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                *       *       *       *       *

                       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. II.

                          Second Edition

                              LONDON
                     LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
                               1874




                  CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME




                           CHAPTER XI.

Accession of William IV.--The King's Proceedings--His
  Popularity--Funeral of George IV.--Dislike of the Duke of
  Cumberland--The King's Simplicity and Good-nature--Reviews the
  Guards--The First Court--The King in St. James's Street--
  Dissolution of Parliament--The King dines at Apsley House--The
  Duke of Gloucester--The Quaker's Address--The Ordinances of
  July--The French Revolution--Brougham's Election for
  Yorkshire--Struggle in Paris--Elections adverse to Government--
  The Duke of Wellington on the French Revolution--Duke of
  Cumberland resigns the Gold Stick and the Blues--George IV.'s
  Wardrobe--Fall of the Bourbons--Weakness of the Duke's
  Ministry--The King at Windsor--The Duke of Orleans accepts the
  Crown of France--Chamber of Peers remodelled--Prince Polignac--
  The New Parliament--Virginia Water--Details of George IV.'s
  Illness and Death--Symptoms of Opposition--Brougham--Charles X.
  in England--Dinner in St. George's Hall--Lambeth--Marshal
  Marmont--His Conversation--Campaign of 1814--The Conflict in
  Paris--Dinner at Lord Dudley's.
                                                            Page 1


                           CHAPTER XII.

The Belgian Revolution--The Duke of Wellington and Canning--The
  King's Plate--Gloomy Forebodings--Retreat of the Prince of
  Orange--Prince Talleyrand--Position of the Government--Death of
  Huskisson--His Character--The Duke of Wellington and Peel--
  Meeting of Parliament--The Duke's Declaration--The King's Visit
  to the City abandoned--Disturbances in London--Duchesse de
  Dino--The Cholera--Southey, Henry Taylor, John Stuart Mill--
  Dinner at Talleyrand's--The Duke of Wellington resigns--Mr.
  Bathurst made Junior Clerk of the Council--Lord Spencer and
  Lord Grey sent for--Formation of Lord Grey's Administration--
  Discontent of Brougham--Brougham takes the Great Seal--
  Character of the New Ministers--Prospects of the Opposition--
  Disturbances in Sussex and Hampshire--Lord Grey and Lord
  Brougham--Lord Sefton's Dinner--The New Ministers sworn at a
  Council.
                                                           Page 40


                          CHAPTER XIII.

A Proclamation against Rioters--Appointments--Duke of Wellington
  in Hampshire--General Excitement--The Tory Party--State of
  Ireland--More Disturbances--Lord Grey's Colleagues--Election at
  Liverpool--The Black Book--The Duke of Wellington's Position
  and Character--A Council on a Capital Sentence--Brougham in the
  House of Lords--The Clerks of the Council--Lord Grey and Lord
  Lyndhurst--The Chancellor of Ireland--Lord Melbourne--Duke of
  Richmond--Sir James Graham--Lyndhurst Lord Chief Baron--Judge
  Allan Park--Lord Lyndhurst and the Whigs--Duke of Wellington
  and Polignac--The King and his Sons--Polish Revolution--
  Mechanics' Institute--Repeal of the Union--King Louis
  Philippe--Lord Anglesey and O'Connell--A Dinner at the
  Athenæum--Canning and George IV.--Formation of Canning's
  Government--Negotiation with Lord Melbourne--Count Walewski--
  Croker's Boswell--State of Ireland--Brougham and Sugden--Arrest
  of O'Connell--Colonel Napier and the Trades Unions--The Civil
  List--Hunt in the House of Commons--Southey's Letter to
  Brougham on Literary Honours--The Budget--O'Connell pleads
  guilty--Achille Murat--Weakness of the Government--Lady Jersey
  and Lord Durham--Lord Duncannon--Ireland--Wordsworth.
                                                           Page 73


                           CHAPTER XIV.

Introduction of the Reform Bill--Attitude of the Opposition--
  Reform Debates--Peel--Wilberforce and Canning--Old Sir Robert
  Peel--The City Address--Agitation for Reform--Effects of the
  Reform Bill--Brougham as Chancellor--Brougham at the Horse
  Guards--Miss Kemble--Vote on the Timber Duties--Lord
  Lansdowne's Opinion of the Bill--Reform Bill carried by one
  Vote--The King in Mourning--The Prince of Orange--Peel's
  Reserve--Ministers beaten--Parliament dissolved by the King in
  Person--Tumult in both Houses--Failure of the Whig Ministry--
  The King in their Hands--The Elections--Illumination in the
  City--The Queen alarmed--Lord Lyndhurst's View of the Bill--
  Lord Grey takes the Garter--The King at Ascot--Windsor under
  William IV.--Brougham at Whitbread's Brewery and at the British
  Museum--Breakfast at Rogers'--The Cholera--Quarantine--Meeting
  of Peers--New Parliament meets--Opened by the King--'Hernani'
  at Bridgewater House--The Second Reform Bill--The King's
  Coronation--Cobbett's Trial--Prince Leopold accepts the Crown
  of Belgium--Peel and the Tories--A Rabble Opposition--A Council
  for the Coronation.
                                                          Page 121


                           CHAPTER XV.

Preparations for the Coronation--Long Wellesley committed by the
  Chancellor for Contempt--Alderman Thompson and his
  Constituents--Prince Leopold goes to Belgium--Royal Tombs and
  Remains--The Lieutenancy of the Tower--The Cholera--The Belgian
  Fortresses--Secret Negotiations of Canning with the Whigs--
  Transactions before the Close of the Liverpool Administration--
  Duke of Wellington and Peel--The Dutch invade Belgium--Defeat
  of the Belgian Army--The French enter Belgium--Lord Grey's
  Composure--Audience at Windsor--Danger of Reform--Ellen Tree--
  The French in Belgium--Goodwood--The Duke of Richmond--The
  Reform Bill in Difficulties--Duke of Wellington calls on Lord
  Grey--The King declines to be kissed by the Bishops--
  Talleyrand's Conversation--State of Europe and France--
  Coronation Squabbles--The King divides the old Great Seal
  between Brougham and Lyndhurst--Relations of the Duchess of
  Kent to George IV. and William IV.--The Coronation--Irritation
  of the King--The Cholera--A Dinner at St. James's--State of the
  Reform Bill--Sir Augustus d'Este--Madame Junot--State of
  France--Poland.
                                                          Page 165


                           CHAPTER XVI.

Whig and Tory Meetings on Reform--Resolution to carry the Bill--
  Holland--Radical Jones--Reform Bill thrown out by the Lords--
  Dorsetshire Election--Division among the Tories--Bishop
  Phillpotts--Prospects of Reform--Its Dangers--Riots at
  Bristol--The Cholera at Sunderland--An Attempt at a Compromise
  on Reform--Lord Wharncliffe negotiates with the Ministers--
  Negotiation with Mr. Barnes--Proclamation against the Unions--
  Barbarism of Sunderland--Disappointment of Lord Wharncliffe--
  Bristol and Lyons--Commercial Negotiations with France--Poulett
  Thomson--Lord Wharncliffe's Proposal to Lord Grey--Disapproved
  by the Duke of Wellington--Moderation of Lord John Russell--The
  Appeal of Drax _v._ Grosvenor--The Second Reform Bill--Violence
  of Lord Durham--More Body-snatchers--Duke of Richmond and Sir
  Henry Parnell--Panshanger--Creation of Peers--Division of
  Opinion--Negotiation to avoid the Creation of Peers--Lord
  Wharncliffe's Interview with the King--Opposition of the Duke
  of Wellington--The Waverers resolve to separate from the Duke.
                                                          Page 197


                          CHAPTER XVII.

Measures for carrying the Second Reading of the Reform Bill in
  the House of Lords--The Party of the Waverers--The Russo-Dutch
  Loan--Resistance of the Tory Peers--Lord Melbourne's Views on
  the Government--Macaulay at Holland House--Reluctance of the
  Government to create Peers--Duke of Wellington intractable--
  Peel's Despondency--Lord Grey on the Measures of Conciliation--
  Lord Wharncliffe sees the King--Prospects of the Waverers--
  Conversations with Lord Melbourne and Lord Palmerston--Duke of
  Richmond on the Creation of Peers--Interview of Lord Grey with
  the Waverers--Minute drawn up--Bethnal Green--The Archbishop of
  Canterbury vacillates--Violence of Extreme Parties--Princess
  Lieven's Journal--Lord Holland for making Peers--Irish National
  Education--Seizure of Ancona--Reform Bill passes the House of
  Commons--Lord Dudley's Madness--Debate in the Lords.
                                                          Page 237


                          CHAPTER XVIII.

Debate in the House of Lords--Lord Harrowby's Position--Hopes of
  a Compromise--Lord Melbourne's View--Disturbances caused by the
  Cholera--The Disfranchisement Clause--The Number '56'--Peers
  contemplated--The King's Hesitation--'The Hunchback'--Critical
  Position of the Waverers--Bill carried by Nine in the Lords--
  The Cholera in Paris--Moderate Speech of Lord Grey--End of the
  Secession--Conciliatory Overtures--Negotiations carried on at
  Newmarket--Hostile Division in the Lords--Lord Wharncliffe's
  Account of his Failure--Lord Grey resigns--The Duke of
  Wellington attempts to form a Ministry--Peel declines--
  Hostility of the Court to the Whigs--A Change of Scene--The
  Duke fails--History of the Crisis--Lord Grey returns to
  Office--The King's Excitement--The King writes to the
  Opposition Peers--Defeat and Disgrace of the Tories--
  Conversation of the Duke of Wellington--Louis XVIII.--Madame du
  Cayla--Weakness of the King--Mortality among Great Men--
  Petition against Lord W. Bentinck's Prohibition of Suttee heard
  by the Privy Council--O'Connell and the Cholera--Irish Tithe
  Bill--Irish Difficulties--Mr. Stanley--Concluding Debates of
  the Parliament--Quarrel between Brougham and Sugden--Holland
  and Belgium--Brougham's Revenge and Apology--Dinner at Holland
  House--Anecdotes of Johnson--Death of Mr. Greville's Father--
  Madame de Flahaut's Account of the Princess Charlotte--Prince
  Augustus of Prussia--Captain Hess--Hostilities in Holland and
  in Portugal--The Duchesse de Berri--Conversation with Lord
  Melbourne on the State of the Government.
                                                          Page 274


                           CHAPTER XIX.

Foreign Difficulties--Conduct of Peel on the Resignation of Lord
  Grey--Manners Sutton proposed as Tory Premier--Coolness between
  Peel and the Duke--Embargo on Dutch Ships--Death of Lord
  Tenterden--Denman made Lord Chief Justice--Sketch of Holland
  House--The Speakership--Horne and Campbell Attorney- and
  Solicitor-General--The Court at Brighton--Lord Howe and the
  Queen--Elections under the Reform Act--Mr. Gully--Petworth--
  Lord Egremont--Attempt to reinstate Lord Howe--Namik Pacha--
  Lord Lyndhurst's Version of what occurred on the Resignation of
  Lord Grey--Lord Denbigh appointed Chamberlain to the Queen--
  Brougham's Privy Council Bill--Talleyrand's Relations with Fox
  and Pitt--Negro Emancipation Bill--State of the West Indies--
  The Reformed Parliament meets--Russian Intrigues--Four Days
  Debate on the Address--Peel's Political Career.
                                                          Page 324


                           CHAPTER XX.

Appointment of Sir Stratford Canning to the Russian Embassy--
  Cause of the Refusal--Slavery in the West Indies--The Reformed
  Parliament--Duke of Wellington's View of Affairs--The Coercion
  Bill--The Privy Council Bill--Lord Durham made an Earl--Mr.
  Stanley Secretary for the Colonies--The Russians go to the
  Assistance of the Porte--Lord Goderich has the Privy Seal, an
  Earldom, and the Garter--Embarrassments of the Government--The
  Appeal of Drax _v._ Grosvenor at the Privy Council--Hobhouse
  defeated in Westminster--Bill for Negro Emancipation--The
  Russians on the Bosphorus--Mr. Littleton Chief Secretary for
  Ireland--Respect shown to the Duke of Wellington--Moral of a
  'Book on the Derby'--The Oaks--A Betting Incident--Ascot--
  Government beaten in the Lords on Foreign Policy--Vote of
  Confidence in the Commons--Drax _v._ Grosvenor decided--Lord
  Eldon's Last Judgment--His Character--Duke of Wellington as
  Leader of Opposition--West India Affairs--Irish Church Bill--
  Appropriation Clause--A Fancy Bazaar--The King writes to the
  Bishops--Local Court Bill--Mirabeau.
                                                          Page 357




                            A JOURNAL
                              of the
                 REIGN OF KING WILLIAM THE FOURTH




                           CHAPTER XI.

Accession of William IV.--The King's Proceedings--His
  Popularity--Funeral of George IV.--Dislike of the Duke of
  Cumberland--The King's Simplicity and Good-nature--Reviews the
  Guards--The First Court--The King in St. James's Street--
  Dissolution of Parliament--The King dines at Apsley House--The
  Duke of Gloucester--The Quakers' Address--The Ordinances of
  July--The French Revolution--Brougham's Election for
  Yorkshire--Struggle in Paris--Elections Adverse to Government--
  The Duke of Wellington on the French Revolution--Duke of
  Cumberland resigns the Gold Stick and the Blues--George IV.'s
  Wardrobe--Fall of the Bourbons--Weakness of the Duke's
  Ministry--The King at Windsor--The Duke of Orleans accepts the
  Crown of France--Chamber of Peers remodelled--Prince Polignac--
  The New Parliament--Virginia Water--Details of George IV.'s
  Illness and Death--Symptoms of Opposition--Brougham--Charles X.
  in England--Dinner in St. George's Hall--Lambeth--Marshal
  Marmont--His Conversation--Campaign of 1814--The Conflict in
  Paris--Dinner at Lord Dudley's.


                              1830.


London, July 16th, 1830 {p.001}

I returned here on the 6th of this month, and have waited these
ten days to look about me and see and hear what is passing. The
present King and his proceedings occupy all attention, and nobody
thinks any more of the late King than if he had been dead fifty
years, unless it be to abuse him and to rake up all his vices and
misdeeds. Never was elevation like that of King William IV. His
life has been hitherto passed in obscurity and neglect, in
miserable poverty, surrounded by a numerous progeny of bastards,
without consideration or friends, and he was ridiculous from his
grotesque ways and little meddling curiosity. Nobody ever invited
him into their house, or thought it necessary to honour him with
any mark of attention or respect; and so he went on for above
forty years, till Canning brought him into notice by making him
Lord High Admiral at the time of his grand Ministerial schism. In
that post he distinguished himself by making absurd speeches, by
a morbid official activity, and by a general wildness which was
thought to indicate incipient insanity, till shortly after
Canning's death and the Duke's accession, as is well known, the
latter dismissed him. He then dropped back into obscurity, but
had become by this time somewhat more of a personage than he was
before. His brief administration of the navy, the death of the
Duke of York, which made him heir to the throne, his increased
wealth and regular habits, had procured him more consideration,
though not a great deal. Such was his position when George IV.
broke all at once, and after three months of expectation William
finds himself King.


July 18th, 1830 {p.002}

[Page Head: KING WILLIAM'S ACCESSION.]

King George had not been dead three days before everybody
discovered that he was no loss, and King William a great gain.
Certainly nobody ever was less regretted than the late King, and
the breath was hardly out of his body before the press burst
forth in full cry against him, and raked up all his vices,
follies, and misdeeds, which were numerous and glaring enough.

The new King began very well. Everybody expected he would keep
the Ministers in office, but he threw himself into the arms of
the Duke of Wellington with the strongest expressions of
confidence and esteem. He proposed to all the Household, as well
as to the members of Government, to keep their places, which they
all did except Lord Conyngham and the Duke of Montrose. He soon
after, however, dismissed most of the equerries, that he might
fill their places with the members of his own family. Of course
such a King wanted not due praise, and plenty of anecdotes were
raked up of his former generosities and kindnesses. His first
speech to the Council was well enough given, but his burlesque
character began even then to show itself. Nobody expected from
him much real grief, and he does not seem to know how to act it
consistently; he spoke of his brother with all the semblance of
feeling, and in a tone of voice properly softened and subdued,
but just afterwards, when they gave him the pen to sign the
declaration, he said, in his usual tone, 'This is a damned bad
pen you have given me.' My worthy colleague Mr. James Buller
began to swear Privy Councillors in the name of 'King George
IV.--William, I mean,' to the great diversion of the Council.

A few days after my return I was sworn in, all the Ministers and
some others being present. His Majesty presided very decently,
and looked like a respectable old admiral. The Duke [of
Wellington] told me he was delighted with him--'If I had been
able to deal with my late master as I do with my present, I
should have got on much better'--that he was so reasonable and
tractable, and that he had done more business with him in ten
minutes than with the other in as many days.

I met George Fitzclarence, afterwards Earl of Munster,[1] the same
day, and repeated what the Duke said, and he told me how delighted
his father was with the Duke, his entire confidence in him, and
that the Duke might as entirely depend upon the King; that he had
told his Majesty, when he was at Paris, that Polignac and the Duke
of Orleans had both asked him whether the Duke of Clarence, when
he became King, would keep the Duke of Wellington as his Minister,
and the King said, 'What did you reply?' 'I replied that you
certainly would; did not I do right?' 'Certainly, you did quite
right.'

      [1] [Eldest son of King William IV. by Mrs. Jordan, who was
          shortly after the accession created an earl by his
          father. The rank of 'marquis's younger children' was
          conferred upon the rest of the family. The King had
          nine natural children by Mrs. Jordan: 1, George, a
          major-general in the army, afterwards Earl of Munster;
          2, Frederick, also in the army; 3, Adolphus, a
          rear-admiral; 4, Augustus, in holy orders; 5. Sophia,
          married to Lord de l'Isle; 6, Mary, married to Colonel
          Fox; 7, Elizabeth, married to the Earl of Errol; 8,
          Augusta, married first to the Hon. John Kennedy Erskine,
          and secondly to Lord John Frederick Gordon; 9, Amelia,
          married to Viscount Falkland.]

He began immediately to do good-natured things, to provide for
old friends and professional adherents, and he bestowed a pension
upon Tierney's widow. The great offices of Chamberlain and
Steward he abandoned to the Duke of Wellington. There never was
anything like the enthusiasm with which he was greeted by all
ranks; though he has trotted about both town and country for
sixty-four years, and nobody ever turned round to look at him, he
cannot stir now without a mob, patrician as well as plebeian, at
his heels. All the Park congregated round the gate to see him
drive into town the day before yesterday. But in the midst of all
this success and good conduct certain indications of strangeness
and oddness peep out which are not a little alarming, and he
promises to realise the fears of his Ministers that he will do
and say too much, though they flatter themselves that they have
muzzled him in his approaching progress by reminding him that his
words will be taken as his Ministers', and he must, therefore, be
chary of them.

At the late King's funeral he behaved with great indecency. That
ceremony was very well managed, and a fine sight, the military
part particularly, and the Guards were magnificent. The
attendance was not very numerous, and when they had all got
together in St. George's Hall a gayer company I never beheld;
with the exception of Mount Charles, who was deeply affected,
they were all as merry as grigs. The King was chief mourner, and,
to my astonishment, as he entered the chapel directly behind the
body, in a situation in which he should have been apparently, if
not really, absorbed in the melancholy duty he was performing, he
darted up to Strathaven, who was ranged on one side below the
Dean's stall, shook him heartily by the hand, and then went on
nodding to the right and left. He had previously gone as chief
mourner to sit for an hour at the head of the body as it lay in
state, and he walked in procession with his household to the
apartment. I saw him pass from behind the screen. Lord Jersey had
been in the morning to Bushy to kiss hands on being made
Chamberlain, when he had received him very graciously, told him
it was the Duke and not himself who had made him, but that he was
delighted to have him. At Windsor, when he arrived, he gave
Jersey the white wand, or rather took one from him he had
provided for himself, and gave it him again with a little speech.
When he went to sit in state, Jersey preceded him, and he said
when all was ready, 'Go on to the body, Jersey; you will get your
dress coat as soon as you can.' The morning after the funeral,
having slept at Frogmore, he went all over the Castle, into every
room in the house, which he had never seen before except when he
came there as a guest; after which he received an address from
the ecclesiastical bodies of Windsor and Eton, and returned an
answer quite unpremeditated which they told me was excellent.

[Page Head: DISLIKE OF THE DUKE OF CUMBERLAND.]

He is very well with all his family, particularly the Duke of
Sussex, but he dislikes and seems to know the Duke of Cumberland,
who is furious at his own discredit. The King has taken from him
the Gold Stick, by means of which he had usurped the functions of
all the other colonels of the regiments of the Guards, and put
himself always about the late King. He says the Duke's rank is
too high to perform those functions, and has put an end to his
services. He has only put the Gold Sticks on their former
footing, and they are all to take the duty in turn.

In the meantime the Duke of Cumberland has shown his teeth in
another way. His horses have hitherto stood in the stables which
are appropriated to the Queen, and the other day Lord Errol, her
new Master of the Horse, went to her Majesty and asked her where
she chose her horses should be; she said, of course, she knew
nothing about it, but in the proper place. Errol then said the
Duke of Cumberland's horses were in her stables, and could not be
got out without an order from the King. The King was spoken to,
and he commanded the Duke of Leeds to order them out. The Duke of
Leeds took the order to the Duke of Cumberland, who said 'he
would be damned if they should go,' when the Duke of Leeds said
that he trusted he would have them taken out the following day,
as unless he did so he should be under the necessity of ordering
them to be removed by the King's grooms, when the Duke was
obliged sulkily to give way. When the King gave the order to the
Duke of Leeds, he sent for Taylor that he might be present, and
said at the same time that he had a very bad opinion of the Duke
of Cumberland, and he wished he would live out of the country.

[Page Head: THE KING'S ODDITIES.]

The King's good-nature, simplicity, and affability to all about
him are certainly very striking, and in his elevation he does not
forget any of his old friends and companions. He was in no hurry
to take upon himself the dignity of King, nor to throw off the
habits and manners of a country gentleman. When Lord Chesterfield
went to Bushy to kiss his hand, and be presented to the Queen, he
found Sir John and Lady Gore there lunching, and when they went
away the King called for their carriage, handed Lady Gore into it,
and stood at the door to see them off. When Lord Howe came over
from Twickenham to see him, he said the Queen was going out
driving, and should 'drop him' at his own house. The Queen, they
say, is by no means delighted at her elevation. She likes quiet
and retirement and Bushy (of which the King has made her Ranger),
and does not want to be a Queen. However, 'L'appétit viendra en
mangeant.' He says he does not want luxury and magnificence, has
slept in a cot, and he has dismissed the King's cooks, 'renversé
la marmite.' He keeps the stud (which is to be diminished) because
he thinks he ought to support the turf. He has made Mount Charles
a Lord of the Bedchamber, and given the Robes to Sir C. Pole, an
admiral. Altogether he seems a kind-hearted, well-meaning, not
stupid, burlesque, bustling old fellow, and if he doesn't go mad
may make a very decent King, but he exhibits oddities. He would
not have his servants in mourning--that is, not those of his own
family and household--but he sent the Duke of Sussex to Mrs.
Fitzherbert to desire she would put hers in mourning, and
consequently so they are. The King and she have always been
friends, as she has, in fact, been with all the Royal Family, but
it was very strange. Yesterday morning he sent for the officer on
guard, and ordered him to take all the muffles off the drums, the
scarfs off the regimentals, and so to appear on parade, where he
went himself. The colonel would have put the officer under arrest
for doing this without his orders, but the King said he was
commanding officer of his own guard, and forbade him. All odd, and
people are frightened, but his wits will at least last till the
new Parliament meets. I sent him a very respectful request through
Taylor that he would pay £300, all that remained due of the Duke
of York's debts at Newmarket, which he assented to directly, as
soon as the Privy Purse should be settled--very good-natured. In
the meantime it is said that the bastards are dissatisfied that
more is not done for them, but he cannot do much for them at once,
and he must have time. He has done all he can; he has made Errol
Master of the Horse, Sidney a Guelph and Equerry, George
Fitzclarence the same and Adjutant-General, and doubtless they
will all have their turn. Of course the stories told about the
rapacity of the Conynghams have been innumerable. The King's will
excited much astonishment, but as yet nothing is for certain known
about the money, or what became of it, or what he gave away, and
to whom, in his lifetime.


July 20th, 1830 {p.007}

Yesterday was a very busy day with his Majesty, who is going much
too fast, and begins to alarm his Ministers and astonish the
world. In the morning he inspected the Coldstream Guards, dressed
(for the first time in his life) in a military uniform and with a
great pair of gold spurs half-way up his legs like a game cock,
although he was not to ride, for having chalk-stones in his hands
he can't hold the reins. The Queen came to Lady Bathurst's to see
the review and hold a sort of drawing-room, when the Ministers'
wives were presented to her, and official men, to which were
added Lady Bathurst's relations; everybody was in undress except
the officers. She is very ugly, with a horrid complexion, but has
good manners, and did all this (which she hated) very well. She
said the part as if she was acting, and wished the green curtain
to drop. After the review the King, with the Dukes of Cumberland,
Sussex, and Gloucester, and Prince George and the Prince of
Prussia, and the Duchess of Cumberland's son, came in through the
garden gate; the Duchess of Gloucester and Princess Augusta were
already there; they breakfasted and then went away, the Duke of
Gloucester bowing to the company while nobody was taking any
notice of him or thinking about him. Nature must have been merry
when she made this Prince, and in the sort of mood that certain
great artists used to exhibit in their comical caricatures; I
never saw a countenance which that line in Dryden's M'Flecknoe
would so well describe--

            And lambent dulness plays around his face.

At one there was to be a Council, to swear in Privy Councillors
and Lords-Lieutenant, and receive Oxford and Cambridge addresses.
The review made it an hour later, and the Lieutenants, who had
been summoned at one, and who are great, selfish, pampered
aristocrats, were furious at being kept waiting, particularly
Lord Grosvenor and the Duke of Newcastle, the former very
peevish, the latter bitter-humoured. I was glad to see them put
to inconvenience. I never saw so full a Court, so much nobility
with academical tagrag and bobtail. After considerable delay the
King received the Oxford and Cambridge addresses on the throne,
which (having only one throne between them) he then abdicated for
the Queen to seat herself on and receive them too. She sat it
very well, surrounded by the Princesses and her ladies and
household. When this mob could be got rid of the table was
brought in and the Council held. The Duke was twice sworn as
Constable of the Tower and Lieutenant of Hants; then Jersey and
the new Privy Councillors; and then the host of Lieutenants six
or seven at a time, or as many as could hold a bit of the
Testament. I begged the King would, to expedite the business,
dispense with their kneeling, which he did, and so we got on
rapidly enough; and I whispered to Jersey, who stood by me behind
the King with his white wand, 'The farce is good, isn't it?' as
they each kissed his hand. I told him their name or county, or
both, and he had a civil word to say to everybody, inviting some
to dinner, promising to visit others, reminding them of former
visits, or something good-humoured; he asked Lord Egremont's
_permission_ to go and live in his county, at Brighton.

[Page Head: THE KING IN ST. JAMES'S STREET.]

All this was very well; no great harm in it; more affable, less
dignified than the late King; but when this was over, and he
might very well have sat himself quietly down and rested, he must
needs put on his plainer clothes and start on a ramble about the
streets, alone too. In Pall Mall he met Watson Taylor, and took
his arm and went up St. James's Street. There he was soon
followed by a mob making an uproar, and when he got near White's
a woman came up and kissed him. Belfast (who had been sworn in
Privy Councillor in the morning), who saw this from White's, and
Clinton thought it time to interfere, and came out to attend upon
him. The mob increased, and, always holding W. Taylor's arm, and
flanked by Clinton and Belfast, who got shoved and kicked about
to their inexpressible wrath, he got back to the Palace amid
shouting and bawling and applause. When he got home he asked them
to go in and take a quiet walk in the garden, and said, 'Oh,
never mind all this; when I have walked about a few times they
will get used to it, and will take no notice.' There are other
stories, but I will put down nothing I do not see or hear, or
hear from the witnesses. Belfast told me this in the Park, fresh
from the scene and smarting from the buffeting he had got. All
the Park was ringing with it, and I told Lady Bathurst, who
thought it so serious she said she would get Lord Bathurst to
write to the Duke directly about it. Lord Combermere wanted to be
made a Privy Councillor yesterday, but the Duke would not let it
be done; he is in a sort of half-disgrace, and is not to be made
yet, but will be by-and-by.


Grove Road, July 21st, 1830 {p.009}

I came and established myself here last night after the Duchess
of Bedford's ball. Lady Bathurst told me that the Queen spoke to
her yesterday morning about the King's walk and being followed,
and said that for the future he must walk early in the morning,
or in some less public place, so there are hopes that his
activity may be tamed. He sent George Fitzclarence off from
dinner in his silk stockings and cocked hat to Boulogne to invite
the King of Würtemberg to come here; he was back in fifty-six
hours, and might have been in less. He employs him in everything,
and I heard Fitzclarence yesterday ask the Duke of Leeds for two
of his father's horses to ride about on his jobs and relieve his
own, which the Duke agreed to, but made a wry face. Mount Charles
has refused to be Lord of the Bedchamber; his wife can't bear it,
and he doesn't like to go to Windsor under such altered
circumstances. I hardly ever record the scandalous stories of the
day, unless they relate to characters or events, but what relates
to public men is different from the loves and friendships of the
idiots of society.


July 24th, 1830 {p.010}

Went to St. James's the day before yesterday for a Council for
the dissolution, but there was none. Yesterday morning there was
an idea of having one, but it is to-day instead, and early in the
morning, that the Ministers may be able to go to their fish
dinner at Greenwich. I called on the Duke yesterday evening to
know about a Council, but he could not tell me. Then came a Mr.
Moss (or his card) while I was there. 'Who is he?' I said. 'Oh, a
man who wants to see me about a canal. I can't see him. Everybody
will see me, and how the Devil they think I am to see everybody,
and be the whole morning with the King, and to do the whole
business of the country, I don't know. I am quite worn out with
it.' I longed to tell him that it is this latter part they would
willingly relieve him from.

I met Vesey Fitzgerald, just come from Paris, and had a long
conversation with him about the state of the Government; he seems
aware of the difficulties and the necessity of acquiring more
strength, of the universal persuasion that the Duke will be all in
all, and says that in the Cabinet nobody can be more reasonable
and yielding and deferential to the opinions of his colleagues.
But Murray's appointment, he says, was a mistake,[2] and no
personal consideration should induce the Duke to sacrifice the
interests of the country by keeping him; it may be disagreeable to
dismiss him, but he must do it. Hay told me that for the many
years he had been in office he had never met with any public
officer so totally inefficient as he, not even Warrender at the
Admiralty Board.

      [2] [Sir George Murray was Secretary of State for the
          Colonial Department.]

In the meantime the King has had his levee, which was crowded
beyond all precedent. He was very civil to the people, particularly
to Sefton, who had quarrelled with the late King.

[Page Head: THE KING GOES DOWN TO PARLIAMENT.]

Yesterday he went to the House of Lords, and was admirably
received. I can fancy nothing like his delight at finding himself
in the state coach surrounded by all his pomp. He delivered the
Speech very well, they say, for I did not go to hear him. He did
not wear the crown, which was carried by Lord Hastings. Etiquette
is a thing he cannot comprehend. He wanted to take the King of
Würtemberg with him in his coach, till he was told it was out of
the question. In his private carriage he continues to sit
backwards, and when he goes with men makes one sit by him and not
opposite to him. Yesterday, after the House of Lords, he drove
all over the town in an open calèche with the Queen, Princess
Augusta, and the King of Würtemberg, and coming home he set down
the King (_dropped him_, as he calls it) at Grillon's Hotel. The
King of England dropping another king at a tavern! It is
impossible not to be struck with his extreme good-nature and
simplicity, which he cannot or will not exchange for the dignity
of his new situation and the trammels of etiquette; but he ought
to be made to understand that his simplicity degenerates into
vulgarity, and that without departing from his natural urbanity
he may conduct himself so as not to lower the character with
which he is invested, and which belongs not to him, but to the
country.

At his dinner at St. James's the other day more people were
invited than there was room for, and some half-dozen were forced
to sit at a side table. He said to Lord Brownlow, 'Well, when you
are flooded (he thinks Lincolnshire is all fen) you will come to
us at Windsor.' To the Freemasons he was rather good. The Duke of
Sussex wanted him to receive their address in a solemn audience,
which he refused, and when they did come he said, 'Gentlemen, if
my love for you equalled my ignorance of everything concerning
you, it would be unbounded,' and then he added something
good-humoured. The consequence of his trotting about, and saying
the odd things he does, is that there are all sorts of stories
about him which are not true, and he is always expected
everywhere. In the meantime I believe that politically he relies
implicitly on the Duke, who can make him do anything. Agar Ellis
(who is bustling and active, always wishing to play a part, and
gets mixed up with the politics of this and that party through
his various connections) told me the other day that he knew the
Duke was knocking at every door, hitherto without success, and
that he must be contented to take a _party_, and not expect to
strengthen himself by picking out individuals. I think this too,
but why not open his doors to all comers? There are no questions
now to stand in his way; his Government must be remodelled, and
he may last for ever personally.


July 25th, 1830 {p.012}

Yesterday at Court at eleven; a Council for the dissolution. This
King and these Councils are very unlike the last--few people
present, frequent, punctual, less ceremony observed. Though these
Ministers have been in office all their lives, nobody knew how
many days must elapse before Parliament was summoned; some said
sixty, some seventy days, but not one knew, nor had they settled
the matter previously; so Lord Rosslyn and I were obliged to go
to Bridgewater House, which was near, and consult the journals.
It has always been fifty-two days of late.

In the afternoon another embarrassment. We sent the proclamations
to the Chancellor (one for England and one for Ireland), to have
the Great Seal affixed to them; he would only affix the Seal to
the English, and sent back the Irish unsealed. The Secretary of
State would not send it to Ireland without the Great Seal, and
all the Ministers were gone to the fish dinner at Greenwich, so
that there was no getting at anybody. At last we got it done at
Lincoln's Inn and sent it off. The fact is, nobody knows his
business, and the Chancellor least of all. The King continues
very active; he went after the Council to Buckingham House, then
to the Thames Tunnel, has immense dinners every day, and the same
people two or three days running. He has dismissed the late
King's band, and employs the bands of the Guards every night, who
are ready to die of it, for they get no pay and are prevented
earning money elsewhere. The other night the King had a party,
and at eleven o'clock he dismissed them thus: 'Now, ladies and
gentlemen, I wish you a good night. I will not detain you any
longer from your amusements, and shall go to my own, which is to
go to bed; so come along, my Queen.' The other day he was very
angry because the guard did not know him in his plain clothes and
turn out for him--the first appearance of jealousy of his
greatness he has shown--and he ordered them to be more on the
alert for the future.


July 26th, 1830 {p.013}

[Page Head: THE KING DINES AT APSLEY HOUSE.]

Still the King; his adventures (for they are nothing else)
furnish matter of continual amusement and astonishment to his
liege subjects. Yesterday morning, or the evening before, he
announced to the Duke of Wellington that he should dine with him
yesterday; accordingly the Duke was obliged, in the midst of
preparations for his breakfast, to get a dinner ready for him. In
the morning he took the King of Würtemberg to Windsor, and just
at the hour when the Duke expected him to dinner he was driving
through Hyde Park back from Windsor--three barouches-and-four,
the horses dead knocked up, in the front the two Kings, Jersey,
and somebody else, all covered with dust. The whole mob of
carriages and horsemen assembled near Apsley House to see him
pass and to wait till he returned. The Duke, on hearing he was
there, rushed down without his hat and stood in his gate in the
middle of servants, mob, &c., to see him pass. He drove to
Grillon's 'to drop' the King of Würtemberg, and at a quarter past
eight he arrived at Apsley House. There were about forty-five
men, no women, half the Ministers, most of the foreign Ministers,
and a mixture rather indiscriminate. In the evening I was at Lady
Salisbury's, when arrived the Duke of Sussex, who gave a short
account to Sefton of what had passed, and of the King's speech to
the company. 'You and I,' he said, 'are old Whigs, my Lord, and I
confess I was somewhat astonished to hear his Majesty's speech.'
I went afterwards to Crockford's, where I found Matuscewitz, who
gave me a whole account of the dinner. The two Kings went out to
dinner arm in arm, the Duke followed; the King sat between the
King of Würtemberg and the Duke. After dinner his health was
drunk, to which he returned thanks, sitting, but briefly, and
promised to say more by-and-by when he should give a toast. In
process of time he desired Douro to go and tell the band to play
the merriest waltz they could for the toast he was about to give.
He then gave 'The Queen of Würtemberg,' with many eulogiums on
her and on the connubial felicity of her and the King; not a very
agreeable theme for his host, for conjugal fidelity is not his
forte. At length he desired Douro to go again to the band and
order them to play 'See the conquering hero comes,' and then he
rose. All the company rose with him, when he ordered everybody to
sit down. Still standing, he said that he had been so short a
time on the throne that he did not know whether etiquette
required that he should speak sitting or standing, but, however
this might be, he had been long used to speak on his legs, and
should do so now; he then proposed the Duke's health, but
prefaced it with a long speech--instituted a comparison between
him and the Duke of Marlborough; went back to the reign of Queen
Anne, and talked of the great support the Duke of Marlborough had
received from the Crown, and the little support the Duke of
Wellington had had in the outset of his career, though after the
battle of Vimeiro he had been backed by all the energies of the
country; that, notwithstanding his difficulties, his career had
been one continued course of victory over the armies of France;
and then recollecting the presence of Laval, the French
Ambassador, he said, 'Remember, Duc de Laval, when I talk of
victories over the French armies, they were not the armies of my
ally and friend the King of France, but of him who had usurped
his throne, and against whom you yourself were combating;' then
going back to the Duke's career, and again referring to the
comparison between him and Marlborough, and finishing by
adverting to his political position, that he had on mounting the
throne found the Duke Minister, and that he had retained him
because he thought his Administration had been and would be
highly beneficial to the country; that he gave to him his fullest
and most cordial confidence, and that he announced to all whom he
saw around him, to all the Ambassadors and Ministers of foreign
Powers, and to all the noblemen and gentlemen present, that as
long as he should sit upon the throne he should continue to give
him the same confidence. The Duke returned thanks in a short
speech, thanking the King for his confidence and support, and
declaring that all his endeavours would be used to keep this
country in relations of harmony with other nations. The whole
company stood aghast at the King's extraordinary speech and
declaration. Matuscewitz told me he never was so astonished, that
for the world he would not have missed it, and that he would
never have believed in it if he had not heard it.

[Page Head: THE KING'S SPEECH AT APSLEY HOUSE.]

Falck[3] gave me a delightful account of the speech and of Laval.
He thought, not understanding one word, that all the King was
saying was complimentary to the King of France and the French
nation, and he kept darting from his seat to make his acknowledgments,
while Esterhazy held him down by the tail of his coat, and the
King stopped him with his hand outstretched, all with great
difficulty. He said it was very comical.

      [3] [Baron Falck, Dutch Minister at the Court of St.
          James's. M. de Laval was the French Ambassador. This
          dinner took place on the day after the publication of
          the ordinances of July. Three days later Charles X. had
          ceased to reign. M. de Laval instantly left London on
          the receipt of the intelligence, leaving M. de
          Vaudreuil as Chargé d'Affaires.]


July 27th, 1830 {p.016}

Review in the morning (yesterday), breakfast at Apsley House,
chapter of the Garter, dinner at St. James's, party in the
evening, and ball at Apsley House. I don't hear of anything
remarkable, and it was so hot I could not go to anything, except
the breakfast, which I just looked in to for a minute, and found
everybody sweating and stuffing and the royalties just going
away. The Duke of Gloucester keeps up his quarrel with the Duke;
the Duke of Cumberland won't go to Apsley House, but sent the
Duchess and his boy. The Queen said at dinner the other day to
the Duke of Cumberland, 'I am very much pleased with you for
sending the Duchess to Apsley House,' and then turned to the Duke
of Gloucester and said, 'but I am not pleased with you for not
letting the Duchess go there.' The fool answered that the Duchess
should never go there; he would not be reconciled, forgetting
that it matters not twopence to the Duke of Wellington and a
great deal to himself.

I have been employed in settling half a dozen disputes of
different sorts, but generally without success, trifling matters,
foolish or violent people, not worth remembering any of them. The
Chancellor, who does not know his own business, has made an
attack on my office about the proclamations, but I have
vindicated it in a letter to Lord Bathurst.


July 28th, 1830 {p.016}

Yesterday Charles Wynn and I settled the dispute between Clive
and Charlton about the Ludlow matters. Charlton agrees to retire
from the contest both in the Borough and Corporation, and Clive
agrees to pay him. £1,125 towards his expenses, and not to oppose
the reception of any petition that may be presented to the House
of Commons for the purpose of re-opening the question of the
right of voting. Both parties are very well satisfied with this
termination of their disputes. Met the Chancellor at Lady
Ravensworth's breakfast yesterday, who told me he had sent a
rejoinder to my letter to Lord Bathurst about the proclamations.


July 29th, 1830 {p.016}

Yesterday a standing Council at the levee to swear in Lord
Hereford and Vesey Fitzgerald, and to declare Lord Bathurst
President of the Council and the Duke of Northumberland
Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. Previously the King received the
address of the dissenting ministers, and then that of the
Quakers, presented by William Allen; they were very prim and
respectable persons; their hats were taken off by each other in
the room before the Throne Room, and they did not bow, though
they seemed half inclined to do so; they made a very loyal
address, but without 'Majesty,' and said 'O King.' There was a
question after his answer what they should do. I thought it was
whether they should kiss hands, for the King said something to
Peel, who went and asked them, and I heard the King say, 'Oh,
just as they like; they needn't if they don't like; it's all
one.'

[Page Head: ORDINANCES OF CHARLES X.]

But the great event of the day was the reception of the King of
France's two decrees, and the address of his Ministers, who
produced them; nothing could surpass the universal astonishment
and consternation. Falck told me he was reading the newspaper at
his breakfast regularly through, and when he came to this the
teacup almost dropped from his hands, and he rubbed his eyes to
see whether he read correctly. Such was the secresy with which
this measure was conceived and acted on, that Pozzo, who is
quicker and has better intelligence than anybody, had not a
notion of it, as Matuscewitz told me. Aberdeen learnt it through
the 'Times,' and had not a line from Stuart. That, however, is
nothing extraordinary. I suspect somebody had it, for Raikes
wrote me a note the day before, to ask me if there was not
_something bad_ from France. Matuscewitz told me that Russia
would not afford Charles X. the smallest support in his new
crusade against the Constitution of France, and this he
pronounced openly _à qui voulait l'entendre_. I suspect the Duke
will be desperately annoyed. The only Minister I had a word with
about it was Lord Bathurst, whose Tory blood bubbled a little
quicker at such a despotic act, and while owning the folly of the
deed he could not help adding that 'he should have repressed the
press when he dissolved the Chambers, then he might have done
it.'


July 30th, 1830 {p.018}

[Page Head: REVOLUTION IN PARIS.]

Everybody anxious for news from France. A few hope, and still
fewer think, the King of France will succeed, and that the French
will submit, but the press here joins in grand chorus against the
suppression of the liberty of that over the water. Matuscewitz
told me he had a conference with the Duke, who was excessively
annoyed, but what seems to have struck him more than anything is
the extraordinary secresy of the business, and neither Pozzo nor
Stuart having known one word of it. Up to the last Polignac has
deceived everybody, and put such words into the King's mouth that
nobody could expect such a _coup_. The King assured Pozzo di Borgo
the day before that nothing of the sort was in contemplation.
This, like everything else, will be judged by the event--desperate
fatuity if it fails, splendid energy and accurate calculation of
opposite moral forces if it succeeds. I judge that it will fail,
because I can see no marks of wisdom in the style of execution,
and the State paper is singularly puerile and weak in argument. It
is passionate and not dexterous, not even plausible. All this is
wonderfully interesting, and will give us a lively autumn.

The King has been to Woolwich, inspecting the artillery, to whom
he gave a dinner, with toasts and hip, hip, hurrahing and three
times three, himself giving the time. I tremble for him; at
present he is only a mountebank, but he bids fair to be a maniac.

Brougham will come in for Yorkshire without a contest; his
address was very eloquent. He is rather mad without a doubt; his
speeches this year have been sometimes more brilliant than ever
they were; but who with such stupendous talents was ever so
little considered? We admire him as we do a fine actor, and
nobody ever possessed such enormous means, and displayed a mind
so versatile, fertile, and comprehensive, and yet had so little
efficacy and influence. He told me just before he left town that
Yorkshire had been proposed to him, but that he had written word
he would not stand, nor spend a guinea, nor go there, nor even
take the least trouble about the concerns of anyone of his
constituents, if they elected him; but he soon changed his note.


July 31st, 1830 {p.019}

Yesterday morning I met Matuscewitz in St. James's Street, who
said, 'You have heard the news?' But I had not, so I got into his
cabriolet, and he told me that Bülow had just been with him with
an account of Rothschild's estafette, who had brought intelligence
of a desperate conflict at Paris between the people and the Royal
Guard, in which 1,000 men had been killed of the former, and of
the eventual revolt of two regiments, which decided the business;
that the Swiss had refused to fire on the people; the King is gone
to Rambouillet, the Ministers are missing, and the Deputies who
were at Paris had assembled in the Chambers, and declared their
sittings permanent. Nothing can exceed the interest and excitement
that all these proceedings create here, and unless there is a
reaction, which does not seem probable, the game is up with the
Bourbons. They richly deserve their fate. It remains to be seen
what part Bourmont and the Algerian army will take; the latter
will probably side with the nation, and the former will be guided
by his own interest, and is not unlikely to endeavour to direct a
spirit which he could not expect to control. He may reconcile
himself to the country by a double treachery.

_At night._ To-day at one o'clock Stuart's messenger arrived with
a meagre account, having left Paris on the night of the 29th. The
tricoloured flag had been raised; the National Guard was up,
commanded by old Lafayette (their chief forty years ago), who
ruled in Paris with Gérard, Odier, Casimir Périer, Lafitte, and
one or two more. The Tuileries and the Louvre had been pillaged;
the King was at Rambouillet, where Marshal Marmont had retired,
and had with him a large force. Nobody, however, believed they
would fight against the people. The Deputies and the Peers had
met, and the latter separated without doing anything; the former
had a stormy discussion, but came to no resolution. Some were for
a republic, some for the Duke of Orleans, some for the Duke of
Bordeaux with the Duke of Orleans as Regent. Rothschild had
another courier with later intelligence. The King had desired to
treat, and that proposals might be made to him; all the Ministers
escaped from Paris by a subterranean passage which led from the
Tuileries to the river, and even at St. Cloud the Duke told
Matuscewitz that 'Marmont had taken up a good military position,'
as if it was a military and not a moral question. Strange he
should think of such a thing, but they are all terrified to death
at the national flag and colours, because they see in its train
revolutions, invasions, and a thousand alarms. I own I would
rather have seen an easy transfer of the Crown to some other head
under the white flag. There was Lady Tankerville going about
to-day enquiring of everybody for news, trembling for her brother
'and his brigade.' Late in the day she got Lady Jersey to go with
her to Rothschild, whom she saw, and Madame Rothschild, who showed
her all their letters. Tankerville, who is a sour, malignant
little Whig (since become an ultra-Tory), loudly declares Polignac
ought to be hung. The elections here are going against Government,
and no candidate will avow that he stands on Government interest,
or with the intention of supporting the Duke's Ministry, which
looks as if it had lost all its popularity.


August 2nd, 1830 {p.020}

Yesterday (Sunday) we had no news and no reports, except one that
Marmont was killed. I never believe reports. The elections still
go against Government. G. Dawson returned from Dublin; all the
Peels lose their seats. Fordwich beat Baring at Canterbury by 370
votes. It is said the King was in a state of great excitement at
Woolwich the other day, when it was very hot, and he drank a good
deal of wine.

[Page Head: WELLINGTON ON THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.]

_Evening._--This morning, on going into town, I read in the
'Times' the news of the day--the proclamation of the Provisional
Government, the invitation to the Duke of Orleans, his proclamation,
and the account of the conversation between Lafitte and Marmont.
It is in vain to look for private or official information, for the
'Times' always has the latest and the best; Stuart sends next to
nothing. Soon after I got to George Street the Duke of Wellington
came in, in excellent spirits, and talked over the whole matter.
He said he could not comprehend how the Royal Guard had been
defeated by the mob, and particularly how they had been forced to
evacuate the Tuileries; that he had seen English and French troops
hold houses whole days not one-fourth so strong. I said that there
could not be a shadow of doubt that it was because they _would_
not fight, that if they _would_ have fought they must have beat
the mob, and reminded him of the French at Madrid, and asked him
if he did not think his regiment would beat all the populace of
London, which he said it would. He described the whole affair as
it has taken place, and said that there can be no doubt that the
moneyed men of Paris (who are all against the Government) and the
Liberals had foreseen a violent measure on the part of the King,
and had organised the resistance; that on the appearance of the
edicts the bankers simultaneously refused to discount any bills,
on which the great manufacturers and merchants dismissed their
workmen, to the number of many thousands, who inflamed the public
discontent, and united to oppose the military and the execution of
the decrees. He said positively that we should not take any part,
and that no other Government ought or could. He does not like the
Duke of Orleans, and thinks his proclamation mean and shabby, but
owned that under all circumstances his election to the Crown would
probably be the best thing that could happen. The Duke of Chartres
he had known here, and thought he was intelligent. The Duke
considered the thing as settled, but did not feel at all sure they
would offer the Crown to the Duke of Orleans. He said he could not
guess or form an opinion as to their ulterior proceedings.

After discussing the whole business with his usual simplicity, he
began talking of the Duke of Cumberland and his resignation of the
command of the Blues. Formerly the colonels of the two regiments
of Life Guards held alternately the Gold Stick, and these two
regiments were under the immediate orders of the King, and not of
the Commander-in-Chief. When the Duke of Wellington returned from
Spain and had the command of the Blues, the King insisted upon his
taking the duty also; so it was divided into three, but the Blues
still continued under the Commander-in-Chief. But when the Duke of
Cumberland wanted to be continually about the King, he got him to
give him the command of the Household troops; this was at the
period of the death of the Duke of York and the Duke of
Wellington's becoming Commander-in-Chief. The Duke of Cumberland
told the Duke of Wellington that he had received the King's verbal
commands to that effect, and from that time he alone kept the Gold
Stick, and the Blues were withdrawn from the authority of the
Commander-in-Chief. The Duke of Wellington made no opposition; but
last year, during the uproar on the Catholic question, he
perceived the inconvenience of the arrangement, and intended to
speak to the King about it, for the Duke of Cumberland was
concerned in organising mobs to go down to Windsor to frighten
Lady Conyngham and the King, and the Horse Guards, who would
naturally have been called out to suppress any tumult, would not
have been disposable without the Duke of Cumberland's concurrence,
so much so that on one particular occasion, when the Kentish men
were to have gone to Windsor 20,000 strong, the Duke of Wellington
detained a regiment of light cavalry who were marching elsewhere,
that he might not be destitute of military aid. Before, however,
he did anything about this with the King ('I always,' he said, 'do
one thing at a time') his Majesty was taken ill and died.

On the accession of the present King the Duke of Cumberland
wished to continue the same system, which his Majesty was
resolved he should not, and he ordered that the colonels of the
regiments should take the Stick in rotation. He also ordered
(through Sir R. Peel) that Lord Combermere should command the
troops at the funeral as Gold Stick. This the Duke of Cumberland
resisted, and sent down orders to Lord Cathcart to assume the
command. The Duke of Wellington, however, represented to Lord
Cathcart that he had better do no such thing, as nobody could
disobey the King's orders gone through the Secretary of State,
and accordingly he did nothing. But the King was determined to
put an end to the pretensions of the Duke of Cumberland, and
spoke to the Duke on the subject, and said that he would have all
the regiments placed under the orders of the Commander-in-Chief.
The Duke recommended him to replace the matter in the state in
which it stood before the Duke of Cumberland's pretensions had
altered it, but he would not do this, and chose to abide by his
original intention; so the three regiments were placed under the
orders of the Horse Guards like the rest, and the Duke of
Cumberland in consequence resigned the command of the Blues.


August 3rd, 1830 {p.023}

[Page Head: WARDROBE OF GEORGE IV.]

Notwithstanding the above story, the King dined with the Duke of
Cumberland at Kew yesterday. I went yesterday to the sale of the
late King's wardrobe, which was numerous enough to fill Monmouth
Street, and sufficiently various and splendid for the wardrobe of
Drury Lane. He hardly ever gave away anything except his linen,
which was distributed every year. These clothes are the
perquisite of his pages, and will fetch a pretty sum. There are
all the coats he has ever had for fifty years, 300 whips, canes
without number, every sort of uniform, the costumes of all the
orders in Europe, splendid furs, pelisses, hunting-coats and
breeches, and among other things a dozen pair of corduroy
breeches he had made to hunt in when Don Miguel was here. His
profusion in these articles was unbounded, because he never paid
for them, and his memory was so accurate that one of his pages
told me he recollected every article of dress, no matter how old,
and that they were always liable to be called on to produce some
particular coat or other article of apparel of years gone by. It
is difficult to say whether in great or little things that man
was most odious and contemptible.

Nothing from France yesterday but the most absurd reports.


August 5th, 1830 {p.023}

Yesterday morning at a Council; all the Ministers, and the Duke of
Rutland, Lords Somers, Rosslyn, and Gower to be sworn Lieutenants.
Talked about France with Sir G. Murray, who was silly enough to
express his disappointment that things promised to be soon and
quietly settled, and hoped the King would have assembled an army
and fought for it. Afterwards a levee. While the Queen was in the
closet they brought her word that Charles X. was at Cherbourg, and
had sent for leave to come here; but nobody knew yesterday if this
was true or not. In the afternoon I met Vaudreuil, and had a long
conversation with him on the state of things. He said, 'My family
has been twice ruined by these cursed Bourbons, and I will be
damned if they shall a third time;' that he had long foreseen the
inevitable tendency of Polignac's determination, ever since he was
here, when he had surrounded himself with low agents and would
admit no gentleman into his confidence; one of his _affidés_ was a
man of the name of Carrier, a relation of the famous Carrier de
Nantes. Vaudreuil's father-in-law had consulted him many months
ago what to do with £300,000 which he had in the French funds, and
he advised him to sell it out and put it in his drawer, which he
did, sacrificing the interest for that time. He had hitherto done
nothing, been near none of the Ministers, feeling that he could
say nothing to them; no communication had been made to him, but
whenever any should be he intended to reply to it. Laval ran away
just in time, and Vaudreuil was so provoked at his evasion that he
sent after him to say that in such important circumstances he
could not take upon himself to act without his Ambassador's
instructions. No answer of course. He thinks that if this had not
taken place a few years must have terminated the reign of the
Bourbons, and that it is only the difference between sudden and
lingering death; that when he was at Paris he had seen the
dissatisfaction of the young officers in the Guards, who were all
Liberal; and with these sentiments, what a condition they must
have been in when called upon to charge and fire on the people
while secretly approving of their conduct, 'entre leurs devoirs de
citoyens et de militaires!'

I had a conversation with Fitzgerald (Vesey) the other day about
the Government and its prospects. They want him greatly to return
to office, but he is going abroad again for his health, and I
suspect is not very anxious to come in just now, when things look
gloomy. He thinks they have acted very injudiciously in sending
down candidates to turn out their opponents, attempts which
generally failed, and only served to exasperate the people
interested more and more against them. Such men as the Grants, as
he said, cannot be kept out of Parliament. But they manage
everything ill, and it is impossible to look at the present
Ministry and watch its acts, and not marvel that the Duke should
think of going on with it. If he does not take care he will be
dragged down by it, whereas if he would, while it is yet time,
remodel it altogether, and open his doors to all who are capable
of serving under him (for all are ready to take him as chief), he
might secure to himself a long and honourable possession of
power. Then it is said he can't whistle off these men merely
because it is convenient, but he had better do that than keep
them on bungling through all the business of the country.
Besides, I have some doubts of his tender-heartedness in this
respect.


Goodwood, August 10th, 1830 {p.025}

[Page Head: THE KING GOES TO WINDSOR.]

On Saturday, the 7th, the King and Queen breakfasted at Osterley,
on their way to Windsor. They had about sixty or seventy people
to meet them, and it all went off very well, without anything
remarkable. I went to Stoke afterwards, where there was the usual
sort of party.

The King entered Windsor so privately that few people knew him,
though he made the horses walk all the way from Frogmore that he
might be seen. On Saturday and Sunday the Terrace was thrown
open, and the latter day it was crowded by multitudes and a very
gay sight; there were sentinels on each side of the east front to
prevent people walking under the windows of the living-rooms, but
they might go where else they liked. The King went to Bagshot and
did not appear. All the late King's private drives through the
Park are also thrown open, but not to carriages. We went,
however, a long string of four carriages, to explore, and got
through the whole drive round by Virginia Water, the famous
fishing-pagoda, and saw all the penetralia of the late King,
whose ghost must have been indignant at seeing us (Sefton
particularly) scampering all about his most secret recesses. It
is an exceedingly enjoyable spot, and pretty, but has not so much
beauty as I expected.

Came here yesterday and found thirty-two people assembled. I rode
over the downs three or four miles (from Petworth), and never saw
so delightful a country to live in. There is an elasticity in the
air and turf which communicates itself to the spirits.

[Page Head: FRENCH DEMOCRACY.]

In the meantime the French Revolution has been proceeding rapidly
to its consummation, and the Duke of Orleans is King. Montrond,
who was at Stoke, thinks that France will gravitate towards a
republic, and principally for this reason, that there is an
unusual love of equality, and no disposition to profit by the
power of making _majorats_, therefore that there never can be
anything like an aristocracy. We are so accustomed to see the
regular working of our constitutional system, with all its parts
depending upon each other, and so closely interwoven, that we have
difficulty in believing that any monarchical Government can exist
which is founded on a basis so different. This is the great
political problem which is now to be solved. I think, however,
that in the present settlement it is not difficult to see the
elements of future contention and the working of a strong
democratical spirit. The Crown has been conferred on the Duke of
Orleans by the Chamber of Deputies alone, which, so far from
inviting the Chamber of Peers to discuss the question of
succession, has at the same time decreed a material alteration in
that Chamber itself. It has at a blow cut off all the Peers of
Villèle's great promotion, which is an enormous act of authority,
although the measure may be advisable. There is also a question
raised of the hereditary quality of the peerage, and I dare say
that for the future at least peerages will not be hereditary, not
that I think this signifies as to the existence of an aristocracy,
for the constant subdivision of property must deprive the Chamber
of all the qualities belonging to an English House of Lords, and
it would perhaps be better to establish another principle, such as
that of promoting to the Chamber of Peers men (for life) of great
wealth, influence, and ability, who would constitute an
aristocracy of a different kind indeed, but more respectable and
efficient, than a host of poor hereditary senators. What great men
are Lord Lonsdale, the Duke of Rutland, and Lord Cleveland! but
strip them, of their wealth and power, what would they be? Among
the most insignificant of mankind; but they all acquire a
factitious consideration by the influence they possess to do good
and evil, the extension of it over multitudes of dependents. The
French can have no aristocracy but a personal one, ours is in the
institution; theirs must be individually respectable, as ours is
collectively looked up to. In the meantime it will be deemed a
great step gained to have a monarchy established in France at all,
even for the moment, but some people are alarmed at the excessive
admiration which the French Revolution has excited in England, and
there is a very general conviction that Spain will speedily follow
the example of France, and probably Belgium also. Italy I don't
believe will throw off the yoke; they have neither spirit nor
unanimity, and the Austrian military force is too great to be
resisted. But Austria will tremble and see that the great victory
which Liberalism has gained has decided the question as to which
principle, that of light or darkness, shall prevail for the future
in the world.


London, August 14th, 1830 {p.027}

Stayed at Goodwood till the 12th; went to Brighton, riding over
the downs from Goodwood to Arundel, a delightful ride. How much I
prefer England to Italy! There we have mountains and sky; here,
vegetation and verdure, fine trees and soft turf; and in the long
run the latter are the most enjoyable. Yesterday came to London
from Brighton; found things much as they were, but almost
everybody gone out of town. The French are proceeding steadily in
the reconstruction of their Government, but they have evinced a
strong democratical spirit. The new King, too, conducts himself in
a way that gives me a bad opinion of him; he is too complaisant to
the rage for equality, and stoops more than he need do; in fact,
he overdoes it. It is a piece of abominably bad taste (to say no
worse) to have conferred a pension on the author of the
Marseillaise hymn; for what can be worse than to rake up the old
ashes of Jacobinism, and what more necessary than to distinguish
as much as possible this Revolution from that of 1789? Then he
need not be more familiar as King than he ever was as Duke of
Orleans, and affect the manners of a citizen and a plainness of
dress and demeanour very suitable to an American President, but
unbecoming a descendant of Louis XIV.

The new Charter is certainly drawn up with great moderation, the
few alterations which have been made approximating it to the
spirit of the English Constitution, and in the whole of the
proceedings the analogies of our revolution have been pretty
closely followed. But there has been a remarkable deviation,
which I think ominous, and I can't imagine how it has escaped
with so little animadversion here. That is the cavalier manner in
which the Chamber of Peers has been treated, for the Deputies not
only assumed all the functions of Government and legislation, and
disposed by their authority of the Crown without inviting the
concurrence of the other Chamber, but at the same time they
exercised an enormous act of authority over the Chamber of Peers
itself in striking off the whole of that great promotion of
Charles X., which, however unwise and perhaps unconstitutional,
was perfectly legal, and those Peers had, in fact, as good a
right to their peerages as any of their colleagues. They have
reconstructed the Chamber of Peers, and conferred upon it certain
rights and privileges; but the power which can create can also
destroy, and it must be pretty obvious after this that the Upper
Chamber will be for the future nothing better than a superior
Court of Judicature, depending for its existence upon the will of
the popular branch. There are some articles of the old Charter
which I am astonished at their keeping, but which they may
possibly alter[4] at the revision which is to take place next
year, those particularly which limit the entrance to the Chamber
of Deputies to men of forty, and which give the initiation of
laws to the King. But on the whole it is a good sign that they
should alter so little, and looks like extreme caution and a
dislike to rapid and violent changes.

      [4] They are altered. The first translation of the Charter
          which I read was incorrect.

[Page Head: POLIGNAC.]

In the meantime we hear nothing of the old King, who marches
slowly on with his family. It has been reported in London that
Polignac is here, and also that he is taken. Nobody knows the
truth. I have heard of his behaviour, however, which was worthy of
his former imbecility. He remained in the same presumptuous
confidence up to the last moment, telling those who implored him
to retract while it was still time that they did not know France,
that he did, that it was essentially Royalist, and all resistance
would be over in a day or two, till the whole ruin burst on him at
once, when he became like a man awakened from a dream, utterly
confounded with the magnitude of the calamity and as pusillanimous
and miserable as he had before been blind and confident. It must
be owned that their end has been worthy of the rest, for not one
of them has evinced good feeling, or magnanimity, or courage in
their fall, nor excited the least sympathy or commiseration. The
Duke of Fitzjames made a good speech in the Chamber of Peers, and
Chateaubriand a very fine one a few days before, full of eloquence
in support of the claim of the Duke of Bordeaux against that of
Louis Philippe I.

In the meantime our elections here are still going against
Government, and the signs of the times are all for reform and
retrenchment, and against slavery. It is astonishing the interest
the people generally take in the slavery question, which is the
work of the Methodists, and shows the enormous influence they
have in the country. The Duke (for I have not seen him) is said
to be very easy about the next Parliament, whereas, as far as one
can judge, it promises to be quite as unmanageable as the last,
and is besides very ill composed--full of boys and all sorts of
strange men.


August 20th, 1830 {p.029}

On Monday to Stoke; Alvanley, Fitzroy Somerset, Matuscewitz,
Stanislas Potocki, Glengall, and Mornay were there. Lady Sefton
(who had dined at the Castle a few days before) asked the King to
allow her to take Stanislas Potocki to see Virginia Water in a
carriage, which is not allowed, but which his Majesty agreed to.
Accordingly we started, and going through the private drives,
went up to the door of the tent opposite the fishing-house. They
thought it was the Queen coming, or at any rate a party from the
Castle, for the man on board the little frigate hoisted all the
colours, and the boatmen on the other side got ready the royal
barge to take us across. We went all over the place on both
sides, and were delighted with the luxury and beauty of the whole
thing. On one side are a number of tents, communicating together
in separate apartments and forming a very good house, a
dining-room, drawing-room, and several other small rooms, very
well furnished; across the water is the fishing-cottage,
beautifully ornamented, with one large room and a dressing-room
on each side; the kitchen and offices are in a garden full of
flowers, shut out from everything. Opposite the windows is moored
a large boat, in which the band used to play during dinner, and
in summer the late King dined every day either in the house or in
the tents. We had scarcely seen everything when Mr. Turner, the
head keeper, arrived in great haste, having spied us from the
opposite side, and very angry at our carriages having come there,
which is a thing forbidden; he did not know of our leave, nor
could we even satisfy him that we were not to blame.

[Page Head: GEORGE IV.'S ILLNESS AND DEATH.]

The next day I called on Batchelor (he was _valet de chambre_ to
the Duke of York, afterwards to George IV.), who has an excellent
apartment in the Lodge, which, he said, was once occupied by Nell
Gwynne, though I did not know the lodge was built at that time. I
was there a couple of hours, and heard all the details of the
late King's illness and other things. For many months before his
death those who were about him were aware of his danger, but
nobody dared to say a word. The King liked to cheat people with
making them think he was well, and when he had been at a Council
he would return to his apartments and tell his _valets de
chambre_ how he had deceived them. During his illness he was
generally cheerful, but occasionally dejected, and constantly
talked of his brother the Duke of York, and of the similarity of
their symptoms, and was always comparing them. He had been
latterly more civil to Knighton than he used to be, and
Knighton's attentions to him were incessant; whenever he thought
himself worse than usual, and in immediate danger, he always sent
for Sir William. Lady Conyngham and her family went into his room
once a day; till his illness he always used to go and sit in
hers. It is true that last year, when she was so ill, she was
very anxious to leave the Castle, and it was Sir William Knighton
who with great difficulty induced her to stay there. At that time
she was in wretched spirits, and did nothing but pray from
morning till night. However, her conscience does not seem ever to
have interfered with her ruling passion, avarice, and she went on
accumulating. During the last illness waggons were loaded every
night and sent away from the Castle, but what their contents were
was not known, at least Batchelor did not say. All Windsor knew
this. Those servants of the King who were about his person had
opportunities of hearing a great deal, for he used to talk of
everybody before them, and without reserve or measure.

This man Batchelor had become a great favourite with the late
King. The first of his pages, William Holmes, had for some time
been prevented by ill health from attending him. Holmes had been
with him from a boy, and was also a great favourite; by
appointments and perquisites he had as much as £12,000 or £14,000
a year, but he had spent so much in all sorts of debauchery and
living like a gentleman that he was nearly ruined. There seems to
have been no end to the _tracasseries_ between these men; their
anxiety to get what they could out of the King's wardrobe in the
last weeks, and their dishonesty in the matter, were excessive,
all which he told me in great detail. The King was more than
anybody the slave of habit and open to impressions, and even when
he did not like people he continued to keep them about him rather
than change.

While I was at Stoke news came that Charles X. had arrived off
Portsmouth. He has asked for an asylum in Austria, but when once
he has landed here he will not move again, I dare say. The
enthusiasm which the French Revolution produced is beginning to
give way to some alarm, and not a little disgust at the Duke of
Orleans' conduct, who seems anxious to assume the character of a
Jacobin King, affecting extreme simplicity and laying aside all
the pomp of royalty. I don't think it can do, and there is
certainly enough to cause serious disquietude for the future.

Sefton in the meantime told me that Brougham and Lord Grey were
prepared for a violent opposition, and that they had effected a
formal junction with Huskisson, being convinced that no
Government could now be formed without him. I asked him if
Palmerston was a party to this junction, and he said he was, but
the first thing I heard when I got to town was that a negotiation
is going on between Palmerston and the Duke, and that the former
takes every opportunity of declaring his goodwill to the latter,
and how unshackled he is. Both these things can't be true, and
time will show which is. It seems odd that Palmerston should
abandon his party on the eve of a strong coalition, which is not
unlikely to turn out the present Administration, but it is quite
impossible to place any dependence upon public men now-a-days.
There is Lord Grey with his furious opposition, having a little
while ago supported the Duke in a sort of way, having advised
Rosslyn to take office, and now, because his own vanity is hurt
at not being invited to join the Government, or more consulted at
least, upon the slight pretext of the Galway Bill in the last
Parliament he rushes into rancorous opposition, and is determined
to give no quarter and listen to no compromise. Brougham is to
lead this Opposition in the House of Commons, and Lord Grey in
the Lords, and nothing is to be done but as the result of general
deliberation and agreement. Brougham in the meantime has finished
his triumph at York in a miserable way, having insulted Martin
Stapylton on the hustings, who called him to account, and then he
forgot what he had said, and slunk away with a disclaimer of
unintentional offence, as usual beginning with intemperance and
ending with submission. His speeches were never good, but at his
own dinner he stated so many untruths about the Duke of
Wellington that his own partisans bawled out 'No, no,' and it was
a complete failure. His whole spirit there was as bad as
possible, paltry and commonplace. That man, with all his talents,
never can or will _do_ in any situation; he is base, cowardly,
and unprincipled, and with all the execrable judgment which, I
believe, often flows from the perversion of moral sentiment.
Nobody can admire his genius, eloquence, variety and extent of
information, and the charm of his society more than I do; but his
faults are glaring, and the effects of them manifest to anybody
who will compare his means and their results.


August 23rd, 1830 {p.033}

[Page Head: CHARLES X. IN ENGLAND.]

General Baudrand is come over with a letter from King Louis
Philippe to King William. He saw the Duke and Aberdeen yesterday.
Charles X. goes to Lulworth Castle. What are called moderate
people are greatly alarmed at the aspect of affairs in France,
but I think the law (which will be carried) of abolishing capital
punishment in political cases is calculated to tranquillise men's
minds everywhere, for it draws such a line between the old and
the new Revolution. The Ministers will be tried and banished, but
no blood spilt. Lord Anglesey went to see Charles X., and told
him openly his opinion of his conduct. The King laid it all upon
Polignac. The people of Paris wanted to send over a deputation to
thank the English for their sympathy and assistance--a sort of
fraternising affair--but the King would not permit it, which was
wisely done, and it is a good thing to see that he can curb in
some degree that spirit; this Vaudreuil told me last night. It
would have given great offence and caused great alarm here.


August 24th, 1830 {p.033}

Alvanley had a letter from Montrond yesterday from Paris. He was
with M. Molé when a letter was brought him from Polignac,
beginning, 'Mon cher Collègue,' and saying that he wrote to him
to ask his advice what he had better do, that he should have
liked to retire to his own estate, but it was too near Paris,
that he should like to go into Alsace, and that he begged he
would arrange it for him, and in the meantime send him some
boots, and shirts, and breeches.

The French King continues off Cowes, many people visiting him.
They came off without clothes or preparation of any kind, so much
so that Lady Grantham has been obliged to furnish Mesdames de
Berri and d'Angoulême with everything; it seems they have plenty
of money. The King says he and his son have retired from public
life; and as to his grandson, he must wait the progress of
events; that his conscience reproaches him with nothing.

The dinner in St. George's Hall on the King's birthday was the
finest thing possible--all good and hot, and served on the late
King's gold plate. There were one hundred people at table. After
dinner the King gave the Duke of Wellington's health, as it was
the anniversary of Vimeiro; the Dukes of Cumberland and
Gloucester turned their glasses down. I can't agree with Charles
X. that it would be better to '_travailler pour son pain_ than to
be King of England.'

I went yesterday all over Lambeth Palace, which has been nearly
rebuilt by Blore, and admirably done; one of the best houses I
ever saw. Archbishop Juxon's Hall has been converted into the
library of the Palace, and is also a fine thing in its way. It is
not to cost above £40,000. The Lollards' Tower, which is very
curious with its iron rings, and the names of the Lollards
written on the walls, is not to be touched.

[Page Head: CONVERSATION WITH MARSHAL MARMONT.]

_At night._--Went to Lady Glengall's to meet Marmont. He likes
talking of his adventures, but he had done his Paris talk before
I got there; however, he said a great deal about old campaigning
and Buonaparte, which, as well as I recollect, I will put down.

As to the battle of Salamanca, he remarked that, without meaning
to detract from the glory of the English arms, he was inferior in
force there; our army was provided with everything, well paid,
and the country favourable, his 'dénuée de tout,' without pay, in
a hostile country; that all his provisions came from a great
distance and under great escorts, and his communications were
kept up in the same way. Of Russia, he said that Buonaparte's
army was destroyed by the time he got to Moscow, destroyed by
famine; that there were two ways of making war, by slow degrees
with magazines, or by rapid movements and reaching places where
abundant means of supply and reorganisation were to be found, as
he had done at Vienna and elsewhere, but in Russia supplies were
not to be had. Napoleon had, however, pushed on with the same
rapidity and destroyed his army. Marshal Davoust (I think, but am
not sure) had a _corps d'armée_ of 80,000 men and reached Moscow
with 15,000; the cavalry were 50,000 sabres, at Moscow they were
6,000. Somebody asked him if Napoleon's generals had not
dissuaded him from going to Russia. Marmont said no; they liked
it; but Napoleon ought to have stopped at Smolensk, made Poland
independent, and levied 50,000 Cossacks, the Polish Cossacks
being better than the Russian, who would have kept all his
communications clear, and allowed the French army to repose, and
then he would have done in two campaigns what he wished to
accomplish in one; instead of which he never would deal with
Poland liberally, but held back with ulterior views, and never
got the Poles cordially with him. Of the campaign of 1813 he said
that it was ill conducted by Napoleon and full of faults; his
creation of the army was wonderful, and the battle of Dresden
would have been a great movement if he had not suddenly abandoned
Vandamme after pushing him on to cut off the retreat of the
Allies. It was an immense fault to leave all the garrisons in the
Prussian and Saxon fortresses. The campaign of 1814 was one of
his most brilliant. He (Marmont) commanded a _corps d'armée_, and
fought in most of the celebrated actions, but he never had 4,000
men; at Paris, which he said was 'the most honourable part of his
whole career,' he had 7,500.[5] Napoleon committed a great fault
in throwing himself into the rear as he did; he should have
fallen back upon Paris, where his own presence would have been of
vast importance, and sent Marmont into the rear with what troops
he could collect. I repeated what the Duke of Wellington had once
told me, that if the Emperor had continued the same plan, and
fallen back on Paris, he would have obliged the Allies to
retreat, and asked him what he thought. He rather agreed with
this, but said the Emperor had conceived one of the most splendid
pieces of strategy that ever had been devised, which failed by
the disobedience of Eugene. He sent orders to Eugene to assemble
his army, in which he had 35,000 French troops, to amuse the
Austrians by a negotiation for the evacuation of Italy; to throw
the Italian troops into Alessandria and Mantua; to destroy the
other fortresses, and going by forced marches with his French
troops, force the passage of Mont Cenis, collect the scattered
_corps d'armée_ of Augereau (who was near Lyons) and another
French general, which would have made his force amount to above
60,000 men, and burst upon the rear of the Allies so as to cut
off all their communications. These orders he sent to Eugene, but
Eugene 'rêvait d'être roi d'Italie après sa chute,' and he sent
his aide-de-camp Tascher to excuse himself. The movement was not
made, and the game was up. Lady Dudley Stewart was there,
Lucien's daughter and Buonaparte's niece. Marmont was presented
to her, and she heard him narrate all this; there is something
very simple, striking, and soldierlike in his manner and
appearance. He is going to Russia.

      [5] [This assertion of Marmont's is the more curious as it
          was to his alleged treachery that Napoleon when at
          Fontainebleau chose to ascribe his defeat.]

[Page Head: CRADOCK'S MISSION TO CHARLES X.]

He was very communicative about events at Paris, lamented his own
ill-luck, involved in the business against his wishes and
feelings; he disapproved of Polignac and his measures, and had no
notion the _ordonnances_ were thought of. In the morning he was
going to St. Germain for the day; when his aide-de-camp brought
him the newspaper with the _ordonnances il tomba de son haut_.
Soon after the Dauphin sent to him to desire that, as there might
be some 'vitres cassées,' he would take the command of the
troops. Directly after the thing began. He had 7,000 or 8,000
men; not a preparation had been made of any sort; they had never
thought of resistance, had not consulted Marmont or any military
man; he soon found how hopeless the case was, and sent eight
estafettes to the King one after another during the action to
tell him so and implore him to stop while it was time. They never
returned any answer. He then rode out to St. Cloud, where he
implored the King to yield. It was not till after seven hours'
pressing that he consented to name M. de Mortemart Minister, but
would not withdraw the edicts. He says that up to Wednesday night
they would have compromised and accepted M. de Mortemart and the
suppression of the edicts, but the King still demurred. On
Wednesday night he yielded, but then the communications were
interrupted. That night the meeting at the Palais Royal took
place, at which the King's fate was determined; and on Thursday
morning when his offers arrived, it was too late, and they would
no longer treat. Marmont said he had been treated with the
greatest ingratitude by the Court, and had taken leave of them
for ever, coldly of the King and Dauphin; the Duchess of Berri
alone shook hands with him and thanked him for his services and
fidelity. He says never man was so unlucky, that he was _maréchal
de quartier_ and could not refuse to serve, but he only acted on
the defensive; 2,000 of the troops and 1,500 of the populace were
killed. The Swiss did not behave well, but the Lanciers de la
Garde beautifully, and all the troops were acting against their
feelings and opinions. Marmont said that Stuart had sent Cradock
to Charles X. to desire he would go as slowly as he could, to
give time for a reaction which he expected would take place.
Cradock did go to the King, but I rather doubt this story.[6]

      [6] [Colonel Cradock (the late Lord Howden) was sent by the
          Ambassador to the King, and had an audience at
          Rambouillet, but it was at the request and instigation
          of the Duke of Orleans. The proposal entrusted to
          Colonel Cradock was to the effect that the King and the
          Dauphin, having abdicated, should quit France with the
          Princesses, but that Henry V. should be proclaimed King
          under the regency of the Duke of Orleans. Louis
          Philippe offered to support this arrangement, and to
          carry on the Government as Regent, if Charles X.
          sanctioned it. The King received the communication in
          bed. The Duchess of Angoulême was consulted, and
          vehemently opposed the scheme, because, said she,
          speaking of the Orleans family, 'ils sont toujours les
          mêmes,' and she referred to the preposterous stories
          current at the time of the death of the Duc de
          Bourgogne, and the regency of 1715. The offer was
          therefore rejected. These facts were not known to Mr.
          Greville at the time, nor till long afterwards, but
          they confirm his information that 'Cradock _did_ go to
          the King,'.]


August 27th, 1830 {p.038}

At Court the day before yesterday; Parliament was prorogued and
summoned. General Baudrand came afterwards and delivered his
letter, also a private letter 'from the Duke of Orleans to the
Duke of Clarence'--as the French King called them, 'anciens
amis.' He was well received and well satisfied. I never knew such
a burst of indignation and contempt as Polignac's letter has
caused--a letter to the President of the Chamber of Peers. As
Dudley says, it has saved history the trouble of crucifying that
man, and speaks volumes about the recent events. Such a man to
have been Prime Minister of France for a year!


August 29th, 1830 {p.038}

[Page Head: DINNER AT LORD DUDLEY'S.]

Dined with Dudley the day before yesterday to meet Marmont, who is
made very much of here by the few people who are left. He had been
to Woolwich in the morning, where the Duke of Wellington had given
orders that everything should be shown to him, and the honours
handsomely done. He was very much gratified, and he found the man
who had pointed the gun which wounded him at Salamanca, and who
had since lost his own arm at Waterloo. Marmont shook hands with
him and said, 'Ah, mon ami, chacun a son tour.' Lady Aldborough
came in in the evening, and flew up to him with 'Ah, mon cher
Maréchal, embrassez-moi;' and so after escaping the cannon's mouth
at Paris, he was obliged to face Lady Aldborough's mouth here.
This was my first dinner at Dudley's, brought about _malgré lui_
by Lady Glengall. He has always disliked and never invited me, but
now (to all appearance) we are friends. He said he had been to see
an old man who lives near the world's end--Chelsea--who is 110
years old; he has a good head of hair, with no grey hairs in it;
his health, faculties, and memory perfect; is Irish, and has not
lived with greater temperance than other people. I sat next to
Palmerston, and had a great deal of conversation with him, and
from the tenour of his language infer that he has no idea of
joining Government. Agar Ellis assured me the other day that there
was not a word of truth in the reported junction between Lord Grey
and Huskisson. The Duke has got two months to make his arrangements,
but I am afraid he is not prepared for all the sacrifices his
position requires. It is now said that the exasperation against
the late Ministers (particularly Polignac) is so great in France
that it is doubtful whether they will be able to save their lives.




                           CHAPTER XII.

The Belgian Revolution--The Duke of Wellington and Canning--The
  King's Plate--Gloomy Forebodings--Retreat of the Prince of
  Orange--Prince Talleyrand--Position of the Government--Death of
  Huskisson--His Character--The Duke of Wellington and Peel--
  Meeting of Parliament--The Duke's Declaration--The King's Visit
  to the City abandoned--Disturbances in London--Duchesse de
  Dino--The Cholera--Southey, Henry Taylor, John Stuart Mill--
  Dinner at Talleyrand's--The Duke of Wellington resigns--Mr.
  Bathurst made Junior Clerk of the Council--Lord Spencer and
  Lord Grey sent for--Formation of Lord Grey's Administration--
  Discontent of Brougham--Brougham takes the Great Seal--
  Character of the New Ministers--Prospects of the Opposition--
  Disturbances in Sussex and Hampshire--Lord Grey and Lord
  Brougham--Lord Sefton's Dinner--The New Ministers sworn at a
  Council.


Stoke, August 31st, 1830 {p.040}

On Sunday I met Prince Esterhazy[1] in Oxford Street with a face
a yard long. He turned back with me, and told me that there had
been disturbances at Brussels, but that they had been put down by
the gendarmerie. He was mightily alarmed, but said that his
Government would recognise the French King directly, and in
return for such general and prompt recognition as he was
receiving he must restrain France from countenancing revolutions
in other countries, and that, indeed, he had lost no time in
declaring his intention to abstain from any meddling. In the
evening Vaudreuil told me the same thing, and that he had
received a despatch from M. Molé desiring him to refuse passports
to the Spaniards who wanted, on the strength of the French
Revolution, to go and foment the discontents in Spain, and to all
other foreigners who, being dissatisfied with their own
Governments, could not obtain passports from their own Ministers.
Yesterday morning, however, it appeared that the affair at
Brussels was much more serious than Esterhazy had given me to
understand; and, as far as can be judged from the unofficial
statements which we have, it appears likely that Belgium will
separate from Holland altogether, it being very doubtful whether
the Belgian troops will support the King's Government.

      [1] [Prince Paul Esterhazy, Austrian Ambassador at the
          Court of St. James for many years.]

Madame de Falck is just come, but brings no news. Falck[2] has
heard nothing. He left Holland before the outbreak. In the event
of such a revolution, it remains to be seen what part Prussia
will take, and, if she marches an army to reduce Belgium to
obedience, whether the Belgians will not make overtures to
France, and in that case whether King Louis Philippe will be able
to restrain the French from seizing such a golden opportunity of
regaining their former frontier; and if they accept the offer,
whether a general war in Europe will not ensue.

      [2] [Baron Falck, Dutch Minister at the Court of St.
          James.]

[Page Head: WELLINGTON'S FOREIGN POLICY.]

In these difficult circumstances, and in the midst of
possibilities so tremendous, it is awful to reflect upon the very
moderate portion of wisdom and sagacity which is allotted to those
by whom our affairs are managed. I am by no means easy as to the
Duke of Wellington's sufficiency to meet such difficulties; the
habits of his mind are not those of patient investigation,
profound knowledge of human nature, and cool, discriminating
sagacity. He is exceedingly quick of apprehension, but deceived by
his own quickness into thinking he knows more than he does. He has
amazing confidence in himself, which is fostered by the deference
of those around him and the long experience of his military
successes. He is upon ordinary occasions right-headed and
sensible, but he is beset by weaknesses and passions which must,
and continually do, blind his judgment. Above all he wants that
suavity of manner, that watchfulness of observation, that power of
taking great and enlarged views of events and characters, and of
weighing opposite interests and probabilities, which are
essentially necessary in circumstances so delicate, and in which
one false step, any hasty measure, or even incautious expression,
may be attended with consequences of immense importance. I feel
justified in this view of his political fitness by contemplating
the whole course of his career, and the signal failure which has
marked all his foreign policy. If Canning were now alive we might
hope to steer through these difficulties, but if he had lived we
should probably never have been in them. He was the only statesman
who had sagacity to enter into and comprehend the spirit of the
times, and to put himself at the head of that movement which was
no longer to be arrested. The march of Liberalism (as it is
called) would not be stopped, and this he knew, and he resolved to
govern and lead instead of opposing it. The idiots who so rejoiced
at the removal of this master mind (which alone could have saved
them from the effects of their own folly) thought to stem the
torrent in its course, and it has overwhelmed them. It is
unquestionable that the Duke has too much participated in their
sentiments and passions, and, though he never mixed himself with
their proceedings, regarded them with a favourable eye, nor does
he ever seem to have been aware of the immensity of the peril
which they were incurring. The urgency of the danger will
unquestionably increase the impatience of those who already think
the present Government incapable of carrying on the public
business, and now that we are placed in a situation the most
intricate (since the French Revolution) it is by no means
agreeable to think that such enormous interests are at the mercy
of the Duke's awkward squad.

Sefton gave me an account of the dinner in St. George's Hall on
the King's birthday, which was magnificent--excellent and well
served. Bridge[3] came down with the plate, and was hid during
the dinner behind the great wine-cooler, which weighs 7,000
ounces, and he told Sefton afterwards that the plate in the room
was worth £200,000. There is another service of gold plate, which
was not used at all. The King has made it all over to the Crown.
All this plate was ordered by the late King, and never used; his
delight was ordering what the public had to pay for.

      [3] [Of the house of Rundell and Bridge, the great
          silversmiths and jewellers of the day.]


September 9th, 1830 {p.043}

[Page Head: GLOOMY FOREBODINGS.]

Came from Stoke the day after the Egham races, and went to Brocket
Hall on Saturday last; returned the day before yesterday. Nothing
can exceed the interest, the excitement, the consternation which
prevail here. On Saturday last the funds suddenly fell near three
per cent.; no cause apparent, a thousand reports, and a panic on
the Stock Exchange. At last on Monday it appeared that the Emperor
of Russia had, on the first intelligence of the revolution in
France, prohibited the tricoloured cockade and ordered all Russian
subjects to quit France. As we went down on Saturday Henry told me
that there had been alarming accounts from the manufacturing
districts of a disposition to rise on the part of the workmen,
which had kept Lord Hill in town; and this I fancied was the cause
of the fall, but it was the Russian business. They have since,
however, rallied to nearly what they were before. At Brocket I had
a long conversation with my brother-in-law,[4] who is never very
communicative or talkative, but he takes a gloomy view of
everything, not a little perhaps tinctured by the impending ruin
which he foresees to his own property from the Liverpool Railroad,
which is to be opened with great ceremony on the 15th; moreover he
thinks the Government so weak that it cannot stand, and expects
the Duke will be compelled to resign. He has already offered him
his place, to dispose of in any way that may be useful to him. I
said that I thought one of the Duke's greatest misfortunes was his
having no wise head to consult with in all emergencies; this he
said was very true, for there was nobody who would even speak to
him about anything; that Peel, who was the man who might naturally
be expected to put himself forward, never would; and that
repeatedly he had got him (Francis) to go to or write to the Duke
about some matter or other on which it was necessary to refer to
him. In the business of Huskisson, Huskisson himself was most
anxious to have it made up, and wished Peel to speak to the Duke;
but Peel would not stir, nor would Dudley, and it ended in
Francis' being charged with the negotiation, the result of which
everybody knows.

      [4] [Lord Francis Egerton, afterwards First Earl of
          Ellesmere, proprietor of the Bridgewater Estates and
          Canal, which was threatened by the competition of the
          newly-made Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Lord
          Francis held the office of Secretary at War in 1830 for
          a very short time, having previously been Irish
          Secretary when Lord Anglesey was Lord Lieutenant.]

In the meantime the affairs of Belgium are in a very critical
state; the Prince of Orange has entirely failed in reducing the
malcontents to submission, and after passing two or three days at
or near Brussels in fruitless negotiation and the interchange of
proud civilities, he was obliged to retire and carry back to the
King a proposal that Belgium and Holland should be separated and
a Federal Union established between them. Last night, however, a
proclamation of the King appeared, well drawn up, and couched in
firm, temperate, and sensible language, in which he declares that
he will do all that the circumstances of the case may render
necessary, but that all shall be referred to the States-General,
and they shall decide upon the measures to be adopted. This will
probably excite great discontent, and it is at least doubtful
whether the Belgian Deputies will consent to go to the Hague at
all. My belief is that this proclamation is the result of
encouragement from Prussia.

The night before last I had a letter from the Duc de Dalberg with
a very sensible view of the state of France and of affairs
generally in Europe, auguring well of the stability of the
present Government, provided the other Powers of Europe do
nothing to disturb the general tranquillity. I never was so
astonished as when I read in the newspaper of the appointment of
Talleyrand to be Ambassador here. He must be nearer eighty than
seventy, and though his faculties are said to be as bright as
ever (which I doubt), his infirmities are so great that it is
inconceivable he should think of leaving his own home, and above
all for another country, where public representation is
unavoidable. Dalberg told me that several of the Ministers are
going out--Guizot, Marshal Gérard, and Baron Louis, the two
latter _accablés_ with the _travail_, and the first unused to and
unfit for official business;[5] Louis is seventy-three.

      [5] [A curious estimate, taken at the time, of the man who
          for the next eighteen years had a larger share of
          official life and business than any other Frenchman.]

[Page Head: BAD PROSPECTS OF THE SESSION.]

In the meantime the Duke does nothing here towards strengthening
his Government, and he will probably meet Parliament as he is.
There are some circumstances in his favour, and I think it
possible he may still extricate himself from his difficulties.
There is unquestionably a notion amongst many persons (of the
aristocracy) that he is the only man to rely upon for governing
this country in the midst of difficulties. It is hard to say upon
what this feeling (for it is more of a feeling than an opinion)
is founded; not certainly upon any experience of his abilities
for Government either as to principles or the details of
particular branches of business, or his profound, dispassionate,
and statesmanlike sagacity, but upon certain vague predilections,
and the confidence which he has infused into others by his own
firm, manly, and even dictatorial character, and the recollection
of his military exploits and splendid career, which have not yet
lost their power over the minds of men, and to this must be added
his great influence over the late and present sovereigns.

The short session which will begin on the 28th of October will be
occupied with the Regency and Civil List, and it is probable that
both those matters will be produced in a form to give general
satisfaction; that will be strength as far as it goes. The Tories
are alarmed at the general aspect of affairs, and I doubt whether
they will not forget their ancient grievances and antipathies,
and, if they do not support the Government, abstain at least from
any violent opposition, the result of which could only be to let
in the Whigs, of whose principles they have the greatest
apprehensions. I can perfectly understand that there may be many
men who, wishing sincerely to see a stronger Government formed,
may think that any change at this moment which may present to
Europe a spectacle of disunion and weakness here would be a
greater evil than the temporary toleration of such Ministers as
ours; and if the Duke does find such a disposition, and profits
by it dexterously and temperately, he may float through the next
session, and at the end of it negotiate with other parties on
more advantageous terms than he possibly could do now, when all
his concessions would appear to be extorted by force or by the
urgent difficulties of his position.


September 10th, 1830 {p.046}

The Duke is very much disturbed about the state of affairs,
thinks ill of France and generally of the state of Europe. I
think the alarmists are increasing everywhere, and the signs of
the times are certainly portentous; still I doubt there being any
great desire of change among the mass of the people of England,
and prudent and dexterous heads (if there be any such) may still
steer on through the storm. If Canning were alive I believe he
would have been fully equal to the emergency if he was not
thwarted by the passions, prejudices, and follies of others; but
if he had lived we should not have had the Catholic question
settled, and what a state we should be in now if that were added
to the rest!


September 14th, 1830 {p.046}

Last Saturday to Panshanger; returned yesterday with Melbourne,
George Lamb, and the Ashleys. George said there would be a
violent Opposition in the approaching session. William[6] told me
he thought Huskisson was the greatest practical statesman he had
known, the one who united theory with practice the most, but
owned he was not popular and not thought honest; that his
remaining in with the Duke when Goderich's Ministry was dissolved
was a fatal error, which he could never repair.

      [6] [William Lamb, second Lord Melbourne, afterwards Prime
          Minister.]

I found Sefton in town last night, and went to the play with him.
He has had a letter from Brougham, who told him he should go to
the Liverpool dinner and attack the Duke of Wellington; that it
was the only opportunity he should ever have in his life of
meeting him face to face, and he then proceeded to relate all
that he should say. Sefton wrote him word that if he said half
what he intended the chairman would order him to be turned out of
the room. He won't go, I am persuaded.


Newark, September 18th, 1830 {p.047}

[Page Head: DEATH OF MR. HUSKISSON.]

Went back to Panshanger last Tuesday; found there Madame de
Lieven, Melbourne, and the Hollands and Allen. Lord Holland was
very agreeable, as he always is, and told many anecdotes of
George Selwyn, Lafayette, and others. I saw them arrive in a
coach-and-four and chaise-and-pair--two footmen, a page, and two
maids. He said (what is true) that there is hardly such a thing
in the world as a good house or a good epitaph, and yet mankind
have been employed in building the former and writing the latter
since the beginning almost. Came to town on Thursday, and in the
afternoon heard the news of Huskisson's horrible accident, and
yesterday morning got a letter from Henry with the details, which
are pretty correctly given in the 'Times' newspaper. It is a very
odd thing, but I had for days before a strong presentiment that
some terrible accident would occur at this ceremony, and I told
Lady Cowper so, and several other people. Nothing could exceed
the horror of the few people in London at this event, or the
despair of those who looked up to him politically. It seems to
have happened in this way:--While the Duke's car was stopping to
take in water, the people alighted and walked about the railroad;
when suddenly another car, which was running on the adjoining
level, came up. Everybody scrambled out of the way, and those who
could got again into the first car. This Huskisson attempted to
do, but he was slow and awkward; as he was getting in some part
of the machinery of the other car struck the door of his, by
which he was knocked down. He was taken up, and conveyed by
Wilton[7] and Mrs. Huskisson (who must have seen the accident
happen) to the house of Mr. Blackburne, eight miles from Heaton.
Wilton saved his life for a few hours by knowing how to tie up
the artery; amputation was not possible, and he expired at ten
o'clock that night. Wilton, Lord Granville, and Littleton were
with him to the last. Mrs. Huskisson behaved with great courage.
The Duke of Wellington was deeply affected, and it was with the
greatest difficulty he could be induced to proceed upon the
progress to Manchester, and at last he only yielded to the most
pressing solicitations of the directors and others, and to a
strong remonstrance that the mob might be dangerous if he did not
appear. It is impossible to figure to one's self any event which
could produce a greater sensation or be more striking to the
imagination than this, happening at such a time and under such
circumstances: the eminence of the man, the sudden conversion of
a scene of gaiety and splendour into one of horror and dismay;
the countless multitudes present, and the effect upon them--crushed
to death in sight of his wife and at the feet (as it was)
of his great political rival--all calculated to produce a deep
and awful impression. The death of Huskisson cannot fail to have
an important effect upon political events; it puts an end to his
party as a party, but it leaves the survivors at liberty to join
either the Opposition or the Government, while during his life
there were great difficulties to their doing either, in
consequence of the antipathy which many of the Whigs had to him
on one side and the Duke of Wellington on the other. There is no
use, however, in speculating on what will happen, which a very
short time will show.

      [7] [Thomas Grosvenor Egerton, second Earl of Wilton.]

Agar Ellis told me yesterday morning that he had received a
letter from Brougham a day or two ago, in which he said that he
was going to Liverpool, and hoped there to sign a treaty with
Huskisson, so that it is probable they would have joined to
oppose the Government. As to the Duke of Wellington, a fatality
attends him, and it is perilous to cross his path. There were
perhaps 500,000 people present on this occasion, and probably not
a soul besides hurt. One man only is killed, and that man is his
most dangerous political opponent, the one from whom he had most
to fear. It is the more remarkable because these great people are
generally taken such care of, and put out of the chance of
accidents. Canning had scarcely reached the zenith of his power
when he was swept away, and the field was left open to the Duke,
and no sooner is he reduced to a state of danger and difficulty
than the ablest of his adversaries is removed by a chance beyond
all power of calculation.

[Page Head: CHARACTER OF HUSKISSON.]

Huskisson was about sixty years old, tall, slouching, and
ignoble-looking. In society he was extremely agreeable, without
much animation, generally cheerful, with a great deal of humour,
information, and anecdote, gentlemanlike, unassuming, slow in
speech, and with a downcast look, as if he avoided meeting
anybody's gaze. I have said what Melbourne thought of him, and
that was the opinion of his party. It is probably true that there
is no man in Parliament, or perhaps out of it, so well versed in
finance, commerce, trade, and colonial matters, and that he is
therefore a very great and irreparable loss. It is nevertheless
remarkable that it is only within the last five or six years that
he acquired the great reputation which he latterly enjoyed. I do
not think he was looked upon as more than a second-rate man till
his speeches on the silk trade and the shipping interest; but
when he became President of the Board of Trade he devoted himself
with indefatigable application to the maturing and reducing to
practice those commercial improvements with which his name is
associated, and to which he owes all his glory and most of his
unpopularity. It is equally true that all the ablest men in the
country coincide with him, and that the mass of the community are
persuaded that his plans are mischievous to the last degree. The
man whom he consulted through the whole course of his labours and
enquiries was Hume,[8] who is now in the Board of Trade, and
whose vast experience and knowledge were of incalculable service
to him. Great as his abilities unquestionably were, it is
impossible to admire his judgment, which seems repeatedly to have
failed him, particularly in his joining the Duke's Government on
Goderich's resignation, which was a capital error, his speech
afterwards at Liverpool and his subsequent quarrel with the Duke.
In all these cases he acted with the greatest imprudence, and he
certainly contrived, without exposing himself to any specific
charge, to be looked upon as a statesman of questionable honour
and integrity; and of this his friends as well as his enemies
were aware. As a speaker in the House of Commons he was luminous
upon his own subject, but he had no pretensions to eloquence; his
voice was feeble and his manner ungraceful; however, he was
(unfortunately) one of the first men in the House, and was
listened to with attention upon any subject. He left no children.
Mrs. Huskisson has a pension of £1,200 a year. The accounts from
Paris improve, inasmuch as there seems a better prospect than
there has been lately of tranquillity in the country. Sneyd
writes word that there is little doubt but that the Duc de
Bourbon was assassinated.[9]

      [8] [John Deacon Hume, the Assistant Joint Secretary of the
          Board of Trade.]

