CHAPTER XX.

Appointment of Sir Stratford Canning to the Russian Embassy--

Cause of the Refusal--Slavery in the West Indies--The Reformed

Parliament--Duke of Wellington's View of Affairs--The Coercion

Bill--The Privy Council Bill--Lord Durham made an Earl--Mr.

Stanley Secretary for the Colonies--The Russians go to the

Assistance of the Porte--Lord Goderich has the Privy Seal, an

Earldom, and the Garter--Embarrassments of the Government--The

Appeal of Drax _v._ Grosvenor at the Privy Council--Hobhouse

defeated in Westminster--Bill for Negro Emancipation--The

Russians on the Bosphorus--Mr. Littleton Chief Secretary for

Ireland--Respect shown to the Duke of Wellington--Moral of a

'Book on the Derby'--The Oaks--A Betting Incident--Ascot--

Government beaten in the Lords on Foreign Policy--Vote of

Confidence in the Commons--Drax _v._ Grosvenor decided--Lord

Eldon's Last Judgment--His Character--Duke of Wellington as

Leader of Opposition--West India Affairs--Irish Church Bill--

Appropriation Clause--A Fancy Bazaar--The King writes to the

Bishops--Local Court Bill--Mirabeau.

February 16th, 1833 {p.357}

Madame de Lieven gave me an account (the day before yesterday) of

the quarrel between the two Courts about Stratford Canning. When

the present Ministry came in, Nesselrode wrote to Madame de

Lieven and desired her to beg that Lord Heytesbury might be left

there--'Conservez-nous Heytesbury.' She asked Palmerston and Lord

Grey, and they both promised her he should stay. Some time after

he asked to be recalled. She wrote word to Nesselrode, and told

him that either Adair or Canning would succeed him. He replied,

'Don't let it be Canning; he is a most impracticable man,

_soupconneux, pointilleux, defiant_;' that he had been personally

uncivil to the Emperor when he was Grand Duke; in short the plain

truth was they would not receive him, and it was therefore

desirable somebody, anybody, else should be sent. She told this

to Palmerston, and he engaged that Stratford Canning should not

be named. Nothing more was done till some time ago, when to her

astonishment Palmerston told her that he was going to send

Canning to St. Petersburg. She remonstrated, urged all the

objections of her Court, his own engagement, but in vain; the

discussions between them grew bitter; Palmerston would not give

way, and Canning was one day to her horror gazetted. As might

have been expected, Nesselrode positively refused to receive him.

Durham, who in the meantime had been to Russia and _bien comble_

with civilities, promised that Canning should not go there,

trusting he had sufficient influence to prevent it; and since he

has been at home it is one of the things he has been most violent

and bitter about, because Palmerston will not retract this

nomination, and he has the mortification of finding in this

instance his own want of power. However, as there have been no

discussions on it lately, the Princess still hopes it may blow

over, and that some other mission may be found for Canning. At

all events it appears a most curious piece of diplomacy to insist

upon thrusting upon a Court a man personally obnoxious to the

Sovereign and his Minister, and not the best way of preserving

harmonious relations or obtaining political advantages. She says,

however (and with all her anger she is no bad judge), that

Palmerston 'est un tres-petit esprit--lourd, obstine,' &c., and

she is astonished how Lady C. with her _finesse_ can be so taken

with him.

Lady Cowper has since told me that Madame de Lieven has been to

blame in all this business, that Palmerston was provoked with her

interference, that her temper had got the better of her, and she

had thought to carry it with a high hand, having been used to

have her own way, and that he had thought both _she_ and her

_Court_ wanted to be taken down a peg; that she had told

Nesselrode she could prevent this appointment, and, what had done

more harm than anything, she had appealed to Grey against

Palmerston, and employed Durham to make a great clamour about it.

All this made Palmerston angry, and determined him to punish her,

who he thought had meddled more than she ought, and had made the

matter personally embarrassing and disagreeable to him.

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

Last night Lord Grey introduced his coercive measures in an

excellent speech, though there are some people who doubt his being

able to carry them through the House of Commons. If he can't, he

goes of course; and what next? The measures are sufficiently

strong, it must be owned--a _consomme_ of insurrection-gagging

Acts, suspension of Habeas Corpus, martial law, and one or two

other little hards and sharps.[1]

[1] [In the debate on the Address O'Connell had denounced

the coercive measures announced in the Speech from the

Throne as 'brutal, bloody, and unconstitutional.' But

the state of Ireland was so dreadful that it demanded

and justified the severest remedies. Lord Grey stated

in the House of Lords that between January 1st and

December 31st 9,000 crimes had been committed--homicides

242, robberies 1,179, burglaries 401, burnings 568, and so

on. The Bill gave the Lord-Lieutenant power to proclaim

disturbed districts, to substitute courts-martial for

the ordinary courts of justice, to prohibit meetings,

and to punish the distributors of seditious papers. Such

were the powers which Lord Wellesley described as more

formidable to himself than to the people of Ireland, for the

greater part of them were never exercised. The Act

produced the desired effect. In a year Ireland was

pacified; and the abandonment of several of the most

important clauses in the Act (contrary to Lord Grey's

wishes) was the cause which led to the dissolution of the

Ministry in the month of June 1834.]

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

Dined yesterday with Fortunatus Dwarris, who was counsel to the

Board of Health; one of those dinners that people in that class

of society put themselves in an agony to give, and generally

their guests in as great an agony to partake of. There were

Goulburn, Serjeant ditto and his wife, Stephen, &c. Goulburn

mentioned a curious thing _a propos_ of slavery. A slave ran away

from his estate in Jamaica many years ago, and got to England. He

(the man) called at his house when he was not at home, and

Goulburn never could afterwards find out where he was. He

remained in England, however, gaining his livelihood by some

means, till after some years he returned to Jamaica and to the

estate, and desired to be employed as a slave again.

Stephen, who is one of the great apostles of emancipation, and

who resigned a profession worth L3,000 a year at the Bar for a

place of L1,500 in the Colonial Office, principally in order to

advance that object, owned that he had never known so great a

problem nor so difficult a question to settle. His notion is that

compulsory labour may be substituted for slavery, and in some

colonies (the new ones, as they are called--Demerara, &c.) he

thinks it will not be difficult; in Jamaica he is doubtful, and

admits that if this does not answer the slaves will relapse into

barbarism, nor is he at all clear that _any_ disorders and evils

may not be produced by the effect of desperation on one side and

disappointment on the other; still he does not hesitate to go on,

but fully admitting the right of the proprietors to ample

compensation, and the duty incumbent on the country to give it.

If the sentiments of justice and benevolence with which he is

actuated were common to all who profess the same opinions, or if

the same sagacity and resource which he possesses were likely to

be applied to the practical operation of the scheme, the evils

which are dreaded and foreseen might be mitigated and avoided;

but this is very far from the case, and the evils will, in all

probability, more than overbalance the good which humanity aims

at effecting; nor is it possible to view the settlement (as it is

called, for all changes are settlements now-a-days) of this

question without a misgiving that it will only produce some other

great topic for public agitation, some great interest to be

overturned or mighty change to be accomplished. The public

appetite for discussion and legislation has been whetted and is

insatiable; the millions of orators and legislators who have

sprung up like mushrooms all over the kingdom, the bellowers, the

chatterers, the knaves, and the dupes, who make such an universal

hubbub, must be fed with fresh victims and sacrifices. The

Catholic question was speedily followed by Reform in Parliament,

and this has opened a door to anything.

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

In the meantime the Reformed Parliament has been sitting for a

fortnight or so, and begins to manifest its character and

pretensions. The first thing that strikes one is its inferiority

in point of composition to preceding Houses of Commons, and the

presumption, impertinence, and self-sufficiency of the new

members. Formerly new members appeared with some modesty and

diffidence, and with some appearance of respect for the assembly

into which they were admitted; these fellows behave themselves as

if they had taken it by storm, and might riot in all the

insolence of victory. There exists no _party_ but that of the

Government; the Irish act in a body under O'Connell to the number

of about forty; the Radicals are scattered up and down without a

leader, numerous, restless, turbulent, and bold--Hume, Cobbett,

and a multitude such as Roebuck, Faithfull, Buckingham, Major

Beauclerck, &c. (most of whom have totally failed in point of

speaking)--bent upon doing all the mischief they can and

incessantly active; the Tories without a head, frightened, angry,

and sulky; Peel without a party, prudent, cautious, and

dexterous, playing a deep waiting game of scrutiny and

observation. The feelings of these various elements of party,

rather than parties, may be thus summed up:--The Radicals are

confident and sanguine; the Whigs uneasy; the Tories desponding;

moderate men, who belong to no party, but support Government,

serious, and not without alarm. There is, in fact, enough to

justify alarm, for the Government has evidently no power over the

House of Commons, and though it is probable that they will

scramble through the session without sustaining any serious

defeat, or being reduced to the necessity of any great sacrifice

or compromise, they are conscious of their own want of authority

and of that sort of command without which no Government has been

hitherto deemed secure. The evil of this is that we are now

reduced to the alternative of Lord Grey's Government or none at

all; and should he be defeated on any great measure, he must

either abandon the country to its fate, or consent to carry on

the Government upon the condition of a virtual transfer of the

executive power to the House of Commons. If this comes to pass

the game is up, for this House, like animals who have once tasted

blood, if it ever exercises such a power as this, and finds a

Minister consenting to hold office on such terms, will never rest

till it has acquired all the authority of the Long Parliament and

reduced that of the Crown to a mere cypher. It is curious,

by-the-bye, that the example of the Long Parliament in a trivial

matter has just been adopted, in the sittings of the House at

twelve o'clock for the hearing of petitions.

