Anarchy in France--Another Omission of Lord Palmerston's--His
Spanish Interference attacked--Sir H. Bulwer's Account of his
Expulsion from Madrid--Conviction of John Mitchell--Lord Grey
objects to Palmerston's Conduct--Mirasol's Mission--Death
of Princess Sophia--Weakness of the Spanish Case--Further
Evasions of Palmerston--The Queen's Attachment to the Orleans
Family--Blunders and Weakness of the Government--Danger
of a Tory Government and a Dissolution--Disturbed State
of London--The Spanish Debate--Measures taken against the
Chartists--Perturbation of Society--Abolition of the Navigation
Laws--The Oaths Bill--Chartist Demonstration--Lord John's
West India Bill--Isturitz leaves England--Sir Henry Bulwer's
Intrigues in Madrid--Lord Clarendon's Distrust of the Irish
Catholics--Dangerous Position of the Government--Prospect
of a Tory Government--Attitude of the Peelites--Lord Grey's
Defence--Defeat of Sir J. Pakington's Amendment--Ferocious
Contest in Paris--Improved Position of the Government--Louis
Philippe's Opinion of the French Generals--Endsleigh--The West
of England--State of Ireland--State of England--Suspension
of the Habeas Corpus Act in Ireland--Collapse of the Irish
Insurrection--Sir Robert Adair--Lord Hardinge's Appointment
to Ireland as Commander-in-Chief--Lord Hardinge in India--The
Sikh Battles--A Chartist Establishment--Capture of Smith
O'Brien--Sicilian Independence--The Sale at Stowe--Anecdote of
Peel and Huskisson--Lord Clarendon on Ireland--Lord Palmerston's
Conduct to Austria and Italy--Debate on Foreign Affairs--State
of France--Irish Troubles--Charles Buller's Schemes for
Ireland--Close of the Session--Death of Lord George Bentinck--Lord
George Bentinck's Political Career--At the Jockey Club.
_Stud House: May 22nd and 25th, 1848._--In these times a hiatus of ten
days leaves an immense arrear of events and circumstances of different
sorts. The principal one last week was the strange scene in the French
Chamber and the conspiracy against its independence which was so
completely frustrated. It is never worth while to describe scenes which
are better and more circumstantially narrated in the newspapers. The
spirit of order was completely victorious, but the conduct of those who
have got the upper hand is still very unaccountable.[48] People go on
wondering that Lamartine should be so irresolute, and that he should
endure Ledru Rollin as a colleague. Madame de Lieven supplied me with
the solution of this question which I dare say is the true one. She told
me that Roberts the painter (who brought her away from Paris) came to
her the other day and told her that the Revolution found Lamartine as
well as Ledru Rollin ruined men, and that they formed a compact to
feather their nests, which both have accomplished. While they have been
ostensibly (and perhaps really) the heads of different sections of the
Government and the promoters of different principles, they have always
been connected by a secret understanding and a common interest, and
therefore they cannot break with each other, and accordingly whenever
the moderate party appear to have the upper hand and cry out to
Lamartine to come forward and crush his colleague, Lamartine, on the
contrary, shuffles, temporises and compromises, and so he and Ledru
Rollin go on together. The consequence of all this is that there is no
Government in France, and all the material interests of the country keep
getting worse and worse, and ruin stares everybody in the face.
[Footnote 48: [On May 15 another insurrection occurred in Paris. The mob
forced its way into the Chamber of Deputies, and declared the
Government, of which Lamartine was the head, to be dissolved. But the
National Guard turned out with spirit, and, with the aid of the troops
of the line, quelled the sedition and reinstated Lamartine.
The passage that follows is certainly incorrect. Lamartine did not act
with Ledru Rollin, and undoubtedly did not feather his nest, for he fell
from power as poor a man as he was when he assumed it.]]
[Sidenote: DEBATE ON THE RUPTURE WITH SPAIN.]
On Monday morning before I came here I learnt that there had been a
fresh matter of complaint against Palmerston, which had given Lord John
great annoyance. It seems that several days ago Brunnow communicated to
Palmerston that the Emperor of Russia had determined to make common
cause with the King of Denmark, and at the same time he made this known
to the Prince of Prussia.[49] The next day the Prince went to pay a
visit to the Queen, when he alluded to this important communication; the
Queen was excessively embarrassed, for she had never heard a word about
it, Palmerston having omitted to tell her. As soon as the Prince was
gone, she sent for Lord John Russell, who was at Richmond. He came up to
town and went to the Queen, who told him what had passed, describing her
embarrassment, but said that she thought it better not to let the Prince
know she was in ignorance of such a matter, and she had therefore
pretended to be aware of it. By mere accident John Russell himself had
received a box from Palmerston with this communication a few minutes
before he went to the Queen; if it had arrived ten minutes later he
would have known nothing about it either. This coming after the Spanish
affair, and so soon, does not improve Palmerston's position with the
Queen or his colleagues.
[Footnote 49: [The Prince of Prussia--brother to the King, and
afterwards King Wilhelm and Emperor of the Germans--had taken refuge in
London from the mob of Berlin, and was residing with Chevalier Bunsen at
the Prussian Embassy in Carlton Gardens.]]
I found the Duke of Bedford, who had sent for me, much disturbed at a
communication he had received from Arbuthnot, who told him that the
Government would be very hard pressed on Friday upon Bankes' motion on
the Spanish correspondence;[50] that the motion had been settled by
Bankes and Lincoln together, and approved by Stanley; that all the
Protectionists would support it; and if Hume and the Radicals did so
likewise, the Government would be beaten. All this Arbuthnot had learnt
from a Protectionist friend, who added that he did not know what Peel
and Graham and their friends would do. This latter point I undertook to
ascertain, and I forthwith called on Graham and asked him. He told me
that both he and Peel would support the Government, not approving
Palmerston's conduct, but not wishing to damage the Government, and not
thinking it fair or proper to inflict upon Palmerston a Parliamentary
censure. He told me what he should say on the occasion, which I need not
say here, as he will say it himself. We had a great deal of talk about
the state of affairs. I told him what was said about Lincoln and Bankes,
and what the effect of Lincoln's conduct was; he deplored it very much,
and said that it was not only very imprudent but very unfair to others,
but that he could do nothing about it. If Peel was like other men he
would keep Lincoln straight, and it behoves him especially to do so, as
Lincoln is supposed to be his favourite adherent.
[Footnote 50: [On June 5 Mr. Bankes moved in the House of Commons a
resolution censuring the conduct of Lord Palmerston and Sir Henry Bulwer
at Madrid. After a debate the motion was withdrawn, and the discussion
turned out quite differently from what was expected. See _infra_, June
10th.]]
