!^;t:i-''!*i!|!';;i ^0 O^ A \^ ■/■ '" .^ '^ , "■ ^^"^' \ ■ ^ ,v > <<^' t , ■^^. /\' »'^' ■i,* y\ : V .^^^' ■^/>, v<' %>'. *' '^1 - ^.^;o\\ 'etter on the Holy Alliance — Ferment in Italy — The Failure at the Redan — Lord John's Defence— General Windham — Lord John Russell's Retirement — Death of Sir Robert Adair — Adieu to the Turf-Progress of the War— Colonial Office proposed to Lord Stanley — Lord John liussell's Position — Relations with Mr. Disraeli — Air. Labouchere Colonial Secretary — Negotiations for Peace — The Terms proposed to Russia — The King of Sardinia and M. de Cavour at Windsor — The Demands of the King of Sardinia — Lord Palmer.ston presses for War— Lord Macaulay's History of England — An Ultimatum to Russia — Death of the Poet Rogers — French Ministers — The Emperor's Diplomacy — Sir George C. Lewis's Aversion to the War— Quarrels of Walewski and Persigny — Austria presents the Terms to Russia — Baron Seebach me- diates — The Emperor's Difficulties and Doubts p. 244 CHAPTER XI. France and Prussia— The Emperor's Speech — Faint Hopes of Peace— Favorable View of the Policy of Russia— Progress of the Negotiations— Russia accepts the Terms of Peace —The Acceptance explained — Popular Keeling in Favor of the War — Lord Strat- ford and General Williams — Mr. Disraeh's Prospcets — Meeting of Parliament — Baron Parke's Life Peerage — The Debate on the Address— Debate on Life Peerages — Report on the Sufferings of the Army — Strained Relations with France — Lord Clarendon goes to the Congress at Paris — Opening of the Conference— Sabbatarianism — Progress of the Negotiations — Kars — Nicolaieff — The Life Peerage Question — Blunders and Weak- ness of the Government — A Visit to Paris — Count OrlofTs View of the War — Lord Cowley on the Negotiations — Princess Eleven on the War — An Evening at the Tuile- ries — Opening of the Legislative Chamber — Lord C'owloy's Desponding Views — The Austrian Proposals — Bitterness in French Society — Necessity of Peace to France — Con- versation with M. Thiers — A Stag Hunt at St. Germains — The Emperor yields to the Russians — Birth of the Prince Imperial p. 274 CHAPTER XII. Lord Clareiidon's favorable View of the Peace — General Evans' Proposal to embark after the Battle of Inkerman— Sir E. Lyons defends Lord Raglan — Peace concluded — Sir J. Yiii CO]^TENTS. Graham's gloomy View of Affairs — Edward Ellice's Plan — Favorable Eeception of the Peace — A Lull in Politics — A Sabbatarian Question — The Trial of Palmer for Murdw— ^ Defeat of the Opposition — Danger of War with the United States — Kistori as an Actress — Defeat of the Appellate .lurisdiction Bill — Return of the Guards — Baron Parke on the Life Peerage— Close of the Session — O'Donnell and Espartero in Spain — Chances of War — Coronation of the Czar— Apathy of the Nation— Expense of the Coro- nation at Moscow — Interference at Naples— Foreign Kelations — Progress of Democ- racy in England — Russia, France, England, and Naples — Russian Intrigues with France — The Bolgrad Question — The Quan-el with Naples — The Formation of Lord Palmer- ston's Government in 1855 — Death of Sir John Jervis — Sir Alexander Cockburn's Ap- pointment — James Wortley Solicitor-General — Conference on the Treaty of Paris — Low Church Bishops — Leadership of the Opposition — Coolness in Paris — Dictatorial Policy to Brazil • page 803 CHAPTER XIII. State of England after the War — Prussia and Neufchatel — Sir Robert Peel's Account of ■^ the Russian Coronation — An Historical Puzzle — The Death of Princess Lieven — ^Mr. Spurgeon's Preaching — Mr. Gladstone in Opposition — Tit for Tat — Difficult Relations with France — Lord John in Opposition — The Liddell v. Westerton Case — Death of Lord EUesmere — Violent Opposition to the Government on the China Question — Languid Defence of the Government — Impending Dissolution — Popularity of Lord Palmerston — Despotism of Ministers— ParUament dissolved — Judgment on Liddell v. Westerton — Lord Palmerston"s Address — The Elections — Defeat of the Manchester Leaders — Fear of Radical Tendencies — The Country approves the Chinese Policy — Death of Lady Keith p. 335 CHAPTER XIV. Eesults of the Elections — Defeat of Oobden and Bright— The War with China — Death of Lady Ashburton — Lord Palmerston's Success — The Handel Concerts — M. Fould in London— The Queen and Lord Palmerston — The Indian Mutiny— The Prince Consort — ^Death of General Anson — The State of India — Royal Guests — The Government of India — Temper of the House of Commons — Debates on India — Royal Visits— The Divorce Bill — The Divorce Bill in the House of Lords — Close of the Session — A Duke- dom offered to Lord Lansdowne — Death of Mr. Croker— History of the Life Peerages — The Indian Mutiny and the Russian War — The Struggle in India — Eeinforcenients for India — The Queen's Attention to Public Business — Attacks on Lord Canning — Big Ships and Big Bells — Lord Canning defended — Courteous Behavior of Foreign Nations — The Capture of Delhi and Lucknow — Difficulties in India — Depression in the City — Speculations on the Contingency of a Change of Government— The East India Com- pany and the Government — Exaggerated Reports from India — A Queen's Speech — The Bank Charter Act p. 363 CHAPTER XV. Opening of the Session — Prevailing Distress — Lord John reconciled^Ministerial Specula- tions — Contemplated Transfer of India to the Crown — Military Position in India — Con- versation with Mr. Disraeli — Bill for the Dissolution of the East India Company — Diffi- culties of Parliamentary Reform — The Relief of Lucknow — Lord Normanby"s " Year of Revolution " — Brougham's Jealousy of Lord Cockburn — Refutation of Lord Norman- by's Book — The Crown Jewels of Hanover — Labor in the French Colonies — The Death of General Havelock — Gloomy Prospects in India — Inadequate Measures for the Relief of India — Lord John Russell hostile to Government — Death of the Duke of Devonshire — Mr. Disraeli suggests a Fusion of Parties^Marriage of the Princess Royal — Weakness of the Government — Excitement in France asainst this Coimtry — Petition of the East India Company — Drowsiness of Ministers — Decline of Lord Palmerston's Popularity — Effect of the Orsini Attempt on the Emperor Napoleon — Opposition to the Conspiracy Bill — Review of the Crisis — Lord Derby sent for by the Queen— Refusal of the Peel- ites — The Catastrophe unexpected — The Defeat might have been avoided — Misman- agement of the Affair— Ministers determined to resign p. 393 CHAPTER XVI. The Second Derby Administration — Lord Derby's first Speech — Lord Clanriearde defends himself — The New Minis^ — Coincidences — Lord Derby's favorable Position — Opinion of the Speaker— Lord Derby's liberal Declarations — ^Dinner to Mr. Buckle — Instability CONTENTS. ix of the Governruent — Mr. Disraeli's sanguine Views — India — Prospects of the new Government — A Visit to the Due d'Aumalo — Dejicate Relations with France— Lord John Russell and Lord Palinerston— Irritation of the Whigs— Marshal Pehssier Am- bassador in London — The PeeUtes and the Wnig-s— Failure of the India Bill— An Over- ture from Lord John Russell— Dissensions of the Whigs — Lord Derby resolves to remain in Otiice — Lord John Russell proposes to deal with the India Bill by Resolu- tions — Mistake of the Whigs in resigning on the Conspiracy Bill — Withdrawal of the India Bill — Policy of the Whigs in Opposition — Lord Cowley on the Relations of Franco and England— Strong Oiipositioii to th<^ Government — Lord Derby on the 8tate of Atfairs —Disunion of the Whigs — Lord (.^armings Proclamation — Littlocote House — Vehemence of the Opposition— Lord Lyndhurst displeased — Debates on the Indian Proclamation^Collapse of the Debates— Triumph of the Ministry — Disraeli's violent Speech at Slough — Lord Palmerston's Discomfiture — Prospects of a Fusion — Success of the Government — Concessions to the Radicals — The Queen's Visit to Birmingham — Progress of the India Bill — The Jew Bill — The Jew Bill passed — Disturbed State of India — Baron Brunnow on the Russian War page 421 CHAPTER XVII. Lord John Russell and Lord Stanley — Lord Palmerston's Leadership — Dissensions In the Liberal Party — The Queen and her Ministers — Lord Stanley at the India OfBce — The Queen's Letter to the Prince of Wales — Reform Speeches and Projects — Lord Palm- erston's Confidence — Prosecution of Count Montalembert in France- Lord Clar- endon's Visit to Compi^gne — The Emperor's Designs on Italy — The Emperor and the Pope — Approach of War — Lord Palmerston's Prudent Language — Lord Palmerston's Italian Sympathies — The Electric Telegraph — Opposition in France to the War — The Emperor's Prevarication— Opening of Parliament — Debates on Foreign Affairs— Lord Cowley's Mission to Vienna— General Opposition to the War — A Keform Bill— Mr. Walpole and Mr. Henley resign — DupHeity of the Emperor — Mr. Disraeli's Reform Bill — The Emperor denies his Warlike Preparations— The Whigs oppose the Retbvm rlill — Anxiety to defeat the Government — Lord Cowley returns from Vienna — War impend- ing — Dishonest Conduct by both Parties — Lord Cowley's Account of Cavour's I'olicy — His Mission to Vienna — A Congress Proposed — Indifference to Reform — Debates on the Reform Bill — Defeat of the Reform Bill — An Emissary from Cavour. . p. 453 CHAPTER XVIII. The Government determine to dissolve the Parliament — Apathy of the Country — Hopes and Fears as to the War — The Congress a Trick — Disraeli on the approaching Elections- War Declared — Mr. Greville resigns the Clerkship of the Council — Result of the Elec- tion.s — Mistakes of the Austrian Government— Policy of the Opposition — Reconcilia- tion of Lord Palmerston and Lord John Russell— The Reconciliation doubtful— Meet- ing of the Liberal Party — Resolution of the Meeting — Debate on the Resolution of Want of Confidence— Defeat of Ministers— Lord Derby resigns — Lord Granville sent for by the Queen — Lord Granville does not form a Government — Lord Palmerston sent for — Lord P.almerston's Second Administration — The Queen confers the (Jarter on Lord Derby — Successful Progress of the French in Italy — Causes of Lord Gran- ville's Failure — Lord -John claims the Foreign Office— Lord Clarendon decUnes to take Oflice — Lord Clarendon's Interview with the Queen — Mr. Cobden dechnes to take Office — The Armistice of Villafr.anca- Peace Concluded — The Terms of Peace— Position of the Pope — Disappointment of Italy — Conference of the Emperors — Alleged Sensitive- ness of the Emperor Napoleon — Details of the War— A Visit to Ireland— Irish National Education — DubUn — Howth Castle — Waterford — Killarney— Return from Ireland — Numerous Cabinets — A Dispute with China — Lord Palmerston and Lord John Russell —Lord Clarendon at Osborne — Spain and Morocco — The Due d'Aumale — Perplexity of the Emperor Napoleon— The Emperor Napoleon and the " Times." . . p. 4S1 CHAPTER XIX. Prospects of the Government and of the Opposition — Mr. Disr.aeli's commanding Pos'tion — Preparation of a Reform Bill — A Congress — Death of M.acaulay — The Affairs of Italy — Policy of the Emperor Napoleon — The Cominercial Treaty with France— M. de Cavour resumes Office— Opening of Parliament — Negotiation of the Commercial Treaty —The Emperor a Free Trader— Perplexity of Italian Affairs — Moderation of Lord Derby — Opposition to the ('ommercial Treaty — The Reform Bill of 1860 — Tory Oppo- sition to Reform — Mr. Gladstone's great Budget Speech — Opposition to the Treaty and the Budget — Triumph of Mr. Gladstone — The Italian Correspondence — Demo- X ■ CONTENTS. cratic Opinions of Mr. Gladstone — Introduction of the Eeform Bill — The Annexation of Savoy and Nice — Annexation of Tuscany to Piedmont — The Denouement of the Plot — Complete Apathy of the Country as to Keform — Lord Derby declines to inter- fere — Lord John's adverse Declaration to France — Consequences of Lord John's Speech against France — Our Position in Europe — Anecdote of tne Crimean War— Designs of the Emperor Napoleon in 1S58 — Loid Palmerston's Distrust of Napoleon 111. — Lord John's Inditference to his own Ketoim Bill — Mr. Gladstones Ascendency — Designs of the Emperor and Cavour — Unpopularity of the Eeform Bill— Correspondence of Lord Grey and Lord John EusseU — Eeaction against Mr. Gladstone's Measures — Opposition to the Kepeal of the Paper Duties — Coolness with France — Garibaldi's Expedition — Lord Palmerston attacks the Neapolitan Minister— The f aper Duties Bill rejected by the Lords — The Eeform Bill withdrawn — ^Lord Palmerston adjusts the Difference be- tween the two Houses — Mr. Gladstone supported by the Eadicals — Mr. Senior's Con- yersations in Paris — A Letter from the Speaker— Mr. Cobden's Faith in the Emperor Napoleon — Conclusion of these Journals fage 511 Index 547 A JOUEI^AL OF TUB REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA, FEOM 1852 TO 1860. CHAPTEE I. Divisions of the Libera] Party— Lord Lansdowne as Head of a Liberal Government — Uostiiity of the Kadicals— National Defences — Lord Jonn Kussell s Literary Fursuits — The Queen's Speecb— The Peelites— I'rotectiun abandoned— Uuke of Wellington's Funeral- Mr. Viliiers' Motion— Disraeli's Panegyric on WeUington— Death of Miss Berry -The Division on the Resolution^ Disraeli's Budget— Lord Palmerston's Posi- tion—The Division on the Budget— Lord Derby resigns — Liberal Negotiations— For- mation of Lord Aberdeen's Government— Lord St. Leonard's - Tone of the Conserva- tives-Lord Clanricarde and the Irish Biigade -Violence of the 'lories — Lord Palmer- ston agrees to join the Government— The Aberdeen Cabinet -i'irst Apjiearance of tho New Ministry — Irritation of the Whigs. October 22d, 1853. — As iLsiial, a long inlerval, for since the Duke's death I hare had nothing to write about. The distribution of his offices and honors has not given satisfac- tion. The appointment of Fitzroy Somerset would have been more popular than that of Hardinge to the command of the army, especially with the army ; but I have no doubt the Court insisted on having Hardinge, who is a great favor- ite there. Matters in politics remain much as they were. There has been a constant interchange of letters between Lord John Russell and his leading friends and adherents, and conversa- tions and correspondence between these and Palmerston, the result of the whole being a hopeless state of discord and dis- agreement in the Liberal party, so complete that there ap- pears no possibility of all tlie scattered elements of opposition being combined into harmonious action, the consequence of which can hardly fail to be the continuance in office of the present Government. The state of things may be thus 1 2 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. I. siinimed up : Lord John Russell declares he will take no office but that of Premier, considering any other a degrada- tion ; but he says he does not want office, and if a Liberal Government can be formed under anybody else he will give it his best support. He resents greatly the expressed senti- ments of those who would put him by and choose another Prime Minister, and this resentment his belongings foster as much as they can. Palmerston professes personal regard for Lord John, but declares he will never again serve under him, though he would with him, and his great object has been to induce Lord Lansdowne to consent to put liimself at the head of a Government (if this falls) under whom he would be willing to serve, and he would consent to Lord John's leading tlie House of Commons as heretofore. Thishe com- municated to the Duke of Bedford in conversation at Brocket, and he afterward wrote a detailed account of that conversa- tion to Lansdowne himself, which was an invitation to him to act the part he wished to allot to him. Lord Lansdowne wrote him an answer in which he positively declined to put himself at the head of a Government, stating various reasons why he could not, and his conviction that John Russell was the only man who could be at the head of one hereafter. With regard to other opinions, Graham is heart and soul with Lord John, and decidedly in favor of his supremacy. The Whig party are divided, some still adhering to him; others, resenting his conduct in the past Session and dis- trusting his prudence, are anxious for another chief, but without having much considered how another is to be found, nor the consequences of deposing him. The Radicals are in an unsettled and undecided state, neither entirely favorable nor entirely hostile to Lord John ; the Peelites are pretty unanimously against him, and not overmuch disposed to join with the Whig party, being still more or less deluded with the hope and belief that they may form a Government them- selves. Graham has always maintained (and, as I thought, with great probability) that it would end in Palmerston's joining Derby, and at this moment such an arrangement seems exceedingly likely to happen. There were two or three articles not long ago in the " Morning Post" (his own paper), which tended that way. I have just been for two days to Broadlands, where I had a good deal of talk with him and with Lady Palmerston, and I came away with the conviction that it would end in his joining this Government. 1852.] MINISTERIAL COMBINATIONS. 3 He admitted it to be a possible contingency, but said he could not come in alone, and only in the event of a remodelling of the Cabinet and a sweep of many of the incapables now in it. Sidney Herbert, who was there, told me he had talked to him in the same tone, and spoke of eight seats being vacated in the Cabinet, and as if he expected tliat nobody should cer- tainly remain there but Derby, Disraeli, and the Chancellor. It is evident from this that it depends on Derby himself to have him, and if he frames measures and announces princi- ples such as would enable Palmerston with credit and con- sistency to join him, and if he will throw over a sutticient number of his present crew, he may so strengthen his Gov- ernment as to make it secure for some time. It may, how- ever, be a matter of considerable difKculty to turn out a great many colleagues, and not less so for Palmerston to find peo- ple to bring m with him ; for though he is very popular, and can excite any amount of cheering in the House of Commons, he has no political adherents whatever, and if Derby was to place seats in the Cabinet at his disposal he has nobody to- put into them, unless he could prevail on Gladstone and Herbert to go with him, which does not seem probable.^ November Sd. — Since writing the above, circumstances have occurred which may have an important influence on future political events. John Eussell, whether moved by his own reflections or the advice or opinions of others I know not, has entirely changed his mind and become more rea- sonable, moderate, and pliable than he has hitherto shown himself. He has announced that if it should hereafter be found practicable to form a Liberal Government under Lord Lansdowne, he will not object to serve under him, only re- serving to himself to judge of the expediency of attempting such an arrangement, as well as of the Government that may be formed. The letter in which he announced this to Lord Lansdowne was certainly very creditable to him, and evinced great magnanimity. He desired that it might be made known to Palmerston, which was done by Lord Lans- downe, and Palmerston replied with great satisfaction, say- ing, "for the first time he now saw daylight in public affairs." Lord Lansdowne was himself gratified at Lord John's conduct to him, but he said that it would expose him to fresh importunities on the part of Palmei'ston, and he > [A list of the members of Lord Derby's Administration will be found in the seeoad volume of the Second Part of this Journal, p. 547.] 4 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [CnAt. I. seems by no means more disposed than be was before to take the burden on himself, while he is conscious that it will be more difficult for him to refuse. He has been suf- fering very much, and is certainly physically unequal to the task, and le cas ecMant he will no doubt try to make his escape ; but, from what I hear of him, I do not think he will be inexorable if it is made clear to him that there is no other way of forming a Liberal Government, and especially if Lord John himself urges him to undertake it. The other important matter is a correspondence, or rather a letter from Cobden to a friend of his, in which he expresses himself in very hostile terms toward John Eussell and Graham likewise, abuses the Whig Government, and an- nounces his determination to fight for Radical measures, and especially the Ballot. This letter was sent to Lord Yarborough, by him to the Duke of Bedford, and by the Duke to Lord John. He wrote a reply, or, more properly, a comment on it, which was intended to be, and I conclude was, sent to Cobden ; a very good letter, I am told, in which he vindicated his own Government, and declared his un- alterable resolution to oppose the Ballot, which he said was with him a question of principle, on which he never would give way. The result of all this is a complete separation between Lord John and Cobden, and therefore between the Whigs and the Radicals. What the ultimate consequences of this may be it is difficult to foresee, but the immediate one will probably be the continuation of Derby in office. Lord John is going to have a parliamentary dinner before the meeting, which many of his friends think he had better have left alone. He wrote to Graham and invited him to it. Graham declined, and said he should not come up to the meeting. To this Lord John responded that he might do as he pleased about dining, but he assured him that his absence at the opening of the Session would give great umbrage to the party and be injurious to himself. Graham replied that he would come up, but he has expressed to some of his cor- respondents his disapproval of the dinner. Charles Villiers agrees with him about it, and so do I, but the Johnians are very indignant with Graham, and consider his conduct very base, though I do not exactly see why. The question of national defence occupies everybody's mind, but it seems very doubtful if any important measures will be taken. The Chancellor told Senior that the Govern- 1582.] NATIONAL DEFENCES. 5 meet were quite satisfied with Louis Napoleon's pacific as- surances, and saw no danger. It is not clear that John Eussell partakes of the general alarm, and whether he will be disposed (as many wish that he should) to convey to Lord Derby an intimation that he will support any measure he may propose for the defence of the countr}^, nor is it certain that Derby would feel any reliance on such assurances, after what passed when he came into office. On that occasion Derby called on Lord John (who had just advised the Queen to send for him) and said, on leaving him, "I suppose you are not going to att ick me and turn me out again," which Lord John assured him he had no thoughts of, and directly after he convoked his Chesham Place meeting, which was certainly not very consistent with his j^revious conduct, nor with his engagement to Derby. London, i\ovember 11th. 1853. — I passed two days at The Grove with John Russell the end of last and beginning of this week, when he was in excellent health and spirits, and in a very reasonable composed state of mind. There were Wilson, Panizzi, George Lewis, and the Duke of Bedford ; very little talk about politics, except in a general way. Lord John has been engaged in literary pursuits, as the executor of Moore and the depositary of Fox's papers, and he is about to bring out two volumes of Moore and one of Fox, but in neither is there to be much of his own composition ; he has merely arranged the materials in each. There has been great curiosity about the Queen's S})coch, and a hundred reports of difficulties in composing it, and of dissensions in the Cabinet with regard to the manner in which the great question should be dealt with. As I know nothing cei'tain on the subject, I will spare myself the trouble of putting down the rumors, which may turn out to be groundless or misrepresented. A great fuss lias been made about keeping the Speech secret. They refused to communicate it to the newspapers, and strict orders were given at the Treasury to allow nobody whatever to see it. Dei'by, however, wrote to Lord John that as he had always sent it to him, he should do the same, and accordingly Lord John received it, and read it at his dinner, but those present were bound on honor not to communicate the contents of it. Lord John and his friends have been all along determined, if possible, to avoid proposing an amendment. There was a Peelite gathering at a dinner at Hayward's 6 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. I. the day before yesterday, at whicli Gladstone, Sidney Her- bert, Newcastle, Francis Charteris, Sir John Young, and others were present ; and Hayward told me they were all united, resolved to act together, and likewise averse to an amendment if possible ; but from the manner in which they have dealt with Free Trade, it is very doubtful whether Cobdeu at least, if not Gladstone, will not insist on moving an amendment. A very few hours will decide this point. ^ November IWi. — The question of Protection or Free Trade, virtually settled long ago, Avas formally settled last night, Derby having announced in terms the most clear and unequivocal his final and complete abandonment of Protec- tion, and his determination to adhere to, and honestly to administer, the present system. His speech was received in silence on both sides. There has not yet been time to ascer- tain the effect of this announcement on the various parties and individuals interested by it. November IQth. — I went yesterday to the lying in state of the Duke of Wellington ; it was fine and well done, but too gaudy and theatrical, though this is unavoidable. Afterward to St. Paul's to see it lit up. " The effect was very good, but it was like a great rout ; all London was there strolling and staring about in the midst of a thousand workmen going on with their business all the same, and all the fine ladies ecram- bling over vast masses of timber, or ducking to avoid the great beams that were constantly sweeping along. These public funerals are very disgusting med sententid. On Sat- urday several people were killed and wounded at Chelsea ; yesterday everything was orderly and well conducted, and I heard of no accidents. Charles Villiers' motion, after much consultation and debate, whether it should be brought on or not, is settled in the affirmative, and was concocted by the Peelites at a meet- ing at Aberdeen's, Graham present. Nothing could be more moderate, so moderate that it appeared next to impossible the Government could oppose it. Yesterday morning there Avas a Ministerialist meeting in Downing Street, when Derby harangued his followers. Novprnher 21st. — I saw the Duke's funeral from Devon- shire House. Eather a fine sight, and all well done, except the car, which was tawdry, cumbrous, and vulgar. It was 1 [The new Parliament was opened by the Queen in person on November 1852.] MR. VILLIERS' MOTION. 7 contrived by a German artist attached to the School of De- sign, and under Prince Albert's direction — no proof of his good taste. The whole ceremony within St. Paul's and with- out went off admirably, and without mistakes, mishaps, or accidents ; but as all the newspapers overflow with the de- tails. I may very well omit them here. Now that this great ceremony is over, we have leisure to turn our thoughts to political matters. I have already said that Villiers proposed a mild resolution which was drawn up bv Graham at Aberdeen's house, and agreed to by the Peelites.^ Then came Derby's meeting, where he informed his followers that he must reserve to himself entire liberty of dealing with Villiers' resolution as he thought best, but if he contested it, and was beaten, he should not resign, lie then requested tiiat if anyone had any objection to make, or remarks to offer, on his proposed course, they would make them then and there, and not find fault afterward. They all cheered, and nobody said a word ; in fact they were all consenting to his abandonment of Protection, many not at all liking it, but none recalcitrant. After this meeting there was a recon- sideration of Villiers' resolution. Oobden and his friends complained that it was too milk and water, and required that it should be made stronger. After much discussion Villiers consented to alter it, and it was eventually put on the table of the House in its present more stringent form. Lord John Russell was against tlie alteration, and Gladstone and the Peelites still more so ; but Charles Villiers thought he could not do otherwise than defer to Cobden, after hav- ing prevailed on the latter to consent to no amendment be- ing moved on the Address. There is good reason to believe that the Government would have swallowed the first resolu- tion, but they could not make up their minds to take the second ; and accordingly Disraeli annouced an amendment in the shape of another resolution, and the battle will be fought on the two, Dizzy's just as strongly affirming the principle of Free Trade as the other, but it omits the decla- ration that the measure of '46 was " wise and just. '^ At this moment nobody has the least idea what the division will be, 1 [On November 23, Mr. Cliarlcs Villiers moved Resolutions in tbe House of Commons, declarinjr the adherence of Parliament to the principles of Free Trade and approvint? the Repeal of the Corn Laws. Mr. Disraeli moved an amend- ment, not directly adverse. But this amendment was withdrawn in favor of one more skilfully drawn by Lord Palmerston. On this occasion Lord Palmer- ston rendered an essential service to Lord Derby's Government.] 8 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. I. nor how many of the most conspicuous men will vote, nor what the Government will do if they are beaten. Moderate men on the Liberal side regret that the original resolution was changed, deprecate the pitched battle, and above all dread that the Government may resign if they are beaten, which would cause the greatest confusion, nothing being ready for forming a government on the Liberal side, and the Government would go out with the advantage of saying that they were prepared with all sorts of good measures which the factious conduct of their opponents would not let them produce. Things have not been well managed, and I expect the result of all these proceedings will be damaging to the Liberal interest, and rather advantageous to Lord Derby. An incident occurred the other night in the House of Commons, which exposed Disraeli to much ridicule and se- vere criticism. He pronounced a pompous funeral oration on the Duke of Wellington, and the next day the " Globe" showed that half of it was taken word for word from a pane- " gyric of Thiers on Marshal Gouvion de St. Cyi\ Disraeli has been unmercifully pelted ever since, and well deserves it for such a piece of folly and bad taste. His excuse is, that he was struck by the passage, wrote it down, and, when he referred to it recently, forgot what it was, and thought it was his own composition. But this poor apology does not save him. Derby spoke very well on the same subject a few nights after in the House of Lords, complimenting the authorities, the people, and foreign nations, particularly France. It is creditable to Louis Napoleon to have ordered Walewski to attend the funeral.^ On Saturday night, about twelve o'clock. Miss Mary Berry died after a few weeks' illness, without suffering, and in pos- session of her faculties, the machine worn out, for she was in her 90th year.^ As she was born nearly a century ago, and was 1 [Count WalcTvski, theu French Ambassador in London, expressed some reluctance to attend the funeral of the conqueror of Napoleon I., upon which Baron Brunnow said to him, " If this ceremony were intended to bring the Duke to life atrain, I can conceive your reluctance to appear at it ; but as it is only to bury him, I don't see you have anything to complain of."] 2 [Miss Mary Berry was born at Kirkbridge, in Yorkshire, on_March_16, 1763 ; her sister Acrnes, who was her inseparable companion for eifrhty-eicht years, fourteen months later. Her father, Robert Berry, was tlie nephew of a Scotch merchant named Fersjuson, who purchased the estate of Eaith, in Fife- share. William Berry, the orother of Robert, and uncle of these ladies, suc- ceeded to this property, and took the name of Ferguson. The Miss Berrj's first made the acquaintance of Horace Walpole in 1788, when he was seventy years 1852.] . DEATH OF MISS BERRY. 9 the contemporary of my grandfathers and grandmothers, she was already a very old woman when I first became acquainted with her, and it was not till a later period, about twenty years ago. that I began to live in an intimacy with her which continued uninterrupted to the last. My knowledge of her early life is necessarily only traditional. She must have been exceedingly good-looking, for I can remember her with a fine commanding figure and a very handsome face, full of expression and intelligence. It is well known that she was the object of Horace Wal]iole's octogenarian attach- ment, and it has been generally believed that he was anxious to marry her for the sake of bestowing upon her a title and a jointure, which advantages her disinterested and independ- ent spirit would not allow her to accept. She continued nevertheless to make the charm and consolation of his latter days, and at his death she became his literary executrix, in which capacity she edited Madame du Delfand's letters. She always preserved a great veneration for the memory of Lord Orford, and has often talked to me about him. I gathered from what she said that she never was herself cpiite sure whether he wished to marry iier, but inclined to believe that she might have been his wife had she chosen it. She seems to have been very early initiated into the best and most refined society, was a constant inmate of Devon- shire House and an intimate friend of the Duchess, a friend- ship which descended to her children, all of whom treated Miss Berry to the last with unceasing marks of attention, respect, and affection. She had been very carefully educated, and was full of literary tastes and general information, so that her conversation was always sjnrited, agreeable, and instructive ; her published works, without exhibiting a high order of genius, have considerable merit, and her "Social Life in England and France " and " The Life of Rachel, Lady Russell," will always be read with pleasure, and are entitled to a permanent place in English literature ; but her greatest merit was her amiable and benevolent disposition, which secured to her a very large circle of attached friends, who were drawn to her as much by affectionate regard as by the attraction of her vigorous understanding and the vivacity and variety of her conversational powers. For a great many years the Misses Berry were among the social celebrities of of a^e, and they became the objects of his devoted attachment and regard. Sec " National Biography," vol. iv. p. 397.1 10 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. I. London, and their hou^e was the continual resort of the most distinguished people of both sexes in politics, literature, and fashion. She ranked among her friends and associates all th3 most remarkable literary men of the day, and there certainly was no house at which so many persons of such various qualities and attainments, but all more or less dis- tino-uished, could be found assembled. She continued her n^mxl course of life, and to gather her friends about her, till within a few weeks of her death, and at last she sank by gradual exhaustion, without pain or suffering, and with the happy consciousness of the affectionate solicitude and care of the friends who had cheered and comforted the last declin- ing years of her existence. To those friends her loss is irrep- arable, and besides the private and individual bereavement it is impossible not to be affected by the melancholy con- sideration that her death has deprived the world of the sole survivor of a once brilliant generation, who in her person was a link between the present age and one fertile in great intellectual powers, to which our memories turn with never- failing curiosity and interest. Decemhcr Uh. — Last week the House of Commons was occupied with the " Eesolutions," the whole history of which was given by Graham, and which need not be repeated here.^ The divisions were pretty much what were expected, and the only interesting consideration is the effect produced, and the influence of the debate on the state of parties. Palmerston is highly glorified by his small clique, and rather smiled on by the Tories, but he has given great offence to both Whigs and Eadicals, and removed himself further than ever from a coalition with John Eussell and the Liberal party. Lord John himself, who made a very good speech, rather gained reputation by his behavior throughout the transaction, and is on better terms both with Cobden, Bright, and his own party, than he has been for some time past. Disraeli made a very imprudent speech, which disgusted many of his own adherents, and exposed him to vigorous attacks and a tre- mendous castigation on the part of his opponents, by Bernal Osborne in the coarser, and Sidney Herbert in more pol- ished style. The Protectionists generally cut a very poor ' [After three nights' debate, the Eesolutions moved by Mr. Yilliers -were necrativcd by 256 to 23fi. and the motion adroitly substituted for them by Lord Palmerston in favor ol' " unrestricted competition" was carried by 468 against 53, being accepted by the Government.] 1852.] MR. DISRAELI'S BUDGET. H figure, aad had nothing to say for themselves, ''If people wish for humiliation,^^ said Sidney Herbert, "let them look at the benches opposite." But all the dirt they had to eat, and all the mortitication they had to endure, did not pre- vent the Derbyites from presenting a compact determined phalanx of about three hundred men, all resolved to support the Government, and to vote through thick and thin, with- out reference to their past or present opinions. The Minis- terial papers and satellites toss their caps up and proclaim a great victory, but it is difficult to discover in what the victory consists. It certainly shows that they are strong and devoted if not united. After the division there was a good deal of speculation rife as to Palmerston's joining the Government, which his friends insist he will not do. I am disposed to think he will. Since that we have had Beresford's affair in the House of Commons, and Clanricarde's folly in the Lords. Cockburn produced a strong prima facie case against Beres- ford, and the committee has been appointed on his case, and proceeds to business on Monday.^ Clanricarde chose de son chef to propose a resolution like that of the Commons, which Derby refused to take and offered another in its place, which Clanricarde has accepted. He gave Derby the opportunity he wanted of setting himself right with his own party, who, albeit resolved to support him, are smarting severely under his complete abandonment of Protection, and the necessity to which they are reduced of swallowing the nauseous Free Trade pill. He will make the dose more palatable by soothing their wounded pride. Clanricarde went to Lord Lansdowne and told him what he proposed to do. Lans- downe objected, but Clanricarde said he did it individually and would take all the responsibility on himself, on which Lansdowne very unwisely ceased to object. His purpose is to take no responsibility on himself. December 6th. — Ever since the termination of the " Reso- lutions " debate the world has been in a state of intense curi- osity to hear the budget, so long announced, and of which such magnificent things were predicted. The secret was so well kept that nobody knew anything about it, and not one of the hundred guesses and conjectures turned out to be correct. At length on Friday night Disraeli produced his ' [This related to proceedings with reference to the recent election at Derby. ] 12 KEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. I. measure in a house crowded to suffocation with members and strangers. He spoke for five and a half hours, much too diffusely, spinning out what he might have said in half the time. The budget has been on the whole tolerably well received, and may, I think, be considered successful, though it is open to criticism, and parts of it will be fiercely at- tacked, and he will very likely be obliged to change some parts of it. But though favorably received on the whole, it by no means answers to the extravagant expectations that were raised, or proves so entirely satisfactory to all parties and all interests as Disraeli rather imprudently gave out that it would be. The people who regard it with the least favor are those who will be obliged to give it the most unqualified support, the ex-Protectionists, for the relief or compensation to the landed interest is very far from commensurate with their expectations. It is certainly of a Free Trade charac- ter altogether, which does not make it the more palatable to them. He threw over the AVest Indians, and (Pakington, their advocate, sitting beside him) declared they had no claim to any relief beyond that which he tendered them, viz., the power of refining sugar in bond — a drop of water to one dying of thirst. I think it will go down, and make the Government safe. This I have all along thought they would be, and every day seems to confirm this opinion. They have got from three hundred to three hundred and fifteen men in the House of Commons who, though dissatis- fied and disappointed, are nevertheless determined to swal- low everything and support them through thick and thin, and they have to encounter an opposition, the scattered fractions of which are scarcely more numerous, but which is in a state of the greatest confusion and disunion, and with- out any prospect of concord among them. The Duke of Bedford came to me yesterday, and told me he had never been so disheartened about politics in his life, or so hopeless of any good result for his party, in which he saw nothing but disagreement and all sorts of pretensions and jealousies incompatible with any common cause, and Aberdeen, whom I met at dinner yesterday, is of much the same opinion. The principal object of interest and curios- ty seoms now to be whether Palmerston will join them or not. On this the most opposite opinions and rejoorts pre- vail. Just now it is said that he has resolved not. At all events, if he does, he will have to go alone, for he can take 1852.] DEFEAT OF TEE BUDGET. 13 nobody with him, as it certainly is his object to do. But it does not appear now as if there was the least chance of Glad- stone or 8idney Herbert joining him. The Duke of Bed- ford told me that both Derby and Palmerston were in better odor at Windsor than they were, and that the Queen and Prince approve of Pam's move about the Resolutions, and think he did good service. Aberdeen also thinks that though the Whigs and Radicals are angry with Lord Palmerston, and that his proceeding was unwari'an table, he stands in a better position in the country, and has gained credit and influence by what he did. Abroad, where nobody under- stands our affairs, he is supposed to have played a very great part, and to have given indubitable proof of great political jjower. December Wi. — Within these few days the Budget, which was not ill received at first, has excited a strong opposition, and to-morrow there is to be a pitched battle and grand trial of strength between the Government and Opposition upon it, and there is much difference of opinion as to the result. The Government have put forth that they mean to resign if beaten upon it. Derby and Disraeli were both remarkably well received at the Lord Mayor's dinner the night before last, and this is an additional proof that, in spite of all their disreputable conduct, they are not unpopular, and I believe, if the country were polled, they would as soon have these people for Ministers as any others. Nobody knows what part Palmerston is going to take. December ISth. — The last few days have been entirely occupied by the interest of the Budget debate and specula- tions as to the result. We received the account of the division at Panshanger yesterday morning, not without as- tonisliment ; for although the opinion had latterly been gaining ground that the Government would be beaten, no- body expected such a majority against them.^ Up to the last they were confident of winning. The debate was all against them, and only exhibited their weakness in the House of Commons. It was closed by two very fine speeches from Disraeli and Gladstone, very different in their style, but not unequal in their merits. Panshanger, December Idth. — I went to town yesterday ' [The division on the Bud^'et t-^ok place on December IG after five nijihts' debate, the numbers being — for the Government, 286 ; against, 305 ; adverse majority, 19.] 14 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. I. morning to hear what was going on. Lord Derby returned from Osborne in the middle of the day, and the Queen had sent for Lords Lansdowne and Aberdeen. She had been gracious to Derby, and j^ressed him to stay on, if it were only for a short time. I saw Talbot, and from the few words be let drop I gathered that they have already resolved to keep together, and to enter on a course of bitter and de- termined opposition. Not that he said this, of course, but he intimated that he had no idea of any new Government that might be formed being able to go on even for a short time, and that they would very speedily be let in again. The language of the Carlton corresponds with this, and I have no doubt they will be as virulent and as mischievous as they can. It remains to bo seen, if a good Government is formed, whether some will not be more moderate, and disposed to give the new Cabinet a fair trial. Clarendon writes me word that the meeting at Woburn between John Eussell, Aberdeen, Newcastle, and himself has been altogether satisfactory, everybody ready to give and take, and anxious to promote the common cause, without any selfish views or prejudices. Newcastle is particularly reasonable, disclaiming any hostility to John Eussell, and only objecting to his being at present the nominal head of the Government, because there is rightly or wrongly a preju- dice against him, which would prevent some Liberals and some Peelites joining the Government if he was placed in that position ; but he contemplates his ultimately resuming that post, and he (Newcastle) is ready to do anything in office or out. There is no disposition to take in Cobden and Bright, but they would not object to Molesworth. I went over to Brocket just now, and found the Palmer- stons there. He is not pleased at the turn matters have taken, would have liked the Government to go on at all events some time longer, and is disgusted at the thought of Aberdeen being at the head of the next Ministry. This is likewise obnoxious to the Whigs at Brooks's, and there will be no small difficulty in bringing them to consent to it, if Lansdowne refuses. Beauvale said if Palmerston had not been laid up, and prevented going to the House of Com- mons, he thinks this catastrophe would not have happened, for Palmerston meant to have done in a friendly way what Charles Wood did in an unfriendly one, and advised Disraeli to postpone and remake his Budget, and this advice so 1852.] THE COALITION MINISTRY. 15 tendered he thinks Dizzy would have taken, and then the issue would have been changed and deferred till after the recess. But I don't believe this fine scheme would have taken effect, or that Dizzy would or could have adopted such a course. Beauvale says he is pretty sure Palmerston will not take office under Aberdeen's Premiership ; on the other hand, Aberdeen has no objection to him, and will in- vite Palmerston, if the task devolves upon him. Ellice fancies Lansdowne will decline, and that Aberdeen will fail, and that it will end in Derby coming back, reinforced by Palmerston and some Peelites. The difficulties are certainly enormous, but by some means or other I think a Government will be formed. The exclusions will be very painful, and must be enormous. Lord Derby mot Granville and others at the station on Friday, and he said he calculated the new Cabinet could not consist of less than thirty-two men, and many then left out. It will be a fine time to test the amount of patriotism and unselfishness that can be found in the political world. London, December 21st. — I came to town yesterday morn- ing, and heard that the day before (Sunday) a very hostile feeling toward Aberdeen had been prevailing at Brooks's, but no doubt was entertained that the Government would be formed. In the afternoon Clarendon came to me on his way to the House of Lords, and told me all that had passed up to that time. On receiving the Queen's summons, a meeting took place between Lansdowne and Aberdeen at Lansdowne House, at which each did his best to persuade the other to accept the commission to form a Government. Lansdowne pleaded absolute physical inability, and his friends seem to be quite satisfied that he really could not undertake it. Accordingly Aberdeen gave way, and de- parted for Osborne on a reiterated summons, and, after tell- ing the Queen all that had passed between Lansdowne and himself, undertook the task. Nothing could be more cordial all this time than the relations between himself and John Russell ; but as soon as it became known that Aberdeen was to form the new Government, certain friends of John Eussell set to work to persuade him that it would be derogatory to his character to have any concern in it, and entreated him to refuse his concurrence. These were David Dundas and Eomilly, and there may have been others. This advice was probably the more readily listened to, because it corresponded 16 REIGN OF QUEEN YICTORIA. [Chap. I. with his original yiew of the matter and his own natural dis- position, and it produced so much effect that yesterday morn- ing he went to Lansdowne and told him that he had resolved to have nothing to do with the new Government. Lans- downe was thunderstruck, and employed every argument he could think of to change this resolution. It so happened that he had written to Macaulay and asked him to call on him to talk matters over, and Macaulay was announced while Lord John was still there. Lansdowne told him the suhJ0ct of their discussion, and the case was put before Macaulay with all its pros and cons for his opinion. He heard all Lansdowne and Lord John had to say, and then delivered his opinion in a very eloquent speech, strongly recommend- ing Lord John to go on with Aberdeen, and saying that, at such a crisis as this, the refusal of his aid, which was indis- pensable for the success of the attempt, would be little short of treason. Lord John went away evidently shaken, but without pronouncing any final decision. Clarendon then called at Lansdowne House, and heard these particulars, and Lansdowne entreated him to go and see Lord John and try his influence over him. Clarendon had the day before given him his opinion in writing to the same effect as Macaulay. He went, saw him, and repeated all he had before written. Lord John took it very well, and, when he left him, said, " I suppose it Avill be as you wish," and when I saw Claren- don he seemed reassured, and tolerably confident that this great peril of the whole concern being thus shipwrecked in limine had passed away. After the House of Lords, where I heard Derby's strange and inexcusable speech, we again discussed the matter, when he said Lord John had raised another difficulty, for he said he would not take the Foreign /Ofiice, alleging, not without truth, that it was impossible for Vhim or any man to perform the duties of so laborious an oflBce and lead the House of Commons. Lord John also signified to Clarendon that he should insist on Ms being in the Cabinet, which Clarendon entreated him not to require. Newcastle, who was there, suggested that Lord John might take the Foreign Office for a time, and if he found the two duties incompatible he might give it up, and Clarendon seemed to think this might be done, and at all events he means to persuade Lord John (as eo doubt he will) to make up his mind to take it, for his not doing so would certainly be very inconvenient. Should Lord John prove obstinate 1852.] LORD ST. LEONARDS. 17 in this respect, I have no doubt Clarendon will himself be put there. We talked about the Great Seal, and Senior had been with Lord Lansdowne, who appears to incline very much to getting Lord St. Leonards^ to stay if he will, but ISenior thinks he will not ; certainly not, unless with the concur- rence of his present colleagues, which it is doubtful if Derby in his present frame of mind would give. The Chancellor was at Derby's meeting in the morning, which looks like a resolution to go out with them. It will be a good thing if he will remain, but it will do good to the new Covernment to invite him, whether he accepts or refuses. We talked of Brougham, but Clarendon, though anxious to have Brough- am in as President of the Council, thinks he would not do for the Woolsack, and that it will be better to have Cran- worth if Lord St. Leonards will not stay. There is a great difficulty in respect to the retiring pension. There can only be four, and Sugden's will make up the number, so that a fresh Chancellor could have none except at the death of one of the others. The worst part of the foregoing story is, that Lord John will not Join cordially and heartily, and it is im- possible to say, during the difficult adjustment of details, what objections he may not raise and what embarrassments he may not cause. There was a meeting at Lord Derby's yesterday morning, at which he told his friends he would continue to lead them, and he recommended a moderation, in which he probably was not sincere, and which they will not care to observe. Lord Delawarr got up and thanked him. Nothing can be more rabid than the party and the ex-ministers, and they are evidently bent on vengeance and a furious opposition. I fell in with Lord Drumlanrig and Ousely Iliggins yester- day morning, one a moderate Derbyite (always Free Trader), the other an Irish Brigadier. Drumlanrig told me he knew of several adherents of Derby who were resolved to give the new Government fair play, and would not rush into opposi- 1 [Sir Edward Burtenshaw Sudden was one of the most eminent equity lawyers of the day, distincuislicd as an advocate in the Court of Chancery and by his important leiral writings. He was twice Lord Chancellor of Ireland under the two Administrations of Sir Robert Peel, and he received the Great Seal of Enu;land on the formation of Lord Derby's Administration in 1852, with a peerage under the title of Baron St. Leonards. But he owed his celebrity and his promotion to his eminence as a lawyer far more than to his activity as a pohtician.] 18 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. I. tion, and Ousely Higgins said he thought the Irish would be all right, especially if, as the report I'an, Granville was sent to Ireland ; but there is no counting on the Irish Brigade, whose object it is to embarrass every Government. If they could be friendly to any, it would, however, be one com- posed of Aberdeen, Graham, and Gladstone, the ojoponents of the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill. December 22d. — On going to The Grove yesterday after- noon, I found a letter Clarendon had received from Lans- downe in bad spirits enough. He had seen Aberdeen, who had received no answer from John Russell, and Aberdeen was prepared, if he did not get his acceptance the next morning, to give the thing up. Lansdowne was greatly alarmed and far from confident Lord John would agree, at all events, that he would not take the Foreign Office, in which case Lansdowne said he (Clarendon) must take it. Nothing could look worse. This moi*ning Clarendon re- ceived a letter from Aberdeen announcing that Lord John had agreed to lead the House of Commons, either without an office or with a nominal one, and asking Clarendon to take the Foreign Office. We oame up to town together, he meaning to accept unless he can prevail on Lord John to take it, if it be only for a time, and he is gone to see what he can do with him. He told me last night that Avhen he was at Woburn last week, the Duke informed him that he had had a confidential communication from Stockmar, ask- ing for his advice, whom the Queen should send for if the Government was beaten and if Derby resigned. He had just received this letter, and had not answered it, and con- sulted Clarendon what he should say. Clarendon advised him to recommend Lansdowne and Aberdeen, and he wrote to that effect. . The very morning after the division, just as they were going hunting, the hounds meeting at the Torr, a Queen's messenger arrived with another letter, requesting he would communicate more fully his sentiments at the present crisis. The messenger was ordered to keep himself secret, and not to let his mission transpire. The Duke, under Clarendon's advice, wrote a long letter back, setting forth in detail all that had, not long ago, passed about Palmerston and Lansdowne, and his notions of the difficulties and exi- gencies of the present time. He said that it was evident Lord John could not make a Government, and that he was himself conscious of it. 1852.] ABERDEEN AND PALMEESTON. 19 December 23(7. — It appears that on Tuesday (21st) Aber- deen went to Palmerston, who received him very civilly, even cordially, talked of old times, and reminded him that they had been acquainted for sixty years (since they were at Harrow together), and had lived together in the course of their political lives more than most men. Aberdeen otfered him the Admiralty, saying he considered it in existing cir- cumstances the most important office, and the one in which he could render the greatest service to the country, but if he for any reason objected to that office, he begged him to say what other office he would have. Palmerston replied that he had no hostile feeling toward him, but they had for so many years been in strong opposition to each other, that the public would never understand his taking office in Aber- deen's Government, and he was too old to expose himself to such misconceptions. And so they parted, on ostensibly very friendly terms, which will probably not prevent Palm- erston's Joining Derby and going into furious opposition. In the course of the day yesterday both Clarendon and Lans- downe called on Palmerston, and he expressed great satis- faction at Clarendon's appointment to the Foreign Office. In the afternoon I called on Lady Clanricarde, who gave me to understand that Clanricarde was likely to become a personage of considei'able influence and power (and therefore worth having), inasmuch as the Irish Band had made over- tures to him, and signified their desire to act under his guidance. She said this was not the first overture he had received of the kind from the same quarter ; that for various reasons he had declined the others, but she thought at the present time he might very well listen to it ; that they were yery anxious to be led by a gentleman, and a man of con- sideration and station in the world. All this, to which I attach very little credit, was no doubt said to me in order to be repeated, and that it might impress on Aberdeen and his friends and colleagues the importance of securing Clanri- carde's services and co-operation ; and I am the more con- firmed in this by receiving a note from the Marchioness in the evening, begging I would not repeat what she had told me. There was nothing new yesterday in the purlieus of Whiggism, but I think somewhat more of acquiescence, and a disposition to regard this combination as inevitable. The Derbyites quite frenzied, and prepared to go any lengths. 20 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. I. Lonsdale told me tlie party were delighted with Derby's in- temperate speech in the House of Lords, which seems to have been rehearsed at his own meeting the same moniing ; and the other day twenty ruffians of the Carlton Club gave a dinner there to Beresford, to celebrate what they consider his acquittal ! After dinner, when they got drunk, they went upstairs, and finding Gladstone alone in the drawing- room, some of them proposed to throw him out of the win- dow. This they did not quite dare to do, but contented them- selves with giving some insulting message or order to the waiter, and then went away. Hatch ford, Friday, 2Uh. — The great event of yesterday was Palmerston's accession to the Government. Lord Lans- downe had called on him the day before, and had, I suspect, little difficulty in persuading him to change his determina- tion and join the new Cabinet. He said he would place himself in Lord Lansdowne's hands, and yes*:erday morning I heard as a secret, though it was speedily published, that he had agreed to take the Home Office. The next thing was Lord John's consent to take the Foreign Office. This he was persuaded to do by Clarendon, who engaged to help him in the work, and relieve him by taking it himself the moment Lord John should find himself unequal to it, and on these conditions he consented. It was settled that Glad- stone should be Chancellor of the Exchequer, but Delane went to Aberdeen last night for the purpose of getting him to change this arrangement on the ground of the difficulty there would be about the Income Tax. The important part of forming the Cabinet is now done, and nothing remains but the allotment of the places. It will be wonderfully strong in point of ability, and in this respect exhibit a marked contrast with the last ; but its very excellence in this respect may prove a source of weakness, and eventually of disunion. The late Cabinet had two para- mount chiefs, and all the rest nonentities, and the nominal head was also a real and predominant head. In the pres- ent Cabinet are five or six first-rate men of equal or nearly equal pretensions, none of them likely to acknowlege the superiority or defer to the opinions of any other, and every one of these five or six considering himself abler and more important than their Premier. They are all at present on very good terms and perfectly satisfied with each other ; but this satisfaction does not extend beyond the Cabinet itself ; 1852.] THE ABERDEEN CABINET. 21 murmnrings and grumblings are already very loud. The y^ Whigs have never looked with much benignity on this coali- tion, and they are now furious at the unequal and, as they think, unfair distribution of places. These complaints are not without reason, nor will it make matters better that John Russell has had no communication with his old friends and adherents, nor made any struggle, as it is believed, to provide for them, although his adhesion is so indispensable that he might have made any terms and conditions he chose. Then the Radicals, to judge from their press, are exceeding- ly sulky and suspicious, and more likely to opjDOse than to support the new Government. The Irish also seem disposed to assume a menacing and half hostile attitude, and, having contributed to overthrow the last Government, are very likely (according to the policy chalked out for them after the election) to take an early opportunity of aiding the Derbyites to turn out this. Thus hampered with difficulties and beset with dangers, it is impossible to feel easy about their prospects. If, however, they set to work vigorously to frame good measures and remove practical and crying evils, they may excite a feeling in their favor in the country, and may attract support enough from different quarters in the House of Commons to go on, but I much fear that it will at best be a perturbed and doubtful existence. Such seems the necessary condition of every Government now- adays, and unfortunately there is a considerable party which rejoices in such a state of things, and only desires to ag- gravate the mischief, because they think its continuance and the instability of every Government will be most conducive to the ends and objects which they aim at. London, December 28fh. — The remonstrances against Gladstone's being Chancellor of the Exchequer were unavail- ing, but he says he is not tied up by anything he said about the Income Tax. This will nevertheless be a great difficulty, for Graham and Wood, though not perhaps so much com- mitted as Gladstone, are both against the alteration, which tiie public voice undoubtedly demands. Last night the new Ministers took their places on the Treasury bench, and the Tories moved over to the opposite side. Aberdeen made his statement, which was fair enough and not ill received, but it was ill delivered, and he omitted to say all he rnight and ought to have said about Lord Lansdowne, nor did he say enough about John Russell. He said, on the other hand. 22 REIGX OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. I. more than enough about foreign policy, and gave Derby a good opportunity of attacking that part of his speech. Derby was more moderate and temperate than on the first night, and made a pretty good speech. Ho was wrong in dilating so much on what had passed in the House of Com- mons, and he made very little of the ease of combination ; he was severe on Graham and his speech at his election at Carlisle, and Graham heard it all. Nobody else said a word. The Government is now complete, except some of the minor appointments and the Household. It has not been a smooth and easy business by any means, and there is anything but contentment, cordiality, and zeal in the con- federated party. The Whi^^s are excessively dissatisfied with the share of places allotted to them, and complain that every Peelite without exception has been provided for, while half the Whigs are excluded. Though they exaggerate the case, there is a good deal of justice in their complaints, and they have a right to murmur against Aberdeen for not doing more for them, and John Eussell for not insisting on a larger share of patronage for his friends.^ Clarendon told mo last night that the Peelites have behaved very ill, and have grasped at everything, and he mentioned some very flagrant cases, in which, after the distribution had been settled between Aberdeen and John Eussell, Nev/castle and Sidney Herbert, for they appear to have been the most active in the matter, persuaded Aberdeen to alter it and bestow or offer offices intended for Whigs to Peelites and in some instances to Derbyites who had been Peelites. Clarendon has been all along very anxious to get Brougham into the Cabinet as President of the Council, and he pro- posed it both to Lord John and Aberdeen, and the latter acquiesced, and Clarendon thought it was going to be arranged that Granville should be President of the Board of Trade, and Brougham President of Council ; but Newcastle and Sidney Herbert not only upset this plan, but proposed that Ellenborough should be President of Council, and then, when he was objected to, Harrowby. They also wanted that Jersey should remain Master of the Horse, Jonathan Peel go again to the Ordnance, and Chandos .continue a Lord of the Treasury. With what object they wished for 1 [It was however, Lord John who prevented Mr. Cardwell, the President of the Boara of Trade, from having a seat in the Cabinet, on the ground that there were already too many Peelites in it.] 1852.] THE CLAIMS OF THE PEELITES. 23 these appointments I have not an idea, but the Tcrj notion of them is an insult to the Whigs, and will be resented accordingly. Lord Lansdowne seems to have taken little or no part in all this. He hooked Palmerston, and, having rcndertd this great service, he probably thought he had done enough. The Whigs at Brooks's are very angry, and Bessborough told me that he thought his party so ill used, that he had implored Lord John to withdraw even now rather than be a party to such injustice. Lord John seems to have been very supine, and while the Peelites were all activity, and intent on getting all they could, he let matters take their course, and abstained from exercising the influence in behalf of his own followers which his position and the indispen- sability of his co-operation enabled him to do. This puts them out of humor with him as much as with Aberdeen and his friends. W^e had a great reunion here (at Lord Granville's) last night, with half the Cabinet at dinner or in the evening. I told Graham what the feelings of the Whigs were. He said they had a very large and important share, the Chan- cellors of England and of Ireland, etc., and he defended some of the appointments and consequent exclusions on special grounds. They have made Monsell, an Irish Catholic convert, Clerk of the Ordnance, together with some other Irish Catholic appointments, and he said that these were necessary in order to reconquer in Ireland what had been lost by the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill, and that it was of more consequence to conciliate that large part of the Empire than to provide for the Ansons and the Pagets ; and on the same ground he Justified the appointment of St. Germans instead of Lord Carlisle as Lord Lieiitenant. All this may be very true, but the Whigs to be left out to make room for these substitutes will not be convinced or pacified by the political expediency which Graham sets forth, nor will such appoint- ments be at all popular here. If, however, they really should be the means of rallying the Irish Brigade to the support of the Government, it may be patronage well bestowed. But this makes it a disagreeable start, and may be hereafter productive of serious consequences. Nothing can be more shortsighted, as well as unfair, than the conduct of the Peel- ites in trying to thrust their own people instead of Whigs into the offices, for they can only hope to keep their places 24 KEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. I. at all bj the zealous support of tlie whole Whig force, them- selves bringing next to nothing in point of numbers, and to encounter such a numerous and compact Opposition will require the zealous co-operation of all who wish well to the Liberal cause, and who are against Derby. Newcastle talked to me last night about Aberdeen's speech, acknowledged its deficiencies, and said he had told Aberdeen what he thought of it. Aberdeen acknowledged it all, said he was so unaccustomed to make such statements, that he had for- gotten or overlooked it, and wished he could have spoken it again to repair the omission. They ail seem at yreaent very harmonious in their intercourse. After dinner last night John Eussell and Cliarles Wood went oil to meet Aberdeen, for the purpose, I believe, of settling some of the arrangements not yet fixed. Clarendon told me that Charles Wood had been of use in stimulating John Russell to interfere and prevent some of the proposed changes which the Peelites wished Aberdeen to make in the list as originally settled between him and Lord John, and it is very well that he did. It is impossible not to see that Lord John himself, though now willing to co-operate and do his best, has never been hearty in the cause, nor entirely satisfied with his own position ; and this has probably made him more lukewarm, and deterred him from taking a more active and decided part in the formation of the Government. We are Just going down to Windsor, the old Government to give up seals, wands, etc., tbe new to be sworn in. They go by different railways, that they may not meet. It is sin- gular that I have never attended a Council during the nine months Lord Derby was in office, not once ; consequently there are several of his Cabinet whom I do not know by sight — Pakington, Walpole, and Henley. With my friends I resume my functions. Decemler 29th. — I went down to the Council yesterday at Windsor with the ins, and we saw nothing of the outs, who went by another train and railway. Palmerston was there, looking very ill indeed. They all seem on very cor- dial terms. Graham told me he had had a very friendly conversation with Palmerston, and was greatly rejoiced at being again united to his old colleague. He acknowledged that it was a great mistake in Aberdeen to have offered the Mastership of the Horse to Lord Jersey. Aberdeen has now proposed the Lord Steward's jolace to Carlisle, which he will 1853.] LORD ABERDEEN'S ADMINISTRATION. 25 probably not take, and possibly be offended at, the offer. I suppose Aberdeen has been subjected to pressure from vari- ous quarters, but might have made a better selection and distribution than he has done. January 5th, 1853. — The elections are all going on well, except Gladstone's, who appears in great jeopardy. Nothing could exceed the disgraceful conduct of his opponents, lying, tricking, and shuffling, as might be expected from such a party. The best thing that could happen for Gladstone would be to be beaten, if it were not for the triumph it would be to the blackguards who have got up the contest ; for the representation of Oxford is always an embarrassment to a statesman, and Peel's losing his election there in 1829 was the most fortunate event possible for him. The only speech of the new Ministers calling for special notice is Palmerston's at Tiverton, which appears to me to conceal an arriere-pensee. He spoke in civil, even complimentary, terms of the Derby Government, so much so, that if any break-up or break-down should occur in this, and Lord Derby return to office, there appears no reason why Palm- erston should not form a fresh coalition with him ; and it looks very much as if he was keeping this contingency in view, and putting himself in such an attitude as should en- able him with some plausibility to join the camp of such a restoration. The Cabinet of Lord Aberdeen's Administration consisted of the following Ministers : Earl of Aberdeen . . . First Lord of the Treasury. Lord Orati worth .... Lord Oliancellor. Earl Granville .... Lord President of the Councih The Duke of Argyll . . . Lord Privy Seal. Mr. Gladstone .... Chancellor of the Exchequer. Viscount Pahnerston . . . Home Secretary of State. The Duke of ISTewcastb . . Secretary for Colonies and War. Lord John Russell (and later the Earl of Clarendon) . . . Forein^n Secretary. Sir James Graham . . . First Lord of the Admiralty. Mr. Sidney Herbert . . . Secretary at War. Sir Charles Wood . . . President of the Indian Board. Sir William Molesworth . . First Commissioner of Works. The Marquis of Lansdowne without oflBce. 2 26 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTOEIA. [Chap. IL CHAPTER IL A Eoyal Commission on Reform— M. de Flahault on the Emperor Napoleon— Lord John's Blunder— Disraeli's Negotiation with the Irish Members— Lord Beauvale's Death- Lady Beauvale's Grief- Napoleon Hi. and Mdlle. de Montijo— Parliament meets— The Emperor's Marriage-Disraelis Attack on Sir C. Wood— Dislilie of Mr. Disraeli- Lord John Russell'leaves the Foreign Office— Lord Stanley's Dberal Votes— Disraeli's Opinion of his CoUeag-ues- The Government in Smooth Water — England unpopular abroad— Massimo d'Azeglio— The Austrians in Italy— The Bishop of Lincoln— The Duke of Bedford's Papers — Lord Palmerston leads the House— Social Amenities- Rancor of Northern Powers against England— Friendly Resolution of the Emperor Napoleon III.— Difficulties at Home— The India Bill— The Eastern Question— The Czars Proposals — Russian Assurances — The Royal Family. Boivood, January 12th, 1853. — I came here on Monday to meet the Cannings, Harcourt/ and Lady Waldegra,ve, the Bessboroughs, Elphinstone, Senior, and the family. Senior talked to me about the Government and Reform, and the danger of their splitting on the latter question and pro- pounded a scheme he has for obviating this danger. He wants to have a Royal Commission to inquire into the prac- tice of bribery at elections and the means of preventing it, or, if possible, to have an inquiry of a more extensive and comprehensive character into the state of the representation and the working of the Reform Bill. We talked it over, and I told him I thought this would not be a bad expedient. He had already spoken to Lord Lansdowne about it, who seemed not adverse to the idea, and promised to talk to Lord John Russell on the subject. Senior, when he went away, begged me to talk to Lord Lansdowne also, which I at- tempted to do, but without success, for he seemed quite in- disposed to enter upon it. Beaudesert, January 19th.— To town on Saturday and here on Monday, with the Flahaults, Bessboroughs, Ansons, my brothers, and the family. Lord Anglesey and M. de Flahault talk over their campaigns, and compare notes on the events of Sir John Moore's retreat and other military opera- tions, in which they have served in opposing armies. Fla- hault was aide-de-camp to Marshal Berthier till the middle of the Russian campaign, when he became aide-de-camp to Napoleon, whom he never quitted again till the end of his career. His accounts of what he has seen and known are curious and interesting. He says that one of the Emperor's 1 [Georsre Granville Harconrt, Esq., M. P., eldest son of the Archbisliop of York, and" third husband of Frances, Countess of Waldegrave.] 1853.] LORD JOHN'S ARRANGEMENT DISAPPROVED. 27 greatest mistakes and the causes of his misfortunes was his habit of ordering everything, down to the minutest arrange- ment, himself, and leaving so little to the discretion and re- sponsibility of his generals and others that they became mere machines, and were incapable of acting, or afraid to act, on their own judgments. On several occasions great calamities .were the consequence of this unfortunate habit of Napo- leon's. London, January 2Uh. — The Duke of Bedford called here this morning. I had not seen him for an age ; he was just come from Windsor with a budget of matter, which as usual he was in such a hurry that he had not time to tell me. I got a part of it, however. I began by asking him how he had left them all at Windsor, to which he replied that the state of things was not very satisfactory. The Queen dis- approved Lord John's arrangement for giving up the seals of the Foreign Office on a given day (the 15th February) which had not been previously explained to her Majesty, as it ought to have been. She said that she should make no objection if any good reason could be assigned for what was proposed, either of a public or a private nature, any reason connected with his health or with the transaction of business, but she thought, and she is right, that fixing beforehand a particular day, without any special necessity occurring, is very unreasonable and absurd. Then they are all very angry with Lord John for an exceeding piece of folly of his, in an- nouncing to the Foreign Ministers, the clay he received them, that he was only to be at the Foreign Office for a few weeks. This, as the Duke said, was a most unwise and improper communication, particularly as it was made without any concert with Aberdeen, and without his knowledge, and, in fact, blurted out with the same sort of levity that was ap- parent in the Durham letter and the Reform announcement, with both of which he has been so bitterly reproached, and which have proved so inconvenient that it might have been thought he would not fall again into similar scrapes. The Foreign Ministers themselves were exceedingly astonished, and not a little annoyed. Brunnow said it was a complete mockery, and they all felt that it was unsatisfactory to be put m relation with a Foreign Secretary who was only to be there for a few weeks. The Queen is delighted to have got rid of the late Minis- ters. She felt, as everybody else does, that their Govern- 28 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. IL ment was disgraced by its shufifling and prevarication, and she said that Harcourt's pamphlet (which was all true) was sufficient to show what they were.-^ As she is very honora- ble and true herself, it was natural she should disapprove their conduct. Yesterday Delane called on me, and gave me an account of a curious conversation he had had with Disraeli. Disraeli asked him to call on him, which he did, when they talked over recent events and the fall of the late Government, very frankly, it would seem, on Disraeli's part. He acknowledged that he had been bitterly mortified. When Delane asked him, "now it was all over," what made him produce such a Budget, he said, if he had not been thwarted and disap- pointed, he should have carried it by the aid of the Irish Brigade whom he had engaged for that purpose. Just before the debate, one of them came to him and said, if he would agree to refer Sharman Crawford's Tenant Eight Bill to the Select Committee with the Government Bill, they would all vote with him. He thought this too good a bargain to miss, and he closed with his friend on those terms, told Walpole what he had arranged, desired him to carry out the bargain, and the thing was done. No sooner was the announcement made than Lord ISTaas and Sir Joseph Napier^ (who had never been informed) came in a great fury to Disraeli and Walpole, complained of the way they had been treated, and threatened to resign. With great difficulty he pacified or rather silenced them, and he was in hopes the storm had blown over, but the next day he found Naas and Napier had gone to Lord Derby with their complaints, and he now found the latter full of wrath and indignation likewise ; for Lord Eoden, who had heard something of this compromise (i. e., of the Tenant Eight Bill being referred to Committee), announced his intention of asking Lord Derby a question in the House of Lords. Added to this, as soon as the news reached Dublin, Lord Eglinton and Blackburne testified the same resentment as Naas and Napier had done, and threat- ened to resign likewise. All this produced a prodigious 1 [Mr. William Hareourt published a pamphlet at this time on " The Morality of Public Men," in which he censured with great severity the conduct of the late Ministers.] 2 rivord Naas was Chief Secretary for Ireland, and Sir Joseph Napier Attor- ney-General for Ireland, in Lord Derby's Administration of 1852. Lord Eglin- ton was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and the Eight Hon. Francis Blackburne Irish Lord ChanceUor.J 1853.] DISRAELI AND THE IRISH BRIGADE. 29 flare-up. Disraeli represented that it was his business to make the Budget succeed bj such means as he could, that the votes of the Brigade would decide it either way, and that he had made a very good bargain, as he had pledged himself to nothing more, and never had any intention of giving any suite to what had been done, so that it could not signify. He did not succeed in appeasing Lord Derby, who, a night or two after in the Lords, repudiated all participa- tion in what had been done, and attacked the Irishmen very bitterly. Disraeli heard this speech, and saw at once that it would be fatal to the Budget and to them, as it proved, for the whole Brigade voted in a body against the Govern- ment, and gave a majority to the other side. He seemed in pretty good spirits as to the future, though without for the present any definite purpose. He thinks the bulk of the party will keep together. Delane asked him what he would have done with such a Budget if he had carried it. He said they should have remodelled their Government, Palmerston and Gladstone would have joined them {Gladstone after the debate and their duel !) ; during the intervening two or three months the Budget would have been discussed in the country, what was liked retained, what was unpopular al- tered, and in the end they should have produced a very good Budget which the country would have taken gladly. He never seems to have given a thought to any consideration of political morality, honesty, or truth in all that he said. The moral of the whole is, that let Avhat will happen it will be very difficult to bring Lord Derby and Disraeli together again. They must regard each other with real, if not avowed, distrust and dislike. Disraeli said that Derby's po- sition in life and his fortune were so different from his, that their several courses must be influenced accordingly. It is easy to conceive how Lord Derby, embarked (no matter how or why) in such a contest, should strain every nerve to suc- ceed and fight it out ; but the thing once broken up, he would not be very likely to place himself again in such a situation, and to encounter the endless difficulties, dangers, and mortifications attendant upon the lead of such a party, and above all the necessity of trusting entirely to such a col- league as Disraeli in the House of Commons without one other man of a grain of capacity besides. As it is, he will probably betake himself to the enjoyment of his pleasures and pursuits, till he is recalled to political life by some fresh 30 • REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA, [Chap. II. excitement and interest that time and circumstances may throw in his way ; but let wliat will hai^pen, I doubt his encountering again the troubles and trammels of office.^ January SOih. — Yesterday morning Frederic Lamb, Lord Beauvale and Melbourne, with whom both titles cease, died at Brocket after a short but severe attack of influenza, fever, and gout. He was in his seventy-first year. Lady Palmer- ston thus becomes a rich heiress. He was not so remarkable a man in character as his brother William, less peculiar and eccentric, more like other people, with much less of literary acquirement, less caustic humor and pungent wit ; but he had a vigorous understanding, great quickness, a good deal of general information ; he was likewise well versed in busi- ness and public affairs, and a very sensible and intelligent converser and correspondent. He took a deep and lively in- terest in politics to the last moment of his life, was insatiably curious about all that was going on, and was much confided in and consulted by many people of very different parties and opinions. He never was in Parliament, but engaged all his life in a diplomatic career, for which he was very well fitted, having been extremely handsome in his youth, and always very clever, agreeable, and adroit. He consequently ran it with great success, and was in high estimation at- Vienna, where his brother-in-law, Palmerston, sent him as Ambassador. He was always much addicted to gallantry, and had endless liaisons with women, most of whom contin- ued to be his friends long after they had ceased to be his mistresses, much to the credit of all parties. After having led a very free and dissolute life, he had the good fortune at sixty years old, and with a broken and enfeebled constitu- tion, to settle (as it is called), by marrying a charming girl of twenty, the daughter of the Prussian Minister at Vienna, Count Maltzahn. This Adine, who was content to unite her May to his December, was to him a perfect angel, devot- ing her youthful energies to sustain and cheer his valetudi- narian existence with a cheerful unselfishness, which he re- paid by a grateful and tender affection, having an air at once marital and paternal. She never cared to go anywhere, gave up all commerce with the world and all its amusements and pleasures, contenting herself with such society as it suited 1 [A singularly unfortunate prediction ! Tlie alliance of Lord Der"by and Mr. Disraeli remained unbroken, and continued long enough to enable them (after a second failure) to bring the Conservative party back to power.] 1853.] LADY BEAUVALE. 31 him to gather about them — his old frieDds and some new ones — to whom she did the honors with infinite grace and cordiahty. and who all regarded her with great admiration and respect. In such social intercourse, in political gossip, and in her untiring attentions, his last years glided away, not without enjoyment. He and his brother William had always been on very intimate terms, and William highly prized his advice and opinions ; but, as Frederic was at heart a Tory, and had a horror of Eadicalism in every shape, he was not seldom disgusted with the conduct of the Whig Gov- ernment, and used sorely to perplex and mortify William by his free and severe strictures on him and his colleagues. He nominally belonged to the Liberal party, but in reality he was strongly Conservative, and he always dreaded the prog- ress of democracy, though less disturbed than he would otherwise have been by reflecting that no material alteration could possibly overtake him. His most intimate friends abroad were the Mettornichs and Madame de Lieven, and his notions of foreign policy were extremely congenial to theirs. Here, his connections all lying with people of the Liberal side, he had nothing to do with the Tories, for most of whom he entertained great contempt. Brougham, Ellice, and my- self were the men he was most intimate with. He was very fond of his sister, but never much liked Palmerston, and was bitterly opposed to his policy when he was at the For- eign Office, which was a very sore subject between himself and them, and for a long time, and on many occasions, em- bittered or interrupted their intercourse ; but, as he was naturally affectionate, had a very good temper, and loved an easy life, such clouds were always soon dispersed, and no permanent estrangement ever took place. He was largely endowed with social merits and virtues, without having or affecting any claim to those of a higher or moral character. I have no doubt he was much more amiable as an old man than he ever had been when he was a young one ; and, though the death of one so retired from the world can make little or no sensation in it, except as being the last of a re- markable family, he will be sincerely regretted, and his loss will be sensibly felt by the few who enjoyed the intimacy of his declining years. February Sth. — Yesterday I went to see the unhappy Lady Beauvale, and, apart from the sorrow of witnessing so much bodily and mental suffering, it is really a singular and 32 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. H. extraordinary case. Here is a woman thirty-two years old, and therefore in the prime of life, who has lost a husband of seventy-one, deprived of the use of his limbs, and whom she had nursed for ten years, the period of their union, with the probable or possible fatal termination of his frequent attacks of gout constantly before her eyes, and she is not merely jDlunged in great grief at the loss she has sustained, but in a blank and hopeless despair, which in its moral and physical effects seriously menaces her own existence. She is calm, reasonable and docile, talks of him and his illness without any excitement, and is ready to do everything that her friends advise ; but she is earnestly desirous to die, considers her sole business on earth as finished, and talks as if the pro- longation of her own life could only be an unmitigated evil and intolerable burden, and that no ray of hope was left for her of any possibility of happiness or even peace and ease for the future. She is in fact brokenhearted, and that for a man old enough to be her grandfather, and a martyr to dis- ease and infirmity ; but to her he was everything ; she had consecrated her life to the preservation of his, and she kept his vital flame alive with the unwearied watching of a Vestal priestess. She had made him an object and an idol round which all the feelings and even passion of an affectionate heart had entwined themselves, till at last she had merged her very existence in his, and only lived in, Avith, and for him. She saw and felt that he enjoyed life, and she made it her object to promote and prolong this enjoyment. " Why," she says, " could I not save him now, as 1 saved him hereto- fore ? " and not having been able to do so, she regards her own life as utterly useless and unnecessary, and only hopes to be relieved of it that she may (as she believes and expects) be enabled to join him in some other world. ^ February Wi. — Yesterday Clarendon told me a curious thing about the Emperor Napoleon and his marriage, which came in a roundabout way, but which do doubt is true. Madame de Montijo's most intimate friend is the Marchion- ess of Santa Cruz, and to her she wrote an account of what had passed about her daughter's marriage and the Emperor's proposal to her. When he offered her marriage, she expressed her sense of the greatness of the jDosition to which he pro- posed to raise her. He replied, " It is only fair that I should 1 [She lived, however, and married Lord Forester, en secondcs noces. in 1856.] 1853.] PARLIAMENT MEETS. 33 set before you the whole truth, and let you know that if the position is very high, it is also perhaps very dangerous and insecure." He then represented to her in detail all the dan- gers with which he was environed, his unpopularity with the higher classes, the mnlveillance of the Great Powers, the possibility of his being any day assassinated at her side, his popularity indeed with the masses, but the fleeting character of their favor, but above all the existence of a good deal of disaffection and hostility in the army, tlie most serious thing of all. If this latter clanger, he said, were to become more formidable, he knew very well how to avert it by a war ; and though his earnest desire was to maintain peace, if no other means of self-preservation should remain, he should not shrink from that, which would at once rally the whole army to one common feeling. All this he toLd her with entire frankness, and without concealin^^ie perils i5f his position, or his sense of them, and it is oiid 6f the inost creditable traits I have ever heard of him. It was, of course, calcu- lated to engage and attach any w^oafcin of high spirit and generosity, and it seems to have had that efl'ect upon her. It is, however, curious in many ways ; it jeveals a sense of danger that is not apparently suspected, and his conscious- ness of it ; and it shows how^in spite of a sincere wish to maintain peace, he may be driven to make war as a means of self-preservation, and therefore how entirely necessary it is that we should be on our guard, and not relax our defensive ])reparations. I was sure from the conversations I had with M. de Flahault at Beaudesert, that he feels the Emperor's situation to be one of insecurity and hazard. He said that it remained to be seen whether it was possible that a Govern- ment could be maintained permanently in France on the principle of the total suppression of civil and political lib- erty, which had the support of the masses, but which was abhorred and opposed by all the elevated and educated classes. The limbs of the body politic are with the Emperor, and the head against him. Fehmary 11th. — Parliament met again last night. Lord Derby threw off in the Lords by asking Lord Aberdeen what the Government meant to do, which Aberdeen awkwardly and foolishly enough declined to give any answer to. The scene was rather ridiculous, and not creditable, I think, to Aberdeen. He is unfortunately a very bad speaker at all times, and, what is worse in a Prime Minister, has no readi- 34 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. II. ness whatever. Lord Lansdowne would have made a very pretty and dexterous flourish, and answered the question. Lord John did announce in the House of Commons what the Government mean to do and not to do, but tliey say he did it ill, and it was very flat, not a hrilliant throw-ofl at all. February IQth. — Yesterday Cowley arrived from Paris. He called on me, and gave me an account of the state of things there and some curious details about the Emperor's marriage and his abortive matrimonial projects. He con- firms the account of Louis Napoleon's position set forth in Madame de Montijo's letter. The effect of his marriage has been very damaging everywhere, and the French people were not at all pleased at his calling himself a "parvenu," which mortified their vanity, inasmuch as they did not like to appear as having thrown themselves at the feet of a parvenu. For some time before the marriage was declared, Cowley, from what he saw and the information he received, began to suspect it would take place, and reported it to John Eussell. Just about this time Walewski went to Paris, and when Cowley saw him he told him so. Walewski expressed the greatest surprise as well as mortification, and imparted to Cowley that a negotiation had been and still was going on for the Emperor's marriage with the Princess Adelaide of Hohenlohe, the Queen's niece, at that time and still with the Queen in England. This was begun by Lord Malmes- bury, and the Emperor had regularly proposed to her through her father. A very civil answer had been sent by the Prince, in which he said that he would not dispose of his daughter's hand without her consent, and that he had re- ferred the proposal to her, and she should decide for herself. The Queen had behaved very well, and had abstained from giving any advice or expressing any opinion on the subject. They were then expecting the young Princess's decision. This being the case, Cowley advised Walewski to exert his influence to stop the demonstrations that were going on between the Emperor and Mile, de Montijo, which might seriously interfere with this plan. The next day Walewski told Cowley that he had seen the Emperor, who took him by both hands, and said, "Mon cher, je suis pris," and then told him he had resolved to marry Mile, de Montijo. How- ever, on Walewski representing the state of the other affair, he agreed to wait for the Princess Adelaide's answer, but said, if it was unfavorable, he would conclude the other 1853.] MARRIAGE OF THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON III. 35 affair, but if the Princess accepted him he would marry her. The day following the answer came : very civil, but declining on the ground of her youth and inexperience, and not feeling equal to such a position. The same day the Emperor proposed to the Empress. Cowley says he is evi- dently much changed since his marriage, and that he is conscious of his unpopularity and the additional insecurity in which it has involved his position. February IWi. — Lord Cowley told me something more about the marriage. He saw the Queen on Thursday (17th), who told him all about it. The first step was taken by Morny, who wrote to Malmesbury, and requested him to propose it, stating that the Emperor's principal object in it was to "resserrer les liens entre les deux pays." Malmesbury accordingly wrote to the Queen on the subject. She was an- noyed, justly considering that the proposal, with the reason given, placed her in a very awkward situation, and that it ought not to have been mentioned to her at all. The result was what has been already stated, but with this difference, that the Queen set her face against the match, although the girl, if left to herself, would have accepted the offer. How- ever, nobody knows this, and they are very anxious these details should not transpire. The two accounts I have given of this transaction seem to me to afford a good illustration of the uncertainty of the best authenticated historical state- ments. Nothing could appear more to be relied on than the accuracy of Cowley's first account to me, and if I had not seen him again, or if he had not imparted to me his conver- sation with the Queen, that account would have stood un- corrected, and an inaccurate version of the story would have been preserved, and might hereafter have been made public, and, unless corrected by some other contemporaneous narra- tive, would probably have been taken as true. The matter in itself is not very important, but such errors unquestion- ably are liable to occur in matters of greater moment, and actually do occur, fully justifying the apocryphal character which has been ascribed to almost every historical work.^ The Queen seems to be intensely curious about the Court of France and all details connected with it, and on the other hand Louis Napoleon has been equally curious about the 1 [Turtlier details with reference to the marriage of the Emperor will be found in Lord Malmesbury Memoirs, vol. i. pp. 374 an(i 378, which confirm Mr. Gre- villc's narrative.] 36 KEIGN OP QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. U. etiquette observed in the English Court, and desirous of as- similating his to ours, which in great measure he appears to have done. Last night there was the first field day in the House of Commons, Disraeli having made an elaborate and bitter attack on the Government, but especially on Charles "Wood and Graham, under the pretence of asking questions respect- ing our foreign relations, and more particularly with France.^ His speech was very long, in most parts very tiresome, but with a good deal of ability, and a liberal infusion of that sarcastic vituperation which is his great forte, and which always amuses the House of Commons more or less. It was, however, a speech of devilish malignity, quite reckless and shamelessly profligate ; for the whole scope of it was, if pos- sible, to envenom any bad feeling that may possibly exist between France and England, and, by the most exaggerated representations of the offence given by two of the Ministers to the French Government and nation, to exasperate the latter, and to make it a point of honor with them to resent it, even to the extent of a quarrel with us. Happily its factious violence was so great as to disgust even the people on his own side, and the French Government is too really desirous of peace and harmony to pay any attention to the rant of a disappointed adventurer, whose motives and object are quite transparent. February 20th. — Disraeli's speech on Friday night was evidently a political blunder, which has injured him in the general opinion, and disgusted his own party. It is as- serted that he communicated his intention to his followers, who disapproved of it, but he nevertheless persisted. The speech itself was too long ; it was dull and full of useless truisms in the first part, but clever and brilliant in the last ; and his personalities were very smart and well aimed ; but there was not a particle of truth and sincerity in it ; it was a mere vituperation and factious display, calculated to do mischief if it produced any effect at all, and quite unbecom- ing a man who had just been a Minister of the Crown and leader of the House of Commons, and who ought to have 1 [Sir Charles "Wood, President of the Board of Control, made a speech to his constituents at Halifax on February 3, in which he commented in severe lan- guage on the despotic character of' the Imperial Government of France. The speech was thought to be unbecoming in the mouth of a Cabinet minister, _ and Sir Charles apologized for it. But Mr. Disraeli made it the subject of a fierce attack in the House of Commons.] 1853.] LORD JOHN RUSSELL LEAVES THE FOREIGN OFFICE. 37 been animated by higher motives and more patriotic views. This was what the more sensible men of the party felt, and Tom Baring, the most sensible and respectable of the Derby- ites, and the man of the greatest weight among them, told me himself that he was so much disgusted that he was on the point of getting up to disavow him, and it is much to be regretted, as I told him, that such a rebuke was not admin- istered from such a quarter. It does not look as if the connection between Disraeli and the party could go on long. Their dread and distrust of him and his contempt of them render it difficult if not impossible. Pakington is already talked of as their leader, and some think Disraeli wants to shake them off and trade on his own bottom, trusting to his great abilities to make his way to political power with somebody and on some principles, about neither of which he would be very nice. Tom Baring said to me last night, *' Can't you make room for him in this Coalition Govern- ment ? " I said, " Why, will you give him to us ? " " Oh, yes," he said, " you shall have him with pleasure." liord John Russell has taken leave of the Foi-eign Office, and has had an interview with the Queen and Prince, satis- factory to both. Hhe has been all along considerably an- noyed at the arrangement made about his taking the Foreign Office only to quit it, and his leading the House of Com- mons without any office, which she fancies is unconstitu- tional, and the arrangement was announced in the news- papers without any proper communication to her. The consequence has been some little soreness on both sides, but this has now been all removed by explanations and amicable communication. The Queen attacked him on the constitu- tional ground, but here elle Va pris par son fort, and he easily bowled over this objection.^ Then she expressed her fear lest it should be drawn into a precedent, which might be inconvenient in other cases, to which he replied that he thought there was little fear of anybody wishing to follow the precedent of a man taking upon himself a vast amount of labor without any pay at all. Then she said that a man independent of office might consider himself independent of the Crown also, and postpone its interests to popular re- > [The objection taken by Her Majesty was to Lord .Tolm Eussell's proposal that he should retain his seat in the Cabinet and the leadcrsliip of the House of Com- mons without holding any special oflfice in the Government. But in fact, as a Privy Councillor of the Crown, a Minister, with or without office, is under pre- cisely the same obligations to the Sovereign and to Parliament.] 38 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. II. qiiirements ; which he answered by saying that he did not think any Minister, as it was, thought very mnch of the Crown as contradistinguished from the people, and that he was not less likely to take such a part as she apprehended by holding an office of £5,000 a year, from which a vote of the House of Commons could at any moment expel him. He appears to have satisfied them both, and to be satisfied himself, which is still more important. February 2oth. — The Jew question and the Maynooth question have been got over in the House of Commons with- out much debate, but by small majorities. The most re- markable incident was young Stanley^ voting with the ma- jority in both questions, and speaking on Maynooth, and well. As he is pretty sure to act a conspicuous part, it is good to see him taking a wise and liberal line. Disraeli voted for the Jews but did not speak, which was very base of him. Last night I met Tomline at dinner, who is a friend of his, and told me a great deal about him. He has a good opinion of him, that is, that he has a good disposition, but his personal position perverts him in great measure. He says he dislikes and despises Derby, thinks him a good " Saxon" speaker and nothing more, has a great contempt for his party, particularly for Pakington, whom they seem to think of setting up as leader in his place. The man in the House of Commons whom he most fears as an opponent is Gladstone. He has the highest ojjinion of his ability, and he respects Graham as a statesman. Tomline told me that his system of attacking the late Sir Eobert Peel was settled after this manner. "When the great schism took place, three of the seceders went to Disraeli (Miles, Tyrrel, and a third whom I have forgotten), and proposed to him to attack and vilify Peel regularly, but with discretion ; not to fatigue and disgust the House, to make a speech against him about once a fortnight or so, and promised if he would that a constant and regular attendance of a certain number of men should be there to cheer and support him, remarking that nobody was ever efficient in the House of Commons without this support certain.® He desired twenty minutes to consider 1 [The present Earl of Derby, who succeeded his father as fifteenth Earl in 1S69. He entered public life as Under Secretary of State for Foreign Afiairs in 1852.] ^ [This anecdote is related on the authority of Mr. Tomline as stated in the text. It was mentioned in the lifetime of Lord Beaconsfield, and in justice to him it must be said that he altogether denied the truth of the story.] 1853.] WHIG MALCONTExXTS. 39 of this offer, and finally accepted it. "We have seen the re- sult, a curious beginning of an important political career, now they dread and hate him, for they koow in his heart he has no sympathy with them, and that he has no truth or sincerity in his conduct or speeches, and would throw them over if he thought it his interest. March 1st. — The Government seem upon the whole to be going on prosperously. They have at present no difficulty in the House of Commons, where there is no disposition to oppose their measures, and an appearance of moderation generally, which promises an easy Session. John Russell has spoken well, and seems to have recovered a great share of tlie popularity he had lost. Aberdeen has done very well in the House of Lords, his answers to various "questions" having been discreet, temperate, and Judicious ; in short, up to this time the horizon is tolerably clear. On the other hand the divisions have presented meagre majorities, and the Government have no poivei' in the House of Commons, and live on the good-will or forbearance of the several fractions of which it is composed. John Russell is in his heart not satisfied with his present position, and not animated with any spirit of zeal or cordiality, though he is sure to act hon- estly and fairly the part he has undertaken. 'J^here is still a good deal of lurking discontent and resentment on the jiart of those who were left out, and of the Whig party generally, who are only half reconciled to following the banner of a Peelite premier ; of the malcontents the principal are Car- lisle and Clanricarde, who are both in different ways very sore ; Normanby is dissatisfied, Laboucliere, Seymour, and George Grey not pleased, but except Clanricarde none have shown any disposition to withhold their support from the Government, or even to carp at them. Aberdeen seems to have no notion of being anything but a real Prime Minister. He means to exercise a large influence in the management of foreign affairs, which he considers to be the peculiar, if not exclusive, province of himself and Clarendon. Palmer- ston does not interfere with them at all, but he must do so, if any important questions arise for the Cabinet to decide, and then it is very likely some dissension will be the conse- quence. There are four ex-Secretaries for Foreign Affairs in this Cabinet, all of whom will naturally take part in any dis- cussion of moment. Argyll began rather unluckily, running his head indiscreetly against Ellenborough on an Indian pe- 40 REIGN OP QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. IL tition. He is burning with impatience to distingaisli him- self, and broke out too soon, and out of season ; but he was not unconscious of his error, and it will probably be of use to him to have met with a little check at his outset, and teach him to be more discreet. He spoke again last night, and very well, on the Clergy reserves, when there was a brilliant passage of arms in the Lords, in which Lord Derby and the Bishops of Exeter and Oxford distinguished them- selves. News came by telegraph last night that the dispute be- tween Turkey and Austria is settled, which will relieve us from a great difficulty. If it had gone on, we should have had a difficult part to" play, and unluckily the good under- standing that was reviving between us and Vienna has all been upset by the late attempt on the Emperor's life,^ which has thrown the Austrians into a ferment, and renewed all their bitter resentment against us for harboring Kossuth and Mazzini, to whom they attribute both the emeiite at Milan and the assassination at Vienna severally. They are no doubt right about Mazzini and wrong about Kossuth, but fortu- nately for us the first is not in England and has been abroad for some time, and it will probably be impossible to bring any evidence against Kossuth to connect him with the Hun- garian assassin. But these troubles and attempts, the origin of which is attributed to men residmg here, and, though neglected by the Government, more or less objects of popu- lar favor and sympathy, render all relations of amity impos- sible between our Government and theirs, and the disunion is aggravated by our absurd meddling with such cases as the Madiai and Murray at Florence and at Rome, which are no concern of ours, and which our Government does in compli- ance with Protestant bigotry. What makes our conduct the more absurd is that we do more harm than good to the ob- jects of our interest, for no Government can, with any regard to its own dignity and independence, yield to our dictation and impertinent interference. The Grand Duke of Tuscany said that the Madiai would have been let out of prison long ago but for our interference. John Eussell's published let- ter on" this subject, which was very palatable to the public, 1 [The Emperor of Austria was stribTDed in the neck on February 18, by Joseph Lisbeny, on the ramparts of Vienna, fortunately without serious conse- quences. The" assassin had not the remotest connection with anyone in this country.] 1853.] AUSTRIAN OPPRESSION IN ITALY. 41 was as objectionable as possible, and quite as insolent and presumptuous as any Palmerston used to write. Last night the Marquis Massimo d'Azeglio came here. He was Prime Minister in Piedmont till replaced by Count Cavour, and is come to join his nephew, who is Minister here. He is a tall, thin, digniiied-looking man, with very pleasing manners. He gave us a shocking account of the conduct of the Austrians at Milan in consequence of the recent outbreak. Their tyranny and cruelty have been more like the deeds in the middle ages than those in our own time ; wantonly putting people to death without trial or even the slightest semblance of guilt, plundering and confiscating, and in every respect acting in a manner equally barbarous and impolitic. They have thrown away a good opportunity of improving their own moral status in Italy, and completely played the game of their enemies by increasing the national hatred against them tenfold. If ever France finds it her interest to go to war,^ Italy will be her mark, for she will now find the whole population in her favor, and would be joined by Sardinia, who would be too hapj^y to revenge her former reverses with French aid ; nor would it be possible for this country to support Austria in a war to secure that Italian dominion which she has so monstrously abused. March 3d. — Lord Aberdeen has gained great credit by making Mr. Jackson, Eector of St. James's, Bishop of Lin- coln. He is a man without political patronage or connec- tion, and with no recommendation but his extraordinary merit both as a parish pi'iest and a preacher. Such an appointment is creditable, wise, and popular, and will strengthen the Government by conciliating the moderate and sincere friends of the Church. The Duke of Bedford writes to me about his papers and voluminous correspondence, which he has been thinking of overhauling and arranging, but he shrinks from such a laborious task. He says : " With respect to my political cor- respondence, it has been unusually interesting and remark- able. I came so early into public life, have been so mixed up with everything, have known the political chief of my own party so intimately, and of the Tory party also to a limited extent, that there is no great affair of my own time I liave not been well acquainted with." This is very true, and his 1 [Remarkable prediction, verified in 1859.] 42 REIGJf OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. IL correspondence, whenever it sees the light, will be more interesting, and contribute more historical information, than that of any other man who has been engaged in public life. The papers of Peel and of the Duke of Wellington may be more important, but I doubt theirs being more interesting, because the Duke of Bedford's will be of a more miscellane- ous and comprehensive character ; and though his abilities are not of a very high order, his judgment is sound, his mind is unprejudiced and candid, and he is a sincere worshipper of truth. For the last few days John Russell has been kept away from the House of Commons by the death of the Dowager Duchess of Bedford, when Palmerston has been acting as leader, taking that post as naturally and undoubtedly be- longing to him, and his right to it being entirely acquiesced in by his colleagues of both camps. They say that he has given great satisfaction to the House, where he is regarded with the same favor and inclination as heretofore, and per- sonally much more acceptable than Lord John. Cobden dined with John Eussell the other day, and, what is more remarkable, Bessborough told me he met Eoden at dinner the other day at the Castle at Dublin, St. G-ermans and he on very good-humored terms. These are striking examples of the compatibility of the strongest political difference with social amenities. Cobden, however, is not in regular oppo- sition to the Government, but in great measure a supporter. March 10th. — I met M. de Flahault last night, just re- turned from Paris. He said that he found there a rancor and violence against us among the Austrians, and Eussians and Prussians no less, quite inconceivable. He talked to them all and represented to them the absurdity of their sup- positions and exigencies, but without the slightest effect ; he found the Emperor, however, in a very different frame of mind, understanding perfectly the position of the English Government, and completely determined to maintain his alliance with us, and not to yield to the tempting cajolery of the Continental Powers, who want him to make common cause with them against us. Such is their madness and their passion, and such the necessity, real or fancied, in which they are placed by the revolutionary fire which is still smoul- dering everywhere, and their own detestable misgovernment (at least that of Austria, which the others abet), that they are ready to co-operate with France in coercing and weaken- 1853.] ALLIANCE OF FRANCE AND ENGLAND. 43 ing us, and to sacrifice all the great and traditional policy of Europe, in order to wage war against the stronghold and only asylum of constitutional princii^les and government. Flahault said that the Emperor has had an opportunity of placing himself in the first year of his reign in a situation which was the great object of his uncle's life, and which he never could attain. He might have been at the head of a European league against us, for these powers have signified to him their willingness to follow him in such a crusade, the Emperor of Russia and he being on the best terms, and a cordial interchange of letters having. taken place between them. But Napoleon has had tlie wisdom and the magna- nimity to resist the bait, to decline these overtures, and to resolve on adherence to England. Flahault said that he had had an audience, at which he frankly and freely told the Emperor his own opinion, not being without apprehension that it would be unpalatable to him, and not coincident with his own views. While he was talking to him, he saw him smile, which he interpreted into a sentiment that he (Flahault) was too Ewjlisli for him in his language and opin- ions, and he said so. The Emperor said, "1 smiled because you so exactly expressed my own opinions," and then he told him that he took exactly the same view of what his true policy was that Flahault himself did. Flahault suggested to him that, in spite of the civilities shown him by the North- ern Powers, they did not, and never would, consider him as one of themselves, and they only wanted to make him the instrument of their policy or their vengeance ; and he re- minded him that while England had at once recognized him, they were not only in no hurry to do so, but if England had not recognized him as she did, he would not have been rec- ognized by any one of those Powers to this day, all which he acknowledged to be true. The prevailing feeling against England which Flahault found at Paris has been proved on innumerable occasions. Clarendon is well aware of it, and does his best, but with very little success, to bring the foreign Ministers and others to reason. Madame de Lievcn writes to me in this strain, and. even liberal and intelligent foreigners like Alfred Po- tocki, who has been accused of being a rebel in Austria, writes that we ought to expel the refugees. At Vienna the people are persuaded that there is some indirect and unde- fiuable participation on the part of the British Government 44 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTOEIA. [Chap. II. in the insurrectionary and homicidal acts of Milan and Vienna, and they have got a story that the assassin Liheny had a letter of Palmerston's in his shoe. Unreasonable as all this is, we ought to make great allowance for their ex- cited feelings, for they have a case against us of a cumulative character. It goes back a long way, and embraces many objects and details, and is principally attributable to Palmer- ston, partly to his doings, and jierhaps more to his sayings. They can not forget that he has long been the implacable enemy of Austria, that he advised her renunciation of her Italian dominions, and that he and his agents have always sympathized with, and sometimes aided and abetted, most of the revolutionary movements that have taken place. Then there was the Haynau affair, and the lukewarmness and in- difference which the Government of that day, and Palmer- ston particularly, exhibited about it ; then the reception of Kossuth, the public meetings and his speeches, together with the speeches at them of Cobden and others of which no notice was ever taken, and finally the transaction about Palmerston's receiving Kossuth and his famous answer to the addresses presented to him from Finsbury and Islington. All these things satisfy the foreign Governments that we are not only politically but nationally their enemies, and that we harbor their rebellious subjects out of hatred to them, and that we regard with sympathy and a secret satisfaction the plots which they concoct in safety here and go forth to execute abroad. And wlien they are told that our laws afford these people an asylum, which no Government has the power to deny them, and that Parliament and public opinion will not consent to arm the Government with the powers of restraint or coercion they do not possess, they only exjDlode the more loudly in denunciations against that free and constitutional system which is not only a perpetual re- proach, but, as they think, a source of continual danger to their own. So much for foreign affairs. At home, while the political sky is still serene enough, there are some rocks ahead, and I think the Government in peril from more than onfe cause. First and foremost there is the Indian question. There is something ominous in the conjunction between a Caalition Government and an India Bill, and if they don't take care, they will get into a scrape.* 1 [The Charter of the East India Company heiua: about to expire, Sir Charles Wood, the President of the Board of Control, introduced in an elaborate speech 1853.] THE INDIAN QUESTION. 45 The Opposition is broken and disorganized, and at present there is no disposition on the jmrt of the extreme Liberals to join in any strong measures against the Government ; but this is a question on which all the scattered fractions might be made easily to combine, and there are already symptoms of a possible combination ad hoc in the Indian Committee of the House of Commons. Lowe is very much dissatisfied with Charles Wood, and with the intentions of Government, and even talks of resigning ; and the "Times" is going into furious opposition on the Indian question, and is already attacking the Government for their supposed intentions. This, therefore, is assuming a serious aspect. There is besides the Budget and the difficulty of the Income Tax, and these two questions are enough to put them in great perplexity. March lOih. — The question of Indian government and the renewal of the Charter is every day increasing in importance and attracting more and more of public attention. It is a matter of great difficulty for the Government to deal with. They are threatened by enemies, and pressed by friends and half friends, who want them to postpone any measure for another year or two years. They, on the contrary, stand pledged, and think they ought to propose something this year. It presents a field on which the various fractions of hostility and semi-hostility to the Government may meet and combine, and perhaps place them in great difficulty. The Committees are going on taking evidence with the knowledge that the Government will probably not wait for their several reports before proceeding to legislation. Gran- ville has got the management of the Government measures in the House of Lords, and is working very hard at Indian affairs. Yesterday I met at dinner at Ellice's two able men just arrived from India for the purpose of giving evidence, a Mr. Ilalliday and a Mr. Marchmont. They are for main- taining the present system, but with many reforms and alterations ; they spoke highly of Lord Dalhousie as a man of business. March 'ZUh. — As I never see Clarendon now, who is entirely absorbed in the duties of his office, he engaged me to go and dine with him alone yesterday, that we might a Bill for the future sroverament ot India by the Company, which changed the Constitution and limited the patronage of the Court of Directors. The Bill was finally passed on July 28.] 46 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. H. have a talk about all that is going on, and he told me a great deal of one sort or another. I learned the state of our relations with France and Russia in reference to the Turkish business, and he gave me to read a very curious and inter- esting despatch (addressed to John Eussell) from Seymour, giving an account of a long conversation he had had with the Emperor Nicholas about Turkey and her prospects and condition, and his own intentions and opinions, which were amicable toward us, and very wise and moderate in them- selves, contemplating the dissolution of the Turkish Empire, disclaiming in the strongest terms any design of occupying Constantinople — more than that, declaring that he would not do it — but supposing the event to happen, not thinking the solution of the problem so difficult as it is generally re- garded. He threw out that he should have no objection, if a partition was ever to take place, that we should appropriate Egypt and Candia to ourselves. He seems to have talked very frankly, and he said one curious thing, which was that Russia was not without a revolutionary substratum, which was only less apparent and less menacing than in other parts because he possessed greater means of repression, but never- theless that the seeds were there. It is lucky Dundas is a prudent man, and refused to carry his fleet up to the vicinity of the Dardanelles at Rose's invitation, or mischief might have ensued. As it is, we disapprove of Rose's proceedings and have approved Dundas's, at the same time ordering him not to move without express orders from home, and more- over Clarendon refused to give Stratford Canning any discre- tionary authority to send for the fleet (though it was after- ward given), which he had asked to be entrusted with. Clarend'.n is much dissatisfied with the conduct of the French Government, who were in a great hurry to send off their flt ^, and they sent orders to sail on the mere report of what Rose had done, and without waiting to learn the result of his application to the Admiral ; and they did this, although they knew the despatches were on the road, and that a very few hours would put them in possession of the actual state of the case. Moreover, Cowley moved heaven and earth to induce Drouyn de Lhuys to withdraw the order to sail, but without effect. They persisted in it, after they knew we were not going to stir, and Cowley could not see the Em- peror, who he says was evidently avoiding any communica- tion with him. Still very friendly language continues to 1853.] THE EASTERN QUESTION. 47 pass between us, and our Government are inclined to attrib- ute this unwise proceeding to the vanity of the French, their passion for doing something, and above all the inexperience and want of savoir faire in high matters of diplomacy of the Emperor and his ministers. There is not one among them who is fit to handle such delicate and important questions, the Emperor, who governs everything by his own will, less than any ; and Drouyn de Lhuys, who has been for many years engaged more or less in the Foreign Office, is a very poor and inefficient minister. Clarendon told me he had seen Brunnow, and after reca- pitulating to him all the various causes for alarm, resting on facts or on rumors, especially with regard to Russia and her intentions, he said that our Government had received the word of honor of the Emperor that he had no sinister or hos- tile intentions, and disclaimed ihose that had been imputed to him, and that on his word they relied with such implicit confidence that he had not the slightest fear of disquietude. Brunnow was exceedingly pleased, and said that was the way to treat the Emperor, who would be excessively gratified, nothing being dearer to him than the confidence and good opinion of this country, and he said he would send off a cou- rier the next day, and Clarendon should dictate his despatch. The instructions given to Menschikoff have been enormously exaggerated, the most serious and offensive parts Ihat have been stated (the nomination of the Greek Patriarch, etc.) being totally false. ^ I asked what they were, and he said nothing but 1 [While these pacific assurances were tjiven in London, Pijinoe Menschikoff arrived in Constantinople on March 2, and commenced that arroo;ant and ag- gressive policy which led in tlie course of the year to hostilities between Russia and the Forte. It has, however, only recently transpired, by the p, blication of Lord Malmesbury's " Memoirs " (vol. i. p. 402), tliat when the Emjieror Nich- olas came to England in 1844, he, Sir Robert Peel, then Prime \ 'inister, the Duke of Wellington, and Lord Aberdeen, then Foreign Secretary, 3W up and signed a Memorandum, the spirit and scope of which was to support Russia in her legitimate protection of the Greek religion and the holy shrines, and to do so without consulting France. To obtain this agreement was doubtless the ob- ject of the Emperor' js journey. It bore his own" personal signature. The exist- ence of this Memorandum was a profound secret known only to the Queen and to tho«e Ministers who held in succession the seals of the Foreign Department, each of whom transmitted it privately to his successor. Lord Malmesbury re- ceived the document from Lord Granville, and on leaving office in 1853 handed it to Lord John Russell. This fact, hitherto unknown, throws an entirely new liixht on the causes of the Crimean War. The Emperor of Russia naturally relied on the support of the very ministers who had signed the agreement and were again in power, while Lord Aberdeen was conscious of having entered into an engagement wholly at variance with the course of policy into which he was reluctantly driven. — H. R.] 48 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. II. a string of conditions about shrines and other ecclesiastical trifles. Walewski seems to hare done well here, condemning the conduct of his own Government, and not concealing from them his own opinion, and entirely going along with us. It was on Saturday night that the courier arrived with Rose's and Dundas's despatches, and a few of the Cabinet met on Sunday at the Admiralty to talk the matter over. Clarendon sent for John Russell from Richmond, and he thought it advisable to summon Palmerston to thisconciliabule, to keep him in good humor, which it had the effect of doing. There were himself, Palmerston, John Russell, Aberdeen, and Graham. He had written to Lord John on Saturday night, and sent him the despatches ; he got an answer from him, full of very wild talk of strong measures to be taken, and a fleet sent to the Baltic to make peremj^tory demands on the Emperor of Russia. This, however, he took no notice of, and did not say one word to Aberdeen about it, quietly letting it drop, and accordingly he heard no more about it, nobody, he said, but me, knowing what Lord John had pro- posed. I asked him what were Palmerston's views. He re- plied that he did not say much, and acquiesced in his and Aberdeen's prudent and reserved intentions, but he could see, from a few words that casually escaped him, that he would have been ready to Join in more stringent and violent measures if they had been proposed. His hatred of Russia is not extinguished, but as it was, there was no expressed difference of opinion, and a general agreement. He said he had had a prejudice against Gladstone, but he now liked him very much, and Granville had already told me the same thing. Aberdeen likes his post and enjoys the consciousness of hav- ing done very well in it. He is extremely liberal, but of a wise and well-reasoned liberality. As it has turned out, he is far fitter for the post he occupies than Lansdowne would have been, both morally and physically. The Queen is devoted to this Government, and expressed to Aberdeen the liveliest apprehension lest they should get themselves into some scrape with the India Bill, and en- treated he would run no risks in it. Aberdeen, in announc- ing this one day to the Cabinet, said that the best thing for them to do was to bring forward a measure of so liberal and popular a character as to make any serious opposition im- possible. Clarendon agreed in this, and I told him that this had long been my own idea, and that what they ought to do 1853.] THE ROYAL CHILDREN. 49 was to throw open the civil and military appointments to competition, and to grant appointments after examination to qualified candidates, just as degrees are given at the uni- versities. We passed the whole evening together, talking over all matters of interest, and lie told me everything he knew himself. April Uh. — I went to Al thorp last week, and returned for a Council on Friday. After it Graham and I stayed be- hind, when he talked about the Government and their pros- pects', which he thought pretty good ; they were going on in great harmony, and the greater, he thought, because they had originally had such diversities of opinion. This led to a disposition "to mutual concession, and feelings of delicacy toward each other. The Queen is extremely attached to Aberdeen, more than to any minister slie had ever had. Lord John's position anomalous and unsatisfactory, and al- ways a question whether he would not become disgusted and back out. Graham said that Clarendon was doing admirably — better than he had anticipated. Lady Lyttelton, whom I met at Althorp. told me a great deal about the Queen and her children ; nothing particularly interesting. She said the Queen was very fond of them, but severe in her manner, and a strict disciplinarian in her family. She described the Prince of Wales to be extremely shy and timid, with very good principles, and particularly an exact observer of truth ; the Princess Royal is remarkably intelligent. I wrote this because it will hereafter be curious to see how the boy grows up, and what sort of performance follows this promise, though I shall not live to see it. She spoke in very high terms of the Queen herself, of the Prince, and of the simplicity and happiness of her private and domestic life. 3 50 KEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. III. CHAPTER III. Weakness of the Government— Gladstone's Budget — A Conversation with Disraeli — Sui- cidal Conduct of the lories— Their liritadon — A Charge against Mr. Gladstone de- feated—The Staiford Committee — Harmony of the Government -Electoral Corruption Impending War — Success of the Government — Macaulay's Speech on the Judgi-s' Exclusion Bill — Erroneous Predictions trom Paris — Unsettled Policy as to the War — Lord John's Anti-Catholic Speech — The English and J-rench Fleets sail for the Darda- nelles — Conduct, of Austria — Kussia means V\ ar — Attacks by the Opposition— Ex- planations desired — Attempted Mediation — Lord Aberdeen's ConficieLce shaken - Divisions of Opinion — Terms of Accommodation — Lord Palmerston's Views — Prospect of Peace— Division in the Lords on the Succession Duties Bid— Friendly Kelations of Lord Palmerston and Lord iJarendon — Fears of War — Hopes of Peace— Lord x almer- stonand Mr. Cobden — Pejection ot tDe Vienna Note— Lord Palmerston courted by the Tories -Lord Johu Kusseu's Position — 'I'he Duke of Bedtord s Purt in the lasi. Crisis — Dangers at Constantinople — Lord Strattord s Influence — Suspected Intrigue of France wiih Russia — Lord Palmerston goes to Balmoral— Sir James Graham's View — Lord Stratford s Conduct— Importance of the Vienna Note — A Uabinet summoned. London, April 21st, 1853. — I have had such a bad fit of gout in mj hand, that I have been unable for some time past to write at all, though there has been plenty to write about. The Government has been sustaining defeats in the House of Commons on detached questions of taxation, much to their annoyance and embarrassment, and which were more serious from the inference to be drawn from them than for their intrinsic importance. They were caused by the meddling and absurd crotchets of some of their friends, and the malignity and unprincipled conduct of their enemies: the first bringing forward motions for reduction of certain items, merely to gratify clients or constituents, and the Tories joining with the Radicals in voting for things which they opposed when they were themselves in oflBce, reckless of consistency or of consequences. But the whole affair was unpleasant, as it displayed strikingly how little author- ity the Government has over the House of Commons, and the difficulty, if not impossibility, of carrying on the service of the country. These little battles were, however, of little moment com- pared with the great event of Gladstone's Budget, which came off on Monday night. He had kept his secret so well, that nobody had the least idea what it was to be, only it oozed out that the Income Tax was not to be differentiated. He spoke for five hours, and by universal consent it was one of the grandest displays and most able financial statement that ever was heard in the House of Commons ; a great scheme, boldly, skilfully, and honestly devised, disdaining 1853.] MR. GLADSTONE'S BUBGET. 51 popular clamor and pressure from without, and the execu- tion of it absolute perfection. Even those who do not ad- mire the Budget, or who are injured by it, admit the merit of the performance. It has raised Gladstone to a great political elevation, and, what is of far greater consequence than the measure itself, has given the country assurance of a man equal to great political necessities, and fit to lead parties and direct governments. April 22d.—l met Gladstone last night, and had the pleas- ure of congratulating him and his wife, which I did with great smcerity, for his success is a public benefit. They have been overwhelmed with compliments and congratula"- tions. Prince Albert and the Queen both wrote to him, and John Russell, who is spitefully reported to have been Jealous, has, on the contrary, shown the warmest interest and satis- faction in his success. The only one of his colleagues who may have been mortified is Charles Wood, who mutt have compared Gladstone's ti-iumph with his own failures. Frcm all one can see at present, it promises certain success, though many parts of the Budget are cavilled at. It will be diffi- cult, if not impossible, to find any common ground on which Eadicals or Irish can join the Derbyites to overthrow it, and the sanguine expectations which the latter have been enter- taining for some time, of putting the Government into some inextricable fix, have given way to perplexity and depend- ency ; and they evidently do not know what to do, nor how to give effect to their rancor and spite. Lord Derby had a great meeting not many days ago, at which he recommended union, and cheered them on in opposition, of course for form's sake, talking of moderation and principles, neither of which he cares a fig for. Mischief and confusion, vengeance against the coalition, and taking the chance of what may happen next, are all that he and Disraeli are bent upon. I met the latter worthy in the street just before the Budget, a day or two previous. He asked me what I thought of the state of affairs, and I told him I thought it very unpleasant, and it seemed next to impossible to carry on the Government at all, everybody running riot in the House of Commons, and fol- lowing his own fancies and crotchets ; nor did I see how it could be otherwise in the present state of parties and the country ; that since Peel's administration, which was a strong Government, there had been and apparently there could be none. The present Government was not strong, and they 52 RETGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. IIL were perpetually defeated, on minor points, indeed, but in a way that showed they had no power to work through Parlia- ment. I said of course they would dissolve if this continued, but that Gladstone's Budget might make a difference one way or the otlier. Disraeli scouted the idea of a dissolution, by which, he said, they would certainly gain nothing. Why, he asked, did not the Peelites join us again, as they might have done, and got as good terms as they have now, and then there would have been a strong Government again ? As I don't want to quarrel with anybody, I restrained what it was on my lip3 to say — " You could not possibly expect them to join you" — but I did tell him that, even if the present Gov- ernment could not maintain itself, of all impossible things the most impossible was the restoration of his Government tale quale, to which he made no reply. To be sure, the Pro- tectionist seceders from Peel have now drunk the cup of mortification, disgrace, and disaster Lo the very dregs. They are a factious and (as I hope) impotent Opposition, under the unprincipled guidanca of men, who, clever and plausible though they be, are totally destitute of wisdom, sincerity, and truth. They have not only lost all the Protection for the maintenance of which they made such struggles and sacrifices, but they have likewise brought upon themselves the still heavier blow to the landed interest which is going to be inflicted in the shape of the legacy duty. Had they possessed more foresight, and been less violent and unreason- able, this would not have happened to them ; for if Peel's original Government had held together, and they had been content to accept his guidance, no Budget would have con- tained this measure. Schemes might have been devised to lighten their burdens, or to increase the compensations they really have obtained in other ways ; but, be this as it may, they would certainly have been saved from this direct im- post, which I doubt if Peel himself ever contemplated, but which he would certainly have spared them if they had not deserted him, nor would his successors have departed from his policy in this respect. But from first to last their con- duct has been suicidal in every respect. May 3d. — The Government is going on very flourishing- Iv. A capital division in the House of Lords on the Canada Clergy Eeserves Bill,^ on which occasion there was a scene 1 [This was a Bill abolishing the title of the Protestant Clergy to certain por- tions of waste lands in the Colony.] 