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A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON

Xetters anb IRotcs
iSyi-iSjy

TRANS LA TED FROM THE FRENCH
OF
CHARLES GAVARD

NEW YORK
HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY
1897

Copyright, 1897,
BY
HENRY HOLT & CO.

PRINTED BY ROBERT DRUMMOND, NEW YORK.

PREFACE.
The Letters and Notes contained in this volume
-were not written for publication. Their author, M.
Charles Gavard, -who died in July, 1893, was a mem
ber from 1871 to 1877 of the French Embassy at
London, first as Chief Secretary, and then as Min
ister Plenipotentiary acting as Charg^ d' Affaires.
Having had the art to make himself a welcome
guest, not only among political circles in England,
but also in society, he -was in a position to see a
great many things that he felt -would be of interest
to his family, and that he accordingly described from
day to day in his letters home. Also, once relieved
from active service, he jotted down certain of his
recollections for his own use. It has been thought
that extracts from these letters and notes might be
of general interest. The public, to whom they are
submitted, must be the judge.
It seems not improper to reprint here two notices
of M. Gavard that were published immediately after
his decease.
The first of them, written by the Due de Broglie for
the Correspondant of July 25th, 1893, is as f ollo-ws :
" In a study that has just appeared in to-day's
Correspondant, I was led to dwell at some length on
the difficulties of the situation in which M. Thiers
iii

iv PREFACE.
placed the ambassador he sent to London when he
commissioned him in the name of France (then suf
fering under so cruel an ordeal) to take part in a
European conference. By a melancholy coinci
dence, the Correspondant in the same issue announced
to its readers the premature death of one of its
former contributors — M. Charles Gavard. It was
this M. Charles Gavard who accompanied the French
Ambassador on the painful mission above referred
to, and afforded him the no slight advantage of
his intelligent and friendly co-operation.
" When I left Paris at M. Thiers' command, I be
sought M. Gavard to accompany me, mainly for the
reason, that as an attachi of the commerce depart
ment of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, (he had
been in that Department from his youth upwards),
his services had been such that he had been
rapidly promoted to a high post, and because
I foresaw that, to ease the difficulties growing
out of our enormous war-indemnity, France would
very possibly be obliged to ask the English Gov
ernment to consent to certain modifications of
the customs-treaty that at that time governed
the relations between the two countries. More
than that, the treaty of commerce, concluded in
1862 by the Empire and arranged to last for ten
years, was approaching its period, and the negotia
tions that must attend its expiration would inevi
tably call for special knowledge of the sort that M.
Gavard possessed. But I soon recognized also in
him an intelligence of a high order in matters of
politics — good judgment, delicate tact, a prompt

PREFACE. V
knowledge of men — all the qualities, in a word, that
go to make up a diplomatic agent to whom the
care of interests of all kinds may be confided.
" We were surprised at London by the news of the
momentary success of the insurrection at Paris.
When I found myself obliged to hasten back to Ver
sailles, where my duties as a member of the National
Assembly called me, M. Gavard was anxious to go
with me — to bear his part in the strange events, the
gravity of which we felt it was impossible at a dis
tance rightly to estimate. We passed the sea, (un
certain in what state we should find France), in the
company of a traveller whose incognito we had
promised to respect. He was Robert le Fort, who
had donned once more the simple officer's uniform
he had presented to the Prussian bullets, and was
going to offer his services to aid in the preservation
of society. M. Gavard felt a hereditary attachment
to the princes of the ruling house in France, and
the memory of this night of anxiety passed in com
mon did not tend to diminish the confidence with
which they have always honored him.
" M. Thiers conferred on M. Gavard the post of
First Secretary of the Embassy at London, which
(save during an interval which he passed in Paris as
the chief of the minister's cabinet) he held for nearly
seven years. It is very uncommon nowadays for a
post of that sort to be held for so long a period.
And it is but right to add that during M. Gavard's
term of office the French Ambassador to London
was several times changed — M. Gavard was called
upon first and last to serve under a number of su-

VI

PREFACM.

periors, and to all of them he rendered services on
which they justly set a high value. Whenever his
chief was absent, M. Gavard was called upon to
exercise the functions of Minister Plenipotentiary.
In this capacity he found himself obliged a number
of times to deal, on his own responsibility, with ques
tions of great delicacy ; and in the cases in which he
did so he received the prompt approbation of the
Due Decazes — the accomplished minister who was
then in charge of our Foreign Affairs.
" Such occasions were really for M. Gavard but so
many opportunities to show a prudence, a precision
of language, and a trustworthiness, that brought
him in England, where such qualities are highly
appreciated, a number of valuable friendships.
When his turn came to bear his share in the polit
ical misfortunes of his friends and to retire to private
life, these attachments subsisted in spite of absence
and lapse of time, and such and such an important
parliamentary personage, such and such a great lord
of the upper house even, such and such a distin
guished writer or representative of the press, never
passed through Paris without coming to shake hands
with him and pay their respects to his household,
where a reception of an amiable and charming sim
plicity always awaited them.
" More than that, these steadfast friends of his cor
responded with him, kept him informed of the little
incidents that promised to prove of importance in
the English political world — the world of which the
French know so little. It was they who supplied
him with the materials for the articles he contributed

PREFACE.

vil

regularly to the Frangais and the Moniteur, and not
infrequently to the Correspondant. In especial the
reader may remember a most interesting series of
studies on the electoral crisis of 1885 — the one which
brought Gladstone, after his sudden conversion to
Home Rule, back to power. The consequences of
this belated change of front on the part of the old
parliamentary leader, the new classification of parties
that would result from it, the new features of the
coming struggle, were all described beforehand with
a freshness of prevision that the events day after day
confirmed. Unhappily, three years ago a cruel ill
ness put a period to M. Gavard's writing ; and those
who knew him intimately saw with pain the steady
progress of his malady and the suffering which he
referred to so seldom and endured with such coura
geous and Christian resignation."
The following is from the pen of M. Paul Mureau-
Dogin. It appeared in the Moniteur for July 12th,
1893. " The Moniteur has just suffered a severe loss.
Our friend and former contributor, M. Charles
Gavard, succumbed last night to the malady which
long since interrupted his labors. Our readers have
surely not forgotten the admirable articles signed
J. J. with their distinction, their clever turns, their
light, sure touch. Foreign politics have seldom been
discussed so competently. But M. Gavard brought
to the task an acquisition that journalists by profes
sion rarely possess — a personal experience in great
diplomatic affairs.
" He entered the ministry of Foreign Affairs when

Viii PrEPACE.
he was a young man ; he won the notice of his supe
riors, was sent to London after the war of 1870, and
filled there for many years the post of Chief Secretary,
then that of Minister Plenipotentiary and Charg^
d' Affaires. Serving as he did under a succession of
Ambassadors who were one after another incessantly
being recalled for reasons of party politics, M.
Gavard found himself called upon to play a role
above his title : he was more than once obliged in
circumstances of great gravity to act as the sole
representative of France at the court of St. James ;
and by his coolness, his foresight, his tact, his
knowledge of men and things, his standing in
English ' Society,' he proved always equal to the
occasion. A diplomatist of the old school, he did
not (as too many others do) call special attention to
the dangers he had conjured away, — at the risk of
causing them to reappear again ; but some day, we
hope, the services he rendered his country will be
known, and how, for instance, at such and such a
time, the measures he took, on his own responsibility,
with one of the members of the British cabinet
frustrated the evil designs of Prince Bismarck. M.
Gavard's long sojourn at London was interrupted
for the few months only, in 1873, during which the
Due de Broglie was Minister of Foreign Affairs :
the Due de Broglie appreciated his friend's value
and appointed him chief of his cabinet.
" M. Gavard's loyalty to his own party exposed him
to a hostility in certain quarters, that a man of his
independent spirit naturally disdained to take pre
cautions against, and when the Left Wing came

PRE FA CE. ix
to power, in spite of all the patriotic reasons in
favor of M. Gavard's being kept at London he was
one of the first victims of the change of administra
tion. He made use of his freedom to defend his
convictions in the press. First as a contributor to
the Frangais, then of the Moniteur (after the consol
idation of the two papers), he concerned himself in
the main with the questions, to-day so important,
of Foreign Affairs. He was not, however, indifferent
to the other aspects of politics. An enlightened
liberal, a monarchist by conviction, the Princes had
always found in him a friend and had always placed
in him especial confidence.
" Much sought after in Parisian society for the
grace of his wit and the soundness of his character,
seconded in his own household by the rare concur
rence of an exquisite affability and a superior intel
ligence, his salon was one of the few in which
one still found good talk. Need I speak of the man
as he revealed himself to those who penetrated
beyond the barrier of a somewhat proud reserve ?
behind which he habitually took refuge from the
curiosity of the public ? His uprightness, the mingled
warmth and discretion of his temperam.ent, his
devoted tenderness, his disinterested fidelity were
not unknown to his friends and will never by them
be forgotten. Under the affliction of a long illness
which undermined one after another all his powers,
he was even-tempered and patient ; it was to religion
that he looked for his support, it is to religion that
those who mourn him must look for consolation."

A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON.

THE YEAR 1871.
Extracts trom tbe motes of jflR. ©avard.
My being sent to England began with a despatch
that the Due de Broglie ^ addressed from Bordeaux
to M. Jules Favre, asking for a young man, who
knew English well, to go with him to London. The
Duke was something surprised and much satisfied,
upon his arrival in Paris, to learn that the choice of
the minister had fallen on M. Gavard and that
this "youthful" attach^ of his staff was to be
myself. ^
I had made the acquaintance of M. Jules Favre
in the cruel days of the siege. When despatches or
the microscopic reductions of the " Times " were
brought in by the pigeons, under their wings, I
often served him as translator. The head
quarters^ of the ambulance department were near
' M. Thiers, immediately upon becoming head of the government,
had prayed the Due de Broglie to accept the embassy to London.
^ M. Gavard, the sous-directeur des consulats, had been attached
to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 1848.
^ The direction of the ambulance was in tbe hands of M. Gavard
during the siege of Paris. I

2 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1871.
his office — were not uncommonly at his office, to
say the truth, for he had got into the habit of send
ing for me. I remember more than one night-
sitting and the patriotic exclamations he let fall.
Our arrangements were soon made. An ambu
lance-wagon took the Duke and myself to the
station the morning of February twenty-third.
By the twenty-fifth. Lord Granville paid a visit to
the Duke at the Clarendon Hotel where we had put
up, and pressed him to complete, by the concurrence
of France, the consent of Europe to rehandling the
treaty of 1856 and annulling the clause which de
clared the Black Sea neutral. You may readily con
ceive we were in no hurry to wipe out an arrange
ment which our soldiers in the Crimea, quite gratui
tously in my judgment, had bought at the price of
blood, and in especial to ratify with our signature
the by-gone bargain between Germany and Russia
for the spoliation of France. It is true that, after
having given up our provinces to Germany, it was
easy to give up the treaty on the Black Sea. The
humiliation was for England, and she began to ex
piate it even before our signature was complete.
It is a pleasure to recall in what terms the Due de
Broglie gave in his consent to this deed of violence :
" France, solely not to separate herself from the
other powers, submits to facts accomplished without
her participation." 1 .le sort of resignation that is
becoming in the vanquished was not, in that remark,
unseasoned by the reserve that it was proper to
maintain in the presence of England's gratuitous
capitulation. This reserve marked an irony that

1871.] A DIFZOMAT IN LONDON. 3
the German plenipotentiary felt only on the follow
ing day, and that the representatives of England
did not choose to take notice of. It is true, that
they had had fears of a protest of quite another
sort, and if the Due de Broglie had given heed to
the instructions sent him at the last moment, he
would have seized this occasion to annul by his
declaration at London the capitulation of Paris.
But that would have been to hand France over to
the vengeance of Prince Bismarck.
Mr. Gladstone's cabinet meanwhile did itself the
honor of yielding to the pressing instances of the
Due de Broglie and of getting Germany at his re
quest to knock off a billion from the figure of our
ransom. It is no more than just to state the efforts
made by our ambassador at London, and by the
ministers of Queen Victoria at Versailles, during the
first days of March. When we recollect the mingled
respect and fear with which it was then the custom
to pronounce the Chancellor's name, we should be
grateful for the representations that the Due de
Broglie obtained from them. Of Strasburg and
Metz there was no word said ; but the economist in
Mr. Gladstone was touched by the notion of lessen
ing the figure imposed on us ; he sincerely believed
that it was an impossibility for us to pay it, and
since then he has often avowed to me that he has
never been able to understand how the thing can
have proved possible.

Extracts from tbe iPrivate Correspon&ence of flis. <5avar5.
London, Clarendon-Hotel, February, 14, 1871.
Here we are at last in a land where there are no
Prussians ! . . Superb passage. . . I did not turn
in once except for sleep. . . To be frank, nobody
was seasick. Conversation hardly languished day
or night. At our arrival at the Victoria Station I
recognized in the dusk the whole staff of the Em
bassy. Since then we have been conferring and
talking incessantly. We are all under the same
roof — there's not a vacant room in London.
London, February 26, 1871.
No doubt you know what will happen in France
to-morrow : a frightful war or a more frightful peace :
Both look to me equally impossible, and yet . . .
it will be one or the other. I am here, but I am
still more truly with you.
We have exerted ourselves day and night since
our arrival. What have we gained ? . . . Surely a
personal success for the Duke. . . What will the
step prove to be worth that he has induced Lord
Granville to take ? ^
' As above said, at the instance of the Due de Broglie, Lord
Granville and then Mr. Gladstone brought a pressure to bear on
Germany to obtain from her the reduction of a billion from the
amount of our ransom.
4

1 8? I.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 5
Yesterday I went to Morgan House ^ — nobody at
home. On the train from Richmond, as I was coming
back, I found myself face to face with the Duchesse
de Chartres and the young Princesse Marie.^ They
were pleased when I announcedthat the Duke would
pay them a visit in a few days and made an appoint
ment for a ' chance ' meeting to-day.
The Due de Broglie's impression, after a long
conversation with the Comte de Paris, is capital.
Here was this family at hand ; every member of it,
civil and military, is distinguished and patriotic
beyond reproach, and we kicked them out to replace
them by the craftsmen of our ruin and shame.
There is a perfect understanding among all the mem
bers of the family ; their only desire is to come back,
they understand all the necessities of the case, but
they offer no sacrifice to a meretricious popularity,
there is no manoeuvring, no intrigue — it is admirable.
London, February 28, 1871.
To learn in the chimney-corner that one's house
is menaced by the Prussians and the Bastille assas
sins at the same time ! ^ I don't know what to think ;
I anticipated nothing of all this ; I wouldn't have
believed either in the Prussian occupation or in
Vinoy's inertia in the presence of a riot semi-mili
tary. . .
We are at the Embassy. We should need some-
' Residence of the Due de Chartres.
* S. A. R. Madame la Princesse Marie d'Orleans, now Princesse
-Waldemar of Denmark.
^ Highwaymen had been chasing the police and throwing th em
into the canal.

6 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1871.
thing like security and leisure to turn our stay to
account. The Due de Broglie has made his d^but
by a diplomatic success — a success, alas ! merely
personal, but which may become the beginning of a
reaction. Everybody here is stunned ; it is out of fear that
nobody speaks out. Europe, the Society of Peo
ples, no longer exists, if force is permitted to move
unchecked like that to the bitter end. It is a trib
utary and a vassal France that they are setting up,
and we must bow the head. And at present, what's
to be done ? We shall never be less in shape than
we are now for the supreme effort of deliverance.
London, March i, 1871.
Five o'clock, and we know nothing of the day ; ^
the Duke thinks the rodomontades will vanish in
smoke at the approach of the Prussians. I don't
believe either that there will be any resistance ; but
there is always the chance pistol-shot that precipi
tates things.
The uneasiness here is extreme. The English
public understands, as we do, that it is a perpetual
war that is beginning. It doesn't dare say anything,
but it is discontented with the role its government
has played.
Before going in to see Parliament, I paid a visit
to Westminster. All these dead reunited in a place
of worship and repose in the centre of the city give
one an impression of union, of fatherland. Every
time that I remark upon anything here, it is the
' The entry of the Prussians into the Bois de Boulogne.

t87i.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 7
occasion of a sadreturn upon ourselves. In the House
of Commons I take my place in the gallery reserved
for the diplomatic corps, but I'm no farther ahead,
and can catch some bits of phrases here and there,
that's all. There were some young colonels with their
hair parted in the middle defending the Purchase of
Commissions ; so be it. There is something to be
said, for and against ; but what strikes me, gentle
men, is that you are doing what we did the day
after Sadowa. Hurry up and try to do better.
Yesterday, made my first visit to the Kensington
Museum. It is really very interesting and instruc
tive : one might get one's whole education in this
place ; but there are too many English paintings.
They begin with Gainsborough and Reynolds ; I
don't say no, I often admire them, even in spite of
certain contrasts of color that remind me of toast-
and-jam. As to the school of to-day, molasses
candy — if that's what you like, there you have it,
and there the mob stays ; I was literally sick. . . To
pull myself together again I fled to the hall that
shelters Raphael's cartoons : there is breadth to
them, they are great, puissant, profound ; you are in
the presence of a master, you look, you listen, you
profit. Would you believe it, they have never found
out that these seven cartoons fill a room ? They
have added antique chests, pictures, whatever they
could to embarrass and distract the attention.
Before dinner, as I was walking with the Duke, I
saw at a distance the Due de Gramont.-^ Delicate
' Minister of Foreign Affairs under the Empire at the time of the
declaration of war.

8 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1871-
situation for me between my ambassador and my
former minister. I had to wait for his bow, what
ever it might cost me. It was done in extremis,
and I saluted after my chief. Really, how can
these poor devils live through it ?
London, March 2, 187 1.
People here are evidently beginning to be dis
turbed: it is the English that are paying, by the
sacrifice of the treaty of 1856, for the service Russia
has rendered Prussia. There is no longer a ' balance
of power,' there are no longer any guaranties for
anybody, with a second Poland and a secret fund of
five billions in the cashbox of Frederick, Bismarck
& Co. This war-reserve will drain the markets of
Europe. We hold a fine position here. We no
longer have to weep at people's doors, to disturb
them with unreasonable importunity, we have only
to wait, to let things come our way. The Duke does
so with a master-hand. London, March 5, 1871.
A dolorous telegram had just been bulletined in
the clubs : The Prussians at Paris ! The Prussians
clear to the Place de la Concorde ! Can it be ?
What ? From to-morrow on you will be exposed
to all the consequences of this barbarous and futile
insult, and I not there ! I dare not let my thoughts
dwell on you.
I don't doubt the ill-omened treaty will be signed.
The only thing to say is that it would be still more
ill-omened if it were not signed. It isn't a treaty of
peace, but a pact of perpetual war, one of the treaties

tS?!.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. ^
of peace such as Napoleon signed after each of his
victories. That sort of thing lasts as long as the
victory does, and up to the present time fortune has
been fickle. That's the last word of the theory of
nationalities under which the wars of Italy, Den
mark and France were begun ! . . . To have done
with it, they have torn a country from the bosom
of its mother, to which it clung, like my unhappy
town of Metz. The feeling of disapproval is uni
versal here ; it is waiting till the thing shall have
been accomplished and till nothing can be done, to
break out with violence. For four months now
public opinion has been veering every day more and
more to our side, by reason even of the madness of
our resistance and of the terror our enemies inspire.
People know now the object of the war ; it is this
wholesale and retail pillage that more than any
thing else moves this land of the ' home ' and the ' law.'
We started this morning after mass for Richmond
and took the wrong railway. Still, we were at the
table at Morgan House at the stated hour. The
horses here are fast, and we had discovered our mis
take before we were twenty leagues away. Our road
ran through the country from Kew to Ham, an ad
mirably tilled district, the trees a hundred years old,
cottages everywhere, or brick houses cast in the
same mold, in endless succession without life or
picturesqueness ; not a bit of wild, nor a touch for the
imagination. Morgan House is more than plain
outside. The interior is very agreeable and on the
side of the park looks out upon a great green with
magnificent ruminants in it. The meadows and

10 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. \l&Ti-
their old oaks constitute the magnificence of Eng
land. The young Duchesse de Chartres is always
charming. There was a significant silence on the
subject of the absent ones.^ The Comtesse de Paris,
very pretty, vivacious and agreeable, quitted us to
verify the report of the committee of supplies.
Do you know that more than fourteen millions
has already been got together for our wounded and
other victims of the war ?
Took a look, before I left, at Orleans House, and
then at Bushy Park. Hard by there were oaks such
as grow nowhere but in a land where the law has
not been violated once in at least two hundred
years. We are going to install ourselves at the Embassy.
Imagine a first-floor-up, in the middle of a great
amphitheatre ; amazons and gentlemen cavalcade
about on every side. Be it said by the way that
this daily exhibition, in the heart of the town, of
timid young girls who break in horses while they
show their own grace and audacity and bring out
the contours of their bodies, constitutes an exercise
that may whet their appetite for lunch, but would
not appear to us bourgeois to prepare young people
for the virtues of the fireside. London, March 6, 1871.
. . . Saturday evening, at the Foreign Office. In
the wake of a long line of carriages we went down
to the New Palace. Fine stairway, and nothing else ;
I looked in vain for the apartments ; two or three
' The Princes were then at La Grave, at the Due Decazes's,

1871.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. n
adjoining chambers might serve for robing-rooms.
Well, the scene took place on the double stairway,
right and left ; the crowd mounting the steps was
like a picture by Veronese. The Prince of Wales
upon a side-landing, watched the coming up, with a
jocular air ; the Princess was interesting, congenial,
touched with the distinction that suffering lends
beauty. At the bottom of the stairs, a scraping and
blaring of violins and trumpets in uniform. Think
of me, then, as in the midst of aristocratic English
society ; but where are the Holbein heads, and the
noble personages that have walked out of the frames
of Van Dyck? I sought them in vain. Our bour
geois society quite as justly satisfies the eye. Not
one pretty woman anywhere ; and yet in the streets,
on foot or on horseback, there is no lack of brilliant
complexions, nor of golden hair, real or false. I
shook hands with Mr. Gladstone ; it is what receiv
ing the ribbon of the Legion d' Honneur would be
at Paris. I was much struck by the somewhat
rough expression of countenance of Mr. Lowe, the
chancellor.^ Guided by Franqueville,^ we reached
the Due de Broglie, who was a centre of attention
and attraction. His being there in a double capacity
made a sensation. His remark upon encountering
M. de Bernstorff, the Prussian Ambassador, was
going the rounds : it came off at table before the
reception. Lady Stanley had been the only person
between the two belligerents and had shown herself
' Robert Lowe, Chancellor of the Exchequer, created Viscount
Sherbrooke in 1880, died in 1892.
* Comte de Franqueville, now a member of the Institute.

12 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [187*.
much preoccupied with what would happen when
the ladies withdrew, and the time should come to
" pass the wine." " Don't be afraid, I'll find a way
out of it," the Duke said to her ; and then presently
addressing the barbarian : " I have been distressed
so long at seeing the Prussians established in my
home without my having invited them, that it is a
pleasure at the house of a friend to meet one of
them that I can exchange courtesies with."
The company left at midnight. The next day, at
seven, we were up and about, to go to the mass at
the Jesuits', in a chapel in which everything was
beautifully finished and choice. The service was
nicely done, the priest knew what he was saying
and what he was about, and it did not all move
presto as in Italy. The faithful are there for a pur
pose; they pray, they take the sacrament, with
devotion ; it is serious worship.
At eleven we were due at York House ; ^ it was
France in the person of the Due de Broglie that
was paying the visit. I fancy that both of them
were gratified and touched. The Prince is always
simple, but perfectly adequate to his position, in
spiring sympathy and confidence and displaying
them himself ; the young Princess is merry : a
united and affectionate couple. The gay Princess
Amelia,^ with blond hair, the picture of her father
as a child, is vivacious and amiable; the Due
d'Orldans is a stout youngster with hair more than
blond, who contributes his share to the hubbub.
' Residence of his Lordship the Comte de Paris.
'¦ Now Queen of Portugal.

1871.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 13
From every side, when I enter any of the retreats
here that our exiles have found, familiar images
attract my eyes ; everywhere portraits, faces I have
loved, memories ; the sketch of the Queen by
Scheffer, a work of art appreciated everywhere ; but
I glanced at this so quickly that I cannot stop long
to describe it.
Before lunching, we visited Orleans House.^ Too
much has not been said about how well the fortune
of the Due d'Aumale has been laid out. The
Stratonice, the Mort du due de Guise, the Passage du
gu^, and the extraordinary canvasses of Decamps,
Morhilat, Fromentin, besides the Vierge of the
Orleans family and 'the sword of the great Cond6.
It is vain even to try to examine the glass cases and
the shelves in the library. It is all very noble and
very beautiful, an,4 framed in English scenery with
a rustic, modest liffl* river, the Thames, running
through it, and green everywhere.
From York House we went to Bushy Park. There
we found the Prince, yes, the Prince, with the best
grace in the world^but the Prince ! — the first gentle
man of France, Henri IV. himself ! — one would
think he had stepped down from his bronze horse.
Only, the Bdarnais ought to speak more rapidly.
The Prince expresses himself with the utmost good
sense, all the words in their proper places, his remarks
perfectly just and sure. " The Republic has come
indeed," he said, " when you see princes begging for a
seat in the Assembly." No more, no less : that speech
indicates all that he is thinking of, the measure
' Residence of the Due d'Aumale. The Prince was absent.

14. A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. fiS?!-
of his Legitimism, and all that he accepts. . . .
He recollected my father,- and I recollected his ex
clamations over the lithographs of Captain Gavard
and how he found them " wonderfully like." How
much has happened since, and where would France
not be to-day, if on a day of glory and liberty she
had not thrust this whole family out of doors, and
with it the only rational system of administration.
That is the Due de Broglie's perpetual refrain.
London, March lo, 1871.
Finished the day, yesterday, at Lady Burdett-
Coutts's.^ Handsome house no doubt, but not
especially so for the richest woman in a private
station in the world. She is a large Englishwoman,
not very young, with a cordial manner. In the
apartments, a pell-mell that breathes a certain in
timacy, in which good taste does not reign. I lit
upon a big picture representing two thick booted
legs in air, incomprehensible and mediocre from the
point of view of art.^ While I diverted myself with
this prodigy, the concert was going on ; great suc
cess for a gentleman who was playing on an accor
dion ! Fancy his two arms approaching one another
with " expression," and above them his face, across
which played the sentiments he was communicating
to his bellows. I can understand how one can play
a hand-organ — there's nothing to do but to turn the
crank ; to acquire a skill. ... on the accordion ! But
" Lady Burdett-Coutts, created Baroness in 1871, heiress of Coutts,
the great banker.
^ The fine pictures were at the Burlington Exposition.

I87I-] A DIPLOMA T IN LONDON.

IS

it was much relished and almost as well applauded
as a squeaking trio, that was led by a boy with a
falsetto voice. Come, no more music nor painting
— stick to banking and try to brace up your politics.
The newspaper bulletins, set out on the sidewalk
in the streets, under the wheels of the carriages,
announce: Redflag in Paris. Really I can't torment
myself by thinking about it. It seems as if we had
but to lift a finger for the world to end.
London, March 13, 1871.
Saturday, lunched at Morgan House. I ' swapped '
stories of the siege against the tales of the marvel
lous adventures of the Prince de Joinville, at one
and the same time Prince and Fanfan la Tulipe.
He wouldn't have been the one to pass the day in
camp the i8th of August.^ Children and flowers
everywhere — cats, horses, dogs ; an elegant interior
with all the English comforts brought together in a
good taste that is French ; affecting souvenirs on
all the walls ; and the Duchess charming. I laid
a wager against her that the Princes would be either
recognized, or be elected everywhere. I chuck my
recollections in pell-mell — you must arrange them
for yourself.
As I was going out I met the colony from
Twickenham.^ The talk was of France, her perils,
and her future. Discussing these grave questions
we traversed the green which leads to the Thames,
got into a ferry-boat, and the dog threw himself
into the water to follow us.
1 An allusion to Bazaiiie.
2 His Lordship the Compte de Paris and his family.

l6 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1871.
Yesterday, Sunday, lunched at Bushy Park. The
Princess Marguerite is agreeable,; the Comtesse d'Eu
wears an expression of extraordinary kindness ;
the Comte d'Eu struggles with success against his
deafness. He keeps himself well-informed, "up"
in everything : one sees that he is a man of merit.
Henri IV — I should say the Due de Nemours,
spoke to me at divers times of my father and of the
lithographs of him ; he showed us his family por
traits, the collection of the Chateau d'Eu, with
comment full of interest.
Paid a visit to the Athenaeum Club. It is im-
posssible to live in England without tea, beer, han
soms, and clubs.
Be it said in passing, it is edifying to see how
English society busies itself with our troubles. I
have just returned from the Mansion House, where
the Lord Mayor presided over a Committee of
Relief. Sunday I spent at a sitting of the Mar
chioness of Lothians' ^ committee, where I found a
gay girl who spoke French with an agreeable
accent and was managing the affairs of three or four
poor refugees (of her own sex) from France.  To
day we visited the Tower. I was much struck by
the hat of the official cicerone ; I should have said it
was Anne Boleyn's execution.
Wednesday Morning, March 16, 1871.
It is snowing in great flakes, the spring showers
of March. It can't be worse in any event at Oxford.
1 C. H. Mahonesa, daughter of Lord Shrewsbury, dowager Mar-
ghioness in 1870, died in 1877.

1871.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 17
Even if it were, we should leave for there ; how
could we countermand a Rector Magnificus and a
luncheon that are awaiting us ! Friday Morning.
Yesterday the day was superb and I was very
busy. Spent an hour and a quarter on the railway.
The English landscape opened out before us in fine
style — meadows, the Thames level with its banks,
undulations of the land which added a touch of the
picturesque (properly speaking, they are natural
valleys or dells rather), lots of huge old trees,
nobody in the fields, only steam engines at work, and
the smoke of the locomotives rising above the
farms, and coal everywhere. What would England
be without the coal that multiplies her population
a hundred-fold, and without the Straits which
guarantee her from brigands? At intervals, red
houses. Oxford ! How it had snowed ! The
meadows were white, but as the sun rose, the snow
melted, except in the shadow of the trees, and there
was a singular picture of all the trees with their
bare branches outlined in white against the green
sward hard by. But don't let's lose time. We
had dropped back into the Middle Ages. You might
find in India, perhaps, a sacred village that had as
completely preserved its peculiarities ; the colleges
here are all pious foundations, beginning as far back
as the thirteenth or fourteenth century, that were
surprised by the Reformation, which secularized and
perpetuated them — singular mixture of the spirit of
independence and of conservatism in this country.
The edifices and their endowrnents have remained.

i8 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1871-
The buildings are doing all they can to hold out as
long as the institutions, but the English stone
shales off fearfully — I don't know which of them
will be the first to go under. All the structures
look utterly in ruins, which does no harm to the
picturesqueness of it all ; ivy climbs everywhere, mil
dew discolors the walls, stones are lacking, and it all
works together to lend character to the thing and to
dissimulate certain commonplaces and vulgarities.
The total effect is astonishing ; twenty colleges
in a town of no great importance, and nothing but
the colleges, chapel, abbey, gardens, libraries, halls
and their out-buildings, — all in English gothic,
but of a period when it was natural. It abounds
in charming ' bits ', nothing very impressive in
height, but rather in surface, and it stretches on
indefinitely — there is lots of it. The streets are
such as you see them in the Middle Ages at the
theatre. You meet nobody in them but Fellows or
Tutors or Rectors or Chancellors — there are titles
no end, every college has its own, and the only
thing that obtains throughout is the little, black,
horizonal square, ill-balanced on the top of their
skull-caps. This original head-dress is obligatory
for the students, even after dark, so that one may
know them for what they are and hand them over,
in case of disturbance, to the University authorities,
to whom they are exclusively responsible. They
don't give much trouble, however ; first because
there are only twelve hundred of them, (we French
would put up twenty thousand at Oxford) ; and then
they are of good family — it takes not less than five

iS.-i.] .4 DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 19
or six thousand francs to spend six montlis, or seven
barely, at Oxford. The English students do not
need one's sympathy. They have to turn up at
chapel at eight o'clock in the morning ; afterward
there are lessons till two, and then — boating for
ever! An c a not ' Even,-body goes in their jackets
to the Thames and tlie races begin ; some of the
students are on horseback. It appears that there
are, all told, some thirty who contend for honors and
fellowships ; for there are students' colleges and
fellows" colleges. As far as I can judge, there are
five canonries. By means of celibacy, a univer
sity degree, and the favor of the founder, j-ou enjoy
in an Oxford college a good prebend, and do nothing
for it. There is a college of the sort in which you
may traverse the abbey, the park, the librar\-, and
meet nobody. But where are the students ? There
aren't any I There are two Fellows, simply ; and
room for two regiments. For the rest, at New Col
lege {neii' though great-grandfather to our Pont-
Neuf) there are seventy students. I should have
thought there would be a thousand. These j'oung
people live here, as you may see, in a somewhat
liberal style, much at their case, with all the inde
pendence possible, as much expense as befits them,
and space to let ; ever\- one of them is soa/rbodj and
costs his family and the public dear.
It was the Xew College that I saw best, for we
went back there to lunch. We went, according to
an itinerary laid out by the Dean of ^^'estminster,
(he had smoothed the way for us — had sent word
we were comingV from college to college and from

20 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1871.
the Rector Magnificus to the Librarian or the Vice-
Chancellor. The ' official cap ' of the New College
(I really do not know the title of this benefactor of
humanity), perceiving that the Vice- Chancellor was
forgetting to invite us to break bread, came " to
take possession of us again" at the inhospitable door
of this personage, and shared his lunch with us — he
had come away in the middle of it to find us. It
was just a bit rash to invite four famished guests
that way to take " pot-luck " — I was no end hungry :
— -but not at all, there was enough to feed a platoon
in time of seige. Our benefactor himself helped us
to plates, glasses, silver, from a sideboard : " \\"ill
you have mutton, veal, beef, some ham? " Stores
truly Homeric ; they needed only to be carved.
Then there was a great cake, equally designed for
an emergency, and capital with cunim, and beer,
and .sherry. Our hunger was satisfied in a trice ; and
we went away much touched by such simple, " can
onical " hospitality.
But a truce to colleges : we took a carriage and
drove in the cheery cold to Blenheim ^ ; it was the
castle known as Woodstock before it was given to
the greediest of vanquishers, and the one most given
to pillage. Still, there was a touch of Mars about
him. The first glimpse of the place drew from us
in chorus a cry of admiration : lake, meadows, wood
lands, valleys — it was splendid. I hesitate to
speak of the castle ; it is immense, and in the
country, at a distance, is most effective ; but in pro
portion as you draw near, it becomes ridiculous.
^ The castle of the Duke of Marlborough.

1871J. A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 21
Still, it is as big as a palace of the first rank. From
all the windows, a view worthy of Louis XIV. ; in
side, immense halls and some pictures that I did
not have the time to examine in detail, but there
was a Raphael, in his earliest manner, the Virgin and
Child and Two Saints. It looked to me quite au
thentic and very beautiful. We had to beat a retreat
without carrying it off. A monument to the mem
ory of Marlborough gave me a mournful reminder of
the magnificent monument of the Mar^chal de Saxe
at Strasburg. We crossed the park, putting the
roes to flight and chasing the hares by stamping
on the ground. The crows cawed us a good-bye,
and we went back to Oxford to dine in the mag
nificent hall of the Randolph Inn, big as a railway
station. At midnight we went to bed.
London, March 19, Sunday,
Five o'clock, 1871.
Frightful day ; we only have a word from Ponti-
coulant.i The only telegrams that have passed
seem to announce that there has been a battle to
day.* I wanted to start home this evening; the Due
de Broglie detains me, not knowing whether he will
not himself go and take a seat in the Assembly.
What shall we do ? I have spent my day with the
commandant, Robert Le Fort,* who arrived yester
day. Shall we start home together ? Will it be
1 Comte de Pontecoulant, chief of the cabinet of M. Jules Favre,
Minister of Foreign Affairs.
2 The i8th of March, the sedition began at Paris that was to be
come the Commune.
' His Lordship the Due de Chartres.

22 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1871.
possible to get to you ? Still another great torment
has been reserved for me : to know that you are in
danger and to be hesitating to attempt to rejoin
you. I can only commend you all in this moment
to God. George is with you — it is my sole argument
for remaining here.
Extracts from tbe IRotes.
On the morning of March 19th, the Due de Char-
tres came to find me and to ask me, what the Due
de Broglie and I would do, if the day's despatches
should confirm those of the night. " We should
start home," I replied ; and in effect the Ambassa
dor and I were on our way across the Channel the
night of the 19th. The sea was absolutely calm,
but the fog was so thick that the captain of the boat
was unable to find his way, and had given orders to
stop, and the fog-horn and bell were sending out
signals of our presence across the darkness of the
night and mist. A passenger standing on the bridge
enveloped in furs, came to me and let drop a word
in my ear, and then disappeared with a sign not to
carry recognition further. It was Robert Le Fort,
who was returning to his post.
It is not my intention here to pursue him on that
painful voyage ; I have spoken of him only to set in
its proper Hght a generous imprudence of this prince,
a soldier before everything. His public duty ended
with the war with Germany ; the most evident
political considerations united with the gentle in
clinations of his own heart, as a father and a husband,

1871.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 23
to command him to remain by his own dear and
charming fireside. Nevertheless he left home, and
it took the pressing entreaties, nay, the injunc
tions even, of his friends to make him return to Eng
land. I say it knowingly, for it was upon me that
the storm burst when I came to announce to MM.
d'Haussonville and Bocher that the Due de Chartres
was waiting in a retreat, to me unknown, in the
neighborhood of Versailles, for their advice on what
there was for him to do. The Prince on starting
back to England wrote me the following letter :
Manteo, March 24, 1871.
" Dear Sir,—
" The telegraph has brought me nothing. Your
note of Tuesday evening reached me this morning.
I obey and shall be to-morrow with my wife. I give
over all my projects — abandon the measures I was
taking to get into the ranks of the National Guard for
the preservation of order. The moment I ran the
risk of hindering ulterior views, there was nothing
left for me to do but to bow submission. For the
rest, do not believe that I am indulging in self-pity ;
no true Frenchman, no generous heart, no officer
who still preserves the sentiment of honor, finds
time to-day to think of himself — the frightful state
in which he sees his country is enough to poison all
the time he can consecrate to reflection, to embitter
his repose, to deprive the pastoral life I am going to
lead of all its charm.
"The experience of the five days I have just
spent in walking hereabouts and in the environs of

24 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1871.
Paris, convinces me that personally I may do as I
please ; and it is only my respect for the advice of
my friends that induces me to leave, and to break
the chain so laboriously forged six months ago be
tween my country and myself. I remain, however,
always at their disposition. I possess the means to
be of service ; and if I am ever notified that it
seems advisable for me to take part in the struggle,
six days afterwards I shall be at a post of danger and
in a uniform this time that shall be above suspicion.
" Pardon me for having again spoken to you
about myself. Thanks for your having taken the
trouble to write to me. Have the kindness to ac
cept the assurance of my sincere friendship."
I set down also what I recollect of my impressions
on arriving at Versailles, All, or almost all, of what
constituted for the time being the government of
France, had been gathered together at the Hotel des
Reservoirs about the endless long tables, where every
one was left to get a seat when and how he might,
in the strangest pell-mell of deputies, generals, minis
ters, and fashionable women. These last gave the
tone to the assembly. The members laughed, joked,
cried, were witty, drank, with the utmost vivacity.
Nothing looked less like the sorry expedient of a raft
after the shipwreck. I thought in spite of myself of
those gay prisons in which the noblest blood of
France once waited, at the time of the Convention,
its summons before the revolutionary tribunal.
It is not my purpose to enter here into the de
tails of my sojourn, divided, as it was, between Ver-

iS;!-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 25
sailles, Paris, and Courbevoie, from the 20th of
March to the 2d of April. I make a note only of
the departure of my family from Paris. It was the
day after the massacre at the Place Venddme ; I
could hesitate no longer, I had to have done with
it. A passage for carriages still remained open
across the barricade of the Maillot gate. My poor
father, quite ill already, got through in the Victoria
that M. d'Haussonville had forgotten to remove
from Paris, and that I, most happily for the owner,
remorselessly requisitioned. That was the word and
the custom at the time. I had requisitioned in the
same way at Versailles my friend Eydin's house, in
which I put up my family, and the Due de Broglie
and some of his people.
I had counted on having my family rest a bit at
Courbevoie, at the house of our respected friend
Mme. Laruse, before going on to Versailles ; but
their repose was troubled by the occupation of the
communists. I had the next day to organize a
fresh elopement. I reached Versailles this time
with the coup6 of another friend, M. Hennequin.
As I was passing in front of the Communist post
established at the head of the Neuilly bridge, cer
tain street-arabs called : " Duck him ! " and I
might well in effect have finished my journey in the
Seine, if I had not by a happy inspiration inquired
my way (which I knew quite well), of the very per
son who seemed to me most ill-disposed. He be
came markedly polite and showed the coachman the
way, and nobody after that thought of stopping us.
The sorry garrison of Courbevoie passed its night in

26 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1871.
beating the call to arms, in sounding the alarm, and,
above all, in imbibing. By daylight they were all
knocked up with lack of sleep and the drink, and
my family effected its departure without difficulty.
Our joy was great, however, when we reached the
first advanced sentinel of the Versailles forces, a
municipal guard, between Puteaux and Saint-
Cloud. On the score of historical information, I note here
the feeling of complete security that the officers of
the band which was occupying Courbevoie dis
played in relation to Mt. Valerien. When I called
their attention to the fact that they were exposed
to the fire of its cannon, they replied that they had
a secret understanding with Mt. Valerien.

The Due de Broglie, being unable to leave again
for London immediately, it was decided that I should
precede him to assume the duties of the Embassy,
and I left accordingly, the first of April, with letters
accrediting me as Charge d'Affairs.
I quitted Versailles early in the morning with the
first of the reorganized regiments, who were going,
the next day, to open fire on the communists at
Asniferes and Courbevoie, under the command of
Gen. Montaudon. I had to pass by Saint-Germain
and Pontoise, skirting the district visited by the
shells of the insurgents, to gain Creil. On the
third I arrived at London.
From the beginning of April on, till the last days
of 1 87 1, I was almost constantly in charge of the

i87t.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON.

27

Embassy, except during the short trips that the
Due de Broglie took to London in March, May,
July, and November. Confined as I had up to that
time been to the offices and special duties of the
direction of commerce in the Department of Foreign
Affairs, I made my d6but at one-and-the-same time
in the position of representative of France abroad
and in the management of political affairs. Pos
sessed myself of nothing that could give me noto
riety as a diplomatist, or that could supply the lack
of it, I found myself in addition called upon to rep
resent a nation, vanquished, crushed, whose very ex
istence had become a problem — a government over
whelmed by the disasters and charges of the war
and the invasion, and by the horrors of the most
shameful civil war.
The English were much disposed to take pity on
us. They showed us the measure of their sympathy
in sending succor and provisions to the famished
in Paris and in the districts left desolate by the war.
The government had associated itself with this
movement by the timid observations it had made
to the vanquishers on the figure of the ransom they
were exacting from us. But nobody was at that
time tempted to go further in the imprudent step
of compassion. Fear of Germany ruled the situa
tion ; people lowered their voices when they spoke
Bismarck's name ; and they had even gone the length
of convincing themselves, by the logic of hope, that
he would re-establish the equilibrium of Europe.
The bloody convulsions at Paris continually dis
turbed our neighbors, a little on their own account.

28 A DIPLOMAT Ilf LONDON. \^.^^t.
because of the example ; also, they were frankly
eager to see the struggle come to an end, and they
could imagine no more expeditious device for re
establishing order in France than the restoration of
the Emperor, (who had again become their guest),
by the aid of the Germans encamped about Paris
and dominating the city by means of the forts they
were occupying. They had no scruples against con
demning us to this, supreme degradation. They
were full of contempt indeed for the Imperial Regime,
but they were none the less so for the Dictatorship
at Tours or Bordeaux ; and they made no conceal
ment of the fact that, in their opinion, the people of
the Imperial Plebiscites and of the Revolution of
the 4th of September had no right to show them
selves difficult upon the character of their govern
ment. If they wished us a return of the Empire, it
was simply that they did not deem us worthy of
liberty nor capable of bearing the weight of it.
Hence arose the great popularity of Napoleon
III, when after his defeat at Sedan he arrived in
England. The crowd pressed about his path to
give him an ovation ; the police had been obliged to
step in to protect the railings about his residence
at Chislehurst against the invasion of his enthu
siastic partisans. The Queen set the example, she
had been the first to render, by her cordial visits, a
public homage to the misfortunes of a Sovereign,
whose hospitality she had accepted. The English
princes, the diplomatic corps, vied with one another
in external evidences of respect and deference. Of
course the favor with which he was received was not

1871.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 29
all intended for the Emperor personally, nor as ap
proval of his administration ; to a great many na'ive
people, he still stood for France, and they thought
they were paying homage to our misfortunes by
saluting the author of them or by receiving him
with acclamations. I received the proof of it sub
sequently, when the more or less official bands played
the " Jeune et beau Dunois " as an honor to the
representatives of the Republic. The unreflecting
infatuation of England for every sort of novelty
must also be taken into account ; glory (like shame)
moves the mob. Notoriety of any kind is welcome
there, is at a premium. The English are the great
est " flats " on earth.
Perpetually, on my arrival in England, France
for the English, even for the English government,
lay rather at Chislehurst than elsewhere, and her
official representative was still the Marquis de la
Valette rather than my quite obscure and wretched
self. This notion was also shared by the greater
part of the agents, the Empire had nominated, and
I found traces of it even at the Embassy, where I
found a good many other things to set to rights.
First there were the expenses that, by virtue of
powers more or less regular given during the war,
had under all the various administrations been in
curred in the name of public safety. I had to put
a stop to them, and to take steps, while there was
still time, for auditing and allowing such payments
as had been already made. The Embassy, taken
by surprise, had patriotically accepted, under the
pressure of necessity, the burden of accounts it

30 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. ' [1871.
was in no wise prepared for, nor a'ble to determine
the extent of in advance ; but the war once at an
end, it was necessary to return as quickly as might
be to the beaten road. The concurrence of my
comrades was not wanting to me ; but the task was
not the less heavy. Actions at law, the issue of
which justified the promptitude of the measures
taken on, the first days of my arrival put an end
later to this painful liquidation.

jBstracts from tbe CorresponDence.
London, Friday, April 6, 1 871.
The newspapers which come in as I write inform
me of the beginning of the pillage in Paris, of the
sacking of our churches, of the arrest of our dear
cur6.-^ There is a general outcry here against the
temporizing policy of M. Thiers, who is going to
permit the shedding of innocent blood to avoid
shedding guilty, and to avoid remaining face to face
with a majority in the Chamber and with indignant
France. I prefer to believe that he is awaiting the
arrival of fresh troops, but the suspense is horrible,
and the satisfaction I experience in thinking that I
rescued you from that vortex of crime does not
render me indifferent to the dangers of those who
have had to remain behind. . . . Our dear cur6,
first : it is true, that personally he would not be
sorry to suffer martyrdom at a time when the cross
is trampled under foot.
1 The Abb^ Deguerry, cure of the Madeleine.

r87l.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 31
Would you believe that the Prince de Joinville,
some days ago, just missed waking up in Paris ?
He had fallen asleep and passed unaware the last
stop before the Saint-Lazare Station, and he had to
jump off while the train was going.
I am taking lessons in speaking English. Their
talk goes like an express train ; there are twenty
carriages and you see but one. It isn't easy to
catch, on the wing. London, April 8, 1871.
Yesterday I exchanged a few words with the
Directors of the Foreign Office and the Foreign
Ministers. The meetings are sufficiently curious ;
everybody keeps a hand on himself and is on the
qui-vive. Either I am greatly mistaken, or I left
them convinced that they had a rather capable youth
to deal with. The Turk, to whom no doubt some
body has said something or other about the rela
tions of the Embassy with Twickenham, made me
an Orleanist profession of faith. I seized the occa
sion to say : " God save the Princes from such a
burden in a time like this. I love them personally
too much to hope it for them for the rest, it is
only the Republic that is equal to the days of June
in 1848, or the siege of Paris in 1871."
This game of chess that one has to play every day
is amusing enough at first. It will be an odd passage
in my life. If I did not know you are at Versailles,
what trouble I should be in ! April 18, 1871.
I have received from the Comte de Paris a letter

32 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1871.
felicitating me on the great success obtained by my
chief : ^ " They have found in him at last a political
orator. I rejoice in it sincerely. I rejoice in it
the more that I was fearing this ddbut of his which
had to be brilliant to meet the general expectation.
It was perfect, and I am especially happy to see him
attach his name to a liberal measure adopted under
such circumstances. It is altogether a new thing in
our parliamentary history, and gives me great hope.
I took pains to show myself at a rout given by
the Lord Mayor at the Mansion House. In spite
of the rigor of the times and of the humility com
manded us, I took some satisfaction in representing
my unhappy country at the palace of the city. It
is a fine hall with Corinthian columns and Gothic
windows ; the band of the Parisian Guards, which
took refuge in London after the cataclysm of the
1 8th, was there ; also the Lord Mayor and the
Sheriff with their bands, the gold-plate that has
never been pillaged, lots of bare-headed Englishmen,
and Englishwomen in dresses with trains. I made
my entry with a number of " Very-glad's " and of
hand-shakings with the Lord Mayor, with his wife,
with his daughters, with whatever presented itself ;
Franqueville was doing the honors of my person.
Lesseps turned up there quite hpropos to supply me
with a comic incident. He took me for somebody
else and led me to his wife. She was a bit surprised
at first, and then grew voluble in admiration of my
1 The Due de Broglie, who reported a law on the offenses of the
Press, had spoken on the 14th of April in favor of an amendment
giving the law a more liberal construction.

1871.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 33
beard, which had made me look strange to her. I
replied that it was the siege that had made it grow,
and this remark finally dissipated her remaining
doubts. After some time, Lesseps, who began to
suspect something, rejoined me and to repair his
error asked me if I was with Mme X. For shame I
I told Mme. de Stael the story and she laughed
heartily. Decidedly, Montaudon ^ has made a hit.
The London journals are asking me for his por
trait and for a note on him. He is the hero of the
day. Things have gone off on another tack here :
" To the block with the insurgents." They are
vanquished ! I greatly hope their account will be
settled, sword-in-hand. It is too late to admit a
capitulation. They have got to be punished.
London, April 21, 1871,
In the morning, toward six o'clock, I come down
the stairway, to the great scandal of all the house
maids who are squatting on the steps or before the
fireplace which they are polishing.
They all flee at sight of me, like frogs that leap into
the water. The sense of inferiority in the women in
service, their humility not only in the presence of their
master but before all the males of the household, is
one of the things that shock me the most. I
arrive at the office of the Duke with the great oak
wardrobes all about it, a sort of sombre hall with
two big windows, in front of which the amazons
1 General Montaudon, afterwards commander of an army corps
and a Deputy.
3

34 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1871.
defile at a hand-gallop from nine o'clock on, and the
Horse Guards pass and repass, and the Grenadiers,
also, dressed in white like scullions, with two pibrochs.
It all goes on at the sky-line, almost above the line
of vision, as in an aquarium. At eight o'clock the
journals come; at half-past eight, the courier and
your letter : it is the best minute of the day. Hour
after hour the telegrams come in ; when they relate
to Jules Favre, my interest redoubles ; and then the
personnel, the visits, and the close of office-hours.
To-morrow I dine, the only one of my tribe, at
Lord Granville's.^ If my neighbors only speak
French ! This same Granville played me a trick
yesterday that might have given me trouble. At
noon he sent the Duke word to come to him at
three o'clock to exchange the ratifications of the
agreement about the Black Sea. I replied to the
bearer, by a note scribbled at the corner of a table,
that the Duke was absent, etc. That evening the
protocol reached me with my note inserted at full
length. I do not know what effect it will produce
in Europe, but, for myself, it turned me cold.
Happily it is all right. London, April 24, 1871,
Yesterday I dined at Lord Granville's — a fine
house, really elegant, and what is still better, a
charming wife,^ very beautiful, very fashionable,
speaking French with a bit of an accent, just enough
to lend color to her words. I was presented to all
1 L. Leveson Gower, Earl Granville, born in 1S15, Minister of
Foreign Affairs ; he died in 1891.
2 Castalia Cambello, second wife of Lord Granville.

1871.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 35
the guests one after another ; — impossible to catch
the name of any of them. They all talked French
more or less : I was humiliated not to be able to
return them a word in their own tongue. We seated
ourselves at table and I found myself on the right
of Lady Granville ; I am not yet up to so much
honor. The dinner was good, with some oddities,
such as a dish of cheese to finish with after the ice
cream. At dessert, the ladies rose ; I got ready to
follow my beautiful neighbor; but not at all — I had
to stay where I was and help pass and repass two
small decanters of wine which were making the
round of the table. That lasted happily but a half-
hour, and at ten o'clock we entered the salon.
Had some good chat with Brunnow.^ " England
likes you." " She believes that we shall last more
than a quarter of an hour," I replied. Some days
before he had said to me, " England will be well
disposed toward you, if you last more than a
quarter of an hour." London, May 18, 1871.
I joined the Due de Broglie at the Rothschilds'.^
Magnificent place ; here is gold well laid out, a
luxury of high good taste. First, the stairway,
with three rows of columns, a spacious structure,
with the light falling from above, all that could be
desired by a Guardi, and flowers, such as I had
never dreamed of. A fine square brings you to a
salon, which is somehow horribly sterling and ex-
1 Baron de Brunnow, Ambassador of Russia, died in 1875.
2 Lionel, Baron Rothschild, head of the Banking-house, died in
1879.