Yesterday I rode to the course at Epsom with Clanricarde, and we talked
about Palmerston and John Russell. He said that such things as had
lately happened were not to happen again, but that he thought there had
not been enough of common consultation and understanding in their
Cabinet upon important matters; he did not think Palmerston had done
_many_ objectionable things, but owned that John Russell was not fit to
be the _head_ of a Government, was admirable in the House of Commons,
but wanting in the qualities that a Prime Minister ought to have.
While this Spanish debate is impending, the difficulty of the case is
greatly increased by the news of Bulwer's having been driven out of
Madrid, his passport sent him, and he himself ordered to quit it in
forty-eight hours; and last night I received a letter from him
announcing his arrival and begging to see me. I saw Stanley at Epsom,
who said that this event had rendered it very difficult to know what
course to pursue; he concludes that Narvaez could not have taken such a
step without having sufficient evidence to prove that they had a good
case against Bulwer, and that this evidence must have been transmitted
to our Government. I am going to London to see Bulwer to hear his story.
[Sidenote: SIR HENRY BULWER'S DEFENCE.]
_May 30th._--I called on Bulwer on Thursday, found him with Delane, and
soon after Hayward came in, so had no opportunity of questioning him. He
told his story in a long, rambling style, pretty much as the Spanish
papers give it; he said he had originally sent a long account to
Palmerston of the state of parties in Spain, and the character of the
principal men, and advised him to be on good terms with Narvaez and his
Government. He did not say what answer Palmerston sent, but I inferred
that it did not meet his views. The thing that struck me was the
knowledge which he betrayed of the plots or intrigues that were going on
against the Government, and it does not appear either from these papers
or from what he said to me that he ever gave the benefit of his
information to the Spanish Ministers. For example, he knew of the
military insurrection, the day on which, the place at which, it was to
take place, who was to command it, and, in short, particulars which
implied familiarity, if not complicity, with the conspirators. Then
there appears to have been a system of offensive and injudicious
interference, and in the functions discharged by the English Minister
one searches in vain for any international interest, or anything in
which we are concerned, and he seems only to have existed at Madrid to
meddle and give officious, unrequired, and unwelcome advice. The whole
affair is at present in a very embarrassing state, but the man who takes
it the most lightly is Palmerston himself. Everybody condemns the spirit
of meddling which Palmerston has exhibited in this as in so many
instances, and even those who think his interference warrantable, admit
that his tone and manner have been very injudicious and in exceeding bad
taste. At present his colleagues show no disposition to give him up, and
his will is so strong and he is so daring and reckless, while they are
all so feeble and yielding, that he will probably harness them all to
his car and make them assist in lugging him out of the difficulty. This
affair will, however, prove a source of discredit out of the Cabinet,
and of weakness and dissension within it. There is not a Minister who
does not feel more or less disgusted and alarmed at Palmerston's
proceedings, and still more at his character. Out of doors the
reprehension is universal. Graham, who had announced his opposition to
Bankes' motion and his intention to assist the Government, has now
communicated to them (through me) that he can pledge himself to no
course till he shall have seen all the papers and heard all the
explanations on the subject. Bulwer and Isturitz met at Palmerston's
dinner on the Queen's birthday, and accosted each other very cordially.
It was remarked that the Queen was very civil to Isturitz at the LevÈe.
The account of Mitchell's conviction[51] has given great satisfaction
here, and compensated for the defeats in the other cases. The good of it
is that the Government have proved to the Irish and to the world that
they have the means of punishing these enormous offenders, and that they
will not be able to pursue their turbulent and factious course with
impunity. The three hundred imitators whom Mitchell announced as ready
to encounter similar martyrdom will probably not be forthcoming. So far
as the system of terror is concerned, which is the only one we can now
employ, it is a great and happy event, but it will not contribute to the
regeneration of the country, and will probably augment the fund of
accumulating hatred against English connexion. Still, anything is better
than political impotence, and, before any attempt can be made to
introduce those practical improvements which may disarm the Irish of
their prejudices and animosities, the power of the law and the
Government must be firmly asserted and enforced. An incident has,
however, accompanied these trials which is not pleasant to the
Government. The Whigs, and Lord John Russell at the head of them, when
in opposition, bitterly attacked the conduct of the Law Officers in
their jury challenges in the political trials. On this occasion, the
Whig Law officers found they must either do exactly as their
predecessors had done, or connive at their own defeat. They wisely and
properly chose the former alternative, but of course at the cost of
exposing the present Government to charges of gross inconsistency. Last
night in the House of Commons the subject was touched upon, and John
Russell had the imprudence to read part of a private letter from
Clarendon, referring to the conduct of the late Government in striking
the jury in O'Connell's case as open to reproach. This brought up
Graham, who affirmed that the instructions given by his Government and
those given by the present Government were precisely the same, which
John Russell was obliged to admit. The allusion, however, gave offence
both to Graham and to Peel. The former has written me a note about it
this morning, by which I see that he is a good deal nettled.
[Footnote 51: [On May 24 Mitchell, one of the leaders of the Young
Ireland Party, was convicted of felony under the Act for the better
security of the Crown and Government, and sentenced to be transported
for fourteen years. The sentence was immediately carried into effect. It
occasioned some commotion and disturbance amongst the Chartists and
Irish in London and elsewhere.]]
[Sidenote: MIRASOL'S MISSION.]
_May 31st._--Yesterday Lord Grey called on the Duke of Bedford to talk
over the Spanish affair, at which he is beginning to kick, though very
gently. The present state of the case is this: from all that appears in
public, the Spanish Government has been wholly unjustifiable, and we are
not likely to know more as yet, for Mirasol[52] having brought no
credentials, Palmerston refuses to receive him, and has desired him to
convey what he has to say through Isturitz; but he came away in such a
hurry (running a race with Bulwer) that he left all his papers behind
him, and accordingly he has nothing to show. What between the
awkwardness of the Spaniards, the artfulness of Palmerston, and the
reluctance there is on all sides to push the Government to extremities,
it appears most likely that the discussions in Parliament will produce
no other result than a good deal of talk, and some expression of an
opinion that the Spanish Government has been very impertinent. But
nobody cares about the affront they have offered us, for the simple
reason that it is universally considered as aimed at Palmerston and
Bulwer, and that both have provoked it by their own insolent and
unbecoming interference, the matter and the manner of which are equally
condemned. It is now reported that Palmerston means to insist on sending
Bulwer back to Madrid, for no other reason, of course, than to make the
Spaniards eat humble pie; and, for the sake of achieving a personal
triumph, he will not mind making the English Government and country
odious in Spain. Every day the difficulties of the Government increase,
and its weakness becomes more apparent, but without any tolerable
alternative presenting itself. The friends and subordinates of the
Government acknowledge this. There is a general sense of rottenness, and
a consciousness that they inspire no confidence. Hawes told me yesterday
that 'he was nobody, and could only shrug up his shoulders at all he
saw.' They were beaten last night (on small matters, it is true) in both
Houses,[53] and now there appears a very good chance of their being
beaten on the resolutions of the West Indian Committee, which has
reported to the House in favour of a duty on sugar of ten shillings for
six years. Lord John at once declared he should oppose it. The division
in the Committee was a very curious one; this resolution was carried by
seven to five, and by a strange crossing over of opposite parties.
