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LEAVES FROM THE DIARY
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1904
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3
PEE FACE
TWENTY years having elapsed since the publication of
my uncle Henry Greville's Journals, I now propose
to bring out the remaining volumes, as I think they
will prove of much interest, both from a public
and social point of view. The Diaries of his brother
Charles Greville have almost become a classic, and
they are quite a book of reference, and quoted as
such by those who study the politics of the last
century.
Henry Greville's Journals, on the other hand,
though written in a lighter vein, contain much in-
teresting matter on the Second Empire, and on the
events in Italy which culminated in the rise and pro-
gress of the new Kingdom of Italy, which gathered
together in one all the different Grand Duchies and
Kingdoms of that divided country, under the rule of
their first Sovereign, Victor Emmanuel I.
It may perhaps be desirable that I should add a
few words to the short memoir of my uncle which I
prefixed to the first volume of the series, as people
are so soon forgotten, and there are hardly any left
now of his own generation. He lived what I suppose
VI PKEFACE
would be called now a very cosmopolitan life. He
was intimately acquainted with most of the leading
politicians of his day, and his genial manners and
eminently sympathetic nature secured to him the
friendship, and even affection, of all those with whom
he came in contact.
The Granvilles, Sydneys, Abercorns, Hollands,
were amongst his most intimate friends, not to
mention innumerable foreign statesmen and leaders
of society in France and Italy. Being very fond
of music, and a charming singer at drawing-room
concerts, he also knew intimately Mario, Grisi, Bosio,
Ciabatta, and many other stars of the Italian Opera
who would gladly sing for him and refuse all
remuneration. His house was one where Santley
made his appearance in very early days, and
Frederic Leighton, long before he attained to fame,
was a constant guest at my uncle's house and
received many kindnesses from him. My uncle was
in some senses of the word unconventional, which
added to his charm. His power of throwing himself
heart and soul into the interests and troubles of his
friends was very remarkable and uncommon in a
self-absorbed society, and made him welcome wher-
ever he went.
I might add to the names I have mentioned those
of the Kemble family, especially the gifted sisters
Fanny and Adelaide, afterwards Mrs. Butler and
Mrs. Edward Sartoris. He also lived much with
the Palmerstons, the Cowpers, Lady Jocelyn and her
PREFACE Vll
children, to whom he was most especially devoted,
while the early deaths of the last named, of that
dread malady consumption, were a life-long sorrow
to him. Among his lighter accomplishments, he
was a delightful amateur actor, being wholly with-
out self-consciousness or mauvaise honte, the result,
I believe, of his having always lived much with
foreigners. I do not think I need say more to
remind those of the present generation who may
read this book of the main characteristics of Henry
Greville, the author of these pleasant and agreeable
Journals.
A. H. F. STKAFFOKD.
October, 1904.
OF
1857
January 4, Sunday. The Paris Conference has sat
twice, and everything is said to have passed off
satisfactorily.
Eussia definitively relinquishes her pretensions
to Belgrade, the Isle of Serpents, and the Delta of
the Danube, and in compensation is to have a larger
allowance of land towards the north of Moldavia.
It is averred that Switzerland agrees to accept
the mediation of the Emperor Napoleon. Several
members of the Wiirtemberg Parliament have pub-
lished a positive and judicious protest against the
passage of Prussian troops through that State to
make war on Switzerland, on the ground that the
point in dispute is of no interest to Germany, that
the passage of troops is a great inconvenience, and
that already the military preparations have injured
the trade of the conterminous provinces, and that
war would lead to complications of which no one
could see the end. It is not improbable that this
protest may induce the King of Prussia to desist
III. B
2 LEAVES FROM THE 1857
from plunging Europe in war, for the sake of an
' antiquated feodality.'
The details of the Canton affair seem to justify
the Admiral in the course he has pursued. The
Chinese still hold out, and it is by no means impro-
bable that this war, which appears to have originated
in a petty quarrel between some Chinese soldiers and
smugglers, may lead to very grave and important
results.
January 5. The Archbishop of Paris was assassi-
nated on Monday evening, when celebrating the
Tete of St. Gene vie ve at the Church of St. Etienne
du Mont, by a man named Verger, a priest who had
several times been suspended for immoral conduct.
The Archbishop was proceeding with great pomp to
the sacristy, when Verger, stepping from out of the
crowd of bystanders, took him by the hand and
stabbed him to the heart. The Archbishop immedi-
ately fell dead. He was by name Sibour, and was
appointed to the See of Paris by General Cavaignac.
He was a worthy man of Ultramontane opinions, and
remarkable for his obsequiousness to the Emperor.
Great respect has been shown to his memory by
H. M., who ordered a ball that was to take place to
be postponed.
January 8. Sir Michael Seymour's despatch to
the Secretary of the Admiralty giving details of the
operations at Canton has been published, and it
appears to me that it is conclusive as to the propriety
of the course the Admiral thought it fit to take, and
that he showed great temper and moderation through-
out the affair ; but I believe that these events are
considered * untoward ' by the Government. The
Cabinet has been assembled to deliberate on our
1857 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 3
future course. It is reported that France and Eng-
land are to make a joint expedition to Pekin, which
America is to be invited to join. France is to take
the opportunity of demanding redress for the murder
of a French missionary, whilst we are to exact a
revision of our treaties and a guarantee for their
more strict observance.
Lord Napier is appointed Minister to the United
States, all our differences being adjusted. The choice
is judicious. He is a clever man, and they will like
4 a lord.'
The Paris Conference signed a protocol on Tues-
day which puts an end to the difficulties in the way
of the execution of the treaty of March. The
boundary line is to be completed by March 30, and
at that date the Principalities and the Black Sea are
to be evacuated.
The last Paris gossip is that Moray is to marry
a Princess Troubetskoy, to resign the Embassy, to
be succeeded by Walewski, at the express desire of
the Emperor Alexander, and the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs to be given to Marshal Vaillant.
January 17, Saturday. Of the above gossip, the
only part which is true is Moray's marriage, with
which interesting subject Paris is entirely occupied,
to the exclusion of that of Neuchatel, the Conference,
or the murdered Archbishop.
Our public tribunals have for the last two or
three days been occupied with two very curious
trials. One, of a great bullion robbery on the South-
Eastern Eailway, and the other for extensive frauds
on the Great Northern. On the night of May 15,
1855, gold to the value of 12,000. was stolen from
the van of a train between London and Folkestone.
4 LEAVES FROM THE 1857
When the boxes which were supposed to contain
the gold were opened, bags of shot were found
instead. The surprise was of course great, and the
search for the offenders diligent, but for eighteen
months the pursuit had been in vain, and the dis-
covery seemed hopeless, when an unexpected revela-
tion threw light on the matter. A man named Agar
was convicted in October of uttering a forged cheque
and was sentenced to transportation for life. This
man stated to the authorities, some time ago, that he
could give information respecting the gold robbery.
On being examined, he at once stated that he was
one of the robbers, and named as his accomplices
Pierce, formerly in the service of the S.-E. Kail way,
Burgess, a guard, and Tester, a clerk in the traffic
department. Agar is 41 years old, and by his own
confession has lived by crime for nearly twenty years.
His evidence is, that Pierce suggested the crime, but
that he (Agar) believed it to be impracticable. It
was proposed to be effected by means of false keys
to the Chubb locks, and nothing is more curious
than the details of the means by which they got
possession of the keys so as to make impressions of
them. Agar was at first much disheartened, but not
so his colleague Pierce. He knew a young man, by
name Tester, who was employed in the office of the
superintendent of traffic, and this man would have
the means of getting possession of the keys. In
August, Pierce discovers that the locks are about to
o ' --
be altered, and that the new keys will be in Tester's
hands. Tester was in correspondence with Mr.
Chubb on the subject, and by his means the impres-
sion of a key which opened one lock of each box was
obtained ; but, as each box had two locks, it was
1857 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 5
necessary to procure the impression of another key,
and to effect this the following plan was adopted.
Agar was in possession of a sum of no less than
3,000/. It was arranged that a box of bullion worth
200/. should be conveyed in the iron safe in the
usual way, and that it should be delivered to him
under the name of Archer. Agar goes to this box,
which is delivered to him by Chapman, who opens
the safe with a key which he takes from a cupboard,
Thus Agar learns where the second key is kept.
How is an impression of this second key to be ob-
tained ? Two months have elapsed since they had
got that of No. 1. This is October, and they are still
without No. 2. Pierce and Agar go down to Dover,
walk over to Folkestone, and arrive just as the train
is coming in. In the confusion of the arrival the
attendants leave the office for a few moments.
Pierce, seizing this opportunity, goes boldly in, opens
the cupboard which contains the key, hands it to
Agar, who takes an impression of it, and then replaces
it. They thus have surmounted the first difficulty.
The next thing to be done is to make keys from the
impressions. They take lodgings in Lambeth and
Kennington, and the next two months are spent in
filing keys. Having completed these to a probable
similarity with those of Chubb, it was necessary to
try them, and for this purpose Agar went down
several times in the van, and, by degrees, they were
fiffed to the locks, and the deed was then resolved
upon ; but they were determined to postpone accom-
plishing it until a large sum was to be sent. Two
chests would hold about 12,000/., and this sum they
heard was shortly to be sent. They buy shot to
replace the gold ; Agar and Pierce are admitted into
6 LEAVES FJROM THE 1857
the van by Burgess, and on May 15, just twelve
months after the robbery was first planned, the chests
are securely rifled.
Nineteen months after the crime is committed,
and more than two and a half years after its first being
planned, justice overtakes the delinquents. Their
crime is chiefly interesting from the extraordinary
ingenuity which they displayed in accomplishing it ;
but what is somewhat alarming is the fact that men
so determined and so skilful should be possessed for
so long a time of the means of subsistence. Agar
with his 3,000/., and Pierce with his house at
Kilburn, all of them driving about in cabs for a year,
and travelling up and down the S.-E. Railway with
first-class tickets, form a picture of criminal prosperity
we had hardly looked for. Agar was the first detected.
He had invested the proceeds of his many crimes for
the benefit of a woman he lived with. Pierce was
his trustee, and, like a true thief, betrayed his trust ;
the woman was left destitute, and Agar denounced
the half-forgotten robbers from his cell in Portland.
I have abridged the above narrative from an
article in the ' Times.'
Baron Martin summed up very strongly against
the prisoners, and most particularly so against Pierce.
He was sentenced to two years 1 imprisonment with
hard labour, the first, fourteenth, and twentieth
month to be kept in solitary confinement. The other
two are sentenced to transportation for fourteen years.
Agar is undergoing sentence in Portland Gaol.
Eedpath l was found guilty at once, and sentenced
to transportation for life.
1 Leopold Redpath was concerned with some commercial fi'auds
which made a sensation at the time Ed.
1857 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 7
The public press and society have been much
scandalised by a lecture given by Sir Eobert Peel at
Birmingham, in which he treated of his expedition to
Moscow as Attache to Granville's Embassy, and of
the principal people he met there, in a manner so
extraordinarv as almost to reach the libellous. The
tt
principal members of the Government are much dis-
gusted that these frequent exhibitions from the same
quarter should be passed over in silence by the head
of the Government, and by which they are in some
measure compromised. He attacked Morny in un-
measured terms, and turned the Prince de Ligne into
especial ridicule ; so much so, that the Minister
for Foreign Affairs at Brussels made a formal com-
plaint to Howard de Walden of such language ema-
nating from a member of the Government, which he
said would produce a very unpleasant feeling at
Brussels against the English. This was subsequently
proved to be correct, for all the English residents
who were usually invited to a ball given by the town,
and called the ' Bal Noble,' were on the last occasion
omitted.
I hear from Mrs. Craven that the accounts from
Naples are deplorable. Disaffection exists in the
army, and three attempts have been made to excite
confusion by great explosions, one of which took
place near the Palace, where the King and Eoyal
Family narrowly escaped being blown up, another of
a great steamship, and a third of a manufactory of
tobacco. The King now acts independently of his
Ministers of Police, whom he no longer trusts, and it
is clear that a Government carried on in this spirit
must render its own safety impossible,
January 21, Wednesday. Verger, the assassin of
8 LEAVES FROM THE 1857
the Archbishop of Paris, has been found guilty, but
has appealed to the Court of Cassation. His conduct
during the trial was outrageously violent and in-
decorous. He is proved to have been a worthless
fellow from his earliest youth, and to have been
much better treated by the Archbishop on various
occasions than he deserved.
The appeal to the Court of Cassation gives Verger
a delay in his sentence of fifteen days. He has
written an able paper to the Emperor complaining of
his sentence, and reminds H. M. that twice in his life
he had not scrupled to sacrifice human life to attain
great ends (alluding to the sentinel at Boulogne, and
to the 2nd of December), and that he, Verger, had
killed the Archbishop in the interest of religion,
and to save Catholicism from degenerating under the
O O
priesthood into paganism.
I heard to-day from Paris that Princesse Lieven
is dangerously ill. If this attack should terminate
fatally, a great social loss will be sustained a great
intelligence extinguished.
The Archduke Maximilian, brother of the Emperor
of Austria, who is to marry Princess Charlotte of
Belgium, is appointed Viceroy of Lombardy, vice
Eadetzky. He is a very distinguished young man,
and, if permitted, will govern those provinces with
liberality and judgment.
The Persian War has begun in earnest. We took
possession of Bushire on December 9, after a smart
resistance. In the meantime the Persian Ambas-
sador has arrived at Paris, and been received by the
Emperor, who in his speech expressed his regret that
war should have broken out, and his hope that this
mission might tend to the return of a lasting peace.
J857 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 9
The last news from China is not favourable to the
hope of a settlement of the dispute. Yeh continued
obdurate, and Bowring has applied to the Indian
Government for more troops.
The Prince de Ligne received a deputation the
other day from the English at Brussels to declare
their reprobation of the vulgar personalities uttered
by Sir Eobert Peel. The answer of the Prince was
couched in such ill-judged terms as to put it on a
par with the speech of Sir Eobert, whom he designates
as ' un ivrogne and vaurien.' The Prince never had
the reputation of being a clever man, but I should
have thought would have had good taste enough not
to lose his vantage-ground by descending to such
vulgar recrimination.
There was an Investiture of the Bath at the
English Embassy at Paris the other day, and a great
dinner afterwards, at which Prince Napoleon was
present, and a vast deal of flummery de part et
d* outre, to make up (on the French side) for the
apparently marked omission at the dinner, lately
given by Prince Napoleon to the French officers of
the Crimean army, of any mention whatever of their
English comrades, which had been much commented
upon here.
January 27. Lady Holland writes to me that
Princesse Lieven is entirely given over. She had
asked for a clergyman and had gone through her
religious duties with great composure. Her head
was clear, and she remembers all details and settles
everything. Lady Holland says : ' I knew her mind
could be relied on and that she would do all that
was right. She dies grandly, and all about her is
well ordained.'
10 LEAVES FROM THE 1857
January 28. The telegraph announces that
Princesse Lieven died on Monday night.
January 31. Princesse Lieven died with great
courage and tranquillity. She has named the Dues
de Noailles and Montebello her executors, and leaves
many legacies to her friends ; also, a curious injunc-
tion respecting her remains and the funeral. She
desires the former may be attired in the black velvet
gown she wore at her soirees and in her blonde cap ;
that a sachet containing her children's hair should
be tied round her neck, and a ring she wore on her
finger should not be displaced. That her body
should be embalmed and sent to Eussia to be interred
in a chapel on the property of one of her sons. She
left a letter for Guizot, to be given to him after
her death. He was in great affliction, but went the
following day to the Academy, where he was
appointed to read a discourse. Great curiosity is
felt as to the directions she may have left regarding-
her letters, journal, &c., and as to whom will be en-
trusted these curious documents.
February 2. The Duke of Eutland died ten days
ago and was buried at Belvoir. He, in some degree,,
imitated the Duke of Portland respecting his funeral,
having by will fixed the sum it was not to exceed.
But his remains lay in state for two days and were
visited by many thousands of people. He was
popular in his county and a good landlord.
February 5. Parliament was opened on Tuesday
by commission. Lords Cork and Airlie moved and
seconded the Address in the Lords ; in the Commons
Sir John Eamsden and Sir Andrew Agnew. Grey
moved an amendment on the Persian War and Lord
Aberdeen voted with him. The Duke of Newcastle
1857 DIARY OF HENRY GIIEVILLE 11
went away. Government made a good case for the
Chinese business, but were weak on the Italian
question. John Eussell, who is just arrived from
Florence, made a good speech, which was much
cheered by both sides of the House. He spoke
without any bitterness, but entirely condemned the
course we have pursued on the Naples question,
which he considers to have been exactly calculated
to strengthen the King and to weaken those whose
cause we have at heart.
It is supposed, from certain compliments which
were bandied about between Gladstone and Disraeli,
that a junction between these two men is not far
distant, and there is a facetious article on the subject
in the ' Times ' of to-day. Gladstone's friends, how-
ever, stoutly deny that he has any such intention.
February 11. Somerset Calthorpe, a son of Lord
Calthorpe and nephew and A.D.C. to Lord Eaglan,
has lately published a book on the Crimean War
with the title of ' Letters from Headquarters : or
the Eealities of the War in the Crimea, by a Staff
Officer.'
In this book Cardigan is alluded to in no flatter-
ing terms, and he has very absurdly as I think
brought the matter before the House of Lords in the
form of a question. He said his character had been
maligned in a work published anonymously by a staff
officer who was known to be Major S. Calthorpe ; that
formerly when the character of a man was assailed
he could defend himself by an appeal to the laws of
honour, but duelling was no longer practised ; that
he had in the first instance applied to the Com-
mander-in-Chief to bring the officer to a court-martial,
who had declined to do so, on the ground that it
12 LEAVES FROM THE 1867
would be inconvenient ; that he then applied through
a friend to Major Calthorpe to withdraw his mis-
representations ; that Major Calthorpe admitted two
of the statements to be untrue, but refused to with-
draw them on the ground of inconvenience to himself
and to his publisher. Under these circumstances
Cardigan asked Lord Panmure if he deemed it right
and proper that a junior officer, holding a staff
appointment, should be permitted to malign his
superior officer and continue to hold an honourable
staff appointment in Ireland.
Panmure replied that the Commander-in-Chief
did not consider it was his province to take notice of
anonymous military publications, and that he thought,
as he did himself, that Cardigan had a course open
to him in an appeal to the civil tribunals, that
H. E. H. did not intend to bring the officer to a
court-martial, and he advised, Lord C. to rest upon
the high testimonials in his profession to refute the
injustice to which he had been exposed.
This book, though amusing, is condemned for the
indiscreet manner in which it deals with individuals,
and even in Cardigan's case there has been much
exaggeration, and the author has been obliged to
admit it. But the world is weary of Cardigan and
his fanfaronnades and of Crimean accusations and
recriminations, and it is time this subject should be
allowed to drop.
Nothing, has as yet transpired as to the mode in
which Princesse Lie veil has disposed of her papers.
Her sons are anxious that public attention should not
be directed to the subject, but it is one in which so
many people are interested (her correspondents being
.very numerous and conspicuous), it will be difficult
to prevent its discussion.
1857 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 13
February 15. Dined yesterday with the Clan-
ricardes. A gay and pleasant party. Greys, Bess-
boroughs, Ailesburys, and Pahlen. Grey made me
laugh by an anecdote of King William. When the
Bishop of Durham did homage to H. M. and knelt
down for the purpose, the King, instead of raising
him up as usual, kept him on his knees, and point-
ing at him with his finger, said : ' Dr. Maltby, I know
no harm of you.' His Lordship looked surprised,
and the ministers standing by were convulsed by
restrained laughter.
Grey said that King William, who, as Duke of
Clarence, was a great liar, 1 entirely changed in this
respect on coming to the throne, and was remark-
ably true and straightforward.
William IV. had a horror of public executions,
and on the occasion of Greenacre's condemnation he
insisted (contrary to the usual practice, which was to
read to the King in Council a summary of the evi-
dence on each case) on the whole trial being read
to him, which Denman did, most conscientiously,
consuming four hours in the recital. His Majesty
was fast asleep before the first half-hour had
elapsed.
February 16. I saw Mrs. Augustus Craven on
1 My uncle used to tell a droll story of the King which bears on
this peculiarity. A lady sitting next to him at dinner one day was
entertained by some most extraordinary anecdote which H. M. related
to her, and which she found it impossible to swallow. She therefore
answered, ' Oh, sir, I beg your pardon, but I really do not think that
can be true.' To her surprise he instantly replied, '.You are quite
right, marm, there is not a word of truth in it. It is a lie, warm, a
d d lie. In fact, marm, we all lie, we can't help it. We had it
from our mother ! '
This, my uncle used to say, was the biggest lie of all, for Queen
Charlotte was a very truthful person, never given to lying. Ed.
14 LEAVES FROM THE 1857
Saturday, who read to me such a graphic account of
an accident which befell Eistori when acting at Naples
for the last time, written by the Duchess of Rava-
schiere (Filangieri's daughter) and which exhibits
such a ludicrous instance of the belief in Jettatura,
which, although not avowed, is entertained by nearly
all Neapolitans, that I asked her to give me a copy
of the letter,- which is as follows :
'* Naples, 7 Janvier. J'ai a vous center le trait
le plus affreux de la puissante Jettatura des Venti-
gnanos (corni.) Notre chere Ristori donnait jeudi
sa derniere representation. Bouquets, poesies, cou-
ronnes devaient pleuvoir a foison des Loges et du
Parterre et joncher les planches sous les pieds de la
magnifique Medee Phedre. Mais le public et 1'Actrice
comptait sans le dard mephitique du Roi des Jettatori,
qui venait pour la premiere fois, dans toute sa puis-
sance de Sous-Intendant des Spectacles, prendre la
place de Satriano, 1 absent ce jour-la. La Ristori parut
done dans Phedre, plus belle quejamais. Flattee de
I'accueil du public elle se monta, et se sent jouer
mieux que jamais. Le delire commence, ce beau
delire qui finit le 4ieme acte. Au moment de tomber,
un vertige lui prend. Ses yeux se ferment tout de
bon, et ne mesurant plus la distance qui la separa de
la Rampe, elle tomba evanouie sur les quinquets !
Ceci au moment oil Ventignano (j'ose a peine ecrire
son nom) debout dans sa loge, ses lunettes braquees
sur elle, s'ecriait " Divina, Divina ! e impareggiabile
questa Donna ! " Le Marquis (qui se trouvait le plus
pres de In scene) a arrache la Ristori de dessus les
lampes, et a ainsi sauve sa figure, qui commeii9ait a
1 Don Gaetano, Prince de Satriano, brother of the Duchesse de
Eavaschiere.
1857 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 15
bruler, inais le bras droit, sur lequel etait tombe tout
le poids de son corps, avait ete horriblement blesse
par les verres brulants des quinquets. La douleur
de la blessure 1'a fait revenir a la vie. On 1'a trans-
porte dans son cabinet, oil tout le monde s'est
precipite. La chair de son bras droit (de ce beau
bras digne de la Phedre antique) pendait sous le
coude. La blessure etait profonde jusqu'a 1'os.
Heureusement, notre bon chirurgien Festa, celui qui
a si bien soigne mon pere, etait dans la salle, et a pu
preter le secours de son art a notre Muse ensan-
glantee, qui belle et courageuse sous son costume de
1'heroine de 1'antiquite demandait k reparaitre sur la
scene. L'operation a ete longue et douloureuse, car
avant de fermer la profonde blessure il a fallu s'assurer
qu'il n'y avait pas de morceau de verre dans la plaie.
Pour empecher rinflammation on lui a fait au bras
gauche une large saignee, et accompagnee du Comte
de Syracuse et de beaucoup d' appassionati eplores la
pauvre chere blessee a ete reconduite chez elle dans la
voiture meme de poste qui 1'attendait a la porte du
Fondo, pour la conduire a Eome. Le public desole
s'est retire, 11011 sans jeter des regards de haine sur le
maudit Jettatore, qui etait reste immobile a sa place,
terrific lui-meme, je le crois, de sa fatale puissance.
(Test avec ce meme bras droit et cette main que la
Eistori avait ocrit des vers dans 1'album de cet
homme terrible deux heures auparavant. Vous
concevez que ceci a ete le sujet de toutes les conver-
sations, et je ne puis m'empecher de rire lorsque j'en-
tends deplorer parmi les malheurs qui accablent
notre pauvre pays, celui d'avoir a lutter centre le
fleau de la Jettatura ! '
February 18, Wednesday. This day, at twelve
16 LEAVES FROM THE 1857
o'clock, poor Francis 1 expired. The regret produced
by this event will be widely spread, for his life was
one of constant usefulness and benevolence, and his
extreme sweetness of temper (never evinced more
than during his last distressing illness) endeared him
to all who knew him.
February 20, Friday. Expressions of sympathy
and regret are pouring in from all sides. A most
touching letter from the Queen to the Duchess of
Sutherland, full of everything most kind and flatter-
ing to his memory, was sent over for my sister's
perusal, and the universal testimony to his worth
and sympathy in her bereavement seem to soothe and
comfort her.
February 27, Friday. Poor Francis's remains
were removed on Tuesday morning, and on that day
Harriet and her girls went to Hatchford, and the three
younger sons 2 to Worsley, the Brackleys to Burwood.
On Wednesday morning, Algy 3 and I, Enfield, 4
George Byng, Cawdor, and Westminster started for
Worsley, where we slept. Yesterday the funeral
took place. It was attended by his sons and those I
have named, and in addition the Duke of Sutherland,
Stafford, 5 Grosvenor, 6 K. Grosvenor, 7 George Loch,
and Clanwilliam. 8 There was no unnecessary pomp.
A hearse preceded by a long file of tenantry, followed
by his family, friends, and agents, all on foot, passed
along the terrace into the road leading to the church,
1 My father, the first Earl of Ellesmere. Ed.
~ My eldest brother was a great invalid and imable to attend his
father's funeral. Ed.
3 Algernon Greville. 4 Afterwards second Earl of Strafford.
5 Marquis of Stafford, afterwards third Duke of Sutherland.
" The present Duke of Westminster (1857). . t
1 The late Lord Ebury. 8 Third Earl of Clanwilliam, died 1879.
1857 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 17
which, together with the churchyard, was crowded
by an orderly and reverential multitude, amounting
to many thousands. As the body passed every head
was uncovered, and the procession passed amidst a
profound silence which was very striking. At the
conclusion of the ceremony, the agents of the estate
and tenantry assembled at the Worsley Inn, and then
and there subscribed 500/. for a testimonial to their
benefactor.
We returned to town by the express train.
The motion brought on by Lord Derby con-
demning the Chinese affair was lost by a majority of
thirty-six. Granville, who spoke very well, took the
opportunity of paying a graceful tribute to poor
Francis's memory, which was very well received by
the House.
In the Commons, Cobden's motion on the same
subject was adjourned. John Eussell made a very
telling speech, and one likely to influence the division,
quite in his old form, and the Government is alarmed
for the result to-night.
March 5, Thursday. I went to Burwood 1 on
Sunday afternoon. Every day I have passed some
hours at Hatchford a melancholy visit. I came
back to London to-day.
The debate was again adjourned on Monday.
Every one was in a fever of excitement as to the
division. The Government expected a defeat, but
that the numbers on either side would be very
small. On Tuesday, Cobden's motion was carried by
1 Burwood was first hired and then bought by my eldest brother,
as the soil and climate of Surrey suited his health better than those
of Lancashire. It is three miles from Hatchford, where my mother
resided for the remaining years of her life. Ed.
III. C
18 LEAVES FROM THE 1857
a majority of sixteen. All the Derbyites and all the
Peelites voted against the Government, and some of
their usual supporters left them in the lurch ; for
instance, Francis Baring and Eobert Grosvenor.
Alexander, the Q.C., told me to-night that Hayter
and Lord Monck, after carefully going over the votes,
had made out that the division would be 258 on each
side ; subsequently, on receiving further information,
they thought the cypher would be different in its
quantity, but that the numbers would still be equal.
To-night Palmerston announced that Parliament
would be dissolved as soon as the public business
would admit, and that a new Parliament would be
assembled in May. In a second speech made in
reply to questions put by J. Eussell, Cobden, Glad-
stone, and Graham, as to what was to be the policy
of the Government with regard to China, Palmerston
said there would and could be no change in that
policy, which was to maintain in China, as elsewhere,
security to the lives and property of British subjects,
and the rights of the country arising out of treaty
obligations, and to improve our relations with China.
That it was the intention of the Government, in con-
junction with that of France and of the United States,
to place these relations on a permanent footing, and
that it would be a matter of very serious deliberation
to whom so grave and important a function should
be entrusted.
The news of the signature of a treaty of peace with
Persia reached the Government on Tuesday night.
March 7, Saturday. Granville has the Garter
vacant by the Duke of Eutland's death. It was
offered to the Duke of Norfolk, who refused it.
March 11. Dined with the Duchess of Norfolk,
1857 DIARY OF HENRY GREVJLLE 19
Lady Cowley, the Baillie Cocliranes, Cecil Forester,
&c. Wlierever one goes the conversation turns
exclusively on the forthcoming elections, and very
tiresome it is. The particular subject of curiosity is,
whether John Eussell will or will not stand for the
City. Afterwards I went to the Granvilles', where
Edward Ellice was very eloquent on the gross blunder
of the Opposition, John Eussell, Gladstone and
Co., who had contrived to place Palmerston on a
pinnacle, and most probably to give him a strong
Liberal-Conservative Government.
The Speaker having announced his intention to
retire, a vote of thanks to him was passed last night.
He was very much affected in acknowledging it,
and it must be admitted that no Speaker ever
resigned the chair more universally regretted. All
sides of the House were anxious to mark their sense
of his merits, and on his rising to speak, every one
uncovered, which is only done when a message from
the Queen is brought to the House.
March 12. A pleasant dinner at Sydney's.
Lady Shaftesbury, Lady Mary Labouchere, Evelyn
Denison, Bessboroughs, Bonham Carter, &c. The
latter seems as keen as ever on the elections, with
which, formerly, he had so much to do. In the
morning I met Tom Ashburnham, who told me he
was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Chinese
Expedition. I believe him to be well chosen.
John Eussell has addressed the electors of the
City of London. It is a long and skilful document.
I fully expect he will be returned, but opinions are
much divided upon the subject.
March 14. Dined yesterday with Jerseys and
met Lord Stanhope, who is busily employed in the
20 LEAVES FROM THE 1857
establishment of a National Gallery of Portraits, for
which he has obtained a grant from Parliament and
a Commission. No portrait of any living person or
of one who has died within ten years can be admitted
but by the unanimous consent of the Commission.
The portraits of criminals are not to be admitted,,
although Macaulay wished those of Felton, Belling-
ham, and others of that stamp should be included.
He told me what I was not aware of, that Ellesmere
had given to the Gallery his famous portrait of
Shakespear. 1
Elgin is appointed Plenipotentiary to China, and,
to judge by his previous success in pacification, no
better selection could have been made.
March 17. Dined with the Sydneys. Stanley of
Alderley, Jem Macdonald, Mrs. Anson, and Tom
Ashburnham. These two latter were very amusing in
endeavouring to outdo each other in Indian Flams.
Derby made last night a great oration which
lasted two hours on the present state of affairs and
the circumstances which are supposed to have led to
the coalition on China and our foreign policy in
general. Granville answered him and spoke skilfully.
The Derbyites say that Palmerston may probably
gain twenty votes. In Ireland it is not expected
that the elections will be favourable to the Govern-
ment. In some places the Tories and Eadicals have
made common cause.
March 20, Friday. John Eussell met his constitu-
ents yesterday and made a very successful speech,
full of capital hits. His chances of success seem to
be increasing. He was droll about the ' Coalition,'
or ' Combination.' Burglars, he said, combine to
1 Known as the Cliandos ShaJces2)ear.
1857 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 21
enter a house and rob it. A jury combine to con-
demn the act. This illustration amused his audience
very much.
The Government is angry with Enfield l for not
allowing George Byng to stand for Middlesex, where
he would have come in without a contest. The seat
is going a-begging, and up to last night there were
no candidates.
I hear from Paris, on the authority of the Due de
Noailles, that the friends of Princesse Lieven who knew
that her letters and journal made the occupation of
her life, especially of late, are at a loss to account
for her having left no instructions respecting them,
whilst so many are to be found upon other and more
trifling matters. She had told the Due de Noailles
that it was her intention to leave them to him to
arrange, and had mentioned this intention to others
who have applied to him on business connected with
these papers. But there is not a line forthcoming
on the subject. The Duke had all these papers in
his possession just before her death, with the consent
of Paul Lieven, for fear of any claim being made on
them by the Russian Embassy ; but he has now, of
course, delivered them up to Paul Lieven. It is
possible that her son may have dissuaded her from
leaving them to any one but himself, and that she
may have given him her instructions by word of
mouth. It is quite impossible to believe that she did
not trouble herself with the subject, when she knew
she was dying, which had so much occupied her
during her whole life ; and as 110 written instructions
are to be found, no other solution of this mystery
remains than the one above alluded to.
1 Afterwards second Earl of Strafford.
22 LEAVES FROM THE 1857
I am reading some old letters from the Marquise
de Coigny to my mother, written in 1802, 1803, and
at later dates, full of Paris gossip of that time, in
which figure several English ladies of celebrity of
that day. Madame de Coigny was very witty, and
her letters are very sparkling and amusing. I came
across a sentence relating to Georgiana, Duchess of
Devonshire, which is so pretty that I must transcribe
it.
' Que fait la Duchesse par excellence ?
' Est-ce 1'amour de tous par sa bonte, comme elle
fait I'admiratioii de chacun pour sa beaute ? C'est
une consolation plutot qu'un dedommagement mais
que faire ? Le temps est impitoyable, et il detruit
tous les empires, meme celui des charmes.'
I can just recollect Madame de Coigny (nee de
Connans), having been occasionally taken to see her
by my father, when quite a boy, in Paris. She was
famous for her avarice as well as her wit, and of
which there are many droll anecdotes. One was
that when not invited out to dinner she was often to
be seen on her staircase, with little bits of bread in
her hand, which she endeavoured stealthily to sop
into the dishes that were being taken to the table of
the people who lodged above her. It must, how-
ever, be said that with these penurious habits she
was not without generous instincts, and has been
known to do kind and even noble things. Her letters
were very entertaining, and, to make them so, she
kept a scrapbook by her side, and when any ban mot
occurred to her she immediately wrote it down, and
contrived to insert it into any letter she might have
to send to a friend.
March 24, Hatchford. I came here yesterday.
1857 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 23
How one misses ' the familiar face in the accustomed
places ' !
March 27, London, Friday. I returned here
yesterday. Dined with the Sydneys. Lady Shelburne,
her sister, Tom Ashburnham, and Stanley of Alderley.
During dinner Stanley received an official box con-
taining the news that the Emperor of China had
ordered Yeh to make terms with the English. Tom
Ashburnham thinks this will not prevent the expedi-
tion to China, as it is not improbable that the Can-
tonese may decline obeying the Celestial commands.
We heard to-day of the total defeat of the Persian
army near Bushire.
It is expected John Eussell will be elected for the
City.
March 29, Sunday. John Eussell's triumph is
complete. I met him to-day in high spirits.
The result of the elections is curious. The
members of the Manchester School are defeated by
large majorities. Layard, much to his own surprise,
loses his seat at Aylesbury. By all accounts the con-
tests cost as much as at any time before the Eeform
Bill. That of Lord Althorp for the county will cost
Lord Spencer at least 10,000/.
Adelaide Sartoris has come over from Paris in
consequence of the death of her brother John, which
took place a few days ago at Dublin. He was a man
of much learning, but of improvident habits, and his
archaeological and Anglo-Saxon lore, which was very
remarkable, was not a lucrative line of literature.
He has left his family in a state of destitution, and
their maintenance will fall entirely upon his sisters,
who are by no means able to bear so heavy a
burden.
24 LEAVES FROM THE 1857
Cowley has been raised to an earldom, an honour
he declined last year, but which, being again pressed
upon him, he thought it would be ungracious to re-
fuse.
April 7, Paris, Tuesday. I left London on Friday
in company with the Sydneys, Lady Granville, and
Mrs. Craven. The two latter went on to Paris, and
we remained at Boulogne and came on here on
Saturday the 4th. I have nothing to record of the
journey but the excessive disgust one feels, on arriving
at Boulogne, at being obliged to present oneself with
one's passport in a stinking, crowded hole, jostled
and squeezed by a herd of dirty people, for no purpose
that I can make out, since formerly one was not
subjected to this vexation, and I am not aware that
any evil has arisen from the exemption.
Paris is much as usual, the weather mild and
agreeable. I went last night with Ffrench to the
Theatre Lyrique to hear 'La Eeine Topaze,' which is
on the whole tiresome, though worth seeing. Madame
Miolan is always wonderful, but her voice appeared
tired, which is not surprising, since it was the fifty-
second representation, and the music she has to sing
is all but impossible.
There seems to be a dearth of political news.
Eeports are as usual rife of plots against the
Emperor's life, and of arrests being made, but no
attention is paid to them.
The other day, M. de Falloux the Academician
went, according to custom, to the Tuileries to pre-
sent his oration in honour of the late Count Mole to
the Emperor, accompanied by Messieurs Cousin,
Villemain and Bouffant. They were very civilly re-
ceived by His Majesty, who said to Falloux, cleverly
1857 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 25
enough, and with a smile, ' II y a quelque temps,
Monsieur, que le desordre nous a reunis. Je regrette
que 1'ordre nous separe.' The Emperor alluded to
the time when M. de Falloux, who was a Legitimiste,
made a famous speech in the Legislative Assembly
against the Ateliers and Socialism, the suppression of
which led to the revolt of June which was crushed
by Cavaignac, and after which M. de Falloux joined
the President. He has kept aloof since the coup
d'etat.
April 8, Wednesday. Last night I went to see
Eistori in ' Ottavia.' The play is awfully tedious, but
there are some fine opportunities for acting, of which
she made the most ; indeed I never saw her to greater
advantage than in the third act. The enthusiasm for
her here appears as great as ever. An old French
lady and gentleman who sat next to me, who had
never seen her before, were comparing her constantly
to Eachel and at the end of the play said, ' Ah,
Monsieur, elle est sublime, elle est bien plus etheree,
plus ideale, plus complete que la Eachel.' They
were in an ecstasy of delight.
April 12, Sunday. As far as outward appear-
ances go, Paris is a very devout town. The churches
are crowded to suffocation to hear the various
preachers, amongst whom Le Pere Felix is the most
attractive for eloquence. He preaches every evening
at Notre-Dame in the presence of many thousand
men. There are hardly any women to be seen there.
At the Tuileries, the Padre Ventura attacks the
vices of the Court and society with much pretension
of independence, but his sermons are said to be
devoid of talent of any kind. The Easter ceremonies,
and particularly those celebrated at the Madeleine,
26 LEAVES FROM THE 1857
are attended by such crowds that it is almost a
service of danger to attempt to gain admittance.
The Grand Duke Constantine is to be here on
the 30th. The Emperor wishes Prince Napoleon to
go arid meet him at the frontier, but His Imperial
Highness positively declines. His Majesty accused
his cousin of 'voulant toujours contrarier sa poli-
tique,' to which Plon Plon replied, ' Eh bien, Louis,
envoyez-moi en exil cochonnerie de plus.' It is
said that Prince Napoleon speaks his mind pretty
freely to the Emperor, and, some years ago, when
His Majesty was returning from the provincial tour
during which he made the famous speech concluding
with ' L'Empire c'est la Paix,' H. M. was bent upon
making a triumphal entry into Paris, which Prince
Napoleon thought so ridiculous that he tried all he
could to dissuade him from it. ' Allons, Louis,' he
said, ' je t'en prie, ne fais pas 1'Empereur a la Fran-
coni, tu n'as pas la taille a cela.' I believe that
notwithstanding these occasional tiffs, the Emperor
is attached to his cousin, and is aware of his clever-
ness, and (when his passions are not en jeu] of his
good sense and judgment.
I sat some time to-day with (Lord) Holland.
The conversation turned upon his great-grandfather,
the first Lord Holland. Lord Shelburne promised
him a peerage, but, not wishing to lose his assist-
ance in the House of Commons, he evaded fulfilling
his promise. On Lord Holland reproaching Lord
Shelburne with thi^, the latter said, ' Well, I own
I did promise it to you, but under the circumstances
my not giving it to you was a " pious fraud." : To
which Lord Holland replied, ' I see the fraud, but
I don't observe the piety.' His wife was created
1857 DIARY OF HENHY GREVILLE 27
Lady Holland in order that Mr. Fox might remain
in the House of Commons. He had been very
anxious to be created Earl of Eochester, because
his rival was made Earl of Chatham. The title was
taken from Holland House, which had once belonged
to Eich, Earl of Holland.
April 13, Monday. Guizot and his son and Mr.
Senior dined here yesterday in order that the first-
named might see the Countess Castiglione, who was
invited to meet him. She was in her best good
looks, and attired in her most fanciful manner, with
a cage, a sort of round hoop, and her hair coiff'e, like
in an old portrait of Sir Joshua, slightly powdered,
with a veil of gauze floating from her head all over
her figure. She was in high good humour, which is
not always the case (although I have ever found her
very civil and good-humoured), but she looks blasee
and ennuyee, and to see a beautiful woman who only
completed her twentieth year four days ago in a
state of profound apathy, and amused and interested
by nothing, fills me with melancholy. There are
all sorts of stories about her, which for various
reasons I don't believe. Guizot was much struck
by her beauty, which is certainly out of the common
way.
A thunderstorm on Friday has spoilt our weather,
which has become cold and disagreeable.
April 29, Wednesday. People of all sorts, of all
nations and of every hue of politics flock to this
house. To-day, for example, M. de Maupas, who
was Prefet de Police when the coup d'etat was
made, met in Lady Holland's Salon M. Duvergier
d'Hausanne, whom he arrested ! The other day
Mr. Yillemain called here. He is extremely lively
28 LEAVES FROM THE
and original, and amused me very much, but is,
I think, the ugliest human creature I ever met.
On Sunday Madame Eistori called, looking so
handsome, and her manners are so very good and
natural. I saw her act last night, for the second
time, in a new but bad play, called ' Gamma,' in
which however she is sublime ; her death especially
is the most poetic thing of the kind I ever saw on
the stage. If one may judge from the full houses and
frantic applause, her success here must be on the
increase, but they do more than applaud, they dis-
criminate. We in London do neither.
May 1, Friday. The Grand Duke Constantine
arrived here yesterday. Prince Napoleon met him
at the station, and he proceeded, escorted by Guards,
to the Tuileries, through a great crowd of people
who made no demonstration. The streets had been
decorated with French and Eussian flags for the
occasion, of course by orders from the police. I
understand he is considered brusque in his manners,
and has not made a very favourable impression.
The news of the death of the good old Duchess
of Gloucester reached Cowley in the evening, which
will prevent Cowley from taking part in the fetes
given to the Grand Duke. She died on Thursday
without suffering, after a long illness. She was a
kind-hearted woman, and a perfect lady in mind
and manners, and will be regretted deeply by a large
circle of attached friends and dependents.
There is a curious and interesting letter in the
* Times ' written by Sir James Brooke, giving an
account of the insurrection of the Chinese at Sarawak,
by which he nearly lost his life. By extraordinary
courage and presence of mind, he succeeded in
1857 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 29
crushing the revolt and in revenging the horrors
committed. The attempt of the Chinese was very
nearly being successful, and as it was they destroyed
all the property of the Eajah, besides murdering
several settlers and their families.
Elgin, who has been here the last few days, has
proceeded on his mission. The ' Times ' newspaper has
been violently attacking Elgin's appointment, and
still more virulently that of Tom Ashburnham ; no
one knows why, unless on the chance of their both
failing, and that the ' Times ' may take credit for
having foretold that they would do so.
I went the other day to an exhibition of the
works of the late Paul Delaroche, now being held at
the Beaux- Arts. There are some admirable things
there. The finest of his finished pictures appeared
to me to be the death of the Due de Guise, and the
Girondins. But what charmed me the most, and
struck me as exquisite in conception and design, are
four unfinished pictures representing scenes from
the life of the Virgin, one of which, and the only
finished one, was painted for poor Francis 1 (or at
least he was given the refusal of it), but he thought
the price too large and declined buying it. It
represents the Virgin and the ' Saintes Femmes ' at
the entombment. The others are ' The Eeturn of the
Virgin after the Crucifixion,' which I prefer to all the
others, ' The Contemplation of the Crown of Thorns,'
in the dead of night a wonderful representation of
stillness and grief; and the interior of the Virgin's
house whilst the procession of the Crucifixion is pass-
ing by the windows. I would rather possess these
four pictures than all Delaroche's other works.
1 The first Earl of Ellestnere.
30 LEAVES FROM THE 1857
May 3, Sunday. I went last night to hear
4 Joconde ' at the Opera Comique. This charming-
opera by Euolo was one of the delights of my youth,
and I was so pleased to find the same enjoyment of
this clever and fresh music, and in the sprightly story,
as forty years ago. It was capitally acted and sung
by all.
May 5, London. I left Paris yesterday at twelve
in company with the Sydneys, and, after a cold and
rough passage, reached London at twelve at night.
At the station we heard of the death of Lady Ash-
burton, which shocked us the more that, although we
had left her at Paris ill, and more unwell than usual
on Sunday and unable to receive her friends, Lady
Sydney before leaving Paris heard from her doctor
that she was better, and no immediate danger was
apprehended. We crossed Ashburton on the road,
and he arrived too late. I have not seen much of
her of late years, although at one time I lived a great
deal with her. She was, I think, the quickest woman
I ever met in society, perhaps too much addicted
to persiflage, but she could be grave, and she had
a fund of information which, added to her natural
gifts, made her a remarkable person. She was not
generally popular, but had many attached friends,
and she will be a great loss in a social point of view.
London is dark, cold, and as dismal as it generally
is in the ' merry month of May.'
May 8, Hatchford, Friday. I came here on
Wednesday and found all well. On Tuesday Prince
Albert went to Manchester to open the Exhibition
and to inaugurate the statue of the Queen by Noble,
erected in Peel Park in commemoration of her visit
to that place in 1851. The two ceremonies went off
1857 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 31
well, but the Prince is abused for attending them in
consequence of the Duchess of Gloucester's death, as
he would have been had he not gone ! Considering
the occasion, I think he was right to go, and he took
the opportunity of making a most graceful allusion
to the memory of the Duchess, in answer to an
address of condolence presented by the authorities of
the town.
May 10, Sunday. On Thursday the new Par-
liament was opened by Commission. Palmerston
announced a Eeform Bill for the beginning of next
session, which stopped Eoebuck's mouth. I was
glad to see that Clanricarde called the attention of
the Government to the shameful manner in which
Tom Ashburnham had been anonymously attacked
by junior officers, who had waited until his departure
to assail him with calumny. Lord Panmure defended
him very handsomely, and carried the House with
him.
Sir Eobert Peel has resigned his post at the
Admiralty Board.
May 22, Friday. There is very little stirring
socially or politically. Lord Cranworth brought in
his Divorce Bill the other night, on which occasion
Lord Lyndhurst, who yesterday completed his eighty-
fifth year, made a long and vigorous speech. He is
without doubt one of the most remarkable men of
our time.
I passed Sunday and Monday at Panshanger with
the Sydneys. This, my first visit, could not be other-
wise than melancholy.
A Council was held the other day at Osborne, in
which Her Majesty declared her approval of the
marriage of the Princess Eoyal. A Eoyal message
32 LEAVES FROM THE 1857
was accordingly sent to both Houses, announcing the
event, and demanding a provision for the young
Princess. Loyal answers were returned, and the
Eoyal message is to be taken into consideration
to-night.
May 24, Sunday. The sum proposed for the
Princess Eoyal is a dower of 40,000. and 8,000/.
per annum for life. This latter annuity was much
objected to by the House, and 1 Lewis was so slow in
proposing the grant, and bored them so much, that
they were nearly irritated into a division. I believe
the leaders of the Opposition had been privately
communicated with, and consequently J. Eussell
and Disraeli both supported the grant, and urged
unanimity. A sum of money once paid would have
found more favour than an annuity, to which, what-
ever may be the precedents for it, there are obvious
objections.
Henry Herbert 2 is appointed Irish Secretary ; an
excellent man, but an indifferent speaker.
May 30, Hatchford, Saturday. I came here on
Wednesday. This garden is a lovely sight, a perfect
blaze of rhododendron and azalea, like a horticultural
show.
During this week an interesting and amusing
debate has been going on in the House of Lords on
the Chancellor's Divorce Bill, and some sharp spar-
ring between Lords Campbell and Wensleydale on
the clause abolishing actions for crim. con. The
Bishop of Oxford, who has taken an active part in
these discussions, was beaten on an amendment
which he proposed to the effect that it should be
optional with the clergy to marry or to refuse to
1 Sir George Lewis. 2 Of Muckross.
1857 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 33
marry any persons who, having been married and
divorced, should seek to be married again, during the
life of the husband or wife from whom they have been
divorced. This was considered to be a wily, and
therefore characteristic, attempt to give increased
power to the Church ; it was negatived by a majority
of fifty-two.
Jem Wortley, I regret to say, is obliged to resign
his office owing to his continued ill-health. Mr.
Keating is appointed Solicitor-General.
The Derby and Oaks have been won by the same
mare, ' Blink Bonnie.' This double success has not
occurred since 1801.
June 11, Thursday. I returned here on the 4th.
I was in waiting 'at an interminable Drawing-room
on Saturday. The whole Court, with the exception of
the Princess Royal, who was in white, were attired
in deep mourning. The crowd was tremendous, and
the squeezing and pushing disgraceful. Something*
must be done to put an end to this unseemly scuffle
which occurs each time the Queen holds a Drawing-
room, and the ' Times ' having taken the matter up, I
do not doubt a remedy will be found for this un-
necessary state of things.
I went on Monday to see Eistori, who is acting at
the Lyceum in Medea. I don't know which was the
most wonderful, her acting, or the apathy of the
genteel audience (always the stupidest) which filled
the theatre. Last night a remarkably good speech
was made by a Mr. Hardy, 1 on moving the second
reading of the Beer Bill. I believe it was his debut
in Parliament, and it was very successful. He was a
leader on the Northern Circuit, but on inheriting a
1 Gathornc Hardy, now Lord Cranbrook.
Ill D
34 LEAVES FROM THE 1857
large fortune retired, and has lately come into
Parliament. He is a great acquisition to the ranks
of the Derby ites.
June 13, Saturday. The subject of the bad
accommodation at the Drawing-rooms was brought
before the two Houses of Parliament last night, and it
was announced that plans for the improvement of St.
James's Palace would be submitted to Parliament.
June 17, Wednesday. I was in waiting yesterday
at the christening of the new-born Princess Beatrice.
It took place at Buckingham Palace as usual. The
Prince Frederick William of Prussia, the Princess
Eoyal, and the Duchess of Kent were the sponsors.
The Archduke Maximilian of Austria, who arrived
the day before on a visit to the Queen, was present.
He is said to be very intelligent, and has a bright
intelligent eye, but the Austrian lip strongly
developed. After the christening there was a
banquet in the new ball-room, to which about one
hundred and sixty people sat down. It was very
handsome. The table was in the form of a horse-
shoe, and the Eoyalties sat in the centre. Toasts
were given to the Archduke and to the Prince of
Prussia, as also, of course, to the Queen, to Prince
Albert, and the infant Princess. I sat next to Mr.
Gibbs, who told me that his pupil, the Prince of
Wales, is to go early in July to Konigswartha,
with a suite of ten persons, and to be absent about
three months, during which he is to make excursions
into Switzerland, and to meet the Queen on her
return from Scotland.
June 24, Wednesday. I had a musical party here
on Monday, at which Mario, Grisi, the two Pynes,
and Ciabatta sang. The Duchess of Cambridge and
1857 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 35
Princess Mary came, and about a hundred people.
The singing was very good, and though the night
was very hot, the rooms were not inconveniently
so, as I was able to keep all the windows open, and
every one seemed pleased.
Yesterday there was another Drawing-room,
which was full, though less crowded than the last,
and a new arrangement was made to prevent the
crushing which has hitherto taken place. All the
ladies not having the entree were seated in rows of
chairs in all the rooms, where they awaited their
turn for entering the Pen. No carriages were
allowed to set down in company until there were
seats vacant. In. this manner all confusion was
prevented, but such is the love of a grievance that
many ladies complained of the bore and dulness of
being confined to their chairs, and would have much
preferred the chance of a squeeze and a push, so that
they retained their liberty.
The Divorce Bill, much amended, passed the
House of Lords last night.
The Emperor and Empress of the French are to
pay the Queen a visit in August.
These Eoyal intimacies strike me as being very
unnecessary, and calculated to lead, sooner or later,
to inconvenience and embarrassment.
June 25, Thursday. I went last night to see
Eistori in the part of Bianca in Dr. Milman's play
of ' Fazio.' It has been well translated, and she
was as fine as usual. Dr. Milman was present and
satisfied with the translation and in great admira-
tion of the actress. I think the play tedious and
monotonous.
