it was +the finest thing he ever wrote, and they could not do better than +devote their lives to the discovery of its meaning. + + +September 7th, 1834 {p.130} + +[Page Head: LORD MELBOURNE'S LITERARY CONVERSATION.] + +At Holland House again; only Bobus Smith and Melbourne; these +two, with Allen, and Lord Holland agreeable enough. Melbourne's +excellent scholarship and universal information remarkably +display themselves in society, and he delivers himself with an +energy which shows how deeply his mind is impressed with literary +subjects. + +After dinner there was much talk of the Church, and Allen spoke of +the early reformers, the Catharists, and how the early Christians +persecuted each other; Melbourne quoted Vigilantius's letter to +Jerome, and then asked Allen about the 11th of Henry IV., an Act +passed by the Commons against the Church, and referred to the +dialogue between the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of +Ely at the beginning of Shakespeare's 'Henry V.,' which Lord +Holland sent for and read, Melbourne knowing it all by heart and +prompting all the time. Lingard says of this statute that the +Commons proposed to the King to commit an act of spoliation on the +clergy, but that the King sharply rebuked them and desired to hear +no more of the matter. About etymologies Melbourne quoted Tooke's +'Diversions of Purley,' which he seemed to have at his fingers' +ends. I forget what other topics were discussed, but after Lady +Holland and Melbourne and Allen went to bed, Lord Holland, Bobus, +and I sat down, and Lord Holland told us many anecdotes about the +great orators of his early days. Fox used to say Grey was the most +prudent man he knew, and this perhaps owing to his having got into +a scrape early in his Parliamentary life, by attacking Pitt, who +gave him a severe castigation; it was about his letter to the +Prince being sent by a servant during the Regency discussions. Fox +thought his own speech in 1804 on going to war with France the +best he ever made. Lord Holland believed that Pitt (the younger) +was not so eloquent as Chatham. Grattan said, 'He takes longer +flights, does not soar so high.' No power was ever equal to +Chatham's over a public assembly, much greater in the Commons than +it was afterwards in the Lords. When Sir Thomas Robinson had been +boring the House on some commercial question, and introduced the +word 'sugar' so often that there was at last a laugh as often as +he did so, Chatham, then Mr. Pitt, who had put him up, grew very +angry, and at last his wrath boiled over. When Robinson sat down +Pitt rose, and with a tone and manner of the utmost indignation +began, 'Mr. Speaker, sir--sugar--I say sugar. Who laughs now?' and +nobody did laugh. Once in the House of Lords, on a debate during +the American war, he said he hoped the King might be awakened from +his slumbers. There was a cry of 'Order! order!' 'Order, my +Lords?' burst out Chatham, 'Order? I have not been disorderly, but +I _will_ be disorderly. I repeat again, I hope that his Majesty +may be awakened from his slumbers, but that he may be awakened by +such an awful apparition as that which drew King Priam's curtains +in the dead of the night and told him of the conflagration of his +empire.' Holland regretted much that he had never heard Lord +North, whom he fancied he should have liked as much as any of his +great opponents; his temper, shrewdness, humour, and power of +argument were very great. Tommy Townshend, a violent, foolish +fellow, who was always talking strong language, said in some +debate, 'Nothing will satisfy me but to have the noble Lord's +head; I will have his head.' Lord North said, 'The honourable +gentleman says he will have my head. I bear him no malice in +return, for though the honourable gentleman says he will have my +head, I can assure him that I would on no account have his.' + + +September 13th, 1834 {p.132} + +Dined again at Holland House the day before yesterday; Melbourne, +Rice, Lord and Lady Albemarle, and Lord Gosford; rather dull. A +discussion about _who_ was the man in a mask who cut Charles I.'s +head off; Mackintosh believed he knew. What a literary puerility! +The man in a mask was Jack Ketch (whatever his name was); who can +doubt it? Where was the man, Roundhead or Puritan, who as an +amateur would have mounted the scaffold to perform this office? +But the executioner, though only discharging the duties of his +office, probably thought in those excited times that he would not +be safe from the vengeance of some enthusiastic cavalier, and +that it was more prudent to conceal the features of the man by +whom the deed was done. Melbourne swore that Henry VIII. was the +greatest man who ever lived, and Allen declared if he had not +married Ann Boleyn we should have continued Catholics to this +day, both of which assertions I ventured to dispute. Allen with +all his learning is fond of a paradox, and his prejudices shine +forth in every question in which Church and religion are +implicated. Melbourne loves dashing opinions. + + +September 18th, 1834 {p.133} + +[Page Head: LORD BROUGHAM'S ABERRATIONS.] + +For some weeks past a fierce war has been waged by the 'Times' +against the Chancellor. It was declared in some menacing articles +which soon swelled into a tone of rebuke, and have since been +sharpened into attacks of a constancy, violence, and vigour quite +unexampled; all the power of writing which the paper can +command--argument, abuse, and ridicule--have been heaped day +after day upon him, and when it took a little breathing time it +filled up the interval by quotations from other papers, which +have been abundantly supplied both by the London and the country +press. I do not yet know what are the secret causes which have +stirred the wrath of the 'Times.' The 'Examiner' has once a week +thrown into the general contribution of rancour an article +perhaps wittier and more pungent than any which have appeared in +the 'Times,' but between them they have flagellated him till he +is raw, and it is very clear that he feels it quite as acutely as +they can desire. While they have thus been administering +castigation in this unsparing style, he has afforded them the +best opportunities by his extraordinary progress in Scotland, and +the astonishing speeches which he made at Aberdeen and Dundee, +making more mountebank exhibitions than he did in the House of +Lords, and exciting the unquenchable laughter of his enemies and +the continual terror of his friends. Lord Holland told me that he +was trembling for the account of the Edinburgh dinner. That great +affair appears, however (by the first half of the proceedings), +to have gone off very well. Lord Grey in his speech confined +himself to general topics, and he and Brougham steered extremely +clear of one another, but Brougham made some allusions which +Durham took to himself, and replied to with considerable asperity +of tone, avoiding, however, any personalities and anything like a +direct collision. Everybody asks, How long will Brougham be +permitted to go on playing these ape's tricks and scattering his +flummery and his lies? and then they say, But you can't get rid of +him, and the Government (dangerous as he is to them) could not get +on without him. There would probably be no difficulty; experience +has demonstrated to me the extreme fallacy of the notion that +_anybody_ under _any_ circumstances is indispensable. Althorp +appeared the most indispensable man the other day, but that was only +because his friends and the fools in the House of Commons kept +bawling out that he was so till they persuaded him, themselves, and +everybody else that it really was the case. Who would have dared to +say that this Government could have gone on without either Stanley +in one House or Lord Grey in the other? But anybody would have been +scouted as mad who had argued that it would go on just as well when +deprived of both of them. The Chancellor's amazing talents--his +eloquence, sarcasm, and varied powers--can never fail to produce +considerable effect; but in the House of Lords the field is narrow +for the display of these qualities, the audience is cold and +unfriendly, and he has excited such a general feeling of personal +animosity against himself, and has done such irreparable injury to +his character--having convinced all the world that he is desperately +ambitious, false, capricious, intriguing, and governed by no +principle, and under the influence of no sentiment of honour--that +his influence is exceedingly diminished. Those who are charitably +disposed express their humane conviction that he is mad, and it +probably is not very remote from the truth.[6] + + [6] [It is with pain and reluctance that I print these + remarks on Lord Brougham, and several passages in the + preceding pages of these Memoirs which are equally + severe, and in some respects, I think, exaggerated. But + I certainly do not feel myself justified in withholding + them. They were all revised and corrected by the author + himself with great care; and nothing but a true and + full account of the sentiments which Lord Brougham's + conduct had excited amongst his colleagues and + contemporaries at that time can account for the + catastrophe which awaited him, and which excluded him + for the rest of his life from official life and + employment.] + +Henry Taylor brought me a parcel of letters to frank to Southey +the other day; they are from Newton, Cowper's nephew (I think to +W. Thornton), and they are to supply Southey with materials for +Cowper's Life, which he is writing. There is one curious fact +revealed in these letters, which accounts for much of Cowper's +morbid state of mind and fits of depression, as well as for the +circumstance of his running away from his place in the House of +Lords. It relates to some defect in his physical conformation; +some body found out his secret, and probably threatened its +exposure. + + +September 19th, 1834 {p.135} + +[Page Head: CANNING AND LORD HOLLAND.] + +Yesterday at Holland House; nobody there but Melbourne. We were +talking of Reform, and Lord Holland said, 'I don't know if we were +right about Reform, but this I know, that if we were to propose it +at all, we were right in going the lengths we did, and this was +Canning's opinion.' Melbourne said, 'Yes, I know it was, and that +was mine, and that was the reason why I was against Reform.' Holland +then resumed that he had formerly been one of Canning's most +intimate friends at college; that at that time--the beginning of the +French Revolution--when a general excitement prevailed, Canning was +a great Jacobin, much more so than he was himself; that Canning had +always hated the aristocracy (a hatred which they certainly returned +with interest); that in after life he had been separated from +Canning, and they had seen but little of each other. Just before he +was going to India, however, Holland called on him, and Canning +dined at Holland House. On one of these occasions they had a +conversation upon the subject of Reform, when Canning said that he +saw it was inevitable, and he was not sorry to be away while the +measure was accomplished, but that if he had been here while it was +mooted, he could have _let those gentlemen_ (the Whig aristocracy) +_know that they should gain nothing by it_. After dinner we had much +talk about religion, when Allen got into a fury; he thundered out +his invectives against the _charlatanerie_ of the Apostles and +Fathers and the brutal ignorance of the early Christian converts, +when Holland said, laughing, 'Well, but you need not abuse them so +violently.' They were in high delight at Holland House at the way +the Edinburgh dinner went off. It was a very ludicrous incident that +the Scotchmen could not be kept from falling to before Lord Grey and +the grandees arrived, and when they did come most of the dinner was +already eaten up. The Chancellor is said to have made an admirable +speech at the meeting of _savans_, full of dignity, propriety, and +eloquence, and the _savans_ spoke one more absurdly than another. + + +September 23rd, 1834 {p.136} + +[Page Head: PALMERSTON AND BROUGHAM.] + +On Saturday at Stoke; came up yesterday with Melbourne. We had a +great deal of talk. As soon as we got into the carriage he asked +me if I thought it was true that Talleyrand had taken such +offence at Palmerston that he would not return here on that +account, and if I knew what it was that had affronted him, +whether any deficiency in diplomatic punctilio or general +offensiveness of manner. I told him I had no doubt it was true, +and that the complaints against Palmerston were so general that +there must be some cause for them, and though Madame de Lieven +might be prejudiced against him, _all_ the foreign Ambassadors +could not be so. He said it was very extraordinary if it was so, +tried to argue that it might not be the case, and put it in all +sorts of different ways; he said that Palmerston exhibited no +signs of temper or arrogance with his colleagues, but quite the +reverse; he owned, however, he was very obstinate. We then talked +over the Stratford Canning business; he admitted that it was +unfortunate and might lead to serious consequences, both as to +our relations with the Emperor and to the question of diplomatic +expenses here. I expressed my astonishment that Palmerston's +obstinacy should have been permitted to have its own way in the +matter, and I should guess, from his own strong opinion on the +subject, that an Ambassador would be sent before long. He told +me--what I did not know before--that the King of Prussia had +desired to have Lord Clanwilliam recalled from Berlin. + +He then talked of Brougham, and I found that he knows him +thoroughly, and is more on his guard than I thought he was with +regard to him. I told him of the change in Sefton's feelings +towards him on Lord Grey's account, and also of Brougham's strange +want of discrimination and his imprudence in congratulating +himself to Sefton on the recent changes, and of his expectations +of profiting by Melbourne's advancement to power. I touched +lightly on the latter part, because it is never prudent to dwell +upon topics which are injurious to a person's vanity, and a word +dropped upon so tender a part produces as much effect as the +strongest argument. He seemed not a little struck by it, and when +I said that I thought there was a taint of insanity in the +Chancellor, he said that he thought a great change in him was +manifest in the course of the last year, and admitted that he did +not think him of sound mind certainly. This he rather implied than +expressed, however. He talked of his conduct in Parliament, and +observed upon the strange forbearance of the Tories towards him; +he thought he had never given stronger evidence of talent than in +some of his speeches during the last session. I asked him if the +King and Brougham were well together. He shook his head: 'not at +all, and the King can't bear these exhibitions in Scotland.' He +said the King liked Palmerston, Auckland, Spring Rice, and +Mulgrave; had no fancy for any of the rest. (I suspect he likes +him (Melbourne), because he appears to talk openly to him, and to +express his feelings about the others, and I dare say Melbourne +puts him at his ease.) He can't bear John Russell, respects +Althorp (and particularly Lord Spencer), but hates Althorp's +politics; treats Lord Holland with the familiarity of a +connexion,[7] but doesn't like his politics either; he is +tenacious about having everything laid before him, often gives his +opinion, but is easily satisfied; liked Lord Grey, but was never +quite at his ease with him (this accounts for his taking Lord +Grey's resignation as quietly as he did); has a very John-Bullish +aversion to the French, and the junction of the English and French +fleets two years ago was a bitter pill for him to swallow. + + [7] [Colonel Fox, Lord Holland's eldest son, having married + Lady Mary, the King's eldest daughter, both however + born out of wedlock.] + +We afterwards talked of Canning and the Duke of Wellington, and +the breaking up of the Tory Government. I told him that I +believed the Duke and the Tories were aware of Canning's +communications with Brougham. Brougham wrote to Canning and made +him an unqualified offer of support. When the King asked Canning +how he was to obtain support enough to carry on the Government, +he pulled this letter out of his pocket, gave it to him, and +said, 'Sir, your father broke the domination of the Whigs; I hope +your Majesty will not endure that of the Tories.' 'No,' said the +King; 'I'll be damned if I do;' and he made him Minister. This +Canning told Melbourne himself. + + +September 25th, 1834 {p.138} + +Dined yesterday at Holland House; only Melbourne and Pahlen, and +in the evening Senior came. He is a very able man--a conveyancer, +great political economist, and author of various works on that +subject. He was employed by Government to draw up the Poor Law +Bill, and might have been one of the Poor Law Commissioners if he +would have accepted the office; his profits in his profession are +too great to be given up for this occupation. By a discussion +which arose about Bickersteth's merits it was clear that there is +a question of his being Solicitor-General. Melbourne said 'he was +a Benthamite, and they were all fools.' (He said a doctrinaire +was a fool, but an honest man.) I said 'the Austins were not +fools.' 'Austin? Oh, a damned fool. Did you ever read his book +on "Jurisprudence"?' I said I had read a great part of it, and +that it did not appear to be the work of a fool. He said he had +read it all, and that it was the dullest book he ever read, and +full of truisms elaborately set forth. Melbourne is very fond of +being slashing and paradoxical. It is astonishing how much he +reads even now that he is Prime Minister. He is greatly addicted +to theology, and loves conversing on the subject of religion. +----, who wanted him to marry her (which he won't do, though he +likes to talk to her), is the depositary of his thoughts and +notions on these subjects, and the other day she told me he sent +her a book (I forget what) on the Revelation stuffed with +marginal notes of his own. It was not long ago that he _studied_ +Lardner's book on the 'Credibility of the Christian Religion,' +and compared it with the Bible as he went along. She fancies that +all this reading and reflection have turned him into the right +way. I can see no symptom of it at Holland House. + +After dinner we talked of languages, and Lord Holland insisted +that Spanish was the finest of all and the best adapted to +eloquence. They said that George Villiers wrote word that nothing +could be better than the speaking in the Cortes--great readiness +and acuteness in reply--and that a more dexterous and skilful +debater than Martinez de la Rosa could not be found in any +assembly. '_That_ speaking so well is the worst thing about +them,' said Melbourne. 'Ah, that is one of your paradoxes,' Lord +Holland replied. + +Allen talked to me about the Harley papers, which were left in a +box not to be opened for sixty years; the box was only opened a +few years ago at my cousin Titchfield's (the first) desire, and +the papers submitted to Mackintosh, with permission to publish +them in his 'History of England.' Mackintosh's death put an end +to this, and Allen wants me to ask my uncle the Duke of Portland +to put them in my hands and let me publish them. I never did so. +Macaulay had all Mackintosh's papers, and amongst them his notes +from these MSS. + + +London, November 13th, 1834 + +[Page Head: REFLECTIONS ON THE TURF.] + +For two months nearly that I have been in this country I have not +written a line, having had nothing worth recording to put down. It +is not worth my while to write, nor anybody else's to read (should +anybody ever read these memoranda), the details of racing and all +that thereunto appertains, and though several disagreeable +occurrences have ruffled the stream of my life, I have no pleasure +in recording these; for if their consequences pass away, and I can +forget them, it is better not at any future time to awaken 'the +scorpion sting of griefs subdued.' Of public events I have known +nothing but what everybody else knows, and it would have been mere +waste of time to copy from the newspapers accounts of the +conflagration of the Houses of Parliament or the Durham dinner at +Glasgow. My campaign on the turf has been a successful one. Still +all this success has not prevented frequent disgusts, and I derive +anything but unmixed pleasure from this pursuit even when I win by +it. Besides the continual disappointments and difficulties +incident to it, which harass the mind, the life it compels me to +lead, the intimacies arising out of it, the associates and the war +against villany and trickery, being haunted by continual +suspicions, discovering the trust-_un_worthiness of one's most +intimate friends, the necessity of insincerity and concealment +sometimes where one feels that one ought and would desire to be +most open; then the degrading nature of the occupation, mixing +with the lowest of mankind, and absorbed in the business for the +sole purpose of getting money, the consciousness of a sort of +degradation of intellect, the conviction of the deteriorating +effects upon both the feelings and the understanding which are +produced, the sort of dram-drinking excitement of it--all these +things and these thoughts torment me, and often turn my pleasure +to pain. On arriving in town I went to Crockford's, where I found +all the usual set of people, and soon after Sefton came in. Lord +Spencer's death had taken place the day before; he knew nothing of +the probable arrangements, but he told me that he supposed Althorp +would go to the Admiralty and Auckland to India. But what he was +fullest of was that Mrs. Lane Fox's house was become the great +rendezvous of a considerable part of the Cabinet. The Chancellor, +Melbourne, Duncannon, and Mulgrave are there every day and all +day; they all dine with her, or meet her (the only woman) at each +other's houses, as often as they can. It certainly is a droll +connexion. The squabbles between Brougham and Durham seem to have +resolved themselves into a mere personal coldness, and there is no +question now of any hostilities between them. I never thought +there would be, though some people apparently did; but they both +would much rather rail than fight. + + +November 14th, 1834 {p.140} + +Went down to the Council Office yesterday, and found them in the +middle of Lord Westmeath's case--Lord Lansdowne, the Vice-Chancellor, +Parke, Erskine, and Vaughan. Lushington was for Lady Westmeath, +and Follett (with a civilian) for him. After the argument there +was a discussion, and well did Westmeath do, for they reduced the +alimony from L700 to L315 a year, and the arrears in the same +proportion. Thus Westmeath succeeded in great measure in his +appeal, which he would not have done if the Chancellor had +contrived to lug on the case as he wished; for Erskine was all for +giving her more, the others did not seem averse, and but for +Parke, who hit off the right principle, as well as what best +accorded with the justice of the case, she would certainly have +got a much larger award. + +[Page Head: RECENT LAW APPOINTMENTS.] + +The Vice-Chancellor afterwards told me the history of the recent +legal appointments. There never was any difference of opinion +between Brougham and Melbourne on the subject of either. Campbell +accepted the Attorney-Generalship on the express condition that +he should not expect to succeed as a matter of right to any +vacancy in the Courts, but on Leach's death he did instantly urge +his claims. Brougham wrote to Melbourne, and speedily followed +his letter to London, and they both agreed not to listen to this +claim, and to promote Pepys. I don't know how they disposed of +Horne's claim. Bickersteth[8] refused to be Solicitor-General on +account of his health, and not choosing to face the House of +Commons and its work. Shadwell told me that he wrote to Brougham +and suggested Rolfe when the vacancy occurred, that he had not +been in great practice, but was a good lawyer and excellent +speaker, and that the Chancellor and Melbourne had likewise +concurred in this appointment. Nothing is settled about the new +arrangements rendered necessary by Lord Spencer's death, but +Melbourne went to Brighton yesterday. Rice has worked hard to +master the Colonial business, and probably will not like to be +translated to the Exchequer; besides, it is supposed that his +seat at Cambridge would be in great peril. People talk of their +not going on; how can any others go on better? + + [8] [Mr. Bickersteth refused to be Solicitor-General + because the offer was made to him by the Lord + Chancellor, and not by the Prime Minister. At that time + he was personally unacquainted with Lord Melbourne, but + he consented to call on him at Lord Melbourne's + request, and the offer was repeated, but not accepted. + The real reason of his refusal was his profound + distrust of Lord Brougham, which amounted to aversion, + and he thought it unworthy of himself to accept the + office of a law officer of the Crown under a Chancellor + with whom he could not conscientiously act. I have read + a MS. narrative of the whole transaction by Lord + Langdale himself, in which these sentiments are very + strongly expressed.] + +Lord Lansdowne has just returned from Paris, where, he told me, +he had frequent conversations with the King. The new Ministry is +a wretched patched-up affair; but the Government of France is +centred in the King, and it is his great power and influence in +the Chambers, and not the ability of his Ministers (be they who +they may), that keeps the thing going. This influence appears to +be immense, and without enjoying any popularity, there is an +universal opinion that Louis Philippe is indispensable to France. +He told Lord Lansdowne that he had always been against the +appointment of Marshal Gerard as President of the Council, +although he had a high opinion of him, but that he was aware he +had not tact and judgment sufficient for that post, and he had +told his Ministers that he would consent to the appointment if +they insisted on it, but that he warned them that it would break +up the Government. Whatever may be the instability of this or any +other Administration, it is said that nothing can be more firm +and secure than the King's tenure of his crown. He appears, in +fact, to be the very man that France requires, and as he is in +the vigour of life and has a reasonable prospect of a long reign, +he will probably consolidate the interest of his family and +extinguish whatever lingering chance there might be of the +restoration of the old effete dynasty. + + + + + CHAPTER XXV. + +Fall of Lord Melbourne's Government--History and Causes of this + Event--An Intrigue--Effect of the _Coup_ at Holland House--The + Change of Government--The two Camps--The King's Address to the + New Ministers--The Duke's Account of the Transaction--And Lord + Lyndhurst's--Difficult Position of the Tories--Their Policy-- + The Duke in all the Offices--Negotiation with Mr. Barnes--Power + of the 'Times'--Another Address of the King--Brougham offers to + be Lord Chief Baron--Mr. Barnes dines with Lord Lyndhurst--Whig + View of the Recent Change--Liberal Views of the Tory + Ministers--The King resolved to support them--Another Account + of the Interview between the King and Lord Melbourne--Lord + Stanley's Position--Sydney Smith's Preaching at St. Paul's-- + Lord Duncannon and Lord Melbourne--Relations of the four + Seceders to Peel--Young Disraeli--Lord Melbourne's Speeches at + Derby--Lord John Russell's Speech at Totness--The Duke of + Wellington's Inconsistencies and Conduct. + + +November 16th, 1834 {p.143} + +[Page Head: A STRANGE INTRIGUE.] + +Yesterday morning the town was electrified by the news that +Melbourne's Government was at an end. Nobody had the slightest +suspicion of such an impending catastrophe; the Ministers +themselves reposed in perfect security. I never saw astonishment +so great on every side; nobody pretended to have prophesied or +expected such an event. Thus it befell:--On Thursday Melbourne +went to Brighton to make the arrangements necessary on Lord +Spencer's death. He had previously received a letter from the +King, which contained nothing indicative of the fate that awaited +him. He had his audience on Thursday afternoon, and offered his +Majesty the choice of Spring Rice, Lord John Russell, or +Abercromby to lead the House of Commons and fill the vacant +office. The King made some objections, and said he must take time +to consider it. Nothing more passed that night, and the next day, +when Melbourne saw the King, his Majesty placed in his hands a +letter containing his determination. It was couched in terms +personally complimentary to Melbourne, but he said that, having +lost the services of Lord Althorp as leader of the House of +Commons, he could feel no confidence in the stability of his +Government when led by any other member of it; that they were +already in a minority in the House of Peers, and he had every +reason to believe the removal of Lord Althorp would speedily put +them in the same situation in the other House; that under such +circumstances he felt other arrangements to be necessary, and +that it was his intention to send for the Duke of Wellington. +Nothing could be more peremptory and decisive, and not a loophole +was left for explanation or arrangements, or endeavour to patch +the thing up. The King wrote to the Duke, and, what is rather +droll, the letter was despatched by Melbourne's carriage, which +returned to town. It is very evident that the King has long +determined to seize the first plausible pretext he could find for +getting rid of these people, whom he dislikes and fears, and that +he thinks (justly or not remains to be proved) the translation of +Althorp affords him a good opportunity, and such a one perhaps as +may not speedily occur again. It is long since a Government has +been so summarily dismissed--regularly kicked out, in the +simplest sense of that phrase. Melbourne's colleagues expected +his return without a shadow of apprehension, or doubt. He got +back late, and wrote to none of them. The Chancellor, who had +dined at Holland House, called on him and heard the news; the +others (except Duncannon, who went to him, and I believe +Palmerston) remained in happy ignorance till yesterday morning, +when they were saluted at their rising with the astounding +intelligence. All the Ministers (except Brougham) read the +account of their dismissal in the 'Times' the next morning, and +this was the first they heard of it. Melbourne resolved to say +nothing that night, but summoned an early Cabinet, when he meant +to impart it. Brougham called on him on his way from Holland +House. Melbourne told him, but made him promise not to say a word +of it to anybody. He promised, and the moment he quitted the +house sent to the 'Times' office and told them what had occurred, +with the well-known addition that 'the Queen had done it all.' + +They attribute their fall to the influence of the Queen, and fancy +that it is the result of a preconcerted scheme and intrigue with +the Tories, neither of which do I believe to be true. With regard +to the latter notion, the absence of Sir Robert Peel, who is +travelling in Italy, is a conclusive proof of its falseness. He +never would have been absent if he had foreseen the remotest +possibility of a crisis, and the death of Lord Spencer has been +imminent and expected for some time past. I am convinced that it +is the execution of a project which the King has long nourished of +delivering himself from the Whigs whenever he could. His original +dislike has been exasperated to a great pitch by the mountebank +exhibitions of Brougham, and he is so alarmed and disgusted at the +Radical propensities which the Durham dinner has manifested, that +he is resolved to try whether the Government cannot be conducted +upon principles which are called Conservative, but which shall +really be _bona fide_ opposed to the ultra doctrines and wild +schemes which he knows are not distasteful to at least one-half of +his late Cabinet. + +His resentment against these people has been considerably +increased by the discovery (which he believes he has made) of his +having been grossly deceived at the period of Lord Grey's +retirement and the formation of Melbourne's Administration. The +circumstances of this part of the business I know only imperfectly, +so much so as to leave a good deal that requires explanation in +order to make it intelligible; but I was told on good authority +yesterday that at that time Sir Robert Peel and the Duke of +Wellington were quite prepared to undertake the formation of a +Government if it had been proposed to them, and that he had every +reason to believe they had been betrayed by 'that scoundrel +H----,' who had been employed by some of the other party to find +out what their intentions and dispositions were upon that point; +that H---- had gone to them and asked them the question, and +having at that time entire confidence in him, they had told him if +it was offered to them they certainly would undertake it; that he +had never told them or given them any reason to believe that he +was commissioned to find out their resolution, and they think he +returned to his employer and told him that they must take care how +such an offer was made to the Tories, as they would certainly +accept it if it was offered. Melbourne was no party to this +transaction, but the consequence of it was that the King was given +to understand that it would be useless to propose to them to form +a Government, for they were not prepared to do so, and he was +advised to make the proposal of a coalition, which was made, and +which they of course rejected. The King, it appears, subsequently +discovered what their disposition had been at the time, and that +he had been misled and deceived, and this made him very indignant. + +I should like to know this story more in detail, for it would be +curious to learn who were the agents in the intrigue, and, above +all, what could induce H---- to sacrifice the interests of the +Duke of Wellington (with whom he had great influence and to whom +he had great obligations) and of the party from which alone he +could expect any solid advantages to those of the Whigs, from +whom he could derive no benefit sufficient to compensate him for +the danger as well as treachery of the transaction. I never liked +this fellow, and always thought him a low blackguard, and, +however shrewd and active, a bad confidant and 'fidus Achates' +for the Duke to have taken up; but the folly and shortsightedness +of this proceeding seem so obvious (to say nothing of its +villany) that I cannot without strong proofs yield my belief to +the story, though Peel is not a man to harbour such strong +suspicions on slight grounds. + +This morning Lord Lansdowne wrote me word that the Duke had +accepted, but it is probable that nothing can be done till Peel +returns from Italy. He will accept no post but that of Prime +Minister, though the King would prefer to put the Duke there if +he would take it. + + +November 17th, 1834 {p.147} + +[Page Head: EFFECT OF THE COUP AT HOLLAND HOUSE.] + +It is only bit by bit that one ascertains the truth in affairs +like these. It is true that the King imparted his resolution to +Melbourne in a letter, but not true in the sense in which that +fact is intended to be taken. I went to Holland House yesterday, +but my Lord and my Lady were gone to town. I met the heavy +chariot slowly moving back through Kensington, and stopped to +talk to them. They seemed in tolerably good spirits, all things +considered; like the rest, they had not a suspicion of what was +going to happen. Melbourne was to have dined there on Friday, but +did not arrive. At eleven o'clock everybody went away, without +any tidings having come of Melbourne; the next morning Lord +Holland read in the 'Times' that the Government was at an end. +Allen swore that it must be a hoax, and it was only upon +receiving a summons to the Cabinet at twelve instead of two that +Holland began to think there was _something in it_. He told me +that the King had two long conversations with Melbourne, in which +he explained his opinions, motives, and intentions, and finally +gave him the letter, that he might show it to his colleagues. It +would now appear that no definite arrangements were proposed to +him at all; nothing, in fact, could be settled till it was +ascertained what Althorp would do--whether he would continue in +office, and what office he would take--but they intended that +Lord John Russell should be the leader in the House of Commons, +or what they call 'try it.' This must have been peculiarly +distasteful to the King, who dislikes Lord John, and thinks him a +dangerous little Radical, and Melbourne is well aware of this +antipathy. On _the_ Friday night Melbourne, with a party of his +colleagues--Mulgrave, Ben Stanley, Poulett Thompson, and one or +two more--were at the play just opposite to me; the piece was the +'Regent,' and it was full of jokes about dismissing Ministers and +other things very applicable, at which Melbourne at least (who +does not care a button about _office_, whatever he may do about +power) was heartily amused. To-day the King came to town to +receive the resignations, for he is resolved to finish off the +whole affair at once and make _maison nette_; they have been +ordered therefore to attend at St. James's and give up their +seals. + +[Page Head: THE TORIES IN OFFICE.] + +_Five o'clock._--Just returned from St. James's. In the outer room I +found assembled the Duke of Wellington, Lyndhurst, Rosslyn, +Goulburn, Hardinge, the Speaker, Jersey, Maryborough, Cowley, whom +the Duke had collected in order to form a Privy Council; in the +Throne Room the ex-Cabinet congregated, and it was amusing to watch +them as they passed through the camp of their enemies, and to see +their different greetings and bows; all interchanged some slight +civility except Brougham, who stalked through looking as black as +thunder and took no notice of anybody. The first question that arose +was, What was to be done about the prorogation? The Duke thought +they might as well finish that business to-day, and I went on an +embassy into the other room to propose it; but they declined to have +anything to say to it and evinced great anxiety to take no part in +any proceedings of this day. Accordingly Lord Lansdowne explained to +the King that the presence of a Lord President was not necessary, +and that there was a sufficiency of Tory Lords to form a Council, so +his Majesty consented to the late Ministers going away. As I thought +the company of those who were coming in would be more cheerful and +agreeable than that of those who were going out, I passed my time in +the outer room, and had a good deal of conversation with the Duke +and Lyndhurst, from whom I gathered everything that I did not know +before. After the Whigs had made their exit we went into the Throne +Room, and the King sent for Lyndhurst, who only stayed with him a +few minutes, and then the Duke and all the Privy Councillors were +summoned. After greeting them all, and desiring them to sit down, he +began a speech nearly as follows:--'Having thought proper to make a +change in my Government, at the present moment I have directed a new +commission to be issued for executing the office of Lord High +Treasurer, at the head of which I have placed the Duke of +Wellington, and his Grace has kissed hands accordingly upon that +appointment. As by the Constitution of this country the King can do +no wrong, but those persons are responsible for his acts in whom he +places his confidence--as I do in the Lords now present--it is +necessary to place the seals of the Secretary of State for the Home +Department in those hands in which I can best confide, and I have +therefore thought proper to confer that office likewise on his +Grace, who will be sworn in accordingly.' Here the Duke came round, +and, after much fumbling for his spectacles, took the oath of +Secretary of State. The King then resumed, 'It is likewise necessary +for me to dispose of the seals of the other two Secretaries of +State, and I therefore place them likewise for the present in the +same hands, as he is already First Lord of the Treasury and +Secretary of State for the Home Office.' Then, turning to me, he +asked if there was any business, and being told there was none, +desired me to retire. When I was gone he began another harangue, to +the effect that he had endeavoured, since he had been upon the +throne, to do for the best, and that he could not fill up any of the +other offices at present. + +Now for what I learned from the Duke and Lyndhurst. The former +told me that he was just going out hunting when the messenger +arrived; that the letter merely said that the King wished to see +him, to consult with him as to the steps he should take with +regard to the formation of another Government. He went off +directly, and at once told the King that the best thing he could +do was to send for Sir Robert Peel, and that until he arrived he +would undertake to carry on the Government by a provisional +arrangement, and would do nothing more until Peel's return. So +the matter accordingly stands, and no other appointment will be +made except that the Great Seal will be transferred to Lyndhurst, +without, however (at present), his becoming Chancellor. He talked +a great deal about the state of the late Government, and what +passed between Melbourne and the King, but I heard this still +more in detail from Lyndhurst afterwards. + +[Page Head: POLICY OF LORD LYNDHURST.] + +I asked the Duke if he had seen the 'Times' this morning. He said +'No,' and I told him there appeared in it a considerable +disposition to support the new Government, and I thought it would +be very advisable to obtain that support if it could be done. He +said he was aware that he had formerly too much neglected the +press, but he did not think the 'Times' could be influenced. I +urged him to avail himself of any opportunity to try, and he +seemed very well disposed to do so. Lyndhurst, whom I afterwards +talked to for a long time, went into the whole business. He said +that it was very desirable that the public should know the truth +of what had taken place between the King and Melbourne, both in +conversation and by letter, because it would be seen that the +former was in no way to blame. [This case, such as Lyndhurst +described it to me, was afterwards put hypothetically in the +'Times,' to which it was furnished probably by Scarlett, but the +Whigs emphatically declare that it is not correct, and that it +will be found, when Melbourne states the truth (as he will +require the King's permission to do), that his Majesty had no +case at all. In the midst of these conflicting assertions time +must show.--November 26th.] Melbourne told him that, as he had +only undertaken to carry on the Government in consideration of +having the assistance of Althorp in the House of Commons, his +removal made it necessary to adopt a new organisation altogether, +that some considerable concessions to the principle of Reform +were judged to be necessary, and the appointment of a successor +to Althorp, who should carry them into effect; that he was of +opinion that without these the Government could not go on, and at +the same time it was necessary to state that there were members +of the Cabinet who did not coincide with these views, and who +would retire when Parliament met if they were adopted. These were +Lord Lansdowne and Spring Rice; Lord John Russell was to lead in +the House of Commons, but the loss of Rice would be a severe blow +to them. The concessions related principally to Church reform. +The disunion of the Cabinet being thus exhibited, it was clear +the Government could not go on without some material alteration +in its composition. The King urged this and asked Melbourne from +what quarter the necessary accession of strength was to be +procured, and whether he could hope for it from the Conservative +interest. He owned that nothing was to be expected from that +quarter. It remained, then, that it was only from the more +extreme party that their ranks could be recruited. To this the +King would not consent, and he therefore imparted to him his +resolution of placing the Government in other hands.[1] + + [1] [This account of the transaction is confirmed in almost + every particular by the statement drawn up by King + William himself (or by his directions) for the + information of Sir Robert Peel, and first published in + Baron Stockmar's 'Memoirs' in 1872.] + +Lyndhurst then went off upon the difficulties of their position. I +told him that the Duke had said to me, 'If the King had been a +very clever man, he would probably have played a more adroit game, +by letting them go on till Parliament met, and then taking the +opportunity which would soon present itself of breaking them up;' +that I disagreed with the Duke, and thought it infinitely more +convenient that this change should take place while Parliament was +not sitting, to which Lyndhurst fully agreed. He said that they +must dissolve as soon as Peel came home, that they had no +alternative; that it would not do to _try_ this Parliament, to run +the chance of a failure and dissolve after having experienced it, +that this would be too great a risk. He said that they had several +seats quite safe in consequence of their superior management about +the registration, such as Leeds and Ripon, where they were sure of +both members. He then talked of the tactics to be used, and said +they must direct their hostility against the Whigs rather than the +Radicals, and make it their principal object to diminish the +number of the former. I said I thought this a very perilous game +to play, and that if it was avowed and acted upon, it would +infallibly produce a reunion between the Whigs and Radicals, who +would coalesce to crush their Government; that the Radicals were +now very angry with the Whigs, who they thought had deserted the +principles they professed, and it should rather be their care to +keep Whigs and Radicals asunder than provoke a fresh alliance +between them. He said the Whigs were certain to join the Radicals. +I asked him if he had seen the 'Times,' said what had passed +between the Duke and me, and told him he would do well to +endeavour to obtain its support. He said he desired nothing so +much, but in his situation he did not like personally to +interfere, nor to place himself in their power. I told him I had +some acquaintance with Barnes, the editor of the paper, and would +find out what he was disposed to do, and would let him know, which +he entreated I would. The Duke had said, laughing, 'I hear they +call me a Reformer.' I said, 'They think you will make as good a +Reformer as the present men, if, as Brougham said in Scotland, +they would have done less this session than they did the last.' I +asked Lyndhurst if he had seen or heard of the Duke's letter to +the Oxford people, and told him that it was very desirable that +credit should be given them for intending to carry on their +government upon principles as liberal as that letter evinced, that +I hoped there would be no foolish declarations fulminated against +Reform, and that they would all be convinced now that matters had +been brought to such a state (no matter how and by whom) that the +old principle of hostility to all reforms must be abandoned. He +said that Peel would, he trusted, be _flexible_, that if such +declarations were made, and such principles announced, they must +be upset, but the Tories would be difficult to manage, and +discontented if there was not a sufficient infusion of their +party; and, on the other hand, the agricultural interest had +assembled a force under Lord Chandos, a sort of confederation of +several counties, and that Chandos had told him that he and the +representatives of their counties would not support any Ministry +that would not pledge itself to repeal the malt tax; that they +would agree to re-enact the beer tax, but the malt tax must cease. + +[Page Head: LYNDHURST ON BROUGHAM.] + +Brougham had written to Lyndhurst saying he should be ready to +resign the Great Seal in a few days, and only wished first to +give some judgments, that he was rejoiced at retiring from office +and at the prospect of being able to do what was his great +delight--devote himself to State affairs without being trammelled +and having to fear the imputation of imprudence and indiscretion. +'He will be,' Lyndhurst said, 'the most troublesome fellow that +ever existed, and do all the mischief he can.' I said, 'What can +he do? he was emasculated when he left the House of Commons.' +'Yes,' he said, 'he knows that, but he will come down night after +night and produce plans of Reform upon any subject; he will make +speeches two or three hours long to very thin Houses, which will +be printed in all the newspapers or published by himself and +circulated--in fact, a series of pamphlets.' I said that he had +damaged himself so much that I did not think he could do a great +deal of harm, with all his speeches and pamphlets. He said he had +damaged himself in more ways than one. He then went off upon his +admirable social qualities and his generous conduct to his +family, both of which may most justly be praised, and said what a +melancholy thing it was to see a man with such fine talents mar +their effect by his enormous errors in judgment. + +Lord Holland, who came out last of all his colleagues, upon his +crutches, stopped in great good-humour and said to the Duke, 'you +can't get me out, I can tell you, without going into Lancashire, +for my seal is there.' + +The Duke told me that he did not mean to make the slightest +alteration in the transaction of the current business in the +different offices, which would go on as usual through the +under-secretaries, whom he should request to continue at their +posts for the purpose. As, however, a disposition was evinced on +the part of the late Cabinet not to afford him any facilities, +he began to think that this might not impossibly extend to the +subordinates, and he said that at all events he would have two +people ready to put into the Treasury to transact the business +there. I told him if he was in any difficulty he might make any +use he pleased of me. There can hardly be any difficulty, +however, when there are permanent under-secretaries in all the +offices. + +Thus ended this eventful day; just four years ago I witnessed the +reverse of the picture. I think the Whigs upon this occasion were +much more angry and dejected than the Tories were upon that. They +had perhaps some reason, for their case is one of rare +occurrence--unceremoniously kicked out, not resignations following +ineffectual negotiations or baffled attempts at arrangement, but in +the plenitude of their fancied strength, and utterly unconscious of +danger, they were discarded in the most positive, summary, and +peremptory manner. Great, therefore, is their indignation, +mortification, and chagrin, and bitter will no doubt be their +opposition. They think that the new Government have no chance of +getting a House of Commons that will support them, and certainly if +they do not, and if the Tories are compelled after a fruitless +struggle to resign, miserable will be the condition of the King and +the House of Lords, and not very enviable that of any Government +that may succeed them. + +To speculate upon probabilities is impossible; the new Government at +present consists of the Duke, Lyndhurst, and Peel, and till it shall +be seen of what materials the complete structure is composed, and +what principles they enunciate, it is idle to discuss the matter. +Lyndhurst and I agreed cordially that all the evils of the last four +years--the breaking up of their Government, and the Reform Bill that +was the consequence of that catastrophe--were attributable to the +High Tories. Whatever may be their wishes now, they can hardly play +the same game over again; they must support this Government, even +though it shall not act upon the highflying principles which they so +fondly and obstinately cherish. Their salvation and that of all the +institutions to which they cling require that they should support +the Duke and Peel in carrying on the government upon those +principles on which, from the circumstances of the times and the +events which have occurred, an Administration _must_ act in order to +have a shadow of a chance of being tolerated by the House of Commons +and the country. Lyndhurst is sensible of this; I wish Peel may be +so likewise. If they both are I have little fear for the Duke. + + +November 19th, 1834 {p.154} + +[Page Head: DUKE OF WELLINGTON IN OFFICE.] + +Laid up these two days with the gout in my knee, so could not go +out to hear what is going on. The Duke, I find, after the Council +on Monday (losing no time), repaired to the Home Office and +ordered the Irish papers to be brought to him, then to the Foreign +Office, where he asked for the last despatches from Spain and +Portugal, and so on to the Colonial Office, where he required +information as to the state of their department. I have no doubt +he liked this, to play the part of Richelieu for a brief period, +to exercise all the functions of administration. They complain, +however, and not without reason, of the unceremonious and somewhat +uncourteous mode in which without previous notice he entered into +the vacant offices, taking actual possession, without any of the +usual preliminary civilities to the old occupants. Duncannon, who +had been in the Home Office up to the time of the Council on +Monday, and whose papers were unremoved, if he had returned after +it, would have found the Duke seated in his still warm chair, +issuing directions to Phillips, the under-secretary, while +Macdonald, Duncannon's private secretary, was still at his +vocation in the adjoining room. Pretty much the same thing he did +in the other three offices. He has fixed his head-quarters at the +Home Office, and occasionally roves over the rest. All this is +unavoidable under existing circumstances, but it is enough to +excite merriment, or censure, or suspicion, according to different +tastes and tempers. The King offered to make Melbourne an earl and +to give him the Garter, but he declined, and begged it might be +given to the Duke of Grafton. + +In consequence of what passed between Lyndhurst and me concerning +the 'Times' (at St. James's) I made Henry de Ros send for Barnes +(who had already at his suggestion adopted a conciliatory and +amicable tone towards the embryo Government), who came and put on +paper the terms on which he would support the Duke. These were: +no mutilation of the Reform Bill, and the adoption of those +measures of reform which had been already sanctioned by votes of +the House of Commons last session with regard to Church and +corporations, and no change in our foreign policy. I have sent +his note to Lyndhurst, and begged him to call here to talk the +matter over. + +Powell, a Tory solicitor and _ame damnee_ of the Speaker's, has +just been here; he declares that the Tories will be 420 strong in +the new Parliament, which I mention for the purpose of recording +their expectations and being able to compare them hereafter with +the event. They have already put themselves in motion, despatched +messengers to Lord Hertford and Lowther, and probably if ever +these men could be induced to open their purse strings, and make +sacrifices and exertions, they will do it now. + +_Six o'clock._--Lyndhurst has just been here; he had seen the +Duke, who had already opened a negotiation with Barnes through +Scarlett. I offered to get any statement inserted of the _causes_ +of the late break-up, and he will again see the Duke and consider +the propriety of inserting one. He said, 'Why Barnes is the most +powerful man in the country.' The 'Standard' has sent to offer +its support; the Duke said he should be very happy, but they must +understand that the Government was not yet formed. + + +November 21st, 1834 {p.156} + +To-day there was a Council at St. James's, at which Lyndhurst was +sworn in Chancellor. Brougham took leave of the Bar this morning, +and I hear did it well. The King speechified as usual, and gave +them a couple of harangues; he said it was just four years since +he had very unwillingly taken the Seal from Lord Lyndhurst, and +he now had great pleasure in restoring it to him. He was all King +to-day--talked of having 'commanded the ex-Ministers to retire;' +'desired Lord Brougham to give up the Seal,' which is true, for +the Duke wrote to him for it, and instead of surrendering it in +person Brougham sent it to Sir Henry Taylor. The King compared +this crisis with that which befell his father in 1784, when he +had placed the government in the hands of the Marquis of +Rockingham; he said that the present was only a provisional +arrangement, but that there was this difference, that the country +was now in a state of excitement and disquiet, which it was free +from then, but that he had full reliance on the great firmness of +the Duke (here the Duke bowed); that the Administration which was +then formed had lasted seventeen years (of course he meant that +of Pitt, which succeeded the coalition), and he hoped that this +which was about to be formed would last as long, although at his +time of life if it did he could not expect to see the end of it. + + +November 22nd, 1834 {p.157} + +I read Brougham's speech on quitting the Court of Chancery this +morning, and admirable it is--not a syllable about himself, but +with reference to the appointment of Pepys, brief, dignified, and +appropriate. _Si sic omnia_, what a man he would be. + + +November 23rd, 1834 {p.157} + +This morning I received a note from Henry de Ros enclosing one +from Barnes, who was evidently much nettled at not having received +any specific answer to his note stating the terms on which he +would support the Duke. Henry was disconcerted also, and entreated +me to have an explanation with Lyndhurst. I accordingly went to +the Court of Exchequer, where he was sitting, and waited till he +came out, when I gave him these notes to read. He took me away +with him, and stopped at the Home Office to see the Duke and talk +to him on the subject, for he was evidently a little alarmed, so +great and dangerous a potentate is the wielder of the thunders of +the press. After a long conference he came out and gave me a note +the Duke had written, saying he could not pledge himself nor Sir +Robert Peel (who was to be the Minister) before he arrived, and +eventually I agreed to draw up a paper explanatory of the position +of the Duke, and his expectations and views with regard to the +'Times' and its support. This I sent to him, and he is to return +it to me with such corrections as he may think it requires, and it +is to be shown to Barnes to-morrow. + +[Page Head: BROUGHAM ASKS FOR THE CHIEF BARONSHIP.] + +On the way Lyndhurst told me an incredible thing--that Brougham +had written to him proposing that he should be made Chief Baron, +which would be a great saving to the country, as he was content +to take it with no higher salary than his retiring pension and +some provision for the expense of the circuit. He said he would +show me the letter, but that he had left it with the Duke, so +could not then. He knows well enough that, whatever may be the +fate of this Government, he has no chance of recovering the Great +Seal, but I own I do not comprehend what object he can have in +taking this appointment, or what there is of importance enough to +induce him to apply for it to his political opponents, and incur +all the odium that would be heaped upon him if the fact were +generally known. He would not consider himself tongue-tied in the +House of Lords any more than Lyndhurst was, for though the former +took the situation under a sort of condition, either positive or +implied, that he was to observe something like a neutrality, he +considered himself entirely emancipated from the engagement when +the great Reform battle began, and the consequence was that the +secret article in the treaty was also cancelled, and Denman got +the Chief Justiceship instead of him. I imagine that the King +would not agree to Brougham's being Chief Baron even though the +Duke and Lyndhurst should be disposed to place him on the bench. +There might be some convenience in it. He must cut fewer capers +in ermine than in plaid trousers. [As might have been expected, +this intended stroke of Brougham's was a total failure. Friends +and foes condemn him; Duncannon tried to dissuade him; the rest +of his colleagues only knew of it after it was done. Duncannon +told me he neither desired nor expected that his offer would be +accepted.--November 30th.] + + +November 24th, 1834 {p.158} + +I sent Lyndhurst a paper to be read to Barnes, which he returned +to me with another he had written instead, which certainly was +much better. The Duke's note and this paper were read to him, and +he expressed himself quite satisfied, was much gratified by an +offer Lyndhurst made to see him, and proposed a meeting; so, +then, I leave the affair. I took a copy of Lyndhurst's paper, and +then returned it and the note to him. + +At night I went to Holland House, where I found Brougham, Lord +John Russell, and Lord Lansdowne. Lady Holland told me that she +had been the channel of communication by which the arrangement of +giving the Chief Baronship to Lyndhurst had been carried on, and +she declared that there was no secret article in it. I believe, +however, that there was one concluded between Brougham and +Lyndhurst, when they met to settle it in Burlington street. Leach +brought the original message from Alexander, who offered to +resign in favour of Lyndhurst. I hear of nothing but the +indignation of the ex-Ministers at the uncourteousness of the +Duke's conduct towards them; but though there is too much truth, +there is also some exaggeration in the complaints. It is +necessary to be on one's guard against what one hears, as I +verified yesterday in a particular case. + + +November 26th, 1834 {p.159} + +[Page Head: THE WHIGS ON THE RECENT CHANGE.] + +Barnes is to dine with Lord Lyndhurst, and a gastronomic +ratification will wind up the treaty between these high +contracting parties. I walked home with Duncannon last night; he +declared to me that though he could not tell me what did pass +between the King and Melbourne, what is stated to have passed is +not the truth. I heard elsewhere that the Whigs insist upon it +there was no disunion in the Cabinet, and that Lord Lansdowne and +Rice had seen the Irish Tithe Bill (the Irish Chancellor being the +supposed subject of disunion), and that they both agreed to its +provisions. Duncannon said that if the King had insisted upon the +dismissal of Brougham, and had consented to go on with the rest, +he would have put them in a grand dilemma, for that such a +requisition would have met the concurrence of many of their +friends and of the public. He thinks Brougham would not have +_resigned_ even then, and that it would have been very dangerous +to turn him out. All this speculation matters little now. He is +thoroughly convinced that the present appearances of indifference +and tranquillity in the country are delusive, and that the +elections will rouse a dormant spirit, and that the minor +differences of Reformers and Liberals of all denominations will be +sunk in a determined hostility to the Government of Peel and the +Duke. He says that the Irish Church must bring the question +between the two parties to an immediate and decisive test; that if +the new Government are beaten upon it, as he thinks inevitable, +out they must go; that the return of the Government just broken up +will be out of the question, and the King must submit to receive +one of still stronger measures. Duncannon does not conceal the +ultra-Liberal nature of his opinions, and he would not regret the +accomplishment of his predictions. It cannot be concealed that +there is nothing very improbable in them, although I am far from +regarding the event as so certain as he does; still less can I +partake of the blind confidence and sanguine hopes of the Tories. +One thing is, however, very clear, that the Whigs and the Radicals +will join (as Lyndhurst said they were sure to do), and that they +will both declare war to the knife against the Tory Government. +The best hope and chance is that a number of really independent +men, unpledged, may be returned, who will hold something like a +balance between the extreme parties, resist all violent +propositions, protect the King from insult and peremptory +dictation, and afford the new Government a fair trial, and on the +other hand declare at once and without reserve their determination +to continue without interruption the course of rational and +effectual reform, making a virtual abandonment of High Tory maxims +and acquiescence in the desires of the country with respect to the +correction of abuses the indispensable conditions of the present +Government's retention of office. + + +November 27th, 1834 {p.160} + +[Page Head: POLICY OF THE PEEL GOVERNMENT] + +Yesterday Lord Wharncliffe came to me. He had just been with the +Duke, who received him very cordially, and showed him the +correspondence and minutes of conversations between the King and +Melbourne. He says that it is evident that Melbourne despaired of +being able to carry on the Government, and that the gist of the +King's objection was the nomination of Lord John Russell to lead +the Government in the House of Commons, which His Majesty said he +could not agree to, because he had already declared his +sentiments with regard to the Church and his resolution of +supporting it to the bishops and on other occasions, and that +Lord John Russell had signalised himself in the House of Commons +by his destructive opinions with regard to the Establishment. I +should be glad to see this correspondence and judge for myself, +but I can't go to the Duke on purpose. Wharncliffe says that he +is quite satisfied from his conversation that the Duke is +thoroughly convinced of the necessity of adopting a line of +conduct in conformity with the state of public opinion and +determination in the country, and that he is prepared to abandon +(as far as he is concerned) the old Tory maxims. So far so good; +but there is no concealing that, however this may (if Peel +concurs) facilitate the formation and secure the duration of the +new Government, there is a revolting inconsistency in it all, +involving considerable loss of character. He gave no indication +of such a disposition during the last session; it is all reserved +for the period when he is possessed of power. It is, however, at +present all very vague, and we shall see what his notion is of a +Liberal course of policy. I fear that he and Peel are both too +deeply committed on the Irish Church question to suffer them to +propose any compromise likely to be satisfactory with regard to +it, and then the difficulties of the question are so enormous +that it seems next to impossible to compose them. The respective +parties drive at different objects; one wants to appropriate the +surplus revenue, the other wants to secure to the parsons their +tithes, and while they are quarrelling with unmitigable +fierceness upon these points, the Irish settle the question by +refusing to pay any tithe, and by evading every attempt that is +made to procure the payment in some other shape or under some +other denomination. + +The Duke told Wharncliffe that both he and the King were fully aware +of the importance of the step that his Majesty had taken--that this +is, in fact, the Conservatives' last cast--and that he (the King) is +resolved neither to flinch nor falter, but having embarked with +them, to nail his flag to the mast and put forth all the +constitutional authority of the Crown in support of the Government +he is about to form. I am strongly inclined to think that this +determination, when properly ascertained, will have considerable +influence, and that, provided a respectable and presentable Cabinet +be formed and Liberal measures adopted, they will succeed. Though +the Crown is not so powerful as it was, there probably still remains +a great deal of attachment and respect to it, and if the King can +show a fair case to the country, there will be found both in +Parliament and out of it a vast number of persons who will reflect +deeply upon the consequences of coming to a serious collision with +the Throne, and consider whether the exigency is such as to justify +such extremities. It may be very desirable to purify the Irish +Church, to remodel corporations, and to relieve the Dissenters in +various ways, and nobody can entertain a shadow of doubt that all +these things must and will be done; but the several cases are not of +great and pressing urgency. The fate of the nation does not depend +upon their being all accomplished and arranged off-hand, and if the +Government which the King may form exhibits no spirit uncongenial to +the public feeling generally, and wars not with the genius of +Reform, which is dear to the people, it is my belief that a great +majority of the nation will shrink from the mere possibility of a +direct breach with the King, and from offering him an insult in the +shape of dictation and peremptory demand, which he would consider +himself bound in honour and in conscience to resist. + +I walked home with Duncannon at night, and I told him this; he +seemed struck by it, but still maintained that Parliament would, +in his opinion, not accept the new Ministry on any terms. If Peel +makes a High Tory Government, and holds High Tory language, I +think so too, and I can scarcely hope that it should be +otherwise. My mind, I own, misgives me about Peel; I hope +everything from his capacity and dread everything from his +character. + + +November 28th, 1834 {p.162} + +This morning I got a letter from my uncle the Duke of Portland, +complaining of the Weights and Measures Bill, and begging that, if +possible, an Order in Council might be passed suspending the +operation of the Act. I availed myself of this opportunity to see +the Duke of Wellington, and went to the Home Office to consult him +on the contents of this letter. After settling this business I began +about the recent negotiation between Lyndhurst and Barnes, and this +led to a discussion of the circumstances and situation of affairs, +in the course of which he told me everything that had occurred. I +asked him if _he_ had sent the 'Statement' which appeared in the +'Times.' He said no, and that he was utterly at a loss to guess how +they had got it, but that by whatever means it was as near as +possible to the truth. I said that this was utterly and peremptorily +denied by the other side, on which he called Algy,[2] and desired +him to bring a letter which he had written to certain Peers of his +party--a circular--which he read to me. In this he explained in +general terms (without going into particulars) the causes of the +break-up of the late Government and the advice he had given the +King, and he told me that he had got papers and letters in +confirmation of every word that he had written (Melbourne's +correspondence with the King and the minute of the conversation), +all which he said he would show me then, but that it would take up +too much time. However, as we proceeded to talk it over he told me +all that these papers contained, or at least all that was material. +The substance as I gathered it and as I remember it was this:--Lord +Melbourne had written to the King and descanted on the great +difficulty in which the Government was placed in consequence of Lord +Spencer's death, and had intimated that the measures which he should +find it necessary to propose to him would produce a difference of +opinion in the Cabinet--in point of fact that it was, to say the +least, probable that Rice and Lansdowne would retire. When he went +down to Brighton, and they talked it over, Lord Melbourne put it to +his Majesty whether under existing circumstances he would go on, +placing himself in their hands, or whether he would dispense with +their services, only recommending that if he resolved not to +endeavour to go on with this Government (with such modifications as +circumstances demanded) he would declare such resolution as speedily +as possible.[3] The Duke says he did not actually tender his or +their resignations, did not throw up the Government, but _very near +it_. The King suggested the difficulty of his situation, and +Melbourne told him 'he had better send for the Duke of Wellington, +and depend upon it he would get him out of it.' 