36 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1871.
quisite, with old French hangings, i8th century
embroidered silk, and some " old masters', Del Sarto,
Murillo, Greuze, just enough to decorate the place
without converting it into a gallery, all very com
fortable. There were some ladies present : Mme.
Alphonse,^ a beauty of an odd sort, something of the
race of Jacob in it ; the Duchess of Manchester,^ a
beauty of the sort that is conventional in courts
that go in for amusement ; the beautiful Lady Gran
ville ; the Countess de Flandre,^ quite royal — if you
knew Latin, I should say, Incessu patuit dea ; she is
no bigger than she should be, but she does not make
herself small. Those were the beauties in the salon.
Add to these, the Baroness,* and her husband in a
chair on rollers. Well, I succeeded somehow in
saluting each of them ; the Duke has given me his
perch with a vengeance.
Guided by the Postmaster-General,^ we visited
together the central telegraph office : there we found
five hundred young girls, who had all of them read
their novel that morning and made their tea — they
did not belong to the laboring class. They were
transmitting messages to the four corners of the
world with movements of feverish trepidation, talk
ing the while. It is a market-place for words. We
were accompanied in our visit by a small man, very
1 Baroness Rothschild, daughter of Lionel.
2 Louise, Countess d'AIten, married in 1852 to the Duke of Man
chester, and remarried to the Duke of Devonshire.
' Marie, Princess of Hohenzollern, married to the Comte de
Flandre. * Baroness Rothschild, died in 1884.
* -WiUiam Monsell, created Lord Emly in 1874.

1871.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 37
simple, a bit pock-marked, lame, looking more like
the descendant of some clergyman than the repre
sentative of an illustrious stock. He is the last off
shoot of the Dukes of Norfolk.^ London, May 19, 1871.
We have organized our ceremony for Saint-
Cloud.2 Gounod has arrived with the Curd. He is
a queer chap, always half up in the clouds. We
shall have a sermon, chanted prayers, a con
cert, a description of the ruins. This morning I
obtained a permit from the Archbishop^ — fine
head, grand air, ascetic and highbred face ; he quite
charmed me. . . .
I saw the Queen in her carriage — the Scotch
man Brown on the box. She was going to the new
colossal statue of Prince Albert, the statue that
was chosen from among all the rest. The Prince
must be greatly embarrassed by his pedestal,
for he was a man comme il faut — and embar
rassed still more by the temple they are raising
to him, facing Albert Hall — temple, kiosque, pagoda,
Byzantine phantasy. It is enough to make Wel
lington jealous — he has only two statues, the one
with a three-cornered hat, and another at the op
posite end of the park, with nothing on but a sword.
At the same time the national liquidation goes its
1 Fifteenth Duke of Norfolk, H. Fitz Alan Howard, First Duke of
England, hereditary Earl Marshal, born in 1847.
2 Benefit concert to assist the cure of the town of Saint-Cloud,
burned in 1871.
^ Henry Edward Manning, Archbishop of -W-estminster in 1S65 ;
cardinal in 1875, died in 1892.

38 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1871
way ; the ministry is nothing but a syndicate ; it is
unsettling everything. Some days since, Mr. Glad
stone did not conceal his sympathy for woman's
franchise ; then, another minister almost gives over
the Established Church. They are pulling up the
piles, one after the other, from under the great island.
jEitracts from tbe Botes.
While I was fencing with all these difficulties, the
bloody struggle was going on at Paris and lengthen
ing out, keeping me in an anguish that displayed
itself in those about me by a veritable " every-fellow-
for-himself." The Due de Broglie came to relieve me
toward the end of April ; he brought me, along with
his own approbation, the most explicit testimonials
of satisfaction on the part of the government. The
time did not lend itself to the dry restraint of
regular diplomacy. Dating from the first steps that
I made, M. Thiers and M. Jules Favre had felt in
my measures and my language a breath of patriotism
that belonged to the occasion.
The Duke was not to remain long in London.
The 6th of May, I was charged with the painful
duty of announcing to him that his son had been
wounded before Paris. It was soon no longer pos
sible to hide the gravity of the case from him, and
he decided to leave at once for Versailles, the 20th
of May. His departure was even so precipitate
that he excused himself from assisting that day at the
official banquet at the Foreign Office on the Queen's
birthday. As it was indispensable that France

iS?!-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 39
should be represented there, I had to present my
self, rigged out in the Due de Broglie's uniform.
The same carriage took us, me to the palace of
Foreign Affairs, Whitehall, and him to Charing
Cross Station. He was much depressed, and I
scarcely less so. I needed all my courage to face
for the first time, and under such circumstances and
in such a garb, the eyes of the diplomatic corps.
I had till then avoided mingling with society more
or less official ; I had held myself apart, waiting
till I should have something other than condolences
to gain by coming forward. This reserve, which
was abundantly justified by the state of my father's
health and the loss it menaced me with, did not
obstruct my introduction into the world of fashion,
in which I was slowly to win my place. A
representative in mourning befitted a France in
mourning for two provinces and for the pick and
choice of her children.
Never did the feeling of my isolation, of my im
potence, of my insufficiency, weigh more heavily
upon me than when I presented myself at the
Foreign Office to confer with Lord Granville. For
eigners had lost all shame, some of them in the
arrogance of parvenues, the rest in their abasement
before the stronger. I remember the bitter reflection
that rose in me, while I was waiting my turn for an
audience in a room that opened on the inner court
of the Foreign Office. The clock which was sound
ing, with a pitiless vibration, the hours, the halves,
the quarters, seemed to me the voice of destiny
crying to me : Room for the sound of limb — woe to

40 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [187I.
the vanquished ! Room for the nations who know
how to control themselves — woe to the peoples
touched with madness ! . . .

Bjtracts from tbe Correspon&ence.
London, May 21, 1871:
Sunday Evening.
... At seven o'clock we received Roger's ^ tele
gram announcing the entrance of our troops into
Paris. Madame de Stael excused me, that I might
go and announce the good news to the princes, who
all gather on Sunday at the house of the Comte de
Paris. Whip up, driver ! . . . Everybody was
there — a little surprised at my arrival. I gave them
some better news of the Due de Broglie's son, and
handed the Comte de Paris the telegram in its
envelope. The Comte read it. Imagine the sensa
tion! — the messenger from Marathon was not better
received ; they wanted to hug me, and for my part
they might have had their way, provided I did not
have to begin with the aged Princesse de Salerne.
But to return to the Duke's departure. He left
me in my harlequin's disguise at the door of the
Foreign Office ; I begin by reassuring you — I was
the most beautiful of the lot ! That is small praise,
it is true, to the others ; but can you conceive me
rigged out like that in the midst of sixty diplomats
and high dignitaries all of whom I should have
known? Lord Granville only half listened to me ;
1 Comte de Pontecoulant, chief of the cabinet of M, Jules Favre.

l37i-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. ^t
Odo Russell,ia German rather than a Frenchman, had
to accept me as his neighbor at table ; farther off sat
Hamilton Seymour, the shrewd diplomat who saw
through Nicholas' game in 1854. Course succeeded
course, the service all of silver, to the perpetual
accompaniment of the military band. At dessert
they drank the most frigidly comic toast in the
world to Her Majesty the Queen. The ministry
replied by a toast to the sovereigns and official heads
of the friendly states and allies who were then and
there so worthily represented. They drank once
more, but the wine elicited nothing spirituelle from
out of all those uniforms. After the wine I waylaid
my friend Brunnow in his silver coat ; I took him
up at the word when he offered to lend me a hand ;
I begged him to present me to the score or so of
ministers and ambassadors whom I had not met.
We began with Bernstorff,* who wears the paternal
air of a good German: I had to tell him how the
Duke's son had been wounded ; when he learned
that it was done by the insurgents, he cried out
with what was intended for politeness : " I am glad
it was not done by us." I made the round of a
dozen embroidered coats with the same story.
Lady Granville arrived, gracious and beautiful as
always, and then the mob poured in. Toward half-
past eleven. Prince Ladislas^ and I fled while the

1 odo Russell, Ambassador to Germany, made Lord Ampthill, in
i88i,diedin 1884.
2 Count Bernstorff, Ambassador of Germany, died in 1873.
8 Prince L. Czartorisky, bom in 182S, married to the Princesse
Marguerite, daughter of the Due de Nemours, died in 1894.

42 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1871.
band was heralding the Prince of Wales with a God
Save the Queen. London, May 23, 1871.
We are taking heart again about the Duke's son.
We have just passed a delicious morning — Mme.
de Stael herself was in raptures. I had brought
Gounod with me, and he was sparkling. Finally he
sat down to the piano, and gave us the third act of
Othello, the symphony with choruses; I don't re
member now whether he spoke them or played them.
One of the 'Us' in my piano was out of tune; as
he took his leave, seeing the pleasure he had given
us, he came back to me and said : " Have the D,
fixed against I come again."
This is the reply Saint-Saens sent to Gounod's
letter asking him to play the organ — what do you
think of it ? " Accord in ut, accord in sol, i. e. per
fect accord." ^
That sort of thing charms Mme. de Stael — has quite
turned her head. She's a saint — with Cardinal Man
ning's permission ; she edifies me, makes me quite
envy her. Immersed in affairs, my mind and life
in full activity, my thoughts do not dwell, as hers
do, upon God ; I would they did.
London, May 25, 1871.
Paris effaced in a single night from the map of
the world ! ^ There's nothing left for it but to found
' A play (for which there is no equivalent in English) on the
French phrase etre d'accord, meaning, of persons, " All right, I
agree " (Je suis d'aceord), and of musical instruments, to be in tune.
— (Translator's note-)
2 News had just reached London of the fires lit by the Commune.

I87I-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 43
a new commonwealth (shall we even call it —
France ? ) ; but for such an undertaking — to support
misfortunes of such magnitude, there needs a
people in full vigor, with virgin forces and a violent
and audacious patriotism. I mean all those who are
responsible for our misfortunes ; they ought to know
when to step aside and give place to the younger
generation — and to faith — which alone can save us.
Roger has sent me a succession of telegrams dated
from Mt. Val6rien, one of them in some sort terribly
eloquent : " I dare no further. Colonel Lokner says,
question the horizon." A telegram reports that the
old Louvre will be saved. The pictures I know are
at Brest. If they leave us Sainte-Chapelle, with
Notre-Dame and Les Invalides, we might rebuild
Paris. London, May 26, 1871.
I've been on the jump since morning to get the
London firemen off. Mr. Gladstone spoke some
words of sympathy yesterday and I hastened to
thank him, and also Sir Robert Peel,^ who had
pilloried the Commune with his customary vigor of
speech. I suggested to him the notion of sending
to Paris a detachment of the London fire-brigade
with their steam-pumps. He's a " hustler " as the
Yankees say: the sort we need to gather up our
scattered fragments. The idea took effect and
spread (it is no exaggeration) as if by electricity. We
took a hansom to the first fire-brigade station ; to
hurry the thing an appointment was made with
Capt. Shaw somewhere along the route. It was all
1 Brother of the present Speaker, eldest son of Sir Robert Peel.

44 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [187I.
settled — orders and instructions given, the ship char
tered, M. Jules Favre notified at the same time as
Lord Granville. . . . London, Friday Evening.
Orders countermanded, under the pretext that the
fire has been mastered. I replied in vain : " What
difference does that make ? " It was in vain, I kept
my minister's telegram in my pocket. Lord Lyons-^
had been notified, and Lord Granville had sent for
me to come to the Foreign Office to advise me of
the countermand that he had received and trans
mitted. I was not well received when I brought
the order "to stop" to the firemen and volunteers.
They had gone into it with a will. But they could
not be more disappointed than I was. It was a
precious opportunity to fraternize lost.
The night of the 23d and 24th of May, with its
dismal glow, which was seen on all sides of Paris, re
minds me of the night of the 24th of August, 1572.
These are two crimes that belong together.
What has become of our dear priest ? Pray
heaven to spare him.

Extracts from tbe motes.
... La Commune at an end, I felt pubhc opinion
fall away from us, at least that expressed by the
press, which is not always to be confounded, how
ever, with that which rules the masses. It was the
moment when sympathy was taking a turn in favor
1 British Ambassador to France ; died in 1887.

'S7I-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 45
of tne Communists, whom every tide scattered on
the English coast. It was forgotten that the blood
they came stained with was that of their victims ; it
was the fashion to bewail their miserable fate. Lady
Burdett-Coutts gave the signal, and at her own ex
pense took charge of one of the first bands of disem
barked ; she even had one day the hardihood to ask
me to take charge of them myself. Subscriptions
were opened for them in the newspapers. Nothing
gives a better idea of the stupidity of the opinion
reigning at that moment in London than the ques
tion asked by a Lord (by courtesy), — that is to say,
by the son of a peer. Some one was speaking to
him of the wound the son of the Due de Broglie
got in the course of the recapture of Paris, and he
inquired naively on which side he was. Of course
the British government did not permit itself such a
change of attitude, but Lord Granville's reserve
redoubled. I thought I had advised the government
for the best in engaging it to make no useless
protests, to let the reaction in opinion come about
spontaneously. And, if it decided on following up
anybody, to launch the blow at some illustrious ras
cal like Felix Pyat. This was the advice of the
Minister of the Interior, Mr. Bruce,i whose gorge
rose against this inundation of blood-stained filth,
and who did not admit that the law could extend its
protection, under pretext of political exigency, to
the most execrable of assassins. Still, in a matter of
this sort, the honor of England was at the mercy of
her judges, and the government had no desire to
1 Created Lord Aberdare in 1873.

46 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1871.
compromise itself by a movement of generous in
dignation. The Gladstone-Granville Cabinet did
not show itself more courageous in the presence of
the agitation of the radicals in favor of the Com
mune than in the presence of the prestige (not to
employ another word) of the victories of Germany.

iBEtracts from tbe corresponoence. London, June 12, 1871.
This morning the Comte de Paris came to pay his
official call at the Embassy. He is waiting for the
Princess to be confined, and could not follow his
brother and his uncles,^ but was unwilling to post
pone coming to take possession of the right which
has finally been given him again.
He got out of a hansom, like the plainest of mor
tals, in a pouring rain. I hastened forward to re
ceive him ; a little more and the doorkeeper would
have refused admittance to so unassuming a visitor.
You perceive that the scene scarcely lends itself to
historical painting of the sort at Versailles.
It was a solemn moment all the same, and for
me a delicate one ; I had to be on my guard that
neither more nor less than the proper thing should
be said to the Prince ; more than all it was especial
ly difficult to catch the exact shade of the terms,
full of deference, but distinctly respectful, in which
he should express himself in regard to M. Thiers. I
1 The Chamber had repealed the laws exihng them, and M. Gavard
had had the honor some days before of signing a passport for the
other Princes.

^^71-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 47
was happily inspired with the idea of asking the Prince
himself to take the pen and he wrote at my table
the following dispatch : " The Comte de Paris came
Saturday to Albert-Gate-House. He said to me,
that the Embassy being French territory, he had
hastened to knock at the door. For the rest the
special object of his visit was to express to the of
ficial representative of his country the profound joy
he feels at the recent decision of the National As
sembly which opened to him the gates of the land
that he has never ceased to love above all others.
In particular he asked me to act as his spokesman
to the chief of executive power and give him assur
ance of his respect."
The message was sent the same evening with the
simple addition of S. A. R. Mgr. before the name
of the Comte de Paris. London, June 15, 1871.
Many compliments about my dispatch, on the
part of the due De Broglie, as well as of M. Jules
Favre who regretted however that I had added . . .
London, June 27, 1871.
Yesterday evening I visited parliament. You
outsiders think it exists ; but it does not. I found
one individual who gesticulated, making motions to
waken another who slept on the bench opposite
him. The conservative party was combating the
great innovation, the secret ballot-bill, destined to
fill this imprudent land with democracy brimming
full. Nothing could be, I should say, more an
tagonistic to the English character and habits of

48 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1871.
thought : it is a slur cast on the civic courage of the
electors, it is a step toward universal suffrage — nay,
even toward allowing women to vote.
They were fifteen in all. Near half-past nine, a
reinforcement of twenty arrived, who had been
asleep ; from time to time somebody woke up and
cried : " Hear, hear ! " The orator took fresh heart,
and turned toward the benevolent auditors. Sud
denly the sleepers leaped to their feet and removed
their hats : the speaker had finished and they wished
each of them to have their say and be done with it,
so as to go home and get to bed. I began to under
stand that nobody comes but those who wish to
speak. London, Sept. 5, 1871.
Mr. Gladstone has made a speech. In France we
should call him a socialist and it may be should not
be wrong. Another stampede among the horses in
the camp at Aldershot. If the English have for
gotten how to tie their horses, and can't sail up the
mouth of the Thames without running aground, and
can't open their mouths without cheering on the
rich, there is material for a new book on England.

I started off at nearly two o'clock; not having a
church to visit in this country without a personal
God and without art ; I passed by the National
Gallery, and stopped for some time before my be
loved Italians ; I amused myself by comparing the
Madonna of Corregio and that of Raphael. I had
some things to do ; ascertained, by the way, that

iS?!.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 49
even the chief of police is in the country. And the
robbers ? ... In public offices, as in the Board of
Trade, there is absolutely no one, all the employees
are off to the Continent for two months. There
would not even have been a doorkeeper left but
that we had announced a communication and some
one had to receive it. At last I reached the Club;^
it is really charming to find oneself in the midst of
so many books ; with all the means of occupying
the mind and being alone ! Here is Grote, Momm-
sen, the most beautiful editions of all the classics
and of the books on the European galleries ; only
there are too many of them, they neutralize each
other and puzzle the will, and I sit looking at them,
unable to choose.
I took Denys^ to Covent-Garden, The opera
is converted into a sort of promenade concert. You
should see the inventions in Musical art in this
country: they put the gas out, light it again; fire
off cannons (I mean literally) ; have horses stamping
over the floor and outbursts of savage cries from
different parts of the hall, and instantaneous chang
ing of the orchestra from the pit to the gallery,
and they call all this music. The audience is en
chanted and the leader of the orchestra thinks he
has outdone Wagner. London, September 20, 1871.
I was delighted at the Club yesterday to read M.
Guizot's article. Have been turning over the old
1 Athenseum.
2 The Baron Denys Cochin, now Deputy.

50 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1871.
Due de Broglie's biographical notes. They bring him
back very vividly to one. He was a politician of the
school of St. Louis, and deserved to be his minister.
The old man that I knew and whose memory I
revere was certainly the young man who at twenty
forgot that he was the head of the House of Broglie ;
he might well say it because every one believes
him. . . .
To-morrow morning I am going to assist at the
battle of Dorking ; ^ planning the while my commer
cial dispatch. This new sport is all the rage. Every
minute a new supplement of the newspapers ap
pears to give the news of the battle ; some of the
military engaged are distinguishing themselves
even. Our neighbors go from sublime to ridiculous.
¦Walmer Castle, ^ September 27, 1871.
I hardly know yet where I am, for I arrived in
the night. I saw a portcullis, a lowered draw
bridge, enormous walls, the most bizarre corridors,
vaults, and at last a donjon where I am established
like Foquet or Bolivar. Don't push the comparison
too far.
I arrived at half-past seven ; I was taken round and
round, sometimes upstairs, sometimes down, without
being blindfolded however, till I reached my hostess,
who was reposing on a white sofa — white on white.
How beautiful she is ! and how amiable, in spite of
1 The military manojuvres devised as a reply to a pamphlet en
titled the Battle of Dorking. In this pamphlet an hostile army was
supposed to attack London, and you are told of its success.
2 Residence of Earl Granville, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports.

1871.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. n
a little coldness of manner which goes well with her
brilliant complexion ! I was presented to her
mother (her eyes are buried in her head ; she sees,
however) ; and then to the charming Lady Georgi
ana Fullerton.i We dined without the beautiful
Countess who remained where she was, stretched on
her sofa. The talk was unimportant ; everybody rose
at the sacramental ceremony of passing the wine,
and then we returned to the drawing-room. But I
must tell you a little adventure I had on the way here !
I met a lady and her daughter on the train ; we had
had a bit of an accident with the locomotive, and
the mother was overcome with curiosity ; she wanted
to see what the trouble was, and I helped them off
and on again ; and presently they began to speak
French and we understood at last what we were
saying. They got out at the station before Deal.—
Everybody here was on the qui vive : " Who can she
be ? " There is to be a wedding Tuesday in this
neighborhood and the two ladies had come down
to attend it. Every one was curious about them,
they asked me who they are — cross-examined me.
Finally the description they give me evoked an
image : it was the two ladies — Lady Vernon and her
daughter. Meanwhile, the Minister of Foreign Affairs had re
lapsed into business — he opening boxes and sending
telegrams, at the other end of the room where we
were chatting. When he was done, he came over
our way and told some funny stories and told them
1 Daughter of the first Count Granville. Died in 1885. Authoress
of some well-thought-of novels.

52 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1871.
well. You could see that he is in the habit of tell
ing stories, and that his auditors are in the habit
of listening and applauding. Silence was restored
when we played chess, and was only broken by the
sound of the moves. We held our breath. I began
like a greenhorn. Perhaps it was only a feint.
My adversary was taken in the snare and played
carelessly. I pulled myself together and he would
have been most astonished but a telegram came
and was passed to me.
It was of course from Lady Vernon— her thanks to
M. Gavard. When Lord Granville had retired to his
corner, instead of relapsing Into business, he had
written to his neighbors : " M. Gavard presents his
respects to the ladies whom he was able to serve on
the way down." This bit will give you an exact
notion of the amiable character of Lord Granville
and of his sociability. Immediately afterward
every one went to bed. So here I am in my cavern.
It is a regular Noah's Ark : contains some of
everything — spiders, gnats. . . . The house, how
ever, is as clean and comfortable and orderly as
possible. Sunday. — First, "luncheon," with all sorts of
things to eat at half-past nine. I made the acquaint
ance of Lady Vita (Victoria-Alberta) a mischief with
golden hair ; my poor heart could not resist her —
" my poor heart," I am afraid, may become a bit
hackneyed with all its infatuations. I went to Mass
at Deal with the Fullertons, in a little chapel where
there were some Irish Soldiers. The poor priest
bungled the High Mass with all its religious

l87i.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 53
images ; but he hopes to keep his congregation as
long as the rival Establishment.
On our return I stopped a bit at the castle, think
ing of the poor priest at every Httle opening in the
picturesque view ; the walls are covered with ivy in
the foreground and overlap each other, and there
are trees that stand out against them, and cannon
peeping through the stones, and the sea at the
horizon like a ribbon of silver. Ships pass and re
pass along the greatest ocean highway in existence.
In my excursions about this great toy — this fortress
fitted up by an upholsterer — I found the beautiful
Countess lying at ease between two cannon, drink
ing in the breeze. She is a hyperborean beauty —
one of the kind that does not flourish except in
the rain and the wind and cold.
Her poor mother, Mrs. Campbell, is blind ; I
thought it was only an apparent infirmity, but no ;
she has not seen a ray of light for fifteen years.
She lost her sight by reading to her husband at
night. Now, however, she is so skilful that I
lunched and dined with her, and I saw her at a
game of chess without suspecting that she was blind.
Our second lunch we took at two o'clock, after
which we walked over to the cliffs of Kingsdown.
From time to time one could see France ; between
it and us lay the dangerous shifting sands of the
channel. We recognized them by the way the waves
broke. There, between the sands and us, was
an immense fleet : I counted one hundred and twenty
vessels. It reminded me of my walks along the
sound or the straits of Messina. There are no doubt

54 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1871.
more vessels here than in front of Scylla, but where
is the sun, where are the oranges, and the indefinite
I know not what, that intoxicates, that creates
memories, and leaves one agreeably melancholy?
A little person accompanied us on her pony ;
nothing could be moreamusing than this little horse
woman, who chatted busily all the way. She is four
years and a half old. On our return we found the
beautiful Countess still reposing between the cannon.
I kept her company until the cold drove me away.
Afterwards I checkmated my minister in good earn
est ; I promised him his revenge ; and then said
good-night and au revoir. London, September 26, 1871.
I spent from eight o'clock this morning to five this
afternoon at Shoeburyness,-' immersed in artillery.
What a Sabbath ! It was very interesting ; there
was a special train ; my place was next to General
Storck (Under Secretary of the Minister of War), who
presided at the fete : an Englishman without the
prejudices of country. Our officers appeared very
well ; all eyes were on them, and in especial on Col
onel Berge^ who used to know George and saw
him frequently at Metz. He is distinguished-look
ing. We fired some shots both on land and at sea,
pierced armor a metre thick, admired the Moncrieff
gun-carriage : a six-hundred-ton piece which turned
somersaults in air at every shot and came back of it
self to its original position. It is really very pretty
1 At the mouth of the Thames, left bank.
^ Baron Berge. He had been commandant of the army corps.

1871.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 55
— too much so, no doubt, to be practical. We got
some quite good shots at sea at eighteen hundred
metres. If I had not been afraid of being indis
creet, I should have proposedmoving the target five
hundred metres nearer, or farther away. We should
not have had, no doubt, such fine results.
London, September 27, 1871.
God save us from a lonely old age I This morn
ing I visited more than seven hundred old men —
childless, unsurrounded by affection. They have
food, lodging, such care as is necessary, and every
thing is very clean ; — but it is horrible. To have
lived so many years and have no fireside of your
own, to leave behind you here below no hope, to
be contracted to the little that is left of yourself, to
your pains and misery 1 Mr. Vernon (Guardian of our
parish, Belgrave Square and Grosvenor Square —
the wealthiest in London, and comprising a hundred
and fifty thousand souls) came for me this morning
and took me to a workhouse for old men — hospice
or hospital. There were also some children there,
picked up in the streets ; they stay there a short
time, and then are distributed in certain proportions
among the asylums out of town. The establish
ment is large and v/ell kept ; no bad smells any
where. Though I did not come out of it especially
cheerful. I made an appointment with my " Guard
ian " for the coming week, to visit the workhouses
for sturdy vagabonds.
That is the great social and economical problem :
humanity must be reconciled to facing enough in the

56 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1871.
way of irksomeness, so that the hundred and fifty
thousand inhabitants of this parish will not demand
the asylum of the workhouse. I should have found
this visit less depressing if I had run across the
white caps of the Sisters of Charity there, that
is to say, the love of God, the volunteers in the
service of the Divine Love, instead of the salaried
functionaries in the service of humanity. Still,
prayers are offered up there ; there is a chapel, but
one might call it a refectory and not be far out.
My "Guardian" pleased me infinitely;^ he is a
brother-in-law of the Lady Vernon of the railway
train.2 Nothing could equal his kindness nor that
of his young wife. These English astonish me ; their
charity for France is frantic, passionate, such as we
ourselves unhappily do not all practice.
London, October 7-9, 1871.
I learn that L^on Say^ is going to come to a ban
quet at the Mansion House, on the eighteenth. Noth
ing could be more opportune than this visit, unless
I have to take the field again because of M. Thiers'
wish to " decorate " the Lord Mayor. The amen
ities of the first campaign, which brought on
an exchange of remarks in Parliament, seem to be
forgotten. M. de Flavigny had brought a fistful of
" decorations " to some Irishmen who had deserved
1 The Hon. -William Vernon, younger son of the second Lord -Ver
non, married to Mile. Boileau, who died in 1881. She was a grand-
niece of Boileau.
" See above the letter of September twenty-seventh.
s M. Leon Say, then Prefet de la Seine, was coming to thank the
English for help sent France during the war.

1871.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 57
well of France during the war, but not so well of
England. Three of them were engaged in the agi
tation for Home Rule. Lord Granville appreciated
the efforts I then made to avoid for both govern
ments a tiresome complication. The ill-omened
names disappeared, and I remember a note that I
received, while the mess was still undisposed of, sug
gesting that I substitute china for the decorations.
It was his amiable lordship who gave me this dis
creet and charitable piece of advice. This time
Lord Granville consents to shut his eyes, " since
my government finds it agreeable to give foreign
subjects decorations which they will not be author
ized to wear." London, October 10, 1871.
Some friends took me yesterday to the church at
Eaton Place, which was decorated for the harvest-
home. Poor Mrs. Vernon was quite knocked up,
tricking out a pulpit with fruits and festoons,
sheaves and inscriptions in grains of wheat. It
didn't prevent the church from looking like a cow-
pen divided into stalls.
In the evening I saw another church which I shall
designate by the name of its founder only, Mr.
Beresford Hope. It is well enough built, in the By
zantine style, but the ornamentation is not happy.
Two rows of colossal reed-pipes first struck me ;
they were the organs decked out with ribbons ; noth
ing but the mottoes were lacking. They all sang
out of tune, the men on the right, the women on
the left, but they were very fervent and serious in
this church, which one would have said was Catholic,

58 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1871.
for they had the word perpetually on their lips.
They are " high church." The Pope is the only
thing that holds them back.
Before dinner we visited the managing office of
the Westminster workhouse and the place where
the houseless are sheltered for the night. Fancy, in
the first place, a whole land of authentic miracle be
hind the big buildings of the Westminster region ;
the depth of misery is cheek-by-jowl with the height
of wealth. You have only the fair exterior, the
seamy side lies behind. I do not say that the house
of refuge where shelter is offered overnight, is se
ductive : twenty-four beds spread about the cham
ber of a ramshackle old house ; still, it had been
cleaned and the walls replastered, and it had all
ceased smelling bad by the time we visited it. The
guests sleep under covers made of leather (it is less
encouraging to vermin) ; before going to bed they
take a bath and put on a night-shirt ; their clothes
they leave behind. They are given a piece of bread
and some oat-soup, and before leaving in the morning
are obliged to break stone. The hospitality, it seems,
is without limit, but the home is full in winter only.
London, October 15, 1871.
This is one way of passing the night. After a day
of writing, I was nodding with fatigue over my
novel, Jane Eyre — it is so long ! I wanted to profit
by the happy moment and crept into bed ; but
good-night, sleep ! I took refuge in codeine. The
good effects of it had hardly began to become
perceptible, when bang ! bang ! It was X  in a

1871.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 59
white cravat ; the Prince Leuchtenberg had to have
a signature : a secretary was waiting at the door. I
signed and slept a bit. Bang ! bang ! It was a tele
gram. And so I reached three o'clock. Bang !
bang ! Another telegram, which brought me to five
o'clock. A letter from Say : we shall be inseparable. Called
on the Lord Mayor, who makes us his guests, and
on Lord Granville, who approves my toast to the
Marchioness of Lothian, for I am to make a speech !
Can you imagine it ? and no chance to plead illness !
London, October 18, 1871.
Yesterday passed off very well. At six o'clock I
was at Say's, at the Mansion House. The first re
past was enough to make Gargantua himself start
back. The Dakin^ household, in the midst of a
service of gold, with lackeys in livery, under a ceil
ing of historic splendor, were sufficiently amusing —
good, simple folk, with manners a bit common. Then
we visited police stations, markets, schools. The
middle-class school on Tabernacle Road, interested
me most — eleven hundred children of from six to
sixteen years old. They had them file out before
us, in military style, keeping step. " By the left
flank 1 " — banners flying, trumpets blowing. First,
in our honor, they gave the Marseillaise : so be it —
we bowed ; then the Jeune et beau Dunois. It never
occurs to these conservative folk that we change
our music too at each revolution.
I took Say afterward to Lord Granville's who, as
1 Sir Thomas Dakin, Lord Mayor in 1871.

6o A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1871.
always, was most agreeable, but we accomplished
nothing. Say is going to speak this evening and to
go bail for us ; he is the leader of the free-trade
party in the Chambers, and very well-received here
— they will believe him sooner than they will us.
It is our last card.
Visited the French hospital, the church, the Sis
ters. All these good people were enchanted — no
body had ever thought of them before. The young
Sister Superior was as interesting as could be when
she and Say were recognizing each other.
Have been to another informal dinner, of forty
places. The table groaned beneath the weight of
gold and victuals. What abysses such stomachs
must be ! . . . The Lord Mayor wore his cross
about his neck. They admired the model of our
" late " Hotel de Ville. Then, after the dinner which
lasted from half-past seven to half-past ten, a young
clergyman came and warbled love songs. " Marvel,"
Montalembert says, " at the power of England ;
she is long-suffering ! " London, October 19, 1871.
I have made my speech ! . . . I spoke from be
ginning to end without a mistake — nay, with warmth
even. It was not so difficult, after all. Really, I
was quite calm ; and nobody understood what I
said, and everybody listened. It came off at the
court of the King and Queen of Spades. The king
and queen came in arm-in-arm, their high officers
about them, one of them carrying a sword,
the others carrying nothing. Then there was a
mixture of music, prayers, talk, nut-cracking, in a

1871.] A DIPL OMA T IN L OND ON. 6 1
magnificent hall. Finally, after the feast, which
lasted hours, there came speech-making, which lasted
hours. The toast-master succeeded the chaplain, and
he stood behind the Lord Mayor, and presided over
the ceremony. You should have heard the intona
tions of the speakers, you should have seen their
solemnity of feature. In the midst of it all I spoke.
Here is the end of my toast :
" I wish to speak also of the noble women who
united to aid the French refugees in London. They
procured them bread, clothes, employment, shelter ;
and when the houses provided for their reception no
longer sufficed to hold them, took them, as you
know, under their own roofs. They gave them
more than mere material aid, they gave them what
is more precious to an exile — consolation and en
couragement, they stretched their arms out to
them, they took them like friends to their own fire
sides. I wish to thank them deeply, from the bot
tom of my heart ; and I ask your permission, my
lord, to propose two toasts : To the generous
women who organized at London the Ladies' Com
mittee of Relief for the French refugee families,
and who have directed it during these long months
of the war with a solicitude that nothing has
checked, with a devotion without bounds ; — to the
Marchioness of Lothian, and the august personages
and noble ladies who shared her labors! To the
members of the Committee of Relief for the French
peasants and farmers, and to their president. Lord
Vernon I "
This morning I went back to the Mansion House

62 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1871.
to see the King of Spades dispense justice in his
royal apparel. He did it in a room hard by his bed
chamber ; and then went to preside over his parlia
ment : two hundred members, aldermen and sheriffs,
all tricked out with wigs, halberds, swords, hammer
ing the table, and cheers. Say's speech, the re-
pUes to it, and cheers, all went off nicely. As we
were coming out we were shown the first charter of
the liberties of the city, a bit of parchment from
William the Conqueror, which they have since
merely continued It was a most interesting visit.
London, October 20, 1871.
The day ended as interestingly as it began. At
six o'clock I went to find Say. They were still at
table, and there was another little festival, and some
more little toasts, one of which I offered when my
turn came. Finally, the loving-cup made its round.
The way of it is this : You rise and face one of your
next neighbors, hold the lid while he (or she),
also standing, drinks ; then you exchange a compli
ment (if it happens to be with a pretty woman, so
much the better), and face about and pass the cup
and the ceremony on.
After dinner we went to the Fire-Brigade Station.
When we had visited the establishment, the steam-
engines, the harnessed horses, the men perpetually
in waiting (the whole of it tucked away in English
fashion, in an economy of space that is a miracle of
good management), the signal was given. We held
our watches in our hands. There was a rush of
men, horses, engine ; they tore like mad up the

1871-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 63
black-paved lane, they went to the end of the street
and came back — time, two minutes and a half. I
compHmented Captain Shaw. Then he led the
way and we followed through a pelting rain, with
the four Misses Dakin struggling along through the
mud, in the dark, over all the nameless filth that finds
its way by night into the city alleys. We reached
the Thames. A boat, with steam up, was waiting
for us. We stepped aboard, and suddenly, on every
side, it poured forth jets of water that arched and
fell into the middle of the Thames. It is your own
fault here, if your house burns down. The "set
ting " was excellent ; it was a place where the bridges
cross ; the trains came and went with a frightful
noise, the night was dark, the rain was falling, it
was all very picturesque. The Misses Dakin would
have preferred going in a close carriage. One
was waiting for us indeed, with its four lanterns
and domestics armed with canes, and it was
thus that Say was conducted to the railway
station. I finished my evening at the Vernons'. Nothing
could equal the vivacity, the sprightliness, the frank
ness, the gayety of a lady I met there — the wife of
Colonel Anson, M. P., an officer who was in the
Crimean War. " Why do you like the French so
much?" I asked her. " I don't know," she replied ;
" because they are so unhappy. And yet that can
not be ; I loved them before they became so." She
has recently returned from Strasburg, where she
had gone simply to encourage the " honest " party
and to annoy the Prussians.

64 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1871.
London, October 23, 1871.
I received to-night the following telegram : " My
compliments on your toast. — Broglie." My friends
in England like it, too.
To continue my journal : Saturday, went with the
Vernons to Haymarket Theatre to see The Rivals.
If the amiable Mrs. Anson had not accompanied
us, I should have gone to sleep. Sheridan's art
struck me as in its boyhood, the acting was crude,
and the public, in the things that it admired, inept.
I dare say the beauties of the piece escaped me.
" Haven't you noticed my ring?" said my neighbor.
" To be sure, the colors are a little loud. Look."
It was an escutcheon in three colors, with France in
relief on Alsace and Lorraine. She had bought it
in Strasburg.
Yesterday I dined at the Rothschilds' villa — I
don't know its name — out in the direction of Kew.
The dinner was a surprise : only the family was
present ; but such a chicken! — nothing but a chicken,
but with the whole animal and vegetable kingdoms
represented in the sauce ! The Lord Mayor would
have sucked his fingers. Stomachs that can face such
dishes twice a day fill me with admiration. And such
feeders ! . . . And yet, really, in the midst of all
this luxurious upholstering and pampering of the
flesh, a great simplicity obtains. It is Alfred, the son,
who fetches the wine from the cellar. (The cellar,
to be sure, is like that of Frederick the Great, where
he kept his treasure.) Pie brought up a lafitte and
a sherry, that you find only at the villa of Lionel
de Rothschild. The incontestable superiority of

i87i-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 65
the wines here is in part due, it seems, to their being
laid away in a cellar as isolated as an observatory,
and to their being never moved nor jarred. Of
course, you know, some one was good enough
to forewarn me that their superiority is incon
testable. London, October 29, 1871.
London fog! It is easy to understand how it
should give occasion to myriad adventures and mis
takes. I had to go to the Embassy through a fog
so dark that from Piccadilly on we could go no faster
than a walk, and had to give warning by loud cries
that we were coming. I had been to see Mr. Glad
stone on his way back from Greenwich, where he had
made a speech to fifteen hundred people. His voice
was gone. He had scored a great success, but I don't
believe his ministry will stand. Mr. Disraeli grows
every day, to my mind, more and more master of the
situation. Gladstone is clever, and has a clever
tongue, but for the present he has talked enough,
and done enough, both for his own interest and
England's. I have not lost sight of my work — the founding
of a sort of Clearing-House for the French charities
in London. You don't know what I mean ?
Listen : I want to establish a sort of central com
mittee for all the institutions which exist at present
in individual isolation — for the Hospital, the Com-
mittee of Relief, the Sisters, the Leicester Church,
the Embassy, the Consulate; and as a beginning, I
want to have a sale, which will bring us in a lot of
money. S

66 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON:' [1871.
We went with our young friends to the Prince of
Wales' theatre. It is quite elegant — almost like a
drawing-room. The piece was dull — a compound
of flat plagiarisms put together without art. The
acting capital, but the total effect sufficiently offen
sive ; not in the way of indecency as with us, but of
triviality, and of a sort of failure in gentlemanly
delicacy that we should not tolerate, in the represent
ation of the father of one of the characters. We
might shorten the skirts as much as you like; but
render paternity and old age repulsive and ridicu
lous — no, we shouldn't be capable of that. They
don't know where to stop, and fall presently to bru
tality. Still, it interested me much, nay, enter
tained me, even. I understood well enough.
London, December 10, 1871.
He seems to be mending;^ the bulletins have
stopped two days now tolling his knell, and speak
this evening of his being better. Hope is returning ;
though the anxiety is still widespread. England
begins to perceive that she has not yet wholly
shaken off her monarchic prejudices. The news
papers talk of nothing but the Prince's illness, and
on all other topics suspend discussion. Crowds
stand about Marlborough House ^ watching for the
telegrams. Bulletins are posted almost hourly in
all parts of the town, and reflected in manuscript
copies here and there set up by the zeal of individ-
1 The Prince of -Wales was down with typhoid fever at Sand-
righam. ' The Prince of -Wales' palace in London.

I87I-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 67
uals. If the poor Prince recovers, it will all have
been for England's good and for his own.
London, December 19, 187 1.
The Prince of Wales safe ! Lord Granville in
vited me to "pot-luck." He added Arnal's witti
cism : " Perhaps you'd rather I didn't treat you like
a friend ! " The dinner was excellent, and interest
ing ; Goschen,^ Hartington,^ and Reeve^ there.
I took my young friend yesterday to dinner at
the Club,* and showed him its mysteries, its turns,
and all its points. After which I conceived the
fatal idea (or rather it was suggested to me) of tak
ing him to the Alhambra. The house is fine no
doubt, large, well-lit, or rather illuminated ; but for
the rest, fancy a miscellaneous lot of so-called Colo
nels of the Horse-Guards for box-openers, women
of the town in the body of the house and on the
stage (the latter altogether naked), acrobats flying
through the air, epileptics whose fits the public
encourages by its applause, a brutal charivari, a
veritable cumulate cacophony of strident sounds,
and finally, in the midst of all of it, God Save the
Queen, which they listen to standing and hats off.
Is it art in its infancy or its decrepitude ? They
1 Right Hon. Goschen, born in 1831 ; Privy Counsellor in 1865 ;
First Lord of the Admiralty in 1871.
2 Right Hon. Spencer Compton Cavendish, Marquis of Harting-
ton, eldest son of the Duke of Devonshire, then Chief Secretary for
Ireland. " Henry Reeve, Registrar of the Privy Council, Associate Member
of the Institute, Director of the Ediiilurgh Review,
4 St. James Club,

68 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1871.
have literally reached the point of putting epilep
tic fits on the stage to the accompaniment of the
band. If you have seen it once, you will never
want to see it again. London, December 22, 1871.
We reached the station yesterday at North Camp
toward eleven o'clock.^ A magnificent dragoon
stepped forward with an envelope ; it was farther on,
at another station, that our staff were waiting us ;
and there they were indeed — holding their horses
by the bridles — some lancers and a glittering officer
who came and gave us his hand like a Frenchman.
We hastened to mount into the saddle, for the train
was late and the troops had been under arms since
half-past ten.
We went forward on a smart trot and reached the
scene (a wide prospect) of the manoeuvres. A fog
hovered over it all, thick enough to soften every
where the middle distance without totally obscuring
it. The ground was undulating, broken by moors,
bits of forest and hill, and scouts were out waiting
for us in one place and another, to give us our
direction and to hasten forward and announce our
arrival. Through the fog we discovered a black
line ; it was a regiment of cavalry with helmets and
scarlet uniforms, and we recognized the dragoons.
The horsemen who had announced us came back
at a gallop, and there was Lieutenant-General Sir
Hope Grant, with his chevrons, won in the Crimea,
I "To take part in a review of the camp at Aldershot.

i87i.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 69
in India, in China. The meeting occurred in the
presence of our respective " staft^s," who had the
politeness not to laugh except in their sleeves.
When we had shaken hands, we directed our horses
toward the troops ranged in line of battle. Flags
flying and God Save the Queen greeted us. We
passed along the front rank and I was presented to
the generals, one after another. I stopped and ex
amined things with the attention that constitutes
politeness in great men — here a bamboo-lance, there
a modern or an old field-piece, a new knapsack that
distributes the weight along the back and reins, a
boot on trial. I had the courage to ask whether
the flap was made right; an observation that
ranked me at once among the fanatics in favor of
the old-style ordnance.
Presently the troops filed out. There were seven
thousand men — I do not guarantee that all of them
had attained years of virility. Fine review order —
performed their evolutions with the stiffness of au
tomata. I was stationed by the general, surrounded
by a respectful crowd, the band facing us. The
officers saluted us. My faith ! I bowed in return—
they had been presented to me 1 It would have
been more soldier-like to have left my hat on my
head, but I am a President of the Republic — don't
forget that. The general had the cavalry file by
again on the trot, that I might remark the general
effect of their appearance. It was capital. But I
noticed there were but few officers present — half of
them are away on leave. They are under no especial
pressure in England ; provided they turn up in time

70 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1871.
for the war, or for the great manoeuvres, they may
pass the rest of the time on the Continent.
Then the battle began, the scouts thrown out in
front. We gained a height already occupied by the
artillery. Horizon of superb extent. The first dis
charge of artillery took us in the rear and was an
agreeable surprise. The snap and splutter of the
fusillade awoke an echo in a wood across the river
in front of us. Our entire first line deployed for
skirmishing ; the second line advanced supporting
it on the left, the reserve behind. The fusillade re
doubled. We retired in good order; the artillery-
descended a rough slope, the horses squatting on
their hams slid down with the piece on their backs ;
the officers set off at a gallop along the sharp de
clivity covered with heath and gorse. We fell back
upon a second position which was well chosen.
The cavalry, in ambuscade, appeared from behind
a knoll and advanced across the plain ; at three
hundred metres the hussars and lancers charged
the enemy at a gallop and threw themselves upon
them. Their order was not good ; there was a jam
in the centre and a thinness in the wings— the lack
of officers made itself felt. Happily there were still
the dragoons in the second line ; their charge was
better ; the enemy retired, our right advanced and
outflanked them. With an admirable courage we
moved forward everywhere in the teeth of the firing.
We found the general in the midst of a cloud of
smoke ; the victory was ours and night was falling.
Cease firing! The troops formed again and came
back, with the bands playing national airs : La Belk

1871.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 71
Hdlene, Les Pompiers de Nanterre ! It made me
heavy-hearted — made me think of the wretched
retreats of our own unhappy soldiers.
I returned with the general, who absolutely wanted
me to declare that the Due de Broglie is for mon
archy. He is against the communists and their
accomplices or their dupes. . . . We reached the
<^th Queen s Royal Lancers' mess— 3. sort of " box."
My companion did not perceive that the lancer who
hurried forward to relieve him of his horse was an
officer ; he was presented to him an instant after
ward — it was Lord Beresford ! ^
At the mess the cooking is a little too Indian or
English, but the reception is cordial. Our hosts did
not leave us till we were in the train on our way
back. London, December 28, 1871.
There is in London a " Boxing-Day," — the day
after Christmas. And then there is Christmas itself,
and it is not too much to call it a saturnalia. The
morning papers all print articles a column and a half
long, advising the people to beware of bringing on
themselves an indigestion. It is meat-day.
Yesterday evening we went to the Lyceum Theatre,
in the Strand. Always the same grossness in the
execution, the same exaggeration in the by-play and
the exclamations, the same heavy-handed indecency
in place of sprightliness and pleasantry.
There is a total absence of everything that con
stitutes dramatic art — there is neither conception,
1 Lord Beresford, VT". Leslie De-la-Poer, son of the Marquis of
-Waterford.