June 27, Holland House, Saturday. Yesterday
D 2
36 LEAVES FROM THE 1857
the Queen distributed the Victoria Cross to the
officers appointed to receive it in Hyde Park. She
proceeded to the ground on horseback, attended by
a brilliant cortege, and delivered the cross to each
person from her horse. The crowd was immense.
Large inclined boards were erected, which enabled
many thousands to witness the ceremony, which,
owing to the intense heat, was somewhat curtailed.
The Queen wore a red tunic and purple petticoat,
and a hat with a red and white plume.
The news by telegraph from India is very bad.
The Mutiny among the Sepoys is widely spreading,
and Delhi was in the hands of the insurgents, who
had proclaimed the deposed prince King, and all
the Europeans had been massacred without regard
to age or sex.
Frank Courtenay, who came to see me to-day,
told me much harm had been done by an Order in
Council sent out from home, and which had been
laid before Parliament, granting public money to
missionaries for purposes of education, but which
the natives believed was in fact for proselytising,
and that great discontent had arisen in the army
in consequence ; but he thinks that other influences
must also be at work to produce so deplorable
a state of things. An idea, he says, is prevalent
in India (than which nothing can be more erroneous)
that Lord and Lady Canning are bent upon convert-
ing the Hindoos.
June 28, Holland House, Sunday. A day of the
most intense heat I can remember at this season.
A great many people came here during the day, all
occupied with the bad news from India, Mrs. Anson
amongst others, and very anxious for letters. It was
]857 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 37
known that the General had marched from Simla,
and also that the Arsenal at Delhi had been blown
up by Lieutenant Willoughby, to prevent its falling
into the hands of the Mutineers. Mrs. Anson is
much acquainted with many of the people who have
been massacred, and particularly deplores a Mr.
Fraser, who was an excellent servant of the Govern-
ment. The newspapers are filled with details of the
horrors committed at Meerut and Delhi. Women
and children ruthlessly murdered !
There was a large dinner here. The Lynd-
hursts (he in astonishing force and spirits), Lord
Lansdowne, very gay and full of zest. Macaulay,
Senior, Hayward, Quin, Merimee, and Lesseps.
All these beaux esprits talked a great deal. After
dinner M. de Tocqueville came. He has a fine eye
and a soft mild expression of countenance. I did
not hear him- talk.
June 29, Monday. I have seen letters from
Canning and Lady Canning. The latter gives details
of the horrors perpetrated at Meerut and Delhi, and
alludes to the reports which had been industriously
circulated, of Canning's desire to convert the natives,
which are, she says, as unfounded as they are
mischievous. He, while admitting that the state of
things is very serious, writes in good heart as to the
ultimate result, and hopes that we in England shall
not give way to unnecessary alarm. He does not
expect the Mutiny to spread, and says the insurgents
at Delhi are in a trap and wiU meet with condign
punishment, and he declares himself particularly
satisfied with the manner in which he has been
served in the provinces, and expresses his perfect
confidence in the ability of George Anson ; but he is
38 LEAVES FROM THE 1857
not equally pleased with the conduct of certain
parties in Calcutta.
The Queen went to Worsley to-day in order to
view the Manchester Exhibition. She travelled by
an evening train to avoid the intense heat, the
thermometer having stood yesterday at 92 in the
shade. The sudden change in the hour of her
departure caused fifty trains to be altered.
July 4, Saturday. I went last night to see Eistori
in 'Lady Macbeth.' The play has been well con-
densed, and, as far as I am able to judge, fairly
translated. She was particularly fine in the tempta-
tion and murder scenes, and quite appalling in the
sleep-walking. I never saw a greater effect produced
upon an audience.
The Queen returned from Worsley yesterday.
The visit to Manchester in spite of wet weather went
off well. There were no guests invited to meet her. 1
Prince Frederic-William of Prussia accompanied Her
Majesty, and he received an address from the Cor-
poration on his approaching marriage. Neither the
Prince of Wales nor Prince Alfred appeared in the
evening.
Douglas Jerrold died the other day. I remember
meeting him once at dinner (but cannot recollect
where) and thinking him very disagreeable, although
he was very droll. He once said to Thackeray (who
is remarkably ugly) on his telling him he had been
standing godfather to a child, ' I hope you did not
give it your mug.'
A series of concerts and theatrical performances
for the benefit of his family have been got up by
Dickens. The Queen and her Court attended a
T We were in deep mourning. Ed.
1857 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 39
representation of a play written by Collins (I think)
called ' The Frozen Deep,' acted by Dickens and his
friends at the Gallery of Illustration.
King Leopold is come over with the Princess
Charlotte. She is shortly to be married to the
Archduke Maximilian, and the whole Orleans family
are to be present at the marriage at Brussels.
The Montpensiers, who are here, received the
Diplomatic Corps the other day, as Infants of Spain,
the Persignys amongst the number !
July 7, Tuesday. Granville and Westminster were
invested with the Garter yesterday ; that of the latter
was offered first to Lord Eadnor, who refused it.
Eoebuck moved a resolution to-night for the
abolition of the Lord-Lieutenancy of Ireland. Govern-
ment opposed it on the ground that it was an abstract
resolution which, if adopted, ought to be followed
by a practical measure to carry it into effect, and
none being proposed by Mr. Eoebuck, and the task
being left for others, Palmerston said he should vote
for the previous question, which meant that the
motion was not one which it was desirable Parliament
should entertain. Disraeli spoke in the same sense,
and the resolution was negatived by 266 to 115.
Notwithstanding this result, I think the abolition of
the Lord-Lieutenancy is likely to be effected before
very long. The Press advocates it very strongly,
and public opinion is certainly inclining in that
direction.
July 10, Friday. A very curious trial, and one
which has for a long time engrossed public attention,
was concluded yesterday at Edinburgh. That of
Miss Madeleine Smith for the murder, by poison, of
a man named Angelier. After nine days' trial she
40 LEAVES FROM THE 1857
was found ' not guilty of the first charge,' the attempt
to poison ; and on the second charge, to the same
effect, and the actual murder, the verdict was 'not
proven.'
The prisoner, who left her boarding school at
Clapham or Clapton in 1853 at the age of 17 to join
her family at Glasgow, formed two years afterwards
a connexion with the deceased, and in the spring of
1856 was seduced by him, and from that period until
the end of the year she wrote to him the most
passionate love-letters. At the beginning of 1857
her passion had cooled, and a certain Mr. Minnock,
who was much better off than Angelier, proposed to
marry her. Angelier, however, declined to give her
up. He did not insist on marrying her, but had no
mind that any one else should do so. She entreated
him to restore her letters, but he threatened, on the
contrary, if the marriage with Minnock were not
given up, to show her letters to him as well as to her
father. Hence the motive for the crime. Under
these threats she writes to Angelier on February 9
that the match is a false report, implores him not to
bring her to open shame, and (although she had
promised her hand to Minnock on the 28th of the
previous month) assures him that she is under no
other engagement. She then, for some unexplained
reason, feigns a renewal of her attachment to Angelier,
and tries to renew the liaison, in order, as the prosecu-
tion says, to poison him, but as she asserts with the
hope that she might coax him into returning to her
her letters. Angelier tells a Miss Perry on the 17th
that he is to see Miss Smith on February 19. It is
not certain that he did see her on that day, but it is
proved that he was on the night of that date seized
1857 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 41
with violent illness such as arises from taking arsenic.
The prisoner was acquitted of administering arsenic
on this occasion, which was the first charge. The
books of all the chemists in Glasgow were examined,
and no purchase of arsenic was proved prior to the
19th, so that with respect to this particular occasion
there was sufficient doubt to justify a verdict of
full acquittal. On the 21st, however, she purchased
arsenic at the shop of a Mr. Murdoch openly ;
desired that it might be charged to her father's
account, and said she required it for a cosmetic.
On the night of the 21st, Angelier is again ill, but
again recovers. Time passes on, and it is supposed
that negotiations for the return of the letters are still
going on, as Miss Smith still holds to her engagement
with Mr. Minnock.
On March 6 she again buys arsenic ; this time in
company with a school friend, a Miss Buchanan.
Angelier goes to the Bridge of Allan for the recovery
of his health, and not, as Miss Smith advised him, to the
Isle of Wight. From the Bridge of Allan he writes
to Miss Smith to say that he believes her to be still
under an engagement to Mr. Minnock, and demands
direct answers to several questions on the subject.
He is proved to be very anxious for the answer to
this letter, and on the receipt of it to have returned in
high spirits, saying that he had come back in con-
sequence of it. On March 22 he is seen sauntering
near Miss Smith's house at twenty minutes past
nine ; he afterwards is known to have called 011 a
friend whom he did not find, and for two or three
hours afterwards he is lost sight of, and the question
is, did they meet during that time? The prisoner
.says no, as their interview was fixed for Saturday
42 LEAVES FROM THE 1857
and not Sunday. At all events Angelier is found
four hours afterwards at his own door in agonies
of pain, and soon dies ; and on being opened, it is
found that arsenic killed him. Miss Smith suggested
that he probably committed suicide in a fit of
jealousy, and evidence is adduced that he was vain
and foolish, constantly talking of his love affairs,
and often threatening to put an end to himself when
disappointed. If, however, this was the case, Angelier
must be a singular man, for he not only makes two
attempts to poison himself unsuccessfully, and goes
into the country to recover his health, but relates
how he was made ill by chocolate administered to
him by Miss Smith, saying jokingly, that even if she
were to poison him he should forgive her, and a
month afterwards, just before he is supposed to
poison himself, he tells a friend he is going to
Blytheswood Square, and actually loiters there, that
it may be believed he is poisoned there. This
supposition is quite inadmissible, but the affair is
enveloped in mystery, and the jury, by their verdict,
declared their inability to decide. The demeanour
of the girl was marvellously composed throughout.
She is said to be rather good-looking and was proved
to be licentious. The announcement of her acquittal
was received with loud cheers both within and with-
out the court.
July 11, Saturday. Dined last night at Stafford
House. Lord Wensleydale came there from the
House of Lords after the division on the Oaths
(Jew) Bill, which was thrown out by a majority of
thirty-four. He told me Lord Lyndhurst spoke
for an hour, and that his speech was one of the
best he ever heard in his life, although, only a week
1857 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 43
ago, he had a bad fall which had confined him to
his room.
When walking home this afternoon from St.
John's Wood I met Arbuthnot, who told me a
telegraphic despatch had brought bad news from
India, and what, above all the rest, afflicted me the
most, the account of the death of George Anson
by cholera on May 27. Eeports are rife of further
disaffection amongst the native troops. An action
had been fought outside Delhi in which the in-
surgents were defeated, and when the mail left, the
town was about to be assaulted.
I dined at Holland House, but felt so low I
could hardly speak. Madame de Meyendorff and the
Castigliones, who are staying in the house, Lady
Marian Alford, Mrs. Norton, Edward Cheney, and
Quin were the party. Madame de Meyendorff recited
scenes and verses after dinner, rather well, but y
though by no means in a merry mood, I could hardly
help laughing when she told me that she studied
declamation three or four hours a day, and devoted
the rest of her time to painting, ' dans laquelle,' she
said, 'j'ai fait d'immenses progres.' She is a huge
fat woman of fifty-five at least, and poured forth a
quantity of the most sentimental verses which would
better have become the figure and voice of a girl of
sixteen. She asked me if I had seen her portrait by
Winterhalter, and if I did not think she was changed.
' N'est-ce pas que je suis affreuse ? oui, je me trouve
tout a fait laide,' &c. To which I could only reply,
' Yous savez, Madame, que nous poursuivons tons
la meme route.' I could not anyhow squeeze out a
compliment.
July 16, Thursday. Yesterday at the Holland
44 LEAVES FROM THE 1857
House fete, Lady Clanricarde read to me a very in-
teresting letter from Lady Canning. She believed that
the worst was over, and that the speedy fall of Delhi
would produce a beneficial effect all over India. She
gives some curious details of the loyalty of some of
the Sepoy regiments, who had actually asked that
the very cartridges which had been made the pretext
for the Mutiny should be dealt out to them.
Details have also come of poor George Anson's
death, which ensued from exhaustion after his attack
of cholera. He repeatedly expressed his thankful-
ness that Mrs. Alison had left him and was safe in
England.
I went to a concert at Lansdowne House at which
the Queen of Holland was present. Having heard
much of her charms her appearance disappointed me.
She has a bony square figure, and her face is by
no means handsome. She is said to be clever and
agreeable.
Burghersh 1 was married this morning to Lady
Adelaide Curzon.
July 17, Friday. I went yesterday to Strawberry
Hill to a breakfast (the most dreary of all pastimes)
given by Lady Waldegrave. She showed me all over
the house, which she has entirely renovated, decorated,
and furnished with great splendour and good taste,
endeavouring to preserve some of the traditions of
the place. She is a sharp woman and has the merit
of not being ashamed of her origin, and showed me
(besides a full-length portrait in one of his operatic
characters) a picture done of her father after his
death, and models of his hands, which were remark-
able for their beauty. She told me he was a very
1 Eldest surviving son of the Earl of Westmorland.
1857 DIARY OF HENRY C4REV1LLE 45
clever man, and had educated himself in a very
zealous manner, and amongt other acquirements had
mastered six languages so as to speak them fluently.
During his career he had made 300,000/., and had
left nothing but debts.
Ely l died suddenly yesterday.
July SO, Monday. Mde. de Flahault told me the
Lord Advocate was persuaded of Miss Madeleine
Smith's guilt, and that since the trial the link want-
ing in the evidence to prove the meeting of the
parties on March 22 had been supplied, although too
late to be produced. He said the girl's demeanour
was marvellous for its composure and seeming
indifference to all that was passing in court.
The French poet Beranger died a few days ago
at Paris and was buried immediately. The State
defrayed the expenses of his funeral and seems to
have been so apprehensive that it might be made the
pretext for some popular demonstration, that unusual
precautions were resorted to, and large masses of
troops were placed ah 1 along the line of the procession ;
besides this, a clause in his will, or a paragraph of a
letter written to his executor, deprecating any such
demonstration, was published in all the newspapers.
Everything passed off in the most tranquil manner.
Beranger was the poet of the people, and is said to
have been a man of independent mind, which had
prompted him to refuse all favours proffered him by
the Government. He subsisted entirely on a small
pension paid to him by the proprietor of the copy-
right of his works. His portrait is to be placed in
the Gallery at Versailles.
July 28, Tuesday. For the last week I have
1 Second Marqiiis of Ely.
46 LEAVES FROM THE 1857
been staying on and off at Holland House. The
weather during this month has been entirely perfect,
very hot, but without oppression, and the nights have
been as fine as the days. There are several French
people staying in the house, and every day there
have been various people at dinner, and also two
large fe~tes in the garden. At the last there was a
host of Eoyalties : the Queen of Holland, who is
everywhere ; the Duchess of Orleans and her two
sons, who are tall youths with civil manners ; the
Princess of Salerno ; the Aumales ; the Cambridges ;
all which Eoyal Highnesses seemed to be very ' cheek
by jowl' literally, for they were constantly kissing
each other.
Last night I was at a concert at Apsley House,
which has lately been newly furnished and decorated,
and with good taste. The gallery is hung with red
damask and is lighted with gas from the outside,
and the pictures are seen to better advantage than
formerly. There had been a discussion on Indian
affairs brought on very inopportunely by Disraeli.
Every one is on tenterhooks and nervously awaiting
the next accounts, the mail being overdue.
Dined to-day at Holland House. The Dowager
Lady Grey and Lady Georgiana, and Lord Brougham,
who was in one of his most agreeable moods. He
told us that when he was Chancellor, he brought in
7 o
a bill to abolish thirteen places in the gift of that
official, one of which was worth 7,000/. per annum.
Brougham thinks there will be great difficulty in
meeting the demand of the French Government for
the extradition of certain refugees, amongst whom is
Ledru Eollin, accused of a conspiracy against the
life of the Emperor Xapoleon.
1857 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 47
Prince Albert went on Sunday to Brussels to
assist at the Princess Charlotte's marriage with the
Archduke Maximilian. He was to return the moment
the marriage was over.
August 2, Sunday. The Indian letters which
came yesterday show that the revolt still keeps its
ground, and the details of the atrocities committed
surpass all description. Notwithstanding this, Lady
Canning, who is a stout-hearted, sanguine woman,
writes to Lady Shelburne, who read to me the letter,
that she has no fears for the ultimate result. The
force of the rebels at Delhi is said to amount to
30,000 men, 4,000 being encamped outside the town,
whilst Barnard, although victorious in two conflicts,
had only 6,000 disposable troops, and was awaiting
reinforcements to attack the town. She mentions
that all direct communication between Calcutta and
Delhi was broken off, the rebels having cut the
electric wires, so that they were, in fact, ignorant of
what was passing there. She speaks in high terms
of the manner in which Canning is served both by
the military and civil officers, and especially she
mentions Elphinstone's good judgment and active
support, which gives me great pleasure.
Lord Ellenborough has been indulging in unfair
and unseemly attacks upon the Indian Government,
offering absurd advice, and advancing facts without
foundation. He was well answered by Granville.
Malmesbury backed up Ellenborough in these ill-
timed onslaughts, which did not come with a good
grace from the personal friend of the Governor-
General. It is, however, satisfactory to know that
his energy and judgment are duly appreciated by
those best able to judge in India. In consequence
48 LEAVES FROM THE 1857
of the monstrous abuse of the native Indian press, I
am happy to hear it has been placed under a censor-
ship.
The weather for the last month has been enchant-
ing. I never remember any summer to compare in
beauty with the present one.
Dined with the Jerseys. She is certainly, physi-
cally speaking, the most wonderful woman of seventy-
three I ever beheld. Afterwards to the Granvilles,
where Eistori had dined. She was looking superb.
There is an account in the newspapers of the
Atlantic cable or wire having been tested. A mes-
sage went through the coiled cable 2,500 miles in
less than a second ! It is about to be placed in its
bed. This is surely the most wonderful discovery of
our times, and the most inconceivable.
August 10, Hatchford, Monday. I came here to
my mother on Thursday. My sister is gone with
A. to Schwalbach. The European end of the At-
lantic wire was fixed on the shore at Valentia on
Wednesday with great ceremony. Carlisle * was
present, and at a dejeuner which followed made a
pretty speech in which, after expatiating on the uses
of the new link between the two countries, he pro-
posed as a toast, ' The lasting friendship of the
British Islands with America, and the health of the
President of the United States.'
The Italians Tibaldi, Bartolotti, and Grilli, charged
with the attempt to assassinate the Emperor Napoleon,
have been found guilty, the two latter with extenu-
ating circumstances. The first is condemned to
transportation for life, the other two to fifteen years'
1 The Eavl of Carlisle, then Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland.
1857 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 49
imprisonment. The trial created little interest, and
there was no evidence to prove the complicity of
Ledru Eollin ; but, according to the French press,
Mazzini is much suspected of having been concerned
in the plot.
The House of Commons has been occupied nearly
all the week with the Divorce Bill. Gladstone made
a very eloquent speech in favour of an amendment
proposed by Henry Drummond, intended to place
the two sexes on a footing of equality with regard to
the causes of divorce. On a division it was negatived
by 126 to 65.
August 12, Wednesday. The weather continues-
heavenly. The Emperor Napoleon took his depar-
ture from Osborne on Monday. The visit is by way
of being extremely unpolitical, but it is believed that
the opportunity was taken of coming to an under-
standing with our Government on the question of
the union of the Danubian Provinces, which had
assumed rather a disagreeable aspect, the French,
Eussian, Prussian, and Sardinian Embassies having
struck their flags in consequence of the refusal of
the Porte to annul the elections which have lately
taken place. It is supposed that, by the desire of
the Emperor Napoleon, this matter will be referred to
the Conference which is to be reassembled at Paris
for the purpose.
The Committee of the House of Commons to
which John Eussell's proposition relative to the
admission of Jews, and founded on an Act of
William IV., was referred, having reported that the
said Act was inapplicable to parliamentary oaths,
he has withdrawn his Bill in consequence of the
lateness of the session, and has given notice that he
III. E
50 LEAVES FROM THE 1857
will renew his labours in the cause early in the
ensuing session.
A curious trial has just terminated at Dublin,
that of Spollen for the murder of Mr. Little at the
Broadstairs Terminus in November last. For some
time it was supposed that no robbery had been
committed in conjunction with this crime, but later
it was ascertained that this was an error. For many
months no trace of the murderer could be discovered,
until at last a curious incident occurred which threw
light upon the affair. One of the workmen employed
at the station for the last twelve years, and who
bore an excellent character, lived within full view of
Mr. Little's office. Suspicion had fallen upon him
as upon many others in the employ of the company,
but nothing tended to confirm it, until one day the
wife of Spollen came forward and declared her
husband to be the murderer. She described in exact
terms where the plunder had been deposited, and on
searching the place the police found it there. On a
further search a razor was found in an adjoining
canal with the name of Spollen scratched upon it.
A railway hammer was already in the hands of the
police. Spollen was familiar with all the approaches
to Mr. Little's room, and was acquainted with all his
habits and knew that at certain times he had large
sums of money lying on his table. The chief
evidence, on the trial, against the prisoner, was that
of his son and daughter, and in this lay the weakness
of the case for the prosecution, as it was in direct
contradiction with their informations before the
magistrates. However, the facts remained the same
the discovery of the stolen money, and also that
of the razor. The case for the defence was that the
1857 DIARY OF HENRY GREV1LLE 51
whole thing had been got up by the mother, son, and
daughter, in order to touch the reward offered for
the apprehension of the murderer. This idea strikes
me as preposterous, but whether it was entertained
by the jury, or whether they were inspired with
horror by the accusation brought against a husband
by -his wife and children, Spollen was acquitted after
a consultation of three-quarters of an hour. After
the verdict was given Spollen fainted, and on recover-
ing made a speech in which he said, ' I will not
condemn a woman, but it is a terrible thing to be
in the hands of a female tigress.' He thanked the
Court, and then said he should try and retire to some
colony in the hope of eking out a trifling subsistence.
The excitement in court during this scene was very
great.
August 14, Friday. I had a letter from Eistori
to-day, thanking me for some letters of introduction
I had procured for her to various persons at Madrid.
She writes from Liverpool and says, ' L' altra sera
ho fatto Fazio. II pubblico, pareva, venisse d' Italia,
tanto era entusiasta.' l Every audience seems to be
less stupid than that composed of London fashion-
ables.
I see with regret that the Atlantic telegraph has
been injured, and a length of about 300 miles has
been lost for the present.
August 16, Sunday. John Wilson Croker died
the other day in his seventy-fifth year. He had long
been in bad health and had lived in retirement.
He will be chiefly remembered for his battles for
1 ' The other evening I gave Fazio. It would seem that the
audience came from Italy, so enthusiastic were they.'
K 2
52 LEAVES FROM THE 1857
Toryism in the ' Quarterly Eeview.' On the triumph
of Eeform, he retired from the field. His style was
lively and pungent, occasionally scurrilous, and his
articles in the Eeviews were certainly extremely
entertaining.
The Palace of the Louvre, being externally
completed, was inaugurated by the Emperor with
great pomp on the 14th. In the speech which
he delivered, he congratulated the nation on the
political order which had permitted the realisation
of a project which had been contemplated by every
dynasty in France, thereby connecting himself with
the name of the first Napoleon, who had specially
determined to complete the work, as well 'as with
those of the old monarchs of France, an association
he takes care shall not be lost sight of.
August 20, Thursday. I have passed two nights
at St. Anne's, which little place in such weather as
we have had lately and during all this summer is a
little Paradise.
The Divorce Bill, which has been dragging its
slow length along, seems to have advanced many
stages since yesterday. The greater part of the
debate was given to certain pretensions advanced
in favour of the tender consciences of the clergy.
Those priests who consider marriage to be indis-
soluble, and who consequently object to perform the
.ceremony when the parties have been divorced, are
now at liberty to decline doing so, but the House of
Commons has thought fit to confine this inconvenient
scruple :to the person who holds it, and to deprive
it of territorial sway. A clause has been introduced
which provides that whenever the incumbent of a
parish has a scruple on this point, the persons to be
1857 DIAKY OF HENRY GREVILLE 53
married may have the ceremony performed by a
clergyman of their own choice. This clause was
stoutly opposed, but carried by a majority of forty,
the numbers being seventy-three to thirty-three.
This appears to me to be a concession to the clergy
likely to be attended with much inconvenience and,
as the ' Times ' observes, is calculated to introduce
the quicksands of caprice into our strong parlia-
mentary system, and to weaken and invalidate the
decision of the great council of the nation.
August 22, Saturday. Spollen, who was lately
acquitted of the murder of Mr. Little, has been
endeavouring to 'raise the wind' by announcing
that he would give a personal narrative of his trial.
He probably counted upon the sentimentalism and
interest which in these days great and atrocious
criminals excite in the public of this country, but,
if so, he reckoned without his host. Very few
persons attended this disgraceful exhibition, and the
few that were present, and the mob outside the
theatre, treated the whole affair with disgust and
indignation.
The Queen has been cruising off the Channel
Islands and touched at Cherbourg. She was sup-
posed to be incognita, but was nevertheless saluted
by all the guns in the place. She landed and drove
into the country in a char a banes, the harness of
which, being of the most primitive description,
broke, and she was obliged to return to the yacht
on foot. She was recognised and followed by a
great crowd of people, and amused by this little
adventure.
The telegraph via Cagliari brings sad news from
India. The dates are, Calcutta, July 21st ; Madras,
54 LEAVES FROM THE 1857
25th ; Galle, 28th ; and Aden, August 8th. Poor
Barnard 1 had died of dysentery, Lawrence 2 of
wounds received in a sortie from Lucknow. Delhi
was not taken. Cawnpore had been taken by the
rebels, and a dreadful massacre had been committed.
More mutinies in Oude.
A sad budget ! Lawrence was a first-rate man
and is an incalculable loss. Poor Barnard, too, was
doing well.
The Duke of Bedford and Lady Georgiana
Bathurst are here ; the weather continues to be
divine. The nights are exquisite, so hot, and the
air so sweet. Eobert Grosvenor is created Baron
Ebury.
Palmerston made a very good speech a few
nights ago in answer to various enquiries especially
relating to our actual position and reinforcements
in India. He declared that recruiting was progress-
ing prosperously, that after the harvest we might
expect to make good the deficiency created at home
by the demand for troops in India. Government
would raise more regiments of militia if. necessary,
and he added that, if expedient, a small force might
be sent through Egypt ; that screw steamers are not
sent out in greater numbers in order that our coasts
may hot be denuded of their proper defence. As an
excuse for the too great reduction of our forces
immediately after the conclusion of the Eussian War,
he pleaded the compulsion put upon an Executive
amid representative institutions, a disadvantage,
however, compensated for by the extraordinary
support which representative institutions enable a
Minister to rally round him in times of difficulty.
1 Sir Andrew Barnard. 2 Sir Henry Lawrence.
1857 DIARY OF HENRY GREV1LLE 55
This speech was extremely well received by the
House.
A dukedom has for the second time been offered
to Lord Lansdowne and declined.
This is certainly the finest summer I ever re-
member.
August 27, Thursday. George Byng is to stand
for Middlesex and will not be opposed.
The deaths of Barnard and of Sir Henry Lawrence
are confirmed by a telegram, as also is the massacre
of a vast number of people by order of Nana Sahib.
A meeting in the City has taken place to raise sub-
scriptions for the sufferers by the Mutiny ; 20,000
rupees were sent off to the Governor-General by the
mail last night.
August 29, Saturday. Parliament was prorogued
yesterday by Commission, the Queen having started
in the morning for Scotland. The Speech informs
Parliament and the country that no means will be
omitted which are calculated to quell the grave dis-
orders in India, which have filled Her Majesty with
deep concern, as at the same time the conduct of
many civil and military officers, who have been
placed in circumstances of the greatest difficulty,
has excited Her Majesty's warmest admiration.
August 30, Sunday. General Havelock is pursuing
a most brilliant career ; he has three times defeated
the monster Nana Sahib. On the 17th he attacked
him with about 2,000 Europeans at Futtehpore,
captured eleven guns and scattered the enemy in
utter confusion in the neighbourhood of Cawnpore,
and, after a tremendous action, reoccupied that
place. The Nana had retreated on Bithoor, which is
strongly fortified.
56 LEAVES FROM THE 1857
After the victory on the 13th, General Havelock
issued the following Order of the Day to his troops :
' Moveable Column, July 13.
' Brigadier-General Havelock thanks his soldiers
for their arduous exertions yesterday which pro-
duced, in four hours, the strange result of a whole
army driven from a strong position, eleven guns
captured, and their whole force scattered to the
winds, without the loss of a single British soldier. To
what is that astonishing effect to be attributed ? To
the fire of the British artillery, exceeding in rapidity
and precision all that the Brigadier-General has ever
witnessed in his not short career ; to the power of
ihe Enfield rifle in British hands ; to British pluck,
that good quality which has survived the Eevolution
of the hour, and to the blessing of Almighty God
in a most righteous cause, the cause of Justice,
Humanity, Truth, and good Government in India.'
September 1, Tuesday. The elevation of Macaulay
to the Peerage gives universal satisfaction. His
knowledge of India, whenever the Mutiny is crushed
and the future policy of the Indian Empire is con-
sidered, will be of great value to the Government and
to the nation.
The young Lords Balgonie and Hinton, only sons,
have just died in the prime of life. The former had
gone through the Crimean campaign without illness
or casualty, but soon after his return home broke a
blood-vessel, from the effects of which he had never
quite rallied.
September 2, Wednesday. Mrs. Locke writes to
me from Naples that the Prince Eoyal is to marry a
Princess of Bavaria, sister of the Empress of Austria,
1857 DIAKY OF HENRY GREVILLE 57
when it is believed the King will grant a general
amnesty, which will lead to the return of the English
and French missions.
Mr. Monro, 1 a clergyman friend of my sister's,
is here. His wife's brother has been murdered at
Bareilly. The latter was married to a lady whose
brother shared the same fate. She and her children
only escaped from being accidentally absent for
change of air. The atrocities detailed in the news-
papers beggar all description.
September 4, Friday. I saw a letter to-day
from Lady Canning, dated July 20, in which she
says, ' Lucknow holds out bravely, and we have every
hope that General Havelock is in time to relieve it,
but Sir Henry Lawrence is dead ! He was severely
wounded, and very soon died. He was a real hero !
one of the bravest, finest characters I have heard of.
I hope his sons will be provided for as a mark of
gratitude to his memory. He was so magnificent in
his charities that he can have saved nothing. He
gave 1,000/ per annum to the Lawrence Asylum
for Soldiers' Children. What would any one in
England say to such a subscription from a private
individual ? '
Tom Ashburnham writes from Hong-Kong the
following description of the place : ' Hong-Kong is
not half so bad as is represented. The scenery is quite
sublime. All that sea, rocks, mountains, light, and
shade can do is before me. Below me, the harbour
is full of shipping, and besides, all is so new, so
quaint. The same with the birds and butterflies,
and there is a clump of pineapples growing on the
1 Rev. Edward Monro, author of ' Sacred Allegories ' and many
other works. He was a remarkable man in many ways.
58 LEAVES FROM THE
lawn like thistles. My head servant is so like
Aladdin that I always look out for his lamp.'
September 13, Holland House, Sunday. I came
here on the 4th. The Lord Mayor has set on foot a
subscription for the Indian sufferers, which is pro-
gressing very satisfactorily. The Emperor of the
French has sent through Persigny 1,000/. as his
personal subscription, and 400/. contributed by the
Imperial Guard now assembled at the camp at
Chalons, and saying that the English subscriptions
for the relief of the sufferers from the inundations-
in France had not been forgotten.
The newspapers are full of the approaching
meeting of the Emperor of Eussia and the Emperor
Napoleon appointed to take place at Stuttgard.
September Id, Tuesday. By the last account
Havelock had twice signally defeated the monster
Nana Sahib, and burnt Bithoor, which was evacuated T
and he was on his way to.Lucknow to relieve the
garrison.
Lords Lausdowne and Macaulay, Lady William
Eussell and Lady Tankerville, dined here. It -is-
impossible to be more agreeable than Lord Macaulay,
He talked much of India, is inclined to believe that
the Mutiny arises from an original Mahommedan
conspiracy, and that the Hindoos are mere tools in
the hands of the Mussulmans. Nana Sahib had been
reported to have committed suicide, and he thought
it was very probably true. The Hindoos often
put their wives and children to death, and then
destroyed themselves rather than that they should
fall into the hands of their enemies, or of those by
whom they knew they would be degraded from their
caste.
1857 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 59
Speaking of Dickens and Thackeray, he considered
them both men of undoubted genius, but regretted
that Dickens wrote so much and did not lie fallow
for a time, and cease to eternally use fresh combina-
tions of the same material, which reminded him of a
saying of Johnstone's [Johnson's ?], ' When the cow
will give no more milk they try the bull.' He thinks-
Dickens will live with posterity by his ' Pickwick
Papers,' and Thackeray by his ' Vanity Fair.' It was-
remarkable, he said, by how few works very volu-
minous writers are remembered. Cervantes by ' Don
Quixote ' for instance ; Bunyan by ' The Pilgrim's
Progress ; ' Defoe by his ' History of the Plague.' Sir
Edward Lytton is to get 20,000/. for the small edition
of his works ; a prodigious price, if one considers
how highly he has already been paid.
September 16, Wednesday. Delicious weather I
Vernon Smith dined here. He speaks in the highest
terms of Canning and of Elphinstone. The former,
he admits, is ill supported by his council, and his
military secretary is inefficient. He has advised
Canning to leave Calcutta as soon as possible, so as
to get free of his council, and has promised him all
support from home.
I was delighted to hear that by the next mail
honours are to be sent out to Havelock and Neill,
and to the numerous men who have so nobly distin-
guished themselves. He told us of one officer who
was suddenly attacked by his men and scalped, but
by dint of extraordinary nerve and energy he
contrived to get the better of the villains and had
them hung ! and he was sufficiently recovered to-
write himself to Yernon Smith.
He told us also of a poor young cadet of sixteen,
60 LEAVES FROM THE 1857
whom lie had sent out and who was murdered whilst
sitting at mess the very day he arrived at his quarters.
The wretches offered to spare his life if he would
abjure his faith ; he resolutely refused, and they
butchered him. He says it is dreadfully harrowing
to receive, as he does, visits and letters from parents,
wives, and children, asking for authentic details
respecting their belongings, which it is impossible
to give them. There are many children left here by
their parents, for education or health, at various
places, who are of course without remittances and in
the most deplorable state of suspense, from which he
has no means of relieving them.
September 18, Hatchford, Friday. I came here
yesterday. The news from India continues to be
bad. Havelock has been obliged to retreat to
Cawnpore, after having marched thence on Luck-
now, owing to cholera being rife in his small army.
The population in many parts of India is showing
hostility. Elgin has gone to Calcutta, as he is un-
able to do anything in China without a force. 1
September 23, Wednesday. Lady Sydney has
sent me a letter from Lady Canning, written from
Calcutta, in which she expresses great anxiety for the
relief of Lucknow by Havelock.
There is to be a day of humiliation for the Indian
disasters, to be appointed in council at Balmoral.
September 26, Saturday. It is a curious sign of
the times that the Sultan has sent a subscription of
1,100/. for the relief of the Indian sufferers. This
donation has been forwarded to the Lord Mayor,
through Musurus. The meeting of the Emperors of
1 On his own responsibility Lord Elgin diverted the contingent on
its way to China and thereby saved India. Ed.
1857 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 61
Russia and France at Stuttgard occupies the exclusive
attention of the foreign press. Some people believe
that the Emperor Napoleon (apart from personal
motives for wishing for the interview) is desirous of
advocating the general disarmament of the European
Sovereigns, whilst others fancy the 'isolation of
Austria ' to be the object of both Emperors, and the
German press have adopted this view of the case.
I am not disposed to believe this to be correct.
The Duke of Cambridge has been to the camp at
Chalons, and was treated very hospitably by the
Emperor, and shown everything in the greatest detail.
He returned yesterday with his mother, who has
taken advantage of the Emperor's absence to pass
three weeks incognita at Paris.
September 30, London. Havelock is threatened
on all sides at Cawnpore, and no reinforcements
could reach him for a fortnight. It seemed by the
last accounts very doubtful if Lucknow could hold
out, and should it fall, a repetition of the dreadful
tragedy of Cawnpore might be expected! Dis-
affection has reached both the Madras and Bombay
armies. The only good news is that some reinforce-
ments had reached Delhi, and great disunion is sup-
posed to prevail between the Hindoos and Mussulmans.
I met Clarendon at the Travellers', whom I so
seldom see, but, when I do, he is as cordial as when
in former days we lived so constantly together. He
is as free from the pomp and mystery which most
men acquire in high office as he was then. He said
he believed the sympathy of Europe was with us, as
was shown by all the respectable part of the Conti-
nental press, and Buchanan, the President of the
United States, had written to him to say that the
62 LEAVES FROM THE 1857
States from one end to the other were enthusiastic for
our cause in India, as one of humanity and civilisa-
tion, and also for the wonderful heroism displayed
by all parties and both sexes in this most dreadful
business.
October 4, HUUngdon, Sunday. The newspapers
are filled with details of the interview of the two
Emperors at Stuttgard, and they hint that their
Majesties were not very cordial in their manner to
each other, which is attributed to the unexpected
presence of the Empress of Eussia, who at first
declared that, not being well, she should not accom-
pany the Emperor, and in consequence of which the
Empress Eugenie stayed away. It is now insinuated
that when the Empress of Eussia ascertained that the
Empress Eugenie would not be there, she changed
her mind and went to Stuttgard. This may be news-
paper gossip.
The Emperor of Austria was to meet the Emperor
Alexander at Weimar yesterday, which puts an end
to the rumour that the ' isolation of Austria ' was
one of the objects of the meeting at Stuttgard.
Lady Canning writes that nothing can be more
cordial than the relations of Canning and Sir Colin
Campbell, which is a flat contradiction to the rumour
that they were on bad terms one which has been
industriously spread, and of course believed.
Charles Mills l tells me small bodies of troops,
principally Sappers, Miners, and Engineers, are being
sent by the overland route, but by stealth, out of
uniform, and like ordinary passengers. The East
India Company give 21. for a suit of clothes for each
man.
1 Afterwards created Lord Hillingdon.
1857 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 63
Notwithstanding what Palmerston said on the last
day of the Session respecting the transport of troops
through Egypt as being under consideration, and
objected to by no one, it appears that he spoke with-
out authority on a matter not within his province.
Clarendon, whose business it is, declares the political
objections to sending any large force through Egypt
are all but insurmountable, and the material obstacles
so great that (besides the enormous expense of their
conveyance) very little, if any, time would be gained
by the overland route.
October 5, Monday. Lord Fitzwilliam died yester-
day morning at Went worth. The Queen was to
have gone there on her return from Scotland. By
his death, a Garter becomes vacant.
By a letter published in the newspapers from
Mde. Eistori to a Mr. Strauss, her agent in London,
it appears that her success at Madrid, which from
the first was very great, had reached an unprece-
dented height, owing to the following singular cir-
cumstances which she thus recounts :
' A few days ago, a soldier was condemned to be
shot for having attempted to kill a sergeant who had
struck him. The execution was appointed to take
place on the morrow of the day on which we gave
' Medea.' The Queen and all the Court were at the
representation. A deputation of Spanish and Italian
gentlemen came to me, telling me that I alone could
save the life of this unhappy man, and that all the
efforts which they had that day made to induce the
Queen to spare him had been fruitless. I accepted
the mission and after the first act I went to the
Queen's box and threw myself at Her Majesty's feet,
imploring her to spare the wretched criminal. The
64 LEAVES FROM THE 1857
Queen yielded to my prayers, and at once signed the
pardon of the poor man. I leave you to imagine
what an ovation awaited me when I reappeared on
the stage in the second act. During at least twenty-
five minutes it was impossible for me to speak a
word, and the applause was continued throughout
the evening until I reached home. From that day
the receipts have augmented more and more, and
my residence here is one continued /<?fe.'
Whilst the Kistori is thus flourishing in Spain,
her Sister Muse, poor Eachel, is lingering on her
death-bed at Cannes, in a decline.
The last mail took out the rank of Major-General
in the army and that of K.C.B. to Havelock, and
C.B. to several officers. Many people think that his
is such an exceptional case, that he ought at once to
have been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-
General and have been given the Grand Cross of the
Bath.
October 12, Hatchford. I returned here on
Monday. News from India reached London yester-
day of rather a more favourable nature. Havelock
had gained a ninth victory near Bithoor and was
safe at Cawnpore. Lucknow was in no immediate
danger. The rebels had been beaten by Nicholson
before Delhi, in an attempt to interrupt our battery
train, and we had taken fifteen guns.
The King of Prussia is dangerously ill of conges-
tion of the brain.
The weather, after some gales, is again delightful.
October 18, Sunday. The newspapers are full
of Indian letters. One from an officer of the 78th
Highlanders records that, after the attack on Bithoor
on August 19, when Havelock rode up to compliment
1857 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 65
the regiment on its gallantry, they gave him three
cheers, and he called out, ' Don't cheer me ; you have
done it all yourselves.'
The ' Athenseum ' of yesterday says Havelock was
educated at the Charterhouse, and went under the
name of ' Old Phlos.' He was a thoughtful and
meditative boy, and used to stand looking on whilst
others played, which procured for him the name of
Philosopher, subsequently diminished to Phlos, and
occasionally applied as Old Phlos.
Lord Fitzhardinge died last week after a linger-
ing illness. He was a clever man, and notorious for
his profligacy, and his elevation to the peerage and
his subsequent promotion to an earldom were owing
to his vast territorial possessions and his parlia-
mentary influence, rather than to any personal merit.
He has bequeathed his vast property to his next
brother, Frederick, who was likewise illegitimate, but
the peerages, of course, become extinct. His funeral
took place yesterday, and on his coffin was the
following inscription :
WILLIAM FITZHARDINGE, EARL FITZHARDINGE
OF BEBKELEY CASTLE,
CLAIMING AS OF EIGHT TO BE
EABL OF BERKELEY BY DESCENT,
AND BABON DE BEBKELEY BY TENUBE.
Two statues have lately been erected to two
persons of very different merit. One in France to
Mde. de Sevigne at Grignan, in the presence of an
immense multitude of enthusiastic people. The other
in Ireland to Moore on College Green, in Dublin, in
the presence of the Lord-Lieutenant, who made a
speech full of poetical quotations and allusions to the
poet's happiest passages.
III. F
66 LEAVES FROM THE 1857
October 21, Frognal. On coming here yesterday
I found a letter from Edward Sartoris from Paris,
who says -nothing can be worse than the spirit of
the upper classes there respecting our Indian affairs,
which is just what I should have expected.
October 27, Tuesday. The telegraph brings the
news of the fall of Delhi, with great loss on both
sides. Ours is said to be 40 officers and 610 men
killed or wounded. The assault was made on
September 14, and we were not in possession of the
whole city until the 20th. Outram had joined Have-
lock, and they were on the march to Lucknow.
The newspaper of to-day announces the death of
Lady Graham. She was, as Miss Callender (sister
to Mrs. T. Sheridan), one of the great beauties when
I first came into the London world as a very young
boy, and she preserved her looks up to a very recent
time.
In consequence of the inability of the King of
Prussia, owing to mental weakness, to attend to
public affairs, the Prince of Prussia has been ap-
pointed Eegent, ' until His Majesty is able to resume
the government,' which, by all acounts, is not likely
ever to occur, as he has a softening of the brain.
October 29, Thursday. We have got some details
of the capture of Delhi. Wilson, who had the chief
command there, issued an admirable order of the
day, previous to the assault, praising the troops for
the cheerful way in which they had supported their
past toil, and warning them that greater labours
were still to come, which must be borne as cheer-
fully. He feels assured that British pluck and
determination will carry everything before them, and
that the bloodthirsty and murderous mutineers will
1867 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 67
be driven headlong out of their stronghold, or be
exterminated.
A proclamation recently issued by the Governor-
General in Council to all the civil authorities in the
Upper Provinces respecting the treatment of the
mutineers has called forth much controversy, and
even indignation, as tending to hamper the generals
in command, and to disgust the army, as being a
needless interference with their action at a time when
the prestige of our rule so much depends upon the
confidence it inspires in its friends, and the awe with
which it is regarded by its enemies.
Wilson's ' Order of the Day ' is of course favour-
ably contrasted with this proclamation, and the more
so as the latter is supposed to have had for result
the liberation at Cawnpore of 150 prisoners taken by
Neill, by order of Mr. Grant, who, being one of the
members of the Supreme Council, has been sent up
to the disturbed districts, with power, as it is alleged,
to control the generals in command in the execution
of martial law.
The ' Times ' has a strong article against the
proclamation, which concludes thus : ' Each work
has to be performed in its own season ; there is a
time to kill, says the wise man, and a time to heal.
Sir Colin must execute his mission before we can
listen to the philanthropic proposals of Mr. Grant.
When the Duke of Wellington was asked what
martial law meant, he replied, 4 No law at all but
the will of the Commander-in-Chief.' That is the law
which is now wanted for India.
I have so much faith in the wisdom and justice
of Canning, that I am loth to think he is mistaken,
F 2
68 LEAVES FROM THE 1857
and I wait anxiously for further explanation of this
matter.
October 31, Saturday. General Cavaignac died
a few days ago, suddenly, of aneurysm of the heart,
when out shooting at a friend's house at Tours. His
widow immediately brought up his remains by special
train to Paris, and by order of the Emperor (who
was sure not to lose the opportunity of what the
newspapers call generosity to his former rival) they
were interred with great pomp at Montmartre in
the presence of an immense concourse of people.
Cavaignac was the son of a man who figured pro-
minently in the first great French Eevolution, and
was himself a real and fervent republican. He
served during Louis Philippe's reign with signal
success in Africa, and after the Eevolution of 1848
he was made a general and appointed Minister of
War by the Provisional Government, and in the
following June it fell to his lot to crush the famous
Socialist insurrection. For this great service
Cavaignac was confirmed in his position as Chief of
the State, and after the promulgation of the con-
stitution he became a candidate for the Presidency
of the Eepublic, It is probable that the very energy
which he showed in crushing the insurrection in-
duced many to vote against him and in favour of
the present Emperor, who was then unknown and
supposed to be a man of mild and inoffensive dis-
position, who would not hold the reins of power too
tightly, or check the ambition of others. On the
result being known, Cavaignac at once retired into
private life. After the Coup d'etat he was imprisoned
for some short time, from the fear that he might
offer a resistance, which from his popularity in the
1857 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 69
army might be dangerous ; but when the Emperor
found that his attempt had been crowned with com-
plete success, the general was released, and from
that time unto the present year, when, after a close
contest, Cavaignac was elected one of the deputies
for Paris, he has not appeared on the political stage.
I have heard from Mde. de Gontaut, who, owing
to his having married a friend of hers, saw a great
deal of him, that he was frank and honest, and,
although soldierly in appearance, he was remarkably
gentle and attractive in his manner. The ' Times,' in
an article on his funeral, from which I have taken
much of the substance of the above, says : ' If the
Government had visions of disturbance, it was an
idle fear ; a character like that of the dead man does
not symbolise popular riot without an aim, a prin-
ciple, or a chance of success, nor were the friends
who attended him to the tomb likely to excite a
Parisian mob to violence. They are for the most
part disenchanted, disappointed, sorrowing men.
Their lives have been cotemporary with the revolu-
tionary period, and now their grey hairs and their
withered hopes coincide with its close. All that they
are likely to desire is freedom to live in quiet, and
to cherish in each other's society the memories of the
past. Why should not General Cavaignac's funeral
pass through crowded streets, his life be a theme
for journalists, and his qualities a subject of public
eulogy for his friends? He belongs to a past age
and represents feelings that are irrevocably gone.
The throne of a Eoman Cassar had little to fear
though a bust of Brutus should be carried in pro-
cession, or schoolboys should dilate on the virtues
of Cato.'
70 LEAVES FROM THE 1857
November 3, London, Tuesday. I returned to-day
from Frognal. This morning the first attempt was
made to launch the famous steamship, the ' Great
Eastern,' now called the ' Leviathan.' This attempt,
from various causes, some known and some unknown,
entirely failed, and the renewed attempt is deferred
until December. That this first trial should have
failed is not wonderful, when the statistics of the
ship are taken into consideration. The largest
steamer in existence is less than 400 feet in length.
The 'Leviathan' is 680 feet. The principal saloons
form a suite of 400 feet in length ; the burden is
nearly 23,000 tons, nearly five times that of any
other vessel afloat. The nominal horse-power of
the screw engine is 1,600, that of the paddle 1,000
horses. She carries two steam-propelled boats, as
large as a good-sized Thames steamer. She is to
carry 4,000 passengers, and, should it be necessary,
could convey 10,000 troops to India in little more
than a month. Of course (as in all new things) many
people, indeed the majority, believe the speculation
will be a failure ; but it may be some consolation to
reflect that the same thing was foretold of the electric
telegraph, locomotives, and even of the large steamers
now successfully plying.
November 5, Thursday. Yesterday afternoon a
sword was presented by the City of London to the
Duke of Cambridge, with much solemnity, in the
presence of a large concourse of people at Guildhall.
The Duke made a sensible straightforward speech, as
he often does when called upon to do so. Granville
returned thanks for the Ministers' health, and took
the opportunity of defending Canning, whose con-
duct, he said, ' had sometimes been fairly weighed,
1857 DIAKY OF HENRY GREVILLE 71
but at others, he thought, had been assailed with
such wholesale censure and condemnation as it was
almost impossible for any one to have deserved.' He
entered into various matters in which he conceived
Canning to have been misrepresented, and showed
much tact, as he generally does, throughout his
speech, though he did not succeed in removing my
impression, and that of many others, that it would
have been better to proclaim martial law in the dis-
affected provinces, and so prevent the possibility of
any clashing between the civil and military authori-
ties. As, however, martial law was not proclaimed,
it is clear Canning was right to issue his directions
for the treatment of mutineers and prisoners by the
civil authorities, as conveyed by the Order in Council
which has subjected him to so much abuse.
November 7, Saturday. Met Clarendon at the
Travellers' yesterday. He was very droll about the
presents brought to the Queen by the Siamese
Ambassadors. Her Majesty was very curious to
know of what they consisted, and rather surprised on
hearing that amongst them were a cigar case, a spit-
toon (an implement she had never heard of), and a
pair of trousers. The Embassy is to be received in
State at Windsor on Wednesday.
November 10, Tuesday. At the Lord Mayor's
dinner yesterday, Palmerston passed a high eulogium
on Canning, which will go out by this mail, and
produce a good effect in India. It was coldly re-
ceived at the Mansion House.
November 11, Wednesday. The telegram report-
ing the relief of Lucknow, and confirming the fall
of Delhi, reached London to-day. The first was
effected with considerable loss (General Neill was
72 LEAVES FROM THE 1857
killed), and not a moment too soon, for the enemy
had advanced their mines, and were about to blow
up the Eesidency. The second was accomplished on
the 21st with the loss of 1,200 killed and wounded
and 61 officers .
These great casualties occurred almost entirely
on the first day of the assault, September 14.
General Nicholson, a most valuable officer, has died
of his wounds, received on that day. He and Neill
were two of the most distinguished officers of the
Indian army. The King of Delhi, his wife, two sons,
and a grandson, were taken, and the three latter were
shot. The King, being ninety, was spared. Nana
Sahib is supposed to be forming a junction with the
Gwalior rebels, and may still give some trouble.
The conduct of the Lucknow garrison from May
to September has been one of the greatest instances
of heroic endurance of this or any other time.
The Duchesse de Nemours, who was confined
twelve days ago at Claremont, died suddenly yester-
day. It is curious that the Queen of the French
had said to Lady Acton, who told me, and also to
the Queen, how glad she was that the safe accouche-
ment and the well-doing of the mother and child
put an end to the legend which attached to Clare-
mont, that no similar event could occur there with-
out being fatal to one or the other.
November 13, Friday. Owing to the financial
crisis, which is now at its height (the Western Bank
of Scotland and the Great City of Glasgow Bank,
besides other large mercantile houses, having stopped
payment for many millions), a letter has been
addressed to the governor and deputy governor of
the Bank of England by Palmerston and Lewis,
1857 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 73
suggesting an extended issue of notes, which is the
suspension of the Bank Charter Act. They convey
this suggestion in the form of a promise to ask from
Parliament a Bill of Indemnity, and it is accompanied
by the opinion that during the extension the rate of
discount should be maintained at its present height.
The consequence of this move on the part of the
Government is, that Parliament is to meet early
next month.
The news brought by the mails is not so reassur-
ing as we had hoped. Lucknow is still in extreme
jeopardy. The force under Havelock and Outram
is not sufficient to attack the town, which is larger
than Delhi, and with a population of 300,000 souls.
Outram writes that he is unable to do more than
strengthen the Eesidency and to await further rein-
forcements. Wilson has been obliged by ill health
to resign his command to General Pinney.