      [9] [The Duc de Bourbon-Condé was found hanging in his
          bedroom. Suspicion pointed to Madame de Fenchères, his
          mistress, as privy to the cause of his death, which
          however, was never clearly ascertained. The Duke had
          made an ample provision for Madame de Fenchères in his
          will, but the bulk of his vast property, including
          Chantilly, was bequeathed to the Duc d'Aumale, fourth
          son of King Louis Philippe. The Duc de Bourbon was the
          father of the unfortunate Duc d'Enghien.]

Last night to Brockett Hall, where I slept and came on here
to-day. The King has paid me £300 for Goodison, the late Duke's
jockey, which settles all he owed at Newmarket, and was a very
good-natured act.

George Seymour is made Master of the Robes, and gives up his
place[10] in the House of Lords, so Jersey[11] within two months
has got an enormous place to give away.

     [10] He did not give it up; wanted Jersey to appoint his
          brother Frederick, which he refused to do; so the other
          remained.--_November 15th._

     [11] [Lord Jersey was Lord Chamberlain of the Household at
          the time.]


Chatsworth, September 27th, 1830 {p.050}

[Page Head: HUSKISSON'S LAST MOMENTS.]

Got to Sprotborough last Sunday; Lord Talbot and Lady Cecil,
William Lascelles, Irby, Lady Charlotte Denison, Captain Grey. It
rained all the time of the races. They offered Priam to
Chesterfield for £3,000 before his match, and he refused; he
offered it after, and they refused. There were a number of
beautiful women there--my cousin Mrs. Foljambe, Misses Mary and
Fanny Brandling the best. Came here on Friday night, and found as
usual a large party, but rather dull; Granvilles, Newboroughs,
Wharncliffes, G. Seymours, Sir J. and Lady Fitzgerald (very
pretty), Talbots, Madame Bathiany, Beaumonts, G. Lamb. Yesterday
Brougham came with his brother, sister, and daughter-in-law, in
the highest spirits and state of excitement, going about
Yorkshire, dining and speechifying; he was at Doncaster too. Lord
Granville was just returned from Huskisson's funeral at
Liverpool. It was attended by a great multitude, who showed every
mark of respect and feeling. He died the death of a great man,
suffering torments, but always resigned, calm, and collected;
took the Sacrament, and made a codicil to his will, said the
country had had the best of him, and that he could not have been
useful for many more years, hoped he had never committed any
political sins that might not be easily forgiven, and declared
that he died without a feeling of ill-will and in charity with
all men. As he lay there he heard the guns announcing the Duke of
Wellington's arrival at Manchester, and he said, 'I hope to God
the Duke may get safe through the day.' When he had done and said
all he desired, he begged they would open a vein and release him
from his pain. From the beginning he only wished to die quickly.
Mrs. Huskisson was violently opposed to his being buried at
Liverpool, and it was with great difficulty she was persuaded to
consent to the repeated applications that were made to her for
that purpose.


Buckenham, October 25th, 1830 {p.051}

A month nearly since I have written a line; always racing and
always idleness. Went from Chatsworth to Heaton Park; an immense
party, excellent house and living, and very good sport for the
sort of thing in a park, with gentlemen riders.

I have lost sight of politics, and know nothing of what is going
on, except that all things look gloomy, and people generally are
alarmed. Last week the Arbuthnots were at Cheveley, and I had a
curious conversation enough with him. I told him that I was
desirous of the success of the Duke of Wellington's Administration,
but felt strongly the necessity of his getting rid of many of his
present Cabinet, who were both inefficient and odious, that I
thought one great misfortune was that he had nobody to tell him
the truth, and very few men with whom he was on terms of
confidential cordiality. He owned it was so, but said that _he_
never concealed from him disagreeable truths--on the contrary,
told him everything--and assured me that at any time he would tell
the Duke anything that I thought he ought to know. I told him to
give him a notion how meanly Aberdeen was thought of, that
Alvanley had told Talleyrand not to notice him, but to go at once
to the Duke when he had any important business to transact, and
that he might tell the Duke this if he pleased, but no one else.
He said he would, and then he began to talk of Peel, lamenting
that there was nothing like intimate confidence between the Duke
and him, and that the Duke was in fact ignorant of his real and
secret feelings and opinions; that to such a degree did Peel carry
his reserve, that when they were out of office, and it had been a
question of their returning to it, he had gone to meet Peel at
Lord Chandos's for the express purpose of finding out what his
opinions were upon the then state of affairs, and that after many
conversations he had come away knowing no more of his sentiments
and disposition than before they met. I said that with a Cabinet
like this, and the House of Commons in the hands of Peel, I could
not imagine anything more embarrassing; he owned it was, and then
complained of Peel's indisposition to encourage other men in the
House of Commons, or to suffer the transaction of business to pass
through any hands but his own; that the Duke had been accused of a
grasping ambition and a desire to do everything himself, whereas
such an accusation would be much more applicable to Peel. All this
proves how little real cordiality there is between these two men,
and that, though they are now necessary to each other, a little
matter would sever their political connection.

Here we have an American of the name of Powell, who was here
nineteen years ago, when he was one of the handsomest men that
ever was seen, and lived in the society of Devonshire House.
Three years of such a life spoilt him, as he confesses, for the
nineteen which followed in his native country; and now he is come
back with a wife and five children to see the town he recollects
become a thousand times more beautiful, and the friends who have
forgotten him equally changed, but as much for the worse as
London is for the better; he seems a sensible, good sort of
fellow.

Baring told me the other day that he remembered his (B.'s) father
with nearly nothing, and that out of the house which he founded
not less than six or seven millions must have been taken. Several
colossal fortunes have been made out of it.


London, November 8th, 1830 {p.053}

[Page Head: WELLINGTON'S DECLARATION AGAINST REFORM.]

Went from Buckenham to Euston, and then back to Newmarket, where
I never have time or inclination to write or read. Parliament
met, and a great clamour was raised against the King's Speech,
without much reason; but it was immediately evident that the
Government was in a very tottering condition, and the first night
of this session the Duke of Wellington made a violent and
uncalled-for declaration against Reform, which has without doubt
sealed his fate. Never was there an act of more egregious folly,
or one so universally condemned by friends and foes. The
Chancellor said to Lady Lyndhurst after the first night's debate
in the House of Lords, 'You have often asked me why the Duke did
not take in Lord Grey; read these two speeches (Lord Grey's and
the Duke's), and then you will see why. Do you think he would
like to have a colleague under him, who should get up and make
such a speech after such another as his?'

The effect produced by this declaration exceeds anything I ever
saw, and it has at once destroyed what little popularity the Duke
had left, and lowered him in public estimation so much that when
he does go out of office, as most assuredly he must, he will
leave it without any of the dignity and credit which might have
accompanied his retirement. The sensation produced in the country
has not yet been ascertained, but it is sure to be immense. I
came to town last night, and found the town ringing with his
imprudence and everybody expecting that a few days would produce
his resignation.

The King's visit to the City was regarded with great
apprehension, as it was suspected that attempts would be made to
produce riot and confusion at night, and consequently all the
troops that could be mustered were prepared, together with
thousands of special constables, new police, volunteers, sailors,
and marines; but last night a Cabinet Council was held, when it
was definitively arranged to put it off altogether, and this
morning the announcement has appeared in the newspapers. Every
sort of ridicule and abuse was heaped upon the Government, the
Lord Mayor, and all who had any share in putting off the King's
visit to the City; very droll caricatures were circulated.

I met Matuscewitz last night, who was full of the Duke and his
speech, and of regrets at his approaching fall, which he
considers as the signal for fresh encroachments in France by the
Liberal party, and a general impulse to the revolutionary
factions throughout Europe. I hear that nothing can exceed the
general excitement and terror that prevails, everybody feeling
they hardly know what.


November 9th, 1830 {p.054}

Yesterday morning I sallied forth and called on Arbuthnot, whom I
did not find at home, but Mrs. Arbuthnot was. I had previously
called on the Villiers, and had a long conversation about the
state of everything. They did not apprise me of anything new, but
Hyde,[12] who ought to be informed, gave me an account of the
resolutions which Brougham means to propose, very different from
what I heard elsewhere. He said that they were very strong,
whereas all other accounts agree that they are very moderate. I
walked with Mrs. Arbuthnot down to Downing Street, and, as she
utters the Duke's sentiments, was anxious to hear what she would
say about their present condition. I said, 'Well, you are in a
fine state; what do you mean to do?' 'Oh, are you alarmed? Well,
I am not; everybody says we are to go out, and I don't believe a
word of it. They will be beat on the question of Reform; people
will return to the Government, and we shall go on very well. You
will see this will be the end of it.' I told her I did not
believe they could stay in, and attacked the Duke's speech, which
at last she owned she was sorry he had made. She complained that
they had no support, and that everybody they took in became
useless as soon as they were in office--Ellenborough, Rosslyn,
Murray. It was evident, however, that she did contemplate their
loss of office as a very probable event, though they do not mean
to resign, and think they may stave off the evil day. In Downing
Street we met George Dawson, who told us the funds had fallen
three per cent., and that the panic was tremendous, so much so
that they were not without alarm lest there should be a run on
the Bank for gold. Later in the day, however, the funds improved.
In the House of Lords I heard the Duke's explanation of putting
off the dinner in the City. On the whole they seem to have done
well to put it off, but the case did not sound a strong one; it
rested on a letter from the Lord Mayor telling the Duke an
attempt would be made on his life. Still it is a hundred to one
that there would have been a riot, and possibly all its worst
evils and crimes. The King is said to be very low, hating Reform,
desirous of supporting the Duke, but feeling that he can do
nothing. However, in the House of Lords last night the speakers
vied with each other in praising his Majesty and extolling his
popularity. Lady Jersey told me that the Duke had said to her,
'Lord, I shall not go out; you will see we shall go on very
well.'

     [12] [Thomas Hyde Villiers, brother of George, afterwards
          fourth Earl of Clarendon, died in 1832.]


November 10th, 1830 {p.055}

[Page Head: DISTURBANCES IN LONDON.]

It was expected last night that there would be a great riot, and
preparations were made to meet it. Troops were called up to
London, and a large body of civil power put in motion. People had
come in from the country in the morning, and everything indicated
a disturbance. After dinner I walked out to see how things were
going on. There was little mob in the west end of the town, and
in New Street, Spring Gardens, a large body of the new police was
drawn up in three divisions, ready to be employed if wanted. The
Duke of Wellington expected Apsley House to be attacked, and made
preparations accordingly. He desired my brother to go and dine
there, to assist in making any arrangements that might be
necessary. In Pall Mall I met Mr. Glyn, the banker, who had been
up to Lombard Street to see how matters looked about his house,
and he told us (Sir T. Farquhar and me) that everything was quiet
in the City. One of the policemen said that there had been a
smart brush near Temple Bar, where a body of weavers with iron
crows and a banner had been dispersed by the police, and the
banner taken. The police, who are a magnificent set of fellows,
behave very well, and it seems pretty evident that these troubles
are not very serious, and will soon be put an end to. The attack
in Downing Street the night before last, of which they made a
great affair, turned out to be nothing at all. The mob came there
from Carlile's lecture, but the sentry stopped them near the
Foreign Office; the police took them in flank, and they all ran
away.

I went to Brooks's, but there was hardly anybody there, and
nothing occurred in the House of Commons but some interchange of
Billingsgate between O'Connell and George Dawson. The Duke talks
with confidence, and has no idea of resigning, but he does not
inspire his friends with the confidence he feels or affects
himself, though they talk of his resignation as an event which is
to plunge all Europe into war, and of the impossibility of
forming another Administration, all which is mere balderdash, for
he proved with many others how easy it is to form a Government
that can go on; and as to our Continental relations being
altered, I don't believe a word of it. He may have influence
abroad, but he owes it not to his own individual character, but
to his possession of power in England. If the Ministry who
succeed him are firm and moderate, this country will lose nothing
of its influence abroad. I have heard these sort of things said
fifty times of Ministers and Kings. The death of the late King
was to be the greatest of calamities, and the breath was hardly
out of his body before everybody discovered that it was the
greatest of blessings, and, instead of its being impossible to go
on without him, that there would have been no going on with him.

The King gave a dinner to the Prince of Orange the other day, and
invited all his old military friends to meet him. His Majesty was
beyond everything civil to the Duke of Wellington, and the Queen
likewise. Lord Wellesley, speaking of the letter to the Lord
Mayor, and putting off the dinner in the City, said 'it was the
boldest act of cowardice he had ever heard of.'

[Page Head: THE DUCHESSE DE DINO.]

After some difficulty they have agreed to give Madame de Dino[13]
the honours of Ambassadress here, the Duke having told the King
that at Vienna she did the honours of Talleyrand's house, and was
received on that footing by the Emperor and Empress, so he said,
'Oh, very well; I will tell the Queen, and you had better tell
her too.'

     [13] [The Duchesse de Dino was the niece of Prince
          Talleyrand, then French Ambassador at the Court of St.
          James. The precedent is a curious one, for it is
          certainly not customary for the daughter or niece of an
          unmarried Ambassador to enjoy the rank and honours of
          an Ambassadress.]

They say the King is exceedingly bullied by the _bâtards_, though
Errol told me they were all afraid of him. Dolly Fitzclarence
lost £100, betting 100 to 10 that he would go to Guildhall, and
he told the King he had lost him £100, so the King gave him the
money. It seems that the Duke certainly did make some overtures
to Palmerston, though I do not exactly know when, but I heard
that they were very fair ones.


November 11th, 1830 {p.057}

Yesterday the funds rose, and people's apprehensions began to
subside. Everybody is occupied with speculating about the numbers
on Tuesday next, and what majority the Ministers will get.
Yesterday came a letter from Lord Heytesbury from St. Petersburg,[14]
saying that there was reason to believe that the disorder now
raging in Russia is a sort of plague, but that they will not admit
it, and that it is impossible to get at the truth. We ordered
Russian ships to be put under a precautionary quarantine, and made
a minute to record what we had done.

     [14] [This is the first mention of the cholera morbus, or
          Asiatic cholera, then first appearing in Europe. The
          quarantine establishments are under the control of the
          Privy Council, and Mr. Greville, as Clerk of the
          Council, was actively employed in superintending them.
          A Board of Health was afterwards established at the
          Council Office during the prevalence of the cholera.]


November 12th, 1830 {p.058}

The funds have kept advancing, everything is quiet, and Ministers
begin to take courage. The Duke means if he has a majority of
twenty on Tuesday to stay in. It seems his idea is that the
resolutions of Brougham will be framed in general terms on purpose
to obtain as many votes as possible; that they will be no test of
the real opinion of the House, because most of those who may
concur in a general resolution in favour of Reform would disagree
entirely as to specific measures, if any were introduced; but it
is evident that the support of the Duke's friends is growing
feebler every day. Yesterday morning I met Robert Clive, a thick
and thin Government man, and he began with the usual topic, for
everybody asks after the State, as one does about a sick friend;
and then he went on to say (concurring with my opinion that
everything went on ill), 'Why won't the Duke strengthen himself?'
'He can't; he has tried, and you see he can't do anything.' 'Ah!
but he must make sacrifices; things cannot go on as they do, and
he must make sacrifices.' Lord Bath, too, came to town, intending
to leave his proxy with the Duke, and went away with it in his
pocket, after hearing his famous speech; though he has a close
borough, which he by no means wishes to lose, still he is for
Reform. What they all feel is that his obstinacy will endanger
everything; that by timely concession, and regulating the present
spirit, real improvements might be made and extreme measures
avoided. I met Rothschild coming out of Herries' room, with his
nephew from Paris. He looked pretty lively for a man who has lost
some millions, but the funds were all up yesterday; he asked me
the news, and said Lafitte was the best Minister France could
have, and that everything was rapidly improving there.


November 15th, 1830 {p.058}

[Page Head: ROBERT SOUTHEY.]

Yesterday morning I breakfasted with Taylor[15] to meet Southey:
the party was Southey; Strutt, member for Derby, a Radical; young
Mill, a political economist; Charles Villiers, young Elliot, and
myself. Southey is remarkably pleasing in his manner and
appearance, unaffected, unassuming, and agreeable; at least such
was my impression for the hour or two I saw him. Young Mill is
the son of Mill who wrote the 'History of British India,' and
said to be cleverer than his father. He has written many
excellent articles in reviews, pamphlets, &c., but though
powerful with a pen in his hand, in conversation he has not the
art of managing his ideas, and is consequently hesitating and
slow, and has the appearance of being always working in his mind
propositions or a syllogism.

     [15] [Henry Taylor, the author of 'Philip van Artevelde.'
          Edward Strutt was afterwards created Lord Belper.
          'Young Mill' was the eminent economist and philosopher
          John Stuart Mill. 'Young Elliot,' Sir Thomas Frederick
          Elliot, K.S.M.G., long one of the ablest members of the
          Colonial Department, to which Henry Taylor, the poet,
          himself belonged.]

Southey told an anecdote of Sir Massey Lopes, which is a good
story of a miser. A man came to him and told him he was in great
distress, and £200 would save him. He gave him a draft for the
money.' 'Now,' says he, 'what will you do with this?' 'Go to the
bankers and get it cashed.' 'Stop,' said he; 'I will cash it.' So
he gave him the money, but first calculated and deducted the
discount, thus at once exercising his benevolence and his
avarice.

Another story Taylor told (we were talking of the negroes and
savages) of a girl (in North America) who had been brought up for
the purpose of being eaten on the day her master's son was
married or attained a certain age. She was proud of being the
_plat_ for the occasion, for when she was accosted by a
missionary, who wanted to convert her to Christianity and
withdraw her from her fate, she said she had no objection to be a
Christian, but she must stay to be eaten, that she had been
fattened for the purpose and must fulfil her destiny.

When I came home I found a note to say my unfortunate colleague
Buller[16] was dead. He had had an operation performed on his lip,
after which he caught cold, got an inflammation in the windpipe,
and died in two or three days. He was a very honourable, obliging,
and stupid man, and a great loss to me, for I shall hardly find a
more accommodating colleague.

     [16] [James Buller, Esq., senior Clerk of the Council.]

In the evening I dined with Lord Sefton to meet Talleyrand and
Madame de Dino. There were Brougham and Denman, the latter
brought by the former to show Talleyrand to him. After dinner
Talleyrand held a circle and discoursed, but I did not come in
for his talk. They were all delighted, but long experience has
proved to me that people are easily delighted with whatever is in
vogue. Brougham is very proud of his French, which is execrable,
and took the opportunity of holding forth in a most barbarous
jargon, which he fancied was the real accent and phraseology. He
told me he should have 250 votes on his motion. I said to him,
'They think they shall have a majority of 150.' He said, 'Then
there must be 650 to divide, for at the lowest computation I
shall have 250.' But at night Henry told me that the Duke, though
he put a good face on it, was in fact very low, and that, from
what Gosh [Arbuthnot] had said, he would certainly resign unless
he carried the question by a large majority. In the morning I
called on Lady Granville, who told me, as a great secret, that
the Duke, notwithstanding his speech, was prepared to offer a
compromise, and her story was this:--She had dined at Ludolf's a
few days ago to meet the Duchesse de Berri. All the great people
dined there, among others the Chancellor and Lady Lyndhurst, and
after dinner Lady Lyndhurst came up to her bursting with
indignation, and confided to her that the Duke had resolved to
offer a resolution to the effect that in any future case of
borough delinquency the representation should be transferred to a
great town, and that she thought after what had passed this would
be so disgraceful that it disgusted her beyond expression, and a
great deal more to this effect. I confess I don't believe a word
of it. I met the Prince of Orange last night in excellent spirits
and humour, and quite convinced that he will be recalled to
Brussels.


November 16th, 1830 {p.061}

[Page Head: DEFEAT OF THE WELLINGTON MINISTRY.]

The Duke of Wellington's Administration is at an end. If he has
not already resigned, he probably will do so in the course of the
day. Everybody was so intent on the Reform question that the
Civil List was not thought of, and consequently the defeat of
Government last night was unexpected. Although numbers of members
were shut out there was a great attendance, and a majority of
twenty-nine. Of those who were shut out, almost all declare that
they meant to have voted in the majority.[17]

     [17] [The division was taken on Sir Henry Parnell's motion
          to refer the Civil List to a Select Committee, which
          was carried by 233 to 204.]

I went to Mrs. Taylor's at night and found Ferguson, Denman, and
Taylor, who had just brought the news. The exultation of the
Opposition was immense. Word was sent down their line not to
cheer, but they were not to be restrained, and Sefton's yell was
heard triumphant in the din. The Tories voted with them. There
had been a meeting at Knatchbull's in the morning, when they
decided to go against Government. Worcester had dined at Apsley
House, and returned with the news, but merely said that they had
had a bad division--twenty-nine. Everybody thought he meant a
majority _for_ Government, and the Duke, who already knew what
had happened, made a sign to him to say nothing. Worcester knew
nothing himself, having arrived after the division; they told him
the numbers, and he came away fancying they were for Government.
So off the company went to Madame de Dino, where they heard the
truth. Great was the consternation and long were the faces, but
the outs affected to be merry and the ins were serious.
Talleyrand fired off a courier to Paris forthwith.

Yesterday morning I went to Downing Street early, to settle with
Lord Bathurst about the new appointment to my office. Till I told
him he did not know the appointment was in the Crown; so he
hurried off to the King, and proposed his son William. The King
was very gracious, and said, 'I can never object to a father's
doing what he can for his own children,' which was an oblique
word for the _bâtards_, about whom, however, it may be said _en
passant_ he has been marvellously forbearing.

I had a long conversation with Lady Bathurst, who told me that
the Duke had resolved to stand or fall on the Reform question,
that he had asked Lord Bathurst's opinion, who had advised him by
all means to do so; that Lord Bathurst had likewise put his own
place at the Duke's disposal long before, and was ready to resign
at any moment. It is clear that Lord Bathurst had some suspicion
that the Duke had an idea of not standing or falling by that
question, for he asked him whether anybody had given him
different advice, to which he replied, though it seems rather
vaguely, 'No, oh no; I think you are quite right.' I told her the
substance of what I had heard about his being disposed to a
compromise. She said it was quite impossible, that he would be
disgraced irredeemably, but owned it was odd that there should be
that notion and the suspicion which crossed Lord Bathurst's mind.
I do think it is possible, but for his honour I hope not. The
Bathursts felt this appointment of William was a sort of 'Nunc
dimittis,' but there is yet something between the cup and the
lip, for Stanley got up in the House of Commons and attacked the
appointment, and it is just possible it may yet be stopped.

Went to Brookes' in the evening, where there was nobody left but
Sefton baiting Ferguson for having been out of the division. He
told me that it was not impossible Lord Spencer would be put at
the head of Government. They will manage to make a confounded
mess of it, I dare say. Billy Holmes came to the Duke last night
with the news of the division, and implored him to let nothing
prevent his resigning to-day.


November 17th, 1830 {p.062}

[Page Head: THE KING'S BEHAVIOUR AT THE CRISIS.]

Went to Downing Street yesterday morning between twelve and one,
and found that the Duke and all the Ministers were just gone to
the King. He received them with the greatest kindness, shed
tears, but accepted their resignation without remonstrance. He
told Lord Bathurst he would do anything he could, and asked him
if there was nothing he could sign which would secure his son's
appointment. Lord Bathurst thanked him, but told him he could do
nothing. The fact is the appointment might be hurried through,
but the salary depends upon an annual vote of the House of
Commons, and an exasperated and triumphant Opposition would be
sure to knock it off; so he has done the only thing he can do,
which is to leave it to the King to secure the appointment for
him if possible. It will be a great piece of luck for somebody
that Buller should have died exactly when he did. William
Bathurst may perhaps lose the place from his not dying earlier,
or the new Government may lose the patronage because he did not
die later; but it is ill luck for me, who shall probably have
more trouble because he has died at all.

The Duke and Peel announced their resignations in the two Houses,
and Brougham put off his motion, but with a speech signifying
that he should take no part in the new Government. The last acts
of the Duke were to secure pensions of £250 a year to each of his
secretaries, and to fill up the ecclesiastical preferments. The
Garter remains for his successor. The Duke of Bedford got it,
and, what is singular, the Duke of Wellington would probably have
given it him likewise. He was one of five whom he meant to choose
from, and it lay between him and Lord Cleveland.

I met the Duke coming out of his room, but did not like to speak
to him; he got into his cabriolet, and nodded as he passed, but
he looked very grave. The King seems to have behaved perfectly
throughout the whole business, no intriguing or underhand
communication with anybody, with great kindness to his Ministers,
anxious to support them while it was possible, and submitting at
once to the necessity of parting with them. The fact is he turns
out an incomparable King, and deserves all the encomiums that are
lavished on him. All the mountebankery which signalised his
conduct when he came to the throne has passed away with the
excitement which caused it, and he is as dignified as the
homeliness and simplicity of his character will allow him to be.
I understand he sent for Lord Spencer in the course of the day,
who probably said he could not undertake anything, for he
afterwards sent for Lord Grey (after the House of Lords), and as
he must have been very well prepared, it is probable that a new
Government will be speedily formed.

I went to Lady Jersey's in the evening, when she was or affected
to be very gay and very glad that the Duke was out. I found there
the Prince of Orange, Esterhazy, Madame de Dino, Wilton,
Worcester, Duncannon, Lord Rosslyn, Matuscewitz, &c. There has
been a strong idea that the Chancellor [Lyndhurst] would keep the
seals. Both Holmes and Planta have repeatedly told the Duke that
he would be beaten in the House of Commons, and they both knew
the House thoroughly. Still he never would do anything. He made
overtures to Palmerston just before Parliament met through Lord
Clive, and the result was an interview between them at Apsley
House, but it came to nothing. I dare say he did not offer half
enough. It is universally believed that Peel pressed the Civil
List question for the purpose of being beaten upon it, and going
out on that rather than on Reform, for Planta told him how it
would be, and he might very well have given the Committee if he
had liked it; but he said he would abide by it, and he certainly
was in excellent spirits afterwards for a beaten Minister. Now
that this Reform has served their purpose so well, and turned out
the Duke, the Opposition would be well satisfied to put it aside
again, and take time to consider what they shall do, for it is a
terrible question for them. Pledged as they have been, it is sure
to be the rock on which the little popularity they have gained
will split, as it is a hundred to one that whatever they do they
will not go far enough to satisfy the country.


November 19th, 1830 {p.064}

The day before yesterday Lord Grey went to the King, who received
him with every possible kindness, and gave him _carte blanche_ to
form a new Administration, placing even the Household at his
disposal--much to the disgust of the members of it. Ever since
the town has been as usual teeming with reports, but with fewer
lies than usual. The fact is Lord Grey has had no difficulties,
and has formed a Government at once; only Brougham put them all
in a dreadful fright. He all but declared a hostile intention to
the future Administration; he boasted that he would take nothing,
refuse even the Great Seal, and nourished his Reform _in
terrorem_ over their heads; he was affronted and furious because
he fancied they neglected him, but it all arose, as I am told,
from Lord Grey's letter to him not reaching him directly, by some
mistake, for that he was the first person he wrote to. Still it
is pretty clear that this eccentric luminary will play the devil
with their system.

[The letter could not be the cause. The history of the
transaction is this:--When Lord Grey undertook to form a
Government he sent for Lord Lansdowne and Lord Holland, and these
three began to work, without consulting with Brougham or any
member of the House of Commons. Brougham was displeased at not
being consulted at first, but was indignant when Lord Grey
proposed to him to be Attorney-General. Then he showed his teeth,
and they grew frightened, and soon after they sent Sefton to him,
who got him into good humour, and it was made up by the offer of
the Great Seal.--_November 23rd._]


November 20th, 1830 {p.065}

[Page Head: DISCONTENT OF BROUGHAM.]

Here I was interrupted, and broke off yesterday morning. At
twelve o'clock yesterday everything was settled but the Great
Seal, and in the afternoon the great news transpired that
Brougham had accepted it. Great was the surprise, greater still
the joy at a charm having been found potent enough to lay the
unquiet spirit, a bait rich enough to tempt his restless
ambition. I confess I had no idea he would have accepted the
Chancellorship after his declarations in the House of Commons and
the whole tenor of his conduct. I was persuaded that he had made
to himself a political existence the like of which no man had
ever before possessed, and that to have refused the Great Seal
would have appeared more glorious than to take it; intoxicated
with his Yorkshire honours, swollen with his own importance, and
holding in his hands questions which he could employ to thwart,
embarrass, and ruin any Ministry, I thought that he meant to
domineer in the House of Commons and to gather popularity
throughout the country by enforcing popular measures of which he
would have all the credit, and thus establish a sort of
individual power and authority, which would ensure his being
dreaded, courted, and consulted by all parties. He could then
have gratified his vanity, ambition, and turbulence; the Bar
would have supplied fortune, and events would have supplied
enjoyments suited to his temperament; it would have been a sort
of madness, mischievous but splendid. As it is the joy is great
and universal; all men feel that he is emasculated and drops on
the Woolsack as on his political death-bed; once in the House of
Lords, there is an end of him, and he may rant storm and thunder
without hurting anybody.[18]

     [18] [Lord Grey's Administration was thus composed:--

          First Lord of the Treasury   Earl Grey.
          Lord Chancellor              Lord Brougham.
          Lord President               Marquis of Lansdowne.
          Lord Privy Seal              Lord Ripon (in 1833).
          Chancellor of the Exchequer  Viscount Althorp.
          Home Secretary               Viscount Melbourne.
          Foreign Secretary            Viscount Palmerston.
          Colonial Secretary           Viscount Goderich, and
                                         afterwards Mr. Stanley.
          Board of Control             Mr. Charles Grant.
          Board of Trade               Lord Auckland.
          Admiralty                    Sir James Graham.
          Postmaster-General           Duke of Richmond.
          Paymaster-General            Lord John Russell.
          Irish Secretary              Mr. Stanley.]

[Page Head: LORD GREY'S ADMINISTRATION.]

The other places present a plausible show, but are not well
distributed, some ill filled. Graham Admiralty, Melbourne Home,
Auckland Board of Trade--all bad. The second is too idle, the
first too inconsiderable, the third too ignorant.[19] They have
done it very quickly, however, and without many difficulties. As
to the Duke of Richmond, people are indignant at a half-pay
lieutenant-colonel commanding the Ordnance Department, and as an
acquisition he is of doubtful value, for it seems the Tories will
not go with him, at least will not consider themselves as his
followers; so said Lord Mansfield and Vyvyan.

     [19] [This is a remarkable instance of the manner in which
          the prognostications of the most acute observers are
          falsified by events. The value of Mr. Greville's
          remarks on the men of his time consists not in their
          absolute truth, but in their sincerity at the moment at
          which they were made. They convey a correct impression
          of the notion prevailing at that time. Thus Sir James
          Graham became unquestionably a very active First Lord
          of the Admiralty, Lord Melbourne a 'considerable' Prime
          Minister of England, and Lord Auckland a painstaking
          and well-informed Governor-General of India.]


November 21st, 1830 {p.067}

The Duke of Richmond's appointment was found so unpalatable to
the army that they have been forced to change it, and he is to be
Master of the Horse instead, which I suspect will not be to his
taste. [He afterwards refused the Mastership of the Horse, and it
ended in his being Postmaster-General, but without taking the
salary.]

There have been some little changes, but no great difficulties.
It was at first said that there would be no Opposition, and that
Peel would not stir; but William Peel told me last night that the
old Ministerial party was by no means so tranquilly inclined.
Peel will not be violent or factious, but he thinks an attentive
Opposition desirable, and he will not desert those who have
looked up to and supported him. Then there will be the Tories
(who will to a certainty end by joining him and his party) and
the Radicals--three distinct parties, and enough to keep the
Government on the _qui vive_. The expulsion of the late
Government from power will satisfy the vengeance of the Tories,
and I have no doubt they will now make it up. Peel will be the
leader of a party to which all the Conservative interest of the
country will repair; and it is my firm belief that in a very
short time (two or three years, or less) he will be Prime
Minister, and will hold power long.[20] The Duke will probably
never take office again, but will be at the head of the army, and
his own friends begin to admit that this would be the most
desirable post for him. Lord Lyndhurst will be greatly disgusted
at Brougham's taking the Great Seal. I met him the day before
yesterday, when he had no idea of it; he thought it would
certainly be put in Commission, and evidently looked forward to
filling the office again in a few months. He said that he had
long foreseen this catastrophe, and it was far better to be out
than to drag on as they did; that he had over and over again said
to the Duke, and remonstrated with him on the impossibility of
carrying on such a Government, but that he would never listen to
anything. Sir John Leach, too, was exceedingly disappointed; he
told me he had not heard a word of what was going on, that he was
contented where he was, 'though perhaps he might have been
miserable _in another situation_.'[21]

     [20] [This prediction was not fulfilled until 1841 (for the
          short Administration of Sir Robert in 1834 can hardly
          be reckoned), but it _was_ fulfilled at last.]

     [21] [Lord Grey certainly contemplated at one moment the
          offer of the Great Seal to Lord Lyndhurst, but the
          spectre of Brougham rendered that impossible. Brougham
          himself would have preferred the advancement of Sir
          John Leach to the Woolsack, which would have left the
          Rolls at his own disposal, and enabled him to retain
          his seat in the House of Commons. But this suggestion
          was by no means welcome to Lord Grey, and Lord Althorp
          at once declared that he could not undertake the
          leadership of the House of Commons if Brougham was to
          remain in it in any official position to domineer over
          him.]

In the meantime the new Government will find plenty to occupy
their most serious thoughts and employ their best talents. The
state of the country is dreadful; every post brings fresh
accounts of conflagrations, destruction of machinery, association
of labourers, and compulsory rise of wages. Cobbett and Carlile
write and harangue to inflame the minds of the people, who are
already set in motion and excited by all the events which have
happened abroad. Distress is certainly not the cause of these
commotions, for the people have patiently supported far greater
privations than they had been exposed to before these riots, and
the country was generally in an improving state.

The Duke of Richmond went down to Sussex and had a battle with a
mob of 200 labourers, whom he beat with fifty of his own farmers
and tenants, harangued them, and sent them away in good humour.
He is, however, very popular. In Hants the disturbances have been
dreadful. There was an assemblage of 1,000 or 1,500 men, a part
of whom went towards Baring's house (the Grange) after destroying
threshing-machines and other agricultural implements; they were
met by Bingham Baring, who attempted to address them, when a
fellow (who had been employed at a guinea a week by his father up
to four days before) knocked him down with an iron bar and nearly
killed him. They have no troops in that part of the country, and
there is a depôt of arms at Winchester.

The Prince of Orange, who has been fancying without the least
reason that he should be recalled to Belgium, is now in despair;
and the Provisional Government, on hearing of the change of
Ministry here, have suspended their negotiations, thinking they
shall get from Lord Grey a more extended frontier. Altogether the
alarm which prevails is very great, and those even are terrified
who never were so before.


November 22nd, 1830 {p.069}

[Page Head: BROUGHAM LORD CHANCELLOR.]

Dined yesterday at Sefton's; nobody there but Lord Grey and his
family, Brougham and Montrond, the latter just come from Paris.
It was excessively agreeable. Lord Grey in excellent spirits, and
Brougham, whom Sefton bantered from the beginning to the end of
dinner.[22] Be Brougham's political errors what they may, his
gaiety, temper, and admirable social qualities make him
delightful, to say nothing of his more solid merits, of
liberality, generosity, and charity; for charity it is to have
taken the whole family of one of his brothers who is dead--nine
children--and maintained and educated them. From this digression
to return to our dinner: it was uncommonly gay. Lord Grey said he
had taken a task on himself which he was not equal to, prided
himself on having made his arrangements so rapidly, and on having
named no person to any office who was not efficient; he praised
Lyndhurst highly, said he liked him, that his last speech was
luminous, and that he should like very much to do anything he
could for him, but that it was such an object to have Brougham on
the Woolsack. So I suppose he would not dislike to take in
Lyndhurst by-and-by. He would not tell us whom he has got for the
Ordnance. John Russell was to have had the War Office, but
Tavistock[23] entreated that the appointment might be changed, as
his brother's health was unequal to it; so he was made Paymaster.
Lord Grey said he had more trouble with those offices than with
the Cabinet ones. Sefton did nothing but quiz Brougham--'My Lord'
every minute, and 'What does his Lordship say?' 'I'm sure it is
very condescending of his Lordship to speak to such _canaille_ as
all of you,' and a thousand jokes. After dinner he walked out
before him with the fire shovel for the mace, and left him no
repose all the evening. I wish Leach could have heard Brougham.
He threatened to sit often at the Cockpit, in order to check
Leach,[24] who, though a good judge in his own Court, was good
for nothing in a Court of Appeal; he said that Leach's being
Chancellor was impossible, as there were forty-two appeals from
him to the Chancellor, which he would have had to decide himself;
and that he (Brougham) had wanted the Seal to be put in
Commission with three judges, which would have been the best
reform of the Court, expedited business, and satisfied suitors;
but that Lord Grey would not hear of it, and had forced him to
take it, which he was averse to do, being reluctant to leave the
House of Commons.

     [22] [Lord Brougham had taken his seat on the Woolsack as
          Lord High Chancellor on the afternoon of this day, the
          22nd of November. The patent of his peerage bore the
          same date.]

     [23] [The Marquis of Tavistock, Lord John Russell's eldest
          brother, afterwards Duke of Bedford. Lord John has
          since held almost every Cabinet office: his brother's
          notion that his health was unequal to the War Office in
          1830 is amusing.]

     [24] [The Master of the Rolls was at that time the presiding
          Judge of Appeal at the Privy Council, which was
          commonly spoken of as 'the Cockpit,' because it sat on
          the site of the old Cockpit at Whitehall; but the
          business was very ill done, which led Lord Brougham to
          bring in and carry his Act for the creation of the
          Judicial Committee in 1832--one of his best and most
          successful measures.]

He said the Duke of Richmond had done admirably in capturing the
incendiary who has been taken, and who they think will afford a
clue whereby they will discover the secret of all the burnings.
This man called himself Evans. They had information of his
exciting the peasantry, and sent a Bow Street officer after him.
He found out where he lived and captured him (having been
informed that he was not there by the inmates of the house), and
took him to the Duke, who had him searched. On his person were
found stock receipts for £800, of which £50 was left; and a
chemical receipt in a secret pocket for combustibles. He was
taken to prison, and will be brought up to town. Montrond was
very amusing--'You, Lord Brougham, when you mount your bag of
wool?'


November 23rd, 1830 {p.071}

[Page Head: COUNCIL OF THE NEW MINISTERS.]

Yesterday at Court; a great day, and very amusing. The old
Ministers came to give up their seals, and the new Ministers came
to take them. All the first were assembled at half-past one; saw
the King in his closet severally, and held their last Council to
swear in George Dawson a Privy Councillor. Each after his
audience departed, most of them never to return. As they went
away they met the others arriving. I was with the old set in the
Throne Room till they went away, and on opening the door and
looking into the other room I found it full of the others--Althorp,
Graham, Auckland, J. Russell, Durham, &c., faces that a
little while ago I should have had small expectation of finding
there. The effect was very droll, such a complete _changement de
décoration_. When the old Ministers were all off the business of
the day began. All the Cabinet was there--the new Master of the
Horse (Lord Albemarle), Lord Wellesley, his little eyes twinkling
with joy, and Brougham, in Chancellor's costume, but not yet a
Peer. The King sent for me into the closet to settle about their
being sworn in, and to ask what was to be done about Brougham,
whose patent was not come, and who wanted to go to the House of
Lords. These things settled, he held the Council, when twelve new
Privy Councillors were sworn in, three Secretaries of State,
Privy Seal, and the declarations made of President of Council and
Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. The King could not let slip the
opportunity of making a speech, so when I put into his hands the
paper declaring Lord Anglesey Lord-Lieutenant he was not content
to read it, but spoke nearly as follows:--'My Lords, it is a part
of the duty I have to perform to declare a Lord-Lieutenant of
Ireland, and although I certainly should have acquiesced in any
recommendation which might have been made to me for this
appointment by Earl Grey, I must say that I have peculiar
satisfaction in entrusting that most important charge to the
noble Lord, whom I therefore declare with entire satisfaction
Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. And, my Lords, I must say that this
day is since that of the death of my poor brother (here his voice
faltered and he looked or tried to look affected) the most
important which has occurred since the beginning of my reign, for
in the course of my long life it has never happened to me to see
so many appointments to be filled up as on this day; and when I
consider that it is only last Tuesday night that the force of
circumstances compelled those who were the confidential advisers
of the Crown to relinquish the situations which they held, and
that in this short space of time a new Government has been
formed, I cannot help considering such despatch as holding forth
the best hopes for the future, and proving the unanimity of my
Government; and, my Lords, I will take this opportunity of saying
that the noble Earl (Grey) and the other noble Lords and
gentlemen may be assured that they will receive from me the most
cordial, unceasing, and devoted support.' The expressions of
course are not exactly the same, but his speech was to this
purpose, only longer. Brougham kissed hands in the closet, and
afterwards in Council as Chancellor and Privy Councillor, and
then went off to the House of Lords.




                          CHAPTER XIII.

A Proclamation against Rioters--Appointments--Duke of Wellington
  in Hampshire--General Excitement--The Tory Party--State of
  Ireland--More Disturbances--Lord Grey's Colleagues--Election at
  Liverpool--The Black Book--The Duke of Wellington's Position
  and Character--A Council on a Capital Sentence--Brougham in the
  House of Lords--The Clerks of the Council--Lord Grey and Lord
  Lyndhurst--The Chancellor of Ireland--Lord Melbourne--Duke of
  Richmond--Sir James Graham--Lyndhurst Lord Chief Baron--Judge
  Allan Park--Lord Lyndhurst and the Whigs--Duke of Wellington
  and Polignac--The King and his Sons--Polish Revolution--
  Mechanics' Institute--Repeal of the Union--King Louis
  Philippe--Lord Anglesey and O'Connell--A Dinner at the
  Athenæum--Canning and George IV.--Formation of Canning's
  Government--Negotiation with Lord Melbourne--Count Walewski--
  Croker's Boswell--State of Ireland--Brougham and Sugden--Arrest
  of O'Connell--Colonel Napier and the Trades Unions--The Civil
  List--Hunt in the House of Commons--Southey's Letter to
  Brougham on Literary Honours--The Budget--O'Connell pleads
  guilty--Achille Murat--Weakness of the Government--Lady Jersey
  and Lord Durham--Lord Duncannon--Ireland--Wordsworth.


November 25th, 1830 {p.073}

The accounts from the country on the 23rd were so bad that a
Cabinet sat all the morning, and concerted a proclamation
offering large rewards for the discovery of offenders, rioters,
or burners. Half the Cabinet walked to St. James's, where I went
with the draft proclamation in my pocket, and we held a Council
in the King's room to approve it. I remember the last Council of
this sort we held was on Queen Caroline's business. She had
demanded to be heard by counsel in support of her asserted right
to be crowned, and the King ordered in Council that she should be
heard. We held the Council in his dressing-room at Carlton House;
he was in his bedgown, and we in our boots. This proclamation did
not receive the sign manual or the Great Seal and was not
engrossed till the next day, but was nevertheless published in
the 'Gazette.'

Yesterday the accounts were better. There was a levee and Council,
all the Ministers present but Palmerston and Holland. The King
made a discourse, and took occasion (about some Admiralty order)
to introduce the whole history of his early naval life, his first
going to sea and the instructions which George III. gave Admiral
Digby as to his treatment. All the old Ministers came to the levee
except the Duke of Wellington, who was in Hampshire to try his
influence as Lord-Lieutenant in putting down the riots. Anson as
Master of the Buckhounds was made a Privy Councillor, not usually
a Privy Councillor's place, but the King said he rather liked
increasing the number than not. Clanricarde has a Gold Stick, so
there is Canning's son-in-law in office under Lord Grey! There has
been a difficulty about the Master-General of the Ordnance, and a
little difference between Lord Grey and Lord Hill: when the Duke
of Richmond was withdrawn, Grey determined to appoint Sir W.
Gordon, but as Gordon would have to give up a permanent for a
temporary office, he bargained that he should have the Grand Cross
of the Bath. Lord Grey at the same time promised his brother Sir
Charles Grey a Grand Cross, but Lord Hill (who as Commander-in-Chief
has all the Crosses at his disposal) was offended at what he
considered a slight to him and went to the King to complain. It is
probable that Lord Grey knew nothing of the matter, and fancied
they were all recommended by himself. As the matter stands now,
Gordon's appointment is suspended. The only other difficulty is to
find a Secretary at War. Sandon is to have it, if they can make no
better arrangement. I had a long conversation with the Duke of
Richmond yesterday about refusing the salary of his office, and
entreated him to take it, for most people think his declining it
great nonsense. He alleged a great many bad reasons for declining,
but promised to consider the matter.

I am in a very disagreeable situation as regards my late
colleague's place. Lord Bathurst wrote a letter to Lord Lansdowne
stating that the King had approved of his son's appointment, and
that he had intended to reduce the salary of the office. Lord
Grey spoke to the King, and said that after what had passed in
both Houses he did not wish to do anything, but to leave the
office to be dealt with by a Committee of the House of Commons,
under whose consideration it would come. Lord Lansdowne said he
certainly should do nothing either, so that it remains to be seen
whether they will give me a colleague, a deputy, or nothing at
all.


November 28th, 1830 {p.075}

The Duke of Wellington, who as soon as he was out of office
repaired to Hants, and exerted himself as Lord-Lieutenant to
suppress the disorders, returned yesterday, having done much
good, and communicated largely with the Secretary of State. The
Government are full of compliments and respects to him, and the
Chancellor wrote him a letter entreating he would name any
gentleman to be added to the Special Commission which was going
down to the county over which he 'so happily presided.' He named
three.

[Page Head: DISTURBED STATE OF THE COUNTRY.]

There has been nothing new within these three days, but the alarm
is still very great, and the general agitation which pervades
men's minds unlike what I have ever seen. Reform, economy, echoed
backwards and forwards, the doubts, the hopes and the fears of
those who have anything to lose, the uncertainty of everybody's
future condition, the immense interests at stake, the magnitude
and imminence of the danger, all contribute to produce a nervous
excitement, which extends to all classes--to almost every
individual. Until the Ministers are re-elected nobody can tell
what will be done in Parliament, and Lord Grey himself has no
idea what sort of strength the Government will have in either
House; but there is a prevailing opinion that they ought to be
supported at this moment, although the Duke of Wellington and
Peel mean to keep their party together. Lyndhurst's resignation
with his colleagues (added to his not being invited to join this
Government) has restored him to the good graces of his party, for
Lord Bathurst told me had behaved very honourably. He means now
to set to work to gain character, and as he is about the ablest
public man going, and nearly the best speaker, he will yet bustle
himself into consideration and play a part once more. Peel,
Lyndhurst, and Hardinge are three capital men for the foundation
of a party--as men of business superior to any three in this
Cabinet. But I doubt if the Duke will ever be in a civil office
again, nor do I think the country would like to see him at the
head of a Government, unless it was one conducted in a very
different manner from the last. For the present deplorable state
of things, and for the effervescence of public opinion, which
threatens the overthrow of the constitution in trying to amend
it, Peel and the Duke are entirely responsible; and the former is
the less excusable because he might have known better, and if he
had gone long ago to the Duke, and laid before him the state of
public opinion, told him how irresistible it was, and had refused
to carry on the Government in the House of Commons with such a
crew as he had, the Duke must have given way. Notwithstanding the
great measures which have distinguished his Government, such as
Catholic Emancipation, and the repeal of the Test Acts, a
continual series of systematic blunders, an utter ignorance of,
and indifference to, public opinion, have rendered the first of
these great measures almost useless. Ireland is on the point of
becoming in a worse state than before the Catholic question was
settled; and why? Because, first of all, the settlement was put
off too long, and the fever of agitation would not subside, and
because it was accompanied by an insult to O'Connell, which he
has been resolved to revenge, and which he knows he can punish.
Then instead of depriving him of half his influence by paying the
priests, and so getting them under the influence of Government,
they neglected this, and followed up the omission by taxing
Ireland, and thus uniting the whole nation against us. What is
this but egregious presumption, blindness, ignorance, and want of
all political calculation and foresight? What remains now to be
done? Perhaps nothing, for the anti-Union question is spreading
far and wide with a velocity that is irresistible, and it is the
more dangerous because the desire for the repeal of the Union is
rather the offspring of imagination than of reason, and arises
from vague, excited hopes, not, like the former agitation, from
real wrongs, long and deeply felt. But common shifts and
expedients, partial measures, will not do now, and in the state
of the game a deep stake must be played or all will be lost. To
buy O'Connell at any price, pay the Catholic Church, establish
poor laws, encourage emigration, and repeal the obnoxious taxes
and obnoxious laws, are the only expedients which have a chance
of restoring order. It is easy to write these things, but perhaps
difficult to carry them into execution, but what we want is a
head to conceive and a heart to execute such measures as the
enormous difficulties of the times demand.


December 1st, 1830 {p.077}

[Page Head: THE RESULTS OF TORY GOVERNMENT.]

The last two or three days have produced no remarkable outrages,
and though the state of the country is still dreadful, it is
rather better on the whole than it was; but London is like the
capital of a country desolated by cruel war or foreign invasion,
and we are always looking for reports of battles, burnings, and
other disorders. Wherever there has been anything like fighting,
the mob has always been beaten, and has shown the greatest
cowardice. They do not, however, seem to have been actuated by a
very ferocious spirit; and considering the disorders of the
times, it is remarkable that they have not been more violent and
rapacious. Lord Craven, who is just of age, with three or four
more young Lords, his friends, defeated and dispersed them in
Hampshire. They broke into the Duke of Beaufort's house at
Heythrop, but he and his sons got them out without mischief, and
afterwards took some of them. On Monday as the field which had
been out with the King's hounds were returning to town, they were
summoned to assist in quelling a riot at Woburn, which they did;
the gentlemen charged and broke the people, and took some of
them, and fortunately some troops came up to secure the
prisoners. The alarm, however, still continues, and a feverish
anxiety about the future universally prevails, for no man can
foresee what course events will take, nor how his own individual
circumstances may be affected by them.

The Government in the meantime promises fair, and they begin by a
display of activity, in early attendance at their offices, and
unusual recommendation of diligence and economy. But Lord Grey's
Government is already carped at, and not without apparent reason.
The distribution of offices is in many instances bad; many of the
appointments were bad, and the number of his own family provided
for is severely criticised. There are of Lord Grey's family:
Howick, Under-Secretary; Ellice, Secretary of the Treasury;
Barrington, Lord of the Admiralty; Durham, Privy Seal; Wood,
Private Secretary (though he has no salary); and Lambton's
brother in the Household. Melbourne at the Home Office is
considered an inefficient successor to Peel, Graham too young and
not enough distinguished for the Admiralty; Poulett Thomson is
said to entertain the most Radical opinions; Althorp put him in.
There never was a more sudden rise than this; a young merchant,
after two or three years of Parliament and two or three speeches,
is made Vice-President of the Board of Trade, Treasurer of the
Navy, and a Privy Councillor. Then Althorp as Chancellor of the
Exchequer may be a good one, but nobody expects much from
anything that is already known about him. This constitution of
the Government has already done harm, and has stamped a character
of rapacity upon Lord Grey, which he will hear of in proper time;
but at this moment he has got all the press on his side, and
people are resolved to give him credit for good intentions.
Brougham has captivated the Archbishop of Canterbury by offering
to give livings to any deserving clergyman he would recommend to
him. I met him at dinner yesterday in the greatest spirits,
elated and not altered by his new dignity. He is full of projects
of reform in the administration of justice, and talks of
remodelling the Privy Council as a Court of Appeal, which would
be of great use.


December 2nd, 1830 {p.078}

[Page Head: LIVERPOOL ELECTION.]

Yesterday a levee and Council and Recorder's report. Clanricarde
and Robert Grosvenor[1] sworn in.

      [1] [Afterwards Lord Ebury.]

The Liverpool election, which is just over, was, considering the
present state of things, a remarkable contest. It is said to have
cost near £100,000 to the two parties, and to have exhibited a
scene of bribery and corruption perfectly unparalleled; no
concealment or even semblance of decency was observed; the price
of tallies and of votes rose, like stock, as the demand
increased, and single votes fetched from £15 to £100 apiece. They
voted by tallies; as each tally voted for one or the other
candidate they were furnished with a receipt for their votes,
with which they went to the committee, when through a hole in the
wall the receipt was handed in, and through another the
stipulated sum handed out; and this scene of iniquity has been
exhibited at a period when the cry for Reform is echoed from one
end of the country to the other, and in the case of a man
(Denison) who stood on the principle of Reform. Nobody yet knows
whence the money for Denison comes (the Ewarts are enormously
rich), but it will be still more remarkable if he should pay it
himself, when he is poor, careful of money, and was going to
India the other day in order to save £12,000 or £15,000. If
anybody had gone down at the eleventh hour and polled one good
vote, he would have beaten both candidates and disfranchised the
borough. As it is, it is probable the matter will be taken up and
the borough disfranchised. The right of voting is as bad as
possible in the freemen, who are the lowest rabble of the town
and, as it appears, a parcel of venal wretches. Here comes the
difficulty of Reform, for how is it possible to reform the
electors?


December 5th, 1830 {p.079}

The country is getting quieter, but though the immediate panic is
passing away men's minds are not the less disquieted as to our
future prospects. Not a soul knows what plan of Reform the
Ministers will propose, nor how far they are disposed to go. The
Duke of Devonshire has begun in his own person by announcing to
the Knaresborough people that he will never again interfere with
that borough. Then the Black Book, as it is called, in which all
places and pensions are exhibited, has struck terror into all who
are named and virtuous indignation into all who are not. Nothing
can be more _mal à propos_ than the appearance of this book at
such a season, when there is such discontent about our institutions
and such unceasing endeavours to bring them into contempt. The
history of the book is this:--Graham moved last year for a return
of all Privy Councillors who had more than £1,000 a year, and
Goulburn chose to give him a return of _all persons_ who had more
than £1,000 a year, because he thought the former return would be
invidious to Privy Councillors; so he caused that to be published,
which will remove no obloquy from those he meant to save, but draw
down a great deal on hundreds of others, and on the Government
under which such things exist. I speak feelingly, for 'quorum pars
magna sum.'

[Page Head: POLITICAL CHARACTER OF WELLINGTON.]

The Duke of Wellington gave a great dinner yesterday to all the
people who had gone out of office (about fifty), so that it is
clear they mean to keep together. Whether he looks forward to be
Prime Minister again it is impossible to say, but his real friends
would prefer his taking the command of the army, whatever his
fools and flatterers may do. Lord Lyndhurst, who loses everything
by the fall of the late Government, cannot get over it,
particularly as he feels that the Duke's obstinacy brought it
about, and that by timely concessions and good management he might
have had Lord Grey, Palmerston, and all that are worth having.
Peel, on the contrary, is delighted; he wants leisure, is glad to
get out of such a firm, and will have time to form his own plans
and avail himself of circumstances, which, according to every
probability, must turn out in his favour. His youth (for a public
man), experience, and real capacity for business will inevitably
make him Minister hereafter. The Duke of Wellington's fall,[2] if
the causes of it are dispassionately traced and considered,
affords a great political lesson. His is one of those mixed
characters which it is difficult to praise or blame without the
risk of doing them more or less than justice. He has talents which
the event has proved to be sufficient to make him the second (and,
now that Napoleon is gone, the first general) of the age, but
which could not make him a tolerable Minister. Confident,
presumptuous, and dictatorial, but frank, open, and good-humoured,
he contrived to rule in the Cabinet without mortifying his
colleagues, and he has brought it to ruin without forfeiting their
regard. Choosing with a very slender stock of knowledge to take
upon himself the sole direction of every department of Government,
he completely sank under the burden. Originally imbued with the
principles of Lord Castlereagh and the Holy Alliance, he brought
all those predilections with him into office. Incapable of
foreseeing the mighty events with which the future was big, and of
comprehending the prodigious alterations which the moral character
of Europe had undergone, he pitted himself against Canning in the
Cabinet, and stood up as the assertor of maxims both of foreign
and domestic policy which that great statesman saw were no longer
fitted for the times we live in. With a flexibility which was more
remarkably exhibited at subsequent periods, when he found that the
cause he advocated was lost, the Duke turned suddenly round, and
surrendered his opinions at discretion; but in his heart he never
forgave Mr. Canning, and from that time jealousy of him had a
material influence on his political conduct, and was the primary
motive of many of his subsequent resolutions. This flexibility has
been the cause of great benefits to the country, but ultimately of
his own downfall, for it has always proceeded from the pressure of
circumstances and considerations of convenience to himself, and
not from a rational adaptation of his opinions and conduct to the
necessities and variations of the times. He has not been
thoroughly true to any principle or any party; he contrived to
disgust and alienate his old friends and adherents without
conciliating or attaching those whose measures he at the eleventh
hour undertook to carry into execution. Through the whole course
of his political conduct selfish considerations have never been
out of sight. His opposition to Canning's Corn Bill was too gross
to admit of excuse. It was the old spite bursting forth, sharpened
by Canning's behaviour to him in forming his Administration,
which, if it was not contumelious, certainly was not courteous.
When at his death the Duke assumed the Government, his disclaiming
speech was thrown in his teeth, but without much justice, for such
expressions are never to be taken literally, and in the subsequent
quarrel with Huskisson, though it is probably true that he was
aiming at domination, he was persuaded that Huskisson and his
party were endeavouring to form a cabal in the Cabinet, and his
expulsion of them is not, therefore, altogether without excuse. On
the question of the Test Act it was evident he was guided by no
principle, probably by no opinion, and that he only thought of
turning it as best he might to his own advantage. Throughout the
Catholic question self was always apparent, not that he was
careless of the safety, or indifferent to the prosperity of the
country, but that he cared as much for his own credit and power,
and never considered the first except in their connection with the
second. The business of Emancipation he certainly conducted with
considerable judgment, boldly trusting to the baseness of many of
his old friends, and showing that he had not mistaken their
characters; exercising that habitual influence he had acquired
over the mind of the King; preserving impenetrable secresy; using
without scruple every artifice that could forward his object; and
contriving to make tools or dupes of all his colleagues and
adherents, and getting the whole merit to himself. From the
passing of the Catholic question his conduct has exhibited a
series of blunders which have at length terminated in his fall.
The position in which he then stood was this:--He had a Government
composed of men who were for the most part incompetent, but
perfectly subservient to him. He had a considerable body of
adherents in both Houses. The Whigs, whose support (enthusiastically
given) had carried him triumphantly through the great contest,
were willing to unite with him; the Tories, exasperated and
indignant, feeling insulted and betrayed, vowed nothing but
vengeance. Intoxicated with his victory, he was resolved to
neglect the Whigs, to whom he was so much indebted, and to regain
the affections of the Tories, whom he considered as his natural
supporters, and whom he thought identity of opinion and interest
would bring back to his standard. By all sorts of slights and
affronting insinuations that they wanted place, but that he could
do without them, he offended the Whigs, but none of his cajoleries
and advances had the least effect on the sulky Tories. It was in
vain that he endeavoured to adapt his foreign policy to their
worst prejudices by opposing with undeviating hostility that of
Mr. Canning (the great object of their detestation), and
disseminating throughout all Europe the belief of his attachment
to ultra-monarchical principles. He opposed the spirit of the age,
he brought England into contempt, but he did not conciliate the
Tories. Having succeeded in uniting two powerful parties (acting
separately) in opposition to his Government, and having nobody but
Peel to defend his measures in the House of Commons, and nobody in
the House of Lords, he manifested his sense of his own weakness by
overtures and negotiations, and evinced his obstinate tenacity of
power by never offering terms which could be accepted, or
extending his invitations to those whose authority he thought
might cope with his own. With his Government falling every day in
public opinion, and his enemies growing more numerous and
confident, with questions of vast importance rising up with a
vigour and celerity of growth which astonished the world, he met a
new Parliament (constituted more unfavourably than the last, which
he had found himself unable to manage) without any support but in
his own confidence and the encouraging adulation of a little knot
of devotees. There still lingered round him some of that
popularity which had once been so great, and which the recollection
of his victories would not suffer to be altogether extinguished.
By a judicious accommodation of his conduct to that public opinion
which was running with an uncontrollable tide, by a frank
invitation to all who were well disposed to strengthen his
Government, he might have raised those embers of popularity into a
flame once more, have saved himself, and still done good service
to the State; but it was decreed that he should fall. He appeared
bereft of all judgment and discretion, and after a King's Speech
which gave great, and I think unnecessary offence, he delivered
the famous philippic against Reform which sealed his fate. From
that moment it was not doubtful, and he was hurled from the seat
of power amidst universal acclamations.

      [2] [The following passage will no doubt be read with
          surprise, for in later years Mr. Greville became and
          remained one of the Duke's most steady admirers, and as
          he has himself stated in the memorandum written
          nineteen years afterwards, which is inserted at the end
          of it, the opinion he entertained of him at this time
          was unjust. But he at the same time decided 'to leave
          it as it is, because it is of the essence of these
          Memoirs not to soften or tone down judgments by the
          light of altered convictions, but to leave them
          standing as contemporary evidence of what was thought
          at the time they were written.' These are his own
          words.]

                *       *       *       *       *

        [Memorandum added by Mr. Greville in April 1850.]

    N.B.--I leave this as it is, though it is unjust to the
    Duke of Wellington; but such as my impressions were at
    the time they shall remain, to be corrected afterwards
    when necessary. It would be very wrong to impute
    _selfishness_ to him in the ordinary sense of the term.
    He coveted power, but he was perfectly disinterested, a
    great patriot if ever there was one, and he was always
    animated by a strong and abiding sense of duty. I have
    done him justice in other places, and there is after all
    a great deal of truth in what I have said here.

                *       *       *       *       *

[Page Head: AN ESCAPE FROM THE GALLOWS.]

December 12th, 1830 {p.084}

For the last few days the accounts from the country have been
better; there are disturbances in different parts, and alarms
given, but the mischief seems to be subsiding. The burnings go
on, and though they say that one or two incendiaries have been
taken up, nothing has yet been discovered likely to lead to the
detection of the system. I was at Court on Wednesday, when Kemp
and Foley were sworn in, the first for the Ordnance, the other
Gold Stick (the pensioners). He refused it for a long time, but
at last submitted to what he thought _infra dig_., because it was
to be sugared with the Lieutenancy of Worcestershire. There was
an Admiralty report,[3] at which the Chief Justice was not
present. The Chancellor and the Judge (Sir C. Robinson) were
there for the first time, and not a soul knew what was the form
or what ought to be done; they did, however, just as in the
Recorder's reports. Brougham leans to mercy, I see. But what a
curious sort of supplementary trial this is; how many accidents
may determine the life or death of the culprit. In one case in
this report which they were discussing (before the Council)
Brougham had _forgotten_ that the man was recommended to mercy,
but he told me that at the last Recorder's report there was a
great difference of opinion on one (a forgery case), when
Tenterden was for hanging the man and he for saving him; that he
had it put to the vote, and the man was saved. Little did the
criminal know when there was a change of Ministry that he owed
his life to it, for if Lyndhurst had been Chancellor he would
most assuredly have been hanged; not that Lyndhurst was
particularly severe or cruel, but he would have concurred with
the Chief Justice and have regarded the case solely in a judicial
point of view, whereas the mind of the other was probably biassed
by some theory about the crime of forgery or by some fancy of his
strange brain.

      [3] [The High Court of Admiralty had still a criminal
          jurisdiction, and the capital cases were submitted to
          the King in Council for approval.]

This was a curious case, as I have since heard. The man owes his
life to the curiosity of a woman of fashion, and then to another
feeling. Lady Burghersh and Lady Glengall wanted to hear St. John
Long's trial (the quack who had _man_-slaughtered Miss Cashir),
and they went to the Old Bailey for that purpose. Castlereagh and
somebody else, who of course were not up in time, were to have
attended them. They wanted an escort, and the only man in London
sure to be out of bed so early was the Master of the Rolls, so
they went and carried him off. When they got to the court there
was no St. John Long, but they thought they might as well stay
and hear whatever was going on. It chanced that a man was tried
for an atrocious case of forgery and breach of trust. He was
found guilty and sentence passed; but he was twenty-three and
good-looking. Lady Burghersh could not bear he should be hanged,
and she went to all the late Ministers and the Judges to beg him
off. Leach told her it was no use, that nothing could save that
man; and accordingly the old Government were obdurate, when out
they went. Off she went again and attacked all the new ones, who
in better humour, or of softer natures, suffered themselves to be
persuaded, and the wretch was saved. She went herself to Newgate
to see him, but I never heard if she had a private interview, and
if he was afforded an opportunity of expressing his gratitude
with all the fervour that the service she had done him demanded.

In the meantime the Government is going on what is called well--that
is, there is a great disposition to give them a fair trial.
All they have done and promise to do about economy gives
satisfaction, and Reform (the awful question) is still at a
distance. There has been, however, some sharp skirmishing in the
course of the week, and there is no want of bitterness and
watchfulness on the part of the old Government. In the Committee
which has been named to enquire into the salaries of the
Parliamentary offices they mean to leave the question in the
hands of the country gentlemen; but they do not think any great
reductions will be practicable, and as Baring is chairman it is
not probable that much will be done. They think Brougham speaks
too often in the House of Lords, but he has done very well there;
and on Friday he made a reply to Lord Stanhope, which was the
most beautiful piece of sarcasm and complete cutting-up (though
with very good humour) that ever was heard, and an exhibition to
the like of which the Lords have not been accustomed. The Duke of
Wellington made another imprudent speech, in which (in answer to
Lord Radnor, who attributed the state of the country to the late
Government) he said that it was attributable to the events of
July and August in other countries, and spoke of them in a way
which showed clearly his real opinion and feelings on the
subject.

[Page Head: THE CLERKS OF THE COUNCIL.]

After some delay Lord Lansdowne made up his mind to fill up the
vacancy in my office, and to give it to William Bathurst; but he
first spoke to the King, who said it was very true he had told
Lord Bathurst that his son should have it, but that he now left
the matter entirely to his decision, showing no anxiety to have
William Bathurst appointed. However, he has it, but reduced to
£1,200 a year. I was agreeably surprised yesterday by a
communication from Lord Lansdowne that he thought no alteration
could be made in my emoluments, and that he was quite prepared to
defend them if anybody attacked them. Still, though it is a very
good thing to be so supported, I don't consider myself safe from
Parliamentary assaults. In these times it will not do to be idle,
and I told Lord Lansdowne that I was anxious to keep my
emoluments, but ready to work for them, and proposed that we
Clerks of the Council should be called upon to act really at the
Board of Trade, as we are, in fact, bound to do; by which means
Lack's place when vacant need not be filled up, and a saving
would be made. My predecessors Cottrell and Fawkener always
acted, their successors Bailer and Chetwynd were incompetent, and
Lack, the Chancellor's Clerk, was made Assistant-Secretary, and
did the work. Huskisson and Hume, his director, made the business
a science; new Presidents and Vice-Presidents succeeded one
another in different Ministerial revolutions; they and Lack were
incompetent, and Hume was made Assistant-Secretary, and it is he
who advises, directs, legislates. I believe he is one of the
ablest practical men who have ever served, more like an American
statesman than an English official. I am anxious to begin my
Trade education under him.

Parliament is going to adjourn directly for three or four weeks,
to give the Ministers time to make their arrangements and get rid
of the load of business which besets them; although there is
every disposition to give them credit for good intentions, and to
let them have a fair trial, there are not wanting causes of
discontent in many quarters.

[Page Head: LORD GREY AND LORD LYNDHURST.]

All the Russells are dissatisfied that Lord John has not a seat
in the Cabinet, and that Graham should be preferred to him, and
the more so because they know or believe that his preference is
owing to Lambton, who does what he likes with Lord Grey. My mind
has always misgiven me about Lord Grey, and what I have lately
heard of him satisfies me that a more overrated man never lived,
or one whose speaking was so far above his general abilities, or
who owed so much to his oratorical plausibility. His tall,
commanding, and dignified appearance, his flow of language,
graceful action, well rounded periods, and an exhibition of
classical taste united with legal knowledge, render him the most
finished orator of his day; but his conduct has shown him to be
influenced by pride, still more by vanity, personal antipathies,
caprice, indecision, and a thousand weaknesses generated by these
passions and defects. Anybody who is constantly with him and who
can avail themselves of his vanity can govern him. There was a
time when Sir Robert Wilson was his 'magnus Apollo' (and
Codrington), till they quarrelled. Now Lambton is all in all with
him. Lambton dislikes the Russells, and hence Lord John's
exclusion and the preference of Graham. Everybody remembers how
Lord Grey refused to lead the Whig party when Canning formed his
junction with the Whigs, and declared that he abdicated in favour
of Lord Lansdowne; and then how he came and made that violent
speech against Canning which half killed him with vexation, and
in consequence of which he meant to have moved into the House of
Lords for the express purpose of attacking Lord Grey. Then when
he had quarrelled with his old Whig friends he began to approach
the Tories, the object of his constant aversion and contempt; and
we knew what civilities passed between the Bathursts and him, and
what political coquetries between him and the Duke of Wellington,
and how he believed that it was only George IV. who prevented his
being invited by the Duke to join him. Then George IV. dies, King
William succeeds; no invitation to Lord Grey, and he plunges into
furious opposition to the Duke.

About three years ago the Chancellor, Lyndhurst, was the man in
the world he abhorred the most; and it was about this time that I
well recollect one night at Madame de Lieven's I introduced Lord
Grey to Lady Lyndhurst. We had dined together somewhere, and he
had been praising her beauty; so when we all met there I presented
him, and very soon all his antipathies ceased and he and Lyndhurst
became great friends. This was the cause of Lady Lyndhurst's
partiality for the Whigs, which enraged the Tory ladies and some
of their lords so much, but which served her turn and enabled her
to keep two hot irons in the fire. When the Duke went out Lord
Grey was very anxious to keep Lyndhurst as his Chancellor, and
would have done so if it had not been for Brougham, who, whirling
Reform _in terrorem_ over his head, announced to him that it must
not be. Reluctantly enough Grey was obliged to give way, for he
saw that with Brougham in the House of Commons, against him he
could not stand for five minutes, and that the only alternative
was to put Brougham on the Woolsack. Hence his delay in sending
for Brougham, the latter's speech and subsequent acceptance of the
Great Seal. Grey, however, was still anxious to serve Lyndhurst,
and to neutralise his opposition has now proposed to him to be
Chief Baron. This is tempting to a necessitous and ambitious man.
On the other hand he had a good game before him, if he had played
it well, and that was to regain character, exhibit his great and
general powers, and be ready to avail himself of the course of
events; but he has made his bargain and pocketed his pride. He
takes the judicial office upon an understanding that he is to have
no political connection with the Government (though of course he
will not oppose them), and that he is to be Chief Justice on
Tenterden's death or retirement. This is the secret article of the
treaty, and altogether he has not done amiss; for there are so few
Chancellors in the field that he will probably (if he chooses)
return to the Woolsack in the event of a change of Government, and
he is now in a position in which he may join either party, and
that without any _additional_ loss of character. The public will
gain by the transaction, because they will get a good judge.

In Ireland the Government have made a change (the motives of
which are not apparent) which will be very unpopular, and
infallibly get them into trouble in various ways. They have
removed Hart and made Plunket Chancellor. Hart was very popular
with the Bar; he was slow, but had introduced order and
regularity in the proceedings of the Court. There were no arrears
and no appeals. Plunket is unpopular, and was a bad judge in the
Common Pleas, and will probably make a worse Chancellor; he is
rash, hasty, and imprudent, and it is the more extraordinary as
Hart was affronted by Goderich and went with Anglesey, so upon
the score of confidence (on which they put it) there is in fact
not a pretext for it.

[Page Head: SIR JAMES GRAHAM.]

As yet not much can be known of the efficiency of the rest of the
Ministers. The only one who has had anything to do is Melbourne,
and he has surprised all those about him by a sudden display of
activity and vigour, rapid and diligent transaction of business,
for which nobody was prepared, and which will prove a great
mortification to Peel and his friends, who were in hopes he would
do nothing and let the country be burnt and plundered without
interruption. The Duke of Richmond has plunged neck-deep in
politics, and says he is delighted with it all, and with Lord
Grey's candour and unassuming bearing in the Cabinet. He is
evidently piqued that none of his party have followed him, and
made a speech in the House of Lords the other night expressing
his readiness to defend his having taken office, when nobody
attacked him. Knowing him as I do, and the exact extent of his
capacity, I fancy he must feel rather small by the side of Lord
Grey and Brougham. Graham's elevation is the most monstrous of
all. He was once my friend, a college intimacy revived in the
world, and which lasted six months, when, thinking he could do
better, he cut me, as he had done others before. I am not a fair
judge of him, because the pique which his conduct to me naturally
gave me would induce me to underrate him, but I take vanity and
self-sufficiency to be the prominent features of his character,
though of the extent of his capacity I will give no opinion. Let
time show; I think he will fail. [Time did show it to be very
considerable, and the _volvenda dies_ brought back our former
friendship, as will hereafter appear; he certainly did _not
fail_.]

He came into Parliament ten years ago, spoke and failed. He had
been a provincial hero, the Cicero and the Romeo of Yorkshire and
Cumberland, a present Lovelace and a future Pitt. He was
disappointed in love (the particulars are of no consequence),
married and retired to digest his mortifications of various
kinds, to become a country gentleman, patriot, reformer,
financier, and what not, always good-looking (he had been very
handsome), pleasing, intelligent, cultivated, agreeable as a man
can be who is not witty and who is rather pompous and slow, after
many years of retirement, in the course of which he gave to the
world his lucubrations on corn and currency. Time and the hour
made him master of a large but encumbered estate and member for
his county. Armed with the importance of representing a great
constituency, he started again in the House of Commons; took up
Joseph Hume's line, but ornamented it with graces and flourishes
which had not usually decorated such dry topics. He succeeded,
and in that line is now the best speaker in the House. I have no
doubt he has studied his subjects and practised himself in public
speaking. Years and years ago I remember his delight on Hume's
comparison between Demosthenes and Cicero, and how he knew the
passage by heart; but it is one thing to attack strong abuses and
fire off well-rounded set phrases, another to administer the
naval affairs of the country and be ready to tilt against all
comers, as he must do for the future.[4] Palmerston is said to
have given the greatest satisfaction to the foreign Ministers,
and to have begun very well. So much for the Ministers.

      [4] [This opinion of Sir James Graham is the more curious
          as he afterwards became one of Mr. Greville's
          confidential friends, and rose to the first rank of
          oratory and authority in the House of Commons. As
          Secretary of State for the Home Department in the great
          Administration of Sir Robert Peel he showed
          administrative ability of the highest order, and he
          was, perhaps, the most trusted colleague of that
          illustrious chief. The principal failing of Sir James
          Graham was, in truth, that he was not so brave and bold
          a man as he looked.]


December 14th, 1830 {p.091}

[Page Head: LORD LYNDHURST AND THE WHIGS.]

There is a delay in Lyndhurst's appointment, if it takes place at
all. Alexander[5] now will not resign, though he himself proposed
to do so in the first instance. His physician signed a certificate
to say that if he went on this Committee it would cost him his
life; some difficulty about the pension is the cause, or the
peerage that he wants. He is seventy-six and very rich, a wretched
judge, and never knew anything of Common Law. If it is not
arranged, it will be a bad business for Lyndhurst, for the Duke
and his friends are grievously annoyed at his taking the office,
having counted on him as their great champion in the House of
Lords. Mrs. Arbuthnot told me the other night that they considered
themselves released from all obligations to him for the future.
However, they have not at all quarrelled, and they knew his
deplorable state in point of money. Dined yesterday at Agar
Ellis's with eighteen people. Brougham in great force and very
agreeable, and told some stories of Judge Allan Park, who is a
most ridiculous man, and yet a good lawyer, a good judge, and was
a most eminent counsel.

      [5] [The Chief Baron.]

Park is extraordinarily ridiculous. He is a physiognomist, and is
captivated by pleasant looks. In a certain cause, in which a boy
brought an action for defamation against his schoolmaster,
Campbell, his counsel, asked the solicitor if the boy was
good-looking. 'Very.' 'Oh, then, have him in court; we shall get
a verdict.' And so he did. His eyes are always wandering about,
watching and noticing everything and everybody. One day there was
a dog in court making a disturbance, on which he said, 'Take away
that dog.' The officers went to remove another dog, when he
interposed. 'No, not that dog. I have had my eye on that dog the
whole day, and I will say that a better behaved little dog I
never saw in a court of justice.'

One of Brougham's best speeches was one of his last at the Bar,
made in moving for a new trial on the ground of misdirection in a
great cause (Tatham and Wright) about a will. He said that on
that occasion Park did what he thought no man's physical powers
were equal to; he spoke in summing up for eleven hours and a
half, and was as fresh at the end as at the beginning; the trial
lasted eight days. This same evening Lord Grosvenor, who is by
way of being a friend to Government, made an _amicable_ attack
upon everything, and talked nonsense. Lord Grey answered him, and
defended his own family appointments in a very good speech.


December 15th, 1830 {p.093}

Dined yesterday with Lord Dudley; sat next to Lady Lyndhurst, and
had a great deal of talk about politics. She said that the Duke
never consulted or communicated with the Chancellor, who never
heard of his overtures to Palmerston till Madame de Lieven told
him; that he had repeatedly remonstrated with the Duke upon going
on in his weakness, and on one occasion had gone to Walmer on
purpose (leaving her behind that he might talk more freely) to
urge him to take in Lord Grey and some of that party, but he would
not; said he had tried to settle with them, and it would not do;
had tried individuals and had tried the party. Up to a very late
period it appears that Lord Grey would have joined him, and
Lambton came to her repeatedly to try and arrange something; but
this answer of the Duke's put it out of the question. Then after
Lord Grey made his hostile speech it seems as if the Duke wanted
to get him, for one day Jersey made an appointment with Lady
Lyndhurst, never having called upon her in his life before, came,
and entreated her to try and bring about an accommodation with
Lord Grey, not making use of the Duke's name, but saying he and
Lady Jersey were so unhappy that the Duke and Lord Grey should not
be on good terms, and were so anxious for the junction; but it was
too late then, and the Lyndhursts themselves had something else to
look to. They both knew very well that Brougham alone prevented
his remaining on the Woolsack, still they have very wisely not
quarrelled with him. After dinner I took Lyndhurst to Lady Dudley
Stuart's, and had some more talk with him. He thinks, as I do,
that this Government does not promise to be strong. What passed in
the House of Commons the other night exhibited deplorable weakness
and the necessity of depending upon the caprices of hundreds of
loose votes, without anything like a party with which they could
venture to oppose popular doctrines or measures. He thinks that
Peel must be Minister if there is not a revolution, and that the
Duke's being Prime Minister again is out of the question; says he
_knows_ Peel would never consent to act with him again in the same
capacity, that all the Duke's little cabinet (the women and the
toad-eaters) hate Peel, and that there never was any real
cordiality between them. Everything confirms my belief that Peel,
if he did not bring about the dissolution of the late Ministry by
any overt act, saw to what things were tending, and saw it with
satisfaction.


December 16th, 1830 {p.094}

At Court yesterday; William Bathurst sworn in. All the Ministers
were there, and the Duke of Wellington at the levee looking out
of sorts. Dined at the Lievens'; Lady Cowper told me that in the
summer the Duke had not made a _direct_ offer to Melbourne, but
what was tantamount to it. He had desired somebody (she did not
say who) to speak to Frederick,[6] and said he would call on him
himself the next day. Something, however, prevented him, and she
did not say whether he did call or not afterwards. He denied ever
having made any overture at all. To Palmerston he proposed the
choice of four places, and she thinks he would have taken in
Huskisson if the latter had lived. He would have done nothing but
on compulsion; that is clear. It is very true (what they say Peel
said of him) that no _man_ ever had any influence with him, only
_women_, and those always the silliest. But who are Peel's
confidants, friends, and parasites? Bonham, a stock-jobbing
ex-merchant; Charles Ross, and the refuse of society of the House
of Commons.

      [6] [Sir Frederick Lamb.]

Lamb told me afterwards, talking of the Duke and Polignac, that
Sébastiani had told him that Hyde de Neuville (who was Minister
at the time Polignac went over from here on his first short
visit, before he became Minister) said that upon that occasion
Polignac took over a letter from the Duke to the King of France,
in which he said that the Chambers and the democratical spirit
required to be curbed, that he advised him to lose no time in
restraining them, and that he referred him to M. de Polignac for
his opinion generally, who was in possession of his entire
confidence. I think this _may_ be true, never having doubted that
these were his real sentiments, whether he expressed them or not.

[Page Head: THE KING AND HIS SONS.]

There has been a desperate quarrel between the King and his sons.
George Fitzclarence wanted to be made a Peer and have a pension;
the King said he could not do it, so they struck work in a body,
and George resigned his office of Deputy Adjutant-General and
wrote the King a furious letter. The King sent for Lord Hill, and
told him to try and bring him to his senses; but Lord Hill could
do nothing, and then he sent for Brougham to talk to him about
it. It is not yet made up, but one of them (Frederick, I believe)
dined at the dinner the King gave the day before yesterday. They
want to renew the days of Charles II., instead of waiting
patiently and letting the King do what he can for them, and as he
can.

The affair at Warsaw seems to have begun with a conspiracy
against Constantine, and four of the generals who were killed
perished in his anteroom in defending him. With the smallest
beginnings, however, nothing is more probable than a general
rising in Poland; and what between that, Belgians, and Piedmont,
which is threatened with a revolution, the Continent is in a
promising state. I agree with Lamb, who says that such an
_imbroglio_ as this cannot be got right without a war; such a
flame can only be quenched by blood.


December 19th, 1830 {p.095}

The week has closed without much gain to the new Government. On
the debate in the House of Commons about the Evesham election
they did not dare go to a division, as they would certainly have
been beaten, but Peel made a speech which was very good in
itself, and received in a way which proved that he has more
consideration out of office than any of the Ministers, and much
more than he ever had when he was in. Men are looking more and
more to him, and if there is not a revolution he will assuredly
be Prime Minister. The Government is fully aware how little
strength they have, so they have taken a new line, and affect to
carry on the Government without Parliamentary influence, and to
throw themselves and their measures upon the impartial judgment
of the House. Sefton informed me the other night that they had
resolved not to take upon themselves the responsibility of
proposing any renewal of the Civil List, but to refer the whole
question to Parliament. I told him that I thought such conduct
equally foolish and unjust, and that it amounted to an abdication
of their Ministerial functions, and a surrender of them into the
hands of the Legislative power; in itself amounting to a
revolution not of dynasty and institutions, but of system of
Government in this country. He is the _âme damnée_ of Lord Grey,
and defends everything of course.

O'Connell is gone rabid to Ireland, having refused a silk gown
and resolved to pull down Lord Anglesey's popularity. Shiel
writes word that they have resolved _not_ to give Lord Anglesey a
public reception, and to propose an ovation for O'Connell. The
law appointments there, made without any adequate reason, have
been ingeniously contrived so as to disgust every party in
Ireland, and to do, or promise to do, in their ultimate results
as much harm as possible. So much for the only act that the
Ministers have yet performed.

I had some conversation with Lyndhurst yesterday, who thinks the
way is already preparing for Peel's return to office, and that he
must be Prime Minister. I told him that I thought Peel had a fine
game to play, but that his own was just as good, as Peel could do
nothing without him in the other House; to which he replied that
they should have no difficulty, and could make a Government if
the Duke of Wellington did not interpose his claims and aspire
again to be at the head; to which I said that they must not
listen to it, as the country would not bear it; he said he was
afraid the Duke's own set and his women were encouraging him in
such views. Now that it is all over his own Cabinet admit as
freely as anybody his Ministerial despotism. Lyndhurst partakes
of the general alarm at the state of affairs, and of the
astonishment which I and others feel at the apathy of those who
are most interested in averting the impending danger. Yesterday
Mr. Stapleton (Canning's late private secretary) called on me to
discuss this subject, and the propriety and feasibility of
setting up some dyke to arrest the torrent of innovation and
revolution that is bursting in on every side. All the press
almost is silenced, or united on the other side. 'John Bull'
alone fights the battle, but 'John Bull' defends so many
indefensible things that its advocacy is not worth much. An
anti-Radical upon the plan of the Anti-Jacobin might be of some
use, provided it was well sustained. I wrote a letter yesterday
to Barnes,[7] remonstrating upon the general tone of the 'Times,'
and inviting him to adopt some Conservative principles in the
midst of his zeal for Reform. Stanley told me that his election
(at Preston) was lost by the stupidity or ill-will of the
returning officer, who managed the booths in such a way that
Hunt's voters were enabled to vote over and over at different
booths, and that he had no doubt of reducing his majority on a
scrutiny.

      [7] [Mr. Barnes was then editor of the 'Times' newspaper,
          and retained that position till his death in 1841. Mr.
          Greville was well acquainted with him, and had a high
          opinion of his talents, character, and influence.]


December 22nd, 1830 {p.097}

[Page Head: BISHOP OF EXETER AND LORD MELBOURNE.]

Dudley showed me Phillpotts' (Bishop of Exeter) correspondence
with Melbourne and minutes of conversation on the subject of the
commendam of the living of Stanhope; trimming letters. The Bishop
made proposals to the Government which they rejected, and at
last, after writing one of the ablest letters I ever read, in
which he exposed their former conduct and present motives, he
said that as the Ministers had thought fit to exert the power
they had over him, he should show them that he had some over
them, and appeal to public opinion to decide between them. On
this they gave way, and agreed to an arrangement which, if not
satisfactory to him, will leave him as to income not much worse
off than he was before.


December 23rd, 1830 {p.097}

Last night to Wilmot Horton's second lecture at the Mechanics'
Institute; I could not go to the first. He deserves great credit
for his exertions, the object of which is to explain to the
labouring classes some of the truths of political economy, the
folly of thinking that the breaking of machinery will better
their condition, and of course the efficacy of his own plan of
emigration. The company was respectable enough, and they heard
him with great attention. He is full of zeal and animation, but
so totally without method and arrangement that he is hardly
intelligible. The conclusion, which was an attack on Cobbett, was
well done and even eloquent. There were a good many women, and
several wise men, such as Dr. Birkbeck, M'Culloch, and Owen of
Lanark.

[Page Head: LORD ANGLESEY AND O'CONNELL.]

O'Connell had a triumphant entry into Dublin, and advised that no
honours should be shown to Lord Anglesey. They had an interview
of two hours in London, when Lord Anglesey asked him what he
intended to do. He said, 'Strive _totis viribus_ to effect a
repeal of the Union;' when Lord Anglesey told him that he feared
he should then be obliged to govern Ireland by force, so that
they are at daggers drawn. There is not a doubt that Repeal is
making rapid advances. Moore[8] told me that he had seen
extraordinary signs of it, and that men of the middle classes,
intelligent and well educated, wished for it, though they knew
the disadvantages that would attend a severance of their
connection with England. He said that he could understand it, for
as an Irishman he felt it himself.

      [8] [Thomas Moore, the poet.]


Roehampton, December 26th, 1830 {p.098}

At Lord Clifden's; Luttrell, Byng, and Dudley; the latter very
mad, did nothing but soliloquise, walk about, munch, and rail at
Reform of every kind. Lord Anglesey has entered Dublin amidst
silence and indifference, all produced by O'Connell's orders,
whose entry was greeted by the acclamations of thousands, and his
speeches then and since have been more violent than ever. His
authority and popularity are unabated, and he is employing them
to do all the mischief he can, his first object being to make
friends of the Orangemen, to whom he affects to humble himself,
and he has on all public occasions caused the orange ribband to
be joined with the green.

We had a meeting at the Council Office on Friday to order a
prayer 'on account of the troubled state of certain parts of the
United Kingdom'--great nonsense.

The King of the French has put an end to the disturbances of
Paris about the sentence on the ex-Ministers by a gallant _coup
d'état_. At night, when the streets were most crowded and
agitated, he sallied from the Palais Royal on horseback, with his
son, the Duc de Nemours, and his personal _cortége_, and paraded
through Paris for two hours. This did the business; he was
received with shouts of applause, and at once reduced everything
to tranquillity. He deserves his throne for this, and will
probably keep it.


December 30th, 1830 {p.099}

Notwithstanding the conduct of King Louis Philippe, and the happy
termination of the disorders and tumults at Paris last week, the
greatest alarm still prevails about the excitement in that place.
In consequence of the Chamber of Deputies having passed some
resolutions altering the constitution of the National Guard, and
voting the post of Commandant-General unnecessary, Lafayette
resigned and has been replaced by Lobau. I never remember times
like these, nor read of such--the terror and lively expectation
which prevail, and the way in which people's minds are turned
backwards and forwards from France to Ireland, then range
excursively to Poland or Piedmont, and fix again on the burnings,
riots, and executions here.

Lord Anglesey's entry into Dublin turned out not to have been so
mortifying to him as was at first reported. He was attended by a
great number of people, and by all the most eminent and
respectable in Dublin, so much so that he was very well pleased,
and found it better than he expected. War broke out between him
and O'Connell without loss of time. O'Connell had intended to
have a procession of the trades, and a notice from him was to
have been published and stuck over the door of every chapel and
public place in Dublin. Anglesey issued his proclamation, and
half an hour before the time when O'Connell's notice was to
appear had it pasted up, and one copy laid on O'Connell's
breakfast table, at which anticipation he chuckled mightily.
O'Connell instantly issued a handbill desiring the people to
obey, as if the order of the Lord-Lieutenant was to derive its
authority from his permission, and he afterwards made an able
speech. Since the beginning of the world there never was so
extraordinary and so eccentric a position as his. It is a moral
power and influence as great in its way, and as strangely
acquired, as Bonaparte's political power was. Utterly lost to all
sense of shame and decency, trampling truth and honour under his
feet, cast off by all respectable men, he makes his faults and
his vices subservient to the extension of his influence, for he
says and does whatever suits his purpose for the moment, secure
that no detection or subsequent exposure will have the slightest
effect with those over whose minds and passions he rules with
such despotic sway. He cares not whom he insults, because, having
covered his cowardice with the cloak of religious scruples, he is
invulnerable, and will resent no retaliation that can be offered
him. He has chalked out to himself a course of ambition which,
though not of the highest kind--if the _consentiens laus bonorum_
is indispensable to the aspirations of noble minds--has
everything in it that can charm a somewhat vulgar but highly
active, restless, and imaginative being; and nobody can deny to
him the praise of inimitable dexterity, versatility, and even
prudence in the employment of the means which he makes conducive
to his ends. He is thoroughly acquainted with the audiences which
he addresses and the people upon whom he practises, and he
operates upon their passions with the precision of a dexterous
anatomist who knows the direction of every muscle and fibre of
the human frame. After having been throughout the Catholic
question the furious enemy of the Orangemen, upon whom he
lavished incessant and unmeasured abuse, he has suddenly turned
round, and inviting them to join him on the Repeal question, has
not only offered them a fraternal embrace and has humbled himself
to the dust in apologies and demands for pardon, but he has
entirely and at once succeeded, and he is now as popular or more
so with the Protestants (or rather Orangemen) as he was before
with the Catholics, and Crampton writes word that the lower order
of Protestants are with him to a man.

                *       *       *       *       *

                              1831.


January 2nd, 1831 {p.101}

[Page Head: A DINNER AT THE ATHENÆUM.]

Came up to town yesterday to dine with the Villiers at a dinner
of clever men, got up at the Athenæum, and was extremely bored.
The original party was broken up by various excuses, and the
vacancies supplied by men none of whom I knew. There were Poulett
Thomson, three Villiers, Taylor, Young, whom I knew; the rest I
never saw before--Buller, Romilly, Senior, Maule,[9] a man whose
name I forget, and Walker, a police magistrate, all men of more
or less talent and information, and altogether producing anything
but an agreeable party. Maule was senior wrangler and senior
medallist at Cambridge, and is a lawyer. He was nephew to the man
with whom I was at school thirty years ago, and I had never seen
him since; he was then a very clever boy, and assisted to teach
the boys, being admirably well taught himself by his uncle, who
was an excellent scholar and a great brute. I have young Maule
now in my mind's eye suspended by the hair of his head while
being well caned, and recollect as if it was yesterday his
doggedly drumming a lesson of Terence into my dull and reluctant
brain as we walked up and down the garden walk before the house.
When I was introduced to him I had no recollection of him, but
when I found out who he was I went up to him with the blandest
manner as he sat reading a newspaper, and said that 'I believed
we had once been well acquainted, though we had not met for
twenty-seven years.' He looked up and said, 'Oh, it is too long
ago to talk about,' and then turned back to his paper. So I set
him down for a brute like his uncle and troubled him no further.
I am very sure that dinners of all fools have as good a chance of
being agreeable as dinners of all clever people; at least the
former are often gay, and the latter are frequently heavy.
Nonsense and folly gilded over with good breeding and _les usages
du monde_ produce often more agreeable results than a collection
of rude, awkward intellectual powers.

      [9] [Afterwards Mr. Justice Maule.]


Roehampton, January 4th, 1831 {p.101}

Called on Lady Canning this morning, who wanted me to read some
of her papers. Most of them (which are very curious) I had seen
before, but forgotten. I read the long minute of Canning's
conversation with the King ten days before his Majesty put the
formation of the Administration in his hands. They both appear to
have been explicit enough. The King went through his whole life,
and talked for two hours and a half, particularly about the
Catholic question, on which he said he had always entertained the
same opinions--the same as those of George III. and the Duke of
York--and that with the speech of the latter he entirely
concurred, except in the 'so help me God' at the end, which he
thought unnecessary. He said _he_ had wished the Coronation Oath
to be altered, and had proposed it to Lord Liverpool. His great
anxiety was not to be annoyed with the discussion of the
question, to keep Canning and Lord Liverpool's colleagues, and to
put at the head of the Treasury some anti-Catholic Peer. This
Canning would not hear of; he said that having lost Lord
Liverpool he had lost his only support in the Cabinet, that the
King knew how he had been thwarted by others, and how impossible
it would have been for him to go on but for Lord Liverpool, that
he could not serve _under_ anybody else, or act with efficacy
except as First Minister, that he would not afford in his person
an example of any such rule as that support of the Catholic
question was to be _ipso facto_ an exclusion from the chief
office of the Government, that he advised the King to try and
make an anti-Catholic Ministry, and thought that with his
feelings and opinions on the subject it was what he ought to do.
This the King said was out of the question. In the course of the
discussion Canning said that if he continued in his service he
must continue as free as he had been before; that desirous as he
was to contribute to the King's ease and comfort, he could not in
any way pledge himself on the subject, because he should be
assuredly questioned in the House of Commons, and he must have it
in his power to reply that he was perfectly free to act on that
question as he had ever done, and that he thought the King would
better consult his own ease by retaining him in office without
any pledge, relying on his desire above all things to consult his
Majesty's ease and comfort. He said among other things that,
though leader of the House of Commons, he had never had any
patronage placed at his disposal, nor a single place to give
away.

[Page Head: THE DUKE AND MR. CANNING.]

About the time of this conversation Canning was out of humour with
the Duke of Wellington, for he had heard that many of the
adherents of Government who pretended to be attached to the Duke
had spoken of him (Canning) in the most violent and abusive terms.
In their opinions he conceived the Duke to be to a certain degree
implicated, and this produced some coldness in his manner towards
him. Shortly after Arbuthnot came to him, complained first and
explained after, and said the Duke would call upon him. The Duke
did call, and in a conversation of two hours Canning told him all
that had passed between himself and the King, thereby putting the
Duke, as he supposed, in complete possession of his sentiments as
to the reconstruction of the Government. A few days after Mr.
Canning was charged by the King to lay before him the plan of an
Administration, and upon this he wrote the letter to his former
colleagues which produced so much discussion. I read the letters
to the Duke, Bathurst, Melville, and Bexley, and I must say that
the one to the Duke was rather the stiffest of the whole,[10]
though it was not so cold as the Duke chose to consider it. Then
came his letter to the Duke on his speech, and the Duke's answer.
When I read these last year I thought the Duke had much the best
of it; but I must alter this opinion if it be true that he knew
Mr. Canning's opinions, as it is stated that he did entirely,
after their long interview, at which the conversation with the
King was communicated to him. That materially alters the case.
There was a letter from Peel declining, entirely on the ground of
objecting to a pro-Catholic Premier, and on the impossibility of
his administering Ireland with the First Lord of the Treasury of a
different opinion on that subject from his own. There was likewise
a curious correspondence relative to a paper written by the Duke
of York during his last illness, and not very long before his
death, to Lord Liverpool on the dangers of the country from the
progress of the Catholic question, the object of which (though it
was vaguely expressed) was to turn out the Catholic members and
form a Protestant Government for the purpose of crushing the
Catholic interest. This Lord Liverpool communicated (privately) to
Canning, and it was afterwards communicated to the King, who
appears (the answer was not there) to have given the Duke of York
a rap on the knuckles, for there is a reply of the Duke's to the
King, full of devotion, zeal, and affection to his person, and
disclaiming any intention of breaking up the Government, an idea
which could have arisen only from misconception of the meaning of
his letter by Lord Liverpool. It is very clear, however, that he
did mean that, for his letter could have meant nothing else. The
whole thing is curious, for he was aware that he was dying, and he
says so.

     [10] [This correspondence is now published in the third
          volume of the Duke's 'Correspondence,' New Series, p.
          628.]


