Chapter of the Bath--The Duc de Dino arrested--A Ball to the
Divan--English Policy in Greece--Sir Thomas Lawrence--
Gallatin--Court of King's Bench--Accident to the Grand Duke
Constantine--Osterley--Young Sidney Herbert--Duke of Wellington
in Office--Stapleton's 'Life of Canning'--Death of Sir Thomas
Lawrence--Leopold and the Throne of Greece--Canning's Answers
to Lord Grey--Distressed State of the Country--Canning's
Greatness and his Failings--Death of Tierney--Sir Martin Shee
President--The Duke of Wellington's Views and Conduct--The
Coming Session--Moore's 'Life of Byron'--Character of Byron--
Opening of Parliament--The Fire King--The Duke of Wellington's
Speaking--The English Opera House burnt down--Lord Thurlow on
Kenyon and Buller--Old Rothschild--Lansdowne House--Earl
Stanhope--John Murray--Departure for Italy.
December 7th, 1829 {p.254}
At Windsor for a Council; the Duke was there, and Lord Aberdeen,
Murray, Lord Rosslyn, the Chancellor, and Herries. There was a
chapter of the Bath, when the Duke of Clarence was installed
Grand Master, Stratford Canning and Robert Gordon Grand Crosses.
The King looked very well, but was very blind. The Council was by
candle-light, but he could not see to read the list, and begged me
to read it for him. However, I was so good a courtier that I held
the candle in such a way as to enable him to read it himself. He
saw the Duke for a short time, and the Chancellor for a long
time. I asked the latter if the King had been _Denmanising_, and
he said, 'Oh, yes--"I said when I consented to that fellow's
having the silk gown that I would never admit him," &c.' I was
amused with old Conyngham, who told me his wife had been in
danger, 'so they tell me,' talking of her as if she were somebody
else's wife. The Duke went from the Council to Stowe; we all
returned to town.
[Page Head: THE DUC DE DINO ARRESTED]
December 9th, 1829 {p.254}
Dined with Prince Lieven; a great dinner--Laval,[1] Granvilles,
Aberdeen, Montrond, &c. The Duc de Dino, who came here to amuse
himself, has been arrested, and Montrond and Vaudreuil begged
Laval to put him on his list of _attachés_ at the Foreign Office,
which would release him from the sponging-house. He was afraid
and made difficulties; they were excessively provoked, but at
last induced him to speak to Lord Aberdeen about it, which he
said he would do after dinner. In the meantime Montrond got me to
tell the story to Aberdeen, which I did, and got him to encourage
Laval to do the business. He then told Laval that I had _aplani_
the matter, at which the Ambassador was rather affronted, but I
suppose the thing will be done and Dino will get out. The Duc de
Dino is Talleyrand's nephew, and his son has married Mademoiselle
de Montmorency, a relation of the Duc de Laval.
[1] [The Duc de Laval had succeeded Prince Polignac as
French Ambassador in London.]
December 10th, 1829 {p.255}
Last night Miss Kemble acted Belvidera for the first time, and
with great success.
December 18th, 1829 {p.255}
At Roehampton last Saturday to Monday; Granvilles, Byng, Lord
Ashley, and I. Dino was extricated from prison by Laval's paying
the money, which he did very handsomely; he thought it wrong to
have him in prison and wrong to attach him fictitiously to his
Embassy, so he paid the debt, and Dino is gone back to France.
Despatches were received from Gordon yesterday giving an account
of a ball he had given to the Divan; the Turks came, and the
Reis-Effendi waltzed with a Mrs. Moore. After supper they drank
King George IV.'s health in bumpers of champagne. This story was
told to Lord Sidmouth as a good joke; but he said with a face of
dismay, 'Good God, is it possible? To what extent will these
innovations be carried?'
December 19th, 1829 {p.255}
There is a review in the 'Foreign Quarterly' (the last number) on
Greece, which is a remarkably able critique of the conduct of our
Government in the affairs of that State. The writer, whoever he
may be, has been amply supplied with documents and information,
probably from Paris. Nothing can be more just than his remarks on
our miserable policy, or more severe. I showed it to Lord
Granville, who told me that it was generally correct, though
containing some errors; for instance, that it was not true that
we had engaged to afford the Greeks pecuniary aid, which we never
did promise, but that he had been himself the person to negotiate
with M. de la Ferronays, then Minister for Foreign Affairs at
Paris, for the more limited boundary, and to dissuade the French
from sending their expedition to the Morea; that there had been a
violent contest in the English Cabinet on that subject, Huskisson
and Dudley being in favour of the French expedition, and the Duke
and the rest against it, but that the moment Huskisson and his
party resigned the Duke gave way and agreed to the measure. This
affords another example of his extraordinary mode of proceeding,
that of opposing the views and plans of others violently, and
when he finds opposition fruitless, or likely to become so,
turning short round and adopting them as his own, and taking all
the credit he can get for doing so. He did so in the case of the
recognition of the South American colonies, of the Test and
Corporation Acts, the Catholic question, and in this instance.
Then his conduct on the Corn Bill is only the converse of the
same proposition--begins by being a party to it and then procures
its rejection. Greece and Portugal, if well handled, would afford
two great cases against the Duke's foreign policy, and they serve
as admirable commentaries on each other. The raising the siege of
Previsa, and the respect paid to Miguel's blockade, and
compulsion exercised on the Terceira people are enough to prove
everything.
Ashley told me a curious thing about Sir Thomas Lawrence the
other day. His father kept the inn at Devizes,[2] and when Lord
Shaftesbury's father and mother were once at the inn with Lord
Shaftesbury, then a boy, the innkeeper came into the room and
said he had a son with a genius for drawing, and, if they would
allow him, his little boy should draw their little boy's picture;
on which the little Lawrence was sent for, who produced his chalk
and paper, and made a portrait of the young Lord.
[2] [Sir Thomas Lawrence's father at one time kept the
'Black Bear' at Devizes. In 1775 Lord and Lady Kenyon
had the young prodigy (as he was called) introduced to
them there. Lawrence was then only six years old.]