Goulburn and Cardwell did not vote; two or three Whigs voted for it.
[Footnote 52: [The Spanish Minister in London, Isturitz, was not
withdrawn, but Mirasol was sent on a special mission to London, to
explain the course adopted by the Spanish Government. He was
unsuccessful, and on June 14 Isturitz received his passports and left
the country. Diplomatic relations were thus suspended between England
and Spain.]]
[Footnote 53: [Ministers were beaten in the House of Lords by a majority
of six on the Irish Poor Law Bill, and by a majority of one in the House
of Commons on a motion relating to the Public Accounts.]]
The Princess Sophia[54] died a few days ago, while the Queen was holding
the Drawing-room for her Birthday. She was blind, helpless, and suffered
martyrdom; a very clever, well-informed woman, but who never lived in
the world. She was the intimate friend of the Duke of York while he
lived, and of the Duchess of Gloucester up to the last. The Princess
left a letter for the Queen, which was delivered to her in the garden of
Buckingham Palace by Andrew Drummond on Monday morning.
[Footnote 54: [The Princess Sophia, fifth daughter of King George III.,
born Nov. 3, 1777; died May 27, 1848.]]
[Sidenote: LORD GREY'S REMONSTRANCE.]
_June 1st._--Isturitz has sent in Mirasol's case, which, he admits
himself, is no case at all, flimsy and weak, and unsupported by proofs.
This, however, though it puts the Spanish Government in the wrong, does
not thereby relieve our embarrassment; for, while it imposes on us the
necessity of requiring some reparation for so gross an affront, it is
very difficult to know what to demand; and if the Spaniards don't
comply, what are we to do next? There seems to be very little doubt
that the coals have been blown by Louis Philippe and Guizot, the latter
of whom is in constant correspondence with Madrid, as our Government
have ascertained, and both are animated with the strongest desire to do
Palmerston an ill turn.
Meanwhile, the affair has become more serious here. Lord Grey has at
last been to John Russell, and in very temperate terms told him matters
cannot any longer go on as they have done, and he afterwards went to the
Duke of Bedford, and told him what he had done. Grey learnt for the
first time, when he spoke to Lord John, what had happened about the
despatch to which Lord John had objected. The Duke wrote his brother a
very long letter, setting forth all the danger and discredit which
accrued to the Government from their proceedings, and the discontent
which was produced amongst their friends. Lord John took this letter in
good part, and he told the Duke that if they got over this affair
something must be settled for the future. He at the same time gave him
another anecdote as an example of Palmerston's way of doing business,
which fortunately ended without mischief, but might have had a very
different result. One day when the Duc de Broglie was with Palmerston,
he asked him if there was any news. Palmerston said he had just got a
box, which he had not yet opened, but he would open it then. He did so,
found a despatch from Howden on the subject of the Monte Video business,
and gave it to the Duc de Broglie to read. The Duc read it, said that
its contents were not pleasant, and remonstrated against them, whatever
they were, which I do not know, and, for the point of the story, does
not signify. Immediately after, Palmerston joined the Queen in Scotland,
leaving the conduct of this affair in the hands of John Russell. Lord
John and the Duc de Broglie came to an understanding, but in the
meanwhile Palmerston wrote a despatch to Normanby on the subject, which
passed through London without being communicated to Lord John Russell.
This, which Normanby was instructed to read to Guizot, surprised him
very much, and he told Normanby that it was different from what the Duc
de Broglie had given him reason to expect. This annoyed Normanby very
much, and as it placed him in a very awkward situation, he complained of
it. The matter was then explained, and eventually Guizot acted with so
much moderation that it was adjusted amicably. Palmerston when urged on
the subject threw the blame on the Foreign Office, which they say he is
constantly in the habit of doing.
I learn to my great astonishment that all the Queen's former attachment
to Louis Philippe and the French Royal Family has revived in greater
force than ever; she says the marriages are not to be thought of any
more. Nothing but the extraordinary good sense of Prince Albert and the
boundless influence he has over her keeps her affectionate feelings
under due restraint; but for him she would have made all her household
go to Claremont, and when the French Royal Family have come to visit her
she has received them as King and Queen, and one day one of the children
went up to Louis Philippe and called him 'Your Majesty,' which had no
doubt been done by the Queen's commands. I take for granted that they
have persuaded the Queen that their ruin has been the work of
Palmerston, for this is what they always say, and possibly they believe
it.
[Sidenote: THE WEST INDIA COMMITTEE.]
_June 3rd._--Yesterday morning I saw Graham. He said matters were going
on worse and worse; the Government seemed to be paralysed, and to have
lost their understandings. They had such a night on Tuesday in the House
of Commons as he never witnessed. He then enumerated their defeats and
their blunders and mismanagement, without bitterness but with great
contempt. They sustained a defeat on Bowring's motion about the
collection of taxes, a very important matter, not having got their
people down. I found out afterwards that they did not expect a division,
and thought to prevent one by counting out the House, and to aid this
Sir George Grey told people who were waiting there they had better go
away. This was blundering. Then they made a great mistake in fighting
the Derby writ, in which they, in conjunction with the Protectionists,
got beaten by the Liberals and the Peelites. On Anstey's Roman Catholic
Relief Bill none of the Government were present. On Thursday night Lord
John came down with two very foolish notices, one for our alteration of
the Oath (which is only a new Jew bill in a fresh form), and another to
relieve voters from disqualification on account of non-payment of the
assessed taxes, which was intended as a sop to Hume before his Reform
motion. Both these Graham denounced as weak and unwise. I asked him what
they thought of the resolution of the West India Committee.[55] He said
it was very awkward. He was as strong as ever against the proposition,
and the best reason he gave was that it would be of no service to the
West Indians if it was carried; that if all foreign sugar was prohibited
they would be as much swamped by Mauritius and the East as by Cuba and
Brazil. He will, therefore, oppose it; but he is not sure the Government
may not be in a minority, and I told him if Lord John was defeated on it
I really believed he would resign. He said he thought the Protectionists
were prepared to form a Government if they carried the resolution. I do
not, however, believe any such thing, and I reminded him that such a
division, composed as the majority would be of the most heterogeneous
materials, would be no test of their strength as a party; and that if
they were mad enough to attempt it, and the Queen would consent (which
she never would) to let them, they would not stay in three days. He said
they must dissolve; they had no other course, and that revolution would
be the inevitable consequence of a dissolution and a fresh election at
such a time as this; that such a Parliament would be returned as we had
never seen; Hume's reform and the four points would be carried, and the
Monarchy swept away. However, though he believes these results would
follow from the formation of a Stanley Government, he does not, I am
sure, for a moment, contemplate such a contingency as within the limits
of possibility. I told the Duke of Bedford all Graham had said, and that
he might make any use of the knowledge this gave him of the Government
proceedings to put matters if he could in a better train. He said he
would talk to Lord John, though he hates doing so, for he is always
suffering under that deplorable infirmity of Lord John's--his
disinclination to hear unpalatable truths, and above all to be found
fault with. The consequence of this is that he receives everybody ill
who goes to him to tell him what he does not like to hear, and nobody
now but the Duke (and he very reluctantly) will go to him to tell him
what he ought to hear. The Duke said he agreed with Graham as to the
consequences of a Protectionist Government, but that it was out of the
question, and if Lord John was forced to resign, Peel must take the
Government, and the Whig party must join and support him; and between
some of the present Cabinet and some of the late a very strong
Government might be formed.
