Results of this Tour--Ireland--The Irish Church--Decline
of Sir Robert Peel's Popularity--Position of Sir Robert
Peel--King of Hanover in London--The Duke of Wellington on
the Duke of Marlborough--Anecdote of Talleyrand--Debates on
Ireland--Parliament Prorogued--The Queen's Yacht--Review of the
Session--The Queen at Eu--Agreement there--The Queen of Spain's
Marriage--Miss Berry and Lord Orford--Ranke and Macaulay at
Kent House--A Council on Crutches--Chatsworth--Prosecution of
O'Connell--Society--O'Connell--Lord Brougham's Action against
Fonblanque--Death of Hon. Edward Villiers--The Irish Trials--Law
against Betting--The Education Question--The Duc de Bordeaux's
Visit--Lord Melbourne after his Illness--King George II.
robbed--Royal Visit to Chatsworth--The _Times_ on the Duc de
Bordeaux's Visit--The Westminster Play--Lord Melbourne--Our
Relations with Rome--The Dublin Jury Lists--Lord Ellenborough and
the Court of Directors--O'Connell's Remedies for Irish Discontent.
_London, August 1st, 1843._--With this tableau of Baden life and
manners my journalising ended. There certainly was no such variety
in it as to require any further notice, and there was no necessity
for my describing the beautiful scenery amidst which I continued to
wander. I stayed on at Baden to meet the Granvilles, who arrived
from Switzerland on Friday 14th, to my great joy. I remained till
Wednesday 19th, when I took the diligence to Iffetsheim, steamed
down the Rhine, embarked at Ostend on Saturday 22nd, had a rough,
disagreeable passage to Dover, and got to London on Sunday morning. On
Monday went to Goodwood, which was very good, and returned to take up
my abode in London on Saturday 29th. This expedition answered to me
even better than I had any idea it would. There were no difficulties
or drawbacks of any kind. It acted on my mind as a moral alterative;
the new scenes, the constant movement and occupation, did me a world
of good. I felt in all ways better and happier while I was there, and
I hope that it will not be without a certain beneficial effect for the
future. The interest and the pleasure produced by this short excursion
confirm my resolution to do something of the same sort in some
direction or other every year, and always, if I can, to avoid _the
season_ in London. I continued to the last to enjoy the beauties of
Baden, and it was only the day but one before I left it that I walked
under and over the rocks by the old Castle, one of the most striking
and beautiful of all the celebrated localities. The scenery of the
Rhine appeared to me exceedingly tame and uninteresting after that
around Baden. There was nobody in Germany for me to discuss politics
with; but at Baden the English newspapers arrived so regularly that I
could follow the march of affairs here, and read all the debates.
I left the Irish Arms Bill[64] in the House of Commons, and there I
found it on my return. In the packet going out, I read John Russell's
first speech with regret and indignation, and I afterwards read all
the debates and speeches on both sides with extreme disgust. I think
the Opposition have behaved very ill, in trying to turn the alarming
state of Ireland to a mere party account, and doing their utmost to
render it embarrassing and injurious to the present Government. On
the other hand, the low tone taken by Peel, and the determination
announced by him and Stanley to maintain the Irish Church, are both
very distasteful to me; and the conduct of the Opposition leaders
appears not only mischievous, but most inconsistent and absurd, when
they jabber about the grievances of Ireland, and abuse the Government
for not applying remedies to them, and at the same time say that they
will not themselves consent to remove the monster grievance of the
Church. The only man who spoke sense and truth was Rous, who, Tory as
he is, told them that they never would do any good till they settled
that question, but that they did not dare attempt it, because the
bigotry of England and Scotland were opposed to it, and none of them
would venture to encounter the unpopularity of proposing to reform the
Protestant, and establish the Catholic Church. However, the language
of John Russell and Palmerston has been a good deal modified since
the opening of these debates, and they have both ventured to suggest
some measures of Church Reform, without exactly explaining how far
they would go; and now they are about to vote for Ward's motion.
[Sidenote: SIR ROBERT PEEL'S DIFFICULTIES.]
In the course of the Irish battles the Government has been fiercely
attacked from the most opposite quarters, and on the most opposite
grounds, both in Parliament and out, in all societies, and by the
whole of the press, the 'Times' especially having turned against
them in articles of extraordinary violence; and on arriving here I
find a universal opinion, just as strong among the friends as among
the enemies of Government, that Peel has fallen immensely in public
opinion, and has so signally failed in his general administration of
affairs as to have shown himself unequal to a great emergency and
extraordinary difficulties and dangers. I think there is exaggeration
and unfairness in this sentiment, though it is not without some
foundation. He took the government with a grand flourish of trumpets,
great things were expected of him, and now people compare his
performances with their own expectations, and give vent to their
disappointment in reproaches of a very vague character, and with an
acrimony which he does not deserve; for, in the first place, he took
on himself to play a very difficult part, that of steering a middle
course, which was sure to offend one extreme without conciliating
the other, and this, superadded to his cold and unsocial character,
speedily made him very unpopular. But the worst that can be said is
that he took the reins of government when various causes of distress
and difficulty were in active operation, and he has not been able
to find universal remedies for every evil. On the other hand, it
must be owned that his measures have not been as well concerted and
arranged, not as firmly and vigorously executed, as they might have
been. They have many of them failed, very little has been done, and
latterly, especially, he has not taken that high and commanding tone
which befits a great Minister. At all events, with whatever measure
of justice, I find an impression greatly unfavourable to him, and the
prestige of his Government is gone. Arbuthnot, sitting at Apsley
House, and in constant communication with the Duke of Wellington,
holds this language, and laments over the falling off of Peel.
Not that there is any dissension or difference of opinion in the
Government, both he and Wharncliffe assure me to the contrary; but he
thinks Peel has spoken very ill, and has degraded his Government by
the low tone which he has adopted. The Opposition are all cock-a-hoop
about it: the sanguine among them fondly hoping that a door will be
thereby opened for their return to office; the others, from a spirit
of vengeance and rivalry, rejoicing in the discredit of their great
antagonist.[65]
[Footnote 64: [The Government had brought in a Bill in June to
restrict the purchase of arms in Ireland. It was vehemently opposed
by the Liberal Party.]]
[Footnote 65: [It appears from letters published in the 'Life of
the Prince Consort' that Sir R. Peel began about this time to doubt
the duration of his own Administration.]]
_August 6th._--Since I have had time to look about me and hear what
people say, I am of opinion that no serious injury has been done
to the stability of the Government, whatever blows may have been
inflicted on its credit; no other party, no other individuals, have
gained, whatever they may have lost, on the score of popularity and
character. The Court is entirely on their side. The Queen never
cared for any individual of her old Government but Melbourne, and
she knows that his political life is closed; she feels that her
own personal comfort is much greater with Peel's Government and
large majority, than it ever was, or is likely to be again, with
the Whigs. She remembers what a state of continual agitation she
was kept in, when they never knew from day to day whether they
should not be beaten and turned out, and she infinitely prefers her
present state of security and repose, especially as the present
Ministers do all they can to please her, and her husband is their
strenuous and avowed friend. I see nothing to alter my opinion that
the principle on which Peel resolved to act, and has acted, was the
wisest and best he could adopt--that of steering between extreme
parties, of guiding, regulating, and restraining forward movements,
the advance of which was, he knew, inevitable, and which he did not
deem undesirable. He might have foreseen that this was a difficult
part to play well. It was pretty sure to make him unpopular with his
friends, as it has done, and it was equally sure not to conciliate
his enemies, who, on the contrary, rejoiced to see him weakened by
dissensions with his allies, and hastened to place him between two
fires, and by embarrassing his march as much as they could to cast
universal discredit upon him. The way to meet these difficulties
was, in the first place, to be perfectly single-minded; to be open,
bold, and resolute; and with his friends frank and conciliatory.
