Accident to Sir Robert Peel--Triumphant Success of Lord
Palmerston--Death of Sir Robert Peel--Sir James Graham's
Position--Lord Palmerston's Policy--Lord Palmerston's
Ovation--Death of Mr. Arbuthnot--Death of King Louis
Philippe--The Papal Hierarchy in England--German Affairs--Papal
Aggression--General Radowitz invited to Windsor--Papal
Aggression--Conversation with Lord John Russell--And with
Lord Palmerston--Mr. Green's Lecture--Visit to Brocket--Bear
Ellice--Lord Melbourne's Papers.
_London, July 1st, 1850._--The day before yesterday Sir Robert Peel had
a fall from his horse and hurt himself seriously. Last night he was in
imminent danger. His accident has excited the greatest interest, and his
doors are beset with enquirers of all parties without distinction. He
was in high spirits that day, for he was pleased with the division which
saved the Government, and with his own speech, which for his purpose was
very dexterous and successful.
I rode with Lord Grey yesterday in the Park, when we talked over the
debate and present state of affairs. He said that it was remarkable that
this discussion, which was intended to damage Palmerston, had left him
the most popular man in the country; that of this there could be no
doubt. Bright had said that his vote had given great offence at
Manchester, and that Cobden's vote and speech would probably cost him
the West Riding at the next election; that amongst all the middle
classes Palmerston was immensely popular. He spoke of Palmerston's
speech as having been not only one of consummate ability, but quite
successful as a reply, and he insisted that their side had much the best
of the argument. I denied this, but acknowledged the ability of
Palmerston, and his success, though his speech was very answerable, if
either Peel or Disraeli had chosen to reply to it, which neither of them
would. It is beyond all contestation that this great battle, fought on
two fields, has left the Government much stronger than before, and
demonstrated the impossibility of any change, and it has as
incontestably immensely strengthened and improved Palmerston's position;
in short, he is triumphant, and nothing can overthrow him but some fresh
acts of violence and folly, of insolent interference, of arrogant
dictation or underhand intrigue, which may be so flagrant that his
colleagues or some of them will not stand it, and so a quarrel may
ensue. But he has achieved such a success, and has made himself so great
in the Cabinet, and so popular in the country, and made the Government
itself so strong, that if he turns over a new leaf, takes a lesson from
all that has happened, and renounces his offensive manners and changes
his mode of proceeding abroad, he may consider his tenure of office
perfectly secure. Even the 'Times' is prepared to abandon its opposition
to him, and is seeking for a decent pretext to do so. I expect they have
found out that they have gone too far, and that their violent and
sustained vituperation of Palmerston who is liked, and of his policy
which is not understood, is not favourably received, and instead of
carrying public opinion with them, they have produced a good deal of
resentment and disgust.
[Sidenote: DEATH OF SIR ROBERT PEEL.]
[Sidenote: CHARACTER OF SIR ROBERT PEEL.]
_July 6th._--The death of Sir Robert Peel, which took place on Tuesday
night, has absorbed every other subject of interest. The suddenness of
such an accident took the world by surprise, and in consequence of the
mystery in which great people's illnesses are always shrouded, the
majority of the public were not aware of his danger till they heard of
his death. The sympathy, the feeling, and the regret which have been
displayed on every side and in all quarters, are to the last degree
striking. Every imaginable honour has been lavished on his memory. The
Sovereign, both Houses of Parliament, the press and the people, from the
highest to the lowest, have all joined in acts of homage to his
character, and in magnifying the loss which the nation has sustained.
When we remember that Peel was an object of bitter hatred to one great
party, that he was never liked by the other party, and that he had no
popular and ingratiating qualities, and very few intimate friends, it is
surprising to see the warm and universal feeling which his death has
elicited. It is a prodigious testimony to the greatness of his capacity,
to the profound conviction of his public usefulness and importance, and
of the purity of the motives by which his public conduct has been
guided. I need not record details with which every newspaper teems.
Those who were opposed to him do not venture or are not inclined to try
and stem the current of grief and praise which is bursting forth in all
directions, and most assuredly no man who in life was so hated and
reviled was ever so lamented and honoured at his death. I am not capable
of describing him with any certainty of doing justice to his character
and delineating it correctly; but as there are several notices of him
not very favourable in preceding pages, at such a moment it becomes a
duty to qualify what may have been misrepresented or exaggerated on the
information of others, by expressing my own doubts as to the perfect
accuracy of the statements that were formerly made to me. The Duke of
Wellington pronounced in the House of Lords a few nights ago a panegyric
on his love of truth, and declared that during his long connexion with
him he had never known him to deviate from the strictest veracity. This
praise would be undeserved if he had ever been guilty of any underhand,
clandestine, and insincere conduct in political matters, and it leads me
to suspect that resentment and disappointment may have caused an unfair
and unwarrantable interpretation to be put upon his motives and his
behaviour on some important occasions. My acquaintance with Peel was
slight and superficial. I never associated with him, and never was in
his house except on two or three occasions at rare intervals. He
scarcely lived at all in society; he was reserved but cordial in his
manner, had few intimate friends, and it may be doubted whether there
was any one person, except his wife, to whom he was in the habit of
disclosing his thoughts, feelings, and intentions with entire frankness
and freedom. In his private relations he was not merely irreproachable,
but good, kind, and amiable. The remarkable decorum of his life, the
domestic harmony and happiness he enjoyed, and the simplicity of his
habits and demeanour, contributed largely without doubt to the
estimation in which he was held. He was easy of access, courteous and
patient, and those who approached him generally left him gratified by
his affability and edified and astonished at the extensive and accurate
knowledge, as well as the sound practical sense and judgement, which he
displayed on all subjects. It was by the continual exhibition of these
qualities that he gained such a mastery over the public mind, and such
prodigious influence in the House of Commons; but it is only now
manifested to the world how great his influence was by the effect which
his death has produced, and by the universal sentiment that the country
has to deplore an irreparable loss. Nothing but a careful and accurate
survey of his career, an intimate knowledge of the secret transactions
of his political life, and a minute analysis of his character, can
enable any one to form a correct judgement concerning him. He might
easily be made the subject of a studied panegyric, or as easily of a
studied invective; but either the one or the other would of necessity be
exaggerated and untrue. The sacrifices which he made upon two memorable
occasions, upon both of which he unquestionably acted solely with
reference to the public good, forbid us to believe that he was ever
influenced by any considerations but such as were honest and
conscientious. Notwithstanding his great sagacity, it may, however, be
doubted whether his judgement was not often faulty, and whether in the
perplexity of conflicting objects and incompatible purposes, he was not
led to erroneous conclusions as to the obligations imposed upon him, and
the course which it was his duty to pursue. It is very difficult to
account satisfactorily for his conduct on the Catholic question. We must
indeed make great allowance for the position in which he was placed by
his birth, education, and connexions. His father was a Tory, imbued
with all the old Tory prejudices, one of those followers of Mr. Pitt
who could not comprehend and never embraced his liberal sentiments, and
who clung to the bigoted and narrow-minded opinions of Addington and
George III. It is no wonder then that Peel was originally an
anti-Catholic, and probably at first, and for a long time, he was an
undoubting believer in that creed. The death of Perceval left the
Protestant party without a head, and not long after his entrance into
public life, and while the convictions of his youth were still unshaken,