72 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1871.
nor continuity, nor verisimilitude. It is all as dis
cordant as the colors they bring together in their
toilets or as the edibles they mix in the same
plate. In the " Bells," an adaptation of Chatrian's
romance, they have hit on a device (by means of a
dream represented on the stage) for being present
at the murder, at the death of the victim, at the
agony he suffers — not without an accompanying
outcry of horror on the part of the dreamer ; then
they make him die a second time on the stage on
his awakening, sparing none of the details that in
my judgment are plain horror and sacrilege.
Afterward, a funny piece, out of Pickwick Papers,
a story by Dickens : caricatures that depart so widely
from the truth that they do not make one laugh.
A caricature is droll only on the condition that it re
sembles its model ; one has to feel the reality beneath
it all before one's mirth is stirred. The authors and
actors undertook to represent a sort of swindler,
who persuaded an old maid to elope with him. He
looked and acted like a pickpocket pure and simple ;
he was dressed like a beggar, without a shirt, and in
a coat that looked as if he had found it kicking
about the street. That is not the costume in which
"Knights of Industry " present themselves and make
their way. That sort of thing is for me too broad.
I have forgotten again and again to tell you a
queer thing that happened to me when I was behind
the scenes in one of the theatres in Whitechapel.
A crowd had to be represented on the stage, and
the best way to represent it, in the opinion of the
management, was to send on the miscellaneous public

1871.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 73
and employees that were encumbering the side-
scenes. It was in this way that I came to cross the
stage on a run, representing realistically one of the
rushes familiar to the bands of pickpockets who ex
ploit the crowds of London. London, December 30, 1871.
We have passed a night of somewhat sombre
interest in and about the London slums. Vernon
went with us. The party began with a dinner in
which we all figured as toughs. I fairly believe
that, with my short-pipe in my button-hole instead
of a flower, I took the prize.
Here is a report of our excursion :
From Belgrave Square to Whitechapel the way
is long, but not sufficiently so for the contrast be
tween these two parts of the world. You are ac
quainted with the part of London in which an in
come of a hundred thousand francs per year con
stitutes no more than a modest competence: come
here with me and I will show you where shelter for
the night can be had at threepence, and a week's
lodging for fifteen-pence.
It was dark; a three-quarters of an hour rapid
drive through the streets — sombre, endless, eternally
alike, and we brought up in the midst of noise and
light. We were in the district of the extremes of
misery and debauchery. Our appointed meeting-
place was a police-station.
A man whose nose somebody had just smashed
with his fist (a policeman was washing the blood
from his face), gave us a foretaste of the sort of

74 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1871.
place that we had entered. We visited the police
cells ; in one place we found a drunken man stretch
ed on an inclined-plane skilfully adapted to conjure
away the consequences of his disorder ; in another
place, a lot of unhappy wretches comfortably shut
away till (sometime within four-and-twenty hours)
they shall be produced before a magistrate. Two
employees of unimpeachable bearing and politeness
took us in hand to show us the way and to protect
us in our excursion through the circles of hell.
A theatre stood at the door. Not less than three
thousand spectators, of every color and of every
odor, were shut into a house of papier-mdchd that a
match trampled under foot would have converted
into a fine auto-da-fd ! At the rate of threepence a
head, the public is admitted to the enjoyment, for
three or four hours, of a sort of Italian farce, which
is neither more nor less brutal than those one pays
ten shillings a place for at the best theatres. We
visited in the same way, during the course of the
evening up to eleven o'clock, four or five theatres
or music-halls (and there were others that we passed
by), and all were full. In all of them the entre
preneur makes a fortune. In Whitechapel, too, the
people have money in their pockets. And they
have a taste for the arts. There was one hall, or
rather a barn, in which wax-figures, after the man
ner of those of Mme. Tussaut, were on exhibition,
and where they magnetized ; there you saw, side by
side with the Queen and the Prince of Wales, the
criminals and rascals of the day. All they have to
do to keep abreast of the times is to put Cavour's

1871.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 75
wig on Benedetti, or Napoleon Third's on William.
But how do all these people live ? From the door
of the theatre we went to the lodging-house quarter,
by a number of obscure lanes, in which I stumbled
more than once on the unevennesses of the way.
For three-pence you can buy a place to lie down
for the night. In one place men only are admitted,
in another women only ; a bit further on they take
in everybody — the whole family, the children, and
the dog. You go first into a sort of common-room,
with a great fire, in front of which some of the guests
dress their sores, some broil their herrings. There
are tables about the room and people sitting at
them eating, or playing cards, or reading a news
paper, or (some women) working.
The employees are generally repulsive-looking :
gin, misery, personal uncleanliness, and vice have
set their mark upon the faces, and it is the fairer
half of the human race that in especial turns one
sick. Still their behavior is better than at Miracle
Yard : gentlemen may come with impunity to fatten
their curiosity on the spectacle of all this misery ;
people bow to them, say good-evening to them — no
doubt in a measure because of the Police-Inspector,
they all know, who accompanies them. He in his
turn knows them, and whenever he stepped into a
new place, he took care to say : " These are work-
ingmen ; these are vagabonds ; these are robbers of
the worst sort ; there is a man just out of prison,
there is another whom we have not yet succeeded
in catching en flagrant dilit.'''
Every lodging-house has its line of patrons ;

76 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1871.
some of them are not disreputable. We visited
one to which three hundred workingmen come
every night for shelter, more than two-thirds of
whom are habitues. They are not permitted indeed
to take anything but their clothes with them into
the dormitory ; but lockers are provided in a room
apart, which enable them to acquire property and to
become almost indefinitely superior to the nomads
who go away in the morning with no associations
to bring them back.
There are in London fourteen thousand of these
lodging-houses ; they receive every night thirty
thousand people. Thanks to the surveillance of the
police, though the common-rooms are pestilential,
the dormitories are relatively clean, the walls are
rigorously whitewashed and the ventilation what it
should be. Each bed has a regulation mattress and,
in the fourpence houses, a blanket covered with
inscriptions ; you couldn't carry off a piece as big
as your two hands without its everywhere testifying
against you that it had been stolen from such and
such a lodging-house. It seems that the proprietors
of these places do not lose either their goods or
their time. They showed us one of them who, after
eighteen years of hospitality at threepence a night,
has become the possessor of a nice place in the
country and is willing to dispose of his beggarly
clientage for three thousand pounds.
As our visit took place the day after Christmas,
in all the halls, even those frequented by the least
edifying classes, the walls were covered from top to
bottom with holly, with sprigs of evergreen, and

1871.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 77
ornaments in paper; and in the midst of these
festoons, and framed by them, were inscriptions— all
of them Christian, and without admixture of politics,
except for blessings on the Queen, the Prince of
Wales and the Ministers. The proprietors and
their wives even are not without responsibility for
these pious invocations. In one of the lowest hov
els we had the curiosity to ask who had presided
over this decoration and who had paid for it — the
expense being some fifty francs or thereabout ;
well, the proprietor had contributed twenty-seven
francs, the beggars, vagabonds, street-vendors, and
robbers, who composed the rest of the company,
had handed in their pennies to make up the rest.
There was something distinctively English even in
the dregs here of society. But we had not yet
touched the bottom ; vice and misery had revela
tions still in store for us.
We went out into the deserted streets again
where you meet nobody but stragglers now and
then from some public-house, men or women, in
either case equally drunk. We made our way
toward the Thames, to St. George's in the East. It
was nearly midnight. The narrow lanes were wide
awake, lit up by half-open doors. People were
drinking, dancing: flags of all colors notified us
that we were in the sailors' quarters. We pushed a
door open and at the counter saw a modest-looking
woman ; the police who accompanied us assured us
she is above reproach ; that she should be so is
made a condition precedent of granting her a
license. She showed us the way to a dance-hall

78 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. \\%^l.
where the most frightful specimens of femininity
were waiting to be invited to waltz. That evening
there is not much dancing ; it was Friday, and the
sailor in all countries alike is out of money on the
eve of his weekly pay-day. Often when we went in
we found music only ; they were places whose
dance-licences had been revoked, on the ground that
the dancing had degenerated into something else.
We rested a bit in one of these establishments in
the presence of a savage who swallowed fire at our
instance and gave it out again in tubes which came
out of his intestinal furnace. What then were we
yet to see ? I spare you a description of the resorts
to which the chorographers of the Prussian Eagle
and Fire-eater retired, when the door of the house
closed after them and their companions.
It was one o'clock in the morning ; what could
there be for us still to see? Our guides started on
once more ; we were lost in a labyrinth of sombre
streets, eternally alike. The height of the houses
and of the stories was singularly reduced, but the
model was always the same, the depressing square
box with holes in it, that from Baker Street to St.
George's in the East constitutes the highest product
of the English genius in the line of architecture.
In place of open squares you find narrow courts
entered by obscure passages. We went forward in
the suspicious darkness. In front of a ruined,
tumble-down house our guide stopped and called.
A voice from the interior replied ; and we entered a
door and climbed with hands and feet a sort of rope-
ladder that ended above in a hovel. A strong and

l87i.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 79
peculiar odor mixed with the natural evil smell of
the place fairly choked us as we entered. For the
rest, the place was small and we went in one by one
to the side of a couch that occupied the biggest
part of it. By the glimmer of a sort of night-lamp
we perceived what looked like the posts of an an
tique bed but they were badly out of line and seemed
to be there only to bear witness to the misery and
disorder of the place. Hard by the night-lamp,
seated on some rags a woman smoked a cigarette
and by her side against the wall lay a man wrapped
up in what had been a blanket. His head, and such
portion of his clothing as was visible, showed him
to be a native of the land where opium is grown.
His eyes were open but he saw nothing ; his face
wore an expression of complete beatitude ; he gave
no sign of life except that he breathed noisily,
giving his hostess to understand that he wanted to
smoke again. She carefully prepared a bamboo
instrument, put one end of it into his mouth and lit
the opium at the other end with the candle. The
Hindu drew in two or three puffs and went off into
another ecstasy. The old woman filled a pipe then
for herself, and drew at it. She bore it better than
the Hindu, who is a beginner. She told us that she
has been for twenty years a victim of the vice by
which she now earns her living. Opium is killing
her, but she lit her pipe once more while we were
talking to her. " How old should you say she is ? "
one of our guides asked. We said " sixty." " She
is barely thirty-five."
We saw a light next door and there -^ve found a

8o A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1871.
full-blooded Chinaman on a divan. He was dressed
though in rags and tatters, of a mode distinctively
English and was employing a Christian tongue in the
service of oriental corruption. At his elbow were a
Chinese tray, a candle, a bamboo pipe and doses of
opium of various prices from threepence up. This
wretch supplies the black smoke to others still
wretcheder than himself; the "joint" he keeps is
a house of refuge open the whole night through,
where one may purchase ecstasy at so much a penny
and dream, in the midst of the most hideous dirt, of
the paradise of Confucius or of the Fairies' Kingdom.
Opium smokers form but an odd chapter in the
annals of misery in London. They amuse the curious,
they lend themselves to romance. Turn the page
and you enter on the chapter of misery pure and
simple, the misery of unmitigated hunger and cold.
Our little promenade in hell showed us nothing more
horrible. We saw mud-houses and windows minus
window-panes ; we saw houses with their street-
doors off their hinges. What good would a street-
door do them ? There was scarcely an obstacle of
any kind opposed to our stepping right into the
sleeping-rooms. We entered and surprised people
in their beds — families who paid fifteen-pence a week
for their shelter. " What ! does anybody rent this
garret?" I thought as I stuck my head into a sort
of hovel ; I couldn't have squeezed my body in. A
woman squatting before the embers of a coal-fire rose
from her bed — from some rags, that is, on which she
slept — at the sound of an approach. Something
black covered the floor about her ; it looked like the

1871.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 81
contents of a rag-picker's basket. Under this
ruined heap three children lay and slept through
everything the sleep of the blessed. As we were
going out, a door at one side opened and a wretched
woman thrust out her head and hand ; she was just
out of jail and hoped to keep out.
We might have prolonged indefinitely this dismal
round of lodgings at fifteen-pence a week ; but the
night was advancing and we wanted to reach the
workhouse in Saint George's in the East before the
occupants had left their beds. As we were setting
out for it, we crossed a bridge over a canal coming
out on the London Docks. Our guide called atten
tion to a policeman on duty about midway across
the bridge. "He is there," he said, " to keep
women from throwing themselves off into the water."
It is a favorite spot, it seems, with the victims of
debauchery. Is it the drink in them that drives
them to suicide, or the depression that follows drink ?
Almost every night there is an attempt at precisely
this place and nowhere else. The quay rises high
above the water and the current below is strong ;
the parapet once cleared, all is over — one is delivered
from the past and from a still more frightful future.
It is to prevent these unhappy creatures from seek
ing to discover, at the bottom of the water beneath,
the oblivion they no longer find in the bottom of
their glass, that a burly policeman, the father of a
family, passes there eight hours a night. "What
wages do you get, my man, for this unpleasant job ? "
" Twenty shillings a week. But I am only on duty
every other night." That doesn't pay.
6

82 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1871.
Finally we reached the workhouse. Our double
knocks roused a guard, who took the time to put his
uniform on before he opened the door. The work
house is the last resort of those who have lost every
penny they had in the world ; if they had a farthing
left in their pockets, they would not be admitted.
On condition only of poverty absolute, they may
knock at the door and it will be opened to them.
A piece of bread and a bowl of soup, with bits of
meat in it are waiting for them ; but before they
are admitted they have to submit to a bath. The
new arrival's clothes are taken from him in a
waiting-room and carried off to be fumigated, and
others belonging to the house are given him in ex
change. When he has dressed himself in them he
climbs up to a dormitory where an iron bed with a
barred mattress and a blanket is ready for him. The
place is steam-heated ; ventilators keep the air pure ;
the walls are whitewashed ; the cleanness of the
floor is above reproach. Some thirty men were
sleeping peacefully when we were there — old men,
young men, men in the full vigor of their life —
among them more than one robber, I was told.
When they " turn out " they are given a meal of the
same sort as on their arrival the evening before.
The establishment is admirable — " luxurious " I
couldn't help calling it when I was being shown
about it. Cleanliness and comfort such as that go
beyond what mere charity obliges us to. But how
does it happen that the patrons of the fourpence
and the sixpence lodging-houses do not exchange
their suspicious pallets for this gratuitous and

l87i.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 83
comparatively sumptuous hospitality ? There is a
regulation : the exit is not free, there is a certain
amount of work to be done in the morning before
the guests are permitted to go their way — there are
stones to break, or oakum to pick, or logs to split.
It made me think of the dog that carried the mark
on his neck of his master's collar.
As we were coming out we met a woman with
two children at the door. She had come from
Barnes, a neighboring town, and requested shelter
for the night. She was very poorly dressed, much
worse dressed than the children. Her appearance
and the replies she gave to the inquiries put to her
indicated that she was a respectable woman. The
children said in answer to our questions that they
had been to school and were beginning to learn to
write. We wanted to give them some money, but
were hastily warned not to do so. If any money
should be found on her, she would not be received
— such is the law. We bowed to the word which
in England is supreme. May it ever preserve its
magical power ! Flaving breathed which prayer
with a profound feeling of envy, we succeeded
in making an arrangement with the guard to the
effect that the money we had offered should be
given to the children on their departure the follow
ing day. To avoid the law is in some sort to
respect it.
It was after two o'clock and high time we turned
back toward Belgrave Square. Rolling home in the
cab I found myself stirred with pity at the spectacle
pf so much misery and depravity, and with admira-

84 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1871.
tion for the energy of the efforts made by English
society to relieve its strayed and fallen members.

}Bitract6 from tbe IRotes.
At about this time I began to frequent the Athen
aeum, though I was not yet admitted to it on a per
manent footing ; it was not till later that I succeeded,
by the aid of my friends, in avoiding or ignoring the
regulation in force in that intellectual caravansary
which excludes all resident diplomats, the heads of
the respective embassies only excepted. Still I was
even at that time aspiring to become acclimated to
its chambers and to dwell there. It is the rendez
vous for intelligence of every sort, the confluence of
all the sources of information. Men, books, papers,
come here regularly from every parish. It isn't
that there is a great deal of talk going on ; quite the
reverse — everybody is at home there — has his own
little table to himself. He moves about a bit now
and then from one table to another to exchange a
few words in a low tone with some acquaintance ;
and then returns to his own place to read, and still
to read, and then to write and write. A great part
of the scribbling that floods England every morning
is done there — articles for the newspapers, for the
weekly, monthly, quarterly reviews. How many
times — writing myself in my own retired spot — I've
watched out of the corner of my eye this hive of
thinkers — noted the mixture of opinions, the most
amusing and instructive contrasts and juxtapositions
in the world ! Here, the law, the church at one

1871.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 85
side, the Bible minus the church hard by, or else
Catholicism and Darwinism side by side, great
explorers and members of the Royal Academy of
Fine Arts, the House of Commons or the House of
Lords and the Cabinet. All of them make their
honey in the Athenaeum — chmb ladders to hunt out
a book, descend again, exchange a word as they pass
each other by, take tea on their writing-tables, drop
letters in the box ; and when the sign is given for
collecting the mail, their activity redoubles. Few
of them have gained the right to trouble the silence
by talking aloud. My old friend, Abraham Hay
ward, the eldest surviving " British Essayist," notably
possesses it. Towards four o'clock you see him
appear in the great reading-room. His day's work
is done, he goes from table to table trafficking in
news and recruiting players for his whist-table.
(One or two card-tables are tolerated in a room apart.)
Toward seven o'clock he comes back again to pick
up company for dinner. He has his especial table
in one corner of the vast dining-room — it is often
doubled and tripled by the neighboring tables being
drawn up alongside of it. There is a good deal of
talk and of loud laughter in that privileged corner —
it is called the Hayward Corner. People sit at table
there long after their more silent neighbors have
disappeared. The conversation increases as the
time goes on — the voices rise higher ; the amiable
and impassioned old gentleman's memory is in
exhaustible, but he grows less and less indulgent for
those who have crossed his path in the fields of
literature, and he subjects , English ears (always

86 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1871.
chaste in a public place) to a more and more severe
ordeal. The talk, or rather the dissertation, sets
out from literature and history, parliamentary and
political reminiscences and anecdotes ; but it de
clines in dignity as the bottles one after another are
emptied ; the supernatural is as little respected in
royalty as in religion ; and it becomes annoying to
have to play chorus and one is glad to gain the
door. If you turn back after dinner to the silence
and solitude of the luminous vast reading-room on the
first floor, you may find the indefatigable old gen
tleman still thumbing books, at midnight, and hunt
ing for their marrow. I couldn't take my oath,
however, that he has not snatched since dinner a
wink or so of restorative sleep (there would be no
lack of precedent for it), nay, that he has not
troubled the silence of the temple even with his
snores. You have to get used to it here ; they sleep
everywhere in England, and snore everywhere — on
condition only that they don't prevent other people
from hearing themselves speak. I have sometimes
seen the secretary of the Club obliged to intervene
to call a sleeper to order, or to moderation at least.
It was during days of idleness, of solitude, of
spleen, that the Athenaeum possessed for me an espe
cial charm. Fancy a Sunday in London : there is
a fog that, penetrates the very houses, and more
than that, it is raining and the streets are dead. I
reach the club without encountering a living soul ;
the club itself is deserted, I am remote from every
one and everything. I cannot even send a letter to
xcrj family by the post, I ingtall myself ^\ a t^ibk

iSyi-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 87
in a retired spot in the library ; I give myself up to
a bitter sense of solitude and isolation. How many
things have crossed my mind while I have sat star
ing mechanically at the Nelson on the top of Tra
falgar Column, topping the neighboring roofs, or at
the bust of Pope on the bracket opposite me ! I
have often passed hours in that way — day-dreaming
— letting my thoughts wander along the streets to my
domicile, or along the library shelves. And many
times I have mentally run over the treasures that
surrounded me without being able to make up my
mind which of them to take down, waiting for
chance or inspiration from on high to come to my
assistance, and, the choice at last made, have
drowned my cares in my book ! I have not in
frequently become so absorbed in my self-imposed
task that I have lost all sense of the lapse of time ;
the dinner-hour would pass and I still turn the
pages ; my eyes would give out and I still wish to
read ; the long hours of the solitary day would, prove
too short. I had killed the time so effectively as to
have forgotten the necessities of life, and have gone
home finally to bed without my dinner, the mad de
sire to learn something having taken the place for
the time being of the somewhat morbid enjoyment
of the desolation about me.

THE YEAR, 1872.
Extracts from tbe Correspon&ence.
London, January 6, 1872.
JUST returned from the opening of Parhament.
It is a very unceremonious affair. Only the Lord-
Chancellor and the clerks in wig and gown, and
but fifteen peers were present. An aged Master of
Ceremonies came officially to open the parliamentary
" lock," and the members surged tumultuously up
to the bar, close on the heels of the Speaker who
wore a wig and alone was grave and solemn. There
is always the same mixture here of dignity and buf
foonery, ritual and go-as-you-please. The Queen's
speech, read by the Chancellor who drawls, aims
always to say as little as possible.
Yesterday a parliamentary evening-party at Mr.
Gladstone's. The members of the cabinet had
dined there in full dress. After dinner the Queen's
speech was read and sent to the leaders of the oppo
sition, who had met at the same hour at the table of
Mr. Disraeli. That is " fair play." The house is
agreeable enough : some works of art ; the candles
set on top of the sideboards and bookcases alone
took me a bit by surprise. I am beginning to be
able in an English political salon to turn round and
name the faces.
88

1872.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 89
London, January 18, 1872.
London is beginning to revive, windows are open
ing, carriages are being brought out, and a few invi
tations sent. Yesterday I took a drive through
the City. It is the part of London I like best — the
life and character of the land show themselves there.
You ought to see the City, the streets, and banking-
houses in the obscure daylight, in the midst of the
fever of business : fog, jostling, mess, congestion of
vehicles in the streets — it is horrible to see, to feel,
to hear. You ought to go into the little lanes
where the great tall houses are — the banking-houses
through which all the gold on earth circulates in
the course of the day without a single shilling
remaining unaccounted for.
I went to pay a call on the old Baron ^ in his den in
St. Swithin's Lane. Don't look for the Baron's office
in one of the great thoroughfares that are easy to
find. A long passage, a carriage would so com
pletely block up that a man could barely squeeze
by, brings you to an obscure solid old mansion. The
lane reminds one of Venice ; the solidity of the
house and the inhospitable look of the neighborhood
are Florentine, and the Baron also who spends his
days there, belongs himself to the aristocracy of
wealth that founded the grandeur of those two me
diaeval governments. Every day he sits at his table
from eleven o'clock in the morning to seven in the
afternoon. No chairs are provided for visitors :
standing discourages long interviews, unless one sits
on the table, as I did. Two or three offices to right
1 Baron Lionel de Rothschild.

90 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1872.
and left are occupied by his sons. The paralysis in
his legs which keeps him fast in his rolling-chair is
in sharp contrast with the activity of his mind which
interrupts his conversation from minute to minute
to reflect upon the state of the courts of Europe,
and to give orders accordingly. The face is a fine
one, but the impression of it that abides with one is
that of something inexorable as a mathematical cal
culation. When I thanked him for the damages the
railway company had awarded me for my lost travel
ling-bag, " Yes," he said, " they gave you three
hundred francs." The amount came to him at
once out of the billions he has dealt with since.
One of his sons, after offering me a glass of
sherry, took me over the establishment. What
discipline ! A great hall with fifty or sixty em
ployees in it, abstracting letters, all of them busy
and silent. Nobody communicates with his
neighbor. There is no chief, or at least no other
chief than the Baron and the son who opens the
letters and directly oversees the work. Although
there is a French department, there is not a French
man in the house. There are a good many Germans.
This preference is not an affair of sentiment; it
must be that the French are a less safe investment.
The employees are appointed for life when they have
once passed the door. They begin at two thousand
francs, and there is no upper limit. Their salary
rises with their ability. From the Correspondence
Department I was taken to that of " coupons,"
which they there detach, verify, and put up in
packages. Thence to the counting-house ; you

1872.] A DIPLOMA T IN LONDON.

91

cannot see it except from the inside : an iron structure
three stories high, protected by walls nine feet
thick. I do not know whether it is surrounded by a
moat as some of the other monetary fortresses in the
City are, but a portcullis, an iron door, cut us off
from possible robbers. There was nothing lacking
but a drawbridge. It is by gaslight that you visit
this pawnshop for crowned heads. In passing, my
eye caught a little leather valise with the name of
M. Thiers on it : like the great strategist he is, he
takes pains to secure his retreat. I do not blame him
for it. ... I took my leave much edified and rather
envious. If the public business had been adminis
tered in that spirit we should not be where we are.
London, February 16, 1872.
Yesterday evening we went to Parliament to the
beautiful chamber of the peers. Although it is
really new, there is about it a suggestion of antiquity ;
it possesses already the charm of reminiscence — a
perfume of aristocracy. The Marquis of Salisbury
has a fine voice, his delivery is easy and distinguished,
he adjusts his efforts to the importance of the
debate in hand — you feel that he could easily do
better than he does, he is an orator. The cabinet
has had a narrow escape : it expected to be cen
sured by eighty votes : it had a majority of two.
The vote cannot be reversed. It is its faults that
save it. " It has set us in the mire," Lord Salisbury
said, " for the credit of pulling us out again."
When shall we possess this political right-handed
ness?

92 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1872.
I have paid a visit to the Baronne de Rothschild.
I found an unpretending ease in her manner and a
total absence of anything approaching the character
istic haughtiness of the parvenue. I met Mr, Dis
raeli. He said but one thing worth repeating : as the
reply of the United States was being announced as
forthcoming in March : " Ay, the Ides of March."
But what an old painted Jew ! There was also
Brunnow who said to me : " Either Bismarck did not
know what a billion means or he never thought you
could pay it." Nothing else happened. This
evening we are going to hear a sermon by Cardinal
Manning. London, February 24, 1872.
At the sermon in the pro-cathedral at Kensington,
I was much struck by the archbishop's simple,
sober, dignified delivery. The sermon was purely
evangelical. Then I heard with Vernon one of the
principal High-Church preachers, the Rev. Body.
He possesses lungs — sounds the accent of contro
versy something too monotonously. Still, it was
a good sermon — not a word in it that need be re
trenched. And he invited us at the close to come
to the sacristy and communicate our objections. I
am quite proud — I did not lose a Avord.
I spent the remainder of the evening at the house
of these excellent people. Nothing can equal their
charity in their church, to the poor, and you see them
now in the field for us. They are going to furnish
the banquet ^ table with lords and colonels, and
^ The annual banquet given by the French business men for the
benefit of works of charity.

i872.] A DIPLOMA T IN LONDON.

93

purpose giving a dinner to make us acquainted with
them. The whole town is covered with scaffoldings set
up for the thanksgiving-celebration on the twenty-
seventh : nothing else here is being attended to.i
The banquet on Monday will possess an addi
tional interest because of the Duke de Broglie's
speech. London, February 24, 1872.
An interesting evening at Lady Waldegrave's.^ She
knew acquaintances of mine and chatted with me a
long while. She is a very clever person, and with
out betraying in her manner any consciousness of
doing so, gave me a greal deal of precious information
that will prove of use to the Embassy. I had a
long talk afterwards with Fortescue about our
affairs. With the diplomatists we dwelt on the
pleasures and fatigues that await us Tuesday.
There will be more than a million people along the
' The Prince of -Wales's illness had preoccupied all England for
some weeks to the exclusion of all else ; he had really been thought
(and with good reason) to be beyond hope. This ordeal reawakened
in the hearts of the people an affection that they have avowed for
him in spite of, or perhaps because of, his defects. He is a heavy
drinker, a great eater, a man of pleasure, impecunious, but a " good
fellow " with it all, obliging, and indisposed to trouble either the min
isters or the Queen by meddling with the government or with party-
politics. A great thanksgiving service was to take place on February
twenty-seventh at St. Paul's. Up to the last moment there was
some doubt whether the Queen would take the trouble to be present
at this royal and national ceremony.
2 Frances Braham, daughter of the actor. Married : ist, to a -Walde-
grave of illegitimate birth ; 2d, to Count -Waldegrave ; 3d, to Sir Har-
court ; 4th, to the Hon. Chichester Fortescue, President of the Board
of Trade. Died in 1879.

94 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1872.
route. London is all covered with unpainted
wooden scaffoldings to be rented at a pound a
place. All business, all circulation, will be inter
rupted. We have no idea of so universal a move
ment from top to bottom of society.
Yesterday evening at eleven we arrived at Lady
Cork's, wife of the Master of the Hounds. No better
French is spoken anywhere. A large house, but such
taste ! One detail is enough : the mirrors are framed
in festoons of bas-relief — arms, fruits, flowers, any
thing you like. When you look close, you find it is
all of waxed leather. On all the furniture and over
the doors were set lines of candles. All the seats had
been removed from the rooms to gain space, and
every one was forced to stand, so as to occupy less
of it. The guests arrived, took the mistress of the
house by the hand, maintained their upright posi
tion, and that was all of it. You couldn't see any
thing of the person in front of you but the neck and
shoulders. If they were pretty, so much the better.
There are many evening-parties here at which you
don't succeed even in mounting the steps. If you
are clever, you run from door to door ; you elbow
your way till you catch the eye of the reporter for
the Morning Post ; that done, the cup of pleasure
has been drained.
Gladstone was there with his wife and daughter.
As I was talking with the great man who has under
gone such a fall in the public esteem, our conversa
tion was interrupted by the press about us and we
found ourselves face to face with " an old fairy " —
the wife and devoted friend of Disraeli, Viscountess

I872-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 95
Beaconsfield. They all talked together like the best
of friends, though the two husbands the night be
fore had launched at one another the most violent
and bitterest strokes at their command. But that
sort of thing can't last much longer even here. The
unhappy Gladstone squirms hke an enraged lion
under the icy pleasantry that the leader of the con-
servative party with his sepulchral face pelts him
with. To-day we tried to go to St. Paul's to see the prep
arations. We had to turn back. In spite of the
fact that it was Sunday, there was a solid crowd
from Piccadilly to St. Paul's, the carriages so jammed
that progress was impossible — they will be there
still day after to-morrow. And all to look at the
boards and scaffoldings in front of the houses.
Such a national movement such an outburst of
loyalty, such an uprising of the masses, was never
before seen. The crowd will number millions.
London, February 26, 1872.
This evening yet — that is to say, in an hour, the
banquet will come off, and the speech. I am con
fident that the Due de Broglie's tact and talent will
be equal to the difficulties in the way of speaking at
all in public on such an occasion.^ To-morrow I
1 The Due de Broglie did preside, as M. Gavard expected, at the
banquet at the French Hospital. It was the first time that a French
ambassador had assisted at that ceremony. " Under the Empire,"
M. Gavard says, in his notes, " the French charities in London, the
Relief Society and the Hospital, as well as the schools and the
Refuge founded and directed by the Sisters of Charity at Leicester
place, were under a ban, because the Orleans Princes had from the

96 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1872.
shall have to be up at daylight for the thanksgiving
ceremony, in full uniform, in a carriage with eight
springs, and valets in red and gold and yellow
livery, and illuminations. It would tickle the Re
public to see us pass by. It would be to meet
myself in such a rig that would astonish me most. I
have to school myself not to laugh when I see
myself in such company, and have to school myself
above all not to forget my lesson.
London, February 27, 1872.
The weather was fine, the Queen came, and no
accidents happened that I know of. Rule Britannia !
At break of day we were on foot, we were not too
much " guyed " on our way through the crowd.
What a human flood as we drew near the City — as
foul too as the waters of the Thames ! No mob is
time of their foundation accorded them their active concurrence and
generous assistance. This holding aloof moreover fell in perfectly
with the tastes and habits of the members of the imperial diplo
matic corps. The idea, unhappily enough, was that a Frenchman
who leaves France has good reasons for not staying at home ; the
official representatives of France were imbued with it, and adopted
it as a rule of conduct to ignore the French colony abroad. From
the moment he arrived in London, the Due de Broglie fell back on
the earlier tradition and led the way for his successors by presiding
with distinction at the annual banquet at the Hospital. A great
deal might be said for an institution like this (annual dinner), which
not only constitutes an advertisement for certain good people who
find their profit in it, but presents one also with an opportunity to
mix with them, to get them out of their ruts, to encourage them,
enlighten them, assist them, give them a push forward. For my
own part I did not relax my efforts to do so during my sojourn in
England ; and if I did not do more than I did the fault was a, lack
of time.

'^72.] ^ DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 97
like an English mob ; the signs of misery are so un
mistakable. They are both violent and humble
under the blows dealt by the police ; and the rag
bag reigns among them. Our national blouse is
unknown in England ; instead of this garment that
hides things, they dress in the shabby remains of
what once were coats, which reveal the filth and the
nudity beneath. Such portion of the gathering as
feared being mobbed had poured into the houses and
scaffoldings. I never saw so many heads.
By eleven o'clock we were established in St. Paul's
in a draught of cold air that douched us till two
o'clock. At length the bells boomed like a volley
of artillery, and the Queen arrived and came in.
She was received with the royal silence that the
sacredness of the place and the majesty of her office
demanded — a real silence, not the natural silence of
a void, but the silence of seventy thousand people
who do not venture to breathe.
All the royalties filed up in a line in front of the
public — the Queen, fat and short, in a street-dress,
with a discontented-looking face ; the Prince, with
his already-recovered air of prosperity ; and the
Princess, as always, beautiful and charming. The
music was grave, the sermon not too long. We got
back in time to go to Hyde Park to see the return
of the royal cortege in the midst of the deafening
enthusiasm of the crowd.
But let us go back to our evening party ^ yester
day. It -was a complete success. The Due de
Broglie received a most cordial reception, which, after
1 The banquet above referred to.
7

98 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [187J.
he had spoken, became enthusiastic. There was a
veritable uproar when he touched on this country,
which for two hundred years has never once seen the
law violated by the caprice of a Prince nor by the
violence of the multitude. Each of his five toasts
was a work of art. A tolerably exact summary of it
is in to-day's Times. The difficulty of speaking of
M. Thiers he very tactfully avoided by the aid of
the Sfevres-vase sent for the lottery, and then he
found an opportunity to speak of the noble use the
Orleans Princes were making of such remnants of
their wealth as spoliation had left them. Vernon
was there, and brought with him Colonel Anson,
who responded with much tact and warmth to the
toast on the army — a loyal nature, simple and win
ning. We had also a Lord Eliott, ancient diplomat
though himself still young, and a Frenchman in
the turn of his tongue and his wit. He gallantly
proposed the Duke's health. London, March, 1872.
The ceremony of the levee interested me much.
All the diamonds in England filed before me, and
trains to make a peacock jealous. The daylight and
the current of cold air for the benefit of her Majesty
were by no means favorable to the naked shoulders,
nor to the color of the noses of their owners. The
Queen was as gracious as she could be to Bernstorff, 1
and then ! ... we frantically ducked to her Majesty,
and by a series of side-steps succeeded in regaining
pur places without turning our backs to the
1 Count Bernstorff, German Ambassador.

1872.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 99
enemy, and formed a row from which we looked
down on the insignificant press of peers and barons
of England filing by. It is a serious duty for every
one, and for those who date their social existence
from their presentation, a great day. I felt a certain
sympathetic embarrassment for the first of them I
saw drop on his knees to kiss the Queen's hand ;
and when a lady completed in the same way the
reverence she was making, I was still more distressed ;
and then, when the Queen kissed the young ladies
who were presented to her for the first time, I asked
myself, what would have happened if the Queen had
been a king? But how do I know I did not dream
it all ? London, March 3, 1872.
Was at a great dinner yesterday at the Roths
childs', where there was (what is rare in this country)
an equal display of luxury and of good taste. We
had the Duke of Cambridge ^ there ; he chatted with
me some time. Gave me good words on the French
army, which had often been engaged three to one,
and then he cited Bugeaud's saying about the Eng
lish infantry: "Happily, it is not numerous."
" Z/whappily," I replied ; and we parted the best of
friends. We ate valiantly, and the wines were exquisite.
Meyer de R. asked me at the end which had been,
in my judgment, the best dish ?
London, March 14, 1872.
I have become one of the list of great people who
1 Field Marshal, Commander-in-chief, bom in 18 19.

100 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1872.
have appeared at Mr. Gladstone's and at Lady Mar
garet Beaumont's. I simply went in and came out
again. At Gladstone's I picked up poor Musurus,
who had just had a fall and broken his arm in three
places. I put him into a carriage with a doctor.
At Lady Margaret's I found the same set coming
as I was to get their names inscribed on her list.
Immediately afterwards there was a levee. The
Queen was more gracious to us than usual. She
asked the Due de Broglie for news of his son. Her
daughter is quite handsome. The Duchess of Suth
erland, who was covered with diamonds, stands day
light well. Here, once more, the diplomatic corps
piled itself up in a heap ; this time it was a brilliant
Hungarian. He got mixed up with his boots, or his
sabre, or his attila, and finally came down with a
thud! London, March 16, 1872.
The Due de Broglie shed tears and choked with
sobs when he tried to speak of Cochin.^ He had
done so much, and yet so little ! We were looking
for so much from him that we forget he has left
behind him a well-filled life. But he had many dis
appointments, and it is an ill chance that has closed
his career. He too has been taken from us before
his time — he, and Montalembert, and Perreyve, and
P. Gatry, and P. Captier, who alone were able to
turn the high-souled among us back to religion.
What are the designs of God on our unhappy land ?
Whatever they may be, we must bow to them and
pray. The poor Duke with death in his heart is
J M. Augustin Cochin, died Prefect of Versailles,

1872.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. joi
obliged to make ready for the fete to-morrow,^ and
to leave Tuesday for Windsor, instead of taking the
road to the cemetery after the body of his friend.
For the dinner we had from hour to hour to send
out fresh invitations in place of those that were met
with " regrets." No Englishman who is at all strait-
laced will consent to work his horses on Sunday
even to meet a Royal Highness. London, March 18, 1872.
We played our part yesterday ^ to the accom
paniment of the band. It went off nicely. The
Duke of Cambridge at the appointed hour stepped
out of his carriage upon the red carpet stretched
across the sidewalk ; red liveries, that might have
made Louis XIV. or Babin envious, formed a line on
either side from the steps ; the Prince's people kept
the crowd back with their sticks (I don't vouch for
this detail, but it is part of the prescribed thing).
All honor to the master of ceremonies who succeeded
in having everybody take his proper place at table
(this is for me) ; all honor to the cook who " What
a pleasure," said an old diplomatic /i7r/&, "to be able
to eat like this two hours « la frangaise ! " The
strawberries at dessert did not cost less than three
hundred and fifty francs. But the rarest treat was
to see our young princess,^ sparkling with diamonds,
receiving perfectly at ease, as if she had done noth-
1 The Due de Broglie was to give a dinner the following day to
the Duke of Cambridge.
2 The dinner at the Embassy.
8 IJUe. d'Armaille, Princesse de Broglie.

102 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1872.
ing else all her life, the homage of his Royal High
ness on her right, and of the Prime-Minister on her
left. She made head all evening against the assaults
of the whole diplomatic corps, and that too with equal
grace and modesty, a bit of a languishing air when
she bowed to the contrary notwithstanding. And
the ambassador was not the least happy person
present. He forgot his grief, and admitted that it
was a pleasure to have so fine a jewel to present.
Nobody failed to come, not even the German am
bassador; the trouble was rather that there were
not invitations enough to go round. In effect, it
was a complete success ; it will be talked about, and
that will do us no harm. As for myself, I spent the
entire evening introducing people whose names I
did not know.^ London, March 22, 1872.
Heavy snow and thick fog. It froze and melted
at the same time. The weather was frightful, but
everybody was out in it. London poured out to
Putney and the banks of the Thames by every road.^
From Hammersmith on, to right and left, you saw
nothing but umbrellas — except carriages, some
with the horses taken out and sent to some place of
shelter, some with horses still in, and the passengers
on their seats, all waiting together motionless in the
falling snow. With great difficulty and by the
1 Soon after this entertainment, the Due de Broglie left London
for France. He had resolved to hand in his resignation in order to
be free to devote his whole time to his duties as a Deputy. M.
Gavard thus found himself once more in charge of the Embassy ; a
responsibility that lasted from March 24 to June 7, 1872.
2 To witness a Cambridge-Oxford boat-race.

1872.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 103
assistance of a mounted policeman who preceded us
and jostled everybody out of our privileged way,
we reached the Cedars, the property of Mr. Philips,
a brewer, which lies at the very end of the race
course. The tricolor floating at the side of the
Queen's standard and those of the Prince of Wales
and of Denmark announced to the populace that we
had arrived. The house makes an effort at elegance
and succeeds in being at least very comfortable and
rich. It was abundantly supplied with ladies and
' swells.' Everybody ate to pass the time. People
eat in this country as naturally as they twirl their
thumbs elsewhere. The wait lasted two hours :
everybody ate and drank for two hours by way of
getting ready for the final luncheon. Negroes whose
black was not proof against the rain executed mu
sical and epileptic marches. The crowd laughed its
loud laugh and forgot how slowly the time passed.
It snowed incessantly. Suddenly everybody pushed
everybody else and closed ranks ; the signal had
been given four miles away, and I braved the frost,
too, with the rest of them and shinned up the garden,
wall. The distant roar of a rising tide reached us,
increased, drew nearer ; hats were waved on the
stockades and as the boats pulled up to the shore.
As yet I did not see anything except some pigeons
that were loosed; they soared away carrying the
report of the race at four hundred three hun
dred and two hundred metres distance from the
goal, to the four corners of Great Britain, nay,
even to Greater Britain, for the telegraph wires
were awaiting them. At last the first crew hove in

104 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1872.
sight ; I fancied I saw a little line of light-blue on
the water — it was Cambridge. The deep blue fol
lowed it three lengths behind, and was gaining evi
dently. The Oxford crew had been disorganized
some days before by the illness of one of its oars
men, who had to be replaced by a man not in train
ing ; and so the betting was two to one in favor of
Cambridge. The light-blue came in first — but none
too soon : it was but one length ahead. And then
cheers, flourish of trumpets, and pigeons in more
senses than one. But attention to the water!
There were other, more formidable craft coming.
It was the City that headed the little fleet of
steamers ; twenty of them followed her, whistling,
pouring out smoke, blowing off steam, to try and
avoid smashing the frail skiffs about them. Already
the victors were returning in the midst of frantic
cheers ; it must be admitted, though, that the dark-
blues who followed them were not less cheered. A
magnificent luncheon was awaiting them — victors
and vanquished alike — at our host's. We were not
able to wait for it, and launched ourselves into the
chaos of vehicles with one, two, three, four, five
horse.s. Our privilege went for nothing in a regular
" block." We had to have patience. Our ears were
greeted with the sound of a trumpet, with which
the coachman of a four-horse omnibus whiled away
his time by producing noises fit to make a dog howl.
The coachman of a four-wheeler, with a typical
rubicund face, made sententious little remarks with
a truly magnificent indifference under the melting
snow. Another person profited by the occasion to

1872.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 105
demand a radical reformation of Parliament ! — and
I distinguished by the intonations of a fourth that he
was preaching his religion. I ought to add that
nobody went back on his colors, and that the deep-
blue Oxford ribbons had not disappeared from the
whips, nor the button-holes, nor hats. From the top
of society to the bottom everybody takes part in
this contest ; the wretchedest enter into it with
as much passion as the blessed of the earth who go
to see their sons, or the representatives and inheritors
of their ancient university-rivalries, contend. It is
not only in its political struggles, it is also in its
games, in its national passions, that English society
is divided, as has been said, not by horizontal but
by vertical sections. London, March 23, 1872.
Sir Charles Dilke^ being about to renew his at
tack on the Queen's civil list, I found a full house
at Parliament. The members even flocked into the
diplomatic gallery, where they were indistinguish
able from the more polite gathering of their hosts,
except by the privilege of wearing their hats and of
shouting : " Hear ! hear 1 " or other expression of
their sentiments. It was a case of legitimate reci
procity — I have myself occupied the upper gal
leries reserved to the members of Parliament, but
always with my hat off.
1 One of the Members for Chelsea.
2 " The sittings of Parliament during that session," writes M. Ga
vard in his notes, " took up a regular portion of my time. -When
ever the bulletin-boards at the clubs announced an interesting sit
ting, I was as regular, either before dinner or afterwards, in my at
tendance as if the party whips had come to my house to rout me out."

106 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1872.
Dilke had time to say all he wanted to ; he talked
an hour and a half without a pause, without a sigh,
without an " Alas !" or a " Halloo!" from the House.
It left it to Mr. Gladstone to express its sentiments.
The placidity with which the chief of the cabinet
had, during the adjournment, passed over the at
tacks directed against the Crown by the member for
Chelsea before the Newcastle workmen, was no
longer the fashion after the Prince of Wales's illness
and the striking manifestations of loyalty on the
part of the nation. Mr. Gladstone found accord
ingly a flood of eloquence in which to confound the
imprudent aggressor against the Throne ; he dem-
monstrated the errors the so-called instructor of the
people had made in his figures, and brought out
finally into sharp contrast this counting of pennies
and farthings — this appeal to the smallest of our
passions, and the grandeur of the institution, the
services of v/hich Sir Charles Dilke alone failed to
recognize. The House went farther in its disappro
bation ; it lost, as it sometimes (not often) does, its
patience. When Mr. Oberon Herbert,-^ brother of
Lord Carnarvon, rose to second the motion of Sir
Charles Dilke, it refused to hear him. The scene
was perfectly comic ; both sides struggled for more
than an hour with an equal obstinacy. Mr. Herbert
had barely uttered the sacramental word : " Mr.
Speaker," before cries of : " Divide ! divide ! di
vide ! " — Aux voix, as we should say — v/ere heard
on all sides. Economizing accordingly his powers,
and adapting his efforts to the length of the struggle
1 Son of the third Earl Carnarvon.

«872.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 107
he knew he was engaging in, the orator gave out his
words syllable by syllable ; each of them raises a
tempest of cries ; but as nobody can yell continu
ously without losing breath, and the instant the noise
subsided, the imperturbable speaker, his hands in
his pockets, pronounced another syllable and the
tumult began again. The youngest members of the
party being the ones who did the shouting, distinct
ive cries of animals soon became predominant in
the chorus.
The Speaker assisted sadly at this " match," to
which custom forbade him to put an end. When
those who were making the interruption perceived
that they could not tire out an adversary who drew
on his resources so sparingly, they had recourse to
divers legal ruses that are permissible. All at once
a member rose and said with the utmost coolness
that he did not believe there was a quorum present.
He may affirm that there are not forty members
present, in the face of more than five hundred of
them who are suffocating with indignation and rais
ing a rumpus that can be heard within the walls of
Westminster No matter ; what he says has to be
verified — it is the custom. The Speaker rises and
begins to count with his hat ; but — a miracle ! —
everybody has disappeared — through the doors per
haps, or under the benches ! Still, the matter is in
doubt ; there has to be a regular count. Thanks to
the government, which must keep its seat, the forty
are there. The crowd reappears like a resurrection
of the dead and the fight begins all over again. At
the end of some minutes recourse is had to the

Io8 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1872.
same expedient ; the trick had been ill-done before,
they hope to play it better. Vain hope ! — the forty
are still there. From that time on the victory of
the unconquerable speaker is assured ; the only con
cern now is to deprive him of the advantages that
come from giving his words publicity. Some mem
ber accordingly rises and calls the Speaker's atten
tion to the fact that there are strangers present ;
and the Speaker, who up to that moment had not
observed our presence in the gallery and the pres
ence of the journalists above his head, orders us to
be asked to go out. The ladies, more fortunate than
we, are permitted to remain because technically they
are not in the hall, being separated from it by a screen.
Thanks to this happy and transparent fiction they
remained ; and it was no doubt through them that
the public learned this morning the issue of this
Homeric struggle of one against many. It is true
that the one had the right on his side.
London, April 2, 1872.
The absence of the ministry and of all possible
intermediaries, obhges me to sit with my hands
folded. What a mistake it is to believe that Eng
land is aland of business ! They are country people
who come to town to rush through public affairs in
the intervals of their hunting-parties and their sports.
They maintain here only a temporary lodging and
when they are in town are solely preoccupied with
making the machine go faster, so that they may get
back to their pleasures in the country. Also you
ought to see how public business is done !

1872.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 109
Here is a remark of my chancellor worthy of his
tory. I had just reduced an expense : " That is a
bad precedent," he said—" it is an economy."
We passed the day at Crystal Palace. It is the
temple of vulgarity, the utter negation of every idea of
art and of good taste. They have gathered together
the cream of the masterpieces of the entire world,
and made of them the most sickening collection
conceivable ; and more than that, to make them
shine, they wash them at least once a year. They
have so encumbered the gigantic structure that you
might well think yourself in Madame Tussaud's
bazar. It was " people's day " ; the people had
come to eat there — it seems the people eat better
there than elsewhere. The public is worthy of the
palace. How homely the race is, on holidays, when
the Saxon strain comes to the surface ! My young
friend was much amused by it all, and in especial
by a menagerie that we ran across between the Al
hambra and an Egyptian temple. A black panther
and a handsome lion, who wanted to eat their neigh
bor, a camel, excited our admiration. London, April 12, 1872.
Yesterday I wrote a long letter to the Minister,
after my conversation with Lord Granville. Then I
hastened back to Parliament, where I was much di
verted by the spectacle of the divisions. When the
House is in committee there is no Speaker, the
mace is under the table, there are no long speeches,
they vote often. One side cries : " Aye ! " the other
follows with " No," which they call out all the

1 1 0 A DIPLOMA T IN LONDON. [1872.
louder because they are in a minority. As the re
sult is regularly contested, the " ayes " go out at
one door and the " noes " at another, and then the
tellers presently return and bow, and I fancy an
nounce the result together. London, April 25, 1872.
Yesterday at four o'clock we turned out in a cos
tume neither one thing nor the other — black coats,
colored cravats, and patterned pantaloons, but with
orders and decorations on, and the ladies in toilet to
match. We were going to Buckingham Palace ; the
guests numbered two or three hundred — a select
party. Musicians in livery were stationed on the
right — the conservatory, or its equivalent. They
might have played whatever they hked, for there was
nobody to hear them. In the central salon were a
sentimental tenor, the piano, Mme. Schumann, the
royal family seated in hierarchic order ; it did not
occur to any one to laugh. Vast sideboards stood in
one or two adjoining rooms ; the air is biting in this
country, and you have to eat in self-defense.
The Queen moved about among the ranks of her
subjects ; the long habit of royalty has given her an
air of dignity, but custom has done more for her
than nature. Everybody stood with their heads
bowed a bit, as in church ; she stopped from time to
time, and said a few words which will be treasured
up and handed down from generation to generation.
She held out her hand — not to" me — that would have
been an historical event — but with marked gracious-
ness to a sort of pagoda at my side. I thought it was

1872.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. m
an old rajah of India — it was the Countess Beacons
field. Behind her stood Lothair, Conningsby, the
Jew, Dizzy, sepulchral as always in his old-fashioned
costume of " Young England " ; there is a sugges
tion of oriental tinsel in his painted face. He is not
amusing except when he is baiting Gladstone.
The last effort of art after, or rather between, the
two bands of music, was the introduction of two
Scotch pifferari, armed with double or triple flutes.
They blew on them fit to burst — the dogs are gifted
in the matter of lungs. They came and went in great
irregular strides, and blew eternally. It was as much
as one's life was worth to listen to them.
We are going to witness the Queen of Prussia's
visit next week. The prospect of meeting her is a
painful one. London, May 2, 1872.
The telegraph informs us that M. Harcourt has
been nominated.^
Colonel Anson is in a bad way ; he has ruptured
a blood-vessel in his chest ; it looks as if there were
small chance for his life. He is a splendid fellow —
the best I have met in England — and congenial as
can be. Mrs. Vernon stays continually with her
friend. Vernon insists on taking his wife to Nor
way for the fishing. " The breezes," he says, " are
so good for people with delicate chests."
Yesterday evening, prima sera, that is to say, at
eleven o'clock, we went to Lady Jersey's — the
1 The Due de Broglie had handed in his resignation as ambassa
dor; his place was filled by Comte Bernard d'Harcourt, of the
ducal branch of that family.

112 A DIPLOMA T IN LONDON. [1872.
daughter of Sir Robert Peel. There I met a lady who
classified my acquaintances for me — into those who
sing and those who dance. " Whom do you meet
at her house ? — Nobody but the mob — you never
see a Tory there ! " "I saw Lord Derby there."
"Do you call him a Tory?" For the rest : It is
an odd sort of person that can visit Rome without
finding herself edified—vexed that she met none
but Piedmontese in society. One might have had
some talk in this salon if there had been time, but
we had to break off in the middle and hasten away
to Gladstone's. London, May 9, 1872.
The King of Belgium presided at the banquet for
the Royal Literaiy Fund. He acquitted himself of
this task (a new one for a sovereign) with great
good grace and with applause from an aristocr-atic
and^ literary company, who were doubly flattered by
the compliments they received as being from the
mouth of royalty and in their own native tongue.
The Belgian endowment necessarily defrayed the
expense of the compliments and felicitations that
were exchanged ; but the name even of France did
not figure in Mr. Disraeli's dissertation, nor in the
reply made by the grandson of Louis-Philippe.
Musurus, who wishes to make himself agreeable
at the Embassy, testified his surprise at not having
met me at the banquet. I replied : " I cannot be
surprised that France's representative was forgotten
in making out the invitations, when France herself
was forgotten at the banquet."
That was a witticism. So much the worse ;

IS? 2.] A DIPL OMA T IN L OND ON. 1 1 3
diplomatists ought not to pass for wits. But I was
angry at the King of Belgium. London, May 14, 1872.
Yesterday evening I v/as presented to the Em
press-Queen : ^ it took place in pubhc at Prussia
House. There was a crowd of kings and princes
about her. A great silence fell when I appeared.
The Queen, who talks capitally, does not pause
even while her auditor is being changed ; the con
versation flows on from one to the other without
period or comma. She expressed to me a keen
regret at not having m.et the Due de Broglie, whom
she had long desired to know ; she had been to
Coppet expressly for that purpose. " Madam, I
will convey your regrets to him." Then she com
plained of the bad weather and the rain. " Madam,
the rain will smooth the sea for your Majesty's
passage." Thus ended this memorable interview.
That indeed was an occasion to beware of wit, and I
conducted myself with accomplished stupidity.
The only amusing thing was a group of musicians
at the foot of the stairs, who performed after the
manner of a leaky tap : drop by drop, a distillation
of discord. London, May 25, 1872.
Yesterday I bathed all day in verdure ; nothing
can equal the coolness, the brightness, the harmony
of tone of the English landscape — product of the
fog though it be, and in especial when it shines, as
it sometimes does, beneath the sun. Everywhere
1 The Empress of Germany came to make a visit to England.
8

114 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1872.
you find trees of extraordinary age and vigor, with
magnificent wide-sweeping branches, and under
neath them a carpet of green — green on green ; and
the whole stretches away in gentle undulations on
every side to the horizon, and at your feet flows the
silver Thames. I was not more than twenty miles
from London, from its smoke and noise — I should
have thought it was two hundred. What repose !
The trees and the air were full of bird-notes of all
kinds — a pastoral symphony ; few houses were in
sight and fewer inhabitants. A great farm,that brings
in twenty thousand francs a year, seems to run
itself ; a portable engine does all the work — labors,
sows, mows, reaps, chops, beats, gathers in the
crops. All they have to do is to change the acces
sories from time to time and let it go its way. The
farmer is a respectable gentleman in a high-hat ; his
wife sits in the parlor with a flower-stand full of
flowers before her window. Books from the circu
lating library lie on the table, a piano stands in the
back of the room, and there are young misses in the
family with rodent-teeth. I don't say that a bit
more stubble, a few more familiar, disorderly chick
ens, and oxen in the yoke — a little less correctness
and tidiness everywhere — would not have added to
the picturesqueness of it all. Oh ! — who will give
me back the country in which the good Lord's
beasts are at home !
My hosts, who are very agreeable, have taken
refuge in a little " box " that they occupy some few
days only in the year — a featureless little structure,
composed of odds and ends, without antiquity or

'872.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 115
character, and with a garden cut bodily out of the
fields which stretch away as for as the eye can
see. I found Hayward there — brevet-story-teller,
the middleman for all people interested in politics,
the diplomatist's Providence. Also Beauheu,i who
read me the humorous letters he had written to
amuse the Prince of Wales ; Lord Norreys ^ and
his wife (the husband changed his faith to marry
her) ; Borthwick ^ of the Morning Post (he married a
Clarendon and is a fine-looking fellow, open-minded,
cultivated, and agreeable) ; a certain Seymour, M. P.;
and I forget the others at table. I talked a good
deal with Fortescue about our common friends, the
Princes, whose portraits, it seems, are scattered up
and down his part of the country. La Smalah was
there also. He seemed to be more than a little an
noyed at the position of the ministry. The Whigs,
the commissioners say, indisputably convict Glad
stone of erroneous assertions. There never was such
fumbling in England nor such a disposition to con
tinue in it. Gladstone had promised to stay and
keep a sharp lookout, and there he is in Wales.
London, May 28, 1872.
The weather yesterday was fine, but there is no
thing to rejoice the heart in seeing society turned up-
sidedown. It was a fete-day in all senses. Lots of
false noses and false beards were sold for those who
1 Minister for Belgium.
2 Future Earl Abingdon.
8 Baronet in 1880 and M. P. Lady Borthwick was a sister, and a
niece of Earl Clarendon.

1 16 A DIPLOMA T IN LONDON. [1872.
for this once wanted to get drunk, but were ashamed
of it. Everybody drank and ate till their cheeks
puffed out. The great luxury is to eat in your
carriage — to stuff yourself in the presence of the
staring crowd, who gather up or steal the crumbs.
The space left free by the horses and carriages is
filled with flying sticks and arrows ; so much the
worse for you, if you run foul of one of their national
games. As for shooting, they are obliged practice
it in a big tube. There is less merit in hitting the
mark, but it is not so dangerous. I say nothing of
the horses and the betting. Perched up on the third
story on the roof of the great tribunal, I got but a
" bird's-eye " view, but the space set apart for the
sport was even bigger than the crowd. In this rather
brief account of Derby Day, I ought not to forget
the myriads of tents that cover the plain and the
hill — rags attached to four poles and flying in the
wind. Beside them the raggedest and dirtiest out
growths of the mud of London, calling out to all the
passerby : " Accommodation, very good accom
modation ! " — the very triumph of English decency
and you enter the appointed inclosure in the very
midst of gentlemen and ladies at dinner on top of
their coaches I
We started home before the end — it was one
great orgie of drunkenness that we left behind.
London, June 2, 1872.
The Washington treaty, I believe, is on the water,
and the ministry at the bottom of the sea; but
what chance is there of forming another ? Mr. Dis-

1872.] A DIPLOMA T IN LONDON. 1 17
raeli aptly compared Gladstone and his colleagues
on the government benches to a row of extinct
volcanoes. The other side, however, are in no hurry.
Lord Derby has formally declared that he and his
friends are waiting for the countiy to make some
more decisive sign ; he has no notion of putting
himself at the mercy of the radicals, and of being
obliged to do their will in order to keep himself in
power. It is a pity that his bfearing is so heavy and
so odd — that his speech is so embarrassed and his
words so far from " winged." One can imagine a
country gentleman being like that, but not the
son of Lord Derby. His programme of patient,
effective opposition is a good deal more grateful to
the party in office than to the conservatives.
Mr. Gladstone makes some of them uneasy by
his daring spirit, by his enthusiasm and imprudences
of speech ; he offends others by the haughtiness or
the clumsiness of his proceedings and by the abuses
of power in which he seems to delight. I ought to
add that whenever I listen to him, I fall under the
spell of his easy, rich, undulating eloquence, of his
harmonious voice, of his beautiful clear enuncia
tion, of his elocution and quick eye which roves
among his auditors without his attention to what he
is saying lapsing for a moment. But I find great
difficulty in following his thought through all its
wanderings, its incidents, its obscurities ; and I ask
myself sometimes if he is always capable of following
it himself.
Yesterday evening the " uniforms " dined.^ Mine
1 Dinner at Lord Granville's.