Unhappily, Peel's character is not such as enabled him to display
these qualities. He acts rather like the cautious leader of a party,
than like a great and powerful Minister determined to do what he
thinks right, casting himself upon public opinion, and trusting to its
bearing them out in the long run. Then he is so cold, so reserved, and
his ways are so little winning and attractive, that he cannot attach
people to him personally, and induce them to bear with the Ministers
for the sake of the man. Although I think his general views are sound,
his way of working out his measures is not happy, and therefore the
clamour against him is very general, and he finds very few defenders,
admirers, and friends.
[Sidenote: SIR ROBERT PEEL'S UNPOPULARITY.]
Nevertheless the Opposition pretenders to power are mistaken if they
think he is at all near his downfall, or themselves likely to succeed
him. The Tories and landlords do not want to turn him out; none of the
great interests which support him and look to him for protection have
begun to turn their thoughts and wishes to any other quarter; and if
the 'volvenda dies' brings about a better state of things, if trade
revives, and Irish agitation stagnates, it will be found that the
clamour against Peel's Government had no great foundation of facts to
rest upon. Ward's motion about the Irish Church revenues fell to the
ground in such a ridiculous way, and in one so little creditable to
the Opposition, that they will not be anxious to fight any more this
year; and Lord John Russell is gone out of town. It would have been so
inconvenient to the leaders to express any opinion on this question,
that everybody will believe they contrived to let it drop as it did,
or, at all events, rejoiced in its sudden conclusion.
Since I have been away nothing very interesting has occurred. The
King of Hanover has been the great lion of London, all the Tories
feasting and entertaining him with extraordinary demonstrations of
civility and regard; but not so the Court, for the Queen has taken
hardly any notice of him. He seems to have behaved very well, taking
great pleasure in the attentions he has received, but giving no cause
for complaint by any indecorous or imprudent language; in fact, he
seems not to have meddled with politics in any way whatever. They
tell a story of him, that one day at Buckingham Palace he proposed to
Prince Albert to go out and walk with him. The Prince excused himself,
saying he could not walk in the streets, as they should be exposed to
inconvenience from the crowd of people. The King replied, 'Oh, never
mind that. I was still more unpopular than you are now, and used to
walk about with perfect impunity.'
_August 8th._--Yesterday morning I found the Duke of Wellington in my
brother's room and in high good-humour. I began talking to him about
the discovery lately made at Woodstock of the Duke of Marlborough's
correspondence, which Sir George Murray had told me of; and this led
him to talk of the Duke of Marlborough, of his character and military
genius, and so on to other things. He said that he considered the
principal characteristic of the Duke of Marlborough to have been his
strong sound sense and great practical sagacity. That it was a mistake
to say he was illiterate. People fancied so because of the way in
which his words were misspelt, but in his time they spelt them as they
were pronounced. He thought the errors he had committed were owing to
his wife. As to his character, we must not judge of it according to
the maxims by which men in our time were governed; besides that, they
were less strict in his day; the condition of affairs itself produced
a laxity; and though it was true he communicated with the Pretender
and acted a double part, that was no more than many men in France did
during Napoleon's reign, and he told a curious anecdote of Talleyrand.
He said that at the Congress held at Erfurt, not long before
Napoleon's marriage, he and the Emperor Alexander met for the purpose
of discussing what should be done with Austria, Napoleon being anxious
to plunder and degrade her to a great extent. He brought Talleyrand
with him to this meeting, and Talleyrand completely threw him over.
Every evening there was a meeting at the house of the Princess of
Thurn and Taxis, between Alexander, Talleyrand, and Vincent, the
Austrian Minister, at which they concerted what should be said to
Napoleon the next day, and how they should parry his propositions. The
Duke said that both Vincent and the Emperor Alexander had given him
an account of all this transaction. He added, that though it was a
sort of treachery on the part of Talleyrand towards Napoleon, he had
no doubt he was really of opinion that it was very fit he should be
thwarted, and that it was inexpedient to destroy the Austrian empire.
He said many men, and respectable ones, in employment under Napoleon
had been in constant communication with the Duke of Orleans, and he
mentioned Royer Collard and some other names I have forgotten.
[Sidenote: MARLBOROUGH AND NAPOLEON.]
The Duke then talked of the military genius of Marlborough, and
said that though he was a very great man, the art of war was so far
advanced since his time that it was impossible to compare him with
more modern generals; and unquestionably Napoleon was the greatest
military genius that ever existed; that he had advantages which no
other man ever possessed in the unlimited means at his command and
his absolute power and irresponsibility, and that he never scrupled
at any expenditure of human life; but nevertheless his employment of
his means and resources was wonderful. I told him that I remembered to
have heard him say that he considered Napoleon's campaign of '14 to
have been one of the greatest, if not the greatest, of his exploits,
and that he was then ruined by his own impatience. He said it was
quite true, and then repeated (what he had once before told me) that
nothing could exceed the ability of Napoleon's operations, and if he
had continued to act for a little longer in the same way, he would
have forced the Allies to retreat, which they were in fact preparing
to do. He said _he_ should not have had time to get up, but his
intention had been to act upon the Loire. If this retreat had taken
place, it would not have been disastrous, and they would have had
their choice of renewing the invasion in another campaign, or making
peace on the Rhine, which he thought they would have done. From this
we got to Espartero and Spain, and the recent bombardment of Seville,
which he said was inexcusable, and he told us that he never had fired
off a single mortar while he was in Spain. He also mentioned, that
though he had taken about 3,000 pieces of cannon of different sorts,
he had never in his life lost a single gun.
[Sidenote: FACTIOUS CONDUCT OF THE WHIGS.]
_August 11th._--The other night, in the House of Lords, Lord Roden
brought forward a motion about the law prohibiting Orange processions,
and proposed either that it should be repealed or extended to the
Catholics. He made a very good speech, in such an impressive tone
that Wharncliffe told me it was very affecting. The Duke made a very
good reply, in which he showed that Roden had mistaken the meaning
of the Act, and on the part of the Government he declined to adopt
either alternative. Brougham made one of his most effective speeches.
This debate did good. There was another in the House of Commons on
the third reading of the Irish Arms Bill; also a discussion on the
landlord and tenant question, which were not without their separate
utility. Peel made a pretty good speech, considerably better than he
has lately been doing; but still he might have been more vigorous,
have taken a loftier tone, vindicated himself and his acts in a more
triumphant way, and have lashed his various opponents in the manner
they deserve. The remarkable thing was the bitterness and insolence
of his _soi-disant_ friends and the civility of his adversaries.
Moore O'Farrell and Morgan John O'Connell were even complimentary in
what they said on the landlord question, while Disraeli and Smythe,
who are the principal characters, together with John Manners, of the
little squad called 'Young England,' were abusive and impertinent.
As the session is drawing to a close, the clamour subsides, and as
it really had no foundation in truth, justice, or sense, it will
not have done Peel any material injury. People will find out that
he has after all taken the wisest course about Ireland, and that
the 'do-nothing policy,' which has excited so much indignation on
one side and sneering on the other, is that which will be the least
dangerous and most conducive to ultimate tranquillity. The Opposition
leaders have disgraced themselves by the part they have acted through
this session, both upon the Education Bill and the Irish questions.
They began by supporting the former, but when they found that the
Dissenters were getting up an opposition to it, which would render
its success difficult, instead of helping the Government, they began
finding fault, increased the difficulty, and finally compelled them
to give the Bill up. Then, on the Irish question, instead of joining
the Government against the repealers, and giving all the strength they
could to the supporters of the Union, they joined in the senseless and
unmeaning rant about Irish insults and injuries, and went on railing
at the Government without ever accusing them of having done anything
they ought not to have done, or left undone anything which they
ought to have done. It is satisfactory to see that this conduct has
brought no profit with it of any kind on either side of the Channel.