he became their elected chief. For about fourteen years he continued to
fight their battle in opposition to a host of able men, and in spite of
a course of events which might have satisfied a far less sagacious man
that this contest must end in defeat, and that the obstinate
prolongation of it would inevitably render that defeat more dangerous
and disastrous. Nevertheless, the man who eventually proved himself to
be one of the wisest and most liberal of statesmen maintained for years
a struggle against religious liberty, a struggle by which he was
involved in inconsistencies injurious to his own character, and which
brought the kingdom to the brink of a civil war. It is now impossible to
fathom the depths of Peel's mind, and to ascertain whether during that
long period he had any doubts and misgivings as to the cause in which he
was embarked, or whether he really and sincerely believed that Catholic
Emancipation could be resisted and prevented. It is strange that he did
not perceive the contest to be hopeless, and that such a contest was
more perilous than any concession could possibly be. But he declared
that up to the period of Lord Liverpool's death his opinions were
unchanged and that he thought the prolongation of this contest was not
unreasonable. I do not see how he can be acquitted of insincerity save
at the expense of his sagacity and foresight. His mind was not
enthralled by the old-fashioned and obsolete maxims which were so deeply
rooted in the minds of Eldon and Perceval; his spirit was more congenial
to that of Pitt; and if he had let his excellent understanding act with
perfect freedom, and his opinions take their natural course, it is
impossible to doubt that he would have concurred and cooperated with the
able men of different parties who were advocates of Emancipation,
instead of continuing to encourage and lead on those masses of bigotry
and prejudice whose resistance produced so much direct and indirect
mischief. The truth is that he was hampered and perverted by his
antecedents, and by the seductive circumstances of his position; and
having become pledged and committed in the cause, it was a matter of
infinite difficulty for him to back out of it, to recant his opinions,
and change his course; although any one who watched the signs of the
times (and no man watched or studied them more carefully than Peel),
might have seen that Catholic Emancipation was steadily but surely
progressing towards its consummation. For a long time no events occurred
so striking and important as to produce a new state of things, and to
scare by their disturbing force those theories and principles, with
which the anti-Catholics blindly imagined they could plod on for ever.
To change the whole mind of Peel, and bring about an abandonment of his
long-continued policy, something more was required than the accustomed
signs of agitation, parliamentary debates chequered by alternate victory
and defeat, and the accumulated power of eloquent speeches and able
writings. At length the crash came by which the moral revolution was
effected. The Clare election did what reason, and eloquence, and
authority had failed to do. The Duke of Wellington and Peel
simultaneously determined to strike their colours, to abandon a cause
which they had sustained at great risks and by enormous sacrifices, and
to carry out the measure which their whole lives had been spent in
opposing, and which they had denounced as incompatible with the safety
of the country. Historical justice demands that a large deduction should
be made from Peel's reputation as a statesman and a patriot on account
of his conduct through the last twelve years of the Catholic contest. It
may be doubtful in what respect he erred the most; but whatever his
motives may have been, it is indisputable that he was the principal
instrument in maintaining this contest, which terminated in a manner so
discreditable to the character, and so injurious to the interests, of
the country. For his share in this great controversy from first to last,
he must be held responsible to future generations. But whatever his
errors may have been, he made a noble atonement for them, and having
once changed his mind, he flung himself into his new career with a
gallantry and devotion deserving of the highest praise. It would be easy
to show that if Peel had been actuated by selfish motives, by regard for
his own political interests and views of personal ambition, other
courses were open to him far better calculated to promote such objects,
and which he might have adopted without any inconsistency; but he cast
aside all personal considerations and thought of nothing but how he
could most effectually serve the State. He encountered without flinching
the storm which he knew would burst upon him, and bravely exposed his
character and reputation to suspicions, resentments, and reproaches,
which might for aught he knew be fatal to his future prospects. Upon
this occasion indeed, he shared the obloquy with the Duke of Wellington,
upon whom as Prime Minister the responsibility principally rested. But
the indignation and resentment of the Tories fell, though unjustly, much
more upon Peel than upon the Duke. Peel was more emphatically the chief
of the anti-Catholic party, and in him it appeared a far greater
dereliction of principle. The authority of the Duke was so great, and
his followers were accustomed to look up to him with such profound
deference and submission, that they could not bring themselves to attack
him as the prime mover in this obnoxious measure, and they therefore
made Peel the scapegoat, and vented upon him all the exuberance of their
wrath.
[Sidenote: PEEL'S OPPOSITION TO THE CATHOLIC CLAIMS.]
Their ill-humour and resentment led to the destruction of the Duke's
Government, and the change of Ministry brought about the Reform Bill and
the overthrow of the Tory party. It is difficult to discern any proofs
of sound judgement and foresight in Peel's conduct in regard to
Parliamentary Reform. If he had adopted the same course as Huskisson on
the East Retford question, and manifested a disposition to concede some
moderate and reasonable reforms as fit occasions presented themselves,
it is by no means improbable that the country might have been satisfied;
but his opposition to the transfer of the East Retford franchise to
Birmingham, together with the Duke's celebrated declaration that the
representative system could not be improved, and that as long as he was
in office he would oppose any measure of Parliamentary Reform, convinced
the Reformers that they were resolved to make no concessions, however
slight, and not to suffer any change to be made in the existing
representative system. Peel evidently made an incorrect estimate of the
state of the public mind upon the question of Parliamentary Reform. He
could not indeed foresee the French Revolution or its contagious effects
here; but unless the country had been already combustible, it would not
have been so inflamed as it was; and if he had been aware of its temper
and disposition, he never would have opposed the general sentiment so
pertinaciously as he did. I think, therefore, that his course in respect
to Reform exhibits a deficiency in sagacity and foresight, and must be
accounted one of the blemishes of his political career. He fought the
Reform battle with extraordinary energy, and the skill and perseverance
with which he afterwards rallied the broken forces and restored the
fallen spirits of his party were admirable. In 1835 the rash and
abortive attempt of William IV. to get rid of the Whigs made Peel the
Minister of a hundred days. This was the most brilliant period of his
life, and it was during that magnificent campaign that he established
the vast reputation which, while clouds of suspicion and distrust, of
enmity and dislike, were all the while gathering about him, made him for
nearly twenty years by far the most conspicuous, important, and powerful
of English statesmen. He not only reorganised his party, but he revived
its political influence, and laid the foundation for regaining its
former power. His policy was as successful as it was wise. He flung
himself cheerfully and confidently into the new order of things,
associated himself with the sentiments and the wants of the nation, and
day by day saw his reputation increasing both in Parliament and
throughout the country. The Tories abandoned themselves to his guidance
with a mixture of passive reliance and admiration and of lurking
resentment for the past with distrust and suspicion for the future. They
rejoiced in the chief who made them once more powerful, and led them on
to victory; but they felt that there were no real sympathies between
themselves and him. While he was boldly advancing with the spirit of the
age, they were lagging behind, gloomily regarding his manifestation of
Liberal principles, in which they did not participate, and lingering on
those traditions of the past which they saw that he had entirely
forsaken.