'In fact,' said the +Duke, 'Melbourne told him I should do just what I did.' Accordingly +the King did send for the Duke, and it is true that Melbourne +offered to be the bearer of his Majesty's letter. When some question +was asked about the messenger, Melbourne said, 'No messenger will go +so quick as I shall; you had better give it to me.' The Duke said +that no man could have acted more like a gentleman and a man of +honour than Melbourne did, and that his opinion of him was greatly +raised. I told him that I thought Melbourne could not have given his +colleagues an exact and correct account of what had passed, for that +they could not conceive themselves to have been so ill-treated if it +was so, and that if he had told them _all_ they would probably have +thought he had abandoned their interests. He said that it was +evident Melbourne was very happy to disengage himself from the +concern. (As all this case will probably be discussed in Parliament, +we shall see that the debate will turn principally upon the fact of +disunion, and I have little doubt that Rice and Lansdowne will +declare that they had no intention of quitting. So much depends upon +verbal niceties, and the bounds between truth and falsehood are so +narrow, the partition so thin, that they will, I expect, try to back +up their party without any absolute breach of veracity.) When the +King was reading the papers to him (the Duke), and telling him all +that had passed, _he was in a great fright_ lest the Duke should +think he had acted imprudently, and should decline to accept the +Government. Then the Duke said, 'Sir, I see at once how it all is. +Your Majesty has not been left by your Ministers, but something very +like it;' and His Majesty was rejoiced when the Duke at once +acquiesced in taking office. + + [2] [Mr. Algernon Greville, brother of Mr. Charles + Greville, was private secretary to the Duke of + Wellington both in and out of office.] + + [3] [This statement has certainly not been confirmed by the + subsequent publication of papers or by the narrative of + the King himself. It is very extraordinary that the + Duke of Wellington should have been led to believe it; + but this is only another proof of the extreme + difficulty of arriving at an exact knowledge of what + passes in conversation between two persons, even when + both of them are acting in perfect good faith.] + +The Duke said he had received very satisfactory letters from all +(or many) of the Peers to whom he had written--from the Duke of +Newcastle and Lord Mansfield, the most violent of the Tories. I +said, 'Are they ready to place themselves in your hands, and +agree to whatever you may think it necessary to do?' He said, 'I +think they are; I think they will do anything.' He told me that +affairs were left in a wretched state in the Treasury, that the +late Ministers were no men of business, and minutes had been +proposed to him finding fault with various things; but he had +refused to do any such thing, and he would repair any error he +could without casting any blame on others. On the whole he +thought everything looked well, and that he should, when Peel +arrived, put the concern into his hands in a satisfactory state. + +It is perfectly clear, in the midst of assertion on one side and +contradiction on the other, that in the first instance there was +neither plot nor plan on the part of the King or anybody else. +The death of Lord Spencer really did create an enormous +embarrassment, which Melbourne felt much more than any of his +colleagues; and though he told the King 'that he was ready to go +on with the Government if such was his pleasure,' he felt no +desire to be taken at his word, and no confidence or expectation +that the arrangements he proposed would be palatable to the King +or of a permanent nature. He seems to have been candid and +straightforward in all that he said, and to have contemplated his +dismissal as a very probable result of his correspondence and +conversations with his Majesty. The Irish Church has evidently +caused _the split_; the intended reforms in it and the elevation +of Lord John Russell to the post of leader were more than the +King could digest. I wish I had seen the papers, for the sake of +knowing what it is they proposed to the King, and how far he was +disposed to go. + + +November 29th, 1834 {p.165} + +[Page Head: LORD STANLEY'S POSITION.] + +I told the Duke yesterday what I had learnt from George Bentinck +(and he from the Duke of Richmond) of Lord Stanley's[4] +disposition. He is not at all desirous to be mixed up in the new +concern, but has no objection to take office under Peel, and he +is ready to _listen_ to any proposition that may be made to him; +but he is very much afraid of being accused of dereliction of +principle by his old colleagues and friends. It is clear, +therefore, that he would reject any overture unless it included +an agreement that the Government should be conducted upon Liberal +principles, and unless his friends were invited to join the +Government with him. The Duke took very little notice of this. + + [4] [Edward, 12th Earl of Derby, died on October 21, 1834, + from which date his grandson, afterwards 14th Earl of + Derby, assumed the courtesy title of Lord Stanley.] + + +December 1st, 1834 {p.166} + +Went to St. Paul's yesterday evening, to hear Sydney Smith preach. +He is very good; manner impressive, voice sonorous and agreeable, +_rather_ familiar, but not offensively so, language simple and +unadorned, sermon clever and illustrative. The service is +exceedingly grand, performed with all the pomp of a cathedral and +chanted with beautiful voices; the lamps scattered few and far +between throughout the vast space under the dome, making darkness +visible, and dimly revealing the immensity of the building, were +exceedingly striking. The Cathedral service thus chanted and +performed is my _beau ideal_ of religious worship--simple, +intelligible, and grand, appealing at the same time to the reason +and the imagination. I prefer it infinitely to the Catholic service, +for though I am fond of the bursts of music and the clouds of +incense, I can't endure the undistinguishable sounds with which the +priest mumbles over the prayers. + +I heard yesterday that there has been a breeze between Duncannon +and Melbourne, arising out of his speech at Derby. This was in +answer to an address they voted him, and it was exceedingly +temperate and reserved. In the course of it he said that 'he had +no personal cause of complaint.' A warfare has been raging +between the 'Standard' and the 'Chronicle' about what passed, and +the articles in the latter have been supplied by Duncannon or +some of them; these are at variance with Melbourne's avowal, and +they are very angry with him for what he said, and want him to +make some statement (or to authorise one) of a different kind and +more corresponding with their own declarations and complaints. +This he refuses to do, and they have been squabbling about it +with some vivacity. All this induces me the more to think that +Melbourne has never told his colleagues how very easily and +contentedly he gave up the reins of Government, not intending to +deceive them, but from a desire to avoid exasperating people whom +he found so much disturbed and so bitter. + + +December 2nd, 1834 + +[Page Head: LORD LYNDHURST'S DINNER TO MR. BARNES.] + +Dined with Lord Lyndhurst yesterday; the dinner for Mr. Barnes. He +had collected a miscellaneous party, droll enough--Mrs. Fox, Baron +Bolland, Follett, Hardinge, &c. The Duke and Lord Chandos were to +have been there. Barnes told Hardinge there was a great cry +getting up in the country against the Duke. After dinner I had a +long conversation with Hardinge, on the whole satisfactory. He +said that he had been instrumental in bringing the Duke and Peel +together again, after a considerable coldness and estrangement had +existed between them; that after the failure in May 1832, when +Peel refused to have anything to do with the concern, he had +called upon him and insisted upon taking him to Apsley House and +spontaneously consulting with the Duke how he should withdraw from +the business; that with great difficulty he had persuaded him, and +together they went, from which time the Duke and he have again +become friends. He is convinced that Peel will at once make a fair +and cordial overture to Stanley, and thinks it of the greatest +importance that Stanley's disposition and probable demands should +be ascertained before Peel arrives. I told him what I had before +told the Duke, and what I had reason to believe were Stanley's +sentiments. He asked whether Stanley would insist upon Richmond +and Ripon coming in with him; he said that for the former he +(Hardinge) was sure Peel would never admit him without the Duke's +full and especial consent, which, however, he has no doubt the +Duke would give without hesitation, and overlook any personal +cause of offence, to facilitate a desirable arrangement; that +there was some dispute among his friends whether it would be +better that Stanley should join now or only support (if he would) +at first and join afterwards. I said, 'Unquestionably it is better +he should join at once,' to which Hardinge assented, though he +added that many thought otherwise, that if Stanley made +difficulties and declined the junction, he was persuaded Peel +would keep nothing open, and would not make provisional +arrangements to admit him and his party when they should think it +more safe and convenient to unite their future to his. What they +would like evidently is to take Stanley and Graham and wash their +hands of Ripon and Richmond, but I think they will be forced to +admit them all, for Lyndhurst owned to me that he did not think +they could stand without Stanley; and the King is so anxious for +it that if Stanley insists on terms which are not very unreasonable +(under the circumstances) they will not be refused. Hardinge said +that four seats in the Cabinet would be a large share, but that +the best men among them were prepared to make every sacrifice of +their own just expectations or claims to render any arrangement +feasible that circumstances might require, that 'all was right +with the Speaker,' and as for the High Tories, the sooner they cut +the connection with them the better, but that they (the High +Tories) were now at their feet. + +[Page Head: SIR H. HARDINGE ON THE LATE CRISIS.] + +He then went into the details of the King's case with his late +Ministers--much to the same effect as I had before heard from the +Duke and Lyndhurst, but perhaps rather more clearly. He said that +Melbourne had stated to the King that questions must soon be +brought under the consideration of the Cabinet relating to the +Irish Church on which a considerable difference of opinion +prevailed, and that if the opinion of the majority of the Cabinet +should be acquiesced in by his Majesty, the secession of two or +more members of it would in all probability follow; that if the +desire of his Majesty to compromise these differences of opinion +and prevent any separation should have the effect of preventing +such discussions in the Cabinet as should lead to any disunion +_for the time_, it was only fair and right to own to him that it +would be in the power of any member of the House of Commons who +should become acquainted with the difference of opinion which +prevailed to bring the question to an issue; and if such a thing +should occur, the resignations, he apprehended, would only be +retarded. The King, under these circumstances, asked how he +proposed to fill up the vacancies that would thus occur, whether +from any but what is called the extreme party, and whether he +(Melbourne), with a knowledge of the King's sentiments, could +advise him to have recourse to Lord Durham and others of the same +opinions. Melbourne acknowledged that he could look nowhere else, +and that he certainly could not give the King such advice, upon +which he said that as the breach sooner or latter appeared +inevitable, he thought it better that the dissolution of the +Government should take place at once, and he preferred making the +change during the recess, when he should have time to form other +arrangements, rather than have it forced upon him during all the +excitement of the session of Parliament. This, I think, was the +pith of the thing, and in my opinion it forms a good case. +Hardinge said that if the King had been a clever man he would +have postponed his decision and spun out the correspondence, in +the course of which he would have acquired pretexts sufficient. +This, however, explains what the other side means by insisting +that there was _no difference_ of opinion in the Cabinet; there +was none _actual_, but it was on the prospective disunion so +clearly announced to the King, and impending at such an +indefinite and probably inconvenient time, that he took his +resolution. Melbourne appears to have been bullied into a sort of +exculpatory letter on account of his speech at Derby, saying that +he spoke of having no personal cause of complaint because the +King was very civil to him. + + +December 5th, 1834 {p.169} + +The dinner that Lyndhurst gave to Barnes has made a great uproar, +as I thought it would. I never could understand the Chancellor's +making such a display of this connexion, but whatever he may be as +a lawyer, and how great soever in his wig, I suspect that he is +deficient in knowledge of the world and those nice calculations of +public taste and opinion which are only to be acquired by +intuitive sagacity exercised in the daily communion of social +life. + +Melbourne has had to make another speech, which smells of the +recent reproaches of his colleagues; without exactly recanting +what he had said, he has amplified, modified, and explained, so +as to chime in to a certain degree with their assertions. + +Brougham has been made to recall his letter offering to be Chief +Baron. It matters not what he does for the present; his star is +totally eclipsed, but not, I think, for ever quenched; his vast +abilities must find scope and produce effect. It is true he can +never thoroughly inspire confidence, but if adversity teaches him +wisdom, and cools the effervescence of his temper and imagination, +nothing can prevent his political resurrection, thought not in +'all his original brightness.' + + +December 6th, 1834 {p.170} + +The Chancellor called on me yesterday about getting young +Disraeli into Parliament (through the means of George Bentinck)[5] +for Lynn. I had told him George wanted a good man to assist in +turning out William Lennox, and he suggested the above-named +gentleman, whom he called a friend of Chandos. His political +principles must, however, be in abeyance, for he said that Durham +was doing all he could to get him by the offer of a seat, and so +forth; if, therefore, he is undecided and wavering between +Chandos and Durham, he must be a mighty impartial personage. I +don't think such a man will do, though just such as Lyndhurst +would be connected with. + + [5] [Lord George Bentinck was member for Lynn Regis. It is + curious that this, the first mention of Mr. Disraeli in + political life, should have originated with the man who + afterwards became his most powerful coadjutor and + ally.] + +Melbourne's two speeches at Derby, and the history connected with +them, exhibit him in a very discreditable and lamentable point of +view--compelled by the menaces and reproaches of Duncannon and +the rest to eat his words; and all this transacted by a sort of +negotiation and through the mediation of his vulgar secretary, +Tom Young, and Mrs. Lane Fox. Such a thing it is to be without +firmness and decision of character. Melbourne is a gentleman, +liberal and straightforward, with no meanness, and incapable of +selfish trickery and intrigue, but he is habitually careless and +_insouciant_, loves ease, and hates contests and squabbles, and +though he would never tell a lie, he has probably not that stern +and rigid regard for truth which would make him run any risk +rather than that of concealing anything or suffering a false +impression to be formed or conveyed with respect to any matter he +might be concerned in. + +Lyndhurst told me that Peel's letter was short and cautious, but +satisfactory. He (Lyndhurst) is doing all he can to draw closer +the connexion between the 'Times' and the Government, and +communicates constantly with Barnes. He said they must make a +liberal and comprehensive Government, and sketched an outline of +such a Cabinet as he would like--four Stanleys, six of their own +people, and two High Tories, Chandos certainly, and Knatchbull +probably; but even if Stanley's other scruples can be got over, +how he is to be induced to unite with Chandos and Knatchbull or +any such men I guess not. However, the time is drawing very near. + + +December 7th, 1834 {p.171} + +In a letter from the Duke of Portland to George Bentinck +yesterday he says that the Duke of Newcastle had been there the +day before, had talked politics, and declared that in his opinion +the leaders of his party ought not to give way upon any one +point. This is so different from what the Duke of Wellington +understood from his letter to him that I sent the letter to the +Duke, and afterwards I met him. He said he thought the Duke of +Portland must be mistaken, for the Duke of Newcastle's letter to +him was quite in another sense. This is one of the silliest of +the High Tories, but there will yet be some trouble with the +tribe. John Russell, in a speech somewhere, has made assertions +still more positive and unqualified than Melbourne's, which, if +correct, throw over the King and his case. There is a fearful lie +somewhere, which I suppose will come out in time. It is +impossible to make up one's mind in the midst of statements so +different and yet so positive. George Bentinck sent to Sturges +Bourne to know if he would come in for Lynn, but he declined. +Disraeli he won't hear of. + + +December 8th, 1834 {p.171} + +[Page Head: LORD JOHN RUSSELL'S SPEECH AT TOTNESS.] + +[Page Head: INCONSISTENCIES OF THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON.] + +I read John Russell's speech at Totness last night; it was a very +masterly performance, suitable to the occasion, and effective. He +endeavoured to establish these points: first, that the Duke of +Wellington had continually opposed all Reform measures and been +the enemy of all Reform principles; secondly, that they (the late +Government) had done a great deal, without doing too much; and +thirdly, that there really had occurred no circumstances in the +Cabinet, or with the King, sufficient to account for their summary +dismissal. There is no denying that his first position is +incontrovertible, that he makes out a very fair case for his +second, and his argument on the third throws great doubt upon the +matter in my mind, having previously had no doubt that the King +had a good case to show to the world. It is not so much the Duke's +opposition to this or that particular measure, but the whole tenor +of his conduct and opinions, which it puts one in despair to look +at. There would be no gross inconsistency in his maintaining our +foreign relations in their present state, notwithstanding his +repeated attacks upon Palmerston's policy. He need not refuse to +suffer any legislative interference with the Church, English or +Irish, merely because he opposed the Tithe Bill last year (great, +by the way, as I always thought that blunder was, and as events +will prove it to have been), but in his opposition to the one or +the other we look in vain for some saving declaration to prove +that it is to the specific measure he is hostile, and not to the +principles from which it emanates. If he now comes into office +with a resolution to carry on the investigations that have been +set on foot, and to propose various measures of reform in +consequence of them, however wisely he may act in bending to +circumstances, there is no escaping from the fact that his conduct +in opposition and in office is as different as light from +darkness, and that he adopts when in office those principles in +the gross which he utterly repudiates and opposes with all his +might when he is out. I should like much to have a conversation +with the Duke, and (if it were possible to speak so freely to him) +to set before him all the _apparent_ inconsistencies of his +conduct, to trace his political career step by step, and tell him +concisely all that he may have read scattered through a hundred +newspapers, and then hear what he would say, what his notions are +of political honour and consistency, and how he reconciles his +general conduct with these maxims. I am persuaded that he deludes +himself by some process of extraordinary false reasoning, and that +the habits of intense volition, jumbled up with party prejudices, +old associations, and exposure to never-ceasing flattery, have +produced the remarkable result we see in his conduct; notwithstanding +the enormous blunders he has committed, and his numerous and +flagrant inconsistencies, he has never lost his confidence in +himself, and what is more curious, has contrived to retain that of +a host of followers. In each particular act, and on every fresh +occasion, there appear in him a decision, singleness of purpose, +and straightforwardness which are inseparable from a conviction of +being in the right, and he never seems to apprehend for a moment +that he can be liable to the imputation of any selfish or +dishonourable motive. And strange and paradoxical as it may +appear, I do not think he is justly liable to it except when he is +under the influence of some strong personal feeling. Such was his +jealousy and dislike of Canning, and this led him into perhaps the +most enormous of all his political misdeeds, the overthrow of the +Corn Bill of 1827. Upon other occasions I attribute his conduct to +the circumstance of his being governed by one leading idea, and to +his incapability of taking enlarged and comprehensive views of +political affairs, such as embrace not only the complex relations +of the present, but the ostensible probabilities of the future. +His judgment, instead of being determined by profound habits of +reflection, an extensive knowledge of history, and accurate +acquaintance with human nature, seems to be wholly influenced by +his own wishes and his own conception of what the exigencies of +the moment require. It would not be difficult, I think, and +perhaps I may hereafter attempt to apply this delineation of his +disposition to the events of his life, and to show how the leading +idea in his mind has been the constant guide which he has +followed, sometimes to the detriment of the best interests of the +country and sometimes to that of his own reputation. + + + + + CHAPTER XXVI. + +Sir R. Peel arrives--The First Council--The King's Address--Lord + Stanley and Sir J. Graham decline to join the Government--Lord + Wharncliffe and Sir E. Knatchbull join--The Ministers sworn + in--Peel's Address to his Constituents--Dinner at the Mansion + House--Offer to Lord Roden--Prospects of the Election-- + Stanley's Want of Influence--Pozzo di Borgo's Views--Russia and + England--Nomination of Lord Londonderry to St. Petersburg-- + Parliament dissolved--State of the Constituencies--A Governor-General + for India--Sebastiani and St. Aulaire--Anecdote of Princess + Metternich--The City Elections--Lord Lyndhurst's View of the + Government--Violence of the Opposition--Close Contest at Rochester-- + Sidney Herbert--Sir John Hobhouse's Views--Anecdotes--County + Elections--The Queen supposed to be with Child--Church Reform-- + Dinner of Ministers--Story of La Ronciere--The King's Crotchets. + + +December 10th, 1834 {p.174} + +[Page Head: LORD STANLEY DECLINES TO JOIN SIR R. PEEL.] + +Sir Robert arrived yesterday morning at eight o'clock. Great was +the bustle among his clan; there were the Ross's, the Plantas, +and all of them pacing before his door while he was still +closeted with the Duke. Sefton came up to town last night, and +declares that Lord Stanley has announced his intention of +supporting Wood for Lancashire and opposing Francis Egerton, +which, if true, is ominous against a junction with Peel. + + +December 11th, 1834 {p.175} + +A Council yesterday. The King insisted upon giving Peel the seal +of the Exchequer in Council, though it was not necessary. His +object was to make a speech. The Chief Justice, who was trying a +cause at Westminster, kept us waiting, and at last a carriage +was sent to fetch him. Peel made his first appearance full of +spirits and cordiality to the numerous greetings which hailed +him. He told me that he had seen the letter which I had written +to his brother Jonathan, that he agreed to every word of it, and +that he had written to Stanley in exact conformity to what I had +said. This was a letter I had written to Jonathan Peel, giving +him an account of the state of things here, and expressing at +some length my own view of Peel's situation and of what he ought +to do. When Sir Robert got to Paris he gave it to him, and as he +approves of it I am certain that his Government will be liberal +enough; but then the Irish Church! Stanley's answer may come +to-day, but they expect him in town at all events. When Denman +arrived at St. James's he had an audience and gave up the seal. +The Council was assembled, and the King, who had got his speech +all ready, first asking the Duke of Wellington if he should go +on, to which the Duke assented, delivered himself 'in apt and +gracious terms.' It really was (however superfluous) not at all +ill done, recapitulating what everybody knows, declaring that +Sir Robert Peel was now Minister of this country, and thanking +the Duke of Wellington in his own name and in that of the +country for the part he had taken and for the manner in which he +had conducted the public business during the interval; he said +that he should request him to hold the seals of the three +offices for a few days longer. He was not ridiculous to-day. +With regard to Lynn, I have handed George Bentinck over to +William Peel and Granville Somerset, and so washed my hands of +it. + + +December 13th, 1834 {p.175} + +Stanley has declined; I know not in what terms, but it is said +courteous. Now, then, nothing remains but a Tory Government; the +Whigs are triumphant that Stanley will have nothing to do with +it. Lord Grey, who was moderate, has been lashed into fury by +their putting up Liddell for Northumberland. Charles Grey at +Holland House the other night threw them all into dismay by the +language he held--'that if the Duke and Peel followed his +father's steps, and adopted Liberal measures, he should support +them.' Lady Holland was almost in fits, and Allen in convulsions. + + +December 14th, 1834 {p.175} + +Lord Wharncliffe, to his great joy, was sent for by Peel +yesterday, and very civilly invited to join the new Cabinet. He +thought it necessary to enquire if he meant to be liberal, and on +receiving an assurance to that effect he at once consented. +Graham was with Peel, having come up to town on getting his +letter, but he declined joining. Wharncliffe told me that the +correspondence between Peel and Stanley was extremely civil. The +Cabinet is now pretty nearly completed; they all dined together +at Peel's yesterday. I asked Wharncliffe how Sir Edward +Knatchbull was to be converted into a Liberal, and he said, 'Oh, +there will be no difficulty; he is very reasonable.' It would be +(to me) a bitter pill to swallow to take Knatchbull; he is the +man who led that section of High Tories which threw out the +Duke's Government in 1830. The Whigs are sorry that Graham does +not join, for they hate him and want to be rid of him. They are +also discomposed at a letter of Stanley's in reply to an address +to the King from Glasgow that has been forwarded to him to +present, in which his sentiments appear to be alarmingly +Conservative. + +Stanley and Graham will support the Government, and it now +appears that the Duke of Wellington is the real obstacle to their +joining. To Peel Stanley has no objection; he has spoken of him +in the highest terms; but after the speech which the Duke made +when Lord Grey went out, in which he attacked him and his +Government with a virulence which gave great disgust at the time, +Stanley feels that he could not with any regard to his own +honour, and compatibly with his respect and attachment for Lord +Grey, form a part of this Government. So there is another evil +resulting from one of those imprudences which the Duke blurts out +without reflection, thinking only of the present time and acting +upon his impulse at the moment. Spring Rice, whom I met +yesterday, said that their great object (in which they hoped to +succeed) was to keep the whole of their party together--their +party in the House of Commons, of course. Whether he included +Stanley in this or not I don't know, but if he did he reckons +probably without his host. + + +December 15th, 1834 {p.176} + +[Page Head: DUKE OF RICHMOND AND SIR E. KNATCHBULL.] + +Met the Duke of Richmond yesterday, who came to town for the +cattle show, and had a long talk with him; he said they had +discussed the whole matter (Stanley, Graham, and himself) at +Knowsley, and decided not to join; that the Duke of Wellington's +violent speech against all the members of the late Government +and their policy made it quite impossible, but that they were +determined to support Peel if they possibly could; and he seems +not apprehensive there would be any difficulty; he thinks +Stanley's support out of office will be more valuable than if he +had joined them, and perhaps under the above circumstances (for +I had forgotten the Duke's speech) it may be. Nothing can be +more satisfactory than the state of feeling between them all; +and certainly all those who would have followed Stanley, had he +taken office, may find as strong motives for supporting +Government now as they could have done then. I told Richmond I +thought Knatchbull was so High a Tory that I did not see how +they could make him a Liberal. He said he was not at all +strongly anti-Liberal, and that he had had the option of being a +member of Lord Grey's Government, he having been himself +commissioned to offer him the Secretaryship at War. This, +however, it is very clear, was offered as a reward for the +service he had done in giving the mortal thrust to the Duke, and +as he is an honest man, and wanted at that time the Duke's life +rather than his purse, he was probably satisfied with his +exploit, and never would have done on any terms (what Richmond +and others did) so inconsistent a thing as to join a Reform +Ministry. It is, however, remarkable that this should have +occurred. See what it was. Knatchbull, a High Tory, turns out +the Duke and a Tory Government, and lets in the Whigs; he is +offered office by the Whig Minister to whose triumph he has been +instrumental, refuses it; and afterwards, on the exclusion of +the same Whig Ministry, is offered office by the returning Tory +Government, which he had four years ago destroyed, and takes it. + + +December 16th, 1834 {p.177} + +A great field-day at Court yesterday; all the new Ministers sworn +in, except the Colonial Secretary, who is not yet appointed, and +some subordinate officers. The King addressed each of them on his +kissing hands, and to Scarlett he made a very pretty speech about +the administration of the law. Lord Rosslyn was substituted for +Lord Aberdeen (only in the morning) as President of the Council; +why did not appear, but I had learnt from Hardinge (in a +conversation I had with him) that the arrangements would in some +respects be only temporary, and made with a view to the +subsequent admission of Stanley and his party; the nature of +their communications has been such as to afford a very fair +prospect of that junction. Peel is much elated at having got +Sugden to go to Ireland as Chancellor. Lord de Grey has been +asked to be Lord-Lieutenant. I find Stanley in his letter to Peel +said that the Duke of Wellington's speech was an obstacle to his +joining the Government. These scruples they think unreasonable; +and they allege his own thimblerig speech, which was more violent +against the Whig Government and more insulting than anything the +Duke said; but they should comprehend that this speech forms one +of the ingredients of the difficulty, as it in fact hampers his +political conduct by putting him on uncomfortable personal terms +with his old friends. + + +December 20th, 1834 {p.178} + +Peel's letter to his constituents has appeared as his manifesto +to the country; a very well written and ingenious document, and +well calculated to answer the purpose, if it can be answered at +all. The letter was submitted to the Cabinet at a dinner at +Lyndhurst's on Wednesday last, and they sat till twelve o'clock +upon it, after which it was copied out, a messenger despatched to +the three great newspapers ('Times,' 'Herald,' and 'Post') to +announce its arrival, and at three in the morning it was +inserted. The Whigs affect to hold it very cheap, and to treat it +as an artful but shallow and inefficient production. It is rather +too Liberal for the bigoted Tories, but all the moderate people +are well satisfied with it. Of course it has made a prodigious +sensation, and nobody talks of anything else. + + +December 24th, 1834 {p.178} + +[Page Head: PROSPECTS OF THE MINISTRY.] + +Dined yesterday at the Mansion House; never having before seen a +civic feast, I thought this a good opportunity. The Egyptian Hall +is fine enough; the other rooms miserable. A great company, and +all Tories almost. The Lord Mayor boasted of his impartiality, +and how he had invited all parties alike, but none of the Whigs +would go. Peel spoke tolerably, but not so well as I expected; +manly enough and in good tone. In the speeches of the others +there was nothing remarkable. Ward made a violent speech, +attacking Grote and Lushington, though not by name. The loyal +party in the City are making great exertions, and they expect to +bring in three out of the four members, which I doubt, not +because I know anything of the matter, but because they are +generally out in their calculations. In the meantime the vacant +places have been gradually filled up, and generally with Tories +of a bad description--e.g. Roden[1] as Lord Steward, which, +though no political situation, would do harm merely from his name +appearing in the list. It never will be believed that such men as +he--bigoted and obstinate, and virtuous moreover--will consent to +join Peel if he has resolved to act upon principles diametrically +the reverse of those they have ever sustained, and they persist +(the Whigs) in asserting that every fresh appointment of this +kind is a new pledge that he means to govern on Tory principles. + + [1] Roden refused on account of his health.--January 4th. + +[Page Head: PROSPECTS OF THE ELECTION.] + +A few days ago I fell in with Hobhouse, and he walked with me to +my office. He told me that he and his fellow Committee men at +Ellice's, astonished at the confident expectations of the +Carltonians as to the result of a dissolution, went over the list +scrupulously and jealously, and resolved to know the worst; that +after making every allowance they could, and excluding all +doubtful places and all Stanleyites, they found themselves with a +majority of 195 votes, and deducting from that 50 men who might +be Waverers, and on whom it might not be safe to count, they +still found 145, which they saw no possibility of disputing. On +the other hand the Conservatives, without going to actual +numbers, retain their confidence, though I confess I do not think +on any sufficient grounds as far as present appearances go. As +far as I can judge by the slight indications which reach me, the +managers of the late Government are acting with great dexterity, +and I begin to think that Rice's expectation of being able to +hold together the whole of those who are not with the new +Government is not so chimerical as I at first imagined. Although +there is a little feeling for the ex-Ministry and no excitement +in the country, there is a calm which is quite as alarming to the +hopes of one party as it is represented to be expressive with +regard to the power of the other, for unless some enthusiasm can +be created, some loyal motion to disturb the inertia of the mass, +it must be considered as standing much in the same situation as +before, and that certainly is not one favourable to the desires +and pretensions of the Conservative Government. Then within this +day or two there appear indications of a disposition to hold off +on the part of Stanley and Graham, if not to join with their old +friends, which might well alarm any watchful and anxious mind. +Stanley's speech at Glasgow contained not a syllable expressive +of regard for the royal prerogative, or of respect for Peel, or +of a disposition to try the new Government, but extravagant +compliments to Lord Grey, and Whig language generally. I asked +Hardinge last night what he thought of it, and he said it struck +him as 'too Whiggish.' I then told him that I was struck in like +manner, and that I had seen a letter from Graham in the morning, +the tone of which I did not at all like. It was to George +Bentinck about the Lynn election, for which he was to endeavour +to find a man, and failed. He said that Stanley's speech was very +good; blamed the composition of the New Government, which would +not give satisfaction, though it must always be remembered that +Peel had made use of the old materials because he could not +procure new ones; said that people were now beginning to discover +that the Whigs need not be reduced to the alternative of joining +with the Radicals or the Tories, and that when a standard was set +up (Stanley's of course) on Conservatively Liberal principles he +thought plenty would be found to join it. It is, therefore, very +questionable what course Stanley will pursue, even though a party +may range itself under him, which I doubt, and no position can be +much worse than this Government would be in if they were to hold +office at his discretion, and only while he should be pleased to +throw his weight into their scale. As far as one can judge his +weight will be small, for it is very remarkable that while for +some weeks George Bentinck has been endeavouring to find a +Stanleyite candidate for Lynn, who would be brought in without +trouble or expense, though he has ransacked the Bar and applied +to Richmond, Ripon, Graham, and Stanley himself, no such man can +be found. There are Whigs and Tories in abundance, but not one +man who will come into Parliament as a follower of Stanley and +owing his seat to the patronage of the Duke of Richmond. + +It is the fashion to consider Peel's speech at the Mansion House +less Liberal in tone and indicative of less confidence than his +letter to Tamworth. I don't perceive much difference. Lord Roden +has refused to be Lord Steward, but the invitation has done the +mischief. Lord Haddington goes to Ireland, after making many +difficulties, but finishing by liking the appointment. Both +parties remain equally confident as to the result of the +elections; the Whigs, as it appears to me, with greater reason, +and as the resolution of the allies (the Whigs and Radicals) is +to throw out the Government as speedily as possible, and without +caring for consequences, I don't see how they ever can stand. +The other night at Holland House, Mulgrave, who is one of the +leading men of the electioneering committee, admitted that he +did not see what was to follow the overthrow of the Government, +but that the difficulty was one of their own creating; others of +them assert that Melbourne or Spencer will return, and another +Whig Government be formed, but they leave out of calculation +that the Radicals with whom they have joined will not suffer +themselves to be brushed off when done with, nor will the Tories +come down to assist them if they endeavour again to make head +against the Radicals. The Tories have shown themselves a +reckless and desperate party, and I see no reason for supposing +that their conduct will belie their character; they overthrow +their friends from revenge, and will hardly save their enemies +from charity; their interest, their real interest, they seem +destined ever to be blind to. There may be a hope that, having +put themselves under the orders of Peel, they will act in a body +as he shall direct them, and if so they may be a powerful and +useful Opposition, and I really believe that he will not turn +his eyes from the true interests of the country, or cease to +regard all those contingencies which may, under dexterous +management, be eventually turned to account. It is, however, +impossible not to feel greatly disquieted at the aspect of +affairs--at the mixture of bad spirit and apathy that prevails, +for I consider the apathy an evil and not a good sign. Those who +express most loudly their alarm and abhorrence of ultra doctrines +make little exertion, personal or pecuniary, to stem their +torrent. There have been some great examples of liberality. I +heard only the other day that the Duke of Buccleuch subscribed +L20,000 for the election of 1831; Lord Harrowby (a poor man) has +given Ll,000 for this. The fact is, it is in politics to a +certain degree as in religion. Men fear in the one case in the +same manner as they believe in the other; they have some doubts +in both cases, but no convictions. Their conduct belies their +assertions, and when compared with that which they observe on +occasions where there is no room for doubt, it will be seen that +their want of energy or decision, their various inconsistencies, +proceed from self-deceit, which is just strong enough to permit +them to try and deceive others with actual falsehood and +hypocrisy. + + +December 28th, 1834 {p.182} + +[Page Head: STATE OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS.] + +My brother Henry came from Paris a day or two ago to take the +place of _precis_ writer in the Foreign Office. Just before he +started old Pozzo gave him a whole string of messages to the Duke +of Wellington, adding that he would give the world for an hour's +conversation with him. These communications were evidently made +upon a supposition that their opinions were generally congenial. +He said that the affairs of Belgium required particular attention; +that the Belgians were grown insolent, and meant, by deferring a +final settlement, to avoid paying their portion of the debt and to +keep the disputed Duchies, and that _unfortunately_ the conduct of +the King of Holland had not been such as to entitle him to +assistance; that in Germany the spirit was good and tranquillity +prevailed; in Spain nothing could be worse, and he told the Duke +to be on his guard against what Alava should say to him, 'qui +n'avait pas le sens commun, mais qui etait devoue au Duc,' and +that he might _endoctriner_ him a little. Henry took a memorandum +of this and gave it to the Duke; but however disposed he may be to +enter into Pozzo's views, he will probably soon be obliged to take +a tone very unpleasant to Russia, for I find that the affairs of +Turkey are in such a state that they are to be brought under the +immediate consideration of the Cabinet. The great object of the +late Government was (and that of this Government must be the same) +to get the Porte out of the clutches of Russia. The Sultan is a +mere slave of the Emperor, but throughout his dominions, and the +Principalities likewise, a bitter feeling of hatred against Russia +prevails. Our policy has been to induce the Sultan to throw off +the yoke--by promises of assistance on one hand, and menaces on +the other of supporting Mehemet Ali against him. Hitherto, +however, the Sultan has never been induced to bestir himself. It +is evident that if this matter is taken up seriously, and with a +resolution to curb the power of Russia in the East, the greatest +diplomatic judgment and firmness will be requisite in our +Ambassador at St. Petersburg; and how under these circumstances +the Duke can send Londonderry, and how Peel can have consented to +his nomination, I am at a loss to conceive. It appears just worse +than what Palmerston did, which was to send nobody at all. In all +this complication of interests in the East, France is ready to act +with us if we will let her, and Austria lies like a great log, +favouring Russia and opposing her inert mass to anything like +_mouvement_, no matter with what object or in what quarter. + + * * * * * + + 1835. + + +January 1st, 1835 {p.183} + +Parliament dissolved at last, and all speculation about the +elections will soon be settled in certainty. It is remarkable +what confidence is expressed by both sides. Three Tories stand +for the City; but Ward told me they rather expected to run their +opponents hard than to come in, but that such an exhibition of +strength would be important, as it will. The Duke of Wellington +is so well aware of the obstacle that he is to Stanley's joining +the Government that he wanted not to belong to it originally, and +he is now meditating his retreat, in order to open the way for +Stanley. It cannot be denied that he has acted very nobly +throughout this business, and upon nothing but a sense of duty, +without regard for himself. Some doubts have occurred to me of +the vast utility of Stanley, and his being so entirely without a +party proves that he is not held in very high estimation, and +though I should be glad to see a better set of names in the +various offices (which are for the most part miserably filled) I +should not altogether like to see the Duke of Wellington retire +out of deference to such men as the four who would succeed him, +and those who would have to retire with him. I heard a ridiculous +anecdote of the King the other day. He wrote to the Duke about +something--no matter what, but I believe some appointment--and +added _a propos de bottes_, 'His Majesty begs to call the +attention of the Duke to the _theoretical_ state of Persia.' The +Duke replied that he was aware of the importance of Persia, but +submitted that it was a matter which did not _press_ for the +moment. + +[Page Head: STATE OF THE CONSTITUENCIES.] + +Yesterday I dined with Robarts, and after dinner he gave me an +account of the state of his borough (Maidstone), and as it is a +tolerably fair sample probably of the real condition of the +generality of boroughs, and of the principles and disposition of +their constituencies, I will put it down. There are 1,200 voters; +the Dissenters are very numerous and of every imaginable sect and +persuasion. He has been member seventeen years; the place very +corrupt. Formerly (before the Reform Bill), when the constituency +was less numerous, the matter was easily and simply conducted; the +price of votes was as regularly fixed as the price of bread--so much +for a single vote and so much for a plumper, and this he had to pay. +After the Reform Bill he resolved to pay no more money, as +corruption was to cease. The consequence was that during his canvass +none of the people who had formerly voted for him would promise him +their votes. They all sulked and hesitated, and, in short, waited to +see what would be offered them. I asked him what were the new +constituencies. 'If possible worse than the old.' The people are +generally alive to public affairs--look into the votes and speeches +of members, give their opinions--but are universally corrupt. They +have a sour feeling against what are nicknamed abuses, rail against +_sinnicures_, as they call them, and descant upon the enormity of +such things while they are forced to work all day long and their +families have not enough to eat. But the one prevailing object among +the whole community is to make money of their votes, and though he +says there are some exceptions, they are very few indeed. Robarts +too is a Reformer, and supports all Whig and reforming Governments; +but he does so (like many others) from fear. What he most dreads is +collision, and most desires is quiet, and he thinks non-resistance +the best way. There is no reason to believe that other +constituencies materially differ from this; what therefore is the +result? Power has been transferred to a low class of persons; so low +as to be dissatisfied and malignant, high enough to be +half-instructed; so poor that money is an object to them, and +without any principle which should deter them from getting it in any +way they can: they may, on the whole, be considered as disaffected +towards existing institutions, for when they contrast their own life +of labour and privation with the wealth and splendour which they see +around them, there is little difficulty in persuading them that they +are grievously wronged, and that the wrong is in the nature of the +institutions themselves. These general considerations make them +therefore lean towards those who promise better things, and strive +to introduce changes; but as their immediate wants are always +uppermost, their votes are generally at the disposal of the highest +bidder, whatever his politics may be. + + +January 3rd, 1835 {p.185} + +They can find nobody to go to India. Lord Ellenborough (by Peel's +desire) wrote to the Duke and asked his advice, at the same time +suggesting Sir James Graham. The Duke replied that he thought it +better not to have anything to do with that party at present; +that the best man he knew would be Lord Heytesbury, if he would +go, or such a man as Lord Fitzroy Somerset, whom he mentioned, +not because he had been long known to him, and had served under +himself, but because he was a very able man, and the best man of +business he was acquainted with. Kemp refused it; Ellenborough +said that the more he looked into Indian affairs, the more +clearly he saw the urgency of sending a Governor-General. Whether +by this he means to imply that Lord William Bentinck has done +ill, I know not; but he is always said to have done admirably +well. In a letter which the Duke wrote to the King, not long ago, +he told him that it was desirable to make as few changes in the +foreign policy of the Government as possible. Notwithstanding the +confidence of his underlings, and of the crowd of fools and +females who follow the camp, it is clear that the Duke and Peel +are both sensible of the danger of their situation. + + +January 4th, 1835 {p.186} + +There is every prospect of a miserable defeat of the Conservatives +in the City, which will be doubly disastrous, first as to the +election, which is an important one, and secondly because it will +go far to neutralise the effect of the famous address they got up. +This is owing to mismanagement. The Committee has been bad and +negligent; then they did a very foolish thing in ousting Pattison +from Harwich to make room for Bonham; if they had left Pattison +alone (which Harris had, I believe, pledged himself should be +done), Lyall would have come in for the City, and perhaps Ward +too; but when the electioneering affairs are left to William Peel, +Ross, and Granville Somerset, no wonder there is not much +dexterity and finesse displayed. I have published a pamphlet to +help them; but as I never put my name to my pamphlets, of course +nobody reads them. + + +January 5th, 1835 {p.186} + +[Page Head: ST. AULAIRE AND PRINCESS METTERNICH.] + +Sebastiani is coming here as Ambassador--that is, unless he +changes his mind and pleads ill-health. The French Government +notified to us his appointment without asking our consent, and +when the Duke stated it to the Cabinet, objections were made; he +accordingly wrote the same day to Bacourt, stating that the +Cabinet thought the appointment objectionable, and that there +would be difficulties in transacting business with him. The +French Government expressed surprise, and rather insist upon +their appointment, and as ours does not think it worth while to +have a dispute about it, he is to come; but we think they have +behaved very ill, for the Duke never proposed the Paris Embassy +to Lord Cowley till he had communicated with France, and +ascertained that the nomination would be agreeable to the King. +It was expected that St. Aulaire or Latour-Maubourg would have +come here. It is of Madame de St. Aulaire that Talleyrand said, +'Elle cherche l'esprit que son mari trouve.' (This anecdote I +suspect not to be true, or not true of Madame de St. Aulaire, who +is a very intelligent, agreeable woman, more lively and with more +_finesse d'esprit_ than her husband.) + +St. Aulaire is Ambassador at Vienna, and, however clever, he either +wants presence of mind or is touchy, as the following anecdote +shows. Madame de Metternich is a fine handsome woman, ill brought +up, impertinent, _insouciante_, and _assez bourrue_--_au reste_, +quick and amusing. She went to a ball at St. Aulaire's with a fine +coronet of diamonds on, and when he came to receive her he said, +'Mon dieu, madame, quelle belle couronne vous avez sur la tete!' 'Au +moins,' said she, 'ce n'est par une couronne que j'ai volee.' +Instead of turning it into a joke, he made a serious affair of it, +and went the next day to Metternich with a formal complaint; but +Metternich said, 'Mais mon cher, que voulez-vous? Vous voyez que +j'ai epouse une femme sans education; je ne puis pas l'empecher de +dire de pareilles sottises, mais vous sentez bien que ce serait fort +inconvenant pour moi de m'en meler. Allons! il n'y faut plus +penser,' and so turned it off, and turned him out, by insisting on +making a joke of the affair, as St. Aulaire had better have done at +first. + + +January 7th, 1835 {p.187} + +Just as might have been expected, the Conservative candidates in +the City are defeated by an enormous majority. Pattison, the +Governor of the Bank, the Liberal candidate who came in second on +the poll, having been proposed by Jones Loyd,[2] the richest +banker in the City, and perhaps the richest man in Europe.[3] +Such outward demonstrations as these unquestionably afford a very +plausible answer to the opposite cry, and the victory on the +Radical side is great and important. Ward told me they should at +least run them hard, so that the disappointment must be grievous; +still it is asserted that the greatest part of the wealth of the +City will be found in the columns of the address--but then the +votes are in the other scale. The elections, as far as they have +gone, are rather against the Government, but not showing any +material difference in numbers--sufficient, however, to prove +that, in point of fact, Peel's declarations have produced little +or no effect, and that the various considerations that have been +urged on the country and the appeals to its reason have been all +alike thrown away. + + [2] [Mr. Jones Loyd, afterwards created Lord Overstone.] + + [3] [The four City members were: Matthew Wood, James + Pattison, William Crawford, and George Grote.] + +I saw a letter which Barnes wrote to Henry de Ros yesterday, in +which he speaks with horror and alarm of the prevailing spirit. +He says the people are deaf with passion, and in the abrupt +dissolution of the late Government and the bad composition of +this they _will_ see a conspiracy against their liberties, and +mad and preposterous as the idea is, there is no eradicating it +from their brains. I am afraid this is too true, and though no +alarmist generally, and rather sluggish of fear, I do begin to +tremble; and while I cast my eyes about in all directions to see +what resource is in store for us, I can find none that is +anything like satisfactory; the violence of party-spirit seems to +blind everybody concerned in politics to all contingent +possibilities, and every feeling of decency and propriety is +forgotten. + +Last night I was at Lady Holland's; there were Lord and Lady +Holland, Mulgrave, Seaford, Allen and Burdett. I asked them if +they had read Whittle Harvey's speech at Southwark, which was a +tissue of the grossest and most outrageous abuse and ridicule of +the King and Queen. They said 'No,' so I read to them some of the +most offensive passages. Not the slightest disgust did they +express. Holland merely said to one allegation, '_That_ is not +true,' and Mulgrave laughed, and said, 'Whittle is an _eccentric_ +politician.' + + +January 8th, 1835 + +[Page Head: VIOLENCE OF PARTY SPIRIT.] + +On the whole the returns yesterday presented a gain to Government +of about 10 votes, many elections turning out contrary to +expectation both ways, and some very severe contests. The City +was a great defeat: the lowest Whig beat the highest Tory by +above 1,400. It is remarkable that many who signed the address to +the King voted for the Radical candidates. + +At dinner yesterday at Lord Chesterfield's I met the Chancellor, +whom I have not seen for some time. After dinner we talked about +the state of affairs. 'Well,' he said, 'will it do? what do you +think?' I said, 'I don't know what to think, but on the whole I am +disposed to think it will _not_ do. I don't see how you are to get +on.' 'What do you think of Peel?' said he; 'is he a fit man for +the purpose?' 'He is a very able man, and prudent.' 'Aye, but is +he enough of a man of the world? does he know enough of what is +going on in the world?' To which I said, 'You have just hit upon +the point that I have been lamenting. He has not lived in the +world, and he has not about him those who do, and who can give him +that particular sort of information and advice of which he stands +in need; and I think he has, in great measure owing to this, +committed a great blunder in forming such a Government as he has +done; he has not been able to throw off the old prejudices of +keeping to his party, and thought it necessary to depend upon +them, when he ought to have seen that the case was one out of +ordinary rules, that the support of the Tories alone could not +maintain him, and that, if they would not give it him for their +own interest, and in furtherance of their own principles, without +insisting upon being in office, though he might not be able to get +on without it, he would still less be able to get on with their +support alone. In his place I should have told them I could not +take them in, that if they would confide in me, and let me help +the country out of its difficulties in my own way, I would do the +best I could for it and for them.' Lyndhurst said that 'he was not +much consulted;' that if he had had the formation of the +Government he should have gone to work very differently; that he +would have had a small Cabinet, eight or ten at most, composed of +new men, leaving out Aberdeen, Goulburn, Herries, and the rest of +that description, employing them if possible abroad, or if not, +telling them that it was necessary to lay them on the shelf for a +time, and that he would do what he could for them at a future +period; that Ellenborough had told Peel he had much better not +take him into the Government; that he was aware he was not +popular, and though he might be of some use with regard to details +of business, his support out of office would (he thought), on the +whole, be more serviceable than his being in the Cabinet. Peel +said that his willingness to sacrifice himself only made it more +incumbent on him not to permit him to do so, and insisted upon +having him. Lyndhurst said he had hoped that Sandon would have +been taken, and he had suggested Lord Carnarvon, to which Peel +replied that he was still so young that he thought he might be +passed over for the present I said, 'Why it is the present for +which it is necessary to provide, and it is _now_ that he might +have been made available.' (Carnarvon would not join on account of +ill-health.) We then talked over what sort of a Cabinet might have +been got together, of new names, moderate men, few in number. He +admitted that a great mistake had been committed, and that, as it +was irreparable, so it would very probably be fatal. He praised +the Duke of Wellington. I said I would not have taken him in, or +have got him to go to Ireland, for he was ready to do anything to +advance the cause. He liked this idea very much. I reminded him +that the first day we had talked over the matter he had admitted +that it would never do to bolster up the old concern again, and +that Hardinge had told me the Tories were all ready to make any +sacrifices or postpone their claims, so that such a course as we +suggested need not have been difficult. I told him of Barnes's +letter, and of his fears, and what he said of the effect produced +by the composition of the Government. He said the 'Times' had +behaved admirably to them, and the Government were under great +obligations to me for what I had done in that matter. I told him I +was glad to hear they were on such good terms, as having been +instrumental to the connection, which I had no doubt had entailed +an immediate loss on the proprietors of the paper. + +He asked me if I thought the Opposition meant to refuse the +Supplies. I said I had no doubt they did. 'Then we must go.' But +he still expects they will have 300 votes in the House of +Commons, and with that he calculates that they may struggle on +with one-half of the House of Commons, the House of Lords, the +King, and a large proportion of the wealth and respectability of +the country. It would be difficult, but he thought they might get +on; but that the fact was, there was _no going on_ after the +transfer of power to another class, which the Reform Bill had +effected. I said there was no doubt of that, and that the Reform +Bill had produced virtually a complete revolution in this +country. 'Aye,' said he, 'much more than that of '88.' + + +January 9th, 1835 {p.191} + +[Page Head: THE MOVEMENT AT HOLLAND HOUSE.] + +Dined at Holland House; they are satisfied with the elections. +Mulgrave said that, out of the present return, they had to add +thirty to their list and to deduct thirteen of their original +calculations, giving them seventeen more than they expected. There +is a small gain to the Tories, but nothing like enough. It cannot +do; all the moderate Whigs (for it is not a question of Tories) +are beaten in the metropolitan districts. Spankie's admirable +addresses have ensured his defeat. Duncombe, immediately after an +exposure of the most disgraceful kind, will be returned by a +majority doubling that of any of the other candidates; and it is +not a little remarkable that Duncombe is supported by all the +Dissenters, even the Quakers, with whom austerity of morals and a +decent behaviour are supposed to have weight--but the rabid spirit +of disaffection to government and rule bears down every other +consideration, and these 'enlightened electors' (as their +flatterers always call them) are frantic with passion against +everything belonging to what they call 'the aristocracy' of the +country. But who can wonder at these people, when we see the great +Whig Lords smiling complacently at their brutal violence and +senseless rage? At Holland House they talk in the same strain; not +that they utter any indecent language, but they are passionate for +the success of the movement. One single object have they--to eject +Peel and the Tory Government; they own they don't know what is to +follow; they do not deny that the movement must be accelerated, +but they don't care; they say the Duke is responsible, for he +ought not to have accepted the King's commission, and then +Melbourne must have been sent for again the next day. Now _they_ +must take the consequences--that is, the King and the Tories. They +said last night that by the old Government the movement might have +been checked; by any that can be formed on the downfall of the new +it cannot--or at least that it must go farther than it would have +done. I asked, 'Then is there anything you think worse than +advancing the movement?' 'Yes,' cried out Lord Holland, 'making +the movement stand still.' 'And do you mean that you believe there +is any danger of that, and that the movement (the progress of +improvement) ever can stand still?' 'Yes, I do believe it,' &c.... +Such a miserable apology for their insane violence puts argument +and reasoning out of the question; they are resolved to fight for +power, 'to let slip the dogs of war,' ignorant whither they will +go, and careless what shall be their prey. + + +January 10th, 1835 {p.192} + +Nothing is more remarkable in these elections than the confidence +of both parties in the result, and the difference of their +statements as to actual numbers, Bonham, who is now, _faute de +mieux_, the man-of-all-work of the Tories, told me last night +that they had an actual majority on the returns of about twenty, +whereas I went through the list, and after detecting some errors, +made out that there is a majority of about thirty the other way. +The Whig language is still the same always, and everywhere--that +they do not see what is to happen when this Government is out; +that no daylight appears, but still that out it shall go. They +own that they must (if they return to power) do a great deal more +than they would otherwise have done, but that while they obey +that necessity, they make it easy to their consciences, because +it is the other party which has imposed it upon them. + + +[Page Head: CONTEST AT ROCHESTER.] + +January 11th, 1835 {p.193} + +The Government people still declare their satisfaction at the +result of the elections, and make out that the numbers are +tolerably even. The contests are curious from their closeness. +Charles Wellesley lost at Rochester by one, Lushington by four. +There is a great number of similar cases; in that of Rochester it +is more remarkable from the accident by which the election was +lost. There were two ships in quarantine, one of which had one +voter on board and the other two; they had both sailed the same +day from the port they left, but one had been longer on the +voyage. The ship with one voter had a right to be released on the +9th, the last day of the election, the other not till three days +later. As the circumstances were the same. Sir J. Marshall, the +Superintendent, suggested that both might be released together, +but I did not dare relax the severity of the restriction.[4] +Rosslyn was rather for doing it, but I persuaded him it would be +dangerous, as, if the election should turn upon it, we should +never hear the last of it, especially the Duke, to whose charge +it would be laid; and the election _actually turned on those two +votes_. The best chance that I see is, that when the hour of +struggle arrives there may be more moderate men than the Whig +leaders are aware of--more who, without supporting, still less +joining, the new Government, will abstain from taking a violent +part against them. This is my only hope, for as to a majority, I +have not the slightest expectation of any such thing, and am at a +loss to conceive on what they count. + + [4] [The administration of the Quarantine Regulations is + vested in the Privy Council, and exercised by the Clerk + of the Council] + + +January 12th, 1835 {p.193} + +Up to the latest returns the Tories make out that they have a +majority, or at least an equality; the Whigs, that they have a +majority of about seventy. The latter calculation is nearer to the +truth, and it only remains to be seen how many of their people +will refuse to support extreme measures. Last night at Holland +House Mulgrave was perfectly furious with Charles Fox for saying +he would not oppose Manners Sutton being put in the chair. It has +been asserted all along by some of the opposite party that Peel's +measures have been influenced (especially in the composition of +his Government) by a desire to keep the Tories together, and +prepare a strong Opposition. I suspect there is some truth in +this, for I can account in no other way for the strange +appointments he makes, and the undiluted Toryism of his +Government. He goes on the old aristocratic principle of taking +high birth and connection as substitutes for other qualifications, +and he never seems to consider the former avowed sentiments of any +man in weighing his fitness for office. He has just made Sydney +Herbert Secretary to the Board of Control, an office of great +labour and involving considerable business in the House of +Commons.[5] He is about twenty-two or twenty three years old, +unpractised in business, and never spoke but once in the House of +Commons, when he made one of those pretty first speeches which +prove little or nothing, and that was in opposition to the +Dissenters. He may be very fit for this place, but it remains to +be proved, and I am surprised he did not make him begin with a +Lordship of the Treasury or some such thing, and put Gladstone, +who is a very clever man, in that post. Praed is First Secretary +to the Board of Control, and will do the business. + + [5] [The injustice of this remark has since become very + obvious, for no man was better qualified to enter upon + official life, or to run a great career in it, than + Sydney Herbert. It must also be said of Sir Robert Peel + that he was ever on the watch for the young and rising + statesmen who, he said, were hereafter to govern the + country; and a very large proportion of the men who + have since played a most conspicuous and useful part + were introduced by Sir Robert Peel to public life--Sydney + Herbert, the Duke of Newcastle, Mr. Gladstone, Lord + Cardwell, and others.] + +I very much incline to believe that, although Peel says he is +satisfied with the returns, he does not expect the thing will +last, and that upon this conviction he is determined to secure a +retreat with such a force as shall make him formidable hereafter. +Such as the appointments are at home, so are they abroad: +Londonderry to St. Petersburg, Stuart to Vienna, and in all +probability Strangford to Constantinople--the three men who are +considered the great upholders of the Anti-Liberal system. +(Stuart told everybody he had the offer, but it was not true.) + +The Duke of Leuchtenberg arrived last night. The picture of the +young Queen of Portugal (which is probably flattered) does not +make her very tempting. + + +January 15th, 1835 {p.195} + +[Page Head: SIR JOHN HOBHOUSE'S VIEW OF AFFAIRS.] + +The day before yesterday I fell in with Hobhouse, and we walked +together for some time. He said he could not understand what the +Government people meant by claiming a majority, as he heard they +did; that on the Borough returns the Opposition had a majority of +100 more or less, but that the difference could only be accounted +for by one party including all those who call themselves Whigs, +and who supported the late Government, and by the other party +counting those who, though not supporters, would be disposed to +give them a trial. He wondered at and blamed the constitution of +the Government, ridiculed the idea of Stanley succeeding Peel, +acknowledged that he saw no possibility of any other Government +being formed on the dissolution of this, and had no conception +what would happen--that another dissolution would be indispensable. +I said that I did not see any more than he did what they were to +do when they had got Peel out; that their junction with the +Radicals must end there, unless (which I could not believe) they +meant to come into office on the principle of supporting and +carrying all the measures they had opposed last year. He said, 'I +for one will go no farther than I did then; no, that is out of the +question.' He said the restoration of Melbourne's Government was +impossible after what had passed; they could not look the King in +the face again, nor he them, after such a clear intimation on his +part that he disliked them, and dreaded their principles. Soon +after, however, he said that any other Government must be formed +on a more popular principle, and especially must make the +_arrangement_ of the House of Lords a condition, for it was +impossible to go on as things were, between the two houses; that +it might have been discovered when the Reform Bill was proposed +that this would be the inevitable consequence of passing that +measure, but that all this he did not expect to be accomplished +without a violent collision, which would very likely lead to a +republic; that he should be sorry for the disturbance, but was +prepared for it, and if a sacrifice was to be made, he could not +hesitate in choosing the object of it. + +Yesterday morning I met Duncannon, and talked it all over. I asked +him if he saw any chance of forming a Government, and if he +figured to himself what the King would do. 'Yes,' he said, 'he +will send for Stanley.' 'What next?' 'He may send for Lord Grey.' +'Will Lord Grey propose such measures as you think indispensable?' +'If he will not return, or won't go the length, he may send for +Melbourne again; but it is clear he--the King--must be prepared +for a more Radical Government.' I said, 'I don't think he will +ever consent to take such a one, or to agree to the measures they +will propose to him.' 'Oh, but he must, he can't help himself.' +'Well, but my belief is that, happen what may, he will not.' 'Why, +you don't think he will abdicate?' 'Yes, I do, rather than agree +to certain things.' 'Well, but then he must abdicate.' Such is the +language of the leaders of the other party, and so calmly do they +contemplate the possibility of such a consummation. The point on +which all this turns is evidently the destruction of the House of +Lords. The Whigs find it necessary to finish the work they began, +and to destroy the last bulwark of Conservative power. Stanley's +speech at his election, which was very able and eloquent, has +evidently disappointed them. They had cherished a hope that he +would unite with them at last, which they now find he will not do. +There has been a great debate in their camp whether they shall +attack the Speaker or not, but it seems fixed that they shall, and +probably they will be beaten. I am glad they do this. + +Theodore Hook, whom I met at dinner the other day, and who is an +_ame damnee_ of the Speaker's, said that he was ready to give up +the chair if it was thought imprudent to fight for it; he also +said (which I don't believe) that the Home Office had been +offered him, and that he had declined it because he could not +quit the chair without a peerage, and that he should be of more +use in it than in the House of Lords. + +Theodore Hook _improvised_ in a wonderful way that evening; he +sang a song, the burthen of which was 'Good Night,' inimitably +good, and which might have been written down. I heard two good +things at dinner yesterday, one of Spankie's. In his canvass he +met with a refusal from some tradesman, who told him he should +vote for Duncombe and Wakley. Spankie said, 'Well, my friend, I +am sorry you won't vote for me, and I can only say that I hope +you may have Tom Duncombe for your customer, and Wakley for your +tenant.'[6] The other is attributed to Alvanley. Some reformer +was clamouring for the expulsion of the Bishops from the House of +Lords, but said he would not have them all go; he would leave +two: 'To keep up the breed, I suppose,' said the other. + + [6] [The one was celebrated for non-payment of his bills, + and the other was suspected of setting fire to his + house. Wakley's house was burnt, and he brought an + action against the Insurance Office, which declined to + pay his policy. I forget what was the result of the + trial, but that of the evidence was a conviction of his + own instrumentality.] + + +January 17th, 1835 {p.197} + +[Page Head: THE COUNTY ELECTIONS.] + +The Middlesex election terminated in the return of Hume by about +400 votes--Wood got a majority of about 250 at first, but could +not sustain it. It would have been a capital thing to turn out +Hume, but I never expected it. + + +January 20th, 1835 {p.197} + +Sir George Murray is beaten at Perth; James Wortley at Forfar--blows +to the Government. On the other hand, Palmerston is beaten in Hants, +at which everybody rejoices, for he is marvellously unpopular; they +would have liked to illuminate the Foreign Office. Lord Harrowby +called on me yesterday; he told me my pamphlet had been attributed +to Croker in some company where he had been. Jonathan Peel told me +yesterday morning that Lady Alice Kennedy had sent word to his wife +that the Queen is with child; if it be true, and a queer thing if it +is, it will hardly come to anything at her age, and with her health; +but what a difference it would make! + + +January 23rd, 1834 {p.197} + +Within the last few days the county elections have given a +considerable turn to the state of affairs. The Conservatives have +been everywhere triumphant. Norfolk, Derbyshire, Hants, +Lancashire--two Whigs turned out and two Conservatives returned; +Ingilby in Lincolnshire; one in Surrey, one in Kent: and if these +affairs had not been infamously managed, they would have returned +two in Surrey, two in Kent, and (if they had put up a better man) +one in the other division of Norfolk. The great and most +important victory, however, is Francis Egerton in Lancashire, who +is nearly 1,000 above his opponents, and has been received with +astonishing enthusiasm, and was the popular candidate, even at +Manchester and with the mob. These elections have damped the +spirits of the Radicals, and proportionally raised those of the +Government. The 'Morning Chronicle' was yesterday quite silent on +the subject, and at Holland House, where I dined, they were +evidently in no small disgust. I told Lord Holland that I +considered the Lancashire election as the most important event +that had occurred, and one calculated to have a great moral +effect in favour of the Government, which he owned was true, and +they did not deny that the Government had cause for elation. + +In the morning we had a meeting at the Council Office to consider +of the removal of assizes, when Lyndhurst in his off-hand way said +to me, 'Well, I think we are safe now; I have no fears.' 'Haven't +you,' I said, 'but I have.' 