November 15, Sunday. Last night I had a letter
from Lady Canning, dated October 9. She says :
' I never in my life was so delighted as to know we
had no longer that horrid siege weighing on us, and
still more that Lucknow was safe, and we had no
longer to dread a repetition of the horrors of Cawn-
pore. The relief of Lucknow seemed at the time
hardly possible without a miracle, and certainly it
has been most providentially timed, for mines were
actually found stretching far under, and quite ready
to be loaded and blow up all these poor victims, or
else to threaten to annihilate their defences. The
force was so small that it could only have been
employed for such a desperate service, and it did
its work nobly ; but it is not sufficient to occupy
and take the town, and keep open the road ; and the
74 LEAVES FROM THE 1857
poor garrison cannot get away from that Eesidency
until more troops arrive, and they are going towards
them fast. Generals Havelock and Outram had
never, I think, 4,000 men of all arms, and they lost
a good many. There is a good deal of fighting and
successful pursuing of the Delhi fugitives going on, and
the new arrivals will have work enough. We shall
be very glad for our poor overworked troops to rest.'
General Wilson's despatch detailing the capture of
Delhi is considered an admirable account of the affair.
By a letter from Brackley 1 received yesterday
I heard that a fire had broken out at Worsley in one
of the bedrooms at 4 A.M., and at one time there was
very little hope of saving the house. At nine o'clock
the fire was got under. Most of the attics were
completely gutted and the roof much burnt. The
chief damage, however, arises from the precautions
that were necessary. One of the maids was nearly
burnt. She did not wake till her escape by the
passage was cut off, so she appeared at the window.
Arthur went up a ladder to assist her to descend,
but overcome by the smoke and giddiness was
obliged to come down. The maid showed great
courage, and was eventually rescued by Algy's
servant Peacock. It is supposed the insurance will
cover the damage done. 2
November 16, Monday. The funeral of the
Duchesse de Nemours took place on Saturday. The
1 My eldest brother, then Lord Ellesmere.
2 This account is very accurate on the whole. The maid was
roused with the others, but returned in order to save her property.
My brother Algy's servant had been a sailor and was therefore used
to climbing up ladders, A thick November fog impeded operations
very much. My husband and I were on a visit to my brother at the
time. Ed.
1857 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 75
mass was celebrated at the chapel at Claremont, and
the interment was at Weybridge, where the remains
of Louis Philippe lie buried. The post-mortem ex-
amination showed that no disease of any kind existed.
The only thing that could possibly account for her
death was a little coagulated blood, of the size of
a pin's head, in one of the veins, which may have
stopped the circulation.
A council was held to-day to call Parliament
together.
November 19, Hillingdon, Thursday. Came here
yesterday. C. Mills very uneasy at the monetary
crisis, which he considers to be the most serious of
any that have occurred in his time, and he is of
opinion that the Government had no other course
than to intervene, as it has done, in the case of the
Bank of England. During the week preceding the
intervention, the advances and loans from the Bank
amount to 5,000,000/., a rate of exhaustion which
threatened the complete emptying of the Bank reserve,
unless the establishment were endowed with the
power of calling up fresh resources. Matters are
beginning to mend, but still there is great distress.
In Scotland the panic has subsided.
A melancholy event has occurred this week, the
death of Augustus Stafford, M.P. for Northampton-
shire, which took place at Dublin under circumstances
which caused a coroner's inquest to be held. It was
supposed that his death was -caused by an overdose of
opium administered by a Dr. Griffin of Limerick, where
he was first taken ill. He was opened, and, though
it is possible he may have been treated without much
skill, sufficient natural causes were found to account
for his death. I did not know him, though I have
76 LEAVES FROM THE 1857
often met him in society, of which he was considered
a very agreeable and lively member, and particularly
was considered as a great card in a country house,
having great facilities for acting and writing in
burlesque. But he will be more honourably remem-
bered for his great exertions in the Crimea in favour
of the sick and wounded soldiers, to whom he was
unremitting in his attentions, and where he caught
the fever of the place which, no doubt, hastened
his death.
November 26, Thursday. The reception of the
Siamese Embassy, which had been postponed on
account of the death of the Duchesse de Nemours,
took place at Windsor last Thursday. Abercorn told
me he had never seen anything so ludicrous. They
entered Her Majesty's presence on all fours, and
delivered their harangue in that posture. The Queen
was on the point of bursting into laughter. The
presents, which were more tawdry than valuable, were
displayed in the room where the reception took place,
and the Embassy were regaled with a great banquet
in the Waterloo Gallery, and were delighted.
Lord Spencer, who is obliged to resign on account
of bad health, officiated for the last time, and is suc-
ceeded by St. Germans.
Every one is pleased that Wilson and Havelock
are created baronets. The one Sir Archdale of Delhi,
the other Sir Henry of Lucknow. The East India
Company has granted a pension of 500/. per annum
to the widow of General JSfeill, who, by the Queen's
direction, is to assume the title of Lady Neill, as
though her husband had lived to wear his insignia.
December I, Hinchingbrook. I came here on the
27th, found the Sydneys, Capels, Frederic Cadogans,
1857 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 77
Colonel Knox, Mr. Vane, and Charles. The Man-
chesters joined us to-day, straight from Compiegne,
of which they gave some edifying details, and a
droll anecdote of Marshal Pelissier. The Duchess
of Manchester, Countess Hatzfeldt, Count Kisseleff,
the Eussian Minister, and the Marshal went in the
same carriage to a picnic, and as they passed
through some small town, the populace called out,
' Vive Pelissier ! ' Madame de Hatzfeldt in joke said,
' Ces gens ne sont gueres polis ; ils pourraient au moms
dire, " Vive Monsieur Pelissier ! " ' ' Mais non, Madame,'
said the Marshal, ' est-ce qu'on dirait Monsieur Cesar?'
The inordinate vanity of the speech can only be
equalled by the mal a propos of it.
One of the most flagrant cases of defection from
the ranks of the constitutionalists in France has
occurred in the person of old Dupin, who, besides
having served that cause in high positions, was the
personal friend and the testamentary executor of
Louis Philippe, and has now thought it worth his
while, at 7o years of age, and with 100,000 francs per
annum, and without children, to ' se rallier ' to the
Imperial regime, and to dishonour himself by accept-
ing the place of senator and a high judicial office.
What a people they are !
December 2, London. On arriving in London I
was greatly shocked to hear of the death of Norman
Macdonald. He was perfectly well at Stafford House
at five in the afternoon, and at six he went to Lady
Hope Vere's to see Lady Ely. He said he felt faint,
begged that the window might be opened, fell into a
fit, and never spoke again, and having been removed
to his apartment, he died at ten in the evening. The
awful suddenness of this event is enough to create
78 LEAVES FROM THE 1857
a deep impression, but Norman was an amiable, gay,
and obliging member of society, and particularly
identified with all the amusements of what is vulgarly
called fashionable life, and he will be as much missed
and regretted as any one ever is or can be by a
thoughtless, thankless, and callous world. He
deserves to be regretted, for he was a good and kind
friend, and never lost an opportunity of obliging
those who came in contact with him.
Euston marries Francis Baring's 1 daughter, to the
great satisfaction of all parties concerned.
The Queen is come to town to hold the council
for the Speech.
December 6, Sunday. The opening of Parliament
went off very smoothly. The Speech (which is more
than usually remarkable for its bad grammar) in-
cludes the commercial crisis (which is the cause of
its being prematurely called together), India of
course, and ' measures for amending the representa-
tion of the people.' Portman and Lord Carew moved
the Address in the Lords, and Messrs. Martin and
Akroyd in the Commons. Derby made a rambling
speech with some clever hits, but has often pro-
duced more effect. Ellenborough spoke shortly,
accusing the Government of want of foresight, and
of dilatoriness in sending out troops, and gave
notice that he should enter more fully into the Indian
question next Monday. Granville observed that it
had been said that Canning ought to have foreseen
all that had occurred, but the speech of Lord Ellen-
borough on the 8th of June showed that he, as
well as Lord Canning, and General Hearsay (?)
1 He used to be called " French Francis,' from having lived much
in France.
1857 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 79
thought that these events were at an end when two
regiments had been disbanded. Palmerston took the
opportunity of denying that he had any intention of
saying anything disrespectful to the French Govern-
ment in his Mansion House speech ; on the contrary,
he felt nothing but gratitude at the handsome manner
in which the Government of the Emperor had offered
every facility for the transportation of our troops
through France.
It is thought that Parliament will be up on
the 20th.
I heard yesterday with great regret of the hopeless
state of the Dowager Lady Morley. She will be a real
loss to her friends, and to society, of which she was
certainly one of, if not the, most brilliant ornaments.
She was endowed with rare intelligence, and a wit
always free from malignity, and though full of
buoyant spirits, and delighting in fun and gaiety,
she had a heart full of sympathy for those who were
in affliction. I should imagine she never could have
made an enemy in her life. There is no one in
society who can at all fill the void she will have left.
December 5, Tuesday. One of the deepest orange
fogs I have seen for years. Lord Ellenborough made
his motion last night for a copy of the Arms Bill
lately passed by the Legislative Council in India, and
for a return of the licensed native and European news-
papers of India. He spoke, as he always does, with
great eloquence and fluency, but in his arguments
and course of reasoning often contradicted himself,
and Granville had the best of it in his reply. The
speech of the night was Grey's. He cordially agreed
with the impartial policy of the Arms Act, which had
been resorted to to prevent a trade which would have
80 LEAVES FROM THE
been carried on by the natives in India, for the days
of our empire there would be numbered if ever its
vast population should know that our rule was incon-
sistent with their interests. This speech was most
statesmanlike, and quite free from all the defects
which have sometimes marred the effect of some of
Grey's former speeches.
Lady Morley expired on Sunday night.
December 9, Wednesday. Last night, Palmerston
moved a resolution granting Sir Henry Havelock
a pension of 1,000. per annum. Several members
threw out the suggestion that the grant should be
extended to his son, and considering Sir Fenwick
Williams got the same pension for losing Kars, and
Lord Gough 2,000/. per annum for two successive
lives, and that Sir Henry Havelock is sixty-two, this
suggestion should decidedly be adopted.
Dined at the Flahaults' ; met Lord Lansdowne,
Ashburton, Ladies Tankerville and William Eussell,
and M. Delessert, to whom T sat next. He gave me
an interesting account of the part he was obliged to
take as PreTet de Police on the occasion of the murder
of the Duchesse de Praslin. He was summoned
to the house almost immediate!} 7 - on the discovery of
the crime, and he said that, of the many dreadful
scenes it had been his misfortune to witness, no one
ever equalled the horrible spectacle of the bedroom
which had been the scene of the crime. It was evi-
dent, by the state of Madame de Praslin's body, that
a violent resistance had been made and every possible
attempt at escape. Delessert, on first seeing the
Due de Praslin, was at once convinced of his guilt,
as was the Procureur General. He affected great
horror at the event ; and on its being ascertained
1857 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 81
that no attempt at robbery had been made, he said
to Delessert, ' Alors, M. le Prefet, 1'affaire prend un
aspect des plus graves.' He soon perceived by the
manner both of M. Delessert and of the Procureur
General that they were convinced of his guilt, and
he was seen to proceed to his bureau, from which
it is believed he took some arsenic pills, with
which he poisoned himself; for on his way to the
Conciergerie he was taken very ill, and got gradually
worse until he died. Delessert treated as perfectly
absurd the popular belief that he was still alive,
which Lady Tankerville evidently believed, and
which Delessert admitted was credited by some of
the lower orders in France. He had not seen his
corpse (as in capacity of Prefet he ought to have
done) by an accident ; but those in whom he placed
perfect confidence had done so, and he had had
every official detail of his death and funeral. A
belief in the existence of great criminals after their
public execution has often been entertained, as, for
instance, in the case of Dr. Dodd ; so that there is
nothing very extraordinary in such credulity with
regard to the Due de Praslin, who died in prison
under such extraordinary circumstances, and when
it might be suspected that the authorities would be
willing to spare the life of a criminal of such
high estate. The chief ground for this belief is that
the brother, and I believe the mother, of the Due
de Praslin make an annual journey to Scotland,
where it is supposed he is living under a feigned
name.
Lord Lansdowne spoke in high terms of Grey's
speech on Monday ; he generally found much to
admire, but at the same time much to object to in his
in o
82 LEAVES FEOM THE 1857
speeches, but he said the one in question was that of
a real statesman.
December 14, Monday. Havelock's pension is
continued to his son.
Brunnow is to succeed Creptowitch here, an ap-
pointment which will not be popular.
December 20, Hatcliford. Parliament adjourns
on Saturday until February 4. A remarkable memo-
rial has been presented to Palmerston, containing
the proposal of not only an educational franchise,
but of an educational constituency, separate from
other constituencies, though spread all over England.
Certain members of incorporated and registered
professions, clerical, legal, medical, artistical, and
learned, to form a new constituency, to be divided
by topographical not professional bounds. All the
professional freemen to vote for a member in each
of the districts. It is proposed thus to add seventy
members to the House, and not the least part of the
proposal is that it suggests prospectively the revival
of the scot and lot voting in order to a proper
representation of the mechanic and artisan. Eminent
men of all parties and almost all professions have
affixed their signatures to this memorial ; amongst
them are the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Chief
Justice, and the last two Speakers of the House of
Commons, also Shaftesbury and others.
Land in Ireland is still increasing in value. The
remainder of the Locke estate in Kerry, of which I
am a trustee, and part of which was sold a year ago
most advantageously, was put up to auction last
week. The highest value put upon the estate was
66,000^., or about twenty-four years' purchase, and
the price realised was 88,000^., or 22,OOOZ. above the
1857 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 83
highest, or 24.000/. above the general value of the
O 7 O
property. It is curious that at each sale 24,000/.
was realised above the price expected.
December 22, Tuesday. Palmerston has an-
nounced to the Chairman of the East India Company
that their doom is sealed, and a Bill is to be brought
into Parliament to bring India under the direct con-
trol of the Queen's Government. It is said there is
to be a Secretary of State for India, with a Council
which is to be invested with all the patronage.
Harrowby has resigned, owing to bad health, and
Palmerston has offered the Privy Seal to Clanricarde,
which, considering all that passed two years ago, is
rather a bold measure.
The long vexed question of the Hanover jewels
has been decided against the claim of Queen Victoria
by the Commission appointed to enquire into the
matter. Lord Wensleydale, who was one of the
judges, told Charles he thought the case was perfectly
clear, and ought to have been settled long ago. It
probably would have been had not Chief Justice
Tyndall died just as the judgment was about to be
delivered.
December 23, Wednesday. The relief of Lucknow
after six days' hard fighting is announced by telegraph
in the ' Globe ' of this evening.
Christmas Day. The most lovely day for the
season I ever saw. We have as yet had no frost at
all.
December 29, Tuesday. Algy Egerton brought
the news last night of the almost sudden death of
Lord Spencer at Althorp on Sunday. He was an
excellent man, with a kind heart, though somewhat
abrupt in manner. It is curious that the owners of
84 LEAVES FROM THE 1857
those two palaces 1 should have died within a twelve-
month of each other in the prime of life.
December 31, Thursday. Here ends a year
especially marked by death, disasters, and afflictions,
both public and private. It is closed by a glorious
day ; let us hope an omen of a brighter year to
come.
1858
January 7, Bowood, Thursday. I went to town
on Saturday from Hatchford, and came here on
Tuesday. The first wintry day we have had, and
piercingly cold. I found the Flahaults, who went
next morning, Granvilles, Jem Howard, and Lady
Louisa, Lady Mary Fitzmaurice, Alexander Gordon,
and Lacaita. More people were to have been here,
but Lord Lansdowne put them off on account of Lord
Hchester's death.
Yesterday, telegrams from Milan and from
Cannes announced the deaths of Marshal Radetzky
at the former place, aged ninety-two, and of Mdlle.
Rachel at the latter, in her thirty-seventh year, of
decline. The first had run his career that of a
zealous and devoted servant of his country, to whom
Austria owes the preservation of her rule of Lom-
bardy. Mdlle. Rachel is cut off in the prime of life
and in the very fulness of her talent, and she leaves no
one on the French stage capable of filling her place.
This morning, at breakfast, the Indian telegraph
was handed to Granville, bringing the sad news of
the death of Havelock from dysentery on November 25,
brought on by exposure and great anxiety of mind,
1 Bridgewater House and Spencer House.
1858 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 85
This is a real national loss, to be added to the long
list of heroes who have perished in this disastrous
war. Lord Lansdowne said he could not recollect
any career of any military man in ancient or modern
history which, in the same short space of time, had
been so brilliant, or had been attended by greater
results. Whilst the House of Commons was discussing
the continuance of Havelock's pension to his son,
the father was already in his glorious grave.
The telegraph also tells us of Windham's defeat
by the Gwalior Contingent, and of Sir Colin Campbell's
subsequent brilliant victory over them, inflicting
immense loss, and sustaining but few casualties.
The Lucknow women and children had reached Alla-
habad in safety.
I walked all about this place with Lord Lansdowne
and Mr. Lacaita, which, if not one of the finest, is
certainly one of the most enjoyable. Lord Lansdowne
is wonderful for his age, walking (although apparently
with a feeble gait), but without fatigue, up and down
steep hills for two hours at a time, whilst talking
agreeably all the time on various subjects. Few
men will have left such a monument of their taste
and industry as Lord Lansdowne in Bowood. On
succeeding to his property, he found it a dilapidated
empty house, so destitute of furniture and the common
comforts of life, that on coming here for the first
time, he was obliged to borrow furniture from a
neighbouring farmhouse. He will leave it filled with
all that is valuable or refined in art : books, statues,
chosen and purchased by himself with excellent
judgment. Besides which the house is replete
with every kind of luxury and comfort, and there
is no establishment which strikes me as so well
86 LEAVES FROM THE 1858
conducted, with so much generosity and so little
ostentation. I asked Lord Lansdowne if there was
any catalogue of his pictures and effects, and he said
he had often intended to make one with a short
history of each picture, and how it had been acquired,,
but that, Mrs. Jamieson having come here when
engaged on her work on private picture galleries,,
he had answered all her questions, and as she had
availed herself of the information, he thought he
might save himself any further trouble. Lacaita
(who is full of all sorts of knowledge) regretted that
it had not occurred to him to propose to Lord
Lansdowne to employ the time he has spent here in
beginning this work.
January 9, London, Saturday. I returned here
to-day. The newspapers, as might be expected, are
filled with biographies and eulogiums on poor
Havelock, and all my private letters teem with
expressions of regret for the great loss, and speak
of it as though it were a domestic sorrow. As he
had already passed from amongst us at the time that
the patent for his baronetcy was made out, a new
arrangement must be come to, and it is to be hoped
the Government will take the opportunity of providing
for his widow as well as for his son.
The Queen has kindly granted a pension of 200/..
per annum to Mrs. Anson out of her privy purse.
A sad event has happened in the death of Mrs,
Arthur Bentinck on the ninth day of her confinement
of a boy. 1 Arthur B. was ordered to India two months'
ago, and he will hear of both events at once.
Mrs. Locke writes to me from Naples, that at
1 The present Duke of Portland.
1858 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 87
the lowest computation 15,000 people have perished
in the late earthquake in the Neapolitan dominions.
Several shocks had occurred since, and an eruption
of Vesuvius was looked for with anxiety as a safety-
valve.
I had a charming letter from Ristori yesterday
from Paris, where she is reposing after her triumphs
in Spain, where her success was prodigious. She
gives me a short account of the affair of the condemned
soldier whose pardon she obtained, and sends me
a newspaper published at Florence, containing a long
and genuine report of the whole story, written, as
Lacaita tells me he feels sure, by one Balboni, an
old friend of hers, who, when Eistori first went on
the stage, was of great assistance to her, and who
is now enjoying a comfortable competency from her
generosity, and is always treated by her with the
affection of a daughter. Eistori alludes to the death
of Mdlle. Eachel in the following terms :
' leri ho passato una bruttissima giornata, a causa
della morte di Eachel. Non vedo in lei la Donna,
ma una grande intelligenza che si perde, e che, come
Talma, non sark cosi facilmente sostituita. Sono
talenti che non appariscono due volte nello stesso
secolo. Oh ! la Francia ha fatto una perdita incal-
colabile.' l
Eachel (who was not converted to Christianity,
as has been asserted) was embalmed at Cannes, and
her body transported to Paris, where the Jews mean
1 Which might be translated thus : ' Yesterday I passed a most
miserable day in consequence of the death of Eachel. I cannot see in
her the Woman, but a magnificent genius which is lost to us, and
who like Talma will not be easily replaced. These are talents which
do not appear twice in the same century. Ah ! France has sustained
an incalculable loss.' Ed.
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to inter her with great pomp. She is said to have
left a large sum of money to her son by Walewski.
January 12, Tuesday. Eachel's funeral, which
was conducted with great pomp after the Jewish
ceremonial, was attended by all the literary and
dramatic celebrities of France, and followed by an
immense concourse of people. The chief mourners
were her father and brother, and her two sons.
Jules Janin pronounced an oration over her tomb.
After the conclusion of the ceremony the crowd
dispersed without disturbance. Troops of cavalry
were on duty to keep the ground and to preserve
order.
January 14, Hatchford, Thursday. This has
been the most gloriously fine day I ever saw in
England at this season. My mother gathered some
jonquils and roses in full bloom in the garden.
Yesterday the Overland Mail brought the Indian
official despatches, and on my way here I read
Colonel Inglis's sublime account of the siege of
Lucknow, and its relief on September 25. It
is impossible to conceive a more harrowing tale
more simply or more beautifully told, and I was
never more affected by any narrative. The incom-
parable heroism of the garrison is only equalled by
their sublime endurance of every possible moral and
material suffering, of which I doubt if history can
produce the parallel. Canning's ' Order of the Day '
upon this subject is remarkably well written. There
is also a most interesting despatch from Sir Colin
Campbell, giving the details of his proceedings when
marching and fighting his way to relieve the be-
leaguered garrison, and of his subsequent meeting
with Sir James Outram and General Havelock, who
1858 DIARY OF HENRY GREYILLE 80
died but a few days afterwards at Altimbagh. Sir
Colin appears to be at loss for terms strong enough
with which to eulogise officers and men of all ranks
and grades. He speaks of Captain Peel as having
performed ' feats unexampled in war.' It is melan-
choly to think that, according to Colonel Inglis's
account, Sir Henry Lawrence appears to have lost
his valuable life by his own imprudence, and in spite
of the entreaties of his friends and comrades ; a shell
having burst one day in the room where the other
officers were sitting, in the Eesidency at Lucknow,
he was urged to quit the apartment for fear of the
same thing happening again ; but he disregarded the
advice. The very next day a second shell fell, burst,
and wounded him mortally, and he died in great
agony on July 4. Inglis speaks of him as a great
and good man, whose loss every one in the Eesidency
deplored, and felt as a personal calamity.
January 15, Friday. A telegram brings the
news of an attempt having been made on the life of
the Emperor Napoleon last night when proceeding
to the Opera, by means of some explosive machine.
The Empress accompanied him. They both escaped
without injury, but some of the escort were wounded
and one of the carriage horses was killed.
January 16, Saturday. A letter from (Lord)
Holland received this morning states that the
Emperor showed great presence of mind, and was
enthusiastically cheered on his return home, and the
boulevards were really spontaneously illuminated.
The Empress was scratched by an eclat of broken
glass, and a part of the shell went through the
Emperor's hat. Five persons are said to be killed
and forty or fifty wounded. It would appear that a
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large hand-grenade was hurled at the carriage just
as it stopped at the peristyle of the theatre, which
was quickly succeeded by two others, which fell on
the roof of the carriage. It is reported that a man
named Pietri was arrested near the opera house with
hand-grenades and a poniard in his possession,
together with some other Italians belonging to a
well-known sect of assassins. This monstrous at-
tempt can only have the effect of strengthening the
Emperor's government.
I rejoice to see that the Victoria Cross has been
sent to young Havelock, and that an order of the
Commander-in-Chief raises Colonel Inglis to the rank
of Major-General. 'Bis dat qui cito dat.'
There is a most touching letter from Mrs. Banks,
in the 'Times,' the wife of Major Banks, whom
Lawrence on his death-bed appointed to succeed
him, and who was soon afterwards shot. She gives a
short account of what they had gone through during
that dreadful siege, and she writes in a tone of the
most admirable and exemplary resignation.
January 19, Tuesday. Heard this morning of
the sudden death of the Duke of Devonshire, which
took place on Monday last at Hardwicke. He had
been more than usually well of late, and on that
account had remained at Hardwicke instead of going
to Brighton. On going to bed on Sunday night, he
complained of a slight pain at the back of his head,
which the doctor thought was merely muscular, and
he gave him a sleeping-draught. An hour later he
went to the Duke's room, found him composed, and
remained with him till he went to sleep, and for three
hours sat by his bedside, when he was relieved by
his usual night-attendant. During the night he was-
1858 DIARY OF HENRY GREYILLE 91
only heard to cough once, and at seven in the morn-
ing, when the servant went to his bedside, he found
him dead, a vessel at the back of the head having
probably burst. He will be a great loss to many, for y
with many faults and weaknesses, he had some great
and sterling qualities. The former were engendered
by the circumstances of his birth and position, and
were increased and fostered by the adulation of his
family and the world. The latter sprang from a
naturally kind heart, which prompted him to do
generous acts without ostentation. He was remark-
ably shrewd and observant, and but for his infirmity
(deafness), he would probably have played a more
conspicuous part in the political world, and whenever
he was called upon to come forward in any public
capacity, he always acquitted himself with ability.
Both in conversation and in writing he was humorous y
and had a mode of expression peculiar to himself.
At one time of my life I lived in habits of great
intimacy with him, and received many acts of kind-
ness, but of late years, from circumstances over
which we had no control, and from some little caprice
which was one of his failings, I had seen less of him ;
but this did not, I am sure, on either side lessen our
mutual regard. No man was more looked up to by
his own adherents and his family, and few men in
the same position will have left a more kindly recol-
lection.
Addresses from the constituted bodies of the
State have been presented to the Emperor congratu-
lating him upon his late escape. The speeches of
Troplong, the President of the Senate, and of Morny,
the President of the Corps Legislatif, allude in strong-
terms to the refuge given in England to these
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assassins and disturbers of the peace in France, and
express their surprise that we do not find some means
of expelling them from Europe. In reply to this
somewhat indiscreet language (with which, it is said,
the Emperor was much annoyed and embarrassed),
the ' Times ' writes an excellent article, full of dignity
and moderation, but saying that such language is
not well calculated to facilitate any measures to
which we might be disposed to have recourse, in
order to meet their wishes. I am told that in Paris
no abuse is too strong for England, and that in the
cafes the attentat is openly ascribed to Palmerston
and le perf.de Albion. What inconceivable rubbish !
January 20, London. I came here to-day. The
Emperor Napoleon, on opening the legislative session
the other day, made a long and clever speech,
proclaiming in the first instance the extraordinary
prosperity of the country, and his faith in the duration
of the Empire and of his dynasty ; his conviction that
such attempts as the one that had lately taken place
would only strengthen them ; because, if he fell by
the hand of an assassin, the country and the army
would stand by his son. He announced that, though
his wish was to govern with moderation, further
measures of repression would be necessary, and that
he counted upon the support and devotion of the
legislative bodies. He was, of course, hailed with en-
thusiasm.
There is an Order of the Day of Marshal Magnan,
commending the lancer who, on the evening of the
attentat, although mortally wounded, sat on his horse,
and remained at his post until he dropped down
dead.
January 21, Thursday. The town is swarming
1858 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 93
with German princes. There are five or six Prussians,
the Saxe-Coburgs, a Prince of Baden, and the King
of the Belgians with his two sons. The Queen took
them in sixteen carriages to the old Opera House,
where the tragedy of ' Macbeth ' was drawled out by
some third-rate actors, and last night gave a ball to
which I was invited, but did not go. It was less
crowded than usual, and I am told that every one
was greatly pleased with the graceful manners of the
Princess Eoyal. It is curious that the only person
connected with the approaching ceremony who is
absent is the bridegroom. He is to arrive on
Saturday.
January 23, Saturday. Met at dinner yesterday,
at the Flahaults', M. et Mde. de Cadore, and M. and
Mde. de Labedoyere, the former very pretty ; the
latter, who is Dame du Palais to the Empress, told
me that her mistress had presented to the Princess
Eoyal, as cadeau de noces, the finest Gobelin tapis-
serie de salon, and a magnificent garniture of point
d'Alenqon.
The Prince Frederick William of Prussia arrived
to-day. The weather is very propitious.
January 25, Monday. The marriage ceremony
of the Princess Eoyal went off remarkably well to-
day. The weather, though foggy in the early morn-
ing, became brilliantly fine by eleven o'clock.
I went by order to St. James's Palace at eleven.
At twelve the Princess of Prussia, and the other
Prussian princes, passed through the throne room
and proceeded to the chapel. The Princess was
admirably dressed, and has a very grand but civil
manner.
Soon after the Queen reached the palace in great
94 LEAVES FROM THE 1858
state, amidst tremendous cheering from a dense
crowd, which filled not only all the avenues, but
even the trees of the Mall. Her procession being
formed, we started, preceded by drums, trumpets,
and heralds, and marched with great solemnity
through the presence chamber, Queen Anne's room,
tapestry room, and armoury, all of which were
filled from floor to ceiling with ladies in full dress,
which had a very good effect. I walked behind the
Lord Chancellor, on the side of ' Garter,' and before
the Earl Marshal, who was immediately followed by
Princess Mary, who, for the occasion, had put on
a very royal manner, and, covered with the poor
Duchess of Gloster's diamonds, and beautifully
dressed, looked superb. After her came the other
princesses, their trains borne by their respective
ladies. Then came the Queen, with her usual state,
leading the two little Princes Arthur and Leopold,
and followed by the Princesses Alice, Helena, and
Louise. In the corridor below arid in the flag
court an amphitheatre of seats was erected, which
was filled with ladies in morning dress, and which
most of the smart people of society preferred occupy-
ing rather than those in the interior of the palace.
On arriving at the chapel, the Queen was conducted
to a chair of state, Palmerston standing by her side
bearing the sword of state.
The bridegroom's procession then entered, ushered
in with delightful pomp by Sir A. Gust, who was
like the Lord Chamberlain of a King Busty Fusty
in a pantomime. Prince Frederick William was
supported by his father and another prince, instead
of the Grand Duke of Baden, who, with the Duke
of Saxe-Coburp-, was prevented attending by the
1858 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 95
death of his brother-in-law, the Grand Duke of
Baden. Lastly the bride was ushered in, escorted
by her father and the King of the Belgians, her train
borne by eight pretty girls, all dressed alike. Her
demeanour was calm, modest, graceful, and dignified.
At the end of the ceremony, she kissed her parents
and her new relations, and the Queen kissed her
son-in-law. The married couple then left the chapel,
and the Queen's procession was reformed, and re-
turned in the same order. The Eoyal Family and
the great officers of State proceeded to the throne
room for the registry, and it was my especial duty
to prevent the different suites and others from going
into the room. This being concluded, the Eoyal
parties returned to the palace in thirty-six carriages,
and breakfasted together, the suites being conducted
to another apartment. All the French Eoyal Family
were invited to the breakfast, which was very right.
The Queen seemed very much moved during the
ceremony, but commanded herself admirably. The
whole affair was well managed and there was no
hitch. The chapel is small, dark, and ugly, but
everything was done to make the best of it. There
was room for everybody, and what with the blaze of
jewels, of coloured uniforms and good-looking people,
and the occasion for which they were assembled, the
spectacle was imposing, and I am glad to have seen
it. The cheering was prodigious as the cortege
returned to Buckingham Palace, and equally hearty
when the bride and bridegroom left it for the Pad-
dington station. The Eton boys telegraphed to ask
if they might be allowed to draw the married couple
from the Windsor station to the Castle, and, per-
mission being given, a certain number harnessed
96 LEAVES FROM THE 1858
themselves to the carriage and drew them in triumph,
the remainder surrounding the vehicle, and cheering
as only Eton boys can cheer.
January 26, Tuesday. I went last night with the
Flahaults to the state concert at Buckingham Palace.
It took place in the new ball-room. An immense
orchestra was erected, and some dull German music
performed, besides a cantata written for the occasion
by Costa. The Queen and her guests sat in a circle
in front of the singers, and in spite of the hideous
decoration of the room, the coup d'ceil was hand-
some. There was great mismanagement about the
carriages, and I did not get home till three o'clock.
There was a general illumination, and the crowds
are said to have been greater than on any former
occasion, and all in the best humour. The Queen
has certainly every reason to be gratified by the
very marked and hearty sympathy evinced towards
her by her subjects of all classes throughout the
country.
Charles Phipps was gazetted on Saturday a C.B.
of the Civil Order of the Bath, and unfortunately for
him his appointment appeared in company with that
of several of the Indian heroes, which called forth a
most savage article upon him in the ' Times ' to-day.
There could be no objection to this mark of the
Royal favour being conferred upon him after twenty
years' services at Court, but it was very injudicious
to couple his name with that of men who had done
such glorious deeds, and odious and unmerited com-
parisons were sure to be made.
I received to-day from Madame Eistori a charm-
ing statuette of herself in the character of Mirra.
January 30, Saturday. The Queen went in state
1858 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 97
last night to the theatre with the young couple, and
to-day held her congratulatory Drawing-room. It
was immensely full, and would have been very pretty
but for the wet and gloomy weather. The Princess
stood by the Queen, and appeared entirely at her
ease in her novel position. Previously to the Draw-
ing-room she, with the Prince, received an address
from the City of London, and the reply she made (I
know not by whom written) was so very prettily
expressed, and, as I am told, so well delivered, that
I copy it here :
' My Lord Mayor, Your very kind address calls
for my warmest acknowledgments. I especially
thank you for alluding to the heavy debt of gratitude
I owe to my Eoyal parents. To show myself at all
times worthy of their past tender solicitude, and to
emulate their example, will, through life, be the
object of my ambition. It cannot but afford me the
greatest satisfaction to find in the sentiments ex-
pressed by you an additional and important proof
that an alliance formed with a view to my happiness,
and in accordance with the choice of my heart, meets
with the joyous approbation of my beloved country,
to which I shall ever remain faithfully and devotedly
attached. While I confidently follow my beloved
husband to a distant country, where the esteem and
love which he so deservedly enjoys will be a security
for my kind and cordial reception, your assurance
that you will sometimes think of me when departed
will lessen the pangs of separation.'
I was much surprised to hear to-day of Tom
Ashburnham's arrival from India, and fear it will
give rise to disagreeable comments.
February J, Monday. The question of the ex-
III. H
98 LEAVES FROM THE 1858
pulsion of refugees from this country has been the
subject of much and rather angry discussion by the
press of France and of this country during the last
week, and considering the language held by the
former, and also a speech delivered by M. de
Persigny, full of ignorance and impertinence, in
reply to a congratulatory address from the City of
London on the Emperor's escape from the late
attempt on his life, and considering also the
publication in the ' Moniteur ' of the addresses from
certain colonels of the French army, holding offen-
sive and menacing language towards this country,
I must say I think the articles in the papers here,
and particularly in the ' Times,' have been fair and
moderate. Despotism in France appears to have
availed itself of the opportunity of the attentat to
run riot, and measures of extraordinary repression
are now being enacted by the French Government.
I hear to-day from Lady Holland that great con-
sternation prevails in all classes, although there has
been some modification of the laws as at first proposed.
So violent were they in their original form that the
Conseil d'Stat was divided on them, the majority
being thirty-one to twenty-eight ; four Ministers
having voted who had no right to do so. They
placed all those who since 1848 were condemned to
exile under the surveillance of the haute police, and
if in their salons they talked against the Government,
they were to be ' internes ' and if they escaped were
liable on recapture to be sent to Algeria or Cayenne.
Thiers and eighteen others fell under this liability,
and nothing was to be heard but ' C'est la Terreur,
c'est la Convention,' and the effect has been very bad
1858 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 99
and the moderate men or the present regime dis-
approve the measures entirely.
It is supposed that our Government is about to
propose to Parliament a Bill which will declare it
to be felony to conspire against the life of a foreign
sovereign, as well as against our own. This may be
a wise enactment, but it will not answer the purpose,
and is sure to be very unpopular, because it will
have the effect of being, and will be, done at the
instigation of a foreign Power.
February 2, Tuesday. This morning the Princess
Eoyal and her husband departed in the midst of a
violent snow-storm, making a progress through the
City to the Bricklayers' Arms, and thence by
rail to Gravesend to embark. The severe weather
did not prevent immense crowds from assembling
throughout the whole length of the route, who
greeted the Eoyal pair with the most enthusiastic
cheers. The parting at Buckingham Palace was a
very lugubrious affair. Lady Desart, who was
present, said she never saw the Queen break down
before, and that the whole household, attendants
and servants, were absolutely drowned in tears.
They were to arrive at Brussels to-morrow.
February <5, Panshanger, Friday. I came here
yesterday with Lady Sydney. Parliament met on
Thursday. Derby attacked the Government for
their silence on the first meeting of Parliament
after momentous events, and in alluding to the
supposed intention of Government to alter the
Alien Bill, he declared that not for the safety of
the sovereign of France, nor of all the sovereigns
of Europe, twenty times over, would he consent to
H 2
100 LEAVES FROM THE 1858
violate or retrench the asylum given to foreigners,
which sentiment was loudly cheered by the Peers.
Brougham and Campbell stated their opinions as
to what Ministers might and might not do to change
our criminal law, on foreign requisition.
The Emperor Napoleon has altered the Eegency
law, and has appointed the Empress Eegent, with a
Council composed of his immediate personal adherents ;
Prince Jerome is to be President of the Council in
the Emperor's absence.
A sort of apology, or rather an explanation, has
been offered respecting the addresses of the Colonels
of the army, before alluded to, viz. that they had
not appeared in the official part of the ' Moniteur,'
which of course amounts to nothing.
February 6, Saturday. Sydney, who is accom-
panying Prince and Princess Frederick William,
writes to Lady Sydney that the latter gains all
hearts, and that nothing can be more perfect than
her demeanour at all the fetes and receptions on
her route to Berlin.
February <9, London. I returned to-day. Dined
with Flahault. Grey came from the House of Lords,
where (as in the Commons) a vote of thanks to the
Indian Civil and Military Government had been
proposed. Derby and Disraeli both opposed the
association of Canning's name with those of the
military and naval officers, on the ground that there
were considerations which made it questionable
whether it were entitled to the honour of such an
award. Derby made an odious speech with a vein
of ' candour ' running through it, which made it more
offensive. He was answered remarkably well by
Argyll, who disproved the charges brought against
1858 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 101
Canning, to the entire satisfaction of the House.
There was no division in either House. There are
those who think that it would have been better to
postpone the vote of thanks ; that the policy of
Canning may have been right or wrong, but that it
is difficult for the most impartial man to pronounce
yet upon the various matters on which he has been
assailed. I am rather inclined to share this opinion.
In the House of Commons they were rather taken
by surprise at the civil government being included
in the vote of thanks, Palmerston having limited his
notice to the ' Thanks to the Army and Navy.' He,
however, insisted that he had followed the usual
practice, and the Speaker held that there had been
no irregularity. This was rather unfortunate and
displeased the House, and, all things considered, I
think it was imprudent to ask for a vote of approbation
of a policy which is still in progress, and on which
no fair judgment can yet be formed. The resolution
was passed, but with the proviso that it was not to
preclude the House from censuring hereafter, if they
thought fit, the government of the man whose
merits they were now called upon to recognise-
thus reducing the compliment to a matter of
form.
Previously to this discussion a question was
asked by Mr. Warren respecting the return from
India of Tom Ashburnham, which Palmerston
answered by justifying the act, and subsequently
General Peel read a statement put into his hands by
Tom Ashburnham, which the House received very
well. The mistake he appears to have committed
was not waiting until he could hear from Eng-
land whether the Commander-in-chief approved his
102 LEAVES FROM THE 1858
leaving India and which he admitted in the state-
ment.
After the discussion on the vote of thanks,
Palmerston introduced the Bill for amending the
Law relating to Conspiracy for the Commission of
Murder. On examining the state of the law, it
appeared that conspiracy to commit murder is
treated as a misdemeanour only, whilst in Ireland it
is a capital offence. Palmerston therefore proposed
to make the law uniform throughout the United
Kingdom, and to make this offence punishable at the
discretion of the court by penal servitude for life, or
for not less than five years with imprisonment, with
or without labour. The Bill to apply to all parties,
whether British subjects or foreigners, resident in this
country or abroad.
Palmerston took this opportunity of announcing
that a despatch had been received from Paris,
written by command of the Emperor Napoleon,
stating that the insertion of the officers' addresses
had arisen from inadvertence, and expressing H. M.'s
regret at their publication. This made a consider-
able effect on the House, and is expected to have
much influence in favour of passing the Bill.
February 10, Wednesday. The Queen received
addresses on the throne to-day from the two
Universities and various other bodies, congratulating
Her Majesty on the marriage of the Princess Eoyal.
I was in waiting. Prince Albert presented and read
the address of the University of Cambridge as
Chancellor. It was amusing to see him walk up to
the throne with three bows, in his black and gold
gown (his train borne), and to hear him read a
' Loyal Address ' full of ' Your Majesty.' The
1858 DIAEY OF HENRY GREVILLE 103
Queen, who received all other addresses seated, rose
from the throne on the Prince's entry, and remained
standing whilst he read the address.
The adjourned debate on the Conspiracy Bill
was resumed, and the House divided upon the original
motion, which was carried by a majority of two
hundred against ninety-nine. John Russell spoke
strongly against the Bill, objecting to it on principle,
and because it would not effect its object. He said
it was a cunning artifice by which it was hoped
to please the Emperor of the French without dis-
pleasing the people of England. He believed it
would have been far wiser to say frankly that the
asylum which was styled a den of assassins must
remain, and that we did not intend to alter our law !
General Espinasse has been appointed Minister of
the Interior, ' et de la surete publique,' vice Billaut,
who was invited to resign. Espinasse is the man
who shut up the Chamber of Deputies on December 2,
and who paid a visit to General Duflo, wheedled out
of him that he had a secret exit from his house,
and then at once arrested him. This appointment is
exceedingly unpopular.
Morny writes to Flahault that Billaut has left
his office in a dreadful state of confusion and
disorder, and had been a very bad Minister of
the Interior, and says it is proved jusqua I evidence
that the late conspiracy to murder the Emperor
extended to all the Socialists in France, who were
ready to rise on the success of the attentat. This
information must of course be received with caution,
considering the quarter whence it comes. There
is without doubt great uneasiness in France, and
considerable irritation against this country.
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February 12, Friday. Dined yesterday at
Stafford House. The Duke of Argyll joined us after
having made a good speech in reply to Grey, who
presented a petition from the East India Company
against its abolition. Argyll is much improved in
speaking ; his matter was always good, and his
manner, which was not popular, has gained weight.
Lord Ellenborough spoke ; he considers the moment
inopportune for change, but advocates the simple
transfer of the government of India to the Crown,
with some subsidiary, though not sweeping, altera-
tions.
February 13, Saturday. Last night Mr. Stirling
of Keir asked Palmerston whether the legacy
bequeathed by the Emperor Napoleon to Cantillon,
who shot at the Duke of Wellington, by a codicil to
his will approving and justifying the act, had been
paid by the Emperor of the French. He wished to
know whether this mischievous doctrine had been
endorsed by the present Emperor. Palmerston,
after rebuking Mr. Stirling for bad taste and want
of candour in his mode of putting this question,
declared that there was no foundation for the state-
ment that the Emperor had paid the legacy.
Advances, he said, had been made to the family of
Cantillon in 1823 and in 1826, but a refusal to pay
the remainder had been given since the accession of
Louis Napoleon. This is curious ; for, on looking
back to my journal, I find that the ' Moniteur ' of
May 6, 1855, contains the Eeport of the Committee
appointed to carry out the will of the late Emperor
Napoleon, and it was then positively asserted and
believed that, just before leaving Paris to come to
England, the present Emperor signed the decree,
1858 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 105
ordering payment to be made to the heirs of
Cantillon of this legacy, and the apology offered at
the time was, that H.M. being determined to carry
out the will, no exception could be made in execut-
ing its details.
The East India Bill was introduced by Palmerston,
and will pass. The Government, which was con-
sidered very shaky a short time ago, appears to be
' all alive ' again.
Canton was bombarded and taken by the Allies
on December 28. Clanwilliam's son Gilford was
wounded.
February 17, Ash Wednesday. With regard to
the affair of Cantillon, I believe the fact to be that
the executors, Bertrand and Montholon, paid most of
the legacies in full in 1826, and allowed interest up
to a certain amount. The sum they had in hand not
sufficing for all the legacies, the Emperor Napoleon
set aside a certain sum for that purpose, but refused
all interest and deducted 15 per cent, from all the
bequests. The widow of Cantillon applied for the
remainder of the interest due to her, and it was this
that was refused by the commissioners, because the
Emperor had decided that no interest was to be allowed
on any of the legacies, and not, as Palmerston stated
(in reply to Stirling), because the legacy was left by
the Emperor Napoleon when insane, and therefore
that payment of it had been indignantly refused by
the present Emperor of the French.
February 19, Friday. I was in waiting at the
Levee yesterday, when a Chinese flag from Futchan
was delivered to the Queen by Captain Codrington
Forsyth.
Last night the adjourned debate on the East
106 LEAVES FROM THE 1858
India Bill was brought to a close, and the motion
carried by a majority of 145, the numbers being 318
to 173.
February 20, Saturday. An eventful day. On
taking up the ' Times ' this morning, my surprise was
great to see that the Government had been beaten by
a majority of nineteen, on an amendment proposed
by Milner Gibson to the following effect :
' That this House hears with much concern that it
is alleged that recent attempts upon the life of the
Emperor of the French have been devised in England
and expresses its detestation of such guilty enterprises,
that this House is ready at all times to assist at
remedying any defects in the criminal law which
after due investigation are proved to exist, yet it
cannot but regret that H.M.'s Government, previ-
ously to inviting the House to amend the Law of
Conspiracy at the present time, have not felt it to be
their duty to make some reply to the important despatch
received from the French Government, dated Paris,
January 20, 1858, and which has been laid before
Parliament. .'
I had, accidentally, not been in the way of hear-
ing of this amendment, and was taken entirely by
surprise at finding what had occurred. I believe the
issue had been very uncertain up to the last moment,
and the whip on the Derbyite side had been very
incomplete, as is shown by the absence at the
division of March 1 and other equally zealous parti-
sans of that hue. It is said that on Derby's being-
consulted as to the course he wished the party to
take, he said, " If Milner Gibson's speech is a
moderate one, support him ; if not, vote against his
1 Eldest son of the Duke of Richmond.
1868 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 107
amendment.' Milner Gibson spoke remarkably well,
and without violence, though he made a smart attack
on Palmerston for his spirited foreign policy. Glad-
stone delivered one of his splendid orations in
favour of the amendment, and all the Peelites voted
against Government, and of course John Eussell.
The numbers were 234 to 215, the announcement of
which was received with tremendous cheering.
After a Cabinet, Palmerston went to the Palace
and resigned, and the Queen sent for Lord Derby.
It is curious that this amendment might have
been stopped, as being out of order, it being contrary
to the usages of the House to propose, on the reading
of any measure, anything irrelevant to the matter
before the House. It is perhaps fortunate that the
Government went out on this defeat, since a much
more disagreeable attack was in store for them, in
the shape of a motion by Mr. Wise to abolish the
office of Privy Seal, proposed ostensibly in virtue of
the recommendation of a Committee of the House of
Commons, made some years ago, but which was now
directed mainly against the appointment of Clan-
ricarde, and on which all sorts of disagreeable
subjects might have been brought forward.
February 22, Monday .Derby suggested to the
Queen to take a few hours to consider of the course
she might think it best to adopt, and proposed to
return to the Palace yesterday morning, when, if
H. M. still wished it, he would be prepared to under-
take the commission to form a Government. All
that day was occupied in this task, and of course in
surmises and conjectures on the part of the public as
to the component parts of the new administration,
and as usual in queries and doubts as to whether or
108 LEAVES FROM THE 1858
no the Peelites would join it. It was believed that
all these gentlemen had positively declined office but
Gladstone, who had not quite determined what he
would do.
A telegram announced yesterday the capture of
Commissioner Yeh in the disguise of a coolie on
January 5, and of his being safely lodged on board
the ' Inflexible.'
February 23, Tuesday. The Peelites all refuse
office. Parliament is adjourned till Friday.
I heard yesterday of the death of the Duchesse
de Mouchy. In how short a space has that brilliant
family of Noailles been swept away, the only mem-
bers left being poor Sabine, who began life with such
fair prospects, and who is left now in great poverty
and separated from a worthless husband, with the
sad occupation of attending upon an imbecile mother,
and her brother Louis, who, in the prime of life, is
paralysed both in body and mind !
February 24 , Wednesday. Called on the Duchess
of Eichmond, who told me the Duke had by the
express desire of the Queen been invited to come to
town to advise Derby (!), who had offered him the
Ministry of War, or any other office he might prefer.
He would accept nothing, but had come to town and
would remain until Derby's statement, which stands
for Monday next.
February 26, Friday. The Government is thus
constituted :
First Lord of Treasury . . Derby
Chancellor of Exchequer . . Disraeli
Chancellor .... Thesiger (Lord
Chelmsford)
1858
DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE
109
President of Council .
Privy Seal
Foreign Affairs
Home Office
Colonies
War
India
Board of Trade
Admiralty
Works
Duchy of Lancaster
Postmaster
Secretaries of Treasury .
Secretary to the Admiralty
V. P. of Trade
Under Sec. of Home Office
,, Colonies
War .
President of Poor Law Board
Education .
Judge Advocate
Attorney-General .
Solicitor-General
Lord Advocate
Mistress of Eobes
Lord Steward
Lord Chamberlain
Master of Horse
Salisbury
Hardwicke
Malmesbury
Walpole
Lord Stanley
Jonathan Peel
Ellenborough
Henley
Pakington
John Manners
Not in Cabinet
. Montrose
. Colchester
. Jolliffe and
Hamilton
. H. Corry
. Donoughmore
. Hardy
. Carnarvon
. Hardinge
. Estcourt
. Adderley
. Mowbray
. Fitzroy Kelly
. Cairns
. Inglis
Duchess of
Manchester
Exeter
De la Warr
Beaufort
110 LEAVES FROM THE 1858
C. of G. at Arms . . Talbot
Yeomen . . De Eos
Ld. Lt. of Ireland . . . Eglinton .
Chancellor .... Napier
Secretary .... Naas
Most of these gentlemen are to be sworn in
to-day. Bulwer could not afford to vacate his seat
for Herts. Stanley's appointment surprises people,
as he is known to differ on some important questions
with his father. The minor appointments are gene-
rally approved, and are chiefly filled by rising and
intelligent men. Hardy, Cairns, and Seymour Fitz-
gerald are all men of promise.
The appointment of the Duchess of Manchester
is much carped at, on account of her youth, and
being a foreigner, I think this is absurd.
From all I hear the House of Commons was not
so much displeased with the particular matter in
debate the other evening, n as with the whole course
which had been pursued by the Government with
regard to the Eefugee question. They had been
disgusted with the insolence and impertinence of
Persigny, Morny, and Co., and with the insertion of
the addresses of the Colonels in the ' Moniteur,' and
although they had been satisfied on this last matter
by the apology of the Emperor, which had in fact
led to the large majority on the introduction of the
Conspiracy Bill, they were disgusted to find that,
whilst all that was most offensive to us had been
blazoned forth in the ' Official Journal,' the French
Government had omitted to publish what was intended
to be a reparation. Then came Walewski's despatch,
1858 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 111
laid on the table of the Houses of Parliament, to
which the Prime Minister had declared no satisfactory
reply could be made. This somewhat astounding
assertion (the more strange because it was suspected,
and, as it afterwards appeared, on good grounds, that
an answer had been sent) added to other circum-
stances, not connected with this affair, and certain
appointments made in defiance of public opinion, and,
as I am told, a tone of insolence lately adopted by
Palmerston towards his opponents, all these combined
circumstances served to exasperate the House, and
to bring about the catastrophe.
On Monday night, a despatch written by Cowley
to Clarendon was laid on the table after the debate,
and had much the appearance of a concoction,, and
was in no way calculated to remove the impression
that there has been a want of proper firmness and
dignity throughout these transactions, and all the
friends of Clarendon and Cowley regret that such
a document should have been published.
February 27, Hatchford, Saturday. I came here
to-day. The cold for the last month has been
intense. The trial of Orsini and Co. concluded on
Friday night, and they were all condemned to death.
The assertion in the 'Acte d'accusation,' that these
men had chiefly resided in England was not borne
out by the evidence. They appear, on the contrary,
to have led a wandering life, and to have passed
more time in Belgium, Germany, and France than
here, so that the case of the French Government
against us is not strengthened.
The Public Safety Bill has been carried in the
Corps Legislatif by 2^9 to 24, as it was sure to be,
however, without some bold opposition, particularly
112 LEAVES FROM THE 1858
on the part of a M. Ollivier, one of the members for
Paris, who made a speech of prodigious energy,
remarkable as a display of oratory, and still more
as a symptom of liberal feeling emanating from
one attached to the Imperial dynasty. It is remark-
able that this speech was allowed to appear in the
' Moniteur.'