[Sidenote: PEEL'S CONVERSION TO FREE TRADE.]
At length, ten years after the Reform Bill, the Whig Government was
overthrown, and Peel became Minister. At this time the great bulk of his
supporters coveted power principally for the sake of Protection. They
believed that it was the duty, the inclination, and the intention of
Peel to maintain the Corn Laws, and they had a right to think so. He had
been the vigorous and ingenious advocate of the protective system, not,
however, without some qualifications and reservations, which, though
they were enough to excite the jealousy and mistrust of the most
suspicious, were still insufficient to neutralise the effect of his
general professions. It is almost impossible to discover what the
process was by which he was gradually led to embrace the whole doctrine
of Free Trade. We cannot distinguish what effect was made upon his mind
by the reasoning, and what by the organisation and agitation, of the
Anti-Corn Law League. It would be interesting, if it were possible, to
sum up periodically the exact state of Peel's opinions upon commercial
and fiscal questions, and to know how he combined them with other
political as well as party considerations, which he was obliged
constantly to keep in view. No man but himself could explain and
vindicate the whole course of his conduct. It may safely be assumed that
when he began to reorganise the Conservative party, he did not
contemplate a repeal of the Corn Laws, and that it was by a severely
inductive process of study and meditation that he was gradually led to
the conception and elaboration of the commercial system which the last
years of his life were spent in carrying out. The modification, and
possibly the ultimate repeal, of the Corn Laws must have formed a part
of that system, but what he hoped and intended probably was to bring
round the minds of his party by degrees to the doctrines of Free Trade,
and to conquer their repugnance to a great alteration of the Corn Laws,
both by showing the imprudence of endeavouring to maintain them, and by
the gradual development of those countervailing advantages with which
Free Trade was fraught. That, I believe, was his secret desire, hope,
and expectation; and if the Irish famine had not deranged his plans and
precipitated his measures, if more time had been afforded him, it is not
impossible that his projects might have been realised. He has been
bitterly accused of deceiving and betraying his party, of 'close
designs, and crooked counsels,' and there is no term of reproach and
invective which rage and fear, mortification and resentment, have not
heaped upon him. He has been unjustly reviled; but, on the other hand,
it must be acknowledged that, wise as his views, and pure as his motives
may have been, his manner of dealing with his party in reference to the
changes he contemplated, could not fail to excite their indignation. If
they were convinced that the Corn Laws were essential, not merely to the
prosperity, but to the existence, of the landed interest, he had been
mainly instrumental in confirming this conviction. It was indeed a
matter of extraordinary difficulty and nicety to determine at what
precise period he should begin to disclose to his supporters the extent
of the plans which he meditated. His reserve may have been prudent,
possibly indispensable; but although they were not unsuspicious of his
intentions, and distrusted and disliked him accordingly, they were
wholly unprepared for the great revolution which he suddenly proclaimed;
and at such a moment of terror and dismay it was not unnatural that
despair and rage should supersede every other sentiment, and that they
should loudly complain of having been deceived, betrayed, and abandoned.
[Sidenote: PEEL'S DIFFERENCES WITH HIS PARTY.]
The misfortune of Peel all along was, that there was no real community
of sentiment between him and his party, except in respect to certain
great principles, which had ceased to be in jeopardy, and which
therefore required no united efforts to defend them. There was no longer
any danger of organic reforms; the House of Lords and the Church were
not threatened; the great purposes for which Peel had rallied the
Conservative interest had been accomplished; almost from the first
moment of his advent to power in 1841 he and his party stood in a false
position towards each other. He was the liberal chief of a party in
which the old anti-liberal spirit was still rife; they regarded with
jealousy and fear the middle classes, those formidable masses, occupying
the vast space between aristocracy and democracy, with whom Peel was
evidently anxious to ingratiate himself, and whose support he considered
his best reliance. His treatment of both the Catholics and Dissenters
was reluctantly submitted to by his followers, and above all his fiscal
and commercial measures kept them in a state of constant uncertainty and
alarm. There was an unexpressed but complete difference in their
understanding and his of the obligations by which the Government and the
party were mutually connected. They considered Peel to be not only the
Minister, but the creature, of the Conservative party, bound above all
things to support and protect their especial interests according to
their own views and opinions. He considered himself the Minister of the
Nation, whose mission it was to redress the balance which mistaken
maxims or partial legislation had deranged, and to combine the interest
of all classes in one homogeneous system, by which the prosperity and
happiness of the whole commonwealth would be promoted. They thought of
nothing but the present sacrifices which this system would entail on the
proprietors of land, while he thought only of the great benefits which
it would ultimately confer upon the people at large. Whether in 1847 he
was prepared for the unappeasable wrath and the general insurrection of
the Protectionists, I know not; but even if he viewed it as a possible
alternative, involving the loss of political power and a second
dissolution of the Conservative party, I believe he would have
nevertheless encountered the danger and accepted the sacrifice. If his
party were disgusted with him, he was no less disgusted with them, and
it is easy to conceive that he must have been sickened by their
ignorance and presumption, their obstinacy and ingratitude. He turned to
the nation for that justice which his old associates denied him, and
from the day of his resignation till the day of his death he seemed to
live only for the purpose of watching over the progress of his own
measures, in undiminished confidence that time and the hour would prove
their wisdom, and vindicate his character to the world. Though he was
little beholden to the Whigs in his last struggle in office, he gave
John Russell's Government a constant, and at the same time
unostentatious support. That Government alone could preserve the
integrity of his commercial system, and to that object every other was
subordinate in his mind. He occupied a great and dignified position, and
every hour added something to his fame and to the consideration he
enjoyed; while the spite and rancour of the Protectionists seemed to be
embittered by the respect and reverence by which they saw that he was
universally regarded. His abstinence from political conflicts, his rare
appearance in debate, and the remarkable moderation of his speeches made
some fancy that the vigour of his faculties was impaired; but if this
was at all the case, it was only by negative symptoms that it appeared,
and was by no means suspected by the community. Nevertheless, though his
death was so sudden and premature, and he was cut off in the vigour of
life, he could not have died at a moment and in circumstances more
opportune for his own fame; for time and political events might perhaps
have diminished, but could not have increased, his great reputation.
