Opening of the Session--Lady Flora Hastings--Bulwer's
'Richelieu'--Changes at the Colonial Office--Attack on Lord
Normanby's Irish Administration in the Lords--General Aspect of
Affairs--The 'Morning Chronicle'--Death of Lord de Ros--
Precarious Position of the Government--Views of Lord John
Russell--A doubtful Question--Conciliatory Conversation with
Sir James Graham--Attitude of the Whig Party--Peel's cold
Reception of the Proposal--Result of the Debate--Attitude of
Lord John Russell--Language of the Radical Party--
Conciliation--Change of Feeling in the Country--Duke of
Newcastle dismissed from the Lord Lieutenancy--Lord John
Russell's Letter--Jamaica Bill--Defeat of the Jamaica Bill--
Resignation of Ministers--The Queen retains the Ladies of her
Household--Conduct of the Whigs--End of the Crisis--The Truth
of the Story.
London: February 24th, 1839 {p.170}
Hitherto the proceedings in Parliament have been sufficiently
languid and uninteresting. The debate on the Corn Laws, which was
expected to occupy two or three nights, went off in one, and a
great majority against hearing evidence, followed by no sort of
sensation, has set the question at rest for the present. Lord
Winchilsea brought on the Turton case in the House of Lords, when
Durham made a blustering, and Melbourne a prudent, moderate, and
satisfactory explanation. He had remonstrated against the
appointment, when Durham had replied that his honour was
concerned in it and he could not cancel it; and Melbourne said,
he did not think he should be justified in hazarding the great
objects of Durham's mission for such an object as Turton's
removal. Durham threatened, if anything more was said on the
subject, to bring forward the cases of all those who had been
guilty of a similar offence, and had afterwards held office. He
did not say what he had to say well, for he might have exposed
the cant of all this hubbub, and have asked Winchilsea, who
talked of sense of duty and so forth, and that he should have
done the same by his dearest friend, whether he had thought it
necessary to make a similar stir when Sir George Murray was
appointed Secretary of State; and, besides this _argumentum ad
hominem_, he might have asked, whether in point of fact it was an
admitted principle that those who had committed heavy offences
against the laws of morality should be therefore disqualified
from serving in a civil capacity. However the question is at an
end, and has gone off smoothly enough all things considered.[1]
[1] [Sir George Murray had run away with Lady Louisa
Erskine, whom he afterwards married. But Turton's
breach of morality was of a more serious character.
Mr., or as he afterwards became Sir Thomas, Turton had
been guilty of an intrigue with his sister-in-law,
which led to the dissolution of his marriage. On this
ground Lord Melbourne had objected to his going out to
Canada with Lord Durham in a public capacity; but Lord
Durham, with very bad taste, took him out in what he
was pleased to call a private capacity. The public, as
this was a question of morals, were slow to accept this
distinction.]
[Page Head: CHANGES AT THE COLONIAL OFFICE.]
After much difficulty about filling up Sir George Grey's place at
the Colonies,[2] Labouchere has very handsomely volunteered to
take it, though lower in rank and pay, and far more laborious
than that which he before held. They did not venture to ask him,
but it was thrown out by Le Marchant that he would be the most
eligible successor to Grey; when he said immediately, that if
Government thought he could be of use to them and to the public,
and he was satisfied the measures to be proposed would be such as
he could conscientiously support, he would take the office
without hesitation. They took him at his word, and he was
installed _instanter_; had he not taken it, Ben Stanley would
have gone there. These changes have so much disconcerted Stephen
that he has proposed to resign, and it is still a question
whether he does or not; but they will hardly let him go, for his
knowledge and powers of wielding the business cannot be dispensed
with, particularly by two men perfectly new and inexperienced in
Colonial affairs.
[2] [Sir George Grey, who had been Under Secretary for the
Colonies, was made Judge Advocate and a Privy
Councillor on the 1st of March, 1839. Mr. Labouchere,
who had been Vice-President of the Board of Trade and
Master of the Mint since 1835, very handsomely
consented to take the inferior office at the Colonies.
Mr. Labouchere, however, returned to the Board of Trade
as President on the 29th of August, 1839. Mr. Stephen
was the permanent Under Secretary for the Colonies.]
March 2nd, 1839 {p.172}
The whole town has been engrossed for some days with a scandalous
story at Court, and although of course great exaggerations and
falsehoods are grafted upon the real case, and it is not easy to
ascertain what and how much is true, enough is known and
indubitable, to show that it is a very discreditable transaction.
It appears that Lady Flora Hastings, the Duchess of Kent's lady,
has been accused of being with child. It was at first whispered
about, and at last swelled into a report, and finally into a
charge. With whom it originated is not clear; but the Queen
appears to have been apprised of the rumour, and so far to have
entered into it as to sanction an intimation to the lady that she
must not appear at Court till she could clear herself of the
imputation. Medical examination was either demanded by her or
submitted to, and the result was satisfactory to the virtue of
the accused damsel. Then naturally exploded the just indignation
of insulted honour. Her brother, Lord Hastings, came up to town,
saw Melbourne, who is said to have endeavoured to smother the
affair, and to have tried to persuade Lord Hastings to do so; but
he was not at all so inclined, and if he had been, it was too
late, as all the world had begun to talk of it, and he demanded
and obtained an audience of the Queen. I abstain from noticing
the various reports of what this or that person did or said, for
the truth of which I could not vouch; but it is certain that the
Court is plunged in shame and mortification at the exposure, that
the palace is full of bickerings and heart-burnings, while the
whole proceeding is looked upon by society at large as to the
last degree disgusting and disgraceful. It is really an
exemplification of the saying, that 'les Rois et les Valets' are
made of the refuse clay of creation, for though such things
sometimes happen in the servants' hall, and housekeepers charge
still-room and kitchen-maids with frailty, they are unprecedented
and unheard of in good society, and among people in high or even
in respectable stations. It is inconceivable how Melbourne can
have permitted this disgraceful and mischievous scandal, which
cannot fail to lower the character of the Court in the eyes of
the world. There may be objections to Melbourne's extraordinary
domiciliation in the palace; but the compensation ought to be
found in his good sense and experience preventing the possibility
of such transactions and _tracasseries_ as these.[3]
[3] [I insert this passage on a painful transaction which
had better be consigned to oblivion, because it
contains nothing which is not to be found in the most
ordinary books of reference; but I shall not enter
further on this matter.]
At Court yesterday to appoint Ebrington Lord-Lieutenant of
Ireland: they all looked busy and _affairés_, and the Queen
seemed very grave.
March 8th, 1839 {p.173}
[Page Head: BULWER'S 'RICHELIEU'.]
I went last night to the first representation of Bulwer's play
'Richelieu:' a fine play, admirably got up, and very well acted
by Macready, except the last scene, the conception of which was
altogether bad. He turned Richelieu into an exaggerated Sixtus
V., who completely lost sight of his dignity, and swaggered about
the stage, taunting his foes, and hugging his friends with an
exultation quite unbecoming and out of character. With this
exception it was a fine performance; the success was unbounded,
and the audience transported. After Macready had been called on,
they found out Bulwer, who was in a small private box next the
one I was in with Lady Blessington and D'Orsay, and were
vociferous for his appearance to receive their applause. After a
long delay, he bowed two or three times, and instantly retreated.
Directly after he came into our box, looking very serious and
rather agitated; while Lady Blessington burst into floods of
tears at his success, which was certainly very brilliant.
March 12th, 1839 {p.173}
The Government have offered Canada to Lord Clarendon,[4] who is
coming home to give his answer in person. They are resolved to
make _maison nette_ at the Colonial Office, and want to oust
Stephen; but the publication of Sir Francis Head's extraordinary
book,[5]--in which he is denounced as a Republican, and as the
author of all the mischievous policy by which our Colonial
possessions have been endangered, and his dismissal is loudly
demanded--makes it impossible for Stephen to retire, or for
Government to invite him to do so. Stephen cannot vindicate
himself, except by divulging official secrets which he considers
it would be a grievous breach of trust and duty to do; but he
declares to me that he has abundant means of vindication in his
hands if he chose to avail himself of them. The world believes
that each Secretary of State (Glenelg particularly) has been a
mere puppet in his office, and that it is Stephen who has moved
all the strings; but the fact is, there have been three parties--
Stephen, Glenelg, and the Cabinet; and though the first may have
exercised a great influence over the second, it has often
happened, that both have been overruled by the last, and neither
Head nor anybody else can do more than conjecture what has really
been the secret history of our Colonial policy. Glenelg, however,
was evidently feeble, and his faculties seem to have been
entirely benumbed ever since the flagellations he got from
Brougham in the beginning of last session. His terror of Brougham
is so intense that he would submit to any humiliation rather than
again expose his back to such a merciless scourge.[6]
[4] [Sir George Villiers, then Minister at Madrid,
succeeded to the title of Earl of Clarendon on the 22nd
of December, 1838. He shortly afterwards resigned his
diplomatic appointment in Spain and returned to
England.]