England does not approve of those who sympathise with Irish repealers,
and O'Connell, so far from being mollified or propitiated by this
miserable following in his wake, only heaps contumely and abuse upon
them, and in his very last speech he told his mob that he would rather
have twenty Tories than one Whig, and of all the Whigs that the most
pitiful and contemptible was Lord John Russell. This is all Johnny
has got by coming down to the House of Commons, and opposing his own
bills, and talking at the Government in a strain which is not sincere.
How different is this from the conduct of the Duke of Wellington on
all great national questions! But he is the only really great man.
_August 26th._--The day before yesterday the Queen prorogued
Parliament. She was received much as usual--that is, with
indifference; the Speech was reckoned good, well written, and Ireland,
the principal topic, properly alluded to. I reserve for another day
to speak about the session and its events. On Wednesday I went with
Adolphus FitzClarence on board the new yacht 'Victoria and Albert,'
and steamed as far as Gravesend. It is luxuriously fitted up, but
everything is sacrificed to the comfort of the Court, the whole ship's
company being crammed into wretched dog-holes, officers included.
I breakfasted with one of the lieutenants, and he showed me their
berths. They are packed two officers in one berth, about seven feet by
five at most, and, as he said, they have not room to move, or dress
themselves. There is a large room, a sort of waiting-room allotted to
the pages, who are in fact footmen, and round this on both sides their
berths, one to each. It was pointed out that the room for the officers
was insufficient, and suggested that one half of these berths should
be allotted to them and the other half to the pages; the other pages
they proposed to put on board the attendant steamers. This proposal,
which was only to put the officers and the royal footmen on the same
level as to accommodation, was rejected, because it might possibly be
inconvenient not to have _all_ the servants together. The Admiralty
are much to blame for suffering the officers to be used with such
indignity, but flattery seems to be the order of the day.
[Sidenote: THE QUEEN'S VISIT TO FRANCE.]
The Queen is to embark on Monday, and she is going to pay Louis
Philippe a visit at the Château d'Eu. It is odd enough that till
yesterday the Duke of Wellington knew nothing of this, for though it
is an event in its way, and rather remarkable, it seems never to have
been even incidentally discussed. On Thursday I happened to mention
it to Arbuthnot, who said it could not be true. He asked the Duke the
same day, who told him he had never heard a word of any such thing.
On this Arbuthnot contradicted it to me in the most positive way;
but yesterday he saw Peel, and asked him. Peel said it was so, and
expressed his surprise that the Duke should not know it, as he thought
he had told him. He, however, wrote to the Duke, and gave him a whole
account of it. The Duke was surprised, but not at all angry. This is
rather curious, because it shows how little they are in the habit of
talking over the various miscellaneous matters that occur. It is the
more remarkable in this instance, because a question arose whether
she could go to a foreign land without appointing a Regency, and the
lawyers have been consulted thereupon. The last interview between
the Sovereigns of England and France was that between Henry VIII.
and Francis I., and that, they say, took place within the English
territory; the only occasion on which the King of England quitted his
own dominions was when he went to Gravelines to pay a visit to the
Emperor.[66]
[Footnote 66: [This remark applies to Henry VIII. In later times it
is notorious that William III. frequently visited the Continent,
and George I. and George II. their Hanoverian dominions.]]
_September 10th._--I had intended to take something of a review of
the session, and of the state of the Government at the end of it, but
on looking back at what I have written, I do not know that I can add
anything material to the opinion I have already expressed. The clamour
against Peel has subsided, because people cannot go on for ever
harping on the same tune, especially when there is really very small
foundation for their reproaches and complaints. The Duke of Bedford,
who has been in Ireland, and has conversed, he tells me, with people
of all descriptions, and done his utmost to procure useful information
about the state of the country, says he is quite convinced that Peel's
_do-nothing policy_ has been wise, but that Lord John was not pleased
when he told him so. In a correspondence between them on the subject
(which I saw) Lord John had, however, nothing to urge against Peel's
Government more serious than this, that he might have made some more
popular, and abstained from some unpopular, appointments. But Lord
John hates Peel, thinks ill of him, and sees bad motives in all he
does. He still remembers the Catholic question and his conduct to
Canning, and latterly on the Irish Registration, which he considers a
proof of his insincerity and disposition to trifle with principles
for party purposes. I think Peel might make out a case for himself
about the Registration, as to everything but prudence; but when he
must himself have thought that his advent to office was not distant,
he ought not to have hampered himself with a measure which he could
neither abandon without disgrace, nor carry without danger. He had
not sufficiently considered all the bearings and circumstances of the
question, and he yielded with too great facility to the impetuosity of
Stanley, whose measure it was, and to the blind zeal of his party. It
cannot be denied that in so doing he evinced a want of prudence and
foresight, for he was compelled to give up when in office what he had
urged on when in opposition.
[Sidenote: ENDOWMENT OF THE CATHOLIC CLERGY.]
To return, however, to the Duke of Bedford, he thinks O'Connell is
extremely puzzled to know what to do next. He sent various civil
messages to him through Blake, and he said if the aristocracy had
anything to propose, he should be ready to listen to it. The Duke
thinks that the Church question is of less importance than the
landlord and tenant question, and that, difficult as it is to do
anything on the latter, something must be attempted. Both he and
Stradbroke, who has lately returned from visiting his Irish estates,
told me that, with few exceptions, the absentee landlords were the
best in Ireland; and the latter said that his tenants were in the
greatest alarm lest he should sell his property, and that they paid
him his rents very regularly, because he always threatened to sell
it if they did not. The Duke of Bedford thinks that the sooner Lord
de Grey quits the Government of Ireland the better, for he is not
popular, and his Church appointments are supposed to be influenced
by his wife. They have been, at all events, very hostile to the
Education system, and in so far very injurious to the Government,
who are accused, with some show of reason, of not being hearty in
the cause which ostensibly they support. Eliot[67] too, though
well-meaning and liberal, and not wanting in ability, is timid. He
told the Duke that the temper of England would not allow of any
provision for the Roman Catholic clergy. A more solid difficulty
presents itself in the fact which Stradbroke told me, viz., that the
emolument which the clergy derive from voluntary contributions is so
large, that no State endowment they could obtain would be anything
like an equivalent, and therefore they never would consent to the
measure; but it is suggested in reply to this, that in the first
place they would accept glebes, and if the State would liberally
endow the Church, the people would leave off paying, and the priests
would in the end be obliged to acquiesce. Stradbroke said that the
priest of his parish told him he got 500_l._ a year; some get as much
as 800_l._ A great part of their emoluments is made up of marriage
fees, and when a rich man is married, the priest gets presents from
all the relations, sometimes to the amount of above 100_l._ There is
certainly a wide field open for improvement, enough to do to allay
discontent, relieve distress, reform abuses, improve establishments,
to mitigate the ferocity and soften the animosities of the people;
but the difficulties are enormous, because all the remedies that calm
and dispassionate prudence suggest would infallibly raise a storm of
antagonist interests and of sectarian hatred, and produce a frenzy
of national and religious violence. On the other hand there is a
growing disposition to look the great evils of Ireland in the face,
and to try some remedies to cure them. Peel's policy appears to me to
be in everything continually to advance, but to do so by such slow
and insensible degrees, that existing interests, or rather existing
powers, may be as little frightened and as little hurt as possible. I
do not think, whatever sins he may have committed on former occasions,
that he is acting dishonestly now, or that the principle which he has
laid down for his own guidance is unwise or unfair. It is not to do
nothing, but to do gradually and safely all he can venture to do, to
feel his way; not to shock and alarm old prejudices which have long
been cherished and deferred to, and old interests which have long been
fostered and protected, but to reconcile those prejudices and those
interests by degrees to the changes which times and circumstances and
the progress of sound systems have put in motion, and the advance of
which it is, he well knows, neither desirable nor possible to arrest.
[Footnote 67: [Lord Eliot, afterwards Earl St. Germans, was Chief
Secretary for Ireland from 1841 to 1845.]]