1853.] THE GOVERNMENT'S VICTORIES. 53 between Derby and Clarendon, in which both were, to my mind, in the wrong. The whole affair appears in all the newspapers, bnt what does not appear is the rather absnrd termination of it, when, after much excitement and strong language interchanged, the belligerents ended by drinking each other's healths in water across the table. The victory in the Lords has been followed up by one still more impor- tant in the House of Commons on the Income Tax, v.'hicii was carried by 71, a great many of the Opposition voting with Government, much to the disgust of their friends. These divisions have tilled the Derbyites with rago and de- spair, and nothing can exceed their depression and their abuse of the Budget and its authors. ^Vhat vexes and pro- vokes them so much is the ascendency and triumph of the Peelites. They could endure it in the Whigs, but their hatred of the name and party of Peel is inextinguishable. May 15th. — At Newmarket last week, during which the Budget was making its way very successfully through the House of Commons, where Gladstone has it all his own way. The Speaker told me he Avas doing his business there admi- rably well. While I was at Newmarket came out the strange story of Gladstone and the attempt to extort money from him before the police magistrate.^ It created for the mo- ment great surprise, curiosity, and interest, but has almost entirely passed away already, not having been taken up politically, and there being a general disjiosition to believe his story and to give him credit for having had no improper motive or purpose. Nevertheless it is a very strange affair, and has not yet been satisfactorily explained. It is credita- ble in these days of political rancor and bitterness that no malignant attempt has been made to vilify him by his oppo- nents or by the hostile part of the press. On the contrary, the editor of the " Morning Herald " wrote him a very hand- some letter in his own name and in that of the ]n'oprietor, assuring him of their confidence in his purity and innocence, and that nothing would induce them to put anything offens- ive to him in the paper, and they had purposely inserted the police report in an obscure part of the paper. It is very fortunate for Gladstone tnat he was not intimidated and tempted to give the man money, but had the courage to face ' [An attempt had been made to extort money from Mr. Gladstone on a spurious eharire, wlueli he mot by instantly giving' the delinquent iuto custody and meeting the case at a police office.] 54 ' REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. m. the world's enspicions and meet the charge in so public a manner. Tlie Stafford Committee has at length closed its proceed- ings, after exposures of the most disgraceful kind, which are enormously damaging not only to Augustus Stafford himself but to Lord Derby and his Government. The Duke of Northumberland comes clear out of it as to corruption, but cuts a wretched and ridiculous figure, having failed to per- form the duties or to exercise the authority of a First Lord while he was at the Admiralty. Disraeli's evidence was nothing but an attempt to shirk the question and involve it in a confusion of characteristic verbiage which only excited ridicule. This affair has done great harm to them as a party, and served to make them more odious and contempti- ble than they were before.^ 'J- hey are now irretrievably de- feated, and "though they may give much trouble and throw difficulties and obstructions in the way of the Government, it is all they can do. Every day adds to the strength and consistency of the Government, both from their gaining favor and acquiring influence in the country, and from the ruin in which the Tory party is involved, and the total im- possibility of their rallying again so as to form another Gov- ernment. This latter consideration has already produced the adhesion of some moderate and sensible men who take a dispassionate view of affairs and who wish for a strong and efficient Government, and it will produce still greater effects of the same kind. May 22d. — I met in a train a day or two ago Graham and the Speaker, not having seen Graham for a_ long time. Since my friends have been in office I have hardly ever set eyes on them or had any communication with them. Gra- ham seemed in excellent spirits about their political state and prospects, all owing to Gladstone and the complete success of his Budget. The long and numerous Cabinets, which were attributed by the "Times" to disunion, were occupied in minute consideration of the Budget, which was there fully discussed, and Gladstone spoke in the Cabinet one day for three hours, rehearsing his speech in the House of Commons, though not quite at such length. Graham again said Clarendon was doing admirably. Palmerston he 1 [Chnrges of misconduct in the department of the Admiralty wers brought against Mr. Augustas Stafford, who had held office under the late Government. They were investigated by a Select Committee of the House of Commons.] 1853.] "WAR ALARMS. 55 thinks much changed and more feeble, his energy much less, and his best days gone by. He thinks Lord John's position without office an unfortunate one, and regrets he did not stay at the Foreign Office or take another ; he thinks his influence impaired by having none. He talked of a future Head, as Aberdeen is always ready to retire at any moment, but it is very difficult to find any one to succeed him. I suggested Gladstone. He shook his head and said it would not do ; and he was for John Russell, but owned there were difficulties there too. He considered Derby and tlie Tories irretrievably ruined, their characters so damaged by Stafford's Committee and other things ; he spoke of the grand mis- takes Derby had made, Gladstone's object certainly was for a long time to be at the head of the Conservative party in the House of Commons, and to join with Derby, who might, in fact, have had all the Peelites if he would have chosen to ally himself with them instead of with Disraeli ; thus the latter had been the cause of the ruin of the party. Graham thought that Derby had committed himself to Disraeli in George Bentinck's lifetime in some way that prevented his shaking him off, as it would have been his interest to do. The Peelites would have united with Derby, but would have nothing to do with Disraeli. Bad as the cases were that had come forth at the election committees, that of Liverpool was worse than any of them, and would create a great scandal. Forbes Mackenzie could not face it, and would probably re- tire ; but it is doubtful if this would prevent an inquiry and exposure, and when boundless corruption appeared at such a place as Liverpool, with its numerous constituency, it was a blow to the representative system itself, and showed the futility of attempts to destroy bribery and improper influ- ence. Ma7j SOfh. — Great alarm the last two or three days at an approaching rupture between Russia and Turke}^ as, if it takes place, nobody can pretend to say what the consequences may be. Vast indignation of course against the Emperor of Russia, who certainly appears to have departed from the moderate professions which he made to Seymour a short time ago, and the assurances that were given to us and France. But Clarendon, whom I saw yesterday, is rather disposed to give him credit for more moderate and pacific intentions than his conduct seems to warrant. He says that he is per- suaded the Emperor has no idea of the view that is taken of 56 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. III. his proceedings here, and that he thinks he is requiring no more than he is entitled to; and it is only the other day that Nesselrode congratulated Seymour on the prospect of everything being satisfactorily settled, having no doubt of the tiirks accepting the last proposals made to them, a copy of which Nesselrode showed him. Still, though matters look very black, Clarendon is not without hopes of war being averted and some means found of patcliing up the affair, the Emperor having promised that he will in no case resort to ulterior measures without giving us notice of his intention. The difficulty for him now is to recede with honor, as it would be to advance without danger. He has once before receded after to a certain degree committing himself, and he may not choose to do so a second time. Then he is naturally provoked with the French, who are in fact the real cause of this by their intrigues and extortions about the holy places ; and we suspect that he is, besides this, provoked at the Montenegrin affair having been settled by Austria without his having a finger in that pie. All these considerations combined make great confusion and difficulty. Brunnow is in mortal agony, dreading above all things the possibility of his having to leave this country. The Governm-ent continues to go on very well ; the Op- position got up a debate on the legacy duties in the House of Lords the other night, which only served to prove how entirely Derby's influence has declined even there. They had thought themselves sure of beating the Grovernment, but not only were they defeated, but accident alone (people shut out and absent) prevented their/ being defeated by a con- siderable majority. The Cabinet is going on in the greatest harmony, and the men who were strangers up to the time of its formation have taken to each other prodigiously. Aberdeen unfortunately wants the qualities which made Lord Lansdowne so good a leader, and is rather deficient in tact and temper in the House of Lords as he used to be formerly, when he attacked Lord Grey's Government and Palmerston's administration of foreign affairs always with too much asperity; but in l^ite of these defects he has not done ill even there, and in the Cabinet he is both liked and respected, being honest, straightforward, and firm, very fair, candid, and unassuming. Granville tells me that of the whole Cabinet he thinks Aberdeen has the most pluck, Gladstone a great deal, and Graham the one who has the 1853.] UNPOPULARITY OF THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT. 57 least. He speaks very well of Moleswortli, sensible, coura- geous, and conciliatory, but quite independent and plain- spoken in his opinions. June 1st. — John Eusscll made an imprudent speech the night before last on the Irish Church, giving great offence to the Irish and the Catholics. He could not help, as leader of the Government, opposing a proposition having for its object the destruction of the Irish Church, but he might have done it with more tact and discretion, and not in a way to elicit the cheers of the Tories. The Tail will pay him olf for this whenever they can. Quantum mutaius ab illo, who broke up a Government for the sake of an appropriation clause. Last night Macaulay reappeared in the House of Com- mons, and in a speech of extraordinary power and eloqiTcnce threw out the Judges' Exclusion Bill.^ It was the first time he had spoken, and though his physical strength is impaired he showed that his mental powers are undiminished. Senior called on me a day or two ago, just returned from Paris, where he has been living and conversing with all the notabilities (principally of the Liberal party), and he tells me there is but one opinion among them, that this Enjpire can not last, and they only differ as to the time it may last. Most of them think it will be short. Thiers gives it only a year, Duchatel alone thinks it will go on for some years. The unpopularity of Louis Napoleon increases and his dis- credit likewise, and as soon as the unpoftularity shall extend to the army, it will be all over with him. The Opjiosition which had sprung up, which has increased rapidly and will increase still more in the Corps Legislatif, is deemed to be very important and significant, and they think it will be impossible for him to go on with such a body so constituted and disposed, and he will have to decide upon suffering the embarras'^ment it will cause him, or having recourse to a coup cVetat, a measure which would be hazardous. There are no fresh adhesions to the Court beyond the half dozen men of rank or name who have already joined it, and who are hated and despised for having done so. While such is the opinion of the people of mark at Paris, they are never- > FA BUI was before Parliament which would have excluded the Master of the Rolls from the House of Commons, lie bcin.' the only Judtje who could sit there. The Jud^re of the Admiralty Court had already been excluded. Macau- lay opposed the Bill with such force and eloquence that he chancred the opinion of the House, and defeated the measure. An unusual occurrence.] 58 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. HI. theless sensible of the danger which would accompany a conuter-revolution, and of the uncertainty of what might follow, what influences might prevail, and what form of goTernment be adopted ; but they seem generally to think that while in the first instance there would be a succession of provisional arrangements and fleeting transitory govern- ments, it would end in the restoration of the monarchy under Henri V., but that this would not take place by the acceptance and triumph of any divine hereditary right, but must be adopted by the nation and ratified by a national vote. June 5tJi.—1 saw Clarendon on Friday morning for a few minutes ; he takes a very gloomy view of the Eusso- Turkish question, and is greatly disgusted at having been deceived by the Emperor ; he says he is harassed to death with the whole affair, and with the multiplicity of business he has besides ; he has a difficult task to perform, taking a middle position in the Cabinet between the opposite opin- ions of those who are for more stringent measures and those who, like himself, are for patience and moderation. Palm- erston, in whom his ancient Russian antipathies are revived, is foi' vigor, and as in former times "leading John Russell by the nose,'' Clarendon and Aberdeen for moderation ; but he is beset by different opinions and written suggestions and proposals, and all this worries him exceedingly. I asked him how the Court was, and he said very reasonable, their opin- ions being influenced, of course, by Aberdeen. He talked with great disgust of John Russell's speech on the Irish Church, how unfair it was as well as unwise, and how reckless of the damage it caused to the Government, and the embarrassing and awkward situation in which he thereby placed many of their supporters. These are the general sentiments with regard to that speech, which was neither more nor less than speaking the Durham letter over again, and, considering what that famous letter cost him, he misfht have been expected to steer clear of such a scrape. But he is more than ever the creature of impulse and of temper, and he seems to have lost a great deal of his tact and discretion, and certainly he is no longer fit to be either head of a Government or leader of the House of Commons, and perhaps the latter position in such a Government as this suits him still less than the former would. When I came to town yesterday morning I found .that several of the Irish 1853.] THE ALLIED FLEETS AT THE DARDANELLES. 59 Koman Catholic members of the Governmeut occupying sub- ordinate offices (Messrs. Keogh, Mousell, and Sadleir), had resigned in consequence of Lord John Russell's speech, but an hour afterward I learned that they had been induced to remain by an assurance from Lord Aberdeen that Lord John did not express the sentiments of the Government on this subject. Charles Wood brought on the India Bill on Friday night in a speech of unexampled prolixity and dulness. There is not yet time to ascertain how the plan is likely to be received, but I suspect it will meet with a great deal of opposition, although, as it is more favorable to the existing interests than was expected, it will very likely pass, as, if Leadenhall Street was to go further, it would certainly fare worse. St. Leonards, June 1th. — I am here for Ascot, a lovely place and divine weather. The affair with the Irish has ended as harmlessly as anything so awkward could do. Mr. G. H. Moore asked some rather impertinent questions in the House of Commons on Monday, which Lord John answered in an easy, nonchalant, jesting manner. The House laughed, nobody said anything, and there it ended, but the Brigade will probably seek opportunities of showing their teeth and of revenging themselves on Lord John. It has been rather mortifying for him, but he has taken it very quietly, and Aberdeen's letter to Monsell was shown to him and received his assent. The French are behaving very well about the Eastern question, and 1 begin to think that it wnll in the end blow over, as diplomacy will probably hit upon some expedient for enabling the Emperor of Russia to do what his real interests evidently point out. June 13th. — I came back from Ascot on Friday, having mr»t Clarendon on Thursday on the course, who gave me an account of the state of affairs. On Saturday I met Walewski at dinner, and had much talk with him, and yesterday I saw Clarendon again. The great event has been the sailing of our fleet from Malta to join the French fleet at the mouth of the Dardanelles, to the unspeakable satisfaction of the French Government, who desire nothing so much as to ex- hibit to all Europe an entente cordiale with us ; and Walewski said to me that, however the affair might end, this great ad- vantage they had at all events obtained.'' The Emperor of 1 [Orders were sent to Admiral Dundas on June 2 to sail for the Darda- nelles, and the fleet proceeded to Besika Bay, together with the French fleet.] 60 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. III. Russia will be deeply mortified when he hears of this junc- tion ; for besides that it will effectually bar the approach of his fleet to Constantinople, if he ever contemplated it, there is nothing he dislikes and dreads so much as the intimate union of France and England. His Majesty is now so greatly excited that nothing can stop him, and he told Sey- mour the other day that he would spend his last rouble and his last soldier rather than give way. Still he professes that he aims at no more than a temporary occupation of the Principalities, and renounces all purpose of conquest. The Eussian army will therefore certainly march in, and it will be the business of the other Governments to restrain the Turks and prevent a collision, which Walewski thinks they can certainly do. Austria holds the same language that we do, but will not act. Clarendon sent for Count Colloredo on Saturday (who never hears from Buol), and set before him in detail all the dangers with which Austria is menaced by the possibility of war breaking out in the East, and above all by that of Erance being brought into the field in hostility with Aus- tria. In such a case the French would be quite unscru- pulous, and excite all the revolutionary spirit, which, though now repressed, is thickly scattered over every part of the Aus- trian Empire, from Milan to Hungary. Colloredo acknowl- edged the truth of the representation, and promised to report textually to Buol what Clarendon said. All now depends on the Emperor Nicholas himself. If he adheres to his determination not to advance beyond the Principalities, time will be afforded for negotiations, and some expedient may be found for enabling him to recede without discredit, and without danger to his own prestige at home. The French and English feel alike on this point, and are conscious that the Emperor has gone too far to recede. He is pushed on by an ardent and fanatical party in Russia, and is not entirely his own master. Both Gov- ernments are therefore willing to make allowance for the exigencies of his position, and to assist him to the uttermost of their power in getting honorably out of the scrape into which he has plunged himself and all Europe. June '22d. — The Opposition papers (especially the "Morn- ing Herald" and the "Press," Disraeli's new journal) have been making the most violent attacks on Aberdeen and Clarendon, calling for their impeachment on the ground of 1853.] DIVIDED OPINIONS IN THE CABINET. 61 their conduct in this Eastern qnarrel, particularly charging them Avith having been cognizant of and approved of Men- schikotl's demands, which have occasioned all the hubbub. At last it was thought necessary to make a statement in re- ply, which was done by the " Times " on Thursday last. The article was a g'ood one, but contained an inaccuracy, about wl]ich Brunnow wrote a long but friendly letter of complaint to Clarendon. The day after this, another article was in- serted to set the matter right, with which Brunnow was quite satisfied ; but the explanations of the " Times" failed to stem the t3rrent of abuse, and the Tory papers only re- peated their misrepresentations with greater impudence and malignity than before, It was thought necesi^ary a stop should be put to this, and it was proposed to Clarendon to let discussions come on in both Houses, moved by Layard in the Commons, and Clanricarde in the Lords, which would afE)rd an opportunity for the only effectual contradiction, Ministerial statements in Parliament. Last night I met him at the Palace, when we talked the matter over. lie is still of opinion that it is essential to delay the explanations and put off all discussion till the matter is decided one way or another. He thinks so in reference to the case itself, leaving out of consideration the convenience of the Govern- ment ; he thinks that any discussion in the House of Com- mons Avill elicit a disposition for peace d toiit prix, which would seriously embarrass affairs, and only confirm Eussia in the course she is pursuing. I do not think so, but his opinions are founded on what he hears Cobden has said, and on the animus of the peace party. He told me again what a task his is in the Cabinet, standing between and mediating between Aberdeen and Palmerston, whose ancient and ha- bitual ideas of foreign policy are brought by this business into antagonism, and he says the difficulty is made greater by Aberdeen's unfortunate manner, who cannot avoid some of that sneering tone in discussion which so seriously affects his popularity in the House of Lords. He is therefore obliged to take a great deal upon himself, in order to pre- vent any collision between Palmerston and Aberdeen. It appears that Palmerston proposed on Saturday last that the entrance of the Russians into the Principalities should be considered a casus belli, in which, however, he was overruled and gave way. The Cabinet did not come to a vote upon it, but the general sentiment went with Aberdeen and Claren- 62 REIGN or QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. IH. don, and against Palmerston. He seems to have given way wifh a good grace, and hitherto nothing has occurred of a disagreeable character; on the contrary, both Clarendon and Granville tell me Palmerston has behaved very well. Clar- endon thinks (and in this I concur) that the country would never forgive the Government for going to war, unless they could show that it was absolutely necessary and that they had exhausted every means of bringing about a pacific solu- tion of the question, and nobody here would care one straw about the Russian occupation of Moldavia and Wallachia.' That ail means have not been exhausted is clear from this fact. The Austrians, who are more interested than any- body, have moved heaven and earth to effect a settlement, and the Emperor of Russia has himself asked for their "bons offices " for that end. They have entreated the Turks on the one hand to strike out some mezzo termine compatible with their dignity and with their previous refusals of Menschi- koff's terms, promising that they will urge its acceptance on the Emperor with all their force, and on the other hand they have implored the Emperor to delay the occupation of the Principalities, so that by temporizing, mediation, and a joint action and a judicious employment of diplomatic resources and astuteness, it is still possible some mode may be hit upon of terminating the quarrel. July 9th. — For the last fortnight or three weeks little has occurred which is worth noting. The Eastern Question drags on, as it is likely to do. Alaerdeen, who ten days ago spoke very confidently of its being settled, now takes a more desponding view, and the confidence he has hitherto reposed in the Emperor of Russia is greatly shaken. Clarendon has long thought the prospect very gloomy, but they are slill endeavoring to bring about an accommodation. The ques- tion resolves itself into this : what are the real wishes and views of the Emperor ? If his present conduct is the execu- tion of a long-prepared purpose, and he thinks the time favorable for the destruction of Turkey, no efforts will be availing, and he will listen to no proposals that we can pos- sibly make. If, on the contrary, he is conscious that he has got into a dilemma, and he wishes to extricate himself from it by any means not dishonorable to himself, and such as would not degrade hira in the eyes of his own subjects, then, no doubt, diplomatic astuteness will sooner or later hit upon some expedient by which the quarrel may be adjusted. 1853.] THE INDIA BILL CARRIED. 63 ". Which of these alternatives is the true one, time alone can show. Meanwhile the expense to which the Turks are put in the wretched state of their finances will prove ruinous to them, and, end how it may, the fall of the Turkish do- minion has been accelerated by whcit has already taken place. There has been a great deal of discussion about bringing on debates on the Eastern Question in both Houses, but all the leading men of all parties have deprecated discussion, and it was finally determined last night that none should take place. Disraeli alone, who cares for nothing but making mischief, tried to bring it on, but in the House of Lords Derby took a different and more becoming course, and rec- ommended Clanricarde to give it up. Disraeli urged Lay- ard to persevere. Granville told me yesterday that while he lamented that Aberdeen was not a more judicious and con- ciliating leader in the House of Lords, and was so inferior in this respect to Lord Landsdowne, he liked him very much, thought he was a very good Prime Minister, and, above all, anything but deficient in political courage, in which respect he was by no means inferior to Palmerston himself. The Government have been going on well enough on the\ whole. Their immense majority on the India Bill was mat- / ter of general surprise, and showed the wretched tactics of' Disraeli, as well as his small influence over his party, for he could not get one hundred of the Tories to go with him. A few small holes have been made in Gladstone's Budget, but nothing of consequence. Tom Baring, however, told me he thought Gladstone had made some great mistakes, and that Graham would have been a better Chancellor of the Exchequer ; but this I much doubt. Popularity is very necessary to a Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Graham would never have been so persuasive with the House as Glad- stone. July \Wi. — The "Times" newspaper, always famous for its versatility and inconsistency, has lately produced articles on the Eastern Question on the same day of the most oppo- site characters, one warlike and firm, the next vehemently pacific by some other hand. This is of small importance, but it is indicative of the difference which exists in the Cabinet on the subject, and the explanation of the incon- sistency of the "Times" is to be found in the double in- fluence which acts on the paper. All along Palmerston has been urging a vigorous policy, and wished to employ more C4 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. III. peremptory language and stronger measures toward Eussia, while Aberdeen has been very reluctant to do as much as we hare done, and would have been well content to advise Turkey to accept the last ultimatum of Eussia, and so ter- minate what he considers a senseless and mischievous quarrel. Clarendon has had to steer between these two extremes, and while moderating the ardor of Palmerston, to stimulate Aber- deen, and persuade him to adopt a course congenial to pub- lic opinion in this country, which, however, inclined to peace and abhorrent of war, is not at all disposed to connive at the aggrandizement of Eussia, or to submit to the insolent dictation of the Emperor. The majority of the Cabinet have supported Clarendon, and approximate more nearly to the pacific policy of Aberdeen than to the stringent meas- ures of Palmerston. When the two articles appeared in the "Times," to which I particularly allude, Clarendon approved of the first, and found great fault with the other, while Aber- deen wrote to Delane and expressed his strong approbation of the second, and his conviction that the public would sooner or later take the views therein set forth. Clarendon tells me that he has no doubt Aberdeen has on many occasions held language in various quarters that was not prudent under the circumstances, and was calculated to give erroneous impres- sions as to the intentions of the Government, and he thinks that the Emperor himself has been misled by what he may have heard both of the disposition and sentiments of the Prime Minister, and of the determination of the House of Commons and the country at large to abstain from war in every case except one in which our own honor and interests were directly concerned. T had a' long talk with Clarendon on Sunday, when he told me that the chances of peace were a little better than they had been, inasmuch as there seemed to be a disposition at St. Petersburg to treat, and the Austrian Government was now in earnest bringing. to bear all their influence on the Emperor to accept reasonable terms of accommodation. Colloredo brought him the copy of a despatch to St. Peters- burg, which he said was excellent, very frank and free in its tone. Austria seems more fully sensible of the danger to herself of any war, which would inevitably let loose the revolutionary element all over the world. Clarendon has drawn up the project of a Convention which embraces all the professed objects of the Emperor, and which the Turks 1853.] WARLIKE VIEWS OF LORD PALMERSTON. G5 may agree to ; he sent it to Paris, whence Drouyn de Lhuys has returned it, with the full concurrence and assent of the French Government, and it went to Petersburg yesterday. The reception of this proposal will determine the question of peace or war. July lith. — G said to me this morning that Palm- erston is beginning to stir up matters afresh. I saw him yesterday morning at Holland House in close confabulation with Walewski, with whom I have no doubt he interchanged warlike sentiments, and complained of the lukewarmness of Aberdeen and Clarendon. It is evident that he is at ivork, and probabl}', according to his ancient custom, in some un- derhand way in the press. His flatterers tell him that a majority of the House of Commons would support him and a warlike policy, and though he may wish to believe this, and perhaps does, he will hardly go the length of trying to break up this Cabinet, with the desperate hojie of making another Government himself, based on the policy of going to war. Certain newspapers are always asserting that the Cabinet is divided and in dissension, and at the same time accusing it of timidity and weakness, urging strong measures, and as- serting that, if we had employed such long ago, Russia would have been frightened, and never have proceeded to such length*. But the Government are resolved, and wisely, to avoid war as long as they can, and if driven on to it, to be able to show the country that they had exhausted all means of preservinsT peace. July ISth. — At last there appears a probability of this Turkish question being amicably settled. On Saturday I was told that despatches were just come from Sir Hamilton Seymour of a more favorable character, and representing the Imperial Government as much more disposed to treat, with a real disposition to bring the negotiations to a successful issue. My informant added that Palmerston predicted that none of the projects and proposals which have emanated from the different Courts would be accepted at Petersburg, which he thought they all would. Yesterday I saw Clarendon, and found matters even in a still more promising state. After the Cabinet Walewski went to him, and communicated to him very important news (of a later date than Seymour's letters) from St. Petersburg, which to my mind is decisive of the question of peace. It appears that both France and Austria have been concocting notes and projects of a pacific 66 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. IH. tendency to be offered to the Emperor. There have been several of these, some framed at Constantinople, others at Paris. A short time ago the French Government prepared one, which it submitted to ours ; Clarendon thought it would not answer, and told them so. They asked whether he had any objection to their sending it off to St. Petersburg and Vienna and making the experiment. He replied, none whatever, and though he did not think it would succeed, he should rejoice if it did, as, provided the affair could be set- tled, it did not matter how. In the meantime he drew up his own project of a Convention, which went to Paris, and. received the cordial approbation of the Emperor ; and this document is now on its way to Petersburg. In the mean- time the French project was sent there, Castelbajac took it to Nesselrode, who read it very attentively, and said that he liked it very much, but that he could give no positive answer till he had subniitted. it to the Emperor. The eame afternoon he saw the French minister again, and told him that he had laid the project before the Emperor Nicholas, and that His Majesty was not only satisfied, but grateful for it, "non seulement satisfait, mais reconnaissant," and that the only reason he did not at once close with it vas that his ally, the Emperor of Austria, had. also submitted a proposal, and he did not like to take another from another Court exclusively without previous communication with him. Clarendon thinks that his proposal will be still more agreeable to the Emperor than the French one, and that he will probably end in taking it ; nor will there be any difficulty in this, because ours is so fully concurred in by France as to be in fact hers as much as ours. July ^Ist. — Having been at Goodwood the last week, I have not troubled myself with politics, either home or foreign, nor have any events occurred to excite interest. The most important matter here has been tlie division in the House of Lords on Monday last on the Succession Duties Bill, on which the Opposition were signally defeated. For a lon^ time the Government were very doubtful of obtaining a majority, but their whippers-in were more sanguine at last. Great exer- tions were made on both sides, the Derbyites whipped u.p all the men they could lay their hands on, and the Government fetched their ministers from Paris and Brussels, and. the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. The majority was greater than either side expected, and Derby and his crew were exceed- 1853.] PALMERSTON AND CLARENDON. 67 ingly disconcerted, and Derby himself much out of humor. When Bessborough went over to him after the division, and said, " Lord Aberdeen wants to know if you will object to the Bill being read a third time on Thursday next," he pettishly replied, '^ The Bill may go to the devil tor all I care ; 1 shall take no further trouble about it." Awjust Is^. — I saw Clarendon as usual yesterday (Sun- day), when he read to me a letter from Sir Hamilton Sey- mour, giving an account of his deUvering to Nesselrode the Convention which Clarendon sent over, as well as reading to him Clarendon's private letter, which was a stinging one, bat very good. Nesselrode said of all the projects be liked that the best, and if it was tendered to them /rom Vienna, he thought it might do as the basis of an arrangment, but he could give no poiitive answer till he had submitted it to the Emp3ror. At the Cabinet on Saturday Clarendon read Seymour's letter, when his colleagues begged they might see the private letter of his which was alluded to, and he pro- duced and read that likewise. It was generally approved of, but the next diy Palmorston wrote a note to Clarendon, in which he expressed the warmest approbation of his note, and added that he had only refrained from saying all he thought of it at the Cabinet lest Ids approval might make others think it was too strong. He added that he rejoiced that the management of oar foreign affairs was in such able hands, and that, in fact, he (Clarendon) could do and say what Palmerston himself could not have done. It was a very handsome letter, very satisfactory both to Clarendon personally, and as showing that there is no disagreement on the Eastern Question /n the Cabinet, or at least between Palmerston and Clai^ndon, which is the essential point. Their union and friendship are remarkable when we recollect their past antagonism and Palmerston's jealousy of Claren- don, and the persuasion of both himself and Lady Palmerston that Clarendon was always waiting to trip up his heels and get his place. All these jealousies and suspicions were, how- ever, dissipated when Clarendon refused the Foreign Office last year, since which time they have been the best of friends, and Palmerston was quite satisfied at his having the Foreign Office. With regard to the chances of a pacific settlement, the assurances from St. Petersburg are all very favorable, but the acts of the Kussian generals in the Principalities are quite inconsistent with them, and between these conflicting 68 EEIGN or QUEEN VICTORLi. [Chap. IH. manifestations Clarendon is in no small doubt and apprehen- sion as to the result. London, August SfJi. — Ever since last Monday, when Clareudon made a speech in the House of Lords on which a bad interpretation was put in reference to the question of peace or war, there has been a sort of panic, and the public mind, which refused at first to admit the possibility of war, suddenly rushed to the opposite conclusion, and everybody became persuaded that war was inevitable. The conse- quence was a great fall in the funds, and the depreciation of every sort of security. So matters remained till the end of the week. On Saturday afternoon I met Walewski, who told me he had that day received a letter from Castelbajac (the French Ambassador at St. Petersburg), informing him that the Emperor had signified his willingness to accept the proposal which was then expected from Vienna, and last night fresh news came that the proposal had arrived, and he had said he would take it, if the Turks would send an am- bassador with it, exactly as it had been submitted to him. This I heard late last night, and Granville considered it con- clusive of an immediate settlement. But this morning I went to the Clarendon and found him not so sure, and not regarding the pacific solution as fo indubitable ; there still remain some important matters of detail to be settled, though certainly the affair wears a much more favorable aspect, and there is every reason to hope it will all end well. But while this proposal was concocted at Vienna, the Cabinet here (last Saturday week) made some small verbal alterations in it, so that ultimately it will not be presented for the Em- peror's formal acceptance word for word the same, and if he wants a pretext to back out of his present engagement, he can therein find one. as he onlv agreed to take it if it was word for word the same. Then it has not yet been submitted to the Turks, and it is by no means sure they may not make diflBculties, or that Stratford Canning may not raise obstacles instead of using all his influence to procure their agreement, so that Clarendon does not consider that we are out of the wood, though he expects on the whole that it will end well. If it does it will be the triumph of diplo- macy, and a signal proof of the wisdom of moderation and patience. Granville says it will be principally owins: to Aberdeen, who has been very staunch and bold in defying public clamor, abuse, and taunts, and in resisting the wishes 1853.] TURKISH DIFFICULTIES. 69 and advice of Palraerston, who would have adopted a more stringent and uncompromising course. Au(/ust 2th. — Kt Court yesterday Aberdeen was quite con- fident of the settlement of the Eastern affair, and Brunnow, who was there with the Duchess of Leuchtenberg to see the Queen, very smiling. Clanricarde interrupted Clarendon in tlie House of Lords, and made a violent speech. Clarendon answered very well, without committing himself. The Gov- ernment are in high spirits at the prospect of winding up this prosperous Session with the settlement of the Eastern Question ; nothing else is wanting to their success. August 11th. — I saw Clarendon yesterday. Nothing new, but he said he fully expected Stratford Canning would play some trick at Constantinople, and throw obstacles in the way of settlement. This seems to me hardly possible, unless he behaves foolishly as well as dishonestly, and it can hardly be believed that his temper and Russian antipathies will betray him into such extravagant conduct. It is, how- ever, impossible to consider the affair as ^' settled. ^^ Yesterday all the world went to the great naval review at Portsmouth, except myself. It appears to have been a fine but tedious sight, for Granville set off at 5.30 A. m., and only got back at one in the morning. August 27th. — Since the 11th I have been absent from town, at Grimstone for York races, then at Hatchford, and since that gouty. While at York the Session closed with eclat by a speech of Palmerston's in his most flashy and suc- cessful style. John Eussell gave a night at last for the dis- cussion of the Turkish question, and made a sort of explana- tion, which was tame, meagre, and unsatisfactory. After some speeches expressive of disappointment and disapproba- tion, Cobden made an oration in favor of peace at any price, and this drew up Palmerston, who fell upon him with great vigor and success. The discussion would have ended languidly and ill for the Government but for this brilliant improvisation, which carried the House entirely with it. It was not, however, if analyzed and calmly considered, of much use to the Government as to their foreign policy, for it was only an answer to Cobden, and Palmerston did not say one word in defence of the policy which has been adopted, nor identify himself with it, as he might as well have done. Though there was nothing in it positively indicative of dissent and dissatisfaction, any one might not unfairly draw 70 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. III. the inference that, if Palmerston had had his own way, he would have taken a more stringent and less patient course. However, nothing has been made of this, and on the whole his speech did good, because it closed the discussion hand- somely, and left the impression of Palmerston's having cast his lot for good and all with his present colleagues, as is really the case. The Session ended with a very flourishing and prosperous speech from the Throne, and nothing was wanting to the complete success of the Government but the settlement of the Turkish question, which, however, seems destined to be delayed som^ time longer; for the Turks have refused to. accept the Vienna note, except with some modifications, though these are said to be so immaterial that we hope the Emperor will not object to them. But all this is vexatious, because it reopens the whole question, causes delay and uncertainty, and keeps the world in suspense and apprehen- sion. Granville told me that what had occurred showed how much more sagacious Aberdeen had been as to this affair than Palmerston, the former having always maintained that there would be no difficulty with the Emperor, but if any arose it would be from the Turks ; whereas Palmerston was always sure the Turks would make none, but that the Emperor would refuse all arrangements. August 2Sth. — It seems the Turks, after a delay of ten days from receiving the proposition, sent it back to Vienna, asking for some not important alterations ; but immediately afterward they required a stipulation for the evacuation of the Principalities, and guarantee3 that they should not be occupied again. It is very improbable that the Emperor will listen to such conditions. Nesselrode has all along told Seymour that they (the Russians) mean in fulfillment of their pledges to evacuate the Principalities, as soon as they have got the required satisfaction, but that it must not be made a eondition, and entreated him to abstain from any demand which might give an air of compulsion to the act, much in the same way as we have told JSTesselrode he must not attempt to make any stipulation about the withdrawal of our fleet. Clarendon thinks that the Emperor is certain to reject the Turkish terms, and that the Turks are very capable of declaring war thereupon ; for m their last com- munication they said that they were prepared for " toutea les eventualites," and he suspects that Stratford has not 1853.] LORD FALMERSTON'S INFLUENCE. 71 bond fide striven to induce them to accept the proffered terms. Their rejection is the more unreasonable because the i^roposal is a hash-up of Menschikoff's original Note, and that which the Turks proposed in lieu of it, but in wliich the Turkish element preponderates, so that not only are their honor and dignity consulted, but in refusing they recede from their own original projDosal. The Queen is gone to Ireland, and Lord Granville with her, who is afterward to attend her to Balmoral. This is new, because hitherto she has always had with her either the Premier or a Secretary of State. Granville is to be relieved when circumstances admit, but at present there is no other arrangement feasible. Aberdeen and Clarendon are both kept in town till the question is settled. Newcastle got leave to go to Clumber for his boys' holidays, and lier Majesty does not desire to have the Home Secretary. But Charles Villiers told me last night that Lord Palmerston's influence and popularity in the House of Commons are greater than ever, and if this Government should be broken up by internal dissension, he would have no ditiiculty in forming another, and gathering round him a party to support him. This is what the Tories are anxiously looking to, desiring no better than to serve under him, and flattering themselves that in his heart he personally dislikes his colleagues, and in political matters agrees with them- selves. They pay him every sort of court, never attack him, and not only defer to him on all occasions, but make all the difference they can between him and the rest of the Government ; nor does he discourage or reject these civilities, though he does not invite them, or say or do anything m- consistent with his present position, but he probably thinks the disposition toward him of that large political party enhances his value to his own friends and increases his power, besides affording to him a good alternative m case anything should happen to break up the present Government or separate him from it. September 2d. — For the last week the settlement of this tedious Turkish question has appeared more remote than ever, and Clarendon was almost in despair when I saw him a few days ago, and the more so because he suspected that Lord Stratford was at the bottom of the difficulties raised by the Divan. However, according to the last accounts, it would seem that Stratford was not to blame, and had done 72 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. III. what he could to get the Turks to comply with the terms of the Conference. At this moment the affair wears rather a better aspect, and my own belief is that it will be settled. It is a great bore that it drags on in this way, creating alarm and •uncertainty, shaking the funds, and affecting commerce. .The Duke of Bedford, of whom I have seen nothing for a long time, called on me a few days ago, and talked over the present state of affairs, and the position of Lord John Eussell. He said Lord John was now quite satisfied with it, and rejoiced at his own comparative freedom, and his immu- nity from the constant attacks of which he used to be the object ; and he is now conscious that, by the part he has acted in waiving his own pretensions, he has not only not degraded himself, but has greatly raised himself in public estimation and acquired much credit and po^^ularity. besides rendermg the country a great service. He is very well with his colleagues, and gratified at the deference shown him, and the consideration he enjoys in the House of Commons. There, however, I know from other sources, all the popular- ity is engrossed by Palmerston and by Gladstone, and Lord John has foolishly suffered Palmerston to take his place as leader very often, because he chose to stay away at Eich- mond, and not come near the House. The Duke took this opportunity of telling me what is now a very old story, but which he said he thought he had never told me before, and I am not sure whether he did or not. It was what happened to him at the time of the forma- tion of this Grovernment last year, of which he was evidently very proud. Just before the Derby Government broke down, and before that reunion at Woburn of which so much was said, the Prince gave him to understand that they should look to him for advice if anything occurred, which they were every day expecting. The Duke was at Woburn, and one morning when the hounds met there and half the county was at breakfast in the great hall, word was brought him that a messenger had come from Osborne with a letter for him. He found it was a letter from the Prince, in which he informed him that this was despatched by a safe and trust- worthy hand, and nobody was to know of its being sent; that the Derby Government was at an end, and the Queen and Prince were anxious for his opinion on the state of affairs, the dispositions of public men, and what course they 1853.] OPPOSITION OF LORD STRATFORD. 73 had better take. The Duke had recently been in personal communication witli all the leaders, with Aberdeen and Lord John, Newcastle, Clarendon, Lansdowne, Palmerston, and others, and he was therefore apprised of all their senti- ments and in a condition to give very full information to the Court. He sat himself down and with the greatest rapidity (his horse at the door to go hunting) wrote four or five sheets of paper containing the amplest details of the senti- ments and views of these different statesmen, and ended by advising that the Queen should send for Lords Lansdowne and Aberdeen — as she did. Lord John had already told him he did not wish to be sent for. After this of course he could not resent the advice the Duke gave ; and happily Lord John was firm in resisting the advice of some of those about him. and acted on the dictates of his own conscientious judgment and the sound advice of his friends. September del. — I dined last night tete-a-tete with Claren- don, and heard all the details of the state of the Turkish question, and read th3 interesting correspondence of Cowley, with his accounts of his conversations with the Emperor, and many other things. Clarendon is very uneasy because he thinks the Emperor Nicholas's pride will not let him accept the Note as modified by the Tiirks, though he would have accepted the same Note if it had been presented originally by the Conference. This is one danger. The next is one at Constantinople, where there is a strong bigoted violent party for war, disposed to dethrone the Sultan and replace him by his brother. This brother (of whom I never heard before) is a man of more energy than the Sultan, and is connected with the fanatical party. The Sultan himself is enervated by early debauchery and continual drunkenness, and therefore in great danger should he by any unpopular measures provoke an outbreak from the violent faction. Clarendon thinks that Stratford has encouraged the resist- ance of the Divan to the proposals of the Conference, and that he might have persuaded the Turks to accept the terms if he had chosen to do so and set about it in a proper manner ; but Clarendon says that he has lived there so long, and is animated with such a personal hatred of the Emperor, that he is full of the Turkish spirit ; and this and his temper together have made him take a part directly contrary to the wishes and instructions of his Government. He thinks he wishes to be recalled that he may make a 4 74 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. III. grievance of it, and come home to do all the mischief he can. Westmorland wrote word the other day that Stratford's lan- guage was very hostile to his Government, and the Ministers of all the other Powers at Constantinople thought he had actually resigned, and reported the fact to Vienna. The most important question now pending is what to do with the fleets. They cannot remain much longer in Besika Bay, and must either retire to Vourla or enter the Dar- danelles. The Emperor Napoleon wishes they should enter the Dardenelles, but only a little way, and not go on to Con- stantinople ; and Clarendon takes the same view, proposing a mezzo termine. The Emperor professes an earnest desire for a peaceful solution, and the strongest determination to act in concert with England to the end, and his views seem very sensible and proper. But, notwithstanding this disposi- tion, in which he probably is sincere, there is reason to beheve that he is all the time keeping up a sort of secret and underhand communication with Russia, and the evidence of this is rather curious. It appears that he has recently written a letter to the Duchess of Hamilton, in which he says that he believes the Russians will not evacuate the Principalit]es, and that he does not care if they stay there. This letter the Duchess showed to Brunnow, and he imparted it to Aberdeen, who told Clarendon, but none of the other Ministers know anything of it. Clarendon wrote word of this to Cowley, and told him to make what use of it he thought fit. In the first instance he said something to Drouyn de Lhuys of the Emperor's entertaining views dif- ferent from ours, which Drouyn repeated to the Emperor, who spoke to Cowley about it, and protested that he had no separate or diiferent objects, when Cowley, without men- tioning names, told him what he had heard of his having written. The Emperor made an evasive answer to this, but gave many assurances of his determination to act with us heartily and sincerely. This incident seems to have made a great impression both on Cowley and Clarendon, particularly as both know something more. Cowley says he knows that the Emperor has a private correspondence with Castelbajac, of which Drouyn de Lhuys is ignorant, and Seymour writes to Clarendon that he has observed for some time past a great lukewarmness on the part of the French Minister in pressing the Russian Government, and an evident leaning to them. As the Duchess of Hamilton has no intimacy with Brunnow, 1853.] DISPOSAL OF THE FLEET. 75 ifc appears very extraordinary that she conld communicate to him a letter of the Emperor's, and such a letter, which would be a great indiscretion unless he had secretly desired her to do so ; and all these circumstances taken together look very like a little intrigue b-jtween the Emperor and the Euisian Court, which would also be very consistent with his secret, false, and clandestine mode of conducting his airairs. It is probable enough that he may wish to keep on good terms with Russia and at the same time maintain his inti- mate connection with England. That he is bent on avoiding war there can be no doubt, and for very good reasons, for France is threatened with a scarcity, and he is above all things bent on keeping the people supplied with food at low prices; and for this object the French Government is straining every nerve and prepared to make any amount of pecuniary sacrifice; but the necessity for this, which absorbs all their means, renders it at the same time particularly desirable to maintain peace in Europe. Thci*e never was a case so involved in difficulties and complications of different sorts, all the particulars of which I heard last night ; but the affair is so tangled that it is im- possible to weave it into an intelligible and consistent narra- tive, and I can only jot down fragments, which may hereafter serve to explain circumstances connected with the daioue- ment, whenever it takes place. John Russell and Palmerston arc both come to town, so that a little Cabinet will discuss this matter. Palmerston is extremely reasonable, does not take the part of the Turks, but on the contrary blames them severely for making difficulties he thinks absurd and useless, but is still for not letting them be crushed. lie is on the best terms with Clarendon, and goes along with him very cordially in his policy on this question. Both Palmoi'ston and Lord John seem to agree with Clarendon on the question of the disposal of the fleet better than Aberdeen, who is al- ways for trusting the Emperor, maintaining peace, and would be quite contented to send the fleet to Vourla or Tenedos, and would see with regret the more energetic course of en- tering the Dardanelles. However, there is no chance of any material difference on this score, and I have no doubt, if the question is not settled before the end of the month, the fleets will anchor within the Straits and there remain. I was glad to find that the Queen has consented to let Palmerston take his turn at Balmoral, and Aberdeen has in- 76 EEIGN OF QUEEX VICTORIA. [Chap. HI. formed him that he is to go there. It was done by Aberdeen speaking to the Prince at Osborne, who said he thought there would bo no difficulty. The Queen acquiesced with the good sense she generally shows on such occasions, being always open to reason, and ready to consent to whatever can be proved to her to be right or expedient. Septemler Uh. — I went to Winchester yesterday, and fell in with Grraham in the train, so we went together and had a great deal of talk, mostly on the Eastern Question. He thinks the Emperor of Russia will not accept the Turkish alterations, and he is very hot against Stratford, to whom he attributes all the difficulties. He has beard that Stratford ha3 held language hostile to the Government, and he is in- clined to think not only that he has acted treacherously to- ward his employers, but that proofs of his treachery might be obtained, and he is all for getting the evidence if possible, and acting upon it at once, by recalling him ; he thinks the proofi might be obtained through the Turkish Ministers, and if they can be, he would not stop to inquire who might be displeased, or what the effect mi^ht be, but do it at once. He acknowledges, however, that it would not do to act on surmises or reports, and that nothing but clear proofs of Stratford's misconduct, such as will satisfy Parliament, would reader such a step justifiable or safe. With regard to the fleets, he says there' is no reason why they should not remain in Besika Bay, and it is a mistake to suppose they could not, and ho is very decidedly against their entering the Darda- nelles in any case, because it would be contrary to treaty and afford the "Emperor of Russia a just casus belli; and he maintains that his having (contrary to treaties and inter- national rights) occupied the Principaliiie?, affords no reason why we should infringe them in another direction. When this question comes to be discussed, his voice will evidently be for not entering the Dardanelles, though he acknowledges that we cannot retreat while the Russians remain where they are. He talked a great deal about Palmerston, of whom he has some distrust, and fancied he has been in communica- tion with Stratford, and that he would concur with him in his proceedings, and he expressed great satisfaction when I told him that Palmerston and Clarendon were on the most cordial and confidential terms, and that the former entirely disapproved of the conduct of the Turks (which is that of Stratford) in regard to the Kote. He thinks Palmerstoa 1853.] LOHD STRATFORD'S GOOD FAITH. 77 looks to being Prime Minister, if anything happened to Aber- deen, but that neither he nor John Russell could hold the office, as neither would consent to the elevation of the other. On the whole, he inclines to the opinion that Palmerston has made up his mind to go on with this Government and his present colleagues, that he means to act fairly and honestly ■with and by them, and has no arriere pensee toward the Tories, though lie is not sorry to have them always looking to him, and paying him, as they do, excessive court. It insures him great support and an easy life in the House of Commons, where, however, he says Palmerston has done very little this year, and he does not seem much impressed with the idea of his having gained very considerably there, or ob- tained a better position than he had before. September Sth. — I saw Clarendon on Sunday. There is nothing new, but he said he would lay two to one the Em- peror does not accept the modified Note ; it will be a contest between his pride and his interest, for his army is in such a state of disease and disti-ess that he is in no condition to make war ; on the other hand, he cannot, without extreme humiliation, accept the Turkish Note. What will happen, if he refuses, nobody can possibly divine. The four Minis- ters met to discuss the matter, and were very harmonious ; Palmerston not at all for violent measures, and Clarendon said he himself was the most warlike of the four. I told him of my journey with Graham and all that ho had said. He replied that he knew Graham wa-? very violent against Stratford, but that it would be impossible to make out any case against him, as he certainly had read to the Turkish Minister all his (Clarendon's) despatches and instructions, and he gave the most positive assurances, which it would be difficult to gainsay, that he had done everything in his power to induce the Turkish Government to give way to the advice of the Conference, and whatever his secret wishes and opinions might be, there was no official evidence to be had that he had failed in doing his duty fairly by his own Gov- ernment ; therefore it would be out of the question to recall him. Sepfembcr 20lh. — At Doncaster all last week ; I found Clarendon yesterday very much alarmed at the prospect in the East. He thinks it will be impossible to restrain the Turkish war party ; he told me that the Conference at Vienna had imparted their Note to the Turkish Ambassador there. 78 KEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. III. and both he and his dragoman had expressed their entire approbation of it. They had considered this to afford a struD:^- presnmj^tion that it would not be unpalatable at Constantinople, but it was not sent there because this would have occasioned so much delay, and it was desirable to get the Russians out of the Principalities as speedily as possible. The Russian generals had actually received orders to pre- pare for the evacuation, which the Emperor would have commanded the instant he heard that the Turks were willing to send the Vienna Note. The Emperor Napoleon has again given the strongest assurances of his determination in no case whatever to separate his policy from ours, his resolution to adhere to the English alliance, and to maintain peace a tout prix, which he frankly owns to be indispensably neces- sary to the interests of his country. The Austrians are al- ready beginning to hang back from taking any decided j)art in opposition to Russia, and, while still ready to join in making every exertion to maintain peace, they are evidently determined if war breaks out to take no part against Russia, and this disposition is sure to be improved by the interview which is about to take place between the Emperors of Russia and Austria. Septsmher 2Gth. — I have been at Hatchford all last week. T saw Clarendon on Thursday before I went there, and heard that two ships of each fleet were gone up the Dardanelles,^ and that the rest would probably soon follow, as the French were iiow urging that measure. He was then going to Aberdeen to propose calling the Cabinet together, the state of affairs becoming more critical every hour, and apparently no chance of averting war. The prospect was not the bn'2:hter from the probability of a good deal of difference of opinion when they do meet. He showed me a letter from Palmerston, in which he spoke very coolly of such a contin- gency as war with Russia and Austria, and with his usual confidence and flippancy of the great blows that might be inflicted on both Powers, particularly alluding to the pos- sible expuloion of the Austrians from Italy, an object of which he has probably never lost sight. Meanwhile the vio- lence and scurrility of the press here exceed all belief. Day after day the Radical and Tory i:)aper3, animated by very dif- 1 [The British vessels were steamers, the " Retribution " and another. There ■was at that tine only one line-of- battle ship in each fleet having steam-power; all the other vessels of the line were sailing-ships.] 1853.] THE CONFERENCE AT OLMUFZ. 79 ferent sentiments and motives, pour fortli the most virulent abuse of the Emperor of Russia, of Austria, and of this Government, especially of Aberdeen. CHAPTER IV. The Conference at Olniutz— The Turks declare War— Lord Paloierston's Views— Lord Palinerston lauded by the Radicals and the Tories— i^'ailure of the Pacific Policy- Lord Aberdeen desires to resi^'n— Lord Joa;i to be Prime Minister— Obstacles to Lord John's Pretensions- Danger ot breakin r up the Governineut-Lord John's Wilfalneis and Unpopularity— Alliirice of tlie Noi-thern Powers defeated by Manteuffel— vJo.iflict of the two Policies— Meeing- of l'arlia;nei)t discussei— French Kefugees in Belgiuiu— General iJaraguay d'Hilliers sent to Constantinople -Mr. Iteeve rL-turns Irom the Kast — Lord John's Refor n 15111— Tae Einpeior of Russia writes to the (.^ueen— Sir James Graham's Views on Reform, etc.— Oppjnents of the Relorm Suhsme -Abortive At- tempts at Negotiation -Th3 Four Powers agree to a Protocol— Lurd Palmerston threatens to seeed — Lord Pal nerston resigns oa the Refor.a Sche.ne— Lord Palmer- ston Ojiposed to Refor.n- Effects of Lord Palmer, ton's Resignation- Concihatory Overtuies— Lord Lansdowno's Position— Lord Aberdeen's Account— Lady Palmer- Bt'.n makes up the Disp ate -Lord Pal.nerstja withdraws his Resignation — Baraguay d'Hilhers refuses to enter the Black Sea— War resolved oh— iCeview of txie Transaction, October Uli. — I went to The Grove on Saturday, and spent great part of the afternoon on Sunday reading the Eastern Question despatches, printed in a Blue Book to be laid by-and-by before Parliament. On Sunday came West- morland's account of his interviews with the Emperor of Russia and Nesselrode at Olmiitz, which sounded very satis- factory, for the Emperor was very gracious and pacific, and Nesselrode in his name disclaimed in the most positive terms any intention of aggrandizing himself at the expense of Tur- key or of claiming any protectorate, or asserting any claims inconsistent with the sovereignty and independence of the Sultan, and moreover signified his willingness to make a declaration to that effect in such form and manner as might be hereafter agreed upon. All this was very well, and served to confirm the notion that, if some sensible men, really desirous of settling the question, could be brought to- gether, the accomplishment would not be difficult ; but the distance which separates the negotiating parties from each other, and the necessity of circulating every proposition through so many remote capitals, and the consequent loss of time, have rendered all conferences and pacific projects unavailing. Yesterday morning a messenger arrived, bringing the 80 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. lY. telegraphic despatch from Vienna, which announced the de- termination of the Turks to go to war, and that a grand Council was to be assembled to decide on the declaration, news which precluded all hope of adjustment ;^ and yester- day afternoon the further account of the decision of the Council was received. Such of the Ministers as are in town met in the afternoon, and it was decided that all the rest should be summoned, and a Cabinet held on Friday next. It will be no easy matter to determine what part we shall take, and how far we shall mix ourselves up in the quarrel as belligerents. It will be very fortunate if the Cabinet should be unanimous on this question. Palmerston has hitherto acted very frankly and cordially with Clarendon, but the old instincts are still strong in him, and they are all likely to urge him to recommend strong measures and an active interference. Granville told me las^. night he thought Palmerston was not at all displeased at the decision of the Turks, and as he still clings to the idea that Turkey is poweiful and full of energy, and he is quite indifferent to the danger to which Austria may be exposed, and would rejoice at her being plunged in fresh difficulties and threatened with fresh rebellions and revolutions, he will rather rejoice than not at the breaking out of hostilities. He will not dare to avow his real propensities, but he will cloak them under other pretences and pretexts, and give effect to them as much as he can. He has been speechifying in Scotland, where, though he spoke very hand-omely of Clarendon, he did not say one word in defence of Aberdeen, or anything calculated toput an end to the notion and repeated assertions that he and Aberdeen had been at variance on the Eastern Question. I find Aberdeen feels this omission very much, and it would certainly have been more generous, as well as more just, if he had taken the opportunity of correcting the popular error as to Aberdeen, after having been reaping a great harvest of popularity at his expense. Palraerston's position is curious. He is certainly very popular, and there is a high idea of his diplomatic skill and vigor. He is lauded to the skies by all the Radicals who are > [The declaration of the Turkish Council or Divan, held on October 3, vas to the effect that, if the Principalities were not evacuated in fifteen davs, a state of war would ensue. To this the Emperor of Russia responded on October 18 by a formal declaration of war. War beins declared, the Straits wei-e opened, and, at the request of the Sultan, the allied fleets entered the Dardanelles on October 22.] 1853.] LOr.D PALMERSTON LAUDED. 81 the admirers of Kossuth and Mazzini, who want to renew the scenes and attempts of 1848, and who fancy that, if Palmcr- ston were at the head of the Government, he would play into their hands. On the other hand, he is equally an object of the flattery and praise of the Tories, who cannot get over their being succeeded by a Peelite Prime Minister, and they cling to the belief that there can be no real cordiality, and must be complete dilference of opinion, between Aberdeen and Palmerston, and they look forward to the prospect of their disunion to breaii up this odious Government, and a return to office with Palmerston at their head. There are the political chimeras with which their brains are filled, and which make them take (for very dillerent reasons) the fame part as the Radicals on the Eastern Question, My own con- viction is that both parties reckon without, their host. Palm- erston is sixty-nine years old, and it is too late for him to look out for fresh political combinations and other connec- tions, nor would any object of ambition repay him for the dissolution of all his personal and social tics. He will, there- fore, go on as he does now, {iccci)ting such popularity as is offered him as a means of enhancing his own importance in this Cabinet ; and, in the event of any accident happening to it, of making his own pretensions available. October 6tli. — Delane was sent for by Lord Aberdeen the night before last, when they had a long conversation on the state of affairs, and Aberdeen tcld him that he was resolved to be no party to a war with Russia on such grounds as the present, and he was prepared to resign rather than incur such responsibility. This was the marrow of what he said, and very important, because not unlikely to lead to seme difl[er- ence in the Cabinet, and possibly to its dissolution. October 1th. — Clanricarde called here jesterday morning ; he is very strong against the Government and their policy, and maintains that if we had joined France and sent the fleet up when she did. the Emperor of Russia would then have receded, as his obstinacy was entirely caused by his convic- tion that France and England would never remain united, and that nothing would induce the latter to make war on Russia. He said this idea had been confirmed by the lan- guage of Aberdeen, who had continually spoken of his de- termination to avoid war to Brunnow and others, and in his letters to Madame de Lieven — la pcdx d tout prix. Clanri- carde, however, himself said he would not declare war against 83 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. IV. Eiissia, and we might defend Turkey without going that length. I v/ent and told Clarendon all he had said (in greater detail), and he owned that it was more than probable that Ab-^rdeen had held some such language as was attributed to him ; indeed, he had more than once had occasion to re- monstrate with him upon it. Clarendon was very uneasy at the prospect of the discussion about to take place, and con- templates as extremely probable the breaking-up of the Gov- ernment on the question of war. Palmerstou has been very re3erved, but always on the same friendly terms with his col- lea.yuss, and Clarendon in particular ; but Lady Palmerston as usual talks a qui veut Ventendre of the misconduct of the whole affair, and affirms that, if Palmerston had had the management of it, all would have been settled long ago. As matters have turned out, it is impossible not to regret that we were perhaps too moderate and patient at first ; for as the course we have adopted has not been successful, it seems un- fortunate we did not try another, which might have been morj so. But this is judging apr^'i coup, and nothing is so earv as to affirm that, if something had been done, which was not done, success would have attended it. Octobp.r Wi. — The Cabinet went off very well yesterday, no serious difference of opinion about anything, and a good concurrence both as to what had been done and what ought to be done hereafter. Lord Aberdeen is well pleased. Newmarket, October \Wi. — This morning I met the Duke ' of Bedford on the heath, who told me he wanted very much to s]>eak to me about certain communications he had re- ceived which made him extremely uneasy, and full of appre- hension of coming difficulties, threatening the very existence of the Government. It seems that a short time ago Lord Aberdeen imparted to John Eussell his wish to resign, and to place the Government in his hands. He said that he had only taken his present post because his doing so was indis- pensable to the formation of the Government, and had al- ways contemplated Lord John's eventually succeeding him, and he thought the time was now come when he might very properly do so. He did not anticipate any insurmountable opposition in any quarter, and he should himself speak to Gladstone about it, who was the most important person to be consulted, and he was in fact only prevented doing so, as he had intended, by not being able to go to Scotland, where he had expected to meet Gladstone. Whether Aberdeen had 185S.] LORD JOHN RUSSELL'S PRETENSIONS. 83 spoken to Gladstone since his retnrn to London, the Duke of Bedford did not know. No steps appear to have been taken with regard to Palmerston, nor does it appear that any progress was made in accomplishing this change. The Queen had been apprised of Aberdeen's intentions. Such was the state of things when a short time ago the Duke re- ceived a letter from Lord John, in whicli he said that mat- ters could not go on as they were, and that there must be some changes ; and that very soon he could no longer act without being primarily responsible for the policy of the Government — iu other words, without resuming his post of Prime Minister. This is all the Duke knows, as Lord John entered into no explanations or details, and he is in total ignorance of the grounds of his brusque determination, and of what can have occurred to produce it. He sees, however, all the difficulties and embarrassments that in consequence of it are looming in the distance, and how very possible it is that the Government may be broken up. All this we very fully discussed, but without either of us being able to guess what it all means, or what the result will be of Lord John's putting his intentions into execution. October 16th. — I came to town yesterday morning, and in the afternoon went to the Foreign Office, and saw Clarendon, to whom I imparted what the Duke of Bedford had told me. He said he knew it all, Aberdeen having told him what had passed between John Russell and himself ; but having made Clarendon give his word of honor that he would not say a word of it to anybody, so he said, ''I would not mention it even to you, to whom I tell everything." He then, however, went into the whole question, and told me what had passed, which did not exactly agree with the Duke's story. Accord- ing to Clarendon, Lord John went to Lord Aberdeen before Parliament was up, and told him he could not consent to go on in his present position, to which Aberdeen replied, "Very well, you only meet my own wishes, and you know I always told you that I should be at any time ready to resign my place to you." Nothing more seems to have taken place at that time, nor till lately, when Lord John went again to Aberdeen, and repeated his determination not to go on ; but this time the communication does not seem to have been received by Aber- deen with the same ready acquiescence in the proposed change, and some plain speaking took place between them. 84 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTOEIA. [Chap. IV. I infer, but as Clarendon did not expressly say so I put it dubiously, that Aberdeen had spoken to Gladstone and ascer- tained that he would by no means agree to the substitution of John Eussell, and should go with Aberdeen if he retired. At all events, while Aberdeen told him that he was prepared, if he wished it, to broach the matter to his colleagues, he inti?nated to him that it was evident he wanted to turn him out, and put himself in his place, but that he (Aberdeen) could not agree to retire at this moment, and before Parlia- ment met, and that Lord John had better well consider the step he was about to take, as it would in all probability break up the Government, and asked him if he was prepared to encounter the odium of doing so, more especially as he must remember that he had only consented to foim this Government on Lord John's own assurance to him that he was himself unable to form one. He asked him if he was secure of Palmerston's concurrence in the change he pro- posed, and he replied that he did not expect to find any difficulty in that quarter. This was the substance of what passed between them, Aberdeen being evidently a good deal nettled, and thinking Lord John is behaving very ill. This is Clarendon's opinion also, and he thinks, if Lord John persists, the Government will be inevitably broken up, for a considerable part of the Cabinet will certainly not consent to have Lord John agam placed at the head of the Govern- ment. Clarendon does not believe a word of Palmerston's being a party to it, and he knows that both Gladstone and NcAvcastle would resign. Graham he is not sure of, but inclines to think he would retire with Aberdeen, Cfpecially if Aberdeen has any compulsion or ill-usage to complain of. For the moment, however, this Etorm has blown over, as Lord John has signified to Aberdeen that he does not mean to press the matter again for the present. The Queen, when it was mentioned to her, was anything but approving of or consenting to the change. In all this matter there is little doubt that Lord John has been instigated by his connections, and they none of them. Lord John himself included, have sense enough to see that the course he is adopting is quite suicidal, and would be not less fatal to his own reputation and popularity than to the Government he belongs to. He failed as Prime Minictcr, and no credit attended his Administration, and no regret his fall. The popularity he lost, he in good measure regained 1853.] THEIR MISCHIEVOUS EFFECTS. 85 by his conduct on the formation of this Government, when he waived his own pretensions, and for the public good consented, after having held the first place, to accept the second ; but the worhi does not know how i*eluctantly and grudgingly he did this, and how sorely his pride and vanity suffered on that occasion. The position he occupied of leader of the House of Commons without an office was anomalous, and many thought it objectionable, but he himself insisted on it, and it proved successful. The House of Commons not only accepted it, but were joleased to see a man so eminent eschewing office with its functions and emoluments, and gratuitously devoting himself to the service and the bu-iness of Parliament. He became popular again in the House, and would have been more so if he had not chosen to quit the Treasury Bench early every afternoon, and go down to Richmond, leaving Palmerston to do his work, and ingratiate himself with the IJoase. Aberdeen reminded Lord John that this position, which he now found intolerable, was one he had chosen to make for himself ; that he had not only declared he could not form a Government, but that every office had been at his disposal, and he had been invited to take the greatest offices, or, if he prefered it, any smaller one, but that he had insisted on holding none. Aberdeen is quite right not to resign noW; or before Parliament meets, where he must appear as Minister to defend his own policy. I expect that Lord John will not renew his demands for some time, if at all ; but if h? does, this is what will prob- ably take place • The Government will be broken up, Lord John will try to form one and will fail, and the Government will again be constituted minus Lord John. Is'obody would, I think, go out with him. This is supposing (which I think certain) that Palmerston would not make common cause with him, but prefer to remain with the rest. There would then remain the great difficulty of the lead of the House of Com- mons and the part Palmerston would play ; but, dangerous as it would be, it would probably be found necessary to trust him with the lead, most distasteful though it would be both to Aberdeen and to the Queen. October 18th. — The Emperor of Russia moved heaven and earth to bring about a new Holy Alliance between himself, Austria, and Prussia, in which he would have succeeded if it had not been for the wisdom and firmness of Manteuffel,^ » ICouat Manteuffol was tlic Prussian Miaijtor for Foreign Affairs, and the 86 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. IV. who "was proof against all his seductions. Austria consented, but only on condition that Prussia did likewise. The King of Prussia "would have given way with his characteristic weakness, but Manteuifel would not hear of it, and contrived to keep his master straight. In an interview of two hours between the Emperor and Manteuffel ttte-a-tete, the Empe- ror employed all the means he could think of to prevail on the Prussian Minister, but all in vain ; he refused positively to allow Prussia to depart from her neutrality. This had the effect of keeping Austria neutral also, and that of mak- ing the Emperor more inclined to peace ; but the Turkish declaration of war and peremptory summons to him to quit the Principalities leave him no alternative but that of taking up the gauntlet thus thrown down. November 2d. — All last week at ISTewmarket, during which nothing of moment occurred but the renewed attempts at ne- gotiation, and the consent of the Turks to defer the com- mencement of hostilities. I saw Clarendon the day before yesterday, who told me how matters stood, and showed me a despatch just received from Vienna with a copy of a very moderate and pacific Note from Nesselrode to Buol, show- ing that there is every disposition at St. Petersburg to patch matters up. Clarendon told me that he was heartily sick of the whole question, in which the double trouble and diffi- culty were cast upon him of reconciling the Eussians and the Turks, and of preserving agreement in the Cabinet, where Aberdeen was always opposing measures of hostility toward Russia, and. Palmerston for pushing them forward. He said he steered between the two, and that he and John Eussell were more nearly agreed than any of the others ; he told me at the same time a characteristic trait of Palmerston. The Turks having determined to plunge into war against the advice of their protectors, especially against ours, and it having been made known to us that the Sultan and his Ministers were not disinclined to be guided by us, but that they were themselves overruled and driven to this extreme course by the Grand Council, it became necessary in Claren- don's opinion to notify to the Turkish Government that, since they had thought fit to take their own independent leacTinGT member of the Prussian Cabinet. He was accused of sacrifieinor Prus- sian interests to those of Austria at the Conference of Olrmitz ; but in fact he succeeded in defeating what would have been a very formidable confederacy oi the German Powers with Eussia.] 1853] OBJECTIONS OF LORD PALMERSTON. 87 course, we should reserve to ourselves the right of acting according to our own discretion, and not consider ourselves bound to be dragged into a war at the heels of the Grand Council, which is an assembly of ruffians and fanatics, by whom it would be utterly inconcistent with the dignity of our Crown that our policy should be governed and influenced. It seems too that this is a point on which the Queen feels very strongly, and is exceedingly anxious that the honor and dignity of the Crown should not be compromised. Ac- cordingly Clarendon drew up a despatch to this effect, to which the Cabinet acceded, and Palmerston also, though with some reluctance. However, he not only saw the pro- posed despatch, but he made some alteration in it with his own hand, thereby of course subscribing to it. Just after this Clarendon went to Windsor, and submitted the despatch to the Queen and the Trmce ; they objected to it that it was not strong enough in their fense, but Clarendon prevailed upon them to waive their objections, and, as it had been agreed to in the Cabinet, to let it gc. But before it was gone Clarendon received a letter from Palmerston, strongly objecting to the despatch altogether, and desiring Clarendon to inform Lord Aberdeen that he would be no party to fuch a communication. This was extremely embarrassing. Clar- endon spoke to Aberdeen, and afterward (at Aberdeen's suggestion) informed the Queen what had occurred. Her Majesty said, "I advise you not to attach much importance to this communication. I know Lord Palmerston from much experience, and it is probably only an attempt to bully, which, if you take no notice of it, you will hear no more of." The result justified the Queen's sagacity, for Clarendon sent off the despatch, and at the same time wrote word to Palmer- ston that he had done so, giving him sundry reasons why he could not do otherwise, to which he received in reply a very good-humored letter, merely saying that, as it was gone, it was useless to say any more about it, and probably it would do no harm. There has been talk abroad and discussion in the Cabinet about the meeting of Parliament. Lord John and Lord Aberdeen both wished Parliament to meet, the first because he is always hankering after the House of Commons, the latter because he wished Parliament to decide on the question of peace or war, so that in the one alternative his hands might be strengthened, or in the other he might have a 88 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTOEIA. [Chap. IV. pretext for resigning. But both Clarendon and Palmer- ston were much against it, and now that there is a fresh prospect of peace, it is rendered more unnecessary and un- desirable. King Leopold is here, still uneasy (though less than he was) upon the subject of his demcUs with the Emperor of the French. The cause of them is the libellous publications of the French refugees in Belgium. They compose the most outrageous attacks of a personal nature on him and the Empress, which they have printed in Belgium, and get these papers smuggled into France, and disseminated among the lower classes, and particularly the troops. This naturally gives the Emperor great offence, and Leopold would afford him redress if he could ; but the Constitution was made by journalists, and the unrestrained liberty of the press is so interwoven with the Constitution, that the Legislature itself has no power to deal with the case, nor any power short of a Constituent Assembly. All this Leopold has submitted to liis powerful neighbor, and their relations seem to be more amicable ; for very civil letters have ])a3sed between the two monarchs, through the Prince de Chimay, whom Leopold sent to compliment the Emperor when he went lately to Lille. Novsmisr lOtJi. — All attempts at settling the Eastern Question by JVutes have been rudely interrupted by the actual commencement of hostilities. Meanwhile the Notes sped their way, but at Vienna it was deemed no longer possible to settle it in this manner, but that there must now be a regular treaty of peace, the terms of which the Allies might prescribe, and there is now a question of having a Congress or Conference here, to carry on the affair. It is, however, difficult to make out what the French are at, and. with all our intimacy, we must keep on our guard against all contingencies on the part of our Imperial neighbor. l^Tobody knows what is his real motive for sending Baraguay d'Hill- iers to Constantinople. Francis Baring, when I told him of this appointment, said it could be only for the purpose of quarrelling, for he was the most violent of men, and was certain to quarrel with whomsoever he had to deal. If this be so, his quarrelling with Lord Stratford is inevitable, and it is by no means improbable that Louis Napoleon is tired of playing second fiddle to us, and sends this General there for the express purpose of counteracting our superior influence. 1853.] LORD STRATFORD'S INFLUENCE. 89 and, by the tender of military counsel and aid, to substitute his own for ours. Eeeve is Just returned from the East, having spent some time at Oonstaiitinoi)le, and he came home by Vienna. Lord Stratford treated him with great kindness and hospitality^ and talked to him very openly. He says that Stratford ex- ercised a great but not unlimited influence and control over the Turkish Government, and of course is very jealous of the influence he possesses ; for example, he boasted to Keeve that he had carried a great point, and had procured the ap- jDointment of the candidate he favored as Greek Patriarch, an interference which, if it had been made by the Emperor of Russia, whose concern it is much more than ours, would have excited in us great indignation. Such an exercise of influence and in such a matter, of which the Russians are well aware, is calculated to exasperate them, and it is not unnatural that the Emperor should feel that, if any foreign influence is to prevail in Turkey, he has a better right than any other Power to establish his own. Reeve has a very poor opinion of the power, resources, and political condition of Turkey, and does not doubt the military success of the Rus- sians. He says that the corruption is enormous — everybody bribes or is bribed. The Greek Patriarch whom Stratford got appointed had to pay large sums to Redschid Pasha and his son. The whole State is rotten to the core. November \Wi. — This morning John Russell breaks ground on the Reform plan, by referring his echeme to a Committee of the Cabinet, which is to meet at his house, consisting, besides himself, of Granville, Newcastle. Graham, Charles AYood, and Palmerston. I am afraid he will propose a lower franchise, probably hi., in spite of many warnings and the signs of the times, which are very grave and alarm- ing — nothing but strikes and deep-rooted discontent on the part of the working classes. I am in correspondence wiih EUesmere on the subject, and have sent his letters to John Russell, who does not appear disposed to admit the force of his reasoning against lowering the franchise. This Commit- tee w^ill probably be on the whole favorable to a democratic measure. Lord John from old prejudices and obstinacy, Graham from timidity, Newcastle because he has espoused Liberal principles ; Granville wnll be inclined to go with Lord John, and Palmerston alone is likely to stand out against a democratic scheme, unless Charles Wood should go 90 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Ghap. IY. with him, of whose opinions on the question of Eeform I know nothini^, Aberdeen is himself a Reformer, but I hear he is resolved not to consent to a 5/. franchise. I confess to great misgivings about this project in the present state of the country, and dread the further progress of democratic power. The success of the great Eeform Bill and the exi)e- riences of twenty years without any of the apprehensions of the anti-Reformers having been realized, are now in my opinion sources of danger, as they create an opinion that progress, as it is called, is not only necessary, but perfectly safe. It consoles me for growing old that I shall not live to see the confusion in which this well-ordered State is likely to be involved, the period of peril and suffering it will have to go through, and the reaction, which will restore order and tranquillity at the expense of that temperate and rational freedom, which we alone of all the nations of the earth are in possession of. I see no reason why, if we choose reck- lessly, and without any cause, to cast away the good we en- Joy, we should be exempted from paying the penalty which our folly and wickedness would so richly deserve. The above question in all its ramifications is infinitely more important than the Russian and Turkish quarrel, but there is no say- ing how the former may be indirectly and consequentially affected through the latter by means of the political differ- ences which may arise out of it. Everything now looks black in the political horizon, and the war which has begun between the principals can hardly fail to extend itself sooner or later to the collateral parties. November loth. — Yesterday morning having met Claren- don on the railway, he from Windsor, 1 from Hillingdon, I got into the carriage and went home with him. He told me all he had to tell of what he had to go through with the conflicting proposals of Palmerston and Aberdeen in the Cabinet : the latter as averse as ever to any strong measures, and always full of consideration for the Emperor ; the former anxious for war, and with the same confidence and rashness which were so conspicuous in him during the Syrian ques- tion, insisting that nothing will be so easy as to defeat Rus- sia, and he now goes the length of urging that none of the old treaties between her and the Porte should be renewed. All this jactance, however, does not go much beyond words, for he evinces no disposition to separate from his colleagues or to in- sist on any course which the majority of the Cabinet object to. 1833.] AN ANECDOTE OF PALMERSTON. 91 The Emperor of Russia has taken the unusual step of writin:? an aut3graph letter to the Queen. Brunnovv, who wa3 rather puzzled, took the letter to Aberdeen, and asked wliat he was to do with it. Aberdeen told him to take it to Clarendon, who sent it to the Queen. She sent it to him to read, and he suggested certain heads of an answer, but did not communicate the letter, nor the fact of its having been received, to any one but Aberdeen. The Queen wrote an answer in French, and he sayr, a very good one. Cowley has sent him an account of a conversation he lately had with the Euperor Napoleon, in which he said that the condition of France and the rise in the price of pro- visions, so deeply affecting the working classes, made him more than ever bent upon preserving peace, and he proposed that the Powers should be invited to concur with England and France in drawing up a scheme of pacification and arrangement, which should be tendered to the belligerents, and whichever should refuse to accept it should be treated as an enemy. Clarendon said that there were many objec- tions to this plan, but he seemed to believe in the sincerity of the Emperor's desire for peace, in spite of the opposite presumption afforded by Baraguav d'Hilliers' mission, and its accompaniment of French officers. He attributes that mission to the wounded vanity of France, and the deter- mination of the Government to send some man who shall dispute the influence of Stratford, and assert that of France. The character of Stratford had been fully explained to Bara- guay d'Hilliers, and he went, ostensibly at least, with in- structions and an intention to act with him in harmony, but this the character of the two ambassadors will probably ren- der quite impossible. The Queen told Clarendon an anecdote of Palmerstou, showing how exclusively absorbed he is with forci(/7i politics. Her Majesty has been much interested in and alarmed at the strikes and troubles in the North, and asked Palmerston for details about them, when she found he knew nothing at all. One morning, after previous inquiries, she said to liim, "Pray, Lord Palmerston, have you any news ?" To which he replied, '• No Madame, I have heard nothing ; but it seems certain the Turhs have crossed the Danube.'" In the afternoon I called on Graham at the Admiralty, and had a long talk with him about the Government and its prospects, and the disposition and intentions of John Eussell 93 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTOEIA. [Chap. lY. and of Palmerston. He is, contrary to custom, very cheer- ful and sanguine on these points ; he was apprised of all that Lord John has said and done, but except on one occasion, just about the time of the prorogation, has had no communi- cation with Lord John himself on the subject. He is now satisfied that Lord John has abandoned his designs, and has made up his mind to go on as he is, and he infers this from his frank and friendly conduct about the Eeform Bill, which he has not kept to himself, but submitted to a Committee for the purpose of bringing it before all his colleagues in a very good spirit, and quite willing to have Palmerston on this Committee, from whom the greatest opposition was to be expected. Graham said their first meeting had gone off very pleasantly, and Palmerston had urged much less objec- tion than he had expected ; he thinks therefore that his own reflections and his knowledge of the difficulties which would oppose themselves to his purpose have determined Lord John to acquiesce in his present position, nor is he afraid of Palmerston separating himself from this Cabinet, thinking that at his age he will not speculate so deeply for the chance of greater power and a higher place, to be pur- chased at the certain sacrifice of all his social relations and personal connections, and he therefore expects Palmerston will conform to the general sentiments, and decisions of his colleagues, both as to foreign policy and to Reform. Gra- ham said he approved entirely of Lord John's scheme, and thous^ht his proposed measure good and safe. November %']tli. — Council at Windsor on Friday 25th. The Queen was afiiicted by the Queen of Portugal's death, tliou2:h they never saw each other but once when they were children. I heard the particulars of the Eeform Bill, which (if there is to be one at all) seems as little mischievous as can be. It seems to have encountered little or no opposition in the Cabinet, and Lord John considers it as having been ac- cepted and settled there. Lord Lansdovt^ne has not pro- nounced himself positively; but though, no doubt, he dis- likes it exceedingly, they think he will not retire ujion it, and up to the present time he has indicated no such inten- tion. Graham, who is always frightened, told me on Friday he was very uneasy lest Lansdowne should decline to be a party to it. Palmerston has written a letter to Lord John, strong in the beginning, denouncing tlie measure as unnecessary and 18S3.] ADERDEEX'S OBJECTIONS. " 93 unwise, and complaining of his having originally committed his colleagues to it, by declaring his own opinion without any previous consultation and concert with them. Then, after criticising the Bill (ably, as I am told), he ends by an- nouncing that he shall consent to it. He sent copies of this letter to Aberdeen and to Lansdowne. I brought Clarendon from the station to Downing Street, when he told me that he had begun some fresh attempts at renewing negotiations. The proposal of the Emperor Napo- leon to force terms on the two parties would not do, but ho had sent a proposal of some sort (I could not exactly make out what), which, contrary to his expectation, Buol had agreed to ; but he did not seem very sanguine about any re- sult from this beginning. He said nothing could exceed the difficulties of the case, nor the embarras.-ments of his own position. The Turks are now indisposed to agree to any- thing, or to make any concessions whatever, and of course the Emperor of Russia neither will nor can make peace and Avithdraw, without some plausible satisfaction. Then at home the difficulty is just as great between Palmerston, who is all for going ahead, and wants nothing less than war with Eussia, and Aberdeen, who is in the other extreme — object- ing to everything, and proposing nothing. John Russell is very reasonable, and agrees almost entirely with Clarendon ; but whenever he thinks he is going to be outbid by Palmer- ston, is disposed to urge some violent measures also. He said he had a regular scene with Aberdeen the other day. After this Note (or whatever it was) had been discussed and agreed to in the Cabinet, and all settled, Aberdeen came into his room, and began finding fault with it, and raising all sorts of objections, when Clarendon, out of all patience, broke out : "Really, this is too bad. You come now, after it has all been settled in the Cabinet where you let it pass, and make all sorts of objections. And this is the way you do about everything ; you object to all that is proposed, and you never suggest anything yourself. What is it you want ? Will you say what you would have done ?" He declares he said all this with the greatest vivacity, being really exasper- rated. Aberdeen had nothing to say, and knocked under. The truth seems to be that the attacks upon him in the newspapers (though they don't know it) are pretty well jus- tified, and very little exaggerated ; nor is the idea of Palmcr- ston's real inclination much mistaken. They have by acci- 94 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA., [Chap. IV. dent very nearly hit upon the truth. Aberdeen, it seems, objects particularly to have any Conference here, and if there is to be anything of the kind, it seems likely to take place at Vienna, where, however, somebody would be sent to assist, if not to supersede, Westmorland. December 10th. — The Protocol Just signed at Vienna brings the four Powers together again, and Austria not only signed it with alacrity, but Buol told Westmorland if the Emperor of Russia was found unmanageable, "Nous irons avec voiis jusqu'au bout." The Turks are now desired to say on what terms they will make peace, and I expect they will reply that they will not make peace at all till the Prin- cipalities' are evacuated. It seems very doubtful whether this fresh opening will lead to any result between two Powers so impracticable as the belligerents. The Duke of Bedford has been endeavoring to persuade Lord John to reconsider the franchise in his Reform Bill, and Lord John tells him not to be afraid of its going too low, and that there is more chance of its appearing too nig- gardly. Aberdeen said it was not yet settled. Meanwhile, the Bill is drawn and privately printed. Lord John consid- ers it to have been accepted by the Cabinet, and that he is sure of the acquiescence of the two principal dissentients — Lansdowne and Palmerston. The former went out of town, only saying that he hoped the landed interest would have its "due share of influence. Palmerston's letter I have already mentioned ; but the other day Lady Palmerston held forth to the Duke against the Bill, and said that it was not settled at all, but was still under the consideration of the Cabinet ; from which he infers that Palmerston is still making or pre- pared to make objections and difficulties. Between Reform and the Eastern Question, I think this Government would infallibly be broken up but from the impossibility of another being formed. I am still persuaded Palmerston will not try a new combination, and break with all his old friends and associates for the purpose of putting himpelf at the head of some fresh but unformed combination. Great as his ambition is, he will not sacrifice so much to it, and risk so much as this would oblige him to do. December 12th. — I begin to think that I am after all mis- taken as to Palmerston's intentions, and that his ambition will drive him to sacrifice everything and risk everything, in spite of his age and of all the difficulties he will have to 1853.] LORD PALMERSTON'S INTENTIONS. 95 encounter. I have said what passed between the Duke of Bedford and Lady Palmerston about Reform. This morn- ing the Duke of Bedford came here and told me lie had called on Clarendon on Saturday, when he said to Clarendon that he was very uneasy about Palmerston, and thought he was meditating something, thougli he did not know exactly what he was at. Clarendon interrupted him — " Certainly, he is meditating breaking up the Government ; in fact, he told me so." At this moment it was announced that two or three foreign Ministers were waiting to see him, when he abruptly broke olf the conference, and they parted. I said, " Depend upon it, what Clarendon alluded to was not the Reform Bill, but the Eastern Question ; and it is on that that Palmerston is making a stir." The Duke said he thought so to ; indeed, he was sure of it, because Clarendon did not trouble himself about Reform, and he had already told him more than once what excessive trouble and annoy- ance he had had between the widely opposite views and opinions of Aberdeen and Palmerston, and that he had only been able to go on at all from the agreement between Lord John and himself. However, Lord John is to see Aberdeen this morning, and his brother afterwards ; and before the day is over we shall learn something more of this disagree- able matter. My belief is that the differences between Aber- deen and Palmerston have arrived at a height which threat- ens a break up, and that, with reference to this occurring. Palmerston is also going back on the Reform Question ; that if he does separate from the Government, he may reserve to himself to work both questions. But I refrain from further speculations, as in a few hours they will be resolved into cer- tainty of some sort. Panshanger, Deccmher lAtJi. — It turned out that Palmer- ston had struck on account of Reform, and not (ostensibly, at least) about foreign afPairs. John Russell was indignant, and inveighed to his brother against Palmerston in terms of great bitterness, saying he was absohitely faithless, and no reliance to be placed on him. Of this fact these pages con- tain repeated proofs, but I own T am amazed at his making this flare up on the question of Reform. But his whole conduct is inexplicable, and there is no making out what he is at. The news of the Turkish disaster in the Black Sea is believed, but Government will do nothing about it till they receive authentic intelligence and detailed accounts of the 96 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. ' [Chap. IV. occurrence.^ So Clarendon told Eeeve on Monday, but he is disposed to take a decisive part if it all turns out to be true ; and yesterday Delane had a long conversation "with Aber- deen, who owned that if the Russians (as they suppose) at- tacked a convoy of transports at anchor, it is a very strong case, and he thought war much more probable than it was a few days ago, and he did not speak as if he was determined in no case to declare it. This does not surprise nae, in spite of his previous tone ; for he has gone so far that he may be compelled in common consistency to go farther. London, December 17th. — Yesterday morning the news of Palmerston's resignation was made j^ublic. It took everybody by surprise, few having been aware that he ob- jected to the Eeform measure in contemplation. I received the intelligence at Panshanger, and as soon as I got to town went to Clarendon to hear all about it. He had been quite prepared for it, Palmerston having told him that he could not take this Bill. Clarendon says Palmerston behaved per- fectly well, and in a very straightforward way from first to last. When he was invited to join the Government, he told Aberdeen and Lansdowne that he was afraid the Reform Bill would bring about another separation between them. When the time arrived for discussing the Bill, and John Russell proposed to him to be on the Committee, he said that he accepted, because," although he saw no necessity for any Reform Bill, and he entirely disapproved of John Rus- sell's having committed himself to such a measure, he would not (as matters stood) absolutely object to any measure what- ever, but would join the Committee, discuss it, state all his objections, and endeavor to procure such alterations in it as might enable him to accept it. Finding himself unable to do this with the Committee, he still waited till the measure had been brought before the whole Cabinet ; and when he found that his objections were unavailing, and that the ma- jority of his- colleagues were resolved to take Lord John's, scheme, nothing was left for him but to retire. He said he might have consented to a smaller measure of disfranchise- ment, and the approioriation of the disposable seats to the * fTlie Russian fleet in tha Black Sea attacked and destroyed the Turkish squadron in the harbor of Sinope on November 30. TJiis deei-ive event, which Was at variance vpitli t'le previous declarati'- -..s of the Emperor of Russia, com- pelled the Bntisli and French Governments to order their fleets to enter the Black Sea and occupy it. The Russian fleet withdrew within the harbors of Sebastopoh] 1853.] MOTIVES OF LORD PALMERSTON'S RESIGNATION. 97 counties, but to the enlarged toiu7i representation, and espe- cially to the proposed franchise, he could not agree ; and moreover he said he was not prepared, at his time of life, to encounter endless debates in the House of Commons on such a measure. The first time, Clarendon said, he had ever heard him acknowledge that ho had a time of life. Clar- endon showed me a very friendly letter Palmerston had writ- ten to him, expressing regret at leaving them, and say- ing he (Clarendon) had a very difficult task before him, and, "as the Irishman said, I wish yer Honner well through it.'' He has never hinted even at any dissatisfaction as to foreign affairs as forming a part of his grounds for re- signing. Clarendon said he thought it would ere long be the means of breaking up the Government, and I thought so too ; but, on reflecting more deliberately upon the matter, I am disposed to take a different view of the political proba- bilit3% and of the part which Palmerston will play. As I have been so constantly opposed to him, and have both entertained and expressed so bad an opinion of him on a great many occasions, I feel the more both bound and in- clined to do justice to his conduct upon this one, in which, so far as I am informed, he really has been irreproachable. The first thing which seems to have suggested itself to every- body is that he has resigned with the intention of putting himself at the head of the opponents of Reform, of joining the Derbyite party, and ultimately coming into office with Derby, or forming, if possible, a Government of his own. I doubt all this, and judge of his future conduct by his past. If he had been actuated by selfish and separate objects of ambition, and really contemplated transferring himself from the Whig to the Tory party, or setting up an independent standard, instead of breaking with this Cabinet on the ques- tion of Reform, he would certainly have done so upon the Turkish war, as he easily could. He would then have gone out amid shouts of applause ; he would have put the Gov- ernment into an immense difficulty, and he would have re- served to himself to take whatever course he thought fit about Reform. He has acted much more honestly, but less cunningly for his own interest, supposing that he has the views and projects that are attributed to him. Lord Lans- downe is placed in great embarrassment, for he agrees en- tirely with Palmerston ; and if he acts consistently on his 5 98 KEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. IV. own convictions^ he will retire too — that is, cease to form a part of the Cabinet. Clarendon expects he will do so. Hatchford, Decemler 21st. — On Monday when I came to town from Goodwood, where I went on Sunday, I found a letter from Lady Palmerston, very friendly indeed. She said her son William, had told her what I had said to him about Palmerston and his resignation, Avhich had. gratified her. ■ She then went on to explain why he had resigned, and why at this moment instead of waiting longer ; she said he would have accepted a Eeform Bill, but wanted Lord John's to be altered, had proposed alterations, and written to Aber- deen to urge them, and upon Aberdeen's reply that his sug- gestions could not be taken, he had no alternative but to resign, and he had thought it fairer to the Government to do so at once, and give them time to make their arrange- ments, than to put it off till the last moment, when Parlia- ment was on the point of meeting. I confess I think he Avas right in so doing, and I was greatly provoked with the *' Times" for attacking him, twitting and sneering at him, and finding fault with him for his desertion ; so provoked that I wrote a letter to the "Times," which appeared on Tuesday, with my opinion thereupon. On Tuesday morning I was surprised at receiying a letter from Lord Lansdowne, entreating I would tell him what was said, and what was the state of public opinion about Palmer- ston's resignation, giving me to understand that he was as yet undecided what course he should adopt, and should not decide at all events till he had seen the Queen next Friday ; he also said that he had been greatly surprised at this hap- pening "so soon, whatever might have been the case later, having occurred (marvellous to say) before there had been any decision taken by the Government as such on the whole matter, or any ground for me at least to think that issue would be joined upon it without that apparently essential preliminary." I wrote to him in reply all I had heard of the reports and notions floating about, and said I hoped his determination would eventually be not to withdraw, and I sent him Lady Palmerston's letter to me, which I said seemed to me somewhat at variance with his statement, in as much as Palmerston evidently considered that the matter was settled. I don't understand, however, why he wrote to Aberdeen, if the question was still before the Cabinet, and not yet definitively settled. Assuming Lord Lansdowne's 1853.] LADY PALME RSTON'S STATEMENT. 99 statement to have been correct, Palmerston oiiglit to have disputed the matter in the Cabinet, and if overruled there, he might have resigned, and not till then, Delane went to Aberdeen, and asked him for his version of the alfair, when he said at once he had no hesitation in saying that the Eastern Question was the cause and the sole -cause of Palmerston's resignation ; that he had all along been opposing what was done, and might have resigned upon it any time for months past, and that but tor that question he would have swallowed the Reform Bill. Delane observed, if this was true, Palmerston had acted a very high-minded and disinterested part. It has been imprudent of the Government papers to insist so strenuously that Palmerston resigned solely on account of Reform, and that there was no difference on foreign policy, because this elicited a violent article in the '"Morning Post," insisting in turn that the Eastern Question was the real cause of his retirement, and everybody will believe that this was inserted or dictated by himself. It is strange to hnd myself the advocate and apologist of Palmerston, when the preceding pages are brimful of censure of his acts and bad opinion of his character ; but, whatever prejudices I may have or have had against him, they never shall prevent my saying what I believe to be true, and doing him ample justice, when I think that he is acting honorably, fairly, and conscien- tiously. This letter of Lord Lansdowne's has a little shaken my convictions, but still I am struck with the fact of his having refrained from resigning on the Eastern Question, when by so doing he might have damaged the Government immensely, and obtained for himself increased popularity and considerable power if these were his objects, London, December 22d. — I went to town this morning, called on Lady Palmerstouj found her in good spirits and humor, and vastly pleased at all the testimonies of appro- bation and admiration he has received. She exclaimed with exultation, " He is always in the right in everything he does," a position I could not confirm, and which I did not care to dispute. We then talked of the present crisis, when to my no small amazement she said that she saw no reason now why it should not be made up, and he should not remain, that he left the Government with regret, liked his office, and had no wish to quit his colleagues, but could not consent to such a measure as Lord John had proposed. She 100 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. IV. then recapitulated what she wrote to me, and complained of Aberdeen's having replied to Palmerston's note in such a style of peremptory refusal ; if he had only expressed regret at the difference, and proposed a fresh reference to the Cabinet, it might have been avoided. Still, she thought if they were disposed to be reasonable it was possible to repair the breach. Palmerston had never had any answer to his letter of resignation, no notice had been taken of it, nor had the Queen's acceptance of his resignation ever been conveyed to him. She tallied with bitterness of the articles in the " Times," and of his resignation having been so hastily pub- lished, and said he had all along been very much dissatisfied with the conduct of the Eastern Question, and convinced that, if his advice had been taken at first, we should not be in our present dilemma and embarrassing position, and he had only consented to stay in the Government, when overruled in his suggestions, because he thought he could nevertheless effect some good by remaining, and tender essential aid to Claren- don. I expressed the strongest desire that the matter might be patched up, and entreated her to try and bring it about. Palmerston was gone out, so I did not see him. I then went to the Office, and directly wrote to Graham, who was at the Cabinet, begging him to see me, and telling him I had reason to believe Palmerston was not disinclined to stay. Meanwhile Bessborough called on me, and told me all the reports from Marylebone and other parts of the metropolis, as well as the country ; all represented Palmer- ston's popularity to be immense, great enthusiasm about the Eastern Question, and profound indifference about Eeform ; and he said there was a report that Palmerston was not un- likely to stay in, and that it was of the greatest importance that he should. He also said that Hayter declared there was no chance whatever of their carrying the Eeform Bill in the House of Commons, especially if Palmerston headed the opposition to it. He was hardly gone when Graham came to me. I told him all that had passed between Lady Palmerston and me, and entreated him to see if something could not be done. He said he himself should be too happy to bring it about if possible, and he had no personal ground of complaint, but he did not know how Lord John might be disposed, particularly as Palmerston in one of his letters had spoken in very uncourteous terms of him and Aberdeen. He said 1853] A RECONCILIATION. 101 it was wonderful how Palmerston, quite unlike most men, was often intemperate with his pen, while he was always very guarded in his language. In reply to some of the things Lady Palmerston had said, he told me tliat the diffi- culty was that Palmerston's objections went to the principle of the measure, and though the details might still be open to discussion, it was impossible they could concede the prin- ciples of the measure without dishonor, and this was not to be thought of. That with regard to fresh reference to the Cabinet, Palmerston had stated all his objections to the Cabinet, when they had been considered and overruled, therefore another reference to the Cabinet would have been useless. He asked me if Palmerston was prepared to give up his objections. I said I presumed not, but he must un- derstand that I did not know what he was prepared to con- cede or require, only what I had repeated, that he was not disinclined still to remain if the matter admitted of adjust- ment. He said the office was still open, and that the Cabi- net then going on was not about filling it up, but entirely on the Eastern Question. After a good deal of talk we parted, he promising to see what could be done to bring about a compromise and reconciliation. I then wrote to Lord Lansdowne telling him what had passed, and suggested that, as he is to see the Queen to- morrow, he should invoke her assistance to settle this affair, and so the matter stands. I am satisfied that at this moment Palmerston would prefer staying where he is to anything else, present or prospective, and he does not wish to embark in fresh combinations ; but it is impossible to say what he may not do under fresh circumstances, and if he is exposed to all the attractions of excessive flattery and the means of obtaining great power. If this Government should be overthrown, I see no other man who could form one. Derby is in such a deplorable state of health that I do not think he could pos- sibly undertake it, and though Palmerston's difficulties would be great, they would not be insurmountable, and the very necessity of having a Government, and the impossibility of any other man forming one, would give him great facilities, and draw a great many people from various parties to enlist under him. It is, therefore, of immense importance that there should be a compromise now, for I am strongly of opinion that if there is not the Government will not be able to go on. What I fear is that, if a negotiation should be 102 EETGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. 17. begun, the jiarties will not come to terms, and neither be disposed to make sufficient concessions. Lady Palmerston hinted at Aberdeen's going out, which she said he had al- ways professed his readiness to do, but I gave her to under- stand that if he did, Lord John would insist on taking his jDlace, which would not, I apprehend, be more palateable to Palmerston than the present arrangement. Deceiiiber %4dli. — I went to town this morning to hear what was going on. I found Granville who told me there was a negotiation on foot, conducted by Newcastle, who had been to Palmerston yesterday and discussed the matter. Palmerston was to give his answer at twelve to-day ; Gran- ville did not think any concessions about Eeform were to be made to him, and nothing more than an agreement that the whole question should be reconsidered. He was to write a letter, saying there had been "a misunderstanding," said he was evidently dying to remain, full of interest in foreign politics, and could not bear to be out the way of knowing and having a concern in all that is going on, and probably by no means insensible to the difficulties of another position, that of being the leader of an Opposition, and still more to the having to form and carry on a Government should that Opposition be successful. All this I think was exceedingly probable. I then went to Clarendon, where I learned that Palmerston had given his answer, and that he meant to stay. He had written a letter, not exactly such a one as they could have wished, but which must do ; and though it was not yet formally settled, it had gone so far that it could not fail now. Both Clarendon and Granville told me John Kussell had be- haved admirably, which I was glad to hear. Granville thinks Palmerston has no rancune against Aberdeen, but a good deal against John Russell. Granville said I had made a bad selection in writing to Graham on Thursday about Palmer- ston's staying in, as of all the Cabinet he was the man most against him, and most opposed to his return ; but Clarendon said for that very reason he was very glad I had addressed myself to Graham, and that I had since written him a strong letter, as I did yesterday, setting forth as forcibly as I could the expediency of a reconciliation and the danger of Palmer- ston's separating himself from them, and the infallible con- sequences thereof. Walewski has been making a great flare up about the article in the " Times," stating that Dundas wanted to 1853.] BARAGUAY DECLINES TO ENTER TUE BLACK SEA. 103 pursue the Russian fleet after Sinope, and that Baraguay d'Hilliers put his veto on the operation. Clarendon assured him the statement was inserted without his privity, and he had nothing to do with it. Walewski then asked him to authorise a formal contradiction in the "Globe," or to let it be officially contradicted in the "Moniteur." Clarendon declined the first, and advised against the latter course. I offered to speak to Delane about contradicting it in the *' Times," which I afterward did. He said the fact was true, and he had received it from various quarters, and it was useless to contradict it ; but there was no reason the ''Moniteur" should not do so if they liked, so I sent him to Clarendon to talk it over and settle what was to be done to smooth the ruffled plumage of the French. On Thursday at the Cabinet the resolution was taken whicli amounts to war. The French sent a proposal that the fleets should go into the Black Sea, repel any Russian aggression, and force any Russian ships of war they met with to go back to Sebastopol, using force in case of resist- ance. We assented to this proposal, and orders were sent accordingly. This must produce hostilities of some sort, and renders war inevitable. It is curious that this stringent measure should have been adopted during Palmerston's ab- sence, and that he had no hand in it. It will no doubt ren- der the reconciliation more agreeable to him. This incident of his resignation and return, which has made such a hubbub not only here but all over Europe for several days, is certainly extraordinary, and will hardly be intelligible, especially as it will hereafter appear that he has withdrawn his resignation with hardly any, or perhaps no, conditions. On looking dis- passionately at it, it seems to me Palmerston and Aberdeen have both been somewhat to blame. Lord Lansdowne left town ten days or a fortnight ago, with a distinct understand- ing, as he affirms, that the question of the Reform Bill was not to be definitively settled till after Christmas, and though he was aware of Palmerston's objections, he had no idea he would take any decisive step till then. A few days after he was gone to Bowood, Palmerston wrote to Aberdeen, a most unnecessary and ill-judged act. Aberdeen — instead of refer- ring in his answer to the above-named understanding, and giving no other answer, replies that he has consulted John Russell and Granville, who think that nothing can be pro- posed that will remove his objections, and that he agrees 104 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Ghap. V. with them, on which Palmerston sends in his resignation in a letter described to be brief and peremptory in its tone. All these letters were wrong, and none of tliem ought to have been written. I see they (his colleagues or some of them) think Palmerston never had really any intention of quitting his post, but more suo tried to bully a little, not without hopes that he might frighten them into some con- cessions on the Keform Bill, and meaning, if he failed, to knock under, as he has so often done upon other occasions. I am much inclined to suspect there is a great deal of truth in this hypothesis, being struck by Lady Palmerston's mild- ness and abstinence from violence and abuse, and the evident anxiety of both of them for a reconciliation, and again by the very easy terms on Avhich he has been induced to stay. There has been no exaction or dictation on his part, but, so far as appears at present, something very like a surrender. CHAPTER V. Lord PaImerston''8 Eetum — The Ozar's Designs— Uncertain Prospects— A Dinner of Law- yers — Preparations for War — The Keform Scheme modified— Eussian Preparations for War — Kntryof the Black Sea — Intrigues of France with Russia — Attacks on Prince Albert — Virulence of the Precs — Attitude of Russia — Reluctance on Both sides to en- gage in War — Prince Albert's Participation in Affairs of State— Opening of Parliament — Vindication of Prince Albert — Offer of Marriage of Prince Napoleon to Princess Mary of Cambridge — Publication of the Queen's Speech — The Hesitation of Austria — Justification of the War — The IJlue Books — Popularit}^ of the War — Last Efforts for Peace— The Emperor Napoleon's Letter — Lord John's Reform Bill — Difficulties aris- ing—The Greeks — Objections to the Reform Bill — Postponement of the Reform Bill. Boioood, Decemler 26t7i. — I came here to-day through town, where I saw en j^^ssant Granville and Clarendon ; received a letter this morning from Graham, telling me everything was arranged and Palmerston would stay, which of course I knew long before. Clarendon thought Newcastle had managed it exceedingly well, inasmuch as by this mixture of conciliation and firmness he had got Palmerston to write and withdraw his resignation, without any condi- tions ; indeed. Clarendon considers that Palmerston has virtually acceded to all the provisions of Lord John's Bill to which he had objected. Whether his actions correspond with this idea we shall see hereafter. The letter he has written they say is "artful and cunning," but Aberdeen 1853.] LORD PALMERSTOxV RESUMES OFFICE. 105 does not appear dissatisfied with it ; and as it is a consider- able concession in bim to write any letter at all, tbey are right not to quarrel about the expressions. On the whole, I am now of opinion that Palmerston will be damaged by this proceeding. Nothing could Justify his resignation at such a crisis but a case of urgent necessity, and if he really was urged to it by such a necessity, he clearly could not be justified in recalling his resignation five or six days after- ward, finding himself exactly in the same situation as he was in before it. It seems to me that he is certainly on the horns of this dilemma, that he was either wrong in resigning or wrong in returning. I told Lord Lansdowne so, but he did not say much in rej^ly ; and I find the lan- guage of this place is all favorable to Lord Palmerston, which I presume to be from their sympathizing in his objections to Reform ; and they throw most of the blame on Aberdeen for writing to him the letter he did, in which no doubt he erred. However, they are all very glad it is made up, and justly think that the less that is said about it hereafter the better. I think now that some steps had been taken towards a reconciliation even before the Thursday when Lady Palmerston spoke to me, and the Queen knew on Thursday that the reconciliation was highly probable ; for she wrote to Lord Lansdowne that evening, and told him he need not come to Windsor on Friday, which letter he received just as he was going to set off. The Tories and the Radicals are equally puzzled, perplexed, and dis- gusted, and do not know what to say. They accordingly solace themselves with such inventions and falsehoods as it suits their several purposes to circulate. Clarendon received a letter from Cowley while I was with him, in which he said he sent him a paper tending to show that the Emperor of Russia was bent upon the destruc- tion of Turkey, and prepared to run every risk, and encounter any enemy, in the pursuit of that object. This is, I think, very likely ; and what is equally likely that, per clamna per ccedes, and with much danger and damage to himself, he will accomplish the ruin of the Turk. But all speculation must be vague and fallacious as to the results of such a war as is now beginning. January 3d, 1854. — I returned, from Bowood on Satur- day, having had no conversation whatever on politics with Lord Lansdowne — and of course I sought none. News 106 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. V. came there that the Turks had accepted the proposal of the Allied Powers to enter into a negotiation, and we are now waiting to see what the Emperor of Enssia will be dis- posed to do ; but almost everybody thinks he "will refuse to treat, and certainly he will never admit, as the preliminary condition of negotiation, that no former treaties shall be revived. The Cabinet meets to-day for the purpose, I con- clude, of resuming the consideration of the Eeform Bill. The only thing Lord Lansdowne did say to me Was, that he had had several conversations with John Eussell when he was at Bowood, and that he thought he had made an im- pression on him ; he evidently expected that Lord John would make concessions in his Bill which might satisfy, or partly so, him and Palmerston. January 5th. — I dined on Tuesday with the Chancellor, Lord Cranworth : an array of lawyers, the Chancellor of Ireland (a coarse, vulgar-looking man, with twitchings in his face). Lord Campbell, Alderson, Coleridge, and the Solicitor-General (Bethell) ; besides these Aberdeen, Gra- ham, and one or two more men. I sat next to Graham and had much talk. He said the Cabinet that morning had gone oS. easily, and he thought matters would proceed quietly now. Palmerston is quite at his ease and just as if nothing had happened, which was ex- actly like him. Graham thinks the Emperor of Eussia is de- termined on war, and will not consent to negotiate ; he said he had been as anxious as any man to maintain peace, but if we were driven to go to war, he was for waging it with the utmost vigor, and inflicting as much injury as we could on Eussia, and that we might strike very severe blows. It was commonly supposed Sevastopol was unassailable by sea, but he was not satisfied of that, as they are not in possession of sufficient information to be at all sure about it, but that he did not know what a powerful fleet with the aid of steam could not accomplish. He was inclined to believe that such a fleet might force the entrance to the place and destroy the Eussian fleets, but that it would probably cost many ships to eifect such an operation. In discussing the probability of Eussia and Turkey being brought to terms we agreed that the conditions accepted by the Turks should prove a suffi- cient basis. When I asked him whether this would not sat- isfy even Palmerston, and whether he would not be desirous of peace if it could be so brought about, he said he thought 1854.] PREPARATIONS FOR WAR. 107 not, that Palmerston's politics were always personal, and that nothing would satisfy him now but to humiliate the Emperor. Yesterday afternoon I saw Clarendon at the Foreign Office. He said the Cabinet went off smoothly enough, and Palmerston did not appear dissatisfied ; confirmed what Graham said of his easy manner — no awkwardness or re- serve. Aberdeen had written to him in answer to his letter recalling his resignation, saying he wondered he should have thought the matter of the Eeform Bill final ; and John Ens- sell, when it was all over, called on him. The alterations in the Reform Bill were principally these : to extend somewhat the disfranchisement and to give more of the seats to the counties (which was what both Lord Lansdowne and Palm- erston wished), and to reduce the county franchise from 20 to 10, taking Locke King's plan, the town franchise to be 6/., with three years' rating, as originally proposed. This is intended to admit the working classes ; as Clarendon said, i\\Q principle of the last Reform Bill having been to exclude them, and this to admit them. It seems now that Lans- downe and Palmerston will not dissent from this plan, though they do not like it. The various propositions were put to the vote seriatim in the Cabinet and carried nem. diss., so that, instead of everything having been conceded to Palmerston (as the lying newspapers proclaimed), nothing has been ; and he has, on the contrary, knocked under. Clarendon showed me the Note submitted to the Turkish Government with the proposals as the basis of negotiations, to which we have not yet received a formal answer ; but from a confused telegraphic message they think the Turks have accepted them. These terms will then have to go to St. Petersburg. But meanwhile the notification to the Em- peror of the orders to our fleets was to reach St, Petersburg this day, and Clarendon thinks it exceedingly likely this will produce an immediate declaration of war on his part. His warlike preparations are enormous, and it is said that the Church has granted him a loan of four and a half millions to defray them. I told Clarendon what Graham had said to me of Palmerston's disposition. He said he did not know, but it was not unlikely, and quite true about personal mo- tives always influencing his conduct ; and that he had always pleased himself with the reflexion that the downfall of Louis Philippe might be traced to the Montpensier marriage, which 108 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. Y. had really been the remote cause of it. G-raham had told me that "Stratford was now really anxious for peace, for he began to see the possibility of war bringing about the sub- stitution of French influences at Constantinople in place of Russian, and of the two he inflnitely preferred the latter. Clarendon confirmed this. January 6th. — All going on very amicably in the Cabi- net, and Pam and Johnny the best friends possible, cutting their jokes on each other, and Palmerston producing all his old objections to the Eeform Bill just as if it Avas discussed for the first time. From what has been settled in regard to the fleets at Constantinople I think we are running an enor- mous risk of some great catastrophe.^ It appears that Admiral Hamelin declared it was impossible to enter the' Black Sea with safety, and Baraguay d'Hilliei's agreed with him. Dundas was of the same opinion, but said he was ready to go if ordered. Stratford was not convinced of the danger as Baraguay d'Hilliers was. Before the opinion of the French Admiral could reach Paris orders were sent out for the fleets to enter, and though some discretion is left to the Admirals, tlie orders are so precise that it is extremely probable they will obey them in spite of the danger, great as it is ; for the Black Sea is so dark they can take no observations, and so deep it cannot be sounded, perpetual fogs (which make the darkness), and no harbor where the fleets can take refuge. If the fleets should meet with any serious disaster, the indig- nation aud clamor here would be prodigious, and the most violent accusations would be levelled at the Government. It would be said that they would not let the fleets go during the summer and safe seasons, when they could have done anything they pleased ; but, having allowed the Sinope affair to take place, and failed to bring about peace, they now send the fleets when they can do no good and prevent no mischief, and only expose them to damage or destruction. Broadlands, January 8th. — I came here on Friday ; no- body is here but the Flahaults and Azeglio ; I walked with 1 [On November 30 the Russian fleet from Sebastopol attacked tlie Tui-tisli squadron in the harbor of Sinope and destroyed it. It was this violent action on the part of Russia that at once decided tiie British and French Governments to occupy the Black Sea with their fleets. The Russian ships withdrew within the harbor of Sebastopol, which they never left again. I believe that Admiral Dundas aud Admiral Lyons iiroposed to enter the Black Sea at once and inter- cept the Russian vessels' before tliey could reach Sebastopol, but this proposal was overraled by the French officers, who were disinclined to act until they I'e- ceived peremptory orders from the Emperor.] 