[Footnote 55: [A strong attempt was made on behalf of the West India
interest to exclude slave-grown sugar from this country. On June 16 Lord
John Russell proposed to reduce the sugar duty from 13_s._ to 10_s._,
which was ultimately carried by a majority of 260 to 245.]]
I afterwards saw Lord Grey, who talked to me about the state of the
Government, and what had passed between Lord John and him touching
Palmerston. He said that he only came into office with a distinct
understanding that Lord John should exercise a control over the Foreign
Office and secure the Cabinet against any imprudence of Palmerston's.
[Sidenote: CHARTISM IN THE COUNTRY.]
The Government are now getting seriously uneasy about the Chartist
manifestations in various parts of the country, especially in London,
and at the repeated assemblings and marchings of great bodies of men. Le
Marchant told me that two or three months ago, when he was at the Home
Office, he received accounts he thought very alarming of the
wide-spreading disaffection of the people, and particularly of the
enormous increase of cheap publications of the most mischievous and
inflammatory character, which were disseminated among the masses and
eagerly read; and lately, accounts have been received from well-informed
persons, whose occupations lead them to mix with the people,
clergymen--particularly Roman Catholic--and medical men, who report
that they find a great change for the worse amongst them, an increasing
spirit of discontent and disaffection, and that many who on the 10th of
April went out as special constables declare they would not do so again
if another manifestation required it. The speeches which are made at the
different meetings are remarkable for the coarse language and savage
spirit they display. It is quite new to hear any Englishmen coolly
recommend assassination, and the other day a police superintendent was
wounded in the leg by some sharp instrument. These are new and very bad
symptoms, and it is impossible not to feel alarm when we consider the
vast amount of the population as compared with any repressive power we
possess. The extent and reality of the distress they suffer, the
impossibility of expecting such masses of people to be eternally patient
and forbearing, to restrain all their natural impulses, and endure
tamely severe privations when they are encouraged and stimulated to do
otherwise, and are thus accessible to every sort of internal and
external temptation,--all these considerations may well beget a serious
presentiment of danger. But though many do feel this and brood much over
it, there appears to be a fatal security amongst the majority, whose
sluggish minds cannot be awakened to the possibility of a great
convulsion here, notwithstanding the continental conflagration that
stares them in the face. What we principally want is a strong Government
which shall obtain public confidence and respect, and which may have a
chance of conciliating, satisfying, and keeping in check public opinion.
This the divisions and subdivisions of parties, and the enduring
enmities and vindictive feelings of the Conservatives, effectually
prevent. The only strong Government that could be formed would be a
Liberal one under Peel, and the Protectionists would rather encounter
the chances of revolution than see the man whom they detest so bitterly
at the head of affairs again. They are so blind to their own interest,
or so insane in their resentment, that they would prefer to run the risk
of all that Radicals or Chartists could do than owe their safety to
Peel, whom they affect to think the enemy of their best interests, and
a man not to be trusted; and this they go on harping upon, although half
of them now admit that it is the greatest blessing to them to have been
saved by his measures from the dangerous predicament in which they would
now otherwise be.
_June 10th._--At Ascot all last week. The Spanish debate went off just
as might have been expected; all fought in muffled gloves, and as the
outrageous conduct of the Spanish Government rendered it a national
affair, it was impossible to attack either Palmerston or Bulwer; but the
latter was not only not _attacked_, but he was bepraised by everybody to
an extent that now seems ridiculous. Peel said all that Graham told me
he should say, praising Bulwer and quizzing Palmerston, while he
_affected_ to defend him. Guizot saw all this farce with considerable
vexation, mixed with disdain, but it could not take any other turn all
circumstances considered.
[Sidenote: CHARTIST AGITATION.]
The Government have at last taken strong measures against the Chartists;
but in spite of the arrest of some of their leaders, another
demonstration is expected on Monday, for which great preparations are to
be made. These demonstrations are getting a great bore, besides being
very mischievous. The townspeople, who are thus perpetually alarmed, are
growing very angry, and the military are so savage that Lord Londonderry
told the Duke of Wellington he was sure, if a collision took place, the
officers of his regiment would not be able to restrain their men. Many
people think that a severe chastisement of these mobs will alone put a
stop to their proceedings, and that it will be better the troops should
be allowed to act and open fire upon them. This is an extremity which
must be avoided if possible, but anything is better than allowing such
an evil as this to go on increasing. But if these multitudes of
discontented men can be daunted into submission, fearful considerations
remain behind. We have an enormous overgrown population, a vast
proportion of which are in undeniable misery and distress, and are
soured and exasperated by their sufferings. To expect such beings to be
reasonable, and still more to be logical, is to expect a moral
impossibility. While the minds of the masses are in a combustible state,
and they are ready to listen to anybody who appears to sympathise with
them, and who pretends to be able to put them in the way of mending
their condition, there are not wanting agents who strive with all their
might, and not without success, to inflame and mislead them. The
suffering people are prompt to believe that that cannot be a sound and
just condition of society in which they are abandoned to starvation and
destitution, while other classes are revelling in luxury and enjoyment.