January 12th, 1831 {p.104}

Passed two days at Panshanger, but my room was so cold that I
could not sit in it to write. Nobody there but F. Lamb and J.
Russell. Lady Cowper told me what had passed relative to the
negotiation with Melbourne last year, and which the Duke or his
friends denied. The person who was employed (and whom she did not
name) told F. Lamb that the Duke would take in Melbourne and two
others (I am not sure it was not three), but not Huskisson. He
said that it would be fairer at once to say that those terms
would not be accepted, and to save him therefore from offering
them, that Melbourne would not be satisfied with any Government
which did not include Huskisson and Lord Grey, and that upon this
answer the matter dropped. I don't think the Duke can be blamed
for answering to anybody who chose to ask him any questions on
the subject that he had _made no offer_; it was the truth, though
not the whole truth, and a Minister must have some shelter
against impertinent questioners, or he would be at their mercy.
An Envoy is come here from the Poles,[11] who brought a letter
from Prince Czartoryski to Lord Grey, who has not seen him, and
whose arrival has naturally given umbrage to the Lievens.

     [11] [This Envoy was Count Alexander Walewski, a natural son
          of the Emperor Napoleon, who afterwards played a
          considerable part in the affairs of France and of
          Europe, especially under the Second Empire. During his
          residence in London in 1831 he married Lady Caroline
          Montagu, a daughter of the Earl of Sandwich, but she
          did not live long. I remember calling upon him in St.
          James's Place, and seeing cards of invitation for Lady
          Grey's assemblies stuck in his glass. The fact is he
          was wonderfully handsome and agreeable, and soon became
          popular in London society.]


January 19th, 1831 {p.105}

To Roehampton on Saturday till Monday, having been at the Grove
on Friday. George Villiers at the Grove showed me a Dublin paper
with an attack on Stanley's proclamation, and also a character of
Plunket drawn with great severity and by a masterly hand; it is
supposed to be by Baron Smith, a judge who is very able, but
fanciful and disaffected. He will never suffer any but policemen
or soldiers to be hanged of those whom he tries. George Villiers
came from Hatfield, where he had a conversation with the Duke of
Wellington, who told him that he had committed a great error in
his Administration in not paying more attention to the press, and
in not securing a portion of it on his side and getting good
writers into his employment, that he had never thought it
necessary to do so, and that he was now convinced what a great
mistake it was. At Roehampton nothing new, except that the Reform
plan is supposed to be settled, or nearly so. Duncannon has been
consulted, and he and one or two more have had meetings with
Durham, who were to lay their joint plans before Lord Grey first,
and he afterwards brought them to the Cabinet.

[Page Head: CROKER'S BOSWELL.]

Ellis told me (a curious thing enough) that Croker (for his
'Boswell's Life of Johnson') had collected various anecdotes from
other books, but that the only new and original ones were those
he had got from Lord Stowell, who was a friend of Johnson, and
that he had written them under Stowell's dictation. Sir Walter
Scott wanted to see them, and Croker sent them to him in Scotland
by the post. The bag was lost; no tidings could be heard of it,
Croker had no copy, and Stowell is in his dotage and can't be got
to dictate again. So much for the anecdote; then comes the story.
I said how surprising this was, for nothing was so rare as a
miscarriage by the post. He said, 'Not at all, for I myself lost
_two reviews_ in the same way. I sent them both to _Brougham_ to
forward to Jeffrey (for the "Edinburgh"), and _they were both
lost in the same_ way!' That villain Brougham!

G. Lamb said that the King is supposed to be in a bad state of
health, and this was confirmed to me by Keate the surgeon, who
gave me to understand that he was going the way of both his
brothers. He will be a great loss in these times; he knows his
business, lets his Ministers do as they please, but expects to be
informed of everything. He lives a strange life at Brighton, with
tagrag and bobtail about him, and always open house. The Queen is
a prude, and will not let the ladies come _décolletées_ to her
parties. George IV., who liked ample expanses of that sort, would
not let them be covered. In the meantime matters don't seem more
promising either here or abroad. In Ireland there is open war
between Anglesey and O'Connell, to whom it is glory enough (of his
sort) to be on a kind of par with the Viceroy, and to have a power
equal to that of the Government. Anglesey issues proclamation
after proclamation, the other speeches and letters in retort. His
breakfasts and dinners are put down, but he finds other places to
harangue at, and letters he can always publish; but he does not
appear in quite so triumphant an attitude as he did. The O'Connell
tribute is said to have failed; no men of property or respectability
join him, and he is after all only the leader of a mob; but it is
a better sort of mob, and formidable from their numbers, and the
organisation which has latterly become an integral part of mob
tactics. Nothing can be more awful than the state of that country,
and everybody expects that it will be found necessary to
strengthen the hands of the Government with extraordinary powers
to put an end to the prevailing anarchy. O'Connell is a coward,
and that is the best chance of his being beaten at last.

Lord Lyndhurst took his seat as Chief Baron yesterday morning,
Alexander retiring without an equivalent, and only having waited
for quarter day. Brougham has had a violent squabble in his Court
with Sugden, who having bullied the Vice-Chancellor and governed
Lyndhurst, has a mind to do the same by Brougham; besides, he
hates him for the repeated thrashings he got from him in the
House of Commons, and has been heard to say that he will take his
revenge in the Court of Chancery. The present affair was merely
that Brougham began writing, when Sugden stopped and told him 'it
was no use his going on if his Lordship would not attend to the
argument,' and so forth.

I met Lyndhurst at dinner yesterday, who talks of himself as
standing on neutral ground, disconnected with politics. It is
certainly understood that he is not to fight the battles of the
present Government, but of course he is not to be against them.
His example is a lesson to statesmen to be frugal, for if he had
been rich he would have had a better game before him. He told a
curious anecdote about a trial. There was a (civil) cause in
which the jury would not agree on their verdict. They retired on
the evening of one day, and remained till one o'clock the next
afternoon, when, being still disagreed, a juror was drawn. There
was only one juror who held out against the rest--Mr. Berkeley
(member for Bristol). The case was tried over again, and the jury
were unanimously of Mr. Berkeley's opinion, which was in fact
right, a piece of conscientious obstinacy which prevented the
legal commission of wrong.


Roehampton, January 22nd, 1831 {p.107}

[Page Head: O'CONNELL ARRESTED.]

The event of the week is O'Connell's arrest on a charge of
conspiracy to defeat the Lord-Lieutenant's proclamation. Lord
Anglesey writes to Lady Anglesey thus:--'I am just come from a
consultation of six hours with the law officers, the result of
which is a determination to arrest O'Connell, for things are now
come to that pass that the question is whether he or I shall
govern Ireland.' We await the result with great anxiety, for the
opinion of lawyers seems divided as to the legality of the
arrest, and laymen can form none.


January 23rd, 1831 {p.107}

No news; Master of the Rolls, George Ponsonby, and George
Villiers here. The latter told a story of Plunket, of his wit.
Lord Wellesley's aide-de-camp Keppel wrote a book of his travels,
and called it his personal narrative. Lord Wellesley was quizzing
it, and said, 'Personal narrative? what is a personal narrative?
Lord Plunket, what should you say a personal narrative meant?'
Plunket answered, 'My Lord, you know we lawyers always understand
_personal_ as contradistinguished from _real_.' And one or two
others of Parsons, the Irish barrister. Lord Norbury on some
circuit was on the bench speaking, and an ass outside brayed so
loud that nobody could hear. He exclaimed, 'Do stop that noise!'
Parsons said, 'My Lord, there is a great echo here.' Somebody
said to him one day, 'Mr. Parsons, have you heard of my son's
robbery?' 'No; whom has he robbed?'

[Page Head: O'CONNELL'S CASE.]

Nothing but talk about O'Connell and his trial, and we have more
fears he will be acquitted than hopes that he will be convicted.
They still burn in the country, and I heard the other day that
the manufacturing districts, though quiet, are in a high state of
organisation.


January 25th, 1831 {p.108}

Met Colonel Napier[12] last night, and talked for an hour of the
state of the country. He gave me a curious account of the
organisation of the manufacturers in and about Manchester, who
are divided into four different classes, with different objects,
partly political, generally to better themselves, but with a
regular Government, the seat of which is in the Isle of Man. He
says that the agriculturists are likewise organised in Wiltshire,
and that there is a sort of free-masonry among them; he thinks a
revolution inevitable; and when I told him what Southey had
said--that if he had money enough he would transport his family
to America--he said he would not himself leave England in times
of danger, but that he should like to remove his family if he
could.

     [12] [Sir William Napier, author of the 'History of the
          Peninsular War.'.]

The King is ill. I hope he won't die; if he does, and the little
girl, we shall have Cumberland, and (though Lyndhurst said he
would make a very good King the other night) that would be a good
moment for dispensing with the regal office. It is reported that
they differ in the Cabinet about Reform; probably not true. What
a state of terror and confusion we are in, though it seems to
make no difference.


January 31st, 1831 {p.109}

At Roehampton on Saturday; Lord Robert Spencer and Sir G.
Robinson. Agar Ellis had just resigned the Woods, after asking to
be made a Peer, which they refused. All last week nobody thought
of anything but O'Connell, and great was the joy at the charge of
Judge Jebb, the unanimous opinion of the King's Bench, and the
finding of the Grand Jury. Whatever happens, Government are now
justified in the course they have taken; and now he has
traversed, which looks like weakness, and it is the general
opinion that he is beaten; but he is so astute, and so full of
resources, that I would never answer for his being beaten till I
see him in prison or find his popularity gone. The subscription
produced between £7,000 and £8,000. It is an extraordinary thing,
and the most wonderful effect I ever heard of the power of moral
causes over the human body, that Lord Anglesey, who has scarcely
been out of pain at all for years during any considerable
intervals, has been quite free from his complaint (the tic
douloureux) since he has been in Ireland; the excitement of these
events, and the influence of that excitement on his nervous
system, have produced this effect. There is a puzzler for
philosophy, and such an amalgamation of moral and physical
accidents as is well worth unravelling for those who are wise
enough.

Yesterday there was a dinner at Lord Lansdowne's to name the
Sheriffs, and there was I in attendance on my old school-fellows
and associates Richmond, Durham, Graham, all great men now!

              While some do laugh, and some do weep,
                Thus runs the world away.

Lord Grey was not there, for he was gone to Brighton to lay the
Reform Bill before the King. What a man Brougham is; he wants to
ride his Chancery steed to the Devil, as if he had not enough to
do. Nothing would satisfy him but to come and hear causes in our
Court;[13] but as I knew it was only to provoke Leach, I would not
let him come, and told the Lord President we had no causes for him
to hear. He insisted, so did I, and he did not come; but some day
I will invite him, and then he will have forgotten it or have
something else to do, and he won't come. He is a Jupiter-Scapin if
ever there was one.

     [13] [At the Privy Council, where the Master of the Rolls
          was at that time in the habit of sitting with two lay
          Privy Councillors to hear Plantation Appeals.]


February 6th, 1831 {p.110}

[Page Head: THE CIVIL LIST.]

Parliament met again on the 3rd, and the House of Commons
exhibited a great array on the Opposition benches; nothing was
done the first day but the announcement of the Reform measure for
the 2nd of March, to be brought in by Lord John Russell in the
House of Commons, though not a Cabinet Minister. The fact is that
if a Cabinet Minister had introduced it, it must have been
Althorp, and he is wholly unequal to it; he cannot speak at all,
so that though the pretence is to pay a compliment to John Russell
because he had on former occasions brought forward plans of
Reform, it is really expedient to take the burden off the leader
of the Government. The next night came on the Civil List, and as
the last Government was turned out on this question, there had
existed a general but vague expectation that some wonderful
reductions were to be proposed by the new Chancellor of the
Exchequer. Great, then, was the exultation of the Opposition when
it was found that no reductions would be made, and that the
measure of this Government only differed from that of the last in
the separation of the King's personal expenses from the other
charges and a _prospective_ reduction in the Pension List. There
was not much of a debate. Althorp did it ill by all accounts;
Graham spoke pretty well; and Calcraft, who could do nothing while
in office, found all his energies when he got back to the
Opposition benches, and made (everybody says) a capital speech.
There is certainly a great disappointment that the Civil List does
not produce some economical novelty, and to a certain degree the
popularity of the Government will be affected by it. But they have
taken the manliest course, and the truth is the Duke of Wellington
had already made all possible reductions, unless the King and the
Government were at once to hang out the flag of poverty and change
their whole system. After what Sefton had told me of the
intentions of Government about the Pension List, and my reply to
him, it was a satisfaction to me to find they could not act on
such a principle; and accordingly Lord Althorp at once declared
the opinion and intentions of Government about the Pensions,
instead of abandoning them to the rage of the House of Commons.
There is not even a surmise as to the intended measure of Reform,
the secret of which is well kept, but I suspect the confidence of
the Reformers will be shaken by their disappointment about the
Civil List. It is by no means clear, be it what it may, that the
Government will be able to carry it, for the Opposition promises
to be very formidable in point of numbers; and in speaking the two
parties are, as to the first class, pretty evenly divided--Palmerston,
the Grants, Graham, Stanley, John Russell, on one side; Peel,
Calcraft, Hardinge, Dawson, on the other; fewer in numbers, but
Peel immeasurably the best on either side--but in the second line,
and among the younger ones, the Opposition are far inferior.


February 9th, 1831 {p.111}

Just got into my new home--Poulett Thomson's house, which I have
taken for a year. The day before yesterday came the news that the
French had refused the nomination of the Duc de Nemours to the
throne of Belgium, the news of his being chosen having come on
Sunday. The Ministers were _rayonnants_; Lord Lansdowne came to
his office and told it me with prodigious glee.

Met with Sir J. Burke on Sunday at Brooks's, who said that
O'Connell was completely beaten by the address of the merchants
and bankers, among whom were men--Mahon, for instance (O'Gorman
Mahon's uncle)--who had always stood by him. I do not believe he
is completely beaten, and his resources for mischief are so great
that he will rally again before long, I have little doubt.
However, what has occurred has been productive of great good; it
has elicited a strong Conservative demonstration, and proved that
out of the rabbleocracy (for everything is in _ocracy_ now) his
power is anything but unlimited. There are 20,000 men in Ireland,
so Lord Hill told me last night. Hunt[14] spoke for two hours
last night; his manner and appearance very good, like a country
gentleman of the old school, a sort of rural dignity about it,
very civil, good-humoured, and respectful to the House, but dull;
listened to, however, and very well received.

     [14] [Henry Hunt, a well-known Radical, had just been
          returned for Preston, where he had beaten Mr. Stanley.]


February 12th, 1831 {p.112}

The debate three nights ago on Ireland, brought on by O'Gorman
Mahon, is said to have been the best that has been heard in the
House of Commons for many years. Palmerston, Burdett, Althorp,
Peel, Wyse, all made good speeches; it was spirited, statesmanlike,
and creditable to the House, which wanted some such exhibition to
raise its credit. I saw the day before yesterday a curious letter
from Southey to Brougham, which some day or other will probably
appear. Taylor showed it me. Brougham had written to him to ask
him what his opinion was as to the encouragement that could be
given to literature, by rewarding or honouring literary men, and
suggested (I did not see his letter) that the Guelphic Order
should be bestowed upon them. Southey's reply was very courteous,
but in a style of suppressed irony and forced politeness, and
exhibited the marks of a chafed spirit, which was kept down by an
effort. 'You, my Lord, are _now_ on the Conservative side,' was
one of his phrases, which implied that the Chancellor had not
always been on that side. He suggested that it might be useful to
establish a sort of lay fellowships; £10,000 would give 10 of £500
and 25 of £200; but he proposed them not to reward the meritorious,
but as a means of silencing or hiring the mischievous. It was
evident, however, that he laid no stress on this plan, or
considered it practicable, and only proposed it because he thought
he must suggest something. He said that honours might be desirable
to scientific men, as they were so considered on the Continent,
and Newton and Davy had been titled, but for himself, if a
_Guelphic_ distinction was adopted, 'he should be a _Ghibelline_.'
He ended by saying that all he asked for was a repeal of the
Copyright Act which took from the families of literary men the
only property they had to give them, and this 'I ask for with the
earnestness of one who is conscious that he has laboured for
posterity.' It is a remarkable letter.


February 13th, 1831 {p.113}

[Page Head: THE FIRST WHIG BUDGET.]

The Budget, which was brought forward two nights ago, has given
great dissatisfaction; Goulburn attacked the taxation of the
funds (half per cent. on transfer of stock and land) in the best
speech he ever made, Peel in another good speech. The bankers
assailed it one after another, and not a man on the Government
side spoke decently. Great of course was the exultation of the
Opposition, and it is supposed that this will be withdrawn and a
Property Tax laid on instead. There is a meeting to-day in
Downing Street, at which I suspect it will be announced. The
Budget must appear hurried, and nothing but the circumstances in
which they are placed could have justified their bringing it on
so soon. In two months, besides having foreign affairs of the
greatest consequence on their hands, they have concocted a Reform
Bill and settled the finances of the nation for the next year,
which is quite ludicrous; but they are obliged to have money
voted immediately, that in case they should be beaten on Reform
or any other vital question which may compel them to dissolve
Parliament, they may have passed their estimates and be provided
with funds. Their secrets are well kept--rather too well, for
nobody knew of this Budget, and not a soul has a guess what their
Reform is to be. At present nothing can cut a poorer figure than
the Government does in the House of Commons, and they have shown
how weak a Government a strong Opposition may make.

I have just been to hear Benson preach at the Temple, but I was
so distant that I heard ill. His manner is impressive, and
language good without being ambitious, but I was rather
disappointed. Brougham was there, with Lord King of all people!


February 15th, 1831 {p.114}

Yesterday morning news came that O'Connell had withdrawn his plea
of not guilty and (by his counsel, Mr. Perrin) pleaded guilty, to
the unutterable astonishment of everybody, and not less delight.
Sheil wrote word that his heart sank at the terror of a gaol, and
'how would such a man face a battle, who could not encounter
Newgate?' Everybody's impression was that it was a compromise
with the law officers, and that he pleaded guilty on condition
that he should not be brought up for judgment, but it was no such
thing; he made in the preceding days several indirect overtures
to Lord Anglesey, who would listen to nothing, and told him that
after his conduct he could do nothing for him, and that he must
take his own course. He comes to England directly, and will be
brought up for judgment (if at all, which I doubt) next term. He
gives out that he was forced to do this in order to hasten to
England and repair in the House of Commons the errors of O'Gorman
Mahon. There is no calculating what may be the extent of the
credulity of an Irish mob with regard to him, but after all his
bullies and bravadoes this will hardly go down even with them.
Sheil says 'O'Connell is fallen indeed.' I trust, though hardly
dare hope, that 'he sinks like stars that fall to rise no more.'
It is impossible to form an idea of the astonishment of everybody
at this termination of the law proceedings, which have ended so
triumphantly for Lord Anglesey and Plunket. Lord Anglesey,
however, wrote word to Lady Anglesey that no one could form an
idea of the state of that country: that fresh plots were
discovered every day, that from circumstances he had been able to
do more than another man would, but that it was not, he firmly
believed, possible to save it.

[Page Head: LORD ALTHORP'S BUDGET.]

There was a meeting at Althorp's on Sunday, when he agreed to
withdraw the Transfer Tax, and that there should be no Property
Tax. A more miserable figure was never cut than his; but how
should it be otherwise? A respectable country gentleman, well
versed in rural administration, in farming and sporting, with all
the integrity of £15,000 a year in possession and £50,000 in
reversion, is all of a sudden made leader in the House of Commons
without being able to speak, and Chancellor of the Exchequer
without any knowledge, theoretical or practical, of finance. By
way of being discreet, and that his plan may be a secret, he
consults nobody; and then he closets himself with his familiar
Poulett Thomson, who puts this notable scheme into his head, and
out he blurts it in the House of Commons, without an idea how it
will be received, without making either preparations for
defending it or for an alternative in case of its rejection. If
Althorp and Poulett Thomson are to govern England, these things
are likely to happen. The Opposition cannot contain themselves;
the women think they are to come in directly. Goulburn said to
Baring as they left the House on Friday, 'Mr. Baring, you said
last year you thought my Budget was the most profligate that any
Chancellor of the Exchequer had ever brought forward; I think you
will now no longer say it was the _most_ profligate.' Last night
Praed[15] made his first speech, which was very good.

     [15] [Winthrop Mackworth Praed, a young man of great
          promise, who had just entered Parliament. He took his
          degree in 1825, and was regarded by the Tories as the
          rival and competitor of Thomas Babington Macaulay. But
          unhappily he died in 1839.]


February 17th, 1831 {p.115}

The day before yesterday Duncannon called on me, and told me
O'Connell had got up an opposition to him in Kilkenny; that he
was of opinion that the recent events would diminish neither his
power nor his popularity, and that in fact he was infallible with
the Irish mob. As Richard says, 'if this have no effect, he is
immortal.'

The Duke of Wellington called on my family yesterday; he says the
Reform question will not be carried, and he thinks the Government
cannot stand, that things are certainly better (internally), and
that the great fear is lest people should be too much afraid.

Went to Lady Dudley Stewart's last night; a party; saw a
vulgar-looking, fat man with spectacles, and a mincing, rather
pretty pink and white woman, his wife. The man was Napoleon's
nephew, the woman Washington's granddaughter. What a host of
associations, all confused and degraded! He is a son of Murat,
the King of Naples, who was said to be 'le dieu Mars jusqu'à six
heures du soir.' He was heir to a throne, and is now a lawyer in
the United States, and his wife, whose name I know not, Sandon
told me, was Washington's granddaughter. (This must be a mistake,
for I think Washington never had any children.)[16]

     [16] [Achille Murat and his wife were living at this time in
          the Alpha Road, Regent's Park. It was said she was
          Washington's grand-niece, but I am not sure what the
          relationship was, if any. She was certainly not his
          granddaughter.]


February 24th, 1831 {p.116}

[Page Head: WEAKNESS OF THE GOVERNMENT.]

At Newmarket for three days, from Saturday till Tuesday; riding
out at eight o'clock every morning and inhaling salubrious air.
Came back the night before last and found matters in a strange
state. The Government, strong in the House of Lords (which is a
secondary consideration), is weak in the House of Commons to a
degree which is contemptible and ridiculous. Even Sefton now
confesses that Althorp is wretched. There he is _leading_ the
House of Commons without the slightest acquaintance with the
various subjects that come under discussion, and hardly able to
speak at all; not one of the Ministers exhibits anything like
vigour, ability, or discretion. As Althorp cannot speak, Graham
is obliged to talk, or thinks he is, and, as I predicted, he is
failing;[17] with some cleverness and plenty of fluency, he is
unequal to the situation he is placed in, and his difference with
Grant the other night and his apology to O'Gorman Mahon have been
prejudicial to the Government and to his own character. The
exultation of the Opposition is unbounded, and Peel plays with
his power in the House, only not putting it forth because it does
not suit his convenience; but he does what he likes, and it is
evident that the very existence of the Government depends upon
his pleasure. His game, however, is to display candour and
moderation, and rather to protect them than not, so he defends
many of their measures and restrains the fierce animosity of his
friends, but with a sort of sarcastic civility, which, while it
is put forth in their defence, is always done in such a manner as
shall best exhibit his own authority and his contempt for their
persons individually. While he upholds the Government he does all
he can to bring each member of it into contempt, and there they
are, helpless and confused, writhing under his lash and their own
impotence, and only intent upon staving off a division which
would show the world how feeble they are. Neither the late nor
any other Government ever cut so poor a figure as this does.
Palmerston does nothing, Grant does worse, Graham does no good,
Althorp a great deal of harm; Stanley alone has distinguished
himself, and what he has had to do has done very well. It is not,
however, only in the House of Commons that the Government are in
such discredit; the Budget did their business in the City, and
alienated the trading interest. It is a curious circumstance that
both Goulburn and Herries have been beset by deputations and
individual applications for advice and assistance nearly as much
since they left office as when they were in it by merchants and
others, who complain to them that it was quite useless to go to
Lord Althorp, for they find that he has not the slightest
acquaintance with any of the subjects and interests on which they
addressed themselves to him, and one man told Herries this, at
the same time owning that he was a Whig in principle, and had
been an opponent of the late and a supporter of the present
Government. The press generally are falling off from the
Government, which is an ominous sign. While the Government is
thus weak and powerless the elements of confusion and violence
are gathering fresh force, and without any fixed and loyal
authority to check them will pursue their eccentric course till
some public commotion arrives, or till the Conservative resources
of the country are called into action and the antagonistic
principles are fairly brought to trial.

     [17] It was on Lord Chandos's motion to take into
          consideration the state of the West Indies.

The King went to the play the night before last; was well
received in the house, but hooted and pelted coming home, and a
stone shivered a window of his coach and fell into Prince George
of Cumberland's lap. The King was excessively annoyed, and sent
for Baring, who was the officer riding by his coach, and asked
him if he knew who had thrown the stone; he said that it
terrified the Queen, and 'was very disagreeable, as he should
always be going somewhere.'

In the House of Commons Committee on the Parliament Offices they
are making the whole thing ridiculous by the sort of reductions
they suggest. Hume proposed to cut down the President of the
Council to £1,000 a year, on which Stormont moved he should have
nothing, and this (which was intended to ridicule Hume's proposal)
was carried, but will probably be rescinded. There is no directing
power anywhere, and the sort of anarchy that is fast increasing
must beget confusion. Nobody has the least idea how reform will
go, or of the nature of what they mean to propose, but the King
said to Cecil Forrester yesterday, who went to resign his office
of Groom of the Bedchamber, 'Why do you resign?' He said he could
not support Government or vote for Reform. 'Well, but you don't
know what it is, and you might have waited till it came on, for it
probably will not be carried;' and this he repeated twice. Lord
Durham has volunteered to give up his salary as Privy Seal, which
is no great sacrifice, considering how long he is likely to enjoy
it, and everybody gives him credit for having suggested the relief
to coals for his own interest. Lady Holland, who has got a West
Indian estate, attacked him about the sugar duties, and asked him
if they would not reduce them. He said 'No.' She retorted, 'That
is because you have no West Indian estate; you have got your own
job about coals done, and you don't care about us.' In the House
of Lords they have it all their own way. The other night, on Lord
Strangford's motion about the Methuen treaty, Brougham exhibited
his wonderful powers in his very best style. Without any
preparation for the question, and after it had been exhausted in a
very good speech of Goderich's, he got up, and in answer to
Strangford and Ellenborough banged their heads together, and
displayed all his power of ridicule, sarcasm, and argument in a
manner which they could not themselves help admiring. The next
night he brought forward his Chancery Reform measure in a speech
of three hours, which, however luminous, was too long for their
Lordships, and before the end of it the House had melted away to
nothing. But, notwithstanding this success, he must inwardly chafe
at being removed from his natural element and proper sphere of
action, and he must burn with vexation at seeing Peel riot and
revel in his unopposed power, like Hector when Achilles would not
fight, though this Achilles can never fight again, but he would
give a great deal to go back to the field, and would require much
less persuasion than Achilles did.


February 25th, 1831 {p.119}

[Page Head: LADY JERSEY AND LORD DURHAM.]

A drawing-room yesterday, at which the Princess Victoria made her
first appearance. I was not there. Lady Jersey made a scene with
Lord Durham. She got up and crossed the room to him and said,
'Lord Durham, I hear that you have said things about me which are
not true, and I desire that you will call upon me to-morrow with
a witness to hear my positive denial, and I beg that you will not
repeat any such things about me,' or, as the Irishman said,
'words to that effect.' She was in a fury, and he, I suppose, in
a still greater. He muttered that he should never set foot in her
house again, which she did not hear, as after delivering herself
of her speech she flounced back again to her seat, mighty proud
of the exploit. It arose out of his saying that he should make
Lady Durham demand an audience of the Queen to contradict the
things Lady Jersey had said of her and the other Whig ladies.

I saw Lady Jersey last night and had a long conversation with her
about her squabbles. She declares solemnly (and I believe it)
that she never said a syllable to the Queen against her quondam
friends, owns she abused Sefton to other people, cried, and
talked, and the end was that I am to try to put an end to these
_tracasseries_. She was mighty glorious about her _sortie_ upon
Lambton, whom she dislikes, but she is vexed at the hornets' nest
she has brought round her head. All this comes of talking. The
wisest man mentioned in history was the vagrant in the Tuileries
Gardens some years ago, who walked about with a gag on, and when
taken up by the police and questioned why he went about in that
guise, he said he was imprudent, and that he might not say
anything to get himself into jeopardy he had adopted this
precaution. I wonder what Lambton would say now about appointing
others instead of Palmerston and Co. if they should go out, which
he talked of as such an easy and indifferent matter. What
arrogance and folly there is in the world! I don't know how long
this will last, but it must end in Peel's being Prime Minister.
What a foolish proverb that is that 'honesty is the best policy!'

I am just come home from breakfasting with Henry Taylor to meet
Wordsworth; the same party as when he had Southey--Mill, Elliot,
Charles Villiers. Wordsworth may be bordering on sixty;
hard-featured, brown, wrinkled, with prominent teeth and a few
scattered grey hairs, but nevertheless not a disagreeable
countenance; and very cheerful, merry, courteous, and talkative,
much more so than I should have expected from the grave and
didactic character of his writings. He held forth on poetry,
painting, politics, and metaphysics, and with a great deal of
eloquence; he is more conversible and with a greater flow of
animal spirits than Southey. He mentioned that he never wrote
down as he composed, but composed walking, riding, or in bed, and
wrote down after; that Southey always composes at his desk. He
talked a great deal of Brougham, whose talents and domestic
virtues he greatly admires; that he was very generous and
affectionate in his disposition, full of duty and attention to
his mother, and had adopted and provided for a whole family of
his brother's children, and treats his wife's children as if they
were his own. He insisted upon taking them both with him to the
drawing-room the other day when he went in state as Chancellor.
They remonstrated with him, but in vain.




                           CHAPTER XIV.

Introduction of the Reform Bill--Attitude of the Opposition--
  Reform Debates--Peel--Wilberforce and Canning--Old Sir Robert
  Peel--The City Address--Agitation for Reform--Effects of the
  Reform Bill--Brougham as Chancellor--Brougham at the Horse
  Guards--Miss Kemble--Vote on the Timber Duties--Lord
  Lansdowne's Opinion of the Bill--Reform Bill carried by one
  Vote--The King in Mourning--The Prince of Orange--Peel's
  Reserve--Ministers beaten--Parliament dissolved by the King in
  Person--Tumult in both Houses--Failure of the Whig Ministry--
  The King in their Hands--The Elections--Illumination in the
  City--The Queen alarmed--Lord Lyndhurst's View of the Bill--
  Lord Grey takes the Garter--The King at Ascot--Windsor under
  William IV.--Brougham at Whitbread's Brewery and at the British
  Museum--Breakfast at Rogers'--The Cholera--Quarantine--Meeting
  of Peers--New Parliament meets--Opened by the King--'Hernani'
  at Bridgewater House--The Second Reform Bill--The King's
  Coronation--Cobbett's Trial--Prince Leopold accepts the Crown
  of Belgium--Peel and the Tories--A Rabble Opposition--A Council
  for the Coronation.


March 2nd, 1831 {p.121}

[Page Head: THE FIRST REFORM BILL.]

The great day at length arrived, and yesterday Lord John Russell
moved for leave to bring in his Reform Bill. To describe the
curiosity, the intensity of the expectation and excitement, would
be impossible, and the secret had been so well kept that not a
soul knew what the measure was (though most people guessed pretty
well) till they heard it. He rose at six o'clock, and spoke for
two hours and a quarter--a sweeping measure indeed, much more so
than anyone had imagined, because the Ministers had said it was
one which would give _general_ satisfaction, whereas this must
dissatisfy all the moderate and will probably just stop short
enough not to satisfy the Radicals. They say it was ludicrous to
see the faces of the members for those places which are to be
disfranchised as they were severally announced, and Wetherell,
who began to take notes, as the plan was gradually developed,
after sundry contortions and grimaces and flinging about his arms
and legs, threw down his notes with a mixture of despair and
ridicule and horror. Not many people spoke last night: Inglis
followed John Russell, and Francis Leveson closed the debate in
the best speech he has ever made, though rather too flowery.
Everything is easy in these days, otherwise how Palmerston,
Goderich, and Grant can have joined in a measure of this
sweeping, violent, and speculative character it is difficult to
conceive, they who were the disciples of Castlereagh and the
adherents of Canning; but after the Duke of Wellington and Peel
carrying the Catholic question, Canning's friends advocating
Radical Reform, and Eldon living to see Brougham on the Woolsack,
what may one not expect?

What everybody enquires is what line Peel will take, and though
each party is confident of success in this question, it is thought
to depend mainly upon the course he adopts and the sentiments he
expresses. Hitherto he has cautiously abstained from committing
himself in any way, and he is free to act as he thinks best, but
he certainly occupies a grand position when he has _omnium oculos
in se conversos_, and the whole House of Commons looking with
unalterable anxiety to his opinions and conduct. Such has the
course of events and circumstances made this man, who is probably
yet destined to play a great part, and it may be a very useful
one. God knows how this plan may be received in the country, and
what may be its fate in Parliament. The Duke of Wellington,
however, is right enough when he says that the great present
danger is lest people should be too much afraid, for anything like
the panic that prevails I never saw, the apprehension that enough
will not be done to satiate the demon of popular opinion, and the
disposition to submit implicitly to the universal bellow that
pervades this country for what they call Reform without knowing
what it is. As to this measure, the greatest evil of it is that it
is a pure speculation, and may be productive of the best
consequences, or the worst, or even of none at all, for all that
its authors and abettors can explain to us or to themselves.

O'Connell made his explanation the other night, which was
wretched, and Stanley's was very good, but it matters not; he
will tell the people in Ireland that he had a victory, and they
will believe him. Nevertheless his defeat in Kilkenny is an
excellent thing, and will contribute greatly to destroy the
prestige of his power.


March 3rd, 1831 {p.123}

Last night the debate went on, nobody remarkably speaking but
Macaulay and Wetherell; the former very brilliant, the latter
long, rambling, and amusing, and he sat down with such loud and
long cheering as everybody agreed they had never heard before in
the House of Commons, and which was taken not so much as a test of
the merits of the speech as of an indication of the disposition of
the majority of the House. Wetherell was very good fun in a
conversation he imagined at Cockermouth between Sir James Graham
and one of his constituents. It is thought very strange that none
of the Ministers have spoken, except Althorp the first night. The
general opinion is that the Bill will be lost in the House of
Commons, and that then Parliament will be dissolved, unless the
King should take fright and prefer to change his Ministers.


March 5th, 1831 {p.123}

On Thursday night the great speeches were those of Hobhouse on one
side and Peel on the other, which last was received with the
greatest enthusiasm, and some said (as usual) that it was the
finest oration they had ever heard within the walls of Parliament;
it seems by the report of it to have been very able and very
eloquent. The people come into the 'Travellers' after the debate,
and bring their different accounts all tinctured by their
particular opinions and prejudices, so that the exact truth of the
relative merits of the speakers is only attainable by the
newspaper reports, imperfect as they are, the next day. The
excitement is beyond anything I ever saw. Last night Stanley
answered Peel in an excellent speech and one which is likely to
raise his reputation very high. He is evidently desirous of
pitting himself against Peel, whom he dislikes; and it is probable
that they are destined to be the rival leaders of two great
Parliamentary parties, if things settle down into the ancient
practices of Parliamentary warfare. The other events of last night
were the resignation of Charles Wynne and his opposition to the
Bill, and the unexpected defection from Government of Lord
Seymour, the Duke of Somerset's son, and Jeffrey's speech, which
was very able, but somewhat tedious.


March 7th, 1831 {p.124}

Nothing talked of, thought of, dreamt of, but Reform. Every
creature one meets asks, What is said now? How will it go? What
is the last news? What do _you_ think? and so it is from morning
till night, in the streets, in the clubs, and in private houses.
Yesterday morning met Hobhouse; told him how well I heard he had
spoken, and asked him what he thought of Peel's speech; he said
it was brilliant, imposing, but not much in it. Everybody cries
up (more than usual) the speeches on their own side, and despises
those on the other, which is peculiarly absurd, because the
speaking has been very good, and there is so much to be said on
both sides that the speech of an adversary may be applauded
without any admission of his being in the right. Hobhouse told me
he had at first been afraid that his constituents would
disapprove this measure, as so many of them would be
disfranchised, but that they had behaved nobly and were quite
content and ready to make any sacrifices for such an object. I
asked him if he thought it would be carried; he said he did not
like to think it would not, for he was desirous of keeping what
he had, and he was persuaded he should lose it if the Bill were
rejected. I said it was an unlucky dilemma when one-half of the
world thought like him and the other half were equally convinced
that if it be carried they shall lose everything.

Dined at Boodle's with the Master of the Rolls and Charles Grant,
who talked about Peel and the reconstruction of the Tory party;
that Peel and Wetherell do not _yet_ speak, but that the parties
have joined, and at the meeting at Wetherell's Herries went to
represent Peel with sixteen or eighteen of his friends. Ross,
another of Peel's _âmes damnées_, told me the same thing and that
they would soon come together again. Grant said he knew that the
Duke of Wellington had expressed his readiness to take any part
in which it was thought he could render service, either a
prominent or a subordinate one or none at all. If so he will be a
greater man than he has ever been yet.

Grant talked long and pathetically about the West Indies, and
told me a curious anecdote on the authority of Scarlett, who was
present. When Wilberforce went out of Parliament he went to
Canning and offered him the lead and direction of his party (the
Saints), urging him to accept it, and assuring him that their
support would give him a strength which to an ambitious man like
him was invaluable. Canning took three days to consider it, but
finally declined, and then the party elected Brougham as their
chief; hence the representation of Yorkshire and many other
incidents in Brougham's career.

[Page Head: THE FIRST SIR ROBERT PEEL.]

Grant gave me a curious account of old Sir Robert Peel. He was
the younger son of a merchant, his fortune (very small) left to
him in the house, and he was not to take it out. He gave up the
fortune and started in business without a shilling, but as the
active partner in a concern with two other men--Yates (whose
daughter he afterwards married) and another--who between them
made up £6,000; from this beginning he left £250,000 apiece to
his five younger sons, £60,000 to his three daughters each, and
£22,000 a year in land and £450,000 in the funds to Peel. In his
lifetime he gave Peel £12,000 a year, the others £3,000 and spent
£3,000 himself. He was always giving them money, and for objects
which it might have been thought he would have undervalued. He
paid for Peel's house when he built it, and for the Chapeau de
Paille (2,700 guineas) when he bought it.


March 10th, 1831 {p.125}

The debate has gone on, and is to be over to-night; everybody
heartily sick of it, but the excitement as great as ever. Last
night O'Connell was very good, and vehemently cheered by the
Government, Stanley, Duncannon, and all, all differences giving
way to their zeal; Attwood, the other way, good; Graham a total
failure, got into nautical terms and a simile about a ship, in
which he floundered and sank. Sir J. Yorke quizzed him with great
effect. To-day the City went up with their address, to which the
King gave a very general answer. There was great curiosity to
know what his answer would be. I rather think this address was
got up by Government. Brougham had written to Liverpool _to
encourage the Reformers there_, as he owned to George Villiers
last night; and Pearson was with Ellice at the Treasury for an
hour the day before this address was moved in the City. They have
gone so far that they certainly wish for agitation here. The Duke
of Wellington is alarmed; nobody guesses how the question will
go. Went to Lady Jersey the day before yesterday to read her
correspondence with Brougham, who flummeried her over with notes
full of affection and praise, to which she responded in the same
strain, and so they are friends again. While I was reading her
reply the Duke of Wellington came in, on which she huddled it up,
and I conclude he has not seen her effusion. News arrived that
the Poles have been beaten and have submitted. There is a great
fall in the French funds, as they are expected not to pay their
dividends. Europe is in a nice mess. The events of a quarter of a
century would hardly be food for a week now-a-days.


March 11th, 1831 {p.126}

[Page Head: PROBABLE RESULTS OF THE REFORM BILL.]

It is curious to see the change of opinion as to the passing of
this Bill. The other day nobody would hear of the possibility of
it, now everybody is beginning to think it will be carried. The
tactics of the Opposition have been very bad, for they ought to
have come to a division immediately, when I think Government
would have been beaten, but it was pretty certain that if they
gave time to the country to declare itself the meetings and
addresses would fix the wavering and decide the doubtful. There
certainly never was anything like the unanimity which pervades
the country on the subject, and though I do not think they will
break out into rebellion if it is lost, it is impossible not to
see that the feeling for it (kept alive as it will be by every
sort of excitement) must prevail and that if this particular Bill
is not carried some other must very like it, and which, if it is
much short of this, will only leave a peg to hang fresh
discussions upon. The Government is desperate and sees no chance
of safety but from their success in the measure, but I have my
doubts whether they will render themselves immortal by it. It is
quite impossible to guess at its effects at present upon the
House of Commons in the first return which may be made under it,
but if a vast difference is not made, and if it shall still leave
to property and personal influence any great extent of power, the
Tory party, which is sure to be revived, will in all probability
be too strong for the Reforming Whigs. The Duke of Wellington
expected to gain strength by passing the Catholic question,
whereas he was ruined by it.


March 15th, 1831 {p.127}

It is universally believed that this Bill will pass, except by
some of the ultras against it, or by the fools. But what next?
That nobody can tell, though to see the exultation of the
Government one would imagine they saw their way clearly to a
result of wonderful good. I have little doubt that it will be
read a second time, and be a good deal battled in Committee.
Although they are determined to carry it through the Committee
with a high hand, and not to suffer any alterations, probably
some sort of compromise in matters of inferior moment will be
made. But when it comes into operation how disappointed everybody
will be, and first of all the people! Their imaginations are
raised to the highest pitch, but they will open their eyes very
wide when they find no sort of advantage accruing to them, when
they are deprived of much of the expense and more of the
excitement of elections, and see a House of Commons constructed
after their own hearts, which will probably be an assembly in all
respects inferior to the present. Then they will not be
satisfied, and as it will be impossible to go back, there will be
plenty of agitators who will preach that we have not gone far
enough; and if a Reformed Parliament does not do all that popular
clamour shall demand, it will be treated with very little
ceremony. If, however, it be true that the tendency of this Bill
will be to throw power into the hands of the landed interest, we
shall have a great Tory party, which will be selfish, bigoted,
and ignorant, and a Radical party, while the Whig party, who will
have carried the measure, will sink into insignificance. Such
present themselves to my mind as possible alternatives, as far as
it is practicable to take anything like a view of probabilities
in the chaos and confusion that mighty alterations like these
produce.

I dined with Lord Grey on Sunday; they are all in high spirits.
Howick told his father that he had received a letter from some
merchant in the north praising the Bill, and saying he approved of
the whole Government except of Poulett Thomson. In the evening
Brougham, John Russell, and others arrived. I hear of Brougham
from Sefton, with whom he passes most of his spare time, to
relieve his mind by small talk, _persiflage_, and the gossip of
the day. He tells Sefton 'that he likes his office, but that it is
a mere plaything and there is nothing to do; his life is too idle,
and when he has cleared off the arrears, which he shall do
forthwith, that he really does not know how he shall get rid of
his time;' that 'he does not suffer the prolixity of counsel, and
when they wander from the point he brings them back and says, "You
need not say anything on that point; what I want to be informed
upon is so." He is a wonderful man, the most extraordinary I ever
saw, but there is more of the mountebank than of greatness in all
this. It may do well enough for Sefton, who is as ignorant as he
is sharp and shrewd, and captivated with his congenial offhandism,
but it requires something more than Brougham's flippant _ipse
dixit_ to convince me that the office of Chancellor is such a
sinecure and bagatelle. He had a levee the other night, which was
brilliantly attended--the Archbishops, Duke of Wellington, Lord
Grey, a host of people. Sefton goes and sits in his private room
and sees his receptions of people, and gives very amusing accounts
of his extreme politeness to the Lord Mayor and his cool
_insouciance_ with the Archbishop of Canterbury. The stories of
him as told by Sefton would be invaluable to his future
biographer, and never was a life more sure to be written
hereafter.


March 17th, 1831 {p.129}

The night before last Wynford attacked Brougham's Bill, and got
lashed in return with prodigious severity. He is resolved to
press it, though George Villiers told me he had promised
Lyndhurst to wait for his return to town. Notwithstanding his
vapouring about the Court of Chancery, and treating it as such
child's play, Leach affirms (but he is disappointed and hates
him) that he is a very bad judge and knows nothing of his
business. 'He was a very bad advocate; why should he make a good
judge?'

The Reform Bill is just printed, and already are the various
objections raised against different parts of it, sufficient to
show that it will be pulled to pieces in Committee. Both parties
confident of success on the second reading, but the country
_will_ have it; there is a determination on the subject, and a
unanimity perfectly marvellous, and no demonstration of the
unfitness of any of its parts will be of any avail; some of its
details may be corrected and amended, but substantially it must
pass pretty much as it is.

[Page Head: BROUGHAM AT THE HORSE GUARDS.]

Brougham has been getting into a squabble with the military. At
the drawing-room on Thursday they refused to let his carriage
pass through the Horse Guards, when he ordered his coachman to
force his way through, which he did. He was quite wrong, and it
was very unbecoming and undignified. Lord Londonderry called for
an explanation in the House of Lords, when Brougham made a
speech, and a very lame one. He said he ordered his coachman to
go back, who did not hear him and went on, and when he had got
through he thought it was not worth while to turn back. The Lords
laughed. A few days after he drove over the soldiers in Downing
Street, who were relieving guard; but this time he did no great
harm to the men, and it was not his fault, but these things are
talked of.

Dined yesterday with General Macdonald to meet the Kembles. Miss
Fanny is near being very handsome from the extraordinary
expression of her countenance and fine eyes, but her figure is
not good. She is short, hands and feet large, arms handsome, skin
dark and coarse, and her manner wants ease and repose. Her mother
is a very agreeable woman. I did not sit next to Fanny, and had
no talk with her afterwards.


March 18th, 1831 {p.130}

Met Robert Clive yesterday morning; very low about the Bill,
which he thinks so sure to be carried that he questions the
expediency of dividing on the second reading; complained bitterly
of the bad tactics and want of union of the party, and especially
of Peel's inactivity and backwardness in not having rallied and
taken the lead more than he has; he is in fact so cold,
phlegmatic, and calculating that he disgusts those who can't do
without him as a leader; he will always have political but never
personal influence.


March 20th, 1831 {p.130}

On Friday night, after not a long but an angry and noisy debate,
there was a division on the timber duties, and Government was
beaten by forty-three, all the Saints, West Indians, and
anti-Free-traders voting with the great body of Opposition. Their
satisfaction was tumultuous. They have long been desirous of
bringing Ministers to a trial of strength, and they did not care
much upon what; they wanted to let the world see the weakness of
Government, and besides on this occasion they hoped that a defeat
might be prejudicial to the Reform Bill, so that this matter of
commercial and fiscal policy is not decided on its own merits,
but is influenced by passion, violence, party tactics, and its
remote bearing upon another question with which it has no
immediate relation. Althorp was obliged to abandon his original
proposition of taking off 5s. from the duty on Baltic timber,
which is 55s. (and 45s. on deals), and adding 10s. to the
Canadian, which is already 10s. He proposed instead to take off
6s. from the former this year, 6s. next, and 3s. next, so as to
give plenty of time for the withdrawal of capital, and to meet
all contingencies. The proposal was not unfair, and in other
times would have been carried. Poulett Thomson made a very good
speech, clear and satisfactory. Peel was what is called very
factious--that is, in opposition--just what the others were,
violent and unreasonable as far as the question is concerned, but
acting upon a system having for its object to embarrass the
Government.

[Page Head: THE REFORM BILL.]

I still think the second reading of the Reform Bill will pass,
and, all things considered, that it would be the best thing that
could happen; it is better to capitulate than to be taken by
storm. The people are unanimous, good-humoured, and determined; if
the Bill is thrown out, their good humour will disappear, the
country will be a scene of violence and uproar, and a most
ferocious Parliament will be returned, which will not only carry
the question of Reform, but possibly do so in a very different
form. We should see the _iræ leonum vincla recusantûm_, and this
proposition is so evident, this state of things is so indisputable,
that it is marvellous to me how anybody can triumph and exult in
the anticipation of a victory the consequences of which would be
more unfortunate than a defeat. If indeed a victory could set the
matter at rest, confirm our present institutions, and pacify the
people, it would be very well; but Reform the people will have,
and no human power, moral or physical, can now arrest its career.
It would be better, then, to concede with a good grace, and to
modify the measure in Committee, which may still be practicable,
than to oppose it point blank without a prospect of success.


March 22nd, 1831 {p.131}

The debate began again last night, and was adjourned. It was
dull, and the House impatient. To-night they will divide, and
after a thousand fluctuations of opinion it is thought the Bill
will be thrown out by a small majority. Then will come the
question of a dissolution, which one side affirms will take place
directly, and the other that the King will not consent to it,
knowing, as 'the man in the street' (as we call him at Newmarket)
always does, the greatest secrets of kings, and being the
confidant of their most hidden thoughts. As for me, I see nothing
but a choice of difficulties either way, and victory or defeat
would be equally bad. It is odd enough, but I believe Lord
Lansdowne thinks just the same, for he asked me yesterday morning
what I expected would be the result, and I told him my opinion on
the whole question, and he replied, 'I can add nothing to what
you have said; that is exactly my own opinion,' and I have very
little doubt that more than half the Cabinet in their hearts
abhor the measure. Knatchbull was taken ill in the morning, and
could not go to the House at all.


March 23rd, 1831 {p.132}

The House divided at three o'clock this morning, and the second
reading was carried by a majority of _one_ in the fullest House
that ever was known--303 to 302--both parties confident up to the
moment of division; but the Opposition most so, and at last the
Government expected to be beaten. Denman told somebody as they
were going to divide that the question would be lost; Calcraft
and the Wynnes' going over at the eleventh hour did the business.
I believe that this division is the best thing that could happen,
and so I told the Duke in the morning, and that I had wished it
to be carried by a small majority; I met him walking with
Arbuthnot in the Park. He said, 'I could not take such a course'
(that was in answer to my saying I wished it to be read a second
time, to be lost in the Committee). I said, 'But you would have
nothing to do with it personally.' 'No; but as belonging to the
party I could not recommend such a course,' which seemed as if he
did not altogether disagree with my view of it. I stopped at the
'Travellers' till past three, when a man came in and told me the
news. I walked home, and found the streets swarming with members
of Parliament coming from the House. My belief is (if they manage
well and are active and determined) that the Bill will be lost in
Committee, and then this will be the best thing that could have
occurred.


March 24th, 1831 {p.132}

[Page Head: REFORM BILL CARRIED BY ONE VOTE.]

The agitation the other night on the division was prodigious. The
Government, who stayed in the House, thought they had lost it by
ten, and the Opposition, who were crowded in the lobby, fancied
from their numbers that they were sure of winning. There was
betting going on all night long, and large sums have been won and
lost. The people in the lobby were miscounted, and they thought
they had 303. At the levee yesterday and Council; the Government
are by way of being satisfied, but hardly can be. I met the Duke
of Wellington afterwards, who owned to me that he thought this
small majority for the Bill was on the whole the best thing that
could have occurred, and that seems to be the opinion generally
of its opponents.

Nothing particularly at the levee; Brougham very good fun. The
King, who had put off going to the Opera on account of the death
of his son-in-law Kennedy, appeared in mourning (crape, that is),
which is reckoned bad taste; the public allow natural feeling to
supersede law and etiquette, but it is too much to extend that
courtesy to a 'son-in-law,' and his daughter is not in England.
Somebody said that 'it was the first time a King of England had
appeared in mourning that his subjects did not wear.' In the
evening to the Ancient Concert, where the Queen was, and
by-the-bye in mourning, and the Margravine and Duchess of
Gloucester too, but they (the two latter) could hardly be
mourning for Lord Cassilis's son. Horace Seymour, Meynell, and
Calvert were all turned out of their places in the Lord
Chamberlain's department on account of their votes the other
night.

The change of Ministers at Paris and Casimir Périer's speech have
restored something like confidence about French affairs. The
Prince of Orange is gone back to Holland, to his infinite
disgust; he was escorted by Lady Dudley Stewart and Mrs. Fox as
far as Gravesend, I believe, where they were found the next day
in their white satin shoes and evening dresses. He made a great
fool of himself here, and destroyed any sympathy there might have
been for his political misfortunes; supping, dancing, and acting,
and little (rather innocent) orgies at these ladies' houses
formed his habitual occupation.

A sort of repose from the cursed Bill for a moment, but it is
said that many who opposed it before are going to support it in
Committee; nobody knows. When the Speaker put the question, each
party roared 'Aye' and 'No' _totis viribus_. He said he did not
know, and put it again. After that he said, 'I am not sure, but I
think the ayes have it.' Then the noes went out into the lobby,
and the others thought they never would have done filing out, and
the House looked so empty when they were gone that the Government
was in despair. They say the excitement was beyond anything. I
continue to hear great complaints of Peel--of his coldness,
incommunicativeness, and deficiency in all the qualities
requisite for a leader, particularly at such a time. There is
nobody else, or he would be deserted for any man who had talents
enough to take a prominent part, so much does he disgust his
adherents. Nobody knows what are his opinions, feelings, wishes,
or intentions; he will not go _en avant_, and nobody feels any
dependence upon him. There is no help for it and the man's nature
can't be altered. I said all this to Ross yesterday, his devoted
adherent, and he was obliged to own it, with all kinds of regrets
and endeavours to soften the picture.


April 14th, 1831 {p.134}

The Reform campaign has reopened with a violent speech from Hunt
denouncing the whole thing as a delusion; that the people begin
to find out how they are humbugged, and that as it will make
nothing cheaper they don't care about it. The man's drift is not
very clear whether the Bill is really unpalatable at Preston or
whether he wants to go further directly. At the same time John
Russell announced some alterations in the Bill, not, as he
asserted, trenching upon its principle, but, as the Opposition
declares, altering it altogether. On the whole, these things have
inspirited its opponents, and, as they must produce delay, are in
so far bad for the Reform cause. Besides, though the opinion of
the country is universally in its favour, people are beginning to
think that it may be rejected without any apprehension of such
dreadful consequences ensuing as have been predicted. Then the
state of Ireland is such that it is thought the Ministers cannot
encounter a dissolution, not that I feel any security on that
head, for I believe the Cabinet is ruled by two or three men
reckless of everything provided they can prolong their own power.


April 24th, 1831 {p.134}

[Page Head: DEFEAT AND DISSOLUTION.]

At Newmarket all last week, and returned to town last night to
hear from those who saw them the extraordinary scenes in both
Houses of Parliament (the day before) which closed the eventful
week. The Reform battle began again on Monday last. The night
before I went out of town I met Duncannon, and walked with him up
Regent Street, when he told me that he did not believe the
Ministers would be beaten, but if they were they should certainly
dissolve instantly; that _he_ should have liked to dissolve long
ago, but they owed it to their friends not to have recourse to a
dissolution if they could help it. On Monday General Gascoyne
moved that the Committee should be instructed not to reduce the
members of the House of Commons, and this was carried after two
nights' debate by eight. The dissolution was then decided upon.
Meanwhile Lord Wharncliffe gave notice of a motion to address the
King not to dissolve Parliament, and this was to have come on on
Friday. On Thursday the Ministers were again beaten in the House
of Commons on a question of adjournment, and on Friday morning
they got the King to go down and prorogue Parliament in person
the same day. This _coup d'état_ was so sudden that nobody was
aware of it till within two or three hours of the time, and many
not at all. They told him that the cream-coloured horses could
not be got ready, when he said, 'Then I will go with anybody
else's horses.' Somebody went off in a carriage to the Tower, to
fetch the Crown, and they collected such attendants as they could
find to go with his Majesty. The Houses met at one or two
o'clock. In the House of Commons Sir R. Vyvyan made a furious
speech, attacking the Government on every point, and (excited as
he was) it was very well done. The Ministers made no reply, but
Sir Francis Burdett and Tennyson endeavoured to interrupt with
calls to order, and when the Speaker decided that Vyvyan was not
out of order Tennyson disputed his opinion, which enraged the
Speaker, and soon after called up Peel, for whom he was resolved
to procure a hearing. The scene then resembled that which took
place on Lord North's resignation in 1782, for Althorp (I think)
moved that Burdett should be heard, and the Speaker said that
'Peel was in possession of the House to speak on that motion.' He
made a very violent speech, attacking the Government for their
incompetence, folly, and recklessness, and treated them with the
utmost asperity and contempt. In the midst of his speech the guns
announced the arrival of the King, and at each explosion the
Government gave a loud cheer, and Peel was still speaking in the
midst of every sort of noise and tumult when the Usher of the
Black Rod knocked at the door to summon the Commons to the House
of Peers. There the proceedings were if possible still more
violent and outrageous; those who were present tell me it
resembled nothing but what we read of the 'Serment du Jeu de
Paume,' and the whole scene was as much like the preparatory days
of a revolution as can well be imagined. Wharncliffe was to have
moved an address to the Crown against dissolving Parliament, and
this motion the Ministers were resolved should not come on, but
he contrived to bring it on so far as to get it put upon the
Journals. The Duke of Richmond endeavoured to prevent any
speaking by raising points of order, and moving that the Lords
should take their regular places (in separate ranks), which,
however, is impossible at a royal sitting, because the cross
benches are removed; this put Lord Londonderry in such a fury
that he rose, roared, gesticulated, held up his whip, and four or
five Lords held him down by the tail of his coat to prevent his
flying on somebody. Lord Lyndhurst was equally furious, and some
sharp words passed which were not distinctly heard. In the midst
of all the din Lord Mansfield rose and obtained a hearing.
Wharncliffe said to him, 'For God's sake, Mansfield, take care
what you are about, and don't disgrace us more in the state we
are in.' 'Don't be afraid,' he said; 'I will say nothing that
will alarm you;' and accordingly he pronounced a trimming
philippic on the Government, which, delivered as it was in an
imposing manner, attired in his robes, and with the greatest
energy and excitation, was prodigiously effective. While he was
still speaking, the King arrived, but he did not desist even
while his Majesty[1] was entering the House of Lords, nor till he
approached the throne; and while the King was ascending the
steps, the hoarse voice of Lord Londonderry was heard crying
'Hear, hear, hear!' The King from the robing-room heard the
noise, and asked what it all meant. The conduct of the Chancellor
was most extraordinary, skipping in and out of the House and
making most extraordinary speeches. In the midst of the uproar he
went out of the House, when Lord Shaftesbury was moved into the
chair. In the middle of the debate Brougham again came in and
said, 'it was most extraordinary that the King's undoubted right
to dissolve Parliament should be questioned at a moment when the
House of Commons had taken the unprecedented course of stopping
the supplies,' and having so said (which was a lie) he flounced
out of the House to receive the King on his arrival. The King
ought not properly to have worn the Crown, never having been
crowned; but when he was in the robing-room he said to Lord
Hastings, 'Lord Hastings, I wear the Crown; where is it?' It was
brought to him, and when Lord Hastings was going to put it on his
head he said, 'Nobody shall put the Crown on my head but myself.'
He put it on, and then turned to Lord Grey and said, 'Now, my
Lord, the coronation is over.' George Villiers said that in his
life he never saw such a scene, and as he looked at the King upon
the throne with the Crown loose upon his head, and the tall, grim
figure of Lord Grey close beside him with the sword of state in
his hand, it was as if the King had got his executioner by his
side, and the whole picture looked strikingly typical of his and
our future destinies.

      [1] When Lord Mansfield sat down he said, 'I have spoken
          English to them at least.' Lord Lyndhurst told me that
          Lord Mansfield stopped speaking as soon as the door
          opened to admit the King. He said he never saw him so
          excited before, and in his robes he looked very grand.
          He also told me that he was at Lady Holland's giving an
          account of the scene when Brougham came in. He said, 'I
          was telling them what passed the other day in our
          House,' when Brougham explained his part by saying that
          the Usher of the Black Rod (Tyrwhit) was at his elbow
          saying, 'My Lord Chancellor, you must come; the King is
          waiting for you: come along; you must come,' and that
          he was thus dragged out of the House in this hurry and
          without having time to sit down or say any more.

[Page Head: THE KING DISSOLVES PARLIAMENT.]

Such has been the termination of this Parliament and of the first
act of the new Ministerial drama; there never was a Government
ousted with more ignominy than the last, nor a Ministry that came
in with higher pretensions, greater professions, and better
prospects than the present, but nothing ever corresponded less
than their performances with their pretensions. The composition
of the Government was radically defective, and with a good deal
of loose talent there was so much of passion, folly, violence,
and knavery, together with inexperience and ignorance mixed up
with it, that from the very beginning they cut the sorriest
possible figure. Such men as Richmond, Durham, Althorp, and
Graham, in their different ways, were enough to spoil any
Cabinet, and consequently their course has been marked by a
series of blunders and defeats. Up to the moment of the
dissolution few people expected it would happen, some thinking
the King would not consent, others that the Government would
never venture upon it, but the King is weak and the Ministry
reckless. That disposition, which at first appeared so laudable,
of putting himself implicitly into the hands of his Ministers,
and which seemed the more so from the contrast it afforded to the
conduct of the late King, who was always thwarting his Ministers,
throwing difficulties in their way, and playing a double part,
becomes vicious when carried to the extent of paralysing all free
action and free opinion on his part, and of suffering himself to
be made the instrument of any measures, however violent. It may
be said, indeed, that he cordially agrees with these men, and has
opinions coincident with theirs, but this is not probable; and
when we remember his unlimited confidence in the Duke up to the
moment of his resignation, it is impossible to believe that he
can have so rapidly imbibed principles the very reverse of those
which the Duke maintained.[2] It is more likely that he has no
opinions, and is really a mere puppet in the hands into which he
may happen to fall. Lord Mansfield had an audience, and gave him
his sentiments upon the state of affairs. He will not say what
passed between them, but it is clear that it was of no use.

      [2] The King was extremely opposed to the dissolution, and
          had remonstrated against it ever since it was first
          proposed to him in March. See Lord Grey's letter in the
          'Times' of March 26, 1866.

The Queen and the Royal Family are extremely unhappy at all these
things, but the former has no influence whatever with the King.
In the meantime there are very different opinions as to the
result of the elections, some thinking that Government will not
gain much by the dissolution, others that they (or at least
Reform) will win everything. It seems to me quite impossible that
they should not win everything, but time is gained to the other
side. The census of 1831 will be out, and the chapter of
accidents may and must make much difference; still I see no
possibility of arresting the progress of Reform, and whether this
Bill or another like it passes is much the same thing. The
Government have made it up with O'Connell, which is one mouthful
of the dirty pudding they have had to swallow, as one of their
own friends said of them.


April 26th, 1831 {p.139}

[Page Head: THE GENERAL ELECTION.]

Last night at the Queen's ball; heaps of people of all sorts;
everybody talking of the elections. Both parties pretend to be
confident, but the Government with the best reason. The county
members, as Sefton says, are tumbling about like nine-pins, and
though it seems not improbable that the Opposition will gain in
the boroughs, they must lose greatly in the counties; and we must
not only look to the relative numbers, but to the composition of
the respective parties. A large minority composed of borough
nominees, corporation members, and only a sprinkling of what is
called independence would not look well. Large sums have been
subscribed on both sides, but on that of the Opposition there is
a want of candidates more than of places to send them to.

I met Lyndhurst last night, and asked him what it was he said in
the House of Lords. He said it was nothing very violent, but that
it was not heard. The Duke of Richmond had spoken to the point of
order, and said in a very marked way 'he saw a noble Earl sitting
by a _junior_ Baron.' This was Lyndhurst, who was offended at the
sneer upon his want of _ancienneté_, and who retorted that before
the noble Duke made such speeches on points of order he would do
well to make himself acquainted with the orders of the House, of
which it was obvious he knew nothing. The Duke of Devonshire told
Lady Lyndhurst that her husband ought to resign his judicial
situation because he had displayed hostility to Government the
other night, but it would be a new maxim to establish that the
judges were to be amenable to the Minister for their political
opinions and Parliamentary conduct.


April 29th, 1831 {p.140}

The night before last there was an illumination, got up by the
foolish Lord Mayor, which of course produced an uproar and a
general breaking of obnoxious windows. Lord Mansfield and the Duke
of Buccleuch went to Melbourne in the morning and remonstrated,
asking what protection he meant to afford to their properties. A
gun (with powder only) was fired over the heads of the mob from
Apsley House, and they did not go there again. The Government
might have discouraged this manifestation of triumph, but they
wished for it for the purpose of increasing the popular
excitement. They don't care what they do, or what others do, so
long as they can keep the people in a ferment. It is disgusting to
the last degree to hear their joy and exultation at the success of
their measures and the good prospects held out to them by the
elections; all of which may turn out very well, but if it does not
'who shall set hoddy-doddy up again?' Lord Cleveland has
subscribed £10,000 to the election fund.

Lord Yarborough, by a very questionable piece of political
morality, has given the Holmes boroughs in the Isle of Wight to
Government; they are the property of Sir L. Holmes's daughter,
whose guardian he is as well as executor under the will. In this
capacity he has the disposal of the boroughs, and he gives them
to the Ministers to fill with men who are to vote for their
disfranchisement. A large price is paid for them--£4,000--but it
makes a difference of eight votes, and if the Bill is carried
they will be worth nothing. The elections promise well for
Government even in the boroughs, as I was persuaded they would.
O'Connell has put forth a proclamation entreating, commanding
peace, order, and support of the Bill's supporters. Tom Moore
called on me yesterday morning. He said that he was a Reformer
and liked the Bill, but he was fully aware of all that it might
produce of evil to the present system. He owned frankly that he
felt like an Irishman and that the wrongs of Ireland and the
obstinacy of the faction who had oppressed her still rankled in
his heart, and that he should not be sorry at any vengeance which
might overtake them at last. I hear renewed complaints of Peel,
of his selfish, cold, calculating, cowardly policy; that we are
indebted to him principally for our present condition I have no
doubt--to his obstinacy and to his conduct in the Catholic
question first, to his opposition and then to his support of it.
Opposing all and every sort of Reform _totis viribus_ while he
dared, now he makes a death-bed profession of acquiescence in
something which should be more moderate than this. All these
things disgust people inconceivably, and it is not the less
melancholy that he is our only resource, and his capacity for
business and power in the House of Commons places him so far
above all his competitors that if we are to have a Conservative
party we must look to him alone to lead it.


May 7th, 1831 {p.141}

[Page Head: THE QUEEN ALARMED IN THE CITY.]

Nothing could go on worse than the elections--Reformers returned
everywhere, so much so that the contest is over, and we have only
to await the event and see what the House of Lords will do. In
the House of Commons the Bill is already carried. It is supposed
that the Ministers themselves begin to be alarmed at the devil
they have let loose, and well they may; but he is out, and stop
him who can. The King has put off his visit to the City because
he is ill, as the Government would have it believed, but really
because he is furious with the Lord Mayor at all the riots and
uproar on the night of the illumination. That night the Queen
went to the Ancient Concert, and on her return the mob surrounded
the carriage; she had no guards, and the footmen were obliged to
beat the people off with their canes to prevent their thrusting
their heads into the coach. She was frightened and the King very
much annoyed. He heard the noise and tumult, and paced backwards
and forwards in his room waiting for her return. When she came
back Lord Howe, her chamberlain, as usual preceded her, when the
King said, 'How is the Queen?' and went down to meet her. Howe,
who is an eager anti-Reformer, said, 'Very much frightened, sir,'
and made the worst of it. She was in fact terrified, and as she
detests the whole of these proceedings, the more distressed and
disgusted. The King was very angry and immediately declared he
would not go to the City at all. It is supposed that Government
will make a large batch of Peers to secure the Bill in the House
of Lords, but the press have already begun to attack that House,
declaring that if they pass the Bill it will be from compulsion,
and if they do not that they are the enemies of the people.


May 11th, 1831 {p.142}

The elections are going on universally in favour of Reform; the
great interests in the counties are everywhere broken, and old
connexions dissevered. In Worcestershire Captain Spencer, who has
nothing to do with the county, and was brought there by his
brother-in-law, Lord Lyttelton, has beaten Lygon, backed by all
the wealth of his family; the Manners have withdrawn from
Leicestershire and Cambridgeshire, and Lord E. Somerset from
Gloucestershire; Lord Worcester too is beaten at Monmouth.
Everywhere the tide is irresistible; all considerations are
sacrificed to the success of the measure. At the last Essex
election Colonel Tyrrell saved Western, who would have been beaten
by Long Wellesley, and now Western has coalesced with Wellesley
against Tyrrell, and will throw him out. In Northamptonshire
Althorp had pledged himself to Cartwright not to bring forward
another candidate on his side, and Milton joins him and stands.
The state of excitement, doubt, and apprehension which prevails
will not quickly subside, for the battle is only beginning; when
the Bill is carried we must prepare for the second act.


May 14th, 1831 {p.142}

[Page Head: LORD MUNSTER'S PEERAGE.]

The elections are still going for Reform. They count upon a
majority of 140 in the House of Commons, but the Tories meditate
resistance in the House of Lords, which it is to be hoped will be
fruitless, and it is probable the Peers will trot round as they
did about the Catholic question when it comes to the point. There
is a great hubbub at Northampton about a pledge which Althorp is
supposed to have given not to bring forward another candidate
against Cartwright which the anti-Reformers say he has violated
in putting up Milton, and moreover that such conduct is very
dishonest; and as his honesty was his principal recommendation,
if he should have forfeited that what would remain to him? On the
contrary his friends say that he gave no such pledge, that he
expressed a hope there might be no contest, but the people would
have Milton, and though Althorp regretted his standing, as he did
stand they were obliged to join for their common safety. So much
for this electioneering squabble, of which time will elicit the
truth. Last night I went to Prince Leopold's, where was George
Fitzclarence receiving congratulations on his new dignity (Earl
of Munster). He told me everybody had been very kind about it--the
King, Lord Grey, his friends, and the public. He had told
Lord Grey he was anxious his brothers and sisters should have the
rank of marquis's sons and daughters (to give them titles). Grey
had only objected that their titles would then represent a higher
rank than his own,[3] but that he laid no stress on that
objection, and it would be done directly. Melbourne has written a
letter to the Lord Mayor assuring him that ill health is the only
obstacle to the King's visit to the City, and that there is no
foundation for the report of his displeasure, the Lord Mayor's
explanation having proved quite satisfactory. This is not true, I
believe, but they make him say so.

      [3] [If Lord Grey said this it was a mistake. The younger
          sons and daughters of marquises take rank after earls.]


May 22nd, 1831 {p.143}

[Page Head: LORD BROUGHAM AS A JUDGE.]

At Epsom all last week for the races at a house which Lord
Chesterfield took; nobody there but the three sisters[4] and their
two husbands. Rode out on the downs every morning, and enjoyed the
fine country, as beautiful as any I have seen of the kind. After
the races on Friday I went to Richmond to dine with Lord and Lady
Lyndhurst, and was refreshed by his vigorous mind after the three
or four days I had passed. He thinks the state of things very bad,
has a great contempt for this Government, is very doubtful what
will happen, thinks Lord Grey will not stand, and that Brougham
will be Chancellor and Prime Minister, like Clarendon; he talked
of the late Government, the Duke of Wellington and Peel; he said
that the former meddled with no department but that of Foreign
Affairs, which he conducted entirely; that he understood them
better than anything else, and if he came into office again would
be Foreign Secretary; that in the Cabinet he was always candid,
reasonable, and ready to discuss fairly every subject, but not so
Peel. He, if his opinion was not adopted, would take up a
newspaper and sulk. Lyndhurst agreed with me about his manners,
his coldness, and how he disgusted instead of conciliating people;
he said that when any of his friends in Parliament proposed to
speak in any debate, he never encouraged or assisted them, but
answered with a dry 'Do you?' to their notification of a wish or
intention. He said that this Bill was drawn up by Lambton himself,
but so ill done, so ignorantly and inefficiently, that they were
obliged to send for Harrison, who, in conjunction with the
Attorney-General, drew it up afresh; that when John Russell
brought it forward the Bill was still undrawn.[5] He says that
there is not the least doubt they never had an idea of bringing
forward any such measure as this till they found themselves so
weak in the House of Commons that nothing but a popular cry and
Radical support could possibly save them. It is very remarkable
when we look back to the moment of the dissolution of the late
Government, when Brougham was in the House of Commons armed with
his Bill, which, though unknown, was so dreaded, and which turns
out to have been mere milk and water compared with this. He said
Brougham was offered the Attorney-Generalship by a note, which he
tore in pieces and stamped upon, and sent word that there was no
answer; that he has long aspired to be Chancellor, and wished to
get into the House of Lords. He ridicules his pretensions to such
wonderful doings in his Court and in the Bills he has announced;
says that he has decided no bankruptcy cases, and, except some
Scotch appeals in the House of Lords, has got rid of hardly any
arrears; and as to his Bills, the Bankruptcy Bill was objectionable
and the Chancery Bill he has never brought on at all; that he
knows he affects a short cut to judicial eminence, but that
without labour and reading he cannot administer justice in that
Court, although no doubt his great acuteness and rapid perception
may often enable him at once to see the merits of a case and hit
upon the important points. This he said in reply to what I told
him of Brougham's trumpeter Sefton, who echoes from his own lips
that 'the Court of Chancery is such a sinecure and mere child's
play.'

      [4] [Lady Chesterfield, Mrs. Anson, and Miss Forester.]

      [5] [Compare the details of the preparation of the Reform
          Bill published by Lord Russell in the last edition of
          his 'Essay on the British Constitution.' Much of this
          conversation of Lord Lyndhurst's is extremely wide of
          the truth, but it is retained to show what was said and
          believed by competent persons at the time.]

In the meantime the elections have been going languidly on, and
are now nearly over; contrary to the prognostications of the
Tories, they have gone off very quietly, even in Ireland not many
contests, the anti-Reformers being unable to make any fight at
all; except in Shropshire they are dead-beat everywhere.
Northamptonshire the sharpest contest, and the one which has made
the most ill blood; this particular election has produced a good
deal of violence; elsewhere the Reformers have it hollow, no
matter what the characters of the candidates, if they are only for
the Bill. Calcraft and Wellesley, the former not respected, the
latter covered with disgrace, have beat Bankes and Tyrrell.
Lowther had not a chance in Cumberland, where Sir James Graham got
into another scrape, for in an impertinent speech he made an
attack upon Scarlett, which drew upon him a message and from him
an apology. Formerly, when a man made use of offensive expressions
and was called to account, he thought it right to go out and stand
a shot before he ate his words, but now-a-days that piece of
chivalry is dispensed with, and politicians make nothing of being
scurrilous one day and humble the next. Hyde Villiers has been
appointed to succeed Sandon at the Board of Control as a Whig and
a Reformer. He was in a hundred minds what line he should take,
and had written a pamphlet to prove the necessity of giving
Ministers seats in both Houses (as in France), which he has
probably put in the fire. I am very glad he has got the place, and
though his opinions were not very decided before, he has always
been anti-Tory, and has done nothing discreditable to get it, and
it was offered to him in a very flattering manner.


May 28th, 1831 {p.146}

Yesterday Lord Grey was invested with the blue ribband, though
there is no vacancy; the only precedent is that of Lords
Liverpool and Castlereagh (which was thought wrong), but it was
on the occasion of the peace after Bonaparte's overthrow and when
Castlereagh returned with such _éclat_ from Paris that the whole
House of Commons rose and cheered him as he entered it.

I met Alexander Baring the other night, who said it was certain
that the King was full of regrets at the extent of the measures
into which he had been hurried, when I told him of Lord Grey's
Garter, and asked him what he said to that, and how that bore out
the assertion of the King's regrets. The fact is that although on
one side a most indecent though effectual use of the King's name
has been made, on the other there is nothing that is not asserted
with equal confidence about 'his difficulties and his scruples.'
Sefton told me that it was the sort of things that were said that
made the King write to Lord Grey (he saw the letter) and tell him
that he thought it of the greatest importance at the present
moment to confer upon him a signal mark of his regard and of his
satisfaction with the whole of his conduct. It is, I believe,
true that the King felt some alarm and some doubt about the
dissolution, but I do not believe that he has any doubts or fears
at present. Indeed, how should he not have suffered himself to be
led away by these people and to become identified with their
measure? They have given him an ample share of the praise of it;
they assure him it will be eminently successful; he sees himself
popular and applauded to the skies, and as far as things have
gone it has been successful, for the elections have gone on and
gone off very peaceably, and the country in expectation of the
passing of the Bill is in a state of profound tranquillity.


June 5th, 1831 {p.147}

[Page Head: THE KING AT ASCOT.]

All last week at Fern Hill for the Ascot races; the
Chesterfields, Tavistocks, Belfasts, George Ansons, Montague,
Stradbroke, and Brooke Greville were there. The Royal Family came
to the course the first day with a great _cortége_--eight coaches
and four, two phaetons, pony sociables, and led horses--Munster
riding on horseback behind the King's carriage, Augustus (the
parson) and Frederick driving phaetons. The Duke of Richmond was
in the King's calèche and Lord Grey in one of the coaches. The
reception was strikingly cold and indifferent, not half so good
as that which the late King used to receive. William was bored to
death with the races, and his own horse broke down. On Wednesday
he did not come; on Thursday they came again. Beautiful weather
and unprecedented multitudes. The King was much more cheered than
the first day, or the greater number of people made a greater
noise. A few cheers were given to Lord Grey as he returned, which
he just acknowledged and no more. On Friday we dined at the
Castle; each day the King asked a crowd of people from the
neighbourhood. We arrived at a little before seven; the Queen was
only just come in from riding, so we had to wait till near eight.
Above forty people at dinner, for which the room is not nearly
large enough; the dinner was not bad, but the room insufferably
hot. The Queen was taken out by the Duke of Richmond, and the
King followed with the Duchess of Saxe Weimar, the Queen's
sister. He drinks wine with everybody, asking seven or eight at a
time. After dinner he drops asleep. We sat for a short time.
Directly after coffee the band began to play; a good band, not
numerous, and principally of violins and stringed instruments.
The Queen and the whole party sat there all the evening, so that
it was, in fact, a concert of instrumental music. The King took
Lady Tavistock to St. George's Hall and the ball room, where we
walked about, with two or three servants carrying lamps to show
the proportions, for it was not lit up. The whole thing is
exceedingly magnificent, and the manner of life does not appear
to be very formal, and need not be disagreeable but for the bore
of never dining without twenty strangers. The Castle holds very
few people, and with the King's and Queen's immediate suite and
_toute la bâtardise_ it was quite full. The King's four sons were
there, _signoreggianti tutti_, and the whole thing 'donnait à
penser' to those who looked back a little and had seen other
days. We sat in that room in which Lyndhurst has often talked to
me of the famous five hours' discussion with the late King, when
the Catholic Bill hung upon his caprice. Palmerston told me he
had never been in the Castle since the eventful day of Herries'
appointment and non-appointment; and how many things have
happened since. What a _changement de décoration_; no longer
George IV., capricious, luxurious, and misanthropic, liking
nothing but the society of listeners and flatterers, with the
Conyngham tribe and one or two Tory Ministers and foreign
Ambassadors; but a plain, vulgar, hospitable gentleman, opening
his doors to all the world, with a numerous family and suite, a
Whig Ministry, no foreigners, and no toad-eaters at all. Nothing
can be more different, and looking at him one sees how soon this
act will be finished, and the same be changed for another
probably not less dissimilar. Queen, bastards, Whigs,[6] all will
disappear, and God knows what replaces them. Came to town
yesterday, and found a quarrel between Henry Bentinck and Sir
Roger Gresley, which I had to settle, and did settle amicably in
the course of the evening.

      [6] Not Whigs--they are _les bienvenus_, which they were
          not before.--_July 1838._


June 7th, 1831 {p.148}

[Page Head: DINNER AT HANBURY'S BREWERY.]

Dined with Sefton yesterday, who gave me an account of a dinner
at Fowell Buxton's on Saturday to see the brewery, at which
Brougham was the 'magnus Apollo.' Sefton is excellent as a
commentator on Brougham; he says that he watches him incessantly,
never listens to anybody else when he is there, and _rows_ him
unmercifully afterwards for all the humbug, nonsense, and palaver
he hears him talk to people. They were twenty-seven at dinner.
Talleyrand was to have gone, but was frightened by being told
that he would get nothing but beefsteaks and porter, so he stayed
away. They dined in the brewhouse and visited the whole
establishment. Lord Grey was there in star, garter, and ribband.
There were people ready to show and explain everything, but not a
bit--Brougham took the explanation of everything into his own
hands--the mode of brewing, the machinery, down to the feeding of
the cart horses. After dinner the account books were brought, and
the young Buxtons were beckoned up to the top of the table by
their father to hear the words of wisdom that flowed from the
lips of my Lord Chancellor. He affected to study the ledger, and
made various pertinent remarks on the manner of book-keeping.
There was a man whom Brougham called 'Cornelius' (Sefton did not
know who he was) with whom he seemed very familiar. While
Brougham was talking he dropped his voice, on which 'Cornelius'
said, 'Earl Grey is listening,' that he might speak louder and so
nothing be lost. He was talking of Paley, and said that 'although
he did not always understand his own meaning, he always contrived
to make it intelligible to others,' on which 'Cornelius' said,
'My good friend, if he made it so clear to others he must have
had some comprehension of it himself;' on which Sefton attacked
him afterwards, and swore that 'he was a mere child in the hands
of "Cornelius,"' that 'he never saw anybody so put down.' These
people are all subscribers to the London University, and Sefton
swears he overheard Brougham tell them that 'Sir Isaac Newton was
nothing compared to some of the present professors,' or something
to that effect. I put down all this nonsense because it amused me
in the recital, and is excessively characteristic of the man, one
of the most remarkable who ever existed. Lady Sefton told me that
he went with them to the British Museum, where all the officers
of the Museum were in attendance to receive them. He would not
let anybody explain anything, but did all the honours himself. At
last they came to the collection of minerals, when she thought he
must be brought to a standstill. Their conductor began to
describe them, when Brougham took the words out of his mouth, and
dashed off with as much ease and familiarity as if he had been a
Buckland or a Cuvier. Such is the man, a grand mixture of moral,
political, and intellectual incongruities.


June 10th, 1831 {p.150}

Breakfasted the day before yesterday with Rogers, Sydney Smith,
Luttrell, John Russell, and Moore; excessively agreeable. I never
heard anything more entertaining than Sydney Smith; such bursts
of merriment and so dramatic. Breakfasts are the meals for poets.
I met Wordsworth and Southey at breakfast. Rogers' are always
agreeable.


June 15th, 1831 {p.150}

Five new peerages came out yesterday--Sefton, Kinnaird, Fingall,
Leitrim, and Agar Ellis; John Russell and Stanley are to be in the
Cabinet. At the ball at St. James's the other night George Dawson
told me that they had 270 people in the House of Commons on the
side of the Opposition, if they could command their attendance;
that he did not mean to say no Reform Bill would pass, but that
the details of this Bill had never yet been discussed, and when
they were it would be so clearly shown that it is impracticable
that this identical measure never could pass. The Opposition are
beginning to recover from their discouragement; there is to be a
meeting at Lord Mansfield's on Friday, and they do, I believe,
mean to fight it out.


June 19th, 1831 {p.150}

[Page Head: THE CHOLERA.]

The last few days I have been completely taken up with quarantine,
and taking means to prevent the cholera coming here. That disease
made great ravages in Russia last year, and in the winter the
attention of Government was called to it, and the question was
raised whether we should have to purify goods coming here in case
it broke out again, and if so how it was to be done. Government
was thinking of Reform and other matters, and would not bestow
much attention upon this subject, and accordingly neither
regulations nor preparations were made. All that was done was to
commission a Dr. Walker, a physician residing at St. Petersburg,
to go to Moscow and elsewhere and make enquiries into the nature
and progress of the disease, and report the result of his
investigation to us. He turned out, however, to be a very useless
and inefficient agent. In the meantime as the warm weather
returned the cholera again appeared in Russia, but still we took
no further measures until intelligence arrived that it had reached
Riga, at which place 700 or 800 sail of English vessels, loaded
principally with hemp and flax, were waiting to come to this
country. This report soon diffused a general alarm, and for many
days past the newspapers have been full of letters and full of
lies, and every sort of representation is made to Government or
through the press, as fear or interest happen to dictate. The
Consuls and Ministers abroad had been for some time supplying us
with such information as they could obtain, so that we were in
possession of a great deal of documentary evidence regarding the
nature, character, and progress of the disease. The first thing we
did was to issue two successive Orders in Council placing all
vessels coming from the Baltic in quarantine, and we sent for Sir
Henry Halford and placed all the papers we had in his hands,
desiring that he would associate with himself some other
practitioners, and report their opinion as speedily as possible
whether the disease was contagious and whether it could be
conveyed by goods. They reported the next day _yes_ to the first
question, _no_ to the second. In 1804, on the occasion of the
yellow fever at Gibraltar, Government formed a Board of Health,
and took the opinion of the College of Physicians, and it was
intended to pursue the same course in this instance, but Lords
Lansdowne and Auckland chose to take Halford's preliminary
opinion, contrary to my advice, for I foresaw that there would be
a great embarrassment if he and the College did not agree. Just so
it turned out, for when the case was submitted, with all the
papers, to the College, they would not adopt his opinion, much to
his annoyance, and, as I believe, because they did not like to be
merely called on to confirm what he had already said, and that
they thought their independence required a show of dissent. The
report they sent was very short and very unsatisfactory, and
entirely against all the evidence they had before them; they
advised precautionary measures. I immediately wrote back an answer
saying that their report was not satisfactory, and desiring a more
detailed opinion, and the reasons which had dictated their
conclusion; but in the meantime we set to work in earnest to adopt
measures against any emergency. The only way of performing
quarantine (with goods), it was found, would be by the employment
of men-of-war, and we accordingly asked the Admiralty to supply
ships for the purpose. This Lord Grey, Sir James Graham, and Sir
Byam Martin objected to, but Sir Thomas Hardy and Captain Elliot
did not. We proved that the ships would sustain no injury, so
after a battle they agreed to give them. We made a variety of
regulations, and gave strict orders for the due performance of
quarantine, and to-morrow a proclamation is to be issued for
constituting a Board of Health and enjoining obedience to the
quarantine laws, so that everything has been done that can be
done, and if the cholera comes here it is not our fault. Most of
the authorities think it will come, but I doubt it. If indeed it
is wafted through the air it may, but I don't think it will if it
is only to be communicated by contact. All the evidence proves
that goods cannot convey it; nevertheless we have placed
merchandise under a discretionary quarantine, and though we have
not promulgated any general regulations, we release no vessels
that come from infected places, or that have got enumerated goods
on board. Poulett Thomson, who is a trader as well as Privy
Councillor, is very much disgusted in his former capacity at the
measures he is obliged to concur in in his latter. This topic has
now occupied for some days a good deal of the attention even of
the fine fools of this town, and the Tories would even make it a
matter of party accusation against the Government, only they don't
know exactly how. It is always safe to deal in generalities, so
they say that 'Government ought to be impeached if the disease
comes here.'

[Page Head: MEETING OF PEERS.]

There was a meeting of Peers to the amount of nearly seventy at
Lord Mansfield's the other day, which went off greatly to their
satisfaction. They unanimously agreed to determine upon nothing
in the way of amendment until they had seen the King's Speech, to
which, however, they will consider themselves bound to move an
amendment, provided it contains anything laudatory of the Reform
Bill. The Duke of Wellington was not at the meeting, having been
taken ill. I met him the day before at dinner, and had a good
deal of conversation with him. He is in pretty good spirits, and
thinks they may make a good fight of it yet; told me that
Lyndhurst would certainly go thoroughly with them, praised him
largely, said he was the best colleague that any man ever had,
and that he should be very sorry ever to go into any Cabinet of
which he was not a member. The King dined with the Duke
yesterday, and was to give him a very fine sword. Aubin, who was
to have acted in 'Hernani' before the Queen on Wednesday next, is
suddenly gone off to Rome as _attaché_ to Brook Taylor, who is
there negotiating. Taylor happened to be in Italy, and they sent
him there, some doubts existing whether they could by law send a
diplomatic agent to negotiate with the Pope; but it was referred
to Denman, who said there was no danger. He is not accredited,
and bears no _official_ character, but it is a regular mission.
Lord Lansdowne told me that Leopold is inconceivably anxious to
be King of Belgium, that short of going in direct opposition to
the wishes and advice of all the Royal Family and of the
Government he would do anything to be beking'd, and, what is
equally absurd, that the others cannot bear that he should be
thus elevated.


June 23rd, 1831 {p.153}

The King opened Parliament on Tuesday, with a greater crowd
assembled to see him pass than was ever congregated before, and
the House of Lords was so full of ladies that the Peers could not
find places. The Speech was long, but good, and such as to
preclude the possibility of an amendment. There was, however, a
long discussion in each House, and the greatest bitterness and
violence evinced in both--every promise of a stormy session. Lord
Lansdowne said to the King, 'I am afraid, sir, you won't be able
to _see_ the Commons.' 'Never mind,' said he; 'they shall _hear_
me, I promise you,' and accordingly he thundered forth the Speech
so that not a word was lost.

There has been a reconciliation between the Wellingtonians and
the old Tories, and they are now firmly knit in opposition to the
present Government. Winchilsea, who was the last Tory who stuck
to Lord Grey, renounced him in a hot speech, which evidently
annoyed Lord Grey very much, for he made a long one in reply to
him. Winchilsea is a silly, blustering, but good-natured and
well-meaning man. Last night 'Hernani' was acted at Bridgewater
House before the Queen and all the Royal Family. Aubin, who had
acted Don Ruy, was sent to Rome, so Francis Leveson took the
part. I was disappointed, though all the company were or
pretended to be in ecstasies. The rhyme does not do, the room is
not good for hearing, and with the exception of Miss Kemble (who
was not so effective as I expected) and Craven, the actors were
execrable.

[Page Head: PREVENTION OF CHOLERA.]

News came the day before yesterday that Marshal Diebitsch had died
of the cholera. It was suspected that he had made away with
himself, for he has failed so signally in his campaign against the
Poles that his military reputation is tarnished; and it is known
that his recall had been decreed, and that Count Paskiewitch was
to succeed him. The alarm about the cholera still continues, but
the Government are thrown into great perplexity by the danger on
one hand of the cholera and the loss to trade on the other. A
board of health has been formed, composed of certain members of
the College of Physicians, Sir William Pym, Sir William Burnet,
Sir Byam Martin, Sir James M'Grigor, and Mr. Stewart; and they in
their first sitting advised that all the precautions established
by our Orders in Council against the plague should be adopted
against the cholera. This opinion was given under the authority of
Dr. Warren, who, it appears, exercises the same ascendency in this
Board that he had previously done in the College of Physicians on
the same subject. The fact is that he takes the safe side. They
have nothing to do with trade and commerce, which must shift for
themselves, and probably the other members will not take upon
themselves the responsibility of opposing measures which, if the
disease ever appears here, and should they be relaxed, will expose
the physicians to the odium and reproach of having been
instrumental to its introduction. We, however (Auckland, Poulett
Thomson, and I), are resolved to make the Cabinet take upon
themselves the responsibility of framing the permanent rules which
are to guide us during the continuance of the malady. It is
remarkable that there never was more sickness than there is at
present, without its being epidemic, but thousands of colds, sore
throats, fevers, and such like; and a man at Blackwall has died of
the English cholera, and another is ill of it, but their disorders
seem to have nothing to do with the Indian cholera, though some of
the symptoms are similar. These men cannot have got their cholera
from Russia, but their cases spread alarm.


June 25th, 1831 {p.155}

John Russell brought his Bill in last night, in a good speech as
his friends, and a dull one as his enemies, say. In the Lords
Aberdeen attacked Lord Grey's foreign policy in a poor speech,
which just did to show his bitterness and as a peg for Grey to
hang a very good reply upon. The Duke of Wellington spoke
afterwards; not much of a speech, but gentlemanlike and
anti-factious, and _approving_ of all Lord Grey had done about
Belgium. Lord Grey passed a very fine eulogium upon Lord
Ponsonby. However, this was necessary, for he is going as
Minister to Naples, not having a guinea. The Emperor Don Pedro is
coming here, and Henry Webster is to be his conductor.


June 30th, 1831 {p.155}

At Court yesterday to swear in the Duke of Leinster, Mr. Justice
Vaughan, and Sir E. Hyde East. Lord Ponsonby was there, just
returned from Brussels. The first time of Stanley's and John
Russell's being at a Council since they came into the Cabinet.


July 3rd, 1831 {p.155}

Went to Oatlands on Saturday, returned on Monday; nobody there
but Emily Eden. Many revolutions that place has undergone in my
time, from the days of the Duke of York and its gaieties (well
remembered and much regretted) to its present quiet state. The
Belgians have not yet made up their mind about Leopold, who does
not know whether he is king or no king. The Reform Bill came on
again last night, but it no longer excites so much interest.
Nobody spoke well but Lord Porchester.


July 5th, 1831 {p.156}

The night before last Lord Harewood attacked Brougham in the
House of Lords about the appointment of a magistrate without
consulting him as Lord-Lieutenant. As usual his own party say he
made out a good case, and the others that he made none. They say
(and I believe with truth) that Brougham does not dislike such
scrapes, and is so confident in his own ingenuity that he never
doubts of getting out of them. Lyndhurst attacked him sharply. In
the House of Commons last night the debate went on languidly,
except a splendid speech from Macaulay and an answer (not bad,
they say) from Murray. Lord Grey sent for me yesterday morning to
talk over the coronation, for in consequence of what the Duke of
Wellington said in the House the night before he thinks there
must be one. The object is to make it shorter and cheaper than
the last, which occupied the whole day and cost £240,000.


July 8th, 1831 {p.156}

The second reading of the Reform Bill was carried at five in the
morning by 136 majority, somewhat greater than the Opposition had
reckoned on. Peel made a powerful speech, but not so good as
either of his others on Reform. Goulburn told me that the speech
in answer to the Lord Advocate on the Irish Bill, when not 100
people were in the House, was his best. The coronation fixed for
the 23rd. Breakfasted with Rogers; went afterwards to the Duchess
of Bedford's, where I met Lady Lyndhurst. I desired her to tell
Lyndhurst all the Duke had said to me about him, for in these
times it is as well they should draw together. He will be a match
for Brougham in the House of Lords, for he can be concise, which
the other cannot, and the Lords in the long run will prefer
brevity to art, sarcasm, and anything else.

[Page Head: CONTEST IN POLAND.]

People are beginning to recover from their terror of the cholera,
seeing that it does not come, and we are now beset with alarms of
a different kind, which are those of the Scotch merchants for
their cargoes. We have a most disagreeable business on our hands,
very troublesome, odious, and expensive. The public requires that
we should take care of its health, the mercantile world that we
should not injure their trade. All evidence proves that goods are
not capable of bringing in the disorder, but we have appointed a
Board of Health, which is contagionist, and we can't get them to
subscribe to that opinion. We dare not act without its sanction,
and so we are obliged to air goods. This airing requires more
ships and lazarets than we have, and the result is a perpetual
squabbling, disputing, and complaining between the Privy Council,
the Admiralty, the Board of Health, and the merchants. We have
gone on pretty well hitherto, but more ships arrive every day;
the complaints will grow louder, and the disease rather spreads
than diminishes on the Continent. This cholera has afforded
strong proofs of the partiality of the Prussians in the contest
between the Russians and the Poles. The quarantine restrictions
are always dispensed with for officers passing through the
Prussian territory to join the Russian army. Count Paskiewitch
was allowed to pass without performing any quarantine at all, and
stores and provisions are suffered to be conveyed to the army,
with every facility afforded by the Prussian authorities and
every relaxation of the sanitary laws. The Duke of Wellington
says that the contest will very soon be over, that the Russian
army could not act before June, and that between February and
June the country is not practicable for military operations. They
have now so many months before them that the weight of their
numerical superiority will crush the Poles. Austria and Prussia,
too, do their utmost by affording every sort of indirect
assistance to the Russians and thwarting the Poles as much as
they can.


July 10th, 1831 {p.157}

The last two or three days I have been settling everything for
the coronation,[7] which is to be confined to the ceremony in the
Abbey and cost as little money and as little trouble as possible;
and yesterday I was the medium of great civilities from Lord Grey
to the Duke. He desired me to go to the Duke and show him the
course of proceeding we mean to adopt, and request him to make
any suggestion that occurred to him, and to enquire if he would
have any objection to attend the Council at which it is to be
formally settled on Wednesday, to which Peel and Rosslyn are
likewise invited. I spoke to the Duke and Peel, and they will
both come. All this is mighty polite.

      [7] [The arrangements for coronations are made by a
          Committee of the Privy Council, which sits as a Court
          of Claims.]

They have made a fine business of Cobbett's trial; his insolence
and violence were past endurance, but he made an able speech. The
Chief Justice was very timid, and favoured and complimented him
throughout; very unlike what Ellenborough would have done. The
jury were shut up the whole night, and in the morning the Chief
Justice, without consulting either party, discharged them, which
was probably on the whole the best that could be done. Denman told
me that he expected they would have acquitted him without leaving
the box, and this principally on account of Brougham's evidence,
for Cobbett brought the Chancellor forward and made him prove that
_after_ these very writings, and while this prosecution was
hanging over him, Brougham wrote to his son 'Dear Sir,' and
requesting he would ask his father for some former publications of
his, which he thought would be of great use on the present
occasion in quieting the labourers. This made a great impression,
and the Attorney-General never knew one word of the letter till he
heard it in evidence, the Chancellor having flourished it off, as
is his custom, and then quite forgotten it. The Attorney told me
that Gurney overheard one juryman say to another, 'Don't you think
we had better stop the case? It is useless to go on.' The other,
however, declared for hearing it out, so on the whole it ended as
well as it might, just better than an acquittal, and that is all.


July 11th, 1831 {p.158}

Dined with Lord Grey yesterday. In the middle of dinner
Talleyrand got a letter announcing that Leopold's conditional
acceptance of the Belgian throne had been agreed to by a great
majority of the Chamber; and a Mr. Walker, who brought the news
(and left Brussels at five o'clock the day before), came to Lord
Grey and told him with what enthusiasm it had been received
there. Lord Grey wrote to the Chancellor, with whom Leopold was
dining, to tell him of the event.