1864.] NEWSPAPER ATTACKS ON PRINCE ALBERT. 109 Palmerston yesterday and talked of the Turkish question. He thinks the Emperor will not declare war on receiving news of the orders to the fleets, but send some temporizing answer. He said that if these orders had been sent four months ago, the whole thing would have been settled, which may or not be true ; he is very confident of the success of our naval operations, and of the damage we may do to Eus- sia ; he has never alluded to Reform or anything connected with it, and is in very good humor. January Ibth. — I have never yet noticed the extraordi- nary run there has been for some weeks past against the Court, more particularly the Prince, which is now exciting general attention, and has undoubtedly produced a consider- able effect throughout the country. It began a few weeks ago in the press, particularly in the ''Daily News" and the "Morning Advertiser," but chiefly in the latter, and was immediately taken up by the Tory papers, the "Morning Herald" and the "Standard," and for some time past they have poured forth article after article, and letter after letter, full of the bitterest abuse and all sorts of lies. The " Morn- ing Advertiser" has sometimes had five or six articles on the same day all attacking and maligning Prince Albert. Many of these are very vague, but the charges against him are principally to this effect, that he has been in the habit of meddling improperly in public affairs, and has used his in- fluence to promote objects of his own and the interests of his own family at the exiaense of the interests of this country ; that he is German and not English in his sentiments and principles ; that he corresponds with foreign princes and with British Ministers abroad without the knowledge of the Government, and that he thwarts the foreign policy of the Ministers when it does not coincide with his own ideas and purposes. He is particularly accused of having exerted his influence over this Government to })revent their taking the course which they ought to have done with regard to Tur- key, and of having a strong bias toward Austria and Russia and against France. Then it is said that he is always pres- ent when the Queen receives her Ministers, which is uncon- stitutional, and that all the papers pass through his hands or under his eyes. He is accused of interfering with all the departments oi government, more particularly with the Horse Guards, and specifically with the recent transactions and disagreements in that office, which led to the retirement no REIGN OF QTTEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. V. of General Brown, the Adjutant-General. Then he and the Queen are accused of having got up an intrigue with foreign Powers, Austria particularly, for getting Palmerston out of office last year ; that she first hampered him in the Foreign Office, by insisting on seeing his despatches before he sent them off, and then that she compelled John Eussell to dis- miss him on the ground of disrespectful conduct to herself, when the real reason was condescension to the wishes of Aus- tria, with which Power the Prince had intimately connected himself. Charges of this sort, mixed up with smaller col- lateral ones, have been repeated day after day with the ut- most virulence and insolence by both the Eadical and the Tory journals. For some time they made very little impres- sion, and the Queen and Prince were not at all disturbed by them ; but the long continuance of these savage libels, and the effect which their continual refutation has evidently pro- duced throughout the country, have turned their indifference into extreme annoyance. I must say I never remember any- thing more atrocious or unjust. Delane went to Aberdeen and told him that immense mischief had been done, and that he ought to know tliat the effect produced was very great and general, and offered (if it was thought desirable) to take up the cudgels in defence of the Court. Aberdeen consulted the Prince, and they were of opinion that it was better not to put forth any defence, or rebut such charges in the press, but to wait till Parliament meets, and take an opportunity to repel the charges there. One of the papers announced that a Liberal member of Parliament intended to bring the matter forward when Parliament meets, but I do not expect he will make his appearance. At present nobody talks of anything else, and those who come up from distant parts of the country say that the subject is the universal topic of dis- cussion in country towns and on railways. It was currently reported in the Midland and Northern counties, and actually stated in a Scotch paper, that Prince Albert had been com- . mitted to the Tower, and there were people found credulous and foolish enough to believe it. It only shows how much malignity there is among the masses, which a profligate and impudent mendacity can stir up, when a plausible occasion is found for doing so, and how "the mean are gratified by insults on the high." It was only the other day that the Prince was extraordinarily popular, and received wherever he went Avith the strongest demonstration of public favor. 1854.] VACILLATION OF THE FREJ^CH. HI and now it would not be safe for him to present himself any- where in public, and very serious apprehensions are felt lest the Queen and he should be insulted as they go to open Par- liament a fortnight hence. In my long experience I never remember anything like the virulence and profligacy of the press for the last six months, and I rejoice that Parliament is going to meet and fair discussion begin, for nothing else can in the slightest degree check it, and this, it may be hoped, will. January IGtIi. — The attacks on the Prince go on with redoubled violence, and the most absurd lies are put forth and readily believed. It is very difficult to know what to do, but the best thing will be a discussion in the House of Commons — if possible, in both Houses. It is now said that Sir Eobert Peel is going to raise one. Clarendon told me yesterday that he should not be surprised if the Emperor of Russia were to recall Brunnow and not Kisselcff, as he is more particularly incensed against England, knowing very well that we have acted consistently and in a straightforward direction throughout, while the French have been continu- ally vacillating, and have kept up a sort of coquetry with him ; for example, Castelbajac congratulated the Emperor on the Sinojje affair, and said he did so as a Minister, a soldier, and a Christian. A pretty Government to depend on, and which our stupid and ignorant press is lauding to the skies for its admirable and chivalrous conduct as com- pared to ours ! January ^ist. — For some days past the Tory papers have relaxed their violence against the Court, while the Radical ones, especially the *' Morning Advertiser," have redoubled their attacks, and not a day passes without some furious article, and very often five or six articles and letters, all in the same strain. It is not to be denied or concealed that these abominable libels have been greedily swallowed all over the country and a strong impression produced. The press has been infamous, and I have little doubt that there is plenty of libellous matter to be found in some of the articles, if it should be deemed advisable for the Attorney- General to take it up. There can be little doubt that the Tory leaders got alarmed and annoyed at the lengths to which their papers were proceeding, and have taken measures to stop them. The Radical papers nothing can stop, because they find their account in the libels ; the sale 112 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. V. of the ''Advertiser" is enormously increased since it has begun this coarse, and, finding perfect immunity, it increases every day in audacity and virulence. One of the grounds of attack (in the "Morning Herald" and ''Standard" princi- j)ally) has been the illegality of the Prince being a Privy Councillor. In reply to this I wrote a letter (in my own name) showing what the law and practice are, but incautious- ly said the argument had been advanced by a member of the Carlton Club, whereas it was in fact a member of the Con- servative, and I had imagined the two Clubs were the same. This mistake drew down on me various letters, attacking and abusing me, and for several days the "Morning Herald " has been full of coarse and stupid invectives against me, supplied by correspondents, who, from the details in their letters, must be persons with whom I live in great social intimacy. They are, however, of a very harmless description, and too dull to be effective. January 25th. — I wrote a letter in the " Times" (signed Juvenal), showing up the lies of the " Morning Advertiser," and how utterly unworthy of credit such a paper is. I find Palmerston and Aberdeen have come to an understanding as to what shall be said in the way of explanation, which is a good thing. It is not to be much, and they will tell the same story. One faint ray of hope for peace has dawned. The Emperor on receiving our Note has not recalled Brunnow, but ordered him to ask for explanations, and he is only to withdraw if the answer is of a certain tenor. Clarendon told him he could not give him an answer at the moment, and Seymour had said in the P. S. to his last despatch, "For God's sake don't give Brunnow any answer for three days." It is clearly one of two things — the Emperor meditates making peace, or he wants to gain time. The fact is, he has got the ansiver, for our instructions to the Admirals (which were communicated to him) explain our intentions. In a few days more we must receive his reply to the j)acific overture. January 2Wi. — Brunnow has not received his answer, but is to have it on Tuesday, when I imagine he will announce his departure. Kisseleif has not had his either, and there is some disagreement as to the answers betv/een us and the French Government. Clarendon has sent to Paris the answer he proposes to give, but the French wish not to give Kisseleff any answer at all, nor even to tell him what it 1854.] COUNT ORLOFF'S MISSION TO VIENNA. 113 is, but to send their answer through their Ambassador at Petersburg, to which Clarendon strenuously objects. This is only for the purpose of delay, the Emjseror Napoleon being so reluctant to go to war, and anxious to put off the evil day as long as he can. It is not wonderful, for the accounts of the distress in France, the stagnation of trade, and the financial embarrassments, and the consequent alarm that prevails as well as suffering, make it very natural that the Government should shrink from plunging into a war the duration of which is doubtful, but the expense certain. Colloredo told me the other day that he thought Orloff's mission to Vienna afforded a good prospect of peace, because ho was sure Orloff would not have accepted the mission unless he had really expected to bring it to a successful issue, but Clarendon told me last night that Orloff is only empowered to propose the same conditions which the Em- ])eror originally insisted on, and that his real object is to detach Austria and Prussia from the alliance, by any means he can and by offering them any terms they please. The attacks on the Prince are subsiding, except from the "Morning Advertiser," which goes doggedly on in spite of its lies being exposed. John Russell told me the other day that soon after the Queen's marriage she asked Melbourne whether the Prince ought to see all the papers and know everything. Melbourne consulted him about it, and he thinks that he consulted the Cabinet, but is not quite sure of this. However, Melbourne and Lord John (and the whole Cabinet if he did consult them) agreed that it was quite proper she should show him and tell him everything, and that was the beginning of his being mixed up in public affairs. Why he did not then begin to be j)resent at her in- terviews with her Ministers I do not know, but that practice began when Peel came in, and Lord John said he found it established when he came back, and he saw no objection to it. He told me last night that the Queen had talked to him about the present clamor, which of course annoyed her, and she said, if she had had the Prince to talk to and employ in explaining matters at the time of the Bedchamber quarrel with Peel, that affair would not have happened. Lord John said he thought she must have been advised by somebody to act as she did, to which she replied with great candor and naivete, "No, it was entirely my own foolishness." This is the first time I have heard of her acknowledfirinff that it was 114 REIGN OF QTJEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. V. "foolishness," and is an avowal creditable to her sense. Lord John said, when Lord Spencer was consulted on the matter he replied, "It is a bad ground for a Whig Govern- ment to stand on, but as gentlemen you can't do otherwise." February \d. — Parliament met yesterday, a greater crowd than usual to see the procession. The Queen and Prince were very well received, as well as usual, if not better ; but all the enthusiasm was bestowed on the Turkish Minister, the mob showing their sympathy in his cause by vociferous cheering the whole way. The night went off capitally for the Government in both Houses, In the Lords Derby made a slashing speech, but very imprudent, and played into Aber- deen's hands, who availed himself thereof very well, and made a very good answer, which is better to read than it was to hear. Derby afforded him a good oj^portunity of vindi- cating the Prince, which he did very effectively, and then Derby followed him and joined in the vindication, but he clumsily allowed Aberdeen to take the initiative. Clarendon answered Clanricarde, who was hostile, but not very bitter ; the former showed how much he suffers from want of prac- tice and facility. I thought he would have failed in the middle, but he recovered himself and went on. Derby was put into a great rage by Aberdeen's speech, and could not resist attacking me (whom he saw behind the Throne). He attacked my letter (signed C), in which I had pitched into the Tories for their attacks on the Prince. I saw his people turn round and look toward me, but I did not care a fig, and was rather pleased to see how what I wrote had galled them, and struck home. In the Commons the Government was still more triumphant. The Opposition were disorganized and feeble ; all who spoke on that side took different views, and very little was said. John Kussell made a very good speech, and took the bull by the horns about the Prince, en- tered at once on the subject, and delivered an energetic vin- dication of and eulogium on him in his best style. It was excellent, and between his speech and Aberdeen's and all those who chimed in, that abomination may be considered to be destroyed altogether, and we shall probably hear no more of it. This evening told me a secret that surprised me much. I asked him casually if he knew for what purpose Prince Napoleon was gone to Brussels, when he told me that he was gone to try and get King Leopold to use his influence 1854.] OFFER OF MARRIAGE TO PRINCESS MARY. 115 here to bring about his marriage with the Princess Mary, the Duke of Cambridge's sister ; that for a long time past Palm- erstoii had been strongly urging this match with the Queen, and had written heaps of letters to press it, having been in constant communication about it with Walewski and the Emperor himself. They had made such a point of it that the Queen had thought herself obliged to consult the Prin- cess Mary herself about it, who would not listen to it. The neo'otiator did not make the proposal, more palateablc, and he did not recommend himself the more, by suggesting that such a match was very preferable to any little German prince. It is incredible that he siiould have mixed himself in an affair that he could hardly fail to know must be very dis- agreeable to the Qaeen, besides that the Princess is not likely to sacrifice her country and her position for such a specula- tion, so hazardous and uncertain at best, and involving im- mediate obligations and necessities at which her pride could not fail to revolt. February 2d. — The above story, put together with some other things, leads to strange conjectures about Palmerston, which seem to justify the suspicions and convictions of the Court and others about him. I have before alluded to his intimate connection with Walewski, and the notorious favor with which he is regarded by the Emperor, Avho considers him as his great appui here. Before proceeding I must, however, refer to another mat- ter, which seems to have no connection with it. There is always great anxiety on the part of the press to get the Queen's Speech, so as to give a sketch of it the morning of the day when it is made, and those who do not get it are very jealous of those who do. There has been great bother about it on some former occasions, once particularly, because one of the Derbyites gave it to their paper, the *' Morning Her- ald," it having been communicated in strict confidence, and according to recent custom, to the leaders of the party. The other day Aberdeen refused to give it even to the ''Times," and of course to any other paper, and he begged Palmerston not to send it to the '* Morning Post," which is notoriously his paper. Nevertheless, the Speech appeared in the '• Times," and what seemed more extraordinary, in the "Morning Ad- vertiser," the paper which has been the fiercest opponent of the Government, and the most persevering and virulent of the assailants of the Prince. How these papers got the 116 REIGX OF QUEEN VICTOEIA. [Chap. V. Speech nobody knows, but as there were four dinners, at which at least a hundred men must have been present, it is easy to imagine that some one of these may have communi- cated it. Delane has friends in all parties, and he told me that he had no less than three offers of it, and therefore he had no difficulty. But how did the "Morning Advertiser" come by it ? It is politically opposed to both the Ministry and the Derbyites ; but it must have got the Speech from some person of one or the other party, with whom it has some community of interest or object. The run upon the Prince was carried on equally by the " Morning Herald " and the " Morning Advertiser" till within ten days of the meet- ing of Parliament, when the former was stopped ; the latter never ceased. I have heard it surmised more than once that these attacks proceeded from Paris, and were paid for by the Emperor Louis Napoleon, but I never could believe it. The other day I met M. Alexandre Thomas at dinner at Marble Hill, and we came to town together. He told me he had no doubt the abuse of the Prince was the work of the Emperor, and paid for by him. It did not make much impression on me at the moment; but now, putting all these things together, I cannot help partaking in the opinion that the whole thing has been got up, managed, and paid for by Louis Napoleon, Walewski, and another person here. Brunnow received his answer yesterday, with many civili- ties and regrets, de part et d' mitre. Orloff as we hear has failed in his mission to cajole the Austrian Government, but non constat that Austria will act a firm part against Russia. If she would only announce her intention to do so, the mat- ter would probably be settled ; for Eussia would, as we be- lieve, certainly come to terms, if she was sure of Austria acting against her, so that, in fact, Austria holds the decis- ion in her own hands, and the greatest service she can do to Eussia herself would be to compel her to surrender, as she may still do with an appearance of credit and dignity. February 9t7i. — Nobody now thinks of anything but of the coming war and its vigorous prosecution. The national blood is uj:), and those who most earnestly deprecated war are all for hitting as hard as we can now that it is forced upon us. The publication of the Blue Books has relieved the Government from a vast amount of prejudice and sus- picion. The public judgment of their management of the Eastern Question is generally very favorable, and impartial 1854.] PUBLICATION OF OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. II7 people applaud their persevering efforts to avert war. and are satisfied that everything was done that the national honor or dignity required. I have read through the thick volumes, and am satisfied that there is on the whole no case to be made against the Government, though there are some things that might perhaps have been better done ; but what is there of any sort, or at any time, of which as much may not be said when Ave have been made wiser by experience and events ? These Books are very creditable in the great ability they display. As Lord Ellenborough said in the House of Lords, the case had been most ably conducted, both by Government and its agents. Clarendon's despatches are exceedingly good, and in one respect greatly superior to Palmerston's when he was at the Foreign Office : they are very measured and dignified, and he never descends to the scolding, and the taunts, and sarcasms in which the other delighted. Pa^merston always wrote as if his object was to gain a victory in a war of words, and have the best of an argument ; Clarendon, on the contrary, kec})s steadily in view a great political object, and never says a word but with a view to attain it, Stratford's despatches are very able, and very well written, but they leave the impression (which we know to be the truth), that he has said and done a great deal more than we are informed of ; that he is the real cause of this war, and that he might have prevented it, if he had chosen to do so, I have no doubt whatever. His letters have evidently been studiously composed with reference to the Blue Book, and that he may appear in a popular light. I find he has been all the time in correspondence with Palm- erston, who, we may be sure, has incited him to fan the flame, and encourage the Turks to push matters to extremi- ties. I should like to know what Palmerston would have said, when he was at the Foreign Office, if one of his col- leagues had corresponded with any one of his Ministers abroad, in a sense differing from that in which he himself instructed him. The wonderful thing is the impunity which he continues to enjoy, and how, daring and unscrupulous as he is, and determined to have his own way, he constantly escapes detection and exposure. The good case which the Government has put forward, and the approach of war, have apparently extinguished or suspended all opposition, and the Session, which everybody expected to be so stormy and dangerous, bids fair to be as easy as possible. Great 118 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. V. difference of opinion exists as to the wisdom of committing our Baltic fleet to Charles Napier. It was, however, de- cided at the Cabinet yesterday that he should have it,^ and we have got a very powerful squadron ready. The war is certainly very popular, but I don't think its popularity will last long when we begin to pay for it, unless we are encour- aged and compensated for our sacrifices by some very flatter- ing successes. February 15th. — Several days ago there was a short dis- cussion in the House of Lords, in which the Government did not cut a good figure. Aberdeen made a declaration in favor of peace, saying "war was not inevitable," which pro- duced an explosion against him, and it was so imprudent in Mm, and so calculated to mislead, that Clarendon insisted on his rising again and saying that no negotiations were going on, threatening to do so himself if Aberdeen did not. He complied, but the whole thing produced a bad effect, al- though there are no negotiations to which we are a party. Austria is making a new attempt with the Emperor, to which she was encouraged by Orloff before he went. We are satisfied with the conduct of Austria, but though she has rejected the Russian overtures, she will not engage to join us against Eussia in certain contingencies. If she would do this, it would most probably settle the affair, and make tlie Emperor agree to reasonable terms. This morning appears in all the newspapers the auto- graph letter of the Emperor Napoleon to the Emperor Nicholas, which has been so much talked of. If the Em- peror of Eussia at once closes with it, he will place us in a great dilemma, but it may produce peace. On Sunday Clarendon told me all about this letter. The Emperor took it into his head to write it, and sent a copy here for the approval of our Grovernment. Clarendon made many objections, particularly to the suggestion of a simul- taneous withdrawal of the Eussian troops and the allied fleets, and to the separate negotiation of Turkey, two points we had all along laid great stress upon. Walewski returned the letter with the objections raised by us, and soon after informed Clarendon that the letter had been altered accord- ing to our suggestions, and the objectionable parts omitted ; 1 [There was a question of appointing Lord Dundonald, a far abler man; but he was seventy-nine, and besides he made it a condition that he should be alloT^ed to destroy Cronstadt by some chemical process of his own invention.] 1854.] LOUD JOHN'S REFORM BILL. 119 but he did not bring him the amended letter. Clarendon wrote to Cowley, and said what had passed, and that he was glad the alterations had been made, but was sur- prised the letter, as altered, had not been shown to him. Cowley told Drouyn de Lhuys, who said they had sent the letter to Walewski, and he could not think why Clarendon had not seen it, and he wrote to Walewski desiring him to take it to Clarendon. He did so, when, much to his annoy- ance as well as surprise, he found that they had only made a few verbal alterations, and left the really objectionable parts nearly the same as before. This may put us in a very awk- ward position. If the Emperor Nicholas agrees, we must either agree also to what we entirely disapprove, or disavow the French, and perhaps separate from them ; and it will be very embarrassing if the Government are asked in Parlia- ment whether they were a i)arty to this letter and its pro- posals. Clarendon told me this was only one of many instances in which the conduct of the French had been very louche and insincere. He thinks this more attributable to Drouyn than to his master, and Walewski has behaved with great loyalty and straightforwardness ; but hardly a week had passed that he has not had to complain of something done by the French Government in a separate or clandestine manner, or of some proposal which they ought not to make, ans this makes one of the difficulties of the position of which nobody is aware — a fine prospect to be married to such a people on a great question ; but what can be expected from the Government of such a Sovereign and such Ministers ? It confirms my long settled opinion, that we are always in ex- treme danger of being thrown over by them. With regard to the whole question (and omitting these details) the Emperor Napoleon has behaved well enough to us ; for he has adhered steadily to the joint policy, though it is his interest to maintain peace, and public opinion in France runs as strongly that way as hero it runs in the opposite direction. The day before yesterday John Eussell introduced his Eeform Bill, having resisted the most urgent representations and entreaties to postpone it. His speech was very tame, and nothing could be more cold than its reception. The few remarks that were made were almost all against it, or par- ticular parts of it, and it has excited no enthusiasm in any quarter. The prevailing impression is that it will not pass 120 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. V. if it is persisted in. If any Eeform Bill were to be proposed at all, this does not seem to be a very bad measure, and some points in it are good ; but nobody wanted any measure, and the few Eadicals who do, do not care for the particular measures Lord John proposes, and ask for other things which he will not hear of, so that he offends and alarms the Conservatives without conciliating the Liberals, and he dis- gusts and provokes his own adherents by his refusal to defer his Bill. Palmerston and his clique are sure to abuse it, and to employ all the underhand means they can to stir uj) oppo- sition to it. February 20fh. — John Russell answered the questions put in the House of Commons about the Emperor Napoleon's letter very dexterously, telling the truth, but in a way not offensive to the Emperor. He also made an excellent speech on the debate on the Blue Books, brought on by Layard in a bitter speech very personal against Clarendon. The House of Commons as well as the country are so exces- sively warlike that they are ready to give any number of men and any amount of money, and seem only afraid the Government may not ask enough. I expect we shall have had quite enough of it before we have done with this ques- tion, and that our successes and the effect produced on Eussia will not be commensurate with the prevailing ardor and expectation here. The most serious of all difficulties seems to be rapidly coming, the insurrection of the Greek population ; and this is a matter which has already caused a good deal of difference of opinion and debate in the Cabinet, one half wanting to assist in putting down the Greeks, the other half opposing this scheme. The danger of attacking the Greeks is, that we should thereby throw them at once into the arms of Eussia, whereas the true policy is to persuade them if possible to be quiet, and induce them to look up to us for protection and future support. It is an element in the question of great importance, and very difficult to deal with. It is disgusting to hear everybody and to see all writers vying with each other in laudation of Stratford Canning, who has been the principal cause of the war. They all think that, if he had been sincere in his desire for peace, and for an accommodation with Eussia, he might have accomplished it, but on the contrary he was bent on bringing on war. He said as much to Lord Bath, who was at Constantinople. Lord Bath told him he had witnessed the fleets sailing into 1854.] LOED CLARENDON'S SrEECH. 121 the Black Sea, when he replied, " You have brought some good news, for that is tuar. The Emperor of Russia chose to make it a personal quarrel Avith me, and now I am revenged." This Lord Bath wrote to Lady Ashburton, who told Claren- don. I asked Jolm Eussell yesterday why he sent Stratford back to Constantinople. He said when he sent him the quarrel was between France and Eussia, and only about the Holy Places ; they knew nothing there of MenschikoU's de- mands, and nobody was so qualified as Stratford to assist in settling the original affairs. Fehriiary 25ih. — Last night Clarendon made a capital speech in the House of Lords, far superior to any he ever made before, and the best that has yet been made in defence of tlie Ministerial policy. He has got on wonderfully since the Session began, each of his speeches being much better than the preceding one, till at last he has made one of very great merit and power, as all admit. ' It was spirited, digni- fied and discreet. I began to fear he would never get over the misfortune of his want of early practice, and never excel as a speaker ; but this speech was so good, that I now hope he will, having acquired confidence and facility, speak up to the level of his ability. The rage for this war gets every day more vehement, and nobody seems to fear anything, but that we may not spend money and men enough in waging it. The few sober people who have courage enough to hint at its being impolitic and uncalled for are almost hooted down, and their warnings and scruples are treated with indignation and contempt. It does now appear as if Austria had made up her mind to act with us, and tliat we may depend upon her. The French made known to the Austrian Government some time ago that, in the alternative of her taking a hostile part, she must expect to be attacked in Italy, and Clarendon early in the business pointed out to Colloredo all the serious consequences his Government had to apprehend in all parts of her dominions if she abetted Eussia. With a war so popular, and supported cordially by Parliament, and a flour- ishing revenue and trade, Government would look round on a cloudless horizon, if it were not for the Eeform Bill, which is a matter replete with uncertainty, difficulty, and danger. Nobody has an idea whether it will be carried in the House of Commons ; almost all the friends of Govern- ment want Lord John to withdraw it, and the Cabinet is divided on the subject. Lord John, Graham, and Aberdeen 6 122 KEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. V. being strongly in favor of pressing it on at all hazards^ Palm- erston yiolently against. He has now reproduced all his own. objections and arguments against the Bill itself, as well as against forcing it on now, quite justified in the latter, but unjustifiable in the former course. Having once knocked under, and come back to office, consenting to swallow it, however reluctantly, it is too late to cavil at the Bill itself ; but he may consistently and properly unite his voice with the voices of all prudent and moderate men, and strenuously resist its being persevered in at this moment against a feel- ing and opinion which are all but universal. On the whole, I rather expect (but with much doubt) that Lord John will yield to the general sentiment, and consent to postpone it. February %ltli. — We are on the very verge of a Minis- terial crisis. John Eussell will listen to no reason about his Reform Bill, he insists on going on with it, and will have it that his honor and character demand that he should, and he says, " When the honor of public men is preserved, the country is safe." Clarendon dined here yesterday, and told me he thought Lord John would break up the Government. It is, in fact, a political duel between Lord John and Palmer- ston. thinks, and probably he is right, that at the last moment Palmerston will give way, but in the meantime he himself and all his followers and admirers are moving heaven and earth to defeat the measure, and to set up opposition to it — none more active than Hayter, Secretary to the Treasury, whose borough is one of those to be disfranchised. Every- body thinks Sir Edward Denny's motion will be carried, and if it is that Lord John will retire. If it were not for the difficulty about leading the House of Commons, this would not signify. I do not see how any arrangement is j)0ssible but that Palmerston should take the lead, but I do not know if this will not lead to other resignations. Clarendon is in- dignant at the state of things brought about by Lord John's obstinacy. He told me that Graham supported Lord John vehemently, but that Aberdeen took no strong part, and had behaved very well. Having accepted Lord John's Eeform measure, and pledged himself to it, he was ready still to abide by that pledge. There never was such a mess as it all is. Clarendon is now very hot on this war, which he fancies is to produce great and uncontemplated effects. He says for very many years past Russia has been the great incubus on European improvement, and the real cause of half the ca- 1854.] THE REFORM BILL POSTPONED. 123 lamities that have afflicted the world, and he thinks a great opportunity now presents itself of extinguishing her per- nicious influence, and by liberating other countries from it, the march of improY(?ment and better government will of necessity be developed and accelerated, and in this way civ- ilization itself may be the gainer by this contest. The Em- peror Napoleon has earnestly pressed that our contingent should be put under tiie command of the French Marshal, to which we have altogether objected, and he has acquiesced, though reluctantly. We have agreed on a sort of mezzo ter- mine, viz. that, in the event of a battle in which both forces are engaged, they should be under one Commander-in-Chief, who must be the Frenchman. Clarendon lamented that he had got no better Minister at Vienna than Westmorland just now, who though well meaning is nearly useless, as Colloredo is here, who will take nothing on himself. He says Castel- bajac at St. Petersburg has really not represented the French Government at all, nor acted in any way in conjunction with Seymour, but been all along a base courtier of the Emperor Nicholas. Clarendon has again and again remonstrated through Cowley with Drouyn de Lhuys on this inconsist- ency, and Drouyn has always replied that he is quite aware of it, and has been at least as much annoyed at it as we could be, but that the Emperor would never allow him to be recalled. I asked Clarendon whether, now tliat war really was inevitable, Aberdeen was more reconciled to it, and he said not at all ; he yielded to the necessity, but very sulkily, and in the discussions relating to it in the Cabinet he took no part, and evinced a total indifference, or ratlier disgust. However, he expressed great admiration of Clarendon's speech, which he said was the best he ever heard. Lord John has sent to his brother to come to town, telling him a crisis is at hand. Granville, who is all with Lord John, personally and politically a Reformer, and highly approving of this Bill, is going to him to-day to see if he can prevail on him to give way to the general opinion, and at all events to put him in possession of what is said and thought on the subject. March GtJi. — After a great struggle John Russell was persuaded to put off his Reform Bill, but only till the end of April, so that in a few weeks the same embarrassment will begin again. The satisfaction at its being deferred at all is great and general, and everybody thinks that some 124 REIGN OF QUEEX VICTORIA. [Chap. V. expedient will be devised for putting it off again, when the time comes, and so that we shall be rid of it for this year. All the Cabinet was for putting it off, except Graham and Aberdeen. The former has devoted himself to Lord John, and goes heart and soul with him. Why Aberdeen took that view I cannot imagine, unless he wished to bring about a crisis, and to make his escape by favor of it. My own opinion at present is, that on April 27 Lord John will insist on bringing it on, and abide the consequences. The tenor of his speech, and still more that of Aberdeen, the same night, lead me to that conclusion. The Eadicals with old Hume at the head of them, ap])roved of the course Lord John took, but expressly with the understanding that he really meant and would bring it on at the period to which it was postponed ; and as he is sure to be incessantly urged on by his entourage to be firm when the time comes, and he will be very reluctant to encounter the indignation and re- proaches of his reforming friends and adherents, the chances seem to me to be in favor of the battle taking place. I think his speech on putting it off was not at all good, nor what he ought to have said. He laid himself open to an attack from Disraeli, which was very just, and he could not answer it. It was quite absurd to ground the postponement on the war and its exigencies, and it was moreover not the real and true reason. He put it off because he was impor- tuned by everybody to do so, because Hayter proved to him that he would infallibly be defeated, and because there was no other way of preventing a break-up of the Government. He might have anticipated Disraeli's philippic by reverting to what he had before said, repeating his own conviction that the war afforded no reason for not going on with the Bill ; but that he found so many of his own friends and such a general concurrence of feeling in the House of Commons on the other side, added to great indifference in the country, that he had thought it right to defer to those o]iinions, and give up his own to them. Such a defence of his conduct as this would have been more effective and more consistent with the truth, but it would have involved something like an acknowledgement of error, from which it is probable that his pride and obstinacy revolted, so he made what I think was a very bad speech. If he does bring it on again in April, I expect he will be defeated, and then retire. In any case his retirement will lead to Palmerston's elevation, as 1S54] DINNER TO SIR CHARLES NAPIER. 125 leader of the House of Commons if Lord John goes alone, as Prime Minister if Graham and Aberdeen go with him, and there seems no alternative, unless Lansdowne can be induced to replace Aberdeen, which some think not impossible, though it would only be for a short time. CIIAPTEE VI. Dinner to Sir Charles Napier— A Ministerial Indiscretion— Doubts as to the Iteform Bill— Discontent of Lord John Eussell— The Secret Correspondence with Kussia— War de- clared—Weakness of the GovernmeDt — Mr. Greville disapproves the War — Divisions in the Cabinet— Withdrawal of the Eeform Bill— Blunder of the Government— The Fast Day Licenses to trade in War— Death of the Marquis of Anjilesey— Mr. Glad- stone's Kinaiicial Failures — Dissolution of Parties— Mr. Gladstone's Budfjet — Lord Cowley's Opinion of the Emjjeror's I'osition — The House of Commons supjtnrts the War— Disraeli attacks Lord .John Russell — A Change of Plans— Lord John liussoll'a Mismanagement — Attacks on Lord Aberdeen — Popularity of the War — (iovornment Majority in the Lords — Attitude of the German I'owers — A Meetiug of the Liberal Party — .\n Appointment cancelled — E.\pedition to the Crimea — Knglish and French Policy united in Spain — Close of the Session The Character of Lord Aberdeen's Gov- ernment — Effect of the Quarrel with Kussia— Lord Palme rston's Kesgnation— Way- wardness ot the House of Commons. London, March \Wi, 1854. — The only event of recent occurrence was the dinner given last week to Sir Charles Napier at the Eeform Club, with Lord Palmerston in the chair. Everybody disapproves of the whole proceeding, which is thought to have been unwise and in bad taste. The only Ministers there besides Palmerston were Graham and Molesworth, and tlie former made an excessively foolish, indiscreet speech, which has been generally censured, and to-night he is to be called to account for it in the House of Commons. It is marvellous that a man of mature age, who has been nearly forty years in public life, should be so rash and ill-judged in his speeches.^ There seems now to be a better chance of John Russell's again putting off his Eeform Bill next month. There are not two opinions, except among the extreme Eadicals, of the expediency of his doing so, and his best friends (including his brother) greatly regret > [At this dinner .it the Reform Club, Sir James Graham made an interaper- flte speech in which he said: "My trallant friend (Napiert says that wlien ho goes into the Baltic he will declare war. I, as First Lord of the Admiralty, give my free consent to do so. I hope the war may be shorty and that it may be sharp." Sir Charles Napier's subsequent peribrmances m the Baltic did not at all correspond to this heroic language, and did not add to bis former reputa- tion.] 126 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VI. that lie did not put it off si7i6 die instead of to another fixed day. March 20th. — There has been a little episode, not very important, hut which being entirely personal caused some noise in the world. About a week ago, or perhaps more, appeared the Petersburg " Gazette " with a sort of manifesto, complaining bitterly of the conduct of the British Govern- ment, which was said to be the more inexcusable as a con- fidential correspondence had taken place between the two Governments, and we had been all along informed of their views and intentions. The " Times " published this (as did all the other papers), and with it a peremptory denial of its truth, stating that John Eussell, then Foreign Secretary, had sent an indignant refusal to the proposals made to us. Derby took this up in the House of Lords, complaining of State" secrets having been imparted to the " Times," and in- sinuating his belief that Aberdeen had communicated them. Aberdeen denied the imputation with some resentment, and said that a flagrant breach of confidence had been certainly committed, and he had reason to believe that the culprit was a man formerly in the Foreign Office as clerk, though now out of it, who had been appointed by Lord Malmesbury. On this Malmesbury flared up, and desired to know his name, which Aberdeen said he did not know. On a subsequent night Malmesbury again took the matter up, and challenged Aberdeen to give the name and produce his proof. Aberdeen said he had received the information in a way which left no donbt on his mind of its truth, and he was willing to leave the matter to the gentleman himself, and if he denied it, he would acknowledge that he was mistaken and had been mis- informed. By this time everybody was aw^are that a young man of the name of Astley was the accused party. He wrote a letter to Malmesbury denying the charge, but his letter was not very distinct. However, Malmesbury read it in the House, and called on Aberdeen to retract the charge, which he immediately and completely did, and there the matter ended ; but though the man is thus acquitted, and the Opposition papers abuse Aberdeen (who in fact was very im- prudent to mention it), there seems no doubt that he really did babble about this matter, though it is very certain it was not from him the "Times " got its information.^ The story 1 [The indiscretion, sncli as it Tvas, appears to have been that of Lord Aber- deen himself, and Lord Malmesbury CLUoted with a good deal of wit and apropos^ 1854.] LORD JOHN RUSSELL'S REFORM BILL. lo^ told is this : Astlcy talked of the correspondencG to some person in a railway carriage. That person told it to Lady Ashburton, who repeated it to Clarendon. When thus talked of, it might easily get to the "Times;" and the only wonder is, it did not get into manj- other papers be- sides. Lord John Rnssell continnes in a very per])lexed and un- certain state about his Eeform Bill, and hesitates whether to bring it on or not next month. On one hand he is urged to do so by his little knot of domestic adherents, by Graham vehemently, and to a certain degree by Aberdeen ; on the other he is entreated and argued with by all the rest of his colleagues, by his brother, by Hayter, and by an immense majority of his political friends and supporters. Still he hesitates. He has got a notion, and others tell him so, that his character is concerned in bringing it on, and that he is bound to risk everything to maintain it. Graham is rpiite inconceivable ; always rash at one moment and coAvardly at another, he is now, and on this question, in his rashest mood, and he has persuaded himself, and tries to persuade Lord John, that if he perseveres and is beaten (which he cannot disguise from himself is probable, if not certain) he will only have to go out in order to return in triumph as Prime Min- ister. If a dissolution is proposed, and the Cabinet consent to it, he fancies a new Parliament will give him everything ; if the Cabinet will not dissolve, Lord John, Graham and Aberdeen would retire, the Government be broken up, and Lord John would have Parliament and the country with him in forming another. All this I believe to be pure delusion. By persisting in his course he may, and probably would, break up the Government, but he would destroy himself, he would never be forgiven Ijy his party or by the country at large for breaking up the Government at such a moment as this, and all his visions of success and jiower would soon bo dispersed. Whatever else might happen, he would be ex- cluded from office, probably forever. His discontent with his present position the more inclines him to take this haz- ardous stop, because he wants a change of some sort. The Duke of Bedford came to me the other day to tell me Lord John was determined no longer to go on as he now is, and it seems that he is moved principally by pecuniary in the House of Lords, Sancho Panza's saying, " that a cask may leak at the top as well as at the bottom."] 128 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VI. considerations.^ He is poor and has a large family. While he is in office he is obliged to incur expenses by giving din- ners and parties, and this additional expense is defrayed by the Duke, but in a very unsatisfactory way. Lord John sends him a sort of estimate or account of his extra expenses, and the Duke pays the money. It is not surprising that Lord John dislikes such assistance as this, and though he never complains, he is probably mortified and provoked that his brother does not once for all give him a sum of money or a large annuity. Everybody else is amazed that he does not do this ; but though he is much attached to Lord John, ad- mires and is proud of him, his love of money is so great that he cannot bring himself, even for his brother, to do a generous thing on a great scale. His colossal fortune, which goes on increasing every day, and for which he has no use, might well be employed in making his brother easy, and in buying golden opinions for himself ; but the passion of ava- rice and the pleasure of accumulation outweigh all such con- siderations, and he falls in readily with Lord John's notion of taking an office for the sake of its emoluments. The present idea is to have this matter settled before Easter, to turn out Mr. Strutt from the Duchy of Lancaster, and put Lord John in the place with an increased salary during his occupation of it. Nothing, however, is settled about it yet. The publication of the secret correspondence with Eus- sia has excited great interest, and does great credit to the Government, but it increases the public indignation against the Emperor, because it exposes the extreme duplicity of his conduct ; and as he must have been aware that such would be the inevitable result of publicity, it is difficult to conceive what induced him to provoke it, unless Walewski's conjecture is the true one. He thinks that the Emperor thought it would make bad blood between us and France, fancying that we had not imparted the correspondence to the French Government, in which he was mistaken, as we had done so. March 29th. — The die is cast, and war was declared yes- terday. We are already beginning to taste the fruits of it. Every species of security has rapidly gone down, and every- body's property in stocks, shares, etc., is depreciated already from twenty to thirty per cent. I predict confidently that, 1 [Lord John at this time had a seat in the Cabinet and led the House of Commons without any ofB.ce in the Ministry and without any salary.] 1854.] WAR IS DECLARED. log before many months arc over, people will be as heartily sick of it as they are now hot upon it. Nobody knows where our fleets and armies are going, nor what they mean to attempt, and we are profoundly ignorant of the resources and power of Enssia to wage war against us. As the time for action approaches, Austria and Prussia grow more reluc- tant to engage in it. The latter has proclaimed her neutral- ity, and unless some events should make a change in her policy, I do not believe the former will ever be induced to act with us and against Eussia. The Government here are in a very weak unsatisfactory state. They are supported in carrying on war, but in every other respect they are k'eated with great indifference, and appear to have very little authority or influence either in Parliament or in the country. Nobody seems to have risen in estimation, except perhaps Clarendon, who has done his work well and got credit for it. Palmerston and Graham have positively dis- graced themselves by their dinner to Napier, and the foolish speeches they made both there and in the House of Commons afterward. I do not know what Palmerston's popularity might turn out to be if it should be tested by some change which brought him forward, but he certainly has greatly lost ground this year by his whole conduct from his I'esignation down to this time. Gladstone, the great card of the pack, has forfeited by the failure of his financial schemes a good deal of the credit he had obtained. John Eussell has of- fended everybody by his obstinacy about his ill-timed Eeform Bill, so that the Government docs not stand very high, and is only strong in the weakness of all other parties. They are constantly beaten on small matters in the House of Com- mons, which produces a bad effect. Uid to this moment nobody knows what John Eussell means to do about the Eeform Bill ; if he puts it off again, he ought to do so to- morrow, when the discussion will take jilace about the de- claration of war. April 2d. — The debates in both Houses were marked by great bitterness on the part of the Opposition, by Derby in one House, and by Disraeli and Layard in the other. The war fever is still sufficiently raging to make it impossible for any man who denounces the war itself to obtain a pa- tient hearing. Nobody ventures to cry out against it but Bright in the House of Commons, and Grey in the House of Lords, but already I see symptoms of disquietude and alarm. 130 REIGN OF QUEEX VICTORIA. [Chap. VL Some of those who were most warlike begin to look grave, and to be more alive to the risks, difficulties, and probably dangers of such a contest. I can not read the remonstrances and Avarnings of Bright without going very much along with him ; and the more I reflect on the nature of the contest, its object, and the degree to which we are committed in it, the more uneasy I feel about it, and the more lively my appre- hensions are of our finding ourselves in a very serious dilemma, and being involved in great embarrassments of vari- ous sorts. Among other misfortunes, one is the discredit into which Gladstone has fallen as a financier. Notwith- standing his extraordinary capacity, most people who are conversant with the subject of finance think he has greatly mismanaged his affairs, and suffered his notions or crotchets to get the better of his prudence, and consequently that he has prepared for himself as Chancellor of the Exchequer very great difficulties. His Budget last year was so popular, and his wonderful readiness and skill in dealing with every- thing relating to finance excited so much admiration, that his reputation was prodigious, and he was not only the strength of the Government, but was marked out as the future Prime Minister whenever changes took place. All this prestige is very much diminished ; and altliough his failures are in great measure attributable to accidents over which he had no control, many who are not unfriendly to him think he has been rash, obstinate, and injudicious, and no longer feel the same confidence in him which they did a short time ago. April dd. — The Duke of Bedford has just been here, as uneasy about the state of affairs and as disgusted and alarmed at the war as I am. He does not know what Lord John will do about the Eeform Bill, but fears rather than hopes as to his intentions. Aberdeen had desired that there should be a Cabinet before Easter, and that Lord John should then determine what he would do, but Palmerston re- quested that the final decision should only be made on the 26th, the day before that on which it is to come on. What his object is they do not know. The Dnke, in talking to Lord John, suggested the certainty of his breaking up the Government by bringing on his measure, and the enormous evil this would be, to which Lord John replied that if he knew what the internal state of the Government was, he would perhaps not think the evil of the dissolution so great. 1854.] THE REFORM BILL WITHDRAWN. 131 The fact is that, when the Opposition, as is their wont, taunt the Government with their internal disagreement and want of cordiality and union, they are much more right than they themselves are aware of. The Duke told me that the Queen told him the other day that she had herself written to Lord John urging him to give up bringing on his Bill. Not long ago the Queen was in favor of proceeding with it, but cir- cumstances were very different at that time. April 15th. — This has been a week of excitement. It had been settled that on Monday last John Russell should announce his intention Avith regard to the Reform Bill. His uncertainty still prevailed, and he got into such a state of mind about it that it made him ill. lie could not sleep, and was in a terrible state of vexation and perplexity. Aberdeen then proposed to him to give up the Bill, but to obtain from the Cabinet a unanimous consent to his pledging them to go on with it hereafter at some indefinite time. On Saturday there was a Cabinet, at which he made this proposal, but Palmerston and Lansdowne both refused their consent, and Lansdowne was in conversation with his friends very vehe- ment about it. Graham appears to have been reasonable at this Cabinet, and ready to adopt the course proposed to Lord John. It was eventually settled that he should announce the abandonment of the Bill, and make the best statement he could, not pledging the ivJioIe Cabinet as he had intended ; but before this he urged them to accept his resignation, which they refused, and then Palmerston begged he might resign, which they refused equally. So matters stood on Saturday night, and everybody believed it was settled. On Sunday Lord John's doubts and fears returned, his mind became unsettled again, and he was inclined to withdraw from his agreement and to go on. To the surprise of the whole House of Commons, when Monday came, Lord John only said he would make his statement the next day. Every- body saw something was wrong, and the curiosity and ex- citement were very great. All Monday and Tuesday morn- ings were passed in conferences and going backward and forward, the Duke of Bedford being called in to work upon Lord John. He did his best, and at last on Tuesday morn- ing he and others finally persuaded Lord John to adhere to what had been determined and withdraw his Bill. This he did in a very good speech, full of an emotion and manifes- tation of sensibility which succeeded completely with the 132 . REIGN OF QUEE>f V^ICTORIA. [Chap. VI. House, and he was greeted with prodigious cheering and compliments and congratulations on all sides. Nothing could in fact go off better, or in a way more gratifying to him, and the Government apjoears to have been strengthened by the operation. His emotion was sincere because he is no actor, but it was in my opinion totally uncalled for ; and as there is but a steja between the sublime and the ridiculous, it might just as well have appeared ridiculous ; but fortu- nately for him his audience were disposed to take it au grand serieux. Even his brother, partial as he is to him, takes the same view of this that I do, and has written to me that as Lord John has often been abused when he did not deserve it, so he has now been overpraised, Ai^ril 24:tli. — When this Government was formed, its principal merit was supposed to be its great administrative capacity, and the wonderful way in which the business of the country was to be done. It has turned out just the re- verse of what was expected, for they commit one blunder after another, and nothing can be more loose, careless, and ignorant than the way in which their business is conducted. All sorts of mistakes and embarrassments are continually occurring in the House of Commons, and I have had occa- sion to see ample proofs of what I say, in all that has been done and is doing about licences and trade permissions, con- sequent on the recent declarations and Orders in Council.^ Now another matter has occurred, discreditable from the carelessness which has been evinced. When it was thought necessary to order a fast day for the war, the Queen set her face against it. She thought it very absurd (as it is) and objected 171 toto. Aberdeen with some difticulty overcame her objections, setting forth that it had been done by George HI., and that the religious part of the community would make a clamor if it were not done. So she gave way, but still insisted it should not be a "fast," so they settled it should be a day of "humiliation." The Archbishop of 1 [On the outbreak of the war a Committee of Council was summoned to consider and frame divera Orders with reference to the prohibition of the export of military and naval stores, tlie detention of Russian ships, and questions of trade in Russian produce. Dr. Lushington, the judge of the Admiralty, was a member of this Committee, besides several Cabinet ilinisters. The French Government proposed to revert to the old system of licences to trade with the enemy ; but this proposal was not aoreed to by Great Britain. The Eussian trade was left open, except when stopped by blockade. Licences were issued by the Privy Council tor the export of military and naval stores to neutral ports.] 1851.] THE FAST DAY. 133 Canterbury fully concurred, and the proclamation was is- sued accordingly. But the other day the merchants took alarm, and represented that, as the word " fast" was omitted, the ca^e would not come within the provisions of Master- man's Bill, and that bills of exchange, &c., would be jiayable on the day itself, and not the day before as provided by that Act, and that all sorts of confusion would arise. The Bank of England took the Solicitor General's opinion, who thought that such would be the law. A great difficulty arose, for time pressed. The Chancellor thought the case would stand, and was fortaking the chance, but the Cabinet on Saturday decided that it would be safer to correct the error even thus late. Aberdeen went to the Queen and told her, and this afternoon there is to be a Council to turn the "day of hu- miliation" into a "fast day," in order that "merchants" bills may be presented on one day instead of another, and that banking ojierations may not be deranged. The ridicule this throws on the religious part of the question is obvious, and the effect it ought to have is to discontinue these pre- posterous observances, which all sensible people regard as a mockery and a delusion. But all this ought to have been provided for, and the law officers ought to have foreseen the consequences and advised accordingly. In Peel's time this never would have happened ; but with a nominal Premier, a Home Secretary who will give himself no trouble about the details of his office, and an Attorney General who does noth- ing, knows nothing of law, and won't attend to anything, it is no wonder that such things and many others occur. To return to the question of trading licences. When we went to war, the Government, I believe very wisely, resolved to relax belligerent rights and give all possible latitude to trade, with no more restrictions and reservations than were essentially necessary for carrying on the war. But this reso- lution involved a revolution of the old system and the neces- sity of completely constructing a new one, and as they long ago knew war was inevitable, they ought to have well con- sidered all this, and framed their regulations before they issued their orders. But not a bit of this was done, and the consequence was a state of uni^aralleled confusion and em- barrassment, applications from all sides, and hosts of peti- tions for leave to export goods of different descriptions. The Government at last set to work to deal with these cases, but in a very irregular, unbusinesslike way. Some two or 134 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VI. three of them met in Committee at the Council Office, and with the help of Cardwell, President of the Board of Trade but not in the Cabinet, and Dr. Lushington, who has nothing to do with the Government, they have contrived to scramble through the business ; but the laches and indifference of those who ought to be most concerned, and the loose way of pro- ceeding, have been very striking. Some would not come at all, some came for a short time, different people attended on different days, so that different opinions prevailed, and no regular system was established. The other day, on Cardwell's saying these questions would be taken up as soon as Parlia- ment met and Government called to account, I suggested to that, such being the case, he ought to get Lord John Eussell to attend the Committee. He said he would ask him, " but John Eussell could not bear details ; he doubted if he would come, and, if he did, would be of no use, as he would be sure to go to sleep ; " and this is the way business of the greatest importance is transacted. May del. — The death of Lord Anglesey, which took place a few days ago, has removed one of the last and the most conspicuous of the comrades of the Duke of Wellington, who all seem to be following their commander very rapidly. I have lived with Lord Anglesey for so many years in such intimacy, and have received from him such constant kind- ness, that I cannot pass over his death without a brief notice. A more gallant sj)irit, a finer gentleman, and a more hon- orable and kindhearted man never existed. His abilities were not of a very high order, but he had a good fair under- standing, excellent intentions, and a character remarkably straightforward and sincere. In his youth he was notoriously vain and arrogant, as most of his family were, but as he ad- vanced in age, his faults and foibles were diminished or soft- ened, and his virtues and amiable disposition manifested themselves the more. He distinguished himself greatly in the command of the cavalry in Sir John Moore's retreat, but was not employed in the Duke's army during the subse- quent years of the Peninsular war. In the Waterloo cam- paign he again commanded the cavalry, not, as was supposed, entirely to the Duke's satisfaction, who would have pre- ferred Lord Combermere in that post. He lost a leg at the battle of Waterloo ; for this wound Lord Anglesey was en- titled to a very large pension, of which he never would take 1854.] A FINANCIAL FAILURE. 135 a shilling. He was a great friend of George IV., and ex- posed himself to unpopularity by taking the King's part in the Queen's trial ; but their friendship came to an end when Lord Anglesey connected himself with the Whig party, and Avhen he went to Ireland as Lord Lieutenant he deeply otfended the King by his open advocacy of the Eoman Catho- lic cause in 1829. The Duke of AVellington, then Minister and about to give up the Catholic question, quarrelled with Lord Anglesey and recalled him. For some years past they had not been on very friendly terms. Lord Anglesey was jealous of the Duke, and used to affect to disparage his capacity both as a general and a statesman, and this political diiference completed their mutual estrangement. These hostile feelings did not, however, last long ; Lord Anglesey had a generous disposition, and was too fair and true to do permanent injustice to the Duke. I do not know how the reconciliation between them was brought about, but their temporary alienation was succeeded by a firm and lasting friendship, and the most enthusiastic admiration and attach- ment entertained by Lord Anglesey toward the Duke. For many years before the death of the latter, the two old war- riors were the most intimate friends and constant compan- ions, and every vestige of their former differences and an- tipathies was effaced and had given way to warm sentiments of mutual regard. When the regiment of Guards became vacant, King "William sent for Lord Anglesey and announced to him that he was to have it ; he of course expressed his acknowledgements ; but early the next morning he Avent to the King and said to him that he felt it his duty to repre- sent to him that there was a man worthier than himself to have the regiment, that Lord Ludlow had lost his arm at their head, and that he could not bear to accept that to which Lord Ludlow was so justly entitled. This remon- strance, so unselfish and honorable, was accepted, and the regiment was conferred on Lord Ludlow.^ May 1th. — The failure of Gladstone's Exchequer Bill scheme has been very injurious to the Government, and particularly to him. "The prodigious applause and admira- tion with which he was greeted last year have given way to distrust and apprehension of him as a finance minister, and » [George James, third Earl of Ludlow in the peerasre of Ireland, and created a haron of the United Kinsdom in 1831, was born Dccemhcr 12. 17fi8, and died April 10, 1S42, when the titles became extinct. He served with distinction in the army, and was colonel of the 38th regiment of foot.] 136 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VI. the repeated failures of his different schemes have in a very short time materially damaged his reputation, and destroyed the prestige of his great abilities. All practical men in the City severely blame him for having exposed himself to the risk of failure, and reproach him with the folly of trying to make too good a bargain, and by so doing exposing himself to the defeat he has sustained. The consequences will not probably be serious, but the Government is weakened by it, and the diminution of public confidence in Gladstone is a public misfortune. Next in importance to the financial difficulty is the Ox- ford Bill, with which Government have got into a mess, and they are struggling through the measure with doubtful and small majorities, having been beaten on an important point, and now quite uncertain if they shall be able to carry it. I fell in with Graham yesterday, and spoke to him about these things, when he replied that Gladstone's failure was very unfortunate, but he had no doubt he would make a great speech in his own defence on Monday night. With regard to Oxford, he said it was quite true that they could not de- pend on carrying the clauses of their bill, but that was be- cause in the present state of the House " they could not carry a turnpike bill," they were absolutely without power, and " it was a state of things that could not go on." ' Last night I bad a talk with Charles Wood on the same subject, and he said that the truth was, a revolution had silently been effected. Parties were at an end, and the House of Commons was no longer divided into and governed by them ; and that the predicament in which this Government is placed would be the same with every other, and business could no longer be conducted in Parliament in the way it used to be. Air this is in my opinion quite true, and what has long struck me. Whether the extreme elasticity of our institu- tions, and the power of adaptation to circumstances which seems to pervade them, will enable us to find remedies and resources, and that the apparent derangement will right it- self, remains to be seen. But it is a condition of affairs full of uncertainty, therefore of danger, and which makes me very uneasy whenever I think of it. It is evident that this Government is now backed by no great party, and that it 1 [Lord John Russell introduced a bill to make further provision for the good foyernmcnt of the University of Oxford and the colleges therein, -which passed oth Houses, ^'ith some amendments, in the course of the session.] 1854.] MR. GLADSTONE'S BUDGET. 137 lias very few independent adherents on whom it can count. It scrambles on with casual support, and its continuing at all to exist is principally owing to the extreme difficulty of forming any other, and the certainty that no other that could be formed would be stronger or more secure, either more popular or more powerful. 3fay 7th. — It is scarcely a year ago that I was writing enthusiastic panegyrics on Gladstone, and describing him as the great ornament and support of the Government, and as the future Prime Minister. This was after the prodigious success of his first Budget and his able speeches, but a few months seem to have overturned all his power and authority. I hear nothing but complaints of his rashness and passion for experiments ; and on all sides, from men, for example, like Tom Baring and Robarts, one a Tory, the other a Whig, that the City and the moneyed men have lost all confidence in him. To-morrow night he is to make his financial state- ment, and intense curiosity prevails to see how he will pro- vide the ways and means for carrying on the war. Every- body expects that he will make an able speech ; but brilliant speeches do not produce very great effect, and more anxiety is felt for the measures he will propose than for the dexterity and ingenuity he may display for proposing them. Parlia- ment is ready to vote without grumbling any money that is asked for, and as yet public opinion has not begun to waver and complain ; but we are only yet at the very beginning of this horrible mess, and people are still looking Avith eager interest to the successes they anticijiate, and have not yet begun to feel the cost. 3fay lOih. — Gladstone made a great speech on Monday night. He spoke for nearly four hours, occupying the first half of the time in an elaborate and not unsuccessful defence of his former measures. His speech, which was certainly very able, was well received, and the Budget pronounced an honorable and creditable one. If he had chosen to sacri- fice his conscientious convictions to popularity, he might have gained a great amount of the latter by proposing a loan, and no more taxes than would be necessary for the interest of it. I do not yet know whether his defence of his abor- tive schemes has satisfied the monetary critics. It was cer- tainly very plausible, and will probably be sufficient for the uninformed and the half-informed, who cannot detect any fallacies which mav lurk within it. He attacked some of 138- REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VI. liis opponents with great severity, particularly Disraeli and Monteagle, but I doubt if this was pi'udent. He flung about his sarcasms upon smaller fry, and this certainly was not discreet. I think his speech has been of service to his finan- cial character, and done a good deal towards the restoration of his credit. May 12th. — Cowley called on me yesterday, when we talked over the war with all its etceteras. He said the Em- peror had been most reluctant to go into it, but was now firmly resolved to pursue it vigorously, and not to desist till he had obtained fair terms of peace ; above all things he is bent on going on with us in unbroken amity. Cowley thinks his political position as secure as any position can be in France, and certainly the country seems satisfied with his rule. Plis social position is unimproved and rather worse ; his marriage was a fatal measure ; he would have done far better if he could have married the Hohenlohe girl, who was dying to be Empress, and Cowley thinks the Queen was wrong to prevent the match. In that case the Court might have been very different. In the beginning, after his mar- riage, he attempted to purify it as well as he could, and to get rid of all the disreputable women about it ; bat by de- grees they have all come back again, and now they are more encanailUes than ever. The French Government have given a strong proof of their goodwill to us by recalling Baraguay d'Hilliers from Constantinople, and not sending another ambassador, as they find none can possibly live on good terms with Stratford. Cowley says the war might have been prevented, he thinks, and particularly if Stratford had not been there. The Em- peror would have made greater concessions if Stratford had not been at Constantinople, and another ambassador would have striven to preserve peace instead of being, as he was, bent on producing a war. Edward Mills tells me Gladstone's recent speech has im- mensely raised him, and that he stands very high in the City, his defence of his measures very able, and produced a great effect ; he said he lately met Walpole, who told him he had the highest admiration of Gladstone, and thought he had more power than ever Peel had even at his highest tide. May 28th. — I have been so much occupied with the very dissimilar occupations of preparations for Epsom races in the shape of trials, betting, &c., and the finishing and cor- 1864.] DEFEATS OF THE GOVERNMENT. 139 rection of an article in the " Edinburgh Review " on King Joseph's Memoirs, that I have had no leisure to think of polities, or to record what has been going on in the political world, nor in truth has much material been furnished either by domestic or foreign transactions. The last fortnight in Parliament has been going on much in the way in which the present Government always goes on, and Gladstone, whom I met at dinner the other day, repeated to me very much what Graham had said some i;ime before, about their utter inability to carry their measifres in the House of Com- mons. There is, however, one important exception to this rule, and that is one of vital importance. On everything which relates to the war, and on all questions of supply, they can do whatever they please, and have no difficulty, and en- counter no opposition. Tom Baring's motion on Monday last exhibited a striking proof of this ; he introduced it by an able speech, and he mustered all the supjwrt that could be got, and yet he was defeated by above 100. I met Disraeli in the street the next day, when he said, " Your Government is very strong." I said, the war which was supposed to be their weakness turns out to be their strength. They can carry everything which appertains to that, and nothing else. And so it is ; no sooner do they get a great majority on some imiDortant question than they find themselves in a minority,^ perhaps more than oney on something else. John Russell got beaten on his Oaths 13111 the other night, a victory wlnchy was hailed with uproarious delight by the Opposition, thoug)/ leading to nothing, and only mortifying to John Russell personally. These defeats, however, do not fail to be morally injurious to the Government, and to shake their credit. It was an ill-advised measure, which drew down upon itself those who are against the Jews and those who are against the Catholic?. Palmerston has been showing ill-humor in the House of Commons, and has ceased to be so very popular as he used to be thercy They have great difficulty in getting on with the University Bill, and Gladstone told me the other night he was very doubtful if they should be able to bring it to a successful end. All the Tories and High-Churchmen are against it of course, and the Dissenters regard it with no favor because it does not do for them what they desire ; so it is left to the suppoi't of the friends of Government and those who sincerely desire a good measure of reform for those bodies. 140 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VI. June hth. — I was at Epsom all last week. In the beginning of it or the week before there was a groat passage of arms in the House of Commons between John Rassell and Disraeli, not a yery creditable exhibition, but which excited greater interest than more important matters. Though Disraeli be- gan the attack. Lord John threw the first stone of offence, which he had better have let alone. In reply to this Disraeli broke out with inconceiyable violence and made the most furious assault upon John that he could, saying everything most oifensive and provoking. Lord John made a rejoinder, and was followed by Bright, whose speech was very hostile and spiteful, and much more calculated to annoy Lord John than that of Disraeli, though much less vituperative. Dis- raeli seems inclined to have recourse to his old tactics against Peel, and to endeavor to treat John Eussell, and Gladstone, when he can, in the same way, hoping probably to re-ingratiate himself with his own side by giving them some of those invectives and sarcasms against their oppo- nents which are so congenial to their tastes. This course will not raise him either in the House or in the country, and he will not find in Lord John a man either so sensitive or so vulnerable as Peel, and he can make out nothing against a man who refuses place, patronage, and emolument, and gives his gratuitous services at a great personal sacrifice because he thinks it his public duty to do so. There is nothing new in the condition of the Government ; they are very firmly seated in their places, the House of Commons supjDorting them by large majorities in all thei^ great measures and those which involve a quesnon of confidence ; but having no dependable majority on miscellaneous questions, nor even knowing whether they can carry any measure or not, it is idle to twit them with being a Government on sufferance and Lord John with not "■ leading " the House of Commons. A revolution has taken place in the conditions of the politi- cal existence of governments in general and their relations with Parliament, and there is at present no likelihood that any government that can be formed will find itself in differ- ent circumstances, or that the old pi-actice by which a gov- ernment could command the House of Commons on almost everything will ever be restored, Whether the new system be better or worse than the old may be doubtful, but govern- ments must make up their minds to conform to it for the present at least. In the course of the next few days the 1854.] THE PRESIDENCY OF THE COUNCIL. 141 division of the Colonial from tlie War Department will take l)lace. There seems little doubt that Newcastle will elect to take the War Department, and Clarendon told me yesterday ho thought he would be the best man for it, warmly praising his energy, industry, and ability, and liis popular and con- ciliatory qualities. Their great object is to prevail on Lord John to take the Colonial Office, which I expect he will eventually do, but not without much reluctance and hesita- tion. Granville tells me he is in a dissatisfied state of mind, in which he will probably long remain, especially as his en- tourage will always do their best to foment his discontent. June 11th. — Yesterday and the day before the world was made acquainted with the recent arrangements and appoint- ments, which have been received with considerable disappro- bation.^ Nobody can understand what it all meaus, and why John Russell, if he was to take office, was to insist on so strange an arran-^ement, and such a departure from the invariable practice of putting a peer in the office of Presi- dent of the Council. Nothing can be more ungracious than the air of the whole proceeding : he turns out Granville to make room for himself, and turns out Strutt to make room for Granville. It seems that they wanted him to be Colo- nial Secretar}'^, but this he would not hear of on the score of his health, and as it is now admitted as an axiom that the leader in the House of Commons has enough to do, and can not efficiently discharge the duties of a laborious depart- ment, it was reasonable enough that Lord John should de- cline the Colonies ; but there seems no sufficient reason for his not taking the Duchy of Lancaster, for the more com- pletely the office is a sinecure, the more consistent his taking it would appear. However, he would be President of the Council or nothing. I have been amazed at his indelicacy and want of consideration toward Granville, who deserved better treatment at his hands. Granville has always been his steady and stout adherent, defending his Reform Bill, holding himself his especial follower in the Coalition Cabi- » [Lord John Eussell insisted on taking the office of Lord President of the Council, which has always been held by a peer, and to effect this change Earl Granville was removed from the higher office of Lord Presi'lent to that of Chancellor of the Duchy. The Kiffht Honorable Edward Strutt, who had been Chancellor of the Duchy with a seat in the Cabinet, was dismissed from office, but he was subsequently raised to the peerage with the title of Lord Belper. Tliis transaction reflected no credit on the author of it, who consulted notliiug bu*; his own dignity and convenience.] 143 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTOEIA. [Chap. VI. net, and ready to support him or go out with him if neces- sary. It was therefore particularly odious to insist on foist- ing himself into Grranville's place, and inflicting on him the mortification of going downstairs. Granville behaved very well about it, with great good humor, only anxious to do whatever was best for the general interest, and putting aside every personal consideration and feeling ; and his conduct is the more meritorious, because he dislikes the arrangement of all things. Aberdeen behaved very kindly to him, and told him, if he objected to the change, he would not consent to it, and, cost what it might, would tell John Eussell he could not and should not have the place. Granville proposed to go out, at least for a time, but Aberdeen said he could not spare him, and nothing could be more flattering than all he expressed of his usefulness in the House of Lords, and of the value of his services. Personally, therefore, he loses nothing ; for though he preferred the Council Office to the Duchy, his conduct has raised him in everybody's estima- tion, and he will play a part even more prominent than he did before. One reason why Lord John should not have come to the Council Office was the embarrassment he will be sure to find himself in about questions of education, his reputation and his antecedents, as well as his political connections, making him peculiarly unfit to be at the head of the Education De- partment ; and I am inclined to agree with Vernon Smith, who said to me the other day that it would infallibly end in Lord John's bringing in next year an impracticable Educa- tion Bill and withdrawing it. George Grey's coming into office will be of use to the Government. Newcastle's being War Minister is sure to be attacked, and all the Palmer- stonians are indignant that Palmerston is not in that place, which never was ofl'ered him, nor was he consulted about the arrangement. I think there is still a considerable opinion that he would make a good War Minister, though everybody is aware he makes a very bad Home one, and the pj'estige about him and his popularity are greatly worn out. They have been obliged to go back to the reign of Henry VIII. to find a precedent for a commoner being President of the Council, when they say there was one, but I don't know who he was. June 21st. — At St. Leonards last week for Ascot races, where I got wet, and have been ever since confined with the 1854.] LORD JOHN RUSSELL'S POSITION. 143 gout. The " Times,'"' though by way of supporting the Gov- ernment, went on violently attacking John Russell about the recent changes. Lord John was very well received in the City at his election, and at the opening of the Crystal Palace he was more cheered than anybody. This morning the Duke of Bedford came here and told me he had had a good deal of conversation with his brother about this business, to which he (the Duke) had been a stranger while it was going on. Lord John said that when the Government was formed he had pro- posed to Aberdeen that he should be Presideiit of the Coun- cil, but Aberdeen had objected on the score of its being so unusual, therefore he was only going back to his original de- sign. He had an invincible repugnance to taking the Duchy of Lancaster or any inferior office. Both when the Govern- ment was formed and now, he would have much preferred to have kept aloof, and to have led in the House of Com- mons that section of the Whig party which would have fol- lowed him, but he found this impossible, and as the Govern- ment could not have been formed without him, and could not now go on without him, he was obliged to sacrihce his own inclination. I said I could not conceive why he could not go on as he was till the end of the session, and then settle it ; that his pushing out Granville had a very ungracious appear- ance, and he would have done much better to take the sine- cure office of the Duchy, it being quite absurd to suppose tliat he could be degraded by holding any office, no mat- ter what. The Duke owned it would have been better to wait till Parliament was up before anything was done, and he regarded the question of the particular office much as I do. There was a discussion in the House of Lords on Monday night on the war, when Lyndhurst made a grand speech, wonderful at his age — 82 ; he spoke for an hour and a quar- ter with as much force and clearness as at any time of his life : it was greatly admired. Clarendon spoke well and strongly, and elicited expressions of satisfaction from Derby, after whom Aberdeen rose, and imprudently spoke in the sense of desiring peace, a speech which has been laid hold of, and drawn down upon him a renewal of the violent abuse with which he has been all along assailed. I see nothing in his speech to justify the clamor, but it was very ill judged in him with his antecedents to say what he did, which malig- nity could so easily lay hold of. 144 REIGN OF QUEEN YICTORIA. [Chap. VI. June 25t7i. — There never was such a state of things as that which now exists between the Government, the Party, and the House of Commons. John Eussell made such a hash of it last week, and put himself and his Government in such a position, that nothing but the war, and the impossi- bility which everybody feels there is of making any change of Government in the midst of it, prevents the immediate downfall of this Administration. Last week John Russell opposed the motion for the abolition of Church rates in a flaming High Tory and Church speech. The motion was rejected by a slender majority, but his speech gave great offence to the Liberal party and his own friends. Immedi- (ktely afterward came on the motion in the UniA^ersity Bill for admitting Dissenters to the University. This John Eussell opposed again, although in his speech he declared he was in favor of the admission of Dissenters, but he ob- jected to the motion on various grounds. The result was that he went into the lobby with Disraeli and the whole body of the Tories, while the whole of the Liberal party an3! ^ all his own friends and supporters went against him and de- / feated him by a majority of 91. He took with him six or seven of his colleagues, and two or three of the underlings. Molesworth, Bernal Osborne, and some more stayed away, and some others voted in the majority. In the majority were found Christopher and a few Tories besides, who, how- ever, only voted with the object and hope of damaging the bill itself and procuring its rejection in the House of Lords. Never was man placed in so deplorable and humiliating a position as John Russell, and nothing can exceed his folly and mismanagement in getting himself into such a scrape. The indignation and resentment of the Liberals are bound- less, and I think he has completely put an extinguisher on himself as a statesman and as the leader of a party ; they never will forgive him or feel any confidence in him again. /'There was a capital article on him and his proceedings in the j "Times" yesterday, which was not acrimonious, like some \pthers on him, and was perfectly just and true. The victorious Liberals managed their affairs very ill. Instead of resting satisfied with a victory which must have been decisive (for after all the House of Commons had af- firmed the principle of admitting the Dissenters by so large a majority, neither the House of Lords nor the IJniversity would have ventured to oppose it), they imprudently pi'essed 1854.] POPULARITY OF THE WAR. 145 on another division/* in which they were beaten, though by a small majority, and this of course does away with a good deal of the effect of the first division. Between the recent changes which were universally distasteful, and his extraor- dinary maladroitness in these questions, Lord John is fallen prodigiously in public favor and opinion, and while he is, or has been till very recently, dreaming of again being Prime Minister, it is evident that he is totally unfit to be the leader of the Government in the House of Commons even in a sub- ordinate post. He communicates with nobody, he has no confidence in or sympathy with any one, he does not impart his intentions or his wishes to his own political followers, and does not ask to be informed of theirs, but he buries himself at Richmond and only comes forth to say and do everything that is most imprudent and unpopular. The House of Commons is in a state of complete anarch}', ^ and nobody has any hold on it ; matters, bad enough through John Russell, are made worse by Aberdeen, whose speech the other night has made a great, but I think unnecessary clamor; and Layard, who is his bitter enemy, took it up in the House of Commons, and has given notice of a motion on it which is equivalent to a vote of censure. Almost at the same mo- ment Aberdeen, with questionable prudence and dignity, gave notice in the Lords that on Monday he should explain the speech he made the other night. Layard's design can hardly be matured, because they never can permit a speech made in one House of Parliament to be made the subject of a motion and debate in the other. It is, however, incontest- able that clamor and misrepresentation have succeeded in raising a vast prejudice against Aberdeen, and that he is ex- ceedingly unpopular. The people are wild about this war, and besides the gen- eral confidence that we are to obtain very signal success in our naval and military operations, there is a violent desire to force the Emperor to make a very humiliating peace, and a strong conviction that he will very soon be /Compelled to do so. This belief is the cause of jtfie great rise which has been taking place in the pub^ securities, and all sorts of stories are rife of the terror and dislike of the war which prevail in Russia, and of the agitation and melancholy in which the 1 [It seems it was ^Ir. Walpolc who insisted on the second division, which he did for the express purpose of neutralizing: the effeet of the first, hoping to get a majority, wliicb he did, and it was rather dexterously done.] 1 146 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VI. Emperor is said to be plunged. But the authentic accounts from St. Petersburg tell a very different tale. They say, and our Consul just arrived from St. Petersburg confirms the statement, that the Emperor is calm and resolute, that his popularity is very great, and the Eussians of all classes en- thusiastic in his cause, and that they are prepared to a man to sacrifice their properties and their lives in a vigorous prose- cution of the war. July 2th. — It is remarkable that the G-overnment are unquestionably stronger in the House of Lords than in the House of Commons, as has been clearly proved by the result of the Oxford University Bill. Derby endeavored to alter it, and was completely defeated. There were several divis- ions, in all of which the Government obtained large majori- ties, and at last Derby said it was evidently useless to propose any alterations, as the Government could do what they pleased in that House. The session is drawing to a close ; that is, though it will last a month longer, all important business is over. The Government will end it much in the same condition as they were in at the beginnmg of it, only that their weakness and want of popularity have been mani- fested in a thousand ways during the session. Aberdeen's explanatory speech and the publication of his despatch of 1829 have given rather a turn to the current against him ; for though his violent opponents still snarl at him and abuse him, the impartial people begin to think he is not so bad as he has been represented, and the excessive absurdity of the charges with which he has been assailed begins to strike people. There is still, however, a strong prejudice against him, particularly among the extreme Liberals, and I saw a long letter from Sir Benjamin Hall to the Duke of Bedford setting forth the discontent of the Liberal party and vehe- mently urging that the Government should be immediately modified, Aberdeen retire, and Lord John Eussell again be Minister, with Palmerst©n as War Minister — perfectly absurd ,'and impracticable, butjhowing what the notions are of the / ultra-Eadicals.j The Tories, agreeing in nothing else, concur [ with the Eadicals in hating Aberdeen because he represents • the Peel jmrty, and is Minister as the successor of Sir Eobert i Peel, for whose memory their hatred is as intense as it was '\,for his person Avhen he was alive. The war goes on without any immediate results, and without, as far as can be seen, a probability of the attainment of any signal or important 1854.] ATTITUDE OF THE GERMAN POWERS. 147 successes. The foolish public here, always extravagant and impatient, clamor for attacks upon Sebastopol and Cron- stadt, and are very indignant that these places are not taken, without knowing anything of the feasibility of such opera- tions. We now begin to believe that Austria is going to side actively with us, but we do not feel certain of it, nor shall we till she actually enters on the campaign. July 19ih. — Within a few days everything is changed. In respect to Austria, the intrigues of Russia with Prussia, and the determination of the King to do everything that he can or that he dares to assist his imperial brother-in-law, have had the effect of paralyzing the Austrian movements, and suspending the operation of her Treaty with Turkey. She cannot venture to declare war against Eussia and to march her army into the Principalities while there is a large Eussian force on the borders of Galicia, and the Prussians are in such an ambiguous attitude and disposition, that she can not only not depend upon Prussia to execute their de- fensive Treaty by protecting her dominions in the event of their being attacked by Russia, but she cannot depend upon not being taken in flank by Prussia as the ally of Eussia. Clarendon told me on Sunday that it was impossible to make out what Austria was about, or what she really means to do. There is no doubt about Prussia, and he still inclines to be- lieve that Austria's disposition to act with us is unchanged, but that she is compelled to act a cautious and dilatory part by her uncertainty as to Prussia. On Monday John Eussell convoked his supporters and quasi-supporters to a gathering in Downing Street, when ho harangued them on the state of affairs and the difficulties of the Government, intimating the necessity of being better supported if the Government was to go on at all. There are differences of opinion as to the way in which the meeting went off, and whether it was on the whole satisfactory. The principal speakers were Bright, Vernon Smith, and Hors- man, the two latter bitter enough against the Government. Bright, rather hostile, spoke well and alluded to Aberdeen in a friendly spirit, as did Hume. The meeting gradually melted away, so that Lord John had no opportunity of mak- ing a reply, which was a pity, as he might have answered the objectors. The best proof, however, that on the whole it was successful, was afforded by the fact that there was neither debate nor division on the War Secretary's estimate 148 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VI. moved for by Lord Jolin that night. All went off with the greatest ease. I am in hopes, therefore, that the Government is somewhat in better plight than it was. August Uh. — I have been out of town for the greater part of the time since the 19th ultimo, at Goodwood, nearly ten days. Nothing very important has occurred in politics. As the session has drawn toward a close, the Government have, on the whole, done rather better in Parliament, that is, the Opposition have been quite incapable of striking any blows or doing them any injury. The points that were expected to be made against them entirely failed, and, with the exception of one personal matter, they have had no diffi- culties or annoyances to vex them. This matter was the case of , the denouement of which took place two days ago ; after being Gladstone's private secretary for two years, this gentleman was appointed by Newcastle, Just before he gave up the Colonies, to be Governor of South Australia. The appointment was criticised, but about ten days ago it was called in question by the House of Commons, and at the same time rumors were rife that he had been gambling in the funds and had lost money ; he denied, and authorized his friends to deny the imputation, but some of the Carlton runners got scent of his transactions and followed it up with such perseverance that he became alarmed, and thought him- self obliged to prevent the shame and odium of detection by confessing the fact. The consequence was that the appoint- ment was cancelled, and the whole matter explained and discussed on Thursday night in the House of Commons, when George Grey made a long statement. The discussion upon it was very creditable to the House, for there was no personal animosity and no coarseness or inhumanity dis- played, but, on the contrary, forbearance and good nature toward the individual. Any expectation of being able to wound Gladstone through him has quite failed. He is a clever fellow enough and well educated, but he has been very imprudent, and contrived at once to lose his place of private secretary, his government, his seat in Parliament, his character, and his money. At last it does now appear as if Austria was going to Join us completely against Russia, and the invasion of the Crimea is about to take place in complete ignorance of the means of resistance and defence possessed by Russia, and whether it will be a nearly impossible or comparatively easy enterprise. 1854.] CLOSE OF THE SESSION. I49 Clarendon, when I saw him last Sunday, expressed great alarm at the state of affairs in Spain, from the weakness of Espartero, the difficulty of any cordial union between the military chiefs, so long rivals, and above all from the re- publican element which is so rife in Spain, and which may produce effects extending far beyond that country. He said that the French Government were acting in complete har- mony and concert with us ; the Emperor is much alarmed at the state of Spain, but resolved to go with us in the policy of non-interference, and to take no part but such as we should take also. 11 he adheres to this wise course, it will cement the alliance between the countries, and bind us to him more than anything that could happen, and it will form a great and happy contrast to the policy of Louis Philippe and the conduct of Palmerston and Guizot. August lUh. — The session closed on Saturday, and, all things considered, the Government wound it up tolerably well. Clanricarde, true to the last to his spiteful opposition, gave Clarendon an opportunity of making a parting speech on foreign affairs, of which he acquitted himself very success- fully, and placed himself and the Government in a very good position as respects our diplomacy and the conduct of the war. But though all immediate danger is removed from the Government, and, unless they fall to pieces during the re- cess by any internal dissensions, they will jirobably go on unscathed, the state of affairs is very unsatisfactory, and pregnant with future troubles and difficulties. The Govern- ment in its relations with the House of Commons throughout the past session has been extraordinary, and I believe unpre- cedented. From the Revolution to the time of the Reform Bill, that is during 150 years, the system of Parliamentary government had been consolidating itself, and was practically established ; the Sovereign nominally, the House of Com- mons really, appointed the ministers of the Crown, and it was settled as an axiom that when the Government was un- able to carry its measures, and was subjected to defeats in the House of Commons, its resignation was indispensable — not indeed that any and every defeat was necessarily fatal, because governments have often been beaten on very impor- tant questions without being ruined or materially weakened, but it was supposed that repeated defeats and Government measures repeatedly rejected implied the withdrawal of the confidence and support of Parliament so clearly that in the 150 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VI. aggregate such defeats were equivalent to an absolute vote of want of confidence, which is in itself a sentence of political death. In former times the Crown was a power, and the House of Commons was a power, generally blended and act- ing harmoniously together, but sometimes resolving them- selves into their separate elements, and acting independently, perhaps antagonistically, toward each other. In modern times, and more entirely in oar own, this separate and inde- pendent action ceased, the Crown became identified with the majority of the House of Commons, and no minister, when he could no longer command that majority so as to be certain of carrying out all, or nearly all, his measures of government and legislation, could continue to be minister, and was obliged as a matter of course to surrender office to those who were in possession of, or could count upon, that command. The ministers were taken from the ranks of the Parliament- ary majority, and when once appointed it was considered indispensable and certain that the same majority would place confidence in them, accept at their hands all the measures they should concert and propose, and support them against all hostile attacks, the spirit of party and combination sup- pressing all individual prejudices, crotchets, fancies, and partial or local influences. The Government and the party were bound by a sort of mutual allegiance to each other, and supposed to be. and usually were, animated by the same spirit and a communion of opinion and interest. Such were the general relations and such the normal state of things, liable to occasional variations and disturbances, bringing about various political changes according to circumstances. But the system was complete, and practically it worked well, and conduced to the prosperity and progress of the coTintry. When the great measure of Reform in Parliament was introduced in 1831, apart from all question of party strug- gles there was the still greater question considered by many reflecting people, whether the new Parliamentary and elect- oral system would be found compatible with the old practice of government by means of party and steady Parliamentary majorities. The Duke of Wellington in particular expressed his apprehension that it would not, and he put the question Avhich has so often been quoted and referred to, "How is the King's Government to be carried on ?" He did not, so far as I remember, develop his thoughts at the time, and argue the matter in detail, but it is very evident that what he an- 1854.] REVIEW OF PARTIES. 151 ticipated was some such state of things as that at which we now appear to have arrived. For a long time his apprehen- sions appeared to be groundless, and certainly they were not realised by the course of events. In consequence of political circumstances which I shall not stop to specify and explain, notwithstanding all the changes which were effected, the governments contrived to go on without any insuperable difficulties, and without any striking difference from the way in which governments had been previously conducted. The popularity of the Reform Bill Administration supported them for a few years, and the Tory reaction, together with the great abilities of Sir Eobert Peel, supported the Conserv- ative Government for a few years more. Matters went on better or worse, as might be, till the great Conservative schism in 184G, which completely broke uji that party, and produced a final separation between the able few and the numerous mediocrity of the party. Ever since that time the House of Commons has been in a state of disorganisation and confusion : the great party ties had been severed. After the repeal of the Corn Laws and the establishment of Free Trade it was difficult to find any great party principles which could be converted into bonds of union, and every day it became obviously more and more difficult to form any government that could hope to be strong or permanent. John Russell succeeded on the fall of Peel, but the Peelites warmly resent- ed the conduct of the Whigs in Peel's last struggle, and, though they hated Derby and his crew much more, never gave Lord John's Government a cordial support. Next came the quarrel between Palmerston and Lord John and the fall of the Whig Government. Many people, and Graham especially, were of opinion that a Derby Govern- ment/or a ^me wasan inevitable but indispensable evil, and after one abortive attempt at length a Derby Government was formed. From the beginning nobody thought it could last ; the wretched composition of it, its false position, and the mixture of inconsistency and insincerity which charac- terized it, deprived it of all respect, authority, and influence, and it was the more weak because divided and dissatisfied within, and because all the more honest and truthful of the party were disgusted and ashamed of the part they were playing. Thus feeble and powerless, despised by the public and detested by the Court, the first moment that the different parties and sections of parties combined to overthrow them, 152 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap, VI. their destruction was inevitable, and after enjoying office for one year they fell. It was easier to turn them out than to find a good and strong government to replace them. It was obvious that neither the Whigs nor the Peelites could form a government, still less Palmerston or the Radicals, anj^^t became a matter of absolute necessity to attempt a coali^on, which, whatever objections there might be to coalitions, would at least have the advantage of filling the several offices with able men. When the Queen had a short time before, in anticipation of the event, consulted the Duke of Bedford as to whom she should send for when Derby resigned, he had advised her to send for Lord Lansdowne and Lord Aberdeen, being himself conscious that Lord John could not again form a government, at least not at that time. She did send for them, and each of them very sincerely and earnestly endeavored to persuade the other to accept the post of Prime Minister, and the task of forming a Government. Lansdowne was ill at the time, and while it is very doubtful whether anything would have induced him to come forward, his attack of gout was enough to insure his peremptory refusal, and nothing remained but that Aberdeen should make the attempt. The task was difficult and unpleasant, for it was impossible not to make many people discontented and mortified, inasmuch as places could not be found for all who had previously been in office, or who aspired to it, and it was no easy matter to decide who should be taken in, and who left out. Aberdeen resolved to make the coalition very comprehensive, and as much as possible to form a government which should represent the Opposition which had turned Derby out, but he put almost all the Peelite leaders into good offices, and the exclusions were principally on the Whig side. For a long time it was very doubtful whether John Russell would enter the Govern- ment at all, but Aberdeen was so well aware that he could not do without him that he announced his determination to throw up the Government unless Lord John consented to join. After much hesitation, and a struggle between his family and some malcontent hangers on who wished him to keep aloof, on one side, and the wisest of his political friends and colleagues who urged that it was his duty to come for- ward on the other, Lord John consented to lead the House of Commons, but without an office. He proposed indeed to take the Presidency of the Council, to which Aberdeen 1854.] THE COALITION GOVERNMENT. 153 objected, but gave bim tbe cboice of every other office. He said that if he could not be President of the Council he would be nothing at all, and so it was settled. Next came the negotiation about Palmerston, who first refused, and afterward, at the pressing solicitation of Lansdowne, agreed to join. Molesworth came in to represent the Radicals ; Monsell and Keogh (not in the Cabinet) represented the Irish, and so the Coalition Government was completed. Very strongly composed, it never, however, was so strong as it looked. The Ministers, Aberdeen, John Kussell, Palm- erston, having consented to act together, were too sensible, too gentlemanlike and well-bred, not to live in outward good fellowship with each, other, but their resjiective and relative antecedents could not be forgotten. There could be no real cordiality between Palmerston and Aberdeen, or between Palm- erston and John Russell, and both the latter all along felt uncomfortable and dissatisfied with their respective positions. Lord John fancied he was degraded, and his flatterers en- deavored to persuade him he was so, by joining a govern- ment of which he was not the head, and by serving under Aberdeen. Palmerston could not forget the long and bitter hostility which had been carried on between himself and Aberdeen upon foreign policy, and still less his having been turned out of the Foreign Office by John Eussell. The Whigs were dissatisfied that the Peelites, who had no party to bring to the support of the Government, should have so large a share of the offices, and above all the great bulk of the Whig party could not endure that a Peelite should be at the head of the Government, and of all the Peelites they most particularly disliked Aberdeen, so that they yielded a reluct- ant allegiance, and gave a grudging and capricious support to thev'iQoalitioil. Nevc^rtheloss, the first session of Parliament was pretty well got through, principally owing to Gladstone's success- ful Budget, the great ability he displayed in the House of Commons, and the efficient way in which the public busi- ness was done, while the numerous measures of improve- ment which were accomplished raised the reputation of the Government, and gave them security if not strength. The Session of 1853 closed in quiet, prosperity, and sunshine, but during the recess clouds began to gather round the Govern- ment ; they were beset with internal and external difficulties. John Russell became more and more discontented, and at 154 EEIGX OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VI. last he announced to Aberdeen that he was resolved not to meet Parliament again in his present position, and intimated his intention to be once more Prime Minister or to quit the concern. In the meantime the Turco-Eussian quarrel had begun, the hostile correspondence with Eussia was in full activity, the public mind in a high state of excitement, the press bellowed for war and poured forth incessant volleys of abuse against the Grovernment, but more particularly against Aberdeen, who was singled out as the object of attack, and the persevering attempts to render him unpopular produced a certain amount of effect. The Cabinet became divided as to the mode of carrying on the dispute and the negotiations, some being for what were called vigorous measures, that is, for threats and demonstrations of force which could only lead to immediate war, while others were for exhausting every attempt to bring about an accommodation and preserve peace. Something was known or suspected of these divis- ions, they were published and commented on with enormous exaggerations and the most unscrupulous violations of truth, and the Tory and Eadical newspapers vied with each other in the violence of their denunciations of Aberdeen, and in a less degree, of Clarendon. When this fury was at its height, the world was startled and astounded by the news of Palmerston's resignation. It is needless to state here the history of that affair, which I have already recorded in ample detail. It was in vain that the *' Times " proclaimed that it was the Eeform Bill and not the Eastern Question which was the cause of it. The state- ment was scouted with the utmost scorn, and the public in- credulity was confirmed when the ''Morning Post," which was notoriously devoted to Palmerston, asserted the direct contrary. Everybody imagined that the Government would go to pieces, that when Parliament met there would be pro- digious revelations, and that the Eastern Question with^its supposed mismanagement would prove fatal to the Coalition Cabinet. The Derbyites were in raptures, and already counted on Palmerston as their own. Great as had been the public surprise and the exultation of the Carlton Club at Palmerston's resignation, greater still was that surprise and the mortification and disappointment of the Carlton, when a few days afterward it was announced that Palmerston had changed his mind and was not going to resign, l^obody could comprehend what it all meant, and ample scope was 1854.] THE BLUE BOOKS. 155 afforded to every sort of conjecture, and to all the statements and inventions tliat anybody chose to circulate. But as about the same time the Eastern affair progressed a step or two, and some energetic measures were adopted, the most plausible explanation was, that Palmerston had resigned because enough was not done, that the Government had been frightened into doing what he had before advised, and that, on their adopting his suggestion, he had consented to remain. In process of time the truth began to ooze out, but it never was comj^letely known till Parliament met, and even then many people continued to believe that though the Reform Bill was the pretext, the Eastern Question was the real cause of Palmerstou's conduct. These threatening clouds cleared away. Aberdeen told Lord John nothing should induce him to resign after all the attacks that had been made on him, and he would meet Parliament and defend himself. Lord John gave up his demands, and consented to go on leading the House of Commons. Palmerston agreed to swallow the Reform Bill, and at length Parliament met. Everybody was ravenous for the Blue Books, which as soon as possible were produced. Their production was eminently serviceable to the Govern- ment, and though some criticisms were made, and tliero were some desultory attacks in both Houses, and the press continued to be as scurrilous and abusive as ever, the general impression was extremely favorable. Clarendon's despatches were highly approved of, and all fair and candid observers, including many who had found fault with the Government before, declared that they were perfectly satis- fied that our policy had been wise and proper, and the whole of the negotiations very creditable to all who had been concerned in carrying them on. So little did the event correspond with the general expectation, that the Eastern Question, which had been considered to be the weak part of the Government, turned out to be its greatest strength; and the war which eventually broke out has been the principal cause of their being able to maintain themselves in power. It is now the fashion to say that if it were not for the Avar,' they would have been turned out long ago. It is certainly true that their power in the House of Commons has been limited to all that concerns the war, in. respect to whioh they have had no difficulty to contend with. The estimates have' been granted without a semblance of opposition, and they 156 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VI. have received hearty and unanimous support in every meas- ure and every demand requisite for carrying on the war, nor, though exposed to some adverse criticism, have they been seriously assailed with regard to their diplomacy or their warlike jDreparations. But while this, which is the most essential, has also been their strongest point, on everthing else, without exception, they have been almost powerless, and the House of Commons has run riot with an independence and waywardness and a caprice of which it would be impossible to find an example. The Government has had no majority on which it could depend, and it has never brought forward any measure which it could count upon carrying through. Obliged to withdraw many measures altogether, and to submit to the alteration of others till they became totally different from what they originally proposed, their defeats have been innu- merable, and nobody seems to have the smallest scruple in putting them in a minority upon any occasion; at the same time it was very evident that the House of Commons was determined that they should continue in office, for when- ever any vital question arose, or any vote which could be con- strued into a question of confidence, and therefore involved the existence of the Government, they were always sure of a majority, and the Derbyite opposition, while they were able to worry and insult them by partial defeats and by exposing their general weakness, found themselves miserably baffled whenever they attempted anything which had a tendency to place the Government in serious embarrassment. The whole conduct of the Session, and the relations of the Government with the House of Commons, presented something certamly very different from what had ever been seen before in the memory of the oldest statesman, implied a total dissolution of party ties and obligations, and exhibited the Queen's Govern- ment and the House of Commons as resolved into their separate elements, and acting toward each other in independent and often antagonistic capacities. Disraeli was always reproach- ing the Government with holding office on what he termed the unconstitutional principle of not being supported by a majority of the House of Commons, and of living from hand to mouth ; but though this was a plausible topic, he knew very well that no other government could be formed which could exist otherwise, and that the House of Commons, while it buffeted the Government about au gre de ses caprices, was 1854.] PRECARIOUS TENURE OF THE MLXISTRY. 157 quite determined to keep it alive, and not to allow any other to be substituted for it. At present it is difficult to see how this state of things is to be altered, and time alone can show whether great parties will again be formed, and governments be enabled to go on as in times past, powerful in a consistent and continual Parliamentary support, or whether a great change must be submitted to, and governments be content to drag on a precarious existence, taking what they can get from the House of Commons, and endeavoring to strengthen themselves by enlisting public opinion on their side. With regard to the prospects of this Government, much depends on the progress of the war ; for though they have done their part and are not responsible for failure of success, they are sure to be strengthened by success or weakened by failure. But much depends also upon what passes in the Cabinet. John Russell, whose mind is in a state of chronic discontent which was suspended for a time, is again becom- ing uneasy and restless, and will soon begin making fresh difficulties. Then his Reform Bill, which he gave up so reluctantly, is still in his thoughts, and he will most likely insist upon bringing it forward again, a proposition which is sure to produce dissension in the Cabinet. CHAPTER VIT. Difficulties of the Campaisrn— Prince Albert and the King- of Prussia — The Prince froea to France— Military Commanders — Critical Relations of the Ministers — The Crimea— The Emperor Napoleon and Prince Albert— Austria and the Allies — The Landinject of the Foreign Enlistment Bill was to enable the Government to enlist 15,000 foreigners in the British anny to be drilled in this country. It was denounced and opposed especially in the House of Lords as a dangerous and unconstitutional measure, but it eventually passed, and a considerable num- ber of Germans were enlisted under it.] 182 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VII. haps Ellenborough. However, all this is vague speculation, and not worth following out. December 20th. — Government got a majority of 39, better than was expected. Lord John threatened to resign if he was beaten. The debate will not do them much good when it is read, nor serve to render their measure more popular. Everybody thinks the whole affair has been grossly misman- aged, and that, instead of making a mystery of their inten- tions, they ought to have thrown out such intimations of them as would have elicited public opinion ; but the truth is, not one of them had the least suspicion that the measure would meet with any resistance or even objection, nor would there have been any if Ellenborough had not started the hare, and then Derby and his party joyfully availed them- selves of the opportunity to do mischief, and joined in the cry. When the bill was announced, Derby never dreamt of opposing it. The arguments against the measure seem to me very plausible, except the constitutional one, which is all stuff, and in which none of those who urge it are sincere ; on the other hand, the former precedents do not apply in this case. The best argument for it is, that Eaglan wants trained men as soon as possible, and complains that they send nothing but boys, who are of little use at first, and who die in great numbers under the hardships and privations the climate and the operations inflict on them. Not only were the Government totally imconscious of the opposition they should encounter, but, when they found the steam was get- ting up, they neglected to enter into such explanations and make out such a case as might, if well done, have extin- guished dissension in the beginning. All this displays a want of prudence and foresight, for in a matter of such im- portance it is not enough to say that they did not expect any fault to be found with their proposal, and they ought to have employed some means to see what was likely to be thought of it before they committed themselves to it. They ought to have ascertained how it was to be carried into effect, and if they could count upon its success, and to be able to give Parliament some assurance of it, instead of saying they had taken no initiative steps out of affected deference to consti- tutional scruples, and knew not how they were to get the men they are asking for. It seems the general opinion of their own friends that they have mismanaged their case, and plunged into a difficulty they might have avoided. The best 1864.] L0I:D RAGLAN'S DEFICIENCIES. 183 way of avoiding it would have been to raise a regiment or two without applying to Parliament at all, mustered and arrayed them at Malta or at Heligoland, or wherever they pleased out of England, and sent them off as an experimenb to the Crimea. Then, if they had done good service, and Kaglan had expressed his satisfaction and asked for more, they might have raised any number and landed them here without cavil or objection ; but to have adopted this course they must have seen the necessity of feeling their way, which not one of them did. The great complaint now is the want of organisation and good arrangement in the Crimea, and generally at and about the seat of war, the confusion that has taken place in forwarding and distributing supplies, and the want of all expedients for facilitating the service in its various branches. There is much truth in all this, but the responsibility for it rests upon Raglan, who, if he had been of a prompt and energetic character, would have looked to these things, seen what was wanting, and have taken care to provide everything and set the necessary machinery in mo- tion. He had carte blanche from the Government as to money and everything else, and, if he had concerted what was necessary with Stratford, and insisted on his exerting himself, I believe none of the complaints would have been made, and none of the deficiencies have been found. This is what the Duke of Wellington would have done, and his despatches are full of proofs that it is what he was always doing. December 2Uh. — The third reading of the Enlistment Bill carried by 38, after a very fine speech from Bright, con- sisting of a part of his letter with its illustrations. In my opinion this speech was unanswerable, and no attempt was made to answer it. He was very severe on both Lord John and Palmerston. It is impossible that such reasoning as Bright's should not make some impression in the country ; but I do not think any reasoning however powerful, or any display of facts however striking, can stem the torrent of public opinion, which still clamors for war and is so burn- ing with hatred against Russia that no peace could be deemed satisfactory, or even tolerable, that did not humble Russia to the dust and strip her of some considerable territory. Yesterday the *' Times" ventured on an article against Raglan as the cause of the disorder and confusion and consequent privations which prevail in the army. 184 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VII. Delane wrote to me about it, and said he was aware lie should be bitterly reviled for speaking these truths. I agree entirely with what he said, and see no reason why the saddle should not be put upon the right horse. Tlie Grove, December 31s?f, 1854. — The last day of one of the most melancholy and disastrous years I ever recollect. Almost everybody is in mourning, and grief and despair over- spread the land. At the beginning of the year we sent forth an army amidst a tumult of joyous and triumphant antici- pation, and everybody full of confidence and boasting and expecting to force the Emperor Nicholas in the shortest possible time humbly to sue for peace, and the only question was, what terms we should vouchsafe to grant him, and how much of his dominions we should leave him in possession of. Such presumptuous boasting and confidence have been signally humbled, and the end of this year sees us deploring the deaths of friends and relations without number, and our army perishing before the walls of Sebastopol, which we are unaijle to take, and, after bloody victories and prodigies of valor, the Eussian power hardly as yet diminished or im- paired. All last week I was at Hatchford with Lord Grey, when we did nothing but talk over the war, its management and mismanagement, Raglan, etc. Grey's criticisms are clever and not unfair, far from favorable to the Government, but detesting Derby, of whom he has the worst opinion, formed from a very ancient date and upon long experience of his character and conduct. Grey's idea is that there has been much mismanagement here and still greater on the spot, and that Raglan is quite incompetent and, as far as we can see, nobody else any better. The opinion about Raglan appears to be rapidly gaining ground, and the Ministers have arrived at the same conclusion. I came here yesterday to meet Cowley, come over for a few days from Paris, and to have a talk with him and Clarendon. Cowley says that the alliance between the two countries is very hollow, and in fact there is nobody in France really friendly to us except the Emperor, Persigny, and perhaps Drouyn de Lhuys. The Emperor is bent on pursu- ing the war with vigor, and is sensible of the importance to himself of the French flag being triumphant. I asked him what they thought of our armies and our generals ; he said from the Emperor downward they had the highest admira- tion for the wonderful bravery of the troops, but the greatest 1854.] THE FRENCH ALLIANCE. 185 contempt for the military skill of the commanders, and for all onr arrangements and savoir faire. He told its the follow- ing anecdote as a proof of the blundering way in which our aifairs arc conducted. Newcastle wrote to him lately to beg he would ask the French Government to give us a model of certain carts their army used in the Crimea, the like of which our people there had applied to him for. The French Minister replied that he covild give drawings, but had no model ; but at the same time he advised us not to think of having similar ones, as these carts are so ill adapted for the purpose that they had discarded them, and had ordered others and better ones to be made, which were now in course of construction at Malta. So that we propose to get these machines without finding out whether they are suitable or not, while the French supply themselves with the proper article m our oion territory. I find from Clarendon that he is not only fully alive to Kaglan's inefficiency, but has all along suspected it, and now the Government seem to have the same conviction; still they can take no step in the matter, for he has done nothing and omitted nothing so flagrantly as to call for or justify his re- call, and if they were to recall him they do not know where to look for a better man to replace him. The .war has hith- erto failed to elicit any remarkable abilities or special apti- tude for war, except in one instance, that of Captain Butler, the defender of Silistria, a young man of remarkable promise who, if he had lived, would probably have done great things and have risen to distinction. Canrobert writes to his Government that he hopes soon to attempt the assault, but the Emperor and M. Vaillant by no means approve of it, and have sent him orders not actually prohibiting it, but enjoining caution in such a manner as will most probably effectually deter him from doing any- thing. They all think that the capture of the place could only be achieved (if at all) at a great cost of life, and that the captors could not hold it for many hours, as they would be pounded from the Northern forts which entirely command the place. We discussed Austria and what she will do when the Russian answer comes to the last communication of the Con- ference at Vienna, and what she can do. Even if she recalls her ambassador from St. Petersburg and declares war, Cowley thinks she will never cross bayonets with the Russians or fire 186 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VII. a shot unless attacked ; and he believes, on what appear good grounds, that if any fighting takes place between the Aus- trians and the Eussians, the former will get beaten, and that the Russian army is much the best of the two. This is the reverse of the general notion, but it seems that the Austrian officers themselves are of that opinion. It is no wonder, therefore, that they have no mind to go to war and to en- counter this danger to accommodate us, whom they still cor- dially hate on many accounts, but especially for the Haynau affair, which still rankles in their hearts and in which they think their uniform was insulted. A propos of this. Clarendon told me that the Queen was talking to him very lately about this affair, and told him that she had entreated Palmerston at the time to write some expression of regret to the Austrian Government, but that nothing would induce him to do it, and he never did. I asked Clarendon what was Palmerston's present tone about the war. He said he was very uneasy about the army and its condition, but Just as confident as ever as to the final result of the war, and as lofty in his ideas of the terms of peace we should exact from Russia. He is all for restoring the Crimea to Turkey, and, what is more, he has persuaded the Emperor Napoleon to embrace that opinion. As usual, he never sees any difficulty in anything he wishes to do. I told Cowley and Clarendon what Grey said — viz. that he agreed entirely with Bright's letter, and that the war might have been avoided by either of the two courses — to have told the Emperor of Russia in the beginning we would make war on him if he persisted, and compelled to understand that we really meant it, or to have forced the Turks to accept the Vienna Note ; and, in either case, war would have been avoided, but that the Cabinet itself being divided, every- thing was done in a spirit of compromise, and a middle course adopted which led to all the mischief. Cowley an- swered the first alternative and Clarendon the second. Cow- ley said that one of the great difficulties of the British Gov- ei-nment was to secure concert with the French, and to ex- plain their own conduct without hurting the susceptibility of their allies or divulging what passed between the two Gov- ernments. The French were perpetually blowing hot and cold, with a false air of vigor superior to our's at one mo- ment, and at another wanting to do what our Ministers would have been torn to pieces for consenting to. For in- 1854,] NEGOTIATIONS WITH FRANCE. 187 stance, in spite of us they would send their fleet to the Dardanelles to support the Turks, and afterward they pro- posed to send the two fleets to Constantinople to compel the Sultan to sign the Vienna Note. Cowley told me this war in its present shape and with these vast armaments had gone on insensibly and from small beginnings, nobody could well tell how. In the first instance, the Emperor told Cowley he had no intention of sending any land forces to the East, and when we proposed to him to despatch there a small corps of 5,000 English and 10,000 French, he positively declined. Soon after Sir John Burgoyne was sent to examine and re- port on the state of the country and he gave an opinion that it would be desirable to send such a force to occupy a forti- fied position at Gallipoli in case of the Russians making a sudden attack with their fleet on Constantinople, in which case our fleets might be in some danger. Cowley took him to the Emperor, to whom he told his story. The Emperor said he thought his reasons good, and this was a definite and tangible object, and he would send the ft-oops. When Eag- lan was ofEered the command of the forces we were to send out, he said he would not go with less than 20,000 men ; and when we agreed to send this force, the French said if we sent 20,000 they must send 40,000, and so the expedition began, and it has since swelled to its present magnitude — our's in consequence of the clamor here and pressure from without, and their's to keep pace with our's in relative pro- portions. With regard to the Vienna Note, Clarendon said Stratford never would have let the Turks sign it, and if they had recalled him the Cabinet here would have been broken up, Palmerston would have gone out, Stratford would have come home frantic and have proclaimed to the whole country that the Turks had been sacrificed and be- trayed, and the uproar would have been so great that it would have been impossible to carry out the intention. I think the first answer is more weighty than the last, and that the popular clamor and Palmerston's secession ought to have been encountered at whatever hazard rather than per- sist in the fatal course which could hardly fail to lead, and did eventually lead, us into this deplorable war. 188 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VIII. CHAPTER VIII. Lord Jo'hn''s Views on tlie Ministry — Gloomy Prospects — Attacks on Lord Eagkn — Bns- sian and Prussian Diplonaacy — Lord Paimerston more in favor — French "View o/the British Army — Russian Negotiations — Lord John Kussell in Paris — Conferei^e ;it Tiecna — Lord Kaglan unmoved — Terms ])roposed to Russia — Failure of the Doike of Newcastle — Hesitation of Austria and France — Deplorable State of the Afirmie^ — Chances of Peace — Meeting of Parliament — Fm-ther Negotiations — Lord John Ei/^ell resi^i*— Ministers stay in — The Debate on Koebuck's Motion — Kesignation o^n^^ord Abenjeen— Lord John Kussell's real AiadVes — Lord Derby sent for — and fails — Wise Decision of the Queen — Ministerial Na^tiations — Lord Palmerston sent for — ThePeel- ites reluse to join — Lord PalmerstorfTorms a Government — Lord Palmerston's Pms- f e t; — Lord John Eussell sent to Vienna — Lord Palmerston in the House of Com- mons — General Alarm — Difflcuities of Lord Palmerston — The Peelites secede— Lord John accepts the Oolonial Office — Sir George Lewis Chancellor of the Exchequer — • Death of the Emperor Nicholas of Eussia— Lord Palmerston supposed to be a weak Debater — Weakness of the Government — Fresh Arrangements — Tlie Budget — The Press. January 2d, 1855. — I received yesterday a letter from the Duke of Bedford relating to the views and position of Lord John Eussell. He had talked over his position with the Duke, disclaimed any wish to be again Prime Minister, but desired Lord Lansdowne should be in the post ; that he liked personally both Aberdeeruand Newcastle, but thought them unfit for the emergency. He had proposed that Palmerston should be War Minister but was overruled, and now (the Duke asks) what is he to do if a vote of censure on the management of the war is proposed in the House of Commons, thinking as he does that it has been mismanaged ? He would willingly break up this Government, which he really thinks a very bad one (what he wrote to Clarendon being his deliberate opinion), if he could see a chance of a better being substituted, and if h.e thought Derby could carry on the war more efficiently, which he does not. This letter is a complete reply to the objection Clarendon urged against Palmerston's being War Minister, for if Lord John himself wished it, nobody else could well object. He ought to have insisted on it, and, if he had, it must have been done. Nothing can wear a gloomier aspect than affairs do at home and abroad — the Government weak, unpopular, dis- pirited, and divided, the army in- the Crimea in a deplorable state, and the prospects of the war far from brilliant, no con- fidence in the commanding officers there, and no likelihood of finding more competent ones, everybody agreeing that till we have 150,000 men in the Crimea we cannot count on taking Sebastopol, and the difficulty of ever assembling such a force appearing very great. So far as I can collect, the 1855.] CENSURES OF LORD RAGLAN. 