February 27th, 1833 {p.362}

Laid up ever since that dinner at Dwarris's with the gout. Frederick

Fitzclarence has been compelled to resign the situation at the Tower

which the King gave him; they found it very probable that the House

of Commons would refuse to vote the pay of it--a trifle in itself,

but indicative of the spirit of the times and the total want of

consideration for the King. O'Connell made a speech of such violence

at the Trades Union the other day--calling the House of Commons six

hundred scoundrels--that there was a great deal of talk about taking

it up in Parliament and proposing his expulsion, which, however,

they have not had the folly to do. The Irish Bill was to come on

last night. The sense of insecurity and uneasiness evidently

increases; the Government assumes a high tone, but is not at all

certain of its ability to pass the Coercive Bills unaltered, and

yesterday there appeared an article in the 'Times' in a style of

lofty reproof and severe admonition, which was no doubt as appalling

as it was meant to be. This article made what is called a great

sensation; always struggling, as this paper does, to take the lead

of public opinion and watching all its turns and shifts with

perpetual anxiety, it is at once regarded as undoubted evidence of

its direction and dreaded for the influence which its powerful

writing and extensive sale have placed in its hands. It is no small

homage to the power of the press to see that an article like this

makes as much noise as the declaration of a powerful Minister or a

leader of Opposition could do in either House of Parliament.

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

Yesterday morning the Duke of Wellington came here upon some

private business, after discussing which he entered upon the

state of the country. I told him my view of the condition of the

Government and of the House of Commons, and he said, 'You have

hit the two points that I have myself always felt so strongly

about. I told Lord Grey so long ago, and asked him at the time

how he expected to be able to carry on the Government of the

country, to which he never could give any answer, except that it

would all do very well. However, things are not a bit worse than

I always thought they would be. As they are, I mean to support

the Government--support them in every way. The first thing I have

to look to is to keep my house over my head, and the alternative

is between this Government and none at all. I am therefore for

supporting the Government, but then there is so much passion, and

prejudice, and folly, and vindictive feeling, that it is very

difficult to get others to do the same. I hear Peel had only

fifty people with him the other night on some question, though

they say that there are 150 of that party in the House of

Commons. He thinks as ill of the whole thing as possible. [While

I am writing Poodle Byng is come in, who tells me what happened

last night. Althorp made a very bad speech and a wretched

statement; other people spoke, pert and disagreeable, and the

debate looked ill till Stanley rose and made one of the finest

speeches that were ever heard, pounding O'Connell to dust and

attacking him for his 'six hundred scoundrels,' from which he

endeavoured to escape by a miserable and abortive explanation.

Stanley seems to have set the whole thing to rights, like a great

man.]

I told the Duke what Macaulay had said to Denison: 'that if he

had had to legislate, he would, instead of this Bill, have

suspended the laws for five years in Ireland, given the

Lord-Lieutenant's proclamation the force of law, and got the Duke

of Wellington to go there.' He seemed very well pleased at this,

and said, 'Well, that is the way I governed the provinces on the

Garonne in the south of France. I desired the mayors to go on

administering the law of the land, and when they asked me in

whose name criminal suits should be carried on (which were

ordinarily in the name of the Emperor), and if they should be in

the name of the King, I said no, that we were treating with the

Emperor at Chatillon, and if they put forth the King they would

be in a scrape; neither should it be in the Emperor's name,

because we did not acknowledge him, but in that of the Allied

Powers.' In this I think he was wrong (_par parenthese_), for

Napoleon was acknowledged by all the Powers but us, and we were

treating with him, and if he permitted the civil authorities to

administer the law as usual, he should have allowed them to

administer it in the usual legal form. Their civil administration

could not affect any political questions in the slightest degree.

March 4th, 1833 {p.364}

Sir Thomas Hardy told my brother he thought the King would

certainly go mad; he was so excitable, _loathing_ his Ministers,

particularly Graham, and dying to go to war. He has some of the

cunning of madmen, who fawn upon their keepers when looked at by

them, and grin at them and shake their fists when their backs are

turned; so he is extravagantly civil when his Ministers are with

him, and exhibits every mark of aversion when they are away. Peel

made an admirable speech on Friday night; they expect a great

majority.

March 13th, 1833 {p.364}

The second reading of the Coercive Bill has passed by a great

majority after a dull debate, and the other night Althorp deeply

offended Peel and the Tories by hurrying on the Church Reform

Bill. It was to be printed one day, and the second reading taken

two days after. They asked a delay of four or five days, and

Althorp refused. He did very wrong; he is either bullied or

cajoled into almost anything the Radicals want of this sort, but

he is stout against the Tories. The delay is required by decency,

but it ought to have been enough that Peel and the others asked

it for him to concede it. He ought to soften the asperities which

must long survive the battles of last year as much as he can, and

avoid shocking what he may consider the prejudices of the

vanquished party. It was worse than impolitic; it was stupid and

uncourteous, and missing an opportunity of being gracious which

he ought to have seized.

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

I have been again worried with a new edition of Brougham's Privy

Council Bill,[2] and the difficulty of getting Lord Lansdowne to

_do_ anything. This is the way Brougham goes to work:--He

resolves to alter; he does not condescend to communicate with the

Privy Council, or to consult those who are conversant with its

practice, or who have been in the habit of administering justice

there; he has not time to think of it himself; he tosses to one

of his numerous _employes_ (for he has people without end working

for him) his rough notion, and tells him to put it into shape;

the satellite goes to work, always keeping in view the increase

of the dignity, authority, and patronage of the Chancellor, and

careless of the Council, the King, and the usages of the

Constitution. What is called _the Bill_ is then, for form's sake,

handed over to the Lord President (Lord Lansdowne), with

injunctions to let nobody see it, as if he was conspiring against

the Council, secure that if he meets with no resistance but what

is engendered by Lord Lansdowne's opposition he may enact

anything he pleases. Lord Lansdowne sends it to me (a long Act of

Parliament), with a request that I will return it '_by the

bearer_,' with any remarks I may have to make on it. The end is

that I am left, _quantum impar_, to fight this with the

Chancellor.

[2] [This was the Bill for the establishment of a Judicial

Committee of the Privy Council, which eventually became

the Act 3 & 4 Will. IV., cap. 41, and definitively

created that tribunal. Mr. Greville objected to several

of the provisions of the measure, because he regarded

them as an unnecessary interference of Parliament with

the authority of the Sovereign in his Council. The

Sovereign might undoubtedly have created a Committee of

the judicial members of the Privy Council: but the Bill

went further, and by extending and defining the power

of the Judicial Committee as a Court of Appeal it

undoubtedly proved a very useful and important

measure.]

March 15th, 1833 {p.365}

Ministerial changes are going on; Durham is out, and to be made

an earl. Yesterday his elevation was known, and it is amusing

enough that the same day an incident should have occurred in the

House of Lords exhibiting in a good light the worthiness of the

subject, and how much he merits it at the hands of Lord Grey.

* * * * *

March 29th, 1833 {p.365}

Lord Goderich is Privy Seal,[3] and Stanley Secretary for the

Colonies, after much trouble. Last year a positive pledge was

given to Stanley that he should not meet Parliament again but as

Secretary of State. It was not, however, specified who was to

make room for him. The Cabinet settled that it should be

Goderich, when Durham went out, and Palmerston was charged with

the office of breaking it to Goderich with the offer of an

earldom by way of gilding the pill, but Goderich would not hear

of it, said it would look like running away from the Slave

question, and, in short, flatly refused. Stanley threatened to

resign if he was not promoted, and in this dilemma the Duke of

Richmond (who was going to Windsor) persuaded Lord Grey to let

him lay the case before the King, and inform him that if this

arrangement was not made the Government must be broken up. He did

so, and the King acquiesced, and at the same time a similar

representation was made to Goderich, who after a desperate

resistance knocked under, and said that if it must be so he would

yield, but _only_ to the King's express commands.

[3] [Down to this time Lord Goderich had been Secretary for

the Colonial Department in Lord Grey's Government.]