1x8 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1872.
sat between that of the Minister of the Shah of
Persia (who amused me by proving that with its
obligatory ministry service and the poor-rates in
England the Occident is becoming Mussulman !), and
that of General Cust, the chamberlain, a very
pleasant man well on in years, full of sympathy for
France and appreciating at their just value the
Comte de Paris and the Due d'Aumale. A piece
by Offenbach and the popping of corks embroidered
our conversation. The dinner was not long. The
beautiful Lady Castalia then appeared in all her
brilliancy and grace and a draught of air was pro
vided for her bare shoulders. During the evening
Count Bernstorf honored me by hunting me out,
and explained to me all his " decorations," one of
which Bismarck is without. A friend in the Foreign
Office showed me a secret stairway by which I was
enabled to make my escape — the main stairway
being occupied by the assaulting columns of the
mob. It was thus made possible for me to reach
Stafford House, the Duke of Sutherland's home, a
little before midnight.
Ah ! what a stairway ! I did not have time to
form an opinion on the architecture, but what plate !
— it is more than royal ! And with it all a duchess
who must be more beautiful than the house she
inhabits. The possessor of all these treasures when
he mounts that stairway (it is wide enough to accom
modate a battalion) may well think that all men are
not equal. The great apartments were not open,
so I did not see their three thousand pictures ; but
as far as I could judge at a glance there were below

1872.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 115
Stairs some half-a-million francs' worth of daubs,
portraits, water-colors, lithographs, ornamented with
frames, of great value no doubt, but I could not
see them distinctly and simply walked through, to
arrive at Mr. Gladstone's at half-an-hour past mid
night. What are we coming to ! It was Sunday,
and there were still twenty-odd people there — all
diplomats it is true.^
Bitracts from tbe flotes,
THE NEGOTIATION FOR THE TREATY OF COMMERCE.
Count Bernard d'Harcourt reached London the
7th of June to replace the Due de Broglie. He left,
dismissed, the 9th of August. On the morning of
the day following M. Ozenne arrived with instruc
tions from the president relative to opening negoti
ations at London, for a treaty of commerce. There
had been some talk about it ever since the close
of 1871. M. Thiers was tormented with the idea of
freeing us from the odious treaties of i860, and of
creating at the same time, by a tax on raw materials,
a source of income we needed to pay the interest on
our ransom. The moment the chamber gave him
the necessary authority, he did not hesitate to make
use of it. March 15th, 1872, he announced that
1 From June to October there is a break in the correspondence.
M. Gavard's family being at that period v/ith him, there was no
occasion for him to write. From the month of August on, he was
especially busied, as the reader will see, in negotiating a treaty of
commerce, a ticklish affair that he had not lost sight of since his
arrival in London.

120 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1872.
the treaties would be in force but one year longer
—till, that is, March 15th, 1873. I shall not enter
into the details of the negotiations which followed,
except so far as may be necessary for a proper un
derstanding of the comedy which was played be
tween London and Paris in the months of August,
September and October, and in which I was one of
the principal actors. I call it a comedy, because all
our labors, though crowned for the moment with
success, bore no fruit, and because the only interest
ing thing about it all is the light it throws on cer
tain characters.
There was no notion at first of giving me, any
more than the Due de Broglie, a role to play ; it was
M. Thiers's personal affair. Nobody else, we thought,
could bring it to a successful issue ; he needed
nothing but a devoted instrument. M. Ozenne
accordingly arrived in London as a direct emana
tion from the brain of M. Thiers, with authority to
pass as well over the head of the ambassador at
London as over that of the Minister of Foreign
Affairs at Paris.
The instructions that M. Ozenne brought with
him were full of misconceptions. England was to
be asked to renew the treaty of i860, augmenting
certain duties on the score of protecting home in
dustries, and • increasing the taxes relative to all
manufactured articles on the score of compensation
for the duties on raw materials ; the new arrange
ment to take effect at once, before the legal expira
tion of the treaty in 1873.
I was well acquainted with the ground ; I had

1872.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 121
studied it long since, and I knew what we should
have to contend with in the English Government :
A strong disposition to preserve the treaties of i860,
and at the same time to permit us to straighten out
our finances ; but also a firm resolution not to run
foul of the Cobden Club nor of its principles ; so
much for Mr. Gladstone. Lord Granville and Sir
Charles Fortescue would be faithful besides to cer
tain political considerations. It would be on the
side of the Chancellor of the Exchequer^ that we
should have least to expect ; hostile though he was on
principle to treaties of commerce, a cold friend to
France, and determined not to enter into new en
gagements that would hamper him in his projects.
As to the country, it looked on the whole thing with
great distrust, convinced that any proposition com
ing from MM. Thiers and Povyer-Quertier must
mask some evil design. And against them we had
only the great ship-owners in the great ports, who
were desirous to regain the former privileges al
lowed by France to English vessels not trading
" directly." On the other hand, the delicate matters I had
already been obliged to treat of had established a
regular correspondence and a mutual confidence be
tween M. de R^musat and myself. I did not hesi
tate therefore to say to him : " If you want not to
abolish but to preserve the treaty of i860 and the
principles on which it rests, facilitating for our
government the collection of its new imports; if
you want, in a word, certain purely fiscal modifica-
1 Hon. R. Lowe.

122 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1872.
tions, and if you are disposed at the same time to
free the British marine from the sort of discrimina
tion that it labors under at the present moment, I
guarantee success for you. But if you have at
heart secretly or overtly any protectionist project,
you had better give it up." M. R^musat imme
diately agreed with me ; but it took more than one
despatch and more than one trip on the part of M.
Ozenne to induce the president to adopt these
ideas. At first it was felt that I was taking rather a high
tone, for a charge d'affaires pro tem; but before
the end of a month I was complimented on the
new turn I had given the negotiation. M. de R6-
musat wrote me that the president had been much
struck by my official and private correspondence,
and had testified his satisfaction. From this
moment on I received nothing but felicitations and
encouragements to go ahead. I certainly had my
day with M. Thiers during his sojourn at Trouville ;
rumors of it reached me from all sides ; it was I
who prevented the Emperor's descending upon
France ; it was I who hurried off Her Majesty's
ships of war to the coast of the British channel
to salute the president, etc. ; and what was nearer
the truth, it was I who managed the negotiation of
the Treaty. Having succeeded in getting them to
withdraw all pretensions to a protectionist amend
ment and to restrict the negotiation to the purely
fiscal clauses, I undertook to have the question of
principle separated from the question of its apphca-
tion.

1872.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 123
I recognized perfectly the difficulty there would
be in reaching an agreement on the determination
of the taxes destined as compensation for the duties
on raw materials only, in especial if interested
parties were given time to express their opinions ;
nor was I unaware how long such an undertaking
would naturally be in reaching a conclusion — loss of
time meant to us loss of all that we were striving
for. The nearer we approached March 15th, 1873,
the less there was for England to concede to us,
since at that time we should in any event recover our
liberty. I threw my weight into the scales and
showed M. R^musat that we needed a renewal of
the treaty, for our own sakes, and also for its moral
effect on Europe, politically and commercially.
Probably my reasons were found good, for, after
having consented to the suspension of the protec
tionist clauses, they agreed also to disjoin the ques
tion of principle from the question of the application
of the principle. It was understood that the treaty
should consecrate the principle of compensating
duties, reserving the determination of them to a
meeting at Paris immediately after the completion
of the signature.
The negotiation was not a month old before the
necessity was felt of coming to my aid and of giving
more weight to my words. I was officially desig
nated as First Plenipotentiary of France, and my full
powers were sent me the 13th of September at the
same time with those of M. Ozenne. For me it was
a great honor. M. de Rdmusat confided to me one
day that some one had said to him that the British

124 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1872.
government was waiting till we should send some
considerable personage over to sign the treaty —
more considerable even than the ambassador. It was
nothing of the sort. Lord Granville, who appre
ciated my frankness and the spirit with which I had
pushed the affair, was very happy publicly to testify
his feeling about me, in signing the treaty with me ;
he has said so to me since and has repeated it pub
licly. The difficulty was about signing with M.
Ozenne, whose hierarchic position in the French
administration was not covered by his being a mem
ber of the diplomatic corps ; still Lord Granville
passed over that, and was gracious enough to say to
me that it was for me to manage the signature to
suit myself. I should give no just idea of the diffi
culties, not even of the mechanical difficulties, of
the task I had undertaken, if I omitted to say that
in the months of August, September and October
there was nobody in London, and in especial no
member of the Cabinet. It is true that Mr. Ken
nedy, whom Lord Granville had expressly desig
nated as his middleman, was there ; and I ought to
say that it was to this appointment and to the
intelligence and good-will of Mr. Kennedy that we
in the main owed our success ; but Mr. Kennedy's
presence did not prevent my corresponding directly
with the members of the Cabinet. My letters pur
sued Lord Granville to Walmer Castle, Mr. Glad
stone to Hawarden, the Hon. Fortescue to Shew-
ton-Mendip. Mr. Gladstone's replies were as cloudy,
as obscure, as his drafts for treaties ; those of Lord
Granville were short but conclusive ; and Fortes-

1872.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 125
cue's and Lady Waldegrave's were veritably perfect ;
it was not for nothing that I had made use of the
names of the Orleans' Princes to gain this con
fidence. While we were thus making every effort to come
to an agreement on the renewal of the treaty of
i860, the three Emperors met at Berlin, and the
representatives of England, no more than those of
France, had been invited to be present at this inter
view. I insisted at some length to Lord Granville
that the absentees should profit by the occasion to
come to an understanding with one another, and
should unite two nations on the basis of material
interest as a parallel to the embraces the three
potentates were exchanging behind closed doors. I
caused this thesis to be developed also in the news
papers, which bore their part in the negotiation. I
was and I am convinced that, if one wants to man
age any business properly in England, he must, at
the same time that he addresses the government,
negotiate directly with public opinion through the
press and through members of Parliament or of the
Chambers of Commerce, if there be at issue any
question which concerns them. I have never neg
lected this device, and have always found the good
of it, both in 1872 and later in 1875, with the Con
servative Cabinet.
We have reached at last the critical period of the
affair. The end of October was approaching and
we had to come to some conclusion. Unhappily,
the nearer we approached the limit of our time, the
less distinctness there was in the directions that

126 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1872.
came from Paris. There was nothing but discussion
at headquarters, which waxed all the hotter, that
nobody dared go to the bottom of things and show
the president that he was contradicting himself ; he
seemed to have forgotten the concessions that at
the outset he had made. Poor M. Ozenne was at
the end of his tether ; he came back to me com
pletely worn out. Happily, my letters proved a
sufficient voucher of what had been said, and I went
ahead with no other care than to conquer or to
perish. On the 24th of October I was of opinion that we
had reached the psychological moment. On the
one hand M. Ozenne had brought me from Paris
an order to change our position, to bring to the
front once more the stipulation for a time-limit that
we had theretofore put aside, contrary to my advice.
But it was too late to retrace our steps, even for the
purpose of bettering the conditions of the treaty.
I had observed that Lord Granville had been much
shaken by its being found out in England that,
with or without a treaty, we should not be able to
discriminate against England, either as regards her
marine or her commerce ; I had been warned by a
sure friend (Lady Waldegrave) that we must close
the matter up promptly and give Lord Granville no
pretext for backing out. A pretext for backing out
was precisely what I should have given him, if I
had followed my instructions and gone at the last
moment to propose an alteration in the draft already
made. The English Government would have been
certain to suspect some hidden purpose on our part,

1872.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 127
and all the more so that there existed in reality
nothing of the kind. The truth is, that the govern
ment at Paris had not taken account of the fact
that the guaranty of favorable treatment secured
indirectly for our treaty (because of the existing
arrangement between England and Austria) precise
ly the same degree of permanence that I was order
ed to secure for it directly by a special stipulation.
I announced at Paris that I had postponed com
municating the new propositions, and I stated my
reasons for doing so. Mr. Gladstone aspires to be
the leader of the " free-trade " party, now that Cobden
no longer holds that position ; he considers himself
the guardian of commercial liberty, not only in Eng
land, but everywhere. He feels therefore that he
has made a great sacrifice in giving his approval
to our proposition for a levy of " compensating "
duties. From the moment that he agreed to allow
those duties to be collected the enemies of the treaty
on both sides of the Channel have left no stone un
turned that could make him feel more keenly the
responsibility he has incurred.
They have represented to him that without the
treaty with England we could not hope for success
in a single one of our negotiations with other powers ;
while, on the other hand, if we approach them with
his approval the other powers cannot show them
selves severer guardians of the principles of " free
trade " than England has done. They reproached
him with his assent as an act of foolishness and an
abandonment of his principles. They say, in every
conceivable form of expression, that he is preparing

128 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1872.
the way for the ultimate triumph of the economic
theories that, but for his desertion, M. Thiers would
have tried in vain to bring into recognition. Finally,
I have reason to believe that a certain pressure now
being brought to bear by foreign powers has not
been without effect in lessening the good-will that
England manifested so patently in our favor after
the success of the loan and of the congress at Ber
lin. I am alarmed lest the prime minister, mani
festly restless as he is, under the responsibility he
assumed when he accepted our overture, should
jump at the chance of distinguishing himself, con
sidering it a safe course in Parliament to say that he
had at first consented to the proposal and then with
drawn his consent before a too tardy acceptance.
In the eyes of the world the treaty is an accom
plished fact ; the terms are known, and the two
governments no longer try to hide their accord. If
the thing falls through we cannot avoid misunder
standings, publicity, and indignant recriminations,
which will have the worst possible effect on the
relations of the two countries. Public opinion,
which is ruled by commercial interests, will rise
blindly, and, in the name of free trade, the govern
ment and the public will join in a regretable hos
tility to France and to the government of M. Thiers.
It is to conjure away this result that I insisted on a
return to the propositions to which I was authorized,
on October i8th, to give in our assent.
I waited tranquilly for the effect of these observa
tions. Telegrams began to arrive the night of the
26th. The president announced that he was send-

i872.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 129
ing M. Am^ ; the minister, too, had sent a courier
with an envelope from the president. The next
day, Monday, brought me nothing but the regrets
of M. de R^musat, who wondered if it would not have
been better to cany on the negotiations at Paris. I
repeated my messages. At three o'clock there came
a telegram from the president : " I ordered M. Am6
to leave yesterday evening, and am indignant that
he has delayed his departure. In matters as grave
as these one sacrifices one's personal affairs, at no
matter what cost." Then he continued enjoining
me to yield and sign. This injunction, along with
other matters in cipher, was repeated a number of
times. The English government was, for the rest,
as determined as I was. At seven o'clock in the
evening the courier arrived a good first. He brought
a note from the president running : " Sign ! Sign ! "
Also a letter from M. de Rdmusat which was excel
lent, cordial, and unmistakably plain : " Put the
thing through at any price, and good luck to you !
I sympathize heartily with you in your anxiety."
M. de Pontecoulant also had been charged to tell me
that I was counted on to save the negotiation from
falling through. At last, about nine o'clock, M.
Am6 appeared. He had lost his trunks, had secured
no quarters at the hotel, and was no better informed
than M. Ozenne in regard to the telegrams of the day.
From this point on my sole anxiety was not to sign
the papers on the 2d of November, which was All
Souls' Day. M. Ozenne was ready to sign at any
time, so as to have done with it, but happily, M.
Thiers understood my feelings. We were, however,
9

130 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1872.
obliged to work continuously to be ready by the
5th. It was necessary, even at the Foreign Office, to
work on Sunday to get the papers ready. Such a
thing had never before been heard of, and the ven
erable Mr. March, chief of the special service (who
violated the Sabbath), dying some weeks afterward,
I was accused of being the cause of his decease.
On the 5th the treaty was signed at the Foreign
Office at three o'clock. Lord Granville accompanied
his signature with many gracious expressions, and
in an official letter emphasized the amicable inten
tions which had moved his government to accept the
new arrangement.
" For the one party," I wrote to M. de R^musat
"this is the treaty of i860 renewed, surviving the
Empire ; for the other, it is an opportunity to apply
the law in regard to raw materials." The same day
I sent a dispatch which supplied the minister with
an exposition of my motives. At his request I
wrote out for him once more some arguments
against the adversaries of the treaty : " It is im
portant that our government should not misunder
stand the magnitude of the sacrifice that the gov
ernment of the Queen feels that it has made for us.
It is only by being right on this point that we can
estimate justly the amount of good-will to us
which they have shown in agreeing to our proposi
tions, and which Lord Granville expressed in a way
not to be misunderstood when he wrote me the fol
lowing : ' I can assure you that the Queen's govern
ment has given, by its assent in this matter, the
gravest proof possible of its sincere desire (in the

1872.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 131
spirit of friendship toward France), to come to your
aid in the present circumstances.' It cannot be to
our interest to belittle such a testimonial."
M. de Remusat had not misunderstood the bear
ing of England's action in the matter; he proved
as much in a letter that he wrote me on the 7th
of November : " I have received to-day," he said,
"the text of the treaty and your dispatch of the
6th. ... I congratulate you on bringing to an is
sue a work in which you have taken so promi
nent a part. . . . The zeal and ability that you have
shown in this difficult negotiation have been re
marked by the President of the Republic, who asks
me to express to you his intense satisfaction. As
for myself, I can hardly express to you the value I
set upon the service you have rendered the state."
The rest was a review of the commercial and polit
ical importance of the treaty, etc., etc.
My task was done, my commission at an end, and
I was in a hurry to return to Paris, where I was in
demand in the discussion of questions of applica
tion, interpretation, etc.
It was at the time of this negotiation that I was
in greatest favor with M. Thiers. He sang my
praises so loudly, — a bit to enrage my superiors, —
that I was thought to be destined to the most ex
alted station. The entire administration of France
was put at my disposal. My influence was re
garded as such by M. de Remusat, that he sent for me
at different times to come to Paris and make head
against his terrible friend, who could hardly bear,
or rather, would not listen to contradiction. The

132 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1872.
trouble was about the application of the treaty of
the 5th of November. M. Thiers obstinately inter
preted an important clause in a way quite subver
sive of the declarations of the ministers from the
Tribune and of those who conducted the negotia
tions in England. The matter was discussed, in a
sort of special council, at Versailles, at which I was
present. M. de Remusat gave me the floor, en
couraging me by patting me on the back, to go
ahead. One day, when I became too pressing, a
regiment of cavalry happening to ride by, M. Thiers
opened the window and had them pass in review at
a distance, thus ending the discussion. At another
time, when I was speaking with conviction and with
pi^ce de conviction, he got up and went into his
office to look for a box of chocolates. When he came
back he filled my mouth with them, and thus once
more ended the discussion.
I believe that the courage with which I defended
my opinions did not displease him ; the more so
that I neglected no opportunity of redeeming my
professional frankness by compliments which were
the more graceful in that they were sincere. When
the conversation touched on internal politics, or on
people about whom we did not agree, I remembered
the passing regiment, and in my turn opened the
window to the militeriana. I had only to mention
a subject to set him talking endlessly, and it was
really a pleasure to hear him. I learned in this way
one evening the history of all the transformations
that the Roman army underwent. I had always
thought of it as homogeneous from the time of

1872.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 133
Romulus to the downfall of the Roman Empire;
but it passed, it seems, through as many radical re
forms as the French army has since there was a
French army ; in support of which very probable
thesis M. Thiers abounded in arguments. From
the army of Marius or of Caesar we passed to Marius
himself, to Caesar and to Pompey. " Cssar was an
ignoramus ; he knew nothing of the art of war, but
he was a genius ! Ah ! genius makes up for every
thing." From the ancients we passed on to the
moderns. " Turenne was the completest of war
riors ; in his person all the warlike virtues were
united. As for Napoleon, he was a genius — a mili
tary genius such as Providence has but twice sent
to this planet. What about our enemies ? They
have foresight. General von Moltke had universal
foresight, but not genius. Which would one choose
if one had to choose between the two ? After some
hesitation, M. Thiers voted for universal foresight.
Perhaps he was thinking of himself when he gave
this verdict. His talk was marvellously full of in
teresting details, and pithy, effective turns of phrase.
It all came back to me some time afterward, when I
heard M. Jules Simon deliver his eloquent speech
against the nature and extent of the marshal's
power. The orator touching on general considerations and
tracing the heroic portrait of the man of war, to con
trast with it the figure of Napoleon III at Sedan ;
I recognized the thought and even the words, and
told my neighbor that he was going to speak of
Turenne. M. Jules Simon had at least as good a

134 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1872.
memory as I. The long-range practice from the
batteiy at Montretout on another occasion stood
me in good stead. As the conversation turned on
questions that I did not wish to discuss with the
president, I found it much more agreeable to listen
to the history of the improvement he had brought
about in military tactics. I remember in especial
his vivid characterization of the " shell " as a loaded
mine, that saunters through the air and holding its
charge till it reaches the desired spot bursts, etc.,
etc. But it is not my design to set down here all the
treasures of learning, wit and eloquence he bribed
me with from time to time ; I wanted simply to ex
plain a bit my relations with him.
After the signing of the treaty of November, he
conferred on me the commander's cross, and sent
me to London with the same rank as before. I
could ask nothing better. I had done M. Thiers'
foreign policy good service ; I had contributed to
procure for him the moral success which, at the close
of 1872, after the notoriety given to this attempt to
come into closer relations with England, he could
not well have foregone ; I had helped him to antici
pate, at the beginning of his economic campaign, a
failure at London, which would not have given him
time to withdraw gracefully from his financial pro
jects. I had been therefore useful to him ; and he
had recompensed my services by an official testi
monial of his satisfaction. I regretted that our re
lations could not continue on the same footing ; but
I had never had the least idea of following his lead

1872.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 135
in politics. His political views were not mine —
never had been and never could be.

JEitracts from tbe CorresponDence.
London, September 14, 1872.
Have been watching the manoeuvring at Salis
bury-field. That sort of thing here is simply a form
of sport. They play at soldier from their play
grounds at school up to this great parade ground,
where Mr. Cardwell ^ has succeeded in getting to
gether thirty thousand men. The capital fact is the
presence of this civilian minister, to-day, acting-chief
of the army, taking his place at the side of the Prince
who is the official chief, and enduring with a patience
quite English, the little insults which neither the
princes nor the representatives of the military aris
tocracy spare him. The presence of the minister
signified that the army to-day belongs to the State,
that the privileges of the aristocratic close corpora
tion have given place to the law of the realm, the
traditional routine to the reforms commanded by
the new conditions of the art of war. I hesitate to
compare Mr. Cardwell to Louvois, and the timid
efforts of the one to the splendid creations of the
other. But it is at least evident that the English
minister of war, in his struggle to dispossess the aris
tocracy of its military appanage, has not been un
conscious of the great French military reformer.
And the comparison is far from displeasing to him I
1 -Viscount Cardwell in 1874 ; at the time referred to in the text,
minister of war.

136 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1872.
know, when it comes in the form of a delicate allu
sion. It is a far cry from the present state of things
to the time when honorary commands might be
offered to young men and refused by ambitious mam
mas on the ground that their sons were going in for
merit. London, October 25, 1872.
There is no one in London to talk with about
England's last misadventure in the San Juan Island
affair.^ At Geneva they levied a tribute on the Eng
lish ; at Berlin, they cut off a piece of her live flesh.
The Times said yesterday : " After all, if we do
lose the Island which commands England's posses
sions on the Pacific Coast there will be economy
in having one less garrison to keep up." They will
be able to make many economies of this kind be
fore long in Canada and elsewhere.
It was announced yesterday that the Russians
had entered Khiva, and were approaching British
India. The Times says, " So much the better — in
stead of having a turbulent and barbarous neighbor
we will have a civilized one, and the benefits that
come from intercourse with a great nation."
Yesterday's dinner at club was very interest
ing. Hayward, the celebrated Sumner,^ of the
American Senate, and Kingslake,* just back from
1 Referring to the decision of the German Emperor in favor of the
United States in the San Juan Island affair. The consequences
were serious for British Columbia and for England's interests on the
Pacific Coast. It was the result of Mr. Gladstone's faith in the
panacea of arbitration.
2 Senator Charles Sumner, a great orator.
' Kingslake, author of the History of the Crimean -War.

1872.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 13^
Berlin, took a table together. Sumner quoted from
memory and declaimed passages from all the great
English orators. Hayward rivalled him, supplied
him with missing words, recited in his turn, and
ended by saying, " I have heard them all ; Canning,
Peel, Plunkett, and best of all. Brougham."
London, November 10, 1872.
I attended yesterday a banquet at Guildhall. You
will remember the immense hall. We were received
in the new library, another structure of the same
immensity. We had to walk between two rows
of eager eyes, to the foot of the throne, where were
seated the king and queen of spades.-'
It was not until I was taking my place among
these high dignitaries that I discovered that every
one but myself was in uniform. Happily the other
republican, the chargd d'affaires of the United
States was also dressed in black. Republican man
ners, antique simplicity : I hope that this will stand
me in good stead with Barthelemy-St.-Hilaire.
I do not believe any one noticed it in the midst of
the crowd of twelve hundred guests. Suddenly the
trumpet sounded, — it was some minister arriving in
front of the building. Trumpets greeted him in every
room till he reached the foot of the throne. It is
a pity they were out of tune.
At last Granville appeared with the beautiful
Castalia, a blaze of diamonds. The procession
moved and we reached the banquet-hall full of tables.
Making the circuit of them we passed in review
1 The Lord Mayor and his Lady.

138 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1872.
before the ranks. At the end of the route we met
a minister of Honduras and of Spain. I breathed
easy again. But for them I would have been the
senior charges d' affaires and would have had to do
the talking.
At last we found our places. All the court took
places ; the toast-master, mounting a tribune back
of the Lord-Mayor. The Squires, Sheriffs, Mace-
bearers, and Chaplains to the right and left. A
kind of grace was said, in a matter-of-fact way, of
which the less said the better.
We took our seats opposite some tough cold
chicken, which (to have done once for all with the
menu) was the only dish I dared to touch.
The fete began at seven o'clock with God save
the Queen. The music unfortunately was insignif
icant, they ought to have had a Prussian orchestra
— Parlow's for example — and have played something
in the style of Wagner. Nevertheless the effect of
the hall was magnificent with Gog and Magog, the
old stained-glass windows, the platform with the
small arches, and the golden lights, the gigantic
marble statues of Pitt and of the other pillars of
English history. I saw two crimson-velvet chairs
and was wondering to myself who they were for,
when two cooks (they might have come out of
Rabelais) with frightful cutlasses got into them.
Whole beeves were put before them and they cut
Pantaguelistic slices with an absolute ferocity. I
think the beeves must have been make-believe for
none of the slices came our way, but it was all pict
uresque to the last degree. Then the speaking be-

1872-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 139
gan. " My Lords, and Ladies and Gentlemen, charge
your glasses ! " Toast followed toast in rapid suc
cession. Nuts were being cracked everywhere, and
at the bottom of the room, where nobody could
hear anything and every one was bent on being
heard, they let off fire-crackers. After the toasts,
came the hurrahs at a signal from the baton of the
" toast-master." There was a flourish of trumpets
before and afterwards which was echoed from the
table of honor in the zenith of the hall opposite,
where the orchestra was perched.
Every class and institution of English society was
toasted. The beneficiaries stood up to receive the
compliment. It was really funny to see the woollen-
wigs stand up in their red gowns. We were toasted
too, as " Gentlemen of the Diplomatic Corps," but
we all forgot to stand up, — my co-Republican, the
Belgian, the Spaniard and the Honduras ministers.
This unfortunate (the minister from Honduras) re
plied after refusing many times. He recited a little
speech an hour long, improvised some years since.
He had attached to it some so.rt of a panegyric, on
Gladstone, and, in effect, he made an ass of him
self. A sheriff sitting behind me said in an undertone :
" He would be more welcome if he could simply
announce to the assembly that Honduras was going
to pay her debt ! "
All danger was not over for me, and my heart
began to beat singularly when Granville came to the
treaty of commerce — it was the back-bone of his
argument. He began very gracefully by referring

140 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1872.
to " the most distinguished diplomatist," with whom
he had signed the treaty four days before. (Cheers).
It is all in the morning papers. It was my neigh
bors, the Misses Dakin, the co-Republican, and the
Spaniard who did the applauding ; as I said, it is all
in the morning papers and if the French papers copy
it pray heaven they won't forget the applause ! I
bowed my acknowledgments, — but think what a
hole I was in ! I had scarcely heard what Lord
Granville said, so occupied was I preparing a reply.
Fortunately, however, the toast-master did not ask
me if I would reply, and so my anxiety began to
relax. All this lasted until eleven o'clock. What a
splendid nation ! The chief honors were for the
new Lord Chancellor ; then for Lord Granville, — his
wife does him no harm.
I spare you the loving-cups, and the basin (pure
gold) of rose-water ; I've told you of that before.

A.D. 1873.
Eitracte from tbe Correspon&ence.
London, February 16, 1873.
The night of my arrival we had a memorable
meeting in Parliament. Mr. Gladstone spoke for
three hours in the House of Commons, and in a hall
opposite Lord Selborne held an interested assembly
for the same length of time. Mr. Gladstone was
explaining, with infinite art and skill, his project for
educational reform in Ireland — a beautiful topic —
the march of liberalism. It is probable that he will
go under with the question, and he knows it, but he
wishes to round his career off with a flourish, and
above all, to hand down the flourishing to his succes
sors. London, February 27, 1873.
It is snowing, there is half a foot on the ground
and a great deal more in the sky. This is the sort
of weather for Longfellow's Jeremiads. It is hard
for the poor people who have no fur wraps and who
must pay fifty shillings for coal this year, as against
twenty-five last year and fifteen the year before.
The old Dowager Duchess of Cleveland ¦• is an
original. I arrived at eight o'clock just ; and a
minute afterward the dinner was on the table, but
1 Dowager Duchess of Cleveland, bom in 1792. 141

142 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1873.
the guests came straggling in one after the other.
The dinner was amusing. The Duchess, who does
not see very well, asked me what they were serving
her, and I could not tell whether it was meat, vege
tables or fish ; but it was skates in browned butter, and
quite in the proper order. At the close she asked
for a special kind of knife to cut an apple. Lady
Bentinck was there with her daughter, who is very
beautiful, with blue eyes and blonde hair. Also my
young friend Lord Beresford of the 9th Lancers (a
regiment that has taken me into favor). After the
ceremony of passing the wine, the Duchess sent us
word that it was time to return to the drawing-
room. Everything went by the clock.
I made haste to talk to my beautiful neighbor, as
I wanted to know about this miss who was pink and
white, tall, and well-dressed. She had just come in
from the country that morning and was anxious to
return for the hunt. Three times a week at least
they are in the saddle, often from nine o'clock in the
morning till night fall, and enjoy it hugely. They
seldom overtake the fox, and indeed such can hardly
be said to be their object, which is rather to ride as
fast as possible and leap over all the obstacles in
their way. Her father puts eight horses at her dis
posal, which she mounts indifferently. There are
always from sixty to eighty people at the meet.
When they let the fox loose all rush forward with
out regard for each other, and they trample
over everything as naturally as you please. Rainy
weather is the best for the sport. As for accidents ;
there are none. It is much easier than you think to

•873-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 143
leap hedges, ditches and walls. Thus the other day
she sprang over a rather large ditch where the fox
doubled on his tracks ; as she was coming back she
saw her little sister, eleven years old, who had fol
lowed her over, turn and jump the ditch as well
as she could. She had an adventure lately that
caused some excitement. Two months ago she was
returning home with her father and they crossed an
inundated plain. The water was up to the horses'
breasts. Suddenly her horse disappeared in a ditch,
she under him. As she knew how to swim, she
soon reached a place where the water was up to her
chin. Her father leapt from his horse and joined
her ; but there they were, stuck in the mud, unable
to move. While a friend went to get them help,
one of the horses struggled a bit and then sunk be
fore their eyes. They shouted to a passing railway
train, but in vain. At last helpers came with ropes
and they were pulled out, after three-quarters-of-an
hours' cold bath in the month of December. That
evening she came into the drawing-room as pink and
white as ever, and the second day went horseback
riding and had no cold. While she was telling me
this adventure, which interested her as much as it
did me, I caught some significant looks from the
mother. I felt that I was in the way of something
and hastened to give up my place to a lieutenant,
who Is evidently a marriageable cousin. Decidedly
the next time I go to talk with an English miss, I
shall find out whether she is there for amusement
only or for business. I do not know what they
were talking about, but from time to time the lieu-

144 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1873.
tenant whistled as naturally as if he were in his
stables. It is all very odd. London, February 28, 1873.
The royal flag is floating over Buckingham Pal
ace. It is a great event in London. I gave my
self up to many reflections while crossing the park
and watching this superstitious crowd who were
awaiting the appearance of the sacred person. It is
the supernatural in politics, — the element of stability
and of safety amidst perpetual shift and change in
English opinion and affairs. London, March 2, 1873.
Last evening I went to the ' Speaker's ' house, a fine
old mansion on the Thames, connected with the Par
liament. The two principal rooms contain portraits
of all the ' Speakers ' since the first Pariiament. I ad
mired sincerely this continuous, unbroken testimony
of respect for law and liberty. Some members of
Parliament have made an appointment with me for
to-morrow ; there is to be the first great debate on
the university. The government is much shaken.
Fifteen days ago everybody was applauding Glad
stone's speech, now no one wants the bill to pass.
The Protestants refuse to share their revenues with
the Catholics ; and the Catholics do not want to
share anything with the Protestants, but want the
whole appropriation for themselves and the disinter
ested spectator does not understand a transaction
which makes everybody discontented, and above all
those who are to profit by it.

l873-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 145
London, March 31, 1873.
A very agreeable dinner,^ with not too many peo
ple, in a partially disorganized house. I made the ac-
acquaintance there of Mr. Motley, formerly United
States minister, whose successor causes him to be re
gretted. He is an author and a well-mannered man,
who does not find himself very comfortable in his
great Republic. He has been here nineteen years.
His daughter was present, too, and is as fond of Europe
as he is. She was my neighbor, and talked very
agreeably. She is neither beautiful nor ugly to look
at. On the other side I had a Campbell,^ who spoke
to me frankly of the time when he was in the wine
business at Bordeaux, then in tea at Liverpool ; now
he is partner in a big banking house in the city.
He is the brother of the Marquis of Lome. His
wife is extremely pretty. When he presented me to
her, after dinner, she pouted a bit engagingly, then,
during the conversation, when she discovered that I
was of the Embassy, her face changed suddenly ;
successes of that sort are always flattering. My
second neighbor was the Marquis of Ripon.^ He is
very agreeable, not much inclined to radical reforms,
although he is a member of the Reform Cabinet.
The thing I like in all these ministers is their sim
plicity. Everybody is preparing to leave town for
the Easter holidays.
1 At Lord Granville's.
2 Lord Archibald Campbell, son of the eighth Duke of Argyle ;
partner in the bank of Coutts and Co. ; married in 1869 to Miss Cal
lander. 8 Earl Gray, created Marquis of Ripon in 1871. Viceroy to
India in 18S0. Catholic.
10

145 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1873.
London, April 13, 1873.
Comte von Beust presented me to Lady William,^
mother of the three Russells ; Duke of Bedford ^ ;
Lord Arthur, M. P.,^ and Lord Odo,* an ambassador.
I came here feeling a little like the shepherd who
wanted to question the sphinx, uncertain of the
fate that awaited him. Every one in London who
flatters himself he knows how to talk, aspires to file
before her. All are not admitted, and if but few
are called, still fewer are chosen ; it is not every one
that would like to come back that can. This is
where Beust lets off his newest puns and puts them
into circulation. Did he fetch me with him as a
compeer? Lady William Russell has, in spite of her eighty
years, a remarkable head and speaks in a tone of
authority. She has seen a great deal of the world,
kept her memories fresh and has ideas on all sub
jects. Wife of the minister to Portugal, at Berlin,
and at the Congress of Vienna, she knows all
Europe. She lives in a confusion of books and
works of art of every description. You feel as if
you were going along the passage-ways of a sales
room in reaching her corner by the fire, where she
sits in her arm-chair. She has been an invalid for
ten years, in bed all day, and only gets up to receive.
This evening the Duke of Bedford was on duty,
1 Elizabeth Rawdon, died in 1874.
2 F. G. Hastings Russell, ninth Duke of Bedford, bom in 1819;
died in 1892.
8 Lord Arthur Russell, M. P., died in 1892.
* Odo RusseU, created Baron Ampthill in 1881 ; died in 1884.

1873] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. ,47
for Lady William is never without one of her sons.
The Duke possesses noneof the attributes we should
ascribe to one of the most ritled and richest dukes
of England. He is simple and courteous, and is an
ordinary man in his appearance He was poor
before the death of his cousin, who was a little
mad. He managed his estates, and used to carry
dolls to him to amuse him with. Who can be sure
that this cousin was not secretly married ?
London, April 17, 1873.
I spent a part of to-day at the Court of Common
Pleas. When I saw the four judges in their wigs, I
fairly groaned that I had not George's knack for
sketching. One of them in especial. What a head
he had! A perfect John Bull in a wig! And the
rest were not much behind him. I got a good Eng
lish lesson there without paying for it, and I will go
often, varying the monotony by going from one
room to another. The four principal courts of ap
peal are at Westminster itself ; you entering by the
large hall. London, April 21, 1873.
Dined at the Rothschilds', one of those dinners
where you drink liquid gold. As for the table my
impressions are summed up in a chicken souffle k la
Zingara ; an old acquaintance that caught my eye
from the moment we sat down. The dinner lasted
fully two hours and a half without a break. I had
taken the precaution to secure my old friend Hamil
ton Seymour as a neighbor. A great many stories
and diplomatic anecdotes made the time pass.

148 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1873.
On our returning to the drawing-room a young
gentleman sang comic songs to us in many tongues.
As he has no fortune, I was told he is paid for it.
Afterwards another son of a lord imitated some
actors for us ; he did Mile. Chaumont much too
well to my mind. These children of Israel have
lords now to marry their daughters and to amuse
them ! For the rest, they are very amiable and very
charitable. I say charitable, having Mme. Lionel
de Rothschild in mind. I know that she gives more
than her money, which has no value to her, she
gives her personal attention. She is interested in
our bazar and has introduced me to a Catholic,
Miss Gerard. Now that I know her I have one
more saleswoman. London, April 30, 1873.
I am writing to you in Lord Granville's waiting-
room, after a talk with the senior diplomatist of
Europe. You do not get much out of that fine
fellow, Brunnow : a malicious hint or two so deli
cately touched upon that it leaves you in doubt
whether they were really touched upon or not. . . .
He gave me, however, some good advice ; he has
registered his name for the king of Belgium at
Buckingham Palace ; and I am going to do the
same. Before doing so, however, I must see Lord
Granville and inspire him with some of my con
fidence about the condition of affairs in France.-^ I
spent last night deciphering a telegram which filled
me with a feeling of confidence which it is evidently
1 M. Barodet had been nominated deputy of Paris, and the situation
between the National Assembly and M. Thiers had become strained.

1873-] A DIPLOMA T IN LONDON. 149
my duty to hand on to those about me here — as
indeed I had been trying to do before the instruc
tions of the president arrived ; I had written as
much yesterday to M. de Remusat. I find that
my premises are the same as those of the President ;
I wish I could be certain we shall reach the same
conclusions. Cham has sent a good water-color for the bazar.
Un chiffonnier ivre :^ "To think that if it weren't
for those scamps at Versailles — / should be the am
bassador at London ! " — a subject chosen for the
occasion. He might well have a chance to be the
ambassador now. London, Monday, May 5, 1873.
Here is what happens when a successor of the
dukes and peers, who formerly represented France
abroad, goes to pay his respects to a king passing
through the country .^
Just as he puts up his umbrella to go get a cab,
an elegant coup^ stops at his door — it is his tailor.
It was impossible to refuse Mr. Cook the honor of
saving me from the rain and to conduct me to
Buckingham Palace. I shan't tell the Queen nor
* * * ! On the way the tailor gave me five pounds
for the bazar,3 ^nd announced that his wife is going
to make some purchases there. I got out of the
coup^ and found Solvyns,* who awaited me in the
1 A drunken rag-picker.
2 M. Gavard must have paid his respects to the king of Belgium,
who was passing through London.
3 Sale for the benefit of French works in London.
4 Baron Solvyns, minister of Belgium, died in 1893.

150 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1873.
first drawing-room, and presently I found myself in
the presence of His Belgium Majesty : a personage
with a big nose, big beard and drawling speech. By
and by I joined in the conversation ; we talked
about the Treaty of Commerce, about the personnel
of the Embassy, about the elections, about his pas
sage across the Channel. The Queen said that a bit
of seasickness helped to make one appreciate the
happiness of disembarking on the other side. I
replied mechanically, " It is a bit of purgatory before
the entrance into paradise." His Majesty did me
the honor to understand and to strengthen my
words by saying to me that it was about true. I
found means to give him news of the Comte de
Paris. After which I left, and no longer having
my tailor at the door, I raised my umbrella and
went out into the shower. Can anybody say after
that that the old order of things has not passed away ?
I spent part of my day listening to the Tichborne
Case. How can such a trial be tolerated and so many
months, and the lives of so many distinguished men
be consumed in thrust and counter-thrust a propos of
such rubbish !
It is a pretext for speculating and betting simply.
Tichborne was turned loose as they turn loose
a fox. Not that Tichborne himself resembles a fox ;
he is more like an elephant. They have been
obliged to cut out a circle in the table at which he
sits cutting bits of paper and braiding baskets. The
only thing that is comparable to the scandal itself is
the smell of the place.
The English crowd has an odor of concentrated

j873-] a DIPL OMA T IN L ONDON. i r i
misery that we never meet in France, even among
the electors of Barodet. London, May 8, 1873.
A word of advice to those who believe that the
English have a right to do as they like. I started
to go to the Court Theatre to-night and found the
doors closed. Lord Sydney, the grand chamber
lain, was there last night and found the play
unwholesome and has forbidden its being given.
A good-natured actor had had the audacity to give
a take-off on Gladstone and Lowe. The portrait of
Gladstone was a great hit, so I am told. He was
represented receiving an embassy from China which
had come to ask him for Scotland. The Prime
Minister reflected, then he said there were three
courses open to him. The first was to hand Scot
land over at once ; the second was to wait a bit and
then hand it over ; the third (and this was the
course he took) was to submit it to arbitration. It
was cleverly done. I have just been to a " Drawing-
Room." Had two hours of diamonds and trains of
all colors. It is rather a fine sight to see so many
millions sterling promenading about, with now and
then a beautiful woman. The most agreeable was
Lady Archibald Campbell, wife of the son of the
Duke of Argyle. She is very pretty and well
dressed. Solvyns got off a good thing: "England
is the country where No. 2 goes to see No. i in
order that he may brag of it at No. 3's."
London, May 9, 1873.
A new Conservative election at Bath. It is an in-

152 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1873.
dication, a hint, but not too implicitly to be relied
on in this country, where by-elections always go
against the party in power. The country wants a
bit of time to breathe, and moreover the Conserva
tives are powerfully organized. Ah ! if we could
only do as they do here ; they have newspapers,
associations of all kinds, pleasure-parties, and reg
istering of electors. They are occupied with the
elector all the time, they are always in communica
tion with him; publicly in the meetings, and
privately in the associations, workingmen's clubs,
etc. I finished my letter in the city. First I made a
long stay at the " school-board." I continue to col
lect useful points on primary education in London.
Then for two hours I went about in the numberless
alleys of the city. It is a queer picture, this ant
hill. They have tortured space, without regard for
looks or for the souls or the imaginations of the in
habitants. Everywhere you find buildings in black
stone and only room enough left free for the people
(whose eyes and senses generally, except their de
sire for money, they deaden), to move about in.
London, May 13, 1873.
I have had an interesting day. The baroness-^
had given me a rendezvous at her Jewish school at
Whitechapel. In going there you have to make
your way through the alleys of the East End. You
can study there the phenomena of spontaneous gen
eration, and the germination of infusoria in the de-
1 Baroness Rothschild.

1873-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON 153
composition of organic bodies. A bit depressed
by the filth of the route, I reached the school. I
visited first the kitchen, for the Jews who are
impoverished and ill; it is a veritable school of
cleanliness — a pearl in a dung-hill. They served a
very appetizing lunch. In the schools I had the
pleasure of seeing two thousand eight hundred little
Israelites of both sexes and from all parts of the
world. I should have recognized almost all of them
by their faces — a fact which speaks well for the pu
rity of the Jewish race in every quarter of the globe
and in every social station — for the children that I
saw were those of the poorer class only. They
enter the school at three years of age, sometimes at
two, almost naked, and they leave it, from eleven to
thirteen, clothed from head to foot, reading and
writing English well and able to decipher Hebrew.
The thing, however, that I admire more than the
school (which is certainly splendid) is the generosity
that keeps it going. It is nothing like so difficult to
find the school as it is to find Simone.^ The man
ager of the institution, a veteran instructor, and
proud as Lucifer, did not seem to be of this opinion
when he said to me: " In my six classes I simply
say some words, and make men out of animals ; they
bring me embryos simply which I supply with
bodies and souls.'' And indeed from one room to
another, as they grow older, you notice the im
provement in cleanliness, in clothes, in intelligence,
and in learning. When some girls were questioned
on geography, one of the little witches rephed
i Allusion to Count Musset.

154 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1873.
that the Rhine separated France from Germany!
Alas! Madame Rothschild has sent me a lot of pretty
prizes. She has a genius for charity.London, May 14, 1873.
The Queen will not be present at her concert this
evening. She was at her levee the other day and
presided half an hour, then she went to the Exposi
tion to see an omelette made, and to listen to a
lecture on omelettes. The English recognize the
superiority of the French in things of that kind, and
are trying hard to take it from them. They have
associations, meetings, lectures, encouragements of
the Queen, articles in the newspapers .... happy
people !
Yesterday all London was in the park, ten thou
sand carriages to see forty " mail-coaches " make a
" show " for the Queen of Belgium. London, May 19, 1873.
Last night I went to the Court Theatre with
Conolly.i The first thing was a really primitive
piece. It was the infancy of art. Everything came
on at the right moment. It was expressly written
for the occasion. Great care had been taken with
the scenery — there was a garden on the Thames at
Twickenham, the sign even of a neighboring public-
house was exact, the people are in front of it, and
the grass, reaching to the foot-lights, is so real you
' General ConoUy, military attache, died in 1885.

i873-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 155
could eat it ; daisies are growing in the grass and on
an opposite hill, — they are so real you want to pick
them. When the dialogue moves, the sun moves;
he rises and sets ; the moon in her turn rises too,
and you see her reflection in the Thames ; and
then you hear the nightingales — it is charming.
But what became of the piece? I have forgotten
it. This is dramatic art ! Everything is in the
accessories and not in the plot. It is easier to make
the sun and moon move and the birds sing than to
make the actors talk or to animate them with 'a
passion that would move the spectators. The even
ing ended with the farce of the " Happy Land " ; a
political caricature, rather broad; but the characters
of the men were well enough drawn.
I forgot to mention another great resource of the
dramatic authors in this country. They put colored
glass (red, green or blue) in front of the footlights.
London, May 20, 1873.
Yesterday we finished our sale with great success.^
We shall have a thousand pounds. We shall make
Sister Lucie's works live if we cannot make her
live. Poor sainted woman ! Her hands are skin
and bone, and yet what energy she shows. The rush
over, and the crowd parted, the Sisters arrived, busy
as ants, to pick up and put things away. The auc
tioneer was a Colonel M. At the stroke of the clock
he was on the platform. ... It takes the English for
perfect calm and self-possession in public. ... It
was really amusing. 1 Sale of French works in London.

ic,6 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1873.
There has been a ball at court. There is always
the same ceremony with the chamberlains in green.
And God Save the Queen comes in everywhere,
— the orchestra put one to sleep. Literally, toward
one o'clock I was asleep standing bolt upright, — I
was afraid I should fall all of a heap.
London, May 24, 1873.
I received the Times at half-past seven, and read to
many Parisians the address of the Duke (de Broglie).
The question seems to me well put ; the majority
well rallied, and now (mid-day) M. Thiers- has
already finished speaking.^ It is useless, however, to
indulge in conjectures, I must wait the issue.
That reminds me of the conclusion of my last con
versation with M. Guizot ; he said, " When M. Thiers
gets into a fix, he will knock under." Since I am
quoting from great men, Cochin repeated M. Thiers'
remark, that the Due de Broglie was the only
person to whom he allowed perfect independence.
Yesterday I was restless and went to the spring
exhibition. It was frightfully flat, — what a lot of
time and color wasted. There were some new por
traits — a Miss Dorothy, very simple ; but well han
dled and elegant; and nothing else to speak of.
The Marine pieces, for the most part, are well con
ceived. But when you have seen the public you
understand the artists better. The public thinks
only of the subject, and of whether it is " sensational "
or " moral." If it is, they are satisfied, and show it by
a little note in their catalogue, which, by the way,
1 He refers to the debate following which M. Thiers left office.

i873-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 1^7
they consult as often as they do the picture. There
was one masterpiece there in two divisions : on one
side the children before going to school, on the
other side the same on leaving school. The first
dirty, thin, and in rags ; the others clean, large, plump,
and comfortably clothed. Under the picture there
was a Biblical inscription ; above it was printed,
" One Hundred Thousand Children in London
without a School." For this conscientious public,
this picture is the climax of art ; — unless some one
could paint a little onion so real it would make their
eyes water.
They don't deal with the nude, they have no
notion of design, there is neither blood nor life in
their figures ; when the colors on the canvas are
not pallid they swear at each other ; the composition
is generally childish, and there is a total lack of
atmosphere about or behind the personages de
picted. The great artist who paints portraits by special
favor at fifty thousand francs apiece — nay, at seventy-
five thousand if he throws in a pot of flowers —
excels in painting wax-figures draped in gaudy
dresses, and no one can surpass Tissot, our com
patriot, in sticking them on screens. They love
details here, blades of grass, wild flowers and leaves
of trees. They display less feeling for the forest,
the meadow, the total effect, the simple idea, the
dominant thought, the mysterious something that
was not in the model : tliat is a thing not under
stood anywhere, I am well aware, but less so here
than in France. There is no statuary here ; per-

158 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1873.
haps it is the fault of the climate ! A Bacchante
printaniere by Carpeaux shines in this desert ; also
a terra-cotta, simple and touching in its reality (the
mother and the child), by another Frenchman. Do
you know M. Dalou in France?
And now this evening we must go from one re
ception to another without knowing quite who or
what we represent. They are given in honor of the
Queen's birthday. London, May 25, 1873.
I took courage yesterday from the account given
of M. Thiers' speech. I had feared some clap-trap.
At six o'clock, Rothschild allowed me the range of
the Exchange, but that does not signify very much.
Lord Granville came to the " Foreign Offices " at mid
night to tell me that " Thiers was beaten by four
teen votes." I had arrived at about eleven o'clock,
representing the government of M. Thiers. I replied
to Lord Granville that I believed all would go well
with the government. I had stayed as late as pos
sible to get the news, and toward half-past twelve
learned it from Lord Granville. Learned that I
no longer represented the same government that I
had on entering the Foreign Office ; or, at least, that
M. Thiers had been beaten and had resigned. I
told him confidently that I had reason to believe
that all would go well with the government I repre
sented. We were inclined to look on the amusing
side of the necessities and commonplaces of an
official situation, and we parted with a burst ot
laughter that had nothing official about it.
I saw by this morning's Observer of the nomina^

I873-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 159
tion of MacMahon. Lady G. Fullerton, who was
there, was so happy she almost embraced me.
London, May 26, 4 o'clock.
I have just returned from the levee. Every one
is surprised that Paris has not been sacked. If I
had been my own master I would have avoided be
ing there to-day, in especial as I did not know what
to reply to the questions.
(After May 24 M. Gavard was made chief of the
Cabinet of the Due de Broghe. He returned to
London in December, when the Duke was no longer
minister of foreign affairs, having been appointed
minister of the interior. Comte Harcourt was no
longer ambassador ; he was replaced by the Due of
Bisaccia). London, December 10, 1873.
Had a capital passage. Stayed on the bridge all
the way giving advice to the captain ! The Dover-
Chatham train, was cold and I found a " dark fog "
on arriving in London. In crossing the fog I rec
ognized my friend Dutreil.^ We hailed each
other, and then getting into a hansom rode slowly
through the fog to Albert Gate, and here I am Minis
ter of France in London. What a contrast ! Day
before yesterday I was at Versailles at the centre of
things ; here I am to-day at the end of a telegraph-
wire in a depth of silence and fog. I used to like
this fog and quiet ; why is it that I cannot be con
tented now? Besides, this humidity and quietness
is good for the nerves.
1 M. Bernard Dutriel, then secretary to the Embassy ; he is now
senator; he became chief of the cabinet in place of M. Gavard.

l6o A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1873.
London, December 11, 1873.
Man cannot live by fog alone ; it is a great pity in
this country ! I shall come to it by and by.
London is deserted — no one at the Foreign Office,
no one anywhere. I have seen Beust, who despairs
of having the new ambassador at his dinner. By-
landt,^ is amiable as always ; and Solvyns returned
from Italy. He was in the midst of unpacking and
full of enthusiasm about his luggage.
Lord Stanhope has been here lamenting what he
regards as Bazaine's hard fate. His great argument
is the letter of Frederick Charles, as if the conqueror
could be got to declare that the man he vanquished
was nothing but a clown, who surrendered his stand
ards treasonably.
Brunnow shed tears of joy on seeing me again.
He told me I owed my success here to Lord Gran
ville, who had real affection for me ; and that that
was the reason he made things easy for me. I am
struck by the strides the Due de Broglie has made
here in public opinion. London, December 15, 1873.
A great number of diplomatists, indeed, all the
diplomatic corps, may come together in a salon with
out giving any one any pleasure. I am never so
discouraged as at these family reunions. Last night
it was at the Swedish Embassy. Every one ac
cepted the invitation ; they came like hungry wolves,
but they took very little away with them. It is bet
ter to stay at home in front of an open fireplace,
1 Count of Bylandt, Minister of Holland ; died in 1893.