'Oh no, we are on a rock--adamant.' I +don't think they are yet in a condition to begin triumphing, but +I certainly see daylight, which I did not before. Nobody can +possibly deny that there is a great reaction in the country; and +though the weight of the towns, and the power of the ten-pounders +thrown into the other scale, make it preponderate, there is a +strong counteracting force which will enable the better cause to +maintain a respectable fight. I expect that Francis Egerton's +election will produce indirectly very important consequences, and +will be the means of proving to moderate, doubting, timorous +politicians that they need not shrink from avowing whatever +Conservative sentiments they really do entertain. Much remains to +be done, many difficulties to be surmounted, before anything like +security can be felt, but undoubtedly the political horizon looks +much brighter than it did. + + +January 25th, 1835 {p.199} + +A ridiculous thing happened the other day. The Speaker came to +the Council Office in a great stew about the attacks on him, and +wanted to look at the register of the names of those who had +attended at the different Councils. Though I think he is a +_pauvre sire_, he has a very tolerable case here, and I wrote a +letter to the 'Times' in his defence, and signed it 'Onslow,' +happening to think of Speaker Onslow. The next day appeared a +letter from _Lord Onslow_, declaring that he was not the author +of a letter which had appeared in his name. The 'Times' published +it, adding they thought he could hardly be serious. Munster told +me the day before yesterday that he was told of the Queen's being +with child on the day of the Lord Mayor's dinner; that she is now +between two and three months gone. Of course there will be plenty +of scandal. Alvanley proposes that the psalm 'Lord, _how_ +wonderful are thy works' should be sung. It so happens, however, +that Howe has not been with the Court for a considerable time. + + +January 27th, 1835 {p.199} + +[Page Head: CHURCH REFORM BILL.] + +There is a Committee sitting at my office to arrange the Church +Bill--Rosslyn, Wharncliffe, Ellenborough, and Herries. It is +generally believed they mean to bring forward some very extensive +measures. Allen says, 'The honest Whigs cannot oppose it with +honour, nor the Tories support it without infamy,' that all the +honest Whigs would support it, the honest Tories oppose it, the +dishonest Tories would support, and the dishonest Whigs oppose it. +He told me an anecdote at the same time which shows what the +supineness and sense of security of the Church were twenty years +ago. An architect built a chapel on Lord Holland's land, near +Holland House, and wished it to be appropriated to the service of +the Church of England, and served by a curate. The rector objected +and refused his consent. There was no remedy against him, and all +that could be done was to make it a Methodist meeting-house, or a +Roman Catholic chapel, either of which by taking out a licence, +the builder could do. However, he got Lord Holland to speak to the +Archbishop of Canterbury (Sutton), to tell him the difficulty, and +request his interference with the rector to suffer this chapel to +be opened to an Orthodox congregation. After some delay the +Archbishop told Holland that he had better advise his friend to +take out a licence, and make it a Catholic or Dissenting chapel, +as he thought best. The builder could not afford to lose the +capital he had expended, and acted upon the advice of the Primate. +The chapel is a meeting-house to this day. I shall be very glad if +this reform of the Church is well done and gives satisfaction, and +I do not know that any of the present Ministers are pledged +against a measure which improves the discipline without +diminishing the revenues of the Church, but certainly reforms, and +especially ecclesiastical reforms, do come with a bad grace from +them. It is ludicrous to see the 'Standard' writing Church reform +articles; and the other day I looked back at Knatchbull's speech +at the Kentish meeting, a week after the dissolution of the late +Government, in which he expressed an earnest hope that he might +leave this country 'without _any change_ in _Church_ or _State_.' +He has been Anti-everything during his whole life, and now he is +come into office to carry into effect 'safe and necessary +reforms,' which he never could perceive the slightest occasion for +while he was out. All these things are disgusting; they disgust +one with political life, they lower the characters of public men. +One strains one's eyes in vain to catch a sight of sincerity, +straightforwardness, disinterestedness, consistency; each party we +have constantly acting with a view to its own interests _as a +party_, and always disregarding consequences with miserable +shortsightedness. + + +February 2nd, 1835 {p.201} + +[Page Head: INSECURITY OF THE TORIES.] + +The elections are over, and still each side claims a majority. It +will turn out probably that the Government have about 270 thick +and thin men. Since the Lancashire election, the Whigs have +certainly not been so elated, though they still expect to +succeed. They begin with the Speakership, and put up Abercromby, +who is probably the best candidate they could select; he is a +dull, grave man, sensible and hard-headed I fancy, but it has +always been matter of astonishment to me that they should make so +much of him as they do. The Duke of Wellington is constantly +regretting that he did not abstain from taking office, as he +wished to do, and I hear that Peel now thinks it would have been +better: but he thinks so because he fancies that Stanley would +have joined if the Duke had not been there, which is after all +very doubtful. Stanley has preserved the strictest neutrality +through the late contest, and been very guarded and cautious in +his language--so much so, that the Whigs think he will vote for +Abercromby against Manners Sutton, which I don't believe. The +Church Reform is in active preparation; I know nothing of its +details. + +Pozzo di Borgo is coming here, and the Emperor sends him partly to +save time and, Madame de Lieven writes me word, 'to prove his +goodwill, by sending his ablest and most confidential diplomatist.' +Old Talleyrand would very likely have been glad enough to come +back too (while the Duke is in office), but he is gone to +Richecote. A great mystery is still made about the Queen's +_grossesse_; the medical men believe it, though they think it no +certainty. + + +February 8th, 1834 {p.201} + +On Monday last we had the Sheriffs' dinner at Lord Rosslyn's,[7] +where I met for the first time all the new men. Murray did not +come, for since his defeat in Perthshire he no longer considers +himself of the Cabinet. Before dinner Peel told me he had offered +the vacant Lordship of the Treasury to Charles Canning,[8] in a +letter to Lady Canning, saying it would give him great pleasure +to introduce her son into public life, and that he should be glad +to treat him with confidence, and do all that lay in him to +promote his success. Lady Canning wrote a very gracious answer, +saying that she preferred his being in Parliament some time +before he took office, but neither he nor she was indisposed to +support him and his Government. At this dinner the Duke talked to +me about Spain, and said that the affair at the Post Office at +Madrid, in which Canterac was killed, was the most lamentable +thing that had happened, and the most discreditable to the +Government; that if the Carlists did not rise upon it all over +Spain, it was clear there were none; that it was a most +extraordinary war, in which the Carlists had the superiority in +the field, but possessed no fortified and even no open town; and +that, notwithstanding all the plunder and devastation incidental +to such a state of things, all the farmers in the disturbed +provinces regularly paid their rents. + + [7] [The Lord President's annual dinner to the Cabinet, at + which the Sheriffs for the ensuing year are selected, + to be appointed by the King at the next Council.] + + [8] [Afterwards Viscount Canning and Governor-General of + India in 1856.] + +Sandon is to move the address in the House of Commons, Lord +Carnarvon refused to move it in the House of Lords. I think the +Church Reform Commission, which was gazetted a few days ago, has +done good, especially as it is backed up by Peel's refusing to +fill up the vacant Prebendary of Westminster, and placing it at +the disposal of the Commissioners. + +I went to Oatlands on Wednesday for two nights, and met the +Duchess, Countess, the Granvilles, and Pahlen. It was agreeable +enough. Lord Granville told us a curious story of an atrocity +very recently committed in France. The governor of a military +academy had objected to one of the officers, a professor, +bringing a woman who lived with him into the establishment. The +man persisted, and he finally ordered her to be ejected. +Resolving to be revenged, the officer took these means; he bribed +a servant of the governor's, who let him into the house at night; +when he got into the bedroom of his daughter, ravished her, and +then wounded her severely with some sharp instrument, but not +mortally. The girl is still alive, but in a state of frenzy; the +case is coming before the French tribunals. [This was the famous +case of La Ronciere, very inaccurately stated above. There is now +little doubt that La Ronciere was innocent, and that the story +was got up by the girl to revenge herself on him for some +slight.] + +[Page Head: THE KING'S WHIMS.] + +My brothers tell me that the Duke is bored to death with the +King, who thinks it necessary to be giving advice and opinions +upon different matters, always to the last degree ridiculous and +absurd. He is just now mightily indignant at Lord Napier's affair +at Canton, and wants to go to war with China. He writes in this +strain to the Duke, who is obliged to write long answers, very +respectfully telling him what an old fool he is. Another crotchet +of his is to buy the Island of St. Bartholomew (which belongs to +Denmark, and which the Danes want to sell) for fear the Russians +should buy it, as he is very jealous of Russia. The Duke told him +that it would cost L70,000 or L80,000, for which they must go to +Parliament; and he did not think any House of Commons we were +likely to have would vote such a sum for such a purpose. Then he +does not at all like Pozzo di Borgo's coming here, and wrote to +say that since he was to come, it was well that he would have the +vigilant eye of the Duke to watch him, for he never could look +upon him in any other light than as the servile tool of advancing +the ambitious objects of an aggrandising and unprincipled Power, +or words to that effect. He thinks his present Ministers do not +treat him well, inasmuch as they do not tell him enough. The +last, it seems, constantly fed him with scraps of information +which he twaddled over, and probably talked nonsense about; but +it is difficult to imagine anything more irksome for a Government +beset with difficulties like this than to have to discuss the +various details of their measures with a silly bustling old +fellow, who can by no possibility comprehend the scope and +bearing of anything. + + + + + CHAPTER XXVII. + +The Speakership--Temporary Houses of Parliament--Church Reform-- + Dissenters' Marriage Bill--Peel's False Position--Burke-- + Palmerston's Talents as a Man of Business and Unpopularity-- + Sympathy of Continental Courts with the Tories--Abercromby + elected Speaker--Defeat of the Government--Tactics of the + Opposition--The Speaker does not dine with Peel--Meeting of + Stanley's Friends--Debate on the Address--Lord John Russell + leads the Opposition--The Stanley Party--Second Defeat of the + Government--Peel's Ability--The Lichfield House Meeting--Debate + on Lord Londonderry's Appointment--His Speech in the Lords and + Resignation--Sir E. Sugden resigns the Great Seal of Ireland-- + Lady Canterbury--Brougham in the House of Lords--Peel's + Readiness and Courage--Lord Canterbury and Stratford Canning + proposed for Canada--Approaching Fall of the Peel Government-- + Meetings of the Opposition--Further Defeat--Sir Robert Peel's + own View of the State of Affairs--He resigns. + + +February 14th, 1835 {p.204} + +[Page Head: OPENING OF THE SESSION.] + +There has been a wonderful lull for some time past, and though we +are said to be, and I believe we in fact are, on the eve of a +crisis of great importance, perfect tranquillity prevails +universally (except, of course, in Ireland), and men go about +their daily occupations without any signs of apprehension. The +state of this country is a curious political paradox; however, +speculation will soon be lost in certainty, so it is of no use +thinking more of the matter. The newspapers have been filled +_usque ad nauseam_ with the debates about the Speakership, and +both parties are equally confident, but the bets are in favour of +Sutton. The argument on his side has been triumphant, and the +Abercrombians have not urged the best that they might. Tom +Duncombe, who at first said he would vote for Sutton, and now +votes the other way, puts it on the true ground, 'that it is a +good factious vote.' I have little doubt that Peel will come down +in Parliament with a fair and reasonable case, but I have no hope +that he will propose or agree to anything satisfactorily about +the Irish Church; and if anything overturns his Government, it +will be that unhappy question of appropriation. From George +Dawson's language, whom I fell in with the other morning, I see +they are resolved to stand like rocks in defending 'the Church,' +as they call it. All this week and the last I have been at my +office the whole day with our Judicial Committee, which works +very well. We have Shadwell, Parke, Bosanquet and Erskine +continually; and Vaughan, Nicholl and Jenner occasionally. Alava +talked to me about the Duke of Wellington, of whom he said +everybody was afraid, even his nearest relations, and that he +found him, 'tres change pour lui.' + + +February 15th, 1835 {p.205} + +Dined at Miss Berry's, and Lord John Russell came after; told me +he had 320 people to vote with him on the Speakership (of whom +perhaps 20 will not come), so his party make sure of it. Nobody +talks of anything else, and what has been written on the subject +in pamphlets and newspapers would fill volumes. Though it is +become inconceivably tiresome, I cannot help writing and talking +about it myself, so impossible is it to avoid the contagion. I +went yesterday to see the two Houses of Parliament;[1] the old +House of Lords (now House of Commons) is very spacious and +convenient; but the present House of Lords is a wretched +dog-hole. The Lords will be very sulky in such a place, and in a +great hurry to get back to their own House, or to have another. +For the first time there is a gallery in the House of Commons +reserved for reporters, which is quite inconsistent with their +standing orders, and the prohibition which still in form exists +against publishing the debates. It is a sort of public and avowed +homage to opinion, and a recognition of the right of the people +to know through the medium of the press all that passes within +those walls. + + [1] [The old Houses of Parliament were burnt down on + October 16, 1834, during Mr. Greville's absence from + town in the autumn. The Houses here spoken of were the + temporary buildings used during the erection of the new + Houses.] + +[Page Head: CHURCH REFORM.] + +[Page Head: FALSE POSITION OF SIR R. PEEL.] + +Lord John said to me, 'Do you remember last year, when we were +talking, I told you I thought the House of Lords would throw out +some measure or other--that there would be a change of Government, +a dissolution; and then we should have a Parliament returned with +which _nobody_ could govern the country? You see we have reached +that point.' According to their several calculations, both the +opposite parties continue to claim a majority, or rather on the +Tory side an equality; and as these are made by men experienced in +the composition of the House, and as almost everybody is pledged +and committed in some way or other, it is a perfect enigma to me +how one or the other can be so deceived. The Whigs, having +discovered that Abercromby must be proposed 'upon a great +principle' (which is great as _omne ignotum_ is _magnificum_--for +they have never given a hint of what the principle is), have now +found out that the English Church Reform which is in agitation is +a very bad move on the part of the Government, as _the people_ do +not care about Church Reform here--do not want any such thing. +This is, very possibly, in great measure true; for _the people_, +who are urged and excited by the Radical leaders, will be sure to +grow indifferent about such reforms as they can obtain by +legitimate means, and with the concurrence of legitimate +authority, and be invited to agitate for those which may be more +difficult or slow of accomplishment. Sydney Smith said last night +that he hears from those who know that it will be very sweeping; +but he thinks it will not touch the great livings, nor meddle with +advowsons. He concludes that at the same time the Dissenters will +be relieved from Church rates, that tithes will be extinguished, +and the question of Dissenters' marriages settled. This has been +an enormous scandal, and its continuance has been owing to the +pride, obstinacy, and avarice of the Church; they would not give +up the fees they received from this source, and they were +satisfied to celebrate these rites in church while the parties +were from the beginning to the end of the service protesting +against all and every part of it, often making a most indecent +noise and interruption. All these grievous abuses must be done +away with; and deeply responsible are those who never would hear +of their being done away with before. These guilty parties are the +clergy and the Tories, both of whom, now that it is almost too +late, have consented to drop their arrogant pretensions, and to +submit to those necessary and reasonable reforms against which +they have so bitterly inveighed, and so resolutely fought. We are +disgusted and shocked at reading Croly's account of the scandalous +conduct of the Catholic clergy in Ireland, with regard to the +emoluments they extort from their miserable flocks, and at the +systematic desecration of holy things which they countenance and +practise; but when the difference is considered between their +spiritual condition and their moral composition as a class, the +conduct of the clergy here appears just as revolting. The Irish +clergy are generally sprung from the lowest class, and have +received a bad education at Maynooth; they depend for subsistence +upon the voluntary liberality or devotion of their people, they +have few motives or principles of restraint, and every incentive +to follow the shameful course which they do; but the English +clergy are generally respectably born, well educated, and amply +endowed, and yet they are content to be the ministers of a +scandalous system, which, if it were not a source of profit to +themselves, they would not tolerate for an instant. Instead of +compelling the Dissenters to be married in church, if they had +been really penetrated with any devotional feelings, or by any +considerations of delicacy and charity, they would long ago have +complained of this necessity as a grievance, and besieged the +Legislature with entreaties to relieve the Church from the +scandal, and themselves from so painful and odious a duty. But it +was a badge of inferiority and dependence forced upon the +Dissenters, and a source of profit to themselves; and therefore +they defended and maintained it, and this is what they call +defending the Church; and when the Dissenters themselves pray to +be relieved from the tax and the humiliation, and liberal men +support their prayer, a cry is got up that the Church is in +danger. When the Dissenters, having prayed in vain, grow louder +and bolder in their demands, and the cries of the Churchmen +gradually sink into a whine, which is at last silenced in +submission, the Church really is in danger; and then, when it no +longer can be refused, it becomes perilous to grant the boon which +justice and wisdom have so long required. So it is, and has been +with all obstinate and senseless denials, followed by reluctant +and tardy concessions--with Catholic emancipation, the Test and +Corporation Acts, Parliamentary Reform, and with everything else; +and thus, one of the great difficulties which beset Peel and his +Government is, that they stand in an utterly false position. As a +statesman, it must be mortifying to him to reflect that all the +great measures which his political life has been spent in opposing +have been carried in spite of him, and that whatever danger may +have resulted from this cause is in great measure owing to the +opposition he was enabled, by his great talents and his influence, +or rather the influence of the party which he led, to give to +those measures. He contrived totally to fail in preventing the +success of the measures themselves, but so to mar and delay them +as to obviate the good that might have been produced by timely and +voluntary concessions; and now, coming forward as he says, 'to +resist the pressure from without,' he finds himself compelled to +yield to that pressure; for what, after all, is the language which +he now holds, what are his addresses, his speeches, his promises, +his Church Commission, but a surrender to the spirit and the +principle of Reform, and to the demands of the people--_the +people_, as contra-distinguished from those great interests on +whose support he has depended, and whose wishes or prejudices he +has consulted? For assuredly, neither the King, nor the Church, +nor the aristocracy, seriously and sincerely desire these or any +other reforms, and only agree to them from necessity. Peel is, I +think, right; he has no other alternative. Such is the force and +power of public opinion, that no Government can resist it; and if +Peel can succeed in restraining and directing it, if he can +convert it from a destructive into a conservative element, he will +render such a great service as will cancel all the former mischief +he has done; but he enters with disadvantage upon a course which +implies at the outset the surrender of much of the governing +principle of his political life, and in which neither friend nor +foe can doubt that the conduct he adopts, however justifiable, +necessary, indispensable, is compulsory and unpalatable. A man who +is called to the head of affairs must undoubtedly act, not +according to any impracticable obstinate theories of his own, but +according to the state in which he finds affairs, no matter how +produced or by whom; but it is a very different thing to adopt a +system reluctantly and under necessity, because somebody else by +his incapacity or his misfortune has rendered it indispensable, +and to do so after you yourself have brought about this state of +things: and such is the false position of Peel with all his Tory +associates. This, however, is begging the question in dispute +between the two great antagonistic parties. Peel would say that +the imprudent concessions and reckless changes of the Whigs have +made the difficulty; the Whigs would say that the resistance of +the Tories to all moderate and gradual reforms produced the +sweeping measure of '31, and the excitement that was partly its +cause and partly its consequence. + + +February 17th, 1835 {p.209} + +Yesterday I read Burke's appeal from the new to the old Whigs, +which contains astonishing coincidences with the present times. +His definition of the people is somewhat tumid and obscure, and +involved in a splendid confusion of generalities and abstruse +doctrine; but it is a wonderful monument of his genius, and +exhibits that extent of knowledge and accuracy of insight into the +nature of parties and the workings of political ambition which +make him an authority for all times, and show him to be in the +political what Shakespeare was in the moral world. But his +writings, however as objects of study they may influence the +opinions or form the judgment of young men, would have no more +power than a piece of musty parchment to arrest the tide of +present violence, and superinduce reflection and calmness. A +speech of Tom Duncombe's would produce far greater effect than the +perusal of a discourse of Burke's. Wisdom never operates directly +on masses; it may work upon them through secondary and by indirect +means, but it cannot face the noise of actual contest, where +passion and not reason is always uppermost. Nobody but Burke could +have described so well the Dukes of Devonshire and Bedford of the +present day, who appear to have lost their senses, and to be ready +to peril all their great possessions to gratify the passions of +the moment. He says:--'But riches do not in all cases secure even +an inert and passive resistance; there are always in that +description men whose fortunes, when their minds are once vitiated +by passion or evil principle, are by no means a security from +their actually taking their part against the public tranquillity. +We see to what low and despicable passion of all kinds many men in +that class are ready to sacrifice the patrimonial estates which +might be perpetuated in their families with splendour, and with +the fame of hereditary benefactors to mankind, from generation to +generation. Do we not see how lightly people treat their fortunes +when they are under the passion of gaming? The game of resentment +or ambition will be played by many of the great and rich as +desperately and with as much blindness to the consequences as any +other game. Passion blinds them to the consequences as far as they +concern themselves, and as to the consequences with regard to +others, they are no part of their consideration.' + +[Page Head: LORD PALMERSTON AS A MAN OF BUSINESS.] + +The other night I met some clerks in the Foreign Office to whom +the very name of Palmerston is hateful, but I was surprised to +hear them (Mellish particularly, who can judge both from capacity +and opportunity), give ample testimony to his abilities. They +said that he wrote admirably, and could express himself perfectly +in French, very sufficiently in Italian, and understood German; +that his diligence and attention were unwearied--he read +everything and wrote an immense quantity; that the foreign +Ministers (who detest him) did him justice as an excellent man of +business. His great fault is want of punctuality, and never +caring for an engagement if it did not suit him, keeping +everybody waiting for hours on his pleasure or caprice. This +testimony is beyond suspicion, and it is confirmed by the +opinions of his colleagues; but it is certain that he cut a very +poor figure in Parliament all the time he was in office before. + +At the Travellers' yesterday I fell in with Buelow, who is just +come back from Berlin to resume his mission. He told me that he +was on such terms with Palmerston that it was impossible for him +to stay here, and that for some time past he had given up +communicating with him except upon the most indispensable matters +and in the most formal way. He then gave me an account of the +reception of the news of the change of our Government at Berlin, +where the Emperor of Russia happened to be at the time. The +Empress had come there on a visit to her father, and the Emperor +(who is supposed to have preserved his conjugal fidelity +immaculate) had rushed from Moscow without any notice to see her, +and was still there when news of this great event arrived. There +is something very characteristic in the first impression which the +intelligence produced, at once manifesting the secret wishes of +the party and their ignorance and apparent incapacity of +comprehending the nature of our Constitution, and the limited +extent of the power of the King of England. The Emperor +immediately conceived that the whole system of the late Government +would be reversed at home and abroad, that Leopold would be driven +from Belgium, the Dutch dominion restored, and the Quadruple +Alliance dissolved. Buelow, who has been in England long enough to +know better the real state of things, endeavoured to undeceive +him, and succeeded, though not without great difficulty; but when +he proceeded to explain to him that the new Government would very +likely not be able to keep their places, and that at any rate they +would be compelled to conduct the Government upon the principle of +Reform which the late Government had established, the Emperor +could not by any means comprehend it, nor why or how there could +be any difficulty in keeping their places if the King was resolved +to support them, and had appointed them at his own pleasure. It +would seem as if they had never read the last two or three years +of our history, or, having read it, as if the habits of unbounded +power in which they are born, educated, and expect to die, had +rendered their understandings utterly impervious to the apparent +paradox of a crowned head destitute of power to choose his own +Ministers. The Duke of Cumberland, who was likewise there, began +by talking the same nonsense, and was full of the destruction of +the Reform Bill; but Billy Holmes, who, whatever else he may be, +is a very sharp fellow, succeeded in muzzling him. This account +which Buelow gave me is, however, more than amusing; it is +instructive, because it shows which way the real wishes of the +absolute sovereigns point, and makes it highly probable that they +look upon the present settlement of Europe as one only _ad +interim_, and to be remodelled whenever an opportunity shall +present itself. They are satisfied at present with damming and +dyking out the waters of Liberalism, but they hope to drain the +lands in which they are collected, and to place themselves for +ever out of the danger of an inundation. The war of opinions is in +fact declared; it may languish, there may be truces, but there +will be no peace in our time. + + +February 19th, 1835 {p.212} + +[Page Head: ELECTION OF SPEAKER ABERCROMBY.] + +The important day is arrived, and it dawns in sunshine and south +wind. In a few hours the question of the Speakership will be +decided, and there will at least be the gain (wherever the loss +may fall) of getting rid of a subject which has become intolerably +tiresome. For the last three weeks every newspaper has been +literally filled with the controversy, every club engaged in +betting on the event; in every room, at the corner of every +street, nobody talked of anything else. It was the first enquiry +of every man you met, 'Well, what do you hear to-day? they say +Sutton will win by 30.' The next man (a Whig) would say, 'It is +safe; Abercromby will have 317 votes sure'--each party unboundedly +confident, and both securing a retreat by declaring that defeat +will not signify. Half the Opposition think it a false move to try +it, and the more sober of the Government are conscious that a +defeat will be very injurious. + +We had a Council yesterday, and a levee more than usually +brilliant; all the new Ministers and all the old, the whole Corps +Diplomatique, with a host of others, mixed up in the first +_entree_ room, and all very civil and good-humoured. The King +received the ex-Ministers very graciously, and talked to them +all, at least to all I saw pass by. Brougham alone was absent, +and Lord Spencer, who was hardly to be considered as one of them, +and is not in town, though, by-the-bye, I think I am wrong in +this, because there were others whom I did not see--Duncannon, +Spring Rice, and Hobhouse. + + +February 20th, 1835 {p.213} + +The great battle is over and the Government defeated, 316 to 306. +Such a division never was known before in the House of Commons, +and the accuracy of the calculations is really surprising. +Mulgrave told me three days ago they had 317 people, which with +the Teller makes the exact number. Holmes went over the other +list, and made it 307--also correct. In the House so justly had +they reckoned, that when the numbers first counted (306) were +told to Duncannon in the lobby he said, 'Then we shall win by +10.' Burdett and Cobbett went away, which with Tellers makes a +total of 626 members in the House. All the Irish members voted +but 4, all the Scotch but 3, all the English but 25. The Irish +and Scotch, in fact, made the majority. + +The elation on one side and the depression on the other were +naturally considerable, and there was not time last night to +adjust scattered thoughts. Much money was won and lost; everybody +betted. I won L55, for on the whole I thought (though quite a +toss-up) that the chances were rather in favour of Abercromby. I +had a better opinion of the cleverness of the managers on his +side, and their amazing confidence staggered me, so that after at +first believing Sutton to be sure, I finished by leaning the +other way. The debate seems to have been dull--Sutton was dull, +Peel was dull; Stanley clever, strong against the Opposition, but +thought to have been indiscreet. A Tory told me it was a second +edition of the thimblerig speech, which, if so, will not do him +good. He carried apparently very few people with him, but made +one convert--Angerstein--who changed his vote because Stanley +made out that Abercromby was for the Ballot. This seems an +excellent reason why he should be opposed as a Minister or a +candidate, but none why he should not sit in the chair of the +House. Lord John Russell is said to have spoken remarkably well, +which is important to them as a party, being his first appearance +as their leader. Peel and the Duke dined at Lord Salisbury's, and +all the Tories were invited there in the evening, with the +intention probably of celebrating their anticipated victory; and, +if so, their merry meeting must have been changed to dismal +alarms, for there is no denying or concealing that it is a very +serious disaster. The moral effect of beginning with a defeat is +bad; it discourages the wavering and timid, who might have felt +half disposed to support the Government and the constitution. The +trial of strength leads to very uncomfortable reflections, for +every man of these 317 is prepared to go all lengths; and though +there are probably none among the majority who will support +Government, there are some among the minority who will oppose +them--Dudley Stuart, Angerstein, and Burdett, who went away. + +[Page Head: PARTIES BALANCED.] + +The majority of the world naturally look at this event with the +eye of party, and as a triumph one way and a mortification the +other; but I, who have no party prejudices and predilections, and +care nothing who is in the chair, and not much who is in office, +provided 'the thing,' as Cobbett calls it, is kept going, look at +this division with sorrow and alarm, as affording undoubted +evidence that no prospect appears of the possibility of this or +any other Government being able to accomplish the purposes for +which a Government is intended. We seem to be arrived at what is +vulgarly termed a dead lock. Nothing can be more clear than that +the present Ministers are in a minority, and that all the other +parties in the House united can beat them when they will. It is +equally clear that they can beat any section of their opponents +whenever these are disunited. The political attraction which +binds together the mass cannot last long, and there are too many +elements of repulsion in _esse_ or in _posse_ not to insure the +speedy disjunction of the several atoms; but in the meantime, if +they can be held together, what is to happen? Peel will take a +beating or two, but he _may_ be so beaten as to be compelled to +resign or again dissolve. Suppose he dissolves. The Tories think +the reaction is on the increase, and that the Conservative +interest would gain largely by another dissolution; still there +is scarcely a hope of their gaining enough to enable Peel to +carry on the Government with such constant and dependible +majorities as can alone render it efficacious and secure. On the +other hand, if Peel resigns, the Opposition, should they return +to power, must dissolve; for what can they do against 300 Tories? +and what Ministry can by possibility be formed that can have a +certain majority _of its own_ out of the heterogeneous mixture of +Whigs, Radicals, Repealers, and men of every shade and gradation +of opinion? Their situation, notwithstanding their victory, seems +worse than that of their antagonists with reference to their +power as a party; and if they do storm Downing Street and St. +James's, and go again to the country, as far as appearances go, +what chance have they of materially bettering their condition, +and getting another House of Commons more manageable and better +adapted to their purpose than this? This victory, therefore, will +not enable the old Government to triumph over the new, or +materially affect the positions of the two parties, and, as +somebody said last night, they will be very much puzzled what to +do with their majority now they have got it. + +The first impression of great events is generally one of alarm, +which upon this occasion subsequent reflection has diminished as +far as relates to the _immediate_ peril of the present Government. +Speculation already began last night as to the Address, on which +some pretend no amendment will be moved, others that one will, +which as certainly will be carried. No question can, however, be +more embarrassing to the Whig leaders, for they would be disposed +in prudence to abstain from any very violent measure, but will +find great difficulty in dealing with their associates. If they +resolve upon pushing their victory and amending the Address, they +run the risk of exciting terror by their violence; if they avoid +this, probably some of the Radicals will do it, and then they must +support Government on the Address against a Radical section of the +House, or join with the Radicals in one of two ways, either by +supporting their amendment or persuading them to withdraw it; in +either case drawing closer the bonds of that connexion which they +are ashamed and afraid to avow, and which will, I strongly incline +to believe, be in the end fatal to the Whig party. The only thing +that can truly be predicted is, that all is confusion, uncertainty, +embarrassment, a state of things full of difficulty and peril, but +not _totally_ without hope. + + +February 21st, 1835 {p.216} + +The Government were grievously annoyed at the event of Thursday, +and the Duke rejected all the commonplaces of consolation, 'that +it would turn out a good thing.' At Lord Salisbury's dinner (to +which Peel did not go) they were all very dejected, and the Duke +said at once it was as bad as could be; and the thing appeared +the worse because they had been led to feel so very secure. He +desired his private secretary to have everything ready to quit +the Foreign Office at a moment's notice. However, at dinner +yesterday at Peel's (a great dinner to all the Ambassadors and +twenty-six people) he said to me, 'It is very bad, but I consider +the country _on its legs again_.' 'Do you?' I said, 'I am glad +you think so.' 'Oh, yes, I think that, however this may end; I +think the country is on its legs again.' + +The Whigs are resolved to push their victory with all their +energies, and they appear to have no doubt of ousting the +Government, and as they are determined to proceed by any and +every means in their career, and the others are equally resolved +to fight the battle while any means of resistance remain, the +strife must be deadly, and such as to extinguish any hope of a +coalition between moderate men of both sides for the simple +reason that moderation has ascended to Heaven, and such men will +no longer be found. + + +February 23rd, 1835 {p.216} + +[Page Head: FIERCE OPPOSITION TO GOVERNMENT.] + +The Opposition mean to move an amendment to the Address, which +they expect to carry by a larger majority than the last. Their +tactics are completely arranged, and their understanding with +O'Connell and all the Radicals so good that they think there is +no danger of any indiscreet ebullition in any quarter. Discarding +every prospective consideration, and prepared to encounter all +consequences, they concentrate all their energies upon the single +object of turning out the Government, in which they have no doubt +of succeeding. It is the first time (as far as I know) that any +great party ever proceeded upon, and avowed, such a principle as +that which binds these people together and puts them in action; +namely, to destroy the King's Ministry, without any reference to +the measures that Ministry may propose, and without waiting to +see how they may intend to carry on the Government. Not only do +they throw out of their consideration the conduct of the +Administration, but they are resolved to accomplish its +destruction, without being prepared to substitute any stronger +Government in its room, and with a perfect knowledge that its +dissolution must necessarily produce a state of extraordinary +embarrassment, from which they do not pretend to have the power +of extricating the country. All that they ever condescend to say, +in answer to any such remonstrances, is this: 'The King exercised +his prerogative in a most extraordinary and unjustifiable manner. +We have the same right to reject his Government, that he had to +turn out ours; if there is embarrassment, it is none of our +creating, the King and the Tories must be responsible for it. We +care not what are the principles now avowed by them. If they are +not Reformers, they cannot govern this country, and are not to be +tolerated at the head of affairs. If they are, it is not to be +endured that they should usurp our places, and then in defiance +of all their principles, and in opposition to all their previous +conduct, carry into effect the measures which we should, with +perfect consistency, have brought forward. We will listen +therefore to nothing. Out they shall go, and till we have got +them out, we will never rest, nor desist from our attacks.' 'Quid +sit futurum cras, fuge quaerere,' such is the manner of their +reasoning. Their intention seems to be to avoid doing anything +very desperate, but to keep beating the Government, constantly +exhibiting their own power and the helpless state of their +adversaries to the world. Some of them affect to deny their union +with O'Connell, but they say whatever suits their present +purpose. In the case of Manners Sutton, they took care to have +the charges against him disseminated through the country, and did +their best to have them believed. The constituencies believed +them, and instructed their representatives accordingly; and when, +by these means, they had secured a majority, they came down at +the last moment to the House of Commons and owned that there was +not one word of truth in the allegations against him. John +Russell had written a letter (perhaps more than one) in which he +urged opposition to Sutton, on the ground of his having advised +the dissolution of the last Parliament. Goulburn got possession +of this letter, which was handed to him during the debate, he +does not know by whom. (Goulburn told me this himself.) He gave +it to Peel while he was speaking, or just before. Peel asked John +Russell if he had ever said so, and John Russell denied it. Peel +did not produce the letter as he might have done, but the story +was told in the 'Times' the next day. So in the case of the +Bishop of Exeter, and Lord John's controversy with him. He told +an untruth, undoubtedly without knowing it, but he might have +known it; the lie did its business-- + + In public spoke, it fell with greater force, + And, heard by hundreds, was believed, of course; + +and though he afterwards made a very handsome apology, half the +people who were influenced by the original statement never heard +of the contradiction, or cared for it, if they did; and to show +the candour of the Liberal press, the 'Morning Chronicle,' and +other papers of that persuasion, which trumpeted forth the +original lie, never inserted the subsequent correspondence, and +Lord John's contradiction of his own statement. I like him so +much personally, that I am sorry for all this. To return to the +party, they are boiling with indignation at the idea of another +dissolution, and talk of such advice to the King as affording +good ground for impeachment, though till they have settled the +House of Lords, and had their wicked will of it, the Ministers +would be pretty safe before that tribunal for such an act. It is +the general opinion that Peel will dissolve, and go once more to +the country if he can, but this must depend upon the sort of +opposition they offer, and the majorities they can bring into the +field. Adolphus FitzClarence told me that he never saw the King +so determined as he is to stand by this Government to the last, +and I do not think any of these men will prove deficient in +courage. + + +February 24th, 1835 {p.219} + +[Page Head: UNION WITH O'CONNELL.] + +The Opposition expect a majority of from thirty to forty on the +amendment. The union with O'Connell is complete, however long it +may last, and he has agreed to give up Repeal, and they are to +find some lucrative place for him when they get in again. What he +wants is to be a Master of the Rolls in Ireland; the rent fails, +and money he must have. It is a wretched thing that there is no +buying that man _now_ without disgrace; well would it have been +to have made the purchase long ago; and it will not be the least +curious part of his curious life if this bargain takes place, and +he settles down into the regular discharge of his professional +duties, and _bona fide_ abandons agitation. There was great +curiosity last night to know whether the Speaker dined with Peel. +It is usual for him to dine with the leader of the House of +Commons on these occasions, and hear the speech read. Sutton +always dined with Althorp, but then Althorp put him in the chair. +Abercromby, however, very properly told Peel the difficulty he +felt, and that he thought he should only embarrass the company, +and Peel acquiesced in his excuse. + + +February 25th, 1835 {p.219} + +The King went down to Parliament in the midst of a vast crowd, +and was neither well nor ill received; nobody takes his hat off, +but there was some slight cheering. The speech disappointed me, +it was rather bald, and so thought some of the moderate men. In +the morning there was a meeting at the King's Head, Palace Yard, +to which moderate members of Parliament were invited by an +anonymous circular. Thirty-three were present, Sir Oswald Mosley +in the chair. Graham came to it, and said Lord Stanley would have +come also, but that he had invited a few of his friends to +assemble at his house, with an object similar to that which had +brought the present meeting[2] together and that if it were +agreeable to any of these gentlemen to meet his friends that +afternoon he should be glad to see them. They all went, and there +were present forty-five or fifty, of whom eight had voted for +Abercromby. He made them a speech, stating that it was evident +the Government must fall if they were to be repeatedly defeated, +and his view of the necessity of obstructing violent measures +directed against them was something to this effect. The result +was an agreement to meet again this day, and last night a few +more names were added to their list. This may, therefore, be +considered the Stanley party, and the best thing that can happen +will be that this party should grow numerous. Many men do not +like the composition of the Government, and yet wish to support +it, without being identified with it, as the majority of those +who attend the meetings are disposed to support Peel. Stanley +securing them as his adherents, and placing himself at their +head, must in fact subscribe to their opinions and disposition; +and as men are more inclined to join a numerous than a scanty +sect, fresh adherents may repair to that standard. Eventually he +will join the Government, and the best chance of weathering the +storm will be through this moderate Liberal party. + + [2] [This meeting (which will probably have important + results, as it was the foundation of that which met + afterwards at Stanley's, and the formation of this + party will turn the balance on the Conservative side) + originated in the most insignificant causes. Sir Oswald + Mosley, an ordinary person, and a Mr. Young, talking + the thing over, suggested to one another to try and get + together moderate men, and they penned and sent out a + parcel of notes addressed to those who they thought + came under that description, bearing no signature, and + giving no indication of the quarter from which they + emanated. When the thirty-three people who came were + assembled, they found themselves for the most part + strangers to each other, and each asking who such and + such an one was. When Graham invited any who chose to + go to Lord Stanley's, Mosley rather wanted to decline, + to go on with his own meeting, and play an important + part, but nobody would hear of this, so he was obliged + to go with the rest to Stanley's house.] + +[Page Head: DEBATE ON THE ADDRESS.] + +The debate was opened by Sandon in a speech feebly delivered, but +containing good matter. Morpeth made a good speech, moving the +amendment. The debate was very dull indeed, Dr. Bowring a total +failure. It was expected the House would adjourn, if not divide, +and the Speaker put the question, when Peel got up. It was +curious to see the lulling of the uproar, and the shuffling and +scrambling into seats, till all was quiet and the whole coast +clear. He spoke very ably for nearly two hours and a half, his +speech not containing much oratory, but in a tone at once lofty +and firm, yet discreet, calculated to inspire confidence and to +make an impression on all who are impressible. There is no use in +entering into details of speeches which are now reported with +such perfect fidelity. This may not be without its effect on +Stanley's meeting to-day, and his speech will be listened to with +intense anxiety to-night. The Opposition (as Duncannon told me) +expected a majority of between thirty and forty, so that if it is +considerably less than that, it will be tantamount to a defeat. + + +February 26th, 1835 {p.221} + +Stanley spoke last night, attacking both sides, not violently, +but announcing his intention to vote against the amendment. The +Government were annoyed at his speech, especially at his +expressing some sort of disapprobation of the Duke of Wellington, +which he would have done well to omit, for many reasons. Lord +John Russell, by universal admission even of his enemies, made an +excellent speech. I did not hear either him or Stanley. John has +surpassed all expectations hitherto, as leader, which is matter +of great exultation to his party, but the tide is already +beginning to turn, and there are evident symptoms of weakness in +the great unwieldy heterogeneous body he is at the head of. +Tavistock came to me yesterday morning, and told me his brother +had sent for him, 'finding himself in difficulties.' He did not +particularise them, but said that naturally, in a situation of +such novelty, he found considerable difficulties to contend with. +He owned that the meeting at Lichfield House, which O'Connell had +attended by invitation, had alarmed and disgusted many of the old +Whigs, and it was settled there should be no more such meetings. +Then there has been some little correspondence between Ward and +Lord John about the Irish Church question, the former wishing to +manage the matter, which he brought forward last year, and he +wrote to John about it, who replied rather shortly, that he +himself intended to submit a motion on the subject. This is a +trifle, but trifles like these contribute to form an aggregate of +importance, and the moment there is any beginning of disunion or +weakness in such a party, a very short time will make it fall to +pieces. + +[Page Head: POSITION OF LORD STANLEY.] + +Lord Stanley assembled his followers again yesterday to the +number of about fifty; other adhesions, and half-adhesions, +occurred in the course of the evening, and the result is an +expectation that the boasted majority of thirty or forty will +dwindle down to four or five, or perhaps be no majority at all. +The erection of this standard will therefore, in all probability, +save the Government, and defeat the factious designs of the great +Whig and Radical coalition; but I distrust Stanley himself, and +see the great chance there is of his vanity and selfish ambition +producing other difficulties, the pressure of which, though he +may not feel it now, will some time hence become heavy to him. +His object at present is to gather to himself the largest party +he can; but though he may lead them, he can only lead them the +way they are minded to go, and the design of his friends is to +show themselves Conservatives without being Tories, to save this +Government, not from love to it, but from fear of its opponents +and of the alternative. He certainly may have the appearance of +being the arbiter of all great questions, and actually be so to a +certain degree, but as his ultimate object must be his return to +office, he can only hope to return (at least with any prospects +of success) with Peel and the Tories. It is, therefore, egregious +folly in him, by an affectation of neutrality and independence, +to shock and disgust that great body, which must ever be the +strength of a Conservative Government, by twitting the Duke of +Wellington and attacking with sarcasms or reproaches certain +measures or omissions, or particular members of Government, and +especially the Duke himself. The Duke is, after all, the idol of +the Tories, and they will not endure that a youth like Stanley +shall avail himself of his accidental advantages to treat their +great man with levity and disrespect; and all this he has not +coolness, sagacity, and temper enough to see, nor to discern that +his most becoming and dignified course would be to conduct +himself with a seriousness and gravity suitable to the importance +of the crisis and of the part he aspires to play and the +magnitude of the interests which are at stake. If he believes in +his conscience that the Opposition are animated with a spirit of +faction, and that their triumph would be the forerunner of +revolution or confusion, he should take his stand on a great +principle, and support the Government in such a manner as might +best enable it to confound the schemes of its antagonists; but +all this time he is dreading to be called a Tory, and he does not +certainly give up the hope and notion of reuniting himself with +the moderate section of his late colleagues. He endeavours to +keep up an amicable intercourse with them, and to make them +believe that he has no intention of connecting himself more +closely with this Government. Such ambiguous conduct, and his +occasional asperities and incivilities, have begun already to +disgust and alienate the Tories; and though they have too much +need of him now not to be obliged to restrain the expression of +their feelings, the time may come when he will have need of them, +and he will then find the inconvenient consequences of his +present behaviour. + + +February 27th, 1835 {p.223} + +They divided at half-past one this morning, 309 to 302. I went +over the list before dinner, and made out a majority of six +(correct all but one). Gisborne, Howick, and Graham spoke +tolerably, O'Connell very good for the first ten minutes, and +very bad all the rest. I was not there. Certainly Stanley's +conduct is queer. Notwithstanding the sharp things he said +against Government in his speech on Wednesday, and various little +marks of scorn he throws out here and there, he said to Francis +Egerton on Tuesday, after all the Opposition men had been +speaking, 'Why does not Peel get up, or at least put up one of +the Government, to put an end to all this balderdash?' Francis +went and told Peel, who was very much out of sorts (at the state +of the debate I suppose), and asked rather angrily for Sir G. +Clerk. Francis went to look for Clerk, and when he returned Peel +was on his legs. This he told me yesterday morning. + + +March 5th, 1835 {p.224} + +Met Mulgrave at dinner at Seaford's, and he still talks with +confidence of turning the Government out; that five or six of +Stanley's tail have whisked round again to the Whigs; that they +can beat the Government on every question by greater majorities +than on the two they have already tried, which were the worst for +them, and that any other Government (of their party) would get +through the business of the session. + + +March 11th, 1835 {p.224} + +The repeal of the malt tax was defeated by a majority of 158, +much more than was necessary, and it is thought that Government +would have done wisely, when they found they were sure of not +being beaten, to allow their friends to redeem their pledges (or +as many of them as stood deeply committed), for it will be found +that several of them will suffer greatly from this vote in their +counties. Peel (as usual) made an admirable speech; he continues +to distinguish himself by a marked superiority, both in oratory +and management, which cannot fail to produce a great effect both +in the House of Commons and the country. There is nobody who +approaches him, and every day he displays more and more his +capacity for government and undoubted fitness for the situation +he is in. He cannot help being a great man, because he lives in +an age of pigmies; and he will be as great as great talents +without a great mind can make anybody. Even some of the violent +Radicals say that if Peel's associates could be disposed of, they +would not object to him. + + +March 13th, 1835 {p.224} + +There was a meeting of the Opposition at Lichfield House +yesterday, to consider what they should do about Hume's motion to +grant the supplies for three months, and the result was that the +design should be abandoned. Thus they have shown their teeth +without daring to bite. Many of their people would not have gone +with them, and if this grand project failed _now_ thus early in +the session, still less chance will it have at a later period. +Peel's skill and great superiority, and the disunion and +uncertainty of the vast unwieldy body opposed to him, will carry +him through. + + +March 14th, 1835 {p.225} + +[Page Head: APPOINTMENT OF LORD LONDONDERRY.] + +Last night was a terribly damaging night to the Government, and +fully justifies all that I, in common with almost everybody else, +thought of that miserable appointment of Londonderry.[3] Shiel +brought it forward, and a storm burst from every side. Stanley +made a strong speech against it, and Mahon totally broke down. +Peel spoke cleverly, as usual, but fighting under difficulties, +and dodging about, and shifting his ground with every mark of +weakness. The result is that Londonderry cannot go, and must +either resign or his nomination be cancelled. This is miserable +weakness on the part of the Government, and an awkward position to +be placed in. It is very questionable if the Duke of Wellington +will not resign upon it, which would make another great +embarrassment, for there is nobody to fill his place. It serves +the Government right, and the Duke especially, for having built up +such a wall to run their heads against. They knew the loathing +people had for the man, how odious and ridiculous he had made +himself, how obnoxious and indefensible the appointment would be, +and yet, though there was no reason or occasion for it, and their +circumstances were so difficult that the utmost caution and +prudence were requisite in all their subordinate and collateral +proceedings, as well as in the great and essential ones, they had +the blind and obstinate folly to make this appointment. It is not +_contempt_ of public opinion in the Duke, but it is that ignorance +or indifference, or disregard of it, which has been the besetting +sin of his political life, and has so largely affected his +political sayings and doings. Peel ought to have known better, and +have taken a more correct view of his position, and the effect +such an appointment would have on it. It is difficult to say what +consequences may flow from this affair. The Government can stand +no shocks and buffets; if they go on, it can only be by the most +dexterous management, and by obtaining constant advantages in the +petty and daily warfare of Parliament, and thus gathering +confidence by degrees, that they can accomplish it. It would be +too mortifying if such a man should be the cause of the downfall +of the Government and of all the evils that would result +therefrom. Knatchbull, who was dragged into the discussion by Peel +(in order to make a diversion), defended himself and spoke +remarkably well. He is the only Cabinet Minister who has shown +anything like a faculty to support Peel. It was rather amusing to +see the attempt of Peel to take the dogs off the scent of +Londonderry and throw them on that of Knatchbull; but they were +soon whipped off, and put again upon the right track. There was +one good hit. A Sir George Strickland, attacking Knatchbull, said, +'Talk of the Right Honourable Baronet as a Reformer, indeed, when +_I remember_ his coming down night after night during the Reform +Bill, and opposing every part and particle of it, clause after +clause,' when Knatchbull took his hat off and said, 'I was not a +member of that Parliament.' + + [3] [The Marquis of Londonderry had been appointed + Ambassador to St. Petersburg.] + + +March 15th, 1835 {p.226} + +The Londonderry debate has made a great sensation, and is a +source of prodigious triumph and exultation to the Opposition. In +the morning I met Lady Peel, who was full of compassion for +Londonderry, and said, 'He had behaved very nobly about it.' +Nobody doubts that he cannot go, whether he resigns voluntarily +or not; but, end how it may, it is a disastrous occurrence. If +Government should persist in the appointment, they would be +beaten by a great majority, and the House of Commons would vote +him out; if it is given up, it is a monstrous concession to the +violence and power of the House of Commons, for however +objectionable the appointment may have been, it is not so +outrageous as to call for the interference of Parliament with the +King's undoubted prerogative, and on the whole the principle of +such interference may be considered more inconvenient than +submitting to the appointment itself. It will probably lead +before long to other encroachments upon the Executive power, and +we shall soon see the House of Commons interfering about +everything. + +[Page Head: THE DUKE ON LORD LONDONDERRY.] + +In the evening I met the Duke of Wellington at Lady Howe's, who +talked about the affair, and said that he was not particularly +partial to the man, nor ever had been; but that he was very fit +for that post, was an excellent Ambassador, procured more +information and obtained more insight into the affairs of a +foreign Court than anybody, and that he was the best relater of +what passed at a conference, and wrote the best account of a +conversation, of any man he knew. I said this might be all true, +but that though _he_ knew it, the generality of people did not, +and the public could only judge of him by what they heard or read +of his speeches, and what was related of his conduct on former +occasions; that on that account he was very obnoxious, and that +his violent and intemperate attacks upon the foreign policy of +the late Government, the sentiments he had displayed generally, +had raised a great prejudice against him, and I had therefore +been sure from the moment I heard of the appointment that it +would be severely attacked, and regretted exceedingly for that +reason that it had ever been made. I had told Lady Peel the same +thing, for it is difficult to resist telling them the real truth; +and I know not why it should not be told them. + +Last night I met Lord Howick, who is bitter enough against the +Ministers, and expressed his earnest desire that they might be +well dragged through the mire, but not be turned out. I asked, +'Why, if he wished they should stay in, he desired that they +should be discredited?' and he replied, 'That it would be very +difficult _at present_ to replace them, but that he saw the +prospective means, and he would have them go on till the time was +ripe for change, but that they should be made every day more +odious.' These means, I doubt not, are the reconciliation of +Stanley with the Whigs, which is clearly contemplated by both one +and the other. Hobhouse's speech the other night was very civil +to Stanley, no doubt with that view, and much personal intimacy +is affected between him and the Whig leaders. Then much light is +thrown upon it in my mind by the account I have just heard from +Charlton (who enlisted under the Stanley banner) of the tone and +_animus_ displayed at the last meeting at Stanley's. There +Stanley was pressed by Mr. Young to declare in strong terms his +want of confidence in the Government; and Patrick Stewart said +that if Hume's motion, for limiting the supplies to three months, +was placed in the hands of Lord John Russell, he thought he must +vote for it. Stanley opposed this suggestion, and declared his +disapprobation (let who would bring it on) of so strong a measure +as stopping the supplies, and he said he thought the want of +confidence might be sufficiently evinced without having recourse +to any murderous measures, anything absolutely destructive of the +Government. The general tone and disposition of the meeting was +very inimical to the present Ministry, and Charlton was himself +so little satisfied with what passed, and especially with +Stanley's apparent bias and feeling, that he wrote to him to say +that he had joined his party on the express notion that he was +prepared to give the Government a fair trial, and to ask whether +he did not understand him correctly in attributing to him still +such an intention. He replied very courteously, and tolerably +satisfactorily, but it certainly seems probable that he is more +disposed to reunite with his old friends than to form any +connection with these men, though what is uppermost in his mind +is to raise his own consequence and authority, and make the best +bargain he eventually can. Charlton says that he has since tried +to engage him in conversation upon the subject of the democratic +tendency of the times, but that he has no mind to discuss the +subject. Charlton is such a violent, foolish, dangerous fellow, +that it is no wonder if Stanley kept aloof from him, and was not +disposed to be more than merely civil to him. + + +March 17th, 1835 {p.228} + +[Page Head: LORD LONDONDERRY'S DEFENCE.] + +Londonderry made a good speech in the House of Lords last night, +gentlemanlike and temperate. He got a good deal of empty praise in +both Houses in lieu of the solid pudding he is obliged to give up. +He said 'that he had had no communication with the Government, nor +had sought any advice, neither had any been tendered to him; that +he had after due deliberation determined on the course he should +pursue.' All this is untrue; he went to Peel on Saturday morning, +and told him he was ready to do what he pleased; but Peel said he +could give him no opinion. He then consulted various people, the +Dukes of Cumberland and Buckingham _inter alios_, who advised him +not to resign. It appeared to be his object to obtain opinions to +that effect, and up to late yesterday afternoon nobody knew what +he meant to do; so much so, that the Duke left the Foreign Office +without being apprised of his intentions, and desired if any +letter came from him that it might be sent after him to the House +of Lords. He received the letter on the stairs, which he read and +instantly sent to Peel. It has altogether been a miserable affair, +and it is certainly true what John Russell said, that in 'the +experiment they are now making, that which the Right Honourable +Baronet called a fair trial, they were running considerable hazard +that the most useful prerogatives of the Crown would lose that +dignity and respect in which they had formerly been held.' It is +clearly true that this most dangerous precedent of interference +has occurred because the Government has not strength to prevent +it, and because we have the anomaly of a Government beating up +against a hostile majority. The man was utterly unfit, and ought +never to have been appointed, but the case against him (such as it +appears in their hands) is quite insufficient to warrant the +interference of Parliament. + +I take it that the effect abroad will be prodigious, for though +Londonderry resigns of his own accord, and Peel says he would +have stood by him if he had not, the simple case is (and such +will be the appearance of it all over Europe) that the King +appointed Londonderry Ambassador to Russia, and the House of +Commons cancelled the appointment. + +Everything meanwhile continues in a state of uncertainty. The +Opposition is not united; the Stanley party, with their leader, +observe a suspicious and suspected neutrality, but the Government +is at their mercy whenever they join the Opposition, or, indeed, +if they keep aloof. Such a state of things cannot go on very long, +and the fate of the Government must be settled one way or the +other. Every day produces fresh indications of Peel's superiority, +and his capacity for the lead in the House of Commons, but he does +not appear to have gained much in those points where he was most +deficient--cordiality and communicativeness. Francis Egerton came +to me to-day and complained that on the Londonderry debate, +finding that nobody spoke on the Treasury Bench, he went and sat +by Peel and offered to speak, but could get no answer from him; +and Ashley was furious because when Hume asked for some +information on some point of Navy estimates, on which he (Ashley) +had taken pains to prepare himself, Peel would not let him give +it, but took it out of his hands. All this is very impolitic, and +shows that whatever else he has gained by experience, he has not +gained the art of making himself popular with his own adherents in +the way that Castlereagh and Canning used to be; and therefore, +however he may be looked up to as a Minister, he will never be +followed with the same personal devotion that they commanded. + + +March 20th, 1835 {p.230} + +I have been laid up with the gout all this week, and could not go +out to see and hear what is going on. On Tuesday night Peel +brought in the Dissenters' Marriage Bill, and his plan gave +almost general satisfaction except to those whom nothing can +satisfy. The Opposition papers gave it a sort of cold and sulky +approbation, evincing how little the loudest advocates for +reforms of this nature really care about them. The 'Morning +Chronicle' seemed to regret that Peel's Bill should give +satisfaction more than it rejoiced that the Dissenters were to +obtain it. Marriage is made a civil contract for the Dissenters, +and a slight civil form is substituted for the religious ceremony +of the Church of England. This relieves them from all their +grievance; but it is now said that they lie under a degradation, +because it is not also made a civil contract for everybody else, +and that the law ought to be changed universally. I think it +would be better if it was a civil contract, but nothing can be +more captious than such an objection, or more impertinent, and I +do not desire to see the law changed, because I believe the +majority of members of the Church of England are content that it +should remain as it is, and that their feelings or prejudices +would be shocked by the alteration. + +The King is in great indignation at the proceedings in the House +of Commons about Londonderry. The Duke sent Londonderry's letter +of resignation to him, and his Majesty returned it with a letter +in which he expressed his approbation of Londonderry's conduct, +and added, that 'he was more than ever satisfied of the +correctness of his determination in November last, to refuse his +consent to his Government being led by Lord John Russell in the +House of Commons, since he had witnessed his conduct upon the +occasion, and the support he had given to the unconstitutional +attack that had been made upon this appointment.' He made no +allusion to Stanley, whose conduct must have galled him still +more. + +[Page Head: SIR EDWARD AND LADY SUGDEN.] + +Sir E. Sugden has resigned the Chancellorship of Ireland because +his wife is not received at Court. He might have ascertained very +easily beforehand what would happen, or have contrived to keep her +away from Dublin. It was understood when he took the Great Seal +that he declined being made a peer, on account of the illegitimacy +of his eldest son. Half the world had never heard of Lady Sugden, +or knew anything of her history; and as she is an excellent woman, +charitable and kind-hearted, I fancy she has moved without +obstruction in his natural circle of society. He went to Ireland +before any Lord-Lieutenant was named, and Lady Sugden was received +as a matter of course. When Lady Haddington was apprised of her +origin and history she foresaw the difficulty, and asked the Queen +what she was to do. Her Majesty told her to do what she pleased, +but that certainly she could not be received at Court here. The +Lady-Lieutenant therefore was compelled to decline receiving her, +for all Ireland would have been affronted had she received at the +Castle a lady not presentable at St. James's. Sugden was very +angry, and his indignation arose principally, it would seem, from +Lady Canterbury's having been received at Court, which he +considers (with some reason) as a case equally flagrant. Her +reception was a matter of bargain, I forget at this moment on what +occasion, and certainly a strong measure. The talk is that James +Parke will go to Ireland, and Sugden return to the Bar, which will +be hard upon those who had shared his vast business, especially on +the silk gown men. + + +March 21st, 1835 {p.232} + +Lord Grey is come to town; he is very strong against the +Radicals, and highly disgusted at so many of them having been +admitted to the Opposition meetings. He and Stanley met with +excessive cordiality. Sefton was there when Stanley called upon +him. The King received Lord Grey at the levee with such civility +and attention as to excite peculiar observation. + + +March 22nd, 1835 {p.232} + +A few nights ago Brougham was speaking in the House of Lords +(upon Lord Radnor's motion about university oaths), and was +attacking, or rather beginning to attack, the Duke of Wellington +in that tone of insolent sarcasm which is so familiar to him, +when in the midst of his harangue the Duke from the opposite side +lifted up his finger, and said loud enough to be heard, 'Now take +care what you say next.' As if panic-struck, Brougham broke off, +and ran upon some other tack. The House is so narrow, that Lords +can almost whisper to each other across it, and the menacing +action and words of the Duke reached Brougham at once. This odd +anecdote rests upon much concurrent evidence. Alvanley told it to +De Ros, and Lord Salisbury said he was sitting close to the Duke, +and witnessed it all. The Chancellor afterwards confirmed it. + +[Page Head: COURAGE OF SIR R. PEEL.] + +On Friday night, on the debate upon Irish Tithes, Peel bowled +down his opponents, Howick, Rice, and Thomson, like so many +ninepins; for, besides his vigour and power in debate, his memory +is so tenacious and correct, that they never can make any +mistakes without his detecting them; and he is inconceivably +ready in all references to former debates and their incidents, +and the votes and speeches of individual members. It cannot be +denied that he is a great performer in his present part. Old Sir +Robert, who must have been a man of exceeding shrewdness, +predicted that his full energies would never be developed till he +was in the highest place, and had the sole direction of affairs; +and his brother Lawrence, who told this to Henry de Ros, said +that in early youth he evinced the same obstinate and unsocial +disposition, which has since been so remarkable a feature of his +character. I wish he was not hampered with the Irish Church +fetters, which he cannot throw off. + +Peel wrote a letter to Hume, demanding an explanation of certain +offensive expressions he had made use of in the House of Commons, +and got an answer, which was sufficient, though not very civil. +It was rather unnecessary that he should take any notice of what +Hume said, but Peel is a man of very high and prompt courage, and +seems to have made a rule to himself never to suffer impertinence +from any quarter to pass unchecked. It is certainly of great +service to a public man, and it largely increases the estimation +in which he is held, to establish such a character. It is no +small detriment to Brougham that he is accounted an arrant +coward; and it is remarkable that Peel never was known to deal in +the insolence, and bullying, and offensive personalities in which +the other has so copiously indulged, both in Parliament and at +the Bar. + + +March 24th, 1835 {p.233} + +A meeting at Lichfield's yesterday, when they resolved to reserve +themselves for the great battle on Monday next, in full +persuasion that Peel will resign after the division. Whether he +means it or not, I have no idea, but it is surprising to me that +they do not think it better to attack him on his Tithe Bill than +on the Appropriation clause; for I think he must go out if beaten +on the former, but need not if beaten on the latter. They are, +however, bent upon his expulsion; and Lichfield (who is more or +less in their secrets) told me they feel no difficulty as to +making another Government under Melbourne's auspices. There was a +great dinner of the Opposition at the Duke of Sussex's on Sunday, +to which Brougham was not invited. It will not be the least of +their difficulties how to deal with him. Sugden, after all, stays +in Ireland. The Bar were up in arms at his menaced return among +them, which would have had the effect of half ruining some of +those who took silk gowns upon his retirement. His absurdity +will, therefore, have had no other effect than that of revealing +his wife's misfortune to the whole world in a very noisy way. +Lord Canterbury gives up Canada on account of his wife's health, +and probably not liking to face the disagreeable things that +would have been said about himself and her. Lord Aberdeen has +offered it to Stratford Canning, who, though clever enough, is so +_difficile a vivre_, that nobody can be less calculated for +conciliatory objects; so that for a situation which required an +agent of strong understanding and good temper, they successively +selected a foolish man of good temper, and a clever man of bad. + + +March 26th, 1835 {p.234} + +[Page Head: APPROACHING DEFEAT OF GOVERNMENT.] + +On Tuesday night Government was beaten on a division about the +Chatham election; a thing of no consequence in itself, but the +whole affair was mismanaged. John Russell had said he should not +divide, but his people were not to be restrained. Peel would have +given way, but his whippers-in told him he was strong enough in +the House to carry it, which only shows how stupid they are. It is +now universally believed that he will resign next week, after the +division on John Russell's motion, upon which he is sure to be +beaten by twenty or thirty votes. I am inclined to believe that he +has made known his intentions to Stanley, for the latter +entertains no doubt on the subject. The Greyites are all alive, +and patting Lord Grey on the back all day long to incline him to +obey the summons they confidently expect him to receive from the +King. It is very obvious that Peel cannot go on; and I doubt much +if he could even were he to obtain a majority on Monday. His +physical strength would not suffice for the harassing warfare that +is waged against him, the whole brunt of which he bears alone. +This, however, is his own fault, for he will not let anybody else +take a part, whether from distrust of his colleagues, or his own +rage for being all in all. Then, from the relative constitution of +the two parties, he must be in continual danger of defeats upon +minor and collateral questions, or suddenly started points. His +party is in great part composed of the rich and fashionable, who +are constantly drawn away by one attraction or another, and whose +habitual haunts are the clubs and houses at the west end of the +town; and it is next to impossible to collect his scattered forces +at a moment's notice. The Opposition contains a dense body of +fellows who have no vocation out of the walls of the House of +Commons; who put up in the vicinity; either do not dine at all, or +get their meals at some adjoining chop-house, throng the benches +early, and never think of moving till everything is over; +constituting a steady, never-failing foundation, the slightest +addition to which will generally secure a majority in the present +state of the House. In old times the placemen and immediate +hangers-on of Government, who make it their business to attend in +order to carry the public business through, afforded a regular +certain majority for the Ministers of the day; but now this +household phalanx is outnumbered by these blackguards, the chief +of whom are O'Connell's Tail and the lower Radicals. All this +immensely increases Peel's embarrassment; and the tactics of his +opponents have been extremely able, considered with a view to +obstruct the march of Government. While the leaders have abstained +from any violent measure, and have always resolved at their +consultations not to stop the supplies or impede the public +service, their active partisans have taken good care to produce +all the same effects, by raising debate after debate upon every +description of personal question, and every miscellaneous matter +they could drag in, so as to prevent any progress being made in +the public business; and in this they have completely succeeded, +for never was there more noise and violence, and less business +done, than in this session. + +In anticipation of Peel's resignation there are three parties all +animated with different hopes and desires--the Grey party, the +Melbourne, the Stanley. The first want Lord Grey back with all +the moderate Whigs, throwing over the Radicals; and leaving out +the 'Dilly' (as Stanley's party is derisively called); in fact, +Lord Grey would only come back to carry the Irish question, which +Stanley will be no party to. The second want Melbourne and all +his kit back again, to go on with all the strength that the +united force of Whigs and Radicals amounts to. The third, +expecting that Lord Grey will decline to return without Stanley, +desire that the Radical Whigs should attempt it, with (as they +think) the certainty of failing, and then, that the urgency of +the case may bring about a coalition between Lord Grey, Peel, and +Stanley. Such a coalition would be very desirable in many +respects, but I much doubt Peel's ever consenting to take office +_under_ Lord Grey (though with an equality of authority and +influence in the Government), and to lead a party from which all +his old friends, and those who look up to him with unbounded +devotion, must necessarily be excluded, and to give up all +pretensions to ascendency and domination in the Cabinet. + + +March 28th, 1835 {p.236} + +[Page Head: FRESH REVERSES.] + +It appears now very doubtful whether Peel will resign after a +defeat on Monday; and I am disposed to believe that it is not his +intention; indeed, I never could understand why he should. He has +over and over again declared that whenever the Opposition would +bring forward a direct motion against him, he should be prepared +to resign, but not till then. Still, I do not see how he can go +on, and am much inclined to think he ought not. Weak as he is, at +the mercy of this furious and reckless Opposition, Government +suffers in his hands; the Crown and all Executive authority +suffer. Every Government, to be useful and respectable, should +have the power of carrying its measures in its own way through +Parliament; but Peel cannot do this, and instead of quashing any +mischievous or untimely motion, he is compelled to submit to one +defeat after another upon matters which would never have been +stirred (or certainly not successfully) with the late Government, +or with any which possessed the confidence of the House of +Commons. It was expected that Hume would persist in his motion +for referring the Army estimates to a committee, and that the +Whigs would support him; but when it came to the point, at the +suggestion of John Russell and Stanley, he very sulkily withdrew +it; but the night before, Government was beaten on two divisions, +one about the Leicester election, upon which all the lawyers in +the House were unanimous. But these opinions had no effect upon +the Radical majority, and they voted an address to the Crown to +confer a charter upon the London University, Lord John Russell +supporting it, although this question had been argued before the +Privy Council, which had still to report upon it; and I believe +that the general opinion of the Lords was against conferring the +charter in the present circumstances of the university. +Certainly, there was no discussion in Council after the arguments +were closed, but I gathered that the impression was unfavourable +to the grant of the charter. The House of Commons knows nothing +of the argument, and rejected Goulburn's amendment to have the +proceedings before the Privy Council laid upon the table, voting +the address merely because Government opposed it. + + +March 29th, 1835 {p.237} + +A meeting yesterday of Tories at Bridgewater House for the +purpose of securing a better attendance. Twenty-nine Moderates +met at the 'King's Head,' passengers in the 'Dilly;'[4] but of +these, nine mean to vote with John Russell, and one stays away; +also, two or three others vote against Stanley: queer partisans +and _soi-disant_ followers, who oppose him on his own vital +question. Peel concerted with Stanley in the House on Friday, +that the resolution should be met with a negative. Wharncliffe +was here to-day, loud in his praises of the Duke of Wellington, +and delighted with the Cabinet of which he is a member, _jam +morituri_ as they are.