189 violent: articles which the "Times " emits day after day have excited general resentment and disgust. They overdo every- thing, and, while they are eternally changing their course, the one they follow for the moment they follow with an outrageous violence which shocks everybody. But as those who complain most of the " Times " still go on reading it, the paper only gets more rampant and insolent, for as long as its circulation is undiminished it does not care what any- body thinks or says of it. January 4/A. — I wrote the Duke an answer with my opinion on Lord John's position and obligations, which has elicited another from him this morning. He says that it was a few weeks ago that John made a formal proposal to Aber- deen that Palmerston should replace Newcastle at the War Department. Abej-deen desired time to consider, and then refused. Subsequently the matter was renewed, when Palm- erston himself objected, and then it necessarily ended. The Duke thinks that Lord John will not now stir it again, and will make up his mind to go on, and to defend his Govern- ment in the House of Commons. He consulted Sir George Grey, Lord Lansdowne, and Panmure, and they all advised him not to resign. It is strange that while this is imparted to me " very confidentially," and I had heard nothing of it before, it is currently reported, and stated positively in the " Morning Herald," that Lord John and others, mentioned bv name, have insisted on Newcastle's being turned out. That some part of what has occurred has got out is clear, and I incline to think that some of his satellites have set to work, and that, by way of assisting Lord John's object, they have given notice of what was going on to some of the Der- byites. There is a mysterious allusion to some impending event in the " Press " on Saturday last, which looks very like this. The ''Times" goes on against Eaglan with greater vehe- mence every day, and Avill not be restrained by any remon- strances. Evans has put himself in communication with Delane (though certainly having no hand in these attacks) and has sent him an account of his having addressed a letter to Canrobert many days before the battle of Inkerman for the purpose of getting hirn to assist in taking precautionary measures to resist the attack he was persuaded the Russians would make, and Canrobert's answer, in which he says that his means are curtailed by the necessity of providing for the 190 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VIII. defence of Balaklaya, and of extending his line and making dispositions ''dans I'interet de la situation commune/' but that he has ordered Bosquet to move nearer to Evans' divi- sion, and to be in readiness if anything should happen. There was a passage omitted in the printed letter of Evans to Raglan in which he alludes to the neglect of the precau- tionary measures he had recommended. Gortschakofl has declared the Emperor of Eussia will accept the first, second, and fourth articles of the four points, and will consider of the third. This may mean that he really wishes to make peace, or only be done for the sake of Austria, and to give her a pretext for not declaring against him. Clarendon is satisfied with Usedom, but not at all with his proposals. He says the King of Prussia has sent him to try and make a treaty with France and England en- tirely out of jealousy and mortification at Austria having made one, but he does not propose one similar to the Aus- trian Treaty, only a defensive one. Clarendon says the King in his heart hates Russia and winces under the influence he submits to, that he is indignant at the insults which have been heaped on him by his Imperial brother-in-law, and the contumely with which he has been treated, but, being physi- cally and politically a coward, he has not energy to shake off the yoke he has suffered to be imposed on him. Aldenham, January 6th. — I came here to-day. I saw Cowley yesterday, who has been to Windsor, and tells me that he finds by conversations he has had with Stockmar that the Queen is much softened toward Palmerston and no longer regards him with the extreme aversion she did. On the other hand, she is very angry with John Russell, and this is, of course, from knowing what he has been doing, and resentment at his embarrassing and probably breaking up the Government. This relaxation in her feelings toward Palmerston is very important at this moment, and presents the chance of an alternative which, if this Government fails, may save her from Derby and his crew, whom she cordially detests. I hear Newcastle is very low, as well he may be, for no man was ever placed in so painful a position, and it is one from which it is impossible for him to extricate himself. When the Government goes to pieces, as I am persuaded it will, the Queen is very likely to send for Palmerston, and he and Ellenborough, as War Minister, might make a Govern- ment that would probably stand during the war, and which 1856.] CANROBERT'S OPINION OF BRITISH ARMY. 191 in present circumstances the House of Commons and the country could not but support. My notion is that Lord John would not take any office, but would support Palmer- ston, and advise all his friends and followers to do so. I know no reason why Ellenborough should not act with any- body, and many of the present Government might stay in, and certain changes be made which would let in more Whigs, and so conciliate that party, while the Conservatives would abstain from supporting any Government which did not con- tain Aberdeen and Newcastle. Gladstone might be a diffi- culty ; Clarendon would be none, for he and Palmerston have pulled very well together, and I have no doubt Palmer- ston would be very happy to keep him. This opens a new prospect, and one very preferable to having Derby and his friends in office again. I asked Cowley about Canrobert's confidential letters to his Government on the state of our army of which I had heard. He said it was very true, and he had seen several of these letters, in which Canrobert said that nothing could exceed his admiration of the British soldiers, but he was convinced the army would disappear altogether, for their organization and management were deplorable ; and he en- treated his Government, if they possibly could, to interpose in the interest of the common cause to procure some ameli- oration of the organization, without which nothing could save the army from destruction. The Emperor, Cowley said, never mentioned our troops or commanders to him except in terms of respect and with expressions of his ad- miration, but he knew that to others he spoke in a very different tone, and said that our army was commanded by an old woman. January 12th. — I returned to town last night. The Emperor of Russia's acceptance of the four points, as inter- preted by us, of course excites hopes of peace, but I think few people are sanguine as to the result. It is suspected to be only a dodge to paralyze the action of Austria, but unless there was some secret concert with Austria, which is not likely, I cannot see what Russia is to gain by accepting conditions which she does not really mean to abide by. Such conduct could only deceive the Allies for a short time, and, as there is no question of any suspension of military operations, nothing would be gained in that respect, while as soon as some decisive test of the Emperor's sincerity was 192 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. Vni. applied, his real meaning must be made manifest, and then not only wonld the acharnement of the Western Powers be increased, but it would be quite imjiossible for Austria not to join the Coalition, and to act yerily and indeed against Eussia. These reasons would induce me to put faith in the Kussian announcement ; on the other hand, it is barely credible that the Emperor should consent to the sacrifice of Sebastopol in the present state of the campaign, and with the almost certainty that we cannot take it for many months to come, if at all. John Russell is gone to Paris, not for any political object, but merely to see one of his wife's sisters ; but his journey there and conversations with the Emperor may not be with- out some consequences. I hear almost daily from the Duke of Bedford on the subject of John's conduct, the conduct of the war, and the state of the Goyernment. For the present he appears to desist from doing anything to make an explo- sion. The curious thing is that the public, and particularly the Derbyite, newspapers should be so well informed as they are of what is going on. Though the immediate danger of a break up seems to be over, I still think the animus Lord John exhibits, the manifold difficulties of the Government, and their undoubted though unjust unpopularity, will before long break them to pieces. January lith. — I met Clarendon last night and had a talk about affairs at home and abroad. John Eussell at Paris is satisfied with his couA'ersation with the Emperor, who agreed that we could make no peace but one which would be glorious for us. Clarendon does not believe the Emperor of Russia really means to sacrifice Sebastopol, and thinks when he sent his acceptance of the four points he was not apprised of what had passed in the Conference, which was merely verbal. Gortschakoff, in a passion, said, " I suppose you mean to limit our naval force, or to dismantle Sebastopol, or both ; " to which they replied, " Yes " ; but nothing was put in writing to this effect. This makes a great difference, but I do not despair. There is a great question about a negotiator, and the Queen and Prince want Clarendon himself to go. He refused point blank ; he does not like to leave it to Westmorland alone. I suggested Can- ning, but he thought Canning had not had experience enough, and that it ought to be a Cabinet Minister, and asked, ' ' Why not Palmerston ? " I objected the difficulty 1855.] LOKD RAGLAN'S COMPOSURE. 193 of relying on him, his hatred of Austria, and the terror he would inspire ; and I said Granville might do, but tliat I saw no reason why he should not go himself if he had reason to think it was likely to succeed, though I Avould not go merely to return re infectd. We then talked of Lord John and of Newcastle, lie said that Newcastle is exceedingly slow, and has a slow mind, but that there is no case what- ever for turning him out, and he cannot be blamed for the failures in matters of detail, and as for the great measures the responsibility belongs alike to all. Lord John never is and never will be satisfied without being again Prime Minis- ter, which is impossible. 1 said the Duke of Bedford as- sured me that his brother did not noio want to be Prime Minister. " What does he want then ? — to retire alto- gether ?" "Yes,'' said Clarendon, ''that is his intense self- ishness ; utterly regardless of the public interests, or of what may happen, he wants to relieve himself from the re- sponsibility of a situation which is not so good as he desires, and to run away from his post at a moment of danger and difficulty. If we had some great success — if Sebastopol were taken, for example — we should hear no more of his retire- ment." As matters are, however. Clarendon thinks very ill of them abroad and at home. This disposition of Lord John's keeps the Government in constant hot water, and no confidence can be placed in Raglan, while it is impossible to find anybody who would, as far as we can judge, do any better. The Court are exceedingly annoyed and alarmed at Eaglan's failure ; the Prince showed Clarendon (or told him of) a letter from Colonel Steele, who said that he had no idea how great a mind Raglan really had, but that he now saw it, for in the midst of distresses and difficulties of every kind in which the army was involved he was perfectly serene and undisturbed, and his health excellent ! Steele meant this as a panegyric, and did not see that it really conveyed a severe reproach. The conviction of his incapacity for so great a command gains ground every day ; he has failed in those qualities where everybody expected he would have suc- ceeded best, even those who thought nothing of his military genius. But, having learned what he knows of war under the Duke, he might at least have known how he carried on war, and have imitated his attention to minute details and a general supervision of the different services, seeing that all 9 194 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VIII. was in order and tlie merely mechanical parts properly at- tended to on which so much of the efficiency as well as of the comfort of the army depended.^ January 19t7i. — We are still uncertain as to the real in- tentions of the Emperor of Russia, and whether he means to accept the terms offered by the Allies ; hut my own im- pression is that he will not accept them in cur sense, and that he never will consent to the sacrifice of Sehastopol till we have taken the place and destroyed the fortifications, thereby rendering its dismantling a fait accompli. There is cer- tainly nothing in the present state of our affairs which war- rants our lofty pretensions, and the proposal of terms so humiliating to the Emperor. The only possible grounds that can be imagined for his acceptance are, his own knowledge of the state of his own country and of the resources he can command for carrying on the war, and a dispassionate and farsighted calculation of the disposition and of the resources of his opponents. It is not impossible that he may foresee that he must eventually succumb in a contest so unequal and in which the number of his enemies increases every day. He may deem it better to make certain sacrifices now, with the view of being able before long to retrieve his losses, than to expose himself to the chance and great probability of being obliged to make much greater sacrifices hereafter, and such as it will be more difficult for him to repair. The Duke of Bedford tells me that Aberdeen and Clarendon are both hopeless of peace, and that Lord John and Palmerston do not consider it so absolutely hopeless ; Aberdeen says the negotiations will not last half an hour. The accounts from the army are as bad as possible ; one third of it is in the hospitals, and the quays of Balaklava are loaded with enormous stores of every kind, which it was impossible to transport to the camp. Very intelligent peo- ple therefore entertain the greatest apprehension of some catastrophe occurring whenever the severity of the winter, which has hitherto been comparatively mild, sets in. The best security is in the equally distressed state of the Russians, and in fact nothing but this can account for their having left us alone so long. 1 [It may be proper to remark that a different and far more favorable view of Lord Eaglan's capacity as a General will be found in/ra at the beginning of Chapter XII. of this Journal, upon the evidence of Sir Edmund Lyons, who was entirely in the confidence of the Commander-in-Chief.] 185o.] ILL CONDUCT OF TUE WAR. 195 The Duke of Bedford and I talked over the state of af- fairs here, and the political possibilities in the event of this Government falling to pieces or being compelled to resign. We both desire any arrangement rather than another Derby Government, and we agree in thinking that on the whole the best would be for Lord Lansdowne to undertake the forma- tion of a Government, if ho can be persuaded to do so, which does not appear wholly impossible. This would satisfy Lord John, who would then remain in his present othce, half a dozen of the present Cabinet would go out, some Whigs might replace them, and the thing would undonbtedly go on for a time. It is impossible for Newcastle to continue to conduct the war, with the universal clamor there is against him and the opinion of his own colleagues (at least of such of them as I know the opinions of) that he is unfit for the post. He has two very great faults which are sufficient to disqualify him : he is exceedingly slow, and he knows noth- ing of the qualifications of other men, or how to provide himself with competent assistants ; nor has he any decision or foresight. He chose for his under-sccretaries two wholly incompetent men who have been of no use to him in manag- ing and expediting the various details of the service, and he has a rage for doing everything himself, by which means nothing is done, or done so tardily as to be of no use. Then all the subordinate Boards are miserably administered, and the various useless, inefficient, or worn out officers have been suffered to remain at their posts, to the enormous detriment of the service. The genius of Lord Chatham or the energy and will of the Duke of Wellington would have failed with such a general staff here, and with such a Commander-in- Chief as Hardinge, and with the fahieantise of Eaglan. January 20th. — It is only by degrees one can unravel the truth in political affairs. John Russell told me last night that Austria has never given in her adhesion to our condi- tion of making the destruction of Sebastopol a sine qua non of peace. She joins us in insisting on the "faire cesser la prepotence," but the means of accomplishing this remain to be discussed. This is very different from what I had imag- ined, and makes it anything but certain that she will join her forces to ours, if the negotiations fail in consequence of our demands. We are now endeavoring to bring the Court of Vienna into an agreement with us as to the conditions to be required, and it is no easy matter to get the Cabinet to 196 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. YIII. agree upon the wording of the communications we make to her. This arises from the necessity of looking to the effect of what will appear in the Blue Books. Blue Books, Parlia- mentary discussions, and the Press tie up the hands of a Government, fetter its discretion and deliberate policy, and render diplomatic transactions (especially with Governments whose hands are more free) excessively difficult. Granville told me yesterday morning that the course of Eussia had been more straightforward than that of England and France, and this morning he reminded me of having said so, and added that we were in a great diplomatic mess, France always finessing and |)laying a game of her OAvn ; and I infer from what he said that, having got all she can out of us, she is now coquetting with Austria, and disposed to defer to her wishes and objects, and to be less exigeante toward Eussia. This is only of a piece with what Clarendon has often said to m_e about France and her way of dealing with us ; how- ever, if France will only insist on making peace on plausible terms, and with the semblance of its being an honorable and consistent peace, we cannot do otherwise than acquiesce in her determination, and if we only follow the lead she takes, the public here must needs be satisfied. This is Granville's own idea, as it is mine, and God grant that affairs may take this turn, and so we may get out of the tremendous scrape we are in, the escape from which will be cheaply purchased by the fall of the Government — a consequence that is almost certain if it does not happen before anything can be done. Day after day the accounts from the Crimea represent a more deplorable state of things, entirely confirmative of Canrobert's statements to his own Government, and it is difficult to read them and not apprehend some fatal catas- trophe. _ We know nothing of the state of the Eussians either within or without Sebastopol, and this ignorance is not one of the least remarkable circumstances in this war, but we must conclude either that their condition is as bad as ours and that they are unable to attack us, or that their policy is to let the winter do its work, and that they do not think it necessary for them to fight sanguinary battles with very doubtful results when disease is ravaging the allied army and producing effects as advantageous for them as the most complete victories could do, as surely, only more gradually. January 22d. — Every day one looks with anxiety to see and to hear whether the chances of peace look well or ill. 1855.] ABORTIVE NEGOTIATIONS. 197 and at present they look very ill. Clarendon seems to set his face against it — that is, he considers it hopeless ; and it is not promising that the negotiations should be under the management of one who has no hopes of bringing them to a successful issue, and whose despair of it evidently arises from his determination to exact conditions that there is no chance of obtaining. I hear, too, this morning, that the instructions to Bourqueney are to be as cxigeant as possible — not very wise pretensions anyhow, but they rather indicate the tone adopted by England than the real intentions of France, for it is one thing to make great demands and another to persist in them. It is, however, idle to speculate on the jDrogress of a negotia- tion which must be so largely influenced by the operations and events of the war. Parliament meets to-morrow, and I think a ^ry short tims will elapse before the fate _^ the Government is decided by some vote about the conduct of the war. I think the Government themselves desire it, and, conscious of the state of public opinion and of the deplorable state of affairs, and most of them thinking there has been great and fatal mismanagement, they wish the question to be decided, would not be sorry to be driven out by an ad- verse vote, and consider that it would be a better and more respectable way of ending than by those mternal di.ssensions, which, like a cancer, arc continually undermining them. John Russell sees nothing but difficulties in the formation of another Government of a Whig complexion including a large portion of the present Ministers, and says that he does not think Lord Lansdowne would, or that he or Palmerston could accomplish it. He means now to stand by his col- leagues, to accept his share of responsibility, and defend what has been done. / January 23d. — Parliament meets to-da/, and probably no time will be lost in attacking the Government, but it is impossible yet to know whether they will be harassed by a continual succession of skirmishes and bitter comments on details, or whether some grand and decisive assault will be made. The general impression is that the War Department cannot remain in Newcastle's hands, and if he cannot be got rid of without the whole Ministry going to pieces it must so end. I think this is pretty much the opinion of the Minis- ters themselves ; and though I believe they all, or most of them, personally like him, they seem, so far as I can see, to be agreed that he is unequal to his post. 198 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VIII. With regard to peace, the prospect looks anything but bright. The negotiations will not begin till we receive posi- tive information as to the meaning of the Emperor of Eussia in accepting the four points. Some weeks ago Clarendon wrote a despatch to Westmorland, in which he stated ex- plicitly the meaning we attached to the four points, but this has never been put ofl&cially before the Emperor, that we know of. Buol acquiesced, as I understood, in our explana- tion, but John Eussell distinctly told me that Austria had never signified her concurrence in making the demolition of Sebastopol a sine qua non condition. Now, however, some fresh communication has been made by Austria to Eussia, and we will not begin the negotiation until Austria shall have signified to us that the Emperor's acceptance is such as will warrant us in negotiating. I am not sufficiently ac- quainted with all the details to form a conclusive opinion, but, as far as I can see, we have been hanging off from being perfectly explicit, and have never yet come to a complete understanding with Austria, much less with Eussia, and I am afraid of our Ministers committing themselves in Parlia- ment by some declarations and professions of intentions which may make peace impossible and break up the negotia- tions at once, for as to Eussia consenting to dismantle Se- bastopol, I look upon it as impossible, and absurd to expect it. I earnestly hope that Bourqueney may be instructed to come to an understanding with Austria, and that, if we insist on terms impossible to obtain, our two Allies may compel us to give way, or leave us to fight the battle alone. The only thing quite certain is that we are in a state of the utmost doubt, danger, and perplexity at home and abroad, all of which is owing to our own egregious folly and unskilfulness, and the universal madness which has pervaded the nation. January 24?"//.— The Government is at an end, or at least it probably will be before the end of the day. The Duke of Bedford has just been to me to tell me that last night, after returning from the House of Commons, Lord John wrote a letter to Aberdeen to resign his office, and he will not attend the Cabinet to-day. Nobody knows it but Aberdeen hini- self, and I am not permitted to tell Granville even, but it will be announced to the Cabinet this morning. The imme- diate cause of Lord John's resignation is Eoebuck's motion, of which he gave notice last night, for a Committee to in- quire into the conduct of the war ; it is intended as a hostile 1855.] LORD JOHN RUSSELL RESIGNS OFFICE. 199 motion, and wonld have been turned into a Yote of censure and want of confidence. Besides this, it seems Hayter had told Lord John that the aspect of the House was bad, and members of the Government party disinclined to attend. Accordingly, he said he could not and would not face the motion ; Grraham and Sidney Herbert might defend the con- duct of the war, but he could not. Heaven only knows what will occur. Lord John took no time to consider, but sent his resignation at once, the moment he returned from the House. I told the Duke that I thought he had made him- self obnoxious to very Just reproach, running away from such a motion, and explaining (as he must do) that he could not defend the conduct of the war. He will naturally be asked how long he has been dissatisfied with its manage- ment, and why he did not retire long ago. The Duke said he was aware of this, but he endeavored to make out that the case bore some analogy to that of Lord Althorp in 1834, when he resigned in consequence of a motion of O'Connell's. But this was altogether different. Nothing can, in my opinion, justify Lord John, and his conduct will, if I am not mistaken, be generally condemned, and deprive him of the little consideration and influence he had left. It has been vacillating, ungenerous, and cowardly, for after all, in spite of errors and mistakes, the conduct of the war admits of a defence, at least as to many parts of it, and it would have been far better to stand up manfully and abide the re- sult of the battle in Parliament, than to shirk the fight and leave his colleagues to deal with the difficulty as best they may, trying to escape from the consequences of a responsi- bility which nothing he can say or do can enable him to shake off. January 26ih. — Yesterday morning the Cabinet met, and after some discussion they resolved unanimously not to re- sign, but to encounter Eoebuck's motion. Aberdeen went down to Windsor, and there is another Cabinet this morn- ing. I saw John Russell in the afternoon, and told him in very plain terms what I thought of liis conduct, and how deeply I regretted that he had not gone on with his col- leagues and met this attack with them. He looked aston- ished and put out, but said, ''I could not. It was impos- sible for me to oppose a motion which I think ought to be carried." I argued the point with him, and in the middle of our talk the Duke of Bedford came in. I asked him if 200 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VIII. he did not think the remaining Ministers were right in the course they have taken, and he said he did. I then said, "I have been telling John how much I regret that he did not do the same," when John repeated what he had said before, and then went away. After he was gone the Duke said, "I am very glad you said what you did to John." The town was in a great state of excitement yesterday, and everybody speculating on what is to happen, and all making lists of a new Government according to their expectations or wishes ; most people place Palmerstou at the head. In the House of Lords Derby asked me what it all meant. Clarendon came up while we were talking, and gave Derby to understand that he would probably have to take office again, expressing his own eagerness to quit it. I now hear that Lord John has been leading the Cabinet a weary life for many months past, eternally making difficulties, and keeping them in a constant state of hot water, determined to upset them, and only doubting as to what was a fit opportunity, and at last taking the worst that could be well chosen for his own honor and character. He is not, however, without countenance and support from some of his adherents, or from those who were so impatient for the destruction of this Government that they are satisfied with its being accomplished, no mat- ter how or by whom or under what circumstances ; and as he has been long accustomed to sit attentive to his own applause from a little circle in Chesham Place, so he will now be told by the same set that he has acted a very fine and praise- worthy part, although such will not be the verdict of history, nor is it, as far as I can see, of the best and wisest of his own contemporaries. Nobody entertains a doubt of Eoebuck's motion being carried by a large majority against the Govern- ment. January SOtJi. — For the last three days I have been so ill with gout that I could not do anything, or follow the course of events. John Russell made a cunning and rather clever speech in explanation of his resignation, George Grey a good one and strong against Lord John. Opinions fluctuated about the division, some, but the minority, fancying Govern- ment would have a majority because the proposed Commit- tee is so excessively difficult and in all ways objectionable ; but when it became known that the Derbyites meant to vote 1855.] RESIGNATION OF LOKD ABERDEEN. 201 in a body for the motion, no one doubted the result, and it became only a question of numbers.^ Lord John seems to have felt no regret at what he has done, and at exciting the resentment and incurring the blame of all his colleagues ; and he goes so little into society, and is so constantly patted on the back at home, that the censure of the world produces no effect on him. They tell me he is in high spirits, and appears only to be glad at having at last found the opportu- nity he has so long desired of destroying the Government. Everybody appears astonished at the largeness of the ma- jority. Gladstone made a very fine speech, and powerful, crushing against Lord John, and he stated what Lord John had never mentioned in his narrative, that he had been ex- pressly asked in December whether he still wished tlie change to be made which he had urged in November, and he had replied that he did not, that he had given it up. This siip- pressio veri is shocking, and one of the very worst things he ever did. Aberdeen went down to Windsor this morning to resign It is thought that the Queen will send for Lansdowne, and ask him if he can make a Government, or will try, and, if he declines, that he will advise her to send for Palmerston ; if Palmerston fails, then she can do nothing but take Derby. It seems likely now that we shall have either a Whig or a Derbyite Government, and that the Peelites will be left out altogether. The difficulties are enormous, and though every- body says that at such a crisis and with the necessity of attending to the war, and the war only, no personal preju- dices or antipathies should prevent anybody from taking office if their services can be of use, men will not be governed* by motives of such pure patriotism ; and, whoever may make the Government, I expect there will be many exclusions and many refusals to join. Some say that, if Derby comes in, and with the same or nearly the same men as before, he ought to be kicked out at once, but I do not thmk so, and, much as I should abhor another such Government, I think in present circumstances it must be allowed the fairest play, and be supported unless and until it commits some flagrant errors. January dlst. — The division was curious : some seventy or eighty Whigs, ordinary supporters of Government, voted ' [Mr. Roebuck's Motion for a Committee of Inquiry was earned on the 29th of January by a majority of 157 in a llou.se of 453 members present.) ;/ 202 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chat. YIII, against them, and all the Tories, except about six or seven who voted against the motion ; Cobden and Bright stayed away. John Russell's explanation, had he spoken the truth, would have run in these terms : "I joined the Government with great reluctance, and only at the earnest entreaty of my friends, jjarticularly Lord Lansdowne. From the first I was disgusted at my position, and I resolved, unless Lord Aber- deen made way for me, and I again became Prime Minister, that I would break up the Government. I made various attempts to bring about such a change, and at last, after worrying everybody to death for many months, I accom- ■ plished my object, having taken what seemed a plausible pretext for doing it." ■ February 1st. — Contrary to general expectation, the Queen did not send either for Lansdowne or Palmerston, but at , once for Derby. He went directly to Palmerston, who declined to join him. He is trying to form a Government, and I see the Whigs are chuckling over the probability of his failing and being obliged to give it up, when they evi- dently flatter themselves that it will fall again into the hands of John Russell. Rather than this should occur, I would prefer that Derby should succeed, and if he can get no foreign aid, that he should reconstitute the wretched Government he had before. My disgust at the conduct of my Whig friends is intense. Although tliey were to the last degree indignant at the conduct of John Russell, they have, ever since the interregnum began, been dancing attendance on him, evincing every disposition to overlook the enormity of ^his conduct and to reform the party with a view of carrying 'him again to the head of affairs and making another pure Whig Government. I confess I thought that nobody could refuse to serve at the present crisis, and, if the Queen sent for Derby, Palmerston, if invited, could not help joining, and taking the War Department ; but I was wrong. I see in no quarter, as far as I have been able to observe and judge, any disposition to discard prejudices, antipathies, and per- sonal feelings and interests, and to make every consideration yield to the obligations which the present emergency imposes. However, the game is not half played out yet. Meanwhile we are exhibiting a pretty spectacle to Europe, and I don't think our example will tempt other nations to adopt the institutions of which we are so proud ; for they may well think that liberty of the Press and Parliamentary govern- 1855.] LORD DERBY SENT FOR. 203 ment, however desirable they may be when regulated by moderation and good sense, would be dearly purchased at the expense of the anarchy and confusion which they are now producing here. February 'Zd. — The Queen herself decided to send at once to Derby, and the result proves how wise her decision was, for she is relieved from the annoyance of having him, and he is placed in such a position that he cannot embarrass her new Government when it is formed. Derby went to Palmerston, invited him to join and to bring Gladstone and Sidney Herbert with him. On their declining he gave it up, and Her Majesty then sent for Lord Lansdowne. Last night the Duke of Newcastle defended himself in the House of Lords against John Russell, and replied to his statements in the House of Commons, and did it very success- fully, carrying the House with him. The whole affair, as it is gradually evolved, places John Russell in a disgraceful and odious light, and ought to demolish him as a public man, for he has shown himself to be actuated by motives of pique, personal ambition, and mortified vanity, and to have been insincere, vacillating, uncandid, and untruthful. The Duke's statement was crushing and appears to me not to admit of a rejoinder. It ought to cover him and his wretched clique with confusion ; but they will probably attempt to brazen it out, and doggedly to insist that John was justified in all he did. The discussion last night was very characteristic of Der- by. If ever there was an occasion in which seriousness and gravity seemed to be required of a man in his position, it would seem to be that of last night ; but his speech was nothing but jeering at the late Cabinet and chaffing New- castle ; it was really indecent, but very smart and funny, if it had not been so unbefitting the occasion. February 4th. — No one can remember such a state as the town has been in for the last two days. No Government, diflRculties apparently insurmountable, such confusion, such excitement, such curiosity, everybody moving about craving for news, and rumor with her hundred tongues scattering every variety of statement and conjecture. At last the crisis seems to be drawing to a conclusion. The Queen has be- haved with admirable sense of her constitutional obligations. When Aberdeen took down his resignation, she told him she had made up her mind what to do, that she had looked at the list of the division, and found that the majority which 204 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. YIII. had turned out her Government was composed principally of Lord Derby's adherents, and she should therefore send for him. Aberdeen said a few words rather discouraging her ; but she said, though Lord Palmerston was evidently the popular man, she thought, according to constitutional prac- tice. Lord Derby was the man she ought to send for. It has been seen how Derby failed ; then she sent for Lord Lansdowne, whom she desired to consult different people and see what their opinions and inclinations were, and report them to her. This was on Friday. He did so and made his report, after which, on the same principle which had decided her to send for Derby, she resolved to send for John Eussell, his followers having been the next strongest element of the victorious majority. Accordingly, on Friday night or early yesterday morning, she placed the formation of a Government in his hands. He accepted it, and began by applying to Palmerston, offering him any office he chose to take. Palmerston did not refuse, but his acquiescence seems to have been of a hesitating and reluctant kind, and nothing was definitely settled between them. Gladstone and Sidney Herbert, and afterwards Graham, decidedly refused ; Clarendon desired to have some hours to consider of it. How- ever, the result of his applications was so unfavorable that last night he considered his attempt virtually at an end, though he had not actually given it up this morning, and some further communication was taking place between him and Clarendon, which was to be decisive. As soon as this is over, the Queen will play her last card, and have recourse to the man of the people ! — to Palmerston, whom they are crying out for, and who, they fondly imagine, is to get us out of all our difficulties. From all 1 hear, I think he will make a Government, because he really wishes and is determined to do it, and many of the most important who would not join John Russell will join him. In the course of to-day I imagine it will all be settled. Tlie impression made by Newcastle's speech against Lord John has been prodigious, far greater and more general than I imagined, and it is con- fidently affirmed that, if he had taken office and stood again for the City, he would have been beaten. He still shows fight against Newcastle, and intended to have answered him and vindicated himself in the House of Commons yesterday, if he had not been detained so long by the Queen that the hour was up when he got there. He means to return to the 1855.] LORD PALMERSTON TAKES OFEICE. 205 charge to-morrow. In the course of all these transactions he urged Lansdownc himself to take the Goyernment, and offered to continue at the Council Ofiice and lead the House of Commons, or to take no ofiice at all, and give him inde- pendent support in the House of Commons, or to go to the House of Lords and give him his best assistance there ; but Lord Lansdowne declined all these offers. February 5th. — I have often had occasion to remark on the difficulty of avoiding making false or erroneous state- ments in affairs like those I am treating of, for the reports which we hear from different people generally vary consider- ably, and sometimes the same thing repeated by the same person varies also ; not that there is any intention to mis- represent or mislead, but circumstances apparently trilling are narrated differently according as the narrator has been impressed by, or remembers them, and thus errors creep in and accumulate, and at last it becomes difficult to reconcile statements that have become conflicting by degrees. How- ever, I can only Jot down what I hear, and reconcile the ac- counts afterward as well as I can. Yesterday afternoon I saw Clarendon, who confirmed his refusal to join Lord John, but with some slight difference as to the details. He said he had spoken very oi>enly to him, but so gravely and quietly that he could not take offence, and he did not. It was not till he received Clarendon's final refusal that he wrote to the Queen and threw up his commission. Her Majesty had seen Palmerston the day before, and told him if Lord John failed she should send for him, and accordingly she did so yestei'day evening. Palmerston had told Lord John, as soon as he received the commission he should go to him. At present he has only invited Clarendon and Charles Wood (Whigs) to join him. Clarendon of course is ready, but Charles Wood demurs, and insists that unless Lord John will take office in the Government he cannot join, and that the whole thing will be a failure. Lord John is very averse to take office, and the more averse because he must then go to the House of Lords, for of course he cannot remain in the Commons, not leading it. The Duke of Bed- ford has been here in a grand quandary, seeing all sorts of difficulties, and in fact they spring up on every side. He agrees with Lord John, but was shaken by the arguments of Wood, which are backed up by George Grey and Panmure. I argued vehemently against Wood's view, and strongly ad- 20G REIGN OF QUEEX VICTORIA. [Chap. VIIL vised Lord Jolm's not taking office, and 1 convinced the Duke, who is gone back to Lord John to talk it all over with him again. On the other hand, the Peelites want the Gov- ernment to be restored, with Aberdeen again at the head of it, and it is very questionable whether they will join at all, and, if they do, not without much difficulty and negotiation, which will at least consume valuable time. In short, at this moment the formation of a Palmerston Grovernment, which was to be so easy, is a matter of enormous difficulty. The Queen wrote a civil and even kind answer to Lord John's note giving the task up. February 6th. — Great disappointment and dismay yester- day, the Peelites having refused to form part of Palmerston's Government. Graham, Gladstone, and Sidney Herbert all declined unless Aberdeen formed a part of it. Sidney Her- bert was very willing to join, but would not separate himself from Gladstone, who was deaf to all entreaties and remon- strances. It is believed that Graham is the one who has per- suaded Gladstone to take this course. Aberdeen is anxious, or pretends to be so, that they should join, and ^Newcastle certainly is. What Gladstone says is, that unless Aberdeen is in the Cabinet he can have no security that his (Aber- deen's) principles will be acted on, and that he may not be called upon to be a party to measures, relating either to war or peace, of which he disapproves. However, I have only heard second hand what he says in conversation with others. It has been in vain represented to him that there will be an explosion of indignation against them all in the country for refusing their aid at such a crisis, and their conduct will never be forgiven. All this, he says, he is aware of, but his objections stand on too high ground to be shaken. Palmer- ston means not to be baffled, and, failing the Peelites, to turn to the Whigs and make the best Government he can. His popularity, which is really extraordinary, will carry him through all difficulties for the present. It was supposed that his popularity had been on the wane, but it is eyident that, though he no longer stands so high as he did in the House of Commons, and those who know him can easily see he is not the man he was, in the country there is just the same fancy for him and sanguine opinion of him as ever. John Eussell made a rejoinder to Newcastle in the House of Com- mons last night — a plausible speech enough, and it served to set his friends and the Brooks's Whigs crowing again, and 1855.] THE PALMERSTON ADMINISTExVTION. 207 saying he had made out a complete case ; but I do not see that it made his case a bit better than before. All who are at all behind the scenes are aware of the fallacies and decep- tions in which his statements abound, and that they are of a nature that may not be exposed. Febrimry 1th. — Yesterday Aberdeen and Newcastle, par- ticularly the latter, renewed, their endeavors to prevail on Gladstone to give up his scruples and to join the Government, and at last they succeeded, and in the evening Palmerston was able to announce that he had accomplished his tusk and the Government was formed. John Iiussell, on his side, pressed all his Whig friends to unite with Palmerston, and. by these means the difficulties were gradually overcome. Lord Lansdowne would not take the Council Office, but agreed to be the organ of the Government in the House of Lords, though he seems afraid this should be thought to have committed him to more trouble and responsibility than he is inclined to take, and it is only a sort of quasi-leader- ship that he will own to. I find the Queen did propose to him to form a Government, and under certain conditions he was not unwilling to undertake it, but of course he much prefers the present arrangement. It is admitted on all hands that both Aberdeen and Newcastle have behaved very well, and done all in their power to facilitate Palmerston's arrange- ments. It is, however, much to be regretted that these Peel- ites have acted in concert and as a party, and I see from the fact a vast deal of embarrassment and opposition to the Gov- ernment in prospect. Already the Derbyitcs are sulky and angry to the greatest degree, and the Whigs not a little in- dignant that so much anxiety has been shown to get Glad- stone and his friends, and such a high price paid for them ; and the fact of their forming so large and important a part of the Government will secure the fierce hostility of the Derbyites, and make the support of the Whigs very luke- warm. The latter, too, will be influenced by John Russell, who, in spite of his present professions of amity and promises of support, is sure to be very soon a frondeur, and then in open and direct opposition. He told Clarendon "he meant to give his best support to the Government." Clarendon said, " You do ; well, at what do you think I value your support?" "What?" he asked. "Not one sixpence." At first Palmerston will meet with no opposition to signify ; if he does, he has only to dissolve, and the country will give 208 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. Till. him a maiority. But opposition will gather about him soon enouo-h ; extravagant expectations are raised of the good he is to do and the great acts he is to perform, all of which will only lead to disappointment and mortification. If the luck which for many years accompanied him should do so still, and some unexpected success crown his administration, he may thus gain a great position ; but it is idle to depend on the"^ chapter of accidents and, according to all human proba- bility, he is destined to carry on a disastrous war or to make a peace (the wisest thing he can do) which will be humiliating, because so wholly incommensurate with our extravagant ex- pectations and ridiculous pretensions. However, if any man can make such a peace it is Palmerston, and it is much bet- ter that Aberdeen should have no concern in the Govern- ment, for it would be much more difficult if he was in the Cabinet, and supposed to have any hand in it.^ February 8th. — Now that all is settled, there is a moment- ary lull, and people are considering what sort of an arrange- ment it is, and how it is likely to succeed. Many ot those who know better what Palmerston really is than the ignorant mob who shout at his heels, and who have humbugged them- selves with the delusion that he is another Chatham, enter- tain grave apprehensions that the thing will prove a failure, and that Palmerston's real capacity will be exposed and his prestige destroyed. Some wish for a dissolution while his popularity is still undiminished, fancying it will give him a sure majority and will protect him against any change of 1 [The Administration formed by Lord Palmerston was composed as follows : First Lord of the Treasuiy . . Viscount Palmerston. Lord Chancellor Lord President Lord Privy Seal Home Secretary Foreign Secretary Colonial Secretary Secretary at War Chancellor of the Exchequer Board of Control First Lord of the Admiralty . Lord Cranworth. . Earl Granville. , Duke of Arayll. • Sir Georsre Grey. . Earl of Clarendon. . Eight Hon. Sidney Herbert (and, on his resi,a:nation, Lord John Eussell). . Lord Panmure. . Mr. Gladstone (and, on his resignation, Sir G. Cornewall Lewis). . Sir Charles Wood. , Sir James Graham (and, on bLs resigna- tion, Sir Charles Wood, who was re- placed at the Board of Control by Mr. Vernon Smith). Board of Trade Eight lion. E. Card well (and, on his res- ignation. Lord Stanley of Alderley). Postmaster General .... Viscount Canning. Lord Lieutenant of Ireland . . Earl of Carlisle. Woods and Forests . . . .Sir Benjamin Hall.] 1855.] LORD JOHN RUSSELL'S MISSION TO VIENNA. 209 opinion ; but, unless the Derbyites give him an opportunity by some vexatious opposition, he can hardly dissolve, and if he did, though he would gain by it for a time, any change of opinion that might take place would be found no less in the House of Commons than in the country. Fehruary IMli. — The political wheel turns rapidly round, and strange events occur, none more remarkable than John Russell's career during the last month, and the unexpected positions in which he successively appears. A few weeks ago breaking up his own Government, deeply offending col- leagues and friends, and making himself generally odious, then trying to form a Government and finding nobody will- ing to act with him ; he appeared to be in the most jminf ul position of isolation, and everybody expected that his anom- alous and unsatisfactory state would render him mischievous and soon conduct him into a troublesome opposition to the Government. Very differently have matters turned out. He began by evincing a good and friendly spirit, and scarce- ly is the Government formed, when Clarendon proposes to him to go to Vienna as Plenipotentiary to treat for peace, and John at once accepts the offer, and yesterday morning his mission was publicly announced. It was a happy stroke of Clarendon's in all ways, and it was wise in Lord John to accept it, for it has all the appearance of a patriotic and un- selfish act, will cause his recent misdeeds to be forgotten, and replace him in the high situation from which he was fallen. It is a very good thing for him to be thus withdrawn from Parliament for a time. There he is always in danger of saying and doing something foolish or rash, and it will leave his followers in a condition to attach themselves to the Government without abandoning their allegiance to him, which will relieve all parties from embarrassment.^ > [The Conference of the Great Powers which was to open at Vienna, to which Lord John Russell was sent as British Plenipotentiary, had been con- voked for the purpose of nefjotiatlnc: on the basis of the four points which con- tained the demands of the belliLTcrent Allies and had been accepted as a basis of nesotiation by the Emperor of Russia. These points were as follows : 1. That Russia sliould abandon all control over Moldavia, Wallachia, and Servia. 2. That Russia should relinquish her claims to control the mouth of the Danube. 3. That all Treaties calculated to give Russia a preponderance in the Black Sea should be abroirated. 4. That Russia should renounce the claim she made to an exclusive right to protect the Christians in the Ottoman Dominions. It was on the third of these points that the principal difficulty of the negotia- tion arose, and that the Conference failed to conclude a peace.] 210 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VIII. February lUtli. — Palmerston presented himself to the House of Commons last night for the first time as Minister, and not aj^parently with a very brilliant prospect of success. He made a tolerable speech, giving a rather meagre account of the formation of his Government, with the usual promises of vigor. The great point he had to handle was the disposal of Roebuck's Committee, which he is determined, if he can, to get rid of. The success of this, his first great operation, seems very doubtful. One man after another got up and declared he should vote for its going on. Roebuck insists on it ; and Disraeli announced his determined opposition to any attempt to quash it. If Palmerston fights the battle and is beaten, he must try what a dissolution will do for him ; and I think the success of it would be very doubtful, for, in spite of all the clamor that was raised by his name, and his apparently vast popularity in the country, it looks as if it was of a very shadowy, unsubstantial kind, and would very likely be found wanting at a general election. The temper of the House seems to be anything but good, and un- less we are very soon cheered and encouraged by much bet- ter accounts from the Crimea, this Government will not fare much better than the last. The " Times " is going into fu- rious opposition, and Palmerston will soon find the whole press against him except his own paper, the "Morning Post," and the "Morning Chronicle," neither of which have any circulation or any influence in the country. The whole conduct of the " Times" is a source of great vexation to me, for I am to the last degree shocked and disgusted at its conduct and the enormous mischief that it is endeavoring to do ; and I have for many years had intimate personal re- lations with its editor, which I do not well know how to let drop, and I am at the same time not satisfied that their un- broken maintenance is inconsistent with the feelings I enter- tain, and which ought to be entertained, toward the paper. February 19th. — The Government have determined to knock under about Roebuck's Committee,^ and they would have done much better to have done so at first. What they are now doing will not strengthen them or avert future at- tacks ; but the state of the House of Commons is such that nothing but some very unexpected turn can enable them to go on long. Palmerston has no authority there, the House is in complete confusion and disorganization, and, except the Derby ites, who are still numerous and act together in 1855.] ROEBUCK'S COMMITTEE ACCEPTED. 211 opposition, in hopes of getting into power, nobody owns any allegiance or even any party ties, or seems to care for any person or any thing. There seems a general feeling of dis- trust and dissatisfaction, and, except the scattered Eadicals and Revolutionists, who wish to upset everything, nobody seems to know what he would be at, or what object he wishes to attain. For the first time in my life I am really and seri- ously alarmed at the aspect of affairs, and think we are ap- proaching a period of real difficulty and danger. The press, with the "Times" at its head, is striving to throw every- thing into confusion, and running a muck against the aris- tocratic element of society and of the Constitution. The intolerable nonsense and the abominable falsehoods it flings out day after day are none the less dangerous because they are nonsense and falsehoods, and, backed up as they are by all the regular Eadical press, they diffuse through the coun- try a mass of inflammatory matter, the effect of which may be more serious and arrive more quickly than anybody im- agines. Nothing short of some loud explosion will make the mass of people believe tliat any serious danger can threaten a Constitution like ours, which has passed through so many trials and given so many proofs of strength and cohesion. But we have never seen such symptoms as are now visible, such a thorough confusion and political chaos, or the public mind so completely disturbed and dissatisfied and so puzzled how to arrive at any Just conclusions as to the past, the pres- ent, or the future. People are furious at the untoward events in the Crimea, and cannot make out the real causes thereof, nor who is to blame, and they are provoked that they cannot find victims to wreak their resentment on. The dismissal of Aberdeen and Newcastle seems an inadequate expiation, and they want more vengeance yet, hence the cry for Roebuck's absurd Committee. Then, after clamoring for Palmerston from a vague idea of his vigor, and that he would do some wonderful things, which was founded on nothing but the recollection of his former bullying despatches and blustering speeches, they are beginning to suspect him ; and the whole press, as well as the malignants in the House of Commons, tell them that they have gained very little, if anything, by the change, and they are told that it is not this or that Minister who can restore our affairs, but a change in the whole system of government, and the substitution of plebeians and new men for the leaders of parties and mem- 212 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. YIII. bers of aristocratic families, of whom all Governments have been for the most part composed. What effect these revolu- tionary doctrines may have on the opinions of the people at large remains to be seen ; but it is evident that the " Times," their great propagator, thinks them popular and generally acceptable, or they would not have plunged into that course. I sat next to Charles Wood at dinner yesterday and had much talk with him on the state of affairs, and found that he takes just the same view that I do, and for the first time he is alarmed also, and so, he told me, is Sir George Grey. He talked much about Kaglan, and said that the Govern- ment had been placed in the most unfair position possible, it being impossible to throw the blame of anything that had occurred on him, or even to tell the truth, which was that, so far from his making any exertions to repair the evils so loudly complained of, and sending away inefficient men, he never admitted there were any evils at all, or that any of his people were inefficient, or anything but perfect ; and he said that Raglan had never asked for anything the want of which had not been anticipated by the Government here, and in no instance was anything required by him which had not been supplied a month or more before the requisition came. Palmerston, too, said to me that nothing could exceed the hopelessness of the military authorities there ; that they seemed unable to devise anything for their own assistance, and they exhibited the most striking contrast to the navy, who, on all emergencies, set to work and managed to find resources of all sorts to supply their necessities or extricate themselves from danger. February 20t7i. — Nothing certainly could be more morti- fying than the reception Palmerston met from the House of Commons on the first night when he presented himself as Minister, nothing more ungracious or more disheartening. His entreaty to postpone the Committee was received with a sort of scorn and manifestation of hostility and distrust. His position was at once rendered to the last degree painful and difficult. He cannot avert the Committee, he cannot submit to it without deep humiliation ; many of his col- leagues are supposed to shrink from the disgrace of such a submission and to prefer any alternative to it. Already there is a general impression that this Government cannot last long ; nobody thinks they would gain anything by a dissolu- tion, the result of one would be uncertain ; but the proba- 1855.] LORD JOHN ACCEPTS THE COLONIAL OFFICE. 213 bility seems to be that the Conservatives would gain and the Radicals likewise, while the Whigs would lose, and the Peel- ites and Moderates would be scattered to the winds. We should most likely see a Parliament still more ungovernable than this, unless a widesjiread alarm in the country should rally the whole Conservative and anti-revolutionary element to Derby and his party, which would bring them all into office for a time. Palmerston spoke much better last night than the first night, and with a good deal of spirit and force ; but he has a very uphill game to play, and must already be aware how fleeting his popularity was, and on what weak foundations it was built. February 23d. — Graham, Gladstone, and Sidney Herbert have resigned, greatly to the disgust and indignation of their colleagues, to the surprise of the world at large, and the uproarious delight of the Whigs and Brooks's Club, to whom the Peelites have always been odious. These stupid Whigs were very sorry Palmerston did not leave them out when he formed his Government, and take whomever he could get instead of them ; and they are entirely indifferent to the con- sideration that the greater part of the brains of the Cabinet is gone out with these three, that it is exceedingly difficult to fill their places, and that we exhibit a sad spectacle to all Europe, with our Ministerial dissensions and difficulties and the apparent impossibility of forming anything like a stable Government. The first thing done was to send off for John Eussell at Paris, and ask him if he would come back and join the Government. Cardwell was offered the Chancellorship of the Exchequer, which he refused. It is much to be regretted that these Peelites do not now dissolve themselves as a party iind make up their minds to act independently and according to their several opinions and circumstances. Aberdeen much disapproves of the exodus of the three, and was very anxious Cardwell should accept ; but he does not choose to separate himself from the rest. February 24:th. — Never v/as I more surprised than when I heard that John Russell had accepted the Colonial Office and joins the Government, still continuing in the House of Commons, and of course acting under Palmerston. When we think of all he has been doing for the last two years, his discontent at being in a subordinate capacity though still leader of the House of Commons, and the various pranks he has played in consequence thereof, it is inconceivable that 214 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VIII. he should consent not only to take office under Palmerston, but to serve under him in the House of Commons. But it is impossible not to give him credit for patriotic motives in making such a sacrifice of personal pride and vanity. What his conduct may be if the Government lasts long enough to allow him to come home and take his place in it, may be considered doubtful. Last night the retiring Ministers gave their explanations — G-raham in a very good speech ; Glad- stone was too diffuse, and Sidney Herbert feeble, but coming after Graham they had nothing new to say. There is much to be said for and much against their conduct. If they had accepted office under Palmerston with the condition that he should try and get rid of the Committee and that they should retire in case he failed, there would have been nothing to say, because without doubt they ought not to hold high offices while a Committee of the House of Commons is sitting in judgment on their bonduct ; but the whole course of pro- ceeding is so anomalous, and the exigencies of the time are so great and peculiar, that on the whole I think they ought to have stayed in. Palmerston speaks almost every night, and his speeches do not read amiss ; but everybody says they are feeble and flat, and nothing at present indicates anything like stability or a long existence to the present Government. The tone of the House of Commons last night was on the whole rather pacific than not. Bright made an admirable speech, the peroration of which was very eloquent. February 25ih. — -This morning George Lewis came to me very early and told me Palmerston had proposed to him to be Chancellor of the Exchequer ; he set forth very fairly all the reasons for and against accepting. ■ We discussed the whole subject, and I asked him whether he felt sufficient confidence in himself to undertake an office of such vast im- portance, whether he had sufficiently turned his attention to financial matters and had mastered the principles and details of finance. He said he thought he was sufficiently versed therein to undertake it, having given much attention to tax- ation and its principles, and to political economy generally, though he did not know much about the Funds, but sup- posed sufficient knowledge about them was easily attainable. Finally I advised him to accept, and he said he should make up his mind to do so. So the Admiralty, Colonial Office, and Exchequer are settled. There is much difficulty and 1855.] DEATH OF THE EMPEROR OF RUSSIA. 215 much discussion and difference of opinion about some of the other places. They are very wisely going to take in Laing, but very unwisely will not give a place to Lowe, who, if left out, will contrive to do them some damage. Granville has moved Heaven and earth to get Lowe an office, but Palmer- ston and others set their faces against him. Lansdowne has most unreasonably and unwisely insisted on Vernon Smith being taken in, and it is at present intended to make him President of the Board of Control. He is very un- popular and totally useless, and just the man they ought not to take in ; while Lowe is just the man they ought, to meet the prevailing sentiment about old connections and new men. March "Zd. — News just arrived that the Emperor of Russia is dead. John Russell had telegraphed from Berlin that he was given over. This great and unexpected event must have the most important consequences whether for peace or for war. A disputed succession is not impossible, as it has long been reported that the Grand Duke Constan- tine was disposed to contest the succession with the Cesare- wich, but this will probably turn out to be a fable. It is supposed that the new Emperor has been all along inclined to peace, and that he was in disgrace with his father on that account, li this be true, it renders it still more pi-obable that he will be anxious to put an end to this destructive and dangerous war, and the Allied Powers may be less exacting with him than they were disposed to be with the late Em- peror. On the other hand, should the war unhappily con- tinue, the death of Nicholas is likely to damp the ardor of the Russians and to relax their exertions, so that we can hardly fail to profit by it. Clarendon is gone over to Bou- logne to confer with the Emperor Napoleon. There seems something like a lull here for the moment, and less of excitement and violence than there was. Palm- erston has not been in office a fortnight, and already he is enormously baisse ; his speeches night after night are mis- erable. The truth is, he never had any power as a debater, and he is out of his element as leader in the House of Com- mons, where he has to answer everybody, to speak on every subject, and to be continually debating more or less. He has made a few great speeches, prepared, and on his own subject of foreign affairs, and every now and then a smart chaffing retort which excited the hilarity of the House, and 216 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VIII. that has been all he could do. Then he seems supine and undecided ; he does not fill up the vacant places or seem- ingly endeavor to do so, and he does not put good men in the places he does fill up, all of which does him harm in gen- eral estimation. Clarendon has told Lady Palmerston very frankly that he will soon ruin himself in public opinion if he goes on in this way. Few things are more extraordinary than the notion that was abroad of Palmerston's fitness and efficacy, Never was there a greater delusion, and never one that is so rapidly being dissipated. March 10th. — It is remarkable that, though seven days have elapsed since the news of the death of the Emperor of Eussia reached us, and that we heard of it by electric tele- graph the very day it happened, we are still without authen- tic and detailed information of what has since occurred at St. Petersburg ; and of the manifesto of the new Emperor, which is looked for with so much curiosity, we have only a partial extract or imperfect summary, so that we have still no means of judging whether the chances of peace are im- proved by the accession of Alexander 11. Palmerston's Government does not seem to take root or gain much strength ; every day seems to prove the more clearly that he is unfit for the task he has taken on himself. He inspires neither respect nor confidence, and is totally un- able to manage the House of Commons ; his speeches are feeble and bad, and he is not always prudent and concilia- tory, but, on the contrary, pettish and almost offensive. He finds great difficulty in filling the vacant offices, and he evinces much want of tact and good management in his en- deavors to do so, offering and retracting his offers in a very loose way. For example, he offered Sir Eobert Peel the Clerkship of the Ordnance, which he accepted ; and then he found Monsell did not mean to resign it, so he had to with- draw the offer. Then he told him he should be Colonial Under-Secretary if John Enssell would consent. John Eus- sell would not consent, and then he offered him a seat at the Admiralty. Sir Eobert in some dudgeon demurred, and Palmerston, inferring from his ill humor that he would not take this place, offered it to Henry Brand, who accepted, desired his writ might be moved for, and went to the railway station to go down to the place he represented. Just as he was starting, a messenger arrived with a letter from Palm- erston saying Sir Eobert Peel had taken the Admiralty, so 1855.] A COMEDY OF ERRORS. 217 lie could not have it, and the gentleman had to return home without any office at all. This is a sad way of doing business, and will not make him more popular. Grenville Berkeley (whipper-in) told me he thought Palmerston was doing rather better latterly and that there was a better dis- position in the House of Commons ; but Jonathan Peel, who is a shrewd, dispassionate observer, and tolerably impartial, though with no good will to the present Government, told me a different story. He says the Government is as weak as possible, Palmerston wretched, and the House of Commons ill disposed and unruly, and he thinks it absolutely impos- sible that this concern can last many weeks. The Derbyites are quite confident of forcing their way to office, and quite determined to do so ; but it is their game to damage the present Government as much as possible, and they will do everything in opposition but what may recoil upon them- selves after they have got into office, and no other considera- tion will restrain them. I regard with the utmost dislike the prospect of their return, because I think their conduct so monstrously unprincipled. I hear Gladstone is very much out of humor, and expect soon to see him and his small band in overt opposition to the Government, Many fancy that it will end in big Joining Derby, but so do not I. I am not sure that he would be indisposed if a proper occasion presented itself, but I do not believe any consideration or any circumstances whatever would induce the Derbyites to admit him again into their party. Their indignation — that is, of a great many of them — was unbounded at Derby having offered him office the other day, and at the great meeting at Eglinton's such manifestations of resentment were made on that account as to make it nearly impossible (for in these days nothing is quite impossible) for any future attempt at reconciliation and reunion to be made. March 11th. — A fresh shuffling of the cards is being ar- ranged by which Frederick Peel is to go to the Treasury, vice Wilson, Vice President of the Board of Trade ; Sir Kobert to the War Department, vice his brother ; and Henry Brand to the Admiralty. Palmerston seemed to consider all the blunders he made about these officers rather a good joke than a mischievous gaucherie. "Ha, ha!" he said, "a Comedy of Errors." George Lewis told me this morning he thinks the temper of the House of Commons more favorable, and, if he can succeed in producing a palateable Budget, that 10 218 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. VIII. they may get on ; he told me the revenue was extremely flourishing and the country very rich, but the expenses are enormous. He means to meet them by a loan, but the question is of what amount, and how much of the additional expense shall be provided by it. He will want ninety mill- ions to cover the whole. Clarendon vvas much pleased with his visit to the Em- peror, who talked to him very frankly and unreservedly about everything. They lit their cigars and sat and talked with the greatest ease. He said the Emperor spoke to him about the English press, and all he said was sensible and true ; that he was aware that a free press was a necessity in England, and as indispensable as the Constitution itself, and that he had hitherto believed that the editors of the prin- cipal newspapers had the good of their country at heart, and always acted from conscientious motives ; but that he could no longer entertain that opinion. The press during the past months, and the "Times'' particularly, had done an incal- culable amount of mischief to England and to the alliance between us. The effect jiroduced by their language in Ger- many was most injurious, and of service only to Eussia. When the English papers talked of their own country in the way they did, of its degradation and disgrace, its maladmin- istration, the ruin of its military power, and the loss of all that makes a nation great and powerful, though he (the Em- peror) knew what all this meant, and how much or hoAV little of truth there was in such exaggerated statements, yet in France they were generally believed, and it became very difficult for him to reconcile the nation to an alliance for which he was reproached with making sacrifices and shaping his policy in accordance with ours, when it was evident from our own showing that our alliance was not worth having, and our impotence was so exposed that, whenever peace should put an end to the necessity of the alliance, we should be entirely at their mercy ; and while such was the feeling in France, in Germany it was still stronger, and there the "Times" had succeeded in creating a universal conviction that we are in the lowest condition of weakness and ineffi- ciency : at all of which he expressed the greatest regret. I was surprised to hear Clarendon say that he did not believe the resources of Russia to carry on the contest to be in any sensible degree exhausted, that her commerce had not suffered at all, and as to her finances she could go on 1855.] THE VIENNA CONFERENCE. 219 for a good wliile with her paper money and the gold which, in a certain quantity, she drew from the Ural Mountains.^ CHAPTEE IX. The Vienna Conference — Literary Occupations — A Koman Catholic Privy Councillor — Ne- gotiations at Vienna — The Emperor Napoleon in London — The Emperor's brilliant Keception — Russia refuses the Terms oftVred — The Sebastopol Committee — Debate on the War — Visit to Paris — Eesifrnation of M. Drouyn de Lhuys— The Emperor's Jour- ney to the Crimea — The Repulse at the Redan — Visit to Thiers — A Dinner at the Tuileries — Conversation with the Emperor — M. Guizot on the War — Death of Lord Raglan — A Dinner at Princess Eleven's — The Palace of Versailles — Revelations of Lord John Russell's Mission — Dinner with the Emperor at Villeneuve PEtang — Lord John Russell's Conduct at Vienna — Excitement in London — Lord John's Resijr- nation — Lord John's Conduct explained—'" Whom thall we Hang?" — Prorogation of Parliament. March Zlst, 1885. — Three weeks have passed away and I have had nothing to say ; nor indeed have I anything now of the least importance, and can only glance at the general aspect of affairs. Tlie Government, on the whole, seems in a somewhat better condition. They say Palmerston speaks better than he did, and his good humor and civility please. At last the offices, except the Under-Secretaryship to the Colonies, are filled up. Lord Elgin and Lord Seymour suc- cessively refused the Duchy of Lancaster, and after going a begging for many weeks Lord Harrowby has taken it. Laing and Wilson, and I think somebody else, declined the Vice Presidency of the Board of Trade, and they have got Bouverie. Within these few days the hopes of peace have waxed faint. The fatal third point is an insurmountable obstacle, and it seems likely that we shall be condemned to fight it out more fiercely than ever, and without Austria, who, as I all along expected, will not join us in forcing hard conditions on Russia. It remains to be seen whether we or Austria arc 1 [In justice to the conductors of the " Tiities " it must be said that although the lani^uage of the paper was violent and extremely annoying to the Govern- ment and its Allies, yet it was by the power and enterprise of the press that tlie deplorable state of the army was brought to the knowledge of the public and even of Ministers themselves ; and it was hy the "Times" that the first steps were taken to supply the deficiencies of the Administration. The fund raised by voluntary contributions for this purpose amounted to £25,000, and com- petent persons were sent out to apply it to the most pressing wants of the army. J 220 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. IX. in fault, assuming the rupture of the negotiations to be in- evitable. If Austria recedes from what she had already agreed to, she is ; if we require anything more, we are. Drouyn de Lhuys has been here for twenty-four hours, and goes on to Vienna directly to bring things to a conclusion one way or another. Clarendon is pleased with him. The Emperor is to be here in three weeks. Having no public events nor any secret information to record, I must put down my own private concerns, uninter- esting as they are. I am busy on the task of editing a vol- ume of Moore's correspondence left to me by John Eussell, and finishing the second article upon King Joseph's Memoirs.^ These small literary occupations interest and amuse me, and being quite out of the way of politics, and seeing nobody, ex- cept Clarendon at rare intervals, who can or will tell me any- thing, it is well I can amuse myself with them ; and now that. I am growing old (for I shall be sixty-one the day after to- morrow) it is my aim to cultivate these pleasures more and more, and make them my refuge against the infirmities which beset me, and the loss of youth. My great fear is lest my eyesight should fail, and I earnestly hope I may die before such a calamity should befall me. The war goes languidly on, and I hear Eaglan and Can- robert are squabbling instead of acting, and that it seems to be more the fault of Canrobert -, but the melancholy truth is that there are two incompetent generals in command, who have no skill or enterprise, and are letting the opportunity for attacking the enemy slip away. A divided command and two independent armies are in themselves an immense drawback, but when they begin to disagree it becomes fatal. We have now an enormous force there, and yet they seem incapable of doing anything and of striking any great and serious blow. April 1st. — I went to a Council yesterday and got into a difficulty. "Without any previous notice, Mr. Monsell, a Eoman Catholic, came to be made a Privy Councillor. I had never sworn a Eoman Catholic and did not know what to do, so I proposed to Monsell to put it off till another day, and meanwhile I would ascertain how he was to be sworn. The difficulty was told to the Queen, and the Prince set about finding what was to be done. He looked out the 10th 1 [Mr. Greville -wrote the review of the Memoirs of King Joseph Bonaparte which appeared in two successive articles of the Edinburgh Review.'] 1855.] THE CATHOLIC OATH. 221 George IV. (Emancipation Act), and, just as we were sum- moned into the Queen's presence, Granville brought the vol- ume, put it into my hands, and told me I must administer to Monsell the oath set forth there, in lieu of the oaths of abjuration and supremacy. I was sure it was a mistake ; but there was no time to remonstrate, and I was compelled to bring him in and administer the oath. As soon as I got back to my office and looked into the matter I found it was all wrong, and that he had not, in fact, been sworn at all. What he ought to have done was to take this oath in one of the Law Courts, and then to have the Privy Councillor's oath, administered to him, and so I sent him word. Afterward I met Sidney Herbert, and he told me what he believed to be the cause of Drouyn de Lhuys' coming here, and the actual state of affairs at Vienna. We have proposed the reduction of the fleet ; the Eussians refuse. The Emperor Naj)oleon would like, if possible, to obtain some great success in the Crimea, and is not indisposed to continue the war if he can see a reasonable hope of such an achievement ; but when he despairs of this his mind inclines to the other alternative, to make peace (which Avould be popular in France), and he does not care very much about the terms, and is not averse to waive the condition as to the fleet. But our Government want to insist on it, or go on with the war, and Sidney Herbert believes they have suc- ceeded in talking over Drouyn de Lhuys and persuading him to join us in this determination, and to carry it off to Vienna. However, he is very likely to be talked over again there, and it remains to be seen whether the Emperor, if he really wishes for peace, will not join with Austria in opposing us, and accepting some other conditions, I always fancied that we had come to a regular unmistakeable agreement with Austria what we should ask of Russia, and that she had bound herself to join in the war if the terms agreed in were refused, but, according to Sidney Herbert, this has never been done. Clarendon did, indeed, at last state distinctly to Austria the terms on which France and England meant to insist, and Austria expressed her concurrence in them as a matter of opinion, and her desire to obtain them, consenting also to unite her efforts to theirs in attempting to obtain them ; but she never consented to go to war if they were not conceded, therefore we have no reason to complain of her if the negotiations break off on these grounds, and she refuses 222 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. IX. to depart from her neutrality. She has all along said, she wished with all her heart we could succeed in taking Sebas- topol, but as we had not succeeded, and apparently could not, it was impossible to press very stringent terms on Russia ; and she has never held out any expectation to us of joining in the war against Eussia, unless Eussia refuses such reason- able and not humiliating terms of peace as she herself thinks indispensable for the objects to the attainment of which she has all along been a party. The best chance of peace now is that the Emperor Napoleon may think he is not likely to do any great things in the Crimea and that peace is his best policy, and he is the real arbiter of peace and war. If he prefers following in the wake of England, and to defer to our war policy, peace will ascend to Heaven, and the odious war will be resumed with more fury than ever, and no one can guess how long it will last, nor what will be the end of it. April 17t7i. — Yesterday I went out " with all the gazing town '' to see not the least curious of the many curious events I have lived to witness, the entry of the Emperor and Em- press of the French into London. The day was magnificent, the crowd prodigious, the reception not very clamorous, but cordial and respectful. A fine sight for them to see such vast multitudes, so orderly and so prosperous, and without a single soldier except their own escort. The Queen received them with the utmost cordiahty, and omitted none of the usual forms practised between Sovereigns. She met the Imperial pair at the entrance to the Castle, embraced the Emperor and then the Empress when she was presented to her. April 20th. — The visit of the Emperor has been one continued ovation, and the success of it complete. None of the Sovereigns who have been here before have ever been received with such magnificence by the Court or by such curiosity and delight by the people. Wherever and when- ever they have appeared, they have been greeted by enormous multitudes and prodigious acclamations. The Queen is ex- ceedingly pleased with both of them ; she thinks the Em- press very natural, graceful, and attractive, and the Emperor frank, cordial, and true. He has done his best to please her, talked to her a great deal, amused her, and has completely succeeded. Everybody is struck with his mean and diminu- tive figure and vulgar appearance, but his manners are good 1855.] THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON AT WINDSOR. 223 and not undignified. He talked a yery long time to Lord Derby on Tuesday at Windsor, and to Lord Aberdeen on Wednesday. This last was very proper, because he had a great prejudice against Aberdeen, and fancied he was his enemy, which Aberdeen knew. Wlien he was invested with the Garter, he took all sorts of oaths — old feudal oaths — of fidelity and knightly service to the Queen, and he then made her a short speech to the following effect : "I have sworn to be faithful to Your Majesty -and to serve you to the best of my ability, and my whole future life shall be spent in proving the sincerity with which I have thus sworn, and my resolution to devote myself to your service." The fineness of the weather brought out the whole population of London, as usual kept in excellent order by a few policemen, and in perfect good humor. It was a beautiful sight last night when the Royal and Imperial party went to the Opera in state ; the streets lit by gas and the houses illuminated and light as day, particularly opposite the Travellers' Club, where I was. I am glad the success of the visit has been so great, and the contentment of all the parties concerned so complete, but it is well that all will be over to-morrow, for such excite- ment and enthusiasm could not last much longer, and the inconvenience of being beset by crowds, and the strcets ob- structed, is getting tiresome. I saw Cowley for a moment yesterday. He told me the Russians refused any conditions which imposed loss of ter- ritory or limitation of naval forces, and they declined to offer any counter project, though they are ready to discuss anything we propose. He therefore considers the continu- ance of the war unavoidable, and does not believe Austria will join in it, though Drouyn de Lhuys still writes his own expectation that she will. He said they had never said or done anything which bound them to join, and that their diplomacy liad been much more adroit and successful than our's, but that this was principally the fault of the French, who never would consent to take a peremptory course so as to compel them to be explicit. The consequence of this is, that it will be impossible to produce the diplomatic corre- spondence, and its retention will put Parliament and the press in a fury, and expose the Government to attacks which they will find it very difficult to repel or to silence. They cannot give the reason why, and their enemies and detractors will believe, or at least insist, that they do not 224 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. IX. dare disclose their own share in the transaction. I asked Clarendon how it was that the French Government in their last paper in the " Moniteur " said so positively that they had secured the co-operation of Austria-if the last conditions were refused by Eussia ; he replied that he supposed they said so in order to make it the ground of an accusation against Austria when the Conference broke up and she re- fuses to declare war. Clarendon thinks we shall get the better of Eussia, but that it will be by blockading her ports and ruining her commerce, and not by military operations, and that this may take two or three years or more, but is certain in the end.* May 24:th. — The Sebastopol Committee is finished, and the result proves that it is a very good thing to have had it, for no ill consequences have come of it, and the evidence has benefited instead of injuring both the Government and those who were most bitterly abused, especially Hardinge and Newcastle, about the latter of whom there has been a considerable reaction of opinion. In Parliament nothing has taken place of much consequence. Ellenborough gave bat- tle in the Lords and was sigually defeated. Layard had an- nounced a hostile motion in the House of Commons, which he has since given up to Disraeli, who brings forward a regu- lar want of confidence motion to-night, which will decide the fate of the Government. Sir Francis Baring has moved an amendment which the Peelites will not vote for, because it pledges the House to support the war, they having now become furiously pacific ; as if they were not unpopular enough already, they are now doing all they can to mar their own eflicacy by giving their enemies a plausible case for attacking and abusing them, and by breasting the tide of warlike zeal and passion, which, though very absurd and very mischievous, is too strong and too general to be openly and directly resisted at present. It is quite fit and becoming to reason with it, and to endeavor to bring the public to a more reasonable frame of mind, but great tact, caution, and good management are required in doing this. It is very difficult to make out what Gladstone and his friends (for it would be ridiculous to call them a party) are at, and what they expect or desire in reference to their political future. Palmerston 1 [The failure or suspension of the negotiations for peace at Vienna was formally announced to Parliament on May 21, and the protocols of the Con- ference'laid upon the tahle.] 1855.] SUCCESSFUL PROSPECTS. 225 is said to have done better in the House of Commons lately than he did at first, but it is curious to see how completely his popularity has evaporated. All the foolish people whose pet he was, and who clamored for him with the notion that he was to do every sort of impossible thing, now that they find he can do no more than other men, and that there never was any real difference between him and his colleagues, are furious with him because they so deceived themselves, and want to break the idol they set up. May 30th. — The division last Friday night gave Govern- ment a larger majority than anybody expected,^ and if it did not give them permanent strength it averted immediate dan- ger. Gladstone made a fine speech, but gave great offence to all who are not for peace, and exposed himself to much unpopularity. The discussion is only suspended till Parlia- ment meets again, when the amendments will be debated, and there will be no more divisions ; but in the meantime the news which has arrived of the successes in the Crimea, and the fair prospect there appears of still greater advantages, must serve to silence the advocates of peace and encourage those who are all for war, and to render a contest popular which is likely to be crowned with brilliant results, and, as many imagine, to give us the means of dictating peace on our own terms. I believe in the prospect of success, but not that it will reduce the Eussians to make peace on our terms, particularly as the conditions will infallibly be harder than before. But I do marvel that they did not make peace at Vienna on the terms which were there offered them, when they must have known that all the chances of war were against them. The Emperor of Eussia might have taken warning from the history and fate of Napoleon, who con- stantly refused the terms he could have obtained, and con- tinually insisted on something more than his enemies would give him, and by this obstinacy lost his crown. The most interesting incident which occurred last week was the scene at the end of the debate between Graham and John Eussell, who had a fight of considerable asperity ; and according to all appearances the Peelites and the Whigs are completely two. When Graham was reconciled to Lord John two or three years ago, he vowed that nothing should separate them J [Mr. Disraeli's Motion condemning the Government for iheir misconduct of the war was rejected by 319 to 219. Lord John Eussell made a warlike speech in the course of this debate.] 226 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. IX. again, but '' qnam parum stabiles sunt hominum amicitise," and now they appear to be as antagonistic as ever. But, to be sure, Graham could not contemplate or foresee all the tricks which Lord John played during the whole time he was a member of Aberdeen's Government. Notwithstanding the success of Government in the House of Commons and of the armies in the Crimea, things are in a very unsatisfactory and uncomfortable state here, and no- body knows what will happen. There is no confidence in any party or any men, and everybody has a vague apprehen- sion of coming but undefined evil and danger. The world seems out of joint. Paris, June 11th. — Having resolved to go to Vichy for my health, here I am on the road ; I crossed over yesterday morning, a very disagreeable but short passage from Folke- stone, good Journey by rail, and got here at nine o'clock, be- ing lodged very hospitably at the Embassy. French carriages on the railway are much better than ours, particularly the second class ; the country between Boulogne and Paris looks well and thriving. I had some talk with Cowley last night before we went to bed, when he gave me an account of tlie circumstances of Drouyn de Lhuys' resignation.^ He also descanted on the difficulties of the Government here and of the maintenance of the alliance, which he attributes up to this time entirely to the good faith and fairness of the Em- peror himself, and his determination that nothing shall in- terrupt the good understanding between the two countries, on which he is above all things bent. The Emperor says it is a great misfortune that there are no men of capacity or character whose services he can command, nor in fact any men, if he could command their services, in whom the pub- lic would be disposed to place confidence. Cowley had no veiy good opinion of Drouyn de Lhuys, and said no reliance could be placed in him ; but in some respects he is a loss, be- cause he has a certain capacity and clean hands, he is enor- mously rich, and guiltless of any peculation or jobbery. When Drouyn announced that he meant to go to Vienna, Lord Cow- ley urged him to go to England first and come to an under- 1 [At the Conference at Vienna M. Drouyn de Lhuys departed from the conditions of peace agreed to between the French and British Governments, and was disposed to accept the more favorable terms which were supported by Austria. This led to his disavowal and resignation on his return to Paris. It turned out that Lord John Eussell, the British envoy to the Conference, had taken a similar course.] 1855.] A VISIT TO PARIS. 227 standing with the Cabinet there as to the terms which should be proposed at the Conference. He consented and went, and Cowley urged Clarendon to have the agreement put down in writing that there might be no mistake about it. This was done, and Drouyn went to Vienna. When he took upon him- self to make the jn'oposition he did, it was in direct opposition to his agreement with us, but he thought he should bring the Emperor to concur with him and to sanction it. The Em- peror seemed at first disposed to do so, and when he saw Cow- ley intimated as much to him. Cowley submitted that it was quite contrary to the understanding with us, and objected on every ground to the proposal. The Emperor said he really got quite confused in the intricacies and details of this affair, but he would see Drouyn again and speak to him upon it. Cowley requested (a very strange request as he owned) that he might be present at the interview. The Em- peror seemed somewhat surprised, but acquiesced. When Cowley came he found Drouyn had been there an hour, and that Marshal Vaillant was also present. They went over the ground again and Drouyn said what he had to say. when Cowley merely said he would not go into the general ques- tion and would only ask whether M. Drouyn's proposal was in conformity with what had been settled in London, and he appealed to Marshal Vaillant whether the termination of the war on such terms would be advisable. It was impossi- ble to maintain that the terms were consistent with the joint agreement, and Vaillant declared that if the French array was brought away, and a peace made on conditions which would appear to tarnish the honor of their arms, he would not answer for the consequences. This put an end to the discussion. Drouyn de Lhuys retired, and as soon as he got home sent his resignation to the Emperor, who wrote him back a very good-humored answer advising him to recall it, and expressing a wish that he would come and talk the mat- ter over with him, when he had no doubt they should come to a satisfactory understanding. Drouyn persisted, and then the Emperor accepted his resignation and sent for Walewski. I asked Cowley how Walewski was likely to do, and he said wretchedly, and that he was not of a calibre to fill such a post. He told me all about the intended journey of the Empe- ror to the Crimea and why it was given up. The Emperor was bent on it, while all the Ministers deprecated it and did 228 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA, [Chap. IX. all they could to prevent it. They suggested that, if any misfortune occurred while he was there, he could not quit the army ; if any success, he would infallibly stay to pursue it, so that his speedy return could not be counted on. This failed to move him. The intention was that Jerome should be, not Eegent, but Chief of the Council of Ministers, and they advised Jerome only to consent to take this office on condition that he was invested with the same despotic power as the Emperor himself. This His Majesty would not con- sent to, as the Ministers foresaw, and this was the reason why the exjDedition was given up. Paris, June 23d. — I came here to pass through to Vichy, and accordingly on Tuesday last to Vichy I went. I arrived there in the evening, found a detestable apartment without a fireplace ; the weather was intolerable, it never ceased raining, and the cold was intense. Finding that it was useless to take the waters or baths in such weather, and being disgusted with the whole thing, I resolved to return to Paris, which I did on Friday, and here I am comfortably established in the Embassy again. On my arrival I was greeted with the painful intelligence of the repulse sustained by the French and English on the 18th in the attack on the Mamelon and Eedan batteries, and of the great losses which both armies had suffered. This failure has cast a great gloom over Paris and London and the disappointment is greater because we had become so ac- customed to success that everybody regarded failure in any- thing as impossible. Cowley told me that the Emperor was excessively annoyed, and the more because they entirely dis- approve of Pelissier's proceedings. Without tying him down or attempting from hence to direct the operations of the campaign, they had given Pelissier the strongest recom- mendations to abstain from assaults which they had reason to believe would not be decisive and would cost a vast number of lives, and they were very anxious the operations against the Eussians in the field should be pressed instead. There had been some half angry communications between the Government and Pelissier, who had talked of resigning the command. The opinions of the Government had been principally formed from those of General ISTiel, who had constantly reported his conviction to the above mentioned effect, and had earnestly deprecated these assaults. Then there is reason to apprehend that such unsuccessful attempts 1855.] A DINNER AT THE TUILERIES. 229 may produce bad blood and mutual accusations between the allied forces. Already P61issier and Eaglan have begun to cast the blame of the failure on each other, though appar- ently the difference has not yet swelled to any serious amount. I have always thought that it would have been better to have no divided command, but to place an English corps under a French commander-in-chief, and a French squadron under an English admiral. This was what the Emperor proposed, and he wrote a letter himself on the subject, which Cowley promised to show me. We have had much conversation about the Emperor, his character and his capacity, and I am puzzled how to understand and to do justice to the latter. Being such as he is represented to be, and having the defects he has, it is difficult to compre- hend his having accomplished the great things he has, and raised himself to such a situation and such a height of per- sonal power. Ju7ie 24:th. — Last night I went to Thiers', where I found Mignet, Eoger du Nord, and others of his adherents, none of whom I recollected, nor they me. This morning I called on Achille Fould, who told me the Emperor knew I was here and would like me to be presented to him, and it was settled that this should be done. I am nothing loath, for I have a curiosity to see this remarkable man and to converse with with him. Madame de Lieven told me this morning that not long before the Revolution of '48, Jerome Bonaparte had entreated her to exert her influence to get him made a peer. June 26th. — Yesterday morning arrived an invitation to dine at the Tuileries the same evening. I went there, was ushered into a room with eight or ten men in it, none of whom I knew except Count Bacciochi, whom I had met at Fould's the day before— three in uniform, the rest in plain clothes. A man, whom I suppose to be the aide de camp de service, came forward to receive me and invited me to sit down. Presently the same or another man came and said " Milord " (they all milorded me), " vous vous mettrez A table, s'il vous plait, d cote de I'Empercur a sa droite." I was then taken into the next room, which adjoins the cabi- net of the Emperor. In a few minutes His' Majesty made his appearance ; he immediately came up to me, bowed very civilly, and asked me the usual questions of when I came to Paris, etc. In a minute dinner was announced, and we went 230 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. IX. in. As we walked in he said to me, ''L'Imperatrice sera bien fachee de ne vous avoir pas vu." At dinner, which did not last above twenty-five minutes, he talked (a sort of drop- ping conversation) on diiierent subjects, and I found him so easy to get on with that I ventured to start topics myself. After dinner we returned to the room we had left, and after coffee, seeing me staring about at the portraits, he said all his family were there, and he told me who they all were and the history of these portraits, which, he said, had made the tour of the world. After this he asked me to sit down, which I did at a round table by his side, and M. Visconti on the other side of me, and then we had a conversation which lasted at least an hour and a half on every imaginable subject. It was im- possible not to be struck with his simplicity, his being so natural and totally without any air or assumption of great- ness, though not undignified, but perfectly comme ilfaut, with excellent manners, and easy, pleasant, fluent conversation. I was struck with his air of truth and frankness, and though of course I could not expect in my position and at this first interview with him that he should be particularly expansive, yet he gave me the idea of being not only not reserved but as if, when intimate, he would have a great deal of abandon. It was difficult to bring away all the subjects he discussed, and I do not know that he said anything wonderfully striking, but he made a very favorable impression on me, and made me wish to know more of him, which I am never likely to do. He talked of the war and its conduct, of the faults com- mitted, and of the characters and talents of the generals engaged, comparing them, much to their disadvantage, with the generals of the Empire. I asked him which were the best, and he said all the African generals were much of the same calibre : Changarnier, Lamorici^re, St. Arnaud, Can- robert, Pelissier — very little difference between them. The war they waged in Africa was of a peculiar character, and did not render them more capable of conducting great strategical operations in Europe. He talked of Thiers and Odilon Barrot, and described scenes with the latter in Council when Barrot was his Minister; of the ''Times" and its influence; of Spain; in short, of a vast variety of subjects; of the Exhibition here, and with some appearance of disap- pointment that the people will not go to it. His simplicity 1855.] DEATH OF LORD RAGLAN. 231 and absence of aW faste were remarkable ; thus, I asked him what he thought of the Hango affair, when he said it was not so bad as had been reported. " I have had an account of it from Admiral Penaud to-day ; should you like to see it ?" I said "Yes," when he got up, went into his cabinet, and came back with the letter in his hand ; and a little while after, when we were talking of the siege of Sebastopol, he asked if I had ever seen a very good engineer's map of the whole thing; and when I said I had not, he said, " Then I will show you one ; " and he again went into his cabinet and brought it out. After this long palaver he took leave of me, shaking hands with much apparent cordiality. Jtme 27th. — Bosquet has written to the Emperor that these assaults on the Russian works are only a useless waste of time. Marshal Vaillant has told Cowley that they agree in this, but they must either recall their general or let him go on in his own way, and if they interfere, the blame of any disaster will inevitably fall on them, no matter what might be the cause. I dined with Flahaut yesterday ; in the morn- ing rode round all the boulevards, a grand promenade by which Paris is well seen ; and I met Guizot at Madame de Lieven's, who talked of the war and asked how it was ever to end. " People go to war," he said, " to make conquests or to make peace ; you profess not to intend the first, how do you propose to elfect the second ? By reducing Russia to accept your terms — can you do so ? will she yield ? If not, what then ? — you may wound her, but you can't strike her in a vital part ; and the more barbarous she is, the more she will consent to suffer and the less she will be disposed to yield." He gave me an account (in short) of the bother about the Academy and the Emperor's interference. They do not mean to give way, but they think he will ; if he does not, he will have to dissolve them. Paris, July 5th. — One of my attacks of gout came on this day week and disabled me from going anywhere, doing anything, and still more from writing anything. In the meanwhile we received the news of Lord Raglan's death. ^ Though they do not care about it here, there has been a very decent display of sympathy and regret, and the Emperor wrote to Cowley with his own hand a very proper letter. There is good reason to believe that the fatal termination of i [Lord Raglan died in the Crimea on June 28.] 232 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. IX. Lord Eaglan's illness was in some (perhaps in great) measure produced by vexation and disappointment at the failure of the 18th, and annoyance at the many embarrassments of his position. It is certain that for a considerable time great disunion and poignant differences existed between him and the French generals. Canrobert wrote home a very unhand- some letter, in which he gave as one of his reasons for resign- ing the impossibility of going on with Eaglan. I believe Eaglan complained of Canrobert with much better reason. On the 18th Pelissier changed the plan of attack that had been agreed on between them ; and, besides all the mistakes that occurred in the French operations, there seems to have been a want of continual and active concert between the two commanders-in-chief during the operations. Eaglan pro- posed a general attack on the town when the assaults failed, which Pelissier refused to agree to. There is a fair proba- bility this would have succeeded, as an English force did get into a part of the town, stayed there some time, and got away unobserved. There is now a bad feeling, a disposition to recrimination, between the two armies, which may have very bad effects, and it is awful to think our army is under an untried man of whom nothing is known, and who is not likely to have more weight with, and receive more considera- tion from, the French generals than his predecessor. How- ever desirable unity of command may be, in the present temper of the troops, and after all that has occurred, it would be impossible. General Torrens, who is here, speaks in high terms of Eaglan, especially of his magnanimity in bearing all the blame which has been thrown upon him and never saying one word in his own vindication, which might have entirely exonerated him, but have done some injury to the cause. Torrens thinks that in all or almost all in which he has aj)- peared most obnoxious to censure he could have triumph- antly excused himself, and have proved that the causes were attributable to others and not to himself. His must have been a painful as it was an ungrateful service, and it was a melancholy and untimely end. Paris, July Qth. — I went yesterday to the Exhibition in the morning ; then to Notre Dame and the Luxembourg Gardens, and drove about Paris ; dined en trio with Madame de Lieven and Guizot, when there was of course nothing but political talk. Guizot thinks there has been not only a series of diplomatic blunders, but a wonderful want of invention, 1855.] LORD JOHN RUSSELL'S RETURN. 233 not to etrike out some means of adjusting tbis quarrel, in which I agree with him. This morning Labouchere and I went to Versailles. Fould had given me a letter to the Director of the Museum there, M. Soulie, whom we found very intelligent, well informed, and obliging. We told him our object was to avoid the giro regolare of the endless rooms fitted up with bad pictures by Louis Philippe, and to see the apartments full of historical associations from the time of Louis XIV. down to the Kevolution. "VYe were completely gratified, and he took us over everything we wished to see, being admirably qualified as a cicerone by his familiarity with the localities and the history belonging to them. We saw all the apartments in which Louis XIV. lived, and what remains of those of Madame de Maintenon. The Palace has been so tumbled about at different times, and such alterations made in it, that it is not always easy to ascertain correctly where the rooms of certain personages were, but our guide proved to our complete satisfaction that certain rooms he showed us were those which really did belong to Madame de Maintenon. We saw too in minute detail the apartments of Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette, and the passages through which she fled to escape from the irruption of the mob on the 5th of October. The whole thing was as interesting as possible. Paris, July 9th. — I meant to have left Paris last night, but, an invitation arriving to dine with the Emperor at St. Cloud to-day, I put olf going till to-morrow. I went yesterday to Versailles to see the grandes eaux and was disajl^Dointed, and dined there with the Ashburtons. This morning telegraphic news came of a Eussian sortie last night ; no details of course. Yesterday we were thrown into consternation by the intelligence from London of the reve- lations of John Kussell in the House of Commons and the discussion thereupon. Le Marchant wrote to Labouchere and told him the effect was as bad as possible, and the whole case very deplorable. My own opinion is that nobody could have acted more indiscreetly and unjustifiably than John Russell has done, and he has sacrificed his character and authority in a way which he will find it difficult to get over. But I am disposed to agree with him that the terms pro- posed by Austria, if they could have been brought to maturity and carried out, were quite sufficient to make peace upon, and that the negotiations ought to have continued in order to endeavor to bring about this result. The effect of this 234 REIGN or QUEEN VICTOEIA. [Chap. IX. public announcement to the whole world, that the English Minister at the Congress as well as the French one was willing to accept the terms proposed by Austria, will not fail to make a great sensation, and produce a considerable effect both in Germany and in France. In England it is doubtful whether it will have any other result than to damage John Eussell himself, and increase the vulgar prejudice against public men. My own idea is that it will render the war still more unpopular in France, and the English alliance likewise, because it will encourage the prevailing notion that the war is carried on for English interests and in deference to the wishes of England. Though John Eussell declared that the resolution of the Emperor to part with Drouyn de Lhuys and reject the Austrian proposal had been made before the intention of the English Cabinet was known, this will not be believed, or at all events everybody will be convinced that he knew what the sentiments of England were, and that he really acted in conformity with them, as was beyond all doubt the case. July 10th. — I dined at Villeneuve I'fitang. We went to the Palace of St. Cloud in Cowley's carriage, where we found an equerry and one of the Emperor's carriages, which took us to Villeneuve. A small house, pretty and comfortable enough, and a small party, all English — Duke and Ducliess of Hamil- ton, Lord Hertford, Lord and Lady Ashburton, General Torrens and his aide de camp, Cowley and myself, the Due de Bassano, Comte de Montebello, the aide de camp de service, and M. Valabregue, ecuyer, that was the whole party. .The Emperor sat between the two ladies, taking the Duchess in to dinner. It lasted about three quarters of an hour, and as soon as it was over His Majesty took us all out to walk about the place, see the dairy and a beautiful Bretonne cow he or- dered to be brought out, and then to scull on the lake, or etang, which give its name to the place. There were a num- ber of little boats for one person to scull and one to sit, and one larger for two each ; the Emperor got into one with the Duchess, and all the rest of the people as they liked, and we passed about half an hour on the water. On landing, ices, etc., were brought, and the carriages came to the door at nine o'clock, a cliar a 'banc with four perclierons and postillions exactly like the old French postboy, and several other open carriages and pair. The two ladies got into the center of the char a banc, Cowley, Hertford, and I were invited to get 1855.] LORD JOHN RUSSELL'S CONDUCT AT VIENNA. 235 up before, and the Emperor himself got up behind with somebody else, I did not see who. We then set off and drove for some time through the woods and drives of Ville- neuve and St. Cloud, and at last, at about ten o'clock, we were set down at the Palace. There we all alighted, and, after walking about a little, the Emperor showing us the part which Marie Antoinette had built and telling some anecdotes connected with Louis XVIII. and Louis Philippe, and the Chateau, he shook hands with all of us very cordially, and dismissed us. His Majesty got into the char a banc and re- turned to Villeneuve, and we drove back to Paris. When we were walking about the court of the Chateau (it was quite dark) the sentinel challenged us — " Qui va la ? " when the Emperor called out in a loud voice — "L'Empereur." Of course, in this company there was nothing but general conversation, and I had no opportunity of having any with His Majesty ; but he was extremely civil, offering me his cigars, which I declined, and expressing anxiety that I should not catch cold. He made the same impression on me as before as to his extreme simplicity and the easiness of his intercourse ; but I was struck with his appearance being so very mesquin, more than I thought at first. Lady Ashburton told me she had received a letter from Ellice, telling her that the affair in the House of Commons had produced the most serious effect, and that it would probably end in the retirement of John Russell, and eventu- ally to a change of Government. He had got a story, which I utterly disbelieve, that Milner Gibson had been instigated by John Russell himself to give him this opportunity of say- ing what he did, which was certainly more than he need have said.^ Lord John seems for some time past to have been bereft of his senses, and to commit nothing but blun- » [On July 6, Lord Jobn Eussell declared in the House of Commons, in answer to a question put by Mr. Milner Gibson, that he was personally con- vinced that the terms proposed at Vienna by the Austrian Government gnwc. a fair prospect of the termination of hostihties, but that on his retura to England the Government declined to accept them, M. Drouyn do Lhuys, the French envoy, had also been in favor ot tlicse terms. This declaration appeared to be wholly inconsistent with the warlike speech whicli Lord John had made, on his return, on May 24. Sir E. B. Lytton then gave notice of a motion con- demning the conduct of the Ministers charged with negotiating at Vienna; but Lord John Russell anticipated the inevitable vote of censure by resigning office, and he was succeeded in the Colonial Department by Sir William Slolesworth. This transaction was held to reflect deep discredit on Lord John Eussell's con- duct, and justifies the severe language applied to him in the text, but this was somewhat mitigated by Mr. Greville in a subsequent passage.] 236 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. IX, ders one after another. What has been passing in his mind, and what his real objects are or haye been, it would puzzle anybody to say. If he had personal views and wanted to re- gain the station and power which he had lost, never did any man take such false steps and pursue so eiToneous a course to obtain his ends. He had in some measure retrieved the character and consideration which he forfeited by his con- duct at the beginning of this year ; but I do not see how he is ever to get over this, nor how his followers can any longer have any confidence in him, and I do not believe the country at large ever will. As to his opinion on the terms of peace, I agree with it, and think it would have been wiser to close with Buol's proposal, and to continue to negotiate ; but this makes no difference as to his conduct in the affair, for which there is no excuse. He never ought to have committed him- self at Vienna ; his instructions were clear and precise and quite inconsistent with Buol's proposition. He might have engaged to bring it before his G-overnment, but should, espe- cially as he was a Cabinet Minister, have abstained from ex- pressing any opinion of his own upon it. He appears at Vienna to have been easily talked over, and to have been ex- ceedingly wanting iu diplomatic finesse and penetration ; but all I have picked up here in conversation proves to me that there have been errors innumerable and the greatest mistakes in the conduct of these affairs throughout, and the exigencies of the alliance and the necessity of concerting everything to the most minute particular with both Cabinets have produced results not less unfortunate in diplomacy than in war. The affair before Sebastopol the night before last turns out to have been of no importance, only a demonstra- tion against the English lines. London, July 13th. — I left Paris on Tuesday night at 7.30, got to Calais at three ; low water and steamer three miles out at sea ; went out in a boat in a torrent of rain which had lasted the whole journey and all day. Train was just gone when we got to Dover, but we arrived in town about eleven. I found a precious state of affairs, all con- fusion and consternation, Bulwer having given notice of a motion of want of confidence on account of John Russell, whose affair has brought himself and the Government to the very brink and almost to the certainty of ruin. There is as much excitement against Palmerston's Government, all on account of Lord John, as there was a few months ago against 1855.] LORD JOHN RUSSELL'S EXPLANATION. 237 Aberdeen. I found Brooks's in a state of insurrection, and even the Attorney-General (Cockburn) told me that the Lib- eral party were resolved to go no further with John Eussell, and that nothing but his resignation could save the Govern- ment, even if that could ; that they might be reconciled to him hereafter, but as long as the war lasted they repudiated him. Meanwhile he has not resigned. There was a long Cabinet the day before yesterday in which they discussed the state of affairs, and what measures could be taken. Lord John offered to resign, but they would not hear of it, and came to a resolution to stand or fall together. I saw Clar- endon yesterday, who was fully aware of the imminence of the danger, and of the probability of their being out on Mon- day ; he said Lord John's whole conduct was inconceivable, and he knew not to what to attribute his strange speech, in which he had made for himself a much worse case than the circumstances really warrant, and given to the world impres- sions which are not correct ; for in point of fact he did not urge Buol's projjosal upon the Cabinet, but when he laid it before them and found it not acceptixble, he at once yielded to all the arguments against it, and instead of making any attempt to get peace made on those terms, he joined with all his colleagues in their conviction of the necessity of carrying on the war vigorously ; and this conviction induced him to make the warlike speech with which he is now reproached as being inconsistent with the opinions he was entertain- ing (as it is said) at the time he made -it. Yesterday he at- tempted to make something of an explanation, but he only floundered further into the mire, and was laughed at. Everybody thinks he made his case worse rather than better, but he really seems to have lost his head. His whole con- duct at Vienna and here has exhibited nothing but a series of blunders and faults, and he has so contrived it that no explanations he can possibly make will extenuate them, or place him in a tolerable light in the eyes of the public. In the morning yesterday I had occasion to call on Disraeli about some business, when he talked over the state of affairs very freely, and gave me to understand that he intended and expected to turn out the Government and to come in with his party, but he owned that their materials for forming a tolerable Government were very scanty, that he would not attempt their old Government over again, but, except Lytton Bulwer, of whom he spoke in terms of high 238 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTOEIA. [Chap. IX. praise, he knew not where to find any fresh men worth any- thing. Bath, July 19th. — I came here on Saturday night. In the course of Friday morning 1 met Drumlanrig, who told me the subordinate place men had caused John Eussell to be informed that if he did not resign they should, and vote for Bulwer's motion on Monday. This produced his resignation, but under circumstances as mortifying as possibly could be, and which must have made him deeply regret that he did not resign at first, although he is not to be blamed for hav- ing yielded to the wishes of his colleagues, and I am satisfied he did so from the best motives. It was no sooner known that he had resigned than the excitement began to subside, and everybody thought that Bulwer would withdraw his motion, and at all events nobody doubted that it would come to nothing. The motion was withdrawn but the de- bate took place, and such a debate ! — it was impossible to read it without indignation and disgust. Bulwer's speech was a tissue of foul abuse with the grossest and most wilful misrepresentations and endeavors to draw inferences he knew to be false and fallacious, with the hope and purpose of dam- aging the characters of the Ministers. In these times, when the great evil is the bad opinion which the public has been led to entertain of public men, Bulwer endeavors, for a mere party purpose, to aggravate that hostile feeling and to make the world believe that, in a great party and a Cabi- net composed of men whose characters have never been im- pugned, there is neither truth, sincerity, nor good faith, and by producing such an impression to bring the aristocracy into greater disrepute. Disraeli, of course, spoke in the same tone, Palmerston was very bad, and his speech was quite unbecoming his position. John Eussell's defence was not calculated to relieve him from the weight of obloquy and unpopularity -he had brought on himself, and the whole thing was unsatisfactory, except that it denoted the end of the contest and the disappointment of the Opposition, whose hopes had been so highly raised. After much consideration of John Eussell's conduct, I think it is not obnoxious to the severe censnre with which it has been visited, and though he has committed errors, they are venial ones and admit of a fair explanation. Had not Buol's publication revealed to the world what had passed be- tween them confidentially, nothing of it would have been 1855.] APOLOGY FOR LORD JOHX. 239 known, and he would have been left to the enjoyment of the popularity he had gained by his anti-Russian speech. The statement about him in Buol's Circular naturally led to questions, and then it was necessary to tell everything and lay bare the arcana of Cabinets and Conferences ; and when he endeavored to explain his own conduct it became, amid all the complexities of the case itself, its endless variety of details and confusion of dates, next to impossible to unravel it satisfactorily, and quite impossible to protect himself from the imputations which an unscrupulous and malignant as- sailant could easily contrive to bring against him ; and in this great difficulty he displayed no tact and ingenuity in extricating himself from the dilemma in which he was placed ; on the contrary, he went blundering on, exposing himself to many charges, all plausible and some true, of inconsistency, inaccuracy, and insincerity, and he made in his speeches a case against himself which left very little for his enemies to do. It might be strange in any other man, but is perhaps only consistent in him, that he is now more indignant with the friends who refused to follow and support him on this occasion than either ashamed or angry witli himself for hav- ing blundered into such a scrape. He writes, meanwhile, to his brother, who has sent me his letter, in these terms : — " I have endeavored to stand by and support Palmerston, too much so, I fear, for my own credit, but had I resigned on my return from Vienna, I should have been abused as wishing to trip him up and get his place : in short, the situa- tion was one of those where only errors were possible. I have acted according to my own conscience ; let that suf- fice." False reasoning and wounded pride are both appar- ent in this letter, but he is quite right when he says that "only errors had become possible." There is no course he could have taken that would not have exposed him to bitter attacks and reproaches, and these unavoidable errors were not confined to himself. The first thing that strikes me is that the Cabinet ought to have accepted his resignation when he first tendered it ; but there were no doubt difficulties and objections to that course, and their reluctance to let him throw himself over- board was not unnatural and was generous. The defence which his conduct really admits of may be (to state it very briefly) thus set forth. I put it loosely, and as it strikes me, taking a general view of the case ; to make it more accurate 240 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. IX. and complete, the dates and the documents should be before me, which they are not. He went to Paris with .instructions precisely corresponding with what was verbally arranged in London between Drouyn de Lhuys and the Cabinet, and they were conjointly to propose the conditions which the two Governments had agreed to require from Russia ; but still they were not the bearers of an Ultimatum, they did not go to give law to Eussia, or as Judges to pronounce sentence upon her. They went to confer and to negotiate, to endeavor to obtain the precise terms which would be entirely satisfactory to their two Governments, and failing in this to see what they could obtain. If they were in- structed to insist on the limitation, just as they proposed it at the Conference, and to accept nothing else, nothing either short of it or varying from it, then the very idea of a Conference and a negotiation was a mockery and a delu- sion. It was a mockery to invite the Eussian plenipotentiary to make proposals, and the conduct of the Allies was disin- genuous and deceitful. Certainly Austria never contem- plated, still less would she have been a party to, such a course of proceeding ; and her notion wds, and, of course, that of Eussia also, that there should be a bond fide negoti- ation, and an attempt to bring about an understanding by the only way in which an understanding ever can be brought about — mutual concessions. We proposed the limitation scheme, and Austria backed us up in it cordially, sincerely, and forci- bly, at least to all appearance. Eussia rejected it on the ground of its incompatibility with her honor and dignity. Then Eussia made proposals, which the Allies, Austria in- cluded, rejected as insufficient. John Eussell and Drouyn de Lhuys appear to have fought vigorously in the spirit of their instructions, but when they found there was no chance of the Eussians consenting to the limitation, they both be- came anxious to try some other plan, by which peace might possibly be obtained, and they each suggested something. At last, when the Conference was virtually at an- end, as a last hope and chance Buol produced his scheme. John Eus- sell had already committed himself to an approval of the principle of it, by the plan he had himself suggested, and, when he found that both his French and Turkish colleagues were willing to accept it, it is not surprising that he should have told Buol privately and confidentially that he acqui- esced in it, and would urge it on his Government. As it has 1855.] LORD JOHN'S CONDUCT AT VIENNA. 241 turned out, this was a great indiscretion for which he has been severely punished. As he had every reason to believe that Buol's plan would not be acceptable to his own Govern- ment, what he ought to have done was to give notice to Clarendon that such a proposal had been made, and to beg it might be considered before any final resolution was taken, and to tell Buol that he had done so ; to promise that he would submit to the Cabinet all the arguments that had been used in its favor, but to abstain from any expression of his own opinion, and shelter himself from the necessity of giving any by the tenor of his own instructions. When he found the French Minister for Foreign Affairs consenting, he might very well suppose that the French Government would not reject the proposal, and that he should not be justified in putting a peremptory veto on what France was disposed to accept as sufficient. Besides, although he has never put for- ward such an argument in any of his speeches, he may have thought, as I do, that ''counterpoise" and "limitation" were the same thing in principle, and the only difference be- tween them one of mode and degree. Buol's counterpoise involved limitation, our limitation was to establish a counter- poise ; therefore, even in the spirit of the instructions and arguments of the French and English Governments, their plan of limitation having failed, Buol's plan of counterpoise was entitled to consideration,^ and the only question ought to have been whether it would have been effectual for the purpose common to all, and whether it would be an honor- able mode of terminating the war. John Russell's fault was committing himself to Buol as approving his plan before he knew how it would be viewed at home ; but I see neither impossibility nor inconsistency in his having regarded it favorably at Vienna, and being biassed by all the arguments in its favor which there beset him on all sides, and when he returned to England and found the opinions of all his colleagues adverse to it, and heard their reasons for being so, that he should have been convinced by them, have subscribed to the general decision, and joined cordially with them in the vigorous prosecution of the war. Having come finally to this conclusion, his warlike speech ' [The proposal submitted to the Conference by Count Buol was that each of the Powers should have the right to maintain a limited naval power in the Black Sea. The whole discussion turned upon suppression of the naval suprem- acy of Russia in the Black Sea and the manner in which it was to be effected.] 11 242 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. IX. was not unnatural, and he made it probably very mucli to prove to his own colleagues that he was in earnest with them. There was no necessity for his proclaiming what had passed at Vienna, as nothing had happened in consequence, and the question was not what impression had been made on his mind there in the course of the negotiations, but what was the opinion, and what the resolution at which he finally arrived when all was over. But he has repeatedly in the course of his career contrived to do a vast deal of mischief by a very few words, and so it was in this instance. When he was driven to confess that he had endorsed Buol's pro- posal, and said that he was still of the same opinion, his opponents were able with every appearance of truth to say that he had intended to conceal what he had done at Vienna, and to deceive the country, both as to his past conduct and his present opinions ; and as it was obvious from his own avowal that he still was of the same opinion as at Vienna, his war speech was hypocritical and insincere, and he was unfit to be in a Cabinet pledged to carry on the war earnestly and vigorously. Against such an attack it was very diffi- cult to make a good defence, and I doubt whether the most lucid and circumstantial statement and the most natural explanation of his own motives and sentiments at different periods of the transaction would have received a patient hearing and dispassionate consideration. The House of Commons and the public were in that frame of mind that will not listen, and cannot be fair and just, and he became, and could hardly avoid becoming, the victim of his own want of caution and prudent reserve and the excessive com- plication of the circumstances and details of the case. London, July 28th. — I returned from Bath yesterday ; went to Newmarket in the evening and returned this morn- ing. There is nothing new at home and abroad ; to all out- ward appearance the siege standing still, but they say it is going on in a safe and judicious manner calculated to bring about success. Cenerai Simpson wants to resign, but no man fit to succeed him can be found. ^ I have read the pamphlet " Whom shall we Hang ?" and think it makes a very good case for the late Government, especially Newcastle, but it is 1 [Upon the death of Lord Raglan General Simpson, an officer of whom little was known, succeeded, as senior m rank, to the command of the army. He retained the command but a short time, Genei-al Codi-ington having been ap- pointed by the Government to succeed him.] 1856.] PROEOGATION OF PARLIAMENT. 243 SO long that few people will read it ; and though it may con- vince and satisfy some one here and there, it will not suffice to stem the torrent which is so swollen by ignorance and malice. At Brooks's this afternoon I met iitzroy, who said a great deal to me about the condition of the Government, of the state and disposition of the House of Commons, and Palmerston's management there, and his conduct as a leader. London, August lUh. — Since my last date I have been to Goodwood, and since then here, having had nothing to note beyond what has appeared in all the newspapers. Parliament was prorogued yesterday, after a session of average duration, but marked by a great many incidents of a disagreeable char- acter, and exhibiting a downward tendency as regards the future tranquillity and prosperity of the country. The last few days were marked by an angry contest provoked by Lord Grey in the Lords, not altogether without Ci^use : the Limited Liability Bill came up so late that, according to the Standing Order, it could not be considered. Government moved the suspension of the Order, which was carried, but there was no time to discuss properly the provisions of the bill, and it was hurried through the House by force, probably in an incom- plete form. Grey was very angry, and fought it tooth and nail, declaring his opposition to a Government which had, he insisted, behaved so ill. Mr. Monsell was made a Privy Councillor, the oath having been altered to meet his scruples, in spite of all the remonstrances I could offer against such an unworthy compliance as this appears to me. 244 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Ckap. X. CHAPTER X. The Oneen's Visit to France— Sir George C. Lewis on tlie War— Inefficiency of Lorrt PiiniDure— Thi- Qu.-i-n nnd the Kmpi.-ror— Loid .lofln Kussell's Esirantieuient from h's Frieuds-The Fall of Sebastopol-'lhe Q leen on th3 Or.eans Coufiscation— The Prince Regent's '.etteron the Holy Alliance— Kernient in Italy— The Failure at the KeJan— Lord John's Defence— General Windham— Lord John Kusseil'.s Ketirement — Death of Sir Robert Adair— Adieu to the Turf— Progress ot the W ar— Colonial Office proposed to Lord Slanlev- Lord John Kusseli's Fosition— Relations with Mr. Disraeli — Mr. Laboucbere Colonial Secretary— Is e;,'-otiations for Peace— The Terms propo>ed to Russia The King of Sardinia and M. de Cavour at Windsor— The Demands of the Kin>' of Sardinia- Lord Palmerston presses for War-Lord Macaulay's History of KiT'la-id- An Ultimatum to Russia— Ui-arh of the Poet Rogers- Frmch Minisiers — The Empiror s IJiplom ic\— Sir George C. Lewis's Aversion to the War— Qu nrels of WaleAfs.ci aal PiTsi'jfny —Austria presents the Terms to Ruasia— Baron Seebach me- ^ates— The Emperor's' Difficulties and Doubts. London, August 31si^.— The Queen as usual has had mag- nificent weather for her Paris visit, and all has gone well there except that unluckily she arrived after her time at Boulogne and still more at Paris, consequently the Emperor was kept waiting at Boulogne, and the whole population of Paris, which turned oufc'and waited for hours under a broiling sun, was disappointed, for they arrived when it was growing dark. However, in spite of this, the scene appears to have been very- fine and animated. Clarendon, who is not apt to be enthusi- astic, writes so to Palmerston, and tells him that Marshal Magnan said he had known Paris for fifty years, and had nevlir seen such a scene as this, nor even when Napoleon returned from Austerlitz. George Lewis called on me yesterday. I have hardly seen him during the session, and, having advised him to take his present ofiice, I was glad to be able to congratulate him on his success. He was very natural about it, and owned that he had every reason to be satisfied with his reception both by the House of Commons and the City. I found that his sentiments about war and peace were identical with my own. He had been all along against the war, and thought it ought to have been prevented, and might have been in the outset, and that peace ought to have been made the other day ; but, as he was in no way responsible for the war, he had nothing to do but to submit to the fait accompli and to do his best to raise the necessary supplies in the most advantageous manner. It is evident that, if there could have been a potential peace party in the Cabinet, he would have been one of them, but as it is he kept his real sentiments to him- self and subscribed to the decision of the majority. We 1855.] BATTLE OF THE TCHERNAYA. 