Lablache, who had for some time been in declining
health, died a short time ago at Naples. He was
one of the greatest lyrical actors the world ever saw,
excelling equally in tragic and comic delineation.
He had a voice of prodigious power, though of no
great extent, but his articulation and his inflection
were marvellous for their truth His remains were
brought to France to be interred near those of his
wife, and a funeral service was performed by his old
comrades, Grisi, Mario, Tamburini, &c., at the
Madeleine Church in the presence of Eossini and an
immense concourse of the artistic world of Paris.
The only artist I ever saw who could be compared
with Lablache is Ronconi, who, inferior in physical
qualifications, is, I think, a man of even more genius,
and of marvellous versatility.
March 2, Tuesday. Last night Derby made his
statement in the House of Lords. His speech was
temperate and conciliatory. He recounted what had
passed between himself and the Queen, and entered
fully into the future course of the Government. He
announced that a despatch had been written by him,
and that, on a satisfactory reply being received, the
Government would resume the Conspiracy Bill. An
Indian Bill would be proposed, and a Eeform Bill
would be considered, and brought in next Session.
He expressed his satisfaction at the state of the army,
1858 DIARY OF HEXRY GREVILLE US
for which he gave the outgoing Government great
credit. Granville replied to Derby and spoke well.
Clarendon entered into a long explanation of what he
had done as to the Walewski despatch, but all he said
went to prove how easy it would be to answer it
publicly.
On the whole the discussion was conciliatory and
creditable to all parties.
Cowley is to remain at Paris. Lord Stratford has-
resigned the Turkish Embassy.
The Duchess of Wellington has resigned her place
at Court, owing to bad health.
March 4, Thursday. A bitter north-east gale ha&
prevailed during the last week, and to-day a heavy
fall of snow covers the ground.
The addresses of the new Ministers are echoes of
Derby's speech, excepting that of Lord Stanley, which
is laconic, and declares that his opinions are the same
as when he last addressed them. The ' Times ' has an
article on this subject and foretells that there must be
a compromise somewhere ; but that paper is evidently
disposed to support the new Government, and already
there seems a change in public opinion in favour of
this attempt.
March 7, London, Sunday. I returned here
yesterday, dined with Granville to meet the
Cambridges ; two round tables of ten people each,
which I don't think answers. The party consisted
of three Cambridges, Apponyis, SchouvalofFs, Gros-
venors, Sidney Herberts, &c.
March 12, Friday. A pamphlet called 'L'Em-
pereur Napoleon III et 1'Angleterre ' has appeared,
written, it is said, by La Gueronniere, the chief
writer in the ' Constitutional,' and one of L. N.'s
in. i
114 LEAVES FEOM THE 1858
4 ames damnees.' This opuscule is probably dictated
by H.I.M. ; it is specious and plausible, recapitulates
the sincerity and assiduity with which the Emperor
has maintained the alliance with us, magnifies the
many obligations we are under to him, reminds
us of the many plots which have been got up
here under the shelter of our laws, and, in short,
going over again the ground already trodden by
Morny, Persigny, and Co. This pamphlet, if it
have any result at all, will not be that of removing
irritation.
Parliament met to-night, when Disraeli announced
that ' those painful misconceptions which had for some
time subsisted between the French and English Govern-
ments had entirely terminated in a spirit friendly and
honourable, and in a manner which will be as satis-
factory to the feelings as it will be conducive to the
interests and the happiness of both nations ; and that,
within the preceding hour, Malmesbury had received
a despatch in reply to that written by him to the
French Government, and that the whole correspon-
dence would be laid before Parliament on Monday.
Kinglake moved for papers on the ' Cagliari ' case.
Disraeli objected to their production, and said the
late Government had recognised the jurisdiction of
the Government of Naples, and the question was one
of law and not of policy, and the British Government
could do no more than obtain prompt justice for the
English engineers ; that we had sent Mr. Lyons from
Eome ' to sustain and comfort them.'
Eoebuck said that 'instead of Mr. Lyons we
should have sent Lord Lyons,' and Horsman said the
question would not remain in the position in which
Disraeli had left it. Gladstone and Lord Eussell both
1858 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 115
thought the statement unsatisfactory, and that the
Sardinian Government, who had claimed the vessel
as not having been taken in Neapolitan waters,
ought not to be allowed to fight the battle single-
O o o
handed ; in the meantime one of the engineers
is gone mad, and the other is sick from long
confinement.
March 13, Saturday. Orsini and Fieri were
executed at seven o'clock this morning. Eudio was
respited. The Empress did all she could to get the
lives of these men spared. Arrests continue to be
made both at Paris and in the provinces.
March 15, Monday. Mr. Atlee and Mr. Monson
of the English Embassy were amongst the few per-
mitted to approach the scaffold on which Orsini and
Fieri were executed. The crowd was driven back
by the military so far as to be unable to see or hear
anything that passed. They said Orsini looked
splendid. He walked to the scaffold with the greatest
composure and dignity, calling out ' Vive la liberte,
Vive 1'Italie, Vive la France ! ' and, while Fieri was
being executed, sang the 'Marseillaise' at the top
of his voice. Fieri, on. the contrary died without
courage.
Walewski has addressed a despatch to the
Government of Switzerland, couched in somewhat
insolent terms, demanding the removal into the
interior of ' these dangerous men, the refugees,' and
ending with the following menace :
4 In case the Federal Government declines to take
the necessary means for satisfying the just demands
of France, it will incur a grave responsibility, and
must take only to itself the consequences which its
-determination may involve.'
I 2
116 LEAVES FROM THE ]858
This is in imitation of what occurred in the time
of Louis Philippe, when the Due de Montebello, by
order of Count Mole, demanded the expulsion of
Louis Napoleon from Thuringia, after his return from
America. The question was referred to the Swiss
Diet, but, before any definite decision was adopted,
France followed up its diplomacy by moving an
army of 25,000 men on the Swiss frontier, and the
Swiss cantons, on their side, called out their volun-
teers. The quarrel was, however, cut short by Louis
Napoleon intimating to the Government of Thuringia
that he would quit Switzerland. This despatch of
Walewski has been very severely dealt with by our
press.
March 16, Tuesday. Dined yesterday with Lady
Jersey ; heard there that Persigny had resigned the
Embassy, and had had some sharp discussions with
Derby and Co. respecting the Conspiracy Bill, and had
accused them of false play in this matter. It is said
to-day that the Emperor had not yet decided on
accepting his resignation. The Government will not
regret his departure.
The correspondence between Walewski and
Malmesbury was laid on the table of the House last
night. The concluding despatch of the former is
merely a recapitulation of the contents of his former
despatch to Clarendon. The tone is sore, and it
ends by a request that the discussion may cease.
March 19, Friday. A telegram announces that
the *Ava,' bringing the mail from Calcutta, as also
Lady Inglis and others of the Lucknow sufferers, has
been totally lost. The crew and passengers were
saved, but the mails were lost. This is particularly
unfortunate, as letters from Canning were most
1858 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 117
anxiously expected, as it was supposed they would
report his impression of the state of the provinces he
has visited. By the last mail he was at Allahabad.
All his friends here are anxious that he should
consent to remain in India, if handsomely invited
to do so by the Government.
March 23, Tuesday. Persigny resigns his
Embassy. He considers himself to have been unfairly
treated by Walewski and the Emperor, who, after
ordering him to insist upon our Government carrying
through the Conspiracy Bill, came to a different
arrangement with Derby and Co., without any
reference to him. The Emperor asked him to remain,
but he said his doing so under Walewski was im-
possible, and could in no way conduce to the
Emperor's interest. He is an honest man ; not without
cleverness, but indiscreet and impressionable, and too
plain spoken for a diplomatist. She [Madame de
Persigny] is a merry childish little woman, and, I
believe (I know neither of them), both are popular in
London society, for which they do a great deal. I met
them at dinner on Friday, at a large party at Lady
Molesworth's ; Apponyi, Azeglio, Clanricardes,
Shaftesburys, Palmerstons, Thackeray, Hayward,
Milnes, Delane, &c. ; a very good dinner, well served.
The position of Lady Molesworth (the daughter of a
writing-master, Mr. Carstairs, educated for the stage),
when one considers her birth and antecedents, is
very curious, and only to be compared with that of
Lady Waldegrave (who also dined there) in its
singular incidents. Both these ladies, however,
must have considerable tact as well as perseverance,
or they could hardly have succeeded in placing
themselves so high in what is called ; the first
118 LEAVES FROM THE 185&
circles,' by their mere wealth, however hungry these
may be !
March 26, Brocket, Friday. I came here on
Tuesday. On Wednesday the Shelburnes called
here on their way to Panshanger, and told us that
Marshal Pelissier is appointed ambassador here.
This is supposed to be a sop to us, and the French
press proclaim that we shall receive with joy the
appointment of the man who has shared our glories
and our perils, &c. It is to be hoped we may be
pleased on these grounds, for on any other no worse
appointment could be made. Pelissier is a rough
and vulgar man, totally devoid of usage du monde.
Brunnow returned here as Eussian Minister a few
days ago, and was received at Dover with cheers and
addresses. Two years ago they would have torn him
to pieces with equally good reason.
I had letters from Naples to-day. Watt, the
engineer of the ' Cagliari,' has been liberated and sent
to England by special decree, on the ground of
insanity. Park, the other engineer, has been let out
on bail, and is living in the Consul's house. Bicker-
ton Lyons was sent from Florence to superintend the
trials and to see that justice was done.
March 28, Sunday. Eeturned to town yesterday.
Every one is occupied with the India Bill, introduced
last night by Disraeli, which has rather surprised
people by its liberal tendencies, and did not meet
with much favour, particularly the clause relating to-
the election of Members of Council, by the constitu-
encies of Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow, and Belfast,,
which excited laughter. The bill was utterly con-
demned by Koebuck and Bright, and called a sham
by the first, and by the latter a claptrap. The
1858 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 11 9 1
second reading is fixed for the 19th, and it is supposed
that the Government will consent to any alteration
that may be proposed in committee.
There are several new diplomatic appointments ;
that of Augustus Loftus to be Minister at Vienna is
approved of, whilst that of Chelsea to be Secretary
of Embassy at Paris is universally considered to be
a job.
St. Petersburg and Vienna were offered to Stan
hope, who declined them.
March 31, Hatchford, Wednesday, I came here
on Monday. I found the Duke of Bedford, who
went away this morning, much troubled in his mind
at the state of our home politics, and at the utter
confusion of parties, and the want of union amongst
our public men. The India Bill is so universally
condemned, that it is improbable it will pass a
second reading, and already the ' Times,' at first
tolerably favourable to the Government, wages war
against the men who could propose such a measure.
This is the more deplorable because it may lead to
the downfall of this Government before any new one
could be formed which, for the reasons above
stated, would have the least chance of stability. The
Duke of Bedford told me he saw no way to such a
reconciliation between Palmerston and John Eussell
as would enable them to act together with any
cordiality; that John would not consent to serve
under Palmerston, and had no sufficient following of
his own to admit of his attempting to form a govern-
ment, whilst his isolated position was an obstacle to
any strong administration being formed. If Derby's,
fall could be delayed, it was just possible that all
these conflicting elements might be brought into
120 LEAVES FROM THE 1858
concord by combined action in opposition ; any other
attempt, at present, to bring the parties together
would only prove abortive.
Lord Aberdeen, who has long been very ill, is
gone on a visit to Windsor, with the intention of
speaking frankly to the Queen on public affairs, and
of endeavouring to induce H.M. to forget and forgive
John Eussell for his conduct to Lord Aberdeen, for
which John Eussell had already expressed his regret,
and had admitted that he had behaved ill, though
unwittingly. The Duke of Bedford said, nothing
could be more noble than Lord Aberdeen's conduct
on this subject.
It is said, I know not with what truth, that the
clauses in the East India Bill giving votes to the
large towns, and which have excited such hostility
as to prove fatal to the Bill, emanate from Lord
Stanley, who is one of the greatest reformers of his
time. It is certain that if such a measure had
been proposed by the Whigs, they would have
been designated as nothing short of Chartists.
It is now thought by some people that, in the event
of the Bill being abandoned by the Government, that
of Palmerston will be read a second time, whilst
by others it is considered likely that both Bills may
be referred to a Select Committee ; but this course
would be a dangerous one, as it would take from the
hands of the Executive the responsibility of legislat-
ing for India, and would be a great humiliation to
the Government.
London, April 6, Tuesday. I returned here on
Saturday. Lord Aberdeen's visit to Windsor did not
come off, owing to the death of his brother-in-law.
Lord Morton.
1858 DIAKY OF HENRY GREV1LLE 121
On Monday I dined with the Jerseys to meet
the Charles Thynnes, 1 whose pretty daughter is about
to be married to Castlerosse. Mr. and Mrs. Disraeli
came in the evening from the Lord Mayor's feast, at
which Lord Derby made a speech which would lead
to the conclusion that the Government, if beaten on
the East India Bill, will not resign, but are willing
to accept any modification of the measure which may
be advised by the House of Commons.
The fine ladies of the London society are making
themselves troublesome and ridiculous by soliciting
subscriptions for a testimonial to Madame de Persigny.
April 9, Friday. The official correspondence on
the ' Cagliari ' affair is published, and whilst it proves
a course of inhumanity and illegality on the part of
the Neapolitan Government, it shows considerable
carelessness and want of vigour on that of our own.
There has been a misunderstanding between our
Government and that of Sardinia, owing to an almost
inconceivable mistake of Mr. Erskine's (Secretary of
Legation) in carrying out the instructions of his
chief, who had been desired by Clarendon to enquire
whether the Sardinian Government intended to object to
the Neapolitan proceedings in the case of the ' Cagliari. 1
Instead of this, Mr. Erskine took upon himself to
inform the Sardinian Government that H.M.'s Govern-
ment is disposed to object, &c., whereas Clarendon
considered himself debarred from objecting, by the
opinion of the law officers of the Crown, and Mamies-
bury wrote a despatch disclaiming the ' inexcusable
conduct of Mr. Erskine,' and the unsatisfactory
1 Lord Charles Thynne, youngest brother of the late Duchess of
Buccleuch ; after his wife's death he entered the Roman Catholic
priesthood.
122 LEAVES FROM THE 1858
explanation of Sir James Hudson, who signed Mr.
Erskine's note without reading it over. In the
meantime Watt has been sent to England, and Park,
who has been liberated on bail, has published a
detailed statement of the affair, which is sure to
rouse the indignation of the English public, and we
shall hear a great deal more of this business. The
case as respects the legality of the seizure is now
before the new officers of the Crown, and cannot
certainly rest where it is.
The Hollands write from Naples that Bickerton
Lyons is doing very well there, although there is a
strong party against him.
April 11, 'Sunday. True bills have been found
against Bernard by the special jury on an indictment
charging him with being a principal in the attempt
on the Emperor's life, and also as an accessory before
the fact. The trial is to take place to-morrow.
April 13, Tuesday. Last night a curious scene
was enacted in the House of Commons. It had been
expected that a decisive attack would have been
made immediately after the recess by the Liberal
party on the Treasury bench ; but an unexpected
manoeuvre on the part of John Eussell caused the
whole state of things and the position of parties to be
entirely changed. On a report of the Committee of
Supply John Eussell rose and proposed to Disraeli
that he should not proceed at once with the
East India Bill of the Government, nor with that
of Palmerston, but that certain ' Resolutions ' should
be taken in committee of the whole House, so as
practically to obtain a consultation between the
Executive and the representatives on the bases and
principles of the future government of India.
1858 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 123
Disraeli jumped at the offered loophole, and went
so far as to propose that John Russell should himself
propose the resolutions ; but this he declined, on the
ground that it was the business of the Government
to originate them. The members of the late Govern-
ment, as well as many of that party, loudly protested
against this course, and Brooks' s Club is in a state
of frenzy at this trick of John Russell, which will
certainly defer the crisis which appeared imminent,
and which they of course attribute to personal motives
of his own. They even go so far as to suspect and
accuse him of having prearranged this manoeuvre
with Disraeli, but which I do not believe. John
declares that he had informed Macaulay and Lewis-
of his intentions, and that they both had approved
them. Lewis, however, denies this.
Nothing, however, more clearly demonstrates the
entire disunion of parties than this transaction, if any
new proof were wanting.
April 15, Thursday. News of the capture of
Lucknow has reached London.
The trial of Bernard began on Monday and excites
great interest. The case is tried by Lord Campbell
at the Old Bailey.
April 18, Sunday. Bernard was acquitted
yesterday. The defence set up was that the gre-
nades were intended to be used in an Italian insurrec-
tion, and not to assassinate the Emperor. Edwin
James made a very powerful speech in which the
political element largely predominated, and where
he poured forth a torrent of invective against the
Empire, its chief, and its principles, which was
received with enthusiastic cheering.
The Chief Justice charged strongly for a verdict
124 LEAVES FROM THE 1858
against the prisoner, some people think too strongly,
but to no purpose. The jury was prompt and
unanimous, and so eager to pronounce an acquittal
that they were with difficulty prevented from at once
giving it without retiring. It was hailed with
rapturous cheering both within and without the
court, and which the judge in vain tried to repress.
This result is sure to produce great irritation at
Paris, but it cannot be helped, and was almost sure
to occur after the series of mistakes that have been
committed on both sides since the attentat.
April 20, Tuesday, Nothing is spoken of but
the acquittal of Bernard. The Bar is said to be
much divided in opinion as to the propriety of the
verdict as founded upon the evidence, which is by
many considered to prove the intention to murder
the Emperor. It is probable that other considera-
tions weighed on the jury, and I am inclined to
think the ' Times ' is right in its article of yesterday,
which concludes with the following words :
' The fact is men are made up of passions as well
as judgment, and that after such a bitter controversy
as has marked the beginning of the present year, we
may well expect juries to look beyond the evidence
to the consequences of their verdict, and spectators to
shout their sympathy with a conspirator, although
they may detest assassination.'
Disraeli produced his Budget last night, and it
seemed to find favour with the House.
We have demanded compensation for Watt and
Park from the Neapolitan Government on the
ground that their imprisonment and arrest were
illegal, but on the question of illegality of the
capture of the ' Cagliari ' Malmesbury declared last
1858 DIARY OF HEXRY GREVILLE
night that the law officers were divided in opinion,
two being of opinion that it was legal and one
illegal. The law officers of the late Government
were also divided in opinion, and on this part of the
proceeding it subsequently became impossible to
take any strong measures. Lord Wensleydale sug-
gested that the question of the seizure should be
referred to the Judicial Committee of the Privy
Council, and Malmesbury said he would consider the
suggestion.
April 22, Thursday. The Duke of Malakhoff is
being entertained by the various military clubs,
whilst the fashionable world is being diverted by
the somewhat crude and garrison-like manners of
the Marshal. When sitting by the Queen at dinner,
and on H. M. (for something to say) enquiring after
the health of Marshal Bosquet, and expressing her
regret that he was suffering, the duke replied, ' Voyez-
vous, Madame, il mange trop, il abime son estomac,
et puis il court apres les danseuses.' Her Majesty
(rather surprised) then tried another topic, and
asked the Marshal whether the Zouaves were not a
very fine and useful body of men, to which he
replied, ' Us ne sont pas mal, mais ils s'occupent trop
des cuisinieres.' The Queen, half shocked and half
diverted, then made another attempt, and said that
when at Paris she had been much struck by the
Cent Guides, upon which Malakhoff said, 'Ah,
voyez-vous, ils ne s'occupent que des couturieres.'
This was told by H. M. in fits of laughter to the lady
who repeated it to me.
I hear from Paris much discontent is created by the
Emperor having added a large piece of the Tuileries
Garden to the part allotted to his private use. The
126 LEAVES FROM THE 1858
joke made upon this spoliation is, ' Que 1'Empereur,
apres avoir confisque les biens de la famille d'Orleans,
prend " Le Notre " ' (the Tuileries Gardens were laid
out by the famous Lenotre).
May 3, Monday. The weather is abominable,
and has been so for a long time. I had a pleasant
musical party here on the 30th, consisting of Miss
Kemble (John Kemble's daughter) and young
Santley, a good bass singer, and four of Leslie's
Choir. On Sunday I heard at Chorley's some of
Mendelssohn's music played divinely by Halle, who,
besides being an artist of the first class, is a clever
and agreeable man. Dined yesterday at Bess-
borough's with a large party. People seem to think
the days of the Government are numbered. They
are expected to be defeated on an amendment to the
elective resolution, proposed by Palmerston with the
concurrence of John Eussell. It is probable that
they will not resign on this, but wait for a second
defeat, which will probably ensue on a vote of want
of confidence, which it is said Eoebuck will propose.
The House of Commons is in a very chaotic state.
Last night Lewis, Gladstone, Cardwell, and Wilson
all spoke on the budget in different senses. When
Disraeli rose to speak many of his own party left the
House, and old Tories do not disguise the disquiet
they feel at the course pursued by the Government
in general and by Disraeli in particular, which they
deem not only injudicious, but wanting in dignity
and honesty. In the meantime the House of
Commons is virtually become the executive, and
such a state of things is beginning to be viewed with
considerable alarm by men of moderate opinions.
.Such however is the state of parties, that no govern-
1858 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 127
ment which may succeed the present one has any
chance of stability, and if Palme rston comes back to
power, and that John Eussell (as is most likely) pre-
serves his present attitude, this Government will not
last a year.
May 7, Friday. There appeared yesterday in
the ' Times ' correspondence from India a proclama-
tion proposed to be issued by Canning on the capture
of Lucknow, giving instructions as to how the rebels
were to be treated, and amongst other things con-
taining a declaration that the territorial hereditary
property of Oude is confiscated to the British state,
and with the exception of certain lands, which are
to remain in the possession of certain individuals who
have been loyal to us, will all be dealt with as the
Governor-General in Council may think fit.
Last night, Bright, in the House of Commons,
inquired if this proclamation had been issued in
accordance with instructions from England, and if
not, whether the Government has issued any instruc-
tion with respect to it. Disraeli replied that the
papers on this subject should be laid on the table,
and stated that, as soon as they had received notice
of the intended proclamation, they at once took the
subject into their consideration, and the result was
that they had sent out a despatch to the Governor-
General, * disapproving the policy which he indicated
in every sense?
In the House of Lords, Granville, in reference to
this answer, asked if it had been given after com-
munication with Lord Ellenborough, to which the
latter replied that no communication had taken place
between himself and the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
but that lie had; read the despatch alluded -to.
128 LEAVES FROM THE 1858
Ellenborough gave a copy of his despatch to Gran-
ville, who asked leave to show it to his friends. It
is believed that Bright had had possession of it some
days, and had shown it to members of the Eeform
Club, and it is suspected that he put the question to
Government by their own desire. Granville there-
fore did not scruple to read the despatch to us
to-night in Bruton Street. It is a well-written
document, and enters into matters relating to Oude,
for which Lord Dalhousie, and not Canning, is
responsible. Its chief purpose, however, is to con-
demn, in very strong terms, the policy of the latter
on this occasion, in the decree of confiscation, and
the whole tone of the despatch is so insolent and
discourteous, that I consider it highly probable that,
coupled as it will be with Ellenborough's and Disraeli's
speeches last night, Canning will, on its receipt, at
once resign. The town is much excited on this
subject, and the publication of the despatch is
generally considered to be quite unwarrantable, and
very offensive to Canning, who has as yet not had
any opportunity of explaining his reasons for the
proclamation, of which he has only sent home the
rough draft. There is to be a discussion on the sub-
ject to-night in the House of Lords.
May 8, Saturday. Ellenborough laid the
despatch on the table. Granville censured the
Government for sending through the secret com-
mittee a despatch condemning the conduct of the
Governor-General, and then publishing it, and asked
if Ellenborough intended Canning to retire, and
whether any preparation had been made to replace
him. Derby said Granville had demanded the
instant production of the papers, that Canning's
1858 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 129
policy was calculated to drive the people of Oude
(whose offence was comparatively trifling) to despe-
ration, that Oude ought to be dealt with as a country
conquered in legitimate war ; and he hoped that
Canning had mitigated his edict, and had thereby
obviated some of its injurious consequences.
Ellenborough said, ' No Government would
deserve to survive twenty-four hours that did not
mark with its strongest reprobation the confiscation
of the proprietary rights of a whole people.' Grey,
who spoke remarkably well, expressed no opinion on
the policy of Canning, but disapproved strongly the
conduct of the Government in making their censure
of him public. Were he inclined (he said) to put an
unfavourable construction on the conduct of public
men, he might almost believe that this hasty censure
and the premature and ill-advised declaration of
the views of the Government, those rounded periods
appealing to the principles of justice and humanity,
were dictated by a desire to gain a little popularity.
He rejected that supposition, but if their conduct
had not arisen from extraordinary inadvertence, he
was at a loss to account for it.
At the palace, at a great dinner for the Queen of
Portugal, Derby said to Clarendon, ' You beat us hollow
to-night.'
The Queen is here for a few days on her way to ^ ^T
join her husband, whom she has not yet seen, having
been married by proxy to her own brother !
May 9, Sunday. A splendid sermon by Brook-
field this morning. He is one of the few preachers
whose sermons never weary me, however long. That
of to-day was on the conversion of St. Paul.
The town is much excited on the subject of
III. K
130 LEAVES FROM THE 1858
Canning's proclamation and Ellenborough's despatch.
A meeting was held yesterday at Palmerston's, at
which it was decided that a resolution on the
subject shall be moved in the House of Commons on
Thursday, which will have the concurrence of John
Russell and the Peelites. There seems to be no
reasonable doubt but that it will be carried. A
similar move will be made in the Lords, but with
a more doubtful issue. People are very hot upon the
subject.
May 10, Monday. Shaftesbury is to move the
resolution in the Lords and Cardwell in the
Commons. John Eussell is to dine with Palmerston
on Wednesday, and sanguine people hope much from
this rapprochement. John is very indignant at this
last exploit of the Government.
May 11, Tuesday. The young Queen of Portu-
gal appeared at the palace ball last night, and goes
this morning to Plymouth, where she is to embark
to-night. Bath accompanies her in an English ship,
to carry the Garter to the King. Stanhope was offered,
but refused, the mission.
On going to the Granvilles to-night, I heard that
Ellenborough had announced in the House of Lords
that he had resigned. He defended his conduct in
the most emphatic manner, and said that he had
heard no condemnation of his despatch, and took
upon himself the sole responsibility of its publication.
He declared the proclamation to be in direct opposi-
tion to the policy the Government had determined
to pursue, and that the despatch would be regarded
in India as a message of peace. He might, he said,
have shown the despatch to his colleagues, but he
had not done so, and they ought not to be visited
18P8 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 131
with any censure in the matter. In England it was
only a question of party, but in India it would be
considered as a conflict between the principles of
confiscation and clemency. As that decision might
be swayed by personal considerations, he had resolved
to remove them as far as he was concerned, that the
question might be considered on its own merits.
Grey protested against the question being considered
as a contest between the principles of confiscation
and clemency, and finally Derby pronounced a pane-
gyric on Ellenborough, though he admitted that the
Secretary of the Board of Control had, without previous
communication with the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
stated that such a despatch had been written, and
should be produced. Bright admitted, both to
Stanley of Alderley and to Granville, that he had
had cognisance of the despatch a week ago, though
he had not seen it. He had only seen it at the same
time that Granville had.
May 12 ', Wednesday. The joke on Ellenborough's
resignation is, that the Government is dying of
4 Elephantiasis.'
The Chancellor said the other day, 'We no
sooner get to the top of the ladder than we get
" Dizzy " and down we go again.'
It is now doubtful if Cardwell's motion will come
on. People are very excited just now.
May 14, Friday. Shaftesbury's motion came
on last night. I went to the Granvilles, and stayed
there till he came home from the debate at 1 A.M.
The House was immensely full, and prodigiously
excited. Shaftesbury spoke remarkably well, dwelt
upon the responsibility of the whole Cabinet for the
publication of the despatch, and showed that they
K 2
132 LEAVES FROM THE 1858
had put an unjust interpretation on the proclamation,
and had most improperly entered into the question
of the annexation of Oude, whilst the country was
still in rebellion, and for which Canning was in no
way responsible. Ellenborough took upon himself
the sole responsibility of writing and of publishing
the despatch, which, he said, removed the rope
from the necks of the people of Oude, and gave them
hope of returning home, and said that if the policy
recommended in it were neglected, there would be
a social war in India, in which we must fail. Grey
spoke admirably in defence of Canning. Derby's
speech was weak, and although he condemned the
proclamation, he did not attempt to defend the
publication of the despatch. The House divided on
the ' previous question,' and not, as is usual on votes
of censure, on a decided negative, and the numbers
were : Content (present), 93 ; Proxies, 65-158 ;
Non-content (present), 116 ; Proxies, 49-165 ;
Majority for Government, 7. This defeat was con-
sidered almost a triumph by the Opposition, and
loudly cheered.
Canning's friends were much vexed and surprised
that Lord Aberdeen should have declined to vote,
and have carried away two proxies in his pocket.
He and others consider that Ellenborough's resigna-
tion alters the whole case, but I cannot understand
how it exonerates the Cabinet. In the Commons,
where Cardwell's motion on the same subject came
on, the great speeches of the night were that of
Cairns the Solicitor-General, which was extremely
effective, though of course a splendid piece of special
pleading, and that of John Eussell, which was
admirable in its way, and for its purpose, and quite
1858 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 133
in his old form. It concluded the debate, and was
tumultuously cheered, and it was much wanted to
remedy all the mischief Vernon Smith had done by
his extraordinary want of tact, and the clumsiness
of his explanation to the House of the incident,
of which the other side, in both Houses, had made
so much, viz. his withholding from Ellenborough
a letter he had received from Canning some time
ago, saying that he had not then time to send his
explanation of his proclamation, and which the
Government declared, if they had known of it, would
have made all the difference in their dealing with the
proclamation, and they attributed its being withheld
to bad faith and party spirit on the part of V. Smith.
They say his speech lost several votes to the
Opposition.
May 15, Saturday. The Queen's birthday was
celebrated to-day. I gave myself a holiday from
both the Drawing-room and the dinner.
A meeting was held yesterday at Palmerston's,
at which about 280 members were present. John
Eussell was not there, but he sent his ' Tail,' and
he had previously declared his intention of support-
ing Cardwell's amendment. On the whole, harmony
prevailed. Mr. Divett attacked Palmerston on being
surrounded by flatterers and fine ladies, whereat,
of course, he laughed heartily. He also reproached
him with ' Clanricarde's monstrous appointment.'
Dunkellin was standing next to him, and asked
George Byng ' who the excitable old gentleman
was.'
There are all kinds of rumours flying about as
to the result of the division, and as to the intentions
of Government in case of a defeat. The general
134 LEAVES FROM THE 1858
opinion is, that if the majority be below fifty, they
will ask the Queen's consent to a dissolution, but
Ellenborough's resignation and Vernon Smith's
blundering speech will very much diminish the
majority against Government ; indeed, some of their
hangers-on pretend that they shall win by a small
majority. I never saw people more eager and excited
than the two parties are just now.
May 16., Sunday. Last night the new Covent
Garden Theatre was opened to the public, having
been built in the incredibly short time of six months.
It is a handsome theatre, vast in its proportions, but
rather bald smdflat in its internal decoration. Very
good for sound.
A great many people to-night at Lady Granville's,
all much excited by passing events, and by the
reports that are flying about of letters having
reached the Government from various military
authorities in India, disapproving of Canning's policy,
and stating that the proclamation had already had
the worst effect. It is remarkable that Granville has
had a letter from Canning, which makes no mention
of the proclamation, and I suspect these rumours to
be unfounded.
The Due d'Aumale and the Due de Malakhoff met
at dinner to-day at Lady Waldegrave's. She had
ascertained that both parties wished it, and arranged
this dinner, which went off very well. They embraced
on meeting, and conversed with much eagerness
upon Algeria, and old stories connected with their
campaigns. Sneyd, who was present, told me
this.
May 19, Hatchford, Wednesday. I came here
yesterday to meet the Duke of Bedford, Duchess
1858 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 135
of Norfolk, and Sneyd. The latter told me of the
sudden death of the Duchess of Orleans, which took
place yesterday morning at Richmond.
Although opinions differ much as to her judg-
ment, she cannot but be a great loss to her sons, to
whom she entirely devoted herself. Those who knew
her best had a high opinion of her understand-
ing and strength of mind, and her bearing has
certainly been most dignified in her adversity. In
speaking to a friend of hers lately of her son's chance,
she said, ' II n'a pas de droits, mais il a des titres et
des chances.'
Prince Albert, on hearing of the event, went
immediately to Claremont.
The Duke of Bedford is much out of heart at the
present state of political affairs, and it must be con-
fessed that nothing can be less satisfactory in every
respect.
May 23, Sunday. I returned to town on Friday
and dined with the Abercorns, where I met
Ossulston, 1 who told me that Cardwell had with-
drawn his motion ! In the afternoon I had met
Charlotte Denison, 2 who said that the Speaker thought
the division would be so close that he very likely
would have to give the casting vote, that Graham's
speech, so strong against the motion on Thursday,
had made a great effect, that the fear of a dissolution,
and then despatches from India, with Outram's objec-
tions to the proclamation, and to Canning's arguments
which had been laid before Parliament, had all tended
1 The present Earl of Tankerville, A.D. 1896.
2 Lady Charlotte Denison, wife of the Speaker, afterwards Lord
Ossington. She was the Duke of Portland's daughter, and therefore
first cousin to the author.
136 LEAVES FEOM THE 1858
to the dwindling of the majority. Card well had been
appealed to from all sides of the House, and ulti-
mately by Palmerston and John Eussell, to withdraw
his motion. The rout, therefore, of the Opposition
was complete, and the only satisfactory occurrence of
the evening was the general confidence expressed in
Canning, not only by the various opponents of the
Government, but also by members of the Govern-
ment, which appeared by the statement of Disraeli
that a telegram had been sent to Canning declaring
their continued confidence in him. Government is
of course triumphant beyond measure, and it must
be confessed that the Opposition, after their vapour-
ing and boasting that the Government was at their
mercy, and the extreme impatience they showed to
occupy their places, cut rather a poor figure. All
one can hope is, that, as ' sweet are the uses of
adversity,' the Liberal party may learn a lesson and
perceive that, as long as all their animosities and
jealousies continue, they may be good for all factious
purposes, but powerless for those of a good, enduring,
or even a possible government.
Canning's despatch, in answer to that of Outram,
is admirable, and I am persuaded that when people
can see things calmly, his policy on this matter will
meet with general approbation. Already I see signs
of a reaction in his favour.
The Duchess of Orleans was buried yesterday
at Weybridge. Prince Albert attended the funeral,
and an immense concourse of French adherents of
the family and party, of all classes, came over from
France on purpose to be present.
Lady Margaret Leveson-Gower, having given birth
to a boy on Wednesday, died on Saturda} r of the
1858 DIARY OF HENRY GREV1LLE
measles, which made their appearance in a very
virulent form the day after her confinement, and
which, it is believed, she caught from her brother
ten days before. No two people were ever better
suited, or more attached, and this sad event excites
universal sympathy.
May 26, Wednesday. I went last night to the
new theatre in Co vent Garden, which is handsome,
from its size, and commodious. The opera was ' La
Traviata,' sung to perfection by Mario and Bosio,
who is more charming than ever.
May 27, Thursday. Alfred Potocki and his wife
arrived yesterday, to my great satisfaction.
It is strongly reported that Gladstone has joined
the Government. Disraeli has made a speech at an
agricultural meeting at Slough which is remarkable
for its audacity, not to say mendacity, in its boasting
of the feats of the present Government since its
advent to office, and designating as a cabal all
that has lately occurred in Parliament on Cardwell's
motion. We shall hear more of this, no doubt,
by-and-by.
This has been the coldest month of May I ever
remember.
May 30, Cliveden. The weather at last changed
yesterday, from cold gloomy east wind to real summer
heat, and I have seen this place, which appears to
be hardly short of a terrestrial paradise, to the greatest
advantage.
The Duchess, Sneyd, and I came here yesterday
evening, and I am quite emerveille with the natural
beauty of the place, and the taste and luxury of the
whole internal arrangement of the house.
The drawback is seeing the privation of the Duke
138 LEAVES FROM THE 1858
of all social enjoyment, owing to his infirmity 1 and
which he bears with such angelic temper.
On Friday, Lord John Eussell, on going into
Supply, called attention to Disraeli's speech at
Slough. He did not make the most of his case,
but Disraeli made a lame defence, and quibbled
away all his former statements.
May 31, Monday. The Indian mail brings news
of the death of Sir William Peel of small-pox. An
immense loss, for he really was ' de 1'etoffe dont sont
faits les heros.'
The telegram states that Canning's policy appears
to be proceeding, and the province of Oude was in
course of pacification.
Gladstone had declined joining Derby's Govern-
ment, chiefly owing, it is supposed, to his distrust and
dislike of Dizzy.
Lady Theresa Lewis said drolly of the Peelites,
that they were ' always putting themselves up to auction,
and buying themselves in?
Lord Stanley goes to the India Board, and is
succeeded by Bulwer Lytton at the Colonies.
May 31, London, Monday night. Palmerston
attacked Disraeli to-night for his Slough speech,
and did it better than John Eussell on a former
occasion. Clarendon also in the Lords made an
elaborate speech in contradiction of all Disraeli's
statements, which I presume will ' close the
account ' of this wonderful escapade.
The weather is deliciously hot.
The great Shrewsbury case has been decided, as
far as the title goes, in favour of Lord Talbot. The
Duke of Norfolk, however, intends making another
1 My uncle was stone deaf.
1858 DIARY OF HENRY GREYILLE 139
attempt to claim the estate, which, at present, it is
supposed, must go with the title.
June 13, Sunday. Indian legislation has been
resumed during the last week. Gladstone submitted
a resolution that until the end of next session the
Council should consist of the present Court of
Directors, the President of the Board of Control
assuming the head of that new Council. This pro-
posal was defeated by a large majority, both the last
and present Government voting against it. I believe
it would have been a wise measure, but the House
thought that, after all that had passed of late, it
would be stultifying itself to pass it. A Church Eate
Bill has passed, and is gone to the Lords. Locke
King's Bill for assimilating the Borough and County
Franchise has passed, and was supported by Palmer-
ston, and the same member's bill for abolishing the
property qualification has passed a second reading in
the Lords, under protest from Grey, who denounces
it as a bit by bit concession to democracy, and with
the support of Derby (!), who described the measure as
just and unimportant.
Malmesbury announced in the House of Lords
last night that the King of Naples had agreed to
pay 3,000/. to the engineers Watt and Park, as
indemnity, and has given up the ' Cagliari ' and the
crew to the English Government to hand over to
that of Sardinia. It remains to be seen whether Sar-
dinia will be satisfied with this act of condescension
to us, and desist from further demands. I should
expect she will not.
In answer to Sir Charles Napier, Disraeli stated
that the Government was not aware that there was
any foundation for the reports of largely increased
140 LEAVES FEOM THE 1858
armaments by France, both naval and military. He
made a sensible and moderate speech, such as becomes
a minister, and it would be well if he more often spoke
in that fashion.
I hear from Paris that the alterations making
in the Tuileries Gardens for the convenience of the
Imperial Family are as unpopular as was a measure
lately instituted by the Government for taking pos-
session of the hospices, and which gave rise to the
following quatrain :
' Dans leurs grandeurs Imp6riales
Les deux Empereurs sont 6gaux ;
Si 1'un prenait les capitoles
L'autre prend les capitaux.'
June 17, Thursday. I never recollect any heat to
compare with what we have had the last ten days, at
this early stage of the summer.
The Sardinian Government is satisfied with the
indemnity given by Naples, and takes back the vessel.
The Government has gained popularity by its manage
ment of this affair, and are gaining ground in the
House of Commons.
Eistori made her rentree last night in Lady Mac-
beth, and acted finely to a thin and stupid audience.
There is too much going on now. Three Italian
operas, concerts day and night, besides all the
English theatres. Balls, dinners, and parties every
night leave no time for an Italian theatre, and
Eistori's audience is, of course, chiefly composed of
the higher orders.
June 18, Friday. I took the Alfred Potockis
to-day to Kensington Gardens, and brought them
home by Eotten Eow, which at six o'clock is really
1858 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 141
a most curious scene. The Eide is literally crammed
with equestrians, male and female, and the walk
lined with chairs filled by women in their gayest
attire, whilst the road is one mass of brilliant
equipages. I do not think any other town can
present such a spectacle of wealth, and the beauty
of the scene is much enhanced by the fine verdure
and the beautiful trees which are peculiar to this
country. They were immensely struck by it.
June 20, Sunday. Lord Stanley gave notice that
he should proceed no further with the Indian
resolutions, but bring in a bill at once, which
seemed to please the House.
The Neapolitan correspondence relative to the
i Cagliari ' affair is published. The Government of
King Ferdinand through Carafa conclude the dispute
by declaring that as they have no means of resisting
the force which His Majesty's Government has to
dispose of, they have no further arguments to adduce,
or opposition to make. The indemnity would there-
fore be paid, and the ' Cagliari ' and crew be at once
restored. It is probable that this concession will
sooner or later conduce to the restoration of our
diplomatic relations, though such a result would be
quite illogical, since the rupture had nothing to do
with this question.
June 23, Wednesday. Dined yesterday with the
Apponyis. Waited for the Palmerstons until near nine ;
twenty-four people, a handsome banquet. Heard
there of Glengall's death, 1 which occurred suddenly
at Cowes in the morning. None of his family were
1 Lord Glengall left an only surviving daughter, Lady Margaret,
who married Colonel Charteris and inherited the whole property and
estates. The title is extinct.
142 LEAVES FROM THE 1858
with him. Grey de Wilton's marriage with Lady
Elizabeth Craven declared.
This evening to see Eistori in ' Adrienne Lecou-
vreur.' The part suits her less than most others.
The play loses by translation, and is tedious, but her
last act is marvellous.
June 25, Friday. The foul state of the Thames,
and the effluvia arising from it, cause alarm. The
members of the House of Commons complain that
the stench is intolerable, and families who reside near
the banks of the river are removing from London
for fear of cholera. Various remedies are suggested,
but nothing is decided upon.
The heat continues to be excessive.
The India Bill was read a second time last night.
Bright made a long speech, not in opposition to
the second reading, but setting forth his views on the
government of India, past, present, and to come,
the chief point of which was that the Empire should
be divided into five different presidencies.
The Hollands returned on Monday. The house
has been greatly improved in their absence by
terraces extending from the library to the con-
servatory.
July <3, Saturday. Lord Lucan's ' compromise '
Bill for the admission of Jews to Parliament passed
the second reading by a majority of 143 to 97.
Derby, still objecting to the admission of Jews,
consents to the passing of Lucan's Bill as the only
possible compromise.
Lord Lyndhurst, whose wider measure was before
the House, expressed his disappointment with ' bitter
courtesy,' but gave his hearty assent to Lucan's
Bill, which will enable Jews to sit in the House of
1858 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 143
Commons by a resolution of the House. Derby's
own adherents read him severe lectures.
July 24, Saturday. The question of the Jews
is at last settled, although not in a manner very
creditable to the House of Lords. The Commons
have passed the two Bills sent down to them, the one
embodying a refusal to admit Jews into Parliament,
the other embodying the assent to that measure !
The House of Commons jeered at the Lords, but the
Bills were passed amidst loud cheers, and then Lord
John completed his arrangement, declaring simply
that the House would not examine the reasons offered
by the Lords for mutilating the Oaths Bills, since
they had provided by a separate measure for the
admission of Jews into Parliament. Rothschild
accordingly took his seat, .and has been feasting his
friends in honour of his victory. I expect we shall
hear little more of the Jews, in or out of Parliament.
The press has been much occupied with the
Queen's visit to Cherbourg, and the invitation of the
Emperor is generally thought to have been unwise,
and a manque de tact. I fancy Her Majesty at first
liked the idea of it, but is now sorry that she is
obliged to go. It was at first settled that she was to
be escorted by a large squadron of line-of-battle-
ships, but this has wisely been abandoned, and she
will only be attended by some steamers and a small
flotilla of yachts.
July 26, Sunday. I met Eistori to-day at Lady
Frederick's, 1 the only time I have seen her in private
this season. She acted the other night for her benefit
in an absurd play called ' Elisabetta d' Inghilterra,' at
Co vent Garden. Her personation of the old age of the
1 Lady Frederick Bentinck.
144 LEAVES FROM THE 1858
Queen, wherein all her vanity and coquetry are made
to appear still predominant, even on her deathbed, a
wretched object of physical decay, is nothing short
of marvellous. She has a remarkable talent for
dressing herself to the best advantage, but in this
part she has evidently tried and succeeded in depict-
ing what, one feels sure, must have been the exact
likeness of Elizabeth (judging from the pictures one
has seen of her), when feeble and toothless, and yet
craving for admiration. It was a wonderful repre-
sentation of senility. I am afraid this is the last
time we shall see her here. She goes to Edinburgh
and Glasgow, and then to Italy.
August 9, Monday. Parliament was closed by
commission on the 2nd.
The Queen returned from Cherbourg on Friday.
The fetes went off very well. The Emperor, at the
dinner he gave H. M. on board the ' Bretagne,'
made a speech, on proposing her health, in which he
said : ' En portant ce toast en leur presence, a bord
du vaisseau de I'Amiral Frangais, dans le port de
Cherbourg, je suis heureux de montrer les sentiments
qui nous animent envers eux. En effet, les faits
parlent d'eux-memes, et ils prouvent que les passions
hostiles, aidees par quelques incidents malheureux,
n'ont pu alterer ni 1'amitie qui existe entre les deux
couronnes, ni le desir des deux peuples de rester en
paix. Aussi ai-je le ferme espoir que si on voulait
reveiller les rancunes et les passions d'une autre
epoque, elles viendraient echouer devant le bon sens
publique, comme les vagues se brisent devant la
digue qui protege en ce moment contre la violence
de la mer les escadrons des deux empires.' Prince
Albert replied in a similar spirit.
1858 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 145
I see no use in this intimacy between Sovereigns.
It may lead to great inconvenience and cannot be of
any real value to either party. I hear from a person
in attendance, that both Sovereigns were tres genes
and ill at ease the whole time of the visit, which I
think natural.
The populace was very cold towards the Queen,
evincing neither empressement nor curiosity, which
evidently struck.
Poor dear Lady Carlisle died on Saturday at
Castle Howard, where she had been living for two or
three years in very feeble health. She was one of
the gentlest and most loveable of human creatures,
and will be deeply mourned by her children, who
were all devotedly attached to her.
The news of the success of the attempt to lay the
Atlantic cable reached London on Thursday. The
two vessels bearing the cable had reached their
respective destinations in Trinity Bay, Newfoundland,,
and Valentia Bay, Ireland; the cable all the time
speaking for its continuity by the transmission of
signals. The news of this wonderful event reached
Cherbourg in the midst of the fetes, and was hailed
with acclamations from the English vessels. With
the exception of one day, the weather had been
unfavourable to the enterprise the whole time.
August 16, Sunday. Yesterday, about three
o'clock, a most extraordinary and almost sudden dark-
ness spread itself over the town ; so dense and black
was it as to render it quite impossible to see without
candles. This lasted about twenty minutes and was
the more curious from there being no appearance of
fog, the atmosphere remaining clear all the time. A
deluge of rain succeeded this eclipse, and came down
III. L
146 LEAVES FROM THE 1858
with such violence that it broke into my roof and
ceilings.
There have been some remarkable speeches made
lately on the subject of Cherbourg by Eoebuck, and
Lindsay the shipowner, who is a clever man. He
admits that, on first seeing the works at Cherbourg,
he felt some degree of alarm, but that, on further
examination and comparison of the relative strength
of the Powers represented at Cherbourg, he finds
that, while France now immensely outweighs England
in the power of her arsenal for creating and equip-
ping fleets, while she can bring 100,000 men by rail
from Paris, and in six hours throw them on the
coast of England from the great port whence ships
can depart at all hours of the tide, France still
exhibits no conspicuous power of breeding sailors.
Her marines cannot man yards like Englishmen,
and her shipbuilders cannot turn out so powerful
a vessel. The Channel, therefore, according to Mr.
Lindsay, is the safe and natural wall of Great
Britain. Eoebuck considers Cherbourg an immense
armament for defence, but useless for aggression.
August 21, Hinchingbrook, Saturday. After pass-
ing two nights at Panshanger, I came here on
Wednesday. No one here but the Blackwoods.
The Atlantic cable is now in full play. A
message was sent yesterday from Newfoundland,
stating that there had been a collision at sea
between the ' Europe ' and the ' Arabia.' A question
was then put from this side as to the damage done.
The message was despatched at five yesterday,
and the answer was received at half-past seven,
stating that no lives were lost. This (though by no
means so quick as it will be) seems the acme of all
1858 DIAEY OF HENRY GREVILLE 147
that is wonderful. Almost the first use of the cable
was made in transmitting messages of congratulation
between the Queen and the President of the United
States.
Marshal MalakhofF, who has of late made himself
ridiculous in society, and conspicuous for his coarse
and vulgar manners, which appear to be a mixture
of those of a calicot and a corporal, is about to
marry a Mdlle. Panieja, who lives with the Countess
Montijo, and whom I saw with her at Paris.
Henry Blackwood, 1 who is just returned from
Berlin, says the Princess Eoyal has won all hearts
there. The Queen has been very well received by
all classes there. The King does not make any pro-
gress towards recovery, and it is supposed that, on
the expiration of his present term of office, his
brother will be declared Eegent.
August 25, Tunbridge Wells, Wednesday. I left
Hinchingbrook yesterday, passed through London,
and came here on a short visit to Lady Abercorn. I
had not seen this place for thirty-five years, when I
came with John and George Bentinck 2 from London
to pass the day and ride with Lord Grey and his
daughters. Since that time the place has become
three times as large, but has lost none of its beauty.
To-day we drove to South Park and passed some
hours with the Hardinges. Lady Hardinge, nee
Bingham, 3 has inherited the beauty of her parents,
and the charm of it is enhanced by her apparent
1 He was a queen's messenger ; married Lady Amelia Capel, who
survived him many years.
2 John the fifth Duke of Portland, and the famous Lord George
Bentinck, my uncle's first cousins.
3 Lady Lavinia Bingham, second daughter of the celebrated Earl
of Lucan.
T, 2
148 LEAVES FROM THE 1858
unconsciousness of it. The Abercorns (she awaiting
her confinement of her fourteenth child) are esta-
blished in a lovely place called ' Chancellor House/
once occupied by the famous Judge Jeffreys.
August 27, Brighton, Friday. A remarkable
speech has just been pronounced by Persigny on the
opening of the Conseil General of his department, in
which, after seeking to prove that France has no
choice but between Bourbon and Buonaparte, and
that the former is to France what Stuart was to
England, he enters into the foreign policy of France
and the alliance with England, speaking of it in a
manner which, as having regard to the circumstances
under which he left England, is both true and
gracious. He states that England, at the close of
the last war with France, had completed the conquest
of the maritime and colonial supremacy which was
the object of her desires, that she now enjoys that
supremacy beyond dispute, and that if she were
again to terminate a successful war with France, the
only result would be the maintenance of what she
already has that the two nations are now bound
by common interests, that the destruction of London
or Paris would be felt in private pecuniary losses ;
whilst a catastrophe occurring at St. Petersburg,
Berlin, or Vienna, would excite in France but senti-
ments of commiseration ; in London, on the contrary,
French interests would suffer almost as much as in
Paris itself.
Persigny had also the courage and fairness to
confess that, in making peace with Eussia, England
was influenced rather by the situation of France
than by her own. This is a very bold avowal for
a Frenchman to make, and (if permitted) will call
1858 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 149
forth much abuse on the head of Persigny from the
French press. Such fair sentiments are so rare in
the mouths of Frenchmen towards England, that it is
suspected that Persigny, anxious to pave his return
to the London Embassy, has condescended to be
prompted by Palmerston and Clarendon, who have
both been lately at Paris. The former is still there,
and has been received at St. Cloud by the Emperor
with great urbanity.
I came to Brighton yesterday to see Mrs. Brad-
shaw, who with her children and grandchildren is
passing the winter here. I have not seen her since
the calamity which befell her two years ago in the
total loss of sight. She bears it with a resignation
and cheerfulness beyond all praise. This place is not
more agreeable to me than it ever was. Noise, glare,
wind, dust, a perpetual grinding up and down the
crowded cliffs the only pastime. I never can sleep
here.
September 4, Hatchford, Saturday. I spent two
nights at St. Anne's, 1 and came here on Monday last.
Persigny's speech at the eleventh hour has
appeared in all the principal French papers, and for
the most part has been dealt with in a fair spirit.
The Queen returned from Germany by Dover, on
Tuesday last. A petition signed by all the principal
men of Canada has been sent over to H. M. praying
that she will be pleased to visit those provinces on
the occasion of the opening of a Crystal Palace at
Toronto, or, if this be impossible, that she would
1 The pretty place near Chertsey, full of memorials of Charles
James Fox, who lived there and planted the fine cedar in the garden,
brought thither by Mrs. Fox in her carriage. The place descended to
Lord Holland, who married Lady Maria Coventry.