March 30th, 1833 {p.366}

Saw Madame de Lieven yesterday, who told me the story of the late

business at St. Petersburg. The Sultan after the battle of Koniah

applied to the Emperor of Russia for succour, who ordered twelve

sail of the line and 30,000 men to go to the protection of

Constantinople. At the same time General Mouravieff was sent to

Constantinople, with orders to proceed to Alexandria and inform

the Pacha that the Emperor could only look upon him as a rebel,

that he would not suffer the Ottoman Empire to be overturned, and

that if Ibrahim advanced 'il aurait affaire a l'Empereur de

Russie.' Orders were accordingly sent to Ibrahim to suspend his

operations, and Mouravieff returned to Constantinople. Upon the

demand for succour by the Sultan, and the Emperor's compliance

with it, notification was made to all the Courts, and instructions

were given to the Russian commanders to retire as soon as the

Sultan should have no further occasion for their aid. So

satisfactory was this that Lord Grey expressed the greatest

anxiety that the Russian armament should arrive in time to arrest

the progress of the Egyptians. They did arrive--at least the fleet

did--and dropped anchor under the Seraglio. At this juncture

arrived Admiral Roussin in a ship of war, and as Ambassador of

France. He immediately informed the Sultan that the interposition

of Russia was superfluous, that he would undertake to conclude a

treaty, and to answer for the acquiescence of the Pacha, and he

sent a project one article of which was that the Russian fleet

should instantly withdraw. To this proposition the Sultan acceded,

and without waiting for the Pacha's confirmation he notified to

the Russian Ambassador that he had no longer any wish for the

presence of the Russian fleet, and they accordingly weighed anchor

and sailed away. This is all that is known of the transaction, but

Madame de Lieven was loud and vehement about the insolence of

Roussin; she said the Emperor would demand 'une satisfaction

eclatante'--'le rappel et le desaveu de l'amiral Roussin,' and

that if this should be refused the Russian Ambassador would be

ordered to quit Paris. She waits with great anxiety to see the end

of the business, for on it appears to depend the question of peace

or war with France. She said that the day before Namik went away

intelligence of this event arrived, which Palmerston communicated

to him. The Turk heard it very quietly, and then only said, 'Et ou

etait l'Angleterre dans tout ceci?'

[Page Head: PRECARIOUS STATE OF THE GOVERNMENT.]

I have heard to-night the Goderich version of his late

translation. He had agreed to remain in the Cabinet without an

office, but Lord Grey insisted on his taking the Privy Seal, and

threatened to resign if he did not; he was at last _bullied_ into

acquiescence, and when he had his audience of the King his

Majesty offered him anything he had to give. He said he had made

the sacrifice to please and serve him, and would take nothing. An

earldom--he refused; the Bath--ditto; _the Garter_--that he said

he would take. It was then discovered that he was not of rank

sufficient, when he said he would take the earldom in order to

qualify himself for the Garter, and so it stands. There is no

Garter vacant, and one supernumerary already, and Castlereagh and

Lord North, viscounts, and Sir Robert Walpole (all Commoners) had

blue ribands!

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

Came to town last night from Newmarket, and the intervening week at

Buckenham. Nothing but racing and hawking; a wretched life--that is,

a life of amusement, but very unprofitable and discreditable to

anybody who can do better things. Of politics I know nothing during

this interval, but on coming to town find all in confusion, and

everybody gaping for 'what next.' Government was beaten on the Malt

Tax, and Lord Grey proposed to resign; the Tories are glad that the

Government is embarrassed, no matter how, the supporters sorry and

repentant, so that it is very clear the matter will be patched up;

they won't budge, and will probably get more regular support for the

future. Perhaps Althorp will go, but where to find a Chancellor of

the Exchequer will be the difficulty. Poulett Thomson wants it, but

they will not dare commit the finances of the country to him, so we

go scrambling on 'du jour la journee.' Nobody knows what is to

happen next--no confidence, no security, great talk of a property

tax, to which, I suppose, after wriggling about, we shall at last

come.

May 2nd, 1833 {p.368}

The Government affair is patched up, and nobody goes but

Hobhouse,[4] who thought fit to resign both his seat in

Parliament and his office, thereby creating another great

embarrassment, which can only be removed by his re-election and

re-appointment, and then, what a farce!

[4] [Sir John Hobhouse, who had consented to take the Irish

Secretaryship a month before, resigned now because he

felt unable to oppose a resolution for the abolition of

the window duties; and resigning office he resigned his

seat for Westminster also, and was not re-elected. See

in the 'Edinburgh Review,' April 1871 (No. 272), an

account of this transaction.]

[Page Head: EMBARRASSMENT OF THE GOVERNMENT.]

There were two great majorities in the House of Commons the night

before last. The King was all graciousness and favour to Lord

Grey, and so they are set up again, and fancy themselves stronger

than before. But although everybody (except the fools) wished them

to be re-established, it was evident that this was only because,

at this moment, the time is not ripe for a change, for they

inspired no interest either individually or collectively. It was

easy to see that the Government has no consideration, and that

people are getting tired of their blunders and embarrassments, and

begin to turn their eyes to those who are more capable, and know

something of the business of Government--to Peel and to Stanley,

for the former, in spite of his cold, calculating selfishness and

duplicity, is the ablest man there is, and we must take what we

can get, and accept services without troubling ourselves about the

motives of those who supply them. It must come to this conclusion

unless the reign of Radicalism and the authority of the Humes 'et

hoc genus omne' is to be substituted. That the present Government

loses ground every day is perfectly clear, and at the same time

that the fruits of the Reform Bill become more lamentably

apparent. The scrape Government lately got into was owing partly

to the votes that people were obliged to give to curry favour with

their constituents, and partly to negligence and carelessness in

whipping in. Hobhouse's resignation is on account of his pledges,

and because he is forced to pledge himself on the hustings he

finds himself placed in a situation which compels him to save his

honour and consistency by embarrassing the public service to the

greatest degree at a very critical time. Men go on asking one

another how is it possible the country can be governed in this

manner, and nobody can reply.

Since I have been out of town the appeal against the Chancellor's

judgment in the Drax (lunacy) case has been heard at the Privy

Council, and will be finally determined on Saturday.[5] Two years

have nearly elapsed since that case was lodged, and the Chancellor

has always found pretexts for getting the hearing postponed; at

length the parties became so clamorous that it was necessary to fix

a day. He then endeavoured to pack a committee, and spoke to Lord

Lansdowne about summoning Lord Plunket, Lord Lyndhurst, and the

Vice-Chancellor, but Leach, who hates Brougham, and is particularly

nettled at his having reversed some of his judgments, bestirred

himself, and represented to Lord Lansdowne the absolute necessity

(in a case of such consequence) of having all the ex-Chancellors to

hear it. Plunket was gone to Ireland, so the Committee consisted of

the Lord President, the Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, Master of the

Rolls, Lords Eldon, Lyndhurst, and Manners. They say the argument

was very able--Sugden in support of the Chancellor's judgment, and

Pemberton against it; they expect it will be reversed. Leach,

foolishly enough, by question and observation, exhibited a strong

bias against the Chancellor, who never said a word, and appeared

very calm and easy, but with rage in his heart, for he was indignant

at these Lords having been summoned (as his secretary told

Lennard[6]), and said 'he was sure it was all Leach's doing.' What a

man! how wonderful! how despicable! carrying into the administration

of justice the petty vanity, personal jealousy and pique, and

shuffling arts that would reflect ridicule and odium on a silly

woman of fashion. He has smuggled his Privy Council Bill through the

House of Lords without the slightest notice or remark.

[5] [An appeal lies to the King in Council from orders of

the Lord Chancellor in lunacy, but there are very few

examples of the prosecution of appeals of this nature.

This case of Drax _v._ Grosvenor, which is reported in

'Knapp's Privy Council Cases,' was therefore one of

great peculiarity. The Bill constituting the Judicial

Committee had not at this time become law; this appeal

was therefore heard by a Committee of the Lords of the

Council, to which any member of the Privy Council might

be summoned. Care was taken that the highest legal

authorities should be present. It was the last time

Lord Eldon sat in a court of law. Lord Brougham, the

Chancellor, sat on the Committee, although the appeal

was brought from an order made by himself: this

practice had not been uncommon in the House of Lords,

but it had not been the practice of the Privy Council,

where indeed the case could seldom arise.]

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

Council Office.]

May 16th, 1833 {p.370}

On coming to town found the Westminster election just over, and

Evans returned. They would not hear Hobhouse, and pelted him and

his friends. No Secretary for Ireland is to be found, for the man

must be competent, and sure of re-election. Few are the first and

none the last. Hobhouse is generally censured for having put

Government in this great difficulty, but the Tories see it all

with a sort of grim satisfaction, and point at it as a happy

illustration of the benefits of the Reform Bill. I point too, but

I don't rejoice.

[Page Head: SLAVE EMANCIPATION.]

At the same time with Hobhouse's defeat came forth Stanley's plan

for slave emancipation, which produced rage and fury among both

West Indians and Saints, being too much for the former and not

enough for the latter, and both announced their opposition to it.

Practical men declare that it is impossible to carry it into

effect, and that the details are unmanageable. Even the Government

adherents do not pretend that it is a good and safe measure, but

the best that could be hit off under the circumstances; these

circumstances being the old motive, 'the people will have it.' The

night before last Stanley developed his plan in the House of

Commons in a speech of three hours, which was very eloquent, but

rather disappointing. He handled the preliminary topics of horrors

of slavery and colonial obstinacy and misconduct with all the

vigour and success that might have been expected, but when he came

to his measure he failed to show how it was to be put in operation

and to work. The peroration and eulogy on Wilberforce were very

brilliant. Howick had previously announced his intention of

opposing Stanley, and accordingly he did so in a speech of

considerable vehemence which lasted two hours. He was not,

however, well received; his father and mother had in vain

endeavoured to divert him from his resolution; but though they say

his speech was clever, he has damaged himself by it. His plan is

immediate emancipation.[7]

[7] [The result proved that Lord Howick was right. The

apprenticeship system proposed by Lord Stanley was

carried, but failed in execution, and was eventually

abandoned.]