[Page Head: GALLATIN]
December 21st, 1829 {p.257}
At Roehampton from Saturday; Maclane, the American Minister,
Washington Irving, Melbourne, Byng, and on Sunday the Lievens to
dinner. Maclane a sensible man, with very good American manners,
which are not refined. Even Irving, who has been so many years
here, has a bluntness which is very foreign to the tone of good
society. Maclane gave me a curious account of Gallatin. He was
born at Geneva, and went over to America early in life, possessed
of nothing; there he set up a little huxtering shop--in I forget
what State--and fell in love with one of the daughters of a poor
woman at whose house he lodged, but he was so destitute that the
mother refused him. In this abject condition accident introduced
him to the celebrated Patrick Henry, who advised him to abandon
trade, and go into the neighbouring State and try to advance
himself by his talents. He followed the advice, and soon began to
make himself known.
December 22nd, 1829 {p.257}
Dined with Byng yesterday and met Moore, Fitzgerald, and
Luttrell. Luttrell is a great lover of conundrums, which taste he
acquired from Beresford, the author of the 'Miseries of Human
Life,' who has invented some very curious but elaborate
conundrums. They are not worth repeating. Moore told a story of
an Irishman at the play calling out, 'Now, boys, a clap for
Wellington!' which being complied with, 'And now silence for the
rest of the family!' He complained that all the humour which used
to break out in an Irish audience is extinct.
Fitzgerald told me that the King had been annoying them as much
as he could, that he took pleasure in making his Government weak,
that the money matter (which the Duke told me of before) had been
settled by 'contrivances,' or that they must have gone to
Parliament for the amount; that he has just ordered plate to the
amount of £25,000. Fitzgerald is so ill that he can scarcely
carry on the business of his office, and yet he does not like to
give it up, for fear of embarrassing the Government; he
complained that the other offices had thrown much of their
business on the Board of Trade, a custom which had grown up in
Huskisson's time, who was the most competent man, and who took it
all. Probably Huskisson was not sorry, by making himself very
useful, to make himself nearly indispensable, and thought that he
was so; and so he was _de jure_, but the Duke would not let him
be so _de facto_.
[Page Head: PRESS PROSECUTIONS]
December 23rd, 1829 {p.258}
Went to the Court of King's Bench this morning to prove that the
Duke of Wellington is a Privy Councillor, on the trial of the
action which the Duke brought against the 'Morning Journal.' The
action brought by the Chancellor had been tried the day before.
Scarlett was feeble; Alexander again defended himself in a very
poor speech; the jury retired for three hours, and I thought
would have said 'Not guilty;' but they brought in a verdict which
is tantamount to a defeat of the prosecution on this charge, and
amply proves the folly of having instituted it at all. I did not
hear the second trial, on which they gave a verdict of guilty,
after consulting for about half an hour. The jury in each case
consisted of eight special jurors and four talesmen. Afterwards
there was a _crim. con._ case, which I did not stay out, but
which was amusing enough from the translations of the counsel,
the Judge, the witnesses, and the interpreters, for some of the
witnesses were French. Lord Tenterden has a comical way of
muttering to himself half aloud as the counsel are speaking,
either answering or commenting on what they say. Scarlett was
saying (in this last case) that he could not prove the fact, but
he could prove that the defendant passed the night in the lady's
room, and the jury might judge what he did, when Tenterden
muttered, 'If he did nothing, what was he there for?'
The prosecution finished with the trial of Bell (of the 'Atlas'),
who made a very good speech (it was about Lord and Lady
Lyndhurst), and the jury found him guilty of publishing only,
which I take to be an acquittal; the point, however, will not be
tried probably, for it is not likely that he will be brought up
for judgment. He will be contented to get off, and they will not
like to stir such a question. The result of the trials proves the
egregious folly of having ever brought them on, especially the
Duke's. One of the verdicts is, as far as he is concerned, an
acquittal; the author showed himself to be so contemptible that
he had better have been treated with indifference. He has been
converted into a sort of martyr, and whatever may have been
thought of the vulgar scurrility of the language, ruin and
imprisonment will appear to most people too severe a punishment
for the offence. Then the whole press have united upon this
occasion, and in some very powerful articles have spread to every
corner of the country the strongest condemnation of the whole
proceeding. The Government, or rather the Duke, is likely to
become unpopular, and no good end will have been answered. I do
not believe that these prosecutions originate in a desire to curb
the press, but merely in that of punishing a writer who had so
violently abused him; not, however, that he would be sorry to
adopt any measure which should tend to fetter free discussion,
and subject the press to future punishment. But this would be a
fearful war to wage, and I do not think he is rash enough to
undertake such a crusade.
December 27th, 1829 {p.259}
At Panshanger since the 24th; Lievens, J. Russell, Montrond, M.
de la Rochefoucauld, F. Lamb. On Christmas Day the Princess
[Lieven] got up a little _fête_ such as is customary all over
Germany. Three trees in great pots were put upon a long table
covered with pink linen; each tree was illuminated with three
circular tiers of coloured wax candles--blue, green, red, and
white. Before each tree was displayed a quantity of toys, gloves,
pocket-handkerchiefs, workboxes, books, and various articles--
presents made to the owner of the tree. It was very pretty. Here
it was only for the children; in Germany the custom extends to
persons of all ages. The Princess told us to-day about the
Emperor of Russia's relapse and the cause of it. He had had a
cold which he had neglected, but at length the physicians had
given him some medicine to produce perspiration, and he was in
bed in that state, the Empress sitting by him reading to him,
when on a sudden a dreadful noise was heard in the next (the
children's) room, followed by loud shrieks. The Empress rushed
into the room, and the Emperor jumped out of bed in his shirt and
followed her. There the children, the governess, and the nurses
were screaming out that Constantine (the second boy, of two years
old) was destroyed; a huge vase of porphyry had been thrown down
and had fallen over the child, who was not to be seen. So great
was the weight and size of the vase that it was several minutes
before it could be raised, though assistance was immediately
fetched, and all that time the Emperor and Empress stood there in
ignorance of the fate of the child, and expecting to see the
removal of the vase discover his mangled body, when to their
delight it was found that the vase had fallen exactly over him,
without doing him the least injury, but the agitation and the
cold brought on a violent fever, which for some time put the
Emperor in great danger. The Princess said she was surprised that
it did not kill the Empress, for she is the most nervous woman in
the world, ever since the conspiracy at the time of his
accession, when her nerves were _ébranlés_ by all she went
through. That scene (of the revolt of the Guards) took place
under the window of the Palace. The whole Imperial Family was
assembled there and saw it all, the Emperor being in the middle
of men by whom they expected him to be assassinated every moment.