245 talked of the cession and its incidents. He said history re- corded nothing like the profusion with which the present House of Commons was inclined to spend money. It was impossible to ask for too much ; their only fear seemed to be lest the war should not be conducted with sufficient vigor, and to accomplish this they were ready to vote any amount of money. Lewis thinks the rage for war as violent as ever, and the zeal of the country not at all diminished, he sees no symptoms of it. The wealth and resources which the crisis has developed are most curious ; thus, he reduced the inter- est on Exchequer Bills not long ago — an operation he be- lieves never before attempted in time of war. War has had little or no effect on trade, which is steady and flourishing ; but he thinks, unless some great successes infuse fresh ani- mation into the public mind, that before long they will begin to tire of the contest, and to reflect that it is being carried on at an enormous cost for no rational object whatever, and merely from motives of pride and vanity and a false notion of honor. Charles Villiers thinks differently, and that there is already a manifest change of opinion, and that opposition to the war has already begun. I wish I could see some symptoms of it, but, though there may be some, I think they are slight. Lewis thinks John Kussell has completely done for himself by his last speech. He was recovering from the effects of his first ; there was a reaction in his favor ; his friends were anxious to be reconciled to him and to renew their support and confidence, when he played into the hands of his enemies and made his own position worse than it was before. Lewis told me that he was much struck with the medi- ocrity of Panmure, who was one of the dullest men he ever knew, and that he was by far the least able man in the Cabi- net, and as bad as possible as Minister of War — prejudiced, slow, and roufinier. It is evident that Newcastle was a much abler man, and if he had happened to have come after Panmure, he would have been as much belauded as he has been abused. September 5tJi. — A complete stagnation in every way ; no news whatever since the battle of the Tchernaya,^ and no- body has the least idea. Ministers included, of the state and progress of the war. I asked Granville, who is just come J [The battle of tlie Tehernava was fought on the 16th of August, -when General LiprancU attacked the French and Sardinian armies in their lines, witih a large force, but was repulsed with great loss.] 2146 REIGN OF QTJEEN VICTORIA. [Chap, X. from Paris, if he knew anything, and he said he did not, and that the Emperor, whom he had seen a day or two ago, com- plained of being equally in the dark. His Majesty, Gran- ville said, was very low about the war, and comiilained that none of the expeditions and diversions had been undertaken which might have advanced the cause more rapidly. Pelis- sier seems to be very much deconsidere and thought worth very little as a general. 1 saw Clarendon one day last week for a short time, but had no opportunity of hearing the details of his sojourn at Paris. He said the Queen was delighted with everything and especially with the Emperor himself, who, with perfect knowledge of women, had taken the surest way to ingratiate himself with her. This it seems he began when he was in England, and followed it up at Paris. After his visit the Queen talked it all over with Clarendon, and said, "It is very odd ; but the Emperor knows everything I have done and where I have been ever since I was twelve years old ; he even recollects how I was dressed, and a thousand little de- tails it is extraordinary he should be acquainted with." She has never before been on such a social footing with anybody, and he has approached her with the familiarity of their equal positions, and with all the experience and knowledge of womankind he has acquired during his long life, passed in the world and in mixing with every sort of society. She seemed to have played her part throughout with great pro- priety and success. Old Jerome did not choose to make his appearance till just at the last moment, because he insisted on being treated as a king, and having the title of 3£ajeste given him — a pretension Clarendon would not hear of her yielding to. Septem'ber '^th. — I had a long visit from the Duke of Bed- ford this morning, who came to talk to me about his brother John, his position and prospects. He has seen John and heard from him in great detail all his case, and he has like- wise seen Clarendon and heard his and the Government's case. He tells me that he has never in his life suffered more pain than at hearing these cases and witnessing the bitter feelings which exist and the charges which are mutually made, especially between Clarendon and Lord John. The latter thinks he has been very ill-used by most of his former colleagues, but especially by Clarendon, whose conduct he thinks both unjust and ungrateful. Clarendon wrote to him 1855.] THE FALL OF SEBASTOPOL. 347 while he was at Vienna in such a tone and language that Lord John had determined to resign his embassy and return home, and had actually written a letter to Clarendon for the purpose, but he gave up doing so partly because he felt that it would make a prodigious noise all over Europe and partly because, having consulted his brother-in-law, George Elliot, he prudently advised him against such a step ; but he felt deeply, and resented what he thought bad conduct toward himself. I read to the Duke all that I had written about John in the preceding pages, against which he had nothing to say. He asked his brother how he came to speak so ill for himself in the House of Commons, and he replied that he was embarrassed by the impossibility of saying everything that he knew, especially the fact, which I have mentioned, of the way in which the Emperor Napoleon determined to throw over Drouyn de Lhuys and to reject the Vienna pro- posals. This was told to John by Baudiu ; and one of the things he complains of is that the Cabinet never was in- formed of what had passed, and its members were allowed to suppose, like the public, that the Emperor's rejection had been spontaneous, instead of having been suggested and urged upon him by us. John bitterly feels his own position, hi? estrangement from his old friends, and, above all, the unkindness and ingratitude he thinks they have been guilty of toward him. He is now intent upon his own vindication, and is preparing to compose it with a view of giving it to the world, though he does not know, and it is difficult to deter- mine, in what shape. He seems less dissatisfied with his old enemy Palmerston than with any of the others, and says he thinks Palmerston is the best man there is at present to be Prime Minister. After Clarendon he most reproaches Charles Wood. September 11th. — Went to The Grove with Clarendon last Saturday sennight ; on Monday to Doncaster, where I had no time to write anything but bets in my betting-book, all of which I lost. On the Saturday we heard from General Simpson by telegraph that the assault was to take place that day. We were kept in suspense all Sunday, but on Monday morning read in the " Times " that the Malakoff was taken, but we had no idea then that the city with all its vast de- fences would fall immediately after, but I heard it the same night at the Huntingdon station.^ ' [The final bombardment of Sebastopol comnionced on the morning of Sep- 248 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. X. I heard a great deal from Clarendon about the royal visit to Paris, and details connected with it, and we talked over the quarrel with John Russell, at which he expressed great regret, though not without bitterness. Clarendon said noth- ing could exceed the delight of the Queen at her visit to Paris, at her reception, at all she saw ; and that she was charmed with the Emperor. They became so intimate, and she on such friendly terms with him, that she talked to him with the utmost frankness, and even discussed with him the most delicate of all subjects, the confiscation of the Orleans' property, telling him her opinion upon it. He did not avoid the subject, and gave ner the reasons why he thought himself obliged to take that course ; that he "knew all this wealth was employed in fomenting intrigues against his Government, which was so new that it was necessary to take all precautions to avert such dangers. She replied that, even if this were so, he might have contented himself with se- questrating the property and restoring it when he was satis- fied that all danger on that score was at an end. I asked Clarendon what he thought of the Emperor himself, and he said that he liked him, and he was very pleasing, but he was struck with his being so indolent and so excessively ignorant. The Prince of Wales was put by the Queen under Claren- don's charge, who was desired to tell him what to do in pub- lic, when to bow to the people, and whom to speak to. He said that the Princess Royal was charming, with excellent manners, and full of intelligence. Both the children were delighted with their sejour, and very sorry to come away. When the visit was drawing to a close, the Prince said to the Empress that he and his sister were both very reluctant to leave Paris, and asked her if she could not get leave for them to stay there a little longer. The Empress said she was afraid this would not be possible, as the Queen and the Prince would not be able to do without them ; to which the boy replied, " Not do without us ! don't fancy that, for there are six more of us at home, and they don't want us." The Emperor himself proposed to the Queen to go to the Chapel consecrated to the memory of the Duke of Orleans upon the spot where he met with his fatal accident and expired. It temberSth, and continued without intermission until the 8th, Tvhen the Russians blew up their macrazines and in the niffht evacuated the southern portion of the city. The intellisrenee of the fall of Sebastopoi reached England on the after- noon of Monday, September 10, and was received with great enthusiasm through- out the country.] 1855.] MARRIAGES OF THE ROYAL FAMILY. 249 is creditable to her that she talks without g^ne or scruple to the Emperor about the Orleans family, making no se- cret of her continued intimacy with them, and with equal frankness to them of her relations with him. She wrote to the Queen Marie Amelie an account of her goincr to the Chapel and of the Emperor taking her there, and received a very amiable reply. The first thing she did on her return was to receive the Due and Duchesse de Mont- pensier. Clarendon told me a few things besides of no great im- portance, and which I am not sure that I recollect : about Spain, he said that matters were going on better there and the Government had contrived to get money — the Spaniards were very anxious to take part in" the war, but he had dis- couraged it entirely. As to Naples, that we were calling the Neapolitan Government to account for their recent imperti- nence to us, but that Palmerston and he had disagreed as to what should be done, Palmerston, according to his old habit, wanting to send ships of war to Naples and to proceed to violence, while he was opposed to having another Pacifico affair on our hands, and proposed to proceed with caution and quietly. While they were m the yacht, crossing over, Prince Albert had told him that there was not a word of truth in the pre- vailing report and belief that the young Prince of Prussia and the Princess Royal were fiances, that nothing had ever passed between the parents on the subject, and that the union never would take place unless the children should become attached to each other. There would be no mere political marriage. The Prince showed Clarendon all the correspondence which had taken place between the Emperor of Russia and the Prince Regent about the Holy Alliance, which he said was very curious, and George IV. 's letter de- clining to be a party to it very good indeed. These docu- ments were left in Lord Liverpool's papers, and fell into the hands of Harcourt, who married his daughter. Harcourt lent them to the Prince to read, but exacting a promise that he would not take a copy of them, and he had since repeat- edly pressed the Prince to return them. I told Clarendon they ought not to be returned, or at least that Harcourt ought to be desired to give them to be preserved in the Gov- ernment Archives, for they can in no way be considered as private property. Lord Liverpool's papers were for the most 250 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA, [Chap. X. part destroyed, but these were preserved. This is all I can recollect of what he told me. S&ptemher 23^.— At The Grove from Saturday to_ Mon- day ; nobody there but Keeve ; nothing very particular. Clarendon said Prussia was very anxious to interpose to renew ne-^otiations, but they would not hear of her interfer- ence, ancf if anything was done it could only be by Austria. He showed me a paper sent by Hudson with an account, very brief, of the state of Italy, which is in fermentation though not in open disturbance. " The Sicilian malcontents sent to the Kino; of Sardinia an offer of their crown for one of his sons. He replied, " You have need of a man, and a boy will be of no use to you." This they took for a refusal, and they are now thinking of a Coburg; in no case will they have a Murat. I forget what the Neapolitan Liberals want, but I doubt if the country will have either the courage or the i)ower to emancipate itself. Ssptembsr 28//i. — No fresh news, but a letter from Charles Windham (the hero of the Eedan), in which he gives an ac- count of that affair which corresponds very closely with the report of Euss&ll, the "Times" Commissioner. He gives a poor character of the generals in the Crimea, and says the troops, except some of the old soldiers, behaved by no means well. The whole thing seems to have been grievously mis- managed on our part.^ I have had much correspondence with the Duke of Bed- ford about Lord John and his case, which the Duke says, now that he has heard it all and seen the correspondence, he thinks much better than he had supposed, and that John was meditating the publication of a defence of himself, but could not determine in what shape it should be. I earnestly advised him to dissuade his brother from publishing any- thing:, as he could not make an effectual defence of his conduct without making revelations that would be held un- justifiable and cause all sorts of ill humor and recriminations, and render his position, both personal and political, worse than it now is. Some communications in a friendly spirit have taken place between Lord John and Clarendon, but 1 [Tlie British attacls: on the Ecdan failed, while the French attaek on the Malakoff succeeded, to the extreme annoyance of the British army and public; hut in his assault Colonel Charles Windham (as he then was) displayed tiie most signal bravery, which in some measure redeemed the credit of the British forces. ' This circumstance gave him an amount of popularity and distinction whiclihis rank in the army and his previous services did not altogether justify.] 1855.] GENERAL CHARLES WINDHAM. 251 I can see that there is still existing a great deal of soreness and a not very cordial feeling between them. I have been reading Lord Grey's speech on the war, which he has pub- lished in a pamphlet, and I think it excellent and unanswer- able. I long to write something on the subject and to add to Grey's argument on other parts of the case. I do not care about the unpopularity of doing so, and am only deterred from taking so much trouble by feeling that it would be unavailing, and that to attempt to make the public listen to reason and take a dispassionate view of the various questions connected with the war on which they have been so com- pletely bamboozled and misled, would be like Mrs. Partington and her mop. October 2d. — I have been in correspondence lor a long time with Charles Windham, and had a letter from him written a few days after his great exploit at the Redan. I showed his letter to Granville, and he to Palmerston and Clarendon. I was glad to find every disposition to reward his bravery and conduct, and Henry Grenfell told me they had made him a general and were going to give him a di- vision, as Markham and Bentinck are both coming home. This was no more than was reasonable to expect ; but great was my astonishment when I was told yesterday morning that they were thinking of making Windham Commander- in-Chief, and I was asked to give any of his letters to me, from which extracts might be made to show to the Cabinet to enable them to judge of his character and talents. I offered to get his journal and letters, from his wife and oth- ers, which I did ; but at the same time I said I thought it a hazardous speculation to raise him per saltum from being a colonel and brigadier to the command of a great army. B said this was true, but the matter pressed and they did not know where to find a man. This morning I gave him some papers, and he then told me Simpson had resigned, and it was necessary to come to some immediate decision. Codrington would have been undoubtedly chosen if he had not apparently (for as yet we know very little) failed in what he had to do on the 8th. With regard to Windham what the Cabinet will do I know not, I suggested that it would be better to try him first in his command of a division and go on if possible for some time longer, but Simpson's resig- nation compels them to come to some immediate decision, and they do not like to appoint another man pro tempore. 252 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. X. I still incline to the opinion that Windham's extraordinary promotion from so low to so high a rank, and his passing over the heads of such multitudes of ofiBcers, will occasion great jealousy, envy, heart-burning, and resentment, besides casting a slur on the whole service in the eyes of the world ; for when every general in the service is passed over, and a colonel appointed who has never done any but subordinate work, and shown extraordinary bravery and coolness, but no aptitude for command, because he has had no opportunity of so doing, every general and superior colonel now on serv- ice will feel himself insulted and a stigma cast upon him. I am not at all sure Windham may do better than any other man would do, but to justify such an appointment he ought to do far better ; and though he is a sharp fellow enough, I have never seen anything in him Avhich indicates real genius or a superior intellect. October 1th. — At Woburn, where the Duke and I had much conversation about Lord John and his position, and he showed me a great many of John's letters to him about his quarrel with the Government and the conduct of Claren- don to him, which he cannot forgive, though they are again corresponding with ostensible amity. The Duke owns that he does not see how John can take , any prominent part in public life, at least for the present, and indeed considers it probable that his career as a statesman is closed ; and, what is more, John seems to consider it so himself and to acqui- esce in his position, though what his secret aspirations may be none can tell. He has, however, determined to give up his house in town, which looks like retirement. I strongly advised that John should go to the House of Lords, where "he might still act a dignified and useful part ; his position in the House of Commons would be very anomalous and disagreeable, and it is not at all certain that he would not lose his seat in the event of an election — very doubtful whether he Avould be returned again for the City ; and the thing most to be deprecated is that he should stand and be defeated for that or any other place. The Duke neither agreed nor dissented, but he owned what I said of John's position was true, though he still thought he would be very reluctant to quit the House of Commons for ever, and retire to the Lords. On Tuesday last, after a few days' illness. Sir Eohert Adair died at the age of 93, having preserved his faculties. 1835.] ADIEU TO THE TURF. 253 and especially his remarkable memory, quite to the last. He was the last survivor of the intimate friends of Fox and of the political characters of his times. He had entertained a warm affection for Fox, and he preserved a boundless ven- eration for his memory ; and the greatest pleasure he had was in talking of Fox and his contemporaries, and pouring forth to willing circles of auditors anecdotes and reminis- cences of the political events with which he had been mixed up, or of which he had been cognizant in the course of his long life. This he did in a manner quite remarkable at so advanced an age, and he never had any difficulty in finding listeners to his old stories, which were always full of interest- ing matter, and related to the most conspicuous characters wiio flourished during the reigns of George III. and George IV". October 29lh. — All last week at Newmarket, and proba- bly very nearly for the last time as an owner of racehorses, for I have now got rid of them all, and am almost off the turf, after being on it more or less for about forty years. I am sorry that I have never kept any memoranda of my turf life, which might have been curious and amusing ; for I have known many odd characters, and lived with men of whom it would have been interesting to preserve some rec- ord. Perhaps I may one day rake together my old recollec- tions and trace the changes that have taken jolace in this racing life since I first knew it and entered into it, but I cannot do so now. Since I last wrote, the war has proceeded without any great events, but with the same progress and success on the side of the Allies which have marked the contest throughout and have excited my wonder. The most important of these successes has been the defeat of Mouravieff at Kars by the Turks under English officers, which, after what Clarendon told me, was the very last thing I expected. The death of Molesworth has made a difficulty for Palmerston ; I knew so little of him that I cannot pretend to say anything about him. That of Lord Wharncliffe touches me more nearly ; but this is more matter of private regret than of public con- cern, as the part he played in life was never important, though very honorable. The appointment of Codrington seems to be well taken, more perhaps because nobody can suggest a better choice than from any peculiar merits of the new Commander-in-Chief.' ' [The Right Hon. Sir William Molesworth, Secretary of State for the Colo- 254 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. X. London, November 1th. — The event of the last few days has been the offer of the Colonial Office to Lord Stanley and his refusal to take it. When Palmerston proposed it to him he said that he conld not give an answer without consulting his father, which implied that he would accept if his father gave his consent. He posted down to Knowsley, from whence he had Just come, and entered the room where Derby was playing at billiards, and much to his astonishment saw his son suddenly return. " What on earth," he cried out, "has brought you back so soon ? Are you going to be married, or what has happened to you?" Stanley said he wanted to speak to him, and carried him off. What passed is not known, but of course he advised his son to refuse office. He wrote to Palmerston in very becoming terms, and, 1 hear, a very good letter. He had,' if not consulted, certainly im- parted to Disraeli what passed, for Disraeli told me so. I think he judged wisely in declining, for it would have been an awkward thing to pass at once from the Opposition side of the House to the Treasury Bench, and take high office in a Cabinet without having any political or personal connec- tion with a single member of it, and to which he has hitherto been opposed generally, although upon many subjects his opinions have much more coincided with theirs than with those of the party to which he still nominally belongs. He is young and can afford to wait, and his position and abili- ties are certain before long to make him conspicuous and to enable him to play a very considerable part. He is exceed- ingly ambitious, of an independent turn of mind, very _ in- dustrious, and has acquired a vast amount of information. Not long ago, Disraeli gave me an account of him and of his curious opinions — exceedingly curious in a man in his con- dition of life and with his prospects. Last night Lord Strangford (George Smythe) talked to me about him, ex- pressed the highest opinion of his capacity and acquire- ments, and confirmed what Disraeli had told me of his notions and views even more, for he says that he is a real and sincere democrat, and that he would like if he could to prove his sincerity by divesting himself of his aristocratic character and even of the wealth he is heir to. How far this may be true I know not : if it be true, it may possibly nial Department, died on October 22, 1855, asred 45. John, 2d Baron Wham- cliife, also died on the 22d. General Sir William Codrincrton liad been ap- pointed to the command of the British forces in the Crimea, on the resignation of General Simpson.] 1865.] COLOXIAL OFFICE PROPOSED TO LORD STANLEY. 255 be ascribed in some dejjree to his own consciousness that the realization of his ideology is impossible, and at all events time will show whether these extreme theories will not be modified by circumstances and reflections. Nothing ap- pears to me certain but that he will play a considerable part for good or for evil, but I cannot pretend to guess what it will be. At present he seems to be more allied with Bright than with any other public man ; and, as his disposition about the war and its continuance is very much that of Bright, it would have been difficult for him to take office with Palmerston, whose whole political existence, or at least his power, rests on the cry for war and its active and ener- getic prosecution. London, November 12th. — I saw John Eussell on Saturday morning to have a talk with him about the state of affairs and the questions of peace and war. There still exists a great deal of bitterness between him and Clarendon, he thinking that he has been very ill used by Clarendon and others of his former colleagues. He is particularly sore about their al- lowing so many things to be said to his disadvantage con- cerning the Vienna negotiations which they know to be un- true, without saying a word to contradict them and cause justice to be done to him, particularly in reference to the matter of Austria having engaged to join if Russia refused her last proposals. George Gre}' denied that Austria had so engaged, and none of the others ever admitted it, whereas it was perfectly true. Lord John and I do not agree as to the earlier part of the question, because he was originally a party to the war while I was always against it. He was, however, rather against it quite at first, being, as he told me, with Aberdeen, and against Clarendon and Palmerston, who were all along inclined to go to war. He had been at the Mansion House dinner the night before, where he was very ill received, though he would not allow it ; he prefers to flatter himself that the signs of his unpopularity were not so strong and marked as everybody else who was present thought them. 1 likewise saw Disraeli and had some talk with him. He told me that he had now nothing whatever to-do Avith the "Press," and that the series of articles in that paper on the war and in favor of peace were all written by Stanley. He said he had received a letter from Stanley to this effect : "My dear Disraeli, — I write to you in confidence to tell you that I have been offered and have refused the Colonial Office. 256 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. X. As it is due to Lord Palmerston to keep his offer secret, I have told nobody of it but yourself and my father, and I beg you not to mention it to anybody." On receiving this he said he began to concoct an answer in his mind of rather a sentimental kind, and conveying his approbation of the course he had taken, but before he put pen to paper he got the "Times" with Stanley's letter to Sir , which was tantamount to a disclosure of the whole thing, on which he wrote instead, "Dear Stanley, — I thank you for your letter, but I had already received your confidential communication through your letter to Sir ." I have occasion to see Disraeli very often about 's affairs, about which he has been wonderfully kind and serviceable, and on these occasions he always enters on some political talk, and in this way we have got into a sort of intimacy such as I never thought could have taken place between us. London, November 2Uli. — After his failure with Stanley, Palmerston applied to Sidney Herbert, who went to Broad- lands, but, finding that he and Palmerston could not agree upon the subject of war and peace (the details of their disagreement I do not know), he declined the offer of the Colonial Office. Palmerston then sent for Labouchere, who accepted.^ He called on me the day after and told me he had been to Broadlands, that Palmerston had told him every- thing about the state of affairs and his own views and opinions, and, as he could find nothing therein to object to, he had accepted the office. As Labouchere is certainly moderate, this would indicate more moderation on the part of Palmerston than Sidney Herbert found in him, unless Labouchere and Sidney Herbert take totally dissimilar views of affairs. After this, a few days ago, I had a long conversation with George Lewis, who told me that France and Austria were endeavoring to bring about peace, and that communications were going on between France and our Government on the subject, and he said, moreover, that Palmerston was by no means so stiff and so bent on continuing the war as was gen- erally supposed. This intelligence appeared to me to explain 1 [Tbe Eight lion. Henry Labouchere, born in 1798, a highly respected member of tlic Whig party, who filled many offices in Liberal Governments, He was created Baron Taunton on his retirement from office in 1859, and died in July, 1869.] 1855.] PROPOSALS FOR PEACE. 257 what I could not understand in his communications "with Sid- ney Herbert and Laboucliere ; for, if the Emperor has really intimated to our Government his determination to try and make peace, Palmerston must needs come down from his very high horse and evince a disposition to go along with our Im- perial ally, who has got the whole game in his own hands, and whom we must perforce follow when he is determined to take his own course. Then our warlike propensities may be probably restrained by the alarming prospect of financial difficulties which Lewis sees looming in the distance. He said to me, "I am sure I do not know how I shall provide ways and means next year, for the enormously high prices will be a great blow to consumption, and the money market is in a very ticklish state." I said, "You will have to trust to a great loan, and ten per cent, income tax ;" to which he assented. They have now patched up the Government, by getting Baines to take the Duchy of Lancaster with a seat in the Cabinet — a very respectable man, who cannot speak, and who will be of no use to them. Neither he nor Labouchere will add much to their strength, but they are both very unexception- able appointments. I think that, in spite of the undimin- ished violence of the press, the prevailing opinion is that there is the beginning of a change in the public mind, and an in- cipient desire for peace ; and I agree with Disraeli, who thinks that, when once the current has fairly turned, it will run with great rapidity the other way. November 'i'lth. — At length there really does appear to be a prospect of putting an end to this odious war, and my conjectures of a few days ago are assuming the shape of realities. Yesterday morning I met George Lewis in the Park and turned back and walked with him to the door of his office, when he told me the exact state of affairs. I had received a letter from the Duke of Bedford in the morning, who said that Charles Wood, who was at Woburn, had told him the statement in the " Press " a Aveek ago was so substan- tially accurate that they must, he thought, have received their information from some French official source. This was in itself confirmatory of all I had already inferred and believed. Lewis's story was this : The Austrians have framed a proposal for peace which they offer to send to Russia, and, if she refuses it, Austria engages to join the Allies and to declare war. The Emperor Napoleon agrees with Austria, and is resolved not to go on with the war if peace can be 258 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. X. arranged on the Austrian terms. This resolution he has coram nnicated to us, and invited us to accede thereto ; Wa- lewski's letters are not merely pressing, but even peremp- tory. It is in fact a second edition of the Vienna Conference and proposals, with this difference, that, while on the last occasion the Emperor knocked under to us and reluctantly agreed to go on with the war, he is now determined to go on with it no longer, and requires that we should defer to his wishes. Our Government are aware that they have no alternative, and that nothing is left for them but to acquiesce with a good grace and make the best case they can for them- selves here, the case being that the Emperor is determined to make peace, and that we cannot carry on the war alone. This was the amount of Lewis' information, to which he added the expression of his disgust at the pitiful figure we cut in the affair, being obliged to obey the commands of Lonis Napoleon, and, after our insolence, swagg:er, and bra- vado, to submit to terms of peace which we have already scornfully rejected ; all which humiliation, he justly said, was the consequence of our plunging into war without any reason and in defiance of all prudence and sound policy. After"ward I saw Charles Villiers and had a talk with him. He told me Clarendon had been sent for on Sunday to Windsor in a great hurry to meet Palmerston there. The Queen had received a letter from the Emperor, brought by the Duke of Cambridge, which no doubt contained in a private and friendly shape to her the communications which Walewski had already made officially to the Government and she wanted to know what answer she should send to it. Charles Villiers told me that Palmerston had already thrown out a feeler to the Cabinet to ascertain if they would be willing to carry on the war without France, but this was unanimously declined. I can hardly imagine that even Palmerston really contemplated such a desperate course. November 29th. — I met Sidney Herbert last night. He seems to know what is going on and thinks we shall have peace ; he only doubts whether the terms will be such as Russia will accept, for he is not convinced, as I am, that Austria has already settled that with Russia. He told me that, when Palmerston offered him office, he had not received the French communication, and was ignorant that it was coming. December Uh. — At The Grange the last four days, where 1855.] THE TERMS rROPOSED TO RUSSIA. 259 I found everybody in total ignorance of what is passing about peace, except Sidney Herbert, who told me that the plan is neutralisation. On coming back yesterday I met Lord Malmesbury just come from Paris ; he is supposed to be the person who supplied all its information to the "Press" paper, and I believe it was he. He confirmed the Emperor's desire for peace, but thought it very doubtful whether Rus- sia would accept the terms of the Allies. He told me like- wise that P^lissier has sent word he is in a fix, as he cannot advance or expel the Russians from their positions ; and James Macdunald told me the Duke of Cambridge is going again to Paris to represent us at a grand council of war to be held there, to decide on future operations. If it were not that the Allies seem infallible and invincible, and the Rus- sians unable to accomplish anything, offensive or defensive, I should augur very ill from this council of war, for nothing can b3 worse thai to have a set of men at Paris forming plans to be executed by another set in the Crimea who have had no share in the deliberations. This morning the Duke of Bedford writes me word that Westmorland tells him he has heard from Clarendon the state of affairs, and the answer we have sent to France, and he augurs ill of peace, as he thinks there can be no agree- ment with Russia on such terms ; and the "Morning Post," which has long been quite silent about war or peace, has this morning an article which is evidently a regular Palmer- stonian manifesto, decidedly adverse to any hope of peace, for it is certain that Russia will continue the war, coute que coitte, rather than submit to such conditions as the "Morn- ing Post" says we are to impose on her. I am persuaded Palmerston and Clarendon will do all they can to prevent peace being made on any moderate terms, and the only hope is that the Emperor Napoleon may take the matter into his own hands and employ a douce violence to compel us to give way. December Mh. — I met Charles Villiers last night, who told me a good deal of what is going on, and cleared up some matters. The Austrian proposal transmitted here by the Emperor Napoleon was considered by the Cabinet and sent back with amendments — that is, it was made more stringent. The Emperor consented to send it so amended to Vienna, and it remains to be seen what course Austria will take — whether she will send it in its present shape to Russia 260 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. X. or adhere to her own edition, and whether, if she does send it, she will (supposing it to be rejected) join the Allies and declare war. The latter, I think, she will not do, nor be bound to do. Next is the question what the Emperor Na- poleon will do if Austria declines to adopt the amended ver- sion, or if Eussia should reply she would take the original proposal, but not our amendments. The Emperor is cer- tainly very anxious to make peace, and when he is bent upon a thing he generally does it, and my own opinion and hope is that he will refuse to give way to us now as he did last May. It is universally admitted that every man in France desires peace ardently. There is, Charles Villiers tells me, great uneasiness among Palmerston's adherents, and some idea that, if peace cannot be had on the terms he has insisted on, he will be no party to making it, and if the majority of the Cabinet are for taking the original terms proposed, sup- posing the Emperor Napoleon again to press their acceptance, that he will resign, throw himself on the popular enthusiasm for the war, and leave his colleagues to make an unpopular peace. If Palmerston was forty instead of seventy he would probably do this ; but he has not time to wait for fresh com- binations and to speculate on distant chances, so he will probably consent to make peace if he is obliged by France to do so, and trust to fortune to enable him to reconcile Parlia- ment and the country to it. This is rendered more likely by Disraeli having made a communication to the Government that he and Stanley will be ready to support any peace they may now make. December 6th. — I saw George Lewis yesterday, who told me the state of affairs so far as he recollects it ; but it is evi- dent that he takes but a secondary interest in the details of diplomacy, however anxious he may be about the results, and what passed shows the extreme difficulty of keeping clear of mistakes, even when one's information is derived, from the best sources. He said he did not think Eussia would accept the offered terms, and Clarendon thought not also. The terms which it will be most difficult for her to swallow are the neutralization of the Black Sea, which as worked out is evidently worse than limitation, for she is to have no fortress and no arsenal there, so that she will, in fact, be quite defenceless, while the other Powers can at any time collect fleets in the Bosphorus and attack her coasts when they please. Then she is to cede half Bessarabia to 1855.] M. DE CAVOURAT WINDSOR. 261 the Turks, including the fortress of Ismail, the famous con- quest of Souvaroff when he wrote to the Empress Catherine, '* L'orgueilleuse Ismailoff est a vos pieds ;" and they are not to rej)air Bomarsund, or erect any fortress on the Aland Isles. The alterations we made in the scheme sent to us ■were not important, and what surprised me much was, the terms, instead of being tendered by Austria, were concocted at Paris by Walewski and the Emperor — at least so Walewski asserts, but there must I think be some incorrectness in this, for it is impossible to doubt that the Emperor and Austria really concerted them between themselves, though Walewski may have had a hand in the matter in some way. However, the terms are gone or going directly to St. Petersburg. I earnestly hope they may be accepted, be they what they may. Kussia is to be asked whether she will take them Yes or No, and, upon the preliminaries being signed, hostilities will cease. I asked if Eussia might not accept as a basis, and negotiate as to modification and details, but Lewis professed not to understand how this is, or whether her acceptance generally would or not bind her to all the conditions precise- ly as they are set forth. He knows nothing in fact of diplo- macy and its niceties and operations. Lord John Russell met Clarendon at Windsor Castle,^ but refused to hear what Clarendon offered to tell him of the state of the negotiation ; he thought he should compromise his own independent action if he did. He says, *' Were peace to be made on the four points newly explained and enlarged, I would do nothing but a])plaud and support." The only men Lord John communicated with at Windsor were Cavour and Azeglio. He writes : *' I asked Cavour what was the language of the Emperor of the French ; he said it was to this effect : France had made great efforts and sacrifices, she would not continue them for the sake of conquering the Crimea ; the alternative was such a peace as can now be had by means of Austria, or an extension of the war for Poland," etc. The Sardinians, Ministers and King, are openly and warmly for the latter course. I suspect Palmer- ston would wish the war to glide imperceptibly into a war of nationalities, as it is called, but would not like to profess it openly now. I am convinced such a war might suit Na- ' [The King of Sardinia, Victor Emmanuel, arrived in Enjland on the SOth November, accompanied by his Minister, M. de Cavour. Lord Clarendon aud Lord John Russell were invited to Windsor to meet the King.] 232 EEIGX OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. X. poleon and the King of Sardinia, but would be very danger- ous for us in many ways. Cavour says if peace is made with- out anything being done for Italy, there willbe a revolution there. " Chirendon is incredulous. London, December 11th. — I met Clarendon at the Trav- ellers' on Friday evening, and had a talk with him. He did not seem inclined to enter much into the question of peace and war, but he told me that Buol declared most solemnly that he had had no communication with Eussia about the terms, and that he had only slight hopes that peace might be made. Of the terms themselves Clarendon did not say a word. He talked a great deal about the King of Sardinia, and gave me an account of his conversations both with the King and Cavour. He thinks well of the King, and that he is intslligent, and he has a very high opinion indeed of Cavour, and was especially struck with his knowledge of England, and our Constitution and constitutional history. I was much amused, after all the praises that have been lavished on Sardinia for the noble part she has played and for taking up armi to vindicate a great principle in so un- selfish a manner, that she has after all a keen view to her own interest, and wants some solid pudding as well as so much empty praise. The King asked Clarendon what the Allies meant to do for him, and whether he might not expect some territorial advantage in return for his services. Claren- don told him this was out of the question, and that, in the state of their relations with Austria, they could hold out no such expectation ; and he put it to the King, supposing negotiations for peace were to take place, and he wished his pretensions to be put forward by us, what he would himself suggest that a British Minister could say for him ; and the King had the candor to say he did not know what answer to give. Cavour ui'ged the same thing, and said the war had already cost them forty millions of francs, instead of twenty- five which they had borrowed for it and was the original estimate, and i:hey could only go on with it by another loan and fresh taxes, and he did not know how he should propose these to the chambers without having something advan- tageous to offer to his own country, some Italian acquisition. They would ask for what object of their's the war was carried on, and what they had to gain for all their sacrifices and exertions. Clarendon said they must be satisfied with the glory they had acquired and the high honor their conduct 1855.] THE KING OF SARDINIA. 263 had conferred on them ; but Cavonr, while he said he did not repent the part they had taken, thought his countrymen woxild be very little satisfied to have spent so much money and to continue to spend more without gaining some Italian object. Tliey complained that Austria had, without any right, for along time occupied a part of the Papal territory, and suggested she should be compelled to retire from it ; but Clnrendon reminded him that France had done the same, and that this was a very ticklish question to stir. The King and his people are far better satisfied with their reception here than in France, where, under much external civility, there was very little cordiality, the Emperor's inti- mate relations with Austria rendering him little inclined toward the Piedmontese. Here the Queen was wonderfully cordial and attentive ; she got up at four in the morning to see him depart. His Majesty appears to be frightful in per- son, but a great, strong, burly, athletic man, brusque in his manners, unrefined in his conversation, very loose in his conduct, and very eccentric in his habits. AVhen he was at Paris his talk in society amused or terrified everybody, but here he seems to have been more guarded. It was amusing to see all the religious societies hastening with their ad- dresses to him, totally forgetting that he is the most de- bauched and dissolute fellow in the woi'ld ; but the fact of his being excommunicated by the Pope, and his waging war with the ecclesiastical power in his own country, covers every sin against morality, and he is a great hero with the Low Church people and Exeter Hall. My brother-in-law said that he looked at Windsor more like a chief of the Heruli or Longobardi than a modern Italian prince, and the Duchess of Sutherland declared that, of all the Knights of the Garter she had seen, he was the only one who seemed as if he would have the best of it with the Dragon. My hopes of peace wax fainter. Everybody seems to think there is no chance of Russia accepting our terms, or of her proposing any that the Allies would accept. Lewis told me yesterday evening that he expected nothing, and that Russia had now made known (but in what way he did not say) that she was disposed to treat. Meanwhile Palmerston continues to put articles in the " Morning Post" full of ar- rogance and jactance, and calculated to raise obstacles to peace. I told Lewis so, and he said it was very foolish, and that he held very different language in the Cabinet, but this 264 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. X. is only like what he did in '41, when he used to agree to certain things with his colleagues and then put violent arti- cles in the " Morning Chronicle," totally at variance with the views and resolutions of the Cabinet. Labouchere told me that he thought the condition of the cession of Ismail ought never to have entered into the terms proposed to Eussia. Decemler lUh. — My hopes of peace, never very sanguine, are now completely dashed, for Lewis told me last night that he thought the terms were at last pretty well agreed upon between England, France, and Austria. I was greatly sur- prised, for I thought they had been agreed upon long ago, and must be by this time on their way to St. Petersburg. I said so ; and he replied, " Oh no, they are only just on the point of being settled." It was quite extraordinary, he said, how eager Palmerston was for pursuing the war. I gathered from him that our Government has been vehemently urging that of France, through Cowley, to be firm in pressing the most stringent terms on Eussia, and particularly not to consent to any negotiation, and to compel her to accept or refuse. I said this was not reasonable, and that we had no right to propose the terms as an ultimatum. That, he replied, was exactly what we were doing, that Cowley was very urgent with the Emperor, who appeared to be intimi- dated by him, and that he was evidently very much in awe of England, and afraid of having any difference with us. I said I could not believe that the Emperor would not leave himself a loophole, and if, as was most probable, Eussia de- clined the terms, but offered to negotiate, that he would agree to that course, which, however, Lewis clearly thought he would not do against our inclination. I was greatly sur- prised to hear this, because I had a strong impression that the Emperor, when he really desired anything very much (as I believe that he did this piece), would obstinately persevere in it ; and it seems so obviously his interest to gratify his own people rather than to be led by this country, that I was persuaded he never would consent to this proposal being un dernier mot, and thus to ensure the failure of the attempt. Palmerston, who is the most obstinate man alive in pressing any object he has once set his mind upon, was sure to press the French Government with the utmost vehemence and pertinacity as soon as he found there was a chance of making them yield to his will. 1856.] MACAULAY.'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 265 December Yltli. — This morning the two new volumes of MacauUiy's History came forth. The circumstances of this publication are, I believe, unprecedented in literary history ; 25,000 copies are given out, and the weight of the books is fifty-six tons. The interest and curiosity which it excites are prodigious, and they afford the most comjjlete testimony to his immense popularity and the opinion entertained by the world of his works already published. His ju'ofits will be very great, and he will receive them in various shapes. But there is too much reason to apprehend that these may be the last volumes of his history that the world will see, still more that they are the last that will be read by me and people of my standing. Six years have elajised since the appearance of the first volumes, and these two only advance about ten years. He announced at the outset that he meant to bring down the history of England to a period within the memory of persons still living, but his work has already so much expanded, and of course will do so still more from the accumulation of materials as he advances, that at his present rate of progress he must live much beyond the ordinary du- ration of human life, and retain all his faculties as long, to have any chance of accomplishing his original design ; and he is now in such a precarious state of health that in all human probability he will not live many years. It is melan- choly to think that so gifted an intellect should be arrested by premature decay, and such a magnificent undertaking should be overthrown by physical infirmities, and be limited to the proportions of a splendid fragment. He is going to quit Parliament and to reside in the neighborhood of London. This morning the ''Morning Post" has published the terms which are offered by the Allies and are now on their way from Vienna to St. Petersburg. They were already pretty well known, but it is the first time that Palmerston (for the article is evidently his own) has announced them so openly and distinctly, and they state totidem verbis that it is an Ultimatum which is sent to St. Petersburg. I believe this course to be unprecedented, and it is certainly unfair. If Russia had applied to the Allies and expressed a desire for peace, if she had asked them on what terms they would consent to terminate the war, it would have been quite fair and reasonable that they should have stated the precise con- ditions, adding if they pleased that they would consent to 12 266 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTOKIA. [Chap. X. no others and to no change whatever in them, though it may be doubted if it would be wise to be thus peremptory. But to send to Eussia and propose to her to make peace, and accompany the proposal with an Ultimatum and an an- nouncement that they would listen to no remonstrances or suggestions, much less any alterations, and that she must say Yes or No at once, is a stretch of arrogance and dicta- tion not justified by the events of the war and the relative conditions of the belligerents, or by any usage or precedent that I ever heard of. Eeports are very rife of the distressed state of Eussia and of her inability to make head any longer against the Allies, but very little is really known of the condition of the coun- try, of its remaining resources, and of the disposition of the people. Nobody can doubt that the terms are deeply humil- iating to the pride of such a Power, which has been long ac- customed to stand m so high a position and hold such lofty language ; and if she consents to accept the offered terms, it must be that her enormous losses have really incapacited her for going on with the war, and that her Government is conscious that the next campaign will be still more disas- trous to her than the two preceding ones have been. I have very little doubt that Palmerston has hastened to publish these terms in hopes that they may find acceptance with a considerable part of the public here, and that they may the more tightly bind the Emperor Napoleon, and, in the event of Eussia sending any conditional acceptance and proposing to treat, that he may be unable to enter into any negotiation whatever. It has surprised me that he should have so com- pletely given way to Palmerston as he has done. December 21st. — The poet Eogers died two days ago at the age of 93. I hav^e known him all my life, and at times lived in a good deal of intimacy with him, but for some years past he had so great an aversion to me that I kept away from him and never saw anything of him.^ He was an old man when I first made his acquaintance between thirty and forty years ago, or probably more. He was then very agreeable, though peculiar and eccentric ; he was devoured by a morbid vanity, and could not endure any appearance of indifference or 1 [Samuel Eogers, the author of the Pleasures of Memory (which was pub- lished in 1792), was born at Stoke Newington 'in 1762. His father was a banker, and he remained a partner in the bank all his life. He died on Decem- ber 18, 1855.J 1855.] FRENCH MINISTERS. 267 slight in society. He was extremely touchy, and always wanted to be flattered, but above all to be listened to, very angry and mortified Avhen he was not the principal object in society, and provoked to death when the uproarious merri- ment of Sydney Smith or the voluminous talk of Macaulay overwhelmed him and engrossed the company ; he had a great friendship nevertheless for Sydney Smith, but he never liked Macaulay. I never pretended, or could pretend, to be a rival to him, but I was not a patient and attentive listener to him, and that was what affronted him and caused his dis- like to me as well as to any one else of whom he had the same reason to complain. His voice was feeble, and it has been said that his bitterness and caustic remarks arose from the necessity of his attracting attention by the pungency of his conversation. He was undoubtedly a very clever and ac- complisiied man, with a great deal of taste and knowledge of the world, in the best of which he had passed his life. He was hospitable, generous, and charitable, with some weak- nesses, many merits, and large abilities, and he was the last survivor of the generation to which he belonged. The Grove, December 23d. — Came here for Christmas. No other guests but the family. We have had some talk about the peace propositions and other odds and ends. Clarendon told me that Walewski and Persigny are bitter enemies, and their estrangement the greater because Wa- lewski is a corrupt jobber and speculator, and Persigny an honest man. When Drouyn de Lhuys resigned the Foreign Office, much to the Emperor's annoyance and regret, he did not know where to find a man, and he determined to ap- point Walewski because he knew not whom else to take. Not choosing to send the offer to him through Drouyn, he employed Cowley, and requested him to telegraph in cypher to Clarendon a request that Cowley would send for Walewski and communicate to him the Emperor's intentions. A curi- ous shift to be reduced to, but throughout the Eastern Ques- tion Cowley has acted the part of Foreign Minister to the Emperor almost as much as that of Ambassador. Lewis this morning recapitulated to me the exact cir- cumstances of the overtures from France about peace. It arrived here on a Saturday ; was submitted to the Queen on Sunday, who approved of it ; on Monday (or Tuesday) it was read to the Cabinet, when no discussion took place, but Palmerston shortly said, without giving any reasons, that he 268 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. X. thought we must agree to the proposal, which was generally concurred in. The next day there was another Cabinet, when they examined in detail all the articles and discussed them. A few alterations were made, none of which were of any importance except the Bomarsund question. The ces- sion of Bessarabia and the neutralization of the Black Sea both formed part of the original proposal, and the latter was particularly insisted upon, and reasoned out at considerable length by France, for it turns out that the Emperor has •never had -so much in view the object of making peace (not expecting, nor ever having expected, that these proposals would be accepted) as the object of securing the active co- operation of Austria, which he expects to do. Austria en- gages, if Russia refuses the conditions, to put an end to dip- lomatic relations between the two Empires, and Napoleon thinks this cannot fail to end in hostilities, and to this ex- tension of the alliance he looks for bringing the war to a con- clusion. He thinks, moreover, that, when Austria has de- clared war, Eussia will attack her defenceless frontier, and that as any attack upon Austria will compel the whole of Germany to assist her and to take part in the war against Russia, this offer will lead to Prussia and the whole of the German States being engaged on the side of the Allies, and that such a confederacy cannot fail to bring the war to a successful issue, because Russia would be absolutely incapable of offering any resistance to it. This is a new view of the policy and motives of France, but I very much doubt if the whole of the Emperor's scheme will be realized. Even though Austria may take up arms, it is probable that Russia will act strictly on the defensive, and will avoid giving any cause to the German States to depart from their neutrality. We both agreed that the conduct of Austria is quite inex- plicable, and that Russia will never forgive her for the part she has acted and is acting now. The Grove, December 24.th. — George Lewis and I have been walking and talking together all the morning. He is fully as pacific as I am, and entertains exactly the same thoughts that I do, of the egregious folly of the war, of the delusion under which the English nation is laboring, and of the wickedness of the press in practising upon the popular credulity in the way it has done. He seems to like to talk to me on this subject, because he can talk freely to me, which he could hardly do with any of his own colleagues, still less 1855.] TURKEY A CYPHER. 269 in any other society. This morning he again recurred to the circumstances of the negotiations now going on, and be gave me an account of the transaction which puts the whole thing in a very ridiculous light, which would be very comical if it were not so very tragical. ''Think," he said, "that this is a war carried on for the independence of Turkey, and we, the Allies, are bound to Turkey by mutual obligations not to make peace but by common consent and concurrence. Well, we have sent an offer of peace to Russia of which the follow- ing are among the terms : We propose that Turkey, who pos- sesses one half of the Black Sea coast, shall have no ships, no ports, and no arsenals in that sea ; and then there are con- ditions about the Christians who are subjects of Turkey, and others about the mouths of the Danube, to which part of the Turkish dominions are contiguous. Now in all these stipu- lations so intimately concerning Turkey, for whose independ- ence we are fighting, Turkey is not allowed to have any voice whatever, nor has she ever been allowed to be made ac- ■ quainted with what is going on, except through the news- papers, where the Turkish Ministers may have read what is passing, like other people. When the French and Austrian terms were discussed in the Cabinet, at the end of the dis- cussion some one modestly asked wliether it would not be proper to communicate to Musurus (the Turkish Ambassador in London) what was in agitation and what had been agreed upon, to which Clarendon said he saw no necessity for it whatever ; and indeed that Musurus had recently called upon him, when he had abstained from giving him any in- formation whatever of what was going on. Another time, somebody suggesting in the Cabinet that we were bound to Turkey by treaty not to make peace without her consent, Palmerston, who is a great stickler for Turkey, said very quietly that there would be no difficulty on that score ; in point of fact, the Turk evidently ' Stands like a cypher in the great account.' " Tlie Grove, December 2Qth. — Since I have been here Clarendon has resumed all his old habits of communication and confidence with me, has told me everything and shown me everything that is interesting and curious. I wish I could remember it all. Such fragments as have remained in my memory I will jot down here as they recur to me. Here are letters from Seymour at Vienna describing his good re- 270 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTOEIA. [Chap. X. ception there, gracious from the Court, and cordially civil from the great society, especially from Metternich who seems to have given the mot (Vordre. Metternich talked much to Seymour of his past life and recollections, ccmjilimented him for his reports of conversations with the Emperor Nicholas, and raid that many years ago the Emperor had talked to him (Metternich) about Turkey in the same strain, and used the same expression about "lemalade" and 'Thomme malade," when Metternich asked him " Est-ce que Votre Majeste en parle comme son medecin ou comme son heritier ? " Also letters from Bloorafield (Berlin) and from Buchanan (Copen- hagen) with different opinions as to the j)robability of Eussia accepting or refusing — the former for, the second against ; some curious letters from Cowley, full of his indignation against Walewski ; the quarrels of Persigny and Walewski ; the perplexity of the Emperor, his desire for peace, his hopes that Eussia may lend a favorable ear to the proposals ; Cowley's suspicions of Walewski, and in a smaller degree of the Emperor himself, especially of His Majesty's communi- cations with Seebach, the Saxon Minister, and not impossibly through him with St, Petersburg. A "curious anecdote showing the strange terms the parties concerned are on : One day Cowley was with Walewski (at the time the question of terms was going on between France and Austria) and the courier from Vienna was announced. Walewski begged Cowley, who took up his hat, not to go away, and said he should see what the courier brought. He opened the despatches and gave them to Cowley to read, begging him not to tell the Emperor he had seen them. In the'afternoon Cowley saw the Emperor, who had then got the despatches ; the "^Emperor also gave them to Cowley to read, desiring him not to let Walewski know he had shown them to him ! There has been a dreadful rixe between Walewski and Persig-ny. I have forgotten exactly the particular causes, but the other day Persigny went over to Paris partly to complain of Walewski to the Emperor. He would not go near Walewski, and told the Emperor he should not ; the Emperor, however, made them both meet in his Cabinet the next day, when a violent scene took place between them, and Persigny said to Walewski before his face all that he had before said behind his back ; and he had afterward a very long conversation with the Emperor, in which he told 1855.] AUSTRIA PRESENTS THE TERMS TO RUSSIA. 271 him plainly what danger he was in from the corruption and bad ciiaracter of his entourage, that lie had never had any- thing about him but adventurers who were bent on making their own fortunes by every sort of infamous agiotage and speculation, by which the Imperial Crown was placed in imminent danger. ** I myself," Persigny said, '' am nothing but an adventurer, who have passed through every sort of vicissitude ; but at all events people have discovered that I have clean hands and do not bring disgrace on your Govern- ment, like so many others, by my profligate dishonesty." " Well," said the Emperor, "but what am I to do ? What remedy is there for such a state of things ? " Persigny re- plied that he had got the remedy in his head, but that the time was not come yet for revealing his ideas on the subject. As we went to town, we talked over the terms proposed to Eussia. Clarendon said he could not understand the policy of Austria nor what she was driving at. 8he had entered very heartily into ])lans of a compulsory and hostile character against Russia, who would never forgive her, espe- cially for proposing the cession of Bessarabia. I said I tJiought the most objectionable item of their propositions (and I believed the most unprecedented) was the starting by making it an Ultimatum. He replied that it was Austria Avho tendered the Ultimatum, and that it was not exactly so, the sharp edge having been rounded ofl: by the mode to be adopted, which was as follows : Esterhazy was to communi- cate the project to the Cabinet of St. Petersburg, and say he had reason, to believe that the Allies would be willing to make peace on those terms ; he was then to wait nine days. If in that time the Russian Government replied by a positive negative, he was, as soon as he got this notification, to quit St. Petersburg with all his embassy ; if no answer was re- turned at the end of nine days, he was to signify that his orders were to ask for an answer in ten days, and if at the end thereof the answer was in the negative, or there was no answer, he was to come away, so that there was to be no Ultimatum in the first instance. "But," I said, "what if Russia proposed some middle course and offered to negoti- ate ?" "His instructions were not to agree to this." " Well," said I, " but when you abstain from calling this an Ultimatum, it is next to impossible that Russia should not propose to negotiate, and if she does beg that her proposal may be conveyed to the Allies before everything is closed, it 272 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. X. will be very difficult to refuse this ; and is it not probable that France and Austria will both vote for entering into pourparlers ; and, if they do, can you refuse ? He seemed struck with this, and owned that it was very likely to oc- cur, and that, if it did, we should be obliged to enter into negotiation. So probable does this contingency appear, that there has already been much discussion as to who shall go from hence to the Congress, if there is one. I said he had much better go himself. He expressed great dislike to the idea, but said the Queen and Prince wished him to go, and that Cowley urged him also, and was desirous of going with him. I see he has made up his mind to prevent any negotiation if he can, and, if it is unavoidable, to take it in hand. This afternoon Persigny arrived from Paris and came di- rectly to the Foreign Office. The Emperor had given him an account of his interview with M. de Seebach,^ who had gone off directly afterward vid Berlin to St. Petersburg. The Emperor told him to do all he could to induce the Eus- sian Government to consent to the terms, and to assure them that, if they did not, it would be long enough before they would have any other chance of making peace ; that he wished for peace, but that above everything else he was de- sirous of maintaining unimpaired his alliance and friendship with England ; that England had most fairly and in a very friendly spirit entered into his difficulties and his wishes ; that she was a constitutional country with a Government re- sponsible to Parliament, and that he was bound in honor to enter in like manner into the obligations and necessities of this Government. They had had some differences of opinion which were entirely reconciled ; they were now agreed as one man, and no power on earth should induce him to separate himself from England or to take any other line than that to which he had bound himself in conjunction with her. This announcement, which the Emperor made with great energy, carried consternation to the mind of Seebach, and he re- solved to lose no time in getting to St. Petersburg to make known the Emperor's intentions. It is thus evident that the Emperor's mind is divided between his anxiety to make peace and his determination to have no difference with England ; but his desire for j)eace 1 [M. de Seebach -was the Saxon Minister in Paris, tkrough wliom many of these communications passed.] 1855.]- LORD PALMERSTON'S POSITION. 273 must be great when, as Clarendon assures me, it -was not without difficulty that he was deterred from ordering his army away from the Crimea. The feeling here toward the Emperor seems to be one of liking and reliance, not unac- companied with doubt and suspicion. He is not exempt from the influence of his entourage, though he is well aware how corrupt that is, and he listens willingly to Cowley and to whatever the English Government and the Queen say to him, but his own people eternally din into his ears that we are urging him on to take a part injurious to his own and to French interests for our own purposes, and because our Government is itself under the influence of a profligate press and a deluded people ; and although he knows that those who tell him this are themselves working for their own pri- vate interests, he knows also that there is a great deal of truth in what they say. His own position is very strange, insisting upon being his own Minister and directing every- thing, and at the same time from indolence and ignorance incapable of directing affairs himself, yet having no confi- dence in those he employs. The consequence is that a great deal is ill done, much not done at all, and a good deal done that he knows nothing about, and he is surrounded with quarrels, jealousies, and struggles for influence and power both between his own Ministers and between them and the foreign diplomatists at his Court. We have had a good deal of talk about Palmerston. Clarendon says nothing can go on better than he and Palm- erston do together. They seldom meet except in the Cabi- net, and their communications go on by notes between Down- ing Street and Piccadilly. Palmerston, much more moderate and reasonable than he used to be, sometimes suggests things or expressions in despatches, which Clarendon always adopts or declines according to his own ideas, and Palmerston never in- sists. Palmerston is now on very good terms with the Queen, which is, though he does not know it, greatly attributable to Clarendon's constant endeavors to reconcile her to him, always telling her everything likely to ingratiate Palmerston with her, and showing her any letters or notes of his calculated to please her ; but he says it is impossible to conceive the hatred with which he is regarded on the Continent, particularly all over Germany. An agent of his (Clarendon's) who, he says, has supplied him with much useful information, has reported to him that he finds the old feeling of antipathy to Palmer- 274 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XI. ston as strong and as general as ever, and that it is as much on the part of the people as of the Governments, both think- ing they have been deceived and thrown over by him. CHAPTER XL France and Prussia— The Emperor's Speech — Faint Hopes of Peace— Favorable View of the Policy of Russia— Progress ot the Negotiations— Eussia accepts the Terms of Peace -The Acceptance explained — Popular Feeling in Favor of the War — Lord Strat- ford and General Williams— Mr. Dlsraeh's Prospects — Meeting of Parliament — Baron Parke's Life Peerage — The Debate on the Address— Debate on Lite Peerages — Report on the SufFerinas of the Army — Strained Relations with France — Lord Clarendon goes to the Congress at Paris — Opening of the Conference— Sabbatarianism- -Progress of the Negotiations— Kars — NicolaiefiF— The Life Peerage Question — Blunders and Weak- ness of the Government— A Visit to Paris — Count Orioflf's View of the War — Lord Cowley on the Negotiations — Princess Lieven on the War — An Evening at the Tuile- ries — Opening of the Legislative Chamber — Lord Cowley's Desponding Views — The Austrian Proposals— IJitterness in French Society — Necessity of Peace to France — Con- versation with M. Thiers— A Stag Hunt at St. Germains— The Emperor yields to the Russians — Birth of the Prince Imperial. January 1st, 1856, — Intelligence arrived yesterday that Esterhazy had presented the Austrian proposal tolSIesselrode on the 38th, who had received it in profound silence. Yes- terday morning the " Morning Post," in communicating this fact, put forth an article indecently violent and menacing against Prussia ; and as it contained a statement of what the Emperor Napoleon had said to Baron Seebach, which was exactly what Persigny had told Clarendon, this alone would prove, if any proof were required, that the article was in- serted either by Palmerston or by Persigny. The " Morning Post " derives its only importance from being the Gazette of Palmerston and of the French Government, and it is not very easy to determine which of the two is guilty of this article. These are the sort of manifestoes which make us so odious all over the world. Hatchford, January %d. — The speech which Louis Napo- leon addressed to the Imperial Guard the day before yester- day when they marched into Paris in triumph, gives reason for suspecting that the manifesto against Prussia in the "Morning Post" was French, for there is no small corre- spondence between the speech and the article. In the arti- cle Prussia is openly threatened and told, if she will not join the allies in making war on Russia, the allies will make war upon her ; in the speech the Guards are told to hold them- 1856.] FRANCE AND PRUSSIA. 275 selves in readiness and that a great French army will be wanted. Nothing is more witliin the bounds of probability than that the Emperor may determine, if he is obliged to make war, to make it for a French object, and on some enemy from whom a good spoil may be taken, a war which will gratify French vanity and cupidity, and which will therefore not be unpopular. He may think, and most prob- ably not erroneously, that in the present temper of this coun- try the people would be quite willing to let him do Avhat he pleases with Prussia, Belgium, or any other part of the con- tinent, if he will only concur with us in making fierce war against Eussia. But though this I believe to be the feeling of the masses, and that their resentment against Prussia is so strong that they would rejoice at seeing another Jena fol- lowed by similar results, the minority who are elevated enough in life to reason and reflect will by no means like to see France beginning to run riot again, and while we have been making such an uproar about the temporary occupation of the Principalities and the crossing of the Pruth by Russia, that we should quietly consent to, nay, become accomplices in the passage of the Ehine and an aggression on Germany by France. The very possibility of this shows the necessity of putting an end to a war which cannot continue without so many and such perilous contingencies. Nothing in fact can exceed the complications in which we can hardly help being plunged, and the various antagonistic interests which Avill be brought into collision, creating perplexities and diffi- culties which it would require the genius of a Richelieu to unravel and compose. The earth under our feet may be mined with plots ; we know not what any of the Great Pow- ers are really designing ; the only certainty for us is that we are going on blindly and obstinately spending our wealth and our blood in a war in which we have no interest, and in keep- ing Europe in a state of ferment and uncertainty the ulti- mate consequences of which it is appalling to contemplate. Clarendon showed me a letter from Francis Baring from Paris the other day, which told him that the Emperor wished to make peace, because he knew that France, with all her outward signs of prosperity, was unable to go on with the war without extreme danger, that she is in fact "using herself up," has been going on at a rate she cannot afford. Hatchford, January Uh. — I was in Loudon, yesterday, where I saw George Lewis, who was very low, sees no chance 276 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XI. of peace, and everybody thinks it hopeless since the Eussian Circular has appeared. It is difficult to understand the motive of the Eussians in publishing such a proposal, when they must know it would not and could not be accepted, and Avere also aware of the terms the Western Powers were going to offer to her. Lewis says our financial prospect is very bad, a declining revenue, rising prices, a large loan wanted which will be got on bad terms, and more money to be lent to Sardinia and Turkey. He thinks, if the Eussians propose to negotiate, that Palmerston will never consent ; but though he will no doubt resist, if France presses it I have no doubt he will give way and that the majority of the Cabinet will be for doing so. Everything looks as black as possible, and the Emperor Napoleon's speech to the Imperial Guard following Persigny's article in the " Morning Post " wears a very menacing aspect. It is possible indeed that he may have held this language in order to frighten us into a more pa- cific disposition, but so far from being alarming or unpalat- able to the majority here, they will hail with satisfaction any intimation of his resolution to make war on Prussia ; and if Louis Napoleon will only go on fighting against Eus- sia, they will be quite willing that he should take whatever he pleases from any other power which will not join us in our present crusade. I often wonder what the Duke of Wellington would have said and thought if he could have lived to see this day, and the madness of this nation. London, January 9th. — I came to town on Monday and found when I arrived that there was a fresh glimmering of peace. Austria had sent word she was inclined to believe that Eussia intended to accept the terms. I went to Lewis, who told me this was true, but he did not know on what ground their opinion rested more than that ten days had elapsed during which no symptoms of a flat refusal had appeared, and Lewis himself thought there was no doubt they were considering whether they should accept or what reply they should make. Colloredo called on Clarendon the other day, and, after some unimportant talk, asked him if he had ever heard, or had reason to believe, that Eussia had made a communication to France to the effect that if France had a mind to take the Ehenish Provinces and make peace with her, she should not oppose such a design. Clarendon re- plied that he knew nothing of it, but thought it not at all improbable. 1856.] NEGOTIATIONS FOR PEACE. 277 Bernstorff had a conversation with Eeeve the other day in which he told him that he was much put out at the iso- hited condition of Prussia, and gave him to understand that he should like the King to join the alliance, but he did not think anything would induce him to do so. It might per- haps be prudent, but it would be enormously base if Prussia were to come au secovrs des vainqueurs, and, now that Eus- sia is in exceeding distress, to join England and France, to whom she certainly is under no obligations, in crushing her. But then it would only be prudent for the moment and to remove an immediate and impending danger, for in the more comprehensive view of the balance of power and with refer- ence to general policy, it would be far wiser to leave the power of Russia undiminished. Germany has nothing to fear from Russia, for the notion of her being eternally ani- mated with designs of conquest in every direction is a mere chimsera which the people who propagate it do not them- selves believe. The part she has played for many years past has been that of a pacificator, and her only intervention has been to appease quarrels, and resist the progress of democ- racy and revolution. In 1848 it was the authority of the Emperor Nicholas which prevented a great war between Austria and Prussia which would have made all Germany a scene of havoc and bloodshed. Our Government now evi- dently expect a proposal from Russia to negotiate, and are living in hopes that it may be rejected in limine by Ester- hazy, and that they shall be able to prevail on the Emperor Napoleon not to consent to any overture that may be made to him through any other channel. January Ibth. — I came to town yesterday morning and found on my arrival the Russian answer, which was pretty much what I expected. I suspect our Government will have been disappointed that so much was conceded as to make a perem2)tory rejection so monstrous as to be hardly safe. However, Esterhazy has been ordered to withdraw on the 18th, unless everything else is conceded. Granville fancies they are not unlikely to do this, but I am per- suaded they will not. It remains to be seen what the French will do, for all depends on them. I asked Granville what he thought would be the end of it ; he said on the lohole he was rather disposed to expect it would lead to peace ; he said Austria did not mean to go to war with Russia in any case, he thought she had played her cards 278 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XL with considerable dexterity, and made herself a sort of arbitress, and, what she most desired, had got a decided lead of Prussia, the object of her hatred. I asked him if Prussia was terrified at the menaces contained in tJie Emperor's speech and other things against her, and. he said he thought she was irritated but not frightened, and he inveighed against the folly of such speeches, and especially such articles as Persigny, if it was he, had put into the "Morning Post." January IQth. — So far as I can as yet discover of public opinion, it is in favor of accepting, or at all events of nego- tiating on, the Russian proposals. The " Times " has an ambiguous article on the subject. Nobody will approve of the continuation of the war merely to obtain an Austrian object, which the cession of Bessarabia is, and the article about Bomarsund, which has nothing to do with the avowed object of the war. I have not the least doubt one half of the Cabinet, at least, are in their hearts of this opinion, but I am afraid they will not have the courage to stand forth, avow, and act upon it. January \Wi. — I saw Lewis yesterday and for the first time saw something approaching to a certainty of peace. His information was curious : the "Morning Post," in the statement inserted by Persigny, said that the Eussians had rejected the conditions about Bessarabia, and about Bomar- sund, and had accepted the rest. In the counter proposition of Russia there was no mention of Bomarsund, and for this very good reason, that no such proposal was made to them. When the terms of Austria and France were sent here our Government objected to that article which said the allies reserved to themselves to make otlier conditions, or some such words. They said it was not fair, and that they should at once say what they wanted, and all they wanted, and the additions they proposed were that Bomarsund should not be restored, that Consuls should be admitted to the Black Sea ports, and that " something " should be done about Georgia and Circassia. This was their answer, and our allies agreed to these additions, but for what reason has not as yet appeared. Tliey sent the terms to St. Petersburg in their original shape and without our articles, so that in fact no condition about Bomarsund was made to them. The Cabinet met yesterday to determine what answer should be sent to Paris, the French having notified that they would 1856.] TERMS OF PEACE ACCEPTED BY RUSSIA. 279 make no reply to the counter proposal till they were apprised of our sentiments thereupon. Lewis said he had no doubt that both governments would be willing to enter upon nego- tiation on these terms, France and Austria being anxious for peace and our Government not averse, for they begin to perceive that there is a rapidly increasing disposition to put an end to the war, and particularly that nobody will desire to continue it merely to obtain an exclusively Austrian object, which the cession of part of Bessarabia would be, especially as Austria has no thought of going to war. The Russian Government have written in a very conciliatory tone to Paris, which is known, though the letter has not yet arrived. The King of Prussia had written a private, but very pressing letter to the Emperor of Russia entreating him to make peace. Though very private, the French Government con- trived to get a copy of it, and Cowley sent this copy home. It is said to be a very able letter written in a most confiden- tial style. Such being the state of affairs and all parties apparently being agreed in a disposition to put an end to the war, it seemed to me quite certain that the negotiations would be established, and that they would lead to peace. In the evening I asked Granville if he did not think we should now certainly have peace, and he said ''I think so, but there are still a great many complications," and he said Cowley and "VValewski were on such bad terms that they hardly spoke. The fact is that Cowley is a gentleman and a man of honor and A^eracity, but he is sensitive and prone to take offence ; the other is an adventurer, a needy speculator, without honor, conscience, or truth, and utterly unfit both as to his character and his capacity for such an office as he holds. Then it must be owned that it must be intolerably provoking to Walewski or any man in his situation to see Cowley estab- lished in such strange relations with the Emperor, being at least for certain purposes more his Minister for Foreign Affairs than Walewski himself. 12 o'cloclc. — Payne has just rushed in here, to say that a telegraphic message, dated Vienna, ten o'clock last night, announces that " Russia accepts unconditionally the propos- als of the allies." The consequence of this astounding in- telligence was such a state of confusion and excitement on the Stock Exchange as was hardly ever seen before. The newspapers had one and all gone on predicting that the ne- gotiations would lead to nothing, and that the war would go 280 KEIGX OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XI. on, so that innumerable people continued to be ''bears," and they were all rushing to get out as fast as they could. It remains yet to be seen whether it is really true ; if it is, the Eussianswill be prodigiously provoked when they find that this concession was superfluous, and that the allies would have accepted their terms. January 18th. — Though the account in the " Times" was not exactly correct, it proved substantially so. The right message came from Seymour soon after. There was such a scene in the Stock Exchange as was hardly ever witnessed ; the funds rose three per cent., making five in the last two days. The Rothschilds, and all the French who were in the secret with Walewski, must have made untold sums. I have been endeavoring to account for what appears the extraor- dinary conduct of Eussia in accepting the Austrian terms purely and simply, and this strikes me to be the solution of it, and if my idea is correct it will account for the exceed- ingly bad terms which Cowley and Walewski are on. The conditions offered to Russia contained none of the points insisted on by our Government. I believe that the French and Austrians believed, yery likely were certain, that if they had been sent Russia would have refused them, and, being bent on peace, they resolved to leave them out, and excuse themselves to England as they best could ; they therefore simply presented their proposal as it originally stood. Rus- sia replied with a qualified acceptance, and then Esterhazy was obliged by the compact to say that he could only take yes or no ; then, finding them not inclined to give any other answer, that he or somebody else told them the true state of the case, viz., that he had kept back the conditions we had demanded, and that unless they accepted his proposition, it must of necessity fall to the ground, and that nothing would then prevent the English points being brought forward and made absolute conditions of any fresh preliminaries. This was very likely to determine them to accept the proposals as put before them, for although by so doing they accepted the fifth condition, which exposes them to further and not speci- fied demands, the especial points on which we insist can only be brought forward as points for negotiation, and will not form part of those conditions to which by their acceptance they stand completely and irrevocably pledged. London, January 22d. — I went to Trentham on Friday, and returned yesterday. G ranville is very confident of peace. 185C.] POPULAR FEELING FOR WAR. 281 fancying that Eussia will make no difficulties, and will agree to our additional demands, which may he so, but seems to me far from certain. The intelligence of peace being at hand, or ])robable, gives no satisfaction here, and the whole press is violent against it, and thunders away against Russia and Austria, warns the people not to expect peace, and in- cites them to go on with the war. There seems little occa- sion for this, for the press has succeeded in inoculating the public with such an eager desire for war that there appears a general regret at the notion of making ])eace. When I was at Trentham, I asked Mr. Fleming, the gardener, a very in- telligent man, what the general feeling was in that part of the world, and he said the general inclination was to go on with the war till we had made Russia, besides other conces- sions, pay all its expenses. It appears to me impossible the entente cordiale with France can go on long if the war goes on, when the people here are passionate for war, and in France they are equally passionate for peace. If the Em- peror goes on with the war he will be very popular here, which does not signify much to him, but give deep offence to his own countrymen, which will be of vital importance to him, and no wonder, for their disgust will be intense at being compelled to carry on a war at a ruinous expense, merely because it is the pleasure of the English to do so. This seems so obvious that I do not believe, after having gone so far, and excited such strong hopes of peace, that he will dare to disappoint the expectations of the country. What the people of England would really like would be to engage France to continue, and to issue a joint declaration of war against Austria and Prussia. Jmiuary 2od. — Telegraphic news yesterday that Austria positively refuses to send our supplementary conditions to St. Petersburg. France backed us up, or at least pretended to do so, for it is quite impossible to know what she really docs. Baudin is come over here, supposed to be for the pur- pose of explaining and apologizing for Walewski's not having sent the conditions originally. I do not know what excuse he makes. Lewis thinks as I do, that the real reason was his fear lest they should endanger the acceptance by Russia of the conditions. Our Government believe, or at least pre- tend to do so, that the Emperor was innocent of this rtise and that Walewski is alone guilty ; but I doubt it, for I can- not believe Walewski would dare to do such a thing; without 282 REIGN" OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XI. his master's knowledge and consent, and should not be sur- prised if the whole thing was the Emperor's doing. There is a tremendous clamor got up by the press against Lord Stratford on account of his neglect of General Williams at Kars and leaving his appeals for aid unattended to. Stratford has sent home a defence of himself, and, I hear, a skilful one. I do not think they will remove him, because they say he is now acting bond fide according to his instruc- tions, and exerting all his influence to smooth any difficul- ties that may arise at Constantinople in adjusting the terms of peace. But it is likely that the Turks are now very anx- ious for peace, as they are exceedingly sick of their pro- tectors, by whom their dignity and independence are quite as much compromised as by their enemies, while the process of exhaustion is going on at a constantly increasing ratio. January 26th. — Yesterday morning Disraeli called on me, and after we had discussed some private affairs, he began talking politics. He is very triumphant at his pacific views and expectations having turned out so true, and at the ' ' Press " newspaper having proved to be right. He said, he had never stood so well with the besi men of his party as he drd now, that he is to have forty-five men, the cream of the Con- servatives, to dine with him on Wednesday next. He then talked of Derby and the blunders he had made in spite of all the advice he had given and the remonstrances he had made to him, that he had written to him and told him what he knew from undoubted authority must and would happen about peace, and implored him not to commit himself to the continuance of the war, but that Derby with all his great talents had no discretion, and suffered himself to be led and influenced by some of the weakest and least capable men of his party. So instead of listening to what Disraeli said to him, he writes a long, reasoned reply to his arguments in the same way he would have replied to a speech in the House of Lords, and when he went to Scotland he had the folly to go to some meeting got up for the purpose, and then to make a violent war speech. I asked him how Derby and Stanley got on together, and he said that they were so much attached to each other, and Stanley had so profound a filial veneration for his father, that personal feelings silenced all political differences, and nothing would induce Stanley to take any public part adverse to his father's policy and opinions. It was evident that there is little political cordi- 1856.] MEETING OF PARLIAMENT. 283 ality between Derby and Disraeli, and a considerable split in the party. If Disraeli is to be believed, the best of the Con- servatives arc disposed to go with him rather than with Derby, but I own I nmch doubt this. However, it will soon be seen what tlie state of that party is. No further advance has been made toward the arrange- ments, but it is clear peace will be made. George Grey told me so yesterday, and intimated as much as that small diffi- culties must and would be got over. France, Austria, and Russia are resolved on peace, and England cannot alone make herself an obstacle. I suppose it will end in some compromise upon the points remaining in dispute. Macaulay has retired from Parliament, where he had done nothing since his last election ; he hardly ever attended and never spoke, or certainly not more than once. It is to be hoped his life will be spared to bring down his history to the end of Queen Anne's reign, which is all that can possibly be expected. Jcmuari/ 31st. — Parliament meets to-day. Who would have thought a few weeks ago that the Queen's Speech would announce the preliminaries of peace ? Who would ever have thought that tidings of peace would produce a general sentiment of disappointment and dissatisfaction in this nation ? There are, however, sundry symptoms of an approaching change in the public mind. The press is much perplexed ; the newspapers do not know what to say. They confidently predicted that there would be no peace, and urged the people to go on clamoring for war as long as they could ; but since they have seen that their noise is ineffectual, and that peace is inevitable, they have nearly left off inveigh- ing against it, because doing so without any result only ex- hibits their own impotence, which is just what they most wish to avoid. They therefore now confine themselves to a sort of undergrowl, muttering abuse against Eussia and Austria, calling out for more stringent terms, and still in- dulging in a desperate hope that some unexpected difficulty may occur to break off the negotiations and plunge us into war again. The Opposition are as much perplexed as the press, and do not know what course to take, or what is the most vulnerable part of the Government, and they are not agreed among themselves. So in the meantime they seem disposed to vent them- selves in a fierce attack on Baron Parke's Life Peerage. 284 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XI. Tkis peerage has excited great wrath even in many who are friendly to the Government, and probably in all who are unfriendly. Among those who most vehemently resent it are Lord Campbell, Lord Lyndhurst, and, as I am told. Brougham. There is much to be said about it either way, and it will probably give rise to some good debates and not uninteresting. As one of many other proofs of the difficulty of getting at truth, and therefore of having history correctly written, I must record a fact not very imjoortant in itself. Lewis distinctly told me that it was France (i.e. Walewski) who kept back our conditions when the Austrian propositions were returned to Vienna ; now Granville tells me it was not France, but Austria, who is responsible for their not having been sent to St. Petersburg, and that Walewski did send them to Vienna. The truth probably is that he gave notice to Buol that we wanted these things, but did not incorporate them with the propositions, and that Buol, though apprised of them, did not choose to insert what France had not chosen to insert herself. It is quite impossible to believe that they can make any serious difficulty ; it is time to make peace with Russia when our relations with America are assuming a very unpleasant aspect. February M. — Parliament opened very quietly, and there was no disposition evinced to find fault with the Government, or to throw obstacles in the way of making peace. A great change has certainly come over the country within the last fortnight or three weeks, not that people are not still sorry to see the end of the war, and rather inclined to view the peace with suspicion as well as dislike, but they have no grounds for complaint, they see that it is inevitable, and they are dis- posed to acquiesce. Derby came down full of opposition but rather puzzled how to vent it, so he criticised the Speech, which was a very poor and bald composition, made a great stir about Kars, and announced a fierce attack on Baron Parke's Life Peerage. In the House of Commons everything was Yevj piano, and Disraeli quite moderate. The Government are much puzzled about this unlucky Life Peerage. The thing is done, and now they find themselves condemned by a large majority which includes all the Law Peers. If any vote can be taken on it in the House of Lords, they will be beaten. The Conferences will begin in about three weeks, and 1856.] THE DEBATE ON THE WENSLEYDALE PEERAGE. 285 probably be very soon over, for it is the object of all parties to put an end to the enormous expense which, every day that the war lasts, is increased, aud no doubt is entertained by the well-informed that Russia is in earnest, and will go through with it firmly and sincerely. The most unpleasant incident is the difference with America, which has a bad aspect, but when they learn that we are going to make peace with Rus- sia we flatter ourselves the Americans will become reason- able.^ If a war should ensue it would be still more insane than the Russian war, for we should be fighting absolutely for no object whatever, and merely from the collision of the proud and angry feelings of the two nations. Neither would gain anything if the other were to give way and concede all that is in dispute as to the Central American question. February 1th. — Nothing can be more extraordinary than the lull here, after so much sound and fury, while the nego- tiations and question of peace or war are pending. There is evidently a complete acquiescence in the coming peace, though if the terms are not as stringent as people expect, there will be a great deal of grumbling and abuse of the Government. The case with America looks bad, but nobody can seriously believe that war between the two countries can possibly arise out of such questions as those now pending. It will probably end in the return of Crampton, and the return of Buchanan, suspension of diplomatic relations for a time, then fresh ne- gotiations and a reconciliation, but no war. February Wi. — The debate in the House of Lords on the Wensleydale Peerage was interesting but inconclusive. Lynd- hurst made, as usual, a wonderful speech for his age. He contrived with much dexterity to avoid the question of legality, which he evidently thought he could not disprove ; Campbell and St. Leonards boldly pronounced it illegal ; Brougham admitted the legality ; all the lawyers but the Chancellor are dead against the Life Peerage. Out of the House, Lushington is clear for it; Pemberton Leigh against; both of them have been offered and have refused peerages. The result appears to be that the patent is not illegal, but that there was no sufficient cause, and therefore that it was a great folly to deviate from tlie usual course in Parke's case. » [Differences had arisen between the British and the American Govern- ments in consequence of the enlistment of American citizens in the Britisli army durinsx the war, aud also with reference to the British possessions in Central America.] 286 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XI. It is awkward, and both the Opposition and the Government seem very much puzzled what to do. The best course on the whole seems to be (and it probably will so end) to confer on the Baron an hereditary peerage, and let the question of life peers stand over for the present, to be better considered and discussed hereafter when circumstances may require such a measure. Palmerston made a very good speech last night on the American questions, judicious and becomJng, and it was very well received. According to present appearances the Gov- ernment is in no danger of being turned out, and if they make a peace which satisfies, and bring in and pass some good measures, they may actually become strong, February 15th. — While the world is waiting with tolera- ble patience for the opening of the negotiations, it has got two subjects to occupy and interest it, and to give rise to plenty of discussion and dispute. The first is the Life Peer- age question, which is become very embarrassing to its oppo- nents and its advocates. There '^is a great majority of the lawyers against it, but more on the score of its being improper and inexpedient, perJiaps unconstitutional, than that it is ab- solutely illegal. The highest authority in favor of it seems to be Dr. Lushington, who refuse to be made a peer when a peerage was pressed upon him. The Government are de- termined to fight it out, and on no account to give way. Nobody knows with whom the project originated, but there is a very general idea that it was with the Prince. General Grey, however, told his brother, the Earl, that the Prince had nothing to do with it, and that his Koyal Highness knew nothing of the matter till after it had been settled. I cannot see how it can be illegal, and neither the danger nor the inexpediency of making Life Peers is quite apparent to me ; but I think it has been a blunder, and that so great a novelty ought not to have been suddenly sprung upon the world without any attempt to ascertain how it would be regarded, and Derby's argument it is very difficult to meet. He says that when a certain prerogative has not been exer- cised 'for 400 years, such long disuse of it, if it does not amount to an abrogation of it, at all events throws such a doubt upon it as to make the exercise of it now exceedingly questionable, and it appears by the precedents that in every case of a Life Peerage it was done consensu procerum, or consensu procerum et communitatis — that is, by consent of 1856.] REPORT ON THE SUFFERINGS OF THE ARMY. 287 the Lords, or by Act of Parliament. The whole question is so obscure and uncertain, that it is impossible to come to any satisfactory conclusion drawn from precedents and usage. In spite of the resolution of the Government, I doubt whether they will not be compelled to give way in some manner, for the Opposition appear to be equally resolved not to let Baron Parke take his seat. The other subject is Sir John McNeill's report,^ which has already elicited violent articles in the papers, and will occasion hot debates in the House of Commons, perhaps in both Houses. The report furnishes a &iro\\g primd facie case against Airey and Gordon, Q. M. and A. Q. M. Generals, and par ricochet against Hardinge himself, also against Lucan and Cardigan. The accused parties vehemently complain, and insist upon being allowed to vindicate themselves. Probably in the course of the discussions a good deal of the truth, but not all, will come out. It may be doubted whether there is any part of our military administration, as well as of our military operations during this war, on which it is possible to reveal and explain everything without showing up the French, and this has been the reason why all investigations and explanations have had such imperfect and unsatisfactory results. If the charges of McNeill are true, it seems to me that the man most to blame was Raglan, who was supreme, omnipotent, and responsible, and who ought not to have allowed the evils, which were notorious, to go on accumu- lating, without applying those effectual remedies which, ac- cording to the report, were abundantly at his disposal ; but of course everybody will shrink from casting the blame post- humously upon him. The " Times" has now found that the losses and sufferings of the army were erroneously and wrongfully attributed to the Government at home. McNeill has brought back with him notes of conversations with Raglan, in which Raglan told him that most if not all of the things he had been so bitterly reproached for were all owing to the opposition and contradiction he met with from the French, Canrobert especially. Cowley, who called on me the day before yesterday, said he should be very glad to have peace concluded, in order that our intimate connection and dependence on each other might be at an end, for the difficulties arising therefrom, and the 1 [Sir John McNeill had been sent to the Crimea and Constantinople to in- vestigate the causes of the sufferings of the troops in the winter 185-i-'55.] 288 KEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XI. impossibility of placing any reliance on the French Min- isters, were a perpetual source of annoyance. He thinks the Emperor honest and true, but that he is surrounded by a parcel of men every one of whom is dishonest and false. The Emperor knows this, and knows what is thought of his ministers, but he says, " What am I to do ? and where can I find better men who will enter my service ? " Clarendon came here to-day to take leave of me on going to the Conference in Paris. He talks despondingly, but less about making peace than about making one that will be acceptable here. He augurs well from the choice of Eussian Plenipotentairies who are both personally agreeable to him, for he knows Orloif very intimately. When he took leave of Brunnow three years ago he said to him, "If ever you see a good chance of peace, let me know," and now Brunnow has sent him a message reminding him of what he had said, and telling him he now saw it. It was Clarendon who fixed on Paris for the Conference, everybody else being against it, especially the Emperor Napoleon and Palmerston, but Clarendon thought the advantage of having personal communication with the Emperor himself outweighed every other consideration, and he is right. Louis Napoleon will be the arbiter, and the struggle will be between England and Eussia to get possession of him. Brunnow arrived at Paris to-day, the first arrival of the Plenipotentiaries, and he was received with great acclamations and manifestations of joy. Clarendon is dissatisfied at Brunnow's having got there first as if to steal a march on him, but this is un- reasonable, as no particular day was fixed for their coming at once, and Clarendon might have been the first if he had chosen it, and Cavour is to be there to-clay or to-morrow. February 21st. — A week has passed since most of the Plenipotentiaries arrived at Paris, and we hear nothing of what has been going on amongst them ; at least I hear nothing except that Clarendon writes word he is quite satisfied with the Emperor — the Hollands, that all sorts of intrigues are rife, Brunnow, Morny, and Madame de Lieven closeted together for hours, and Madame de Lieven writes to me in melancholy mood, saying she anticipates many diffi- culties, and complaining of the exigeances which she hears of as probable, and how ungenerous as well as impolitic it is to make no allowance for the difficulty of the Emperor's position vis a vis of his own people, and to bear so hard upon him. 1856.] SABBATARIANISM. 289 From all this I infer that the Russians have been informed that the Emperor Napoleon has engaged to back us up in our exigeances, the principal of which is probably the dis- mantling of Nicolaielf ; this may be inferred from what has appeared in the French press. The "Journal des Debats" published an article saying we had n.o right to demand this, to which the '^Siecle" replied asserting we had a right, and the article in the " Siecle" was copied into the " Moniteur," which was tantamount to a recognition and api)roval of it. There are rumors afloat here that matters are not going on satisfactorily at Paris, and, taking all these things together, it looks as if the horizon was a little overcast, but as Orloff was only to arrive at Paris last night nothing essential can as yet have passed. Meanwhile this country remains in the same passive and expectant state, so far behaving very well that there is not the least stir or any attempt to make peace more difficult, not a word said in Parliament, no meetings or petitions, the "Times" nearly silent, and only an under- growl from time to time from the Radical or malignant journals. But all who have had any opportunity of testing the state of public feeling agree that the peace, be it what it may, will be taken with regret, and that if Clarendon were to return having broken off the negotiations, and to announce that the war would go on, he would be hailed with the greatest enthusiasm, and the ardor for war Avould break out with redoubled force. While this lull has been going on upon the great ques- tion, the world has been less passionately moved and inter- ested by the affairs of the Wensleydale Peerage, and nobody has talked of anything else for the last ten days but this and the Crimean Report. The general feeling among the law- yers and in society is against the Life Peerage, but the Gov- ernment are very reluctant to give way and to own them- selves beaten upon it. To-night is the great, and, it may be hoped, final struggle in the House of Lords upon it, when nobody doubts that the Government will be beaten. Last night the Evangelical and Sabbatarian interest had a great victory in the House of Commons, routing those who endeavored to effect the opening of the National Gallery and British Museum on Sunday. The only man of impor- tance who sustained this unequal and imprudent contest was Lord Stanley. At this moment cant and Puritanism are in the ascendant, and so far from effecting any anti-sabbatarian 13 290 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XI. reform, it will be very well if we escape some of the more stringent measures against Sunday occupations and amuse- ments with which Exeter Hall and the prevailing spirit threaten us. February %Uli. — A letter from Lady Clarendon, who says '' the report about things going ill is false, and as yet things have hardly begun. The Emperor in feelings and opinions is everything that Clarendon could desire." Ma- dame de Lieven received Clarendon d Iras ouverts, but said very little to him. This morning I called on George Lewis, and had a long talk about the prospects of peace. He said Palmerston, according to his ancient custom, was doing all he could to extort as much as possible from Russia, writing to Clarendon in this strain constantly and urging him to in- sist on more and more concessions ; but Lewis thinks not- withstanding this that Palmerston has quite made up his mind for peace, and that he makes demands very often with the expectation of being refused, and the intention of not insisting on them if he finds a very determined resistance. One point of difEerence is Kars ; the Russians not unfairly wish to have some equivalent for surrendering it, and Palm- erston insists that they are not entitled to any. In the pre- liminaries it was settled that we were to restore all our con- quests, and they were in return to give up part of Bessarabia. At that time Kars was not taken, and now they say the rela- tive positions of the parties are altered, and "if we are to re- store Kars, that ought to be set against the restoration of Kinburn, the part of the Crimea you occupy, &c. , and having got an equivalent in Kars, you ought to relax your demand for Bessarabia." To this Palmerston replies that the Russians are to guarantee the integrity of the Turkish dominions, of which Kars is a part, and therefore their restoration of it is a matter of course for which no equivalent is necessary. This argument is not logical, and no arbitrator would admit it. It is a good point to wrangle upon, and if the Russians knock under it will be because they are resolved to submit to any terms rather than not have peace. It is much the same thing about Nicolaieff, as to which the Emperor appears at present disposed to back us up. Lewis disapproves of our exigeances and Palmerston 's tone. He thinks on both points the Russians have good cases, and that Palmerston and Clarendon are only fighting for them in order to have a more plausible and showy peace to set 1856.] DEBATE ON LIFE PEERAGES. 291 before the country. He says we never thought of demand- ing the destruction of the docks of Nicolaieff at first, and that our demanding it now is a mere afterthought, and in l^ursuunce of the plan of starting as many demands as Ave can to take the chance of what we can get. Lewis disap- proves of this course, and urged me to encourage Clarendon not to lend himself to exigencies unjust in themselves, but to do what he really thinks right and necessary without fear of the consequences. When we had done talking of this matter he said he wanted to speak to me about the Peerage question, which had assumed a shape which he thought menaced great embarrass- ment, if not danger. The government, he said, would not give way, and he was himself opposed to their doing so ; but what was to be done ? I said I did not see what the Gov- ernment could do, nor why they should not give way when they had resolved to fight and had been fairly beaten ; but he thought they should stultify themselves by acknowledg- ing they had been wrong, and that such a course would oblige the Chancellor to resign. I controverted these propo- sitions and said they would stultify themselves much more, if from motives of vanity and pride t hey chose to let the House of Lords remain without that assistance to obtain which was the pretext for Parke's creation. On the whole, Lewis seemed to think the least objectionable course would be to pass a bill enabling the Crown to make a certain num- ber of Life Peers, but he overlooked the fact that this would be as much a confession of error, and an acknowledgement that the Qneen had no such prerogative, as to make Lord Wensleydale an hereditary Peer. My advice was to make him an hereditary Viscount. I was obliged to go away and had not time to talk it out. In the afternoon, I spoke to Campbell and Lyndhurst about it, and asked what they pro- posed, and how the difficulty was to be got over. They naturally want the Government to knock under and give up the hereditary peerage ; they both scouted the idea of Parke coming down to the House of Lords and insisting on being admitted and making a scene. Lyndhurst to-night is to give notice of motion for a Committee to consider the Ap- pellate Jurisdiction. February ^ItJi. — The debate in the Lords on Monday night affords a prospect of an amicable termination of the Peerage case, but the Government still have a lingering hope 392 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XI. that by some management and contrivance they may avoid the necessity of submitting to their defeat and acting accord- ingly. There is to be a Committee on the Appellate Juris- diction, and they think they may obtain some I'eport which may enable them to get out of their scrape, but the only way I can make out by which they think of doing this is to lay the foundation of a bill to enable the Crown to make a limited number of Life Peers. This Av^ould, however, be a more formal acknowledgement of error, and that the Queen does not possess the prerogative, than any other course. I expect they will at last be driven to adopt the course I re- commended, that of making Park a Viscount, hereditary of course. Last night, Disraeli made a bitter attack on the Govern- ment, to which Labouchere replied with a spirit for which nobody gave him credit. The Opposition displayed great warmth, and a disposition to show serious fight on any occa- sion they could find. Certainly the Government cuts a very poor figure, and it is difficult not to think that as soon as the all absorbing question of peace or war is decided, they will be much put to it to defend themselves, unless they con- duct affairs much better for the future than they have done up to the present time. Hitherto they have presented a series of blunders, failures, and exposures. First of all the Peerage question ; then, much worse, in the House of Com- mons, Lowe's Bill on Shipping Dues, which Palmerston was obliged to withdraw last night, not at all creditably, and the failure of which was in a great measure attributable to Lowe's very injudicious speech, which, as he is the organ of the Board of Trade in the House of Commons, was in itself a great evil and misfortune. George Grey's Bill on County Police meets with such opposition that though it is a very good measure he will probably not be able to carry it. But still worse than these are the case of the Crimean Eeport with all its incidents, one blunder after another, and the wretched exhibition of Monsell in moving the Ordnance Es- timates, amounting to a complete break-down. All these things, one after another, place the Government in a very weak and contemptible position, and show that in spite of Palmerston's having recovered a good deal of his personal popularity in the House of Commons, his Government has no strength, and his being able to go on at all is only owing to the peculiar circumstances in which the country is placed. 1856.] A VISIT TO PARIS. 293 and the extreme difficulty of any other Government being formed which would be palateable to the country, more effi- cient, and therefore stronger and more durable tlian the present. To-morrow I purpose going to Paris to see and hear what is going on at this interesting moment. Paris, March 1st, 1856. — I left London on Thursday with M. de Flahault and my brother. We slept at Boulogne, and after a prosperous journey in all its stages, found myself in my old quarters at the Embassy yesterday evening at seven o'clock. I had hardly arrived before a card came from Morny, wlio gave a great evening party with two petitcs pieces and music. I went there with Lady Cowley. The crowd was so great that I saw nothing whatever of the spectacle, but was pretty well amused, for I met some old acquaintance, made some new ones, and was presented to some of the celebrities of the day. I was much struck with the ugliness of the women, and the extreme recherche of their costumes. Na- ture has done nothing for them, their modisies all that is pos- sible. The old friends I met were La Marre and Bourqueney, whom I have not seen since he was Secretary of Embassy to Guizot, when we had so much to do together about the affairs of the East. I made acquaintance with Fleury, the Em- press's Grand !&cu}'er, renewed it with Bacciochi, and I was presented to Cavour and the Grand Vizier, as little like the beau ideal of a Grand Vizier as can well be imagined, but by all accounts a Turk comme il y en a pen. He is a very lit- tle, dark, spare, mild-looking man, speaks French perfectly, and exceedingly clever, well-informed, enlightened, and hon- orable. He was Grand Vizier once before, and owes his pres- ent elevation to his great personal merit. He accepted the post with reluctance, feeling snre Stratford would torment him to death and get him turned out again, but it seems as if his high qualities, and the general respect with which he is regarded, would enable him to maintain himself against all intrigues, and even against Stratford's predominance. I met Clarendon, but had hardly any opportunity of talking to him, as he was every moment interrupted by people come up to do civilities to him. He had just time to tell me that matters are going on very slowly, and that he sees no reason why he should not be kept here for the next six months. OrlofE had met him a bras ouverts and renewed their old Petersburg friendship. Brunnow he is disgusted with, and 294 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XI. says he has made a bad impression here. He told me he had said to BrunnoYV : " You were in England long enough to know what a special pleader is ; well, if all other trades should fail you, take to that." Orloff spoke very frankly about the war, and the conduct of the late Emperor, which he had always regarded as insane in sending Menschikoff to Constantinople. If he had sent him, Orloff, instead, he would answer for it, there would have been no war. Then marching into the Principalities, and finally not accepting the modifications of the Vienna Note. After this, Orloff said, he had declined to have any- thing more to do with those affairs, and had retired in dis- gust. He thought Nicholas's mind had undergone a change after he had reached sixty years of age. Clarendon said he was delighted with the Emperor and liked him better and better every time he saw him. I met Walewski, who said he wanted to talk to me, when he ex- pressed great anxiety to know the state of opinion in Eng- land, and talked of the chances of peace, and particularly wished to know if I thought Palmerston really and sincerely desired peace. I told him the exact truth as to opinion in England, and said I believed Palmerston was now sincere in wishing to make peace, but that it was in his nature to be exigeant, and he thought it necessary to be so now because it was of great moment to him to present to the country a peace with as many concessions as possible from Eussia. I said it depended on France after all, and then I found that while they thought Bomarsund ought to be an indispensable condition, Nicolaieff ought not ; and so we parted, and I promised to dine with him on Monday. This morning after breakfast I had a long conversation with Cowley. He did not speak despondingly of the peace, but he dilated on the difficulty of coming to satisfactory terms, and such as Clarendon could consent to, which he attributes principally to the French, who, having gained all the glory they want for the satisfaction of their national van- ity, have no longer any desire to go on with the war, and we are placed by them in a fix. " If," he said, " our army was in Asia Minor he should not care, because then we might say to them, Do just what you please, make peace if it suits you, we shall not resent it or have any quarrel with you, but we will carry on the war on our own account. As it is, if we insist on renewing the war, the French cannot, and would 1856.] MADAME DE LIEVEN ON THE WAR. 295 not abandon us, and leave us to be attacked by superior Kiissiau armies ; they would therefore very reluctantly go on with the war, but it would be well knowii that we were drajjging them on with us, and the exasperation against us would be great and general, and, say what we might, a quarrel between France and England would infallibly en- sue." He said all the objections he had entertained against Paris being the place of conference had been more than realised, and that the thing to have done would have been to have it in some dull German town, where there would have been no amusements and occupations, and no intrigues, and where they would have applied themselves vigorously to their work in order to get it done as quickly as })ossible. I have not, however, as yet made out what intrigues there arc, but there is of course a vast deal of commcraye going on. The conferences take place every other day, beginning at one, and they generally last about four hours. Walewski presides, and, they say, does it pretty well ; M. Benedctti, the Chef de Departement in the Foreign Office, is the Proto- collist and Kedacteur ; the manner of it is conversational, but they occasionally make speeches, Walewski told me. I asked Clarendon in the evening how they were going on, and he said he thought they were making a little progress, but that the French did all they could to render it impossible. I called on Madame de Lieven in the morning, who did not seem to know much beyond what lies on the surface. She is craving for news and eager for peace. Orloff has kept aloof from her, to her great mortification, and rather to the malicious satisfaction of her enemies, but he went to see her at last the day before yesterday, and, I suppose, accounted for the delay, for she spoke of him as if they were friends, though of course she would take care not to say a word of complaint or to have it supposed, if she could help it, that he had neglected her. She complained that in our exigeance Ave did not make allowance enough for the difficulties of the Emperor of Russia's position, for, however necessary peace might be to Russia, there is a very great party there who from pride and obstinacy would carry on the war at all risks and hazards. She talked much of the enormous faults that had been committed throughout the whole of the Eastern Question, and of the severe retribution the pride of the late Emperor had drawn down on his country, and remarked, which is quite true, that this would be the first 296 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XI. time in the history of Eussia in which she had made a dis- advantageous peace ; for even in her wars against Napoleon, when she had suffered defeat after defeat, she had still con- cluded peace with a gain of territory. I saw the Hollands, Guizot at Madame de Lieven's door, called on Lady Claren- don, and then went to ride with Lady Cowley in the Bois, and so the evening and the morning were the first day. The weather is cold and gloomy, and I don't think I shall stay here long. March 3d. — Went about visiting yesterday, and at night to the Tuileries, an evening party and play, two small pieces ; the Emperor was very civil to me as usual,. came up to me and shook hands ; he talked to Orloff and to Clarendon, then the Grande Maitresse told him the Empress was ready, when he went out and came back with her on his arm, Mathilde, Princess Murat, and Plon Plon following. As the Emperor passed before me, he stopped and presented me to the Em- press. I was introduced to Orloff, and in the course of the evening had a long talk with Brunnow, who said they had made all the advances and concessions they could, and it was for us to move toward peace, and not to advance one step and then retreat two. This morning I went to see the opening of the legislative bodies, and hear the Emperor's Speech. It was a gay and pretty sight, so full of splendor and various colors, but rather theatrical. He read his speech very well and the substance of it gave satisfaction ; it was not easy to compose it, but he did it exceedingly well, and steered clear of the ticklish points with great adroitness and tact. It sounded odd to English ears to hear a Royal Speech applauded at the end of each paragraph, and the shouts of " Vive I'Erapereur " from the Senators and Deputies. After Cowley came home he began talking over the state of affairs, and the peace we are going to make, about which his grief and disappointment are overflowing. He says the Emperor had the best intentions, but has been beset with men who were determined on peace for their own ends, and whom he could not resist. What he blames him for is not having at once said that he would go so far with us and no further, and not have allowed us to delude ourselves with expectations of support from him that were not to be real- ised. He says it is now all over, the matter decided, it will proceed rapidly, and all be finished by Easter. 1856.] A DINNER AT COUNT WALEWSKPS. 297 At night. — I have been dining with Walewski, a very handsome dinner to the Sardinians, and a party afterward. Knowing none of the people, it Avas a bore ; I found nobody to converse with but Cavour and Flahault ; talked over the state of affairs Avith the latter and our discontents. He said the Emperor could not refuse, and when Clarendon came over and found His IVIajesty's conversation so satisfactory, he was misled by it and fancied he should obtain his support to all our demands ; he owned that it would have been better if the Emperor had been more explicit. When I got home I found Cowley, who was engaged in drawing up a statement of the comparative state of Russia, as to her aggressive power against Turkey before the war and now, after peace has been made. He is doing this for Clarendon and to assist him in making his case good in Parliament when the i^eace is at- tacked, as he says it is quite certain it will be. I asked him what were the points on which the Russians made the most difficulty. He said on all except Bomarsund. He is quite convinced that Walewski has played false, and that he has made known to Orloff exactly what he must give up, and when he may be stout. Ilarch bth. — Little to record ; Cowley continues talking to me of the state of affairs as it is and as it might have been, and is excessively dejected and disgusted at the idea of the peace he is about to sign ; he thinks it neither creditable nor likely to be durable, but we start from such different points of view that it is impossible for us to agree. He harps upon the evil done by having the Conference here, and certainly the advantage Clarendon promised himself from having it here has proved null, for the Emperor does not send for him, having no mind to talk to him, and he will not ask an audi- ence of the Emperor, though Cowley urges him very much to do it. He acknowledges, however, that it would be now too late, and that nothing more can be done ; he thinks Clarendon will bring himself with great reluctance to sign such a Treaty ; but he must swallow the pill, however bitter. The bitterness proceeds from having had such vast preten- sions and having encouraged, if not held, such lofty lan- guage. It is no wonder that this Government want to get their army home when typhus is raging there, and they have by their own account 23,000 men in hospital, while ours is quite healthy. We took all sorts of precautions, and strongly ad- 298 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XI. Tised the Freucli to do the same, and to adopt a sanitary plan we imparted to them ; they held it cheap, did nothing, and here are the consequences. It is said that while those who have been in the Crimea and have distinguished themselves are eager for peace, those who have not yet earned medals are averse to peace, and that there will be a good deal of jealousy between the regiments. March 6th. — We talked yesterday morning about the ori- gin of the Austrian proposals, and Cowley said he had never been able exactly to make out whether the scheme had origi- nated at Vienna or here, but he was inclined to believe that tlie first hint was given by Austria, and that Walewski then put the thing on paper, which was sent to Vienna and re- turned thence in the shape of a proposal. Bourqueney first brought it from Vienna, Buol having obtained his Emperor's consent to it. Cowley told me Buol had been all along will- ing to Join us in the war, but the Emperor never would con- sent to it. Cowley's notions are that we never ought to have listened to any intervention, nor to any proposals for peace but from Kussia herself, that ^e should have m-ade her sue for peace. He would have had our demands from the first stated distinctly, and have allowed of nothing but accept- ance or refusal ; he would never have agreed to the article for the cession of Bessarabia, nor have asked for territory at all. If it could have been managed he would have preferred giving the Principalities to Austria, who should for them give up Lombardy to Sardinia. Not a bad idea. By the by, it is much noticed that in the Emperors Speech he calls the King of Sardinia the King of Piedmont, probably with- out any particular meaning or intention, but they say he never does anything without a meaning. I rode to the new racecourse yesterday, near the Bois de Boulogne, and went to the Opera last night to see a beautiful new ballet, "Le Corsaire." Went to Passy to see the Delesserts, who were out. In this head quarter of gossip every trifle makes a noise, a little scene in society excites interest and shows the con- tinued violence of party feeling. A party dined at Lord Holland's and more came in the evening, mostly, as it hap- pened, Orleanists, for the Hollands live with all parties in- discriminately. There were Mesdames de Kemusat, d'Haus- sonville, and several others of that color, when the door opened and MM. de Flahault and Morny were announced. 1856.] DEJECTION OF LORD COWLEY. 299 on which the women all Jumped up like a covey of partridges and walked out of the room, without taking any notice of the men. It is said that the Orleanist party entertain a pe- culiar rancor against M. de Flahault for having seen behind a door or a curtain the arrest of General Changarnier on the 2d of December, which he afterward had the folly to avow. Af night. — Just before dinner came an invitation to go to the Tuileries to-night, which with much reluctance 1 was forced to do. Two petites pieces as on Sunday. I did not attempt to get into the gallery, and sat in the next room, first with Brunnow, then with the Grand Vizier, who is be- come a great friend of mine. The Emperor did nothing but take off one Plenipotentiary after another : first Clarendon, next Buol, then Orloff, and lastly Walewski, and probably more was done there than at the Conference in the morning. Brunnow and Walewski both told me the affair was progress- ing, and Cowley seemed very low coming home. His dejec- tion is extreme, and he said this morning that he could not recover from his extreme disappointment at the conduct of the Emperor, that he had always had a bad opinion of Walew- ski, and no reliance on him or any of the ministers, but he would have staked his life on the Emperor's remaining true to us, that he had always assured our Government that they might depend implicitly on him, and it was a bitter mortifi- cation to him to have been deceived himself and to deceive them. I asked him how Clarendon felt all this, and he said Clarendon had never spoken to him about it, and preserved a calmness which astonished him. ^' What," I asked, "did the Cabinet at home say?" He said, "They seemed to place entire confidence in Clarendon, and to leave all power and responsibility to him." March 8th. — Called on M. de Greffuhle yesterday, whom I had not seen for years. He is eighty, enormously rich, full of activity and intelligence, Orleanist by social habits, but well affected toward this Government and not hostile to the Emperor, though despising his Government. He said that he was coynpeJled to make peace, and that it would cost him his Crown if he did not ; that something would happen and then he would be upset, so great wonld be the conse- quences of his running counter to the universal desire for peace here ; that the finances are in a very difficult state and there must be another loan, but it would not be contracted like the last, which was a piece of absurd charlatanerie. 300 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XL I went in the afternoon to see the Imperial stables, a wonderful establishment ; and then the stallions, near Passy. In the evening to Madame Baudon's, where I was presented to General Cavaignac, but had no conversation with him. He is a tall, gentlemanlike man, with a very military air. I was surprised to see him there in the midst of the Legiti- mists, he, a republican, but it seems he was once near mar- rying Madame Baudon, who was sous-gouvernante des En- fants de France when Madame de Gontaut was Gouvernante. March 2th. — Went about visiting as usual. Called on Achille Fould, who introduced me to Magne, Minister of Finance, said to be a great rogue. Everything here is in- trigue and jobbery, and I am told there is a sort of gang, of which Morny is the chief, who all combine for their own purpose and advantage : Morny, Fould, Magne, and Eouher, Minister of Commerce. They now want to get out Billault, Minister of the Interior, whom they cannot entirely manage, and that ministry is necessary to them on account of the railroads, which are under his management. Fould was full of civilities and offers of services, and he told me the Em- peror has a mind to talk to me ; whether anything will come of it I know not. I went thence to Madame de Galliera's, where I met Thiers and made a rendezvous with him for to- day ; then to Madame de Lieven, who had had Orloff with her ; lastly to Madame de Girardin and renewed our old acquaintance, dined with Delmar, and came home to a great party here. March lOih. — I called on Thiers yesterday, and had a long talk with him ; he declared he was happier unemployed and quite free than he had ever been ; he had been all for the war, and was now as much for peace — like every other Frenchman he considered it a necessity ; anxious as ever for the English alliance, and ridiculed the idea that we had not accomplished everything that our honor and glory required ; bitter against this Government, and maintained that the Emperor might very safely relax the severity of it without giving up anything ; indignant with the peculation and cor- ruption that prevailed, and the abominable acts of injustice committed, one of which he mentioned towards his own family. Very pleasant as usual. The news of the day was the dangerous illness of King Jerome, whose life hangs on a thread. This morning I went to St. Germains to see a staff hunt in the forest — a curious 1356.] A CONCERT AT WALEWSKI'S. 301 sight, with the old-fashioned meute ; the oflBcers, and those privileged to wear the uniform, in embroidered coats, jack- boots, and cocked hats ; piqueurs on horseback and foot with vast horns wonnd round their bodies ; the costume and the sport exactly as in the time of Louis XIV., rather tiresome after a time. The old chateau is a melancholy delabre build- ing, sad as the finishing career of its last Royal inhabitant. These recollections come thick upon one — Anne of Austria and the Fronde, Louis XIV. and Mademoiselle de la Valliere — for here their lives began. When the Queen was here she insisted on being taken up to see Mademoiselle de la Valliere's apartment, to mark which some slight ornaments remain. Here too James II. held his dismal Court and came to his unhappy and bigoted end. After it ceased to be a palace, it became successively a prison, a school, and a barrack, and now the Emperor has a fancy to restore it. 1 went at night to a great co^ncert at Walewski's^ where I fell in with Clar- endon, and found he was quite prepared to make peace even on such terms as he can get, in which I encouraged him, and to my surprise he said he did not think it would be a bad peace, thougli it was not so good as we might have got if the generals had done all they might, or if we had had another campaign. He asked me how I thought people would look on it in England, and I told him from all I heard I thought now the wish was for peace, and that the peace would be well enough taken. This he now thinks himself, and he said peace would certainly be concluded be- fore the end of the month. March IMh. — From Cowley's account the Conferences appear to be drawing to an end, as a committee has been formed to draw up the Treaty. It consists of Cowley, Bour- queney, Brunnow, Cavour, Buol, and the Grand Vizier. Cowley is still bemoaning the insufficiency of the terms, and while he admits the necessity of peace here^ maintains that if the Emperor would only have Joraed us in insisting upon the terms we wished to impose, it is certain the Russians would have consented to everything, for he says they now know from unquestionable information that the Russians expected much harder terms. The Emperor was, however, so beset by his entourage, and so- afraid of running the slightest risk of the Russians breaking off the negotiations, that he would not insist on anything which he was not certain the Russians would agree to, and Cowley says he thinks Clarendon was 302 EEIGN or QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XI. not SO firm as he might have been, and if he had pressed the Emperor more strongly, that the latter would have yielded and told Orloil that, though anxious to make peace, he was still more anxious to continue on good terms with us, and that if the Russian Government wanted jDeace, they would only have it on such and such terms. All this may be true, and I am myself inclined to think the Russians would have agreed to our terms, if those terms had been heartily backed up by the Emperor ; but except to give something more of a triumph to the English public, I am not of opinion that the difference between what we required and what we shall get is worth much. When the denouement is before the world, it will appear how insane it was to plunge into such a war, and that the confusion and unsettled state of affairs which will be the result of it are more dangerous to the sta- bility of the Turkish Empire than the ambitious designs of Russia ever were. Whether the Emperor Nicholas was pre- mature or not in his idea of "the sick man," it will soon appear how sick the man will be left by the doctors who have stepped in to save him, and I believe the louleversement of the old Turkish dominion will have been greatly acceler- ated by the war and the consequences which will flow from the successes of the allies. % What Cowley particularly laments over is having failed to dismantle Nicolaieff and to stop the outlet from the Bug to the Black Sea, and having got no satisfactory arrange- ment with regard to the Circassian coast and the contiguous provinces which were ceded to Russia by the Treaty of Adrianople. We wanted that Russia should acknowledge the independence of these provinces or of some part of them ; but I cannot see of what use this would have been, and it would have been a m^atter of the greatest difficulty how to secure their independence and under what Government. There is a sort of sympathy with the Circassians in England, which would have made some stipulations with regard to them popular ; but the independence would be illusory, Rus- sia would soon reassert her authority, and our stipulations would become a dead letter, or we should be involved in end- less disputes without any satisfactory results. As to form- ing another coalition for the sake of semi-barbarous nation- alities on the coasts of the Caspian, nothing would be more impossible. England herself, who will soon recover from her madness, would not hear of it, and France still less. The 1856.] BIETH OF THE PRINCE IMPERIAL. 