While such is the state of things here--enormous interests under

discussion, great disquietude and alarm, no feeling of security,

no confidence in the Government, and a Parliament that inspires

fear rather than hope--matters abroad seem to be no better

managed than they are at home. It is remarkable that the business

in the East has escaped with so little animadversion, for there

never was a fairer object of attack. While France has been

vapouring, and we have been doing nothing at all, Russia has

established her own influence in Turkey, and made herself

virtually mistress of the Ottoman Empire. At a time when our

interests required that we should be well represented, and

powerfully supported, we had neither an Ambassador nor a fleet in

the Mediterranean; and because Lord Ponsonby is Lord Grey's

brother-in-law he has been able with impunity to dawdle on months

after months at Naples for his pleasure, and leave affairs at

Constantinople to be managed or mismanaged by a Charge d'Affaires

who is altogether incompetent.

May 19th, 1833 {p.372}

[Page Head: RESPECT SHOWN TO WELLINGTON.]

They have found a Secretary for Ireland in the person of

Littleton,[8] which shows to what shifts they are put. He is rich,

which is his only qualification, being neither very able nor very

popular. The West India question is postponed. The Duke of

Wellington told me that he thought it would pass away for this

time, and that all parties would be convinced of the impracticability

of any of the plans now mooted. I said that nothing could do away

the mischief that had been done by broaching it. He thought 'the

mischief might be avoided;' but then these people do nothing to

avoid any mischief. I was marvellously struck (we rode together

through St. James's Park) with the profound respect with which the

Duke was treated, everybody we met taking off their hats to him,

everybody in the park rising as he went by, and every appearance

of his inspiring great reverence. I like this symptom, and it is

the more remarkable because it is not _popularity_, but a much

higher feeling towards him. He has forfeited his popularity more

than once; he has taken a line in politics directly counter to the

popular bias; but though in moments of excitement he is attacked

and vilified (and his broken windows, which I wish he would mend,

still preserve a record of the violence of the mob), when the

excitement subsides there is always a returning sentiment of

admiration and respect for him, kept alive by the recollection of

his splendid actions, such as no one else ever inspired. Much,

too, as I have regretted and censured the enormous errors of his

political career (at times), I believe that this sentiment is in a

great degree produced by the justice which is done to his

political character, sometimes mistaken, but always high-minded

and patriotic, and never mean, false, or selfish. If he has aimed

at power, and overrated his own capacity for wielding it, it has

been with the purest intentions and the most conscientious views.

I believe firmly that no man had ever at heart to a greater degree

the honour and glory of his country; and hereafter, when justice

will be done to his memory, and his character and conduct be

scanned with impartial eyes, if his capacity for government

appears unequal to the exigencies of the times in which he was

placed at the head of affairs, the purity of his motives and the

noble character of his ambition will be amply acknowledged.

[8] [The Rt. Hon. E. J. Littleton, M.P. for Staffordshire,

and afterwards first Lord Hatherton.

It was Lord John Russell who advised Lord Grey to

make Littleton Irish Secretary. He told me so in May

1871, but added, 'I think I made a mistake.' The

appointment was wholly unsolicited and unexpected by

Mr. Littleton himself, who happened to be laid up at

the time by an accident. On the receipt of the letter

from Lord Grey offering him the Secretaryship of

Ireland, and requesting him to take it, Mr. Littleton

consulted Mr. Fazakerly, who was of opinion that he

ought to accept the offer. This therefore he did,

though not, as I know from his own journals, without

great diffidence and hesitation; and he intimated to

Lord Grey that he would only retain his office until

some other man could be found to accept it.]

The Duke of Orleans is here, and very well received by the Court

and the world. He is good-looking, dull, has good manners and

little conversation, goes everywhere, and dances all night. At

the ball at Court the Queen waltzed with the two Dukes of Orleans

and Brunswick.

Peel compelled old Cobbett to bring on his motion for getting him

erased from the Privy Council, which Cobbett wished to shirk

from. He gave him a terrible dressing, and it all went off for

Peel in the most flattering way. He gains every day more

authority and influence in the House of Commons. It must end in

Peel and Stanley, unless everything ends.

May 27th, 1833 {p.373}

[Page Head: ANECDOTE OF THE DERBY.]

All last week at Epsom, and now, thank God, these races are over.

I have had all the trouble and excitement and worry, and have

neither won nor lost; nothing but the hope of gain would induce

me to go through this demoralising drudgery, which I am conscious

reduces me to the level of all that is most disreputable and

despicable, for my thoughts are eternally absorbed by it.

Jockeys, trainers, and blacklegs are my companions, and it is

like dram-drinking; having once entered upon it I cannot leave it

off, though I am disgusted with the occupation all the time. Let

no man who has no need, who is not in danger of losing all he

has, and is not obliged to grasp at every chance, _make a book_

on the Derby. While the fever it excites is raging, and the odds

are varying, I can neither read, nor write, nor occupy myself

with anything else. I went to the Oaks on Wednesday, where Lord

Stanley kept house for the first, and probably (as the house is

for sale) for the last time. It is a very agreeable place, with

an odd sort of house built at different times and by different

people; but the outside is covered with ivy and creepers, which

is pretty, and there are two good living-rooms in it. Besides

this, there is an abundance of grass and shade; it has been for

thirty or forty years the resort of all our old jockeys, and is

now occupied by the sporting portion of the Government. We had

Lord Grey and his daughter, Duke and Duchess of Richmond, Lord

and Lady Errol, Althorp, Graham, Uxbridge, Charles Grey, Duke of

Grafton, Lichfield, and Stanley's brothers. It passed off very

well--racing all the morning, an excellent dinner, and whist and

blind hookey in the evening. It was curious to see Stanley. Who

would believe they beheld the orator and statesman, only second,

if second, to Peel in the House of Commons, and on whom the

destiny of the country perhaps depends? There he was, as if he

had no thoughts but for the turf, full of the horses, interest in

the lottery, eager, blunt, noisy, good-humoured, 'has meditans

nugas et _totus in illis_;' at night equally devoted to the play,

as if his fortune depended on it. Thus can a man relax whose

existence is devoted to great objects and serious thoughts. I had

considerable hopes of winning the Derby, but was beaten easily,

my horse not being good. An odd circumstance occurred to me

before the race. Payne told me in strict confidence that a man

who could not appear on account of his debts, and who had been,

much connected with turf robberies, came to him, and entreated

him to take the odds for him to L1,000 about a horse for the

Derby, and deposited a note in his hand for the purpose. He told

him half the horses were made safe, and that it was arranged this

one was to win. After much delay, and having got his promise to

lay out the money, he told him it was my horse. He did back the

horse for the man for L700, but the same person told him if my

horse _could_ not win Dangerous would, and he backed the latter

likewise for L100, by which his friend was saved, and won L800.

He did not tell me his name, nor anything more, except that his

object was, if he had won, to pay his creditors, and he had

authorised Payne to retain the money, if he won it, for that

purpose.

We heard, while at the Oaks, that M. Dedel had signed the

convention between France, England, and Holland, on which all the

funds rose. The King of Holland's ratification was still to be

got, and many people will not believe in that till they see it.

June 3rd, 1833 {p.375}

The Government are in high spirits. The Saints have given in

their adhesion to Stanley's plan, and they expect to carry the

West India question. The Bank measure has satisfied the

directors, and most people, except Peel. The Duke of Wellington

told me he was very well satisfied, but that _they_ had intended

to make better terms with the Bank, and he thought they should

have done so. Melbourne says, 'Now that we are as much hated as

they were, we shall stay in for ever.'

As I came into town (having come by the steamboat from Margate

very luxuriously) on Saturday I found a final meeting at the

Council Office to dispose of the lunacy case. It was so late when

Horne finished his reply that I thought there was no chance of

any discussion, and I did not go in; but I met the Master of the

Rolls afterwards, who told me they had delivered their opinions,

Lord Eldon cautiously, he himself 'broadly,' which I will be

bound he did (for he hates Brougham), and that, though no

judgment had been yet given, the Chancellor's decree would be

reversed; so that after all Brougham's wincing and wriggling to

this he has been forced to submit at last.

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

At a place called Buckhurst all last week for the Ascot races; a

party at Lichfield's, racing all the morning, then eating and

drinking, and play at night. I may say, with more truth than

anybody, 'Video meliora proboque, deteriora sequor.' The weather

was charming, the course crowded, the King received decently. His

household is now so ill managed that his grooms were drunk every

day, and one man (who was sober) was killed going home from the

races. Goodwin told me nobody exercised any authority, and the

consequence was that the household all ran riot.

[Page Head: TORY BLUNDERS.]