During all that time--many hours--the young Empress never spoke,
but stood 'pâle comme une statue,' and when at length it was all
over, and the Emperor returned, she threw herself on her knees
and began to pray.
December 29th, 1829 {p.260}
At Osterley;[3] Lady Euston, Mrs. Sheridan and her son; a very
fine house, which is thrown away, as they hardly ever live there.
They spent £200,000 in building Middleton, which is the worst
place in England, and now they regret it, but Lord Jersey hates
Osterley and likes Middleton. This place belonged to Sir Thomas
Gresham, but the present house is modern. It was here that Sir
Thomas Gresham feasted Queen Elizabeth, and pulled down a wall in
the night which she had found fault with, so that in the morning
she found it was gone.
[3] [Lord Jersey's seat near Hanwell, Middlesex.]
1830.
[Page Head: WELLINGTON AS A MINISTER]
January 2nd, 1830 {p.261}
At Roehampton; William Howard, Baring Wall, and Lady Pembroke's
son;[4] the best sort of youth I have seen for a long while, and
he will have £12,000 a year, besides what his mother may leave
him. Vesey Fitzgerald is so ill that it is doubtful if he will
recover, and, at all events, almost impossible that he should
remain in office. It will be very difficult for the Duke to fill
his place. There is not a man in office now who is fit for it,
and where is he to look for anyone else? Yet I think almost
anybody would take it; for although the late prosecutions are
blamed, and the foreign policy is thought by most people to have
been very miserable, there is an extensive disposition to support
the Duke and to keep him at the head of affairs. Huskisson is the
man whose knowledge and capacity would be of the greatest service
just now, but the Duke will not like to apply to him in a moment
of distress, because he would probably take advantage of that
distress to make better terms for himself; at the same time, I
should not be surprised if the Duke were to invite him to return
to the Cabinet, and that he accepted the Chancellorship of the
Exchequer or one of the Secretaryships without any conditions.
Vesey will be a great loss, for he is clever and ready in debate,
and by great diligence and application, and the powerful
assistance of Hume and Stephen, he has made considerable progress
in the science of trade and commerce.
[4] [Sidney Herbert, afterwards Lord Herbert of Lea, whose
life and character did not belie the promise of his
youth.]
January 5th, 1830 {p.261}
There are many speculations about Vesey's successor; some think
Lord Chandos or Herries; I think Frankland Lewis, but that Lord
Chandos will have some place before long; the Duke has a great
hankering after that set. In the meantime all accounts concur in
admitting the great and increasing distress; and, as such a state
of things not unnaturally produces a good deal of ill-humour, the
Duke is abused for gadding about visiting and shooting while the
country is in difficulty, and it is argued that he must be very
unfeeling and indifferent to it all to amuse himself in this
manner. Nothing can be more unjust than such accusations as
these. The sort of relaxation he takes is necessary to his
health, and, all things considered, it is not extraordinary he
should prefer other people's houses to his own, particularly when
everyone invites him in the most pressing manner. But these
visits by no means interrupt the course of his official business;
all his letters are regularly sent to him, and as regularly
answered every day, and it is his habit to open his letters
himself, to read them all, and to answer all. He never receives
any letter, whatever may be the subject or the situation of the
writer, that he does not answer, and that immediately, to a
degree which is not only unprecedented, but quite unnecessary,
and I think unwise, although certainly it contributes to his
popularity. It is another proof of that simplicity of character
and the absence of all arrogance which are so remarkable in him,
especially as he has long been used to command and to implicit
obedience, and the whole tenor of his conduct since he has been
in office shows that he is covetous of power and authority, and
will not endure anybody who will not be subservient to him; still
in his manner and bearing there is nothing but openness,
frankness, civility, and good-humour. As to his supposed
indifference to the public distress, I firmly believe that his
mind is incessantly occupied with projects for its relief, and
that when unwarped by particular prejudices, partialities, and
antipathies, which have had a stronger and more frequent
influence over him than befits so great a man, he is animated
with a sincere desire to reform abuses of any kind, and is not
diverted from his purpose by any personal considerations or
collateral objects. The King is preparing for a new battle with
him (stimulated, I presume, by the Duke of Cumberland) about the
appointment of sheriffs. He has taken it into his head that he
will not appoint any Roman Catholic sheriff; and as several have
been named, and these generally first on the list, according to
the usual practice, they must be chosen. The King will be obliged
to give way, but it is an additional proof of his bad disposition
and his pleasure in thwarting his Ministers on every possible
occasion.
[Page Head: STAPLETON'S 'MEMOIRS OF CANNING']
January 7th, 1830 {p.263}
Stapleton's 'Memoirs of Canning' are coming out directly, but he
is prevented from making use of all the documents he, or rather
Lady Canning, has. She has had an angry correspondence with the
Foreign Office. Every Minister takes away a _précis_ of all he
has done while in office, but Canning's _précis_ was not finished
when he died. She wrote and demanded that what was incomplete
should be furnished to her, but claimed it as a right, and said
it was for the purpose of vindicating him. Lord Aberdeen declined
giving it, and I think very properly. The reason he assigned was
that a Minister who was furnished with such documents for his own
justification was bound by his oath of secresy not to reveal the
contents, but the secrets of the State could not be imparted to
any irresponsible person, who was under no such restraint.
Vesey Fitzgerald is better, but will hardly be able to do any
business. Some think he will have leave of absence, that Dawson
will exchange offices with Courtenay, and do the business of the
Board of Trade; others, that Herries will succeed Vesey, or
Frankland Lewis. The revenue has fallen off one million and more.
The accounts of distress from the country grow worse and more
desponding, and a return to one pound notes begins to be talked
of.
Roehampton, January 9th, 1830 {p.263}
Yesterday morning died Sir Thomas Lawrence after a very short
illness. Few people knew he was ill before they heard he was
dead. He was _longè primus_ of all living painters, and has left
no one fit to succeed him in the chair of the Royal Academy.