[5] [Whatever credit for discretion Sir Francis Bond Head
might previously have enjoyed was more than effaced by
the extraordinary indiscretion of 'A Narrative of
Recent Events in Canada,' which he published at this
time.]
[6] They became great friends again at a subsequent period.
Brougham has been always throwing off and whistling
back his friends.
March 25th, 1839 {p.174}
Laid up with the gout for these ten days, in which time the only
occurrences of moment have been the great (and final) debate on
the Corn Laws, and the hostile vote in the House of Lords,[7]
followed by John Russell's declaration in the House of Commons,
and appeal to that House from the vote of the Lords. The Corn
debate was extremely long and dull, and the House more than
usually clamorous and impotent. The only speech was Peel's, said
to have been exceedingly able; the division was better for the
Cornites, and worse for their antagonists, than had been
expected; the decision received with great indifference, and the
question put on the shelf for some time.
[7] [On the 18th of March Mr. Charles Villiers' motion for
a Committee to take into consideration the duties on
corn was defeated in the House of Commons by 342 to 195
votes. I know not why Mr. Greville styles it the
'final' debate, which it certainly was not. On the 21st
of March Lord Roden carried in the House of Lords, by a
majority of five, a motion for a Committee to inquire
into the state of Ireland since 1835. This motion was
directed against Lord Normanby's Administration.
Shortly afterwards this motion was met by a resolution
of Lord John Russell's in the House of Commons
approving the Irish policy of the Government, which was
carried by 318 to 296.]
The other affair is much more interesting, because more personal,
and involving the existence of the Government. There seems to
have been an abundance of angry feeling and a great lack of
discretion and judgement on all sides: first of all in the House
of Lords thus lightly and somewhat loosely pressing this vote,
and going the length of appointing a Committee; and why the Duke
of Wellington consented to it is difficult to see, unless it be
that his mind is a little enfeebled, and his strong sense no
longer exercises the same sway. They hardly seem to have intended
what they did, for they made no whip up, and Lord Wicklow went
away without voting. As it was, Government had better have rested
upon their old declaration, that as long as they were supported
by the House of Commons they should disregard the opposition of
the House of Lords; and so in fact they would have done, if the
next day Normanby had not flared up so violently and insisted on
resignation or reparation. At the Cabinet there was a long
discussion whether they should resign or not, and the Speaker,
Ellice, and others of their friends, were strongly for their
taking this opportunity of retiring with all their strength, and
upon a question which would have rendered it next to impossible
for their successors to go on if they took their places. The
result, however, was the declaration of John Russell, and their
determination to try their strength in the House of Commons. If
the Radicals support them they will get their usual majority of
from fifteen to twenty; but it does not appear that they will
gain much by that, for the Lords will go on with their Committee
and put Normanby on his trial without caring for the vote of the
Commons.
[Page Head: LORD NORMANBY'S IRISH ADMINISTRATION.]
With regard to the merits of the case, Normanby's Government was
no doubt on the whole carried on in a very good spirit; but as it
was in an Irish spirit, it was of course obnoxious to the old
dominant party. There is not the slightest suspicion that in his
exercise of the prerogative of mercy he was ever influenced by
any improper motives or showed any partiality; though Lord
Wellesley said, that 'he dramatised royalty, and made mercy
appear blind instead of justice.' But the system is of very
questionable propriety, and on some occasions he probably was
rather too free with it, and went a little further than in strict
prudence he ought to have done. Generally speaking, however, on
this point as well as on the other grounds on which he has been
attacked, he has defended himself with great vigour and success.
The night after the debate, he gave Brougham a heavy fall, and
exposed his glaring inconsistency and falseness. Brougham is said
to have appeared more annoyed and crestfallen than ever he did
before. He certainly made a very poor and inefficient reply.
[Page Head: WEAKNESS OF THE GOVERNMENT.]
Nothing would be more unfortunate than a change of Government as
the result of this blow aimed by the House of Lords, and under
the auspices of Roden, the leader of the Orangemen. Ireland is
the great strength of the present Government as it is the weak
point of the Tories; and if they went out, and Peel came in upon
Ireland, and the principle on which he should govern that
country, he would never keep his place, and nobody could tell
what troubles might not ensue. It is Peel's interest that Irish
questions should assume such a shape, and make such a progress,
before he returns to office, as should render their final
adjustment inevitable. If things were left alone, and time and
the hour permitted us to run through the present rough days, it
would be impossible to prevent great changes taking place before
long. The country is beset with difficulties on all sides, if not
with danger; besides the ever rankling thorn of Ireland, there
are the Chartists and the Anti-Corn Law agitators, to say nothing
of minor reformers in England, and the whole of our Colonial
Empire in a most unsettled, precarious, and difficult state,
requiring the utmost wisdom and firmness in dealing with Colonial
interests, and our relations with America demanding firmness,
temper, and sagacity. But, while the country has thus urgent need
of all the ability and experience which can be enlisted in her
service, from the curious position of parties in the House of
Commons, and the mode in which power is distributed, we have at
once a Government miserably weak, unable to exercise a will of
its own, bolstered up by the interested and uncertain support of
men more inimical than friendly to them; while the most
distinguished statesmen and the men who are admitted to be the
fittest to govern, are effectually excluded from office. While we
have a Cabinet in which there is not one man who inspires
confidence, and in which, with the exception perhaps of John
Russell (who is broken in health and spirits), there is not one
deserving to be called a statesman,--to this Cabinet is committed
the awful task of solving the many difficult questions of
domestic, colonial, and foreign policy which surround and press
upon us; while the Duke of Wellington and Peel are compelled 'to
stand like ciphers in the great account.' The great
characteristic of the present time is indifference: nobody
appears to care for anything; nobody cares for the Queen, her
popularity has sunk to zero, and loyalty is a dead letter; nobody
cares for the Government, or for any man or set of men. If there
was such a thing as a strong public opinion alive to national
interests, intent upon national objects, and deeply sensible to
the necessity of calling to the national councils all the wisdom
and experience that the crisis demands, its voice would be heard,
the two parties would cease to hold each other at bay, there
would be either a great change or a fusion in some reasonable
spirit of compromise, and we should see a Government with some
energy, independence and power, and this is what we want. But
Melbourne seems to hold office for no other purpose but that of
dining at Buckingham House, and he is content to rub on from day
to day, letting all things take their chance. Palmerston, the
most enigmatical of Ministers, who is detested by the _Corps
Diplomatique_, abhorred in his own office, unpopular in the House
of Commons, liked by nobody, abused by everybody, still reigns in
his little kingdom of the Foreign Office, and is impervious to
any sense of shame from the obloquy that has been cast upon him,
and apparently not troubling himself about the affairs of the
Government generally, which he leaves to others to defend and
uphold as they best may. The only man besides John Russell in the
Cabinet who stands high in estimation is Morpeth, and it is
remarkable that in this Government the young ones or subordinates
are its chief strength. Morpeth, Labouchere, George Grey, and
Francis Baring are better men than almost any in the Cabinet,
which is certainly the most second-rate one this country ever
saw.
March 28th, 1839 {p.178}
It is amusing to see the nervous consciousness on both the Tory
and the Whig side of blunders having been committed by each in
this demonstration of the Lords and retort of the Government. The
Chancellor of the Exchequer came into my room yesterday, and told
me that Lord Spencer had expressed his strenuous approbation of
the course they had taken, just the right medium, neither too
much nor too little; and this sanction he seemed to think very
valuable, though in fact worth nothing, for Lord Spencer lives
among oxen, and not among men. On the other hand, I met Graham,
and said to him, 'A pretty scrape you would have been in if
Government had resigned upon this vote.' He shrugged up his
shoulders and said, 'I own I am better pleased as it is.' No
great party should do things by halves and doubtingly: if the
leaders thought the case was so grave as to call for the
interference of the House, and that they were justified in taking
this matter into their own hands, they ought to have brought down
all their forces, and have given their vote all the authority it
would derive from an imposing majority. No maxim is more clearly
understood than that any party having generally a large majority,
and only carrying some particular question by a very small one,
suffers something like a defeat, because it implies that they
have not the concurrence on such question of many of their usual
supporters. This was, therefore, a false move one way or the
other. The Government, however, have no doubt of carrying their
point by as large a majority as they ever can have.