[5] He owned that they could not _probably_ +go on, but that they would not give in till they could show their +friends that they had done all that men could or ought to do; so +that they are resigned to their fate, and only studying in what +attitude they shall meet it. + + [4] [The 'Derby Dilly' was the nickname given to Lord + Stanley's section of a party, from a joke of + O'Connell's, who had applied to it the well-known + lines, + 'So down thy hill, romantic Ashbourne, glides + The Derby Dilly, carrying six insides.'] + + [5] [Lord Wharncliffe was Lord Privy Seal in Sir Robert + Peel's first Administration.] + + +March 31st, 1835 {p.238} + +It is universally believed that Government will go out after this +debate. I think it very doubtful, but the sooner they now go the +better; they are well aware they must retire, and the question +is, whether they shall do so immediately or wait till they have +passed the Mutiny Bill. If the House of Commons refused to pass +the Mutiny Bill, I think they would dissolve again. The King is +in a dreadful state of mind, as well he may be; however, it is +all his own doing, he had the courage, or rather rashness, to +dismiss his late Ministers, but I fear he has none of the cool +and reflecting resolution, and calm moral courage, which are +necessary for this crisis; he will again submit to whatever is +dictated to him. + +In the meantime, the perplexity of the Opposition increases as the +moment of their triumph approaches. There were 260 people at Lord +John Russell's dinner, all prepared to go any lengths, and 20 more +who were absent put their names down. O'Connell, who declared 'it +was the most delightful evening he ever passed in his life,' +publicly acknowledged John Russell as his leader, and the Radicals +were all present but Hume. Lord Auckland (who called upon me about +a house he is thinking of taking through my mediation) said he +would not do anything about it till this week was over, as +circumstances might render it unnecessary for him to provide +himself with a residence, but that he did not see how anything +permanent could come out of the present state of things. He +expected Ministers would resign, that there would be audiences and +negotiations, and that at last they would come back again; that in +the present state of parties he saw not how any other Government +could go on any better than this; and when I asked him about John +Russell's dinner, he said it went off very well, but the +composition of it was _frightful_ (or some such word, but not, I +think, quite so strong). John Russell and Melbourne, however, are +satisfied they can go on with the Radical assistance, and they +have gone too far now to throw these allies over; they must and +will make sacrifices to secure them for their own protection, and +if the House of Lords is swamped in the first instance, they will +have things all their own way. + +[Page Head: BAD POLICY OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS.] + +If it were not for the peril to all that is worth preserving, I +should not be sorry for anything that happened to the House of +Lords, to whose bigoted and senseless obstinacy (upheld and +directed I am sorry to say by the Duke and Lyndhurst) the present +miserable condition of affairs is mainly attributable. Their +rejection of the Tithe Bill last year was their crowning exploit. +After all their blunders and impotent struggles against a +stronger power, if they had passed that Bill, or restored +Stanley's in committee, and returned it to the House of Commons, +I believe everything might have been retrieved. It has been +remarked, and certainly with truth, that Peel has never once +endeavoured to excuse the House of Lords or to vindicate the +peers from the taunts and reproaches which have repeatedly been +thrown out against them. In point of fact, I believe that the +Lords either did not consult him, or did not care for his +opinion. There is no disguising that the Lords liked nothing so +well last year as beating the Government, and exhibiting their +puny and spiteful power; now they are mightily shocked and +disgusted at the majority of the House of Commons taking their +revenge, though certainly the latter do it with much more rage +and factious violence, but with them it is a system of tactics +for a specific and attainable object. The Lords really had no +intelligible object but to embarrass a Government they could not +demolish, and gratify their own spite. If the most violent +Radical had been permitted to chalk out the most suicidal course +for the House of Lords to follow, he could have devised nothing +more ingenious and well contrived than what they have actually +done, taking care to keep up their character in the nation for +intolerance, and inculcating a belief in their adherence to the +most illiberal maxims of foreign and domestic policy, instead of +devoting all their energies to the recovery of the ground they +had lost in popular estimation, and strengthening themselves for +the contest, which anybody might have seen was not very remote. + + +April 3rd, 1835 {p.240} + +They divided at I know not what hour this morning--321 to 289,[6] +a smaller majority than I was led to expect when I heard that 18 +or 19 of Stanley's (so-called) party meant to go against him. +Anybody who records from day to day the shifting appearances of +the political sky must constantly recant one day the opinion and +expectation of the preceding. Stanley's speech the night before +last may very likely make an important difference in the result +of this extraordinary contest, for he has, as it seems to me, put +a final end to any possibility of junction with the great body of +the Whigs now arrayed under John Russell; he attacked Lord John +himself--his Whig and Radical alliance and the inconsistency of +his present conduct--with the utmost vehemence and scornful +reprobation, and he poured forth a torrent of sarcasm and +ridicule upon the prospective Government that he concludes they +meditate. This is so conclusive that it paves the way to his +junction with Peel, or if the latter goes out and John Russell +does come in, it is clear that he will have both Peel and Stanley +in opposition to him, against whom in the nearly balanced state +of parties he could not struggle on for a month. He was miserably +feeble in this debate (in his opening speech), and though he may +just do to lead an Opposition which wants no leading, and merely +sticks him up as a nominal chief, he could no more lead a +Government in the House of Commons than he could command an army +in the field. [So much for my prediction. Stanley's followers +dropped off and left him alone, the Government had no difficulty, +and John Russell proved a very good leader.--January 1837.] +Whatever may be the fate of Government for the present, I believe +it to be impossible that anything can prevent Peel's speedy +return to office; he has raised his reputation to such a height +during this session, he has established such a conviction of his +great capacity and of his liberal, enlarged, and at the same time +safe views and opinions, that even the Radicals, such as Hume, +join in the general chorus of admiration which is raised to his +merits; he stands so proudly eminent, and there is such a general +lack of talent, that he must be recalled by the voice of the +nation and by the universal admission that he is indispensable to +the country. + + [6] [On the 30th of March Lord John Russell moved the + resolution which was carried by this division; the + terms of it were, 'That this House resolve itself into + a committee of the whole House, in order to consider + the present state of the Church Establishment in + Ireland, with the view of applying any surplus of the + revenues not required for the spiritual care of its + members to the general education of all classes of the + people, without distinction of religious persuasion.'] + +[Page Head: THE IRISH CHURCH QUESTION.] + +I am much inclined to think that this debate on the Irish Church +question will eventually damage the Whigs not a little. Their +speeches this year might all have been answered by their speeches +last year on the same subject, and nothing can be so glaring as +their inconsistency and the factiousness of their motives. The +question is not a popular one in the country, where nothing like +favour to the Catholics of Ireland or their religion is agreeable +to the mass. The arguments in the debate have been triumphantly in +favour of the Government _upon the resolution_ as contradistinguished +from the principle; for though I am decidedly favourable to the +principle, and never had a doubt that it is preposterous to +contend that if there is a reform of the Church, and there turns +out to be a surplus, such surplus should not be dealt with as +Parliament in its wisdom shall deem best for the general +interests, under the actual circumstances of the country, at the +time the appropriation takes place; still it is perfectly +consistent with that opinion to refuse to vote for the appropriation +of the surplus which may never exist at all, or only exist at some +distant period, when other circumstances may render the proposed +appropriation altogether inexpedient. + +_In the afternoon._--Peel's speech was not so good as usual; it +was laboured, and some say tame. In the morning I met him and +walked with him; he seemed in very good spirits, talked of the +thing as over, said he could not endure any meddling with the +Tithe Bill, that he considered great good had been done by the +dissolution, which had created a party strong enough to obstruct +any violent measures on the part of their opponents, said he +understood they had sent for Lord Spencer did not believe Lord +Grey would have any concern with it. I said that it was clear +after Stanley's speech that _he_ would have nothing to do with +the Whigs. He said he conceived so, but that it was very odd that +Lord John Russell did not see it in that light, and had said that +Graham could not join them, but he did not see why Stanley might +not. I told Peel that in my opinion the best thing that had been +done was the proof that he had been enabled to exhibit that he +was indispensable to the government of the country, and that if +he could infuse some firmness and courage into the King, and +persuade His Majesty stoutly to resist any requisition to swamp +the House of Lords, and rather to appeal to the country than +consent to it, in a very short space of time he must come back. I +asked him if he thought the King was capable of any such +firmness. He said he thought he was, that he was in a miserable +state of mind at the prospect before him, and all the more so +from feeling how much there was in it which fell personally upon +himself. In the meantime it does not seem that the Ministers have +come to any positive resolution, or even conviction, as to the +moment of their retirement, nor as to its absolute, unavoidable +necessity. Peel evidently considers the contest at an end. Lord +Rosslyn this morning thought he would resign immediately; the +Duke, on the other hand, appears by no means so certain that the +Tithe Bill will be mutilated, and that they shall be compelled to +go out at all. Stanley and Graham are angry that they don't +resign directly; they think Peel would retire more brilliantly at +once than by waiting for more defeats. They forget that he is +bound to satisfy his own party. Stanley, with that levity which +distinguishes all his conduct, talks of him as of 'a hunted fox, +who, instead of dying gallantly before the hounds in the open, +skulks along the hedgerows, and at last turns up his legs in a +ditch.' This he said to George Bentinck, who told it to me; it is +not the way that Lord Stanley ought to speak of Sir Robert Peel. +What I certainly do regret is that he condescended repeatedly to +entreat John Russell to put off bringing up the report till +Monday, and exposed himself to a refusal. He should have invited +the decision of the contest rather than have tried to protract +it. + + +April 4th, 1835 + +[Page Head: SIR R. PEEL'S RETIREMENT.] + +I told Jonathan Peel last night that Stanley and Graham blamed +Sir Robert for not resigning at once. He said that Sir Robert +would, as far as his own feelings were concerned, have preferred +resigning long ago, but that a vast number of his supporters were +furious at the idea of his resigning at all, and wanted him to +persist at all hazards, and he was compelled to resign only upon +such a point as might enable him to satisfy them that he had +abided by the pledge which he gave at the beginning to persevere +while perseverance could be useful or honourable. He then told me +(which I certainly did not attach the slightest credit to[7]) +that he should not be at all surprised if his brother were now to +retire from public life. Such an idea in some moment of disgust +may have crossed his mind, but if he were to do so in the vigour +of his age and at the climax of his reputation, it would be the +most extraordinary retirement that history ever recorded. Men of +the most splendid talents have often shrunk from entering public +life, but I am not aware of any instance of a man who had +attained the eminence and the fame of Peel who has withdrawn from +the theatre of his glory and power without some stronger motive +than any that can be found for him. + + [7] A great fool indeed I should have been if I had.--1838. + +I was told last night that the scene of noise and uproar which the +House of Commons now exhibits is perfectly disgusting. This used +not to be the case in better, or at least more gentlemanlike, +times; no noises were permissible but the cheer and the cough, the +former admitting every variety of intonation expressive of +admiration, approbation, assent, denial, surprise, indignation, +menace, sarcasm. Now all the musical skill of this instrument is +lost and drowned in shouts, hootings, groans, noises the most +discordant that the human throat can emit, sticks and feet beating +against the floor. Sir Hedworth Williamson, a violent Whig, told +me that there were a set of fellows on his side of the House whose +regular practice it was to make this uproar, and with the settled +design to bellow Peel down. This is the _reformed_ House of +Commons. Peel told Lord Ashley the other day that he did not think +it possible for the same man to be Prime Minister and leader in +the House of Commons (he meant to be First Lord of the Treasury +and Chancellor of the Exchequer), that no physical strength was +adequate to the labour of both employments. He may therefore +hereafter put some Peer at the head of the Government, but it is +equally indispensable, as it seems to me, that the real +substantial power should be vested in the leader of the House of +Commons, especially when he is a man so superior as Peel must +always be to any colleagues he may be associated with. + + +April 5th, 1835 {p.244} + +[Page Head: SIR R. PEEL AND THE TORIES.] + +I understand now what Jonathan Peel meant by talking of the +possibility of his brother's retiring from public life. He is no +doubt thoroughly, heartily disgusted with his own associates. It +appears that they (the Tories, or many of them) are indignant at +his declaration the other night that on the Tithe Bill being +altered he would go out, so that while others are blaming him for +not going out at once his own followers are enraged that he will +not set the House of Commons at defiance and stick to his post. +It is very evident that many of them are desirous (if Peel does +resign) of continuing the fight under the Duke of Wellington, if +they could prevail on him to try it, and to dissolve Parliament +and get up a 'No Popery' cry. They say that 'the country' (by +which they mean their own faction) looks up to the Duke, and that +Peel has really no interest there. The fact is that they cannot +forgive him for his Liberal principles and Liberal measures, and +probably they never believed that he was sincere in the +professions he made, or that he really intended to introduce such +measures as he has done. They feel (not without reason) that they +cannot follow him in the broad path he has entered upon without +abandoning all their long-cherished maxims of exclusion and +ascendency, and that in so doing they would incur much odium and +disgrace. Peel sees and knows all this, and cannot fail to +perceive that he is not the Minister for them and they no longer +the party for him. It is no wonder that he is anxious to break up +this unmanageable force, and he probably would rather trust to +that increasing feeling and opinion about himself, which is so +apparent among all classes of politicians, to place him by-and-by +at the head of a party formed upon Conservative principles and +embracing a much wider circle of opinions. Still this Tory body, +obstinate and bigoted as they are, have no other chief, and can +find none, and it is essential to Peel to keep them if possible +under his influence and direction, and therefore (I believe very +reluctantly) he defers his resignation. + + +April 6th, 1835 {p.245} + +Yesterday Wharncliffe came here; very low indeed; he says he +never thought they were safe, though he owns that he was +surprised and disappointed that there were no defections--not +one--from the enemies' ranks when these measures were brought +forward. He says he was with the King the other evening, and +asked him if he was going back to Windsor. His Majesty said 'he +could not go back, that he could not bear being there; there he +had none of them (his Ministers) to talk to, and day and night +his mind was absorbed in public affairs.' Poor wretch! he suffers +martyrdom, and has more to suffer yet, for I expect they will +have no mercy on him. Yesterday I had more proofs of the animus +of the Tories. One of them, a foolish, hot-brained fellow +certainly (but there is no such enormous difference between the +best and the worst), told me that if Peel really did go out upon +the Tithe Bill he would abandon his party; that he ought to let +them alter the Bill as they pleased, wait till the House of +Commons threw it out, and then dissolve Parliament. + + +April 7th, 1835 {p.245} + +Each day elicits some new proof of what I have written above--the +totally altered feelings and expressions of all conditions of +politicians about Sir Robert Peel. It would seem as if his friends +were suddenly converted into his enemies, and his enemies into his +friends. The Tories still cling to the expectation that he will +hold on to office; they say that if he goes out he abandons his +party, abandons the King. They call to mind Pitt in 1784. 'Very +slippery,' said one to me yesterday, when I read to him Peel's +answer to the City address. On the other hand Mulgrave was last +night enthusiastic in his praise; he owned that he had done +admirably--given proof of his perfect sincerity and acted in +accordance with all his declarations and professions. 'I am,' said +he, 'astonished; nothing in Peel's past political career led me to +expect that he would have done so admirably as he has. He has +raised himself immensely in my opinion.' Such is the language of +them all, swelling a choral note of praise; and then, to make the +whole thing more ridiculous (if anything so serious can be +ridiculous), the Tories, who abuse him lustily, are moving heaven +and earth to retain him, by violence almost, in his place; while +the Whigs and Radicals, who laud him to the skies, are striving +with might and main to turn him out. In a state of profound +tranquillity these Ministers are quietly transacting business with +a perfect consciousness and an universal understanding that their +Government is at an end, and the Opposition are redoubling their +blows in the House of Commons, and waiting in the complete +certainty of returning to office, for which they are already +making all their arrangements. The parts are all so quietly +performed, the catastrophe is so clearly before everybody's eyes +and understanding, that it more resembles a dramatic representation +than a mighty event in real life, big perhaps with incalculable +consequences. + + +April 8th, 1835 {p.246} + +[Page Head: DEFEAT OF SIR R. PEEL'S MINISTRY.] + +There was a majority of twenty-seven last night, which I conclude +settles the business.[8] There was to be a Cabinet this morning +at eleven, at which they had resolved to agree upon their +resignations. Wharncliffe saw the King last night. He is very +composed; they think they can infuse courage and firmness into +him, but when he is left to himself, I doubt him. Nothing can be +imagined more painful on both sides than his approaching +interview with the once rejected and now triumphant Whigs. +Yesterday I rode with Ellice up the Park. He said, 'Grey will do +anything they wish him to do, but I think he had better have +nothing to do with it.' He talked of the new Government that will +be formed as having no difficulty; that they might have if Peel +and the Tories went into violent opposition, which he is +convinced Peel will not do. I said they might go on till the +Tithe Bill went to the House of Lords, when they would expunge +the appropriation clause. He said, 'They won't be so mad; there +is no Church of Ireland now, and the question is whether there +shall be one, for without that clause no Tithe Bill will ever +pass.' + + [8] [The Ministry was defeated on the Irish Tithe Bill on + the 3rd of April by a majority of 33 in a House of 611; + on the 6th of April by a majority of 25 in a House of + 499; and on the 7th of April by a majority of 27 in a + House of 543.] + + + + + CHAPTER XXVIII. + +Lord Grey and Sir James Graham express Conservative Views-- + Opinions of Lord Stanley--Lord Grey sees the King, but is not + asked to resume Office--Lord Melbourne's Second + Administration--His Moderation--A Difficulty--Spring Rice--A + Joyless Victory--Exclusion of Brougham--The New Cabinet--Lord + John Russell defeated in Devonshire--Lord Alvanley and + O'Connell--Duel with Morgan O'Connell--Lord Wellesley resigns + the Lord Stewardship--The Eliot Convention--Swift _v._ Kelly-- + The Kembles--London University Charter discussed at the Privy + Council--Corporation Reform--Formation of the Conservative + Party--The King's Habits--Secretaryship of Jamaica--Lord + Melbourne's Tithe Bill--The Pope rejects the Recommendation of + the British Government--Relations with Rome--Carlists and + Christinos in Spain--Walcheren--The King's Address to Sir + Charles Grey--Stanley and Graham cross the House--Failure of + Stanley's Tactics--Alava and the Duke of Cumberland--A Sinecure + Placeman--Lord Glenelg and the King--Concert at Stafford + House--The King's Aversion to his Ministers and to the + Speaker--Decision on the Secretaryship of Jamaica--Archbishop + Whateley--Irish Church Bill--Payment of Catholic Clergy--Peel + and Lord John Russell--Factious Conduct of Tory Peers--The + King's Violence--Debate on the Corporation Bill. + + +April 9th, 1835 {p.248} + +Yesterday the Ministers resigned. Peel announced it to the House of +Commons in a short but admirable speech by all accounts, exactly +suitable to the occasion, and to his principal object--that of +setting himself right with his own supporters, who begin to +acquiesce, though rather sulkily, in the course he has pursued. Lord +Grey is to be with the King this morning. He was riding quietly in +the Park yesterday afternoon, and neither knew nor cared +(apparently) whether he had been sent for or not. His daughter told +me (for I rode with them up Constitution Hill) that his family could +not wish him to return to office, but would not interfere. She then +talked, much to my surprise, of the possibility of a junction +between him and Peel; she owned that Peel had done wonders, but +said that she could not wish for such a junction _now_, however it +might be possible and desirable that it should take place some +little time hence. This shows a very Conservative spirit and a +marvellous thaw in the rigidity of the Grey politics. + +[Page Head: SIR JAMES GRAHAM ON PEEL AND STANLEY.] + +In the morning I went to Graham to ask him to advocate my cause in +the Sinecure Committee and defend my interests there. After +talking over my case (about which he was very obliging and +promised his zealous assistance) we discussed general politics at +great length. It is very evident that he and Stanley have no +leaning towards the Whigs, and look _now_ solely to a junction +with Peel and the construction of a Liberal and Conservative party +and Government. He talked of this, and of the mode of accomplishing +it, with as much zeal and fervour as if he had been a member of +the Cabinet which has just fallen, and I think his opinions +coincide very much with my own. He wants the King to be well +_endoctrine_, and that his firmness (if he has any) should be +directed to one or two points, and his mind not puzzled with +complicated instructions. He should be advised never to admit +O'Connell to any office, and to resist a creation of Peers. He +thinks, if his Majesty is stout on these points, that things will +come round, and he by no means despairs of the feeling and animus +of the country. I told him the Tories and late Government people +still contended that if he and Stanley had joined the thing would +have gone on, which he vehemently denied, and declared that they +could not have saved Peel and should have entirely compromised +themselves; he talked with great admiration of Peel, and of the +reception he had met with from him in the interview they had on +his return, which he said was cordial and obliging to the greatest +degree, and without any appearance of that coldness and reserve of +which he has been so often accused. He then talked of Stanley with +great openness--of his talents, character, and political views. I +told him that Stanley had not raised himself this session, that he +had given much offence by the general levity of his conduct, and +especially to the Tories by the occasional flippancy or severity +of his attacks upon them, that as it was clear that any +Conservative Government must depend upon the great body of the +Tory party for support, it was improvident in him to make himself +obnoxious to them, and that he would do well to exert his +influence over Stanley for the purpose of restraining those +sallies in which he was too apt to indulge, and showing him the +expediency of conciliating that not very wise but still powerful +body. He asked in what way Stanley had offended. I told him +generally in the sarcastic or reprobating tone he had used, and +particularly in his personal attack on the Duke for holding the +offices. He owned there was truth in this, 'but what could you do? +it was impossible to change a man's character, and Stanley's was +very peculiar. With great talents, extraordinary readiness in +debate, high principles, unblemished honour, he never had looked, +he thought he never would look, upon politics and political life +with the seriousness which belonged to the subject; he followed +politics as an amusement, as a means of excitement, as another +would gaming or any other very excitable occupation; he plunged +into the _melee_ for the sake of the sport which he found it made +there, but always actuated by honourable and consistent principles +and feelings, and though making it a matter of diversion and +amusement, never sacrificing anything that honour or conscience +prescribed.' I said that this description of him (which I had no +doubt was true) only proved what I already thought--that, with all +his talents, he never would be a great man. He said he always must +be very considerable; his powers, integrity, birth, and fortune +could not fail to raise him to eminence. All this I admitted--that +nothing could prevent his being very considerable, very important, +as a public man--but I argued that one who was animated by motives +so personal, and so wanting in gravity, to whom public care was a +subsidiary and not a primary object, never could achieve permanent +and genuine greatness. He said that Stanley had a great admiration +for Peel, without any tincture of jealousy, and that he was quite +ready to serve under him, though he could not help doubting +whether it would be possible for two such men, so different in +character, to go on well together in the same Cabinet. I told him +what Wharncliffe had told me, that no man was ever more easy to +act with, more candid and conciliatory, and less assuming than +Peel in the Cabinet, and Graham said that Stanley was likewise +perfect as a colleague, so that it may be hoped there would not be +any such incompatibility if they were to come together. I was with +him two hours and a half, and we discussed very fully all +political contingencies with the freedom of twenty years ago, when +we were great friends. + + +April 10th, 1835 {p.251} + +[Page Head: DISTRESS OF THE KING.] + +Nothing decisive yesterday. Lord Grey was with the King in the +morning; he there met Lord Melbourne, Lord Holland, Lord John +Russell, and Lord Lansdowne, and went back to St. James's. It was +said in the evening that Lord Grey was to assist in the formation +of the Government, but not to take office himself. + + +April 11th, 1835 {p.251} + +The intention of Lord Grey evidently was to avoid office if he +could, but if strongly urged by the King, and his feelings +appealed to, to yield. The King, however, did not urge him at +all, probably much to his astonishment, but assuming apparently +that he would under no circumstances return to office, consulted +him as to the course he should adopt. All my information as to +what has hitherto taken place amounts to this:--His Majesty has +been in a very composed state of mind, has received the Whig +leaders in a way that has given them complete satisfaction, and +as far as personal intercourse goes the embarrassment appears to +be removed. He has given Melbourne _carte blanche_ to form a +Government, and he is proceeding in the task. Notwithstanding the +good face which the King contrives to put upon the matter in his +communications with his hated new-old Ministers and masters, he +is really very miserable, and the Duchess of Gloucester, to whom +he unbosoms himself more than to anybody, told Lady Georgiana +Bathurst that with her he was in the most pitiable state of +distress, constantly in tears, and saying that 'he felt his crown +tottering on his head.' + +It is intended to leave O'Connell out of the arrangement, and at +the same time to conciliate him and preserve his support. In this +they have apparently succeeded. O'Connell 'has behaved admirably +well,' and the difficulty with regard to him is at an end. Of the +Radicals some are to be included and no notice taken of the rest. +Brougham is to be set at defiance; his fall in public estimation, +his manifold sins against his own colleagues, and his loss of +character all justify them, and enable them (as they think) to do +so with impunity. Melbourne, who when Lamb[1] is here is greatly +influenced by him, is strongly against any Radical measures or +Radical colleagues, and has no thought of a creation of Peers or +of any desperate expedients, and he is not at all satisfied with +the resolution which John carried, and which was the immediate +cause of Peel's resignation, being fully alive to all the +inconvenience of it. + + [1] [Meaning Sir Frederick Lamb, his brother, usually + residing abroad in the diplomatic service.] + +Just now Tavistock was here, having come from St. George's +Church, where he went to assist at Lord John Russell's marriage, +and as the ceremony could not begin for half an hour, he came +over to pass the interval with me.[2] He told me that 'there +still existed _one_ difficulty, one only, which I should not +think of, apparently unimportant, but which circumstances +rendered important, and if this was got over, the Government +would be formed and go on, that he thought it was an _even bet_ +whether it was got over or not. What this difficulty is, so +little obvious, but so important, I do not guess; but in such +affairs _one_ difficulty will not stand in the way of completing +an arrangement the consummation of which has cost such incredible +exertions, and such sacrifices of consistency and of public +interests to the interests or ambition of a party. + + [2] [Lord John Russell married, in April 1835, Theresa, + widow of Lord Ribblesdale. Mr. Greville lived at this + time on the north side of Hanover Square.] + + +April 12th, 1835 {p.252} + +[Page Head: SIR R. PEEL'S MINISTRY.] + +Nothing settled yesterday, and great doubts if anything would be. +Lord John was married in the morning; he returned to Kent House +with his bride, and Melbourne was to have sent him word at _one_ +what was definitively settled; he waited till two, when no news +arriving from Melbourne, he went off to Woburn. He was at that +time by no means sanguine as to the arrangements being completed, +and talked in doubt of the Foreign Office, to which he is to go. +However, Melbourne was to be with the King this morning to +announce that the Ministry would or would not do. Sefton told me +last night that the _difficulty_ proceeds from Spring Rice; if it +should fail (which it will not, I expect) Peel must stay in and +take in the Dilly, who would not then scruple to join him. The +Government would be formed upon the _principle_ of not settling +this eternal Irish Church question, which I think so great an +evil that it is on the whole better that Melbourne should form a +Government and go on as long as he can--that is, till something +decisive is done about the Irish Church. I met the whole Dilly at +dinner yesterday at Stafford House, and when I told Stanley and +Graham that I understood Spring Rice made the difficulty, they +both said that it must be what they called 'his conundrum,' which +I had never heard of before; but it means his determination to +apply the surplus to the purposes of _general education_, but not +to go a jot further, and they suppose that this is not far enough +for the others, and hence the difficulty. + + +April 13th, 1835 {p.253} + +Nothing positively known yesterday, but that the thing is settled +in some way, Clusterings and congregations of Whigs about +Brookes', audiences with the King, and great doubt whether Grey +took office, and the Foreign Office. + + +April 14th, 1835 {p.253} + +Yesterday it was understood that everything was settled, but +after all it was only the night before last that Melbourne was +definitively charged with the formation of a Government. The +difficulties were O'Connell and Spring Rice; the former was got +over by his waiving all claim to employment and promising his +gratuitous support. By what underhand management or persuasion, +and what secret understanding, this was effected will be a +mystery for the present, but nobody doubts that it has been +accomplished by some juggle. Spring Rice wanted to wash his hands +of the concern; he did not think it promised sufficient +stability, and without some assurance of its lasting he wished to +decline taking office. They would not hear this, and represented +to him that he was indispensable, and it ended in his giving way. +It certainly would have been very unjustifiable of him, after +going all lengths with them, to hold back at last, but it shows +the opinion of the best men among them of the rottenness of the +concern. Lord Grey declined taking office, but wrote to say that +the Government should have all his support, and that he wished +Howick to be included in it, which is the same thing as if he +were there himself. Nothing was settled about the cast of +offices, and they were waiting for Lord John's arrival from +Woburn to discuss that matter. Between the pretensions of one +man, the reluctance of another, and the hymeneal occupation of +the leader the matter hobbled on very slowly. I certainly never +remember a great victory for which Te Deum was chanted with so +faint and joyless a voice. Peel looks gayer and easier than all +Brookes' put together, and Lady Holland said, 'Now that we have +gained our object I am not so glad as I thought I should be,' and +that I take to be the sentiment of them all. + + +Riddlesworth, April 16th, 1835 {p.254} + +[Page Head: THE NEW WHIG CABINET.] + +At Newmarket the day before yesterday, and came here to-day, +where I find the Duke and Duchess of Cleveland and two or three +others. I know nothing but by my letters from London, by which I +learn that nothing is yet settled, but they go on negotiating and +endeavouring to arrange their rickety concern. Having concluded +their bargain with O'Connell, they have taken fright about +Brougham, and degraded as he is, and contemptuous and confident +as they were about him, they are endeavouring to make terms with +him, and it will probably end in his recovering the Great Seal. +When this is done they will have consummated their disgrace. +Sheil said, 'The difficulty is how to deal with a bully and a +buffoon,' and as they have succumbed to and bargained with the +one, now they are going to truckle to the other; there is not one +of them who has scrupled to express his opinion of Brougham, but +let us see if he really does come in or much indignation may be +thrown away. The general opinion (I am told) is that this +Ministry will last a very short time and that ultimately a +coalition must take place under the direction and supremacy of +Sir Robert Peel. This is jumping to a conclusion over many +difficulties. However, nothing can be more meagre than the +triumph of the Whigs nor more humiliating than their position; +even my Whig-Radical friends write me word that 'O'Connell holds +the destiny of the Government in his hands, and is acknowledged +to be the greatest man going.' It was hardly worth while (in a +national point of view, whatever it may have been in a party one) +to turn out Sir Robert Peel in order to produce this result. + + +Buckenham, April 29th, 1835 {p.255} + +At Newmarket all last week, here since Monday. I know nothing of +politics but from newspapers and my letters; racing and hawking +are my present occupations. There seems to be an impression that +the present Government will not last very long, but as the +grounds of that opinion are the badness of its composition, I do +not see that its speedy dissolution is so certain; the public +seems to have got very indifferent as to who governs the country. +I was curious to hear how the Council went off at which the +Ministers took their seats, and how the King comported himself. +He seems to have got through it tolerably, though it must have +been a bitter ceremony to him. He made no speeches and took no +particular notice of anybody except Lord Howick, to whom he was +very civil, on account probably of his father, and because he is +a new man. The threatened contests of most of them ended in +smoke. Devonshire and Yorkshire will, however, be important and +severe. Of all the appointments those that are most severely +criticised are Mulgrave's and Morpeth's. It is said that Charles +Kemble and Liston might as well have been sent, as the former has +always imitated the one, and the latter involuntarily resembles +the other. Mulgrave, however he may be sneered at, has been tried +and found capable, and I think he will do very well; he has +courage and firmness and no want of ability. He is besides +hospitable, generous, courteous, and agreeable in private +life.[3] + + [3] [Lord Melbourne's second Administration was composed as + follows:-- + + First Lord of the Treasury Viscount Melbourne. + Lord President of the Council Marquis of Lansdowne. + First Lord of the Admiralty Lord Auckland. + Lord Privy Seal Viscount Duncannon. + Home Secretary Lord John Russell. + Foreign Secretary Viscount Palmerston. + Colonial Secretary Lord Glenelg. + Board of Control Sir John Cam Hobhouse. + Secretary at War Viscount Howick. + Board of Trade Mr. Poulett Thomson. + Chancellor of the Exchequer Mr. Spring Rice. + Irish Secretary Viscount Morpeth. + The Earl of Mulgrave was Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, + The Great Seal was put in Commission.] + + +May 1st, 1835 {p.256} + +Morpeth made an excellent speech on introducing his Irish Tithe +Bill, and has raised himself considerably. Morpeth is (as it +appears to me) ill selected for the difficult post he occupies; +he has very fair ability of a showy kind, but I doubt the +solidity and strength of his material for the rough work which is +allotted to him. + +[Page Head: LORD ALVANLEY'S DUEL.] + +The last day of Parliament was distinguished by a worse attack of +O'Connell upon Alvanley for what he had said the day before in +the House of Lords. Alvanley has sent him a message through +Dawson Damer demanding an apology or satisfaction, and the result +I don't yet know.[4] + + [4] [O'Connell had called Lord Alvanley a 'bloated + buffoon,' and as usual took refuge in his vow never to + fight another duel. Upon this his son, Morgan + O'Connell, offered to meet Lord Alvanley in lieu of his + father, which was accepted and the duel took place.] + + +London, May 17th, 1835 {p.256} + +Newmarket and gout have between them produced an interval of +unusual length in my scribblings, though I am not aware of having +had anything particularly interesting to record. We had Stanley at +Newmarket the second week as well as the first, taking a lively +interest in John Russell's defeat in Devonshire. This defeat was a +great mortification to his party, and was not compensated by the +easy victory which Morpeth obtained in Yorkshire. These elections +and the affair between Alvanley and O'Connell have been the chief +objects of attention; all the newspapers are full of details, +which I need not put down here. Alvanley seems to have behaved +with great spirit and resolution. There was a meeting at De Ros's +house of De Ros, Damer, Lord Worcester, and Duncombe to consider +what was to be done on the receipt of Morgan O'Connell's letter, +and whether Alvanley should fight him or not. Worcester and +Duncombe were against fighting, the other two for it. Alvanley at +once said that the boldest course was the best, and he would go +out. It was agreed that no time should be lost, so Damer was +despatched to Colonel Hodges, and said Alvanley was ready to meet +Morgan O'Connell. 'The next morning,' Hodges suggested. 'No, +immediately.' The parties joined in Arlington Street and went off +in two hackney coaches; Duncombe, Worcester, and De Ros, with Dr. +Hume, in a third. Only Hume went on the ground, for Damer had +objected to the presence of some Irish friend of O'Connell's, so +that Alvanley's friends could only look on from a distance. The +only other persons who came near them were an old Irishwoman and a +Methodist parson, the latter of whom exhorted the combatants in +vain to forego their sinful purpose, and to whom Alvanley replied, +'Pray, sir, go and mind your own affairs, for I have enough to do +now to think of mine.' 'Think of your soul,' he said. 'Yes,' said +Alvanley, 'but my body is now in the greatest danger.' The +Irishwoman would come and see the fighting, and asked for some +money for her attendance. Damer seems to have been a very bad +second, and probably lost his head; he ought not to have consented +to the third shots upon any account. Alvanley says he execrated +him in his heart when he found he had consented to it. Hodges +acted like a ruffian, and had anything happened he would have been +hanged. It is impossible to know whether the first shot was fired +by mistake or not. The impression on the minds of Alvanley's +friends is that it was _not_, but it is difficult to believe that +any man would endeavour to take such an advantage. However, no +shot ought to have been fired after that. The affair made an +amazing noise. As O'Connell had threatened to mention it in the +House of Commons, Damer went to Peel to put him in possession of +all the circumstances, but he said that he was sure O'Connell +would not venture to stir the matter there. + +Lord Wellesley's resignation of the White Wand has set conjecture +afloat as to his motives, and it is asserted on one side, but +denied on the other, that disgust at O'Connell's predominance is +the reason, following disappointment at not having been himself +reinstated. I do not know the truth of the matter. Lord John +Russell takes his seat on Monday, after which business will begin +again in earnest in the House of Commons. There is an impression +that this Government will not be of long continuance, and that +the Ministers are themselves aware that their tenure of office +must be brief. They will at all events get through this session, +for much remains to be done in the way of approximation and +combination between different sections of public men before any +satisfactory arrangement can be made for replacing the present +Ministers. If it was not for the Irish question, and the apparent +impossibility of bringing that to any final adjustment, I should +not despair of the introduction of a better state of feeling and +the mitigation of the bitterness and animosity which set men of +different parties so irreconcilably against each other. At +present there is certainly a great calm after the storm which +raged so fiercely a little while ago. I have been so out of the +world between Newmarket and the gout that I know but little of +what has been passing, and merely throw in this brief notice to +keep up the chain of my observations and remarks. + + +May 24th, 1835 {p.258} + +Came from Newmarket on Thursday night. Melbourne is said (by his +friends) to be doing very well in the House of Lords, but the +discussion on Friday about Lord Wellesley's resignation gave him +great annoyance. Lord Wellesley declined to say why he had +resigned, and merely declared it was not on account of Mulgrave's +procession, but he did not contradict any one of the assertions +that the cause was disgust at O'Connell's ascendency. When Lord +Harrowby said that 'if he had been Mulgrave he would rather have +been torn in pieces than have marched in under such banners as +were displayed,' Lord Wellesley loudly cheered him. Peel's speech +at the dinner the other day has made a great deal of noise, for +he is supposed to have thrown over his High Tory friends very +completely in it, and to have exhibited a determination to adapt +his opinions and conduct to the spirit of the times. However, the +Tories affect to be satisfied, laud it to the skies, and +distribute it through the country. In the House of Commons up to +this time nothing has been done; Peel has made over his +Dissenters Bill to the Government, who will probably do nothing +with it this session. Nobody expects the present Administration +to last long, as it is said, not even themselves; but nothing is +prepared for the formation of a better and more durable Cabinet. + +Lord Eliot[5] and Colonel Gurwood have returned from Spain, +satisfied that the Carlist party cannot be put down, and having +had a conversation with Louis Philippe, the substance of which +appeared in the 'Times,' and very correctly. Great indignation is +expressed at the indiscretion which let this out, and it is +understood that Gurwood has been chattering about what passed in +all directions. The King of France, it is clear, will not +interfere, and so they must fight it out. Spanish stock fell 15 +per cent, in one or two days. The King is in such a state of +dudgeon that he will not give any dinners to anybody. + + [5] [Lord Eliot (afterwards Earl of St. Germans) had been + sent to Spain by the Duke of Wellington, in March 1835, + to endeavour to mitigate the atrocities which at that + time disgraced the leaders on both sides in the civil + contest raging in Spain. He was eminently successful in + his mission, and a Convention (commonly known as the + Convention of Bergara) was signed under his Lordship's + mediation at Logrono on the 27th of April, 1835. A + narrative of this mission was printed by Lord St. + Germans in 1871.] + +[Page Head: THE APPEAL OF SWIFT _v._ KELLY.] + +Yesterday Swift and Kelly's[6] case came on before the Privy +Council. It was to have been heard the Monday before, when it +would have been argued and decided, because every day in the week +was disposable for the purpose, but Brougham thought fit to +interfere. He insisted upon being there to hear it, and compelled +Lord Lansdowne to put off the hearing till Saturday, to the +extraordinary inconvenience of all parties. On Saturday the court +met, but no Brougham. They began, and in about two hours he made +his appearance, read his letters, wrote notes, corrected some +paper (for the press, as I could see), and now and then attended +to the cause, making flippant observations, much to the terror of +Jervaise--Miss Kelly's uncle--for all his interruptions appeared +to be directed adversely to them. I told Mr. Jervaise he need not +pay any attention to what Brougham said. As he came late, so he +went away early, breaking up the court at half-past three, and as +other engagements occupied the Judges the rest of the week, it +was put off till the 18th of June. + + [6] [The curious case of Swift v. Kelly was heard by the + Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, and is + reported in Knapp's 'Privy Council Reports,' vol. iii. + p. 257. Mr. Greville had known something of the parties + in Rome, and their adventures are related in a former + part of these Journals, vol. i. p. 379.] + + +May 30th, 1835 {p.260} + +On Wednesday last went to Charles Kemble's in the evening; +singing and playing; Mrs. Arkwright, Miss Strutt, old Liverati +(horrible squabbling), and Miss Adelaide Kemble. The father and +mother both occupied with their daughter's book, which Kemble +told me he had 'never read till it appeared in print, and was +full of sublime things and vulgarities,' and the mother 'was +divided between admiration and disgust, threw it down six times, +and as often picked it up.' + +Thursday night. {p.260} + +To Horace Twiss's what he called 'a Judy party'--a supper and +jollification, where all were expected to contribute to the +amusement of the company who possessed wherewithal. The +contributors were Twiss himself, Mrs. Arkwright, Miss Cooke, +Dance, Miss Dance, Planche, Mrs. Blood, Mrs. Groom, Theodore +Hook, Billy something, who imitated Cooper and Ward. I stayed +till two, and they went on till three. It was sufficiently +amusing altogether, though noisy and vulgar; company very +miscellaneous, but everybody ready to amuse and be amused. + + +Friday. {p.260} + +[Page Head: LONDON UNIVERSITY CHARTER.] + +The Committee of Council met on the matter of the London +University; Brougham of course the great performer; the same +persons were summoned who had attended before, but great changes +had since taken place, which made the assembly curious. There +were Melbourne, Lord Lansdowne and certain of his colleagues, +Brougham and Lyndhurst--both ex-Chancellors since the last +meeting--Richmond, Ripon, Stanley and Graham, the Dilly complete, +and Lord Grey. When they came to discuss the matter nobody seemed +disposed to move; at last Brougham proposed a resolution 'that +the King should be advised to grant a charter making the +petitioners an University, the regulations and restrictions to be +determined hereafter.' The Bishop of London objected on behalf of +King's College to any advantages being conferred on the London +University which would place the latter institution in a better +condition than the former. After much tedious discussion the +words 'university,' &c., were omitted, and the resolution moved +was '_to grant a charter_.' The Duke of Richmond formally opposed +it, his principal objection being to the insolvent state of the +concern. Brougham sat in contemptuous silence for a few minutes +while the Duke spoke, and then replied. There was a squabble +between them, and an evident inclination on the part of the +majority present to refuse the charter, but the address of the +Commons with the King's answer were read, which presented a very +difficult case to act upon. The King's answer amounted very +nearly to an engagement to grant a charter; the Privy Council was +bound to decide without reference to the address and answer, and +the bias _there_ was to advise against the grant. Brougham, after +much ineffectual discussion, said in a tone of sarcastic contempt +that 'their hesitation and their scruples were ridiculous, for +the House of Commons would step in and cut them both short and +settle the question.' This is doubtless true, and he can effect +it when he will; but how monstrous, then, was the vote. The House +of Commons had never heard a tittle of the evidence or the +argument; the Council had heard it all, and were bound to report +upon it, when the House, while the judgment of the Privy Council +was still pending, voted an address to the Crown for the purpose +of obtaining an adjudication of the matter one particular way, +without reference to the proceedings before the tribunal. They +all seemed agreed that if it was expedient to grant a charter it +required much consideration to decide under what restrictions and +regulations it should be conceded, and Lord Grey declared that if +he was called upon, without reference to any proceedings +elsewhere, to decide upon the arguments they had heard at the +bar, he should decide against giving the charter, but if he were +called upon to advise the Crown what under all the circumstances +it was expedient to do, his advice might be very different. +Graham said he could not divest his mind of the knowledge he +possessed of what had passed in the House of Commons, and he +thought the Government ought to advise the Crown on its own +responsibility what course it was expedient to adopt. After +wasting an hour and a half in a very fruitless and not very +interesting discussion (everybody looking bored to death except +Brougham, who was talking all the time) the Council broke up +without doing anything, and agreed to meet again on Friday next. +Old Eldon was very busy and eager about it, and had all the +papers sent to him; he could not attend, being wholly disabled by +the gout. Of course the charter (at least _a_ charter) will be +given, because the House of Commons in the plenitude of their +ignorance, but of their power, have so decided. + + +June 14th, 1835 {p.262} + +[Page Head: THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY.] + +Taken up with Epsom since I last wrote, and indisposed to +journalising, besides having nothing to say. I did not attend the +second meeting at the Privy Council on the London University +question. Lord Eldon came to it, and there was some discussion, +but without any violence; it ended by a report to the King, +requesting he would dispense with the advice of the Council; so +the matter remains with the Government. It is clear that they +would have advised against granting the charter but for the +answer which the King made to the address of the House of +Commons, which was in fact a _promise_ to grant it. This answer +was the work of Peel and Goulburn, and I can't imagine what +induced them to put such an one into his Majesty's mouth, when +they might have so properly made him say that he had referred the +matter to the Privy Council, and was waiting for their report. + +The calm and repose which have succeeded to the storms of the +early part of the session are really wonderful; all parties seem +disposed to lay aside their arms for the present, one reason of +which is that parties are so evenly balanced that neither wishes +to try its strength. Then the line which Peel is taking precludes +any immediate renewal of hostilities. The measures of Government +are confined to one or two questions, of which the Corporation +Reform has alone been brought forward. Peel made a very able and +dexterous speech upon John Russell's introduction of that +measure, in which he exhibited anew his great superiority, and at +once declared his intention of admitting the whole principle of +it, reserving to himself to deal as he thought fit with the +details. It has been asserted on both sides that the Whigs and +the High Tories are equally disgusted at his speech, the former +for cutting the ground from under his feet, the latter for his +departure from good old High Tory principles. There may be some +truth in this, but the Tories profess generally to be satisfied +and convinced, and to be quite ready to follow him in the liberal +course on which he has entered; so much so that it is now said +there is no longer such a thing as a Tory. Peel clearly does not +intend that there shall be (as far as he is concerned as their +leader) a _Tory_ party, though of course there must be a +_Conservative_ party, the great force of which is the old Tory +interest, and his object evidently is to establish himself in the +good opinion of the country and render himself indispensable--to +raise a party out of all other parties, and to convert the new +elements of democratic power into an instrument of his own +elevation, partly by yielding to and partly by guiding and +restraining its desires and opinions. Neither is there any +mystery in his conduct; his object and his intentions are evident +to all, and it is perhaps advantageous that he has nothing to +conceal. At the same time he plays this game with great prudence +and ability. It is not his interest to strike great blows, but +constantly to augment the reputation and extend the influence he +has acquired, and this he does visibly and sensibly. There seems +to be an universal impression that nothing can keep him out of +office long. This Government may probably scramble through the +session; there is no particular question on which they are likely +to be overturned, but there is a conviction that any Government +must be provisional in which Peel is not included, and that +before long the country will insist upon his return to power. + + +June 19th, 1835 {p.264} + +[Page Head: KING WILLIAM'S PERSONAL HABITS.] + +At Stoke for the Ascot races. Alvanley was there--nobody else +remarkable; fine weather and great luxury. Riding to the course +on Wednesday, I overtook Adolphus Fitzclarence in the Park, who +rode with me, and gave me an account of his father's habits and +present state of mind. The former are as follows:--He sleeps in +the same room with the Queen, but in a separate bed; at a quarter +before eight every morning his _valet de chambre_ knocks at the +door, and at ten minutes before eight exactly he gets out of bed, +puts on a flannel dressing-gown and trousers, and walks into his +dressing-room. Let who will be there, he never takes the +slightest notice of them till he emerges from this sanctuary, +when, like the _malade imaginaire_, he accosts whoever may be +present with a cheerful aspect. He is long at his ablutions, and +takes up an hour and a half in dressing. At half-past nine he +breakfasts with the Queen, the ladies, and any of his family; he +eats a couple of fingers and drinks a dish of coffee. After +breakfast he reads the 'Times' and 'Morning Post,' commenting +aloud on what he reads in very plain terms, and sometimes they +hear 'That's a damned lie,' or some such remark, without knowing +to what it applies. After breakfast he devotes himself with Sir +Herbert Taylor to business till two, when he lunches (two cutlets +and two glasses of sherry); then he goes out for a drive till +dinner time; at dinner he drinks a bottle of sherry--no other +wine--and eats moderately; he goes to bed soon after eleven. He +is in dreadfully low spirits, and cannot rally at all; the only +interval of pleasure which he has lately had was during the +Devonshire election, when he was delighted at John Russell's +defeat. He abhors all his Ministers, even those whom he used +rather to like formerly, but hates Lord John the most of all. +When Adolphus told him that a dinner ought to be given for the +Ascot races he said, 'You know I cannot give a dinner; I cannot +give any dinners without inviting the Ministers, and I would +rather see the Devil than any one of them in my house.' I asked +him how he was with them in his inevitable official relations. He +said that he had as little to do with them as he could, and bowed +them out when he gave any of them audiences as fast as possible. +He is peculiarly disgusted with Errol, for whom he has done so +much, and who has behaved so ungratefully to him; but it is a +good trait of him that he said 'he hoped the world would not +accuse Errol of ingratitude.' He did not invite Errol to the +Castle even for the Ascot races, and has seen little or nothing +of him since the change. Adolphus said that he believed he was +saving money. He has L120,000 a year, of which L40,000 goes in +pensions; the rest is at his own disposal. He gives up his +Hanoverian revenue--about L16,000 a year--to the Duke of +Cambridge. + + +June 21st, 1835 {p.265} + +Yesterday I dined with Lord Ripon; Lord Grey and Stanley and +Graham dined there. I sat next to the latter, who holds nothing +but Tory language. He talked of Stanley's letter to Sir Thomas +Hesketh, and of the great offence it has given the Tories. Graham +thought it indiscreet and uncalled for, though in the principles +(anti-clubbism and anti-associations) he agreed. Graham is very +full of the expedition to Spain,[7] and expresses much alarm at +the idea of an army being formed which is to act independently of +the control and authority of the Government, to be composed of +Irish Catholics, supplied by O'Connell (who, he says, has been to +Alava and offered him any number of men) and commanded by Evans, +who is a Republican. He believes that Peel entertains the same +sentiments of aversion and alarm that he does; but he said that +when he attempted to draw from him his opinion the other night he +could not succeed; that Stanley has no alarm on the subject; +expects that on Wednesday next Peel will make a severe attack +upon the Government on this matter; [but this fell to the +ground]. + + [7] [This was the Spanish Legion, commanded by General de + Lacy Evans. Licence was given under the Foreign + Enlistment Act for British subjects to enter the + service of Queen Isabella.] + +In the morning yesterday I was in court for the unfortunate case +of Swift and Kelly, about which I cannot help taking an interest +from having been originally concerned in it, and because I think +there has been great villany somewhere. Some of the circumstances +connected with this appeal are curious, as showing the accidents +on which the issue of matters of vital importance to the parties +often depend, and how the mistakes or selfishness of individuals +concerned may influence the result, and in a way they little +expected or calculated upon. + + +June 27th, 1835 {p.266} + +I am again tormented to death with the Committee on West India +places, and menaced with a report that will be fatal to my +case.[8] Graham has been very obliging about it, and attended the +Committee on Thursday to see what they were about and give me +notice. I went to Lord Melbourne yesterday and stated my case to +him, invoking his protection, and he appeared extremely well +disposed to do what he could for me. I told him I did not wish +him to pledge himself till he had seen the case and considered +it, such as I had laid it before the Committee; and then, if he +is satisfied that I stand upon tenable grounds, I will ask him to +exert his influence and authority in my behalf. However, I much +doubt whether, strive and struggle as I may, I shall ever escape +from the determination of this morose and rigid millionaire +[Francis Baring, who was not, however, a millionaire or anything +like it, either _in praesenti_ or _in futuro_] to strip me of my +property; and I have made up my mind to its loss, though resolved +to fight while I have a leg to fight upon. + + [8] [Mr. Greville held the sinecure office of Secretary of + the Island of Jamaica, which was threatened at this + time by a Committee of the House of Commons. He + succeeded, however, in retaining it, until he + voluntarily resigned the appointment many years + afterwards. His salary as Clerk of the Council was + diminished by L500 a year as long as he held the two + offices.] + +Yesterday we were again occupied all day with Swift and Kelly, +which to-day will be brought to a close. The conduct of Brougham +on this trial exceeds all imagination and belief. From the +beginning he has taken a one-sided view of the case, and +apparently set out with a bias which has continually increased, +till he has become altogether identified, and in a manner +passionately identified, with the appellant's side; and he +exhibits this bias by one continual course of advocacy, battling +every argument and every point with the respondent's counsel with +a virulence and an intemperance that are so disgusting that my +blood boils while I listen to him. But his conduct in all other +respects displays the most extraordinary contrast with that of the +other judges who sit there; they, at least, listen attentively and +consecutively to the whole case, and when they do interrupt it is +for the purpose of obtaining explanations and elucidations, and +without the exhibition of any bias. But he is writing letters, +reading newspapers, cutting jokes, attending only by fits and +starts; then, when something smites his ear, out he breaks, and +with a mixture of sarcasm and ribaldry and insolence he argues and +battles the point, whatever it may be. + +[Page Head: LORD BROUGHAM AND THE PRIVY COUNCIL.] + +_Afternoon._ I am just come from the court. Lushington finished +his speech at two, and when Pemberton was about to reply Brougham +announced that he must go away to the London University, where he +was to distribute prizes. The consequence was that the reply was +deferred till next Wednesday, and the parties will be put to the +expense of L60 more. His conduct to-day was exactly of a piece +with that which he has exhibited throughout the trial. With all +the ingenuity and astuteness of which he is master he has +attacked every part of the respondent's case; and, to do him +justice, he has often displayed great acuteness and expressed +himself with admirable force and precision; but it was the +conduct of an advocate and not of a judge, and a much better +advocate has he been for Swift than either of those he retained. +(Pemberton, however, conducted the case with consummate skill and +judgment.) He finished by declaring that as far as he was +concerned he should not desiderate a reply, except on one or two +points on which he wished to hear it. After the court broke up +Baron Parke came into my room and asked my opinion, at the same +time telling me his own, which was as decidedly against the girl +as Brougham's. I argued the case with him, especially the points +which Lushington failed to enforce as strongly as I think he +might have done, but his mind was made up. Shadwell, on the +contrary, leans the other way, and agreed with me in my view of +it. It is, however, very clear that nothing can prevent the +reversal of Sir John Nicholl's judgment; for Erskine will very +likely go with Brougham and Parke, and if he does not Lord +Lansdowne undoubtedly will; but if I were to attend this court a +hundred years I should never forget the conduct of Brougham on +this trial. My disgust would not have been a jot less had he +espoused the same side that I do; and if I were myself engaged in +a suit, and he were to take up my own cause in such a barefaced +and outrageous manner, with such an utter contempt of dignity and +decency, I should feel the utmost shame at such partiality, +though exerted in my behalf. + + +June 30th, 1835 {p.268} + +I went to Melbourne on Sunday and carried him my case.[9] He told +me he had already desired Spring Rice to speak to Baring on the +subject, and I believe he will do what he can; but these great +people, however well disposed, can seldom be urged into +sufficient resolution and activity to take an energetic way of +settling the matter, and they have always so much consideration +for each other that Melbourne will probably, with all his +good-nature, feel a sort of delicacy to his subordinate colleague +in rescuing me from his clutches. Yesterday I went to the Duke of +Wellington and gave him my case to read, requesting him to exert +his influence with his Tories, and get them to attend the +Committee and defend me there. He read it, approved, and promised +to speak to both Peel and Herries. I had previously desired +George Dawson to speak to Peel. I might certainly, after the very +essential services I rendered Peel and his Government, go with +some confidence to Peel or any of them and ask for their aid in +my difficulty; but it is not wise to remind men of an obligation; +if they do not feel it without being reminded they will not be +made to do so by any hint, and an accusation of ingratitude will +be implied, which will only excite their resentment; if they are +sensible of the obligation they will return it without any +reminder. + + [9] [Relating to the Secretaryship of Jamaica.] + +[Page Head: THE POPE AND THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT.] + +After I had said what I had to say to Melbourne he asked me what +was thought of the Tithe Bill. I told him it was thought a very +outrageous measure by the Tories, but that I thought it useless +and that it did not go far enough. 