Lawrence was about sixty, very like Canning in appearance,
remarkably gentlemanlike, with very mild manners, though rather
too _doucereux_, agreeable in society, unassuming, and not a
great talker; his mind was highly cultivated, he had a taste for
every kind of literature, and was enthusiastically devoted to his
art; he was very industrious, and painted an enormous number of
portraits, but many of his later works are still unfinished, and
great complaints used to be made of his exacting either the whole
or half payment when he began a picture, but that when he had got
the money he could never be prevailed on to complete it. Although
he is supposed to have earned enormous sums by his paintings, he
has always been a distressed man, without any visible means of
expense, except a magnificent collection of drawings by the
ancient masters, said to be the finest in the world, and procured
at great cost. He was, however, a generous patron of young
artists of merit and talent. It was always said that he lost
money at play, but this assertion seems to have proceeded more
from the difficulty of reconciling his pecuniary embarrassments
with his enormous profits than from any proof of the fact. He was
a great courtier, and is said to have been so devoted to the King
that he would not paint anybody who was personally obnoxious to
his Majesty; but I do not believe this is true. He is an
irreparable loss; since Sir Joshua there has been no painter like
him; his portraits as pictures I think are not nearly so fine as
Sir Joshua's, but as likenesses many of them are quite perfect.
Moore's was the last portrait he painted, and Miss Kemble's his
last drawing.
The King has been very ill; lost forty ounces of blood. Vesey is
better, but has no chance of going on with his office. The
general opinion seems to be that Herries will succeed him. I do
not believe he knows anything of the business of the Board of
Trade. Charles Mills told me yesterday that a proposal was lately
made by Government to the East India Company to reduce their
dividends, and that at the very time this was done Rothschild,
who had £40,000 East India stock, sold it all out, and all his
friends who held any did the same. The matter was eventually
dropped, but he says nobody doubts that N---- gave notice to
Rothschild of the proposed measure. The Company are mightily
satisfied with Lord William Bentinck, who has acted very
handsomely by them in this business by the reduction of the pay
of the troops. He has written some very trimming letters to Lord
Combermere, who is coming home, and if he had not been, would
probably have been recalled. The Duke, as well as the Company, is
furious with Combermere for the part he has acted in the affair.
[Page Head: LEOPOLD AND THE THRONE OF GREECE]
Leopold's election to the throne of Greece seems to be settled,
and while everybody has been wondering what could induce him to
accept it, it turns out that he has been most anxious for it, and
has moved heaven and earth to obtain it; that the greatest
obstacle he has met with has been from the King, who hates him,
and cannot bear that he should become a crowned head. He may
think it 'better to reign in hell than serve in heaven,' but I
should have thought he had a better prospect here, with £50,000 a
year and as uncle to the heiress apparent, than to go to a ruined
country without cities or inhabitants, and where everything is to
be created, and to sit on such a wretched throne as the nominee
of the Allied Powers, by whom he will be held responsible for his
acts; however, 'il ne faut pas disputer des goûts.'
George Bentinck told me that Lady Canning is not satisfied with
Stapleton's book, particularly with that part of it in which he
attempts to answer Lord Grey's speech, which she thinks poor and
spiritless; he is not disposed to be very severe on Lord Grey,
being in a manner connected with him. She is persuaded that that
speech contributed to kill Canning; his feelings were deeply
wounded that not one of his friends said a word in reply to it,
although some of them knew that the facts in Lord Grey's speech
were incorrect. He vehemently desired to be raised to the
peerage, that he might have an opportunity of answering it, and
he had actually composed and spoken to Mrs. Canning the speech
which he intended to make in the House of Lords. A great part of
this she remembers. It seems, too, that to the day of his death
this was the ruling desire of his mind, and he had declared that
the following year, when he should have carried the Corn Bill
through the House of Commons, he would go to the House of Lords
and fight the battle there.
January 17th, 1830 {p.266}
Charles Mills told me the other day that the Chancellor of the
Exchequer has been making enquiries as to the fact of Rothschild
having sold his India stock at the time he did. The two Grants
(Charles and Robert) are always together, and both very forgetful
and unpunctual. Somebody said that if you asked Charles to dine
with you at six on Monday, you were very likely to have Robert at
seven on Tuesday.
Edward Villiers (who has been living with Malcolm on board his
ship in the Mediterranean) writes word that Malcolm told him that
he had orders, in the event of Diebitsch's marching upon
Constantinople, to destroy the Russian fleet. If this is true, it
would have been a great outrage, and a most extraordinary piece
of vigour, after so much long-suffering and endurance.
The country gentlemen are beginning to arrive, and they all tell
the same story as to the universally prevailing distress and the
certainty of things becoming much worse; of the failure of rents
all over England, and the necessity of some decisive measures or
the prospect of general ruin. Of course they differ as to the
measures, but there appears to be a strong leaning towards the
alteration in the currency and one pound notes. It really does
appear, from many representations, that a notion prevails of the
Duke of Wellington's indifference to the state of the country,
and of his disposition to treat the remonstrances and petitions
of the people, as well as their interests and feelings, with
contempt, which I believe most false and unjust. He has an
overweening opinion of his own all-sufficiency, and that is his
besetting sin, and the one which, if anything does, will overturn
his Government, for if he would be less dictatorial and
opinionated, and would call to his assistance such talents and
information as the crisis demands, he would be universally voted
the best man alive to be at the head of the Government; but he
has such a set of men under him, and Peel will never get over the
Catholic question. [Peel got over it, but not before he had
expiated his conduct by being turned out.]
January 20th, 1830 {p.267}
The Duke and Lord Bathurst dined here yesterday, the former not
in good spirits. The battle about Leopold and Greece is still
going on between his Majesty and his Ministers. The Duke was
talking about the robbery at Brussels of the Princess of Orange's
jewels, and that there is reason to believe that Pereira, the
Prince's friend, had some concern in it; many people suspect that
both he and the Prince were concerned. The Princess was in the
country, and only one maid-servant in the house where such
valuable property was left. The jewels were in a case, and the
key of the case was kept in a cabinet, which was opened, the key
taken, and the large case or chest opened by it. Small footsteps
(like those of Pereira, who has very small feet) were traced in
the house or near it, and the day of the robbery the porter was
taken by Pereira's servant to his house and there made drunk. The
robbery was discovered on Friday morning, but no steps were taken
to inform the police till Sunday night.