The first day of the races arrived the news that the Duke of

Wellington, after making a strong muster, had beaten the

Government in the House of Lords on the question of Portuguese

neutrality and Don Miguel, that Lord Grey had announced that he

considered it a vote of censure, and threw out a sort of threat

of resigning. He and Brougham (after a Cabinet) went down to the

King. The King was very much annoyed at this fresh dilemma into

which the Tories had brought him, and consented to whatever Lord

Grey required. In the meantime the House of Commons flew to arms,

and Colonel Dawes gave notice of a motion of confidence in

Ministers upon their foreign policy. This was carried by an

immense majority after a weak debate, in which some very cowardly

menaces were thrown out against the Bishops, and this settled the

question. Ministers did not resign, no Peers were made, and

everything goes on as before. It has been, however, a disastrous

business. How the Duke of Wellington could take this course after

the conversation I had with him in this room, when he told me he

would support the Government because he wished it to be _strong_,

I can't conceive. At all events he seems resolved that his

Parliamentary victories should be as injurious as his military

ones were glorious to his country. Some of his friends say that

he was _provoked_ by Lord Grey's supercilious answer to him the

other day, when he said he knew nothing of what was going on but

from what he read in the newspapers, others that he 'feels so

very strongly' about Portugal, others that he cannot manage the

Tories, and that they were determined to fight; in short, that he

has not the same authority as leader of a party that he had as

general of an army, for nobody would have forced him to fight the

battle of Salamanca or Vittoria if he had not fancied it himself.

The effect, however, has been this: the House of Lords has had a

rap on the knuckles from the King, their legislative functions

are practically in abeyance, and his Majesty is more tied than

ever to his Ministers. The House of Lords is paralysed; it exists

upon sufferance, and cannot venture to throw out or materially

alter any Bill (such as the India, Bank, Negro, Church Reform,

&c.) which may come up to it without the certainty of being

instantly swamped, and the measures, however obnoxious, crammed

down its throat. This Government has lost ground in public

opinion, they were daily falling lower, and these predestinated

idiots come and bolster them up just when they most want it.

Tavistock acknowledged to me that they were unpopular, and that

this freak had been of vast service to them; consequently they

are all elated to the greatest degree. The Tories are sulky and

crestfallen; moderate men are vexed, disappointed, grieved; and

the Radicals stand grinning by, chuckling at the sight of the

Conservatives (at least those who so call themselves, and those

who must be so _really_) cutting each others' throats.

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

On Saturday, the day after I came back, I found a final meeting at

the Council Office on the lunacy case, the appeal of Grosvenor

against Drax. There were Lord Lansdowne, the Chancellor,

Vice-Chancellor, Master of the Rolls, Lord Manners, Lord Eldon,

and Lord Lyndhurst. The rule is that the President of the Council

collects the opinions and votes, beginning with the junior Privy

Councillor. This was the Chancellor,[9] who made a sort of apology

for his judgment, stating that he had made the order just after

two or three very flagrant cases of a similar description had been

brought under his notice, and then he went into this case, and

endeavoured to show that there was fraud (and intentional fraud)

on the part of the Grosvenors, and he maintained, without

insisting on, and very mildly, his own former view of the case.

Leach then made a speech strongly against the judgment, and Lord

Eldon made a longish speech, very clear, and very decided against

it, interlarded with professions of his 'sincere' respect for the

person who delivered the judgment. The Chancellor did not reply to

Lord Eldon, but put some questions--some hypothetical, and some

upon parts of the case itself--which, together with some remarks,

brought on a discussion between him and Leach, in which the latter

ended by lashing himself into a rage. 'My Lord,' said he to the

Chancellor, 'we talk too much, and we don't stick to the point.'

Brougham put on one of his scornful smiles, and in reply to

something (I forget what) that the Vice-Chancellor said he dropped

in his sarcastic tone that he would do so and so 'if his Honour

would permit.' For a moment I thought there would be a breeze, but

it ended without any vote, in the adoption of a form of reversal

suggested by Lord Eldon, which left it to the option of the

respondent to institute other proceedings if he should think fit.

Afterwards all was harmony. Eldon seemed tolerably fresh, feeble,

but clear and collected. He was in spirits about the dinner which

had just been given him by the Templars, at which he was received

with extraordinary honours. He said he hoped never to be called to

the Council Board again, and this was probably the last occasion

on which he will have to appear in a judicial capacity. It is

remarkable that his last act should be to reverse a judgment of

Brougham's, Brougham being Chancellor and himself nothing. I could

not help looking with something like emotion at this extraordinary

old man, and reflecting upon his long and laborious career, which

is terminating gently and by almost insensible gradations, in a

manner more congenial to a philosophic mind than to an ambitious

spirit. As a statesman and a politician he has survived and

witnessed the ruin of his party and the subversion of those

particular institutions to which he tenaciously clung, and which

his prejudices or his wisdom made him think indispensable to the

existence of the Constitution. As an individual his destiny has

been happier, for he has preserved the strength of his body and

the vigour of his mind far beyond the ordinary period allotted to

man, he is adorned with honours and blessed with wealth sufficient

for the aspirations of pride and avarice, and while the lapse of

time has silenced the voice of envy, and retirement from office

has mitigated the rancour of political hostility, his great and

acknowledged authority as a luminary of the law shines forth with

purer lustre. He enjoys, perhaps, the most perfect reward of his

long life of labour and study--a foretaste of posthumous honour

and fame. He has lived to see his name venerated and his decisions

received with profound respect, and he is departing in peace, with

the proud assurance that he has left to his country a mighty

legacy of law and secured to himself an imperishable fame.

[9] [This must be a mistake. The Chancellor takes rank in

the Privy Council after the Lord President and before

everyone else. Lord Brougham was junior Privy

Councillor in mere seniority, but his office gave him

rank over the others present. His opinion was probably

taken first out of compliment to him, as he had made

the order under review.]

June 15th, 1833 {p.379}

The day before yesterday I had occasion to see the Duke of

Wellington about the business in which we are joint trustees, and

when we had done I said, 'Well, that business in the House of

Lords turned out ill the other day.' 'No; do you think so?' he

said, and then he went into the matter. He said that he was

compelled to make the motion by the answer Lord Grey gave to his

question a few nights before; that his party in the House of Lords

would not be satisfied without dividing--they had been impatient

to attack the Government, and were not to be restrained; that on

the question itself they were _right_; that so far from his doing

harm to the Government, if they availed themselves wisely of the

defeat they might turn it to account in the House of Commons, and

so far it was of use to them, as it afforded a convincing proof to

their supporters that the House of Lords might be depended upon

for good purposes, and they might demand of their supporters in

the other House that they should enable them to carry good

measures, and they keep the House of Commons in harmony with the

House of Lords. He said the Government would make no Peers, and

that they _could not_; that the Tories were by no means frightened

or disheartened, and meant to take the first opportunity of

showing fight again; in short, he seemed not dissatisfied with

what had already occurred, and resolved to pursue the same course.

He said the Tories were indignant at the idea of being compelled

to keep quiet, and that if they were to be swamped the sooner it

was done the better, and that they would not give up their right

to deal with any question they thought fit from any motive of

expediency whatever.

I don't know what to make of the Duke and his conduct. The

Catholic question and the Corn Laws and Canning rise up before

me, and make me doubt whether he is so pure in his views and so

free from vindictive feelings as I thought and hoped he was. When

Lords Grey and Brougham went down to the King after the defeat,

they did not talk of Peers, and only proposed the short answer to

the Lords, to which he consented at once. His Majesty was very

indignant with the Duke, and said it was the second time he had

got him into a scrape, he had made a fool of him last year, and

now wanted to do the same thing again. Some pretend that all this

indignation is simulated; the man is, I believe, more foolish

than false.

June 19th, 1833 {p.380}

The King dined with the Duke at his Waterloo dinner yesterday,

which does not look as if he had been so very angry with him as

the Government people say. The Duke had his windows mended for

the occasion, whether in honour of his Majesty or in consequence

of H.B.'s caricature I don't know.

I had a long conversation with Sir Willoughby Cotton on Sunday

about Jamaica affairs. He is Commander-in-Chief, just come home,

and just going out again. He told me what he had said to Stanley,

which was to this effect: that the compensation would be esteemed

munificent, greater by far than they had expected; that they had

looked for a loan of fifteen millions at two per cent interest,

but that the plan would be impracticable, and that sugar could

not be cultivated after slavery ceased; that the slave would

never understand the system of modified servitude by which he was

to be nominally free and actually kept to labour, and that he

would rebel against the magistrate who tried to force him to work

more fiercely than against his master; that the magistrate would

never be able to persuade the slaves in their new character of

apprentices to work as heretofore, and the military who would be

called in to assist them could do nothing. He asked Stanley if he

intended, when the military were called in, that they should fire

on or bayonet the refractory apprentices. He said no, they were

to exhort them. He gave him to understand that in his opinion

they could do nothing, and that the more the soldiers exhorted

the more the slaves would not work. With regard to my own

particular case he was rather encouraging than not, thought they

would not molest me any more,[10] that the Assembly might try and

get me out, but that the Council considered it matter of loyalty

to the King not to force out the Clerk of his Privy Council, but

that if anything more was said about it, and I went out to

Jamaica, I might be sure of getting leave again in a month or six

weeks.

[20] [This refers to Mr. Greville's holding the office of

Secretary of the Island of Jamaica with permanent leave

of absence. The work of the office was done by a

deputy, who was paid by a share of the emoluments which

were in the shape of fees.]

June 26th, 1833 {p.381}

[Page Head: IRISH CHURCH BILL.]