[Page Head: DEFECTION OF THE MORNING CHRONICLE.]
They are in a great rage, and in no small dismay at the same
time, at the conduct of the 'Morning Chronicle,' which has turned
half against them in a most extraordinary manner, that is, it is
urging the Radicals to seize this opportunity of compelling the
Government to go their lengths, and to make such compliance the
condition of their support. Government are so indignant that they
want to break off with the 'Chronicle' altogether; but then they
will be left in the awkward predicament of having no morning
paper whatever in their service. What nettles them the more is,
that they made the 'Chronicle' what it is, and raised it by their
exertions from the lowest ebb to its present very good
circulation. Just before Peel's hundred days it was for sale, and
had then fallen to about a thousand a day. Easthope was persuaded
by Ellice to buy it, which he did for £15,000 or £20,000. The
Whigs set to work, and Hobhouse, Normanby, Poulett Thomson, Le
Marchant, and several others, wrote day after day a succession of
good articles which soon renovated the paper and set it on its
legs. The circulation increased daily till it got up to three
thousand, and now it has reached six thousand. Easthope makes a
clear £10,000 a year by the speculation; but now, seeing (or
thinking he sees) greater advantages to be got by floating down
the Radical stream than by assisting in the defence of this
Government, he forgets past favours and connexion, and is ready
to abandon them to their fate. It is rather an ominous sign and
marks strongly their falling estimation. They think it is Durham
who has got hold of Easthope, and persuades him to take this
course. He declares he is so beset with applications, advice, and
threats, that he has no alternative, and must take the line he
does, or ruin the sale of his paper.
Newmarket, March 29th, 1839 {p.180}
Poor De Ros[8] expired last night soon after twelve, after a
confinement of two or three months from the time he returned to
England. His end was enviably tranquil, and he bore his
protracted sufferings (more from oppression and annoyance than
acute pain) with astonishing fortitude and composure. Nothing
ruffled his temper or disturbed his serenity. His faculties were
unclouded, his memory retentive, his perceptions clear to the
last; no murmur of impatience ever escaped him, no querulous
word, no ebullition of anger or peevishness; he was uniformly
patient, mild, indulgent, deeply sensible of kindness and
attention, exacting nothing, considerate of others and apparently
regardless of self, overflowing with affection and kindness of
manner and language to all around him, and exerting all his moral
and intellectual energies with a spirit and resolution that never
flagged till within a few hours of his dissolution, when nature
gave way and he sank into a tranquil unconsciousness in which
life gently ebbed away. Whatever may have been the error of his
life, he closed the scene with a philosophical dignity not
unworthy of a sage, and with a serenity and sweetness of
disposition of which Christianity itself could afford no more
shining or delightful example. In him I have lost (half lost
before) the last and greatest of the friends of my youth, and I
am left a more solitary and a sadder man.
[8] [Henry William, 19th Baron de Ros, born 12th June 1792;
died 29th March 1839.]
London, April 6th, 1839 {p.180}
[Page Head: LORD JOHN RUSSELL'S FINALITY.]
I saw X. at Newmarket, and had a long conversation with him, in
which he gave me an account of the state of affairs. The
Government is at its last gasp; the result of the debate next
week may possibly prolong its existence, as a cordial does that
of a dying man, but it cannot go on. They are disunited,
dissatisfied, and disgusted in the Cabinet--Lord John himself
deeply so--considerably alarmed at the state of affairs,
resolutely bent upon making no further concessions to Radicalism,
and no sacrifices for mere party purposes. There is a violent
faction in the Cabinet and in the Government, who are indignant
with him for his _finality_ speech last year, to which they
ascribe the ruin of their cause, and Duncannon at the time, or
soon after, abused him openly and loudly for it. This reached
Lord John's ears, who complained of such conduct, and the more
because he had summoned a special Cabinet for the purpose of
announcing that it was his intention to make this declaration,
therefore they were all apprised of it, whereas Duncannon had
asserted that he did it without the knowledge of his colleagues.
It turned out in the course of the explanation that Duncannon had
been laid up at the time, and was not present at this Cabinet,
but he could hardly have been ignorant of such an important
circumstance, and this shows the _animus_ there was among some of
them. The principal object of the more radically-inclined was to
let Ballot be an open question, and to this Melbourne had been
persuaded to consent, though no doubt quite contrary to his own
wishes and opinions. But Melbourne has no strong convictions or
opinions founded on political principles deeply engraven on his
mind; he is easy, _insouciant_, persuadable, averse to disputes,
and preferring to sacrifice his own convictions to the
pertinacity and violence of others, rather than manfully and
consistently defend and maintain them; still he looks up to John
Russell and defers to him more than to any of his colleagues,
both on account of his respect for his character and the station
he holds as leader of the House of Commons; and when any struggle
occurs, and he must side with one or the other party, he goes
with Lord John, and accordingly Ballot was not made an open
question.
[Page Head: LORD JOHN'S FRIENDLINESS TO PEEL.]
What Lord John says is this: That when the Reform Bill was
introduced, the extent and sweeping character of the measure were
hateful and alarming to many members of the Cabinet and
supporters of the Government; that the ground on which he urged
the adoption of the measure was the expediency of leaving nothing
for future agitation, and of giving the country a measure so
ample and satisfactory that it might and ought to be final. To
this argument many who dreaded its consequences ended by
yielding, though reluctantly, and he considers himself,
therefore, bound in honour to resist any further changes, and to
take his stand where we now are. Besides this he now (as I
gather) is seriously alarmed at the state of the country, and
deeply impressed with the necessity of opposing all the Radical
measures and propositions, which he considers parts of a great
system, and a comprehensive scheme of a revolutionary character.
Then he is disgusted and mortified at the treatment he has
personally experienced both in and out of the House of Commons,
and at the clamour and abuse of which he has been the object on
account of the firm determination he has evinced to go no
further; and this clamour has not been confined to the regular
avowed Radicals or the organs of their opinions, but there are
old self-styled Whigs--his uncle, Lord William, for example--and
others, who are groaning over his obstinacy as they deem it, and
attributing to it the ruin of their party; all this superadded to
his broken spirits[9] makes him heartily sick of his position;
and, seeing the unpopularity and weakness of the Government,
denuded of all sympathy and support, and left to be buffeted by
the Tories on one side and the Radicals on the other, he is
aware, and not sorry to be aware, that the last act is at hand.
Of this approaching catastrophe probably all the others are as
well aware as himself, but there are some among them who
earnestly desire that it should be so brought about as to make it
next to impossible for those who may succeed them to carry on the
Government. This, however, is not the object of Lord John
Russell, who, on the contrary, desires that the next Government
may be so formed and so conducted as to enable him to support it,
and to bring with him such strength in its aid as may place it
beyond the reach of danger. Whether they get a majority or not on
the 15th, he knows that they cannot go on much longer. The Queen
will do whatever Melbourne advises her, and he will advise her to
send for the Duke of Wellington, who, in his turn, will desire
her to send for Peel. Whether or no any attempt would be made
towards a coalition, or a wide comprehension, on the formation of
the Government, nothing would induce Lord John to take office,
but he would be desirous of supporting Peel's Government, if he
could with honour, and if the circumstances attending the change
should render it possible for him as well as for others disposed
to follow his course, to do so. He thinks that it is of great
consequence that there should be no dissolution, which would
throw the country into a ferment, lead to violent manifestations
and declarations, and to many people being obliged to pledge
themselves to measures of a dangerous tendency. He wishes,
therefore, to place Peel in such a situation as shall exonerate
him from the necessity of a dissolution, by giving him a fair
general though independent support; but the power to do this
depends much upon the temper that is displayed, and upon the mode
in which the change is effected; for if the Tories cannot be
restrained from the exhibition of an insulting and triumphant
demeanour, the exasperation and desire of revenge in the
discomfited party will be too great and general to admit of his
aiding the new Government with an imposing force, and he is
therefore solicitous that prudence and moderation should govern
the Conservative councils. I asked X. whether he thought that
there were many others likely to take this view and to follow
Lord John's example and advice, and he said that there were.