[Sidenote: EFFECTS OF PEEL'S DEATH.]
It is impossible to foresee the political effects of Peel's death. To
John Russell and to his Government it is a great loss, and the time may
come when his absence will be severely felt. Standing aloof from
parties, known to have no views of personal ambition, and giving them
the benefit of his influence and countenance, he would have been able to
afford them efficacious aid in the event of any Radical pressure, and as
long as he had lived he would have proved a powerful coadjutor in
resisting any attempts to assail or undermine the Monarchy or the
Constitution, It is against the Radical supporters of the Government,
and not against the Protectionist Opposition, that he would have been
mainly serviceable. So far as these are concerned his death is more
likely to remove than to create difficulties in the way of Lord John,
inasmuch as he becomes more indispensable than ever; and the certainty
that there is no alternative between him and Stanley--no Peel who in a
great emergency might have been called in--will certainly prolong his
term of office. Peel is a great loss to the Queen, who felt a security
in knowing that he was at hand in any case of danger or difficulty, and
that she could always rely upon his devotion to her person and upon the
good counsel he would give her. But his relations with the Court at
different periods are amongst the most curious passages of his political
history. In 1838, when the Bedchamber quarrel prevented his forming a
Government, there was probably no man in her dominions whom the Queen so
cordially detested as Sir Robert Peel. Two years afterwards he became
her Prime Minister, and in a very short time he found means to remove
all her former prejudice against him, and to establish himself high in
her favour. His influence continued to increase during the whole period
of his administration, and when he resigned in 1846 the Queen evinced a
personal regard for him scarcely inferior to that which she had
manifested to Lord Melbourne, while her political reliance on him was
infinitely greater. To have produced such a total change of sentiment is
no small proof of the tact and adroitness of Peel; but it was an immense
object to him to ingratiate himself with his Royal Mistress; he spared
no pains for that end, and his success was complete.
He appears to have suffered dreadful pain during the three days which
elapsed between his accident and his death. He was sensible, but
scarcely ever spoke. He had arranged all his affairs so carefully that
he had no dispositions to make or orders to give. Sir Benjamin Brodie
says that he never saw any human frame so susceptible of pain, for his
moral and physical organisation was one of exquisite sensibility. He was
naturally a man of violent passions, over which he had learnt to
exercise an habitual restraint by vigorous efforts of reason and
self-control. He was certainly a good, and in some respects a great man;
he had a true English spirit, and was an ardent lover of his country;
and he served the public with fidelity, zeal, and great ability. But
when future historians shall describe his career and sum up his
character, they will pass a more sober and qualified judgement than that
of his admiring and sorrowing contemporaries. It is impossible to forget
that there never was a statesman who so often embraced erroneous
opinions himself, and contributed so much to mislead the opinions of
others. The energy and skill with which he endeavoured to make the worse
appear the better cause were productive of enormous mischief; and if on
several occasions his patriotism and his ability were equally
conspicuous, and he rendered important public service, his efforts were
in great measure directed to repair the evils and dangers which he had
been himself principally instrumental in creating.
[Sidenote: LORD CLARENDON ON THE LATE DIVISION.]
_July 16th._--I have seen Graham once or twice lately, when we have
talked over his own position and the state of affairs. He told me he had
had very friendly communication with John Russell, who had intimated to
him that Peel's death would necessarily place him in a position more
important and responsible. Graham, however, repudiated the notion of his
accepting any such position, and declared that he was quite unfit to
influence the opinions and regulate the conduct of other men. He thought
Peel was not unconscious of the power he possessed in the country, and
he had not long ago announced with great energy that if any attempt was
made in any shape to reimpose a duty on Corn, there was nothing he
would not do to oppose it; and he thinks that he would not have shrunk
from any means he might have deemed conducive to that object; that he
would have taken office if necessary, or have allied himself with any
person or party; in short, shrunk from _nothing_ in the most extensive
sense of the term. Graham is much alarmed at the reckless course Stanley
is taking in the House of Lords, especially with reference to the Irish
Franchise Bill, and augurs some very serious consequences from it.
_July 19th._--Clarendon arrived from Ireland a few days ago. He told me
he had only seen John Russell for a few minutes, in a great hurry as he
was going to the Cabinet, when these few words passed about foreign
affairs. Clarendon said 'they had got well out of their difficulties on
that score.'
_Lord John._--Yes, I think it did--very well.
_Lord Clarendon._--Yes; but don't misunderstand me. If what has passed
serves as a lesson to Palmerston, and induces him to begin another
course of conduct, I shall think you got very well indeed out of it; but
if he only regards what has happened as a triumph, and as sanctioning
and approving all his previous proceedings, then I shall think you got
very ill out of it, and that your success was a misfortune; but I hope
the former alternative is the truth.
_Lord John._--I hope so, too; but it is very difficult to get any man
who has long pursued any particular course to change that course, more
especially when that man is Palmerston.
From this Clarendon inferred that Palmerston means to go on just as
before and will not take a lesson from what has occurred, and he is
confirmed in this idea by something Charles Wood said to him in the same
strain.
Yesterday Normanby came to take leave of me before returning to Paris.
He has been very much dissatisfied and annoyed at Palmerston's goings
on, and at the _rÙle_ which was imposed on him, and he told me he did
not like Palmerston's tone, which was much too triumphant, and he was
very much afraid he would not change his ways of proceeding. His best
hope was that no case would occur to elicit any fresh conduct or
language of his of a questionable nature.