[Page Head: WELLINGTON AND THE GOVERNMENT.]

This morning I got a note from the Duke of Wellington declining
to attend the Council on Wednesday, and desiring I would impart
the same to Lord Grey and the King. He says that it would give
rise to misrepresentations, and so it would. He is right to
decline. It is, however, Peel who has prevented him, I am
certain. When I told Peel on Saturday, he looked very grave, did
not seem to like it, and said he must confer with the Duke first,
as he should be sorry to do otherwise than he did. Yesterday I
know the Duke dined with Peel, who I have no doubt persuaded him
to send this excuse. The Government are in exceeding delight at
the Duke's conduct ever since he has been in opposition, which
certainly has been very noble, straightforward, gentlemanlike,
and without an atom of faction or mischief about it. He has done
himself great honour; he threw over Aberdeen completely on that
business about foreign policy which he introduced soon after the
meeting of Parliament, and now he is assisting the Government in
their Lieutenancy Bill, and is in constant communication with
Melbourne on the subject.


July 13th, 1831 {p.159}

I took the Duke's note to Lord Grey, who seemed annoyed, and
repeated that he had only intended the invitation as a mark of
attention, and never thought of shifting any responsibility from
his own shoulders; that as there was a deviation from the old
ceremonial, he thought the Duke's sanction would have satisfied
those who might otherwise have disputed the propriety of such a
change. 'Does he then,' he asked, 'mean to attend _the Committee_?'
I did not then know; but yesterday in the House of Lords I asked
the Duke, and he said 'No, for the same reasons,' that upon
consideration he was sure he had better not go, that by so doing
he might give umbrage to his own party, and he could only do good
by exercising a powerful influence over them and restraining them,
and that his means of doing good would be impaired by any
appearance of approximating himself to Government, that when the
general plan of the arrangements was settled, he should have no
objection to lend a helping hand, if wanted, to the details with
which he was very conversant. I wrote on a slip of paper that he
would _not_ come, and gave it to Lord Grey, who said nothing. Peel
did not write to me, but he and Rosslyn do the same as the Duke.

[Page Head: RESERVE OF MR. PEEL.]

The Belgian deputation came yesterday, and Lebeau and his
colleagues were in the House of Lords. We had been promised a
good day there between Londonderry and Brougham and Plunket, but
the former made a tiresome, long speech; the latter spoke civilly
and dully; and Brougham not at all, so it ended in smoke. In the
other House on Monday the Ministers got a good majority (102) on
the wine duties, to their great delight, but the Opposition were
not only mortified at the defeat, but disgusted and enraged at
the conduct of Peel (their leader, as they considered him), who
came into the House, got up in the middle of Herries' speech,
walked out and was heard of no more that night; never voted, nor
gave any notice of his intention not to vote. The moral effect of
this upon his party is immense, and has served to destroy the
very little confidence they had in him before. It is impossible
to conceive by what motives he is actuated, because if they were
purely selfish it would seem that he defeats his own object; for
what can he gain by disgusting and alienating his party, when
although they cannot do without him, it is equally true that he
cannot do without them? I walked home with William Banks, who
went largely into the whole question of Peel's extraordinary
disposition and conduct, and said how disheartening it was, and
what a blow to those who looked to him as a leader in these
troublous times. Henry Currey (no important person, but whose
opinion is that of fifty other like him) told me that his conduct
had been _atrocious_, and that he had himself voted in the
minority against his opinion because he thought it right to
sacrifice that opinion to the interests of his party. The fact
is, if Peel had imparted his sentiments to his party he might
have prevented their dividing on this question with the greatest
ease. There is nothing they are not ready to do at his bidding,
but his coldness and reserve are so impenetrable that nobody can
ascertain his sentiments or divine his intentions, and thus he
leaves his party in the lurch without vouchsafing to give them
any reason or explanation of his conduct. In the meantime the
other party (as if each was destined to suffer more from the
folly of its friends than the hostility of its foes) has been
thrown into great confusion by Lord Milton's notice to propose an
alteration in the franchise, and a meeting was called of all the
friends of Government at Althorp, when Milton made a speech just
such as any opponent of the Bill might make in the House of
Commons, going over the old ground of Fox, Pitt, Burke, and
others having sat for rotten boroughs. They were annoyed to the
last degree, and the more provoked when reflecting that it was
for him Althorp had been led to spend an immense sum of money,
and compromise his character besides in the Northamptonshire
election. His obstinacy and impracticability are so extreme that
nobody can move him, and Sefton told me that nothing could be
more unsatisfactory than the termination of the meeting. I guess,
however, that they will find some means or other of quieting him.

The Opposition divided last night 187 against 284 on the question
of hearing counsel for the condemned boroughs--not so good a
division for the minority as they expected, and after a very
powerful speech of Attwood's, to which nobody listened.

There is a fresh access of alarm on account of the cholera, which
has broken out at St. Petersburg, and will probably spread over
Germany. The cordon of troops which kept it off last year from
St. Petersburg appears to have been withdrawn, which is no doubt
the cause of its appearance there. We have constant reports of
supposed cases of disease and death, but up to this period it
does not appear to have shown itself here, though a case was
transmitted to us from Glasgow exceedingly like it. The sick man
had not come from any infected place. The Board of Health are,
however, in great alarm, and the authorities generally think we
shall have it. From all I can observe from the facts of the case
I am convinced that the liability to contagion is greatly
diminished by the influence of sea air, for which reason I doubt
that it will be brought here across the water. If it does come it
will pass through France first. The King of Prussia has at last
insisted upon a rigid execution of the quarantine laws in his
dominions. Marshal Paskiewitch was detained on his road to take
the command of the army, and sent a courier to the King to
request he might be released forthwith, urging the importance of
the Emperor to have his report of the state of the army; but the
King refused, and sent word that the Emperor himself had
submitted to quarantine, and so his aide-de-camp might do the
same.


July 14th, 1831 {p.162}

The effects of Peel's leaving the party to shift for itself were
exhibited the night before last. He went away (there was no
reason why he should not, except that he should have stayed to
_manage_ the debate and keep his people in order), and the
consequence was that they went on in a vexatious squabble of
repeated adjournments till eight o'clock in the morning, when
Government at last beat them. The Opposition gradually dwindled
down to twenty-five people, headed by Stormont, Tullamore, and
Brudenell, while the Government kept 180 together to the last;
between parties so animated and so led there can be no doubt on
which side will be the success. The Government were in high
spirits at the result, and thought the fatigue well repaid by the
display of devotion on the part of their friends and of factious
obstinacy on that of their enemies. After these two nights it is
impossible not to consider the Tory party as having ceased to
exist for all the practical and legitimate ends of political
association--that is, as far as the House of Commons is
concerned, where after all the battle must be fought. There is
still a rabble of Opposition, tossed about by every wind of folly
and passion, and left to the vagaries and eccentricities of
Wetherell, or Attwood, or Sadler, or the intemperate zeal
of such weak fanatics as the three Lords above mentioned;
but for a grave, deliberative, efficient Opposition there seem to
be no longer the elements, or they are so scattered and disunited
that they never can come together, and the only man who might
have collected, and formed, and directed them begs leave to be
excused. It is a wretched state of things and can portend no
good. If there had not been prognostications of ruin and
destruction to the State in all times, proceeding from all
parties, which the event has universally falsified, I should
believe that the consummation of evil was really at hand; as it
is I cannot feel that certainty of destruction that many do,
though I think we are more seriously menaced than ever we were
before, because the danger is of a very different description.
But there is an elasticity in the institutions of this country,
which may rise up for the purpose of checking these proceedings,
and in the very uncertainty of what may be produced and
engendered by such measures there is hope of salvation.

[Page Head: PREPARATIONS FOR THE CORONATION.]

Yesterday a Council was held at St. James's for the coronation;
the Princes, Ministers, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Bishop of
London were present. The King read an address to the Lords
desiring that his coronation might be short, and that all the
ceremonies might be dispensed with except those in the church.
Lord Grey had composed a paper in which he had made the King say
that these ceremonies were at variance with the genius of the age
we live in, and suited to another period of society; but the
Archbishop objected to these expressions, and thought it better
to give the injunction without the comments; so Lord Grey wrote
another and shorter paper, but he showed the first to Lord
Lansdowne and me, and we both told him that we thought the
Archbishop was right and that the second paper was the best. The
Duke of Gloucester was very indignant at not having been summoned
in a more respectful way than by a common circular, and
complained to the Lord President.[8] I told him to throw it all
on me. He had been grumbling to the Duke of Sussex before, who
did not care. Leopold was too much of a king to attend, so he
came to the levee (but _en prince_ only) and not to the Council.
Lieven told me it was true that the Grand Duke Constantine was
dead, and that it was a very good thing.

      [8] [It is customary to summon the Royal Dukes to a Council
          by a letter This formality seems to have been
          overlooked in this instance.]




                           CHAPTER XV.

Preparations for the Coronation--Long Wellesley committed by the
  Chancellor for Contempt--Alderman Thompson and his
  Constituents--Prince Leopold goes to Belgium--Royal Tombs and
  Remains--The Lieutenancy of the Tower--The Cholera--The Belgian
  Fortresses--Secret Negotiations of Canning with the Whigs--
  Transactions before the Close of the Liverpool Administration--
  Duke of Wellington and Peel--The Dutch invade Belgium--Defeat
  of the Belgian Army--The French enter Belgium--Lord Grey's
  Composure--Audience at Windsor--Danger of Reform--Ellen Tree--
  The French in Belgium--Goodwood--The Duke of Richmond--The
  Reform Bill in Difficulties--Duke of Wellington calls on Lord
  Grey--The King declines to be kissed by the Bishops--
  Talleyrand's Conversation--State of Europe and France--
  Coronation Squabbles--The King divides the old Great Seal
  between Brougham and Lyndhurst--Relations of the Duchess of
  Kent to George IV. and William IV.--The Coronation--Irritation
  of the King--The Cholera--A Dinner at St. James's--State of the
  Reform Bill--Sir Augustus d'Este--Madame Junot--State of
  France--Poland.


July 15th, 1831 {p.165}

A Committee of Council sat yesterday at the Office about the
coronation; present, the Cabinet, Dukes of Gloucester and Sussex,
Archbishop and Bishop of London; much discussion and nothing
done. Brougham raised every sort of objection about the services
and the dispensing with them, and would have it the King _could_
not dispense with them; finally, the Attorney-General and
Solicitor-General were sent for to the House of Lords and desired
to reconsider the Proclamation.


July 20th, 1831 {p.165}

I have been laid up with the gout these last few days, unable to
move, but without violent pain. The Committee of Council met
again on Friday last, when the Proclamation was settled. A Court
of Claims is to sit, but to be prohibited from receiving any
claims except those relating to the ceremonies in the Abbey. The
Lords went to St. James's and held the Council, at which the King
made a little speech, to the effect that he would be crowned to
satisfy the tender consciences of those who thought it necessary,
but that he thought that it was his duty (as this country, in
common with every other, was labouring under distress) to make it
as economical as possible. A difficulty arose about the
publication of the Proclamation, usually done by heralds with
certain ceremonies. The first proclamation is not the one to be
acted on; the second does not announce the coronation, but refers
to the first. I asked Brougham what was to be done. He said both
must be read. Lord Grey suggested neither, which was done.

The other day Long Wellesley carried off his daughter, a ward in
Chancery, from her guardians, and secreted her. The matter was
brought before the Chancellor, who sent for Wellesley. He came,
and refused to give her up; so Brougham committed him to the
Fleet Prison. The matter was brought the next day before the
House of Commons, and referred to their Committee of Privileges;
and in the meantime Brougham has been making a great splutter
about his authority and his Court both on the judicial bench and
from the Woolsack. The lawyers in the House of Commons were
divided as to Wellesley's right of privilege in such a case.[1]

      [1] [Both the Chancellor and Mr. Wellesley wrote to the
          Speaker, and their letters were read to the House
          before the Committee of Privileges was appointed.
          Meanwhile Mr. Wellesley remained at his house in Dover
          Street in charge of two officers of the Court of
          Chancery. There is, I believe, no doubt that the
          committal was good, and that Mr. Wellesley's privilege
          as a member of Parliament did not protect him, a
          contempt of the Court having been committed. A similar
          point has recently been raised in the Court of Queen's
          Bench upon the committal of Mr. Whalley.]

[Page Head: ALDERMAN THOMPSON AND HIS CONSTITUENTS.]

There has been exhibited in the course of the last few days one
of the most disgraceful scenes (produced by the Reform Bill) ever
witnessed. On the question of the disfranchisement of Appleby a
certain Alderman Thompson, member for the City, who stood deeply
pledged to Reform, voted for hearing counsel in defence of the
borough, on which there was a meeting of his ward, or of certain
of his constituents, to consider his conduct. He was obliged to
appear before them, and, after receiving a severe lecture, to
confess that he had been guilty of inadvertence, to make many
submissive apologies, and promise to vote no more but in
obedience to the Minister. It is always an agreeable pastime to
indulge one's virtuous indignation, and wish to have been in the
place of such an one for the sake of doing what he ought to have
done but did not do, by which, without any of the risk of a very
difficult and unpleasant situation, one has all the imaginary
triumph of eloquence, independence, and all kinds of virtue; and
so in this instance I feel that I should have liked to pour upon
these wretches the phials of my wrath and contempt. If the
alderman had had one spark of spirit he would have spurned the
terrors of this plebeian inquisition, and told them that they had
elected him, and that it was his intention, as long as he
continued their representative, to vote as he thought proper,
always redeeming the pledges he had given at his election; that
he would not submit to be questioned for this or any other vote,
and if they were not satisfied with his conduct when the
Parliament should be over they might choose whom they would in
his place. What makes the case the more absurd is, that this
question of Appleby is monstrous, and it never ought (by their
own principle) to have been put in Schedule A at all. There was a
debate and a division on it last night, and a majority for the
Ministers of seventy-five in a very full House; the worst
division they have yet had. Every small victory in the House of
Commons is probably equivalent to a great defeat in the House of
Lords, unless they do what is now talked of--make as many Peers
as may be necessary to carry the Bill, which I doubt their daring
to do or the King consenting to do. The lapse of time and such
difficulties and absurdities will probably obstruct the Bill, so
as to prevent its passing. God knows what we shall have instead.

Prince Leopold started on Saturday, having put his pension into
trustees' hands (by the advice of Lambton), to keep up Claremont
and pay his debts and pensions, and then hand over the residue to
the Exchequer, the odds being that none of it ever gets there,
and that he is back here before the debts are paid. It seems
that, desirous as he had been to go, when the time drew near he
got alarmed, and wanted to back out, but they brought him (though
with difficulty) to the point. He has proposed to the Princess
Louise, King Louis Philippe's daughter.

Halford has been with me this morning gossiping (which he likes);
he gave me an account of his discovery of the head of Charles I.
in St. George's Chapel, Windsor, to which he was directed by
Wood's account in the 'Athenæ Oxonienses.' He says that they
also found the coffin of Henry VIII., but that the air had
penetrated and the body had been reduced to a skeleton. By his
side was Jane Seymour's coffin untouched, and he has no doubt her
body is perfect. The late King intended to have it opened, and he
says he will propose it to this King. By degrees we may visit the
remains of the whole line of Tudor and Plantagenet too, and see
if those famous old creatures were like their effigies. He says
Charles's head was exactly as Vandyke had painted him.


July 26th, 1831 {p.168}

At Oatlands on Saturday, and came back on Sunday night. Nobody
there but my father, mother, Walpole, Sneyd, and Alava; very
different from what I once remember it. There has been a great
deal of talk about the Duke of Wellington giving Lord Munster the
Lieutenancy of the Tower, the truth of which is as follows:--It
is in the King's gift, and he sent to the Duke and desired him to
name somebody. The Duke would have liked to name one of
three--Fitzroy Somerset, Colin Campbell, or Hardinge. The latter
would not have been agreeable to Government, and therefore it
would have occasioned the King an embarrassment; the second was
provided for, and Lord Hill advised the first to remain as he is
(though I don't see why he could not have had both); so the Duke
thought it would gratify the King if he was to name Munster.
Munster wrote a very civil letter to the Duke, full of thanks and
saying that he begged he would not think of him if he had anybody
else to give it to, and that he would take upon himself to
explain to the King his not accepting it. The Duke persisted,
and so he had it. I must say he might have found some one out of
the number of his old officers to give it to rather than Munster.

The King of France's Speech arrived yesterday, but nothing was
said in the House of Lords, because Lord Grey was at Windsor. It
will make a stir--the general tone of it, and the demolition of
the fortresses which cost us seven millions. Not one of the
papers made a remark upon it; nothing will do for them but
Reform.

[Page Head: THE CHOLERA.]

Fresh claims have been raised about cholera morbus. A man at Port
Glasgow insists upon it, without much apparent reason, that it
prevails there; so we have sent a medical man down, in order to
quiet people's minds and to set the question at rest. Lord Grey,
who is credulous, believes the Glasgow man's story, and spread
the news in his own family, who immediately dispersed it over the
rest of the town, and yesterday nobody could talk of anything
else; not believing it very much, and not understanding it at
all, for if they did they would not be so flippant. Lady Holland
wrote to Lord Lansdowne to desire he would recommend her the best
_cholera_ doctor that he had heard of. I have just received a
letter from Moore, saying he has ordered his publisher to send me
a copy of 'Lord Edward Fitzgerald,' and that he only sends copies
to the Duke of Leinster and me, but begs I will send him no
opinion, for 'opinions fidget him'--'genus irritabile vatum.'


July 27th, 1831 {p.169}

Yesterday Aberdeen asked Lord Grey some questions in a very few
words, accompanied as usual with a sneer, which is very
unbecoming, and of course gave Lord Grey the advantage of
repelling it with scorn. The Duke spoke, and pretty well, but
laid some stress more on Portugal than upon Belgium, which is
what I cannot understand, but Alava told me that when he came to
town yesterday he had said to him that, as an Englishman, he had
never felt so deeply affected for the honour of his country as in
this transaction. I met him after the debate, and he said he
thought he had done some good by what he said. The question of
the Belgian fortresses is not without great difficulty, and the
strong part of it for Government is that their demolition was
agreed to by all the Powers interested (except Holland), and
without the presence of the French Plenipotentiary at the meeting
when it was decided. I am inclined to think that the manner in
which it was blurted out in the King of France's Speech, as a
clap-trap for him, will have made the principal difficulty,
though the policy may be very questionable.


July 28th, 1831 {p.170}

On Tuesday night they got through Schedule A, but in a very
bungling manner, and the events of the night, its enemies say,
damaged the Bill, not, however, that anything can hurt it in the
House of Commons, though such things may tell in the House of
Lords; but on the question of Saltash, which the Opposition did
not consider as a very strong case, so little that they had not
intended to divide on it, John Russell and the rest suddenly gave
way, and without informing their friends moved that it ought to
be in Schedule B. On a division all the Ministers voted with, the
Opposition, so the borough was transferred to B. Their friends
were furious, and not without reason, that they had not
determined where it ought to be placed, and have transferred it
themselves instead of leaving them in the dilemma they were in
when the division arrived. A court and levee yesterday.


Oatlands, July 31st, 1831 {p.170}

[Page Head: CANNING'S NEGOTIATION WITH THE WHIGS.]

The Arbuthnots and Mr. Loch here. I rode down after the Opera
last night; walked for an hour and a half with Arbuthnot under
the shade of one of the great trees, talking of various old
matters and some new, principally about Canning and his disputes
and differences with the Duke of Wellington. He says that the
Duke's principal objection to Canning was the knowledge of his
having negotiated with the Whigs previously to Lord Liverpool's
illness, which was communicated to the Duke; he would not say by
whom. The person who went between them was Sir Robert Wilson,
deputed by Brougham, and those who afterwards joined Canning. Sir
Robert spoke to Huskisson, and he to Canning. What they said was
this: that finding his view so liberal, they were ready to
support and join him, and in the event of his becoming Minister
(on Lord Liverpool's death or resignation) that they would serve
under him. Arbuthnot does not know what answer Canning sent to
this, nor whether he _did_ anything on it, but when on Lord
Liverpool's illness Canning went to the King at Windsor, he told
him that if the Tories would not consent to his being named
Minister 'he was sure of the Whigs,' but this he entreated the
King not to mention. Immediately after Canning the Duke went to
the King, and to him the King directly repeated what Canning had
said. The Duke told the King that he was already aware of
Canning's intercourse with the Whigs, and with that knowledge
that he could not consent to his being Prime Minister, as he
could have no confidence in him. Shortly after this, and before
the resignation of the Ministers, but after the difficulties had
begun, Knighton came to Arbuthnot, and said he was afraid his
Royal Master had done a great deal of mischief by repeating to
the Duke what Canning had said, that he was very anxious to bring
the Duke and Canning together again, and asked him (Arbuthnot) to
go with him to Canning and see what could be done. Arbuthnot
declined, but said if Canning _wished_ to see him he would go.
Canning sent for him, and they had a long conversation, in which
he expressed his desire to go on with the Duke, and it was agreed
the Duke should call on him and have a conversation and see what
could be arranged. The Duke called on him, and they talked of a
variety of matters, but not a word passed about the formation of
a new Ministry. Arbuthnot went to the House, and told Canning how
much he was surprised and disappointed that nothing had come of
this conversation, to which he made no reply, but Arbuthnot found
afterwards that between his leaving Canning and the Duke's going
to him Peel had been to him and proposed that the Duke should be
Prime Minister. This so offended Canning, believing that it was a
measure of the party and done with the Duke's consent, that he
resolved not to utter a word to the Duke on the subject, and so
ended the hopes of their agreement.

It does not appear, however, as if anything could have been done,
for Canning was bent upon being Prime Minister; and I asked
Arbuthnot to what the Duke would have consented, and he said,
'Not to that,' that after the transaction with the Whigs he could
not have felt sufficient confidence in Canning to agree to his
being Prime Minister. (If he distrusted Canning he ought to have
refused to act with him at all, not merely objected to his being
Prime Minister, but the ground of his objection was shifted.)
Originally the King could not bear Canning, and he was only
persuaded by the Duke to take him into the Cabinet. Afterwards he
was so offended at the influence he acquired there, and
particularly with that which he had got over the mind of Lord
Liverpool, that he one day sent for Arbuthnot and desired him to
tell Lord Liverpool that he could not endure to see Canning make
a puppet of him, and he would rather he was Prime Minister at
once than have all the power without the name by governing him
(Lord Liverpool) as he pleased, and that unless he could shake
off this influence he was determined not to let him continue at
the head of the Government, and, moreover, he must find some
means of getting rid of Canning altogether. This Arbuthnot wrote
to Lord Liverpool, who wrote an answer couched in terms of
indignation, saying he by no means coveted his situation, that he
was sure his colleagues would resent any indignity offered to
him, and that the King had better take care what he was about,
and not, by producing disunion in the Government, incur the risk
of making the end of his reign as disastrous as the beginning of
it had been prosperous.

Not very long after Canning got into favour, and in this
way:--Harriet Wilson at the time of her connexion with Lord
Ponsonby got hold of some of Lady Conyingham's letters to him,
and she wrote to Ponsonby, threatening, unless he gave her a
large sum, to come to England and publish everything she could.
This produced dismay among all the parties, and they wanted to
get Ponsonby away and to silence the woman. In this dilemma
Knighton advised the King to have recourse to Canning, who saw
the opening to favour, jumped at it, and instantly offered to
provide for Ponsonby and do anything which could relieve the King
from trouble. Ponsonby was sent to Buenos Ayres forthwith, and
the letters were bought up. From this time Canning grew in
favour, which he took every means to improve, and shortly gained
complete ascendancy over the King.

[Page Head: CANNING AND THE LIVERPOOL ADMINISTRATION.]

Arbuthnot said that Canning and Castlereagh had always gone on
well together after their reconciliation, but that Lord
Liverpool's subjection to him arose more from fear than
affection. Liverpool told Arbuthnot that he earnestly desired to
resign his office, that his health was broken, and he was only
retained by the consideration that his retirement might be the
means of breaking up a Government which he had (through the
kindness of his colleagues to him) been enabled to hold together;
that Canning worked with a twenty-horse power; that his
sensitiveness was such that he [Canning] felt every paragraph in
a newspaper that reflected on him, and that the most trifling
causes produced an irritation on his mind, which was always
vented upon him (Lord Liverpool), and that every time the door
was opened he dreaded the arrival of a packet from Canning.
Arbuthnot had been in great favour with the King, who talked to
him and consulted him, but he nearly cut him after the disunion
consequent on Canning's appointment. Knighton came to Arbuthnot
and desired him to try and prevail on the Duke to consent to
Canning's being Prime Minister, which he told him was useless,
and from that time the King was just civil to the Duke and that
was all. The Duke had always suspected that Canning wanted all
along to be Prime Minister, and that when he sent him to Russia
to congratulate Nicholas it was to get him out of the way, and he
was the more convinced because Canning proposed to him to go on
to Moscow for the coronation, which he positively refused, having
promised his friends to be back in April, which he accordingly
was. Canning never had a great opinion of Huskisson, nor really
liked him, though he thought him very useful from being
conversant with the subjects on which he was himself most
ignorant--trade and finance; but he did not contemplate his being
in the Cabinet, and had no confidence in his judgment or his
discretion; and this tallies with what Lady Canning told me,
though certainly he did not do Huskisson justice in any way,
which Arbuthnot admitted. Knighton behaved exceedingly well
during the King's illness, and by the vigilant watch he kept over
the property of various kinds prevented the pillage which Lady
Conyngham would otherwise have made. She knew everything, but did
not much trouble herself about affairs, being chiefly intent upon
amassing money and collecting jewels.

He talked a great deal of Peel, of the difficulty of going on
with him, of his coldness, incommunicativeness; that at the time
of the opening the Liverpool Railroad he had invited the Duke,
Aberdeen, and some more to meet at Drayton to consider of
strengthening themselves; that they had left the place just as
they had gone to it, nothing settled and nothing elicited from
Peel; that on the late occasion of the wine duties they had gone
to Peel and asked him whether they should fight out and divide on
it; that he had referred them to Goulburn, who had decided in the
affirmative, on which he had agreed to their friends being
mustered, but that he took offence at something that was said in
debate, and marched off _sans mot dire_; that somebody was sent
after him to represent the bad effect of his departure, and
entreat him to return, but he was gone to bed. This is by no
means the first time Arbuthnot has spoken to me about Peel in
this strain and with such feelings. How are the Duke and he to
make a Government again, especially after what Lyndhurst said of
the Duke? Necessity may bring them together, but though common
interest and common danger may unite them, there the seeds of
disunion always must be. I have scribbled down all I can
recollect of a very loose conversation, and perhaps something
else may occur to me by-and-by.

In the meantime to return to the events of the present day.
Althorp raised a terrible storm on Friday by proposing that the
House should sit on Saturday. They spent six hours debating the
question, which might have been occupied in the business; so
that, though they did not sit yesterday, they gained nothing and
made bad blood. Yesterday morning Murray made a conciliatory
speech, which Burdett complimented, and all went on harmoniously.
John Russell is ill, nearly done up with fatigue and exertion and
the bad atmosphere he breathes for several hours every night.

[Page Head: LONG WELLESLEY AND BROUGHAM.]

Long Wellesley has given up his daughter and has been discharged
from arrest. I met the Solicitor-General yesterday, who told me
this, and said that Brougham had been in the midst of his
blustering terribly nervous about it. This was clear, for both he
and Wellesley were waiting for the report of the Committee of the
House of Commons, though Brougham affected to hold it cheap, and
talked very big of what he should do and should have done had it
been unfavourable to his authority. The fact is that Long
Wellesley was contumacious, but after a short confinement he
knocked under and yielded to the Chancellor on all points, and
was released from durance.

We had a meeting on the Coronation business yesterday morning,
and took into consideration the estimates. That from the
Chamberlain's Office was £70,000 and upwards, which was referred
to a sub-committee to dissect and report upon.


August 5th, 1831 {p.175}

Yesterday morning arrived the news of Casimir Périer's
resignation in consequence of the division in the Chamber of
Deputies on the election of President. He had very unnecessarily
committed himself by declaring he would resign if Lafitte was
elected, and though the other candidate (M. Girod de l'Ain) was
chosen, as it was, only by a majority of five, he considered this
tantamount to a defeat, and accordingly went out of office.[2] It
was supposed, but not quite certain, that Molé would be First
Minister, but without much chance of being able to keep that
post.

      [2] [M. Casimir Périer did not retire from office on this
          occasion, though he had momentarily resigned it. He
          remained in power till his death which took place from
          cholera in the following year.]

[Page Head: HOLLAND AND BELGIUM.]

At the same time comes intelligence that the King of Holland has
marched into Belgium at three points with three corps under the
Prince of Orange, Prince Frederick, and the Prince of Nassau.
This, however, was premature, for it turns out that the Prince of
Orange in a proclamation to his army declares that the armistice
was to end last night at half-past nine, and that he marches 'to
secure equitable terms of separation,' not therefore for the
purpose of reconquest. I saw Lord Grey in the morning in a state
of great consternation, the more particularly as he told me a
Dutch Plenipotentiary had arrived the day before with full powers
to treat, and that he had not in his intercourse with him and
with Palmerston uttered one word of the King of Holland's
intentions. In the evening I had a long conversation with
Matuscewitz. He says that it is impossible to foresee the end of
all this, but that the most probable event is a general war.
Coming at the moment of a change in the French Ministry, nobody
can guess what the French may do, and the Conferences are
useless, because any resolution they may make may probably be
totally inapplicable to the state of things produced by events
hastening on elsewhere. The King of Holland has all along very
justly complained of the proceedings of the Allies towards him,
which they justify by necessity ('the tyrant's plea') and to
which he has been obliged sulkily to submit, though always
protesting and never acquiescing, except in an armistice to which
he agreed. Meantime the Allies went on negotiating, but without
making much progress, and the Dutchman borrowed money and put his
army on a respectable footing. It is remarkable that as long as
he held out that he sought the reunion he could get no money at
all, but no sooner did he renounce the idea of reunion, and
propose to make war for objects more immediately national to the
Dutch, than he got a loan filled (in two days) to the amount of
about a million sterling. When the proposition was made to
Leopold, though no arrangement was actually agreed upon, there
was a general understanding that the King of Holland would
consent to the separation of the two States, and that the
Belgians should resign their claims to Limbourg and Luxembourg,
and after Lord Ponsonby's letter which made so much noise,
Falck's protestation, and Ponsonby's recall this seemed to be
clearly established. When Leopold received the offer of the
Crown, he only consented to take it upon an understanding that
the Belgians would agree to the terms prescribed by the Allies;
but before the whole thing was settled he took fright and began
to repent, and it was with some difficulty he was at last
persuaded to go by the Belgian deputies with assurances that
these terms would be complied with. Go, however, he did, and that
unaccompanied by any person of weight or consequence from this
country. Matuscewitz told me that he went on his knees to
Palmerston to send somebody with him who would prevent his
getting into scrapes, and that Talleyrand and Falck, by far the
best heads among them, had both predicted that Leopold would
speedily commit some folly the consequences of which might be
irreparable.[3] Our Government, however, paid no attention to
these remonstrances, and he was suffered to go alone. Accordingly
he had no sooner arrived than, intoxicated with the applause he
received, he forgot all that had occurred here and all the
resolutions of the Allies, and flourished off speeches in direct
contradiction to them, and announced his determination to
comprehend the disputed provinces in his new kingdom. It is no
wonder that this excited the indignation of the King of Holland,
but it is unfortunate that he could not be patient a little
longer. Notwithstanding his march, however, his Plenipotentiary
here has full power to treat of all the disputed points, and is
authorised to put a stop to hostilities at any moment when he can
see the prospect of satisfaction; it is, however, believed here
(though at present not on any sufficient grounds) that Prussia
secretly supports the King of Holland. The danger is that France
may without any further communication with her Allies consider
the aggression of the Dutch as a justification of a corresponding
movement on her part, and should this happen the Prussians would
no longer deem themselves bound by the common obligations which
united all the conferring and mediating Powers, and a general war
would infallibly ensue. Nor is it unlikely that the French
Ministry, beset as they are with difficulties, and holding their
offices _de die in diem_, may think a war the best expedient
for occupying the nation and bringing all the restless spirits
and unquiet humours into one focus. I have long been of opinion
that such mighty armaments and such a nervous state of things
cannot end without a good deal of blood-letting. [The Prussians
did not support the Dutch, the French did march, and war did not
ensue.--August 28th.]

      [3] [This account of Leopold's arrival in Belgium is hardly
          fair, and forms an amusing contrast to Baron Stockmar's
          narrative of the same occurrence in his 'Memoirs,' p.
          180. Unquestionably Leopold showed far more foresight,
          judgment, and resolution than Mr. Greville gave him
          credit for. He was not accompanied by 'any person of
          weight or consequence' from this country, because that
          would have given him the air of a puppet and a British
          nominee. But Stockmar was with him. The King entered
          Brussels on the 21st of July, and was well received. On
          the 4th of August the Dutch broke the truce and invaded
          Belgium. It was impossible to provide against so sudden
          a movement, and the Army of the Scheldt was beaten at
          Louvain on the 12th of August. The King then claimed
          the intervention of France and England in defence of
          the neutrality and independence of Belgium, which had
          been guaranteed to him by the treaty of the eighteen
          articles under which he had accepted the Crown. But the
          passage in the text is curious, because it shows how
          little confidence was felt at that time in a prince who
          turned out to be one of the ablest rulers and
          politicians of his time.]

_At night._--Lord Grey was attacked by Aberdeen to-night on his
foreign policy, and particularly about Portugal, and he is said
to have made a splendid speech. Sir Henry Seton arrived from
Liverpool to announce what is going on, and he is bent on
fighting at present. Abercromby, who is come likewise, reports
that he has 50,000 or 60,000 men.


August 9th, 1831 {p.178}

On Saturday morning we were saluted with intelligence that on the
French King's hearing of the Dutch invasion he ordered Marshal
Gérard, with 50,000 men, to march into Belgium; and great was the
alarm here: the funds fell and everybody was prepared for
immediate war. In the afternoon I called upon Lord Grey at East
Sheen (in my way to Monk's Grove, where I was going) to say
something to him about the coronation, and found him with a more
cheerful countenance than I expected. He did not appear alarmed
at what the French had done, and very well satisfied with the
manner of their doing it, marching only in virtue of their
guarantee and proclaiming their own neutrality and the Belgian
independence, and the King had previously received the Belgian
Minister. I told him I thought Leopold's folly had been the cause
of it, and that his speeches about Luxembourg had given the Dutch
King a pretext. He said, not at all, and that the King of Holland
would have done this under any circumstances, which I took leave
to doubt, though I did not think it necessary to say so.[4]

      [4] [Lord Grey's composure was mainly due to the entire
          confidence he felt in the honour of the Duc de Broglie,
          then French Minister of Foreign Affairs, who had given
          positive assurances to the British Cabinet that the
          intervention of France would be confined to the
          immediate object in view. This confidence was equally
          honourable to both statesmen, and these assurances were
          faithfully fulfilled.]

[Page Head: THE QUEEN'S CROWN.]

On Sunday, overtaken by the most dreadful storm I ever saw--flashes
of lightning, crashes of thunder, and the rain descending
like a waterspout--I rode to Windsor, to settle with the Queen
what sort of crown she would have to be crowned in. I was ushered
into the King's presence, who was sitting at a red table in the
sitting-room of George IV., looking over the flower garden. A
picture of Adolphus Fitzclarence was behind him (a full-length),
and one of the parson, Rev. Augustus Fitzclarence, in a Greek
dress, opposite. He sent for the Queen, who came with the
Landgravine and one of the King's daughters, Lady Augusta
Erskine, the widow of Lord Cassilis's son. She looked at the
drawings, meant apparently to be civil to me in her ungracious
way, and said she would have none of our crowns, that she did not
like to wear a hired crown, and asked me if I thought it was
right that she should. I said, 'Madam, I can only say that the
late King wore one at his coronation.' However she said, 'I do
not like it, and I have got jewels enough, so I will have them
made up myself.' The King said to me, 'Very well; then _you_ will
have to pay for the setting.' 'Oh, no,' she said; 'I shall pay
for it all myself.' The King looked well, but seemed infirm. I
talked to Taylor afterwards, who said he had very little doubt
this storm in Belgium would blow over, and agreed that Leopold's
folly had been in great measure the cause of it. There have been
discussions in both Houses, which have in some measure quieted
people's apprehensions. To-day that ass Lord Londonderry (who has
never yet had his windows mended from the time they were broken
by the mob at the Reform illumination) brings on a motion about
Belgium.


August 11th, 1831 {p.180}

Nothing new these last two days. Londonderry's motion produced an
angry debate, but no division. Brougham is said to have been very
good. The Government wanted to divide, but the Opposition know
that it is not their interest to provoke a trial of strength. The
Ministers, if beaten, would not go out, and they are anxious to
see what their opponents' strength is. At Court yesterday, when
Van de Weyer, the new Belgian Minister, made his appearance. I
said to Esterhazy, 'You will blow this business over, sha'n't
you?' He said, 'Yes, I think we shall _this time_.'

Nothing remarkable in the House of Commons but Lord John
Russell's declaration that 'this Bill would not be final if it
was not found to work as well as the people desired,' which is
sufficiently impudent considering that hitherto they have always
pretended that it was to be final, and that it was made so
comprehensive only that it might be so; this has been one of
their grand arguments, and now we are never to sit down and rest,
but go on changing till we get a good fit, and that for a country
which will have been made so fidgety that it won't stand still to
be measured. Hardinge, whom I found at dinner at the Athenæum
yesterday, told me he was convinced that a revolution in this
country was inevitable; and such is the opinion of others who
support this Bill, not because they think concession will avert
it, but will let it come more gradually and with less violence. I
have always been convinced that the country was in no danger of
revolution, and still believe that if one does come it will be
from the passing of this Bill, which will introduce the principle
of change and whet the appetites of those who never will be
satisfied with any existing order of things; or if it follows on
the rejection of this Bill, which I doubt, it will be owing to
the concentration of all the forces that are opposed to our
present institutions, and the divisions, jealousies, rivalships,
and consequent weakness of all those who ought to defend them.
God only knows how it will all end. There has been but one man
for many years past able to arrest this torrent, and that was
Canning; and him the Tories--idiots that they were, and never
discovering that he was their best friend--hunted to death with
their besotted and ignorant hostility.

[Page Head: ELLEN TREE.]

I went to the play last night at a very shabby little house
called the City Theatre--a long way beyond the Post Office--to
see Ellen Tree act in a translation of 'Une Faute,' one of the
best pieces of acting I ever saw. This girl will turn out very
good if she remains on the stage. She has never been brought
forward at Covent Garden, and I heard last night the reason why.
Charles Kemble took a great fancy for her (she is excessively
pretty), and made her splendid offers of putting her into the
best parts, and advancing her in all ways, if she would be
propitious to his flame, but which she indignantly refused; so he
revenged himself (to his own detriment) by keeping her back and
promoting inferior actresses instead. If ever she acquires fame,
which is very probable, for she has as much nature, and feeling,
and passion as I ever saw, this will be a curious anecdote. [She
married Charles Kean, lost her good looks, and became a tiresome,
second-rate actress.]


August 12th, 1831 {p.181}

Yesterday a Committee of Council met to settle the order of the
coronation and submit the estimates, which we have brought under
£30,000 instead of £240,000, which they were last time.

The question now is whether our Ministry shall go along with
France, or whether France shall be pulled up; and it is brought
to this point by Leopold's having sent to the French to thank
them for their aid, but to say that he can do without them, and
to beg they will retire, which they have refused to do. It was
known yesterday that they are at Mons, and strongly suspected
they will not so easily be got out of it; but the French
Government will not venture to quarrel with us if we take a
peremptory tone. It is not, however, clear that the French
Government can control the French army; and I have heard it said
that if they had not ordered the troops to march, the troops
would have marched without orders. L. is all for curbing France;
so a very short time must bring matters to a crisis, and it will
be seen if the Government has authority to check the war party
there. In the meantime the French have taken the Portuguese ships
without any intention of giving them back; and this our Ministers
know, and do not remonstrate. J. asked L. if it was true, and he
said, 'Oh, yes,' for that having been compelled to force the
Tagus, they were placed in a state of war, and the ships became
lawful prizes. If it was not for Reform I doubt that this
Government could stand a moment, but that will bring them up. In
the country it is too clear that there are no symptoms of a
reaction, and if a state of indifference can be produced it is
all that can be hoped and more than should be expected. I do not
think the Government by any means responsible for the embroiled
state of Europe, but they certainly appear to have no fixed plan
or enlightened view of foreign policy, and if they have not been
to blame hitherto (which in acting with all the Allies, and
endeavouring to keep things quiet, they have not been), they are
evidently in great danger of floundering now.


Goodwood, August 20th, 1831 {p.182}

Here I have been a week to-day for the races, and here I should
not be now--for everybody else is gone--if it were not for the
gout, which has laid me fast by the foot, owing to a blow. While
on these racing expeditions I never know anything of politics,
and, though I just read the newspapers, have no anecdotes to
record of Reform or foreign affairs. I never come here without
fresh admiration of the beauty and delightfulness of the place,
combining everything that is enjoyable in life--large and
comfortable house, spacious and beautiful park, extensive views,
dry soil, sea air, woods, and rides over downs, and all the
facilities of occupation and amusement. The Duke, who has so
strangely become a Cabinet Minister in a Whig Government, and who
is a very good sort of man and my excellent friend, appears here
to advantage, exercising a magnificent hospitality, and as a
sportsman, a farmer, a magistrate, and good, simple, unaffected
country gentleman, with great personal influence. This is what he
is fit for, to be,

                    With safer pride content,
            The wisest justice on the banks of Trent,

and not to assist in settling Europe and making new
constitutions.

[Page Head: REFORM BILL IN DIFFICULTIES.]

I find on arriving in town that there is nothing new, but the
Bill, which drags its slow length along, is in a bad way; not
that it will not pass the Commons, but now everybody attacks it,
and the press is all against what remains of it. Lord Chandos's
motion and the defeat of Government by so large a majority have
given them a great blow. Still they go doggedly on, and are
determined to cram it down anyhow, quite indifferent how it is to
work and quite ignorant. As to foreign affairs, the Ministers
trust to blunder through them, hoping, like Sir Abel Handy in the
play, that the fire 'will go out of itself.' Sefton has just been
here, who talks blusteringly of the Peers that are to be made, no
matter at what cost of character to the House of Lords, anything
rather than be beaten; but I am not sure that he _knows_
anything. In such matters as these he is (however sharp) no
better than a fool--no knowledge, no information, no reflection
or combination; prejudices, partialities, and sneers are what his
political wisdom consists of; but he is Lord Grey's _âme damnée_.


Stoke, August 28th, 1831 {p.183}

My gout is still hanging on me. Very strange disorder, affecting
different people so differently; with me very little pain, much
swelling, heat, and inconvenience, more like bruised muscles and
tendons and inflamed joints; it disables me, but never prevents
my sleeping at night. Henry de Ros called on me yesterday;
nothing new, and he knows everything from L., who sits there
picking up politics and gossip, to make money by the one and
derive amusement from the other. L. is odd enough, and very
_malin_ with what he knows. He is against _Reform_, but not
against the _Government_; _for_ the Duke of Wellington and not
_for_ the Opposition--in short, just as interest, fancy, caprice,
and particular partialities sway him. It was he who told me the
fact of the French having carried away the Portuguese ships, and
he said that I might tell the Duke that he might make what use he
pleased of it; but soon after, wishing if it did come out that it
should fall harmless, he bethought him of the following
expedient:--Seeing that Valletort (who is a good-natured
blockhead) is always spluttering in the House of Commons, he
thought in his hands it would do no harm, so he told him the fact
with some flattering observations about his activity and energy
in the House, which Valley swallowed and with many thanks
proceeded to put questions to Palmerston, which sure enough were
so confused and unintelligible that nobody understood him, and
the matter fell very flat. I don't see that Government is saved
by this ruse, if the case against them is a good one; but it is
curious as indicative of the artifice of the person, and of his
odd sort of political disposition. As I don't write history I
omit to note such facts as are recorded in the newspapers, and
merely mention the odd things I pick up, which are not generally
known, and which may hereafter throw some light on those which
are.

The Belgian business is subsiding into quiet again. The Dutch
have gained some credit, and the Prince of Orange has (what was
of importance to him) removed the load of odium under which he
had been labouring in Holland, and acquired great popularity.
Leopold has cut a ridiculous figure enough; not exhibiting any
want of personal courage, but after all the flourishes at the
time of his accession finding himself at the head of a nation of
blustering cowards who would do nothing but run away. The arrival
of the French army soon put an end to hostilities, and now the
greater part of it has been recalled; but Leopold has desired
that 10,000 men may be left for his protection, whether against
the Dutch or against the Belgians does not appear. This excites
considerable jealousies here, for as yet it is not known _why_ he
asked for such aid, nor on what terms it is to be granted.

L. told me an odd thing connected with these troops. Easthope
received a commission from a secretary of Soult to sell largely
in our funds, coupled with an assurance that the troops would
_not_ retire. I don't know the fate of the commission.

There are various reports of dissensions in the Cabinet, which
are not true. The Duke of Wellington was sent for by Lord Grey
the other day, to give his opinion about the demolition of the
Belgian fortresses; so the ex-Prime Minister went to visit his
successor in the apartment which was so lately his own. No man
would mind such a thing less than the Duke; he is sensitive, but
has no nonsense about him. He is very well and, however disgusted
with the state of everything at home and abroad (which after all
is greatly imputable to himself), in high spirits.

The King did a droll thing the other day. The ceremonial of the
coronation was taken down to him for approval. The homage is
first done by the spiritual Peers, with the Archbishop at their
head. The first of each class (the Archbishop for the spiritual)
says the words, and then they all kiss his cheek in succession.
He said he would not be kissed by the bishops, and ordered that
part to be struck out. As I expected, the prelates would not
stand it; the Archbishop remonstrated, the King knocked under,
and so he must undergo the salute of the spiritual as well as of
the temporal Lords.


August 30th, 1831 {p.185}

[Page Head: TALLEYRAND'S CONVERSATION.]

Left Stoke yesterday morning; a large party--Talleyrand, De Ros,
Fitzroy Somersets, Motteux, John Russell, Alava, Byng. In the
evening Talleyrand discoursed, but I did not hear much of him. I
was gouty and could not stand, and all the places near him were
taken. I have never heard him narrate comfortably, and he is
difficult to understand. He talked of Franklin. I asked him if he
was remarkable in conversation; he said he was from his great
simplicity and the evident strength of his mind. He spoke of the
coronation of the Emperor Alexander. Somebody wrote him a letter
at the time from Moscow with this expression: 'L'Empereur
marchait, précédé des assassins de son grand-père, entouré de
ceux de son père, et suivi par les siens.' He said of the Count
de Saint-Germain (whom he never saw) that there is an account of
him in Craufurd's book; nobody knew whence he came nor whither he
went; he appeared at Paris suddenly, and disappeared in the same
way, lived in an _hôtel garni_, had always plenty of money, and
paid for everything regularly; he talked of events and persons
connected with history, both ancient and modern, with entire
familiarity and a correctness which never was at fault, and
always of the people as if he had lived with them and known them;
as Talleyrand exemplified it, he would say, 'Un jour que je
dînais chez César.'[5] He was supposed to be the Wandering Jew, a
story which has always appeared to me a very sublime fiction,
telling of

               That settled ceaseless gloom
                 The fabled Hebrew wanderer bore,
               Which will not look beyond the tomb,
                 Which cannot hope for rest before.

Then he related Mallet's conspiracy and the strange way in which
he heard it. Early in the morning his tailor came to his house
and insisted on seeing him. He was in bed, but on his _valet de
chambre's_ telling him how pressing the tailor was he ordered him
to be let in. The man said, 'Have you not heard the news? There
is a revolution in Paris.' It had come to the tailor's knowledge
by Mallet's going to him the very first thing to order a new
uniform! Talleyrand said the conspirators ought to have put to
death Cambacérès and the King of Rome. I asked him if they had
done so whether he thought it possible the thing might have
succeeded. He said, 'C'est possible.' To my question whether the
Emperor would not have blown away the whole conspiracy in a
moment he replied, 'Ce n'est pas sûr, c'est possible que cela
aurait réussi.'

      [5] [This mysterious adventurer died in the arms of Prince
          Charles of Hesse, in 1784; and some account of him is
          to be found in the 'Memoirs' of that personage, quoted
          in the 'Edinburgh Review,' vol. cxxiii. p. 521. The
          Count de Saint-Germain was a man of science, especially
          versed in chemistry botany, and metallurgy. He is
          supposed to have derived his money from an invention in
          the art of dyeing. According to his own account of
          himself he was a son of Prince Ragozky of Transylvania
          and his first wife, a Tekely, and he was Protestant and
          educated by the last of the Medicis. He was supposed to
          be ninety-two or ninety-three when he died. His
          knowledge of the arcana of science and his mysterious
          manner of life had given him something of the
          reputation of a wizard and a conjuror, but he was an
          honourable and benevolent man, not to be confounded
          with such charlatans as Mesmer and Cagliostro.]

He afterwards talked of Madame de Staël and Monti. They met at
Madame de Marescalchi's villa near Bologna, and were profuse of
compliments and admiration for each other. Each brought a copy of
their respective works beautifully bound to present to the other.
After a day passed in an interchange of literary flatteries, and
the most ardent expressions of delight, they separated, but each
forgot to carry away the present of the other, and the books
remain in Madame de Marescalchi's library to this day.


August 31st, 1831 {p.187}

[Page Head: STATE OF EUROPE AND FRANCE.]

Dined at Osterley yesterday; Lady Sandwich, Esterhazy and the
Bathursts, Brooke Greville and George Villiers. Esterhazy told me
he had no doubt that there would be a war, that General Baudron
was arrived from Brussels, and Leopold had sent word by him that
the French troops were absolutely necessary to his safety, to
protect him from the turbulence of his own subjects. He
considered that the Polish business was over, at which he greatly
rejoiced. He said that nobody was prepared for war, and the great
object was to gain time, but a few weeks must now bring matters
to a crisis; the only difficulty appears to be what to go to war
about, and who the belligerents should be, for at the eleventh
hour, and with the probability of a general war, it is a toss-up
whether we and the French are to be the closest allies or the
deadliest enemies. He told me that Casimir Périer would probably
be unable to keep his ground, that the modified law about the
House of Peers did not give satisfaction. If he is beaten on this
he goes out, and if he does, with him will probably vanish all
hopes of peace. It is pretty evident that France is rapidly
advancing to a republic. Her institutions have long been
republican, and, though very compatible with a despotic empire,
incompatible with a constitutional and limited monarchy. This
Buonaparte knew.

Another Coronation Committee yesterday, and, I am happy to say,
the last, for this business is the greatest of all bores. There
is a furious squabble between the Grand Chamberlain and the Earl
Marshal (who is absent and has squabbled by deputy) about the box
of the former in Westminster Abbey. At the last coronation King
George IV. gave Lord Gwydir _his_ box in addition to his own, and
now Lord Cholmondeley claims a similar box.[6] This is resisted.
The present King disposes of his own box (and will probably fill
it with every sort of _canaille_); the Lords won't interfere, and
the Grand Chamberlain protests, and says he has been shamefully
used, and there the matter stands. The Grand Chamberlain is in
the wrong.

      [6] [Lord Gwydir and Lord Cholmondeley filled the office of
          Lord High Chamberlain for alternative lives as the
          representatives of the joint claimants of the office.]


September 3rd, 1831 {p.188}

On Wednesday a Council was held. Very few of the Ministers stay
for the Councils; small blame to them, as the Irish say, for we
are kept about three times as long by this regular, punctual King
as by the capricious, irregular Monarch who last ruled over us.
This King is a queer fellow. Our Council was principally for a
new Great Seal and to deface the old Seal. The Chancellor claims
the old one as his perquisite. I had forgotten the hammer, so the
King said, 'My Lord, the best thing I can do is to give you the
Seal, and tell you to take it and do what you please with it.'
The Chancellor said, 'Sir, I believe there is some doubt whether
Lord Lyndhurst ought not to have half of it, as he was Chancellor
at the time of your Majesty's accession.' 'Well,' said the King,
'then I will judge between you like Solomon; here (turning the
Seal round and round), now do you cry heads or tails?' We all
laughed, and the Chancellor said, 'Sir, I take the bottom part.'
The King opened the two compartments of the Seal and said, 'Now,
then, I employ you as ministers of taste. You will send for
Bridge, my silversmith, and desire him to convert the two halves
each into a salver, with my arms on one side and yours on the
other, and Lord Lyndhurst's the same, and you will take one and
give him the other, and both keep them as presents from me.' The
Duchess of Kent will not attend the coronation, and there is a
report that the King is unwilling to make all the Peers that are
required; this is the current talk of the day.


September 5th, 1831 {p.189}

At Gorhambury since Saturday; the Harrowbys, Bathursts, Frankland
Lewes's, Lady Jersey, Mahon, Lushington, Wortleys; rather
agreeable and lively; all anti-Reformers, so no quarrelling about
that, though Lord Harrowby is ready to squabble with anybody
either way, but furiously against the Bill.


September 8th, 1831 {p.189}

Dined with the Duke of Wellington yesterday; thirty-one people,
very handsome, and the Styrian Minstrels playing and singing all
dinner time, a thing I never saw before. I sat next to Esterhazy
and talked to him (a very little) about Belgian affairs. He said
Talleyrand had given positive assurances that the French troops
should be withdrawn whenever the Dutch retired, that the other
Powers were aware of Périer's difficulties, and were ready to
concede much to keep him in power, but that if he had not
sufficient influence to repress the violent war faction there was
no use in endeavouring to support him. Our Government had behaved
very well and had been very strong in their remonstrances.

[Page Head: ANECDOTES OF GEORGE IV.]

After dinner I had much talk with the Duke, who told me a good
deal about the late King and the Duchess of Kent; talked of his
extravagance and love of spending, provided that it was not his
own money that he spent; he told an old story he had heard of
Mrs. Fitzherbert's being obliged to borrow money for his
post-horses to take him to Newmarket, that not a guinea was
forthcoming to make stakes for some match, and when on George
Leigh's[7] entreaty he allowed some box to be searched that
£3,000 was found in it. He always had money. When he died they
found £10,000 in his boxes, and money scattered about everywhere,
a great deal of gold. There were about 500 pocket-books, of
different dates, and in every one money--guineas, one pound
notes, one, two, or three in each. There never was anything like
the quantity of trinkets and trash that they found. He had never
given away or parted with anything. There was a prodigious
quantity of hair--women's hair--of all colours and lengths, some
locks with the powder and pomatum still sticking to them, heaps
of women's gloves, _gages d'amour_ which he had got at balls, and
with the perspiration still marked on the fingers, notes and
letters in abundance, but not much that was of any political
consequence, and the whole was destroyed. Of his will he said
that it was made in 1823 by Lord Eldon, very well drawn, that he
desired his executors might take all he had to pay his debts and
such legacies as he might bequeath in any codicils he should
make. He made no codicils and left no debts, so the King got all
as heir-at-law. Knighton had managed his affairs very well, and
got him out of debt. A good deal of money was disbursed in
charity, a good deal through the medium of two or three old
women. The Duke, talking of his love of ordering and expense,
said that when he was to ride at the last coronation the King
said, 'You must have a very fine saddle.' 'What sort of saddle
does your Majesty wish me to have?' 'Send Cuffe to me.'
Accordingly Cuffe went to him, and the Duke had to pay some
hundreds for his saddle. (While I am writing the King and Queen
with their _cortége_ are passing down to Westminster Abbey to the
coronation, a grand procession, a fine day, an immense crowd, and
great acclamations.)

      [7] [Colonel George Leigh, who managed his race-horses; he
          was married to Lord Byron's half-sister.]

[Page Head: THE DUCHESS OF KENT.]

We then talked of the Duchess of Kent, and I asked him why she
set herself in such opposition to the Court. He said that Sir
John Conroy was her adviser, that he was sure of it. What he then
told me throws some light upon her ill-humour and displays her
wrong-headedness. In the first place the late King disliked her;
the Duke of Cumberland too was her enemy, and George IV., who was
as great a despot as ever lived, was always talking of taking her
child from her, which he inevitably would have done but for the
Duke, who, wishing to prevent quarrels, did all in his power to
deter the King, not by opposing him when he talked of it, which
he often did, but by putting the thing off as well as he could.
However, when the Duchess of Cumberland came over, and there was
a question how the Royal Family would receive her, he thought he
might reconcile the Cumberlands to the Duchess of Kent by
engaging her to be civil to the Duchess of Cumberland, so he
desired Leopold to advise his sister (who was in the country)
from him very strongly to write to the Duchess of Cumberland and
express her regret at being absent on her arrival, and so
prevented from calling on her. The Duchess sent Leopold back to
the Duke to ask why he gave her this advice? The Duke replied
that he should not say why, that he knew more of what was going
on than she possibly could, that he gave her this advice for her
own benefit, and again repeated that she had better act on it.
The Duchess said she was ready to give him credit for the
goodness of his counsel, though he would not say what his reasons
were, and she did as he suggested. This succeeded, and the Duke
of Cumberland ceased to blow the coals. Matters went on quietly
till the King died. As soon as he was dead the Duchess of Kent
wrote to the Duke, and desired that she might be treated as a
Dowager Princess of Wales, with a suitable income for herself and
her daughter, who she also desired might be treated as Heiress
Apparent, and that she should have the sole control over the
allowance to be made for both. The Duke replied that her
proposition was altogether inadmissible, and that he could not
possibly think of proposing anything for her till the matters
regarding the King's Civil List were settled, but that she might
rely upon it that no measure which affected her in any way should
be considered without being imparted to her and the fullest
information given her. At this it appears she took great offence,
for she did not speak to him for a long time after.

When the Regency Bill was framed the Duke desired the King's
leave to wait upon the Duchess of Kent and show it to her, to
which his Majesty assented, and accordingly he wrote to her to
say he would call upon her the next day with the draft of the
Bill. She was at Claremont, and sent word that she was out of
town, but desired he would send it to her in the country. He said
she ought to have sent Sir John Conroy to him, or have desired
him to go to her at Claremont, which he would have done, but he
wrote her word that he could not explain by letter so fully what
he had to say as he could have done in a personal interview, but
he would do so as well as he could. In the meantime, Lord
Lyndhurst brought on the measure in the House of Lords, and she
sent Conroy up to hear him. He returned to Claremont just after
the Duchess had received the Duke's letter. Since that he has
dined with her.

[I must say the King is punctual; the cannon are now firing to
announce his arrival at the Abbey, and my clock is at the same
moment striking eleven; at eleven it was announced that he would
be there.]

His Majesty, I hear, was in great ill-humour at the levee
yesterday; contrary to his usual custom he sent for nobody, and
gave no audiences, but at ten minutes after one flounced into the
levee room; not one Minister was come but the Duke of Richmond.
Talleyrand and Esterhazy alone of the _Corps Diplomatique_ were
in the next room. He attacked the officer of the Guards for not
having his cap on his head, and sent for the officer on guard,
who was not arrived, at which he expressed great ire. It is
supposed that the peerages have put him out of temper. His
Majesty did a very strange thing about them. Though their patents
are not made out, and the new Peers are no more Peers than I am,
he desired them to appear as such in Westminster Abbey and do
homage. Colonel Berkeley asked me what he should do, and said
what the King had desired of him. I told him he should do no such
thing, and he said he would go to the Chancellor and ask him. I
don't know how it ended. Howe told me yesterday morning in
Westminster Abbey that Lord Cleveland is to be a duke, though it
is not yet acknowledged if it be so. There has been a battle
about that; they say that he got his boroughs to be made a
marquis, and got rid of them to be made a duke.[8]

      [8] [The Earl of Darlington had been made Marquis of
          Cleveland in 1827, and was raised to the dukedom in
          January 1833.]


September 17th, 1831 {p.193}

The coronation went off well, and whereas nobody was satisfied
before it everybody was after it. No events of consequence. The
cholera has got to Berlin, and Warsaw is taken by the Russians,
who appear to have behaved with moderation. Since the deposition
of Skrznecki, and the reign of clubs and mobs and the perpetration
of massacres at Warsaw, the public sympathy for the Poles has a
good deal fallen off. The cholera, which is travelling south, is
less violent than it was in the north. It is remarkable that the
common people at Berlin are impressed with the same strange belief
that possessed those of St. Petersburg that they have been
poisoned, and Chad writes to-day that they believe there is no
such disease, and that the deaths ascribed to that malady are
produced by poison administered by the doctors, who are bribed for
that purpose; that the rich finding the poor becoming too numerous
to be conveniently governed have adopted this mode of thinning the
population, which was employed with success by the English in
India; that the foreign doctors are the delegates of a central
committee, which is formed in London and directs the proceedings,
and similar nonsense.

[Page Head: A DINNER AT ST. JAMES'S.]

The talk of the town has been about the King and a toast he gave
at a great dinner at St. James's the other day. He had ninety
guests--all his Ministers, all the great people, and all the
foreign Ambassadors. After dinner he made a long, rambling speech
in French, and ended by giving as 'a sentiment,' as he called it,
'The land we live in.' This was before the ladies left the room.
After they were gone he made another speech in French, in the
course of which he travelled over every variety of topic that
suggested itself to his excursive mind, and ended with a very
coarse toast and the words 'Honi soit qui mal y pense.' Sefton,
who told it me said he never felt so ashamed; Lord Grey was ready
to sink into the earth; everybody laughed of course, and Sefton,
who sat next to Talleyrand, said to him, 'Eh bien, que pensez-vous
de cela?' With his unmoved, immovable face he answered only,
'C'est bien remarquable.'

In the meantime Reform, which has subsided into a calm for some
time past, is approaching its termination in the House of
Commons, and as it gets near the period of a fresh campaign, and
a more arduous though a shorter one, agitation is a little
reviving. The 'Times' and other violent newspapers are moving
heaven and earth to stir up the country and intimidate the Peers,
many of whom are frightened enough already. The general opinion
at present is that the Peers created at the coronation will not
be enough to carry the Bill (they are a set of horrid rubbish
most of them), but that no more will be made at present; that the
Opposition, if united, will be strong enough to throw out the
Bill, but that they are so divided in opinion whether to oppose
the Bill on the second reading or in Committee that this
dissension will very likely enable it to pass. Up to this time
there has been no meeting, and nothing has been agreed upon, but
there would have been one convened by the Duke of Wellington but
for Lady Mornington's death, and this week they will arrange
their plan of operations. From what Sefton says (who knows and
thinks only as Brougham and Grey direct him) I conclude that the
Government are resolved the Bill shall pass, that if it is thrown
out they will do what the Tories recommended, and make as many
Peers as may be sufficient, for he said the other day he would
rather it was thrown out on the second reading than pass by a
small majority. With this resolution (which after having gone so
far is not unwise) and the feeling out of doors, pass it must,
and so sure are Government of it that they have begun to divide
the counties, and have set up an office with clerks, maps, &c.,
in the Council Office, and there the Committee sit every day.


Stoke, September 18th, 1831 {p.194}

I came here yesterday with the Chancellor, Creevey, Luttrell, my
father and mother, Esterhazy, Neumann. Brougham was tired, never
spoke, and went to bed early. This morning I got a letter from
the Lord President enclosing an order from the King for a copy of
the proceedings in Council on the marriage of the Duke of Sussex
and Lady Augusta Murray. The Chancellor told me that the young
man Sir Augustus d'Este had behaved very ill, having filed a bill
in Chancery, into which he had put all his father's love letters,
written thirty years ago, to perpetuate evidence; that it was all
done without the Duke of Sussex's consent, but that D'Este had
got Lushington's opinion that the marriage was valid on the
ground that the Marriage Act only applied to marriages contracted
here, whereas this was contracted at Rome. He said Lushington was
a great authority, but that he had no doubt he was wrong. The
King is exceedingly annoyed at it.


September 19th, 1831 {p.195}

Came to town. Talleyrand, Madame de Dino, and Alava came to Stoke
yesterday. Talleyrand had a circle, but the Chancellor talked too
much, and they rather spoilt one another. He said one neat thing.
They were talking of Madame d'Abrantès's 'Memoirs,' and of her
mother, Madame Pernon. My father said, 'M. de Marboeuf était _un
peu_ l'amant de Madame Pernon, n'est-ce pas?' He said, 'Oui, mais
je ne _sais pas dans quelles proportions_.'


September 20th, 1831 {p.195}

[Page Head: STATE OF FRANCE.]

News arrived of great riots at Paris, on account of the Polish
business and the fall of Warsaw. Madame de Dino (who, by-the-bye,
Talleyrand says is the cleverest _man_ or _woman_ he ever knew)
said last night that she despaired of the state of things in
France, that this was no mere popular tumult, but part of an
organised system of disaffection, and that the Carlists had
joined the ultra-Republicans, that the National Guard was not to
be depended upon, that 'leur esprit était fatigué.' Talleyrand
himself was very low, and has got no intelligence from his
Government. This morning I met Lord Grey, and walked with him. I
told him what Madame de Dino had said. He said he knew it all,
and how bad things were, and that they would be much worse if the
Reform Bill was thrown out here. I asked him how they would be
affected by that. He said that a change of Ministry here would
have a very bad effect there, from which it may be inferred that
if beaten they mean to resign. He said the French Ministry had
been very imprudent about Poland. I said, 'How? for what could
they have done? They could only get at Poland through Prussia.'
He said they might have sent a fleet to the Baltic with our
concurrence, though we could not urge them to do so. I asked him
what he thought would be the result of the dissolution of
Périer's Government; I said that there appeared to me two
alternatives, a general _bouleversement_ or the war faction in
power under the existing system. He replied he did not think
there would now be a _bouleversement_, but a Ministry of
Lafayette, Lamarque, and all that party who were impatient to
plunge France into war. I said I did not think France could look
to a successful war, for the old alliance would be re-formed
against her. He rejoined that Russia was powerless, crippled by
this contest, and under the necessity of maintaining a great army
in Poland; Austria and Prussia were both combustible, half the
provinces of the former nearly in a state of insurrection; that
the latter had enough to do to preserve quiet, and the French
would rouse all the disaffected spirit which existed in both. I
said 'then we were on the eve of that state of things which was
predicted by Canning in his famous speech.' Here we met Ellis,
and I left them.

I afterwards saw George Villiers, who told me that he knew from a
member of the Cabinet that there had been a division in it on the
question of going out if the Reform Bill should be rejected, and
that it had been carried by a majority that they should. He told
me also a curious thing about Stanley's Arms Bill: that it had
never been imparted to Lord Anglesey, nor to the Cabinet here,
and that Lord Grey had been obliged to write an apology to Lord
Anglesey, and to tell him he (Lord Grey) had himself seen the
Bill for the first time in the newspapers. This he had from Lord C.,
who is a great friend of Lord Anglesey's, and who had seen Lord
Grey's letter before he left Ireland; but the story appears to me
quite incredible, and is probably untrue.




                           CHAPTER XVI.

Whig and Tory Meetings on Reform--Resolution to carry the Bill--
  Holland--Radical Jones--Reform Bill thrown out by the Lords--
  Dorsetshire Election--Division among the Tories--Bishop
  Phillpotts--Prospects of Reform--Its Dangers--Riots at
  Bristol--The Cholera at Sunderland--An Attempt at a Compromise
  on Reform--Lord Wharncliffe negotiates with the Ministers--
  Negotiation with Mr. Barnes--Proclamation against the Unions--
  Barbarism of Sunderland--Disappointment of Lord Wharncliffe--
  Bristol and Lyons--Commercial Negotiations with France--Poulett
  Thomson--Lord Wharncliffe's Proposal to Lord Grey--Disapproved
  by the Duke of Wellington--Moderation of Lord John Russell--The
  Appeal of Drax _v._ Grosvenor--The Second Reform Bill--Violence
  of Lord Durham--More Body-snatchers--Duke of Richmond and Sir
  Henry Parnell--Panshanger--Creation of Peers--Division of
  Opinion--Negotiation to avoid the Creation of Peers--Lord
  Wharncliffe's Interview with the King--Opposition of the Duke
  of Wellington--The Waverers resolve to separate from the Duke.


September 22nd, 1831 {p.197}

[Page Head: PROSPECTS OF THE REFORM BILL.]

The night before last Croker and Macaulay made two fine speeches
on Reform; the former spoke for two hours and a half, and in a
way he had never done before. Macaulay was very brilliant. There
was a meeting at Lord Ebrington's yesterday, called by him,
Lyttelton Lawley, and of members of the House of Commons only,
and they (without coming to any resolution) were all agreed to
prevail on the Government not to resign in the event of the
Reform Bill being rejected in the House of Lords. I have no
doubt, therefore, in spite of what Lord Grey said, and the other
circumstances I have mentioned above, that they will not resign,
and I doubt whether there will be any occasion for it.

There was a dinner at Apsley House yesterday; the Cabinet of
Opposition, to discuss matters before having a general meeting. At
this dinner there were sixteen or seventeen present, all the
leading anti-Reformers of the Peers. They agreed to oppose the
second reading. Dudley, who was there, told me it was tragedy
first and farce afterwards; for Eldon and Kenyon, who had dined
with the Duke of Cumberland, came in after dinner. Chairs were
placed for them on each side of the Duke, and after he had
explained to them what they had been discussing, and what had been
agreed upon, Kenyon made a long speech on the first reading of the
Bill, in which it was soon apparent that he was very drunk, for he
talked exceeding nonsense, wandered from one topic to another, and
repeated the same things over and over again. When he had done
Eldon made a speech on the second reading, and appeared to be
equally drunk, only, Lord Bathurst told me, Kenyon in his
drunkenness talked nonsense, but Eldon sense. Dudley said it was
not that they were as drunk as lords and gentlemen sometimes are,
but they were drunk like porters. Lyndhurst was not there, though
invited. He dined at Holland House. It is pretty clear, however,
that he will vote for the second reading, for his wife is
determined he shall. I saw her yesterday, and she is full of pique
and resentment against the Opposition and the Duke, half real and
half pretended, and chatters away about Lyndhurst's not being
their cat's paw, and that if they choose to abandon him, they must
not expect him to sacrifice himself for them. The pretexts she
takes are, that they would not go to the House of Lords on Tuesday
and support him against Brougham on the Bankruptcy Bill, and that
the Duke of Wellington wrote to her and _desired_ her to influence
her husband in the matter of Reform. The first is a joke, the
second there might be a little in, for vanity is always uppermost,
but they have both some motive of interest, which they will pursue
in whatever way they best can. The excuse they make is that they
want to conceal their strength from the Government, and
accordingly the Duke of Wellington has not yet entered any of his
proxies. The truth is that I am by no means sure _now_ that it is
safe or prudent to oppose the second reading; and though I think
it very doubtful if any practicable alteration will be made in
Committee, it will be better to take that chance, and the chance
of an accommodation and compromise between the two parties and the
two Houses, than to attack it in front. It is clear that
Government are resolved to carry the Bill, and equally clear that
no means they can adopt would be unpopular. They are averse to
making more Peers if they can help it, and would rather go quietly
on, without any fresh changes, and I believe they are conscientiously
persuaded that this Bill is the least democratical Bill it is
possible to get the country to accept, and that if offered in time
this one will be accepted. I had heard before that the country is
not enamoured of this Bill, but I fear that it is true that they
are only indifferent to the Conservative clauses of it (if I may
so term them), and for that reason it may be doubtful whether
there would not be such a clamour raised in the event of the
rejection of this Bill as would compel the Ministers to make a new
one, more objectionable than the old. If its passing clearly
appears to be inevitable, why, the sooner it is done the better,
for at least one immense object will be gained in putting an end
to agitation, and restoring the country to good-humour, and it is
desirable that the House of Lords should stand as well with the
people as it can. It is better, as Burke says, 'to do early, and
from foresight, that which we may be obliged to do from necessity
at last.' I am not more delighted with Reform than I have ever
been, but it is the part of prudence to take into consideration
the present and the future, and not to harp upon the past. It
matters not how the country has been worked up to its present
state, if a calm observation convinces us that the spirit that has
been raised cannot be allayed, and that is very clear to me.


September 24th, 1831 {p.199}

Peel closed the debate on Thursday night with a very fine speech,
the best (one of his opponents told me, and it is no use asking
the opinions of friends if a candid opponent is to be found) he
had ever made, not only on that subject, but on any other; he cut
Macaulay to ribands. Macaulay is very brilliant, but his speeches
are harangues and never replies; whereas Peel's long experience
and real talent for debate give him a great advantage in the
power of reply, which he very eminently possesses. Macaulay,
however, will probably be a very distinguished man. These debates
have elicited a vast deal of talent, and have served as
touchstones to try real merit and power. As a proof of what
practice and a pretty good understanding can do, there is
Althorp, who now appears to be an excellent leader, and contrives
to speak decently upon all subjects, quite as much as a leader
need do; for I have always thought that it should not be his
business to furnish rhetoric and flowers of eloquence, but
good-humour, judgment, firmness, discretion, business-like
talents, and gentlemanlike virtues.

Dined at Richmond on Friday with the Lyndhursts; the _mari_ talks
against the Bill, the women for it. They are like the old
divisions of families in the Civil Wars.

My brother-in-law and sister are just returned from a tour of
three weeks in Holland; curious spectacle, considering the state
of the rest of Europe, nothing but loyalty and enthusiasm,
adoration of the Orange family; 2,000,000 of people, and an army
of 110,000 men; everybody satisfied with the Government, and no
desire for Reform.

Paris, on the point of exploding, is again tranquil, but nobody
can tell for how long. They bet two to one here that the Reform
Bill is thrown out on the second reading; and what then? The
meeting at Ebrington's was flat, nothing agreed on. Hume wanted
to pass some violent resolution, but was overruled. Milton made a
foolish speech, with prospective menaces and present nothingness
in it, and they separated without having done good or harm.


Newmarket, October 1st, 1831 {p.200}

[Page Head: PROSPECTS OF THE REFORM BILL.]

Came here last night, to my great joy, to get holidays, and leave
Reform and cholera and politics for racing and its amusements.
Just before I came away I met Lord Wharncliffe, and asked him
about his interview with Radical Jones. This blackguard considers
himself a sort of chief of a faction, and one of the heads of the
_sans-culottins_ of the present day. He wrote to Lord Wharncliffe
and said he wished to confer with him, that if he would grant him
an interview he might bring any person he pleased to witness what
passed between them. Lord Wharncliffe replied that he would call
on him, and should be satisfied to have no witness. Accordingly
he did so, when the other in very civil terms told him that he
wished to try and impress upon his mind (as he was one of the
heads of anti-Reform in the House of Lords) how dangerous it
would be to reject this Bill, that all sorts of excesses would
follow its rejection, that their persons and properties would be
perilled, and resistance would be unavailing, for that they (the
Reformers) were resolved to carry their point. Lord Wharncliffe
asked whether if this was conceded they would be satisfied. Jones
replied, 'Certainly not;' that they must go a great deal further,
that an hereditary peerage was not to be defended on any
reasonable theory. Still, he was not for doing away with it, that
he wished the changes that were inevitable to take place quietly,
and without violence or confusion. After some more discourse in
this strain they separated, but very civilly, and without any
intemperance of expression on the part of the Reformer.

On Monday the battle begins in the House of Lords, and up to this
time nobody knows how it will go, each party being confident, but
opinion generally in favour of the Bill being thrown out. There
is nothing more curious in this question than the fact that it is
almost impossible to find anybody who is satisfied with the part
he himself takes upon it, and that it is generally looked upon as
a choice of evils, in which the only thing to do is to choose the
least. The Reformers say, You had better pass the Bill or you
will have a worse. The moderate anti-Reformers would be glad to
suffer the second reading to pass and alter it in Committee, but
they do not dare do so, because the sulky, stupid, obstinate High
Tories declare that they will throw the whole thing up, and not
attempt to alter the Bill if it passes the second reading. Every
man seems tossed about by opposite considerations and the
necessity of accommodating his own conduct to the caprices,
passions, and follies of others.


Riddlesworth, October 10th, 1831 {p.201}

At Newmarket all last week; all the Peers absent; here since
Friday. Yesterday morning the newspapers (all in black[1])
announced the defeat of the Reform Bill by a majority of
forty-one, at seven o'clock on Saturday morning, after five
nights' debating. By all accounts the debate was a magnificent
display, and incomparably superior to that in the House of
Commons, but the reports convey no idea of it. The great speakers
on either side were:--Lords Grey, Lansdowne, Goderich, Plunket,
and the Chancellor, for the Bill; against it, Lords Wharncliffe
(who moved the amendment), Harrowby, Carnarvon, Dudley, Wynford,
and Lyndhurst. The Duke of Wellington's speech was exceedingly
bad; he is in fact, and has proved it in repeated instances,
unequal to argue a great constitutional question. He has neither
the command of language, the power of reasoning, nor the
knowledge requisite for such an effort. Lord Harrowby's speech
was amazingly fine, and delivered with great effect; and the last
night the Chancellor is said to have surpassed all his former
exploits, Lyndhurst to have been nearly as good, and Lord Grey
very great in reply. There was no excitement in London the
following day, and nothing particular happened but the Chancellor
being drawn from Downing Street to Berkeley Square in his
carriage by a very poor mob. The majority was much greater than
anybody expected, and it is to be hoped may be productive of good
by showing the necessity of a compromise; for no Minister can
make sixty Peers, which Lord Grey must do to carry this Bill; it
would be to create another House of Lords. Nobody knows what the
Ministers would do, but it was thought they would not resign. A
meeting of members of the House of Commons was held under the
auspices of Ebrington to agree upon a resolution of confidence in
the Government this day. The majority and the magnificent display
of eloquence and ability in the House of Lords must exalt the
character and dignity of that House, and I hope increase its
efficacy for good purposes and for resistance to this Bill. It
may be hoped, too, that the apathy of the capital may have some
effect in the country, though the unions, which are so well
disciplined and under the control of their orators, will make a
stir. On the whole I rejoice at this result, though I had taken
fright before, and thought it better the Bill should be read a
second time than be thrown out by a very small majority.

      [1] [Not all of them; neither the 'Times' nor the 'Morning
          Herald.'.]

[Page Head: DORSETSHIRE ELECTION.]

While the debates have been going on there have been two
elections, one of the Lord Mayor in the City, which the Reformers
have carried after a sharp contest, and the contest for
Dorsetshire between Ponsonby and Ashley, which is not yet over.
Ponsonby had a week's start of his opponent, notwithstanding
which it is so severe that they have been for some days within
ten or fifteen of each other, and (what is remarkable) the
anti-Reformer is the popular candidate, and has got all the mob
with him. This certainly is indicative of some _change_, though
not of a _reaction_, in public opinion. There is no longer the
same vehemence of desire for this Bill, and I doubt whether all
the efforts of the press will be able to stimulate the people
again to the same pitch of excitement.


Buckenham, October 11th, 1831 {p.203}

Came here yesterday; nobody of note, not lively, letters every
day with an account of what is passing. The Radical press is
moving heaven and earth to produce excitement, but without much
effect. There was something of a mob which marched about the
parks, but no mischief done. Londonderry and some others were
hooted near the House of Lords. Never was a party so crestfallen
as I hear they are; they had not a notion of such a division.
There seems to be a very general desire to bring about a fair
compromise, and to have a Bill introduced next session which may
be so framed as to secure the concurrence of the majority of both
Houses. The finest speeches by all accounts were Harrowby's,
Lyndhurst's, and Grey's reply; but Henry de Ros, who is a very
good judge, writes me word that Lyndhurst's was the most to his
taste.


October 12th, 1831 {p.203}

The Reformers appear to have rallied their spirits. Lord Grey went
to Windsor, was graciously received by the King, and obtained the
dismissal of Lord Howe, which will serve to show the King's entire
good-will to his present Ministers. Ebrington's resolution of
confidence was carried by a great majority in the House of Commons
after some violent speeches from Macaulay, Sheil, and O'Connell,
and very moderate ones and in a low tone on the other side.
Macaulay's speech was as usual very eloquent, but as inflammatory
as possible. Such men as these three can care nothing into what
state of confusion the country is thrown, for all they want is a
market to which they may bring their talents;[2] but how the
Miltons, Tavistocks, Althorps, and all who have a great stake in
the country can run the same course is more than I can conceive or
comprehend. Party is indeed, as Swift says, 'the madness of many,'
when carried to its present pitch. In the meantime the Conservative
party are as usual committing blunders, which will be fatal to
them. Lord Harrowby was to have moved yesterday or the day before,
in the House of Lords, a resolution pledging the House to take
into consideration early in the next session the acknowledged
defects in the representation, with a view to make such
ameliorations in it as might be consistent with the Constitution,
or something to this effect. This has not been done because the
Duke of Wellington objects. He will not concur because he thinks
the proposition should come from Government; as if this was a time
to stand upon such punctilios, and that it was not of paramount
importance to show the country that the Peers are not obstinately
bent upon opposing all Reform. I had hoped that he had profited by
experience, and that at least his past errors in politics might
have taught him a little modesty, and that he would not have
thwarted measures which were proposed by the wisest and most
disinterested of his own party. I can conceive no greater
misfortune at this moment than such a disunion of that party, and
to have its deliberations ruled by the obstinacy and prejudices of
the Duke. He is a great man in little things, but a little man in
great matters--I mean in civil affairs; in those mighty questions
which embrace enormous and various interests and considerations,
and to comprehend which great knowledge of human nature, great
sagacity, coolness, and impartiality are required, he is not fit
to govern and direct. His mind has not been sufficiently
disciplined, nor saturated with knowledge and matured by
reflection and communication with other minds, to enable him to be
a safe and efficient leader in such times as these.

      [2] This was very unjust to Macaulay, and not true as to
          Sheil; to O'Connell alone applicable.

[In reading over these remarks upon the Duke of Wellington, and
comparing them with the opinions I now entertain of his present
conduct, and of the nature and quality of his mind, I am
compelled to ask myself whether I did not then do him injustice.
On the whole I think not. He is not, nor ever was, a little man
in anything, great or small; but I am satisfied that he has made
great political blunders, though with the best and most patriotic
intentions, and that his conduct throughout the Reform contest
was one of the greatest and most unfortunate of them.--July
1838.]


October 14th, 1831 {p.205}

[Page Head: LORD GREY AND BISHOP PHILLPOTTS.]

The town continues quite quiet; the country nearly so. The press
strain every nerve to produce excitement, and the 'Times' has
begun an assault on the bishops, whom it has marked out for
vengeance and defamation for having voted against the Bill.
Althorp and Lord John Russell have written grateful letters to
Attwood as Chairman of the Birmingham Union, thus indirectly
acknowledging that puissant body. There was a desperate strife in
the House of Lords between Phillpotts and Lord Grey, in which the
former got a most tremendous dressing. Times must be mightily
changed when my sympathies go with this bishop, and even now,
though full of disgust with the other faction, I have a pleasure
in seeing him trounced. The shade of Canning may rejoice at the
sight of Grey smiting Phillpotts. Even on such a question
Phillpotts was essentially in the right; but he lost his temper,
floundered, and got punished. It was most indecent and disgusting
to hear Brougham from the Woolsack, in a strain of the bitterest
irony and sarcasm, but so broad as to be without the semblance of
disguise, attack the bench of bishops. I am of opinion that it
would have been far better never to have let them back into the
House of Lords, but now that they are there I would not thrust
them out, especially at this moment. Lord Grey in this debate
gave no handle certainly, for he interposed in their favour, and
rebuked Lord Suffield, who attacked them first, and told him he
was out of order, and then Phillpotts very foolishly attacked
him.


October 15th, 1831 {p.206}

A furious attack in the House of Commons upon Althorp's and John
Russell's letters to Attwood by Hardinge and Vyvyan. Peel not
there, having hopped off to Staffordshire, to the great disgust
of his party, whom he never scruples to leave in the lurch. They
made wretched excuses for these letters, and could only have
recourse to the pretence of indignation at being thought capable
of fomenting disorders, which is all very well; but they do
foment discord and discontent by every means in their power. With
a yelling majority in the House, and a desperate press out of it,
they go on in their reckless course without fear or shame. Lord
Harrowby made a speech in the House of Lords, and declared his
conviction that the time was come for effecting a Reform, and
that he would support one to a certain extent, which he
specified. In the House he was coolly received, and the 'Times'
hardly deigned to notice what he said. Parliament is to be up on
Thursday next, and will probably not meet till January, when of
course the first thing done will be to bring in the Bill again.
What, then, is gained? For as Ministers take every opportunity of
declaring that they will accept nothing less efficient (as they
call it) than the present Bill, no compromise can be looked for.
Lord Harrowby is the only man who has said what he will do, and
probably he goes further than the bulk of his party would approve
of; and yet he is far behind the Ministerial plan. So that there
seems little prospect of getting off for less than the old Bill,
for the Opposition will hardly venture to stop the next _in
limine_ as they did this. I do not see why they should hope to
amend the next Bill in Committee any more than the last, and the
division which they dreaded the other day is not less likely, and
would not be less fatal upon another occasion. If, then, it is to
pass at last, it comes back to what I thought before, that it
might as well have passed at first as at last, and the excitement
consequent on its rejection have been spared, as well as the
odium which has accrued to the Peers, which will not be forgotten
or laid aside.

The Dorsetshire election promises to end in favour of Ashley, and
there will be a contest for Cambridgeshire, which may also end in
favour of the anti-Reform candidate. These victories I really
believe to be unfortunate, for they are taken (I am arguing as if
they were won, though, with regard to the first, it is the same
thing by contrast with the last election) by the Tories and
anti-Reform champions as undoubted proofs of the reaction of
public opinion, and they are thereby encouraged to persevere in
opposition under the false notion that this supposed reaction
will every day gain ground. I wish it were so with all my soul,
but believe it is no such thing, and that although there may be
fewer friends to _the Bill_ than there were, particularly among
the agriculturists, Reform is not a whit less popular with the
mass of the people in the manufacturing districts, throughout the
unions, and generally amongst all classes and in all parts of the
country. When I see men, and those in very great numbers, of the
highest birth, of immense fortunes, of undoubted integrity and
acknowledged talents, zealously and conscientiously supporting
this measure, I own I am lost in astonishment, and even doubt;
for I can't help asking myself whether it is possible that such
men would be the advocates of measures fraught with all the peril
we ascribe to these, whether we are not in reality mistaken, and
labouring under groundless alarm generated by habitual prejudices
and erroneous calculations. But often as this doubt comes across
my mind, it is always dispelled by a reference to and comparison
of the arguments on both sides, and by the lessons which all that
I have ever read and all the conclusions I have been able to draw
from the study of history have impressed on my mind. I believe
these measures full of danger, but that the manner in which they
have been introduced, discussed, defended, and supported is more
dangerous still. The total unsettlement of men's minds, the
bringing into contempt all the institutions which have been
hitherto venerated, the aggrandisement of the power of the
people, the embodying and recognition of popular authority, the
use and abuse of the King's name, the truckling to the press, are
things so subversive of government, so prejudicial to order and
tranquillity, so encouraging to sedition and disaffection, that I
do not see the possibility of the country settling down into that
calm and undisturbed state in which it was before this question
was mooted, and without which there can be no happiness or
security to the community. A thousand mushroom orators and
politicians have sprung up all over the country, each big with
his own ephemeral importance, and every one of whom fancies
himself fit to govern the nation. Amongst them are some men of
active and powerful minds, and nothing is less probable than that
these spirits of mischief and misrule will be content to subside
into their original nothingness, and retire after the victory has
been gained into the obscurity from which they emerged.


Newmarket, October 23rd, 1831 {p.208}

Nothing but racing all this week; Parliament has been prorogued
and all is quiet. The world seems tired, and requires rest. How
soon it will all begin again God knows, but it will not be
suffered to sleep long.


London, November 11th, 1831 {p.208}

[Page Head: RIOTS AT BRISTOL.]

Nothing written for a long time; I went after the second October
meeting to Euston, and from thence to Horsham, returned to
Newmarket, was going to Felbrigg, but came to town on Tuesday
last (the 8th) on account of the cholera, which has broken out at
Sunderland. The country was beginning to slumber after the
fatigues of Reform, when it was rattled up by the business of
Bristol,[3] which for brutal ferocity and wanton, unprovoked
violence may vie with some of the worst scenes of the French
Revolution, and may act as a damper to our national pride. The
spirit which produced these atrocities was generated by Reform,
but no pretext was afforded for their actual commission; it was a
premature outbreaking of the thirst for plunder, and longing
after havoc and destruction, which is the essence of Reform in
the mind of the mob. The details are ample, and to be met with
everywhere; nothing could exceed the ferocity of the populace,
the imbecility of the magistracy, or the good conduct of the
troops. More punishment was inflicted by them than has been
generally known, and some hundreds were killed or severely
wounded by the sabre. One body of dragoons pursued a rabble of
colliers into the country, and covered the fields and roads with
the bodies of wounded wretches, making a severe example of them.
In London there would probably have been a great uproar and riot,
but fortunately Melbourne, who was frightened to death at the
Bristol affair, gave Lord Hill and Fitzroy Somerset _carte
blanche_, and they made such a provision of military force in
addition to the civil power that the malcontents were paralysed.
The Bristol business has done some good, inasmuch as it has
opened people's eyes (at least so it is said), but if we are to
go on as we do with a mob-ridden Government and a foolish King,
who renders himself subservient to all the wickedness and folly
of his Ministers, where is the advantage of having people's eyes
open, when seeing they will not perceive, and hearing they will
not understand? Nothing was wanting to complete our situation but
the addition of physical evil to our moral plague, and that is
come in the shape of the cholera, which broke out at Sunderland a
few days ago. To meet the exigency Government has formed another
Board of Health, but without dissolving the first, though the
second is intended to swallow up the first and leave it a mere
nullity. Lord Lansdowne, who is President of the Council, an
office which for once promises not to be a sinecure, has taken
the opportunity to go to Bowood, and having come up (sent for
express) on account of the cholera the day it was officially
declared really to be that disease, he has trotted back to his
house in the country.

      [3] [Riots broke out with great violence at Bristol on the
          29th of October, the pretext being the entry of Sir
          Charles Wetherell into that city (of which he was
          Recorder), who was notorious for his violent opposition
          to the Reform Bill. Much property was destroyed, and
          many lives lost.]


November 14th, 1831 {p.210}

For the last two or three days the reports from Sunderland about
the cholera have been of a doubtful character. The disease makes
so little progress that the doctors begin again to doubt whether
it is the Indian cholera, and the merchants, shipowners, and
inhabitants, who suffer from the restraints imposed upon an
infected place, are loudly complaining of the measures which have
been adopted, and strenuously insisting that their town is in a
more healthy state than usual, and that the disease is no more
than what it always is visited with every year at this season. In
the meantime all preparations are going on in London, just as if
the disorder was actually on its way to the metropolis. We have a
Board at the Council Office, between which and the Board at the
College some civilities have passed, and the latter is now ready
to yield up its functions to the former, which, however, will not
be regularly constituted without much difficulty and many
jealousies, all owing to official carelessness and mismanagement.
The Board has been diligently employed in drawing up suggestions
and instructions to local boards and parochial authorities, and
great activity has prevailed here in establishing committees for
the purpose of visiting the different districts of the metropolis,
and making such arrangements as may be necessary in the event of
sickness breaking out. There is no lack of money or labour for
this end, and one great good will be accomplished let what will
happen, for much of the filth and misery of the town will be
brought to light, and the condition of the poorer and more
wretched of the inhabitants can hardly fail to be ameliorated. The
reports from Sunderland exhibit a state of human misery, and
necessarily of moral degradation, such as I hardly ever heard of,
and it is no wonder, when a great part of the community is plunged
into such a condition (and we may fairly suppose that there is a
gradually mounting scale, with every degree of wretchedness up to
the wealth and splendour which glitter on the surface of society),
that there should be so many who are ripe for any desperate scheme
of revolution. At Sunderland they say there are houses with 150
inmates, who are huddled five and six in a bed. They are in the
lowest state of poverty. The sick in these receptacles are
attended by an apothecary's boy, who brings them (or I suppose
tosses them) medicines without distinction or enquiry.

I saw Lord Wharncliffe last night, just returned from Yorkshire;
he gives a bad account of the state of the public mind; he thinks
that there is a strong revolutionary spirit abroad; told me that
the Duke of Wellington had written to the King a memorial upon
the danger of the associations that were on foot.


Roehampton, November 19th, 1831 {p.211}

[Page Head: OVERTURES FOR A COMPROMISE.]

On Tuesday last I went with the Duke of Richmond to pass a day at
Shirley Lodge, a house that has been lent him by Mr. Maberly, and
there we had a great deal of conversation about Reform and general
politics, in the course of which I was struck by his apparent
candour and moderation, and when I told him that nothing would do
but a compromise between the parties he acceded to that opinion,
and said that he should like to go to Lord Wharncliffe, and talk
the matter over with him. This was on Wednesday. Yesterday morning
I called on Lord Wharncliffe, and told him what Richmond had said.
He was sitting before a heap of papers, and when I told him this
he laughed and said that Richmond was behindhand, that matters had
gone a great deal further than this, and then proceeded to give me
the following account of what had passed. A short time ago
Palmerston spoke to his son, John Wortley, and expressed a desire
that some compromise could be effected between the Government and
the Opposition leaders, which John imparted to Lord Harrowby and
his father. The overture was so well received by them that Stanley
went to Sandon, Lord Harrowby's place in Staffordshire, in his way
to Ireland, with Lord Grey's consent, to talk it over with Lord
Sandon. After this Lord Wharncliffe went to Sandon, and the two
fathers and two sons discussed the matter, and came to a sort of
general resolution as to the basis on which they would treat,
which they drew up, and which Wharncliffe read to me. It was
moderate, temperate, embraced ample concessions, and asserted the
necessity of each party refraining from demanding of the other
what either was so pledged to as to be unable to concede without
dishonour. On Wharncliffe's return to town he again saw
Palmerston, and communicated to him Harrowby's concurrence in an
equitable adjustment of the Reform question, and then suggested
that if Government really desired this, it would be better that he
(Wharncliffe) should see Lord Grey himself on the subject.
Palmerston told Lord Grey, who assented, and gave Wharncliffe a
rendezvous at East Sheen on Wednesday last. There they had a long
conversation, which by his account was conducted in a very fair
and amicable spirit on both sides, and they seem to have come to a
good understanding as to the principle on which they should treat.
On parting, Grey shook hands with him twice, and told him he had
not felt so much relieved for a long time. The next day Lord Grey
made a minute of their conversation, which he submitted to the
Cabinet; they approved of it, and he sent it to Wharncliffe to
peruse, who returned it to Lord Grey. In this state the matter
stood yesterday morning, apparently with every prospect of being
arranged. Wharncliffe had already spoken to Dudley, Lyndhurst, and
De Ros, the only Peers of his party he had seen, and to the
Archbishop of Canterbury, who were all delighted at what had
passed. He had written to the Duke of Wellington and Peel, and he
is busying himself in consulting and communicating with all the
Peers and influential Commoners of the party whom he can find in
town. The terms are not settled, but the general basis agreed upon
seems to be this: the concession of Schedule A, of representatives
to the great towns, and a great extension of the county
representation on one side; the abandonment, or nearly so, of
Schedule B, such an arrangement with regard to the £10 qualification
as shall have the practical effect of a higher rate, and an
understanding that the manufacturing interest is not to have a
preponderating influence in the county representation; a great
deal to be left open to discussion, especially on all the
subordinate points.

[Page Head: NEGOTIATION WITH THE WAVERERS]

Such is the history of this curious transaction, which affords a
triumphant justification of the course which the Opposition
adopted; indeed, Palmerston admitted to Wharncliffe that their
tactics had been entirely judicious. It is likewise a great homage
rendered to character, for Wharncliffe has neither wealth,
influence, nor superior abilities, nor even popularity with his
own party. He is a spirited, sensible, zealous, honourable,
consistent country gentleman; their knowledge of his moderation
and integrity induced Ministers to commit themselves to him, and
he will thus be in all probability enabled to render an essential
service to his country, and be a principal instrument in the
settlement of a question the continued agitation of which would
have been perilous in the extreme. Besides the prospect of a less
objectionable Bill, an immense object is gained in the complete
separation of the Ministry from the subversive party, for their
old allies the Radicals will never forgive them for this
compromise with the anti-Reformers, and they have now no
alternative but to unite with those who call themselves the
Conservative party against the rebels, republicans, associators,
and all the disaffected in the country. After all their
declarations and their unbending insolence, to have brought down
their pride to these terms, and to the humiliation of making
overtures to a party whose voice was only the other day designated
by John Russell as 'the whisper of a faction,' shows plainly how
deeply alarmed they are at the general state of the country, and
how the conflagration of Bristol has suddenly illuminated their
minds. That incident, the language of the associations, the
domiciliary visits to Lord Grey at midnight of Place and his
rabble, and the licentiousness of the press, have opened their
eyes, and convinced them that if existing institutions are to be
preserved at all there is no time to be lost in making such an
arrangement as may enable all who have anything to lose to
coalesce for their mutual safety and protection. Whatever may be
the amount of their concessions, the Radicals will never pardon
Lord Grey for negotiating with the Tories at all, and nothing will
prevent his being henceforward the object of their suspicion and
aversion, and marked out for their vengeance. By what process
Althorp and John Russell were induced to concur, and how they are
to set about swallowing their own words, I do not guess.

As a proof of the disposition which exists, and the good
understanding between Wharncliffe and the Government, he told me
that some time ago Ward and Palmer went to him, and said that in
the City the majority of men of weight and property were
favourable to Reform, but not to the late Bill, and that they
were desirous of having a declaration drawn up for signature,
expressive of their adherence to Reform, but of their hope that
the next measure might be such as would give satisfaction to all
parties. Wharncliffe drew this up (there was likewise an
acknowledgment of the right of the House of Lords to exercise
their privileges as they had done) and gave it to them. It is
gone to be signed, having been previously submitted to Grey and
Althorp, who approved of it.