[9] [Adelaide, daughter of Thomas Lister, Esquire, and
widow of the second Lord Ribblesdale, was the first
wife of Lord John Russell: she died on the 1st November
1838, to the great grief of the Minister.]
All this, which is a brief abstract of our two conversations,
appeared to me of so much importance, and, above all, that it is
so desirable that the sentiments of the Whig leader should be
made known to the future Minister, that I asked X. whether there
would be any objection to my making known as much as it was
desirable to impart of our conversation without committing
anybody, and carefully abstaining from giving what I might say
the air of a communication between parties in any shape or way.
He said that it certainly might be very useful that there should
be some such knowledge of these sentiments conveyed to the proper
quarter, but he did not think the time was yet come, and that for
the present I had better say nothing; to which I replied that, as
it might have an important effect upon their deliberations which
would be held previously to the debate on the 15th, and upon the
conduct of Peel and his party on that occasion, I thought that
the sooner the communication took place the better, as there
could be no doubt that the temper displayed and the conduct
pursued by the different parties on that occasion would have a
very material effect upon all future arrangements, and upon the
condition, prospects, and necessities of the new administration.
I told X. that there was nothing I had such a horror of as
repeating things from one party to another, of retailing
political gossip, and of the appearance of worming myself into
the confidence of individuals of one side, and then betraying it
to those of another; that I would not therefore make the
slightest use of what he had told me without his entire
permission, and whatever I might say, I should faithfully report
to him. He, who knows me, was quite satisfied; but others might
not be. Then I have the greatest doubt to whom I should speak.
The only individuals I can think of are the Duke, Fitzgerald,
Graham, Wharncliffe, or Peel himself. Peel himself would be the
most direct, but he is so cold, dry, and unsatisfactory, I know
not how he would take it, and he would very likely suspect me of
some design, some _arrière pensée_, some purpose of founding on
this service a title to his intimacy, or his patronage and
assistance--in short, some selfish, personal object. Whereas I
hope and believe that I am not actuated by any puerile vanity in
this matter, or the ambition of acting a part, however humble and
subordinate, but that I have no object but to render my personal
position instrumental to a great and good purpose.
April 7th, 1839 {p.184}
I sent for Clarendon, and consulted him what I should do. He
advised me to speak to Peel at once, but first to ascertain
whether John Russell certainly remained in the same mind, because
Ben Stanley reports to the Cabinet that they will have so certain
a majority that their drooping spirits have been rather raised,
and it will never do for me to run the risk of deceiving Peel in
any way. I shall do nothing for the present, but turn it in my
mind. There is a moral or religious precept of oriental origin
which is applicable to politics as well as to morals and
religion, and which should, I think, be ever present to the mind:
'When you are in doubt whether an action is good or bad, abstain
from it.' I believe this is the safest and wisest maxim with
reference to sayings and doings: if you have serious doubts
whether it is advisable to do a particular thing, or to say a
particular thing, neither do, nor say; do nothing, say nothing.
Of course, if you must do or say something, and the only choice
is _what_, it is another thing. I believe, when the mind is
disturbed and is oscillating with doubts of this kind, it is that
vanity is whispering at one ear and prudence at the other; but
then prudence almost always takes the deaf ear, and so vanity
persuades.
April 10th, 1839 {p.185}
[Page Head: IMPORTANT COMMUNICATION TO GRAHAM.]
I wrote to X. on Saturday last, and said that what I heard here
of the confidence of Government about their majority made me
hesitate about saying anything for fear Lord John should not be
in the same mind. He replied that he had no reason to believe he
had changed his mind, but that it might be better to say nothing
for the present. I had therefore resolved to say nothing, but on
Monday John Russell announced the terms of his motion,[10] and
Peel gave notice that on Friday he would give out his amendment;
therefore, if anything was to be done (as they were thus coming
to close quarters), no time was to be lost; and accordingly,
after much reflexion, I resolved to speak to Graham, with whom
old intimacy enabled me to converse more freely than I could with
Peel, whose coldness and reserve, and the doubt how he would take
my communication, would certainly have embarrassed me. I called
on Graham yesterday, and had a conversation of two hours with
him. He began by saying that he could hold no communication with
me upon any political subject without telling me that he should
feel bound to impart everything to Peel, and I replied that such
was my intention. I then told him, without mentioning names, or
giving any authority, the reason I had for speaking to him, and
the conviction in my own mind that there would be found (in the
event of a change of Government) a disposition on the part of
John Russell and others of the moderate Whigs to support Peel. I
told him that I thought it of such vital importance that such a
disposition should be fostered, and not checked or suppressed by
any violence in the conduct or language of his party, such as
might render it impossible for them to give that support
hereafter; that I had resolved to make known to him, for his
consideration and that of Peel, this my conviction; at the same
time, he must fully understand, I had no _authority_ for saying
so, that I might be mistaken, and he must take it for just what
he judged it to be worth. I went more at length into the subject,
conveying to him much of the information which had been imparted
to me.
[10] [This was the motion approving the Irish policy of the
Government, above referred to.]
[Page Head: NEGOTIATION WITH GRAHAM AND PEEL.]
He replied that he was fully aware of the great importance of
this communication, and did not doubt that I had very solid
grounds for what I said; but at the same time he thought the
motion of which John Russell had given notice was in itself a
measure of such a violent character that it was inconsistent with
the moderation which I ascribed to him, and he feared that, in
the event of a change, he might be persuaded to put himself at
the head of the Whigs and Radicals, and acquiesce for party
purposes in those movement measures to which he was certainly not
personally inclined; that as for himself, and Stanley also, they
had old feelings of regard, and friendship for Lord John, which
would always influence them; and that he had recently had a sort
of reconciliation with him (the circumstance of which he
detailed), after an alienation on account of his attack upon Lord
John in his speech at Glasgow; but that Peel had no such amicable
feelings towards him, and thought he had got him at a great
disadvantage on the present occasion; that their amendment would
be moderate in terms; but they intended to be very strong in
debate, and it was a good deal to ask of them to emasculate their
speeches for the prospective but uncertain advantage of Lord
John's future support. 'You say,' he continued, 'that you are
convinced, on what you deem good and certain ground, that John
Russell is disposed to resist the movement, and, in order to do
so, to support Peel, if he comes in; and you ask us to place such
confidence in this impression of yours, as to shape our conduct
in conformity with it. You ask us to adopt a tone so moderate as
to give no offence to John Russell, a lower tone than would be
naturally expected from us by our friends, who will, and can,
know nothing of our reasons for foregoing the advantage which
seems to be in our power, and for treating our opponents with
such extraordinary and unaccountable lenity and forbearance. This
is asking a great deal.' I owned that it was; but I urged that
the paramount importance of winning over the Whig leader, and a
part of the Whig party, to a decided opposition to the movement,
and the prospect it held out of separating the Whigs from the
Radicals, fully justified the sacrifice of any such advantage as
that to which he alluded. He said that, 'supposing such were the
views and feelings of John Russell himself, he doubted whether
the great Whig families would follow him. He thought the Dukes of
Sutherland, Devonshire, Bedford, and others, would throw their
influence into the opposite scale, and that the majority of the
Whigs would follow Morpeth, who, he believed, was prepared to go
any lengths.' I replied, that this might be so; that I could only
speak of what I knew; that it had occurred to me to enquire
whether he was likely to be followed by many others, and that to
the question I had thus put, the answer had been 'yes;' but that
I could not pretend to say I knew of any certain instances of
support to be expected, though my own belief was, that they would
not be wanting. After a long conversation, in which we discussed
the state and aspect of affairs in all their bearings, he ended
by saying, that what I had said to him had made a great
impression upon him, and that he should consider what it would be
most advisable to do. He thanked me for the confidence I had
reposed in him, and appreciated my motives; he should communicate
with Peel about it, but whether he should mention what I had said
to him as the impression of his own mind only, or whether he
should tell him upon what authority it rested (upon mine), he
should hereafter determine. I told him I had rather avoid, but
had no objection, if necessary, to have my name brought forward,
and, above all things, he must understand and convey to Peel that
I had _no authority_ for what I had said, that nobody must be in
the slightest degree _committed,_ that my impressions might be
mistaken and erroneous, and the event might not correspond with
them; but that, such as they were, I had frankly communicated
them to him in hopes that the communication might have a salutary
effect.