They have confused notions that this is all wrong, and that under some
different political dispensation their interests would be better cared
for, and according to their necessities they would be comforted and
relieved. They are neither able to comprehend nor disposed to listen to
the long processes of argument by which it might be demonstrated to them
that all the prevailing misery and distress are attributable to causes
over which Government has no control, and which no legislation can
counteract: the unhappy state of the world, the confusion which prevails
everywhere, the interruption of regular industry, the disturbance of the
ordinary course of social life, and the universal poverty and suffering
react upon this country and to a certain degree undermine the broad
foundations on which our social and political fabric stands. We are not
indeed yet shaken from our equilibrium, but there is a restlessness, an
apprehension, a heaving and struggling, which appear like warnings and
forerunners of a possible earthquake. We seem to have got into another
stage of existence, our world is almost suddenly altered, we deal with
new questions, men seem to be animated with fresh objects; what are
called politics, international questions and the strife of parties, sink
into insignificance; society is stirred up from its lowest depths, and
we are obliged to turn our eyes and thoughts and faculties to the vast
spectacle that is laid bare before us--and an appalling and awful
spectacle it is which may well make the most thoughtless reflect, and
turn levity and indifference into seriousness and fear.[56]
[Footnote 56: [Military precautions were taken against a rising of the
Chartists in London on June 11. But the Chartist demonstration was a
total failure.]]
_June 11th._--A very good debate on Friday night on the Navigation Laws,
and a good division and majority. Peel made an excellent speech.
_June 13th._--John Russell was highly delighted with Peel's speech on
Friday, says he behaved most handsomely, and that he is not like the
same man. The virulence and immortal hate of his quondam friends was
exhibited in the most indecent manner on this occasion. When he rose to
speak they tried to hoot and bellow him down, and at the head of these
vulgar clamourers was a Judge, the Recorder Law; it was a very
disgraceful scene, and shows what an incorrigible faction they are.
It seems that Lord John's proposition about altering the oaths, has had
the effect of preventing a fresh election in the City, which was viewed
with great dread by everybody, but which would otherwise have taken
place. Lord John will now make a speech and announce his plan, but not
attempt to carry any Bill this year. This will satisfy Rothschild, who
will not stir, but wait to see the result of the measure in the next
session. The Oaths are very absurd and want altering. There are two
Peers--Lord Bradford and Lord Clancarty--who will not take them, nor
consequently their seats in the House of Lords; and the Duke of Bedford
told me, that though he had taken them, as a matter of course, he
doubted if he could bring himself to do so again.
[Sidenote: CHARTIST DEMONSTRATION FAILS.]
The expected Chartist demonstration yesterday ended in smoke, both here
and in the provinces; nevertheless great preparations were made of
military, police, and special constables. It rained torrents the whole
day, which probably would have been enough to prevent any assemblages of
people; but the determined attitude of the Government and the arrests
that have taken place intimidated the leaders. Everybody had got bored
and provoked to death with these continued alarms, but it is now thought
that we shall not have any more of them. The Chartists themselves must
get tired of meeting and walking about for nothing, and they can hardly
fail to lose all confidence in their leaders, whose actions so ill
correspond with their promises and professions. A man of the name of
MacDougal, who appears to be the chief of the London Chartists,
harangued his rabble a few days ago, declared the meeting should take
place in spite of Government, and announced the most heroic intentions.
He went to the ground (at one of the _rendezvous_), and finding a
magistrate there, asked him if the meeting was illegal, and if the
Government really intended to prevent it. The magistrate referred him to
the printed placard, by which he would see that it was illegal, and that
the Government did intend to prevent it; on which he made a bow, said he
did not mean to oppose the law, would go away, and advise his friends to
do the same; and off he went. The failures have been complete
everywhere, and nobody feels any alarm; nevertheless the spirit and the
sour disaffection, and the vast numbers that are infected with it, are
dangerous, and may some day be productive of serious consequences.
_June 18th._--On Friday the Government had a bad night in the House of
Commons. John Russell brought forward his West India plan (concocted by
Wilson), which was very ill received on all sides, and met by objections
from the most opposite quarters and on the most opposite grounds; he
made a very bad opening speech, but a very good reply. The
Protectionists were very violent, and Hawes was furiously attacked about
a despatch of Sir Charles Grey's, which he had not produced to the West
India Committee, and which he was accused of unfairly suppressing. It
was a very ugly case, and afforded George Bentinck and Disraeli
materials for much triumph and abuse, of which they largely availed
themselves. These personal affairs, which have a discreditable look, are
always very damaging, and there is again a notion abroad of Lord John's
feebleness, and of the impossibility of his conducting the Government
when the times are so difficult and his health so frail. The Government
are very confident that they shall carry their West India measure,
notwithstanding the storm of reproach with which it is assailed.
The curtain has fallen on another act of the Spanish drama, Isturitz
having been civilly sent out of this country. The papers present a case
all to our advantage. Bulwer's despatch of May 30, in vindication of
himself, was very well done, and Palmerston's last note to Isturitz
excellent. The Spaniards have played their cards (not bad ones
originally) so miserably ill, that they have given the game to our
Foreign Office, though it is difficult to say what the stake is worth;
they are, however, like people who had a very good hand, but revoked at
a critical moment, and so lost the game. Bulwer and Palmerston are
triumphantly curvetting about, completely smashing their antagonists in
argument, partly because the latter are blunderers who have deceived
themselves and been misled by others, and partly because they cannot put
forth their true case and the reasons which have influenced them. They
know perfectly well that Palmerston and Bulwer have all along moved
heaven and earth to keep or drive Narvaez out of office, and Montpensier
out of Spain, while Sotomayor has put forward frivolous or unsustainable
pretexts for the violent and rash course they have adopted. Narvaez is
compelled to keep back the real case he had against Bulwer, and the
cause of his animosity towards him. He knows that Bulwer tried to
prevent his coming into power; that he was the life and soul, the leader
and director of the faction opposed to him, whom he instigated to adopt
the most violent measures. I read in Bulwer's own handwriting an account
of his proceedings and of the failure of his schemes. It was through
Serrano all this was to be done, but Serrano was under the influence of
his mother, and Narvaez of his doctor, and these were both corrupted by
the other side. This was the cause of failure. Then Serrano, as all the
world knows, was himself brought over, and he has since given to Narvaez
in writing a detailed account of his communication with Bulwer, and of
the conduct of the latter, but in which the Queen is so implicated and
compromised, that it is impossible for Narvaez to make any use of it.
This Guizot (who knows everything that passes at Madrid) told Reeve, and
I have no doubt it is true, because it corresponds with that letter of
Bulwer's which I myself saw. This is the secret history of the matter.
[Sidenote: AN IMPENDING CRISIS.]