_September 15th._--There has just appeared in the 'Quarterly Review' a
defence of Peel's policy, supposed to be by Croker, but which is very
feeble and ill-done, and has been lashed by the 'Times' with great
severity and in a most contumelious tone.
The Queen's visit to Eu went off with complete success, and she left
a good impression. On her return she stopped a few days at Brighton
and then went off to Ostend. Aberdeen had a great deal of conversation
with Louis Philippe and with Guizot, mostly on the affairs of Spain.
The King declared that he considered the late revolution and fall
of Espartero the greatest evil that could have happened, repudiated
the idea of having any purpose of marrying one of his own sons to
the Queen, and they came to a regular agreement that neither France
nor England should interfere, or endeavour to influence the choice
of a husband for her in any way.[68] As soon as Aberdeen returned to
London, and before he started again for Ostend, he sent for Delane
and told him this, for, notwithstanding the hostile and offensive
tone which the 'Times' has adopted towards the Government generally,
particularly Peel and Graham, this formidable paper is in a sort of
alliance with the Foreign Office, and the communications between Lord
Aberdeen and Delane are regular and frequent.
[Footnote 68: [This was the memorable agreement afterwards so
signally violated by the French Government. It is remarkable that
it should be recorded here, but the terms in which it is stated are
not strictly accurate. Indeed, it is corrected in the next page.
The French Government always declared that they held the Queen free
to marry any of the descendants of Philip V. The idea of a Carlist
marriage was a mistake. It never was entertained at all.]]
[Sidenote: THE AGREEMENT AT EU.]
_September 19th._--I made a mistake about Aberdeen's communication
with Delane. The circumstances of this are rather singular. Delane
says that instead of an agreement not to meddle with the Queen of
Spain's marriage, they had agreed upon the person to whom she should
be married, but that he was under an engagement to Lord Aberdeen
not to say to anybody who that person is. From all this I should
be disposed to infer that Aberdeen and Louis Philippe have pitched
upon Don Carlos's son as the future husband of the Queen. I told
Clarendon this, who scouts the idea of the Spaniards allowing France
and England to dispose of her hand, and, notwithstanding the anarchy
and dissension which prevail in that country, their pride is probably
unabated, and the whole nation would oppose any such pretension. It
is abundantly probable that Aberdeen was cajoled and deceived by
the King and Guizot. It seems that Marliani, who was here the other
day, saw Aberdeen, who told him what the King had said, and how much
he regretted the late revolution. Marliani replied, 'On joue bien
la comédie à Paris, et je ne suppose pas qu'on la joue moins bien
an château d'Eu.' Why, he asks, did the French Government, if they
considered the downfall of Espartero as a misfortune, do all in their
power to weaken his Government and undermine his authority? It is
certainly curious enough to see that the French Consul Lesseps, who
exerted himself to prevent the bombardment of Barcelona when the city
was in rebellion against the Regent, shows no such sympathy for the
Junta which is opposing the Government of the insurrection.[69]
On Sunday I went to Richmond to call on Miss Berry,[70] and found her
in great indignation at Croker's recent article in the 'Quarterly'
upon the series just published of Lord Orford's letters to Mann, angry
on his account and on her own. Croker says, what has been often
reported, that Lord Orford offered to marry Mary Berry, and on her
refusal, to marry Agnes. She says it is altogether false. He never
thought of marrying Agnes, and what passed with regard to herself
was this: The Duchess of Gloster was very jealous of his intimacy
with the Berrys, though she treated them with civility. At last her
natural impetuosity broke out, and she said to him, 'Do you mean to
marry Miss Berry or do you not?' To which he replied, 'That is as
Miss Berry herself pleases;' and that, as I understood her, is all
that passed about it. She said nothing could be more beautiful and
touching than his affection for her, devoid as it was of any particle
of sensual feeling, and she should ever feel proud of having inspired
such a man with such a sentiment. She is angry with Bentley for having
published these two volumes without having them prepared for the
press by some competent hand, and his excuse is that it would have
been too expensive. The truth is, he thought the letters sufficiently
attractive, and did not care about anything but the profit. I think
they are at least as amusing, if not more amusing than any of the
other volumes, but I agree with Croker in his estimate of the
character of the man. It is difficult to believe that he cared a straw
about Sir Horace Mann himself, and there is no doubting that though he
pressed him to come to England, he was very glad when he found he did
not mean to come.
[Footnote 69: [An insurrection broke out in Catalonia in the month
of June against the Government of Espartero, then Regent of Spain.
Barcelona was bombarded from the citadel, though without much
serious damage. The insurrection, headed by General Narvaez, spread
to other parts of Spain, and on July 30 Espartero was compelled to
fly from Seville and take refuge on a British vessel off Cadiz.
It was believed, at the time, that the French Government, which
had always been very hostile to Espartero, had favoured this
revolution.]]
[Footnote 70: [Miss Berry and her sister Agnes, who both died
at a very advanced age in 1852, were the last surviving friends
of Horace Walpole, who called them his 'Strawberries,' and had
established a great intimacy between their youth and his own age.
Miss Berry's house in Curzon Street was one of the last _salons_
that existed in London, and the most agreeable. It was frequented
by all the rank, beauty, and talent of those times. Whenever the
lamp over the hall door was lit, any _habitué_ of the house was
welcome. Of the two sisters, Mary Berry was born in March 1763, and
died in November 1852; Agnes Berry was born in May 1764, and died
in January 1852. They were buried in Petersham Church, where Lord
Carlisle placed an inscription to their memory.]]
[Sidenote: RANKE AND MACAULAY.]
_October 16th._--I have been laid up with the gout more or less during
the last three weeks, and when that is upon me I am always disinclined
to write. Just before I was attacked I went to breakfast with George
Lewis to meet Ranke, the author of 'The Popes of the Sixteenth and
Seventeenth Century.' He had got Macaulay, who had reviewed his
book, to meet him, Sir Alexander Duff Gordon and his wife (daughter
of Mrs. Austin, his translator), and Sir Edmund Head. I went prepared
to listen to some first-rate literary talk between such luminaries
as Ranke and Macaulay, but there never was a greater failure. The
professor, a vivacious little man, not distinguished in appearance,
could talk no English, and his French, though spoken fluently, was
quite unintelligible. On the other hand, Macaulay could not speak
German, and he spoke French without any facility and with a very vile
accent. It was comical to see the abundance of his matter struggling
with his embarrassment in giving utterance to it, to hear the torrent
of knowledge trying to force its way through the impediment of a
limited acquaintance with the French language and the want of habit of
conversing in it. But the struggle was of short duration. He began in
French, but very soon could bear the restraint no longer, and broke
into English, pouring forth his stores to the utterly unconscious and
uncomprehending professor. This babel of a breakfast, at which it was
impossible for seven people to converse in any common language, soon
came to an end, and Ranke was evidently glad to go off to the State
Paper Office, where he was working every day. After he was gone,
Macaulay held forth, and was as usual very well worth listening to.
A day or two after this my gout began, and unluckily I was obliged
to go down to attend a Council at Windsor, which was held ostensibly
for proroguing Parliament, putting forth a proclamation against the
Welsh rioters, and other ordinary matters, little aware of the much
more important affair which had brought the whole Cabinet together.
I was obliged to go down with my crutches, and to crave the Queen's
permission to go into her presence upon them, which Lord Wharncliffe
did for me. She was exceedingly gracious, and the Prince very civil.
She seemed considerably amused to see me come in on my crutches, and
both she and the Prince said some civil things to me, and I flatter
myself I contrived to sidle out, so as not to turn my back on Her
Majesty, with no inconsiderable dexterity.