This morning at six saw my mother and Henry start for the

steamboat which is to take them abroad. I wish I was going with

them, and was destined once more to see Rome and Naples, which I

fear will never be. Last week was marked by a division in the

House of Commons which made a great noise. It was on that clause

of the Irish Church Bill which declared that the surplus should

be appropriated by Parliament, and Stanley thought fit to leave

out the clause. The Tories supported him; the Radicals and many

of the Whigs--Abercromby and C. Russell among the number--opposed

him. The minority was strong--148--but the fury it excited among

many of the friends of Government is incredible, and the Tories

were very triumphant without being at all conciliated. The

Speaker said he should not be surprised to see the Bill thrown

out by the junction of the Tories and Radicals on the third

reading, which is not likely, and the suppression of this clause,

which after all leaves the matter just as it was, will probably

carry it through the House of Lords. It is, however, very

questionable whether they were right in withdrawing it, and

Tavistock told me that though he thought it was _right_ it was

ill done, and had given great offence. Somehow or other Stanley,

with all his talents, makes a mess of everything, but this comes

of being (what the violent Whigs suspect him of being) half a

Tory. Measures are concocted upon ultra principles in the

Cabinet, and then as his influence is exerted, and his wishes are

obliged to be consulted, they are modified and altered, and this

gives a character of vacillation to the conduct of Government,

and exhibits a degree of weakness and infirmity of purpose which

prevents their being strong or popular or respectable. Nobody,

however, can say that they are obstinate, for they are eternally

giving way to somebody. In the House of Lords there was a sharp

skirmish between Brougham and Lyndhurst, and high Parliamentary

words passed between these 'noble friends' on the Local Courts

Bill. The Tories did not go down to support Lyndhurst, which

provoked him, and Brougham was nettled by his and old Eldon's

attacks on the Bill.

There is great talk of a letter which the King is said to have

written to the bishops--that is, to the Archbishop for the

edification of the episcopal bench. It is hardly credible that he

and Taylor should have been guilty of this folly, after the

letter which they wrote to the Peers a year and a half ago and

the stir that it made.

I have got from Sir Henry Lushington Monk Lewis's journals and his

two voyages to the West Indies (one of which I read at Naples), with

liberty to publish them, which I mean to do if I can get money

enough for him. He says Murray offered him L500 for the manuscripts

some years ago. I doubt getting so much now, but they are

uncommonly amusing, and it is the right moment for publishing them

now that people are full of interest about the West India question.

I was very well amused last week at the bazaar in Hanover Square,

when a sale was held on four successive days by the fine ladies for

the benefit of the foreigners in distress. It was like a masquerade

without masks, for everybody--men, women, and children--roved about

where they would, everybody talking to everybody, and vast

familiarity established between perfect strangers under the guise of

barter. The Queen's stall was held by Ladies Howe and Denbigh, with

her three prettiest maids of honour, Miss Bagot dressed like a

soubrette and looking like an angel. They sold all sorts of trash at

enormous prices, and made, I believe, four or five thousand pounds.

I went on Monday to hear Lushington speak in the cause of Swift and

Kelly. He spoke for three hours--an excellent speech. I sat by Mr.

Swift all the time; he is not ill-looking, but I should think

vulgar, and I'm sure impudent, for the more Lushington abused him

the more he laughed.

June 28th, 1833 {p.383}

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

The King did write to the Archbishop of Canterbury a severe

reproof to be communicated to the bishops for having voted against

his Government upon a question purely political (the Portuguese),

in which the interests of the Church were in no way concerned. He

sent a copy of the letter to Lord Grey, and Brougham told Sefton

and Wharncliffe the contents, both of whom told me. It is

remarkable that nothing has been said upon the subject in the

House of Lords. The Archbishop, the most timid of mankind, had the

prudence (I am told) to abstain from communicating the letter to

the bishops, and held a long consultation with the Archbishop of

York as to the mode of dealing with this puzzling document. If he

had communicated it, he would as a Privy Councillor have been

responsible for it, but what answer he made to the King I know

not. Never was there such a proceeding, so unconstitutional, so

foolish; but his Ministers do not seem to mind it, and are rather

elated at such a signal proof of his disposition to support them.

I think, as far as being a discouragement to the Tories, and

putting an end to their notion that he is hankering after them, it

may be of use, and it is probably true that he does not wish for a

change, but on the contrary dreads it. He naturally dreads

whatever is likely to raise a storm about his ears and interrupt

his repose.

Lyndhurst is in such a rage at his defeat in the House of Lords on

the Local Courts Bill that he swore at first he would never come

there again. What he said--that 'if they had considered it a party

question the result would have been very different,' which Brougham

unaccountably took for a threat against the Government--was levelled

at his own Tory friends for not supporting him. On the third reading

they mean to have another fight about it. I understand the lawyers

that the Bill is very objectionable, and calculated to degrade the

profession. I sat by Talleyrand at dinner the day before yesterday,

who told me a good deal about Mirabeau, but as he had a bad cold, in

addition to his usual mode of pumping up his words from the

bottomest pit of his stomach, it was next to impossible to

understand him. He said Mirabeau was really intimate with three

people only--himself, Narbonne, and Lauzun--that Auguste d'Aremberg

was the negotiator of the Court and medium of its communications

with Mirabeau; that he had found (during the provisional Government)

a receipt of Mirabeau's for a million, which he had given to Louis

XVIII.

END OF THE SECOND VOLUME.

LONDON: PRINTED BY

SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE

AND PARLIAMENT STREET

INDEX.

Abercromby, Right Hon. James, proposed as Speaker, ii. 333;

Master of the Mint, iii. 95; proposed as Speaker, 201; the

Speakership, 204; elected Speaker, 213

Aberdeen, Earl of, Duchy of Lancaster, i. 124; motion about

Belgium, ii. 238

Achmet Pacha, concludes a treaty with Russia, iii. 69

Adair, Right Hon. Sir Robert, sworn in Privy Councillor, i. 136

Addington, Henry Unwin, recalled from Madrid, iii. 14

Address, proposed amendment to the, iii. 217

Adelaide, Queen, ii. 7; at the Ancient Concert, 133; mobbed in

the City, 141; audience of, about the crown, 179; coronation

of, 190; Lord Howe, 338; yacht, iii. 99; return of, 125;

illness of, 125; supposed to be with child, 198, 199, 201

Adrian's Villa, i. 377

Agar Ellis, _see_ Dover, Lord

Alava, General, and the Duke of Cumberland, iii. 275

Albani, Cardinal, influence of, i. 310; conversation with, 373;

interview with, 380

Albano, i. 331

Alexander, Emperor of Russia, death of, i. 78; coronation of,

described by Talleyrand, ii. 185

Allen, Dr., Bishop of Ely, iii. 363

Allen, John, iii. 135; unbelief of, 324

Althorp, Viscount, proposed as Chairman of the Finance Committee,

i. 120; Chancellor of the Exchequer, ii. 66, introduces the

budget, 114; leader of the House of Commons, 116, 200; letter

to Attwood, 205, 206; hurries on the Irish Church Bill, 364; as

Chancellor of the Exchequer, iii. 2; arrested by the

Sergeant-at-Arms, 56; financial statement, 60; defects as

leader, 62; summons a meeting of the supporters of Government,

92; resigns, 101; popularity of, 105; Chancellor of the

Exchequer under Lord Melbourne, 113; succeeds his father as

Earl Spencer, 140

Alvanley, Lord, duel with Morgan O'Connell, ii. 257; on Irish

affairs, 348

America, dispute with France, iii. 322

Anglesey, Marquis of, recalled, i. 149; entry into Dublin, ii.

99; disputes with O'Connell, 106

Antwerp, threatened bombardment of, by the Dutch, ii. 321; French

army marches to, 329

Arbuthnot, Right Hon. Charles, nickname 'Gosh,' i. 103;

conversation with, on the Duke of Wellington's Administration,

ii. 51; conversation with, at Oatlands, 170

Arbuthnot, Mrs., death of, iii. 116

Arkwright, Sir Richard, fortunes of, iii. 50

Arkwright, Mrs., visit to, iii. 49

Arms Bill, the, ii. 196

Arnold, Dr., proposed for a bishopric, iii. 325

Artevelde, Philip van, iii. 114; discussed at Holland House, 128

Ascot Races, 1831, ii. 147; 1833, 375

Attwood, chairman of the Birmingham Union, ii. 205, 206;

proclamation against, 215

Auckland, Lord, Board of Trade, ii. 66; First Lord of the

Admiralty, iii. 88, 113; on the state of affairs, 238; First

Lord of the Admiralty in Lord Melbourne's second

Administration, 256

Augustus, Prince, of Prussia, ii. 319

Austin, Mr. John, his work on Jurisprudence, iii. 138

Austin, Mr. Charles, ii. 306

Aylmer, Lord, recalled from Canada, iii. 394; the King's address

to him, 395

Bachelor, valet to the Duke of York and to King George IV., i.