I find Clarendon's views in respect to the government of Ireland are
becoming known, and producing no small sensation.[57] Lord Barrington
asked me the other night if it was true that his opinions had undergone
a great change, and that he was now convinced Ireland could only be
governed in connexion with and by the support of the Orangemen. I told
him there was, I apprehended, much exaggeration in this, but some truth;
that I conceived a man of his penetration could not have governed
Ireland for a year without seeing that the whole Catholic body were
either disaffected and dangerous, or so timid as to be useless, and that
in fact the Protestants alone were to be depended upon for attachment to
the British connexion, and resolution to support it, but that I was
convinced he would not suffer the ingratitude and misconduct of the
Catholics to interfere with his determination to render equal justice to
all.
[Footnote 57: [When Lord Clarendon went to Ireland in 1847, he was
animated by an earnest desire and hope to conciliate the Irish Catholic
body. He invited their prelates and their leaders to the Viceregal
Lodge, opened his mind to them freely, and expressed with perfect
sincerity his liberal intentions towards them. But the experience of a
year, and more especially the conduct of the Roman Catholics during the
agitation which had prevailed in Ireland, convinced Lord Clarendon that
no reliance at all could be placed on the loyalty of the Catholic
population or of its chiefs. He arrived most reluctantly at this
conclusion, but it never altered his determination to treat the
Catholics with perfect courtesy and justice.]]
_June 24th._--We are on the brink of a crisis and one of a most fearful
nature. This sugar question is going to destroy this Government, as
former sugar questions have destroyed former Governments. Until
yesterday I was satisfied that Government would not think it necessary
to resign if beaten on Pakington's amendment, and Hobhouse, whom I met
the other day, seemed to think they need not. Many of them, however,
thought differently, and yesterday there was a Cabinet, at which they
came to a unanimous resolution to resign. The Duke of Bedford thought as
I had done, and strongly urged Lord John not to resign; this he told me
yesterday morning, but that he had not been able to convince him. After
I saw him I went to Graham; I found him in great alarm at the state of
affairs and the prospect of the country. He said that he expected the
Government would be beaten, and that he did not see how they could go on
if they were; he approved of their resigning; that it was a vote of
censure or want of confidence, and that in fact they had lost all hold
of the House of Commons; that they had done so in great measure by their
own blunders and follies; and he then enumerated many of these; and he
was satisfied they had so lost credit and power that they could not go
on, and therefore if they survived this vote they would fall by some
other. He then told me that Peel's friends had separated themselves from
him, and would vote with the Protectionists; he and Peel should support
the Government, but he did not know for certain of any others who would
go with them; he should do so with great reluctance he owned, but he
would not turn them out. The rest of the Peelites are angry with Peel
for supporting the Government as he had done; they were impatient, could
no longer be restrained, and were resolved to join the Protectionists.
Graham had had no communication with any of them, but he concluded they
were and must be ready to join Stanley and take office under him if he
invited them. He looked on Stanley's coming into office as inevitable. I
asked him what his Cabinet would be: he supposed principally Peel's old
Cabinet with George Bentinck and Disraeli; and he then descanted on all
the evils and dangers to be apprehended from their assumption of power
however brief, much as he did in our former conversation; the great
impetus it would give to reform, and the vast power the Radical and
subversive interest would acquire; in fact, his anticipations are of the
most serious and gloomy character--foreseeing the downfall of the
Church, the House of Lords, and the Crown itself. In the afternoon I
told the Duke of Bedford what he had said of the defection of the
Peelites from their chief, and that this event would be openly
manifested in the course of the present debate. The Duke was to dine at
the Palace, where I knew he would have a great deal of conversation with
the Queen, so I called on him this morning to hear what had passed. She
and the Prince entered into it all, and were aware of what was
impending, for Lord John had prepared her for it. She said she was very
sorry, as everything had gone on very smoothly with one exception. Lord
John has made up his mind to advise her to send for Stanley, and she is
prepared to do so. Nobody now doubts that Stanley, if sent for, means to
undertake it, and this is the state of affairs up to this time. There
was a most scandalous scene in the House of Commons last night,
originating in the virulence of George Bentinck's attack on Hawes; but I
know nothing of it as yet but from the newspaper report.[58]
[Footnote 58: [A fierce discussion took place in the House of Commons on
May 23 on the postponement of Mr. Hume's motion on Reform. The motion
came on, however, on June 20, and after several adjournments was
defeated on July 6 by 358 to 84 votes. But the scene here referred to
took place on a subsequent debate on Lord John Russell's Sugar Bill.]]
[Sidenote: IRRITATION OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.]
_June 25th._--Everybody was full of the scene in the House of Commons,
which seems to have been to the last degree deplorable and disgraceful,
calculated to bring the House of Commons into contempt. Everybody
behaved ill; nothing could exceed the intemperance of George Bentinck's
attack on Grey and Hawes, accusing them in terms not to be mistaken of
wilful suppression of documents, and then the most disgraceful shuffling
and lying to conceal what they had done and escape from the charges
against them. On the other hand, John Russell lost his temper; and as
gentlemen in that predicament usually do, at the same time lost his good
taste and good sense. He twitted George Bentinck with his turf pursuits,
and managed to make what he said appear more offensive than it really
was intended to be. This brought Disraeli to the defence of his friend,
and he poured forth a tide of eloquent invective and sarcasm which was
received with frantic applause by his crew; they roared and hooted and
converted the House of Commons into such a bear-garden as no one ever
saw before. When Hawes got up to defend himself they would not hear him,
and attempted to bellow him down with groans and 'ohs,' spurning all
sense of justice and decency. It was grief and scandal to all reasonable
men. Peel sat it out and never uttered a word, but he cheered Hawes when
he was speaking.
[Sidenote: PEEL'S RELUCTANCE TO TAKE OFFICE.]