_July 28th._--This day week the Radicals gave Palmerston a dinner at the
Reform Club. It was a sorry affair--a rabble of men, not ten out of two
hundred whom I know by sight. They asked John Russell who would not go,
and then they thought it better to ask no more of Palmerston's
colleagues. Neither Lord John nor any of them liked it, but of course
they said nothing. Palmerston would have done better to repose on his
House of Commons laurels, and find some pretext for declining this
compliment. The Court are just as much disgusted with him as ever, and
provoked at his success in the House of Commons.[123]
[Footnote 123: [In spite of the triumph Lord Palmerston had obtained
in the House of Commons, the evils of his arbitrary mode of
conducting-foreign affairs continued to excite the anxiety of his
colleagues and something more than the distrust of the Court, and an
attempt was made, with the concurrence of Lord John Russell, the Duke of
Bedford, Lord Lansdowne, and Lord Clarendon, to induce him to take some
other office in the Government, which, of course, he declined to do. The
details of this negotiation cannot now be published, but they were the
premonitory symptoms of the storm which wrested the Foreign Office from
the hands of Lord Palmerston in the following year.]]
_Brighton, August 26th._--I have been here for a week past. On Sunday
last the death of Arbuthnot took place at Apsley House, where he had
been gradually sinking for some time. He is a great and irreparable loss
to the Duke of Wellington, who is now left alone in the world. Arbuthnot
was almost always with him, he had his entire confidence. The Duke told
him, and talked to him, about everything, and on the other hand, all who
wanted to approach the Duke for whatever purpose, communicated through
Arbuthnot. The Duke, who has for a long time been growing gradually more
solitary and unsocial, more irritable and unapproachable, is now left
without any friend and companion with whom he can talk over past events,
and to whom he can confide present grievances and complaints. He will
feel it as acutely as at his age and with his character he can feel
anything.
[Sidenote: DEATH OF MR. ARBUTHNOT.]
Arbuthnot's career has been remarkable. He had no shining parts, and
never could have been conspicuous in public life; but in a subordinate
and unostentatious character he was more largely mixed up with the
principal people and events of his time than any other man. He might
have written very curious and interesting memoirs if he had only noted
down all that passed under his observation, and the results of his
political information and connexions, for few men ever enjoyed so
entirely the intimacy and unreserved confidence of so many statesmen and
ministers, and therefore few have been so well acquainted with the
details of secret history. He was successively the trusted adherent and
intimate friend of Lord Liverpool, Lord Castlereagh, and the Duke of
Wellington, and more or less of almost all their colleagues, besides
being on very good terms with many others with whom he had no political
opinions in common. He had in fact a somewhat singular and exceptional
position; much liked, much trusted, continually consulted and employed,
with no enemies and innumerable friends. This was owing to his
character, which was exactly calculated to win this position for him.
Without brilliant talents, he had a good sound understanding and
dispassionate judgement, liberality in his ideas, and no violent
prejudices. He was mild, modest, and sincere; he was single-minded,
zealous, serviceable, and sympathetic (_simpatico_), and he was moreover
both honourable and discreet. The consequence was that everybody relied
upon him and trusted him, and he passed his whole life in an atmosphere
of political transactions and secrets. After the death of his wife he
lived at Apsley House when in London, and during a great part of the
rest of the year with the Duke at Walmer and Strathfieldsaye, and he
went hardly at all into the world; but he rather extended than
contracted the list of his personal and political friends, for as the
Whig Ministers had often business to transact with the Duke, they
generally found it convenient to communicate with Arbuthnot too; and, as
he was always ready to render any service, public or private, in his
power, he made many acquaintances and acquired friends in that party,
specially the Duke of Bedford, with whom he had long been intimate, and
who was in the habit of communicating with him very unreservedly on
political matters. The preceding pages exhibit many proofs of
Arbuthnot's familiarity with the political history of his time, as well
as of his good sense and liberality. He was buried at Kensal Green, and
the Duke is said to have been very much affected at the funeral.
_Brighton, August 27th._[124]--Yesterday morning Louis Philippe expired
at Claremont quite unexpectedly, for though he had been ill for a long
time, it was supposed he might still live many months. Not long ago his
life was the most important in the world, and his death would have
produced a profound sensation and general consternation. Now hardly more
importance attaches to the event than there would to the death of one of
the old bathing-women opposite my window. It will not produce the
slightest political effect, nor even give rise to any speculation. He
had long been politically defunct. The effect that presents itself as
most likely is its paving the way to a reconciliation between the two
branches of the Bourbons, and a fusion of their interests; but as the
late King had consented to this fusion and desired it, while the Duchess
of Orleans was opposed to it, this consummation is more likely to be
prevented than brought about by his death. His character has been often
described with more or less of truth and justice, and of course there
will be many fresh descriptions of it now. I cannot attempt it, for I
never knew anything of him except at second-hand. He had certainly many
good qualities and an amiable disposition, and probably no vices but
selfishness and insincerity. These were, however, universally ascribed
to him, and consequently out of the limited circle of his own family and
a few friends and old servants, who were warmly attached to him, he
inspired neither affection nor respect. The worst kings have seldom been
destitute of many devoted adherents; but in his day of tribulation,
although he may rather be accounted amongst the best than the worst, he
was abandoned by all France, and his fall was not only unresisted, but
suffered to take place with scarcely a manifestation of sympathy and
regret.
[Footnote 124: [It may here be noted that the Minute of the Queen, in
which Her Majesty laid down the rules which ought to govern the conduct
of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and intimated that a
departure from them 'must be considered as failing in sincerity towards
the Crown, and justly to be visited by the exercise of her
constitutional right of dismissing that Minister,' bore date August 12,
1850, and was communicated to Lord Palmerston by Lord John Russell at
this time, within a few weeks of the termination of the debate on the
foreign policy of the Government.]]
_November 10th_.--After a lapse of nearly three months I resume my
notices of past and present events, these three months having furnished
very little matter worth recording nearly up to the present time. For
the last month, however, the world has been sufficiently agitated, on
different accounts and in different places, to afford ample opportunity
for either description or comment even to the most superficial observer.
I might, however, I have very little doubt, write that which would be
acceptable to one person or another by recording my own personal
experiences and the communications that I have with different people on
different matters, which certainly are ludicrously miscellaneous. Some
people like politics, some gossip, and almost all like political gossip.
I have had within these few weeks consultations and communications on
the most opposite subjects: men coming to be helped out of scrapes with
other men's wives, adjustments of domestic squabbles, a grand bother
about the Duke of Cambridge's _status_ in the House of Lords, a fresh
correspondence with Lady Palmerston about the 'Times' attacking her
husband, communication from Cardinal Wiseman about the troubled state of
ecclesiastical affairs, and so forth; odds and ends not altogether
uninteresting, and making a strange miscellany in my mind. It is
needless to attempt to say anything about the solution of the German
question, touching which I have no private information whatever.[125] It
is a drama, at which all the world is audience, and I have not been
behind the scenes. I think we have played a very paltry part in it, and
Palmerston's policy and conduct are so unintelligible to me that I shall
say nothing about them. I agree in all that the 'Times' has written
thereon, and its strictures have hit hard, as is evident by the
resentment expressed by Lady Palmerston.