April 13th, 1839 {p.188}
[Page Head: COLD RECEPTION BY PEEL.]
On Thursday morning I saw Graham again. He had spoken to Peel,
and told him exactly what I intended him to say, neither more nor
less, giving it as given to him _by a friend of his own_. Peel
was not disposed to attach much weight to the communication, and
finding how lightly he regarded it, he thought it necessary to
inform him that it came from me. The mention of my name (he said)
did make a considerable impression on Peel, though much less than
the matter had made on Stanley and himself; the former eagerly
grasping at the prospect it held out, and believing implicitly in
Lord John's disposition. Still Peel was shaken, but at the same
time he was excessively annoyed and _put out_ by it. This (which
appeared extraordinary enough) Graham accounted for in this way:
that Peel had arranged the whole course of his conduct and the
tenour of his speech in his own mind; he thought he had got Lord
John at a great disadvantage, and that the debate would afford
him the opportunity of a signal triumph; and the notion of being
obliged to forego this advantage and triumph, and the perplexity
into which he was thrown between doubt whether it really was
worth while, and fear of sacrificing a great and permanent, to an
accidental and ephemeral interest, threw him into an uncertainty
and embarrassment which disturbed his equanimity. It is at all
events fortunate that I did not go to him myself, for I should
have been met with a cold austerity of manner which would have
disconcerted me, and I should have most certainly quitted him
mortified and disappointed, and without having effected any good.
Peel said to Graham that he should express no opinion, make no
promise, and would not say whether or how his conduct would be
affected by what he had heard. I replied on this, that I did not
desire or expect that he should, and that my object was attained
when he was made aware of what I knew. I repeated that I had no
authority, and he must attach as much or as little importance to
my opinion as he thought it was worth. Graham said that,
notwithstanding his annoyance, he was in fact fully sensible of
the importance of the circumstances, and that he would look with
the greatest solicitude for what fell from John Russell himself,
considering that his speech would afford the test of the
correctness of my impressions, and that if the tenour of that
speech confirmed them, their speeches would be of a corresponding
character; that he might defend the policy of the Government, and
the administration of Ireland, as strenuously as he pleased; but
if he attacked the House of Lords, or truckled to the Radicals,
they must give a vent to the indignant feelings that such conduct
would inevitably excite, and it would be impossible for them to
satisfy their followers by a mere milk-and-water debate, and by
abstaining from the use of their weapons when the other side were
unscrupulous in the use of theirs. I said I did not desire that
they should go into action with their swords in their scabbards,
while their enemies were to have theirs drawn; that I admitted
that this opening speech might be considered a fair test, and
that all I desired was, that if they _could_ be moderate they
_would_, and always keep in sight the motives for moderation.
This, he assured me, I might depend upon. Peel thinks _the
motion_ itself so violent, that it announces violent
dispositions; and he says it is moving the Appropriation Clause
over again.[11] The only individual to whom all this has been
communicated, besides Peel and Stanley, is Arbuthnot, for the
purpose of being conveyed to the Duke of Wellington, but without
any mention of my name.
[11] [The terms of Lord John's resolution were these: 'That
it is the opinion of this House that it is expedient to
persevere in those principles which have guided the
Executive Government of Ireland of late years, and
which have tended to the effectual administration of
the law and the general improvement of that part of the
Kingdom.' It is difficult to perceive any violence in
this language.]
Yesterday I had a long letter from X., to whom I wrote an account
of my interview with Graham, approving of what I had done, and I
wrote Graham a note saying as much (but not mentioning X.'s name,
as I have never done). This he considered of such importance that
he showed it to Peel, and he told me that Peel was greatly more
sensible of the value of the information, and more disposed to
shape his conduct accordingly. He said to Stanley, 'Why, I must
go down to the House of Commons with two speeches.'
April 21st, 1839 {p.190}
[Page Head: MODERATION OF THE DEBATE.]
At Newmarket all last week, and having heard from nobody, could
judge of the debate only from reading the report. Lord John's
speech was admirable, and so skilful, that it satisfied his
friends, his foes, and did not dissatisfy the Radicals. Peel was
flat and laboured, and did not satisfy his own people, all of
which may be attributed to the necessity he was under of making
speech number two. The rest of the debate was very moderate, but
the Government had an excellent case, nothing being proved
against them; and the facts on which the Opposition relied being
all explained or rebutted satisfactorily. The division was
better, too, than they expected, and some accidents told in their
favour; for example, a stupid Tory (Goddard), who was besieged
with letters and notes to be present at the division, turned
sulky and restive in consequence, and voted with the Government,
much to the delight of the Ministerial, and the rage of the
Opposition whippers-in, though to the amusement of both. But the
moderation, which it was my object to enforce, was manifested on
both sides, and nothing fell from John Russell offensive in a
constitutional or even in a party sense, and the Opposition
leader abstained from attacking him, with a forbearance which, if
calculated, was very consistently maintained. Satisfactorily,
however, as the whole thing appears to have terminated for the
Government, they do not consider it to have given them any
permanent strength, or the prospect of a longer tenure of office;
for the Radicals, while one and all supported them on this Irish
vote, were not sparing of menace and invective, and plainly
indicated that, unless concessions were speedily made for them,
the Government should lose their support; and consequently, there
are many who are hoping and expecting, and many more who are
desiring, that concessions should be made, and by these means
that the Government concern should be again bolstered up. Some of
the Cabinet, more of the subordinates and hangers-on, and many of
what are called the old Whigs, are earnestly pressing this, and
they are very angry and very sorrowful because John Russell is
inflexible on this point. He has to sustain the assaults, not
only of the violent of his party, and of Ellice and the out-of-
door advisers, monitors and critics, but of his own family, even
of his father, who, after announcing that he had given up
politics and quitted the stage, has been dragged forward and
induced to try his parental rhetoric upon the conservative
immobility of his son. To the letter which the Duke wrote him,
Lord John merely replied that 'he would shortly see his opinions
in print;' and to Ellice's warm remonstrances and entreaties he
only dryly said, 'I have made up my mind.' His nephew, Lord
Russell,[12] who, from some extraordinary crotchet, has thought
fit to embrace republican opinions, and is an ultra-movement man,
but restrained in the manifestation of his opinions from personal
deference to his father and his uncle, with whom he lives on
excellent terms--said the other day to Lord Tavistock, 'Lord John
has undertaken a great task; he is endeavouring to arrest the
progress of the movement, and if he succeeds he will be a very
great man. He may succeed, and if he does it will be a great
achievement.' This Lord Tavistock told Lord John, who replied
that 'he was convinced of the danger which threatened the country
from the movement, and of the necessity of opposing its progress;
that he considered this duty paramount to all other
considerations. He did not desire the dissolution of the
Government to which he belonged; on the contrary, he wished to
remain in office; but nevertheless he considered the promotion of
party objects and the retention of office subordinate to the
higher and more imperative duty of opposing principles fraught
with danger to the State, and to that end he would devote his
best energies.' (It is impossible to give the exact words, and
these are not _the words_, but it is the exact sense of what he
said.)
[12] [William Russell, afterwards eighth Duke of Bedford,
born 30th June 1809, died May 1872.]
April 22nd, 1839 {p.192}
[Page Head: THE RADICALS AND THE WHIGS.]