I873-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 16 1
with a good lamp, with the shutters closed, and a
sense that the cold and fog are prowling around out
side. Yesterday, in passing the Court of Appeals, I went
in to listen, for practice in English, and what do you
suppose I saw? The same judges, the same jury
in the box, the same Tichborne, with the same
stomach, in front of the same table as seven months
ago! I dined at " Hayward Corner." Toward nine
o'clock our friend was tipsy. I stayed talking with
an antiquarian, who was not so tipsy. We talked
about an unknown letter (from Pompeii) which we
had found at the library, in a rare edition of the
papers of Sallust. Such are the distractions of bache
lors. The letter itself did not amount to anything.
Ask Vaney-' if coriiin sepulcre is a solecism. The
question that is exciting this happy people just now,
is whether or not the Dean of Westminster has made
a grammatical error. Oxford opened the discussion,
then came a reply, and then outsiders intervened.
Poor Dean Stanley is likely to.be convicted of hav
ing written theological Latin. It is hard on him.
Who would suppose that theology would spoil his
Latin ?^ It seems that coram cannot have the name
of a thing for an object. Meurand^ himself would
perhaps have been caught there.
There is a new excitement here. Some people
wanted to put a canopy over the high altar in the
1 Advisor of the Court of Appeals at Paris ; died in 1893.
2 Mr. Stanley, Dean of -Westminster, was thought rather sceptical.
° Director of Foreign Affairs,
II

l62 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1873
church of St. Barnaby, Pimlico ! The whole Church
rose in arms. If the Pope himself had invaded Eng
land they would not have made more noise. Happy
people !
This morning, as I was trying on my frock-coat,
I told my tailor, the celebrated Cook, a lot of
things, which he repeated ten minutes afterward to
the Prince of Wales, whom he dresses, and chats
with as he does with me ! London, December 18, r873.
The upholsterer of the Due de Bisaccia is draw
ing up plans and taking measurements. He seems
determined to do things on a grand scale. He does
not spare materials. All trace of the past will dis
appear under the new draperies, mirrors and pict
ures. At this rate we might all of us outdo the
Marquise. My tailor did his commission very well. The
Prince of Wales sent me word to make my arrange
ments with his aide-de-camp. General Knollys.
London, December 21, 1873.
I've been to say good-bye to Beust. He vowed
that if he was not always on the eve of departing,
he could not endure the dreariness of the life here.
If you do succeed in seeing any one in London it
is only for an instant as you pass, and during the
season you pass each other on the run. For a bit
of talk you must go five or six hours on the train.
It seems that Lord Granville returns this evening,
but leaves again to-morrow evening for Walmer

1873] A DIPL OMA T IN L OND ON. 1 63
Castle and when he reaches there, he will lift the
drawbridge and shut down the portcullis. I shall
see him to-morrow ; it will be the last time for
three weeks at least.
To divert my mind from my writing, I went for a
few minutes to the Athenaeum to fumble in the
books. I was either too tired or too anxious to read
them, but I took them down, turned them over,
handled them. I have noticed that one always
finds something one wants, even in that way.
London, December 23, 1873.
There are times when I seriously ask myself
whether this is the profession I have chosen. The
satisfactions it procures me are so small and the
deprivations so cruel. I keep repeating to myself
that it won't last long. I had the pleasure of seeing
last night a very coarse caricature of two French
plays. One something like. La Fille de I'Aveugle,
by Bayard, the other Le chapeau de paille d'Ltalie.
There was too much respect shown to the authors
to mention their names, but how they were mangled !
All the fine things were left out ; they do not
understand them ; and they were replaced by
brutalities. They find a means here of being coarse
without shocking their morals. We do just the
contrary in France. One thing struck me : after
the curtain went down on the poor piece entitled
Alone, all the actors, as is the custom, came before
the curtain, and the manager, Mrs. Lutton, was
hissed. It was very unjust, as she was really the
only one who showed passion, expression or charm

l64 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1873.
in her acting. The hissing was done by but one
man, and nobody cried " Put him out " — there were
no protests made against him. Everyone expresses
his opinion freely here even in the theatre. One
man may hiss while all the rest of the house is
applauding. I have been at last to hear some music in London.
A woman played the trumpet ! Can you imagine
it ? What a happy idea ! A rival virtuoso (also
female) played the violin ; and a man brought tears
to your eyes on the accordeon. London, December 25, 1873.
The fog is so dense and the streets so deserted,
that I fancy it would be dangerous to be on them,
so I have stayed rigorously shut up in my room,
and have only put my nose out of doors to go to
Mass. Which when all is said is solitude at its
best. About three-quarters of the English are drunk at
this hour. These holidays are expensive for the
poor families. I followed one in Hyde Park this
morning. The father was carrying a heavy bundle,
while the mother carried a nursing child, and then
four other little ones followed as best they could.
One of them coughed and cried fit to break your
heart. They were all in rags that hardly covered
the skin, but for all that they were evidently dressed
in their best for a holiday. The way the toddlers
followed their parents, with slackening steps, seemed
to mark the solemnity of Christmas. The poor
babj^ cried so hard that the father took it and gave

1873-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 165
his load to the oldest girl, and the little band con
tinued. The girl, who staggered with the weight of
the load, followed at a distance. I really wanted to
help her! This wretched little group filed by
beneath the windows of Dorchester House, only to
pass a few steps further on to the house of Lord
Dudley and the Grosvenor House. The contrast is
perpetual here, and is a mystery in economics that
I can never solve — so much charity and such
frightful poverty ! London, December 31, 1873.
I have gotten the necessary letters off, but the
thing that wastes my time is the cargo that comes
by each train — the squad of cooks, footmen, coach
men, horses and carriages. Where to lodge them ?
At the last minute a telegram comes — it has been
delayed. I must rent stables and rooms, buy fur
niture, establish order in the house. Each new
arrival wants a complete apartment.
Due de Bisaccia will be here himself to-morrow.
His splendid silver has arrived, and he sent word
that all the servants must be powdered to receive him,
— that would be all right if I am not to be requested
to do the same.
The Queen will receive him at once at the Isle of
Wight.

THE YEAR 1874.
3Ea:tract0 trom tbe Correspon&ence.
London, January 2, 1874.
Last night there was a reception for the ambas
sador.^ He is very pleasant. It ought to be not
bad living with him. We agree perfectly about the
work. . . . London, January 3, 1874.
The Duke has returned this morning from
Osborne. Everything has turned out for the best.
The Queen welcomed him as if he were not the am
bassador of France. She chatted all the time about
his parents, and of his children. It is certainly
better for an ambassador to be the son-in-law of
Prince de Polignac, and of the Prince de Ligne, the
son or heir of a great name, than " Monsieur So-
and-so." I am convinced that he has made a capital
beginning. The account of the visit to Osborne I
prepared myself. It is written in a tone of deliber
ate understatement, but nothing has been left out — •
everything is stated with scrupulous exactitude.
Ten to one such and such a person, who shall be
nameless, could not make the Queen or Lord Gran
ville talk to such good effect. The Duke has evi
dently succeeded ; his proceedings have done him no
1 Due de la Rochefoucauld Bisaccia,
166

I874-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 167
harm ; he has squandered money in profusion which
will do him good below stairs, — reputation often
mounts from below upward. London, January 4, 1874.
The Tichborne case still continues. We are at
the one hundred-and-fiftieth hearing. Yesterday
the chief-justice and foreman of the jury lost their
patience. It is now nearly a year that these twelve
unhappy jurymen have been in the box ; taken away
from their own duties to judge a man whose culpa
bility is as evident as can be, — but English law does
not admit evidence without proof. Yesterday the
" learned counsellor," for so they call the miserable
lawyer who dared organize and plead this attempt
at robbery, with infamous slander, contested the
deposition of a colonel who declares he saw the
tattooing on the arm of young Tichborne ; and there
is no trace of it on the present "claimant." He
saw it when he was bled. The lawyer denied that
he could have seen the tattooing unless he could
demonstrate that it was daylight. The chief-justice
interrupted him by saying that it must have been
light enough to see the tattooing since the surgeon
saw the vein. The lawyer replied that it was no
doubt an imprudent surgeon. " Whether he was
good or bad you can't make us believe he could
bleed any one without seeing the vein." The
lawyer replied, " It is your business to prove that
it was light, and so long as you cannot demonstrate
that it was light, I maintain that it was dark," etc.
The foreman at last grew impatient.

l68 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1874.
It was an edifying spectacle ; from beginning to
end it is nothing but a contest between barristers.
It was really characteristic. The whole aim of the
lawyers is to drag the thing out as long as possible
till some juror dies: then it will be necessary to
begin over again for the third time. In English
jurisprudence you may undertake to do anything,
even to prove that a hippopotamus is a gazelle.
All you need do is to organize a corporation to out
wit the law. You may buy shares here in judicial
enterprises to set aside succession to property no
less than in associations for stealing diamonds.
London, January 7, 1874.
Last night while at dinner we received a telegram
for my chief, congratulating him and thanking him
for his despatch. ... I was not mistaken then. He
seemed to me, however, determined not to force his
success. Till now he has been occupied with his
upholsterer, and from early morning he has been
here wandering about the house, upstairs and down,
measuring, arranging and ordering. . . .
I spent the evening with Lady Russell. It is
really touching to see this old lady surrounded by
her sons. She knows that I have a dear mother, and
that I suffer in being separated from her. She
charged me to say to Due de Bisaccia that the Queen
was much pleased with him, that he stands for all
that she most admires. That is an agreeable com
mission. London, January 11, 1874.
We are going to have a John Russell meeting in

i874.] A DIPLOMAT IN London. 1^9
favor of Bismarck, and the persecution of the church,
and an anti-Catholic meeting.
There will be some heads broken, and it will be a
re-opening of the religious quarrels in this country.
This Johnny has lived too long. Is there not among
his papers a certain letter which commenced the
Schleswig-Holstein affair?
The unveiling of a statue of the Prince Consort
took place to-day ; this time on a horse in a gallop.
The climate here makes statuary impossible, neither
metal nor marble can stand the soot and the rain.
When they show you a statue here you feel an irre
sistible desire to send for a chimney-sweep. We
mixed a little in the " mob," — among the ragamuf
fins of London, who are without equal anywhere
else. The "policemen" were stamping among them
as if they were so many ants.
This morning I saw the Archbishop.^ He pos
sesses the grand air and an ascetic figure which go
well with an Archbishop. January l8, 1874.
Lord Clarendon wishes to invite me with Borth
wick to the Grove ; it is an old castle full of Van
Dycks, and surrounded by the oldest and most
celebrated manors of England, and only three-
quarters of an hour from London. I must give you
a notion of how Lord Clarendon spends his time.
The first incident of the morning was his coming in
from the hunt on horseback, a lackey leading the
horse. He wanted to change horses in a muddy
1 Cardinal Manning.

170 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1874
stableyard without getting down into it, and so he
leaped to the other horse. It moved a bit and my
lord fell in the mud ; he cleaned himself off as best
he could and remounted, when suddenly he was
thrown over his horse's head. He was taken to the
house and did not gain consciousness till some time
after reaching it. As they have to nurse him a bit,
to-morrow they will go shooting ; but the day after
they will be on horseback again. His lordship was
late at dinner, and came in supported by two domes
tics, his legs having gone back on him after another
fall. On his return to the city, however, he will
become once more a serious lord, in running for a
membership of the cabinet.
Lady Clarendon is one of four countesses. It
seems that her mother spent her life repeating:
" Four daughters, four countesses ; four countesses,
four daughters." No one knows which phrase was
on her lips when she died.
The senior Russell has consented to be ill so as not
to preside at the " meeting" in favor of Bismarck;
but he will write. To make up for it the entre
preneur of the Tichborne case, the " Honorable "
Whaley (Honorable !) will be present and give the
meeting its proper stamp.
I intended going to-day to a " High Church "
where they are teaching the faithful to make the
sign of the cross. Every Sunday, so one of the
devotees told me, they have a new innovation.
Last Sunday the sexton was in a robe and this
Sunday they are to learn to make the sign of the
cross.

>874-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 171
London, January 26, 1874.
Parliament is dissolved, — eight days ago no one
could have foretold it. Its term was a year longer,
and the circumstances under which the new year
opened, led no one to suppose that the Liberal gov
ernment wished to shorten the session.
The announcement of the dissolution was the
signal for universal disorder. You saw nothing but
candidates crossing London, leaving wives, children
and luggage on the way to reach their respective
constituencies in time. Least to be envied of all
were the would-be candidates on the lookout for a
possible constituency and the constituencies on the
lookout for possible candidates. The result will show
which party is most hurt by the confusion. The
secrecy with which the dissolution had been pre-
pared,^ the suddenness of the decision, the manner
in which the public was informed, all concur to give
this grave measure the air of a stroke of party poli
tics. It is difficult, nevertheless, to forget that the
personal intervention of the Prime Minister shows
again some tendencies to break noticeably with Eng
lish parliamentary traditions, and to approach the
democratic conception of an appeal to the people.
In the Liberal clubs, as well as among the Con
servatives, the opinion still prevails that the cabinet
will succeed, though serious losses are looked for
owing to the divisions which are day by day becom
ing more manifest in ministerial ranks.
1 After his interview with the Queen, Mr. Gladstone did not notify
his colleagues till the 19th of January ; and on the following day the
public was informed by his address to the electors of Greenwich,

172 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1874.
London, February 3, 1874.
Enticed by the recollection of the sensation Sir
Charles Dilke has created from time to time in Par
liament, I have followed him during this electoral
period ; a little, I must say, with the feehng of the
Englishman who followed Van Amburg in the hope
of seeing him devoured some day by his lions. I
hasten to say that my evil hopes were disappointed.
There was not the least scandal, not a word that
might not have come from the most loyal subject
of her Majesty ; not a proposition that might not
have been found in an address by Mr. Gladstone.
They were dissertations upon various reforms, desir
able and not desirable, set forth in language unfail
ingly precise and easy, a little too prolix in my judg
ment, but never enough so to try the patience of his
auditory. There was a large meeting at Chelsea last night.
But first I must tell you a bit about the constitu
ency of Chelsea. The district numbers twenty-four
thousand electors, and reaches from one extremity
to the other of the West End of London. It sends
two members to Parliament. There are thirteen
" polling-places," each candidate must have a central
agent in each of these subdivisions, which necessi
tates renting a house for the purpose, and personal
employees and agents of all degrees from the chief
down (who receives not less than five or six thousand
francs) to the sandwich man, who walks the streets
all day with the names of the candidates on his
belly and back. Naturally, to share the enormous
expense of an election like that the candidates go

^874-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 173
into partnership. The Association extends even
beyond mere questions of expense, for it is evident
in the election at Chelsea that the two " baronets "
are going shares also on their constituents. Sir
Charles Dilke is the leader of the extreme radicals ;
Sir Henry Hoare persuades over to the common
cause the voice of the liberals, who feel the need of
reform but who do not want to kill the goose with
the golden eggs.
The "sandwich men," independently of the
announcements posted on the walls, had been
announcing all day the grand meeting to take place
in the general quarters of the associated candidates
of the two ministerial factions. When the night
came all the quarter was lit up. Outside the hall
the public that had been unable to gain admission,
stationed themselves in front of the glass doors where
they could see the faces of the two " baronets " to
whom they were invited to give their votes. Twelve
hundred people had taken possession of the hall and
were waiting for the candidates, which did not pre
vent five hundred more from squeezing into the hall.
The crowd poured in at every door like streams of
lava ; they advanced slowly, insensibly, irresistibly ;
people were lifted off their feet in the jam, to the
height of the gallery. I can see still the impassive
face of a thick-set cabman who allowed himself to
drift gently on at an elevation above the seats and
the spectators who filled them. At the beginning
of the meeting he was at the entrance of the hall,
at the close of it he was in the middle, held up
off of the floor by the crowd. The crush was not

174 ^ DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1874.
brought about without some noise, some blows, some
interruptions of the meeting. I admired, however,
the parliamentary manners of the mob, which found
means to hear, and the talent of the orators, who
made them listen. Sir Charles Dilke had the tact
to bring his wife along. She is an Englishwoman,
with a nose with a rising inflection, fresh coloring,
bright eyes and a gracious smile. Dilke sat at the
right of the chairman. Sir Henry Hoare at the left.
After the formal introducton by the president, the
first of the baronets began speaking and continued
for more than an hour without hesitation or stop
ping for breath ; there was not a period, nor a
comma in the entire address. He hardly gave the
audience time to cheer: but he sat down finally in
the midst of cheers and applause, hats waving and
tossed in the air, and pamphlets flying on all sides.
Sir Henry Hoare followed him ; — a less fluent
orator, but more animated. He seemed sometimes
to hold his audience more closely, but at other times
they grew restless. When he spoke of the third
competitor, who, it seemed, had only introduced his
candidature to divide the liberal party, he made
them roar like caged lions. Some isolated protest
ations, in favor of the unhappy candidate, were
immediately drowned in the shouting. The assem
bly seemed really on the point of splitting when Sir
H. Hoare courageously gave his opinion on foreign
politics. Mr. Gladstone, in his various addresses,
had reduced (unfortunately) the English policy to
defending only her Insular interests. Sir H. Hoare,
in his turn spoke of the something wanting in Mr.

I874-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 175
Gladstone's judgments on the outside influence of a
great nation, and declared that for a country, as for
an individual, their interests are inseparable from
their honor. Some cries of " Long live Bismarck "
were heard from the back of the hall, applause and
grumbling replied to them, and it was evident that
the audience was divided and restless ; a good many
were silent. The orator began again, and I give
you a resume of what he said : " Yes, gentlemen, I
am for the liberty of the Catholics, because I am for
the liberty of the Protestants. I believe the clergy
men should teach and speak according to their con
sciences, because I want to speak according to mine.
Yes, gentlemen, I am for France, because she has
been brutally dismembered ; I am against those who
have wrenched Alsace and Lorraine from her. I
am against the man who wishes to hinder that great
country from taking her place again among nations ;
and against him who wishes to lay down the law for
the press even beyond the German frontier. I am
against the meetings which sympathize with the
oppressors, against the oppressed. And if these
declarations shut the doors of Parliament against
me, and lose me your votes, I shall be proud not to
have merited them." This courageous and eloquent
speech carried away the audience, and the orator
was recompensed by applause which followed him
into the street.^
1 M. Gavard adds, in his notes, that Sir Charles Dilke alone was
elected ; he passed with the conservative candidate who took 700 or
800 votes from Sir H. Hoare on account of his courageous declara
tion against the Conquests of Prussia. Meanwhile it produced for

176 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1874
The manner of my introduction into the large
hall of the " vestry " of Chelsea is not a thing to
be proud of. On my arrival I was ushered into a
private parlor where the candidates and the patrons
had gathered waiting for the opening hour. When
the time came, as a stranger of distinction, I was
given the honor of escorting Lady Charles Dilke,
who was the only lady present. An unforeseen
honor ! It brought my heart up into my mouth,
but it was not a case for hesitation, and I en
tered first, with Lady Dilke on my arm, welcomed
by a burst of applause such as I do not flatter my
self I can ever provoke again in my life. The
candidates and their patrons followed in proces
sion. The reporters were anxious to know who I
was, wanted my name to publish the next day for all
England to read. Happily Sir H. Hoare, perceiv
ing the danger I was in, put them on the wrong scent
as to my identity. Thus I escaped a misadventure
which might have put an end to my diplomatic
career ; for, frankly, it was highly improper for me
to be there on the platform, in the midst of politi
cians of known hostility to the crown.
London, February 4, 1874.
Yesterday we had Mr. Gladstone to dinner. He
was awaiting the result of the election at Greenwich.
him a compensation of which he was not insensible. His speech
was published in many Parisian journals, a fact which decided a
committee of the y-w/5i?j' Club to present a very honorable address
to the former member for Chelsea, who is still one of the most
Parisian, and (in polite circles) one of the most popular of English-
pien,

'874-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 177
He was magnificently tranquil, either as being cer
tain of success or as affecting the resignation of a
sage who is not unwilling to return to his favorite
studies. This is the eighteenth time he has been
before the electors, and he told me it was the last.
He was charming, or at least he possesses always
the art of charming me ; with his openness of mind
and his inexhaustible store of recollections. We
passed in review about all the reforms that " the
crotchet-mongers " ^ are peddling nowadays from
" meeting " to " meeting." Gladstone seems to feel
a sincere attraction toward everything that appeals
to him as being generous. I repeat it, he is a
charmer, though not, perhaps, a very reassuring one.
During the evening he received the notice of the
re-election of his son by a small majority. He had
requested not to be wakened when the notice of his
own fate arrived. His awakening could not have
been very agreeable ; he had passed with a small
majority, second on the list, and all the morning's
news was bad for the government.
Conversation continued till very late. He con
verted me a little to woman's suffrage, of which
he is a partisan. So is his rival, the conservative
leader. London, February 6, 1874.
" Great victory of the conservatives ! Two more
in Westminster." That is the cry on the streets as
I write. The government has no longer a majority.
I must hasten to show myself and offer my con-
I People who carry to extremes ideas that are foolish and absurd,
12

178 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1874.
dolences to Lord Granville. It is a case of neces
sity. To-morrow, perhaps we shall have no ministry,
and I shall find myself between two saddles. It is
probable that the cabinet will send in its resignation
here in five or six days, — about the fourteenth.
Then we shall see Lord Derby Minister of Foreign
Affairs ; Mr. Disraeli Prime Minister, Chancellor of
the Exchequer, etc. London, February 14, 1874.
The result of the election is known to-day. It
gives a majority of 350 votes to the conservatives
as against 300. Their advantage is the more con
siderable, in that they reckon in with the minority
the new members for Ireland, to the number of
forty or thereabouts, who represent really nothing
but an uprising against the maintenance of the
union. The composition of the new cabinet is generally
approved. I am struck by the readiness with which
the defeated party, in the newspapers and every
where, accept the change in government. The con
servatives, on the other hand, recognize such facts as
have been accomplished. They seem to have no
idea of using their return to power as a means of
repealing the bills they opposed while in the opposi
tion, and their adversaries declare that since the
country does not care for additional reforms, it is
natural that the reform ministry should retire and
give place to a government in accord with the wishes
of the nation. The strength of the new govern
ment lies not less in the unity existing in its own

'874-] A DIPLOMAT nV LONDON. 179
ranks than in the divisions in the ranks of the oppo
sition. The breaking up of the hberal party is be
coming more and more marked. Gladstone is the
only one who will give any trouble. If his mind
was open to reforms in general when he was in
power, what will it be when he is in the opposition ?
Being no longer obliged to be a statesman, he will
play the buffoon to the height of his bent.
The day of the election at Chelsea, Lady Dilke
drove about with yellow ribbons, and bows of the
same color, on her horses. It is the Radical color;
she did not know that some one had pasted a con
servative placard on the back of her carriage, saying :
Plump for Gordon. London, February 16, 1874.
I am writing to you by the light, or rather by the
frightful glare of a fire that threatens to destroy a
large quarter of the city before daylight. The
" Pantechnicon " which is the main store-house for
furniture, carriages and objects of art, is burned.
The heavy walls about the Embassy, which ought to
protect it against the contagion from the neighbor
ing houses, has saved the stables from the fire, if not
from water. When I arrived they were moving
things out by the windows ; they were dragging out
the carriages of state and distributing the horses in
stables some distance away. If they had been my
horses, or if the coachman had listened to me, he
would have put them still farther away, for no one
can tell when or where the fire will stop. We are
at present protected by an immense crater that lies
between us and the flames. There is still fire in the

l8o A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1874
bottom of it, but as the walls are still standing, it is
no more dangerous than a great brasier. Unhap
pily the flame has leaped the street and the fire is
speading on the other side. Sheets of flame stretch
up into the night and are beaten down upon the
neighboring roofs by the wind. Nobody knows
where the conflagration will stop. Captive fire
fights against fire in revolt : you hear the pump and
piston everywhere. The struggle goes on in the
midst of a great silence, broken only by the tum
bling walls and the whistles of command. I can see
the firemen, as they come over the roofs, turn their
faces from the fire, and the unhappy inhabitants
pouring water on their windows and extinguishing
the fire wherever it caught. The flames are reflected
from all the windows in the houses opposite so that
you can hardly tell whether they are on fire or not.
The wind carries along with the smoke quantities
of sparks over Wilton Place, near Grosvenor Gardens.
All London is on the scene ; crowds of women,
oyster and orange vendors, musicians — all round the
barricade made by the policemen it was like a fair.
The " mob " is dispersing now, but I stay in my
observatory alone, watching the fire. The smoke
keeps me from seeing whether it is approaching or
growing more distant. London, Saturday, February 15, 1874.
I send you a copy of the Times, which seems to
have been much better informed than I, although I
was on the scene. It is reported that there have
been invaluable collections lost. Send your pictures

1874-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. i8i
to England to save them from incendiaries ! There
was a collection of Wallaces and some others, some
one said, from France. The loss is said to be
seventy-five millions. That was a bonfire !
Gladstone announces that he is going to return to
his beloved studies, and has already brought out a
refutation in three points of a book by Strauss; but
in the meantime he seems in no hurry to retire.
London, February i8, 1874.
I am writing to you in Lord Granville's ante
chamber. I came to pay him a farewell call.^ I
sincerely regret his fall from office. I doubt if I
shall ever have, with another minister, the relations I
have had with him. He said he hoped we should
see each other now more frequently, and told me the
story of an ambassador who was in too big a hurry
to bid the fallen minister adieu.
London, February 21, 1874.
The new ministers return from Windsor with
the sacks, seals, keys and staves, all the accessories
of the cabinet. Everybody is satisfied with the
choice. ... It is their own fault if they do not
stay in office a long time.
Let us hope that Derby ^ will know better, in the
present state of Europe, than to tread in the foot
steps of Lord Palmerston. I shall have no end of
trouble making my way with all these new men : I
will do what I can.
1 Lord Granville was leaving the ministry after the elections.
2 Lord Derby was Minister of Foreign Affairs in the new cabinet of
Mr. Disraeli.

l82 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1874.
London, February 25, 1874.
To give you the order of my day, I went to the
Foreign Office yesterday in uniform. The first inci
dent was the German ambassador's arrival in citi
zen's clothes ; he asked if there was time for him to
go put on his uniform, and seemed astonished when
he was told there was, but he went away to dress.
The roll-call began next, and my turn came before
all the other ministers ; this was a fresh surprise.
Then Lord Derby detained me for twenty minutes
instead of five ; surprise the third. I believe it was
due really to chance, and a bit perhaps to awkward
ness, or to forgetfulness. Still, I very much prefer to
be on the right side of any such little mistake.
As for Lord Derby, one cannot say too much upon
the awkwardness of his first appearance. He
snatched up a pair of new gloves and held them in
his hands while he stood in an " impossible " position
and greeted us with a muscular bow. We sat down
and talked, and he was soon at his ease. He speaks
French fluently — some few blunders — but really
without hesitation. I did not try to force his hand
on foreign politics and he did not volunteer any
thing. But I questioned him on home politics. Talk
ing confidentially and on his own subject, he spoke
willingly and for a long time. Too long for the
other members of the diplomatic corps, who were
waiting. On the whole, I think that a member of
the old cabinet would have held the same language.
He spoke of the momentary withdrawal of Mr.
Gladstone, of his motives, of the necessity of change
of ministry from time to time, in order that pubhc

i874-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 183
men may see the questions before the country from
more than one side. He spoke of the new House,
and gave me his opinion on it. The members, he
said, are rather old, very respectable, and very rich ;
but it will be rather dull because of the lack of young
men. I told him that his description made me
envious. He is more confident than I am over the
intervention of the unionists. On leaving him I
made an appointment to-morrow before the " draw
ing-room " for my chief. London, March 21, 1874.
A day is empty indeed in which one has nothing
better to do than pay visits. When the Eternal
asks you : "What have you done with your time?"
it is no sufficient answer to reply : " Paid visits ! "
Mr. Gladstone left the Baroness Rothschild's
when I arrived. He complained of the ingratitude
of the Irish, and he is not wrong, or rather he has
made the mistake of counting on people like that at
all. He awaits the judgment of history, but he ex
asperates his partisans by not telling them what he
wants to do. It is the same as when he was in
power. A lady who was there was guilty of the in
discretion of asking if he would remain after Easter.
He replied in one of his vague sentences, of which he
possesses the secret. He had hardly gone when
Disraeli appeared, as always, like Banquo's ghost. I
had had the pleasure of meeting him. He does not
recognize me in uniform nor in citizen's clothes. But
he tried to be polite when he heard my name, and
he spoke kindly of my chief, whom I had presented
to him yesterday. Fancy a Primer Minister having

l84 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1874.
SO much leisure in France ! I saw Lord Sydney,
the retiring chamberlain, once more (we are inti
mate friends now), and Lord Lennox and Beust, all
of them at Baroness Rothschilds'. As she was offer
ing me a cake, she stopped, not daring to call it by
its name ; it was a " Bismarck." Thereupon there
was some joking with Beust to the effect that it
would explode. " Eat it, man." " But no — I'm not
burning for revenge." " Don't be afraid of being the
first to begin ; he has done it already. Look at his
cheek — he's lost his color," etc. As you may im
agine, it was not I that was poking fun at the
" Bismarck pudding." London, March 26, 1874.
I was at dinner yesterday with the Marquis of
Salisbury.^ The house is a vast mansion half-
finished ; you reach the private apartments (I
suppose you call them private) through long halls.
The dinner at least was private. Lord Salisbury
has a kindly face, pleasant look, and generally
unassuming air ; but his large figure and his head
bowed down by the weight of his brain reminded
me of poorVerdet. This is the spirited and ironic
orator ! My first impression of him is pleasing.
We had a most interesting conversation about Eng
lish institutions. Singularly enough for a man in
his position and with his talents he gives his inter
locutor a chance to be an interlocutor.
' R. A. Talbot Gascoigne Cecil, at first Viscount of Cranbome,
born in 1830, married, in 1850, the oldest daughter of Sir Anderson.
He was third Marquis of Salisbury in 1868. He was a member of
the new cabinet.

I874-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 185
I profited by the opportunity to draw a com
parison between England, with her social divisions
and hierarchies, and a ship with air-tight compart
ments. Then we spoke of India, and he explained
very clearly about the exportation of grain during
the famine. The marchioness is not young, but she
seems inteUigent, very agreeable, very tory, and not
too certain about the future, in spite of the Con
servatives* five-years' lease of power.
I talked a long time with Lord Carnarvon ^ about
"Trades-Unions." I attacked them with some
spirit, and he made little effort to defend them. We
talked too, with Lord Eustache Cecil ^ (Secretary of
War) about the English army. He claims that they
have at their disposition sixty thousand fighting-
men ; I doubt if there are more than thirty
thousand ; there were only a thousand whites at
most at Coomassie, etc. The two daughters of the
house were there ; they seem entirely dominated by
their intelligence. I can understand why it is people
say that this family is all men. London, March 29, 1874.
Lord Cardwell ^ was at the Duke of Bedford's
yesterday. He took precedence of Mr. Gladstone,
his superior in office. It was a bit formal. Fred
erick Peel,* a Liberal " whip," who was my neigh
bor, explained the organization of his staff — a whole
^ Fourth Earl Carnarvon, Secretary of State for the Colonies.
2 Son of the second Marquis of Salisbury.
3 Minister of War until 1874, then created Viscount Cardwell.
* The Honorable Frederick Peel, now Speaker of the House of
Commons.

l86 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1874.
corps of subordinates ready to jump into " hansoms "
at the first signal. Every member of Parliament is
obliged to tell, on leaving his home, where he may be
found. If a discussion arises or a division occurs,
that was not foreseen, the bells of Parliament and
telegrams to the clubs are not enough ; somebody
must go in search of the missing members and bring
them back. The discipline is severe ! After dinner
I approached Gladstone. He leaves to-morrow for
three months' vacation, and day after to-morrow he
will take up his pen again. He has a work ready on
Homer, the tale of Troy, etc., which is probably
about the same sort of thing as his other writings.
He rents his London house. This retirement is not
without its dignity. What a pity I am not a liter
ary hack ! a preparer of memoirs ! These conversa
tions with historical personages of England would
be invaluable. He told me that this session would
pass without discussion, and that things would move
on unchanged so long as England remains satisfied
with the present state of affairs. Somebody had
been speaking previously about the movement of
the workingmen in the country districts. The Duke
of Bedford seemed to me not to relish the vague re
marks of his former leader, who is not a landowner,
and aspires to become once more the " people's
William." What struck me most in the fallen states
man was how sensitive he seems to be to what he
calls the popular gratitude. It seems to me, if I had
brought about as many reforms as Gladstone has,
gratitude on the part of the public is the last thing
I should think of.

i874-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 187
London, March 31, 1874,
I left at ten o'clock for Windsor. The Queen
reviewed the troops returning from the Ashantee
war. At one o'clock we entered on the Royal lawn,
with our post h la Daumont and the classic gray
hats of the postilions. There were twelve hundred
men in the army. There was no need for any more
to go to burn a bamboo village on the equator. It
is very meritorious to have calculated beforehand
precisely the number of Englishmen necessary, to
have provisioned them, to have got them there, and
brought them back again on the day and hour set,
after the fever and before the rains. The commissary
which came last deserves perhaps the greatest share
of the applause. The Lords and Commons were
waiting in their galleries ; we on top of our carriages,
and the populace where it could. At last the Queen
appeared with her roan horses, her magnificent Horse-
guards and Brown. All quite in the traditional style,
except perhaps for the Highlander on the box.
The troops looked as if they had just stepped out
of their " barracks " ; there wasn't an Ashantee to
be seen in their train — not even a little one. There
has been no stinginess about the recognition
accorded to Sir Garnet Wolselej'. He has been
made a Baronet, a General and Quartermaster under
the orders of the Duke of Cambridge, has an income
of one thousand five hundred pounds sterling, has
received the order of St. Michael, K.C.B., C.B., a vote
of gratitude from both Houses in speeches in which
Gladstone and Disraeli vied with each other. Why
do not all these colonels with which " Greater Britain"

188 A DIPLOMAT In LONDON. [1874.
swarms engage (on their own responsibility if need
be) in like and equally profitable expeditions. It all
passed off with measured slowness. Furious cheer-
ings went up when either the Queen or the troops
came in sight of the public or of the Houses of Par
liament. The clown's part in the show was taken
by the nanny-goat given by the Queen to a regiment
of which it constitutes the " Mascot." Its prede
cessor in office had died during the campaign, and
the new incumbent had not yet become familiar with
military discipline, and in default of training had to
be carried. London, April n, 1874.
The Due de Bisaccia begs me to preside at the
banquet.^ So be it ! I have only a dozen days to
prepare my extempore speeches, and to consider who
will reply to them. I have to find an unhackneyed
witticism for each of my toasts : the Queen, the
"Royal Family," the Army, the Patrons of the Hos
pital, and Thanks. I must not forget to add the
Marshal — which is rather a new departure, but at
present our rallying-point. In effect it is a good
deal like the trip from China, one is delighted when
it is over with !
Lord Derby has much more sprighthness and in
telligence in conversation than I supposed. As I was
pleading the cause of our dramatic authors, he said :
" Why, if you should deprive our English play
wrights of French plays what would become of
them ! " It was rather nice and encouraging.
1 Banquet of French Charitable Societies.

I874-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. i8g
London, April 17, 1874.
I saw Livingstone buried at Westminster. It was
a moving spectacle when you remembered the
corpse had been brought out of Central Africa by
the natives that had served under him. The em
balming must have been of the crudest. Fortu
nately (as it turned out), he had once, in ,a fight
with a lion, had his arm put out of joint at the
shoulder, and had been obliged to reset it himself ;
he did it so imperfectly it always showed, and it was
by this deformity that he was recognized. At the
funeral there was a negro-boy who had interred the
entrails of the great traveller under a tree, and
marked the tree with an inscription, and said prayers
at the grave from the English liturgy. The remains
will repose under the pavement of Westminster, in
front of the Pitt monument.
Spring burst forth this morning ; the leaves hast
ening to make up for lost time. It would be
charming to sit in the woods and listen to the
golden oriole and the other songsters of the season.
I care very little for the city except in bad weather.
London, April 23, 1874.
Yesterday evening there was a large party at the
" Foreign Office." The effect on the staircase was
fine. It is to our ambassadress and her diamonds
that our success is due. I have, by the way, an
nounced our coming ball. We have already the
approval of the Prince of Wales. Lady Derby was
there, she is simple and charming, and Lady
Granville who is beautiful always, but conversa-

190 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1874
tion with her never goes beyond a shake of the
hand. I took Lady Waldegrave's little Jewess a prom
enade. Then I discovered I had forgotten all my
decorations. Unpardonable ! But what can you
expect of an orator ! ^ you must not forget that I
rehearse my speeches incessantly, and that the
people — at home — must take me for a madman or a
ventriloquist. I am a little embarrassed about the dinner on
Sunday at Dilkes, especially if I do not find Roche-
fort there ! London, April 28, 1874.
It was a complete success ! ^ There were one
hundred and eighty guests at table and every
body was satisfied. I believe the receipts are very
satisfactory. No one was absent. It was near
nine o'clock when the speech-making began. The
guests were seated at table at seven o'clock. I had
all my speeches written out and in my pocket, but
I did not disturb them ; the sight of them would
have worried and annoyed me. After the toast-
master had had the glasses filled and announced in
a resounding voice (like the tuba mirmn) that the
" chairman " would speak, I had to stand up amidst
" cheers," and turned upon the assembly an eye
much calmer than myself. I said a few words of
apology for the absence of the Duke, then toasted
the Queen and the Prince.s. I got through with
I Allusion to the speeches that M. Gavard expected to deliver at
the banquet of the French charitable societies.
^ Still excited over the banquet.

l874.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 191
these commonplaces calmly enough, and the public
were agreeably surprised. The " cheers " were a
matter of course ; no matter what I had said the)'
would have been forthcoming. After the three
hurrahs, a new proclamation of the toast-master and
up I was again ; " My Lords and Gentlemen." This
time it was for France and the Marshal. This was
my own particular toast, the one I had inserted on
my own responsibility, and it was a success. It took
the room by storm. I proposed it with warmth. I
had calculated my words well. From all sides my
friends made me cabalistic signs to say that it was
a success. " To France ! To the Marshal-President
of the Republic ! To the soldier who has deserved
well of his country on every field of battle ! To the
good man to whom is due the rare honor (in the
midst of parties which unhappily divide us) of re
uniting all of us in a common sentiment of respect,
of confidence, and of gratitude — to Marshal Mac
Mahon ! " Thereupon the orchestra played the
" Daughter of the Regiment." Behold me on my
feet again with another toast, to the " Army and
Navy ! " First I said a few words of Anson, the
vahant colonel who said such cordial words to us
last year, but who is in Provence for the good of his
health (the compliment was sent to him by telegram
at once); then a compliment and a joke on Lord
Eliot that we had cooked up together the year
before ; then a compliment to General Ady who
was present. Finally I touched on the Coomassie
expedition. Great applause, and while the orchestra
played, my friends hurried up to tell me what a

192 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1874-
success it had all been. They seemed really quite
satisfied. General Ady replied in a serious strain,
speaking about the Crimea. I had carefully avoided
mentioning it. It was one of the difficulties of my
position, as I could say nothing that might displease
Russia. Then Vdron ^ spoke for the Navy and
English fleet which never fights but in the interest
of justice and civilization. Three cheers !
This brought me to my most difficult toast, the
" evening toast." In the first place it was the long
est ; and then, I had determined to break in it with
the traditional thing and to give some advice. I
began well : I spoke of France, of the Sisters of
Charity, of the teachings of the Mother Superior : I
made an allusion to the Due de Broglie, passed
our works of charity in review, closed with .some
words of counsel on the subject of the maintenance
of a good understanding between all those who
were engaged in these Christian Endeavors. At
one place in the toast I was obliged to stop ; as I
was passing from one work of charity to another I
felt that I had forgotten something, and finding that
I was becoming confused, instead of beating about
the bush I stood silent until I had regained my self-
possession. As a last word : " I ought to have
stopped long ago, but if I should make an end with
out having referred to the Princes and Princesses of
the House of Orleans, your very walls would accuse
me of ingratitude." This peroration provoked an
outburst of satisfaction.
^ Military attache of the Embassy, at present admiral and
senator.

i874-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 193
Ouf ! I was done. And behold, Wolowski was on
his feet, proposing my health, pouring out a flood
of compliments, speaking of the ancient friendship
between us, of Alsace and Lorraine, of the budget.
Happily he had a horrible cold ; if it had not been
for that we should have been there yet. When he
sat down there was a fresh surprise, " the toast-
master " announced that /would reply to him. And
/ had thought I was done and hadn't another line
of MS. in my pocket. I replied that it was very
evident that M. Wolowski had come there this even
ing in a charitable mood, and had made me the
beneficiary of it. Then I gave my thanks to the
assembly. I couldn't, you know, take up his refer
ence to Alsace and Lorraine. Then there was also
a toast with compliments of Eliot and two or three
more. At eleven o'clock I sprang into my brougham to
go to Lord Salisbury's. The noise of my success
had preceded me ; the Due de Bisaccia seemed
sincerely pleased with me. — The place was full of
people and of lights. — Lady Derby told me of the
conflict at dinner between the Countess Marie
Munster and the Baroness Rothschild. It was
the old question of precedence between the
daughters of the ambassador and the wife of the
minister. Salisbury had been so imprudent as to offer his
arm to the Countess Munster. Nothing but the
question of the dukes and the l^gitim^s has ever
raised such a storm. But it lacked a Saint Simon
to make it truly interesting.
13

194 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1874.
I met one of my young friends. Lady Ella
Russell ; she is the daughter of the Duke of Bed
ford. Her father is a Bedford, she is a Russell, and
her brother a Tavistock. There, can you solve
that! How Wolowski does know his England! He only
came to spend five or six days here, and he brought
a whole array of decorations to wear.
London, April 29, 1874.
Dined yesterday at Dilke's. Happily, Sir L.
Malet was there, who is certainly one of my friends.
When at the close of the dinner some one joked
about the Bible, Lady Dilke gave the signal to
leave the table. Curious people ! Lady Dilke calls
herself a tory, she is older than her husband, but
is agreeable, and intensely vivacious. She is a great
friend of Gambetta's, who sends her bouquets of
flowers. It seems that he is very generous ; no
doubt it is since the war. She is also an admirer
of Schoelcher and in everything a tory. She is a
friend of Mme. Weldon, but never wants to see her
again, because Mme. Weldon formed the habit of
borrowing money of her. There was also present a
Theatre-manager, a semi-communist, who said un
pleasant things about the French embassy. I was
obliged to mention my title in order to call him
to order. Dilke himself, it seems, is a man of great
acquirements and talent. It is said that in ten
years (he is only thirty now) he will be one of the
leaders of the liberal party.
Nothing is impossible in this absurd country.

1874] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON.

19s

London, April 30, 1874.
Decazes congratulates the Due de Bisaccia on the
ball he is to give, and he is right. The .situation
has changed here ; everybody seeks for an invitation,
and in spite of yourself, you can't help believing in
the existence of a country when you are begging
favors of its official representative. All the princes
are coming to the ball, so there will be two suppers
set in the upper apartments ; so as to give the august
personages plenty of room and keep them from
eating one another.
One thing that I have remarked in knocking
about in society here, is the indecency (the word
is not too strong when you are speaking of the
younger generation), in the relations between men
and women. Society is upside down. As the men
have everything, fortune and titles, and the women
nothing ; it is the women that have to run after the
men. The men take things easy and treat the
women as inferiors. London, May 7, 1874.
We are absorbed in the preparations for our fete.
The most serious thing is the report that the
Duchess of Cambridge is dying. If so, good-bye to
the princes. Morier, the British ambassador to
Munich, says that if she dies she will show her
lack of savoir vivre. The witticism is possibly an old
one. The invitations are all the rage. Meanwhile
the invitations crowd on us too, but I fancy they
will cease when the senders give up hope of getting
one of ours. Some people ask me if I cannot get
them invitations, others thank me for things I have

196 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1874.
not done. Last evening those who have been
invited were twitting those who have not. To give
a ball is the height of diplomacy ; the Duke's
horses and his invitations do more than he and I
together. London, May 9, 1874.
The place was a fairy-land of princes, of liveries,
flowers, diamonds, emeralds, pearls, duchesses, lights
and music as in the ' thousand and one nights.' It was
a fairy-land, too, for the organs of digestion ! When
I saw five hundred persons in solid column assault
the supper, (which passed insensibly into a break
fast — it lasted till six o'clock in the morning), I
seemed to see droves of cattle and hogs coming up
a back staircase to precipitate themselves into these
English stomachs ! I escaped from the party at
four o'clock. Birds were singing and cocks crowing.
I heard the last strains of the orchestra as I left.
The morning air reminded me of the country.
It was a complete success. The embassy was
buried in flowers. The panniers hung on the walls
(an idea of the Duke's) were beautiful. The idea
will be adopted by every house in London that can
stand the expense. The princes began to arrive at
eleven o'clock, headed by the Duke of Edinburgh.
Every one rushed to the foot of the staircase to
receive him. My admiration for my friend X 
made me forget all about princes. What a rare
combination of vivacity and ease she has ! She is
to the manner born, is as much at home in society
as a fish in water. The same ceremony was gone
through for each of the princes, including the Due

I874-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 197
de Nemours. He told me he was charmed with the
dinner ^ and with the fete. He stayed till half-past
three, dancing with the " Royalties." The Duchess
of Edinburgh is truly beautiful and striking, as they
say in this country. She was dressed in red and the
Duchesse de Bisaccia in white ; they were, I fancy,
the most beautiful women there. The guests were
numerous, but we could not have done with fewer ;
we needed, in especial, all the duchesses available
with their diamonds. The Buccleugh collar drew
my attention to one dear old lady whom I had for
gotten. What did I do in the midst of all these
beauties and royalties ? I made myself as useful as
possible. In the first place, I looked out for Lady
Derby ; then I promenaded with her daughter, the
Countess of Galloway, a very agreeable person, who
must have perceived that I found her charming.
Then with the Duchess of Bedford and her daughters,
on whom I kept an eye while the mother was dining.
At one o'clock a supper, of forty-eight covers, was
served on the upper floor. There was great difficulty
in getting the right people into the right places, and
in keeping the wrong people out. There was a little
gnashing of teeth, — but every one was at last served.
The beautiful Castalia,^ simple and good-natured as
always, was laughing at the mistakes in my suc
cessive invitations and at the satisfaction my errors
had given her husband. We had had a correspond
ence that had given Granville an opportunity to
indite some witty letters in reply. Lord Vernon
1 He had dined two days before at the Embassy,
^ Lady Granville,

igS A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1874.
and her daughter, my friend Wood,^ and Lady Agnes,
and Mrs. Holford and Eveline were there ; I am much
interested in this young girl, — she is so frank and
naively happy. Lady Rosamond Churchill was very
gracious and happy in the pleasure she gave ; she is
more amiable than her mother the Duchess of Marl
borough. I found Lady Barington again, she is dis
tinguished-looking and must have been beautiful
once. Then there were the beauties. Miss Gerard
and Mme. Murietta ; a fire the night before had
burned all the latter's clothes, except the dress she
wore, which did not interfere in the least with her
dancing gayly till the rising of the lark. And just
now I've seen all these beautiful women repairing
the fatigues of the night with a little gallop in
Rotten-Row. London, May 14, 1874.
The Emperor of Russia only arriAred last night.
The delay was no doubt voluntary. It is said that
he does not like to go where a crowd awaits him.
About to-morrow no one knows yet whether the
rank and file of the diplomatic corps are included
among those to be received by the Czar, nor whether
we shall have to wear " breeches " {culottes) to the
ball at Stafford House ? These are the matters with
which we are preoccupied. It is really a bit absurd
for a representative of France abroad to be obliged to
give such attention to his culottes at a time when he
may at any moment find himself representing a gov
ernment sans-culottes !
1 Lord Halifax,

t874.] A DIPLOMA T IN LONDON. 199
London, May 16, 1874,
This has been a day to remember. We started
at noon for Buckingham Palace.
The diplomatic corps lined up, dressed to the right,
each embassy headed by its chief.
After some waiting, the Emperor ^ entered very
stiffly, followed by Brunnow, who was left to find
his way as best he could. If he hadn't been already
as old as could be, he would have aged ten years
since yesterday. The Czar's countenance is hand
some. He was courteous to Musurus, showed
marked coldness to Count de Beust, was friendly
with Count Munster, (shook hands with him), and
more than friendly with the German Embassy, rec
ognizing each of the secretaries. To our ambas
sador he showed little more than simple good-will,
explaining in a low tone the necessity of a visit on
his part to Chiselhurst and dropping a few gracious
words about the Marshal. As he was leaving he
added, in a voice this time that every one could
hear : " In especial say to him that Z" am in favor
of law and order." It was something too strongly
accented, and though the Duke is as much (if not
more) in favor of law and order as his interlocutor,
he was a bit offended. The incident will of course
find its way to the Continent. I noticed after this
interview a severity on the part of the Emperor toward
poor Brunnow. Brunnow had of course allowed
the Emperor, in his trip through the diplomatic
corps, to pay more attention than was quite befit-
1 Alexander II,

200 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1874.
ting to the Nicaraguan representative whose repu
tation leaves much to be desired ; and the Emperor
in consequence overlooks his ambassador and
appeals for information to Count Schouvaloff, who
follows him about.

Extracts from tbe "fflotcs.
My mother and sister having joined me, I have
no record (in the way of letters,) of the last fes
tivities during my stay at London : notably a
ball improvised for Ascot, at the place and in the
stead of the Prince of Wales. The day before,
flowers, illuminations, musicians, service, supper, and
even a flooring for the ball-room were sent down
by post. An affair that was at the time not less
talked about was a certain reception given to the
volunteers on their return from Havre, at which
the ambassador consented to distribute medals in
the midst of the popping of champagne corks.
The " volunteers " came full-armed and brought
their wives ; and from that time on the Duke could
not leave the embassy without a crowd about his
carriage to see him get in. . . . Generous, loyal,
chivalrous, more than chivalrous, the Due de Bisac
cia, much to my regret, wished to go to Paris with
the Duchesse to the Grand-Prix. He left as an
ambassador and came back minus that dignity.
The Comte de Jarnac is to succeed Due de Bi
saccia. Under the Monarchy of July, as First Sec
retary and Charge d' Affaires, he had already played
an important diplomatic r61e. His nomination rele-

l874-i A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 26I
gated me to the position of a fifth wheel. I knew
all the dangers and inconveniences of this situation.
I did not, however, hesitate to recommend the
appointment of Comte de Jarnac ; I had taken special
care to write and to speak to this effect to the min
istry every time that the succession had been open
since my arrival in England. It was, at least for the
good of the public, the happiest choice that could
have been made. The Comte de Jarnac was really
a born diplomat ; he was devoted, body and soul, his
whole life through, to his career. He married, he
assumed the management of a considerable property
in Ireland, he was not without success in literature.
But from first to last he was a diplomatist and a
diplomatist only.
I counted at first on easing the difficulties of my
position by frequent absences. I took my mother
and sister back to France the 3d of September,
1874, and returned to London the 15th of November.
I went to Paris again for the month of February,
1875. So that during the Comte de Jarnac's admin
istration I passed at most three months in London.
If this period was not entirely unobscured by
clouds, my loyalty on the one hand, and on the
other a great kindliness on the part of my chief, and
also his high intelligence, dissipated them as soon
as they were formed.
M. de Jarnac showed a bit of sensitiveness and
restlessness in his official relations. I saw there was
a tension coming in his relations with Lord Derby,
and that his fancy was creating one for him in his
relations with the French minister. How uneasy I

202 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1874.
have seen him on account of his having, in his
private correspondence, presumed to mark a shade
of difference between his own notions and those of
Due Decazes, on the nature of the relations to be
maintained with Mr. Disraeli's cabinet ! He had
undertaken to renew the former close alliance. In
his proceedings, in his illusions, there was a bit too
much of the traditions of a former time ; and there
was something old-fashioned in the turns of his offi
cial despatches, in the importance he attached to
small things, but it must be said that he looked
upon the official despatch as a necessary evil. He
reproached me amicably, for putting so much into
mine ; he felt that one could be certain that a
despatch is the surest medium for carrying danger
ous information to the ears that have no right to
hear it. Mistrustful, accordingly, of official corre
spondence he puts nothing in his own despatches
but odds-and-ends or general reflections, that when
one reads them afterwards are scarcely intelligible.
He reserved everything for his private correspond
ence, and then indeed, he wrote it down with an un
paralleled fulness and exactitude. The courage to
contradict a minister he did not lack ; in spite of
his soft phrases, or rather by virtue of them, M.
Jarnac was quite capable, when he felt it was his
duty to do so, of making a resistance to the very
Princes to whose cause he had devoted his life.
No one could be more circumspect than he in deal
ing with persons in authority, but there was a chasm
between circumspection on his part and anything
like compliance. Underneath all his certainty he

1874] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 203
knew how to lose his temper in case of need ; and I
remember having seen him, in the last days of his
life, at logger-heads with John Lemoinne who had
set down wittily enough in an article in the Debats
precisely what we needed to do to estrange the Eng
lish government from us. In his legitimate anger
the Comte de Jarnac altogether lost control of him
self — he raised his voice and stamped his foot ; a
little more, and he would have taken vicarious
revenge on the incorrigible joker, and used me as
the substitute. EitractB from tbe Correspondence.
London, October 9, 1874.
I ran across Count Schouvaloff ^ at the Countess's
tea. He acts as if he were bent more than any
other one thing on emancipating himself from any
lurking kindness for Germany and the Germans.
He fell brusquely upon Bismarck h-propos of D'Ar-
min ; he puts no faith in the embezzlement —
it is purely, he thinks, a scheme for revenge, a
stroke (I had almost said a stab in the dark), to
injure him with the Emperor, and to get him out
of the way as a possible successor. Then he crit
icised his colleagues from Prussia to London,
past and present. Not knowing whether his purpose
in all this might not be to draw me out I spoke
favorably of Munster. Schouvaloff is not, however,
a diplomatist of the school of Brunnow. He speaks
in complimentary terms of his predecessor.
1 He had been ambassador to Russia. Died in 1889

204 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1874-
To-day there has been nothing but a visit to the
good Georgiana to report.^ She told me that it was
the conversion of the Marquis of Ripon that had
enraged Gladstone, and caused him to write the
pamphlet in which he insults the Cathohcs and
outrages all the defenders of the Established
Church. He acts as if he had taken an oath to
quarrel with his whole party. London, October 26, 1874.
This morning as I was starting to mass, William
Guizot arrived. He came to borrow a shirt from
me, having lost his luggage en route. He break
fasted with Jarnac, and we spent a large part of the
day, chatting about his father. It is to be wished
that such respect for the memory of one's father
should be more universal. I seemed to be listen
ing to M. Guizot himself when his son repeated
some of his talk. . . . He told me of his father's
last hours. He slept a great deal and complained of
it. " I am sleepy," he said, " I struggle against this
eternal sleepiness, but otherwise I do not suffer."
When he could not longer read he fell back upon
his memory and used to recite poetry endlessly.
When he could not recall a line, he would become
uneasy, and repeat the preceding line over and over
again ; to relieve him the missing verse had to be
found and William was called to supply it. The
eve of his death, he halted on a verse of which I am
not sure ; something however as follows :
1 Lady G. Fullerton.