303 war was founded in delusion and error, and carried on by a factitious and ignorant enthusiasm, and we richly deserve to reap nothing but mortification and disappointment in return for all the blood and treasure we have spent. March IQth. — We passed the day in momentary expecta- tion of hearing of the Empress's confinement. No news arrived, but at six in the morning we were awakened from our beds by the sound of the cannon of the Invalides, which gave notice of a son. Will his fortune be more prosperous than that of the other Eoyal and Imperial heirs to the throne whom similar salvos have proclaimed ? It is a remarkable coincidence that the confinement was as difficult and dan- gerous as that of Marie Louise, with the same symptoms and circumstances, and that the doctor accoucheur (Dubois) in this instance was the son of the Dubois who attended the other Empress. From all I hear the event was received here with good will, but without the least enthusiasm, though with some curiosity, and the Tuileries Gardens were crowded. People were invited by the police to illuminate. CHAPTER XII. Lord Clarendon's favorable View of the Peace — General Evans' Proposal to embark after the Battle of Inkeriiian — Sir K. Lyons def-i-nds Lord IJairlan— I'eacc concluded — Sir J. Graham's gloomy View of Affairs — Kdward Kllice's Plan — Favor.ible Keception of the Peace — A Lull in Politics— A ^Sabbatarian Question— The Trial of Palmer for Murder — Defeat of the Opposition— Danjrer of War with the United States — Eistori as an Actress— Defeat of the Aj)pellate .lurisdiction liill — Return of the Guards— Uaron Parke on th'' Life Peerage — CUose of the Session— O'Donnell and Espartem in Spain — Chances of War— Coronation of the ("zar— Apathy of the Nation — Expen>e of the Coro- nation at Moscow — Interference at Naples— Koreif;n Relations — Progress of Democ- racy in England — Russia, France, Eng'land, and Naples — Russian Intripues with France The Boifrrad Question — The Quarrel with Naples— The Formation of Lord Palnier- ston's Government in 1855 — Death of Sir John Jervis — Sir Alexander Cockburn's Ap- pointment — James Wortley Solicitor-General— Conference on the Treaty of Paiis — Low Church Bishops — Leadership of the Opposition — Coolness in Paris — Dictatorial Policy to Brazil. London, March ^Ist, Good Friday. — I left Paris on Wednes- day morning with Mr. and Mrs. Eeeve, dined at Boulogne, crossed over in the evening, and arrived in London yesterday morning at eleven o'clock. When near Folkestone we were caught in a fog, lost our way, and were very near having to anchor and pass the night at sea. After a vast deal of whistling and bellowing, stopping and going on, the fog 304 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XII. cleared a little, lights became visible, and we entered the harbor with no other inconvenience than having made a long detour, and being an hour later than our proj)er time. I regretted leaving Paris, where I was treated with so much affection and hospitality, and on the whole very well amused. On Monday, I dined Avith the Duchesse de Mouchy ; on Tuesday night Clarendon came after dinner to see me before my departure, and we had some talk about the peace and the terms. He spoke very cheerfully about it, and seems not at all dissatisfied, nor to feel any alarm about its reception. As it is, without at all acknowledging that he has made any sacrifices, he considers that the in- fluence he has acquired for England, particularly with Austria and Turkey, is far more valuable than any items of concession from Eussia would have been. Buol told him that he was now quite convinced that England was the Power to which Austria must really look with confidence and reliance on her honor and friendshii?, and the Turk was still more warm and vehement in assurances of the same kind. This was elicited from the Austrians by the fact of England having supported the condition of the Bessarabian cession, while France took part with Eussia and threw Austria over. Moreover, Clarendon does not, like Cowley, complain of the Emperor Napoleon, but speaks with great satisfaction of His Majesty's conduct to him, and the renewed cordiality with which he has recently expressed himself toward England, and for the maintenance of his alliance with us. In short, he evidently thinks, and not without reason, thab he will return, having obtained a sufficiently good peace, and having placed England in a very fine position. He said that he had been able to accomplish his task by being ready to incur responsibility at home, and by being able to act unfettered, and taking on himself to disregard any instructions or recom- mendations from home that he did not approve of. Yester- day I saw George Lewis and had a talk with him and his wife about Clarendon and the peace. He said he thought the peace quite sufficient;, and he did not understand what it was Cowley found fault with, nor why he is dissatisfied. He denies that we have given up anything that it would have been just and reasonable to stand out upon, and will not hear of taking an apologetic tone, but that Clarendon should defend the peace on its own merits. He thinks it will be well enough received in the House of Commons and by the 1856.] SIR EDMUND LYONS'S NARRATIVE. 305 country, and he is in good spirits about the GoTernment. He says Palmerston has been moderate and reasonable, and that he is not aware of Clarendon's having been harassed with any instructions, but left entirely to his OAvn discretion. They all think he has done exceedingly well. March 29th. — I went to Hatchford on Saturday last ; on Wednesday to Althorp. I met Sir Edmund Lyons at Hatch- ford, who talked incessantly about the incidents of the war and the conduct of the people concerned in it, and very in- teresting his talk was, for besides having been one of the most conspicuous and important actors in it, he was com- pletely in the confidence of the Commanders-in-Chief, and consulted by them on every occasion and with regard to all operations. He told us what had passed between Evans and Eaglan and between Evans and himself on a most important occasion, to tliis effect : Evans went to Eaglan immediately after the battle of Inkerman, and proposed to him to em- bark the army immediately, leaving their guns, and (Lyons says he is almost certain) their sick and wounded to the ene- my. Raglan said, ''But you forget the French : would you have us abandon them to their fate ?" He replied, ''You are Commander-in-Chief of the English army, and it is your business to provide for its safety. . . ." Raglan would not hear of the proposal. Almost immediately after Evans met Sir Edmund Lyons and told him what had passed with Raglan, and urged him to suggest the same course. Lyons made the same observation about the French that Raglan had done, and said one of two things would happen : either the French would take Sebastopol alone, when we should be covered with shame and dishonor, or they would fail and probably suffer some great disaster. The expression of " perfide Albion " had long been current in France, and then indeed it would be well deserved and Avould become a per- petual term of reproach against us. These rebuffs did not prevent Evans going on board ship and there giving out that the army would in a few days be obliged to embark, and Captain Dacres came to Lyons and told him he heard this was going to happen. Lyons asked hi.m where he had heard this, and he said Evans had announced it, and talked of it unreservedly as certain to happen. Lyons said, " It is false ; the army will not go away, and Sebastopol will be taken. It is very mischievous that such reports should circulate, and I order you not to allow such a thing to be said by anybody on 306 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XH. board your ship, and to contradict it in the most positive manner. " Everything that Lyons said, and it may be added all one hears in every way, tends to the honor and the credit of Eag- lan, and I am glad to record this because I have always had an impression that much of the difficulty and distress of the army in 1854 was owing to his want of energy and manage- ment. He was not a Wellington certainly, and probably he might have done more and better than he did, but he was unquestionably, on the whole, the first man in the army, and if he had not been continually thwarted by the French, would have done more. While many here were crying out for placing our army under the command of French generals, and recalling Eaglan (and I must confess I had myself a con- siderable leaning that way), he was struggling against the shortcomings or the inactivity of Canrobert and Pelissier. Canrobert acknowledged that he had not nerves sufficient for the duties of his station, and he never could be got to agree to adopt the bold offensive movements which Eaglan was continually urging upon him, especially after the battle of Inkerman, when Eaglan entreated him to follow up the discomfited Eussians, his whole army being ready and not above 1,500 of them having been engaged. With Pelissier, Eaglan had very little to do, for his death occurred soon after Pelissier took the command. Lyons gave us an interesting account of Eaglan's last illness. He seemed to have no idea that he was in serious danger, nor had the people about him. At last, when he was so rapidly sinking that the doctors saw his end was approach- ing, and it was deemed necessary to apprise him thereof, he would not believe it, and he insisted to his aide-de-camp who told him of his state that he was better, and he fell into a state of insensibility without ever having been conscious of his dying condition. One of the best authenticated charges against Eaglan was that of his not showing himself to his soldiers, and it was said many believed that he had quitted the camp ; at last this idea became so prevalent that his own stafF felt the necessity of something being said to him about it, but none dared, for it seems they were all exceedingly afraid of him. At last they asked Lyons if he would speak to him and tell him what was said. Lyons said he had no scruple or difficulty in so doing, and told him plainly the truth. Eaglan not only took it in good part, but 1356.] PEACE CONCLUDED. 307 thanked him very much, and said his reason for not riding round all the divisions was that he could not prevent the soldiers turning out to salute him, and he could not hear to see this ceremony done by the men who had been all night in the trenches or otherwise exposed to fatigue, and that this was the sole reason why he had abstained, but henceforward he would make a point of riding round every day, and so he ever after did ; so that the main fact as reported by " corre- spondents " was not devoid of truth. I wish I could recollect all the various anecdotes Lyons told us, but I neglected to pat them down at the time, and now they have faded from my memory. He discussed the qualities of the English generals with reference to the command of the army after Raglan's death. lie never had well understood why it was that Colin Campbell was always considered out of the question, and his own opinion seemed to be that he was the fittest man. The French thought so, and one of the alleged reasons against him, viz., that he could not speak French, was certainly not true. Simpson was very reluctant to take the command at first, and wrote home to say so, but after he had received certain flattering encouragements his op2:)osition waxed fainter, and by the time it was taken from him he became anxious to retain it. Raglan was not at all annoyed at Simpson's being sent there, and did what he pleased with him. Simpson never attempted to interfere with him or to control him in any way, but on the contrary Avas entirely subservient to Raglan. April Isf. — News of peace reached London on Sunday evening, and was received joyfully by the populace, not from any desire to see an end of the war, but merely because it is a great event to make a noise about. The newspapers have been reasonable enough, except the " Sun," which appeared in deep mourning and with a violent tirade against peace. April 3d. — Yesterday I met Graham at the Council Office, where he had come to attend a committee. Since the for- mation of Aberdeen's Government three years ago I have hardly ever seen him, and have never had any conversation with iiim. Yesterday he sat down and began talking over the state of affairs generally, and the prospects of the country, which he considers very gloomy and full of danger, more particularly from the outrageous license of the press, which has now arrived at a pitch perfectly intolerable, but which it is impossible to check or control. Then the total 308 REIGN" OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XII. destruction of parties and of party ties and connexions, to say nothing of the antipathies and disagreements of such public men as these are. He says there is not one man in the House of Commons who has ten followers, neither Glad- stone, nor Disraeli, nor Palmerston. The Government goes on because there is no organized opposition prepared and able to take its place, and the Government receives a sufficiency of independent support, because all feel that the business of the country must be carried on, and hitherto Palmerston has been supported as a War Minister, and the best man to carry on the war ; but Graham is very doubtful what will happen when the discussions on the peace and all matters relating to the war are over, and other questions (principally of domestic policy) come into play. Palmerston, always san- guine, fancies he can stand, but it is very doubtful, for he is not backed by a party constituting a majority ; the Treasury Bench is very weak, and Palmerston himself a poor and inefficient conductor of the Government in the House. John Eussell has taken up the question of education, which he hopes to render popular, and through it means again to recover his former influence and authority. He said that John Eussell is (in spite of all that happened last year) more looked up to by the Whig party than Palmerston, and that they would rather have him for their leader, as, notwithstanding the faults he has committed, he is by far the ablest man, has a much greater grasp of intellect, more foresight, and is much more of a statesman, and has more fixed principles. Palmerston (Graham thinks) has a passionate love of office and power, and will cling to it with tenacity to the last, and never resign it but on compulsion, not caring with whom he acts, nor on what principles. This, I think, is partly true and partly false. I do not think he cares whom he acts with, but I do not believe he is quite in- different as to the principles. He says Lewis has done well, and is liked in the House of Commons, and Gladstone likes him and gives him a cordial support ; that Baines is a good man, and those two are the most respected and considered of all the men on the Treasury Bench, th» House' accepting their sterling qualities in place of greater brilliancy such as Gladstone can command ; that Gladstone is certainly the ablest man there, though it is still doubtful whether his talents are equal to such an emergency as the present to master public opinion, enlist it on his side, and to adminis- 1856.] SIR JAMES GRAHAM ON THE STATE OF PARTIES. 309 ter the Government on certain principles of administrative reform, which Graham himself considers necessary. His religious opinions, in which he is zealous and sincere, enter so largely into his political conduct as to form a very serious obstacle to his success, for they are abhorrent to the majority of this Protestant country, and (I was rather surprised to hear him say) Graham thinks approach very nearly to Rome. Gladstone would have nothing to do with any Government unless he were leader in the House of Commons, and when that Government is formed, there should be joreviously a clear and distinct understanding on what principles it was founded and what their course of action should be. His tone is now that of disclaiming party connections, and being ready to join with any men who are able and willing to com- bine in carrying out such measures as are indispensably necessary for the good government of the country, such a system as he briefly shadowed out in his speech at tlie Man- sion House the other day. Graham's idea is, that in the event of this Government breaking down, the best chance of another being formed would be by Clarendon undertaking it, whom on the whole he regards as the man best fitted by his experience and ability to be at the head of affairs ; that he and Gladstone might be brought together, but would Lord John consent to go to the Lords, and to serve under Clarendon as President of the Council and Head of the Edu- cation Department ? This opens qiiestions full of doubt and difficulty. Derby, he thinks, has no desire to form another Government, and would prefer to go on as he is now, leader of a large party of Peers who are willing to follow him and to make the House of Lords one of the scenes and instru- ments of his amusements as usual, provided it supplies him with occupation and excitement, indifferent to the conse- quences and to the mischief he may do. Disraeli appears to be endeavoring to approach Gladstone, and a confederacy between those two and young Stanley is by no means an im- probability. What Stanley is disposed to do and capable of doing is still an enigma, and although his speeches are not devoid of matter, they are without a particle of the spirit and stirring eloquence of his father. The change which has taken place in the country pre- sents to Graham a most alarming prospect. Hitherto it has been governed by parties, and patronage has been the great instrument of keeping parties together ; whereas Sir Robert 310 REIGN OF QUEEX VICTORIA. [Chap. XH. Peel has destroyed party, which had now entirely ceased to exist ; and between the press, the jDublic opinion which the press had made, and the views of certain people in Parlia- ment, of whom Gladstone is the most eminent and strenu- ous, patronage was either destroyed or going rapidly to destruction. The only hope of escaping from great perils was in that broad stratum of good sense and firmness which still existed in the country, and of which manifestations had been recently given. He admires the resolute and unflinch- ing spirit with which the war had been entered into, carried on, and the country was quite willing to persist in ; and not less the sensible and reasonable manner in which the peace, by which they were mortified and disappointed, had been acquiesced in, for he says that it is beyond all question that there is throughout the country a strong feeling of mortifica- tion and regret that we have not played a more brilliant part, and that our share of glory has been less than that of our ally, and there would have been a general feeling of ex- ultation and satisfaction if we had fought another campaign in order to end the war with greater eclat. But this senti- ment has been sufliciently mastered by prudent considera- tions and a just appreciation of the circumstances of Europe generally, and of our relations Avith other Powers, to check all ebullitions of mortified pride, and to induce a prudent reserve and acquiesce in the management of the Government, and in a spirit like this there appears some hope for the future. "We had a very long talk about these and other matters, the substance of which I record as it recurs to my mind. A day or two before I met Ellice at Hillingdon, where we interchanged our thoughts, and a good deal that he said was much in Graham's sense : that this Government could not stand but by being remodelled, and his notion is that half of it should be got rid of, the Peelites taken in, and Lord John to go to the House of Lords as President of the Coun- cil, Granville taking Cowley's place as ambassador at Paris, and Cowley replacing Stratford Canning at Constantinople. A propos of Stratford Canning, Graham thinks the Opposi- tion will attack the Government and not the ambassador on the case of Kars, and that it is not impossible they may carry a vote of censure against them, which I told him I did not believe was possible, or that they could be able to carry any resolution affecting the Government so much as to com- 1856.] PALMERSTON'S POSITION IMPROVED. 311 pel their resignation, and I suggested to him how fatal this would be to his scheme of reorganizing a Government under Clarendon, as such censure would more especially touch him, and this would make it impossible for the Queen to entrust the formation of another Government to his hands. April 1th. — Since my conversation with Graham, I have learned from the Duke of Bedford that Lord John is not very much disinclined to go to the House of Lords, particu- larly as his position in reference to his seat for the City is so embarrassing. The Dissenters, always unreasonable and un- grateful, will not forgive his speech upon Church Kates the other night, and his general popularity is gone. Then it is probably a consideration with him to secure to his family the settlement his brother will make on him if he takes the peerage. London, May Uh. — For nearly a month I have let this journal fall into arrear, during which period the most in- teresting occurrences have been the return of Clarendon, the publication of the conditions of peace with the accompany- ing protocols, and the debate upon Kars. AYitli regard to the peace. Clarendon comes very well out of his mission, and no fault is found with the peace. The Kars debate was a great error on the part of the Opposition, and ended with a great triumph for the Government. Just before it, Palmer- ston called a meeting of his supporters, where he harangued them with great success, and managed to rally them round him with more of zeal and cordiality than they have hither- to shown. His position is certainly improved, and accord- ing to present appearances he will get through the session without much difficulty. All agree that he has been doing well in the House of Commons ; his assiduity, his punctual attendance, and his popular manners make him agreeable to the House, and he has exhibited greater facility and re- source in dealing with all sorts of miscellaneous subjects than anybody gave him credit for. There is not the small- est danger of the peace proving dangerous to him, and it is evident that the House of Commons, however independent and undisciplined it may be, will not allow him to be placed in any danger, and is determined not to have any change of Government at present. The Peelites and John Rus- sell supported him and had nothing else to do, for they are neither of them in a condition to attempt to play a game of their own. 312 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XII. May 14:th. — Every day my disinclination to continue this work (which is neither a journal nor anything else) increases, but I have at the same time a reluctance to discontinue en- tirely an occupation which has engaged me for forty years, and in which I may still find from time to time something to record which may hereafter be deemed worth reading, and so at long intervals, and for short periods, I resume my reluctant pen. We are now in the Whitsuntide holidays, in a profound political and parliamentary calm, the Government perfectly secure, Palmerston very popular, the Opposition disheartened and disunited, and having managed their matters as awk- wardly and stupidly as possible, attacking the Government on questions and points on which the assailants were sure to be beaten, and strengthening instead of weakening it by their abortive attempts. There was great difference of opinion among them about fighting battles, on Kars, and on the peace ; Lyndhurst and Derby were against, Disraeli was for. Eoebuck, whom I fell in with on Sunday in a railway train, told me that if they had laid hold of the one point of the protocol in the Belgian press, and worked this well, they might have put the Government in a minority, but they missed this obvious opportunity.^ I called on Lyndhurst yesterday, who said they had unaccountably overlooked this plausible topic. He is going to make a speech on Italy when Parliament meets, and we agreed entirely that either too much or too little was done at Paris on this question, and that either it ought not to have been entertained and dis- cussed at all, or some more decided measures ought to have been adopted with regard to it. To stir up such delicate questions, and leave them in their present unhappy condi- tion, is an egregious error. The questions of war and of peace having now ceased to interest and excite the public mind, a religious question has sprung up to take their place for the moment, which though not at present of much importance, will in all probability lead to more serious consequences hereafter. Sir Benjamin Hall having bethought himself of providing innocent amuse- ment for the Londoners on Sunday, established a Sunday 1 [An atternpt had been made at tlie Congress of Paris by Coiint Walewski to bring forward some measure or resolution reflecting on the independence of the press in Belgium. It led to nothing, but Lord Clarendon was accused of not havmg protested against it with sufficient energy.] 1856.] A SABBATARIAN QUESTION. 313 playing of military bands in Kensington Gardens and in tlie other parks and gardens about the metropolis, which has been carried on, witli the sanction of tlie Government, with great success for several Sundays. Some murmurs were heard from the puritanical and Sabbatarian party, but Palmer- ston having declared himself favorable to the practice in the House of Commons, the opposition appeared to cease. The puritans, however, continued to agitate against it in meet- ings and in the ))ress, though the best part of the latter was favorable to the bands, and at last, when a motion in Parlia- ment was threatened to insist on the discontinuance of the music, the Cabinet thought it necessary to reconsider the subject. They were informed that if the Government re- sisted the motion they would be beaten, and moreover that no man could support them in opposition to it without great danger of losing his seat at the next election. It is stated that the Sabbatarians are so united and numerous, and their organization so complete, that all over the country they would be able to influence and probably carry any election, and that this influence would be brought to bear against every man who maintained by his vote this "desecration of the Sabbath." Accordingly it was resolved by the Cabinet to give way, and the only question was how to do so with anything like consistency and dignity. The Archbishop of Canterbury was made the "Deus ex maehina" to effect this object. He was made to write a letter to the Premier repre- senting the feelings of the people and begging the bands might be silenced. To this Palmerston wrote a reply in which he repeated his own opinion in favor of the music, but that in deference to the public sentiment he would put an end to their playing. All this has excited a good deal of interest and discussion. For the present, the only question is whether the angry public will not vent its indignation and resentment to-morrow in acts of uproar and violence ; but though these acts will not be serious or lasting if they do take place, it may be expected that the Sabbatarians will not rest satisfied with their triumph, but will endeavor to make fresh encroachments on our free will and our habits and pur- suits, and that fresh and more serious contests will arise out of this beginning. May 28ih {day of the Derby). — Yesterday on Epsom race- course arrived the news of Palmer's being found guilty of the murder of Cook. This case and the trial have excited 14 314 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTOKIA. [Chap. XII. an interest almost unprecedented, nnlike anything since the case of Thnrtell about twenty years ago or more. People who never heard of either of the men took the deepest in- terest in it, the women particularly, though there was noth- ing peculiar in it or of a nature to excite them particularly. The trial lasted a fortnight, all the details of it were read with the greatest avidity, half the town went one day or other to hear it, and the anxiety that the man should be convicted was passionate. Cockburn gained great applause by the manner in which he conducted the prosecution. This trial has proved more attractive and interesting than anything in the political world, though there has been a pitched battle in the Lords on the question of Maritime Law and Right of Search given up in the recent Treaty. Derby made a violent onslaught on the Government, and was at first very confident of a majority. He soon found these hopes were fallacious, when he got angry and was more vio- lent than he has ever been before this session. The Govern- ment got a majority of above fifty, which puts an end to any further contest there. The Government have now nothing to fear, the Opposition are routed and dispirited, and one can see nothing to alter the present state of affairs. The minor questions which have occupied attention are settling quietly. The Chelsea Commission is over, and the result will be harmless, on the whole rather good than bad, because it will prove that the violent attacks on the military authori- ties during the war have been exaggerated and in many cases unfounded. A sort of compromise has been made about the "Wensleydale peerage, not a very happy one, and it remains to be seen whether the House of Commons is sufficiently ac- quiescent as to sanction it by agreeing to the 12,000/. a year to be paid to two new judges and peers for life. The Gov- ernment have virtually abandoned the principle they con- tended for, and have yielded to the adverse vote and Com- mittee. When they appeal to Parliament and limit the number of life peerages, they abandon the prerogative of the Crown. June 1st. — The state of affairs with America becomes more and more alarming.^ Grey told me the other night 1 [In consequence of the dispute with the American Government on the sub- ject of Foreinjn Enlistment, Mr. Crarapton, the British Minister, -was ordered to leave Washm2:ton on May 2Sth. He arrived in England on June 15th; but Lord Palmerston stated in the House of Commons that the dismissal of Mr. Crampton did not break off diplomatic relations with the United States, as Mr. 1856.] DANGER OF WAR WITH THE UNITED STATES. 315 that he had had a long conversation with Dallas, whose tone was anything but reassuring as to the prosj)ect of peaca ; and yesterday I met Tliackeray, who is Just returned from the United States. He thinks there is every probability of the quarrel leading to war, for there is a very hostile spirit, con- stantly increasing, throughout the States, and an evident desire to quarrel with us. He says he has never met with a single man who is not persuaded that they are entirely in the right and we in the wrong, and they are equally persuaded if war ensues that they will give us a great thrashing ; they don't care for the consequences, their riches are immense, and 200,000 men would appear in arms at a moment's notice. Here, however, though there is a great deal of anxiety, there is still a very general belief that war cannot take place on grounds so trifling between two countries which have so great and so equal an interest in remaining at peace with each other. But in a country where the statesmen, if there are any, have so little influence, and where the national policy is subject to the passions and caprices of an ignorant and unreasoning mob, there is no security that good sense and moderation will prevail. Many imagine that matters will proceed to the length of a diplomatic rupture, that Oram])- ton will be sent away and Dallas retire in consequence, and that then by degrees the present heat will cool down, and matters be amicably arranged without a shot being fired. I feel no such confidence, for if diplomatic intercourse ceases numerous causes of complaint will ari-e, and as there will be no means left for mutual and friendly explanation and ad- justment, such causes will be constantly exaggerated and in- flamed into an irreconcilable quarrel. Matters cannot long go on as they now are without the ])ublic here becoming ex- cited and angry, and the press on both sides insolent, violent, and provoking, and at last, going on from one step to an- other, we shall find ourselves drifted into this odious and on both parts suicidal contest, for there is not a bloAv we can strike at America and her interests that will not recoil on us and our own. It has often been remarked that civil wars are of all wars the most furious, and a war between America and England would have all the chai'acteristics of a civil and an international contest ; nor, though I have no doubt that Dallas remained in this country. It is remarkable that within a few months or even weeks two British Ministers received their passports Irom foreign govern- ments and were sent away — a very uncommon occurrence 1] 316 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XII. America is in the wrong, can I persuade myself that we are entirely in the right on either of the principal points in dis- nute. We have reason to congratulate ourselves that the Eussian war is over, for if it had gone on and all our ships had been in the Baltic, and all our soldiers in the Crimea, nothing would have prevented the Americans from seizing the opportunity of our hands being full to bring their dis- pute with us to a crisis. June Wi. — 1 went last night to see the celebrated Ristori in a very bad play called "Medea," being a translation into Italian from a French tragedy by a M. Legouve. This play was written for Madame Rachel, who refused to act the part, which refusal led to a lawsuit, in which the actress was ([ think) defeated. Ristori is certainly a fine actress, but she did not appear to me equal to Pasta in the same part, or to other great actresses I have seen. However, my inability to hear well and want of familiarity with Italian acting and imperfect knowledge of the language disqualify me from being a competent judge. The American horizon is rather less dark. Nothing is yet known as to Crampton's dismissal, and Dallas does not believe it. The Danish Minister at Washington writes over here that he thinks that the clouds will disperse and there will be no serious quarrel. London, July Vltli. — After the lapse of a month or more, during which I could not bring myself to record anything, or to comment upon passing events, I am at last roused from my apathy, and am induced to take up my pen and say a word upon the defeat of the Appellate Jurisdiction Bill in the House of Commons the other night, which gave me the greatest satisfaction, because I regard it as a just punishment for the stupid obstinacy with which the Government have blundered on from one fault to another throughout this whole business. It has been a complete comedy of errors, and every one who has taken a part in it has been in the wrong. I told Granville how it would be in the first instance, and urged him, after the House of Lords had refused to let in Parke as a life peer, to accept the defeat quietly by making him an hereditary peer and thus give the go-by to the main question. This nothing would induce them to do, and they fancied that they could avoid the mortification of ap- pearing to knock under, and save their own consistency, by the contrivance of this bill. Every mischief that it was 1866.] BARON PARKE ON THE LIFE PEERAGE. 317 possible to do they have managed to accomplish, and the leaders of the opposite parties, who all felt themselves in a scrape, came to a sort of compromise in the Lords' Com- mittee, the result of which was this unpopular bill. Among them they have assailed the prerogative of the Crown, they have damaged the judicial authority of the House of Lords, they have deeply offended many of their own friends by tendering to them such a measure, and they have behaved most unkindly and unhandsomely to Baron Parke, who thinks he has great reason to complain. I have been at Knowsley for the last three days, and so missed the march of the Guards into London on Wednesday. Lord Ilardinge was struck down by paralysis as he was speal\ing to the Queen at Aldershot on Tuesday last. It is su[)posed that the Duke of Cambridge will succeed him, and that Jim Macdonald will be his Military Secretary. The American question is still undecided, but everybody ajjpears to be very easy about it. July 20th. — I met Baron Parke the otlier day, who talked over his affair, complained of the treatment he had received from the Government, but said he gathered from what the Chancellor had said to him that they meant now to make him an hereditary peer, declared there was not a shadow of doubt about the legality, and that Campbell had as little doubt as he himself had, but finding the measure was un- popular with certain lawyers, he had suddenlv turned against his own recorded opinion and o])posed it. The Baron said the Government were greatly to blame for not having ven- tilated the question, and ascertained whether they could carry it or not, and if he had had an idea of all the bother it had made, he never would have had anything to do with it. George Lewis told me that the life peerage had never been brought before the Cabinet, and he knew nothing of it till he saw it in the Gazette, nor did Clarendon ; in fact it was confined to the Chancellor, Granville, and Palmerston. They none of them, however, know with whom it originated. Now that the measure turns out to bo so unpopular and is so scouted, and the transaction has been attended with so many blunders and defeats, no one is willing to accept the responsibility of it, or to acknowledge having had anything to do with it. It is strange that Palmerston should ever have consented to it, but he knew nothing and cared nothing about it ; he was probably assured it would go down without 318 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XII. anv difficulty, and in this poco curante way he suffered him- self to be committed to it, not seeing the storm it would cause. He allowed Granville to manao:e it all his own way, and at List he had the good luck to be beaten upon it in the House ot Commons, for the scrape would have been more eerious if he had carried it there. These last days of the session have been as usual marked by the withdrawal and abandonment of various bills that were for the most part in- troduced at the beginning of it, and which were found to be quite worthless, especially the Law Eeform Bill. London, July %lth. — Parliament has finished its debates, and will be prorogued on Tuesday. Dizzy wound up by a " review of the session," a species of entertainment which used to be given annually some years ago by Lord Lyndhurst with great skill and eiiect, but which on the present occa- sion, and in Disraeli's hands, was singularly inopportune and ineffective. Lord Wensleydale has at last taken his scat as an hereditary peer ; the Government, alter various abortive attempts to wriggle out of their absurd position, having done at last what they ought to have done at first — knocked under and endured what could not be cured. The Government go into summer and winter quarters in a very healthy and pros- perous state, with nothing apparently to apprehend, and with every probability of meeting Parliament next year in the same "^condition, and, bariing accidents, going through next session as successfully as they have gone through this. August Ath. — I was at Goodwood all last week ; the Prince of Prussia came there. Not a word of news ; the Queen still engaged in reviewing the troops, and compli- mentary fetes are still going on to Sir W. Williams of Kars, and Charles Wyndham^' the hero of the Redan." The dis- turbances in Spain seem to be over, and O'Donnell remains victorious. My first impression was (the common one) that Espartero had been ousted by an intrigue, and that it was a re- actionary coup cVetat, but I now hear that it is no such thing, and that we ought to desire the success of the present Gov- ernment. Espartero and O'Donnell could not agree, as was not unlikely in a coalition Government the two chiefs of which were men of such different opinions and antecedents. After many abortive attempts to reconcile their differences, it was as— l he Elections — Defeat of the Manchester Leaders — Fear of Kadi^ai rendencies — The Country approves the Chinese Poucy — Death of Lady Keith. January 9th, 1857. — The old year ended and the new year began strangely. After three years of expensive war the balance-sheet exhibited such a state of wealth and pros- perity as may well make us "the envy of surrounding na- tions;" but while we have recovered the great blessing of peace, we have to look back upon a year stained beyond all precedent with frightful crimes of every sort and kind : horrible murders, enormous frauds, and scandalous robberies and defalcations. The whole attention of the country is now drawn to the social questions which press upon us with appalling urgency, and the next session of Parliament, which is rapidly advancing, must be principally engaged in the en- deavor to find remedies for the evils and dangers incident to our corrupted population, and our erroneous and inadequate penal system, the evils and dangers of which threaten to be- come greater and more difficult to remedy every day. From this question it is impossible to dissever that of education, for at least we ought to make the experiment whether the 336 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIII. diffusion of education will or will not be conducive to the diminution of crime, and we shall see whether the sectarian prejudices, the strength and obstinacy of which have hitherto erected impassable barriers to the progress of educating the people, will retain all their obstinacy in the face of the exist- ing evil, or whether the bodily fear and the universal per- suasion of the magnitude and imminence of the danger will not operate upon bigotry itself and render the masses more reasonable. Besides these important questions the new year opens with a most unpleasant prospect abroad, where every- thing seems to go wrong and our foreign relations, be the cause what, or the fault whose it may, to be in a very un- happy state. The quarrel between Prussia and Switzerland ^ is one in which we appear to have no immediate interest, except that it is always our interest to prevent any infraction of the gen- eral peace, but of course we could not think of not interfer- ing in some way or other in the matter. The King of Prussia has behaved as ill and as foolishly as possible, and our Gov- ernment entirely disapprove of his conduct and have given the Swiss to understand that all our sympathies are with them, and that we think they have right on their side. If France and England were now on really good terms, and would act together with cordiality and authority, nothing would be so easy as to j)iit a prompt extinguisher on the Swiss affair ; but as we cannot agree upon a common course of action, there is danger of the dispute drifting into a war, though it is evidently so much the interest and the desire of the Emperor Napoleon to allow no shots to be fired, that I still expect, even at this almost the eleventh hour, to be in a complete fix. The Swiss will not release the prisoners unless the King will at the same time abandon his claims on Neuf- chatel, or unless England and France will guarantee that he will do so. The King will do nothing and agree to nothing unless the Swiss will previously and unconditionally release the prisoners, and moreover he repudiates our intervention, as he thinks us unfairly disposed to himself. The simplest 1 [The Prussian Crown retained, by the Treaty of Vienna, rights of sover- eiornty over the Swiss Canton of Neufehatel, and appointed a Govei'nor there. In other respects the Neufchatelese enjoyed all the rights and hberties of Swiss citizens. This anomalous state of things naturally gave rise to friction. The King of Prussia derived no sort of advantage from his nominal sovereignty ; but as a matter of dignity he declined to renounce it, and even threatened a military occupation of the' Canton, which the Swiss Confederation would have resisted.] 1857.] THE SWISS QUESTION. 337 course would be for England and France to declare that a Prussian invasion of Switzerland should be a casus belli, and I think we should have no objection to this, but France won't go along with us. Then if the Swiss should deliver over the prisoners to France, and she would accept the depot, all might be settled. As it is, we have backed up Switzer- land to resist, and if war ensues we shall leave her to her fate — a very inglorious course to pursue ; and although I have a horror of war, and am alive to the policy of keeping well with France, I am inclined to think that having encouraged the Swiss to a certain point it would better become us to take our own independent line and to threaten Prussia with war if she does not leave Switzerland alone, than to sit tamely by and see her, unimpeded, execute her threats. The Govern- ment are evidently much embarrassed by this question, which is still further complicated by the matrimonial engagement between the two Royal families. January ISth. — The Swiss affair seems settled, so far at least that there will be no war. The prisoners will be re- leased, but I dare say the King of Prussia will chicaner about the abdication of his rights over Neufchatel. All the world is occupied with Sir Robert Peel's speech, or lecture as he terms it, at Birmingham, where he gave an account, meant to be witty, of his sejour in Russia and its incidents. It was received with shouts of applause by a congenial Brummagem audience, and by deep disapprobation in every decent society and by all reasonable people. January lUh. — I met Clarendon last night, who told me the Swiss question was still in doubt, for the King was shuffling and would probably play them a trick, and though he knew the prisoners were going to be liberated, he would not engage positively to give up his claim. The Emperor Napoleon has behaved very ill and ungratefully to the Swiss, who in consequence were more irritated against him than against the King of Prussia himself. Nothing could equal the fawning flattery and servility of the King to the Em- peror, who was at the same time tickled by it and disgusted. January 20fh. — At Woburn for two days. I found the Duke entirely occupied with a question (on which he had of course a various correspondence), whether when Aberdeen's Government was formed, Aberdeen had at the time imparted to John Russell his wish and intention to retire as soon as possible, so that John might take his place as Premier. To 15 338 KEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIII. ascertain this fact, he had applied to Lord John and Aber- deen, to Lansdowne and to Clarendon, all of whom he in- vited to send him their recollections and impressions, which they did. The matter now is not of much importance, but is worth noticing from the evidence it affords of the diffi- culty of arriving at truth, and therefore of the fallibility of all history. Though this circumstance is so recent, and at the time was so important, not one of the parties, neither Lord John nor Aberdeen nor the other two, can recollect what did pass, but as they all concur in their impressions that no such engagement was given when the Governm'ent was formed, it may safely be concluded that this is the truth. I know I heard all that passed, and certainly I never heard of any such intention, though I did hear some time afterward that such had been Aberdeen's expressed wish and Lord John's expectation. I read Aberdeen's letters, in which he enter'ed into other matters connected with his Government, and I must say more creditable, gentlemanlike, and amiable letters 1 never read. January %Wi. — At Stoke from Saturday to Monday. On returning to town, we heard that the Persian war was over, Palmerston's usual luck bringing a settlement of the only question that could be embarrassing on the eve of the meet- ing of Parliament. But the news only comes telegraphically, so unless confirmed must be doubtful, and cannot be named in the Speech.^ Two remarkable deaths have occurred, one of which touches me nearly, that of Madame de Lieven ; the other is that of the Duke'of Rutland. Madame de Lieven died, after a short illness, of a severe attack of bronchitis, the Duke having lingered for many months. Very different characters. Madame de Lieven came to this country at the end of 1813 or beginning of 1813 on the war breaking out between Eussia and France. "Pozzo di Borgo had preceded the Lievens to renew 1 [Differences had arisen in the spring of 1856 between Great Britain and the Court of Persia, in consequence of -which the British Minister was withdrawn from Teheran. In October, 1856, Herat was attacked and taken by the Persians, which led to war. A detachment of British troops under General Outram hxnded at Bushire on January 27, 1857, and the Persians were defeated at Koo- shab on February 8. Peace was siarned in Paris between Her Majesty and the Shah on March 4, tlie Persians engaging to abstain from all interference iu the internal affairs of Afghanistan, and "to respect the independence of Herat. If tliese dates are correct, as given in Irving's Annals of our Time, the intelligence of the peace cannot have reached London so soon as Mr. Greville supposed, and rumor anticipated the event.] 185Y.] DEATH OF PRINCESS LIEVEN. 339 diplomatic relations and make arrangements with ns. She was at that time yo.ung, at least in the prime of life, and though without any pretensions to beauty, and indeed with some personal defects, she had so fine an air and manner, and a countenance so pretty and so full of intelligence, as to be on the whole a very striking and attractive person, quite enough so to have lovers, several of whom she engaged in succession without seriously attaching herself to any. Those who were most notoriously her slaves at different times were the present Lord Willoughby, the Duke of Sutherland (then Lord Gower), the Duke of Cannizzaro (then Count St. Antonio), and the Duke of Palmella, who was particularly clever and agreeable. Madame de Lieven was a tres gr ancle dame, with abilities of a very fine order, great tact and/w^sse, and taking a boundless pleasure in the society of the great world and in political affairs of every sort. People here were not slow to acknowledge her merits and social excellence, and she almost immediately took her place in the cream of the cream of English society, forming close intimacies with the most conspicuous women in it, and assiduously culti- vating relations with the most remarkable men of all parties. These personal liaisons sometimes led her into political par- tisanship not always prudent and rather inconsistent with her position, character, and functions here. But I do not believe she was ever mixed up in any intrigues, nor even, at a later period, that she was justly obnoxious to the charge of caballing and mischief-making which has been so lavishly cast upon her. She had an insatiable curiosity for political information, and a not unnatural desire to make herself useful and agreeable to her own Court by imparting to her Imperial masters and mistresses all the information she acquired and the anecdotes she picked up. Accordingly while she was in England, which was from 1812 to 1834, she devoted herself to society, not without selection, but without exclusion, except that she sought and habitually confined herself to the highest and best. ' The Eegent, afterward George IV., delighted in her company, and she was a fre- quent guest at the Pavilion, and on very intimate terms with Lady Conyngham,for although Madame de Lieven was not very tolerant of mediocrity, and social and colloquial superiority was necessary to her existence, she always made great allowances for Eoyalty and those immediately con- nected with it. She used to be a great deal at Oatlands, and 340 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIII. was one of the few intimate friends of the Duchess of York, herself very intelligent, and who therefore had in the eyes of Madame de Lieven the double charm of her jiosition and her agreeableness. It was her duty as well as her inclination to cultivate the members of all the successive Cabinets which passed before her, and she became the friend of Lord Cas- tlereagh, of Canning, the Duke of Wellington, Lord Grey, Lord Palmerston, John Russell, Aberdeen, and many others of inferior note, and she was likewise one of the Jiahitues of Holland House, which was always more or less neutral ground, even when Lord Holland was himself a member of the government. "When Talleyrand came over here as Ambassador, there was for some time a sort of antagonism between the two embassies, and particularly between the ladies of each, but Madame de Dino (now Duchesse of Sagan) was so clever, and old Talleyrand himself so remarkable and so agreeable, that Madame de Lieven was irresistibly drawn toward them, and for the last year or two of their being in England they became extremely intimate ; but her greatest friend in England was Lady Cowper, afterward Lady Palmerston, and through her she was also the friend of Palmerston, who was also well affected toward Eussia, till his jealous and suspicions mind was inflamed by his absurd notion of her intention to attack us in India, a crotchet which led us into the folly and disaster of the Afghan war. In 1834 the Lievens were recalled, and she was established at St. Petersburg in high favor about the Empress, but her sejoiir there was odious to her, and she was inconsolable at leaving England, where after a residence of above twenty years she had become rooted in habits and affections, although she never really and completely understood the country. She remained at St. Petersburg for several months, until her two youngest children were taken ill, and died almost at the same time. This dreadful blow, and the danger of the severe climate to her own health, gave her a valid excuse for desiring leave of absence, and she left Eussia never to return. She went to Italy, where M. de Lieven died about the year 1836 or 1837, after which she established herself in Paris, where her salon became the rendezvous of the best society, and particularly the neutral ground on which emi- nent men and politicians of all colors could meet, and where her tact and adroitness made them congregate in a sort of social truce. 1857.] CHARACTER OF PRINCESS LIEVEK 341 I do not know at what exact period it was that she made the acquaintance of M. Guizot, but their intimacy no doubt was established after he had begun to phiy a great political part, for his literary and philosophical celeb- rity would not alone have had much charm for her. They were, however, already great friends at the time of his embassy to England, and she took that opportunity of coming here to pay a visit to her old friends, li^ie fall of Thiers' Government and Guizot's becoming Minister for Foreign Affairs of course drew Madame de Lieven still more closely to him, and during the whole of his administration their alliance continued to be of the closest aijd most inti- mate character. It was an immense object to her to possess the entire confidence of the French Minister for Foreign Affairs, who kept her au courant of all that was going on in the political world, while it is not surprising that he sliould be irresistibly attracted by a woman immensely superior to any other of his acquaintance, who was fully able to com- prehend and willing to interest herself about all the grand and important subjects which he had to handle and manage, and who associated herself with a complete sympathy in all his political interests. Their liaison, which some people consider mysterious, but which I believe to have been en- tirely social and political, grew constantly more close, and every moment that Guizot could snatch from the Foreign Office and the Chamber he devoted to Madame de Lieven. He used to go there regularly three times a day on his way to and his way from the Chamber, when it was sitting, and in the evening ; but while he was by far her first object, she cultivated the society of all the most conspicuous and re- markable people whom she could collect about her, and she was at one time very intimate with Thiers, though his ri- valry with Guizot and their intense hatred of each other eventually produced a complete estrangement between her and Thiers. The revolution of 1848 dispersed her friends, broke up her salon, and terrified her into making a rather ludicrous, but as it turned out wholly unnecessary, escape. She came to England, where she remained till affairs appeared to be settled in France and all danger of disturbance at an end. She then returned to Paris, where she remained, not without fear and trembling, during the period of peril and vicissitude which at length ended, much to her satisfaction, with the 342 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIIL coup cVetat and the Empire. Guizot had returned to Paris, bnt constantly refused to take any part in political affairs, either under the Republic or with the new government of Louis Napoleon. This, however, did not prevent Madame de Lieven (though their friendship continued the same) from showing her sympathy and goodwill to the Imperial regime, and her salon, which had been decimated by previous events, was soon replenished by some of the ministers or adherents of the Empire, who, though they did not amalgamate very well with her old Mhitues, supplied her with interesting information, and subsequently, when the war broke out, rendered her very essential service. When the rupture took place all the Russian subjects were ordered to quit Paris. She was advised by some of her friends to disobey the order, for as she was equally precluded from going to England, the circumstances in which this order placed her were indescrib- ably painful and even dangerous, but she said that however great the sacrifice, and though she was entirely independent, she was under so many obligations and felt so much attach- ment to the Imperial family that, cost her what it might, she would obey the order, and accordingly she repaired to Brussels, where for a year and a half or two years she took up her melancholy and uncomfortable abode. At last this banishment from her home and her friends, with all the priva- tions it entailed, became insupportable, and she endeavored, through the intervention of some of her Imperialist friends, to obtain leave of the French Government to return to Paris, either with or without (for it is not clear which) the consent of her own Court. The Emperor Napoleon seems to have been easily moved to compassion, and signified his consent to her return. No sooner did this become known to Cowley and the English Covernment than they resolved to interpose for the purpose of preventing her return to Paris, and Cowley went to Walewski and insisted that the Emperor's permis- sion should be revoked. The entente cordiale was then in full force, nothing could be refused to the English Ambas- sador, and Madame de Lieven was informed that she must not come back to Paris. She bore this sad disappointment with resignation, made no complaints, and resolved to bide her time. Some months later she caused a representation to be made to the French Government that the state of her health made it impossible for her to pass another winter at Brussels, and that she was going to Nice, but as it was of 1857.] • PRINCESS LIEVEN. 343 vital importance to her to consult lier medical adviser at Paris, she craved permission to proceed to Nice vid Paris, where she would only stay long enough for that purpose. The permission was granted. She wrote me word that she was going to Paris to remain there a few days. I replied that I was much mistaken in her if once there she ever quitted it again. She arrived and was told by her doctor that it would be dangerous in her state to continue her journey. She never did proceed further, and never did quit Paris again. The Government winked at her stay, and never molested or interfered with her. She resumed her social habits, but with great caution and reserve, and did all she could to avoid giving umbrage or exciting suspicion. It was a proof of the greatness of her mind, as well as of her j^ru- dence and good temper, that she not only testified no resent- ment at the conduct of Cowley toward her, but did all she could to renew amicable relations with him, and few things annoyed her more than his perseverance in keeping aloof from her. From the time of her last departure from England up to the death of Frederic Lamb (Lord Bcauvale and Mel- bourne) she maintained a constant correspondence with him. After his death she proposed to me to succeed him as her correspondent, and for the last two or three years our ejDis- tolary commerce was intimate and unbroken. She knew a vast deal of the world and its history during the half century she had lived and played a part in it, but she was not a woman of much reading, and probably at no time had been very highly or extremely educated, but her excessive clever- ness and her finesse d^esprit supplied the want of education, and there was one book with which her mind was perpetually nourished by reading it over and over again. This was the ''Letters of Madame de Sevigne," and to the constant study of those unrivalled letters she was no doubt considerably indebted for her own epistolary eminence, and for her ad- mirable style of writing, not, however, that her style and Madame de Sevigne's were at all alike. She had not (in her letters at least) the variety, the abundance, or the abandon of the great Frenchwoman, but she was more terse and epi- grammatic, and she had the same graphic power and faculty of conveying much matter in few words. Nothing could exceed the charm of her conversation or her grace, ease, and tact in society. She had a nice and accurate judgment, and an exquisite taste in the choice of 344 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIH. her associates and friends ; but thoiigli taking an ardent pleasure in agreeableness, and ]3eculiarly susceptible of being bored, she was not fastidious, full of politeness and good breeding, and possessed the faculty of turning every one to account, and eliciting something either of entertainment or information from the least important of her acquaintance. It has been the fashion here, and the habit of the vulgar and ignorant ])ress, to stigmatise Madame de Lieven as a mischieyous intriguer, who was constantly occupied in schemes and designs hostile to the interests of our country. I firmly believe such charges to be utterly unfounded. She had resided for above twenty years, the happiest of her life, in England, and had imbibed a deep attachment to the country, where she had formed many more intimacies and friendships than she possessed anywhere else, and to the last day of her life she continued to cherish the remembrance of her past connection, to cultivate the society of English people, and to evince without disguise her predilection for their country. She had never lived much in Eussia, her connection with it had been completely dissolved, and all she retained of it was a respectful attachment to the Imperial family, together with certain sympathies and feelings of loyalty for her native country and her Sovereign which it would have been unnatural and discreditable to disavow. Her well-known correspondence with the Imperial Court was only caused by the natural anxiety of those great persons to be kept au courant of social and political affairs by such an accomplished correspondent, but I do not believe she was ever employed by them in any business or any political design ; on the contrary, she was rather distrusted and out of favor with them, on account of her being so denaturalized and for her ardent affection for England and the English. Eussia was the country of her birth, France the country of her adopted abode, but England was the country of her predilection. With this cosmopolite char- acter she dreaded everything which might produce hostile collision between any two of these countries. She was greatly annoyed when the question of the Spanish marriages embittered the relations between France and England, but infinitely more so at the Turkish quarrel, and the war which it produced. Those who fulminated against her intrigues were, as I believe, provoked at the efforts she made, so far as she had any power or influence, to bring about the restora- 1S5V.] A SERMON BY MR. SPURGEON. 345 tion of i^eace, an unpardonable offence in the eyes of all who were bent on the continuation of the war. She lived to see peace restored, and closed her eyes almost at the moment that the last seal was put to it by the Conference of Paris. Her last illness was sadden and short. Her health had always been delicate, and she was very nervous about her- self; an attack of bronchitis brought on fever, which rapidly consumed her strength, and brought her, fully conscious, within sight of death ; that consummation, which at a dis- tance she had always dreaded, she saw arrive with perfect calmness and resignation, and all the virtues and qualities for which the smallest credit was given her seem to have shone forth with unexpected lustre on her deathbed. Her faculties were bright and unclouded to the last, her courage and presence of mind were unshaken, she evinced a tender consideration for the feelings of those who were lamenting around her bed, and she complied with the religious obliga- tions prescribed by the Church of which she was a member with a devotion the sincerity of which we have no right to question. She made her son Paul and Guizot leave her room a few hours before she died, that they might be spared the agony of witnessing her actual dissolution, and only three or four hours before the supreme moment, she mustered strength to write a note in pencil to Guizot with these words: "Merci pour vingt annees d'amitie et de bohneur. Ne m'oublicz pas, adieu, adieu ! " It was given to him after her death. Fehrtiary Stii. — I am just come from hearing the cele- brated Mr. Spurgeon preach in the Music Hall of the Surrey Gardens. It was quite full ; he told us from the ])ulpit that 9,000 people were present. The service was like the Presbyterian : Psalms, prayers, expounding a Psalm, and a sermon. He is certainly very remarkable, and undeniably a very fine character; not remarkable in person, in face rather resembling a smaller Macaulay, a very clear and pow- erful voice, which was heard through the whole hall ; a man- ner natural, impassioned, and without affectation or extrava- gance ; wonderful fluency and command of language, abound- ing in illustration, and very often of a very familiar kind, but without anything either ridiculous or irreverent. He gave me an impression of his earnestness and his sincerity ; speaking without book or notes, yet his discourse was evi- dently very carefully prepared. The text was " Cleanse me 346 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIII. from my secret sins," and he divided it into heads, the misery, the folly, the danger (and a fourth which I have for- gotten) of secret sins, on all of which he was very eloqvient and impressive. He preached for about three-quarters of an hour, and to judge of the handkerchiefs and the audible sobs, with great effect. We have had a week of Parliament, and though nothing important has occurred, the discussions do not seem to have raised the reputation of the Government or to promise them an easy session, though nobody seems to expect that their stability is likely to be shaken. Disraeli and Gladstone seem verging toward each other in opposition, but there is no appearance of a coalition between them ; the only striking fact is that the Opposition, of whose disunion we have heard so much, and of the internal repulsion supposed to prevail among them, seems to be as united as ever it has been, and the usual people appeared at Derby's and Disraeli's gather- ings. I take it that any appearance of vulnerability of the Government silences all manifestations of their mutual an- tipathies, and puts them on the qui vive to turn out their opponents. Gladstone seems bent on leading Sir George Lewis a weary life, but Lewis is just the man to encounter and baffle such an opponent, for he is cold-blooded as a fish, totally devoid of sensibility or nervousness, of an imperturbable temper, calm and resolute, laborious and indefatigable, and exceed- ingly popular in the House of Commons from his general good humor and civility, and the credit given him for honor, sincerity, plain dealing, and good intentions. February llth. — The Duke of Bedford told me yesterday that Clarendon had complained to him bitterly of John Eus- sell's speech the first night of the session, of the hostility it manifested, and particularly of what he said about Naples. On looking at the report of the speech, the Neapolitan part was certainly strong, but it was not stronger than was war- ranted by the circumstances of the case, and there seems no reason why Lord John should abstain from speaking out his opinions fairly on any important point of foreign policy. His speech, on the whole, was not regarded as hostile or acrimonious. Disraeli has got into a scrape by blurting out an accusation which he has entirely failed in making good, and he has afforded Palmerston an occasion for a triumph over him not a little damaging. I am told the effect in the 1857.] TREATY BETWEEN FRANCE AND AUSTRIA. 347 House was very bad for Disraeli. Palmerston is said to be beginning to show some symptoms of physical weakness, which if it be so, is very serious at the beginning of a long and arduous session. He is rising seventy-three, and at that age, and loaded with the weight of public affairs, it is not wonderful if the beginning of the end should be dis- cernible. February lUli. — The defeat which Disraeli sustained the other night was turned the night before last into something like a triumph, and Palmerston found himself in a disagree- able position. Disraeli had asserted that a Treaty had been concluded between France and Austria for certain ends and at a certain time. Palmerston flatly contradicted him, and with great insolence of manner, especially insisting that it was nothing but a Convention, and that conditional, which never had been signed. Two nights after Palmerston came down to the House, and in a very jaunty way said he must correct his former statement, and inform the House he had just discovered that the Convention had been signed. Great triumph naturally on the part of Disraeli, who poured forth a rather violent invective. Then Palmerston lost his temper and retorted that Disraeli was trying to cover an ignominious retreat by vaporing. This language, under the circumstances of the case, was very imprudent and very im- proper, and (unlike what he had ever experienced before) he sat down without a single cheer, his own people even not venturing to challenge the apjn-obation of the House in a matter in which, though Disraeli was not right, Palmerston was so clearly wrong. What business had he to make such a mistake ? for he ought to have been perfectly and accu- rately informed of every detail connected with foreign affairs. He certainly is not qualis erat, and I am disposed to believe that he is about to begin breaking, and that he Mnll not be able to go through a long and arduous session with the same vigor and success which he has hitherto manifested. Every sign and symptom of weakness and failing strength which he may show will raise the hopes and stimulate the exertions of the Opposition, and we may expect to see not a coalition, but such a concurrence between Gladstone, Disraeli, and Lord Stanley as will prevent the possibility of an alternative Government. Gladstone and Disraeli are already on friendly terms, and Gladstone and Stanley seem to be still more in- timate. The present Government only exists by Palmer- 348 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIII. ston's personal popularity, and it would not require much to pull that down. February 11th. — I called on Lyndhurst on Sunday. He was in high force, with the Blue Book before him, getting up the China case, on which he means to have a day in the House of Lords. He told me that Gladstone says the Budget is the worst that was ever produced, and he stakes his credit on proving that it is full of errors from beginning to end, that, instead of a present surplus of nearly a million, there is a present deficit of four millions, and that there will be one of nine millions in 1860. I don't believe he will make his words good. I saw Clarendon yesterday morning, and found him low, worn, and out of sorts ; said he wished to Heaven he could be delivered from office ; everything went wrong, the labor, anxiety, and responsibility were overwhelming, and the diffi- cult state of our relations with France more than could be endured. He could not depend on the French Government, and never knew from one day to another what the conse- quences of their conduct might be. He believed the Emperor sincerely desired to keep well with us, but his Government were constantly doing things which rendered our acting to- gether and cordially almost impossible ; that his excessive levity>and carelessness perpetually made him the dupe of other people, and led him into saying things and committing him- self, and then he did not know how to get out of the engage- ments to which he stood committed. Clarendon added that it was impossible such a state of things should not produce first coolness and then quarrels, and then God knows what consequences, and he was obliged to pick his way through the embarrassments that spring up around him with the ut- most care and circumspection. Palmerston, who never saw difficulties, took it with his usual easy way, and said we were not tied to France like Siamese Twins, and why should we care so much what she did, and why might she not take her way, and we ours ; but Clarendon feels that it is impossible for him, on whom the responsibility is more immediately thrown, to take a matter fraught with -such consequences in so easy a style ; that if any serious dispute arose, France and Eussia would probably become allied against us, and that America would join them. Russia pays the most unceasing and the most abject court to Louis Napoleon, and not with- out success. He (Clarendon) said nothing could be worse 1857.] LORD JOHN IN OPPOSITION. 349 than the conduct of the French Government about the affair of the Principalities, which was of vital importance to Aus- tria, who threatened (though slie would not keep her resolu- tion) to make it a casus belli if it is insisted on. He said Austria had behaved very well about the amnesty in Italy, and was going to do the same thing in Hungary. We were interrupted as usual in our conversation, and I had not time to ask him about many things I wanted to hear of. I told him I thought the China case was a very bad one. John Russell seems to me to be drifting into hostility to the Government more and more. He made a strong, but very Just, speech on Naples the first night, which irritated Clarendon very much, A few nights ago he said something in the House about China, and backed up the Government against Roebuck, at which Clarendon expressed great satis- faction, and evinced a disposition to seize that pretext to put himself on good terms with Lord John, but Lord John showed no readiness to meet the overture, and when the Duke of Bedford wrote to him what Clarendon had said, he replied that Clarendon owed him nothing, for he had said what he thought right and not what he thought would be agreeable to him, and that it was very probable he should say something he would not at all like before long. Yesterday morning the Judicial Committee finished the case of Liddell and Westerton, after eight days of elaborate argument, and a powerful case was made in appeal against Lushington's Judgment, which I expect to see reversed, and I hope it will, for I detest the proceedings of the people who back up Mr. Westerton, who would drag down the Church to a puritanical level, and strip it of its splendor. February 19th. — Yesterday morning, at half-past twelve o'clock, my brother-in-law Lord Ellesmere, expired at Bridge- water House, after an illness of three months. He was sur- rounded by all his family, and died most peacefully, and without any suffering, and in possession of his mental powers till within a few hours of his death. Few men have quitted this world more beloved, respected, and lamented than this excel- lent person. He had Just completed the fifty-seventh year of his age, so might naturally have been expected to live many years, and till he was taken ill, little more than three months ago, he appeared to be in his usual state of health and likely to have a long and enjoyable existence before him. It is no ex- aggeration to say that he was most estimable in every relation 350 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIII. of life, and as sucli lie enjoyed universal respect and regard. He never at any time played a conspicuous part in politics, for which he had neither ambition nor the necessary qualifi- cations, but in such part as he was occasionally called upon to take, he acted with propriety and general approbation. But he had no taste for the turmoil of political life, and his temper was too serene and his love of repose too great to allow him to plunge deeply in political warfare. His abili- ties were not of a very high order, but he had a good under- standing, a cultivated mind, and an inquisitive disposition, and, though not profound in any branch of literature or science, he loved to wander over the vast fields of knowledge, so that he was stored with much superficial information on a great variety of subjects. His taste was good both in lit- erature and art ; he was an elegant poet, and a fair writer of his own tongue ; he was naturally kind-hearted and charita- ble, more particularly to meritorious artists who stood in need of assistance, by whom his loss will be severely felt. All his tastes and pursuits were of the most refined character, and he delighted in the society of all who were remarkable for ability in any walk of life, and from whom he could de- rive information of any description. In political opinions he was the very type and model of a Liberal Conservative, and the statesman to whom he gave all his allegiance, to- gether "with a boundless admiration, was the Duke of Wel- lington. But he was always much more of a patriot than a political partisan, and he was oftener to be found giving an independent support to different Governments than fighting in the ranks of Opposition. He will, I have no doubt, be regarded as a loss to the country, even a greater loss than if he had been more actively and conspicuously engaged in politics, for he stood nearly alone in the station he occupied, with vast wealth, unblemished character, esteemed by people of all parties, without an enemy in the world, and having no personal objects to pursue ; and, though never thrusting himself forward, alike fitted for either active or contempla- tive life, he was at all times ready to exert his best energies in the public service or to promote the benefit and happiness of his fellow -creatures. He was sincerely religious, without intolerance and austerity, or the slightest particle of osten- tatious or spiritual pride. It was not, however, in the an- nals of political history or in the modest and unambitious incidents of his public career that his best panegyric is to be ISSY.] CUARACTER OF LORD ELLESMERE. 351 found, but in the more ])lacici walk of private life, in the strict and conscientious discharge of his domestic and social duties, which Avas at the same time congenial to his sense of moral obligation, and to the benevolent impulses of his heart. Lord Francis Leveson Gower, upon the death of his father, the late Duke of Sutherland, succeeded to the im- mense fortune entailed upon him by his great-uncle, the Duke of Bridgewater, in the shape of the Bridgewater Canal, and found himself the possessor of vast wealth, and sur- rounded by a population sunk in ignorance and vice. From the tirst moment of his succession he considered himself in the light of a trustee for working out the moral and spiritual improvement of the people who were in a great measure committed to his charge. He. accepted the obligation in a spirit of cheerfulness and resolution, and the due discharge of it continued to be the principal object of his interest and care for the remainder of his life. He employed his wealth liberally in promoting the material comfort and raising the moral condition of those by whose labor that wealth was produced. Churches, schools, and reading-rooms rose around Worsley Hall. His benevolent efforts were crowned with success, and he reaped his reward in the blessings of the sur- rounding multitudes and in the contemplation of their en- joyment of all the good which his active bounty had bestowed upon them. Such qualities as were here displayed, and a life thus devoted to works of duty and beneficence, made Lord Ellesmere an object of general veneration ajid attach- ment ; but those alone who belonged to his family, or who had familiar access to the sanctuary of his domestic life, could appreciate fully the excellence and the charm of his character, and comprehend the immensity of the loss Avhich those who were nearest and dearest to him have sustained by his death. He regarded with indifference the ordinary ob- jects of worldly ambition ; he lived in and for his family, and he was their joy, their delight, and their pride, fulfilling in the most exemplary manner all the duties of his station, political, social, literary, and artistic ; unsurpassed as a husband, father, brother, or friend. He cultivated unremittingly the society of the best and wisest of his fellow-creatures, and it may be as tru- ly said of him as it was of certain sages of antiquity, that " his excellent understanding was adorned by study, . . . and his days were spent in the pursuit of truth and the practice of 352 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIII. virtue. " The length of these precious days was not permitted by the Divine Will to be extended to the ordinary duration of human life. In the three last months, while death was gradually but surely, and with his full consciousness, ad- vancing, his courage was never shaken and the serenity of his temper was never disturbed ; he always seemed to have more consideration for others than himself ; and he met his approaching end with the firmness of a philosopher and the resignation of a Christian. To witness such an end free from bodily pain, with the mental faculties remaining un- clouded till the last, full of peace and charity and love, was the best consolation that was possible to the family which surrounded his deathbed ; to them he has left a memory which will be long reverenced by all who honor virtue and patriotism, and which they will cherish with never-ending sentiments of duty and affection. He has left them an ex- ample how to live and how to die, and the world in which he had no enemy will ungrudgingly acknowledge That to the realms of bliss was ne'er conveyed A purer spirit or more welcome shade. February 21th. — The political war is raging furiously, and personal animosities are becoming bitterer than ever. Confusion, disorder, and doubt rage in Ijoth the great camps. Derby made a grand onslaught in the beginnmg of last week on the China question, and there was (an unusual thing in the Lords) an adjourned debate. Granville was very apprekensive of being beaten, but Bessborough, his able whipper-in, made such exertions that they ended by getting a very good majority. All the speaking was on the side of the Opposition, but it is quite curious how afraid people are of seriously shaking the Government. The day the de- bate in the Lords ended, that in the Commons began on the same question, dues Cobden.^ The great event of the first night was John Russell's speech and powerful attack on the Government. It was one of his very best efforts and extremely successful with the House, but it was ex- ceedingly bitter and displayed without stint or reason his 1 [A motion was made by Mr. Cobden condemning the violent measures re- sorted to by the British authorities in the Canton river in consequence of the seizure of the lorcha " Arrow " by the Chinese when she had hoisted the British fla;T. The debate was carried on with great acrimony, and ended by the adoption of lilr. Cobden' s motion by 263 to 247, a majority of 16 against the Govern- ment.] 1857.] LORD JOHN RUSSELL VENTS HIS SPLEEN. 353 hostile animus. It did all the misciiief he wished to do, and everybody admits that if a division had then taken i)lace Government would have been beaten by a great majority ; but they have since adjourned twice, and the debate stands over till Monday, and the aspect of affairs appears to be very much altered. Whether it be that the effect of Lord John's speech has evaporated, that a rally has taken place among the Liberals, or that the aversion of the stiff Tories to the union between Gladstone and their leaders, the approaching consummation of which seems not to be denied, the general opinion has veered round, and now it is expected that Govern- ment will have a majority. Here again, as in the Lords, the speaking was all with the Opposition. Palmerston's speech is looked for with interest and curiosity. The re- markable incidents connected with these transactions have been the Parliamentary conduct of Gladstone and John Eussell and their respective positions. Gladstone seems to have been so inflamed by spite and ill-humor that all pru- dence and discretion forsook him ; he appears ready to say and do anything and to act with everybody if he can only contribute to upset the Government, though it is not easy to discover the cause of his bitterness, or what scheme of future conduct he has devised for himself. Lord John came over in a state of ill-humor which at first he appears to have kept under to a certain degree, and to have wished to have the appearance of acting with jierfect independence, but still fairly and impartially speaking out what he thought the truth without caring whom he offended or whom he pleased by so doing. Thus he shocked Clarendon by what he said on the affair of Naples, and then pleased him very much by his next speech on foreign affairs. Then on the Budget he came to the aid of Lewis with great effect and bowled over Gladstone and Disraeli, yet even then evincing a certain spirit of hostility about the tea duties ; but on the China question he gave way to all the bitter feeling that is in him, and cast all moderation to the winds. It is impossible to conjecture what he promises to himself, and what purpose he has in view by this conduct, for it is quite extraordinary to what absolute nothingness his political power has fallen. Here is a man who has been leader with occasional intervals of Whig Governments and of the Whig party since 1834, and with great and admitted abilities, and yet he is so en- tirely without following in the House of Commons that three 354 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIII. insignificant votes are the most he can command. His speech the other night was very well received because it was a very good one, and because he spoke the opinions of the greater number of his hearers. There is, in fact, a strong feeling, both in Parliament and the country, against all that has been done at Canton, and this is the more remarkable because the press has upon the whole, taken the opposite side. I never could under- stand why Palmerston and Clarendon were in such a hurry to identify themselves with Bowring's proceedings, and to send out without delay a full approbation of all he had done, till Granville told me that both of them had been under the extraordinary delusion that the Canton affair had been very well done and would be received with great applause and sat- isfaction here ; in point of fact, that it was a great hit, from which the Government would derive considerable advantage, he (Granville) himself showing his good sense by taking ex- actly the opposite view. He tells me that George Lewis does so likewise, and I dare say, if the truth were known, that the majority of the Cabinet coincide with them. It is re- markable that the defence of the Government in the Lords should have fallen on a man who was speaking all the time against his own opinion, and I should think Labouchere, who took up the defence in the House of Commons, was the most unlikely man in the world to approve of such proceed- ings. Political necessities which compel men to act thus in- sincerely, and to strive to make the worse appear the better cause, with the full conscionsness that they are fighting against truth, appear to me frightfully demoralizing, a sad searing of the political conscience, the spectacle of which is enough to scare honorable minds from entering into an arena where the contest is to be carried on in such a manner. If the Government should be beaten on the pending question, they will dissolve, at least if the state of their financial affairs will allow them ; but at all events they will not resign without an appeal to the country, and this appeal they will make not on this or that question, but on the great one of all, whether the country desires that Palmerston should continue to be its minister, and on this it is impossible to doubt what will be the reply. His popularity is a fact beyond all doubt or cavil, and it is the more decisive, because not only is there no rival popularity, but every one of the other public men who have been, are, or might be his rivals 1857.] LORD PALMERSTON'S POPULARITY. 355 are absolutely unpopular. Nobody cares any longer for John Russell ; everybody detests Gladstone ; Disraeli has no influence in the country, and a very doubtful position with his own party. He and Derby have made up their minds to coalesce with Gladstone on the first good opportunity, but it seems not unlikely that they will make such a split among their own followers by so doing as to lose more than they will gain by the junction. Palmerston's popularity does not extend to his colleagues, for not one of whom does anybody care a straw. It is purely personal, and I do not think he would strengthen himself by any other alliance he could form. This fact of his popularity just at the end of his strange and chequered career is most remarkable and not a little unaccountable ; but innumerable circumstances prove this to bo the undoubted truth, and that it is manifested more decidedly out of the House than in it, for in the House of Commons it does not amount to a certainty of his having always a majority. It is curious that a session which not long ago looked like being a very quiet one, in which there would be ample leisure for consideration of legal and other practical reforms, should in the first weeks be a scene of tremendous conflict, in which the very existence of the Government is trembling in the balance. March 2d. — Derby has announced to his assembled party that he is ready to join with Gladstone, though he has not done so yet, and that as they are a minority in the House of Commons, they ought to form any junction that would make them strong enough to oust the present Government and form a Conservative one. He finds it, however, a diffi- cult matter to reconcile them all to any alliance with the detested Gladstone. Great exertions have been made to secure a majority to the Government, and John Russell's friends (the Duke of Bedford especially) are bestirring them- selves to take away some of the odium that attaches to Lord John by securing his two or three followers for the division. March 3d. — Nothing can equal the excitement and curi- osity here about the division. All sorts of efforts have been made all ways to influence votes. George Byng and others who meant to vote with John Russell have been obliged to promise to vote with the Government. Palmerston has had a meeting and harangued them cheerily, but in spite of everything Hayter does not think he will have a majority, 356 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIII. but everybody expects it to be so near that there are as many opinions as men. Mucli is expected to depend on Palmer- ston's sj)eech, and unluckily for him he is ill with both gout and cold. If they are beaten they will dissolve as speedily as possibly. March Uh. — A majority of 16 against the Government, more than any of them expected. A magnificent speech of Gladstone ; Palmerston's speech is said to have been very dull in the first part, and very bow-wow in the second ; not very judicious, on the whole bad, and it certainly failed to decide any doubtful votes in his favor. I rejoice that the House of Commons has condemned this iniquitous case for the honor of the country. I do not believe it will make any difference as to the Government. When Palmerston appeals to the country it will not be on the merits of the Canton case, but on his own political existence, whether they will have him for Minister or no. It is not, however, yet by any means clear what the real opinion of the country is upon the ques- tion itself, and whether they will be for the right or for the expedient, or that which the Government thinks to be the expedient. Hatcliford, March 10th. — The intention of Government to dissolve Parliament was announced on Friday last, and as far as one can judge at present, Palmerston seems likely to have it all his own way. The press generally espouses his cause, and the " Times " particularly takes up the cudgels for him vehemently, and cries out " Coalition," and abuses the majority and all who voted in it. At present, public opinion seems to be running in his favor, and there is every appearance of his having a triumphant election. But the cry of " coalition and faction " is perfectly absurd, and nothing more than the mere jargon which all parties employ as their battle cry. There has been no coalition whatever, and that those who clamor against it very well know. The only coali- tion of which there has been any question has been one be- tween Gladstone (with or without the other Peelites) and Disraeli and Derby, but that has hitherto been in posse rather than in esse, and it would have been much more plausible to raise the cry on the Budget than on the Canton question. Nobody can read the list of the division without seeing that the majority com]3rised the names of people who have never dreamt of any coalition with anybody, and who voted entirely with reference to the merits of the particular case, and though 1857.] DISSOLUTION OF PARLIAMENT. 357 some (including Disraeli and Gladstone) wished to damage the Government, many others were either friendly to them generally, or at least neutral. To say that the majority was made up of a factious coalition of men who sought to turn the Government out and to take their places, is a wilful and deliberate lie, but it suits the Government to raise the cry, and they find plenty of people to re-echo and to believe it. As to the question itself, I am sure that some of the Cabinet, and probably more than I know of, were in their hearts and consciences as much against the question as any of their opponents. Palmerston's popularity, and the manner in which he is encouraged and supported by the country, and the sym- pathy he finds are really most extraordinary. It provokes me, because I think his great success unmerited, but I have no wish to see him defeated at the election, because I see no prospect of any better Government being formed. The pretension of the Government and of their noisy supporters to find fault Avith the House of Commons for expressing its independent opinion upon the conduct of the officials in China is most preposterous and arrogant. Everybody admits that the Government was not morally responsible for what was done, but because they chose, without any necessity, to approve those acts and to accept the political responsibility of them, it is pretended that the House of Commons ought not to have taken the liberty to express any adverse opinion on the matter, and that it was factious to do so. The scrape, if it was one, the Government got themselves into by their precipitate approval of Bowring, and tliere was nothing in the resolution and the vote which ought to have been considered as implying any general want of confidence on the part of the House of Commons, more particularly Avhen the Government has just before carried their Budget by large majorities, and had not met with any difficulty or rebuff on any point. If, indeed, matters are come to such a pass, and such divinity hedges in the Palmerston Govern- ruent that the House of Commons is to be precluded from censuring any transaction, wherever and by whomsoever done, which the Government thinks fit to sanction and approve of, and if the fact of many men of very different opinions and opposite parties concurring in such a vote is to expose the majority by which the vote is carried to a charge of faction, coalition, and all sorts of base motives, then indeed, instead of asking the Duke of Wellingtons's celebrated 358 KEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIII. question, " How is the King's Government to be carried on ? " it will be time to ask whether the Queen's Government is to be considered despotic and infallible, and the functions of the House of Commons reduced to the very humble ones of registering their acts and re-echoing their approbation. It seems to be entirely forgotten that in times when the Royal and ministerial authority were much stronger than they are supposed to be now, and before the Eef orm Bill had effected a sort of revolution in favor of the democratic principle, all governments, however powerful or popular, sus- tained occasional defeats and were obliged to submit to them, it being of course perfectly understood that defeats which conveyed want of confidence and the withdrawal of the general support of the House of Commons were to be deemed fatal and conclusive. Every case of this kind must be deter- mined according to the es[)ecial circumstances of it, but it is a mere pretence to treat the Canton question as one of this description, and the truth is that it is a dodge on their part, and a pretext for going to the country and obtaining a majority, as they think they have an opportunity of doing, on false pretences and by means of a vast deal of humbug. The worst is, that after the immediate purpose has been answered, there is certain to be some dangerous reaction, and as the cry of "Palmerston" will be the only one got up for the occasion, and everybody will be acceptable who will declare for him, whatever crotchets or cries he may join to his partisanship, we shall probably have a House of Commons full of all sorts of mischievous people stirring every variety of mischievous question. March lUh. — I returned yesterday from Hatchford and find the current still running strong, biit some think a reaction in favor of John Russell has already begun. He stands for the City and is in very good spirits, though his chances of success do not look bright ; but he is a gallant little fellow, likes to face danger, and comes out well in times of difficulty. March 2iUh. — The dissolution took place on Saturday, and all the world is busy about the elections ; many places are without candidates, or with very bad ones, and unable to find good ones. The dinner at the Mansion House the other day to the Ministers was a sort of triumph to Palmerston, who was rapturously received and cheered. He made a very bad speech, but which did very well for such an audience. It was 185Y.] THE LIDDELL v. WESTERTON CASE. 359 full of claptraps and reiterations of the exploded charges of coalition, etc., which he is not ashamed to harp upon, and in his address to Tiverton he talks of the " combination only formed last session " to turn him out. I find myself, malgre, moi, thrown back into my old state of antagonism toward Palmerston, and what is very paradoxical, I am so without any hostility to his Government or any desire for its being overthrown, for I cannot descry any chance of a better, or, indeed, any possibility of forming another able to carry on affairs at all ; but I am inexpressibly disgusted at the egre- gious folly of the country at his being made such an idol in this ridiculous way, and at the false and hypocritical pre- tences upon which this dissolution has been founded, and the enormous and shameful lying with which the country is deluo-ed. I long to write, print, and publish the truth, and to expose this miserable delusion ; but I repress the desire, because I cannot do so without exciting bitter personal ani- mosities, probably quarrels, and I can see no reasonable hope of producing any effects which would sufficiently repay me for such consequences. The day before yesterday Pemberton Leigh gave Judg- ment in the Privy Council in the case of Liddell and West- erton ; the Judicial Committee reversed in great measure the judgments in the Courts below of Dr. Lushington and Sir John Dodson, but not entirely. It was a very able judg- ment, and prepared with great care and research, and so moderately and fairly framed that it was accepted unani- mously by the Committee, and even by the Bishops of Can- terbury and London, both Low Churchmen. It was drawn up by Pemberton Leigh himself, and its publication will give the world in general some idea of his great ability, with the extent of which few are acquainted. It is a very sin- gular thing that in such times as these, and when there is such a dearth of able men and so great a demand for them, that he should voluntarily condemn himself to a state of comparative obscurity, and refuse to take the station in pub- lic life which it would be difficult to find any other man so well qualified to fill. March 28th.— At Althorp the last two days. Palmer- ston's address to Tiverton, following his speech at the Man- sion* House, has excited great indignation in all Avho are not thorough Palmerstonians. Both were full of deception and falsehood. John Kussell is particularly incensed, and said 360 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIIL these two productions were unworthy of a gentleman, and so they were. Malmesbury has addresssed to Palmerston a letter in the newspapers on the subject, which though not well written is true, and fully justified by what Palmerston said ; but all this signifies very little, the current is too strong to be opposed, and it is provoking to see the Conservatives endeavoring to bolster up their pretensions by saying they would have supported Palmerston on the China question, if they had been in Parliament, or promising to support him if they are elected. Yesterday, which w^as the first day of returns, does not give much difference ; to-day is the polling for the City, and nobody has an idea how the election will go, whether Lord John will come in, and if he does which of the four will go to the wall. He was enthusiastically received yesterday, and the show of hands was unanimous in his favor, but this proves very little, and his organization is miserably defective ; had it been better and begun earlier, it is probable that his success would have been certain ; he is the favorite as it is. Palmerston's speech at Tiverton yester- day was less objectionable than his address and speech at the Mansion House, and he left himself entirely unfettered on the subject of Eeform, and rightly. The Parliament promises to be a Eadical one, and I fully expect that the re- stilt of all this great commotion will be to give a stimulus to organize Eeform ; nor will it surprise me if Palmerston should find it conducive to his interest as minister to appear in the character of a Eeformer, if he were to fling overboard all his old opinions, and to pay this price for a renewed lease of his own power. Wilkes used to say he had never been a Wilkite, but Palmerston has never been anything but a Palmerston ian, and I firmly believe that at seventy- three years of age his single thought is how to secure for himself power for his life, and that he will not scruple to accept measures which, so far as he thinks about it, he believes to be constitutionally dangerous and mischievous if by so doing he can maintain himself on the Treasury Bench. March 29th. — G-reat excitement yesterday in the town, particularly at Brooks's. The most interesting event was the City election, and the return, which under the circumstances may be called triumphant, of John Eussell, which was made more agreeable to himself and his friends by the defeal; of Eaikes Currie, who came from Northampton on purpose to turn him out. Up to the last hour John Eussell continued 1857.] RESULTS OF THE ELECTION. 361 to lead at the head of the poll, after which he fell off and only ended third, but still he had 7,000 votes after having been assured by his old adherents (J. Abel Smith in par- ticular) that his success was hopeless, that he would be beaten "disgracefully," and probably would have hardly any votes at all. After this the most interesting events were the defeats of the Manchester men, and generally, though not universally, of the voters for Cobden's motion, Bright and Milner Gibson, Cobden, Ricardo, Layard, all defeated. It seems that Man- chester and the other great towns had got tired of their leaders, who had made themselves unpopular by their oppo- sition to the war. I am sorry for the loss of Bright and Cobden, because such able men ought not to be ousted and replaced by mediocrities. Palmerston's speech at Tiverton was in the same style, but far less offensive and objectionable than his address and his Mansion House harrangue. The most remarkable part of it was the total silence which he observed as to his intention upon reforms and domestic questions generally, or rather his positive refusal to say a word on the subject or to pledge himself in any way ; he evidently means to meet his Par- liament free to take any course his interests may dictate. There was one remarkable speech yesterday, considering what the man is who uttered it. Vernon Smith at Northampton spoke as follows : "Mr. Disraeli said Lord Palmerston was the Tory chief of a Eadical Cabinet. I do not admit the description as regards Lord Palmerston, but I accept the designation as to the Cabinet of which I am a member. A great statesman once said that parties were like fishes (it was snakes, I believe), and their heads were propelled by their tails, and it will very likely be found that the head of the Government will in like manner be propelled by his tail." The words are not exact, but the meaning is, and it must be owned a remarkable declaration for a Cabinet Minister to make as to his chief, and such a chief. I believe that it will turn out to be the truth. The returns so far as they have gone are frightful, and a deluge of Eadicalism and violence will burst out in the House of Commons. There will be a Eadical majority prepared to support Lord Palmerston and to keep him in power, but on the condition of his doing their bidding, and consenting to their demands, nor will he be able to help himself. He will no doubt try to do as little 16 362 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIII. as possible, but there will be no strong Conservative party to •which he can appeal from and against his own Eadical sup- porters ; the Conservatives will be too weak to help him, and probably will not be inclined to help him out of his difficulty if they could. At his age his only object will be to grasp power while he lives. A2)res moi le deluge will be his motto, and my expectation is that he will never consent to sacrifice power from scruples or upon principles, and will consent to anything that may be necessary rather than allow himself to be outbid and to see power torn from his hands. The prospect seems to me tremendous. The cry of Palmerston, and nothing but Palmerston, has done very well to go to the hustings on, but having accomplished its purpose, other cries much more serious will soon take its place, and we shall see, as the Prince said. Constitutional Government on its trial with a vengeance. March dlst. — The elections continue to be unfavorable to the Conservatives, but the people at Brooks's, and the Government generally, are too sanguine when they call every- thing gain to them where a Conservative is replaced by a Liberal, for in many cases the so-called Liberal is a vio- lent Eadical, very likely to give much more trouble to the Government than the Conservative who was turned out. The gains to Government up to this time (and the borough elections are all over) are calculated at 20, making a differ- ence of 40 votes ; but the Conservatives do not admit this, and will make other calculations with different results. There is no denying the fact, however, that a strong sense has been evinced of partiality for Palmerston and re- sentment against the China vote. The news of the Emperor of China having ordered Yeo to make peace on any terms comes very opportunely, but nothing can be so absurd as the pretence that by so doing the Emperor himself con- demns his Viceroy and justifies our conduct at Canton. It only proves that His Majesty is very much alarmed, and wishes to heal the breach as quickly as possible, and on any terms he can. I am bound to say that many people, not ex- travagant either, maintain that this promises to be a very good Parliament, and by no means so dangerous as my fears have pictured it to myself ; still I cannot look upon it as a safe and innocent Parliament. Cardwell's defeat at Oxford proves how low the Peelites are. Frederick Peel's loss of his seat is a great inconvenience to the Government, and 185V.] DEATH OF LADY KEITH. 363 one does not see how it is to be repaired, for it is almost im- possible in tliese days to treat any place (if one can be found) as a nomination borough, turn the sitting member out, cind put him in instead. The serious part of it is that he has to move the Army Estimates, and nobody else can do it now. Old Lady Keith is dead, at some prodigious age. She was the "Queeny"of Dr. Johnson, Mrs. Hale's daughter, and was the last surviving link between those times and our own, and probably the only person surviving who could re- member Johnson himself and his remarkable contempora- ries, or who had lived in intimacy with them. CHAPTER XIV. Results of the Elections— Defeat of Cobden and Bright— The War with China— Death of Lady Ashburton — Lord I'almerston's Success — The Handel Concerts — M. Fould in London— The Quei-n and Lord Palmerston — The Indian Mutiny— The Prince Consort — Death of General Anson — The State of Indi;i — Koyal Guests — The Government of India — Temper of the House of Commons — Debates on India — Royal Visits— The Divorce Bill— The Divorce Bill in the House of Lords— Close of the Session— A Duke- dom offered to Lord Lansdowne- Death of Mr. Cioker— History of the Life Peerafres — The Indian Mutiny and the Eu.^sian War — The Strugrplc in India — Reinforceiiients for India — The Queen's Attention to Public Business — Attacks on Lord l/anning: — Big Ships and Big Bells — Lord Canning- defended— Couiteous Behavior of Foreign Nations — The Capture of Delhi and Lucknow — DiflicuUies in India— Depression in the City — Speculations on the Contingency of a Change of Government— The Kast India Com- pany and the Government — Exaggerated Reports from India — A Queen's Speech — The Bank Charter Act. April Uh, 1857. — The elections are drawing to a close. It is strange that what ought to be a matter of fact is made matter of opinion, for while the Whigs of Brooks's and the Liberals generally claim an immense gain, the Conservatives and the Carlton Clnb and their organs only admit an in- considerable loss. There can be no doubt, however, that a great many Conservatives have lost their seats, and a great many Radicals and Palmerstonians have been elected. At Brooks's they insist that it will be a very good Parliament, and they are throwing their caps up at the Government successes ; but it seems to me that they are reckoning some- Avhat rashly, and counting as gains to the Government many men who will be found more troublesome and unmanageable than the moderate men over whose defeats they are exulting. 364 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIV. But as to gains and losses, and all calculations, I agree with the late Speaker, Lord Eversley, who said to me the other day that nothing could be so fallacious as all such calcu- lations, and that it is impossible to know the result till Par- liament meets, and it is seen how the new members group themselves. The most striking and remarkable feature of this election is the complete rout of the Peelites and of the Manchester men, the Old Leaguers. For a long time past it has been absurd to talk of the Peelites as a Party. There were not a dozen men in the House of Commons who could by any possibility be so designated, and in fact only a few formerly members of Sir Eobert Peel's Government or of Lord Aberdeen's, who still kept together, and were called Peelites, because they would not be either Whigs or To- ries or Eadicals. Now the designation must fall to the ground. Half these men have lost their seats ; of the rest, some repudiate the association and announce their independence ; some join, or ready to join, Derby and the' Tories ; others openly declare their adhesion to Palm- erston ; and thus in one way or another there are no Pee- lites left. The fate of Bright, Cobden, and Co. exhibits a curious example of the fleeting and worthless nature of popular fa- vor. They who were once the idols of millions, and not without cause, have not only lost all their popularity, but are objects of execration, and can nowhere find a parlia- mentary resting place. No constituency will hear of them. The great towns of Lancashire prefer any mediocrities to Bright and Cobden. It seems that they had already ceased to be popular, when they made themselves enormously un- popular, and excited great resentment, by their opposition to the Russian War, the rage for which was not less intense in Manchester and all the manufacturing district than in the rest of the kingdom. This great crime, as it appeared in the eyes of their constituents, was never pardoned, and their punishment was probably determined while the war was still going on. As the favor of Cobden fell, so that of Palmerston rose, and his visit to Manchester a few months ago raised the favor to a ]3itch of enthusiasm. When Cob- den therefore originated the China motion, he no doubt gave great offence, and he sealed his own condemnation. Bright has been long abroad, and has done nothing lately that any one could take umbrage at, but his opposition to 1857.] THE WAR WITH CHINA. 365 tlie war has not been forgotten or forgiven, and when Cob- den appeared at Manchester as his representative, and made a very able speech in his behalf, it is highly probable that his advocacy was in itself fatal to his re-election. It seems qnite clear that another man, Sir Elkanah Armytage, lost his election at Salford solely because he was strongly sajs- ported and recommended by Cobden. May 1st. — Parliament met yesterday, the last (Irish) election having ended only a few days before. Denison's election as Speaker went oS very quietly. The prevailing opinion now seems to be that this will j^rove a good Parlia- ment, on the whole safe and moderate, and an improvement on the last. All the news we get from China, or in refer- ence to Chinese affairs, only proves the more strongly how foolish and mischievous the conduct of Bowring was, and what a sound and correct judgment the vote of the House of Commons expressed upon it. It is impossible to con- jecture what the result of the war now begun will be, but is quite certain that we shall have to wade to our ends through all sorts of horrors and atrocities, which it does not become us to inflict, though the Chinese are a savage, stu- pid, and uninteresting people, who in some degree deserve the sufferings that will be inflicted on them, though perhaps not at our hands. George Anson ^ writes to me from India that there is a strange feeling of discontent pervading the Indian Army from religious causes, and a suspicion that we are going to employ our irresistible power in forcing Christianity upon them. It is not true, but the natives will never be quite convinced that it is not, as long as Exeter Hall and the mis- sionaries are permitted to have carte hJanche and work their will as they please in those regions. 3Iay IQth. — I passed the last week at Wynnstay for Chester races ; a very fine place. The events that have occurred in the course of the last ten days are the opening of the Manchester Exhibition, very successfully ; the first proceedings of the new Parliament, which promise a quiet session and a peaceful reign to Palmerston, who has put the House in good humor by promising a Reform Bill next year ; the death of the Duchess of Gloster, and, what inter- > [General Anson was at this time Commander-in-Chief in India. He died there sliortly after the outbreak of the grciit military revolt, of which the letter mentioned in the text was the first premonitory indication.] 366 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIV. ests the world still more, the death of Lady Ashbnrton.'^ Milnes has written a short, but very fair and appropriate notice of her for the '^Times'' newspaper, which of course was intended as a eulogy, and not as a character, with the bad as well as the good that could be said of her. Lady Ashburtou was perhaps, on the whole, the most conspicuous woman in the society of the present day. She was un- doubtedly very intelligent, with much quickness and viyacity in conversation, and by dint of a good deal of desultory readiug and social intercourse with men more or less dis- tinguished, she had improved her mind, and made herself a very agreeable woman, and had acquired no small reputa- tion for ability and wit. It is never difficult for a woman in a great position and with some | talent for conversation to attract a large society around her, and to have a number of admirers and devoted habitues. Lady Ashburton laid herself out for this, and while she exercised hospitality on a great scale; she was more of a preciouse than any woman I have known. She was, or affected to be, extremely intimate with many men whose literary celebrity or talents constituted their only attraction, and while they were gratified by the attentions of the great lady, her vanity was flattered by the homage of such men, of whom Carlyle was the principal. It is only justice to her to say that she treated her literary friends with constant kindness and the most unselfish atten- tions. They, their wives and children (when they had any), were received at her house in the country, and entertained there for weeks without any airs of patronage, and with a spirit of genuine benevolence as well as hospitality. She was in her youth tall and commanding in person, but without any pretension to good looks ; still she was not altogether destitute of sentiment and coquetry, or incapable of both feeling and inspiring a certain amount of passion. The only man with whom she was ever what could be called 171 love was Clarendon, and that feeling was never entirely extinct, and the recollection of it kept up a sort of unde- fined relation between them to the end of her life. Two 1 [Ilarriet Mary, eldest daughter of the sixth Earl of Sandwich, was married In 182S to William Binorham Baring, afterward second Baron Ashburton. One son, the only issue of this marriage, died in infancy. Lady Ashburton was dis- tin,s:uished for lier wit, her social qualities, and herliospitality, which made Bath House and the Grange the centres of a brilliant literary society, well known by the records of It in the Life of Mr. Carlyle and the Autobiography of Sir Henry Taylor.] 1857.] DEATH OF LADY ASHCURTON. 367 men were certainly in love with her, both distinguished in different ways. One was John Mill, who was sentimentally attached to her, and for a long time was devoted to her society. Hhe was pleased and flattered by his devotion, but as she did not in the slightest degree return his passion, though she admired his abilities, he at last came to resent her indifference, and ended by estranging himself from her Entirely, and proved the strength of his feeling by his ob- stinate refusal to continue even his acquaintance with her. Her other admirer was Charles Buller, with whom she was extremely intimate, but without ever reciprocating his love. Curiously enough, they were very like each other in person, as well as in their mental accomplishments. They had both the same spirits and cleverness in conversation, and the same quickness and drollery in repartee. I remember Allen well describing them, when he said that their talk was like that in the polite conversation between Never Out and Miss Notable. Her faults appeared to be caprice and a disposition to quarrels and tracasseries about nothing, which, however common among ordinary women, were unworthy of her superior understanding. But during her last illness all that was bad and hard in her nature seemed to be improved and softened, and she became full of charity, good-will, and the milk of human kindness. Her brother and her sister-in-law, who, forgetting former estrangements, hastened to her sick- bed, were received by her with overflowing tenderness, and all selfish and unamiable feelings seemed to be entirely subdued within her. Had she recovered she would probably have lived a better and a ha]ipier woman, and as it is she has died in charity with all the world, and has left behind her corresponding sentiments of affection and regret for her memory. I was once very intimate with her, but for a long time past our intimacy had dwindled into ordinary ac- quaintance. June 3d. — There is really nothing to write about, but it is evident that the session is going to pass away in the most quiet and uneventful manner. Never had Minister such a jieaceful and undisturbed reign as Palmerston's. There is something almost alarming in his prodigious felicity and success. Everything prospers with him. In the House of Commons there is scarcely a semblance of opposition to any- thing he proposes ; a speech or two here and there from Eoebuck, or some stray Radical, against some part of the 368 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIV. Princess Eoyal's dowry, but hardly any attempt at dirisions ; and when there have been any, the minorities have been so ridiculously small as to show the hopelessness of opposition. The only men who might be formidable or troublesome seem to have adopted the prudent course of not kicking against the pricks. John Eussell evinces no hostility, and accepts Hayter's letters. Gladstone hardly ever goes near the House of Commons, and. never opens his lips. There seems to be a disposition in both Houses to work and bring legisla- tive reforms to a conclusion. The House of Lords has been very busy with the Divorce Bill, and there has been a good deal of vigorous debating, particularly among Lyudhurst, the Bishops of Oxford and London, and Campbell and Wensley- dale, who hate each other, and have interchanged blows. Ju7ie 20tli. — All this past week the world has been occu- pied with the Handel Concerts at the Crystal Palace, which went off with the greatest success and edal. I went to the first ("Messiah"), and the last ("Israel in Egypt"); they were amazingly grand, and the beauty of the locale, with the vast crowds assembled in it, made an imposing spectacle. The arrangements were perfect, and nothing could be easier than the access and egress, or more comfortable than the accommodation. But the wonderful assembly of 2,000 vocal and 500 instrumental performers did not produce musical effect so agreeable and so perfect as the smaller number in the smaller space of Exeter Hall. The volume of sound was dispersed and lost in the prodigious space, and fine as it un- doubtedly v/as, I much prefer the concerts of the Harmonic Society. Eould ^ came over from Paris the other day for the pur- pose of going to see the Manchester Exhibition. He was received with great distinction. The Queen invited him to Windsor for Ascot, and Granville gave him a breakfast here to meet the financial notabilities whom he wanted to talk to. We had the Chancellor of the Exchequer and an ex-Chan- cellor (C. Wood), the Governor of the bank, and the ex-Gov- ernor of the Bank, cum muUis aliis. He said that their financial affairs in France were in a very healthy state, which is contrary to the general impression here. 1 [M. Achille Fonld, who had made a large fortune as a banker in Paris, was one of the ablest and most honorable of the Ministers of Napoleon III. He was much attached to this country, where he had many friends, and he encouraged the Emperor in that Free Trade policy which led to the Commercial Treaty of 1860, and strengthened the ties between England and France.] 1857.] THE QUEEN AND LORD PALMERSTOX. 369 I met Clarendon in the Park a day or two ago, and had some talk with him in the friendly and intimate tone of former times, which rejoiced my heart, because it proved that though circumstances and accidental habits had impeded our intercourse, there exist still the same feelings of regard toward me in his mind, and if our intercourse was re- stored again, he would probably fall into the same habit of confidence and communication which formerly existed, but which has lately been completely interrupted. lie talked of Palmerston, his position and his health, and his rapports with the Queen, who is now entirely reconciled to him. She treats him with unreserved confidence, and he treats her with a deference and attention which have i)roduced a very favorable change in her sentiments toward him. Clarendon told me that Palmerston had lately been ailing in a way to cause some uneasiness. He had had a bad leg with a sore that it had been found difficult to heal, but he appears to have got over it. This might have been very serious. Clarendon talked one day to the Queen about Paimerston's health, concerning which she expressed her anxiety, when Clarendon said she might indeed be anxious, for it was of the greatest importance to her, and if anything happened to him he did not know where she could look for a successor to to him, that she had often expressed her great desire to have a strong Government, and that she had now got one, Palmer- ston being a really strong Minister. She admitted the truth of it. Clarendon said he was always very earnest with her to bestow her whole confidence on Palmerston, and not even to talk to others on any subjects which properly belonged to him, and he had more than once (when according to her custom, she began to talk to him on certain things) said to her, *' Madam, that concerns Lord Palmerston, and I think your Majesty had better reserve it for your communications Avith him." He referred to the wonderful change in his own relations with Palmerston, that seven or eight years ago Palmerston was full of hatred and suspicion of him, and now they were the best of friends, with mutual confidence and good will, and lately when he was talking to Palmerston of the satisfactory state of his relations with the Queen and of the utility it was to his Government that it should be so, Palm- erston said, "And it is likewise a very good thing tliat she has such boundless confidence in her Secretary for Foreign Af- fairs, when after all there is nothino; she cares about so much." 370 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIV. June 28ih. — I went last Saturday week to Strawberry Hill.^ A large' party of people, the Persignys, the Speaker and Lady Charlotte, etc. ; it is an enjoyable villa, with its vast expanse of grass, profusion of flowers, and fine trees affording ample shade. Horace Walpole's ridicnlons house is unaltered, but furbished up and made comfortable. I- regret to hear that Denison does not make a very good Speaker, and that the G-overnment think they made a mis- take in putting him into the Chair. It was Palmerston's doing, who would hear of nobody else. There are several men among the Opposition who would probably have been fitter, but with the great majority the Government have they were in a manner compelled to take a man from their own party. Denison says it is owing to the laxity of Palmerston himself if things do not go on so well as they might in the House of Commons. At Hatchford the past week, and when I got to town I was apprised of the disastrous news from India,^ the most serious occurrence that has ever been in that quarter, not only from the magnitude of the events themselves as the telegraph conveys them, but because it is quite impossible to estimate the gravity of the case, nor what the extent of it may be. Till we receive the details it is idle to speculate upon it. The Queen has made Prince Albert ''Prince Consort" by a patent ordered in Council, but as this act confers on him neither title, dignity, nor privileges, I cannot see the use of it. He was already as high in England as he can be, assuming the Crown Matrimonial to be out of the question, and it will give him no higher rank abroad, where onr acts have no validity. July 15th. — For the last three weeks or more all public interest and curiosity have been absorbed in the affairs of India and the great Mutiny that has broken out there, and which has now assumed such an alarming character. I had intended to take some notice of this, and of other matters 1 [Stra-wberry Hill was the residence of the Countess of Waldefrrave, to whom it had passed on the death of her second husband, the Eai-1 ol Waldearave. It was then, and continued to be until her death in 1879, the most hospitable villa in the neighborhood, and the constant resoit of all that was distinguished in politics an^ in letters.] " [The Indian mutiny broke out at Meerut on Sunday, 10th May, hut the de- tails were not known in England till nearly six weeks later. General Anson died at Kurnaul on the 27th May.] 1857.] THE MUTINY IN INDIA. 37I which time and the hour have brought forth ; but, accord- ing to my bad custom, I kept putting it off, till at last all other things were driven out of my mind by the news which so unexpectedly reached us on Saturday last of the death of George Anson from a sudden attack of cholera. He was the oldest and most intimate friend I had, and almost the last surviving associate of my youth. I reserve for another mo- ment to say a word or two of a man who, without great abilities or a great career, was too conspicuous a member of society to be passed over without some notice. The alarm created here by the Indian news is very great, and Ellenborongh (reckoned a great authority on Indian matters) does his best to increase it. The serious part of it IS that no one can tell or venture to predict what the extent of the calamity may be, and what proportions the mischief may possibly assume. It is certain that hitherto the Govern- ment and the East India Company have been in what is called a fool's paradise on the subject. They have been so long accustomed to consider our Empire there as established on so solid a foundation, and so entirely out of the reach of danger, that they never have paid any attention to those who hinted at possible perils, and I don't think anybody ever foresaw anything like what has occurred, and they were disinclined to adopt any of the precautionary recommenda- tions which would have been attended with expense, and the Press, and the public who are always led by the Press, took the same easy view of the subject. While the Russian War was going on a clamor was raised against Government for not calling away all the British troops in India and sending them to the Crimea, and those who went mad about the Crimean War would willing having left India without a single European regiment, and have entrusted all our in- terests to the fidelity and attachment of the Native army. Though our Government was willing enough to enter into anything that the passion of the multitude suggested, they were not so insane as all that ; but as it is, we may consider it most providential that the mutiny did not show itself dur- ing the Russian, or indeed during the Persian war. If it had happened while we were still fighting in the Crimea, we could not have sent out the force that would have been in- dispensable to save India. At the present moment the in- terest of the public is not greater than its apprehensions and alarm. Rumors of every sort are rife, generally of the most 372 EEIGN OF QUEEN VIOTOEIA. [Chap. XIV. disastrous kind, and tliougli the mails only come at a fort- night's interval, and it is phj^sically impossible that any in- telligence should reach us during those intervals, the public curiosity is fed and excited by continual rumors, which gen- erally circulate stories of fresh disasters and dangers. There is a disposition in some quarters to make if possible poor An- son the scapegoat, and, now that he is dead and cannot de- fend himself, to attribute to him and to his misconduct or laches the misfortunes that have befallen us. I know not what he may have written home to the civil and military authorities ; but, if I may judge by the tenor of his corre- spondence with me, I should infer that he has warned the Government against leaving India without adequate protec- tion, and constantly urged the expediency of sending out fresh troojDs. I have long expected that the day would come when we should find reason for regretting our expansive policy and our going on with continual conquests and an- nexations. We are overrun with Eoyalties present and prospective. Besides our Princess Eoyal's bridegroom, there are here the King of the Belgians' son and daughter. Prince Napoleon, the Queen of the Netherlands, and the MontjDensiers as Spanish Princes, in which capacity Persigny has had to pay his court to them, and they have had to receive the Ambas- sador of Louis Napoleon. July 19th. — Although it is impossible that any fresh ac- counts should have come from India, reports are rife of fresh insurrections and of all sorts of evils. Amid all the bad news from India the good fortune is that so many of the Native troops, and not only the military, but the whole population of the Punjaub, have shown so much fidelity and attachment to the British Grovernment. It is the strongest testimony to the wisdom and justice of our rule, and of the capacity of the natives to appreciate the benefits they derive from it, for beyond all question the introduction of European civiliza- tion into the East, and the substitution of such a government as that of England for the cruel, rapacious, and capricious dominion of Oriental chiefs and dynasties, is the greatest boon that the people could have had conferred upon them. Our administration may not have been faultless, and in some instances it may have been oppressive, and it may have often offended against the habits and prejudices of the natives, but it is certainly very superior in every respect, and infinitely 1857.] TEMPER OF THE HOTISE OF COMMONS. 373 more beneficent than any rule, either of Hindoos or Ma- hometans, that has ever been known in India. However, people much more civilized and more sagacious than the Indians do not always know what is best for them, or most likely to promote their happiness, so it will not be surprising if these disorders should continue to increase, supposing the means of immediately and effectually suppressing them should be found wanting. For the last week the House of Commons has presented a more animated appearance than during the preceding months of this dull and passive session. Gladstone has reappeared and proved that his oratorical powers have not been rusted by his retirement, and John Russell has come forth showing his teeth, but not yet attempting to bite the Government. Palmerston, evidently nettled by these two, as well as by Roebuck and Disraeli, has spoken with considerable asperity, and with an insolent air of superiority and defiance, which has hitherto not been usual to him, and which has given no little offence. There are evident symptoms of an approach- ing cessation of that humble and deferential submission to his will which has hitherto distinguished his servile majority, and though it is not clear in what way they will assert their independence, those who watch the symptoms think that he will not find the same passive disposition in the next session, and if anything should go seriously wrong there would be open and general rebellion. Up to the present time, how- ever, there is nothing to be seen but a certain amount of restlessness and a disposition to find fault, and the Govern- ment seem still to command the same enormous majorities, and Palmerston to be as powerful as ever, if he is not quite so popular. A violent effort is made by a number of Liber- als in the House of Commons to renew the contest with the House of Lords for the admission of the Jews (the newspa- pers contain all the details of this attempt), which cannot be pursued without mischievous results, and will fail in its object. August 2d. — The Civil War in India, for such it may be called, supersedes every other object of interest, and the suc- cessive mails are looked for with the utmost impatience. The Government, though anxious and nervous, are not disheart- ened, and as far as we can judge the authorities in India have not been deficient in the emergency. Canning writes in good spirits, and all accounts agree in reporting that he has done 374 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIV. his work hitlierto very well. The discussions in Parliament have been on the whole creditable. Disraeli came down to the House of Commons with a long set oration, in which he entered at great length into the causes of the present confu- sion, and the misgovernment and bad policy which had en- gendered it, and although his speech was able, and probably contained a great deal that was true, it was deemed (as it was) mischievous and ill-timed, and very ill received by the House. He was rebuked with some asperity by Tom Baring, his own political adherent, and by Lord John Russell, who declared it to be the duty of the House to give every support to the Government in such a crisis. In the House of Lords Ellenborough was as mischievous and ill-disposed as Disraeli in the Commons, and was no better received. Granville ad- ministered to him a severe lecture, by no means ill done, and the House of Lords went with Granville. Last week was passed at Goodwood, with fine weather, and the usual fete with the unusual accompaniment of for- eign Royalties. First the Comte de Paris for a night, and then the Queen of the Netherlands for two. The young French Prince is good-humored and unpretending, the Queen is very gay, natural, and pleasing. I renewed an acquain- tance I had made with her at Ems many years ago. It is a new feature in the present day the flitting about of Royal personages. Besides these I have named, the Prince Napo- leon has been finishing a tour through England and part of Ireland by a visit to Osborne, and the Emperor and Empress are coming to Osborne for a week. Prince Albert has been to Brussels for the marriage of the Princess Charlotte, where he seems to have made his first experiment of the effect to be obtained from his newly-acquired title of "Prince Consort of England," as I see that he signed the marriage contract immediately after the Queen Marie Amelie, and before an Austrian Archduke who was present. August 12th. — I was at Stoke on Saturday and Sunday, and went over to see Bulstrode ; surprised to find the place less delabrS, and more capable of being restored than I ex- pected. I passed the first fifteen years of my life there, and don't know whether the place or myself is the most changed. To feed our curiosity during the intervals between the Indian mails, the newspapers, the " Times " especially, collect all the letters they can obtain, and publish them day by day. We have had a success in China, but I always tremble for the 185Y.] THE DIVORCE BILL. 375 consequences of our successes there, lest we should be se- duced or compelled into making permanent settlements and further extensions of our Empire in the East. Parliament is approaching its close, and the Government ends the session with unimpaired strength, but depending entirely on Palmer- ston's life, for there is nobody else capable of leading tlie House of Commons. There are growing symptoms of inde- pendence on the part of the House in the shape of adverse votes every now and then, principally on matters of estimates. August 20th. — I have read over the few preceding pages, and am disgusted to find how barren tliey are of interest and how little worth preserving. They show how entirely my social relations have ceased with all those friends and ac- quaintances from whom I have been in the habit of drawing the information which the earlier parts of this journal con- tain, and consequently my total ignorance of all political subjects. There was a time when 1 should have had a great deal to say upon passing events of interest or importance, but all that is gone by. The visit of the Emperor Napoleon at Osborne seems to have been spent in discussing the affairs of the Principalities and patching up the quarrels of the Ambassadors at Constan- tinople. As far as outward appearances go we do not ap- pear to have played a very brilliant part, and the Opposition papers thmk they have got a good case on which to twit Palmerston, but as I do not know what has really taken place, I abstain from expressing any opinion upon the con- duct of our Government. The session of Parliament has been prolonged beyond all expectation by the vehement and acrimonious debates upon the Divorce Bill in the House of Commons, which has been very ably and vigorously fought by Bethcll on one side ciwi quibusdam aliis, and Gladstone, Walpole, and Heathcote on the other. The Opposition hoped by constant obstructions to wear out the patience of Palmerston and to get the Bill put off till next session. Palmerston, however, was firmly resolved not to submit to this, and when they found that lie was so determined, they contented themselves with insisting upon certain amendments, which Palmerston thought it prudent to consent to, and the spirit of compromise and con- cession which the Government have lately evinced has softened in some degree the asperity of the debates, and at last enabled the Government to carry the Bill. Bethell, who has fought 376 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIV. the battle with great ability, is not a little disgusted at the concessions to wliich he has been forced to consent, and has done so with a solemn protest and warning with regard to the exemption clause for the clergy, which the Government have very reluctantly consented to, but on which Granville assures me they had no option, and that if they had refused to give way they would have infallibly been beaten upon it. I dined at Richmond with Lord Lansdowne yesterday, to meet the Duchess of Orleans and the Comte de Paris. 