_June 26th._--The state of the Government is like that of a sick man,
the bulletins of whose health continually vary, one hour better with
good hopes, another worse.[59] Yesterday it looked up. Tufnell's list
presented a chance of success; he had sixty-nine doubtfuls, and they now
think a good many of these will vote with Government. Graham told me
yesterday he had thought Government sure to be beaten, but he now found
more people were disposed to go with Peel than he had believed, and that
he now rather expected a majority. Many are waiting to hear Peel's
speech, and will be guided by him. Everybody is talking, however, of
what is to be done, and whom the Queen is to send for. The Duke of
Bedford has persuaded Lord John not to say anything about resigning in
his speech, and instead of at once advising the Queen to send for
Stanley, to consult Peel as to the advice he shall give her. Melbourne
has written to her and advised her to send for Peel. Beauvale told me
this, and his notion is that a Government may be formed with Aberdeen at
the head of it. It is incredible what harm Lord John's foolish speech on
Friday night has done; it will very likely influence the votes, and
certainly will prove very injurious to the Government; everybody thinks,
let this end as it may, that we have got to the beginning of the end. At
night I met Jocelyn, who told me that he meant to vote with Lincoln and
Sidney Herbert against Government. I asked him how they could all be so
foolish as not to follow Peel's example and do as he did. He then
informed me that these Peelites have no intention whatever of joining
Stanley and taking office with him; their notion is that this
Government is so weak and inefficient that it cannot stand, and that it
will be found so impossible to form any other, that it cannot fail to
fall into Peel's hands, and they expect by a sort of gentle violence to
compel him to take it, having persuaded themselves that he will find a
general support, though they can't well say how or where. Such are the
tactics of the _impatients_; they hate the Whigs, and imagine they can
become a Government and be recruited by moderate Conservatives and
moderate Radicals, setting aside Whigs and Protectionists. He hinted to
me that _Peel might have prevented their taking this course_ if he
disapproved of it. I told him they were plucking the fruit before it was
ripe. On the other hand Graham discoursed largely on the impossibility
of Peel's coming into office, and repeated what he has so often said
before about party governments; the hatred of the Whigs, of Peel, and
still more of himself; Peel's fear for his health, and the impression
made on him by the fact that nobody had ever led the House of Commons
after sixty, which Macaulay told him. I wasted a great deal of time in
arguing with him against objections which were all simulated on his
part. Every now and then he let out in the way of admissions certain
things which showed how ready and anxious he really is to come in again
whenever he can. I asked him why Peel had not endeavoured to keep his
youngsters straight, and at all events given them good advice for their
conduct. He declared that he had done so. His conduct is not very clear,
and I have not that opinion of his purity and singleness of purpose that
would make me believe his course has been altogether candid,
straightforward, and fair, not such as the Duke of Wellington's would
have been, but it is very difficult to know what he has really said and
done, and impossible to know what he really thinks, wishes, and means.
We were kept all yesterday in a state of intense curiosity by the news
of the fighting in the streets of Paris.[60]
[Footnote 59: [Lord John Russell brought in his Bill for reducing the
Sugar Duties on June 16. On the 19th, Sir John Pakington proposed an
amendment, condemning the scheme of the Government. It was on this point
that the fate of the Ministry turned. Lord George Bentinck envenomed the
debate by accusing the Colonial Office (in which Mr. Hawes was Under
Secretary) of the suppression of documents. Lord John Russell replied
that such tricks were not resorted to by men high in office, but were
rather characteristic of men engaged in the pursuits the noble lord had
long followed. Upon this, Mr. Disraeli retorted that Lord George
Bentinck was not to be bullied either in the ring or from the Treasury
Bench. Sir John Pakington's amendment was rejected on June 29 by 260 to
245.]]
[Footnote 60: [The great uprising of the revolutionary party in Paris
took place on June 23. The city was declared in a state of siege, and
General Cavaignac commanded the operations of the troops. The battle
(for such it was) lasted three days, and the losses on both sides were
enormous. The Archbishop of Paris was killed in front of a barricade,
and several general officers fell. This was one of the most sanguinary
contests which had till then occurred in the whole course of the French
Revolution. In the end the troops were victorious, and General Cavaignac
was placed at the head of the Government.]]
_June 30th._--On Tuesday I went to the House of Lords to hear Lord Grey
in the matter of the suppressed despatches, and his defence against the
various charges brought by George Bentinck and others. He had been
exceedingly excited and was resolved to bring the matter forward, though
many people thought he had better leave it as it was, and rest satisfied
with what had passed in the House of Commons. He promised himself,
however, a signal vindication and triumph, and the pleasure of severely
chastising his accusers, but it turned out a very unfortunate night, and
a painful one to those who heard the discussion. Grey made a long and
not judicious speech. He entered into too many details, and said much
that he had better have let alone. Then Stanley rose, and after a
complimentary exordium set heartily to work, made a _rÈchauffÈ_ of
George Bentinck's and Disraeli's speeches with his own peculiar sauce of
style and diction, and made as bitter, ill-natured, and (all things
considered) as ill-timed an attack as ever was heard. But he wound it up
with a charge in reference to the memorial of certain planters, which
was certainly well founded and made a very disagreeable impression. On
this point Lord Grey was clearly in the wrong and could make no
sufficient defence for himself; it has damaged him very much, and the
Government through him; and this affair has altogether turned out very
unhappily, for it has not only wounded the credit and character, and
thereby impaired the strength of the Government, but it has struck at
the honour of public men, and this is in these times a great evil. There
was a very severe article in the 'Times' yesterday morning on Grey,
which was, however, not more than the truth. This affair coming at a
time when Government has nothing to spare in point of credit and
authority is peculiarly disastrous.
[Sidenote: PARTY COMBINATIONS.]
In the meantime, however, the division on Pakington's motion was
generally known to be safe, and accordingly there was a majority of
fifteen against it last night, which was ten or fifteen less than was
expected; on Sunday last Graham told me that he thought there would be a
majority, as he found many people meant to wait for Peel's speech and
would probably vote as he did. We then discussed what should be done if
the Government should be in a minority, and consequently resign. The
same evening I wrote him a note and told him that I thought if this did
happen Lord John would consult Peel before he gave the Queen any advice.
I am sure he told Peel this, for on Monday night I got a note from him
(Graham) begging to see me the next morning. I went to him, when he said
with great earnestness that he wanted to impress upon me that it was of
the greatest consequence that the Queen (in case the necessity occurred)
should send for Stanley forthwith, and that without consulting anybody
Lord John should give her this advice. It was very desirable that there
should be no appearance of any concert between him and Peel, while a
consultation between them would certainly be known to Stanley, and would
take away much of the grace of sending for him; that Stanley should have
no excuse for declining, and the Queen should tell him she was left
without a Government and that she placed herself in his hands, giving
him _carte blanche_, and telling him she was prepared to agree to
everything he proposed to her. He said he did not believe Stanley would
be able to form a Government, still less to carry it on if he did form
one; but he thought it of the greatest consequence that his failure
should be complete, and that every opportunity and advantage should be
given to him. He urged this with an unction which showed me clearly
enough, if I had before had any doubt, which I had not, what his secret
thoughts and intentions are, and that he is quite prepared, and Peel
too, to come into office provided circumstances turn out favourably for
Peel's resumption of power. I promised I would take care that this
should be done, and yesterday morning I told the Duke of Bedford, who
was just going off to Endsleigh. Every day I find more evidence of the
way in which people's minds are turning towards Peel and anticipating
his return to power. Emily Eden told me that Auckland was very anxious
for a junction, and quite ready to give up his own office to facilitate
it. Matters are not yet ripe for such a consummation, but it must end in
this manner.