I874-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 205
// avait le coiur grand, V esprit beau. . . .
Le roi. . . .
The lacuncs in which he could not fill out. They
called William who recognized it as the last of a
poem addressed by Moliere to a father who had lost
his son.^ In his weakness M. Guizot had confused
it with a triade of Corneille's in Nicomide, where the
same thought occurs. It ends in this way :
Attale a le caur grand, T esprit grand, Idme grande,
Et toutes les grandeurs dont sefait un grand roi.
As soon as William had cleared up the mystery
his father continued tranquilly with Nicomede. It
was a favorite piece with M. Guizot ; he used to
recite it often to his children. As to the lines
from Moliere it was William who had impressed them
upon his father's memory on an occasion in the Sor-
bonne. William was mounting the platform to give
" Les Fourberies de Scapin," when the death of
the Due de Broglie was reported to him. He an
nounced it and closed by the citation from Molifere,
saying, " These are lines that apply as well to the
Duke as to ' La Mothe Le Vayer.' "
M. Guizot died very quietly, fell asleep without
any one seeing him go. It was a fit ending of his
life. We spoke of his history of France, which he began
1 " A Monsieur La Mothe Le Vayer " :
// avait le cteur, I'esprit beau, I'dme belle,
Et ce sont des sujets i toujour s le pleurer.

2o6 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1874.
at twenty-three. Three volumes are published. He
left the notes, which complete the fourth volume
and bring the history down to 1789, to his daughter
Henriette.i The volume will appear soon.
Henriette is the head of the family. " I can
neither do anything, nor decide anything without
her advice, she is the oldest son ! "
I am sorry not to be able to repeat the rest that
he told me ; among other things, he mentioned an
impromptu speech his father delivered at Nimes.
It was in a popular assembly, in response to an old
man who came to remind him of his mother's
charities in Nimes.
It was a masterpiece of tact, caution and profound
feeling. Then we ran over twenty of his speeches,
William reciting them as soon as I could give him
the clue from my confused memories.
He is to be here for a fortnight making some
researches in the British Museum. I will get him
an invitation to the Athenaeum ; do you know
I should never weary of this prodigious diction
ary !
I finished my day with Jarnac, at Gunnersbury,
at the Rothschilds. You go there, to be sure,
through closely built-up streets, but you are in the
country when you arrive — their park is a " country "
in itself — an endless succession of meadows, ponds,
ancient trees, greenhouses and herds.
We strolled about among these marvels, following
the Baron on his pony. He cannot walk any more,
1 Oldest daughter of M. Guizot, Mme. Conrad de Witt,

1874-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 207
but he can keep his balance. The outing really did
him good ; but he does not allow himself to take it
but Saturdays and Sundays. The rest of the week
he is in the City, superintending his business. This
place is altogether too beautiful, it attaches one too
closely to the things of this world ; it is better to
live in furnished lodgings such as those from which
I am writing you to-night ! Be it said in passing
that the church across the way is terribly ritualistic ;
superb music is wafted to me across the street and
through my closed windows. London, October 28, 1874.
I had a very curious conversation with Schou
valoff. One of his secretaries urged me to go see
him some morning. The talk was very unguarded —
very blunt. He told me that on arriving at St.
Petersburg M. Thiers had said, " I am ashamed to
represent the Republic, it is the greatest sacrifice I
could make for my country — I, the advocate par
excellence of constitutional monarchy." Then Schou
valoff spoke of the Due de Broglie. " He is the only
statesman you have. He commands my greatest
admiration. He is the only one who has made
head against demagogism." Then he told me that
he had just received the card of a certain " Monsieur,
half marshal, half convict, M. Bazaine." Then he
spoke of the Empress Eugdnie who it seems has
made a "dead set" at the Czarina, by dint of going
to visit her, etc.
M. de Jarnac has requested me to put our con
versation into a despatch.

2o8 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1874
London, November 2, 1874.
The dinner with Schouvaloff was full of interest.
He is a good talker, nay, even a good story-teller, is
a wit, is agreeable, is seducing. Is he a person of
solid abilities ? No one could tell that after a single
interview. He entertained us at first by recounting his ex
penses, and telling how he had been robbed of five
hundred pounds sterling on his arrival in London.
He said that he met a German diplomat in the train
from Paris, and found after talking to him that it
was the first secretary of the German Embassy at
Madrid who was on his way with despatches, Baron
de  He was going to England to see his
sister. He gave him some curious and precise in
formation about Spain, and also about Bismarck
and Count D'Armin. It almost made one exclaim,
the resemblance was so perfect. No one but an
intimate friend of Bismarck could have been so
accurate. On the way to the boat, at the station,
they recognized each other again and shook hands.
The Count received his visit in London. He was
authorized by Bismarck to put him on the track of
a large manufactory of Russian counterfeit bank
notes. You could have the information for 500
pounds sterling without any risks, to be paid
afterward. The money must be deposited at a
banker's who would not surrender it except on the
Count's signature. As the Baron, first secretary,
was on the point of taking his leave, the check was
handed to him . . . and he left as he said he
¦would. It must be rather embarrassing for an

i874-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 209
ancient director of the Russian pohce to be tricked
like that. He was really artless, and confessed,
notwithstanding his freedom of speech, the effect
the name of Bismarck, when properly employed,
has on him. The joke is that it was probably an
agent of Bismarck acting under his orders to teach
him a lesson in modesty.
It was during dinner that he told us this advent
ure, and he did it with a good grace. Afterward I
saw him and said to him : "There is only one man
who could have carried off that farce and he lives
at Clapham." " That is precisely the name of the
station," replied Schouvaloff. For my part, I am
convinced that it was one of the agents of a com
pany of international forgers which has been in exist
ence for some years, which mystified the Emperor
and M. Thiers, and has made offers to us. Their
stories are always so perfect, and betray such an
intimate acquaintance with state secrets, that one
is almost forced to suppose they get their informa
tion from Berlin. " I shall put the police on the
scent," said the Count. I fancy that on reflection
he will be more afraid of discovering the thief than
of letting him escape.
Afterward he told us of his journey with the
Emperor in the Caucasus. The journey was in the
night-time but it was light as day. Over a dis
tance of twenty leagues the forest was illuminated
right and left. The memory of it stays with the
narrator like a nightmare, as you can readily
understand. Then he described their escort of
14

210 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1874.
three hundred cavalrymen rushing along at full
speed. Every now and then a horseman would catch up
a woman from the ground without stopping and
seat her in front of him on his saddle, toss her
back to earth again when he was weary of her —
only to begin all over again this eternal " Merry
go round," with the next woman on the route that
should catch his eye, etc.
He said it was folly to spend so much in men
and money to conquer a country which brings in
nothing. He is wrong. In less than fifty years,
when Switzerland has had her day, every one will
go to Circassia to play at " Merry go round " with
the women. It seems, too, that there are as many
glaciers there as heart could wish.
After dinner we had a more serious talk. He
said that Germany is not so strong as before the
war, and that her unity is at the mercy of Russia.
He bases this opinion on the fact that she must
keep at least 400,000 men in garrison about Metz
to hold Alsace and France in check. That is
true ; but seems rather calculated to induce Ger
many to pick a quarrel with us again and to dis
pose of us for good.
He gave also a capital take-off of a Prussian
municipal council. He described them as gather
ing together for official business. The Mayor or
Magistrate dresses his people up in line. " No. 2,
put in your belly ! No. 5, advance ! " Eyes right !
eyes front ! forward march ! " to the chamber where
their deliberations are held,

1874-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 211
London, November 8, 1874.
The difference has been explained to me (by the
daughter of my landlady), between the church across
the street and the one she attends in Piccadilly.
There is singing in both, sacerdotal vestments in
both ; but across the way the priest turns toward
the altar during the consecration, and in Piccadilly
he turns toward the public. She could not tell me
the reasons for it ! " Across the street they make
the sign of the cross, and they hide a rosary
under their robes ; and what is worse than all,
they confess to the young " clergyman " who are
likely at any time to marry into their families. It
is horrible ! If our priests were like yours, I should
not be so scandalized at it." There is some truth
in this reflection.
The truth is, the ritualists turn toward the altar
because they believe that something happens on the
altar and not simply in the souls of the spectators.
They believe in the miracle, the mystery, in the
divine action of the sacrament. They are eager to
be Christians. I realize that it is much easier, but
more dangerous, to believe that everything happens
in the soul of the faithful.
Since you are fond of clever sayings, here is a
good citation from Pitt. They are his last words in
public, at a banquet given by the Lord-Mayor.
Pitt had been toasted as the saviour of his coun
try. " Do not say that a man has been the saviour
of England ; she has saved herself by her efforts and
has saved her neighbors by her example." Then
}ie sat down. Equally brief and eloquent.

212 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1874.
Hatfield-House, I November 21, 1874,
I reached " King's Cross Station " at half-past
five. There I found Lord Carnarvon and helped
him expedite the sending of a belated despatch to
China, which reached its destination about the same
time as we reached ours. A carriage was waiting
for us at the station at Hatfield and took us up
by the same steep uncomfortable road. As we
approached the " house," the windows all caught
the moonlight and flashed back at us a weird, color
less flame. You enter by a guard-room with forty
suits of armor standing sentinel, then through a
grand hall surrounded by books, where there was a
fireplace with great logs burning. I found myself
among acquaintances ; in an Elizabethan castle ;
there was Lord Lyons with Sheffield, Lady Stafford
Northcote and her second daughter, and the
Marchioness and her sister. We passed down a
gallery fully as long as the Gallery des Glaces at
Versailles. The Marquis came from London with Sir Stafford
Northcote. We went up to our rooms ; the stair
case was winding and of wood, I half expected to
meet James the First. This relic of the sixteenth
century landed us among chambers with little
diamond-paned windows, but for the rest supplied
with all the comfort of the nineteenth century. Big
open fireplaces, cabinets of all kinds, comprising —
yes — the one we have so much trouble in finding at
night in our hovels in France. It almost makes one
1 Residence of the Marquis of Salisbury.

i874-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 213
willing to be ill. All my things were ready and I
dressed. Fortunately I found Sheffield on the stair
case ; without him I should have been lost in the
numerous " halls." To reach the dining-room we
passed by the gallery of a private chapel. Finally,
we found ourselves in the small dining-room, the one
with the old wainscoting. The dinner was excellent.
The musicians played softly during the whole time.
When dessert was served the children appeared ; the
two daughters stood by the Marquis and the two
sons by the side of Lady Salisbury. One of them
was Lord Cranborne. When I think that this young
scamp of twelve is heir of this castle and of so many
others, I am overcome with respect for him ! After
dinner, we went into other salons ; everywhere
open fires, lights, an air of vastness and all this for
about ten people. A man must indeed be out of
sorts with the world who could not grow fond of
life under these conditions.
In a corner of my room, a programme for the day
was posted. " Chapel at nine o'clock." What shall
I do ? Breakfast at ten ; then hunt ; then dinner at
one o'clock ; tea at five ; and then dine again at
eight ! How can people live by candlelight in these
great rooms ? No wonder they see ghosts.
After dinner we -w-ere in a room too large for
conversation, so we promenaded in groups and lost
each other. The women and children at last sur
rounded Stafford Northcote. He does not preach
to them as in Parliament, but tells them stories, or
rather, funny dialogues. I lost all, or neariy all, of
what he said. I could not follow it.

214 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1874.
Hatfield, November 21, 1874.
This has been one of those beautiful days in late
autumn that are not uncommon in this rich Eng
lish country. I have followed the hunt all morn
ing, across the ferns, stopping in admiration before
the prehistoric oaks. The end of the year has
yellowed their crests. The sun shed a golden light
on the low-lands. I was more interested in inan
imate nature than in pheasants. We set out in
two divisions facing one another, with the game
between : it ended in a general massacre. The
three members of the Cabinet took part in it ; the
Marquis of Salisbury seemed a bit preoccupied. . . .
I followed Sheffield, who is a capital shot. It was
shooting enough just to watch him. I feel no
desire myself to shed blood, not even that of the
lower animals.
We began the day with prayer in the chapel, the
guests were in the gallery, the family and servants
below. The chaplain said prayers, and we chanted
a psalm, the organ accompanying. At ten o'clock
we met at breakfast. I was near Lyons, who is always
pleasant. Some neighbors arrived booted for the
chase. There was no time for serious chat the
whole day through.
As we were coming back the castle stood out in
black against a clear sky ; it was magnificent. I
shall make no effort to describe it to you — in the
compass of a letter. On the way back we came across
the stump of the Elizabeth oak, carefully puttied
and encased. It was under this oak that Elizabeth
^a§ told of the death of }ier beloved ^ister, -vvhich

1874] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 215
made her queen. As we three stood together there
—one of us among the greatest of the peers of the
realm — I asked myself which of us runs the best
chance of one day becoming king. I fancy I do.
Which only shows the difference between this
favored land and our unhappy revolutionary France.
Hatfield, November 22, 1874.
There is a superb white frost this morning, and a
great expanse of sky and landscape in view from my
window. Yesterday evening the Jarnacs arrived.
We dined in the large hall with the gallery on the
second floor. My neighbor was a very young man :
I asked him if he was at the University ; as it turns
out he is a member of Parliament, very young, how
ever, and at no pains to dissemble his age. He is
the nephew of the Marquis, a Mr. Balfour,^ I beheve.
At the close of the dinner. Lord Cranborne sat
down between us. I had retained him for the " pass-
wine," and he did the honors. He said : " I shall be
an ambassador, my brother a general, the other an
admiral, and the last a bishop." After dinner I
chatted with the young mathematician ; he delights
me much with his frank look and lively intellect.
Stafford Northcote began his Devonshire dialogues
again, which were a bit dreary. Then he played
some card-tricks. I did not make a point of recol
lecting all the " good things " {h la Greville^ as
1 The Right Honorable A. J. Balfour, First Lord of the Treasury
under the last ministry, and at present leader of the Conservative
party in the House of Commons.
2 An allusion to the Greville Memoirs.

2 1 6 A DIPLOMA T IN LONDON. [1874-
the Marquis of Salisbury would put it), that were
said. I had a charming walk this morning over the
frosty ground. Ferns and boughs were clothed in
white that glistened in the sunshine. We found the
rest of the household at breakfast on our return.
Then there were prayers. It is one o'clock and another
meal to eat ! I can't, simply : I ate a pheasant's
wing this morning, and can do no more. Don't
copy my letters ; there is nothing in them worth
while.

THE YEAR 1875.
Bitracts from tbe Correspondence.
-Woburn-Abbey,! January 3, 1875.
It is a mistake, I think, to feel that the power of
the clergy lies in its wealth ; the contrary is true.
When a cleric is rich, he is an object of prey to the
rest of mankind, and to find a pretext for devouring
him they change a word in his credo and oblige him
to choose between his riches and his faith ; or it may
be they despoil him simply, without giving him any
choice in the matter, and hang him, as they did the
last Bishop of Woburn, to a tree in his own park.
They show the tree still — " the Abbot's tree." If I
had been told he was still swinging on its branches
I should have believed it, my imagination was so
worked upon by this vast domain, with its centenary
shaded lanes which I passed through for the first
time in the moonlight.
Nothing seems to have been changed in the
cloister with its quadrangular court bordered on
all four sides by a gallery. The immense building is
1 Residence of the Duke of Bedford. Henry VIII. gave him a
baronetcy in 1538, and the Abbey of Tavistock. Edward VI. cre
ated him Earl of Bedford in 1550, and gave him Wobum. The
duchy dates from 1694. 217

2i8 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1875.
divided off into vast cells. I occupy one with a
canopy-bed. Was it here three hundred years ago
when monks prayed and studied in the building —
came here in their quest for heaven ? The bell
which calls me to dinner called them to morning
prayers. Put not your trust, however, too implicitly
in my first impressions ; they were received, you
remember, by moonlight ; to-morrow may bring
forth something quite different.
Woburn-Abbey, January 4, 1875.
I was decidedly the victim of my imagination last
night. The ancient Benedictine Abbey does not
exist by daylight. What I took for one, is a castle
deliberately constructed down in a hole, in the taste
of Escurial, and about as cheerful. . . .
Singular idea to have surrounded this monastery
castle by a glacis which rises nearly to a level with
its roof. The embankments are laid out in the
form of a fortification such as Vauban might have
planned. There is something grand in the total
effect, because of the scale on which it is all laid
out ; but it lacks art. The house is partly shut in
by immense out-buildings, that cut off the horizon
— a semicircle of stables, barns, tennis-courts and
what not. Inside there is a great square court, green
with turf, but nothing about it to inspire gayety ;
and round about the court there are interminable
portrait galleries. On the whole it is severe, monot
onous and melancholy.
Last night I entered, without suspecting it, on the
second floor, and as we went downstairs to dinner.

1875.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 219
I thought the table was spread in the cellar of the
convent. The mistake was mine, we dined in a
dining-room on the first floor. The house is built on
a hill-side, — one end is a story higher than the other.
You spend your time in this vast structure in walking
about from one room to another so as a little to
utilize the space.
The danger is of losing oneself in the endless
waxed halls (they all look alike), and of passing the
door you are hunting for. You learn, finally, to
guide yourself by the portraits hung along the walls
of the interior gallery. I spend most of my time in
the library, in the midst of old books, which I have
rummaged among a good deal in search for a history
of the Russells. The history of that family since
the times of Henry VIII. is in a measure the history
of England. Unhappily the origin of all these
splendid fortunes is always the same — the confisca
tion of church property, and Royal donations ; and
it often involves also the hanging of the last abbot,
as at Woburn.
Every day we dine in a different dining-room.
Yesterday it was downstairs, under the gaze of ten
portraits (full length) by Van Dyck. We were in
ordinary dinner-dress. There was nothing to dazzle
one but the plate, that flashed back the light in the
centre of the hall, and the deep-blue Sevres service
(or rather an infinitesimal part of it) which was a
" diplomatic " gift to the Duke at the time of the
treaty in 1763. After dinner and wine we went up
again to a beautiful drawing-room two stories high
with a magnificent portrait by Reynolds over the

220 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1875.
fireplace of a certain Marchioness of Tavistock. A
Tavistock is a Russell who is waiting for the Bed
ford dukedom. As it was all very informal, the
evening closed early, after a little talk and some
billiards in a hall near by.
One has to get up early to be in time for breakfast.
With much circumnavigation this morning I did
find the breakfast-room at last. It was in the hall
that contains the four-and-twenty Canaletti. The
sun poured into the room (for the winter seems
past) and played over the ' Canal Grande^ the
' Rialto,' ' San Marco ' and ' tutti quanti '; and lit up
the contours of two vile Sevres vases that are worth
two hundred and fifty thousand francs.
After breakfast I visited, with the Duke, the
apartments reserved for Royalty. They contain
many historical portraits, three or four by Van
Dyck, Reynolds and Gainsborough ; almost all
pictures of members of the family. One in special
was of a former possessor of the dukedom : in calling
my attention to it the present Duke said : " He was
in his day the eldest son ; fortunately he died young
for he was a gambler." The "fortunately" was sig
nificant in the mouth of an heir. The Duke handed
me over to Lord Arthur with whom I visited the
grounds a bit. The park is layed out on a grand
scale, there are meadows without end, and fine old
trees. Deer and partridges swarm about the castle.
Hunger and fear of the foxes keep them close to
human habitations. Here in England the fox reigns
supreme. He eats young swans, chicks, eggs, even
fowl kept up in coops. Complain to the neighbor-

t87S-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 221
ing squire and he does nothing — the thief is privi
leged to die by the pack-hounds only.
On my first round with Lord Russell this morning
I visited the sculpture gallery. It contains some
few antiques and a great many imitations and Eng
lish things. In one corner there was a little sanctuary
to Charles James Fox, with a bust of him in an arched
niche. I have seen many such in " Whig " houses.
Poor Fox was perspiring sadly in the general thaw.
It looks as if things in general might be melting on
this low ground. Through a covered gallery that
almost encircled the house, we went to the " dairy " —
a Chinese dairy ; but I abstain from speaking of it —
it was all so damp the bare thought of it gives me a
chill. At " luncheon " I caused a scandal by my absti
nence. They had noticed already how little I had
eaten that morning. What should I say — except
that I had not yet had time to digest my breakfast.
It was a pity not to do honor to a repast of which the
chef had furnished me with the menu when I paid
him a visit in his stronghold — the kitchen, or rather
the laboratory — a great hall two stories high, in which
there were wood-fires, coal-fires, flaming gas, and not
an odor, nor, so far as it was avoidable, an offensive
detail. But you should have been with me when I
penetrated into an adjoining room and found the
French " artist " in the midst of his books — Monsieur
X  who put his hand to the sauce-pan for the first
time in 1821 when Napoleon was dying. The good
man talked of the present century with a melancholy
air, of the decadence of his art. He warmed up a

222 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1875.
bit in the course of telling me that he has been
fortunate enough to succeed at last in solving the
mushroom problem.
" Is it satisfactory ? " I asked. " Yes, the Mush
room-soup," he answered — " purie de champignon " ;
and as he spoke he cast his eyes upon the papers that
littered his table — the algebraic formulae no doubt.
Then we visited the china-closet. We were shown
the porcelain service, given by Louis XV., all in the
famous blue Sfevres, there are from three to four
hundred pieces of it. After "luncheon " we visited
conservatories without number. There is one for
every month in the year. Peaches and grapes are in
season the year round. The " farm " (where I saw
great basins full of milk with cream on the top and
great basins full of milk still foaming and warm —
all of it for the " House " ) is a model of cleanliness.
There are also large shops on the estate— the Duke
has undertaken to supply all the stores needed by
the establishment and in the management of the
farms. The running expenses of his country places
amount to 250,000 francs. Fortune seems to have
taken a delight in lavishing favors on the present
Duke, and at a touch of her wand endowed him with
a duchy, a marquisate, vast estates, more than six
millions a year in ground rents, the ownership of a
quarter of London. And he has remained, in spite
of all this splendor, what he was before it came — a
younger son in a great family, satisfied with a
younger son's competence. Practically he is the
administrator, simply, of this great fortune, which
accident has brought to him. He is simple, sober.

1875-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 223
perfectly natural and independent, in the midst of
this luxury of which he has no right to divest him
self, and which he passes on to his guest. His son,
too, is unassuming, as silent at the table as before he
became the Marquis of Tavistock. There are also
two daughters. The elder is noticably solicitous to
escape attention. She has a dowry, however, and
the second son, Lord Herbrand,^ also will have an
" estate." The Duke said to me : " If any one tells
you I am a miser, say to him that I am economizing
for my daughters' dowries and to purchase an estate
for my younger son." The young ladies are simpler
in taste than the " Nobodies " of London. They
have never been on the Continent ! They do not
ride horseback ! -Woburn- Abbey, January 5, 1875.
This morning I visited, with the Duke, the schools,
and the cottages rented to working men at the rate
of one shilling threepence a week. The climax
of these splendid charities is the workhouse, main
tained jointly by sixteen parishes — -an almshouse
and a refuge. It represents the minimum guaran
teed to every inhabitant of Britain overtaken by
distress or old age, no matter who he is nor what
he may have done. The landed proprietor or pro
prietors in the country have to supply the poor, for
as long a time as they may demand it, with the nec
essaries of life. The only limit to the obligation
to give is the need of the claimant — a dangerous
principle anywhere — but what shall one say of it
I Present Duke of Bedford.

224 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1875.
here where the house in question is less than half
filled ?
We had three "radicals" from the neighborhood
in to " luncheon," one of them with spectacles on
and prominent incisors — a veritable rodent ; another
an insinuating reverend, a veritable fox. It is from
no lack of good will on their part, in my judgment,
that they do not dismember "his grace." As the
Duke is a liberal he has to listen to them and play
the host.
This morning I read the history of Henry VIII.
in a big folio. Such a story needs a volume of that
size. What a scoundrel he was (he had many
natural charms), and what scoundrels there were all
about, to abet his hypocrisies, and self-indulgences,
and passions. I really believe we are better than
that. The history of his mistresses would be to the
last degree funny, if every chapter did not end in
blood. During the day I followed the hunt : always
and everywhere the same massacre of pheasants
with their beautiful plumage, and of hares that
squeal. What a pity the sport is so cruel ! I
almost killed a fox ! If somebody had not knocked
up my gun, the Duke's standing in the county
would have been ruined.
This evening we dined once more in the Van
Dyck room — Van Dyck to the right, to the left,
on every side — vessels of gold on the sideboard, a
piece among the rest by Benvenuto Cellini. After
dinner we spent some time in the drawing-room that
contains the beautiful portrait by Reynolds. We
were between two immense open fireplaces — caught

I875-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 225
between two fires. It was so uncomfortable, not
withstanding the distance between them, that it
was impossible to stay there, and little by little the
guests withdrew to the side gallery, where there
was tea, billiards, whist, each in front of a fireplace
that it is accurate to describe as infernal. In a
glass case there I saw a cane that had belonged to
Charles I. London, January 8, 1875.
I have been with Borthwick to the office of the
Morning Post. I assisted, till one o'clock, at the
printing of a newspaper. It is a marvel of organiza
tion ; everything is done quietly — more than a hun
dred compositors at the work. The MS. is delivered
to them at three o'clock, and half an hour afterward
is in print. Articles come in from all quarters ready
for press. Every one has his appointed task. In
the middle there is a director who does not touch
a pen. He is a rich man who was a candidate at
the last elections. Naturally he is well paid. Each
compositor receives about ten francs a day. Organ
izations, division of labor, plenty of money, are the
secrets of it. Extracts from tbe motes.
THE ILLNESS AND DEATH OF THE COMTE DE
JARNAC.
The only thing that I have still to mention, is the
regretted death of my superior. He had been, since
the beginning of the year, suffering from an attack
of asthma. Dr. Vintras advised him to take a vaca-

226 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1875.
tion, but in vain. A run to Brighton for forty-eight
hours was the only rest he took. I was struck by
his exhaustion at the Hospital Banquet. At the
close of his toasts, which were so full of " humor,"
— models of happy characterization, he had been
unable to speak above a whisper. The failure of
his voice had imparted an air of homely sincerity to
his words about the hospital and the suffering here
below. He was depressed when he took his leave,
though he spoke to me of my own affairs with a
genuine interest. Nothing could persuade him to
take the precautions his condition demanded. On
the evening of the 17th of March, notwithstanding
a return of bitter cold weather, he went out before
dinner, as was his habit, to make the circuit of the
Serpentine. He was dining with some friends.
Nobody could have foretold that they would never
see him again. The next morning I was awakened
very early by Vintras. He had been called in the
night by the Ambassador, and had found him suffer
ing with pleurisy ; he had prescribed three leeches
to minimize the local pain, and the danger of irrita
tion from coughing. He did not attempt to hide
from me that the combination of asthma and pleurisy
was very serious. It was two days, however, before
anybody suspected how serious, and we suffered the
patient to run no end of risks in our unwiUingness
to believe that he was ill.
The embarrassment of my position was extreme.
I had to attend the Queen's levee in the Comte de
Jarnac's stead on Friday. I had to write to the
.Due Decazes at once to prepare him for the serious-

i87S-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 227
ness of the attack. I had to reply to a host of let
ters that poured in from all sides, as soon as the
newspapers had spread the alarm. I had to stand
between the count's family, who felt as yet quite
secure, and the physician, who was seriously alarmed.
By the 19th an apparent turn for the better had
been taken and it was announced that the count
would be up the next day. . . . The sense of my
responsibility was beginning to weigh on me. I
took the Marchioness of Ely, who was sent by the
Queen, into my confidence. Some hours later Dr.
Jenner appeared ; the Queen had sent him to make
an examination of the patient. Dr. Vindras and I
could ask nothing better.
I can see him still— the little man without a glance
to spare, brusque, hurried — coming into my office
watch in hand. All the doors opened at the name
of the Queen. He came back soon very much ex
cited ; he almost held me personally responsible for
the state in which he found the patient. " He is
very bad — this can't be trifled with. I have been
asked when he can get up ? Ask me rather whether
he will ever get up ? " He gave me a telegram for
the Queen and said he would be back soon. He
came three times that day. Three calls from Jen
ner on the same day was the worst symptom pos
sible. I wrote to Paris the next day, the 21st: "The
poor count is very low. Yesterday I notified (by
telegram) the Comte de Paris and the family. I
repeated the message this morning after a wretched
night. The disease has attacked the lungs. Jenner

228 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1875.
came twice yesterday, leaving in my hands each time
a more and more alarming telegram for the Queen.
At five o'clock, he ordered a physician for the
night. . . . This great misfortune is a terrible lesson
to all of us. He had from the first but one ambition ;
he sacrificed it for twenty-six years to a sense of
duty, he succeeded in it at last with a completeness
that derived an added brilliancy from his long self-
abnegation. He became, what he had always wished
to be, an ambassador ; his name, his authority, his
knowledge, his experience, his social standing in
France and in England, were to become at last of
service to his country — he was to be permitted after
all these years to do for France what he could do so
well. And he had barely made a start — ^had just
begun to come into notice ; and ... he died pre
cisely because he had succeeded. If he had contin
ued as an Irish landlord, simply, his asthma would
have amounted to nothing. Alas ! When he took
up the direction of the embassy, he forgot the pre
vious twenty-six years ; he thought himself still the
Comte de Rohan-Chabot, as in the days of his dis
cussions with Palmerston. . . ."
I added, in an other letter, the 22d of March :
" The disease grows worse hour by hour. ... I
was interrupted by the Prince of Wales himself who
came with the Princess to make inquiries. There
is nothing all these grand personages can do ! "
The same day at eleven o'clock in the evening
I wrote : " The Comte de Jarnac died while I was
at the door speaking with the Prince and Princess
pf Wales, who had come to ask how he was. He

I875-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 229
had at no time suspected he was to die. He lost
consciousness ten minutes before the end, and ex
pired without suffering. The people at his bed
side did not notice that all was over till some time
afterward. Yes, all was over ; and, (a word to those
who reach the end of their journey after a long
struggle, or despair of reaching it), how cold this
Protestant dying is, without a prayer, without a syl
lable of hope ! "
The news spread immediately in the crowd in the
street in front of the house and passed on to the
town. Certain personages I myself notified, and
they all of them either hastened to call that evening
or sent messages.
I returned to the embassy by ten o'clock and found
the place empty and the doors open ; I made my
way into where the body lay hardly cold, and no
body to stop me. One lamp was burning in a corner,
but no one was there praying : he was a Protestant.
It was I who spent the night by the body of M.
de Jarnac. I said all the prayers I could think of.
I had leisure to look at the head (now cold and
severe) that I had always seen smiling and kindly.
Up to the last moment he preserved for those about
him his customary playful manner. Death gave his
face a beautiful and serious expression — gave prom
inence to his will, to which his entire life had been
subordinate. He looked like an effigy upon the
tomb of some old warrior. During the vigil I wrote
the following official notice to the ministry :
" It is my painful duty to inform you that the
Conjte de Jarnac succurnbed this evening at sijc

230 A DIPLOMA T IN LONDON. [1875.
o'clock, to the pleurisy, by which he was attacked
last Thursday. The messages that I have sent
you day by day will have informed you of the pro
gress of the disease which neither the most tender
care, nor the efforts of science could check. As
soon as it was noised abroad that the French am
bassador was ill, the Queen expressed a wish that
her physician might visit the patient and give her
an account of his condition. Since that time. Sir
W. Jenner has followed the case hour by hour, in
company with Dr. Vintras ; informing the Queen
directly after each visit. The Prince and Princess
of Wales have not shown less solicitude. Their
Royal Highnesses were at the door of the embassy
making inquiries about the Comte de Jarnac at the
very moment he expired. The Queen and the
Royal Family have repeatedly shown their sympa
thy and their esteem for the Comte de Jarnac, and
the public has followed their lead. There is not a
public man, nor a member of London society, who
has not in these last days left his name at the em
bassy. A note that I received from Mr. Disraeli
showed clearly what impression the sudden an
nouncement of the count's death had produced. I
had sent him word of it, and he returned an imme
diate reply. " Your dreadful missive reached me in
Parliament. The grave has closed upon a friend
ship of forty years. Nothing can equal the grief I
feel." It does not belong to me to state what
France has lost in the Comte de Jarnac ; to the
testimonials of the general respect in which he was
held here in England I shall therefore add only an

I87S] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 431
expression of the profound and sincere regret I feel
myself for the death of the eminent and kindly
leader under whose orders I have had the honor to
serve for a time unhappily so brief."
A letter that I received the following day from
Lord Derby, contained an estimate of the Comte de
Jarnac which deserves to be quoted : " We have lost
in the Comte de Jarnac, the most perfect represen
tative of France in England that it was possible to
conceive. His intimate acquaintance with the two
nations, his invariable courtesy and finished tact,
gave him an incomparable aptitude for the elevated
post that he occupied. He won the esteem and
affection of every one with whom he had to deal.
His sudden and premature death will be felt by
everybody as a national loss. . . ."
The Comtesse de Jarnac recognized in me a friend.
She bore witness of it when she designated me to
the Comte de Paris as the person to whom she
wished to commit the custody of such of her hus
band's papers as at her death were to go to the
Prince. Her intention in placing them in my keep
ing was that I should acquaint myself with them in
order that I might, in case of need, make such use
of them as would serve the interest of the family to
which the Comte de Jarnac had devoted his life.
These papers and letters extended back to the time
of his entrance into public life. They related to
matters that he had handled for the State and to
those that he had taken charge of in the name of
the Orleans family.

232 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1875.

The Alarm of 1875.
I took charge of the Embassy on the 22d of
March, 1875, after the death of the Comte de Jarnac.
The feeling of uncertainty which began to spread
through Europe, and in especial through France,
after the Perponcher note of February 3d on the
Duchesne affair and the pastoral letters of the
Belgian bishops had not yet made itself felt in
England. One word about the Duchesne matter. I had
known of its earlier stages when I was at Versailles,
but had supposed it had long since come to naught.
One Sunday the venerable archbishop, the Cardinal
Guibert, came to my office ^ much excited, and told
me of a letter he had just received from Belgium.
It was signed Duchesne, and contained an offer to
assassinate Prince Bismarck. The letter presented
all the appearances of a trick, but as in such a
matter we could not be too cautious, I promised
the cardinal to treat the matter seriously, and the
same evening I sent the letter to Graf von Wes-
dehlen, the Chargd d' Affaires of Germany. After
some days, he came to express the gratitude of his
government which he begged me to transmit to the
cardinal. I do not remember what he told me was
the result of the inquiries which had been made, but
my present impression is that it had been discovered
there was no foundation for the affair beyond a
tipsy joke.
1 M. Gavard was then chief of the Cabinet of the Due de Broglie.

»87S-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 233
After the Perponcher note to the Belgian govern
ment, came the note to the Italian government about
the insufficiency of the law respecting " guarantees,"
the interdiction of the exportation of German horses,
and lastly a menacing article to the Berlin Post of
April 9th. I shall not concern myself with the
causes which produced the panic that spring on the
Continent ; I shall deal with the consequences of it
in England only. On the 8th of April, without
having received the least hint from the ministry, it
occurred to me in the course of a conversation with
Lord Derby to refer to the indications of an alarm
ing attitude on the part of Prince Bismarck. I
found the chief of the Foreign Office quite without
anxiety on that score. I sent an account of this
first conversation to the Due Decazes in a private
letter written at the Athensum immediately on my
departure from Downing Street. According to my
custom I sent to the ministry by despatch the sub
stance of this conversation. Here is, according to
my report of April 8th, Lord Derby's conversation :
" ' No news, good news.' I see nothing on the
Continent to alarm us for the preservation of peace,
I repeat what I said to you a year ago ; I have no
anxiety about this year. I confine myself, it is
true, to this year; but in the present state of Europe
peace even for that short period means a great deal.
Of the two notes with which you are so preoccupied,
the one seems to have disappeared — at least the
Italian government denies ever having received it,
the other will prove of no consequence. It was
simply a threat of Bismarck's to his adversaries at

234 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1875.
home ; he wanted to make them believe they are
vulnerable to him on every side ; he, too, felt a wish
to publish an encyclical. He has got his hands full
with the Catholic Church. In order to understand
events in Germany one must consider two things :
the nation is aware, since its success, that it has
alarmed all its neighbors and is pursued by the idea
that they are preparing to combine ; Germany sees
a coalition in everything and wishes to conjure it
away. On the other hand Bismarck's temperament
must never be lost sight of; he has become more
and more irritable ; he is no longer master of his
nerves. He is credited often enough nowadays
with calculations and combinations when he is
merely yielding to an outbreak of temper ; such for
example is the interdict put upon the exportation
of horses : a measure conceived in a moment of
passion, which harms nobody but the German pro
ducers. Don't fancy it an indication of extraordi
nary preparations or of an immediate estabhshment
of the German army on a war basis. . . ."
Passing finally to Emperor William's trip to Italy,
Lord Derby said : " Considering his age and the
state of his health it is easier to explain why he has
given over the trip than why he ever undertook it."
As to the maintenance of peace during that year,
or rather during that parliamentary session, Mr.
Gladstone had held about the same language in
conversation with me on the eve of the elections.
In effect in the month of April the Tory ministry re
garded the state of Europe with the same optimism
and quite as little foresight as the ministry that

i87S-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 235
preceded it. Meanwhile the "press" began to be
excited. The interview at Venice between the Em
peror of Austria and King of Italy, the professions
of friendship exchanged between them, the manifest
vexation of Germany, and Emperor William's aban
donment of his trip to Italy, were all remarked in
London by the few who at that time took an espe
cial interest in foreign politics.
On the 9th Baron Solvyns, the Belgian minister,
with whom (as well as with Baron de Beust, Austrian
Ambassador), I have shared this campaign, informed
me that Lord Derby had strongly advised his gov
ernment, as a means of strengthening its position, to
consider whether something could not be done for
Prince Bismarck in the Duchesne affair. He recog
nized for his part the inadequacy of the Belgian law
which does not protect people in other countries
against threats of death emanating from Belgian
territory. By the loth I noted a general alarm in
the daily and weekly papers. The Times, Standard,
Telegraph and the Daily News vied with each other
in the vigor of their expressions of reprobation for
the policy revealed in the article in the Berlin Post.
The Economist believed that the blow was rather
directed against Austria and Italy than against
France. This idea will make its way.
On April 12th there was a fresh inquiry in Parlia
ment. Although it came from an Irish member, the
Prime Minister thought it necessary to answer it
himself. Mr. Disraeli said that the note addressed
to Belgium was only a friendly remonstrance and
not a threat, and that he regarded the incident as

236 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1875.
closed. He finished, however, with some bravado
about the independence of Belgium, if she should
ever be threatened.
Hardly had Mr. Disraeli finished with his peaceful
assurances on the subject of the relations between
Germany and Belgium when the report was spread
that a third note had been sent to the Cabinet at
Brussels. Public opinion, following the newspapers,
covered Belgium with its aegis ; and I never doubted,
for my part, that England, whatever its government,
would not allow anybody to lay hands on Belgium.
So far as France was concerned, the Times was at
this particular juncture arguing that our inability
to hurl back Germany's defiance was a guaranty of
the peace of Europe. The Standard confined itself
to giving advice impartially to statesmen and to
nations alike, whoever they might be, that were
meditating war, not to count too absolutely on
England's supposed indifference.
On the 19th, the government was questioned both
in the House of Commons by an Irishman, and in
the House of Lords by poor Lord Russell, who
hardly counts for more than an Irishman, in public
opinion. He no longer knows what he is saying, he
can't hear anything that is said to him in reply, and
keeps on talking even while he is being spoken to.
After the ministerial explanations. Lord Granville,
who is really also a bit deaf, shouted the substance
of them in his lordship's ear. The House waited
patiently. Such scenes (they occur often) are really
pitiful ; the family try in vain to avoid them. Lord
Russell has his things printed, when he cannot speak

'8? 5-1 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 237
like a superannuated magistrate who cannot bring
himself to quit the bench. The odd thing is that
no serious speaker in either House thrusts these
shadows aside. When Lord Russell is absolutely
unable to come to Parliament, Lord Campbell of
Stratheden speaks. Nothing gives one a stranger
idea of the political mind of this House than to see
them listening patiently to the words escaping from
the mouth of this invalid, bit by bit, amidst the
most painful contortions. One of my neighbors
caUed them " minute guns " ; — comparing his empty
and solemn verbiage to the blast of a gun in an
official salute. No matter who it may be that asks
a question, the government has never failed to profit
by the occasion, not indeed to reply to it, but to
give such explanations as it may think desirable. It
was after all clever enough to have the inquiry come
from a member whose words do not count : the
reply was less difficult.
The two questions, or at least the two replies,
bore on the Belgium affair only. It has not as yet
occurred to the English government that there was
anything else to consider.
In the House of Commons Mr. Disraeli found
himself called upon to explain the conduct of the
cabinet that preceded his. He spoke of a " strong
representation " addressed in February, 1874, by
Prince Bismarck to Belgium on the subject of the
conspiracy hatched in that country by the ultramon-
taine party. He did not conceal the fact that the
German Ambassador had asked the Queen's govern
ment to support this representation at Brussels and

238 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1875.
that he had been politely dismissed, with expressions
of confident hope that Prince Bismarck would not
insist on the Belgium government's overstepping the
limits, within which the government of a Catholic
country endowed with free institutions must confine
itself. The Premier added that no communication
of the same nature had since then been received by
the Queen's government.
In the House of Lords, as well as one could un
derstand Lord Russell, the Liberal veteran, offered
himself as the champion rather of Prince Bismarck
against poor little Belgium. Lord Derby declared
that he considered the third and last communication
from Belgium as perfectly friendly. He did his best
to put a damper on the fire of public opinion and
assured the House that the conclusions " of the in
cident left no ground of anxiety as to the integrity
and independence of Belgium."
The next day Lord Derby assured me again that
he saw nothing especially threatening in the Per
poncher note ; he confessed, however, that the author
had so wrapped his meaning up in generalities that
he (Derby) could not tell with any exactitude what
it was all about.
He referred again to the advice he had given to
Belgium to fill any gap there might be in her legis
lation in the matter of affording protection to per
sons residing beyond her limits. I profited by the
occasion to ask him if he believed that English law,
as it stood, covered the Duchesne case, as Lord
John Russell seemed to think. Inasmuch as Prince
Bismarck seemed to wish to raise a question of

i87S-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 239
general interest apropos of the incident and was
disposed according to all appearances to address
himself to other governments, I felt it important to
know if the English considered themselves as not
involved in the question. Without replying to my
inquiry Lord Derby observed to me that Germany
voluntarily offered a guaranty of good faith, since
she proposed to submit her own legislation to revi
sion. I could not help pointing out to him that it
would be easier to have recourse to the Tribunals
at Brussels than to those of Berlin. He agreed.
Not having received as yet my instructions from
Paris, I did not dare to push Lord Derby any
further, and I asked the Due Decazes whether he
thought it well for me to continue to draw out the
cabinet at London. Without waiting for his reply
I took up the conversation once more at the Foreign
Office on the 28th of April ; I began by admitting
with Lord Derby, that the Belgium matter was in a
fair way of settlement, but I added that it was none
the less important to know the purpose of these
notes, these experiments of all sorts, newspaper
articles, knowingly indiscreet remarks which are
spreading alarm through Europe. Whatever their
cause might be. Lord Derby admitted their bad
effect. I added that these singular measures might
well be intended simply to put one on the wrong
scent. He in his turn spoke of the armaments Ger
many was adding with such haste. To my question
" Why these armaments were being pushed " he re
plied, "you know that the interview at Venice caused
much discontent at Berlin ; Prince Bismarck's irrita-

240 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1875.
tion was much noticed, and it confirmed the opinion
already held by the men best in a position to judge
of the state of affairs in Europe ; they think that the
storm which sometimes threatens France, and some
times Belgium, will burst at last over Austria. After
having excluded Austria from the German Empire,
Bismarck now reproached her for contracting alli
ances with other nations. Meanwhile I do not be
lieve in immediate war ; I give you however only
an opinion." The conversation then turned on the
German army which Lord Derby did not believe
proof against a prolonged war. " There was much
discontent among the landwehr," ^ he said, " at the
close of the siege of Paris ; and if you could have
held out for some time longer, there would have
been an outbreak." After that he spoke of the fear
of a coalition which seemed to haunt Bismarck. I
replied that it seemed natural he should fear a coali
tion. Following his train of thought, he added,
that Napoleon I. was always astonished to see coali
tion after coalition formed against himself, though
he never ceased to provoke them by threatening or
crushing his neighbors.
I reported in full this long conversation, which
started with the fears that the conduct of Germany
had excited in all Europe, and ended in recollections
of the coalitions which had resulted in the fall of the
first Empire. In forwarding it to Paris I took care
to put the ministry on its guard against any pre
mature conclusions about the designs of the English
Government. The report, I insisted, was significant
* Militig..

1875.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 241
only as indicating the state of mind of the Secretary
of State of the British government, and his opinion
that neither France nor Belgium was threatened, but
only Austria. Lord Derby's position was elsewhere
developed in an article that had appeared the pre
ceding Saturday in the Spectator, under the title :
Germany and Austria. "Germany," said the Spec
tator, " knows that she owes in some measure her
prodigious success to the diversion made by Italy in
1866, and to the incapacity of the French com
mander in 1870. She is preoccupied by the danger
to which a coalition might subject her, and believes
that the only way to be beforehand with this peril
is to develop her army to the point of being able to
defy a coalition. Prince Bismarck's scheme is to
profit by the fears inspired by France's rapid recov
ery ; but he does not seriously dread aggression on
that side, so long as France remains without allies.
If he should overrun France to-day, he would simply
be forming another Poland on Germany's western
frontier. To triumph over Russia, or to take per
manent possession of the provinces on the Baltic,
would demand a long war which would offer to France
the occasion and the alliances of which she has need.
Austria remains, and Prince Bismarck might, by a
rapid campaign, win back into the Empire ten mil
lion Germans, who would be charmed to share in his
success. Germany might stretch from Hamburg to
Trieste before the neighboring powers could bring
their armies into play ; and Germany with that addi
tion would have no further coalition to fear."
The similarity that all this bear^ to Lord Derby's
16

242 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1875.
language was striking. More than that, the consid
erations developed in the article are far from being
without value to-day ; they were sound in 1875, they
are not less so in 1879.-' Prince Bismarck seems to
have pursued the policy these ascribed to him, ex
cepting only that he has abandoned armed occupa
tion and employed conciliation in its stead.
He has made the Emperor of Austria enter Ger
many and accept a position such as the Margrave of
Brandenbourg held in the old Confederation. He
was assured that Austria would henceforth hold
Russia in check with the connivance of England ; he
had, therefore, no further coalition to fear.
My first instructions came on the 30th of April.
They consisted in a series of extracts from the cor
respondence of our Ambassador at Berlin, ending
with the strange and voluntary admission snatched
from Prince Bismarck's confidant, M. de Radowitz.
I hastened to communicate all these bits to Lord
Derby, without comment. I knew I must not try to
coerce him by arguments — that the best way was to
put him in possession of facts, simply, and let him
draw his own conclusions.
He still held fast to his former opinion, for the
time being, that Austria alone was threatened, and
that the danger for Austria even was not immediate.
He called my attention to the fact that the ammuni
tions of war that the Cabinet of Berlin had recently
been in such a hurry to get ready had come precisely
from Austria. When he insisted on the salutary in
fluence Russia might exercise at this moment at
1 It was in 1879 that M. Gavard wrote these notes.

I875-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 243
Berlin, I replied : "As much as England." In the
diplomatic corps, the impression that Austria was in
danger spread rapidly. There were persons who
averred, however, that it was Turkey that would have
to pay the price of an understanding between the
three powers. Every one was guessing, and guessing
wrong. On the 6th, a private note from the Due Decazes
contained the following passage : " Hohenlohe came
to tell me, before leaving for Munich, that Herr Von
Bulow finds Gontaut very optimistic, and that the
German Government is far from being entirely con
vinced of the inoffensive character of our armaments."
This communication convinced me that the moment
had come to try every means to induce the English
Government to speak out. Strong in my convictions,
I hastened to Lord Derby, and spoke to him with an
emotion which was genuine. I believed there was
immediate danger ; I fancied I might be of real ser
vice to my country. Lord Derby was moved (or did
I only imagine it ?) and came, before I left, to share
my alarm. I give his words, the look and intonation
with which he accompanied them I cannot give.
He said first that our fears, so far as the imme
diate future was concerned, were not shared by Lord
Odo Russell.^ Lord Odo, indeed, rather gave his
Government reason to suspect that what Bismarck
was at the moment aiming at was not so much a war,
but a war scare. Lord Derby persisted in believing
that if the Chancellor wanted the war, his first blow
would be directed at Austria. He admitted, how-
' Lord Odo Russell was Ambassador at Berlin then.