150 LEAVES FROM THE 1858
send one of the members of the Eoyal Family to
represent her. It might be well if she could, and
were disposed to accede to this request, but the
moment for making it is not well chosen, since the
Canadian Legislature has just thrown out the project
for making Ottawa the seat of government, after
having spontaneously submitted the decision to the
Queen. A ministerial crisis was the consequence,
and an attempt to form a new government, which
having failed, the former government is reinstated,
but they are obliged to give up the point as
determined upon by the Queen, which, after having
agreed to abide by her decision, borders on an
insult.
September 5, Sunday. Walked to Cobham this
morning to hear Mr. Eowsell, incumbent of Stepney l
(now here on a holiday, and doing Mr. Loring's duty),
preach. He is a remarkable man, and his great
merit as a parish priest, and his admirable tact in
dealing with the people committed to his charge,
may be judged of by the evidence he gave before
a committee of the House of Lords, instituted to
enquire into the spiritual destitution of the metro-
polis. I thought his sermon excellent, and admirably
adapted to his congregation.
Lord Stanley was sworn in Secretary for India on
Thursday.
Prince Alfred has passed a good examination as
naval cadet, and is about to join the ' Euryalus/
Captain Tarleton.
September 7, Tuesday. I have read letters from
Lady Canning stating that Canning was determined
to remain at his post, to defend and pursue
1 St. Peter's. Stepney.
1858 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 151
steadily his own policy, and to leave it to the
Government to recall him if they thought fit. She
hopes that long before this his answer to Lord
Ellenborough's despatch had been made public, and
that his friends would be convinced that he had
taken the right view of matters there. She believed
that he would be found as right in this matter as on
the ' clemency ' question, and she is convinced that
nothing will so effectually neutralise the doings of
Lord Ellenborough as that Canning should remain at
his post, steadily pursuing his present course. It
is needless to record that the Government has not
made public Canning's answer. An amended pro-
clamation (in Lord E.'s sense) had appeared in the
Bombay papers, which .has since been declared to
be a forgery.
An amusing letter from Fanny Kemble, dated
Nahant (U.S.), 1 received to-day, says: 'How you
would open your eyes and stop your ears if you
were here ! This enormous house is filled with
American women, one prettier than the other, who
look like fairies, dress like duchesses or femmes
entretenues, behave like housemaids, and scream like
peacocks.'
The will of the Duchess of Orleans, having been
proved at Doctors' Commons, has found its way into
the English newspapers. It is a touching and
remarkable document, and is a sort of echo of that
of her husband. One effect it will inevitably
produce, and that is to put an end to the fusion, if
that project still retained any life. The French press
has been forbidden to insert or to allude to the will.
September 18, Frognal, Saturday. I came here
1 A favourite sea-bathing place near Boston.
152 LEAVES FKOM THE 1858
on Tuesday. When in London I went to the Hay-
market, and was disgusted with the gross vulgarity of
the actors and actresses. Our stage makes no pro-
gress in this respect or any other.
I found the Eokebys, Miss Foley, and Pat Talbot.
Mr. 1 and Mrs. G. Glyn dined here one day, and I
was much struck by her beauty and her natural and
agreeable manner.
John Fortescue came yesterday, in a very un-
satisfactory state of health, and going shortly to
Madeira.
The newspapers are full of amusing accounts of
the signature of the Chinese Treaty, which has been
brought home by Frederick Bruce. 2 Elgin seems to
have conducted this affair with considerable skill,
and not without having encountered difficulty and
impediments thrown in his way by the languid
assistance of the Admirals, details of which I read
in a very interesting letter written by Henry Loch to
Tom Ashburnham.
The weather has been splendid for the last
fortnight, attributed by some to the comet 3 which
has lately made its appearance.
The Atlantic cable has come to a standstill, a
breakage having occurred, where it is not ascertained,
but feared to be irremediable. The shares have
accordingly fallen enormously. In the meanwhile
great banquets and rejoicings are going on in the
United States to celebrate the submarine communi-
cation between the New and the Old World, at one of
which our Minister, Lord Napier, made a very good
1 The second Lord Wolverton. He married Miss Tufnell.
2 Brother of Lord Elgin.
3 Donati's cornet, of marvellous splendour and brilliancy.
1858 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 153
speech, which was rapturously applauded. He
is doing very well in the II. States and is very
popular.
September 23, ffatchford, Thursday. I came
here on Monday.
This day's second post brought the sad news of
Lady Clanwilliam's death, which has shocked and
grieved us more than I can say, and all the more
that on Monday last my mother received a letter
from Clanwilliam to say that, as perhaps she might
hear that his wife was ill, he wrote to tell her she had
been attacked by a bilious symptomatic fever, and
had been obliged to halt at an inn in a place called
Taynuilt, on the road from Dunrobin to Inverary ; that
this illness had been attended with great prostration
of strength, loss of appetite, and depression, but
that, by the report of the doctor, she was progress-
ing favourably in all respects, and if we did not
hear again we might consider no news as good news.
This letter was closed at 6 P.M. on Saturday. On
Monday evening she expired.
I am sincerely grieved to know of an event which
will affect so many of my friends. Clanwilliam and
I have always been on terms of friendship, but this
year I have seen much of them both, and have been
able to appreciate her charming nature. I have
never met with a more frank, open-hearted woman,
one more full of sympathy, and with these solid
qualities she had much cultivation, and was full
of knowledge of all sorts, and took interest in many
things which women in general do not care for, and
which gave a charm to her intercourse.
It is now proposed that the * Great Eastern,' which
has been offered for sale to the Government, shall be
154 LEAVES FROM THE 1858
finished, and the necessary funds are to be raised by
an issue of more shares, which the present holders
will have the option of taking at par, and in the
prospectus put forth a dividend of fifteen per cent, is
confidently held out as probable ! A gross delusion,
I suspect.
Sailors, in general, do not doubt the success
of the ship in a sea point of view, though their
faith in its paying the original shareholders is not
so strong. The proposal made to the public is the
formation of a new company to be called ' The Great
Steamship Company, Limited/ with a capital of
300,000/., in shares of II. each 21. [2.] to be paid at
once, 31. [3s.] on the completion of the contract for the
purchase of the ship, and the remainder in three calls
of five shillings each, at intervals of two months. She
is to trade with America.
September 26, Sunday. Mrs. Austin 1 was here
the other day, and told me Lord Brougham had
written to her that the will of the Duchess of
Orleans had made a great sensation in France,
wherever it had been read, not only for its noble
sentiments, but also for the admirable French in which
it was written.
Lord Brougham was occupied last week in inau-
gurating a statue of Sir Isaac Newton at Grantham,
the seat of his early education. He made a very
fine speech, containing a survey of Newton's career,
and of all that it suggests in a collateral sense, with
a vigour and lucidity marvellous for a man in his
eightieth year.
Frederick Bruce has been to Balmoral to take the
1 Mother of Lady Duff-Gordon, whose ' Letters from Egypt ' are so
well known.
1858 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 155
Chinese Treaty for the signature of Her Majesty.
The commercial world is indignant that the text has
not officially been communicated to the public, and
the more so because the terms of the French Treaty
have been published in the ' Moniteur.'
Colonel Bruce, 1 Elgin's brother, is appointed
governor to the Prince of Wales.
October 11, Worsley. I came here from Hil-
lingdon on the 5th.
Canning's answer to Lord Ellenborough has at
last been published. It combines personal dignity
with strong argument. It meets with universal
success.
Charles Wellesley, 2 who has been for the last
year gradually declining, died on Saturday of brain
fever.
October 27, London, Wednesday. I returned to
London on the 25th. There were some scientific
meetings at Liverpool and Manchester, at which John
Eussell, Shaftesbury, and Carlisle spoke. There was
a special soiree for John Eussell at the Athenaeum
at Manchester, merely for the purpose of hearing
him speak, and for no specific object. He was
listened to, but other speakers who were invited
were exceedingly tedious and diffuse, and the public
hissed.
Sir James Brooke, 3 who was one of the invited,
had an attack of paralysis.
1 The Hon. Robert Bruce, who married Sir Michael Shaw Stewart's
sister.
'* Lord Charles Wellesley, only brother of the second Duke, and
father of Henry third Duke of Wellington. He had been blind for
some years before his death, and bore this affliction with the greatest
cheerfulness and resignation.
8 The first Rajah of Sarawak in Borneo.
156 LEAVES FROM THE 1858
Yesterday I attended Valletort * and Katie
Hamilton's wedding at St. James's, and a breakfast
after it at Chesterfield House. She looked beautiful,
and I was struck by the perfect demeanour of both
bride and bridegroom. There was a great display of
presents. Those of royalty were not remarkable for
magnificence or good taste.
Lord Eglinton marries Lady Adela Capel, and
Ashburton, Miss Stewart Mackenzie.
November 2, Tuesday. Prince Alfred has sailed
in the 'Euryalus.' He is treated like every other
midshipman when on board, and great pains have
been taken to ensure the appointment of a good set
of officers.
November 5, H&tchford, Wednesday. I came
here to-day. The papers are filled with letters from
Japan, giving very amusing details of Elgin's expedi-
tion to Jeddo, and of the place and its inhabitants.
The city is said to be larger than London, to consist
of 2,000,000 inhabitants, to be beautifully situated,
and to be remarkable for the enormous size of its
buildings, many of which, in the aristocratic dis-
trict, can contain 10,000 people. The palace of the
Emperor is situated on an eminence surrounded by a
moat eighty yards wide, and by a cyclopean wall,
beyond the precincts of which he never emerges, and
it is capable of containing 40,000 souls ! Some good
fortifications were discovered, and ships were lying
in the harbour. The people seem to be courteous,
and extremely clean, forming in this respect a
remarkable contrast to the Chinese. They appear to
1 Lord Valletort, eldest son of the Earl of Mount-Edgcumbe, and
Lady Katherine Hamilton, fourth daughter of the (then) Marquis of
Abercorn.
1858 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 157
be a droll mixture of high civilisation and primitive
simplicity. As a proof of the former, the power of
steam, the electric telegraph, telescopes, thermometers,
and barometers are known, and in use, while the
latter is shown by ladies being constantly seen tubbing
themselves at the doors of their houses. The officers
who excursed into the interior were everywhere civilly
treated, and found charming residences with beautiful
gardens and the land very much cultivated. The
authorities, at first, requested Elgin to retire, but
on his refusing, and insisting on carrying on to
Jeddo the steam yacht he was charged to present
to the Emperor, they acquiesced with a good grace,
and showed him every respect, and concluded the
treaty between Japan and Great Britain without
difficulty.
November 5, Friday. I hear from Paris that
public attention there is entirely engrossed by a trial
about to come on, in which Montalembert is the
defendant against the Government.
In the monthly periodical called the * Corre-
spondant ' there has appeared an article on England
and India, written by Montalembert (' Un Debat sur
1'Inde '), which caused the immediate seizure of the
pamphlet on the ground that it attacked the principle
of universal suffrage, the right of authority with
which the Emperor is invested by the constitution,
and the respect due to the laws. The author and
publisher are further charged with attempting to
excite the people to hatred and contempt of govern-
ment, and endeavouring to disturb the public peace.
Some of the sentences run thus : ' Finding the foul
marasma sweeping over me, and my ears tingling
with the low tittle-tattle of anti-chambrery, and the
158 LEAVES FROM THE 1858
yells of fanatics who think themselves our masters,
or hypocrites who think we are their dupes, suffocated
by the servile and corrupting miasmata of a loathsome
atmosphere, I left France for England, to take a bath
of fresh air. After attending a debate on India,
I came forth from this august spectacle, full of
emotion, as might any man, who looks to a Govern-
ment as something above a lackey's waiting-room,
and who seeks in a civilised nation something better
than a flock of sheep, only fit for the shears, or to
be led to nibble in silence, under the shadow of
an enervating security.'
4 And returning to France ' (after contrasting the
colonial policy of England with that of Spain, he
goes on to say :) ' Happy country and happy clergy,
whose organ gives such sound information in such
decorous phraseology,' and he then attacks the
ignoble theories now in vogue among the scribes,
' who interlard visions of the Virgin with scurrilous
invectives against the grandeur of Great Britain.'
Every exertion has been made to buy up every
copy of this pamphlet. The indictment against
Montalembert and his publishers consists of three
counts : (1) for impeaching the results of universal
suffrage, (2) for exciting hatred amongst classes of
Frenchmen, (3) for seeking to change the constitution
of France.
Montalembert has been summoned to Paris, to
appear before the Court on the preliminary proceed-
ings. If found guilty, he may be imprisoned, or even
(it is said, but I doubt it) he may be sent to Algeria
or elsewhere. He intends to defend himself.
Gladstone, to every one's surprise, has accepted
the appointment of Lord High Commissioner Extra-
1858 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 159
ordinary of the Ionian Islands, and is to proceed there
on Monday, with the mission of endeavouring to
settle the differences between the Ionian Parliament
and the British Government. It is said that Gladstone
has been chosen from his known love of Greece, its
language, poetry, and history (all very bad reasons,
as it appears to me). The more likely cause of the
selection is the hope that Derby by this side wind
may attach Gladstone to his car.
I suspect the appointment not to be a wise one,
and that Gladstone has not the tact and knowledge
of the world which are so necessary for managing
men.
November 10, Wednesday. The Prince of Wales's
birthday was celebrated at Windsor yesterday. He
was gazetted colonel in the army. His tutor Gibbs
retired, and Bruce entered into his service.
Lord Derby made a very clever and moderate
speech at the Mansion House last night. He declined
entering upon the future policy of the Government,
and confined himself to contrasting the present
prosperous state of the country at home and abroad
with that of this time last year, but without taking
credit for it to the Government. He also passed
a warm eulogy on Elgin. This speech has been
described not inaptly by the ' Spectator,' a paper
not prone to praise anything emanating from Derby,
as ' manly in tone, lucidly simple in expression,
courteous, independent, playful at times, serious for
the most part, cheerful, frank and modest ; and yet
few compositions that have flowed from the same
mouth, with all the evidence of unrehearsed eloquence,
have more accurately hit the mark at which they
were aimed.'
160 LEAVES FROM THE 1858
Gladstone has departed on his mission, and is
accompanied by Mr. Lacaita, as his private secretary.
Some light has been thrown on this affair by a
despatch which has been published of Sir John
Young, the present Lord High Commissioner, who
suggests that England should abandon all the Ionian
Islands except Corfu, which we should retain and
colonise, and render it one of the stations which we
require in various parts of the world for the protec-
tion of English soil, which is for ever wandering on
the seas, viz. our commercial shipping. He says
that he has to a certain extent by great exertion and
with infinite difficulty succeeded in obviating anarchy
and sedition in the Ionian Parliament, but without,
in fact, having settled any of the difficulties of the
Ionian Islands. They complain, he says, of no con-
stitutional grievances or abuse of power on our part,
but -they detest the English protectorate, and wish
to be transferred to the kingdom of Greece. Corfu
alone does not share in this desire, and as the other
islands do not pay their expenses, and are of no
material benefit to England, Sir John is come to
the conclusion that we had better retire from the
protectorate and deal with Corfu in the manner
above alluded to, the permanent possession of which
would be an effectual check to any project of conquest
of the neighbouring Turkish provinces by Austria,
as the possession of Gibraltar and Malta was formerly
found to be to the conquest of Spain and Sicily
respectively by France.
All this may be very true, but it is an extra-
ordinarily unfair and ill-judged proceeding to have
published this despatch, which, when its purport
becomes known at Corfu, must enormously add to
1858 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 161
the difficulty of Gladstone's mission, if not make it
hopeless. It is impossible to imagine the motive for
publishing this despatch at this moment.
November 15, Monday. The cold surpasses all
I ever felt before at this season ; a hurricane of
N.E. wind has blown unceasingly for the last three
O /
days.
I went to the play with Lady Elizabeth BulteeL
Charles Mathews, lately returned from America, very
droll in a piece called ' He would be an Actor.' All
the others vulgar and exaggerated. Edward Sartoris,
just come from Paris, tells me that Montalembert's
trial is to be a huis clos, which is of a piece with
all the rest. The pamphlet is wonderfully eloquent
and gives a most graphic account of the famous
' Debat sur 1'Inde.'
November 17, Wednesday. Lunched with Mrs.
Anson, who told me of the dreadful accident which
had befallen Lord Bradford's daughters, of which
she had received the details this morning from Lady
Newport. They were standing by the fire in Lady
Newport's room whilst she was undressing to go to
bed ; the muslin gown of one of them caught fire,
and in a moment she was in a blaze. The other
sister, in endeavouring to extinguish the flames,,
caught fire, and they were both so fearfully burnt
before Lady Newport could assist them that their
lives are despaired of. Lady Newport would pro-
bably have been burnt also but for a lace shawl
which she wore, and which did not catch fire so
quickly, and she escaped with a few burns. New-
port on hearing the cries rushed into the room, and
in endeavouring to put out the flames was much
burnt in the hands, hair, and eyelashes.
III. M
162 LEAVES FROM THE 1858
The Palmerstons and Clarendons are gone to
Compiegne.
November 18, Thursday. I took leave to day of
Karolyi, who is ordered to Vienna, and is to be pro-
moted to a mission. He is an excellent fellow ; in
many ways resembling his poor brother, 1 which
would be quite reason enough for my feeling a
regard for him, did not his own good qualities
attach me to him. I regret his departure very
much.
November 19, Friday. The Bishop of London
(Dr. Tait) delivered his primary charge in St. Paul's
on Wednesday last, to an immense congregation of
the clergy and laity assembled in the dome, which
has lately been fitted up for special afternoon service.
The charge took five hours in delivery. The topics
which it specifically considers are remuneration of
the clergy, Church rates, training of curates,
authority of the priest, confession; the case of Mr.
Alfred Poole ; the Bishop's own view of confession,
dangers of the young clergy, sermons, extent of the
metropolitan parishes, home diocesan missions, special
services in Exeter Hall, services for the poor, the
opening of St. Paul's and Westminster Abbey, and
many others. On all these subjects he took a broad
and, above all, a practical view, and nothing could
be more firm, and at the same time more moderate,
than his tone throughout, and the charge has been
universally commended.
Dr. Tait, in reference to the authority of the
priest, confession, &c., pointed out the unwisdom
of an extreme rigour, as opposed to the excessive
1 Count Laszlo Karolyi, who died of consumption, one of my
uncle's greatest friends. Ed.
1858 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 163
observance of the ritual, and to the retention of the
cathedrals by the Eeformed Church, as an evidence
that the reformers, in abolishing the redundant
furniture of the corrupted Church, still desired to
retain the sublime ornaments of religion. He how-
ever condemned floral decorations, bowings, and
genuflexions, and the burning of candles in the day-
time, and reminded his hearers that clergymen who
strayed into these observances might be con-
scientious, but were weak, and needed to be advised.
In investigating the authority of the priest, he
represented him as the interpreter of the Word,
but condemned that kind of teaching which would
convert the sacraments into superstitious charms,
and make the clergy spiritual despots over the laity.
He contrasted isolated passages of our great divines,
upholding the priests' ' absolving power,' with the
tenor of those more moderate sentiments which we
find breathing through the works quoted, when we
view them as a whole. He was ready to advise all
who would consult him frankly, but intimated that
no advice could be obtained from him which could
sanction practices which were unfaithful to the
whole spirit of the Church of which he is minister ;
such as exaggerated attention to sacred vestments
and ceremonies and the like. He believed the
upholders of such things to be exceptional in their
number, and declining in their influence, and he
looked to public opinion and to the feeling of the
great body of the clergy as the best counteractive of
these encroachments.
November 21, Sunday. I met Clarendon to-day,
just arrived from Compiegne, about which he was
very amusing. The Emperor was particularly cordial,
M 2
164 LEAVES FEOM THE 1858
and talked very openly to him on all matters.
Walewski and Co. thought it ' tres interessant, et
meme curieux,' that Clarendon and Palmerston
should hold the same language out of office as
when they were in power ! Very different no doubt
from their own practice under similar circumstances.
Clarendon was much struck by the extreme magnifi-
cence of the establishment, and at the ' Chasse.' For
the latter, it was clear that game had been sent from
some of the other imperial preserves. Clarendon had
seen Malmesbury and had told him everything that
had passed between himself and the Emperor, which
had pleased M. very much.
I went to take leave of Miss Foley, 1 who is going
abroad for her health, and heard there that a telegram
had brought the news of Lady Hastings's 2 death at
Eome of paralysis. Her son is a minor. Lord Howe
is his guardian.
November 22, Monday. Called on Lady Wharn-
cliffe, where I met Henry Loch, who was with Elgin
in China and Japan, and brought over the treaty from
the latter. He appears to be a very intelligent and
agreeable man, and his account of his sojourn at
Jeddo was very curious and amusing. The mixture
of gross barbarism and of high civilisation is most
remarkable. He was particularly struck by the
courtesy of the people, which was never transgressed
but on one occasion, when they were pelted with
stones by a few people during a ride through the
suburbs. This circumstance was reported to the
1 The Hon. Adelaide Foley, sister of Lord Foley, a most charming
and popular member of society. She died at the age of thirty-nine,
deeply regretted. She had then been married for a short time to the
well-known General ' Tom ' Ashburnham.
2 Barbara Yelverton. Baroness Grey de Buthin in her own right.
1858 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 165
Government, an inquiry instituted and apology made.
Loch thinks them a shrewd and intelligent people,
and that this was evinced in all their dealings with
the Embassy. He believes that they will adhere to
the provisions of the treaty, because they see clearly
how advantageous it will be to them, and also be-
cause they entertain a great jealousy of Eussia, and
think we may be a protection to them against that
Power. Frederick Bruce is appointed Ambassador to
Pekin.
November 25, Thursday. Dined yesterday with
the Sartor is'. She told me a droll story of Miss
Marsh (a lady who occupies herself in attempting to
convert navvies) and of Mr. Spurgeon, the celebrated
dissenting preacher. The lady was about to get into
a railway carriage to proceed on a journey when the
guard whispered to her that the famous Mr. Spurgeon
was seated in the same carriage. He soon entered
into conversation with Miss Marsh, and on passing a
distant village, and pointing to it, he said, ' Perhaps,
Madam, you are not aware that that small spot is
remarkable as being the birthplace of the celebrated
Mr. Spurgeon.' ' Indeed ! ' she replied. ' Pray, sir, may
I ask you, do you think that if St. Paul happened to
be travelling with us and had passed the place where
he was born, that he would have pointed out the
fact to us ? ' A capital reproof adroitly bestowed.
Montalembert's case was tried yesterday at the
Correctional Police. The pleading lasted six hours
and a half, and the tribunal deliberated for an hour
on the verdict, which sentences Montalembert to six
months' imprisonment and to a fine of 3,000 francs.
The editor of the ' Correspondant ' is condemned to one
month's imprisonment and a fine of 1,000 francs. No
166 LEAVES FROM THE 1858
shorthand writers were allowed in court, and there is
a stinging article on the subject in the ' Times ' of
to-day.
Lord Lyons died yesterday at Arundel Castle in
his sixty-seventh year. He was a man of enterprise
and dash in his profession, with a considerable amount
of administrative ability, which was shown by the
manner in which he carried out the naval expedition
to the Crimea, and I believe it was mainly owing
to his advice that Balaklava was made the basis of
all our operations. After the Balaklava charge, the
engineers considered that the loss of our redoubts in
our own rear, and which had lately been held by the
Turks, made it advisable that we should abandon that
position and concentrate our strength on the plateau.
Lord Lyons however was of a contrary opinion, and
considered that the evacuation of Balaklava meant
the evacuation of the Crimea, and, after a discussion
with Lord Eaglan, he obtained his consent to
countermand the order, and there is no doubt that in
doing so he saved the army from a great disaster.
November 27, Saturday. Lady Charlotte Bridg-
man died of lockjaw yesterday, caused by her
burns.
November 28, Sunday. A magnificent sermon
from Brookfield. The chapel was half empty. He
lately said to a friend of mine, ' Believe me, that in
our church there is a large demand for dulness.' I
think he is quite right.
Our newspapers, of all parties, comment severely
on the infamy and folly of the prosecution of
Montalembert. The 'Spectator' justly says: 'The
body of the offences charged consisted mainly, if not
exclusively, in certain passages applauding England,
1858 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 16 <
her parliamentary system, and her manner of con-
ducting public business. There were indeed many
passages in the pamphlet which comprised strictures
on the English, more or less correct, but no doubt
the mere drift of his composition was to applaud our
parliamentary system, especially for affording the
people the means of governing their own affairs,
for securing a complete disclosure of all conflicting
sentiments, and for producing, by the exhaustion of
differences, a general concord in society, with a strong
convergence of public opinion and action in support
of the actual Government. The Count has in turn
been in favour of Jesuitism, of the Emperor, in fact
of any cause which, at the moment, bore a romantic
aspect, and was not exactly accepted by the con-
stitutional authorities. His lucubration, therefore,
was eminently calculated to pass without more notice
than any other clever essay. The effect of the
threatened prosecution was to give his paper a
greatly stimulated circulation in France, and to
procure for it, in four several forms, universal
circulation in England.'
November 30, Tuesday. The Ionian despatch
which has made so much noise, and the publication
of which was so mischievous, turns out to have been
stolen from the Colonial Office by a Mr. Wellington
Greville Guernsey, who has been committed for trial.
He is a rejected applicant for a Government office,
and was in the habit of visiting Mr. Miller, the librarian
to whose charge this important despatch had been
entrusted, and who, instead of locking it up, merely
placed it on his table under a weight. Guernsey,
according to the evidence, came and saw the papers
lying on Miller's table, remained sometimes an hour,
]G8 LEAVES FKOM THE 1858
sometimes more, and was frequently left alone in the
room ! It is only wonderful that more disclosures
of State affairs do not occur, if these are the loose
habits of the officials to whose care State papers are
confided. Mr. Miller has been twenty-three years in
the Colonial Office.
December 5, Friday. The other daughter of
Lord Bradford, who was so much burnt, died this
morning after much suffering.
Lord Haddington died on Wednesday last at
Teyningham in his seventy -eighth year. He was an
excellent, kind-hearted man, with rather a sharp
manner. I used to meet him often at the Wharncliffes'
and liked his society. Without brilliant talents, he
was endowed with good sense and judgment, and
partly owing to this, and still more perhaps to his
former close intimacy with and worship of Mr.
Canning, he was at different times appointed to
several important offices. He filled those of Lord-
Lieutenant of Ireland, First Lord of the Admiralty,
and Privy Seal, and I believe was offered the govern-
ment of India. He had no children, and is succeeded
by a cousin, Mr. Baillie, who married Miss Georgiana
Markham, a great Yorkshire beauty in my dancing
days.
Montalembert's sentence has been remitted, and
the pardon of the Emperor been given on the
occasion of December 2. Montalembert, however,
declines to accept it until the result of the appeal be
known. I met Lord Lansdowne at dinner to-day at
Flahault's. Both he and F. considered the whole
affair as an egregious mistake. There is a clever
article in the ' Times ' attributing the annulling of
the sentence to the influence of the press of this
1858 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 169
country on the mind of the Emperor. ' Why,' it says,
' should the Emperor regard the opinion of England ?
why should he condescend for a moment to listen to
the voice of the English press ? Simply because he
cannot help it. He has dwelt among us. He knows
the independence with which English feeling is
formed, and the openness with which it is expressed.
He has striven to make his own will the only rule
and guide of his actions, but he cannot do it. He is
driven by a tendency which he cannot master, to
seek for a standard of right and wrong external to
himself. And that standard, the man who has
carried despotism over a civilised nation to an extent
which the world has never witnessed before, finds,
after all, in despite of himself, in the honest voice of
a free people.'
The ' Times,' containing reports of the trial, has
been suppressed for some days in Paris ; but the
Emperor, of course, reads it regularly every morning.
December 6, Monday. Called on Lady Shaftes-
bury, who told me that Clementina Villiers had died
last night at six o'clock. Lady S. had met Ferguson
in the train on his way to Middleton on Saturday,
when she asked him if he considered the case hope-
less. He said no, but that it presented some mys-
terious features, and he was anxious to watch it
throughout a whole day. She had been mending the
last three days, but on Sunday morning she was
seized by a sudden paroxysm of pain, under which
she rapidly sank. It is miserable to think of those
two old people thus bereft of the pride and joy of
their life.
December 7, Tuesday. The Indian proclamation
is a very well-written document, in a clear and
170 LEAVES FROM THE 1858
simple style, and, as far as we know, has been well
received. Lady Canning writes cheerfully on the
general aspect of affairs.
December 9, Thursday. Dined with the Sartoris.
In the evening Dr. Bence Jones came. He was
asked if he had any faith in homoeopathy. None
whatever, he replied, in honest homoeopathy. There
is, and can be, no efficacy in infinitesimal doses ;
where the doses take effect, they must contain as
large doses as are generally given in allopathy.
However, it is a harmless delusion, except that
often valuable time is lost, because nature is left to
itself.
Bence Jones is in high repute, and seems to be a
kind and intelligent man. He married a daughter of
the late Lord Grosford.
I met to-day at dinner at the Flahaults', M. de
Malaret, first Secretary of the French Embassy. He
gave us some interesting details of the death of
Eossi, with whom he was at Eome. He said he
considered him to be a man of extraordinary intelli-
gence, and to be intimately acquainted with the
defects of the Papal Government, and with the real
wants of the people, and, had his life been spared,,
he had no doubt but that he would have rendered
eminent service to the Pope. On this account, it
had long been determined that he should not live.
Malaret said, ' Quant a sa belle mort dont on a tant
parle, il 1'a volee ! ' meaning that, although he had
been warned of the intended attempt, on the very
day it happened, so also he had been at least ' dix
fois par jour,' by anonymous letters, to which, not
believing them, he paid no attention. 'D'abord,'
said Malaret, ' il etait poltron comrne une vache,' and
1858 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 171
certainly, if he had had the least idea of danger, he
would not have exposed himself to it. The murder
was committed with wonderful skill and rapidity,
so much so that Eossi's secretary, who was with him,
and got out of the carriage immediately after Eossi,
first perceived what had happened by stumbling over
his corpse. Three men were concerned in it. One
man presented a petition, which made Eossi draw
his head on one side, whilst another put his fist in
his face, which made Eossi draw back, whilst the
third stuck a dagger into his neck. There were
several people standing near, who saw the act
committed in perfect silence.
The news soon spread, and reached Eossi's two
sons, who immediately rushed to the spot, and as
they passed through the crowd they were hissed and
hooted ! One of the young men, who had served in
the Pope's army, had a decoration, which he tore off
his breast and flung in the faces of the standers-by,
in a state of grief and rage not to be described. M.
de Malaret said they had discovered the assassin, but
that he was now dead.
December 16, Frognal, Thursday. I came here
on Monday,
Yesterday, Mr. Hudson 1 Guernsey was tried for
purloining the Ionian despatch. He was described as a
song- writer, late a captain in the Turkish Contingent,
and until his apprehension a candidate for employment
under Government. There was not the least doubt
that he had stolen the document, but his counsel,
while admitting that he had taken it ' through error,
passion, or folly,' denied that there was any proof
1 Mr. Greville a few pages back calls him Wellington Greville
Guernsey. I do not know which is right. Ed.
172 LEAVES FROM THE 1858
of the animus furandi, and on this plea, monstrous to
relate, they acquitted the prisoner. The prosecution
is said to have been unpopular because instituted by
the Government.
December 17, Friday. I heard by last night's
post from Mrs. Anson, with infinite regret, of the death
of Lady Wilton, which took place yesterday morning
from typhus, which had supervened on an attack of
rheumatic fever. She had suffered much, but died
peacefully in the presence of all her children. Few
people will be more universally regretted. She was
endowed with a strong mind and excellent sense,
which had enabled her to preserve an even and
dignified course in a very difficult and often painful
position. She was also full of admirable moral
qualities, and of active and judicious benevolence,
and had a particular talent for gaining the affections
of the poor, and of winning their confidence. Her
loss at Heaton will be irreparable. She was in her
fifty-eighth year.
December 20, Monday. Mrs. Anson and Alice,
Charles Baring, Dunkellin, and Tom Ashburnham
have formed our party here. We break up to-day.
December 21, Tuesday. I came to town yester-
day ; dined with Lady Elizabeth Bulteel, whose three
daughters have a great attraction for me. They
are so natural, clever, and well-bred. In the evening
Miss Browne (daughter of the late General Browne)
came and sang better than any English amateur
I ever heard.
To-night I went to hear an opera by Balfe called
4 Satanella,' at Covent Garden. Sad rubbish.
December 28, Hatchford. I came here yesterday.
I was very sorry to see the death of Countess Lavradio
1868 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 173
in the newspapers. She was wife to the Portuguese
Minister, and a very amiable woman ; universally
liked here, and who had attached herself very much
to this country.
The appeal of Montalembert was heard on Tuesday
by the Imperial Court. The judges, after deliberating
for two hours and a half, delivered their judgment,
which sentences M. de Montalembert to three months'
imprisonment and a fine of 3,000 francs. The term
of imprisonment awarded by the Police Correction-
nelle is thus reduced from six to three months, the
fine remaining unchanged. In France it is asserted
that this trial has excited little or no interest except
amongst the adherents of the Orleans family, and
that it is only here that it has made any sensation.
If this be so,, it is not creditable to France, but as
no reports of the trial or any comments upon the
matter have been allowed to circulate, it is probably
owing to the ignorance of the facts that this is the
case.
Berryer made a very effective speech, particularly
when defending his client for refusing the pardon of
the Emperor, in which, he said, he only had imitated
the Emperor himself, who had declared to M.
Berryer, when he defended H. M. in 1845, and when
he visited him in the fortress of Ham, that he should
not accept an amnesty from the Government of Louis
Philippe. He said it was not an act of clemency,
but an insult, and he rejected it. Montalembert,
and the printer of the ' Correspondant,' in which the
article appeared, have again been pardoned by decree
of the Emperor.
December 31, Friday. I have no words to express
what my feelings were on receiving the following
174 LEAVES FROM THE 1858
note from Charles, by second post, dated yesterday
evening : ' Conceive my grief and horror when Dick
Curzon came in just now to tell me that Mrs. Anson
is dead. All I know is, that she was taken ill
yesterday, and suffered great pain, and that she took
by mistake a great dose of laudanum, of which
she must have died almost immediately. Cecil l was
telegraphed for, and went down, and he brings this
account. Isabella 2 heard it on arriving in town
this afternoon. This finishes the dreary catalogue
of calamities that have happened this year, and it is
the very last thing I should have expected.'
The last thing indeed ! I never can forget what
I felt on reading this note. The calamity is so
aggravated by the circumstances under which it has
occurred. I think continually of what those poor
girls must have suffered during their poor mother's
last moments. I think of her as I saw her just before
starting for this place (Mr. Isted's) last Wednesday
week, full of life and vigour. I recall to mind our
long intimacy, and how she was associated with all
my early youth ; and how, latterly, we have been
constantly meeting, sometimes twice a day, and can
hardly believe I shall never look upon that sweet
and cheerful face again. There was such a natural
gaiety and cordiality about her, something so
attaching, that I hardly ever have seen the like in
any other woman. I feel entirely prostrated by this
event, and impatiently await details.
1 Cecil Forrester, her brother.
- Isabella, the eldest daughter, afterwards Countess Howe.
1859 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 175
1859
January 7, Saturday. It appears that poor
Mrs. Anson had an attack of gout in her hand, that
she was lying on her sofa and put out her hand to
take a draught from the drawer of the table without
looking. There were three of Meryon's draughts
which she was in the habit of taking, and one of
laudanum. This latter (not being aware that it
was in the drawer) she took by mistake, bolted it
down, and had no sooner swallowed it than, perceiv-
ing what she had done, she went downstairs and
informed some one sitting in the library what had
taken place, and asked for antidotes and assistance.
Every species of emetic was soon administered, but
without effect, and when the doctor arrived, the
stomach-pump was used, but all in vain. The poison
having been taken on an empty stomach was quickly
imbibed into the system. They tried by every
imaginable means to keep her awake, but nothing
was of any avail ; at 9 A.M. on Thursday morning she
expired ! My mind dwells upon the agony those poor
girls must have endured whilst these unavailing
attempts were making to save their poor mother's life !
The great anxiety now is for Lady Newport, who is
near her confinement, and who must be already nearly
worn out by the dreadful scenes she has gone through
at Weston. The telegram, addressed to Newport,
was taken to her, he being out. She opened it, and
her state may well be imagined !
January 5, London, Wednesday. I came here on
Monday. Every one, as may be supposed, is occu-
pied with this dreadful event. A coroner's inquest
was held at Ecton, but nothing new was elicited.
176 LEAVES FROM THE 1859
A speech made by the Emperor Napoleon on the
first day of the year to Baron Hiibner, the Austrian
Ambassador, at the reception of the Corps Diploma-
tique, has created a great sensation. The purport of
this speech, I believe, was that H. M. regretted that
the relations between Austria and France were not so
cordial as they had been, but he wished Mr. Hiibner
to assure his master that his personal feelings for
H.M. had undergone no change. The French Funds
immediately fell one per cent., and the feeling on our
Exchange is very uneasy. There is no doubt but
that a strong impression prevails that a crisis in Italian
affairs is at hand. Whether or no it will be hastened
by the Emperor Napoleon for his own objects, it is
quite impossible to say, but it is believed by many
who should be competent to form an opinion, that he
will not be sorry to find an opportunity of diverting
public attention in France from home subjects, by
presenting himself as the champion of Italy against
Austria. Many persons have long been persuaded
that he has been holding this card in reserve. In
Piedmont great excitement undoubtedly prevails,
and in Lombardy the detestation of Austria seems, if
possible, to increase. It is probable, therefore, that
before long a conflict will arise between Piedmont
and Austria, and if this be the case it is hardly to be
expected that the war will be confined to those two
Powers. The French Emperor, foreseeing this state
of things, which he has been mainly instrumental in
bringing about, has already interfered actively. He
has proposed to Austria to join with him in an attempt
to induce the Pope to make reforms in his States.
Austria, however, considering that this suggestion is
probably the beginning on the part of France of a
1859 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 177
system of interference in Italy, and never having
recognised France as an Italian Power, and feeling
considerable jealousy of her occupation of Eome, has
declined to join in any alliance whatsoever with her
for interference in Italian affairs. This explains the
Emperor's speech to Hiibner. Austria is persuaded
that this proposal as regards Eome is a mere blind,
and that the manner in which France has allowed her
aid to be invoked by the Piedmontese and disaffected
Lombards shows that she cannot count upon her
good- will generally.
Persigny, who is now in England, does not conceal
that the Emperor is hatching some projects in this
direction, nor does he make any secret of his disap-
proval of such policy.
Prince Napoleon is also averse to French inter-
ference in Italy or to anything likely to weaken
the English alliance, which a French invasion of
the Austro-Italian States, under whatsoever pretence,
could not fail to do.
January 9, Sunday. After the French Funds had
already fallen nearly three per cent., in consequence
of the Emperor's speech to Hiibner (and perhaps
also in consequence of a communication sent by
our Government to Paris, of which John Bidwell
was the bearer), the ' Moniteur ' of yesterday issued the
following paragraph :
' For some days public opinion has been agitated
by alarming reports to which it is the duty of the
Government to put an end, by declaring that no-
thing in our diplomatic relations authorises the fears
which these rumours tend to excite.'
The Funds, which had risen on the report that the
'Moniteur' was about to speak, immediately fell when the
in. x
178 LEAVES FROM THE 1859
above paragraph appeared, and although our Exchange
is not in so feverish a state, still considerable uneasi-
ness prevails.
I met Lady Chesterfield to-day, who gave me
many details of her sister's death. Her courage,
resignation, and energy were wonderful during those
fourteen hours. Lady C. appears quite broken down
by this calamity.
On Friday I went to consult White Cooper for
my eyes. He told me of the safe accouchement of
his wife, for the first time, after fourteen years'
marriage, during which time she had never shown
any symptoms of pregnancy, and after having
consulted every doctor of eminence, who all assured
him that it would be impossible for her to have a
child, or that, if it did happen, it must be fatal to her
life. He attributes this result to the Ems waters,
which have wrought a complete change in her con-
stitution.
January 10, Hatchford, Monday. I returned
here to-day. Before leaving London Charles told me
that he had determined upon resigning office. He
had long meditated doing so, and had only waited
until his period of service should entitle him to the
full retiring pension. His emoluments were 2,500/.
per annum, and he is to receive a retiring pension of
1,800. per an. I regret this determination, as I think
the office interested him more than he is aware of, by
bringing him in contact with men and subjects of
importance, and the office shackled him very little,
not nearly so much, in fact, as his racing, which he
is sure not to give up.
The ' Times ' has put forth some admirable
articles of late on the Emperor's speech to Hiibner
1859 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 179
and on 'his suspected policy towards Austria and
Italy. The article of to-day is wonderfully vigorous
and hits all the right nails on the head, showing up
the hollowness of the pretexts put forth, and utter-
ing some home truths which will be far from
palatable.
January 11, Tuesday. The King of Sardinia
opened his Parliament yesterday. He thanks them
for their concurrence with his government during
the last session, and which had contributed to the
consolidation of the national policy, and of progress.
After alluding to various home matters, he concludes
by saying that, although there was uncertainty in the
political horizon, one must await the future with
firmness ; for the future could not fail to be auspicious,
with a policy founded on justice and on a love of
liberty and of country. ' Piedmont is smallj he added,
4 but it is great in the councils of Europe, as well by
virtue of her principles ivhich it represents, as of the
sympathies which it inspires. Respect for treaties does
not render us insensible to the cry of grief in Italy.
We must await with resolution the degrees of pro-
vidence'
This speech, or rather the extracts from it, as given
by the telegraph, are both vague and aggressive.
Another fact that has come to light is the
marriage of Prince Napoleon with Prince Clothilde
of Sardinia, who in her sixteenth year is to be
sacrificed on this altar of political crime. It is
reported that on the occasion of the Prince Eoyal
of Naples' marriage, political prisoners are to be
liberated. Poerio and Settembrini are to be exiled.
This tardy act of justice may perhaps enable our
Government to resume diplomatic relations.
w 2
180 LEAVES FKOM THE 1859
Sir Charles Trevelyan succeeds Lord Harris as
Governor of Madras. Elphinstone has been re-
quested, and has consented, to remain another year
at Bombay, which I much regret on his account.
He has been too long in that Indian climate. The
accounts of poor John Fortescue from Madeira are
far from satisfactory. I have always had a gloomy
view of his case.
The Prince of Wales has gone to Italy attended
by Colonel Bruce, Captain Grey, and Mr. Tarver, his
chaplain. On his road he stopped at ShornclifFe to
present the colours to the Canadian regiment, and he
made a little speech. I was glad to hear from one
who was present that he acquitted himself well, and
made a very favourable impression. It was almost
his first public appearance.
January 19, Wednesday. Nothing can be better
than the tone of our leading newspapers on the
present aspect of political affairs. The ' Times,' the
' Economist,' the ' Saturday Eeview,' have all put
forth powerful articles exposing the hollowness of
the pretexts advanced by the paid organs of the
French Government for going to war with Austria,
and for the last few days there seems to be a
revisement, and a desire on the part of the French
press (and of course the Government) to calm the
public mind. It is asserted that Austria has sent a
satisfactory note regarding Servia, and this affair
may be considered settled. In the meantime
Austria is pouring troops into Lombardy, and pre-
paring herself for all eventualities. The French
funds have risen in consequence.
The King of Naples has insisted upon the
political prisoners being transported to Cadiz and
1859 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 181
from thence to America. Poerio has refused his
pardon on these conditions, being in such a state of
health as to render it impossible he can make the
voyage.
January 21, Friday. A letter from Mrs. Craven
this morning says : ' My delight at hearing that all the
Montesarchio prisoners were to be set free was not
at all checked by learning also that they were to be
sent to New York first, as that is evidently giving
them their liberty to all intents and purposes, and it
is besides what our Government suggested, so that
now, I hope, the relations will soon be renewed, and,
considering the state of affairs in the north of Italy,
and the very suspicious attitude of Louis Napoleon,
it certainly seems desirable that we should have a
representative here.'
In a postscript dated the 15th she adds :
' The foolish decree which has followed the
amnesty, and which has the appearance, at least, of
putting the whole country under martial law to
guard against the imaginary danger that may be the
result of this long-delayed act of justice, has con-
siderably damped the satisfaction which that measure
had produced, and has given weight to the opinion
of those who doubted the King's generosity at
first.'
I had hardly read the above, when the ' Morning
Post ' arrived, containing a telegram from Vienna
stating that accounts had been received there of the
death of the King of Naples having occurred yester-
day morning. This is a very important event at
this present juncture, and may add to the complica-
tion of affairs. It was a grave mistake on our part
to withdraw our minister, and we shall now reap the
182 LEAVES FROM THE 1859
inconvenient results of that measure. I have always
understood that there is little to be hoped or expected
from the Prince Koyal, who has been brought up in
seclusion and purposely been debarred from all inter-
course with any one who could in any way enlighten or
educate his mind. The Princess of Bavaria, to whom
he was married by proxy a few days ago at Munich,
must have arrived at Trieste (whither she was to be
accompanied by her sister, the Empress of Austria)
on the 19th, and was to embark the following day
for Naples.
January 22, Saturday. The above news is not
confirmed, but there is no doubt that the King
is seriously ill.
The French Funds continue to be in a most
agitated state ; the journals under the direction of
the Government blow hot and cold, but there can be
little doubt that public opinion in France is decidedly
against war.
The marriage of the Princess Clothilde is very
unpopular amongst the higher classes at Turin, and
the suspicion is gaining ground that the Emperor
has been ' humbugging ' the King, in order to bring
about this mesalliance. The ' Times ' correspondent
at Turin asserts that the King very reluctantly con-
sented to the marriage, which, however, strengthens
the belief that it was given as part of the bargain by
which H. M. is to receive some equivalent for the
sacrifice of his wretched daughter. It is a very ugly
affair, and shocks public opinion and good feeling.
January 28, London, Friday. I returned here
on Monday. To-night I dined with Adelaide Sartoris,
who gave me some curious details of the birth,
education, and adventures of her mother, who, by
1859 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 183
the way, was one of the most agreeable women I ever
met.
Marie Therese de Camp was the legitimate
daughter of the Comte de Fleury, grandson of the
Marquis de Fleury, an Alsatian nobleman. The
father of the Comte de Fleury and grandfather of
Marie Therese, having married the daughter of an
aubergiste of Strasburg, was disinherited, and, after
struggling hard to educate his sons, was obliged,
when they attained to manhood, to send them forth
to seek their fortunes as best they might. Young
Fleury was fortunately a very sharp youth, and had
a remarkable talent for music, and was a first-rate
player on the flute, by means of which, and by the
influence of a German nobleman, a friend of his, he
obtained admittance into the private band of the
Empress Marie Therese. He was soon remarked by
Her Majesty and treated with so much favour that
she signified her intention of being godmother to his
infant daughter, who was named Marie Therese.
After remaining at Vienna some time, Lord Maiden,
afterwards Lord Essex, who happened to be there,
made the acquaintance of young Fleury (who had
assumed the name of de Camp, which was also one
belonging to his family), and was so struck by his
playing on the flute that he advised him to come
and try his fortunes in England, promising that he
would give him his aid and protection. Tempted by
this advice, Fleury started for England, and on
arriving in London enquired for Lord Essex, who
received him civilly, asked him to dinner, and then
left him to his fate ! After infinite difficulty, however,
Fleury got appointed first flute in the Drury Lane
Theatre : and thus, with the aid of his wife, who,
184 LEAVES FROM THE 1869
though not nobly, was respectably born, and was
moreover a very thrifty and excellent woman, lie
contrived to bring up his children tant Men que mal,
and of these Marie Therese was the most clever and
precocious, and soon evinced an extraordinary love
and talent for acting, fostered probably by being
often brought by her father to the orchestra of the
theatre, in order to relieve his wife, who had many
other young children to look after. At this time
there was residing in London one Tessier, who was
famous for reciting French proverbs and had formed
a troupe of children who acted little French plays.
Marie Therese was soon enlisted therein, and im-
mediately distinguished herself, especially in the
male parts, dressed (as she often told our children)
in pink satin breeches, and an embroidered coat and
bag wig and powder ! These children frequently
performed before the Prince of Wales, at Mrs. Fitz-
herbert's house, and they took a great fancy to Marie
Therese and constantly sent for her. She remembers
one day being nearly suffocated by the Prince putting
her under the bell glass of a clock, for fun, as he
was extremely amused by her very diminutive stature
and comical appearance. Little by little she grew
up, and with her stature her dramatic talent de-
veloped itself and procured for her an engagement
on the English stage, where she continued to be a
great favourite until her final retirement. The last
time she appeared in public was as Lady Capulet
when Fanny Kemble first came out at Covent Garden
Theatre, but she had withdrawn from the stage some
years before Fanny's debut. Adelaide recounted all
this to her sister-in-law, the Marquise de 1'Aigle, and
on her repeating the story to the old uncle of her
1859 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 185
husband, the Marquis Victor de FAigle, he told her
that he perfectly recollected the Marquis de Fleury
in question.
A person who professes to describe character
from handwriting gave the following analysis of that
of my brother Charles, which, in most respects, is
curiously true. The person is a lady who resides
in Scotland, and is a friend of a friend of Adelaide
Sartoris', and has never seen Charles, nor did she
know it was his handwriting.
' Intellectual more in a newspaper and pamphlet-
reading way than in that of pure literature. Likes
to act, and to agitate. Though earnest in partisan-
ship is not bitter or prejudiced. Has more strong
friendliness and active kindness than tender sensi-
bility. A generalising kind of mind, altogether
masculine, prompt and active. Clever in a business-
like, statistical, arguing way. Does not profess
enthusiasm, but has animated interests. Is popular
in society from thoroughgoingness, straightforward-
ness, and vivacity, but does not especially take pains
to please. Moves about a great deal, acts with
firmness and decision.'
On Wednesday I dined with the Flahaults en
famille. He is very uneasy at the private accounts
he gets from Paris. The feeling against the war is
so strong in Paris that many people believe that, if
the Emperor persists in his supposed intentions, it
may cost him his throne !
The Granvilles came back yesterday. He saw
the Emperor at Paris in a private audience. His
Majesty complained bitterly of the 4 Times ' news-
paper and of its determined hostility to himself. Prince
Napoleon is to be married on Sunday. Nothing can
186 LEAVES' FROM THE 1859
exceed the disgust which this alliance and its hasty
conclusion excite all over Europe.
The Princess Koyal's accouchement of a prince l
took place yesterday afternoon at Berlin, and was
known by the Queen six minutes after its occurrence.
The event was proclaimed to the audiences at the
theatres, and was hailed with tumultuous cheering.
February 3, Thursday. The Queen opened Parlia-
ment to-day. I was in waiting, and I never saw
so many people in the streets, the weather being
beautiful.
The speech, which is a long one, gave general
satisfaction, and the Queen read it very distinctly.
Her voice is become stronger, without having lost its
fresh silvery tone. The paragraph on foreign affairs
is skilfully composed. I met Clarendon afterwards,
who was of this opinion. He is, I think, uneasy at
this state of affairs, and said the Emperor had
allowed himself to be so entangled by the craftiness of
Cavour and to be placed in so false a position that it
would be extremely difficult for him to recede from it.
Edward Ellice told me the other day that Thiers
and all his Parisian correspondents coincide in the
opinion that the Emperor means to go to war.
Karolyi writes to me from Vienna that much will
depend upon the attitude assumed and the language
held by our Government and Parliament, but that
Austria is prepared for all eventualities.
Prince Napoleon was married on Sunday, and
went to Genoa the same day, where there was to
be a public reception. They are to make a public
entry into Paris to-day. This marriage disgusts
everybody of all parties.
1 The present Emperor "William II.
1869 DIARY OF HENftY GREVILLE 187
I met Dr. Lushington, for the first time, at dinner
at Lord William Powlett's, and was much struck by
his agreeableness. A propos of the changes which
occurred in people's politics and circumstances, he
made us laugh by an anecdote relating to Sebastian!
and Alava whom he met at dinner at Palme-rston's.
Before they went into the dining room Palmerston
said to Dr. L., ' Watch the demeanour of these two
men, and I will tell you why afterwards.' They had
hardly sat down, before Sebastiani very courteously
asked Alava to drink wine with him, which the latter
as politely accepted, On coming into the drawing
room, Dr. L. asked Palmerston what he meant, when
the latter told him : ' The last time Sebastiani and
Alva met, the former gave orders that Alva should
te hung.' This was during the Spanish War.
It appears that the Princess Eoyal had a very
bad confinement and that at one time it was feared it
might be necessary to' sacrifice the child.
A journal written by Mrs. Elliot, mother' to the
first Lady Charles Bentinck, during the Eeign of
Terror, is exciting interest, and is amusing. It was
written sheet by sheet for the amusement of King
George III., and carried to him by his physician, Sir
David Dundas, who was also attending Mrs. Elliot.