November 21st, 1831 {p.214}

Came to town from Roehampton yesterday morning, saw Henry de Ros,
who had seen Barnes[4] the evening before, and opened to him the
pending negotiation. His rage and fury exceeded all bounds. He
swore Brougham and Grey (particularly the former) were the
greatest of villains. After a long discussion he agreed to try and
persuade his colleagues to adopt a moderate tone, and not to begin
at once to _jeter feu et flamme_. Henry's object was to persuade
him, if possible, that the interest of the paper will be in the
long run better consulted by leaning towards the side of order and
quiet than by continuing to exasperate and inflame. He seemed to a
certain degree moved by this argument, though he is evidently a
desperate Radical. Henry went to Melbourne afterwards, who is most
anxious for the happy consummation of this affair, but expressed
some alarm lest they should be unable to agree upon the details.
There is an article in the 'Times' this morning of half-menacing
import, sulkily and gloomily written, but not ferocious, and
leaving it open to them to take what line they think fit. In the
afternoon I met Melbourne, who told me they were going to put
forth a proclamation against 'Attwood and the Birmingham fellows,'
which was grateful to my ears.

      [4] [Then editor of the 'Times' newspaper.]


November 22nd, 1831 {p.215}

[Page Head: PROCLAMATION AGAINST THE UNIONS]

The King came to town yesterday for a Council, at which the
meeting of Parliament on the 6th of December was settled. The
proclamation against the unions (which was not ready, and the
King signed a blank) and some orders about cholera were
despatched. Lord Grey told me that the union had already
determined to dissolve itself.

My satisfaction was yesterday considerably damped by what I heard
of the pending negotiation concerning Reform. Agar Ellis at
Roehampton talked with great doubt of its being successful, which
I attributed to his ignorance of what had passed, but I fear it is
from his knowledge that the Government mean, in fact, to give up
nothing of importance. George Bentinck came to me in the morning,
and told me he had discovered from the Duke of Richmond that the
concessions were not only to be all one way, but that the altered
Bill would be, in fact, more objectionable than the last, inasmuch
as it is more democratic in its tendency, so much so that Richmond
is exceedingly dissatisfied himself, for he has always been the
advocate of the aristocratic interest in the Cabinet, and has
battled to make the Bill less adverse to it. Now he says he can
contend no longer, for he is met by the unanswerable argument that
their opponents are ready to concede more. I own I was alarmed,
and my mind misgave me when I heard of the extreme satisfaction of
Althorp and Co.; and I always dreaded that Wharncliffe, however
honest and well-meaning, had not calibre enough to conduct such a
negotiation, and might be misled by his vanity. He bustles about
the town, chatting away to all the people he meets, and I fear is
both ignorant himself of what he is about and involuntarily
deceiving others too; he is in a fool's paradise. I spoke to Henry
de Ros about this last night, who seemed by no means aware of it,
and it is difficult to believe that Lyndhurst and Harrowby should
not be perfectly alive to all the consequences of Wharncliffe's
proceedings, or that they would sanction them if they had really
the tendency that George Bentinck gives me to understand.

The cholera, which is going on (but without greatly extending
itself) at Sunderland, has excited an unusual alarm, but it is
now beginning to subside. People seeing that it does not appear
elsewhere take courage, but the preparations are not relaxed, and
they are constantly enforced by the Central Board of Health (as
it is called), which is established at the Council Office, and
labours very assiduously in the cause. Undoubtedly a great deal
of good will be done in the way of purification. As to the
disorder, if it had not the name of cholera nobody would be
alarmed, for many an epidemic has prevailed at different times
far more fatal than this. On Friday last we despatched Dr. Barry
down to Sunderland with very ample powers, and to procure
information, which it is very difficult to get. Nothing can be
more disgraceful than the state of that town, exhibiting a
lamentable proof of the practical inutility of that diffusion of
knowledge and education which we boast of, and which we fancy
renders us so morally and intellectually superior to the rest of
the world. When Dr. Russell was in Russia, he was disgusted with
the violence and prejudices he found there on the part of both
medical men and the people, and he says he finds just as much
here. The conduct of the people of Sunderland on this occasion is
more suitable to the barbarism of the interior of Africa than to
a town in a civilised country. The medical men and the higher
classes are split into parties, quarrelling about the nature of
the disease, and perverting and concealing facts which militate
against their respective theories. The people are taught to
believe that there is really no cholera at all, and that those
who say so intend to plunder and murder them. The consequence is
prodigious irritation and excitement, an invincible repugnance on
the part of the lower orders to avail themselves of any of the
preparations which are made for curing them, and a proneness to
believe any reports, however monstrous and exaggerated. In a very
curious letter which was received yesterday from Dr. Daur, he
says (after complaining of the medical men, who would send him no
returns of the cases of sickness) it was believed that bodies had
been dissected before the life was out of them, and one woman,
was said to have been cut up while she was begging to be spared.
The consequence of this is that we have put forward a strong
order to compel medical men to give information, and another for
the compulsory removal of nuisances. It is, however, rather
amusing that everybody who has got in their vicinity anything
disagreeable, or that they would like to be rid of, thinks that
now is their time, and the table of the Board of Health is
covered with applications of this nature, from every variety of
person and of place.


November 23rd, 1831 {p.217}

Dr. Barry's first letter from Sunderland came yesterday, in which
he declares the identity of the disease with the cholera he had
seen in Russia. He describes some cases he had visited,
exhibiting scenes of misery and poverty far exceeding what one
could have believed it possible to find in this country; but we
who float on the surface of society know but little of the
privations and sufferings which pervade the mass. I wrote to the
Bishop of Durham, to the chief magistrates, and sent down £200 to
Colonel Creagh (which Althorp immediately advanced) to relieve
the immediate and pressing cases of distress.

[Page Head: DISAPPOINTMENT.]

Saw George Bentinck in the afternoon, who confirmed my
apprehension that Wharncliffe had been cajoled into a negotiation
which Government intended should end by getting all they want.
Richmond, Grey, and Palmerston were in a minority of three in the
Cabinet for putting off the meeting of Parliament. One of the
most Radical of the Cabinet is Goderich. Such a thing it is to be
of feeble intellect and character, and yet he is a smart speaker,
and an agreeable man. The moderate party are Richmond, who cannot
have much weight, Stanley, who is in Ireland, Lansdowne, who is
always 'gone to Bowood,' Palmerston, and Melbourne. Yet I am led
to think that if Wharncliffe had insisted on better conditions,
and held out, he would have got them, and that the Cabinet were
really disposed to make all the concessions they could without
compromising themselves. The meeting in the City yesterday was a
total failure. Henry Drummond, who is mad, but very clever, and a
Reformer, though for saving the rotten boroughs, spoke against
the declaration, some others followed him, and after a couple of
hours wasted in vain endeavours to procure unanimity the meeting
broke up, and nothing was done. I saw Wharncliffe last night, who
was exceedingly disappointed.


November 28th, 1831 {p.218}

The negotiation with Wharncliffe goes on languidly; he wrote to
Lord Grey the other day, and suggested some heads as the basis of
an accommodation, consisting of some extension of Schedule B,
excluding town voters from county voting, and one or two other
points; to which Lord Grey replied that some of the things he
mentioned might be feasible, but that there would be great
difficulty about others, that he feared nothing might come of
their communications, as he would not hear of any other Peers who
were disposed to go along with him. It is not a bad thing that
they should each be impressed with a salutary apprehension, the
one that he will have the same difficulties to encounter in the
House of Lords, the other that nobody will follow him, for it
will render an arrangement more probable than if they both
thought they had only to agree together, and that the rest must
follow as a matter of course. The Duke of Wellington has written
again to Wharncliffe, declining altogether to be a party to any
negotiation. De Ros told me that he never saw such a letter as
Peel's--so stiff, dry, and reserved, just like the man in whom
great talents are so counteracted, and almost made mischievous,
by the effects of his cold, selfish, calculating character. In
the meantime the state of the country is certainly better, the
proclamation putting down the unions has been generally obeyed,
the press has suspended its fury, and the approach of the meeting
of Parliament seems to have calmed the country to a great degree.
The event most to be desired is that the Government may carry
their Bill quietly through the House of Commons, amendments be
carried in the Committee of the House of Lords, and upon these
there may be a compromise, though after all it is impossible not
to have a secret misgiving that the alterations which appear
desirable may prove to be mischievous, for it is the great evil
of the measure that being certainly new no human being can guess
how it will work, or how its different parts will act upon one
another, and what result they will produce.

There seems to be a constant sort of electrical reciprocity of
effort between us and France just now. The three days produced
much of our political excitement, and our Bristol business has
been acted with great similarity of circumstance at Lyons, and is
still going on. Talleyrand produced the 'Moniteur' last night with
the account, lamented that the Duc d'Orléans had been sent with
Marshal Soult to Lyons, which he said was unnecessary and absurd,
that Soult was the best man for the purpose of putting it down. It
was begun by the workpeople, who were very numerous, not political
in its objects, but the cries denoted a mixture of everything, as
they shouted 'Henri V., Napoléon II, La République, and Bristol.'
He was at Lady Holland's, looking very cadaverous, and not very
talkative, talked of Madame du Barri, that she had been very
handsome, and had some remains of beauty up to the period of her
death; of Luckner, who was guillotined, and as the car passed on
the people cried (as they used), 'À la guillotine! à la
guillotine!' Luckner turned round and said, '_On_ y va, canaille.'

[Page Head: POULETT THOMSON.]

We have just sent a commission to Paris to treat with the French
Government about a commercial treaty on the principles of free
trade. Poulett Thomson, who has been at Paris some time, has
originated it, and Althorp selected George Villiers for the
purpose, but has added to him as a colleague Dr. Bowring, who has
in fact been selected by Thomson, a theorist, and a jobber,
deeply implicated in the 'Greek Fire,' and a Benthamite. He was
the subject of a cutting satire of Moore's, beginning,

             The ghost of Miltiades came by night,
             And stood by the bed of the Benthamite;

but he has been at Paris some time, understanding the subject,
and has wound himself into some intimacy with the French King and
his Ministers. It is, however, Poulett Thomson who has persuaded
Althorp to appoint him, in order to have a creature of his own
there.

I have never been able to understand the enormous unpopularity of
this man, who appears civil, well-bred, intelligent, and
agreeable (only rather a coxcomb), and has made a certain figure
in the House of Commons, but it has been explained to me by a
person who knows him well. He was originally a merchant, and had
a quantity of counting-house knowledge. He became member of a
club of political economists, and a scholar of M'Culloch's. In
this club there were some obscure but very able men, and by them
he got crammed with the principles of commerce and political
economy, and from his mercantile connections he got facts. He
possessed great industry and sufficient ability to work up the
materials he thus acquired into a very plausible exhibition of
knowledge upon these subjects, and having opportunities of
preparing himself for every particular question, and the
advantage of addressing an audience the greater part of which is
profoundly ignorant, he passed for a young gentleman of
extraordinary ability and profound knowledge, and amongst the
greatest of his admirers was Althorp, who, when the Whigs came
in, promoted him to his present situation. Since he has been
there he has not had the same opportunities of learning his
lesson from others behind the curtain, and the envy which always
attends success has delighted to pull down his reputation, so
that he now appears something like the jackdaw stripped of the
peacock's feathers.


November 30th, 1831 {p.220}

Went to breakfast at the Tower, which I had never seen. Dined
with Lady Holland, first time for seven years, finished the
quarrel, and the last of that batch; they should not last for
ever. In the morning Wharncliffe came to me from Lord Grey's,
with whom he had had a final interview. He showed me the paper he
gave Grey containing his proposals, which were nearly to this
effect: conceding what the Government required, with these
exceptions and counter-concessions, an alteration in Schedule B
with a view to preserve in many cases the two members; that
voters for the great manufacturing towns should have votes for
the counties; that London districts should not have so many
representatives; that when the franchise was given to great
manufacturing towns, _their_ county should not have more
representatives; that corporate rights should be saved, though
with an infusion of £10 voters where required; that Cheltenham
and Brighton (particularly) should have no members. These were
the principal heads, proposed in a paper of moderate length and
civil expression. Grey said the terms were inadmissible, that
some parts of his proposal might be feasible, but the points on
which Wharncliffe most insisted (London, and town and county
voting) he could not agree to. So with many expressions of
civility and mutual esteem they parted. He is disappointed, but
not dejected, and I tried to persuade him that an arrangement on
this basis is not less probable than it was.

The fact is it would have been nearly impossible for Government
to introduce a Bill so different from the first as these changes
would have made it, as the result of a negotiation. They would
have been exposed to great obloquy, and have had innumerable
difficulties to encounter, but if the Bill goes into a Committee
of the Lords, and the other clauses pass without opposition, the
Government may not think themselves obliged to contest these
alterations. I think the Government would accept them, and
probably they feel that in no other way could they do so. It
seems to me that the success of these amendments depends now very
much upon the Opposition themselves, upon their firmness, their
union, and above all their reasonableness. Saw Talleyrand last
night, who said they had better news from Lyons, that there was
nothing political in it. News came yesterday morning that the
cholera had broken out at Marseilles.


December 3rd, 1831 {p.221}

Wharncliffe showed me his correspondence with the Duke of
Wellington on this negotiation. They differed greatly, but
amicably enough, though I take it he was not very well pleased
with Wharncliffe's last letter, in which he distinctly told the
Duke that his speech on the Address, and declaration against any
Reform, was what overthrew his Government. This he never will
admit, and, passing over the proximate cause, always refers his
fall to (what was certainly the remote cause) the Catholic
question--that is, to the breaking up of the Tory party which
followed it, and the union of the old Tories with the Whigs and
Radicals on purpose to turn him out. In this correspondence
Wharncliffe has much the best of it, and I was surprised to find
with what tenacity the Duke clings to his cherished prejudices,
and how he shuts his eyes to the signs of the times and the real
state of the country. With the point at issue he never would
grapple. Wharncliffe argued for concession, _because_ they have
not the means of resistance, and that they are in fact at the
mercy of their opponents. The Duke admitted the force against
them, but thought it would be possible to govern the country
without Reform 'if the King was not against them'--an important
increment of his conditions; there is no doubt that 'the King's
name is a tower of strength, which they upon the adverse faction
want'--and he continued through all his letters arguing the
question on its abstract merits, and repeating the topic that had
been over and over again urged, but without reference to the
actual state of things and the means of resistance. It seems,
however, pretty clear that he will oppose this Bill just as he
did the last, and he will probably have a great many followers;
but the party is broken up, for Wharncliffe and Harrowby will
vote for the second reading; the bishops will generally go with
them, and probably a sufficient number of Peers. If Lord Grey can
see a reasonable chance of carrying the Bill without making
Peers, there can be very little doubt he will put off that
resource till the last moment.


December 4th, 1831 {p.222}

Dined with Talleyrand yesterday. He complained to me of Durham's
return, and of 'sa funeste influence sur Lord Grey:' that because
he had been at Brussels and at Paris, he fancied nobody but
himself knew anything of foreign affairs; he praised Palmerston
highly. In the evening to Lady Harrowby, who told me John Russell
had been with her, all moderation and candour, and evidently for
the purpose of keeping alive the amicable relations which had been
begun by Wharncliffe's negotiation. When Lady Harrowby said it was
over, he replied, 'For the present,' said how glad he should be of
a compromise, hinted that Sandon might be instrumental, that he
might move an amendment in the House of Commons; abused Macaulay's
violent speech--in short, was all mild and _doucereux_--all which
proves that they _do_ wish to compromise if they could manage it
conveniently. Lord John Russell told her that there was no going
on with Durham, that he never left Lord Grey, tormented his heart
out, and made him so ill and irritable that he could not sleep.
Durham wanted to be Minister for Foreign Affairs.


December 7th, 1831 {p.223}

Parliament opened yesterday; not a bad speech, though wordy and
ill-written. There was an oversight in the Address, which was
corrected in both Houses by Peel and Lord Harrowby, but not taken
_as an amendment_. Lord Grey begged it might be inserted in Lord
Camperdown's address, which was done. It was about the King of
Holland and the treaty. The Address says that they rejoice _at
the treaty_, whereas there is none at present. Lord Lyttelton
made a very foolish speech, and was very well cut up by Lord
Harrowby, and Peel spoke well in the other House.


December 8th, 1831 {p.223}

[Page Head: AN APPEAL FROM LORD CHANCELLOR BROUGHAM.]

At Court yesterday to swear in Erskine,[5] Brougham's new Chief
Judge in Bankruptcy and Privy Councillor. The Chancellor is in a
great rage with me. There is an appeal to the Privy Council from
a judgment of his (in which he was wrong), the first appeal of
the kind for above a hundred years;[6] I told him it was ready to
be heard, and begged to know if he had any wish as to who should
be summoned to hear it. He said very tartly, 'Of course I shall
have somebody to hear it _with me_.' I said, 'Do you mean to hear
it yourself, then?' 'And pray why not? don't I hear appeals from
myself every day in the House of Lords? didn't you see that I
could not hear a case the other day because Lord Lyndhurst was
not there? I have _a right_ to hear it. I sit there as a Privy
Councillor.' 'Oh,' I said, 'you have certainly _a right_ if you
choose it.' 'You may rely upon it I shall do nothing unusual in
the Privy Council,' and then he flounced off in high dudgeon. I
told Lord Lansdowne afterwards, who said he should not allow it
to be heard by _him_, and should make a point of summoning all
the great law authorities of the Privy Council. This was the case
of Drax _v._ Grosvenor, which excited great interest, in which
Brougham tried to play all sorts of tricks to prevent his
judgment being reversed, which tricks I managed to defeat, and
the judgment was reversed, as is described farther on. I never
had the advantage of seeing the Chancellor before in his sulks,
though he is by no means unfrequently in them, very particularly
so this time last year, when he was revolving in his mind whether
he should take the Great Seal, and when he thought he was
ill-used, so Auckland told me.

      [5] [Right Hon. Thomas Erskine, a son of Lord Chancellor
          Erskine, Chief Judge in Bankruptcy, and afterwards a
          Justice of the Court of Common Pleas.]

      [6] [It was an Appeal in Lunacy. No other appeals save in
          Lunacy lie from the Court of Chancery to the King in
          Council, and these are very rare. Drax _v._ Grosvenor
          is reported in Knapp's 'Privy Council Reports.'.]

The cholera is on the decline at Sunderland, but in the meantime
our trade will have been put under such restrictions that the
greatest embarrassments are inevitable. Intelligence is already
come that the Manchester people have curtailed their orders, and
many workmen will be out of work. Yesterday a deputation from
Coventry came to Auckland, and desired a categorical answer as to
whether Government meant to resume the prohibitory system,
because if they would not the glove trade at Coventry would
discharge their workmen.


December 11th, 1831 {p.224}

Yesterday Harrowby had an interview with Lord Grey, the result of
which I do not know; walked with Stuart (de Rothesay) in the
morning, who had seen the Duke of Wellington the day before. I
said I was afraid he was very obstinate. He said 'No, he thought
not, but that the Duke fancied Wharncliffe had gone too far.'

[Page Head: THE SECOND REFORM BILL.]

To-morrow the Reform Bill comes on. Some say that it will be as
hotly disputed as ever, and that Peel's speeches indicate a
bitterness undiminished, but this will not happen. It is clear
that the general tone and temper of parties is softened, and
though a great deal of management and discretion is necessary to
accomplish anything like a decent compromise, the majority of
both parties are earnestly desirous of bringing the business to
an end by any means. What has already taken place between the
Government and Wharncliffe and Harrowby has certainly smoothed
the way, and removed much of that feeling of asperity which
before existed. The press, too, is less violent, the 'Morning
Herald' openly preaching a compromise, and the 'Times' taking
that sort of sweep which, if it does not indicate a change, shows
a disposition to take such a position as may enable it to adopt
any course.

_In the evening._--Called on Lord Bathurst in the morning; met
him going out, and stopped to talk to him. He knew of the meeting
in Downing Street; that Lords Harrowby, Wharncliffe, and Chandos
were to meet the Chancellor and Lords Althorp and Grey; that
Chandos had gone to Brighton, ostensibly to talk to the King
about the West Indies, but had taken the opportunity to throw in
something on the topic of Reform; that the King desired him to
speak to Palmerston, and allowed him to say that he did so by his
orders. (The King, it seems, knows nothing of what is going on,
for he reads no newspapers and the Household tell him nothing.)
Accordingly Chandos did speak to Palmerston, and the result was a
note to him, begging these three would meet the three Ministers
above mentioned. Lady Harrowby told me that they went. Brougham
did not arrive till the conference was nearly over. There was an
abundant interchange of civilities, but nothing concluded, the
Ministers declining every proposition that Lord Harrowby made to
them, though Lord Grey owned that they did not ask for anything
which involved an abandonment of the principle of the Bill. They
are, then, not a bit nearer an accommodation than they were
before.

George Bentinck told me this evening of a scene which had been
related to him by the Duke of Richmond, that lately took place at
a Cabinet dinner; it was very soon after Durham's return from
abroad. He was furious at the negotiations and question of
compromise. Lord Grey is always the object of his rage and
impertinence, because he is the only person whom he dares attack.
After dinner he made a violent _sortie_ on Lord Grey (it was at
Althorp's), said he would be eternally disgraced if he suffered
any alterations to be made in this Bill, that he was a betrayer
of the cause, and, amongst other things, reproached him with
having kept him in town on account of this Bill in the summer,
'and thereby having been the cause of the death of his son.'
Richmond said in his life he never witnessed so painful a scene,
or one which excited such disgust and indignation in every member
of the Cabinet. Lord Grey was ready to burst into tears, said he
would much rather work in the coal-mines than be subject to such
attacks, on which the other muttered, 'and you might do worse,'
or some such words. After this Durham got up and left the room.
Lord Grey very soon retired too, when the other Ministers
discussed this extraordinary scene, and considered what steps
they ought to take. They thought at first that they should
require Durham to make a public apology (i.e. before all of them)
to Lord Grey for his impertinence, which they deemed due to
_them_ as he was _their_ head, and to _Althorp_ as having
occurred in his house, but as they thought it was quite certain
that Durham would resign the next morning, and that Lord Grey
might be pained at another scene, they forbore to exact this.
However, Durham did not resign; he absented himself for some days
from the Cabinet, at last returned as if nothing had happened,
and there he goes on as usual. But they are so thoroughly
disgusted, and resolved to oppose him, that his influence is
greatly impaired. Still, his power of mischief and annoyance is
considerable. Lord Grey succumbs to him, and they say in spite of
his behaviour is very much attached to him, though so incessantly
worried that his health visibly suffers by his presence. There is
nothing in which he does not meddle. The Reform Bill he had a
principal hand in concocting, and he fancies himself the only man
competent to manage our foreign relations. Melbourne, who was
present at this scene, said, 'If I had been Lord Grey, I would
have knocked him down.'


December 13th, 1831 {p.227}

Lord John Russell brought on his Bill last night in a very feeble
speech. A great change is apparent since the last Bill; the House
was less full, and a softened and subdued state of temper and
feeling was evinced. Peel made an able and a bitter speech,
though perhaps not a very judicious one. There are various
alterations in the Bill; enough to prove that it was at least
wise to throw out the last. Althorp, who answered Peel,
acknowledged that if the old Bill had been opposed in its
earliest stage it never could have been brought forward again, or
made an avowal to that effect. In fact, Peel is now aware (as
everybody else is) of the enormous fault that was committed in
not throwing it out at once, before the press had time to
operate, and rouse the country to the pitch of madness it did. On
what trifles turn the destinies of nations! William Bankes told
me last night that Peel owned this to him; said that he had
earnestly desired to do so, but had been turned from his purpose
by Granville Somerset! And why? Because he (in the expectation of
a dissolution) must have voted against him, he said, in order to
save his popularity in his own county.

[Page Head: CONFESSION OF A BODY-SNATCHER.]

Met Melbourne at Lord Holland's; they were talking of a reported
confession to a great extent of murders, which is said to have
been begun and not finished, by the Burkers, or by one of them.
Melbourne said it was true, that he began the confession about
the murder of a black man to a Dissenting clergyman, but was
interrupted by the ordinary. Two of a trade could not agree, and
the man of the Established Church preferred that the criminal
should die unconfessed, and the public uninformed, rather than
the Dissenter should extract the truth. Since writing this I see
Hunt put a question to George Lamb on this point, and he replied
that he knew nothing of any other confession, which is not true.
I have heard, but on no authority, that some surgeons are so
disagreeably implicated that they choose to conceal these
horrors.


December 14th, 1831 {p.228}

People generally are mightily satisfied at the tone of the
discussion the other night, and, what is of vast importance, the
press has adopted a moderate and conciliatory tone, even the
'Times,' which, is now all for compromise. It is clear as
daylight that the Government will consent to anything which
leaves untouched the great principles of the Bill, and the
country desires to see the question settled, and, if possible,
rest from this eternal excitement.


December 20th, 1831 {p.228}

The second reading of the Reform Bill was carried at one o'clock
on Saturday night by a majority of two to one, and ended very
triumphantly for Ministers, who are proportionately elated, and
their opponents equally depressed. Croker had made a very clever
speech on Friday, with quotations from Hume, and much reasoning
upon them. Hobhouse detected several inaccuracies, and gave his
discovery to Stanley, who worked it up in a crushing attack upon
Croker. It is by far the best speech Stanley ever made, and so
good as to raise him immeasurably in the House. Lord Grey said it
placed him at the very top of the House of Commons, without a
rival, which perhaps is jumping to rather too hasty a conclusion.
He shone the more from Peel's making a very poor exhibition. He
had been so nettled by Macaulay's sarcasms the night before on
his tergiversation, that he went into the whole history of the
Catholic question and his conduct on that occasion, which,
besides savouring of that egotism with which he is so much and
justly reproached, was uncalled for and out of place. The rest of
his speech was not so good as usual, and he did not attempt to
answer Stanley.

                *       *       *       *       *

                              1832.


Panshanger, January 1st, 1832 {p.229}

[Page Head: PANSHANGER.]

Distress seems to increase hereabouts, and crime with it.
Methodism and saintship increase too. The people of this house
are examples of the religion of the fashionable world, and the
charity of natural benevolence, which the world has not spoiled.
Lady Cowper and her family go to church, but scandalise the
congregation by always arriving half an hour too late. The hour
matters not; if it began at nine, or ten, or twelve, or one
o'clock, it would be the same thing; they are never ready, and
always late, but they go. Lord Cowper never goes at all; but he
employs multitudes of labourers, is ready to sanction any and
every measure which can contribute to the comfort and happiness
of the peasantry. Lady Cowper and her daughters inspect
personally the cottages and condition of the poor. They visit,
enquire, and give; they distribute flannel, medicines, money, and
they talk to and are kind to them, so that the result is a
perpetual stream flowing from a real fountain of benevolence,
which waters all the country round and gladdens the hearts of the
peasantry, and attaches them to those from whom it emanates.


Panshanger, January 6th, 1832 {p.229}

Talleyrand, Dino, Palmerston, Esterhazy, came yesterday and went
away to-day--that is, the two first and the Seftons did. There
has been another contest in the Cabinet about the Peers, which
has ended in a sort of compromise, and five are to be made
directly, two new ones and three eldest sons called up. Old
Talleyrand came half-dead from the conferences, which have been
incessant these few days, owing to the Emperor of Russia's
refusal to ratify the treaty and the differences about the
Belgian fortresses. One conference lasted eleven hours and a
quarter, and finished at four o'clock in the morning.


Gorhambury, January 7th, 1832 {p.229}

[Page Head: EFFORTS OF THE MODERATE PARTY.]

Came here to-day. Berkeley Paget and Lushington; nobody else. Had
a conversation with Lady C. before I came away; between
Palmerston, Frederick Lamb, and Melbourne she knows everything,
and is a furious anti-Reformer. The upshot of the matter is this:
the question about the Peers is still under discussion; Lord Grey
and the ultra party want to make a dozen, _now_, the others want
only to yield five or six. Lord Grey wrote to Palmerston saying
the King had received his proposition (about the Peers) very
well, but desired to have his reasons in writing, and to-day at
twelve there was to be another Cabinet on the subject, in order
probably that the 'reasons' might go down by the post. The
moderate party in the Cabinet consists of Lansdowne, Richmond,
Palmerston, Melbourne, and Stanley. Palmerston and Melbourne,
particularly the latter, are now heartily ashamed of the part
they have taken about Reform. They detest and abhor the whole
thing, and they find themselves unable to cope with the violent
party, and consequently implicated in a continued series of
measures which they disapprove; and they do not know what to do,
whether to stay in and fight this unequal battle or resign. I
told her that nothing could justify their conduct, and their
excuses were good for nothing; but that there was no use in
resigning now. They might still do some good in the Cabinet; they
could do none out of it. In fact, Durham and the most violent
members of the Cabinet would gladly drive Palmerston and
Melbourne to resign if they could keep Stanley, who is alone of
importance of that squad; but he is of such weight, from his
position in the House of Commons, that if he can be prevailed
upon to be staunch, and to hold out with the moderates against
the ultras, the former will probably prevail. Durham wants to be
Minister for Foreign Affairs, and would plague Lord Grey till he
gave him the seals, unless his other colleagues put a veto upon
the appointment. But the anxiety of the Reformers to make Peers
has not reference to the Reform Bill alone; they undoubtedly look
further, and knowing their own weakness in the House of Lords,
they want to secure a permanent force, which may make them
stronger than their antagonists in that House. Otherwise they
would not be so averse to all questions of conciliation, express
their disbelief in conversions, and trumpet forth their
conviction that any individual of the late majority will vote
just the same way again. The earnest desire of the moderate party
in the Cabinet is that those who will vote for the second reading
shall make haste to declare their intention, and I have written
to Lady Harrowby to endeavour to get Lord Harrowby to take some
such step. I had already written to De Ros, urging him to speak
to Wharncliffe, and get him to take an opportunity of giving the
King to understand that the necessity for a creation of Peers is
by no means so urgent as his Ministers would have him believe.


Panshanger, January 13th, 1832 {p.231}

Returned here yesterday; found Melbourne, Lamb, the Lievens, the
Haddingtons, Luttrell, the Ashleys, John Ashley, and Irby. While
I was at Gorhambury I determined to write to Wharncliffe and urge
him to speak to the King, and accordingly I did so. I received a
letter from him saying that De Ros had already spoken to him,
that he had had a conversation with Sir Herbert Taylor, which he
had desired him to repeat to the King and to Lord Grey, that he
had intended to leave the matter there, but in consequence of my
letter he should ask for an audience. This morning I have heard
again from him. He saw the King, and was with him an hour; put
his Majesty in possession of his sentiments, and told him there
would be no necessity for creating Peers if the Government would
be conciliatory and moderate in the Committee of the House of
Commons; he promised to tell me the particulars of this interview
when we meet.

Last night Frederick Lamb told me that Lord Grey had sent word to
Melbourne of what Wharncliffe had said to Sir Herbert Taylor, and
Lord Grey assumed the tenour of Wharncliffe's language to have
been merely an advice to the King not to make Peers, whereas all
I suggested to him was to explain to the King that the creation
was not necessary for the reasons which have been assigned to his
Majesty by his Ministers, viz., the intention of all who voted
against the second reading last year to vote against it this. In
the meantime the dispute has been going on in the Cabinet, time
has been gained, and several incidents have made a sort of
cumulative impression. There is a petition to the King, got up by
Lord Verulam and Lord Salisbury, which is in fact a moderate
Reform manifesto. It has been numerously signed, and Verulam is
going to Brighton to present it. I have been labouring to
persuade him to make up his mind to vote for the second reading,
and to tell the King that such is his intention, which he has
promised me he will. When I had obtained this promise from him I
wrote word to Lady Cowper, telling her at the same time that Lord
Harris (I had heard) would vote for the second reading, and this
letter she imparted to Melbourne, who stated the fact in the
Cabinet, where it made a considerable impression. All such
circumstances serve to supply arms to the moderate party.

This morning Melbourne went up to another Cabinet, armed with
another fact with which I supplied him. Lord Craven declared at
his own table that if the Government made Peers _he would not vote
with them_, and if he was sent for he should reply that as they
could create Peers so easily they might do without him. All such
circumstances as these, I find, are considered of great
importance, and are made available for the purpose of fighting the
battle in the Cabinet. As to Lord Grey, it is exceedingly
difficult to understand his real sentiments, and to reconcile his
present conduct with the general tenour of his former professions;
that he _was_ averse to the adoption of so violent a measure I
have no doubt--his pride and aristocratic principles would
naturally make him so--but he is easily governed, constantly
yielding to violence and intimidation, and it is not unlikely that
the pertinacity of those about him, the interests of his party,
and the prolongation of his power may induce him to sacrifice his
natural feelings and opinions. It is very probable that, although
he may have allowed himself to be at the head of those who are for
the creation, he may have such misgivings and scruples as may
prevent his carrying that point with the high hand and in the
summary way which he might do.


January 15th, 1832 {p.232}

This morning Frederick Lamb showed me a letter he had got from
Melbourne to this effect: 'that they had resolved to make no
Peers at all at present; that to make a few would be regarded as
a menace, and be as bad as if they made a great many; but that as
many as would be necessary to carry the Bill would be made, if it
was eventually found that it must be so;' he added 'it only
remained for people to come forward and declare their intention
of supporting the second reading.' This is certainly a great
victory, and I do believe mainly attributable to our exertions,
to the spirit we have infused into Melbourne himself, and the use
we have made of Wharncliffe and Verulam, and the different little
circumstances we have brought to bear upon the discussion. What
now remains is the most difficult, but I shall do all I can to
engage Peers to take a moderate determination and to declare it.
Lamb told me that the King has an aversion to making _a few_
Peers, that he has said he would rather make twenty-five than
five, that whatever he must make he should like to make at once,
and not to have to return to it. Anyhow, time is gained, and a
victory for the moment.


London, January 20th, 1832 {p.233}

[Page Head: WHARNCLIFFE'S INTERVIEW WITH THE KING.]

Came up on Monday last. I have been changing my house, and so
occupied that I have not had time to write. Wharncliffe came to
town on Wednesday, and came straight to my office to give me an
account of his interview with the King, in which it appears as if
he had said much about what he ought, and no more. He told his
Majesty that the reports which had been circulated as to the
disposition and intentions of himself and his friends, and the
argument for the necessity of making Peers, which he understood
to have been founded on these reports, had compelled him to ask
for this audience, that he wished to explain to his Majesty that
he (Lord Wharncliffe) had no intention of opposing the second
reading of the Reform Bill as he had done before, that he had
reason to believe that many others would adopt the same course,
and if Ministers showed a moderate and conciliating disposition
in the House of Commons, he was persuaded they would have no
difficulty in carrying the second reading in the House of Lords.
He then implored the King well to consider the consequences of
such a _coup d'état_ as this creation of Peers would be; to look
at what had happened in France, and to bear in mind that if this
was done for one purpose, and by one Government, the necessity
would infallibly arise of repeating it again by others, or for
other objects. He was with the King an hour dilating upon this
theme. The King was extremely kind, heard him with great
patience, and paid him many compliments, and when he took leave
told him that he was extremely glad to have had this conversation
with him. Sir Herbert Taylor gave Lord Wharncliffe to understand
that he had made an impression, only impressions on the mind of
the King are impressions on sand. However, from Taylor's cautious
hints to him to persevere, it is likely that he did do good. He
is himself persuaded that his audience principally produced the
delay in the creation of Peers.

In the meantime he was not idle at Brighton. Lord Ailesbury, who
saw the King, consulted Wharncliffe, and agreed at last to tell
the King that his sentiments were the same as those which Lord
Wharncliffe had expressed to him, and Lord Kinnoull and Lord Gage
have promised him their proxies.

[Page Head: THE WAVERERS AND WELLINGTON.]

Yesterday morning he came to me again, very desponding. He had
found Harrowby in a state of despair, uncertain what he should
do, and looking upon the game as lost, and he had been with the
Duke of Wellington, who was impracticably obstinate, declaring
that nothing should prevent his opposing a Bill which he believed
in his conscience to be pregnant with certain ruin to the
country; that he did not care to be a great man (he meant by this
expression a man of great wealth and station), and that he could
contentedly sink into any station that circumstances might let
him down to, but he never would consent to be a party directly or
indirectly to such a measure as this, and, feeling as he did, he
was resolved to do his utmost to throw it out, without regard to
consequences. Wharncliffe said he was quite in despair, for that
he knew the Duke's great influence, and that if he and Harrowby
endeavoured to form a party against his views, they had no chance
of making one sufficiently strong to cope with him. He spoke with
great and rather unusual modesty of himself, and of his
inadequacy for this purpose; that Harrowby might do more, and
would have greater influence, but that he was so undecided and so
without heart and spirit that he would not bestir himself.
However, he acknowledged that nothing else was left to be done.

In the evening went to Lady Harrowby's, where I found him and
Lord Haddington. We stayed there till near two, after which
Wharncliffe and I walked up and down Berkeley Square. He was in
much better spirits, having had a long conversation with these
two Lords, both of whom he said were now resolved to sail along
with him, and he contemplates a regular and declared separation
from the Duke _upon this question_. In the morning he had seen
Lyndhurst, who appeared very undecided, and (Wharncliffe was
apprehensive) rather leaning towards the Duke, but I endeavoured
to persuade him that Lyndhurst was quite sure to adopt upon
consideration the line which appeared most conducive to his own
interest and importance, that he had always a hankering after
being well with Lord Grey and the Whigs, and I well remembered
when the late Government was broken up he had expressed himself
in very unmeasured terms about the Duke's blunders, and the
impossibility of his ever again being Prime Minister; that with
him consistency, character, and high feelings of honour and
patriotism were secondary considerations; that he relied upon his
great talents and his capacity to render himself necessary to an
Administration; that it was not probable he would like to throw
himself (even to please the Duke) into an opposition to the
earnest desire which the great mass of the community felt to have
the question settled; and that both for him and themselves much
of the difficulty of separating themselves from the Duke might be
avoided by the manner in which it was done. I entreated him to
use towards the Duke every sort of frankness and candour, and to
express regret at the necessity of taking a different line,
together with an acknowledgment of the purity of the Duke's
motives; and if this is done, and if other people are made to
understand that they can separate from the Duke _on this
occasion_ without offending or quarrelling with him, or throwing
off the allegiance to him as their political leader, many will be
inclined to do so; besides, it is of vital importance, if they do
get the Bill into Committee, to secure the concurrence of the
Duke and his adherents in dealing with the details of it, which
can only be effected by keeping him in good humour. On the whole
the thing looks as well as such a thing can look.




                          CHAPTER XVII.

Measures for carrying the Second Reading of the Reform Bill in
  the House of Lords--The Party of the Waverers--The Russo-Dutch
  Loan--Resistance of the Tory Peers--Lord Melbourne's Views on
  the Government--Macaulay at Holland House--Reluctance of the
  Government to create Peers--Duke of Wellington intractable--
  Peel's Despondency--Lord Grey on the Measures of Conciliation--
  Lord Wharncliffe sees the King--Prospects of the Waverers--
  Conversations with Lord Melbourne and Lord Palmerston--Duke of
  Richmond on the Creation of Peers--Interview of Lord Grey with
  the Waverers--Minute drawn up--Bethnal Green--The Archbishop of
  Canterbury vacillates--Violence of Extreme Parties--Princess
  Lieven's Journal--Lord Holland for making Peers--Irish National
  Education--Seizure of Ancona--Reform Bill passes the House of
  Commons--Lord Dudley's Madness--Debate in the Lords.


January 24th, 1832 {p.237}

Yesterday morning Frederick Lamb came to me and told me that the
question of the Peers was again in agitation, that the King had
agreed to make as many as they pleased, and had understood
Wharncliffe's conversation with his Majesty not to have contained
any distinct assurance that he would vote for the second reading
of the Bill. Our party in the Cabinet still fight the battle,
however, and Stanley (on whom all depends) is said to be firm,
but circumstances may compel them to give way, and Lord Grey (who
is suspected to have in his heart many misgivings as to this
measure), when left to Durham and Co., yields everything. Under
these circumstances I went to Wharncliffe last night, to persuade
him to declare his intentions without loss of time. He owned that
he had not _pledged_ himself to the King, and he was frightened
to death at the idea of taking this step, lest it should give
umbrage to the Tories, and he should find himself without any
support at all. We went, however, together to Grosvenor Square,
and had a long conference with Harrowby, whom I found equally
undecided.

[Page Head: PLANS OF CONCILIATION.]

In the meantime the Tories are full of activity and expectation,
and Lord Aberdeen is going to bring on a motion about Belgium on
Thursday, on which they expect to beat the Government, not
comprehending that a greater evil could not occur, or a better
excuse be afforded them for an immediate creation; still they have
got it into their heads that if they can beat the Government
_before_ the Reform Bill comes on they will force them to resign.
I found Harrowby and Wharncliffe equally undecided as to the
course they should adopt, the former clinging to the hope that the
Peerage question was at last suspended, that Lord Grey was
compunctious, the King reluctant, and so forth--Wharncliffe afraid
of being abandoned by those who are now disposed to consult and
act with him, and indisposed to commit himself irretrievably in
the House of Lords. After a long discussion I succeeded in
persuading them that the danger is imminent, that there is no
other chance of avoiding it, and they agreed to hoist their
standard, get what followers they can, and declare in the House
for the second reading without loss of time. Harrowby said of
himself that he was the worst person in the world to conciliate
and be civil, which is true enough, but he has a high reputation,
and his opinion is of immense value. Until they declare themselves
not a step will be made, and if they cannot gain adherents, why
the matter is at an end; while if their example be followed, there
is still a chance of averting the climax of all evils, the
swamping the House of Lords and the permanent establishment of the
power of the present Government. Wharncliffe is to go to the Duke
of Wellington to-day, to entreat him not to let his party divide
on Aberdeen's motion on Thursday, and Harrowby will go to the
Archbishop to invite his adhesion to their party. I am very
doubtful what success to augur from this, but it is the only
chance, and though the bulk of the Tory Peers are prejudiced,
obstinate, and stupid to the last degree, there are scattered
amongst them men of more rational views and more moderate
dispositions. Sandon came in while we were there, and expressed
precisely the same opinion that I had been endeavouring to enforce
upon them. He said that in the House of Commons, whence he was
just come, the Government had refused to give way upon a very
reasonable objection, without assigning any reason (the numbers in
Schedule B), that this evinced an unconciliatory spirit, which was
very distressing to those who wished for a compromise, that
Hobhouse came to him after the debate, and said how anxious he was
they should come to some understanding, and act in a greater
spirit of conciliation, and talked of a meeting of the moderate on
either side, that his constituents were eager for a settlement,
and by no means averse to concession, but that while Peel, Croker,
and others persisted in the tone they had adopted, and in the sort
of opposition they were pursuing, it was quite impossible for the
Government to give way upon anything, or evince any disposition to
make concessions. Sandon said he had no doubt whatever that if
Peel had assumed a different tone at the beginning of the session
the Government would have been more moderate, and mutual
concessions might have been feasible even in the House of Commons.
Hobhouse, however, said that the alterations, whatever they might
be (and he owned that he should like some), would come with a
better grace in the House of Lords, and this is what I have all
along thought. O'Connell arrived yesterday, took his seat, and
announced his intention of supporting Government at any rate. All
the Irish members do the same, and this great body, that everyone
expected would display hostility to the Bill, have formed
themselves into a phalanx, and will carry it through any
difficulties by their compactness and the regularity of their
attendance.


January 25th, 1832 {p.239}

We met at Lord Harrowby's last night--Wharncliffe, Harrowby,
Haddington, and Sandon--and I found their minds were quite made
up. Wharncliffe is to present a petition from Hull, and to take
that opportunity of making his declaration, and the other two are
to support him. Wharncliffe saw the Bishop of London in the
morning, who is decided the same way, and he asked Lord Devon,
who knows the House of Lords very well, if he thought, in the
event of their raising the standard of moderate Reform, that they
would have adherents, to which he replied he was convinced they
would. Lord Harrowby saw the Archbishop, who would not pledge
himself, but appeared well disposed; and altogether they think
they can count upon nine bishops. Wharncliffe spoke to the Duke
of Wellington about Lord Aberdeen's motion, and represented all
the impolicy of it at this moment, and the connection it might
have with the Peerage question; to which he only replied by
enlarging on 'the importance of the Belgic question,' either
unable or unwilling to embrace this measure in its complex
relations, and never perceiving that the country cares not a
straw about Belgium or anything but Reform, though they may begin
to care about such things when this question is settled.
Haddington also went to Aberdeen, who would hear nothing; but he
and the Duke severally promised to speak to one another. The
question last night was whether Wharncliffe should say his say
directly, or wait (as he wishes to do) for a few days. The
decision of this he referred to me, and I have referred it to
Melbourne, to whom I have communicated what has passed.

News came yesterday that the cholera had got within three miles
of Edinburgh, and to show the fallacy of any theory about it, and
the inutility of the prescribed precautions, at one place
(Newport, I think) one person in five of the whole population was
attacked, though there was no lack of diet, warmth, and clothing
for the poor. This disease escapes from all speculation, so
partial and eccentric is its character.


January 29th, 1832 {p.240}

[Page Head: DISCREDIT OF MINISTERS.]

There were two divisions on Thursday night last--in the House of
Lords on the Belgian question, and in the House of Commons on the
Russian Loan. Harrowby, Wharncliffe, and Haddington stayed away;
Lyndhurst voted. Only two bishops, Durham and Killaloe. Ministers
had a majority of thirty-seven, for Aberdeen and the Duke
persisted in bringing on the question and dividing upon it. The
former spoke nearly three hours, and far better than ever he had
done before; the Duke was prosy. In the other House the
Government had not a shadow of a case; their law officers, Home
and Denman, displayed an ignorance and stupidity which were quite
ludicrous, and nothing saved them from defeat but a good speech
at the end from Palmerston, and their remonstrances to their
friends that unless they carried it they must resign. Not a soul
defends them, and they are particularly blamed for their folly in
not coming to Parliament at once, by which they might have
avoided the scrape.[1] They had only a majority of twenty-four.
They were equally disgusted with both these divisions, both
plainly showing that they have little power (independently of the
Reform question) in either House. To be sure the case in the
House of Commons was a wretched one, but in the House of Lords
there was nothing to justify a vote of censure on Government, to
which Aberdeen's motion was tantamount. But while they had a
majority which was respectable enough to make it impossible to
propose making Peers on _that account_, it was so small that they
see clearly what they have to expect hereafter from such a House
of Lords, and accordingly their adherents have thrown off the
mask. Sefton called on me the day after, and said it was
ridiculous to go on in this way, that the Tories had had
possession of the Government so many years, and the power of
making so many Peers, that no Whig or other Ministry could stand
without a fresh creation to redress the balance.

      [1] [For a more particular account of the question of the
          Russo-Dutch Loan, see _infra_ [February 4, 1832], p.
          244. It has since been universally admitted that the
          conduct of the Government was wise and honourable, and
          that the separation of Holland and Belgium did not
          exonerate Great Britain from a financial engagement to
          foreign Powers.]

After having, as I supposed, settled everything with Wharncliffe
about his declaration, I got a letter from him yesterday (from
Brighton), saying he thought it would be premature, and wished to
put it off till the first reading of the Bill in the House of
Lords. I took his letter to Melbourne, and told him I was all
against the delay. He said it was no doubt desirable they should
get as many adherents as they can, and if the delay would enable
them to do so it might be better, but they must not imagine
Government was satisfied with the division in the House of Lords.
However, the question of Peers seems not to be under discussion
at this moment, though it is perpetually revived. In the evening
I went to Harrowby's and showed him Wharncliffe's letter. He
concurred in the expediency of delay, but without convincing me.
He showed me a letter, and a very good one, he has written to
Lord Talbot, explaining his views, and inviting his concurrence,
and of this he has sent copies to other Peers, whom he thinks it
possible he may influence. The question of time and manner is to
be reserved for future discussion.


February 2nd, 1832 {p.242}

[Page Head: SIR HENRY PARNELL.]

Met Frederick Lamb at dinner to talk over the state of affairs
before he goes to Vienna. What he wishes for is the expulsion of
this Government, and the formation of a moderate one taken from
all parties. Received another letter from Wharncliffe yesterday,
in which he stated that he had communicated to the Duke of
Wellington his intention of supporting the second reading, and
asked if the Duke would support his amendments in Committee. In
the meantime I wrote to Harrowby, begging he would communicate
with Lord Carnarvon and the Duke of Buckingham. They keep
doubting and fearing about who will or will not join them, but do
not stir a step. George Bentinck told me that Lord Holland said
to the Duke of Richmond the other day 'that he had heard a
declaration was in agitation; that nothing could be more
unfortunate at this moment, as it would make it very difficult to
create fifty Peers.' In the meantime a difficulty is likely to
arise from another source, and the Government to derive strength
from their very weakness. Robert Clive (who is a moderate Tory)
called on me the other day, and when (after expressing his
anxiety that the question should be settled) I asked him whether
such a declaration would meet with much success, said he thought
that it would have done so a fortnight ago, but that the extreme
discredit into which Ministers were fallen would now operate as a
reason against supporting them in any stage of the business, and
offered so good a chance of expelling them altogether that people
would be anxious to try it. Still it must be so obvious that it
would be next to impossible to make a Government now, that it is
to be hoped all but the most violent will feel it. Herries indeed
told somebody that he had no doubt the Tories could make a
Government, and that on a dissolution they would get a Parliament
that would support them. Parnell[2] has been turned out for not
voting on the Russian Loan affair, and Hobhouse appointed in his
place. Tennyson resigned from ill health. Parnell was properly
enough turned out, and he is a good riddance, but it is not the
same thing as turning people out on Reform. He wrote an excellent
book on finance, but he was a very bad Secretary at War, a rash
economical innovator, and a bad man of business in its details.
After waiting till the last moment for the arrival of the Russian
ratification, the French and English signed the Belgian treaty
alone, and the others are to sign after as their powers arrive.

      [2] [Sir Henry Parnell had been appointed Secretary at War
          on the formation of Lord Grey's Ministry. He had
          exasperated his colleagues by entering upon an
          unauthorised negotiation with the French Post Office,
          without the knowledge of the Duke of Richmond, then
          Postmaster-General, and by encouraging Joseph Hume to
          bring on a motion against the Post Office. Hume brought
          this letter to the Duke of Richmond, who was indignant
          and laid the whole matter before Lord Grey, who behaved
          very well about it. Parnell narrowly escaped dismissal
          at that time, and on his next sign of disaffection to
          the Government he was turned out of office.]


February 4th, 1832 {p.243}

Called on Lord Harrowby in the morning; found him in very bad
spirits, as well he might, for to all the invitations he had
written to Peers he had received either refusals or no reply, so
that he augurs ill of their attempt. Carnarvon and Talbot refused;
these besotted, predestinated Tories _will_ follow the Duke; the
Duke _will_ oppose all Reform because he said he would. Those who
are inclined will not avow their conversion to moderate
principles, and so they will go on, waiting and staring at one
another, till one fine day the Peers will come out in the
'Gazette.' The thing looks ill. Dined with Lord Holland.
Melbourne, who was there, asked me if I had heard from Wharncliffe,
but I did not tell him of Lord Harrowby's refusals.

Falck dined there, and in conversation about the Russian Loan he
told us the original history of it. The Emperor of Russia had
borrowed ninety millions of florins, and when his concurrence and
support were desired to the new kingdom of the Netherlands he
proposed in return that the King of Holland should take this debt
off his hands. The King said he would gladly meet his wishes, but
could not begin by making himself unpopular with his new subjects
and saddling them with this debt. Whereupon England interposed,
and an arrangement was made [in 1815] by which Russia, England,
and the King of the Netherlands divided the debt into three equal
shares, each taking one. With reference to the argument that the
countries being divided we ought no longer to pay our share,
Falck said the King of the Netherlands had not refused to pay on
those grounds, that he had only (with reference to his heavy
expenses) expressed his present inability and asked for time,
which the Emperor of Russia had agreed to. What he meant was that
the kingdoms were not as yet _de jure_ separated, and that the
_casus_ had not yet arrived. This, however, is nothing to the
purpose, for the King and the Emperor understand one another very
well, and it is not likely that the King should do anything to
supply us with a motive or a pretext for refusing our _quota_ to
his imperial ally. Brougham's speech on the Russian Loan
everybody agrees to have been super-excellent--'a continued
syllogism from the beginning to the end.' Lord Holland said, and
the Duke of Wellington (I am told) declared, it was the best
speech he had ever heard.


February 5th, 1832 {p.245}

Met Melbourne yesterday evening, and turned back and walked with
him; talked over the state of affairs. He said Government were
very much annoyed at their division in the House of Commons,
though Brougham had in some measure repaired that disaster in the
House of Lords; that it became more difficult to resist making
Peers as Government exhibited greater weakness. I told him the
Tories were so unmanageable because they wished to drive out the
Government, and thought they could. Dined at the Sheriff's
dinner--not unpleasant--and went in the evening to Lady Harrowby;
Lord Harrowby gone to his brothers'. Melbourne had told me that
he had spoken to Haddington, and I found Haddington had given a
report of what he said such as I am sure Melbourne did not mean
to convey; the upshot of which was that there was only one man in
the Cabinet who wished to make Peers, that there was no immediate
danger, and that it would do more harm than good if they declared
themselves without a good number of adherents. Called this
morning on Lady C., who said that Melbourne was in fact very much
annoyed at his position, wanted _caractère_, was wretched at
having been led so far, and tossed backwards and forwards between
opposite sentiments and feelings; that he thought the Government
very weak, and that they would not stand, and in fact that he did
not desire they should remain in, but the contrary. And this is
Frederick's opinion too, who has great influence over him, while
at the same time he is rather jealous of Frederick.


February 6th, 1832 {p.245}

[Page Head: MACAULAY AT HOLLAND HOUSE.]

Dined yesterday with Lord Holland; came very late, and found a
vacant place between Sir George Robinson and a common-looking man
in black. As soon as I had time to look at my neighbour, I began
to speculate (as one usually does) as to who he might be, and as
he did not for some time open his lips except to eat, I settled
that he was some obscure man of letters or of medicine, perhaps a
cholera doctor. In a short time the conversation turned upon early
and late education, and Lord Holland said he had always remarked
that self-educated men were peculiarly conceited and arrogant, and
apt to look down upon the generality of mankind, from their being
ignorant of how much other people knew; not having been at public
schools, they are uninformed of the course of general education.
My neighbour observed that he thought the most remarkable example
of self-education was that of Alfieri, who had reached the age of
thirty without having acquired any accomplishment save that of
driving, and who was so ignorant of his own language that he had
to learn it like a child, beginning with elementary books. Lord
Holland quoted Julius Cæsar and Scaliger as examples of late
education, said that the latter had been wounded, and that he had
been married and commenced learning Greek the same day, when my
neighbour remarked 'that he supposed his learning Greek was not an
instantaneous act like his marriage.' This remark, and the manner
of it, gave me the notion that he was a dull fellow, for it came
out in a way which bordered on the ridiculous, so as to excite
something like a sneer. I was a little surprised to hear him
continue the thread of conversation (from Scaliger's wound) and
talk of Loyola having been wounded at Pampeluna. I wondered how he
happened to know anything about Loyola's wound. Having thus
settled my opinion, I went on eating my dinner, when Auckland, who
was sitting opposite to me, addressed my neighbour, 'Mr. Macaulay,
will you drink a glass of wine?' I thought I should have dropped
off my chair. It was MACAULAY, the man I had been so long most
curious to see and to hear, whose genius, eloquence, astonishing
knowledge, and diversified talents have excited my wonder and
admiration for such a length of time, and here I had been sitting
next to him, hearing him talk, and setting him down for a dull
fellow. I felt as if he could have read my thoughts, and the
perspiration burst from every pore of my face, and yet it was
impossible not to be amused at the idea. It was not till Macaulay
stood up that I was aware of all the vulgarity and ungainliness of
his appearance; not a ray of intellect beams from his countenance;
a lump of more ordinary clay never enclosed a powerful mind and
lively imagination. He had a cold and sore throat, the latter of
which occasioned a constant contraction of the muscles of the
thorax, making him appear as if in momentary danger of a fit. His
manner struck me as not pleasing, but it was not assuming,
unembarrassed, yet not easy, unpolished, yet not coarse; there was
no kind of usurpation of the conversation, no tenacity as to
opinion or facts, no assumption of superiority, but the variety
and extent of his information were soon apparent, for whatever
subject was touched upon he evinced the utmost familiarity with
it; quotation, illustration, anecdote, seemed ready in his hands
for every topic. Primogeniture in this country, in others, and
particularly in ancient Rome, was the principal topic, I think,
but Macaulay was not certain what was the law of Rome, except that
when a man died intestate his estate was divided between his
children. After dinner Talleyrand, and Madame de Dino came in. He
was introduced to Talleyrand, who told him that he meant to go to
the House of Commons on Tuesday, and that he hoped he would speak,
'qu'il avait entendu tous les grands orateurs, et il désirait à
présent entendre Monsieur Macaulay.'


February 7th, 1832 {p.247}

[Page Head: RELUCTANCE TO MAKE PEERS.]

Called on Melbourne. He said he had not meant Haddington to
understand that it was desirable the declaration should be
delayed; on the contrary, that it was desirable Ministers should
be informed as speedily as possible of the intentions of our
friends and of the force they can command, but that if only a few
declared themselves, they would certainly be liable to the
suspicion that they could not get adherents; he added that every
man in the Government (except one) was aware of the desperate
nature of the step they were about to take (that man of course
being Durham.) I told him that his communication to Haddington
had to a certain degree had the effect of paralysing my
exertions, and he owned it was imprudent. I was, however,
extremely surprised to hear what he said about the Cabinet, and I
asked him if it really was so, and that all the members of it
were _bonâ fide_ alarmed at, and averse to, the measure; that I
had always believed that, with the exception of those who were
intimate with him, they all wanted the pretext in order to
establish their power. He said no, they really all were conscious
of the violence of the measure, and desirous of avoiding it; that
Lord Grey had been so from the beginning, but that Durham was
always at him, and made him fall into his violent designs; that
it was 'a reign of terror,' but that Durham could do with him
what he pleased. What a picture of secret degradation and
imbecility in the towering and apparently haughty Lord Grey! I
told Melbourne that it was important to gain time, that there was
an appearance of a thaw among the 199, but that most of them were
in the country; communications by letter were difficult and
unsatisfactory; that many were averse to breaking up the party or
leaving the Duke--in short, from one cause or another doubtful
and wavering; that it was not to be expected they should at a
moment's warning take this new line, in opposition to the
opinions and conduct of their old leaders, and that when Lord
Harrowby was exerting himself indefatigably to bring them to
reason, and to render a measure unnecessary which in the opinion
of the Cabinet itself was fraught with evil, it was fair and just
to give him time to operate. He said this was very true, but that
time was likewise required to execute the measure of a creation
of Peers, that people must be invited, the patents made out, &c.
We then parted. Downstairs was Rothschild the Jew waiting for
him, and the _valet de chambre_ sweeping away a _bonnet_ and a
_shawl_.

On my way from Melbourne called on Lord Harrowby, and read a
variety of letters--answers from different Peers to his letters,
Wharncliffe's correspondence with the Duke of Wellington, and
Peel's answer to Lord Harrowby. Wharncliffe wrote a long and very
conciliatory letter to the Duke, nearly to the effect of Lord
Harrowby's circular, and containing the same arguments, to which
the Duke replied by a long letter, written evidently in a very
ill humour, and such a galimatias as I never read, angry, ill
expressed, and confused, and from which it was difficult to
extract anything intelligible but this, 'that he was aware of the
consequences of the course he should adopt himself,' and wished
the House of Lords to adopt, viz., the same as last year, but
that be those consequences what they might, the responsibility
would not lie on his shoulders, but on those of the Government;
he acknowledged that a creation of Peers would swamp the House of
Lords, and, by so doing, destroy the Constitution, but the
Government would be responsible, not he, for the ruin that would
ensue; that he was aware some Reform was necessary (in so far
departing from his former declaration of the 30th of November),
but he would neither propose anything himself, nor take this
measure, nor try and amend it.' In short, he will do nothing but
talk nonsense, despair, and be obstinate, and then he is hampered
by declarations (from which he now sees himself that he must
dissent), and obliged from causes connected with the Catholic
question and the Test and Corporation Acts to attend more to the
consistency of his own character than to the exigencies of the
country, but with much more personal authority than anybody, and
still blindly obeyed and followed by men many of whom take very
rational and dispassionate views of the subject, but who still
are resolved to sacrifice their own sense to his folly. He really
has accomplished being a prophet in his own country, not from the
sagacity of his predictions, but from the blind worship of his
devotees.

[Page Head: PEEL'S DESPONDENCY.]

Peel's letter, though arriving at the same conclusion, was in a
very different style. It certainly was an able production, well
expressed and plausibly argued, with temper and moderation. He
owned that much was to be said on the side of the question which
he does not espouse, but the reasons by which he says he is
mainly governed are these: that it is of vital importance to
preserve the consistency of the party to which we are to look for
future safety, and that when this excitement has passed away the
conduct of the anti-Reformers will have justice done to it. But
there is a contradiction which pervades his argument, for he
treats the subject as if all hope had vanished of saving the
country, 'desperat de republicâ,' and he does not promise himself
present advantage from the firmness and consistency of the
Tories, but taking it in connection with the folly and wickedness
of the other party (who he is persuaded bitterly regret their own
precipitate violence and folly), he expects it to prove
serviceable as an example and beacon to future generations. All
the evils that have been predicted may flow from this measure
when carried into complete operation, but it is neither
statesmanlike nor manly to throw up the game in despair, and
surrender every point, and waive every compensation, in order to
preserve the consistency of himself and his own party, not that
their consistency is to produce any advantage, but that hereafter
it

                May point a moral or adorn a tale.

So senseless is this, that it is clear to me that it is not his
real feeling, and that he promises himself some personal
advantage from the adoption of such a course. Peel 'loves'
himself, 'not wisely but too well.'


February 9th, 1832 {p.249}

[Page Head: CONVERSATION WITH LORD GREY.]

Yesterday I met Lord Grey and rode with him. I told him that the
Tories were pleased at his speech about the Irish Tithes. He said
'he did not know why, for he had not said what he did with a view
to please them.' I said because they looked upon it as an
intimation that the old Protestant ascendency was to be restored.
He rejected very indignantly that idea, and said he had never
contemplated any ascendency but that of the law and the
Government. I said I knew that, but that they had been so long
used to consider themselves as the sole representatives of the
law and the Government, that they took the assertion he had made
as a notification that their authority was again to be exercised
as in bygone times. He then asked me if I knew what Lord Harrowby
had done, said he had spoken to him, that he was placed in a
difficult position and did not know what to do. I said that
Harrowby was exerting himself, that time was required to bring
people round, that I had reason to believe Harrowby had made a
great impression, but that most of the Peers of that party were
out of town, and it was impossible to expect them on the receipt
of a letter of invitation and advice to reply by return of post
that they would abandon their leaders and their party, and change
their whole opinions and course of action, that I expected the
Archbishop and Bishop of London would go with him, and that they
would carry the bench. He said the Bishop of London he had
already talked to, that the Archbishop was such a poor, miserable
creature that there was no dependence to be placed on him, that
he would be frightened and vote any way his fear directed. Then
he asked, how many had they _sure_? I said, 'At this moment not
above eight Lords and eight bishops.' He said that was not
enough. I said I knew that, but he must have patience, and should
remember that when the Duke of Wellington brought the Catholic
Bill into the House of Commons he had a majority on paper against
him in the House of Lords of twenty-five, and he carried the Bill
by a hundred. He said he should like to talk to Harrowby again,
which I pressed him to do, and he said he would. I find Lord John
Russell sent for Sandon, and told him that he and the others were
really anxious to avoid making Peers, and entreated him to get
something done by his father and his associates as soon as
possible, that there was no time to be lost, that he should not
deny that he wished Peers to be made, not now, but after the
Reform Bill had passed. I called on Lord Harrowby in the
afternoon, and found him half dead with a headache and dreadfully
irritable. Letters had come (which he had not seen) from Lord
Bagot refusing, Lord Carteret ditto, and very impertinently, and
Lord Calthorpe adhering. I told him what had passed between Lord
Grey and me. He said their insolence had been hitherto so great
in refusing to listen to any terms (at the meeting of the six),
and in refusing every concession in the House of Commons and not
tolerating the slightest alteration, that he despaired of doing
anything with them, that Lord Grey had told him he could not
agree to make a sham resistance in Committee, but that he on the
other hand would not agree to go into Committee, except on an
express understanding that they should not avail themselves of
the probable disunion of the Tories to carry all the details of
their Bill. The difficulties are immense, but if Grey and
Harrowby get together, it is possible something may be done,
provided they will approach each other in a _spirit_ of
compromise. It is certainly easier now, and very different from
the House of Commons, where I have always thought they _could_
make no concession. In the House of Lords they may without
difficulty. I dread the obstinate of both parties.


February 11th, 1832 {p.251}

Wharncliffe came to town on Thursday and called on me. At Brighton
he had seen Sir Andrew Barnard, and showed him the correspondence
with the Duke of Wellington, telling him at the same time he might
mention it to Taylor if he liked, and if Taylor had any wish to
see it he should. Accordingly Taylor sent him word he should be
glad to have an interview with him. They met at Lord Wharncliffe's
house and had a long conversation, in the course of which Taylor
gave him to understand that it was quite true that the King had
consented to everything about the creation of Peers, but _multa
gemens_, and that he was much alarmed, and could not endure the
thought of this measure. The end was that a memorandum was drawn
up of the conversation, and of Wharncliffe's sentiments and
intentions, which were much the same as those he had put forth at
the time of the old negotiations. This was taken away by Taylor
and shown to the King, and copies of it were forwarded to Grey,
Brougham, and Melbourne. The next day Wharncliffe dined with the
King, and after dinner his Majesty took him aside and said, 'I
have seen your paper, and I agree with every word you say; we are
indeed in a scrape, and we must get out of it as we can. I only
wish everybody was as reasonable and as moderate as you, and then
we might do so perhaps without difficulty.' That the King is
alarmed is pretty clear, but it is more probable that his alarm
may influence his Ministers than himself, and it looks very much
as if it had done so. Sir H. Taylor likewise told Wharncliffe that
the Duke of Wellington had written a letter which had been laid
before the King, and had given him great offence, and that it
certainly was such a letter as was unbecoming in any subject to
write. This letter is supposed to have been addressed to
Strangford; it got into Londonderry's hands, and he laid it before
the King (upon the occasion of his going with some address to
Brighton), who desired it might be left with him till the next
day. The reason why they think it was Strangford is that the word
'Viscount' was apparent at the bottom, but the name was erased. In
the meantime Harrowby has had some conversation with Lord
Lansdowne, who pressed the necessity of making a demonstration of
their strength, and added that if the Archbishop could be induced
to declare himself that would be sufficient. Lord Harrowby is
accordingly working incessantly upon the Archbishop on the one
hand, while he exhorts to patience and reliance on the other.
Yesterday he took a high tone with Lord Lansdowne, told him that
he had, as he firmly believed, as many as twenty-five Lords, lay
and spiritual, with him, which would make a difference of fifty,
but that as to a public irrevocable pledge, it was not to be had,
and that Lord Grey must place confidence in his belief and
reliance upon his exertions, or, if not, he must take his own
course. Upon Lord Grey's meeting with him, and the Archbishop's
being brought to the post, the matter now hinges.

[Page Head: WELLINGTON AND WHARNCLIFFE.]

In the meantime I have discovered the cause of the Duke of
Wellington's peevish reply to Wharncliffe, and the reason why Lord
Harrowby's letter to Lord Bagot was unanswered for ten days, and
then couched in terms so different from what might have been
expected. Lord Howe was at Bliffield at the time, and they,
between them, sent Harrowby's letter up to the Duke of Wellington,
who of course wrote his sentiments in reply. For this they waited,
and on this Lord Bagot acted. My brother told me yesterday that
the Duke had seen the letter, and that _Lord Howe_ had been the
person who sent it him. This explains it all. Wharncliffe's letter
was but another version of Lord Harrowby's, and he had therefore
in fact seen it before, but seen it addressed to those whom he
considered bound to him and his views, and I have no doubt he was
both angry and jealous at Lord Harrowby's interference. Nothing
could be more uncandid and unjustifiable than Lord Bagot's
conduct, for he never asked Lord Harrowby's leave to communicate
the letter, nor told him that he had done so; on the contrary, he
gave him to understand that the delay (for which he made many
apologies) was owing to his reflection and his consulting his
brother the bishop. The Duke, no doubt, gave him his own
sentiments; yet, in his letter to Wharncliffe, he says 'he has not
endeavoured to influence anybody, nor shall he;' and at the same
time eludes the essential question 'whether he will support in
Committee.' So much for Tory candour. As to the Duke, he is
evidently piqued and provoked to the quick; his love of power and
authority are as great as ever, and he can't endure to see anybody
withdrawn from his influence; provoked with himself and with
everybody else, his mind is clouded by passion and prejudice, and
the consequences are the ill-humour he displays and the abominable
nonsense he writes, and yet the great mass of these Tories follow
the Duke, go where he will, let the consequences be what they may,
and without requiring even a reason; _sic vult sic jubet_ is
enough for them. One thing that gives me hopes is the change in
the language of the friends of Government out of doors--Dover, for
instance, who has been one of the noisiest of the bawlers for
Peers. I walked with him from the House of Lords the night before
last, and he talked only of the break-up of the 199, and of the
activity of Harrowby and Wharncliffe and its probable effects.


February 14th, 1832 {p.254}

On Saturday evening I found Melbourne at the Home Office in his
lazy, listening, silent humour, disposed to hear everything and to
say very little; told me that Dover and Sefton were continually
_at_ the Chancellor to make Peers, and that they both, particularly
the latter, had great influence with him. Brougham led by Dover
and Sefton!! I tried to impress upon him the necessity of giving
Harrowby credit, and not exacting what was not to be had, viz.,
the _pledges_ of the anti-Reformers to vote for the second
reading. He owned that in their case he would not pledge himself
either. I put before him as strongly as I could all the various
arguments for resisting this desperate measure of making Peers (to
which he was well inclined to assent), and pressed upon him the
importance of not exasperating the Tories and the Conservative
party to the last degree, and placing such an impassable barrier
between public men on both sides as should make it impossible for
them to reunite for their common interest and security hereafter.

[Page Head: CONVERSATION WITH LORD PALMERSTON.]

In the evening I got a message from Palmerston to beg I would
call on him, which I did at the Foreign Office yesterday. He is
infinitely more alert than Melbourne, and more satisfactory to
talk to, because he enters with more warmth and more detail into
the subject. He began by referring to the list of Peers likely to
vote for the second reading, which I showed to him. At the same
time I told him that though he might make use of the information
generally as far as expressing his own belief that Lord Harrowby
would have a sufficient following, he must not produce the list
or quote the names, for, in fact, not one of them had given any
authority to be so counted; that he must be aware there were
persons who would be glad to mar our projects, and they could not
more effectually do so than by conveying to these Peers the use
that had been made of their names. To all this he agreed
entirely. He then talked of the expediency of a declaration from
Lord Harrowby, and how desirable it was that it should be made
soon, and be supported by as many as could be induced to come
forward; that Lord Grey had said to him very lately that he
really believed he should be obliged to create Peers. I said that
my persuasion was that it would be quite unnecessary to do so _to
carry the second reading_; that nothing was required but
confidence in Lord Harrowby, and that his character and his
conduct on this occasion entitled him to expect it from them;
that if they were sincere in their desire to avoid this measure
they would trust to his exertions; that I knew very well the
efforts that were made to force this measure on Lord Grey; that
it was in furtherance of this that Duncombe's[3] ridiculous
affair in the House of Commons had been got up, which had been
such a complete failure; but that I could not believe Lord Grey
would suffer himself to be bullied into it by such despicable
means, and by the clamour of such men as Duncombe and O'Connell,
urged on by friends of his own. He said this was very true, but
the fact was they could not risk the rejection of the Bill again;
that he knew from a variety of communications that an explosion
would inevitably follow its being thrown out on the second
reading; that he had had letters from Scotland and other places,
and had no doubt that such would be the case. I said that he
would find it very difficult to persuade our friends of this, and
it appeared to me as clear as possible that the feeling for the
Bill and the excitement had subsided; that they might be to a
certain degree renewed by its rejection, but no man could doubt
that modifications in it, which would have been impossible a few
months ago, would now be easy; that if it was not for that
unfortunate declaration of Lord Grey, by which he might consider
himself bound, he might safely consent to such changes as would
make the adjustment of the question no difficult matter; that
with regard to the rejection of the Bill, whatever excitement it
might produce, it was evident the Government had an immediate
remedy; they had only to prorogue Parliament for a week and
make their Peers, and they would _then_ have an excellent
pretext--indeed, so good a one that it was inconceivable to me
that they should hesitate for a moment in adopting that course.
This he did not deny. I then told him of the several
conversations between Lord Harrowby and Lords Grey and Lansdowne,
and mine with Lord Grey; that Lord Harrowby protested against
Lord Grey's availing himself of any disunion among the Opposition
(produced by his support of the second reading) to carry those
points, to resist which would be the sole object of Lord Harrowby
in seceding from his party; and that Lord Grey had said he could
not make a sham resistance. Palmerston said, 'We have brought in
a Bill which we have made as good as we can; it is for you to
propose any alterations you wish to make in it, and if you can
beat us, well and good. There are indeed certain things which, if
carried against us, would be so fatal to the principle of the
Bill that Lord Grey would not consider it worth carrying if so
amended; but on other details he is ready to submit, if they
should be carried against him.' I said that would not do, that I
must refer him to the early negotiations and the disposition
which was then expressed to act upon a principle of mutual
concession; that when Lord Harrowby and his friends were
prepared to concede to its fullest extent the principle of
disfranchisement (though they might propose alterations in a few
particulars), they had a right to expect that the Government
should surrender without fighting some of those equivalents or
compensations which they should look for in the alterations or
additions they might propose. He said that 'while Lord Harrowby
was afraid that Ministers might avail themselves of his weakness
to carry their details, _they_ were afraid lest Lord Harrowby and
his friends should unite with the

ultra-Tories to beat them in Committee on some of the essential
clauses of the Bill.' I replied, then it was fear for fear, and
under the circumstances the best thing was an understanding that
each party should act towards the other in a spirit of good
faith, and without taking any accidental advantage that might
accrue either way. We then discussed the possibility of an
agreement upon the details, and he enquired what they would
require. I told him that they would require an alteration of
Schedule B to exclude the town voters from county representation,
perhaps to vary the franchise, and some other things, with regard
to which I could not speak positively at the moment. He said he
thought some alteration might be made in Schedule B, particularly
in giving all the towns double members, by cutting off the lower
ones that had one; that it was intended no man should have a vote
for town and county on the _same_ qualification, and he believed
there were very few who would possess the double right. That I
said would make it more easy to give up, and it was a thing the
others laid great stress upon. He seemed to think it might be
done. As to the £10, he said he had at first been disposed to
consider it too low, but he had changed his mind, and now doubted
if it would not turn out to be too high. We then talked of the
metropolitan members, to which I said undoubtedly they wished to
strike them off, but they knew very well the Government desired
it equally. We agreed that I should get from Lord Harrowby
specifically what he would require, and he would give me in
return what concessions the Government would probably be disposed
to make; that these should be communicated merely as the private
opinions of individuals, and not as formal proposals; and we
should try and blend them together into some feasible compromise.

      [3] Duncombe brought forward a petition from six men at
          Barnet complaining that they had been entrapped into
          signing Lord Verulam's and Lord Salisbury's address to
          the King. The object was to produce a discussion about
          the Peers. It totally failed, but it was got up with an
          openness that was indecent by Durham and that crew, who
          were all (Durham, Sefton, Mulgrave, Dover) under the
          gallery to hear it. The thing was ridiculed by Peel,
          fell flat upon the House, and excited disgust and
          contempt out of it.

I afterwards saw the Duke of Richmond, who said that Dover and
Sefton had both attacked him for being against making Peers, and
he should like to know how they knew it. I told him, from the
Chancellor, to be sure, and added how they were always working at
him and the influence they had with him. He said the Chancellor's
being for making Peers was not enough to carry the question; that
if it was done it must be by a minute of the Cabinet, with the
names of the dissentients appended to it; and then the King must
determine; that if the dissentients seceded upon it it would be
impossible. He recollected, when there was a question of making
Peers on the Catholic question by the Duke of Wellington, that he
and some others had resolved, should it have been done, to avail
themselves of the power of the House to come down day after day
and move adjournments before any of the new Peers could take
their seats; that the same course might be adopted now, though it
would produce a revolution. I told him that I had little doubt
there were men who would not scruple to adopt any course, however
violent, that the power of Parliament would admit of; that there
were several who were of opinion that the creation of Peers would
at once lay the Constitution prostrate and bring about a
revolution; that they considered it would be not a remote and
uncertain, but a sure and proximate event, and if by accelerating
it they could crush their opponents they would do so without
hesitation.

In the meantime the cholera has made its appearance in London, at
Rotherhithe, Limehouse, and in a ship off Greenwich--in all seven
cases. These are amongst the lowest and most wretched classes,
chiefly Irish, and a more lamentable exhibition of human misery
than that given by the medical men who called at the Council
Office yesterday I never heard. They are in the most abject state
of poverty, without beds to lie upon. The men live by casual
labour, are employed by the hour, and often get no more than four
or five hours' employment in the course of the week. They are
huddled and crowded together by families in the same room, not as
permanent lodgers, but procuring a temporary shelter; in short, in
the most abject state of physical privation and moral degradation
that can be imagined. On Saturday we had an account of one or more
cases. We sent instantly down to inspect the district and organise
a Board of Health. A meeting was convened, and promises given that
all things needful should be done, but as they met at a
public-house they all got drunk and did nothing. We have sent down
members of the Board of Health, to make preparations and organise
boards; but, if the disease really spreads, no human power can
arrest its progress through such an Augean stable.


February 14th, 1832 {p.259}

[Page Head: INTERVIEW OF LORD HARROWBY AND LORD GREY.]

Dined with Lord Harrowby, and communicated conversation with
Palmerston and Melbourne. He has not been able to decide the
Archbishop, who is on and off, and can't make up his mind. Lord
Harrowby is going to Lord Grey to talk with him. The Tories
obstinate as mules. The Duke of Buccleuch, who had got Harrowby's
letter, and copied it himself that he might know it by heart, has
made up his mind to vote the other way, as he did before; Lord
Wallace (after a long correspondence) the same. There can be
little doubt that they animate one another, and their cry is 'to
stick to the Duke of Wellington.' The cholera is established, and
yesterday formal communications were made to the Lord Mayor and
to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs that London was no
longer healthy.


February 17th, 1832 {p.259}

Wharncliffe came to town the night before last, it having been
settled that Harrowby was to go to Lord Grey yesterday morning.
After consultation we agreed he had better go alone, that it
would be less formal, and that Lord Grey would be more disposed
to open himself. The same evening, at Madame de Lieven's ball,
Melbourne and Palmerston both told me that Grey was in an
excellent disposition. However, yesterday morning Harrowby had
such a headache that he was not fit to go alone, so the two went.
Nothing could be more polite than Grey, and on the whole the
interview was satisfactory. Nothing was agreed upon, all left
_dans le vague_; but a disposition to mutual confidence was
evinced, and I should think it pretty safe that no Peers will be
made. Lord Grey told them that if they could relieve him from the
necessity of creating Peers he should be sincerely obliged to
them, showed them a letter from the King containing the most
unlimited power for the purpose, and said that, armed with that
authority, if the Bill could be passed in no other way, it must
be so. A minute was drawn up to this effect, of which Wharncliffe
showed me a copy last night.

'Lords Harrowby and Wharncliffe cannot give any names, or pledge
themselves to any particular persons or numbers who will support
their views, but they have no doubt in their own minds that there
will be, _in the event of no creation of Peers_, a sufficient
number to carry the second reading of the Bill. In voting
themselves for the second reading, their intention is to propose
such alterations in Committee as, in their opinion, can alone
render it a measure fit to be passed into law, and in the event of
their being unable to effect the changes they deem indispensable,
they reserve to themselves the power of opposing the Bill in its
subsequent stages. Lord Grey considers the great principles of the
Bill of such vital importance that he could not agree to any
alteration in them, but admits that a modification of its details
need not be fatal to it, reserving to himself, if any of its vital
principles should be touched, the power of taking such ulterior
measures as he may find necessary to ensure its success. Lords
Harrowby and Wharncliffe are prepared to make a declaration of
their sentiments and intentions in the House of Lords at a proper
time, that time to be a subject of consideration; and in the event
of their having reason to believe that their present expectations
are not likely to be fulfilled, they will feel bound to give Lord
Grey information thereof, in order that he may take such measures
as he may think right.'[4]

      [4] This is the substance, not a textual copy.

At present the principal difficulty promises to be the £10
clause. Lord Grey seemed to think this could not be altered.
Wharncliffe asked if it might not be modified, and so settled as
to secure its being a _bonâ fide_ £10 clause, from which Lord
Grey did not dissent, but answered rather vaguely.

In the meantime I think some progress is made in the work of
conversion. Harris has gone back, and Wilton, whom I always
doubted. I doubt anybody within the immediate sphere of the Duke,
but Wynford is well disposed, and the Archbishop has nearly given
in. His surrender would clinch the matter. I am inclined to think
we shall get through the second reading. Lord Grey was attacked
by Madame de Lieven the other day, who told him he was naturally
all that is right-minded and good, but was supposed to be
influenced against his own better judgment by those about him.
She also said something to the Duke of Wellington about Lord
Harrowby, to which he replied that Lord Harrowby 'était une
mauvaise tête!' Very amusing from him, but he is provoked to
death that anybody should venture to desert from him.

[Page Head: DISTRESS IN BETHNAL GREEN.]

The cholera has produced more alertness than alarm here; in fact,
at present it is a mere trifle--in three days twenty-eight
persons. Nothing like the disorders which rage unheeded every year
and every day among the lower orders. It is its name, its
suddenness, and its frightful symptoms that terrify. The
investigations, however, into the condition of the different
parishes have brought to light dreadful cases of poverty and
misery. A man came yesterday from Bethnal Green with an account of
that district. They are all weavers, forming a sort of separate
community; there they are born, there they live and labour, and
there they die. They neither migrate nor change their occupation;
they can do nothing else. They have increased in a ratio at
variance with any principles of population, having nearly tripled
in twenty years, from 22,000 to 62,000. They are for the most part
out of employment, and can get none; 1,100 are crammed into the
poor-house, five or six in a bed; 6,000 receive parochial relief.
The parish is in debt; every day adds to the number of paupers and
diminishes that of ratepayers. These are principally small
shopkeepers, who are beggared by the rates. The district is in a
complete state of insolvency and hopeless poverty, yet they
multiply, and while the people look squalid and dejected, as if
borne down by their wretchedness and destitution, the children
thrive and are healthy. Government is ready to interpose with
assistance, but what can Government do? We asked the man who came
what could be done for them. He said 'employment,' and employment
is impossible.


February 20th, 1832 {p.262}

Lord Grey was very much pleased with the result of his interview,
and expresses unbounded reliance on Lord Harrowby's honour. The
ultras, of course, will give him no credit, and don't believe he
can command votes enough; 'l'affaire marche, mais lentement,' and
the seceders (or those we hope will be so) will not declare
themselves positively. There is no prevailing upon them. The
Archbishop is with us one day, and then doubts, though I think we
shall have him at last. A good deal of conversation passed between
Grey and Harrowby, which the latter considers confidential and
won't repeat. It was about the details; the substance of the
minute he feels at liberty to communicate. By way of an episode,
news came last night of an insurrection of the slaves in Jamaica,
in which fifty-two plantations had been destroyed. It was speedily
suppressed by Willoughby Cotton, and the ringleaders were executed
by martial law.


February 23rd, 1832 {p.262}

[Page Head: LORD HARROWBY'S LETTER.]

At Court yesterday; long conversation with Melbourne, and in the
evening with Charles Wood and Richmond, who is more alarmed about
the Peers. Melbourne had got an idea that Lord Harrowby's letter,
which had been reported if not shown to the Government, had done
a great deal of harm, inasmuch as it set forth so strongly the
same arguments to the Tories to show them the danger of letting
Peers be made that Durham and Co. make use of as an argument for
the same. I promised to show it him, and replied that they could
not expect Lord Harrowby to do anything but employ the arguments
that are most likely to take effect with these people, but they
are not put in an offensive manner. Melbourne said that the King
is more reconciled to the measure, i.e. that they have got the
foolish, old man in town and can talk him over more readily. A
discussion last night about the propriety of making a declaration
to-day in the House of Lords, when the Duke of Rutland presents a
petition against Reform. The Archbishop will not decide; there is
no moving him. Curious that a Dr. Howley, the other day Canon of
Christ Church, a very ordinary man, should have in his hands the
virtual decision of one of the most momentous matters that ever
occupied public attention. There is no doubt that his decision
would decide the business so far. Up to this time certainly
Harrowby and Wharncliffe have no certainty of a sufficient number
for the second reading; but I think they will have enough at
last.


February 24th, 1832 {p.263}

Harrowby and Wharncliffe agreed, if the Duke of Rutland on
presenting his petition gave them a good opportunity, they would
speak. It was a very good one, for the petition turned out to be
one for a moderate Reform, more in their sense than in the Duke's
own; but the moment it was read Kenyon jumped up. Harrowby
thought he was going to speak upon it, whereas he presented
another; and I believe he was put up by the Duke to stop any
discussion.

In the evening went to Lord Holland's, when he and she asked me
about the letter. Somebody had given abstracts of it, with the
object of proving to Lord Grey that Harrowby had been uncandid, or
something like it, and had held out to the Tories that if they
would adopt his line they would turn out the Government. Holland
and the rest fancied the letter had been written _since the
interview_, but I told them it was _three weeks before_, and I
endeavoured to explain that the abstracts must be taken in
connection not only with the rest of the text, but with the
argument. Holland said Lord Grey meant to ask Harrowby for the
letter. From thence I went to Harrowby, and told him this. He said
he would not show it, that Grey had no right to ask for a private
letter written by him weeks before to one of his friends, and it
was beneath him to answer for and explain anything he had thought
fit to say. But he has done what will probably answer as well, for
he has given Ebrington a copy of it for the express purpose of
going to Lord Grey and explaining anything that appears ambiguous
to him. As the business develops itself, and the time approaches,
communication becomes more open and frequent; the Tories talk with
great confidence of their majority, and the ultra-Whigs are quite
ready to believe them; the two extreme ends are furious. Our list
up to this day presents a result of forty-three votes to
thirty-seven doubtful, out of which it is hard if a majority
cannot be got. I have no doubt now that they will take a very
early opportunity of making a declaration. Peel, in the other
House, is doing what he can to inflame and divide, and repress any
spirit of conciliation. Nothing is sure in his policy but that it
revolves round himself as the centre, and is influenced by some
view which he takes of his own future advantage, probably the
rallying of the Conservative party (as they call themselves,
though they are throwing away everything into confusion and
sinking everything by their obstinacy) and his being at the head
of it. He made a most furious and mischievous speech.


February 29th, 1832 {p.264}

Ebrington took Harrowby's letter to Lord Grey, who was satisfied
but not pleased; the date and the circumstances (which were
explained) removed all bad impressions from his mind. Since this
a garbled version (or rather extracts) has appeared in the
'Times,' which endeavours to make a great stir about it. Harrowby
was very much annoyed, and thought of sending the letter itself
to the 'Times' to be published at once; but Haddington and I both
urged him not, and last night he put a contradiction in the
'Globe.' I have little doubt that this as well as the former
extracts came from the shop of Durham and Co., and so Melbourne
told me he thought likewise. There was a great breeze at the last
Cabinet dinner between Durham and Richmond again on the old
subject--the Peers. I believe they will now take their chance.
Our list presents forty-seven sure votes besides the doubtful,
but not many pledges. As to me, I am really puzzled what to wish
for--that is, for the success of which party, being equally
disgusted with the folly of both. My old aversion for the High
Tories returns when I see their conduct on this occasion. The
obstinacy of the Duke, the selfishness of Peel, the pert
vulgarity of Croker, and the incapacity of the rest are set in
constant juxtaposition with the goodness of the cause they are
now defending, but which they will mar by their way of defending
it. A man is wanting, a fresh man, with vigour enough to govern,
and who will rally round him the temperate and the moderate of
different parties--men unfettered by prejudices, connections, and
above all by pledges, expressed or implied, and who can and will
address themselves to the present state and real wants of the
country, neither terrified into concession by the bullying of the
press and the rant of public meetings and associations, nor
fondly lingering over bygone systems of government and law. That
the scattered materials exist is probable, but the heated passion
of the times has produced so much repulsion among these various
atoms that it is difficult to foresee when a cooler temperature
may permit their cohesion into any efficient mass.


March 6th, 1842 {p.265}

[Page Head: VIOLENCE OF EXTREME PARTIES.]

The ultra-Whigs and ultra-Tories are both outrageous. Day after
day the 'Times' puts forth paragraphs, evidently manufactured in
the Durham shop, about Harrowby's letter, and yesterday there was
one which exhibited their mortification and rage so clearly as to
be quite amusing, praising the Duke and the Tories, and abusing
Harrowby and Wharncliffe and the moderates. In the meantime,
while Lord Grey is negotiating with Harrowby for the express
purpose of avoiding the necessity of making Peers, Durham, his
colleague and son-in-law, in conjunction with Dover, is (or has
been) going about with a paper for signature by Peers, being a
requisition to Lord Grey to make new Peers, inviting everybody he
could find to sign this by way of assisting that course of
bullying and violence he has long pursued, but happily in vain.
Lord Grey is, I believe, really disgusted with all these
proceedings; he submits and does nothing. Richmond quarrels with
Durham, Melbourne damns him, and the rest hate him. But there he
is, frowning, sulking, bullying, and meddling, and doing all the
harm he can. Never certainly was there such a Government as this,
so constituted, so headed--a chief with an imposing exterior, a
commanding eloquence, and a character[5] below contempt, seduced
and governed by anybody who will minister to his vanity and
presume upon his facility.

      [5] By character I mean what the French call _caractère_,
          not that he is wanting in honour and honesty, nor in
          ability, but in resolution and strength of mind.

There has been nothing remarkable in either House of Parliament
but an attack made by Londonderry on Plunket, who gave him so
terrific a dressing that it required to be as _pachydermatous_ as
he is to stand it. He is, however, a glutton, for he took it all,
and seemed to like it. I dined with Madame de Lieven a day or two
ago, and was talking to her about politics and political events,
and particularly about the memoirs, or journal, or whatever it
be, that she has written. She said she had done so very
irregularly, but that what she regretted was not having kept more
exact records of the events and transactions of the Belgian
question (which is not yet settled), that it was in its
circumstances the most curious that could be, and exhibited more
remarkable manifestations of character and 'du coeur humain,' as
well as of politics generally, than any course of events she
knew. I asked her why she did not give them now. She said it was
impossible, that the 'nuances' were so delicate and so numerous,
the details so nice and so varying, that unless caught at the
moment they escaped, and it was impossible to collect them again.


March 9th, 1832 {p.266}

Went to Lord Holland's the other night, and had a violent battle
with him on politics. Nobody so violent as he, and curious as
exhibiting the opinions of the ultras of the party. About making
Peers--wanted to know what Harrowby's real object was. I told him
none but to prevent what he thought an enormous evil. What did it
signify (he said) whether Peers were made now or later? that the
present House of Lords never could go on with a Reformed
Parliament, it being opposed to all the wants and wishes of the
people, hating the abolition of tithes, the press, and the French
Revolution, and that in order to make it harmonise with the
Reformed Parliament it must be amended by an infusion of a more
Liberal cast. This was the spirit of his harangue, which might
have been easily answered, for it all goes upon the presumption
that his party is that which harmonises with the popular feeling,
and what he means by improving the character of the House is to
add some fifty or sixty men who may be willing to accept peerages
upon the condition of becoming a body-guard to this Government.

The 'Times' yesterday and the day before attacked Lord Grey with
a virulence and indecency about the Peers that is too much even
for those who take the same line, and he now sees where his
subserviency to the press has conducted him. In the House of
Commons the night before last, Ministers would have been beaten
on the sugar duties if Baring Wall, who had got ten people to
dinner, had chosen to go down in time.

[Page Head: IRISH NATIONAL EDUCATION.]

The principal subject of discussion this last week has been the
Education Board in Ireland, the object of which is to combine the
education of Catholics and Protestants by an arrangement with
regard to the religious part of their instruction that may be
compatible with the doctrines and practice of both. This
arrangement consists in there being only certain selections from
the Bible, which are admitted generally, while particular days
and hours are set apart for the separate religious exercises of
each class. This will not do for the zealous Protestants, who
bellow for the whole Bible as Reformers do for the whole Bill.
While the whole system is crumbling to dust under their feet,
while the Church is prostrate, property of all kind threatened,
and robbery, murder, starvation, and agitation rioting over the
land, these wise legislators are debating whether the brats at
school shall read the whole Bible or only parts of it. They do
nothing but rave of the barbarism and ignorance of the Catholics;
they know that education alone can better their moral condition,
and that their religious tenets prohibit the admission of any
system of education (in which Protestants and Catholics can be
joined) except such an one as this, and yet they would rather
knock the system on the head, and prevent all the good that may
flow from it, than consent to a departure from the good old rules
of Orange ascendency and Popish subserviency and degradation,
knowing too, above all, that those who are to read and be taught
are equally indifferent to the whole Bible or to parts of it,
that they comprehend it not, have no clear and definite ideas on
the subject but as matter of debate, vehicle of dispute and
dissension, and almost of religious hatred and disunion, and that
when once they have escaped from the trammels of their school,
not one in a hundred will trouble his head about the Bible at
all, and not one in a thousand attend to its moral precepts.


March 10th, 1832 {p.268}

Yesterday morning Wharncliffe came to me to give me an account of
the conversation the other day between him and Harrowby on one
side and Lords Grey and Lansdowne on the other. Harrowby was
headachy and out of sorts. However, it went off very satisfactorily;
the list was laid before Grey, who was satisfied, and no Peers are
to be made before the second reading; but he said that if the Bill
should be carried by so small a majority as to prove that the
details could not be carried in Committee, he must reserve the
power of making Peers _then_. At this Harrowby winced, but
Wharncliffe said he thought it fair; and in fact it is only in
conformity with the protocol that was drawn up at the last
conversation. They entered into the details, and Lord Grey said
the stir that had been made about the metropolitan members might
raise difficulties, and then asked would they agree to this, to
give members to Marylebone and throw over the rest? To this
Harrowby would not agree, greatly to Wharncliffe's annoyance, who
would have agreed, and I think he would have been in the right. It
would have been as well to have nailed Grey to this, and if
Harrowby had not had a headache I think he would have done so.
With regard to the £10 clause, Wharncliffe _thinks_ they will not
object to a modification. Grey spoke of the press, and with just
wrath and indignation of the attacks on himself. On the whole this
was good. The capture of Vandamme was the consequence of a
bellyache, and the metropolitan representation depended on a
headache. If the truth could be ascertained, perhaps many of the
greatest events in history turned upon aches of one sort or
another. Montaigne might have written an essay on it.


March 12th, 1832 {p.269}

Durham made another exhibition of temper at the Cabinet dinner
last Wednesday. While Lord Grey was saying something he rudely
interrupted him, as his custom is. Lord Grey said, 'But, my dear
Lambton, only hear what I was going to say,' when the other jumped
up and said, 'Oh, if I am not to be allowed to speak I may as well
go away,' rang the bell, ordered his carriage, and marched off.
Wharncliffe came to me yesterday morning to propose writing a
pamphlet in answer to the 'Quarterly Review,' which has got an
article against his party. I suggested instead that an attempt
should be made by Sandon (who has been in some communication with
the editor about this matter) to induce the 'Morning Herald' to
support us, and make that paper the vehicle of our articles. This
he agreed to, and was to propose it to Sandon last night. We have
no advocate in the press; the Whig and Tory papers are equally
violent against us. Yesterday I saw a letter which has been
circulated among the Tories, written by young Lord Redesdale to
Lord Bathurst, a sort of counter-argument to Lord Harrowby's
letter, although not an answer, as it was written before he had
seen that document; there is very little in it.


March 16th, 1832 {p.269}

[Page Head: IRISH TITHES.]

Lord Grey made an excellent speech in the House of Lords in reply
to Aberdeen's questions about Ancona, and Peel made another in
the House of Commons on Irish Tithes, smashing Sheil, taking high
ground and a strong position, but doing nothing towards settling
the question. He forgets that the system is bad, resting on a
false foundation, and that it has worked ill and been bolstered
up by him and his party till now it can no longer be supported,
and it threatens to carry away with it that which is good in
itself. We owe these things to those who wilfully introduced a
moral confusion of ideas into their political machinery, and, by
destroying the essential distinction between right and wrong,
have deprived the things which are right of the best part of
their security. I have never been able to understand why our
system should be made to rest on artificial props when it did not
require them, nor the meaning of that strange paradox which a
certain school of statesmen have always inculcated, that
institutions of admitted excellence required to be conjoined with
others which were founded in crime and error, and which could
only be supported by power. This has brought about Reform; it
would be easy to prove it. The Ancona affair will blow over.
George Villiers writes me word that it was a little escapade of
Périer's, done in a hurry, a mistake, and yet he is a very able
man. Talleyrand told me 'c'est une bêtise.' Nothing goes on well;
the world is out of joint.

Fanny Kemble's new tragedy came out last night with complete
success, written when she was seventeen, an odd play for a girl
to write. The heroine is tempted like Isabella in 'Measure for
Measure,' but with a different result, which result is supposed
to take place between the acts.


March 26th, 1832 {p.270}

[Page Head: REFORM BILL IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS.]