It was on a Monday I attended the Council, and the Sunday following
I went to Newmarket, where I only stayed two days, for on Wednesday
I went to Chatsworth. On Tuesday, however, the newspapers announced
the declaration of war against O'Connell in the shape of the
Proclamation,[71] much, I must own, to my surprise. This was, of
course, the matter which brought all the Ministers together the week
before. It seems to have been successful thus far, but whether it will
turn out to have been a judicious measure remains to be proved. I am,
however, not acquainted with their reasons for doing it when they did,
and not doing it before, and I really have no decided opinion about it.
On Wednesday I set off, and reached Chatsworth on Thursday. There
my gout began again, and I was only able, and that with difficulty,
to get to the new conservatory in the garden, which is very fine in
its way, and contains, I suppose, an unlimited collection of curious
plants, the value of which I could not appreciate, as I know nothing
of such things. Chatsworth is very magnificent, but I looked back with
regret to the house in its unfinished state, when we lived in three
spacious cheerful rooms looking to the south, which are now quite
useless, being gorgeously furnished with velvet and silk, and marble
tables, but unoccupied, and the windows closed lest the sun should
spoil the finery with which the apartments are decorated. The comfort
we had then has been ill exchanged for the magnificence which has
replaced it, and the Duke has made the house so large that he cannot
afford to live in it, and never remains there above two or three
months in the year.
[Sidenote: ARREST OF O'CONNELL.]
While I was there Lady Georgiana Fullerton gave me to read so much
as she has written of the novel she has been for some time about. It
is a very extraordinary performance, and if the second part of it is
as good as the first, it will be excellent; as it is, it is deeply
interesting.[72]
I came to town yesterday, and in a 'Times' which I bought at Derby I
read of the arrest of O'Connell and others of his followers. A trial
of O'Connell in Ireland seems a desperate measure, and it is not easy
to see how a conviction is to be procured from an Irish jury; but I
suppose all this has not been done without great deliberation, and the
Ministers must fancy they see their own way more clearly than I do.
_October 31st._--I was laid up for two or three days in London, and
then went to Riddlesworth for two or three more. I arrived at night,
and on going into the drawing-room I found four people playing at
whist, eight others at a round game, and one asleep in an armchair.
And this is called society; and amongst such people I have lived, do
live, and shall live--I who have seen, known, and had the choice of
better things. Eating, drinking, and amusement is the occupation of
these people's lives, and I am ashamed to say such has been mine.
I was reading Charles Lamb's letters in the carriage, and very
remarkable they are, among the very best I think I ever read. I was
struck by one passage, which I applied to myself: 'I gain nothing by
being with such as myself; we encourage one another in mediocrity.'
This is it. We go on herding with inferior companions, till we are
really unfit for better company. However, this is a sore subject,
and I will say no more on it here and now. On Sunday week I went to
Newmarket, where there was an unusual quantity of racing. The Queen
took it into her head to come to Cambridge that week, but this made no
difference to us.
I had some talk with the Duke of Bedford about Ireland. He told me
that Lord John and Palmerston were both disposed to approve of the
Government measures in Ireland, but thought they had been done in
a bungling manner, and that Lord John took much the same view that
I do of it, which is, that O'Connell is in all probability highly
delighted at what the Government have done, and that it answers his
purpose perfectly; but what then? There was not and there could be
no collusion with him, but it was very wise to compel him to do
what he was dying to do, but did not dare. Clarendon, who knows the
man well from Sheil, wrote me word that the clue to all his conduct
was his inconceivable cowardice, that he is the greatest coward on
earth, and has an indescribable dread of imprisonment, or any sort
of coercion or punishment. It is impossible to doubt that he desired
nothing so much as to scramble, if possible, out of the scrape he had
got himself into. But certainly the conduct of Government has been
most extraordinary. It is difficult to imagine why they put off their
Proclamation till the eleventh hour, when there was scarcely time
to stop the meeting; why they did not prevent the meeting at Tara,
and why Lord de Grey and Sugden were both absent. They certainly
mismanage their affairs in various quarters. They suffered the Welsh
disturbances to go on unchecked, and the grievances there unremedied,
when they ought to have interfered with a strong hand long ago; they
have made miserable work of the Scotch Church quarrel.[73] Nothing
is so bad as complimenting away what they believe to be right, and
acquiescing in what they believe to be wrong, to meet the prejudices
of individuals. This is what they did. Aberdeen, who has been all
along almost, but not quite, a non-intrusionist, got into the hands
of a few people at Edinburgh who wanted an excuse for not seceding,
and who persuaded him to bring in his Bill, which was neither more
nor less than an indignity put on the House of Lords. Nobody was
more disgusted, or more opposed to this Bill than Lyndhurst. He
abused Aberdeen for it, but it is generally believed that the latter
threatened, if Government would not support him, to resign, and
so they knocked under. Lyndhurst said to Clarendon while Aberdeen
was speaking: 'Damn the fellow, what does he bring in such a Bill
as this for; I don't see why I should support anything so absurd!'
He did, however, support it, and so did Brougham, who had himself
been concerned in the Auchterarder judgement, but whose concurrence
was obtained by some trifling alteration of detail, which made no
difference in the principle of the Bill. The Bill did no sort of good,
and only seemed to drag the House of Lords through the dirt. I wonder
the Duke of Wellington stood it.
[Footnote 71: [On October 7th a proclamation was issued by the
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland prohibiting the great Repeal Meeting
which was to take place on the following day at Clontarf. O'Connell
then abandoned the meeting, but gave the people of Ireland
fresh assurances of Repeal. On October 14th he and his son were
called upon to enter bail against any charge of conspiracy and
misdemeanour which might be brought against them. Such was the
commencement of the prosecution of O'Connell.]]
[Footnote 72: [This was Lady Georgiana Fullerton's first novel,
entitled 'Ellen Middleton.' It was published in 1844.]]
[Footnote 73: [The House of Lords, having decided in the
Auchterarder case in favour of the right of patronage in the Church
of Scotland, the Disruption which led to the establishment of the
Free Church took place on May 18th, 1843. Lord Aberdeen brought a
bill into the House of Lords on June 13th to remove doubt as to the
rights of patrons, but it was then too late to heal the breach.]]
[Sidenote: A TRICK OF LORD BROUGHAM'S.]
_November 3rd._--A characteristic trait of Brougham has just come
under my notice. Full of wrath and vengeance against Fonblanque for
his reiterated attacks, he is pursuing the action which he long ago
threatened against the 'Examiner.' He is gone off to France, having
first arranged everything with Vizard for the cause. He thought it
necessary to obtain from Reeve an affidavit about the practice in the
Privy Council, by which he might prove that he could not be cognisant
of a case before it was judicially brought before him. He desired
Reeve to attend at Vizard's office, which he did, and found there
an affidavit prepared for him according to Brougham's instructions.
When Reeve read it over, he found that there was hardly one word of
truth in it, and he said he would not sign it. He then proceeded
to explain what the practice is, and what the facts were in this
particular case, by which it was evident that Reeve's evidence would
be prejudicial instead of serviceable to Brougham. They therefore gave
up all thought of getting any affidavit from him; but it seems to have
occurred to Brougham's restless mind, that it was just possible the
other party might enquire into the practice, and call upon Reeve to
make an affidavit, which would suit their purpose very well, though
not his. To avert this danger, he had the folly and the baseness to
write to Reeve on the eve of his departure, telling him that in case
any application was made to him of this nature by the opposite party,
he must remember that it was a voluntary act on his part, that he
was not obliged to comply, and that it would not be becoming in him
to render any assistance to a party in litigation with one of the
Judges of the Court to which he belonged. This letter Reeve brought
to me, and he said that though it was not very probable they would
apply to him, after receiving it he should decline to do anything on
his own responsibility, and if called upon, should come to me for
instructions. I told him to do so, and I would take it all on myself.
This is as thorough a _Broughamism_ as can be found in the history of
his strange, discreditable life.
[Sidenote: DEATH OF EDWARD VILLIERS.]