The moderate Radicals are now very anxious to come to some
amicable understanding with the Government, and, if possible, to
prop up the concern. They are very angry with their more violent
compeers (Grote, Leader, &c.), and Fonblanque told me last night
that they would take the slightest concessions, the least thing
that would satisfy their constituencies, but that _something_
they must have, and that something he appeared to think they
should get. I asked him what was the _minimum_ of concession that
would do, and he said the rate-paying clauses, which would be
merely working out the original principle, the demolition of the
boroughs under 300 electors, and Ballot an open question. I told
him that I was persuaded these things were impossible; that Lord
John Russell never would consent to begin again the work of
disfranchisement, nor to make Ballot an open question; that he
_is alarmed_, and determined to stop. Clarendon had told me much
the same thing in the morning on the authority of his brother
Charles,[13] who is a very leading man, and much looked to among
them, probably (besides that he really is very clever) on account
of that aristocratic origin and connexion which he himself
affects to despise, and to consider prejudicial to him. Of course
this anxiety on the part of the moderate Radicals to come to
terms will increase the eagerness of the violent Whigs to strike
a bargain; but Lord John will continue, I believe, to forbid the
banns. These things would only be wedges, no sooner conceded than
fresh demands would be raised upon them; besides, they never
could, without abandoning every principle of independence and
losing all sense of honour, yield to contumely, menace and the
most insulting language, what they have so long and
pertinaciously refused to milder appeals and all the means of
persuasion and remonstrance. The great body of the Conservatives
certainly, and I believe the whole country, will make no
distinction between different sections and shades of Radicals,
but consider every concession made to one as made to all, and the
consequence would be fresh taunts against the Government for
being made of such _squeezable_ materials, without its prolonging
their Ministerial existence for a very long period. It would,
however, prevent the split between the great masses of Whigs and
Radicals, and secure a formidable Opposition, together with union
at the election whenever it took place. Fonblanque told me that
if the Government was broken up by the desertion of the Radicals,
the latter would lose all their seats at the next election, for
they are scarcely anywhere strong enough to come in without the
assistance of the Whigs.
[13] [Right Hon. Charles Pelham Villiers, born 19th January
1802, M.P. for Wolverhampton for very many years.]
April 24th, 1839 {p.193}
Graham called yesterday to ask how my friends were satisfied with
their speeches, and to say that they had been entirely so with
Lord John's, and, in consequence, able to express themselves with
the reserve and moderation which they had displayed. I told him
it had all done very well, plenty of moderation on both sides,
and I hoped good had been done. He said that Peel was still
suspicious about Lord John, whom he did not know personally as he
and Stanley did, and therefore could not bring himself to put the
same confidence in the sincerity and integrity of his intentions.
Confound the fellow, what a cold feeler and cautious stepper he
is! Strange that the two leaders should make themselves so
personally obnoxious as they do by their manners and behaviour.
Nevertheless John Russell, though frigid and forbidding to
strangers, is a more amiable man with his friends; but the other
has no friends. I have more than once remonstrated on the
impolicy of Lord John's carelessness in his treatment of people,
and I had an instance of the mischief it does the other day.
Sheil told me at Brooks's that one of his Irish members
(Macnamara) was close to Lord John in the House, and looked at
him in vain for a sign of recognition. Lord John stared, but made
no sign; the affronted Milesian frothed up instantly and said,
'Confound him, I'll vote against him.' They pacified him so far
as his vote was concerned; but Sheil naturally enough observed
that it was a very unwise thing to neglect people's little
vanities and self-love so wantonly and carelessly.
April 30th, 1839 {p.194}
Le Marchant told me yesterday that there is a great change come
over the spirit of the Reformers, and undoubted evidence of a
reaction. Joe Parkes, who recently went on a tour through the
country, and who, before he went, in an interview with Ben
Stanley, Gore, Anson, and Le Marchant, was full of menace and big
words about the necessity of concession and the strength of the
movement, returned quite crestfallen, and has since confessed
that he found matters no longer in the same state, and a general
lukewarmness, in many cases an aversion to the movement. Le
Marchant has since been in communication with the editors of the
'Sun' and of the 'Daily Advertiser,' both of whom are engaging
themselves in the service of Government, and they have owned the
same thing, that in the districts in which the Chartists have
appeared, their excesses have produced a regular reaction and
aversion to reform, and elsewhere that reasonable people, without
giving up their principles, are satisfied that the moment is not
come for enforcing them, and are for leaving things alone. This
information, which appears worthy of credit, is very important as
regards the condition of the country, and if it is acted upon by
the Radicals in the House of Commons, may still prolong the
existence of the Government. Nobody can well make out what Peel
is at with his Jamaica amendment, and though he says it is no
party question, they are whipping up in all directions to fight
another battle.
May 2nd, 1839 {p.194}
[Page Head: DISMISSAL OF THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE.]
The Duke of Newcastle has been dismissed from the Lieutenancy of
Nottinghamshire, as he ought to have been long ago. I met the
Duke of Wellington at the Ancient Concert, and asked him the
reason, which he told me in these words: 'Oh, there never was
such a fool as he is; the Government have done quite right, quite
right, they could not do otherwise.' There was a correspondence
between him and the Chancellor about the appointment of some
magistrates: he recommended two gentlemen of Derbyshire as
magistrates of Nottinghamshire, and the Chancellor told him he
meant to appoint likewise two others, one of whom was a Mr.
Paget. The Duke replied that he objected to Mr. Paget--first,
because he was a man of violent political opinions; and,
secondly, because he was a Dissenter. The Chancellor told him
that Mr. Paget was not a man of violent political opinions, and
as to his being a Dissenter, he considered that no objection, and
that he should therefore appoint him, together with the gentlemen
recommended by the Duke. The Duke wrote a most violent answer, in
which he said that his lordship had the power of making this
appointment if he chose to do so, and if he did, he would have
the satisfaction of knowing that he had done very wrong, and he
informed him that for the future he should hold no confidential
communication with him. The Chancellor (the Duke of Wellington
said) behaved in the most gentlemanlike manner possible; nobody
could behave better. He sent to the Duke of Newcastle to say that
he must be aware, on reflexion, that he ought not to have written
such a letter, and he would therefore return it to him, that he
might, if he pleased, put it in the fire, and let it be
considered as not having been written at all. The Duke replied
that he had no objection to withdraw the letter, _provided the
Chancellor would cancel the appointment_. Upon this, Lord John
Russell wrote him word that 'Her Majesty had no further occasion
for his services as Lord Lieutenant and Custos Rotulorum of the
county of Notts.' Yesterday morning the Duke of Newcastle went to
Apsley House, and said to the Duke of Wellington, 'You have heard
what has happened to me?' 'Not I,' said the Duke, 'I have heard
nothing;' and then the Duke of Newcastle gave him Lord John's
letter to read. 'Well,' said he, 'but there is a correspondence
alluded to in this letter: where is it?' and then the Duke of
Newcastle put into his hands the correspondence with the
Chancellor. As soon as the Duke of Wellington had read it, he
said, 'They could not do otherwise; no Government could be
carried on if such a letter as this was submitted to.' 'What
shall I do?' said the Duke of Newcastle. 'Do?' said the Duke: 'Do
nothing.'
May 5th, 1939 {p.196}
Lord John Russell's letter to the electors of Stroud[14] came out
late on Friday evening, and three editions were sold of it
yesterday, and not a copy to be had. It is very sound and
temperate, will be a bitter pill to the Radicals, and a source of
vexation to his own people, but will be hailed with exceeding
satisfaction by all moderate and really conservative men of
whatever party. I saw Graham yesterday morning, who owned that it
had fully answered all the expectations held out by me as to his
intentions and opinions.
[14] [This letter appeared in the form of a pamphlet in
which Lord John Russell fearlessly stated his moderate
Whig opinions to the great disgust of the Radical
party.]
[Page Head: JAMAICA BILL.]
[Page Head: THE CABINET RESIGNS.]