Ten days since I have written anything here, but _en revanche_ I
have written a pamphlet. An article appeared in the 'Quarterly,'
attacking Harrowby and his friends. Wharncliffe was so desirous
it should be answered that I undertook the job, and it comes out
to-day in a 'Letter to Lockhart, in reply,' &c. I don't believe
anybody read the last I wrote, but as I have published this at
Ridgway's, perhaps it may have a more extensive sale. The events
have been the final passing of the Bill, after three nights'
debate, by a majority of 116, ended by a very fine speech from
Peel, who has eminently distinguished himself through this fight.
Stanley closed the debate at five o'clock in the morning, with
what they say was a good and dexterous speech, but which
contained a very unnecessary dissertation about the Peers. This,
together with some words from Richmond and the cheerfulness of
Holland, makes my mind misgive me that we shall still have them
created for the Committee. The conduct of the ultra-Tories has
been so bad and so silly that I cannot wish to bring them in,
though I have a great desire to turn the others out. As to a
moderate party, it is a mere dream, for where is the moderation?
This day Lord John Russell brings the Bill up to the House of
Lords, and much indeed depends upon what passes there. Harrowby
and Wharncliffe will make their speeches, and we shall, I
conclude, have the Duke and Lord Grey. I expect, and I beg his
pardon if I am wrong, that the Duke will make as mischievous a
speech as he can, and try to provoke declarations and pledges
against the Bill. The Ministers are exceedingly anxious that
Harrowby should confine himself to generalities, which I hope
too, for I am certain no good can, and much harm may, be done by
going into details. Grey, Holland, and Richmond all three spoke
to me about it last night, and I am going to see what can be done
with them. I should not fear Harrowby but that he is petulant and
sour; Wharncliffe is vain, and has been excited in all this
business, though with very good and very disinterested motives,
but he cannot bear patiently the abuse and the ridicule with
which both the extreme ends endeavour to cover him, and he is
uneasy under it, and what I dread is that in making attempts to
set himself right, and to clear his character with a party who
will never forgive him for what he has done, and to whom whatever
he says will be words cast to the winds, he will flounder, and
say something which will elicit from Lord Grey some declaration
that may make matters worse than ever. What I hope and trust is
that the Government and our people will confine themselves to
civil generalities, and pledge themselves _de part et d'autre_ to
nothing, and that they will not be provoked by taunts from any
quarter to depart from that prudent course.

There was another breeze in the House of Lords about Irish
Education, the whole bench of bishops in a flame, and except Maltby,
who spoke _for_, all declared against the plan--Phillpotts in a
furious speech. What celestial influences have been at work I know
not, but certain it is that the world seems going mad, individually
and collectively. The town has been more occupied this week with
Dudley's extravagancies than the affairs of Europe. He, in fact, is
mad, but is to be cupped and starved and disciplined sound again. It
has been fine talk for the town. The public curiosity and love of
news is as voracious and universal as the appetite of a shark, and,
like it, loves best what is grossest and most disgusting; anything
relating to personal distress, to crime, to passion, is greedily
devoured by this monster, as Cowley calls it.

                               I see
         The monster London laugh at me;
         I would at thee, too, foolish City,
         But thy estate I pity.
         Should all the wicked men from out thee go,
         And all the fools that crowd thee so,
         Thou, who dost thy thousands boast,
         Would be a wilderness almost.--_Ode to Solitude._

But of all the examples of cant, hypocrisy, party violence, I
have never seen any to be compared to the Irish Education
business; and there was Rosslyn, an old Whig, voting against;
Carnarvon stayed away, every Tory without exception going against
the measure. As to madness, Dudley has gone mad in his own house,
Perceval in the House of Commons, and John Montague in the Park,
the two latter preaching, both Irvingites and believers in 'the
tongues.' Dudley's madness took an odd turn; he would make up all
his quarrels with Lady Holland, to whom he has not spoken for
sixteen years, and he called on her, and there were tears and
embraces, and God knows what. Sydney Smith told her that she was
bound in honour to set the quarrel up again when he comes to his
senses, and put things into the _status quo ante pacem_. It would
be hard upon him to find, on getting out of a strait waistcoat,
that he had been robbed of all his hatreds and hostilities, and
seduced into the house of his oldest foe.


March 27th, 1832 {p.272}

[Page Head: DEBATE IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS.]

I did the Duke of Wellington an injustice. He spoke, but without
any violence, in a fair and gentlemanlike manner, a speech
creditable to himself, useful and becoming. If there was any
disposition on the part of his followers to light a flame, he at
once repressed it. The whole thing went off well; House very
full; Harrowby began, and made an excellent speech, with the
exception of one mistake. He dwelt too much on the difference
between this Bill and the last, as if the difference of his own
conduct resulted from that cause, and this I could see they were
taking up in their minds, and though he corrected the impression
afterwards, it will be constantly brought up against him, I have
no doubt. After him Carnarvon, who alone was violent, but short;
then Wharncliffe (I am not sure which was first of these two),
very short and rather embarrassed, expressing his concurrence
with Lord Harrowby; then the Bishop of London, short also, but
strong in his language, much more than Lord Harrowby; then Lord
Grey, temperate and very general, harping a little too much on
that confounded word _efficiency_, denying that what he said last
year bore the interpretation that had been put upon it, and
announcing that he would give his best consideration to any
amendments, a very good speech; then the Duke, in a very handsome
speech, acknowledging that he was not against all Reform, though
he was against this Bill, because he did not think if it passed
it would be possible to carry on the government of the country,
but promising that if the Bill went into Committee he would give
his constant attendance, and do all in his power to make it as
safe a measure as possible. So finished this important evening,
much to the satisfaction of the moderate, and to the disgust of
the violent party. I asked Lord Holland if he was satisfied (in
the House after the debate), and he said, 'Yes, yes, very well,
but the Bishop's the man;' and in the evening at Lord Grey's I
found they were all full of the Bishop. Lord Grey said to me,
'Well, you will allow that I behaved very well?' I said, 'Yes,
very, but the whole thing was satisfactory, I think.' 'Yes,' he
said, 'on the whole, but they were a little too strong, too
violent against the Bill,' because Harrowby had declared that he
felt the same objection to the measure he had felt before. Sefton
was outrageous, talked a vast deal of amusing nonsense, 'that he
had never heard such twaddle,' 'but that the success was
complete, and he looked on Harrowby and Wharncliffe as the two
most enviable men in the kingdom.' I have no doubt that all the
ultras will be deeply mortified at the moderation of Lord Grey
and of the Duke of Wellington, and at the success _so far_ of
'the Waverers.'




                          CHAPTER XVIII.

Debate in the House of Lords--Lord Harrowby's Position--Hopes of
  a Compromise--Lord Melbourne's View--Disturbances caused by the
  Cholera--The Disfranchisement Clause--The Number '56'--Peers
  contemplated--The King's Hesitation--'The Hunchback'--Critical
  Position of the Waverers--Bill carried by Nine in the Lords--
  The Cholera in Paris--Moderate Speech of Lord Grey--End of the
  Secession--Conciliatory Overtures--Negotiations carried on at
  Newmarket--Hostile Division in the Lords--Lord Wharncliffe's
  Account of his Failure--Lord Grey resigns--The Duke of
  Wellington attempts to form a Ministry--Peel declines--
  Hostility of the Court to the Whigs--A Change of Scene--The
  Duke fails--History of the Crisis--Lord Grey returns to
  Office--The King's Excitement--The King writes to the
  Opposition Peers--Defeat and Disgrace of the Tories--
  Conversation of the Duke of Wellington--Louis XVIII.--Madame du
  Cayla--Weakness of the King--Mortality among Great Men--
  Petition against Lord W. Bentinck's Prohibition of Suttee heard
  by the Privy Council--O'Connell and the Cholera--Irish Tithe
  Bill--Irish Difficulties--Mr. Stanley--Concluding Debates of
  the Parliament--Quarrel between Brougham and Sugden--Holland
  and Belgium--Brougham's Revenge and Apology--Dinner at Holland
  House--Anecdotes of Johnson--Death of Mr. Greville's Father--
  Madame de Flahaut's Account of the Princess Charlotte--Prince
  Augustus of Prussia--Captain Hess--Hostilities in Holland and
  in Portugal--The Duchesse de Berri--Conversation with Lord
  Melbourne on the State of the Government.


March 28th, 1832 {p.274}

[Page Head: LORD HARROWBY'S PATRIOTIC CONDUCT.]

There appear to have been as many differences of opinion as of
people on the discussion in the House of Lords when the Bill was
brought up, and it seems paradoxical, but is true, that though it
was on the whole satisfactory, nobody was satisfied. Lord Grey
complained to me that Lord Harrowby was too stiff; Lord Harrowby
complained that Lord Grey was always beating about the bush of
compromise, but never would commit himself fairly to concession.
Melbourne complained last night that what was done was done in
such an ungracious manner, so niggardly, that he hated the man
(Harrowby) who did it. The ultra-Tories are outrageous 'that he
gave up everything without reason or cause;' the ultra-Whigs
equally furious 'that he had shown how little way he was disposed
to go in Committee; his object was to turn out the Government;'
and what is comical, neither party will believe that Harrowby
really is so obnoxious to the other as he is said to be. Each is
convinced that he is acting in the interests of the other. What a
position, what injustice, blindness, folly, obstinacy, brought
together and exhibited! If ever there was a man whose conduct was
exempt from the ordinary motives of ambition, and who made
personal sacrifices in what he is doing, it is Lord Harrowby, and
yet there is no reproach that is not cast upon him, no term of
abuse that is not applied to him, no motive that is not ascribed
to him. No wonder a man who has seen much of them is sick of
politics and public life. Nothing now is thought of but the
_lists_, and of course everybody has got one. The Tories still
pretend to a majority of seven; the Government and Harrowby think
they have one of from ten to twenty, and I suspect fifteen will
be found about the mark. The unfortunate thing is that neither of
our cocks is good for fighting, not from want of courage, but
Harrowby is peevish, ungracious and unpopular, and Wharncliffe
carries no great weight. To be sure neither of them pretends to
make a party, but then their opponents insist upon it that they
do, and men shrink from enlisting (or being supposed to enlist)
under Wharncliffe's banner. However, notwithstanding the violence
of the noisy fools of the party, and of the women, there is a
more rational disposition on the part of practical men, for
Wharncliffe spoke to Ellenborough yesterday, and told him that
though he knew he and Harrowby were regarded as traitors by all
of them, he did hope that when the Bill came into Committee they
would agree to consult together, and try and come to some
understanding as to the best mode of dealing with the question,
that it was absurd to be standing aloof at such a moment; to
which Ellenborough replied that he perfectly agreed with him, was
anxious to do so, and intended to advise his friends to take that
course.


April 1st, 1832 {p.276}

Wharncliffe got Lord Grey to put off the second reading for a few
days on account of the Quarter Sessions, which drew down a
precious attack from Londonderry, and was in fact very foolish and
unnecessary, as it looks like a concert between them, of which it
is very desirable to avoid any appearance, as in fact none exists.
The violence of the Tories continues unabated, and there is no
effort they do not make to secure a majority, and they expect
either to succeed or to bring it to a near thing. In the meantime
the tone of the other party is changed. Dover, who makes lists,
manages proxies, and does all the little jobbing, whipping-in,
busy work of the party, makes out a clear majority, and told me he
now thought the Bill would get through without Peers. The
Government, however, are all agreed to make the Peers if it turns
out to be necessary, and especially if the Bill should be thrown
out, it seems clear that they would by no means go out, but make
the Peers and bring it in again; so I gather from Richmond, and he
who was the most violently opposed of the whole Cabinet to
Peer-making, is now ready to make any number if necessary. There
is, however, I hope, a disposition to concession, which, if
matters are tolerably well managed, may lead to an arrangement.
Still Wharncliffe, who must have a great deal to do in Committee,
is neither prudent nor popular. The Tories are obstinate, sulky,
and indisposed to agree to anything reasonable. It is the unity of
object and the compactness of the party which give the Government
strength. Charles Wood told me the other day that they were well
disposed to a compromise on two special points, one the exclusion
of town voters from the right of voting for counties, the other
the metropolitan members. On the first he proposed that no man
voting for a town in right of a £10 house should have a vote for
the county in right of any freehold in that town. That would be
half-way between Wharncliffe's plan and the present. The second,
that Marylebone should return two members, and Middlesex two
more--very like Grey's proposition which Harrowby rejected--but I
suggested keeping the whole and varying the qualification, to
which he thought no objection would lie.

[Page Head: CONVERSATION WITH LORD MELBOURNE.]

At the Duchesse de Dino's ball the night before last I had a very
anxious conversation with Melbourne about it all. He said that
'he really believed there was no strong feeling in the country
for the measure.' We talked of the violence of the Tories, and
their notion that they could get rid of the whole thing. I said
the notion was absurd _now_, but that I fully agreed with him
about the general feeling. 'Why, then,' said he, 'might it not be
thrown out?'--a consummation I really believe he would rejoice
at, if it could be done. I said because there was a great party
which would not let it, which would agitate again, and that the
country wished ardently to have it settled; that if it could be
disposed of for good and all, it would be a good thing indeed,
but that this was now become impossible. I asked him if his
colleagues were impressed as he was with this truth, and he said,
'No.' I told him he ought to do everything possible to enforce
it, and to make them moderate, and induce them to concede, to
which he replied, 'What difficulty can they have in swallowing
the rest after they have given up the rotten boroughs? That is,
in fact, the essential part of the Bill, and the truth is _I do
not see how the Government is to be carried on without them_.
Some means may be found; a remedy may possibly present itself,
and it may work in practice better than we now know of, but I am
not aware of any, and I do not see how any Government can be
carried on when these are swept away.' This was, if not his exact
words, the exact sense, and a pretty avowal for a man to make at
the eleventh hour who has been a party concerned in this Bill
during the other ten. I told him I agreed in every respect, but
that it was too late to discuss this now, and that the rotten
boroughs were past saving, that as to the minor points, the
Waverers thought them of importance, looked upon them as
securities, compensations, and moreover as what would save their
own honour, and that the less their real importance was the more
easily might they be conceded. We had a great deal more talk, but
then it is all talk, and _à quoi bon_ with a man who holds these
opinions and acts as he does? Let it end as it may, the history
of the Bill, and the means by which it has been conceived,
brought forward, supported, and opposed, will be most curious and
instructive. The division in the Lords must be very close indeed.

Orloff, who was looked for like the Messiah, at last made his
appearance a few days ago, a great burly Russian, but no
ratification yet.[1]

      [1] [Of the Belgian Treaty.]

[Page Head: THE CHOLERA IN ENGLAND.]

I have refrained for a long time from writing down anything about
the cholera, because the subject is intolerably disgusting to me,
and I have been bored past endurance by the perpetual questions of
every fool about it. It is not, however, devoid of interest. In
the first place, what has happened here proves that 'the people'
of this enlightened, reading, thinking, reforming nation are not a
whit less barbarous than the serfs in Russia, for precisely the
same prejudices have been shown here that were found at St.
Petersburg and at Berlin. The disease has undoubtedly appeared
(hitherto) in this country in a milder shape than elsewhere, but
the alarm at its name was so great that the Government could do no
otherwise than take such precautions and means of safety as
appeared best to avert the danger or mitigate its consequences.
Here it came, and the immediate effect was a great inconvenience
to trade and commerce, owing to restrictions, both those imposed
by foreigners generally on this country and those we imposed
ourselves between the healthy and unhealthy places. This begot
complaints and disputes, and professional prejudices and
jealousies urged a host of combatants into the field, to fight
about the existence or non-existence of cholera, its contagiousness,
and any collateral question. The disposition of the public was
(and is) to believe that the whole thing was a humbug, and
accordingly plenty of people were found to write in that sense,
and the press lent itself to propagate the same idea. The disease,
however, kept creeping on, the Boards of Health which were
everywhere established immediately became odious, and the vestries
and parishes stoutly resisted all pecuniary demands for the
purpose of carrying into effect the recommendations of the Central
Board or the orders of the Privy Council. In this town the mob has
taken the part of the anti-cholerites, and the most disgraceful
scenes have occurred. The other day a Mr. Pope, head of the
hospital in Marylebone (Cholera Hospital) came to the Council
Office to complain that a patient who was being removed with his
own consent had been taken out of his chair by the mob and carried
back, the chair broken, and the bearers and surgeon hardly
escaping with their lives. Furious contests have taken place about
the burials, it having been recommended that bodies should be
burned directly after death, and the most violent prejudice
opposing itself to this recommendation; in short, there is no end
to the scenes of uproar, violence, and brutal ignorance that have
gone on, and this on the part of the lower orders, for whose
especial benefit all the precautions are taken, and for whose
relief large sums have been raised and all the resources of
charity called into activity in every part of the town. The awful
thing is the vast extent of misery and distress which prevails,
and the evidence of the rotten foundation on which the whole
fabric of this gorgeous society rests, for I call that rotten
which exhibits thousands upon thousands of human beings reduced to
the lowest stage of moral and physical degradation, with no more
of the necessaries of life than serve to keep body and soul
together, whole classes of artisans without the means of
subsistence. However complicated and remote the causes of this
state of things, the manifestations present themselves in a
frightful presence and reality, and those whose ingenuity, and
experience, and philosophical views may enable them accurately to
point out the causes and the gradual increase of this distress are
totally unable to suggest a remedy or to foresee an end to it. Can
such a state of things permanently go on? can any reform
ameliorate it? Is it possible for any country to be considered in
a healthy condition when there is no such thing as a _general_
diffusion of the comforts of life (varying of course with every
variety of circumstance which can affect the prosperity of
individuals or of classes), but when the extremes prevail of the
most unbounded luxury and enjoyment and the most dreadful
privation and suffering? To imagine a state of society in which
everybody should be well off, or even tolerably well off, would be
a mere vision, as long as there is a preponderance of vice and
folly in the world. There will always be effects commensurate with
their causes, but it has not always been, and it certainly need
not be, that the majority of the population should be in great
difficulty, struggling to keep themselves afloat, and, what is
worse, in uncertainty and in doubt whether they can earn
subsistence for themselves and their families. Such is the case at
present, and I believe a general uncertainty pervades every class
of society, from the highest to the lowest; nobody looks upon any
institution as secure, or any interest as safe, and it is only
because those universal feelings of alarm which are equally
diffused throughout the mass but slightly affect each individual
atom of it that we see the world go on as usual, eating, drinking,
laughing, and dancing, and not insensible to the danger, though,
apparently indifferent about it.


April 4th, 1832 {p.280}

[Page Head: A DIFFICULTY AT SCHEDULE A.]

Charles Wood[2] came to me yesterday, and brought a paper showing
the various effects of a different qualification from £10 to £40
for the metropolitan districts, to talk over the list, but
principally to get me to speak to Harrowby about a foreseen
difficulty. The first clause in the Bill enacts _that fifty-six
boroughs be disfranchised_. This gave great offence in the House
of Commons, was feebly defended, but carried by the majority,
which was always ready and required no reason; it was an
egregious piece of folly and arrogance there, here it presents a
real embarrassment. I told him I knew Harrowby had an invincible
repugnance to it, and that the effect would be very bad if they
split upon the first point. He said he should not defend it, that
all reason was against it, but that there it was, and how was it
to be got rid of? I suggested that it should be passed over, and
that they should go at once to the boroughs _seriatim_. He said
if that clause was omitted a suspicion would immediately arise
that there was an intention of altering Schedule A, and nothing
would avert that but getting through a great part of it before
Easter, and that this might be difficult, as the longest time
they could expect to sit would be three days in Passion Week. He
talked a great deal about the country expecting this, and that
they would not be satisfied if it was not done, and all the usual
jargon of the Reformers, which it was not worth while to dispute,
and it ended by my promising to talk to Lord Harrowby about it.
This I did last night, and he instantly flew into a rage. He said
'he would not be dragged through the mire by those scoundrels. It
was an insolence that was not to be borne; let them make their
Peers if they would, not Hell itself should make him vote for
_fifty-six_; he would vote for sixty-six or any number but that,
that he would not split with the Tories on the first vote; if
indeed _they_ would consent to fifty-six he would, or to anything
else they would agree to, but if the Government brought this
forward no consideration on earth should prevent his opposing
it.' We then discussed the whole matter, with the proposed
amendments which Wood and I had talked over with reference to the
metropolitan members and town and county voting, and I am to go
to-day and propose that after the second reading is carried they
should adjourn till after Easter, and give a little time for the
excitement (which there must be) to subside, and to see how
matters stand, and what probability there is of getting the thing
through quietly.

      [2] [Mr. Charles Wood, afterwards Viscount Halifax, but at
          this time private Secretary to Earl Grey, whose
          daughter he married.]


April 6th, 1832 {p.281}

I called on the Duke of Richmond on Wednesday morning, and told
him what had passed between Wood and me, and Lord Harrowby and me
afterwards. He was aware of the difficulty, and regretted it the
more because he might have to defend it in the House of Lords. He
wished me very much to go to Downing Street and see Lord Grey
himself if possible before the levee, and he suggested that the
words fifty-six might be left in blank by Lord Grey's own motion,
that this would be in conformity with the forms of the House. I
set off, but calling at home on my way found Lord Harrowby at my
door. He came in, and was anxious to know if I had said anything;
he was more quiet than the night before, but still resolved not
to agree to fifty-six, though anxious to have the matter
compromised in some way. Lord Harrowby wanted to adjourn after
the second reading, but owned that the best effect would be to
get through Schedule A before Easter. Yesterday I saw Wood; he
harped upon the difficulty and the old strain of the country. I
suggested the point of form which Richmond had mentioned, but he
said that could not be _now_ in the Bill, as it was sent up from
the Commons, that if they were beaten on fifty-six the country
would consider it tantamount to throwing out Schedule A, and
would highly approve of a creation of Peers, and that, in fact
(if they wished it), it would be the best opportunity they could
have. I told him that it would heap ridicule upon all the
antecedent proceedings, and the pretext must be manifest, as it
would appear in the course of the discussions what the real
reason was. In the middle of our conversation Ellice came in, and
directly asked if my friends would swallow fifty-six, to which I
said, 'No.' We had then a vehement dispute, but at last Wood
turned him out, and he and I resumed. We finally agreed that I
should ask Lord Harrowby whether, if Lord Grey of his own accord
proposed to leave out the words fifty-six, but with an expression
of his opinion that this must be the number, he (Lord Harrowby)
would meet him with a corresponding declaration that he objected
to the specification of the number in the clause, without
objecting to the extent of the disfranchisement, it being always
understood that what passes between us is unauthorised talk, and
to commit nobody--'without prejudice,' as the lawyers say.

[Page Head: THE KING'S RELUCTANCE TO MAKE PEERS.]

I heard yesterday, however, from Keate, who is attending me (and
who is the King's surgeon, and sees him when he is in town), that
he saw his Majesty after the levee on Wednesday, and that he was
ill, out of sorts, and in considerable agitation; that he
enquired of him about his health, when the King said he had much
to annoy him, and that 'many things passed there (pointing to the
Cabinet, out of which he had just come) which were by no means
agreeable, and that he had had more than usual to occupy him that
morning.' Keate said he was very sure from his manner that
something unpleasant had occurred. This was, I have since
discovered, the question of a creation of Peers again brought
forward, and to which the King's aversion has returned so much so
that it is doubtful if he will after all consent to a large one.
It seems that unless the Peers are made (in the event of the
necessity arising) Brougham and Althorp will resign; at least so
they threaten. I have seen enough of threats, and doubts, and
scruples, to be satisfied that there is no certainty that any of
them will produce the anticipated effects, but I am resolved I
will try, out of these various elements, if I cannot work out
something which may be serviceable to the cause itself, though
the materials I have to work with are scanty. The Ministers were
all day yesterday settling who the new Peers shall be, so
seriously are they preparing for the _coup_. They had already
fixed upon Lords Molyneux, Blandford, Kennedy, Ebrington,
Cavendish, Brabazon, and Charles Fox, Littleton, Portman,
Frederick Lawley, Western, and many others, and this would be
what Lord Holland calls assimilating the House of Lords to the
spirit of the other House, and making it harmonise with the
prevailing sense of the people.


April 8th, 1832 {p.283}

Lord Harrowby was out of town when I called there on Friday, so I
wrote to him the substance of my conversation with Wood.
Yesterday he returned. In the evening I met Wood at dinner at
Lord Holland's, when he told me that he found on the part of his
friends more reluctance than he had expected to give up the
fifty-six, that he had done all he could to persuade them, but
they made great objections. Moreover he had had a conversation
with Sandon which he did not quite like, as he talked so much of
holding the party together. All this was to make me think they
are stouter than they really are, for I am better informed than
he thinks for.

Yesterday morning I got more correct information about what had
passed with the King. Lord Grey went to him with a minute of
Cabinet requiring that he should make Peers in case the second
reading was thrown out.[3] To this he demurred, raised difficulties
and doubts, which naturally enough alarm the Government very much.
However, when he got back to Windsor he wrote two letters,
explaining his sentiments, from which it appears that he has great
reluctance, that he will do it, but will not give any pledge
beforehand, that he objects to increasing the Peerage, and wants
to call up eldest sons and make Irish and Scotch Peers, that he
did not say positively he would make the Peers, but that he would
be in the way, and come up when it was necessary. They think that
he has some idea that his pledging himself beforehand (though in
fact he did so two months ago) might be drawn into an improper
precedent. However this may be, his reluctance is so strong that a
great deal may be made of it, as it is probable (if he continues
in the same mind, and is not turned by some violence of the
Opposition) that he will resist still more making Peers when the
Bill is in Committee to carry the details, some of which he
himself wishes to see altered, but the difficulty is very great.
It is impossible to communicate with the Tory leaders; they will
not believe what you tell them, and if they learnt the King's
scruples they would immediately imagine that they might presume
upon them to any extent, and stand out more obstinately than ever.
I went to Harrowby last night, and imparted to him the state of
things, which I shall do to nobody else. To Wharncliffe I dare
not. He is not indisposed to Wood's compromise, and I trust this
will be settled, but he still leans to putting off the second
reading till after Easter, and if the Tories also resolve upon
that (which they are mightily disposed to do) he will not separate
from them on that point, and they are sure to carry it. Unless
this was accompanied with some declaration from them that they
would be disposed to concede the great principles of the Bill, I
think the Government would consider it such an indication of
hostility as to call for an immediate creation of Peers, and I
doubt whether the King could or would resist. There are many
reasons why it would be desirable to make the second reading a
resting-place, and adjourn then till after Easter, provided all
parties consented, but it would be very unwise to make it the
subject of a contest, and nobody would ever believe that the real
reason was not to get rid of Schedule A by hook or by crook, or of
a good deal of it. Harrowby will, I am sure, not divide against
them on this, and they will not give it up; that there are means
of resistance, if they were judiciously applied, I am sure, and if
there were temper, discretion, and cordiality, the Bill might be
licked into a very decent shape.

      [3] [This Cabinet minute of the 3rd of April, 1832, and the
          King's remarks upon it, have been printed in the
          'Correspondence of William IV. and Earl Grey,' vol. ii.
          p. 307.]

[Page Head: 'THE HUNCHBACK.'.]

I went to see Sheridan Knowles' new play the other night, 'The
Hunchback.' Very good, and a great success. Miss Fanny Kemble
acted really well--for the first time, in my opinion, great
acting. I have not seen anything since Mrs. Siddons (and perhaps
Miss O'Neill) so good.

The Duke of Wellington made a very good speech on Irish affairs
on Friday, one of his best, and he speaks admirably _to points_
sometimes and on subjects he understands. I wish he had let alone
that Irish Education--disgraceful humbug and cant. I don't know
that there is anything else particularly new. Orloff is made a
great rout with, but he don't ratify. The real truth is that the
King of Holland holds out, and the other Powers delay till they
see the result of our Reform Bill, thinking that the Duke of
Wellington may return to power, and then they may make better
terms for Holland and dictate to Belgium and to France. If the
Reform Bill is carried, and Government stays in, they will
ratify, and not till then. The cholera is disappearing here and
in the country.


April 9th, 1832 {p.285}

Saw Lord Harrowby yesterday morning. He can't make up his mind
what is best to be done, whether to go into Committee or not. He
rather wishes to get through Schedule A, but he won't vote
against the Tories if they divide on adjourning. Then went to
Wood and told him there would be no difficulty about _fifty-six_.
Lord Grey came in, and talked the whole thing over. He said he
was ill--knocked up--that in his speech to-day he should be as
moderate and tame as anybody could wish. From what Wood said, and
he himself afterwards, I should think they wish to adjourn after
the second reading, but to make a merit of it if they do.
Duncannon, whom I saw afterwards, seemed to be of the same
opinion, that it would be best not to sit in Passion Week. At
night Wharncliffe came back from Yorkshire. He is all for getting
into Schedule A, and making no difficulties about fifty-six or
anything else, and Harrowby, now that he fancies the Government
want to adjourn, rather wants not, suspecting some trick. Upon
going all over the list, we make out the worst to give a majority
of six, and the best of eighteen, but the Tories still count upon
getting back some of our people. We had a grand hunt after Lord
Gambier's proxy; he sent it to Lord de Saumarez, who is laid up
with the gout in Guernsey, and the difficulty was to get at Lord
Gambier and procure another. At last I made Harrowby, who does
not know him, write to him, and Wood sent a messenger after him,
so we hope it will arrive in time.


April 11th, 1832 {p.286}

[Page Head: REFORM BILL CARRIED IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS.]

The day before yesterday Lord Grey introduced the Reform Bill in
a speech of extreme moderation; as he promised, it was very
'tame.' The night's debate was dull; yesterday was better. Lord
Mansfield made a fine speech against the Bill; Harrowby spoke
well, Wharncliffe ill. Nothing can equal the hot water we have
been in--defections threatened on every side, expectations
thwarted and doubts arising, betting nearly even. Even de Ros
came to me in the morning and told me he doubted how he should
vote; that neither Harrowby nor Wharncliffe had put the question
on the proper ground, and his reason for seceding from the
Opposition was the menaced creation of Peers. I wrote to Harrowby
and begged him to say something to satisfy tender consciences,
and moved heaven and earth to keep De Ros and Coventry (who was
slippery) right, and I succeeded--at least I believe so, for it
is not yet over. Nothing can equal the anxiety out of doors and
the intensity of the interest in the town, but the debate is far
less animated than that of last year. As to our business, it is
'la mer à boire,' with nobody to canvass or whip in, and not
being a party. We shall, however, I believe, manage it, and but
just.

I saw Keate this morning, who had been with the King. His Majesty
talked in high terms of Ellenborough and of Mansfield. It is
difficult to count upon such a man, but if the second reading is
passed I do not believe he will make Peers to carry any points in
Committee, unless it be the very vital ones, but it is very
questionable if the Opposition will fight the battle then at all,
or, if they do, fight in a way to secure a fair, practical
result.


April 14th, 1832 {p.287}

The Reform Bill (second reading) was carried this morning at seven
o'clock in the House of Lords by a majority of nine. The House did
not sit yesterday. The night before Phillpotts, the Bishop of
Exeter, made a grand speech against the Bill, full of fire and
venom, very able. It would be an injury to compare this man with
Laud; he more resembles Gardiner; had he lived in those days he
would have been just such another, boiling with ambition, an
ardent temperament, and great talents. He has a desperate and a
dreadful countenance, and looks like the man he is. The two last
days gave plenty of reports of changes either way, but the
majority has always looked like from seven to ten. The House will
adjourn on Wednesday, and go into Committee after Easter; and in
the meantime what negotiations and what difficulties to get over!
The Duke of Wellington and Lord Harrowby have had some good-humoured
talk, and the former seems well disposed to join in amending the
Bill, but the difficulty will be to bring these extreme and
irritated parties to any agreement as to terms. The debate in the
Lords, though not so good as last year, has been, as usual, much
better than that in the Commons.

The accounts from Paris of the cholera are awful, very different
from the disease here. Is it not owing to our superior cleanliness,
draining, and precautions? There have been 1,300 sick in a day
there, and for some days an average of 1,000; here we have never
averaged above fifty, I think, and, except the squabbling in the
newspapers, we have seen nothing of it whatever; there many of the
upper classes have died of it. Casimir Périer and the Duke of
Orleans went to the Hotel Dieu, and the former was seized
afterwards, and has been very ill, though they doubt if it really
was cholera, as he is subject to attacks with the same symptoms.


April 15th, 1832 {p.288}

[Page Head: LORD WHARNCLIFFE AND LORD HARROWBY.]

The debate in the House of Lords was closed by a remarkable reply
from Lord Grey, full of moderation, and such as to hold out the
best hopes of an adjustment of the question--not that it pacified
the ultra-Tories, who were furious. The speech was so ill
reported at that late hour that it is not generally known what he
did say, and many of those who heard it almost doubt their own
accuracy, or suspect that he went further than he intended, so
unlike was it to his former violent and unyielding language. He
said, with regard to a creation of Peers, that nothing would
justify him in recommending the exercise of that prerogative but
a collision between the two Houses of Parliament, and that in
such a case (he is reported to have said) he should deem it his
duty first to recommend a dissolution, and to ascertain whether
the feeling of the country was with the other House (these were
not the words, but to this effect). If this be at all correct, it
is clear that he cannot make Peers to carry the clauses, for, in
fact, the collision between the two Houses will not have arrived
unless the Commons should reject any amendments which may be made
by the Lords. The tone, however, of the violent supporters of
Government is totally changed; at Lord Holland's last night they
were singing in a very different note, and, now, if the councils
of the Lords are guided by moderation and firmness, they may deal
with the Bill _almost_ as they please; but they must swallow
Schedule A. The difficulties, however, are great; the High Tories
are exasperated and vindictive, and will fiercely fight against
any union with the seceders. The Duke is moderate in his tone,
ready to act cordially with all parties, but he owes the seceders
a grudge, is anxious to preserve his influence with the Tories,
and will probably insist upon mutilating the Bill more than will
be prudent and feasible. The Harrowby and Wharncliffe party, now
that the second reading is over, ceases to be a party. It was a
patched-up, miscellaneous concern at best, of men who were half
reasoned, half frightened over, who could not bear separating
from the Duke, long to return to him, and, besides, are ashamed
of Wharncliffe as a chief. There never was such a 'chef de
circonstance.' He is a very honest man, with a right view of
things and a fair and unprejudiced understanding, vain and
imprudent, without authority, commanding no respect, and in a
false position as the ephemeral leader he is, marching in that
capacity _pari passu_ with Harrowby, who is infinitely more
looked up to, but whose bilious complexion prevents his mixing
with society and engaging and persuading others to follow his
opinions; nor has he (Lord Harrowby) any plan or design beyond
the object of the moment. He has no thought of mixing again in
public life, he does not propose to communicate with anybody on
anything further than the middle course to be adopted now, and
few people are disposed to sever the ties on which their future
political existence depends for the sake of cultivating this
short-lived connection. If the Government, therefore, looks to
the seceders who have carried the question for them to carry
other points, they will find it won't do, for their followers
will melt into the mass of the anti-Reformers, who, though they
will still frown upon the chiefs, will gladly take back the rank
and file. A fortnight will elapse, in the course of which
opportunities will be found of ascertaining the disposition of
the great party and the probability of an arrangement.

The debate was good on Friday, but very inferior to the last.
Phillpotts got a terrific dressing from Lord Grey, and was
handled not very delicately by Goderich and Durham, though the
latter was too coarse. He had laid himself very open, and, able
as he is, he has adopted a tone and style inconsistent with his
lawn sleeves, and unusual on the Episcopal Bench. He is carried
away by his ambition and his alarm, and horrifies his brethren,
who feel all the danger (in these times) of such a colleague. The
episode of which he was the object was, of course, the most
amusing part of the whole.


Newmarket, April 22nd, 1832 {p.290}

[Page Head: MEETING OF LORD GREY AND LORD WHARNCLIFFE.]

Ill and laid up with the gout for this week past. Came here on
Friday, the 20th. The carrying of the second reading of the Bill
seems to have produced no effect. Everybody is gone out of town,
the Tories in high dudgeon. The Duke of Wellington has entered a
protest with all the usual objections, which has been signed by a
whole rabble of Peers, but not by Lyndhurst, Ellenborough, or
Carnarvon, who monopolise the brains of the party; they declined.
In the meantime things look better. Wharncliffe, Harrowby, and
Haddington have had two interviews with Lyndhurst and Ellenborough,
and though they did not go into particulars the result was
satisfactory, and a strong disposition evinced to co-operation and
moderation. It was agreed they should meet again next week, and
see what could be arranged. On Friday Palmerston sent to
Wharncliffe and desired to see him. They met, and Palmerston told
him that he came from Lord Grey, who was desirous of having an
interview with him, adding that Lord Grey had now become convinced
that he might make much more extensive concessions than he had
ever yet contemplated. He added that Lord Grey would rather see
Wharncliffe alone, without Harrowby, whose manner was so snappish
and unpleasant that he could not talk so much at his ease as he
would to Wharncliffe alone. Wharncliffe replied that he could have
no objection to see Lord Grey, but that he must fairly tell him
his situation was no longer the same, having put himself in
amicable communication with Lyndhurst and Ellenborough; that the
concurrence of the Tories was indispensable to him and his friends
to effect the alterations they contemplated, and he could not do
anything which might have to them the appearance of underhand
dealing; that he could tell Lyndhurst and Ellenborough, and if
they made no objection he would see Lord Grey. Ellenborough was
gone out of town, but he went to Lyndhurst, who immediately
advised him to see Lord Grey, and said it was most desirable they
should be made acquainted with the views and disposition of
Government, and he undertook to write word to the Duke of
Wellington of all that had passed. Lord Grey was unable to leave
Sheen yesterday, so it was arranged that the meeting should be
delayed till Wharncliffe's return to London. The Duke of Richmond
has, however, got a letter of four sides from Grey, empowering him
to treat here with Wharncliffe, and Stanley and Graham being
expected, it is very likely some progress may be made. Nothing can
promise better, and if the chiefs of the Tories can be brought to
moderation the stupid obstinacy of the mass will not matter, and I
do not think they will dare hold out, for when a negotiation on
such a conciliatory basis is proposed, a terrible case would be
made hereafter against those who should refuse to listen to it.
The advantages are so clear that nothing would make them persist
in the line of uncompromising opposition but an unconquerable
repugnance to afford a triumph to the Waverers, which a successful
termination would do; not that they would profit by it, for they
are so few, and those who will have been wrong so many, that
clamour will silence justice, and a thousand excuses and pretences
will be found to deprive them of their rightful credit. It is a
long time--not probably since the days of Charles II.--that this
place (Newmarket) has been the theatre of a political negotiation,
and, conceding the importance of the subject, the actors are
amusing--Richmond, Graham, Wharncliffe, and myself. By-the-bye it
is perfectly true that (if I have not mentioned it before) the
Royal carriages were all ready the morning of the decision of the
second reading to take the King to the House of Lords to prorogue
Parliament, and on Tuesday the Peers would have appeared in the
'Gazette.'


London, May 12th, 1832 {p.291}

Nothing written for a long time, nor had I anything to write till
a few days ago. From the time of Wharncliffe's departure I heard
nothing, and I bitterly regret now not having been in town last
week.[4] The Committee stood for Monday; on Friday se'nnight last
I was at Buckenham, when the Duke of Rutland told me he was going
to London, that they meant to divide on Monday on a proposal to
postpone Schedules A and B till after C and D, and expected to
beat the Government; I wrote by that post to Lady Harrowby,
saying I hoped this was not true, and that if it was it appeared
to me most injudicious. On Tuesday I received by the post a
letter from Wharncliffe, saying that they had been in frequent
communication with Ellenborough and Lyndhurst, that the
Opposition were prepared to make great and satisfactory
concessions, and he thought all would go off well. The only
difficulty he apprehended was from the postponement of the
disfranchising clause, which the Tories insisted on, and to which
he and Harrowby had thought it right to agree. The next day I
received a second letter, with an account of the debate and its
consequences, to which I wrote him a trimming reply, and another
to Lady Harrowby, expressing my sentiments on their conduct on
the occasion. Before all this happened Wharncliffe had had to
encounter abuse of every kind, and he has certainly continued to
play his cards in such a way, from first to last, as to quarrel
with Whigs and Tories in succession. With very good intentions,
and very honest, he has exposed himself to every reproach of
insincerity, intrigue, and double-dealing.

      [4] [It was on the 7th of May that the Lords went into
          Committee on the Bill, and Lord Lyndhurst's motion to
          postpone the _dis_franchising clauses until after the
          _en_franchising clauses had been agreed to was carried
          by a majority of thirty-five against the Government.
          The seventeen Peers who had assisted to carry the
          second reading on the 11th of April relapsed into the
          Conservative ranks, and the result was, for the moment,
          such as to stop the progress of the Bill and turn out
          the Government.]

[Page Head: DEFEAT OF GOVERNMENT IN COMMITTEE.]

On arriving in town I found a note from him, desiring I would see
him and hear his defence of himself before I expressed elsewhere
the opinion I had given to him. Accordingly I went to Boodle's,
where I found him, and he immediately began his case. He said that
on his return to town he saw Lord Grey, who said that he wished to
know what were the intentions of his party, and how far they were
disposed to go, and what concessions they looked for. He replied
that Lord Grey must understand that he now stood in a very
different position, and that, reunited as he was with the Tories,
he must act with them--much, in short, what he had before said to
Palmerston. They then discussed the question, and he said that
there was one point for which Lord Grey ought to be prepared, and
that he knew the Tories were much bent upon proposing the
postponement of Schedules A and B. Lord Grey said this would be
productive of the greatest embarrassment, that it would be a thing
they could not agree to, and he hoped he would do all in his power
to prevent it. Wharncliffe said that he would endeavour, but he
believed they were very eager about it, and he added that Lord
Grey might be sure _he_ would support nothing calculated to
interfere with the essential provisions of the Bill. After this
his and Harrowby's communications with Ellenborough and his
friends continued, and on the Saturday (I think) Lyndhurst told
him that the Tories were so irrevocably bent upon this, and that
they were so difficult to manage and so disposed to fly off, that
it was absolutely necessary to give way to them, and it must be
proposed, though he would gladly have waived it, but that was
impossible; upon which Harrowby and Wharncliffe gave in and agreed
to support it. One of them (Haddington, I think) suggested that
Wharncliffe ought to communicate this intention to Lord Grey, to
which, however, Lyndhurst objected, said that the Tories were
suspicious, had already taken umbrage at the communications
between Wharncliffe and Grey, and that it must not be. To this
prohibition Wharncliffe fatally submitted, and accordingly not a
word was said by anybody till the afternoon of the debate, when
just before it began Wharncliffe told the Duke of Richmond, who of
course told Lord Grey. Wharncliffe at the same time had some
conversation with John Russell and Stanley, who strongly
deprecated this intention, but it was too late to arrange or
compromise anything then. The debate came on; the proposition was
made in a very aggravating speech by Lyndhurst, and on its being
carried Lord Grey threw up the Bill and the Government in a
passion. It is the more remarkable that they should have taken
this course at once, because they certainly had very strong reason
to doubt whether the King would consent to a creation of Peers,
though they probably thought he might be bullied upon an occasion
which they fancied they could turn to great account; but he was
stout and would not hear of it.

[Page Head: POSITION OF PARTIES.]

The day after the debate Grey and Brougham went down to Windsor
and proposed to the King to make fifty Peers. They took with them
a minute of Cabinet signed by all the members except the Duke of
Richmond. Palmerston proposed it in Cabinet, and Melbourne made
no objection. His Majesty took till the next day to consider,
when he accepted their resignations, which was the alternative
they gave him. At the levee the same day nothing occurred; the
King hardly spoke to the Duke, but he afterwards saw Lyndhurst
(having sent for him). I do not know what passed between them,
but the Duke of Wellington was soon sent for. The Duke and
Lyndhurst endeavoured to prevail on Peel to take the Government
upon himself, and the former offered to act in any capacity in
which he could be useful, but Peel would not. Some communication
also took place between Lyndhurst and Harrowby, but the latter
declared at once he would support the new Government, but not
take office. When Peel finally declined, the Duke accepted, and
yesterday at three o'clock he went to St. James's. The King saw
Peel and the Speaker. Nothing is known of the formation of the
Cabinet, but the reports were first that Alexander Baring was to
be Chancellor of the Exchequer, and since that he has refused on
account of his health, and that Lyndhurst is to go to the King's
Bench, Tenterden to retire, and the Great Seal to be put in
commission.

The first act of the Duke was to advise the King to reject the
address of the Birmingham Union, which he did, and said he knew of
no such body. All very proper. In the morning I called upon Wood
at the Treasury, to explain to him that I had never been cognisant
of the late proceedings in the House of Lords, and that I was far
from approving the conduct of my old associates. He said he had
never believed that I was any party to it, and regretted that I
had not been in town, when it was just possible I might have
persuaded them of the unworthiness of the course they were taking.
He said that I did not know how bad it was, for that Wharncliffe
had distinctly said that if such a thing was proposed he should
oppose it, and that Palmerston was present when he said so. This
Wharncliffe positively denies, and yesterday he went to Palmerston
to endeavour to explain, taking with him a minute which he said he
had drawn up at the time of all that passed, but which he had
never before shown or submitted for correction, and which
Palmerston told him was incorrect, inasmuch, as it omitted that
engagement. They are at issue as to the fact. The position of the
respective parties is curious. The Waverers undertook a task of
great difficulty with slender means, and they accomplished it with
complete success. All turned out as they expected and desired,
but, after having been in confidential communication with both
parties, they have contrived mortally to offend both, and to
expose themselves to odium from every quarter, and to an universal
imputation of insincerity and double-dealing, and this without any
other fault than mismanagement and the false position in which
they found themselves, without influence or power, between two
mighty parties. The Tories, who have exhibited nothing but
obstinacy and unreasonableness, and who thwarted the Waverers by
every means they could devise, have reaped all the benefit of
their efforts, and that without admitting that they were right or
thanking them for bringing matters to this pass. They are
triumphant, in spite of all they did to prevent their own triumph,
and have had all the spiteful pleasure of abuse and obloquy, all
the glory of consistency, and the satisfaction of pertinacity,
with all the advantages that an opposite line of conduct promised
to give them. [Their triumph was of short duration, and nothing so
complete as their final discomfiture.]

The King took leave of his Ministers with a great effusion of
tenderness, particularly to Richmond, whom he entreated to remain
in office; but I take it that he easily consoles himself, and
does not care much more for one Minister than another.

The debate in the House of Commons was not so violent as might
have been expected, and the Tories were greatly elated with the
divisions on Ebrington's motion, because there was a majority
less by fifty-six than on a similar motion when the Bill was
rejected in October. The circumstances were, however, different,
and some would not vote because they disapprove of creating
Peers, which this vote would have committed them to approve of.
There is so much of wonder, and curiosity, and expectation abroad
that there is less of abuse and exasperation than might have been
expected, but it will all burst forth. The town is fearfully
quiet. What is odd enough is that the King was hissed as he left
London the other day, and the Duke cheered as he came out of the
Palace. There have been some meetings, with resolutions to
support the Bill, to express approbation of the Ministers, and to
protest against the payment of taxes, and there will probably be
a good deal of bustle and bluster here and elsewhere; but I do
not believe in real tumults, particularly when the rabble and the
unions know that there is a Government which will not stand such
things, and that they will not be able to bandy compliments with
the Duke as they did with Althorp and John Russell, not but what
much dissatisfaction and much disquietude must prevail. The funds
have not fallen, which is a sign that there is no alarm in the
City. At this early period of the business it is difficult to
form any opinion of what will happen; the present Government in
opposition will again be formidable, but I am disposed to think
things will go on and right themselves; we shall avoid a creation
of Peers, but we must have a Reform Bill of some sort, and
perhaps a harmless one after all, and if the elements of disorder
can be resolved into tranquillity and order again, we must not
quarrel with the means that have been employed, nor the quantum
of moral injustice that has been perpetrated.

[Page Head: PEEL REFUSES TO TAKE OFFICE.]

The Tories are very indignant with Peel for not taking office,
and if, as it is supposed, he is to support Government and the
Bill out of office, and when all is over come in, it is hardly
worth while for such a farce to deprive the King and the country
of his services in the way that they could be most useful, but he
is still smarting under Catholic question reminiscences, while
the Duke is more thick-skinned. After he had carried the Catholic
question the world was prepared for a good deal of versatility on
his part, but it was in mere derision that (after his speech on
Reform in 1830) it used to be said that he would very likely be
found proposing a Bill of Reform, and here he is coming into
office for the express purpose of carrying on this very Bill
against which the other day he entered a protest which must stare
him in the face through the whole progress of it, or, if not, to
bring in another of the same character, and probably nearly of
the same dimensions. Pretexts are, however, not wanting, and the
necessity of supporting the King is made paramount to every other
consideration. The Duke's worshippers (a numerous class) call
this the finest action of his life, though it is difficult to
perceive in what the grandeur of it consists, or the magnitude of
the sacrifice. However, it is fair to wait a little, and hear
from his own lips his exposition of the mode in which he intends
to deal with this measure, and how he will reconcile what he has
hitherto said with what he is now about to do. Talleyrand is of
course in a state of great consternation, which will be
communicated like an electrical shock to the Powers specially
favoured and protected by the late Government--Leopold and Don
Pedro, for instance. It will be a difficult thing for the Duke to
deal with some of the questions on which he has committed himself
pretty considerably while in opposition, both with respect to
foreign politics and especially Irish Education.


Monday, May 14th, 1832 {p.297}

Nothing more was known yesterday, but everybody was congregated at
the clubs, asking, discussing, and wondering. There was a great
meeting at Apsley House, when it was supposed everything was
settled. The Household went yesterday to St. James's to resign
their sticks and badges; amongst the rest Lord Foley. The King was
very civil to him; made him sit down and said, 'Lord Foley, you
are a young man.' 'Sir, I am afraid I cannot flatter myself that I
have any right to that appellation.' 'Oh, yes; you are a young
man--at all events in comparison with me--and you will probably
come into office again; but I am an old man, and I am afraid I
shall not have the pleasure of seeing you there.' It is supposed
that this _coup_ has been preparing for some time. All the Royal
Family, bastards and all, have been incessantly _at_ the King, and
he has probably had more difficulty in the long run in resisting
the constant importunity of his _entourage_, and of his womankind
particularly, than the dictates of his Ministers; and between this
gradual but powerful impression, and his real opinion and fears,
he was not sorry to seize the first good opportunity of shaking
off the Whigs. When Lord Anglesey went to take leave of him at
Windsor he was struck with the change in his sentiments, and told
Lady Anglesey so, who repeated it to my brother.

It is gratifying to find that those with whom I used to dispute,
and who would hear of nothing but rejecting the second reading,
now admit that my view was the correct one, and Vesey Fitzgerald,
with whom I had more than one discussion, complimented me very
handsomely upon the justification of my view of the question
which the event had afforded. The High Tories, of course, will
never admit that they could have been wrong, and have no other
resource but to insist boldly that the King never would have made
Peers at all.[5]

      [5] [Everyone knows how short-lived were the expectations
          caused by the temporary resignation of Lord Grey's
          Government. It will be seen in the following pages how
          soon the vision passed away; but the foregoing passages
          are retained precisely because they contain a vivid and
          faithful picture of the state of opinion at the
          moment.]


London, May 17th, 1832 {p.298}

[Page Head: WELLINGTON'S EFFORTS TO FORM A MINISTRY.]

The events of the last few days have passed with a rapidity which
hardly left time to think upon them--such sudden changes and
transitions from rage to triumph on one side, and from foolish
exultation to mortification and despair on the other. The first
impression was that the Duke of Wellington would succeed in
forming a Government, with or without Peel. The first thing he
did was to try and prevail upon Peel to be Prime Minister, but he
was inexorable. He then turned to Baring,[6] who, after much
hesitation, agreed to be Chancellor of the Exchequer. The work
went on, but with difficulty, for neither Peel, Goulburn, nor
Croker would take office. They then tried the Speaker, who was
mightily tempted to become Secretary of State, but still doubting
and fearing, and requiring time to make up his mind. At an
interview with the Duke and Lyndhurst at Apsley House he declared
his sentiments on the existing state of affairs in a speech of
three hours, to the unutterable disgust of Lyndhurst, who
returned home, flung himself into a chair, and said that 'he
could not endure to have anything to do with such a _damned
tiresome old bitch_.' After these three hours of oratory Manners
Sutton desired to have till the next morning (Monday) to make up
his mind, which he again begged might be extended till the
evening. On that evening (Monday) ensued the memorable night in
the House of Commons, which everybody agrees was such a scene of
violence and excitement as never had been exhibited within those
walls. Tavistock told me he had never heard anything at all like
it, and to his dying day should not forget it. The House was
crammed to suffocation; every violent sentiment and vituperative
expression was received with shouts of approbation, yet the
violent speakers were listened to with the greatest attention.[7]
Tom Duncombe made one of his blustering Radical harangues, full
of every sort of impertinence, which was received with immense
applause, but which contrasted with an admirable speech, full of
dignity, but also of sarcasm and severity, from John Russell--the
best he ever made. The conduct of the Duke of Wellington in
taking office _to carry the Bill_, which was not denied, but
which his friends feebly attempted to justify, was assailed with
the most merciless severity, and (what made the greatest
impression) was condemned (though in more measured terms) by
moderate men and Tories, such as Inglis and Davies Gilbert.
Baring, who spoke four times, at last proposed that there should
be a compromise, and that the ex-Ministers should resume their
seats and carry the Bill. This extraordinary proposition was
drawn from him by the state of the House, and the impossibility
he at once saw of forming a new Government, and without any
previous concert with the Duke, who, however, entirely approved
of what he said. After the debate Baring and Sutton went to
Apsley House, and related to the Duke what had taken place, the
former saying he would face a thousand devils rather than such a
House of Commons. From that moment the whole thing was at an end,
and the next morning (Tuesday) the Duke repaired to the King, and
told him that he could not form an Administration. This
communication, for which the debate of the previous night had
prepared everybody, was speedily known, and the joy and triumph
of the Whigs were complete.

      [6] [Alexander Baring, afterwards Lord Ashburton.]

      [7] [The debate arose on a petition of the City of London,
          praying that the House would refuse supplies until the
          Reform Bill had become law.]

The King desired the Duke and Lyndhurst (for they went together)
to advise him what he should do. They advised him to write to
Lord Grey (which he did), informing him that the Duke had given
up the commission to form a Government, that he had heard of what
had fallen from Mr. Baring in the House of Commons the night
before on the subject of a compromise, and that he wished Lord
Grey to return and resume the Government upon that principle.
Lord Grey sent an answer full of the usual expressions of zeal
and respect, but saying that he could give no answer until he had
consulted his colleagues. He assembled his Cabinet, and at five
o'clock the answer was sent.[8]

      [8] [These communications have been published in the
          'Correspondence of Earl Grey with William IV.,' vol.
          ii. pp. 406-411.]

[Page Head: TRIUMPH OF THE WHIGS.]

Yesterday morning Lord Grey saw the King; but up to last night
nothing was finally settled, everything turning upon the terms to
be exacted, some of the violent of the party desiring they should
avail themselves of this opportunity to make Peers, both to show
their power and increase their strength; the more moderate,
including Lord Grey himself and many of the old Peer-makers, were
for sparing the King's feelings and using their victory with
moderation, all, however, agreeing that the only condition on
which they could return was the certainty of carrying the Reform
Bill unaltered, either by a creation of Peers or by the secession
of its opponents. Up to the present moment the matter stands
thus: the King at the mercy of the Whigs, just as averse as ever
to make Peers, the violent wishing to press him, the moderate
wishing to spare him, all parties railing at each other, the
Tories broken and discomfited, and meditating no further
resistance to the Reform Bill. The Duke is to make his _exposé_
to-night.

Peel, who has kept himself out of the scrape, is strongly
suspected of being anything but sorry for the dilemma into which
the Duke has got himself, and they think that he secretly
encouraged him to persevere, with promises of present support and
future co-operation, with a shrewd anticipation of the fate that
awaited him. I am by no means indisposed to give credit to this,
for I well remember the wrath of Peel when the Duke's Government
was broken up in 1830, and the various instances of secret
dislike and want of real cordiality which have peeped from under
a decent appearance of union and friendship. Nothing can be more
certain than that he is in high spirits in the midst of it all,
and talks with great complacency of its being very well as it is,
and that the salvation of character is everything; and this from
him, who fancies he has saved his own, and addressed to those who
have forfeited theirs, is amusing.

The joy of the King at what he thought was to be his deliverance
from the Whigs was unbounded. He lost no time in putting the Duke
of Wellington in possession of everything that had taken place
between him and them upon the subject of Reform, and with regard
to the creation of Peers, admitting that he had consented, but
saying he had been subjected to every species of persecution. His
ignorance, weakness, and levity put him in a miserable light, and
prove him to be one of the silliest old gentlemen in his
dominions; but I believe he is mad, for yesterday he gave a great
dinner to the Jockey Club, at which (notwithstanding his cares)
he seemed in excellent spirits; and after dinner he made a number
of speeches, so ridiculous and nonsensical, beyond all belief but
to those who heard them, rambling from one subject to another,
repeating the same thing over and over again, and altogether such
a mass of confusion, trash, and imbecility as made one laugh and
blush at the same time.

As soon as the Duke had agreed to try and form a Government he
applied to the Tories, who nearly all agreed to support him, and
were prepared to go to all lengths, even to that of swallowing the
whole Bill if necessary; the Duke of Newcastle particularly would
do anything. These were the men who were so squeamish that they
could not be brought to support amendments even, unless they were
permitted to turn the schedules upside-down, straining at gnats
out of office and swallowing camels in. It is remarkable that
after the sacrifice Wharncliffe made to re-ingratiate himself with
the Tories, incurring the detestation and abuse of the Whigs, and
their reproach of bad faith, the former have utterly neglected
him, taking no notice of him whatever during the whole of their
proceedings from the moment of the division, leaving him in
ignorance of their plans and intentions, never inviting him to any
of their meetings, and although a communication was made by
Lyndhurst to Harrowby (they wanted Harrowby to be Prime Minister),
the latter was not at liberty to impart it to Wharncliffe. It is
not possible to be more deeply mortified than he is at the
treatment he has experienced from these allies after having so
committed himself. From the account of the King's levity
throughout these proceedings, I strongly suspect that (if he
lives) he will go mad. While the Duke and Lyndhurst were with him,
at one of the most critical moments (I forget now at which) he
said, 'I have been thinking that something is wanting with regard
to Hanover. Duke, you are now my Minister, and I beg you will
think of this; I should like to have a slice of Belgium, which
would be a convenient addition to Hanover. Pray remember this,'
and then resumed the subject they were upon.


May 19th, 1832 {p.302}

The night before last the Duke made his statement. It was
extremely clear, but very bald, and left his case just where it
was, as he did not say anything that everybody did not know
before. His friends, however, extolled it as a masterpiece of
eloquence and a complete vindication of himself. The Tory Lords
who spoke after him bedaubed him with praise, and vied with each
other in expressions of admiration. These were Carnarvon,
Winchelsea, and Haddington. There was not one word from the Duke
(nor from the others) indicative of an intention to secede, which
was what the Government expected. His speech contained a sort of
covert attack upon Peel; in fact, he could not defend himself
without attacking Peel, for if the one was in the right in taking
office the other must have been in the wrong in refusing to join
him. There was nothing, however, which was meant as a reproach,
though out of the House the Duke's friends do not conceal their
anger that Peel would not embark with him in his desperate
enterprise.

Lyndhurst was exceedingly able, highly excited, very eloquent,
and contrived to make his case a good one. It was a fine display
and very short. Carnarvon and Mansfield were outrageously
violent, but both in their way clever, and parts of the speech of
the latter were eloquent. Lord Grey was excellent, short, very
temperate and judicious, exactly what was requisite and nothing
more. Nobody else spoke on his side, except Mulgrave at the end.

[Page Head: THE KING'S LETTER TO THE PEERS.]

The debate, however interesting, left the whole matter in
uncertainty; and the next day the old question began again. What
was to be done--Peers or no Peers? A Cabinet sat nearly all day,
and Lord Grey went once or twice to the King. He, poor man, was at
his wits' end, and tried an experiment (not a very constitutional
one) of his own by writing to a number of Peers, entreating them
to withdraw their opposition to the Bill. These letters were
written (I think) before the debate. On Thursday nothing was
settled, and at another meeting of the Cabinet a minute was drawn
up agreeing to offer again the same advice to the King. Before
this was acted upon Richmond, who had been absent, arrived, and he
prevailed upon his colleagues to cancel it. In the meantime the
Duke of Wellington, Lyndhurst, and other Peers had given the
desired assurances to the King, which he communicated to Lord
Grey. These were accepted as sufficient securities, and
declarations made accordingly in both Houses of Parliament. If the
Ministers had again gone to the King with this advice, it is
impossible to say how it would have ended, for he had already been
obstinate, and might have continued so on this point, and he told
Lord Verulam that he thought it would be contrary to his
coronation oath to make Peers. Our princes have strange notions of
the obligations imposed by their coronation oath.

On Thursday in the House of Commons Peel made his statement, in
which, with great civility and many expressions of esteem and
admiration of the Duke, he pronounced as bitter a censure of his
conduct, while apparently confining himself to the defence of his
own, as it was possible to do, and as such it was taken. I have
not the least doubt that he did it _con amore_, and that he is
doubly rejoiced to be out of the scrape himself and to leave
others in it.


May 31st, 1832 {p.304}

Since I came back from Newmarket there has not been much to write
about. A calm has succeeded the storm. Last night Schedules A and
B were galloped through the Committee, and they finished the
business. On Thursday next the Bill will probably be read a third
time. In the House of Lords some dozen Tories and Waverers have
continued to keep up a little skirmish, and a good deal of
violent language has been bandied about, in which the Whigs,
being the winners, have shown the best temper. In society the
excitement has ceased, but the bitterness remains. The Tories
are, however, so utterly defeated, and the victory of their
opponents is so complete, that the latter can afford to be
moderate and decorous in their tone and manner; and the former
are exceedingly sulky, cockering up each other with much
self-gratulation and praise, but aware that in the opinion of the
mass of mankind they are covered with odium, ridicule, and
disgrace. Peel and the Duke are ostensibly great friends, and the
ridiculous farce is still kept up of each admiring what he would
not do himself, but what the other did.


June 1st, 1832 {p.305}

[Page Head: FAVOURITES OF LOUIS XVIII.]

Met the Duke of Wellington at dinner yesterday, and afterwards had
a long talk with him, not on politics. I never see and converse
with him without reproaching myself for the sort of hostility I
feel and express towards his political conduct, for there are a
simplicity, a gaiety, and natural urbanity and good-humour in him,
which are remarkably captivating in so great a man. We talked of
Dumont's book and Louis XVIII.'s 'Memoirs.' I said I thought the
'Memoirs' were not genuine. He said he was sure they were, that
they bore the strongest internal evidence of being so, particularly
in their accuracy as to dates, that he was the best chronologist
in the world, and that he knew the day of the week of every event
of importance. He once asked the Duke when he was born, and when
he told him the day of the month and year, he at once said it was
on a Tuesday; that he (the Duke) had remembered that throughout
the book the day of the week was always mentioned, and many of the
anecdotes he had himself heard the King tell. He then talked of
him, and I was surprised to hear him say that Charles X. was a
cleverer man, as far as knowledge of the world went, though Louis
XVIII. was much better informed--a most curious remark,
considering the history and end of each. [Nothing could be more
mistaken and untrue than this opinion.] That Louis XVIII. was
always governed, and a favourite indispensable to him. At the
Congress of Vienna the Duke was deputed to speak to M. de Blacas,
his then favourite, and tell him that his unpopularity was so
great in France that it was desirable he should not return there.
Blacas replied, 'You don't know the King; he must have a
favourite, and he had better have me than another. I shall go; he
will have another, and you should take pains to put a _gentleman_
in that situation, for he is capable of taking the first person
that finds access to him and the opportunity of pleasing him.' He
added that he should not wonder if he took Fouché. He did not take
Fouché, who was not aware of the part he might have played, but he
took De Cazes, who governed him entirely. This continued till the
Royal Family determined to get rid of him, and by threatening to
make an _esclandre_ and leave the château they at last succeeded,
and De Cazes was sent as Ambassador to London. Then the King wrote
to him constantly, sending him verses and literary scraps. The
place remained vacant till accident threw Madame du Cayla in his
way.[9] She was the daughter of Talon, who had been concerned in
the affair of the Marquis de Favras, and she sent to the King to
say she had some papers of her father's relating to that affair,
which she should like to give into his own hands. He saw her and
was pleased with her. The Royal Family encouraged this new taste,
in order to get rid entirely of De Cazes, and even the Duchesse
d'Angoulême promoted her success. It was the same thing to him to
have a woman as a man, and there was no sexual question in the
matter, as what he wanted was merely some one to whom he could
tell everything, consult with on all occasions, and with whom he
could bandy literary trifles. Madame du Cayla, who was clever, was
speedily installed, and he directly gave up De Cazes. He told the
Duke that he was _brouillé_ with De Cazes, who had behaved very
ill to him, but he had nothing specific to allege against him,
except that his manner to him was not what it ought to have been.
The Ministers paid assiduous court to Madame du Cayla, imparted
everything to her, and got her to say what they wanted said to the
King; she acted all the part of a mistress, except the essential,
of which there never was any question. She got great sums of money
from him and very valuable presents.

      [9] [This lady has already been noticed in a previous
          portion of these Memoirs, when she visited England. See
          vol. i. p. 215 [July 10th, 1829].]


June 18th, 1832 {p.306}

[Page Head: CHARACTER OF WILLIAM IV.]

Breakfasted on Thursday with Rogers, and yesterday at the
Athenæum with Henry Taylor, and met Mr. Charles Austin, a
lawyer, clever man, and Radical. The Bills are jogging on and
there is a comparative calm. The Whigs swear that the Reformed
Parliament will be the most aristocratic we have ever seen, and
Ellice told me that they cannot hear of a single improper person
likely to be elected for any of the new places. [Their choice did
not correspond with this statement of their disposition.] The
metropolitan districts want rank and talent. The Government and
their people have now found out what a fool the King is, and it
is very amusing to hear them on the subject. Formerly, when they
thought they had him fast, he was very honest and rather wise;
now they find him rather shuffling and exceedingly silly. When
Normanby went to take leave of him on going to Jamaica, he
pronounced a harangue in favour of the slave trade, of which he
has always been a great admirer, and expressed sentiments for
which his subjects would tear him to pieces if they heard them.
It is one of the great evils of the recent convulsion that the
King's imbecility has been exposed to the world, and in his
person the regal authority has fallen into contempt; his own
personal unpopularity is not of much consequence as long as it
does not degrade his office; that of George IV. never did, so
little so that he could always as King cancel the bad impressions
which he made in his individual capacity, and he frequently did
so. Walter Scott is arrived here, dying. A great mortality among
great men; Goethe, Périer, Champollion, Cuvier, Scott, Grant,
Mackintosh, all died within a few weeks of each other.


June 25th, 1832 {p.307}

At Fern Hill all last week; a great party, nothing but racing and
gambling; then to Shepperton, and to town on Saturday. The event
of the races was the King's having his head knocked with a stone.
It made very little sensation on the spot, for he was not hurt,
and the fellow was a miserable-looking ragamuffin. It, however,
produced a great burst of loyalty in both Houses, and their
Majesties were loudly cheered at Ascot. The Duke of Wellington,
who had been the day before mobbed in London, also reaped a
little harvest of returning popularity from the assault, and so
far the outrages have done rather good than harm.


July 12th, 1832 {p.307}

The suttee case was decided at the Privy Council on Saturday
last, and was not uninteresting. The Chancellor, Lord President,
Graham, John Russell and Grant, Sir Edward East, the Master of
Rolls, Vice-Chancellor, Lord Amherst, and Lord Wellesley were
present (the latter not the last day). Lushington was for the
appeal, and Home and Starkie against. The former made two very
able and ingenious speeches; when the counsel withdrew the Lords
gave their opinions _seriatim_. Leach made a very short and very
neat speech, condemning the order[10] of the Governor-General,
but admitting the danger of rescinding it, and recommending,
therefore, that the execution of it should be suspended. Sir
Edward East, in a long, diffusive harangue, likewise condemned
the order, but was against suspension; Sir James Graham was
against the order, but against suspension; Lord Amherst the same.
The rest approved of the order altogether. John Russell gave his
opinion very well. The Chancellor was prolix and confused; he hit
upon a bit of metaphysics in one of the cases on which he took
pleasure in dilating. The result was that the petition was
dismissed.

     [10] The order was a decree of the Governor-General of India
          abolishing the practice of suttee, against which
          certain Hindoos appealed to the King in Council.
          Another party, however, were in favour of the order,
          and the Rajah Rammohun Roy is acting in this country as
          their agent.

I know nothing of politics for some time past. The Reform fever
having subsided, people are principally occupied with speculations
on the next elections. At present there is every appearance of the
return of a House of Commons very favourable to the present
Government, but the Tory party keeps together in the House of
Lords, and they are animated with vague hopes of being able to
turn out the Ministry, more from a spirit of hatred and revenge
than from any clear view of the practicability of their carrying
on the Government. I conceive, however, that as soon as Parliament
is up there will be a creation of Peers. In the House of Commons
the Irish Tithe question has been the great subject of interest
and discussion. O'Connell and the Irish members debate and adjourn
just as they please, and Althorp is obliged to give way to them.
When Stanley moved for leave to bring in his Bill, he detailed his
plan in a speech of two hours. They thought fit to oppose this,
which is quite unusual, and O'Connell did not arrive till after
Stanley had sat down. Not having heard his speech he could not
answer him, and he therefore moved the adjournment. Upon a former
occasion, during the Reform Bill, when the Tories moved an
adjournment after many hours' debate, the Government opposed it,
and voted on through the night till seven o'clock in the morning;
now the Tories were ready to support Government against the Irish
members, but they would not treat the Radicals as they did the
Tories, and then on a subsequent occasion they submitted to have
the debate adjourned.

[Page Head: O'CONNELL'S DREAD OF CHOLERA.]

O'Connell is supposed to be horridly afraid of the cholera. He
has dodged about between London and Dublin, as the disease
appeared first at one and then the other place, and now that it
is everywhere he shirks the House of Commons from fear of the
heat and the atmosphere. The cholera is here, and diffuses a
certain degree of alarm. Some servants of people well known have
died, and that frightens all other servants out of their wits,
and they frighten their masters; the death of any one person they
are acquainted with terrifies people much more than that of
twenty of whom they knew nothing. As long as they read daily
returns of a parcel of deaths here and there of A, B, and C they
do not mind, but when they hear that Lady such a one's nurse or
Sir somebody's footman is dead, they fancy they see the disease
actually at their own door.


July 15th, 1832 {p.309}

[Page Head: IRISH TITHES.]

I had a good deal of conversation yesterday with Lord Duncannon
and Lord John Russell about Ireland. The debate the night before
lasted till four o'clock. O'Connell made a furious speech, and
Dawson the other evening another, talking of resistance and of
his readiness to join in it. This drew up Peel, who had spoken
before, and who, when attacked with cries of 'Spoke!' said, 'Yes,
I have spoken, but I will say that no party considerations shall
prevent my supporting Government in this measure, and giving them
my cordial support.' He was furious with Dawson, and got up in
order to throw him over, though he did not address himself to
him, or to anything he had said expressly. John Russell spoke out
what ought to have been said long ago, that the Church could not
stand, but that the present clergyman must be paid. Both he and
Duncannon are aware of the false position in which the Government
is placed, pretending to legislate with a knowledge that their
laws cannot be enforced, and the latter said that, whatever might
be done, the Irish would take nothing at the hands of Stanley. It
is unfortunate that his attachment to the Church makes him the
unfittest man in the country to manage Irish affairs, and he has
contrived to make himself so personally unpopular that with the
best intentions he could not give satisfaction. Under these
circumstances his remaining there is impossible, but what is to
be done with him? He is of such importance in the House of
Commons that they cannot part with him. I asked John Russell why
they did not send Hobhouse to Ireland and make Stanley Secretary
of War. He said would he consent to exchange? that he was tired
of office, and would be glad to be out. I said I could not
suppose in such an emergency that he would allow any personal
considerations to influence him, and that he would consent to
whatever arrangement would be most beneficial to the Government
and conducive to the settlement of Irish affairs. The truth is
(as I told him) that they are, with respect to Ireland, in the
situation of a man who has got an old house in which he can no
longer live, not tenable; various architects propose this and
that alteration, to build a room here and pull down one there,
but at last they find that all these alterations will only serve
to make the house habitable a little while longer, that the dry
rot is in it, and that they had better begin, as they will be
obliged to end, by pulling it down and building up a new one. He
owned this was true, but said that here another difficulty
presented itself with regard to Stanley--whether he would, as a
leading member of the Cabinet, consent to any measures which
might go so much further than he would be disposed to do. I said
that I could not imagine (whatever might be his predilections)
that his mind was not awakened to the necessity of giving way to
the state of things, and that he might consent to measures which
he felt he was not a fit person to introduce and recommend. He
assented to this. He then talked of the views of the Protestants,
of the Lefroys, &c., that they began to admit the necessity of a
change, but by no means would consent to the alienation of Church
property from Protestant uses, that they were willing where there
was a large parish consisting entirely of Catholics that the
tithes should be taken from the rector of such parish and given
to one who had a large Protestant flock--an arrangement which
would disgust the Catholics as much as or more than any other,
and be considered a perfect mockery. The fact is we may shift and
change and wriggle about as much as we will, we may examine and
report and make laws, but tithe, the tithe system is at an end.
The people will not pay them, and there are no means of
compelling them. The march of events is just as certain as that
of the seasons. The question which is said to be beset with
difficulties is in fact very easy--that is, its difficulties
arise from conflicting interests and passions, and not from the
uncertainty of its operation and end. Those conflicting passions
are certainly very great and very embarrassing, and it is no easy
matter to deal with them, but it seems to me that the wisest
policy is to keep our eyes steadfastly fixed on the end, and,
admitting the inevitable conclusion, labour to bring it about
with the smallest amount of individual loss, the greatest general
benefit, and the best chance of permanence and stability. By
casting lingering looks at the old system, and endeavouring to
save something here and there, by allowing the Church to remain
in the rags and tatters of its old supremacy, we shall foster
those hostile feelings which it is essential to put down for
ever, and leave the seeds of grievance and hatred to spring up in
a future harvest of agitation and confusion.


July 25th, 1832 {p.311}

Nothing of moment has occurred lately; the dread of cholera
absorbs everybody. Mrs. Smith, young and beautiful, was dressed
to go to church on Sunday morning, when she was seized with the
disorder, never had a chance of rallying, and died at eleven at
night. This event, shocking enough in itself from its suddenness
and the youth and beauty of the person, has created a terrible
alarm; many people have taken flight, and others are suspended
between their hopes of safety in country air and their dread of
being removed from metropolitan aid. The disease spreads
gradually in all directions in town and country, but without
appearing like an epidemic; it is scattered and uncertain; it
brings to light horrible distress. We, who live on the smooth and
plausible surface, know little of the frightful appearance of the
bowels of society.

Don Pedro has never been heard of since he landed, and nobody
seems much to care whether he or Miguel succeed. The Tories are
for the latter and the Whigs for the former. In a fourth debate
on the Russian Dutch Loan Ministers got a good finale, a large
division, and a brilliant speech from Stanley, totally unprepared
and prodigiously successful. Nothing could be worse in point of
tactics than renewing this contest, neither party having, in
fact, a good case. Parliament is going to separate soon, and the
cholera will accelerate the prorogation; not a step has been made
towards an approximation between the rival parties, who appear to
be animated against each other with unabated virulence. The
moderate Tories talk of their desire to see the Government
discard their Radical friends, but the great body give them no
encouragement to do so by evincing any diminished hostility to
them as a party. Opinions are so different as to the probable
composition of the next Parliament, that it is difficult to
arrive at any satisfactory conclusion about it. The Tories
evidently expect that they shall reappear in very formidable
strength, though in particular places the Tory party is entirely
crushed; the sooner it is so altogether the better, for no good
can be expected from it, and it would be far better to erect a
Conservative party upon a new and broader basis than to try and
bolster up this worn-out, prejudiced, obstinate faction. But the
times are difficult and men are wanting; the middle classes are
pressing on, and there are men enough there of fortune, energy,
activity, zeal, and ambition--no Cannings perhaps or Broughams,
but a host of fellows of the calibre of the actors in the old
French Constituent Assembly.


July 29th, 1832 {p.312}

[Page Head: QUARREL BETWEEN BROUGHAM AND SUGDEN.]

There has been a great breeze between the Chancellor and Sugden,
abusing and retorting upon each other from their respective
Houses of Parliament. As all personal matters excite greater
interest than any others, so has this. Scott, Lord Eldon's son,
died, and his places became vacant. Brougham had recommended
their abolition long ago in his evidence before the House of
Commons, and both publicly and privately. Some days ago Sugden
gave notice to Horne (Solicitor-General) that he meant to put a
question to him in the House of Commons as to whether these
appointments were to be filled up or not, but before he did so
(at four o'clock in the morning) the writ was moved for James
Brougham, who had been put by the Chancellor in Scott's place.
Accordingly the next day Sugden attacked the appointment in the
House of Commons, and though he was by way of only asking a
question, he in fact made a long vituperative speech. Nobody was
there to reply. Althorp said he knew nothing of the matter, and
various speeches were made, all expressive of a desire that the
appointment should only be temporary. Horne (it seems) had never
told the Chancellor what Sugden said, and Denman, who had no
authority from him, did not dare get up and say that it was not
to be permanent. Later in the day, having received instructions
from the Chancellor, he did get up and say so. The next day
Brougham introduced the subject in the House of Lords, and
attacked Sugden with all the sarcasm and contumely which he could
heap upon him, comparing him to 'a crawling reptile,' &c. Not one
of his Tory friends said a word, and, what is curious, the Duke
of Wellington praised Brougham for his disinterestedness, and old
Eldon defended the place. The following day (Friday) Sugden again
brought the matter before the House of Commons, complained
bitterly of the Chancellor's speech, was called to order by
Stanley, when the Speaker interfered, and, dexterously turning
Sugden's attack upon the newspaper report, enabled him to go on.
A violent discussion followed, rather awkward for the Chancellor,
whose friends endeavoured to soften the thing down by denying the
accuracy of the report. After much acrimonious debate the matter
ended. Yesterday the 'Times,' throwing over Brougham and Sugden,
asserted the accuracy of its own reporter, and declared that
whether the Chancellor was right or wrong to have uttered them,
the words were spoken by him exactly as they had been reported.
Both parties are furious, but on the whole the Chancellor seems
at present to have the worst of it, for it is worse for a man in
his station to be in the wrong, and more indecent to be
scurrilous, than for an individual who is nothing. Sugden now
declares he will bring on a motion he has long meditated on the
subject of the Court of Chancery, in which he will exhibit to the
world the whole conduct of Brougham since he has held the Great
Seal, his early haste and precipitation, his recent carelessness
and delay, his ignorance, inattention, and incompetence for the
office he holds. In this he expects to be supported by Wetherell,
Knight, and Pemberton, three of the most eminent Chancery
lawyers, while Brougham has nobody but Horne (of the profession)
to defend him. If this should occur he may thank himself, for he
would put Horne there.

Sir Charles Bagot called on me yesterday; told me that he thought
the Belgian question was at last on the point of being settled,
that the King of Holland had made 'the great concession,' and
that the rest must soon follow, that he had never passed two such
years amidst such difficulties, the King so obstinate. His view
was that by holding out and maintaining a large army events would
produce war, and that he would be able to sell himself to some
one of the contending parties, getting back Belgium as the price
of his aid, that he now only gave in because not a hope was left,
that the difficulties were so great that it was not the fault of
this Government that matters were not settled before. I asked him
how the Dutch had contrived to make such an exertion. He said it
was very creditable to them, but that they were very rich and
very frugal, and had lugged out their hoards. They had saddled
themselves with a debt the interest of which amounts to about
£700,000 a year--a good deal for two millions of people.


August 1st, 1832 {p.314}

[Page Head: BROUGHAM'S RESENTMENT.]

Here is an anecdote exhibiting the character of Brougham, hot,
passionate, and precipitate. He is preparing his Bill for the
amendment of the Court of Chancery, by which the patronage is to
be done away with. Compensation was to be given to the present
interests, but upon this recent affair between Sugden and him, to
revenge himself upon men who are all or mostly of Sugden's party,
he ordered the compensation clauses to be struck out. Sefton (who
is a sort of Sancho to him) came up to dinner quite elated at
having heard the order given. 'I wish,' said he, 'you had heard a
man treated as I did in the Chancellor's room. He came in to ask
him about the Bill he was drawing up. "I suppose the compensation
clauses are to be put in?" "Compensation?" said Brougham. "No, by
God; no compensation. Leave them out, if you please. They chose
to attack me, and they shall have enough of it."' And what will
be the end of all this--that the Chancellor shows his spite and
commits himself, shows that he is influenced in legislation by
personal feelings, and incurs the suspicion that because he
cannot get a compensation for his brother he is resolved nobody
else shall have any? Althorp's speech about the pensions on
Monday set at rest the question of compensation, and if these
offices are abolished the Chancellor cannot prevent their getting
it. In the House of Lords the eternal Russian Dutch Loan came on
again. The Duke made a speech and Wynford made a speech, and they
were opposed to each other; the Duke hit the right nail on the
head, and took that course which he frequently does, and which is
such a redeeming quality in his political character--addressed
himself to the _question itself_, to the real merits of it,
without making it a mere vehicle for annoying the Government.
Aberdeen sneered, but when the Duke throws over his people they
can do nothing.


August 8th, 1832 {p.315}

Pedro's expedition, which always has hobbled along, and never
exhibited any of that dash which is essential to the success of
such efforts, may be considered hopeless; Palmella arrived here a
day or two ago, very low, and the Regency scrip has fallen four
per cent. Nobody joins them, and it seems pretty clear that, one
_coquin_ for another, the Portuguese think they may as well have
Miguel. The Dutch affair is not yet settled, but on the point of
it; for the fiftieth time a 'little hitch' has again arisen. Last
night, in the House of Lords, the Chancellor, in one of his most
bungling ways, made what he meant to be a sort of _amende_ to
Sugden, making the matter rather worse than it was before, at
least for his own credit, for he said that 'he had never intended
to give pain, which he of all things abhorred,' and that he had
not been at all in a passion--both false, and the latter being in
fact his only excuse. I sat next to Melbourne at dinner, who
concurred in the judgment of the world on the whole transaction,
and said, 'The real truth is, he was in a great rage, for he had
forgotten all his own evidence and his own speeches, and he meant
to have kept the place.' This evidence from his own colleague and
friend is conclusive, and will be a nice morsel for the future
biographer of Brougham.

I dined at Holland House yesterday; a good many people, and the
Chancellor came in after dinner, looking like an old clothes man
and dirty as the ground. We had a true Holland House dinner, two
more people arriving (Melbourne and Tom Duncombe) than there was
room for, so that Lady Holland had the pleasure of a couple of
general squeezes, and of seeing our arms prettily pinioned. Lord
Holland sits at table, but does not dine. He proposed to retire
(not from the room), but was not allowed, for that would have
given us all space and ease. Lord Holland told some stories of
Johnson and Garrick which he had heard from Kemble. Johnson loved
to bully Garrick, from a recollection of Garrick's former
impertinence. When Garrick was in the zenith of his popularity,
and grown rich, and lived with the great, and while Johnson was
yet obscure, the Doctor used to drink tea with him, and he would
say, 'Davy, I do not envy you your money nor your fine acquaintance,
but I envy you your power of drinking such tea as this.' 'Yes,'
said Garrick, 'it is very good tea, but it is not my best, nor
that which I give to my Lord this and Sir somebody t'other.'

Johnson liked Fox because he defended his pension, and said it
was only to blame in not being large enough. 'Fox,' he said, 'is
a liberal man; he would always be "aut Cæsar aut nullus;"
whenever I have seen him he has been _nullus_.' Lord Holland said
Fox made it a rule never to talk in Johnson's presence, because
he knew all his conversations were recorded for publication, and
he did not choose to figure in them.


August 12th, 1832 {p.317}

The House of Commons has finished (or nearly) its business.
Althorp ended with a blunder. He brought in a Bill to extend the
time for payment of rates and for voters under the new Bill, and
because it was opposed he abandoned it suddenly; his friends are
disgusted. Robarts told me that the Bank Committee had executed
their laborious duties in a spirit of great cordiality, and with
a general disposition to lay aside all political differences and
concur in accomplishing the best results; a good thing, for it is
in such transactions as these, which afford an opportunity for
laying aside the bitterness of party and the rancorous feelings
which animate men against each other, that the only chance can be
found of a future amalgamation of public men. He told me that the
evidence all went to prove that little improvement could be made
in the management of the Bank.

[Page Head: CHARACTER OF MACAULAY.]

Dined yesterday at Holland House; the Chancellor, Lord Grey,
Luttrell, Palmerston, and Macaulay. The Chancellor was sleepy and
would not talk; he uttered nothing but yawns and grunts. Macaulay
and Allen disputed history, particularly the character of the
Emperor Frederick II., and Allen declared himself a Guelph and
Macaulay a Ghibelline. Macaulay is a most extraordinary man, and
his astonishing knowledge is every moment exhibited, but (as far
as I have yet seen of him, which is not sufficient to judge) he
is not _agreeable_. His propositions and his allusions are rather
too abrupt; he starts topics not altogether naturally; then he
has none of the graces of conversation, none of that exquisite
tact and refinement which are the result of a felicitous
intuition or a long acquaintance with good society, or more
probably a mixture of both. The mighty mass of his knowledge is
not animated by that subtle spirit of taste and discretion which
alone can give it the qualities of lightness and elasticity, and
without which, though he may have the power of instructing and
astonishing, he never will attain that of delighting and
captivating his hearers. The dinner was agreeable, and enlivened
by a squabble between Lady Holland and Allen, at which we were
all ready to die of laughing. He jeered at something she said as
brutal, and chuckled at his own wit.


Shepperton, August 31st, 1832 {p.318}

I came here last Sunday to see my father, who (my mother wrote me
word) had been unwell for a day or two. I got here at four o'clock
(having called on Madame de Lieven at Richmond on the way), and
when I arrived I found my father at the point of death. He was
attacked as he had often been before; medicines afforded him no
relief, and nothing would stay on his stomach. On Saturday violent
spasms came on, which occasioned him dreadful pain; they continued
intermittingly till Sunday afternoon, when as they took him out of
bed to put him in a warm bath, he fainted. From this state of
insensibility he never recovered, and at half-past twelve o'clock
he expired. My brothers were both here. I sent an express for my
sister, who was at Malvern, and she arrived on Tuesday morning.
Dr. Dowdeswell was in the house, and he stayed on with us and did
all that was required. This morning he was buried in the church of
this village, close to the house, in the simplest manner, and was
followed to the grave by my brothers and brother-in-law,
Dowdeswell, Ives, the doctor who attended him, and the servants.
He had long been ailing, and at his age (nearly 70 years) this
event was not extraordinary, but it was shocking, because so
sudden and unexpected, and no idea of danger was entertained by
himself or those about him. My father had some faults and many
foibles, but he was exposed to great disadvantages in early youth;
his education was neglected and his disposition was spoilt. His
father was useless, and worse than useless, as a parent, and his
mother (a woman of extraordinary capacity and merit) died while he
was a young man, having been previously separated from her
husband, and having retired from the world.[11] The circumstances
of his marriage, and the incidents of his life, would be
interesting to none but his own family, and need not be recorded
by me. He was a man of a kind, amiable, and liberal disposition,
and what is remarkable, as he advanced in years his temper grew
less irritable and more indulgent; he was cheerful, hospitable,
and unselfish. He had at all times been a lively companion, and
without much instruction, extensive information, or a vigorous
understanding, his knowledge of the world in the midst of which he
had passed his life, his taste and turn for humour, and his
good-nature made him a very agreeable man. He had a few intimate
friends to whom he was warmly attached, a host of acquaintance,
and I do not know that he had a single enemy. He was an
affectionate father, and ready to make any sacrifices for the
happiness and welfare of his children--in short, he was amiable
and blameless in the various relations of life, and he deserved
that his memory should be cherished as it is by us with sincere
and affectionate regret.

     [11] [Mr. Charles Greville, senior, was the fifth son of
          Fulk Greville of Wilbury, by Frances Macartney, a lady
          of some literary reputation as the authoress of an 'Ode
          to Indifference.' She was the daughter of General
          Macartney. Horace Walpole speaks of her as one of the
          beauties of his time. She died in 1789. Mr. Greville
          may have inherited from her his strong literary
          tastes.]


September 18th, 1832 {p.319}

[Page Head: ANECDOTES OF PRINCESS CHARLOTTE.]

I have been in London, at Shepperton, and twice at Brighton to see
Henry de Ros; came back yesterday. The world is half asleep. Lord
Howe returns to the Queen as her Chamberlain, and that makes a
sensation. I met at Brighton Lady Keith [Madame de Flahaut], who
told us a great deal about French politics, which, as she is a
partisan, was not worth much, but she also gave us rather an
amusing account of the early days of the Princess Charlotte, at
the time of her escape from Warwick House in a hackney coach and
taking refuge with her mother, and of the earlier affair of
Captain Hess. The former escapade arose from her determination to
break off her marriage with the Prince of Orange, and that from
her falling suddenly in love with Prince Augustus of Prussia, and
her resolving to marry him and nobody else, not knowing that he
was already married _de la main gauche_ in Prussia. It seems that
she speedily made known her sentiments to the Prince, and he
(notwithstanding his marriage) followed the thing up, and had two
interviews with her at her own house, which were contrived by Miss
Knight, her governess. During one of these Miss Mercer arrived,
and Miss Knight told her that Prince Augustus was with the
Princess in her room, and what a fright she (Miss Knight) was in.
Miss Mercer, who evidently had no mind anybody should conduct such
an affair for the Princess but herself, pressed Miss Knight to go
and interrupt them, which on her declining she did herself. The
King (Regent as he was then) somehow heard of these meetings, and
measures of coercion were threatened, and it was just when an
approaching visit from him had been announced to the Princess that
she went off. Miss Mercer was in the house at the time, and the
Regent, when he came, found her there. He accused her of being a
party to the Princess's flight, but afterwards either did or
pretended to believe her denial, and sent her to fetch the
Princess back, which after many _pourparlers_ and the intervention
of the Dukes of York and Sussex, Brougham, and the Bishop of
Salisbury, her preceptor, was accomplished at two in the morning.

Hess's affair was an atrocity of the Princess of Wales. She
employed him to convey letters to her daughter while she used to
ride in Windsor Park, which he contrived to deliver, and
occasionally to converse with her; and on one occasion, at
Kensington, the Princess of Wales brought them together in her own
room. The Princess afterwards wrote him some letters, not
containing much harm, but idle and improper. When the Duke of
York's affair with Mrs. Clark came out, and all the correspondence,
she became very much alarmed, told Miss Mercer the whole story,
and employed her to get back her letters to Hess. She accordingly
wrote to Hess (who was then in Spain), but he evinced a
disinclination to give them up. On his return to England she saw
him, and on his still demurring she threatened to put the affair
into the Duke of York's hands, which frightened him, and then he
surrendered them, and signed a paper declaring he had given up
everything. The King afterwards heard of this affair, and
questioning the Princess, she told him everything. He sent for
Miss Mercer, and desired to see the letters, and then to keep
them. This she refused. This Captain Hess was a short, plump,
vulgar-looking man, afterwards lover to the Queen of Naples,
mother of the present King, an amour that was carried on under the
auspices of the Margravine at her villa in the Strada Nova at
Naples. It was, however, detected, and Hess was sent away from
Naples, and never allowed to return. I remember finding him at
Turin (married), when he was lamenting his hard fate in being
excluded from that _Paradiso_ Naples.


September 28th, 1832 {p.321}

[Page Head: BELGIUM, SPAIN, FRANCE.]

At Stoke from the 22nd to the 26th, then to the Grove, and
returned yesterday; at the former place Madame de Lieven,
Alvanley, Melbourne; tolerably pleasant; question of war again.
The Dutch King makes a stir, and threatens to bombard the town of
Antwerp; the French offered to march, and put their troops in
motion, but Leopold begged they would not, and chose rather to
await the effect of more conferences, which began with great
vigour a few days ago. What they find to say to each other for
eight or ten hours a day for several consecutive days it is hard
to guess, as the question is of the simplest kind. The King of
Holland will not give up the citadel of Antwerp, nor consent to
the free navigation of the Scheldt; the Belgians insist on these
concessions; the Conference says they shall be granted, but
Russia, Prussia, and Austria will not coerce the Dutchman;
England and France will, if the others don't object. A French
army is in motion, and a French fleet is off Spithead; so
probably something will come of it. Nothing has damaged this
Government more than these protracted and abortive conferences.

Four days ago there was a report that the King of Spain was dead,
accompanied with a good many particulars, and all the world began
speculating as to the succession, but yesterday came news that he
was not dead, but better. Pedro and Miguel are fighting at Oporto
with some appearance of spirit; Miguel is the favourite. The
French Government is represented to be in a wretched state,
squabbling and feeble, and nobody is inclined to be Minister.
Dupin was very near it, but refused because Louis Philippe would
not make him President of the Council. The King is determined to
be his own Minister, and can get nobody to take office on these
terms. They think it will end in Dupin. The present Government
declares it cannot meet the Chambers until Antwerp is evacuated
by the Dutch and the Duchesse de Berri departed out of France or
taken. This heroine, much to the annoyance of her family, is
dodging about in La Vendée and doing rather harm than good to her
cause. The Dauphiness passed through London, when our Queen very
politely went to visit her. She has not a shadow of doubt of the
restoration of her nephew, and thinks nothing questionable but
the time. She told Madame de Lieven this. I talked to Madame de
Lieven about war, and added that if any did break out it would be
the war of opinion which Canning had predicted. She said yes, and
that the monarchical principle (as she calls the absolute
principle) would then crush the other.

[Page Head: CONVERSATION WITH LORD MELBOURNE.]

I came up with Melbourne to London. He is uneasy about the state
of the country--about the desire for change and the general
restlessness that prevails. We discussed the different members of
the Government, and he agreed that John Russell had acted
unwarrantably in making the speech he did the other day at Torquay
about the Ballot, which, though hypothetical, was nothing but an
invitation to the advocates of Ballot to agitate for it; this,
too, from a Cabinet Minister! Then comes an awkward sort of
explanation, that what he said was in his _individual_ capacity,
as if he had any right so to speak. Melbourne spoke of Brougham,
who he said was tossed about in perpetual caprices, that he was
fanciful and sensitive, and actuated by all sorts of littlenesses,
even with regard to people so insignificant that it is difficult
to conceive how he can ever think about them; that he is
conservative, but under the influence of his old connexions,
particularly of the Saints. His friends are so often changed that
it is not easy to follow him in this respect. Durham used to be
one; now he hates him; he has a high opinion of Sefton! of his
judgment!! What is talent, what are great abilities, when one sees
the gigantic intellect of Brougham so at fault? Not only does the
world manage to go on when little wisdom guides it, but how ill it
may go on with a great deal of _talent_, which, however, is
different from _wisdom_. He asked me what I thought of Richmond,
and I told him that he was ignorant and narrow-minded, but a good
sort of fellow, only appearing to me, who had known him all my
life, in an odd place as a Cabinet Minister. He said he was sharp,
quick, the King liked him, and he stood up to Durham more than any
other man in the Cabinet, and that altogether he was not
unimportant; so that the ingredients of this Cabinet seem to be
put there to neutralise one another, and to be good for nothing
else; because Durham has an overbearing temper, and his
father-in-law is weak, there must be a man without any other merit
than spirit to curb that temper. He talked of Ireland, and the
difficulty of settling the question there, that the Archbishop of
Canterbury was willing to reform the Church, but not to alienate
any of its revenues. 'Not,' I asked, 'for the payment of a
Catholic clergy?' 'No, not from Protestant uses.' I told him there
was nothing to be done but to pull down the edifice and rebuild
it. He said you would have all the Protestants against you, but he
did not appear to differ. To this things must come at last.
Melbourne is exceedingly anxious to keep Lord Hill and Fitzroy
Somerset at the head of the army, from which the violent of his
party would gladly oust them, but he evidently contemplates the
possibility of having occasion for the army, and does not wish to
tamper with the service or play any tricks with it. It is curious
to see the working and counterworking of his real opinions and
principles with his false position, and the mixture of bluntness,
facility and shrewdness, discretion, levity and seriousness,
which, colouring his mind and character by turns, make up the
strange compound of his thoughts and his actions.




                           CHAPTER XIX.

Foreign Difficulties--Conduct of Peel on the Resignation of Lord
  Grey--Manners Sutton proposed as Tory Premier--Coolness between
  Peel and the Duke--Embargo on Dutch Ships--Death of Lord
  Tenterden--Denman made Lord Chief Justice--_Tableau_ of Holland
  House--The Speakership--Horne and Campbell Attorney- and
  Solicitor-General--The Court at Brighton--Lord Howe and the
  Queen--Elections under the Reform Act--Mr. Gully--Petworth--
  Lord Egremont--Attempt to reinstate Lord Howe--Namik Pacha--
  Lord Lyndhurst's Version of what occurred on the Resignation of
  Lord Grey--Lord Denbigh appointed Chamberlain to the Queen--
  Brougham's Privy Council Bill--Talleyrand's Relations with Fox
  and Pitt--Negro Emancipation Bill--State of the West Indies--
  The Reformed Parliament meets--Russian Intrigues--Four Days'
  Debate on the Address--Peel's Political Career.


London, October 7th, 1832 {p.324}

I went to Newmarket on the 30th of September, to Panshanger on
the 5th, and came to town on the 6th. Great fears entertained of
war; the obstinacy of the Dutch King, the appointment of Soult to
be Prime Minister of France, and the ambiguous conduct of the
Allied Courts look like war. Miguel has attacked Oporto without
success; but, as he nearly destroyed the English and French
battalions, he will probably soon get possession of the city. It
is clear that all Portugal is for him, which we may be sorry for,
but so it is. The iniquity of his cause does not appear to affect
it.


October 12th, 1832 {p.324}

Lady Cowper told me at Panshanger that Palmerston said all the
difficulties of the Belgian question came from Matuscewitz, who
was insolent and obstinate, and astute in making objections; that
it was the more provoking as he had been recalled some time ago
(the Greek business being settled, for which he came), and
Palmerston and some of the others had asked the Emperor to allow
him to stay here, on account of his usefulness in drawing up the
minutes of the proceedings of the Conference; that Lieven had by
no means wished him to stay, but could not object when the others
desired it. Accordingly he remained, and now he annoys Palmerston
to death. All this she wrote to Madame de Lieven, who replied
that it was not the fault of Matuscewitz, and that he and Lieven
agreed perfectly. She talked, however, rather more pacific
language. This clever, intriguing, agreeable diplomatess has
renewed her friendship with the Duke of Wellington, to which he
does not object, though she will hardly ever efface the
impression her former conduct made upon him. My journal is
getting intolerably stupid, and entirely barren of events. I
would take to miscellaneous and private matters if any fell in my
way, but what can I make out of such animals as I herd with and
such occupations as I am engaged in?