1 had never seen her before. She is plain, but pleasing, and with very good manners. August 21sf. — The Divorce Bill having passed the House of Commons, went up to the House of Lords yesterday, when Lord Redesdale attempted to strangle it by a dodge, which he was obliged to give up in consequence of the vigorous attacks made upon him by the Ministerial side, who were supported even by St. Leonards, and particularly by an in- dignant and effective speech made by Lord Lansdowne, who, in spite of weakness and gout, from which he was actually suffering, spoke with extraordinary spirit. If Redes- dale had persisted, and gone to a division, the Government wonld probably have been beaten, and the labor of half the session would have been thrown away. As it is, there is to be a fight on Monday next, the result of which depends on which side can get the greatest number to come up from the country to vote. September 6th. — Went to Worsley on Thursday last, in order to go from thence to see the Manchester Exhibition, which is very pretty, but appears diminutive after the Lon- don and Sydenham Exhibitions. Its principal attraction is in the excellent collection of pictures ; it will be a faihire in a pecuniary point of view, but there are plenty of rich people in Manchester able and willing to bear the expenses. The session closed very quietly, though not without some grum- bling. Some complained that Parliament should not con- tinue to sit while the Indian troubles are going on with undiminished force, others that the Queen should go to Scotland ; but the Government have brought their labors to a close very prosperously, and Palmerston continues as powerful and as secure as ever. There is no longer the same enthusiasm there was for him, but there is a universal impression that he is indispensable, and on the whole a feelina: of satisfaction and confidence in his administration. 1857.] DEATH OF MR. CROKER. 377 Even I myself am compelled in candor to acknowledge that he does at least as well as anybody else would be likely to do, and no complaints can justly be made against the Govern- ment of any supineness in sending out adequate reinforce- ments to India. Lewis told me, just as Parliament was prorogued, that they were thoroughly impressed with the gravity of the case, and conscious of the danger, and that they were going to send out every man they could muster here or in the Colonies, and they have already despatched troops in great numbers with remarkable celerity. They have made some Peers, of whom the most con- spicuous is Macaulay, and I have not seen or heard any complaints of his elevation. Lord Lansdownc has declined the offered Dukedom, Avhich I rather regret, for such a public recognition of his character and services during a long life would have been graceful and becoming, and the report of it elicited from all quarters expressions of satisfac- tion at such an honor having been so worthily conferred. While Macaulay is thus ascending to the House of Peers, his old enemy and rival Croker has descended to the grave, very noiselessly and almost without observation, for he had been for some time so withdrawn from the world that he was nearly forgotten. He had lived to see all his predictions of ruin and disaster to the country completely falsified. He continued till the last year or two to exhale his bitterness and spite in the columns of the ''Quarterly Eeview," but at last the Editor (who had long been sick of his contributions) contrived to get rid of him. I never lived in any intimacy with him, and seldom met him in society, but he certainly occupied a high place among the second-rate men of his time ; he had very considerable talents, great industry, with much information and a retentive memory. He spoke in Parliament with considerable force, and in society his long acquaintance with the world and with public affairs, and his stores of general knowledge made him entertaining, though he was too overbearing to be agreeable. He was particularly disliked by Macaulay, who never lost an opportunity of vent- ing his antipathy by attacks upon him. Hohvood, September 10th. — I came here on Tuesday on a visit to the Chancellor.^ This beautiful place formerly belonged to Mr. Pitt, and abounds in local recollections of 1 [Lord Cranworth at this time occupied Holwood as a summer residence.] 378 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIV. the great Minister in the shape of "Pitt's Oak," ''Pitt's Well," &c. It is close to Hayes, where his father, the great Lord Chatham, lived and died. Nobody is here but Pem- berton Leigh. I asked the Chancellor what was the real history of the Life Peerage last year, and he told me that it originated in his finding great inconvenience from himself and Lord St. Leonards frequently sitting together in the House of Lords without any third, and as St. Leonards invariably opposed his view of every case great injustice was often done to suitors, and he urged on Palmerston the expediency of giving them some assistance. Palmerston said it would be a good opportunity for making some Life Peers. Wensleydale was willing to retire from the Bench and to accept a Life Peer- age, so it was determined to create him a Peer for life only, and they did this without the slightest idea that any objec- tion would be made in any quarter. He owned that he re- gretted this design had not been abandoned at once when the storm of opposition began. I told him that I had no doubt there would have been no opposition if he had im- parted the intentions of Government to some of the Law Lords, and obtained their acquiescence, for Lyndhurst would certainly not have objected, having himself told me that he meant to comply with Parke's request to him to in- troduce him to the House of Lords. The Chancellor said this was very likely true, but that he had never liked the at- tempt to force it through the House of Lords. He thought the opposition had originated with Campbell, who had proba- bly forgotten that he had recorded his own opinion, in his "Lives of the Chancellors," that Life Peerages would be ad- visable in certain cases. September 22d. — I am just returned from Doncaster, Bretby, and Wilby. The Indian mail arrived on Monday last, just as I was starting for Doncaster. The news it brought at first appeared rather good, but when it all came out it seemed so checkered with good and evil that it pro- duced great despondency. Still it is a curious circumstance (which I have heard no one else remark) that, with all the deep interest universally felt on account of this Sepoy war, not only as it regards our national interests, but out of feel- ing and sympathy for the vast numbers of our countrymen and women exposed to its horrors and dangers, it does not produce the same degree of enthusiasm as the Crimean AVar 1857.] VISIT TO SCOTLAND. 379 did, in which we had no real interest concerned, and which was only a gigantic folly on our part. People are very anx- ious about this war, and earnestly desire that the mutiny may be put down and punished, but they regard the war itself with aversion and horror, whereas they positively took pleas- ure in the war against Eussia, and were ready to spend their last guinea in carrying it on. A subscription has been set on foot, but although there never was an occasion on which it might have been expected that vast sums would be sub- scribed, the contributions have been comparatively small in amount, and it seems probable that a much less sum will be produced for the relief of the Indian sufferers than the Pa- triotic Fund or any of the various subscrij^tions made for purposes connected with the Crimean War. I was so struck with the backwardness of the Government in rewarding Gen- eral Havelock for his brilliant exploits, that I wrote to George Lewis and urged him to press his colleagues to confer some honor upon him and promote liim. I am on the point of starting for Balmoral, summoned for a Council to order a day of humiliation. Gordon Castle, Scptemher Tttli. — I left town on Tuesday afternoon, and slept that night at York, on Wednesday at Perth, and on Thursday posted to Balmoral, where I arrived between two and three o'clock. Granville, Panmure, and Ben Stanley formed the Council. Granville told me the Queen wished that the day appointed should be a Sunday, but Palmerston said it must be on a weekday, and very re- luctantly she gave way. What made the whole thing more ridiculous was, that she gave a ball (to the gillies and ten- an1;s) the night before this Council. The outside of the new house at Balmoral, in the Scotch and French style, is pretty enough, but the inside has but few rooms, and those very small not uncomfortable, and very simply decorated ; the place and environs are pretty. In the aifternoon I drove over to Invercauld with Phipps. On Friday morning came on here, by post, by rail, and by mail. Without any beauty, this is rather a fine place, and the house very comfortable. September 2Sth. — Went to Elgin to see the fine old ruin of the Cathedral, which is very grand, and must have been magnificent. It was built in the beginning of the thirteenth century, burnt down, and rebuilt in the fourteenth. I see they have done all I wanted to have done for General Have- 380 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIV. lock. He has got a good service pension, is made Major- General and K. C. B. Dunrohin Castle, October 2d. — I came here from Gordon Castle on Wednesday, by sea from Burghead to the Little Eerry, a very tiresome way of travelling, the delays being detestable. Have long been most desirous of seeing this place, which has quite equalled my expectations, for it is a most princely possession, and the Castle exceedingly beauti- ful and moreover very comfortable. I start for London to- morrow morning with a long journey before me. The Indian news of this week as bad and promises as ill as well can be, and I expect worse each mail that comes. We are justly punished for our ambition and encroaching spirit, but it must be owned we struggle gallantly for what we have perhaps unjustly acquired. Europe behaves well to us, for though we have made ourselves universally odious by our insolence and our domination, and our long habit of bullying all the world, nobody triumphs over us in the hour of our distress, and even Eussia, who has no cause to feel anything but ill will toward us, evinces her regret and S3^mputhy in courteous terms. Whatever the result of this contest may be, it will certainly absorb all our efforts and occupy our full strength and power, so that we shall not be able to take any active or influential part in European affairs for some time to come. The rest of the Great Powers will have it in their power to settle everything as seems meet to them, without troubling themselves about us and our opinions. For the present we are reduced to the condition of an insignificant Power. It is certain that if this mutiny had taken place two years earlier, we could not have engaged at all in £lie Eussian War. London, Odoler 6t7i. — I left Dunrobin after breakfast on Saturday morning, 3d inst., and arrived in London on Monday (yesterday) at 11 a. m. My journey was after this wise : We (i. e., Mr. Marshall of the Life Guards, an aide-de- camp of Lord Carlisle's, who travelled from Dunrobin with me) got into the mail at Golspie and took our places to In- verness. At Tain, the first stage, we walked on, leaving the coach to overtake ns. After walking three miles, and no coach coming, we got alarmed, and, on enquiry of the first man we fell in with, found we had come the wrong way, and that the mail had gone on. We started on our return to Tain, and falling in with a good Samaritan in the shape of 1857.] REINFORCEMENTS FOR INDIA. 381 a banker in that place, who was driving in the opposite di- rection, he took us up in liis gig, and drove us back to the inn, where we took post, and followed the mail to Inverness, where we arrived an hour after it. There we slept, and at five minutes before five on Sunday morning we were in the mail again, and arrived at Perth at six o'clock, making 117 miles in thirteen hours. In twenty minutes more we were in the mail train, and reached Euston Square safe and sound at eleven o'clock, doing the distance between Perth and Lou- don in seventeen and a half hours. I have seen a vast deal of very beautiful scenery of all sorts, but the most beautiful of all (and I never saw anything more lovely anywhere) is the road from Blair Atliol to Dunkeld, which includes the pass of Killiecrankie. I fell in with Granville and Clarendon at Watford, and got into their carriage. Of course my first enquiries were about India, when they told me that the general impression was not quite so unfavorable as that produced by the first telegraphic intelligence. Clarendon said that if it was pos- sible for Havelock to maintain himself a short time longer, and that reinforcements arrived in time to save the belea- guered places, the tide would turn and Delhi would fall ; but, if he should be crushed, Agra, Lucknow, and other threatened places would fall, with renewals of the Cawnpore horrors, and in that case the unlimited spread of the mutiny would be irrepressible, Madras and Bombay would revolt, all the scattered powers would rise up everywhere, and all would be lost. We both agreed that the next would probably be decisive accounts for weal or for woe. I told Granville afterward that I was glad to sec they had called out more militia, but regretted they had not done more, when he .=aid that he was inclined to take the same view, from which it was evident to me that there has been difl'erence of ojtinion in the Cabinet as to the extent to which the calling out of the militia should be carried. I urged him to press on his colleagues a more extensive measure. It is evident that public opinion will back them up in gathering together as great a force as possible in this emergency, regardless of expense, and at all events the course of this Government is not embarrassed and annoyed as that of another Government was three years ago in reference to the Crimean War. As a very true article in a very sensible paper set forth, the difference between then and now is, that the Government of 382 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIV. Palmerston has fair play, while that of Lord Aberdeen never had it. The Press, and public opinion goaded and inflamed by the Press, treated the latter with the most flagrant in- justice, while Palmerston and the whole Government, out of regard for him, are treated with every sort of consideration and confidence. London, Octoher IWi. — I spent last week at Newmarket ; the details of the last Indian news which arrived there put people in better spirits, but they were too much occupied with the business of the place to think much about India. Eeturned to town on Friday, and went to The Grove yester- day ; had some talk with Clarendon, who said Palmerston was very off-hand in his views of Indian affairs, and had jumped "to the conclusion that the Company must be extin- guished. At the Cabinet on Friday last he said, " They need not meet again for some time, but they must begin to think of how to deal with India when the revolt was put down.. Of course everybody must see that the India Com- pany must be got rid of, and Vernon Smith would draw np a scheme in reference thereto." This brief announce- ment did not meet with any response, and there was no disposition to come to such rapid and peremptory conclu- sions, but it seemed not worth while to raise any discussion about it then. Clarendon then talked of the Court, and confirmed what I had heard before, going into more detail. He said that the manner in wliich the Queen in her own name, but with the assistance of the Prince, exercised her functions, was exceedingly good, and well became her position and was eminently useful. She held each Minister to the discharge of his duty and his responsibility to her, and constantly desired to be furnished with accurate and detailed informa- tion about all important matters, keeping a record of all the reports that were made to her, and constantly recurring to them, e.g. she would desire to know what the state of the Navy was, and what ships were in readiness for active service, and generally the state of each, ordering returns to be sub- mitted to her from all the arsenals and dockyards, and again weeks or months afterward referring to these returns, and desiring to have everything relating to them explained and accounted for, and so throughout every department. In this practice Clarendon told me he had encouraged her strenuously. This is what none of her predecessors ever 1857.] ATTACKS ON LORD CANNING. 383 did, and it is in fact the act of Prince Albert, who is to all intents and purposes King, only acting entirely in her name. All his views and notions are those of a Constitu- tional Sovereign, and he fulfils the duties of one, and at the same time makes the Crown an entity, and discharges the functions which properly belong to the Sovereign. I told Clarendon that I had been told the Prince had uj)on many occasions rendered the most important services to the Gov- ernment, and had repeatedly prevented their getting into scrapes of various sorts. He said it was perfectly true, and that he had written some of the ablest papers he had ever read. Clarendon said he had recently been very much pleased with the Duke of Cambridge, who had shown a great deal of sense and discretion, and a very accurate knowledge of the details of his office, and that he was a much better Com- mander-in-Chief than Hardinge. He had been lately sum- moned to the Cabinet on many occasions, and had given great satisfaction there. Clarendon talked of Vernon Smith, of whom he has no elevated opinion, but still thinks him not without merit, and that at this moment it would not be easy to replace him by some one clearly better fitted. He takes pains, is rather clever, and did better in the House of Commons than anybody gave him credit for last session ; he makes himself well informed upon everything about his office, and is never at a loss to answer any questions that are put to him, and to answer them satis- factorily. November 2cl. — Gout in my hand has prevented my writ- ing anything, and adding some trifling particulars to what I have written above. In the meantime has arrived the news of the capture of Delhi, but though we have received it now a week ago we are still unacquainted with the jiarticulars. All the advantages of the electric telegi'aph are dearly paid for by the agonies of suspense which are caused by the long intervals between the arrival of general facts and of their particular details. It still remains to be seen whether the results of this success turn out on the whole to be as advan- tageous as it appears to be brilliant. The Press goes on at- tacking Canning with great asperity and injustice, and nobody here defends him. Though I am not a very intimate or par- ticular friend of his, I think him so unfairly and ungener- ously treated that I mean to make an effort to get him such 384 REIGX OF QUEEX VICTORIA. [Chap. XIV. redress as tlie case admits of, and tlie only thing which oc- curs to me is that Palmerston, as head of the Government, shoukt take the opportunity of the Lord Mayor's dinner to vindicate him, and assume the responsibility of his acts. His *•■ Clemency " proclamation, as it is stupidly and falsely called, was, I believe, not only proper and expedient, but necessary, and I expect he will be able to vindicate himself completely from all the charges which the newspapers have brought against him, but in the meantime they will have done him all the mischief they can. Among other things Clarendon told me at The Grove, he said, in reference to Cimning's war against the press, that the license of the Indian press was intolerable, not of the native press only, but the English in Bengal. Certain papers are conducted there by low, dis- affected people, who publish the most gross, false, and malig- nant attacks on the Government, which are translated into the native languages, and read extensively in the native regi- ments, and among the natives generally, and that to put down this pest was an absolute necessity. November Mh. — I have been speaking to Granville about Canning, and urged him to move Palmerston to stand forth in his defence at the Lord Mayor's dinner on the 9th. This morning he received a very strong and pressing letter from Clanricarde, in the same sense in which I had been urging him, and a very good letter, and this he is going to send to Palmerston. Clanricarde is struck, as I am, with the fact that nobody and no newspaper has said a word in Canning's favor, and he sees as I have done all the damage which has already been done to him by the long and uncontradicted course of abuse and reproach with which the press has teemed. Hatchforcl, November 8f7i. — Granville made a speech in defence of Canninsf, at a dinner given at the Mansion House to the Duke of Cambridge. He writes me word it was ''rather nphill work," and I was told it was not very well received, but nevertheless it produced an effect, and it acted as a check upon the " Times," which without retracting (which it never does) has considerably mitigated its violence. It was the first word that has been said for Canning in pub- lic, and it has evidently been of great use to him. The most interesting event during the last few days is the failure of the attempted launch of the big ship (now called " Leviathan "), and it is not a little remarkable that aU the 1857.] PALMEKSTON'S SPEECH AT THE MANSION HOUSE. 385 great experiments recently made have proved failures. Be- sides this one of the ship, there was a few weeks ago the cracking of the bell (Big Ben) for the Houses of Parliament, and not long before that the failure of the submarine tele- graph in the attempt to lay it down in the sea. The bell will probably be replaced without much difficulty, but it is at present doubtful whether it will be found possible to launch the ship at all, and whether the telegraphic cable can ever be completed. November lOtJi. — Palmerston pronounced a glowing eu- logium on Canning last night at the Lord Mayor's dinner, which will infallibly stop the current of abuse against him. It has already turned the " Times." He seems to have been induced to do this by the great pressure brought to bear on him, for otherwise he had no desire to stand forth and oppose public opinion and the press ; but Clarendon, Lansdowne, and others all urged him strenuously to support Canning, and he did it handsomely enough. His speech in other re- spects was an injudicious one, full of Jactance and bow-Avow, but well enough calculated to draw cheers from a miscel- laneous audience. November llih. — I was told yesterday that Palmerston's swaggering speech would produce a bad effect in France, and those whom I have spoken to agree in thinking it very ill- timed and in very bad taste. It is the more objectionable because he might have said something very different that would have been very becoming and true. He might have observed upon the remarkable good taste and forbearance which had been so conspicuous in all foreign nations toward us, even those who may be supposed to be least friendly to us, or those whom we have most outraged by our violent and insulting language or conduct. It is at once creditable to other countrie^ and honorable to us that no disposition has been shown in any quarter to act differently toward us, or to avail themselves of what they may suppose to be our weakness and difficulty ; but, on the contrary, the same con- sideration and deference has been shown to us as if there had been no Indian outbreak to absorb our resources. Our position in Europe is not only as high as ever, but no one shows any disposition to degrade or diminish it ; and while this is a gratifying homage to us and a flattering recognition oi our power, it is, or at least ouglit to be, calculated to inspire us with amicable sentiments, and to be an inducement 17 386 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIV. to US to depart from tlie insolent and offensive tone which has so long- prevailed here, and which has made England universally an object of aversion. It was of course impos- sible that some expressions should not be given here and there and now and then to such feelings, but on the whole we have no reason to complain, but much the contrary ; not even in Russia, whose power and pride we have so deeply wounded, and whom we have so outraged by every topic and expression of insult and injury which the bitterest hatred could suggest, has there been anything like asperity, or any rejoicing over our misfortunes. Frognal, November IMli. — The news of the capture of Delhi and the relief of Lucknow excited a transport of delight and triumph, and everybody jumped to the conclusion that the Indian contest was virtually at an end. Granville told me he thought there would be no more fighting, and that the work was done. I was not so sanguine, and though I thought the result of the contest was now secure, I thought we should still have a great deal on our hands and much more fighting to hear of before the curtain could drop. But I was not prepared to hear the dismal news which arrived to-day, and which has so cruelly damped the public joy and exultation. It appears that Havelock is in great danger and the long suffering garrison of Lucknow not yet out of their peril, for the victory of Havelock had not been complete, the natives were gathering round the small British force in vast numbers, and unless considerable reinforcements could be speedily brought up, the condition of the British, both military and civilians, of men, women, and children, would soon again be one of excessive danger. The Grove, November Ihtli. — I talked with Clarendon about the Government letter to the Bank * and the state of financial afEairs. It is evident that Clarendon knows very little about these questions, and takes very little part in them, but he 1 [On the 12th of November a letter was addressed to the Governors of the Bank of England by Lord Palmerston and Sir George Cornewall Lewis, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, empowermg the Bank to exceed the lunits pre- scribed by tlie Bank Act of 1844 (if necessary) to meet the demands for discount and advances on approved secm'ity. This measure was rendered necessary by the extensive failures which had recently taken place, and the severe pressure on the money market. On the 4rth November discount had advanced to 9 per cent. The Issue Department made over to the Banking Department two mill- ions in excess of the statutable amount, of which about one million was ad- vanced to the public. On the 1st December the whole amount was repaid. Parliament was summoned to pass, a Bill of Indemnity, and public confidence was restored.] 1857.] SUSPENSION OF THE BANK ACT. 387 told me one curious fact. A letter which appeared about a week ago, addressed by the Emperor of the French to his Finance Minister, made a great sensation here. In it the Emperor deprecated all empirical measures for the purpose of meeting the prevailing difficulties, financial and commer- cial, at Paris. About a week before this Clarendon received a letter from Cowley, who said that he had been conversing with the Emperor and with Walewski on these matters, and Walewski had begged him (by the desire of the EmiDeror) to write to Clarendon and request the advice of the English Government as to the course he should adopt. Clarendon said that George Lewis was out of town, but as there could be no delay, he sent his private secretary to the Governor and Deputy Governor of the Bank, and requested their ad- vice and opinion. They said it was so important they would go down to the Foreign Office, which they did, when they told Clarendon that their advice was that the Emperor should insist on the Bank of France following as nearly as possible the example of the Bank of England, to keep their rates of discount high, and to avoid all rash experiments of any kind. He wrote to Cowley accordingly, who communi- cated the answer, and judging from the dates it would ap- pear that the Emperor's letter was the consequence of the advice so tendered. But Clarendon seemed to think that the appearance of the Government letter was rather awk- ward, and would appear to the French Government very in- consistent with our communication to them. However, it will probably be easy to afford satisfactory explanations on this head. The measure itself here has apparently had the desired success, and they hope the panic and distress will gradually subside, without any more mischief happening. Lewis thinks that the best mode of dealing with Peel's Act will be to retain it, but to give a power to the Queen in Council to relax it in^the same manner as has been now twice done by the interposition of Government, whenever an urgent necessity should arise, and I suppose this is the course that will be adopted, though not without a great deal of discus- sion and diversity of opinion. I have hitherto said nothing about the very curious and important state of affairs in America and in this country, because I am too ignorant of financial questions to talk alaout them, and I have not been apprised of any facts beyond what all the world knows that it was worth while to record, but this anecdote of the French 388 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIV. Grovernment and our own appears sufficiently curious to have a place in this book. November 17th. — A council was held yesterday at Wind- sor to summon Parliament, where I found the ministers much dejected at the news from India. There was a letter from Colin Campbell, expressing great alarm at the position of Outram and Havelock, whom he thought to be in a great scrape, though without any fault of theirs, and there was also a report from Sir John Lawrence that affairs were in a ticklish state in the Punjaub, and expressing a great anxiety for reinforcements, which he had very little prospect of getting ; in short the apparently bright sky in which we were rejoicing only a few days ago seems to be obscured by black clouds, and the great result to be as uncertain as ever. I met Clarendon at dinner this evening, when he told me that affairs were in a bad state in the City, and that Lewis had received very unsatisfactory accounts, so that it is not clear that the Government letter is producing the good which at first seemed to be following from it. There is a good deal of uneasiness in the financial and commercial world and no confidence. The very prudence of the trading community in arresting the course of production is becoming a source of distress, for already vast numbers of people are out of employment, or working short time with reduced wages. The prices of everything are falling, consumption will be diminished, and the revenue must be diminished likewise, while our expenses cannot but be increased by the war. A general cry is getting up for making India pay for the expense of this Indian war, which, even supposing it to be just and reasonable, will make the ultimate settlement of the Indian question more difficult, and a measure little calcu- lated to reconcile the native population to our rule. Then, as if we had not embarrassments enough on our hands, America is going to add to them, for President Buchanan, who hates England with a mortal antipathy, threatens to repudiate the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, upon the pretence that we have not abided by its conditions, and if he proposes to the Senate to declare it null and void, the Senate will do so at his bidding. This would be a flagrant violation of good faith, and of the obligations by which all civilized nations consider themselves bound. If this event happens, it will place us in a very perplexing dilemma, especially after Palmerston's absurd bravado and confident boastings of our 1857.] LORD PALMERSTON'S HEALTH. 389 power, for we are not in a condition to enable us to take a high line corresponding with that lofty language, and we shall have to eat humble pie and submit to the affront. Hitherto all other nations and governments have behaved to us as well and as respectfully as we could desire, and far more than we deserve ; but if America bullies us in one instance, and we are found pocketing the affront, it is by no means improba- ble that other governments will begin to take advantage of our weakness, and adopt toward us a conduct injurious to our interests or a tone galling to our pride. ^ November 25fh. — Last week I went to Ampthill from Wednesday till Saturday ; on Saturday to The Grove, with the Duke of Bedford, the Lewises, Charles Villiers, and Ben Stanley. The Duke of Bedford told me he was very uneasy about his brother John, who seemed in an irritable frame of mind, and disposed to wage war against the Government when Parliament meets. ^ He told Sir George Grey the other day that they would not find him friendly. Clarendon told me of a conversation he had recently had with the Queen a. propos of Palmerston's health, concerning which Her Maj- esty was very uneasy, and what could be done in the not im- possible contingency of his breaking down. It is a curious change from what we saw a few years ago, that she is become almost affectionately anxious about the health of Palmerston, whose death might then have been an event to be hailed with satisfaction. Clarendon said she might well be solicitous about it, for if anything happened to Palmer- ston she would be placed in the greatest difficulty. She said that in such a case she should look to him, and expect him to replace Palmerston, on which Clarendon said he was glad she had broached the subject, as it gave him an opportunity of saying what he was very anxious to impress upon her mind, and that was the absolute impossibility of his under- taking such an office, against which he enumerated various objections. He told her that Derby could not form a Government, and if she had the misfortune to lose Palmer- 1 [These apprehensions were unfounded. Mr. Buchanan did not seek to abrogate the Chxyton-Bulwer Treaty witli reference to the eventual construction of a passage through the Isthmus of Central America, and the neutral character of that undertaking, which is now said to be in progress by the Canal of Panama, has remained unclianged to the present time.] 2 [Lord John Russell had taken office in Lord Palmerston's first Administra- tion as Colonial Secretary, but he resigned on June 13, 1855, and remained out of ofBice. j 390 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIV. ston, nothing remained for her to do but to send for John Russell and put him at the head of the Government. She expressed her great repugnance to this, and especially to make him Prime Minister. Clarendon then entreated her to conquer her repugnance, and to be persuaded that it would never do to offer him anything else, which he neither would nor could accept ; that the necessity was to have a man who could lead the House of Commons, and there was no other but him ; that Lord John had consented to take a subordinate office under Lord Aberdeen, who was his senior in age, and occupied a high position, but he would never consent to take office under him (Clarendon), and the pro- posal he would consider as an insult. For every reason, therefore, he urged her, if driven to apply to him at all, to do it handsomely, to place the whole thing in his hands, and to give him her full confidence and support. He appears to have convinced her that; this is the proper course, and he gave me to understand that if Lord John acts with prudence and moderation all the present Government would accept him for their head, and Clarendon is so anxious that this should be the turn affairs should take, that he urged me to talk to the Duke of Bedford about it, and to get him to exert all his in- fluence with Lord John to conduct himself in such a man- ner as shall conduce to his restoration to office at a future time. I had only time to exchange a few words with the Duke before we parted the next morning, and we agreed that I should write him a letter on the subject which he may show to Lord John if he sees fit to do so. I went to Wrotham on Monday, and yesterday penned an epistle to be shown to Lord John, in which I set forth his position, and dilated on the great importance to himself and to the country of his conducting himself with j)atience and forbearance, and of his abstaining from any such vexatious opposition to the Government as might render his future union with them im- possible. It remains to be seen whether my remonstrance (which I tried to couch in terms that would not be disagree- able to Lord John) will produce any effect.^ 1 [These speculations are curious, but happily the apprehensions caused by the supposed state of Lord Palmerston's health were unfounded, for with the short interval of the second Derby Government in 1858 and 1859, he continued to hold office and to discharge the duties of Prime Minister with his accustomed vigor and success until his death in October, 1865, when he was succeeded by Lord Eussell. At this particular moment (1857) the latent danger of the Gov- ernment lay, not in the failing health of Lord Palmerston, but in an unforseen 185Y.] EXAGGERATED REPORTS FROM INDIA. 391 HitcJiinhrooh, November 2Sth. — I came here to-day from Riddlcsworth, where I haye now been for the first time for twenty years. I received there two letters from the Duke of Bedford, the first telling me he should show, and the second that he had shown, my letter to Lord John. He received it graciously, saying he agreed with almost all I said, but that it was easier to give than it was to take such advice, and that he had been blamed by certain persons for not having given more opposition to the Government last year on some questions than he had done, especially to the Persian War ; but I rather infer on the whole that my letter made some impression on him, though it remains to be seen how much. The last news from India is as good as could be expected, and the current there has evidently turned. I met Martin Smith (Indian Director) at Eiddlesworth, and had much talk with him about Indian affairs. It is clear that the Com- pany do not mean to submit to be summarily extinguished without a struggle. He told me that with regard to the great subject, the sending out troops by sailing vessels in- stead of by steamers, which is made matter of bitter reproach against the Directors, the fault lay entirely with the Govern- ment. The Directors wanted to send 10,000 men across Egypt, and the Government would not do it. They pro- posed it formally to the Board of Control, who referred it to the Foreign Office, and Clarendon said it could not be done on account of certain political considerations which rendered it inexpedient, so that if the Directors could have had their own way the thing would have been done. There may have been good grounds for the refusal of the Government, but in this instance the double Government was productive only of a sacrifice of Indian to Imperial interests, and it will not be easy to draw from this transaction any argument in favor of abolishing the East India Company and the Leadenhali Street Administration. Londoti, December 2d. — Yesterday morning Lord Sydney received a letter from Lady Canning, who said that although undoubtedly many horrible things had happened in India, the exaggeration of them had been very great, and that she had read for the first time in the English newspapers stories of atrocities of which she had never heard at Calcutta, and occurrence which caused the unexpected defeat of Lord Palmerston's Ministry ■within four months of this date, and the accession of Lord Derby and his friends to office.] 393 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIV. that statements made in India had turned out to be pure in- ventions and falsehoods. Yet our papers publish everything that is sent to them without caring whether it may be true or false, and the credulous public swallow it all without the slightest hesitation and doubt. Shaftesbury too, who is a prodigious authority with the public, and who has all the religious and pseudo-religious people at his back, does his utmost to make the case out to be as bad as possible and to excite the rage and indignation of the masses to the highest pitch. He is not satisfied with the revolting details with which the Press has been teeming, but complains that more of them have not been detailed and described, and that the particulars of mutilation and violation have not been more copiously and circumstantially given to the world. I have never been able to comprehend what his motives are for talk- ing in this strange and extravagant strain, but it is no doubt something connected with the grand plan of Christianizing India, in the furtherance of which the High Church and the Low Church appear to be bidding against each other ; and as their united force will in all probability be irresistible, so they will succeed in making any Covernment in India im- possible. B showed me the Draft of the Queen's Speech this evening after dinner. Cobbett in his Grammar produces examples of bad English taken from Kings' Speeches, which he says might be expected to be the best written, but gener- ally are the worst written documents in the world. It would be difficult to produce any former Speech more deplorably composed than this one. Long sentences, full of confusion, and of which the meaning is not always clear, and some faults of grammar for which a schoolboy would be whipped. B was so struck by one I pointed out that he said he would beg Palmerston to alter it. If this Speech escapes severe criticism and ridicule I shall be much surprised, as I am already that George Lewis, who has so lately been a liter- ary critic, and is a correct writer himself, should have al- lowed it to pass in its present shape, and indeed the sentence he himself jmt in about his own business is as bad as any other part of it. I have no idea what they mean to propose about the Bank Charter Act, but if it be what Lewis told me some time ago, to give the Queen the power of suspending the Act by Order in Council, I much doubt if they will carry such a proposal. 1857.] OPENING OF THE SESSION. 393 and it appears to me on reflection thoroughly unconstitu- tional, and as such I expect it will be vehemently attacked by all the opponents and the quasi-opponents of Government, and indeed by all except those who are prepared to follow Palmerston with blind submission, and to vote for anything rather than allow him to be put in jeopardy. John Russell, for instance, would hardly be able to resist the temptation of falling foul of such a proposal, though he would approve of their having followed a precedent wliich he had himself set in a case somewhat similar, though in some respects less urgent. CHAPTER XV. Opening of tbe Session — Prevailing- Distress — Lord John reconciled — Ministerial Specula- tions — Contemplated Transfer of India to the Crown — Military Position in India — Con- versation with Mr. Disraeli — Bill for the Dissolution of the East India Company — ])iffl- culties of Parliamentary lieform — The Relief of Lucknow — Lord Norman by's "• Year of Revolution " — Bruug-ham's Jealousy of Lord Cockburn — Refutation of Lord Norman- by's Book — The Crown Jewels of Hanover — Labor in the French Colonies — The Death of General Havelock — Gloomy Prospects in India — Inadequate Measures for the ReHef of India— Lord John Russell hostile to Government— Death of the Duke of Devon.'shire — Mr. Disraeli suggests a Fusion of Parties— Marriage of the Princess Royal — Weakness of the Government — Excitement in France against this Country— Petition of the East India Company — Drowsiness of Ministers^Decline of Lord Paimerston's Popularity — Effect of the Orsini Attempt on the Emperor Napoleon. — Opposition to the (Conspiracy Bill — Review of the Crisi.s — Lord Derby sent for by the Queen— Refusal of the Peel- ites — The Catastrophe unexpected — The Defeat might have been avoided — Misman- agement of the Affair— Ministers determined to resign. London, December Uh, 1857. — Pari lament opened yester- day, very quietly, and at present a quiet session seems prob- able, but such appearances are often fallacious. The most alarming consideration is the j)robability of a very hard and hungry winter for the working classes, vast numbers of people being already out of employment. I met Sir James Shuttle- worth yesterday, who knows a great deal about Lancashire, where he lives, and he told me that though the distress was considerable and threatening to increase, the conduct of the people was admirable. There was no disaifection or bad feeling toward the upper classes and employers ; they semed to have greatly improved in good -sense and reflection, and were satisfied of the sympathy felt for them, and the disposition entertained by tlie rich to do all in their power to alleviate the distress of the poor. And he stated (what seemed to me a curious fact) Chat they preferred that the 394 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XV. time of working should be shortened, or even mills closed, rather than a general reduction in the rate of wages. This moral condition of the laboring classes is a most satisfactory sign of the times. The Duke of Bedford has just been here, and tells me Lord John is in a better frame of mind, and has already done two sensible things. He has given notice to some of his supporters that he will have nothing to do with the organi- sation of any party, and he has responded to an invitation of Vernon Smith's by a promise to impart to him his opinion and advice upon Indian affairs, and the best mode of pro- viding for the future government of that country. December 6th. — John Eussell has begun well in the House of Commons and si sic omnia he will put himself in a good position, but it is impossible to rely upon him. At present his disposition to the G-overnment' appears friendly. I had a conversation about him and his future relations with the Government last night with B . I infer from what dropped from him that he thinks the probability of Palm- erston's breaking down is not a remote and unlikely one. I do not think he considers him broken in health, but that he thinks the strength of his intellect is impaired, and that he begins to show signs of decay to those who have the means of observing them. He particularly noticed the failure of his memory, and he said, what I have no doubt is true, that he will never be himself conscious, still less acknowledge, that his faculties are less vigorous and active than they were. What the nature and amount of the decay in him is I know not, and they will not say, but from the uneasy feeling, and these speculations as to future contingencies among his col- leagues, I am sure they are prepared for something. B said if the case occurred there were only two men who could be Minister, Derby or Clarendon, and he fancies that John Eussell might be induced to take office under Clarendon, and he does not believe that Clarendon really means what he says when he expresses his extreme reluctance to take the post, or that he would not in reality prefer it even to the Foreign Office. He treats his scruples as a sort of nolo episcopari, in which I think he is partially, but not entirely, right. There can be no doubt that in the present state of affairs it is much to be desired that Palmerston should be able to go on. I was amused by a trifling incident, so very Palmerstonian, told me the other day. I have already alluded to the bad 1857.] CONTEMPLATED TRANSFER OF INDIA. 395 writing in the Queen's Speech, and it seems one phrase was criticised and altered in the Cabinet, but when he got back to his office he altered the alteration, and made it as it was before. I am not sure that the alteration was not the one suggested by B upon the strength of my criticism, and that Palmerston declined to alter the passage. December 1th. — I called on Lord Grey in the morning and dined with Lyndhurst in the evening, and had much talk with both of them about the pending questions, Reform, India, Bank Act. Lord Grey is bringing out a book upon Reform. Lyndhurst is decidedly against any strong and subversive measure about India, and is for improving and not ui:)setting the present system. Public opinion, led by the Press, has hitherto leant to the dissolution of the Company and the Directorial Government ; but as time advances and the ex- treme difficulty of concocting another system becomes appar- ent, people begin to dread the idea of destroying an ancient system without any certainty of a better one replacing it, and I think there is a general feeling of alarm at the notion of the Indian Empire being placed under the direction of such a man as Vernon Smith ; more, indeed, than is quite just and called for, as his talents, though of a second-rate calibre, are not so low as is supposed, and he is not the cipher in his office he is thought to be, but is well enough acquainted with all its details, and always able to explain everything to the Cabinet clearly and correctly. But these merits, which are those of a diligent clerk, are far from being sufficient to qualify him for liaving the direction of an office which circumstances have rendered by far the most imjiortant and difficult in the whole Government. Till re- cently the Board of Control has been looked upon as a very subordinate department, and one of mere routine, which anybody might fill. I remember when John Russell offered it to Graham some years ago, he treated the proposal as an insult. December 8i7i. — I went to the House of Lords last night and heard for the first time Ellenborough s^^eak — an admi- rable style of speaking. It was a good night for Canning. The "Times" has turned right round and defends him, finding the Government are in earnest in doing so. The account of Lucknow Just come by telegram is very alarm- ing, and keeps one in a state of nervous excitement, difficult to describe. 396 REIGN or QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XV. London, December lltli. — Though the last advices from India were satisfactory as far as they went, it is generally understood that the next mail must bring the account of a bloody battle at or near Lucknow, in which, though no one doubts that the British will be victorious, it is certain that there will be great loss of life. Sanguine people and the Press with hardly any exception, imagine that this antici- pated victory will terminate the contest and leave only some straggling conflicts to go on for a short time longer, ending by a speedy suppression of the rebellion. In this expectation I do not share, but, on the contrary, believe it will be a pro- tracted affair, not indeed doubtful in its ultimate result, but which will cost us much time and money and many men, for all who know anything of the matter tell us that the wear and tear in India is enormous, and that a continual stream of reinforcements must be poured into the country to keep the army in a state of efficiency. Captain Lowe, lately aide- de-camp to poor George Anson, and who was in the storm of Delhi, an intelligent officer, confirms all these notions, and he says that nothing can be more inexpedient than the scheme proi3ounded here with great confidence, of forming the native force, on which we are hereafter to rely, of Sikhs instead of Hindoos. He says that inasmuch as they are very brave and excellent soldiers, it would only be to place our- selves in a state of far greater danger and uncertainty, for though the Sikhs have proved very faithful to us, and ren- dered excellent service, it is impossible to predict how long this humor may last, and whether circumstances may not arise to induce them to throw off our yoke and assert their own independence. It is marvellous and providential that on this occasion the Sikhs were disposed to side with us in- stead of against us, for if they had taken the latter course, it would have been all up and nothing could have saved us. Apropos of this consideration he told me a curious anecdote. A Sikh was talking to a British officer in a very friendly way, and he said, *' Don't you think it very strange that we, who were so recently fighting against you, should be now fighting with you ? And should you be very much surprised if a year or two hence you should see us fighting against you again ?" Disraeli called on me a day or two ago, when we had a political chat. He talked with much contempt of the present Government, except of George Lewis, of whom he spoke in 1857'] CONVERSATION WITH GEORGE LEWIS. 397 the highest terms. He said Palmerstou's popularity was of a negative character, and, rather more from the. unpopularity of every other public man than from any peculiar attach- ment to him ; he talked bitterly of Derby's having declined to take the Government in 1855, which he seemed to con- sider as an irreparable blow to his party. He is evidently not without hopes that the Government may find themselves in some inextricable difficulty about their lieform Bill, and thinks they will be incapable of concocting an India Bill which will go down with the country. He does not appear to have made up his mind what course to take on the Indian question, and it is evident that at present the Tory party have decided on nothing. The Cabinet has committed the scheme of Reform to a select number of its members, as was done in 1830, but what they are doing about India I do not know. There is certainly a difference of opinion amongst them, as there no doubt is about Reform, but as little doubt that they are all agreed upon not letting their conflicting opinions break up the Government. December 'ilst. — I called on George Lewis the day before yesterday and had a long talk with him. He told me that Palmerston had given notice to the Chairs tliat the Govern- ment had come to the resolution of bringing in a Bill to put an end to their dominion, and that the plan was to have an Indian Secretary of State with a Council, and the Council to have the distribution of the patronage. I was surprised to hear him say that he saw no difficulty in the settlement of the Indian question, either in passing it through Parliament or in producing a good measure which would work better than the present system, and he said he wished the other great question they had upon their hands, that of Reform, was as easy, but that tlie more they went into it, the more difficult it appeared. I need not enter into the details which we discussed, as the Bill is not yet settled, and in a few weeks more it will come forth. He said that the great misfortune was their having thrown out Locke King's motion this year, for if they had done what they had originally intended with regard to it, they should in all probability have laid the question at rest for ten years longer at least, and he then told me a curious anecdote on this matter, giving an example of strange levity and incapacity on the part of the Government. When Locke King brought forward his motion, it was considered in the Cabinet, and they came 398 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XV. to a unanimous resolution to let his bill be read a second time, but to oppose the amount of his franchise in Committee and raise it from 10/. to 20Z., which they had no doubt they should carry. On the very night on which the question was to be moved Lewis went down to the House of Commons with this understanding, never dreaming that any alteration was contemplated, when George Grey said to him, " You know Palmerston is going to oppose Locke King's motion " (for leave to bring in his Bill). Lewis expressed his sur- prise, and asked what had happened to set aside the unani- mous agreement come to in the Cabinet. Grey said there had been a dinner at Charles Wood's, at which certain Ministers were present (whom he named, but I forget if Palmerston was one), when the question had been discussed, and the result had been to make a change in their opinions, and Palmerston had agreed that Locke King should be opposed ill limine. This Lewis told me he regarded as a fatal error, to which they owed the dilemma in which they found themselves placed. But what struck me most was the mode of doing business of such importance, and that there should not be found a single individual to protest against it, and to resign his office rather than to submit to be so dragged through the mire ; but the present doctrine seems to be that Palmerston^ s Government must be held together at any price, and this is the more curious when it is obvious to me that his colleagues, while conscious of the dijEficulty of doing without him, have an exceedingly mean opinion of his intrinsic value. I told Lewis all that Disraeli had said to me about him as well as about Palmerston, when he ex- pressed his surprise at the manner in which Disraeli had spoken of Mm, for which he was not at all prepared, but said he estimated Palmerston at Ms real worth. He told me of Harrowby's resignation on account of his health, and that his place had been offered to Clanricarde, and wanted to know if I thought Clanricarde would be objected to.^ We talked of the stories which John Eussell had heard of, about our being on bad terms with France, and the Emperor Napoleon out of humor with us, and of Palmerston's medi- tating hostile designs against Eussia, all of which he said were pure fabrications, as we were on the best terms with » [The Earl of Harrowby held the oflRce of Lord Privy Seal. He was suc- ceeded by the Marquis of Clanricarde, which proved a very unpopular appoint- ment.] 1857.] LORD NORMANBY'S BOOK. 399 France, and Palmerston entertained no hostile designs against Eussia or any other Power. We both agreed that our hands were too full to think of any fresh quarrels or aggressions, and I found him of the same opinion as myself about our arbitrary and dictatorial system, and of the mischief it had done, and as much with reference to the slave trade as any other question. I told him of the slave case just decided in the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, and of the sum of money it would cost our Government, to say nothing of the mortifica- ,tion. He said no doubt Palmerston would proclaim it to be a wrong decision, and would defend the Foreign Office and all the agents who had been concerned in the outrage.^ Hatchford, December 26ih. — Christmas Day, usually com- ing in frost and snow, was yesterday like a fine day in May, the glorious weather being in unison with the general glad- ness at the good news from India and the tidings that Luck- now, with its wounded and its long suffering band of women and children, had been relieved at last, and for good and all. This news arrived on Christmas Eve, to make the day itself as merry as it is proverbially said to be. Brougham has taken Normanby's book, ''A Year of Eevo- lution," under his protection, for what reason nobody can divine. He wrote to Mrs. Austin, begging she would exert her influence with her nephew Peeve to get it noticed fiivora- bly in the " Edinburgh Review," that it was a good book, had the merit of being true, and that it was much approved by Louis Napoleon, who had encouraged its being translated. I had imagined Brougham was improved, but it is evident from his conduct on this occasion that he is the same man he ever was. The book contains page after page of matter the most offensive to Guizot and to Louis Philippe and his family, with which everybody is revolted, and its malice is not redeemed by literary merit or attractiveness in any shape. 1 [This refers to the case of the " Newport," a vessel -which had been con- demned by the Vice- Admiralty Oonrt at St. Helena for alleged trading in slavcs,_ together with penalties to the amount of 13,OO0Z. on the shippers and owners of the cargo. TJie Lords ot the Judicial Committee reversecl this sentence with costs and damages, and declared that the owners of the ship must look to the Government for their indemnity. They added that " merchants who, having engaged only in a lawful adventure, have been subjected to an unjust and illegal sentence, are entitled to bo indemnified against its consequences, and against the costs which they have incurred in obtaining its reversal, in relieving thcra- selves from the heavy pecuniary loss which it inflicted, and from the deep stain which it east upon their characters, and that the national honor must be vindi- cated at the national expense."] 400 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XV. That Brougham should take up such a production is as unaccountable as it is indecent, for he affected to be ex- ceedingly attached to the Orleans royalties, to be on very intimate terms with the King, and he treated Guizot with a familiarity quite at variance with good taste and propriety, and which had excited the astonishment, with no small disgust, of Guizot himself. It might have been expected that he would have resented such a production as Normanby's, instead of patronizing it. He told Mrs. Austin he could not himself speak to Reeve about it, since he had made the "Edinburgh Eeview" the vehicle of a personal attack upon^ himself. What he alluded to was, that when Lord Cock- ' burn's life was published an article (anonymous of course) appeared in the ''Law Magazine" in which Lord Cockburn was very ill-used, and another in reply to this, and in vindi- cation of Lord Cockburn, but without a word against Brough- am, appeared in the "Edinburgh." This was what he called a personal attack upon himself. He was the author of the paper in the " Law Magazine," but the writer in the "Edin- burgh " had no right to assume this, or to know anything about it, though as a matter of fact he did know, or at least had good reason to suspect, that it was penned by Brougham. It had already been settled that the "Edinburgh Keview" should take no notice whatever of " The Year of Eevolu- tion," and Mrs. Austin having sent Brougham's letter to Eeeve, Eeeve answered it himself, utterly denying that he had made or intended to make any attack upon him, and telling him in plain terms what the general opinion is of Normanby's book. Meanwhile Guizot writes to Eeeve that the book is full of lies, and not worth notice ; that he will take none of what concerns himself alone, but cannot leave uncontradicted such parts of it as relate to the King, and give utterly false statements of the relations between the King and himself. He then refers to various passages which he says are all false, and desires Eeeve to show his letter to Lord Lansdowne, Granville, and me, and to anybody else he thinks fit. All this will contribute to bring Normanby into a very unpleas- ant dilemma about this ill-advised book, and it must be said that it is all Clarendon's fault for his weakness and good nature in abstaining from renewing his prohibition, and when Normanby was here giving a sort of tacit consent to its ap- pearance, although that was accompanied with a strong ex- 185V.] THE CROWN JEWELS OF DANOVER. 401 pression of opinion that it ought to be suppressed. And now a report has got about that before the book came out Clarendon read and approved of it, which I requested Mrs. Austin to deny in the most peremptory manner, for it was to her that this assertion had been made.^ December 29th. — The long-pending dispute about the Crown jewels claimed by the King of Hanover was settled the other day. The history of it is this. The late King of Hanover on the death of William IV. claimed these jewels upon the ground that they were partly belonging to the Crown of Hanover and partly had been bequeathed to him by Queen Charlotte. Our Government, on behalf of the Queen, naturally resisted the claim. After a good deal of wrangling they were at last prevailed on to name a com- mission to investigate the question, and Lord Lyndhurst, Lord Langdale, and Chief Justice Tindal were appointed accordingly. After a considerable delay and a troublesome inquiry, they arrived at a conclusion, but when they were just about to give their award Chief Justice Tindal died. Lyndhurst and Langdale were divided in opinion, so no award could be given. The Chancellor, Lord Cottenham, refused to renew the Commission, and the matter has stood over ever since. In the present year, however, the Govern- ment thought the matter ought to be decided one way or another, and they issued a fresh Commission, consisting of Lord Wensleydale, Vice-Chancellor Page Wood, and Sir Lawrence Peel (ex-Indian judge), and they have given judgment unanimously in favor of the King of Hanover, i. e., with regard to the bulk of the jewels, some few seem to have been allotted to the Queen. Lord Wensleydale came into my room at the Council Office just after they had finished their award, and told me about it. I asked him if they had decided it on evidence or only by a sort of rough estimate, but he said they had ample evidence, and they were all quite satisfied upon the point. Last night I asked > [Lord Normanby had written this narrative of tlie events of 1847 to 1848 while lie was Ambassador in Paris, and he proposed to publish it at an earlier period when he was still in office. But upon this comintf to the knowledge of the Forcim Office, Lord Clarendon (without having read the work) intimated to Lord Normanby that he could not allow a diplomatic servant of the Crowa of the first rank to publish a polemical narrative of transactions in which he had been engaged, at any rate while he held office. The book therefore was sup- pressed for some years. But when Lord Normanby had quitted office, he felt at liberty to disregard Lord Clarendon's injunction, and the book was published, . to the great detriment of his own reputation.] 403 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XV. Lord Lyndhurst about his share in the question, when he told me their difficulty had been to make out whether the jewels which Queen Charlotte had disposed of by her will had really been hers to leave, or whether she had only had the use of them, but that this had been decided by the dis- covery of George III.'s will, in which he expressly left them to her. Tindal entirely agreed with Lyndhurst, and if he had lived a little longer, judgment would have been given then in favor of Hanover. Lyndhurst said the Court was very anxious about it, for Prince Albert had told him the pearls were the finest in Europe. The value of them has been enormously exaggerated, but is still considerable. Lord Lyndhurst said they were worth about £150,000, and Kiel- mansegge told me the same thing. By the Indian papers just arrived it appears that the relief of the Eesidency of Lucknow and the deliverance of all who were confined in it was complete, but there was no great battle (which everybody expected), though much severe fighting, and Lucknow itself was still untaken. The mu- tineers, though always worsted, seem to fight better than they were thought capable of doing, and everything tends to show that the suppression of the Mutiny is still far from being accomplished. December Z\st. — I met Clarendon last night, who talked about the Hanoverian jewel question ; he said the Queen was very anxious to know Lord Lyndhurst's opinion upon the award, so last night I went to his house and asked him, tell- ing him the reason why. He said he had no doubt the award was correct ; that in their case the jewels were divided into two categories : first, those which came from George II. and were undoubtedly Hanoverian ; and secondly, those which George III. had given Queen Charlotte. They had heard counsel on both sides, but neither side chose to produce the will of George III., which they never had before them, so they were in a difficulty about these latter stones. Tindal died the day they were to have met to draw up an award. He and Lyndhurst were agreed, Langdale doubted. Lynd- hurst said he had no doubt if they had had King George III.'s will, which Wensleydale and his colleagues had before them, they should all three have agreed, and to the same award. Clarendon complained of the recent pro-slavery articles in the "Times," and told Delane they were calculated to 1858.] THE DEATH OF GENERAL HAVELOCK. 403 encourage the French in holding to their African operations. The French Government had told us that they must have labor, but they did not care if it was black or brown, and if we would undertake to find coolies for them in the same way as Mauritius is supplied, they would give up their scheme. Clarendon said this was fair enough, but it did not get rid of the difficulty, because it was impossible to get the coolies in sufficient numbers, and that our own Colonies, which were perishing for want of labor, would complain loudly, and not unjustly, if we brought the French into competition with them, thus enhancing the difficulty and the cost of supply to themselves. The probability then is that the French will go on, and that all other nations who have the same wants will follow their example, and we shall be reinvolved in endless remonstrances and squabbles under very disadvantageous circumstances. January 1st, 1858. — It is worth noticing that after a year of fine weather, of which nobody can recollect the like, this first day of the New Year has opened like one of a genial spring. This nearly unbroken course of wonderful weather for about nine or ten months gives rise to many speculations as to its cause, and no doubt there is some physical cause, although it has not yet been ascertained. January 5th. — To-day the winter seems to have set in in earnest. January '^tli. — Not many days ago the *' Times" con- cluded an article on the Indian war in these words (it was after describing the relief of the Residence at Lucknow by Sir Colin Campbell): "thus ends the Indian Mutiny of 1857 ; " and to-day we have the news of Wyndham having been defeated by the Gwalior Force ; of Sir Colin having been obliged to quit Lucknow, without having captured it, in order to repair this check (which he seems to have done very effectually) and deplorable event ; of the death of Have- lock, the hero of this war, who, after escaping unhurt through battle after battle, has succumbed to disease, not having lived long enough to know all that is said of him and all that has been done for him here. It is impossible not to feel the loss of this man as if he belonged to one individ- ually, so deep is the interest which his gallantry and his brilliant career have excited in every heart. Every account we receive only confirms the impression that this war will be a long and difficult affair, and if we are 404 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XV. able by our military successes to put down all opposition and suppress the mutiny thoroughly, we shall have a still more difficult task to re-establish order and a quiet and regular government in the country, and this difficulty promises to be enormously increased by all that is passing here on the subject. Shaftesbury is stirring up all the fanaticism of the country, and clamoring for what he calls the emancipation of Christianity in India, and even the '* Times," once cele- brated for its strong sound sense and its fearless independ- ence, is afraid to rebuke this nonsense, and endorses it by saying "we have committed great errors," but without ex- plaining what it means, or giving any exemplification of the assertion. The real meaning, however, of the Exeter Hall clamor is, that we should commence as soon as we can a crusade against the religions of the natives of India, and at- tempt to force Christianity upon them. I begin to have the most dismal forebodings upon this Indian question. I continue indeed to believe that by dint of enormous exer- tions, by a vast expenditure of money, and sending out every man we can raise and make a soldier of, we shall sooner or later conquer the mutineers and suppress the rebellion, but I expect we shall lose our Indian Empire. I may possibly not live to see the catastrophe, but those who are twenty or may be ten years younger than I am in all probability will. All our legislation is conducting us to this end. We are taking this moment of war and confusion to revolutionize our Indian Empire and government, to root up all that the natives have been accustomed to regard with veneration, and to pronounce sentence of condemnation upon the only authority of which they know anything, and which has been the object of their fears and hopes, and sometimes of their attachment. The Grovernment is about to hurry into this measure as if the existing system had been the cause of the present rebellion and conflict, and that the one they propose to substitute would be so much better and capable of repair- ing the mischief which the government of the Comjjany has caused by its alleged mismanagement. I have no prejudice or partiality for the Company, but I believe any great change at this moment to be fraught with danger, and that the notion of improving the state of affairs by the abolition of what is called the double government is a mere delusion.'' 1 [The experience of nearly thirty years has proved that these gloomy fore- bodings were unfounded. The Government and the condition of the Indian 1858.] GLOOMY PROSPECTS IN INDIA. 405 January l(Sth. — I went to The Grange on Tuesday and returned yesterday morning, when I was met by the news of an attempted assassination of the Emperor Napoleon, whose escape seems to have been providential. It is since I last wrote anything here that we have re- ceived the news from India of Wyndham's defeat at Cawn- pore, and of Sir Colin's subsequent victory, but we are not yet informed of the details so as to be able to pass a judg- ment on these events, and upon Wyndham's conduct. It may be doubted, however, whether the small defeat in the one case is not more prejudicial than the considerable vic- tory in the other is advantageous ; and the inference to be derived from the whole is to my mind of a gloomy character, for I think unless we can manage to pour into India an un- ceasing stream of fresh troops for an indefinite period, we shall succumb in the contest by the mere weight of numbers, and the question is, whether we shall be able to do this, which seems to me exceedingly doubtful. The Government appear never to have been sufficiently alive to the danger and the difficulties of this warfare, and have contented themselves with going on leisurely and lazily, preparing reinforcements to be sent out from time to time, but have never thought it incumbent on them to make the extraordinary efforts that the case imperatively demands. When Parliament meets I shall be surprised if there is not before long a great storm in both Houses, and if Palm- erston means to rest upon his popularity, and to endeavor to conjure it by his habitual ofihand manner and assurances that they have done all they could, expecting that such assurances will be accepted as a matter of course, I think he will be greatly mistaken. In spite of all that has been said to John Eussell, and his not unfriendly disposition during the short autumnal session, his patience and prudence are evidently well-nigh exhausted, and we may soon expect to see him in vehement opposition. He writes to his brother that "he is appalled at the part he may be obliged to take in the coming session," and he seems to be under the in- Empire have undergone enormous changes in that interval of time, but upon the whole the suppression of the militai-y revolt of 1857 lias placed British au- thority in India upon a more secure basis, the loyalty of the native princes to tlie Crown has increased, the native population is more enlightened and more prosperous, and the dangers which may still threaten the British Empire in In- dia are not those which struck the mind of Mr. (ireville in 1858. lie himself, however, soon changed his opinion. See entry of the 12th March, infra.] 406 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XV. fluence of a fresh feeling of antipatliy to Palmerston. It is not unlikely that he thinks it not worth his while to wait for the chance of Palmerston's being withdrawn from the field, and that he may as well gratify his inclination by going into Opposition, and it is likely enough that he fancies he has more influence in the House of Commons and the country than he really possesses, and may collect a party of his own, instead of being grudgingly accepted by the present Government as a matter of necessity, rather than one of choice. If this is his view, I believe he is egregiously mistaken. Lowe, whom I met at The Grange, and who knows something of both Parliamentary and public opinion, told me that John Russell would find no support in the House of Commons where his influence was extinct, and that so far from forming a party of his own, he did not believe if Palmerston were to die to-morrow, and Lord John take his place at the head of the Government, that the Government itself would stand. Wobicrn Abhey, January IWi. — Yesterday morning we were astounded by the receipt of a telegraphic message informing Granville that the Duke of Devonshire had been found dead in his bed.^ Nothing could be more sudden and unexpected, and the immediate cause of his death is not known. At different periods of my life I have lived in great intimacy with him, but he was capricious, so the intervals were long and frequent during which we were almost strangers to each other. Spoiled by his mother as a boy, and becoming Duke of Devonshire with a colossal fortune at twenty-one years old, and besides afflicted with incurable deafness, his existence was manque, and he was a disap- j)ointed and unhappy man. His abilities were of a very high order, and if he had not been relieved by his position and wealth from the necessity of exertion and disqualified by his infirmities from taking an active part in public life, he might have been a considerable and important as well as a far hap- pier man ; but as he had unfortunately no positive tastes or active pursuits, no domestic ties to engage his affections, and no public duties to occupy his mind, he was reduced to fill up the vacuum of his existence by capricious engouements • [William Spencer, sixtli Duke of Devonshire, born May 21, 1790, died Janu- ary 17, 1858. He was Mr. Greville's second cousin, the Duchess of Portland, mother of Lady Charlotte Greville, havinj^ been the daughter of the fourth Duke of Devonshii-e.] 1S58.] DISR^\JELr3 OVERTURE TO THE WHIGS. 407 and frivolous society. He was very clever and very comical, with a keen sense of humor, frequently very droll with his intimate friends, and his letters were always very amusing. The Duke lived very much like a grand seigneur, hospitable and magnificent ; he was very fond of his family, and very kind to them, as he was also to those of his friends whom he took into favor, many of the poorer of whom will have great reason to regret the loss of a benefactor. There was for a long time a vague notion that some mystery attached to his birth, and that he was not really the son, or at all events not the legitimate son, of his reputed father. The idea was that Lady Elizabeth Foster (whom the Duke afterward married as his second wife) and the Duchesse had been con- fined at the same time at Paris, and that the latter having a girl and the former a boy, the children had been changed, the Duke being the father of both children, I always treated the story as a myth, and this opinion has been con- firmed by the deposition of the woman who had received the child in her arms upon his birth, which was conclusive evidence of his legitimacy. It is remarkable that the whole of the vast property of the late Duke was in his own power. The entail was cut off upon his majority, and his father died before the estates were resettled. January 20th. — The more I hear from India and about Indian affairs, and the more I read and reflect upon the sub- ject, the more desponding I become as to our future pros- pects there ; first, as to our means of bringing the war to a successful issue, and secondly, as to our power to govern the country and keep it quiet and contented when the first ob- ject has been accomplished. January 'Z3d. — On arriving in town yesterday, I received a visit from Disraeli, who said he had come to consult me in confidence, and to ask my opinion, by which his own course would be very much influenced. I was not a little surprised at this exordium, but told him I should be glad to hear what his object was, and that he was welcome to any opinion he wished for from me. He then began a rather hazy discourse, from which I gathered, or at least thought I gathered, that he thinks the present state of affairs very serious, and the position of the Government very precarious ; that he is meditating on the possible chances there may be for him and his party in the event of Palmerston's fall, and knowing that some sort of coalition with some other party would be 408 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XV. indispensable to form any other Government, an idea had crossed his mind that this might be^practicable with some of the most moderate of the Whigs, especially with the younger ones, such as Granville and Argyll, and he wished to know if I thought this would be possible, and whether I could be in any way instrumental in promoting it, and if I did not think so what my ideas were as to the most advisable course in order to avert the threatened Eeform, and to give the country a better Government than this. This, with a great deal of verbiage and mixed with digressions about the leading men of the present day, seemed to me to be the sub- stance and object of his talk. He professed to speak to me of his own sentiments without disguise, and with entire con- fidence about everything, but I cannot call to mind that he imparted to me anything of the slightest interest or impor- tance. It would be difficult and not very interesting to write down our somewhat vague and decousu conversation, but I told him that I knew very little of the dispositions of any of the men he alluded to, but I did not believe they any of them would be parties to any such combination as he looked to, or separate from their present colleagues. January 2oth. — We are still without any advices from India. The petition to Parliament of the East India Com- pany, which is very able, and was written by John Mill, has produced a considerable effect in the world, and doubts are expressed in all quarters whether Government will be able to carry their Bill. January 26t7i. — The Princess Eoyal's wedding went off yesterday with amazing eclaf, and it is rather ludicrous to contrast the vehement articles with which the Press teemed (the "Times" in particular) against the alliance two years ago with the popularity of it and the enthusiasm displayed now. The whole thing seems to have been very successful. At the breakfast after the wedding, to which none but the Royalties were invited, the French Princes were present, which was amiable and becoming on the part of the Queen. January 28th. — As the day approaches for the re-assem- bling of Parliament there is an increasing imjoression that this Government is very likely not to get through the ses- sion, and the ''Times," which is always ready to assist in the discomfiture of a losing party, is now showing unmistakeable symptoms of its own doubts whether the Government is any longer worth supporting, and Delane told me yesterday he 1858.] EXCITEMENT IN FRANCE AGAINST THIS COUNTRY. 409 thought they would not remain long in office, and that it is time they should go, and he ridiculed the idea of its not be- ing practicable to form another Government. It is absurd, but nevertheless true, that nothing has damaged Palmerston so much as his making Clanricarde Privy Seal. It was an unwise appointment, but the fault of it is grossly exagger- ated. Everybody agrees that from one end of the country to another there is a feeling of universal indignation against it. Then there is a great turn in the public mind in favor of the East India Company, or rather against the Govern- ment measure, of which nothing is known, but that the result of it will be to place the Indian Empire in the hands of Vernon Smith. February 2d. — The Indian question has for the moment been superseded by the French question as it may be called, that is by the storm which is raging in France against this country, its institutions and laws, in reference to the assassi- nation plot of January 14.^ It was well known that the French Government had been urging our Ministers to adopt measures or to pass laws against the refugees and their machinations in this country ; but while this question was under discussion, we were astounded by a speech made by Persigny in reply to an address from the City, and still more by the publication in the "Moniteur"of certain addresses from corjjs or regiments of the French army to the Emperor, full of insult and menace to this country. These offensive manifestations naturally excited great indignation here, and the Press did not fail to hurl back these insults, and to retort with interest upon the persons from whom they had pro- ceeded or who had permitted their appearance. On Sunday I spoke to Clarendon on the subject. He was very much an- noyed and embarrassed by this posture of affairs as might be expected, but more than this he is very much alarmed, more 1 [It was known in France that the explosive bombs with wbieli Orsini had nttompted the life of the Emperor Napoleon were manufactured in Ent;land, and that some of the accomplices of that conspirator were still in this country, where the law could not reach them for a crime committed abroad. Tlicse facts called forth a stronfif hostile feelintr, and England was accused of harborinar assassins. On January 20 Count Walewski addressed a remonstrance to the British Gov- ei-nment, which remained unanswered, and on January 23 Count Persigny s]ioke in strong language to a deputation from the City of London. Military addresses of a violent character from several French regiments to tlie Emperor were published in the Monitcur. On February 9 Lord Palmerston introduced a bill, called The Conspiracy to Murder Bill, making conspiracy to murder a fel- ony. The opposition to this bill gave rise to the ensuing events and overthrew the Ministry.] 18 410 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORU. [Chap. XV. than I think he need be. I said it seemed to be that the Emperor had forgotten his usual good sense, and that he who knows this country ought to have felt that if he wishes to have anything done here, he is taking the most effectual means to prevent it by permitting the military addresses to appear in the " Moniteur," since in the present state of the Press this is tantamount to their being published by the Gov- ernment itself. I said I could not believe that these hot and enthusiastic expressions were to be taken entirely as proofs of a passionate attachment to the Emperor's person, but that these were outbreaks of that hatred of England which some- times slumbered, but never died. He said the Emperor felt that his alliance with this country was indispensable to him, and regretted sincerely the displays of feeling in France, but that he did not dare to repress the sentiments evinced by the army, though he kept them in check as well as he could, and the truth was, as I have said above, that it was the undying animosity to us which had found a vent upon this occasion. He added that he had not blamed Morny, who could not say less than he did without being denounced by the Chamber as an inadequate exponent of its sentiments. The French, seeing how all our force is absorbed in our Indian war, think they may treat us as they please, and Clarendon fancies that if any accident were to befall the Emperor, any Government that might be able to establish itself would go to war with us as the best means of ingratiating itself with the nation and of being able to establish itself. He says they can march 50,000 men at a moment's notice to Cherbourg, where there is an abundance of war steamers ready to transport them across the Channel, while we have no soldiers and no ships to defend us in case of such a storm suddenly bursting. George Lewis says that Clarendon is haunted with this apprehension, which he does not share in the slighest degree. Though there is some truth in this account of the Em- peror's position, I cannot believe that he might not have kept matters more quiet in France than he has done, if he had exerted his influence and power for that end. There can be no doubt that our international relations are upon a very unpleasant and perilous footing, and that the evil is not corrected by the fact of the two Courts being on friendly terms, by mutual interchanges of soft sawder and proofs of friendship in the shape of handsome bridal gifts from the 1858.] PETITION OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY. 411 Emperor and Empress to the Princess Royal. We are going to do something to soothe the French ; but as it will, I be- lieve, be no more than to make that a felony which is now only a misdemeanor, it may be doubted if this will satisfy or appease them ; but it would be impossible to do more even if it were desirable, which I think it is not, and I doubt if even this slight concession will be obtained from Parliament without some strong and indignant remarks upon the tone which has been adopted toward England. February del. — The Directors have got Tom Baring and Lord Grey to present their petition in the two Houses, and they mean to adopt the moderate and judicious course of not agitating any further, but trust to the course of events, which is now turning in their favor, and to ask for delay and a Committee. Graham, acting, I believe, independently, means to move for a Committee. John Russell intimated to him that he did not think he should support such a motion, but he has not finally determined what to do, and I rather ex- pect he will end in voting for it. Palmerston's friends still tell him that his name is all powerful, and that he is sure of carrying through the House of Commons whatever he pro- poses, if the House thinks there is any possibility of a defeat leading to his resignation, and such is evidently his own opinion. In a Committee on Indian affairs and the intended bill, at which Bethell was present, on some objection or pos- sible objection being suggested by one of the members, Palm- erston said, in his usual jaunty way, "Oh, they will fall in love with our bill when they see it ; " when Bethell, in his niminy-piminy manner and simper, said, "Oh, my dear Lord ! " Granville, who told me, says it was very funny. They all seemed conscious of the diminution of Palmerston's energy and power. He is always asleep, both in the Cabinet and in the House of Commons, where he endeavors to con- ceal it by wearing his hat over his eyes. Clarendon made me laugh heartily the other day at his account of the Cabi- net, where one half of them seem to be almost always asleep, the first to be off being Lansdowne, closely followed by Palmerston and Charles Wood. I remember his giving me a very droll account of Melbourne's Cabinet, and of the drowsiness which used to reign there, more particularly with Melbourne himself, February 11th. — I never remember Parliament meeting with much greater curiosity and excitement. The situation 413 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XV. of the Government is generally regarded as so precarious, and the revolution in Palmerston's popularity and therefore his power is so extraordinary, that everybody is expecting some great events will occur, and the hopes of all who wish for a change and who expect to profit by it are reviving. The bill brought in by Palmerston on Tuesday for the purpose of punishing conspirators and with a view to satisfy the exigency of the French Government made a great stir. The leave to bring it in was carried by a large majority, thanks to the Conservatives, but its success was principally owing to the Emperor's apology arriving just before the de- bate began. This pacified most of those who were enraged at the publications in the " Moniteur," and disposed to op- pose the measure on account of the conduct of the French Government. I have no sympathy with such a feeling, but it is well calculated to go down with the public, and to afford a plausible pretext to the Ultra-Liberals and the crotchety politicians. The greatest objection to this bill is that it will probably be quite useless for its alleged object, and though perhaps something more stringent might be useful, the Government do not dare propose anything beyond the present measure. Perhaps the most serious reflection to which this matter gives rise is the suspicion that the conduct of the Emperor Napoleon betrays either some strange infirmity in his facul- ties, or something so unsound and dangerous in the state of France, as to be pregnant with possible consequences it is frightful to contemplate. All that he has been doing, or has allowed to be done of late, is indicative of a change ; for the moderation and prudence, together with firmness and decis- ion, which have hitherto formed his best claim to the admi- ration and approbation of this country seem to have com- pletely deserted him. The penal laws enacted or to be enacted in France are considered as the inauguration of a reign of terror, and there is rapidly growing up the same sort of feeling about the French Empire that there is here about the Palmerston Government. JSTobody pretends to foresee what will happen, but every one thinks that the state of France is rendered more combustible, and that any spark may produce an explosion. Those who are most attached or most favorable to the Imperial Government are the most alarmed, and, when they dare speak out, express the great- est regret and alarm at all that is passing in France. 1858.] OPPOSITION TO THE CONSPIRACY BILL. il3 To turn to the Government here, their two great rocks ahead are the India Bill and the Keform Bill, but with regard to these there seems no knowledge how parties will act, and how leading individuals Avill vote. Most people, however, are impressed with the idea that neither measure will be carried, and that the Government will in all proba- bility not get through the session. It will be too absurd if Palmerston, after being the idol of the public, in spite of or in consequence of all his foolish speeches and his out- rageous acts, should find himself deserted and his power shaken because he made Clanricarde Privy Seal ; but there can be no doubt that this appointment has had more effect than any other cause in the change of public opinion about him. February lith. — Last week saw the debates in the House of Commons about the Conspiracy Bill, and the first act of the India Bill. The first is very unpopular, but it will be carried nevertheless. John Eussell has taken it up with extraordinary vehemence and anger. His opposition to it is furious, on high constitutional grounds, which appear tome absurd and uncalled for. If I were in Parliament I should be puzzled how to vote, for there is much to be said against the Bill, and much against voting against it, particularly against leave to bring it in. Almost all the Tories voted with Government, and John Russell carried very few with him, and neither of his own nephews. He is more than ever exasperated against Palmerston for bringing it in. The apology tendered by the Emperor, which was read to the House, reconciled a great many to the bill, but I have no notion that it will do any good, or that the French Govern- ment will be satisfied with it. After such a bill, which will certainly be carried, the British Lion must put his tail between his legs, and "Civis Romanus " give up swaggering so loftily. If Aberdeen had attempted such a measure when Louis Philippe was King and Guizot minister, what would Palmerston have said, and what would not have been the indignant outcry throughout the country ? The balance of opinion now seems to be that Government will carry their India Bill, and the report is that they are willing, if the second reading is carried, to consent to any alterations that may be pressed upon them in Committee. Lewis seems to have made a good speech on Friday, though rather of a didactic character. 414 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XV. February 'i^th} — Unless I were to write down day by day the events and the impressions of each day I should fail in giving anything like a picture of the time, and I regret that my indolence or other occupations have pre- vented my doing this. I have each day promised myself I would not neglect it, and then, failing to keep that prom- ise (to myself), I have found some fresh occurrence sweeping away the interest, and generally the accurate recollection, of what the preceding days have produced. The varieties of the aspects of public affairs have been like the figures in a kaleidoscope, and one ought to catch each fleeting sym- metrical arrangement before it is changed into some other equally fleeting in order to comprehend the rapidity and im- portance of the changes which are going on. Not long ago (that is, not many weeks) a vague idea began to circulate that the Government would have difficulty in getting suc- cessfully through this session, and that their power had suffered some diminution. It was thought that the India Bill and the Eeform Bill would be too much for them, and when a little later the events in France induced them to bring in the Conspiracy Bill, the excessive unpopularity of this last measure strengthened the impression of their insta- bility. Everybody out of the pale of the Government itself admitted that Palmerston was not the man he was, and the diminution of his popularity was visible universally. This was attributed to several smaller causes, but the great one was the appointment of Clanricarde, which beyond all doubt has been regarded with a disgust and indignation to the last degree exaggerated and uncalled for. Such was the state of public feeling and opinion when the Parliamentary campaign opened with the discussions first of the Conspiracy Bill, and secondly of the Eeform Bill. After a few days, however, a great change seemed to have taken place, though the country and the Press watched with great Jealousy the progress of the Conspiracy Bill, keeping up a very loud growl of dislike to the Bill, and resentment against the French Government. In the division on the question of leave to bring in the bill the majority of the Conservatives came over to the Govern- 1 [On February 19 the Government were defeated on the Conspiracy Bill, in the House of CommonSj by a majority of 234 to 215, Mr. Milner Gibson's amend- ment having been carried against them. The majority consisted of 146 Con- servatives, 84 Liberals. Mr. Gladstone, Lord John Eussell, Sir James Graham, Mr. Cardwell, and Mr. Sidney Herbert voted against the bill. Lord Palmerston immediately resigned.] 1858.] THE CATASTROPHE UNEXPECTED. 415 ment, and they got a majority of the Conservatives of three to one. A few days after Palmerston brouglit in the India Bill, about which for a moment it was thought Baring with his amendment might run him hard, but after a very poor debate, in which the Chancellor of the Exchequer made a very good speech, and the President of the Board of Control made no sj^eech at all, the Government got a majority of near 150. These two victories, though the first was obtained by the aid of opponents, raised the spirits of the Ministerial- ists, and were generally taken as indicative of more strength than they had been supposed to have, and as pretty clear proofs that Palmerston would at all events get unscathed through this session with not much diminished authority and influence. But while they were triumphing in the fancied security which these divisions seemed to promise them, a storm was gathering, for the bursting of which they were far from being prepared, nor did they estimate its importance. The public feeling had become more and more exasperated at the Conspiracy Bill, and at the conduct of France. The first reading of the bill would not have been carried as it was, perhaps not at all, but for the apology, as it was called, of the Emperor, and the soothing effect of Walewski's despatch carrying expressions of his master's regret and a sort of half disclaimer of the military addresses. But this soothing effect was very transitory. It was remarked that while the "Moniteur" continued to insert fresh addresses of an offen- sive character, the apologetic despatch did not appear at all, and the original despatch of Walewski (January 20), which had excited so much indignation here, and which was not denied to have been the origin of the Conspiracy Bill, lay upon the table of the House of Commons unanswered by our Government. On this point a good deal of surprise and anger had been evinced in the Press and in society, and the discontent against the Government generally, and Palmerston in particular, was still spreading, when Milner Gibson took advantage of the prevailing temper, and moved a resolution in the shape of an amendment to the second reading of the bill, very skilfully concocted, but which was a direct vote of censure upon the Government (i^articularly of course directed against Palmerston and Clarendon) for not having answered that despatch. Palmerston, I have been assured, when he saw the terms 416 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XV. of this amendment, perceived that it might be dangerous, and that it was well calculated to get votes; but it is certain that the Government generally were in no apprehension, and that nobody of any party (I believe literally nobody) had the least idea that any vote of censure, which of course involved the existence of the Grovernment, had the slightest chance of being carried. I met Sir Edward Lytton at the Athenae- um on Friday, just as he was going to the House, and had some conversation with him. He treated Palmerston's posi- tion as impregnable, and said he would have a very large majority that evening. So confident were the Government whippers-in that they made no esertions, and Hayter actu- ally allowed some of his people to go away unpaired, telling them that they were quite safe, and their presence not neces- sary. I went to the House of Lords that evening to hear Macaulay, who was to have spoken but did not speak, and afterward went home, hearing nothing more that night. Great was my astonishment when I read in the "Times" this morning that Government had been beaten on Milner Gibson's motion by 19, and a few minutes after Granville came in and said that this defeat must be conclusive and nothing left for them but to resign. A Cabinet was held in the afternoon, at which it was decided that Palmerstou should repair to Buckingham Palace with the resignations of himself and his colleagues. February %lst. — Nothing more was known last night, but it was evident that Derby had been sent for in prefer- ence to Lord John, whom I met at Brooks's in the morning, and who did not expect the Queen to send for him. He told me Gladstone, he believed, and Graham, he knew, would not join Derby, and he thought neither Sidney Her- bert nor Cardwell would either. As to the future, there really are quot homines tot sententim. Some think Derby cannot form a Government, some that he will not try. The sanguine Palmerstonians think all other attempts will fail and Palmerston remain in power, as Lord Grey did in 1831, and some fancy he will endeavor to propitiate the House of Commons and public opinion by throwing overboard Clanri- carde, to whose appointment the mischief is in great meas- ure attributed. Such is at this moment the state of doubt and confusion which generally prevail. February 23d — Nothing is yet known of Derby's prog- ress except that he tried the Peelites, not one of whom 1858.] THE DEFEAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN AVOIDED. 417 would Join. He sent for Newcastle from Clumber, who came up, saw him, and declined. It is evident that they mean to act in concert, except probably Graham, who has espoused John Eussell, and who will not separate himself from Lord John's fortitnes. There was a prevailing expec- tation yesterday that Derby would abandon his attempt, and that Palmerston would come back, but Derby seems quite determined to go on. The Palmerstonians certainly expect their exclusion to be of short duration, and nobody thinks that any Government Derby can possibly make will last long. Never was there a great catastrophe so totally unexpected. Within an hour of the beginning of the debate no one doubted that the Government would have a majority, but Milner Gibson's speech was not concluded before it was evi- dent that his amendment would be carried, and Palmerston's conduct was very unaccountable. It was clear from the tone of his speech, which was as bad as possible, feeble and intemperate, that he was aware of what was going to hap- pen, and yet when the true state of the case was urged upon him, and he was pressed to adjourn the debate till Monday, which could easily have been done, he obstinately refused. If he had done this, there is little doubt that he would have whipped up a majority by Monday. Certainly no people ever so mismanaged their affairs. There is no excuse for their having put on the table of the House of Commons such a despatch as Walewski's, without any reply being made to it. It required no great sagacity to anticipate that such a course of proceeding could not fail to throw the House of Commons into aflame, and exasperate the country, already much excited, and all the excuses they made only made their case worse, and were generally inconsistent with each other. George Grey's was the most pitiful, when he said that after the second reading an answer should be sent. Then they made shuffling statements : at one time that they had sent no answer, and that to have answered it as alone it could be answered must have increased the irritation. Then, that they had given a verbal answer, and at last it transpired that an answer had been sent in the shape of n private letter from Clarendon to Cowley. There were two courses open to the Government, either of which might have been very naturally and not improperly taken. Palmerston might have announced that it was not 418 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XV. liis intention to produce any of the correspondence between the two Governments, and asked the House of Commons to place confidence in him, and allow him to take the steps he deemed best to satisfy the French Government, and at the same time vindicate the honor and dignity of this country, and if he had stated that he thought it would be injurious to the interests of peace and amity to produce any papers, it is perfectly certain he would have met with unanimous ac- quiescence. The only objection I have heard to this is that the French Government published the despatch in the "■ Moniteur ; " but, if Palmerston had resolved upon silence here, he could have informed Cowley of his resolution, and instructed him to come to a common agreement with Walew- ski that they should publish nothing in the " Moniteur," and we should keep the correspondence from Parliament here. Not acting in this way, he ought to have sent an answer, and who can suppose that such men as Palmerston and Clarendon, whose lives have been passed in writing de- spatches, and who are both so remarkably expert at that work, should be unable to concoct a reply to Walewski which should be conciliatory in tone and matter, and at once suffice for the fears and exigencies of France and for the national pride and honor of England ? Clarendon's private letter is said to have been excellent, and of course it must have been well adapted for its purposes. What difficulty could there have been, therefore, in converting the private into a public letter, which, if it had accompanied the French letter, would have pacified both the House of Commons and the country, for the Government ought not to have forgotten, as it«seems they did, that the English and French Governments were not the only parties in this transaction, but there were the English Government and the House of Commons and the country, between whom accounts had to be settled. There are people who fancy that Palmerston was not sorry to be beaten on Milner Gibson's motion, thinking it better to go out upon that than upon the motion against Clanricarde on March 4 (the abolition of the Privy Seal), on which they think they certainly would have been defeated, and on which they must have resigned ; but I don't think their defeat on the latter was so certain, and they might have been saved by Clanricarde's resignation before the debate came on. The conduct of those who brought forward and those who sup- ported the vote of censure, and that of the Government in 1858.] DETERMINATION TO RESIGN. 419 going out upon it, admits of much diversity of opinion. The friends of the Government, and those who were averse to a change, maintain that the amendment was inexcusable, and that the House of Commons had no business to meddle with the functions of the Executive, or to express any opin- ion as to the propriety of answering or not a despatch which ought to have been left to the discretion of the Minister, and the ex- Ministers say that the vote made it impossible for them to do anything but resign, and that their opponents must have been fully aware that this would be the conse- quence of their victory. Their conduct is inexplicable to me, for I believe they were very sorry to go out, and yet if they had wished it they might have very well stayed in. According to ancient prac- tice any vote of censure produced resignation as a matter of course, no m.atter what the subject of it, but it did so be- cause a vote of censure, and indeed any adverse vote on any important measure, implied that the House of Commons had withdrawn its confidence from the Government, the fact of which rendered it impossible for them to carry on the affairs of the country, and obliged them to resign. But it is im- possible to pretend that the late vote indicated the with- drawal of the confidence of the House of Commons generally. They had had two immense majorities a few days before, and they would have had another as large a few days after if they had gone on with the bill. If I had been able to advise the Queen, I would have recommended her to refuse Lord Palmerston's resignation, and have insisted on his testing the question of confidence on the Conspiracy Bill, or on some question in which the national passions were not concerned, and he could not have refused to take this course. Even after she had sent for Derby he gave her the opportunity (tliongh not I suppose the advice to do so), for he said she had better take another day for consideration, and then if she decided on wishing him to form a Government, he would undertake it. February 2Gth. — I met George Lewis yesterday, and talked over with him the whole affair. He thinks that it has all been fearfully mismanaged, and that the catastrophe might have been avoided in many different ways : first, by answering the despatch ; secondly, by doing what I have suggested, producing no papers and asking for confidence ; then by the Speaker's declining to allow the nmendmcnt to 420 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XV. be put, as he well might have done, and as a strong Speaker would have done. Lord Eversley advised him to do this, and gave his strong opinion that the amendment was mad- missible. It is curious that Palmerston's overthrow should be the work of a Parliament elected expressly to support him, and immediately caused by the act of a Speaker Avhom he insisted upon putting in the chair, contrary to the advice of many others who thought he would prove ineJBficient. I told Lewis I thought their resignation was not called for, and what I would have advised the Queen. He said the whole question was well and most calmly and dispassionately considered, and they were unanimous as to the necessity of resignation, with the sole exception of Vernon Smith, and that was without any arri&re peiisee of returning on an an- ticipated failure of Derby ; that the Queen had begged Palmerston not to resign upon this vote, and he had re- turned to the Cabinet, and reported what she said, but they were all without exception for adhering to their resignation. Derby, too, had evidently wished to afford Palmerston an opportunity of recalling it, for he had begged the Queen to take twenty-four hours to consider of it ; but it is probable that Her Majesty, having failed to persuade Palmerston m the first instance, had thought it useless to make any further attempts. Lewis gave me such strong reasons for their determina- tion, that I confess they materially shook my opinion. He said there was no possibility of mistaking the feeling there was against Palmerston, which if I had been present and seen what passed in the Plouse that night, I could not have doubted ; that the only way in which they could have stayed in was by getting somebody to move a vote of confidence, which was too dangerous an experiment, as in the present state of the House of Commons it was at least an even chance that such a vote would not have been carried, and certain that they would have had all the great guns of all sides thundering against them. He thought Palmerston's speech had been very ill advised, and had done much harm, and that it was a mistake not to have adjourned the debate, when it was very probable that they might have had an opportu- nity of changing the fortune of it. 1858.] THE SECOND DERBY ADMINISTRATOR. 421 CHAPTER XVI. The Second Derby Administration— Lord Derby's first Speech— Lord Clanricarde defends himself — The New Ministry — Coincidences — Lord Derby's favorable Position — Opinion of the Speaker — Lord Derby's Liberal Declarations — Dinner to Mr. Buckle — Instability of the Government— Mr. Disraeli's sang-uine Views — India — Prospects of the new Government — A Visit to the Due d'Aumale — Delicate Uelations with France — Lord John Russell and Lord Palmerston — Irritation of the Whigs— Marshal Pelissier Am- bassador in Loudon— The Peehtes and the Wnigs— Failure of the India Bill — An Over- ture from Lord John Kussell— Dissensions of the Whigs — Lord Derby resolves to remain in Office— Lord John Kussell proposes to deal with the India Bill by Itesolu- tions — Mistake of the Whigs in resigning on the Conspiracy Bill — Withdrawal of the India Bill — Policy of the Whigs in Opposition — Lord C'owley on the Relations of Franco and England— Strong Opposition to the Government — Lord Derby on the State of Affairs —Disunion of the Whigs — Lord Canning's Proclamation — Littlecote House — Vehemence of the Opposition— Lord Lyndhiirst displeased— Debates on the Indian Proclamation — (Jollapse of the Debates— Triumj)h of the Ministry — Disraeli's violent Speech at Slough — Lord Palmerston's Discomfiture — Prospects of a Fusion — Success of the Uoverninent— Concessions to the Radicals — The Queen's Visit to Birmingham Progress of the India Bill— The Jew Bill — The Jew Bill passed -Disturbed State of Lidia-Barou Hrunnow on the Russian War. London, ^Ith February, 1858. — All yesterday lists of the new appointments were put forth from hour to hour, unlike each other, and jiroving "what changes had been made during the last hours. Nobody was prepared for Bulwcr Lytton having no place, and still less for Lord Stanley taking office in this Government, "which must have been settled at the eleventh hour. On the whole it presents a more decent- looking affair than anybody expected, but the general im- pression is that it cannot last, and must be overthrown by the mere weight of numbers, whenever the different sections of the House should unite on any question whatever. Their staff is not so despicable, but their rank and file are sadly inadequate if they are attacked in earnest.^ ' [Tlio second Administration of lows : First Lord of the Treasury Lord Chancellor Lord President . Lord Privy Seal Chancellor of the Exchequer Home Secretary Foreifrn Secretary Colonial Secretary "War Secretary . Board of Control Board of Trade . Duchy of Lancaster . Admiralty .... Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland Chief Secretary . Woods and Forests . the Earl of Derby -n-as composed as fol- Earl of Derby. Lord Chelmsford. Marquis of Salisbury. Earl of Hardwicke. Mr. Disraeli. Mr. "Walpole. Earl of Mai mes bury. Lord Stanley. Colonel Peel. Earl of Ellenboi-ough. Mr. nenle.\'. Duke of Montrose. Sir John Pakington. Earl of Efflinton. Lord Naas. Lord John Manners.] 422 REIGN OF QUEEX VICTORIA. [Chap. XVI. Marched. — Last night Derby made his statement. He was very nervous and unlike himself, scarcely audible at first, much less fluent than usual, and he spoke from notes, which I never saw him do before. It was, however, a very judicious and becoming speech. Granville and Clarendon both spoke very well, and the whole affair was very creditable and satis- factory, civil, courteous, and good-humored on all sides. Clarendon made a very plausible defence of his own conduct in not answering Walewski's despatch, which was so good that Hardwicke crossed the House to compliment him, and said if that speech had been made in the House of Commons there would have been no division. The impression left on me is that though it was a pretty good defence, he would have exercised a sounder discretion if he had sent an answer, and that there was no difficulty in doing so. Clanricarde has given notice of what the "Times" calls favoring the House with some leaves of his autobiography. He has been advised to take this course by some of his friends and colleagues, particularly Lord Lansdowne ; but in spite of such respecta- ble authority, I think it an ill-advised step, from which he is likely to derive little if any benefit. He is going to defend himself against something intangible, for no accuser will ap- pear, and there is no charge which he is called upon to rebut. No doubt his appointment has been the real cause of the downfall of the Government. It is this which ruined the popularity of Palmerston. It is only fair to admit that they could not have been expected to anticipate all the hub- bub it made, nor anything like it. People are now wondering that Palmerston's fall has made so little sensation and the event fallen so flat, consid- ering what his popularity was only a few months ago, but this proves what an unsubstantial and factitious popularity it was. Derby has done better than his predecessor in one way, for he has brought forward some new men who have a good reputation, and may distinguish themselves in Parlia- ment, and show us that we have something to look to beyond the old worn out materials of which everybody is tired. The first class of this Government is not worse than that of the last, and the second class is a great deal better. There are some rather curious coincidences noticeable in this smash. The majority by which the Whigs fell was nineteen. It was the same on the China question last year, and nineteen turned out Derby in 1853. Derby has been three times 1858.] LORD DERBY'S FAVORABLE START. 423 called on to form a Government, and each time on the 21st of February. At the present moment there appears to be a disposition to give him what is called a fair trial, but it is difficult to say how long this will last. The Whigs are in great perplexity. Some talk of Palmerston coming back again, others want to bring about a reunion between hira and Lord John, and others still talk of setting them both aside and electing a new leader of the party. March 3d. — The discussion, for there Avas no debate, on Monday has produced a very favorable effect. Derby's speech is much admired for its calm and dignified tone, and the matter of it considered judicious and satisfactory. As an exhibition the whole proceeding is thought eminently credit- able to the country, and such as must strike foreigners par- ticularly. This is unquestionably true, and it has been a very good start for Derby. As far as one can Judge in so short a time, there is a growing opinion that he ought to have fair play and no vexatious opposition, and Granville this morning told me he thought he would get on very well. Palmerston has begged Cowley not to resign, which is very honorable and becoming. There are symptoms of a dispo- sition on the part of the "Times" to support the new Gov- ernment, and I have little doubt that they can secure this great advantage if they manage their affairs with common prudence, and set to work diligently to frame such measures of improvement and utility as will satisfy public opinion. I entreated Jonathan Peel to lose no time in dealing with the matter of the health of the soldiers and the mortality amongst them brought to light by Sidney Herbert's Committee. This alone, well and quickly done, would be of prodigious service to the new Government. March Gth. — I gather from what I hear that Lord Palm- erston is preparing to buckle on his armor, and to wage war against the new Government with the hope and expec- tation of forcing himself back into office speedily, and that the new Opposition mean to attack the new Government as quickly and as vehemently as they can. John Eussell says they "ought not to be recklessly or prematurely opposed." Guizot, it seems, has written to Aberdeen about the " union of all shades of Liberals " as a desideratum, to which Lord John says "whether it be possible he knows not, but that he is an obstacle to it on our side, and Palmerston on the other." The Speaker, with whom I had a long talk yesterday. 424 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XVI. thinks this Government never can stand, and he says, truly enough, that though Derby and Co. did not mahe the situa- tion which compelled the resignation of the last, they ac- cepted it with full knowledge of the consequences of their vote, and are therefore responsible. He considers that what has happened and is likely to happen is all to the benefit of the Eadicals, who well know this, and rejoice at it accord- ingly, and he thinks Milner Gibson framed his amendment with the design of its leading to the defeat of Palmerston, and the advent of Derby to a power which he never desired to be of long duration. All this I could not gainsay, and it is certainly true that this change has only produced a fresh set of difficulties and dangers, the result of which who can foresee ? Derby's liberal declaration in his programme last Monday has been taken up and extended by his followers, but it is very improbable that the enunciation of such principles and intentions will carry with it the assent of the old and genu- ine Tories, many of whom will most likely ere long declare their adhesion to their old creed, and their abhorrence of the new-born liberalism of their chief, and Derby may one day find himself in a lesser degree in something like the position of Peel when he gave notice of his intention to pro- pose the repeal of the Corn Laws. Derby's declaration now affords a practical justification of Peel's course then, for Peel was never so much opposed to Free Trade as Derby and all his followers to Keform, and his excuse is based on similar grounds, namely, the progress and irresistible force of public opinion. March 10th. — I dined with Grote yesterday to meet Mr. Buckle, the literary lion of the day. He is not prepossessing in appearance, but he talks very well and makes a great dis- play of knowledge and extensive reading, though without pedantry or dogmatism. There was a small party of literary men to meet him, and Lady William Russell and I acted the part of gallery. The guests were Count Platen the Swedish Minister, the Master of the Polls, Dr. "William Smith, young Bunbury (Sir Henry's son), and Lowe. It was pleasant enough. There is a prevailing and an increasing impression that this Government will not last long, and I think its days are numbered. The old Government are evidently impatient to resume their places, and within the last two or three days 1858.] INSTABILITY OF THE GOVERNMENT. 425 there is an evident change in their spirits and their expecta- tions. Whether it is desirable or not that Derby should be jiermitted to go on for some time I know not, but I doubt if it is possible. John Russell might perhaps prefer keeping Derby in place for a time, in order to prevent Palraerstou's coming back, but I do not think he will be able to do so if he wishes it, and even those Liberals Avho are not very fond of Palmerston seem to be indignant at a Tory party holding office with an immense majority against them in the House of Commons. It is certainly a question whether any set of men have a right under any circumstances to accept office with full knowledge that there is a majority of at least two to one against them, and if one set of ministers are bound to resign, not merely on finding the majority against them, but upon a single adverse vote, a fortiori must another set be precluded from taking office without the power of command- ing the assent and support of Parliament upon any question whatever. Sir Francis Baring writes to John Russell, " that the existence of the present Ministry is contrary to Parlia- mentary Government," and this seems to be the general sen- timent of the Liberal party, of course loudly insisted on by those who expect to profit by ousting them. March 11th, — My mind fluctuates back to a notion that the Government will be able to maintain themselves for some time. Ellice said yesterday that he for one would not join in any attempt to oust them till he saw liis way to the for- mation of a better Government, and thinks time ought to be afforded for a reunion of the Liberal party. In the afternoon I called on Disraeli, and found him rather sanguine about their prospects. He said they should settle, in fact had set- tled, the French question "with flying colors." He sees no difficulty about finance, as there can be no quarrels on the score of principles, and he will only have to provide for the expenses either by some increased taxation, or if that is op- posed, by a loan, and he does not think the Palmerstonians will venture to refuse the supplies, or that they would suc- ceed in such an attempt. His Indian Bill he thinks will be a better and more popular measure, and he knows of nothing else but the chapter of accidents on which they will have any serious difficulty. Afterward I fell in with Charles Villiers, and talked over the fall of the Government, which he attributed, as I do, to the enormous and inconceivable blunders which his friends 426 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XVI. committed. He is always sensible, unprejudiced, and the most satisfactory person to talk to I am acquainted with. John Kussell is in great indignation at Disraeli's speech at his election, and his attributing all sorts of bad motives to the Whigs in their Ileform of 1831, which was certainly very imprudent to say the least of it, for in his condition it was most desirable for him" to avoid giving offence to any of the influential people, whose hostility may be very dangerous to him. I had not read his speech when I saw him, or I should have told him so. March 12th. — It is remarkable how completely the affairs at home have superseded the interest belonging to those of India. Nobody seems to think about what so recently ab- sorbed everyone's thoughts and feelings. This is, however, in great measure owing to the general belief that the great question of suppressing the rebellion and re-establishing our rule is virtually settled, and though we may yet have a great deal of trouble and even difficulty, all serious danger is at an end, and that we are as secure of possessing India as of any of our colonies. The apprehensions I had on the subject, and which I have expressed, have been very far from realized, and those who took more sanguine and confident views of the issue of the contest have been justified by the event. March 17th. — The new Government is looking up. On Monday evening Bernal Osborne attacked Disraeli in his usual style, and gave him an opportunity of making a speech in reply, which everybody acknowledges to have been most able and successful. Bernal was very bad, Palmerston spoke feebly, professed moderate intentions toward the new Gov- ernment, but clearly indicated that he meant to take office again if he could. His speech was tamely received, and fur- nished a fresh proof of the loss of his popularity and influ- ence. Last night again, in a little skirmish between Disraeli and George Lewis, the former had the best of it. Clanri- carde having had the egregious folly to announce to the House of Lords his intention to make " a personal state- ment," in which he was unaccountably supported by such men as George Lewis and Lansdowne among others, found out that everybody thought he was making a great fool of himself and withdrew it, but his colleagues are annoyed at his putting himself forward to ask questions of Derby. He sits on the front Opposition bench in the midst of his late colleagues, who would be glad to be rid of him, particularly 1858.] A VISIT TO THE DUG D'AUMALE. 427 as they know that in the event of their return to office he would be left out. March 20th. — I went on Friday with M. de Jarnac to Orleans House to pay a visit to the Due d'Aumale and see his interesting collection of books and pictures. He is very courteous, obliging, and intelligent, and the Duchess very civil and pleasing. His house was formerly occupied by his father, Louis Philippe, improved and enlarged by Lord Kil- morey, who lived there with Miss Hoste, and bought from him by the Duke, who has filled it full of objects of historical or artistic interest, especially of memorials of the great Oonde. The family portraits, of which there is a vast collection, are particulary curious. He has two sons, who bear the fine titles of Prince de Conde and Due de Guise, but it is melan- choly to contemplate the avenir of these boys, whose high birth is their misfortune, and to whom no profession or occu- pation seems open. They have lost their own country by no fault of their own, and are so situated that they cannot or will not get adopted in any other. ^ It is a false position if ever there was one. The family appear to have been alarmed by the recent events in France, and the indirect efi'ect which those events might have upon them, for they have reason to believe that they are exposed to a constant system of espion- nage by the French Government, who wish very much to implicate them if possible in some of the plots that they be- lieve to be constantly going on here, and great vigilance on their part is necessary not to commit themselves in any way to unknown Frenchmen who approach under pretences of attachment to their family or to make appeals to their charity. The other day I got a note from Lord Derby about a Council, at the end of which he earnestly begged me if I had any influence with the " Times " to get them to abstain from writing any more irritating articles about France, for that these articles provoked the French to madness, and, as matters are, that nothing but the utmost care and modera- tion on both sides enabled the two Governments to go on in harmony. 1 accordingly sent his note to Delane, who promised to attend to it, though it was hard to leave the French press without replies. It is curious that I should be ' [Alas ! both these interesting and promisine youncf Princes were cut off in early life, the Prince de Cond6 dying: in New South VVales, at the outset of a journey on which he had started "under the most auspicious circumstances. The Due de Guise, then the sole survivintr child and heir of the Due d'Aumale also died soon after the return of the Royal Family to France in 1871.] 428 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XVI. found acting a friendly part toward Derby's Government, he being of all men the one to whom I have felt the greatest political repugnance ; but I am now so free from all political predilections, and regard constant changes as so objection- able, that I wish this Government to be fairly tried, espe- cially as it appears to me quite as good as any other we are likely to have ; disposed to work hard and promote good measures, and to be unable, even if they were disposed, to do any harm. I find a disposition to carp at the settlement of the French quarrel, though without any good reason. Lord Malmesbury's letter might have been better composed, and more showy, but the object was to close the quarrel in a manner that would satisfy the pride and allay the irritation of this coun- try, without being so exacting toward France as to pique her into fresh ebullitions offensive to us, and this has been done, though it cannot be said with truth that they had settled the dispute '"'with flying colors." The French Government have had the last word, and exhibited some spleen, which is not very unnatural considering the part they have had to play, eating humble pie and retracting almost everything they said. The Duke of Bedford is in town, having been urgently pressed to come up and see what he could do to effect a political reconciliation between Lord John and Palmerston, which he has certainly not effected, and probably will fail in effecting. Lord John said some months ago that he never would take office again but as Premier, but what the Whigs want is that he should join them, consent to co-operate in ousting Derby, and then to take office under Palmerston ; but if he would not do this before the present session began, much less would he be inclined to do so now. He knows very well that they are only trying to make it up with him, because they feel that they cannot do without him, and as they still prefer Palmerston, and mean to stick to him, and to come back with him as their chief, there is very little chance of any negotiation being brought to a successful issue. The best chance of the Whigs being reunited is, that the present Government should take sufficient root, and stay in office long enough to show that nothing but a complete rec- onpiliation of the Liberals of all shades and opinions can drive them out, and for this time is required. The notion the late Government cherished of being able to turn out 1858.] RECONCILIATION OF STATESMEN. 