[Sidenote: GREAT BATTLE IN PARIS.]
The details which reach us of the extraordinary contest which has just
taken place at Paris are equally horrible and curious. Hitherto we have
been struck by the absence of that ferocity which distinguished the
first Revolution, and the little taste there seemed for shedding blood;
but the ferocity of the people broke out upon this occasion in the most
terrible examples. There was a savage rancour about this exceeding the
usual virulence of civil contests; the people not only murdered, but
tortured, their prisoners. Since the victory the prisoners have been
executed by hundreds, and with hardly any form of trial; indeed, no
trial was possible or necessary, they were rebels taken _en flagrant
dÈlit_, at once rebels and prisoners of war. One man, when he was going
to be shot, said he did not care, for he had had his revenge already,
and he pulled out of his pocket twenty tongues that had been cut out.
All agree that the organisation, the military skill displayed, and the
vast resources the insurgents possessed in the material of war, were as
extraordinary as unaccountable. The preparations must have been long
before made, for the houses of their principal fortifications were
perforated for the purpose of communication and escape, the staircase
removed, and there were telegraphic signals arranged by lights on the
tops of the buildings. There certainly was a commander-in-chief who
presided over the whole, but nobody knows who he was; and the Government
have never yet been able to ascertain who the leaders were. Although
distress and famine were the prime causes of this great struggle, it is
remarkable that there was no plundering or robbery; on the contrary,
they were strictly forbidden and apparently never attempted. It is the
only example, so far as I know, that history records of a pitched battle
in the streets of a great capital between the regular army and the
armed civil power on one side, and the populace of the town militarily
armed and organised also on the other, nobody knowing how the latter
were organised or by whom directed. Colonel Towneley, who came from
Paris last night, told me that it is believed that the old Municipal
Guard, who were disbanded by the Provisional Government after the
Revolution, had a great deal to do with it, but that the skill with
which the positions had been chosen or fortified was perfect. Prodigies
of valour seem to have been performed on both sides, and the incidents
were to the last degree romantic. An Archbishop appearing as a minister
of peace in the midst of the fray, and mounting the barricades to exhort
the living and to bless the dying amidst the din and fury of the
contest, and then perishing a martyr to his attempt to stop the effusion
of blood; women mixing in the contest, carrying ammunition and supplies,
daring everything, their opponents shrinking from hunting these Amazons,
and at last being obliged to fire upon them in self-defence; the strange
artifices employed to convey arms and cartouches. The Garde Mobile,
composed of the _gamins de Paris_, signalised themselves with peculiar
heroism, and it is fortunate that they were on the side of the
Government instead of on that of the people. There was one boy, not
above fifteen or sixteen, a frightful little urchin, who scaled three
barricades one after another and carried off the colours from each;
Cavaignac embraced him and gave him the Legion of Honour from his own
person, and he was carried in triumph and crowned with laurels to a
great banquet of his comrades. But it would be endless to write down the
particulars of a contest which fills the columns of every newspaper now,
and will be recorded in innumerable books hereafter.
_July 5th._--Since the division on Pakington's motion the Government
stock has considerably risen, and they are now generally considered safe
for the present and for some indefinite time to come; they will probably
get their Sugar Bill through. The loud complaints that have been made of
this waste of time in Parliament have not been without effect, and
there is an appearance of getting on with business. Then the Chancellor
of the Exchequer's announcement that the deficit of 2,000,00_l._ will be
reduced to 500,000_l._, and that no new taxes will be wanted, has put
people in better humour. The funds are rapidly rising, the harvest
promises to be good, and on the whole our prospects are considerably
improved within the last week. The state of the Continent, though still
bad enough, is somewhat more promising; there appears to be something of
a lull from exhaustion and perplexity, there is a chance of the Danish
quarrel being arranged. The great victory in Paris, the establishment of
a strong military Government, and the evident determination of the
Assembly to promote the cause of law and order, and to put down all the
wild theories which have been in the ascendant for the last three
months, have largely tended to brighten the political sky; and this
example may encourage others to act with the same vigour and in the same
spirit. The whole world is influenced by all that is done at Paris. But
in the midst of this improved prospect we have enough to disturb our
tranquillity; it will be impossible for a long time for the Continent to
be restored to a healthy state, and its disturbed and impoverished
condition fearfully reacts upon us, and paralyses that foreign trade on
which not merely the prosperity but the subsistence of vast masses of
our population depends. We cannot therefore look forward to anything but
great distress and suffering in our manufacturing population; and this,
together with Ireland, are enough to keep us in hot water.
[Sidenote: FRENCH GENERALS.]
The Government, though safer, are not stronger, and nobody thinks they
can go on very long, though without any clear idea what is to turn them
out, or what is to succeed. It is pretty generally understood now that
Stanley has never had the least notion of forming a Government, nor even
of making the attempt. Had the event occurred he would have made a
pirouette and whisked off; having done his mischief and had his fun, he
would have considered his work over. It was very significant that while
all the world was fancying he meditated becoming Prime Minister, he
accepted the office of Steward of the Jockey Club, to which high
dignity he is this day to be promoted. I told Charles Wood this the
other day, when he said he had never believed Stanley seriously
contemplated being Minister, and that it was clear there were only two
men in the country who could be--John Russell and Peel.
Meanwhile the Peelites are playing an odd game: they appear to be
disengaging themselves from their chief, without joining the Tories, and
they are so conducting themselves as to make any junction with the Whigs
very difficult. It is never easy to know what Peel himself is _at_, and
what his real sentiments are. If I may judge from a few words which
dropped from Graham the last time I saw him, he and Peel (who are man
and wife politically) are provoked with their followers and resent their
conduct. What he said was something about 'letting them see the
consequences of their insubordination,' or some such expressions. It was
the _tone_ in which it was said that struck me. I do not know to which
of them they were meant especially to apply, but I suppose to Lincoln
and Sidney Herbert.
Brougham told me yesterday that he had been to see Louis Philippe, who
had described to him the military men who are now ruling France. He said
Cavaignac was a brave and good soldier who had been very rapidly
promoted, that he was a downright but honest Republican. When he went
with the King's sons to Algiers, he told them, he would serve their
father with fidelity, but not from conviction, for his sentiments were
republican. He is not a man of great ability; Bedeau, LamoriciËre, and
Changarnier are all abler men, but they are thoroughly imbued with ideas
of military despotism. Everybody believes that the late Government
connived at the _Èmeute_. Gabriel Delessert told me it was impossible
such preparations could be made, and that they should be so organised
and abundantly provided without the knowledge of the police.