[Footnote 125: [The German question relates to the proceedings which had
arisen out of the Frankfort Convention, the Schleswig-Holstein quarrel,
and the dispute in Hesse, which nearly led to war. Lord Palmerston was
strongly opposed to the views taken by the Court on these German
questions.]]
The Duke of Cambridge and his family have been, and still are, excited
about the place he is entitled to occupy in the House of Lords,[126] and
they are very angry with me because I said, in my pamphlet on Prince
Albert's precedence ten years ago, that he was only entitled to sit as
Duke of Cambridge according to the date of his peerage, and this I
adhere to now. It is incredible what importance they attach to this
nonsense. The Duchess of Gloucester sent to me to beg a copy of that old
pamphlet, and afterwards the Chancellor did the same. I have had a
correspondence with Lord Redesdale about it, who has taken up the Duke's
cause, and sustained it by some very bad arguments and very inapplicable
precedents. I have stuck to my original opinion, but nevertheless am now
endeavouring to help the Duke to attain his purpose, and have furnished
him with a better precedent than he and his advisers have been able to
find for themselves.
[Footnote 126: [H.R.H. Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, youngest surviving
son of George III., died in July 1850, and was succeeded by his son,
Prince George of Cambridge. A question arose as to his precedence; but
H.R.H. sits in the House of Lords as fourth Peer of the Blood Royal, the
Duke of Cumberland not having taken the seat to which he has an
hereditary right.]]
[Sidenote: THE PAPAL AGGRESSION.]
But such trifles as these, and such serious matters as an impending
German war, are uninteresting in comparison with the 'No Popery' hubbub
which has been raised, and which is now running its course furiously
over the length and breadth of the land. I view the whole of this from
beginning to end, and the conduct of all parties with unmixed
dissatisfaction and regret. The Pope has been ill-advised and very
impolitic, the whole proceeding on the part of the Papal Government has
been mischievous and impertinent, and deserves the severest censure.
Wiseman, who ought to have known better, aggravated the case by his
imprudent manifesto. On the other hand, the Protestant demonstration is
to the last degree exaggerated and absurd. The danger is ludicrously
exaggerated, the intention misunderstood, and the offence unduly
magnified. A 'No Popery' cry has been raised, and the depths of
theological hatred stirred up very foolishly and for a most inadequate
cause. John Russell, who acted prudently in declaring his Protestant
sympathies, joining the public voice in condemnation of the Pope's
proceedings, and clearing himself and his Government from any suspicion
of being indifferent to them, nevertheless writes a very imprudent,
undignified, and, in his station, unbecoming letter. He might have said
all that it was necessary to say without giving any offence; he might
have taken the movement into his own hands, and satisfied the
Protestants, and at the same time not dissatisfied the Catholics,
pouring oil on the waters, and moderating the prevailing effervescence.
But his letter has had a contrary effect. On one hand it has filled with
stupid and fanatical enthusiasm all the Protestant bigots, and
stimulated their rage; and on the other it has irritated to madness all
the zealous Catholics, and grieved, shocked, and offended even the most
moderate and reasonable. All wise and prudent men perceive this, and
strongly disapprove of his letter; all his colleagues with whom I have
spoken, and I have no doubt all the rest, do so; and Clarendon writes me
word that the effect it has produced in Ireland is not to be told. I
have already had a practical proof of the mischief it has done. Two days
ago Bowyer came to me from Cardinal Wiseman, who was just arrived, to
ask my opinion whether anything could be done, and what. I said if he
had sent to me some time ago, and told me what was contemplated, I might
have done him some service by telling him what the consequences would
be; but that now it was too late to do anything, John Bull had got the
bit in his mouth, and the Devil could not stop him. He told me the
Cardinal was drawing up a loyal address to be signed by ecclesiastics
and laymen, and asked me to look at it. I agreed, and he brought it the
next day. I said it was very well as far as it went, and only suggested
that the new Bishops should take care to sign their names only, and omit
all allusion to their sees. This he engaged for. I then talked over the
case, and what might be done. I said of course we could not expect the
Pope to retract; but that if he was really desirous of doing what could
be done to allay the prevailing irritation, he had better do that which
he still could consistently; that he had not yet pronounced any decision
as to the Irish Colleges, and he might either give one in their favour,
or at least abstain from giving any at all, and the Cardinal would do
well to urge this at Rome. Bowyer replied that this might have been
possible before, but Lord John's letter had made it impossible now, and
that this letter would be regarded as so insulting at Rome, and such a
proof of the hostility of the British Government to the Roman Catholic
religion, that they would put no trust in the writer of it, and it would
be impossible to ask the Pope, nor would he be induced, to do anything
in deference to the objects or wishes of this Government.
This odious agitation will continue till it is superseded by something
else, or expires from want of aliment more solid than fanatical
denunciations. Already sensible people, even those who are indignant at
the 'Papal aggressions' as they are termed, begin to think the clamour
exaggerated, that we are going too far, and raising a spirit of
theological and sectarian hatred and enmity, which is dangerous and will
be very troublesome. They begin to reflect that a great movement without
a definite and attainable object is a very foolish thing, and as it is
quite certain that the Pope will not retract what he has done, and that
we can neither punish him nor frighten him, that his ecclesiastical
arrangements will be carried into execution here whether we like it or
not, and that as we shall take nothing by all our agitation and clamour,
we shall probably end by looking very foolish. At present everybody,
Protestants, Puseyites, and Catholics, are all angry, excited, and
hostile. Some affect to be very angry and make a great noise because
they think it answers an end. John Russell is somewhat in this way, for
I don't believe he _really_ cares much; the 'Times' newspaper does the
same, and blows up the coals for the sake of popularity; but Delane, who
begged me not to write, as I was inclined to do, something in mitigation
of the movement, told me he thought the whole thing gross humbug and a
pack of nonsense.
[Sidenote: ANTI-PAPAL AGITATION.]