'I know you do,' he said, 'but +such as it is it will very likely overturn the Government.' He +then talked over the Irish question, and owned that nothing could +settle it, that _they_ might perhaps bolster up the Irish Church a +little longer than the other party could, that they, however, +could not do _more_ than this now, and it was only doubtful if +they could do _this_. He talked the language of reason, and with a +just sense of the insuperable difficulties which present +themselves on all sides with respect to this question, but at the +same time of their eventual (though as to time uncertain) +solution. I told him that I had long been of opinion that the only +practicable and sound course was to open a negotiation with Rome, +and to endeavour to deal with the Catholics in Ireland and the +ministers of the Catholic religion upon the same plan which had +been _mutatis mutandis_ adopted universally in Germany and almost +all over the Continent, and that there was nothing the Church of +Rome desired so much as to cultivate a good understanding with us. +He then told me a thing that surprised me, and which seemed to be +at variance with this supposition--that an application had been +made to the Pope very lately (through Seymour) expressive of the +particular wish of the British Government, that he would not +appoint M'Hale to the vacant Catholic bishoprick, _anybody but +him_, notwithstanding which the Pope had appointed M'Hale; but on +this occasion the Pope made a shrewd observation. His Holiness +said that 'he had remarked for a long time past that no piece of +preferment of any value ever fell vacant in Ireland that he did +not get an application from the British Government asking for the +appointment.' Lord Melbourne supposed he was determined to show +that he had the power of refusing and of opposing the wishes of +Government, and in reply to my question he admitted that the Pope +had generally conferred the appointment according to the wishes of +Government. Can anything be more absurd or anomalous than such +relations as these? The law prohibits any intercourse with Rome, +and the Government whose business it is to enforce the law has +established a regular but underhand intercourse, through the +medium of a diplomatic agent, whose character cannot be avowed, +and the Ministers of this Protestant kingdom are continually +soliciting the Pope to confer appointments, the validity, even the +existence, of which they do not recognise, while the Pope, who is +the object of our orthodox abhorrence and dread, good-humouredly +complies with all or nearly all their requests. These are the +national and legislative follies of this wise and prosperous +people, and such is the false position into which we are drawn by +a long course of detestable policy--policy arising at first out of +circumstances, and eventually adhered to from those powerful +prejudices which struck their roots so deep into the soil that the +force of reason and philosophy has not yet been sufficient to tear +them up. Peel, in one of his speeches on Catholic emancipation, +bade the House of Commons not to deceive itself, and to be aware +that if that Bill was carried, we must have Episcopal (or +Protestant) England, Presbyterian Scotland, and Catholic Ireland. +He prophesied well and truly no doubt, and to that consummation +affairs will eventually come, as they ought to come, though not +without many a struggle, through many a year. The prophecy of Peel +is advancing to its accomplishment, but he has either forgotten it +or finds it convenient to forget it. + +[Page Head: THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON ON SIR W. NAPIER.] + +Yesterday the Duke of Wellington talked about the Spanish war, +the nature of which he described very well, and expressed his +opinion that on the whole the Christinos have the best chance; he +said Zumalacarreguy was an able man, and that his death must have +a very important influence on the result. We talked of Napier's +controversy with Perceval.[10] He said Napier had not fairly +treated Perceval's character in the controversy, said he had +never read a syllable of the book, in order to keep clear of +discussions, but that when the work was completed, and all +controversies were silenced, he might probably look it over, and +if he discovered any errors tell the author of them. He said that +no doubt the army had been greatly in want of money, but that +this was not the fault of the Government. It was a great mistake +to suppose that any advantage had been derived (as to obtaining +funds) from the bank restriction; certainly the raising of loans +was facilitated by it, but the war would have been much less +expensive without it, and he had always been of opinion that the +immediate cause of the bank restriction was the Loyalty Loan. +This loan had drained the bankers and individuals of ready money, +and the consequence was a stagnation in commerce, and therefore +in circulation, which rendered the bank restriction necessary. He +then talked of the Walcheren expedition, and said that though it +was wretchedly conducted and altogether mismanaged, it was not +ill-planned, and if they had gone straight to Antwerp it might +have rendered very great service to the general cause, and have +put Bonaparte in great difficulties. I had always fancied that he +had disapproved of that expedition. + + [10] [The Duke referred to Sir William Napier's 'History of + the Peninsular War.'] + + +July 1st, 1835 {p.271} + +This morning Pemberton was heard in reply in Swift's case, and +after a short discussion the court came to a resolution to upset +Sir John Nicholl's decision. Brougham behaved very decently +to-day, and stated fairly enough his opinion, but he was quite +clear, and so was Baron Parke, as to the judgment. The Vice-Chancellor +with hesitation acquiesced, and Erskine said nothing; the Lord +President went with them, so that the court was unanimous. + +From thence I went to St. James's to swear in Sir Charles Grey[11] +and Charles Fitzroy Privy Councillors, when we had a most curious +burst of eloquence from his Majesty. This is the first time I have +seen him and his present Ministers together, and certainly they do +not strike me as exhibiting any mutual affection. After Sir Charles +Grey was sworn the King said to him, 'Stand up,' and up he stood. He +then addressed him with great fluency and energy nearly in these +words:--'Sir Charles Grey, you are about to proceed upon one of the +most important missions which ever left this country, and, from your +judgment, ability, and experience, I have no doubt that you will +acquit yourself to my entire satisfaction; I desire you, however, to +bear in mind that the colony to which you are about to proceed has +not, like other British colonies, been peopled from the mother +country--that it is not an original possession of the Crown, but +that it was obtained _by the sword_. You will take care to assert +those undoubted prerogatives which the Crown there possesses, and +which I am determined to enforce and maintain, and I charge you by +the oath which you have just taken strenuously to assert those +prerogatives, _of which persons who ought to have known better have +dared even in my presence to deny the existence_.' His speech was +something longer than this, but the last words almost precisely the +same. The silence was profound, and I was amused at the astonishment +depicted on the faces of the Ministers. I asked Lord Lansdowne and +Lord Holland who it was that he alluded to. Neither knew, but the +former said he thought it might be Ellice, and that the King +referred to something Ellice had said to him when he was Minister. +Somebody said they thought it was Spring Rice, but that could not be +when Rice was sitting at the table. I have heard many specimens of +his eloquence, but never anything like this. After this he had to +give Durham an audience on his embassy, which must have been very +agreeable to him, as he hates him and the Duchess of Kent, whose +'magnus Apollo' Durham is. + + [11] [Sir Charles Grey had just been appointed Governor of + Jamaica. He had previously filled for a short time the + office of Chief Justice of Bengal, and enjoyed at this + time a considerable reputation in society. The Minister + to whom the King referred in his concluding observation + was Lord Glenelg as will be seen presently.] + + +July 3rd, 1835 {p.272} + +[Page Head: LORD STANLEY AND GRAHAM CROSS THE HOUSE.] + +The night before last Lord Stanley and Graham quitted their +neutral seats below the gangway, and established themselves on +the opposite bench below Peel. This was considered as an +intimation of a more decided hostility to the present Government, +and as an abandonment of the neutrality (if such it can be +called) which they have hitherto professed. Last night O'Connell +made a very coarse attack upon Stanley in consequence of this +change, which lashed him into a fury, and a series of retorts +followed between them, without any result. O'Connell half +shuffled out of his expressions, but refused to apologise; the +chairman (Bernal) took no notice, and the matter ended by a +speech from Stanley and a few remarks upon it from Lord John +Russell. The former stated his reasons for this ostentatious +locomotion, which amounted to this: that he had been rudely +treated in the House by ironical cheers and other intelligible +sounds, and attacked by the Government newspapers, and he had, +therefore, departed from a society for which he owned he was not +fitted. It was not, I think, dignified or judicious, and George +Bentinck, the most faithful of his followers, was not satisfied +with the proceeding or the explanation. His party, such as it +was, was finally extinguished by this act, though it hardly had +any existence before; some five or six men, among whom were Gally +Knight, George Bentinck, Stratford Canning, and Sir Matthew +Ridley, went over to the Opposition benches; the others dispersed +where they chose. + +The real history of the transaction is this: it originated with +Graham, and it is not the first time he has lugged Stanley into +what may be called a scrape. He was returning from some division +to his usual seat when he was assailed by those cheers, and some +voice cried out, 'Why don't you stay where you are?' on which he +bowed in acquiescence to the quarter whence the recommendation +proceeded, and instantly retreated to the other side. The next +day he told Stanley that _he_ must now stay where he was, and at +the same time he produced the 'Globe' newspaper, which contained +a very coarse attack upon Stanley himself. This article, together +with Graham's representation, determined him to take up his +position on the Opposition bench, and accordingly there he went, +but without any intimation to his friends, who, to their great +surprise, found him there, and only got from him the above +explanation that evening in the House. Lord John Russell's reply +to Stanley's speech was very courteous, and rather well done as +far as it went, for he only said a few words. Lord Stanley is +certainly fallen from his high estate, and is in a very different +position from that which he aspired to occupy at the beginning of +the session. He is without a party, and without any authority in +the House except what he derives from his own talents for debate. +He has now no alternative but to unite himself with Peel's party, +and to act under him, without any pretension to competition, and +without the possibility of being considered as a separate element +of political power. He has been brought to this by a series of +false steps from his first refusal to join Peel, followed by his +flippant and undecided conduct throughout the great contest. The +Whigs and the Tories both hate him, and neither will be very +ready to forgive him. There is a mixture of contempt in the +dislike of the former, and an undisguised satisfaction among the +most violent at having got rid of him, which make any future +approximation to their side impossible, and the Tories, though +they will receive him in their ranks, will never forgive him for +his conduct, to which they attribute the failure of the +Conservative effort, for his presumption in endeavouring to set +up a middle party and render himself the arbiter of the contest, +and especially for his affectation of want of confidence in Peel +and his attacks upon the Duke. In the meantime this move of +Stanley's has rather served to strengthen the Government in the +House of Commons; between the disposition of many to go with +Government, the lukewarmness and indolence of the Conservatives, +and the steady attendance of a phalanx of Radicals, they have got +good, regular, steady-working majorities, and appear as strong in +the House of Commons as any Government need be. + + +July 4th, 1835 {p.274} + +Yesterday Brougham gave judgment in the case of Swift and Kelly--a +written judgment and at great length. I thought it remarkably well +done, embracing all the points of the case, and laying down the law +and the reasons for reversing the decree of the court below in a +very forcible and perspicuous manner. He must have written this +judgment with great rapidity, for it was only on Tuesday afternoon +that it was settled to be given on Thursday, all of which is a proof +of his admirable talents. His conduct on the last day of the hearing +and this judgment in some degree made up for his previous +intemperance and violence. He said that he had shown the judgment to +Lord Lyndhurst, who entirely agreed with him. A negotiation had been +previously opened to endeavour to get the other side to concur in an +application to the court to stay the judgment and to consent to a +pecuniary compromise, but it was quite ineffectual. + +[Page Head: ALAVA AND THE DUKE OF CUMBERLAND.] + +A night or two ago there was a breeze at Lady Jersey's between +the Duke of Cumberland and Alava, and many stories made of it, +more than were true. The Duke, who had frequently taunted him +before, was again attacking him about his expedition and Spanish +affairs generally, when Alava got into a fury and said to him, +'Monseigneur, Don Carlos peut etre roi d'Espagne, mais il ne sera +jamais le roi du general Alava.' This Lord Jersey told me, and +that the other things he is reported to have said to the Duke are +not true. + + +July 7th, 1835 {p.275} + +I can't deny that many persons have shown a very kind disposition +to assist me in this business of my Jamaica place, of different +political persuasions, and with most of whom I have but a very +slight personal acquaintance, among these none more than Mr. +Gladstone and Lord Lincoln, neither of whom did I know to speak +to till I put myself into communication with them on this +business. On the other hand Charles Wood, who is against me in +his opinion, has been the channel of communication with Baring +and shown generally a good will towards me. These demonstrations +are agreeable enough, and contribute to put one in harmony with +mankind, but it is after all a humiliating position, and I feel +unutterable disgust, and something akin to shame, at being +compelled to solicit the protection of one set of men, and the +friendly offices of another, in order to be maintained in the +possession of that which is in itself obnoxious to public feeling +and opinion. A placeman is in these days an odious animal, and as +a double placeman I am doubly odious, and I have a secret kind of +whispering sensation that these very people who good-naturedly +enough assist me must be a little shocked at the cause they +advocate. All that can be said in my favour is not obvious, nor +can it be properly or conveniently brought forward, and all that +can be said against me lies on the surface, and is universally +evident. The funds from which I draw my means do not somehow seem +a pure source; formerly those things were tolerated, now they are +not, and my prospects were formed and destiny determined at a +remote period, while I incur all the odium and encounter all the +risks consequent upon the altered state of public feeling on the +subject. + + +July 15th, 1835 {p.276} + +[Page Head: THE KING AND HIS MINISTERS.] + +Sefton told me that a correspondence has taken place between Lord +Glenelg and Sir Herbert Taylor about that speech of the King's at +the Council on Wednesday se'nnight. Glenelg felt himself called +upon to enquire whether the blow was aimed at him, and it was +evident from the tenor of the reply that it was. I heard from +Stephen a day or two afterwards the real truth of this matter. It +was Lord Glenelg that the King intended to allude to in his +speech. Lord Melbourne spoke to his Majesty on the subject, +remonstrated, and said it was impossible to carry on the +government if he did such things. He said that he was greatly +irritated, and had acted under strong feelings in consequence of +what Glenelg had said to him. Melbourne rejoined, 'Your Majesty +must have mistaken Lord Glenelg.' 'Not at all,' said the King, +and he then went into a dispute they had had about the old +constitution of Canada--I forget what, but something the King +asserted which Glenelg contradicted. He repaired to the Colonial +Office and told Stephen, who informed him that the King was right +and he was wrong. (The King, in fact, had got it up, and had the +thing at his fingers' ends.) This was awkward; however, it ended +in the King's making a sort of apology and crying _peccavi_ for +the violence of his language, and this will probably be somewhat +of a lesson to him, though it will not diminish the bitterness of +his sentiments towards his Ministers. + +I expressed my astonishment that any man could consent to stay in +office after receiving such an insult as this was, to which +Stephen replied that they were all thoroughly aware of their +position relatively to the King and of his feelings towards them; +but they had undertaken the task and were resolved under all +circumstances to go through with it, and, whatever he might say +or do, they should not suffer themselves to be influenced or +shaken. This is the truth; they do not look upon themselves as +_his_ Ministers, and perhaps they cannot do otherwise as things +now are. It is, however, a very melancholy and mischievous state +of affairs, and does more to degrade the Monarchy than anything +that has ever occurred: to exhibit the King publicly to the world +as a cypher, and something less than a cypher, as an unsuccessful +competitor in a political squabble, is to take from the Crown all +the dignity with which it is invested by that theoretical +attribute of perfection that has been so conveniently ascribed to +it. Both King and Ministers have been greatly to blame, the one +for the egregious folly which made him rush into this sea of +trouble and mortification without calculation or foresight; the +other for the unrelenting severity with which they resolved to +gratify their revenge and ambition, without considering that they +could not punish him without degrading the throne of which he is +the occupant, and that the principle involved in his impunity was +of more consequence in its great and permanent results than any +success of theirs. But it would have required more virtue, +self-denial, wisdom, and philosophy than falls to the lot of any +public man individually in these days to have embraced all these +considerations, and it would have been a miracle if a great mob +of men calling themselves a party could have been made to act +under the influence of such moral restraints. The King's present +behaviour only makes matters worse. When he found himself +compelled to take these people back, and to surrender himself a +prisoner into their hands, he should have swallowed the bitter +pill and digested it, and not kept rolling it in his mouth and +making wry faces. He should have made a very bad business as +tolerable as he could, by yielding himself with a good grace; and +had he treated them with that sort of courtesy which one +gentleman may and ought to show to all those with whom he is +unavoidably brought into contact, and which implies nothing as to +feeling and inclination, he would have received from them that +respect and attention which it would have been equally their +interest and their desire to show. This would have rendered their +relations mutually much more tolerable, a decent veil would have +been thrown over all that was humiliating and painful, and the +public service must have gained by the tacit compromise; but +extreme folly, great violence in those about the King, and hopes +of emancipation secretly cherished, together with the intensity +of his hatred of his Ministers, have conspired to keep his +Majesty in his present unwise, irksome, and degrading posture. + +The night before last there was a great concert on the staircase at +Stafford House, the most magnificent assembly I ever saw, and such +as I think no crowned head in Europe could display, so grand and +picturesque. The appearance of the hall was exactly like one of Paul +Veronese's pictures, and only wanted some tapestry to be hung over +the balustrades. Such prodigious space, so cool, so blazing with +light; everybody was _comfortable_ even, and the concert combined +the greatest talents in Europe all together--Grisi, Malibran, +Tamburini, Lablache, Rubini, and Ivanhoff. The splendour, the +profusion, and the perfect ease of it all were really admirable. + +Dined yesterday with the Vice-Chancellor; sixteen people whom I +never saw before, almost all lawyers and lawyeresses. He told me +that he believed Melbourne had no intention as long as he was +Minister of changing the present arrangement with regard to the +Great Seal,[12] that he was of opinion that a Chancellor was of +no use, and that it was more convenient to keep in his own hands +the law patronage of the Great Seal, that this obviated the +disputes between Ministers and Chancellors, which have generally +been very violent, as between Thurlow and Pitt, and still more +between Eldon and Liverpool, which were incessant, and that +nothing could exceed the hatred Eldon had for Lord Liverpool, as +he knew. + + [12] [The Great Seal was still in Commission.] + +Tavistock told me a day or two ago that his Majesty's Ministers +are intolerably disgusted at his behaviour to them and his +studied incivility to everybody connected with them. The other +day the Speaker was treated by him with shocking rudeness at the +drawing-room. He not only took no notice of him, but studiously +overlooked him while he was standing opposite, and called up +Manners Sutton and somebody else to mark the difference by +extreme graciousness to the latter. Seymour, who was with him as +Serjeant-at-Arms, said he had never seen a Speaker so used in the +five-and-twenty years he had been there, and that it was most +painful. The Speaker asked him if he had ever seen a man in his +situation so received at Court. Since he has been Speaker the +King has never taken the slightest notice of him. It is +monstrous, equally undignified and foolish. + + +July 18th, 1835 {p.279} + +[Page Head: DECISION OF THE WEST INDIA COMMITTEE.] + +Yesterday I sat all day at my office wondering why I heard nothing +of the Committee, till at half-past four o'clock Graham and Lord +Lincoln came in with smiling countenances, that announced good +news. They had had an angry debate of three hours' duration. +Baring moved that my holding the office of Secretary of Jamaica +was against the spirit of the Act of Parliament. Graham moved that +holding it with the leave of absence was in accordance with the +Act, and the division was nine to seven. A teller on each side and +Baring, who as chairman did not vote, made the numbers ten to +nine. They told me that Baring and Vernon Smith were furious. The +former endeavoured to turn off his defeat by proposing that the +question should be reopened on framing the report; but even Grote +opposed that, and he was forced to own that he was wrong in +proposing it. I must say that Gladstone told me that Baring +behaved very well after the division. I will not conceal the +truth, much as I have reason to complain of the man. I owe this +victory to the zealous assistance of the Conservatives, for not +one Whig or Radical voted with me; some of the former stayed away, +whether designedly or not I don't know, except Stanley, Secretary +to the Treasury, who told me he could not make up his mind to go +and vote against me. The majority consisted of Herries, Fremantle +(Sir Thomas), Gladstone, Nicholl, Graham, Lord Lincoln, Bethell, +Fector, Bramstone, and Pringle; the minority, Baring, Vernon +Smith, Pendarves, Ruthven, Scholefield, Evans, Grote, Hume, R. +Stewart. I never had any intimacy with any one of those who +supported me except with Graham, and we were friends, and very +intimate friends, twenty years ago. He dropped me all of a sudden +from caprice or calculation, and we have been on very decent but +scarcely cordial terms ever since. On this occasion I whipped up +the old friendship, and with great effect, for he has served me +very zealously throughout the business. I scarcely knew any of the +other before, Lord Lincoln and Gladstone only on this occasion, +and Fector, Nicholl, Bramstone, Bethell, and Pringle I do not know +now by sight. It is really amusing to see the joy with which the +news of Baring's defeat has been hailed by every member of his own +family, and all others who have heard of it. The goodwill of the +world (a very inert but rather satisfactory feeling) has been +exhibited towards me, and there is mixed up with it in all who are +acquainted with the surly reformer who is my adversary a lively +pleasure at his being baffled and mortified. + + +July 23rd, 1835 {p.280} + +[Page Head: IRISH CHURCH BILL.] + +Dined with Bingham Baring[13] yesterday, and met Whateley, +Archbishop of Dublin, a very ordinary man in appearance and +conversation, with something of pretension in his talk, and +telling stories without point, which smelt of the Common room; +nevertheless he is a very able man, and they told me that when he +is with such men as Senior, and those with whom he is very +intimate, he shines. I was greatly disappointed with what I saw +and heard of him. The Church Bill has been in the House of Commons +these two nights. Peel introduced his motion for dividing the Bill +in a very able speech, well adapted to the purpose, if anything +was to be gained in such a House of Commons; but the fact is, both +parties look beyond the immediate question: one wants to bolster +up the present system, the other to overthrow it, and though I go +along with Peel on his _point_, I go along with his opponents on +their _principle_. He stated, however, very forcibly the dilemma +in which his opponents are placed, and said, 'Why don't you make +the Establishment Catholic at once, openly and avowedly, or +abstain from doing what has that inevitable tendency?' Melbourne +said there was no escape from this, and I replied that I would +take him at his word, and that it must come to this, and he might +immortalise himself by settling the question. It certainly would +be a glorious field for a statesman to enter upon to brush away +all the obstacles which deeply rooted prejudices and chimerical +fears founded on false reasoning throw in his way, and bend all +his energies to a direct and vigorous course of policy, at once +firm and determined, looking the real evil in the face, and +applying the real remedy to it. If I were Prime Minister I would +rather fall in the attempt than work on through a succession of +expedients none of which were satisfactory to myself, to hold +language at variance with my opinions, and to truckle to +difficulties which it is now time boldly to face. I am as +satisfied as of my existence that if the heart's core of Peel +could be laid open, it would be found that he thinks so himself. +His is not the conduct of conviction, and he has been led into +contradictions and inconsistencies which must ever beset and +entangle those who persist in the attempt to maintain positions +which have ceased to be tenable. + + [13] [Afterwards the second Lord Ashburton.] + + +Goodwood, July 29th, 1835 {p.281} + +To Petworth on Saturday and here on Monday; a smaller party than +usual, and no women on account of the Duchess of Argyll's death; +far better not to have women at a racing party. Tavistock told me +that a man (he did not say who) had been to Lord John, evidently +commissioned, though not avowedly, to tell him on the part of +Peel and Lord Stanley that they would both support him if he +would bring forward a proposition to pay the Irish Catholic +clergy. John, however, 'timet Danaos et dona ferentes,' and +hinted that his own popularity would be sacrificed if he did. +This is curious, however. John also told him that he never saw +Peel laugh so much as during Graham's speech the other night, and +he meant (but forgot it) to ask him why he laughed so. To Peel it +is nuts to see Stanley and Graham drawing down unpopularity on +themselves and every day widening the breach between them and +their old friends; but I was somewhat struck with the apparent +intimacy which was evinced in what John Russell said about Peel, +and asked his brother if they were on very good personal terms. +He said, 'Oh, excellent'--a sort of House of Commons intimacy. +Peel told John all he meant to do in the Committee on the Church +Bill--that he should propose so and so, and when they came to the +appropriation clauses he should make his bow and leave them. +Tavistock remarked (which had escaped me) that Peel had in his +last famous speech (certainly one of extraordinary ability) +omitted all mention of the principle of appropriation, and +confined himself to the proof that there was no surplus; but what +is most remarkable perhaps of all is this: Peel said to John, 'If +you _will_ appropriate, I will show you a much better plan than +your own,' and he accordingly did show him a plan by which there +would be a considerably greater surplus, and John acknowledged +that Peel's plan would be better than his own. I wonder what the +High Tories and the King would think of all this. While he is +quarrelling with Johnny and his friends for Peel's sake, and +undergoing martyrdom in his social relations with them, there +they are hand and glove, and almost concerting together the very +measures which are the cause of all the animosities and all the +political violence which agitate and divide the world. There is +something extremely ludicrous in all this. + +I hear to-day that Peel is going into the country for good, and +leaves the Lords to deal with the Bills. He probably expects them +to commit some follies, and fancies he may as well be out of the +way. + + +August 4th, 1835 {p.283} + +[Page Head: TORY PEERS AND THE CORPORATION BILL.] + +Came to town on Sunday, having slept at Winchester on Saturday +night to see the town and the cathedral, and hear the service in +the latter, which was very moderate; the cathedral, however, is +worth seeing. When I got to town I found the Tory Lords had been +worked into a frenzy by Wetherell and Knight[14] at the bar of the +House of Lords (the latter of whom is said to have made a very +able speech), and Newcastle and Winchelsea bellowed and blustered +in grand style. Lord Rosslyn had told me some time ago that the +Duke would have great difficulty in managing his people, but that +I think was _a propos_ of the Church Bill. Yesterday at two +o'clock there was a great assemblage of Peers at Apsley House to +determine what was to be done, and amazed was I when I learnt at +about five o'clock that they had resolved to move that evidence +should be heard against the principle of the Municipal Corporation +Bill, which was accordingly moved by Carnarvon last night. At +dinner I met Stuart, to whom I expressed my astonishment at the +course they had adopted, and he owned that it was 'rather +hazardous,' and said that it was adopted at the suggestion of +Lyndhurst, who had insisted upon it at Apsley House, and that the +Duke had given way. He said that this had followed as a necessary +consequence of Brougham proposing that counsel should be heard +upon the details, as it appeared that the evidence on which the +Bill was founded was not to be relied on. He owned that it was +probable Peel would disapprove of the proceedings of the Lords, +and a breach between him and them be the consequence. He told me +that at a dinner on Saturday, at which the Dukes of Wellington and +Cumberland, Peel, and Wetherell were present, the question had +been argued; that Sir Charles Wetherell had urged all the leading +arguments he had used in his speech, and Peel had contested every +part and particle of his argument, while the Duke of Cumberland +did not utter a word. Stuart added that he heard the Government +meditated something very strong, and I repeated what Hobhouse had +told me in the morning, when I met him in the Park--that Melbourne +would probably adjourn the House, that there would be a call of +the House of Commons, and some strong resolution proposed there. +Some Whigs, however, who were present last night, suggested that +it would be better to adjourn the House of Commons, and let the +Lords go on with their evidence while they pleased to hear it, and +then reassemble the Commons in case the Bill was sent back to +them. Hobhouse said, 'Depend upon it, it is the _commencement de +la fin_'. It does certainly appear to me that these Tory Lords +will never rest till they have accomplished the destruction of the +House of Lords. They are resolved to bring about a collision with +the House of Commons, and the majority in each House grows every +day more rabid and more desperate. I am at a loss to comprehend +the views by which Lyndhurst, the ablest of the party, is +actuated, or how he can (if it be so, which from Stuart's account +is probable) fancy that any object is attainable which involves in +it a breach or separation between Peel and the great body of the +Tories. I would give much to see the recesses of his mind, and +know what he really thinks of all these proceedings, and to what +consequences he believes that they will lead. + + [14] [Mr. Knight Bruce, afterwards Lord Justice in Equity.] + + +August 6th, 1835 {p.284} + +Yesterday to Brighton, to see my horse Dacre run for the Brighton +stake, which he won, and back at night. The day before I met the +Vice-Chancellor[15] at Charing Cross, going down, to the House of +Lords. 'Well,' said he, shrugging his shoulders, 'here I am going +to the House of Lords, after hearing evidence all the morning, to +hear it again for the rest of the evening.' 'What is to happen?' +I asked him. 'O Lord, it is the greatest bore; they have heard +Coventry and Oxford; they got something of a case out of the +first, but the other was beyond anything tiresome; they are sick +to death of it, and Brougham and Lyndhurst have agreed that _it +is all damned nonsense_, and they will hear nothing more after +Saturday next.' So this is the end of all this hubbub, and here +are these two great comedians thundering against each other in +the House of Lords overnight with all imaginable vehemence and +solemnity, only to meet together the next morning and agree that +_it is all damned nonsense_. There is something very melancholy +and very ludicrous in all this, and though that great bull calf +the public does not care about such things, and is content to +roar when he is bid, there are those on the alert who will turn +such trilling and folly to account, and convert what is half +ridiculous into something all serious. Winchelsea and Newcastle +after all did not vote the other night; they said they wanted no +evidence, that they would have no such Bill, and would not meddle +with the discussion at all except to oppose it point-blank. Fools +as they are, their folly is more tolerable and probably less +mischievous than the folly of the wise ones. + + [15] The Great Seal being in Commission, the Vice-Chancellor + of England (Sir Lancelot Shadwell) sat as one of the + Commissioners on the Woolsack. + + +August 9th, 1835 + +[Page Head: THE KING AND LORD TORRINGTON.] + +On Wednesday last at the levee the King made a scene with Lord +Torrington, one of his Lords of the Bedchamber, and a very +disgraceful scene. A card was put into Torrington's hands of somebody +who was presented, which he read, 'So and so, _Deputy-Governor_.' +'Deputy-Governor?' said the King, 'Deputy-Governor of what? I +cannot tell your Majesty,' replied Torrington, 'as it is not upon +the card.' 'Hold your tongue, sir,' said the King; 'you had better +go home and learn to read;' and shortly after, when some bishop +presented an address against (I believe) the Irish Tithe Bill, and +the King was going as usual to hand over the papers to the Lord in +waiting, he stopped and said to Lord Torrington, who advanced to +take them, 'No, Lord Torrington; these are not fit documents to be +entrusted to your keeping.' His habitual state of excitement will +probably bring on sooner or later the malady of his family. +Torrington is a young man in a difficult position, or he ought to +have resigned instantly and as publicly as the insult was offered. +The King cannot bridle his temper, and lets slip no opportunity of +showing his dislike, impotent as it is, of the people who surround +him. He admits none but Tories into his private society, wherever +he goes Tories accompany him; at Windsor Tories only are his +guests. This provokes his Ministers, but it necessarily makes them +more indifferent to the cultivation of his favour, and accustoms +them to consider themselves as the Ministers of the House of +Commons and not of the Crown. + +My brother writes me from Paris very interesting details of the +funeral of the victims of the assassination plot,[16] which was +an imposing and magnificent ceremony, admirably arranged, and as +it has produced a burst of enthusiasm for the King, and has +brought round the clergy to him, it will serve to strengthen his +throne. His undaunted courage ingratiates him with the French. + + [16] [The victims of the Fieschi conspiracy.] + + +August 15th, 1835 + +[Page Head: DEBATE ON THE CORPORATION BILL.] + +On Wednesday the Lords commenced proceedings on the Corporation +Bill. The Ministers were aware that they meant to throw it out, +for Lord John Russell and Lord Lansdowne both told me at the +levee that they had heard such was the intention of the Tories. +However, they never had such a design, and the second reading +passed without a division; on Thursday they went into Committee, +and the freeman's clause was carried against Government by a +majority of 93--130 to 37--the debate being distinguished by +divers sallies of intemperance from Brougham, who thundered, and +menaced, and gesticulated in his finest style. When somebody +cried, 'Question,' he burst out, 'Do you think to put me down? I +have stood against 300 of the House of Commons, and do you think +I will give way to _you_?' This was uttered with all imaginable +rage and scorn.[17] This amendment was always anticipated, and +though the Government object to it, Lord Lansdowne told me that +as the rate-paying clause had passed without opposition, he did +not care for the other alterations, but the minority appeared to +everybody bordering upon the ridiculous; a Minister who could +only muster thirty-seven present, and who was in a minority of +three to one, presented a novel spectacle. Nobody could account +for the carelessness of their muster, for many Peers were absent +who might easily have been there, and several who belong to +Government by office or connexion. It did not, however, occur to +anybody that they would feel themselves compelled to resign upon +it, except perhaps to a few Tories, who hinted their notion that +Melbourne could not go on with such a majority against him, +which, however true it may be in the long run, signifies nothing +as to any immediate change. + + [17] Brougham had some reason to be angry. Lyndhurst did not + reply to him on Wednesday, when he might have done so, + pleading the fatigue of late hours and his own + indisposition, and on Thursday he attacked him when he + was absent; he therefore gave him good ground of + complaint. Brougham's insolence and violence have done + great injury to the House of Lords by lowering the + style and character of their debates and introducing + coarseness and acrimony such as never were known there + before. Hardly a night passes without some + discreditable scene of squabbling and vituperation + bandied between him and the High Tory Lords, one or + other of them; their hatred of him and his scorn of + them are everlastingly breaking out. He and Lyndhurst, + though constantly pitted against each other, are great + friends all the time, but with the others it is a rabid + passion of hatred and contempt, mutually felt and + continually expressed. + +[Page Head: ENERGY OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS.] + +Last night the qualification clause was carried against Government +by an equally large majority, or nearly so, and this time +Government does not seem disposed to take it so patiently. It was +well understood that a qualification would be imposed, and many of +the supporters of the Bill said they did not object thereto, but +they had no notion of such a qualification as Lyndhurst proposed +and carried last night, and the Duke of Richmond (whom I met at +Crockford's) told me that it would be fatal to the Bill. He saw +Lord John Russell after the division, who told him so, and that +the Commons would never take the Bill with such an alteration as +this. Richmond himself goes entirely with Government in this +measure, and I was rather surprised to hear him say that 'it had +been urged that Lord Stanley was opposed to this part of the Bill, +but that if this were so a man must judge for himself in so +important a matter,' which looks a little as if he meant to back +out of the dilly, and I should not be very much surprised if he +came into office again with these people, if they stay in. I asked +him what in his opinion would happen, and he replied that he +thought the House of Lords was nearly done for, that he expected +the Commons would reject their amendments and pass some very +strong resolutions; he should not be surprised if they refused to +pass the Appropriation Bill. I said they would hardly do that, +because it would be a measure against Government, and would compel +these Ministers to resign. This he admitted, but he went on to say +that he expected it would throw the House of Commons into a +ferment, that they would adopt some violent course, and then there +would be a 'row royal.' What astonishes me most in all this is +that Lyndhurst, a man of great abilities, and certainly, if +wishing for anything, wishing for the success of the party he +belongs to, should urge these desperate courses. He it was who +proposed the fatal postponement of Schedule A, which led to such +utter ruin and confusion, and now it is he who manages this Bill, +and who ventures to mutilate the Ministerial measure in such a +manner as will in all probability bring down all the wrath of the +Commons on him and his Conservative majority. I am not at all sure +but that the Government is content to exhibit its paltry numbers +in the House of Lords, in order that the world may see how +essentially it is a Tory body, that it hardly fulfils the +conditions of a great independent legislative assembly, but +presents the appearance of a dominant party-faction which is too +numerous to be affected by any constitutional process and too +obstinate to be turned from its fixed purpose of opposing all the +measures which have a tendency to diminish the influence of the +Conservative party in the country. It is impossible to look at the +disposition exhibited by this great majority and not admit that +there is very small chance of its acting harmoniously with the +present House of Commons, and that some change must take place in +order to enable Government and legislation to go on at all. It is +anything but clear that the nation desires the destruction of the +House of Lords, nor is it clear that the nation cares for its +preservation. It is, I think, exceedingly probable that a majority +of those who return members to Parliament, and in whom collectively +the supreme power really resides, though they might be content to +retain the House of Lords, if it could be made to act in harmony +with, and therefore necessarily in subordination to, the House of +Commons, would not hesitate for an instant to decree its downfall +if it became clear that there was no other way of crushing the +Tory faction which now rules triumphant in that House. At all +events the Lords are playing a desperate game; if it succeeds, +they who direct the energies of the party are great and wise men; +but what if it fail? They seem to have no answer to this but that +if they + + Screw their courage to the sticking place, + It will _not_ fail. + + + + + CHAPTER XXIX. + +Resistance of the Lords--Duke of Richmond--Happiness--Struggle + between Lords and Commons--Peel keeps aloof--Inconsistency of + the Whigs on the Irish Church Bill--Violent Language in the + Lords--Lord John Russell and Peel pass the Corporation Bill-- + Dissolution of the Tory Party foreseen--Meeting of Peers to + consider the Amendments--King's Speech in Council on the + Militia--Lord Howick's Bitterness against the Lords--Lord + Lyndhurst's Opinion of the Corporation Bill--The King's + Language on the Regency--Talleyrand's View of the English + Alliance--Comparison of Burke and Macintosh--The St. Leger-- + Visit of Princess Victoria to Burghley--O'Connell's Progress + through Scotland--Mackintosh's Life. + + +August 19th, 1835 {p.290} + +[Page Head: MUNICIPAL CORPORATION BILL.] + +Yesterday the Lords finished the Committee on the Corporation +Bill. Their last amendment (which I do not very well understand +at present), by which certain aldermen elected for life are to be +taken in the first instance from the present aldermen, has +disgusted the authors of the Bill more than all the rest. In the +morning I met Duncannon and Howick, both open-mouthed against the +amendments, and this in particular, and declaring that though the +others might have been stomached, this could not go down, as it +was in direct opposition to the principle of the Bill. Howick +talked of 'the Lords being swept away like chaff' and of 'the +serious times that were approaching.' Duncannon said there would +be a conference, and if the Lords insisted on these amendments +the Bill would be lost. I asked if a compromise was not feasible, +the Lords abandoning this and the Commons taking the other +amendments, which he said would not be undesirable, but difficult +to effect. The continual discussions about this Bill have made me +perforce understand something of it towards the end of them. I am +too ignorant of the details and of the tendency of the Bill to +have an opinion of the comparative merits of its present and its +original shape, but I am sure the Lords are bound in prudence not +to mutilate it more than is absolutely necessary to make it a +safe measure, and to have a good, and moreover a popular, case to +go to the country with, if eventually such an appeal is to be +made. On the other hand the House of Commons, powerful as it is, +must not assert its power too peremptorily, and before the +Ministers determine to resign, for the purpose of making their +resignation instrumental to the consolidation of their power and +the destruction of the House of Lords; they also must have a good +case, and be able to show that the amendments made by the Lords +are incompatible with the object proposed, that they were made in +a factious spirit and for the express purpose of thwarting the +principle contended for, and that their conduct in this matter +forms part of a general system, which can only be counteracted by +some fundamental change in the constitution of the Upper House +itself. These are violent conclusions to come to, and when one +reflects calmly upon the possible and probable consequences of a +collision, and the manner in which the interests of the +antagonistic parties collectively and individually are blended +together, it is difficult to believe that both will not pause on +the brink of the precipice and be influenced by a simultaneous +desire to come to a decent and practicable compromise. This would +probably be easy if both parties were actuated by a sincere +desire to enact a law to reform corporations in the safest, best, +and most satisfactory manner; but the reformation of the +corporations is not the first object in the minds of either. One +wants to save as much as possible of the Tory influence, which is +menaced by the Bill, and the other wants to court the democratic +spirit, which vivifies its party, and erect a new and auxiliary +influence on the ruins of the ancient establishments. Any mere +looker-on must perceive through all their wranglings that these +are the _arriere-pensees_ of the two antagonistic parties. + +Brougham made a very clever speech (I am told) on Monday night, +and the contest between him and Lyndhurst through the whole +Committee has been remarkable for talent and for a striking +display of the different qualities of the two men. The Duke of +Richmond had a squabble with Lyndhurst last night, 'impar +congressus,' and he has wriggled himself almost back among the +Whigs; nothing but the appropriation clause in the Church Bill +prevents his being First Lord of the Admiralty, and he may be +considered as having dropped off the dilly with so many others. +The Whigs are dying to have him back among them. I must confess I +do not see why, but it is impossible to deny that he contrives to +make himself desired by those with whom he has acted, and as they +must know best what they are about and what he is capable of, it +is reasonable to suppose that he has some talents or some +qualities which are developed in the graver affairs of life, but +which do not appear in its ordinary relations and habitudes. I +thought what he said to me the other night looked like a +severance of his Stanley connexion, and his strenuous support of +this Bill and his pettish attacks upon Lyndhurst show that he at +least is not likely to ally himself with the Conservatives. + + +August 21st, 1835 {p.292} + +Yesterday I fell in with Lyndhurst, just getting out of his +carriage at his door in George Street. He asked me to come in and +look at his house, which I did. I asked him what would happen +about the Bill. He said, 'Oh, they will take it. What can they +do? If they choose to throw it out, let them do so, I don't care +whether they do or not. But they will take it, because they know +it does their business, though not so completely as they desire.' +He said he would alter the qualification, though he did not think +it objectionable. I told him I hoped there might be some +compromise, and that he and his friends would give way on some of +their amendments, and that the Commons would take the rest. Even +the 'Times,' which _goes the whole hog_ with the Opposition, +won't swallow this (the aldermen), and suggests that it should be +withdrawn. Nothing ever was like the outrageous indecency of the +attacks upon the House of Lords in the Ministerial papers, and it +is not clear that they won't overdo the thing; this kind of fury +generally defeats its own object. + + +August 25th, 1835 + +[Page Head: WHAT IS HAPPINESS?] + +At Hillingdon from Saturday till Monday last; began the Life of +Mackintosh, and was delighted with Sydney Smith's letter which is +prefixed to it; read and walked all day on Sunday--the two things +I do least, viz. exercise my mind and body; therefore both grow +gross and heavy. Shakespeare says fat paunches make lean pates, +but this is taken from a Greek proverb. I admire this family of +Cox's at Hillingdon, and after casting my eyes in every direction, +and thinking much and often of the theory of happiness, I am +convinced that it is principally to be found in contented +mediocrity, accompanied with an equable temperament and warm +though not excitable feelings. When I read such books as +Mackintosh's Life, and see what other men have done, how they have +read and thought, a sort of despair comes over me, a deep and +bitter sensation of regret 'for time misspent and talents +misapplied,' not the less bitter from being coupled with a +hopelessness of remedial industry and of doing better things. Nor +do I know that such men as these were happy; that they possessed +sources of enjoyment inaccessible to less gifted minds is not to +be doubted, but whether knowledge and conscious ability and +superiority generally bring with them content of mind and the +sunshine of self-satisfaction to the possessors is anything but +certain. I wonder the inductive process has not been more +systematically applied to the solution of this great philosophical +problem, _what is happiness_, and _in what it consists_, for the +practical purpose of directing the human mind into the right road +for reaching this goal of all human wishes. Why are not +innumerable instances collected, examined, analysed, and the +results expanded, explained, and reasoned upon for the benefit and +instruction of mankind? Who can tell but what these results may +lead at last to some simple conclusions such as it requires no +vast range of intellect to discover, no subtle philosophy to +teach--conclusions mortifying to the pride and vanity of man, but +calculated to mitigate the evils of life by softening mutual +asperities, and by the establishment of the doctrine of +_humility_, from which all charity, forbearance, toleration, and +benevolence must flow as from their source? These simple +conclusions may amount to no more than a simple maxim that +happiness is to be found 'in the pursuit of truth and the practice +of virtue.' + + Semita certe + Tranquillae per virtutem patet unica vitae. + +The end of the tenth Satire of Juvenal (which is one of the +finest sermons that ever was composed, and worth all the homilies +of all the Fathers of the Church) teaches us what to pray for-- + + Orandum est ut sit mens sana in corpore sano. + +Healthy body, healthy appetite, healthy feelings, though +accompanied by mediocrity of talent, unadorned with wit and +imagination, and unpolished by learning and science, will +outstrip in the race for happiness the splendid irregularities of +genius and the most dazzling successes of ambition. At the same +time this general view of the probabilities of happiness must be +qualified by the admission that mere vegetation scarcely deserves +the name of happiness, and that the highest enjoyment which +humanity is capable of may be said to consist in the pleasures of +reason and imagination--of a mind expatiating among the wonders +of nature, and ranging through all the 'changes of many-coloured +life,' without being shaken from its equilibrium by the +disturbing causes of jealousy, envy, and the evil passions of our +nature. The most galling of all conditions is that of him whose +conscience and consciousness whisper to him perpetual reproaches, +who reflects on what he might have been and who feels and sees +what he is. When such a man as Macintosh, fraught with all +learning, whose mind, if not kindled into a steady blaze, is +perpetually throwing out sparks and coruscations of exceeding +brightness, is stung with these self-upbraidings, what must be +the reflections of those, the utmost reach of whose industry is +far below the value of _his_ most self-accused idleness, who have +no self-consolation, are plunged in entire darkness, and have not +only to lament the years of omission, but those of commission, +not only the opportunities neglected, but the positive mischief +done by the debasement of the faculties, the deterioration of the +understanding, the impairing of the power of exertion consequent +upon a long devotion to low, despicable, unprofitable habits and +pursuits? + + +August 27th, 1835 {p.295} + +[Page Head: STATE OF PARTIES.] + +Melbourne has thrown up the Tithe Bill in the Lords, because the +Opposition expunged the appropriation clauses. In the Corporation +Bill Lyndhurst made still further alterations, such as the Commons +will not take (the town clerks and the exclusion of Dissenters +from the disposal of ecclesiastical patronage), and as it is the +general opinion that they will make no compromise and surrender +none of their amendments, that Bill will probably be lost too. +What then? asks everybody, and nobody can tell what then, but +there is a sort of vague apprehension that _something_ must come +of it, and that this collision (for collision it is) between the +Lords and the Commons will not be terminated without some violent +measures or important changes; if such do take place, they will +have been most wantonly and wickedly brought about, but it is a +lamentable thing to see the two great parties in the country, +equally possessed of wealth and influence, and having the same +interest in general tranquillity, tearing each other to pieces +while the Radicals stand laughing and chuckling by, only waiting +for the proper moment to avail themselves of these senseless +divisions. There is something inconceivable, a sort of political +absurdity, in the notion of a country like this being on the eve +of a convulsion, when it is tranquil, prosperous, and without any +grievance; universal liberty prevails, every man's property and +person are safe, the laws are well administered and duly obeyed; +so far from there being any unredressed grievances, the +imagination of man cannot devise the fiction or semblance of a +grievance without there being a rush to correct it. The only real +evil is that the rage for correction is too violent, and sweeps +all before it. What is it, then, which menaces the existence of +the constitution we live under? It is the fury of parties, it is +the broad line of separation which the Reform Bill has drawn, the +antagonist positions into which the two Houses of Parliament have +been thrown, and the Whigs having identified themselves with the +democratic principle in one House, in order to preserve their +places, and the Conservative principle having taken refuge in the +other House, where it is really endangered by the obstinate and +frantic violence of its supporters. What was the loud and eternal +cry of the Lords, and of all the Conservatives, when the Reform +Bill was in agitation? That it was a revolution, that it would +place all political power in the hands of the people, that it +would establish an irresistible democratic force; and the great +body of them justified their refusal to go into Committee on the +ground that the Bill was so vicious in principle, so irremediably +mischievous, that no alterations could diminish its evil tendency. +It is now as clear as daylight that if they had gone into +Committee and amended the Bill, they might have obviated all or +nearly all the evils they apprehended, for even after the passing +of the 'whole Bill,' with all its clauses perfect and untouched, +parties are so nearly balanced that the smallest difference would +turn the scale the other way. They would, however, listen to +nothing, and now they feel the consequences of their _ruat coelum_ +policy; but what I complain of is, that after the verification of +their predictions, and the realisation of their fears, in the +establishment of a democratic power of formidable strength, they +do not act consistently with their own declared opinions; for if +it be true, as they assert, that their legitimate authority and +influence have been transferred to other hands, and that the just +equilibrium of the Constitution has been shaken, it is mad and +preposterous in them to act just as if no such disturbing causes +had occurred, as if they were still in the plenitude of their +constitutional power, and to provoke a collision which, if their +own assertions be true, they are no longer in a condition to +sustain. The answer to such arguments as this invariably is, Are +the Lords, then, to be content to yield everything, and must they +pass every Bill which the House of Commons thinks fit to send to +them purely and simply? Certainly they are not; no such thing is +expected of them by any man or any set of men, but common prudence +and a sense of their own condition and their own relative strength +under the new dispensation demand that they should exercise their +undoubted rights with circumspection and calmness, desisting from +all opposition for opposition's sake, standing out firmly on +questions involving great and important principles, and yielding +with a good grace, without ill-humour, and without subserviency on +minor points. They ought, for example, to have followed in the +footsteps of Peel in this Irish Corporation Bill, and to have +satisfied themselves with making those amendments which he strove +for without success in the House of Commons, and no more. As it +is, he wholly disapproves of the course they have taken, and so I +believe did the Duke of Wellington in the beginning of the +discussions, but Lyndhurst took the lead with the violent party, +overruled the Duke, neglected Peel, and dealt with the Bill in the +slashing manner we have seen. + +[Page Head: SECLUSION OF SIR R. PEEL.] + +I was talking to Lord John Russell yesterday at Court on this +subject, and he said that he had no doubt Peel highly disapproved +of their proceedings, and that it was evident he did not pretend +to guide them; for one day in the House of Commons he went over to +Peel, and said that he meant to recommit (or some such thing, no +matter what the particular course was) the Bill that night, and he +supposed he would not object. Peel said, 'Oh, no, I don't object,' +and as he was going away Peel called him back and said, 'Remember +I speak only for myself; I can answer for no other individual in +the House.' He went out of town about a fortnight ago, has never +returned, and will not; his own friends think he ought, but it is +evident that he prefers to wash his hands of the matter. He knows +well enough that the Conservatives hate him in their hearts; +besides having never cordially forgiven him for his conduct on the +Catholic question, they are indignant at his Liberal views and +opinions, and when they adopted him as their leader it was in the +fond hope that he would restore the good old days of Tory +Government, than which nothing could be farther from his thoughts. +John Russell said of him yesterday 'that he was, in fact, a great +lover of changes and innovations;' and so he is. It often occurs +to me that he would not care very much if the House of Lords did +go to the wall, and that though he is the acknowledged head of the +Conservative party, he doesn't in his heart care much for +Conservative principles. He may possibly calculate that no change +can take place in this country by which property will be menaced; +that personally he is safe, and politically his vast superiority +in all the requisites for public life must, under all possible +circumstances, make him the most eminent performer on the great +stage. I do not know that he has any such thoughts as these, but +it appears to me far from improbable, and the more so from his +keeping aloof at this moment and abstaining (as far as we know) +from any attempt to restrain the indiscretion and impetuosity of +his party. + +[Page Head: THE WHIGS' TITHE BILL.] + +But if on the one hand the conduct of the Tories with respect to +the Corporation Bill has been violent and rash, that of the +Government with respect to the Tithe Bill has been unspeakably +wicked. I cannot recollect an instance of so complete a sacrifice +of the interests of others, of their own principles, and of +national tranquillity to mere party objects, and the more I +reflect upon the course they have taken the more profligate and +disgraceful it appears. These Ministers have recorded their +opinion that the question of appropriation ought not to be mixed +up with that of commutation; that they are essentially distinct, +and ought to remain so. At the beginning of this session the +united Whigs and Radicals considered only one thing--how to drive +Peel out, and though they had a choice of means to accomplish this +end, the famous resolution about appropriation was the one which +they finally selected for the purpose. In so doing they were +altogether regardless of future consequences,[1] and never stopped +to calculate what would be the effect of saddling the measure of +relief (in which all parties concurred) with this impossible +condition. Now how stands the case? They declare that Ireland (as +all the world knows) is a scene of disorder and bloodshed, of +which the Tithe system is the principal cause, and that the Tithe +Bill will afford an effectual remedy to the evil. It is therefore +their imperative and paramount duty, as it ought to be their +earnest and engrossing desire, to secure the application of their +remedy, and, whether in office or out of office (with the +expectation and intention of coming in), to take care that nothing +should be mixed up with it by which it can be endangered, and that +it should be proposed merely for what it is, and not made +subservient to any object but that for which it has been +professedly framed. Having committed the first error of employing +this resolution to drive out the Government, they then considered +themselves obliged to adopt it as an integral part of the Bill, +and accordingly they did so, with a full knowledge that by so +doing they should ensure the rejection of the Bill itself and that +Ireland would continue in the same state of anarchy and confusion, +only aggravated by the furious contests of parties here and by the +failure of all schemes of remedial legislation. Nothing can be +more certain than this, that if the state of Ireland had been +taken into consideration with the simple, straightforward view of +tranquillising the country, and that no party object had been +mixed up with it, the framers of the Tithe Bill would sedulously +have avoided introducing the appropriation clause; but during the +great battle with Peel the establishment of this principle (not +only the principle of _appropriation_, but that _no relief_ should +be afforded without its recognition) was made the condition of +Radical support and the bond of Radical connection, and having as +the result of this compact pledged the House of Commons to the +principle, they refuse to retrace their steps, and offer the House +of Lords the alternative of its recognition (knowing that they +cannot in sincerity, honour, or conscience recognise it) or that +of an irreparable injury to the Irish Church, which it is the +grand object of the Lords to uphold. But the question must not be +considered as one merely affecting the interests of the clergy of +Ireland. If that were all, there might be no such great harm in +these proceedings. Entertaining very strong (and as I think very +sound) opinions with respect to the expediency of dealing with its +revenues, and for purposes ultimately to be effected which they +cannot yet venture to avow, they might be justified, or think +themselves justified, in coping with the difficulties which +embarrass this question in the best mode that is open to them, and +deem it better that the Irish clergy should suffer the temporary +privations they undergo than that the final settlement of the +ecclesiastical question should be indefinitely postponed. But they +do not pretend to be actuated by any such considerations; their +declared object is to restore peace to Ireland, to terminate the +Tithe quarrel, to raise the Protestant clergy from their fallen +state, and to assert the authority of the law by taking away the +inducements which now exist for setting the law at defiance. Those +who undertake to govern the country are above all things bound to +see that the laws are obeyed, and they do not deserve the name of +a Government if they submit to, much less if they connive at, a +permanent state of anarchy in any part of the country. They know +that the law in Ireland is a dead letter, that neither to statute +nor common law do the lower orders of Irish Catholics (the bulk of +the nation) pay the slightest obedience, and that they are +countenanced and urged on in their disobedience by those agitators +with whom the Government act in political fellowship, and in +deference to whom their measures have been shaped. Granting that +after the adoption of the resolution by the House of Commons they +were bound to insert it in their Bill, what justification is there +for their refusal to receive the Bill back from the Lords with no +other alteration than the omission of the appropriation clause? In +so refusing they destroy their own measure; they publish to the +world that it is the principle of appropriation, and not the Tithe +composition, that they really care for; and in thus strangling +their own Bill, because they cannot tack that principle on to it, +they make themselves accomplices of the outrages and violence +which are perpetrated in the Tithe warfare, and abettors of the +regular and systematic violation of the law. The King's Government +exhibits itself in a conspiracy with Catholic agitators and +Protestant republicans against the clergy of the Established +Church and against the laws of the land. If they are sincere in +their own statements and declarations they must of necessity deem +no object commensurate with this in point of urgency and +importance; and what is the object to which this is postponed? +That of maintaining their own consistency; because they turned the +late Government out on this question they must now adhere to it +with desperate tenacity; their interests as a party demand that +they should; O'Connell and the Radicals will not forgive them if +they give it up. They might if they would declare their unchanged +opinion in favour of the principle of appropriation, and their +determination to press the adoption of it at all times and by all +means, and never to desist till they had accomplished its +recognition, but at the same time announce that the perilous state +of Ireland--the magnitude of the evil resulting from the Tithe +system--would not allow them to reject the Tithe Bill though +denuded of the appropriation clauses, as all the rest of its +provisions (all those by which the Tithe system was to be +determined) had been passed by the Lords. I cannot conceive how a +conscientious Minister can take upon himself the responsibility of +quashing this measure, and contentedly look forward to the +probability--almost certainty--of a fresh course of outrage and +disorder, and a new catalogue of miseries and privations, which he +all the time believes it is in his power to avert. But these +Ministers think that they could not avert these evils (by +accepting the Bill) without giving umbrage to their task-masters +and allies, and they do not scruple to sacrifice the mighty +interests at stake in Ireland to the paltry and ephemeral +interests of their party--interests which cannot outlive the +present hour and party, which the slightest change in the +political atmosphere may sweep away in an instant. There is also +another reason by which they are determined; they cannot face the +accusation of inconsistency--the question that would be put, Why +did you turn out Peel's Government? You turned him out on this +very principle which you are now ready to abandon. There is no +doubt that this question would be put with a very triumphant air +by their opponents, but they might easily answer it, without +admitting in so many words--what everybody well knows without any +admission--that the resolution was brought forward for the express +purpose of turning Peel out. They might say that they moved that +resolution because it is a principle that they wished to +establish, and that they still think ought to be established; that +Peel's resignation on that particular question was of his own +choice, and that if they are not irrevocably bound by the +resolution itself, they are not the more bound by that circumstance; +that they sent the Bill to the House of Lords in what they +consider the best form, but that after the Lords had agreed to the +whole measure, with the exception of the appropriation clauses, it +was their duty to take the matter again into their serious +consideration, and to determine whether it was on the whole more +advantageous to Ireland and to the Empire that the Bill should be +rejected (with all the consequences of its rejection apparent) or +that it should be passed without these clauses. There was no +necessity for their abandonment of any opinion or principle, nor +any obstacle to the appropriation clauses being brought forward +again and again in a substantive independent shape. Besides this, +it is not pretended that these clauses were to produce any +immediate perhaps not even any remote, effect, and they not only +acknowledge that the state of Ireland calls for an immediate +remedy, but they assert that unless the remedy is applied without +loss of time it will come too late; that the Tithe Bill, which +this year would accomplish its object, will in all probability +next year be wholly inoperative. To my mind this reasoning is so +conclusive that I can come to no other than the harsh judgment +which I have passed upon their conduct, and I think I have made +good my charges against both Whigs and Tories. + + [1] The Whigs were not, probably, the Radicals. O'Connell, + without doubt, had very good reasons for pinning the + Government to this, and foresaw all the consequences of + the compact by which he bound them. + + +August 29th, 1835 {p.303} + +[Page Head: ALTERCATION IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS.] + +The House of Lords has become a beargarden since Brougham has +been in it; there is no night that is not distinguished by some +violent squabble between him and the Tories. Lord Winchelsea +directly accused him of cowardice the night before last, to which +he replied, 'As to my being _afraid_ to say elsewhere what I say +here, oh, that is too absurd to require an answer.' It is +nevertheless true. Melbourne does very well; his memory served +him happily on this night. Brougham had lashed the Lords into a +fury by calling them a _mob_, and Melbourne quoted Lord +Chesterfield, who said that _all_ deliberative assemblies were +_mobs_. The other day Lord Howick was inveighing passionately +against the Lords for their mutilations of the Corporation Bill, +when Melbourne said, with his characteristic _nonchalance_, 'Why, +what does it matter? We have gone on tolerably well for 500 years +with these corporations, and we may contrive to go on with them +for another year or so.' + +On the King's birthday his Majesty had Lord Lansdowne and Lord +Melbourne to dine with him at Windsor, and he made some +extraordinary speeches, of which various versions are about the +town. By-the-bye, I was turning over the 'Annual Register' the +other day, and hit upon his speech last year to the bishops, and +I was astonished at the eloquence of it. It is said that +Phillpotts composed it for him, but there are some internal marks +of its emanating from himself. It is certainly remarkably good of +the kind, and I think it more probable that he spoke what he +thought and felt, and that Phillpotts reported it and made the +best of it. + + +September 1st, 1835 {p.303} + +Lord John Russell assembled his Whigs and Radicals at the Foreign +Office yesterday morning, and announced to them the course he +proposed to adopt with regard to the Corporation Bill, the +amendments he would accept, those he would modify, and those he +would decline. Hume made a violent speech, deprecating any +concessions, but O'Connell made a very moderate one, recommending +a compromise, and saying that great alarm prevailed among many +well-meaning and conscientious persons lest Reform should proceed +too far; that it was highly expedient to quiet these apprehensions, +and upon every account therefore he recommended a moderate and +conciliatory course. There were between two and three hundred +present at this meeting. Accordingly in the afternoon John Russell +stated over again in the House of Commons pretty much what he had +said in the morning, and made a very temperate and conciliatory +speech. Peel, who had arrived suddenly and unexpectedly in +town,[2] rose after him, and, as everybody said (some with joy, +others with rage), 'threw over the Lords.' He declared his +concurrence in those amendments which John Russell agreed to, and +his acquiescence in most of the other provisions without the +amendments of the Lords; to the aldermen for life he objected, and +to some other particulars, as his speech shows. The only amendment +to which he subscribed (and that was objected to by Government) +was the exclusion of Dissenters from the disposal of Church +patronage, and I was very much surprised to hear him stand out for +this upon (as I think) very insufficient grounds. Nothing could +exceed the dismay and the rage (though suppressed) of the +Conservatives at his speech. He was not a bit cheered by those +behind him, but very heartily by those opposite. One silly, noisy +fellow, whose principal vocation in the House of Commons is to +bellow, came near me under the gallery, and I asked him why they +did not cheer, when he sulkily answered, 'he was so well cheered +by the other side that it was not necessary.' Lord Harrowby was +under the gallery. I asked him what he said to Peel's speech. 'I +did not hear it,' he tartly replied, 'but he seems to have given +up the aldermen. I have a great affection for the aldermen.' At +the 'Travellers' I met Strangford, and asked him the same +question. He said, 'I say, Not content.' 'But,' said I, 'you must +take the Bill.' 