244 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1875.
ever, that the secret purposes of Bismarck, whose
will was beyond control, were by no means plain, and
that the present state of Europe reminded one of the
days when her fate hung on the will of the First
Napoleon. This justified me in suggesting : "And
suppose the first blow should be levelled at France ? "
" Such an act of aggression," said Lord Derby,
" would exite universal indignation in Europe, and
nowhere more strongly than in England. Germany
herself could not brave such an outburst of public
opinion." When I urged him to be explicit — to say
what form the manifestation of England's sympathy
would take : " You may count on me," he said, " you
may rely upon it that the Government will not shirk
its duty. I give you all the assurances that a minister
in a Constitutional Government can give." This
declaration he made to me repeatedly and in various
forms. The last words are literal.
I observed to Lord Derby that there are events
that can be prevented by being foreseen, and that it
was time England should declare herself. " Cer
tainly," he said, and added : " I have already spoken
to Count Munster. I told him that we did not take
seriously the scare they were trying to foster in Ger
many on the subject of the armaments in France,
that everybody knows France's present attitude is
not a threatening one, that all this uproar looks too
much like a pretext, and that I did not understand
what interest his government could have in keeping
Europe unsettled." Then I spoke of the meeting of
the two Emperors at Berlin. Lord Derby assured
me that he founded great hopes on Emperor Alex-

1 87 5-] A DIPL OMA T IN L OND ON. 245
ander's influence. " In especial," I added, " if it is
supported by that of other powers who are not
directly interested in peace." Lord Derby made it
evident to me that he understood the importance of
this addition and promised to inform me of whatever
step might be taken. The conversation ended in a
discussion of the evil Prince Bismarck might be
meditating against France and Europe. I made a
memorandum of all Lord Derby had said, and thanked
him for his friendliness toward France.
In the account of this conversation I sent in a
private letter to the Due Decazes on the 7th, I said :
" It would, of course, be a mistake to regard Lord
Derby's words as a guarantee of effective aid in
case of need ; but they are at least assurances such
as were not given to us in 1870. It is an overture
to be made the most of in case things take a bad
turn." My impression of Lord Derby's attitude was con
firmed by a conversation I had with Count Beust,
in which he spoke only of our just anxiety, and not
of the dangers with which Austria might be threat
ened. On the 8th appeared a long leader in the Times
a propos of the correspondence published by Blowitz,
at the instance of the Due Decazes. It aimed at
dissipating the alarm that publication had occa
sioned. A little more and it would have thrown the
responsibility on us. Its language resembled that
of Count Munster, who spouted smoke and flame,
denouncing our armaments, and affirming that dur
ing negotiations for peace, Prince Bismarck would

246 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1875.
have consented to reduce the indemnity in ex
change for an engagement on our part in relation to
our effective military and naval forces. Cardinal
Manning communicated to me a mandate that he
intended to issue against Germany, and an appeal
that the Catholic clergy of England were to address
to the Catholics of the world against the persecu
tion of which the church is the object in Germany.
I confess I did not feel hopeful about the effect this
manifestation would produce in England.
We had evidently touched the point where the
crisis must, for good or evil, be faced, and the even
ing of the 9th, which was Saturday, I went to Lord
Derby's reception with the firm intention of
eliciting fresh explanations. He saved me the
trouble of making the attempt. The moment he
saw me he came forward ; the people about us dis
creetly turned aside. Every one understood the
gravity of our conversation, above all when, after
some minutes, he called Lord Lyons, who was pres
ent at the reception, in order to repeat before him
what he was telling me. He begged me to state to
my government that his anxieties for the moment
were at an end. He had just received from Lord Odo
Russell, in reply to his last instructions, a telegram
which left no room for doubt that the danger had
been averted. He added that he had not been sat
isfied with this assurance, but had sent a telegram
that same evening, advising the most energetic
declarations in support of the Russian Emperor's
peaceful counsel. He did not endeavor to disguise
the fact that Russia's action had been more effica-

187S-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 247
cious than that of his own government in this crisis.
He wished, however, to demonstrate to me how it
could not but be so ; Russia being prepared to sup
port her remonstrances by arms. I could not help
replying that he did not seem to me to attach suffi
cient importance to the English navy, which could
not indeed prevent a war from arising but could
prevent its long continuance. Lord Derby was
silent. Presently, however, he added that aggression
against France, under existing circumstances would
have excited an outburst of moral indignation
throughout the whole world that would have checked
the Chancellor of the Empire himself. I made the
observation that up to the present speaking obstacles
merely moral could scarcely be said to have sufficed
to block Prince Bismarck. "I expressed myself
badly," he replied ; " what I meant was that there
spreads abroad now and then an universal sentiment
of uneasiness ; every one feels that he is in danger,
and the result is such a coalition as that to which
Napoleon I., in spite of his genius, was forced to
succumb." That evening, at the Foreign office, I
was " cock of the walk ; " everybody had divined the
topic and drift of our conversation there in public.
Two days afterwards, Monday the nth. Lord
Derby gave me a copy of a telegram he had received
from Berlin. The substance of it was as follows :
Prince Bismarck thanks you for your kind services,
but says they are unnecessary, and that he has not
dreamed of disturbing the peace. " This is the
reply," said Lord Derby, " to the instructions I sent
on Saturday to Lord Odo, that he should back up

248 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1875.
Russia. I know that Emperor Alexander's influ
ence has been brought to bear on the same side as
our own, and that he had decided to speak energet
ically if it should be necessary. All fear of conflict,
however, is for the present at an end, the incident
is closed. I do not believe, to say the truth, that
Prince Bismarck dreamed really of attempting such
a war ; he wanted to feel public opinion simply —
and he has done it ! " Lord Derby pronounced the
last words with marked emphasis.
Some hours later the same explanations were
given in Parliament, amidst "cheers." The House
testified by its evident satisfaction (and so also did
the Press) the gravity of its fears. The general dis
approval excited by the manoeuvres of Prince Bis
marck was not less marked than the general alarm.
I closed my report for May nth with the reflection,
which was just and not immoderate, that : " During
this last week we have not run more risks than we
had the week before, but England had not taken
account until now of the danger which threatened
France and Europe. The revelation of this crisis,
and the intimate communications it has occasioned
between the two governments will leave some trace,
I hope, in the minds of the Cabinet."
The next day, the 12th, confirmation of the good
news reached me from every side. In the first place.
Lord Derby expressly sent for me to come to see
him. After telling me that the most favorable in
formation on the score of peace was coming in from
all quarters, he took on a diplomatic air which was
not in the least becoming, to reveal to me in great

1875.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 249
confidence, that he had obtained no co-operation on
the part of Austria, and that it had proved to be
beyond his power, frightened as Austria was on
her own account, to make her speak to Berlin.
It was Count Schouvaloff's turn next. He had
arrived two days before on his way to Berlin. He
commenced by handingme a telegrarn from Emperor
Alexander, sent the same day, at the moment of his
departure from Berlin. He said to his Ambassador,
in express terms, that he took his leave completely
assured of the maintenance of peace. Here, accord
ing to my despatch for the 12th of May, is what
Count Schouvaloff said in the course of conversa
tion. He thought all danger of war for the present
at an end, but he did not try to conceal from me
that it might well make its appearance again at al
most any moment. He spoke then of the cause of
this recurrent menace, and in what direction we
should look for safety. " The danger," he said,
" lies in Bismarck's fixed idea, that France is dis
posed to attack Germany, and unhappily (which is
more unfortunate), the idea is shared by Von
Moltke. He believes you will be ready by 1876,
and that the moment will be so much more favorable
jfor you because you will still have a class of older
soldiers who have already seen service. The
Chancellor believes you will wait till 1877 ; but both
he and Von Moltke agree to anticipate you. They
pretend that you are the aggressors according to
this theory, which is not new in their mouths that
the real aggressors are not those who make the
attack, but those who make the attack necessary ;

250 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1875.
and they propose, as the result of a fresh campaign,
an overwhelming indemnity and a prolonged oc
cupation. . . . The " guarantee for peace " is that
Russia does not want war. She is opposed to an
aggression on either side. You know what the
Emperor said to General Le Flo. I was commanded
to repeat it in Berlin. I saw the old Emperor who
seemed much astonished at our anxieties. He really
did not believe the war imminent, but he is the only
one in Berlin who was so ill-informed. It was not
difficult to bring him to the point we wished when
once he perceived how matters stood. As for Bis
marck he knows that he can neither attack Russia
because of you, nor attack you if Russia opposes
him. Therefore I consider peace as assured, in spite
of the alarms that may come up, for the reason that
Russia does not want war, and that such an attitude
on her part is not a Platonic one." Then followed
an examination of the relative force of the respective
powers, and of the straits in which Germany would
find herself, if she endeavored to act either against
Russia or without her help, or not at least without
her kindly neutrality, as in the last war. He then
spoke to me of revenge. He finds it natural that
the desire to recover our lost provinces should lie at
the bottom of every French heart, but he does not
believe we shall be able to hasten it. He believes
that we ought to wait till the occasion offers itself
in some European complication. It was thus that
the Treaty of Paris was annulled (in 1 87 1 , after fifteen
years waiting), by Russia without striking a blow.
Count Schouvaloff then brought the conversation

I87S-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 251
back to Belgium to tell me that the opinion generally
current in Berlin, and shared by men in a position to
know, was that Bismarck had conceived the notion
of bringing about a state of things which would
allow him to offer Belgium to France in the hope of
satisfying our rancor at that price. But he added
that he had explained matters to Bismarck, who had
disavowed the intentions that were attributed to him.
I replied to Count Schouvaloff that one could not
attribute to a politician like Prince Bismarck motive's
other than serious, and that his conduct in regard to
Belgium seemed to me inexplicable. The Russian
Ambassador said, that since we no longer understood
Prince Bismarck, we had better look for the explana
tion of his conduct or of his purposes in the over
excited condition of his nerves, or in the nightmares
that haunted him on restless nights. . . . On send
ing an account of this to the minister I reminded
him that my interlocutor's speech was commonly as
daring as it was abundant — that he affected to touch
without reserve on the most delicate subjects, and
that I could not be certain of anything about him
except of his desire to see me fail in my promised
discretion. On the 14th, Lord Derby informed me that he
was on his way to Knowsley ^ for ten days, and ob
served that his departure testified to his feeling of
security, and asked me to keep him informed of any
thing that might occur during his absence. " You
know," said he, "that at Berlin no one wishes to
confess ever having even thought of war. Prince
1 Lord Derby's country place in Lancashire.

252 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1875.
Bismarck blames it all on Von Moltke, in which he
is perhaps not wrong ; but, however true it may be,
as he affirms, that he never thought of war himself,
he has in any event talked a great deal. . . .
This is the way I ended my despatch for that day :
" Perhaps it would be advisable, the present crisis
(which will doubtless be followed by others) being
at an end, to ascertain where we stand and precisely
at what point we should wish to begin our confiden
tial communications with the English government in
case the danger at present conjured away should
reappear. No doubt we have escaped war this once
because Russia refused to act in complicity with
Germany ; but it is no less certain that England has
spoken, at Berlin and elsewhere, in favor of peace.
, . . (the Queen's letter to Emperor William). I
am confident that it is not alone to me that Lord
Derby has given reason to suspect the coming of one
of those European coalitions that issue from time to
time out of the common danger, and that triumph
over Empires supported by genius even. In any
event, I believe that it is greatly to our interest to
take account of what England has done for the main
tenance of peace ; we should perhaps even do well
to encourage her by expressing our recognition of
the course she has pursued. The cabinet has showed
itself very sensible of the notices in the press, on its
firm attitude in this affair. My colleagues in the
diplomatic corps have echoed them too in their con
versations. It would be well if the French press
would not forget to mention England's share in the
results obtained."

1875.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 253
The Due Decazes, in a long letter dated the 14th
and which did not reach me till late, replied to the
wish I had expressed. It contained words of thanks
for Lord Derby and also for Mr. Delane of the Times,
whom I had also recommended to his gratitude.
He charged me to tell Lord Derby with what senti
ments of gratitude we had welcomed the news of his
intervention, etc., etc.
I replied the same day, May 15th: "I am en
chanted with the messages you have authorized me
to deliver to Lord Derby in your name. They are
all that could be desired. I shall send him, in the
country, an extract of your letter which says so
happily and justly all that is necessary. Are not
the deceptive promises you speak of essentially con
tained in the gossip about Belgium Count Schouvaloff
took the trouble to collect at Berlin ? I replied, you
know, that I could not attribute other than serious
purposes to Prince Bismarck. I am very much on
my guard with this brilliant talker — he does not in
spire confidence in any one here. That is in especial
the opinion of the Duke of Cambridge. Here is
what the Duke said to me day before yesterday :
' What a week we have just been through ! It is said
that things are settled, and that Russia has preserved
the peace of Europe. But I do not believe that any
thing is settled : it will all begin again at the first
opportunity. I no more count on Russia than I do
on the beautiful speeches of her ambassador.' 'Let
me at least count on England,' I said. He ex
claimed : ' What can I say to you of England. The
Tories are in power, the danger is flagrant, the

254 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1875.
people realize it, and would refuse us money for an
army.' "
Lord Derby answered me by private letter dated
at Knowsley the 17th. ". . . . assure the Due
Decazes that it is for me, and for the government of
which I am a member, a double pleasure to have
done what was in our power for the maintenance of
peace in Europe and to have done it for and in con
cert with the French nation. . . . We shall have to
take precautions and to be prudent on all sides to
avoid a renewal of the dangers from which we have
escaped. But personally I do not admit the pre
tended necessity of a European war. I think (this
is my personal opinion) that very few wars have been
necessary and very few just. . . ."
This letter shows that Lord Derby believed he
deserved the thanks that I had sent him. We shall
see the whole Cabinet (after the event) banking on
the gratitude due them for what he has done.
This incident, which began near the middle of
April and which reached a crisis during the first week
of May, was at last closed. It is interesting, how
ever, to consider the consequences of it. Everyone
was looking at it and using it from his own point of
view. Count Schouvaloff was pleased that it had all
happened ; it had shown England and Russia what
their standing together could do. He added that
England and Russia's uniting together in support
of France had accomplished the result which was
the object of his mission to England, the bringing
of the two governments closer together. He dis
avowed or disowned (it is neither the first nor the

1875.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 255
last time) the famous testament of Peter the Great.
He protested that his government has no other ob
ject nor interest in the Orient than to prevent the
establishment at Constantinople of a great power
such as might embarrass or threaten Russia. " Who,"
continued he, " could better fill this programme than
the Porte?"
After the event I was anxious to resume with Lord
Derby the exchange of confidences, and to discover
how far he might be disposed to go in return for my
demonstrations of gratitude.
He began in very much the same tone as in his
letters, and as he was going on with his usual scep
ticism about the inefficiency of intermediation in
general, I checked him and asked him to make a
distinction between an impartial intermediation be
tween two powers who are discussing a doubtful
point and an intermediation inspired by a profound
feeling that one of the parties is in the right and a
profound disapproval of the threats uttered by its
antagonist. I observed that such an intermediation
engaged the intervening powers too deeply not to
be of consequence in some way or other. Lord
Derby did not deny it. The review of the situation
led him to speak energetically, h propos of Belgium,
against any country's attempting to shackle liberty
of speech and the freedom of the press in any other
country. He seemed satisfied with the contrast I
drew, in closing, between the attitude of the Gov
ernment and public opinion under the Liberal
Ministry and under the Conservative Cabinet since
the close of the war : On the one hand public opin-

256 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1875.
ion hesitating, and the Government extreme in its
reserve ; on the other, the movement which has
swept away public opinion in these last days, and the
encouragement and the support we have found in
the Tory Cabinet. Lord Derby seemed to relish
the compliment. Subsequent events prevented him
from forgetting it, and one may see (in the course of
these notes) how, as time went on, he came, in 1875,
to extend rather than to diminish the scope of his
intervention in continental affairs. One may see to
what use he put my testimony, to justify himself
against the reproach of indecision, of pusillanimity,
of inaction, with which his adversaries overwhelmed
him when he went out of the Cabinet,
On the evening of May 29th, a question of Lord
Russell's, quite as unintelligible as any of its prede
cessors, gave Lord Derby an occasion to produce
before the public, information which had been re
ceived and kept secret by the Cabinet.
Here are my comments, the next day, on the in
terview, of which I had given an account that even
ing by telegram : " If the declarations of Lord
Derby revealed to us nothing that we did not know
before, they at least constitute an avowal in public
of much that previously we were not in a position
to affirm. For the future nobody can deny the
existence of the danger, which the Times did not
exaggerate in the correspondence from Paris, that
created so much excitement ; nobody can deny the
existence of the menaces which the German Am
bassador echoed in London. On the other hand,
England's feeling about the projected act of aggres-

I875-] ^ DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 257
sion, her conviction respecting the purely defensive
character of our armaments, her intervention with
the power which had provoked the alarm in Europe,
the initiative that the London Cabinet took in rela
tion to Russia, her making common cause with that
Government, are at length made certain. Also the
dangers of the future are equally foretold. The in
tention of the English Government to remain no
longer an indifferent spectator in continental affairs
is evident from Lord Derby's last words, which were
received with unanimous approval. ... I consider
the publicity which he has given to his convictions
and to the conduct of the Cabinet at London of
serious importance. Trivial causes, these past weeks,
have been producing great effects. When Lord
Derby first admitted that he was becoming anxious,
but affirmed that the object of Germany's hostile
preparations was at least not France, he was far
from anticipating the steps Lord Odo has had to
take in co-operation with Russia.
Bismarck's thanks (which did not sufficiently hide
a tone of irony) provoked a fine and sarcastic retort
from Mr. Disraeli, when he was questioned on the
subject of Count Munster's speech at the National
Club. Circumstances have lent this speech, which
in itself was nothing but a piece of stupidity, the
proportions of a serious incident. The reverberation
of Lord Derby's words will help rouse public opinion
and magnify afterwards the importance of this first
step of England's in favor of justice and peace.
After the danger had passed, everybody grew
bolder — in which of course I saw no harm.
17

2S8 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1875.
Neither did I think it useful to investigate the
reason for the unanimous approval meted out to
Lord Derby's language. If the defence of the
European equilibrium possessed its serious partisans
on the benches where, what is left of, English Tory
ism sits, no doubt the cheers of the partisans of
' peace at any price ' swelled their applause. The
radicals cheered too — cheered the cessation of a
peril— the termination of the affair. It might have
terminated as in 1871 by a second amputation of
France, and they would still have cheered.
The danger passed. Lord Derby became more and
more expansive. He said to me on June 4th : " I
really believe that our intervention contributed to
the maintenance of peace, and I also believe, what
ever may be said now, that the danger was great."
I questioned him about what guarantee we pos
sessed for the future against the recurrence of
similar dangers. " The Old Emperor," he said,
" does not want war, but we have seen that he is
not kept informed of what goes on about him.
Prince Bismarck does want war, and is anxious it
should come off during Emperor William's life.
The Crown Prince is a just man, not at all belli
cose, but he is pursued by the idea that it is
necessary to put the finishing stroke to German
unity by reducing to subjection to the Empire the
states which still retain a semblance of autonomy,
and he does not believe that that can be done except
by a foreign war. For the present, our main lookout
must be to keep the old Emperor from being cir
cumvented. England possesses means of letting

1873-] A DIPLOMA T IN LONDON. 259
him know the truth, and, as you know, she has used
them. As for the Crown Prince, the matter is more
difficult, since, notwithstanding his antipathy to war,
he agrees with Bismarck. England has stood in this
last crisis with Russia and also with Italy. It is
probable that we should continue to stand with
Russia as long as Alexander lives. He aspires to
the r61e of peacemaker in Europe ; he does not
dream of the conquest of Constantinople. We
must believe that his moderation will suffice to
overbear both the ambition of the Russian people
and the spirit of perfidious intrigue abroad ; — but
who will come after him ! Lord Derby confirmed
me in my belief that Austria had done nothing.
Was it from pure timidity, or from a secret hope
of coming to some better understanding with Ger
many ?
I had been especially careful not to hint at the
responsibilities that England's honorable conduct
might involve her in, but the newspapers were not
so reserved. T\\tStandard, Post, Pall Mall Gazette,
Fortnightly, Spectator and some radical organs, put
the question squarely, and the Spectator solved it
by saying : " It is England's duty for the future to
stand on guard to maintain the balance of power on
the Continent, and on guard in uniform, not in citi
zens' clothes."
My conversations with Lord Derby continued on
this friendly footing till the arrival of the new Am
bassador, the Marquisd'Harcourt(June25th), put an
end to my administration. The intimacy which had
established itself between the First Secretary of

26o A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1875.
State and me, during this crisis, survived the Mar
quis's arrival ; it survived even his term of office. I
know that I made great progress in Lord Derby's
confidence by not trying to see Mr. Disraeli during
the crisis. He was pleased that I had trusted the
affair to him and had spared him the difficulty of
having to agree with the Premier on what they
should say. I was advised to act thus and the issue
proved that the advice was good.
The Due Decazes wrote me the following letter:
" June 24. My uncle leaves to-morrow by way of
Boulogne. I make a point of announcing it to you.
I take this occasion to tell you how much we have
appreciated the wisdom, the prudence, the efficiency
of your administration.
" You more than any one else had deplored Eng
land's long silence in continental affairs ; it was right
that you should assist at her glorious awakening ;
and indeed you had in a sense a hand in it."
Extracts from tbe Corresponoence. London, April 7, 1875.
What struck me most in my expedition ^ was the
waving of the handkerchiefs from the windows as
long as the Prince of Wales's train remained in sight,
and the cheers from every one physically capable of
a cheer. We arrived at Chatham in the rain, with
nothing but umbrellas to shelter Bylandt's and my
1 M. Gavard had been invited to Chatham to be present ^t the
launching of a vessel.

i87S-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON 261
finery. We had to walk four kilometres through
the crowd, in the mud, our swords under our arms
and gold-braided pantaloons turned up at bottom.
We were " guyed " at by a double row of thirty
thousand people, but the most of it fell to our col
league, the Shah's share. After this little pedestrian
Odyssey we arrived at last at " Stand A ; " the
threshold crossed we became princes once more.
At first I did not understand what the great wall
was that we were lining up against ; on reflection I
perceived it was the keel of the " Alexandra."
At the appointed hour the cannon boomed ; the
princes and princesses arrived. The Archbishop of
Canterbury said a prayer ; but the tide was not full,
and even their Royal Highnesses must wait. At
last the " Godmother " ^ pressed a spring and a
bottle of champagne covered with flowers was
broken over the prow. Heavy blows resounded
from right to left, almost like so many explosions ;
it was the sound of the supports giving way under
the hammer. The mass began imperceptibly to
move ; smoke rose behind her ; the explosions swelled
a frightful fusilade : there was no further need to
try and draw the spikes — they broke like so many
matches under the moving weight. Finally she
went with a rush. The view opened out and
presently the " Alexandra " was floating tranquilly
three hundred metres from the stocks. There were
cheers and booming cannon, and a solemn parade
(in the mud) between a double row of sailors and
volunteers toward the Admiralty. We arrived at
1 The Princess of -Wales.

262 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1875.
last, escorting the ladies, at a handsome red and
white tent where lunch was served ; there was not
too much wind blowing and we had music, toasts,
and a speech from the Prince. After lunch we
smoked ; the Prince paid me some agreeable com
pliments. We were offered a place for the return
trip in the Royal train : there was no time to be
lost, so we hastened madly through the crowd and
mud. Bylandt, Ranses and I arrived a good first.
Schenk same too late ; like a true " Yankee," he
wanted to get on the moving train ; but the guard
pulled him away from the door. He found Musu
rus, the Greek, and the other wastes and strays of
the Diplomatic corps, to console himself with.
London, April 22, 1875.
Yesterday at a dinner at the " Foreign Office " I
sat at Lord Derby's right, near the Duke of
Cleveland, who is not exactly impecunious, and next
to the Marchioness of Exeter, who told me that she
possesses the most beautiful country house in
England, and to the Countess of Galloway, who has
immense estates in Scotland and a castle overlook
ing the sea from three sides. Opposite me sat the
Duke of Norfolk, who has more than two hundred
thousand pounds a year ; a little farther on was Lord
Ellesmere, successor of the Duke of Bridgewater,
who owns four forgotten Raphaels in an aban
doned town house. Mile. Meyer de Rothschild
was also there ; she has more millions to her dowry
than I have pence in my pocket, and last of all,
plain Mr, Disraeli, the Prime Minister. I shall not

i87s-] A Diploma t in London. 263
speak of the diamonds that sparkled in the lights
and were reflected in the silver service. A rumbling
military band filled the gaps in the conversation.
I forgot to say that the Duke of Cambridge entered
with " God Save the Queen." By the way, I asked
my neighbor about Lord Bedford's fortune : it is
more than 300,000 pounds a year — -that is 7,500,000
francs ; and Lord Derby has only a little less, be
tween 200,000 and 300,000 pounds a year.
London, April 26, 1875.
I dined with Mr. Baillie Cochrane. . . . We talked
of this scandalous mission of the two revivalists.
Moody and Sankey, two genuine " Yankees". The
one sings and sells organs and music ; the other
converts sinners, male and female ! After the meet
ing, they hold consultations without music. The
ordinary Conference-Hall is no longer large enough.
It is in the Opera-House that they meet now in the
daytime ; it is there that they meet the master.
Sometimes it is Moody, sometimes Sankey, who
gets up, illuminated, and announces that he sees
the Lord. After each meeting Sankey telegraphs
to his manager in New York : So many organs sold,
so many souls saved ! London, April 27, 1875.
Yesterday evening I went to the Opera to hear
Moody and Sankey. There was only a substitute
present so I found a seat easily. It seems that it is
Sankey 's music that produces the miracle. A hand
some blond opened the meeting in his stead, and

264 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1875.
edified the meeting with his pious gesticulations.
Sometimes he asked for singing, and sometimes for
prayer. At the signal for song, a " spinster " (what we
should call une vieille demoiselle) sat down at the
organ, and played a devout tune and everybody
sang. The man on my right had evidently come to
make his high notes heard ; the one on my left, to
come out strong at the end of a verse with a sing
song bass ; but there were those also who had really
come to the Opera-House to find God. After the
music, every one began to pray out loud ; weariness
and sleep overtook the assembly, and as no miracle
seemed forthcoming, the young blond hurriedly
dismissed the meeting. There is only one God and
one Moody.
Day before yesterday I was talking with Kinnaird,
M. P., and heir presumptive of a peerage, in one of
the lobbies of the House of Lords. We both had
our hats on. The Marquis of Lansdowne came by
with his on too ; he is very young. Kinnaird
passed the time of day with him and talked a bit,
taking his hat off ; but the Marquis did not give the
slightest evidence of intending to run the risk of
catching cold by taking off his. London, May 13, 1875.
Count Munster's toast is creating a stir. He was
so imprudent as to accept an invitation to the
National Club. It is an association of eccentrics
who meet to the confusion of the Catholic clergy.
A bit touched by what he heard around him on the

I87S-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 265
politics of Bismarck, he pronounced a panegyric on
that statesman, and mistook for a testimony of
national sympathy the applause that this lot of
simpletons gave to his glorification of the Kultur
Kampf and to his declamations against the black
men. Encouraged by their cheers, he forgot him
self and proposed as an example for England the
policy of the Chancellor, enforcing his advice by
alarming insinuations relative to the situation of
Ireland. London, May 21, 1875.
The Irish deputation having provoked an expla
nation in the House of the duties of an ambassador
the debate came up yesterday in Parliament. Mr.
Disraeli replied to the questions of the Irish mem
bers. Entirely recognizing that it is not usual for
ambassadors to make political speeches at public
gatherings, he hastened to add that he was too
strong a partisan of liberty of speech to complain
of the innovation which was being made. Then
passing to the object of Count Munster's remarks,
he gratuitously attributed to him an intention of
taking a trip to Ireland, and he expressed the hope
that he would be convinced, after the trip was over,
that there was not the least analogy between the
situation of the Catholic subjects of the German
Emperor, and that of the subjects of the Queen. I
do not know whether Count Munster fathomed
the purpose of Disraeli's speech, but he went about
everywhere protesting that he never dreamed of
taking the trip.
I had a very interesting conversation with Lord

266 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1875.
Derby, in relation to the future. Speaking of
recent events, he said that he had perceived how
deeply I felt everything I said, and how sincerely I
believed it.
Yes, the crisis is over. Meeting me some days
ago in the Foreign Office, Munster took me in his
arms, thus certifying the peaceful intentions of his
government. JBitracts from tbe 'Motes.
A journal of the life I led during the months of
May and June would have this interest — it would
show what can be done with twenty-four hours a
day. The pleasures of the morning, of the day, of
the evening, of the night occupied me no less than
business itself. After all, the dinners and parties of
the " season " are the business of a diplomatist who
wishes to have an ear and an eye open on every
thing. What complicated my pursuit of pleasure
and business was the preparation for the sale in
Leicester Square for the French charities. At the
death of Comte de Jarnac, everything fell on me. I
had to procure in France things to sell ; in Eng
land, people to sell them and to buy them. I never
made a greater hit. The booths at the Embassy
were loaded down, the most elegant ladies of Eng
lish society, Protestants and Catholics alike, acted as
saleswomen and that with enthusiasm. The ladies
of the diplomatic corps and of the Embassy threw
themselves into it with devotion, and so too did my
society friends ; and the mob poured in. Royalty

187S-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 267
was an acquisition as everywhere. The Duchess of
Edinburgh came in person, and I can testify that
she and the Duke showed their generosity. She
was most gracious to France and to her representa
tive. In brief, the sale was a great success, socially
and financially. I profited by the first and the
charities of the second. The sale brought in
¦60,000 francs, of which nearly 52,000 francs are
net. These figures have not been equalled since.
Extracts from tbe Correspon&ence.
London, October 25, 1875.
I have made a trip with Beust, and here is some
information for Klaczko : When Count von Beust
was still in the service of Saxony, the Emperor of
Austria gave him, immediately after the battle of
Sadowa, a message to Napoleon. He was to ask
Napoleon not to declare war against Prussia, but to
send the camp at Chalons to the frontier, and to
oblige Prussia to recognize him as a mediator. He
found the emperor in a state of complete physical
and nervous prostration. All he got from him were
the words, repeated again and again, " I have no
army, I can do nothing."
I have been to the theatre with Austin Lee. The
scenery played protagonist. You saw a prisoner go
through a wall, then the wall turned and the pris
oner was outside, where an electric moon and the
villain of the piece were waiting for him. Happily
he drowned the villain ; and though he was himself
killed two or three times, he came to life again and,

268 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1875
Fenian as he was, embraced, in the final apotheosis,
and was embraced by, an officer of the Queen.
They made a mess of a scene in the pantomime
which might have produced great effect. It was an
Irish wake. The corpse lay there exposed in the
miserable hut which in life had been his home ; an
old hag improvised a lamentation in strophes in
honor of his memory. A chorus of women, rela
tions and neighbors, responded in antistrophes, lift
ing their arms to heaven. Unhappily, every time the
hag turned her head the corpse sat up and emptied
the pot of beer at her elbow. It seems that in Irish
wakes the beer-mugs are replenished often. It
ruins the solemnity of the ceremony.
London, November io, 1875.
I have been to the City to a banquet at London
Tavern. The commissioners of the Guild-hall Library
invited me this year as usual. I was very kindly
welcomed from the time I stood up, and was
cheered when I spoke of the ' Journal of the Pro
ceedings of the Common Council ' : "It begins in
the year 1485 and reaches to your meeting last
night. It is beautiful to be able to follow across
four centuries, the uninterrupted deliberations of
your municipal parliament, which, under every
change of government, has preserved the char
ter of its liberties, which it has never attempted to
abuse in an effort to encroach upon the rights of the
nation. . . ."
There were certainly a hundred and fifty people
present — members of the corporation, doctors, men

1875.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 265
of letters and artists. The chairman, a champagne
merchant, proposed a very gracious toast in honor
of me as a representative of the diplomatic corps, and
he added a eulogy of Comte de Jarnac. Then there
was music by four men who sang together without an
accompaniment. It was semi-devotional but fairly
well done. Then my turn came. I had not antici
pated the eulogy of M. de Jarnac, and I had to be
gin with some words in honor of his memory. Then
I pulled my little extempore speech out of my
pocket and went ahead. One of the men next me
drank nothing but water ; he is an active member
of the temperance movement — what they call a
"teetotaller." Explain that word who can ! He did
the clown in the evening's entertainment — supplied
a mixture of the ridiculous, and finished his toast
with a glass of water. Many glasses were turned
down in sign of agreement with him, but the
assembly stood true to the " good bombards."
¦Westonbirt-House,! November 14, 1875.
It was foggy and rainy when I started and grew
worse en route. There was nothing but an endless
expanse of water to be seen. I felt as if the entire
country must be inundated, from London to Tetbury.
But the important thing is not to miss the station.
The rain came down in torrents ; it was impossible
to distinguish anything or to put one's nose outside.
Even the guards stayed in. I got out, however, at
my station, and found the door. The only person I
met was a little girl crying, whom I took in charge,
1 Mr. Holford's eountry house.

270 A biPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1875
though her gibberish was beyond me. She wanted
to go back to Tetbury, and the coachman took her
up by him. For ten miles nothing but rain. Then
I saw the little town of Tetbury with its pointed
roofs and windows in the style of the Renaissance.
After an hour and a half I arrived at the park, and
then at the house. It seemed like a palace to me.
They live in one corner of it only.
The young ladies came down in long flounced
dresses. After dinner Evy played some Gounod
for me and the sonata which they call here " Moon
light." Then the mother sang from her Italian re
pertoire, — she manages her contralto with much art.
It was exquisite. Mr. Holford talked with me first
about his pack of hounds, forty spaniels ; then of
" poor rates," and " school-boards," in English, if
you please. I am now here in my room. The wind
whistles around the house. I am going to sleep in
a bed big enough for fifteen, and in a room of like
dimensions. Sunday.
The storm did not let up all night, and avalan
ches of water fell on the roof ; but it stood firm.
I have not been able to go out, except in a carriage
to Malmesbury, a little town six miles from here,
where I found mass in a little wooden chapel,
hard by the splendid ruins of an ancient abbey in
which the Anglicans have fashioned for themselves
a chapel. These little English villages without man
ufactories are not without their charms. The ruins
of the abbey, with the ivy, broken arches, and an
tique sculptures, possess a beauty of their own.

1875.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 27 x
Then I had leisure to see the country. It is good
fox-hunting ground — meadows with hedges that
can be leaped, barriers everywhere that can be lifted.
One may ride anywhere across country in a hunt :
except in a hunt it would not be permitted. Practi
cally the English are fox-worshippers : six days in
every week they adore him, and on the seventh kill
him, or kill themselves in the attempt. Nothing
is sacred ; the church loses its right of refuge, the
home even is not respected; they kill their prey
wherever they run it down — before the altar or on
the hearth, even if they have to break in through
the roof.
The Duke of Beaufort, who lives at Badminton near
here, hunts every day. To-morrow if the weather
is fair I am going six miles to see the start of the
men in red, the women in riding-habits, the dogs
and the horses. When I say, if the weather permits,
I refer to myself, for the others think nothing of
weather. This morning I have lost no time. Sometimes
Mrs. Holford, sometimes Evy, took me about the
house, which surpasses in magnificence any that
you know. There is a hall, a sort of conservatory
three stories high, something like the great apart
ments of Louis XIV. The most original room in the
house is the one painted by Mrs. Holford, in a bizarre,
fanciful style, somethingbetweenDelacroixlandscape
and Rouen pottery. When the mother sat down the
daughter played cicerone in her stead, going on before
with her long braids down her back, her shawl thrown
over her shoulders after the fashion of a Roman

272 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1875.
peasant. She is very agreeable and seems to have
become stronger, though you have the feeling that
if you were to look at her very hard you might see
through her. Minnie is not very well and shows
herself but seldom. The mother decidedly has dis
tinction, one understands where the daughters get
theirs. Monday.
The sun shines — " Alleluia ! " and then your letter
of Saturday has arrived. The ground is frozen,
covered with white frost. I have been sent for to
go about the place. The house is an old palace
surrounded by gardens, with ponds and fountains,
etc. The architecture is like Versailles and decora
tive in effect. Then there is the park — endless, un
dulating stretch of verdure with great clumps of
trees which extends for I don't know how far.
The hunt ! I can really say that I hunted with
the Duke of Beaufort's pack. It is the same as if I
had. At half-past ten I started in a carriage with
my two small friends and their grandmother. We
reached the " hunt " six miles away, in a neighboring
park. As we drew near we could see, coming here
and there through the fields, a man in blue uniform
with gold buttons, round hat, and white breeches.
The roads were dotted with pony chaises and
victorias ; and lastly, there were all the children and
working people of the country round, all going to
the " hunt." We found already gathered a goodly
number of gentlemen, and of farmers who have none
the less good horses. The friends only of the Duke
)vear his uniforni ; others wear the red hunting suits

i875-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 273
of the neighboring hunt. Grooms with reserve
horses for the second portion of the day, stood
behind the cavaliers who were waiting for the hunt
to begin. The ladies of the party wore white breast
plates on their habits. The pack arrived at last.
The first "whip " came on ahead in green, then all
the dogs with their tails in the air. The second
" whip," the Master of the Hounds, is also Marquis of
Worcester, the Duke's son ; he takes personal charge
of the hounds. The horsemen moved about bowing
and chatting with the occupants of the carriages.
The Duke of Beaufort, who has handed over the
direction of the hunt to his son, regretted the ab
sence of a number of the customary hunters, who
had been kept away by the grounds being softened
by the rain. One of the huntswomen. Maid of
Honor to the Princess of Wales, came to our carriage
to pass the time of day. When the signal was given,
the column moved toward the woods, where they
expected to start a fox. It was a helter-skelter
squadron of one hundred and fifty, dressed in all
all colors ; gentlemen, farmers, ladies and " girls " —
almost babies. A regular mob accompanied them.
Gamins, soldiers in red coats, peasants all keeping
up as best they could. Our carriage took a road at
one side. We saw the column stop on the borders
of a wood, waiting for a sign from the dogs who had
disappeared among the trees. Many of the strag
glers cut across lots and caught up with the main
body of the hunt ; others looked on from a distance
in hopes the fox would come their way. Fancy our
luck ! The dogs swept toward us, a herd of cattle

274 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1875.
helter-skelter along with them. They crossed the
road two hundred feet ahead of us. The cavalcade
came after — bore down back of us on a fence which
they trampled to pieces beneath their horses' feet.
As we were directly in their way, they turned right
and left to avoid us — some down into the ditches,
others headed by two little girls of twelve to fifteen
years of age leaping the hedge. They found the
dogs in fields on the other side of the road. They
came up with them and opened out — the dogs had
lost their scent ! They hesitated, hunted, and took
the second hedge. One red-coat had a faU, but was
on horseback again before I had noticed him. One
or two ladies took advantage of an opening, and
the whole crowd disappeared.
And it will all be done over again to-morrow and
the day after. There are always the same horsemen
five times a week. The Marquis of Worcester will
not miss once for four months running ; then — he
will return to his regiment. Decidedly, it is more
than a pastime — it is a passion, it is a national in
stitution. High and low, everybody shares it, be
ginning with the good people whose fences are
knocked down, whose turnips are trodden underfoot
by a hundred and fifty horses, not to mention the
mob on foot, that keeps up I don't know how!
It is dusk as I write. The hunt is scarcely over yet.
And every one is coming back, at the cost of six,
seven or eight miles more, in addition to those he
has galloped during the day over flooded country,
over walls and hedges and fences. I ought to say
that when I saw the start and the pavalry charge I

1875-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 275
had a strong desire to be in it. I understand the
attraction ; but every day for four months is steep !
After luncheon my friends took me in a pony
chaise, across the beauties of the park to the keeper's
lodge. I saw conservatories without end, then a
lake, a bit of a wild, heaps of rocks that it seems
have been newly brought there. And the lake too
is a thing of yesterday. The pheasants were so
thick we fairly trod on them. At last we reached
the Head-keeper's lodge, and saw a pack of thirty
spaniels with legs short enough to make the rabbits
dance for joy !
It is all so beautiful and so well cared for that in
the heart of the country, one loses the sense of
nature. The hand of man is visible everywhere
though he himself is not in sight. I returned on
foot, walking by Mrs. Holford in the chaise.
I must close, because of time and space, not
from lack of matter.

Extracts from tbe motes.
I had charge of the Embassy for some time, in
November and December. I undertook the respon
sibility in the most complete ignorance of what at
titude the French Government wished maintained
at London, and the situation of affairs was delicate.
Relations between the conservative cabinet and
Russia were visibly strained. Everything indicated
that England had given up the doctrine of non
interference in matters of foreign politics, and that
she was prepared to give a sign of life, or rather

276 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1875.
of resurrection from the dead, in the East. It went
hard not to be authorized to put in a word at Lon
don ; but I tried at least to make it understood at
Paris that the situation was grave. This was the
object of a dispatch, or rather of a memorandum,
which I sent the home Government on the 19th of
November, concerning the state of mind and atti
tude of each party in England toward foreign poli
tics. Their interest in the European equilibrium,
the Colonies, the Eastern question, i. e. the Indian
Empire, the two routes leading there, the one for
Russia by Central Asia, the other for England by
the Suez Canal ; what England will tolerate and what
she will not tolerate in Europe and elsewhere. . . .
My observations still seem to me to be correct, and
have thus far been confirmed by events. In any
event they were at the moment extremely h propos,
reaching Paris as they did five days before the buy
ing in of the Suez Shares belonging to the Khedive.
I did not stop, however, with this general warn
ing, I sent at the same time under date of the 20th
a more precise account, which was intended to open
their eyes to the attitude the cabinet was prepared
to take in the East, and in especial in Egypt. The
morning of the 20th I received word from Due
Decazes asking me what effect the company's action
in pushing the Khedive's stock would have on the
English Government. The declarations I obtained
from Lord Derby may be read in my despatch of the
20th. It is recorded in the French Yellow Book for
1875. They were categorical, and marked clearly
England's intention if the Khedive should be ob-

l875-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 277
liged to dispose of his shares to meet the threatened
demands upon his treasury, not to let them go into
other hands than their own, and in especial not into
French hands. But in spite of my urgent desire for
authority to open up the subject again with Lord
Derby, the Due Decazes neither replied to my tele-
grarri of the 19th nor to my letter of the 20th, of
which I here give some extracts. " November 20, 1875.
" Monsieur le Due :
" The conversation in my interview to-day with
Lord Derby, having drifted from the financial diffi
culties of Turkey to those of Egypt, Lord Derby
told me that the Khedive was trying to mortgage
his Suez shares at the Bank of the Ottoman Empire.
I then asked him if there was not also in contem
plation a sale of them to the company. He said : ' I
must not conceal from you that I see serious incon
veniences in the way of anything of that kind. You
know rny opinion of the French company. It has
borne the risks of the enterprise ; the honor of the
achievement belongs to it, and I do not contest one
of its titles to recognition, but our interest in
the canal is greater than that of anybody else ; we
use it more than any other country. Keeping that
passage open has become for us a point of capital
importance. I should look forward, however, with
great satisfaction, to the time when it might be po.s-
sible to buy out the shareholders at a generous
figure, and to replace the company by some sort of
joint administration, or syndicate in which all nations

278 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1875.
should be represented. In any case, however, we
must do our best to prevent a matter that our
interest depends on from being monopolized. The
guarantee resulting from the Porte's control is no
longer of insignificance ; if we should lose also the
guarantee from the Khedive's participation in the
control, we should be absolutely at the mercy of the
M. de Lesseps. The French company and share
holders have already no millions of the 200 which
represents the capital stock ; that is enough."
After some words in reply to the subject of the
Suez Canal company, I went back to the mortgage
loan of which Lord Derby had spoken. He replied
that he did not want the Khedive to mortgage his
titles, but that, after all, a mortgage is not a transfer
of the titles, and that they could always be bought
back. He insisted in closing on the bad effect that
would be produced in the present circumstances by
a sale of the titles to a French company, and ex
pressed also his desire not to reawaken sleeping jeal
ousies which a matter of this kind would inevitably
provoke." ^
Meanwhile the English government lost no time.
It was Saturday, the 19th, that Mr. Disraeli, dining
at the Rothschilds, allowed the Baron to suggest to
him the idea of England's buying the shares up.
The idea pleased him ; he immediately summoned
Lord Derby and Lord Salisbury. The former hesi
tated, the latter grew excited. Baron Rothschild took
1 It is the step related in this letter which was the occasion of Mr.
Disraeli's complimenting M. Gavard publicly in the House of Com
mons (see later letter of February 9, 1876).

i87S-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 279
the purchase on his own responsibility, pending the
approval of Parliament ; it was concluded during the
25th and communicated to the press that night.
The news astonished all London the morning of the
26th. It had been perfectly unexpected. It was a
theatrical stroke of the sort Dizzy delights in, devised
as a business stratagem by Rothschild. The ambas
sador ^ returned the morning of the 26th.

Extracts from tbe Correspon&ence.
London, November 29, 1875.
I dined with Count Beust. Everybody had the
blues. . . . The celebrated Burton was there ; you
may have met him in your excursions into Central
Africa. China remains for him still to see ; but for
that, he would be a prey to ennui it is his resource
against the spleen. At present he is on his way to
Zanzibar. He knows Lake Nyanza as I know the
Bois de Boulogne. He has lived intimately with
the Mormons. Yesterday he was in Ireland, and two
months before he discovered some antiquities in
Greece. He has learned one after the other all the languages
there are. He began with the three Arabic dialects
of Afghanistan ; and afterwards, with the aid of
these, made his way to Mecca. He has received, in
his travels, from arrows and lances, as many wounds
as he knows languages. His face is tattooed with
scars. He acquires the use of a new tongue in ten
1 Marquis d'Harcourt.

28o A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1875.
days. He leases out his memory to a language for
so long — takes as many months' worth of any given
idiom as he wants, and with it all speaks French
better than I do English.
I was amused this morning on reading the news
of a mishap to an English iron-clad. A little more
and the " Iron Duke " which sunk the " Vanguard "
three weeks ago would have been on its way to
join her at the bottom of the sea. She was on the
verge of foundering, the distress signal was at the
mast-head ; the pumps could do no more. Then it
was discovered that they had simply forgotten to bat
ten down a hatch. The best thing is that the vessel
was going down in plain sight of the shore and of
the dockyards without any one's dreaming of send
ing help ; nobody saw the signal, and they had for
gotten to take powder aboard, and could not fire an
alarm-gun ! It is to be hoped that the English fleet
will be better equipped when it leaves to conquer
Constantinople. London, November 27, 1875.
England has bought the Khedive's shares in the
Suez stock. It is a masterly stroke for Disraeli at
home. Every one here approves it, without dis
tinction of party ; and he is safe for the next ses
sion. All his weaknesses are forgotten. Well, from
the point of view of foreign politics, — it is certain
that it is the first step that has been taken over and
above negotiation in recent years. England has
provided for herself ; I hardly think the other powers
will not do the same. All right, they will say,
because they have never made any claims on Egypt.

1875] A DIPLOMA T IN LONDON. 281
But it has not been proven that the barrier between
Servia and Montenegro is not to be raised, — a
fact which England has no doubt taken into consid
eration. As for ourselves, my advice is, not to
sulk ; our ill-temper would do no good. For my
part, I anticipated England's design, if not the way
in which she has carried it into effect.
London, December 14, 1875.
I spent an uninteresting evening yesterday with
Solvyns at a Geographical Society. It takes the
English to listen for hours together to the journal
of a trip to New Guinea. Neither the author nor
the reader put into it anything to ward off sleep.
One member read in a monotonous voice, while an
other pointed out the places on a large map with a
long stick. The female public, especially, felt it
necessary to applaud from time to time, but no one
knew why. Then a gentleman who was acquainted
with the country, gave an account of his trip, drawl
ing a great deal ; feeling the need to make his
travels interesting, he referred frequently to human
flesh. It ended with the wish that the British flag
might soon float over this land of cannibals. It
gives one a clue to the taste for geography these
insatiable land-grabbers have.
I spoke with Mr. Oppenheim at the club ; he is
the originator of the Suez affair. He suggested the
idea to M. Disraeli and gave the Rothschilds a hint
what to do ; their commission is 2,500,000 francs.
He confirmed my belief that Lord Derby knew
nothing of it when he talked with me on Saturday.

THE YEAR 1876.
Extracts from tbe Correspon&ence.
Hatfield-House,! January 3, 1876.
When I used to leave you to go to the country,
my one idea was to have done with it as quickly as
possible and get back to our apartment. It is en
tirely different now. Here I am in the country,
nothing draws me back to town, since your letters
reach me just as well here, and no one waits for my
return. I occupy the same room as last year, the same
mau.soleum of a bed, same Cyclopean fire. . . .
The first familiar faces I found were those of the
two daughters. The elder, who is almost pretty,
has the same frank manner as always. She is per
fectly natural. I succeeded in sitting next to her
at table. There were thirty-six of us. I sat directly
under the four French flags, which were not put
there out of politeness to the French ministry.
They were a gift from Wellington.
After dinner the band played waltzes. Every
one danced. I took a turn with one of the Rever
ends. It was time for me to stop. I saw already thirty-
1 Residence of Lord Salisbury.
282

1876.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 283
six candles, and ..." the years' irreparable wear
and tear ! "
To-morrow there is to be a dance with eight
hundred people invited. It ought to be worth see
ing the " yeomanry " in petticoats. There will be
a hunt no doubt in the morning. Do not be
alarmed, I shall not get into the way of any of the
members of the cabinet. I shall pay more attention
to the hunters than to the game. Eustace Cecil, the
under Secretary of War is here. We are to come
back it seems even to the English army knapsacks.
The weather is beautiful for this season of the
year, and the walk will be pleasant. It is not the bish
op's tree that you visit here but the queen's.^ She
was there when they told her that she was rid of
her sister, which cannot have given her much pain.
It appears from the last things written about her
that she was eminent for none but moral attributes
and that it was Lord Cecil, the founder of this
house, that was the brains of the administration.
Hatfield, -Wednesday Morning,
January 5, 1876.
First let me tell you the great events that the
Marquis announced to me last night. Lytton^ is
appointed viceroy of India. I shall be able to
recommend Eydin^at my leisure. This appoint
ment will not be refused. For five years, at least,
our friend will be the greatest and most powerful
1 Elizabeth.
2 E. R. Bulwer-Lytton, English Ambassador to Paris, where he
died in 1891.
8 Consul-General at Calcutta.

284 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1876.
sovereign in the world — one hundred and eighty
million souls at his mercy. Also he can recruit his
fortune there, thanks to an enormous salary. But
the poor young wife will often think, in her Asiatic
palaces, of her dear Knebworth and of her mother
whom she will leave here ill !
Yesterday I fired all my cartridges and we
brought down six hundred pieces. It is needless to
say that I shot like an oyster ! — it's enough to drive
one to despair. All the same, toward the end of
the day I found my account in watching the others.
This park with its old trees is superb ; I should
not have roamed about it in this way but for the
pretext afforded by the rabbits and pheasants. I
chatted mostly with Mr. Rally, M. P., who is of
Greek descent ; with the oldest son of Lady Derby,
Lord Lyonnel Cecil (whom I mistook for Mr. Beres
ford), son and heir to ;£'40,ooo a year — as you might
guess by looking at him ; he has an aplomb ! His
two sisters are here ; poor things, they are so much
more agreeable than he !
The hunt over, I sat in front of my fire till din
ner. During the day the house has been trans
formed for the ball. Everything goes here by rule
and commandment, as at a theatre. As there were
forty-six of us we were divided into three tables.
Toward ten o'clock the whole of Hertfordshire
began to arrive. Whoever leaves his card at the
house is invited. It is at this annual f6te that the
young people who do not go to court nor to Lon
don are presented. . . . The only improvement
that I noticed is that the ladies hold their dresses

1876.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 285
under their arms when they dance. I danced some
quadrilles, nay, a lancers even — one must be useful.
Martino^ and his wife joined us. The two orches
tras played till three o'clock in the morning. There
were certainly eight hundred persons and nearly as
many carriages on the place. The castle was lit
with electric light. "Wednesday Evening.
This has been a beautiful sunshiny day. The
hunt gave me a pretext to take the air at my ease ;
I say pretext because I was as clumsy as yesterday.
I shouldn't have minded if I had not had an attend
ant behind me, who could scarcely conceal his con
tempt. He did not know that I was a member of
the Society for Protection of Animals, and that
every time I missed fire it was so much gained.
There were only seven of us and we only killed
two hundred and Miy pieces. The Marquis is at
Hertford for the " quarter sessions." There are not
many here to talk with.
Martino has been called back to London. Beust
is running to Knowsley after Lord Derby.
When we re-entered the gallery the orchestra be
gan to play a waltz, and I had to dance. If I
should stay a few days longer I should be the suc
cessor of Vestris; but not in the lancers. I suc
ceeded in putting everybody out, but it helped on
the fun. Thursday.
Another day of hunting and of dancing. As for
the hunt it is horrible ; more than six hundred
1 Charge d'Affaires d'ltalie.

286 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1876.
pieces brought down by seven shooters, not count
ing those which have been killed since. I con
tributed the least po.ssible to the massacre, though
still too much for my conscience. These days in
the open air are certainly doing me much good,
although nature is not very natural in this country.
The gas-lights hardly end where the thickets begin.
The hunt was without incident or possible accident.
Pigeons were shot — a great many. The only unex
pected item was the sudden appearance of a fox ;
whereupon there followed frightful cries, and every
one abused everybody else, but without levelling a
gun. The beast is reserved for his lordship's pack.
Before dinner, we had music which was poor, and
then visited the famous " Cecil papers " — the entire
correspondence of Cecil with Elizabeth and James I. ;
the order for the execution of Leicester, for that of
Mary, entirely in the Queen's hand. One can't
speak one's mind about Elizabeth with perfect free
dom here, because Elizabeth was really Cecil. He
flattered her passions to the point of bloodshed, to
keep her in the humor of allowing him to reign.
London, January 10, 1876,
While I was dining at the club Schouvaloff came
in and took possession of a seat. Conversation ran
so high while he ate and drank that it soon became
general. For an ambassador, he is amusing. He
told us of the entertaining time he had in Paris, in
1856, when the Emperor commanded Bacciochi to
entertain him. In the midst of these edifying tales,
he dropped a few words about the Austrian memo-

1876.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 287
rial. Was he making game of it, or speaking in its
support ?
Lytton's appointment is generally well-liked. It
falls in line with the old tradition of divining the
" rising man." How old were Pitt, Palmerston,
Canning, Gladstone, when they took hold of pubhc
affairs ? He was not the nominee of Disraeli only.
Derby said some time ago to Reeve, that Lytton
would be called to a high post.
Lord Amberley is dead. I wonder if he will be
cremated as his wife was ? He is the oldest son of
Lord John Russell. He and his wife have made a
specialty of blasphemy and of rearing their children
as agnostics.
Yesterday I dined with the Vaughan family.
They had invited the daughter of X. for me to meet.
Her eyes, tongue, imagination, head, toilet, all were
spirited ; a true Parisian mouth, but with German
brains grafted on English humor and Italian audac
ity. She believes in nothing but her own reason ;
reads everything, knows everything and takes coun
cil of no one. She began by saying that so far as
she could consent to marrying any one is concerned,
she would prefer Salvini ; after him, she thinks
Wagner possible, and a certain prophet of Wagner's,
a German pianist, who has married a Greek and has
baptised his children each with the name of some
opera of the god of music. She believes also in
George Sand. Does she admire the morals of Ldlia
and Lndiana ? Yes, she beheves in the free
woman in the free state, and talked about it. She
is a German, and a German in sympathy with Bis-

288 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1876.
marck and the German Emperor. In short, she is a
complete Salmagundi. You would only find this
sort of thing in England. I thanked my friends for
letting me see so diverting a spectacle.
This morning, I received an amusing letter from
Lytton, who is very anxious to know how to man
age his " white elephant " ; he seems to be very
happy. London, February 8, 1876.
Just back from the ceremony.^ Well, it does not
stir one's risibihty, and that is saying not a little
when one recollects the heralds, the throne, the
crown, the genuflections, etc., etc. I left home at
one o'clock, and made my way through the human
current to Westminster. No bells rang, because of
the illness of Lady Augusta (Stanley). The House
was full. At first I saw nothing but women ; the
day was so dark I could scarcely make out anything
else, even after I had been there for some time. I
sat on the Bishops' bench, up high. The Justices
were in the centre in their wigs, and looked like a
drove of enormous sheep ; next came the ermine
robes, and then the peeresses. Toward two
o'clock the hall was filled with a continuous mur
mur; everybody had recognized everybody else.
Exactly opposite me sat Lady Ilchester, with a flash
and sparkle of diamonds about her neck, and eyes as
brilliant as her gems. By her side sat Lady Lytton.
Lytton himself was conspicuous among the ermine
robes, his brown head rising black above the white.
« Opening of Parliament.