142, 143; conversation with, ii. 30

Bagot, Lord, conduct to Lord Harrowby, ii. 253

Baiae, Bay of, i. 341

Baring, House of, ii. 53

Baring, Right Hon. Alexander, offered the Chancellorship of the

Exchequer, ii. 299; proposes a compromise with the ex-Ministers,

300

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

Barnes, Mr., editor of the 'Times,' ii. 97, 214; negotiations

with, for supporting the Government, iii. 155, 156, 157; dines

with Lord Lyndhurst, 167, 169; alarm of, at the prevailing

spirit, 188

Barri, Madame du, ii. 219

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

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

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

character of, 115

Bathurst, Countess, conversation with, ii. 62

Bathurst, Hon. William, appointed Clerk of the Council, ii. 61,

86; delay in appointment of, 74; sworn in Clerk of the Council,

94

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

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

Bazaar, in Hanover Square, ii. 383

Beauclerc, Lord Aurelius, dances a country dance with the King,

ii. 341

Belgian question, the, settlement of, ii. 314

Belgium, revolution in, ii. 41; affairs of, 44; unsettled state

of, 69; deputation from, 160; fortresses of, 169; invaded by

the Dutch, 175; French army refuses to leave, 181; end of

hostilities with the Dutch, 184; Conference, 1832, 321

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

Belvoir Castle, iii. 46

Benson, Canon, sermon at the Temple Church, ii. 113

Bentinck, Right Hon. Lord William, desires to be appointed

Governor-General of India, i. 59; address to the electors of

Glasgow, iii. 339, 343; qualities of, 339; inscription on

monument in honour of, 340

Bentinck, Lord Henry, quarrel with Sir Roger Gresley, ii. 148

Bergara, Convention of, iii. 259

Berri, Duchesse de, in La Vendee, ii. 322

Berry, Miss, iii. 58

Berryer, M., iii. 379; appearance of, 380

Best, Right Hon. William Draper, _see_ Lord Wynford

Bethnal Green, distress in, ii. 261

Bexley, Lord, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, i. 95

Bickersteth, Henry, _see_ Lord Langdale

Blacas, M. de, favourite of Louis XVIII., ii. 305

Black Book, the, ii. 79

Bloomfield, Sir Benjamin, dismissal of, i. 55

Blount, Rev. Mr., sermon, iii. 12

Body-snatchers, ii. 227

Bologna, i. 402

Bonaparte, Emperor Napoleon, in the 100 days, i. 24; campaigns

of, described by Marshal Marmont, ii. 35

Bonaparte, Louis Napoleon, Strasburg attempt, iii. 381

Bonaparte, Joseph, at dinner at Lady Cork's, iii. 18

Bonaparte, Lucien, introduced to the Duke of Wellington, iii. 11;

at dinner at Lady Cork's, 18

Boodle's, dinner at, ii. 124

Bosanquet, Right Hon. Sir John Bernard, sworn in a Privy

Councillor, iii. 30; Judge of the King's Bench, 71

Boswell, 'Life of Johnson,' anecdotes lost, ii. 105

Boulogne, iii. 388

Bourbon, Duke de, death of, ii. 50

Bourmont, Marshal de, marches on Lisbon, iii. 25

Bourne, Right Hon. Sturges, Secretary of State for the Home

Department, i. 95

Bowring, Dr., sent to Paris, ii. 219; satire of Moore on, 219;

career of, 220

Bradshaw, Mrs., acting of, at Bridgewater House, ii. 353

Brescia, i. 412

Bretby, visit to, iii. 327; Chesterfield Papers, 327

Bridgewater House, dramatic performances at, iii. 352, 355

Bridgewater Election, iii. 398

Brighton, the Court at, 1832, ii. 334; races, 1835, iii. 284

Bristol, riots at, ii. 208

Broglie, Duke de, conduct of, iii. 386

Brooks's Club, iii. 320

Brougham, Lord, attack upon, in 'Quarterly Review,' i. 16; speech

on the Queen's trial, 35; letter to the Queen, 57; character

of, 117; qualities of, ii. 18, 33; appointed Lord High

Chancellor, 65; discontent of, 65; social qualities of, 69;

anecdote of, 106; quarrel with Sugden, 106; correspondence with

Southey on rewards to literary men, 112; speech on Chancery

Reform, 118; domestic kindness of, 120; origin of

representation of Yorkshire, 125; as Lord Chancellor, 128; at

the Horse Guards, 129; as a judge, 145; at dinner at Hanbury's

brewery, 148; at the British Museum, 149; claims the old Great

Seal, 188; intention of sitting at the Privy Council, 223;

speech on the Russian Loan, 244; quarrel with Sugden, 312;

anecdote of, 314; Bill for creating a new Court of Appeal, 342;

Bill objected to, 344; Judicial Committee of the Privy Council

Bill, 365; sits on the case of Drax _v._ Grosvenor, 370; as

Chancellor, iii. 22; anecdotes of Queen Caroline, 36; and Sir

William Horne, 67; meets Sir Thomas Denman in Bedfordshire, 71;

judicial changes, 71; defence of himself, 72; apology for, 76;

speech on Lord Wynford's Bill for the observance of the

Sabbath, 83; on the Pluralities Bill, 86; on the Irish Church,

94; and the 'Times,' 96; Lord Chancellor in Lord Melbourne's

Administration, 113; and Lord Westmeath, 119; conduct in the

Westmeath case, 119, 124; versatility of, 121; lines applied

to, 121; Greek epigrams, 121; ambition of, 122; in Scotland,

133; communicates to the 'Times' the fall of Lord Melbourne's

first Administration, 145; resigns the Great Seal, 156; takes

leave of the Bar, 156; asks for the Chief Baronship, 157;

anecdote, 232; conduct of, in the case of Swift _v._ Kelly,

260, 267; on the London University Charter, 261; judgment in

the case of Swift _v._ Kelly, 274; on the Corporation Bill,

286; violence in the House of Lords, 303; illness of, 329; and

Macaulay, 337, 338; at Queen Victoria's first Council, 408

Brummel, 'Beau,' i. 282

Brussels, disturbances at, ii. 40

Buccleuch, Duke of, subscription to election expenses, iii. 182

Budget, the, 1831, ii. 113

Buller, James, death of, ii. 59

Buelow, Baron von, on English affairs, iii. 211

Bulwer, Sir Edward Lytton, iii. 348

Bunsen, Baron, i. 315; career of, 327; on Roman affairs, 389

Burdett, Sir Francis, returned for Westminster, 1837, iii. 398

Burghersh, Lord, at Florence, i. 299; amateur opera, 301

Burghersh, Lady, intercedes for a prisoner at the Old Bailey, ii.

85

Burghley, party at, iii. 53

Burke, Right Hon. Edmund, writings of, iii. 209; compared with

Mackintosh, 314

Burke, Sir G., conversation with, on O'Connell, ii. 111

Buxton, Fowell, dinner at the brewery, ii. 148

Byng, Right Hon. George, Lord of the Treasury, iii. 95

Byron, Lord, Moore's Life of, i. 272; character of, 273

Cambridge, H.R.H. the Duchess of, reception of, i. 2

Cambridge, University of, petition for the admission of

Dissenters to the, iii. 72, 75

Campbell, Sir John, Solicitor-General, ii. 333; Attorney-General,

iii. 141

Canada, affairs in, iii. 350

Canning, Right Hon. Sir Stratford, Ambassador at St. Petersburg,

ii. 352, 357; anecdote of, iii. 39; offered the

Governor-Generalship of Canada, 234

Canning, Right Hon. George, Foreign Secretary, i. 55;

correspondence with the King on taking office, 59; forms an

Administration (1827), 93, 95; death of, 103; anecdotes of,

104; industrious habits of, 106; memoirs of, 263, 272; despatch

in verse, 326; sagacity of, ii. 42; conversation with the King,

102; correspondence with the Duke of Wellington, 103; coldness

to the Duke of Wellington, 103; anecdote of, 125; negotiation

with the Whigs, 170; influence over Lord Liverpool, 172; in

favour with the King, 172; on Reform, iii. 135; and King George

IV., 137

Canning, Lady, visit to, ii. 101; authorship of pamphlet, iii. 40

Canning, Mr. Charles, offered a Lordship of the Treasury, iii.

202

Cannizzaro, Duchess of, iii. 11; crowns the Duke of Wellington,

406

Canterbury, Archbishop of, indecision of the, ii. 250, 262, 263;

importance of support of the, 252, 253

Canterbury, Viscount, declines to go to Canada, iii. 234

Capo di Monte, i. 335

Capua, i. 360

Cardinals, the, i. 309

Carlisle, Earl of, Lord Privy Seal, i. 95; iii. 88

Carlists, the, in Spain, iii. 66

Carlos, Don, in London, iii. 98

Carlow election, iii. 348

Carnarvon, Earl of, refuses to move the address in the House of

Lords, iii. 202

Caroline, Queen, return of, i. 28; trial of, 31, 35; anecdote of,

iii. 37

Carvalho, Minister of Finance to Dom Pedro, iii. 93

Catacombs, the, _see_ Rome

Catholic emancipation, i. 163, 172, 174

Catholic Relief Bill, excitement concerning the, i. 180; debates

on, _see_ Lords and Commons

Cato Street Conspiracy, the, i. 26

Cayla, Madame du, i. 71; dinner at the Duke of Wellington's, 214;

Beranger's verses on, 215; favourite of Louis XVIII., ii. 306

Cenis, the Mont, i. 287

Champollion, Jean Francois, death of, ii. 307

Chapeau de Paille, the, purchase of, ii. 125

Chapel, near Holland House, unable to be consecrated, iii. 200

Charles I., King, head of, discovered at Windsor, ii. 168;

executioner of, iii. 132

Charles X., King, of France, arrival of in England, ii. 31; at

Lulworth Castle, 33; off Cowes, 34

Charlotte, Queen, illness of, i. 2, 3

Charlotte, H.R.H. the Princess, anecdotes of, ii. 319

Chartres, H.R.H. the Duc de, arrival of, i. 208

Chatham, Earl of, death of, iii. 316

Chatsworth, hospitality at, i. 237; charade at, 238; party at,

ii. 51

Chesterfield Papers, the, iii. 327

Chobert, the 'Fire King,' i. 276

Cholera, the, in Russia, ii. 57; account of, 150; preventive

measures against, 154, 216; effect on trade of, 156; spread of,

161; alarm about, 169; at Berlin, 192; at Sunderland, 208, 210;

at Marseilles, 221; on the decline, 224; near Edinburgh, 240;

in London, 258, 259; in Bethnal Green, 261; account of, 278;

diminution of, 285; in Paris, 287; alarm in London, 309, 311

Christina, Queen, of Spain, iii. 66, 72; reported flight of, 360;

courage of, 365

Christmas trees, introduced by Princess Lieven at Panshanger, i.