_November 21st_.--The Protestant agitation has been going on at a
prodigious pace, and the whole country is up: meetings everywhere,
addresses to Bishops and their replies, addresses to the Queen;
speeches, letters, articles, all pouring forth from the press day after
day with a vehemence and a universality such as I never saw before. The
Dissenters have I think generally kept aloof and shown no disposition to
take an active part. A more disgusting and humiliating manifestation has
never been exhibited; it is founded on prejudice and gross ignorance. As
usual the most empty make the greatest noise, and the declaimers vie
with each other in coarseness, violence, and stupidity. Nevertheless,
the hubbub is not the less mischievous for being so senseless and
ridiculous. The religious passions and animosities that have been
excited will not speedily die away, nor will the Roman Catholics forget
the insults that have been heaped on their religion, nor the Vatican all
the vulgar abuse that has been lavished on the Pope. In the midst of all
this Wiseman has put forth a very able manifesto, in which he proves
unanswerably that what has been done is perfectly legal, and a matter of
ecclesiastical discipline, with which we have no concern whatever. He
lashes John Russell with great severity, and endeavours to enlist the
sympathies of the Dissenters by contrasting the splendour and wealth of
the Anglican clergy with the contented poverty of the Romanists, and
thus appeals to all the advocates of the voluntary system. His paper is
uncommonly well done, and must produce a considerable effect, though of
course none capable of quieting the storm that is now raging. Wiseman
does not evince any intention of receding in the slightest degree, but
on the contrary there appears to lurk throughout his paper a
consciousness of an impregnable position, round which the tempest of
public rage and fury may blow ever so violently without producing the
slightest effect.
Meanwhile the Government are, I suspect, in a great fix. They are all
disconcerted and perplexed by Lord John's letter. When the Cabinet met
and this letter was shown to them, Lord Lansdowne asked whether the
letter had been already sent, and when informed that it had, he declined
saying anything. As it was sent and published they thought it necessary
to do something, and the law officers were accordingly desired to look
into the law on the subject. There can be little doubt that the law will
not touch the case, and they will hardly have the egregious folly to
propose fresh laws which would be quite inoperative. Violence, menaces,
and abuse never made any people flinch from their religious opinions or
abandon any line of conduct they might have adopted in relation to them.
The Catholics know very well that in these days any serious persecution
is not to be apprehended, and, even if it were, the Roman Catholic
clergy, to do them justice, have never shrunk from enduring any
sufferings or privations to which they were exposed. They would probably
rather like than not to see some attempt made here to revive penal laws,
and to be exhibited to the civilised world in the character of martyrs.
From the beginning I foresaw that we should cut a poor figure in this
affair, and this is sure to be the result, whether we do anything or
nothing. There is great difference of opinion whether this agitation
will prove favourable or the reverse to the Roman Catholic religion in
England, that is, to its extension. The Roman Catholics themselves
evidently think we have by our violence been playing their game and that
it will promote their proselytising views. Time alone can show how this
will be. The Queen takes a great interest in the matter, but she is much
more against the Puseyites than the Catholics. She disapproves of Lord
John's letter.
[Sidenote: THE SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN QUESTION.]
_November 26th_.--At Brocket from Saturday till Monday. Nobody there; I
found Lord Beauvale[127] in good humour with Palmerston, who, he
assured me, had acted a very proper and a very spirited part in
reference to German affairs, having had to fight against the violent and
inveterate prejudices of the Court, to which some of his colleagues were
not disinclined to defer. He said that although the Court were quite
powerless in such matters as the Greek or the Sicilian questions, they
could do a great deal of mischief in Germany, for being in constant
communication with their relations and connexions there, they could
exercise a good deal of indirect influence, and he thinks they have not
scrupled to encourage the King of Prussia in his absurd conduct. A
letter was sent to Palmerston, doubtless written by Prince Albert, in
which they talked of Denmark wresting Schleswig from Germany, and that
the triumph of Austria would be fatal to the constitutional cause.
Palmerston replied that he had never heard that Schleswig belonged to
Germany, and as to the constitutional cause it was more in danger from
the King of Prussia, whose conduct was putting all thrones in jeopardy.
Beauvale also showed me a letter from Berlin in which the writer said
that nothing was more important there than the English press; and he
begged me, as Palmerston was now really doing all he could in the right
direction, to get him any support I could. Nobody knows whether this
will end in war or peace. Palmerston, always sanguine, says _peace_; and
Beauvale thinks, when Russia, France and England are all trying to avert
war, that it cannot ensue.
[Footnote 127: [Upon the death of William Lamb, Viscount Melbourne, his
brother, Frederic Lamb, previously created Lord Beauvale, succeeded to
the Melbourne title and to the Brocket and other estates. Lord Beauvale
had married at Vienna, where he was British Minister, Mdlle. de
Maltzahn, daughter of the Prussian Minister at that Court. Mr. Greville
was much more intimate with Frederic, than he had ever been with
William, Lamb, and he continued, during the remainder of Lord Beauvale's
life, to be a frequent guest at Brocket. He generally called his friend
by his former name or title, though he was, in fact, Viscount Melbourne
after his brother's death.]]
The Protestant movement goes on with unabated fury, and the quantity of
nonsense that has been talked and written, and the amount of ignorance
and intolerance displayed, exceed all belief, and only show of what sort
of metal the mass of society is composed. Of all that has been written
and spoken there has been nothing tolerable but the Bishop of Oxford's
speech, which was very clever; the letter of Page Wood in the 'Times' in
answer to Wiseman; and everything without exception which has emanated
from the Archbishop of Canterbury. He has displayed a very proper and
becoming spirit with great dignity, moderation, and good sense. All the
rest is a mass of impotent fury and revolting vulgarity and
impertinence, without genius or argument or end and object--mere abuse
in the coarsest and stupidest shape. It is not a little remarkable what
a strong anti-Papist Clarendon is. He writes to me in that sense, but
not so vehemently as he does to others; and I see how his mind is
inflamed, which is odd in so practical a man. But this is obviously the
result of the bitter hostility he has had to encounter in Ireland from
the Roman Catholic clergy, notwithstanding the efforts he made to
conciliate them.
_December 1st_.--I went to Brocket again on Wednesday, and returned on
Thursday. Palmerston and Lady Palmerston were there, but I had no talk
with her. Beauvale told me that Palmerston was acting with good faith,
and doing what he could to avert war. Cowley had written from Frankfort
that it was reported there that in the event of war we should support
Prussia. Palmerston wrote back that we certainly should not, and desired
him to contradict any such report. He sent his letter to the Queen by
way of an intimation of his course. Meanwhile Radowitz arrived, and had
hardly set foot in England before he was invited to Windsor, the pretext
being that he brought over a letter from the King. Palmerston was not
there, and John Russell left the Castle the day he arrived.
[Sidenote: THE LETTER OF CAROLUS.]