The manuscript with other papers was inherited by
her granddaughter Georgiana Bentinck, who by the
advice of Mr. Levien of the British Museum sold it
to Bentley for 25/. An absurdly small sum, particu-
larly when compared with that lately paid to Lady
Morgan for some passages from her autobiography,
viz. 600/., and which for the most part contain
uninteresting gossip and fulsome praise of herself.
Mrs. Elliot's journal has a great deal of detail of the
188 LEAVES'FKOM THE 1859
daily incidents of that time, and is curious from her
having been intimate with Egalite.
I remember, when a little boy, being taken by
Lady Charles to see her mother, who was a tall, hand-
some, much-rouged old lady, dressed in white muslin
draperies.
February 4, Friday. At Granville's last night
there were Carlisle, Charles Howard, Monckton
Milnes, and others. In both Houses a strong desire
for the maintenance of peace was manifested on all
sides. Granville spoke very well, and discussed the
Italian question. He bore testimony to the odious
government of the Pope's dominions, and said that
the hatred of the French was nearly as great as that
of the Austrians, but that in Italy there was no unity
or agreement, and he hoped that our Government
had not bound themselves to any party, and that
Sardinia would not desert the policy which had raised
her to her present position in the councils of Europe.
Derby replied, and said the Ministry had entered into
no engagement with any Power which could hamper
it, but that on all Powers alike had been impressed
the fact that England had no direct concern in the
matter beyond that of a great maritime and com-
mercial state. That whatever the Austrian Govern-
ment might be in Lombardy, we had nothing to do
with it. That Eome was, in fact, the cause of these
disturbances, where the feeling towards the papal
rule was so hostile that nothing but the presence of
foreign armies could save it from destruction. We
had earnestly entreated that France and Austria
should unite in demanding reforms. The course of
Sardinia should be to busy herself with internal
reforms and improvements, and not to act as an
1859 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 189
example of aggression to the rest of Italy, and he
believed that the Emperor of the French would
support her morally or materially as long as Austria
confined herself to her own limits. Derby then read
a lecture to the Emperor of the French, grounded on
his famous Bordeaux speech. In the Commons much
the same language was held on all sides. Palmerston
hoped that foreign armies would be removed from
the Papal States, and the reforms so long promised be
made, and said that, although he thought Lombardy
was a source of weakness rather than of strength to
Austria, she held it by virtue of the solemn treaty
of 1815, and he earnestly deprecated war. Disraeli
admitted the state of things to be critical, but not
such as to induce him to believe the maintenance of
peace to be hopeless. Eeform was by no means in
the ascendant last night. Disraeli said a measure
was prepared, but would not be brought forward
until ' the urgent business of the country ' was put
into 'proper train,' which I conclude means after
Easter. John Eussell advocated the immediate eva-
cuation of the Eoman States ; that provision for the
safety of the Pope should be made by the Catholic
Powers, but that the people should be left to frame
their own laws. He considered Disraeli's declaration
on Eeform very vague, and saw no reason for delay-
ing the production of the measure.
Nothing could be more pacific than the tone of
both Houses. It remains to be seen what effect this
will have on the Emperor, who is to open his session
on February 7.
February 6, Sunday. The reception of the
Prince Napoleon and his bride on their public entry
into Paris was cold in the extreme ; hardly was any
190 LEAVES FROM THE 1859
common courtesy shown to them on the part of the
people. She is said to be plain, but to have good and
graceful manners.
I am informed by letters from Naples received
to-day that the fear of war is there at its height, and
considered certain. The King had recovered, and the
Princess Eoyal was expected to arrive at Bari any
day. The young prince is said to be a cretin, and to
have been immured like a monk and taught nothing.
It is believed there that the Emperor of Eussia
has signified to the Emperor Napoleon that it
is a matter of indifference to him what he does
with the Austrian possessions in Italy, but that he
cannot view his interference with Naples in the
same light. The Emperor considers himself as under
obligations to the King for the part he took in the
Crimean war.
A pamphlet, entitled ' L'Empereur Napoleon et
1'Italie,' has just been published at Paris, which
excites universal attention. If not actually written
by the Emperor himself, there can be no doubt that
it has been issued with his sanction, and may be
considered as an imperial manifestation ; indeed, this
is half admitted by the 'Moniteur,' which directs
public attention to it. It is a decided menace to
Austria, and on its publication the funds went down
like a shot, and unless the speech to be delivered by
the Emperor to-morrow should be of a very pacific
tendency, the impression produced by this pamphlet
will not easily be effaced, and not only the belief in
war being imminent will be entirely confirmed, but
the pride of Austria and the national feeling of
Germany will be roused, and (as the ' Times ' justly
observes) the French Emperor will have performed
1859 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 191
the wonderful feat of converting nine-tenths of the
English Liberals into sympathisers with the Power
which was their favourite object of denunciation.
Apponyi declares that his Government is entirely
satisfied with the language of ours, and of Parlia-
ment.
February 7, Monday. The Emperor's speech
pronounced this morning is a splendid verbiage,
which, on first reading it, would seem to be pacific,
but on further inspection is full of ambiguity and loop-
holes ; and the funds, which had risen on the report
that it was to be pacific, fell immediately after it
was delivered. It contains no mention of upholding
the faith of treaties ; whilst there is a menacing
paragraph against Austria. On the whole, the speech
disappoints, by its general tenor, those who had
fondly hoped for a plain intimation of a peaceful
issue to the present complication.
February 10, Thursday. Morny's speech as
President to the Legislative Assembly is decidedly
pacific, and was received with great approbation by
that assembly. All accounts agree in the statement
that France is decidedly averse to war.
February J5, Sunday. A splendid sermon from
Brookfield this morning on Christ's prophecy on the
end of the world. Nothing could be more eloquent
than his language or more ingenious than his argu-
ments, and the elocution perfect.
In the evening I went to the Flahaults. The
Apponyis and Cothek were there. I see they are con-
vinced that war is inevitable and imminent. There
is to be a renewal of the conference on the Danubian
Provinces, owing to the election of Conjas to be
Hospodar of two of them, and to settle other points
192 LEAVES FROM THE 1859
in dispute ; but Italy is positively not to be mentioned
therein. There is a report that England and Prussia
are about to make a joint proposal to France and
Austria for the evacuation of the Legations, which
will probably lead to no result. Austria, it is believed,
being convinced that war is quite inevitable sooner
or later, would rather have it now, when (as she
believes herself to be) she is well prepared, than
remain in a constant state of preparation and sus-
pense, ruinous to her finances.
Apponyi told me that the Emperor's famous speech
to Hiibner had been evidently prepared, both in its
substance and its ' effect,' and was pronounced in a
calm tone, but so loud as to be overheard by all who
were present.
February 15, Tuesday. I met Vernon Smith l
to-day, just returned from Turin, where he had
assisted at one of the debates in the Chamber, and
was much struck by the order which prevailed, and
by the general ability of the speakers. Cavour is
very warlike, and said to Vernon Smith, that in our
desire to maintain peace we overlooked the fact that
Piedmont as a constitutional Government was ipso
facto a standing offence to Austria, and must con-
tinue to be so until one party or the other were
victorious.
There is a very interesting account in the ' Times '
of this debate in the Piedmontese Chamber on the
projected loan, in which Messrs. Sola della Margherita,
Eevel, Beauregard, and Cavour took part. The
speeches were all good ; those of the opponents of
the war by far the best. That of Cavour, however,
appears to have made a great sensation, but it is to
1 Afterwards Lord Lyveden.
1859 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 193
be hoped that he overstated the ' position ' when he
said, ' The hour of the stmggle has struck ; it is too late
for Savoy ' (which was represented by its deputy to
be hostile to what Cavour calls the Italian policy)
' to expostulate?
February 16, Wednesday. Lord Bristol died
yesterday after a very short illness. He paid some
visits on Saturday, and, not feeling well, called on his
apothecary, Chilver, who advised him to go home
and take care of himself. He had no particular
complaint, but said 'he felt the machine was worn
out.' He was in his ninetieth year, and of all men
I have ever met with, was the one over whom time
had passed the most lightly. He had no infirmities,
except a slight lameness, and when I last met him
three weeks ago, at Lady Wharncliffe's, he was as gay
and bright as ever, and taking the same lively interest
in his friends and in passing events. His loss to his
family is irreparable, for his generosity was bound-
less. He was my father's oldest friend, and always
kept up an affectionate intercourse with my mother.
He and she were born the same day of the month,
October 2, and on his last birthday she sent him
some muffatees of her work, which he wore out
shooting, when he killed fourteen pheasants ! No-
thing could be more easy than his death, and he was
surrounded by all his children.
1859
February 17, Thursday. I have letters from
Eome and Naples to-day. The former mention the
Prince of Wales having visited the Pope, and as
actively pursuing his studies, but preserving a strict
in. o
194 LEAVES FKOM THE 1859
incognito. The belief in war prevails strongly at
Eome.
From Naples I hear that the hereditary Grand
Duchess of Tuscany, who had come there for the
Prince Eoyal's marriage, had died. She was very
young and very pretty daughter of the King of
Saxony. This event, together with the continued
illness of the King, has put an end J^o the projected
fetes and is considered a bad omen for the marriage.
The Conference on the Danubian Principalities is
about to assemble at Paris to deliberate on the double
election of Conjas as Hospodar, which, although not
contrary to the letter of the law, is inconsistent with
the spirit of the convention. Conjas has added to
the complication by having on his entry into Bucha-
rest published an edict decreeing the union of the
Principalities, with one National Assembly, which is
to be held at Fochsham. Austria will only send a
representative to this conference provided England
and Prussia will guarantee that the Italian question
shall not be mooted therein.
February 23, Wednesday. Palmerston gave notice
that on Friday, before the Navy Estimates were
moved, he should make a direct interpellation of
Ministers on the present state of foreign affairs and
on the policy of Government. As leader of the
Opposition he has a right, and perhaps good reason,
for taking this course, but the general opinion
seems to be that no good can, and much harm may,
arise from it.
We hear to-night that Cowley is going on .a
mission to Vienna, and on this being known the
Funds both here and at Paris rose.
February 26, Saturday. Palmerston spoke re-
1859 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 195
markably well last night, in a tone entirely free
from party spirit or faction. He said he did not
blame Ministers for not volunteering information, but
he asked for it in the interest of commerce. There
were everywhere signs of war, and he wished to
know what it was all about. He could nowhere see
any grounds of difference which could justify an
appeal to arms. No Power could wish to break the
treaties of 1815 not France, whom they left a great
naval and military Power ; not Austria the treaties
are her title-deeds not Sardinia, who holds her
territories under them. The ancient jealousies of
Austria and France had been brought into activity
by the joint occupation of the Papal States, and the
remedy is the simultaneous retirement from that
occupation". Austria may hesitate in the fear that a
revolution may ensue a very bad reason. Instead
of putting out your neighbour's fire, look to your
own house. Eeform the temporal government of
Eome ; modify the treaties which authorise Austria
to interfere in the Italian States, let the Powers con-
cur in reforms for Italy, and save Europe the
calamities of war.
John Eussell echoed Palmerston. Disraeli, after
complimenting Palmerston on the moderation of his
speech, announced that the Government had not been
idle, and that he had the satisfaction of informing
the House that they had received communications
which gave grounds for the belief that both Austria
and France would evacuate the legations with the
consent of the Pope (which was loudly cheered), and
that Cowley had been sent to Vienna on a mission of
peace and conciliation.
I dined with the Granvilles a large party.
o 2
196 LEAVES FROM THE 1859
Every one agreed that Palmerston had spoken ad-
mirably.
In the morning I met C. Wood, who said Palmer-
ston, he was sure, would be very moderate, and that
it was only because the Government sat with its arms
folded and doing nothing that Palmerston thought it
absolutely necessary to call the serious attention of
Parliament to the present state of affairs, inasmuch
as we were the only Power who could bring France
and Austria together in this business, Cowley's
mission was entirely an afterthought, and had been
suggested by Cowley himself.
Grey, who had given notice of a motion on the
Ionian affair, has consented to postpone it at the
earnest request of Lord Derby until Gladstone's
return, which is to be on the 9th. The Ionian
Parliament has rejected the reforms proposed by
Gladstone, and he had left the island. Sir H. Storks
had arrived and assumed the government.
It is generally considered that Gladstone has
lowered himself as a statesman both in having
accepted this mission and in his mode of carrying
it out. There is an idea that on his return Lytton
Rulwer is to retire from office with a peerage, and
that Gladstone is to step into his place. I doubt
his wishing this, or that the Government would be
strengthened thereby. He is so detested by the whole
party.
February 27, Sunday. I am confined to the
house by rheumatic pains in chest and back. Charles
called and told me he had met Delane, who has seen
the Reform Bill, which he thinks clever, well drawn
up and very temperate, and such as is likely to pass
the House of Commons. The Government sent it
1859 DIARY OF HENHY GREVILLE 197
to the ' Times.' However mild it may be, it is too
strong for Walpole and Henley, who have resigned
their offices much to the annoyance of the Govern-
ment and its supporters.
February 28, Monday. The ' Times ' speaks
favourably of the Eeform Bill nevertheless the
Tories are very indignant that it was communicated
to that journal. Walpole is succeeded by d'Estcourt
at the Home Office, and March replaces the latter as
President of the Poor Law Board.
The ' Moniteur ; states that on the 22nd Cardinal
Antonelli informed the French and Austrian Ambas-
sadors that the Pope was ready to make arrangements
for the simultaneous evacuation of his territory by
the French and Austrian armies.
Cowley reached Vienna yesterday. It is believed
that part of his mission is to endeavour to induce
the Austrians to modify their separate treaties with
the Italian States, which were concluded after 1815.
The French Funds do not rise as expected.
March _Z, Tuesday. After dining with Lady
Newburgh, I went to the Granvilles. A great many
people were there, all a good deal excited by the
explanations of Henley and Walpole, which are
thought damaging to the Government. They were
both rather sore in consequence of Lord Derby
having given it to be understood, at his meeting this
morning, that they had resigned because the Bill did
not go far enough. They had wished to resign some
time before Parliament met, on account of their
objection to the uniform franchise, but on the urgent
entreaty of Derby that they would remain in office
until the Bill came before Parliament, they had very
reluctantly consented to do so. Henley said he felt
198 LEAVES FROM THE 1859
like a man walking about with a mask on his face,
and Walpole read a letter he had written to Derby,
in which he said that ' if such a clause had been
proposed by Lord John Eussell, every member of the
Conservative party would vote against it.'
Notwithstanding this drawback, the meeting at
Derby's, which was attended by two hundred people,
went off very harmoniously.
March <5, Torquay, Saturday. I came here on
a visit to the Ellesmeres yesterday, having slept at
Bath, and much enjoyed a walk all over that
beautiful city before leaving it for this place.
Yesterday was such a day as I have seldom if
ever seen in England at this season a cloudless sky
and deep blue sea and the thermometer at sixty-four
in the shade. This lovely place is looking its very
best. The Es. live in Southhill House. 1
March 6, Monday. An official article has appeared
in the ' Moniteur ' disclaiming all desire on the part
of the Emperor to provoke war, denying that he is
making warlike preparations or such as exceed the
effective force France is accustomed to maintain in
time of peace, and after declaring it to be absurd to
cast on the Emperor alone the responsibility of having
aroused uneasiness and of having caused warlike
preparations in Europe, it ends by saying, ' H.M. is
examining the various reasons of the present com-
plications, not as a provocative to war, but in a
diplomatic way, and nothing authorises the belief that
the issue will not be favourable to the consolidation
of peace.'
This is the article every one has been so long
calling out for as the means of reassuring people's
1 Now the Imperial Hotel.
1859 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 199
minds. It has come too late, and inspires so little
confidence that the rise in the funds has been quite
unimportant.
March 10, Mount Edgcumbe, Thursday. I came
here yesterday. My expectations have been far
surpassed in the beauty of this renowned place.
The day was splendid, and in a long walk I took
with the Valletorts the sun was so hot, the sea so
blue, and the towns in the distance so white, the
vegetation so southern, ilexes, Scotch firs, cork and
even camellia trees dipping into the sea, I might
easily have imagined myself on the Corniche. To-
day we took a long drive to Earn Head, Penterth by
the Folly, Kingsands and Cawsands, which presented
every kind of beauty. We climbed up Earn Head,
which commands a magnificent sea view, and some
fine cliffs of rock in Whitesands Bay. The drive
home along the sea, twisting and turning, constantly
presenting new lovely little pictures, Italian in their
form and colour, is such as I do not believe any other
gentleman's place in England can boast of. I was
perfectly delighted.
I believe there is no doubt but that John Eussell
and Palmerston have come to an agreement to act
together for the purpose of defeating this Eeform
Bill, and that the whole Liberal party will join in this
attack. Whether these two men will hereafter so
adjust their differences and their pretensions as to
admit of them sitting in the same Cabinet remains
to be seen at present the alliance is confined to this
particular action. It was at first proposed to allow
the Bill to be read a second time, but on a more
minute examination they discovered it to be so
objectionable in its main provisions and so dishonest
200 LEAVES FROM THE 1859
in man} 7 " of its details, that they consider it impossible
to permit the principle of it to be affirmed, and the
whole Liberal party are unanimous in the resolution
to oppose it in toto. The Eadicals are willing to
throw out this bill, but want the Whigs to pledge
themselves to certain measures to which they will
not consent and to which J. Eussell will not listen,
so that in future projects, there is not likely to be
any concert between him and Bright.
It is said that the Government is inclined to
withdraw the clause against which J. Eussell's
resolution is directed (and which would be nearly
tantamount to withdrawing the bill itself), but this
would be very hazardous and the Opposition would
only become more savage, and the question would
probably arise whether they could not be turned out
on a vote of want of confidence.
March 12, Saturday. On Thursday J. Eussell
announced his resolution, when Disraeli informed
the House that they had resolved on withdrawing
the disfranchising clause, and that previous to the
second reading he should lay on the table new clauses
which would make the retaining the present franchise
of the forty shillings Freeholders of Boroughs con-
sistent with the principle of uniformity which is in
fact a surrender to J. Eussell.
March 15, Torquay, Tuesday. I returned here
yesterday before leaving Mount Edgcumbe I paid
a visit to its owner at the Winter Villa. I had not
seen him for many years and he is a sad object
of human infirmity, which he bears with admirable
patience. On my way here I passed two nights
at Pamflete, a small cottage where J. Bulteel is living,
on the confines of his own place Flete, now let to
1859 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 201
Mr. Bibb. It is a pretty and snug little abode.
Flete is a charming place, and a capital house, but
too large for the property. The road from Flete
to Ivy Bridge, the railway station, is beautiful, and
the place itself strikingly so ; but the day was awfully
bad rain falling in torrents and a perfect hurricane
blowing.
Letters from London state that the hope of peace
daily becomes more faint, and the only question now
seems to be when the war will break out and what
pretext the French will put forward for declaring it.
I hear from Paris that the shopkeepers are in despair
at this state of suspense, which is ruinous to trade.
The opposition to the war party in the Chambers
is becoming very unmanageable.
Every one is looking forward with great curiosity
to the battle on the Eeform Bill which is to come on
on Monday. John Russell is sanguine about carrying
his resolution, and he will be supported by Palmer-
ston and nearly all the Whigs. Great difference of
opinion, however, exists as to the propriety and
expediency of the course he is taking, and many of
his supporters would much prefer that the second
reading of the bill should be carried. No one knows
what the Government will do in case of defeat much
must of course depend upon the numbers of the
majority if there be one. By some it is believed
that they will accept the resolution and go on with
the bill, and that they ' will be ready to give up
everything but the ghost.'
A letter from Grey to Elcho has been published,
pointing out all the objections to John Russell's
course, and it has had considerable effect, and may
possibly influence some votes.
202 LEAVES FROM THE 18-59
March 17, Thursday. A letter from Charles, who
has seen Cowley. He told him he never believed
there would be war, and he did not believe it now.
The Emperor had repeatedly assured him that he
had not and never had had an idea of going to war,
nor had he ever said more to Cavour than that, if
Sardinia were attacked by Austria, he would go to
their assistance. At Vienna, however, the belief in
war was general, and considered so inevitable sooner
or later, that the desire was strong that it should
take place now, when the Austrian army is considered
to be in such an efficient state of force and prepara-
tion that they never would fight on more advantageous
terms. Cowley, however, succeeded in making the
Government take a more pacific view, and brought
away with him assurances from Buol which Cowley
thinks ought to be satisfactory to France, and are
quite as much as Austria can be expected to give.
Cowley went to Vienna without any definite proposal,
and he brought nothing definite back except their
willingness to give any security that might be required,
that they would neither threaten nor attack Piedmont,
nor interfere with her internal affairs, and also their
readiness to concert with France the evacuation of
central Italy, and their entire acquiescence in any
such internal improvements in the several states as
may satisfy the people, and take away inducements
to break out in insurrections.
Cowley is now going to try to prevail on the
Emperor Napoleon to issue an unambiguous declara-
tion of his pacific intentions, and to announce to
Sardinia that as there is not a shadow of a pretext
for suspecting the intentions of Austria, or for fearing
an attack from her, Sardinia may at once desist from
1859 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 203
her warlike preparations and demonstrations, and
that in this case Austria would, at once, again with-
draw her troops and resume the attitude she held
before all this agitation began. This, he said, and
meant to say to the Emperor, would satisfy the world,
and nothing short of this would do so, because all
faith in the veracity of the French Government being
at an end, no one will attach any credit to assertions
which are in the teeth of patent facts.
Incidents are continually springing up to com-
plicate matters. The Pope seems to have withdrawn
his requisition for the evacuation of his territory,
which, he says, was made only in the hope of pre-
venting a collision, and he now confines himself to
' putting up prayers to Providence for the maintenance
of peace.' Besides this, the French Government has
put forth a long article in the * Moniteur,' giving a
lecture to Germany in a tone sure to give offence.
Indeed it has already produced agitation, and is
declared to be insolent and perfidious, as endeavour-
ing to prove that Germany is menacing France, for
which the French Government knows there is not
the slightest foundation.
Lord Stanley's answer to Canning's despatch,
which explained his famous proclamation in Oude, is
just published. It is an offensive document disguised
in courteous terms and will not satisfy C.'s friends.
The Neapolitan exiles, Poerio, Settembrini, and
about sixty others, landed at Cork the other day,
having compelled the captain of the vessel chartered
by the Neapolitan Government to convey them to
America, to steer for that port. They were received
with great ovations, and a subscription for their
relief has been set on foot headed by Shaftesbury.
204 LEAVES FROM THE 1859
I am rejoiced that they are free, but I dare say we
shall make ourselves ridiculous in our mode of
receiving them, and overdo it all as we generally
do. ' Le defaut de notre qualite,' I suppose.
March 19, Saturday. I am happy to see that
J. Eussell asked the Government (last night) if they
did not intend to move a vote of thanks to Canning
and Lord Clyde and that both he and Granville in
the House of Lords commented very severely on Lord
Stanley's sneering, taunting, and ironical despatch.
Derby defended his son's production, but both he and
his son were obliged to eulogise Canning's general
policy, and stated that, besides sending out the Bath
to him, advice had been tendered to the Crown to
raise him a step in the peerage. The copy of a letter
from Lord Clyde to Lady Canning is in circulation,
wherein he offers her his warmest congratulations on
her husband's policy and conduct, on the complete
success of both, and on the glory which attaches to
his name.
March 21, Monday. I have an amusing letter
from Cartwright from Borne. He says : ' The truth
is, the Pope's Government is mortally alarmed at its
own act, and with good reason, for the real evacuation
of the country by foreign garrisons is the signal for
rising, which the Government will be quite powerless
to put down. The condition of the Pope's dominions
is disaffection. It is moderate enough in character,
free from Eepublicanism in the majority, but it is
universal.
' It is believed that the French are not going to
evacuate. The best-informed persons are of this
opinion, and yet I am not ready to share it with
confidence. The French General says he will go
1859 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 205
away, and I believe it would be eminently wise policy
on the part of his Government to do so. It would
put the Austrians manifestly in the wrong if they
refused to do the same, and it would exhibit the
wretched incompetence of the Government here, in the
revolution certain to come about. The Municipality
of Bologna addressed to the Cardinal Legate the
question what he intended to do for the maintenance
of the public peace in the event of the Austrians going
away ; the Cardinal replied that he had the Papal
garrison to rely on. The council thereupon protested
against trusting the lives and property of the com-
munity to such a rabble and demanded the formation
of a National Guard.
' At a Congregation presided over by the Pope a
few days ago, it was resolved to raise a new foreign
regiment, besides 2,000 more native troops. You
may depend upon it that the Piedmontese feeling is
now dominant throughout Italy Mazzini is defunct
just now, and nothing will occur imprudently to com-
promise the success of a war against Austria, if it
should come so far. The other night, on Massimo
Azeglio coming into the room at a ball given by Queen
Christina, all the cardinals rose and turned their backs
upon him. The imbecility of this Government is
beyond remedy.'
All this may be true but in what class, whether
of the nobility or mezzo ceto, are materials now to be
found in Italy competent to deal with the great prob-
lems of government and legislation ? They do not
exist, and this is the essential truth which Liberals of
all shades entirely overlook.
London is just now exclusively engrossed with the
coming battle on the Reform Bill. Palmerston and
206 LEAVES FROM THE 1859
John Eussell are entirely united on this resolution,
and are so far politically reconciled that in the event
of either of them being called upon by the Queen to
form a government, the one selected will consider it
indispensable that the other should be joined with
him. Their reconciliation has been brought about by
the mediation of common friends, followed up by
repeated personal interviews, and they are now acting
cordially together.
March 4, Thursday. The Eeform debate began
on Monday, the chief feature of which was a speech
of Gerard Sturt's, which amused the House very much
and was very good in its way. It was very plain-
spoken and pleased the Opposition more than his own
side of the House. John Russell's speech was cheered
by Bright and Co., and generally by his party, when
he said he should consider it unworthy of him to be
deterred from throwing out the bill by a threat of
dissolution. He complained of Grey's letter to Elcho
as wanting in candour and fairness. Horsham spoke
capitally against the resolution. It was the speech
of the night.
On Tuesday Sir E. Bulwer and Cairns were
magnificent and if votes depended on speeches, the
Government would be triumphant, for really good
speaking is all on their side. Cairns made a tremen-
dous and telling philippic against John Eussell. On
Monday night Lord Stanley gave it to be understood
that, if beaten, the Government would abandon the
bill and dissolve Parliament ; but Bulwer and Cairns
endeavoured to remove this impression, and it
is now thought they will go on with the second
reading.
The ' Moniteur ' of March 22 has announced that
1859 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 207
Eussia has proposed the assembling of a Congress to be
constituted of plenipotentiaries from France, Austria,
Eussia, Prussia, and England, to prevent the complica-
tions to which the state of Italy might give rise, and
which would naturally disturb the peace of Europe.
The French Government has given its assent to the
proposal of the Eussian Cabinet ; the Cabinets of
Austria, Berlin, and London have not yet returned
official replies.
This is probably a dodge got up by the Emperor
Napoleon and the Emperor of Eussia to get the former
out of his scrape. I hope we shall not encourage any
such project, because Eussia has nothing to do with
Italy, and has no right to call upon Austria to enter
into any discussions of matters involving her rights
and her status in Italy, and if nothing be required
of her but the adjustment of her differences with
Sardinia, this may be effected without a Congress.
The two Emperors probably think that by proposing
this Congress, and in the event of Austria declining
to assent to it, they will put her in the wrong before
Europe ; but in this they will, I hope, reckon without
their host.
March 28, London., Monday. I returned here on
Saturday and dined with Madame de Flahault on
that day and Sunday, and last night I went to the
Granvilles.' The question of peace and war is for the
moment entirely forgotten, and no one speaks of any-
thing but the Eeform debate, which, again adjourned
on Friday, is not likely to be concluded before
Monday. Palmerston spoke on Friday, and his
speech has been praised and criticised for all sorts of
different qualities. It has strengthened the belief
that, beyond voting for the resolution, there is no
208 LEAVES FROM THE 1859
further concord between him and John Eussell. He
told the Government that they ' must go on with their
bill and that they ought not to resign or dissolve.'
The position of the Opposition is much complicated
by Owen Stanley's l notice of a motion for ' want of
confidence, if the bill is proceeded with' given
without any concert or consent of the party ; it has
met with so much opposition that it will probably
not be presented, but it may prove a planche de salut
to the Government.
The prevailing opinion last night was that the
resolution will be carried by a small majority and
that Derby will resign ; but the hangers-on of the
Government maintain that he will, in the event of a
defeat, dissolve.
It is difficult to form an opinion of what they
will do, for no two men in office hold the same
language in Parliament.
In the meantime it is difficult to find anybody
who approves of the resolution, or who does not
consider it a mistake, both in a party and patriotic
point of view. Sir James Graham has the credit of
having suggested it to J. Eussell.
March 29, Tuesday. Last night Sir J. Graham
acknowledged that he had consulted with J. Eussell
on the resolution after the Bill was first laid on the
table, not, however, for the purpose of defeating the
Government, but to afford them the opportunity of
withdrawing a measure which was distasteful to
nearly all parties. Pakington followed Graham, and
in a tone of virtuous indignation declared in reply to
Palmerston that he had arrogantly recommended
them to take a line which no gentleman would adopt,
1 Lord Stanley of Alderley's twin brother.
1859 DIAHY OF HENRY GREVILLE 209
and which Palmerston, if it were suggested to him-
self, would spurn with indignation. He denied that
Government had used any threat of dissolution ; all
they had said was, that in the event of a defeat
which rendered it impossible for them, consistently
with their honour and the principles of the constitu-
tion, to proceed with the public business, they should
tender such advice to the Crown as they should con-
sider consistent with their duty. Gladstone moved
the adjournment.
March 31, Thursday. Every one rushed to hear
Gladstone's speech against the resolution. It was
a very fine oration, moderate in tone and strongly
deprecating either a resignation or a dissolution or
an abandonment of the bill, which he thought might
be amended in Committee and thus that the matter
should be settled with as little delay as possible.
Peacocke told me to-day that he had gone over
the lists with , that Government would be beaten
by about thirty-four that they would not resign, but
dissolve immediately. The debate will end to-night.
April 1, Friday. The division took place at
1 A.M. last night amidst tremendous excitement, the
numbers being
Against the resolution . . 291
For the resolution . . 330
Majority 39
Disraeli, who spoke remarkably well, and whose
attack on John Eussell told immensely, adjourned
the House till Monday, and this evening in the House
of Lords, Derby said he should postpone until
Monday the statement of what had passed and the
advice he had tendered to Her Majesty in conse-
iii. P
210 LEAVES FROM THE 1859
quence of the adverse vote of the previous evening,
' and of the course she had permitted them to pursue.'
This of course told nothing positively, but left an
impression that they mean to dissolve. Curiosity is
intense, but the general desire of sensible people is
that the Government should go on and try to bring
in a new bill without a dissolution. But the speeches
of Pakington especially, and of Stanley, have made
this all but impossible.
April 5, Sunday. It is believed that Derby
resigned that the Queen declined to accept his
resignation and that he ultimately consented to
remain on condition that he might dissolve at his
pleasure.
Austria and Eussia have protested against the
admission of Piedmont to the Congress. France is
so increasing her armaments that there can be no
hope, even if the Congress should meet, that peace
will be maintained.
Lord Waterford was killed by breaking his neck
out hunting last week. He was an excellent land-
lord and a first-rate sportsman.
April 5, Tuesday. Derby and Disraeli made their
statements last night and announced the dissolution
of Parliament. The former made a personal attack
on John Eussell in the form of a biographical sketch,
which, although containing some truths, was more
full of inaccuracies, and gave Granville an oppor-
tunity of distinguishing himself, of which he took
advantage. It was generally admitted that Derby
spoke much less effectively than usual, whereas
Disraeli showed both moderation and tact. The
dissolution is very unpopular with all parties, and
considered a hazardous step by which no one but
1859 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 211
the extreme Eadicals will gain. Government declare
their belief in a gain of thirty seats but no one
really thinks so.
April 6, Wednesday. We have the most extra-
ordinary weather. On this day last week it snowed
the whole day, and the ground was covered with it
until the following morning, and all the cherry trees
were blighted by the frost. On Friday there were
ten degrees of frost. On Sunday the weather sud-
denly became warm, and on Monday, Tuesday, and
to-day intensely hot. The gardener at Holland
House told me to-day that the thermometer yesterday
and to-day stood at 100 in the sun and 80 in the
shade !
The other night John Eussell gave an outline of
the Eeform Bill he intended to suggest. To-day at
the morning sitting Palmerston, who answered the
attack Pakington had made upon him for having used
language inconsistent with respect for the prerogative
of the Crown, whilst declaring his perfect concurrence
with John Eussell in the resolution and in the
principles of his outline of Eeform, said that, with
regard to the limits suggested in his sketch, he
retained the opinions he had expressed on former
occasions so that perfect union between these two
men is not to be counted upon in the future any
more than in the present Parliament.
April 11, Monday. Yesterday I met Poerio and
his fellow-exiles and prisoners at dinner at Gran-
ville's. The Stanleys of Alderley, St. Germans, and
Panizzi were the other guests. Poerio is a middle-
aged man with nothing remarkable in his appear-
ance, but appears intelligent. He spoke little of his
imprisonment, and was more anxious to obtain than
p 2
212 LEAVES FROM THE 1859
to impart information. These men are much feted in
society, but are desirous of politically eclipsing them-
selves for the present.
April 12, Tuesday. The news from Vienna and
Paris is, and has been for the last few days, very
warlike, and letters which I have received from both
places state that the crisis is at hand and that there
is no hope of the Congress meeting. Last night,
however, at Lady E. Bulteel's, I heard that Austria,
who had declined agreeing to the Congress unless
Sardinia disarmed, now will consent that it shall be
held, provided that France and Sardinia disarm
simultaneously with herself. To this France replies
' that as she has never armed she cannot be called on to
disarm?
I am told Cowley still believes in peace, and does
not think France is prepared sufficiently for war at
present.
The Government have been pressed to say when
they will dissolve, but decline to do so why, no
one knows.
April 14, Thursday. A letter from Lady Holland
from Naples says that the King grows worse and
worse and is in a hopeless state, his body being con-
sumed by open tumours.
Tumore
Umore
More
Ee
e e poi ?
Numerous intrigues are carried on with such mystery
that there is no knowing what will happen. The
Princess married to the successor is pretty, petulant,
and full of life, but without education, and only
1859 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 213
liking riding, driving, and smoking, but has a will of
her own, which if well directed might be of use to
the country ; but she is a child with no one to guide
her. What, then, can be expected ?
I met Lord and Lady Eglinton at dinner yester-
day at the Blackwoods'. He told me that the change
for the better in Ireland within the last five years is
marvellous. Crime is diminished at least half, and
everything else had improved in even greater pro-
portion.
April 16, Saturday. News of the death of Bosio
reached London by telegraph on Thursday at St.
Petersburg, an event which will make a painful
sensation in the musical world. Besides being with-
out doubt the most charming singer, in her line, of
the day, she was a graceful and attractive woman,
free from the vulgarity and iU-nature one so often
sees in her profession. She is a great loss to me
individually, for ever since I made her acquaintance
she has been most kind in coming to sing at my
house, whenever I have had my little musical
reunions, and which she declined doing elsewhere
and always without any remuneration. I delighted in
her clear high soprano voice and in her brilliant and
effortless execution, and her looks were particularly
pleasing to me. There is no one at all capable of
replacing her.
I had some amateur music last night executed by
the Bulteels, three Sartoris', Woodford, and Mitford,
and Miss Browne, who sang at my house for the first
time, and has a delightful talent.
In the morning Cothek (Austrian Secretary of
Legation) paid me a visit to tell me that Karolyi had
been summoned from Copenhagen to Vienna, from
214 LEAVES FROM THE 1859
whence he was to start on a special mission where
he did not know but probably to Eussia. Cothek
has no hope of peace, because he does not doubt
that France, or rather the Emperor, has long been
bent on war. He believes that Cowley is much
disgusted now with H.I.M. and has changed his mind
as to the chance of peace being preserved, since the
interpretation the Emperor has chosen to put on the
fifth point of Buol's note to Augustus Loftus, relating
to the simultaneous disarmament of the Great Powers,
and which our Government had supported. I asked
him if the accounts from Hungary were satisfactory,
and he answered ' Entirely so, and Prussia has behaved
admirably throughout.'
The ministerial statement on foreign affairs was
put off yesterday until Monday, it is supposed, on
account of the announced arrival of Massimo Azeglio
on a special mission from Turin to Paris and
London.
April 19, Tuesday. If anything can yet conduce
to the maintenance of peace, it ought to be the tone
of all our chief statesmen in their speeches last night
in both Houses. Malmesbury was rather confused in
his statement, which presented no new fact but that
our Government had proposed to France to join with
her in guaranteeing Sardinia from attack by Austria,
on condition of her disarming, which France had
declined, fortunately, as such an engagement might
have entangled us very inconveniently. Clarendon
replied to Malmesbury, and nothing could be better
than the tone of his speech throughout. Derby com-
plimented him individually, and the Opposition
generally, on the forbearance they had shown on
foreign affairs he took the House by surprise when
1859 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 215
he declared that, if war ensued, ours must be an
armed neutrality, ' enabling us to take our part on
that side, whatever it might be, which the honour,
the dignity, and the interests of the country may
indicate as best deserving our support.'
Disraeli spoke less despondingly of peace than
Derby and expressed a hope that a good result
might ensue from the mission of Massimo Azeglio, who
had arrived in London on that morning. Palmerston
and John Eussell seemed agreed on all the main
points, and the discussions in both Houses were
eminently creditable to Parliament, and, if anything
will now avail, must have good effect towards avert-
ing war.
April 21, Thursday. To-night at Flahault's I
heard that there was un Eclairci in the political
horizon, and to-day the ' Moniteur ' states that our
Government has made to the four other Powers the
following propositions :
1. To effectuate, previous to the Congress, a
general and simultaneous disarmament.
2. The disarmament to be regulated by a civil or
military commission independent of the Congress.
This commission to be composed of six commissioners,
one for each of the five Powers and the sixth for
Sardinia.
3. As soon as the commissioners shall have com-
menced operations, that the Congress shall assemble
and proceed to the discussion of political matters.
4. That the representatives of the Italian States
should be invited by the Congress, immediately after
its assembling, to take their seats with the repre-
sentatives of the Great Powers, absolutely as at the
Congress of Laybach in 1821.
216 LEAVES FROM THE 1859
France, Eussia, and Prussia have given in their
adhesion to the proposals of the British Government.
The answer of Austria has not yet been received,
but some hope is entertained that the proposals may
be accepted and that peace will be maintained. I
cannot say that I have any such expectations, either
that they will be accepted, or, even if they are, and
that the Congress should meet, that peace will be
the result ; my belief is that the Emperor Napoleon
is resolved to go to war, and that his object is to
gain time, and in the meanwhile to exhaust Austria.
Nous verrons.
April 22, Good Friday. On going to the
Travellers' yesterday I found the second edition of
the ' Times,' which announced ' that by orders of the
Emperor of Austria, General Giulai had sent an aide-
de-camp to Turin to present an ultimatum to Sardinia,
demanding a disarmament and the dismissal of the
volunteers. If refused, war was to be declared in three
days. The English proposal for a Congress on the
same conditions as that at Laybach had been refused}
An additional corps of 80,000 men was to repair
to the Ticino.
After a Cabinet our Government sent off by tele-
gram a remonstrance to Vienna. War may now be
considered certain, and Austria is already accused by
our press and by that of France of precipitancy, just
as matters had taken such a turn as to afford hopes
of accommodation.
The public, however, is ignorant of the dessous des
cartes, and does not take into consideration the false
position of Austria, and that whilst all these pour-
parlers are giving time to France to complete her
armaments, they serve to exhaust her, and that it is
1859 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 217
necessary for her salvation that this state of things
should not be prolonged.
April 23, Saturday. In the midst of this tremen-
dous foreign crisis, Parliament is dissolved to-day.
The ' Moniteur ' states that England and Eussia have
protested against the ultimatum of Austria, and that
French troops are ordered to march on the Sardinian
frontier, and a large force which is to embark at
Toulon for Genoa.
The French Funds have fallen nearly three per
cent, and the uneasiness is described as extreme. All
the French papers lay the whole blame on Austria of
the outbreak of war.
The ' Moniteur ' contains the appointment of all
the generals to the various divisions of the army,
but of no Commander-in-chief, so it is presumed the
Emperor intends to take this charge upon himself.
Prince Napoleon is appointed to that of the Pioneers,
which is sure to call forth many jokes. It has
already been said that since he knew he was to have
a command, his opinion on the propriety of France
going to war had entirely changed !
No answer has been yet returned by the Sardinian
Government, but no one expects that the terms asked
will be agreed to. It is said that Austria, when she
sent her ultimatum, did not know that Piedmont had
agreed to disarm, and it is thought just possible she
may withdraw the ultimatum. I do not expect this.
To-day I dined at dowager Lady Grey's and met
Count Streletzki, who is a very intelligent man, and
would be a very agreeable one if he talked half the
quantity. He amused me by an account he gave of
MalakhofFs narrative to him of his first interview
with the Emperor Napoleon on his return from the
218 LEAVES FROM THE 1859
Crimea, the drollery of which was much heightened
by his dramatic way of telling the story. As soon
as Malakhoff landed he was ordered by telegram to
join the Emperor at Plombieres. On his arrival ' cet
autre,' as M. calls H.I.M., rushed into his arms. 'II
m'a embrasse et re-embrasse, et puis il m'a dit, " Je
vous ai bien taquine, n'est-ce pas, Marechal ? " " Mais
non, Sire V.M. sait que le succes couvre tout."
"Mais si, Marechal" (dit cet Autre), "je vous ai
taquine." " Ah ! mais n'en parlons plus, Sire " et
il m'a de nouveau embrasse.'
' Enfin quand je devais partir, et que la voiture
etait a la porte, et que je mettais mon paletot sur
mes epaules, en laissant flotter les manches, et
comme je montais en voiture, voili que je sentais
quelqu'un me prendre par le pan de mon habit, et en
retournant je voyais I'empereur, qui me disait encore
une fois : " Pas vrai, marechal, je vous ai bien
taquine, vous me pardonnez, n'est-ce pas ? " " Mais,
Sire, pour 1'amour de Dieu, n'en parlons plus," et
enfin il me laissa partir.'
Nothing could be droller than Streletzki's mimicry
of the two men. He thinks the loyalty of the
Marshal hangs by a very slender thread, and that
H.I.M. suspects this may be the case. He is appointed
to the army of observation (which does not please
him), the head-quarters of which are at Nancy.
April 25, Monday. At the Club to-day I dined
next to Vitzthum, the Saxon minister, who has just
returned from Paris. I asked him what they said there
on the present crisis. He replied, ' They are laughing
in their sleeve at you.' ' Why ? ' said I. ' At the
simplicity of your belief that Sardinia is the Emperor's
object in going to war, whilst it is you he intends
1859 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 219
to quarrel with. They say you have been joues
throughout, and have shown neither dignity nor
courage in your negotiations. All Germany is
aroused and preparing for any eventuality, and in
four or five months will have a force of 900,000
men.' Austria, he said, had good right to complain
of us, since we had made the proposal of disarma-
ment to them, without ascertaining previously and
privately, as by all rules of courtesy and diplomacy
we were bound to do, whether such a proposal
would be agreeable to them. He said it was not
true, as stated in the ' Moniteur ' of to-day, that
Prussia had remonstrated with Austria on the pre-
sentation of the ultimatum, and that she was now
entirely $ accord both with that Power and with
Germany. ' What about Eussia ? ' said I. ' She will
observe a strict neutrality,' he answered.
To-night at the Drury Lane Opera I observed
Brunnow and Azeglio sitting alone in a conspicuous
box together. This is a trine, but I do not feel so
sure that Eussia is as neutral as Yitzthum says.
April 26, Panshanger, Tuesday. Last night
Derby made a speech at the Mansion House dinner,
and took the opportunity of explaining the conclusion
of the one he had delivered in the House of Lords,
which he said John Eussell and others had mis-
understood. His words then were, ' that it was
the intention of Government to maintain a strict
neutrality, but that when a million or more of men
were in arms, when the contest already was engaged
in, when war was not only imminent, but in actual
existence, and that moreover in Italy and on the
shores of the Mediterranean, it was incumbent upon,
and absolutely necessary for us, looking to the great
220 LEAVES FROM THE 1859
interests we have involved there, looking to our
great possessions and the military positions we
occupy there, that we should be in such a state as to
maintain and defend the security of those possessions
and preserve the British flag and British arms from
the possibility of insult, from the many contingencies
which might arise in the conflict/ All he meant by
this was, that if unhappily war should break out,
England will maintain a watchful and observant
attitude, observant, not for the purpose of profiting
by the weakness and calamities of others, but for
the purpose of discovering the slightest gleam of
light that should break forth amidst the gloom of
war, and should disclose a reasonable probability
of the dispersion of the clouds, and afford a ground
or opportunity for the pacific interposition of England.
With regard to the ultimatum he was severe upon
Austria, and said there was nothing in his opinion to
justify the hasty, the precipitate, and (because involv-
ing the horrors of war) the criminal step which had
been taken by Austria, and he added, ' that within
twelve hours they had despatched to Vienna and
Paris a joint representation, offering to take up on
the part of England alone, the mediation at the
point at which it had been left by Lord Cowley, and
to endeavour to arrange the differences between the
two Grreat Powers, subject to one of these two condi-
tions, either an immediate, absolute, and simultaneous
disarmament of the three Powers, France, Austria,
and Sardinia, or a consent on the part of all the three,
pending the result of the mediation, to retain their
armies precisely in their present conditions, and to
maintain a position, if not of peace, at all events of
inaction.'
I came here to-day.
1859 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 221
April 27, Wednesday. I was much startled by
an announcement in to-day's 'Times,' by telegram
from Vienna, that an alliance offensive and defensive
has been concluded between France and Eussia.
The ' National Gazette ' of Berlin states that this
treaty was signed on Friday last, according to which
Russia is to make her first mobilisation of four corps
d'arme'e, two of which are to be advanced to the
Austrian and two to the Prussian frontier.
If this be true, ' the unwarrantable precipitancy '
of Austria and her criminal conduct in sending the
ultimatum are explained and justified, and the whole
case is altered, and, as the ' Times ' observes, ' not
only Italy, but the East and the Rhine, are menaced
by the contingencies of the war.'
Yesterday the Corps Legislatif met to receive
a communication from Government, which was a
demand for a loan of 20,000,000/. sterling and the
levy of 140,000 men. Walewski, who made the
communication, had the impudence to say : ' The
whole negotiations prove that France has shown
excessive moderation, but if in the present state of
affairs Sardinia is threatened, if, as everything raises
the presumption, her territory is invaded, France will
not hesitate to respond to the appeal of a nation
with which she is allied. The Government of the
Emperor awaits with calmness the course of events,
feeling confident that its conduct during the different
phases of the negotiations, as they have followed one
another, will meet with the unanimous approval of
France and Europe.'
We heard yesterday that Austria had accepted
the last proposal of our Government and was ready
to postpone the declaration of war for a day or two,
LEAVES FROM THE 1859
but that France had rejected it. Hostilities will
therefore begin at once.
May 1, Sunday. There are conflicting accounts
as to the truth of the existence of a treaty between
Eussia and France. Gortchakoff denied to Crampton
that any treaty ' perilous to England or Europe was
in existence,' but he admitted that there ' was an
understanding between the two countries.' The
' Times ' has been assailed by the Government candi-
dates and press for publishing what they call a
' stock-jobbing report,' and because they declined
inserting a t contradiction on authority ' because
they persist in believing that a treaty or something
equivalent to it is in existence.
A council was held at Windsor yesterday to
issue an order for the offer of bounty to sailors who
will enlist before June 15. This is considered by
most naval men as an unwise measure, and one
likely to disgust the men who are now serving, and
to produce desertion.
This was the day of thanksgiving for the pacifi-
cation of India. Brookfield preached a beautiful
sermon, in the course of which he pronounced a fine
eulogium on Canning, by name, and also on that
' noble army of martyrs ' who fell in that dreadful
rebellion. It was most striking and affecting.
May 2, Monday. The Austrians crossed the
Ticino on the afternoon of the 19th. It is supposed
that they mean to act on the defensive. The French
cannot be in force for ten or twelve days.
The Tuscan army has declared its union with
that of Piedmont, and the Grand Duke, declining to
abdicate, has left his dominions, and a provisional
government has been formed. The same thing has
1859 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 223
happened at Parma, which the Duchess has left, but
not without first appointing a Council of Eegency.
All this of course must render the position of
Austria more critical, and I think we may consider
their eventual expulsion from Lombardy as certain, for
the Emperor Napoleon could never return to France
with anything short of this being accomplished.
It is said that Prince Napoleon is to command
a separate force which is to march upon Florence,
that city being destined to form the capital of a new
kingdom over which he is to reign !
The Emperor of Austria has published a manifesto
to his people, explaining the causes of the war, the
salient point of which is an appeal to Germany to
come to his aid and to recollect that ' it is in Italy
where the crafty enemies of Germany have generally
begun their game when they have wished to break
her internal power.'
Emma Loftus 1 writes from Vienna that the
Emperor will go to the army, but not take the
command.
Palmerston's speech at Tiverton on his election
has had a bad effect. It is full of unfair statements,
and is in its tone so openly hostile to Austria as is
sure to excite universal indignation in Germany, and
consequently a very impolitic speech from one who
is so likely to be prime minister.
The borough elections are nearly over, and up
to the present moment the Government has gained
at least eleven seats.
May 6, Friday. Dined last night with Granville.
Azeglio came in the evening. I thought he did not
seem very triumphant, and said the Emperor Napoleon
1 Lady Augustus Loftus, wife of our Ambassador, nee Greville.
224 LEAVES FROM THE 1859
had been- quite undecided up to the last moment
whether he would declare war.
Malmesbury had sent to Apponyi a telegram
which he had received from Hudson, stating that
90,000 Austrian infantry and 13,000 cavalry were
opposite the allies, who numbered 60,000 infantry
and a lesser number of cavalry, and that an engage-
ment was expected to take place immediately, near
the plains of Marengo.
The South Lancashire election terminated to-day
in the triumphant majority of Algy Egerton and the
other Tory, Mr. Legh. This result has taken the
Whigs rather by surprise, and is attributed in some
degree to the name of Ellesmere, but still more to
the detestation in which the League is held.
John Acton was elected for Carlow, to the great
joy of his mother. I shall not be surprised if when
he has gained some parliamentary experience he
should distinguish himself, for he has all the elements
for making a great career except those which can
only be acquired by mixing with his fellow-men.
May 7, Saturday. The rains which have fallen
in torrents in the plains of Piedmont have retarded
any great action there.
E. Sartoris writes to me from Paris that the
Ministry is changed. Fould is to retire, and to be
succeeded by Walewski as Ministre d'Etat who, in
his turn, is to be replaced by Drouyn de 1'Huys.
Marshal Vaillant is replaced by Eandan as Minister
of War, the former having been found deficient in
administrative ability. Delangle makes room for
the Due de Padoue, and Persigny is to come here
instead of Malakhoff, who is to have charge of the
army at Paris. It is reported that Canrobert and
1859 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 225
Baraguay d'Hilliers are both going home, their fat
bodies having broken out into all sorts of things
from the sudden change from Paris gormandising
and dissipation to active life.
At Paris it is believed that the Austrians will
retreat into Lombardy, and there defend themselves
to the utmost, but that there may be a pause and
another attempt at mediation before the French
endeavour to turn them out.
The Government has gained several seats within
the last day or two, and on the whole will win about
twenty-five, which is what they really expected,
though they affected to believe they should gain
more. This result will leave them with about 305
adherents on whom they can count, and the Opposi-
tion with about 315 the rest being composed of
doubtful and floating votes. This makes it next to
impossible for any Government to carry on the busi-
ness of the country, and proves how unjustifiable
the dissolution was.
May 10, Tuesday. I heard to-night from Cowley,
whom I met at Granville's, that Walewski and Fould
both remain at their present posts.
The Government here is annoyed at the appoint-
ment of Persigny to the London Embassy, which they
attribute to a Palmerston intrigue. It is said that
the French Government wrote to ours to ask if it
would be agreeable to them to receive Flahault as
Ambassador, but that before they could send the
answer, which was in the affirmative, it was notified
that Persigny was appointed.
I hear to-day from Paris that the coquetterie
between France and Eussia has somewhat subsided,
in consequence of an assurance from our Government
in. Q
226 LEAVES FROM THE 1859
of our strict neutrality in the war, as long as it is
limited to Italy.
In a few days 120,000 Frenchmen will have been
assembled in Italy, which, together with 40,000
Piedmontese, will make a formidable force.
No one can make out the strategy of the Austrians;
at Paris they say : ' II valait peu la peine d'entrer
en Piemont pour y laisser seulement une carte de
visite.' Paris is ringing with calembours on the
present state of affairs the last is not bad :
Eandan Plon Plon Vaillant,
Eendons Plon Plon Vaillant
(on the names of the French generals).
May 11, Wednesday. The Emperor left Paris
last night for the front, accompanied by Prince
Napoleon and by the Empress as far as Montereau.