'Not I, for one; the Lords cannot take it, and if +we are to be ruined I think we had better be ruined by real +Radicals than by sham Tories.' Afterwards I saw Lord Londonderry, +who talked in the same strain, not denying that the Duke of +Wellington had unwillingly come into the measures which Lyndhurst +had adopted, but talking of Lyndhurst's Conservative scruples as a +constitutional lawyer, and such stuff as this. The manner in which +the Duke has been ousted from the leadership, and the alacrity +with which the Lords have followed Lyndhurst, because he led them +into violent courses, is not the least curious part of this +business. (It seems they only meant to make Lyndhurst their leader +_pro hac vice_.) + + [2] Peel gave no notice of his intention to come to town. + Hardinge, who is more intimate with him than most of + his political associates, was so sure he would not come + that he told Bradshaw, who asked him, that he certainly + would not be here, and that he (Bradshaw) might go into + the country when he pleased. + +[Page Head: PEEL'S CONCILIATORY CONDUCT.] + +Bingham Baring and I walked away together, and I went with him to +Lord Ashburton's house, who was not a little astonished at what we +told him, and asserted that Peel was quite wrong about the +aldermen. The violent Whigs were rather provoked at the turn +things took, and Howick, whom I saw under the gallery, said with +great bitterness (mixed with pleasure at Peel's abandonment of the +Lords) that he, for one, 'only consented to these alterations, +which made the Bill so much worse, with a view to obtain future +compensation, and _with interest_.' The English Radicals were very +indignant, and Hume, Grote, and Roebuck spoke one after another +against the Government concessions, but there was no disposition +to listen to them, and an evident satisfaction at the prospect of +an amicable termination of the rising dispute. Nobody apprehends +any other termination, for though the Lords will bluster, and +fume, and fret, and there will be no small fermentation of +mortified pride and vanity, there must be some difference of +opinion at least, and the Duke of Wellington is quite sure to +exert his influence to bring the majority to adopt Peel's views. +It has always been considered by the Tories an object of paramount +importance to keep their party together (this was the pretext of +Wharncliffe and Harrowby for joining in that fatal postponement of +Schedule A), and if after Peel's speech they were to refuse to +accept the fair compromise which is tendered to them, it is +impossible to suppose that he would consider himself as belonging +to them, or that they could pretend to acknowledge him as their +leader, and the Tory party would by this schism be effectually +broken up. + +I have long considered the breaking up of the Tory party as a +grand desideratum, and though I earnestly desire to see a powerful +Conservative party in the country and in Parliament, it must be +one reconstructed out of materials more various and more Liberal +than that which now calls itself Conservative, but which in its +heart clings to the narrow notions and loves the exclusive system +of bygone days. The dissolution of the Tory party in the House of +Lords, by a division of them into a high and a low section, would +in itself be a reform of that House, and it is to such a +dissolution and fresh modification of parties that we must look +for a reform, which without any violent change will redress the +balance and enable the machine of government to move without +obstruction. I sat next to Senior in the House of Lords, and he +was talking of the necessity of a reform of the House of Peers, +and he said, 'I can see the steps of it very plainly.' 'What, by +making Peers for life, as you suggest in your pamphlet?' 'No, it +is too late for that now, but by the election of representatives. +When Scotland was united she sent representative Peers elected +from the body; Ireland the same. Now fifty years of Tory rule have +given such a preponderance to the Tory interest in the House of +Lords, that the balance cannot be redressed but by a creation +which would make the House of Peers too numerous for a legislative +assembly. I would therefore begin by creating, in order to +equalise the strength of the opposite parties, and then the Peers +should elect representatives.' I said, 'All this will be +unnecessary, for the Tory party will be broken up, and without a +change so startling and extensive the balance will be quietly +redressed, and in the natural order of things.' The Duc de Nemours +was under the gallery in the House of Commons, but he soon went +away, and in the middle of Peel's speech. + + +September 3rd, 1835 {p.306} + +[Page Head: RECONCILIATION.] + +Nothing could be better than the temper and disposition of the +House on Tuesday night, as well as on Monday, nothing more +flattering to Peel. John Russell said 'he was anxious that the +clause (I forget which) should go forth with the sanction of the +right honourable baronet's approbation.' Peel said he spoke only +for himself; Lord John said that made no difference, indicating in +fact that his opinion was worth more than those of all his +followers put together. The Lords in the meantime are tremendously +sulky, and though it is impossible to believe they will have the +frantic folly to refuse the accommodation that by God's mercy is +offered to them, it is not quite safe, and they are now in grand +conclave at Apsley House to determine upon their course. Lord +Lansdowne told me at Court yesterday that the day before he went +up to Lyndhurst in the House of Lords, to speak to him about some +Bill, when Lyndhurst said, 'I was in hopes you were coming to +speak to me about the amendments.' 'No; it will be time enough to +talk about them when they are again before the House.' 'Well, and +what do they say now?' 'They say that the lives of your aldermen +are not at a premium.' 'Do they? But they will rise in the market +to-morrow, I can tell you.' What satisfies me most in all this is +the conduct of the Government, and even that of many of the +Radicals--of Hume, for instance--and the general temper and +disposition evinced by the House, symptomatic of a more healthy +feeling than I ever expected to see displayed. In the division the +Radical numbers were contemptible, showing that the Conservative +interest, if not broken up by party divisions, and if ever it was +roused and connected by the acknowledgment of a common danger, +would crush the Radical force in an instant. These are valuable +manifestations, and worth a hundred clauses in the Corporation +Bill; for what matters it whether aldermen and town clerks are +perpetuated or suppressed? and it really is grotesque to fight for +these puerilities as if it was a contest _pro aris et focis_, and +to hesitate one instant whether a collision should be provoked +between the two Houses of Parliament, and the advantages both +direct and collateral flowing from Peel's mediation be thrown +away, for the sake of maintaining these secondary and questionable +objects. + + +September 6th, 1835 {p.307} + +On Thursday there was a great meeting at Apsley House; eighty +Peers present, and four hours' deliberation. They kept their +resolutions a profound secret, but as I knew what they were on +Friday morning, I went to Melbourne and told him, in order that +the Government might be prepared, and turn over in their minds +how matters might be accommodated. The Tories adhered to the +justices and wards, and abandoned the rest. I found Melbourne and +Lord John together; the latter said there would be no difficulty +about the justices, but the amendment about the wards was +impossible. + +[Page Head: EFFECTS OF MUNICIPAL REFORM.] + +The debate at night was carried on with extraordinary temper and +calmness; Brougham complimented Lyndhurst in very glowing terms. +The matter now stands over till Monday, when the Commons must +determine whether to accept the Bill with these alterations or +reject it on account of them. There is great division of opinion +as to the result, but I cannot bring myself to believe that they +will let the Bill drop for such trifles. I asked Wharncliffe last +night to explain to me in what manner these things would operate +_politically_, and he owned that he thought their political +importance was greatly overrated, but that the division proposed +by Government gave greater influence to numbers, while that +substituted by the Peers gave more to property, and that the +constitution of the town councils, whether they were more or less +Radical or Conservative, would have a political effect in this +way; that in every borough little democracies would be established, +which would be continually exercising a democratic influence and +extending democratic principles, and that the greater the infusion +of Conservative interest you could make in these new bodies the +more that tendency would be counteracted. In my opinion a fallacy +lurks under this argument; they assume the certain democratic, +even revolutionary, character of the new town councils without any +sufficient reason, but if this be so, and if they are correct in +their anticipations, I doubt whether the guards and drawbacks with +which they are endeavouring to counteract the pernicious influence +they dread will be found efficacious. I do not despair of the +prevalence of sound Conservative principles _upon a Liberal +basis_, and it appears to me that the Peers have committed a great +blunder in expressing such violent suspicion and distrust of the +new corporations; that nothing is so likely to make them Radical +as to insist that they must and will be so, or to render them +inimical to the aristocracy and to aristocratic institutions as to +exhibit a violent hostility on the part of the aristocracy towards +them. I apply this observation generally to their way of dealing +with the question rather than to the particular words of the +disputed clause, which is probably on the whole fairer and better +as the Peers amended it than as the Commons framed it, so much so +that I do not understand the tenacity with which the Government +cling to it. One thing is very clear, that neither for this nor +for the justices clause is it worth while (to either party) that +the prevailing harmony should be broken and the Bill be lost. If +both parties were sincerely desirous of an accommodation, and +there was any common interest, any common ground on which they +could meet, there would be no difficulty in an adjustment; but +this is not the case. Not only are the interests and wishes of the +two parties at variance, but the desires of the moderate and the +violent in each party are so too. The moderate in both probably do +wish for an accommodation. The Bill is the Bill of the Whigs, and +with all the amendments it does in point of fact accomplish their +object, though not, as Lyndhurst said, so completely as without +them. They wish the Bill to pass, therefore, but the Tories detest +the Bill even as it is, and it is no concern of theirs _quoad +Bill_ that it should pass; on the contrary, they would rejoice at +its failure, but its failure would place the two Houses in a state +of collision, and though each party would throw the blame on the +other (on very plausible grounds either way), it is more the +interest of the Lords than of the Commons to avert this, because +the danger of collision attaches exclusively to the Lords. The +violent of the Commons would rather like it; the violent of the +Lords would doggedly encounter it. There are many who desire that +the dispute should not be settled, in order to push matters to +extremities and involve the Houses in a contest, in order to +extirpate the House of Lords. What renders it more desirable on +account of the Lords that the Bill should not be lost, and a cry +got up against them, is the circumstance of their having thrown +out so many other Bills, and some on very unjustifiable +grounds--the Dublin Police Bill, for example. Not a word was said +against its merits; on the contrary, it was not denied that the +case was urgent, and it was only thrown out because the Lord Mayor +and Corporation of Dublin had not been consulted. Now it might +have been very proper to consult these functionaries; it may even +be a culpable omission to have neglected them; but this is not a +time, nor is the House of Lords in circumstances, to be so +fastidious and to stickle for such formalities. Their character +with the nation is at stake, and it is of far greater consequence +that they should do nothing calculated to throw suspicion on their +motives, or odium on their proceedings, than to provide for a +punctilious observance of respect and deference to the Dublin +Corporation. They seem to me to have made a great mistake in +throwing out this Bill, and I am much deceived if they do not hear +more of it hereafter. + + +September 8th, 1835 {p.310} + +Lord John called another meeting at the Foreign Office yesterday +morning, when he proposed, and they agreed to take the Lords' +amendments and finish the business; so this famous Corporation +Bill has got through at last. O'Connell and Warburton concurred +in accepting it. The only man who violently opposed its being +accepted was Tom Duncombe, who made a furious harangue, and +boldly asserted that _he knew_ to a positive certainty that if +the Commons would hold out the Peers would abandon the justices +and wards, and he offered _privately_ to give John Russell a list +of Peers sufficient to carry this, and who, he would answer for +it, were ready to make the concession. Lord John, however, was +too wise to listen to such impudent nonsense, and, though very +reluctantly, it was settled that the Commons should give way. +Both parties probably overrate the value of the disputed clauses, +and it is to be regretted that the two Houses will not part +_amicably_. Government takes the Bill under a sort of engagement +to consider it as an instalment, and that they shall try and get +the difference next year. This is mere humbug, and a poor sop +thrown to the Radicals, but as it answers the immediate purpose +it is very well. + + +September 9th, 1835 {p.311} + +[Page Head: THE KING'S HARANGUE ON THE MILITIA.] + +To-day at Court, when his Majesty made one of his most +extraordinary harangues, and much more lengthy than usual. It was +evidently got up with great care and previous determination. The +last article on the Council list was one for the reduction of the +militia, and it was upon this that he descanted with great +vehemence. He gave a historical account of the militia from the +year 1756, when he said it was increased against the inclination +of George II., who was not so well acquainted with the country as +his successors have been, 'when there was a Whig Administration, +as there is now.' He declared his conviction that the safety of +the country demanded a numerous and effective militia, that +nothing should have induced him to consent to the present +reduction but the necessity of making some changes which had +become indispensable owing to the culpable conduct of colonels of +the militia who had neglected their duty, but whose names he +would not expose; that agitators in Ireland and political +economists here wished to reduce this force, in order, under the +pretext of economy, to leave the country defenceless; but he +never would consent to this, and only agreed to the present +measure upon a clear understanding that early in the next session +the matter was to be brought forward in Parliament with a view to +render the militia more efficient; that nothing but the militia +justified the smallness of our military establishments as +compared with those of other nations; and he finished by saying +that the state of our relations with Russia made the maintenance +of this force of paramount importance, as it was impossible to +say what dangers we might not be menaced with from that quarter, +or how soon we might be called upon to face them, and that the +advisers of the Crown would incur a deep responsibility if any +mischief arose from the undue reduction of this force. He ended a +very long speech (of which I can only put down an outline) with +this strange denunciation against Russia, and then said, 'One +word more. I have spoken thus in the presence of many Lords who +are connected with the militia, either immediately or through +their friends, because I wish that my sentiments should be +thoroughly and extensively promulgated.' This is a very brief +outline of his oration, which was delivered with great energy. + +At the levee I had some talk with Hobhouse, who expressed himself +well satisfied with the termination of the Corporation contest; +he said that the King was delighted, and added (in which I think +he flatters himself) that he was in high good-humour in +consequence, and that though he disliked them politically, he +liked them very well personally, and that if the Irish Church +question could be arranged, he would be quite content with them, +and they should be excellent friends. + +Lord Howick, who is the bitterest of all that party, and +expresses himself with astonishing acrimony, talked in his usual +strain, and I could not refrain from giving him a bit of my mind. +He talked of 'the Lords having played their last trump,' of 'the +impossibility of their going on, of the hostility towards them in +the country, and the manner in which suggestions of reforming the +House of Lords were received in the House of Commons,' and +expressed his conviction that 'that House as an institution was +in imminent danger.' I told him I did not believe that such +sentiments pervaded the country, that I had not yet seen +sufficient evidence of it, and asked if such a spirit really was +in activity, did he not think he was bound to set about resisting +and counteracting it? He talked of 'its not being resistible;' he +said that 'the Lords must give way or a collision would be the +consequence,' and 'he knew who would go to the wall.' I said that +'it was such sentiments as those, uttered by such men as himself, +which most contributed to create the danger the existence of +which he deplored.' To this he made no answer; but who can feel +secure when a Minister of the Crown, in the palace of the King, +within three yards of his person, while he is there present +exercising the functions of royalty, holds language the most +revolutionary, and such as might more naturally be uttered at +some low meeting in St. Giles's or St. Pancras' than in such a +place? In spite of my disposition to be sanguine, it is +impossible to shake off all alarm when I hear the opinions of men +of different parties (opinions founded on different data and +biassed by opposite wishes) meeting at the same point, and +arriving by different roads at the same conclusion. + +[Page Head: THE KING AND THE DUCHESS OF KENT.] + +Lyndhurst (who called on me the day before yesterday about some +business) talked over the Corporation Bill, which he considers to +be nearly as important as the Reform Bill. He says it must give +them all the corporate boroughs, for he assumes as an undoubted +fact that the new councils will be Radical, and that their +influence will radicalise the boroughs. He said there was no +chance of the House of Lords surviving ten years, that power must +reside in the House of Commons, as it always had, and that the +House of Commons would not endure the independent authority of +the other House; so that Howick and Lyndhurst are not far apart +in their calculations. It is certainly true, what Lyndhurst said +to me the other day in George Street, that 'they know the Bill +accomplishes their purpose.' Melbourne said to me at Court that +'it was a great _bouleversement_, a great experiment, and we must +see how it worked.' I met him in St. James's Park afterwards, and +walked with him to the Palace. He told me the King was in a state +of great excitement, especially about this militia question, but +that the thing which affected him most was the conduct of the +Duchess of Kent--her popularity-hunting, her progresses, and +above all the addresses which she received and replied to. He +told me what the King had said at dinner on his birthday about +her. 'I cannot expect to live very long, but I hope that my +successor may be of full age when she mounts the throne. I have +great respect for the person upon whom, in the event of my death, +the Regency would devolve, but I have great distrust of the +persons by whom she is surrounded. I know that everything which +falls from my lips is reported again, and I say this thus +candidly and publicly because it is my desire and intention that +these my sentiments should be made known.' Melbourne told me that +he believed Lord Durham is not in favour with the Duchess of +Kent, who has discovered that he had made use of her for his own +ends, and she has now withdrawn her confidence from him. I asked +him who her confidants were, but he either did not know or would +not tell me. + + +Doncaster, September 15th, 1835 {p.314} + +Left London on Saturday morning with Matuscewitz; I had a good +deal of conversation with him about the state and prospects of +this country, in the course of which he told me that Louis +Philippe had consulted Talleyrand about the maintenance of his +intimate connection with England, and that Talleyrand had +replied, 'When you came to the throne four years ago, I advised +you to cultivate your relations with England as the best security +you could obtain. I now advise you to relinquish that connection, +for in the present state of English politics it can only be +productive of danger or embarrassment to you.' Having omitted to +put it down at the time, I can't recollect the exact words, but +this was the sense, and _I think_ Matuscewitz said that Louis +Philippe had told him this himself. + +[Page Head: PRINCESS VICTORIA AT BURGHLEY.] + +We dined at Burghley on the way, and got here at two on Sunday; +read Mackintosh's Life in the carriage, which made me dreadfully +disgusted with my racing _metier_. What a life as compared with +mine!--passed among great and wise men, and intent on high +thoughts and honourable aspirations, existing amidst interests +far more pungent even than those which engage me, and of the +futility of which I am for ever reminded. I am struck with the +coincidence of the tastes and dispositions of Burke and +Mackintosh, and of something in the mind of the one which bears +an affinity to that of the other; but their characters--how +different! their abilities--how unequal! yet both, how superior, +even the weakest of the two, to almost all other men, and the +success of each so little corresponding with his powers, neither +having ever attained any object of ambition beyond that of fame. +All their talents, therefore, and all their requirements, did not +procure them content, and probably Burke was a very unhappy, and +Mackintosh not a very happy, man. The suavity, the indolent +temperament, the 'mitis sapientia' of Mackintosh may have warded +off sorrow and mitigated disappointment, but the stern and +vindictive energies of Burke must have kept up a storm of +conflicting passions in his breast. But I turn from Mackintosh +and Burke to all that is vilest and foolishest on earth, and +among such I now pass my unprofitable hours. There seems to me +less gaiety and bustle here than formerly, but as much villany as +ever. From want of money or of enterprise, or from greater +distrust and a paucity of spectators, there is very little +betting, and what there is, spiritless and dull. There are vast +crowds of people to see the Princess Victoria, who comes over +from Wentworth to-day, and the Due de Nemours is here. I am going +to run for the St. Leger, which I shall probably not win, and +though I am nervous and excited, I shall not care much if I lose, +and I doubt whether I should care very much if I won; but this +latter sensation will probably be for ever doubtful. There is +something in it all which displeases me, and I often wish I was +well out of it. + + +Burghley, September 21st, 1835 {p.315} + +I did lose the St. Leger, and did not care; idled on at Doncaster +to the end of the week, and came here on Saturday to meet the +Duchess of Kent. They arrived from Belvoir at three o'clock in a +heavy rain, the civic authorities having turned out at Stamford +to escort them, and a procession of different people all very +loyal. When they had lunched, and the Mayor and his brethren had +got dry, the Duchess received the address, which was read by Lord +Exeter as Recorder. It talked of the Princess as 'destined to +mount the throne of these realms.' Conroy handed the answer, just +as the Prime Minister does to the King. They are splendidly +lodged, and great preparations have been made for their +reception. + + +London, September 27th, 1835 {p.315} + +The dinner at Burghley was very handsome; hall well lit; and all +went off well, except that a pail of ice was landed in the +Duchess's lap, which made a great bustle. Three hundred people at +the ball, which was opened by Lord Exeter and the Princess, who, +after dancing one dance, went to bed. They appeared at breakfast +the next morning at nine o'clock, and at ten set off to Holkham. +Went to Newmarket on Tuesday and came to town on Wednesday; found +it very empty and no news. Lord Chatham died the day before +yesterday, which is of no other importance than that of giving +some honours and emoluments to Melbourne to distribute. + +The papers are full of nothing but O'Connell's progress in +Scotland, where he is received with unbounded enthusiasm by +enormous crowds, but by no people of rank, property, or +character. It is a rabble triumph altogether, but it is made the +most of by all the Ministerial papers. The Opposition papers pour +torrents of invective upon him, and he in his speeches is not +behindhand with the most virulent and scurrilous of them; he is +exalted to the bad eminence at which he has arrived more by the +assaults of his enemies than by the efforts of his friends. It is +the Tories who are ever insisting upon the immensity of his +power, and whose excess of hatred and fear make him of such vast +account that 'he draws the rabble after him as a monster makes a +show.' However mean may be his audiences in Scotland, he has +numbers to boast of, and that will serve his purpose; he will no +doubt render this reception instrumental to the increase of his +authority in Ireland. He now avows that he has abandoned Repeal, +and all other projects, in order to devote himself to the great +task of reforming the House of Lords. + +[Page Head: SIR JAMES MACKINTOSH.] + +I have finished Mackintosh's Life with great delight, and many +painful sensations, together with wonder and amazement. His +account of his reading is utterly incomprehensible to me; he must +have been endowed with some superhuman faculty of transferring the +contents of books to his own mind. He talks in his journals of +reading volumes in a few hours which would seem to demand many +days even from the most rapid reader. I have heard of Southey, who +would read a book through as he stood in a bookseller's shop; that +is, his eye would glance down the page, and by a process partly +mechanical, partly intellectual, formed by long habit, he would +extract in his synoptical passage all that he required to know. +(Macaulay was, and George Lewis is, just as wonderful in this +respect.) Some of the books that Mackintosh talks of, philosophical +and metaphysical works, could not be so disposed of, and I should +like much to know what his system or his secret was. I met Sydney +Smith yesterday, and asked him why more of the journals had not +been given. He said because the editors had been ill advised, but +that in another edition more should be given; that Mackintosh was +the most agreeable man he had ever known, that he had been +shamefully used by his friends, and by none more than by Brougham. +So, I said, it would appear by what you say in your letter. 'Oh +no,' he said, laughing and chuckling, and shaking his great belly, +'you don't really think I meant to allude to Brougham?' +'Mackintosh's son,' he said 'is a man of no talents, the +composition (what there is of it) belongs to Erskine, his +son-in-law, a sensible man.' To be sure there are some strange +things said by Mackintosh here and there; among others, that Lord +Holland only wanted voice--not to be impeded in his utterance--to +be a greater orator than Canning or Brougham! If he had not been a +man 'whom no sense of wrongs could rouse to vengeance,' he would +have flung the India Board in Lord Grey's face when he was +insulted with the offer of it.[3] What are we to think of the +necessary connection between intellectual superiority and official +eminence, when we have seen the Duke of Richmond invited to be a +member of the Cabinet, while Mackintosh was thrust into an obscure +and subordinate office--Mackintosh placed under the orders of +Charles Grant! Well might he regret that he had not been a +professor, and, 'with safer pride content,' adorned with unusual +glory some academical chair. Then while he was instructing and +delighting the world, there would have been many regrets and +lamentations that such mighty talents were confined to such a +narrow sphere, and innumerable speculations of the greatness he +would have achieved in political life, and how the irresistible +force of his genius and his eloquence must have raised him to the +pinnacle of Parliamentary fame and political power. Perhaps he +would have partaken in this delusion, and have bitterly lamented +the success which had deprived him of a more brilliant fortune and +a loftier fame; for it may reasonably be doubted whether all his +laborious investigations of the deepest recesses of the human +mind, and his extensive acquaintance with the theory of mental +phenomena, would have enabled him accurately to ascertain the +practical capabilities of his own mind, and to arrive at those +just conclusions which should indicate to him that path of life on +which it was most expedient for him to travel, with reference to +the strength of his understanding, and the softness, not to say +feebleness, of his character. + + [3] Sir James Mackintosh was a member of the Board of + Control under Lord Grey's Government. He never held any + other office in England. + + + + + CHAPTER XXX. + +Emperor Nicholas's Speech at Warsaw--His respect for opinion in + England--Burdett proposes the expulsion of O'Connell from + Brookes's--Club law--George Villiers at Madrid--Lord Segrave + Lord-Lieutenant of Gloucestershire--Dispute between France and + America--Allen's account of Mackintosh and Melbourne-- + Prolongation of a Patent--Should Dr. Arnold be made a Bishop?-- + Frederic Elliot--O'Connell's mischievous influence--Bretby-- + Chesterfield MSS.--The Portfolio--Lord Cottenham and Lord + Langdale--Opening of Parliament--The Judicial Committee-- + Poulett Thomson at the Board of Trade--Mr. Perceval's + interviews with the Ministers--Prospects of the Tories--Lord + Stanley's relations to them--Holland House Anecdotes-- + Mischievous Effects of the division on his Address--The youth + of Macaulay--Brougham and Macaulay--Lord William Bentinck-- + Review of Sir R. Peel's conduct--Dr. Hampden's appointment--The + Orange Lodges. + + +November 17th, 1835 {p.319} + +Since I have been in London, on my return from the Newmarket +meetings, I have had nothing to note. The O'Connell and Raphael +wrangle goes on, and will probably come before Parliament. It +appears to make a greater sensation at Paris than here; there, +however, all other sensations are absorbed in that which the +Emperor of Russia's speech at Warsaw has produced, and which +indicates an excitement, or ferocity, very like insanity.[1] +Melbourne mentioned at dinner on Sunday that it was not only +quite correctly reported--rather _under_stated--but that after +he had so delivered himself, he met the English Consul in the +street, took him by the arm, walked about with him for an hour, +and begged him not to be _too hard_ upon him in his report to his +Government. I was not present, but Henry de Ros was, who told it +me. I am thus particular from, as it seems to me, the exceeding +curiosity of the anecdote, evincing on the part of the autocrat, +in the midst of the insolence of unbridled power, a sort of +consciousness of responsibility to European opinion, and a +deferential dread of that of England in particular. + + [1] [This was the first time the Emperor Nicholas had + visited Poland since the Revolution of 1830, and he + took the opportunity to express himself in language of + excessive severity to the municipality of Warsaw, + threatening to lay the city in ruins if the Poles + rebelled again.] + + +November 22nd, 1835 {p.320} + +My brother Algy showed me a few days ago a letter from the Duke +of Wellington to the Duke of Cumberland--a gossiping letter about +nothing, but in which there was this which struck me as odd. He +said that he was informed that the English who had been to the +reviews at Kalisch had been very ill received, and that even +those to whom _he_ had given letters of introduction had +experienced nothing but incivility, and that he regretted having +had the presumption to imagine that any recommendation of his +would be attended to by the Sovereigns or their Ministers--a +curious exhibition of pique, for what I believe to be an +imaginary incivility. It is a strange thing that he is very +sensitive, and yet has no strong feelings; but this is after all +only one of the forms of selfishness. + +[Page Head: SOCIAL LAW.] + +Burdett has written a letter to the managers of Brooks's, to +propose the expulsion of O'Connell. It will do no good; these +abortive attempts do nothing towards plucking him down from his +bad eminence, and their failure gives him a triumph. So it was in +Alvanley's case; there a great deal of very proper indignation +was thrown away, and O'Connell had the satisfaction of baffling +his antagonists, and obtaining a sort of recognition of his +assumed right to act as he does. It is a case which admits of a +good argument either way. On the one side is the perilous example +of any club taking cognizance of acts of its members, private or +political, which do not concern the club, or have no local +reference to it--a principle, if once admitted, of which it would +be next to impossible to regulate and control the application, +and probably be productive of greater evils than those it would +be intended to remedy. On the other hand, the case of O'Connell +is altogether peculiar; it is such a one as can hardly ever occur +again, and therefore may be treated as deserving an exception +from ordinary rules, because it not only cannot be drawn into a +precedent, but the very circumstance of its being so treated must +prevent the possibility of its recurrence. There exists a code of +social law, which is universally subscribed to, as necessary and +indispensable for the preservation of social harmony and decorum. +One man has given public notice that he is self-emancipated from +its obligations; that he acknowledges none of the restraints, and +will submit to none of the penalties, by which the intercourse of +society is regulated and kept in order; and having thus +surrounded himself with all the immunities of irresponsibility, +'out of the reach of danger he is bold, out of the reach of shame +he is confident.' Instead of feeling that he is specially bound +to guard his language with the most scrupulous care, and to +abstain religiously from every offensive expression, he mounts +into regions of scurrility and abuse inaccessible to all other +men, and he riots in invective and insult with a scornful and +ostentatious exhibition of his invulnerability, which renders him +an object of execration to all those who cherish the principles +and the feelings of honour. + + +November 29th, 1835 {p.321} + +There are gloomy letters from George Villiers at Madrid; he +attributes the Spanish difficulties more to the conduct of Louis +Philippe than anything else, who, he says, is playing false +diabolically. Mendizabal is very able, but ill surrounded; no +other public man of any merit. Parties are violent and individuals +foolish, mischievous, and corrupt; the country poor, depopulated, +ignorant--out of such elements what good can come? His letters (to +his mother and brothers) are very interesting, very well written, +clever, lively; he seems a little carried away by the vanity and +the excitement of the part he plays, and I observe a want of +steadiness in his opinions and a disposition to waver in his views +from day to day; whereas it does not appear to me as if the state +of Spain depended upon diurnal circumstances and events, but more +upon the workings of great causes interwoven with, and deeply +seated in, the _positive_ state of society and the moral and +political condition of the nation. + + +December 4th, 1835 {p.322} + +A letter I wrote the other day about O'Connell appeared on +Tuesday in the 'Times.' It rather took, for the evening (Tory) +papers all copied it, and I heard it was talked of. Yesterday +there appeared an answer of O'Connell's to Burdett's letter--very +short, but very clever; and those who know Burdett say, well +calculated to mortify and annoy him. I called on Stanley +yesterday, who said that he thought the Raphael case ought to and +would be made something of in the House of Commons, and that +Spring Rice, whom he had lately seen, had told him he thought it +a clear case of bribery. Lord Segrave has got the Gloucestershire +Lieutenancy, and this appointment, disgraceful in itself, +exhibits all the most objectionable features of the old +boroughmongering system, which was supposed to be swept away. (He +turned out a good Lord-Lieutenant.) He was in London as soon as +the breath was out of the Duke of Beaufort's body, went to +Melbourne, and claimed this appointment on the score of having +three members, which was more than any other man in England now +returned. 'My brothers,' he said, 'the electors do not know by +sight; it is my influence which returns them.' The appeal was +irresistible, and 'We are three' was as imperative with Melbourne +as 'We are seven' was with the Duke of Newcastle. The scarcity of +the commodity enhances its value, and now that nominations are +swept away, the few who are still fortunate enough to possess +some remnants are great men; and Segrave's three brothers, thrown +(as they would without scruple have been) into the opposite +scale, would have nearly turned it. There is a very respectable +Whig (Lord Ducie) in the county, whom everybody pointed out as +the fittest successor to the late Duke; but he has not three +members, and if he had, he would not shake them _in terrorem_ +over Melbourne's head. + + +December 10th and 11th, 1835 {p.322} + +[Page Head: AMERICA AND FRANCE.] + +Our Government are in a great alarm lest this dispute between the +French and Americans should produce a war, and the way in which we +should be affected by it is this:[2]--Our immense manufacturing +population is dependent upon America for a supply of cotton, and +in case of any obstruction to that supply, multitudes would be +thrown out of employment, and incalculable distress would follow. +They think that the French would blockade the American ports, and +then such obstruction would be inevitable. A system like ours, +which resembles a vast piece of machinery, no part of which can be +disordered without danger to the whole, must be always liable to +interruption or injury from causes over which we have no control; +and this danger must always attend the extension of our +manufacturing system to the prejudice of other interests; so that +in case of a stoppage or serious interruption to the current in +which it flows the consequences would be appalling; nor is there +in all probability a nation on the Continent (our good ally Louis +Philippe included) that would not gladly contribute to the +humiliation of the power and diminution of the wealth of this +country. + + [2] [This dispute arose from the detention of American + ships by the Emperor Napoleon under the Continental + system. The Americans claimed large damages, and the + negotiation lasted twenty years. At length General + Jackson, the American President, insisted on payment, + and the French Government settled the matter for + twenty-five millions of francs; but the question led to + a change in the French Ministry.] + + +December 16th, 1835 {p.323} + +Dined with Sefton the day before yesterday to meet the Hollands; +sat between Allen and Luttrell. Melbourne was there in roaring +spirits; met me very cordially, and after dinner said, 'Well, how +are you? I had a great deal to say to you, but I forget what it +was now.' To which I replied, 'Oh, never mind now; we are here to +amuse ourselves, and we won't talk of other things.' I could not +have _settled_ anything with him there, so there was no use in +beginning; and this put him at his ease, instead of making him +hate the sight of me, and fancying wherever he met me that I +should begin badgering him about my affairs.[3] In the world men +must be dealt with according to what they are, and not to what +they ought to be; and the great art of life is to find out what +they are, and act with them accordingly. + + [3] [This referred to some private affairs of Mr. + Greville's which were then under discussion, and on + which Lord Melbourne's influence was important.] + +Allen talked of Mackintosh, and of his declaration of religious +belief on his deathbed, when he had never believed at all during +his life. He said that Mackintosh was not very deeply read in +theology. Melbourne, on the contrary, is, and being a very good +Greek scholar (which Mackintosh was not), has compared the +Evidences and all modern theological works with the writings of +the Fathers. He did not believe that Melbourne entertained _any +doubts_, or that his mind was at all distracted and perplexed +with much thinking and much reading on the subject, but that his +studies and reflections have led him to a perfect _conviction_ of +unbelief.[4] He thought if Mackintosh had lived much with +Christians he would have been one too. We talked of Middleton, +and Allen said that he believed he really died a Christian, but +that he was rapidly ceasing to be one, and if he had lived would +probably have continued the argument of his free enquiry up to +the Apostles themselves. He urged me to read Lardner; said he had +never read Paley nor the more recent Evidences, the materials of +all of which are, however, taken from Lardner's work. Luttrell +was talking of Moore and Rogers--the poetry of the former so +licentious, that of the latter so pure; much of its popularity +owing to its being so carefully weeded of everything approaching +to indelicacy; and the contrast between the _lives_ and the +_works_ of the two men--the former a pattern of conjugal and +domestic regularity, the latter of all the men he had ever known +the greatest sensualist. + + [4] [John Allen was himself so fierce an unbeliever, and so + bitter an enemy to the Christian religion, that he was + very fond of asserting that other men believed as + little as himself. It was almost always Allen who gave + an irreligious turn to the conversation at Holland + House when these subjects were discussed there.] + +Yesterday Lyndhurst and Brougham both came to the Council Office +to hear the first application for the renewal of a patent, and +though there was no opposition, they scrutinised the petition and +evidence with the utmost jealousy, which they did in order to +intimate that the granting a prolongation of the patent, even +when unopposed, was not to be a matter of course. It was a +pianoforte invention, and the instrument was introduced into the +Council Chamber, and played upon by Madame Duelcken for the +edification of their Lordships. + + +December 18th, 1835 {p.325} + +Melbourne told me (the other night at Sefton's) that he had been +down to Oatlands to consult F. and H. about Dr. Arnold (of +Rugby), and to ascertain if he could properly make him a bishop; +but they did not encourage him, which I was surprised at, +recollecting the religious correspondence which formerly passed +between them and him. Arnold, however, shocks the High Churchmen, +and is not considered orthodox; and Melbourne said it would make +a great uproar to put him on the Bench, and was out of the +question. He had been reading his sermons, which he thought very +able. + + +December 20th, 1835 {p.325} + +[Page Head: FREDERIC ELLIOT.] + +The Treasury have sent a proposed draft of a minute in my case. When +it is over I shall not much care, for I have long since abandoned +all expectation of being rich, and there are none of my expensive +pursuits which I could not resign very cheerfully. Up to a certain +point riches contribute largely to the happiness of life, but no +farther. To be free from the necessity of daily self-denial and +continual calculation is indispensable to happiness, but the major +luxuries--ostentatious superfluities--contribute little or nothing +to rational enjoyment. I have just seen an excellent letter from +Frederic Elliot to Taylor, with a description of the state of +parties and politics in Lower Canada, which has been shown to the +Ministers, who think it the ablest _expose_ on those heads that has +been transmitted from thence. I have very little doubt that he will +_go far_; he has an admirable talent for business, a clear head, +liberal and unprejudiced opinions, and he writes remarkably well.[5] + + [5] [This prediction was fulfilled. Mr. Frederic Elliot was + the youngest son of the Rt. Hon. Hugh Elliot, and + nephew of the first Earl of Minto. He went to Canada in + 1835 with Lord Gosford, entered the Colonial Office on + his return to England, rose to be Assistant-Under-Secretary + in that department, and is now (1873) Sir T. Frederic + Elliot, K.S.M.G.] + + +December 24th, 1835 {p.326} + +The Northamptonshire election has greatly elevated the spirits of +the Conservatives, and though the Whigs affect to hold it cheap, +they are not a little disconcerted by the magnitude of the +majority, so unexpected by both parties. Impartial moderate men +(such, for example, as the judges who sit in my Court) attribute +it to a strong prevailing feeling against O'Connell; and it would +appear to be so, because Hanbury, and even Vernon Smith, were +compelled to hold language very adverse to him on the hustings. +This O'Connell connection will, after all, probably end in +destroying the Government; his last letter against the Peers is a +very despicable performance, and he will be more injured by his +own than by Burdett's productions. + + +December 26th, 1835 {p.326} + +The adherents of Government are certainly alarmed at the present +aspect of things. Lord William Bentinck, who is as Radical as +need be, wrote to his wife at Paris, 'Tory matters are certainly +looking up here; that senseless cry against O'Connell has +produced a great effect.' Nevertheless they affect at Brooks's to +hold it all very cheap. + + +December 30th, 1835 {p.326} + +Wednesday at Roehampton--since Monday; for the first time since +Lord Dover's death. Luttrell, Poodle Byng, Baring Wall; Lady +Dover still in weeds. Lord Clifden not a jot altered from his +usual gaiety; such is the difference between the feelings of +youth and age. + +The exultation of the Tories at the Northamptonshire election has +been woefully damped by the result of the Corporation elections, +nine out of ten of which have gone for the Radicals, and in many +places all the persons elected are of that persuasion. The +constituency is certainly different, and a desire to make _maison +nette_ of these dens of corruption is not unnatural; but it +affords a plausible subject for triumph on the Radical side, and +has a formidable appearance. + + * * * * * + + 1836. + + +Melton Mowbray, January 20th, 1836 {p.327} + +[Page Head: THE CHESTERFIELD PAPERS.] + +I went with Henry de Ros from London to Middleton last Saturday +fortnight, stayed till the Thursday following, and then to +Badminton--eighteen years since I had been there. Last Thursday +to Bretby; slept at Worcester on Thursday night, stopped to see +the Cathedrals at Gloucester, Worcester, and Lichfield, and the +Church at Tewkesbury--all well worth seeing, and containing +curious monuments, especially that of Bishop Hough at Worcester +by Roubiliac, exceedingly grand; and in Lichfield Cathedral a +chapter-house of surpassing beauty. At Bretby the Duke of +Wellington had been, and Peel still was, but he departed early +the next morning. I had been anxious to go there to look over the +Chesterfield MSS., but I was disappointed; there were only three +large volumes of letters come-at-able out of thirty, the other +twenty-seven being locked up, and the key was gone to be mended. +These three I ran over hastily, but though they may contain +matter that would be useful to the historian of that period (from +1728 to about 1732), there was little in any way attractive, as +they consisted wholly of diplomatic letters to Lord Chesterfield +during his Embassy at the Hague. As this correspondence occupied +twenty volumes (for the three I found were the second, third, and +twentieth), I fear the others may not contain anything of greater +general interest. + +I was desirous of seeing the Duke to hear what he says to the +Portfolio,[6] which makes so much noise here. Peel told me that +the Duke was not at all annoyed by it, and that he did not see +why Matuscewitz need be either; that Matuscewitz wrote what he +thought and believed at the time, as he was bound to do, and long +before his intimacy with the Duke began. He said that the letters +are certainly authentic, though possibly there may be some +omissions. But the Duke's women endeavour to stir up his +resentment, and to make him think himself ill-used, though he is +disposed to treat the matter with great good-humour and +indifference. Of politics I have heard little, and learnt +nothing; the Tory houses I have successively been at are all on +the alert, and fancy they are to do great things this next +session, but I expect it will all end in smoke. + + [6] [A collection of diplomatic papers and correspondence + between the Russian Government and its agents, + published about this time by Mr. Urquhart, which was + supposed to throw light on the secret policy of the + Cabinet of St. Petersburg. They were, in fact, copies + of the original documents which had been sent to Warsaw + for the information of the Grand Duke Constantine when + Viceroy of Poland, and they fell into the hands of the + insurgents at the time of the Polish Revolution of + 1830. Prince Adam Czartoryski brought them to England, + where the publication of them excited great attention.] + +The law appointments of Pepys[7] and Bickersteth are reckoned +very good, and they have certainly been made with especial +reference to the fitness of the men to preside over their +respective Courts. Pepys's is perhaps one of the most curious +instances of elevation that ever occurred: a good sound lawyer, +in leading practice at the Bar, never heard of in politics, no +orator, a plain undistinguished man, to whom expectation never +pointed, and upon whom the Solicitor-Generalship fell as it were +by accident, finds himself Master of the Rolls in a few months +after his appointment, by the sudden death of Leach, and in +little more than one year from that time a peer and Chancellor. I +fancy there were considerable difficulties in settling these +appointments, and in satisfying disappointed expectants, but of +the details of the difficulties I know nothing. They will +probably confer some strength on the Government. We came here +yesterday, and are comfortably lodged at Wilton's. + + [7] [Sir Christopher Pepys, Master of the Rolls, was raised + to the Peerage as Lord Cottenham, and received the + Great Seal. Mr. Bickersteth succeeded him as Master of + the Rolls, and was raised to the Peerage with the title + of Lord Langdale. These appointments were much + discussed, and at last decided by a vote of the + Cabinet, several of the Ministers being in favour of + making Bickersteth Lord Chancellor, because he promised + more as a Law Reformer.] + + +London, January 30th, 1836 {p.328} + +[Page Head: PROSPECTS OF THE SESSION.] + +Dinner yesterday for the Sheriffs.[8] The plan I had adopted +(which was not completely executed, owing to the absence of some +of the judges from the Exchequer on 'the morrow of St. Martin's') +did very well, and we had few difficulties with the English +counties. There was Lord Cottenham, for the first time, and +Howick and Poulett Thomson, their first appearances as Cabinet +Ministers. Parliament opens on Thursday, and as far as I can +judge with a favourable prospect for the present Government. +Stanley has openly expressed his opinion that no changes are +desirable, and Peel will not be anxious to thrust himself in, +with a doubtful chance of keeping his place if he can get it; so +the hot and sanguine Tories, who have been vastly elevated at the +prospect they thought was before them, will have to fret and fume +and chew the cud of disappointment. There was a great Tory +gathering at Drayton the other day, but I have not heard what +they resolved upon. Lord Lansdowne told me yesterday that Stanley +has declared openly the opinion above stated, and he seems to +think they are pretty safe. Tavistock wrote me word that the +Government meant to be moderate, and that any concessions would +be made by, and not to, the violent section. The great questions +likely to be discussed are the Appropriation clause and the Irish +Corporation Bill. The Government and O'Connell are not likely to +differ on anything but this, and if a strong measure passes the +House of Commons, the Lords will throw it out, and probably +Government will not in their hearts be sorry for it. In the +balanced state of parties, the tranquillity and prosperity that +prevail, possession is everything, and I am therefore quite +satisfied that nothing but some unforeseen circumstance or event +will disturb these people. Brougham is seriously ill at Brougham. +Melbourne has been in correspondence with him, and these +arrangements are by way of having been made with his concurrence. +Nothing whatever is settled as to ulterior law matters; the +Vice-Chancellor told me so yesterday, and the Chancellor told +him. They talk of a permanent judge in the Privy Council, which +would be a virtual repeal of the principal part of Brougham's +famous Bill; for if there was one permanent judge with a casual +_quorum_, the permanent judge would in point of fact be the real +administrator of the law, as he used to be under the old system. + + [8] The Lord President of the Council gives an annual + dinner to his colleagues, at which the list of Sheriffs + for the ensuing year is settled. The arrangements are + made by the Clerk of the Council, after the nomination + of the Sheriffs by the Judges. + +I had a great deal of conversation with Poulett Thomson last night +after dinner on one subject or another; he is very good-humoured, +pleasing, and intelligent, but the greatest coxcomb I ever saw, +and the vainest dog, though his vanity is not offensive or +arrogant; but he told me that when Lord Grey's Government was +formed (at which time he was a junior partner in a mercantile +house, and had been at most five years in Parliament), he was +averse to take office, but Althorp declared he would not come in +unless Thomson did also, and that, knowing the importance of +Althorp's accession to the Government, he sacrificed a large +income, and took the Board of Trade; that when this was offered to +him, he was asked whether he cared if he was President or +Vice-President, as they wished to make Lord Auckland President if +he (Poulett Thomson) had no objection. He said, provided the +President was not in the Cabinet, he did not care; and accordingly +he condescended to be Vice-President, knowing that all the +business must be done in the House of Commons, and that he must be +(as in fact he said he was) the virtual head of the office. All +this was told with a good-humoured and smiling complacency, which +made me laugh internally. He then descanted on the inefficiency of +his subordinates; that Auckland did not like writing, that nobody +else could write, and consequently every paper had been drawn up +by himself since he first entered the office. To do him justice I +believe he is very industrious. When he got into the Cabinet he +said he could no longer go on in this way, and accordingly he has +superannuated Lack, and is going to appoint the best man he can +find in his place. This operation has led to the removal of Hay, +whom Stephen replaces at the Colonial Office. + + +[Page Head: PERCEVAL'S APOSTOLIC MISSION.] + +February 1st, 1836 {p.330} + +Howick gave me an account yesterday of Spencer Perceval's +communications to the Ministers, and other Privy Councillors. He +called on Howick, who received him very civilly. Perceval began, +'You will probably be surprised when you learn, what has brought +me here.' Howick bowed. 'You are aware that God has been pleased +in these latter times to make especial communications of His will +to certain chosen instruments, in a language not intelligible to +those who hear it, nor always to those by whom it is uttered: I +am one of those instruments, to whom it has pleased the Almighty +to make known His will, and I am come to declare to you, &c...' +and then he went off in a rhapsody about the degeneracy of the +times, and the people falling off from God. I asked him what +Perceval seemed to be driving at, what was his definite object? +He said it was not discoverable, but that from the printed paper +which he had circulated to all Privy Councillors (for to that +body he appears to think that his mission is addressed), in which +he specifies all the great acts of legislation for the last five +years (beginning with the repeal of the Test and Corporation +Acts), as the evidences of a falling off from God, or as the +causes of the divine anger, it may perhaps be inferred that he +means they should all be repealed. It is a ridiculous and +melancholy exposure. His different receptions by different people +are amusing and characteristic. Howick listened to him with +patient civility. Melbourne argued with and cross-questioned him. +He told him 'that he ought to have gone to the Bishops rather +than to him,' to which Perceval replied, that one of the brethren +(Henry Drummond) was gone to the Archbishop. Stanley turned him +out at once. As soon as he began he said, 'There is no use, Mr. +Perceval, in going on this way with me. We had, therefore, better +put an end to the subject, and I wish you good morning.' He went +to Lord Holland, and Lady Holland was with great difficulty +persuaded to allow him to go and receive the Apostles. She +desired Lord John Russell (who happened to be in the house) to go +with him, but John begged to be excused, alleging that he had +already had his interview and did not wish for another. So at +last she let Lord Holland be wheeled in, but ordered Edgar and +Harold, the two pages, to post themselves outside the door, and +rush in if they heard Lord Holland scream. Perceval has been with +the King, and went to Drayton after Sir Robert Peel, but he +complains that he cannot catch the Duke of Wellington. + + +February 3rd, 1836 {p.332} + +[Page Head: LYNDHURST ON THE HOUSE OF LORDS.] + +A meeting at the Council Office yesterday on another patent case, +a gun--Baron Heurteloup, the famous lithotritic doctor and +inventor--which was clicked off for the information of their +Lordships. Since this Patent Bill, we have got very noisy between +percussion guns and pianofortes. I walked away with Lyndhurst to +hear what he had to say. He said that he understood Peel was come +to town with the intention of being very active, but that the Duke +talked of staying at Strathfieldsaye till after Easter; and if the +Duke did not attend the House of Lords, no more would he; he said +it was impossible to turn out the Government--what could they do? +that it would never do for them to come in again without a +considerable majority, and _that_ they had not, nor would have. +What would a dissolution do for them? Not, I said, anything +considerable, if the new Corporations were to have the influence +he always attributed to them, and I asked him whether the working +of the Municipal Bill promised to be as mischievous as he had +expected. He said, 'Yes, I think so;' but I could see that he does +not think so very badly of it as he once told me. However, I +gather from him that the leaders are aware that the time is not +come for attempting to push out the Government, and that they will +not try; their difficulty will be to deal with their own rash and +impatient followers, who are always for desperate courses. +Lyndhurst told me that he thought Peel felt very bitterly towards +Stanley, and that it must end in their decided opposition to each +other. I confess I never had much faith in any union between them +which was likely to be durable or satisfactory. Stanley has been +living constantly with the Whigs, and probably looks forward to +joining them again, when the settlement, or some settlement, of +the Church question will allow him; and it will be much more +congenial to his tastes and character to be the rival of Peel than +his subordinate. I told Lyndhurst that I hoped the House of Lords +would be moderate, confine their opposition to certain great +measures, and not thwart the Government without necessity. He said +he was desirous so to do, to deal with great measures of +legislation as they might see fit, but no more. I asked him why +they threw out certain Bills last year, among others the Dublin +Police Bill, to which there really had seemed to be no objection. +He said, for two reasons; one was that they did not choose to +admit the practice that after Parliament had been sitting many +months, during which Bills might have been sent up, and plenty of +time afforded for their consideration, they should be laid upon +the table of the House of Lords just at the end of the session, +when they were to be hurried over, and passed without that mature +deliberation which they required; and particularly as to the +Dublin Police Bill, that they well knew it was a mere job to +provide for certain of O'Connell's friends. He then mentioned a +fact in justification of the first of the above reasons--that, in +discussing with Duncannon one of the Irish Bills of which he had +the management, he alluded to one particular clause. Duncannon +asserted that there was no such clause in the Bill. He repeated +that there was, when Duncannon went away, and soon afterwards +returned and acknowledged that he had been in error, that the +clause was there, though he was not aware of it, nor had it been +inserted in the copy with which he had been first furnished. + +I heard a great deal more about Perceval's proceedings, and those +of his colleagues yesterday; they continue to visit the Privy +Councillors. Lyndhurst told me he had been with him for an hour, +Lord Lansdowne the same. When he gave Lord Lansdowne his book, as +he glanced over it, Perceval said, 'I am aware it is not well +written; the composition is not perfect, but I was not permitted +to alter it; I was obliged to write it as I received it.' +Drummond went in a chaise and four to the Archbishop of York at +Nuneham, who endeavoured to stop his mouth with a good luncheon, +but this would not do. He told the Archbishop the end of the +world was approaching, and that it was owing to the neglect of +himself and his brethren that the nation was in its present awful +state. Perceval told Lord Lansdowne that their sect was +increasing greatly and rapidly; they have several congregations +in London, two clergymen of the Church of England have joined +them, and two men who still occupy their pulpits are only waiting +for the call which they daily expect to receive. + + +February 5th, 1836 {p.334} + +Parliament met yesterday; the King received with great apathy. +The Tories have not begun very well. After boasting of their +increased numbers, and of the great things they had accomplished +by elections during the recess, they got beaten on a division by +41--a greater number than they were ever beaten by last year on +any great question. The speech was a very milk-and-water +production, and scarcely afforded a peg to hang an amendment +upon. It is true that on the point on which the amendment was +made (not pledging the House to adopt the principle of the +English Corporation Act in the Irish Bill) the Duke was probably +right, but a protest would have done just as well, and there was +no need to press an amendment on such a trifle. The other side +felt this in the House of Lords, and gave it up, though there +were so many Ministerial peers in the House that the division +would have been very near; but in the House of Commons Lord John +Russell would not give way, and what is more, Peel never had any +intention of moving any amendment, for there was a great meeting +in the morning at his house, and there it was resolved that none +should be moved; and certainly very few people expected any. At +last he moved it, because it had been moved in the House of +Lords, but it seems to have been a foolish, bungling business +altogether. The Tories are always hot for dividing, and the silly +idle creatures who compose the bulk of the party apologise for +their continual absence by saying, 'Oh, you never divide, so +what's the use of coming up,' as if divisions must be got up for +them when it suits their convenience to quit their hunting and +shooting and run up to town. Stanley made a strong speech against +the Government, to my great amazement, and, having been +ironically cheered by the Treasury bench, he got angry. He sat, +too, on the Opposition bench (the same on which Peel sits), +nearer the Speaker; still I do not believe that he will join the +Opposition; however, they are surprised and pleased at the tone +he took. Some fancy that the division and majority last night +will be useful to the Government, and make it out to be very +important, which, however, I think is making much more of it than +it deserves. The debate was very bad; everybody spoke wretchedly. + + +February 6th, 1836 {p.335} + +I only heard last night what passed at Peel's meeting; for he +desired it might not be repeated, and that the meeting should be +considered confidential; he made them a speech, in which he +indicated in pretty plain terms, but without mentioning names, +that it was of great consequence to shape their proceedings so as +to get the support of Stanley, and that they never would be sure +what line he would take; so that he does look to Stanley, +notwithstanding what Lyndhurst says of his real sentiments +concerning him, which, no doubt, is correct. + + +February 7th, 1836 {p.335} + +[Page Head: LORD HOLLAND'S ANECDOTES.] + +Last night I went to Holland House; found my Lord and my Lady +sitting _tete-a-tete_. About twelve she went to bed, and Standish +and I stayed with him till two o'clock, hearing his accounts of +speeches and speakers of old times, and anecdotes, some of which +I had heard before, and some not, but they bear repeating. He is +marvellously entertaining in this way; the stories so good, so +well told, his imitations of the actors in the events which he +narrates giving you such a conviction of their fidelity. If Lord +Holland has prepared any memoirs, and put down all he remembers, +as well as all he has been personally concerned in, it will make +a delightful book. I asked him if his uncle and Pitt were in +habits of communication in the House of Commons, and on terms of +mutual civility and good-humour, and he said, 'Oh yes, very; I +think they had a great respect for each other; latterly I think +my uncle was more bitter against him'--I enquired whether he +thought they would have joined? He thought they might have done +so. He thinks the finest speeches Fox made (if it were possible +to select out of so many fine ones) were on the war, on the +Scrutiny, and on Bonaparte's overtures. Grattan complimenting him +on his speech on the war, he said, 'I don't know if it was good, +but I know I can't make a better.' Fox never wrote his speeches, +was fond of preparing them in travelling, as he said a postchaise +was the best place to arrange his thoughts in. Sheridan wrote and +prepared a great deal, and generally in bed, with his books, pen, +and ink, on the bed, where he would lie all day. Brougham wrote +and rewrote, over and over again, whole speeches; he has been +known to work fifteen hours a day for six weeks together. + +It is inconceivable the effect the division on the address has +had. Holland said last night he thought it had given them a new +lease, and Hobhouse, whom I met in the morning in high glee, +talked with great contempt of the tactics and miserable +composition of the Tory party. He said that he knew to a vote +what their numbers would be on the Church question, and _on +everything else_ they should beat them hollow (he did not mean, +of course, to include the Irish Corporation Bill in this). The +sensible Tories admit it to have been a great blunder, but the +authors of the folly affect to bluster and put a good face on it, +though it is easy to see that they are really in doleful dumps. +But of all bad hits Stanley certainly made the worst. He went on +to the last moment living with the Ministers with the utmost +cordiality, and giving them to understand that he was generally +friendly to them; talked strong anti-Tory language, and impressed +on them the conviction that he was with them on everything but +the Church. (Exactly like his conduct to Peel and his former +colleagues on the matter of Free Trade when he separated from +them--1847.) If he had contented himself with declaring that he +did not mean to be committed to any particular course by the +address, and deprecated a division, he would not only have +prevented it, but he would have at once placed himself in a +respectable position as a sort of mediator and arbiter between +the two parties, and would have had the satisfaction of showing +the world that both were disposed to treat him with deference and +respect. A word from Stanley would have made Peel abstain from +moving his amendment or withdraw it. I met Graham the day before +yesterday in the Park, but only exchanged a few words with him. +He said the division was a very bad business. + + +February 9th, 1836 {p.337} + +[Page Head: MACAULAY AND BROUGHAM.] + +I was talking yesterday with Stephen about Brougham and Macaulay. +He said he had known Brougham above thirty years, and well +remembers walking with him down to Clapham, to dine with old +Zachary Macaulay, and telling him he would find a prodigy of a boy +there of whom he must take notice. This was Tom Macaulay. Brougham +afterwards put himself forward as the monitor and director of the +education of Macaulay, and I remember hearing of a letter he wrote +to the father on the subject, which made a great noise at the +time; but he was like the man who brought up a young lion, which +finished by biting his head off. Brougham and Macaulay disliked +each other. Brougham could not forgive his great superiority in +many of those accomplishments in which he thought himself +unrivalled; and being at no pains to disguise his jealousy and +dislike, the other was not behind him in corresponding feelings of +aversion. It was unworthy of both, but most of Brougham, who was +the aggressor, and who might have considered the world large +enough for both of them, and that a sufficiency of fame was +attainable by each. Stephen said that, if ever Macaulay's life was +written by a competent biographer, it would appear that he had +displayed feats of memory which he believed to be unequalled by +any human being. He can repeat all Demosthenes by heart, and all +Milton, a great part of the Bible, both in English and (the New +Testament) in Greek; besides this his memory retains passages +innumerable of every description of books, which in discussion he +pours forth with incredible facility. He is passionately fond of +Greek literature; has not much taste for Latin or French. Old Mill +(one of the best Greek scholars of the day) thinks Macaulay has a +more extensive and accurate acquaintance with the Greek writers +than any man living, and there is no Greek book of any note which +he has not read over and over again. In the Bible he takes great +delight, and there are few better Biblical scholars. In law he +made no proficiency, and mathematics he abominates; but his great +forte is history, especially English history. Here his superhuman +memory, which appears to have the faculty of digesting and +arranging as well as of retaining, has converted his mind into a +mighty magazine of knowledge, from which, with the precision and +correctness of a kind of intellectual machine, he pours forth +stores of learning, information, precept, example, anecdote, and +illustration with a familiarity and facility not less astonishing +than delightful. He writes as if he had lived in the times and +among the people whose actions and characters he records and +delineates. A little reading, too, is enough for Macaulay, for by +some process impossible to other men he contrives to transfer as +it were, by an impression rapid and indelible, the contents of the +books he reads to his own mind, where they are deposited, always +accessible, and never either forgotten or confused. Far superior +to Brougham in general knowledge, in fancy, imagination, and in +the art of composition, he is greatly inferior to him in those +qualities which raise men to social and political eminence. +Brougham, tall, thin, and commanding in figure, with a face which, +however ugly, is full of expression, and a voice of great power, +variety, and even melody, notwithstanding his occasional prolixity +and tediousness, is an orator in every sense of the word. +Macaulay, short, fat, and ungraceful, with a round, thick, +unmeaning face, and with rather a lisp, though he has made +speeches of great merit, and of a very high style of eloquence in +point of composition, has no pretensions to be put in competition +with Brougham in the House of Commons. Nor is the difference and +the inferiority of Macaulay less marked in society. Macaulay, +indeed, is a great talker, and pours forth floods of knowledge on +all subjects; but the gracefulness, lightness, and variety are +wanting in his talk which are so conspicuous in his writings; +there is not enough of alloy in the metal of his conversation; it +is too didactic, it is all too good, and not sufficiently +flexible, plastic, and diversified for general society. Brougham, +on the other hand, is all life, spirit, and gaiety--'from grave to +gay, from lively to severe'--dashing through every description of +folly and fun, dealing in those rapid transitions by which the +attention and imagination are arrested and excited; always +amusing, always instructive, never tedious, elevated to the height +of the greatest intellect, and familiar with the most abstruse +subjects, and at the same moment conciliating the humble +pretensions of inferior minds by dropping into the midst of their +pursuits and objects with a fervour and intensity of interest +which surprises and delights his associates, and, above all, which +puts them at their ease. + +[_Quantum mutatus!_ All this has long ceased to be true of +Brougham. Macaulay, without having either the wit or the _charm_ +which constitutes the highest kind of colloquial excellence or +success, is a marvellous, an unrivalled (in his way), and a +delightful talker.