_November 7th._--Last night came intelligence from Nice that Edward
Villiers was dead. He went there in a hopeless state, was worse
after his arrival; then an abscess in his lungs broke, which gave a
momentary gleam of hope, but he expired very soon after. I had a great
regard for him, and he deserved it. He was a man little known of the
world in general, shy, reserved to strangers, cold and rather austere
in his manners, and being very shortsighted, made people think
he meant to slight them when he had no such intention. He was not
fitted to bustle into public notice, and such ambition as he had was
not of the noisy and ostentatious kind. But no man was more beloved
by his family and friends, and none could be more agreeable in any
society when he was completely at his ease. He was most warm-hearted
and affectionate, sincere, obliging, disinterested, unselfish, and
of scrupulous integrity, by which I mean integrity in the largest
sense, not merely that which shrinks from doing a dishonourable or
questionable action, but which habitually refers to conscientious
principles in every transaction of life. He viewed things with the
eye of a philosopher, and aimed at establishing a perfect consistency
between his theory and his practice. He had a remarkably acute
and searching intellect, with habits of patient investigation and
mature deliberation; his soul was animated by ardent aspirations
after the improvement and the happiness of mankind, and he abhorred
injustice and oppression in all their shapes and disguises with
an honest intensity which produced something of a morbid sentiment
in his mind, and sometimes betrayed him into mistaken impressions
and erroneous conclusions. The expansive benevolence of his moral
sentiments powerfully influenced his political opinions, and his deep
sympathy with the poor not only rendered him inexorably severe to the
vices of the rich, but made him regard with aversion and distrust
the aristocratic elements of our institutions, and rendered him an
ardent promoter of the most extensive schemes of progressive reform.
But while he clung with inflexible constancy to his own opinions, no
man was more tolerant of the opinion of others. In conversation he
was animated, brilliant, amusing, and profound, bringing sincerity,
single-mindedness, and knowledge to bear upon every discussion.
His life, though short, uneventful, and retired, was passed in the
contemplation of subjects of the highest interest and worthiest to
occupy the thoughts of a good and wise man, and the few intimacies
he cultivated were with congenial minds, estimable for their moral
excellence or distinguished by their intellectual qualities and
attainments. The world at large will never know what virtues and
talents have been prematurely snatched away from it, for those only
who have seen Edward Villiers in the unrestraint and unreserve of
domestic familiarity can appreciate the charm of his disposition and
the vigour of his understanding. No stranger would have divined that
under that cold and grave exterior there lay concealed an exquisite
sensibility, the most ardent affections, and a mind fertile in every
good and noble quality. To the relations and friends, who were
devotedly attached to him, the loss is irreparable and will long
be deplored, and the only consolation which offers itself is to be
found in the circumstances of his end. He was surrounded by kind and
affectionate friends, and expired in the arms of a wife whose conduct
he himself described to have been that of a heroine as well as an
angel. He was in possession of all his faculties, and was free from
bodily pain. He died with the cheerfulness of a philosopher, and the
resignation of a Christian, happy, devout, and hopeful, and joyfully
contemplating death in an assured faith of a resurrection from the
dead.
_November 14th._--I broke off to go and attend my poor aunt's funeral,
who was buried in the most private way possible at Kensal Green. I
never saw the place before, and liked the appearance of it, for I
have never seen any reason why none but gloomy images and symbols
should be accumulated round the graves of our departed friends. I
am not surprised that people who go to visit this spot, and see the
cheerfulness and the beauty it exhibits, feel a longing to take their
last rest in it. Such was her case, poor soul. A more kind-hearted
being never lived, one more inoffensive, or who passed a more
uneventful and innocent life. She was one of the
Unlettered Christians who believe in gross,
Plod on to Heaven and ne'er are at a loss--
and so much the better for her. I suppose few people ever had fewer
sins to repent of, none probably, unless some infirmities of temper
amounted to such. For the last two years she was afflicted with a
cancer, and under the exhaustion produced by this disease she at last
sank. She died full of devout sentiments, and uttering that language,
at once self-accusing, humble, and grateful, which the orthodox forms
of religion indiscriminately prescribe. God only can judge how far
they are sincere.
_November 25th._--We are all occupied with the trials in Ireland.
It was very generally thought by the lawyers here that the plea of
abatement put in by O'Connell would be admitted, and the indictment
quashed; but the judges unanimously admitted the demurrer, and
overruled the plea. Baron Parke told me on Saturday last that the plea
was certainly good, and that was Rolfe's opinion also. The majority of
the lawyers, though there was much difference of opinion, I believe
inclined that way, and the Irish judges seem to have decided it rather
in conformity with the practice of their predecessors, than upon their
own construction of the statutes. There are many speculations as
to the duration of the trial, various calculations from a fortnight
to two years, and a strong belief that there is small chance of a
conviction. However, as far as the business has gone, the measures
taken by the Government seem justified by the results, and public
opinion goes with them.
[Sidenote: VISIT OF THE DUC DE BORDEAUX.]
It is now decided, I suspect after much doubt and discussion, that the
Queen is not to receive the Duc de Bordeaux, which will give rise to
a great deal of chatter and abuse and many conflicting opinions.[74]
I have always thought she ought to receive him, and think so still.
The Whigs are provoked, at least some of them, at the Queen's visit
to Peel, and try hard to persuade themselves and others that it is
no mark of favour to him, and that she is still very fond of them.
It won't do, however; they will persuade nobody else, if they can
themselves; she cares really for nobody but her husband. The Tories
have got fast hold of him, and through him of her, and this provokes
the Whigs to death.
A rascally attorney has brought actions against a parcel of people
for penalties for excessive gaming under an old statute of Anne,
which has never been acted upon, at least as to bets on horse-races.
The penalties are laid at a great amount, and the object is supposed
to be vindictive. They have threatened me, but not served me with a
writ. All the lawyers say that it is necessary to bring in a Bill to
repeal the Act, or as much of it as may be necessary, and quash the
proceedings. I suppose there is no doubt of its passing, but there
will be found people to oppose it, and who would think it right to
leave jockeys and bettors to their fate, under any circumstances, in
order to put down gambling, and, if it were possible, horse-racing
itself, although it is the policy of the Legislators to encourage the
latter, and it does so by annual votes of money for prizes to be run
for.
[Footnote 74: [The visit of the Duc de Bordeaux to England led
to a great demonstration of the Legitimist party, who flocked to
Belgrave Square where he had taken a house. It had been intended to
receive the Prince at Windsor, but when his visit assumed a strong
political character, which gave great umbrage to the French Court,
this design was abandoned, and he was not presented to the Queen.]]
_November 29th._--Yesterday Lord Wharncliffe told me the present state
of the Education question, and the intentions of Government. They will
not burn their fingers with any more bills, but are going to extend
the present system and dispense more money. But they are quarrelling
with the British and Foreign School Society, who kick at the
appointment of an inspector independent of themselves, and claim that
he shall be removeable at their pleasure. The Government, in order to
conciliate them, have removed Mr. Tremenheere, who is an excellent
man, but who was on bad terms with them; but the fact is, they are not
to be conciliated. Their success in defeating the Government measure
last session has increased their notions of their own consequence,
and nothing will satisfy them now but being put on a level with the
Church. I have for some time past expected that the Government would
be driven to cast themselves entirely on the Church, and it would be
no bad thing for them if they were. With fair and liberal intentions,
they give satisfaction to no party at present; they would then at
least act on an intelligible principle, and would have the support
of the most powerful and influential interest there is. Wharncliffe
is mightily pleased with his own management of the Council Office,
the principal part of which is the Education Department. He really
has reason, for he has taken great pains, and has shown fairness,
liberality, and, I believe, firmness too. His intentions are certainly
good, and I am inclined to think that justice is done to him. He
really too does the business _himself_.
[Sidenote: THE DUC DE BORDEAUX'S RECEPTION.]