[Page Head: POLITICAL MORALITY]
January 22nd, 1830 {p.267}
I believe it to be impossible for a man of squeamish and
uncompromising virtue to be a successful politician, and it
requires the nicest feeling and soundest judgment to know upon
what occasions and to what extent it is allowable and expedient
to diverge from the straight line. Statesmen of the greatest
power, and with the purest intentions, are perpetually counteracted
by prejudices, obstinacy, interest, and ignorance; and in order
to be efficient they must turn, and tack, and temporise,
sometimes dissemble. They who are of the _ruat coelum_ sort, who
will carry everything their own way or not at all, must be
content to yield their places to those who are certainly less
scrupulous, and submit to the measures of those who are probably
less wise. But though it is possible that the less rigid and
austere politician may be equally virtuous and disinterested, the
whole context of his life must be such as to endure the most
scrutinising enquiry, which unfortunately it will very seldom do,
in order to establish a character for integrity. If Canning had
had a fair field, he would have done great things, for his lofty
and ambitious genius took an immense sweep, and the vigour of his
intellect, his penetration and sagacity, enabled him to form
mighty plans and work them out with success; but it is impossible
to believe that he was a high-minded man, that he spurned
everything that was dishonest, uncandid, and ungentlemanlike; he
was not above trick and intrigue, and this was the fault of his
character, which was unequal to his genius and understanding.
However, notwithstanding his failings he was the greatest man we
have had for a long time, and if life had been spared to him, and
opposition had not been too much for him, he would have raised
our character abroad, and perhaps found remedies for our
difficulties at home. What a difference between his position and
that of the Duke of Wellington's! Everybody is disposed to
support the latter and give him unlimited credit for good
intentions. The former was obliged to carry men's approbation by
storm, and the moment he had failed, or been caught tripping, he
would have been lost.
[Page Head: DUKE OF WELLINGTON'S POSITION]
The Duke has lately given audience to the West Indians who came
to complain of their sufferings and taxation and to implore
relief. Murray and Goulburn were present, neither of whom, it is
said, spoke a word. The Duke cut them very short, and told them
they were not distressed at all, and that nothing would be done
for them. He is like the philosopher in Molière's play, who says,
'Il ne faut pas dire que vous avez reçu des coups de bâton, mais
qu'il vous semble que vous en avez reçus.'
Lawrence was buried yesterday; a magnificent funeral, which will
have cost, they say, £2,000. The pall was borne by Clanwilliam,
Aberdeen, Sir G. Murray, Croker, Agar Ellis, and three more--I
forget who. There were thirty-two mourning-coaches and eighty
private carriages. The ceremony in the church lasted two hours.
Pretty well for a man who died in very embarrassed circumstances.
The favourites for the chair of the Academy are Shee and Wilkie,
painters, and Westmacott and Chantrey, sculptors.
We were talking of Clanwilliam, who Agar said was the quickest
man he had ever known; Luttrell said he and Rogers were 'the
_quick_ and the _dead_.' Looking over the 'Report of the Woods
and Forests and the Cost of the Palaces,' somebody said 'the
pensive' (meaning the public: see Rejected Addresses) must pay;
Luttrell said 'the public was the pensive and the King the
expensive.'
January 26th, 1830 {p.269}
Yesterday afternoon Tierney died. He sank back in his chair and
expired suddenly, without any previous illness; he had been in an
indifferent state of health for some time, but he had resolved to
make one more effort in Parliament and deliver his opinion on the
present state of affairs. He is a great loss to all his friends;
his political life was already closed.
Shee was elected President of the Royal Academy last night at ten
o'clock. He had sixteen or eighteen votes; Sir William Beechey
six, who was the nearest to Shee; Wilkie only two. He is an
Irishman and a Catholic, a bad painter, a tolerable poet, and a
man of learning, but, it is said, florid.
Had a long conversation with Arbuthnot yesterday, who is weak,
but knows everything; his sentiments are the Duke's. They are
furious with the old Tories, especially Lord Lonsdale, and not
well satisfied with Lowther, whom they suspect to be playing a
sneaking, underhand part. The Duke is determined not to alter his
Government, nor to take anybody in to strengthen it. Arbuthnot
said that the Duke had shown he did not mean to be exclusive when
he had taken in Scarlett and Calcraft, and that 'his friends'
would not have borne any more extensive promotion from that
party; that of all Ministers he was the one who least depended
upon Parliamentary influence and the assistance of the great
families; and that if Lord Lonsdale and all his members were to
leave him to-morrow, he would not care a straw. Still he pays
them, if not court, great deference, and he keeps Lowther, though
he suspects him. Arbuthnot said that as soon as the Duke became
Minister he said to him, 'Now, Duke, for God's sake settle that
question' (the Catholic), which was as much as to say, 'Now that
you have got rid of every enemy and every rival, now that you can
raise your own reputation, and that you will share the glory with
no one, do that which you would never let anybody else do, and
fight for the measure you have been opposing all your life.' It
may be imagined he would not have said this unless he had been
fully aware of the Duke's sentiments on the subject. This speech
was made to him eight months after Canning came into office, when
they _all_ went out, _on the Catholic question_. He says it is
utterly false that the Duke is unconscious of or indifferent to
the distress, but that it is exaggerated, and the Duke attributes
it to temporary and not to permanent causes; that he labours
incessantly on the subject, and his thoughts are constantly
occupied with devising a remedy for it, which he thinks he can
do. He adverted to the difficulties with the King, who is never
to be depended upon, as his father was. He remembers upon
some occasion, when Perceval was Minister, and thought the
difficulties of his situation great, he represented to George III.
his sense of them in a letter; Perceval showed him the King's
answer, which was in these words:--'Do you stand by me as I will
stand by you, and while we stand by each other we have nothing to
fear.'
I told Arbuthnot it was reported that the Duke had given a very
rough answer to the West Indian deputations, and that if he had
it was unwise, as, though he might not adopt such measures of
relief as they desired, he could treat them with soft language.
He said that, so far from it, Lord Chandos had returned to the
Duke the next day, and apologised for their conduct to him,
assuring him that he was ashamed and tired of his connexion with
them, and should withdraw from it as soon as possible. This I
mentioned at Brookes', but Gordon (a West Indian) said that they
had all been shocked at the manner in which he had used them,
that some of them had declared they would never go to him again;
and Spring Rice said that old George Hibbert, who has been their
agent these thirty years, and had attended deputations to every
Prime Minister since Pitt, had told him that he never saw one so
ill received before. It is customary for every deputation to draw
out a minute of their conversation with the Minister, which they
submit to him to admit its correctness. They did so, but the Duke
destroyed their minute, and sent them back one drawn out by
himself, which, however, they declare was not so correct as that
which had been transmitted to him; which I can well believe, but
they had no right to complain of this, on the contrary.