--1850.] + + +February 12th, 1836 + +[Page Head: LORD WILLIAM BENTINCK.] + +Lord William Bentinck has published an address to the electors of +Glasgow which is remarkable, because he is the first man of high +rank and station who has publicly professed the ultra-Radical +opinions which he avows in this document. It is by no means well +done, and a very silly address in many respects. He is a man +whose success in life has been greater than his talents warrant, +for he is not right-headed, and has committed some great blunder +or other in every public situation in which he has been placed; +but he is simple in his habits, popular in his manners, liberal +in his opinions, and magnificently hospitable in his mode of +life. These qualities are enough to ensure popularity. Here is +the inscription for the column, or whatever it be, that they have +erected to his honour in India, written by Macaulay:-- + + TO + WILLIAM CAVENDISH BENTINCK, + who during seven years ruled India with eminent prudence, + integrity, and benevolence; + who, placed at the head of a great empire, never laid aside the + simplicity and moderation of a private citizen; + who infused into oriental despotism the spirit of British + freedom; + who never forgot that the end of government is the happiness + of the governed; + who abolished cruel bites; + who effaced humiliating distinctions; + who gave liberty to the expression of public opinion; +whose constant study it was to elevate the intellectual and moral + character of the nations committed to his charge; + THIS MONUMENT + was erected by men +who, differing in race, in manners, in language, and in religion, + cherish with equal veneration and gratitude + the memory of his wise, upright, and paternal administration. + + +February 20th, 1836 {p.340} + +[Page Head: LORD SANDON'S OPINION OF PEEL.] + +I walked home with Lord Sandon last night, and had much talk +about the state of parties, particularly about Peel and the +events at the close of the last session. He talked upon the usual +topic of Peel's coldness, uncommunicative disposition, want of +popular qualities, and the consequent indifference of his +followers to his person. With respect to last year, he said that +Peel had arranged with the Duke of Wellington and Lyndhurst the +course that it would be advisable to adopt with regard to the +Corporation Bill, and that he was put exceedingly out of humour +by the House of Lords adopting a different line; that the leaders +of the Lords found their party impracticable, and they were +compelled (or thought themselves so) to give way to the +prejudices of the majority. But Peel did not understand this +_knocking under_ to violence and folly, and his pride was +mortified, because it was a sort of renunciation of his authority +as leader and chief of the whole party. Accordingly it was with +reference to these proceedings that Peel spoke with great +bitterness to Sandon, and said that 'he never would be the tool +of the Lords,' He left town in high dudgeon, and was probably not +sorry to display his resentment at the same time with his power, +when he suddenly returned and made his speech on the Lords' +amendments. Sandon confirmed the statement of his having done +this without any communication with the Duke and Lyndhurst, in +which he thinks he was to blame. I think he ought to have seen +the Duke, and have imparted to him his intentions and his +motives; but with Lyndhurst he probably felt very angry for the +part he took. He has now, however, put himself more openly and +decidedly at the head of the party, and Sandon considers that +Stanley already virtually belongs to it, inasmuch as they sit +together and consult together, and the other day when he went to +Peel's house he found Stanley there. + + +February 21st, 1836 {p.341} + +There is a mighty stir about the appointment of Dr. Hampden to the +Regius Professorship of Divinity at Oxford, on the ground of his +having put forth doctrines or arguments of a Socinian tendency. +The two Archbishops went to Melbourne with a remonstrance, but he +told them the appointment was completed, and that he had not been +aware of any objections to Dr. Hampden, and had taken pains to +ascertain his fitness for the office. It will give the Churchmen a +handle for accusing Melbourne of a design to sap the foundations +of the Church and poison the fountain of orthodoxy; but he +certainly has no such view. + + +February 23rd, 1836 {p.341} + +Had some conversation with Lord Wharncliffe the other day, who +has always been a great alarmist. I asked him if he was so still. +He said yes; that he was convinced the House of Lords and the +House of Commons could not go on, that the Lords would not pass +their Bills; a ferment would be produced, which would finish by +an open dissension. 'What, then, would be the result?' I asked. +'Why, the Lords would be beaten.' He then complained bitterly of +the Government, and of their conduct and language, and said he +was convinced Lord John Russell had originally introduced that +clause for the purpose of effecting a permanent quarrel between +the two Houses. I told him I was satisfied there was no danger if +their party would act a prudent, temperate, and honourable part; +if they would not aim at office, but be satisfied to exert the +strength they possessed not for party, but for Conservative +purposes; and on this I dilated, showing what they ought to do. +He said that the Tories never would be contented so to act. +'Then,' I said, 'I certainly won't pretend to answer for the +consequences, but I am sure you have a good game enough in your +hands, if you choose to play it; if you will throw it away, that +is another thing.' He told me one thing of Melbourne rather +droll. Wharncliffe gave notice of a motion (which comes on +to-night) about Lord John Russell's appointment of magistrates +under the new Act, which he declares to have been very partially +and improperly done. After speaking to Melbourne about it, +Melbourne came over to him (Wharncliffe) and said, 'Now tell me, +have we been very bad in our appointments?' + +[Page Head: DR. HAMPDEN'S APPOINTMENT.] + +Last night I sat next to Poulett Thomson at dinner, who told me a +great deal about Dr. Hampden's appointment,[9] which makes such an +uproar among the Tories and High Churchmen. He declares that +Melbourne consulted various authorities, and the Archbishop of +Canterbury among the rest, who made no objection to the +appointment; that when the Oxford remonstrance was sent up the +Archbishop wrote a very Jesuitical letter, in which he endeavoured +to reconcile his former approbation of the appointment with his +present concurrence in the remonstrance. Melbourne sent for him, +and asked whether he had any charge to make against Hampden; he +replied that he had none; when Melbourne said that he could not, +then, cancel the appointment, which had been already notified to +him. [This account of Poulett Thomson's was, however, untrue. +William Cowper, Melbourne's private secretary and nephew, gave me +another, which I doubt not is more correct, and puts the matter in +a very different point of view. Melbourne sent to the Archbishop +and desired him to give him a list of six names, which he +accordingly did; but Melbourne would not take any of them, and +without consulting the Archbishop about Hampden, appointed him. He +did consult Coplestone and some others, but not the Archbishop. I +believe the cry against Hampden to be a senseless cry, and that it +is raised by mere bigotry and spite, but I think Melbourne behaved +neither prudently nor properly. When he desired the Archbishop to +give him a list of six, the latter must certainly have conceived +that he would select one out of the number, and would not have +divined that he would pass them all over and appoint another man +without consulting him at all.--February 28th.] I have read the +pamphlet written against Hampden, and though some of his +expressions are perhaps imprudent as giving occasion to malicious +cavil, it contains no grave matter, and nothing to support an +accusation of heterodoxy. If he had been a Tory instead of a +Liberal in politics, we should probably have heard nothing of the +matter. + + [9] [This was the appointment of Dr. Hampden to be Regius + Professor of Divinity at Oxford. He was raised to the + See of Hereford in 1848.] + +I was surprised to hear Poulett Thomson talk in great indignation of +Lord William Bentinck's address to Glasgow, which he characterised +as very disgraceful, and asserted that such miserable truckling to +the will of his constituents would not avail him anything, but +rather diminish their respect for him--very good sentiments. The +Government are very angry at what took place about the Orange Lodge +resolutions. Mr. Jervis moves an address to the Crown to-night, and +Perceval proposed to Lord John Russell to draw up some resolution +condemning these associations, which he said they would agree to if +not violent and offensive, and that it was very desirable the +sentiments of the House of Commons should be expressed unanimously, +or by a very large majority, because in that case the Orangemen +would see the necessity of yielding obedience to them, and would do +so. Accordingly John Russell sent him the copy of a resolution (on +Saturday) which he proposed to bring forward, but which he said he +had not yet submitted to the Cabinet. This was communicated to Peel +and Stanley as well, and all parties agreed to it; but John Russell +was much surprised and disgusted when this resolution (which was +communicated quite privately to Perceval, and which he told him his +colleagues had not been as yet consulted about) appeared yesterday +morning in the 'Times.' + + +February 25th, 1836 {p.344} + +[Page Head: LORD RUSSELL AND THE ORANGEMEN.] + +Lord John Russell immortalised himself on Tuesday night. After a +speech from Hume of three hours, in which he produced a variety of +the most inconceivable letters from Kenyon, Wynford, Londonderry, +and other Orangemen, but made the most miserable hash of his whole +case, and instead of working up his ample materials with dexterity +and effect stupidly blundering and wasting them all--after this +speech John Russell rose, and in a speech far surpassing his usual +form, dignified, temperate, and judicious, moved a resolution of a +moderate and inoffensive character. The speech actually drew tears +from the Orangemen, enthusiastic approbation from Stanley, a +colder approval from Peel, and the universal assent of the House. +It was a night of harmony; the Orangemen behaved very well, and +declared that after this speech they would abandon their +association; they only objected to the Orange Lodges being +mentioned by name, and urged that the resolution should be only +general in expression; and in this Stanley and Peel supported +them; Lord John declined, and properly; the others would have done +better to advise the Orangemen not to cavil at this, but to +swallow the whole pill handsomely, and not mar the effect of their +really meritorious conduct by making any trivial difficulties. +Peel's and Stanley's speeches were characteristic; the latter with +a generous enthusiasm of praise and congratulation to his old +friend, which evinced feeling and was sincere; Peel colder in his +expressions, and showing a great interest in the Orangemen, for +the purpose evidently of conciliating them towards himself, and +even incurring some risk of disturbing the general harmony by his +warmth and sympathy towards them; but I have no doubt that he is +as glad as any man at the dissolution of the confederacy, which +now appears likely really to take place, for though they will +probably not actually dissolve themselves, when the chiefs abandon +the lodges their existence will be but a lingering one, and must +come to an end or cease to be dangerous. In accomplishing this by +moderate and healing counsels, by a conciliatory tone and manner, +Lord John Russell deserves the name of a statesman. His speech is +worth a thousand flowery harangues which have elicited the shouts +of audiences or the admiration of readers, and he has probably +conferred a great and permanent benefit upon the country. I do not +mean that peace will be by these means restored to Ireland, or +rather be bestowed on her, for when was she ever at peace? but +until this object was accomplished, till the way was cleared, +peace was unattainable. O'Connell behaved wisely; he made a short +speech, and fell in cordially with the general feeling of the +House. This has strengthened the Government in reality, as it +ought. So Lord Stanley said, and it is true. + + + + + CHAPTER XXXI. + +Moore and O'Connell--Defeat of the Opposition--The Carlow + Election--Lord Alvanley's Speech to the Tory Peers--Norton _v._ + Lord Melbourne--Catastrophe after Epsom--Mendizabal and Queen + Christina--Lord John Russell's Moderation in the Ecclesiastical + Commission--Theatricals at Bridgewater House--Irish Church-- + Ministerial Difficulties--Deplorable State of Spain--What was + thought of Lord Palmerston in 1836--Weakness of Government-- + Lord Lyndhurst's Summary of the Session--Balance of Parties-- + Lady Augusta Kennedy's Marriage--King's Speech to Princess + Victoria--Revolution of La Granja--Rudeness of the King to + Ministers--Irritation of the King at the Duchess of Kent--Scene + at Windsor on the King's Birthday--Prince Esterhazy's View of + the Affairs of Europe--Emperor Nicholas at Vienna--A Crisis in + Trade--State of the Court at Vienna--Duc de Reichstadt. + + +March 8th, 1836 {p.346} + +It is impossible to conceive anything like the stagnation in the +political world--the Government secure in their seats, the +Opposition aware of the helplessness of their efforts. I met +Moore[1] at dinner a day or two ago, not having seen him for a +long time. He told us some amusing anecdotes of his own reception +in Ireland, which was very enthusiastic, in spite of his having +quarrelled with O'Connell. Of this quarrel he likewise narrated +the beginning and the end. He was indignant at O'Connell's +_manner_ of prosecuting his political objects, and resolved to +put his feelings on record. This he did, and he afterwards wrote +some letters to a mutual friend explanatory of his sentiments and +motives, and these were shown (intentionally) to O'Connell. Moore +declined to retract or qualify, and a rupture consequently took +place. When they met at Brookes' O'Connell averted his face. So +things remained till a short time ago, when the editor of a new +quarterly review, which has been established for Catholic and +Irish objects, wrote to Moore for his support, and O'Connell, +whom he told of it, said, 'Oh, pray let me frank the letter to +Mr. Moore.' This was repeated, and when Moore met O'Connell the +other day at Brookes', he went up to him and put out his hand. He +said O'Connell was mightily moved, but accepted the proffered +reconciliation, and they are again on good terms. + + [1] [Thomas Moore, the poet.] + + +March 10th, 1836 {p.347} + +[Page Head: OPPOSITION DEFEATED.] + +Majority of 64 for Government on Tuesday night; unexpected by the +public, but not, I take it, by the Whig managers, who make their +people attend. It is an irrecoverable blow to the other side, and +shows that the contest is hopeless there. O'Connell and Stanley +made good speeches. It is remarkable that the Tory numbers are +precisely what they were last year (243). At the levee yesterday +they were all very gay at this victory; and Hobhouse said to me, +'What fools they are; they don't know their own interest; they +are beaten in the House of Commons, their people won't attend, +they won't see that they can't resist these questions and that it +is for their own interest they should be carried; why, when the +appropriation clauses and these Bills are carried there will +remain no difference between Peel and us. As for me, I care not +who is in, or whether I am in or out of office; I care for peace +and quietness, and that the country should go on. The Tories have +rung the changes on this O'Connell cry till they can do no more, +and it has failed them entirely; they have had every chance, and +must now give it up;' and a good deal more he said, till we were +interrupted. I agree about the O'Connell cry; the subject is worn +threadbare, it has been argued and ranted upon _usque ad +nauseam_, and in spite of the mistakes O'Connell has made, the +anti-Popery prejudices which prevail, and the blots upon his +personal character, I doubt if he is as much hated in England as +the Tories would have him. They have overdone their attacks on +him, and as it has unluckily been their sole _cheval de +bataille_, they have ridden it till it has not a leg to stand +upon. + + +March 12th, 1836 {p.347} + +Fell in with Lyndhurst in the street yesterday returning from +Philips', where he had been sitting for his portrait. 'Well,' he +said, in his laughing, off-hand way, 'we are done, entirely +done.' 'What do you mean to do?' 'Oh, we shall pass Peel's Bill, +and they will be very glad of it; it will give the Government all +the power which O'Connell would otherwise obtain, and they don't +want to see his power increase, and will prefer the augmentation +of their own.' + + +March 13th, 1836 {p.348} + +It was only yesterday that I read the report of the Committee and +O'Connell's complete acquittal.[2] It is very singular that he +does not seem to have known his own case, or he might have +rebutted the accusations in the first instance; but it has turned +out lucky for him, as it has afforded him a great triumph and his +adversaries an equally great mortification. It is now time for +the Tories to give up attacking him--that is, making him their +grand political butt. They do not lower him; on the contrary, +they raise his importance everywhere, and make his sway in +Ireland more absolute. They are abominably sulky at this result +of the Committee, which, however, was fairly constituted and +unanimous in its decision. I must say I never expected they would +make out much of a case. Yesterday I dined with Ben Stanley in +Downing Street, and met Lytton Bulwer and Fonblanque, the latter +a very agreeable man. + + [2] [The proceedings of the Committee on the Carlow + election are here referred to. A Mr. Raphael had been + returned for Carlow, chiefly by the influence of + O'Connell. He was unseated on petition, and it was + supposed that the evidence taken by the Committee would + incriminate O'Connell, but the reverse was the case. + O'Connell was wholly acquitted of any illegal or + improper practices.] + + +May 2nd, 1836 {p.348} + +[Page Head: LORD ALVANLEY'S PLAN FOR IRELAND.] + +Many weeks without a single line. I have been at Newmarket, and +have known nothing of any sort or kind. All seems quieter in the +political world than for a long time past. There was a meeting of +Peers at Apsley House a week or ten days ago, to consider the +course they should adopt about the Corporation Bill. After the +discussion Alvanley rose and asked the Duke if there would be any +more meetings. He said he was not aware that there would be, when +Alvanley said that he was of opinion that the majority of the +House of Lords, while dealing with the Government measures, were +bound to give notice to the country of the measures of relief +that they were themselves prepared to offer to Ireland, that in +his opinion the only real relief that could be given was some +system of poor law, and the payment of the Catholic clergy, +bringing that body under the control of the Government, and +making it penal to draw contributions from their flocks, and that +he trusted their Lordships would be prepared to go so far. He +describes the effect of this suggestion to have been most +ludicrous. The Duke of Newcastle, who sat by him, was ready to +bounce off his chair; all sorts of indistinct noises, hems, +grunts, and coughs of every variety of modulation and expressive +intonation were heard, but no answer and no remark. He told me +that he had intended on Tuesday last to repeat the same thing in +the House of Lords, and asked me to go down and hear him, but +they would not allow him. The Duke said it was out of the +question, and overruled him. I am very sorry he did not, for +these are the true remedies, and I wish to see them put forth, +and a beginning made of bringing such principles into action; but +the Duke is not the man to let others have the credit of such +measures. I expect to see the day when he will bring them forward +himself; it is a pig not yet fit for killing, and he will not let +anybody stick it but himself. + + +May 11th, 1836 {p.349} + +Great talk about the adjournment of Parliament on the 20th, and +about Melbourne's affair with Mrs. Norton, which latter, if it is +not quashed, will be inconvenient. John Bull fancies himself +vastly moral, and the Court is mighty prudish, and between them +our off-hand Premier will find himself in a ticklish position. He +has been served with notices, but people rather doubt the action +coming on. I asked the Duke of Wellington a night or two ago what +he had heard of it, and what he thought would be the result. He +said he had only heard what everybody said, and that nothing would +result. I said, 'Would Melbourne resign?' 'O Lord, no! Resign? Not +a bit of it. I tell you all these things are a nine-days' wonder; +it can't come into court before Parliament is up. People will have +done talking of it before that happens; it will all blow over, and +won't signify a straw.' So spoke his Grace. I doubt not prime +ministers, ex and in, have a fellow-feeling and sympathy for each +other, and like to lay down the principle of such things _not +mattering_. I hope, however, that it _will_ blow over, for it +would really be very inconvenient and very mischievous. The Tories +would fall on the individual from political violence, the Radicals +on his class or order from hatred to the aristocracy. I believe +the adjournment is principally on account of the affairs of +Canada, regarding which the Government is in a difficulty that +appears inextricable. I have heard a great deal on the subject, +enough to show the magnitude of the embarrassment, but not enough +to describe the state of things. + + +May 25th, 1836 {p.350} + +The Epsom races being over, which always absorb every other +interest, I have leisure to turn my mind to other things. This +year there has been a miserable catastrophe. Berkeley Craven +deliberately shot himself after losing more than he could pay. It +is the first instance of a man of rank and station in society +making such an exit. He had originally a large landed estate, +strictly entailed, got into difficulties, was obliged to go +abroad, compromised with his creditors and returned, fell into +fresh difficulties, involved himself inextricably in betting, and +went on with a determination to shoot himself if his speculations +failed, and so he did. He was very popular, had been extremely +handsome in his youth, and was a fellow of infinite pleasantry +and good-humour. + +Lord Melbourne's affair after all is likely to come before a +court of law. He is very much annoyed at it, and so are his +relations, but nobody expects him to resign. The Low Tories, the +herd, exult at this misfortune, and find a motive for petty +political gratification in it, but not so the Duke of Wellington +or any of them who are above the miserable feelings of party +spite. I am sorry for it, because it is a bad thing to see men in +high places dragged through the mire. + +I have heard a curious fact connected with the dismissal of +Mendizabal from his post of Prime Minister. He made an attempt on +the person of the Queen, which she resented with the greatest +aversion and rage. He afterwards wrote an apology, and then, +aware of the blunder of so committing himself, endeavoured to get +his letter back, which she refused to part with. The consequence +was that she availed herself of the first opportunity to get rid +of him. + +June 9th, 1836 {p.351} + +Dined at St. James's yesterday with the Jockey Club. The King +made a speech about himself and the Queen and the turf; he told +us 'the Queen was an excellent woman, as we all knew, and that of +all the societies which he had to entertain (which in his +capacity were many and various) we were the most truly British.' +He was very tired, and withdrew early. Wharncliffe said he was +weary and dejected. + + +June 27th, 1836 {p.351} + +[Page Head: RESULT OF LORD MELBOURNE'S TRIAL.] + +The town has been full of Melbourne's trial;[3] great exultation +at the result on the part of his political adherents, great +disappointment on that of the mob of Low Tories, and a creditable +satisfaction among the better sort; it was in point of fact a +very triumphant acquittal. The wonder is how with such a case +Norton's family ventured into court, but (although it is stoutly +denied) there can be no doubt that old Wynford was at the bottom +of it all, and persuaded Lord Grantley to urge it on for mere +political purposes. There is pretty conclusive evidence of this. +Fletcher Norton, who was examined on the trial, is staying in +town with a Mr. Lowe, a Nottinghamshire parson, and Denison, who +is Norton's neighbour, called on him the other day; Denison +talked to Lowe, who told him that Fletcher Norton had shown him +the case on which they were going to proceed, and that he had +told him he thought it was a very weak one, to which he had +replied so did he, but he believed they expected it would produce +a very important _political_ effect. The King behaved very +civilly about it, and expressed his satisfaction at the result in +terms sufficiently flattering to Melbourne. + + [3] [The trial of the cause Norton _v._ Lord Melbourne, + which ended in a verdict for the defendant.] + +To-night is the great night in the House of Lords, when they are +to deal with the Commons' amendments of the Municipal Bill. Lord +Grey is expected to speak, and he told his old colleagues that if +he did he should say what they would not like. The fact is, he is +out of humour. First he doesn't like being laid aside, though he +would not own this even to himself, and as he and Howick disagree +on many points, Howick tells him nothing, and consequently he +knows nothing, and this provokes him; then he is indignant at the +O'Connellism of the Government, and abhors the attacks on _his +order_. Tavistock talked to me a great deal yesterday about Lord +John Russell, who he declares is by no means the Radical he is +accused by his adversaries of being, that he is opposed tooth and +nail to the reform of the House of Lords, much disagreeing with +O'Connell, that he has constantly and firmly refused to comply +with the demands of the Dissenters in the matter of Church rates, +and that in the Ecclesiastical Commission he and the bishops are +on the best terms, and they are abundantly satisfied with him, +that the greatest Reformer there is Lord Harrowby, and John +Russell has had to act as mediator between him and the bishops. +The prelates, it seems, have grasped at patronage with all their +might, and have taken to themselves that which appertained to the +chapters, much to the disgust of the latter; they likewise +endeavoured to get hold of that which belongs to the Chancellor, +and on this occasion John wrote on a slip of paper (which he +threw across the table to the Archbishop of York), 'I don't +object to your robbing one another, but I can't let you rob the +Crown.' The Archbishop wrote back, 'That is just what I expected +from you.' This shows at least the good-humour that prevails +among them. + +[Page Head: THEATRICALS AT BRIDGEWATER HOUSE.] + +There has been such a stagnation in politics lately that I have +heard nothing, and having been laid up with the gout for a +fortnight, have seen scarcely anybody. The greatest interest I +have had has been in the dramatic representation at Bridgewater +House, to the rehearsals of which I ventured to go. They were +very brilliant and successful. As the space was limited, the +invitations necessarily were so, and everybody was wild to be +there. There were one or two _tracasseries_ growing out of the +thing, agitating for the moment, but very uninteresting in +themselves. The pieces were 'Glenfinlas,' taken from Walter +Scott's ballad, and 'Lalla Rookh,' from Moore's poem; the +principal performers were James Wortley, my brother Henry, +Mitford, Mrs. Bradshaw, Miss Kemble (Mrs. Sartoris); and the +chorus was composed of Mrs. Baring, Mrs. Hartopp, Miss Gent, Miss +Paget, Lady Mary Paget (Lady Sandwich), Lady Wallscourt, Lady +Georgiana Mitford, my sister, Lord Compton, Messrs. Westmacott, +Holford, James Macdonald, Baynton Lushington. Grieve painted +beautiful scenery, and the dresses were magnificent; all the +ladies were covered with diamonds, which the great jewellers lent +to them for the occasion. Mrs. Bradshaw's acting was perfection +itself, and altogether it was singular, striking, and eminently +successful, especially 'Glenfinlas,' which was very ingeniously +managed, and went off to the amazement of those who were +concerned in it, who did not expect such success. + + +July 1st, 1836 {p.353} + +At Stoke for three days; divine weather, profusion of flowers and +shade, and every luxury; nobody there of any consequence. On +Tuesday night at the House of Lords to hear the debate, which was +worth hearing. Lyndhurst spoke very ably, by far the finest style +of speaking, so measured, grave, and earnest, nothing glittering +and gaudy, but a manly and severe style of eloquence. Lord Grey +spoke very becomingly, but was feeble compared with what he used +to be. He endeavoured to effect a compromise, and said nothing +offensive to anybody or any party, spoke strongly in favour of +the Ministerial measure, and I think took the sound view. I have +no doubt the Tory Lords are all in the wrong in taking the course +they do, and their arguments are very frivolous and inefficient. +O'Connell was not in the House during Lyndhurst's philippic, but +came in soon after, and his arrival made a great bustle. + + +July 9th, 1836 {p.353} + +Since Monday (4th) at De Ros's villa. The division on the +appropriation clause and the majority of only twenty-six was +hailed with great triumph by the Tories, and was a grievous +disappointment to the Government. This, with the Warwickshire +election at the same moment, has made them very down in the mouth, +and raised the _Conservative stock_ pretty considerably. There was +very sharp work between Stanley and John Russell, who left off +_noble friending_ and took to _noble lording_ him, to show that +they were quite two. The fact is that they are in a huge +difficulty with this appropriation clause, which served their turn +for a while (when it turned out Peel and cemented their alliance +with the Radicals), and now it hangs like a millstone round their +necks, and is not unlikely to produce the dissolution of the +Government. Strange that this Irish Church in one way or another +is the insuperable obstacle to peace and tranquillity in Ireland, +and to the stability of any Administration here; and yet it is +fought for as if the prosperity or salvation of the State depended +on it-- + + Tantum _religio_ potuit suadere malorum. + +As far as the Whig Ministers are concerned it serves them right, +for it was a wicked and foolish proceeding; their conduct will +tell against them in the country, and when the House of Lords is +accused of stopping legislation, people will not fail to ask, +What else is the House of Commons doing, or rather how much more? +They assert that tithes are the great bane of Ireland, and the +cause of the disorder which prevail, and they propose a Tithe +Bill as the remedy, but they clog it with a condition which they +know, with as much certainty as human knowledge can attain, will +prevent its passing into a law, and in this shape they persist in +producing it. Lord John Russell and his colleagues, it is said, +are pledged not to pass a Tithe Bill without this clause; but +what cares the public for their pledges, and what is their +consistency compared with the great interests at stake, and which +are involved in the settlement of this question? + +They acted 'Genfinlas' for the last time on Thursday, with +greater success than ever. The Queen was invited, but did not +come. All London is intent upon morning amusements--morning +parties, which are extended into the night. The Duchess of +Buccleuch gave entertainments on Monday and Wednesday; De Ros on +Friday--dinners, tents, illuminations, and dancing; all very gay +for those who can find amusement in it, which I have ceased to +do. + + +July 18th, 1836 {p.355} + +[Page Head: APPROPRIATION CLAUSE ABANDONED.] + +On Thursday night, almost as soon as I got back from Newmarket, I +heard that it was strongly suspected that the Cabinet were in +great embarrassment about the Irish Church question, and of course +the Tories were proportionably elated at the visions of return to +office which are always ready to dance before their eyes. This +report was confirmed to me the next day (Friday) by Lord +Tavistock, who told me what really was the case. The late division +seems to have made a considerable impression, and several of the +supporters of Government have represented that matters cannot +continue in their present state, and that the resistance to +payment of tithe on the one hand and the threats of rebellion on +the other render it of paramount necessity to settle the question, +and that it is better after all to take the Bill without the +appropriation clause than to let it be again lost. This difference +of opinion has of course particularly embarrassed Lord John +Russell, and they do not know what to do. With respect to Lord +John himself the question is, Can he continue in office and let +the Bill pass without the clause? If he cannot, are his colleagues +as completely committed as he is, or may not they elect some other +leader on his migration, and take the Bill in that state? I told +Tavistock that he well knew what my opinions had always been with +respect to the introduction of that clause, which seemed to be +more fully justified by the event; that I did not think any +difference could be made between John and his colleagues, and they +must stand or fall together. With respect to their taking the Bill +without the clause, they, and Lord John in particular, must make +up their minds, if they did so, to have every species of abuse +poured upon them from their Tory enemies and their Radical +friends; but they were in a scrape, and had, in fact, got the +country into a scrape too, and their duty now was to take that +course which on the whole seemed to promise the best results, +whatever it might personally cost them and to whatever reproaches +they might render themselves liable. If they were satisfied that +no other Government would at present be formed, and that the Irish +Church question could be settled in no other way, they ought to +swallow the pill. He said he thought they were not indisposed to +face the obloquy, if it must be so, and that all depended upon the +conduct of the Lords, and upon their affording the Government a +decent pretext for taking the Bill. I asked how. He said that what +he thought of was this--earnestly conjuring me not to commit him +and his friends by saying he had suggested any such thing (which +satisfied me that it was not only his own idea, but that of others +also belonging to the Government)--that last year the Lords had +thrown out the Bill, because the appropriation clause being a +money clause, they could not touch it, but that now this objection +was removed as to form, and they were at liberty to cut it out if +they pleased, and return the Bill without it to the Commons; that +if they would at the same time pass a resolution declaring that if +any surplus was reported such surplus should be at the disposal of +Parliament, without expressing any opinion as to the way in which +Parliament should deal with it, this, he thought, would be +sufficient to enable the Whigs _salvo honore_ to take the Bill; +neither party would be compromised or committed to anything at +variance with the principles they had already professed, and the +alteration in the state of the question produced by the discovery +of that legal process to which the clergy had had recourse would, +together with such a resolution, be a sufficient warrant to them +to pass the Bill. I told him that I would not commit him, and I +would endeavour (if I had an opportunity) to ascertain if there +was any chance of the Lords taking such a course, to which I could +see no objection. + + +Petworth, July 24th, 1836 {p.356} + +[Page Head: THE MINISTRY IN DIFFICULTIES.] + +Came here yesterday from Hillingdon, the day before from London. +In the morning (Friday) there was a meeting of the Ministerialists +at the Foreign Office; called by Lord John Russell, to talk to +them about the Church Bill. After the skirmish in the House of +Commons between him and Charles Buller a deputation, headed by +Hume, waited on Melbourne to remonstrate, and they reported that +the interview was on his part very civil and good-natured, but +very unsatisfactory. Lord John Russell therefore called them +together and harangued them. He is said to have spoken very well, +stating that Government could not and would not give way with +respect to this measure, and reminding Hume that in a former +speech he had already assented to the principle of the Bill. The +English Radicals were, however, not to be appeased, spoke +strongly, and declared they would oppose the Bill in every stage. +O'Connell rose, and said that he would support Government, that it +was of vital consequence to Ireland that there should be no +appearance of disunion in the party, and that no idea should +prevail there that there was a chance of its being broken up; and +for this reason Government should have his support. + +I met them all coming away, and fastened on Tom Duncombe, who +told me what had passed, and how angry they (the English +Radicals) were. I asked him whether their resentment would induce +them to desert Government on the appropriation clauses and stay +away, because, if so, they must go out; and he said that it would +not push them to that length. It may be presumed that O'Connell's +behaviour at this meeting will have bound the Government still +more not to give way on this clause, and that whatever the Lords +may do, they will fight the battle. + +The Lords in the meantime have gone quietly into Committee, and +the second reading passed off with tolerable harmony. Melbourne +made a good speech, and produced a surplus, but which the Duke of +Wellington will take very good care to reduce again to _nil_. +This is very easily done on one side, and the contrary on the +other; redistribution can accomplish either desideratum--surplus +or no surplus. However, the Government seems to be in a pretty +state between their moderate and their violent adherents, and +though they may scramble through this session, and hustle +Parliament to an end, it is difficult to see how they will ever +pass the ordeal of another, for they can neither continue in +their present course nor adopt any other with safety. + +I met old Denison (the member for Surrey)--a strong supporter of +the Government and an old Whig--coming from the meeting on Friday, +and suggested to him what a scrape his friends were in. He owned +that it was so, but said that parties were so balanced that Peel +could not go on if he came in. I said Peel could not go on if the +King turned out the Government as he had done before, or if Peel +was instrumental in compelling them to resign; but that if they +resigned of their own accord, and because they were themselves +conscious that they could not go on, I thought Peel would be +supported by a majority even of this House of Commons; for, after +all, the country must have a Government, and if Peel took it +because it was vacant, and nobody else could be found to occupy +it, he could not be refused the trial, which he had in vain asked +for before. He owned this was true, and such an admission from +such a man was a great deal. The King is evidently waiting with +the greatest impatience for the moment when his Ministers must +resign. He complained bitterly of my brother-in-law's[4] going +abroad, and said it was a time when every Conservative ought to be +at his post, which means that every opponent of his Ministers +should strive with ceaseless zeal to drive them to the wall. He is +a true king of the Tories, for his impatience fully equals theirs. + + [4] [Lord Francis Egerton.] + + +August 7th, 1836 {p.358} + +[Page Head: DISSENSION BETWEEN LORDS AND COMMONS.] + +After the meeting at the Foreign Office there seems to have been +an end of all notion of any compromise, or any giving way on the +part of the Government about the clauses in the Tithe Bill, and +Lord John Russell held very strong language. The debate presented +nothing remarkable. Sheil came over from Ireland on purpose to +speak, not being able to vote, as he had paired. Great exertions +were made on both sides, and the Tories dragged up Sir Watkin +Williams Wynn from Wales, very infirm; and had a blind man in the +House, led about by Ross. The majority of twenty-nine ought to +have been twenty-six, just the same as the last division. Sir +Charles Cockerell (Whig) was shut out, whilst on the other side +Lord Arthur Hill's[5] vote was lost by his mother's death, which +made him a Peer, and the Lennoxes and Poyntz stayed away. The +whole thing went off tamely enough; everybody in Parliament knew +what was to happen, and out of doors people don't care. While the +revenue presents an excess of two millions, and everything +flourishes, political excitement is impossible. The Lords continue +to throw out Bills, and many complaints are made of their evident +determination to reject as many of the Commons' measures as they +can. Some of them have been opposed, particularly the Stafford +Disfranchisement Bill, by the Ministers themselves. The Lords, +however, no doubt evince a very imprudent disposition to exercise +their power of rejection without grave and sufficient cause, and +needlessly to expose themselves to the charge of wanton and +intemperate opposition to the measures of the Commons. It is the +height of folly to make the line between the two Houses as broad +as possible, and to publish to the world on every occasion that +the one House is Whig and the other Tory; not but what (in the +present rage for legislation, and the careless and hurried way in +which measures are bustled through the House of Commons) the +revision and watchful superintendence of the House of Lords are +more than ever necessary. + + [5] [Lord Arthur Hill became Baron Sandys on the death of + his mother, the Marchioness of Downshire, who was + Baroness Sandys in her own right.] + +There was a report of General Evans' death the other day, which +was believed for some time, and long enough to show that there +would have been a contest for Westminster if it had been true. + +The accounts from Spain are deplorable, and it is curious enough +that while Palmerston was proclaiming in the House of Commons his +conviction of the ultimate success of the Christino cause he must +have had letters from Villiers in his pocket telling him that it was +almost hopeless. I saw one from him a few days ago, written in the +greatest despondency. He said that he had been stopped on his road +to St. Ildefonso by intelligence that the Carlists were approaching +the place, and that the Queen had taken flight. He found all the +relays of mules ready for her Majesty, and he returned to Madrid. It +turned out to be a false alarm, and the Queen stayed where she was; +but he said that he could only compare the progress of the Carlists +to water spreading over table-land. It will be a severe blow to +Palmerston if this cause is overthrown, though perhaps no fault of +his policy. Had France acted fairly, the result of the Quadruple +Alliance would have answered the expectation of its authors, but +France, instead of co-operating according to the spirit of that +treaty, has thrown every impediment in its way. It is surprising to +hear how Palmerston is spoken of by those who know him well +officially--the Granvilles, for example. Lady Granville, a woman +expert in judging, thinks his capacity first-rate; that it +approaches to greatness from his enlarged views, disdain of +trivialities, resolution, decision, confidence, and above all his +contempt of clamour and abuse. She told me that Madame de Flahault +had a letter written by Talleyrand soon after his first arrival in +England, in which he talked with great contempt of the Ministers +generally, Lord Grey included, and said there was but one statesman +among them, and that was Palmerston. His ordinary conversation +exhibits no such superiority; but when he takes his pen in his hand +his intellect seems to have full play, and probably when engaged +exclusively in business. + + +August 13th, 1836 {p.360} + +On Monday last I was riding early in the Park and met Lord +Howick. We rode together for some time. He said that 'he supposed +they should be out after this session, and they ought to be out, +as they could carry none of their measures, and the Lords +rejected Bill after Bill sent up from the other House; that since +the Tories chose to go on in this way, they must make the +experiment and carry on the Government if they could, but they +must look for every opposition from his friends and his party. It +was quite impossible things could go on upon their present +footing; the country would not stand it, and the Lords must look +to those changes which their own conduct rendered indispensable.' +I said to Howick that the appropriation clause made the great +difficulty of the Whigs; that I believed they were, on the whole, +a very Conservative Government, but why struggle for this +absurdity, and why not bring forward a measure at once of real +relief and pay the Catholic clergy? He said they could not do it; +their own friends would not support them; that the Tories might +have done it, but that the Whigs could not. 'So,' I replied, +'both parties are in such a position that no Conservative +measures can be carried but by the Whigs, and no Liberal ones but +by the Tories.' + +Since this there has been a free conference, and the Lords have +been bowling down Bills like ninepins. This certainly cannot go +on; either the Tories must come into power again, or the Whigs +must do something to control the House of Lords, or the Lords +must lower their tone and adopt more moderate counsels. The +latter would be the best, as it is the least probable, of the +three alternatives. + +His Majesty was pleased to be very facetious at the Council the +other day, though not very refined. A new seal for the Cape of +Good Hope was approved, and the impression represented a Caffre, +with some ornaments on his head which resembled _horns_. The King +asked Lord Glenelg what these _horns_ meant, but Glenelg referred +his Majesty to Poulett Thomson, to whom he said, 'Well, Mr. +Thomson, what do you say to this? I know you are a man of +gallantry, but if you choose to be represented with a pair of +horns I am sure I have no objection;' at which sally their +lordships laughed, as in duty bound. + + +August 21st, 1836 {p.361} + +[Page Head: PARLIAMENT PROROGUED.] + +Yesterday the King prorogued Parliament with a very moderate, +inoffensive Speech. The Tories had spread a report that the +Ministers wanted to thrust into the Speech some allusions to the +conduct of the House of Lords, but no such thing was ever +contemplated. + +The session was wound up by an oration of Lyndhurst's in the House +of Lords, introduced with a considerable note of preparation. It +was announced a day or two before that he was going down to +deliver a vindication of the majority of the Lords and of himself +for their conduct during the session, and the expectation which +was raised was not disappointed. It seems to have been a great +display, and sufficiently well answered by Melbourne. As his +opponents universally admit that Lyndhurst's speech was of +consummate ability, while his friends confess that it was not +discreet and well judged, we may safely conclude that it deserves +both the praise and the blame; and as the Duke of Wellington rose +afterwards and made a speech of remarkable moderation, it would +certainly appear as if he thought it necessary to temper the +violence of Lyndhurst by a more conciliatory tone. When I say _his +friends_ have expressed the opinions above stated, I should say +that I have conversed with only two--Lords Bathurst and Ripon--and +they both expressed themselves to this effect. Lord Holland, who +endeavoured to answer it, said he thought Lyndhurst's one of the +best speeches he had ever heard in Parliament. + +If he had confined himself to a temperate and dignified +vindication of the proceedings of the House of Lords (that is, of +his own), and had abstained from any attack on the Government, +and especially from any language reflecting on the Commons, +perhaps it would have been a wise measure, but it cannot be wise +to widen the differences which already exist between the two +Houses, and to render all the animosities of public men more +bitter and irreconcilable than they were before. The Tories are +convinced that they are becoming more and more popular, and that +the country approves of the daring behaviour of the Lords. The +Whigs insist that the apathy of the country (which they mistake +for approbation) is nothing but the imperturbability resulting +from prosperity and full employment, but that if adverse +circumstances arise a storm will burst on the Lords, and they +will see how miserably deceived they are. I think the Lords have +gone too far, and though a vast deal of crude legislation comes +up from the Commons, requiring much supervision, and often great +alteration, they have shown an animus and adopted a practice +quite foreign to the usual habits of the House of Lords, and +which is in itself an important innovation. The truth is, it is +not (as has been represented) a contest between _the two Houses_, +but between the two great _parties_ very nearly balanced, of +which the stronghold of one is in the Lords, and that of the +other in the Commons. It can scarcely cross the minds of either +party, or of any individual of either, that the substantive power +of Government can or ought to be transferred from the House of +Commons to the House of Lords, and Lyndhurst and the Tories would +not venture to make the havoc which they do in the Government +Bills if they were not persuaded that if ever a crisis is +produced by the collision their party will succeed in obtaining +the sanction of the country and an ascendency in the other House. +If they have estimated correctly their own strength and the real +disposition of the country, their Parliamentary tactics have been +skilful, but the game which they play is a very desperate one, +for if it fails the House of Lords can hardly avoid suffering +very materially from the conflict. However, much is to be said on +the subject when considered in all its bearings. + +The King at his last levee received Dr. Allen to do homage for +the see of Ely, when he said to him, 'My Lord, I do not mean to +interfere in any way with your vote in Parliament except on one +subject, _the Jews _, and I trust I may depend on your always +voting against them.' + + +August 30th, 1836 {p.363} + +[Page Head: MARRIAGE OF LADY AUGUSTA FITZCLARENCE.] + +At Hillingdon from Saturday to Monday. There were great festivities +at Windsor during the Egham race week, when the King's daughter Lady +Augusta was married at the Castle[6]. It was remarked that on the +King's birthday not one of the Ministers was invited to the Castle, +and none except the Household in any way connected with the +Government. At the Queen's birthday a short time before not one +individual of that party was present. Nothing can be more +undisguised than the King's aversion to his Ministers, and he seems +resolved to intimate that his compulsory reception of them shall not +extend to his society, and that though he can't help seeing them at +St. James's, the gates of Windsor are shut against them. All his +habitual guests are of the Tory party, and generally those who have +distinguished themselves by their violence or are noted for their +extreme opinions--Winchilsea and Wharncliffe, for example, of the +former, and the Duke of Dorset of the latter sort. At the dinner on +his birthday the King gave the Princess Victoria's health rather +well. Having given the Princess Augusta's he said, 'And now, having +given the health of the oldest, I will give that of the youngest +member of the Royal Family. I know the interest which the public +feel about her, and although _I have not seen so much of her as I +could have wished_, I take no less interest in her, and the more I +do see of her, both in public and in private, the greater pleasure +it will give me.' The whole thing was so civil and gracious that it +could hardly be taken ill, but the young Princess sat opposite, and +hung her head with not unnatural modesty at being thus talked of in +so large a company. + + [6] [Lady Augusta Fitzclarence, fourth daughter of King + William IV. by Mrs. Jordan, married first, on the 5th + of July, 1827 to the Hon. John Kennedy Erskine, and + secondly, on the 26th of August, 1836, to Lord John + Frederick Gordon. She died in 1865.] + +While London is entirely deserted, and everything is quiet and +prosperous here, there is a storm raging in Spain which has +already had an effect in France, by producing the dissolution of +Thiers's Ministry,[7] and may very likely end by creating +disturbances in that country and embroiling Europe. The +complication of French politics, the character and designs of the +King, his relations with the great Powers of Europe, and the +personal danger to which he is exposed from the effects of a +demoralised mass of floating hostility and disaffection, rendered +doubly perilous from the mixture of unnatural excitement and +contempt of life which largely enter into it, present a very +curious and very interesting subject of political observation and +speculation for those who have the means of investigating it +closely. + + [7] [M. Thiers came into power for the first time as + Minister of Foreign Affairs and head of the Government + on the 22nd of February, 1836. He had boasted that he + should be able to engage the King in a more active + intervention in Spain in favour of the young Queen--'Nous + entrainerons le Roi' was his expression--but in + this he was deceived, and his Administration came to a + speedy termination. Lord Palmerston proposed on the + 14th of March that some of the ports on the coast of + Biscay should be occupied by British seamen and + marines, and that Passages, Fontarabia, and the valley + of Bartan should be occupied by the French. This scheme + was strenuously opposed by the King, though M. Thiers + was willing to assent to it. The Revolution of La + Granja in August only increased the repugnance of Louis + Philippe to interfere actively in Spain, and early in + September the Thiers Cabinet was dissolved. Mr. + Villiers's narrative of the revolution of La Granja is + alluded to in the passage next following.] + + +September 7th, 1836 {p.365} + +[Page Head: GEORGE VILLIERS'S DESPATCHES.] + +Mrs. Villiers sent me to-day the copies of two despatches of +George Villiers's to Palmerston, containing a narrative of the +events which took place at St. Ildefonso on the 12th, 13th, and +14th of last month; these he sent to her, because he had not time +to write the details all over again. Nothing can be more curious, +nothing more interesting, nothing more admirably described, all +the details given with great simplicity, extreme clearness, and +inimitable liveliness of narration. It reminds one of the scenes +enacted during the French Revolution; but as these despatches +will probably be published, I shall not be at the pains to give +an analysis of them here. It is remarkable how courageously and +prudently the Queen seems to have behaved. What energies a +difficult crisis called forth! How her spirit and self-possession +bore up in the midst of danger and insult, and how she contrived +to preserve her dignity even while compelled to make the most +humiliating concessions! No romance was ever more interesting +than this narrative. George Villiers's correspondence will some +day or other make one of the most valuable and entertaining +publications that ever appeared, though I shall not live to see +it. He writes incomparably well, with a mixture of vivacity and +energy peculiarly his own. + + +September 21st, 1836 {p.365} + +I have recorded nothing about the revolutions at Madrid and +Lisbon, because I know nothing besides what has appeared in all +the newspapers, and it would be very useless to copy facts from +their columns. As to private matters, and the exploits or +interests of individuals, I only note them as the fancy takes me, +and the fancy has not taken me of late. I cannot keep a +_journal_--that is, a day by day memorial--and I have an +invincible repugnance to making my MS. books the receptacles of +scandal, and handing down to posterity (if ever posterity should +have an opportunity of seeing and would take the trouble to read +these pages) the _private_ faults and follies of my friends, +acquaintance, and associates. + +To-day we had a Council, the first since Parliament was +prorogued, when his most gracious Majesty behaved most +ungraciously to his confidential servants, whom he certainly does +not delight to honour. The last article on the list was a +petition of Admiral Sartorius praying to be restored to his rank, +and when this was read the King, after repeating the usual form +of words, added, 'And must be granted. As Captain Napier was +restored, so must this gentleman be, for there was this +difference between their cases: Admiral Napier knew he was doing +wrong, which Admiral Sartorius was not aware of.' Lord Minto +said, 'I believe, sir, there was not so much difference between +the two cases as your Majesty imagines, for Admiral Sartorius--' +Then followed something which I could not catch, but the King +did, for he said, with considerable asperity, 'Unless your +Lordship is quite sure of that, I must beg leave to say that I +differ from you and do not believe it to be so, but since you +have expressed your belief that it is so, I desire you will +furnish me with proofs of it immediately. The next time I see you +you will be prepared with the proofs of what you say, for unless +I see them I shall not believe one word of it.' Minto made no +reply to this extraordinary sortie, and the rest looked at each +other in silence. + +[Page Head: RUDENESS OF THE KING.] + +This, however, was nothing compared with what took place at +Windsor with the Duchess of Kent, of which I heard something a +long time ago (August 30th), but never the particulars till last +night. It is very remarkable that the thing has not been more +talked about. The King invited the Duchess of Kent to go to +Windsor on the 12th of August to celebrate the Queen's birthday +(13th), and to stay there over his own birthday, which was to be +kept (_privately_) on the 21st (the real day, but falling on +Sunday) and _publicly_ the day following. She sent word that she +wanted to keep her own birthday at Claremont on the 15th (or +whatever the day is), took no notice of the Queen's birthday, but +said she would go to Windsor on the 20th. This put the King in a +fury; he made, however, no reply, and on the 20th he was in town +to prorogue Parliament, having desired that they would not wait +dinner for him at Windsor. After the prorogation he went to +Kensington Palace to look about it; when he got there he found +that the Duchess of Kent had appropriated to her own use a suite +of apartments, seventeen in number, for which she had applied last +year, and which he had refused to let her have. This increased his +ill-humour, already excessive. When he arrived at Windsor and went +into the drawing-room (at about ten o'clock at night), where the +whole party was assembled, he went up to the Princess Victoria, +took hold of both her hands, and expressed his pleasure at seeing +her there and his regret at not seeing her oftener. He then turned +to the Duchess and made her a low bow, almost immediately after +which he said that 'a most unwarrantable liberty had been taken +with one of his palaces; that he had just come from Kensington, +where he found apartments had been taken possession of not only +without his consent, but contrary to his commands, and that he +neither understood nor would endure conduct so disrespectful to +him.' This was said loudly, publicly, and in a tone of serious +displeasure. It was, however, only the muttering of the storm +which was to break the next day. Adolphus Fitzclarence went into +his room on Sunday morning, and found him in a state of great +excitement. It was his birthday, and though the celebration was +what was called private, there were a hundred people at dinner, +either belonging to the Court or from the neighbourhood. The +Duchess of Kent sat on one side of the King and one of his sisters +on the other, the Princess Victoria opposite. Adolphus Fitzclarence +sat two or three from the Duchess, and heard every word of what +passed. After dinner, by the Queen's desire, 'His Majesty's +health, and long life to him' was given, and as soon as it was +drunk he made a very long speech, in the course of which he poured +forth the following extraordinary and _foudroyante_ tirade:--'I +trust in God that my life may be spared for nine months longer, +after which period, in the event of my death, no regency would +take place. I should then have the satisfaction of leaving the +royal authority to the personal exercise of that young lady +(pointing to the Princess), the heiress presumptive of the Crown, +and not in the hands of a person now near me, who is surrounded by +evil advisers and who is herself incompetent to act with propriety +in the station in which she would be placed. I have no hesitation +in saying that I have been insulted--grossly and continually +insulted--by that person, but I am determined to endure no longer +a course of behaviour so disrespectful to me. Amongst many other +things I have particularly to complain of the manner in which that +young lady has been kept away from my Court; she has been +repeatedly kept from my drawing-rooms, at which she ought always +to have been present, but I am fully resolved that this shall not +happen again. I would have her know that I am King, and I am +determined to make my authority respected, and for the future I +shall insist and command that the Princess do upon all occasions +appear at my Court, as it is her duty to do.' He terminated his +speech by an allusion to the Princess and her future reign in a +tone of paternal interest and affection, which was excellent in +its way. + +[Page Head: THE KING AND THE DUCHESS OF KENT.] + +This awful philippic (with a great deal more which I forget) was +uttered with a loud voice and excited manner. The Queen looked in +deep distress, the Princess burst into tears, and the whole +company were aghast. The Duchess of Kent said not a word. +Immediately after they rose and retired, and a terrible scene +ensued; the Duchess announced her immediate departure and ordered +her carriage, but a sort of reconciliation was patched up, and +she was prevailed upon to stay till the next day. The following +morning, when the King saw Adolphus, he asked him what people +said to his speech. He replied that they thought the Duchess of +Kent merited his rebuke, but that it ought not to have been given +there; that he ought to have sent for her into his closet, and +have said all that he felt and thought there, but not at table +before a hundred people. He replied that he did not care where he +said it or before whom, that 'by God he had been insulted by her +in a measure that was past all endurance, and he would not stand +it any longer.' + +Nothing can be more unaccountable than the Duchess of Kent's +behaviour to the King, nothing more reprehensible; but his +behaviour to her has always been as injudicious and undignified +as possible, and this last sortie was monstrous. It was his duty +and his right to send for her, and signify to her both his +displeasure at the past and his commands for the future; but such +a gross and public insult offered to her at his own table, +sitting by his side and in the presence of her daughter, admits +of no excuse. It was an unparalleled outrage from a man to a +woman, from a host to his guest, and to the last degree +unbecoming the station they both of them fill. He has never had +the firmness and decision of character a due display of which +would have obviated the necessity of such bickerings, and his +passion leads him to these indecent exhibitions, which have not +the effect of correcting, and cannot fail to have that of +exasperating her, and rendering their mutual relations more +hopelessly disagreeable. + + +November 7th, 1836 {p.369} + +An interval of above six weeks. I went to Newmarket on the 3rd of +October, returned to town for a Council on Wednesday in the first +October week; after the first October meeting I went to +Buckenham, after the second to Euston, and after the third came +to town. At Buckenham I met Adolphus Fitzclarence, who told me +over again the particulars of the scene with the Duchess of Kent, +which did not differ materially from what I have put down. He +added one item, that the day following the Queen was not ready +for dinner, and when dinner was announced and he was waiting he +asked, 'Where's the Queen?' They told him she was waiting for the +Duchess of Kent, when he said, loud enough for everybody to hear, +'That woman is a nuisance.' He was very angry at King Leopold's +coming here, received him very coldly at Windsor, had no +conversation with him on business, and on one occasion exhibited +a rudeness even to brutality. It seems he hates water-drinkers; +God knows why. One day at dinner Leopold called for water, when +the King asked, 'What's that you are drinking, sir?' 'Water, +sir.' 'God damn it!' rejoined the other King; 'why don't you +drink wine? I never allow anybody to drink water at my table.' +Leopold only dined there, and went away in the evening. All this +is very miserable and disgraceful. + +Of politics during this period I have heard little or nothing, +except that while the Conservatives are feasting and spouting in +all parts of the country, and rallying their forces, there is a +split among their opponents, an event which was inevitable, +considering the different shades of opinion prevailing amongst +them, though they hope to reconcile all their differences by the +time Parliament meets, which they will probably do, in order to +baffle their common enemy. It is, however, a good thing that +these differences should arise amongst them. I wish I could see a +party formed upon really Conservative principles, determined to +maintain the Constitution and steer clear of Tory nonsense and +bigotry; but this I doubt to be practicable. + + +November 8th, 1836 {p.370} + +[Page Head: PRINCE ESTERHAZY'S CONVERSATION.] + +I dined on Sunday with Cunningham, and met Prince Esterhazy, with +whom I had a long conversation. He talked a great deal about the +state of Europe, of the bickerings between Palmerston and Louis +Philippe on the Spanish question, between England and Russia in +the East, and of the position of Austria in the midst of it all; +that he had conversed often and at great length with the Emperor +of Russia at Prague and with Louis Philippe at Paris, both having +talked in the most open manner, and that he was endeavouring (he +thought successfully) to bring Palmerston to an amicable tone and +feeling, and to effect some sort of compromise with respect to the +debated points. Both sovereigns have the same desire to avoid war, +and Louis Philippe told him that his object was 'de rendre la +guerre impossible,' that no Power could be so much interested as +Austria was in restraining the power and ambition of Russia within +reasonable bounds, and that the Emperor had held the most moderate +language, as he believed with sincerity; that our prejudices +against Russia were unreasonably violent, and they arose in some +degree from mortification at our own misconduct in letting +opportunities slip out of our hands, and throwing advantages and +influence into those of Russia, which we were now angry that she +availed herself of; but that if we continued to act frankly and +firmly in conjunction with Austria and France (France and Austria +being perfectly agreed) we should have nothing to fear from +Russia. They (the northern Powers) were content that we should +exercise an especial influence in the Peninsula; they were aware +that these questions were the peculiar concern and interest of +France and England, and they did not want to interfere. But for +the escape of Don Carlos, which altered the aspect of affairs in +Spain, and some trifling points of etiquette which might easily +have been adjusted, the Spanish question would have been settled +among the Powers long ago, and the Queen recognised by them all. +He said that for a long time past the affairs of Europe had been +extensively influenced by personal feelings and individual +interests and passions, greatly so on Palmerston's own part and +very much during the embassy of the Lievens, Madame de Lieven +having been so much influenced by partisanship and by her +fluctuating friendships and connections. The Emperor told +Esterhazy that it was impossible for him to leave Lieven there, +that he was not represented by him as he ought to be, that they in +some respects fell short of, and in others went beyond, the line +which their duty and his interests demanded. He said that the +Emperor Nicholas was a very remarkable man--absolute master, his +own Minister, and under no other influence whatever--that his +perceptions were just and his ideas remarkably clear, although his +views were not very extensive, and the circle within which these +ideas ranged was limited, Nesselrode not having a particle of +influence; his Ministers and Ambassadors were clerks; and while +his ease and affability to foreigners (to him--Esterhazy--in +particular) were excessively striking, he treated his Russians +with a loftiness that could not be conceived, and one and all +trembled in his presence with the crouching humility of slaves. +When he was at Prague he on a sudden set off and travelled with +amazing rapidity to Vienna, without giving any notice to anybody. +His object was to visit the Dowager Empress and the tomb of the +late Emperor. He alighted at Tatischef's (his Ambassador's), +where, as soon as his arrival was known, the Russian ladies who +were at Vienna full-dressed themselves and hurried off to pay +their _devoirs_. They were met in all their diamonds and feathers +on the staircase by Benkendorf, who said, 'Allez-vous en bien +vite; l'Empereur ne veut pas voir une seule de vous,' and they +were obliged to bustle back with as much alacrity as they had +come. Though the best understanding prevailed between the French +and Austrian Governments, and the latter is cordially allied with +Louis Philippe, there is some sourness and disappointment at the +failure of the project of marriage with which the Duke of Orleans +went to Vienna. Esterhazy said that it had failed in great measure +through an imprudent precipitation; that the Duke had given +universal satisfaction, but there were great prejudices to +surmount, and the recollection of Marie Antoinette and Marie +Louise. He thought the advantages of the match were overrated at +Paris, but they were so anxious for it there that the disappointment +was considerable; he said he thought that it might still be +brought about. These are the few fragments I have retained from +the talk we had. + + +November 13th, 1836 {p.372} + +[Page Head: GLOOMY PROSPECTS.] + +Nomination of the sheriffs yesterday. Two of the judges--old Park +and Alderson--would not send me their lists, nonsensically +alleging that it was unconstitutional; all the others did.[8] Old +Park is peevish and foolish. The Ministers are come to town, +having enough upon their hands; the war in Spain, and approaching +downfall of the Christino cause, will be a blow which will shake +Palmerston's credit severely, and many think will force him to +retire, which, however, I do not expect. Then the nervousness in +the City about the monetary state, the disappearance of gold, the +cessation of orders from America, and the consequent interruption +to trade, and dismissal of thousands of workmen who have been +thrown out of employment, present the prospect of a disquieting +winter. It is remarkable that all accounts agree in stating that +so great is the improvidence of the artisans and manufacturing +labourers, that none of those who have been in the receipt of the +highest wages have saved anything against the evil days with +which they are menaced. Rice affected to be very cheerful +yesterday, and said it would all come right. A good deal of +alarm, however, prevails in what are called practical quarters. +Then there is a split among the Radicals, some of whom are +dissatisfied that Government will not take up their views, and +others are affronted at the personal neglect or incivility which +they have experienced. As the Ministers disclaim any connection +with the Radicals, while existing upon their support, they think +it necessary in proof of the first to exclude them from any +participation in those social civilities which Ministers usually +dispense to their adherents, and as these patriots are not free +from the same stirrings of pride and vanity which are found in +other men, they are mortified and disgusted, as well as +indignant, at such unworthy usage; they will, however, smooth +their ruffled plumage before Parliament meets, for they must +support the present Government, and Government will perhaps be a +little more cordial, as they can't do without these allies. + + [8] [The lists of sheriffs for the ensuing year are + commonly handed in by the judges to the Clerk of the + Council in the Court of Exchequer on the morrow of St. + Martin.] + + +November 17th, 1836 {p.373} + +I have had two other conversations with Esterhazy at different +times. He went to Brighton and saw the King, whom he thought much +_baisse_, but I do not know whether it is a proof of it that he +could not prevail upon his Majesty to enter upon foreign politics +with him. He repeated to me what he had said before of the +necessity of a strict and cordial union between Austria and +England, and the disposition of the former not to contest our +supremacy and influence in the Peninsula, but he harps upon the +_mode_ of doing this, which I don't quite understand. I gathered +from him, and have heard from other quarters, that Metternich's +influence is much diminished, and that the Austrian Cabinet is no +longer ruled by him as heretofore, and that there is not the same +union: but there would appear to be a very complete union in the +Austrian Imperial Family, who cling together from a sense of +their common interest, and in great measure from the respect and +attachment which they all feel for the memory of the late +Emperor. Esterhazy said it was remarkable, considering the +condition of the Imperial House--the Emperor[9] in a state +bordering on idiocy, not likely to live above four or five years +at the outside, and his uncles all men of talent and energy; the +next heir, the brother of the Emperor,[10] is a man of competent +sense, but the late Emperor's brothers he describes to be all +superior men. + + [9] [The Emperor Ferdinand, here described, filled the + throne until 1848, when he abdicated in the great + convulsion of that year; he spent the rest of his life + in retirement at Prague, but he survived this + prediction nearly forty years.] + + [10] [The Archduke Franz Joseph, father of the present + Emperor. But this Archduke never filled the throne.] + +[Page Head: THE DUKE OF REICHSTADT.] + +He told me a great deal about the Duke of Reichstadt, who, if he +had lived, would have probably played a great part in the world. +He died of a premature decay, brought on apparently by over-exertion +and over-excitement; his talents were very conspicuous, he was +_petri d'ambition_, worshipped the memory of his father, and for +that reason never liked his mother; his thoughts were incessantly +turned towards France, and when he heard of the days of July he +said, 'Why was I not there to take my chance?' He evinced great +affection and gratitude to his grandfather, who, while he +scrupulously observed all his obligations towards Louis Philippe, +could not help feeling a secret pride in the aspiring genius and +ambition of Napoleon's son. He was well educated, and day and +night pored over the history of his father's glorious career. He +delighted in military exercises, and not only shone at the head of +his regiment, but had already acquired the hereditary art of +ingratiating himself with the soldiers. Esterhazy told me one +anecdote in particular, which shows the absorbing passion of his +soul overpowering the usual propensities of his age. He was to +make his first appearance in public at a ball at Lady Cowley's (to +which he had shown great anxiety to go), and was burning with +impatience to amuse himself with dancing and flirting with the +beauties he had admired in the Prater. He went, but there he met +two French marshals--Marmont and Maison. He had no eyes or ears +but for them; from nine in the evening to five the next morning he +devoted himself to these marshals, and conversed with them without +ceasing. Though he knew well enough all the odium that attached to +Marmont, he said to him that he was too happy to have the +opportunity of making the acquaintance of one who had been among +his father's earliest companions, and who could tell him so many +interesting details of his earlier days. Marmont subsequently +either did give or was to have given him lessons in strategy. + + + + + CHAPTER XXXII. + +Crisis in the City--The Chancellor of the Exchequer--A Journey to + Paris--Lord Lyndhurst in Paris--Princess Lieven--Parties in + France--Berryer--The Strasburg Conspirators--Rotten state of + France--Presentation at the Tuileries--Ball at the Tuileries-- + Bal Musard--Lord Granville--The Duc de Broglie--Position of the + Duc d'Orleans--Return to England--Conservative reaction-- + Sheil's tirade against Lord Lyndhurst--Lyndhurst as a Tory + leader--Angry Debates on Church Rates--The Government on the + brink of resignation--Sir R. Peel's prospects--The King and + Lord Aylmer--Death of Mrs. Fitzherbert--Ministerial + Compromise--Westminster Election--Majority of the Princess + Victoria--The King's illness--The King's letter to the + Princess--Preparations for the Council--Sir R. Peel on the + prospects of the New Reign--Prayers ordered for the King's + Recovery--Affairs of Lord Ponsonby--Death of King William IV.