1876.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 289
I met them on my way out ; they leave next
month. To return to the ceremony : it began with the
arrival of the two Princesses Mary — Mary, Duchess
of Edinburgh, coming in second. They seated them
selves in front of the throne on the woolsack.
Mary of Teck was spiritually much at her ease, con
vinced that she was exciting admiration ; the
Duchess seemed bored, because of her second rank.
Then entered the heralds, then the sword, and
the crown, all backwards — -and not one fell ! The
Queen was not more majestic than usual, but in the
midst of all this silence and respect she was very
imposing. She mounted her throne, where her robe
was in waiting. Her two daughters, one on either
side, assisted her. The Princess of Wales took her
place on the woolsack opposite. The Queen gave
orders to notify the Commons. The door at the
bottom opened, and from the throne you could see
the Speaker in the chair. The Commons kept the
Queen waiting some time, for the reason simply that
they always had done so. Presently we heard them
coming. The Speaker came forward deliberately ;
the mob followed with a great noise which they
kept up the whole time, as they crowded at the bar.
The Speaker stood opposite the throne in his
official costume and bore himself with great dig
nity. The Lord Chancellor knelt down and received
from the Queen's own hand the speech that he had
himself brought there under his arm. He read it ;
but there was no ; " Oyez, la reine le veult ! "
19

290 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1876.
What has become of the ancient formula? There
was nothing in especial in the speech itself ; it
was just what one might have expected, except,
perhaps, for a reference to the title that is to be
conferred upon the Queen as Sovereign of India. It
will be Empress no doubt. The ceremony ended, as
it had begun, in perfect silence. A shght bow to
the right, a slight bow to the left^ — that was all.
Those who had come in backward, went out back
ward ; and I found myself in the midst of a flood
of peers and peeresses, and was much flattered to see
how many great people I know : Aberdare, Vernon,
Lytton, Salisbury (who called me Bishop, because
of where I sat) ; Carnarvon, Bedford, Brett, and then
the young ladies. I found the Marchioness of
Bristol very pleasant, and a .sister of the Duke of
Norfolk not less so. I presented my homage to the
two beauties, Ilchester and Galloway, all in the hub
bub of our exit. The place was fairly overflowing
with peeresses. London, February 9, 1876.
Here is what you will find in the Times this
morning if you read Mr. Disraeli's speech at the
meeting last night ; " On the 20th of November,
the official Representative of France, not the am
bassador, who was absent, but a gentleman whom we
know and respect highly, M. Gavard, was absolutely
instructed to call on Lord Derby, I will not say to
pump him (laughter), but to learn whether England
would submit to the French company's pur
chasing. ..."
In any event they weren't obliged to crown a

1876.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 291
poor devil of a Charg^ d'Affaires if they didn't
want to. London, February 10, 1876.
I found myself, at dinner to-night, sitting near Mr.
Corry,^ Mr. Disraeli's secretary. He promised to
transmit my gratitude to the minister, who will, he
said, appreciate it highly. He added : " It seems
that you have some friends in the House, for, after
the compliment, Mr. Disraeli was interrupted by
cries of : ' Hear ! Hear ! ' " I have decidedly missed
the biggest day of my life. A plague on colds !
I forgot to tell you of the jostling of the M.P.s
when they reached the bar. The ministry were
swept away by the crowd. Mr. Disraeli found him
self at the door, happy to have preserved his hat.
During this time Dr. Kenealy was in evidence out
side. Mangin's carriage had been permitted to come
nearly to Westminster because somebody had
thought they recognized the doctor in it ; he was
following it really in a cab, which the people drew
home on his return. The electors of the future !
There was a " spelling bee " (a game in orthography)
yesterday at Lady Cambermere's, with three judges
and prizes. These great big English simpletons
amuse themselves with this sort of thing tre
mendously. Can you fancy Mr. Lowe, with his
albino eyes, standing up to spell, braisL It seems
that the word has been naturahzed. London, March 10, 1876.
The sight of a little Jew promoting the Queen
1 Baron Rowtonin 1880.

292 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1876.
of England and giving her a second crown is not to
be seen every day.^ So of course I went yesterday
to Parliament. I thought Dizzy very weak : he did
not give a single good reason, not one. His refuta
tion of objections lacked amplitude, but the trick
was well played. To refuse the imperial title to the
Queen, they would have to ignore her prerogative,
compromise the position of the ministers in regard
to her, and what is more serious, in finding fault
with the title they would seem to refuse to the
population of India the rights of citizenship. Mr.
Gladstone replied with abundance and completeness,
without, however, in my opinion escaping from the
absurdity which permeates the whole discussion.
This notion of making the Queen an Empress is as
difficult to defend as to combat. On Dizzy's part,
it is the whim of an artist in royalty, of a King
maker ; on the Queen's part, it is the whim of a
sceptred parvenu; she thinks she will be a more
considerable figure with the title of Empress, and
that her children will make better marriages. My
impression is that they made a great mistake
to lift the veil which ought to cover the origin of
claims to sovereignty. What has been done can be
undone. One doesn't play quits with matters of
that sort. Kings and Emperors are born : it is
dangerous to be specially created one. Decidedly,
Disraeli has made a mistake : everybody feels already
that the thing is a pill ; and they are not going to
thank the ministry for making the country swallow
1 He refers to the project of giving the Queen the title of Em
press of India.

1876.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 293
it. As the discussion was rather long, malcontent
members went to dinner to escape having to vote.
It was once more Stafford Northcote who made the
best impression with his air of good sense and
straightforwardness. After he sat down, murmurs
began to make themselves heard, and timid cries of
"Divide, divide; " and after Kenealy had spoken
nobody would listen to anything. At half-past two
we were shut in for the voting. The Speaker made
the last call for the " noes," and there were none,
there was no need to go out into the " lobbies."
When they took up other matters I went home
and dressed, and then came back again to " Mrs.
Speaker's." The House was still in session. M.
P.s deliberate, take tea, and chat, all at the same
time ; the bell warns them when they must go to
vote. There were a number of girls there whom I
found I knew. From the windows one saw the
boats on the Thames glide by, noiseless, lightless,
mysterious : it was very picturesque. I went out at
midnight to dinner. London, March 10, 1876.
I saw the good Mme. LioneP yesterday. She
has no desire to make the journey at this windy
season, and I fancy she will give it up. She told me
of their majesties' visits to Northumberland.^ I think
Easton Newton is the name of the castle that has
been rented for them. The Queen of Naples is to
occupy one wing. There has been a great deal of
money laid out on good hunters and more are in
1 Baroness Rothschild.
2 Empress of Austria and the Queen of Naples,

294 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1876.
demand at any price. Every day you find them
at the meet of some hunt in the neighborhood,
the Duke of Grafton's, or Lord So-and-so's, etc.
The Empress has already fallen twice, but as she
has not yet broken any bones, she is not yet sat
isfied. To-day the Empress came back to pay a visit to
the Queen at Windsor. There was some misunder
standing at the beginning. The Queen could not
receive her at the date the Empress had fixed, and
so the Empress left without waiting for Her Majesty's
day. It is evidently the presence of so many Ma
jesties or Imperial Highnesses that has turned the
Queen's head. A Queen by birth, she aspires to the
title of an upstart ! The result is deplorable ; the
Ministry will never recover from a success hke that.
I am much put out, because when all is said the
conservatives are our party really. A mere com
parison of Granville's and Gladstone's language with
that of Lord Derby, Sahsbury and Dizzy's, make me
decidedly a Tory in this country.
When you are not meeting Queens, with or with
out subjects here, you are jostling against Princes.
I reached Farm Street^ this morning, a little before
the storm. There came a large man with a ferocious
look, who went straight to the front bench, followed
by two aides-de-camp with pointed moustaches,
waxed with Hungarian wax. He made the sign of
the cross again and again at the beginning and at
the close, but other than that he was not more at
tentive to the mass than a lion in his cage would
1 Church of the Jesuits,

1876.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 295
have been. He stood up, made play with his arms,
looked about whenever he felt inclined, then left as
he had entered, with his aides-de-camp, who hastened
after him. He looked as if he were threatening the
sky because it rained on a monarch who cannot
even be said to be " fallen." It was Don Carlos.
His face is handsome enough, but the expression is
hard and evil. London, March 14, 1876.
Sunday's storm brought to light the bitter-sweet
relations between the Empress ^ and the Queen, who
aspires to be an Empress. I think I told you of the
Empress having, on her arrival, proposed an hour
for her visit to the Queen, and of the Queen's re
fusing to see her then, and appointing another time.
Diana, the huntress, did not wait. The breach was
to be healed on Sunday, but the interview was very
short. Diana left without stopping for lunch, in
spite of the storm and the hour of service. To punish
her the heavens unchained the winds as against the
invincible " Armada." The train was stopped on the
way. Not to let their mistress die of hunger, the
Empress's people borrowed the station master's
luncheon. She has had no better success with
Derby. She tried to make an appointment with him
for Sunday. With the dignity of Minister to the
Queen he replied : " It is not possible, I go to the
country." Yesterday at the Club, I found Schouvaloff. There
is always something worth remembering in his
rambling talk. It appears from his account that
1 Empress of Austria.

296 A DIPLOMA T IN LONDON. [1876.
Bismarck has, from the beginning, contended for in
tervention in the revolted provinces. Schouvaloff
himself favors Austro-Russian intervention. The
fantastic part of the talk turned on the English naval
force and the means of overpowering it.
London, March 16, 1876.
Yesterday, at dinner, I sat by a very agreeable
but very obese lady, who asked me, when the meal
was over, to help her get up. " Here," she said,
" you see a queen of beauty." It was the Duchess
of Somerset, queen of beauty at Lord Eglinton's
famous tournament. She is the sister of Lady
Dufferin. You could see that she had been beauti
ful. Her conversation was not without interest.
She told me she had sixteen small children. Then
she corrected herself, and said nineteen ; she had
forgotten three. The Duke of Somerset wore his
Star of the Garter. I should have taken him for a
substantial tradesman if I had not known that he
publishes books in refutation of the principles of
religion. London, March 19, 1876.
I have been to an official city banquet. When
the Lord Mayor made an allusion to the title of
Empress, there were cries of " Queen ! Queen ! "
Such a manifestation is very extraordinary in this
country. London, May 9, 1876.
Yesterday I read a curious history of a fanatic
" Orangeman " in the Parliament of 1832. Alone,
with the help of one acolyte, he forced the House to

1876.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 297
divide seventeen times on an insignificant bill, that
is to say, to vote, by all the " ayes " going into one
room to be counted, and all the " noes " going into
another, with an average expenditure each time of
some twenty minutes. Between every two " divi
sions " the wretch apologized, but said that he could
not do otherwise, having sworn to hinder the bill by
all means in his power. Then Palmerston and
some others tried to argue with him on his " case
of conscience " and to prove to him that he might,
without disloyalty to his oath, let the House go to
bed at a reasonable hour. He would not hear to it.
Finally, after the seventeenth division, the bill was
carried, and the House adjourned at four o'clock — in
the morning. The terrible man apologized once
more and promised "never to do so any more."
You fancy the House was put out with him ? Not
in the least. The incident was the origin of his
popularity. There you have an Englishman for all
the world — among Englishmen ! Read also a very
haughty letter of Macaulay to the electors of
Leeds, soliciting their votes. He will have no com
merce with the mouthpiece theory of representation ;
he approves of the principle of division of labor ;
says you ought to choose a legislator as you do a
physician, and your choice once made, to rely on his
judgment because, in the matter in hand, he knows
better than you.
Schouvaloff told me a capital saying by a Prussian
general to justify flogging his soldiers. " What will
you have? Die Canaille haben studirt " (The
blackguards have been to school !).

298 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1876.
London, May 13, 1876.
" Prussia House." — The secretaries were not pow
dered, but wore breeches. They waited on the
Empress Augusta. We were penned up in a draw
ing-room and I cooked in my juice (as we elegantly
express it) all evening ; I scarcely saw more than
the backs of my colleagues, or their wives, crowding
to exchange a look or word with her Highness. My
modest reserve did not cost me much as you may
imagine ; I could contemplate Augusta's fabulous
diamonds in silence. They make one feel that they
must belong to the House of Hanover. For the
rest she was painted and powdered, and tricked out
with a black wig and beautiful speeches : " These
chairs seem to reproach you, ladies, for not being
seated." That is how one says : " Sit down," in the
Prussian court. The ladies took good care not to
profit by the invitation. There was a whole string
of phrases quite as simple and profound.
She asked Beust his opinion of the exposition,
after telling him what she thought of it herself ; he
said it was like a promenade concert minus the music.
He is the only one who knows how to come off
with honor ; he makes up for his obsequiousness by
a certain air of making game of their Majesties. I
found my very young friend Maud (Cecil) again;
she grows beautiful. That is the one incident I
treasure of the evening.
I live, you see, in a round of pleasures. It is a
shameful existence for a man of my age : so much
the more so that one loses the thread of one's se
rious work. I do nothing and I learn nothing. . . .

1876.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 299
London, Lockinge-House, October 28, 1876.1
Here are th.Q dramatis personce : Loyd Lindsay
and his sweet young wife, always with her httle air of
melancholy ; Mrs. Holford and the beautiful Alice ;
her mother and Lady Mary Crawford, who are on
their way to Italy ; Lady Alice Ayre and her hus
band ; Morley ^ and his young wife, also on their
way to Italy ; and Lord Oberstone who remains in
England. That is the list of the family simply, and
I breathe happy in their midst. Nothing happened
on the way, and I saw nothing except a treeless
landscape hidden in fog, and a charmingly rustic
village. I reached the house at nightfall. The road dis
appeared beneath great trees of which I could see
no more than the trunks ; bright lights reflected
on the water reached me through the darkness.
Finally we made a turn and I found myself in front
of what I took at first for a large factory with every
window lighted and reflected in a basin. I was mis
taken ; it was the house of which I could distin
guish nothing. First we entered the hall ; it is
two stories high, all in wood, and decorated with
beautiful tapestries. While I was talking with
Colonel Lindsay, I saw a face at the window on the
second floor— or rather I heard the rustling of robes
on the gallery over our heads. The beautiful Alice
affirms that the place is a bad one for the honey-
1 Residence of Colonel Loyd Lhidsay, now Lord Wantage.
2 Earl Morley, who married Miss Holford.

300 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1876.
moons, because everything can be seen and heard
from above. Even while I was talking, I descried
a large Murillo, the counterpart of the Assumption.
The Virgin and the Child had been cut out by
the monks to save them from the French, but
not from the English, who bought the piece and
sold it to Lord Oberstone. The drapery of the
Angel or rather of Love, which formed the bottom
of the picture, was left. They did not escape to
Marshal Soult. After long years of waiting the
second piece joined the first, and they were put
together without showing. I must wait till day
light to judge the picture and give you an account
of all I have not seen this evening.
Friday Morning, October 29, 1876.
This morning I began to reconnoitre. I said yes
terday that the house resembled a large factory
illuminated by a thousand fires ; the truth is that
the design — the architecture is nothing to speak of,
but the interior is perfect. The gardens are perfect
in their kind, with little cascades every few feet ;
the park is Woburn or Hatfield over again, with a
surface more diversified, indeed, but exemplifying
everywhere the sort of artificial nature they go in
for here, the poverty of invention, the perpetual
presence of the hand of man. For the rest, the
total effect is rich, opulent, in a supreme degree ;
there are swans on the water, the herds of cattle
in the meadows, vegetable gardens that I drove
through, a second park beyond the first, with a
country house in it given up to Colonel Lindsay,

1876.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 301
father of the beautiful Violet ; ^ two villages, one at
each extremity of the park, entirely made by Loyd
Lindsay, regular Trianon- villages ; some schools
that he maintains without aid from the state, and
his flag floating over his possessions at the top of a
flag-staff as big as a mast. Here is one who is
" called " to inhabit the earth ; in especial when he
has a father-in-law who owns a hundred times as
much. Yes, but they have no children, and everyone is
curious to know to whom they will leave their
possessions. If you could have seen the joy in
Mrs. Holford's face when she told me to-day that
she would soon be a grandmother.
I shall leave at one o'clock and will be in London
at four and at Gunnersbury for dinner. It may
seem jolly to knock about in this way, but I would
rather stay in one place ; I never knew such a
madman as I am to be always leaving the place
where I am happiest. Gunnersbury Acton,^ October 30, 1876.
Saturday Night. Here I am at Gunnersbury.
The material part of it, the establishment, is supe
rior to any other I know. It makes one positively
happy, it is so comfortable. It is ideal, the triumph
of well-being. Fancy a room in which you should
find everything ; a library in three languages, and
all sorts of " cabinets." But the thing that pleases
me rhore than the comfort is the cordiality with
1 Now Marchioness of Granby.
2 Residence of Baron Lionel de Rothschild.

302 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1876.
which the husband and wife welcomed me. They
apologized for inviting me, without other guests
than their children. It is precisely this intimacy
that warmed and touched me. What will they do
to-morrow to entertain me ? Yesterday, under the
roof of Lord Overstone, to-day, under that of
Rothschild ! The latter tells me that Overstone is
the richest man in the world : Overstone has, he
said, about eight millions a year. I wanted to ask :
"And you?" Sunday.
This morning we visited the beautiful cedars,
the ponds and the ducks. I was told a story of
four swans that were driven away from one pond
after another by the older occupants. They kept
together and moved on till they should find a place
where they would be allowed to stay. Finally, they
came here ; but they stir up the bottom — ill-smell
ing exhalations from it seem to be complained of,
and this morning I found a gardener seriously engaged
in perfuming the pond with violet water. At eleven
o'clock a brougham took me to mass at Chiswick ;
then I had a stroll with the Baron in his little car
riage. They wanted to take me to see the Duchess
of Cleveland, but I refused. Gunnersbury, October 31, 1876,
We had a reunion here yesterday, of all the
powers of England ; capital was represented by our
host ; the government by Beaconsfield ; the press by
Delane ; the opposition, by Villers ; and the popu
lace by Menabrea, etc. It is true that the powers

1876.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 303
have talked very little except to each other. At
sight of the Premier, Delane who has, of late, not
spared him especially, retired into another drawing-
room ; but the Premier followed, and I fancy we
shall see the result of the conference in to-morrow's
Times. I know, from the Baron, that Dizzy is well satis
fied, that the armistice is accepted, and that he has
no doubt that peace will be preserved. What is
certain is, that Rothschild seems to me to be inclined
to send orders to all the Rothschilderies in Europe.
Am back in town. L. de Rothschild brought
me back in his phaeton. All the omnibus-drivers
saluted us. I hear that he gives them an annual
dinner. Good way not to be impeded on the road.
London, November 2, 1876.
Lord Salisbury came into the club and went
silently and alone to his corner. I read to him the
Due de Broglie's reply to his compliments. He
asked to be allowed to keep it, and this morning I
got it back with the following note.
" November 3, 1876,
" India Office.
"My Dear Monsieur Gavard :
" I did not find you at the Athenaeum to thank you
for permitting me to read this interesting letter from
M. the Due de Broglie. It has given me much to
think of. What is called free thought in France is
truly a mysterious and terrible phenomenon.
" You must not judge from the newspapers here,
and in especial not from the Times, of what British

304 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1876.
opinion really is on affairs in France. There is a
lively sympathy felt here for the efforts and desper
ate struggles of the conservatives.
" Believe, my dear Monsieur Gavard, in my devoted
friendship.
" Salisbury."
(The letter is in French.) London, November 8, 1876.
Salisbury at Constantinople ! ^ I was not far from
the mark yesterday ; I ought to add even that I was
more confident really than I appeared. The appoint
ment will not be very agreeable to Russia. It is in the
interests of the Tory programme that he goes. It is
mistrust of Russia, almost the desire to come to blows
with her, if it can be done within range of the fleet,
and occupation of the Bosphorus at the first signal.
As for Egypt, England may take her time if she
holds Constantinople. Salisbury is certainly the
man to hold Ignatieff in check. But whom are we
to send ? Absolutely the Due de Broglie is the only
one possible.
There are two persons in Salisbury : the simple,
charming gentleman that every one finds when they
talk to him in tete-k-tete, and the violent, bitter
orator, one listens to in every assembly in which he
speaks. Which of the two will sit at the Conference
in Constantinople ? London, December 17, 1876.
Have you not heard me jokingly suggest that in-
1 Lord Salisbury was sent to Constantinople as First Plenipoten
tiary at the conference charged to revise the treaty of San Stefano.

1876.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 305
stead of the disestablishment of the English Church,
Gladstone and others would do better to disestablish
the double consonants that are not pronounced in
English, the entire syllables that are swallowed in
the speaker's haste to reach the accented ones.
The last London school board has seriously called
on all the other school boards to join it in petition
ing Parliament, inasmuch as it regulates weights
and measures, to reform English orthography. It
is one more symptom of the centralizing movement
which shows itself here, and which tends to bring
England down to our political level.
Solvyns capped my suggestion on the disestab
lishment of the double consonants with a German
story. Some one asked in Germany the name of
an English traveller and the reply was : " Er heisst
Schmidt aber das schreibt sich Douglas." (He says
his name is Smith but he writes it Douglas.)
20

3o6 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1877.

THE YEAR 1877.
Extracts from tbe CorresponDence.
London, January 22, 1877.
Yesterday I dined with the Dean ^ and his sister —
the one who has been converted to Catholicism. It
came about by her seeing the Sisters of Charity at
their work in the Crimea. It seems that these
sainted sisters did all the hard work while Miss
Nightingale reserved herself for the notabilities who
were wounded and would advertise her.
Near me ^ as I write, I see the cardinal in an arm
chair, reading a magazine ; Darwin, who does not
especially resemble an ape ; two or three old men
who swore ; a little farther on Emly, who laughs to
himself while reading a satirical life of Dizzy; near
the other fireplace, the director of the National
Gallery ; Leighton, their only painter, writing at one
of the tables ; and a card-party is going on in the
other room between Hayward, Solvyns, Trollope and
Forster. I leave the bishops whom I do not know
unnamed. As for myself, I am having a cup of tea
at my writing-table. It sets me up well when I
forget to breakfast. . . . There is Murchison, the
1 Stanley, Dean of -Westminster, ^ p^^ tjjg Athenapum,

I877-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 307
physician, crossing the hall ; there poor Delane,
who creeps along, looking very unlike himself,
toward an arm-chair ; and Wade, just back from
China. But I shall never have done if I do not seal
this up. London, February 2, 1877.
Last evening Schouvaloff read me his dispatch
giving an account of his talk with Lord Derby.
Lord Derby had set forth England's present atti
tude. I went home and wrote out what I had
heard and sent it to Lord Derby, saying that I had
just bought it for one hundred pounds. He sent it
back immediately with two corrections in his own
hand, thus testifying to the perfect exactness of the
rest. . . .
The dinner at Reeve's was interesting. Wade,
who has just returned from a seven years' residence
in China, fairly took me a trip through China —
answered all my questions. It is the system of
education that puts a damper on the masses there.
They exhaust all their faculties in learning the
books of Confucius ; after which they can do no
more ; and when they ought to reason, they re
member. For the rest we shall see them over
run the earth with cheap labor and coal. A
Peter the Great is needed, simply, to put down
their customs and prejudices, and to launch their
two hundred or four hundred millions of human
beings on the way to progress. Motley held forth
on the other side without much tact on the justice
of the return of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany ; Vil-
liers opposed him, I seemed not to be listening.

3o8 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1877.
but I thanked him afterwards. He is Clarendon's
brother. There was also a certain Grant Duff there, a
political personage, who gives away his works bound
in full leather. London, February 21, 1877.
Last night I reached Parliament at five o'clock
and left at midnight. The speeches are always
pretty much the same, and I do not see that one is
any further along at the end than at the beginning.
Discussions they are not — the speakers never cross
swords. Somebody fires off a speech, early in the
evening, aimed at a member of the party opposite,
who in turn replies — but not to the man who has
attacked him. When one member has finished
speaking he may leave his seat, and that is precisely
what he does, while his opponent is dressing him
down. I heard Salisbury, who is the best speaker
of them all ; his language is effective and perfectly
natural, and imbued with passion. Beaconsfield,
on the contrary, is at the farthest remove from
naturalness ; he has nothing but art, possesses an
extreme address, plays with difficulties — without
the least scruple in regard to fact or veracity. He
entertained me highly at first by the daring flights,
in which he spoke successively of France and of
Germany, and recalled the war of 1870 and the
conquest of Prussia in \%o'j,h propos of the doctrine
of the integrity and independence of nations. One
did not know whether to laugh or to cry. Then he
struck into his Guildhall speech, changing his tone
^nd his accent and playing the lamb. To me, who

i877-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 309
saw him as lion in the City this turn was particularly
amusing. Toward ten o'clock I went in search of Schouva
loff whom I found coohng his heels at the foot of
the throne ; I brought him back into the gallery
and translated for him as well as I could the strik
ing passages. For my pains, he confided to me a
conversation of the utmost importance that he has
just had with Beaconsfield. London, February 22, 1877.
Banquet at the chamber of commerce ! The
meeting possessed a more important character than
I had dared to hope. Salisbury spoke with much
charm and in the account he gave of his mission he
gave us to understand what actually took place, —
the matter that Schouvaloff spoke to me about yes
terday. Then there was an exchange of compli
ments and polite speeches between Salisbury and
Forster. You ought to read the two speeches,
which are models in their kind. Be it known in
France that these are the two principal orators in
England, and belong to the opposite extremes of
political opinion : the Commoner almost a radical
and the Marquis an ultra Tory. It was charming —
in such good taste ; always in the tone of pleasantry
and always very earnest at bottom. Forster's speech,
as it happened, took a turn that for me was serious.
He brought me in a sense into the discussion — he
began to praise France, spoke with admiration of
her energy, her patience, her self-possession, and
emphasized each word by looking at me. Terror

3IO A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1877.
took possession of me ; I had to reply, but, if I
should say one word on politics, I should be lost ;
if I made a false step, I could not recover it. There
was no time for reflection, and good-natured neigh
bors were backing me up for all sorts of subjects.
At last the moment came for me to get up. Salis
bury said he anticipated much pleasure in listening
to me. I pulled through somehow — patched it up.
Salisbury is very cordial. Did I tell you that I
sent him this morning an important correction of
his Tuesday's speech ? I had not understood it as
the newspapers seem to have done, and I was right.
We talked of his interviews at Berlin with Bis
marck ; for an hour and a half he said the Chancellor
talked with a raciness, a crudity, a wit, a grossness,
unparalleled, but every word bore the stamp of a
superior man. Meanwhile he said nothing about
what he had most at heart, he neither spoke of
France nor of the Pope. At which of them is he
aiming? He made indirect offers after the Biarritz
fashion to all comers, even to England, to whom he
tendered Egypt on her restoring to Russia the
mouths of the Danube. Will every one be able to
resist the bait ? Germany caused the conference to
fall through by dint of persuading the Turks that
the Russian army could not hold the field. " But
in the last resort," I asked, " if he succeeds in his
attempt, shall we have nothing but right on our
side?" "You are beyond reproach," he replied.
" And you know to which side my sympathies lean ;
but it will not be the government here that will
decide the matter, it will be public opinion, You

I877-J A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 31 1
-have the same means of knowing it that I have;
look to it for your information." That is precisely
what I myself keep repeating. London, April 8, I877.
Solvyns has just spent three charming days in the
country with Leveson Gower, brother of Lady Geor-
gina. Gladstone arrived, while he Avas there, with
his box, his umbrella and his axe ; yes, his axe, to fell
trees with. Happily he spared the cedars in the
park ; they handed him over to a neighboring forest.
As for the rest, the host's talk was marvellous,
inexhaustible, incomparably various and interesting
At midnight last night the walking-match which has
been going on for six days and nights came to an
end. It is an exhibition of brutality simply, and
people here would risks their neck to see it. It is
true that they hoped to see at least one of them
expire before the end. London, May 20, 1877.
Yesterday at the club there was a ballot taken —
it was very funny. I never before took part in
such a ceremony. The candidate was discussed.
Nobody said a word against him, quite the contrary.
There were only nine of us present ; we voted, and
the candidate was black-balled. Everybody looked
at everybody else ; and I did not confess that I had
noticed who had put in the fatal ball.
I spent two hours yesterday at Buriington. It
reconciled me a little to our Exposition. If there is
too much of the nude with us, there is not a bit
here— not a serious picture, not a genuine attempt ;

312 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1877.
design, style are absolutely lacking. Such paint
ing really is not worth while. Nothing can equal
the puerility of the subjects, except the nai've ab
surdity of the public, who languish before them
with admiration. It was a holiday and the crowd
was enormous ; not a shop-girl out for the day from
behind her counter but was there, jotting down
items in her note-book.
One picture represents a gigantic gun, standing
bolt upright, a shako, a haversack, a sword ; the
title is : " The guard dies and does not surrender ! "
It is by the brother of the Duke of Sutherland.
London, May 27, 1877.
Had a charming time yesterday from ten in the
morning till nine at night out in the open air under
a mild sun ; listening to the cadenced fall of the
horses' hoofs upon the road for three and four hours
at a stretch. My old friend, Henry Lacaze, could
not have driven more sedately and slowly ; but a
truce to regrets when one is looking out on the
English landscape from the roof of a coach. Once
beyond the London streets, the country is one
great unbroken park, except the large villages, till
you reach Waterford. I cried out in admiration,
and secretly anticipated that we should find the
Country of Brett ^ situated between a public house
and a brothel ; but be assured, it is a bit of meadow
hidden between the parks of Lord Clarendon and
Lord Essex — two considerable domains that have
come down undisturbed from King Harold's time,
1 Sir R. H. Brett, Judge of Appeals,

187?.] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 313
and that nobody will interfere with them till the
end of the world, or till the coming of universal
suffrage in this country. There was nothing in sight
but verdure and trees, and beyond, a canal with
boats on it passing silently, and a river. The current
was swift, the water clear, the bottom covered
with reeds, and the banks shaded by trees dating
from before the flood. One could spend one's life
watching it flow, and nobody to see one but the
birds, the rabbits, and the trout. We took a stroll
in Essex Park, and came out, by an avenue of
Centenary beeches, half as broad again as a boule
vard, upon an old Tudor Manor. In one place we
stumbled upon some archery practice, in another
upon a cricket match among the people of Waterford ;
practically the park is theirs, except that they are
not called upon to take care of it. We returned
through Clarendon Park, and saw another antique
manor fitted up, however, with all modern conveni
ences. Here and there we found a charming cottage
for some younger son. As for the inhabitants of the
country, if the neighboring lord is not gruesome and
denies them admission to his park they have the
high-road to stroll in, which is not, thank God,
exactly a high-road for the traveller with a taste
for the picturesque. It is a narrow way bordered
on either side with beautiful trees which belong
to the landlord and of which he disposes at his will.
The public have permission, to walk on it and keep
it up, — that is all.
But let us go back to our one-story villa, opening
on a carpet of grass which stretches away beyon d a

314 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1877.
vegetable garden with apple trees in bloom as
far as the eye can reach. I thought I had never
seen anything so beautiful. What ravishing flow
ers ! what combination of pink and white ! We
went boating, too, on the canal. And finally
home again behind our four chestnuts. Our coach
man seemed to lose caste a little when he was
not on his box. He has twelve chestnuts alike
and seventy-five mares on his estate. The estate
used to bring his father an income of 1,200,000
francs: but his father managed it injudiciously and it
now brings in no more than 300,000. It is true that
the son has other resources besides, but he too has
committed his little follies ; among others he mar
ried a nobody with whom he does not live, and as
he is Catholic he cannot get a divorce — worse luck !
This original, for all his hundred horses, inhabits a
hole in Manchester Street. I would not live there
twenty-four hours. Pie owns, however, castle after
castle. London, June 2, 1877.
Had a conversation with Salisbury. He is uneasy
and beheves that we shall be attacked before winter.
Nothing could be more legitimate than the dissolu
tion,^ but, to manage a democracy, it is not good to
have been reared among constitutional traditions.
. . . England is letting things take their own
course in the East the better to stand on guard in
the West. Will the Russians know where to stop ?
Won't the hand that forced them into war, force
' In France.

1877-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 315
them into some other imprudence ? Will they be
contented with what is given them ?
London, June 4, 1877.
The dinner ^ yesterday was indeed charming. They
have a beautiful house fronting on Sloane Square ;
the dining-room is in the back, opening on a paved
terrace, with a background of large trees. I was
between Leighton and Lord Granville, then there
was Alma Tadema, Barington, Chamberlain to the
Queen, a poet, and, of course a reporter for the
Times, and finally Martino, all of them at the house
of the champion of radicalism. The dinner was very
good — asparagus as large as the trees, a whole forest
of it, and strawberries to correspond. While we
talked and ate, the stars came out, and we could see
them, but could hardly realize that it was night, the
weather was so mild. Unfortunately, I could not
follow all the conversation back and forth. The
most entertaining bit for me was my discussion with
Leighton about the Nocturnes in the Grosvenor
Gallery. I made him talk in all languages, but re
served my own as a weapon of attack, which flattered,
singularly enough, his self-love at the cost of the
cause he was defending. Do not forget that our
amiable host went to Leipzig to cremate the young
wife who received me so graciously when I was here
the first time. It embarrassed me for some time,
but I do not make a point of being more faithful to
the memory of dead and incineratedwives than their
own husbands are. 1 At Sir Charles Dilke's.

3t6 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1877.
London, October 28, 1877.
Last night I was going to sleep with great diffi
culty about one o'clock, when there was a bang, bang !
bang, bang, bang ! It was like the knocking at the
gate in Macbeth. " Good," I thought, " it is only
a telegram ; they will drop it into the box, I will
wait until to-morrow morning." But the banging
continued. I went to my window and saw a police
man knocking at a neighboring house. For half an
hour this noise continued with the same vigor.
Everybody in the neighborhood must, I was sure,
have been aroused. Finally I lost my patience and
went downstairs. " What is the row ? " "A shutter
is open in the next house on the street floor." " But
the house is empty.". " That makes no difference,
the shutters ought to be shut." And they went on
knocking vainly at the door. I am sure that it is
only in England that an entire street could be
wakened because of an open shutter.
Hatfield, November 6, 1877.
Here I am, after three years' absence, back at
Hatfield, only I have the Hornbeam instead of the
Hazel room. It is a little nearer the sky ; all the
other floors are taken by the representatives of the
great powers. I made the journey with the Marquis
of Salisbury, reached the station at the last minute
with Schouvaloff and his wife, who arrived after the
last minute. The train was already moving, and I
had to lend " Russia " a hand or they would have
been left. What an amount of light and space for
so few people ! That was my first impression. My

1877] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 317
second was to reflect on what a small creature I am,
considering the associations and the splendors I
enjoy. We arrived at night. All the windows were
illuminated — that is enough to give you an idea of
the grandeur. Tea was served. Odo Russell and
his wife formed the third couple of Ambassadors.
" Eat and dawdle, dawdle and eat," is the order of
the day ; so much so that my letter has been inter
rupted by it twenty times. It rains and there is a
strong wind, but that makes no difference. They
have played lawn tennis just the same all morning.
It is all as innocent as that. You go to the tennis
court, where a man awaits you with costume ad hoc;
you return for luncheon, and then you have a choice
between horseback-riding, walking, a visit to the
rabbits or to the schools. I'm off to the schools.
Tuesday evening, November 7, 1877.
My letter was interrupted by a drive. The visit
to the schools was put off till to-morrow, and a party
in three carriages drove about the park. There
were trees everywhere older than the house ; they
were a hundred years old when Elizabeth awaited
the crown beneath their shade. We dined in the
large dining-room with the gallery, and the French
flags in it. There are a good many more besides
these, alas ! that we have lost.
I sat by Lady Maude, who has come out now, and
is very agreeable. After dinner there was a little of
everything, promenading in these endless galleries,
music in one corner, games in another. I was with
the Countess Schouvaloff, who is a singular person.

31.8 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1877.
and attractive. She will return to St. Petersburg in
fifteen days, and England will never see her again.
I do not understand her very well as yet. After the
evening party was over, the smoking began. It is
the custom for every one to change his clothes before
going to the smoking-room. It was a happy time
for Schouvaloff. He told some of his stories. They
are always amusing. . . . He told about a trip in
Germany with His Majesty Wilhelm I. This is the
manner of it : His Majesty addresses everyone that
is presented to him with : " Your regiment ? " The
person addressed, with a violent kick, replies : " %oth
Fusilier, dritter Battalion, erste Compagnie."^ Then
he passes to the next and the same dialogue begins
all over again. Whenever they arrived at a station
the municipal corps was always on the platform.
The burgomaster lines them up, orders number three
to retire, number five to advance. They all mark
time, and then : Still ! At last the Emperor arrives :
Hut ! (Salute.)
Thereupon I slept like a rock until morning
prayers, which I heard from the gallery. I have
perhaps scandahzed the X.'s, but I believe that one
always gains something in the company of people at
prayer. The Marquis came in first, then his sons,
then the guests, the domestics, the chaplain, the
organist, — no one was missing. There is a time for
everything in lives laid out on a grand scale.
London, November 18, 1877.
There is general admiration for the Due de Bro-
1 80th Fusiliers, 3d Battalion, ist Cosnpaijy.

I877-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 319
glie's speech. Here is a witticism on Gladstone :
" Certainly, he is an honest man, in the worst sense
of the word."
I have at last met Lady Howard. I shall receive
a card to-morrow for the ceremony.^ A card is quite
indispensable as London and its suburbs will be
there. Let me tell you how this match was made.
The young lady was an intimate friend of the Duke's
sisters, with whom she spent some months. She had
first the grace to allow them to convert her to the
Church, and then the luck to make the acquaintance
of their brother. Her face became familiar to him —
he ultimately came to think her pretty — which she
is not : she has a beautiful figure, simply. A year
ago he was on the point of putting a period to his
indecision. It was at a ball at Lady Early's. I was
there and did not in the least suspect what was going
on under the ducal coronet. The evening advanced ;
at last, it is said, he opened his mouth to declare
himself when an ill-omened fellow came to claim a
waltz from Lady Flora. She left and the Duke
recovered his senses. The season ended, and another
occasion did not present itself.
Fortunately they met again in the country. Lady
Flora went to Arundel, and stayed two months
waiting and hoping. Her father grew angry and
ordered her to come home. She announced her
departure for the next day, with red eyes. The
next day came, the packing was done ; she went—
1 The marriage of the Duke of Norfolk, First Duke and Earl,
Hereditary Earl Marshall and Chief Butler of England, with Lady
Flora Hastings.

320 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1877.
into the garden — to say good-bye to the children.
The Duke followed ; at last he declared himiself —
he did not have to do it twice. A telegram was
sent in all haste to ' papa.' " I remain, serious matter,
see letter ! " Papa replied " Stay ! " And that was
a clever stroke — to become at a stride the first
Duchess of England.
And now, day after to-morrow, before half-past
ten, to the oratory. The doors will be closed for
half an hour before, and even thus I am told there
will be no place for the bridegrooms when they
come. ¦Woburn-Abbey,! December 16, 1877.
We walked across the park ; under the great trees
it was very beautiful in the moonlight. The fright
ened deer passed like shadows. Dinner was served
in the large dining-room, with the lights pouring
down on the service of vermilion and silver. I spent
the evening with Lady De-La- Warr, one of the most
beautiful blondes in England,^ and with Lady Tavi
stock who is clever, dresses well, and possesses, I
believe, great wealth.
On retiring to your own room you find every
thing comfortable — an open fire. There are open
fireplaces all over this great cloister, and every one
ablaze from morning till night. I am always amazed
at the array of buckets, basins, and bath tubs, —
enough for the Heroes of Homer, if they ever bathed.
I am supplied also with a wooden tripod to hold
' Residence of the Duke of Bedford.
^Elizabeth, daughter of Lord Lamington, married to the seventh
Count De-La- -Warr,

1877-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 321
my light, and sit snugly in front of my fire and
read! At lunch I had to have hare soup, made just for
me alone. You see my poor stomach has been out
of order for over a week. After luncheon, took a
walk, paid a visit to the stables, to the horse-gear,
to the tennis-courts, to the gardens, to the gallery, to
the gold statue,^ to the kitchen-garden, to the con
servatories, etc., all in this immense park. We
should think it in France a good deal for one family.
Everything is done by rule and scale. I find
that there is an ex-poacher in the park. He is in
stalled as gamekeeper, and has given up his vocation
of poacher to somebody else ; and will soon be the
best of guards against the interlopers, who do so
much spoil the hunting. There was a high wind
going, and rapid clouds ; the great trees in the
avenue skirting the crest of the park stood out
against a troubled sky. As we mounted toward the
avenue, the background of the picture rose, eleva
tion after elevation, each more sombre than the one
preceding, and all of it, as far as the eye could
reach, belongs to His Grace the Duke of Bedford.
And he was wishing to walk with a poor devil like
me, and went to the kitchen himself to order a soup
for me. -Woburn-Abbey, December 17, 1877.
There is a lack of music here, as they say. The
piano is open and the candles lit, but no one touches
the keys. There is a lack of spirit in everybody, of
>¦ Of the Duchess of Bedford, by Boehm.

322 A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. [1877.
reaction against the heaviness after dinner, against
the repose of Sunday, and the apathy of the day
following. Everybody is full of good intentions,
but there is a dearth of invention. The dressing
for dinner yesterday has been the great event : they
opened a new treasury ; the Duchess carried another
firmament in her hair; Lady Hermintrude wore a
dress with an apron ; the beautiful blonde, a long-
trained blue satin gown, and the beautiful Tavistock
a gown sown with pearls and a long train set off
with knots of ribbon : a court-dress, which was
especially becoming to her.
There will be no playing to-night as it is Sunday.
The only exceptions in England are for chess and
fishing. They fish with a hook, for fish with a ring
in their snouts, in a sheet-iron tub. While in
France we should dance, play charades, or crambo,
or music. In any event the ladies would not be
forgotten. This morning I accompanied Tavistock on a hunt.
As I was coming across country without waiting for
the end of the chase, I saw a sheep with its legs in
the air. I thought the poor thing was dead. Not
at all, he had tumbled on his back, simply, and was
waiting for a good Samaritan to come and set him
on his legs. I did not fail him. He made me think
of some men I know.

We will delay our meeting no longer, my dears.-*
1 M. Gavard was called from London by M. -Waddington at the
close of 1877.

i877-] A DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. 323
If I am obliged to hew wood and raise cabbages to
earn our bread, it will no doubt be the happiest
time of my life. It will occupy hands and brain
both.

THE END.

INDEX.

Anson, Col., iii
Anson, Mrs., 63
Amberley, Lord, 287
Athenaeum Club, 49, 306
Austria, Empress of, 293, 294,
295
Balfour, Rt. Hon. A. J., 215
Beaconsfield, -Viscount, vid.
Disraeli.
Beaconsfield, Viscountess, 94,
III
Bedford, Duke of, 222, 263,
321
Belgium, King of, 150
Bernstorf, Count, 41, 98, 118
Bisaccia, Due de, 159, 162, 165,
166, 168, 195, 200
Bismarck, 27, 234, 242, 244,
245, 247, 249, 258, 296
Blenheim, 20
Broglie, Due de, 2, 3, 11, 12,
22, 32, 38, 95, 97, 100, lOI,
156, 160, 207, 303
Brunnow, Baron, 35, 160, 199
Buckingham Palace, no
Bulwer-Lytton, E. R., 283,
287, 288
Burlington, 311
Burton, Sir Richard, 279
Cambridge-Oxford boat-race,
102
Cardwell, -Viscount, 135
Carlos, Don, 295
Chartres, Due de, 21, 22

"City," the, 89
Clarendon, Lord, 169
Communists — their secret
understanding with the
Prussians, 26
Covent Garden, 49
Crystal Palace, 109
Dakin, Sir Thomas, Lord
Mayor, 59, 60, 62
Derby Day, 115
Derby, Lord, 117, 182, 188,
233. 234, 238, 239, 241, 242,
243, 244, 246, 248, 254, 255,
258, 263, 307
Dilke, Sir Charles, 174, 194,
315
Disraeli, 92, in, 116, 117, 183,
235, 236, 237, 265, 278, 280,
281, 290, 291, 303, 308
Duff, Grant, 308
Eu, Comte and Comtesse d',
16
Favre, Jules, i
Fullerton, Lady Georgiana,
51
Gavard, Charles, Due de
Broglie's notice of, iii; no
tice of, in the Moniteur, vii;
meets Due de Gramont, 7;
entrance of Prussians into
Paris, 8; goes to Morgan
House, 9; evening at Lady
325

326

INDEX,

Burdett-Coutts's, 14; red flag
in Paris, 15; visit to Ox
ford, 17; beginning of the
Commune, 21; returns to
France, 22; remarks on the
government at Versailles,
24; removes his family from
Paris, 25; returns to Eng
land as Chargfe d'Affaires,
26; cuts down expenses in
the Embassy, 29; business
at the Foreign Office, 31;
rout at Lord Mayor's, 32;
daily routine at the Em
bassy, 33; dines at Lord
Granville's, 34; Rothschild's
place, 35; visits the Central
Telegraph Office, 36; goes
to banquet in Due de Bro
glie's uniform, 38; idem, 40;
in Lord Granville's office,
39; telegrams on the fight
in Paris, 42 ; getting Lon
don firemen off, 43; disap
pointment at their depart
ure's being countermanded,
44; English sympathy with
the defeated communists,
44; visit to Parliament, 47;
conduct of public business
in England, 48; the Athe-
nseum, 49; Covent Garden,
ib.; at -Walmer Castle, 51;
trial of artillery, 54 ; visit
to Old Men's Home, 55;
visit to church at Eaton
Place, 57; visit to -West
minster -Workhouse, 58; at
the Mansion House, 59, 60;
makes his speech, ib.; visit
to fire-brigade station, 62;
also to fire-tug, 63 ; criti
cises "The Rivals," 64;
dines at the Rothschilds',
ib.; project in aid of French
charities, 65 ; criticism of
English drama, 66; idem, 67 ;
takes part in sham battle.

68; BoxingDay, 71; criticism
of the English drama, ib.;
behind the scenes, 72; visit
to slums, 73 ; Sunday in
London, 85; present at the
opening of Parliament, 88;
evening party at Glad
stone's, ib.; visits Roths
child at his country house,
89; an evening at Lady
Cork's, 94; thanksgiving for
Prince of -Wales's recovery,
95, 96 ; banquet at the French
hospital, 97; a levee, 98
dines at theRothEchilds',99
dinner at the Embassy, loi
Cambridge-Oxford boat
race, 102; remarks on the
conduct of public business
in England, 108; visit to
Crystal Palace, 109; visit to
Buckingham Palace, no;
interview with the Empress
of Germany, 113; in the
eountry, id.; dines at Lord
Granville's, 117; negotia
tion for the treaty of com
merce, 119 ; banquet at
Guildhall, 137; dines with
the Duchess of Cleveland,
141; visits Speaker's house,
144; dinner at Lord Gran
ville's, 145; Court of Com
mon Pleas, 147; dines at
Rothschild's, ib.; Jewish
school in -Whitechapel, 152;
English drama, 154; French
bazaar, 155 ; spring exhi
bition, 156; English stage,
163; English Christmas, 164;
dissolution of Parliament,
171; follows a political can
vass, 172; fire in London,
179; visits Lord Derby, 182;
dines with Lord Salisbury,
184; review of troops from
Ashantee, 187; Livingstone's
funeral, 189; dinner at the

INDEX.

32^

French hospital, 190; the
Due de Bisaeeia's ball, 196;
culottes, 198 ; the Czar of
Russia, 199; Guizot, 205;
dinner with Schouvaloff,
208; Ritualists, 211; at Hat
field House, 212; at -Woburn
Abbey, 217; Henry VIII.,
224; visits the offices of the
Morning Post, 225 ; illness
and death of Comte de Jar
nac, ib.; the war-scare of
1875, 232; launching of a
vessel, 260; dinner at the
Foreign Office, 262; Moody
and Sankey, 263 ; sale in
Leicester Square for the
French charities, 266; Eng
lish drama, 267; banquet at
London Tavern, 268; going
to the "meet," 272; ne
gotiation for the sale of the
Suez shares, 276 ; purchase
of Suez shares by England,
280; evening at the Geo
graphical Society, 281; at
Hatfield House, 282; at the
opening of Parliament, 288;
is complimented by Disraeli,
290; a spelling-bee, 291; de
bate on offering the Queen
the title of Empress of
India, 292 ; fanatic " Or
angeman," 296; waits on
the Empress Augusta, 298;
at Lockinge House, 299;
at Gunnersbury Acton, 301;
English spelling, 305; at the
Athenseum, 306; tricks Lord
Derby, 307; -Wade on China,
ib.; debates in Parliament,
308; banquet at the Cham
ber of Commerce, 309; con
versation with Salisbury,
310; English art, 311; coach
ing party, 312; conversa
tion with Salisbury, 314;
dinner atSirCharlesDilke's,

315; an open shutter, 316;
at Hatfield House, ib.; an
aristocratic courtship, 319;
at -Woburn Abbey, 320
Gladstone, W. E., 3, 38, 65,
94, 106, 117, 141, 151, 176,
181, 183, 186, 292, 311, 319
Grant, Lieut. -Gen. Sir Hope,
68
Granville, Lord, 34, 51, 52, 57,
67
Gounod, 37, 42
Guizot, "William, 204
Gunnersbury Acton, 301, 302
Harcourt, Comte Bernard d',
119
Hatfield House, 212, 214, 215,
282, 316
Hayward, Abraham, 85, 115,
136, 161
Hoare, Sir Henry, 174
House of Commons, efforts
to silence a member, 106;
divisions, log
Howard, H. Fitz-AIan, fif
teenth Duke of Norfolk, 36,
37
Jarnac, Comte de, 200, 225
Joinville, Prince de, 15, 31
Kensington Museum, 7
Lockinge House, 299
London slums, 73
Mansion House, 32
Morgan House, 9, 15
Napoleon III., 28, 267
Nemours, Due de, 13, 16
Northcote, Sir Stafford, 213,
215
Orleans House, 13
Oxford, 17

328

INDEX.

Oxford-Cambridge boat-race,
102
Paris, Comte de, 5, 12, 46
Rothschild, Baron Lionel, 35,
64, 8g, gg, 278, 281
Russell, Lord John, 236, 238
Salisbury, Marquis of, g4, 184,
303, 304, 308, 3og, 310, 314
316, 318
Say, Lfeon, 56, 5g, 62
Schouvaloff, Count, 203, 207,
208, 248, 286, 295, 297, 307,
309. 316
Slums of London, 73
Stael, Mme. de, 42
Stafford House, 118

Stanley, Dean, 306
Sumner, Charles, 136
Thiers, 30, 56, 91, 119, 131,
134, 156, 207
Tichborne case, 150, 161, 167
Vernon, Lady, 51
Victoria, Queen, 37, 97, 98,
100, no, 154, 227, 289, 290,
292, 294, 295, 296
-Wales, Prince of, 11, 66, 93,
95, 96, 162, 228
-Walmer Castle, 50, 84
-Westminster Abbey, 6
Westonbirt House, 269
-Woburn Abbey, 217, 218, 223,
320, 321

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every whit as original as that of Zenda , . . returns to
the entrancing manner of ' The Prisoner of Zenda,' . . .
The whole game of playing at revolution is pictured with
such nearness and intimacy of view that the wildest things
happen as though they were every-day occurrences. . . ,
Two triumphs of picturesque description — the overthrow
and escape of the President, and the night attack on the
bank. The charmingly wicked Christina is equal to any
thing that Mr. Hope has done, with the possible exception
of the always piquant Dolly."— Zz/i*.
Wdt H>ollg Dialogues. ^tk Edition.
" Characterized by a delicious drollery; . . . beneath the
surface play of words lies a tragi-comedy of life, . . .
There is infinite suggestion in every line." — Boston Tran
script, % Cbange of Bir, ^tk Edition.
With portrait and notice of the author.
" A highly clever performance, with little touches that
recall both Balzac and Meredith. ... Is endowed with
exceeding originality."— iView York Times.
Sport IROT^al. Zd Edition.
' ' His many admirers will be happy to find in these stories
full evidence that Anthony Hope can write short stories
fully as dramatic in incident as his popular novels."— i%zV«-
delphia CaU.
HENRY HOLT & CO., ^^^Tw^^rf* •

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