She had been appointed, the day before, Eegent by
decree : ' To execute the functions of the Govern-
ment during our absence, in conformity with our
instructions and orders such as we shall have made
known in the general order of the service which we
shall establish, and let it be known that cognisance
shall be given to our uncle, Prince Jerome, to the
Presidents of the great bodies of the State, to the
members of our Privy Council, and to the Ministers,
of such orders and instructions, and that in no case
can the Empress deviate from their tenour in the
exercise of the functions of Eegent.'
The Emperor was much cheered on his way to
the railway station by an immense crowd of people.
I met Kilmansegge last night. He fears the war
may be of long duration, as he considers it to be
impossible that either party can abide by a defeat,
supposing such to occur. The Emperor could not
1869 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 227
show himself in France were any disaster to befall
his army the Emperor of Austria, if defeated, would
retire to his strongholds in Lombardy, and it would
take a long time to drive him out.
Kilmansegge thinks Germany will not suffer the
expulsion of Austria from any of the States secured
to her by the treaties of 1815. The best thing that
could happen would be a drawn battle, which would
afford a new opportunity for the mediation of the
Great Powers and a fresh attempt to settle the
Italian question. The news of Russia are very
uncertain and she cannot be depended upon, but
K. thinks that united Germany, and with 1,300,000
men in arms, Eussia will hesitate before she openly
joins with France.
The belief at Paris is that the Austrian tactics,
which to the ignorant appear stupid and unin-
telligible, are dictated from Vienna rather than on
the spot ! .
May 14, Saturday, It was known last night at
the Queen's concert that Buol had resigned, and that
Count Eechberg, President of the Diet, is appointed
in his place. This news excites curiosity and interest,
and it is supposed that Buol is dismissed in order to
curry favour with Gortchakoff (who hates him), and
a symptom of rapprochement between Eussia and
Austria.
The Queen has issued a proclamation enjoining
strict neutrality in the war. At the same time a
letter from the War Office has been addressed to the
Lords Lieutenants of Counties, recommending them
to organise corps of volunteer riflemen. The act
of 44 George III. is recited and applied to the
present times, and we are now invited to do as
Q 2
228 LEAVES FROM THE
we did in 1804, when invasion of these shores was
threatened by France.
The Emperor Napoleon has published an order
of the day to the army, full of bombast and exactly
on the model of the old Napoleonic effusions. The
' Times ' has an excellent article upon this document,
which it says would seem to indicate that the enemy
is to be swept completely out of Italy in the first
campaign, and if Germany waits three months before
coming to the assistance of Austria, there will no
longer be an Austrian army to assist.
At dinner to-day at Granville's I met Eeeve, who
is inclined to think that our troubles may begin in
the East that a rising in Turkey is being fomented
by Eussia and likely to take place, and of which she
will avail herself to recover all she has lost by the
Crimean War.
The elections end to-day. Government claim a
gain of twenty-eight, making a difference of fifty-six
votes, and rendering the strength and stability of any
Government by the near balance of parties quite
impossible. It is calculated by the other side that,.
on the whole, and including all the disputed votes,,
they will muster on any great division 303 votes.
May 20, Hatchford, Friday. I came here on
Wednesday. Two significant facts as to the intimate
relations of France with Eussia are, first, that just
before leaving Paris the Emperor conferred the
Grand Cordon of the Legion of Honour on Kisseleff;
the other is that the Grand Duchess Catherine has
come to Paris and is lodged at the Tuileries.
Clanwilliam, who is here, does not believe that
Eussia, whatever may be her present relations with
France, will ever draw the sword with her against
1859 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 229
Austria and Germany moreover that Russia is not
prepared for war. He is just returned from Germany
and says nothing can exceed the enthusiasm prevailing
there against France. At the tables-d'hote patriotic
songs are sung and the strongest language held.
Flahault writes from Paris that intense anxiety is
felt there as to the result of the first battle. The
Legitimists and Orleanists say that, if successful, the
Emperor will have the coalition against him ; if the
reverse, all France !
Our naval men are much struck by the extra-
ordinary ease and despatch with which the French
forces have been landed in the port of Genoa. In
three hours ten thousand men were disembarked,
and the steamers which brought them already out
of sight.
May 24, London, Tuesday. I returned here
yesterday. The newspapers of yesterday contained
the account of an action fought at Casteggio and
Montebello. Fifteen thousand Austrians attacked a
combined force of French and Sardinians whom they
met when making a reconnoissance. The battle
lasted five hours, and each side lost a large number
of men. The French own to about seven hundred
killed and wounded and the Austrians compute their
loss at the same amount. They retired on the Po,
but were not pursued. A large French division,
commanded by Prince Napoleon, has landed at Leg-
horn and is to occupy Florence.
A telegram from Eome announces the death of
the King of Naples as having taken place at 1 P.M.
on Monday. Clarendon told me to-day that the
King had advised the Duke of Calabria to grant a
constitution and a general amnesty, and to renew
230 LEAVES FEOM THE 1859
diplomatic relations as soon as possible after his-
accession, which he said he could not do, as his
sincerity would be doubted; he also recommended
him to put himself into Filangieri's hands and above
all to take no advice from the Queen.
Lady Holland writes to me from Naples on the
17th: 'A conspiracy has been discovered and
arrests made of men paid by the Queen to proclaim
her son, instead of the King's by his first wife. The
Prince has had the chiefs of this plot arrested and
exiled proprio motu. This has reassured the honest
people, and the lies in circulation about him have
done him good and turned to his advantage.'
John Eussell and Palmerston have met and are
agreed upon the course to be pursued at the meeting
of Parliament. They mean to follow the precedent
of 1835 and 1851, and to propose an amendment to
the Address, or a vote of want of confidence. This,
however, is to depend upon their numbers, and the
inclinations of the Opposition when they assemble in
London. The Government think they can count on
315 who will not vote for the amendment to the
Address.
Princess Frederick William is come over to
Osborne to see her mother, without her husband, who
is detained by public affairs. The Duchess of Kent is
seriously ill and unable to meet her grand-daughter.
The last new riddle :
Quelle est la difference entre 1'Empereur Napoleon
et le Eoi de Sardaigne? L'un est t6te montee,
1'autre Pieds montais.
June 12, Sunday. All this week has been con-
sumed in the debate on the amendment to the
Address, moved by Hartington. who spoke remark-
1859 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 231
ably well, and which ended in being carried by a
majority of thirteen, and in the resignation of the
Ministry. The Queen sent for Granville in the first
instance and subsequently for Palmerston.
The war is proceeding, and has gone entirely
against the Austrians, who have been defeated in a
great battle at Magenta, owing to the blunders of
Giulai, and which has opened the road to Milan,
where the Emperor Napoleon and Victor Emmanuel
are now established. The Austrians have evacuated
Pavia and Piacenza, and have retired on the Adda.
I saw Cothek at the Drawing-room. He con-
siders their affairs as in a desperate state, and
attributes this in a great measure to the in-
efficiency of Giulai. There is also some fear that
the Hungarian regiments are disaffected ; for in
no other way than by their laying down their
arms can the large number of prisoners taken be
accounted for.
It seems clear now that Germany will not assist
Austria, unless attacked in the States of the Con-
federation, which will be a severe disappointment
to the petite diplomatie here, who have talked big
on this subject.
June 15, Wednesday. Prussia has decided on
mobilising her army. Kilmansegge told me to-day he
thought this was very ominous of war. Cetto (the
Bavarian) said this step should have been taken a
month ago to be of any use. It is, however, they
said, the answer of Germany to an insolent circular
of Gortchakoff published a few days ago, declaring
the line Eussia means to pursue. In the meantime,
the Austrians have retreated to the line of their great
fortresses and are hotly pursued by the French.
232 LEAVES FROM THE 1859
June 16, Thursday. I met Malmesbury to-night
at Lady Jersey's. He told us he had heard from the
Austrian head- quarters that the Austrian generals
had demanded of the Emperor that Giulai should be
brought to a court-martial. He had been relieved
from his command. The Emperor Napoleon is gone
to the front of his army, and a battle is expected
to take place on the 18th as Malmesbury said,
E. N. is so superstitious and always thinking of
anniversaries. I suppose he is confident of wiping
out that day of disaster by another victory, or he
would rather avoid than seek to fight on that
day !
The Italian correspondence is at last laid before
Parliament. I cannot think why it has been so long
delayed, for there can be no doubt that, had it been
produced earlier, it would have been favourable to
Malmesbury and have removed the suspicion of his
strong Austrian bias. Everything that could be
done to avert the war appears to me to have been
done, and the language to Austria to dissuade her
from war was as strong as possible. This corre-
spondence, however, proves that from the beginning
both parties, though actuated by different motives,
were determined to go to war, and that any and all
efforts to prevent it would have been hopeless. The
Emperor of the French, by trick and cunning and
by the obstinacy of the Emperor Francis Joseph,
succeeded in putting the latter, ostensibly, in the
wrong, and in casting upon him the odium of being
the aggressor.
I hear Eoebuck is going to give notice of a
motion of approbation of Malmesbury's conduct in
this business.
1859 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 233
June 30, Thursday. The bloody battle of Sol-
ferino was fought within the last fortnight, the details
of which are still but imperfectly known. The defeat
of the Austrians was total and complete the loss on
both sides enormous. The French have crossed the
Mincio, and Peschiera is invested.
The new Government and Household are formed.
Spencer succeeds Abercorn, and Sydney has been
especially selected by the Queen as Chamberlain.
Ailesbury succeeds Beaufort as Master of the Horse
Cobden declined the seat in the Cabinet offered to
him.
Koebuck did not bring on his motion.
July 28, Holland House, Thursday. I have
found it impossible to keep a journal during these
last two months. Events have succeeded each other
so rapidly, and of such magnitude, the details of
which have almost invariably been of so doubtful
and contradictory a character, that to chronicle them
would have been a mere waste of time. The peace
so hastily and unexpectedly concluded by the two
Emperors (by the Emperor of Austria, as he states in
his Manifesto, because Germany, or rather Prussia,
would not consider his cause as theirs, and by the
Emperor Napoleon because there was the danger of
the war spreading beyond its present limits and
becoming out of proportion with the interests of
France). This peace is quite as unpopular in this
country as was the war, and still more so, of course,
in Italy, and everything is in doubt as to how its
terms can be carried out. The question just now
pending is whether or no there shall be a Congress,
and whether, if there be one, we are to take part in
it. It is believed that Palmerston, John Eussell, and
234 LEAVES FROM THE 1859
Gladstone are in favour of our doing so, whilst the
rest of the Cabinet and the House of Commons are of
opinion that we should act more wisely in keeping-
aloof and in avoiding all responsibility.
In the meantime Italy seems determined not to
submit quietly to the arrangements made for her by
the two Emperors, and it looks as if a war of in-
dependence would soon break out, or at all events of
resistance, and the question is, are these terms of
peace to be imposed by force, and if so, who is to do
the work ? France, or Austria ?
The Emperor Napoleon has perhaps by this time
found out his mistake in rushing into this war in
spite of the friendly warnings of all Europe ; for he
can hardly be said to have effected the objects he
professed to have in view, and the result of which
has been little more than to give him a little military
glory (much disputed by many), and dearly bought
at the expense of the lives of 100,000 men de part
et cCautre. In his speech in reply to the congratu-
lations of the Corps Diplomatique there are evident
signs of ill-humour, as he complains of ' the injustice
of Europe towards him.'
He is to make a public entry into Paris on
August 14.
I had a musical party on the 22nd for the Cam-
bridges. Mario never at any time sang more divinely.
His voice was in beautiful order, and the charm and
finish of his execution surpassed any of his former
efforts. It was delightful.
The state of our national defences has occupied
Parliament unceasingly since the meeting. There
was the other day an angry article in the ' Moniteur,'
pretending that the army and navy estimates of
1859 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE
France were much less than those of England, and
therefore that the increase in ours must be attributed
to other causes than those assigned. All which is
easily answered.
A large dinner here yesterday. Argylls, Shel-
burnes, Woods, Lord Macaulay, C. Villiers. The
heat was so intense that enjoyment of society was
out of the question.
July 29, Friday. John Eussell made his state-
ment on foreign affairs last night. He began by
expressing his satisfaction at an article in the
' Moniteur ' which announced the intention of the
Emperor to place his land and sea forces on a peace
footing. The peace had been sudden and unexpected.
Austria had since said that the terms of peace
suggested to her by the neutral Powers had been far
worse than those she had obtained from the Emperor
of the French. He had to observe that the neutral
Powers had had no concert, and therefore could not
have agreed upon any terms to be submitted to the
belligerents, and at all events this country had not
been party to any such proposition. He believed
one great reason, although not the avowed one, for
the hasty peace was the horror of both parties at the
awful slaughter that had taken place.
With respect to the Treaty of Villafranca, which
ceded Lombardy to Sardinia, he did not think it
was for this country, which had taken no part in
the war, to comment on or to criticise it. Another
portion of that treaty, however, related to the
future of Italy, for which it proposed a new organi-
sation. It was now proposed that there should be a
Congress to which the neutral Powers should be
invited, to consider the details of a peace, but there
236 LEAVES FROM THE 1859
were some matters relative to a new organisation
of Italy which rendered a preliminary understanding
necessary before this country could become a party
to the conference.
The French Government had been informed that
before England could engage in such a Congress two
things were indispensably necessary. One that they
should see the Treaty of Zurich, for on that treaty
it would depend whether they would agree to that
conference, and the other, that the Emperor of
Austria should be a party to it, without which they
felt it would be useless. The Treaty of Yillafranca
contained no settlement of the affairs of Italy ; it
only stated that two great Sovereigns were in favour
of a Confederation of the Italian States. He doubted
if the time were come for such confederation.
With regard to the Duchies, he did not believe
that the two Emperors would use force to restore
their respective Sovereigns, and if Tuscany, for
instance, declared for one government, it would be
impossible for this country to be a party to impose
upon her any other form of government. He also
alluded to the difficulty for Sardinia, which was for
religious toleration and a constitutional government,
sitting in the confederation with Austria and the
Pope. He thought it would be unwise, under all
these circumstances, to come to a decision regarding
the proposed Congress.
Palmerston and Gladstone spoke in the same
sense and both with moderation.
July 30, Saturday. Panizzi, Brougham, and
Madame Blaise de Bury, an Englishwoman mar-
ried to a Frenchman, who has a literary salon at
Paris of an Orleanist hue, dined here to-day.
1859 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 237
Madame de Bury is supposed to be the Paris corre-
spondent of the 'Manchester Guardian.' She ap-
peared to be lively and intelligent.
July 31, Sunday. Panizzi brought the Marchese
Lagatuo Corsini to dine here to-day. He was the
man who was deputed by the insurgent Tuscans to
propose to the Grand Duke to abdicate, and has
now been sent by the Provisional Government on a
mission to this country, but I am not sure if he is to
be received officially. Panizzi is much alarmed lest
the deposed Dukes of Tuscany and Modena should
be brought back by force to their respective Duchies.
Eomagna has adopted the Code Napoleon and is
organising troops to resist those of the Pope.
The heat during the whole of this month has
been unexampled very delightful by day, but at
night almost intolerable.
August _Z, Hatch/ ord, Monday. I came here
to-day. It is much believed that the Emperor
Napoleon's chief reasons for concluding so hasty a
peace were the already enormous losses, the bad
sanitary state of the army owing to the extreme
heat, and the probability of its becoming worse in the
marshes of Mantua. Ophthalmia had already broken
out to a fearful extent. H. M. was also aware that
the Pope was meditating his excommunication, which,
though a matter of personal indifference to himself,
he knew would be dangerous to his position in
France, and would at once cause him to lose the
support of the parti pretre. The army is much dis-
gusted at the abrupt termination of the campaign and
at being sent home without spoils of any kind. The
Due d'Aumale, who knows the army well, thinks they
will be very impatient of their repose, and eager to
238 LEAVES FROM THE 1859
proceed to further conquests and of a more profitable
nature.
August 5, Monday. The Zurich Conference began
on the 6th. Colloredo represents Austria, Bour-
queney France Sardinia sends Mr. Desambris. In
the meantime the Piedmontese Government has re-
called their commissioner from Parma. The King
has made his public entry into Milan. To-night
Elcho brought on a motion for an address to the
Crown, stating it to be the opinion of the House that
it would be inconsistent with the honour and dignity
of this country to take part in any conference for
the purpose of settling the details of a peace the
preliminaries of which had been arranged by the
Emperors of France and Austria. Kinglake moved
the previous question, because he thought Elcho's
motion could not appropriately be met by a negative
or affirmative vote. Gladstone made a long speech
denying that Government had any intention of taking
part in a conference. The details of the peace would
be settled by the two belligerents, and what remained,
not the details of the peace, but great questions
of European policy vitally affecting the happiness
of Italy. The Government wished to see Austria
flourishing and happy, but it did not follow that they
might not have their conviction that she might, by
another policy, better discharge her duties, and
consult her own separate and individual interests.
Austria might be stronger out of Italy than in it,
but the true policy of this country was non-inter-
vention.
John Eussell said that the preliminaries ot
Villafranca did not propose to regulate definitively
the settlement of Italy. That country might be
1859 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 239
threatened by a bloody revolution or a foreign
intervention, and if Eussia, Prussia, and England,
by joining the Congress, could agree to the terms
upon which a confederation might be formed, we
were not to say that we had registered a vow not
to enter into a conference. The responsibility on
this question, as in others, should be left to the
minister of the Crown at present he was so far
from being an advocate for a conference that he saw
more objections against than reasons for it.
Palmerston said that the Government was not
proposing to go into a conference at all, but if they
did, it would not be to upset the arrangement of
1815. He was of opinion that Austria would be
stronger if she had no Italian possessions, but it was
one thing to hold that opinion and another to enter
into measures to change arrangements that were
founded upon treaties which were the basis of a great
European settlement. Elcho withdrew his motion.
The completion of the ' Great Eastern ' ship was
celebrated yesterday by a great banquet on board
the vessel to members of both Houses of Parliament.
The engineers were toasted, and everything seems to
have passed off satisfactorily. Lord Stanley, in pro-
posing the toast of the day, told the company that
the ship had been built to make the voyage to Cal-
cutta in twenty-five days that she is intended to
carry her coals for the outward and inward voyages,
and is calculated to carry a population of not much
less than 10,000 including her crew.
She is to make an experimentary trip on the
Atlantic. Great doubt is felt as to the success of
the ship in a commercial point of view.
August 14, Holland House. Parliament was
240 ' LEAVES FKOM THE 185t>
prorogued by commission yesterday. There is a
paragraph in the speech to the following effect :
' Various overtures had been made to Her Majesty
with a view to ascertain whether, if conferences should
be held by the Great Powers of Europe for the purpose
of settling arrangements connected with the present
state and future condition of Italy, a plenipotentiary
would be sent by Her Majesty's Government to assist
at such conferences ; but H. M. has not yet received
the information necessary to enable her to decide
whether she may think fit to take part in any such
conferences.'
There was a large dinner here to-day. Palmer-
ston, Lagatuo, and Bargazli, the ex-Governor of
Leghorn, and devoted to the Grand Ducal dynasty,
whom I formerly knew at Paris when charge
d'affaires of Tuscany ; Panizzi, Corti, Lady William
Eussell and her two sons Arthur and Odo the latter
just returned with his mother from his post at Eome,
and about to go back immediately. Lady William,
by whom I sat at dinner, told me all the Eoman
aristocracy, almost without exception, were for leav-
ing things alone, the populace ignorant and indifferent,
but the middle classes, who were enlightened, ardently
desired reform. She said Cardinal Antonelli was
very indignant with Granville, of whom he had seen
something at Eome, for his speech on the opening of
Parliament on the Papal Government, and said the
only way he could account for it was ' que la goutte
dont il souffrait lui etait montee & la tete.'
Marliani, formerly Consul-General of Spain at
Paris, but who has for many years abandoned Spanish
politics and retired to Bologna, is come here on a
mission to our Government from the Legations.
1859 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 241
In the meantime the 'Moniteur' announces the
intention of the Emperor to leave ' momentanement '
50,000 men in Italy !
It is believed that he does not intend Tuscany
and the other Duchies shall be annexed to Piedmont,
and that he has promised the Pope to restore the
Legations to his ' paternal rule.'
On the last day of the session, Elcho asked
Sidney Herbert if the Government considered the
formation of volunteer, rifle, and artillery corps
as an important and permanent element of our
national defence, and if they were really desirous
that such a force should be established. Sidney
Herbert replied that every encouragement had been
given to the formation of these corps, and that ninety
were already in process of formation. These corps
would soon constitute a considerable force, but he
thought they should not be regarded as substitutes
for any portion of the regular army ; but great
advantages might result from the existence of
auxiliary corps of this description, consisting of
persons who went through a regular drill, and made
themselves masters of the weapons with which they
were to be armed. He then produced the report
of General Hay of the results of the performances
of the noblemen and gentlemen of the rifle volunteer
corps, which was in favour of the volunteers as
compared with that of parties of officers, the highest
figure of the former being 46 -94 of the latter,
47-07 points.
The election petitions have gone almost all
against the Government members, and it is predic-
ted that in the next Session their small majority
will have dwindled into a minority. Labouchere's
III. R
242 LEAVES FROM THE 1859
elevation to the peerage 1 causing a vacancy at
Taunton, George Bentinck has come in by a majority
of fifty. The first time a Conservative has been
elected there for fifty years !
August 18, Frognal, Thursday. I came here on
Monday. The Sidney Herberts, G. Byngs, John
Acton, Miss Foley and Claremont are our party.
The latter gave us some very interesting details of
what preceded and succeeded the armistice between
the French and Austrians. Colonel Fleury was sent
with a letter from the Emperor Napoleon to the
Emperor of Austria, whom he found in bed. H. M.
got up, read the letter, and demanded the night to
consider of its contents, and ordered supper and
a bed to be prepared for Fleury. Every one was
taken by surprise at the French headquarters.
Prince Alexander of Hesse brought the Emperor of
Austria's letter agreeing to an interview, and which
was appointed to take place the following morning
at nine, at Villafranca. The Emperor Napoleon,
having a shorter way to go, arrived at the place
of rendezvous before the appointed time, and rode
forwards to meet the Emperor Francis Joseph, with
whom, when they met, he shook hands, and they
rode back together. When they dismounted, the
Emperor Napoleon gave the pas to the Emperor
Francis Joseph, who, however, refused to take it,
and the former, on entering the apartment prepared
for the interview, said : ' Enfin, puisque votre Majeste
1'exige ; du reste, vous etes chez vous,' which the
bystanders considered a bad omen for Venetia.
Two rooms had been prepared for the occasion,-
one within the other, but the two Emperors did not
1 Created Lord Taunton.
1859 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 243
go beyond the first room, which had a glazed door,
and where they remained entirely alone for one hour.
There was a French officier de service outside, with
whom Claremont is very well acquainted. He told
him he did not like to look much at what was passing
within, but that he could not help seeing that both
Emperors were ' tres emus,' and the Emperor of
Austria the most so.
At the conclusion of the interview they came out
and each inspected the escort of the other, and then
remounted their horses. The Emperor of Austria
accompanied the Emperor of the French about as far
on his way back as the latter had come to meet him.
Claremont said that, on the whole, the French were
glad of the peace, although they were full of confi-
dence, and did not doubt but that the great Quadri-
lateral would fall in a very short time. Solferino was
lost entirely by the Austrian general failing to call
into action a force of 10,000 cavalry which must have
decided the day in favour of the Austrians. He has
since been disgraced. I heard his name, but forget it.
The French army made its triumphal entry into
Paris on Sunday. Frank Egerton was there, and said
it went off very well, without any drawback but a
few showers of rain. The Emperor preceded his
troops from the Bastille to the Place Vendome,
surrounded by the captured standards of the enemy.
He took up his position on the Place, which was
converted into one vast amphitheatre containing
20,000 people admitted by tickets, and the troops
defiled before him. Great enthusiasm was shown,
and more particularly for the wounded, and for a
vivandiere who was drawn bv in a carriage.
t< O
The Grand Duke of Tuscany has come to Paris to
E 2
244 LEAVES FROM THE 1859
plead his cause with the Emperor Napoleon, who
received him very graciously, but said ' it was a pity
he had come by so circuitous a road.' Meantime,
the question of the restoration of the Princes
becomes more difficult and complicated by the
National Assemblies of Florence and Modena having
pronounced the decheance of the families of Lorraine
and d'Este, and their desire to be annexed to Piedmont.
The elections to these assemblies were effected without
any disturbance, and both at Florence and Modena
the men most eminent for ability and representing
the largest amount of property have been returned.
I took a long walk with John Acton yesterday.
He strikes me as being a very remarkable young
man. His knowledge on all subjects, political, philo-
sophical, literary, and scientific, is immense, and he
has an ease of expressing himself, and a charm of
manner of communicating what he knows, rarely to
be met with. He ought to play a part in the political
world, and no doubt will do so, if the great disad-
vantage of being a Roman Catholic does not stand in
his way.
Lord and Lady Cranworth, who live near here,
dined here to-day. He is very pleasant.
Sidney Herbert, who is taking up in earnest
the subject of our national defences, has appointed
the author of the very able article in the ' Quar-
terly Eeview ' to act in the commission appointed to
enquire into the organisation of our national defences.
A propos of this, J. Acton had a letter from
Montalembert the other day, who says there is not a
sensible or well-informed man in France who does
not believe that the invasion of England is the fixed
determination of the Emperor, and that, with the
1869 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 245
exception of himself and perhaps five hundred other
liberal men, there is not a Frenchman who would
not applaud him for making the attempt. When the
bounty was offered, in order to raise 10,000 sailors
for our reserve force, the Emperor quietly gave
orders for the raising of the same number in France.
August 16, Brocket, Tuesday. On coming here
yesterday I was greeted by the pleasant news that
Dalkeith had proposed and been accepted by Tiny
Hamilton, 1 the day before. I think it may be safely
said that each has drawn the gros lot in the matri-
monial lottery.
August 28, Sunday. Went to the church erected
at the gate of Brocket to the memory of poor Cowper
by his widow and children. It is a very pretty one.
Of all the innumerable letters of congratulation
which have been received by Lady Abercorn, none
is more cordial and affectionate than that of the
Queen. It is couched in terms of the warmest
friendship, and really seems to come from her heart.
I never knew a marriage which afforded such uni-
versal satisfaction.
August 30, Panshanger, Tuesday. I came here
yesterday. William Cowper is here, and tells me the
Cabinet summoned yesterday is to deliberate on our
joining the Congress. It is believed that Palmerston,
J. Kussell, and Gladstone are in favour of it against
all the rest of the Cabinet.
The Queen travelled to Scotland this evening, for
the first time by a night train.
Lord Henry Seymour, brother to Hertford, died a
few days ago at Paris. He has left his vast wealth
to the hospices of Paris, with the exception of 50/.
1 Lady Louisa Hamilton, present Duchess of Buccleuch (1904).
246 LEAVES FEOM THE 1859
per annum to his natural children. Nothing to his
mistresses, one of whom lived with him, nursed him
day and night, and was his slave. He had never been
in England, having a great terror of crossing the sea,
and was entirely French in his tastes and habits. Had
he survived his brother, it is probable he would not
have succeeded to the title without opposition, and
he would have found it next to impossible to prove
his claim to the peerage ; for, although born in wed-
lock, the fact of ' non-intercourse ' would have been
easily proved.
August 31, Wednesday. The Duke of Bedford
and Lady Abercorn came over to luncheon. The
Duke told me a characteristic story of Lord Mel-
bourne. We were speaking of the opposition now
being made by the Eoman Catholic bishops to the
system of national education, and of the ingratitude
of that body, which reminded him of Lord M. saying
on a similar occasion that ' every man who was
liberal and enlightened had advocated Catholic
emancipation, and that only the damned fools had
been against it, and now he began to think the
damned fools were quite right.'
September 6. The Tuscan deputation offering the
annexation of the Duchy was received by the King of
Sardinia on Saturday, September 3, Signer Gherardesca
addressing his Majesty in the following words :
4 If the wish of Tuscany for annexation with
Piedmont only served for the aggrandisement of
your Majesty's States, we should entertain doubts
as to the acceptance of our wish by your Majesty,
but our wish being inspired by the love of Italian
nationality, we hope that the thought of Italy will
decide your Majesty to accept it.'
1859 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 247
To this address the King made a vague but
adroit answer, and which was probably suggested to
him from Paris ; it is in the following terms :
' I am deeply sensible of the wish of the Tuscan
Assembly. I thank you in my own name and in
that of my people. We have received your visit as a
solemn manifestation of the will of the Tuscan people,
who, after having made the last vestige of foreign
domination to cease, desires to contribute to the
constitution of a strong kingdom which shall defend
the independence of Italy ; but the Tuscan Assembly
will have comprehended that the accomplishment of
its wish can only take place by negotiations which
are about to begin on the affairs of Italy. I will
second your desire, becoming myself strong by the
rights which are given me by your wishes. I will
.support the cause of Tuscany before the Powers in
which the Assembly places its hopes, and especially
before the magnanimous Emperor of the French,
who has done so much for the Italian nation. I hope
that Europe will not refuse to practise towards
Tuscany that work of redeeming grievances which
it has, under less favourable circumstances, practised
towards Greece, Belgium, and the Danubian Princi-
palities. Your noble country gives an admirable
example of moderation and concord. You wih 1 add
those virtues to that one which ensures the triumph
of all honest undertakings and which overcomes all
obstacles, namely, Perseverance.'
September 7, Wednesday. The ' Great Eastern '
has at last cast off her moorings, and yesterday
morning was towed down the Thames on her first
short trip to Portland.
September 10, Hatch/ ord, Saturday. An elaborate
248 LEAVES FKOM THE 1859
article, evidently from the pen of the Emperor
Napoleon, has appeared in the ' Moniteur,' throwing,
however, but little light on the ultimate solution of the
great problem of Italy, but stating one or two facts
which, though before surmised, were not entirely
established. It is announced that one of the condi-
tions of the Treaty of Villafranca, not only a condition,
but a sine qud non, was the return of the Archdukes ;
and large concessions were promised to Yenetia by
the Emperor of Austria as the equivalent of this
engagement. The Emperor Napoleon states that the
destinies of Italy were confided not to him, but to
men who had more at heart little partial successes
than the future of their common fatherland. These
bad citizens and paltry politicians, by objecting to
the restoration of the Archdukes, have obstructed
instead of developing the consequences of the Treaty of
Villafranca. The result of their efforts is boldly stated
to be the perpetuation of the right of Austria to do as
she pleases with Venetia, which, under happier auspices,
might have been placed in the proud position which
Luxembourg enjoys in regard to the King of Holland.
This article concludes with the following words :
Let not Italy be deceived, there is but one Power in
Europe that wages war for an idea ; that Power is
France, and France has accomplished her task.' Upon
this the ' Times ' most truly remarks : ' Certainly, if
ever there were required a proof demonstrative of
the wisdom of the injunction to do no evil that good
may come of it, we may see it in the state of affairs
which has arisen out of the war of France for " an
idea," and out of the treaty with which that war was
brought to a close. France has indeed made war for
her idea, but when the " Moniteur " tells us she has
1859 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 249
accomplished her mission, we must hesitate ere we
can believe that she sacrificed so many millions of
money, and expended so much noble blood, for the
sorry satisfaction of gaining some barren victories,
or for the brief existence of a lame and impotent
treaty.'
September 11, Sunday. Lady Holland writes that
Italy is the great problem upon which the article of the
' Moniteur ' throws no light. The Emperor, as usual,
is playing a double game. The Congress is now
believed in at Paris, and he hopes there to settle
matters in some way, so as to get out of the scrapes
he has got into.
There is a breach between young Napoleon and
the Emperor since .the peace, and the former has no
hope of any kingdom being given to him.
King Leopold of Belgium is gone to Biarritz it
is not known for what purpose.
It is believed at Paris that the Emperor wrote
the King's answer to the Tuscan deputation.
September 12, Monday. The ' Times ' of to-day
contains the startling intelligence, brought by tele-
gram, of the renewal of the Chinese War. Admiral
Hope arrived off the Peiho river on June 17, and
found that the fortifications had been rebuilt and the
entrance to the river barred by booms and stakes.
The Plenipotentiaries joined the squadron on the
20th, and no notice having been taken of their
arrival, an attempt was made to force the passage,
when, on a sudden, batteries supported by a mongrel
force of, apparently, 20,000 men were unmasked and
opened a destructive fire, and after a severe action
the squadron was obliged to withdraw with the loss
of the ' Cormorant,' the ' Leo,' and the ' Plover,' and
250 LEAVES FROM THE 1859
64 killed and wounded a most disastrous affair, and
one sure to entail a further vast sacrifice of human
blood and treasure.
The ' Great Eastern ' has met with a serious
accident by the explosion of one of the boilers ;
several people were killed and injured, but by extra-
ordinary good fortune the great saloon, close to the
boiler which exploded, which had just before the
explosion been full of people, had been emptied of
its guests, and thus a terrible loss of life was pre-
vented. Stafford l and Alfred Paget were on board
at the time, but escaped unhurt.
December 15, Thursday The ' Moniteur ' an-
nounces that the Government of the Emperor will
combine with our Government a joint expedition to
avenge the treachery of China.
Charles writes to me on this subject :
'The Chinese affair is likely to be as great an
embarrassment to us as the Italian question to the
Emperor. We may remember that the remote cause
of it is our own folly and injustice, and it is curious
that this Government should again be in a difficulty
about China which was the cause of those other
difficulties which subsequently led to its downfall.
There is no way of treating such a question at all
satisfactory. To make war on such a people is
nothing but slaughtering a defenceless rabble, and
like shooting on a farmyard. To make peace with
them is still more difficult, since they will not keep
any terms and no stipulations can bind them. You
cannot get at the Government, and the Government
does not care how many thousands of its subjects
you kill. What is human life in a population of
1 Afterwards Duke of Sutherland.
1859 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 251
200,000,000 souls ? You can't occupy the country,
and to wrest from them territory would be to punish
ourselves more than them.'
Charles remarks on the article in the ' Moniteur '
on the Italian affair :
' The querulous document in the " Moniteur "
reveals the embarrassment and ill-humour of Louis
Napoleon, and it can be no consolation to him, in
his present yw?, to reflect that it is all his own fault,
and that his own folly and obstinacy are the cause
of his dilemma.'
September 16, Friday. I hear from Paris that
the visit of King Leopold to Biarritz, which excites
so much curiosity, is on the following business.
Some years ago there was a siege of Antwerp, for
which the French furnished several millions of
money. Then came King Leopold's marriage with
Louis Philippe's daughter, and the interest of the
debt was paid, but not the capital. The other day,
the Emperor Napoleon, on hearing of the rebuilding
of the fortifications, sent word to the King that he
was delighted to hear he was so rich and had so
much money to throw away, but suggested to his
Majesty that he should be glad if he would begin by
paying off the debt to France. Off Leopold has
posted to see how he can best arrange this little
business.
September 32, Thursday. The ' Fox ' screw dis-
covery vessel (Captain McClintock), which was sent
to the Arctic Eegions at the expense of Lady Franklin
to try and discover some trace of the missing expedi-
tion, arrived off the Isle of Wight on Wednesday.
Captain McClintock, in his interesting despatch to the
Admiralty, states that their efforts to ascertain the
252 LEAVES FROM THE 1859
fate of the Franklin expedition were crowned with
complete success. Eecords dated April 21, 1848,
signed by Captain Crozier and Fitzjames, were found,
by which it is ascertained that H.M.S. ' Erebus ' and
'Terror' were abandoned on April 24, 1848, in the
ice, five leagues to the north-west of Point Victory,
and that Sir John Franklin had died on June 11,
1847. It must be some consolation to his widow to
know that he was spared the subsequent hardships
and privations to which his crew were exposed and
under which they perished.
October 14, Friday. The Emperor Napoleon has
paid a visit to Bordeaux on his way from Biarritz,
and in reply to a fulsome harangue from the Arch-
bishop made a very significant speech, which may
lead to important results, and, if anything can, will
induce the Papal Government to ' set their house
in order.' The following is the substance of the
speech :
' Your Eminence does justice to my intentions
without overlooking the difficulties which obstruct
them, and show that you comprehend your high
mission when you seek to strengthen confidence
rather than scatter vain alarms.
' I thank you for having recalled my words to
mind, for I have the firm hope that a new era of
glory will arise for the Church, as soon as all share
my conviction that the temporal power of the Holy
Father is not opposed to the liberty and independence
of Italy. I cannot now enter into explanations
which the grave questions you have raised would
require. I will merely say that the Government
which was the means of restoring the Holy Father
to the pontifical throne will only give utterance to
1859 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 253
such respectful counsels as are dictated by a sincere
devotedness to the interests of his Holiness, but it
cannot but be alarmed about the day, which is not
far distant, when Eome will be evacuated by our
troops ; for Europe will not allow that the occupation
of Eome by the French troops, which has lasted for
ten years, should be prolonged indefinitely.
' When my army shall be withdrawn, what will
it leave behind ? Anarchy, terror, or peace ? These
are questions the importance of which cannot escape
any one. But, believe me, in the times in which we
live, in order to resolve these questions, it is neces-
sary, instead of appealing to ardent passions, to
search with calmness for the truth, to pray to Provi-
dence to enlighten both the people and the Sove-
reigns upon the wise exercise of their rights, as well
as upon the extent of their duties. I doubt not that
your prayers will continue to draw down the blessing
of Heaven on the Empress, my son, and me ! '
In the meantime his Holiness has betaken him-
self to Castel Gandolfo, where it is said the young
King of Naples is to meet him. The latter is sending
troops to the Neapolitan and Eoman frontier.
October 16, Sunday. The Queen went to Loch
Katrine on Friday to open the Glasgow waterworks.
The effect of the ceremony was marred by a con-
tinuous downpour. She was to proceed to Colonel
Douglas Pennant's, at Penrhyn Castle, yesterday, on
her way, or rather out of her way, to Windsor.
October 20, London, Thursday. The treaty of
peace was signed at Zurich on the 17th, and an
analysis of it is published in the ' Times ' to-day.
Sardinia has to pay ten millions sterling as her share
of the Lombard debt to Austria 2,500,000 for
254 LEAVES FROM THE 1859
moneys and materiel lent to France. The other
clauses will be about as satisfactory to the rest of
Italy as the above-mentioned one is to Sardinia !
Went last night to see Miss Amy Sedgwick, an
actress now somewhat in vogue, in a play called ' The
Unequal Match.' I thought her very vulgar and very
bad, and, though the play has some cleverness, it is
very long and tedious.
October 21, Friday. I went to Sadler's Wells
to-night to see a play adapted from ' Le Eoi s'amuse,'
by Tom Taylor. It was well and evenly acted, and
beautifully got up. The theatre is dark and dirty,
but large, and was crowded to suffocation by a
very attentive and far more discriminating audience
than those which generally fill our more aristocratic
theatres; the highest price of entrance is three
shillings.
October 22, Hatchford, Saturday. In the train
was a gentleman who was returning from attending
Stephenson the engineer's funeral in Westminster
Abbey. He said at least two thousand people were
present, and that nearly every literary or scientific
body was represented on this occasion, and the sight
very solemn and impressive. He is buried in the
nave of the Abbey near Telford.
Lord Westmorland died on Sunday of pleurisy.
He was a good-natured social man, not without
considerable shrewdness, and as he had lived in
very remarkable times and with very remarkable
people, he was a very pleasant as well as a very
hospitable member of society.
We have suddenly jumped into intense cold.
October 25, Tuesday. My fifty-eighth birthday is
painfully marked to me by the deplorable intelligence
1859 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 255
of poor Lady Granville being at the point of death
at Herresheim, where she had halted on her road
from Carlsbad. Her health has been a subject of
much anxiety for the last two months. This news
came by telegram, without details.
October 26, Wednesday. Fred Leveson went off
to Herresheim last night, having received a tele-
gram dictated by Lady Granville in the following
terms : ' J'ai ete k la mort Je le suis encore Si
votre enfant se porte bien, venez rejoindre votre
frere.'
A terrific gale blew last night, preceded by a fall
of snow.
Count Colloredo, formerly minister here, and now
holding the same office at Zurich Conference, was
attacked by apoplexy immediately after signing the
treaty and expired yesterday. Karolyi is to replace
him.
War is declared by Spain against Morocco, under
the patronage of France, who, it is stated, is to supply
Spain with materials of war and to aid her by ad-
vancing money, as she did to Piedmont during the
late war.
October 27, Thursday. A telegram reached
Bruton Street last night stating that Lady Granville
had received the last sacraments and, after a tem-
porary amendment, was suffering from ' empechement
dans la circulation du cceur.' I have ceased to in-
dulge any hope.
October 29, Saturday. The gale of Tuesday night
produced the most disastrous effects all along the
coast and inland. A frightful wreck took place of
the ' Eoyal Charter,' the finest merchant ship afloat.
She was lost at Moelfra, in the Menai Straits, and out
256 LEAVES FROM THE 1869
of 450 persons on board only twenty-five were saved.
She was on her voyage home from Melbourne, full
of returning emigrants, and a large amount of specie,
and within a few hours' reach of Liverpool !
The ' Great Eastern ' appears to have been in
great jeopardy during this gale, and she received
much damage in various ways.
Lady Peel was found dead in her bed two days ago.
Villiers 1 died last Sunday morning at Brighton.
The principal topic of interest just now is the
letter of the Emperor Napoleon to the King of
Sardinia, which seems to be an ultimatum on Italian
affairs. He writes : ' The question is not now
whether I have done well or ill in making the peace
at Villafranca, but how the King of Sardinia can
best assist the Emperor Napoleon in getting the best
terms for Italy out of that treaty.' H. M. then puts
forth his programme, the most striking feature of
which is, that the diet of the proposed confederation
is to sit at Eome, under the honorary presidency of
the Pope, and is to be composed of representatives
named by the Sovereigns from a list proposed by
the elected chambers of each State, in order that
the influence of the reigning families suspected of
partiality to Austria may be balanced by the in-
fluence produced by election. He also demands the
restoration of the Grand Duke of Tuscany with some
addition to his States, and that Modena shall be
given to the Duchess of Parma, whose present State
is to be annexed to Piedmont. His Majesty's tone
towards Victor Emmanuel is rather peevish, and
he concludes by saying : ' I shall neglect nothing
1 Lord Villiers, father of the present Earl of Jersey. Lady Jersey
married later Mr. Brandling. Ed.
1859 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 257
for the attainment of this great result. Let your
Majesty be convinced of it, my sentiments will not
vary, and as far as the interests of France are not
opposed to it, I shall always be happy to serve the
cause for which we have combated together.'
It seems to me this letter makes our joining in
the Congress impossible.
November 1, London, Tuesday. On coming here
to-day I was greeted by the delightful news that
Lady Granville was out of danger.
November 14, Hatchford, Monday. I returned
here on the 2nd. On the 6th I went to town to attend
Dalkeith's marriage, which had been fixed for the
10th, but was postponed on account of the melan-
choly death of Lady Harewood, which took place on
Tuesday night at Goldsborough. This event is the
more sad that, after a year's illness, she had so much
recovered as to give every hope that her life would be
prolonged. A sudden bilious attack brought back all
the worst symptoms of her old complaint, and she sank
from exhaustion.
She was one of my earliest and most intimate
associates, and a charming, frank, lively girl she was.
Circumstances under the control of neither of us,
of later years, entirely separated us without lessening
our mutual regard.
During her illness, as these circumstances had
changed, our former intimacy was renewed, and I
looked forward with much satisfaction to my future
intercourse with so old a friend, and with whom were
connected so many happy recollections of my early
youth. She leaves three unmarried daughters just
at the age when a mother's care is most needed.
Victor Emmanuel has answered the Emperor's
in. s
258 LEAVES FROM THE 1859
letter civilly, and expressed his confidence that H.I.M.
is full of sympathy for the Italians.
The National Assemblies of Tuscany, Parma,
Modena, and Bologna having offered the regency
of their States to the Prince de Carignan, the King
of Sardinia, at the earnest request of the Emperor
Napoleon, has refused to permit the Prince to accept it.
The reason given is that it would be to forestall the
decision which the Congress about to be assembled is
alone competent to form.
William Cowper tells me nothing is settled as to
the Congress. We have not yet been formally invited
to attend it, and shall not receive the invitation unless
it be certain beforehand that we shall accept it. We
have not yet agreed upon the basis of its delibera-
tions, and neither Eussia nor Prussia will consent to
a Congress, unless we form part of it.
November 18, London, Friday. I came here
yesterday for a few days. Lord de Grey died on
Monday last after a short illness. He had been ailing
for some time, but no danger was apprehended until
two days before his death.
The Volunteer Rifle movement is just now the rage
of the day. Wherever one goes the sole topic is dritt.
Westminster Hall is used as a drilling ground and all
the smart young men of London are to be seen going
through the exercise with great zeal. It remains
to be seen whether this martial ardour will last
it appears to be taken up very much in earnest at
present.
The 'Times' newspaper has lately been calling
attention in some excellent articles to the singular
position which the Government and people of France
occupy with regard to this country. Whilst we are
1859 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 259
not only at peace, but, nominally at least, on terms of
cordiality and close alliance with the Emperor, every
instrument that can work on public opinion is
employed to raise a violent spirit of animosity against
us. The clergy denounce us the press libels us,
with an inconsiderate fury and rancour which breaks
down under the weight of its own exaggerations and
its own ignorance. Whence has arisen this sudden
fury ? What provocation have we given to account
for the strange phenomenon that a nation but lately
devoted to the happy arts of peace should suddenly
turn its ploughshare into a sword, and give the loudest
and plainest intimation of its desire to plunge that
sword into our breast ?
These articles which enter into a review of the
past and present relations between the two countries
endeavour to discover any cause of provocation in
our conduct, anything which, if we were to act other-
wise than we do, might scatter the tempest with which
we are threatened, and the gradual approach of which
we cannot regard with indifference. After showing
that there is no cause of disagreement or mistrust,
though difference of opinion on certain subjects such
as the propriety of the war, the peace, the Lesseps
Canal they declare that without any serious question
at issue between the two Governments, with the most
sincere wish on our part to maintain the most friendly
relations, we find ourselves involved in a course of
expensive preparations, which already inflict on both
countries many of the burdens and evils of war. No
such desperate madness and wickedness as of menacing
France was ever thought of in this country, whatever
any of the French statesmen may pretend to believe
on this subject. 'It is ' (they conclude by saying) ' in
s 2
260 LEAVES FROM THE 1859
the power of the Emperor of the French alone to put
an end to this state of things, which is becoming
day by day more serious, and which makes it a less
danger to peace to speak out plainly than to carry
on the fiction of an alliance, one party of which
appears to be arming for the attack, and the other
for the defence. It is in the power of the Emperor to
allay all this trouble and suspicion, and if he does
not do so, we may not unreasonably draw the most
gloomy inference from his silence.'
The Staffords l have lately been at Compiegne on
a visit to the Emperor, and were very graciously
received. His Majesty alluded to the ' invasion '
panic and expressed regret that any one in England,
where he had lived so long and been so kindly
treated, could imagine that he could have any hostile
feeling towards this country ; but, he said, of course
if the French nation was goaded on by the English
press, he could not be responsible for the con-
sequences ; the fact being that, though our press
occasionally criticises the acts of the Emperor, the
' goading on ' entirely proceeds from the other side
of the Channel.
November 23, Wednesday. Dalkeith was married
yesterday at St. George's in a thick fog, which
cleared just before their departure, and which took
place under a shower of ' old shoes.'
The Granvilles arrived in town on the 19th.
The Prefects of the French provinces, in order to
obviate the bad effect produced in England by the
violence of the language of a portion of the provin-
cial press, have received a confidental communication
1 Marquis of Stafford, afterwards Duke of Sutherland, and his
wife. Ed.
159 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 261
from the Minister of the Interior, expressing his
regret at the exaggerated language of the journals,
when speaking of the English people, both on
account of the disquietude which it must create
amongst them, and because it tends to destroy the
confidence and embitter the feelings of those of
whose opinions the English press is the channel.
The Prefects therefore are requested to invite the
journalists in question to be more circumspect, and,
while they are at liberty to refute errors, to protest
against injustice and calumny, and to defend en-
ergetically the rights of the country, they might
easily avoid offending the susceptibilities of a great
people, and rather promote friendly relations be-
tween the two countries.
This communication has drawn forth a concilia-
tory and sensible article from the ' Times,' accepting
it gratefully as a graceful and appropriate response
to their remonstrances and in the same spirit in
which it has been offered. It concludes by saying :
' Could not the same hand which has just quieted
the wild enthusiasm of the French press put an end
to those vast preparations for war which, whilst they
naturally excite the warlike spirit of the French,
as naturally stimulate the suspicions of the English
people ? '
It would be well if this subject were allowed to
drop.
November 29, Tuesday. Edward Sartoris writes
from Paris that the Congress is at last decided upon,
the Emperor having yielded to all the material con-
ditions upon which England would consent to assist
at it, and he adds that all the people the best
informed and who live the most with the Emperor,
262 LEAVES FKOM THE 1859
are persuaded that there is nothing further from his
wish than to quarrel with us, or that he holds in
greater value than the goodwill of England. This
corresponds with a letter which Flahault told me he
had received from the Emperor a month ago.
November 30, Wednesday. To-day I saw Lady
Granville for the first time since her return, and
I was pleased to find her so hopeful and cheerful.
December $, London. I returned to Hatchford
on the 1st and came here on the 6th.
I regret to say the accounts of Holland : from
Naples are very alarming. I have for some time
thought ill of his health, and he has been growing
worse ever since he left England. She [Lady Holland]
writes in great distress of mind.
The public has been much amused lately by a
letter written to the Emperor of the French by four
Liverpool merchants, requesting H. M. to state what
his real views are as regards this country, and
whether he has any intention of making war with
us ! One should have thought that such an imperti-
nent, ridiculous, and useless communication would
have been treated with the contempt it deserves, but
the Emperor has thought fit to send a reply through
his secretary, M. Mocquard, of course disclaiming
any hostile intentions, and treating as absurd and
inconceivable the suspicions, now rife in this country,
and asking what act or word can possibly justify
or account for them. The ' Times ' handles both the
foolish letter and the reply to it with even-handed
justice in a very clever and pungent article.
The invitations to the Congress have been re-
ceived here. It is still very doubtful whether the
1 Lord Holland.
1859 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 263
Pope will send a representative to it. Cowley is to
be ours. The press here, and the ' Times ' in par-
ticular, has been urging that Palmerston should go
to it, but as Parliament meets on the 24th this is
obviously impossible.
December 30, Boivood, Friday. I was detained
in London by a bad attack of lumbago, but returned
to Hatchford on the 20th, and on Wednesday 21st
I received the news of Holland's death with deep
regret, but no surprise, for I had the conviction that
when we parted in the summer he was in so broken
a state of health it was improbable we should ever
meet again. He is a great social loss, and a very
irreparable one to me, as any friend of forty years'
standing must be at my time of life.
The great subject of political interest of late has
been the publication of a pamphlet called ' Le Pape
et le Congres,' treating of and advising the separa-
tion of the temporal from the spiritual power of the
Pope. It is written by La Guerouniere, and, although
in some measure very absurd, is full of cleverness,
and is supposed to be the exposition of the Emperor's
views on this difficult subject. There can be no
doubt that it is published with his consent, and
pre-discussion on it by the French press has been
permitted and is generally favourable to the proposed
solution of this seemingly impossible question. In
the meantime the Pope declines sending an envoy to
the Congress, not only if this pamphlet be not pre-
viously disavowed by the French Government, but
also unless he is guaranteed against any discussion
in Congress of the dismemberment of the papal
dominions. It is also believed that Eussia goes with
Austria, and it is- believed that the latter Power, with
264 LEAVES FROM THE 1859
Spain and Naples, stand by the Pope and back him
up in his above-mentioned resolution.
I feel certain the Congress will never take
place.
I heard yesterday that Holland has left his whole
property to Lady Holland absolutely, having made
a short will to this effect, on the plea that his former
will was complicated, and that he had full confidence
that his wishes would be carried out by Lady H. to
the letter.
I came here on Tuesday the 27th. The weather
has been abominable, and to-day most extraordinary.
It rained in torrents the whole morning, and at one
o'clock the darkness was so great I was obliged to
light candles. A tremendous thunderstorm accom-
panied by the largest hailstones I ever saw came on,
which I fear must have done great mischief.
The Flahaults, J. Howards, Higginsons, Pahlen,
Lacaita, and Westmacott are here.
At breakfast this morning I was shocked by the
news of the death of Lord Macaula}^ which occurred
yesterday, almost suddenly. Another great social
and literary luminary extinguished. He was as-
sociated with my pleasantest days at Holland House,
where I constantly met him at dinner, and was
astonished and delighted by his wonderful knowledge
and eloquence, and delighted by his good humour
and courtesy. This latter quality was shown by the
way he had of putting one on an equality with him,
as it were, by assuming that one was familiar with
the extraordinary variety of facts which he im-
parted instead of parading his wonderful superiority
in this respect to any one living.