January 30th, 1830 {p.271}
Laid up with the gout these last three days. George Bankes has
resigned, and John Wortley is appointed Secretary to the Board of
Control. He was of the Huskisson party, as it is called (though
it does not deserve the name), and previously to the offer of
this place being made to him was rather inimical to the
Government; but the Duke proposed, and he accepted. I doubt his
being of much use to them. Lord Ellenborough's letter to Sir John
Malcolm, which appeared in the 'Times' a few days ago, has made a
great deal of noise, as it well may, for a more flippant and
injudicious performance has seldom been seen.[5]
[5] [This letter, which excited much attention at this
time, will be found in the 'Life of Sir John Malcolm,'
by Mr. (now Sir John) Kaye, vol. ii. p. 528. It had
been written a year before, and by some indiscretion
obtained publicity in India. A warm dispute had broken
out between Sir John Malcolm, then Governor of Bombay,
and the Judges of the Supreme Court there. Lord
Ellenborough took Malcolm's part with great eagerness,
and said of the Chief Justice, Sir J. P. Grant, that he
'would be like a wild elephant between two tame ones.'
This expression was long remembered as a joke against
Lord Ellenborough.]
[Page Head: THE COMING SESSION]
The greatest curiosity and interest prevail about the
transactions in the ensuing session--whether there will be any
opposition, and from what quarter, how Peel will manage, how the
country gentlemen will act and what language they will hold, and
whether the Duke will produce any plan for alleviating the
distress. I think there will be a great deal of talking and
complaining, a great many half-measures suggested, but no
opposition, and that the Duke will do nothing, and get through
the session without much difficulty. There was to have been a
Council on Thursday to prick the sheriffs, but it was put off on
account of my gout, and I was not able to attend at the dinner at
the Chancellor's on Wednesday for the same reason. I remember
once before a Council was put off because I was at Egham for the
races; that was a Council in '27, I think, to admit foreign corn.
February 1st, 1830 {p.272}
Stapleton's book on Mr. Canning is not to appear. Douglas was
sent to him by Aberdeen to tell him that if anything appeared in
it which ought not to be published he would be turned out of his
office. He wrote to Lady Canning accordingly, who sent him a very
kind answer, desiring him by no means to expose himself to any
such danger, and consenting to the suppression of the work. I am
glad of it on all accounts.
February 3rd, 1830 {p.272}
Brougham has given up Lord Cleveland's borough, and comes in for
Knaresborough, at the Duke of Devonshire's invitation. He is
delighted at the exchange. I see by the 'Gazette' there has been
a compromise with the King about the Catholic sheriffs; only one
(Petre for Yorkshire) is chosen, the others, though first on the
list and no excuses, passed over: they were Townley for
Lancashire and Sir T. Stanley for Cheshire. It is childish and
ridiculous if so; but no matter, as the principle is admitted.
[Page Head: CHARACTER OF LORD BYRON]
I have just finished the first volume of Moore's 'Life of Byron.'
I don't think I like this style of biography, half-way between
ordinary narrative and self-delineation in the shape of letters,
diary, &c. Moore's part is agreeably and feelingly written, and
in a very different style from the 'Life of Sheridan'--no turgid
diction and brilliant antitheses. It is, however, very amusing;
the letters are exceedingly clever, full of wit, humour, and
point, abounding in illustration, imagination, and information,
but not the most agreeable sort of letters. They are joined
together by a succession of little essays upon his character. But
as to life, it is no life at all; it merely tells you that the
details of his life are not tellable, that they would be like
those of Tilly or Casanova, and so indecent, and compromise so
many people, that we must be content to look at his life through
an impenetrable veil. Then in the letters and diary the perpetual
hiatus, and asterisks, and initials are exceedingly tantalising;
but altogether it is very amusing. As to Byron, I have never had
but one opinion about his poetry, which I think of first-rate
excellence; an enormous heresy, of course, more particularly with
those whose political taste rests upon the same foundation that
their religious creed does--that of having been taught what to
admire in the one case as they have been enjoined what to believe
in the other. With regard to his character, I think Moore has
succeeded in proving that he was far from deficient in amiable
qualities; he was high-minded, liberal, generous, and good-natured,
and, if he does not exaggerate his own feelings, a warm-hearted
and sincere friend. But what a wretch he was! how thoroughly
miserable with such splendid talents! how little philosophy!--
wretched on account of his lame foot; not even his successes with
women could reconcile him to a little personal deformity, though
this is too hard a word for it; then tormenting himself to
death nobody can tell why or wherefore. There never was so
ill-regulated a mind, and he had not even the talent of making
his pleasures subservient to his happiness--not any notion of
_enjoyment_; all with him was riot, and debauchery, and rage and
despair. That he very sincerely entertained a bad opinion of
mankind may be easily believed; but so far from his pride and
haughtiness raising him above the influence of the opinion of
those whom he so despised, he was the veriest slave to it that
ever breathed, as he confesses when he says that he was almost
more annoyed at the censure of the meanest than pleased with the
praises of the highest of mankind; and when he deals around his
fierce vituperation or bitter sarcasms, he is only clanking the
chains which, with all his pride, and defiance, and contempt, he
is unable to throw off. Then he despises pretenders and
charlatans of all sorts, while he is himself a pretender, as all
men are who assume a character which does not belong to them, and
affect to be something which they are all the time conscious they
are not in reality. But to 'assume a virtue if you have it not'
is more allowable than to assume a vice which you have not. To
wish to appear better or wiser than we really are is excusable in
itself, and it is only the manner of doing it that may become
ridiculous; but to endeavour to appear worse than we are is a
species of perverted vanity the most disgusting, and a very bad
compliment to the judgment, the morals or the taste of our
acquaintance. Yet, with all his splendid genius, this sort of
vanity certainly distinguished Lord Byron, and that among many
other things proves how deeply a man may be read in human nature,
what an insight he may acquire into the springs of action and
feeling, and yet how incapable he may be of making any practical
application of the knowledge he has acquired and the result of
which he can faithfully delineate. He gives a list of the books
he had read at eighteen which appears incredible, particularly as
he says that he was always idle, and eight years after Scott says
he did not appear well read either in poetry or history. Swift
says 'some men know books as others do Lords--learn their titles,
and then boast of their acquaintance with them,' and so perhaps
at eighteen he knew by name the books he mentions; indeed, the
list contains Hooker, Bacon, Locke, Hobbes, Berkeley, &c. It
sounds rather improbable; but his letters contain allusions to
every sort of literature, and certainly indicate considerable
information. 'Dans le pays des aveugles les borgnes sont rois,'
and Sir Walter Scott might think a man half read who knows all
that is contained in the brains of White's, Brookes', and
Boodle's, and the greater part of the two Houses of Parliament.