Euston, October 26th, 1832 {p.325}

[Page Head: TORY ATTEMPTS TO FORM A MINISTRY.]

Went to Downham on Sunday last; the Duke of Rutland, the
Walewskis, Lord Burghersh, and Hope. Came here on Wednesday
morning; the usual party. At Downham I picked up a good deal from
Arbuthnot (who was very garrulous) of a miscellaneous description,
of which the most curious and important was the entire confirmation
of (what I before suspected) the ill blood that exists between the
Duke of Wellington and Peel; though the interests of party keep
them on decent terms, they dislike one another, and the Duke's
friends detest Peel still more than the Duke does himself. He told
me all that had passed at the time of the blow-up of the present
Government, which I have partly recorded from a former conversation
with him, and his story certainly proves that the Duke (though I
think he committed an enormous error in judgment) was not
influenced by any motives of personal ambition.

[Page Head: MANNERS SUTTON PROPOSED AS PREMIER.]

As soon as the King sent for Lyndhurst the latter went to the
Duke, who (as is known) agreed to form a Government, never
doubting that he was to be himself Prime Minister. Lyndhurst went
to Peel, who declined to take office, and he then went to Baring.
Lyndhurst and Arbuthnot sent for Baring out of the House of
Commons, and took him to old Bankes' house in Palace Yard, where
they had their conversation with him. He begged for time to
consider of it, and to be allowed to consult Peel, to which they
assented. He afterwards agreed, but on condition that Manners
Sutton should also be in the Cabinet. Lyndhurst had about the
same time made overtures to Manners Sutton, and though nothing
was finally settled it was understood he would accept them. So
matters stood, when one day (it must have been the Wednesday or
Thursday) Vesey Fitzgerald called on the Arbuthnots, and in a
conversation about the different arrangements he intimated that
Manners Sutton expected to be Prime Minister, and on asking him
more particularly they found that this was also his own
impression. The next morning Arbuthnot went off to Lyndhurst's
house, where he arrived before Lyndhurst was dressed, and told
him what had fallen from Fitzgerald, and asked what it could
mean. Lyndhurst answered very evasively, but promised to have the
matter cleared up. Arbuthnot, not satisfied, went to the Duke and
told him what had passed, and added his conviction that there was
some such project on foot (to make Sutton Premier) of which he
was not aware. The Duke said he did not care a farthing who was
Premier, and that if it was thought desirable that Sutton should
be he had not the smallest objection, and was by no means anxious
to fill the post himself. I asked whether the Duke would have
taken office if Sutton had been Minister, and was told that
nothing was settled, but probably not.

The same day there was a meeting at Apsley House, at which the
Duke, Lyndhurst, Baring, Ellenborough, and (I think) Rosslyn or
Aberdeen, or both, were present, and to which Sutton came, and
held forth for nearly four hours upon the position of their
affairs and his coming into office. He talked such incredible
nonsense (as I have before related) that when he was gone they all
lifted up their hands and with one voice pronounced the
impossibility of forming any Government under such a head. Baring
was then asked why he had made Sutton's coming into office the
condition of his own acceptance, and why he had wished him to be
Prime Minister. He said that he had never desired any such thing
himself, and had hardly any acquaintance with Sutton, except that
as speaker he was civil to him, and he dined with him once a year,
but that when he had gone to consult Peel, Peel had advised him to
insist upon having Sutton, and to put him at the head of the
Government. This avowal led to further examination into what had
passed, and it came out that when Lyndhurst went to Peel, Peel
pressed Manners Sutton upon him, refusing to take office himself,
but promising to support the new Government, and urging Lyndhurst
to offer the Premiership to Sutton. At the same time he put Sutton
up to this, and desired him to refuse every office except that of
Premier. Accordingly, when Lyndhurst went to Sutton, the latter
said he would be Prime Minister or nothing, and Lyndhurst had the
folly to promise it to him. Thus matters stood when Lady Cowley,
who was living at Apsley House, and got hold of what was passing,
went and told it to her brother, Lord Salisbury, who lost no time
in imparting it to some of the other High Tory Lords, who all
agreed that it would not do to have Sutton at the head of the
Government, and that the Duke was the only man for them. On
Saturday the great dinner at the Conservative Club took place, at
which a number of Tories, principally Peers, with the Duke and
Peel, were present. A great many speeches were made, all full of
enthusiasm for the Duke, and expressing a determination to support
_his_ Government. Peel was in very ill humour and said little; the
Duke spoke much in honour of Peel, applauding his conduct and
saying that the difference of their positions justified each in
his different line. The next day some of the Duke's friends met,
and agreed that the unanimous desire for the Duke's being at the
head of the Government which had been expressed at that dinner,
together with the unfitness of Sutton, proved the absolute
necessity of the Duke's being Premier, and it was resolved that a
communication to this effect should be made to Peel. Aberdeen
charged himself with it and went to Peel's house, where Sutton was
at the time. Peel came to Aberdeen in a very bad humour, said he
saw from what had passed at the dinner that nobody was thought of
but the Duke, and he should wash his hands of the whole business;
that he had already declined having anything to do with the
Government, and to that determination he should adhere. The
following Monday the whole thing was at an end.

I am not sure that I have stated these occurrences exactly as
they were told me. There may be errors in the order of the
interviews and _pourparlers_, and in the verbal details, but the
substance is correct, and may be summed up to this effect: that
Peel, full of ambition, but of caution, animated by deep dislike
and jealousy of the Duke (which policy induced him to conceal,
but which temper betrayed), thought to make Manners Sutton play
the part of Addington, while he was to be another Pitt; he
fancied that he could gain in political character, by an opposite
line of conduct, all that the Duke would lose; and he resolved
that a Government should be formed the existence of which should
depend upon himself. Manners Sutton was to be his creature; he
would have dictated every measure of Government; he would have
been their protector in the House of Commons; and, as soon as the
fitting moment arrived, he would have dissolved this miserable
Ministry and placed himself at the head of affairs. All these
deep-laid schemes, and constant regard of self, form a strong
contrast to the simplicity and heartiness of the Duke's conduct,
and make the two men appear in a very different light from that
in which they did at first. Peel acted right from bad motives,
the Duke wrong from good ones. The Duke put himself forward, and
encountered all the obloquy and reproach to which he knew he
exposed himself, and having done so, cheerfully offered to resign
the power to another. Peel endeavoured to seize the power, but to
shield himself from responsibility and danger. It is a melancholy
proof of the dearth of talent and the great capacity of the man
that, notwithstanding the detection of his practices and his
motives, the Tories are compelled still to keep well with him and
to accept him for their leader. No cordiality, however, can exist
again between him and the Duke and his friends, and, should the
Whig Government be expelled, the animosity and disunion
engendered by these circumstances will make it extremely
difficult to form a Tory Administration. [In a short time it was
all made up--forgiven, if not forgotten.]


November 7th, 1832 {p.329}

[Page Head: EMBARGO ON DUTCH SHIPS.]

Came to town on Sunday. The answer of the Dutch King to the
demand of England and France that he should give up Antwerp was
anxiously expected. It arrived on Monday afternoon, and was a
refusal. Accordingly a Council met yesterday, at which an order
was made for laying an embargo on Dutch merchant ships, which are
to be sequestrated, but not confiscated. The French army marches
forthwith, and Palmerston told me they expected two or three days
of bombardment would suffice for the capture of the citadel,
after which the French would retire within their own frontier.
The combined fleets will remain at the Downs, for they can do
nothing on the coast of Holland at this season of the year. There
is a good deal of jealousy and no friendly spirit between the
English and French sailors; and the Duke of Richmond told me
yesterday that the Deal pilots desired nothing so much as to get
the French ships into a scrape. Great excitement prevails about
this Dutch question, which is so complicated that at this moment
I do not understand its merits. Matuscewitz, however, who is
opposed _totis viribus_ to the policy of England and France, told
me that nobody could have behaved worse than the King of Holland
has done, shuffling and tricking throughout; but they say he is
so situated at home that he could not give way if he would. A few
days must now decide the question of war or peace. All the
Ministers, except Brougham, Lord Holland, Grant, and Carlisle,
were at the Council yesterday--the Archbishop of Canterbury for a
prayer (for we omit no opportunity of offering supplications or
returning thanks to Heaven), and the new Lord Chief Justice to be
sworn a Privy Councillor.

[Page Head: DENMAN LORD CHIEF JUSTICE.]

Lord Tenterden died on Sunday night, and no time was lost in
appointing Denman as his successor. Coming as he does after four
of the greatest lawyers who ever sat upon the Bench, this choice
will not escape severe censure; for the reputation of Denman as a
lawyer is not high, and he has been one of the most inefficient
Attorneys-General who ever filled the office. It has been a
constant matter of complaint on the part of the Government and
their friends that the law officers of the Crown gave them no
assistance, but, on the contrary, got them into scrapes. Denman is
an honourable man, and has been a consistent politician; latterly,
of course, a Radical of considerable vehemence, if not of
violence. The other men who were mentioned as successors to
Tenterden were Lyndhurst, Scarlett, and James Parke. The latter is
the best of the puisne judges, and might have been selected if all
political considerations and political connexions had been
disregarded. Lyndhurst will be overwhelmed with anguish and
disappointment at finding himself for ever excluded from the great
object of his ambition, and in which his professional claims are
so immeasurably superior to those of his successful competitor;
nor has he lost it by any sacrifice of interest to honour, but
merely from the unfortunate issue of his political speculations.
When he was made Chief Baron a regular compact was made, a secret
article, that he should succeed on Tenterden's death to the Chief
Justiceship; which bargain was of course cancelled by his
declaration of war on the Reform question and his consequent
breach with Lord Grey; though by far the fittest man, he was now
out of the question. It will be the more grating as he has just
evinced his high capabilities by pronouncing in the Court of
Exchequer one of the ablest judgments (in Small _v._ Attwood) that
were ever delivered. [It was afterwards reversed by the House of
Lords.] Scarlett, who had been a Whig for forty years, and who has
long occupied the first place in the Court of King's Bench, would
have been the man if his political dissociation from his old
connexions, and his recent hostility to them, had not also
cancelled his claims; so that every rival being set aside from one
cause or another, Denman, by one of the most extraordinary pieces
of good fortune that ever happened to man, finds himself elevated
to this great office, the highest object of a lawyer's ambition,
and, in my opinion, one of the most enviable stations an
Englishman can attain. It is said that as a Common Serjeant he
displayed the qualities of a good judge, and his friends
confidently assert that he will make a very good Chief Justice;
but his legal qualifications are admitted to be very inferior to
those of his predecessors. [He made a very bad one, but was
personally popular and generally respected for his high, and
honourable moral character.]

Tenterden was a remarkable man, and his elevation did great
credit to the judgment which selected him, and which probably was
Eldon's. He had never led a cause, but he was a profound lawyer,
and appears to have had a mind fraught with the spirit and genius
of the law, and not narrowed and trammelled by its subtleties and
technicalities. In spite of his low birth, want of oratorical
power, and of personal dignity, he was greatly revered and
dreaded on the Bench. He was an austere, but not an ill-humoured
judge; his manners were remarkably plain and unpolished, though
not vulgar. He was an elegant scholar, and cultivated classical
literature to the last. Brougham, whose congenial tastes
delighted in his classical attainments, used to bandy Latin and
Greek with him from the Bar to the Bench; and he has more than
once told me of his sending Tenterden Greek verses of John
Williams', of which the next day Tenterden gave him a translation
in Latin verse. He is supposed to have died very rich. Denman was
taken into the King's closet before the Council, when he was
sworn in; the King took no particular notice of him, and the
appointment is not, probably, very palatable to his Majesty.


November 15th, 1832 {p.331}

Sheriff business at the Exchequer Court on Monday; saw Lyndhurst
and Denman meet and shake hands with much politeness and grimace.


November 20th, 1832 {p.331}

Dined at Holland House the day before yesterday; Lady Holland is
unwell, fancies she must dine at five o'clock, and exerts her
power over society by making everybody go out there at that hour,
though nothing can be more inconvenient than thus shortening the
day, and nothing more tiresome than such lengthening of the
evening. Rogers and Luttrell were staying there. The _tableau_ of
the house is this:--Before dinner, Lady Holland affecting illness
and almost dissolution, but with a very respectable appetite, and
after dinner in high force and vigour; Lord Holland, with his
chalkstones and unable to walk, lying on his couch in very good
spirits and talking away; Luttrell and Rogers walking about, ever
and anon looking despairingly at the clock and making short
excursions from the drawing-room; Allen surly and disputatious,
poring over the newspapers, and replying in monosyllables
(generally negative) to whatever is said to him. The grand topic
of interest, far exceeding the Belgian or Portuguese questions,
was the illness of Lady Holland's page, who has got a tumour in
his thigh. This 'little creature,' as Lady Holland calls a great
hulking fellow of about twenty, is called 'Edgar,' his real name
being Tom or Jack, which he changed on being elevated to his
present dignity, as the Popes do when they are elected to the
tiara. More rout is made about him than other people are
permitted to make about their children, and the inmates of
Holland House are invited and compelled to go and sit with and
amuse him. Such is the social despotism of this strange house,
which presents an odd mixture of luxury and constraint, of
enjoyment physical and intellectual, with an alloy of small
_désagréments_. Talleyrand generally comes at ten or eleven
o'clock, and stays as long as they will let him. Though everybody
who goes there finds something to abuse or to ridicule in the
mistress of the house, or its ways, all continue to go; all like
it more or less; and whenever, by the death of either, it shall
come to an end, a vacuum will be made in society which nothing
will supply. It is the house of all Europe; the world will suffer
by the loss; and it may with truth be said that it will 'eclipse
the gaiety of nations.'


November 27th, 1832 {p.332}

At Roehampton from Saturday till Monday. The Chancellor had been
there a few days before, from whom Lord Dover had picked up the
gossip of the Government. There had been a fresh breeze with
Durham, who it seems has returned from Russia more odious than
ever. His violence and insolence, as usual, were vented on Lord
Grey, and the rest of the Cabinet, as heretofore, are obliged to
submit. I have since heard from the Duke of Richmond that the
cause of this last storm was something relating to Church Reform,
and that he had been forced to knock under. I fancy he wanted to
go much further than the others, probably to unfrock the Bishop
of Durham and Bishop Phillpotts, the former because he is a
greater man in the county than himself, and the latter from old
and inextinguishable hatred and animosity.

[Page Head: THE SPEAKERSHIP.]

There has been another dispute about the Speakership. All the
Cabinet except Althorp want to put Abercromby in the chair, and
Althorp insists on having Littleton. The former is in all respects
the best choice, and the man whom they ought, from his long
connexion with the Whigs and his consistency and respectability,
to propose, but Althorp thought fit to commit himself in some way
to Littleton, who has no claims to be compared with those of
Abercromby (having been half his life in opposition to the present
Government), and he obstinately insists upon the expectations held
out to him being realised. Lord Grey, though very anxious for
Abercromby, thinks it necessary to defer to the leader of the
House of Commons, and the consequence is a very disagreeable
dispute on the subject. Abercromby is greatly mortified at being
postponed to Littleton, and not the less as Althorp has always
been his friend. The language of Dover, who is a sort of jackal to
Brougham, clearly indicates the desire of that worthy to get rid
of Lord Grey and put himself in his place. All these little
squabbles elicit some disparaging remarks on Lord Grey's weakness,
folly, or cupidity. _Hæret lateri_--the offer of the Attorney-Generalship,
and the day of vengeance is intended to come.[1]

      [1] [This refers to Lord Grey's having offered the
          Attorney-Generalship to Brougham when Government was
          formed.]

After considerable delay Horne and Campbell were appointed
Attorney- and Solicitor-General; the delay was occasioned by
ineffectual attempts to dispose of Horne elsewhere. They wanted
to get some puisne judge to resign, and to put Horne on the
Bench, but they could not make any such arrangement, so Horne is
Attorney. Pepys was to have been Solicitor if the thing could
have been managed. I don't think I picked up anything else,
except that the King was very averse to the French attack upon
Antwerp, and consented to the hand-in-hand arrangement between
France and England with considerable reluctance. The fact is he
hates this Government so much that he dislikes all they do.

Lord Lansdowne is just come from Paris, and gives a flourishing
account of the prospects of King Louis Philippe and his
Government, but as he is the Duc de Broglie's intimate friend his
opinion may be prejudiced. The King appears certainly to have
rather gained than not by the attack which was made on him, from
the coolness and courage he evinced, and it is a great point to
have proved that he is not a coward.


Brighton, December 14th, 1832 {p.334}

Came here last Wednesday week; Council on the Monday for the
dissolution; place very full, bustling, gay, and amusing. I am
staying in De Ros's house with Alvanley; Chesterfields, Howes,
Lievens, Cowpers, all at Brighton, and plenty of occupation in
visiting, gossiping, dawdling, riding, and driving; a very idle
life, and impossible to do anything. The Court very active,
vulgar, and hospitable; King, Queen, Princes, Princesses,
bastards, and attendants constantly trotting about in every
direction: the election noisy and dull--the Court candidate
beaten and two Radicals elected. Everybody talking of the siege
of Antwerp and the elections. So, with plenty of animation, and
discussion, and curiosity, I like it very well. Lord Howe is
devoted to the Queen, and never away from her. She receives his
attentions, but demonstrates nothing in return; he is like a boy
in love with this frightful spotted Majesty, while his delightful
wife is laid up (with a sprained ancle and dislocated joint) on
her couch.


Brighton, December 17th, 1832 {p.334}

On Sunday I heard Anderson preach. He does not write his sermons,
but preaches from notes; very eloquent, voice and manner perfect,
one of the best I ever heard, both preacher and reader.

[Page Head: MR. GULLY.]

The borough elections are nearly over, and have satisfied the
Government. They do not seem to be bad on the whole; the
metropolitans have sent good men enough, and there was no tumult
in the town. At Hertford Duncombe was routed by Salisbury's long
purse. He hired such a numerous mob besides that he carried all
before him. Some very bad characters have been returned; among the
worst, Faithful here; Gronow at Stafford; Gully, Pontefract;
Cobbett, Oldham; though I am glad that Cobbett is in Parliament.
Gully's history is extraordinary. He was taken out of prison
twenty-five or thirty years ago by Mellish to fight Pierce,
surnamed the 'Game Chicken,' being then a butcher's apprentice; he
fought him and was beaten. He afterwards fought Belcher (I
believe), and Gresson twice, and left the prize-ring with the
reputation of being the best man in it. He then took to the turf,
was successful, established himself at Newmarket, where he kept a
hell, and began a system of corruption of trainers, jockeys, and
boys, which put the secrets of all Newmarket at his disposal, and
in a few years made him rich. At the same time he connected
himself with Mr. Watt in the north, by betting for him, and this
being at the time when Watt's stable was very successful, he won
large sums of money by his horses. Having become rich he embarked
in a great coal speculation, which answered beyond his hopes, and
his shares soon yielded immense profits. His wife, who was a
coarse, vulgar woman, in the meantime died, and he afterwards
married the daughter of an innkeeper, who proved as gentlewomanlike
as the other had been the reverse, and who is very pretty besides.
He now gradually withdrew from the betting ring as a regular
blackleg, still keeping horses, and betting occasionally in large
sums, and about a year or two ago, having previously sold the Hare
Park to Sir Mark Wood, where he lived for two or three years, he
bought a property near Pontefract, and settled down (at Ackworth
Park) as John Gully, Esq., a gentleman of fortune. At the Reform
dissolution he was pressed to come forward as candidate for
Pontefract, but after some hesitation he declined. Latterly he has
taken great interest in politics, and has been an ardent Reformer
and a liberal subscriber for the advancement of the cause. When
Parliament was about to be dissolved, he was again invited to
stand for Pontefract by a numerous deputation; he again hesitated,
but finally accepted; Lord Mexborough withdrew, and he was elected
without opposition. In person he is tall and finely formed, full
of strength and grace, with delicate hands and feet, his face
coarse and with a bad expression, his head set well on his
shoulders, and remarkably graceful and even dignified in his
actions and manners; totally without education, he has strong
sense, discretion, reserve, and a species of good taste which has
prevented, in the height of his fortunes, his behaviour from ever
transgressing the bounds of modesty and respect, and he has
gradually separated himself from the rabble of bettors and
blackguards of whom he was once the most conspicuous, and tacitly
asserted his own independence and acquired gentility without ever
presuming towards those whom he has been accustomed to regard with
deference. His position is now more anomalous than ever, for a
member of Parliament is a great man, though there appear no
reasons why the suffrages of the blackguards of Pontefract should
place him in different social relations towards us than those in
which we mutually stood before.


Petworth, December 20th, 1832 {p.336}

[Page Head: EARL OF EGREMONT.]

Came here yesterday. It is a very grand place; house magnificent
and full of fine objects, both ancient and modern; the Sir
Joshuas and Vandykes particularly interesting, and a great deal
of all sorts that is worth seeing. Lord Egremont was eighty-one
the day before yesterday, and is still healthy, with faculties
and memory apparently unimpaired. He has reigned here for sixty
years with great authority and influence. He is shrewd,
eccentric, and benevolent, and has always been munificent and
charitable in his own way; he patronises the arts and fosters
rising genius. Painters and sculptors find employment and welcome
in his house; he has built a gallery which is full of pictures
and statues, some of which are very fine, and the pictures
scattered through the house are interesting and curious. Lord
Egremont hates ceremony, and can't bear to be personally meddled
with; he likes people to come and go as it suits them, and say
nothing about it, never to take leave of him. The party here
consists of the Cowpers, his own family, a Lady E. Romney, two
nieces, Mrs. Tredcroft a neighbour, Ridsdale a parson, Wynne,
Turner, the great landscape painter, and a young artist of the
name of Lucas, whom Lord Egremont is bringing into notice, and
who will owe his fortune (if he makes it) to him. Lord Egremont
is enormously rich, and lives with an abundant though not very
refined hospitality. The house wants modern comforts, and the
servants are rustic and uncouth; but everything is good, and it
all bears an air of solid and aristocratic grandeur. The stud
groom told me there are 300 horses of different sorts here. His
course, however, is nearly run, and he has the mortification of
feeling that, though surrounded with children and grandchildren,
he is almost the last of his race, and that his family is about
to be extinct. Two old brothers and one childless nephew are all
that are left of the Wyndhams, and the latter has been many years
married. All his own children are illegitimate, but he has
everything in his power, though nobody has any notion of the
manner in which he will dispose of his property. It is impossible
not to reflect upon the prodigious wealth of the Earls of
Northumberland, and of the proud Duke of Somerset who married the
last heiress of that house, the betrothed of three husbands. All
that Lord Egremont has, all the Duke of Northumberland's
property, and the Duke of Rutland's Cambridgeshire estate
belonged to them, which together is probably equivalent to
between £200,000 and £300,000 a year. Banks told me that the
Northumberland property, when settled on Sir H. Smithson, was not
above £12,000 a year.[2]

      [2] [The eleventh Earl of Northumberland, Joscelyn Percy,
          died in 1670, leaving an only daughter, who married
          Charles Seymour, ninth Duke of Somerset. This lady is
          described as 'the betrothed of three husbands,' because
          she was married at fourteen to Henry Cavendish, son of
          the Duke of Newcastle, who died in the following year.
          She was then affianced to Thomas Thynne of Longleat,
          who was assassinated in 1682; and at last married to
          the Duke of Somerset. The eldest son of this marriage,
          Algernon Seymour, who succeeded to the Dukedom of
          Somerset in 1748, was created Earl of Northumberland on
          the 2nd of October, 1749, and Earl of Egremont on the
          following day, with remainder (as regards the latter
          title) to his nephew Sir Charles Wyndham, who succeeded
          him in February 1750. The Earldom of Northumberland
          passed at the same time to Sir Hugh Smithson, son-in-law
          of Duke Algernon, who was created Duke of Northumberland
          in 1766. The titles and the vast property of the Duke of
          Somerset, Earl of Northumberland, thus came to be divided.
             George O'Brien Wyndham, third Earl of Egremont, to
          whom Mr. Greville paid this visit, was born on the 18th
          of December, 1751. He was therefore eighty-two years
          old at this time; but he lived five years longer, and
          died in 1837, famous and beloved for his splendid
          hospitality and for his liberal and judicious patronage
          of the arts, and likewise of the turf.]


Brighton, December 31st, 1832 {p.338}

Lady Howe gave me an account of the offer of the Chamberlainship
to her husband again. They added the condition that he should not
oppose Government, but was not to be obliged to support them.
This he refused, and he regarded the proposal as an insult; so
the Queen was not conciliated the more. She likewise told me that
the cause of her former wrath when he was dismissed was that
neither the King nor Lord Grey told her of it, and that if they
had she would have consented to the sacrifice at once with a good
grace; but in the way it was done she thought herself grossly
ill-used. It is impossible to ascertain the exact nature of this
connexion. Howe conducts himself towards her like a young ardent
lover; he never is out of the Pavilion, dines there almost every
day, or goes every evening, rides with her, never quitting her
side, and never takes his eyes off her. She does nothing, but she
admits his attentions and acquiesces in his devotion; at the same
time there is not the smallest evidence that she treats him as a
lover. If she did it would be soon known, for she is surrounded
by enemies. All the Fitzclarences dislike her, and treat her more
or less disrespectfully. She is aware of it, but takes no notice.
She is very civil and good-humoured to them all; and as long as
they keep within the bounds of decency, and do not break out into
actual impertinence, she probably will continue so.

[Page Head: NAMIK PACHA.]

Two nights ago there was a great assembly after a dinner for the
reception of the Turkish Ambassador, Namik Pacha. He was brought
down by Palmerston and introduced before dinner to the King and
Queen. He is twenty-eight years old, speaks French well, and has
good manners; his dress very simple--a red cap, black vest,
trousers and boots, a gold chain and medal round his neck. He did
not take out any lady to dinner, but was placed next the Queen.
After dinner the King made him a ridiculous speech, with abundant
flourishes about the Sultan and his friendship for him, which is
the more droll from his having been High Admiral at the time of
the battle of Navarino, to which the Pacha replied in a sonorous
voice. He admired everything, and conversed with great ease. All
the stupid, vulgar Englishwomen followed him about as a lion with
offensive curiosity.

                *       *       *       *       *

                              1833.


January 3rd, 1833 {p.339}

Lady Howe begged her husband to show me the correspondence
between him and Sir Herbert Taylor about the Chamberlainship. It
is long and confused; Taylor's first letter, in my opinion, very
impertinent, for it reads him a pretty severe lecture about his
behaviour when he held the office before. Howe is a foolish man,
but in this business he acted well enough, better than might have
been expected. Taylor, by the King's desire, proposed to him to
resume the office; and after some cavilling he agreed to do so
with liberty to vote as he pleased, but promising not to be
violent. So stood the matter on the 9th of September. He heard
nothing more of it till the 5th of November, when young Hudson[3]
wrote by the King's orders to know definitely if he meant to take
it, but that if he did he must be 'neutral.' Howe wrote back word
that on such terms he declined it. I told him my opinion of the
whole business, and added my strenuous advice that he should
immediately prevail on the Queen to appoint somebody else. I
could not tell him all that people said, but I urged it as
strongly as I could, hinting that there were very urgent reasons
for so doing. He did not relish this advice at all, owned that he
clung tenaciously to the office, liked everything about it, and
longed to avail himself of some change of circumstances to
return; and that though he was no longer her officer, he had ever
since done all the business, and in fact was, without the name,
as much her Chamberlain as ever. Lady Howe, who is vexed to death
at the whole thing, was enchanted at my advice, and vehemently
urged him to adopt it. After he went away she told me how glad
she was at what I had said, and asked me if people did not say
and believe everything of Howe's connexion with the Queen, which
I told her they did. I must say that what passed is enough to
satisfy me that there is what is called 'nothing in it' but the
folly and vanity of being the confidential officer and councillor
of this hideous Queen, for whom he has worked himself up into a
sort of chivalrous devotion. Yesterday Howe spoke to the Queen
about it, and proposed to speak to the King; the Queen (he says)
would not hear of it, and forbad his speaking to the King. To-day
he is gone away, and I don't know what he settled, probably
nothing.

      [3] ['Young Hudson' was the page of honour who was sent to
          Rome in the following year to fetch Sir Robert Peel,
          when, as Mr. Disraeli expressed it, 'the hurried Hudson
          rushed into the chambers of his Vatican.' He grew up to
          be a very able and distinguished diplomatist, Sir James
          Hudson, G.C.B., who rendered great services to the
          cause of Italian independence.]

[Page Head: LYNDHURST AND MANNERS SUTTON.]

Lyndhurst dined here the day before yesterday. Finding I knew all
that had passed about the negotiations for a Tory Government in
the middle of the Reform question, he told me his story, which
differs very little from that which Arbuthnot had told me at
Downham, and fully corroborates his account of the duplicity of
Peel and the extraordinary conduct of Lyndhurst himself. He said
that as soon as he had left the King he went to the Duke, who
said he must go directly to Peel. Peel refused to join. The Duke
desired him to go back to Peel, and propose to him to be Prime
Minister and manage everything himself. Peel still declined, on
which he went to Baring. Baring begged he might consult Peel,
which was granted. He came back, said he would take office, but
that they must invite Manners Sutton also. They did so, and
Sutton refused. Vesey Fitzgerald, however, suggested to Lyndhurst
that if they proposed to Sutton to be Prime Minister perhaps he
would accept. Another conversation ensued with Sutton, and a
meeting was fixed at Apsley House on the Sunday. In the meantime
Lyndhurst went down to the King and told him what had taken
place, adding that Sutton would not do, and that the Duke alone
could form a Government. At Apsley House Sutton talked for three
hours, and such infernal nonsense that Lyndhurst was ready to go
mad; nor would he decide. They pressed him to say if he would
take office or not. He said he must wait till the next morning.
They said, 'It must be very early, then.' In the morning he put
off deciding (on some frivolous pretext) till the afternoon. He
went to the House of Commons without having given any answer. The
famous debate ensued, and the whole game was up.

All this tallies with the other account, only he did not say that
Peel had desired Baring to insist on Sutton, and had advised
Sutton to take no place but the highest, nor that he had without
the Duke's knowledge offered Sutton that post, and concealed from
Sutton his subsequent opinion of his incapacity and determination
that he should not have it. I asked Lyndhurst how he managed with
Sutton, and whether he had not come to Apsley House with the
impression on his mind that he was to be Premier. He said that
'he had evaded that question with Sutton'--that is, all parties
were deceived, while the Duke, who meant to act nobly, suffered
all the blame. He showed great disregard of personal interests
and selfish views, but I shall always think his error was
enormous. It is remarkable that this story is so little known.

They had a dinner and dancing the night before last at the
Pavilion for New Year's Day; and the King danced a country dance
with Lord Amelius Beauclerc, an old Admiral.


London, January 11th, 1833 {p.341}

Came to town with Alvanley the day before yesterday. Howe plucked
up courage, spoke to the King and Queen, and settled Denbigh's
appointment,[4] though not without resistance on the part of
their Majesties. Lord Grey came down, and was very well received
by both. At the commerce table the King sat by him, and was full
of jokes; called him continually 'Lord Howe,' to the great
amusement of the bystanders and of Lord Grey himself. Munster
came down and was reconciled, condescending _moyennant_ a douceur
of £2,500 to accept the Constableship of the Round Tower. The
stories of the King are uncommonly ridiculous. He told Madame de
Ludolf, who had been Ambassadress at Constantinople, that he
desired she would recommend Lady Ponsonby to all her friends
there, and she might tell them she was the daughter of one of his
late brother's sultanas (Lady Jersey). His Majesty insisted on
Lord Stafford's taking the title of Sutherland, and ordered Gower
to send him an express to say so. One day at dinner he asked the
Duke of Devonshire '_where he meant to be buried!_'

      [4] [William Basil Percy, seventh Earl of Denbigh, was
          appointed Chamberlain to Queen Adelaide at this time,
          and remained in the service of her Majesty--a most
          excellent and devoted servant--to the close of her
          life.]

[Page Head: STATE OF THE TORY PARTY.]

I received a few days ago at Brighton the draft of a Bill of
Brougham's for transferring the jurisdiction of the Delegates to
the Privy Council, or rather for creating a new Court and sinking
the Privy Council in it. Lord Lansdowne sent it to me, and
desired me to send him my opinion upon it. I showed it to
Stephen, and returned it to Lord Lansdowne with some criticisms
in which Stephen and I had agreed. It is a very bungling piece of
work, and one which Lord Lansdowne ought not to consent to, the
object evidently being to make a Court of which Brougham shall be
at the head, and to transfer to it much of the authority of the
Crown, Parliament, and Privy Council; all from his ambitious and
insatiable desire of personal aggrandisement. I have no doubt he
is playing a deep game, and paving the way for his own accession
to power, striving to obtain popularity and influence with the
King; that he will succeed to a great degree, and for a certain
time, is probable. Manners Sutton is to be again Speaker. Althorp
wrote him a very flummery letter, and he accepted. The Government
wants to be out of the scrape they are in between Abercromby and
Littleton, and Sutton wants his peerage. Everything seems
prosperous here; the Government is strong, the House of Commons
is thought respectable on the whole and safe, trade is brisk,
funds rising, money plentiful, confidence reviving, Tories sulky.


January 17th, 1833 {p.343}

The Government don't know what to do about the embargo on the
Dutch ships. Soon after they had laid it on they made a second
order allowing ships with perishable goods to go free; and
thinking the whole thing would be soon over, they desired this
might be construed indulgently, and accordingly many ships were
suffered to pass (with goods more or less perishing) under that
order. Now that the King of Holland continues obstinate they want
to squeeze him, and to construe the order strictly. There have
been many consultations what to do, whether they should make
another order rescinding the last or execute the former more
strictly. Both are liable to objections. The first will appear
like a cruel proceeding and evidence of uncertainty of purpose;
the last will show a capricious variation in the practice of the
Privy Council, with which the matter rests. Their wise heads were
to be put together last night to settle this knotty point.

Wharncliffe showed me a paper he has written, in which, after
briefly recapitulating the present state of the Tory party and
the condition of the new Parliament (particularly as to the mode
in which it was elected, or rather under what influence), he
proceeds to point out what ought to be the course for the Tories
to adopt. It is moderate and becoming enough, and he has imparted
it to the Duke of Wellington, who concurs in his view. I wonder,
however, that he is not sick of writing papers and imparting
views, after all that passed last year, after his fruitless
attempts, his false moves, and the treatment he received at the
hands of the Tories; but he seems to have forgotten or forgiven
everything, and is disposed to wriggle himself back amongst the
party upon any terms. He acknowledges one thing fully, and that
is the desperate and woebegone condition of the party itself, and
the impossibility of their doing anything _now_ as a party.

Lord Lansdowne received very complacently my criticisms on
Brougham's Bill, and has acknowledged since he came to town that
it would not do at all as it now stands. The King has been
delighting the Whigs, and making himself more ridiculous and
contemptible by the most extravagant civilities to the new
Peers--that is, _to_ Western and about Lord Stafford. He now
appears to be very fond of his Ministers.


January 19th, 1833 {p.344}

I have at last succeeded in stimulating Lord Lansdowne to
something like resistance (or rather the promise of it) to
Brougham's Bill. I have proved to him that his dignity and his
interest will both be compromised by this Bill, which intends to
make the Chancellor President of the Court, and _ergo_ of the
Council, and to give him all the patronage there will be. Against
these proposals he kicks; at least he is restive, and shows
symptoms of kicking, though he will very likely be still again. I
sent the Bill to Stephen, who instantly and _currente calamo_
drew up a series of objections to it, as comprehensive and acute
as all his productions are, and last night I sent it to Leach
(who hates the Chancellor), and he has returned it to me with a
strong condemnatory reply. Stephen having told me that Howick
would be too happy to oppose this Bill, on account of the
influence it would have on Colonial matters, particularly about
Canada, I took it to him, but he declined interfering, though he
concurred in Stephen's remarks.


January 22nd, 1833 {p.344}

[Page Head: VISIT TO HARTWELL.]

Dined with Talleyrand the day before yesterday. Nobody there but
his _attachés_. After dinner he told me about his first residence
in England, and his acquaintance with Fox and Pitt. He always
talks in a kind of affectionate tone about the former, and is now
meditating a visit to Mrs. Fox at St. Anne's Hill, where he may
see her surrounded with the busts, pictures, and recollections of
her husband. He delights to dwell on the simplicity, gaiety,
childishness, and profoundness of Fox. I asked him if he had ever
known Pitt. He said that Pitt came to Rheims to learn French, and
he was there at the same time on a visit to the Archbishop, his
uncle (whom I remember at Hartwell,[5] a very old prelate with
the tic-douloureux), and that he and Pitt lived together for
nearly six weeks, reciprocally teaching each other French and
English. After Chauvelin had superseded him, and that he and
Chauvelin had disagreed, he went to live near Epsom (at Juniper
Hall) with Madame de Staël; afterwards they came to London, and
in the meantime Pitt had got into the hands of the _émigrés_, who
persuaded him to send Talleyrand away, and accordingly he
received orders to quit England in twenty-four hours. He embarked
on board a vessel for America, but was detained in the river off
Greenwich. Dundas sent to him, and asked him to come and stay
with him while the ship was detained, but he said he would not
set his foot on English ground again, and remained three weeks on
board the ship in the river. It is strange to hear M. de
Talleyrand talk at seventy-eight. He opens the stores of his
memory and pours forth a stream on any subject connected with his
past life. Nothing seems to have escaped from that great treasury
of bygone events.

      [5] [Mr. Greville had paid a visit with his father to the
          little Court of Louis XVIII. at Hartwell about two
          years before the Restoration, when he was eighteen
          years of age. His narrative of this visit has been
          printed in the fifth volume of the 'Miscellany of the
          Philobiblon Society,' but it may not be inappropriately
          inserted here.]

                         A VISIT TO HARTWELL.
                                                 April 14th, 1814.

              I have often determined to commit to paper as much
          as I can remember of my visit to Hartwell; and, as the
          King is about to ascend the throne of his ancestors, it
          is not uninteresting to recall to mind the particulars
          of a visit paid to him while in exile and in poverty.
              About two years ago my father and I went to
          Hartwell by invitation of the King. We dressed at
          Aylesbury, and proceeded to Hartwell in the afternoon.
          We had previously taken a walk in the environs of the
          town, and had met the Duchesse d'Angoulême on
          horseback, accompanied by a Madame Choisi. At five
          o'clock we set out to Hartwell. The house is large, but
          in a dreary, disagreeable situation. The King had
          completely altered the interior, having subdivided
          almost all the apartments in order to lodge a greater
          number of people. There were numerous outhouses, in
          some of which small shops had been established by the
          servants, interspersed with gardens, so that the place
          resembled a little town.
              Upon entering the house we were conducted by the
          Duc de Grammont into the King's private apartment. He
          received us most graciously and shook hands with both
          of us. This apartment was exceedingly small, hardly
          larger than a closet, and I remarked pictures of the
          late King and Queen, Madame Elizabeth, and the Dauphin,
          Louis XVII., hanging on the walls. The King had a
          manner of swinging his body backwards and forwards,
          which caused the most unpleasant sensations in that
          small room, and made my father feel something like
          being sea-sick. The room was just like a cabin, and the
          motions of his Majesty exactly resembled the heaving of
          a ship. After our audience with the King we were taken
          to the _salon_ a large room with a billiard table at
          one end. Here the party assembled before dinner, to all
          of whom we were presented--the Duchesse d'Angoulême,
          Monsieur the Duc d'Angoulême, the Duc de Berri, the
          Prince and Princess de Condé (_ci-devant_ Madame de
          Monaco), and a vast number of ducs, &c.; Madame la
          Duchesse de Serron (a little old _dame d'honneur_ to
          Madame d'Angoulême), the Duc de Lorges, the Duc
          d'Auray, the Archevêque de Rheims (an infirm old
          prelate, tortured with the tic-douloureux), and many
          others whose names I cannot remember. At a little after
          six dinner was announced, when we went into the next
          room, the King walking out first. The dinner was
          extremely plain, consisting of very few dishes, and no
          wines except port and sherry. His Majesty did the
          honours himself, and was very civil and agreeable. We
          were a very short time at table, and the ladies and
          gentlemen all got up together. Each of the ladies
          folded up her napkin, tied it round with a bit of
          ribbon, and carried it away. After dinner we returned
          to the drawing-room and drank coffee. The whole party
          remained in conversation about a quarter of an hour,
          when the King retired to his closet, upon which all
          repaired to their separate apartments. Whenever the
          King came in or went out of the room, Madame
          d'Angoulême made him a low curtsy, which he returned by
          bowing and kissing his hand. This little ceremony never
          failed to take place. After the party had separated we
          were taken to the Duc de Grammont's apartments, where
          we drank tea. After remaining there about three
          quarters of an hour we went to the apartment of Madame
          d'Angoulême, where a great part of the company were
          assembled, and where we stayed about a quarter of an
          hour. After this we descended again to the drawing-room,
          where several card tables were laid out. The King
          played at whist with the Prince and Princess de Condé
          and my father. His Majesty settled the points of the
          game at 'le quart d'un sheling.' The rest of the party
          played at billiards or ombre. The King was so civil as
          to invite us to sleep there, instead of returning to
          the inn at Aylesbury. When he invited us he said, 'Je
          crains que vous serez très-mal logés, mais on donne ce
          qu'on peut.' Soon after eleven the King retired, when
          we separated for the night. We were certainly 'très-mal
          logés.' In the morning when I got out of bed, I was
          alarmed by the appearance of an old woman on the leads
          before my window, who was hanging linen to dry. I was
          forced to retreat hastily to bed, not to shock the old
          lady's modesty. At ten the next morning we breakfasted,
          and at eleven we took leave of the King (who always
          went to Mass at that hour) and returned to London. We
          saw the whole place before we came away; and they
          certainly had shown great ingenuity in contriving to
          lodge such a number of people in and about the
          house--it was exactly like a small rising colony. We
          were very much pleased with our expedition; and were
          invited to return whenever we could make it convenient.


January 24th, 1833 {p.346}

I have at last made Lord Lansdowne fire a shot at the Chancellor
about this Bill. He has written him a letter, in which he has
embodied Stephen's objections and some of his own (as he says, for
I did not see the letter). The Chancellor will be very angry, for
he can't endure contradiction, and he has a prodigious contempt
for the Lord President, whom he calls 'Mother Elizabeth.' He
probably arrives at the sobriquet through Petty, Betty, and so on.

Dined with Talleyrand yesterday; Pozzo, who said little and
seemed low; Talleyrand _talked_ after dinner, said that Cardinal
Fleury was one of the greatest Ministers who ever governed
France, and that justice had never been done him; he had
maintained peace for twenty years, and acquired Lorraine for
France. He said this _à propos_ of the library he formed or left,
or whatever he did in that line, at Paris. He told me he goes
very often to the British Museum, and has lately made them a
present of a book.


January 26th, 1833 {p.347}

[Page Head: ABOLITION OF SLAVERY.]

[Page Head: HENRY TAYLOR ON ABOLITION OF SLAVERY.]

It seems that the Government project (or perhaps only the fact
that they have one) about West Indian emancipation has got wind,
and the West Indians are of course in a state of great alarm. They
believe that it will be announced, whatever it is to be, in the
King's Speech, though I doubt there being anything but a vague
intention expressed in it. Of all political feelings and
passions--and such this rage for emancipation is, rather than a
consideration of interest--it has always struck me as the most
extraordinary and remarkable. There can be no doubt that a great
many of the Abolitionists are actuated by very pure motives; they
have been shocked at the cruelties which have been and still are
very often practised towards slaves, their minds are imbued with
the horrors they have read and heard of, and they have an
invincible conviction that the state of slavery under any form is
repugnant to the spirit of the English Constitution and the
Christian religion, and that it is a stain upon the national
character which ought to be wiped away. These people, generally
speaking, are very ignorant concerning all the various difficulties
which beset the question; their notions are superficial; they pity
the slaves, whom they regard as injured innocents, and they hate
their masters, whom they treat as criminal barbarians. Others are
animated in this cause purely by ambition, and by finding that it
is a capital subject to talk upon, and a cheap and easy species of
benevolence; others have satisfied themselves that slavery is a
mistaken system, that the cruelty of it is altogether gratuitous,
and that free labour will answer the purpose as well or better,
and get rid of the odium; and thousands more have mixed feelings
and opinions, compounded of some or all of the above in various
degrees and proportions, according to the bent of individual
character; but there are some persons among the most zealous and
able of the Abolitionists who avail themselves of the passions and
the ignorance of the people to carry this point, while they
carefully conceal their own sentiments as to the result of the
experiment. I say some because, though I only know (of my own
knowledge) of one, from the sagacity of the man and the conformity
of his opinions with those of others on this and other topics, I
have no doubt that there are many who view the matter in the same
light. I allude to Henry Taylor,[6] who rules half the West Indies
in the Colonial Office, though with an invisible sceptre. Talking
over the matter the other day, he said that he was well aware of
the consequences of emancipation both to the negroes and the
planters. The estates of the latter would not be cultivated; it
would be impossible, for want of labour; the negroes would not
work--no inducement would be sufficient to make them; they wanted
to be free merely that they might be idle. They would, on being
emancipated, possess themselves of ground, the fertility of which
in those regions is so great that very trifling labour will be
sufficient to provide them with the means of existence, and they
will thus relapse rapidly into a state of barbarism; they will
resume the habits of their African brethren, but, he thinks,
without the ferocity and savageness which distinguish the latter.
Of course the germs of civilisation and religion which have been
sown among them in their servile state will be speedily
obliterated; if not, as man must either rise or fall in the moral
scale, they will acquire strength, with it power, and as certainly
the desire of using that power for the amelioration of their
condition. The island (for Jamaica may be taken for example, as it
was in our conversation) would not long be tenable for whites;
indeed, it is difficult to conceive how any planters could remain
there when their property was no longer cultivable, even though
the emancipated negroes should become as harmless and gentle as
the ancient Mexicans. Notwithstanding this view of the matter, in
which my friend has the sagacity to perceive some of the probable
consequences of the measure, though (he admits) with much
uncertainty as to its operation, influenced as it must be by
circumstances and accidents, he is for emancipating at once. 'Fiat
justitia ruat coelum'--that is, I do not know that he is for
immediate, unconditional emancipation; I believe not, but he is
for doing the deed; whether he goes before or lags after the
Government I do not at this moment know. He is, too, a high-principled
man, full of moral sensibility and of a grave, reflecting,
philosophical character, and neither a visionary in religion nor
in politics, only of a somewhat austere and uncompromising turn of
mind, and with some of the positiveness of a theorist who has a
lofty opinion of his own capacity, and has never undergone that
discipline of the world, that tumbling and tossing and jostling,
which beget modesty and diffidence and prudence, from the
necessity which they inculcate of constant compromises with
antagonist interests and hostile passions. But what is the upshot
of all this? Why, that in the midst of the uproar and confusion,
the smoke and the dust of the controversy, one may believe that
one sees a glimmering of the real futurity in the case--and that
is a long series of troubles and a wide scene of ruin.

      [6] [Afterwards Sir Henry Taylor, K.M.G., author of 'Philip
          van Artevelde.' Nearly forty years later Sir H. Taylor
          continued to fill the same position described by Mr.
          Greville in 1833. He resigned in 1872.]


January 30th, 1833 {p.349}

The intentions of Government with regard to the West Indies (or
rather that they have intentions of a nature very fatal to that
interest) having got wind, the consternation of the West India
body is great. A deputation, headed by Sir Alexander Grant,
waited upon Lords Grey and Goderich the other day, and put
certain questions to them, stating that the prevalence of
reports, some of which had appeared in the newspapers, had
greatly alarmed them, and they wished to ascertain if any of them
had been authorised by Government. Lord Grey said 'certainly not;
the Government had authorised nothing.' They asked if he would
reappoint the Committees. He would give no pledge as to this, but
they discussed the propriety of so doing, he seeming indisposed.
To all their questions he gave vague answers, refusing to
communicate anything except this, that nothing was decided, but a
plan was under the consideration of the Cabinet in which the
interests of all parties were consulted. He added that he could
not pledge himself to give any previous intimation of the
intentions of Government to the West India body, nor to disclose
the measure at all until it was proposed to Parliament. There are
in the meantime no end of reports of the nature and extent of the
proposed measure, and no end to the projects and opinions of
those who are interested.

I dined at Lord Bathurst's yesterday, and sat next to Lord
Ellenborough, who said that he was convinced the best thing the
proprietors could do would be to agree instantly to stop their
orders, which he believes would compel Government to arrest their
course. I am not enough acquainted with the subject to judge how
far they might operate, but I doubt it, or that in the temper of
the people of this country, or rather of those zealots who
represent it, and with the disposition of this Government to
yield to every popular cry, the fear of any consequences would
prevent their going on. It would, I believe, only give them and
the House of Commons a pretext for refusing them pecuniary
compensation. I was much amused with a piece of vanity of
Ellenborough's. We were talking of the war between the Turks and
the Egyptians, and the resources of Egypt, &c., when he said, 'If
I had continued at the Board of Control I would have had Egypt,
got at it from the Red Sea; I had already ordered the formation
of _a corps_ of _Arab guides_!'


February 1st, 1833 {p.351}

[Page Head: RUSSIA AND TURKEY.]

The Reformed Parliament opened heavily (on Tuesday), as
Government think satisfactorily. Cobbett took his seat on the
Treasury Bench, and spoke three times, though the last time
nobody would stay to hear him. He was very twaddling, and said
but one good thing, when he called O'Connell the member for
_Ireland_.

Saw Madame de Lieven the day before yesterday, who fired a tirade
against Government; she vowed that nobody ever had been treated
with such personal incivility as Lieven, 'des injures, des
reproches,' that Cobbett, Hunt, and all the blackguards in
England could not use more offensive language; whatever event was
coming was imputed to Russia--Belgium, Portugal, Turkey, 'tout
était la Russie et les intrigues de la Russie;' that she foresaw
they should be driven away from England. With reference to the
war in Asia Minor, she said the Sultan had applied to the Emperor
for assistance, 'et qu'il l'aurait, et que le Sultan n'avait pas
un meilleur ami que lui,' that the Egyptians would advance no
farther, and a great deal more of complaint at the injustice
evinced towards them and on their political innocence. In the
evening I told all this to Mellish of the Foreign Office, who
knows everything about foreign affairs, and he said it was all a
lie, that Russia had offered her assistance, which the Sultan had
refused, and she was, in fact, intriguing and making mischief in
every Court in Europe. George Villiers writes me word that she
has been for months past endeavouring to get up a war anywhere,
and that this Turkish business is more likely than anything to
bring one about.[7]

      [7] [The state of the Ottoman Empire was most critical. In
          the latter months of 1832 the victorious troops of
          Mehomet Ali had forced their way across the Taunus; the
          peace of Koniah was concluded early in 1833 with the
          Egyptians; and the Treaty of Unkiar Skelessi with the
          Russians in July 1833.]


February 2nd, 1833 {p.351}

Dinner at Lord Lansdowne's for the Sheriffs; soon over and not
particularly disagreeable, though I hate dining with the
Ministers; had some conversation with Goderich about Jamaica; he
says Mulgrave has done very well there, perhaps rather too
vigorously, that the dissolution of the Assembly under all
circumstances is questionable, but he must be supported; he hopes
nothing from another assembly, nor does Mulgrave, who says that
they are incorrigible. The fact is their conduct paralyses the
exertions of their friends here, if, indeed, they have any
friends who would make any exertions.


February 4th, 1833 {p.352}

At Court for the King's Speech and the appointment of Sheriffs.
Lord Munster and Lord Denbigh were sworn Privy Councillors. The
West Indians have taken such an attitude of desperation that the
Government is somewhat alarmed, and seems disposed to pause at
the adoption of its abolitionary measures. George Hibbert told me
last night that if they were driven to extremities there was
nothing they were not ready to do, and that there would be
another panic if Government did not take care, and so Rothschild
had told them.

I dined with Madame de Lieven yesterday, who is in the agonies of
doubt about her remaining here. It turns upon this: Stratford
Canning has been appointed Ambassador at St. Petersburg, and the
Emperor will not receive him. Palmerston is indignant, and will
not send anybody else. If the Emperor persists, we shall only
have a Chargé d'Affaires at his Court, and in that case he will
not leave an Ambassador at ours. There seems to be at present no
way out of the quarrel. Stratford Canning's mission to Madrid
cannot last for ever, and when it is over the point must be
decided.

The people of Jamaica have presented a petition to the King (I
don't know exactly in what shape, or how got up), praying to be
released from their allegiance. Goderich told me that it was very
insolent. Mulgrave's recent _coup de théâtre_ is severely
condemned. Nothing can save these unhappy colonies, for all
parties vie with each other in violence and folly--the people
here and the people there, the Government here and the Government
there.


February 10th, 1833 {p.353}

[Page Head: DEBATE ON THE ADDRESS.]

After four days' debate in the House of Commons (quite
unprecedented, I believe) the Address was carried by a large
majority.[8] Opinions are of course very various upon the state of
the House and the character of the discussion. The anti-Reformers,
with a sort of melancholy triumph, boast that their worst
expectations have been fulfilled. The Government were during the
first day or two very serious, and though on the whole they think
they have reason to be satisfied, they cannot help seeing that
they have in fact very little power of managing the House.
Everybody agrees that the aspect of the House of Commons was very
different--the number of strange faces; the swagger of O'Connell,
walking about incessantly, and making signs to, or talking with,
his followers in various parts; the Tories few and scattered; Peel
no longer surrounded with a stout band of supporters, but pushed
from his usual seat, which is occupied by Cobbett, O'Connell, and
the Radicals; he is gone up nearer to the Speaker.

      [8] [The first Reformed Parliament met and was formally
          opened on the 29th of January, 1833. After the election
          of the Speaker (Manners Sutton) the King delivered his
          Speech from the Throne on the 5th of February.]

The whole debate turned upon Ireland. O'Connell pronounced a
violent but powerful philippic, which Stanley answered very well.
Macaulay made one of his brilliant speeches the second night, and
Peel spoke the third. It was not possible to make a more
dexterous and judicious speech than he did; for finding himself
in a very uncomfortable position, he at once placed himself in a
good one, and acknowledging that his situation was altogether
different from what it had been, he contrived to transfer to
himself personally much of the weight and authority which he
previously held as the organ and head of a great and powerful
party. He pronounced an eulogium of Stanley, declared that his
confidence in Government was not augmented, but that he would
support them if they would support law and order. The Government
were extremely pleased at his speech, though I think not without
a secret misgiving that they are likely to be more in his power
than is pleasant. But the benefit resulting from the whole is
that the Radicals all opposed the Government, while Peel
supported them; so that we may hope that a complete line of
separation is drawn between the two former, and that the
Government will really and boldly take the Conservative side. On
the whole, perhaps, this bout may be deemed satisfactory.


February 14th, 1833 {p.354}

[Page Head: CHARACTER OF PEEL.]

The night before last Althorp brought forward his plan of Irish
Church Reform, with complete success. He did it well, and Stanley
made a very brilliant speech. The House received it with almost
unanimous applause, nobody opposing but Inglis and Goulburn, and
Peel, in a very feeble speech, which scarcely deserves the name
of opposition; it will be of great service to the Government.
O'Connell lauded the measure up to the skies; but Sheil said he
would bite his tongue off with vexation the next morning for
having done so, after he had slept upon it. It was clear that
Peel, who is courting the House, and exerting all his dexterity
to bring men's minds round to him, saw the stream was too strong
for him to go against it, so he made a sort of temporising,
moderate, unmeaning speech, which will give him time to determine
on his best course, and did not commit him. Poulett Thomson said
to me yesterday that Peel's prodigious superiority over everybody
in the House was so evident, his talent for debate and thorough
knowledge of Parliamentary tactics, gained by twenty years of
experience, so commanding, that he must draw men's minds to him,
and that he was evidently playing that game, throwing over the
ultra-Tories and ingratiating himself with the House and the
country. He, in fact, means to open a house to all comers, and
make himself necessary and indispensable. Under that placid
exterior he conceals, I believe, a boundless ambition, and hatred
and jealousy lurk under his professions of esteem and political
attachment. His is one of those contradictory characters,
containing in it so much of mixed good and evil, that it is
difficult to strike an accurate balance between the two, and the
acts of his political life are of a corresponding description, of
questionable utility and merit, though always marked by great
ability. It is very sure that he has been the instrument of great
good, or of enormous evil, and apparently more of the latter. He
came into life the child and champion of a political system which
has been for a long time crumbling to pieces; and if the perils
which are produced by its fall are great, they are mainly
attributable to the manner in which it was upheld by Peel, and to
his want of sagacity, in a wrong estimate of his means of defence
and of the force of the antagonist power with which he had to
contend. The leading principles of his political conduct have
been constantly erroneous, and his dexterity and ability in
supporting them have only made the consequences of his errors
more extensively pernicious. If we look back through the long
course of Peel's life, and enquire what have been the great
political measures with which his name is particularly connected,
we shall find, first, the return to cash payments, which almost
everybody now agrees was a fatal mistake, though it would not be
fair to visit him with extraordinary censure for a measure which
was sanctioned by almost all the great financial authorities;
secondly, opposition to Reform in Parliament and to religious
emancipation of every kind, the maintenance of the exclusive
system, and support, untouched and unconnected, of the Church,
both English and Irish. His resistance to alterations on these
heads was conducted with great ability, and for a long time with
success; but he was endeavouring to uphold a system which was no
longer supportable, and having imbibed in his career much of the
liberal spirit of the age, he found himself in a state of no
small perplexity between his old connections and his more
enlarged propensities. Still he was chained down by the former,
and consequently being beaten from all his positions, he was
continually obliged to give way, but never did so till rather too
late for his own credit and much too late for the interest at
stake. Notwithstanding, therefore, the reputation he has
acquired, the hold he has had of office, and is probably destined
to have again, his political life has been a considerable
failure, though not such an one as to render it more probable
than not that his future life will be a failure too. He has
hitherto been encumbered with embarrassing questions and an
unmanageable party. Time has disposed of the first, and he is
divorced from the last; if his great experience and talents have
a fair field to act upon, he may yet, in spite of his selfish and
unamiable character, be a distinguished and successful Minister.




                           CHAPTER XX.

Appointment of Sir Stratford Canning to the Russian Embassy--
  Cause of the Refusal--Slavery in the West Indies--The Reformed
  Parliament--Duke of Wellington's View of Affairs--The Coercion
  Bill--The Privy Council Bill--Lord Durham made an Earl--Mr.
  Stanley Secretary for the Colonies--The Russians go to the
  Assistance of the Porte--Lord Goderich has the Privy Seal, an
  Earldom, and the Garter--Embarrassments of the Government--The
  Appeal of Drax _v._ Grosvenor at the Privy Council--Hobhouse
  defeated in Westminster--Bill for Negro Emancipation--The
  Russians on the Bosphorus--Mr. Littleton Chief Secretary for
  Ireland--Respect shown to the Duke of Wellington--Moral of a
  'Book on the Derby'--The Oaks--A Betting Incident--Ascot--
  Government beaten in the Lords on Foreign Policy--Vote of
  Confidence in the Commons--Drax _v._ Grosvenor decided--Lord
  Eldon's Last Judgment--His Character--Duke of Wellington as
  Leader of Opposition--West India Affairs--Irish Church Bill--
  Appropriation Clause--A Fancy Bazaar--The King writes to the
  Bishops--Local Court Bill--Mirabeau.


February 16th, 1833 {p.357}

Madame de Lieven gave me an account (the day before yesterday) of
the quarrel between the two Courts about Stratford Canning. When
the present Ministry came in, Nesselrode wrote to Madame de
Lieven and desired her to beg that Lord Heytesbury might be left
there--'Conservez-nous Heytesbury.' She asked Palmerston and Lord
Grey, and they both promised her he should stay. Some time after
he asked to be recalled. She wrote word to Nesselrode, and told
him that either Adair or Canning would succeed him. He replied,
'Don't let it be Canning; he is a most impracticable man,
_soupçonneux, pointilleux, défiant_;' that he had been personally
uncivil to the Emperor when he was Grand Duke; in short the plain
truth was they would not receive him, and it was therefore
desirable somebody, anybody, else should be sent. She told this
to Palmerston, and he engaged that Stratford Canning should not
be named. Nothing more was done till some time ago, when to her
astonishment Palmerston told her that he was going to send
Canning to St. Petersburg. She remonstrated, urged all the
objections of her Court, his own engagement, but in vain; the
discussions between them grew bitter; Palmerston would not give
way, and Canning was one day to her horror gazetted. As might
have been expected, Nesselrode positively refused to receive him.
Durham, who in the meantime had been to Russia and _bien comblé_
with civilities, promised that Canning should not go there,
trusting he had sufficient influence to prevent it; and since he
has been at home it is one of the things he has been most violent
and bitter about, because Palmerston will not retract this
nomination, and he has the mortification of finding in this
instance his own want of power. However, as there have been no
discussions on it lately, the Princess still hopes it may blow
over, and that some other mission may be found for Canning. At
all events it appears a most curious piece of diplomacy to insist
upon thrusting upon a Court a man personally obnoxious to the
Sovereign and his Minister, and not the best way of preserving
harmonious relations or obtaining political advantages. She says,
however (and with all her anger she is no bad judge), that
Palmerston 'est un très-petit esprit--lourd, obstiné,' &c., and
she is astonished how Lady C. with her _finesse_ can be so taken
with him.

Lady Cowper has since told me that Madame de Lieven has been to
blame in all this business, that Palmerston was provoked with her
interference, that her temper had got the better of her, and she
had thought to carry it with a high hand, having been used to
have her own way, and that he had thought both _she_ and her
_Court_ wanted to be taken down a peg; that she had told
Nesselrode she could prevent this appointment, and, what had done
more harm than anything, she had appealed to Grey against
Palmerston, and employed Durham to make a great clamour about it.
All this made Palmerston angry, and determined him to punish her,
who he thought had meddled more than she ought, and had made the
matter personally embarrassing and disagreeable to him.

[Page Head: LORD GREY'S COERCION BILL.]

Last night Lord Grey introduced his coercive measures in an
excellent speech, though there are some people who doubt his being
able to carry them through the House of Commons. If he can't, he
goes of course; and what next? The measures are sufficiently
strong, it must be owned--a _consommé_ of insurrection-gagging
Acts, suspension of Habeas Corpus, martial law, and one or two
other little hards and sharps.[1]

      [1] [In the debate on the Address O'Connell had denounced
          the coercive measures announced in the Speech from the
          Throne as 'brutal, bloody, and unconstitutional.' But
          the state of Ireland was so dreadful that it demanded
          and justified the severest remedies. Lord Grey stated
          in the House of Lords that between January 1st and
          December 31st 9,000 crimes had been committed--homicides
          242, robberies 1,179, burglaries 401, burnings 568, and so
          on. The Bill gave the Lord-Lieutenant power to proclaim
          disturbed districts, to substitute courts-martial for
          the ordinary courts of justice, to prohibit meetings,
          and to punish the distributors of seditious papers. Such
          were the powers which Lord Wellesley described as more
          formidable to himself than to the people of Ireland, for the
          greater part of them were never exercised. The Act
          produced the desired effect. In a year Ireland was
          pacified; and the abandonment of several of the most
          important clauses in the Act (contrary to Lord Grey's
          wishes) was the cause which led to the dissolution of the
          Ministry in the month of June 1834.]


London, February 22nd, 1833 {p.359}

Dined yesterday with Fortunatus Dwarris, who was counsel to the
Board of Health; one of those dinners that people in that class
of society put themselves in an agony to give, and generally
their guests in as great an agony to partake of. There were
Goulburn, Serjeant ditto and his wife, Stephen, &c. Goulburn
mentioned a curious thing _à propos_ of slavery. A slave ran away
from his estate in Jamaica many years ago, and got to England. He
(the man) called at his house when he was not at home, and
Goulburn never could afterwards find out where he was. He
remained in England, however, gaining his livelihood by some
means, till after some years he returned to Jamaica and to the
estate, and desired to be employed as a slave again.

Stephen, who is one of the great apostles of emancipation, and
who resigned a profession worth £3,000 a year at the Bar for a
place of £1,500 in the Colonial Office, principally in order to
advance that object, owned that he had never known so great a
problem nor so difficult a question to settle. His notion is that
compulsory labour may be substituted for slavery, and in some
colonies (the new ones, as they are called--Demerara, &c.) he
thinks it will not be difficult; in Jamaica he is doubtful, and
admits that if this does not answer the slaves will relapse into
barbarism, nor is he at all clear that _any_ disorders and evils
may not be produced by the effect of desperation on one side and
disappointment on the other; still he does not hesitate to go on,
but fully admitting the right of the proprietors to ample
compensation, and the duty incumbent on the country to give it.
If the sentiments of justice and benevolence with which he is
actuated were common to all who profess the same opinions, or if
the same sagacity and resource which he possesses were likely to
be applied to the practical operation of the scheme, the evils
which are dreaded and foreseen might be mitigated and avoided;
but this is very far from the case, and the evils will, in all
probability, more than overbalance the good which humanity aims
at effecting; nor is it possible to view the settlement (as it is
called, for all changes are settlements now-a-days) of this
question without a misgiving that it will only produce some other
great topic for public agitation, some great interest to be
overturned or mighty change to be accomplished. The public
appetite for discussion and legislation has been whetted and is
insatiable; the millions of orators and legislators who have
sprung up like mushrooms all over the kingdom, the bellowers, the
chatterers, the knaves, and the dupes, who make such an universal
hubbub, must be fed with fresh victims and sacrifices. The
Catholic question was speedily followed by Reform in Parliament,
and this has opened a door to anything.

[Page Head: ASPECT OF THE NEW HOUSE OF COMMONS.]

In the meantime the Reformed Parliament has been sitting for a
fortnight or so, and begins to manifest its character and
pretensions. The first thing that strikes one is its inferiority
in point of composition to preceding Houses of Commons, and the
presumption, impertinence, and self-sufficiency of the new
members. Formerly new members appeared with some modesty and
diffidence, and with some appearance of respect for the assembly
into which they were admitted; these fellows behave themselves as
if they had taken it by storm, and might riot in all the
insolence of victory. There exists no _party_ but that of the
Government; the Irish act in a body under O'Connell to the number
of about forty; the Radicals are scattered up and down without a
leader, numerous, restless, turbulent, and bold--Hume, Cobbett,
and a multitude such as Roebuck, Faithfull, Buckingham, Major
Beauclerck, &c. (most of whom have totally failed in point of
speaking)--bent upon doing all the mischief they can and
incessantly active; the Tories without a head, frightened, angry,
and sulky; Peel without a party, prudent, cautious, and
dexterous, playing a deep waiting game of scrutiny and
observation. The feelings of these various elements of party,
rather than parties, may be thus summed up:--The Radicals are
confident and sanguine; the Whigs uneasy; the Tories desponding;
moderate men, who belong to no party, but support Government,
serious, and not without alarm. There is, in fact, enough to
justify alarm, for the Government has evidently no power over the
House of Commons, and though it is probable that they will
scramble through the session without sustaining any serious
defeat, or being reduced to the necessity of any great sacrifice
or compromise, they are conscious of their own want of authority
and of that sort of command without which no Government has been
hitherto deemed secure. The evil of this is that we are now
reduced to the alternative of Lord Grey's Government or none at
all; and should he be defeated on any great measure, he must
either abandon the country to its fate, or consent to carry on
the Government upon the condition of a virtual transfer of the
executive power to the House of Commons. If this comes to pass
the game is up, for this House, like animals who have once tasted
blood, if it ever exercises such a power as this, and finds a
Minister consenting to hold office on such terms, will never rest
till it has acquired all the authority of the Long Parliament and
reduced that of the Crown to a mere cypher. It is curious,
by-the-bye, that the example of the Long Parliament in a trivial
matter has just been adopted, in the sittings of the House at
twelve o'clock for the hearing of petitions.


February 27th, 1833 {p.362}

Laid up ever since that dinner at Dwarris's with the gout. Frederick
Fitzclarence has been compelled to resign the situation at the Tower
which the King gave him; they found it very probable that the House
of Commons would refuse to vote the pay of it--a trifle in itself,
but indicative of the spirit of the times and the total want of
consideration for the King. O'Connell made a speech of such violence
at the Trades Union the other day--calling the House of Commons six
hundred scoundrels--that there was a great deal of talk about taking
it up in Parliament and proposing his expulsion, which, however,
they have not had the folly to do. The Irish Bill was to come on
last night. The sense of insecurity and uneasiness evidently
increases; the Government assumes a high tone, but is not at all
certain of its ability to pass the Coercive Bills unaltered, and
yesterday there appeared an article in the 'Times' in a style of
lofty reproof and severe admonition, which was no doubt as appalling
as it was meant to be. This article made what is called a great
sensation; always struggling, as this paper does, to take the lead
of public opinion and watching all its turns and shifts with
perpetual anxiety, it is at once regarded as undoubted evidence of
its direction and dreaded for the influence which its powerful
writing and extensive sale have placed in its hands. It is no small
homage to the power of the press to see that an article like this
makes as much noise as the declaration of a powerful Minister or a
leader of Opposition could do in either House of Parliament.

[Page Head: DUKE OF WELLINGTON'S VIEW OF AFFAIRS.]

Yesterday morning the Duke of Wellington came here upon some
private business, after discussing which he entered upon the
state of the country. I told him my view of the condition of the
Government and of the House of Commons, and he said, 'You have
hit the two points that I have myself always felt so strongly
about. I told Lord Grey so long ago, and asked him at the time
how he expected to be able to carry on the Government of the
country, to which he never could give any answer, except that it
would all do very well. However, things are not a bit worse than
I always thought they would be. As they are, I mean to support
the Government--support them in every way. The first thing I have
to look to is to keep my house over my head, and the alternative
is between this Government and none at all. I am therefore for
supporting the Government, but then there is so much passion, and
prejudice, and folly, and vindictive feeling, that it is very
difficult to get others to do the same. I hear Peel had only
fifty people with him the other night on some question, though
they say that there are 150 of that party in the House of
Commons. He thinks as ill of the whole thing as possible. [While
I am writing Poodle Byng is come in, who tells me what happened
last night. Althorp made a very bad speech and a wretched
statement; other people spoke, pert and disagreeable, and the
debate looked ill till Stanley rose and made one of the finest
speeches that were ever heard, pounding O'Connell to dust and
attacking him for his 'six hundred scoundrels,' from which he
endeavoured to escape by a miserable and abortive explanation.
Stanley seems to have set the whole thing to rights, like a great
man.]

I told the Duke what Macaulay had said to Denison: 'that if he
had had to legislate, he would, instead of this Bill, have
suspended the laws for five years in Ireland, given the
Lord-Lieutenant's proclamation the force of law, and got the Duke
of Wellington to go there.' He seemed very well pleased at this,
and said, 'Well, that is the way I governed the provinces on the
Garonne in the south of France. I desired the mayors to go on
administering the law of the land, and when they asked me in
whose name criminal suits should be carried on (which were
ordinarily in the name of the Emperor), and if they should be in
the name of the King, I said no, that we were treating with the
Emperor at Chatillon, and if they put forth the King they would
be in a scrape; neither should it be in the Emperor's name,
because we did not acknowledge him, but in that of the Allied
Powers.' In this I think he was wrong (_par parenthèse_), for
Napoleon was acknowledged by all the Powers but us, and we were
treating with him, and if he permitted the civil authorities to
administer the law as usual, he should have allowed them to
administer it in the usual legal form. Their civil administration
could not affect any political questions in the slightest degree.


March 4th, 1833 {p.364}

Sir Thomas Hardy told my brother he thought the King would
certainly go mad; he was so excitable, _loathing_ his Ministers,
particularly Graham, and dying to go to war. He has some of the
cunning of madmen, who fawn upon their keepers when looked at by
them, and grin at them and shake their fists when their backs are
turned; so he is extravagantly civil when his Ministers are with
him, and exhibits every mark of aversion when they are away. Peel
made an admirable speech on Friday night; they expect a great
majority.


March 13th, 1833 {p.364}

The second reading of the Coercive Bill has passed by a great
majority after a dull debate, and the other night Althorp deeply
offended Peel and the Tories by hurrying on the Church Reform
Bill. It was to be printed one day, and the second reading taken
two days after. They asked a delay of four or five days, and
Althorp refused. He did very wrong; he is either bullied or
cajoled into almost anything the Radicals want of this sort, but
he is stout against the Tories. The delay is required by decency,
but it ought to have been enough that Peel and the others asked
it for him to concede it. He ought to soften the asperities which
must long survive the battles of last year as much as he can, and
avoid shocking what he may consider the prejudices of the
vanquished party. It was worse than impolitic; it was stupid and
uncourteous, and missing an opportunity of being gracious which
he ought to have seized.

[Page Head: LORD BROUGHAM'S PRIVY COUNCIL BILL.]

I have been again worried with a new edition of Brougham's Privy
Council Bill,[2] and the difficulty of getting Lord Lansdowne to
_do_ anything. This is the way Brougham goes to work:--He
resolves to alter; he does not condescend to communicate with the
Privy Council, or to consult those who are conversant with its
practice, or who have been in the habit of administering justice
there; he has not time to think of it himself; he tosses to one
of his numerous _employés_ (for he has people without end working
for him) his rough notion, and tells him to put it into shape;
the satellite goes to work, always keeping in view the increase
of the dignity, authority, and patronage of the Chancellor, and
careless of the Council, the King, and the usages of the
Constitution. What is called _the Bill_ is then, for form's sake,
handed over to the Lord President (Lord Lansdowne), with
injunctions to let nobody see it, as if he was conspiring against
the Council, secure that if he meets with no resistance but what
is engendered by Lord Lansdowne's opposition he may enact
anything he pleases. Lord Lansdowne sends it to me (a long Act of
Parliament), with a request that I will return it '_by the
bearer_,' with any remarks I may have to make on it. The end is
that I am left, _quantum impar_, to fight this with the
Chancellor.

      [2] [This was the Bill for the establishment of a Judicial
          Committee of the Privy Council, which eventually became
          the Act 3 & 4 Will. IV., cap. 41, and definitively
          created that tribunal. Mr. Greville objected to several
          of the provisions of the measure, because he regarded
          them as an unnecessary interference of Parliament with
          the authority of the Sovereign in his Council. The
          Sovereign might undoubtedly have created a Committee of
          the judicial members of the Privy Council: but the Bill
          went further, and by extending and defining the power
          of the Judicial Committee as a Court of Appeal it
          undoubtedly proved a very useful and important
          measure.]


March 15th, 1833 {p.365}

Ministerial changes are going on; Durham is out, and to be made
an earl. Yesterday his elevation was known, and it is amusing
enough that the same day an incident should have occurred in the
House of Lords exhibiting in a good light the worthiness of the
subject, and how much he merits it at the hands of Lord Grey.


                *       *       *       *       *


March 29th, 1833 {p.365}

Lord Goderich is Privy Seal,[3] and Stanley Secretary for the
Colonies, after much trouble. Last year a positive pledge was
given to Stanley that he should not meet Parliament again but as
Secretary of State. It was not, however, specified who was to
make room for him. The Cabinet settled that it should be
Goderich, when Durham went out, and Palmerston was charged with
the office of breaking it to Goderich with the offer of an
earldom by way of gilding the pill, but Goderich would not hear
of it, said it would look like running away from the Slave
question, and, in short, flatly refused. Stanley threatened to
resign if he was not promoted, and in this dilemma the Duke of
Richmond (who was going to Windsor) persuaded Lord Grey to let
him lay the case before the King, and inform him that if this
arrangement was not made the Government must be broken up. He did
so, and the King acquiesced, and at the same time a similar
representation was made to Goderich, who after a desperate
resistance knocked under, and said that if it must be so he would
yield, but _only_ to the King's express commands.

      [3] [Down to this time Lord Goderich had been Secretary for
          the Colonial Department in Lord Grey's Government.]


March 30th, 1833 {p.366}

Saw Madame de Lieven yesterday, who told me the story of the late
business at St. Petersburg. The Sultan after the battle of Koniah
applied to the Emperor of Russia for succour, who ordered twelve
sail of the line and 30,000 men to go to the protection of
Constantinople. At the same time General Mouravieff was sent to
Constantinople, with orders to proceed to Alexandria and inform
the Pacha that the Emperor could only look upon him as a rebel,
that he would not suffer the Ottoman Empire to be overturned, and
that if Ibrahim advanced 'il aurait affaire à l'Empereur de
Russie.' Orders were accordingly sent to Ibrahim to suspend his
operations, and Mouravieff returned to Constantinople. Upon the
demand for succour by the Sultan, and the Emperor's compliance
with it, notification was made to all the Courts, and instructions
were given to the Russian commanders to retire as soon as the
Sultan should have no further occasion for their aid. So
satisfactory was this that Lord Grey expressed the greatest
anxiety that the Russian armament should arrive in time to arrest
the progress of the Egyptians. They did arrive--at least the fleet
did--and dropped anchor under the Seraglio. At this juncture
arrived Admiral Roussin in a ship of war, and as Ambassador of
France. He immediately informed the Sultan that the interposition
of Russia was superfluous, that he would undertake to conclude a
treaty, and to answer for the acquiescence of the Pacha, and he
sent a project one article of which was that the Russian fleet
should instantly withdraw. To this proposition the Sultan acceded,
and without waiting for the Pacha's confirmation he notified to
the Russian Ambassador that he had no longer any wish for the
presence of the Russian fleet, and they accordingly weighed anchor
and sailed away. This is all that is known of the transaction, but
Madame de Lieven was loud and vehement about the insolence of
Roussin; she said the Emperor would demand 'une satisfaction
éclatante'--'le rappel et le désaveu de l'amiral Roussin,' and
that if this should be refused the Russian Ambassador would be
ordered to quit Paris. She waits with great anxiety to see the end
of the business, for on it appears to depend the question of peace
or war with France. She said that the day before Namik went away
intelligence of this event arrived, which Palmerston communicated
to him. The Turk heard it very quietly, and then only said, 'Et où
était l'Angleterre dans tout ceci?'

[Page Head: PRECARIOUS STATE OF THE GOVERNMENT.]

I have heard to-night the Goderich version of his late
translation. He had agreed to remain in the Cabinet without an
office, but Lord Grey insisted on his taking the Privy Seal, and
threatened to resign if he did not; he was at last _bullied_ into
acquiescence, and when he had his audience of the King his
Majesty offered him anything he had to give. He said he had made
the sacrifice to please and serve him, and would take nothing. An
earldom--he refused; the Bath--ditto; _the Garter_--that he said
he would take. It was then discovered that he was not of rank
sufficient, when he said he would take the earldom in order to
qualify himself for the Garter, and so it stands. There is no
Garter vacant, and one supernumerary already, and Castlereagh and
Lord North, viscounts, and Sir Robert Walpole (all Commoners) had
blue ribands!


London, April 28th, 1833 {p.368}

Came to town last night from Newmarket, and the intervening week at
Buckenham. Nothing but racing and hawking; a wretched life--that is,
a life of amusement, but very unprofitable and discreditable to
anybody who can do better things. Of politics I know nothing during
this interval, but on coming to town find all in confusion, and
everybody gaping for 'what next.' Government was beaten on the Malt
Tax, and Lord Grey proposed to resign; the Tories are glad that the
Government is embarrassed, no matter how, the supporters sorry and
repentant, so that it is very clear the matter will be patched up;
they won't budge, and will probably get more regular support for the
future. Perhaps Althorp will go, but where to find a Chancellor of
the Exchequer will be the difficulty. Poulett Thomson wants it, but
they will not dare commit the finances of the country to him, so we
go scrambling on 'du jour la journée.' Nobody knows what is to
happen next--no confidence, no security, great talk of a property
tax, to which, I suppose, after wriggling about, we shall at last
come.


May 2nd, 1833 {p.368}

The Government affair is patched up, and nobody goes but
Hobhouse,[4] who thought fit to resign both his seat in
Parliament and his office, thereby creating another great
embarrassment, which can only be removed by his re-election and
re-appointment, and then, what a farce!

      [4] [Sir John Hobhouse, who had consented to take the Irish
          Secretaryship a month before, resigned now because he
          felt unable to oppose a resolution for the abolition of
          the window duties; and resigning office he resigned his
          seat for Westminster also, and was not re-elected. See
          in the 'Edinburgh Review,' April 1871 (No. 272), an
          account of this transaction.]

[Page Head: EMBARRASSMENT OF THE GOVERNMENT.]

There were two great majorities in the House of Commons the night
before last. The King was all graciousness and favour to Lord
Grey, and so they are set up again, and fancy themselves stronger
than before. But although everybody (except the fools) wished them
to be re-established, it was evident that this was only because,
at this moment, the time is not ripe for a change, for they
inspired no interest either individually or collectively. It was
easy to see that the Government has no consideration, and that
people are getting tired of their blunders and embarrassments, and
begin to turn their eyes to those who are more capable, and know
something of the business of Government--to Peel and to Stanley,
for the former, in spite of his cold, calculating selfishness and
duplicity, is the ablest man there is, and we must take what we
can get, and accept services without troubling ourselves about the
motives of those who supply them. It must come to this conclusion
unless the reign of Radicalism and the authority of the Humes 'et
hoc genus omne' is to be substituted. That the present Government
loses ground every day is perfectly clear, and at the same time
that the fruits of the Reform Bill become more lamentably
apparent. The scrape Government lately got into was owing partly
to the votes that people were obliged to give to curry favour with
their constituents, and partly to negligence and carelessness in
whipping in. Hobhouse's resignation is on account of his pledges,
and because he is forced to pledge himself on the hustings he
finds himself placed in a situation which compels him to save his
honour and consistency by embarrassing the public service to the
greatest degree at a very critical time. Men go on asking one
another how is it possible the country can be governed in this
manner, and nobody can reply.

Since I have been out of town the appeal against the Chancellor's
judgment in the Drax (lunacy) case has been heard at the Privy
Council, and will be finally determined on Saturday.[5] Two years
have nearly elapsed since that case was lodged, and the Chancellor
has always found pretexts for getting the hearing postponed; at
length the parties became so clamorous that it was necessary to fix
a day. He then endeavoured to pack a committee, and spoke to Lord
Lansdowne about summoning Lord Plunket, Lord Lyndhurst, and the
Vice-Chancellor, but Leach, who hates Brougham, and is particularly
nettled at his having reversed some of his judgments, bestirred
himself, and represented to Lord Lansdowne the absolute necessity
(in a case of such consequence) of having all the ex-Chancellors to
hear it. Plunket was gone to Ireland, so the Committee consisted of
the Lord President, the Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, Master of the
Rolls, Lords Eldon, Lyndhurst, and Manners. They say the argument
was very able--Sugden in support of the Chancellor's judgment, and
Pemberton against it; they expect it will be reversed. Leach,
foolishly enough, by question and observation, exhibited a strong
bias against the Chancellor, who never said a word, and appeared
very calm and easy, but with rage in his heart, for he was indignant
at these Lords having been summoned (as his secretary told
Lennard[6]), and said 'he was sure it was all Leach's doing.' What a
man! how wonderful! how despicable! carrying into the administration
of justice the petty vanity, personal jealousy and pique, and
shuffling arts that would reflect ridicule and odium on a silly
woman of fashion. He has smuggled his Privy Council Bill through the
House of Lords without the slightest notice or remark.

      [5] [An appeal lies to the King in Council from orders of
          the Lord Chancellor in lunacy, but there are very few
          examples of the prosecution of appeals of this nature.
          This case of Drax _v._ Grosvenor, which is reported in
          'Knapp's Privy Council Cases,' was therefore one of
          great peculiarity. The Bill constituting the Judicial
          Committee had not at this time become law; this appeal
          was therefore heard by a Committee of the Lords of the
          Council, to which any member of the Privy Council might
          be summoned. Care was taken that the highest legal
          authorities should be present. It was the last time
          Lord Eldon sat in a court of law. Lord Brougham, the
          Chancellor, sat on the Committee, although the appeal
          was brought from an order made by himself: this
          practice had not been uncommon in the House of Lords,
          but it had not been the practice of the Privy Council,
          where indeed the case could seldom arise.]

      [6] [John Barrett Lennard, Esq., was Chief Clerk of the
          Council Office.]


May 16th, 1833 {p.370}

On coming to town found the Westminster election just over, and
Evans returned. They would not hear Hobhouse, and pelted him and
his friends. No Secretary for Ireland is to be found, for the man
must be competent, and sure of re-election. Few are the first and
none the last. Hobhouse is generally censured for having put
Government in this great difficulty, but the Tories see it all
with a sort of grim satisfaction, and point at it as a happy
illustration of the benefits of the Reform Bill. I point too, but
I don't rejoice.

[Page Head: SLAVE EMANCIPATION.]

At the same time with Hobhouse's defeat came forth Stanley's plan
for slave emancipation, which produced rage and fury among both
West Indians and Saints, being too much for the former and not
enough for the latter, and both announced their opposition to it.
Practical men declare that it is impossible to carry it into
effect, and that the details are unmanageable. Even the Government
adherents do not pretend that it is a good and safe measure, but
the best that could be hit off under the circumstances; these
circumstances being the old motive, 'the people will have it.' The
night before last Stanley developed his plan in the House of
Commons in a speech of three hours, which was very eloquent, but
rather disappointing. He handled the preliminary topics of horrors
of slavery and colonial obstinacy and misconduct with all the
vigour and success that might have been expected, but when he came
to his measure he failed to show how it was to be put in operation
and to work. The peroration and eulogy on Wilberforce were very
brilliant. Howick had previously announced his intention of
opposing Stanley, and accordingly he did so in a speech of
considerable vehemence which lasted two hours. He was not,
however, well received; his father and mother had in vain
endeavoured to divert him from his resolution; but though they say
his speech was clever, he has damaged himself by it. His plan is
immediate emancipation.[7]

      [7] [The result proved that Lord Howick was right. The
          apprenticeship system proposed by Lord Stanley was
          carried, but failed in execution, and was eventually
          abandoned.]

While such is the state of things here--enormous interests under
discussion, great disquietude and alarm, no feeling of security,
no confidence in the Government, and a Parliament that inspires
fear rather than hope--matters abroad seem to be no better
managed than they are at home. It is remarkable that the business
in the East has escaped with so little animadversion, for there
never was a fairer object of attack. While France has been
vapouring, and we have been doing nothing at all, Russia has
established her own influence in Turkey, and made herself
virtually mistress of the Ottoman Empire. At a time when our
interests required that we should be well represented, and
powerfully supported, we had neither an Ambassador nor a fleet in
the Mediterranean; and because Lord Ponsonby is Lord Grey's
brother-in-law he has been able with impunity to dawdle on months
after months at Naples for his pleasure, and leave affairs at
Constantinople to be managed or mismanaged by a Chargé d'Affaires
who is altogether incompetent.


May 19th, 1833 {p.372}

[Page Head: RESPECT SHOWN TO WELLINGTON.]

They have found a Secretary for Ireland in the person of
Littleton,[8] which shows to what shifts they are put. He is rich,
which is his only qualification, being neither very able nor very
popular. The West India question is postponed. The Duke of
Wellington told me that he thought it would pass away for this
time, and that all parties would be convinced of the impracticability
of any of the plans now mooted. I said that nothing could do away
the mischief that had been done by broaching it. He thought 'the
mischief might be avoided;' but then these people do nothing to
avoid any mischief. I was marvellously struck (we rode together
through St. James's Park) with the profound respect with which the
Duke was treated, everybody we met taking off their hats to him,
everybody in the park rising as he went by, and every appearance
of his inspiring great reverence. I like this symptom, and it is
the more remarkable because it is not _popularity_, but a much
higher feeling towards him. He has forfeited his popularity more
than once; he has taken a line in politics directly counter to the
popular bias; but though in moments of excitement he is attacked
and vilified (and his broken windows, which I wish he would mend,
still preserve a record of the violence of the mob), when the
excitement subsides there is always a returning sentiment of
admiration and respect for him, kept alive by the recollection of
his splendid actions, such as no one else ever inspired. Much,
too, as I have regretted and censured the enormous errors of his
political career (at times), I believe that this sentiment is in a
great degree produced by the justice which is done to his
political character, sometimes mistaken, but always high-minded
and patriotic, and never mean, false, or selfish. If he has aimed
at power, and overrated his own capacity for wielding it, it has
been with the purest intentions and the most conscientious views.
I believe firmly that no man had ever at heart to a greater degree
the honour and glory of his country; and hereafter, when justice
will be done to his memory, and his character and conduct be
scanned with impartial eyes, if his capacity for government
appears unequal to the exigencies of the times in which he was
placed at the head of affairs, the purity of his motives and the
noble character of his ambition will be amply acknowledged.

      [8] [The Rt. Hon. E. J. Littleton, M.P. for Staffordshire,
          and afterwards first Lord Hatherton.
              It was Lord John Russell who advised Lord Grey to
          make Littleton Irish Secretary. He told me so in May
          1871, but added, 'I think I made a mistake.' The
          appointment was wholly unsolicited and unexpected by
          Mr. Littleton himself, who happened to be laid up at
          the time by an accident. On the receipt of the letter
          from Lord Grey offering him the Secretaryship of
          Ireland, and requesting him to take it, Mr. Littleton
          consulted Mr. Fazakerly, who was of opinion that he
          ought to accept the offer. This therefore he did,
          though not, as I know from his own journals, without
          great diffidence and hesitation; and he intimated to
          Lord Grey that he would only retain his office until
          some other man could be found to accept it.]

The Duke of Orleans is here, and very well received by the Court
and the world. He is good-looking, dull, has good manners and
little conversation, goes everywhere, and dances all night. At
the ball at Court the Queen waltzed with the two Dukes of Orleans
and Brunswick.

Peel compelled old Cobbett to bring on his motion for getting him
erased from the Privy Council, which Cobbett wished to shirk
from. He gave him a terrible dressing, and it all went off for
Peel in the most flattering way. He gains every day more
authority and influence in the House of Commons. It must end in
Peel and Stanley, unless everything ends.


May 27th, 1833 {p.373}

[Page Head: ANECDOTE OF THE DERBY.]

All last week at Epsom, and now, thank God, these races are over.
I have had all the trouble and excitement and worry, and have
neither won nor lost; nothing but the hope of gain would induce
me to go through this demoralising drudgery, which I am conscious
reduces me to the level of all that is most disreputable and
despicable, for my thoughts are eternally absorbed by it.
Jockeys, trainers, and blacklegs are my companions, and it is
like dram-drinking; having once entered upon it I cannot leave it
off, though I am disgusted with the occupation all the time. Let
no man who has no need, who is not in danger of losing all he
has, and is not obliged to grasp at every chance, _make a book_
on the Derby. While the fever it excites is raging, and the odds
are varying, I can neither read, nor write, nor occupy myself
with anything else. I went to the Oaks on Wednesday, where Lord
Stanley kept house for the first, and probably (as the house is
for sale) for the last time. It is a very agreeable place, with
an odd sort of house built at different times and by different
people; but the outside is covered with ivy and creepers, which
is pretty, and there are two good living-rooms in it. Besides
this, there is an abundance of grass and shade; it has been for
thirty or forty years the resort of all our old jockeys, and is
now occupied by the sporting portion of the Government. We had
Lord Grey and his daughter, Duke and Duchess of Richmond, Lord
and Lady Errol, Althorp, Graham, Uxbridge, Charles Grey, Duke of
Grafton, Lichfield, and Stanley's brothers. It passed off very
well--racing all the morning, an excellent dinner, and whist and
blind hookey in the evening. It was curious to see Stanley. Who
would believe they beheld the orator and statesman, only second,
if second, to Peel in the House of Commons, and on whom the
destiny of the country perhaps depends? There he was, as if he
had no thoughts but for the turf, full of the horses, interest in
the lottery, eager, blunt, noisy, good-humoured, 'has meditans
nugas et _totus in illis_;' at night equally devoted to the play,
as if his fortune depended on it. Thus can a man relax whose
existence is devoted to great objects and serious thoughts. I had
considerable hopes of winning the Derby, but was beaten easily,
my horse not being good. An odd circumstance occurred to me
before the race. Payne told me in strict confidence that a man
who could not appear on account of his debts, and who had been,
much connected with turf robberies, came to him, and entreated
him to take the odds for him to £1,000 about a horse for the
Derby, and deposited a note in his hand for the purpose. He told
him half the horses were made safe, and that it was arranged this
one was to win. After much delay, and having got his promise to
lay out the money, he told him it was my horse. He did back the
horse for the man for £700, but the same person told him if my
horse _could_ not win Dangerous would, and he backed the latter
likewise for £100, by which his friend was saved, and won £800.
He did not tell me his name, nor anything more, except that his
object was, if he had won, to pay his creditors, and he had
authorised Payne to retain the money, if he won it, for that
purpose.

We heard, while at the Oaks, that M. Dedel had signed the
convention between France, England, and Holland, on which all the
funds rose. The King of Holland's ratification was still to be
got, and many people will not believe in that till they see it.


June 3rd, 1833 {p.375}

The Government are in high spirits. The Saints have given in
their adhesion to Stanley's plan, and they expect to carry the
West India question. The Bank measure has satisfied the
directors, and most people, except Peel. The Duke of Wellington
told me he was very well satisfied, but that _they_ had intended
to make better terms with the Bank, and he thought they should
have done so. Melbourne says, 'Now that we are as much hated as
they were, we shall stay in for ever.'

As I came into town (having come by the steamboat from Margate
very luxuriously) on Saturday I found a final meeting at the
Council Office to dispose of the lunacy case. It was so late when
Horne finished his reply that I thought there was no chance of
any discussion, and I did not go in; but I met the Master of the
Rolls afterwards, who told me they had delivered their opinions,
Lord Eldon cautiously, he himself 'broadly,' which I will be
bound he did (for he hates Brougham), and that, though no
judgment had been yet given, the Chancellor's decree would be
reversed; so that after all Brougham's wincing and wriggling to
this he has been forced to submit at last.


London, June 11th, 1833 {p.376}

At a place called Buckhurst all last week for the Ascot races; a
party at Lichfield's, racing all the morning, then eating and
drinking, and play at night. I may say, with more truth than
anybody, 'Video meliora proboque, deteriora sequor.' The weather
was charming, the course crowded, the King received decently. His
household is now so ill managed that his grooms were drunk every
day, and one man (who was sober) was killed going home from the
races. Goodwin told me nobody exercised any authority, and the
consequence was that the household all ran riot.

[Page Head: TORY BLUNDERS.]

The first day of the races arrived the news that the Duke of
Wellington, after making a strong muster, had beaten the
Government in the House of Lords on the question of Portuguese
neutrality and Don Miguel, that Lord Grey had announced that he
considered it a vote of censure, and threw out a sort of threat
of resigning. He and Brougham (after a Cabinet) went down to the
King. The King was very much annoyed at this fresh dilemma into
which the Tories had brought him, and consented to whatever Lord
Grey required. In the meantime the House of Commons flew to arms,
and Colonel Dawes gave notice of a motion of confidence in
Ministers upon their foreign policy. This was carried by an
immense majority after a weak debate, in which some very cowardly
menaces were thrown out against the Bishops, and this settled the
question. Ministers did not resign, no Peers were made, and
everything goes on as before. It has been, however, a disastrous
business. How the Duke of Wellington could take this course after
the conversation I had with him in this room, when he told me he
would support the Government because he wished it to be _strong_,
I can't conceive. At all events he seems resolved that his
Parliamentary victories should be as injurious as his military
ones were glorious to his country. Some of his friends say that
he was _provoked_ by Lord Grey's supercilious answer to him the
other day, when he said he knew nothing of what was going on but
from what he read in the newspapers, others that he 'feels so
very strongly' about Portugal, others that he cannot manage the
Tories, and that they were determined to fight; in short, that he
has not the same authority as leader of a party that he had as
general of an army, for nobody would have forced him to fight the
battle of Salamanca or Vittoria if he had not fancied it himself.
The effect, however, has been this: the House of Lords has had a
rap on the knuckles from the King, their legislative functions
are practically in abeyance, and his Majesty is more tied than
ever to his Ministers. The House of Lords is paralysed; it exists
upon sufferance, and cannot venture to throw out or materially
alter any Bill (such as the India, Bank, Negro, Church Reform,
&c.) which may come up to it without the certainty of being
instantly swamped, and the measures, however obnoxious, crammed
down its throat. This Government has lost ground in public
opinion, they were daily falling lower, and these predestinated
idiots come and bolster them up just when they most want it.
Tavistock acknowledged to me that they were unpopular, and that
this freak had been of vast service to them; consequently they
are all elated to the greatest degree. The Tories are sulky and
crestfallen; moderate men are vexed, disappointed, grieved; and
the Radicals stand grinning by, chuckling at the sight of the
Conservatives (at least those who so call themselves, and those
who must be so _really_) cutting each others' throats.

[Page Head: LORD ELDON'S GREAT CAREER.]