_December 7th._--There has been a great botheration about the Duc
de Bordeaux. When he came here the question arose whether the Queen
should receive him or not, and most people thought she ought, for
his friends declared that he came without any political object or
pretension, merely to amuse and inform himself. When the Queen was
at Eu, the Duke's intended visit to England was known and discussed,
and at that time Guizot told Aberdeen that, so far from objecting,
it was their wish that every civility should be shown him. But it
subsequently appeared that, whether with or without his cognisance,
his adherents intended to make his residence in London instrumental
to a great political demonstration, and they had previously
endeavoured to negotiate for his reception by the Emperor of Russia
at Berlin through M. de St. Priest, who went there for that purpose.
This entirely changed the nature of the case, and Guizot wrote to
Aberdeen, stating these facts, and expressing a wish that under such
circumstances the Queen would not receive him, and it was decided
that she should not. The Prince began by a tour in the provinces, and
a visit to Alton Towers, where he was very royally treated. He went
to Chatsworth and Trentham to see the places, and wrote his name in
the books of visitors as _Henri de France_, which might mean anything
or nothing. About a week ago he arrived in London, and at the same
time every Carlist in France, to the number of several hundred,
flocked over to attend his Court. The town has ever since swarmed with
monstrous beards of every cut and colour, and every night he receives
a succession of them. A few days ago three hundred gentlemen waited on
old Chateaubriand, and harangued him through the Duke de FitzJames,
whom they unanimously elected as their mouthpiece. He began in these
terms: 'These gentlemen who have been to render their homage _to the
King of France_,' &c. Soon after this ceremony was concluded, the Duc
de Bordeaux came into the room, and made a speech, in which he talked
of looking towards the throne of his ancestors, and if he did so, it
was for the good he might do to France. Such language as this was sure
to make a great sensation; it showed what the pretensions and objects
of these very foolish people were, and how indispensable it was that
the Queen should have nothing whatever to say to him. The French Court
were well pleased that they had thrown aside the mask, and committed
him and themselves so entirely, and they immediately resolved to
attack such of the Carlist faction as are members of the Chamber of
Deputies, as soon as the Chambers shall meet. St. Aulaire told me this
the other night at Lady Holland's, where I had a long conversation
with him on the whole subject, and Guizot took the trouble to write
a letter to Reeve of two sheets of paper, in which he went at great
length into the conduct of the party, and the feelings and intentions
of the French Government in regard to it. St. Aulaire told me that the
Queen is annoyed at the Duc de Bordeaux's having come here without her
consent, and at his making London the theatre of this absurd Carlist
drama.
_December 13th._--Here I am laid up with the gout again, never having
been free from it for nearly three months. I dined with Lady Holland
the other day, and met Melbourne for the second time only since his
illness. He looked tolerably well in the face, but was feeble and out
of spirits. He had been at the Queen's party at Chatsworth, which
excited him, and was bad for him. At first he attempted to talk in
his old strain; but it was evidently an effort, he soon relapsed
into silence, and was in a hurry to get away the moment dinner was
over. I have no doubt he chafes and frets under the consciousness of
his decay. Duncannon was there, and talked of Ireland and the trial.
Melbourne, by the way, justified the Government, and said, 'I must say
they have been consistent, they always said it was a conspiracy; they
said so to me in the House of Lords. I used to hold that there could
be no conspiracy where there was no concealment, which was a mistake.
I was quite wrong about that, and acted on that principle.' 'Why did
you?' said Lady Holland. 'Oh, I don't know, it was a blunder.' There
was a sort of candour in all this, like Melbourne and peculiar to him.
He is a great disdainer of humbug, and values truth _quand même_, as
the French say.
Duncannon said the popularity of O'Connell, the Liberator, as they
all call him, is unbounded, and the Rent this year will be 25,000_l._
He asked the people in his neighbourhood what they were making the
great fires for, and they said. 'Because the Liberator has _bet_ the
Attorney-General.' He asked them why they wished for Repeal, and they
said, 'Because the Liberator said it would be a great thing for them.'
[Sidenote: ANECDOTE OF GEORGE II.]
Duncannon in the evening told me the story of George II.'s robbery
in Kensington Gardens, which I had heard before, but remembered
imperfectly. He was walking with William IV., he said, in Kensington
Gardens one day, and when they got to a certain spot the King said to
him, 'It was here, my Lord, that my great-grandfather, King George
II., was robbed. He was in the habit of walking every morning alone
round the garden, and one day a man jumped over the wall, approached
the King, but with great respect, and told him he was in distress, and
was compelled to ask him for his money, his watch, and the buckles in
his shoes. The King gave him what he had about him, and the man knelt
down to take off his buckles, all the time with profound respect.
When he had got everything, the King told him that there was a seal
on the watch-chain of little or no value, but which he wished to
have back, and requested he would take it off the chain and restore
it. The man said, 'Your Majesty must be aware that we have already
been here some time, and that it is not safe for me to stay longer,
but if you will give me your word not to say anything of what has
passed for twenty-four hours, I will place the seal at the same hour
to-morrow morning on that stone,' pointing to a particular place. The
King promised, went the next morning at the appointed hour, the man
appeared, brought the seal, and then jumped over the wall and went
off. 'His Majesty,' added King William, 'never afterwards walked alone
in Kensington Gardens.' His Majesty's attendants must have been rather
surprised to see him arrive at the palace _minus_ his shoe-buckles!
All the people who have been at the Royal progress say there never was
anything so grand as Chatsworth; and the Duke, albeit he would have
willingly dispensed with this visit, treated the Queen right royally.
He met her at the station and brought her in his own coach and six,
with a coach and four following, and eight outriders. The finest sight
was the illumination of the garden and the fountains; and after seeing
the whole place covered with innumerable lamps and all the material of
the illuminations, the guests were astonished and delighted when they
got up the following morning not to find a vestige of them left, and
the whole garden as trim and neat as if nothing had occurred. This
was accomplished by Paxton, who got 200 men, set them to work, and
worked with them the whole night till they had cleared away everything
belonging to the exhibition of the preceding night. This was a great
exploit in its way and produced a great effect. At Belvoir the Prince
went hunting, and acquitted himself in the field very creditably.
He was supposed to be a very poor performer in this line, and, as
Englishmen love manliness and dexterity in field sports, it will have
raised him considerably in public estimation to have rode well after
the hounds in Leicestershire.
It is amusing to see the sensation which the article in the 'Times' a
few days ago on the Duc de Bordeaux has made both here and in France.
Every French newspaper copied it _in extenso_, and, considering
the prodigious number of people who take their opinions ready made
from that paper, there is little doubt that it will have put an
extinguisher upon him here. Great effects these, and if the world
could but see and know what the machinery is which produces them,
how such crushing philippics are planned and executed, they would
be surprised. The article was written by Henry Reeve, and when he
was presented to the King shortly afterwards at the Tuileries, Louis
Philippe, who had been told by M. Guizot that the article was written
by Reeve, said to him, 'I regret, Mr. Reeve, that I cannot more fully
express in this place the obligation which I feel for the service you
have done us.' The English circle at the French Court looked on with
amazement when this speech was made.
_December 20th._--On Monday night I went to the Westminster Play,
'Phormio,' admirably acted by three of the boys. It was very amusing,
much more than I thought possible on reading the play. It is the work
of an accomplished playwright, full of good situations and replete
with stage effect. They ought to leave off the vile custom of encoring
the prologue and epilogue. We had to listen to ninety-six lines of the
latter repeated twice over, when the audience was tired and, however
well entertained, impatient to disperse.
[Sidenote: LORD MELBOURNE AND THE COURT OF ROME.]