429 their opponents in a very brief space is already gone, and they find that the majority of the House of Commons will be no party to such an overthrow. March 21st. — The Duke of Bedford has just been here ; he has been occupied with vain attempts to bring about the reconciliation so much desired by his political friends, but without success or any hope of it ; he finds the estrangement between Palmerston and Lord John great as ever, and even between Lord John and Clarendon, the latter complaining bitterly that Lord John " went out of his way to insult him," which meant that in his speech the other day he spoke civilly of Malmesbury, saying he had no doubt he would up- hold the honor and dignity of the country. All this shows the excessive soreness and ill-humor of the outgoing party, and though Clarendon expresses the most unalloyed satis- faction at being out of office, it proves there is the amari aliquid to detract from his pleasure at being free ; and it is not unnatural that the great part he has himself had in bring- ing about the catastrophe should make him very sore and uneasy, and a blow has been given to his reputation the ef- fects of which may be hereafter serious. March 25th. — Marshal Pelissier is going to replace Per- signy here as Ambassador, a strange choice. He is a mili- tary ruffian, who knows no more of diplomacy than he does of astronomy. Persigny goes because he cannot agree with WaleAvski ; 1 don't know the details of his dissatisfaction. His departure is regretted, as he is believed to be honest and true, and sincerely anxious to promote a good understanding between the two countries. The Duke of Bedford has just been here ; he came from Lord Aberdeen, who tells him the Peelites are all verging toward a union with Lord John, some more, some less ; Graham is devoted to him, Sidney Herbert and Card well per- fectly well disposed, the Duke of Newcastle gradually be- coming so, and Gladstone at present the least friendly, but Aberdeen thinks is getting more friendly, and will eventually join his standard, and AlDerdeen himself is doing all he can to bring about this union. He is going to speak to the Queen about it, with a view of reconciling her to Lord John without knowing how necessary it is. The Duke said he rather doubted the expediency of Aberdeen's speaking to Her Majesty, but I told him it was better he should, and very necessary to take all means to remove her feeling 430 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XVI. against Lord John. I also told him what had passed between the Queen and Clarendon, and how he had endeav- ored to persuade Her Majesty that it would be impossible for himself to be Prime Minister, and that if Palmerston failed from any cause, her only course would be to send for Lord John, and to do so frankly and graciously. I begged him to let Lord John know this, as it was so desira- ble to bring about a reconciliation between them, which this fact would be calculated to promote. The Duke owned it was very handsome conduct on the part of Clarendon, as it is indeed on the part of Aberdeen, after all that Lord John did in breaking up his Government ; but Aberdeen is a gentleman and a patriot, sincerely attached to the Queen, and to the best interests of the country, and while he has retired altogether from public life and the turmoil of politics, he is anxious still to exercise the great moral influence which he possesses to advance the public interests according to the dictates of his judgment and his conscience. HatcJiford, March ^^th. — On Friday last Disraeli brought on the Government India Bill, which Ellenborough told some of his friends would be "■ a great success," and which everybody expected would be an improvement on Palmer- ston's. Never was there a greater failure ; the bill was received with general aversion and contempt. The Eadicals, who want to keep the Government in for the present, could not stomach it. Roebuck pronounced it a sham, and Bright, who detests Palmerston, said he preferred his bill of the two. It is evidently impossible that this bill can pass, and everybody sees what a fix it places public affairs in, and what difficulties and uncertainties present themselves on all sides. The only people who are pleased are the Palmer- stonians. They think that when this bill has been rejected or withdrawn theirs will pass, and this will, ex necessitate, compel Derby to retire and open the way to Palmerston's return to office. They are therefore chuckling over the dilemma, but it may be without its leading to the realization of their hopes. There are a great many men in the House of Commons, Peelites or Eadicals principally, but also some others, who cannot endure the notion of Palmerston's coming back, and who will oppose his bill, after the other has been swept away, merely to prevent his return. What the Eadi- cals would like is that both bills should be referred to a Select Committee, and a third bill be concocted out of the 1858.] MR. DISRAELI'S INDIA BILL. 431 two ; but this scheme would not be likely to meet with gen- eral approbation, for it would be in fact a delegation of the proper functions of government to the House of Commons. It appears not unlikely that both bills will fail and that no measure at all will pass this year. The Government people are extremely dejected at the state of affairs, but it is said they do not mean to resign upon the defeat of their bill. Meanwhile John Kussell has made a sort of overture to Granville, 1. e., he sent George Byng to him on Sunday to invite him to say what he thought would be the most eligible course to adopt in the present state of affairs, and with reference to the Government bill. This was not very Judicious on his part, and Granville was an odd man to se- lect, being in a different House of Parliament, and so bound to Palmerston that he could not avoid communicating to him the overture and his reply to it. George Byng says Granville appeared a good deal surprised, but he thought rather pleased. Granville said he could give no immediate answer, but would write to him, which he did the next day, and told him George Lewis would go down to Pembroke Lodge to see Lord John. I have no idea that anything will come of this, for none of the late Cabinet can or will trans- fer their allegiance from Palmerston to Lord John, unless the former consents to it, and abdicates his position of chief of the Whig party, which he seems to have no thoughts of doing, and it is impossible to conciliate their rival claims and pretensions. April 2d. — A letter from the Duke of Bedford this morn- ing says that Lord John is inclined to throw out the India Bill, as it is too bad to admit of any improvement, and that he thinks if he does this Palmerston will support him ; but the Duke adds that it is rumored that the Government will not go out if their bill is defeated. It is easy to understand that Palmerston can desire nothing so much as that Lord John should take the lead in opposing the India Bill, and that he should support him, because in that case, and the defeat of the bill by a large majority, which probably would happen, and the Government going out, he would infallibly be sent for again, and in reforming his Government he would no doubt invite Lord John to join it, but this would only lead to a fresh series of difficulties, and most likely to a long course of abortive negotiations. How tlie junction between the two leaders is to be effected it is difficult to conceive, al- 432 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XYI though there are several ways in which it might be brought about, if they were disposed to make mutual concessions. The starting point might be the complete union of the whole Whig and Liberal party, which all profess to desire most anxiously, and which the mutual antipathies and disagree- ments of the two leaders at present prevent. If Palmerston would consent to go to the House of Lords as Premier, and to leave Lord John with a high office (India, for example) as leader in the House of Commons, something might be done. Lord John might possibly be induced to cede his claim to the highest place on this condition, but it is not unlikely that he would require more than that : first, that Clarendon should not be at the Foreign Office, which Palmerston would no doubt not agree to ; and secondly, certain places and seats in the Cabinet for the Peelites, who have recently consented to follow his standard and cast their own lots with his. Then various complications present themselves connected with these questions. April 4dh. — The Duke of Bedford has written to Lady Derby that her lord must make up his mind to be beaten on his India Bill, but that he hopes he will not think it neces- sary to resign upon it when he is. Brougham writes from Paris that the feeling against us there has been greatly exag- gerated, that the Emperor alone is friendly to us, but that though the general sentiment is unfriendly, nobody dreams of going to war with us, nor indeed with any other Power. April 8fh. — Derby made a striking speech at the Mansion House the other night, which has been severely ridiculed by the "Times," but which nevertheless contained a good deal of truth. He said that there were very few questions nowa- days in which different Governments could act differently, and he invited not only every sort of criticism, but of sug- gestion, as to the Indian Bills and measures now before Par- liament. The inference deducible from his sjoeech (and in which I have since been confirmed) is that, happen what may, he does not mean to resign, and that the Government will not go out, unless they are positively turned out. They say this unlucky India Bill was the sole work of Ellen- borough, and that the democratic clauses are the result of an old fancy of his, but nobody can be desirous of admitting the paternity of such a measure. April ihth. — I have been confined to the house for several days, and unable to mix in the world and hear 1858.] LORD JOHN RUSSELL'S RESOLUTIONS. 433 what is going on, but have seen enough to know that there is nothing but confusion, perplexity, and irritation in the political world. During the brief recess everybody was speculating about what would be done when Parliament met again, what was to be the fate of the rival India Bills, and how far the Government would be affected by the result of contests concerning them. The Government hangers-on affected to be very well satisfied with the state of affairs, and proclaimed their intention not to go out whatever might haf)pen with regard to their bills. The Palmerstonians evi- dently expected that such storms would arise as the Govern- ment' would not be able to weather, and that something would turn up advantageous to them. John Russell, who must be doing something, said that the Government bill was so bad that no alterations could make it tolerable, and that he was disposed to move some Resolutions, which might be the foundation of a really good measure. He con- cocted these Resolutions, and wrote word to the Duke that " he had written to George Lewis and to Macaulay, who both approved of his scheme." Accordingly, as soon as Parliament met he announced that Resolutions ought to be drawn up, and that he was ready to draw them up. This produced great excitement. The Government saw in this move a plank of safety for themselves, and Disraeli said he was ready to receive Lord John's Resolutions, or to draw up Resolutions of his own ; many people said that if Resolutions were to be drawn up at all, it ought to be by Government, and not by any independent member, and it was eventually settled that Disraeli was to do it. Everybody saw that this, as far as it went, was advantageous to the Government ; it gave them certainly a reprieve, and possibly an opportunity of ridding themselves of the Indian difficulty altogether for this year, and the consequence was a burst of indignation and resentment against Lord John for thus coming to their aid as it was called, and concerting such a measure (as he was accused of doing) with Disraeli himself. The " Times " attacked him with the utmost bitterness, and there is a gen- eral clamor against him on the part of the late Government and their friends. It is not very easy to divine his true mo- tives in this matter. To Judge by the asj^erity with which he has spoken of the Government bill, one should not sup- pose he could be moved by any auxiliary purpose to them, and I do not believe there has been any concert, direct or 19 434 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XVI. indirect, between them ; but as all parties agree that the Government have derived advantage from his move, the rage he has excited is not unreasonable, and the breach between him and the Palmerstonian Whigs is much widened, and become more difficult to heal. Granville, who I suppose speaks the sentiments of his colleagues, says that it is evi- dent they could not return to office with the same Govern- ment exactly as before, and that it is not desirable to turn the Government out at present, even if they could, and he thinks it would not be wise to attempt to carry Palmerston's India Bill, in which it is not sure they should succeed. He thinks there was concert between Lord John and Disraeli, not direct, but through Horsman, and he says that George Lewis, so far from approving his Eesolutions, strongly pro- tested against them ; but it is not impossible to reconcile two statements which seem at first sight to be directly op- posed to each otlier. Lord John says he imparted to George Lewis and Macaulay his scheme {i. e. of drawing up Eesolu- tions), not the Eesolutions themselves, while George Lewis seems to deny approval of the Eesolutions ; but this is only a possible solution of the apparent contradictions. I told Granville that all that was now happening only served to confirm my original opinion, that they were wrong in resigning, and that there was no occasion for their doing so, and they now saw how difficult it was, when they had let this Government in, to get them out again, and he not only had not a word to say in reply, but all he did was rather indicative of concurrence in my opinion. In the most palmy days of party government, and when the old traditions with regard to the relations of Government with the House of Commons were in full force, it was not considered as an in- variable and unavoidable necessity that a Government when beaten on an important question must go out. I recollect the Government of the day in 1815 being beaten on the In- come Tax, without therefore resigning, and it is so obvious that the vote on the French despatch did not imply any general withdrawal of confidence and support, that I never shall believe they would have resigned as they did unless they had thought they should gain more strength and power by doing so without losing their places, and consequently that they were caught in a trap of their own setting. April 24:th. — The events of the past week have been Dis-raeli's Budget, Avhich has been received with favor and 1858.] THE DUKE OF BEDFORD'S VIEWS. 435 excited no opposition in any quarter, and the withdrawal of the Government India Bill, which was done by Disraeli, rather unwillingly ; but their maxim seems to be "anything for a quiet life," and they agree to whatever is proposed or opposed in any influential quarter. The general notion is that they are safe for this session, but it is a very inglorious safety. It now appears as if they would scramble and hobble on until the whole Liberal party is reunited, and a recon- ciliation effected between Palmerston and John Eussell, to bring about which it is clear that much exertion is being made. While I was at Newmarket this week I had several letters from the- Duke of Bedford, all bearing upon this matter. He writes on the 16th : " I hear that the feeling against John has been very strong and that lies have been told as usual. It is said that he has been in communication with Derby indirectly, through Lady Derby, and that he wrote to Disraeli. If he did, it was only on a matter of ordinary courtesy, to ask him to postpone the second read- ing of the India Bill, to give time for a different course which he intended to suggest and did the first day the House met. John has been left by circumstances or by his old colleagues to pursue his own independent course, and ought not to be found fault with, if he pursued that course, as he did in this instance, after conferring with the friends I named to you, and receiving their approval. No doubt his move was very successful to the Government, and helped them out of an enormous difficulty, but I can see no harm in that." There was a great deal more about the communica- tions between Lord John and George Lewis, which now only signifies as demonstrating the extreme difficulty of getting at the truth. It is evident that there is a great desire on the part of the Whigs to bring about a reunion with Lord John and those who follow him, in order to get the Govern- ment out, for which the rank and file are getting more and more impatient. Lewis told me last night that they are holding constant Cabinets, which always ended with the same resolution, not to do anything, or to make any serious attack ; and they have made up their minds to acquiesce in Derby's going on through this session ; but nothing can ex- ceed "the contempt and aversion with which Lewis speaks of the Government and of all their proceedings, certainly not without reason, for there is no example of any Government 436 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XYI. consenting to hold office on terms so humiliating, and to such a powerless existence. They dare not originate any- thing, and they submit to everything that anybody proposes or suggests, Laving seemingly no object but that of currying favor, and avoiding to give offence. The way in which Disraeli withdrew his India Bill upon a few words spoken by John Russell is a curious exemplification of their forlorn state. Lord Cowley, whom I saw yesterday, is desirous, like everybody else, to see the end of this feeble rule ; but he thinks Palmerston's disposition is very unbending, and doubts his and Lord John's being brought together, not- withstanding that Lady Palmerston tells the Duke of Bedford that Palmerston "has a great affection for John." Cowley talked a great deal about French affairs and the state of things between the two countries, and he exj)ressed great apprehensions lest Malmesbury should make to many concessions to the French G-overnment,^ which, however, he meant to prevent if he could. He mentioned one or two odd things. First of all he told me that he had foreseen all the effects produced by the ^yale3wski letter, and had done all he could to prevent its being sent, and he was amazed at Clarendon having taken it so quietly, and that he should have seen no impropriety or danger in it, but on the contrary thought it would do good. Then with regard to Walewski's other letter in reply to Malmesbury, wliich, objectionable as it was, had been greatly softened from the original draft, had it been despatched as at first composed by Walewski, he said it would have raised an inextinguishable flame here. Cowley said that the Emperor's nerves were shaken to pieces by the attentat, and he was greatly changed. April 29th. — Every day the position of the Government gets worse and worse. The disposition there was to give them a fair opportunity of carrying on public affairs as well as they could has given way to disgust and contempt at their blundering and stupidity, and those who have all along resented their attempt to hold office at all are becoming more impatient and more anxious to turn them out. There 1 [The publication of Lord Malmesbury' s autobiography has proved that he was not at all disposed to make any undue concessions to the French Govern- ment, and that he acted as long as this Administration lasted in strict union with Lord Cowley. The Emperor Napoleon complained that his old friend as- sumed too stern an attitude toward France in the course of the events which fol- lowed in the next few months and led to the Italian War.] 1858.] GLADSTONE ATTACKS PALMERSTON. 437 is a very temperate, but very just, article in the " Times " to- day, wliicli contains all that is to be said on the subject, stated without bitterness or exaggeration. The Whigs, how- ever, seem aware that it is not expedient to push nuitters to extremity, and to force their resignation, until the quarrels of the Liberal party are made up, and till Palmcrston and John Russell are brought together and prepared to join in taking office, and to elfect this object the most strenuous efforts are making. What the pacilicators aim at is, that Palmerston should go as Premier to the House of Lords, and leave Lord John to lead the House of Commons. This is the most reasonable compromise, and one which ought to be satisfactory to both ; but even if this leading condition were agreed to, it is not certain that there might not be othei's presenting great obstacles to the union, such as whether Lord John would agree to join without bringing a certain number of men with him, and whether Palmerston would consent to exclude so many of his former Cabinet to make room for them. Graham, Lord John would, I sup- pose, certainly insist upon ; Gladstone would probably be no party to any arrangement, and he has recently evinced his extreme antipathy to Palmerston by a bitter though able review in the "Quarterly" on France and the late Ministry, in which he attacks Palmerston with extraordinary asperity. Ever since he resigned Palmerston has been very active in the House of Commons, and kept himself constantly be- fore the public, evidently with the object of recovering his former popularity as much as possible, and he made a very clever and lively speech two nights ago, which his friends praise uj) to the skies. I met Derby in the Park yesterday, and soon after the Chancellor in Piccadilly, and had some talk with both of them. They were neither of them in a very sanguine mood, and apparently well aware of the precariousness of their position. Derby attributed the state of affairs, which he owned was very bad, to the caprice and perverseness of the House of Commons, which he said was unmanageable. I did not, as I might have done, tell him that he had no right to complain of this House, and that it was the mismanage- ment of his own colleagues which was the cause of the evil. Lyndhurst made an extraordinary speech on the Jew Bill on Tuesday night. May 1st. — Ellice flattered himself that he could get up a 438 KEIGN OF QUEEN VICTOKIA. [Chap. XVI. party in the House of Commons whicli would haye power enough to stop the progress of the Indian measure, and to lead to a better measure next year, as well as to the forma- tion of a Government ; and in pursuance of this scheme it was arranged that Lord Harry Vane should move the post- ponement of Indian legislation, and Ellice told me they should be supported by 150, and many men of note. All this went off in smoke last night. After a short debate the motion was rejected by an immense majority, and Ellice could only muster 55 people. The hopes of those who are trying to bring Lord John and Palmerston together are damped by a letter I have received (and shown to George Byng) from the Duke of Bedford, who says : "I saw much of Palmerston and Lady Palmerston last week, but could see no disposition to reunion, although we came to that point more than once. I suggested to Lady Palmerston the wish of many that Palmerston should go to the House of Lords. She said that Palmerston had always entertained a great dislike to it, and hinted, or more than hinted, that he would place no confidence in John as leader of the House of Commons." I went to hear Professor Owen lecture yesterday. His style of lecturing is very good, but the subject (vertebrated animals) was too scientific for my ignorance. Savernake, May 11th. — I have been out of town all the last week, at Chester, and came here on Saturday. While I was at Chester the Duke of Bedford sent me a note he had received from Lord John, which looked like the beginning of a rapprochement between him and Palmerston, though it did not amount to a great deal, and may lead to nothing. I was obliged to return it, and was too much occupied to copy the contents of it here. I refer so often to this subject, be- cause it ajDpears to be the one upon which the existence of the present Government depends, for as soon as the Liberals can come to an understanding and act in concert, the doom of the Ministry will be sealed. Without their committing any great faults they seem to be falling into greater con- tempt every day. The only point of attack the Opposition have found has been the affair of Canning's recent proclamation.^ Canning 1 [The Proclamation of March 3, addressed to the chiefs and people of Oude, is here referred to. It was strongly opposed and attacked as a wholesale meas- ure of confiscation, before the motives and policy of the act were understood; 1808.] LITTLECOTE HOUSE. 439 has not been lucky in his Proclamations, the first having been severely criticised for its clemency, and the second for its severity. The complaint against the Government is for having made public their disapproval of it and their censure of his acts. 1 think their disapprobation quite right, and that they were right in conveying it to Canning, but they might have refused to express any opinion or to publish or half publish any of the correspondence that passed, though it cannot be doubted that such refusal would have drawn upon them all sorts of attacks and reproaches, but it would have been the proper course for them to adojDt. It is, how- ever, certainly premature to express any definite opinion upon an act of which we are not yet furnished with an explana- tion. I went yesterday to see Littlecote House, Mr. Popham's, a very curious, interesting old house, and the scene of the Wild Dayrell story and murder, the tradition of which has been often narrated, but the truth never ascertained. 1 saw all the rooms, including the one in which the murder is supposed to have been committed, but they have been much altered. There is a fine old hall, hung round with the armor and buff coats of Colonel Popham's troopers, and it is a remarkable fact that they are all so small that no man of ordinary size could wear them, a clear proof that the present generation are much bigger than our ancestors of two centuries ago. King William III. slept at Littlecote for two or three nights in 1689 (while King James was at Salisbury), and he seems to have left behind him a good many papers, which have ever since been preserved in the house. There is also a large collection of miscellaneous letters of the time of the Civil War, more or less curious, which were pre- served by a lucky accident. Popham told me that his father told him there was a mass of papers in an old box under the roof of the house which had better be destroyed. His son went up for the purpose, and discovered the contents of the box, saved the papers, and had them arranged in a book. I urged him to publish them, and I hope he will. I had only time to look over a few of them ; as autographs alone they are valuable.^ but Lord Canning's object was to reinstate tbe talookclars in their possessions by a tenure under the British Crown, and subsequent events have shown that the resettlement of the conquered province was accomplished without violence or injustice.] > [Among these Littlecote papers was found the correspondence of Queen 440 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XVI. London, May Idth. — JSTothing ever was like the state of confusion and excitement which has prevailed here during the last fortnight, while I have been out of town, particularly on the resignation of EUenborough, which took everybody by surprise. Before I went away the impression had become general that this Government neither could nor ought to be endured much longer, and that their repeated and enormous blunders made them a nuisance which must be abated. All the Liberals (except some of the extreme Eadicals who wished them to stay on some time longer), however they dif- fered on other questions, were agreed on this. Numerous meetings took place, and there was a prodigious activity of negotiation, communication, and going backward and for- ward, with a view to some general organization and com- bination of attack on the unfortunate Ministry. The Duke of Bedford was brought up to see what he could do to bring Lord John and Palmerston together. Lord John Joined heartily in the plan of turning the Government out, and said that anything was preferable to leaving them any longer in oflBce. Clarendon, who had been informed of Lord John's peculiar grudge against him, expressed a wish to have an in- terview with him, which the Duke brought about. Lord John called on Clarendon, and they had a frank communica- tion, so far as Lord John telling him all that he thought about foreign affairs, and in what he disagreed with the late Government on various questions ; but he did not allude to Vienna, which is the real gist of his grievance and the source of his hostile feeling, so that with that reticence it is not strange that they should have parted much as they met. Then Palmerston expressed a wish to have a tete-a-tete con- versation with Lord John, which the latter assented to, but Palmerston seems to have changed his mind, and to have shrunk from it when the opportunity presented itself. Charles Wood is the man who has been constantly communi- cating with Lord John in behalf of the Whig Cabinet, and one day Palmerston came into Charles Wood's while Lord John was there. It rained, and Palmerston offered to take Lord John home, which he accepted, but nothing passed on the way, nor did Palmerston propose to get out and enter the house when he might have had the conversation he had expressed a wish for, and so it ended. The plans imagined Henrietta Maria with Charles I. when she went to Holland to raise money for carrying on the Civil War. I am not aware that they have been published.] 1858] LORD LYNDHURST DISPLEASED. 441 by mutual friends for effecting apolitical reconciliation have vanished into air. Palnierston is resolved not to go to the House of Lords, and Lord John is equally determined not to take ofHce under him. Palmerston says he cannot trust Lord John to lead, the House of Commons, Personally, meanwhile, they are ostensibly friends, and Lord John dines at Cambridge House to-morrow. Charles Wood asked the Duke of Bedford, suj^posing the Government resigned, and Palmerston was again sent for, what he thought Palmerston ought to do, to which he replied that he ought to accept the task, send to Lord John, and on his refusal to join (as he probably would), to do the best he could with the materials he could command. This advice would, I conceive, be very palateable to Palmerston, and it is what he would naturally do without any advice. I called on Lyndhurst the night I came to town, and found him very dissatisfied with the Government, both on account of their management and errors, and because they have treated him with personal neglect ; he had begged Derby and Disraeli to do something for his son-in-law, but both put him off with excuses, and would do nothing. He is particularly disgusted with the state of the Jew question and with the foolish and obstinate conduct of the Govern- ment in the House of Lords about it, on which he was very eloquent, particularly for their having made a great whip, and getting up every man they could lay hands on to come and vote, instead of leaving it to take its chance, and at least making an open question of it. May IQth. — The first great battle took place in the House of Lords the night before last, at which I was present.^ It was a very spirited fight, and I never recollect seeing the House of Lords so crowded both with ladies and lords. Pretty good speaking ; Lord Grey's was about the best speech and the one I most agreed with. I cannot see the matter of Canning's Proclamation and Ellenborough's despatch in the light that either side does, and think there is much to be said both ways. In the Commons the fight began on Friday 1 [On May 14, Mr. Cardwell moved a resolution condemning the despatch which Lord Ellenboroufrh had written and published, censiirlnir the Proclama- tion of the Governor-General of India. A similar resolution was moved by Lord Shafte.sbnry in the House of Lords, where it was defeated by a majority of nine. The debate in the House of Commons lasted four nis^hts, and in the in- terval Lord Ellen boroutjh resigned. Mr. Cardwell then withdrew his motion, and the attack on the Government suddenly collapsed.] 442 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XVI. also, and the most remarkable speech in it was that of Cairns, the new Solicitor-General, which was very clever and effect- ive. John Russell also spoke very well and vigorously, quite in his old style. There is much difference of opinion as to the amount of majority, though it is generally expected there will be one against Government, and I now hear that they have determined positively to dissolve if they are beaten, though with little or no chance of their bettering themselves by a dissolution. May 23d. — The excitement of Epsom during the whole of last week was not greater than that which prevailed in London during the great debates in the House of Commons, the result of which, on Thursday night, produced such un- usual surprise, with so much triamj)h on one side and such mortification and disappointment on the other. In my long experience I do not recollect to have seen so much political bitterness and violence (except perhaps during the great con- tests of the Catholic question and Reform), and certainly there never was a great Parliamentary battle distinguished by so much uncertainty and so many vicissitudes, and in which the end corresponded so little with the beginning and with the general expectation. For a considerable time not only all the late Cabinet and their supporters, but the whole body of Whigs, both Palmerstonians and Russellites, had been growing more and more impatient of the Derby Govern- ment, and they were considering how they could make a final and irresistible attack upon them, and for the last three weeks there had been nothing but negotiations and pourparlers to effect a coalition between the rival leaders and their friends for the purpose of their at least uniting in one great hostile vote, which should drive the Derbyites to resignation or dis- solution, hoping and expecting that their majority would be so large as to put the latter out of the question. The occa- sion seemed to present itself upon Ellenborough's letter to Canning censuring his Proclamation. A meeting took place at Cambridge House, when the whole plan was matured, and though John Russell did not attend it, he agreed to be a party to the Motion of Censure. Shaftesbury was put forward in the Lords, and Cardwell was induced to take the initiative in the House of Commons. Nobody doubted of success, and the only question was (much debated and betted upon) by how many the Government would be beaten. Meanwhile Ellenborough resigned, which gave a new aspect 1858.] MR. CARD WELL WITHDRAWS HIS MOTION. 443 to the affair, and the Government got a small majority in the Lords. It was evident that no popularity attached to the motion, and many of the Liberals were of opinion that upon Ellenborough's resignation the affair ought to drop and the motion be withdrawn. But the die was cast, the Palmerstonians were quite confident and eager for the fray, and would not hear of stopping in their career. The debate began, the speaking being all along better on the Govern- ment side, and every day their prospects as to the division appeared to be mending and public opinion more and more inclining against the Opposition and the Proclamation, though still blaming Ellenborough's letter. If the debate had ended on Tuesday as was expected, Government would probably have been beaten, but Sir Charles Napier had got Tuesday, and would not give it up, so that the decision was of necessity adjourned : the delay was all in favor of the Government, and on Thursday night arrived the Indian despatches with Canning's explanations and the Outram correspondence, which was immediately published, and although Palmerston and his friends and newspapers pre- tended that they considered these documents favorable to their cause, the general impression was rather the other way. All this time the Government people found their cause improving, and their chances in the division mending, and though their enemies still pretended to be certain of success, and I was told on Thursday night that I might safely lay any odds on their having a majority, the best informed of them in the House of Commons began to see danger, and at last they confessed only to expect a bare majority, and the Speaker told somebody it was very likely he should have to give a casting vote. The Radicals, or those of them who professed to be adherents of the Whig Cabinet, strongly urged the withdrawal of Card well's motion, and at last on the Thursday seem to have made up their minds that defeat in some shape was inevitable, and that the best thing left for them to do was to get rid of the debate in any way they could. Henry Lennox called on me yesterday morning to tell me what had passed, to this effect : that on Friday Disraeli had received a letter from Cardwell, in which he asked if Disraeli would allow him to withdraw his motion, and subsequently Palmerston desired to confer with him, when he put the same question to him, to which (according to Henry Lennox's statement) Disraeli replied, in a very 444 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XVL lofty tone, that he would hear of nothing which could pos- sibly be construed into any admission on their part of their meriting any part of the censure which the Opposition had been laboring to cast upon them. The Government had by this time ascertained that the Opposition had made their minds up to back out of the motion as best they might, and their retreat was not very cleverly done, beginning with Cardwell's refusal to withdraw, and ending with Palmerston's recommendation to him to yield, which was a got up thing. The scene in the House was most extraordinary, and particu- larly mortifying to Palmerston, who saw himself involved in inevitable defeat,- and without the power of rallying again for some time. If anybody could be excused for the impatience which brought him and his party into this dilemma, it was Palmerston, who in his seventy fourth year, and resolved to die in harness if he could, had no time to lose. This affair has been the battle of Marengo of political warfare. The Whigs appeared to be victorious, and carrying everything before them up to the eleventh hour, and then came a sudden turn of affairs, and the promise of victory was turned into rout and disaster. The campaign is lost, and for the rest of this session the Government have it all their own way. The Whigs are in the condition of a defeated army, who require to be completely reorganized and re-formed before they can take the field again. The general resentment and mortifica- tion are extreme. They have naturally lost all confidence in their leaders, and they are now all ready to complain of the tactics of which they entirely approved till they found that defeat had been the consequence of their adoption. It is not probable that Palmerston and his late Cabinet will attemjrt anything more during this session, and everything is in such a state of confusion and uncertainty that the best thing they can do is to remain quiet, merely in a state of watchfulness, and to see what the volvenda dies may bring about in the course of the next six months, leaving the Derbyites unmolested during that time. Derby will get Gladstone if possible to take the India Board, and this will be the best thing that can happen. His natural course is to be at the head of a Conservative Government, and he may, if he acts with prudence, be the means of raising that party to something like dignity and authority, and emancipating it from its dependence on the discreditable and insincere support of the Kadicals. 1858.] UNPOPULARITY OF LOPvD PALMERSTON. 445 June llth. — At Cleveden, at Ascot, and at Hatchford all the past week, during which I heard little or nothing about politics. The matter which made the most stir was Disraeli's impudent and mendacious speech at Slough, in which he bitterly attacked the last Ministry and glorified his own. The AVhigs were stung to madness, and two or three nights were occupied in both Houses, principally, by Palmerston and Clarendon, in answering this speech, and demonstrating its falsehood. The proceeding was not very dignified, andthey might just as well have left it alone, particularly as nobody cared much about what Disraeli said ; but there was so little sympathy for the ex-Ministers, that no indignation was ex- cited by it, except among themselves and their immediate friends. There seems little chance now of anything but a desultory warfare going on in the House of Commons, without any serious attack on the Government, who seem safe for this session at least. The most interesting event last week was the virtual settlement of the eternal Jew Question, which the House of Lords sulkily acquiesced in. It was very desirable for many reasons to put an end to it. Normmi Court, June l&tJi. — Every day it appears more and more evident that Palmerston's political career is draw- ing to a close, and he alone seems blind to the signs which denote it. Few things are stranger than the violent reaction which has deprived him of his popularity, and made him an object of bitter aversion to a considerable part of the Liberals, not only to ?uch men as Graham and Bright, but even to many of his former followers and adherents. I cannot say I am sorry for it, but I do in fairness think that this reaction is overdone and exaggerated, and the hostility to Palmerston greater than there is any reason for. I do not wish to see him again at the head of affairs, but I should be sorry to see a man so distingushed, who has been exalted so high, and who has many good qualities, end his life, or at least his political career, under circumstances of mortification and humiliation. If this happens it will be owing principally to his obstinacy in persisting in leading a party who have no longer any mind to be led by him, and the insatiable ambition which cannot brook the notion of retirement at any time of life. If he was wise, and was not blinded by vanity and the flattery of his hangers-on, he would take a jiister and clearer view of his position, and supposing him still intent on play- ing the political game, he would endeavor to act a part as 416 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XVL nearly like that whicli Peel acted in his last years as the dif- ference of circumstances would admit. But the determination to have no more to do with Palra- erston has not made the Whigs and Liberals more disposed to throw themselves into the arms of Lord John, and as yet, so far from any appearance of a reorganization of the Lib- eral party, they seem more disunited and scattered than ever. Even Lord John and Graham, who seemed to be most closely allied, are now continually voting diiferent ways ; and as to the other leading men, it is impossible to predict how they will vote on any subject that comes before Parliament. In this state of confusion many Liberal-Conservatives are beginning to wish for the consolidation of the Government, and are inclining to support it, if the Government itself will give them an opportunity of doing so, by asserting their own independence as a Conservative Government, and will leave ofE truckling to the Radicals, by accepting measures which everyone knows to be repugnant to their feelings and opin- ions, and inconsistent with the principles they have always professed. Men who supported Palmerston's Government because they considered it to be a Conservative one, foresee that before long parties must assume the character of Radi- cal and Conservative, the Whigs being merged in the former, and that the party of the present Government forms the only force capable of resisting the Whig and Radical union when it takes place, and that their best course will be to join the Conservative camp, if the presnt Government do not, by un- principled and inconsistent concessions for the sake of an easy official existence, render it impossible for them to do so. I do not know to what extent this feeling prevails, but I be- lieve it is extending, and Lord St. Germans, who is a very staunch friend to the late Government, and latterly belonged to them, told me the other day that Granville had great difficulty in keeping his people together. Ashburton is very warm and eager in this sense, and though neither of these men have much weight, I have no doubt they are exponents of the sentiments of a much larger number. I called on Lyndhurst on Monday Evening, and talked this question over with him, and entreated him to speak to Derby upon it. We were very well agreed, and he said he would endeavor to talk to Derby, but he is rather embarrassed, because he does not know what Derby is going to do about the Jew Bill, there being some strange signs of an intention on the part 1S58.] MINISTERS GAIN GROUND. 447 of Derby to throw it over after all, though this would be so extremely foolish, as well as so false and dishonorable, that I cannot believe it is in his contemplation, June 22(1. — During the week I passed at Norman Court the Government here were gaining ground. They had two good divisions in the House of Commons, sufficient to prove that if they cannot command a majority here, tliey have at least as much influence and power and are as well supported as any other leader or party. Then the publication of the Cagliari papers, and the way in which that question was settled, was a real triumph to the Foreign Office, and ac- knowledged to be so by the whole Press of every shade, and by everybody in Parliament, not excepting the ex-Ministers themselves. They are undoubtedly gaining strength, while the chances of another Palmerston Government became more and more faint and remote. All information coincides in representing Palmerston's unpopularity as great and gen- eral, certainly the most extraordinary change that ever took place in so short a time. The Duke of Bedford writes to me from Endsleigh : "I hear of only one general feeling against Palmerston in the West. What a change since this time last year ! " I had a long talk with Tom Baring at Norman Court about the Government, their proceedings and their pros- pects, and we agreed entirely on the subject. I wanted him to speak to some of his friends the ministers, and to en- deavor to get them to act a bolder and more consistent part as a Conservative Government, and he urged me to speak to Disraeli, which I told him I would do, and only refrained from doubting if I could do any real good with him. The Government are certainly placed in a difficult position. The Government and party whom they replaced were determined to thrust them out again as soon as possible, and their weak- ness and danger drove them into a quasi-alliance with the Eadicals, or at least into so much deference and so many concessions to Radicals and Ultra-Liberals, that the Whigs, who were baffled and kept out by this policy, held them up to bitter scorn and reproach for acting in this manner, and now, when they agree to any measure with regard to which concession is reasonable and prudent, they are always assailed with the same reproaches instead of getting credit for so do- ing. To be sure they often contrive to make their conces- sions in such a way as to deprive them of all grace and 448 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTOEIA. [Chap. XVI. merit. This has been pre-eminently the case with the Jew Bill. Among the events of last week one of the most interest- ing was the Queen's visit to Birmingham, where she was received by the v/liole of that enormous population with an enthusiasm which is said to have exceeded all that was ever displayed in her former receptions at Manchester or else- where. It is impossible not to regard such manifestations as both significant and important. They evince a disposi- tion in those masses of the pojaulation in which, if anywhere, the seeds of Eadicalism are supposed to lurk, most favorable to the Conservative cause, by which I mean not to this or that party, but to the Monarchy and the Constitution under which we are living and flourishing, and which we may be- lieve to be still dear to the hearts of the people of this country. This great fact lends some force to the notion entertained by many political thinkers, that there is more danger in conferring political power on the middle classes than in extending it far beneath them, and in point of fact that there is so little to be apprehended from the extension of the suffrage, that universal suffrage itself would be in- nocuous. Among the concessions of last week was the pass- ing of Locke King's Bill for abolishing a property qualifica- tion, which was done with hardly any opposition. There can be no doubt that the practice was a mere sham, and that a property qualification was very often a fiction or a fraud, and snch being the case, that it was useless to keep up the distinction ; bxit it struck me, though I do not find that it occurred to anybody else, that the abolition might sooner or later have an indirect influence upon the question of the suffrage, for it may be urged, not without plausibility, that if it be held no longer necessary that a representative should have any property whatever, there is great inconsistency in requiring that the elector should have a certain amount of property to entitle him to vote. Ju7ie 26th. — The India Bill appears now likely to pass rather rapidly and in the shape presented by the Govern- ment. Everybody is tired to death of the subject and anx- ious to have it over, and the general impatience is increased by alarm at the foul state of the. Thames, which (long dis- cussed in a negligent way, and without much public atten- tion or' care) has suddenly assumed vast proportions, and is become an object of general interest and apprehension. 1858.] ADMISSION OF THE JEWS TO PARLIAMENT. 449 This makes the House of Commons eager to finish its busi- ness as expeditiously as it can, and members impatient to betake themselves to a purer and safer atmosphere. The Government continues to maintain its ascendency there, and last night Palmcrston was beaten by considerable majorities on two amendments he moved to the India Bill. The Chancellor has drawn down great obloquy on him- self by a speech which he made at the Mansion House a night or two ago. Derby's illness having prevented his going to the dinner (given to the Ministers), Thesiger had to speak for him, and he made the very worst, most injudi- cious, and unbecoming speech which was ever delivered on such an occasion. No rule is more established than that politics are not to b3 introduced at these dinners, and yet his speech was nothing but a political song of triumph and glorification of his own Government and colleagues, as some- body said, a counterpart (though less offensive one) of Dis- raeli's Slough speech. All their heads are turned, and the Chancellor's as much or more than any. Then there is a grand mess about the Jew question, which is hung up in a sort of abeyance in consequence of Derby's not being able to come down to the House of Lords. From the moment that Derby took upon himself to an- nounce his abandonment of the contest, which he did not frankly and fully, but sulkily and reluctantly, he seems to have half repented of what he did, and to have, if not made, permitted and connived at, all sorts of difficulties and obsta- cles, while his subordinates and some of his colleagues have interposed to prevent or delay the final settlement. It is difficult to believe that he himself ever cared a straw about the Jew question, or that his opposition had any motive ex- cept that of pleasing the bigoted and narrow-minded of his party. His good sense saw that the moment was come when surrender was the best policy if not an absolute necessity, and having given utterance to this conviction, no doubt to the enormous disgust of many of his followers, it was his interest to get rid of the question as quickly as possible, and dismiss what as long as it remained on the tapis in any shape was a source of disagreement and ill-humor between him and his party. It is marvellous, therefore, that so clever a man should have acted so foolish a part as he has done. Having disgusted his own party by his concession, he is now disgusting everybody else and all other parties by his hesita- 450 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XVI. tion and pusillanimity in carrying it out, and, with an ab- sence of dignity and firmness which is utterly unworthy of the high position he holds, he has permitted his Chancellor and some half-dozen subordinate members of his Government to do all they can to thwart the settlement of the question, and prolong the exclusion of the Jews. Instead of taking the matter into his own hands, and dealing with it accord- ing to the plain suggestions of common sense and sound policy, he has ])ermitted a sort of little conspiracy to go on, which is exceedingly likely to bring about a collision between the two Houses, and to raise a flame in the House of Com- mons the consequences of which may be more serious to the Government than any one contemplates. Lyndhurst, whose wise head is provoked and disgusted to the last degree at all these proceedings, has bitterly complained of them, and at the w^ay in which they have treated him, and the bill he drew up for the express purpose of j>utting an end to the dilemma. July 9th. — After all Derby ran true to the Jew Bill, and if he did it in an awkward way, allowances must be made for him and for his difficulties with his party, who are full of chagrin at being compelled to swallow this obnoxious measure. It is on the whole better that the bulk of them should have voted in conformity with their notorious opin- ions, as it made no difference as to the result, and has a bet- ter appearance than if they had whisked round at Derby's bidding. The India Bill has passed the House of Commons pretty harmoniously, and people seem to think it has been licked into a very decent shape. The most interesting event of the present day is the mar- riage of Lord Overstone's daughter to a Major Lindsay,^ who has got the greatest heiress who ever existed, that is, sup- posing she inherits her father's prodigious wealth, which since old Jones Loyd's death is reckoned to amount to six or seven millions. July IMli. — After an ineffectual attempt on the part of the Opposition to get rid of the *' reasons" of the Lords, the Jew Bill has passed, Granville and Lansdowne protest- ing against the absurdity of the conduct of Derby with re- 1 [Afterward Sir Eobert Loyd Lindsay, V. C, raised to the Peerage in 1885 by the title of Lord Wantasre. The property of Lord Overstone, as disposed of by his will, amounted to about three millions, and would pass in reversion to the Loyd family on the failure of issue by his daughter.] 1858.] CONTINUED WARFARE IN INDIA. 451 gard to it. It is remarkable that though Lord Lansdowne has for some time appeared mueli baisse, his speech was as good and sensible a speech as he ever made in his life. As t© Derby, as it is impossible that so clever a man as he is could willingly act so foolish and even ridiculous a part as he has done on this occasion, I conclude that he felt obliged to do what he has done in order to avoid quarrelling with his own friends, who without doubt are intensely disgusted at the bitter pill he has obliged them to swallow, and as he knows best what he can venture with tbem and what not, it is more reasonable to accept the measure on his own terms than to be angry with him for the way in which he has con- trived it. The last accounts from India are far from satisfactory, and the apprehensions which I long ago felt and expressed, but which I had begun to think unfounded, seem not un- likely to be realised. It is clear that the contest is neither over nor drawing to a close. Our danger consists in the swarms of armed and hostile natives, and in the climate. The rebels we always beat when we can grapple with them, but we cannot crush and subdue them. They gather to- gether and assail our people when a good opportunity pre- sents itself, and when they are repulsed (as is always the case) their masses are dissolved and scattered abroad, with- out any material diminution of their numbers, and ready to assemble and attack any other vulnerable point, while the British troops are harassed to death by unceasing pur- suits of foes so much more nimble and able to endure the climate than themselves. This species of warfare must be disheartening and disgusting, and it involves a consump- tion of life requiring more reinforcements than we can sup- ply. All the accounts we receive concur in the insufficiency of the European force, and the necessity of fresh sup- plies. One letter I saw yesterday talks of 40,000 men being requisite. Pehmrtli, July Z\d. — I came here from Good wood, not having been here for twenty years, and am rather glad to see once more a place where I passed so much of my time in my younger days. I think it is the finest house I have ever seen, and its collection of pictures is unrivalled for number, beauty, and interest. Parliament is to be up on Monday, and the Council for the prorogation is to take place to-day at Osborne. 453 REIGN 0¥ QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XVI. I met Brunnow at Goodwood, who talked over the politi- cal events of the Eussian war, and assured me that the part he liad played in it had been much misrepresented, that he had never been misled by Aberdeen, nor had he ever misled the Emperor Nicholas, but on the contrary had told him, without any disguise, the real state of aSairs, and the almost certainty that war would ensue, that he was well aware him- self, and had impressed on his master, that although Aber- deen was most anxious to avoid war, he had no power to do so, and that though he was nominally Prime Minister, he was destitute of the authority of one. He said the Emperor was quite sincere in all he had said to Hamilton Seymour, and if we had had at Petersburg a minister with more tact and judgment, war would not have taken place. He (Brun- nowj had urged Aberdeen to send Granville there for the purpose, who, he thinks, would have done very well, and of whom he has a high opinion. London, August loth. — I returned to town from Pet- worth last Monday week, and on Tuesday a fit of gout came on, which has laid me up ever since, leaving me no energy to do anything, and least of all to execute the purpose I entertained of sketching the past session of Parliament, and the curious events which it evolved ; the decline and fall of Palmerston and his Government, the advent of Derby, and the vicissitudes of his career, deserve a narrative which might, if well handled by some well-informed writer, be made very interesting : but I am conscious of my own unfit- ness and dare not attempt it. It is in truth time for me to leave off keeping a journal, for by degrees I have lost the habit of communicating with all the people from whom I have been in the habit of obtaining political information, and I know nothing worth recording. 1858.] LOED JOHN RUSSELL AND LORD STANLEY. 453 CHAPTER XVII. Lord John Russell and Lord Stanley — Lord Palmerston's Leadership — Dissensions in the Liberal Party — The Queen and lier .Ministers — Lord 8t;iuley at the India UtKce — The Queen's Letter to the Prince of Wales — Keforin Speeches and Projects — Lord Palm- erston's Contidence — Prosecution of Count Montaleuibert in France— Lord ('lar- eudou's Visit to Coinpiesne — The Emperor's Desiicus on Italy — The Emperor and the Pope — Approach of War — Lord Palmerston's Prudent Lang:ua [The Emperor told Mettemich the other day that he had made one great mistake, whioh he had never ceased to regret, that immediately after Villa- franca he ought to have marched 100,000 men into Tuscany on the plea of em- barking them at Leghorn, and continued to occupy the country till the restora- tion of the Grand Duke was accomplished, but that he had never contemplated the invincible resistance of the whole population. — C. C. G.J 538 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIX. before the end of the session. This of course implies that Gladstone's policy is to be in the ascendant, and that he is to override the Cabinet. There has been a dispute about the introduction of the Eeform Bill. Lord John's colleagues wished him to defer bringing it on, till more progress had been made in the fiscal and commercial measures, and represented the incon- venience of having the two discussions going on at the same time, but nothing would induce him to postpone it, and for the absurd reason that he wanted to bring in this Bill on the same day on which he had introduced the great Reform Bill in 1831, and to this fanciful object he insisted on sacrificing all others. . Hatchford, March '^tli. — Lord John Russell brought in his Reform Bill last week without exciting the smallest interest, or even curiosity, amid profound indifference in the House and in the country. His measure was very mod- erate, and his speech temperate. It produces no enthusiasm, or satisfaction, or alarm. It will probably pass without any violent debates, and perhaps with very slight alterations. If the opponents should succeed in making some, Lord John is not prepared to adhere obstinately to his measure, but will come to terms. It was settled that no discussion should take place at the time, and nobody was inclined for any. It hardly delayed the progress of Gladstone's measures, so we heard no more comijlaints of Lord John's pertinacity in bringing it on upon March 1st. The Treaty, the Budget, and the Reform Bill had thrown foreign affairs into the background, but the interest in them was suddenly aroused, and speedily absorbed every other, by the Emperor's speech and M. Thouvenel's despatch- es all so mortifying and provoking to us. Up to this moment Palmerston had been highly elated, and he and Lord John had been exulting in the fancied glory of being the Libera- tors of Italy, and of having procured the complete success of their own objects. As Clarendon wrote to me, " The Emperor must greatly enjoy the helplessness of Europe, and in feeling that he may do just what he likes with perfect impunity. Russia is cripjDled, Austria rotten, Germany dis- united, and England, though growling, occupied in gnawing the Treaty bone he has tossed to her. All must submit to the laws made known to them through the ' Moniteur.' " If it were not so melancholy to see the miserable figure which I860.] THE DENOUEMENT OF THE PLOT. 529 England cuts in all this, it would be amasing to see it happen regnante Palmerston, and after all his incurable meddling and blustering to see him obliged to eat so much dirt. He may (thongh probably he does not) think he has lived too long to be reserved at the last period of his political career for snch mortification. The Emperor said to somebody, '^L'Europeboudera, nais ne fera rien,"and he is quite right. We seem to have arrived at the last act of the Italian drama, but it is still very uncertain how the dmouement will be worked out and what the Emperor's final will and pleasure will be. The Romagna seems to present the greatest diffi- culty; all the rest will find a tolerably easy solution. France will take what she wants of Savoy and give the rest to Switz- erland, who upon those conditions is desirous of annexation, and Piedmont does not seem to care much about it. In this way the question of Savoy will be settled, if not by general consent, at least with general acquiescence and without any opposition. March 9th. — After all it is not improbable that Palmer- ston will have the gratification of seeing Tuscany annexed to Sardinia. Cavour has taken the line which Clarendon and I agreed that he would very likely do, and sets France and Austria at defiance. We have seen France and Sardinia joined in making war upon Austria, and now we have France and Austria joined in diplomacy against Sardinia. Nothing can be more curious than to see the unravelling of this web. Next week the Italian States will severally vote their an- nexation to Sardinia, or their separate existence. If, as is almost certain, the former is their decision, the King will accept their resolution, and Pjedmontese troops will march into Tuscany. Then we shall see what the Emperor Napo- leon will do, and what he will permit Austria to do. Savernake, March ISth. — The affair of Savoy has been summarily settled by the will of the Emperor and the con- nivance of Cavour. The whole affair now appears to have been a concerted villainy between these worthies, which as the plot has been developed excites here the most intense disgust and indignation. The feeling is the stronger because we have no choice but that of sulky and grumbling acqui- escence. The one redeeming point in the French act of violence was the apparent respect paid to Treaties and to the claims of Switzerland, Thouvenel having only the other day said that Faucigny and Chablais should be ceded at once 23 530 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIX. to Switzerland ; and now we hear that nothing of the kind is to be done, and that France seizes everything.' It is in vain that the Houses of Parliament are advised to cease bark- ing, as they certainly do not mean to bite, and that the *' Times" recommends silence and moderation ; such enor- mities as are unblushingly exhibited to the world excite an indignation which breaks through every restraint, and people will not hold their peace, happen what may. The Opposition have turned the current of their wrath upon our Govern- ment, and have proved clearly enough that they had ample and timely notice of the Emperor's intentions, and that nevertheless they continued to urge with all their might that policy which was certain to lead to the annexation of Savoy. That the Emperor and Cavour have been plotting together seems now quite certain, but we are still ignorant, and may perhaps ever remain so, of. the details of their delusive operations. The three great subjects which have occupied public attention all this year have been the Italian and its branches, Gladstone's Treaty and Budget, and the Reform Bill. Up to the present time the two first have absorbed all interest, and the new Eeform Bill has been received with almost com- plete apathy, nobody appearing to know or care what its effects would be, and most people misled by an apparent show of moderation and harmlessness in its details. But in the course of the last week the "Times" set to work, in a series of very able articles, to show the mischievous and dan- gerous effects that the proposed franchise will produce, and these warnings, supported by ample statistical details, have begun to arouse people from their indifference and to create some apprehensions. I am informed that John Russell framed his Bill in utter ignorance of these important details, and, with the mixture of levity and obstinacy which has always distinguished him, has plunged the country into this dilemma for the sake of his own selfish and ambitious objects. But what is incomprehensible is that in such a numerous > [It is within my own knowledge than M. Thouvenel expressed at that time the desire of the Emperor to do anything he could to help Lord Palmerston, and accordingly he proposed, unofficially, to surrender and annex a considerable portion of the Faucigny district, down to the Fort do I'Ecluse, in the Jura, to the Canton of Geneva, provided the British Government would assent to the acquisition by France of the rest of Savov. Lord Palnierston rejected the pro- posal, saying to the person who conveyed it to him, '' We shall shame them out of it."— H. R.] I860.] LORD DERBY DECLINES TO INTERFERE. 531 Cabinet as the present, and containing many men who cer- tainly once had strong Conservative opinions, he should not have met Avith a more strenuous opposition, and have been forced to alter his most obnoxious propositions, and I think tliose who were better informed than Lord John, and saw whither his plan of Reform was leading them, are more to blame than himself. It is impossible to meet with any man who approves of this Bill, and who does not abhor the idea of any Reform whatever. All say that if the members voted by ballot there would be almost unanimity against it, and yet such is the disorganized state of the Conservative party, and such the want of moral courage and independence gen- erally, that this Bill will most likely pass unaltered. The prevailing hope is that the House of Lords will amend it, but Derby told somebody (I think it was Claren- don) that if those who dreaded the mischief of the measure in the House of Commons had not the courage and honesty to oppose it there and correct it, the House of Lords should not, so far as his influence went, incur the odium of doing the work which the House of Commons ought itself to do. Lyndhurst told me the other day that Derhy had told Lady Lyndhurst he was so disgusted with the state of affairs at home and abroad, that he had serious thoughts of withdraw- ing from public life, and Clarendon told me that an eminent Conservative, who had begged not to be quoted, had said that he knew Derby was violently discontented with Disraeli, and prepared to dissolve their political connection. Wells, March 21st. — I came here from Savernake on Monday. On Friday last in the House of Lords the Com- mercial Treaty and Budget, but the latter especially, were powerfully assailed by Grey, Overstone, and Derby, and very considerably damaged in argument, but probably in nothing else. The Government are as weak in the Lords as the Op- position are in the Commons, where, however, Disraeli seems to have made a very good speech against the Reform Bill on Monday night. Torquay, March 28fh. — The past week has been remark- able for the speech in which John Russell denounced in strong language the conduct of France, declared that we could no longer trust her, and that we must renew our intimacies with the other Powers. Whether all this was sincere and meant all it seems to do is yet to be discovered. The week was near being still more remarkable, for the Reform Bill was 532 REIGN OP QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIX. within an ace of falling to the ground by the House being counted out in the midst of a debate. This would have been very ridiculous, but would have been hailed with delight by the House of Commons, and without dissatisfaction by the country. Clarendon writes to me in a strain of bitter hostility to the Bill and disgust at everything, complains of the general apathy and the impossibility of rousing any spirit of opposition to what all abhor. Derby told him that if twenty-five or even twenty Liberals would take the lead in opposing this Bill, the whole Conservative party would sup- port them. Clarendon wrote to me when I was at Bath that the time would probably come when Gladstone would propose a graduated Income Tax, and lo ! it has nearly come, for Gladstone gave notice the other night to people to be pre- pared for it. The Triumvirate of Palmerston, John Eussell, and Gladstone, who have it all their own way, dragging after them the Cabinet, the House of Commons, and the country, will probably be the ruin of this country. They are playing into the Emperor Napoleon's hands, who has only to be patient and bide his time, and he will be able to treat all Europe, England included, in any way he pleases. Nothing but some speedy change of Government and of system can avert the impending ruin. London, Ajjril 2d. — One day last week (as mentioned above), on one of the numerous discussions of the Savoy question in the House of Commons, John Eussell electrified the House and rather astonished the country by delivering a very spirited speech, denouncing in strong terms the conduct of the Emperor Napoleon, and declaring the necessity of cultivating relations with the other Great Powers for the purpose of putting an effectual check upon the projects of French aggrandizement and annexation. I mast own that my first impression was that this speech was made merely to deceive the House and the country, and was only a part of the collusive system between our Government and the French, by virtue of which Louis Napoleon has been enabled to work out all his objects and designs ; but though it is impossible to doubt that John Russell and Palmerston have all along been aware of the Emperor's intentions with regard to Savoy, and that they have been more intent upon procuring advan- tages for Sardinia and provoking Austria than upon thwart- ing the projects of France, I am inclined to see Lord John's speech in another light from what I hear since I came to I860.] EFFECTS OF LORD JOHN'S SPEECH. 533 town. He made it without any previous consultation with his colleagues, it having been one of those impromptus which he is so apt to indulge in, and Palmerston, seeing the way in which it was received in the House and by the Press, approved of its tone and expressed a full concurrence with it. Flahault, who went to Paris a few days ago, called on Palmerston before he went and asked if he wished him to say or do anything there. Palmerston said he might inform the Government that Lord John's speech expressed the unanimous opinion of the Cabinet here. In my opinion his speech was a great imprudence, and will probably in-volve the necessity of our eating a great deal of humble pie. We have long ago declared that though we disapprove very much of the annexation of Savoy, we should take no steps to pre- vent it ; but Lord John made a great distinction between the question of Savoy and Nice and that of Faucigny and Chablais, and though he did not commit himself to any posi- tive course, he gave it to be inferred that something more would be required from us, in the way of opposition to the seizure of the latter, than there was any necessity for our making to tiiat of the former. But the Emperor makes no such distinctions, and if, as is most probable, he does not admit our right to draw them, wc shall be in an unpleasant fix, and have to back out of the position we have assumed in a way neither dignified nor creditable. The accounts from Paris are that this speech has made the French very insolent, and the Emperor more popular than he has been for a long time, as even his enemies say that they Avill rally round him to chastise English imperti- nence. Then as to forming alliances with the other Powers, which of course will be taken (as was intended) as a menace to France, nothing could be more ill-advised than such an announcement, for the other Great Powers have neither the ability nor the inclination to join us in any coalition, present or prospective, against France. Russia and Austria hate us, as well they may, for we have done them both all the injury in our power, besides heaping every sort of insult upon them. Austria is totally ruined, hopelessly bankrupt and torn to pieces with internal disaffection and discontent. Eussia is hampered with her great serf question, and overwhelmed with financial embarrassments, which she owes in great measure to the Crimean War, and the unfortunate dissen- sion and estrangement between her and Austria are at- 534 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIX. tributable to the same cause and to our policy. Prussia, the only one of the three that is able to make any efforts, and that has no cause of enmity against us, is always selfivsh and timorous, and is more occupied in trying to supplant Austria in Germany than in taking defensive measures against French ambition ; nor is there in Germany any such strong sentiment of national independence as might induce the various States to sink their minor Jealousies and partisan- ships in a general union, to meet any aggression that may proceed from France. Among the many schemes which the Imperial brain is supposed to be continually engendering, it is far from impossible that one may be the reconstruction of the kingdom of Westphalia, or at least of some Rhenish kingdom witli the concurrence of Prussia, by concluding a bargain of partition with her. He might then replace old Jerome on the throne, and so get rid of his obnoxious son, of course taking as much of such acquired territory as he wanted for himself. All this is mere vague conjectural speculation, but it is on the cards, and it is at least as probable as that we should be able to form another coalition, like that which overthrew the first Napoleon, strong enough to cope with the present Napoleon. People are beginning at last to doubt w^hether the war we waged against Russia four years ago was really a wise and politic measure ; but the whole country went mad upon that subject, I never could understand why. Palmerston took it up to make political capital out of it, and made himself popular by falling in with the public humor, and making the country believe that he was the only man really determined to make war on Russia, and able to bring the war to a successful end. Aberdeen, who was wise enough to see the folly of quarrellmg with Russia and sacrificing all our old alliances to a new and deceitful one with France, was unable to stem the torrent, and fell under its violence. His fault was his not resigning office when he found it impossi- ble to carry out his policy and maintain peace. A propos of the Russian War, I heard lately an anec- dote for the first time that surprised me. Everybody knows that we beat up for allies and even mercenary aid against Russia in every direction, but it is not known that our Government earnestly pressed the Portuguese Government to join in the war, and to send a contingent to the Crimea, and that on the refusal of the latter to do so, the Ministers made the Queen appeal personally to Lavradio and urge him I860.] CONVERSATION WITH CLARENDON. 535 to persuade his Government to comply with our wishes ; but Lavradio represented to Her Majesty, as he had done to her Ministers, that Portugal had no quarrel with Eussia, and no interest in joining in the war ; on the contrary, Portugal was under obligations to the Emperor of Kussia, and she there- fore would have nothing to do with the contest. This was a most extraordinary proceeding, and it was contrary to all usage as well as all propriety to make the Queen interpose in person on such an occasion. April ith. — Clarendon has just been here talking over the state of affairs, in the course of which he alluded to what had passed in the autumn of '58 between the Emperor and him, and between His Majesty and Palmerston. In September he had a long conversation with the Emperor, in the course of which he asked Clarendon, "Supposing I find myself compelled to go to war with Austria, what part would England take in the contest?" Clarendon replied that it would depend ujion the circumstances of the case and the cause that would be shown for such a war, and that he must not be misled by the language of the English Press and the prejudice which no doubt existed in England against Austria and her system of government, which would not be sufficient to make us take any part against her. On comparing notes with Palmerston afterward, Clarendon found that Louis Napoleon had put the same question to Palmerston, who had given him the same answer. When they went to Com- pi^gne in November of the same year, they both had conver- sations separately of the same character, and when they after- ward compared notes and Clarendon asked Palmerston what impression the Emperor's words had left on his mind, Palm- erston replied he thought either that the Emperor had abandoned the design he had certainly been meditating to go to war, or he had resolved upon it, but did hot choose to acknowledge his intentions to them, and this Clarendon said was exactly the same opinion as he had formed. This, how- ever, was not above six weeks before his famous speech to the Austrian Ambassador (which was a declaration of war), and therefore the latter conjecture was the correct one. . We talked over Lord John's speech and his letter in answer to Thouvenel. Clarendon said that this dispatch was en- tirely written by Palmerston himself, that anybody as well acquainted with their styles as he was must be quite certain of this, but that he knew it to be the case. He had a con- 536 REIGN or QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIX. versation with Palmerston the other day, who praised Lord John's speech and said it would do good, and he thought the question of Savoy ivas in a very satisfactory state. Palmerston, he told me, had said more to Flahault ^ than I had been apprised of. Flahault went to him, and found him Just going to the House of Commons. Flahault asked him to let him get into his carriage, which he did, and when Flahault asked what he should say to the Emperor, and Palmerston told him to say that the Emperor had better read Lord John's speech, and understand that he (Palmer- ston) agreed in every word of it, Flahault said, "Then you mean that you have no longer any confidence in the Em- peror, or place any reliance upon his word." Palmerston replied, "1 do mean this. After having been repeatedly deceived and misled by his professions and assurances, it is impossible that I can place any further confidence in him." Then said Flahault, ''There will be war," to which Palmer- ston rejoined that he hoped not, that nobody could be more anxious to avoid war than he was. This was very spirited and becoming, and Clarendon said he highly approved of such a tone. 1 said that I had all along suspected that there was a secret understanding and collusion between Palmerston and the Emperor, and that Palmerston had given His Majesty to understand that if he would set Italy free, he might do what he pleased with re- gard to Savoy, but that what had recently passed seemed to negative that idea. Clarendon replied he had no doubt Palmerston had very often said to Persigny what, if repeated by Persigny to the Emperor with some exaggerations and suppressions, would convey as much to His Majesty, for Palmerston had a dozen times said to him (Clarendon) that the liberation and settlement of Italy was of far greater con- sequence than the preservation of Savoy to Piedmont. April 8th. — To The Grove on Thursday afternoon, and returned yesterday. On Good Friday morning George Lewis and I were left alone, when we talked over the questions of the day, and he quite amazed me by the way in which he spoke of his principal colleagues. I asked him if John Eus- sell was not exceedingly mortified at the ill-success of his Eeform Bill and its reception in the House of Commons and in the country. George Lewis said he did not think he 1 [Count de Flahault v,'as at this time Frencli Ambassador iu London.] I860.] PROBABLE FATE OF THE REFORM BILL. 537 felt this, that at present his mind was entirely occupied with foreign politics, and he was rejoicing in the idea of having been largely instrumental to the liberation of Italy ; and as to Reform, that he was satisfied with having redeemed the pledge he gave to Bright to propose a Gl. franchise, and hav- ing done this he did not care about the result, as he had never pledged himself to carry it. The most strange thing to me is, that George Lewis seemed not to be alive to the culpable levity of such conduct, or to the censure to which his own conduct is obnoxious in consenting to act with such a man, and to be a party to such a measure. With regard to Palmerston, he said that Palmerston thought of nothing but his pro-Sardinian and anti-Austrian schemes, and he was gratified by seeing everything in that quarter turning out according to his wishes, that in the Cabinet he took very little part and rarely spoke. Gladstone George Lewis evidently distrusts, and his financial schemes and arrangements are as distasteful to him as possible. He is provoked at Gladstone's being able to bear down all oppo- sition, and carry all before him by the force of his eloquence and power of words, and what I have said of his conduct in supporting John Russell is still more applicable to it in reference to Gladstone and his measures, which he thinks more dangerous by far than he does Lord John's Reform Bill and 61. clause. I asked him what was to be the end of this Bill, and he said he did not expect it to pass, that prob- ably the debates on it Avould be so spun out and so many delays interposed that either it would fail in the House of Commons itself, or even if it passed, the House of Lords would say it came up too late for them to examine and con- sider it, and it would be thrown out there. I gathered in the course of conversation that Palfnerston (whose whole antecedents and recorded opinions forbid the idea of his approving such a measure) would be glad to see the franchise raised, and that 8^. and 15/. would in his view improve the Bill. 3fay 6th. — Since I wrote the above, nearly a month ago, I have been out of the way of hearing anything on public affairs, till a day or two ago when I called on Clarendon, when he told mo some things not without interest, partly about domestic and partly about foreign affairs. The latter of course related to the inexhaustible subject of the Emperor Napoleon's projects and machinations. His Majesty, it seems. 538 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIX. "has recently had a conversation with M. de Moustier, French Minister at Vienna, in the course of which he told him that it Avas an absolute necessity to France to carry her frontier to the Khine. About the same time Cavour had signified (I forget whether it was to the same de Moustier or to some other person) that Sardinia must obtain possession of Venetia. These necessities, it can hardly be doubted, are expressed and resolved upon by a common accord. Austria has been already completely crippled by the late war ; if threatened in Italy she will employ all her resources in defence of her Italian territory, and she will be quite unable, even if she were willing, to join in any measures of resistance to the attempts of France upon Germany. Prussia has had the egregious folly to renew her feud with Denmark upon the affair of Schleswig-Holstein, and is about to provoke a fresh war on that question. Denmark thus threatened appeals to France for aid, which France is too happy to afford, as she will thereby in all probability find a good pretext for inter- ference, and for the furtherance of all her designs. There seems no doubt that a Treaty of some sort has been con- cluded between France and Denmark. In this difficult and menacing posture of affairs, England will sooner or later have to play a part of some sort, and it is disquieting enough to reflect upon our diplomacy being under the charge of John Eussell and of Palmerston. After lingering on for several weeks with unprecedented tardiness and delay, and a languid, uninteresting discussion — debate it cannot be called — the second reading of the Ee- form Bill has at last passed without opposition. The last nights have been remarkable for the sijeeches hostile to the Bill of several Liberal members, and the increasing proofs of its prodigious unpopularity. Everybody is sick of the sub- ject, and those who desire that some modified and amended measure may pass, only do so because they have a horror of seeing another Bill brought in next year, and they hope that they may now purge this Bill of its worst and most danger- ous defects, and close the subject for several years to come. Some think that it is impossible to devise any means by which this Bill can be made anything like safe and expedient, and would therefore prefer to throw it out and run all chances for the future. At least one half of the Government, with Palmerston himself at the head of the dissentients, re- gard this Bill with alarm and aversion, and now that the I860.] LORD GREY AND JOHN RUSSELL. 539 difficulty, if not impossibility, of passing it is obvious, they are prepared to make every sort of sacrifice, even of its most vital provisions. Palmerston told George Lewis so, and that John Eussell himself would submit to an alteration of the franchise to the amount of £15 for the counties and £8 for the towns. They know that no question of resignation is involved in this discussion, and that whatever may be the fate of their Bill, they will still keep their places, which no concession will endanger, and accordingly they are ready to agree to any compromise which will secure the Bill's passing through Parliament in any shape or way ; but, notwithstand- ing this pliant disposition, it is very doubtful whether the Bill can pass. It will not commence its career in Committee till the first week in June, and it is hardly possible it can reach the House of Lords before the middle or end of July, and the Lords may very well decline to enter on its consid- eration at that late period. May 9ih. — A correspondence appears in the newspapers between Lord Grey and John Russell, couched in terms of no small bitterness. Such a correspondence between men of such eminence and of the same political color shows up to the world the insincerity with which, for political motives at the time urgent, they have spoken in their places in Par- liament. It is no new thing that members of the same Cabinet should often differ, and that vehemently on particu- lar questions, and yet when these questions come under Par- liamentary discussion, that they should exhibit to the world the semblance of an agreement and concurrence which is re- mote from the truth. But though this is well understood to be of not unfrequent occurrence, and sooner or later the details of the truth often leak out, it is much to be regretted that men should exhibit themselves and each other in the way which this correspondence does, for such exhibitions cannot fail to excite suspicions of the sincerity, conscientious- ness, and truth of public men. When Governments are en- tirely of one party color, either wholly Whig or wholly Tory, and when they are presided over by some man of superemi- nent authority, such differences and consequent difficulties are not likely to happen often ; but as of late years parties have been broken up, and composite Governments have been formed, combining men of the most opposite original prin- ciples, and imbued with very different and incompatible opinions on various subjects, it must be continually happen- 540 KEIGN OF QUEEX VICTORIA. [Chap. XIX. ing that candid discussions and disputes in the Cabinet should be followed by insincere and untruthful declarations and argumentations in public. The understood practice from time immemorial has been, that a dissentient from the general opinion of his colleagues upon any important ques- tion must either consent to merge his own opinion iu theirs, or retire from office ; and then the conduct of the dissen- tient was regulated by his view of the importance of the matter at issue. Of course if a man were to break off from his colleagues upon every matter of difference, however small,, no Government could possibly go on for many months or perhaps weeks, but it is impossible in these days not to be struck with the fact that so many men are indisposed to consider anything of sufficient importance to resign their offices rather than sacrifice their enlightened consciences and mature judgments. May 12th. — Not more than three months ago Gladstone was triumphant and jubilant ; he had taken the House of Commons and the country captive by his eloquence, and nothing was heard everywhere but songs of praise and ad- miration at his marvellous success and prodigious genius. There never was a greater reaction in a shorter time. Every- body's voice is now against him, and his famous Treaty and his Budget are pronounced enormous and dangerous blunders. Those who were most captivated now seem to be most vexed and ashamed o£ their former fascination. They are provoked with themselves for having been so duped, and a feeling of resentment and bitterness against him has become widely diffused in and out of the House of Commons, on his own side as well as on the other. It was the operation of this feeling which caused the narrow majority on the Paper Duties the other night, when it seems as if a little more management and activity might have put him in a minority, and it is the same thing which is now encouraging the House of Lords, urged on by Derby, to throw out the Reso- lution when it comes before them. Derby has announced that he shall exert himself to the utmost to procure the re- jection of the Bill in the House of Lords, and if he perse- veres he will probably obtain a very unwise and jDerilous suc- cess, which he will before long have to regret. May 17th. — Clarendon dined with Derby about a week ago, when Derby explained to him all his reasons for persist- ing in his opposition to the Paper Duties Bill. Clarendon 1S60.] FREDERICK CADOGAN. 541 said he did not talk rashly and in Eupert vein, but gave a well-considered and well-argiied statement of the grounds on which he purposed to proceed. Clarendon evidently sym- pathized with him, but not without much apprehension and doubt as to the expediency of his course. Derby appears to have taken and to be taking prodigious pains with his case, and he said that his object was to have a great financial debate in the Lords on the Treaty and the Budget. Gran- ville tells me they shall be beaten by a large majority, and he owns that the debate will be almost all one way. There is nothing on the Treasury Bench or behind it able to grap- ple with Derby, Monteagle, Overstone, and Grey on such a question, though Granville expects Argyll to get up the question and to speak well on it, and he expects something from Newcastle and Ripon, but Clarendon told me (which of course he had from Lewis) the curious fact that Palmer- ston himself views with pleasure the prosi)ect of the rejec- tion of the Bill. A queer state of things indeed when the Prime Minister himself secretly desires to see the defeat of a measure so- precious to his own Chancellor of the Ex- chequer. Frederick Cadogan came over from Paris the other day, and told Clarendon that Cowley was in very bad spirits about the aspect of foreign affairs, that all intimacy and con- fidence between the Emperor and him was at an end, and that it was more and more evident that His Majesty meant to follow his own devices, whatever they might be, without reference to anybody, or caring for the opposition or the as- sent of any other Powers, The Garibaldi expedition is supposed to have given great umbrage to France, but not without some suspicions that secretly she is not sorry for it, and thinks in its complica- tions she may find matter to turn to her own account. Every- body believes that Cavour has covertly connived at it, though he pretends to oppose it. Certainly no resolute attempts were made to obstruct the expedition by the Sardinian Gov- ernment, and none whatever by France, who, if she really cared to stop it, might easily have done so by sending ships from Toulon for the purpose. Talking of Neapolitan affairs, Pahlen told me yesterday an almost incredible anecdote, but of which he said tliere was no doubt of the truth. There is just arrived a new Nea- politan Minister, Count Ludolph, grandson of the Ludolph 542 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIX. who was formerly here. He has replaced the former Minister, who by his own desire was recently recalled, and he had begged for his recall because he had been grossly insulted by Palmerston at the Queen's Drawing Eoom, his story being that in that room, in the Queen's presence (who was of course out of hearing), Palmerston had attacked him on the proceedings of his Government and the conduct of the King, telling him that a revolution would probably be the consequence thereof, which would be nothing more than they deserved, and which would be seen in this country with universal satisfaction. The man was so flabbergasted by this unexpected and monstrous sortie that he had not pres- ence of mind to make a suitable answer, and to riposter with the spirit which the occasion required of him. I must en- deavor to find out if this is true. Palmerston has always been noted for the vivacity and often acerbity of his lan- guage in despatches, but in oral communications and in speeches he has never been reproached with intemperance or incivility, but, on the contrary, has always evinced self- control and gentlemanlike and polite behavior and language. May 28th. — Epsom engaged all my attention last week, and I could not find time to notice the debate in the Lords on the Paper Duties, and the extraordinary majority, so much greater than anybody expected. Lyndhurst under- took to speak on the constitutional part of the question, and got leave to speak early (between Granville and Mont- eagle) that he might go home to celebrate his birthday, which fell on that day, when he completed his eighty-eighth year. He made a very good speech, and met with an en- thusiastic reception. Lady Palmerston was in the gallery, openly expressing her wishes that the Bill might be rejected by a large majority. Her language on this and other occa- sions so shocked some of the more zealous Whigs, that the Duke of Bedford was asked by one or more of them to re- monstrate with her on the way she talked, but she knows very well that Palmerston is of the same mind, though he cannot avow his real sentiments in the way she does. Palm- erston said to Gladstone, "Of course you are mortified and disappointed, but your disappointment is nothing to mine, who had a horse with whom I hoped to win the Derby, and he went amiss at the last moment." The affair has gone off very quietly, the House of Commons not being the least dis- posed to quarrel with the Lords about it. Even John Rus- ISCO.] REFORM BILL WITHDRAWN. 543 sell, who had talked very absurdly, held moderate and pru- dent language in the House. ^ June Ibth. — At Ascot last week. Palmerston was there, and went up to town on Thursday (going reluctantly) to assist at the withdrawal by John Russell of the Reform Bill. There vvas a Cabinet the preceding day, at which Palmerston said, " We must now settle what is to be done about the Reform Bill." John Russell said, "I know what my opinion is, and if anybody wishes to hear it I am ready to give it.". They all said they did wish it, when he an- nounced that he thought it ought to be withdrawn. Every- body agreed except Gladstone, who made a long speech in favor of going on with it, which nobody replied to, and there it ended, A discussion took place as to what should be said, and strong opinions expressed that nothing but moderate language should be employed, which John Russell agreed to, and he acted up to it by making a very becoming speech, which would have been faultless if he had not announced another Reform Bill on the earliest possible occasion. This, too, he did entirely off his own bat, and without any con- sultation or agreement with his colleagues. Fortunately these announcements are no longer so important or so bind- ing as heretofore, and I think it probable, unless there is some great change in public opinion (which is not likely), that when the time draws near Palmerston and a majority of the. Cabinet will not consent to a fresh attempt. July Sih. — I have been so ill till within the last few days that I have not had energy enough to do anything. I have known but little, and that little I could not bring myself to write down here. In fact, it is high time that I should close these records once for all, which I am morally and physically incapable of continuing with any probability of making them interesting. It is not very consistent with this opinion to fill a page or two with the recent transaction in the House of Commons, with reference to the duty on paper. Every- body allows that Palmerston got out of his ditiiculty with consummate tact and discretion, and that Gladstone's con- duct was inexcusable. The Resolutions concocted by Palm- erston had been fully discussed and agreed to in the Cabinet • [A Bill for abolishin!? the duty on paper waa carried in the IIoiiPC of Com- mons on March 12 by a majority of 245 to 192. It was reiected on May 21 by the House of Lords by a niajority of 193 to 104. The dispute was eventually settled by a resolution lor removmg so much of the duty on paper as exceeded the Excise duty at home.] 544 EEIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [Chap. XIX. (reluctantly of course by Gladstone), and Palmerston's speech was received with general approbation in the House. It was excellent, fair and moderate, the argument logically consist- ent with the Eesolutions, but displeasing to Gladstone and the highflyers because it made a sort of excuse for the Lords, or rather it set forth the grounds on which the Lords might think themselves Justified in acting as they did, without having any of the motives and designs which the Gladstones and Brights attributed to them. All this elicited great ap- plause from the Opposition side of the House, and their cheers were very offensive to and grated on the ears of the ultra-Liberals. Everything would have ended quietly, and the Resolutions would have passed without a debate, but Gladstone could not stand it, and, urged by spite and morti- fication, he must needs get up and make a mcst violent speech, really, though not avowedly, in opposition to Palm- erston, and with the object of provoking a long and acrimo- nious debate. In this he only partially succeeded, and not for long. The debate lasted one night more, but nothing could be made of the Amendments. Palmerston kept his temper and displayed great firmness and resolution. The House was with him. Bright, partly from being very unwell, and probably partly from some discretion, made a moderate speech ;' everybody seemed determined to bring the matter to an end, and the Resolutions were very triumphantly car- ried. Granville told me yesterday morning that it was a toss up whether Gladstone resigned or not, and that if he did, it would break up the Liberal party, to which I replied that I was confident he would not resign, and if he did, it would have no effect on the bulk of the Liberal party. July nth. — I met Charles Villiers at dinner at the Travellers' last night and had some talk with him, partic- ularly about Gladstone. He thinks it far better that he should not resign, as he could, and probably would, be very mischievous out of office. He says people do not know the House of Commons, and are little aware that there is an ob- scure but important element in it of a Radical complexion, and that there are sixty or seventy people who would consti- tute themselves followers of Gladstone, and urge him on to every sort of mischief. They are already doing all they can to flatter and cajole him, and once out of office, his great talents and oratorical powers would make him courted by all parties, even the Tories, who would each and all be very glad I860.] A LETTER FROM THE SPEAKER. 545 to enlist him in their service. It is impossible to calculate on the course of a man so variable and impulsive, but at present it looks as if he had made up his mind to swallow his mor- tifications and disappointments and to go on with his present colleagues, though Charles Villiers says he is very dejected and uneasy in his mind, and very gloomy in the Cabinet. I asked him if he had seen Senior's last Journals, relating his visit to Paris, which he had not. I told him they were very interesting, and that all his interlocutors, however vary- ing in opinions upon other subjects, were agreed as to the certainty of the Emperor's meditating fresh wars and ag- gressions, and sooner or later a war with us. He said he thought it probable that any attempt on Belgium would be deferred till after King Leopold's death (who is seventy-five years old), at which time in all probability the annexation would be attempted, and with very reasonable prospects of being assented to by the Belgians themselves, an idea which had not struck me, but which I think exceedingly likely. Buxton, August 11th. — I came here for my health and to try and patch myself up a fortnight ago, since which I have heard and learnt nothing of what is passing in the world but what I read in the newspapers. The session of Parlia- ment was drawing to a close, and it was understood that there was to be one more fight in the House of Commons (on the removal of the Customs duties on paper), and then the remaining business was to be hurried through as quickly as possible. The Opposition made strenuous efforts to obtain a majority, and were sanguine of success. The Speaker wrote me an account of what passed, and I shall copy out the greatest part of his letter. " The division of thirty-three on the Paper Duties was a surprise to all on the spot. As late as eleven that evening Sir George Grey told us the division seemed very doubtful. The Irishmen held off indignant at Palmerston's having mentioned with approval the landing of Garibaldi on the mainland. This was held to be an insulb to the Pope, so More O'Farrell, Monsell, Sir John Acton, and eight or ten more would not vote at all. It seemed doubtful to the last. It is a great thing for the Government in many ways, not the least in having won the battle without the Pope and his men. It puts the Government in so much better and stronger a position with that party. The great re- sult is to give some life to half-dead, broken-down, tempest- tossed Gladstone. When after the division he rose to pro- 546 REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA, [Chap, XIX. pose the second Resolution, lie was cheered by the Free- traders as he had not been cheered since the Budget Speech. Colonel Taylor tells me they had been led to success by promises from two quarters. First the paper-makers and the ' Times ' engaged to bring fifty men to the post, and only brought five. The Irishmen promised to be twenty-five, but were only eleven, the others standing off and not yoting. I have a long letter from Cobden, angry about fortifications and Volunteers." This morning I received another letter from the Speaker, enclosing Cobden's, which he has sent me to read. He says, "It is written in rather a spirit of exaggera- tion, but it is the fault of Cobden's mind to see one object so strongly, that his view cannot embrace another at the same time." Cobden's is well written, and contains much that is true, but he has evidently been so cajoled and flattered at Paris that he is now completely bamboozled, and so credulous that he takes for gospel all the Emperor says, and complains bitterly of " all that is going on at home" and especially of the tone of Palmerston's and Sidney Herbert's speeches. "Believing," he says, " that the new French tariff will realize a complete revolution in the commercial relations of the two countries, and having taken pains to impress this opinion on the Government, I am amazed at the course they are taking. The language of Palmerston and Sidney Herbert, coupled with thefortification scheme (he says), cuts the ground, on which I urged the Emperor to enter on the Free Trade policy, from under my feet. Nine tenths of his motives for making the plunge into that policy now were political rather than politico-economical ; he aimed at conciliating the Eng- lish people, and I did not hesitate to assure him that if he en- tered without reserve on the Free Trade path it would be taken as a proof of his pacific intentions by the British public." London, November ISth. — At the end of three months since I last wrote anything in this book, I take my pen in hand to record my determmation to bring this journal (which is no journal at all) to an end. I have long seen that it is useless to attempt to carry it on, for I am entirely out of the way of hearing anything of the slightest interest beyond what is known to all the world. I therefore close this record without any intention or expectation of renewing it, with a full consciousness of the smallness of its value or interest, and with great regret that I did not make better use of the opportu- nities I have had of recording something more worth reading. I Is' D E X . ABERDEEN, Et. Hon. Earl of, formation of Govtrnment. difficulties attendint; it, 15, 16; in part owing- to Lord J. Russell, 17, IS; the new Ministry's first appear- ance, 21 ; discontent of Whi<;s, t'l ; list of Cabinet, 25; meeting of Parliament, 33; iudicious answers of in the House. 39; h irmony of Government of, 56; divided Cabinet of. on Eusso-Turkish question, 58 ; impending war viewed by. 5i> ; attacks of Tory press on, 6(1 ; explanations of policy of, demanded in Parliament, 61 ; confi- dence of, in Russian Emperor shaken, 62 ; chances, hopes, of peace, 64; proposed Convention considered, 66, 6S ; Cabinet of, summoned on Eastern crisis. T8; agree- ment as to poliev, SO ; wish of to resign, on failure of peace policy, 82; Cabinet dis- cussion as to meeting of Parliament, 87 ; Proctocol agreed on by four Powers. 94 ; charced by Lord Derby with imparting Stiite sfcrets to the ''Times," 126; denial, and defence against Lord Malmesbury, 126; attacks upon peace policy of, 14^^; difference of opinion of, between him and Lord Clarendon, 159; goes to Windsor to resign, 2iU. Adair, Sir Eobert, death of 252. Albert, H. E. U. Prince, attacks on, by Tory press, lOli ; charges against him of taking part in State affairs, 110 ; vindication of, in Parliament, 114; letter of to King of Prussia, 15S; visit of, to France, 15s ; con- versation with the French Ernperor, 161 ; made Prince Consort by patent, 870; visits Brussels, 374. Alliance, the Holy, correspondence concern- ing, between Emperor of Russia and Prince Regent, 249. Alma, battle of the. 162. Anglesey, the Marquis of, death of, 134 ; character of, 134, 135. Anson, General, letters of hinting discontent in Indian Army, 365; death of, from chol- e\'.a, S71. Ashburton, Lady, death of; character of, 366. Austria, policy of Austrians at Milan, 41 ; Emperor of, stabbed, 40; mediation at- tempted by, 62; hesitates to side against Russia, 116; fears to declare war against Russia, 147; new declaration of neutrality, 161 ; declares war against Sardinia. 4S4 ; armistice of Villafrauca, peace coucluded, 496. BANK, the, of England, empowered to ex- ceed limits of Bank Act of IS44, 3S6. Baragu.ay d'Hilliers, mission of to Constan- tinople, SS ; veto of against Briiish Fleet entering Black Sea, 103; recalled i>y French Government from Constantinople. 13S. Beauvnle and Melbourne, Lord, death of, 30 ; character and career of 3o, 31 ; — Lady, grief of on her husband's death. 32. Bedford, seventh Duke of, disheartened about politics. 12; papers and correspond- ence of, 41 ; his part in political crisis of 1852,72, 73; conversation of on Lord J. RnsselTs position and circumstances. 127, 128; endeavor of to persuaile him to with- draw Reform Bill, 131 ; conversation of, on Lord J. Russell's retirement. 252; at- tempts recdnciliation between Palmerston and Lord John, 248 ; confers with Mr. Greville. 255. Berrv, Miss Mary, death of, 8 ; character of, 9, io. Bicker.stetb. Dr., made Bishop of Ripon. 332. Bomba, King of Naples, tyranny and inso- lence of 824, 320. Brigade, the Light, charge of 170, 171. Bright. Mr. J., bitter speech of against Lord J. Russell, 140 ; letter of, on the war, 168 ; speech on the war. 183. Brunnow, Baron, severe comment of, on Lord J. Russell as Foreign Secretary. 27 ; conversation of with Lord Clarendon, on Russia. 47 ; dre.ads having to leave this country, 56; fli-st to arrive at Paris Con- gress, 288. Buckle, Mr., dines with Mr. Grote, 424. CAMBRIDGE. H. R. 11. Princess Mary of, offer of marriage to, from Prince Napo- leon, 114. 115. Canada Clergy Reserves Bill, 52. Canning. Lord, attacks of press on, 383 ; de- fended by Lord Granville at Mansion House, 384; by Palrnerston, 385 ; defend- ed by the "Times," 395; proclamation oi; to people of Gude, 438. 548 INDEX. Canrobert, Field-Marshal, letters of, on Brit- ish ariuy, lyl. Cardweli, Mr., motion of, against Lord Ellen- borough's Despatch, 441 ; motion with- drawn, 444. Cavoar, M. do, Italian Minister, policy of, 4r4 ; return of, to office, olS) ; share in an- nexation of tjavoy, 6'itf. Clanrioarde, Marquis of, announces a defence in House of Lords, 422 ; withdraws an- nouncement, 42U. Clarendon, Kt. Hon. Earl of, his account of Czar's proposals aljout Turkey, 4t; ; France, 47; conversation of, with Brunnow, 47; opinion of Russian assurances, oti ; fears of, on Eastern question, 53; difficulties ot; between Aberdeen and Palmerston, S(i; his despatch on Turkish relations, 87: abor- tive attempts at negotiation, 93; disagree- ment with Aberdeen, 93; disgust of, at Austrian neutrality, 161 ; visit to French Emperor and fieedom of press, 218; con- versation with King of Sardiniji, 262 ; on bitter feeling between Walewski and Per- signy, 2ii7; united piilicy of, with Palmer- ston, 273 ; attends Paris Congress, 233 ; favorable views of peace, 304 ; on atro- cities at Naples, 323 ; on ihe Palmerston Government of 1355, 332; dictatorial poli- cy toward Brazil, 334 ; conversation of, with the Queen, on Palmerston, 369 ; pressed to take office by the Queen, 495; on Mr. Gladstone's Budget, 525; on French commercial treaty, 525. Cobden, Richard, motion of, on the China question carried, 352 ; defeat of, with Manchester men, at general election, 361 ; declines office under Palmerston, 496 ; commercial treaty with France, 520; op- position to treaty, 522 ; his belief in the French Emperor, and in Free Trade policy, 546. Cookburn, Sir Alexander, made Lord Chief Justice Common Pleas, 329, 330 ; anecdote of 331. Codrington. General Sir William, appointed to command British forces in Crimea, 253. Commons, House of: Disraeli's amendment on the Villiers resolutions, 7 ; Palmerston's motion carried, 10 ; debate, Disraeli's Budget, 12, 13; Disraeli's attack on Aber- deen Government, 36; Jew and Maynooth questions carried, 38: Government defeats on detached questions, 50 ; debate on Gladstone's Budget, 50 ; Income Tax ma- jority, 53 ; Lord J. Kussell on Irish Church, 57; damage to Government thereby, 58; debate. India Bill, 59; discussion of Turk- ish question, 69 ; session closed by Palm- erston's speech, 69 ; vindication of Prince Albert by Lord J.Russell, 114; Kefoi-m Bill introduced by Lord J. Russell, 119; debate on Blue Books, 120; bitterness of the Opposition on the war, 129: debate on Mr. Gladstone's financial speech, 137 ; Mr. J. Baring's motion defeated, 139 ; Russell's Oaths Bill defeated, 139; encounter be- tween Disraeli and Lord J. Russell, 140 ; Church Rates Bill and University Bill, admission of Dissenters, debate on, 144* an appointment cancelled, 14S; session woimd up, 149; defence of Government war policy by Mr. S Herbert.. 180 ; Foreign Enlistment Bill carried, 182; motion of Mr. Roebuck to enquire into CLiiduct of war, 198; the motion carried, 2iil ; Palmer.ston's first speech as Prime Minister, 210; war debate, 224 ; indiscreet revelations of Lord J. Kussell, 233 ; debate on the Address (Peace), 283; debate on opening of British Museum on Sunday, 289 ; Disraeli's attack on Government, 292; Appellate Jurisdiction Bill defeated, 316 ; debate on supposed treaty between France and Aus- tria, 847; dispute between Disraeli and Palmerston, 347 ; Cobden's motion on China question carried against the Gov- ernment, 352 ; dissolution of Parliament, 356 ; attack of Disraeli, at outbreak in In- dia, 374 ; debate on the Divorce Bill, 375 ; debate on the Conspiracy Bill, -^12 ; Bill defeated, 414; resignation of Lord Palmer- ston, 414 ; Disraeli attacked by B. Os- borne, 426 ; debate on India Bill, 480 ; de- bate on Disraeli's Budget. 484; debate on Inli;i, 438; debate on Lord Ellenborough's Despatch, 4-tl ; collapse of debate, 444 ; India Bill passed, 450 ; deba'.e on Disraeli's Relorm Bill, 469 ; debate on Lord John's Reform Resolutions, 476; debate. Resolu- tions carried. Bill defeated, 47S ; debate on want of confidence, 4t 0.491; Government defeated, 491 ; debate on Gladstone's Budget, 524; majority for Budget, 526; debate on Russell's Reform Bill, 531 ; de- bate on Paper Duties Bill, carried, 543, 545. Conde, Prince de, death of 427. Conservative party, tone of. against Lord Aberdeen, 15; violence of Tories toward Gladstone, 20 ; suicidal conduct of, 52. Conspiracy Bill, the, 413 : defeated, 414. Corruption, electoral, during Aberdeen Gov- ernment, 55. Council, Privy, at Windsor, 92 ; Privy Coun- cil, hcenses issued by, for export of stores to neutral ports, 132 ; meeting to consider question of trade with Russia, 167; meet- ing of to appoint Day of HumiUation, 133. Cowley, Lord, Ambassador at Paris, conver- sation of, with French Emperor, 91 ; cor- respondence of Clarendon with, on Louis Napoleon's lett'^r to the Czar, 118, 119; anecdote of. with Walewski. 270 ; views of Paris Congress, 294. 295 ; enlightens French Emperor on Russian intrigue, 327; cold- ness of Emperor to, at Paiis, 384 ; mission to Vienna. 405. Crimea, landing in. of British forces. 162. Crimean war, new light on causes of, 47; anecdote connected with, 175. Croker, Rt. Hon. J. W., death of, 877. D'AUMALE, Duo, at The Grove, 509. Delane, Mr. John, editor of " Times," letter to, from Lord Aberdeen, (34: conver- sation of, with Lord Aberdeen, 96 ; with INDEX. 549 Mr. Greville, ITii; urgres the building of wooden houses for the troops, 175. Dellii, capture of, ;te6. Decisou, Kt. Hon. Sir E., elected Speaker, 3t!o Derby, Et. Hon. the Earl of, resignation of, 14 ; Liberal negotiations thereon, 1-1 ; speech of, on Canada Clergy R. serves Bill, 5-'; scene in House, bi; sent for by the Queen, f.iils in torming a Government. 200 ; attacks the Uovernuient on China ques- tion. 352 ; readiness of. to join with Ulad- Btone, 355 ; sent for by the Queen, 41ii ; forms a Ministry, 421 ; Liberal programme of, 424; helped by Mr. Grevdie, -t2-<; re- solves to remain in office, 432; on defeat of Reform Bill, to dissolve, 4^1 ; speech of, 481 ; speech of, at Mansion House, 4^4 ; de- feat of, and resignation, 491 : opposition of, to the Paper Duties Bill, 540. Devonshire, the Duke of, death of, 406. Disraeli, Rt. Hi m. Benjamin, Budget of. public opinion on, 12: on his own Budget, com- ments of.and on the Irish brigade, '2>; bitter attackof,(>utheGovernment,Charles\Vood, and Graham, 31) : effect of, on his own party, 3(5; agrees to attack and villify Peel, 35 ; tries to force debate on Eastern Question, (33 : attacks Lord J. Russian, 14lJ ; his mo- tion on War debate defeated, 22.') ; reviews the session, 31S; triumph over Palmerston on I'a.is treaty, 347 ; waning influence in the country, 35.'); speech on outbreak in India, 374 ; political chat with Mr. Greville, S'Ji; ; suggests a fusion of parties, 4118 ; be- comes Chancellor of the Exchequer. 421 ; sanguine views of, 425: attacked by Hernal Osborne, 426; proposes his Budget, 434; violent speech at Siough, 445; his Reform Bill, 40.8 ; opposition to, 4T0 ; continued opposition to, by Liberals, 471 ; Reform Bill thrown out, 478. Drouyn de Lhuys, French Ambass.odor la London. 220: cause of his visit, 221; his ' resignation, 226. ELLESMERE, Lord death of, and char- acter, 340-352. England, unpopularity of, abroad, how caused, 40 ; rancor of Northern Powers against, 42 ; friendly tone of French Emperor toward, 43; home difficulties, India, Eastern question, 4i ; English and French fleets sail for Dardanelles, 5"J ; hopes of peace. 67; dangers at Constan- tinople, two ships of e.ach fleet go up Diir- danelles, 73, 78 ; British and French fleets enter Black Sea, Oii; proposals of negotia- tion with Russia and Turkey, 107: Blue Books on Eastern question well received by public, 117; popularity of war, 118; war declared, r2S; union of English and French policy as to Spain, 14!) ; attack of allied forces on the Redan repulsed, 22S ; peace concluded, 307 : England's balance- sheet after war, 335; accused by France of harboring assassins, 4o9. Evans. General, proposes to embark troops after Inkerman, 305. FLAHATTLT, Count de, French Ambassa- dor at London, conversation of, with Palmerston. .536. Fould, M. Achille, invited to Windsor, 36S ; letter of French Emperor to, 518. Free trade, letter of ireuch Emperor on, witli France, 518. GARIBALDI e.Npedition, 511. iiibsoii, Mr. Milner, motion of, carried against Conspiracy Bill. 414. Glad>toue, Rt. Hon. W. E., famous Budget of, 50 ; popu arity consequent on, 51,52; attempt to e.vtort money from, 53 ; failing prestige as a flnancier, 130; failure of his Exchequer Bill, 135; his great speech on Budget, 137 ; speech against Lord J. Russell, 201 ; joins Lord Palmerston's Government, 207 ; reported leader of Op- position. 333 ; strong feeling against, on the China debate, 3.54; speech ofi the question, 3.')6 ; his article in " Quarterly," 4.57; appointed Lord High Commissioner of Ionian Islands, 4(15 ; speech of, on his Budget, 524 ; second speech, and major- it)'. 526; reaction against his Budget, 540. Graham, Rt. Hon. Sir James, on Eastern question, opinion of. 76 ; indiscreet speech of!, at dinner to Admiral C. Napier, 1^5. Gr.inville, Rt. Hon. Earl of, conversation of, with Lord .1. Russell on Reform Bill, 123 ; super-neded by Lord John as President of Council, 141 ; conversation of, with Mr. Greville on Russian answer to Proposals, 277 ; at coronation of Czar at Moscow, 820 ; on its cost, 821 ; sent for by the Queen, 491 ; unable to form a Govern- ment, 492. Greville, Charles C , Mr., opinion of, on Wel- lington's funeral, 6 ; attends no Council during nine months of Lord Derby's Min- istry, 24 ; goes to Windsor, 24; visits Bo- wood, discusses Reform, 26 ; comments of, on Disraeli's oratory, 36; remarkable prediction of, as to France, 41 ; conversa- tion of. with Disr.ieli, 51 ; visits Ascot. 59; conversations with Clarendon on war, 61; with Crah-im on Fastern Question, 76; with Clarendon, 77; his conviction on party strife, 81 ; his view of Palmerston's position, 80; remarks on the Queen's sa- gacity, 87; opinion of, on Lord .1 Russell's Reform Bill, !I0; conversation of, with Gra- ham on Palmerston, 01. 92 ; conference of, with Duke of Bedford, on Palmerston, 95; on his resignation. 97; share of. in concilia- tory overtures to Palmerston, 98. !i9. 100 ; letter of, to the "Times" on Palmerston, 98; strong letter of, to Graham. 102; final judgment of, on Palmerston's resignation, 103; id., 104, 105; visit to Bowood, 105; conversation of, on Russian designs, 106 ; on alterations in Reform Bill, l(i7; com- ments of, on virulence of Tory press, 110; letters of, to "Morning Herald" and "Times." vindicating Prince Albert, 112 ; praises Clarendon, as compared with Palm- erston, 117; on Stratford's despatches. 550 INDEX. 117 ; his opinion of Emperor Napoleon's conduct, liy ; on Lord J. Kussell's discon- tent, 127; and straitened tircomstauces, 12S; strongrly disapproves of war, VlH. 129; on tlie weakness or' tlie (jtoveruinent, 192; ridicules notion of Fast Day, ld2 ; on ttie weali.iess of (Tovernment, laO; and brealv- down of parties, loO; on rasliness ot Uiad- stone.l-ij; conversation of,witli Lord Cow- ley, on French Emperor and the Court, los; his article in ''Kdinburgh Beview," I3i); on change of Government i)laus, 140; on Lord J. Russell's want of delicacy and consideration, 141; on Lord Johns de- plorable position, 144 ; on tlie character of Aberdeen's Government, 14'J; continued, 150, 151 ; effect of quarrel with Kussia, 153 ; and of Palunerston's resignation, 154; on difficulties of the campaign, 158 ; on military commanders in Crimea, 15S ; on Ministerial disagreements, 159; on Prince Albert's visit to France, 160; on victory of Ahna, 162 ; on the Royal invita- tions, 163 ; on the Crimean expedition, 163 ; visit of, to Newmarket, and resolve to give up race-horses, 165; on the defence of Sebastopol, 169 : and issue of war, 170; nomination of Sheriffs, 171; on gallantry of English forces, 174; criticises accounts of Inkerman, 175; on Lord Raglan as a general, 177 ; the sufferings of the army, 177; opinion oti, on Bright's letter, ISO; his review of the year (1854), 1S4; con- ference of, with Lord Cowley and Claren- don on French alliance, 184 ; on Austria, lb5, 186; on Lord J. Russell's position, 189; on Russian diplomacy, 190; on de- plorable state of the army, 194 ; on chances of peace, 196; negotiations, 198; condemns Lord J. Russell's resignation, 199 ; on his real motives, 202 ; comments of, on Palmerston's Government. 207 ; on Austrian policy, 195; on Talmerston's reception in House, 212 ; on the weakness of Palmerston and his Government, 215 ; literary occupations of, 22ii; on visit of French Emperor, his reception, 222 ; visit of, to Paris, 226 ; visits Thiers, and dines at the Tuileries, 229 ; conversation with Emperor, 230; picture of Versailles, 233; of St. Cloud, 234 ; severe comment of on Lord J. Russell's revelations in the House, 236; Lord John's conduct explained by, 250 ; at Newmarket, adieu to the turf, 253 : on Lord Stanley, 254 ; talk with Disraeli, intimate, 255 ; on further peace nego- tiations, converses with Mr. C. Viliiers and Sir G. Lewis, 259,260; on Palmerston's arrogance toward Russia, 266 ; on the poet Rogers. 266. 267 ; converses with Sir G. C. Lewis on the folly of the war, 268 ; discusses peace proposals to Russia, 2f 9 ; on the faint hopes of peace, 275 ; confers ■with Sir G. C. Lewis, 275, 276 ; favorable views of Russian pohcy. 277; confers with Lord Granville, 2T7; hopes of peace, 279 ; Russia's acceptance of terms explained by, 280 ; talk of, with Disraeli, on hM pros- pects, 282 ; on life peerages, 286 ; on Pe^e Congress at Paris, 288; on Sabbatarian- ism, 2sy ; on Kars and Nicolaielf— with Sir G. Lewis, 290, 291; on blunders of Government, 292 ; visits Paris, 2y3 ; his view ot the negotiations, '..i^, 2.)."; with Madame de Lieven, 2.0; at Tuiieries, and Emperors Sfieecli, 2dii ; dinea with VS alew- ski, 2y7 ; corners with Lord Cowley on Austrian poiicy, 298; on bitterness in Irench society, 29bi, 299 ; confers with M. Thiers on necessity of peace, SOn ; on terms of peace with Russia, K02 ; confers with Graham— gloomy views, oU7, 3u8; discussion of E. EUice's plan for new ar- rangement of Government, 810; opinion of, on his own Journal, 312 ; on Sunday bands, 313 ; conversation with Thackeray on American enhstment question, 314; on Madame liistori, 816 ; on O'DonneU and Espartero in Spain, 319; on fatal delay after battle of Alma, 319 ; on our interfer- ence at Naples, 321 ; giowing intimacy be- tween France and Russia, 322 ; on English Democrac3', d la Guizot, 323 ; on French intrigue with Russia, 324; pressure on King Bomba, 324, 325 ; converse with Lord Clarendon on Russian intrigue, 327 ; •ic/., on the Bolgrad question, 327 ; id., on Neapolitan atrocities, 328 ; on Cockburn's appointment, Lord Chief Justice, 8^9 ; on the proposed Conference at Paris (a farce), Sbl ; on Low Church Bishops, 332 ; on state of England after war, 335 ; on the Neufehatel dispute, 337; goes to hear Spurgeon preach, 345 ; on Palmerston and Disraeli, 347 ; on our relations with France, 348; on Lord J. Russell's and Mr. Glad- stone's opposition in the House, 353 ; on the pending dissolution, 354 ; antagonism of, toward Palmerston, 359 ; on the defeat of Bright, Cobden, and Co., 364 ; break- fasts with M. Fould at Lord Granville's, 368; on alarming condition of India, 371 ; and perils of mutiny, 372 ; on the life peer- ages, 378 ; attends Council at Balmoral, 379; conversation with Lord Clarendon, on progress of mutiny, 381 ; on the Queen's attention to public business. 382 ; urges Lord Palmerston and Granville to defend Lord Canning, 384; on difficulties of the Government, and Lord J. Russell's posi- tion, 390 ; letter of, to Duke of Bedford urging Lord John to be patient, 390 ; on the East India Company and the Govern- ment, 391; on style of Queen's speech, 392 ; on health of Lord Palmerston, 394 ; fears as to Lucknow, S96; on Crown jewels of Hanover, 401 ; on slave labor in French colonies, 403 ; enormous difficulties of In- dian policy. 404 ; conversation with Clar- endon on French feeling against England, 410; on drowsiness of Ministers, 41 ;; review of Palmerston crisis, 414 ; shows how the catastrophe might have been avoided, 419; political coincidences, 422; on the Derby Ministry, 424 ; meets the Duke d'Aumale, 427 ; on relations with France, 428 ; on Marshal Pelissier, 429 ; on Whigs and Peelites, 429 ; possibility of union, 432 ; on INDEX. 551 the proposed tesolutions for India Bill, 438; with Lord Cnwley on relations of France and England. 486: with lord Derby on state of parties. 437 ; visits Lit tlecote House, 439; on the Kllenborough debate, 14 , 444; on Palmerstou's discoin- flture, 445; at Norman Court,4!7; confers ■with Bruunow on the Kiissiun War, 4'i2; on Lord .lohii and J?tanley, 453 ; on the Queen's letter to the I'rince of Wales. 457 ; confers with Clarendon on Couipit'gne visit, 459: on Napoleon's designs, 460: on electric tele^jraph (1^5'J), 463; on general opposition to Austrian war, 467; Lord Cowley's mission, 46S ; on Cavour's policy, 474; on Marliani, 479; on fears of war, 4S3; on treachery of French Emperor, 484; resigns clerkship of Council, 4^5; doubts as to Lord John's intentions, 4S8; on peace after Solferino, 497 ; visits Ireland, 51)2; on Irish National Education, 5i»3; return to London, 5ii5; on quarrel with China, 5:i6; on Clarendon's interview with the Queen, 507; on French Emperor and the '-Times," 511; on Disraeli's commanding position, 512; on Italian affairs and French Em- peror, 516, 517; negotiation of French Commercial Treaty, 520 ; on Tor^ opposi- tion to Reform, 523 : on French Emperor's mistake after Villafranca, 527; on Glad- stone's democratic opinions, 527; on French Emperor's designs, 536, 53S; on Senior's Journals, 545; visits Buxton, 645; close of his Journal, 54fi. Grey, Kight Hon. Sir George, statement of, in the House, on a cancelled appointment, 14S. Guards, the, return o*, from Crimea, 317. Guise, Duke of, death of, 4i7. HANDEL Concerts, the, at Crystal Palace, 3(;s. Hardinge, Rt. Hon. Lord, struck with pa- ralysis, 817. Havelock, General Sir H., heroism, peril of, at Lucknow, 33"< ; death of, 403. Huywfird, Mr , dinner at his house, politi- cal, 6. " Herald, Morning," the. virulence of, against Prince Albert, 111, 112. INCOME TAX, the, carried, 53. India, East, Company, charter of expir- ing, Bill for future government of, passed (1S53), 44; opposed by "Times," 45; ditfi- culty of the question, 45: petition of, to Parfiamcnt, 411; failure of Bill on, 4:?0; the Bill withdrawn, 435 ; India Bill passed, in Commons. 450. Inkerman, battle of, 172. 1ERVI9. Et. Hon. Sir J., Chief Justice, r) Common Pleas, death of (1 ^56). 3'i9. Jewish question, the. Lord Stanley's Liberal vote thereon. 38 ; Disraeli's silence on, 38; Oaths Bill defeated, 139; acquiesced in by the Lords, 445 ; Bill passed, 450. LABOUCHEEE. Et. Hon. H., takes office under Palmerston as Colonial Secretary, 256. Lancashire, distress in, 393. Lansdowne, Itt. Hon. Marquis of. unwilling- ness to 8cce|it Premii'isliip. 2; letter of, to Mr. C. Gr-.-ville on Palmerston's resigna- tion, 98: position of, at crisis, 9J ; Duke- dom refused by, 877. Leopold, King ot Belgians, his demeles with French Emperor, '66. " Leviathan." atterward " Great Eastern," thi' attempted launch of, 384. Lewis, Sir G Cornewull, joins the Palmerston Government as Chancellor of the Ex- chequer, 214; character of, 846; conver- sation of, on Gladstone's finance, 587. Liberal party, divisions among, 1 ; hostility of Radicals, 2 ; negotiations of, on Lord Derby's resignation, 13, 14; resentment of, against Lord J. Kussell, 144; meeting of, at Willie's Eooms, 4S9. Liddell i). Westerton, case of,349 ; judgment reversi'd by Privy Council, 359. Lieven, Madame de, on the Russian war, 295 ; death of, 838; character of, o3s-345. I.ittlecote IIou.se, 439. Lords, House of. debate on Protection, and Lord Derby's abandonment of it, 6; Lord Derby's speech on the Duke of Welling- ton, 8 : speech of Lord Derby on Aberdeen (iovernment, 16; Aberdeen's statement as Prime Minister, 21, 24; Lord Derby's re- pudiation of Disraeli's Budget tactics, 29 ; Aberdeen questioned by Lord Derby, ridic- ulous scene in House, 34; Duke of Argyll agamst Lord Elleuborough. 39 ; debate on Clergy Reserves. 40; debate on Canada Clergy Bill, majority for Government. 52, 53; scene in House described by Mr. Gre- ville, .%3; debate on Legacy Duties, 56* division on Succession Duties Bill, 66; Lord Derby's remark on, 67 ; Lord Claren- don's speech on Peace or War, 68 ; slash- ing speech of Lord Derby, 114 ; Prince Al- bert vindicated, 114; Lord Aberdeen's declaration in favor of peace. 118 ; Claren- don's speech in defence of Mini.sters. 121 ; debate on alleged secret correspondence with Russia, 126; debate on the war. Lord Lyndhurst's speech, 14^-^ ; Government ma- jority on University Bill, 146: attack on Government policy by Lord Derby, 180; debate on Foreign Enlir.tment Bill, 181 ; Duke of Newcastle's defence, 208 : Lim- ited Liability Bill forced through the House, 243: the Queen's Speech crili- cised by Lord Derby, 2s4 attack on Bar- on Parke's life peerage. 284 ; debate on life peerages, 2-;6. 291 ', debate on Maritime Law, 814 ; deb.ate on China Quesiion, 8.52; attack of Lord Ellenborough on Govern- ment at outbreak in India. 874 ; debate on the Divorce Bill, 870 ; Lord Derb.v's speech as Prime Minister, 422 ; Lord Lyndhurst's speech on Jews Bill, 487 ; debate on Lord Ellenborough. 443; debate on Jewish ques- tion. Bill passed, 450; Lord Chancellor's appointment of Lunacy Commissioner re- 552 INDEX. scinded, 4C5 ; speech of Lord Derby, 521 ; debate on Gladstone's Budget and Treaty, 631 ; debate on Paper Duties Bill, 54-5. Lucknow, relief of, SSti ; bad news from ; 390. Ludolph, Count, Neapolitan Minister, attack of I'almerston on, 5i2. Lynd hurst, Kt. Hon. Lord, speech of, on the war, 143 ; speech of, on the Jews Bill, 4o7. TITACAULAT, Rt. Hon. T. B., on Judges' lU Exclusion Bill, speech of, 57; new vol- umes of History of England, 265; broken health, 2(55; retires from Parliament, 283; made a peer, 3T7; death of, 514. McNeill, Sir John, report of, on suffering of troops, 2S7. Marliani, an emissary from Cavour, 480. Meerut, breaking out of Indian Mutiny at (May, 1357), 370. Molesworth, Kt. Hon Sir W., death of. 253. Monsell, Mr., Eoman Catholic, difficulties in swearing him in as a Privy Councillor, 221. Montalembert, M., prosecution of, by Impe- rial Government, 458. " Morning Post," the, violent article against Prussia, 274. Moustier, M. de, conversation of, with French Emperor, 538. Mutiny, the Indian, progress of, 378, 379 ; day of humiliation for, 37'J ; reinforcements for India, 881 ; exaggerated accounts of cruelties, &c., 391 ; defeat of Windham, 403. NAPIEE, Admiral Sir Chas., dinner to, on his appointment to command Baltic fleet, 125; unpopularity of, on account of inactivity, 162. Napoleon III,, Emperor of the French, com- ment on, by M. de Flahault, 26; story of hi^ marriage told by Lord Clarendon, 82, 33; details of, by Lord Cowlev, 34; opin- ion of H, M, the Queen, 35 ; friendly dis- position of, toward England, 48; increas- ing unpopularity of in France, 57; pro- fV'ssed desire of for peaceful i-olution, 74 ; letter of to Duchess of Hamilton. 74; sup- posed in frisue of with Russia. 75; assur- ances of his adherence to English policy, 78; hbellous publications against (Bel- gium), 83; sends Baraguay d"Hilliers to Con,stantin<>ple, 88 ; reluctant to go to war, 113; said to have instigated newspaper at- tacks on Prince Albert. 116 ; autograph let- ter of, to Emperor Nicholas, 118; invited by Prince Albert to Windsor, 159 ; conver- sation of, with the Prince, 161 ; visit of, to London, 222 ; declaration of strong ad- herence to England, 272; speech of. to Imperial Guard, asainst Prussia, 274; yields to Russian influence at Paris Con- gress, 294; birth of Prince Imperial, 303; visit of with Empress, to Osborne, 375 ; attempted assassination of, 41*5; threat- ened invasion of England, 410; effect of Orsini attempt on, 412 ; speech of to Bar- on Habner, 461 ; prevarication, 464 ; sup- posed tenderness of, 500 ; letter of, to King of Sardinia, 510 ; Congress proposed by, 513; pamphlet of, on the Pope and the Congress, 5iS; secret planning of Com- mercial Treaty, 522 ; anne.'iation of Savoy and Nice by, 529; distrusted by Palmer- ston, 536. Nesselrode, letter to. from Lord Clarendon, 67 ; pacific Note of, to Buol, 86; anecdote of 168; Esterhazy's Note to, on Austrian profiosal of peace, 274 Newcastle, the Duke of, his ministerial ca- pacity, 189, 197; defends himself in House against Lord J. Russell, 203. " Newport," the case of, before Judicial Committee, 899. Normanby, Et. Hon. Marquis of, his " Tear of Revolution " taken up by Lord Brough- am, 399 ; book refuted, 400. OLMTJTZ, conference at, 79. Orloff, Count, mission of, to Vienna, 113 ; his view of the war, at Paris, 294. PALMER, murderer of Cook, convicted, 313. Palmerston, Rt. Hon. Viscount, popularity of, in the House of Commons, 3 ; position in the country, 13 ; foreign opinion of, 13 ; after Disraeli's Budget declines offer of the Admiralty, 19 ; agrees to join the Govern- ment, Home Oflice. 20; speech at Tiver- ton, 25 ; hatred of Russia, 48 ; more vigor- ous policy urged by, 63 : eager for war, 65; friendly relations of, with Clarendon, 67 ; attack of, on Cobden. 69 ; courted by To- ries, 71 ; goes to Balmoral, 75 ; views of, on declaration of war by Turkey, 80; laud- ed by Radicals and Tories, 81 ; anecdote of told by the Queen. 91 ; letter of to Rus- sell, denouncing reform, S2 ; threatens to secede from Government. 95 ; resigns on the Reform scheme, 96 ; effects of resigna- tion, 97 ; concihatory overtures to, 98 ; withdraws resi,o-nati6n, lii2; urges the marriage of Prince Napoleon to Princess Marv of Cambridge. 115; opposes Lord J. Russell's Reform Bill, 122 : amidst divis- ions of Cabinet offers to resign, 181 ; more in favor at Court, 190 : sent for by the Queen, forms a Government, 207; list of his Ministry, 208; his prospects, 208; speech in House, 210; difficulties of in forming Government, 216 ; and mistakes, 217 ; bluster in the " Morning Post,'' 268 ; stringent terms proposed by, against Rus- sia, 264 ; defends Sunday bands, 813 ; his failing strength, 847; speech at Mansion House, 358 : popularity of, 359 ; Tiverton address, 360 ; his success in the House, 867 ; his proposed Bill for dissolution of East India Company, 397: his decreasing energy, 411; resignation of 414: catastro- phe uniexpected. 417; amendments on In- dia Bill defeated. 449 ; visits Compi^gne with Lord Clarendon, 458; forms second Administration, 492; distrusts Napoleon, 586; attack oi; on Neapolitan Minister, 542. INDEX. 553 Palmerston, Lady, interview with, on resig- nation of her husband. 1)9. Parliament, meeting of (1854) : reception of the Queen ; defence of i'rince Albert by Lord J. Russell, 114; specially summoned in December, ls54, 1T5; meeting of. after peace, 2S3; close of session. 318; dissolved, 856 ; meeting of, 36D ; opening of, 393 ; Session opens, 521. Peelites, attitude of, on Queen's Speech, C ; eagerness for office. 22 ; refuse to join Lord Palmerston's Government, 206; refuse to join Lord Derby 416, 41T. Peel, Sir Robert, lecture of, on the Czar's coronation, 337. Peerage, the Wen sley dale, debate on, 2S5. Pelissier, Marshal, Ambassador at London, 429. Portsmouth, grand naval review at, 69. Princess Koyal, the marriage of. 408. Protection, abandonment of, by Lord Derby, 6 ; his speech thereon, 6. Prussia. King of, private letter of, to Em- peror Nicholas, toward peace. 279 ; quarrel of, with Switzerland, as to sovereign rights, 336. QUARTERLY REVIEW, the, article in by .Mr. Glad .stone, 437 ; editor of, on Tory Reform Bill, 457. RAD1C.\L party, the, approve of Lord J. Russells Reform Kill, and his course, 124 ; hatred of, against Lord Aberdeen, 146. Eagian, Lord, commander of forces at the Alma, 162; Balaklava, 166; anecdotes concerning, 166; despatch of, on battle of Inkerman, 172 ; annoyance of the Court at his failure, 193 ; his d'^ath in Crimea, 231 ; defence of, bv Sir E, Lyons. 306, Eeeve, Henry, Mr., return of, from Constanti- nople, 89, Reform. Royal Commission on, 26. Roebuck, .Mr. A., his motion for inquiry into Government conduct of war, 201; report of Sebastopol Committee, 224. Rogers, Mr. Samuel, the poet, de.atb of, 266. Rus.sell, Rt. Hon. Lord .lohn. willing to serve under Lord Lan.sdowne, 3; answer of. to letter from Cohden. 4; resolution to op- J>ose Ballot, 4 ; literary pursuits of, Mooro and Fo.x's papers, 5 : leaves Foreign Of- fice. -37 ; Anti-Catholic speech of, 58 ; res- ign.ation of Irish members thereon. 59 ; position of, at Eastern crisis. 72 ; desires to be Prime Minister, S3, f-4; obstacles in the way of, 84; conference on question of resigning. 84; scheme for Reform Bill, 89; speech in defence of the Prince. 114; introduces his Reform Bill 119 : insists on his Reform Bill, 122; difficulties in the way of, 122 ; postpones the Bill, 123 ; attacked by Disraeli on Reform ques- tion, 124; \vithdr.aws his Reform Bill. 131 ; attack on, by Disraeli 140 ; opposes abo- lition of Church Kates, 144; convenes a 24 meeting of his supporters, 147 ; his views on the Ministry, 188; his visit to Paris, 192; resignation ot, 198; speech there- upon, 200; speech against, by Mr. Glad- stone, 201 ; sent for by the Queen, fails to form a Government, 206; goes to Vienna as Plenipotentiary, 209 ; joins Palmerston's Government as Colonial Secretary, 213; indiscreet revelations of Vienna Conferr ence, 233 ; resignation, 235 ; estranged from his friends. 245, 247 ; elected for Lon- don, 360; friendly tone toward Govern- ment, 394; opposes Cons[iiracy Bill, 414; makes overtures to Lord Granville, 431 ; attacked by the '•Times" on India Bill, 433; insists on taking Foreign Office un- der Palmerston, 494; French opinion of, 509 ; introduces his Reform Bill, 528; speech of, against French alliance, 531 ; effect of his speech on the French, 535; correspondence w-ith Loid Grey, 539 ; with- drawal of his Reform Bill, 5J3. Russia, Emperor Nicholas of, impending war with, 55; indignation against, .''5; difficul- ties of, in Eastern crisis, &i; Enghsh and French fleets sail for Dardanelles. 59. 60; hopes of peace with, 64; war declared against, by Turkey, ^0; aims at forming Holy Alliance between himself, Austria, and" Prussia, 85; defeated bj' ManteufFel, 85, 86 ; autograph letter of, to the Queen, 91 ; Turkish fleet destroyed by, 96; enor- mous preparations of, for war, 107; asks for explanations from England, 112 ; secret corres])ondence with, published, 128 ; in- creased indignation of public against, 128 ; War declared against, 128; pretended ac- ceptance of the " Four Points," 192 ; death of, 215; Emperor Alexander II. refuses terms of Vienna, 223; fall of Sebastopol, 247 ; ultimatum to, sent by Palmerston, 265; accepts proposalsof peace, 279; coro- nation of Czar at .Moscow, 320. Rutland, Duke of, death of, 338. CT. ARN.\.IJD, Marshal reluctance of, to O engage in battle of Alma. 102. Sardinia, Victor Emmanuel. King of, vi.sit to Windsor with M. de Cavour, 261 ; his de- mands on the Allies, 262. Seebach, M. de, Saxon Minister in Paris, ac- tion of, as mr. 272, Seymour. Sir Hamilton, delivery of Conven- tion to Ne-sehode. by, 67. Solferino, battle of, 496. Stafl'ord, Augustus, strictures of committee on. 54 : damaging to Lord Derby's Gov- ernment, 54, 55 : his mission to Constanti- nople in aid of the wounded, 178, Stanlev, Lord, declines Lord Palmerston's off'er of the Colonial Secretaryship. 254; succeeds Lord EUenboi-ough at the Board of t'ontrol, then takes Secretaryship of State for Indiii. 456. Stratford. Lord, his policy at Constantinople, 69 : suspected by Lord Clarendon, 71 ; hos- tility of Emperor of Russia against him, 76; influence of, disputed by Baraguay 554 INDEX. d'Hilliers, 91 ; his despatches praised, 117; regarded as cause of war, liil ; clamor against, for neglect of General "Williams, 282. Sugden, Sir Edward, note upon, 17. TCHEENAYA, battle of a855), 245. Thouvenel, M,, despatches of, in re Savoy, 530. " Times," the, opposes the India Bill, 45 ; versatility of, on Eastern crisis, 63 ; letter in, defending Prince Albert, 112 ; on Lord J. Eussell's position, 144 ; on French rein- forcements, 175; attacks of, on Lord Eaglan, 189 ; " runs amuck " against aris- tocratic element in society, 211 ; hostility of toward Palmerston Government, 415; letter of French Emperor to King of Sar- dinia published in, 510; opposes French Commercial Treaty, 524; on Lord John's, Eeform Bill, 580. TICTOEIA, H. M. the Queen's Speech, diflSculties in composing, dissensions, 5 ; the Eoyal Family home life, 49 ; goes to Ireland, 71 ; comment of, on Lord Palm- erston, 87 ; reply of, to autograph letter from Emperor Nicholas, 91 ; annoyance ot, at attacks on the Prince, 113 ; speech of, on opening of Parliament, sends for Lord Derby, 202; for Palmerston, 207; visit of, to Paris, 244; pleased with the Emperor, 246 ; friendship of, for the Or- leans family, 249 ; visit of, to Birming- ham, 44S ; letter of. to the Prince of Wales, 457. WALES, H. E. H. the Prince of, visit to Canada, 508. Walewski, Count, presides at Congress, Paris, 295. Wellington, Duke of, lying in state of, funeral of, 6; Disraeli's pompous pane- gyric on, 8. Windham, General Charles, his gallant con- duct at the Kedan, 250 ; letter from, 250 ; his defeat at Cawnpore, 403. Wortley, Et. Hon. J. Stuart, .ippointed Solicitor-General, 330. THE EKD. D. APPLETON & 00/8 PUBLIOATIONS. BIOGRAPHY. THE HUNDRED GREATEST MEN. 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