Count Lavradio joined our party to-day, and
1859 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 265
when sitting by him at dinner, and speaking of his
master the King of Portugal, he told me Macaulay
had been so much struck by his ability, and had told
Count L. he had never met any young man who at
his age knew so much or who showed more capacity.
Lavradio is much alarmed by the state of the young-
King's health. He has never recovered the death of
the Queen.
Lavradio told me that his great-grandmother lived
to the age of ninety-nine, and when she died her
youngest son was eighty !
I had a letter from Fanny Kemble a few days ago.
She says :
' I met C. Lawrence the other day, on his way to
Washington, where there is every prospect of a most
stormy session. The terrible and inevitable Slavery
question is beginning to weigh like an incubus upon
the whole country, pressing, every day, nearer and
nearer to some solution, which threatens to be
a hideous catastrophe. An unfortunate fanatic who
emigrated from New England to Kansas and had his
two sons killed there by the slave party, has just
been hanged in Virginia for attempting to excite a
rising amongst the slaves. His attempt and the
means he employed were equally abortive and
insane, but it has thrown the whole South into a
frenzy of terror, which has drawn forth the con-
temptuous indignation of the North. The poor
wretch is hanged, but from his grave a root of bitter-
ness will spring, the fruit of which at no distant day
may be disunion and civil war between the North and
the South of the country. They seem to me to want
some great national trial or trouble. Their material
prosperity has turned the head of the whole people.
266 LEAVES FROM THE I860
The Government is despicable and despised, public
and private morality at a miserable ebb, and the
whole country presenting the portentous aspect of
the most rapid superficial progress, and retrogression
in all that makes the true glory and safety of a
people.'
1860
January $, London, Sunday. I returned here on
Monday.
The great event of the day is the downfall from
office of Walewski, which was announced officially
in the ' Moniteur ' two days ago. Thouvenel, now
Ambassador at Constantinople, is to replace him. He
is a man who has considerable ability as a ' redacteur
de depeches.' It had been believed for some time
that Walewski's days were numbered, and since the
assurance he gave the Pope and the other Catholic
Powers that the famous Pamphlet, ' Le Pape et le
Congres,' was not the ' programme ' of the Emperor
for the ensuing Congress, his fall became certain.
He had identified himself entirely with the retrograde
policy, and it is so far creditable to him that he
resigned, or suffered himself to be dismissed, rather
than change it. His fall is made easy by gifts of
estates, pensions, &c. &c.
This event has caused great consternation at
Eome, and will probably put an end to the Congress,
as neither the Pope nor any of the Catholic Powers
will consent to form part of it. I saw Lavradio to-
night he considers the Congress as at an end, and
is of opinion that the Italian question must sooner
or later be solved by a war, and a general one. He
thinks there are too many principles en jeu for any
1860 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 267
other issue to be possible, ' le principe religieux, le
principe d'autorite, le principe de la liberte,' and he
foretells, that on one side or other we shall eventually
be engaged.
It is reported that the Emperor of the French in
order to buy the active support of England of his
Italian policy is about to pass some comprehensive
measures of free trade. The rumour is also revived
that the King of Sardinia is to give up Nice and
Savoy to France, in return for her consent to the
annexation of Central Italy.
January 11, Ilatchford, Wednesday. I came
here on Monday and had the great joy of finding my
mother greatly improved in health, and having
resumed her habit of dining with the family.
On Monday morning Lord Macaulay was buried
in Poets' Corner, in Westminster Abbey. The funeral
was attended by a large concourse of his political
and literary friends. The pall was borne by the
Chancellor, the Speaker, Lord John Eussell, the Duke
of Argyll, Dean Milman, &c. It is remarkable that
there was not one Conservative of any eminence
present at the ceremony. Lord Macaulay's will has
been proved, and his personalty sworn under 80,000/.
He has left copious diaries, and matter enough to form
another volume of his history, but nothing can be
decided as to their publication until the return of his
sister, Lady Trevelyan, who is about to start for India
for two years.
January 12, Thursday. The ' Moniteur ' of the
10th publishes two very important documents. One
is the Pope's speech to General Goyon, in reply to
the congratulations of the latter on New Year's Day,
in which his Holiness pronounces a strong philippic
268 LEAVES FROM THE I860
against the famous pamphlet ' Le Pape et le Congres,'
stigmatising it as a ' monument insigne d'hypocrisie,
et un tissu ignoble de contradictions,' and he
expresses his conviction that the Emperor Napoleon
' condamnera ces principes, d'autant plus que nous
possedons quelques pieces, qu'il y a quelque terns
que S. M. a eu la bonte de nous faire parvenir, et qui
sont une veritable condamnation de ces principes.'
The ' Moniteur ' remarks that this allocution
would probably not have been pronounced if H. H.
had received the letter addressed to him by the
Emperor on December 31, which they publish.
This epistle, of course, makes a very great sensa-
tion, and is considered to be a proof that the
Emperor has at last ' pris son parti.' All sorts of
rumours are afloat as to supposed negotiations with
this country to induce us to enter into guarantees,
&c., &c., but which are too vague and uuauthenticated
for any great weight to be attached to them. Cowley
is here and supposed to be charged with a mission
on this subject, but I do not believe it. All the
press, whilst applauding the Emperor's line of con-
duct, unanimously advocate our standing aloof, and
entering into no engagements, a course they will
pursue and which will be ratified by Parliament.
January 19, Thursday. The free trade measures
which, when in London, I heard were about to be pro-
mulgated by the Emperor, have made their appear-
ance in the ' Moniteur ' of Saturday, in the shape of a
letter from His Majesty to M. Fould. I hear by
letters from Paris that this bold measure has excited
the fury of the protectionists in society, who are as
about nine to one against free trade. The secret has
been well kept, and I believe there is no doubt
1660 DIARY OF HENRY GREV1LLE 269
but that the measure has been decided on chiefly
owing to the persuasive arguments of Cobden, who
has had frequent intercourse with the Emperor and
Fould during the winter. There may be some hope
that this proposition, which is to go through the
farce of being submitted to the legislature, will
strengthen the chance of the maintenance of peace,
and, as the ' Times ' observes, England and France
will, when this system is inaugurated, become aware
how necessary they are to each other, and will
appreciate the full extent of that suicidal folly which
would waste in mutual conflict resources designed
for their own good and for the benefit of the world.
1 Here is indeed an idea that was worth fighting for,
an idea, not barren or one-sided, but fruitful and
cosmopolitan, giving confidence for the present and
hope for the future, and sure to realise an amount of
good which it is rarely granted to a ruler of mankind
to dispense to his fellow-creatures.'
January 38, Saturday. The Queen opened Par-
liament on the 26th with a speech of unusual
length, the chief topics of which were the commercial
treaty with France, the Italian Congress, and the
Reform Bill. The debates on the Address were very
flat in both Houses, and the attendance small. The
leaders of the Conservative party disavowed all
hostile intentions, but little reliance can be placed
on such peaceful professions, and already, since the
provisions of the commercial treaty and the lowering
of the town franchise by the new Eeform Bill have
become known, it seems probable that Government
will be attacked by the whole force of the Conserva-
tive party, who, for this object, has merged all its
differences and will enlist under the leadership of
270 LEAVES FEOM THE 1860
Disraeli. They were prepared and even anxious to
assist in passing a moderate Eeform Bill, but will not
hear of so low a franchise as 61. The Cabinet, I am
told (a majority at least), would have preferred a
higher figure, but John Eussell considered himself
bound, for consistency's sake, to the QL, which he
had advocated last session, and the Cabinet was weak
enough to yield.
This clause is sure to be thrown out, and it
remains to be seen whether the Cabinet will resign
en masse, or allow John Eussell to do so, and choose
another Foreign Secretary, which would be the wisest
course. A dissolution would be useless in the present
temper of the country.
The treaty between France and Sardinia for the
annexation of Savoy and Nice to France, which was
suspected to have been signed, or at least agreed
upon, at the time of Prince Napoleon's marriage, is
now openly admitted to exist by the journals which
support the Government in France, and there is a
long article in the ' Patrie ' strongly advocating the
measure. The attention of Government to this
subject was called by Normanby last night in the
House of Lords. Granville replied that the Govern-
ment had no official knowledge of any such intention,
and that the Government of the Emperor had long
been made acquainted with the opinion of the English
Cabinet upon any such arrangement. One does not
quite see why, if no such arrangement was in con-
templation, our Government should have thought it
necessary to express any opinion upon the subject.
January 31, London, Tuesday. I came here
yesterday.
A question was asked in the House of Commons
1860 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 271
as to how the Government had heard of the reported
annexation of Savoy to Prance, and John Eussell
answered that the British Minister in Switzerland
had informed Cowley that such an arrangement was
supposed to exist.
February 1, Wednesday. The Emperor Napoleon
is going what is vulgarly called ' the whole hog '
against the violent clerical party in France, and has
by decree suppressed the ' Univers,' and has, more-
over, issued a long article through the channel of the
* Constitutional,' a semi-official paper, in answer to
the Pope's encyclical letter to the bishops of France,
by which he gives them clearly to understand that
the present question is not a spiritual but a political
matter, and observes that the days of heresy and
schism are clearly past, and there is no reason to
suppose that a temporary protest is in these en-
lightened times likely to produce any such results.
He laments that in so grave a document the eternal
cause of the Church should be identified in a partner-
ship of profit and loss with those paltry Italian
princes who rely on the arms of Austria and can only
return to Italy in her train. In the same spirit, the
Pope is taunted with allowing himself to be made the
tool of Austria, whilst putting forward pretensions
which, by absorbing the temporal into the spiritual,
would place him above all the sovereigns of the
earth. The article concludes by assuring the Pope
that he has no cause to apprehend that the Emperor
Xapoleon, who, for ten years, has maintained H. H.
on his throne, bearing patiently the rejection of his
counsels, and the gradual increase of the evils against
which he protested, will now lose either temper or
patience. The Emperor has offered advice to the
272 LEAVES FROM THE 1860
Pope, which H. H. has rejected, as he had every right
to do. H. M. has therefore taken his course. He
will not suffer the head of the Church or his subjects
to be molested in Eome, but if, through his wilful
obstinacy, the Pope chooses to alienate from himself
the rest of his dominions, he must look for 110 foreign
aid to assist him to carry the sword of Perugia
through the streets of his other cities.
All this is plausibly put, but the simple meaning
of it is that the Emperor has no intention to lacker
prise of Eome, and intends to keep the Pope virtually
a prisoner there.
From what I hear from the few people I have
met, the Commercial Treaty is by no means popular,
and is considered so great a political and commercial
blunder as to have made its passing the House of
Commons quite impossible but for the ardent wish of
all parties that no impediment should be thrown in
way of the settlement of the Eeform question this
session.
The Prince of Orange is at Windsor a shy and
awkward youth. The courtiers are instructed to
give out that his visit is unconnected with any
matrimonial projects. I have no doubt, however,
but that it has been a question of an alliance between
him and Princess Alice, and I have reason to believe
that the young Prince shows no disposition for it,
and that the Queen has heard stories about him
which have made her less anxious for the marriage.
Princess Alice is an intelligent girl, with pleasing
manners and much improved in looks.
February 6, Monday. Gladstone was to have
brought on his Budget to-night, but is obliged to
defer it owino- to a bad sore throat. There is
1860 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 273
immense curiosity as to the details of the Commer-
cial Treaty, which, considering the weakness of the
Government, is considered a very adventurous pro-
ceeding on the part of Gladstone.
February 8, Wednesday. A capital debate last
night in the House of Lords on the annexation of
Savoy and Nice to France. The speeches of Derby,
Grey, and Brougham were excellent, and form a,
striking contrast with the low and undignified tone
of our Government.
I consider the annexation as certain, but believe
it to be a mistake on the Emperor's part, as it can
only add to the suspicion which his tortuous ways
excite amongst the Powers of Europe. He will be
much provoked by the strong manifestation of
public opinion against his conduct. It is becoming
extremely difficult to carry on diplomatic business
with such a Government. The Emperor never
speaks a word of truth, and his promises and
assurances go for nothing, and as his Minister
for Foreign Affairs seldom, if ever, is acquainted
with the real intentions and opinions of his master,,
it matters very little what he may say to our
ambassador.
February 11, Saturday. Gladstone, though still
unwell, managed to bring on his Budget last night,.
and made a marvellously clear statement of four and
a half hours' duration. Ellice came to the Flahaults'
in great admiration of his speech, and he thinks the
French Treaty will not meet with much opposition,
and, as far as he could see, from the way in which it
was received, he thinks the Budget will do. It is.
like Gladstone complicated and ingenious.
February 19, Sunday. During the week that has
III. T
274 LEAVES FROM THE 1860
elapsed since Gladstone's speech, a change has come
over the spirit of public opinion, and the Budget is
discovered to be full of unsound finance. The French
Treaty, too, is far from being universally popular.
It is thought the same thing might have been better
and more safely done without any treaty at all. It is
indeed believed in many quarters to be a political trick,
partly on the part of France, to induce us to wink
at the annexation of Savoy, and partly on that of
our own Government, to curry favour with the
Manchester party. The article which binds us for
ever neither to prohibit the exportation of coal,
nor to impose any duty on it, whatever may be our
financial wants or political extremity, is especially
condemned. Coal, in fact, is one of the great
defences of the country, and at the same time the
means by which it can be most readily assailed.
The Derbyites have determined to oppose the
Budget with their whole force, and notice has been
given by Mr. Ducane that on the motion for going
into Committee of Supply on the Customs Act, he
should move, that ' the House, recognising the neces-
sity of providing for the increased expenditure of the
coming financial year, is of opinion that it is not
expedient to add to the deficiency by diminishing the
ordinary revenue, and is not prepared to disappoint
the legitimate expectations of the country by largely
increasing the income tax.' There is much doubt
whether this will be carried.
Yesterday at dinner at Flahault's I met Lord
Lansdowne and Edward Ellice. The latter con-
siders the Budget as very dangerous, inasmuch as it
takes five millions from the revenue, without substi-
tuting any equivalent, and he considers the treaty
1860 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 275
with France as a very adventurous feat on the part
of a Government which has barely a majority in
Parliament, and which therefore should act with
double caution.
The annexation of Savoy and Nice has again been
the subject of discussion in both Houses. John
Eussell on Friday evening corrected the statement
he had made. Cowley, he said, had addressed the
Emperor of the French on the subject and had been
assured that H. M. would not proceed to any final
decision on this subject without consulting the Great
Powers of Europe, and that under no circumstances
would these provinces be annexed to France against
the wishes of the inhabitants.
On a previous evening both Houses were informed
that the Sardinian Government had made no engage-
ment and had no intention of giving Savoy and Nice
to France. Walewski, in a private conversation with
Cowley, had informed him that, if Central Italy were
annexed to Piedmont, France would not consider
her frontier safe without some annexation of Savoy
to France bosh !
February 27, Monday. The Government has been
very triumphant during the last week. Disraeli's
motion for postponing the discussion of the Budget
until the French Treaty was disposed of, and that
of Ducane, before alluded to, were lost by large
majorities. On the latter motion a great many
Conservatives voted with Government, and on the
announcement of the numbers several of them cried
out, with evident satisfaction, ' What a facer for
Dizzy ! ' Their detestation of him knows no bounds.
Gladstone has been speaking wonderfully well,
but his speeches savour much of democracy, and are
T 2
276 LEAVES FROM THE 1860
loudly praised by the Eadical members and their
press.
There have been statements and counter-state-
ments from Elgin and Sir Michael Seymour, and the
lie direct, though politely given to each other, on
the accusation brought against the Admiral by Mr.
Oliphant, Elgin's private secretary, in the narrative
he has published of the Japanese mission. The corre-
spondence since published is, I think, unfavourable,
and generally considered so, to Elgin's version of
the affair. I believe Elgin is again to go to China.
March 7, Thursday. At Flahault's last night I
heard the new proposal made by the Emperor
Napoleon for the settlement of the Italian question
Modena and Parma to be annexed to Sardinia.
The autonomy of Tuscany to be maintained under a
prince chosen by universal suffrage the Eomagna
to be held by Sardinia under the nominal suzerainete
of the Pope Sardinia to pay a tribute of 3,000,000
francs and to occupy it with their army. I doubt
this arrangement suiting anybody, but it is said to
be accepted by Cavour.
France is to annex the ' versants Fran^ais des
montagnes de la Savoie.'
Poor Lady Granville has been a Vextremite the
last few days.
March 2, Friday. John Eussell introduced his
Eeform Bill last night. It was received without
enthusiasm or disgust, but with so much indifference
as rather to increase its chance of passing with some
few modifications.
The Emperor's speech to the Legislative Assembly,
pronounced yesterday, shadows forth the above-
mentioned arrangement for the settlement of the
1860 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 277
Italian question ; including the annexation by
France of part of Savoy. This ' Kevendication
d'un territoire de peu d'etendue n'a rien qui doive
alarmer 1'Europe ou donner un dementi a la
politique de desinteressement que j'ai proclamee
plus d'une fois, car la France ne veut proceder a
cet agrandissement, quelque faible qu'il soit, ni par
une occupation militaire, ni par une insurrection
provoquee, ni par de sourdes manoeuvres, mais en
exposant franchement la question aux grandes
puissances. Elles comprendront sans doute, dans
leur equite, comme la France le comprendrait pour
chacune d'elles en pareilles circonstances, que
1'important remaniement territorial qui va avoir
lieu, nous donne le droit a une garantie indiquee
par la nature elle-meme.'
It is justly observed by the ' Times ' in its article
on this speech, that 'the most important part of
this most important speech is the declaration of the
Emperor of the French that he intends to annex to
France a portion of the dominions of a neighbouring
and friendly Power. It is no longer a rumour, it is
now an avowed fact, that Napoleon intends to take
to himself all that portion of the Savoy Alps which
slopes from the watershed line towards the French
frontier.'
March 5, ffatchford, Monday. I came here on
Saturday. In this morning's ' Times ' are published
(from the ' Moniteur ') two despatches from Thou-
venel one to the Baron de Talleyrand, the French
minister at Turin, the other to Persigny, in which,
after stating, and desiring these gentlemen to state
to the respective Governments to which they are
accredited, the solution which the Emperor of the
278 LEAVES FROM THE 1860
French considers the only possible one to the Italian
affairs, he announces to the Sardinian Government
that they must either accept it, and on their doing
so, count upon having ' France avec elle et derriere
elle,' or refuse it on their own responsibility, as
' whatever may be the sympathies of His Majesty for
Italy and especially for Sardinia, which has mingled
its blood with ours, His Majesty would not hesitate
to evince his firm and decided resolve to take the
interests of France as his sole guidance.' The exact
solution proposed in these despatches is as follows :
' Complete annexation of the duchies of Parma and
Modena to Sardinia, temporal administration of the
legations of Eomagna, Ferrara, and of Bologna, under
the form of a Vicariate (Lieutenancy) exercised by
his said Majesty, in the name of the Holy See re-
establishment of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany in its
territorial and political independence.'
The Emperor likewise tells the King of Sardinia
that the popular feeling in Italy is not to be trusted
by him, that it does not mean loyalty to him, but
hostility to Austria. The aspirations of the Italians,
he says, involve the conquest of Venetia and menace
the States of the Church and the Kingdom of the Two
Sicilies. They also involve two probabilities equally
to be avoided, war and revolution. ' If, therefor e y
Sardinia should go alone onwards, she must be
prepared for the consequences into which these
popular desires must force her. She must undertake
a work out of proportion with her ordinary means,
and she must become the agent of a policy which
will 110 longer receive its impulse from Turin. This
is what must happen if Sardinia does not accept the
proffered solution.'
I860 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 27 &
What is Sardinia to do ? France has an army in
Italy of sixty thousand men Austria twice as many
in Venetia.
The correspondence of the Nice and Savoy
annexation is published, and I am happy to see that
our language has been consistent, and that no com-
munication respecting this affair has reached our
Government without producing a prompt remon-
strance ' Mais, c'est si comme on chantait ! '
March 12, Monday. Cavour's reply to Thou-
venel's despatch is remarkably bold and able, and
he at once accepts the responsibility pointed out to
him, and declares the determination of Sardinia to
abide by the result of the vote of the provinces
of Central Italy, whatever it may be. It is much
suspected that there is an understanding between
the Emperor and Cavour I said so to Flahault last
night, who replied that the ' supposition was mon-
strous, and that, as it was, every one would believe
in spite of strong evidence to the contrary that
the Emperor was playing a deep and secret game
that the Emperor detested Cavour, and had caused
his dissmissal from office after the Peace of Villa-
franca, and which had falsely been said to be
Cavour's own spontaneous act that nothing could
be more ' les cartes sur la table ' than the whole of
the Emperor's game, which had varied, it was true,
according to the circumstances as they occurred, and
this, Flahault maintained, the published correspon-
dence proved.
The Address to the Queen thanking Her Majesty
for the treaty was moved by George Byng (who
spoke well) and was carried by a large majority.
March 74, Wednesday. Poor Lady Granville
280 LEAVES FROM THE 1860
died last night at Brighton, having passed the last
fortnight between life and death, and showing, as the
doctors say, a remarkable vitality. She is an im-
mense loss to him in all ways. He was extremely
attached, and the peculiarities of her character, which
were many and great, and which to many men would
have been irksome, if not intolerable, seemed to have
an especial charm for him. She was quick, frank,
and discreet with much general kindness, she was,
I think, destitute of warm affection, except for her
husband, whom she idolised, and her son, and for the
advancement of the former in his public career her
ambition knew no bounds, and to conduce to this
object there was no sacrifice she would have been
unwilling to make. She was an admirable hostess
gay and courteous, and with much discernment and ap-
preciation of character. Her foreign extraction, and
her knowledge of foreign languages, enabled her to
receive and converse with people of all countries,
and her large connection was of use to Granville,
who, wherever he went on the Continent, found him-
self en pays de connaissance, and there can be no doubt
but that her social qualities have been of great use
to him in his public life. I made acquaintance with
her in 1833 in London, where she came directly after
her marriage, and saw much of her at Naples the
following winter, where her first husband had a fine
house and lived remarkably well ; ever since that
time I have lived on terms of great intimacy with
her, and there are few people whom, socially, I shall
regret and miss more.
On Wednesday last the Queen held a Court for
the purpose of receiving the officers of the Bifle
Corps 2,500 attended, and passed before Her Majesty
1860 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 281
without any confusion in two hours. It is said the
Queen complained of a bad smell, and desired to
know from whence it proceeded. The answer was
' que c'etait Pesprit du corps'
In the evening a ball was given at the' Floral Hall
adjoining Covent Garden Theatre, at which 6,000
people attended, the tickets being 25s. apiece.
March 17, Hatchford, Saturday. Letters from
Naples give a deplorable account of the state of
affairs there, and it seems impossible but that a crisis
of some sort must be at hand. Lady Holland tells
me that endless arrests in every class are constantly
made. From Prince Torcello, Marquis Virleano,
Duke Prolo, down to Lawyers, men of Letters, keepers
of hotels, to the lowest orders, all and every one
have been dragged into prison or sent into exile, on
twenty-fours' notice, merely on suspicion of having
liberal tendencies. Prince Torcello is one of the
King's chambellans, an unambitious man, devoted
to scientific pursuits and a quiet life. He has since
been liberated, and no reason has been given for his
passing a night shut up but that it was a mistake of
the police. The French and English ministers have
remonstrated with the King, but nothing is obtained.
I met Lacaita this afternoon. He told me the
accounts were dreadful and by no means exaggerated,
that everything was playing into the Emperor Napo-
leon's hands, and that before two years had elapsed
the Neapolitans, in despair, would take a Murat for
their king. When the late King was dying, Lacaita
went to Hardwicke, who was then in office (and
because he was unacquainted with Malmesbury), and
told him what the state of things was at that time,
and of the great importance it was that England
282 LEAVES FROM THE I860
should have some one on the spot, at the moment of
the King's death, so as to get the ear of the new
King, before other bad influences could have time to
get hold of him. Lacaita suggested that some one
should be sent to Eome who might wait there until
the event happened, and proceed to Naples as soon
as the telegraph could announce it. Hardwicke
promised to speak to Malmesbury, who, however,
paid no attention to the suggestion, the consequence
of which was that the Austrian Government sent
Hiibner to Naples, who got possession of the King
a full month before Elliot was sent there. Lacaita
says the young Queen and the Queen Mother are
acting in complete union under the dictation of
Austria, and that sooner or later the Government
will be upset, and as Europe probably would not
consent to the absorption by Sardinia of the Neapoli-
tan Kingdom, and that the Neapolitans would not
take any of the Queen Mother's children, it is pretty
sure that France will step in and establish a Murat
or a Buonaparte, who would be accepted with joy as
the sole escape from the present state of things. The
Count of Syracuse is Liberal, but has no children, and
he will probably soon be sent into exile.
Last night, on the motion for the adjournment of
the House, Kinglake urged the production of John
Russell's answer to Lord Bloomfield's despatch of
March 3, respecting the overture of the Prussian
Government, on the annexation of Savoy and Nice, to
France. Sir E. Peel quoted a declaration of Baron
Schleinitz, that the absorption of Savoy was viewed by
Germany with the greatest distrust, and he reiterated
with emphasis his denunciation of the measure as
well as the policy of France, which he said was daily
1860 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 283
outraging public opinion, and he characterised the
language of Cavour in the matter as ambiguous.
John Eussell replied that he had not answered Lord
Bloomfield's despatch, the subject of which was a
communication between Baron Schleinitz and the
French minister, but he stated that Prussia agreed in
the view taken by England on the subject of the
annexation, that he had expressed both at Vienna and
St. Petersburg the strong objection of the English
Government to the annexation of Savoy, leaving to
them to take whatever part they might think fit on
this subject of European interest that the British
Government had no satisfactory account from Vienna
as to any steps that the Austrian Government will
take in this matter. There were reasons why Austria,
who had herself lost Lombardy, should not be
particularly anxious in a matter of this kind when
the King of Sardinia's dominions were affected. It
was a month since John Eussell had communicated
with the Austrian Government, and a week afterwards
he had written to St. Petersburg, and it certainly
was a disappointment to Her Majesty's Government
that, considering so long a time had elapsed, and that
annexation has, as it were, been suspending all this
time, we have not any notice or intelligence that any
strong remonstrances against the annexation are
intended to be made by these Governments.
John Eussell admitted that Cavour's language
had certainly a good deal of the character ascribed
to it by Sir E. Peel. ' If, however,' J. Eussell con-
tinued, ' the Great Powers of Europe, which were
to be consulted if Austria and Eussia felt no great
interest in this question, if Prussia and Great Britain
are the only Powers that do feel any interest in it,
284 LEAVES FROM THE 1860
and if the King of Sardinia is (according to Cavour)
willing to yield this territory to France, it certainly
becomes very difficult to make any opposition to
the Act but,' he said, ' there is another matter which
I am going to state to the House, because, after the
questions which were addressed to me by a Noble
Lord not now present, I think I ought to state to the
House what is my impression, as soon as I have
received a decided impression on the subject. There
was delivered to me yesterday a despatch from M.
Thouvenel to M. de Persigny, laying the case of the
annexation of Savoy before Her Majesty's Govern-
ment for their consideration the despatch is a very
temperate one. It abjures altogether the notion of
natural boundaries, and states the case as one of
special interest, arising from special circumstances :
that the position of Italy is changed, that the posi-
tion of France is thereby made worse, and therefore
that this is a special case which deserves the special
consideration of Europe. But, although it is stated
in the despatch that this question is submitted to
the wisdom and equity of Europe, I must say that,
taking the whole despatch together, France can
hardly be justified in saying that the Powers of
Europe are to be consulted, and that by their verdict
the French Government means to abide. / have not
yet laid this despatch before my colleagues. I am
telling the House at once all I know on the subject.
The whole of this despatch, and especially that part of
it which relates to the question of Faucigny and Cha-
blais, is one of such gravity and importance that I will
say no more about it at present than that it requires
the most serious consideration.'
This statement made a great sensation in the
1860 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 285
House. The propriety of imparting the information
to the House of Commons before his colleagues had
been made acquainted with the contents of the
despatch is much questioned.
Sir Eobert Peel has of late laid aside his usual
buffoonery, and has been speaking with very remark-
able ability and gravity.
March 19, Monday. Heard to-day with great
regret of the death of Lady Dover. She was a most
amiable woman, with much strength of character and
good judgment. She had long been suffering from a
complication of disorders, but her death was at last
very sudden.
March 22, London, Thursday. I came back
on Wednesday. Yesterday the Emperor Napoleon
received at the Tuileries a soi-disant deputation
from Savoy. He stated that the arrangement had
already been resolved upon in principle ; that the
assent of Piedmont and of the populations had
already been obtained to this rectification of the
frontiers, and the negotiation with the Powers who
signed the treaty of 1815 permitted the hope of
a favourable examination of the question by the
greater part of them. He then added : ' Friendship
for Switzerland had almost caused a cession of
territory to be promised which he believed would
not be contrary to the wishes of Savoy, but as soon
as it was known that the population refused that
Savoy should be dismembered, France renounced
this cession, although wishing to protect the interests
of Switzerland.'
The impudence of this answer certainly surpasses
all belief particularly when one recollects all that
H. M. has been saying on the subject.
286 LEAVES FROM THE 1860
March 25, Sunday. Dined yesterday with Lady
Jersey and met the Lyndhursts. He was, as usual,
quite charming, but very desponding on public
affairs, both foreign and domestic. With regard to
the former he said it was painful for one who, like
himself, had lived in the glorious days for England
of Nelson and Wellington, when we were able and
courageous enough to uphold our dignity, to have
fallen upon those of Cobden and Bright, and to be
governed entirely by considerations of the more or
the less of cotton and wool. The Emperor Napoleon,
he said, had contrived to disunite all the Great
Powers and to render them powerless against any-
thing he might choose to do. He had seen a letter
from Guizot, who stated his conviction that a course
of aggression was meditated by the Emperor, and
that there were emissaries at work on the Ehenish
and Belgian frontiers to try and get up a cry for
annexation.
Lord Lyndhurst considered this last Eeform Bill
as the most dangerous one that had yet been intro-
duced, and said that, although he should not live to
see it, we might depend upon it that, if it passed in
its present shape, England would, before long, de-
scend to the rank of a second-rate Power. He spoke
very highly of Grey he considered him to be a man
of first-rate ability and as honest as he was able. He
thought him a very fine speaker, who always showed
a profound knowledge of his subject.
I called on the Greys in the afternoon. Grey
told me Van de Weyer was quite aware of the truth
of what Guizot had written with respect to French
intrigues in Belgium. Grey has a motion on the
27th for the purpose of bringing on a discussion on
1860 DTAEY OF HENRY GREVILLE 287
the Eeform Bill, and told me lie was getting up his
case with great care.
March 27, Tuesday. Last night, in reply to
Horsman, who had called attention to foreign affairs,
and especially to the annexation of Savoy, and had
complained that the recent despatch of M. Thouvenel
was still kept back, John Eussell made a speech
which has produced a great sensation. He said the
House knew what was the opinion of Austria and
Eussia on this subject, and that with regard to the
reply of our Government to Thouvenel's despatch, he
could assure the House they were not ashamed of at.
4 There were other important matters connected with
this subject, distinct from that of Savoy. The inde-
pendence of Switzerland had been guaranteed by the
Great Powers of Europe, and as a part of Savoy had
been declared to be neutral, it was obvious that its
transfer to France was a great change in the con-
dition of that territory, and Switzerland had applied
to the Great Powers to preserve its neutrality intact.
This subject required, in the opinion of Her Majesty's
Government, that the sentiments of the Courts of
Berlin, Vienna, and St. Petersburg should be ascer-
tained whether the neutrality of Switzerland would
be safe after this transfer, and this was a negotia-
tion which could not be carried on by the House of
Commons.
' With regard to the Emperor of the French, the
course he had pursued had, as he had predicted,
caused great distrust in the House, and he believed
it would produce great distrust in Europe. He
believed the annexation of Savoy to be such an
act as would lead a nation so warlike as France to
call, from time to time, for other similar acts, and he
288 LEAVES FROM THE I860
felt that if it was our wish to keep on friendly terms
with France, as it was his wish, we ought not to
keep ourselves apart from the other nations of
Europe, in order that when future questions might
arise, we might be ready to act with them, and to
declare in the most moderate and friendly terms,
but firmly, that the peace of Europe could not be
secure if it was liable to perpetual interruptions,
and the Powers of Europe, if they wished to main-
tain peace, must respect each other's rights and
limits.'
This speech was vociferously cheered on all sides
of the House. Bright answered it, but was not
listened to. This speech may be considered as the
knell of our exclusive and intimate alliance with
France, and it is much to be regretted that we have
not sooner bethought ourselves of putting an end to
our isolated position.
I have since heard that the answer to Thouvenel's
despatch laid before Parliament was written by
Palmerston and submitted to the Cabinet. John
Eussell having written one which Palmerston dis-
approved, the former left it to Palmerston to write
one himself.
There is a saying, a propos of the Savoy annexa-
tion, attributed to the Princesse Clotilde : ' Que le
roi, non content d' avoir vendu sa fille a la France,
maintenant lui vend le Berceau.'
April 9, Hatch/Orel, Easter Monday. I came
here on Saturday and found the Greys. Parliament
adjourned on Thursday until the 17th. The chance
of passing the Eeform Bill this year is daily becoming
less. The Budget and French Treaty are fast fall-
ing in public estimation, and Gladstone growing more
1860 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 289
and more unpopular and distrusted in the House of
Commons.
April 16, London, Monday. I returned here
on Thursday, and never recollect such deplorable
weather as we have had of late darkness, fog, rain,
and an intensely cold wind.
Dined yesterday with Lady Jersey. Kilmansegge
came in the evening. He had met M. de la Eive,
who is come on a mission from Switzerland. He is,
K. said, a clever man, and intimately acquainted
with the Emperor Napoleon and Cavour as also
with Garibaldi, and all the persons who have played
prominent parts in the late war, and with the
circumstances arising from it. He has no doubt but
that in two years' time the Sardinian Government,
which is now actively intriguing to bring about
revolutions in the Neapolitan and Eoman States as
well as in Venetia, will openly proclaim that Eome
must be the capital of a United Italy. This must
of course depend upon their previous success in
their attempt to drive the Austrians out of Yenetia,
and that France does not make volte-face and
protect the Pope. La Eive, who is a Conservative,
says there can be no doubt but that all Italy is for
Unita.
The Queen's half-brother-in-law, the Prince of
Hohenlohe, is dead, and the Court goes into mourning
for a fortnight, although he had no royal blood in
his veins.
April 21, Saturday. Snow. N.E. wind. Damp
has prevailed during the last fortnight.
Since I last wrote, attempts at revolution have
been made in Spain and Sicily. The former have
been put down, and Ortega, who was captain of the
in. u
290 LEAVES FROM THE I860
Balearic Isles, and holding the Queen's commission
when he invaded the country, declaring Charles VII.,
has been seized and is to be shot. He and some
other persons implicated in this plot are connexions
of the Empress Eugenie, who wrote to the Queen
of Spain to ask her to spare their lives. Her Majesty
replied that she was a constitutional sovereign, and
that these persons must be tried according to the
laws of Spain, and that she could only act by the
advice of her responsible ministers. A fancy ball
the Empress was about to give has been deferred
for a week in consequence of this affair. Her Majesty
is to appear as Diane Chasseresse, and her chief cloth-
ing is to consist of diamonds ! !
The public has been much occupied during the
last week with the fight between the British champion
Sayers and Heenan the American boy. It came off
on Friday last, in spite of the police, in a field near
Aldershot, and was a long and bloody business ending
in a drawn battle. Heenan, as compared with Sayers,
is a giant, and nothing but the extraordinary pluck
and address of the latter could have brought him
through. At one time it was supposed they were
to fight over again, but the affair has been settled
amicably a large collection has been made for
Sayers, whose indomitable pluck has gained for him
great sympathy, and especially from the ladies, who
have interested themselves very much in this contest.
They fought for the champion's belt, which, if beaten,
he is obliged to give up within three vears.
O O JL /
May Id, ffatchford, Tuesday. I came here
yesterday. In these days one lives in such a whirl
and quick succession of events, that unless one is
diligent and writes every day, it is next to impossible
1860 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 291
to keep pace with the variety of public and private
events which daily occur. To begin with the weather.
It has been desperately cold and disagreeable until
two days ago, when the wind at last changed, but
we have had as yet nothing like spring.
Since I last wrote, the Eeform Bill passed the
second reading, and stands committed for June 4.
It has been reported and contradicted that the
Government intended to withdraw the Bill its un-
popularity goes on increasing, and no one that I meet
believes it can pass into law.
During the debate, Walpole, when referring to
Grey's speech (on moving for a committee to enquire
into the probable effect of lowering the franchise),
charged J. Eussell with having reopened the question
of Eeform, when Premier, without the knowledge of
his colleagues, which J. Eussell said was not true.
This denial has led to a very animated and angry
correspondence between Grey and John Eussell, of
which I think no one has the best. In the meantime
a committee of the House of Lords is collecting
evidence proving the inaccuracy of the returns on
which the Government found the new franchise,
of which, nevertheless, they still maintain the cor-
rectness.
Derby has announced his intention of rejecting
the clause of the Budget which repeals the Paper
Duties, and it is reported that, in the event of his
success, Gladstone and Milner Gibson will retire
from the Government.
The Sicilian insurrection has assumed a serious
aspect, in consequence of Garibaldi having fitted
out an expedition and sailed thither to assist the
insurgents. France is indignant, or pretends to be
292 LEAVES FROM THE 1860
so, with Sardinia for having connived at this breach
of international law. Cavour replies to the remon-
strances of France that the Sardinian Government
deplore the matter as much as France can do, but
that they had no means of preventing it, which, of
course, no one believes.
I met Lacaita the other night. He thinks that
if Garibaldi can land in Sicily he will succeed, but
if in Calabria he will commit a fatal blunder. The
French press, which began by violently attacking
Garibaldi, Sardinia, and England (accusing us of
helping the insurrection), has now subdued its tone,
and is making out that if Sicily be annexed to
Sardinia it will be necessary for the dignity of France
that she should have compensation.
Flahault writes from Paris uneasily on foreign
affairs, and speaks of the cajolery of Eussia and
Austria and their attempts to weaken the French and
English alliance.
The London world has been much occupied
with the marriage of Lady Susan Clinton and Lord
Adolphus Vane, which had long been forbidden by
the Duke of Newcastle. As soon as she was of
age she walked out of her father's house and was
married ; was received at Holdernesse House and
proceeded to Brighton, where a few days after his
marriage Lord Adolphus was seized with a fit of
insanity. There was no end of the details, true and
false, given and believed of this wretched affair.
Whatever may have been the exact truth, the ' happy
couple ' may now be seen flourishing up and down
Eotten Eow every day, and people are beginning to
occupy themselves with other things.
I had a party on Thursday evening at which
1860 DIARY OF HENRY GREV1LLE 293
Mario sang delightfully, notwithstanding that he was
anxious and unhappy about his youngest child, who
is dangerously ill of a fever. He took the trouble to
come all the way from Sydenham and to return at
night, rather than disappoint me.
May 18, London, Friday. Eeturned to town
yesterday dined with Abercorn, who is Volunteer
mad went in the evening to Madame de Flahault,
where Lady Shelburne came from meeting the new
Neapolitan Minister, Liidolf, who is son of the Count
Liidolf I knew at Kome in 1832. He arrives at an
unpleasant moment, when every one is occupied with
and eager for the success of Garibaldi. Liidolf did
not speak much of this, but said it was evidently a
parti pris in this country to listen to and believe
only one side of the subject. The man who preceded
Liidolf remained here a very short time, having been
frightened, it is said, by a sortie of Palmerston's one
day (the first, I believe, on which he had appeared
at Court), when he told him ' que tout allait au plus
mal a Naples, que le Eoi perdrait sa couronne et le
meritrait,' or something to that effect. After such a
debut as this the minister thought his post would
not be an enviable one, and he telegraphed to Naples
asking to be recalled. His resignation was accepted,
and Liidolf was sent in his place.
Last night there was a good deal of conversation
in the House of Commons on the Sicilian affair, more
particularly with reference to an advertisement in
the ' Times ' for raising money for the insurgents, and
as to the legality of the proceedings. The Attorney -
General said there could be no doubt as to the
principle of the common law, and that it was illegal
to interfere in the domestic concerns of another State,
294 LEAVES FROM THE I860
but there was a difference between the enunciation
of the principle and its application. John Eussell
satisfactorily explained what had occurred at Marsala,
when two English ships were reported to have pro-
tected the landing of Garibaldi, and he stated that
Captain Marryatt was there to protect English
subjects and English property, and had in no way
exceeded his duty. His instructions were to observe
a strict neutrality, and he had obeyed them. With
regard to the legality or illegality of the subscrip-
tion, he said it was one thing for the Attorney-
General to state the general purport of the law, and
another to advise the Government that, if a prose-
cution were instituted, there was a probability of
obtaining a conviction. It would require a great
deal of consideration before the Government under-
took such a prosecution, and he would not pledge
them by any declaration to do so.
The French Funds have fallen considerably and
the public mind is much disquieted, as it is impossible
to foresee the probable fate of Garibaldi's expedition,
and still more so the course France may choose to
pursue.
May 22, Tuesday. Last night there was a great
field day in the House of Lords, on the repeal of the
Paper Duty. The principal point of debate was the
constitutional question of the right of the House to
reject a money bill, or, as the case was stated, a
money bill of this important and critical character,
forming part of the Budget. Lord Lyndhurst, who
yesterday completed his eighty-eighth year, took this
branch of the question in hand, and made a clear and
luminous speech, adducing precedents in favour of
the right of the House of Lords, and which had been
1860 DIAKY OF HENRY GREVILLE 295
disputed by Lord Cranworth and other peers. The
rejection of the motion was carried by a majority of
eighty ; thirty had been the number expected.
Garibaldi, by the last account, was carrying all
before him in Sicily. John Eussell answered a ques-
tion last night, put to him by Kinglake, as to the
reported interference of Austria and Spain in the
affairs of Sicily, that there was no such intention on
the part of those Governments.
May 24, Thursday. Yesterday was the Derby
day, and it is said so great a concourse of people
was never known. An American horse belonging to
Mr. Ten Broeck, called Umpire, had for a length of
time been first favourite, and shoals of Americans
had come over on purpose to see the race. They
were, however, destined to be disappointed, for the
Derby was won by a horse called Thormanby,
belonging to Mr. Merry, a Scotch merchant, who
won more than 90,000/.
Palmerstori had a horse in the race which at one
time was a good deal backed. He rode to and from
the course from London, which was pretty well for a
man of seventy-five, on a hot and dusty day, and
afterwards appeared quite fresh at a large dinner at
his own house !
May 30, Wednesday. The ' Moniteur ' of Tuesday
published a speech of M. Fould's, delivered at an
agricultural meeting at Tarbes, which for cool
impudence surpasses all former discourses of the
kind delivered by the officials of the Emperor. After
recalling the moderation of the Emperor after the
late war, M. Fould said : ' This moderation in the
past is a certain guarantee for the future. The
Emperor has several times proclaimed that he only
296 LEAVES FROM THE 1860
wished to ensure to France the rank which belonged to
her.' M. F. advises people not to ' be led away by
the feelings of uneasiness which parties are strenu-
ously endeavouring to spread. Notwithstanding the
events which disturb some States, notwithstanding
the agitation and mistrust which those parties
attempt to excite in the public mind, France, quiet
and prosperous, can devote herself with safety to
public works. She knows the Emperor to be strong
enough to inspire all with respect for her rights, and
to be too loyal a neighbour and too faithful an ally
to menace the rights of others.'
On this production the ' Times ' of to-day writes
an article of great excellence ; powerful in its irony
and stinging in its truth.
June Id, Friday. There was never so miserable
a summer as this. With the exception of the Derby
day, we have not yet had one fine day. It rains,
blows, and occasionally thunders nearly every day,
and is very cold.
Public events have marched rapidly during the
last three weeks. At home, after manifold discus-
sions, the Eeform Bill was finally withdrawn on
Tuesday, to the great satisfaction of all parties, but
not without John Russell again promising another
Bill for next session. The report on the national
defences has been presented to Parliament and
recommends an outlay of 12,000,000^., which does
not include any works for the safety of the metro-
polis !
Abroad, the liberation of Sicily is an accomplished
fact, but what is to be its ultimate fate is very
uncertain. Palmerston made a very strong speech
(too strong even as against the Neapolitan Govern-
1860 DIA.RY OF HENRY GREVILLE 297
ment), in which he said that Austria had refused
to interfere, and he believed France had also
signified the same intention. The King of Naples
has sent the Chevalier de Martino on a special
mission to the Emperor Napoleon to try and induce
him to come to his assistance. I remember this
gentleman in London as a lively, pleasant little
fellow.
Liidolf, whilst deploring his false and disagreeable
position here, declares himself entirely satisfied with
his personal reception.
I was at a dull concert at Court on Wednesday.
The King of the Belgians was present with his two
sons, and also young Prince Lichtenstein, who is
treated by our Court with all the honours of royalty.
He is a well-looking youth.
Elphinstone returned from India on Tuesday, much
out of health, but not more changed in appear-
ance than might be expected after an absence of six
and a half years.
June 16, Saturday. The world is just now much
occupied with the interview which is taking place
between the Emperor Napoleon and the Prince of
Prussia at Baden one by no means sought for by the
latter, who, in order to prevent any suspicion or
jealousy on the part of the other Sovereigns of
Germany, invited them all to assemble at Baden at
the same moment, which, it is suspected, was by no
means what the Emperor wished or intended. Accord-
ingly, the Kings of Bavaria, Saxony, Wiirtemberg, and
Hanover, and several of the Grand Dukes are now at
Baden, where the Emperor was to arrive yesterday.
Flahault told me he had asked Morny what was the
object of the Emperor's visit, and had told him he
298 LEAVES FROM THE 1860
thought that such proceedings were always objection-
able and gave rise to jealousy, fear, and suspicion.
Morny replied that the object of the Emperor was to
calm and reassure the German nation, and that he
knew positively that it was the earnest desire of the
Emperor to maintain peace.
June 17, Sunday. The weather beggars all
description. It never ceases to rain in torrents.
Dined to-day at Lady Molesworth's to meet several
musical artistes Madame Merlan, Catherine Hayes,
the Halle's, Gardoni. In the evening some agreeable
singing and some exquisite playing by Halle.
June 18, Monday. Dined with Wilton. It made
me sad to see the gap. It was the first time I had
been in the house since poor Lady Wilton's death.
How quickly people forget !
At Lady Jersey's, in the evening, I found the
Saxon and Austrian Ministers, who were in great
spirits at the good results of the Baden conference,
where they said the most perfect unanimity prevailed
amongst the German Sovereigns, and that, although
Austria was not represented there, she had declared
her entire accordance with all that had been agreed
upon. The Saxon inferred from this that the
Emperor Napoleon had been baffled in his hopes of
cajoling the Prince of Prussia.
All London is occupied with the forthcoming
review of the Volunteers in Hyde Park on Saturday
next. There was a sort of rehearsal in the Eegent's
Park on Saturday, and it is said there could not
have been fewer than fifty thousand spectators
present !
June 21, Thursday. This is the longest day of
the year and a more gloomy one was never seen
1860 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 299
thunder, lightning, and rain and we have not
yet had one real summer day. Serious alarm is
beginning to be felt for the crops and for, what is
of minor importance, the game, which is being
drowned.
I went last night to a concert at Apsley House,
given to the Queen a very brilliant fete, the
most striking feature of which was the appearance
of the Duchess, so handsome, and doing the honours
so well.
June 26, Tuesday. The Volunteer review on
Saturday was a complete success the day, though
gloomy, was dry. There were 21,000 Volunteers on
the field, many of whom had come up to town from
distant parts of the country. They went through
their evolutions with great precision, and astonished
everybody. The crowds of people present, of all
classes, were prodigious. The shops were all shut
and the afternoon was a general holiday. At the
conclusion of the review the Volunteers gave a cheer
for the Queen, which was re-echoed with great
enthusiasm by the populace, and produced a sublime
effect, and the Queen was much overcome by it.
At Strawberry Hill, where I went on Saturday
and stayed till Monday, I met at dinner both days
the Aumales, and he told me he had been much
struck by the extreme regularity with which they
marched. The two corps which most distinguished
themselves were the Lawyers and the Artists. The
first are nicknamed ' the Devil's Own,' retained
for the defence, the others ' Stand at Easles ' (easels).
At Strawberry Hill I met the Apponyis, Clan-
ricardes, Stratford de Redcliffes, Bulteels, Lady Ailes-
bury, the Somers', Sneyd, Charles Villiers, and Charles
300 LEAVES FROM THE 1860
Fortescue. I think Lady Somers one of the most
beautiful women I ever saw, and the charm of her
beauty is much enhanced by her apparent uncon-
sciousness of it and by the simplicity of her manners.
I heard yesterday that Elgin had been wrecked off
the Point de Galle, but the passengers and crew had
been saved.
I was seized to-day with a sudden attack of
giddiness which prevented my dining with the
Duchess of Cambridge.
Old Prince Jerome died yesterday at his place
near Paris, after a long illness.
June 30, Hatchford. I came here yesterday.
The weather is so cold and wet that we sit by the fire
as in the middle of winter.
Prince Jerome, by a codicil to his will made ten
days before his death, desires that he should be
buried by the side of his brother Napoleon and
surrounded by his generals, in the Invalides. This
may possibly induce the present Emperor to abandon
his project of removing the remains of the first
Napoleon to St. Denis, where, it is said, prepara-
tions are now being made to receive them as well as
his own.
When Jerdme was embalmed, a ball was found in
the cartilage of the breast which he had received in
a duel fought, forty years ago, with the brother of
Marshal Davoust.
The wretched King of Naples has at the eleventh
hour, in an agony of terror, proclaimed a constitution
and an amnesty, and has hoisted the Italian flag,
and announced his intention of contracting an alliance
with Sardinia but all this comes too late.
July 3, Tuesday. I slept at St. Anne's last night.
1860 DIARY OF HENRY GREVILLE 301
Lady Holland hears from Naples that no one puts
any trust in the good faith of the King, and that
annexation is the only chance of securing them a free
government without the fear of the reaction to which
they have hitherto always been subjected when any
liberal measures have been resorted to.
The Queen opened the proceedings of the Eifle
Association on Saturday at Wimbledon by firing ofi
a Whitworth gun, in the presence of an immense
crowd. The prizes are to be shot for this week.
July 25, Wednesday. The weather continues to
be bad beyond all precedent.
I have seen private letters from Naples stating
that no one will hear of the Constitution, and it is
believed that Victor Emmanuel has sent an aide-de-
camp to Garibaldi to beg him not to attack the main-
land ; but it is not probable that Garibaldi will
listen to this, as he considers it to be his mission
to liberate the whole of Italy, and on that account
he would not proclaim the annexation of Sicily to
Sardinia.
La Greca, the Neapolitan Envoy Extraordinary,
who has been at Paris, and, as he asserts, well received
by the Emperor, is come to London but we shall
give him no encouragement.
The massacres in Syria, and the intervention of
the Great Powers, and particularly of France, who is
sending an army to those parts, have for the moment
put Italian affairs into the background. We are to
send ships, and possibly may lend marines for the
protection of the Christians on the coast, but nothing
more. This is a serious business, and may not im-
probably lead to future complications.
Palmerston stated to the House the Government's
302 LEAVES FROM THE i860
plan for the national defences and the sum that would
be required. His speech was very good and very
well received, although it was considered somewhat
warlike in tone, and as intended to back up the
German Powers. There did not appear to me to be
anything offensive in it to any one ; but he spoke
plainly as to the necessity of putting ourselves in a
state of defence as against France.
The Prince of Wales sailed for America on the
10th, attended by the Duke of Newcastle and St.
Germans. In this day's newspapers, the invitation
of the President of the United States to the Prince
and the Queen's reply are published. The former
is couched in cordial terms, and the Queen replies in
the same spirit, beginning her letter l My good friend.'
She says, 'The Prince will drop all royal state on
leaving my dominions, and will travel under the name
of Lord Eenfrew, as he has before, when travelling on
the Continent."
The Princess Eoyal was delivered of a daughter
yesterday morning.
The ' Great Eastern ' has reached New York
safely. She has not excited the curiosity there
that was expected, and she is a failure in point of
speed.
On Wednesday 18th I had a concert for the
Duchess of Cambridge, when I learnt for the first
time that poor Elphinstone was dangerously ill, nay,
in a hopeless state. I had called there on Monday,
-when he sent me word he felt too weak to see me,
and asked me to return another day. I was aware
that he had had an attack of his Indian fever and
that it had left him weak, but I hoped he would rally,
as he had so often done before. I was therefore
1860 DIARY OF HENRY GREV1LLE 303
much shocked on hearing of his state, and greatly
grieved by a note written to me by Lady Willoughby
stating that he had expired on Thursday morning at
five o'clock. A more perfect gentleman never existed,
or one more full of sterling qualities. He had done
so well in India that the Government had determined
on proposing to him to succeed Canning if his health
should permit it. But even had hi 