259

Church Bill, the, Committee on, iii. 199

Church Reform, iii. 206

City, the, address to the King, ii. 126; illumination in, 140;

election, 1835, iii. 184, 186, 187; anxiety in the money-market,

373, 376

Civil List, the, excess of expenditure on, i. 253; for debates

on, _see_ Commons, House of

Clanricarde, Marquis of, sworn in a Privy Councillor, ii. 78

Clarence, H.R.H. the Duke of, Lord High Admiral, i. 95; removal

of, from the office of Lord High Admiral, 138, 140. _See_

William IV.

Cobbett, William, trial of, ii. 158; returned for Oldham, 335;

takes his seat, 351; and Sir Robert Peel, 373

Cochrane, Lord, at Florence, i. 301; villa near Florence, 302

Codrington, Sir E., interview with the Duke of Wellington, i. 179

Coercion Bill, the, introduced, ii. 359

Colchester Election, iii. 112

Commons, House of; Alien Bill, i. 1; Dr. Halloran's petition, 14;

debate on grant to the Duke of York, 18; debates on Queen

Caroline, 30, 32, 38; Small Notes Bill, 79; debates on Catholic

Relief Bill, 91, 133, 166, 191; division on Catholic Relief

Bill, 185; Catholic Relief Bill read a third time, 203; Regency

and Civil List, ii. 45; debate on the Evesham election, 25;

debate on the Civil List, 110; announcement of the Reform Bill,

110; Pension List, 111; debate on Ireland, 112; Budget of 1831,

113; proposed reductions, 118; introduction of the first Reform

Bill, 121; debates on the Reform Bill, 123, 125; debate on the

Timber duties, 130; debate on the Reform Bill, 131; division on

the Reform Bill, 132; Government defeated, 135; scene in the

House, 135; second reading of the Reform Bill, 156; Wine

duties, 160; Reform Bill, Schedule A, 170; second Reform Bill,

227; debate on, and second reading of the second Reform Bill

carried, 228; Reform Bill supported by the Irish Members, 239;

division on the Russian Loan, 240; division on the sugar

duties, 267; Reform Bill passed, 270; debates, 296; violent

scene in debate on petition of the City of London, 299; Irish

Tithe question, 308; debate on, 309; debate on the Address,

353; Irish Church Reform, 354; aspect of the reformed House,

360; debate on Slave Emancipation, 371; vote of confidence in

the Ministers, 376; division on the Irish Church Bill, 381;

vote against sinecures, iii. 13; division on Apprenticeship

Clause of West India Bill, 16; disorganised state of the House,

17; Pension List, 60; business of the House, 61; debate on the

Corn Laws, 68; debate on admission of Dissenters to the

University, 75; debate on Repeal of the Union, 80; Pension

List, 80; debate on Portugal, 82; Poor Law Bill, 83; debate on

Irish Tithe Bill, 98, 99; gallery for reporters, 205; debate on

the Speakership, 214; debate on the Address, 221; debate and

division on amendment to the Address, 223; Malt Tax, 224;

debate on appointment of Lord Londonderry, 225; Dissenters'

Marriage Bill, 230; Government beaten on Chatham election, 234;

state of parties in the House, 234; debate and division on

Irish Church question, 240; uproar in the House, 243;

Government defeated on Irish Tithe Bill, 246; debate on Irish

Church Bill, 281; position of the House, 288, 291; conflict

with the House of Lords, 225; debate and division on the

amendment to the Address, 334; effect of division, 336;

Opposition defeated, 347; division, 359; Irish Corporation

Bill, 388; insult to Lord Lyndhurst, 389; debates on Irish

Tithe Bill, 391; abandonment of the appropriation clauses, 393

Como, i. 414

Conroy, Sir John, ii. 190; iii. 3

Conservative Club, dinner at, ii. 327; speeches, 327

Constantine, the Grand Duke, accident to, i. 259; death of, ii.

164

Convention signed between France, England, and Holland, ii. 375

Conyngham, Marquis of, Postmaster-General, iii. 88, 113

Conyngham, Marchioness of, i. 46; wears a Crown jewel, 48; Court

intrigues, 207

Conyngham, Lord Francis, i. 50

Coprogli, History of the Grand Vizier, iii. 115

Cornelius, painter, ii. 149

Coronation, the, of William IV., decided on, ii. 156;

preparations for, 157, 163, 165; estimates for, 181; disputes

over the arrangements for, 187

Cottenham, Lord, Lord High Chancellor, iii. 328

Cotton, Sir Willoughby, suppresses the insurrection in Jamaica,

ii. 262; on affairs in Jamaica, 380

Council, Clerk of the, Mr. Greville sworn in, i. 44; after the

accession of William IV., ii. 12; Lord Grey's Administration

sworn in, 71; for the proclamation against rioters, 73;

recorder's report in, 85; clerks of the, 87; scene at Council

for a new Great Seal, 188

Council, Privy: suttee case before the, ii. 307; embargo on Dutch

ships, 343; meeting of the, on the London University petition,

iii. 80; counter petition of Oxford and Cambridge, 80

Council, Cabinet: the first of Lord Melbourne's Administration,

iii. 120; the first of Sir Robert Peel's Administration, 174

Covent Garden Theatrical Fund Dinner, i. 205

Coventry, glove trade, ii. 224

Cowley, Abraham, lines from 'Ode to Solitude,' ii. 272

Cowper, Earl, at Panshanger, ii. 229

Cowper, Countess, at Panshanger, ii. 229

Cowper, William, Life of, by Southey, iii. 134

Cradock, Colonel, sent to Charles X., ii. 37

Crampton, Sir Philip, Irish story, i. 243

Craven, Earl of, disperses a mob, ii. 77; on the proposed new

Peers, 232

Craven, General the Hon. Berkeley, suicide of, iii. 350

Crawford, William, member for the City of London, iii. 188

Creevey, Mr., i. 235

Croker, Right Hon. John Wilson, edition of 'Boswell's Life of

Johnson,' ii. 105; reviews lost, 106

Cumberland, H.R.H. the Duke of, opposition to Catholic Relief

Bill, i. 180; intrigues at Court, 222; insults Lady Lyndhurst,

222, 223; quarrel with Lord Lyndhurst, 224; disputes concerning

the office of 'Gold Stick,' ii. 5, 21

Cumberland, H.R.H. the Duchess of, i. 2

Cuvier, Baron, death of, ii. 307

Dalberg, Duke de, letter on European affairs, ii. 44

Dawson, Right Hon. George Robert, speech on Catholic

Emancipation, i. 138, 200; sworn in a Privy Councillor, ii. 71

De Cazes, Duke, favourite of Louis XVIII., ii. 305; Ambassador to

the Court of St. James, 306

Dedel, M., Dutch Minister at the Court of St. James, iii, 32

Denbigh, Earl of, Chamberlain to Queen Adelaide, ii. 342; sworn

in Privy Councillor, 352

Denman, Lord, correspondence with the King, i. 156; sworn in a

Privy Councillor, ii. 329; Lord Chief Justice, 330; qualities

of, 331; meeting of, with Lord Brougham, in Bedfordshire, iii.

71; raised to the Peerage, 74

Derby Dilly, the, iii. 236, 237, 253

De Ros, Lord, in Rome, i. 368

De Ros, Colonel, the Hon. Arthur John Hill, death of, i. 81;

character of, 82

Dickenson, Captain, trial of, by court-martial, i. 235

Diebitsch, Marshal, death of, from cholera, ii. 154

Dino, Duc de, arrest of the, i. 255

Dino, Duchesse de, ii. 57; on the state of France, 195

Discontent throughout the country, ii. 108

Disraeli, Benjamin, projects for sitting in Parliament, iii. 170

Dissenters' Marriage Bill, iii. 207, 230. For debates on, _see_

Commons, House of

Dorsetshire election, 1831, ii. 203, 207; crime in, iii. 77

Dover, Lord, resigns the Woods and Forests, ii. 109; created a

Peer, 150; death of, iii. 4; character of, 4; Life of Frederick

II., 6; book on the Man in the Iron Mask, 6