-- + First Council of Queen Victoria--The Queen proclaimed-- + Character of William IV. + + * * * * * + + 1837. + + +January 6th, 1837 {p.376} + +[Page Head: FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES.] + +I met Robarts at dinner yesterday, who gave me an account of the +alarm which has recently pervaded the City about monetary +matters, from the low state of the exchanges, the efflux of gold, +and the confusion produced by the embarrassments of the Great +Northern and Central Bank. These financial details are not +peculiarly interesting in themselves, and are only worth noticing +from the light they throw upon the capacity of our rulers, and +the estimation in which the Chancellor of the Exchequer is held +among the great moneyed authorities.[1] Nothing can in fact be +lower than it is. Robarts, a staunch Whig and thick and thin +supporter of Government, told me that he was quite unequal to the +situation he held; that these embarrassments had been predicted +to him, and the remedy pointed out long ago by practical men; +that the most eminent bankers in the City--Patterson the Governor +of the Bank, Grote, Glyn, himself, and others--had successively +been consulted by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and they had +all expressed the same opinion and given the same advice; but +that he had met their conclusions with a long chain of reasoning +founded upon the most fallacious premises, columns of prices of +stocks and exchequer-bills in former years, and calculations and +conjectures upon these data, which the keen view and sagacious +foresight of these men (whose wits are sharpened by the magnitude +of their immediate interest in the results, and whose long habits +make them so familiar with the details) detected and exposed, not +without some feelings both of resentment and contempt for the +Minister who clung to his own theories in preference to their +practical conclusions. What they originally advised Rice to do +was to raise the interest on exchequer-bills, which he refused, +and afterwards was compelled to do. Robarts said he had no doubt +that if Peel had been in office he would have shown himself equal +to cope with the difficulty which Rice had proved himself so +incompetent to meet. The raising of the siege of Bilbao will have +given Palmerston a lift, but between our foreign and our +financial affairs the Ministers will not have an easy session of +the next. + + [1] Mr. Spring Rice was Chancellor of the Exchequer in Lord + Melbourne's second Administration until 1839, when he + was raised to the peerage under the title of Lord + Monteagle of Brandon. + + +Dover, January 12th, 1837 {p.377} + +Having resolved, after many struggles, to go to Paris, here I am +on my way, and on arriving find that it blows a hurricane, and +there is little or no chance of being able to cross to-morrow; +for all I know I may be kept here for the next three days. + + +January 13th, 1837 {p.377} + +I might have gone very well this morning, but was persuaded not +to start by the mate of the Government packet, and, like a fool, +I listened to him. It was a fine calm morning. + + +Paris, January 17th, 1837 {p.377} + +Arrived here last night at five, having left Dover at a quarter +to one the day before; three hours to Boulogne, twenty-two to +Paris. + +I made a very prosperous journey; went to the Embassy in the +evening, and found a heap of people--Mole, Montalivet, Lyndhurst, +Madame de Lieven, Madame de Dino, Talleyrand, &c. + + +Paris, January 19th, 1837 {p.378} + +[Page Head: PRINCESS LIEVEN IN PARIS.] + +On Tuesday went about visiting; found nobody but Madame Alfred de +Noailles and Raikes; was to have gone to the Chamber, but the +ticket did not arrive in time; dined at the Embassy. Wednesday, in +the morning, to the gallery of the Louvre; dined with Talleyrand; +to Madame de Lieven's and Madame Graham's. Talleyrand as well as +ever, except weaker on his legs; asked me to dine there whenever I +was not engaged. In the morning called at the Tuileries, and left +a note for the Duke of Orleans's aide-de-camp, asking to be +presented to his Royal Highness; and at night my mother went to +Court, and begged leave to bring me there to present me to the +Royal family. Lyndhurst sets off to London this morning, and I had +only an opportunity of exchanging a few words with him. He told me +he had never passed such an agreeable time as the last four +months; not a moment of _ennui_; had become acquainted with a host +of remarkable people of all sorts, political characters of all +parties, and the _litterateurs_, such as Victor Hugo, Balzac, &c., +the latter of whom, he says, is a very agreeable man. He told me +that 'Le Pere Goriot' is a true story, and that since its +publication he had become acquainted with some more circumstances +which would have made it still more striking. He has been leading +here 'une vie de garcon,' and making himself rather ridiculous in +some respects. He said to me, 'I suppose the Government will get +on; I'm sure I shall not go on in the House of Lords this year as +I did the last. I was induced by circumstances and some little +excitement to take a more prominent part than usual last session; +but I don't see what I got by it except abuse. I thought I should +not hear any of the abuse that was poured upon me when I came +here, and got out of the reach of the English newspapers, but, on +the contrary, I find it all concentrated in Galignani.' Lyndhurst +and Ellice have been great friends here. Madame de Lieven seems to +have a very agreeable position at Paris. She receives every night, +and opens her house to all comers. Being neutral ground, men of +all parties meet there, and some of the most violent antagonists +have occasionally joined in amicable and curious discussion. It is +probably convenient to her Court that she should be here under +such circumstances, for a woman of her talents cannot fail to pick +up a good deal of interesting, and perhaps useful, information; +and as she is not subject to the operation of the same passions +and prejudices which complicated and disturbed her position in +England, she is able to form a juster estimate of the characters +and the objects of public men. She says Paris is a very agreeable +place to live at, but expresses an unbounded contempt for the +French character, and her lively sense of the moral superiority of +England. I asked her who were the men whom she was best inclined +to praise. She likes Mole, as pleasing, intelligent, and +gentlemanlike; Thiers the most brilliant, very lively and amusing; +Guizot and Berryer, both very remarkable. She talked freely enough +of Ellice, who is her dear friend, and from whom she draws all she +can of English politics; that he had come here for the purpose of +intriguing against the present Government, and trying to set up +Thiers again, and that he had fancied he should manage it. Mole[2] +was fully aware of it, and felt towards him accordingly. Lord +Granville, who was attached to the Duc de Broglie, and therefore +violently opposed to Thiers, when he became Minister, soon became +even more partial to Thiers, which sudden turn was the more +curious, because such had been their original antipathy that Lady +Granville had been personally uncivil to Madame Thiers, so much so +that Thiers had said to Madame de Lieven, that 'he would have her +to know it was not to be endured that an Ambassadress should +behave with such marked incivility to the wife of the Prime +Minister, and if she chose to continue so to do she might get her +husband sent away.' The other replied, 'Monsieur Thiers, if you +say this to me with the intention of its being repeated to Lady +Granville, I tell you you must go elsewhere for the purpose, for I +do not intend to do so.' I asked her whether it had been repeated, +and she said she thought probably it had been through Ellice for +soon after all was smiles and civility between them. She talked a +great deal about England, and of the ignorance of the French about +it; that Mole, for example, had said, 'It is true that we are not +in an agreeable state, but England is in a still worse.' The King, +however, is of a different opinion, and appears better to +understand the nature of our system. She described him (Mole) as +not the cleverest and most brilliant, but by far the most +sensible, sound, and well-judging man of them all. + + [2] [M. Mole was then Prime Minister. The overthrow of M. + Thiers on the Spanish question had been regarded as a + check by the English Government, and Mr. Ellice was a + cordial friend and supporter of Thiers. The resentment + of Lord Palmerston at the refusal of the King to + support the cause of the Queen in Spain by a direct + intervention, was the commencement of that coolness + which is noticed further on, and which led eventually + to most important results.] + +Peel's Glasgow speeches arrived yesterday, that is, were in +general circulation, for the King received on the 16th a +newspaper containing the speech made there on the 13th, an +instance (as it seems to me) of unexampled rapidity. Lord +Granville, who praises anything against his own party very +reluctantly, told me he thought Peel's speech at the dinner very +dexterous, and Ellice said, though there was nothing new in it, +he thought it would produce a great effect. + + +January 20th, 1837 {p.380} + +[Page Head: DISLIKE OF PARIS.] + +Yesterday went about visiting, found Montrond ill. Sat a long time +with Lady Granville, who was very amusing, and told me a great +deal about the characters of the people and the _tracasseries_ in +society; dined at the Club, and at night to Madame de Lieven's, +where I found Berryer, a remarkable-looking man, but not like what +I expected: dark, stout, countenance very intelligent, with a +cheerful, cunning, and rather leering look, such as a clever Irish +priest might have, neither in look nor manner very refined. He +soon went away, so I heard nothing of his conversation. Everybody +I have met has been very civil and obliging, and I ought to be and +am grateful for my reception, but I wish myself back again, and +ask myself a hundred times why I came. It is tiresome to go +through introductions to a parcel of people whom I shall probably +never see again, whose names I can scarcely remember, and with +whom, be they ever so agreeable, I have not time to form any +intimacy. They all ask the same question, 'Do you make a long stay +here?' to which I universally reply, 'As long as I can,' which, +being interpreted, means, I shall be off as soon as I can find a +decent pretext. It may be a very delightful place to _live at_, +but for a flying visit (as at present inclined), I don't think it +answers. + + +January 21st and 22nd, 1837 {p.381} + +Walked about and rejoiced in the Madeleine, which is alone worth +coming to Paris to see. Greece and Rome in the days of their +glory never erected a grander temple. I find Paris tolerable, and +that is all. Dined with Madame de Noailles at the Hotel de Poix, +then to the Opera. On the 22nd, I walked to the Arc de Triomphe, +wonderfully fine, and clambered to the top. The view is well +worth the trouble, and above all the Madeleine is seen to great +advantage from the elevation; all its fine proportions strikingly +developed, and bringing to my mind the Temple of Neptune at +Paestum. Dined at the Embassy, where was nobody of note but M. de +Broglie, and then to Madame de Lieven's. + + +January 23rd, 1837 {p.381} + +Rained all day, dined at the Grahams, with Madame de Lieven and +many people of no note, and went afterwards to Madame de +Flahault's beautiful house, where was all the fashion of France +of the Liberal and Royal faction; no Carlists. Some very handsome +women, particularly the Duchesse d'Istria. + +Ellice told me that his letters from England announced smooth +water between Whigs and Radicals, and that the latter were coming +up to support the Government in good humour. The event here in +these last days has been the acquittal of the Strasburg +prisoners, of military men taken in the commission of overt acts +of mutiny and high treason.[3] By the law, when military men and +civilians are indicted for the same offence, the former cannot be +brought before a court-martial, but must be tried by a jury; the +jury decide according to their feelings or their prejudices, and +appear to care nothing for the law, and an Alsatian jury is said +to be republican. These men were therefore acquitted against the +clearest and most undoubted evidence, and their acquittal was +hailed as a triumph. It produces considerable annoyance and +surprise, but not so great a sensation as I should have expected. + + [3] [These were the accomplices of Prince Louis Napoleon + Bonaparte in his first attempt made at Strasburg on the + 30th of November 1836. The Prince himself was sent off + to the United States in a French frigate. His + accomplices were tried at Colmar in the ordinary course + of law, and acquitted by the jury, who refused to + convict them when the head of the conspiracy was not + brought to trial.] + +There appears to be something rotten in the state of this +country; the system stands on unstable foundations, the people +are demoralised, in vain we look for fixed principles or deep +convictions. Some are indifferent to the fate of the monarchy +because they hate the monarch, others rejoice at attempts on the +monarch from aversion to monarchy, and as far as my cursory +observation and casual observation instruct me, I see only a +confusion and caprice of passions, prejudices, and opinions, +which are only reduced to anything like order by the strong sober +sense and the firmness of the King, who is by far the ablest man +among them. + + +January 25th, 1836 {p.382} + +On the 24th I walked about Paris, dined at the Embassy, and went +to Court at night; about fifty English, forty Americans, and +several other foreigners were presented. The Palace is very +magnificent; the present King has built a new staircase, which +makes the suite of rooms continuous, and the whole has been +regilt and painted. We were arranged in the throne-room by +nations, the English first, and at a quarter before nine the +doors of the royal apartments were opened, and the Royal Family +came forth. We all stood in a long line (single file) reaching +through the two rooms, beginning and ending again at the door of +the King's apartment. The King walked down the line attended by +Lord Granville, then the Queen with the eldest Princess under her +arm, then Madame Adelaide with the other, and then the Duke of +Orleans. Aston[4] attended the Queen, and the _attaches_ the +others. They all speak to each individual, and by some strange +stretch of invention find something to say. The King is too +civil; he has a fine head, and closely resembles the pictures of +Louis XIV. The Queen is very gracious and dignified, Adelaide +very good-humoured, and the Duke of Orleans extremely princely in +his manners. This morning I went to the Tuileries by appointment, +when he received me, kept me for a quarter of an hour talking +about race-horses, and invited me to breakfast on Saturday, and +to go with him to Meudon to see his stud. + + [4] [The British Secretary of Embassy, afterwards Sir + Arthur Aston.] + +Then I went sight-seeing; to the Invalides, the Pantheon, and the +Madeleine. The former is very well worth seeing, and nothing is +more remarkable than the kitchen, which is the sweetest and the +cleanest I ever saw. The Chapel is fine, with no remarkable tombs +except those of Turenne and Vauban. The Pantheon is under repair; +there are the tombs of Voltaire and Rousseau. The interior of the +Madeleine is very rich, but it is inferior to the outside; the +simple grandeur of the latter is somewhat frittered away in the +minute ornaments and the numerous patches of coloured marble of +the Church. However, it will be with all its faults a magnificent +building. + +[Page Head: RECEPTION AND BALL AT THE TUILERIES.] + +I ended my day (the 25th) by going to a ball at the Tuileries, +one of the great balls, and a magnificent spectacle indeed. The +long line of light gleaming through the whole length of the +palace is striking as it is approached, and the interior, with +the whole suite of apartments brilliantly illuminated, and +glittering from one end to the other with diamonds and feathers +and uniforms, and dancing in all the several rooms, made a +splendid display. The supper in the theatre was the finest thing +I ever saw of the kind; all the women sup first, and afterwards +the men, the tables being renewed over and over again. There was +an array of servants in gorgeous liveries, and the apartment was +lit by thousands of candles (no lamps) and as light as day. The +company amounted to between 3,000 and 4,000, from all the great +people down to national guards, and even private soldiers. None +of the Carlists were there, as they none of them choose to go to +Court. The King retired before eleven; it was said that he had +received anonymous letters warning him of some intended attempt +on his person, and extraordinary precautions were taken to guard +against the entrance of any improper people. + + +January 26th, 1837 {p.384} + +Having seen all the high society the night before, I resolved to +see all the low to-night, and went to Musard's ball--a most +curious scene; two large rooms in the rue St. Honore almost +thrown into one, a numerous and excellent orchestra, a prodigious +crowd of people, most of them in costume, and all the women +masked. There was every description of costume, but that which +was the most general was the dress of a French post-boy, in which +both males and females seemed to delight. It was well-regulated +uproar and orderly confusion. When the music struck up they began +dancing all over the rooms; the whole mass was in motion, but +though with gestures the most vehement and grotesque, and a +licence almost unbounded, the figure of the dance never seemed to +be confused, and the dancers were both expert in their capers and +perfect in their evolutions. Nothing could be more licentious +than the movements of the dancers, and they only seemed to be +restrained within limits of common decency by the cocked hats and +burnished helmets of the police and gendarmes which towered in +the midst of them. After quadrilling and waltzing away, at a +signal given they began galloping round the room; then they +rushed pellmell, couple after couple, like Bedlamites broke +loose, but not the slightest accident occurred. I amused myself +with this strange and grotesque sight for an hour or more, and +then came home. + + +January 27th, 1837 {p.384} + +[Page Head: RELATIONS OF FRANCE AND ENGLAND.] + +Called on Talleyrand and sat with him for an hour. He talked of +England in a very Conservative strain. I called on the Duc de +Broglie, Mesdames de Marescalchi and Durazzo, dined at the +Embassy, then to Madame de Lieven's and Pembroke's concert. Not a +profitable life, but not dull, and the day glides away. + + +February 2nd, 1837 {p.385} + +Nothing worth noticing for the last three or four days. Dined the +day before yesterday with the Duc de Poix, and went to Hope's +ball; his house is a sumptuous palace in miniature, all furnished +and decorated with inconceivable luxury and _recherche_; one room +hung with cachemires. Last night to a small ball at Court. Supper +in the gallery de Diane--round tables, all the ladies supping +first; the whole thing as beautiful and magnificent as possible, +and making all our fetes look pitiful and mean after it. + +Our King's speech was here before seven o'clock yesterday +evening, about twenty-nine hours after it was delivered; a +rapidity of transmission almost incredible. Lord Granville had +predicted to me in the morning that they would be very angry here +at no mention being made of France, and so it was. I heard the +same thing from other quarters, and he told me that he had found +himself not deceived in his expectations, and that the King had +himself complained. The French Government had taken such pains +latterly to conciliate ours, by their speeches in the Chambers, +and by applying for votes of money to enable them to employ more +custom-house officers for the express purpose of preventing the +transmission of arms and stores to the Spanish Pretender; in +short, giving us every proof of goodwill; that Lord Granville was +desirous of having some expressions of corresponding goodwill and +civility inserted in the speech, and said as much to Lord +Palmerston; but he refused, and replied that as they could not +speak of France with praise, it was better not to mention her at +all. I have been riding with Lord Granville the last two days, +when he talked a good deal about France and French affairs. His +own position here is wonderfully agreeable, because all the +business of the two countries is transacted by him here, and +Sebastiani's is little more than a nominal embassy. This has long +been the case, having begun in Canning's time; then the great +intimacy which subsisted between the Duc de Broglie and Lord +Granville confirmed it during his Ministry, and the principal +cause of Talleyrand's hatred to Palmerston was the refusal of the +latter to alter the practice when he was in England, and his +mortification at finding the part he played in London to be +secondary to that of the British Ambassador in Paris. + +[Page Head: THE DUKE OF ORLEANS.] + +The Duc de Broglie seems to have been the most high-minded and +independent of all the Ministers who have been in place, and the +only one who kicked against the personal supremacy of the King in +the conduct of affairs. He looked to constitutional analogies, and +thought it incompatible with Ministerial responsibility. The King +appealed to the example of William III., and said to Lord +Granville, 'King William presided in person at his council board, +after your revolution?' It was Broglie's scruple (for it hardly +ever amounted to resistance) on this head that made the King +dislike him so much. It is certainly true that the present state +of things is an anomaly, but France is in its infancy as to +constitutional practice, and the doctrine of Ministerial +responsibility, with all its indispensable consequences, is not +understood. Nothing can exemplify this more than the recent case +of a man which was agitated in the Chambers, and passed off so +easily. He was one of the French refugees in Switzerland, and +Montalivet, Minister of the Interior, the man most in the King's +confidence, engaged him in his service to act as a spy on the +other refugees, but without letting Thiers (President of the +Council and Minister for Foreign Affairs) know that he had done +so. Accordingly Thiers demanded, through the French Ambassador, +the Duc de Montebello, that this man (with the rest) should be +expelled from Switzerland, he being at the time the agent of +Thiers' own colleague. In the course of the subsequent discussions +this fact came out, when Thiers declared he had been ignorant of +his employment, and Montalivet merely said that he had acted as he +deemed best for the interest of the country, and this excuse was +taken and nothing more said. Thiers took it more quietly than he +would otherwise have done, because he had committed himself in his +correspondence with Montebello, and it would not have suited him +to have his letters published. At that time the Duke of Orleans +was gone to Vienna, and Thiers was in all the fervour of his hopes +of obtaining one of the Archduchesses for the Prince, and he was +therefore the humble servant of Austria, and endeavouring to court +her favour in all ways, especially by truckling to her views in +the affair of the refugees. + +I asked Madame de Lieven what was the reason that the great Powers +would not let the Duke of Orleans find a wife, and why especially +the Emperor Nicholas (who, it was to be presumed, desired the +continuance of peace and order in France, and therefore of this +dynasty) took every opportunity of showing his contempt and +aversion for the King, being the only Sovereign who had never +congratulated him by letter on his various escapes from +assassination. She replied that it was not surprising that +Sovereigns and their families should be indisposed to send their +daughters to a country which they looked upon as always liable to +a revolution, and to marry them to a prince always in danger of +being expelled from France, and perhaps from Europe; and that the +Emperor (whom she did not excuse in this respect) could not bring +himself to write _Monsieur mon Frere_ to Louis Philippe, and for +that reason would never compliment him but through his ambassador; +_au reste_, that the Duke of Orleans would find a wife among the +German princesses. It is, however, very ridiculous that second and +third-rate royalties should give themselves all sorts of airs, and +affect to hold cheap the King of France's eldest son, and talk of +his alliance as a degradation. There are two Wuertemberg +princesses, daughters of the Duchess of Oldenburg, who talk in +this strain; one of them is good-looking, and the Duke of Orleans +in his recent expedition in Germany had the curiosity to travel +incognito out of his way to take a look at them. The King their +father, who heard of it, complained to Madame de Lieven of the +impertinence of such conduct; but the girls were enchanted, and +with all their pretended aversion and contempt for the Orleans +family, were in a flutter of excited vanity at his having come to +look at them, and in despair at not having seen him themselves. + + +London, February 7th, 1837 {p.388} + +Left Paris on Friday at five o'clock, and got to Boulogne at +half-past one on Saturday; passed the day with my cousin Richard, +and walked all over Boulogne, the ramparts and the pier. + + +February 22nd, 1837 {p.388} + +An unhappy business not to be recorded here has so completely +absorbed my attention that I could not think of politics or of +anything else that is passing in the world. The Session had +opened (before I arrived) with a reconciliation, as usual, +between the Whigs and Radicals, but with a general opinion that +the Government was nevertheless in considerable danger. In a long +correspondence which I had with Tavistock I urged that his +friends ought to give up the appropriation clause, and propose +poor laws and payment of the Catholic clergy. The first two they +have done, and the last probably they really cannot do. As I have +all along thought, it will be reserved for Peel to carry this +great measure into effect. Caring much for the measure and +nothing for men of either party, I shall rejoice to take it from +anybody's hands. + + +February 25th, 1837 {p.388} + +[Page Head: VIOLENT SCENE IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.] + +I was interrupted while writing, and since I began, the division +of eighty in favour of the Irish Corporation Bill appears to have +settled that question, and at the same time those of dissolution +and change. At the beginning of the Session the Tories were (as +they are always ready to be) in high spirits, and the Government +people in no small alarm. The elections had generally gone +against them, and there were various symptoms of a reaction. In +Scotland the Renfrewshire election was attributed to Peel's visit +and speech, and old Lauderdale wrote word that it was the most +remarkable proof of a change there which had occurred since the +Reform Bill. Nothing was talked of but a dissolution, of Peel's +taking office, and many people confidently predicted that new +elections would produce a Tory majority. Besides, it was argued +that the same spirit which turned out Peel in 1835 could not be +roused again, and that several moderate Whigs would give him +their support if he endeavoured to go on with this Parliament. In +the midst of all these speculations this debate came on. It was +exceedingly feeble on the part of the Opposition. Stanley, +Graham, and Peel successively spoke, and none of them well; the +latter was unusually heavy. The best speeches on the other side +were Charles Buller's and Roebuck's (Radicals), and Howick's. +Sheil made a grand declamatory tirade, chiefly remarkable for the +scene it produced, which was unexampled in the House, and for its +credit may be hoped such as never will occur again. There was a +blackguard ferocity in it which would have disgraced the National +Convention or the Jacobin Club. Lyndhurst was sitting under the +gallery, and Sheil, turning to him as he said it, uttered one of +his vehement sentences against the celebrated and unlucky +expression of 'aliens.' The attack was direct, and it was taken +up by his adherents, already excited by his speech. Then arose a +din and tumultuous and vociferous cheering, such as the walls +never echoed to before; they stood up, all turning to Lyndhurst, +and they hooted and shouted at him with every possible gesture +and intonation of insult. It lasted ten minutes, the Speaker in +vain endeavouring to moderate the clamour. All this time +Lyndhurst sat totally unmoved; he neither attempted to stir, nor +changed a muscle of his countenance. At length they divided, and +there was a majority of eighty; sixteen more than on the same +question last year. + +The next morning (yesterday) Wharncliffe called on me, and I +found that they were prodigiously depressed at this defeat. He +said that they had suffered from many unusual casualties, +sicknesses, and deaths, and that their people could not be made +to attend. He instanced three cases of lukewarmness and +indifference. Sir G. Noel remained in the House till twelve +o'clock, and then went to bed; Lord John Scott went out of town +in the morning of the division, because he was engaged to dine +somewhere; and young Lefroy, who had paired with Sheil _until +this question_, set off with him to embark for England from +Dublin, and turned back from the steamboat because it blew hard, +and he said his mother would be alarmed for his safety. +Wharncliffe told me that Peel is very much disgusted at such +coolness, and that, while he is slaving body and mind in the +cause, he cannot even depend upon the corporeal presence of his +idle and luxurious followers, who will sacrifice none of their +amusements for the cause which they pretend to think is in such +danger. On the other hand, the rash and foolish (no small +proportion) are dissatisfied with his caution, and the prudence +which they call timidity; they are always for doing something +desperate. Lyndhurst last year in the House of Lords was the man +after their own hearts, and they were quite willing to depose the +Duke from his leadership of the party, and put themselves under +the guidance of Lyndhurst. When we recollect who and what +Lyndhurst was and is, it is curious to see the aristocracy of +England adopting him for their chief; scarcely an Englishman (for +his father was an American painter[5]), a lawyer of fortune, in +the sense in which, we say a soldier of fortune, without any +fixed principles, and only conspicuous for his extraordinary +capacity, he has no interest but what centres in himself, and is +utterly destitute of those associations which naturally belong to +an aristocracy. There is probably not a man of the party who is +not fully aware of Lyndhurst's character, and they have already +experienced the results of his political daring in his famous +attempt to interrupt the Reform Bill by the postponement of +Schedule A; and with this knowledge and experience they follow +him blindly, lead them where he will. Wharncliffe owned to me +that he saw no alternative but the compromise, but that he did +not know whether his party would be brought to consent to it. I +told him that they could not help themselves, and must consent; +besides that, if the Tithe Bill is passed they will have got the +security for the Church which they require, and the ground of +objection to the Corporation Bill would be cut from under their +feet. It is remarkable, and rather amusing to a neutral like me, +to hear what each party says of the concessions of the other. I +see in the 'Examiner' this day that 'the Lords cannot now pass +the Bill if they would, without disgracing their party in the +House of Commons,' and Wharncliffe said that 'the Government +could not give up the appropriation clause in the Tithe Bill +without covering themselves with disgrace.' In my opinion the +disgrace is not in making concessions which reason and expediency +demand, and which are indispensable to the peace and tranquillity +of the country, but in ever having pledged themselves to measures +for party purposes, or to accomplish particular ends, without +calculating the consequences of such pledges, or estimating the +degree of power that they would possess of giving effect to the +principles they avowed. This applies more strongly a great deal +to the Whigs about the Tithe Bill than to the Tories about the +Corporations; but it does apply to both, and it is a national +misfortune when two great parties so commit themselves that no +adjustment of the question at issue between them is possible +without some detriment to the credit and character of both. + + [5] [He was entirely an Englishman, for he was born at + Boston before America was separated from England, and + his whole family came to this country when the war + broke out.] + + +March 18th, 1837 {p.391} + +[Page Head: THE BISHOPS IN A FERMENT.] + +Three weeks, and nothing written. The dejection of the Tories at +the division on the Corporation Bill has been since relieved by +that on the Church-rates, which they consider equivalent to a +victory; and so it is, for the probability is that the Bill will +not pass the House of Commons. The debates have been good upon +both these matters. Just before the question came on, the Bishops +made a grand _flare-up_ in the House of Lords. The Archbishop of +Canterbury (Howley), with as much venom as so mild a man can +muster, attacked the Bill. Melbourne replied with some asperity, +and the Bishop of London (Blomfield) retorted fiercely upon him. +The Tories lauded and the Whigs abused the Bishops, both +vehemently. I don't admire their conduct, either as to temper or +discretion. The Church had better not be militant, and to see the +Bench of Bishops in direct and angry collision with the King's +Prime Minister is a sorry sight. + +The angry debate which took place was not contemplated by the +Bishops. It had been settled that the Archbishop should make his +declaration against the measure in the name of his brethren, +which he did in a speech (for him) remarkably good, for he is a +miserable speaker at all times. Melbourne's severe remarks +provoked the Bishop of London (Blomfield), who had not intended +to speak, and he said to the Archbishop, 'I must answer this,' +who replied, 'Do.' His abrupt and animated exordium, 'And so, my +Lords,' was very much admired. + +This Church rate Bill, however, is a bad Bill; it gives little +satisfaction to anybody except to the Dissenters, who have no +right to require such a concession to what they absurdly call +their scruples of conscience. One of the underwhippers of +Government dropped the truth as to the real cause of such a +measure, when he said that, 'if they had proposed Althorp's plan, +they should have had all the Dissenters against them at the next +elections.' The question, originally one of considerable +difficulty, is now doubly so, and its solution will not be easy, +especially by this Government; but nothing can prevent its being +settled. It is strange that no experience can open the eyes of +inveterate Tories and High Churchmen, and that successive defeats +have not demonstrated to them the futility of their expectations +of being able to resist the passing of measures which great +interests support, and which are congenial to public opinion. +There is, however, something discreditable in the conduct of +Government, and which shows the compromising, half-cunning, +hand-to-mouth way in which they are compelled to scramble on. +Upon the ballot the 'Times' published a list of at least twenty +members of the Government who stayed away, leaving the Tories to +fight the Radicals and make the majority, and such a measure as +this Church-rate Bill is utterly inconsistent with Lord John +Russell's declarations last year. This division has again revived +the question of dissolution and change of Government, and made a +great deal of speculation. If the Lords dare throw out the +Corporation Bill, the Government must go out, though not else; +but it is next to impossible they should venture on this. + + +March 31st, 1837 {p.393} + +[Page Head: APPROPRIATION CLAUSES ABANDONED.] + +So I thought upon the 18th of March, but so I do not think now. In +the first place, I hear from those who are well informed that the +Lords have made up their minds to throw out this Bill. Lord John +Russell has made up his to resign if they do, and in that case +Peel has made up his to come in. It does not appear, however, that +the great body of the Whigs are at all prepared to go out. Some +doubt the Lords rejecting the Bill, others that the Tories would +take office, or that Melbourne and his friends would so certainly +resign it. Lord Spencer wrote to John Russell, and told him that +if the Lords did throw out the Bill, he thought that (being still +supported by a majority of the Commons) he ought not to resign, +but Lord John wrote him back decisive and convincing reasons why +his retention of office under such circumstances would be +impossible. The fact is that there is a great change in the face +of affairs. The small majority on the Church rate Bill, the +unpopularity of the measure, and the discredit which attends our +foreign relations (since Evans's defeat in Spain more especially), +have had a material effect upon the moral efficacy of the +Government. It is now known that Government have abandoned the +appropriation clauses in the Tithe Bill, and this has grievously +offended many of their violent, thick and thin supporters, more +especially as it was the particular question on which they turned +Peel out; and the grand principle, therefore, on which the +Government was bound in honour and consistency to stand. The +Ministers none of them possess any public confidence in their +individual or official capacities; the King detests them, the +country does not care for them, and the House of Commons supports +them in a lukewarm spirit. If they do resign there will be no +repetition of the scenes of their former expulsion and triumphant +return to power. The same enthusiasm could not be raised, nor the +same union brought about. I hear men in office talk of Peel going +on without a dissolution, and the most interested adherents of +Government (Tavistock for example) of a fair trial, and of his +having a better right to it now than he had on the former +occasion. Peel's undoubted fitness for office, his vast +superiority to all the other public men of the day, will be more +readily acknowledged, and I doubt very much whether he would +experience any such factious and uncompromising opposition as +would seriously obstruct the march of his Government, particularly +if its composition should be tolerable, and his measures judicious +and liberal. It is very remarkable that when he wanted to take in +Stanley and Graham formerly, he desired them more particularly +because they would have strengthened his hands in the establishment +of liberal principles _against_ the great body of his Tory +supporters, and they refused upon the pretext that they had no +security for his being liberal enough; and now, when of course he +must and will place whatever offices they please at their +disposal, so far from being of the same assistance to him, they +only bring an addition of bigotry and illiberality which will +perpetually cast difficulties and embarrassments in his way. It is +a curious matter for speculation how he will go on with these men, +how his coldness, prudence, and reserve will suit the intemperate +and often injudicious vivacity of Stanley. With Graham there would +not be so much difficulty, and _his_ principles would not be found +too inflexible. Nothing shocks his old Whig associates more than +the contrast between his present conduct and opinions, and the +extreme violence which he displayed at the period of his accession +to office in 1831; he was in fact the most ultra Liberal of Lord +Grey's Cabinet, and now he is little better than a Tory. + +[Page Head: THE KING'S ADDRESS TO LORD AYLMER.] + +The King, who is a thorough party man, will be overjoyed at any +change; he never loses an opportunity of showing his antipathy to +his confidential servants. The other day at the reception of the +Bath, when Lord Aylmer was introduced, he made him a speech to +which he gave that sort of dramatic effect which he is so fond of +doing. Aylmer had been recalled from Canada by this Government, +but when he approached the throne, the King called out to Lord +Minto and Lord Palmerston (the only two Ministers who are Knights +of the Bath), and made them come up, and stand one on each side of +Aylmer, that they might not lose a word of his oration, and then +he began. He told them that he wished to take that, the most +public opportunity he could find, of telling him that he approved +most entirely of his conduct in Canada, that he had acted like a +true and loyal subject towards a set of traitors and conspirators, +and behaved as it became a British officer to do under such +circumstances. I forget the exact expressions, but it was to this +effect, to the unspeakable satisfaction of Aylmer, and to inflict +all the mortification he could upon the Ministers whom he had +lugged up to witness this ebullition. + +Another circumstance will facilitate the change of Ministry, which +is, that the question is not argued as if it were a struggle for +authority between the Lords and the Commons, for the notion of +such a struggle would be well calculated to excite a constitutional +jealousy. The Lords, however, pretend that their support of the +Protestant interest is not only in itself constitutional, but more +in accordance with the sentiments of the nation than the measures +of the Government are. The two parties are pretty evenly balanced, +but the strength of the Opposition lies in the Lords, and it is +altogether a question of party tactics, and not of constitutional +principle. Of all men, Peel is the last to favour any attempt to +question the virtual supremacy of the House of Commons, and if he +becomes Minister, and has a majority (as of course he must, to +stay in), the high tide of the Lords will begin to ebb, and +everything will be seen to settle down into the usual practice. If +a victory is achieved, it will not be that of the Lords over the +Commons, but of the Conservatives over the Whigs and Radicals. + +The fierce dispute between Sydney Smith and the Bishop of London, +which gave birth to his pamphlet,[6] has terminated in an +interview sought by Sydney and accorded by the Bishop, when they +are said to have discussed the matter in dispute with temper and +candour, and to have parted amicably. It will probably prevent +the appearance of Sydney's second pamphlet, which was ready. He +speaks in terms of great admiration of the capacity of the +Bishop, and owned that he had convinced him upon some of the +points which they had to discuss. I did not hear what the Bishop +said of the Prebend. + + [6] [The well-known letter of Sydney Smith to Archdeacon + Singleton in defence of Deans and Chapters.] + +Among the many old people who have been cut off by this severe +weather, one of the most remarkable is Mrs. Fitzherbert, who died +at Brighton at above eighty years of age. She was not a clever +woman, but of a very noble spirit, disinterested, generous, +honest, and affectionate, greatly beloved by her friends and +relations, popular in the world, and treated with uniform +distinction and respect by the Royal Family. The late King, who +was a despicable creature, grudged her the allowance he was bound +to make her, and he was always afraid lest she should make use of +some of the documents in her possession to annoy or injure him. +This mean and selfish apprehension led him to make various +efforts to obtain possession of those the appearance of which he +most dreaded, and among others, one remarkable attempt was made +by Sir William Knighton some years ago. Although a stranger to +Mrs. Fitzherbert, he called one day at her house, when she was +ill in bed, insisted upon seeing her, and forced his way into her +bedroom. She contrived (I forget how) to get rid of him without +his getting anything out of her, but this domiciliary visit +determined her to make a final disposition of all the papers she +possessed, that in the event of her death no advantage might be +taken of them either against her own memory or the interests of +any other person. She accordingly selected those papers which she +resolved to preserve, and which are supposed to be the documents +and correspondence relating to her marriage with George IV., and +made a packet of them which was deposited at her banker's, and +all other letters and papers she condemned to the flames. For +this purpose she sent for the Duke of Wellington and Lord +Albemarle, told them her determination, and in their presence had +these papers burnt; she assured them that everything was +destroyed, and if after her death any pretended letters or +documents were produced, they might give the most authoritative +contradiction to their authenticity. + + +May 13th, 1836 {p.397} + +[Page Head: MEETING AT APSLEY HOUSE.] + +I have been six weeks without writing a line, and though no great +events have occurred, the aspect of affairs has been continually +shifting and changing. About a month ago it was supposed the fall +of the Government was at hand, and when the crisis was over it +was found that they had really been in danger. The Duke of +Wellington called a meeting at Apsley House just before the +Corporation Bill came on in the House of Lords, and a great point +was made of the resolution of the Tory Lords being kept secret +till the last moment. The mystery excited some curiosity, but +after all it only turned out to be what everybody had long before +talked about, the postponement of the Committee. This was done by +the Duke in a very bad speech, so bad that Fitzgerald and others +were obliged to try and do away its effect by making out that he +did not mean what he said. On the division the Government had +greater numbers than usual. It then remained to be seen what Lord +John Russell would do, and it was reported that he meant to +retaliate by postponing the Tithe Bill, but he did no such thing. +He came down and declared that they would regularly go on with +all their bills, and moreover, that while they retained the +confidence of the House of Commons they would not resign; so +again it seems likely that the compromise originally anticipated +will take place at last, and there will be no change. This +declaration of Lord John's is at variance with his former +resolution, and so I told Tavistock it would appear to be. He +admitted that it would, but said that John claimed for himself to +judge of the fit moment for his resignation; that whenever he was +satisfied that he had no reasonable prospect of carrying his +measures, he should retire, but not till then; and that one +defeat ought not to make him throw up the game. However, he owned +that this qualification ought to have formed part of his original +declaration, in order to obviate all misrepresentation. + +During the last week the Westminster election[7] has absorbed +everything else. Though the Government were by way of taking no +part, all Brooks's moved heaven and earth for Leader, and until +the day of nomination they were confident of his success. Bets +were two to one in his favour, and a great deal was lost and won. +On the other hand the Tories worked hard for Burdett. He appeared +on the hustings at the nomination, and was received quite as well +as his opponent, and the show of hands was in his favour. This +reduced the betting to even, but nobody was prepared for the +great majority by which Burdett won. It was certainly a great +triumph to the Conservative cause, and a great disappointment to +the violent Whigs, and still more to the Radicals. The Government +affect to make light of it. Melbourne is probably sincere when he +says he is very glad of it, and for this reason, 'that the +Radicals are very difficult to manage as it is, and if they had +carried this election there would be no doing anything with +them.' A great many people on both sides would not vote. I would +not, for one. I hate Leader's politics, and don't like Burdett's; +nobody can tell what he is, for his answers and explanations are +of a shuffling, ambiguous character, and he disgusted me by +throwing over the new Poor Law, which was a base compliance. +However, though I would not vote, I was rather glad he came in, +and somewhat like Lord Grey, who said last night, 'he was glad at +Leader's defeat, and sorry for Burdett's success.' + + [7] [A contested election in Westminster between Mr. Leader + (Radical) and Sir Francis Burdett (Conservative). + Burdett was returned by a majority of 515. It was a + chivalrous contest. Burdett had resigned his seat + voluntarily to test the feeling of his constituents, + and Leader resigned a seat for Bridgewater solely to + meet Burdett in Westminster.] + + +May 23rd, 1837 {p.398} + +There was great triumph among the Conservatives at Burdett's +success, raised to a higher pitch by that of Broadwood at +Bridgewater, which makes the whole thing very complete, Leader +having fallen between the two stools, and now they expect to get +Glasgow, if they succeed in which there will be no bounds to +their exultation. Then it is suspected that there have been +difficulties and divisions in the Cabinet. There was a meeting at +Lord Grey's of Ministers and Ministerial adherents, it was +supposed for the purpose of his patching up matters, but I know +nothing of what occurred. The Duke of Wellington, too, had an +audience of the King on Wednesday last, and all these things set +surmises afloat. At another time I should probably have bestirred +myself and found out what all this meant, but I have been so +occupied and absorbed with the Derby that I could think of +nothing else. + +The King prayed that he might live till the Princess Victoria was +of age, and he was very nearly dying just as the event arrived. +He is better, but supposed to be in a very precarious state. +There has been a fresh squabble between Windsor and Kensington +about a proposed allowance to the Princess. + + +June 2nd, 1836 {p.399} + +[Page Head: ILLNESS OF THE KING.] + +The King has been desperately ill, his pulse down at thirty; they +think he will now get over it for this time. His recovery will +not have been accelerated by the Duchess of Kent's answer to the +City of London's address, in which she went into the history of +her life, and talked of her 'friendless state' on arriving in +this country, the gist of it being that, having been abandoned or +neglected by the Royal Family, she had thrown herself on the +country. + + +June 11th, 1836 {p.399} + +At Buckhurst last week for Ascot; went on Monday and returned on +Friday. On Tuesday the Queen came to the course, but only stayed +an hour. They had an immense party at the Castle notwithstanding +the King's illness. I met Adolphus Fitzclarence at the course, +who gave me an account of the King's state, which was bad enough, +though not for the moment alarming; no disease, but excessive +weakness without power of rallying. He also gave me an account of +the late Kensington quarrel. The King wrote a letter to the +Princess offering her L10,000 a year (not out of his privy +purse), which he proposed should be at her own disposal and +independent of her mother. He sent this letter by Lord Conyngham +with orders to deliver it into the Princess's own hands. +Conyngham accordingly went to Kensington (where Conroy received +him) and asked to be admitted to the Princess. Conroy asked by +what authority. He said by his Majesty's orders. Conroy went +away, and shortly after Conyngham was ushered into the presence +of the Duchess and Princess, when he said that he had waited on +her Royal Highness by the King's commands to present to her a +letter with which he had been charged by his Majesty. The Duchess +put out her hand to take it, when he said he begged her Royal +Highness's pardon, but he was expressly commanded by the King to +deliver the letter into the Princess's own hands. Her mother then +drew back and the Princess took the letter, when Conyngham made +his bow and retired. Victoria wrote to the King, thanking him and +accepting his offer. He then sent to say that it was his wish to +name the person who should receive this money for her, and he +proposed to name Stephenson. Then began the dispute. The Duchess +of Kent objected to the arrangement, and she put forth her claim, +which was that she should have L6,000 of the money and the +Princess L4,000. How the matter had ended Adolphus did not know +when I saw him. [It never was settled.] + +The Duchess of Northumberland had been to Windsor and resigned +her office of governess a few days before. + +[Page Head: ILLNESS OF THE KING.] + +On Wednesday it was announced for the first time that the King +was alarmingly ill, on Thursday the account was no better, and in +the course of Wednesday and Thursday his immediate dissolution +appeared so probable that I concerted with Errol that I should +send to the Castle at nine o'clock on Thursday evening for the +last report, that I might know whether to go to London directly +or not. On Wednesday the physicians wanted to issue a bulletin, +but the King would not hear of it. He said as long as he was able +to transact public business he would not have the public alarmed +on his account; but on Friday, nevertheless, the first bulletin +was issued. + +It is in this state of things, with the prospect of a new reign +and a dissolution, and in complete uncertainty of the direction +which affairs would take under a new influence, when it is +peculiarly desirable that moderate and healing counsels should +prevail, that Lyndhurst comes down to the House of Lords and +fires off one of his violent speeches, and at his bidding the +Irish Municipal Corporation Bill has been again postponed. All +this is very disgusting to me, and I am at a loss to comprehend +why such men as the Duke and Peel lend themselves to such +courses. In the House of Commons John Russell took a very +different line, for he made a strong Conservative speech in +answer to an omnium gatherum Radical tirade of Roebuck's; just +such a speech as a Minister ought to make. Denman was persuaded +to give up his design of bringing before the House of Lords the +question of privilege, on which he is at issue with the House of +Commons, and there seems luckily a disposition to deal with it +calmly; in fact, it is no party question. The Judges are all with +their colleagues, but Peel has taken a strong part with the House +of Commons, and made a very good speech upon it the other night. + +I met Melbourne in the Park, who told me he thought the King +would not recover. Lord Harrowby was very much astonished as well +as annoyed at Lyndhurst's speech the other night, it having been +previously agreed upon that all violence and everything offensive +should be avoided. They had resolved to postpone the Committee on +the Bill as before, but it was to have been done in the most +conciliatory way, and they were not prepared for this outbreak of +Lyndhurst's. + + +June 13th, 1837 {p.401} + +Bad accounts of the King yesterday. Melbourne desired I would get +everything ready _quietly_ for a Council. He has been busily +occupied in examining the precedents in order to conduct the +first ceremonies properly, and the first questions have been +whether the Duchess of Kent could come into Council with her +daughter, and whether the Duke of Cumberland (King of Hanover as +he will be) should be summoned to it. + + +June 16th, 1837 {p.401} + +On Wednesday the King was desperately bad, yesterday he was +better, but not so as to afford any hope, though Chambers says +his recovery is not impossible. Although the bulletins tell so +little, everybody is now aware of his Majesty's state. He +dictates these reports himself, and will not allow more to be +said; he continues to do business, and his orders are taken as +usual, so he is resolved to die with harness on his back. +Yesterday Lord Lansdowne sent for me to beg in the first place +that everything might be ready, and in the next to say that they +were perplexed to know what steps, if any, they ought to take to +ascertain whether the Queen is with child, and to beg me to +search in our books if any precedent could be found at the +accession of James II. But they had forgotten that the case had +been provided for in the Regency Bill, and that in the event of +the King's death without children, the Queen is to be proclaimed, +but the oath of allegiance taken with a saving of the rights of +any posthumous child to King William. They ought to have known +this, but it is odd enough that there is nobody in office who has +any personal knowledge of the usual forms at the first Council, +for not one of these Ministers was in office at the accession of +William IV. My colleague, Buller, who was present as Clerk of the +Council, is dead, and I was abroad. + +[Page Head: PRAYERS ORDERED FOR THE KING.] + +In the morning I met Sir Robert Peel in the Park, and talked with +him about the beginning of the new reign. He said that it was very +desirable that the young Queen should appear as much as possible +emancipated from all restraint, and exhibit a capacity for the +discharge of her high functions; that the most probable as well as +the most expedient course she could adopt, would be to rely +entirely upon the advice of Melbourne, and she might with great +propriety say that she thought it incumbent on her to follow the +example which had been set by her two uncles, her predecessors, +William IV. having retained in office the Ministers of his +brother, and George IV., although his political predilections were +known to lean another way, having also declined to dismiss the +Government of his father. Peel said that he concluded King Leopold +would be her great adviser. If Leopold is prudent, however, he +will not hurry over here at the very first moment, which would +look like an impatience to establish his influence, and if he +does, the first result will be every sort of jealousy and discord +between him and the Duchess of Kent. The elements of intrigue do +not seem wanting in this embryo Court. Besides the Duchess of Kent +and Leopold, and Conroy of course, Caradoc[8] is suspected of a +design and an expectation to become a personage; and Lord Durham +is on his way home, and his return is regarded with no little +curiosity, because he may endeavour to play a great political +part, and materially to influence the opinions, or at least the +councils, of the Queen. What renders speculation so easy, and +events uncertain, is the absolute ignorance of everybody, without +exception, of the character, disposition, and capacity of the +Princess. She has been kept in such jealous seclusion by her +mother (never having slept out of her bedroom, nor been alone with +anybody but herself and the Baroness Lehzen), that not one of her +acquaintance, none of the attendants at Kensington, not even the +Duchess of Northumberland, her governess, have any idea what she +is, or what she promises to be. It is therefore no difficult +matter to form and utter conjectures which nobody can contradict +or gainsay but by other conjectures equally uncertain and +fallacious. The Tories are in great consternation at the King's +approaching death, from the advantage which they foresee their +opponents must derive from it as far as the extension of their +term of power is concerned, and they prognosticate, according to +their custom, all sorts of dismal consequences, none of which, of +course, will come to pass. _Nothing_ will happen, because, in this +country, _nothing_ ever does. The Whigs, to do them justice, +behave with great decency; whatever they may really feel, they +express a very proper concern, and I have no doubt Melbourne +really feels the concern he expresses. The public in general don't +seem to care much, and only wonder what will happen. + + [8] [Colonel Caradoc, afterwards Lord Howden: died in + 1873.] + + +June 17th, 1837 {p.403} + +Yesterday the King was better, so as to promise a prolongation of +his existence, though not his recovery. An intimation came from +Windsor, that it was desired prayers should be offered up in the +Churches for him; so the Privy Council assembled to order this, +but on assembling the Bishop of London objected to the form which +had been used upon the last and other occasions (an order made by +the Lords to the Archbishop of Canterbury to prepare a form of +prayer), asserting that _the Lords_ had no power to make such an +order, and it was even doubted by lawyers whether the King +himself had power to order alterations in the Liturgy, or the use +of the particular prayers; and admitting that he had, it was in +virtue of his prerogative, and as Head of the Church, but that +_the Lords of the Council_ had no power whatever of the kind. +They admitted that he was correct in this view of the case, and +consequently, instead of an order to the Archbishop, his +Majesty's pleasure that prayers should be offered up was conveyed +to the Council, and a communication to that effect was directed +to be made to the Archbishop. The King's pleasure being thus +conveyed, it is his duty to obey, and the Bishops have power to +direct their clergy to pray for the King. The Bishop of London +would have preferred that a prayer for his recovery as for a sick +person, but mentioning him by name, should have been adopted, but +the Archbishop was prepared with his form of prayer, and it was +directed to be used. + + +June 18th, 1837 {p.404} + +The King lingers on; yesterday he sent for the Archbishop of +Canterbury to administer the Sacrament to him. + +[Page Head: LORD PONSONBY AT CONSTANTINOPLE.] + +An attack (but a feeble one) was made upon Palmerston the other +night, about Sir Charles Vaughan's appointment to relieve Lord +Ponsonby at Constantinople, to which he made, as usual, a feeble +and inefficient answer, but the real story did not come out. The +whole history of Lord Ponsonby is a remarkable example of what a +man in favour or with powerful protection may do with impunity, +and it is the more striking because Palmerston is the most +imperious of official despots, and yet has invariably truckled to +Lord Grey's brother-in-law. When Ponsonby was appointed +Ambassador at Constantinople, the affairs of the East were in a +most critical state, notwithstanding which nothing would induce +him to repair to his post, and he loitered away several months at +Naples, while Russia was maturing her designs upon Turkey, and +when the presence of an English Ambassador was of vital +importance. This was overlooked, because to Lord Grey's +brother-in-law everything was permitted. The appointment of Mr. +Urquhart as Secretary of the Embassy at Constantinople greatly +displeased Lord Ponsonby, who resolved to hold no communication +with him, and accordingly the Chancellerie at Constantinople has +presented the amusing spectacle of an Ambassador and Secretary of +Embassy who do not speak to each other, and the latter of whom +has had no functions whatever to discharge. A short time ago Lord +Ponsonby applied for leave of absence, which was given to him, +and the Government here hoped that when he came home he would not +think of returning, and secretly resolved that if they could help +it he should not. But as Mr. Urquhart had been placed in this +strange position, and besides, since his appointment, they had +found reason to doubt whether he was altogether fit for such a +trust, it was impossible to leave him at Constantinople as +_charge d'affaires_ during his chief's absence, so they got Sir +Charles Vaughan to go out on what was called a special mission, +though there was nothing more in it than to meet this difficulty. +Sir Charles was directed to proceed to Malta, and from thence to +send a steamer to Constantinople, which was to announce his +arrival and bring back Lord Ponsonby. Sir Charles, accordingly, +sent his Secretary of Embassy to announce him, who, when he +arrived off Constantinople, was met by an absolute prohibition +from Ponsonby to land at all, and a flat refusal on his part to +stir. The Secretary had nothing to do but to return to his +principal and report his reception, and he in his turn had +nothing to do but report his ridiculous position to his employers +at home, and await their orders. The result has been that Sir +Charles is ordered home, and Lord Ponsonby remains, so that +Palmerston has knocked under. Ponsonby has carried his point, and +Vaughan has had a _giro_ to Malta and back, for which the public +has to pay. + + +June 19th, 1837 {p.405} + +Yesterday the King was sinking fast; the Sacrament was +administered to him by the Archbishop of Canterbury. He said, +'This is the 18th of June; I should like to live to see the sun +of Waterloo set.' Last night I met the Duke, and dined at the +Duchess of Cannizzaro's, who after dinner crowned him with a +crown of laurel (in joke of course), when they all stood up and +drank his health, and at night they sang a hymn in honour of the +day. He asked me whether Melbourne had had any communication with +the Princess Victoria. I said I did not know, but thought not. He +said, 'He ought. I was in constant communication with the present +King for a month before George IV. died. George IV. was for a +month quite as bad as this King, and I sent the Duke of Clarence +the bulletins every day, and besides wrote to him the private +accounts I received, and what is very odd, I had a quarrel with +him in the course of this. He constantly wrote to me, and in one +of his letters he told me he meant to make me his Minister. I +felt this was a very awkward subject for me to enter upon, and +that I could not, being the Minister of the King, with any +propriety treat with his successor, so I resolved to take no +notice whatever of this part of his letter, and I did not. He was +very indignant at this, and complained to his friends (to Lord +Cassilis, for instance) that I had behaved very rudely to him. +When I met him--for I met him constantly at Windsor, and in the +King's room--he was very cold in his manner, but I took no +notice, and went on as before.' + + +June 21st, 1837 {p.406} + +[Page Head: FIRST COUNCIL OF QUEEN VICTORIA.] + +The King died at twenty minutes after two yesterday morning, and +the young Queen met the Council at Kensington Palace at eleven. +Never was anything like the first impression she produced, or the +chorus of praise and admiration which is raised about her manner +and behaviour, and certainly not without justice. It was very +extraordinary, and something far beyond what was looked for. Her +extreme youth and inexperience, and the ignorance of the world +concerning her, naturally excited intense curiosity to see how she +would act on this trying occasion, and there was a considerable +assemblage at the Palace, notwithstanding the short notice which +was given. The first thing to be done was to teach her her lesson, +which for this purpose Melbourne had himself to learn. I gave him +the Council papers, and explained all that was to be done, and he +went and explained all this to her. He asked her if she would +enter the room accompanied by the Great Officers of State, but she +said she would come in alone. When the Lords were assembled the +Lord President informed them of the King's death, and suggested, +as they were so numerous, that a few of them should repair to the +presence of the Queen and inform her of the event, and that their +Lordships were assembled in consequence; and accordingly the two +Royal Dukes, the two Archbishops, the Chancellor, and Melbourne +went with him. The Queen received them in the adjoining room +alone. As soon as they had returned the proclamation was read and +the usual order passed, when the doors were thrown open and the +Queen entered, accompanied by her two uncles, who advanced to meet +her. She bowed to the Lords, took her seat, and then read her +speech in a clear, distinct, and audible voice, and without any +appearance of fear or embarrassment. She was quite plainly +dressed, and in mourning. After she had read her speech and taken +and signed the oath for the security of the Church of Scotland, +the Privy Councillors were sworn, the two Royal Dukes[9] first, by +themselves; and as these two old men, her uncles, knelt before +her, swearing allegiance and kissing her hand, I saw her blush up +to the eyes, as if she felt the contrast between their civil and +their natural relations, and this was the only sign of emotion +which she evinced. Her manner to them was very graceful and +engaging; she kissed them both, and rose from her chair and moved +towards the Duke of Sussex, who was farthest from her and too +infirm to reach her. She seemed rather bewildered at the multitude +of men who were sworn, and who came one after another to kiss her +hand, but she did not speak to anybody, nor did she make the +slightest difference in her manner, or show any in her countenance, +to any individual of any rank, station, or party. I particularly +watched her when Melbourne and the Ministers and the Duke of +Wellington and Peel approached her. She went through the whole +ceremony, occasionally looking at Melbourne for instruction when +she had any doubt what to do, which hardly ever occurred, and with +perfect calmness and self-possession, but at the same time with a +graceful modesty and propriety particularly interesting and +ingratiating. When the business was done she retired as she had +entered, and I could see that nobody was in the adjoining room. +Lord Lansdowne insisted upon being declared President of the +Council (and I was obliged to write a declaration for him to read +to that effect), though it was not usual. The speech was admired, +except by Brougham, who appeared in a considerable state of +excitement. He said to Peel (whom he was standing near, and with +whom he is not in the habit of communicating), '_A_melioration, +that is not English; you might perhaps say _me_lioration, but +improvement is the proper word.' 'Oh,' said Peel, 'I see no harm +in the word; it is generally used.' 'You object,' said Brougham, +'to the sentiment, I object to the grammar.' 'No,' said Peel, 'I +don't object to the sentiment.' 'Well, then, she pledges herself +to the policy of _our_ Government,' said Brougham. Peel told me +this, which passed in the room and near to the Queen. He likewise +said how amazed he was at her manner and behaviour, at her +apparent deep sense of her situation, her modesty, and at the same +time her firmness. She appeared, in fact, to be awed, but not +daunted, and afterwards the Duke of Wellington told me the same +thing, and added that if she had been his own daughter he could +not have desired to see her perform her part better. It was +settled that she was to hold a Council at St. James's this day, +and be proclaimed there at ten o'clock, and she expressed a wish +to see Lord Albemarle, who went to her and told her he was come to +take her orders. She said, 'I have no orders to give; you know all +this so much better than I do, that I leave it all to you. I am to +be at St. James's at ten to-morrow, and must beg you to find me a +conveyance proper for the occasion.' Accordingly, he went and +fetched her in state with a great escort. The Duchess of Kent was +in the carriage with her, but I was surprised to hear so little +shouting, and to see so few hats off as she went by. I rode down +the Park, and saw her appear at the window when she was +proclaimed. The Duchess of Kent was there, but not prominent; the +Queen was surrounded by her Ministers, and curtsied repeatedly to +the people, who did not, however, hurrah till Lord Lansdowne gave +them the signal from the window. At twelve she held a Council, at +which she presided with as much ease as if she had been doing +nothing else all her life, and though Lord Lansdowne and my +colleague had contrived between them to make some confusion with +the Council papers, she was not put out by it. She looked very +well, and though so small in stature, and without much pretension +to beauty, the gracefulness of her manner and the good expression +of her countenance give her on the whole a very agreeable +appearance, and with her youth inspire an excessive interest in +all who approach her, and which I can't help feeling myself. After +the Council she received the Archbishops and Bishops, and after +them the Judges. They all kissed her hand, but she said nothing to +any of them, very different in this from her predecessor, who used +to harangue them all, and had a speech ready for everybody. + + [9] The Dukes of Cumberland and Sussex. The Duke of + Cambridge was in Hanover. + +[Page Head: QUEEN VICTORIA PROCLAIMED.] + +Conyngham, when he came to her with the intelligence of the King's +death, brought a request from the Queen Dowager that she might be +permitted to remain at Windsor till after the funeral, and she has +written her a letter couched in the kindest terms, begging her to +consult nothing but her own health and convenience, and to remain +at Windsor just as long as she pleases. In short, she appears to +act with every sort of good taste and good feeling, as well as +good sense, and as far as it has gone nothing can be more +favourable than the impression she has made, and nothing can +promise better than her manner and conduct do, though it would be +rash to count too confidently upon her judgment and discretion in +more weighty matters. No contrast can be greater than that between +the personal demeanour of the present and the late sovereigns at +their respective accessions. William IV. was a man who, coming to +the throne at the mature age of sixty-five, was so excited by the +exaltation, that he nearly went mad, and distinguished himself by +a thousand extravagances of language and conduct, to the alarm or +amusement of all who witnessed his strange freaks; and though he +was shortly afterwards sobered down into more becoming habits, he +always continued to be something of a blackguard and something +more of a buffoon. It is but fair to his memory at the same time +to say that he was a good-natured, kind-hearted, and well-meaning +man, and he always acted an honourable and straightforward, if not +always a sound and discreet, part. The two principal Ministers of +his reign, the Duke of Wellington and Lord Grey (though the former +was only his Minister for a few months), have both spoken of him +to me with strong expressions of personal regard and esteem. The +young Queen, who might well be either dazzled or confounded with +the grandeur and novelty of her situation, seems neither the one +nor the other, and behaves with a decorum and propriety beyond her +years, and with all the sedateness and dignity the want of which +was so conspicuous in her uncle. + + + + + 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 Vendee, 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 + +Buelow, 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; + Beranger's verses on, 215; favourite of Louis XVIII., ii. 306 + +Cenis, the Mont, i. 287 + +Champollion, Jean Francois, 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 + +Duelcken, 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 + +Gerard, 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 Pere,' 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 a 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 Ronciere, 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-General, 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 Amelie, 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, chateau 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 + +Mole, 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 + +Perier, 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; fete 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 Mole, 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 + +Stael, Madame de, 'Considerations sur la Revolution francaise,' + 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 _charge 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 Bluecher, 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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