But the more one reads and hears of great men the more reconciled
one becomes to one's own mediocrity.
Say thou, whose thoughts at nothingness repine,
Shall Byron's fame with Byron's fate be thine?
Who would not prefer any obscurity before such splendid misery as
was the lot of that extraordinary man? Even Moore is not happy.
One thinks how one should like to be envied, and admired, and
applauded, but after all such men suffer more than we know or
they will confess, and their celebrity is dearly purchased.
Se di ciascun l'interno affanno
Si leggesse in fronte scritto,
Quanti guai ch'invidia fanno
Ci farebbe pietà.
One word more about Byron and I have done. I was much struck by
the coincidence of style between his letters and his journal, and
that appears to me a proof of the reality and nature which
prevailed in both.
[Page Head: WEAKNESS OF THE GOVERNMENT]
February 5th, 1830 {p.275}
Parliament met yesterday; there was a brisk debate and an
amendment on the Address in each House. The Duke had very
indiscreetly called the distress 'partial' in the Speech, and the
consequence was an amendment moved by Knatchbull declaring it to
be general. The result shows that Government has not the
slightest command over the House of Commons, and that they have
nothing but casual support to rely upon, and that of course will
only be to be had 'dum se bene gesserint.' For a long time Holmes
and their whippers-in thought that they should be in a minority;
but Hume and a large party of Reformers supported them (contrary
to their own expectations), so they got a majority of 50 out of
250. The division was very extraordinary, Brougham, Sadler, and
O'Connell voting together. It is pretty clear, however, that they
are in no danger of being turned out, but that they are
wretchedly off for speakers. Huskisson made a shabby speech
enough, O'Connell his _début_, and a successful one, heard with
profound attention; his manner good and his arguments attended
and replied to. In the Lords there was nothing particular, but
nothing was concerted by any party, for the subject of the
amendment in the Commons was not even touched upon in the Lords,
which is very remarkable. Lord Chandos has refused the Mint,
because they will not give him a seat in the Cabinet, but many
people think it is because he has been pressed to refuse by
his High Tory friends. Charles Ross is the new Lord of the
Admiralty,[6] and Abercromby Chief Baron of Scotland, which
everybody is glad of.
[6] The appointment has not taken place.
There is a charlatan of the name of Chobert, who calls himself
the Fire King, who has been imposing upon the world for a year or
more, exhibiting all sorts of juggleries in hot ovens, swallowing
poisons, hot lead, &c.; but yesterday he was detected signally,
and after a dreadful uproar was obliged to run away to avoid the
ill-usage of his exasperated audience. He pretended to take
prussic acid, and challenged anybody to produce the poison, which
he engaged to swallow. At last Mr. Wakley, the proprietor of the
'Lancet,' went there with prussic acid, which Chobert refused to
take, and then the whole deception came out, and there is an end
of it; but it has made a great deal of noise, taken everybody in,
and the fellow has made a great deal of money. It was to have
been his last performance, but 'tant va la cruche à l'eau
qu'enfin....
February 13th, 1830 {p.276}
In the House of Lords last night: Lord Holland's motion on
Greece; his speech was amusing, but not so good as he generally
is; Aberdeen wretched, the worst speaker I ever heard and
incapable of a reply; I had no idea he was so bad. The Duke made
a very clever speech, answering Holland and Melbourne, availing
himself with great dexterity of the vulnerable parts of their
speeches and leaving the rest alone. I was sitting by Robert
Grant on the steps of the throne, and said to him, 'That is a
good speech of the Duke's,' and he said, 'He speaks like a great
man;' and so he did; it was bold and manly, and a high tone, not
like a practised debater, but a man with a vigorous mind and
determined character.
In the House of Commons Graham spoke for two hours; Burdett said
not well, but others said the contrary. The Government resolution
moved as an amendment by Dawson was better than his, so it was
adopted without difficulty. Burdett said Peel made the best
speech he ever heard him make, and threw over the Tories. Dined
afterwards with Cowper, Durham, and Glengall. Durham said that
Lord Grey's politics were the same as his, and that before Easter
he thought an Opposition would be formed, and that the elements,
though scattered, exist of a strong one. I doubt it.
[Page Head: THE ENGLISH OPERA HOUSE BURNT]
February 16th, 1830 {p.277}
Last night the English Opera House was burnt down--a magnificent
fire. I was playing at whist at the 'Travellers' with Lord
Granville, Lord Auckland, and Ross, when we saw the whole sky
illuminated and a volume of fire rising in the air. We thought it
was Covent Garden, and directly set off to the spot. We found the
Opera House and several houses in Catherine Street on fire
(sixteen houses), and, though it was three in the morning, the
streets filled by an immense multitude. Nothing could be more
picturesque than the scene, for the flames made it as light as
day and threw a glare upon the strange and motley figures moving
about. All the gentility of London was there from Princess
Esterhazy's ball and all the clubs; gentlemen in their fur
cloaks, pumps, and velvet waistcoats mixed with objects like the
_sans-culottes_ in the French Revolution--men and women
half-dressed, covered with rags and dirt, some with nightcaps or
handkerchiefs round their heads--then the soldiers, the firemen,
and the engines, and the new police running and bustling, and
clearing the way, and clattering along, and all with that intense
interest and restless curiosity produced by the event, and which
received fresh stimulus at every renewed burst of the flames as
they rose in a shower of sparks like gold dust. Poor Arnold lost
everything and was not insured. I trust the paraphernalia of the
Beefsteak Club perished with the rest, for the enmity I bear that
society for the dinner they gave me last year.