The Jamaica Bill is about to produce a fresh crisis much more
difficult to get over than the last, and it puzzles me to make
out why Peel has chosen this ground on which to fight a great and
possibly a decisive battle.[15] The Government, it is true, have
placed themselves by their measure in a false position, because
on their own reasoning their Bill does not go far enough, and
ought to have extended to the dissolution instead of merely to
the suspension of the Assembly, and this was what the Colonial
Office authorities recommended. In a paper drawn up by Henry
Taylor for the use of the Cabinet, he set forth the
incompatibility of the present assembly with the new order of
things, and exposed the absurdity of a system falsely called
representative; but they did not venture to take so decided a
step, and preferred a half measure, which dissatisfies everybody,
and which would only defer the difficulty and embarrassment of a
final settlement. Still, having adopted this course, and
determined to deal with the Colony upon their own responsibility,
I cannot understand why Peel did not let them alone. There was no
popularity to be gained by taking this course; the country does
not care a straw for the constitution of Jamaica, the anti-
slavery feeling is all against the Assembly, and nobody will
believe that the Tories are animated by any high constitutional
scruples, or that they care about the question except as one on
which they can fight a battle. Peel (Graham said) 'offered his
plan in the sincere hope and expectation that Government would
accept it.' Perhaps it may be of the two preferable (though there
is a serious objection to it, in the lapse of time that would
occur before anything could be done), but the Government cannot
come down to Parliament with proposals for administering colonial
affairs in such a manner as they deem necessary and expedient,
and then at the bidding or suggestion of Sir Robert Peel, adopt
another plan of which, while he would be the author, they must be
the responsible executors. This would not be governing, but
handing over the Government to their opponents. If Peel really
was of opinion that this Bill was so unwise and inexpedient, that
no considerations of a general nature would justify him in
consenting to it, or in not opposing it, he was right to take the
course he has done; but not otherwise; for, as the Bill can only
be carried, if at all, by a small majority, it will go out to
Jamaica with diminished moral effect, and it was above all things
desirable that an Act so penal should be invested with all the
authority derivable from unanimity, or at least the concurrence
of an overwhelming majority. Now this is the consideration of
which the importance is admitted by both sides, and it might have
afforded Peel a good reason for giving way to the Government,
when he found they would not give way to him. As it is, the Bill
will go up to the Lords with the usual majority, and the Lords
will have to determine upon a course full of important
consequences. If they throw it out, it seems to me that Ministers
must resign, and no question could be devised on which they could
resign so advantageously for their own interests as a party, none
of which would be less popular for their opponents, and which
would afford so good an occasion and such great facilities for
keeping together the Whigs and Radicals in a firm and consentient
opposition. The great object of Peel's policy appears to have
been to avoid returning to office until he could do so in such
strength as to be able to carry on the Government with security,
and it was my belief that he never would return until he had some
sort of guarantee that this would be in his power. The great
desideratum, therefore, of all moderate men, was the dissolution
of the connexion between the Whigs and Radicals, and the ultimate
establishment of a Government upon the anti-movement principle,
and it was with reference to this paramount object that I was so
desirous of getting Peel's course shaped so as to harmonise with
John Russell's sentiments and conduct. But if the Government
resign upon this Jamaica question, all this fine plan will be
defeated. Great are the effects of party rancour, and if the
battle is fought on merely party grounds, and the Lords are to be
the instruments of achieving the victory, the Whigs and Radicals
will forget their present bickerings and mutual topics of
grievance and discontent, and bury their animosities in a common
determination to resist and defeat their political antagonists.
With the majority against him unbroken in the Commons, but
without an option as to taking or refusing office if tendered to
him (because he would have himself compelled the Government to
resign), Peel must dissolve, and he would encounter the election
with the whole antagonist force united against him, aided by the
anti-slavery feeling together with all the jealousy that could be
excited against the predominance of the House of Lords. Suppose
the general election were to give him a very large majority, even
then the great opportunity of separating the Whigs and Radicals
would have been lost, and there is every reason to believe that
when there is to be a fair fight for power, the Whigs will not be
nice as to the banners that are displayed in their front, and
that the majority of them will agree to many things of which they
do not approve, rather than mar combinations instrumental to the
overthrow of the Tory party, and their own restoration to power.
[15] [On the 6th May, Lord John Russell proposed in the
House of Commons to suspend the Constitution of Jamaica
for five years, because the Assembly of that Island had
refused to adopt the Prisons Act passed by the Imperial
Legislature. A division was taken on the question, that
'the Speaker do now leave the Chair,' and the
Government had a majority of five in a House of 583.
Upon this grave consequences ensued. Mr. Henry Taylor
argued, in the paper he submitted to the Cabinet on
this question, that in the existing state of society in
the West Indies, the forms of Constitutional Government
could only lead to the oppression of the blacks by the
whites, or of the whites by the blacks, and that the
inveterate feelings by which the Colonists were divided
would lead to measures of oppression, and in the end
would break out into acts of violence. He therefore
proposed the abolition of the Assemblies and the
substitution of Legislatures based on the model of
those existing in the Crown Colonies. This scheme was
approved by Lord Melbourne and by Lord Howick, but it
was feebly supported by Lord Glenelg and rejected by
the Cabinet. Lord John Russell then brought forward the
half-measure on which the division was taken. In the
opinion of Mr. Henry Taylor this decision led to
twenty-six years of misgovernment in the Colonies, and
at length to the outbreak of the negroes in Jamaica in
October 1865, which was only suppressed by the energy
of Governor Eyre. Government by the Crown, which the
Colonial Department had vainly advocated in 1839, was
established in 1866, with excellent results to the
Colony.]
May 10th, 1839 {p.199}
I left town on Monday, having in the morning seen Le Marchant,
who knows better than anybody the numbers and details of
divisions; and he told me that they should have a majority of
twenty: little, therefore, was I prepared to hear on Tuesday
morning that they had been left with only a majority of five. It
was not till they were in the House of Commons that they were
aware of the defections, and of the probability of a close
division, if not of a defeat. About ten of the Radicals voted
against them, and ten or a dozen stayed away; six of the Tories
voted with Government, but the balance was quite enough to reduce
the old majority to an equality. On Tuesday the Cabinet met, and
resolved to resign. The Queen had not been prepared for this
catastrophe and was completely upset by it. Her agitation and
grief were very great. In her interview with Lord John Russell
she was all the time dissolved in tears; and she dined in her own
room, and never appeared on the Tuesday evening. Melbourne
advised her to send for the Duke, and on Wednesday morning she
sent for him. By this time she had regained her calmness and
self-possession. She told him that she was very sorry for what
had occurred, and for having to part with her Ministers,
particularly Lord Melbourne, for whom she felt the warmest
regard, and who had acted an almost parental part towards her.
The Duke was excessively pleased with her behaviour and with her
frankness. He told her that his age and his deafness
incapacitated him from serving her as efficiently as he could
desire, and that the leader of the House of Commons ought to be
her Prime Minister, and he advised her to send for Peel. She
said, 'Will you desire him to come to me?' He told her that he
would do anything; but, he thought, under the circumstances, it
would be better that she should write to him herself. She said
she would, but begged him to go and announce to Peel that he
might expect her letter. This the Duke did, and when Peel
received it, he went to the Palace (in full dress according to
etiquette), and received her commands to form a Government. She
received him (though she dislikes him) extremely well, and he was
perfectly satisfied.
While the Tories were rejoicing in their victory, the Whigs,
greatly exasperated, were already beginning to meditate the
organisation of a strong Opposition, and providing the means of
carrying on an effectual war against the new Government. They do
not choose to look upon their expulsion as attributable to the
defection of their allies, but as the work of the Tories upon a
mere party question, and that a very unjustifiable one, and
treated in a very unjustifiable manner. I met Ellice and
Labouchere in the street, and found them full of menace and
sinister prediction, and to my assertion that all would go well
and _easily_, they shook their heads, and insisted that the
conduct of their opponents entitled them to no forbearance, and
that finding none, their difficulties and embarrassments would be
very great; and I found in other quarters that there is a
disposition to rally and marshal the party, and commence
offensive warfare; but others of the Whigs entertained no such
views, and looked upon the game as quite lost for the present;
and in point of fact, nothing is settled, fixed, combined, or
arranged as yet; and there has not been time to ascertain the
disposition or intentions of the leaders.
[Page Head: THE BEDCHAMBER DIFFICULTY.]
While, however, there was yesterday this uncertainty and
agitation in the Whig camp, and the Tories were waiting in
perfect security for the tranquil arrangement of the new
Government, a storm suddenly arose, which threatens to scatter to
the winds the new combinations, and the ultimate effects of which
it is impossible for anybody to foresee. The Queen insisted upon
keeping the ladies of her household, and Peel objected, but
without shaking her determination. He begged her to see the Duke
of Wellington, and she agreed to see the Duke and him together.
He had, however, before this gone to the Palace with Lord
Ashley,[16] whom he had taken with him, fancying that because he
had been in the habit of seeing a great deal of the Queen, he
might have some influence with her--a notion altogether
preposterous, and exhibiting the deficiency of Peel in worldly
dexterity and tact, and in knowledge of character. Ashley made no
impression on the Queen. When the Duke and Peel saw her, and
endeavoured to persuade her to yield this point, they found her
firm and immoveable, and not only resolved not to give way, but
prepared with answers to all they said, and arguments in support
of her determination. They told her that she must consider her
_Ladies_ in the same light as _Lords_: she said, 'No, I have
Lords besides, and these I give up to you.' And when they still
pressed her, she said, 'Now suppose the case had been reversed,
that you had been in office when I had come to the Throne, and
that Lord Melbourne would not have required this sacrifice of
me.' Finding that she would not give way, Peel informed her that
under these circumstances he must consult his friends; and a
meeting took place at his house yesterday afternoon.