On Saturday, the day after I came back, I found a final meeting at
the Council Office on the lunacy case, the appeal of Grosvenor
against Drax. There were Lord Lansdowne, the Chancellor,
Vice-Chancellor, Master of the Rolls, Lord Manners, Lord Eldon,
and Lord Lyndhurst. The rule is that the President of the Council
collects the opinions and votes, beginning with the junior Privy
Councillor. This was the Chancellor,[9] who made a sort of apology
for his judgment, stating that he had made the order just after
two or three very flagrant cases of a similar description had been
brought under his notice, and then he went into this case, and
endeavoured to show that there was fraud (and intentional fraud)
on the part of the Grosvenors, and he maintained, without
insisting on, and very mildly, his own former view of the case.
Leach then made a speech strongly against the judgment, and Lord
Eldon made a longish speech, very clear, and very decided against
it, interlarded with professions of his 'sincere' respect for the
person who delivered the judgment. The Chancellor did not reply to
Lord Eldon, but put some questions--some hypothetical, and some
upon parts of the case itself--which, together with some remarks,
brought on a discussion between him and Leach, in which the latter
ended by lashing himself into a rage. 'My Lord,' said he to the
Chancellor, 'we talk too much, and we don't stick to the point.'
Brougham put on one of his scornful smiles, and in reply to
something (I forget what) that the Vice-Chancellor said he dropped
in his sarcastic tone that he would do so and so 'if his Honour
would permit.' For a moment I thought there would be a breeze, but
it ended without any vote, in the adoption of a form of reversal
suggested by Lord Eldon, which left it to the option of the
respondent to institute other proceedings if he should think fit.
Afterwards all was harmony. Eldon seemed tolerably fresh, feeble,
but clear and collected. He was in spirits about the dinner which
had just been given him by the Templars, at which he was received
with extraordinary honours. He said he hoped never to be called to
the Council Board again, and this was probably the last occasion
on which he will have to appear in a judicial capacity. It is
remarkable that his last act should be to reverse a judgment of
Brougham's, Brougham being Chancellor and himself nothing. I could
not help looking with something like emotion at this extraordinary
old man, and reflecting upon his long and laborious career, which
is terminating gently and by almost insensible gradations, in a
manner more congenial to a philosophic mind than to an ambitious
spirit. As a statesman and a politician he has survived and
witnessed the ruin of his party and the subversion of those
particular institutions to which he tenaciously clung, and which
his prejudices or his wisdom made him think indispensable to the
existence of the Constitution. As an individual his destiny has
been happier, for he has preserved the strength of his body and
the vigour of his mind far beyond the ordinary period allotted to
man, he is adorned with honours and blessed with wealth sufficient
for the aspirations of pride and avarice, and while the lapse of
time has silenced the voice of envy, and retirement from office
has mitigated the rancour of political hostility, his great and
acknowledged authority as a luminary of the law shines forth with
purer lustre. He enjoys, perhaps, the most perfect reward of his
long life of labour and study--a foretaste of posthumous honour
and fame. He has lived to see his name venerated and his decisions
received with profound respect, and he is departing in peace, with
the proud assurance that he has left to his country a mighty
legacy of law and secured to himself an imperishable fame.

      [9] [This must be a mistake. The Chancellor takes rank in
          the Privy Council after the Lord President and before
          everyone else. Lord Brougham was junior Privy
          Councillor in mere seniority, but his office gave him
          rank over the others present. His opinion was probably
          taken first out of compliment to him, as he had made
          the order under review.]


June 15th, 1833 {p.379}

The day before yesterday I had occasion to see the Duke of
Wellington about the business in which we are joint trustees, and
when we had done I said, 'Well, that business in the House of
Lords turned out ill the other day.' 'No; do you think so?' he
said, and then he went into the matter. He said that he was
compelled to make the motion by the answer Lord Grey gave to his
question a few nights before; that his party in the House of Lords
would not be satisfied without dividing--they had been impatient
to attack the Government, and were not to be restrained; that on
the question itself they were _right_; that so far from his doing
harm to the Government, if they availed themselves wisely of the
defeat they might turn it to account in the House of Commons, and
so far it was of use to them, as it afforded a convincing proof to
their supporters that the House of Lords might be depended upon
for good purposes, and they might demand of their supporters in
the other House that they should enable them to carry good
measures, and they keep the House of Commons in harmony with the
House of Lords. He said the Government would make no Peers, and
that they _could not_; that the Tories were by no means frightened
or disheartened, and meant to take the first opportunity of
showing fight again; in short, he seemed not dissatisfied with
what had already occurred, and resolved to pursue the same course.
He said the Tories were indignant at the idea of being compelled
to keep quiet, and that if they were to be swamped the sooner it
was done the better, and that they would not give up their right
to deal with any question they thought fit from any motive of
expediency whatever.

I don't know what to make of the Duke and his conduct. The
Catholic question and the Corn Laws and Canning rise up before
me, and make me doubt whether he is so pure in his views and so
free from vindictive feelings as I thought and hoped he was. When
Lords Grey and Brougham went down to the King after the defeat,
they did not talk of Peers, and only proposed the short answer to
the Lords, to which he consented at once. His Majesty was very
indignant with the Duke, and said it was the second time he had
got him into a scrape, he had made a fool of him last year, and
now wanted to do the same thing again. Some pretend that all this
indignation is simulated; the man is, I believe, more foolish
than false.


June 19th, 1833 {p.380}

The King dined with the Duke at his Waterloo dinner yesterday,
which does not look as if he had been so very angry with him as
the Government people say. The Duke had his windows mended for
the occasion, whether in honour of his Majesty or in consequence
of H.B.'s caricature I don't know.

I had a long conversation with Sir Willoughby Cotton on Sunday
about Jamaica affairs. He is Commander-in-Chief, just come home,
and just going out again. He told me what he had said to Stanley,
which was to this effect: that the compensation would be esteemed
munificent, greater by far than they had expected; that they had
looked for a loan of fifteen millions at two per cent interest,
but that the plan would be impracticable, and that sugar could
not be cultivated after slavery ceased; that the slave would
never understand the system of modified servitude by which he was
to be nominally free and actually kept to labour, and that he
would rebel against the magistrate who tried to force him to work
more fiercely than against his master; that the magistrate would
never be able to persuade the slaves in their new character of
apprentices to work as heretofore, and the military who would be
called in to assist them could do nothing. He asked Stanley if he
intended, when the military were called in, that they should fire
on or bayonet the refractory apprentices. He said no, they were
to exhort them. He gave him to understand that in his opinion
they could do nothing, and that the more the soldiers exhorted
the more the slaves would not work. With regard to my own
particular case he was rather encouraging than not, thought they
would not molest me any more,[10] that the Assembly might try and
get me out, but that the Council considered it matter of loyalty
to the King not to force out the Clerk of his Privy Council, but
that if anything more was said about it, and I went out to
Jamaica, I might be sure of getting leave again in a month or six
weeks.

     [20] [This refers to Mr. Greville's holding the office of
          Secretary of the Island of Jamaica with permanent leave
          of absence. The work of the office was done by a
          deputy, who was paid by a share of the emoluments which
          were in the shape of fees.]


June 26th, 1833 {p.381}

[Page Head: IRISH CHURCH BILL.]

This morning at six saw my mother and Henry start for the
steamboat which is to take them abroad. I wish I was going with
them, and was destined once more to see Rome and Naples, which I
fear will never be. Last week was marked by a division in the
House of Commons which made a great noise. It was on that clause
of the Irish Church Bill which declared that the surplus should
be appropriated by Parliament, and Stanley thought fit to leave
out the clause. The Tories supported him; the Radicals and many
of the Whigs--Abercromby and C. Russell among the number--opposed
him. The minority was strong--148--but the fury it excited among
many of the friends of Government is incredible, and the Tories
were very triumphant without being at all conciliated. The
Speaker said he should not be surprised to see the Bill thrown
out by the junction of the Tories and Radicals on the third
reading, which is not likely, and the suppression of this clause,
which after all leaves the matter just as it was, will probably
carry it through the House of Lords. It is, however, very
questionable whether they were right in withdrawing it, and
Tavistock told me that though he thought it was _right_ it was
ill done, and had given great offence. Somehow or other Stanley,
with all his talents, makes a mess of everything, but this comes
of being (what the violent Whigs suspect him of being) half a
Tory. Measures are concocted upon ultra principles in the
Cabinet, and then as his influence is exerted, and his wishes are
obliged to be consulted, they are modified and altered, and this
gives a character of vacillation to the conduct of Government,
and exhibits a degree of weakness and infirmity of purpose which
prevents their being strong or popular or respectable. Nobody,
however, can say that they are obstinate, for they are eternally
giving way to somebody. In the House of Lords there was a sharp
skirmish between Brougham and Lyndhurst, and high Parliamentary
words passed between these 'noble friends' on the Local Courts
Bill. The Tories did not go down to support Lyndhurst, which
provoked him, and Brougham was nettled by his and old Eldon's
attacks on the Bill.

There is great talk of a letter which the King is said to have
written to the bishops--that is, to the Archbishop for the
edification of the episcopal bench. It is hardly credible that he
and Taylor should have been guilty of this folly, after the
letter which they wrote to the Peers a year and a half ago and
the stir that it made.

I have got from Sir Henry Lushington Monk Lewis's journals and his
two voyages to the West Indies (one of which I read at Naples), with
liberty to publish them, which I mean to do if I can get money
enough for him. He says Murray offered him £500 for the manuscripts
some years ago. I doubt getting so much now, but they are
uncommonly amusing, and it is the right moment for publishing them
now that people are full of interest about the West India question.
I was very well amused last week at the bazaar in Hanover Square,
when a sale was held on four successive days by the fine ladies for
the benefit of the foreigners in distress. It was like a masquerade
without masks, for everybody--men, women, and children--roved about
where they would, everybody talking to everybody, and vast
familiarity established between perfect strangers under the guise of
barter. The Queen's stall was held by Ladies Howe and Denbigh, with
her three prettiest maids of honour, Miss Bagot dressed like a
soubrette and looking like an angel. They sold all sorts of trash at
enormous prices, and made, I believe, four or five thousand pounds.
I went on Monday to hear Lushington speak in the cause of Swift and
Kelly. He spoke for three hours--an excellent speech. I sat by Mr.
Swift all the time; he is not ill-looking, but I should think
vulgar, and I'm sure impudent, for the more Lushington abused him
the more he laughed.


June 28th, 1833 {p.383}

[Page Head: THE KING WRITES TO THE ARCHBISHOP.]

The King did write to the Archbishop of Canterbury a severe
reproof to be communicated to the bishops for having voted against
his Government upon a question purely political (the Portuguese),
in which the interests of the Church were in no way concerned. He
sent a copy of the letter to Lord Grey, and Brougham told Sefton
and Wharncliffe the contents, both of whom told me. It is
remarkable that nothing has been said upon the subject in the
House of Lords. The Archbishop, the most timid of mankind, had the
prudence (I am told) to abstain from communicating the letter to
the bishops, and held a long consultation with the Archbishop of
York as to the mode of dealing with this puzzling document. If he
had communicated it, he would as a Privy Councillor have been
responsible for it, but what answer he made to the King I know
not. Never was there such a proceeding, so unconstitutional, so
foolish; but his Ministers do not seem to mind it, and are rather
elated at such a signal proof of his disposition to support them.
I think, as far as being a discouragement to the Tories, and
putting an end to their notion that he is hankering after them, it
may be of use, and it is probably true that he does not wish for a
change, but on the contrary dreads it. He naturally dreads
whatever is likely to raise a storm about his ears and interrupt
his repose.

Lyndhurst is in such a rage at his defeat in the House of Lords on
the Local Courts Bill that he swore at first he would never come
there again. What he said--that 'if they had considered it a party
question the result would have been very different,' which Brougham
unaccountably took for a threat against the Government--was levelled
at his own Tory friends for not supporting him. On the third reading
they mean to have another fight about it. I understand the lawyers
that the Bill is very objectionable, and calculated to degrade the
profession. I sat by Talleyrand at dinner the day before yesterday,
who told me a good deal about Mirabeau, but as he had a bad cold, in
addition to his usual mode of pumping up his words from the
bottomest pit of his stomach, it was next to impossible to
understand him. He said Mirabeau was really intimate with three
people only--himself, Narbonne, and Lauzun--that Auguste d'Aremberg
was the negotiator of the Court and medium of its communications
with Mirabeau; that he had found (during the provisional Government)
a receipt of Mirabeau's for a million, which he had given to Louis
XVIII.




                    END OF THE SECOND VOLUME.


                        LONDON: PRINTED BY
             SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE
                      AND PARLIAMENT STREET




                              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

Baiæ, Bay of, i. 341

Baring, House of, ii. 53

Baring, Right Hon. Alexander, offered the Chancellorship of the
  Exchequer, ii. 299; proposes a compromise with the ex-Ministers,
  300

Baring, Francis, Chairman of the West India Committee, iii. 279

Barnes, Mr., editor of the 'Times,' ii. 97, 214; negotiations
  with, for supporting the Government, iii. 155, 156, 157; dines
  with Lord Lyndhurst, 167, 169; alarm of, at the prevailing
  spirit, 188

Barri, Madame du, ii. 219

Barry, Dr., sent to Sunderland, ii. 216; report on cholera, 217

Bath, Chapter of the Order of the, i. 254

Bathurst, Earl, Lord President, i. 124; death of, iii. 115;
  character of, 115

Bathurst, Countess, conversation with, ii. 62

Bathurst, Hon. William, appointed Clerk of the Council, ii. 61,
  86; delay in appointment of, 74; sworn in Clerk of the Council,
  94

Bathurst, Lieut.-Colonel Hon. Seymour, death of, iii. 79

Baudrand, General, ii. 33; reception of, 38

Bazaar, in Hanover Square, ii. 383

Beauclerc, Lord Aurelius, dances a country dance with the King,
  ii. 341

Belgian question, the, settlement of, ii. 314

Belgium, revolution in, ii. 41; affairs of, 44; unsettled state
  of, 69; deputation from, 160; fortresses of, 169; invaded by
  the Dutch, 175; French army refuses to leave, 181; end of
  hostilities with the Dutch, 184; Conference, 1832, 321

Belmore, Earl of, Governor of Jamaica, i. 140, 147

Belvoir Castle, iii. 46

Benson, Canon, sermon at the Temple Church, ii. 113

Bentinck, Right Hon. Lord William, desires to be appointed
  Governor-General of India, i. 59; address to the electors of
  Glasgow, iii. 339, 343; qualities of, 339; inscription on
  monument in honour of, 340

Bentinck, Lord Henry, quarrel with Sir Roger Gresley, ii. 148

Bergara, Convention of, iii. 259

Berri, Duchesse de, in La Vendée, ii. 322

Berry, Miss, iii. 58

Berryer, M., iii. 379; appearance of, 380

Best, Right Hon. William Draper, _see_ Lord Wynford

Bethnal Green, distress in, ii. 261

Bexley, Lord, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, i. 95

Bickersteth, Henry, _see_ Lord Langdale

Blacas, M. de, favourite of Louis XVIII., ii. 305

Black Book, the, ii. 79

Bloomfield, Sir Benjamin, dismissal of, i. 55

Blount, Rev. Mr., sermon, iii. 12

Body-snatchers, ii. 227

Bologna, i. 402

Bonaparte, Emperor Napoleon, in the 100 days, i. 24; campaigns
  of, described by Marshal Marmont, ii. 35

Bonaparte, Louis Napoleon, Strasburg attempt, iii. 381

Bonaparte, Joseph, at dinner at Lady Cork's, iii. 18

Bonaparte, Lucien, introduced to the Duke of Wellington, iii. 11;
  at dinner at Lady Cork's, 18

Boodle's, dinner at, ii. 124

Bosanquet, Right Hon. Sir John Bernard, sworn in a Privy
  Councillor, iii. 30; Judge of the King's Bench, 71

Boswell, 'Life of Johnson,' anecdotes lost, ii. 105

Boulogne, iii. 388

Bourbon, Duke de, death of, ii. 50

Bourmont, Marshal de, marches on Lisbon, iii. 25

Bourne, Right Hon. Sturges, Secretary of State for the Home
  Department, i. 95

Bowring, Dr., sent to Paris, ii. 219; satire of Moore on, 219;
  career of, 220

Bradshaw, Mrs., acting of, at Bridgewater House, ii. 353

Brescia, i. 412

Bretby, visit to, iii. 327; Chesterfield Papers, 327

Bridgewater House, dramatic performances at, iii. 352, 355

Bridgewater Election, iii. 398

Brighton, the Court at, 1832, ii. 334; races, 1835, iii. 284

Bristol, riots at, ii. 208

Broglie, Duke de, conduct of, iii. 386

Brooks's Club, iii. 320

Brougham, Lord, attack upon, in 'Quarterly Review,' i. 16; speech
  on the Queen's trial, 35; letter to the Queen, 57; character
  of, 117; qualities of, ii. 18, 33; appointed Lord High
  Chancellor, 65; discontent of, 65; social qualities of, 69;
  anecdote of, 106; quarrel with Sugden, 106; correspondence with
  Southey on rewards to literary men, 112; speech on Chancery
  Reform, 118; domestic kindness of, 120; origin of
  representation of Yorkshire, 125; as Lord Chancellor, 128; at
  the Horse Guards, 129; as a judge, 145; at dinner at Hanbury's
  brewery, 148; at the British Museum, 149; claims the old Great
  Seal, 188; intention of sitting at the Privy Council, 223;
  speech on the Russian Loan, 244; quarrel with Sugden, 312;
  anecdote of, 314; Bill for creating a new Court of Appeal, 342;
  Bill objected to, 344; Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
  Bill, 365; sits on the case of Drax _v._ Grosvenor, 370; as
  Chancellor, iii. 22; anecdotes of Queen Caroline, 36; and Sir
  William Horne, 67; meets Sir Thomas Denman in Bedfordshire, 71;
  judicial changes, 71; defence of himself, 72; apology for, 76;
  speech on Lord Wynford's Bill for the observance of the
  Sabbath, 83; on the Pluralities Bill, 86; on the Irish Church,
  94; and the 'Times,' 96; Lord Chancellor in Lord Melbourne's
  Administration, 113; and Lord Westmeath, 119; conduct in the
  Westmeath case, 119, 124; versatility of, 121; lines applied
  to, 121; Greek epigrams, 121; ambition of, 122; in Scotland,
  133; communicates to the 'Times' the fall of Lord Melbourne's
  first Administration, 145; resigns the Great Seal, 156; takes
  leave of the Bar, 156; asks for the Chief Baronship, 157;
  anecdote, 232; conduct of, in the case of Swift _v._ Kelly,
  260, 267; on the London University Charter, 261; judgment in
  the case of Swift _v._ Kelly, 274; on the Corporation Bill,
  286; violence in the House of Lords, 303; illness of, 329; and
  Macaulay, 337, 338; at Queen Victoria's first Council, 408

Brummel, 'Beau,' i. 282

Brussels, disturbances at, ii. 40

Buccleuch, Duke of, subscription to election expenses, iii. 182

Budget, the, 1831, ii. 113

Buller, James, death of, ii. 59

Bülow, Baron von, on English affairs, iii. 211

Bulwer, Sir Edward Lytton, iii. 348

Bunsen, Baron, i. 315; career of, 327; on Roman affairs, 389

Burdett, Sir Francis, returned for Westminster, 1837, iii. 398

Burghersh, Lord, at Florence, i. 299; amateur opera, 301

Burghersh, Lady, intercedes for a prisoner at the Old Bailey, ii.
  85

Burghley, party at, iii. 53

Burke, Right Hon. Edmund, writings of, iii. 209; compared with
  Mackintosh, 314

Burke, Sir G., conversation with, on O'Connell, ii. 111

Buxton, Fowell, dinner at the brewery, ii. 148

Byng, Right Hon. George, Lord of the Treasury, iii. 95

Byron, Lord, Moore's Life of, i. 272; character of, 273


Cambridge, H.R.H. the Duchess of, reception of, i. 2

Cambridge, University of, petition for the admission of
  Dissenters to the, iii. 72, 75

Campbell, Sir John, Solicitor-General, ii. 333; Attorney-General,
  iii. 141

Canada, affairs in, iii. 350

Canning, Right Hon. Sir Stratford, Ambassador at St. Petersburg,
  ii. 352, 357; anecdote of, iii. 39; offered the
  Governor-Generalship of Canada, 234

Canning, Right Hon. George, Foreign Secretary, i. 55;
  correspondence with the King on taking office, 59; forms an
  Administration (1827), 93, 95; death of, 103; anecdotes of,
  104; industrious habits of, 106; memoirs of, 263, 272; despatch
  in verse, 326; sagacity of, ii. 42; conversation with the King,
  102; correspondence with the Duke of Wellington, 103; coldness
  to the Duke of Wellington, 103; anecdote of, 125; negotiation
  with the Whigs, 170; influence over Lord Liverpool, 172; in
  favour with the King, 172; on Reform, iii. 135; and King George
  IV., 137

Canning, Lady, visit to, ii. 101; authorship of pamphlet, iii. 40

Canning, Mr. Charles, offered a Lordship of the Treasury, iii.
  202

Cannizzaro, Duchess of, iii. 11; crowns the Duke of Wellington,
  406

Canterbury, Archbishop of, indecision of the, ii. 250, 262, 263;
  importance of support of the, 252, 253

Canterbury, Viscount, declines to go to Canada, iii. 234

Capo di Monte, i. 335

Capua, i. 360

Cardinals, the, i. 309

Carlisle, Earl of, Lord Privy Seal, i. 95; iii. 88

Carlists, the, in Spain, iii. 66

Carlos, Don, in London, iii. 98

Carlow election, iii. 348

Carnarvon, Earl of, refuses to move the address in the House of
  Lords, iii. 202

Caroline, Queen, return of, i. 28; trial of, 31, 35; anecdote of,
  iii. 37

Carvalho, Minister of Finance to Dom Pedro, iii. 93

Catacombs, the, _see_ Rome

Catholic emancipation, i. 163, 172, 174

Catholic Relief Bill, excitement concerning the, i. 180; debates
  on, _see_ Lords and Commons

Cato Street Conspiracy, the, i. 26

Cayla, Madame du, i. 71; dinner at the Duke of Wellington's, 214;
  Béranger's verses on, 215; favourite of Louis XVIII., ii. 306

Cenis, the Mont, i. 287

Champollion, Jean François, death of, ii. 307

Chapeau de Paille, the, purchase of, ii. 125

Chapel, near Holland House, unable to be consecrated, iii. 200

Charles I., King, head of, discovered at Windsor, ii. 168;
  executioner of, iii. 132

Charles X., King, of France, arrival of in England, ii. 31; at
  Lulworth Castle, 33; off Cowes, 34

Charlotte, Queen, illness of, i. 2, 3

Charlotte, H.R.H. the Princess, anecdotes of, ii. 319

Chartres, H.R.H. the Duc de, arrival of, i. 208

Chatham, Earl of, death of, iii. 316

Chatsworth, hospitality at, i. 237; charade at, 238; party at,
  ii. 51

Chesterfield Papers, the, iii. 327

Chobert, the 'Fire King,' i. 276

Cholera, the, in Russia, ii. 57; account of, 150; preventive
  measures against, 154, 216; effect on trade of, 156; spread of,
  161; alarm about, 169; at Berlin, 192; at Sunderland, 208, 210;
  at Marseilles, 221; on the decline, 224; near Edinburgh, 240;
  in London, 258, 259; in Bethnal Green, 261; account of, 278;
  diminution of, 285; in Paris, 287; alarm in London, 309, 311

Christina, Queen, of Spain, iii. 66, 72; reported flight of, 360;
  courage of, 365

Christmas trees, introduced by Princess Lieven at Panshanger, i.
  259

Church Bill, the, Committee on, iii. 199

Church Reform, iii. 206

City, the, address to the King, ii. 126; illumination in, 140;
  election, 1835, iii. 184, 186, 187; anxiety in the money-market,
  373, 376

Civil List, the, excess of expenditure on, i. 253; for debates
  on, _see_ Commons, House of

Clanricarde, Marquis of, sworn in a Privy Councillor, ii. 78

Clarence, H.R.H. the Duke of, Lord High Admiral, i. 95; removal
  of, from the office of Lord High Admiral, 138, 140. _See_
  William IV.

Cobbett, William, trial of, ii. 158; returned for Oldham, 335;
  takes his seat, 351; and Sir Robert Peel, 373

Cochrane, Lord, at Florence, i. 301; villa near Florence, 302

Codrington, Sir E., interview with the Duke of Wellington, i. 179

Coercion Bill, the, introduced, ii. 359

Colchester Election, iii. 112

Commons, House of; Alien Bill, i. 1; Dr. Halloran's petition, 14;
  debate on grant to the Duke of York, 18; debates on Queen
  Caroline, 30, 32, 38; Small Notes Bill, 79; debates on Catholic
  Relief Bill, 91, 133, 166, 191; division on Catholic Relief
  Bill, 185; Catholic Relief Bill read a third time, 203; Regency
  and Civil List, ii. 45; debate on the Evesham election, 25;
  debate on the Civil List, 110; announcement of the Reform Bill,
  110; Pension List, 111; debate on Ireland, 112; Budget of 1831,
  113; proposed reductions, 118; introduction of the first Reform
  Bill, 121; debates on the Reform Bill, 123, 125; debate on the
  Timber duties, 130; debate on the Reform Bill, 131; division on
  the Reform Bill, 132; Government defeated, 135; scene in the
  House, 135; second reading of the Reform Bill, 156; Wine
  duties, 160; Reform Bill, Schedule A, 170; second Reform Bill,
  227; debate on, and second reading of the second Reform Bill
  carried, 228; Reform Bill supported by the Irish Members, 239;
  division on the Russian Loan, 240; division on the sugar
  duties, 267; Reform Bill passed, 270; debates, 296; violent
  scene in debate on petition of the City of London, 299; Irish
  Tithe question, 308; debate on, 309; debate on the Address,
  353; Irish Church Reform, 354; aspect of the reformed House,
  360; debate on Slave Emancipation, 371; vote of confidence in
  the Ministers, 376; division on the Irish Church Bill, 381;
  vote against sinecures, iii. 13; division on Apprenticeship
  Clause of West India Bill, 16; disorganised state of the House,
  17; Pension List, 60; business of the House, 61; debate on the
  Corn Laws, 68; debate on admission of Dissenters to the
  University, 75; debate on Repeal of the Union, 80; Pension
  List, 80; debate on Portugal, 82; Poor Law Bill, 83; debate on
  Irish Tithe Bill, 98, 99; gallery for reporters, 205; debate on
  the Speakership, 214; debate on the Address, 221; debate and
  division on amendment to the Address, 223; Malt Tax, 224;
  debate on appointment of Lord Londonderry, 225; Dissenters'
  Marriage Bill, 230; Government beaten on Chatham election, 234;
  state of parties in the House, 234; debate and division on
  Irish Church question, 240; uproar in the House, 243;
  Government defeated on Irish Tithe Bill, 246; debate on Irish
  Church Bill, 281; position of the House, 288, 291; conflict
  with the House of Lords, 225; debate and division on the
  amendment to the Address, 334; effect of division, 336;
  Opposition defeated, 347; division, 359; Irish Corporation
  Bill, 388; insult to Lord Lyndhurst, 389; debates on Irish
  Tithe Bill, 391; abandonment of the appropriation clauses, 393

Como, i. 414

Conroy, Sir John, ii. 190; iii. 3

Conservative Club, dinner at, ii. 327; speeches, 327

Constantine, the Grand Duke, accident to, i. 259; death of, ii.
  164

Convention signed between France, England, and Holland, ii. 375

Conyngham, Marquis of, Postmaster-General, iii. 88, 113

Conyngham, Marchioness of, i. 46; wears a Crown jewel, 48; Court
  intrigues, 207

Conyngham, Lord Francis, i. 50

Coprogli, History of the Grand Vizier, iii. 115

Cornelius, painter, ii. 149

Coronation, the, of William IV., decided on, ii. 156;
  preparations for, 157, 163, 165; estimates for, 181; disputes
  over the arrangements for, 187

Cottenham, Lord, Lord High Chancellor, iii. 328

Cotton, Sir Willoughby, suppresses the insurrection in Jamaica,
  ii. 262; on affairs in Jamaica, 380

Council, Clerk of the, Mr. Greville sworn in, i. 44; after the
  accession of William IV., ii. 12; Lord Grey's Administration
  sworn in, 71; for the proclamation against rioters, 73;
  recorder's report in, 85; clerks of the, 87; scene at Council
  for a new Great Seal, 188

Council, Privy: suttee case before the, ii. 307; embargo on Dutch
  ships, 343; meeting of the, on the London University petition,
  iii. 80; counter petition of Oxford and Cambridge, 80

Council, Cabinet: the first of Lord Melbourne's Administration,
  iii. 120; the first of Sir Robert Peel's Administration, 174

Covent Garden Theatrical Fund Dinner, i. 205

Coventry, glove trade, ii. 224

Cowley, Abraham, lines from 'Ode to Solitude,' ii. 272

Cowper, Earl, at Panshanger, ii. 229

Cowper, Countess, at Panshanger, ii. 229

Cowper, William, Life of, by Southey, iii. 134

Cradock, Colonel, sent to Charles X., ii. 37

Crampton, Sir Philip, Irish story, i. 243

Craven, Earl of, disperses a mob, ii. 77; on the proposed new
  Peers, 232

Craven, General the Hon. Berkeley, suicide of, iii. 350

Crawford, William, member for the City of London, iii. 188

Creevey, Mr., i. 235

Croker, Right Hon. John Wilson, edition of 'Boswell's Life of
  Johnson,' ii. 105; reviews lost, 106

Cumberland, H.R.H. the Duke of, opposition to Catholic Relief
  Bill, i. 180; intrigues at Court, 222; insults Lady Lyndhurst,
  222, 223; quarrel with Lord Lyndhurst, 224; disputes concerning
  the office of 'Gold Stick,' ii. 5, 21

Cumberland, H.R.H. the Duchess of, i. 2

Cuvier, Baron, death of, ii. 307


Dalberg, Duke de, letter on European affairs, ii. 44

Dawson, Right Hon. George Robert, speech on Catholic
  Emancipation, i. 138, 200; sworn in a Privy Councillor, ii. 71

De Cazes, Duke, favourite of Louis XVIII., ii. 305; Ambassador to
  the Court of St. James, 306

Dedel, M., Dutch Minister at the Court of St. James, iii, 32

Denbigh, Earl of, Chamberlain to Queen Adelaide, ii. 342; sworn
  in Privy Councillor, 352

Denman, Lord, correspondence with the King, i. 156; sworn in a
  Privy Councillor, ii. 329; Lord Chief Justice, 330; qualities
  of, 331; meeting of, with Lord Brougham, in Bedfordshire, iii.
  71; raised to the Peerage, 74

Derby Dilly, the, iii. 236, 237, 253

De Ros, Lord, in Rome, i. 368

De Ros, Colonel, the Hon. Arthur John Hill, death of, i. 81;
  character of, 82

Dickenson, Captain, trial of, by court-martial, i. 235

Diebitsch, Marshal, death of, from cholera, ii. 154

Dino, Duc de, arrest of the, i. 255

Dino, Duchesse de, ii. 57; on the state of France, 195

Discontent throughout the country, ii. 108

Disraeli, Benjamin, projects for sitting in Parliament, iii. 170

Dissenters' Marriage Bill, iii. 207, 230. For debates on, _see_
  Commons, House of

Dorsetshire election, 1831, ii. 203, 207; crime in, iii. 77

Dover, Lord, resigns the Woods and Forests, ii. 109; created a
  Peer, 150; death of, iii. 4; character of, 4; Life of Frederick
  II., 6; book on the Man in the Iron Mask, 6

Down, deanery of, iii. 70

Drax _v._ Grosvenor, case of, ii. 224; lunacy case, 369; decision
  on, 375; final meeting on, 377

Drummond, Henry, mission to the Archbishop of York, iii. 333

Dublin Police Bill, iii. 333

Dudley, Earl of, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, i. 95,
  124; dinner to Marshal Marmont, ii. 38; eccentricity of, 271,
  272

'Duke of Milan,' quotation from the, i. 178

Dülcken, Madam, performs before the Judicial Committee, iii. 325

Duncannon, Viscount, iii. 104; called to the House of Lords, and
  Secretary of State, 109; sworn in, 112; Home Secretary, 113; on
  O'Connell, 117; at a fire in Edward Street, 117; on the state
  of affairs, 196; Commissioner of Woods and Forests under Lord
  Melbourne, 256

Duncombe, Hon. Thomas Slingsby, maiden speech of, i. 128;
  petition from Barnet, ii. 255; guilty of libel, iii. 9; at
  Hillingdon, 123

Durham, Earl of, quarrel with Lady Jersey, ii. 119; influence
  over Lord Grey, 222; attack on Lord Grey at a Cabinet dinner,
  226; rudeness of, 269; return from Russia, 333; violence of,
  333; created an earl, 365

Dwarris, Sir Fortunatus, dinner at the house of, ii. 359


East, Sir E. Hyde, sworn in a Privy Councillor, ii. 155

Eboli, Duchesse d', ball at Naples, i. 335

Ebrington, Viscount, moves a vote of confidence in the
  Government, ii. 202, 204

Ebury, Lord, sworn in a Privy Councillor, ii. 78

Egremont, Earl of, at Petworth, ii. 336; wealth of, 337;
  hospitality to the poor, iii. 84

Eldon, Earl of, audience of King George IV., i. 197; speech at
  Apsley House, ii. 198; career of, 378; tribute to, iii. 42

Election, General, in 1830, ii. 20, 29; in 1831, 139, 141, 142,
  145; in 1832, 335; in 1835, iii. 184, 189, 191, 193; results
  of, 195; in the counties, 198; result, 201

Eliot, Lord, return of, from Spain, iii. 259; conversation with
  Louis Philippe, 259

Ellenborough, Earl of, Lord Privy Seal, i. 124; letter to Sir
  John Malcolm, 271; on West India affairs, ii. 350; on Egypt,
  351; speech on admission of Dissenters to the University, iii.
  73

Ellesmere, Earl of, Irish Secretary, i. 146

Ellice, Right Hon. Edward, iii. 104; and the Colchester election,
  112; Secretary for War, 113; in Paris, 379

Elliot, Frederic, letter from Canada, iii. 325

Epsom races, 1831, ii. 143; in 1833, 373

Erskine, Right Hon. Thomas, sworn in a Privy Councillor, ii. 223;
  Chief Judge in Bankruptcy, 223

Escars, Duchesse d', at a party given by the Duke of Wellington,
  i. 214

Este, Sir Augustus d', behaviour of, ii. 194

Esterhazy, Prince Paul, conversation with, ii. 40; on Belgian
  affairs, 189; on the state of England, iii. 32; on affairs in
  Europe, 370; conversation with, 373

Europe, state of, ii. 126; in 1831, 187; in 1836, iii. 370

Evans, General de Lacy, iii. 265; reported death of, 359

Evans, the incendiary, arrest of, ii. 70

Exeter, Bishop of, correspondence with Lord Melbourne, ii. 97;
  interview with Lord Grey, 205; talents of, 287; ambition of,
  289


Falck, Baron, ii. 15, 41

Ferdinand, Emperor, of Austria, iii. 374

Fergusson, Right Hon. Cutlar, Judge Advocate, iii. 95

Ferrara, i. 405

Fieschi conspiracy, iii. 286

Fingall, Earl of, created a Baron of the United Kingdom, ii. 150

Finsbury election, 1834, Radical returned, iii. 100

Fitzclarence, Colonel George, _see_ Munster, Earl of

Fitzclarence, Lord Frederick, resigns appointment at the Tower,
  ii. 362

Fitzclarence, Lord Adolphus, picture of, ii. 179

Fitzclarence, Lord Augustus, at Ascot, ii. 147; picture of, 176

Fitzclarence, Lady Augusta, marriage of, iii. 363

Fitzgerald, Right Hon. Vesey, i. 150

Fitzherbert, Mrs., death of, iii. 396; documents of, 396

Flahault, Madame de, anecdotes of Princess Charlotte, ii. 319;
  _salon_ of, in Paris, iii. 381

Fleury, Cardinal, ii. 347

Florence, i. 299; sights of, 300; society at, 302; sculpture,
  300, 301; pictures, 303; Grand Duke, 303

Foley, Lord, sworn in a Privy Councillor, ii. 84; Lord-Lieutenant
  of Worcestershire, 84; at St. James's, 297

Fonblanque, Albany, iii. 348

Forester, Right Hon. Colonel Cecil, resigns his appointment as
  Groom of the Bedchamber, ii. 118

Forfar election, 1835, iii. 197

Fox, Mrs. Lane, accompanies the Prince of Orange to Gravesend,
  ii. 133; receives the Cabinet Ministers, iii. 140

Fox, Right Hon. Charles James, described by Talleyrand, ii. 344

Fox, W. J., Unitarian minister, sermon, iii. 43

France, state of affairs in, i. 284; appearance of the country,
  287; impending crisis in 1830, 369; events in 1830, ii. 17;
  revolution, 19; Duke of Orleans ascends the throne, 26;
  political prospects, 26; reconstruction of the Constitution,
  28; army ordered to Belgium, 178; army in Belgium, 181; seizure
  of Portuguese ships, 182, 184; republican tendencies of, 187;
  state of the country, 1831, 195; weakness of the Government of
  Louis Philippe, 322; dispute with America, iii. 322; state of
  the country, 382

Francis, Sir Philip, handwriting of, i. 234

Franklin, Benjamin, ii. 185

Franz Joseph, Archduke, iii. 374

Frascati, convent at, i. 305; dinner at, 305; visit to, 390


Gallatin, Albert, i. 257

Gambier, Lord, proxy of, ii. 286

Garrick, David, anecdotes of ii. 316

Gell, Sir William, at Rome, i. 372, 375

Geneva, i. 415

Genoa, i. 292; palaces, 293, 295; churches, 294; tomb of Andrew
  Doria, 296

George III., death of, i. 23; will, 64; jewels and property, 65;
  dislike of the Duke of Richmond, iii. 129

George IV., illness of, i. 23; at the Pavilion, 49; interview
  with, 91; health and habits of, 143; violent dislike to the
  Catholic Relief Bill, 153, 181; character of, 155; personal
  habits of, 189; interview with the Lord Chancellor, the Duke of
  Wellington, and Sir Robert Peel, 201; health of, 206; racing
  interests of, 212; anecdotes concerning, 216; eyesight
  affected, 233, 236; courage of, 236; conduct in reference to
  Mr. Denman, 250; illness of, 368; death of, 417; funeral of,
  ii. 4; sale of wardrobe, 23; details of last illness, 30;
  anecdotes concerning, 189

Gérard, Marshal, reported resignation of, ii. 45; ordered to
  Belgium, 178

Gibson, John, R.A., at Rome, i. 383

Gladstone, William Ewart, West India Committee, iii. 280

Glenelg, Lord, President of the Board of Trade, i. 124; Board of
  Control, ii. 66, iii. 113; Colonial Secretary in Lord
  Melbourne's second Administration, 256; and the King, 276

'Glenfinlas' performed at Bridgewater House, iii. 353, 355

Glengall, Earl of, comedy by the, i. 249

Glengall, Countess of, ii. 85

Gloucester, H.R.H. the Duke of, ii. 8

Goderich, Viscount, Small Notes Bill, i. 79; Secretary of State
  for Colonial Affairs and War, 95; sent for by the King, 107;
  scene at Windsor, 108; Administration of, formed, 108;
  resignation of, 115; returns to office, 116; Ministry
  dissolved, 120; Colonial Secretary, ii. 66; Lord Privy Seal,
  365; created an earl, 367; invested with the Order of the
  Garter, 367

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von, death of, ii. 307

Goodwood, ii. 182; in 1833, iii. 20

Gorhambury, party at, ii. 188

'Goriot, Le Père,' iii. 378

Goulburn, Right Hon. Henry, Chancellor of the Exchequer, i. 124

Graham, Right Hon. Sir James, First Lord of the Admiralty, ii.
  66; elevation of, 90; remarks on, 91; resignation of, iii. 88;
  declines to join the Peel Administration, 176; conservative
  spirit of, 249; on the crisis of 1835, 249; joins the
  Opposition, 272

Grange, The, attacked by a mob, ii. 68

Grant, Right Hon. Charles, _see_ Glenelg, Lord

Granville, Earl, Ambassador in Paris, iii. 385

Granville, Countess, i. 10; quarrel with M. Thiers, iii. 380

Greece, policy of the English Government towards, i. 255

Greenwich, dinner at, iii. 1

Grenville, Thomas, conduct during the riots of 1780, iii. 129

Gresley, Sir Roger, quarrel with Lord H. Bentinck, ii. 148

Greville, Charles, sen., death of, ii. 318

Greville, Mrs., 'Ode to Indifference,' ii. 319

Greville, Algernon, private secretary to the Duke of Wellington,
  iii. 163

Grey, Earl, hostility to the Government, i. 100; forms an
  Administration, 1830, ii. 64, 66; First Lord of the Treasury,
  66; at dinner at Lord Sefton's, 69; nepotism of, 78; character
  of, 88; relations with Lord Lyndhurst, 88; lays the Reform Bill
  before the King, 109; weakness of Government in the House of
  Commons, 116; remarks on Administration of, 137; invested with
  the Order of the Garter, 146; at dinner at Hanbury's Brewery,
  149; attacked on his foreign policy, 178; on Belgian affairs,
  178; attacked by Lord Durham, 226; proposed new Peers, 230;
  altered conduct of, 232; reluctance to make new Peers, 247;
  conversation with, 248; interview with Lord Harrowby and Lord
  Wharncliffe, 259; minute of compromise with Lord Harrowby and
  Lord Wharncliffe, 260; speech on Ancona, 269; speech at the
  close of the Reform debate, 288; continued efforts for a
  compromise, 291; Government defeated in committee, 293;
  resignation of Administration of, 294; resumes office with his
  colleagues, 300; remarks on the members of the Administration
  of, 322; embarrassment of Government, 369; instance of
  readiness of, iii. 10; on Portuguese affairs, 21; compared with
  the Duke of Wellington, 73; changes in the Administration of,
  88, 90, 91; situation of, in the crisis of 1834, 91; letter to
  Lord Ebrington, 92; weakness of the Government, 97; resignation
  of, 101; refuses the Privy Seal, 112; desires to retire, 124;
  dinner to, at Edinburgh, 135; events subsequent to retirement
  of, 145; intrigue, 145; conservative spirit of, 249; audience
  of the King, 251; dissatisfaction of, 352

Grey, Sir Charles, Governor of Jamaica, sworn in a Privy
  Councillor, iii. 271

Grote, George, returned for the City of London, iii. 188

Guizot, Monsieur, reported resignation of, ii. 45; eminence of,
  iii. 379

Gully, Mr., account of, ii. 335; returned for Pontefract, 336

Gunpowder Plot, papers relating to, i. 161


Haddington, Earl of, Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, iii. 181

Halford, Sir Henry, report on the cholera, ii. 137

Hampden, Dr. Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford, iii. 341,
  342

Hanbury's Brewery, dinner at, ii. 148

Happiness, reflections on, iii. 293

Hardinge, Right Hon. Sir Henry, on the prospects of the Tory
  Government, iii. 167; on the King and Lord Melbourne, 168

Harrowby, Earl of, Lord President, i. 95; speech on Reform, ii.
  206; interview with Lord Grey, 224; circular to the Peers, 242,
  248; interview with Lord Grey, 259; discussions on letter of,
  262; letter shown to Lord Grey, 264; the 'Times' on the letter
  of, 264, 265; patriotic conduct of, 275; declines to vote on
  Schedule A, 281; character of, iii. 52; subscription to
  election expenses, 182

Harrowby, Countess of, iii. 52

Hartwell, visit to, ii. 345

Harvey, Whittle, committee, iii. 112; speech of, at Southwark,
  188

Harwich election, 1835, iii. 186

Health, formation of a board of, ii. 154

Henry II., King, and Thomas à Becket, iii. 130

Henry VIII., King, coffin of, found at Windsor, ii. 168

Herbert, Sydney, Secretary to the Board of Control, iii. 194

Herculaneum, i. 349

'Hernani,' ii. 154

Herries, Right Hon. John Charles, scene at Council, i. 108;
  discussions on appointment of, 110; ill-will of, towards his
  colleagues, 121; Master of the Mint, 124

Hertford, Marchioness of, funeral of, iii. 79

Hess, Captain, ii. 319, 320

Heurteloup, Baron, before the Judicial Committee, iii. 332

Heythrop, riot at, ii. 77

Hill, Mr., Irish members' squabble, iii. 55

Hobhouse, Right Hon. Sir John Cam, speech on the Reform Bill, ii.
  123; Secretary of War, 243; resigns Irish Secretaryship and
  seat for Westminster, ii. 368; on the state of affairs, iii.
  195; Board of Control, in Lord Melbourne's second
  Administration, 256

Holland, the King of, invades Belgium, ii. 175; state of, 200;
  conduct of the King of, 314; the King refuses to give up
  Antwerp, 321, 329; obstinacy of the King, 324; bankrupt
  condition of, iii. 32

Holland, Lord, at Panshanger, ii. 47; Duchy of Lancaster, iii.
  113; anecdotes related by, 131; on Reform, 135; on Mr. Canning,
  135; anecdotes, 335; on Mr. Fox, 335; contempt for the Tory
  party, 336

Holland, Lady, fancies of, ii. 331; and Spencer Perceval, iii.
  331

Holland House, dinner at, ii. 245; conversation at, 316; Allen
  and Macaulay, 317; sketch of, 331; conversation at, iii. 127,
  129; literary criticisms, 130; Lord Melbourne's conversation,
  131; dinner at, 132; news of the fall of Lord Melbourne's
  Administration, 147; party spirit at, 192

Holmes boroughs, ii. 140

Hook, Theodore, improvisation of, iii. 119, 197; singing of, 197

Home, Sir William, Attorney-General, ii. 333; and Lord Brougham,
  iii. 67

Hortense, Queen, at Frascati, i. 305

Horton, Wilmot, lectures at the Mechanics' Institute, ii. 97

Howe, Earl, dismissal of, ii. 203; Queen's Chamberlain, 319; and
  Queen Adelaide, 331; correspondence about the Chamberlainship,
  339

Howick, Viscount, Under-secretary, ii. 78; in office, iii. 254;
  civility of the King to, 255; Secretary of War, 256; acrimony
  of, 312; interview with Spencer Perceval, 330; on the position
  of parties, 360

Hudson, Sir James, page of honour, ii. 339

Hume, John Deacon, Assistant-Secretary to the Board of Trade, i.
  223; ii. 49

Hume, Joseph, extreme Radical views of, ii. 361; speech on the
  Orangemen, iii. 344; deputation to Lord Melbourne, 357

'Hunchback, The,' ii. 285

Hunt, Henry, speech of, ii. 112; speech of, against the Reform
  Bill, 134

Huskisson, Right Hon. William, President of the Board of Trade,
  i. 95; dispute in the Cabinet, 120; joins the new Government,
  122; Colonial Secretary, 124; resignation of, 131; Lord
  Melbourne's opinion of, ii. 46; death of, 47; character of, 49;
  funeral of, 51


Incendiarism in the country, ii. 84

Ireland, trials in, i. 239; dissatisfaction in, ii. 76;
  unpopularity of Government changes in, 89; state of, 112, 114;
  education in, 267, 271; tithes, 309; Church difficulties in,
  323

Irish Church, abuses in, iii. 9; the Irish Church Bill dangerous
  to the Government, 86; differences in the Cabinet, 89;
  difficulties of the Irish Church question, 240, 253; opinions
  of Lord Melbourne on the, 269. For debates on the Irish Church
  Bill, _see_ Lords, House of, and Commons, House of

Irish Tithe Bill, thrown out, iii. 117; divisions on the, 246;
  conduct of the Government, 298; difficulties of, 353, 354;
  abandonment of the Appropriation Clause, 355

Irving, Edward, service in chapel, iii. 40; the unknown tongues,
  41; sermon of, 41; interview with Lord Melbourne, 129

Irving, Washington, i. 249

Istria, Duchesse d', beauty of, iii. 381


Jacquemont's Letters, iii. 115

Jamaica, insurrection in, ii. 262; Mr. Greville, Secretary of the
  Island of, 349; petition to the King, 352; affairs of, 352;
  anecdote of a slave, 359; opinion of Sir Willoughby Cotton,
  380; office of Secretary to the Island of, threatened, iii.
  266, 268, 275; secured, 279

Jebb, Judge, charge of, at O'Connell's trial, ii. 109

Jeffrey, Lord, and Professor Leslie, iii. 44

Jersey, Countess of, character of, i. 12; party at the house of,
  ii. 64; quarrel with Lord Durham, 119; correspondence with Lord
  Brougham, 126

Jockey Club, dinner given by the King to the, 1828, i. 154; in
  1829, 211

'John Bull,' the, newspaper, ii. 97

Johnson, Dr., anecdotes of, ii. 316

Johnstone, Right Hon. Sir Alexander, sworn in a Privy Councillor,
  iii. 27, 30; at the Judicial Committee, 125

Jones Loyd, Mr., iii. 188

Jones, 'Radical,' interview with Lord Wharncliffe, ii. 200

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, Bill for the
  establishment of the, iii. 21; meeting to make regulations for
  the, 35; first sitting of the, 38; working of the, 205


Kelly, Mrs., adventures of her daughter, i. 379, 383; case before
  the Privy Council, iii. 259, 261, 266, 267; judgment, 274

Kemble, Charles, and his family, iii. 260

Kemble, Miss Fanny, i. 240, ii. 129; tragedy by, 270; in the
  'Hunchback,' 285

Kempt, Right Hon. Sir James, Master-General of the Ordnance,
  sworn in a Privy Councillor, ii. 84

Kent, H.R.H. the Duchess of, disputes in the Royal Family, ii.
  190; and the Duke of Wellington, 190; the Regency Bill, 191;
  salutes to, iii. 3; at Burghley, 315; quarrels with the King,
  366; scene at Windsor, 367; answer to the address of the City
  of London, 399; squabble with the King, 400

Kenyon, Lord, speech at Apsley House, ii. 198

Kinnaird, Lord, created a Baron of the United Kingdom, ii. 150

Klopstock, Friedrich Gottlieb, anecdote of, iii. 130

Knatchbull, Right Hon. Sir Edward, joins the Peel Government,
  iii. 176, 177; attack on, 226

Knighton, Sir William, i. 72; influence with the King, 99, 144;
  behaviour of, during the King's illness, ii. 174


Lafayette, Marquis de, resignation of, ii. 99

La Ferronays, M. de, French Ambassador at Rome, i. 307; on the
  accession of the Emperor Nicholas, 373; on French politics,
  368; civility of, 380, 381; on French affairs, 393, 395

La Granja, revolution of, iii. 364, 365

'Lalla Rookh,' at Bridgewater House, iii. 353

Lamb, Sir Frederick, ii. 94; reported letter to the King of
  France from the Duke of Wellington, 94

Lambeth Palace, restoration of, ii. 34

Lancashire election, 1835, iii. 198

Langdale, Lord, reply to Lord Brougham, iii. 81; declines the
  Solicitor-Generalship, 141; peerage, 328; Master of the Rolls,
  328

Lansdowne, Marquis of, Secretary of State for the Home
  Department, i. 95; Lord President, ii. 66; dinner to name the
  sheriffs, 109; on the Reform Bill, 131; and Lord Brougham, 347;
  Lord President in both of the Administrations of Lord
  Melbourne, iii. 113, 256

La Roncière, case of, iii. 202

Laval, M. de, at Apsley House, ii. 15

Law, History of English, iii. 114

Lawrence, Sir Thomas, early genius of, i. 256; death of, 263;
  character of, 264; funeral of, 268; engagement of, to the
  Misses Siddons, iii. 50

Leach, Right Hon. Sir John, disappointed of the Woolsack, ii. 68;
  in the case of Drax _v._ Grosvenor, 378

Leigh, Colonel George, ii. 189

Leinster, Duke of, sworn in a Privy Councillor, ii. 155

Leitrim, Earl of, created a Baron of the United Kingdom, ii. 150

Le Marchant, Denis, at Stoke, iii. 21

Lemon, Robert, F.S.A., Deputy Keeper of the State Papers, iii. 44

Lennard, John Barrett, Chief Clerk of the Privy Council Office,
  ii. 370

Leopold, King, i. 22; desires to ascend the throne of Greece,
  265; anxiety to ascend the throne of Belgium, ii. 153; accepts
  the throne of Belgium, 158; starts for Belgium, 167; proposes
  to the Princess Louise of France, 168; in Belgium, 177; want of
  confidence in, 177; cold reception of, at Windsor, iii. 370

Leuchtenberg, Duke of, at Havre, iii. 33; marriage of, 33; letter
  to Lord Palmerston, 34; arrival of, 195

Leveson, Lord Francis, _see_ Ellesmere, Earl of

Levee, iii. 213

Lewis, Matthew Gregory, ('Monk' Lewis), journals and voyages to
  the West Indies, ii. 382; anecdote of, iii. 2; agreement with
  Mr. Murray for the Journal, 8

Lichfield, Earl of, at Runton, iii. 51

Lichfield Cathedral, iii. 327

Lieven, Prince, recalled, iii. 87

Lieven, Princess, character of, i. 15; attacks Lord Grey, ii.
  261; on the Belgian question, 266; conversation with, 322;
  renews her friendship with the Duke of Wellington, 325;
  grievances of, 351; interference of, 358; diplomatic
  difficulties, 357; reception of, at St. Petersburg, iii. 23;
  position, of, in Paris, 379

Littleton, Right Hon. Edward, i. 11; proposed by Lord Althorp as
  Speaker, ii. 333; Secretary for Ireland, 372; and O'Connell,
  iii. 99; instrumental in breaking up the Government, 102;
  political career of, 103; letter to Lord Wellesley, 103, 110;
  in communication with O'Connell, 103, 110; Irish Secretary, 113

Liverpool, Earl of, and the King, i. 25; paralytic seizure, 90;
  transactions before the close of Administration of, ii. 173

Liverpool, opening of the railroad, ii. 43, 47; bribery at
  election, 79

Lobau, Marshal, Commandant-Général, ii. 99

Lodge, the Royal, entertainments at, i. 99

London, speech of Bishop of, iii. 391; University Charter, iii.
  80, 81, 237; meeting of Committee of Council on, 260, 262

Londonderry, Marquis of, death of, i. 51; character of, 52;
  funeral of, 54

Londonderry, Marquis of, motion on Belgium, ii. 180; attacks Lord
  Plunket, 266; debate on appointment of, to St. Petersburg, iii.
  225; opinion of the Duke of Wellington, 227; speech of, 228;
  resignation of, 229

Long, St. John, trial of, ii. 85

Lords, House of, debate of Royal Dukes, i. 177; debate on
  Catholic Relief Bill, 199; division on Catholic Relief Bill,
  199; debate on affairs in Portugal, 277; debate on the Methuen
  Treaty, ii. 118; speech of Lord Brougham, 118; violent scene in
  the, 136; debate on Lord Londonderry's motion, 180; prospects
  of the Reform Bill, 193; First Reform Bill thrown out, 202;
  attack on the Bishops, 205; new Peers, 230; measures for
  carrying the second reading of the Second Reform Bill, 235,
  237; division on the Belgian question, 240; Reform Bill, 271;
  Irish education, 271; debates on second reading of the Reform
  Bill, 272, 286; list of proposed new Peers, 283; Reform Bill
  carried, 287; in Committee on the Reform Bill, 291; debate on
  conduct of the Tory party, 303; Russo-Dutch Loan, 315;
  Government beaten on Portuguese question, 376; powerlessness
  of, 377; Local Courts Bill, 382, 384; debate on Local Courts
  Bill, iii. 7; Government defeated, 7; Irish Church Bill, 8;
  Bill for the observance of the Sabbath, 83; debate on the Irish
  Church Bill, 94; Poor Law Bill, 114; debate on Irish Tithe
  Bill, 117; conduct of the House, 239; debate on Corporation
  Bill, 286, 290; position of the House, 288, 291; Irish Tithe
  Bill thrown up, 295; conflict with the House of Commons, 295;
  state of the House, 307; debate on Corporation Bill, 308, 351;
  hostility to the House of Commons, 359; conduct of the House,
  360, 361

Louis XVIII., King, memoirs of, ii. 305; favourites of, 305; at
  Hartwell, 345

Louis Philippe, King, accession of, ii. 26; conduct of, 27;
  tranquillises Paris, 99; speech of, 169; averse to French
  attack on Antwerp, 334; behaviour of, to the Queen of Portugal,
  iii. 33; power of, in the Chamber, 142; courage of, 286;
  conduct towards Spain, 321, 360, 364; at the Tuileries, 382;
  dislike to the Duke de Broglie, 386

Louise, H.R.H. Princess, daughter of King Louis Philippe, ii. 168

Louis, Baron, reported resignation of, ii. 45

Luckner, General, ii. 219

Lushington, Dr., speech of, in the appeal of Swift _v._ Kelly,
  ii. 383

Lushington, Sir Henry, and 'Monk' Lewis, iii. 2

Luttrell, Henry, character of, i. 10; 'Advice to Julia,' 33

Lyndhurst, Lord, Lord High Chancellor, i. 95, 124; quarrel with
  the Duke of Cumberland, 223; dissatisfaction at Lord Brougham's
  being raised to the Woolsack, ii. 68; reported appointment to
  be Lord Chief Baron, 89; opinion of the Government, 93; Lord
  Chief Baron, 106; political position of, 107; anecdote of a
  trial, 107; retort to the Duke of Richmond, 139; on the
  Government, 143; on Sir Robert Peel, 144; on Lord Brougham,
  144; sent for by the King, 294; efforts to form a Tory
  Government, 326; judgment in Small _v._ Attwood, 330; account
  of the efforts of the Tory party to form a Government, 340;
  forgets the message of the King to Lord Grey, iii. 49; account
  of transactions between the King and Lord Melbourne, 150;
  policy of, 151; on Lord Brougham, 153; Lord High Chancellor,
  156; on the Administration of Sir Robert Peel, 189; conduct on
  the Corporation Bill, 288, 292; on the prospects of the
  session, 332; on the business of the House of Lords, 333;
  speech in vindication of conduct, 362; in Paris, 378; insult
  offered to, in House of Commons, 389; capacity of, 390; violent
  speech of, 401

Lyndhurst, Lady, insulted by the Duke of Cumberland, i. 222;
  conversation with, ii. 93

Lynn Regis, election, iii. 170, 171, 175, 181

Lyons, riots at, ii. 219


Macao, verses on, i. 11, 12

Macaulay, Thomas Babington, speeches on the Reform Bill, ii. 123,
  199; eloquence of, 204; at Holland House, 245; appearance of,
  246; character of, 317; on the Coercion Bill, 363; conversation
  of, iii. 35; memory of, 337; eloquence of, compared to Lord
  Brougham, 338; inscription on monument erected in honour of
  Lord William Bentinck, 339

Macaulay, Zachary, iii. 337

Mackintosh, Right Hon. Sir James, speech of, on the criminal
  laws, i. 19; conversation of, 241; death of, ii. 307; 'History
  of England,' iii. 139; remarks on life of, 293, 314; compared
  with Burke, 314; life of, 316; abilities of, 316; religious
  belief of, 324

Maggiore, Lago, i. 414

Maidstone, state of the borough, iii. 184

Maii, Monsignore, i. 367, 375

Malibran, Maria Felicita, in the 'Sonnambula,' iii. 12

Mallet, conspiracy of, ii. 186

Malt Tax, the, Government defeated on, ii. 368

Manners Sutton, Sir Charles, G.C.B., proposed as Premier, ii.
  326; conduct of, 341; reappointed Speaker, 343; Knight of the
  Bath, iii. 30; the Speakership, 204, _see_ Canterbury, Lord

Mansfield, Lord, speech against the Government, ii. 136; audience
  of the King, 138; meeting of Peers, 152

Mansion House, the, dinner at, iii. 178

Marengo, battle-field of, i. 292

Maria, Donna, Queen of Portugal, at a child's ball, i. 209;
  proposals of marriage for, iii. 33; at Windsor, 33; picture of,
  195

Marie Amélie, Queen, iii. 383

Marmont, Marshal, at Lady Glengall's, ii. 34; conversation with,
  34; revolution of 1830, 37; at Woolwich, 38; dinner at Lord
  Dudley's, 38

Matteis, trial of, i. 336, 341

Matuscewitz, Russian Ambassador Extraordinary, i. 159; on affairs
  in Europe, ii. 176; conduct of, 324; conversation with, iii.
  314

Maule, Mr. Justice, at dinner at the Athenæum, ii. 101

Meeting of moderate men, origin of the 'Derby Dilly,' iii. 219

Meiningen, château of, model of the, iii. 122; the Queen revisits
  the, 125

Melbourne, Viscount, Home Secretary, ii. 66; efficiency of, in
  office, 90; negotiations with, 104; dissatisfaction of, 245; on
  the proposed new Peers, 254; on the Reform Bill, 277; on the
  members of Lord Grey's Administration, 322; sent for by the
  King, iii. 102; forms an Administration, 108; letter to the
  Duke of Wellington, Sir Robert Peel, and Mr. Stanley, 109;
  Administration of, 113; anecdote of, 126; information of, 130;
  literary conversation of, 131; on Benthamites, 138; theological
  reading of, 138; fall of Government of, 143; dismissal of, 144;
  details of fall of Government, 147; account of dismissal, 150,
  168; with the King, 163, 168; with his colleagues, 164, 165,
  166; dispute with Lord Duncannon, 166; speeches at Derby, 170;
  weakness of, 170; second Administration formed, 253;
  composition of, 256; theological reading of, 324; appointment
  of Dr. Hampden, 342; action against, brought by the Hon. Mr.
  Norton, 349; result of the trial, 351; difficulties of the
  Government, 355

Melville, Viscount, President of the India Board, i. 124

Mendizabal, ability of, iii. 321; dismissal of, 350

Messiah, the oratorio of the, performed in Westminster Abbey,
  iii. 98

Methuen, Paul, M.P., on supporting the Government, iii. 65;
  retort of O'Connell to, 65

Metternich, Princess, anecdote of, iii. 187

Mexico, failure of the Spanish expedition against, i. 249

Meynell, Mr., retires from the Lord Chamberlain's department, ii.
  133

Mezzofanti, i. 403

Middlesex election, 1835, iii. 197

Middleton, party at, i. 12

Miguel, Dom, ii. 312, 315, 321; attacks Oporto, 324; fleet
  captured by Captain Napier, iii. 9; anecdote of, 26; blunders
  of, 93

Milan, i. 413

Mill, John Stuart, at breakfast given by Mr. Henry Taylor, ii. 59

Milton, Viscount, at a meeting at Lord Althorp's, ii. 161

Mirabeau, Count de, Talleyrand's account of, ii. 384

Miraflores, Count de, Spanish Ambassador in London, iii. 98;
  doubtful compliment to Madame de Lieven, 99

Mola di Gaeta, i. 359; Cicero's villa, 368

Molé, M., Prime Minister of France, iii. 379; abilities of, 380

Montalivet, case of the French refugee, iii. 386

Monti, Vincenzo, anecdote of, ii. 186

Moore, Thomas, i. 239, 245; conversation of, 242; anecdotes, 247;
  Irish patriotism of, ii. 98; opinions on Reform, 140; copy of
  'Lord Edward Fitzgerald,' 169; satire on Dr. Bowring, 219;
  compared with Rogers, iii. 324; quarrel with O'Connell, 346

'Morning Herald,' the, moderate Tory organ, ii. 269

Mornington, Countess of, death of, ii. 194

Morpeth, Viscount, Irish Secretary, iii. 256; speech on Irish
  Tithe Bill, 256

Mosley, Sir Oswald, meeting of moderate men, iii. 220

Mulgrave, Earl of, in Jamaica, ii. 352; refuses the office of
  Postmaster-General, iii. 90; Lord Privy Seal, 113; capability
  of, 255

Municipal Corporation Bill, iii. 263, 284, 290; policy of Tory
  Peers on the, 283; prospects of the, 295; effects of the, 309,
  313; the Bill carried, 310

Munster, Earl of, employed by the King, ii. 10; raised to the
  Peerage, 143; Lieutenant of the Tower, 168; sworn in a Privy
  Councillor, 352

Murat, Achille, ii. 115

Murray, Dr., Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, i. 146

Murray, Sir George, Secretary of State for the Colonial
  Department, ii. 11

Murray, Lady Augusta, marriage of, ii. 194

Musard's ball, iii. 384


Namik Pacha, Turkish Ambassador, ii. 339

Napier, Sir William, on the state of the country, ii. 108;
  'History of the Peninsular War,' iii. 271

Napier, Captain Charles, captures Dom Miguel's fleet, iii. 9;
  cause of capture of a French squadron, 11; anecdote of, 34

Naples, i. 333; sight-seeing at, 334; Court of Justice, 334;
  manuscripts, 334; ceremony of taking the veil, 338; sights of,
  345, 356; miracle of the blood of San Gennaro, 353, 355, 364;
  excursions to Astroni, 356; lines on leaving, 361

Navarino, battle of, i. 114, 163

Nemours, H.R.H. Duc de, accompanies King Louis Philippe, ii. 99;
  nomination to the throne of Belgium declined, 111; in the House
  of Commons, iii. 306; at Doncaster, 315

Newmarket, political negotiations at, ii. 290

Nicholas, Emperor, accession of, i. 373; reception of strangers,
  iii. 24; on the change of Government in England, 211; speech at
  Warsaw, 319; dislike to King Louis Philippe, 387; qualities of,
  371

'Norma,' the opera of, iii. 2

North, Lord, Letters of George III. to, iii. 129; anecdote of,
  132

Northamptonshire election, iii. 326

Northumberland, Duke of, Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, i. 157

Northumberland, Duchess of, resigns her office of governess to
  the Princess Victoria, iii. 400

Norton, Hon. Mr., action brought against Lord Melbourne, iii.
  349; result of the trial, 351


Oaks, The, ii. 374; party at, 374

Oatlands, the residence of the Duke of York, i. 4; weekly parties
  at, 5, 7

O'Connell, Daniel, character of, i. 145; at dinner, 203; attempts
  to take his seat, 207; elected for Clare, 1829, 223; insult to,
  ii. 76; in Ireland, 96; opposition to Lord Anglesey, 98;
  abilities of, 100; violence of, 106; arrest of, 107; trial of,
  109; position of, 111; pleads guilty, 114; opposition to Lord
  Duncannon in Kilkenny, 115; explanation of, 123; dread of
  cholera, 309; member for Ireland, 351; violent speech at the
  Trades' Union, 362, 363; attack on Baron Smith, iii. 59; retort
  to Mr. Methuen, 65; and the Coercion Bill, 103, 110; in
  correspondence with Mr. Littleton, 110; union with the Whig
  party, 219; power of, 255; affair with Lord Alvanley, 256; in
  Scotland, 316; proposed expulsion from Brooks's club, 320;
  quarrel with Moore, 346; Carlow election, 348

O'Connell, Morgan, duel with Lord Alvanley, iii. 256

Old Bailey, trials at, i. 204; ii. 85

Opera House, the English, burnt, i. 277

Orange, Prince of, dinner to the, ii. 57; returns to Holland, 133

Orange, Princess of, robbery of jewels of, i. 267

Orange Lodge, association of, iii. 343

Orangemen, meeting of, iii. 123

Orleans, H.R.H. Duke of, arrival of, i. 208; sent to Lyons, ii.
  219; in England, 373; project of marriage at Vienna, iii. 372;
  question of marriage of, 387

Orloff, Count, arrival of, ii. 278; delay in ratification of the
  Belgian Treaty, 285

Osterley, party at, ii. 187


Padua, i. 411

Pæstum, i. 344

Palmella, Duke of, arrival of in London, ii. 315

Palmerston, Viscount, speech on the Portuguese question, i. 211;
  Foreign Secretary, ii. 66; suggests a compromise on the Reform
  Bill, 211; on proposed new Peers, 254; on prospects of the
  Reform Bill, 256; business habits of, iii. 20, 21; unpopularity
  of, 56; speech on the Turkish question, 71; Foreign Secretary
  in Lord Melbourne's Administration, 113; unpopularity with the
  _corps diplomatique_, 136; loses his election in Hampshire,
  197; as a man of business, 210; Foreign Secretary, 256;
  abilities of, 360

Panic, the, 1825, i. 77; on the Stock Exchange, 1830, ii. 43

Panshanger, parties at, ii. 46, 47, 229

Paris, society at, in 1830, i. 283; in July, 416, 417; Marshal
  Marmont's account of events at, in 1830, ii. 36; alarm felt in,
  99; change of Ministry, 133; in 1837, iii. 377; society at,
  378, 385; sight-seeing, 381, 383

Park, Judge, anecdotes of, ii. 92; iii. 372

Parke, Right Hon. Sir James, sworn in a Privy Councillor, iii.
  21; Baron of the Exchequer, 71; in the appeal of Swift _v._
  Kelly, 268

Parliament, meeting of, 1830, ii. 53; meeting of, 1831, ii. 110;
  dissolution of 1831, 137; opening of, 153; in 1831, 223;
  dissolution of, 1832, 334; opening of, 1833, 351; prorogation
  of, 1833, iii. 27; opening of, 1834, 55; dissolution of, 183;
  temporary buildings for Houses of, 205; opening of, 219; in
  1836, 334; prorogation of, 1836, 361

Parnell, Sir Henry, turned out of office, ii. 243

Parsons, anecdotes of, ii. 108

Paskiewitch, Marshal, in quarantine, ii. 162

Pattison, James, returned to Parliament for the City of London,
  iii. 188

Pavilion, The, dinner at, i. 49; completion of, 54

Pease, Mr., and O'Dwyer, iii. 59

Pedro, Dom, expedition of, ii. 312, 315; proposal to combine with
  Spain, iii. 72; in possession of Portugal, 93

Peel, Right Hon. Sir Robert, Home Secretary, i. 124; speeches on
  Catholic Relief Bill, 167, 183; Oxford University election,
  1829, 177; defeated, 178; political prospects of, ii. 95, 96;
  power in the House of Commons, 116; speech on the Reform Bill,
  123; inactivity of, on the Reform Bill, 130, 134; complaints of
  policy of, 141; conduct of, 160; reserve of, 161, 174;
  excellence in debate, 200; answer to Lord Harrowby, 248, 249;
  policy of, 264; speech on Irish Tithes, 269; invited to form a
  Government, 294; refuses to take office, 296; defence of
  conduct, 304; conduct during the Tory efforts to form a
  Government, 327, 328; conduct compared with that of the Duke of
  Wellington, 328; character of, 354; on political unions, iii.
  12; in society, 35; position of, in the House of Commons, 64;
  collection of pictures, 70; great dinner given by, 72; speech
  on admission of Dissenters to the University, 75; policy of the
  Administration of, 161; friendship with the Duke of Wellington
  renewed, 167; arrival of, from the Continent, 174; formation of
  Administration, 177; manifesto to the country, 178; prospects
  of the Ministry, 179; qualities of, 189; Toryism of
  Administration of, 194; false position of, 208; prospects of
  Government, 214, 235, 236; talents of, 224; conduct to his
  adherents, 230, 244; courage of, 283; impending resignation of,
  242; Government defeated, 246; resignation of Administration
  of, 1835, 246, 248; speech on Corporation Reform, 263; on Irish
  Church Bill, 281; relations with Lord John Russell, 282;
  seclusion of, 297; speech on Corporation Reform, 304;
  consideration for Lord Stanley, 335; conduct with regard to the
  Corporation Bill, 340; position of, 358; on the beginning of
  the new reign, 402

Peel, Sir Robert, sen., account of, ii. 125

Peel, Right Hon. Jonathan, iii. 243

Pemberton, Thomas, ii. 314; in the appeal of Swift _v._ Kelly,
  iii. 267, 271

Pembroke, Earl of, i. 250

Pension List, _see_ Commons, House of

Pepys, Right Hon. Sir Christopher, Master of the Rolls, iii. 328.
  _See_ Cottenham, Lord

Perceval, Spencer, discourse of, iii, 41; the Unknown Tongue, 41;
  on the condition of the Church, 123; apostolic mission to the
  members of the Government, 331; at Holland House, 331;
  apostolic mission of, 333

Périer, Casimir, momentary resignation of, ii. 175; attacked by
  cholera, 288; death of, 307

Persian Ambassador, the, quarrel of, with the Regent, i. 21

Perth election, 1835, iii. 197

Petworth House and pictures, ii. 336; fête at, iii. 84

Peyronnet, Comte de, i. 393

Phillpotts, _see_ Exeter, Bishop of

Pisa, i. 297

Pitt, Right Hon. William, described by Talleyrand, ii. 345;
  anecdotes of, iii. 131

Plunket, Lord, Lord Chancellor in Ireland, ii. 90; anecdote of,
  107; at Stoke, iii. 21; Deanery of Down, 70

Poland, contest in, ii. 157

Polignac, Prince Jules de, head of the Administration in France;
  i. 160, 229, 283; Administration of, 394; behaviour of, ii. 29;
  letter to M. de Molé, 33; exasperation against, 38, 39

Pompeii, i. 338; excavations at, 343

Ponsonby, Viscount, Minister at Naples, ii. 155; letters of, 172;
  conduct of, as Ambassador at Constantinople, iii. 405

Pope, the, audience of Pius VIII., i. 382; Irish appointments of
  the, iii. 269. _See_ Rome

Portfolio, the, iii. 327

Portland, Duke of, Lord Privy Seal, i. 95

Portugal, ships seized by the French, ii. 182, 184; affairs in,
  iii. 25, 79; bankrupt state of, 93

Powell, Mr., ii. 52

Pozzo di Borgo, Count, ii. 347; views of, on the state of Europe,
  iii. 182; Russian Ambassador in London, 201, 203

Praed, Winthrop Mackworth, first speech of, ii. 115; First
  Secretary to the Board of Control, iii. 194

Pratolino, i. 402

Prayer, form of, on account of the disturbed state of the
  kingdom, ii. 99

Proclamation against rioters, ii. 73


Quakers, the, address to King William IV., ii. 17

'Quarterly Review, The,' attacks Lord Harrowby, ii. 269, 270;
  pamphlet in answer to article, 270

Quintus Curtius, iii. 130


Racing, remarks on, ii. 373; anecdote, 374

Redesdale, Lord, letter of, ii. 269

Reform, plan of, ii. 105; remarks on, 207; negotiations
  concerning, 215, 217, 218

Reform Bill, the, laid before the King, ii. 109; excitement
  concerning, 124; carried by one vote, 132; alterations in, 134;
  Government defeated, 135; remarks on, 180; attitude of the
  press, 193; prospects of, 199; negotiations for a compromise,
  211; altered tone of the press, 225; meeting of Peers in
  Downing Street, 225; measures for carrying the second reading
  in the House of Lords, 235, 237, 239, 241; continued efforts to
  compromise, 268; finally passed in the House of Commons, 270;
  continued discussions on, 274; difficulty with Schedule A, 280;
  carried in the House of Lords, 287; in committee, 292; passes
  through committee, 304; results of, iii. 27, 191. For debates
  on, _see_ Lords, House of, and Commons, House of

Reichstadt, Duke of, and Marshal Marmont, iii. 374

Reis-Effendi, the, i. 159

Renfrewshire election, iii. 388

Rice, Right Hon. Thomas Spring, Colonial Secretary, iii. 88, 113;
  difficulties with, 253; Chancellor of the Exchequer, 256;
  incapacity of, as Chancellor of the Exchequer, 376

Richmond, Duke of, and King George III. at a naval review, iii.
  129

Richmond, Duke of, summary of character of, i. 199;
  Postmaster-General, ii. 66; refuses the appointment of Master
  of the Horse, 67; difficulties with his labourers, 68; at
  Goodwood, 182; on Reform, 211; character of, iii. 15;
  resignation of, 88

Riots, in London, 1830, ii. 55; among the farm labourers, 68;
  proclamation against, 73; in the country, 77

Ripon, Earl of, Lord Privy Seal, ii. 66; resignation of, iii. 88.
  _See_ Goderich, Viscount

Robarts, Mr., dinner given by, iii. 184

Robinson, Right Hon. Frederick John, Chancellor of the Exchequer,
  i. 79; _See_ Goderich, Viscount

Rochester election, 1835, iii. 193

Roden, Earl of, declines the office of Lord Steward, iii. 179,
  181

Rogers, Samuel, breakfast given by, ii. 150; compared with Moore,
  iii. 324

Rolle, Lord, remark to Lord Brougham, iii. 107

Rome, i. 303, 304; St. Peter's, 303, 321; sight-seeing, 306, 311,
  322; the Sistine Chapel, 309; the cardinals, 309; a cardinal
  lying in state, 312; Pompey's statue, 313; Temple of Bacchus,
  313; the Catacombs, 314; the Pope's blessing, 316, 324; Holy
  Week observances, 317; the Grand Penitentiary, 317, 319;
  washing of pilgrims' feet, 320; supper to pilgrims, 321;
  Protestant burial-ground, 322; St. Peter's illuminated, 325;
  excavations, 327; sight-seeing, 328, 329, 362; aqueducts, 363;
  the Scala Santa, 364; St. Peter's, 366; Library of the Vatican,
  367; votive offering of a horse-shoe, 367, 372; Columbaria,
  374; saints, 385; the Flagellants, 387; relations with
  Protestant countries, 391; the Coliseum, 395; story of a thief,
  396; convent of SS. Giovanni e Paolo, 397; sight-seeing, 398

Rosslyn, Earl of, Lord Privy Seal, i. 210; Lord President of the
  Council, iii. 177; dinner for selecting the Sheriffs, 201

Roussin, Admiral, at Constantinople ii. 367

Rovigo, the Duke de, at Rome, i. 325

Rundell, Mr., fortune of, will of, i. 90

Runton Abbey, shooting at, iii. 51; murder in the neighbourhood,
  51

Russell, Right Hon. Lord John, introduces the Reform Bill, ii.
  121; seat in the Cabinet, 150; brings in his Bill, 155; letter
  to Attwood, 205, 206; willing to compromise, 223; brings on the
  second Reform Bill, 227; Paymaster, of the Forces, iii. 113;
  objected to by the King as leader of the House of Commons, 160;
  speech at Totness, 171; on the Speakership, 205; on Church
  Reform, 206; first speech as leader of the House of Commons,
  214; letter of, on the Speakership, 218; as leader of the House
  of Commons, 221; marriage of, 252; Home Secretary in Lord
  Melbourne's second Administration, 256; introduction of
  Corporation Reform, 263; relations with Sir Robert Peel, 282;
  course to be pursued on the Corporation Bill, 303, 310; speech
  on the Orangemen, 344; moderation of, 352; meeting at the
  Foreign Office, 357, 358; intention of the Government to
  proceed with their Bills, 397; speech in answer to Roebuck, 401

Russia, state of, 1829, i. 158; intrigues of, ii. 351; diplomatic
  relations with, 352; combines with Turkey against Egypt, 366;
  fleet sent to Constantinople, 366; establishes her power in the
  East, 371; quarrel with, iii. 44; policy towards Turkey, 48;
  treaty with Turkey, 69; relations with Turkey, 183

Russo-Dutch Loan, question of the, ii. 240, 241; origin of the,
  244; debate on the, in the House of Lords, 315

Rutland, Duke of, anti-Reform petition, ii. 263; birthday party,
  iii. 46


Sadler, Mr., maiden speech of, in opposition to the Catholic
  Relief Bill, i. 191

Saint-Aulaire, M. de, French Ambassador at Vienna, iii. 187;
  anecdote of, 187

Saint-Aulaire, Madame de, iii. 187

Saint-Germain, Count de, account of, ii. 186; the 'Wandering
  Jew,' 186

Salerno, i. 344

Salisbury, Marquis of, petition to the King, ii. 231

Saltash, borough of, division on, ii. 170

San Carlos, Duke and Duchess of, i. 8

Sandon, Viscount, moves the Address in the House of Commons, iii.
  202; on Sir Robert Peel, 340

Sandys, Lord, iii. 359

Sartorius, Admiral, petition, iii. 366

Scarlett, Sir James, Attorney-General, i. 210

Scott, Sir Walter, death of, ii. 307

Seaford, Lord, i. 83

Sebastiani, Count, French Ambassador to the Court of St. James's,
  iii. 180

Sefton, Earl of, dinner to Lord Grey and Lord Brougham, ii. 69;
  on Lord Brougham, 148; created a Peer of the United Kingdom,
  150; qualities of, 183

Segrave, Lord, Lord-Lieutenant of Gloucestershire, iii. 322

Senior, Nassau, at Holland House, iii. 138

Session of 1833, review of the, iii. 28

Sestri, i. 297

Seton, Sir Henry, arrival of, from Belgium, ii. 178

Seymour, Lord, withdraws his support from the Government, ii. 124

Seymour, George, Master of the Robes, ii. 50

Seymour, Horace, retires from the Lord Chamberlain's Department,
  ii. 133

Seymour, Jane, coffin of, found at Windsor, ii. 168

Shadwell, Right Hon. Sir Lancelot, on legal business, iii. 76

Shee, Sir Martin, elected President of the Royal Academy, i. 269

Sheil, Right Hon. Richard, dispute with Lord Althorp, iii. 55;
  arrest of, by the Serjeant-at-Arms, 56; committee, 57, 58;
  insult to Lord Lyndhurst, 389

Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, iii. 336

Siege of Saragossa, the, iii. 40

Siena, i. 303

Simplon, the, i. 415

Slavery, abolition of, ii. 347; for debates on, _see_ Commons,
  House of

Smith, Baron, ii. 105; O'Connell's attack upon, iii. 59, 61, 63

Smith, Sydney, and the siege of Saragossa, iii. 39; and Professor
  Leslie, 44; sermon of, in St. Paul's Cathedral, 166; on Sir
  James Mackintosh, 317; dispute of, with the Bishop of London,
  395; letter to Archdeacon Singleton, 395

Smithson, Sir Hugh, ii. 337, 338

Somaglia, Cardinal, i. 312

Somerville, Mrs., iii. 58

Sorrento, i. 352; Benediction of the Flowers, 352

Soult, Marshal, sent to Lyons, ii. 219; Prime Minister of France,
  324

Southey, Robert, at breakfast given by Mr. Henry Taylor, ii. 59;
  letter to Lord Brougham on rewards to literary men, 111

Spain, the Duke of Wellington on affairs in, iii. 47; state of,
  55; affairs in, 66, 72; proposal to combine with Dom Pedro, 72;
  affairs in, 183; deplorable state of, 359

Spanish Legion, formation of the, iii. 265

Speaker, the, indecision of, ii. 299; disputes on the
  Speakership, 333; iii. 204

Spencer, Earl, death of, iii. 140

Spencer, Earl, _see_ Althorp, Viscount

Sprotborough, party at, for the races, ii. 50

Staël, Madame de, 'Considérations sur la Révolution française,'
  i. 16; anecdote of, ii. 186

Stafford House, concert at, iii. 278

Stanley, Right Hon. Edward, Irish Secretary, ii. 66; speech on
  the Reform Bill, 123; seat in the Cabinet, 150; speech in
  answer to Croker, 228; Secretary for the Colonial Department,
  365; at The Oaks, 374; indecision of, iii. 17; racing interests
  of, 35; resignation of, 88; in opposition, 93; 'Thimblerig'
  speech, 100; conciliatory letter to Lord Grey, 107; disposition
  of, 165, 167; declines to join Sir R. Peel, 175, 176; speech at
  Glasgow, 180; formation of the Stanley party, 220; position of
  Mr. Stanley, 222; policy of, 228; meeting of party at the
  'King's Head,' 237; speech on Irish Church question, 240;
  character of, 250; letter to Sir Thomas Hesketh, 265; joins the
  Opposition, 272; conduct of, 336

Stanley, Right Hon. Edward John, Under-Secretary of State, iii.
  112

State Paper Office, i. 160; iii. 44

Stephen, James, opinions on emancipation, ii. 359

Stephenson, George, on steam-engines, iii. 54

Stewart, Lady Dudley, party given by, ii. 115; accompanies the
  Prince of Orange to Gravesend, 133

Stoke, party at, i. 142; ii. 185

Strangford, Viscount, sent to the Brazils, i. 140

Strasburg prisoners, acquittal of, iii. 381

Strawberry Hill, party at, i. 247

Strutt, Edward, ii. 59

Stuart de Rothesay, Lord, Ambassador in France, i. 141

Sugden, Right Hon. Sir Edward, quarrel of, with Lord Brougham,
  ii. 312; origin of animosity towards Lord Brougham, iii. 22;
  Irish Chancellor, 178; resignation of, 231; retains his
  appointment, 234

Sugden, Lady, not received at Court, iii. 231

Sunderland, state of, ii. 216

Sussex, H.R.H. the Duke of, marriage of, ii. 194

Sutherland, Duke of, death of the, iii. 19; wealth, of the, 19

Suttee case, before the Privy Council, ii. 307

Swift _v._ Kelly, before the Judicial Committee of the Privy
  Council, iii. 259, 266, 267, 271; judgment, 274


Talleyrand, Charles Maurice de, letter to the Emperor of Russia,
  i. 23; Ambassador to the Court of St. James, ii. 44;
  conversation of, 185; anecdotes, 185; _mot_ of, 195; dinner
  with, 222; on Fox and Pitt, 344; detained in the Thames, 346;
  on Portuguese affairs, iii. 25; on relations between France and
  England, 314; opinion of, of Lord Palmerston, 360;
  dissatisfaction at his position in London, 386

Tasso, i. 328; bust of, 328

Tavistock, Marquis of, on the prospects of the Liberal party,
  iii. 43

Taylor, Sir Herbert, conversation with Lord Wharncliffe, ii. 251;
  correspondence with, about the Chancellorship, 339

Taylor, Henry, breakfast at the house of, ii. 58; breakfast to
  Wordsworth, Mill, Elliot, Charles Villiers, 120; on the
  abolition of slavery in the West Indies, 348; 'Philip van
  Artevelde,' iii. 114

Taylor, Brook, mission to Rome, ii. 153

Teddesley, party at, i. 11

Tenterden, Lord, death of, ii. 329; character of, 331; classical
  knowledge of, 331

Terceira, Portuguese expedition to, i. 169, 170

Terni, Falls of, i. 401

Thiers, Adolphe, dinner to, iii. 31; account of, 31; at the head
  of the French Government, 66; on interference in Spain, 66;
  foreign policy of, 364; social qualities of, 379; quarrel with
  Lady Granville, 380; courts the favour of Austria, 387

Thompson, Alderman, difficulties with his constituents, ii. 166

Thomson, Right Hon. Charles Poulett, originates a commercial
  treaty with France, ii. 219; Board of Trade, iii. 113, 256;
  self-complacency of, 330

Thorwaldsen, Albert, at Florence, i. 299, 300

Tierney, Right Hon. George, i. 14; Master of the Mint, 95; death
  of, 269

'Times,' the, on Lord Harrowby's letter, ii. 264, 265; attacks
  Lord Grey, 267; Lord Chancellor's speech, 313; influence of
  the, 362; and Lord Brougham, iii. 133; disposition of, to
  support a Tory Government, 149, 152; terms of support to the
  Duke of Wellington, 155; power of the, 156, 157; negotiations
  with Lord Lyndhurst, 171; letter signed 'Onslow,' 199

Titchfield, Marquis of, death of, i. 75; character of, 75

Tivoli, i. 375

Tixall, party at, i. 10; Macao, 11

Torrington, Viscount, and the King, iii. 285

Tory party, state of the, ii. 162; meeting at Bridgewater House,
  iii. 237; state of the, 306; indifference of members of the,
  389

Treaty of Unkiar Skelessi, iii. 45; between Russia and Turkey,
  1834, 69; the Quadruple, for the pacification of the Peninsula,
  signed 1834, 94

Tree, Ellen, at the City Theatre, ii. 181

Tuileries, the, reception at, iii. 382; ball at, 383; small ball
  at, 385

Turf, the, reflections on, iii. 139

Turin, i. 291

Turkey, threatened by Russia, i. 228; critical state of, ii. 351;
  relations with Russia, iii. 183

Tusculum, i. 390

Twiss, Horace, supper party given by, iii. 260


Union, speech of O'Connell on the repeal of the, iii. 80

Unions, proclamation against the, ii. 215; procession of trades,
  iii. 79

Urquhart, Mr., Secretary to the Embassy at Constantinople, iii.
  405


Van de Weyer, Sylvain, Belgian Minister to the Court of St.
  James, ii. 180

Vaudreuil, M. de, French _chargé d'affaires_ in London, on French
  affairs, ii. 24

Vaughan, Right Hon. Sir Charles, special mission to
  Constantinople, iii. 405

Vaughan, Right Hon. Sir John, sworn in a Privy Councillor, ii.
  155

Venice, i. 405; sights of, 406, 408, 410

Vernet, Horace, at Rome, i. 325

Verona, Congress of, i. 65; visit to, 413

Verulam, Earl of, petition to the King, ii. 231

Vesuvius, ascent of, i. 350

Vicenza, i. 412

Victoria, H.R.H. the Princess, at a child's ball, i. 209; first
  appearance of, at a drawing-room, ii. 119; at Burghley iii.
  315; health of, proposed by the King, 364; at Windsor, 367;
  letter from the King, 400; seclusion of, 403; first Council of,
  406; proclaimed QUEEN, 408; impression produced on all, 409

Villiers, Hon. Hyde, appointed to the Board of Control, ii. 145

Villiers, Hon. George, at the Grove, ii. 105; conversation with
  the Duke of Wellington, 105; mission to Paris for a commercial
  treaty, 219; Minister at Madrid, iii. 14, 20, 21; on prospects
  in Spain, 69, 79; letters of, from Madrid, 321, 360, 365

Villiers, Hon. Charles Pelham, ii. 59

Virginia Water, ii. 25; visit to, 30


Walewski, Count Alexander, arrival of, in London, ii. 104

Walpole, Horace, letters to Sir Horace Mann, iii. 2

'Wandering Jew, The,' ii. 186

Warsaw, affair at, ii. 95; taken by the Russians, 192

Warwickshire Election, iii. 353, 354

Wellesley, Marquis of, Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, iii. 31;
  correspondence with Mr. Littleton, 103, 110; resigns the White
  Wand, 258

Wellesley, Long, Esq., committed for contempt of court, ii. 166

Wellington, Duke of, account of the battle of Waterloo, i. 39; in
  Paris with Blücher, 41; dispute with the King, 51; on affairs
  of France and Spain, 67; opinion of Bonaparte, 71; mission to
  Russia, 78; visit to the Royal Lodge, 102; opinion of Mr.
  Canning, 107; forms a Government, 1828, 124; resolves to carry
  the Catholic Relief Bill, 143; correspondence with Dr. Curtis,
  148; ascendency of, in the Cabinet, and over the King, 176;
  hardness of character of, 191; duel with Lord Winchelsea, 192;
  conversation with, on King George IV. and the Duke of
  Cumberland, 216, 218; prosecution of the press, 233, 258, 260;
  business habits of, 262; conversation with on the French
  Revolution, ii. 21; qualities of, 41; confidence in, 45;
  declaration against Reform, 53; Administration of, defeated,
  61; resignation of, 62; suppresses disturbance in Hampshire,
  75; political character of, 81; reported letter of advice to
  the King of France, 94; correspondence with Mr. Canning, 103;
  conduct towards the Government, 159; objections to Mr. Canning,
  170; dinner at Apsley House, 188; anti-Reform dinner at Apsley
  House, 197; remarks upon, 204; memorial to the King, 211;
  correspondence with Lord Wharncliffe, 221; obstinacy of, 234;
  letter to Lord Wharncliffe, 248; unbecoming letter laid before
  the King, 252; reply to Lord Wharncliffe, 253; speech on Irish
  Education, 272; sent for by the King, 294; efforts of, to form
  an Administration, 299; inability of, to form an
  Administration, 300; statement of his case, 302; conduct of the
  Tory party, 302; ill-feeling towards Peel, 325; view of
  affairs, 1833, 363; government of French provinces, 363;
  respect evinced towards, 372; defence of policy, 379; Speech on
  the Coronation Oath, iii. 9, 10; policy on the Irish Church
  Bill, 10; on Portuguese affairs, 11, 26; and the Bonaparte
  family, 26; subsequent account of attempt to form a Government,
  48; compared with Lord Grey, 73; speech on the admission of
  Dissenters to the University, 73; presents the Oxford petition,
  79; and the Whigs, 82; installed as Chancellor of the
  University of Oxford, 95; First Lord of the Treasury, and
  Secretary of State for the Home Office, 149; arrangement for a
  provisional Government, 149; at the public offices, 1834, 154;
  account of crisis of 1834, 162; inconsistencies of, 172; on the
  division on the Speakership, 216; on Lord Londonderry's
  appointment, 227; anecdote of Lord Brougham, 232; on Spain,
  270; on the Walcheren expedition, 271; policy of, on the
  Corporation Bill, 283; letter to the Duke of Cumberland, 320;
  speech in answer to Lord Lyndhurst, 362; meeting of Tory Peers,
  397; crowned by the Duchess of Cannizzaro, 406; quarrel with
  the Duke of Clarence, 406

Western, Lord, evidence of, iii. 112

West India Body, consternation of the, ii. 350; deputation of
  the, 350

West India Bill, prospects of the, iii. 13. For debates on the,
  _see_ Commons, House of

West Indies, Lord Chandos's motion on the state of the, ii. 116;
  project of emancipation, 347; alarm in the, 352; difficulties
  attending emancipation, 360; committee on affairs of the, iii.
  266; decision on the office of Secretary of the Island of
  Jamaica, 279

Westmeath, Marchioness of, pension, i. 157, 160

Westmeath _v._ Westmeath, appeal before the Judicial Committee,
  iii. 119, 124; decision in, 140

Westminster election, 1818, contest, i. 3; in 1819, 17, 19; in
  1833, ii. 370; in 1837, iii. 398

Wetherell, Sir Charles, account of, i. 194; speech on the Reform
  Bill, ii. 123; supports Sir E. Sugden's motion, 314

Wharncliffe, Lord, interview with Radical Jones, ii. 200;
  overtures for a compromise on the Reform Bill, 211; character
  of, 213; draws up a declaration for signature in the City, 214;
  disappointment of, 218; final interview of, with Lord Grey,
  220; correspondence of, with the Duke of Wellington, 221;
  interview of, with the King on the proposed new Peers, 231,
  233; memorandum laid before the King, 252; as chief of a party,
  289; in communication with Lord Lyndhurst and Lord
  Ellenborough, 290; defends his policy, 292; paper on the Tory
  party, 343; on the prospects of the country, iii. 54; joins the
  Peel Government, 175; on the prospects of the session, 341

Whately, Richard, D.D., Archbishop of Dublin, iii. 280

Whig party, state of the, iii. 159; tactics of the, 216; union
  with O'Connell, 219; symptoms of disunion in the, 221; meeting
  at Lichfield House, 224; prospects of the, 235

Wicklow, Earl of, attack on the Government, iii. 110

Wilberforce, William, speech of, i. 16; negotiation with Mr.
  Canning, ii. 125

William IV., King, accession of, ii. 1; dislike of, to the Duke
  of Cumberland, 5; behaviour of, 6, 9; at the House of Lords,
  11; personal anecdotes of, 11, 12, 13, 14; dinner at Apsley
  House, 14; at Windsor, 25; pays the racing debts of the Duke of
  York, 50; speech on the change of Government, 72; levee, 74;
  health of, 106, 108; mobbed on returning from the theatre, 117;
  in mourning for his son-in-law, 133; in the House of Lords,
  136; dissolves Parliament, 136; conduct to his Ministers, 138;
  at Ascot, 147; opens Parliament, 153; at Windsor, 179; and the
  Bishops, 185; divides the old Great Seal, 188; crowned at
  Westminster, 190; levee, 192; toasts at dinner at St. James's,
  193; interview with Lord Wharncliffe on creation of new Peers,
  233; health of, 282; reluctance of, to make Peers, 283; adverse
  sentiments towards the Whigs, 298; dinner to the Jockey Club,
  301; levity of, 302; letter to the Peers, 303; character of,
  307; struck by a stone, 307; country dance, 341; anecdotes of,
  342; state of mind of, 364; letter to the Archbishop of
  Canterbury, 382, 383; letter-writing, iii. 2; animosity to the
  French, 33; irritability of, 81; conduct of, 84; personal
  feelings towards the members of Lord Melbourne's
  Administration, 137; dismissal of Lord Melbourne, 144; speech
  to the Tory Lords, 148; provisional appointments, 148; account
  of difference with Lord Melbourne, 150; resolution of, to
  support the Tory Government, 161; address to the new Ministers,
  175; on the state of Persia, 184; whims of, 203; Island of St.
  Bartholomew, 203; indignation of, at the affair of Lord
  Londonderry, 231; distress of, 251; and the Ministers, 245;
  personal habits of, 264; speech to Sir Charles Grey, 272;
  audience to Lord Durham, 272; hostility towards Lord Glenelg
  and the Ministers, 276; conduct to the Speaker, 279; scene with
  Lord Torrington, 285; speech to the Bishops, 303; speech on the
  Militia, 311; and the Duchess of Kent, 313; speech at dinner to
  the Jockey Club, 351; Toryism of, 358; joke, 361; speech to the
  Bishop of Ely, 363; proposes the health of the Princess
  Victoria, 364; aversion to his Ministers, 364, 366; speech to
  Lord Minto, 364, 366; rudeness to the Duchess of Kent, 366;
  scene at birthday party, 367; reception of King Leopold, 370;
  speech, 1837, 385; address to Lord Aylmer, 394; illness of,
  399, 400; letter to the Princess Victoria, 399; dangerous
  illness of, 401; prayers offered up for, 403; death of, 406;
  kindness of heart of, 410

Williams, Sir John, Justice of the Common Pleas, iii. 71

Winchelsea, Earl of, duel of, with the Duke of Wellington, i.
  192; incident of the handkerchief, 198

Winchester Cathedral, iii. 283

Windham, Right Hon. William, diary of, i. 231; conversation with
  Doctor Johnson, 232

Windsor Castle, dinner in St. George's Hall, ii. 34, 42; dinner
  during the Ascot week, 147

Windsor election, mobs at the, iii. 130

Woburn, party at, i. 23; riot at, ii. 77

Wood, Charles, on the Reform Bill, ii. 280

Wood, Matthew, returned to Parliament for the City of London,
  iii. 188

Worcester, Marchioness of, death of the, i. 47

Worcester Cathedral, iii. 327; monument of Bishop Hough, 327

Wordsworth, William, characteristics of, ii. 120

Wortley, Right Hon. John, Secretary to the Board of Control, i.
  271. _See_ Wharncliffe

Wrottesley, Sir John, motion of, for a call of the House, iii. 8,
  13

Wynford, Lord, raised to the Peerage, i. 210; Deputy Speaker of
  the House of Lords, 210

Wynn, Right Hon. Charles, President of the Board of Control, i.
  95; resignation of, ii. 124


York, H.R.H. the Duke of, character of, i. 5; management of
  racing establishment, 44; dislike to the Duke of Wellington,
  48, 62; duel with the Duke of Richmond, 62; anecdotes of King
  George IV., 73; illness of, 83, 85; death of, 84; funeral of,
  89; letter to Lord Liverpool on the Catholic question, ii. 104

York, H.R.H. the Duchess of, character of, i. 5; portrait of, 8;
  illness of, 27; death of, 34

Young, Thomas, private secretary to Lord Melbourne, iii. 126


Zea Bermudez, iii. 21; dismissal of, 55

Zumalacarreguy, iii. 270





End of Project Gutenberg's The Greville Memoirs, by Charles C. F. Greville