_December 11th_.--I could no longer stand the torrent of nonsense,
violence and folly which the newspapers day after day poured forth, and
resolved to write a letter, which was published in the 'Times' the day
before yesterday, and signed 'Carolus,' for I did not venture to put my
own name to it.[128] Delane could not bear publishing it, because it
was in opposition to the strong line the paper has taken; and he told
me beforehand he must attack me. Accordingly they replied to the article
they published, but in very complimentary terms and with very feeble
arguments. Labouchere told me last night this letter must do good, and
make people think calmly. However, the agitation continues with unabated
violence, and it is no wonder the masses are so intemperate and absurd,
when we see how ignorant and senseless men are who ought to know better,
and who pass for being clever and well-informed; and hear the
unreflecting nonsense they talk, and the extravagant views they
entertain. Bear Ellice, who is by way of being wiser than anybody, and
thinks it is his vocation to advise everybody, told me on Monday that he
had advised Charles Wood what to do, and this notable scheme was to
place matters by legislation on the same footing here that they had been
placed on in Prussia by _Concordat_. I told him it was impossible; and
when he insisted, I asked him if he knew what the state of things was in
Prussia: to which he was obliged to admit that he knew nothing about it!
Then we see the Head-Master of Rugby School petitioning the
Postmaster-General to remove a letter-carrier because he is a Roman
Catholic! Clanricarde writes a very good answer, which is in the 'Times'
of yesterday. Graham came to town yesterday on his way to Windsor, where
he is asked to stay three nights, and he came and passed two hours with
me yesterday morning. His opinions are precisely like my own, and he has
written a letter to Howard of Greystock, exactly in the same spirit as
'Carolus;' he is not only very sensible but very bold on the subject,
and quite prepared to confront public opinion in defence of the
principles of religious liberty. We discussed the whole subject at great
length. He acknowledged that the difficulty of the Government was very
great. I enlightened his mind as to the part Palmerston has recently
been playing in German affairs, which he was by no means aware of, and I
hinted to him that his joining the Government would not be disagreeable.
He owned that Palmerston would no longer be an insuperable objection,
but that he could not be a party to any measures savouring of religious
persecution, or even restriction. The Queen's answers to the addresses
will have satisfied him, and all reasonable and moderate people; but I
expect the zealots will cry out. Nothing certainly ever was more
guarded.
[Footnote 128: [This letter is reprinted in the Appendix to the present
volume.]]
_December 13th_.--At Windsor yesterday for a Council. My letter
'Carolus' has made a decided hit. Delane told me yesterday that it had
certainly produced a considerable effect, as he could tell from the
innumerable letters he received about it, some for and some against. The
Ministers were for the most part shy of talking to me about it; but John
Russell came up to me and said, 'Well, I have derived a great deal of
information from your letter. I think it is very good.' I laughed, and
said, 'I'm glad you like it; you ought to be pleased, because I have
praised you up to the skies, and described your speech as a model of
wisdom.' He laughed too, and said, 'Yes, but that was not the part of it
I liked the best.'
[Sidenote: CONVERSATION WITH LORD PALMERSTON.]
I brought Palmerston from the station in my brougham; all very amicable.
We talked about Popery and Germany, and agreed very well; he mighty
reasonable. I asked him if he had had any conversation with Radowitz. He
said none, except of the most general kind. He thought Radowitz had been
advised to absent himself from Prussia, and that the King, for the
present at least, was entirely with Manteufel. I then asked him what
Prince Albert said to the turn affairs had taken. He said Prince Albert
was reasonable enough; that he condemned the King of Prussia as much as
anybody could; that he had been in favour of strengthening Prussia, and
against the old Federation, because he thought the influence of Austria
in it was too great, and that it was mischievously exercised; that the
condition that no organic change in the Diet could take place there,
without a unanimous vote, could not be endured; and that he thought,
while the influence of Austria remained paramount, the liberal cause,
and all advances in civilisation and general improvement, must be
paralysed; and this was to a certain degree true. I said no doubt it
was desirable to see changes and improvements, and for various reasons
that Prussia should be powerful, if her power was only acquired by fair
means, and without trampling on the rights of others, and on all
obligations human and divine. He said, 'Exactly, that is the real case;
but her conduct has been so wanting in prudence, in consistency, and in
good faith, that she has arrayed against her those who wish best to
her.' He told me the Pope had expressed great surprise at the effect of
his measures, and disclaimed any intention of affronting the Queen or
this country. The Pope said he had been induced to take the steps he had
done by advice from this country, and Palmerston thinks that Wiseman was
probably at the bottom of it all.
I went last night to the Royal Academy to hear an anatomical lecture by
a Mr. Green.[129] It was on _expression_, and very well done. I never
heard a man more fluent; he was very lucid in his expositions and
illustrations, and really very eloquent.
[Footnote 129: [Mr. Green was Professor of Anatomy in the Royal Academy
of Arts--a very eloquent and remarkable man, though but little known by
the public. He had been the most intimate friend of the poet Coleridge
in his later years, and published a work on the philosophical opinions
of Coleridge after his death.]]
_Bowood, December 26th_.--Went on Tuesday in last week to Panshanger, on
Saturday to Brocket, Monday to London, and Tuesday here; we were very
merry at Panshanger. The house and its Lord and Lady furiously
Protestant and anti-Papal; so we had a great deal of wrangling and
chaffing; all in good humour and amusing enough. At Brocket nobody but
the Bear (Ellice), who talked without ceasing, and told me innumerable
anecdotes about Lord Grey's Government, and different transactions in
all of which he had himself played a very important part, and set
everything and everybody to rights with his consummate wisdom. He is a
very good-natured fellow, entertaining and tiresome, with a prodigious
opinion of his own _savoir faire_, vain and conceited, though not
offensively so; clever, friendly, liberal, and very serviceable. They
put me at Brocket in Melbourne's room, and there I found a MS. book,
containing copies of letters written by him to Lord Anglesey, while
Lord Anglesey was Lord-Lieutenant and he was Chief Secretary--very
familiar and confidential. They were very frank, and giving Lord
Anglesey a good deal of advice, which on some occasions he seemed to
require. Their good sense struck me extremely. There was a detailed
account of the Huskisson quarrel, and the resignations thereupon, but it
contained nothing that was new to me. William Lamb (as he was then)
thought both the Duke and Huskisson were in the wrong; but he resigned
with the others, because, he said, 'he had always thought that it was
more necessary to stand by his friends when they were in the wrong, than
when they were in the right.' Poking about to see what else I could
find, I lit on two very different MS. One was a book which I suspect had
belonged to Pen Lamb, containing entries and pedigrees of hounds and
horses; and the other was a commonplace book of Melbourne's, which I had
not time to examine much, full of quotations, criticisms, comments and
translations, exhibiting various and extensive reading, especially of
Greek literature. The next time I go there, I will look at it again.
[Sidenote: DIFFICULTIES AHEAD.]