[16] [Lord Ashley, then a member of the House of Commons,
afterwards seventh Earl of Shaftesbury: though a
follower of Sir Robert Peel, he was married to Lady
Emily Cowper, Lord Melbourne's niece, and this
circumstance probably induced Peel to invoke his
assistance.]
In the meantime the old Ministers were apprised of the difficulty
that had occurred, and Lord John Russell, who knew that there was
a meeting at Peel's to consider what was to be done, entreated
Melbourne, if the thing was broken off upon this difficulty, not
to give any advice, but to call the Cabinet and have a general
consultation. At nine in the evening he was summoned to a Cabinet
at Melbourne's house, and from this he inferred that negotiations
with Peel had closed. The ministers were collected from all
quarters: (Hobhouse from dinner at Wilton's, Morpeth from the
opera), and Melbourne laid before them a letter from the
Queen,[17] written in a bitter spirit, and in a strain such as
Elizabeth might have used. She said, 'Do not fear that I was not
calm and composed. They wanted to deprive me of my Ladies, and I
suppose they would deprive me next of my dressers and my
housemaids; they wished to treat me like a girl, but I will show
them that I am Queen of England!' They consulted, and a
suggestion was thrown out that Lady Normanby (and some other I
think) should resign. This was overruled, as was a proposition of
John Russell's, that the Queen should require from Peel a precise
statement of the extent of his demands. The end was, that a
letter was composed for her, in which she simply declined to
place the Ladies of her household at Peel's discretion. This was
sent yesterday morning; when Peel wrote an answer resigning his
commission into Her Majesty's hands; but recapitulating
everything that had passed. When the difficulty first arose, Peel
asked her to see the Duke; she acquiesced; he fetched him, and
the Duke was with her alone. The Duke it was who argued _the
principle_ with her--Peel had touched upon its application.
[17] Melbourne, it appears, from his own statement in the
House of Lords, was sent for at six o'clock on
Thursday.
[Page Head: THE WHIGS STAND BY THE QUEEN.]
It was speedily known all over the town that the whole thing was
at an end, and nothing could surpass the excitement and amazement
that prevailed. The indignant Tories exclaimed against intrigue
and preconcerted plans, and asserted that she refused to part
with _any_ of her Ladies, and that it was only a pretext to break
off the Tory Government; while the Whigs cried out against
harshness and dictatorial demands, and complained that it was
intended to make a thorough clearance, to strip her of all her
friends, and destroy her social comfort. The Radicals, who had
for the most part been terribly alarmed at the results of their
own defection, instantly made overtures to the Whigs; and I heard
at Brooks's that Ward had come over from the Reform Club, and
proposed a reconciliation without any concession, except that
Ballot should be made an open question. There appeared no
disposition to concede anything to the Radicals, who, they were
convinced, would join them without any conditions.
In the meantime Lord Melbourne and Lord John Russell went to the
Queen, who told them her whole story. I met the latter coming
from her; he said, 'I have just been for an hour with the Queen;
she told me her story, and ended by saying, 'I have stood by you,
you must now stand by me.' They thought her case a good one,
and resolved to stand by her. Such was the state of things and
such the case as reported to me by several members of the Whig
party yesterday morning, and my impression was that Peel had been
unreasonable in his demands and impolitic in breaking off the
negotiation on such grounds. Nevertheless I had some misgivings,
because I thought the Duke of Wellington unlikely to concur in
any proceeding harsh towards the Queen, or ill-considered in a
political sense; but the assertion was at the same time so
positive, that Peel had required the dismissal of _all_ the
ladies, and the Tories defended instead of denying this, that I
did not doubt the fact to have been so; and moreover I was told
that Peel's behaviour had created a strong sentiment of dislike
towards him in the Queen, and from her representations and the
language of her letter it was clear the impression on her mind
was that no consideration was intended to be shown to her
feelings and wishes, but, on the contrary, that they meant to
abuse their power to the utmost. At the ball last night I put the
question directly to Lord Normanby and Ben Stanley, and they both
declared that the Queen's understanding was that the demand for
power to dismiss the Ladies was unqualified by any intimation of
an intention not to exercise that power to the utmost extent;
that she believed they were _all_ to be taken from her, and under
this impression she had sent her ultimatum by which the whole
thing was terminated. But I had afterwards a conversation with
Lord Wharncliffe, who gave me an account of all that had passed,
placed the matter in a very different light, and proved beyond a
doubt that there was no lack of deference and consideration on
the part of Peel, but, on the contrary, the clearest indication
of an intention and desire to consult her wishes and feelings in
every respect, and that, instead of a sweeping demand for the
dismissal of _all_ her Ladies, he had approached that subject
with delicacy and caution, and merely suggested the expediency of
some partial changes, for reasons (especially when taken with
other things) by no means insufficient. So little disposition was
there on the part of Peel to regard her with distrust or to
fetter her social habits, that when she said, 'You must not
expect me to give up the society of Lord Melbourne,' he replied
that 'Nothing could be further from his thoughts than to
interfere with Her Majesty's society in any way, or to object to
her receiving Lord Melbourne as she pleased, and that he should
always feel perfectly secure in the honour of Lord Melbourne,
that he would not avail himself improperly of his intercourse
with her.' When she said that she should like to have Lord
Liverpool about her, he immediately acquiesced, and proposed that
he should be Lord Steward, and he suggested certain other
persons, whom he said he proposed because he believed they were
personally agreeable to her; but when he began to talk of 'some
modification of the Ladies of her household,' she stopped him at
once, and declared she would not part with any of them.
Thenceforward this became the whole matter in dispute; but there
had been some circumstances even in the first interview which
Peel and the Duke regarded as ominous and indicative of her
having been primed as to the part she should play. The principal
of these was an intimation of her desire that there should be _no
dissolution of Parliament_. This surprised Peel very much, but he
only replied that it was impossible for him to come to any
determination on that point, as he might be beaten on one of the
first divisions, in which case it would be inevitable. It was
indeed the fact of his taking the Government with a _minority_ in
the House of Commons which was his principal argument for
desiring the power of dismissing the Ladies, or rather of
changing the household, that he might not, he said, give to the
world the spectacle of a Court entirely hostile to him,
consisting of ladies whose husbands were his strongest political
opponents, thereby creating an impression that the confidence of
the Crown was bestowed on his enemies rather than on himself. In
the Duke's first interview with the Queen, he had entreated her
to place her whole confidence in Peel, and had then said that,
though some changes might be necessary in her household, she
would find him in all the arrangements anxious to meet her wishes
and consult her feelings. Notwithstanding her assurance to
Melbourne that she was calm, she was greatly excited, though
still preserving a becoming dignity in her outward behaviour.
[Page Head: THE TRUE STATE OF THE CASE.]
Having satisfied myself that there had been a complete
misunderstanding, which I think, as it was, might have been
cleared up if there had been less precipitation and more openness
and further endeavours to explain what was doubtful or ambiguous,
I began to turn in my mind whether something could not be done to
avert the impending danger, and renew the negotiation with Peel
while it was still time. Labouchere had had a conversation with
Graham, who had enlightened him, much as Wharncliffe had me; we
came home together, and I found what Graham had told him had made
a deep impression on him, and that he was as sensible as I am of
the gravity and peril of the circumstances in which affairs are
placed. I accordingly urged Lord Tavistock to endeavour to
persuade Melbourne to see the Duke of Wellington and talk it over
with him; he would at all events learn the exact truth as to what
had passed, which it most essentially behoves him to know before
he takes upon himself the responsibility of advising the Queen
and of meeting Parliament once more with all the necessary
explanations how and why he is still Minister, and from the Duke
likewise he would learn what really is the _animus_ of Peel and
his party, and what the real extent of their intended demands
upon the Queen. He, and he alone, can enlighten her and pacify
her mind; and if he is satisfied that there has been a
misapprehension, and that Peel has required nothing but what she
ought to concede, it would be his duty to advise her once more to
place herself in Peel's hands. This is the only solution of the
difficulty now possible, and this course, if he has sufficient
wisdom, firmness, and virtue to adopt it, may still avert the
enormous evils which are threatened by the rupture of the pending
arrangements.