February 19th, 1830 {p.277}
In the House of Lords last night to hear Melbourne's motion about
Portugal--a rather long and very bad debate. Melbourne spoke very
ill--case very negligently got up, weakly stated, confused, and
indiscreet--in the same sense as his brother's pamphlet, with
part of which (the first part) none of the members of Canning's
Administration or of Goderich's agree, and consequently it was
answered by Lansdowne and Goderich. The latter made an excellent
speech, the only good one that was made. Aberdeen was wretched;
it is really too bad that a man should be Secretary for Foreign
Affairs who cannot speak better. The Duke made no case for the
Terceira business, and delivered a very poor speech; but I like
his speaking--it is so much to the point, no nonsense and
verbiage about it, and he says strongly and simply what he has to
say. The other night on Greece there was a very brisk skirmish
between Palmerston and Peel, and the former spoke, they say,
remarkably well; the latter, as usual, was in a passion.
February 21st, 1830 {p.278}
Dined with the Chancellor; Granvilles, Hollands, Moore, Luttrell,
Lord Lansdowne, Auckland, and one or two more; very agreeable.
Lord Holland told stories of Lord Thurlow, whom he mimicks, they
say, exactly. When Lord Mansfield died, Thurlow said, 'I
hesitated a long time between Kenyon and Buller. Kenyon was very
intemperate, but Buller was so damned corrupt, and I thought upon
the whole that intemperance was a less fault in a judge than
corruption, not but what there was a damned deal of corruption in
Kenyon's intemperance.' Lady Holland and I very friendly; the
first time I have met her in company since our separation (for we
have never quarrelled). She is mighty anxious to get me back, for
no other reason than because I won't go. Everybody is surprised
at Melbourne's failure the other night; some say he was not well,
some that he did not like the business. I doubt if he is up to
it; he did not speak like a man that has much in him.
February 23rd, 1830 {p.278}
Dined with Lord Bathurst and a dull party; but after dinner Lady
Bathurst began talking about the King, and told me one or two
anecdotes. When the account of Lord Liverpool's seizure reached
the King at Brighton, Peel was at the Pavilion; the King got into
one of his nervous ways, and sent for him in the middle of the
night, desiring he would not dress; so he went down in his
bedgown and sat by the side of the King's bed. Peel has got an
awkward way of thrusting out his hands while he talks, which at
length provoked the King so much that he said, 'Mr. Peel, it is
no use going on so (taking him off) and thrusting out your hands,
which is no answer to my question.'
Went to Esterhazy's ball; talked to old Rothschild, who was there
with his wife and a dandy little Jew son. He says that Polignac's
Government will stand by the King's support and Polignac's own
courage; offered to give me a letter to his brother, who would
give me any information I wanted, squeezed my hand, and looked
like what he is.
[Page Head: WINDSOR CASTLE]
February 25th, 1830 {p.279}
Yesterday at Windsor for a Council; the first time I have seen
one held in the new rooms of the Castle. They are magnificent and
comfortable, the corridor really delightful--furnished through
its whole length of about 500 feet with the luxury of a
drawing-room, and full of fine busts and bronzes, and
entertaining pictures, portraits, and curious antiquities. There
were the Chancellor, the Duke, three Secretaries of State,
Bathurst, and Melville. The King very blind--did not know the
Lord Chancellor, who was standing close to him, and took him for
Peel; he would not give up the point, though, for when he found
his mistake he attributed it to the light, and appealed to Lord
Bathurst, who is stone-blind, and who directly agreed.
February 26th, 1830 {p.279}
Intended to go to the House of Lords to hear the debate on Lord
Stanhope's motion (state of the nation), but went to see Fanny
Kemble in 'Mrs. Beverley' instead. She had a very great success--
house crowded and plenty of emotion--but she does not touch me,
though she did more than in her other parts; however, she is very
good and will be much better.
The debate in the Lords was not lively, and the Duke, they say,
made a most execrable speech. The fact is that he is not up to a
great speech on a great question; he wants the information and
preparation, the discipline of mind, that is necessary, and
accordingly he exposes himself dreadfully, and entirely lost all
the advantages he had gained by the excellent speeches he had
previously made on other and more confined questions. He was very
angry with the Duke of Richmond, whose opposition to him is
considered by the Duke's adherents as a sort of political
parricide. Old Eldon spoke very well, and Radnor; the rest but
moderate.
February 27th, 1830 {p.280}
Dined at Lord Lansdowne's; Moore, Rogers, J. Russell, Spring
Rice, Charles Kemble, Auckland, and Doherty; very agreeable, but
Rogers was overpowered by numbers and loud voices. Doherty told
some good professional stories, and they all agreed that Irish
courts of justice afforded the finest materials for novels and
romances. The 'Mertons' and 'Collegians' are both founded on
facts; the stories are in the 'New Monthly Magazine;' they said
the author had not made the most of the 'Collegians' story. Very
odd nervousness of Moore; he could not tell that story (of
Crampton's), which I begged him to do, and which would not have
been lugged in neck and shoulders, because everybody was telling
just such stories; he is delighted with my note of it. Charles
Kemble talked of his daughter and her success--said she was
twenty, and that she had once seen Mrs. Siddons in 'Lady
Randolph' when she was seven years old. She was so affected in
'Mrs. Beverley' that he was obliged to carry her into her
dressing-room, where she screamed for five minutes; the last
scream (when she throws herself on his body) was involuntary, not
in the part, and she had not intended it, but could not resist
the impulse. She likes Juliet the best of her parts.
February 28th, 1830 {p.280}
Dined yesterday with Lord Stanhope; Murray the bookseller (who
published 'Belisarius'), Wilkie the painter, and Lord Strangford;
nobody else of note. Wilkie appears stern, and might pass for
mad; he said very little. Murray chattered incessantly; talked to
me a great deal about Moore, who would have been mightily
provoked if he had heard him. An odd dinner, not agreeable,
though Lord Stanhope is amusing, so strange in his appearance, so
ultra-Tory and anti-Liberal in his politics, full of information
and a good deal of drollery. Murray told me that Moore is going
to write a 'Life of Petrarch.' Croker would have written
Lawrence's Life if Campbell [the poet] had not seized the task
before anybody else thought of laying hold of it. He has
circulated a command that all persons who have anything to
communicate will send their letters to _his secretary_, and not
to him.
[Page Head: FOR ITALY]
March 2nd, 1830
To-morrow I set out to Italy, after many years of anxiety to go
there, without violent expectations of pleasure, but not thinking
of disappointment. I care not for leaving London or anything in
it; there are a few people whose society I regret, but as to
friends or those who care for me, or for whom I care, I leave few
behind.