_Broadlands, December 29th._--I came here to-day, having passed the
previous week at Brighton with the Granvilles; found nobody but
Melbourne and the Beauvales; the former in pretty good force, more
grave, more silent than formerly, but with intervals of talkativeness
in his usual tone and manner. Things drop from him now and then,
curious or interesting. We were talking about newspapers and their
contributors, and he told us that the famous article in the 'Times'
about bludgeons and brickbats during the rage of the Reform Bill was
written by Lord Dover, and that nothing was too strong for him to put
in a newspaper. I asked him about a thing he had once before told me,
which is the connexion which subsisted between our Government and the
Court of Rome, and a particular appointment which he had solicited the
Pope not to confer. It was that of Dr. M'Hale as Archbishop of Tuam.
Melbourne caused a request to be made to the Pope not to sanction it,
but the Pope would not comply, and appointed M'Hale. He observed on
that occasion, that ever since the Relief Bill had passed, the English
Government never failed to interfere about every appointment as it
fell vacant. On another occasion Melbourne begged the Pope to confer
some piece of preferment on a priest, whose name I forget, who had
supported the Government candidate very zealously in some election.
This state of things and such communications between the Holy Father
and the English Minister are curious. Palmerston said that there was
nothing to prevent our sending a Minister to Rome; but _they_ had not
dared to do it, on account of their supposed Popish tendency; Peel
might. Talking about the Corn Laws, Melbourne said he had prevented
any measure being proposed for above three years, and that if he
had done it sooner his Government would have fallen sooner. Many
were earnest in favour of a proposition; John Russell particularly;
Thomson, though the most strenuous free trader, was against it,
foreseeing the consequences.
_January 14th, 1844._--Everybody is full of the trial of O'Connell in
Dublin--this unhappy trial, which has been one continual course of
blunders and mismanagement from first to last. There is now an immense
uproar about the jury list, and, as if fate had determined that the
worst appearance should be given to the whole proceeding, Shaw the
Recorder is implicated in a manner which can easily be made to look
very suspicious. The Sheriff sent a list of some seventy-eight names
to the Recorder; instead of remaining in Dublin, as he ought to have
done, he must needs come to England to visit Lord Talbot. He went
over for one day to Drayton, and it happened that on the same day
he received the Sheriff's list; he returned it, but by some mistake
did not return two slips, as they are called, containing sixty and
odd names. The list, therefore, from which the jury was taken was an
imperfect list, and they will say, and all the Irish will believe,
that the mutilation was a concerted affair between Peel and Shaw.
They also affirm that the excluded were mostly Catholics, which is, I
believe, the reverse of the truth. This was an accident, but it was an
awkward blunder to add to the long list of those already committed.
Then the striking off all the Catholics from the jury is inveighed
against here as an act of madness, there as of intolerable injustice
and insult. It does appear to me an enormous blunder, and none of the
excuses made for it seems even plausible. The Government ought to
look far beyond the event of this trial. It would be a thousand times
better to have O'Connell acquitted by a mixed jury than convicted by
one all Protestant. I do not know whether such an acquittal would not
be on the whole the best result; if he should be convicted, the whole
process would be considered as a monstrous outrage against justice,
and Government will be terribly puzzled to know how to deal with him.
His conviction would produce the worst possible effect in Ireland,
and render the exasperation and hatred of the people more bitter and
unappeasable. If he is acquitted by a Protestant jury the triumph of
the Catholics will be much greater, their resentment not less, and in
England his acquittal by a jury formed of both persuasions would only
be attributed to the determination of the Catholics not to convict
him; supposing that a strong case is really made out, and Ministers
should appear to be justified in requiring any fresh powers they
thought necessary, they would find it difficult to ask for any if he
was acquitted by a Protestant jury--in short, it is an inextricable
_mess_, and how they will get out of it, God only knows. They have
missed the great opportunity that was afforded them of giving a
convincing proof to the Irish people that they wish O'Connell to have
a fair trial. If they had begun by doing this, and then exhibited
to the world a good case, they might have felt easy enough as to
the result. If the Catholic jurors had cast their mantles over him,
it would soon have been known; the Irish might have sung universal
jubilations and lit bonfires on every hill; but it would have been no
real triumph, and the value of a moral conviction in the eyes of the
people of England would have been unappreciable. All this has been
overlooked in a stupid, narrow-minded, shortsighted, professional
eagerness to ensure a conviction.
[Sidenote: O'CONNELL'S TRIAL.]
Yesterday Lord Wharncliffe showed me a despatch from Lord Ellenborough
to Lord Ripon, on the subject of his position with respect to the
Secret Committee of the Directors, which is admirable, both in
sentiment and expression. I knew already that the Court and the
Government were at variance about his Indian policy, and that the Duke
of Wellington not only strongly supported him, but wrote to him (I saw
one of his letters) in cordial terms of approval and encouragement;
but I did not know that the differences between Ellenborough and the
Court were so serious as it appears they were, and I suppose are. The
Secret Committee passed a resolution condemnatory of his proceedings
in Scinde, couched in very strong and even offensive language,
and to this resolution he responds in terms full of dignity and
determination. He tells them that ever since he took the Government
in India, which was at a time of unparalleled difficulty, they had
thrown every obstacle in his way, and embarrassed his course by
their want of co-operation and encouragement. He asks why, if such
was their opinion, they did not exercise the power with which they
are invested, censure and recall him; that he should not be provoked
to resign, because he believed that his doing so at this moment would
be productive of more evil than his endeavouring to administer the
Government with such crippled means as they left to him, and he should
therefore cast upon them the whole responsibility of withdrawing him
if they pleased, and continue to discharge his duty, fully relying
upon his possessing the confidence of the Crown, though he might not
possess theirs. I believe he is doing well in India now. How, by
the by, in all his letters, the Duke of Wellington inveighs against
'the licentious Press' both in India and here! He hates the press
everywhere, but he knows that here it is, if an evil, a necessary and
unavoidable evil; but in such a country as India, he cannot forgive
those who introduced the pernicious anomaly of a free press, and in
this I entirely agree with him. It was done by Sir Charles Metcalfe,
a man of extraordinary ability, and considered as one of the greatest
authorities, if not the greatest, on Indian affairs.
[Sidenote: O'CONNELL'S ADVICE ON IRELAND.]
_January 26th._--At Hatchford for three or four days. O'Connell's
trial moves heavily along; nobody takes much interest in it,
or expects any serious result from it. The Opposition mean to
begin the session with an attack on the Government _de rebus
Hibernicis_--rather dangerous warfare. Charles Buller wrote to
O'Connell in his own name and Hawes's, asking him if anything could be
done, and what. He wrote a very civil answer, saying he was happy to
communicate with them, though it was quite useless; he could not give
up Repeal, and England hated Ireland with too much intensity to render
her real justice, especially John Russell, who was the bitterest
enemy of the Catholic religion, his hatred to which he had proved on
innumerable occasions. However, he said, he would never do anything to
obstruct any practical results, if they were possible, and he would
tell them how his influence might be annulled and his political power
put an end to. He then told him some half-dozen, items of 'justice,'
the principal one of which was the Church. He said that the Irish
never would be satisfied as long as the Protestant Church stood in
all its predominance amongst them, a badge of their servitude and
oppression, hateful, offensive, and mortifying to the Irish people;
that what they wanted was perfect religious equality, and this could
only be obtained by sweeping away all Church establishments, and
paying neither. The rest of his recommendations were pretty much the
same as when he has been in the habit of holding forth in his speeches
and writings. There was nothing new in his letter, and nothing to lay
hold of; he passed over the real evils which weigh down the people,
and their causes--poverty, hunger, nakedness, no employment, no
capital flowing there to set them to work. We shall have plenty of
wrangling and violence, but no good will come of it all. The Irish
question is a mighty maze, it is a vast babel of conflicting opinions,
and hostile passions and prejudices. In the great divisions of party
there are innumerable sub-divisions upon all Irish matters; there are
vast masses of opinions, jostling with other masses, intermingling in
a confused conflict, not arranged in one compact body against another
compact body, with one distinguishing banner over each; and out of
all this confusion it is impossible to look for any satisfactory and
reasonable solution of all the difficult questions that are afloat.